The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • In the Glo of an original Nigerian

    In the Glo of an original Nigerian

    There is always a special up-welling of patriotic zeal each time one encounters the hallowed deep green logo of the Glo brand. It is especially so across the borders say in Cotonu or Accra. One often lapses into the reverie of what might not have been had the Glo dream been extirpated. As this authentic and pioneering Nigerian brand rounds off a decade of GSM telephony in Nigeria and on the West Coast of Africa, one cannot help but be lured into a tribute to what has come to epitomize the typical Nigerian dream.

    Thereabouts August 29, 2003, Globacom Limited, an offshoot of the Mike Adenuga Group rolled out the Glo brand of mobile services. One still remembers the bold and almost inimitable launch show held at the freshly wrought Golden Gate Restaurant in Ikoyi, Lagos. The show featured Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka (WS) and juju music king, Sunny Ade. It was a sublime evening to be remembered for the delicate expression of culture, (Yoruba culture especially), intellectualism and a digital new horizon. One framed an especial image of WS seated on stage, behind a microphone with a pyrotechnic of lightning effects in the background. One also still remembers Sunny Ade cashing in on one of his old classic tunes, ‘365 is my number’, which he adapted to the moment to become ‘0805 is my number’. It was a product launch that became a cause célèbre in itself.

    If that memorable Glo launch sent a chill down the spine of competition, it also must have revealed to all interested parties, a fresh new insight into the persona of Adenuga, the one his friends and associates call the bull. It indeed requires the grit, the derring-do and the blood-thirstiness of a raging bull to have to first snatch the GSM licence and second, to sustain the new business for a decade in a peculiar Nigerian environment. The shenanigan over acquiring the licence is too detailed and complicated to recount here but suffice to say that Globacom was perhaps the only indigenous firm that bade in 2001 but the gormless government of the day denied it the licence preferring two foreign firms. Two years lapsed; two years of pleading, cajoling and perhaps horse-trading before there was a change of mind by the gods of that era. Two years of huge grounds lost to competition, of missed opportunities, of haemorrhaging through cost of funds, of dreams dangerously deferred and psychological aggravations.

    It is a tribute to Adenuga’s tenacity and vision that his flame was not quenched by the Nigerian factor which was obviously at play at that time. Obviously driven by forces unknown to the rest of us, he eventually got hold of the licence and launched his Glo brand of gsm service into a Nigerian market that had been assailed for two years by two South African brands – MTN and Econet; multinationals that had played the global system of mobile telephone service field for years in countries across Africa. Adenuga was undaunted, he took the multinationals on head long unsettling the market by crashing prices and unleashing new initiatives. In only a short while, Globacom made aggressive in-roads into Nigeria’s hinterland and soon, Glo became the network of choice for Nigerians.

    Today, glo has become an international brand hoisting Nigeria’s flag in Benin Republic, Ghana and perhaps Cote D’Ivoire. Today, Glo is a multinational in its own right; today it is a great Nigerian story, it is a metaphor for the immense untapped potentialities and capabilities of Nigeria and Nigerians. Glo is a testimony that from the ashes of a-once-upon-a-time NITEL can yet emerge a multinational global telecommunications empire that is purely Nigerian. But for Globacom, there may never have been an authentic Nigerian gsm firm operating in the virgin and highly lucrative Nigerian market. More important, Glo may well be the first original global brand of true Nigerian origin. Along with Dangote, Zenith, GTBank, Access and Transcorp, Nigerian businessmen have in the last decade shown their mettle to the world.

    On its 10th anniversary, every Nigerian must take pride in and salute Mike Adenuga and the Globacom family. Now that the national telecoms backbone (NITEL) is moribund, the entire telecoms data of Nigerians would have been solely in the hands of foreign firms if we hadn’t Glo; how foreboding. We urge the Glo team to continue to strive to build an institution that will conquer the world (yeah, rule your world) and last till eternity – that must be their binding credo.

    Ben Nwabueze’s book of life

    It is actually the book of his life; a life a little over four scores. Professor Benjamin Obiefuna Nwabueze (SAN) can be said to be peerless in Nigeria today as far as intellectual endeavor and output go. He has just released a combo of a biography – a two-volume 719-page story of his life. The book, titled: “Ben Nwabueze: His Life, Works and Times – An Autobiography” was released in Lagos recently. It is indeed the story of the rich life of a man who is not only prodigious in learning and knowledge but also in putting all these into a wonderful legacy of books. If you sought a truly learned man, Professor Nwanbueze is in a class apart and if you do not own any of his bulky collection of about 30 books, then you are probably not learned. Especially so if you are a lawyer and you have not read his land and constitutional law books then you must have studied in South Sandwich Trench, wherever that may be.

    He is among the last of Nigeria’s grandee generation – extremely sound of mind, deep in learning and culture. His life is a book that is worth reading having been everywhere, seen everything and perhaps done most things. He is a lawyer, a university teacher, businessman, boardroom player, public administrator, patriot and author. Much sought after in his hay days, he had done scholastic and legalistic duties in over a dozen countries of the world and helped in drafting constitution in another half a dozen countries. About 30 years ago, he was an honoree of the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNOM).

    Only one person is fit to tell the story of this grand old man from Atani, Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State and that is him. His autobiography may fittingly be described as a book of life.

  • LASG’s human ‘waste’ crisis and other tales

    Straight away, it’s a faux pas, a very embarrassing policy misjudgment that one believes the Lagos State Government must be giving a serious rethink right now. Something must have been amiss somewhere as one cannot imagine an enlightened cabinet as Governor Raji Fashola’s voting to ship ‘alien’ destitute and derelicts to the nearest bus stops away from Lagos, it’s an ill-digested novelty. And if we may remind, what this calls to mind is that governance (everywhere) need be more rigorous in its work, it must take especial pains to SOLVE problems not throw them into shredding machines and government must at all times, strive for the greater good of humanity for that is its raison d’etre. Having said that here are some points to ponder on the ‘deportation’ of the homeless 70 saga:

    ONE: People of Onitsha woke up last week to find a small crowd of hapless souls near the head bridge by Upper Iweka flyover. They had been dumped there in the dead of night by officials of the Lagos State Government, (LASG) they claimed and recounted a tale of woes. Officials of the LASG initially denied but when their denial would not stick, they told the ‘true’ story. Yes, it’s routine practice that had started for sometime, they are homeless destitute picked off the streets of Lagos and having rehabilitated them for a while, must send them back to their home states. LASG cannot possibly manage the influx of the dregs of the society into its burgeoning city. They were not dumped in Onitsha, they were reunited with their people, besides there is no ethnic undertone as the same method had been adopted for destitute from Oyo, Ogun and the north of Nigeria.

    TWO: The fact that LASG had to carry out the ‘operation’ in the dead of night then lied about it initially means that it must be aware that it is doing something wrong; something heartless and inhuman. Whether the ‘dumping’ had gone on for a decade or that the destitute are routinely and democratically dispersed into the four winds of Nigeria does not make the action right. It simply means that no rigour was applied to solving a social problem.

    THREE: LASG must learn to take the bitter with the sweet. A big city cannot be too picky about the people it wants within its borders. All the able-bodied, law-abiding, hardworking and creative ones are welcome; those who can generate taxes, and help build the city can stay while their wretched siblings must stay away? And to venture into the ethnic hue of the matter, you will not normally associate Igbo with destitution so if out of say one million, a hundred or two are banana cases the city should be able to accommodate that. It is called the law of averages which evens things out. Let’s also remember that every city of the world has destitution challenges – London, Paris, New York – the dirt poor and homeless are a part of the human race after all. There are Nigerians in some of these cities in fact, over two decades ago, Newswatch magazine reported on Nigeria’s destitute community in London.

    FOUR: It is true that Lagos State is a special case and deserves to enjoy some special status in the federation as has been canvassed by many for sometime now but regardless LASG must be upfront and paradigmatic in managing most of its challenges because they will only grow with the city. For instance destitution is likely to increase and not reduce in years to come so long term solutions are required. The Ministry of Social Welfare sure has a department in charge of derelicts, castaways and the wretched of the society; if this lowliest class in our midst has become such major challenge to the government, what thoughts have been put into the problem? What new grounds have been broken? Why can’t we have model camps and settlements in different locations for these dregs where they can be afforded proper rehabilitation? Why can’t we have a Destitute Fund like the Security Fund which individuals, other states and international bodies could contribute to with proper conceptualization and promptings? What is the public awareness and sensitization strategy for tackling this problem? How have other mega cities managed their own citizens of the streets? Who says Lagos City cannot create a universal model for managing this class of people? True, Lagos may have a case, its method is most baleful even to the city as we have seen from the backlash arising from the action so far.

    FIVE: With pervasive poor governance across the land and with the local government system effectively moribund in Nigeria today, social crises like destitution will assail us at a scale we have not known before. Since we cannot put these people into a compactor and tip them into the Lagos lagoon or the River Niger as the case may be, we must recourse to thinking better and working smarter.

    POPE FRANCIS AND ARCHBISHOP TUTU’S TAKES ON GAY MARRIAGE

    The gay war of attrition gains more grounds and big followership by the day and we the ‘victimized’ majority are taking a serious whacking. First it was the respected Archbishop Desmond Tutu who weighed in in favour of gay marriage when he declared that he will not serve a homophobic god. Now ‘homophobes’ is the ‘ugly’ name for those of us who think it is wrong for two men or women to engage in conjugal relationship not to talk of solemnizing matrimony. Gee, what a terrible name; it’s even worse than homosexual.

    If you thought you couldn’t begin to argue matters of faith with an archbishop, what do you do when the pontiff now makes a declaration on a matter of the kingdom? Nothing really one can add but what is sure is: there will be dire consequences when most of the world goes gay and secondly, God, through the bible condemns homosexuality in clear terms and that must be the standpoint and shield of the ‘homophobes’.

    THE RETURN OF UMARU DIKKO

    You must remember Alhaji Umaru Dikko, the doughty politician of the Second Republic who fled to self-exile to Britain after his party, National party of Nigeria (NPN) brought that era to perdition. Remember the episode of his being crated for repatriation by the Muhammadu Buhari administration for trial for his role in that highly corrupt era. All that is history now. He was pardoned long ago and he has been living quietly since until now. The Peoples Democratic Party has made him a member of the National Disciplinary Committee of the party. All the kakistocrats in the land are regrouping aren’t they? The auguries are not bright are they?

     

  • Summary of facts

    At no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence more manifest than in Ramadan. It is in that sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on the purpose of their existence on earth. Some people fasted actively last year but are no more today. Some put their feet at the door step of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some fell by the way side along the line. Some fasted with absolute faith in Allah and confidence in making use of the lessons of Ramadan. Some joined the spiritual train with no idea of their destination in the month.

    Segments of Ramadan

    At the beginning of this sacred month, an analysis was done in this column classifying the 30 or 29 days of Ramadan into three segments. The first segment was said to contain the first ten days of the month during which the blessings of Allah came to the faithful Muslims freely and in abundance. Except for meeting that segment with faith and good intention, there was no working for it. That segment ended after 10 days paving way for the second segment that began the following day.

    During the 10 day period of the second segment, most fasting Muslims intensified worship (‘Ibadah) by spending their days and nights seeking Allah’s forgiveness and by chanting Istighfar. But such forgiveness was neither automatic nor free. Usually, conditions were attached to it. One of such conditions was for every fasting Muslim to admit his/her misdeeds and repent of them. The second was for such Muslim to voluntarily and genuinely seek forgiveness. And the third condition was to resolve never to return to such misdeeds again. To seek Allah’s forgiveness during the month of Ramadan, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said that “if you want to speak with Allah, make your request on prostration. And if you want Allah to speak to you recite the Qur’an”. No one who abided by the above conditions and followed it scrupulously would ever be disappointed. Allah is both a promising and a fulfilling God. He never reneges on His promise. In Qur’an 2:186 He promises thus: “…when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad) about me, tell them that I am very close to them. I answer the prayers of whoever seeks my favour if he prays to me (without any intermediary). So, let them expect my favourable response and trust in me so that they may be rightly guided”

    Midway Ramadan

    Those second ten days were not just to consolidate on the blessings of the first ten days, they were also to prepare the fasting Muslims for the last ten days when they were expected to be fully liberated from the evil machinations of any Satanic forces.

    Human life is not measured by the time or manner of his or her death. In Islam, death is neither the consequence of sin nor the repercussion of ignorance. There are instances when the sinless dies and the sinful lives. There are also instances when the learned dies while the ignorant lives. The schedule of life and death is not in the custody of any human being. Death is a debt which every living being owes and must pay.

    Not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was spared of death or given a foreknowledge of it. Allah ordered him to say in the Q. 10:49 thus: “Say I have not the power to benefit or to harm myself except what Allah pleases. Unto every nation is a fixed term. When their terms expire, they cannot delay it by an hour nor can they bring it forth before its time”.

    This is a verse of the Qur’an which the ignorant ones have severally quoted and interpreted according to their whim. In their imagination, they want the Prophet to claim infallibility to enable them call him a liar.

    Nostalgia

    Some people dream but never live to realise their dreams. Some look but never see. It is only in the imagination of man that age should be a factor of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever is privileged to pass through this year’s Ramadan successfully should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after the sacred month. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

    In a few days time this year’s Ramadan will come to an end by the grace of Allah and we shall continue to look back with nostalgia to the good things we have done in the sacred month. For instance we shall remember that in no other month of Hijrah calendar is the role of Muslim women more pronounced than in Ramadan. Like in other months, they display the roles of wives, mothers as well as that of their husbands’ confidants. But more than in other months, they exhibit their religious dedication in Ramadan.

    In that sacred month they fast like their men counterparts. They pray five times daily like men do. They join those men in observing Tarawih. Some of them even attend Tafsir and public lectures. Yet they engage in their daily work just like their men counterparts either in the offices, shops, or farms. And they never relent in carrying out their matrimonial duties.

    Even as they assist their husbands financially in maintaining the homes, they still take care of those husbands as well as the children and relatives domestically. At the time of the day when the husbands are knocked out by fatigue arising from fasting, the wives are still busy in the kitchen preparing Iftar for the household. At the time in the night when some husbands are engaged in Tahajjud, or are snoring in bed, the wives are already up in the kitchen preparing the Sahur for the family.

    Some of these women are carrying pregnancy. Some are suckling their children. Some of them are knowledgeable enough to do the Tilawah (recitation of the Qur’an) like their husbands. Some are even rich enough to finance the home fully or partially.

    And, in all these activities, they never feel tired. Where and when they feel tired, they never show it. If any month has ever depicted the virtues of women, it is Ramadan and the women activities in it. If for the reason of their activities in Ramadan alone, they deserve tenderness and dignified treatment in the hands of their husbands.

    We shall also remember the role of our children in the month and then endeavour to ensure the continuity of those rewarding activities.

    Allah’s greatest gift

    Children are Allah’ greatest gift to man. Their presence in a house is blessing. Their contribution is immense. Those are children for you. They can act as much of teachers just as they are of students. They learn fast, they teach fast. They are a major security for parents in any given environment.

    Children play both temporal and spiritual roles in a matrimonial life. And with such roles, they sometimes create hope for humanity and sometimes, they signal despair. They are the greatest asset in the possession of parents in time of peace. They are also the greatest weapon for them against the forces of Satan.

    Because of their innocence, they pave way for God’s forgiveness and quick acceptance of prayers. And, most importantly, children guarantee the continuity of man’s existence on earth. It is only with them that the fulfilment of today’s promise is possible tomorrow.

    In the Qur’an, children are mentioned many times and most often with reverence. They are treated in that glorious book as a major issue in the life of man. As orphans, they do not only have a role to play, they also compel some adults to play a role relating to them.

    As heirs to their parents, they have substantial shares in inheritance. Muslim children are like cubs. They follow the footstep of their parents or guardians a lot. They are often with their parents during the five daily prayers. They watch their parents as the latter give charity to the poor. They accompany them to public lectures and Islamic social gatherings.

    And, in Ramadan, children are part of the Muslims’ total spiritual package. They wake up with them at night. They fast with them in the day. They break the fast with them at sunset. They join their parents at Tafsir and night lectures. They participate in Laylatul Qadr and in giving Zakatul Fitr to the poor.

    In all these activities, they are supposed to be encouraged. At the tender age of seven, they should be guided to fast even if for half a day. And when they reach the age of 10 they should be strengthened in faith and in religious deeds. They should be provided with necessities of life both on the temporal and spiritual grounds. With these, they will grow up to become the fulfilment of their parents’ dreams.

    Most children grow up as good or bad Muslims by emulating their parents. A child is therefore what his parents make him. If advantage of Ramadan is not taken by parents to mould their children into good Muslims what other platform will be used? Your child is your sun. Make hey while it shines.

    Neighbours

    We shall also recall how we related to our neighbours, especially the non-Muslims among them in that month. In Islam, neighbours are as important as the next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them. According to Bukhari and Muslim, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was reported to have sworn by Allah three times saying: “he does not believe in Allah whoever creates fear in his neighbours atrociously”

    In another Hadith also reported by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet was quoted as saying that “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day let him be nice to his neighbours and respect his guests”

    In the month of Ramadan a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He doubles his good deeds to his neighbours, extending generosity to them and cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He genuinely gives them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

    It does not matter whether the neighbours are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives. The Prophet did not discriminate in his Hadith when he was admonishing on neighbours. And that is the inalienable position of Islam on neighbours. Whoever, had quarrelled with his neighbours, therefore, let him go and settle the quarrel.

    Besides abstaining from foods, drinks and sex, in the month of Ramadan, a good Muslim must mind his relationship with people around him including neighbours. Fasting in the month of Ramadan cannot be taken in half measure. Whoever wants to receive full rewards for his religious activities in Ramadan let him treat his neighbours well. And, when Ramadan is over, the good deeds must be kept on. Ramadan is not made a pillar of Islam by accident. Its purpose is to return man to the original state of purity into which he was created. That Allah entrusts the world to man is also not by accident. Allah consulted wide and far before entrusting this great responsibility to man having volunteered to bear it. This much is revealed in Qur’an 33:71 thus: “We offered the trust (of the world) to the heavens; the earth and the mountains they all turned it down and were afraid of it. Man undertook to bear it but he has proved to be insincere and deceitful”. For man to re-examine himself, repent his misdeeds and be redeemed, therefore, Allah brought Ramadan as a means of rescue.

    Needs and wants

    It is in the month of Ramadan that Muslims reconfirm NEEDS rather than WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives. Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not, ordinarily, given to WANTS. They are more concerned about NEEDS than WANTS. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With NEEDS come contentment and satisfaction while WANTS are the cause of greed and avarice.

    Allah, the creator and Sustainer of the universe, had provided the needs of every living creature even before its creation. But then, He knew that of all those creatures man alone would go beyond NEEDS into the realm of WANTS. That was perhaps what informed the negative role which Satan assumed in the life of man shortly after the creation of Adam.

    By introducing WANTS to man, what Satan did was to create a permanent job for himself in the life of man. Without WANTS the world would not have been what it is today. Blood would not have been shed. Money would not have been deified. Hatred would not have been known to man. And, man’s inhumanity to man would have been totally averted.

    The effect of WANTS first became known when Qabil (Cain), the first son of Adam preferred his brother’s wife to his. In the argument which ensued, Qabil (Cain) killed his brother Habil (Abel) and combined the latter’s wife with his. Thus, greed and avarice became ingredients of man’s culture. And WANTS rather than NEEDS became the domineering factor in the life of man.

    Place of mosques

    One delightful thing in the sacred month was to note that Nigerian mosques were full of Muslim youths. By this, a silent Islamic renaissance seems to be going on especially in Nigerian society. It looks like a repeat of the situation that led to the formation of the Muslim Students’ Society (MSS) in 1954. With this development, two great possibilities are expected to sail Islam through the coast of good hope in the 21st century. One is the return of the mosque to its original objective. The other is the inalienable continuation of Islamic dynamism in reshaping the destiny of mankind. The hope that these two possibilities are achievable in the hands of today’s teeming Muslim youths is in fulfilment of a fundamental prophesy about the signs of the last days. One of these signs is that ‘the sun will start rising where it used to set’. The reference here is not to the physical sun. The Prophet was referring to the spiritual photosynthesis of the souls of mankind for the ultimate metamorphosis of those souls from mortality to immortality. The agent of photosynthesis in this case is Islam. And, the fulfilment of this prophesy is gradually being confirmed today either by technology or science.

    When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) established the very first Mosque in Madinah (Masjid Al-Qubah) in 622 A.C, the purpose was more than just Salat. To the Muslims the mosque is not supposed to be just a house of worship. It should also be a school, a library, a hospital, a court, a media centre and a parliament. Without the mosque, the unity of the Muslims would have been impossible.

    Mosque is the meeting place for offering Salat five times a day. It is the centre of congregation for Jum’at prayer every Friday. It brings the Muslims together twice in a year for congregational observance of Eidul-Fitr and Eidul-Adha. Yet, the meeting place called ‘Arafah which is the climax of Hajj is a mosque.

    The mosques in Makkah, Madinah, and Quds (Jerusalem) serve the same purpose as those in Cairo, Jakarta, Rio and Sydney. And, there is no difference between the mosque in Sokoto and the one in Rio de Janeiro .

    Generally, the mosque plays a central role in fortifying the unity of the Muslims wherever they are. But unfortunately, with time and crave for personal benefits, the mosque has been relegated to just a place for Salat alone. That is the real cause of the backwardness in which the Muslim Ummah is now wallowing. With the experience of the sacred month fasting Muslims have gained bounteously. Such bounties must not be lost. Today is the last Friday in this year’s Ramadan. It is our wish and prayer that we shall play active and positive roles during Ramadan in the years ahead in sha’Allah. Once again, ‘The Message’ column wishes its teeming readers, especially Muslims, Ramadan Karim and ‘Id Mubarak in advance.

     

  • A big deal

    A big deal

    It’s a small step for a party, but a big step for democracy.”

    “Let me go further. It’s a small step for a man, but a big step for a nation.”

    “Progressives finally have a fighting chance; they are moving from the margin of political existence to the centre of legislative and executive decision-making. In the twinkle of an eye, with the courage of an agency of government, progressivism has gotten rid of scaremongers. It’s a good day for progressives.”

    Opalaba went on and on as I feigned complete ignorance of what he was talking about.

    Of course, earlier in the day I had received a call from an excited Sunday Dare: “Good morning, Sir” and before I could answer, Sunday went on, as if he had borrowed a leaf from Opalaba’s playbook:

    “Oga is very excited, Sir. APC has been registered!”

    “Wow” I answered. That’s great. But isn’t the meeting supposed to be on Thursday? I asked, wondering if someone was trying to play a trick on us and make a fool of us.”

    “Yes, Sir” Sunday responded, “but for reasons best known to INEC, the meeting had been held earlier today (Wednesday) and Asiwaju has been on the phone with the leadership.”

    “Wonderful; Excellent; Oh, that’s so great. Now democracy is on course, I went on in my own excitement, forgetting for a moment that I was in my office.”

    Later in the night, we gathered together in my living room, with the Jagaban himself, who in fifteen years, has evolved and transformed himself, with palpable acts of courage and foresight to become the most acknowledged political strategist that Nigeria has ever produced. Bola Tinubu’s political enemies are still in political wilderness, and are not likely to vacate that space of irrelevance because they have failed to acknowledge his political wizardry. Simply put, the fact that Asiwaju has been able to pull this merger through, even if nothing more comes out of it, is a testament to his political skills.

    Fifteen years earlier in August 1998 in the same living room that we gathered to celebrate this merger on Wednesday night, we had agonised over the prospects of the participation of progressives in the Abdulsalami transition programme. It was a post-Egbe Omo Yoruba Convention reception in my house. With Baba Adesanya leading the discussion, the pros and cons were laid down and hotly debated. One view was that we needed to demand a national conference to discuss the way forward for the country and we must insist on constitutional provisions for a true federal system prior to any elections. Another view was that we must secure a territorial space from which we can advance our proposals for a true federal system. The meeting decided to give participation a chance so as not to cede our political space to the military backed politicians whose motives we knew.

    Progressives have always been purists, and that has been the nemesis of mainstreaming a progressive political agenda. After that decision and participation was endorsed, we moved from one political group to another because we didn’t want to have anything to do with some individuals who had collaborated with the military in one shape or form. I must confess that I have been one of the purists. But that is why I am not a politician. Bill Clinton, the American counterpart of Asiwaju Tinubu in the important task of political strategising once famously pronounced that politics is arithmetic. It’s a game of numbers. For a long time, we have failed the test of numbers largely because of our puritan tendencies.

    I was in deep thought about all these when Opalaba’s call came in and I pretended as if I knew nothing. He went on.

    “Why are you so quiet?” I expect some excitement from your end. This is why I am always worried about you egg-heads. When there is cause for jubilation, you turn inwards as if you have no emotion. Is it all about mind? Is reflection all there is to life? Get a life, my friend. Break the Champagne, right now and I’d propose the toast to the birth of a new baby: Ayo abara tintin!”

    “Wait a minute, my friend. Since when have you become so enthralled about politics? I am beginning to fear that old age is having its toll.”

    “You are right about that. This is probably my “Nunc Dimittis” moment. I have waited so long for progressives to have a real shot at the centre. Despite his genuine efforts and outstanding service to the masses, and his truthfulness to a progressive agenda, Chief Obafemi Awolowo wasn’t able to form a credible alternative to the reactionary clique that controlled the center in the first and second republics. Perception has always been the superior of reality in our political history. Now change is coming. Old alliances are broken and new ones taking effect because of the political sensitivity of one man and his ability to persuade like-minded folks. Progressives must doff their hats to Asiwaju Tinubu,” Opalaba concluded his beatitudes.

    “So you are actually ready to go now?” I asked my friend. “Remember now that shortly after he sang the song, Simeon, the author of Nunc Dimittis simply gave up the ghost! He just passed on because he had seen the glory of the Lord. Now that you have seen the glory of progressive politics, are you done? Should we start the arrangements?”

    “Of course, I knew that you would pounce on that. That’s the kind of friend you are. But it’s just the beginning, and the end is most definitely important. My only hope is that this beginning is not thwarted; that the leadership of the new party learns from experience; that internal democracy is their watchword; that they are sensitive to the presentation of a uniquely democratic alternative to the electorate because in the final analysis, it is what matters most. It’s a game of numbers.”

    “Surely, my friend, and I am one with you on these observations. What is particularly important is that All Progressives Congress (APC) is seen by all as a party of progressives with a progressive agenda focusing on the welfare of the people and a true federal arrangement. “

    When a former southwest governor queried the authenticity of the progressive label, I marveled at the misrepresentation of issues. On the part of that governor, the tie that binds the disparate entities of Nigeria together is oil. If wealth from oil gone, he suggests, Nigeria is no more. Yet it is true that oil wealth has not always been there and in those days of agricultural wealth, we observed how Nigeria held together through investment in human talents.

    The seat that that former governor occupied was the seat that Chief Obafemi Awolowo governed from. It is public record that Chief Obafemi Awolowo once defied the central government when he was given an unacceptable condition for the acceptance of federal subsidy. Awolowo told the central government to keep its funds because he could not sacrifice the educational agenda he had for the people on the altar of a federal promise that would scuttle that agenda. He successfully sourced internal revenue for his programme. That is what progressivism is about.

    It is not a coincidence that Asiwaju Tinubu famously resisted Obasanjo’s Federal Government intrusion into the affairs of Lagos State between 2003 and 2007 leading to the withholding of the states’ funds. And Lagos State did not collapse. That is what progressivism is about. There is a record for APC to emulate. Let’s get on with it.

  • Re: David Mark in the vortex of history

    Re: David Mark in the vortex of history

    Dear readers, this article was first published here February 17, 2012 and re-run March 30, 2012. I serve it to you a third time as this matter has assumed a global dimension; and embarrassingly so too. The Economist of London in its current edition brands Nigerian lawmakers as the highest paid in the world. There is nothing to add to it than to reiterate the Igbo adage that when a baby sobs and points at a direction, if its mother isn’t there, its father surely must be.

    Leaders without vision do not care about history. They are too dim and too enamored with the trappings of this fleeting moment to spare a thought for tomorrow. They bury themselves in the inane perquisites of today’s office and position; they deny the reality of tomorrow and ignore the power of history. But surely there will be tomorrow and history will be told as long as there is life on earth. If only leaders in positions would stop awhile and pop the question at themselves: how will history judge me?

    How will history judge the current Senate President, David Bonaventure Mark? I have elected to ask this question on this page for many reasons. First it was triggered by the news recently that each Senator will get a N16 million state-of-the-art jeep as official car and second, at the end of this tenure, he would have been in the Senate for a total of 16 years, eight of which would have been at the helm of the National Assembly (NASS) as Senate President. This position makes him the de facto number two man in the land. But most important, providence has hoisted him onto a position to tinker with history, to shape history, to direct history and in deed to make history. So we ask today, what has he done (will he do in the remaining period) with this gavel of history handed to him? But sorry to say that so far, he has bungled his moments in history and here are some reasons why:

    Poor personal leadership example: As has been mentioned above, the senate presidency is the second most powerful and influential position in the land and Mark would have done eight years by 2015. Under a more perspicacious and insightful personage, that position has the capacity to bring about far-reaching changes in Nigeria. By sheer effusion of personal examples from the man at the helm, the legislative arm (down to the State assemblies) would have been the unblinking moral compass of the various governments.

    We saw a glimmer of this leadership precept in the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He said he would uphold the rule of law, he showed practical examples at the critical time and soon the judiciary caught on to it and this was reflected in the court rulings of that time. He declared his assets and made it public for the whole world to see; the first time any president would do that in our recent history. Without being prompted, his vice and other governors followed suit. In less than three years, Yar’Adua made more salutary impact on the psyche of Nigerians and had more positive influence on our system than President Olusegun Obasanjo did in eight years. Today, the bonfire billowing in the upper chamber can be seen burning most assuredly in all the houses of assembly across the land. Just like the Senate, they have all become hollow chambers of mercantilism and debauchery.

    Lack of probity and transparency: All of a sudden Nigerians can’t tell anymore, how much their legislators earn. All we know now is that being a legislator in Nigeria (at any level) is the best job in the world. It must be the highest paying and most risk-free job known anywhere. Never a headache from any graft agency as other government officials suffer; in spite of the cries and clamour by the populace the legislature insists on creating a fiscal haven of its own that defies appropriation acts and revenue guidelines.

    The hallowed chambers of the National Assembly seem ensconced in the bosom of mammon and held spell bound by its self-awarded boundless perquisites of office. NASS is certainly the new honey pot of a rotten Republic. Legislators have become so licentious that they would corral banks into granting them billions of naira in loans to share. At what interest rates and costs to the taxpayer? It is on this framework that the current Senators would award themselves a N16 million official car in a time of severe austerity in the land. At a period the populace has been badgered into relinquishing the only ‘subsidy’ they enjoy; at a time that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has determined that 100 million Nigerians are dirt poor earning less the$1 a day. It is doubtful if any other senator anywhere in the world rides such an exotic machine at tax payers’ expense.

    Oversight function, oversight extortion: This is the most critical function of the legislature apart from passing bills. But this key instrument of check and balance has been bastardised and debased. It has become an instrument for self-aggrandisement and extortion. MDAs across the country are comatose and non-functioning because oversight function on them is weak or nonexistent. If the legislature is compromised by the MDAs where would it find the moral authority to exercise oversight? Any wonder things like turnaround maintenance (TAM) on our refineries are mired, a road project right under the nose of the Senate in Abuja is overpriced to the tune of N38 billion; corruption grows organic and cancerous in the land eating up the entire fabric of the society yet nobody seems to know what to do. What about the probe panels in various legislative assemblies? Mum is the word on this ‘cash cow’.

    People alienated and unrepresented: May we urge the Senate President to do an unscheduled tour of the constituency offices of his members and while at it, inspect the constituency projects for which huge funds are allotted to his members. It is a stark fact that most Nigerians do not know their legislators; there is hardly any functional constituency office anywhere, no projects for monies allotted and no town hall meetings. No country will grow one inch with legislators of this ilk.

    In conclusion, the NASS has become very toxic to this country, unbeknown to the members. The onus is on David Mark to resolve to pick his spot in history. Let’s note that history is not about the wealthiest man or the most powerful of his time but about he who brings the most positive change to his people and society. Fortunately he still has a bit of time. Few quick things he can do quietly with his colleagues include fashioning out a simple, workable code of conduct,; making sure that member have standard and functional constituency offices, ensure town hall meetings are held regularly by members, ensure that the auditor-general of the federation does his work and releases his annual report promptly, and ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the finances of the Senate. The Senate can rescue the country from the current slide down the slope if it resolves to have a fresh start.

  • Youth rights, elder rights, and generational integration•

    Youth rights, elder rights, and generational integration•

    The language of rights makes an interesting if not incongruous rendering of the relationship that the individual has or is expected to have to the community in typical African climes. The language of responsibility would appear to capture that relationship more appropriately. Still, we cannot pretend that the contemporary practice of rights has no bearing on the traditional expectation of responsibility. Indeed, it is now not uncommon for the most sacred of traditional institutions—the monarchy—to be embroiled in disputes that only get resolved by appeal to the language of rights—in the court of law.

    With an acknowledgement of the force of rights in contemporary societies then, we may address a few issues of significance to the social relations that subsist the African world,

    To focus the discussion, I would like to make an arbitrary distinction between tradition and contemporary iterations of some of the conditions that afflict the African world, including the social, political, economic, and cultural situations.

    Traditionally, the social condition of Africa cannot be described in paradisical terms. But it was also not as hellish as some may want us to believe. It was simple and rustic, orderly and peaceful before the era of greed and ego-driven ambitions set in. Individuals had a sense of place and a sense of their responsibilities within the community of interrelated persons.

    Everywhere now, the ideal of community is being rediscovered; but it was Africa that gave the idea to the world and it is to Africa that the world is looking for clues concerning the meaning and requirements of community. Unfortunately, Africa has moved on to other not-so-flattering ideals of life, including those that prioritise the good of individual accumulation and acquisition over the good of communal life. From “ajooje o dun benikan o ni, we moved to bamu bamu ni mo yo, emi o mo pebi n pomo enikookan. From the sweetness of cooperative living, we move to the worshipping of the self and contempt for the other.

    We have not been able to deal with this disastrous move effectively because the sanctions are no longer there.

    Contemporary political conditions ensure that traditional sanctions against egoistic acquisition are rendered illegal and illegitimate. And we keep getting better at institutionalizing corruption even when we make insincere noise about its unacceptability. Family name and community integrity used to be guided zealously. Thus a father would disown a son who brought shame to the family name through corrupt practices. And a whole community would distance itself from a member that brought it into disrepute. Today, a father would pressure a son to bring as much “dividends of democracy” to the family even if it means stealing billions and trillions of public funds. And there are traditional rulers who not only aid and abet “sons of the soil” known to be neck deep in corruption, but who themselves are active participants in the rush for contracts that are not to be executed because deals had been made.

    We now acquire political power with a distinct purpose of enriching the self as opposed to benefitting the people and the community. Yet we do it in the name of the people—my people need my service—and my service is to benefit no one but myself and my family.

    On account of our political conditions, our economy is matching forward in one step and backwards in four. I do not need to bore you with what you know. Indeed, young men and women are the major victims with unemployment as high as 40%. If four out of 10 youth members in a community are unable to get a decent job even after they do what we ask them to do—get a good education—the elders have shacked their responsibility and cannot be accorded respect. Traditionally, we know that “agba ti o lajeku yoo ru gba e doko. What is happening to our youths is a reflection of the poverty of the elderly efforts to provide for them.

    This may be why we are also not in a position to preach the gospel of culture. What culture? Orisa boo le gbe mi, fi mi sile boo ti ba mi. If our culture has been so bankrupted by the elders that the youth see no value in their immersion into it, we are doomed as a people. For culture identifies and while the phenomenon of cultural borrowing is still real, without our own identity, we are just going to become beggars in the land of other cultures. We are seeing this already. 70% of our elites don’t allow their children to speak Yoruba language in the house. This is even when both parents are Yoruba. The vogue is to have kids speak English as their mother tongue. Yet there is a large amount of good research on the benefits of the mother tongue for learning. Not only this, there is also plenty of good evidence that children are capable of learning and speaking multiple languages at very tender ages.

    An effective response to the conditions that militate against the progressive development of the African world is not just one that focuses on the youth. Indeed, from my submission above, the elders need a reorientation away from practices and institutions that damage the sense and spirit of community that has always been the strength of Africa and its Diaspora. It is for instance a thing of shame that the spiritual realm of contemporary Africa cannot be guaranteed as a solution to the challenge of crass materialism because the spiritual realm itself has become a theater of the absurd with cut-throat competition for sinful souls not because they need salvation but because it is their kind that the preacher needs for a fat bank account.

    There is a need to integrate spirit and matter. Surely the youth need a spiritual anchor that enables them to start firm and rooted in the face of the winds of change blowing across the African world. I submit however, that for that foundation to be strong, it has to be built on a solid material formation. We must prioritise institutions that cater to the material needs of the youth so as to give them the strength for spiritual renewal. It is not a coincidence that our people say that ebi kii wo nu ki oran mii woo. A hungry person is a potential prey or victim of spiritual swindlers. The community needs to guard its own from the vultures of religious zealotry. The poor are being promised virgins upon successful suicide mission and they easily buy it because of their condition. Assume that the nation has invested in the education of those young ones and has ensured that they had gainful employment upon completion of their studies; can anyone imagine that they would fall prey to the sugar-coated mouths of wicked mullahs?

    African peoples need a break from poverty, violence, political instability, and generalised social malaise. Africa has made some substantial contributions to the world culturally and spiritually. Now Africa and its people need to focus attention on building economic institutions that serve the purpose of cultural and spiritual renewal—institutions that prioritise the good of the community which ultimately translates into the good of individuals. If we bring together the collective efforts of the people to harness the collective resources of the people, there has to be bountiful results. Cooperatives and collectives have featured in our traditions with good results. We need to revive that spirit for the sake of the young ones who are fast losing hope in our collective humanity.

  • I see; therefore I know

    I see; therefore I know

    Opalaba has not been known to be effusive in his praise of any individual, talk less a politician. My friend cannot stand their kind. For in his view, they all thrive on deception, without vision and without an eye toward a lasting legacy. “How else do you describe a person who has a singular opportunity to do the most good for the most people and instead choose to line his pockets and those of his immediate families?” he asked. To which I would always ask why he chose not to throw his do-gooder hat in the ring if he was so moved to benefit the masses. And he has never had to pause for a second before he came up with a response: “apparently you are in a hurry to do your job as the executor of my estate,” he would charge. “Then desist from your boring complaint,” I would fire back.

    Given my friend’s aversion to politics and disdain for the political class, I was shocked to the marrow when Opalaba called with excitement to report what he considered to be the transformation going on in Oyo State. No, he wasn’t prepared to change his mind about politicians; he just thought that the feat that he was witnessing came from non-political minds; not from career politicians. “If you think about it” he observed, “it takes the discipline of the intellect to have vision and it takes the courage of the mind to bring it to fruition. Not all dreamers have the intellect or the courage to realise their dreams.”

    Not too long ago, I wrote about the mess that Oyo State in general and Ibadan in particular had become. In “Anikura as political hero”, I raised the question why a city that was once the headquarters of the most amazing developmental programmes in the entire continent can be so messed up and its people so traumatised that they couldn’t find the strength to extricate themselves from the deadly grip of a cabal. That is, until the cabal, blinded by the appearance of its invisibility, and choked by its insatiable greed did itself in and it didn’t need much strength for the people to liberate themselves. They voted for change and real transformation. It appears that, at last, they’re having their prayers answered.

    Opalaba’s excitement was infectious but no one was going to play any prank on me. I wasn’t going to be fooled again, even by a honey-coated tongue as my friend’s. He told me about the new network of roads, drainage systems, the aesthetics of the medians, the neighbourhood markets. “What is more”, my friend added, “it is not just Ibadan that is being transformed; it is a state-wide approach”, he remarked.

    “Good for them. But I don’t trust you and I have to see to believe.”

    “You are a philosopher, aren’t you? You don’t have to believe anything, including your own existence. I am surprised that seeing will make you believe.”

    “I wish you don’t dabble into what you don’t understand and just stick to your stethoscope. For in that space, you are the king. At any rate, seeing does not only make me a believer, it makes me a knower. What my koro koro eyes perceive, I do not doubt.”

    And so, I headed for the pace-setter state to see for myself.

    Though I had thought that narratives of the developmental efforts going on in Oyo state can be exaggerated, what I saw in Ibadan was simply unbelievable. From Elizabeth Road to Mokola junction, I encountered no traffic jam! From Challenge to Yemetu, it was a smooth ride. Iwo road used to be a driver’s nightmare. With less than 20 km stretch, you could be held up for hours. My friends related their nightmare scenarios on the road. With only 5 km to their house, they once spent three hours before they managed to turn around to seek a longer route. Now the same road takes less than 20 minutes.

    That the road network has made life easier for the people is an understatement. But there are two other issues, one I confirm for myself and the other was brought to my attention by common eye witnesses. First, the aesthetic dimension of the project is commendable. Functionality may come at the expense of beauty. But in the case of what is going on in Ibadan, it is clear that the steady eyes on a lasting legacy have ensured that beauty must not be sacrificed for the practical. Second is the dimension of quality. I was informed by ordinary folks who observed the contractors as they toiled on the projects, ensuring that the drainage system was built to last, the median was solid and the space under the fly- overs were beautifully fenced in against miscreants and vandals. I am told that similar projects are picking up across the state from Oyo to Ogbomosho and Iseyin.

    When I first saw the demolition of stalls and shops in December, I worried what would happen if the government wasn’t able to speed up the project and complete the roads in good time. Now, I know what it means to have the will to utilise the resources at one’s disposal. I also worried about the displaced petty traders albeit with unauthorised stalls. Now I know what it means to be a sound planner and compassionate administrator. I drove to the new neighbourhood market in Challenge and I saw traders and marketers happy with their new lease on life. I understand that there are more such markets springing up in neighbourhoods throughout the city and across the state.

    The Yoruba people are talented with words and witty sayings for any occasion. Proverbs are for them the search engine for hidden treasures in conversation. They say, for instance, that an enemy never succeeds in capturing a well-endowed bush-rat. No matter how big an enemy’s catch looks, it is always going to be derided as a bony little lizard. I thought about this when I read an interview granted by a former governor of the state. Among other things, he was asked about his perception of the impressive transformation going on in the state. To which he gave a politician’s response: a facelift has to have a human face, he said. A facelift must be gradual, he added. In other words, if you have the means to transform the state in one full bloom, why do it? Why not stretch it out? Here’s the question that didn’t come up in the interview: “For how long would the former governor have stretched out an infrastructure transformation agenda? Another four years? And then wait for an additional four to be able to attract investors who now seem to be coming in droves already?

    In a sense, I concede that what Governor Ajimobi is doing is what good governance is all about. It is what is expected of anyone who presents himself or herself for public office. It is also true however, that in this clime, we have not always been fortunate to have governors who take seriously their pledge to serve the people and promote the people’s interests. When we see one, we are naturally pleasantly surprised. That was how the phenomenon of Babatunde Fashola and the transformation of Lagos, including the Atlantic City project, stunned us and impressed us. That the Southwest is going currently through a genuine transformation should be a thing of joy. Sustaining the current efforts and preventing the return of the anikuras is a task in everyone’s interest.

    On my part, now that I see with my eyes, and I know of the efforts made and the outcomes achieved, I bow my hat to the vision of Governor Ajimobi and his team. Of course, it is not finished and there’s more to do. O tun ku nibon n dun. And as long as the spirit of the last two years still sustains the team, we can expect more wonders.

    I kept my promise to report my findings back to Opalaba and I commended him for his truthful account of the ongoing-projects in the state. “It’s because you see that you believe. Blessed are those that didn’t see but still believe” my friend responded.” Even the devil is capable of quoting the scripture!

  • The reign of the Kakistocrats

    The reign of the Kakistocrats

    They are prisoners of power Trapped in its glistening prism of time and space They are shackled in its golden chains and gilded bracelets Oh how they serve term…

    It will not be necessary to go into the labour of defining kakistocracy since examples and illustrations abound to make the meaning plain. This idea had been tugging at me for some time but was finally triggered by a report in the newspapers last Sunday. It is titled: “Anenih, Tukur’s feud deepens.” The report is a narrative of the endless dog-fights in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy. It details how the lingering bad blood running between Chief Tony Anenih, chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, chairman of the party. Professor Jerry Gana and Chief Ike Ekweremadu who were planning the convention of the party had gone to the chairman’s house for consultation. The chairman, Tukur was said to have shut them out, making them wait outside the gate of his palatial Abuja residence for over half an hour before they made an about turn, wooden-footed and cloudy faced.

    Party chairman, Tukur had rebuffed and rubbed dust on these who are no mean party members because they had been sent by BoT chairman, Anenih who deigns to control and fix the affairs of the party even though he occupies a mere ceremonial position. This mild drama happened late last week. By early this week, the entire Gana convention planning committee had been thrown in the dustbin for some woolly reason. But at the bottom of it all is power struggle. The PDP has been unable to hold a convention for some years neither has it been able to elect proper officers and committees. The ruling party is today, akin to a grounded aircraft that has been converted to an excursion site: though the engine hums and revs, it is incapable of lifting off the ground.

    This is vintage kakistocracy starkly illustrated. Kakistocracy is the reign of humdrum: humdrum people, humdrum party, humdrum government translating to a humdrum country. Kakistocracy is to be led by vacuous people who have lost touch with reality and have been too far disconnected from the people they lead that they are incapable of applying the reverse gear. Chief Emeka Anyaoku laid it bare only last Sunday. Giving a talk in Lagos, the eminent diplomat said the country is facing a crisis while our leaders and elite are living in denial of those facts. Dear readers, since we have known the likes of Anenih, Tukur, Gana, and co., did we ever know them for any public good, monumental performance in public service, social contract, national pride, flag and country? Ladies and gentlemen, has it not always been about vacancy in Aso Rock, juicy ministerial appointments, Nigerian Ports Authority, big contracts and political bickering? This is kakistocracy in practice.

    Kakistocracy is the very obtuse action of a president heaving plane loads of his cabinet members, governors and hangers-on (you may call them businessmen) across continents and oceans on a supposed state visit to China. The last time such a crowd was on a state visit anywhere was when the Queen of Sheba visited king Solomon: “She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels that bore spices, very much gold and precious stones;…” (1Kings 10 v.2 NKJV). That junket to China last week is perhaps the worst thing that has happened to the dignity and esteem of Nigeria since independence.

    Weight for weight, China does not have more resources than Nigeria and in fact, we have not tapped nary ten percent of our natural resources while our intellectual wealth is yet to be scratched. All the loans and grants from China we sing about, is just a small fraction of Nigeria’s one month oil earning or a small portion of losses to oil theft of about 400,000 barrels per day. Leveraging on this quantum of earnings, there is no amount the Chinese would give us that we can not muster ten times over. Indeed under a smart leadership, Nigeria ought to be lending money to China with a population of about 1.5 billion people. Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan is the only country in the world that cannot safeguard its strategic national assets. Since miscreants and petty rogues steal our oil and we don’t know what to do, we may consider drafting the Chinese navy.

    Kakistocracy is morbid politics of power for the sake of it. While the Chinese we love to visit acquire power for the sake of country, for the people, for building lasting monuments, and with the aim to transform their country to showpieces other nationals would marvel at, we hunt down power for the sake of it. We chase power to loot the treasury and cart away to China, South Africa and Switzerland. We grab power to destroy our institutions so that we can be tin gods.

    Kakistocracy is the presidency subverting order and the rule of law by supporting a renegade faction in a governors’ forum election; it is the torpedoing of the constitution and the impunity of hirelings trying to upstage a State House of Assembly by force. Kakistocracy is the presidency’s refusal to condemn the rampaging renegades who have brought the Rivers Assembly to a state of ferment and the entire state to a stand-still.

    Kakistocracy, to paraphrase Prof.Pat Utomi, is the prevalence in government, of people lacking in quality and capacity to govern; it is a place where there are no elders, where the elders have been compromised with contracts and appointments and all such gravy. Kakistocracy is leadership by the worst people in the land.

    LAST MUG: No Sam, it’s time to act: Dr. Sam Amadi’s piece, “It’s Time to Think,” on the back page of Thisday newspaper, July 12, 2013, is brilliant in espousing the current dangerous mindset of the people ruling Nigeria today. By the way, Amadi is the chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Committee (NERC). While one would forgive him for suggesting that Nigerians are empty and unthinking (which according to him, explains the current inertia in our national life), what is his NERC thinking in relentlessly increasing electricity tariff in the face of endless darkness? My brother I think NERC should do some work and … yes, think less.

    GEN. ALABI-ISAMA’S BIAFRA: Numerous readers of this column who have inundated me with enquiries as to how to get a copy of GEN. ALABI-ISAMA’S BOOK, “TRAGEDY OF HISTORY” reviewed on this page last week, may call the following number for copies of the book: 0811-513-1881

  • Gen. Alabi-Isama’s Biafara

    Gen. Alabi-Isama’s Biafara

    Biafra is dead, long live Biafra! This is the feeling on gets upon reading General Godwin Alabi-Isama’s recent interviews and upcoming book, The Tragedy of Victory. I have the rare privilege of interviewing the ebullient retired general and skimming through a review copy of his civil war memoir, to be presented to the public in Lagos on July 18 at the NIIA, Victoria Island. The Tragedy, according to Alabi-Isama, is the on-the-spot account of the Nigeria-Biafra war as prosecuted in the Atlantic theatre that is, the seas and rivers front of the war. He was involved with the 3Marine Commando (3MCDO) as Chief of Staff of the command and serving under such illustrious commanders as Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, Generals Alani Akinrinade and Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Alabi-Isama’s is a 670-page tome with the unique feature of containing hundreds of photographs taken during the war. It must represent one of the most captivating accounts of the Nigerian conflict coming from someone who was only a 27-year-old who played a major role in such a historic moment of a nation’s life. Here are some points to note:

    DEBUNKING OBASANJO: Before Alabi-Isama’s book, the only other book telling the war story from the federal government point of view is My command, written by General Olusegun Obasanjo. According to Alabi-Isama, his numerous war photographs and the need to put the lie to My Command prompted him to pen his account. He thinks Obasanjo’s book is an exercise in self-glorification, vain, misleading and full of lies. He never minced words in saying it. Page by page, he punched holes into Obasanjo’s book pointing out the inaccuracies, over-claims and outright lies. In his opinion, Obasanjo was cowardly, of low IQ and obdurate to boot especially in comparison with the other commanders he had served.

    A particular narrative in the book (page 409) is of how Obasanjo took over the command of the 3MCDO from Adekunle on May 16, 1969 just a few months to the end of the war tends to sum it all up. It is sub-titled: “Obasanjo’s first battle experience – a fiasco: Briefing over, Col. Obasanjo was ready to go as commander of 3MCDO, but his very first move was a disaster. In complete disregard to our advice, he planned an attack from the same problematic Sector 1 under Lt. Col.Godwin Ally. The target was again Ohoba, a town about 40 kilometres south of Owerri where Adekunle’s conventional war tactics had resulted in heavy casualties earlier on. Obasanjo did exactly what Adekunle had done by reinforcing failure. The pity of this failure, however, was that Obasanjo himself was not there at the war front to experience the tragedy. He ordered Lt. Col. Godwin Ally to counter-attack. He saw them advance, but turned back and travelled to his HQ in Port Harcourt, a distance of about 240 kilometres away. Obasanjo had no operational HQ in the field which we call command post in the army. He had no map of the operation, there was no intelligence report as to the strength of the enemy and their reinforcement capability, or how far behind their reserves were. He just thought that the troops would simply get up and capture the place. The atmosphere everywhere was abysmal…”

    A FEDERAL STORY: Beyond demystifying Obasanjo’s image as the great general and war hero who ended the conflict, the book is also largely a story about the federal side of the war. It offers us a rich detail of command structures, positions, operational strategies, tactics and a fresh insight on how the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon prosecuted the 30-month war. More than any other book on the Biafran war, The Tragedy regales us with interesting details of battles, encounters, skirmishes, environments and even the atmospherics of war. The book is dotted with numerous juicy tidbits that will be of interest to Nigerians, young and old. It is indeed the account of an officer who was truly in the thick of it from the beginning to the end particularly in the marine sector. And with the benefit of hindsight, he is able to point out some of the blunders made in prosecuting the war from both sides.

    COMMANDO WOMEN, CANNIBALISM AND PARTIES GALORE: The beauty of Alabi-Isama’s book is that the author has numerous photographs to corroborate his story. When he talks about commando Women, there are pictures showing the likes of Mrs Florence Ita-Giwa, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Margeret Ekpo and Cecelia Ekpenyong, to name a few in the thick of war ‘actions’. They were called 3MCDO ladies and were engaged in various odd duties including ‘intelligence’, cooking, party girls and whatever other uses soldiers put beautiful women in war zones to. And talking about parties, the book records so many scenes of dancing and frolicking one would wonder whether the Nigerian men in the war zones missed anything. Indeed, the impression is that war is ‘sweet’.

    There are other stories of cannibalism, ‘drinking’ garri with urine, a snake (perhaps an anaconda) swallowing a soldier and the troop thinking it to be witchcraft, etc.

    NDIGBO, THE POGROM, THEN AND NOW: Alabi-Isama admitted that yes, Igbo were slaughtered and that their may have been a pogrom but he rationalizes it to be the result of the killing of other tribe’s leaders in the first coup. He thinks that in a feudal system that the north was, when the leaders who won the bread are killed there is no telling the consequences. He admitted that in pre-war Nigeria, Igbo dominated everything – the civil service, trade and commerce as well as the armed forces and to have killed the leaders of the other tribes in a coup was unbearable for the feudal populace of the north. Though he did not state it so directly, his narrative shows that there was clearly Igbo envy at that period and the coup was only a needed excuse to seek to decimate and even terminate Ndigbo.

    The Tragedy is indeed a rich and refreshing angle in the Biafran story which every Nigerian must read but there will be a lot of questions he may be called upon to answer on the ‘Igbo question’.

  • Transformational Leadership Revisited

    Transformational Leadership Revisited

    The following is an updated version of a piece that appeared on this page three years ago. There is good reason for an update. Three years ago, with the emergence of the Jonathan presidency following the demise of former President Yar’Adua and the leadership struggle within the ruling party, a good number of citizens concerned about the need for a new beginning through the instrumentality of a transformational leader, invested their hope in Jonathan’s ability to provide such a leadership. Even those who didn’t see a messiah in Jonathan had hoped that his background placed him in a better position to provide the leadership for change in policy and attitude that the country sorely needed. Three years after, the question is: what has changed?

    While developmental projects matter and leadership is rightly judged on the basis of its success or failure in promoting the welfare of the people, what is even more important is the ability of the leader to steer citizens on the path of moral rectitude and attitudinal change. The challenge of leadership is leading by example, and on this, the scorecard of President Jonathan has been far less than exemplary.

    Three years ago, when I wrote about transformational times with the challenge to the President to lead the charge, a commentator wondered whether it was a realistic challenge when a section of the country was already deploying the “s” word.

    I surmised at that time that the revival of the “s” word, where “s” stands for secession, had a lot to do with public cynicism about the real motives of political actors; and we all knew that it wasn’t the first time that provocative word was deployed, having featured periodically in the checkered political history of this country beginning in 1953, then 1966 and 1993.

    Indeed, in 1967, it was not just a word that was deployed; an act was performed with devastating consequences. Since the tasting of that forbidding fruit, however, it seems to me that we have all been forced to accept the reality of our common fate. We are in this lifeboat together, and we either float or sink together. It is this reality that trumps cynicism for me.

    On the assumption that none of us as individuals, zones, or nationalities is suicidal, the question is “how do we float together?” This question faced us in 1970 at the end of the civil war. It was not properly addressed. It faced us in 1993 after the debacle of the annulment. It was not properly answered. On those occasions, leadership hubris intruded the zone of rationality, and rationality retreated. We are faced with exactly the same question now, and it will not go away unless we address it satisfactorily.

    The life boat analogy is apt for my purpose. The various scenarios that can sink a lifeboat are present in the case of this country at this time. Imagine some of the occupants deliberately puncturing a part of the lifeboat. Or imagine more occupants brought into the boat without expanding the boat. Or imagine some of the occupants of the boat being disproportionately tasked with paddling while others are forever napping. Surely with these kinds of issues, only a miracle can save the boat and its occupants. And no doubt, many Nigerians now believe that with our present situation only a miracle can save the country. I think it serves us better to actively work for our miracle to happen.

    In the last few months, we have seen the deliberate and sustained effort to spread fear concerning the 2015 elections. Again, there is nothing new about this. We once heard a former president declare that an election in which he was not going to be a candidate was a do-or-die affair. And we saw an investment of raw power and intrigue of the meanest kind in the federal elections of 2007. We also saw the house of cards built by that investment crumble before our very eyes. Shouldn’t that have sent a signal that Nigerians wanted a different direction in the matter of electoral integrity? And now there is nauseating chatter over the airwaves about the hell to expect should Jonathan fail to get a second term. Shouldn’t this President have read from the pages of history—even our own limited history—that citizens reward leaders who truly lead and they revile those who rely on raw power with no moral compunction? But where is the presidential rebuke of the loose talk going on?

    Just to pick on the very recent incidents, the President failed to show true leadership in the matter of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum elections even after the unsolicited revelations from members of the Northern Governors Forum. Instead he intensified the vain rhetoric about party discipline. Must party discipline be prioritised over conscience?

    Now we are witnessing a further escalation of the same crisis as the Rivers State Assembly is engaged in a macabre dance, the calculated outcome of which may be a declaration of a state of emergency. Should this be the ultimate goal of the brains behind the crisis, the question is what does the President expect to gain? How a president benefit from a politically engineered crisis that is aimed at removing the institutions of governance of a state, including the governor? What legacy does the President expect?

    Of the very important issues that the Jonathan presidency was expected to tackle and resolve for a lasting legacy, none is more important than that of keeping this lifeboat afloat. For this to succeed, we have to pay careful attention to its need for restructuring to avoid leakage and provide for its expansion in the light of new occupants being brought in in waves. A transformational leadership passionate for the survival and prosperity of the country and imbued with integrity is needed for this purpose.

    Only incurable and irrational egoists believe that this country rests on a solid foundation and therefore is not in need of a fundamental restructuring. But to argue with an irrational egoist is not only to endorse irrationality but to become a partner in irrationality. I am not willing to do that.

    The founding fathers of this country were patriots to the core. They held conferences in which they deliberated passionately on a fitting constitution for the country. They zeroed in on a federal structure as the best in the light of diverse nature of its peoples. Each region was to have its own constitution, its own coat of arms and flag. Each region was to keep up to 50% of the resources coming out of its land and the sweat of its people. Each country was to be responsible for some vital aspects of the lives of its people, including their internal security, their health and their education. The system they agreed upon worked; it generated healthy competition among the regions. It was not the structure that faltered; it was human nature that led to its collapse.

    What will save this lifeboat at this transformational time is a genuine effort on the part of the President engaging those transformational leaders who in their various stations have paid their dues and made enormous sacrifices for the survival of the country thus far to come together once more in one accord. Even politicians who may be thinking only in terms of political or sectional interests should get it right this time that the possibility of satisfying such interests is minimal in the light of the imminent and present danger of collapse the country is facing.

    No one doubts the poverty of values this country is experiencing now. From the horror of armed robbers to Boko Haram insurgents beheading innocent victims, and kidnappers making daily living uncertain in cities, we are inching closer to a failed state. The President must now resolve to actively engage all stakeholders to save this lifeboat through fundamental restructuring and thus preserve his legacy. President Jonathan must now choose the noble art of statesmanship over the odious craft of politicking. This is what transformational leadership is about.