The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

Cancer of the blood, sick liver, right foods, drinks

If you are clairaudient, you may hear whispers of cancer of the blood knocking heads, agitating nerves and elevating blood pressure. In some healthcare circles, this cancer is believed to be a death sentence. Yet, in others, reprieve is sometimes found. Death or reprieve may depend on the method of healthcare and of how far gone out of hand is the sickness. At an Indian children’s hospital, doctors   saved lives with bone marrow meal prescriptions. The information led me to a New Zealand company which made bone marrow meal from the bone marrows of organic grass-grazing bovines. The product helped some cancer and sickle cell challenged persons.

According to spiritually inclined followers of mother nature healthcare systems, cancer cannot afflict any human body in which the liver is healthy and optimally performs its job and the bloodstream is well composed and radiates in its fullest capacity. This information first shown the light on any cancer when it was released to humanity of the 1920s in a spiritual tiding. For many persons beset with cancer before then, at that time and even now, the liver must be in various stages of weakness, the blood is poorly composed, vibrating less than it should and, therefore, unable to disintegrate any life from foreign to the body.

I understood so in the 1970s while I struggled, as I still do, to understand human existence, creation, and the laws of nature as the Language God speaks to His Creatures in His Creation.

In the battle against cancer, pharmaceutical weapons such as injections and drugs are often deployed. This approach is a direct attack on the cancer and not on the cause(s). This is like stoking a fire. The cancer grows angrier, bigger and more devastating. Biochemist Dr Robert Young suggests in his PH MIRACLE that this is like fighting against Nature. He says that, inside every cell, plant, animal or human, there is a microscopic organism called Microzyma. Mother Nature placed it in the cells to make the cell die and decay when it is becoming acidic. If expired bodies do not decay and then become turned into dust, would there be space left today on earth for those bodies on the life curve? Dr Young puts radiant health down to how much alkaline or acidic our bodies are. THE ACID / ALKALINE SCALE is 0-14. Seven is a safety valve. Readings below seven are progressively acidic from 6.9 to 0, while those above seven are progressively Alkaline from 7.1 to 14. Excessive alkalinity is dangerous. The safe level is about 7.34, according to many researchers and physicians. Dr Young says that Microzyma is inactive in the right alkaline medium, but active in acidic environment, devolving into bacteria, viruses and mold as the acidosis increases. These organisms cause irritation, disease, inflammation and pain. A doctor who is trained to wage war on bacteria with dangerous anti-bacterial drugs prescribes antibiotics. Antibiotics would wipe out some of the bacteria and leave acidic residues in the tissue and blood. Angry remnant bacteria would reproduce in bigger multitudes which become resistant to the drugs. The doctor would change his prescriptions to even mightier dosages and the scenarios would continue. I have seen a scenario of this in Nigeria’s Boko Haram insurgency. The harder the Nigerian Army pounds them, the more the Boko Haram troops re-emerge to fight. They flee from air bombings to return like yeast leavened bread in the oven. In the human body, says Dr Young, more acidosis brings viruses and, then, mold out of michrozyma in its devolving procedures. In laboratory and human blood circulation scenarios, these micro-organisms evolve into Michrozyma when treated with alkaline factors.

This process is more natural and bears fulsome testimony to the spiritual guidance of the 1920s that

• Cancer cannot exist in a human body in which the liver is healthy and

• Neither drugs nor injections, but the right kinds of foods and drinks bring lasting health.

    Accordingly, Natural Medicine inclined physicians who understand The Language of the Creator in His Creation do not wage war on bacteria, viruses and mold, because they are performing their natural roles in the human body. They clean up the liver, the cells, organs and tissues and the blood stream, The River Of Life. When this is well done, the organs regain their balance and health and Microzyma returns to whence it came.

Everyday, our bodies generate potential cancer cells. A healthy liver pulverises and disintegrates them. These cells too commit suicide by literally pulling on themselves the triggers of their P.53 genes. Where they cannot do this, as Dr Karl Folkers and his research team have shown, it is because they have become devitalised and de-energised. In the Finnish landmark experiment in which nutrition, in particular Co-enzyme CoQ10 and ubiquinol were given to scores of women with terminal breast cancers and they recovered, we observe evidence of THE RIGHT KINDS OF FOOD AND DRINKS and of the RECOMPOSITION OF THE BLOOD.

You should please permit that I talk more about The Blood. Its radiation is meant to be the strongest of any life form in the body and to destroy life forms incompatible with the body’s health.

The Blood

What is it? Why does the blood of the foetus growing in a woman’s womb not start to circulate, and the foetus has to depend on the mother’s blood circulation, until it gives the pregnant woman the first kicks of pregnancy? Why is it that the blood starts to circulate then but ceases to after death? Are the first kicks of pregnancy due to the entrance of a vital force in the foetal body, and does the exit of this vital force from a young, adult or old human body the cause of death? There are two schools of thought in this great debate about The Mystery of The Blood, its functions, composition, and how the blood can cause various diseases, including cancer of the blood. The first school sees no big deal in the blood. It seems the human body as being mechanistic, simply an arrangement of specialised cells into tissues, those tissues into specialised organs and the specialised organs into the various systems. The mechanists reject the idea of a Vital Force as the switch which activates or inactivates the systems. However, they are confused when they have to explain why the blood of humans and of animals have different compositions when the human body originated from the advanced animal body. Most of them bow before the explanation that the human blood has an advanced or superior composition because it is formed by the Human Spirit which dwells inside the body as its housing during its surgeon on earth for a purpose, while the animal blood is composed by the animistic essence from the animistic spheres of existence which lies below the spiritual spheres and is, therefore, less energetic than the Spirit. For the Vitalist school of thought which opposes the Mechanist school, this vital force is the Soul. Many persons confuse the Soul with the Ghost.

To understand the Soul in relation to the formation, composition and maintainance of healthy blood, the knowledge of the Spirit is important. Man, that is you and I, is a Human Spirit from the Spirit or Spiritual World, our home, Paradise. We are a specie of Creation. We are on Earth for a purpose. There are many spheres of existence between the spiritual realms and the earth. As the spirit journeys to the earth, it covers itself with the material of each of these lower spheres of existence. These coverings of the spirit and the spirit, but without the covering of the earth picked up in a mother’s womb, is the Soul. When the earth body or covering is added, the spirit man on Earth is the Earth-Man. Until the soul picks up the earth covering growing in the womb, it stands beside the pregnant woman, directing development in the womb. In the middle of pregnancy, the soul enters the growing body, the baby begins to kick, and its own blood, not the mother’s any more, begins to circulate within its body. The day the soul leaves that body at any age, that earth covering falls apart in death This suggests something… THAT THE SOUL FORMS THE BLOOD AND MAINTAINS ITS   HEALTH AND CIRCULATION.!

What we call GHOST is lifeless matter animated by the Soul to interface between it and the body as direct spirit energy will cripple the body. I remember this phenomenon when I wish to launder a sensitive cloth with an electric iron and place another cloth between the two. When the soul pulls away from the earth-body in death, it may pull this interfacing or ASTRAL BODY along or leave it behind with the body. If it leaves it behind, the corpse may take some time to decay , especially if the soul is still hanging around and the Astral Body which is still drawing energy from it is passing it over to the body. However, when the soul moves away and pulls the astral form along, it is this Astral form, now separated from the earth body and the soul but which still manages to exist, that we call THE GHOST. Soon, the “ghost” will disintegrate when the soul is farther from it and no longer draws nourishment from its radiation.

Function of the blood

Hematologists and hematopathologists (Blood doctors) ascribe many functions to the blood. These include transport of nutrients and Oxygen to the cells, removal of their metabolic wastes to the excretory organs, movement of immune cells and repair proteins to troubled tissues etc. However, all of these are functions subordinate to why the spirit made the blood. The blood is made to form the bridge for the activity of the spirit on earth. The spirit is here on earth for a purpose, and it needs the gross material human body in the gross material earth to gross materially manifest itself to achieve this purpose. Astronauts need paraphernalia homogenous with space consistencies. Divers need paraphernalia homogenous with water consistency.

Even the blood is too dense to transmit communication from the spirit to the brains (cerebrum and cerebellum). The spirit glows through its soul bodies to the Silver Cord, the invisible connecting link with the body at the Solar Plexus, which is in the middle of the abdomen where a powerful group of nerves links some critical organs with the brains.The activity of the spirit would have to halt at the solar plexus if there is no finer medium than the blood to move its communication to the brains and bring back communication from the earthly environment through a reverse process. The problem is resolved by the blood, under promptings of the spirit and the body to a lesser extent, to produce RADIATION fine enough for a two-way communication transport. This is achieved through a specific composition of the blood for the use by the particular spirit or soul which masterminds it.

In the specific composition and radiation of the blood lies the secret of the four blood groups. No one can take blood transfusion from the blood group not suitable for his or her own without coming to harm. In the knowledge mediated to mankind on earth for about 100 years now, it is shown that more groups are still undiscovered and that, in fact, no two human beings have exactly the same blood, that, someday , the blood of all persons would become their identity cards. Even today, when a person is transfused with another person’s blood from a compatible blood group, the “foreign” blood alters the radiation of the recepient’s own blood and makes the spirit unable to effectively and efficiently control the body and astutely manifest outwardly.

Thus, a blood radiation ineffective for a healthy activity of the spirit on earth is to be found in the wrong composition of the blood. The natural process is for radiations of the spirit to move across the silver cord to the solar plexus and, from there, for the radiations to impress the back brain (cerebellum) with picture forms which the Blood Radiation will transport to the cerebrum (frontal brain) which will decode the spiritual information and instruction and carry them out on earth. The fact that the cerebellum, the spiritually receptive part of the two brains, has become “the small brain” is evidence of its disuse and atrophy and why the human spirit has not had a serious foothold on earth. Diseases such as Autism can be explained by the phenomenon of the incompetent Blood Radiation locking the human spirit out of the body and out of its earthly activities. There are no sick souls or spirits but inadequate or even sick Blood RADIATIONS rooted in weak composition of the Blood.

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When the blood Radiation of a person falls to the level where another soul can take it over and use it, this often happens. Spookish events as knocks on the door, moving objects, strange noises and smells often arise around such persons. POSSESION may occur when a disembodied earth bound soul roaming around takes over the brain and body of such a careless person, temporarily or permanently, causing him or her to exhibit a split personality. The real owner of the body, careless with the blood composition and radiation, struggles with an invading soul for control of its brain and body. This may not be insanity as often assumed and is correctable with the re-composition of the blood to produce the right blood radiation for the owner-soul.

Blood Cancer

This is a group term for rapidly over populating, immature and functionally redundant cells. There are three major types…Leukemia, (white blood cells), lymphoma (lymph cells) and myelema (plasma cells).

Google describes the symptoms to include:

“People may experience: Pain areas in the bones or joints Whole body: dizziness, fatigue, fever, or loss of appetite

Also common: bleeding, easy bruising, frequent infections, mouth ulcer, nosebleed, pale skin, petechiae, shortness of breath, swollen lymph nodes, unintentional weight loss, or weakness”.

Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and pharmaceutical drugs are of little use. The blood needs to be purified, recomposed, nourished and protected. Nourishment includes spiritual nurture as the spirit makes the blood. Spiritual nurture has nothing to do with religious life which, often, is not spiritual. The spirit must be alive, self recognising, discovering creation and its place and role in it, including the spiritual purpose of earthly existence and fufilling it. Above all, there is the need to strive for a “high aim” which survives earthly existence.

Spiritual life is connected to the Third Chakra in energy medicine. This is also called the Navel Chakra because it is the site of the Silver Cord and relates, also, with the Solar Plexus. This chakra or energy centre may be blocked by emotional discomfeitures which must be removed from earthly activities. They include low self esteem, anger, misuse of power etc. Early symptoms of disconnection of spirit and body may include heavy footsteps, problems of digestion, absorbtion and assimilation, blood malformation, excretion, reproduction and respiration. These challenges may profit from yellow colour therapy or solarisation of water in yellow bottles for drinking. There is more to say on this subject.

At the level of the body, working with the functional temperament is important. Often, this depends on age (sanguine, melancholia, choleric or phlegmatic), RADIATIONS of the stars and earth forms in the zone of the earth where the challenged person was born.

Recomposition of the blood through the body would begin with cleansing, alterative and nutritive herbs. Earlier, I described the support Bone Marrow Meal gave leukemia-suffering children in India. There are reports of Stinging Nettle and Marigold Flowers helping some adults. Jobelyn, the Nigerian herbal blood formula, has prolonged the lives of some leukemia patients abroad, beyond expectations of their doctors. Also, well recommended are herbs such as cleavers, burdock, Red clover, Beets, yellow dock, Golden seal, Bentonite clay, Goji berries. Green foods and juices play a significant role in reviving the blood, recomposing and re energising it. Several years ago, I published an article on this page titled Let’s Drink Green, The Earth is not green for the fun of it. In this regard, I will also suggest aloe vera juice and liquid chlorophyll. The structure of chlorophyll, that green part of the plant which combines the forces of the air, of water, of the sun and of the moon and the stars with the forces of the soil to encapsulate plant food and medicines for the human body, is made up of hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon and oxygen with magnesium as the central atom which holds the four pillars together. The same structure presents itself in the haemoglobin of the human blood, except for the central atom which is iron. Thus, when we eat green or drink green, the body recomposes and recharges the human blood by replacing magnesium with iron. The treasure trove of Mother Nature is inexhaustible.

December 7, 2023
Not just about law
- The journey to 2027 must start now
When Professor Attahiru Jega discusses elections, many Nigerians listen. He has been speaking recently about the 2023 general elections, especially the February presidential poll disparaged by many.

Before last week’s media round by the former national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he had told federal lawmakers in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, that it was time to improve on the electoral system. Professor Jega said that 24 years after return to civil rule, Nigeria ought to have become a model for other African countries.

While speaking on the 2022 Electoral Act last week, he contended that despite the loud criticism of this year’s election, the legal framework was the best ever. He accepted that the technological innovations embedded in it were designed to ensure that all went well. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), that provided for optional finger or facial approval, is an upgrade of the card reader machine introduced by the Jega administration, alongside the Permanent Voter Card (PVC). Both measures brought some integrity to the electoral system. By the scheme, politicians who hired voters to cast multiple ballots were checkmated.

Under the Yakubu Mahmud administration, BVAS was brought in to check the rate at which voters failed to get accredited owing to the state of their thumbs. Besides, the new machine is enabled to transmit the result to the iREV where the general public could monitor development from the polling units.

By the development, it was expected that confidence in the electoral system would be built up.

However, even by design, the lawmakers fell short of fully digitalising the process. The BVAS machine or iREV could not collate the result. The paper trail system by which Forms EC8A from the polling units are taken to the ward, the local government and then state levels still prevailed in the 2023 elections.

There is no doubt that the process has to be tweaked ahead of the 2027 election. But, it must be acknowledged that the problem is more with operations, processes, planning and commitment of officials. Machines have to be operated by officials, and their judgment have to be trusted if Nigeria is to ride the storm. The election management body must therefore come up with an acceptable mode of recruitment, training, retraining, discipline and reward system. This is as important as improvement on technology.

As Professor Jega, a teacher of political science and former Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano, has pointed out, it is wrong to suggest that the 2023 general election is the worst in the country’s history. The 1964 federal election nearly set Nigeria ablaze, with political parties pitched against one another, regions at war and worse still, the then President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, publicly on the warpath with the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa.

The Eyo Esua-led election commission could not even agree on the integrity of the polls as members from the North insisted that the result declared must be upheld while those from the South kicked against it. That was the origin of the conflagration that consumed the First Republic.

The 1983 election was another election that could compete against the worst conducted in the world. The Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey Commission literally rolled out the political tank for the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), paving the way for the party to make inroads into the West and East that were strongholds of the opposition political parties. It was no surprise that the Second Republic quickly went the way of the first.

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President Olusegun Obasanjo recruited Professor Maurice Iwu who practically deferred to the head of government as a soldier would to his Commander-in-Chief. As it was in 1983, so it was in 2007.

So, anyone with knowledge of conduct of elections in the country would agree with Professor Jega that the denigrated 2023 polls would actually rank among the best in the country. An analysis by the professor shortly after the February presidential election had laid out the basis for the conclusion as three political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) shared the states almost equally, with New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), taking control of Kano State.

We have to go beyond the usual blame-the-commission game. It is good that both houses of the National Assembly, international development partners and civil society organisations are waking up to the need for early review of the law and processes. However, it must be noted that the main culprits are politicians who would go to any extent to win. They will compromise the commission’s officials at polling units and collation centres, vote huge sums to induce voters, get security officials to turn the blind eye to malfeasance, and do all things to subdue or denigrate the judiciary. Unless something is done to checkmate such practices, the quest for credible polls will remain a mirage. The starting point is to ensure that all those found to have manipulated the last general elections are duly tried in the courts of law.

Focusing on amending the Electoral Act alone cannot perform the magic. Nigerians must rise to wake up the sleeping ‘giant’ well ahead of 2027.
December 7, 2023
One disastrous military operation too many

Sir: On Monday, Nigerians woke up to yet again encounter another agonizing story of a avoidable and costly error made by the Nigerian Army, leading to the loss of innocent lives.

As confirmed by the Kaduna State government, on the night of Sunday, December 4, a military jet belonging to the Nigerian Army bombed peaceful Maulud celebrants at Tudun Biri village in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The unfortunate incident led to the death of innocent people, mostly children and women. Not less than 87 dead bodies have been reported while search and rescue operations are still ongoing in order to recover the remaining dead and the injured.

While taking responsibility, the Nigerian Army, through the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, Nigerian Army and Force Commander Operation Whirl Punch, Maj Gen VU Okoro, admitted that the air components of the Army was on a routine mission against terrorists when the incident happened.

Didn’t the (military) do their homework thoroughly and adequately after receiving intelligence before acting so as to avoid recurrence of these kinds of unfortunate incidents? Were they not trained adequately on how to separate the chaff from the grains? Or do they lack the requisite technology to identify law-abiding civilians from the swarm of terrorists?

It is certainly still fresh in our minds how in February, the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, jet also bombed a group of herdsmen in Nasarawa while returning from Benue having gone to secure release of their livestock. Over 40 innocent Fulani herders were gruesomely killed in Doma Local Government Area of the state during that incident.

This Nasarawa incident would even seem a tip of an iceberg given the series of bombing undertaken by the military in recent years.

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For instance, in September 2021, the NAF air craft fired upon and killed more than 60 civilians at Daban Masara village of Borno State. The same NAF fighter jet had also in January 2017 bombed a refugee camp in Borno State killing more than 100 civilians including 20 humanitarian aid workers.

It is obvious that these incidents keep recurring because the federal government and Military High Command have not made significant efforts to curtail the tide. Whenever it happens, the government and Military High Command merely issue condemnation and promise to investigate the matter which nobody will ever hear about again.

It is pertinent that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja and Kaduna State Government swing into action to investigate this matter to avert future occurrences. Meanwhile, the bereaved family should be fully compensated for the colossal and irreparable losses they have just suffered.

•Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi,

Abuja.

December 7, 2023
Ondo governors’ obsession with varsities
- By Collins Akinujomu
Sir: The establishment of universities in Ondo State can best be described as a means of political compensation rather than an act of necessity intended for the advancement of the education sector in the state. Presently, the state has three state-owned universities: the state’s premier university, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECTH), formerly Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), and the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED). There is the state-owned polytechnic, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic Owo; the state has no college of education of its own.

Successive governors in Ondo State between 1999 and the present have established at least one university. While the creation of higher institutions of learning is not a misfortune for any state, the circumstances surrounding their creation might be questionable. For instance, the need, location, and timing of establishing state-owned universities in Ondo State raise serious concerns.

It is generally perceived in Ondo State that all the governors that have come on board have used the establishment of universities to compensate their kinsmen.

It all started with the creation of Adekunle Ajasin University in 1999. Prior to this time, Ondo State University, located in Ado-Ekiti, had been carved out as part of the newly created Ekiti State; hence, the need for another university in present-day Ondo State. This necessitated the relocation of Ondo State University to Akungba-Akoko. However, the question of why the school is not sited in Ikare-Akoko, perceived to be the administrative and commercial headquarters of the Akokos at the time, remains unanswered. Chief Adebayo Adefarati chose to site the new Ondo State University, named Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), adjacent to his residential house in Akungba-Akoko.

Former governor, Olusegun Agagu, who took over from Adefarati, repeated the scenario with the creation of the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECTH). In an interview he granted on September 29, 2009, he admitted that the creation of OSUSTECH, now OAUSTECTH, in his local government, Okitipupa, was to appease and compensate the grievances of the people of the southern part of the state, who claimed that section of the state is left without higher institutions.

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When former governor Olusegun Mimiko came into office between 2009 and 2017, despite popular demands on the state government to create a College of Medicine in AAUA and to develop the two existing universities, Mimiko instead established a full-fledged University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) in his hometown of Ondo, the same town already housing two higher institutions: Adeyemi College of Education, now the University of Education, and Wesley University.

And now the recent move by the Oluwarotimi Akeredolu administration to upgrade the only state-owned polytechnic, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), in Owo, his hometown, to Ondo State University (OSUO). Owo is currently home to Achievers University and the polytechnic. The decision of the Akeredolu administration merely follows the pattern of previous governors.

Ondo State currently occupies the 13th position in the list of states with the highest Internally Generated Revenue and cannot boast of any thriving public company since the defunct state-owned Owena Motel. The state needs to make more investments in the economic sector, including the creation of public companies, corporations, and business enterprises that will facilitate jobs and reduce the unemployment rate in the state. Ondo State government must realize that higher institutions, particularly universities, are centres for research and development and places of knowledge production and at no point should they be seen as a means of investment or generating revenue.

•Collins Akinujomu,

collinsadeyemi5@gmail.com>
December 7, 2023
Rhoda Jatau: A call for justice
- By Akinola Ayobami Steven
Sir: The ongoing trial of Rhoda Jatau, mother of five, underscores a distressing narrative of religious persecution and the complexities surrounding freedom of expression within the nation. Her case, intertwined with the tragic story of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, highlights the far-reaching implications of legal frameworks and societal attitudes on national unity, security, and development in Nigeria.

Jatau’s ordeal began in May 2022 when she was imprisoned for allegedly sharing a video on WhatsApp condemning the brutal lynching of Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu, a fellow Nigerian student murdered by a mob for an alleged blasphemy. Despite the prosecution’s inability to present substantial evidence, the court recently refused to dismiss the case against her, prolonging her unjust detention.

This situation raises significant concerns not just about individual rights but also about the broader socio-political fabric of Nigeria. Blasphemy laws, in this context, exacerbate tensions among religious groups, stifling open dialogue and impeding the country’s path towards unity.

Beyond the immediate human rights violations, the implications are manifold. The fear of persecution inhibits free expression and stifles intellectual discourse and societal growth. Furthermore, the erosion of trust in legal institutions and the government’s handling of such cases undermines stability and hampers the nation’s progress.

In a country of over 200 million people, almost evenly split between Christians and Muslims, the existence of blasphemy laws becomes a significant driver of societal tension. These laws not only punish innocent individuals for expressing their beliefs but also perpetuate a cycle of violence. They fuel brutal mob actions and inflict severe harm on minority Muslims, Christian converts, and others, amplifying the societal discord.

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Rhoda Jatau’s case is not an isolated incident. It aligns with the broader persecution faced by religious minorities in Nigeria.

It is imperative for Nigeria’s future to address these challenges head-on. Repealing or amending blasphemy laws, ensuring fair trials, safeguarding freedom of expression, and fostering inclusivity are paramount. These measures will not only secure justice for individuals like Rhoda Jatau but will also contribute to a more harmonious and just society, enhancing national unity, security, and development.

The world’s eyes are on Nigeria, urging its leadership to take decisive action in protecting the rights of all citizens and ensuring an environment where diversity is celebrated, voices are heard, and justice prevails. Only through such concerted efforts can Nigeria truly achieve its potential as a beacon of unity, progress, and respect for human rights on the African continent.

• Akinola Ayobami Steven,

akinolaa61@gmail.com
December 7, 2023
Navigating Nigeria’s developmental challenge
- By Tijjani Bulama
Sir: In the global sphere, Nigeria stands as a country teeming with promise, vast resources, and a vibrant populace. Yet, despite its potential, the nation continues to grapple with a spectrum of challenges hindering its progress towards comprehensive development. The question often arises: why does Nigeria remain entrenched in a cycle of underdevelopment?

The complexities are multifaceted, rooted in historical, socio-economic, and political intricacies that intertwine to impede its growth. One pivotal factor is the persistent struggle with governance. Corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and weak institutions have plagued Nigeria’s governmental systems, hampering effective policy implementation and economic stability.

The country’s diversity, while a source of cultural richness, also presents hurdles. Nigeria boasts over 250 ethnic groups, each with its language, customs, and identity. This diversity, though a cornerstone of national richness, has, at times, fostered ethnic tensions and socio-political fractures, impeding cohesive national progress.

Economic mismanagement has been another setback. Despite being a major oil producer, Nigeria faces challenges in effectively harnessing this resource for sustainable growth. Overreliance on oil revenue has left the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices, hindering diversification efforts and stunting the development of other sectors.

Education remains a critical issue. While strides have been made in improving access, the quality of education, especially in rural areas, still lags. This disparity perpetuates an unequal playing field, limiting opportunities and hindering human capital development.

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Furthermore, youth unemployment presents a pressing challenge. With a burgeoning youth population, job creation and skills development are imperative. Failure to address this issue not only curtails individual potential but also exacerbates social tensions and hampers overall progress.

Addressing these multifaceted challenges demands a holistic approach. Initiatives aimed at eradicating corruption, bolstering institutions, and ensuring equitable resource distribution are crucial. Promoting diversification, investing in quality education, and fostering entrepreneurship can unlock the nation’s vast potential.

Moreover, inclusivity in governance and policies that prioritize unity amidst diversity are paramount. Encouraging dialogue and collaboration among diverse ethnicities can pave the way for a more unified and prosperous Nigeria.

However, progress requires collective action. Government commitment, private sector engagement, civil society involvement, and active citizenship are indispensable. It necessitates a shared vision and concerted efforts to overcome the entrenched barriers that impede Nigeria’s development.

Despite the challenges, hope gleams on the horizon. Nigeria’s resilience, innovative spirit, and human capital serve as pillars of promise. By addressing these complexities with resolve and dedication, Nigeria can transcend its developmental challenges and chart a course toward a more prosperous and inclusive future for all its citizens.

•Tijjani Bulama,

Borno State University, Maiduguri.
December 7, 2023
COP28 Dubai December 2023

It seems the campaign for reversing the environmental damage and climate warming caused by human activities leading to climate change and environmental degradation has become a jamboree like the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) meeting every year in New York from mid-September to the end of the year, passing many resolutions which are unenforceable. The United Nations Conference of Parties to the Global Convention on climate change otherwise known as COP28 holding in Dubai in the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES from November 30 to December 12 has collectively called for accelerated action, higher ambition against the escalating climate crisis. It has focused on what has been done previously to address the issue of climate change and what can be done to address the urgency of the problem. There is no doubt that some efforts have been made to address these issues even though not sufficient to match the urgency. There is gradual move from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles in America, Canada China and some other nations as well as abandoning coal energy or its planned phase out in China and the USA and Canada even though countries like India and Australia depend on it for domestic use and export. Industrial processes are now embracing green technologies in manufacturing processes.

Environmental policies are not generally popular and acceptable to everyone domestically. There has been general criticism about the huge sizes of country’s delegations at these conferences. The sizes of the delegations do not generally reflect the seriousness, commitment or ability to effectively affect the issues and the application of resolutions on mitigation, adaptation or reversal of the damage already inflicted on our common single human planet. The question of abatement, mitigation and possible reversal was taken much more seriously in the past than the present situation which seems to be influenced by domestic politics and audiences rather than the collective good of mankind. What goes on now reminds me of what the older president George Walker Herbert Bush said in one of his reflections on leadership, that there is so much time wasted by long speeches by all countries at international fora and that the smaller the country, the longer the speeches. Cynical as it may sound, I ask the question of what impact the speech by an eloquent prime minister of one of the Caribbean island countries on climate change may have apart from the point of view of a victim if the big polluters like China, the USA and India continue their industrial production of, and dependence on hydrocarbons. Morality is not usually a big factor in how international politics is played! The consequences of global warming and coming climate change are here with us in the unseasonable rainfall, snow fall, floods, bushfires, drought, high temperatures. This year’s temperature is the highest in recorded history; rise in ocean temperatures, melting of the ice caps, sea rise, coastal erosion and occurrences of pandemics and other health issues.

We now generally know what to do to ensure that the rise in the temperature of world does not go beyond 1.5C by the end of this century above pre industrial temperature as agreed to in the Paris protocol of 2015. Anything above this poses existential challenge to mankind. The COP28 is the 20th meeting of global leaders to address this problem. This is a conference attended by about 160 global leaders representing countries, business, academia, the press and critical leaders all over the world. The central core of the problem is economic. The vast number of mankind was not responsible for global warming. The developed countries of Europe, America, and the OECD countries generally whose advanced economies were and are still dependent on hydrocarbons and consequent greenhouse emissions were responsible for global warming and they have now been joined by China, India and the oil producers of the Middle East in their contribution to global greenhouse emissions. Even though the “polluter pays “principle makes political sense but it does not address the existential problem of global environmental damage. The developing countries including even China and India and the rest of us in the Third world are right to argue that we cannot abandon our own industrial plan of development in order to protect the global environment unless those responsible for the damage ab initio come up with plan to help our development through economic and financial transfer to help the developing countries adapt to the present global situation. Countries like Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia, whose forests constitute the lungs of the earth because of their absorption of carbon emissions and release of oxygen into the air would have to be assisted to preserve their forests.

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Nigeria also can make the same argument in preserving what is left of our tropical forests and also our plans for reforestation. The onus to contribute substantially to the global fund for this purpose lies on the developed countries. The domestic politics of these countries do not permit the kind of generosity or economic policies that would help the environment if people are going to lose their jobs. To arrive at a workable solution will require considerable amount of political will on the part of leaders in America, Canada, Europe, China, India, Japan, Australia, Russia, Brazil and the oil producing countries especially those in the Middle East.

A UN publication indicates that if we continue at the present trajectory of nationally determined abatement measures the world will reach 2 degrees Celsius above the pre industrial level of temperature which is clearly higher than the 1.5 degrees Celsius globally agreed to. Studies show we need 43 percent further reduction of our current levels of greenhouse emissions before 2050 or earlier. Climate finance stands at the heart of the problem. There is need to replenish the GREEN CLIMATE FUND (GCF), and DOUBLING FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR ADAPTATION and to agree on the operational mechanisms for deployment of resources to tackle the problem of climate change. The host country – the United Emirates has pledged $200 million which is encouraging but is just a drop in the ocean of the trillions of dollars needed. The OECD countries and China would have to open their pockets to donate what is needed for abatement and for adaptation to address the problem of the climate.

There also has to be a paradigm shift all over the world in industrial processes and production away from the old fashioned way of dependence on hydrocarbons. This must be collectively negotiated and agreed upon and hopefully the basis of this would be agreed upon before delegates leave Dubai in readiness for 2025 when stakeholders would have to assess how far we have advanced in our journey to save the environment and reach a sustainable level of economic development that would not damage the global environment. The emphasis from now on would have to be green energy based on renewable energy sources like wind, tidal, thermal, solar sources and the growing and cutting edge research on renewable energy.

December 7, 2023
Terror in the sky

It is not the best of time to fly. Any traveller who had ever flown in the night would readily admit that they dread flying at that hour. If they can help it, they would not fly at night. Indeed, flying at night coud be risky; it is the time of day that visibility is poor, even on land. Ask any driver.

As many know, flying is all about visibility – the pilot’s ability to see and assure his passengers that they are in safe hands. With a country with poor Instrumant Landing System (ILS), one can imagine the enormous risk passengers face flying at night. This is talkng about commercial flights.

For military flights, the risk is greater. Going on night time sorties is not a tea party. It is a deadly mission in which anything can happen. Visibility also matters. The pilot’s senses must be extra sharp. His eyes and ears must pick up things and fast. There is no room for negligence as he works with the military control room which guides and directs him and his crew.

The fighter pilot’s aim is to get the target whether standing, sitting, or moving. From the air and with the guidance of his commanders on the ground who are monitoring him, he makes a reconnaissance to the enemy’s territory. It is a mission of life and death. Everything usually happens in a split second during such operations. If the pilot gets his bearings right and hits the target, he earns plaudits, but if he misses his way and falls into the enemy’s hands, he becomes a prisoner of war.

It is scary to be a fighter pilot. There is nothing worse than to be captured by the enemy. But once in a while, the fighter pilot hits the wrong target, letting all hell loose. When that target is not only a civilian but women and children, it makes things worse. The killing of scores of people in a community in Kaduna State on Sunday night by an army pilot is a classical case of a military mission gone wrong.

Acting on intelligence, the pilot flew towards Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna where some bandits were said to have massed. But it was not a gathering of bandits or terrorists, which the government has been waging kinetic and non-kinetic war against in the past 14 years. It was a gathering of Muslim faithful celebrating Maulud (Birthday of Prophet Muhammed).

Sure of the intelligence he received, the fighter pilot bombed the gathering, killing over 85 persons, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Where did the army get the intelligence upon which it ordered the attack? I shuddered as I watched the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Chris Musa, and Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, on television explaining what happened.

The generals were pained and humbled by what happened and it showed in their demeanour. They did not give excuses for the mission, but were full of apologies. What has happened has happened, they said, promising that it would not recur. The generals are left to clear the mess caused by this accidental bombing as heads of the defence and army units, and they have tried as much as they can to do so. “We are sorry”, they said.

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It is good that they apologised, but it would be better for them to ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again. The President has ordered a probe into the tragedy. The public awaits the outcome. More important would be the internal house-cleaning investigation by the army. This exercise which will be undertaking by a board of enquiry should be thorough and unsparing of officers found culpable in this incident.

Military men are too well trained not to know the difference between a gathering of faithful and a mass of bandits. It was this wrong profiling of the target that led to this tragedy. As humans, we are prone to mistakes, but as people trained in the art and act of war, military men cannot afford to make mistakes that would cost the innocent their lives.

These innocents should not die in vain. They died while serving God. They deserve a monument at the spot they were killed to serve as a reminder to us that it should never, ever happen again. May they find rest in God’s bosom.

December 7, 2023
100 years of elections: (1923-2023 )

Nine years after the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates, Nigeria held its first general elections on September 20, 1923. Since then, several other elections have been held. It has been 100 years since the 1923 general elections. Three years earlier in 1920, council elections were held in Lagos. Like it was in 1923, so it is now. Our elections, whether general or not, are still highly contentious. Contestants want to win at all costs; or the elections are not free and fair.

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A century of elections is worth celebrating, more so that the 100th anniversary came during another election cycle. The presidential and National Assembly elections were held on February 25, while the governorship and Houses of Assembly polls took place on March 18. Our elections may be acrimonious; do-or-die or winner-take-all, but they can never be written off. They still remain the process through which leaders are elected.

We must do everything to grow the electoral process as that is the way to sustain democracy. With Nigeria’s experience of 100 years of conducting elections, the country has come a long way in charting its course.

December 7, 2023
Wike’s calculated gamble on jinxed project

For what many consider his over-enthusiasm in raising N15 billion to complete the long abandoned vice presidential house, Nyesom Wike, Minister of Abuja Federal Territory has gone through great stress and strain this past week. But one thing that is going well for the minister is that you can predict his stand on most issues. That makes him less dangerous than many of his predecessors that have used their positions to inflict pain on Nigerians. It is therefore safe for one to conclude Wike’s desperate attempt to complete the N7.1billion ill-conceived ‘befitting residence for our vice President’ by May 29, 2024 was informed by any other consideration other than meeting President Tinubu’s expectation that he finishes all abandoned projects.

But let us first situate the sources of our nation’s nightmare. Successive past ministers of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have always substituted their brain waves for state policies which they then imposed on Federal Housing Development Authority (FHDA) for implementation.

It has also been established that the Abuja masquerades that have used the FHDA as conduit pipes to fleece the country since 1999 are part of the military baked ‘new breed politicians’ who as creation of “Nigerian army of anything is possible” share the same mind-set with soldiers’ of fortune whose only orientation is sharing spoils of war after victory. It is therefore not a surprise that many of them have been indicted since 1999 through the courts or National Assembly probes for massive corruption executed through “privatization, monetization, unbundling of PHCN and Constituency projects policies or outright stealing by state governors.

While 10 Downing Street, has remained the residence of the British Prime Minister since 1735 and the White House the official residence of American President since 1800 without serious structural changes, our own “Nigerian Defence House”, made up of the main residence/president’s office, Aguda House/Vice President’s office and guest houses, built by Julius Berger at a cost of N25billion in 1989, has according to FHDA gulped about N8b in the name of renovation in a little over a decade.

It was the Abuja minister and the FHDA that unilaterally declared the Aguda House unsuitable for our vice president and went on to secure the Federal Executive Council (FEC)’s approval for a N7.1bn contract to put up what they describe as “a worthy edifice to house Nigeria’s Vice President’. The project according to Minister Dora Akinyili was to be completed in 20 months.

We also got to know through FCDA’s Director of Public Building, Arch. Adebowale Ademo that it was not the vice president, the end- user that decided on the facilities needed in the building but FCDA. And their preference are: the main building, three different living rooms, the vice president private room and conveniences, the second lady private lounge as well as a “chapel, a mosque and a dormitory for the security personnel.”

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And just as work was expected to be nearing completion in 2012, it was also the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Bala Mohammed who insisted N9 billion more was needed to complete the project. The request was turned down by the 7th Senate even after the N9billion was slashed to N6billion by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP). The then Senate Committee on FCT, led by Senator Smart Adeyemi said either N13 billion or N14 billion or N16 billion for the project was “indefensible”.

His position was supported by the then chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Herman Hembe, his counterpart at the Lower House who expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done despite the claim that about 87 per cent of the contract sum had been paid. It is also on record that it was the minister who, feeling dissatisfied with the verdict of the two houses, took the case before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) where the case stalled following President Jonathan’s insistence that the nation could not afford 120 per cent variation.

It was also another minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Adamu Aliero who threw a jibe at Vice President Osinbajo to attract his attention by claiming “The vice president is staying in a guest house (Aguda House) meant for visiting heads of state.” The vice president in 2016 decided to go and inspect the project that was up till then a monopoly of successive ministers of Federal Capital Territory. His report after the inspection was damning. For him “the N6bn already spent on the project was a misapplication of funds”. His advice to FHDA was that the building be “considered for other use” since according to him, “there is no need for a new residence for the vice president as the current one, called Aguda House, is up to standard with enough space and well managed.”

Osinbajo has said Aguda House is good enough for the vice president. Shettima the current occupier has also not complained. If I were to advise Minister Wike therefore, I will say he should separate himself from his predecessors who as shown above have always wept louder than the bereaved.

I think we should also remind ourselves that it was the FHDA that presided over the sales of Asokoro legislative quarters to the lawmakers, the sale of the Senate President’s mansion, (a national monument) to David Mark just as they did for Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the Lower House. While this macabre dance was going on, contracts for a new Senate President and Speaker’s residences were awarded. And while David Mark accused by EFCC of short changing the nation ran to court to defend his spoils of war, the proposed Senate President and Speakers mansions have also become abandoned projects.

In view of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s verdict, I think I will align myself with Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)’s call on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to use his leadership position “to promptly reject the plan by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, to spend N15 billion for the construction of a ‘befitting residence’ for the Vice President, Mr. Kashim Shettima.”

The body’s claim that spending N15 billion on ‘a befitting residence’ for the vice president at a time when the federal government is set to spend 30 per cent (that is, N8.25 trillion) of the country’s 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion on debt service costs” will be a betrayal of the people, is unassailable.

After all, we have been told that the house with split ACs fixed was nearing completion before it was abandoned. The then FCDA Executive Secretary, Adamu Ismail, was also quoted as telling the Senate Committee on FCT that the proposed additional N9bn ( slashed to about N6bn) by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) was meant to provide furniture, fencing, two additional protocol guest houses, a banquet hall and security gadgets.

Since the building can be put into other use in its current state, I think Minister Wike should just ignore the above variations and turn the building into other use as suggested by Osinbajo.

For him it becomes a win-win situation. He would have with one single stroke met the expectations of President Tinubu, a leader he desperately wants to please. He would have also distanced himself from his predecessors who for reasons other than altruism were prepared to shave others’ heads in their absence.

December 7, 2023