The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Return of structural adjustment programme

    Return of structural adjustment programme

    • By Chris Adetayo

    Is Nigeria back to implementing the cardinal policies that made up the IMF-recommended Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the late 1980s? A review of the actions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since taking office on May 29, will suggest so. In this event, what should Nigerians expect? Will the outcome be any different from that of the eight years of SAP under Ibrahim Babangida?

    Some background. In the early 1980s, Nigeria faced tremendous economic headwinds. Not exactly dissimilar to what obtains now. National debt had skyrocketed to over $20 billion; export was almost exclusively limited to crude oil and the collapse of its price in the international market meant huge budget deficits; budget deficits meant that many social services including health and education were hugely under-funded leading to statements like, “hospitals had become mere consulting clinics”; inflation was through the roof. The economy was simply in a bad state.

    When the economic downturn started under the Shehu Shagari Presidency, a quick-fire set of solutions, referred to as “austerity measures”, were put in place. One of these was the listing of certain goods as “essential commodities” (Essenco) for which import licences were granted to certain players in the economy. This was done to encourage local production and patronisation of non-essential “commodities” as a means of limiting the huge foreign exchange losses from importation. Getting an import licence became one of the fastest ways to get rich. But the “austerity measures” failed to turn the tide until the military forcibly took over the reins of government in December 1984.

    The military arrived, under Major General Muhammadu Buhari, and imposed even more draconian economic measures. The national currency was changed with little notice; borders were closed to stem smuggling; importation was severely restricted; “illegal aliens” were sent packing from the country in order to create more job opportunities for citizens, and lessen the pressure on infrastructure and the government expenses; and a fight against corruption and indiscipline was implemented with military-style enforcement. None changed the country’s economic fortunes. After 20 months, Buhari was removed by his peers and Babangida (IBB) took office.

    IBB started off by confronting the emotive issue of a $2.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund which was to be used to aid the recovery of the economy. But rather than take a decision, he put it up for a national debate. After three months, the national consensus was to not take the loan. Ever the populist (at least during the early part of his administration), IBB announced that Nigeria will not take up the loan. Instead, Nigeria will implement a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP).

    Instructively, SAP was inspired by the “conditionalities” that were tied to the rejected loan from the IMF. So while Nigeria did not take up the loan, it proceeded to implement key elements of the IMF recommendations. These include the privatisation and commercialisation of government-owned businesses; devaluation of the Naira; setting up of a Second-Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM); removal of subsidy on petroleum products; reduction of public spending on social services (especially education); expansion of the tax net; and dissolution of commodity marketing boards.

    The implementation of SAP caused massive social and economic upheaval. The middle class was essentially wiped out, as real income dwindled in the face of the depreciation of the Naira. This led to large numbers of well-trained Nigerians choosing to migrate to more clement climes. Several protests by students and organised labour tasked the patience and efforts of the military to maintain peace and order. Elder Statesmen protested in their own way, with a former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, publicly berating the government and demanding that it should implement its economic policies with “a human face and milk of kindness”.

    To ameliorate the situation, the IBB government also implemented what, in current parlance, will be termed “palliatives”. These included setting up the Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) with a remit to build infrastructure in the rural areas and support farmers to ensure better outputs; the Better Life for Rural Women (under the then First lady, Maryam Babangida) which focused largely on women’s needs; and the “donation” of buses to states and labour unions for mass transit purposes.

    In the final analysis, SAP failed. The economy never truly got off the ground despite an almost religious implementation of the policies. Household income remained low and never got close to peak 1981 levels; the economy’s dependence on petroleum exports was unceasing; and subsidies returned as the value of the naira continued to depreciate.

    To compound matters, the national debt grew to over $30 billion. Though the economy grew at a 5% rate, the 3% growth in population negated most of this (World Bank Report on SAP, 1994). Things got to a head when IBB admitted in an interview with Channels TV in 1992 that his administration’s economic policies had failed and the economy had defied any conventional solutions.

    Against this background, a review of the economic policies of President Tinubu so far, as well as those outlined by the President’s Policy Advisory Council, show several similarities with SAP. The removal of subsidies is straight from the SAP template. This has already been implemented for petrol, with prices more than doubling since the president’s inauguration. So is the desire to diversify the revenue base away from the sale of crude oil, a long-term pursuit of successive governments. The planned convergence of the Naira exchange rates which will inevitably lead to a depreciation is also SAP-inspired; the privatisation and or sale of the government’s stake in corporate assets; and the likely reduction in government subventions to some key sectors including tertiary education; all were part of SAP policies. Even the “palliative” discussions of today also mirror those of 35 years ago, especially the promised investments in infrastructure like roads and rail, and the supply of mass transit (electric) buses.

    Given the similarities, what is on ground to give Nigerians any assurance that the outcome of these policies will be different? That is the work that is staring the Tinubu administration in the face. True, the country does need “structural adjustments” and tough decisions need to be taken. The population growth rate is outpacing that of the economy and several policies of the Buhari administration did not help the cause of growth and development. Change is needed.

    In many ways, the Tinubu administration is lucky. For there is elite consensus on many of the decisions that it is taking or will take, including the removal of subsidy, and the convergence of the exchange rates of the Naira and its attendant devaluation. Even better, despite the sky-high inflation that these policies have engendered, labour unions and student bodies have responded with relative calm and an uncharacteristic show of understanding.

    But the government should not be fooled. While Nigerians know how to give leadership a chance, extended suffering will force a reaction. It is therefore in the interest of the administration that it ensures that its policies deliver on economic growth, reduced inflation, higher household income and production. Having chosen to re-run the same policies of a previous era, it must ensure that it delivers a better outcome, one that puts smiles on the faces of the suffering masses. It cannot afford to fail. Nigeria cannot afford another SAP failure.

    • Adetayo is a national and international affairs analyst.
  • Fake/authentic Igbo as IPOB’s philosophy

    Fake/authentic Igbo as IPOB’s philosophy

    Sir: The philosophy of trueborn, illegitimates, and vagabonds poisons the umbilicus of society. No society makes genuine progress through classism, caste-ism, native ordering, and social isolation.

    The Igbo phylum is a variegated one as it is with other ethnic species. Homogeneity does not exist in the true sense of the word among any ethnic classification. In the southeast, there are subgroups and splinter groups within the entity. There are also many varying derivative dialects across communities and towns, some of which native Igbo speakers may not understand.

    But one string binds all within the southeast and parts of the south-south ecosystem – all are Igbo. Nature bubbles in divergence and eclecticism. The beauty and wonders of our world are by the fashioning of heterogeneous intelligence. Man was not made to be culturally, socially, morphologically, and linguistically unipolar.

    It is the reason I have always argued that Nigeria’s heterogeneity is not the major factor for its seeming un-governability. Rather, it is the abuse and exploitation of differences; abnegation of civic duty, denuded understanding of citizenship, refusal to submit to the collective interest, native nationalism, and the absence of a rallying identity and cause, that are the denominators of Nigeria’s quandary.

    So, essentially, the argument that a Nigeria carved up along sectional contours will become united and prosperous is a slothful one. It shows a vacancy of thought and reason. Nigeria’s challenge is not its diversity, but the unwillingness of its people to be deliberate citizens.

    The antagonism, prejudice, hate and bias among the Igbo have reached depressing proportions in recent years with the birth of IPOB. The group has put a dagger to that which holds us together; turning brother against brother; clan against clan, and community against community.

    This group has played on the sentiments of the Igbo, weaponising native differences to keep the people in its thrall. According to this group, ‘authentic Igbos’ are those who support Biafra, and ‘fake Igbos’ are those who are against it. This is the propaganda deployed by the proscribed group to divide the people. IPOB has been decimated, but its dissentious philosophy prevails.

    It is concerning that an element of this divisive philosophy has been adopted by some to determine who is true-born Igbo and who is not.

    The revulsion to the appointment of Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff, who is from Igbo-Eze in Enugu, by people of the same stock is embarrassing. Those opposing his appointment say he is not Igbo enough – that he is from Igala speaking part of Enugu! This is mortifying. This revulsion plays into the prevailing philosophy of the proscribed group.

    Does this imply being ‘Igbo enough’ means one must be seen as an ethnic crusader; hold corrosive views of division; show prejudices and biases against other citizens? Does it imply one must be seen as representing the clan instead of the country? This is an abhorrent philosophy.

    Going by the proclivities of these traducers, it is clear that the only Igbo fitting for appointment is one who represents their biases. How tragic.

    I believe Igbo elders led by Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo should take an interest in the declension of Igbo society and in this disharmonious concept of ‘fake and authentic Igbo’. Why should a Nigerian of Igbo origin from Delta, Rivers, Benue, Kogi deny his origins? It is a question we need to address.

    No society makes real progress through caste-ism, native ordering, and social isolation.

    • Fredrick Nwabufo, fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com>
  • Open letter to Sanwo-Olu

    Open letter to Sanwo-Olu

    Sir: The primary objective of every government is to provide requisite social services to its citizenry. And although many might argue that a government deals with much more crucial matters than the mere provision of social amenities, it is a known fact that every governmental action – every sitting, every bill, every law and whatnot –  are geared toward bettering the citizenry’s living conditions.

    Mr. Governor, the first four years of your administration saw the state evolve into arguably the largest construction site in the country. Little wonder there was a spine-tingling ecstacy and ginger amongst Lagosians to ensure the continuity of your government considering its rich history with regard to service delivery. And today, a few months after an eventful electoral process, Lagosians can sit back and relax knowing full well that their beloved state is still under your direction at least for another four years. 

    Unfortunately, the first few days of your second term have been beset by the removal of petrol subsidy leading to a hike in pump prices which has consequently resulted in a rather astronomic increase in the cost of living across the state (and elsewhere). One major spinoff of this development is a more-than-hundred-percent increase in transport fares making things all the harder amidst an already existing hyper inflation, nationwide.

    Mr. Governor, although we are all affected by this development, it is quite saddening that students, who are arguably the worst hit victims, have been left all alone to bear the prongs of this episode. It is on this note that I write, to call your attention to the severity of our situation. Ordinarily, even without transportation constraints, students already have a mountain of expenses they endlessly struggle to bear, so considering the fact that most universities (public) in the state do not have halls of residence on campus while the few that do usually site them far away from campus grounds.

    The purpose of this letter is to seek your help in cushioning the effects of the hike in PMS prices. Some simple interventions will certainly abate our woes. One of such is the provision of palliative buses for students of public tertiary institutions in the state. And while we crave your indulgence on this, it is also imperative to inform you that, whereas many suggestions on how to cushion the effects of this period are usually only strong in rhetoric but weak in substance and practicality, this is a very realistic solution as proven by precedents.

    A similar system currently runs at the University of Lagos where buses donated by the state government transport students to and from the school campus; and only recently did your counterpart, AbdulRahmon AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, approve the deployment of government buses to support movement of students and workers in public tertiary institutions in his state.  And although we naturally expect Lagos State to pioneer moves like this, it is not too late, dear governor, to hearken to our cries.

    Not only will an urgent action in this regard etch your name on the hearts of students, it will also help rekindle the faith of Lagosians (students, especially) on the fact that you still remain the listening governor they elected into office.   

    •Mujeeb Awonuga,  Lagos State University, Ojo.

  • Reviving the dying culture of reading

    Reviving the dying culture of reading

    Sir: Once upon a time, Nigeria paraded the best set of authors and publishers in Africa. At that time, reading held innate affection for both young and old. The reading culture reflected so much on the quality of leadership and civil discipline that it brought pride to Nigerians anywhere in the world!

    Now, the rich literacy history is gradually being eroded. A new type of reading problem is sweeping our country. It is called Aliteracy – the quality or state of being able to read but being uninterested in doing so. Yes, reading which was once indulged in as a pleasure is now often spurned as a chore.

    Nigeria has been rated by the World Culture Score index as one of the countries in the world with the lowest reading culture. Available statistics from the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education show that 38 per cent of Nigerians are non-literate, as four in every 10 primary school children cannot read for comprehension. Regrettably, this adverse development is an ominous challenge that the country seems not to be paying the needed attention.

    Globally, the influence of new technology has altered the disposition to reading. Perhaps the most time-consuming competitor of reading is television. Also, the decline in the standard of education has seriously affected reading ability.

    Before now, schools engaged and participated in, reading activities to enhance the thinking and creative ability of students. But lack of availability of suitable reading materials, absence of well-designed reading activities, insufficiently trained staff to prosecute reading culture in schools and ineffective monitoring and evaluation of readership promotion programmes are constant challenges currently affecting readership development.

    Another possible factor contributing to the poor reading culture in Nigeria is perhaps that our socio-economic environment is not reader friendly. The daily struggle for economic survival provides little or no time for people to cultivate a good reading habit. Equally, high cost of books, particularly imported ones, as well as a dearth of dedicated quiet reading spaces like libraries, has contributed to low readership promotion in the country.

    It is commendable that certain individuals and organizations are making concerted efforts to revive the reading culture in the country. To improve the reading culture among young ones, more books should be procured for children than smart phones and tablets. Nigerian homes need to be fitted with more bookshelves and bookcases than flat screen TVs and laptops. There should be increased funding for the education sector and the government must take an active role in resuscitating good reading habits. Existing libraries should be refurbished, and there should be a redesign of the school curriculum to incorporate more reading activities. There should also be effective campaigns to bring back the libraries to our schools and communities.

    •Daniel Ighakpe, FESTAC Town, Lagos.

  • Art as life 

    Art as life 

    • The glorious story of an ex-international that just earned a first degree at 69

    Football is performing art.  What I’m doing now … painting is abstract art.  They form the creative arts.  Art to me is everything.  Art is life.” 

    That is the winsome testimony of Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong, 69, who just earned a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Jos, Plateau State, the best of his set.

    His trajectory, over the years, adds even more oomph: Ben Duamlong, Green Eagles goalkeeper, from the mid-1970s.  Ben Duamlong, coach, Nigeria U-20.  Ben Duamlong, assistant coach, Super Eagles (under chief coach Adegboye Onigbinde), Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup.  Ben Duamlong (retired 2016) coach of Kaduna United FC.  Ben Duamlong, 66, undergraduate, University of Jos.  Now, Ben Duamlong, 69, BA First Class, Fine Arts and best graduated student of his set!

    This bucks the normal youth-to-old-age activity.  But then with Duamlong, it seems almost planned.

    “Football did not disturb me,” Duamlong re-affirmed a boyhood and teen passion, yet not forgetting a deep thirst for education, which he carefully kept under wraps.  ”If I wanted, I would have gone to school of Basic Studies and then, straight to university.  But I wanted to play football.”

    Even then, he was careful enough to attain the higher school certificate (HSC) — the old “sixth form” before the 6-3-3-4 curriculum era.  Later, while playing for the Green Eagles in the mid 1970s (with the likes of Emmanuel Okala and Best Ogedegbe, as successors to iconic goalkeepers as Peter Fregene, Joe Erico and Eyo Essien), he took a correspondence course, in Fine Art, at a school in England.

    Later still, during his coaching career, he would enrol at the National Institute for Sports in Germany, from which he earned a diploma.  Indeed, these “off football” study stints, linked with his old HSC, would eventually boost his direct entry into the University of Jos Department of Fine and Applied Arts.  But all that still belonged to a distant future.

    He broke into the national limelight at the first National Sports Festival, 1973, in Lagos. After his HSC, he had travelled to Sapele to join Amukpe Lions FC, just bought over then by the New Nigerian Bank (NNB) Benin.  NNB would crest with the likes of Stephen Keshi and Henry Nwosu.  But at that early stage, Duamlong went to take over from Peter “the cat” Fregene, clearly the most flexible of all that ever manned the goal for Nigeria.

    But all too soon, fleeting youth vanished!  In 2016, he retired as coach of Kaduna United FC.  ”I stayed home doing nothing,”he recalled.  ”That is why I decided to go back to school.”

    A new era — from sports to school at old age — had begun.  It would peak with even greater glory: BA First Class Honours in Fine Arts, with cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.32 to boot — the very best in his set, with mates young enough to be his children.  Yet, he beat them all!

    Still, it was down to hard work, honed by his abiding passion for scholarship.  John Oyedemi, PhD, and Head of Department, who wrote the foreword to “Switch”, the former student’s first and only solo art exhibition, noted: “I once wondered how he got such energy and mental strength to work.  No wonder at graduation, he had the largest collection of paintings which was evidence of hard work.”

    Duamlong spoke of his exacting student regime: “Hard work.  Hard work.  Hard work.  There are some people that had graduated from the arts school before me that I went to beg to teach me at weekends,” he disclosed.  ”I go to church in the evenings, except there is an occasion that requires me to go in the morning.  When I come out in the morning, I would paint till 2-3 pm.  I really pushed myself very hard.”

    The grind, to and from school, was even more hectic: “Although I sent myself to school, I must wake up early to beat the traffic.  I would get to school before 8 am, because some classes start as early as 8.  Thereafter,” he added, “I would go to the first floor because our studios are on the 8th floor … Because of the stress, when I go up in the morning, I don’t come down until it’s time to go in the evenings.  The toilets are on the ground floor.  But I had to endure till around 5 pm before I came down.”

    Throw in a bad knee and hip — both of which he surgically corrected after completing his final degree papers — and you can feel the grim odyssey of not only earning a degree at 69 but also besting everyone.

    This is a living primer on how the mind can achieve anything on which it is set.  It’s a glorious reversal of the often grace-to-grass trajectory of Nigerian athletes.  It’s a primer from which sportspersons of all ages can tap.

  • Okorocha’s shadows

    Okorocha’s shadows

    • Killings in southeast demand urgent Federal Government’s attention

    It was a curious attack on a convoy without the presumed target, and further highlighted escalating insecurity in the country’s Southeast geo-political zone.  A police officer was tragically killed in the June 16 incident on the Okigwe-Enugu expressway.   

    Did the unknown gunmen think ex-Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha was in the convoy? What motivated the attack?  Were Okorocha’s political status and visibility factors in the attack?

     If the two-term ex-governor was the target of the violent attack in the state he governed for eight years, from 2011 to 2019, and which he represented in the Senate from 2019 to 2023, it was a blow against his standing in the state and showed that insecurity is no respecter of persons.     

    He lamented: “Why is it that after spending two days in Enugu peacefully, it was only when I came to Imo State that I was attacked? The convoy that brought me to Imo, when they were going back to Enugu, they were attacked and one person was killed.

    “The convoy helped to convey me to the burial ceremony of the mother of former governor Emeka Ihedioha. The convoy also dropped me at my Spibat mansion in Owerri. As they were driving back to Enugu, the convoy was attacked. This is so bad in Imo State.”

    The spokesperson for the police command in the state was reported saying the police would “ensure that the perpetrators are arrested and made to face the law.”  It should not be all talk and no action.

    It is commendable that Okorocha said he planned to visit the family of the police officer killed in the attack. According to him, he learned that the victim was “from Ogun State and left a wife and four little children.” The police authorities as well as the governments of Imo and Enugu states should ensure that the victim’s family is compensated for the unfortunate loss.

    The tragic incident prompted disturbing observations from Okorocha, who said “the killings in Imo are underreported.” He added: “Unfortunately, we are not making that known to the Federal Government. I wanted to bring it to the knowledge of the Federal Government to do something about it.

    “Now in the Ohaji/Egbema local government is a hotbed and most people have abandoned their homes… Daily, people are being killed.”

    It is unclear why he waited till now, when his life could have been in danger, to draw attention to the highly dangerous situation in his state. High-profile political players should not wait till their lives are threatened by insecurity before they fight for security. He notably mentioned working towards a meeting involving the incumbent governor and all former governors of the state to “share information” that would help end insecurity in the state.

    It is noteworthy that Okorocha and the state governor, Hope Uzodimma, are in conflict politically, even though they are both members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).  The governor is seeking reelection in the governorship election scheduled for November, and may not have the support of the ex-governor.  Their fight may well prevent a united effort to tackle insecurity in the state.

    Insecurity in the Southeast is compounded by the activities of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the proscribed separatist group known for using terroristic methods in its fight for an independent “Biafra land” made up of Nigeria’s five Southeast states, and parts of the South-south geo-political zone.

    Last year, the representative of the then Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, told a House of Representatives ad hoc committee that the Southeast secessionists “have been attacking our personnel, they have been killing our personnel. They have been retrieving arms from members of the security agencies, not only the police – the military and other paramilitary organisations that are there.”

    There is an urgent need to tackle insecurity, not only in Imo State, or the Southeast, but in the country as a whole. The security crisis demands a new approach that is holistic and effective.  The new President Bola Tinubu administration must rise to the challenge.  

  • A Nurse’s Tale

    A Nurse’s Tale

    In July, One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins UK will release an historical fiction, ‘A Nurse’s Tale’. It is inspired by the story of the daughter of an Alake of Abeokuta (as it was then known), OmoOba Adenrele Ademola, who served the UK during the second world war at Guy’s Hospital. It explores love, duty, sacrifice, and more. The Princess moved in royal circles in London and she accompanied her father to state occasions as well. She also did a broadcast for the BBC about her life as a nurse. 

    The author is Ola Awonubi, who holds an MA in Creative Writing and Imaginative Practice at the University of East London. In 2008 her short story ‘The Pink House’, won first prize in the National Words of Colour competition and another short story of hers The Go- slow Journey, won the first prize in the fiction category for Wasafiri’s New writing prize in 2009. Her first novel, ‘Love’s Persuasion’, was published by Ankara Press, an imprint of Cassava Republic, which also published her second book, ‘Love Me Unconditionally’. 

    “It is important to tell the story of this Nigerian nurse because it reveals the contributions Africans made to the war effort during the second World War, especially in a society where this is not public knowledge,” she told me. 

    Being a work based on a true-life story, she used characterisation, plot, voice, sense of place and point of view to make it creative and colourful. 

    “I researched what I could find about Adenrele’s life in London as not much information is available on her life when she returned to Nigeria. I then built on the information I found and created a dual narrative in the story,” Awonubi said.

    The novel is a product of three years of research, writing, working on edits and more writing. It is another African perspective on the war, which the West has lionised its role in. 

    It is worth looking forward to! 

  • Like Kainene, like Emmanuel

    Like Kainene, like Emmanuel

    When Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu pulled the Eastern region out of the Yakubu Jack Gowon-led Nigeria in 1967, he could not have had a clear idea of its reverberating effects, the eternal blows, the pains. His people were being killed in the North, and as a leader, he wanted to justifiably defend them, and breaking away from the enemy was the only way after talks failed. He was optimistic that the new republic would thrive. It failed. Spectacularly. And Ojukwu refused to write his account of the war, including his years in exile. Gowon, who is still alive, looks unlikely to write his war memoir.

    General Olusegun Obasanjo, who played an important role in the war, and many others, wrote books about it, but they can’t fill the void left by the heads of the two nations.

    The war claimed a man from Ebonyi named Emmanuel. In his memory, his brother, Iduma, named his son after him. That son is Emmanuel Iduma, novelist and creative non-fiction writer. Iduma is also the husband of celebrated novelist and author of two brilliant novels, ‘Stay With Me’, which won the Etisalat Prize for Fiction, and ‘A Spell of Good Things’, which is bound to win laurels home and abroad.

    For a long time, Emmanuel Iduma was curious about the man whose name he inherited. His curiosity is the subject of his latest book of non-fiction, ‘I Am Still with You’, a title derived from Psalm 139, Verse 18.

    The book is a personal account of the writer’s attempts to find out what happened to his uncle who family members said joined the Biafran army and fought against Nigeria. He never returned from the war and was deemed dead. This Emmanuel’s fate brings to mind the fictional Kainene in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Half of A Yellow Sun’, who disappeared after the Biafran war and was never seen again.

    There are many like that who simply vanished and have no graves their loved ones can point at. The only things they are left with are memories, memories that get blurred with time as Iduma found out while on the trail of his namesake.

    The search took the author from Lagos, where he calls home after returning from New York, where he had his graduate studies, to Afikpo, his home town in Ebonyi State, to Onitsha, the commercial capital of Anambra, and Nsukka, the university town where brilliant minds at the University of Nigeria provided the intellectual engine for the war. It also took him to key spots, such as Ahiara, Uli, Enugu, Umuahia and Aba, where the battle raged.

    He wrote: “To return is to be recognised and this is what I sought during my visit now to Afikpo — to be recognised, in some way, as the heir to my uncle’s life.”

    But Iduma’s search was constrained by the fact that the truth he was after was documented mostly in memories, recollections, and disjointed narratives. To help with understanding the past, Iduma examines the history of Igbo people from the Nri hegemony to the Aro era.

    In his search for what happened to his uncle, we learnt about his late father, the poet Christopher Okigbo, Ojukwu, and Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, a close friend of General Olusegun Obasanjo and one of the leaders of Nigeria’s first military coup. The coup was one of the series of events that led to the war.

    Iduma also went in search of the river that inspired Okigbo’s famous poem “The Passage”. But his enquiries in Okigbo didn’t yield any answer about Idoto River.

    The library at the University of Nigeria featured prominently in the book, where he, after efforts, had access to rare collections on the war. Onitsha, the home of his foster parents for the duration his father was in America for further studies, also gave him some answers, but not what he really wanted.

    In a lot of places, he found out that silence was a way people fought the pains related to the war.

    “They inherited, most acutely, an ability to transmute trauma into unvoiced questions,” Iduma wrote.

    The grief in this book is palpable, not just for the war, but also for recent losses in his family. “Everyone alive has been touched by death. But what of those who have passed from this life, what are they touched by? Love? How does love reach from one state of existence to another?” Iduma queried.

    Iduma also gives us snippets of his life with Ayobami Adebayo.

    With ‘I Am Still with You’, the author clearly shows that the healing from the war is not complete and it looks like it will remain so for a long time.  The existence of separatist organisations is one of the signs that all is not well. The feeling that the Igbo are being excluded from the country’s most coveted seat is another, the author’s personal view that there is no deliberate policy along this line notwithstanding. Many families remain broken. Monuments related to the war are poorly preserved.

    The book portrays Iduma as keen-eyed. There is a rhythmic stance to his prose that makes reading easy. The book also does us the favour of letting us know that the past is not really gone. It remains with us so long as it still dictates some of our actions and even inactions.

    My final take: Nigerians deserve the best, Nigerians deserve true sense of belonging and everything good should come to us irrespective of tongues and tribes. Our leaders owe us this simple task. We have not asked for the impossible. Have we?

  • Sanwo-Olu and leadership by walking about

    Sanwo-Olu and leadership by walking about

    • By Folashade Agusto

    As a management student, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu should be familiar with the concept of Management By Walking About (MBWA). Popularised in the early 1980s with the publication of a book detailing how a company like Hewlett Packard became a most admired multi-billion dollar technology firm which began from a garage by two young men, the concept shows that top organisational leaders perform more effectively when they go to the front lines from time to time to see how work is carried out, rather than sit in their cozy offices and rely on reports from their subordinates or field officers.

    The reports may be late or incomprehensive or doctored for one reason or another. The people on the front lines shouldn’t know when the top leaders are coming so that the leaders would see how things are really rather than see things which have been given a facelift in order to impress their bosses; rosy pictures of the state of affairs should be discouraged because they are likely to be misleading. Leaders who adopt this style have always been more effective and efficient than those who adopt the opposite style. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu embraced the leadership style of going round when he assumed office as the Lagos State governor, and he turned out to be an effective governor.

     But we should not overlook some of the risks inherent in this leadership style. While working incognito in December, 1999, as he was inspecting how refuse was being disposed of in the state, Tinubu was shot at by members of the Odua Peoples Congress at about 2 am. Still, the benefits of leadership by walking about remain abundant.

    If Governor Sanwo-Olu had adopted this style, the Ajah axis in the Lekki peninsula would not have been in the present mess. In fact, the contractor who did so-called repairs on the Ajah-Ado-Lamgbasa-Badore Road would not have got away with blue murder. In fact, he would not have thought of doing a shoddy job. A situation where the Lagos State Ministry of Works would record that the eight-kilometre road constructed by Asiwaju Tinubu has been repaired whereas practically nothing has been done would not have occurred.

    It is surprising that Sanwo-Olu did not visit this large community which forms an integral part of what is known as New Lagos. Of all Lagos State governors since 1999, he is the only one to have finished a term without visiting the contiguous Ajah, Ado, Langbasa and Badore communities which make up the Greater Ajah. Tinubu visited us more than once. Consequently, he built what is now known as the Catholic Church Road in Badore for the benefit of fishermen in the area who produce a large quantity of fish daily. This road is today in a shambles. It is not exciting that one administration would construct a road, but another cannot even maintain the same road.

    Tinubu also built the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road, thus enabling, among other serious economic activities, the dredging business in the vicinity to grow to an industrial scale. Much of the sand used in the development of the burgeoning real sector on Lagos Island is obtained from here, and the state government generates considerable revenue from this business. Tinubu’s vision for developing this road in 2007 must be farsighted. The residents and businesses as well as indigenes of these communities were pressing for a mere repair of the road which was a single lane built by the military government. But Tinubu rather built a dual carriageway and gave the contract to a multinational to ensure that it was done to international standards and that it would last for a good number of years.

    The development of this critical road led to the aggressive development of up to 120 housing estates within a few years and unexpected pressure on this lone road in this part of Lagos. This dual carriageway is today a shadow of itself. Tinubu must be shocked to see it in this present condition, despite the so-called repair work done on it a few weeks ago.

    Babatunde Fashola visited these communities many times. The results? The completion of the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road which Tinubu began, the construction of the road leading to First Unity Estate in Badore, the building of the road linking Ado and Langbasa, the construction of the Badore Mini Waterworks, and the construction of the Badore Jetty, as well as the lightening of the roads he built, including the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road he completed. We wonder how he will react should he visit these places and see the state of these facilities.

     Governor Akinwunmi Ambode also visited. He held a high-profile Town hall meeting at the Badore Jetty in August, 2016, with senators, former ministers, and first-class traditional rulers in attendance. He promised, among other things, to build roads to decongest the Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road and the Victoria Island-Epe Expressway. These roads he promised to construct were three, namely, one linking VGC to Lekki Phase One; a road from Oke Ira Nla in Ado leading to the Abraham Adesanya Housing Estate, and a road from around the Cooperative Villas Housing Estate to Lagos Business School. He pledged that work would start the following month. Ambode, who displayed an impressive knowledge of the geography and even history of these areas unfortunately failed to deliver on any of these promises. But he did build in record time the Jubilee Bridge at the Ajah Bus Stop which has reduced considerably the awful traffic bottleneck at this junction.

    Sanwo-Olu’s development record in the Greater Ajah area is regrettably non-existent. The bridge he started at VGC was abandoned well over a year ago, to say nothing about the road linking VGC and Lekki Phase One designed to reduce traffic on the Victoria Island-Epe Road.  He has just started his second term. He has an opportunity to create a better record, unlike Ambode who spent only one term in office. Even so, Ambode visited us and constructed the famous Jubilee Bridge. Governor Sanwo-Olu needs to visit this part of Lagos and see first-hand the state of the eight-kilometre Ajah-Ado-Langbasa-Badore Road as well as the abandoned Badore Jetty and the abandoned Badore Mini Water Works. He needs to build the roads his predecessor promised, so as to write his name in gold. Sanwo-Olu needs to embrace the style and strategy of leadership by walking about. He needs to visit all parts of Lagos and see project sites first-hand instead of relying on reports from subordinates, many of whom may be compromised by contractors and even their immediate supervisors.

    • Dr (Mrs) Agusto is a management consultant in Lagos.
  • ASUS eyes 30% share of laptop market

    ASUS eyes 30% share of laptop market

    Original equipment manufacturer (OEM), ASUS, yesterday said it currently has 25 per cent of the laptop consumer market but is pushing to increase it to 30 per cent as soon as possible.

    Its Country Manager for ASUS English Speaking Africa, Simplice Zaongo, who spoke in Lagos during the unveiling of the company’s new Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304), restated the commitment of the company to continue to make products that are of high quality to the Nigerian consumers.

    Zaongo said the company has continued to help in building skilled manpower in the country through its partners, TD Africa and Coscharis, adding that the company is the only OEM that gives customers global warranty to its customers.

    Speaking on the product, he said it is the world’s slimmest 13.3-inch OLED laptop that is also the most eco-friendly Zenbook ever, taking the brand’s signature qualities of ultraportable design, sustainability, and on-the-go performance to a new level, proving conclusively that less can be more.

    With a world-beating super-slim 1 centimeter (cm) profile and a super-light 1 kg chassis, he said the Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers no-compromise performance, connectivity and battery life, making it the epitome of ultraportable design, and finished in brand-new Basalt Gray or classic Ponder Blue.

    It’s also designed with the environment and carbon neutrality firmly in mind, using recycled metals and plastics in its construction, FSCTM Mix-certified packaging, an elegant new eco-friendly plasma ceramic aluminum for the Basalt Gray model, and halogen-free electronics, to make this the most eco-friendly Zenbook model we’ve ever produced.

    “The Zenbook series excels at delivering unrivaled on-the-go performance, and Zenbook S 13 OLED is no exception, harnessing the power of up to 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processors with 32 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. There’s a full set of I/O ports for on-the-go connections, and a long-lasting 63 Wh battery.

    “For immersive true-to-life visuals, Zenbook S 13 OLED has a gorgeous 16:10 2.8K (2880 x 1800) ASUS Lumina OLED display that’s Dolby Vision certified, with Pantone Validated color rendering and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification, ensuring incredible detail and the deepest black levels,” he said.

    Zaongo said: “Stunning innovations like Zenbook S 13 OLED represent the pinnacle of the Incredible Comes from within Zenboo spirit. The entire Zenbook series is designed and built for those in pursuit of the incredible, defining new industry standards for portability, performance, and battery life, with stunning ASUS Lumina OLED displays.”

    To achieve the super-slim 1 cm profile and super-light 1 kg weight of Zenbook S 13 OLED, several advanced techniques and materials are used in its design and construction to reduce the weight and dimensions compared to the previous generation, without compromising performance, connectivity or battery life.

    He said: “To achieve the incredibly slim profile, we’ve embedded a thinner yet fully featured FHD IR camera directly into the CNC-machined lid. We’ve also used a specially designed ultraslim OLED panel, resulting in a lid that’s 30per cent slimmer,” he explained.

    Optimized internal layout: By using precision CNC machining, we make more space available in the interior for components. We use circuit boards with fewer layers and a higher wiring density, with many more transistors, giving better performance with less weight in a more compact space. The motherboard is precision-engineered to house an additional, ultrathin fan that increases airflow for better cooling. This makes the lower part of the laptop about 25per cent slimmer.

    Materials choice: To minimize weight, durable and lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloy is used for the keyboard deck, formed with a CNC cutting process to create a rigid structure that doesn’t need any extra support. An extremely thin glass covering is used for the touchpad, resulting in a further 25per cent reduction in thickness in the keyboard deck.

    The result is a class-defining ultraportable laptop that takes thin and light to a whole new level without compromises: it supports up to 14 hours of video streaming, while offering improved cooling and performance compared to its predecessor. And despite its world-beating compact dimensions, Zenbook S 13 OLED retains full usability and features a comprehensive set of standard I/O ports.

    “ASUS is committed to do more with less through Zenbook. This device is an EPEAT Gold registered product that has a positive environmental impact across the entire product lifecycle, from material use and manufacturing, through to assembly, use, and end of life. We have mitigated its carbon footprint by incorporating recycled materials and designing more eco-conscious packaging. 

    “The device is the most eco-friendly Zenbook ever made, incorporating post-industrial recycled (PIR) magnesium-aluminum alloy in the keyboard cover, chassis and lid, reducing its carbon footprint by more than 50per cent. The keycaps and speakers incorporate post-consumer-recycled (PCR) plastics, and the speakers also use ocean-bound plastics. We have redesigned the packaging to be 100% recyclable, with reusable and compostable materials. It uses 100 per cent FSC Mix-certified paper from responsibly managed forests, controlled wood and recycled sources. The paper packing inserts can also be easily transformed into useful laptop stands. In addition, Zenbook S 13 OLED also exceeds the ENERGY STAR energy efficiency standard by 43% to reduce the electricity consumption. Via above mentioned sustainable actions, the overarching goal of this device’s sustainability initiatives is to achieve carbon neutrality.

    “For the first time, we have used a special manufacturing process to create an ASUS-exclusive plasma ceramic aluminum material for the lid. This process uses pure water and electricity, and no organic compounds, strong acids, or heavy metals are required. Instead, this low-environmental-impact bath-based method produces a physical and chemical transformation of the aluminum. This results in increased wear resistance, corrosion protection, thermal management, hardness , and lifespan,” he said.

    Along with the physical advantages, the look and feel of this material is similar to natural stone that resonates with the spirit of the Zenbook series. Incredibly, this makes each lid individually unique. No two are alike. A longer laptop lifespan also reduces long-term waste, so Zenbook 13 S OLED is stringently tested using the latest MIL-STD-810H US military-grade durability standard, with up to 12 test methods and 26 individual tests  – the world’s most strictly tested laptop durability.

    The Intel Evo-certified Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers the perfect blend of performance and portability, featuring up to a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor that can be boosted by 20% to a thermal design power (TDP) of up to 20 watts. This is supported by up to 32 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and an ultrafast 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD, with a long-lasting high-capacity 63 Wh battery. WiFi 6E enhanced with ASUS WiFi Master Premium ensures fast, stable connections. 

    Even though it’s ultra-compact, Zenbook S 13 OLED includes a full complement of I/O ports, so users don’t need to carry dongles or adapters on their travels. The two ultrafast Thunderbolt™ 4 USB-C ports support fast charging, 4K external displays, and up to 40 Gbps data transfers, and there’s also a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

    For enhanced video conferencing experiences on the go, the FHD IR camera includes AI-powered visual effects and AI noise-cancelling technology. It also supports fast and secure face login with Windows Hello. The powerful Harman Kardon-certified audio system with immersive Dolby Atmos sound has a smart amplifier combined with ASUS Audio Booster technology to boost volume by up to 5.25X.

    The 9.5per cent -larger ASUS ErgoSense touchpad allows easier navigation and is smooth, comfortable, and responsive, with an easy-to-clean anti-fingerprint coating

    For an immersive viewing experience, Zenbook S 13 OLED is equipped with a 16:10 ASUS Lumina OLED display-our brand-new name that’s only given to superior OLED displays that meet our strict quality criteria, and offer a visual experience that’s more accurate, more adaptive, and more reliable. ASUS Lumina OLED displays standardize highly-crafted visual solutions around the best OLED experience. The name also highlights the unique advantages and superior visual experience that go beyond traditional OLED displays. ASUS Lumina OLED displays feature exclusive ASUS technologies, such as ASUS Splendid and ASUS OLED Care, as well as new features like Delta E <1, power-saving, and panel protection. By integrating these elements, ASUS has created a highly-crafted solution that represents the pinnacle of OLED technology.

    With a resolution of 2.8K, a 0.2 millisecond response time and a color accuracy of Delta E <1, the stunning ASUS Lumina OLED display on Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers clearer, brighter and more vivid colors. As well as offering Dolby Vision certification, the display is also DisplayHDR True Black 500-certified for brilliant whites and the deepest blacks, and carries the Pantone Validated badge for industry-standard color fidelity. The cinema-grade 100per cent DCI-P3 color gamut delivers ultravivid colors, and ASUS Splendid allows the user to easily switch between this gamut and sRGB, Display-P3 or the native OLED gamut.

    The display is also certified for eye care by TÜV Rheinland and SGS with 70per cent-lower blue-light emissions, ensuring that the user’s eyes are comfortable for even during long viewing sessions. ASUS also provides free OLED screen exchange for any burn-in issues during the warranty period.