The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Greatness in our future

    Greatness in our future

    It is undoubtedly very easy to give in to despair. You work hard with little to show for it, and very soon you convince yourself that cruel fate is at work. Just as it is for an individual, so it is for a collective. The narrative of the past fifty-two years, which has almost always been about the avoidable road bumps that characterise our journey as a nation, would appear to justify a pessimistic outlook on life. What with an inept and ego-driven leadership and a wretched and submissive followership always content on the crump from the table?

    A leadership without the proverbial fire in the belly cannot dream greatness for the nation. A followership that resigns itself to the hopelessness sanctified by a fatalistic belief system cannot be the gadfly that leadership needs. And so we trudge on aimlessly and despondently, leading ourselves to believe that there is no greatness in our future.

    That is, until such a time when one or a few of us defiantly challenge the tale that we tell about ourselves and inspire us to unlock the door of greatness in us and uncover the greatness in our future. They ask of that which is not, why it is not and then call upon the deep that inheres in them to bring it into existence.

    Great leaders who leave behind enduring legacies work at greatness. They are disciplined and well-focused. They have no room for small-mindedness. They are dreamers. The greatest need of our society, the most good we can do for its perpetuation, is to understand the psychology of the dreamers and visionaries among us and create more of them.

    Regrettably, we have taken a different path, choosing to reward mediocrity and honour small-mindedness. Even the honour and merit systems we designed are crumbling under the weight of political and bureaucratic incompetence. We not only disparage high-achievers in positions of leadership, we also endeavor to ruin the reputation they build over a lifetime of commitment to goodness. Think of the Golden Era of the West and the inspirational leadership that wrought it.

    These thoughts overwhelmed me as I read about the Eko Atlantic City Project and there comes gushing in an exciting stream of hope that the spirit of the 50s is once again beckoning us to greater heights. The first skyscraper was built with a similar vision. So was the first Olympic style stadium. And virgin land was turned into an industrial estate. What the visionaries of the day saw as the greatness of our future, detractors saw as wastage of resources. And now we are reliving the same old intriguing tale of vision versus blindness, foresight versus shortsightedness.

    The Eko Atlantic City initiative by the Lagos State Government under the visionary leadership of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola is becoming a reality even in our lifetime. The project, continuing the tradition of Public-Private Partnership for development, which the state government has launched in other areas, including transportation, has been described as an engineering marvel. Former United States President Bill Clinton saw it as “an ingenious engineering feat” and excitedly predicted that “there will be countless numbers of people coming here to study (it).” And for President Goodluck Jonathan, “Eko Atlantic City is bringing us happiness.” So the happiness that this project generates is supposed to be a bi-partisan one. We should all be in celebratory mood in a renewed hope for a changing narrative. Why?

    The pride and celebration that Eko Atlantic City project warrants is not just because it is a gigantic project. I can think of two more fundamental reasons. First, in the midst of our national malaise, with our disproportionate share of angst, we are now able to point to such “an ingenious engineering feat” as Bill Clinton describes it, coming out of the vision of an indigenous leadership. It is redemptive. It is a spirit-uplifting narrative.

    Second, there is a more practical reason. While the project has been described in idealistic terms, we must not forget the pragmatic dimensions that make it a worthwhile investment. Lagos has an estimated population of more than 15 million people and still growing. As a typical African population without the sense or discipline of population control, with a projected rate of growth of 2.7 per cent, Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Sound planning demands that adequate account be taken of the pain that comes with growing and appropriate steps taken to cushion its impact. With a projected 250, 000 homes and offices on 10 million square meters of reclaimed land, this engineering feat, and idealistic city project is also a practical solution to a real problem.

    In spite of the tangibility of its projected results, and the happiness that, in the words of the President, the project is bringing us, not everyone is in the mood for celebration. In a rather caustic statement, the Lagos State branch of the PDP accused the state government of misplaced priorities with respect to the Eko Atlantic project. The party, well aware of the praises from President Jonathan and former president Clinton, implied that both presidents were simply ignorant about the intentions of Governor Fashola and his ACN administration. According to media reports, the PDP suggested that the reclamation of the beach was only done for selfish reasons.

    Not being a utilitarian myself, I can see where the theory makes sense in this kind of context. What has motive got to do with this? Assume that Babatunde Fashola was motivated by self-interest, the question is whether the end result of the policy that he has put in place benefits the greatest number of people. And while the answer to this kind of question cannot be fully known prior to the full implementation of the policy, a utilitarian would argue that we have history as reference. We cannot wait until after the fact to make a determination. If we do, we would never know what to do. The question is whether this kind of action or policy has the tendency to promote the most good. And the answer is yes, it does. And the Presidents are right.

    Let us then celebrate our collective achievements in a bi-partisan spirit. Let us applaud the creative genius and the visionary leadership that gives us something that we “can be very proud of” even as we look forward to the successful completion of the project.

  • Clinton’s hornet’s nest

    Clinton’s hornet’s nest

    “Conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it”.

    Uthman San Fodio

    Nest, to the hornet, is a sanctuary. Whoever wants to stir it must be ready for painful sting. It was the words of Nigeria’s lotus eaters against those of the former American President, Bill Clinton in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last Tuesday. When the latter opened up on the cause of insecurity in Nigeria particularly concerning Boko Haram, hardly did he realise that he was stirring the hornet’s nest. As a man who knows because he is in a position to know, Bill Clinton openly identified poverty as the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria without minding whose ox was being gored.

    Commenting as a guest speaker on Nigeria’s insecurity at ThisDay Newspaper’s awards ceremony, the former US President canvassed some ways by which Nigeria could effectively deal with Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country. Among the ideas he suggested were poverty eradication, thorough education at all levels, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths.

    Highlighting some desired programmes urgently necessary for curbing the spate of violence and general insecurity in the country, Clinton said: “You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don’t have it. You already have all these political problems — and now violence — that appears to be rooted in religious differences as well as all the rhetoric of Boko Haram and others, but the truth is that poverty rate in the North is three times that of Lagos”.

    Counselling on the need to re-design the country’s economic management to the delight of all and sundry while pointing out that “too much inequality” was capable of limiting growth and opportunities among the citizens of a country, he stressed that only a redistribution of wealth would go a long way to address the prevalent violence and insecurity in Nigeria. He went further to say: “You have about three big challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of the countries who have one big resource, you have a number of ways with your own money. It shows you have different ways. Now you are at least not wasting the natural gas, you are developing and selling it through the pipelines. You have to do better job of managing the natural resources”.

    “Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic opportunities to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem peculiar to Nigeria. In almost every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas. So you have all these political problems for now even violence. There appears to be political and religious differences and now, the rhetoric of Boko Haram and all that. You have to build a powerful state and local governments as well as a national policy that works along. If you just keep trying to divide the power if you will, into loosening strategy, you have to figure out a way to devise a strategy that will help share the prosperity.”

    He then went further to advise that education should be used as a tool to tackle poverty among Nigerians, saying that if citizens were well educated they would be economically empowered and hence have less inclination towards violence. He opined that: “Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from her oil industry and is a major supplier to the US, must not take a “divide the pie” approach towards attacking poverty”. He therefore advised that governments at all levels needed to tackle youth unemployment which, according to him, is a major source of instability across the world.

    Bill Clinton was not the first experienced public figure to make such truthful but painful comments about Nigeria and her style of governance. On January 27, 2010, the US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton also spoke in the like manner about Nigeria in Nigeria. And the reactions that followed her statement were not in any way dissimilar from those that are now greeting Bill Clinton’s statement of last Tuesday. Incidentally, both Clintons are a couple but spoke differently and in different capacities. While the wife spoke in official capacity, the husband spoke in private capacity. But the coincidence in their speeches is not just in the similarity of their statements but also in the similarity in the reactions that greeted both speeches.

    Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” in that meeting with Nigeria’s State Department officials in Abuja Mrs. Hillary Clinton said “….The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, states and local levels … Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state.”

    Nigeria, she continued: “Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalisation that needs to be addressed. Describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others”. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”.

    However, in a spontaneous reaction, some members of the ruling party who were then in government virtually told Mrs. Clinton to shut up and mind her own business by leaving Nigeria alone. The resentment came through the mouth of the then Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who, in a swift statement, said Mrs Clinton’s remarks were baseless.

    He recalled that the ruling party had cause to comment on the relations between Nigeria and the United States, following President Barack Obama’s visit to Ghana, “which was viewed by some commentators as a slight to Nigeria”. In his words: “ Although the ‘ruling party’ saw Mrs Clinton’s “visit to Nigeria as a further expression of the age-long strong cordial diplomatic relations between both countries, we are at the same time concerned that some of her remarks are not only way off the mark but also based on misinformation. Her sweeping statement on what she calls a ‘failure of leadership’ does not correspond with the reality of present day Nigeria where a committed leadership operating within the realm of the rule of law holds sway”.

    Professor Alkali said the ‘ruling party’ found Mrs Clinton’s “condescending statements against our country and leaders not contextualised,” adding that she “seems to have taken her briefs from individuals or groups and other failed politicians who have an axe to grind with the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

    He added: “It is a fact that the present administration inherited a lot of challenges that were entrenched in the body polity for a long time since assumption of office in May 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has demonstrated a rare but firm commitment to right the wrongs of the past, using constitutional instruments in order to strengthen democratic governance in the country.”

    Despite leaving a bad taste in the mouth, Alkali’s statement did not bother Mrs. Clinton who knew Nigeria better than the respondent Nigerians. Her reaction was rather that of a Yoruba adage that says ‘a dog that refuses to respond to the warning whistle of the hunter is surely destined to stray into permanent perdition’. If Bill or Hillary Clinton were a Muslim, some fanatics especially in Nigerian media would have characteristically accused him/her of wanting to Islamise Nigeria just for telling the naked truth.

    However, to the great delight of reasonable and patriotic Nigerians, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in a statement signed by its then President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said it wished “to align itself with the statement credited to the US Secretary of State the summation of which was that corruption, amongst other factors, has caused failure of governance in Nigeria”.

    “We cannot agree less and note that President Yar’Adua admitted that Nigeria was facing challenges in its war against corruption and bid to reform its electoral system, which has underscored failure of governance at the federal, state and local government levels,” it said, adding: “This intervention could not have come at a better time than now when agents of the government are on the prowl, deploying viciously the weapon of blackmail against the leadership of the NBA who has long identified this and continues to clamour for change” .

    He continued: “Secretary Clinton having reiterated the position of the Bar it would, perhaps, not be out of place for those who are quick to stand logic on its head to satisfy greed, to conclude that the top diplomat, being a lawyer, must also belong to Action Congress or any of the opportunistic organisations dubbed parties.”

    It is not strange therefore, that last Tuesday’s comments by Bill Clinton have drawn similar parochially partisan reactions from those who are benefitting directly from the ongoing rot in the country. It seems that politics in Nigeria is an animal carcass on which idle vultures must feast without caring about the pollution which the odour there from would cause to the environment. Even a blind person can perceive the poverty in Nigeria or smell its odour. It is rather an added assault on the public to say that Mrs. Clinton in 2010 and Mr. Clinton in 2013 must have been briefed by certain individuals who are antagonistic to the ruling government. Such a statement could only have come from people of feeble minds who exemplify the ineptitude of Nigerian government.

    Just last December 22, (2012), the Nigeria Muslim Forum, UK, held its 22nd Annual Winter Conference at Stamford Court University of Leicester. Among the dignitaries from Nigeria who spoke at the conference were Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami, a senior lecturer at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi who is currently undergoing a PhD course at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General (Retired) Abdur-rahman Dambazau, who is also a fellow at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, US; former Minister for Federal Capital Territory Dr. Aliyu Modibbo and publisher of a Hausa newspaper, ‘Rariya’; the President, Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) and highly respected medical practitioner Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmad; the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Reverend Dr Mathew Hassan Kukah, who was unavoidably absent but made a pre-recorded video presentation; and Dr Abdullahi Shehu, a consultant neurologist at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, a founding member and one of the trustees of Forum.

    At the conference, General Dambazau’s paper titled ‘Poverty Alleviation, Security and Stability’ addressed the question from social, economic and political points of view. In the paper, he made the meaning of poverty clearer, using verified statistical indexes to buttress his arguments. The retired general also looked at the ranking of Nigeria on the poverty table which showed Nigeria as one of the 20 most poverty stricken countries in the world; and the North-West as the most hit while South-West of the country as the least affected.

    “In his own contribution to the discussions the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Mathew Kukah stressed that poverty was one of the main causes of intolerance in the society, which in turn leads to conflict and insecurity. He said people react to poverty in various manners and that they respond to conflict in ways they feel would bring them justice. He also blamed the deterioration of the situation in Nigeria on injustice and warned that injustice would continue to breed violence in the country unless something was quickly done to ensure equitable dispensation of justice. He explained that diversity should be seen as an advantage to the society as it enhances growth, “although in Northern Nigeria the reverse is the case due to the failure to manage it well in view of the crises the region now faces”. He therefore advocated respect for human dignity as opposed to simply tolerating each other and significant boost to governments’ poverty alleviation policies. He also urged the Diaspora communities to lend financial support and contribute constructive ideas towards tackling the challenges in order to elevate the status of the country internationally”.

    In an earlier similar statement he made in January 2012 about Boko Haram and causes of insecurity, Bishop Kukah said inter alia: “We live in a state of ineffective law enforcement and tragic social conditions. Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals have created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilized for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy”.

    “Three, religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival.

    Rather than rallying our people, some of our religious leaders have resorted to divisive utterances, wild allegations and insinuations against fellow adherents of other religions. In the last five or so days, text messages have been circulating across the country appealing to some of our worst demons. We are told that many senior clerics either believed or encouraged the circulation of these divisive and false text messages. We must condemn this for what it is….”.

    ‘THE MESSAGE’ needed to add a voice of reason to the ongoing brouhaha over Bill Clinton’s admonishing statement not only because Islam is the total way of Muslim life but also for posterity sake. Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and everyone has a right to express his/her feelings on any matter that commonly affects all of us. God bless those who continue to stand out in spite of man’s inhumanity to man.

  • Me, too died for seven minutes

    Since this must be the season for dying and resurrection, I, also suffered the Lazarus syndrome last Monday after reading what I want to call Patience’s profundus. Our adorable and freshly regenerated first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan had announced to the watching world last Sunday during a resurrection thanksgiving and party that she must have died for at least seven days last year but for the grace of God. I think I must have ‘died’ too while reading the account of her demise and how she eventually shamed death. I want to wager that not a few Nigerians must have been put to ‘death’ by that presidential opera if only for a brief moment. After all, are we not in a semi moribund state where most of the people are either perpetually lying in state of the state is lying to them?

    The first set of people who must have died by association to the wife of the president must be her aides and speechwriters. Dame Jonathan in one inspired moment tossed aside what must have been a carefully prepared speech and delved into what may yet be recorded as her most profound, off-the-cuff remarks ever. One is rather familiar with such situations when a principal cuts loose and dances far away from the choreographed paths at public functions. Their aides literally die, often on their feet and with eyes open. Frozen, petrified and indeed mummified by the open display of their principal, they remain helplessly ‘dead’ hoping that the star of the story would return to the well paved paths. It would amount to being doubly dead if your-principal-gone-loose was a Dame Patience Jonathan. I wasn’t there of course, but I could empathize with her aides throughout the duration of Madam’s spirit-led speech.

    While her aides ‘died’ because Madam must have ‘scattered’ a carefully plotted script that must have been consistent with earlier tales of travelling for holidays and rest, I had passed out for different reasons. I was in deathly shock upon realizing first hand, how Nigeria, our great country is run on lies; I died out of the wanton deceit and casual dishonorableness that define high offices in our land today. I died as a result of the starkly arid intellectual atmosphere pervading the land and the vacuous histrionics wafting from our seat of power. I died for seven minutes.

    But I was far luckier in my moribund state than our adorable first lady. Not because she was ‘away’ on death leave for all of seven days while I had only the leisure of just seven minutes but for several other reasons. First I don’t have such great valuables like exotic jewelry for my two-faced friends and hangers-on to make away with during my state of deadness. Surely I did not undergo any surgeries at all not to talk of nine by our dainty Dame. Though she forgot to tell us what ailed her tummy for her to suffer nine cuts and patches on it. I, of course have no such duodenal challenges to warrant such luxury of a multiple splicing. On the other hand, I would be a disgrace among well-healed Nigerian men and women. A well-rounded tummy and a healthy backside are the landmarks of the wealthy Nigerian person. I must be a poor specimen of the great Nigerian persona. Yes, I paint the picture of the average Nigerian journalist who has carved a niche lamenting about the great Nigerian debacle while others feed fat on it. But my only solace, as it has turned out now, is that one would not have to die of tummy trouble.

    Unlike our dear Dame who admonished Nigerians to stop playing politics with sicknesses, the nature of which they were not told, nobody played politics with my ‘sickness’ and my seven minutes situation. Who would want a mere columnist’s space anyway except those who wish for accelerated graying and a touch of white beard to boot. And if anybody politicized my condition, I could never have known because I was not playing politics with my demise either.

    The most profound aspect of the Dame’s pronouncement is her confessed realization of the vanity and futility of life. She said her experience thought her that there was nothing like First Lady, realizing that she was “a common woman and my name is simply Patience”. On this point, there may be a convergence of minds between us. Yours truly had long made shirt and trousers of the fact that life is but a candle, fluttering and futile. Me, I have always been simple Stephen; in fact, Steve for ease and convenience. I guess it is safe to say to Mrs. Jonathan, “welcome to my world, to terra firma.”

    Finally, while the Dame has sanitized Aso rock and exorcised the morbid demons that often seek to consume the occupants and as well as throw a Presidential feast to celebrate her survival, her fellow returnee from ‘dead’ has a word of advice for her. She must remember that someday soon (!) she will cease to be the number one woman in Nigeria. Then she will be truly, truly ‘common Patience’. What are we going to remember her for: dying and returning back to life after seven days; for having tummy challenges; for large ceremonies and parties; for building a mammoth edifice to some forlorn African women tin gods; for lending a voice against the wave of unprecedented violence against women and initiating help centres for women across senatorial zones; for fighting the rampaging maternal mortality in the country through mother and child hospitals?

    Now that God has delivered her, if only she can think legacy, she may well be remembered as one of the greatest women to pass through Aso Rock.

    LAST MUGS: (1 )Onolomemen and the 3rd Mainland Bridge: in one breath, the Works Minister, Mike Onolomemen tells us this bridge is safe and in another, he says there is need to start “progressive maintenance of the bridge,” which may cost as much as N5 billion. Though the bridge may not be on the verge of imminent collapse as feared by Sen. Gbenga Ashafa who is calling attention to it, we are suggesting a comprehensive review of the 35-year-old facility. Why don’t we get the builders to do this check? This government is often quite comfortable living in denial.

    (2) ICPC and the 4 governors: Not a few Nigerian must have been shocked by the remark credited to the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices (and Other Related Offences) Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta that four governors would soon be arraigned for trial. Who are these four? We will not say until investigations are completed, he says. But why is he flying such infantile if devious kite? Are these the same governors the other parallel Commission told us were to be tried a few months ago? Could ICPC and EFCC prosecute the same set of offenders? Is this another ploy for extortionate plea-bargaining that has tarred the work of EFCC? Not one governor has been successfully tried since 2003, where is ICPC going to start now? Why don’t we delineate areas for these two bodies?

    It is a pity that the very important job of fighting corruption has been mired by both ICPC and EFCC. Sadly, they seem to have become victims of their sordid environment.

  • An Olu Omo @60

    An Olu Omo @60

    This weekend I go back to Houston, Texas. Followers of the adventures of Egbe Omo Yoruba, North America and its struggle for democratic norms in this nation, may recall that it was in Houston that this organisation was first introduced into the consciousness of Nigerians with its Houston Declaration of 1997. With that declaration, the organisation resolved to, among others, “adopt a Yoruba flag and anthem in return to the tradition of regional autonomy in the years before the first military coup in Nigeria; work for a constitutional arrangement and political restructuring in which the Yoruba nation, along with other nationalities in Nigeria, has an unfettered autonomy that will advance the development of Yoruba civilisation as well as those of other nationalities; and use all legitimate mental and material resources of Yoruba people world-wide to advance the realisation of cultural, economic, and political autonomy for the Yoruba within the context of a multiethnic Nigerian democratic state.”

    Note that the spirit of the declaration was consistent with the practice of a true federal structure and nothing in it could be rationally interpreted as a threat to the unity of the nation. But of course, irrationality ruled the minds of those in control of the levers of power in those days. And the emphasis of the Houston Declaration on regional autonomy and political restructuring, regional flag and anthem hit the Nigerian military rulers and their civilian allies like a thunderbolt. They cried foul and threatened fire and brimstone. The Egbe rubbed it in with series of activities including launching the Yoruba Radio, Ijinle Ohun Odua. A number of individuals raised the bar of loyalty to that cause and served as the catalyst for whatever success was attributable to Egbe Omo Yoruba today. I go back to Houston this weekend to honour one of those individuals.

    Olu is his name; if you prefer its full length, Oluwamuyiwafunwa, (God brought this one to us). That was how his parents saw him as they welcomed the bundle of joy into their world sixty years ago. What they saw in his half-opened eyes on that day, we all can attest to sixty years later. As they acknowledged him then, we all do today. For we all see in Olu McGinnis Otubusin what God has brought to us-the love and care of a husband and father, the loyalty of a friend, the compassion of a boss, the professionalism of a learned gentleman, and the dependability of a comrade. In short we see in Olu an Omoluabi to the core.

    Naming in Africa, especially in Yorubaland, is a special gift that the ancestors as progenitors of the nation bestowed on the elders. Names have meaning, and as they would have us believe, names push their bearers to actualise their encoded meanings. (Oruko a maa ro omo). So you don’t find any Yoruba parent giving to their babies names that embed evil meanings.

    God never brings evil to His creatures and in the case of Olumuyiwa Otubusin, what God brought to us has been goodness personified.

    I first met Olu in January 1995 at the second Convention of Egbe Omo Yoruba in Los Angeles in the thick of the struggle for the redemption of our dear country. We were all passionate about the cause. We wanted the military out of our lives. We were embarrassed by the guts of the uniformed folks in annulling an election that was adjudged the freest and fairest in the history of the country. We wanted to restore democracy and shame the military. The meeting was a success as decisions were made to move forward with the struggle.

    As in every such event, however, you cannot rule out self-serving posturing. There were too many lizards lying on their bellies. I am reminded of the story that was once popularised by D. O. Fagunwa in Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje. The story was one of three stories that Irinkerindo claimed to have been told by Itandiran. It was the story of Ega (palm-bird) who had built her nest on a corn stem in a large corn farm and kept her babies in. One morning as she set out to look for food for the babies, she instructed them to listen carefully to the conversation between the farmer and his children regarding when they would harvest the corns. Back in the evening, the babies told her that the farmer had sent for his friends to help him the following day. Responding to this news, mother Ega was unperturbed. She told her babies to relax because the farmer’s friends will not show up. And they didn’t. The following day the babies gave another report. This time the farmer had sent for his relatives. Still, mother Ega was unmoved. This went on for days until finally the babies reported to their mother that they heard the farmer resolve that he himself would harvest his corns the following day. It was only then mother Ega panicked and moved her babies to another farm.

    The story is about dependability and trust. You’ve heard it: there are untrustworthy friends. Relatives are undependable. Comrades may betray you. But if you have the gift of discernment, you could tell. While the passion of a speech may not help, there is always something within that finds its way out in action. With Olu, it wasn’t long before a number of us discovered that fire in his belly. After the meeting, Olu called daily to make one suggestion or the other. He volunteered resources. It was clear to us that this young man was going to be a great asset to the efforts.

    Indeed, the Houston chapter couldn’t have had the longevity that it does without the committed leadership of Olu Otubusin. As few as the membership was, there was a cohesiveness of ideas and consistency of practical action in support of the cause of the larger Egbe.

    I can attest that Olu is a friend that does not disappoint; he is one that fulfills his promises; he is a professional that stands by his clients, and he is a comrade that doesn’t put his interests ahead of the group and the cause. I appreciate his dependability; I respect his intellect; I adore his selflessness; I am amazed at his generosity of spirit; I stand in awe of his humility; and above all, I applaud his Godliness. As the Word has it, there is a lot of reward for the Godly and contented. For Olu, the reward is certain.

    It was at the Houston Convention that I was elected President of the Egbe Omo Yoruba, serving from 1997 to 1999. It was in the thick of the struggle when we had to deploy all resources to fight the aggressors and defend our people. Olu was in the cabinet as the Legal Secretary. He put everything he got into the activities of the Egbe and more. He was behind every decision. He was relentless in his advocacy for the cause. In 1999, he took over as President and carried the Egbe to greater heights. When I chose to retire from active participation, I confided in him and he understood and agreed to stay on to ensure that the struggles of those years didn’t come to naught.

    For the Yoruba, Omoluabi is the height and depth of good character. Olu Omo is the one that stands out in the family and among friends as the epitome of courage, decency, generosity, charitableness and friendliness. Olu Otubusin is an Olu Omo. I salute him on his 60th birthday and welcome him to the club. Igba odun, odun kan. Ire owo, Ire omo, Ire aiku pari iwa. Ase.

  • Solution to terrorism

    As traditionally done quarterly, the topmost echelon of Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC) held a two day meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last week Monday and Tuesday (February 11 and 12, 2013). Yours sincerely was invited to the meeting as a guest speaker but the presentation of my paper entitled ‘TERRORISM: GENESIS, CAUSES, EFFECT and SOLUTION’ did not take place due to what was called ‘time constraint’. Thus, for the benefit of all and sundry I hereby present the speech which I termed ‘Pep Talk’. Please, read on:

    “In Yoruba ancient mythology, a dragon fly dancing on the surface of a stream was believed to symbolise a puzzling omen. But convinced that killing the fly would not remove the omen, the elders consulted an oracle which disclosed that the dancing dragon fly had its drummer beneath the water. Unless that drummer could be identified and stopped from drumming, the dragon fly might continue to frighten the stream water drawers with its puzzling dance.

    The similitude of terrorism anywhere in the world is like that of a suffocating smoke spirally oozing out of the chimney of a kitchen and dangerously polluting the environment for everybody. To stop the ensuing pollution and save people from its suffocating effect, dispelling the smoke can never be a solution. For as long as the fire keeps burning inside the kitchen and gives vent to the oozing smoke, the environment will continue to be polluted unabatedly. In that situation, it can only be wiser to quench the fire than to chase the smoke around. Dispelling the smoke can never have any effect on the burning fire. On the other hand, quenching the fire will automatically stop the polluting smoke.

    In the same token, dialoguing with the terrorist as a way of solving Nigeria’s problem of insecurity will serve as a better option than engaging any group of terrorists in a very costly war of attrition. People who have no value for their own lives cannot respect any value in other people’s lives. And in any ensuing melee, it is the innocent people that will invariably pay the price. Perhaps that was what the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua considered when he granted the Southsouth militants an unconditional amnesty before asking them to lay down their weapons. The same solution ought to have been applied using the same principle in the case of Boko Haram if only to enable peace return Nigeria for the purpose of progress.

    It may be quite parochial and self-deceptive to think that the current trend of terrorism around the world is all about religion. The historical factors that gave rise to terrorism clearly transcended religion. When the first act of terrorism was perpetrated by a Jewish Zealot group, about 2,000 years ago, neither Christianity nor Islam had taken any firm root. Though Prophet Isa (Jesus) had come and gone by then, his divine mission had not reached the Gentile. And Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had not been born. If violence alone is what constitutes terrorism as many people wrongly tend to believe, then, it never emanated from religion though religion has sometimes been used as a cover up and blamed for it. No genuine message from God ordains or supports violence of any form among human beings.

    Therefore, the engendered terrorism by the Jewish Zealots in 06 CE was rather a violent expression of resentment for the domination of the Jews by the Roman Gentile than a fight between two religions (see Luke 6:15, Acts 1: 13 and Mathew 10: 4 for confirmation). By connotation, that resentment was a resistance to the domination of a culture by another culture. Thus, as it was in the beginning, so it is today. From the above brief historical account, it is clear that terrorism is neither a phenomenon peculiar to the modern time nor a new innovation rooted in religion. And its causes and effects remain the same today as they were some centuries back.

    What should be understood about terrorists’ method of operation is that any evil doer will look for a justifying reason, whether tenable or untenable, to indulge in evil deed. And the reason often given is one which appeals to people of like minds at least in the neighbourhood. This is to elicit their sympathy and support. The common denominator among all terrorists is the theory of “using what you have to get what you want”. This theory has a fundamental meaning to all agitators in their quest for redress against what they perceive as injustice.

    Terrorists are like cultists whose nefarious atrocities are carried out secretly. And no secret activity is ever carried out by any group without involvement of an oath and sometimes, consumption of intoxicants in the case of terrorists. Terrorism is not about violence alone. Its causes and effects are as various and as multi-dimensional as the circumstances that brought them to bear.

    Bothered by these causes and effects of terrorism in modern time, a German dramatist and social critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) who was a son of a Protestant Minister and one of the leaders of thought and enlightenment in his time came up with the following stanza:

    “There are good men in every land; the tree of life has many branches and roots; let not the topmost twig presume to think that it alone has sprung from the mother earth; we did not choose our races by ourselves; Jews, Muslims, Christians, all alike are men; let me hope I have found in you a man”.

    In the quoted poem above, Lessing did not restrict his view to religion alone. He was actually talking about human rights and the justice that ought to serve as its vehicle. As a German and a Protestant, he believed that differences in race and faith ought not to be the main determinant of human coexistence. This is a fact that eluded Adolf Hitler in his blind pursuit of racial supremacy that precipitated the World War II.

    When he was innocently coining that famous poem, Lessing was hardly aware of the contents of the Qur’an regarding the harmonious coexistence of mankind irrespective of the differences in races, colours and faiths as divinely ordained in that divine Book of Islam. The Almighty Allah who created the entire universe tells us in Qur’an 49:13 thus: “Oh mankind! We have created you males and females and classified you into races and tribes that you may interact (and benefit from your diversity); surely the best of you are the ones who fear God most”. It is unimaginable that any sane human being will ever want to engage in terrorism using religion as a cloak.

    It is not only in Nigeria that some vandals like Boko Haram and Akhwat Akwop are using religion (Islam and Christianity respectively) as alibi for terrorism. At least the case of Joseph Kony of Uganda who has been waging a rebellious war on his country and on Central Africa Republic in the name of Jesus is still very current. For the past two decades or thereabout, that former Catholic altar boy from northern Uganda has been using Biblical 10 Commandments to execute his terrorist activities in the region by recruiting thousands of kids into his army and by killing and maiming innocent women and children indiscriminately.

    Joseph Kony and his over 3,000 heavily armed men constituting a terror army are still a minority among Ugandan Christians just as Boko Haram members in Nigeria are a minority group among Nigerian Muslims. Yet, this does not make Kony a crusader for God neither are his satanic activities related to Christianity in the media. Anybody can give any religious reason, according to his or her interpretation of the religion in question for engaging in terrorism, in order to get what he/she wants. And that does not make him a true follower or representative of that religion.

    It will be a grave mistake to continue to proclaim Boko Haram a faceless body when some scores of its members are held in government’s detention. At least those members were arrested and detained for being members of the terrorist group. That is however based on the assumption that the group is still operating as a single body that it was a couple of years ago. As a matter of fact, Akhwat Akwop (Nigeria’s Christian group that operates in the name of Christianity) is more fitting into allegation of facelessness than Boko Haram. If dialoguing with a single group of Boko Haram was difficult in the past because of the amphibious nature of its terrorist activities, the presence of those arrested detained among them has surely changed any claim of the group’s facelessness. People who are firmly held in government detention cannot be said to be faceless. The concern here is much more about national security, through safety of lives and property than apportioning blames through religious sentiments.

    Terrorism often begins with ordinary militancy. But when the threat of state power is intensified against rebels, an all out violence becomes the necessary weapon with which to counter what the rebels consider to be state terrorism. Thus, to those called terrorists, violent activities are only a counter terrorism. The South/South of Nigeria is a good example of this.

    Seemingly, the most effective means of curbing terrorism is reasonable dialogue which the UN must seriously facilitate with sincerity and self-dignity. This can only become possible if the notion of super and veto powers are obliterated or de-emphasized at least to enable concerned parties dialogue on equal level. The lopsidedness created by the super power syndrome has turned the whole world into one massive animal farm in which all animals are supposed to be equal but some are claiming to be more equal than others. This was the kind of situation which forced the former colonies to rebel against their colonizers in various ways in order to become independent. And today, none of the allied forces fighting terrorism in the name of NATO can claim to have won any.

    Tragic and condemnable as it is, international terrorism only accentuates the bitter resistance of certain cultures to the domination of others especially as exhibited by the relationship between the West and the East. In modern time, the origin of the use of bomb as a means of resisting injustice can be traced back to 1939.

    In August that year, a German American physicist Albert Einstein sent a letter to the then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to hint him of the possibility of discovering a powerful explosive device through the fission of uranium and warned Roosevelt of the danger in allowing other nations to develop it before the US. In response, the U.S. government established the top secret Manhattan Project in 1942 to develop an atomic device. The leader of that Project was a U.S. Army Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves whose team worked in several locations but largely at Los Alamos, New Mexico, under the direction of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The team designed and built the first atomic bomb which was test exploded at Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. And that was the weapon used by the US to destroy Japan’s two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki an episode that brought the World War II to an end.

    Following that episode, the fear of proliferation of nuclear arsenal compelled the so-called super powers to initiate the idea of Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty which was signed in 1968. By this initiative, virtually all countries of the world besides the known nine nuclear nations formally pledged not to manufacture those weapons. The pledge was made under the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force in 1970. The treaty has since been ratified by 187 non-nuclear weapon states. Yet, secret proliferation of those weapons remains a major cause of terrorism.

    The problem concerning terrorism here is not about the signing or breaching of treaty per se. Neither is it about armament reduction. It is rather about some nations’ determination to balance power with rivals. This was the factor that led to the invention of atomic bomb by the US in the first instance. And this factor has now advanced into balance of terror not only among nations but more between those perceived as oppressors and the private groups who feel oppressed as the knowledge of developing weapons of mass destruction keeps spreading.

    Policing proliferation of nuclear weapons as is now the case can never ventilate a peaceful atmosphere for the world. It will rather aggravate the existing conflict situation. Proliferation is only possible with the existence of a substance that can be proliferated. And one means of stemming terrorism around the world is for those who manufacture and are in possession of destructive weapons to stop their activities along that line. The alternative is to liberalise development of nuclear weapons and let any capable nation possess them. After all, there is no guarantee that the so-called five super powers campaigning against nuclear proliferation today cannot use it tomorrow if compelled by necessity.

    Terrorism often begins with ordinary militancy. But when the threat of state power is intensified against rebels, an all out violence becomes the necessary weapon with which to counter what the rebels consider to be state terrorism. Thus, to those called terrorists, violent activities are only a counter terrorism. The South/South of Nigeria is a good example of this.

    Seemingly, the most effective means of curbing terrorism is reasonable dialogue which the UN must seriously facilitate with sincerity and self-dignity. This can only become possible if the notion of super and veto powers are obliterated or de-emphasized at least to enable concerned parties dialogue on equal level. The lopsidedness created by the super power syndrome has turned the whole world into one massive animal farm in which all animals are supposed to be equal but some are claiming to be more equal than others. This was the kind of situation which forced the former colonies to rebel against their colonizers in various ways in order to become independent. One can imagine what could have happened if other super powers like Russia and China were to be as aggressively bellicose as the US, Britain and France. Arrogance of power is a major toga propelling terrorism in the various parts of the world which ought to be shed if terrorism must be sincerely repelled. Terrorism has become such an implacable monster that no single country or click of power mongers can confront without the cooperation of all other countries. And such cooperation must be on the terms of majority of those other countries and not on master/servant terms. As for internal terrorism which is far more dangerous than the external one, only good governance can curb it and ventilate the atmosphere for peace.

    The opportunity of the recently announced voluntary withdrawal of terror by a group of Boko Haram must not be wasted. No government has ever been able to defeat terrorism by the use of force. Nigeria cannot be an exception. Wherever terrorism is seen to have simmered, diplomacy and dialogue rather than force must have played a vital role. This fact must be considered very seriously. And in finding solution, three major hitherto unfocused areas must now be handled without levity. One is checkmating sources of weapons used by the terrorists. Another is a device for mass employments for the youth. And the third is official regulation of religious propagation in the country to check possible excesses that often breed fanaticism. Managing these three areas with sincerity will definitely make tremendous difference in curbing the spate of violence in the land.

    Despite our diversity in tribes and faiths we have managed to come this far to live together in harmony as a people. What remains is the maintenance of that togetherness based on tolerance and compromise. We must not allow religious or tribal sentiments to destroy the house which the Almighty God has guided us to jointly build. God bless Nigeria!

  • A progressive agenda

    A progressive agenda

    With the announced merger of four political parties, there is a renewal of our hope in the political stability of the nation. We have to thank the leaders who put aside their private interests in pursuit of the nation’s interest.

    In a democracy, there must be a viable opposition that can stand as a viable alternative to the party in power. This is true of a parliamentary system as it is of a presidential system. Where there is a proliferation of splinter groups competing for the support of the people against a massive well-oiled single party that intimidates with its network of the mighty and powerful, the outcome is predictable. We can expect avoidable instability in the system as groups and individuals move in and out of splinter groups to seek out their fortunes elsewhere. With a system of two or three strong political parties, aspirants presented by such parties for national offices know that they have as good a chance as any other candidate.

    In another more important sense, however, the announced merger also renews the hope of progressives that the principles and ideals they live for finally have a good chance of not only gaining national attention but of also serving as the policy direction of the national government. Of course, there is still a long way to go and many treacherous rivers to cross with externally-induced intrigues and internally generated crisis to contend with. So we are well-advised not to count our chicken before the hatching of the eggs. Still there is hope and we must keep it alive.

    Were the merger to sail through and the nay-sayers shamed, the question that readily comes to mind must be how the new party must differentiate itself from the old Leviathan, the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa. For starters, the new party cannot afford to be known just for that kind of title without having anything to show for it. It is tantamount to having the title of the king of vultures without the ability to hunt for a chicken.

    The size of an entity, whether it is a political party, an academic institution, or a social club, cannot by itself be the standard for judging its efficacy. There are good-for-nothing behemoths. This is where the name that it has chosen to be known by must be the basis of its being, and the motivation for its actions and policies. An All Progressives Congress must embrace a progressive agenda as its article of faith and stick to it with religious fervor. If it does, it can be sure of winning the hearts and souls of the masses, and with this, it can be assured of victory at the polls.

    All things being equal, there is really little or no magic to a party or a leader’s acceptance by the people. Understand their challenges, feel their pains, make visible efforts to offer efficacious relief without demeaning them, and you can become their hero. The most recent example for us is the last presidential elections in the United States. While the masses perceive one party as the party of hope with an empathetic understanding of their plight, they saw the other as hostile and out of touch. Thus even with a high unemployment rate and a depressing economic outlook, there was an unprecedented turn out of voters for the man and the party they believed understood their condition and was adjudged best to deal with it.

    I am the first to admit that all things are not equal, but it is only a difference of degree not of kind. Recall that in many jurisdictions, American electorates had to overcome human-made hurdles in order to cast their ballots. Voters patiently stood in line for six hours to cast their ballots. A 102 year-old woman was on queue for four hours. The wealthiest democracy is still in search of the solution to election malpractices. The point worth noting is that the people are always going to be the ultimate decision makers in terms of who governs them. And no matter how much funds are disbursed, if they do not believe that a party or candidate shares their interest, they are more than likely to reject such party or candidate.

    A progressive agenda is necessarily a populist agenda and it is a winning agenda not just for the party or candidate in a selfish way, but also for the nation. On the latter, we have the example of how a region excelled in the fifties even as the colonisers made efforts to frustrate the agenda. Focusing like a laser beam on the education of the youth enables a government to invest in the human resources that are going to take on the challenges in all other areas. The policy yielded visible dividends. We can do it again and we can do it for the entire country. Our present structure that privileges the centre in the distribution of resources does not make it possible for the regions or states, which are nearest to the people, to fully implement all the ideas embedded in a progressive agenda. Thus while the progressive governors are doing their best with the resources available to them, it would make a lot of difference if a progressive party were to control the central government.

    The priorities of such a government would include huge investment in education that would see the country moving away from a paltry 0.85% education expenditure as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) and a ranking of 167 out of 168 in the world. We must improve on our public spending on education as a percentage of GDP. Of course, there are competing demands in health, power, transportation and road development, and employment. But no one can deny that all these are related and investment in education must have a domino effect on every other. A progressive party must understand and articulate the connectedness and champion policies that are implementable for the overall good of the masses.

    The experience of the country thus far is that the privileged minority have had their backs covered by various administrations at the centre since independence. And the masses have had to depend on the good will and charitable disposition of the powerful. An All Progressive Congress that hopes to take control of destiny of the nation in the centre must have an agenda to reverse this course and in doing so undo the curse of human tragedy that has been the lot of the nation.

  • Ihejirika’s Army and Igbophobia

    There is an emerging consensus today that the trouble with Nigeria is low leadership quotient among successive leaders of the country in the past four decades. The kind of low quality leadership that is lacking in vision, patriotism and a sense of history; the type that has been replicating and preserving itself via an uncanny multiple fission. But the other matter with the polity is the unstated but deep-seated apathy towards the Igbo race in Nigeria. In a country where agreement is hardly reached on any national issue, Igbo-stomping is hardly one of such. Anything to stymie the Igbo is game in the national scheme of things. This may well be the real problem with Nigeria.

    And the Igbo, the merry victim of his habitat generally trudges on, oblivious, raucous, rampaging and foraging into new ‘enemy’ territories seeking sustenance in an environment that wishes it turns to vapor. Igbophobia was at the root of the 30-month civil war in which this fellow was goaded into near-extermination by majority of his hate-filled neighbors. It started by simple peer envy – oh, he has taken over the Army, all the top officers are Igbo; ah he has taken over the civil service, the Stock Exchange; oh he has taken over the country – they kept ringing the hate bell until it became a consensus. Then all that was needed was the precipitant, the rationale to trigger their hate. Then it came, they swooped on this fellow, this hateful mob, they stripped him to his pants, to the bones and they left him kwashiokored and half dead.

    This is a better forgotten era in our history is often called up when one sees traces of it in the polity in any guise at all. Such fresh case is the impertinent accusation thrown at the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika recently that he is ‘Igbonising’ the army as reflected in the recent recruitments in the force. Beyond the obvious assault of the accusation, the ‘poor’ General was put on the stump and made to sweat out a rebuttal before the watching world. Not exactly the way to treat a General and a COAS unless he is an Igbo that he is. To think that this is the first Igbo to hold this position in post civil war Nigeria; after over 40 years; the simple import is that no Igbo could head the Nigeria Army all this while no matter how competent, brilliant or high in ranking.

    It is not possible that Ihejirika could ‘Igbonise’ the Nigerian Army even if he so desires because there are ample checks in the recruitment process, which includes the Army Council, headed by the president; there is the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and there is also the Minister of Defence. And if one must add, if the Army is ‘Igbonised’ for once so what? Igbo remains an important part of this polity and has as much right as any to have a dominant number in the Army as other have had in the past. It is called equity.

    It is important to note that military politics in Nigeria is almost one and the same with Nigeria’s politics and it has been dominated by the North especially in the past 40 years. At a point in the 80s and 90s, the military, police, civil servant, the entire polity was ‘northernised’ and indeed, with impunity. No COAS was put through the sufferance of sweating through a public explanation of any purely military exercise. Today an Igbo general has to come under live media to tell the whole world why he has a few more men in one or two states.

    But nobody quarrels about the fact that in the Council of State, the highest consultative body in the land where decisions that could affect the very life of this country may be taken, no Igbo man is represented. This is the result of years of inequity in the distribution of political power in the land. Nobody is weeping about the fact that two or three states in the North were skewed to have more military personnel, more police, more federal civil servants, more local councils, more federal allocation, etc, than the entire South East zone put together. In other words two states in the North probably have more soldiers in the army than the entire South East quota yet the Igbo is not going about raising hell over such deep injustices that the polity heaps on him.

    This is why today, when the Igbo ask for one more state for her zone to bridge the gulf of injustice her neighbors have dug around her over these years, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) would stand up with so much licentious impunity to say: no, the Igbo can never have another state just because we say so; others would deliberately obfuscate the argument with shouts of unviability of states. But we are talking about equity in the sharing of what belongs to us all – give me the measure that you measured for yourself. If the South East gets at least one more state as it rightly deserves, it will get a few more soldiers, a few more policemen, civil servants, students in federal schools, more local councils more allocation… it is called equity, we cannot hide from it if we seek to build a proper nation.

    Finally, if perchance Ihejirika managed to wangle a few more okoros and okorobias into the army so what! Supposing they are more qualified, more competent? What about the prerogative of the chief? Isn’t it what happens in other establishments? Someone should see the staff list of the Central Bank of Nigeria (?), the Customs, the Federal Capital Territory, etc. Let us close by saying that we know what to do if we want to set things right. In this matter for instance, the Federal Character Commission (FCC) is the body that ought to do staff audit of all federal establishments, publish their findings and make the necessary corrections. But the FCC works in the breach these days. Nothing seems to matter in this polity anymore; well, unless there is an Igbo ‘consensus’.

    LAST MUGS: (1)Anambra budget hiatus: could it be true what was in the news about Anambra state budget still being reviewed by the State House of Assembly? Is it true that some commissioners did not know a thing about their budget while many of them refused to answer the call of the House? We are more inclined to believe that this report about Anambra’s 2013 budget is incorrect because the first quarter of the year is almost gone!

    (2)Lagos VIO’s overtime: we read the other day that the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) of the Lagos State Government is going to start working 24/7 henceforth in order to rid the state of un-roadworthy vehicles. Hmn, we can only chuckle at this new-found overdrive and we can only beg the VIO to take it easy on the populace. If they could please keep to their normal official time; things are tough enough as it is.

    (3)FRSC’s grand jamboree: it has been reported that the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, is planning a bumper international conference perhaps worthy of its status. And how about this: 11 international speakers will ‘grace’ the occasion. Wow, how we love to jaw, jaw and the more foreigners we get to talk down at us and tell us what we already know, the happier we are. Well let’s just caution that the FRSC seems to do everything else these days but its job. How will this conference safe lives on our highways?

  • Opium based on ignorance

    Opium based on ignorance

    History is an invisible object with two wings flying across generations in time and space. One wing is positive, the other is negative. With history, the present becomes the heritage of the past even as the future awaits the baton of continuity from the present. No living nation or tribe or even individual can dream of a realisable future without a viable present based on the experience of the past. The web of life is like a magnet which no iron element can bypass on its way to ornamental glory.

    Against what ought to be her heritage, Nigeria is, today, passing through a fabric of uncertainty as she rolls back the fibres of the future into those of the present and weaves both into the vestiges of the past. Such is a sign of a dead nation waiting to be buried. What war is not ravaging Nigeria today in spite of Allah’s abundant bounties? The forces of the present seem to have connived with those of the past in planning to wrestle the future aground thereby depriving the generations yet unborn of any hope of existence. From all indications, Nigerians live in a country where the ruled are evidently enslaved to their rulers.

    For decades, this country had been forced by her so-called rulers to fight wars ranging from political to economic to social and to ethnic without winning any. Now, a religious war with political ember is being added. Religion is likened to opium in human beings because of its seeming addictive effect on an average believer. Literally, opium means a brownish gummy extract from unripe seed of the opium poppy that contains highly addictive narcotic alkaloid substances like morphine and codeine. When such a substance is mixed with an unstable powdery matter, it turns it into a disadvantageous hardened substance.

    Thus, like a billow vigorously storming around at the instance of an invisible tempest, a melee of religious hullabaloo engendered by a vicious political Pandora has virtually turned Nigeria into a land of curses.

    Ordinarily, by its design and intent, religion is supposed to be not only a panacea for all human psychological ailments but also a soothing balm for any spiritual ache. But ironically, it has been turned into a poison in our society which seemingly has no provision for an antidote. And through our attitudes, we seem to be bent on swallowing the pill of that poison without minding its consequences.

    The factors that culminated in what we now variously call religious militancy, extremism, fanaticism and terrorism emanated only from the yoke of ignorance which bad governance has come to aid. And could anything have influenced bad governance as much as ignorance? Yet ignorance would not have had a role to play in our religious or political lives if we had demonstrated the will to genuinely follow the tenets of our religions and learned from the lessons of history without banking on mere assumption and rumour. History as a teacher always has a lesson to teach those who are ready to learn. But unfortunately, most human beings especially Nigerians refuse to learn any lesson from history and the price is what we are paying today.

    In 1962, Nigeria’s Governor General, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (who later became Nigeria’s first President), paid a three day official courtesy visit to the Premier of Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello in Kaduna. He was accompanied by his wife, Flora. The host Premier mobilised all the paraphernalia of office in honour of his guests whom he gave an unprecedented, flamboyant hospitality. The visit enabled their wives to become so familiar with each other that Flora also invited the Bellos to the East on a similar visit. By the end of the visit, Dr. Azikiwe had become so much impressed that at the point of departure he held Ahmadu Bello’s hands and gently told him to “Let us forget our differences”.

    In response to that emotional but infatuating gesture however, Sir Ahmadu Bello said in an equally gentle but emotional baritone voice: “No sir! Rather than forgetting our differences, let us understand them. I am a Muslim and a Northerner. You are a Christian and a Southerner. It is only by identifying and understanding those differences that our friendliness can truly endure”. There and then, Dr. Azikiwe nodded in agreement with his host’s logic and accepted the fact that one could not forget what is not understood.

    The lesson to learn from this experience is that of mutual understanding without pretentiously sweeping anything under the carpet. That is the principle upon which the marriage of political strange fellows who find themselves in the same political party is often based in Nigeria. It is also the principle upon which the partnership of many Nigerian businessmen and women is based despite their cultural incompatibility.

    For thousands of years, peoples of all races and tribes across the world thrived vaingloriously on cultural ignorance attributing their calamities to mysterious forces and blaming such mysteries on what they called witchcraft. Here in Nigeria, millions of children were forced to die in infancy by their own parents out of sheer ignorance while the same parents turned round to blame what they called ‘ABIKU or OGBANJE’ for the mass infanticide. With time, however, education and knowledge of science brought about the invention of various vaccines with which children are now immunised against all diseases thereby giving them the opportunity to survive. And this has enabled us to know today that the mystery once called ‘ABIKU or OGBANJE’ was a euphemism for ignorance in the days of ignorance.

    And now that the days of cultural ignorance seem to be over, Nigerians have devised another means of restiveness by shifting to religious ignorance which enables them to replace the infanticide of the yore with modern day genocide in the name of religion. It is however hoped that one day, knowledge will also help us to overcome the spectre of religious ignorance and enable tomorrow’s generations to tell the story as we are doing today about ‘ABIKU or OGBANJE’.

    If it had pleased the Almighty Allah to make all human beings one single race with one colour, one tongue and one religion, He would have done so without receiving any query from anybody. But as the Omnipresent and Omnipotent, His decision to diversify His creatures cannot be faulted as it is from that diversity that all creatures have consistently derived benefits. In the world today, there are different races and tribes of human beings with different colours, languages and cultures each functioning as predestined and yet they all interact positively with one another to the benefit of all and sundry. This is in accordance with the words of Allah in Chapter 49 verse 13 of the Qur’an thus: “Oh mankind! We have created you from a male and a female and classified you into races and tribes that you may interact with one another (and thereby draw from the advantages therein). Verily, the most honourable of you before Allah is the most pious among you. Allah is All-knower and most acquainted with all things”.

    What is true of human beings here is equally true of other creatures. For instance we can all see that on a single arable plot of land, a variety of plants may grow to form an orchard but each with different foliages and fruits. Some of those fruits may be sweet, some may be bitter and some may be sour. Some plants may be fruitful and some may be fruitless. On that same plot of land some may grow to become trees of gargantuan posture while others may not grow beyond ordinary shrubs and legumes. Yet they are all fed by the same soil, watered by the same rain and photosynthesized by the same sun. Their different foliages, sizes, heights and tastes notwithstanding, they all function effectively and advantageously according to the purpose for which they are created.

    In the ecosystem, no tree in an orchard will ever accuse another of bearing fruits different from its own and no animal will blame another for carrying a different feature or wearing a different colour. Neither will a whale denigrate even a fingerling in the ocean for sharing the same water with it. Ditto the world of birds and that of insects. Even as plants, animals, aquatics, birds and insects they all know that for everything Allah creates there is a purpose which may not be known to them as creatures. It is only among human beings that discrimination and segregation exist based on ignorance.

    In Islam, all revealed religions are believed to be like an embassy established by a nation in another nation to strengthen her relationship with the host country. The Ambassadors appointed to manage such embassy, may be changed from time to time just like the foreign policy which guides those ambassadors but the embassy remains intact barring any unforeseen circumstances. So is the case with the Prophets of Allah. They might have come at different times, and from different lands and tribes. They might have brought different books and spoken different languages but their mission was one and the same.

    Muslims believe that all the Prophets and Messengers who have come into the world to guide mankind were from one and the same God who created the universe. Thus, Prophets Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael) Ishaq (Isaac), Musa (Moses), Daud (David), Isa (Jesus) and Muhammad (SAW) as well as others who preceded them or came in-between them brought the same message of monotheism through which mankind was counselled to worship one God and be upright in conduct.

    As a Muslim, you cannot believe in one of those Apostles and disbelieve in others. Neither can you believe in one of the revealed Books while disbelieving in others. That is why no true adherent of Islam will ever express foul language against the person of Jesus. Though the modalities for worship may differ from faith to faith and from sanctuary to sanctuary this does not change the course of their faith in only one God. Thus, the rivalry between Muslims and Christians especially in Nigeria over who is spiritually right or wrong is a product of ignorance.

    As taught by Christianity and Islam through their respective revealed Books, the areas of life that need our cooperation are by far more comprehensive than those in which we differ. For instance, both the Bible and the Qur’an counsel humanity to worship one God. They preach good deeds to neighbours and other fellow human beings in public and in private irrespective of religious lineage. They advocate good care of our parents, our children, the aged ones amongst us and the handicapped. They urge kindness to our wives and leniency with our adversaries. They admonish us against cheating and any form of corruption. They forbid theft, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism and above all the killing of fellow human beings extra-judicially for whatever reason. They also warn us against provocation, aggression, exploitation and transgression even as they emphasize the ephemerality of this world and the eventuality of the hereafter. In all these, we have a common affinity to jointly guard.

    The few areas in which we differ are abstract and quite personal. They are not areas in which human beings are given the power to pass judgment. Only the Almighty God can judge on them. Such are the areas which we believe will pave our ways towards the Paradise. But since paradise is for individuals and not for religious blocks why are we fighting each other? After all, the journey to Paradise or Hell is a matter of choice for every individual. And no one can tell with precision who will go to Paradise or go to Hell. Such is the prerogative of God which He has not assigned to any human being and which no human being can and should arrogate to himself or herself except one who wants to play God.

    As an adherent of a religion, you can only perceive your God according to your faith and that should not cause any rancour between you and adherents of any other religion. As Nigerians, we dwell in the same country, eat the same foods, drink the same water, wear similar dresses trade in the same markets and spend the same money. Our children attend the same schools, write the same examinations and obtain the same certificates. We intermarry across tribes and ethnicities as well as religions. All these form a stronger bond that ought to unite us much more than the abstract ones which often threaten to separate us. In a situation where the factors of life that unite us grossly surpass those that divide us will it not be stupid to sacrifice unity and cooperation?

    This is the time for change. We cannot wait any longer. Let the Christians in Nigeria engage in Crusade and the Muslims in Jihad against all vices in the society which their two revealed Books (Bible and Qur’an) abhor. Let all of us jointly work towards upholding the values of life as contained in the Bible and the Qur’an that we may find ourselves in a new world of peace and harmony in the very near future. As for how we became entangled in opium and terrorism in the first place, please, read this column next Friday in sha’Allah.

  • SUPER EAGLES: Pray Nigeria, pray

    Nigerians are prayer warriors no doubt. I want to wager that no other country prays more fervently than the raucous millions of the Niger area. What I do not wish to find out however, is how much of our prayers break through the atmosphere and up into heaven. Would God in his omniscience, open up the heavens for us in order to reveal the flow of our prayers and benedictions, most of us would be surprise how we have been firing blank. We pray long, we pray noisy, we pray with vehemence and exertion, we keep vigil and go into lengthy dryness and observances yet to no avail it seems. We as a nation, as a people, as families we are still overtaken and tormented by the evil one.

    The prince of darkness seems to have found his domain and refuge here in Nigeria. The chief principality of this realm seems to have built his operational headquarters on our shores from whence he fans out evil, misery and pain to the rest of the world. Before you think one is exaggerating, is there any other land on the face of the earth blessed with so much riches and yet abounds with so much human misery? There is no other place in the world today where there is such criminal round-tripping of crude oil; that is the rich endowment of a country’s crude oil is shipped out to surrogate refineries abroad and the bye products returned to Nigeria as expensive and economically unviable commodities.

    Now this treasonable economic crime has gone on for nearly three decades and still continues till tomorrow. No other major oil producing country in the world imports petroleum products; on the other hand, they export to the rest of the world so as to maximize the benefits of their God-given resource for the good of their citizenry. But the reverse is the case here. This is a country where a mere civil servant could access and purloin state funds in billions. Consider the recent example of a certain civil servant named John Yesufu who stole all of N27 billion naira; he is only a deputy director, imagine what directors, directors-general, auditors-general, accountants-general, permanent secretaries, ministers, governors and presidents who have better leeway to the treasury, would have. We are in a country where numerous public servants are so rich they can buy up a country or two, they are so shamelessly rich because they hijack and cart away entire budgets of their ministries, departments and agencies. And they are so proud about their ‘achievements’, the have no qualms whatsoever and indeed, they are the most voluble prayer warriors at the least opportunity.

    Praying football prayer

    But pray we must for where would we be without the vigil of the faithful. In prayer we must persist, especially where there is no trace of HIM like in Nigeria, to paraphrase Pastor Adeboye above. Let us pray for the Super Eagles, our national football team not because we need the Africa nations’ cup so badly or that the lifting of it would change our unrepentant evil ways and make our leaders and public officers less greedy and covetous. We pray for victory if only for that brief moment of ecstasy and uproarious revelry; for that ephemeral moment of national ‘unity’ and ‘rejoicing’. We must pray, hoping that in that moment of ‘white’ madness, some wellness would be triggered in our leaders and the scales would fall from their eyes so that they can see their monumental failings, so that they may see Nigeria’s missed opportunities; so that they may see that Egypt, Britain, USA and such other places they are quick to shuttle off to are built by leaders who are better than them only because they are patriots and they are truly godly. We will pray hoping that our God who works in wondrous ways might just adapt our moment of national ‘joy’ into our hour of national salvation and redemption.

    We all should rise as one to pray this football prayer hoping that this flitting gold cup would not ‘pass over us’ this time. It is not because the hollow metal is worth its weight in gold, no, we are praying, hoping that our leaders may be led into a sudden burst of inspiration to see the untold potentials in organizing our football and sports properly. We pray that they would realize that if they get just our sports right, millions of our youths who are jobless and broken today would not only be engaged but gainfully so; and not only in Nigeria but all over the world. Nigeria has the capacity to furnish the world with one tenth of its outstanding sportsmen and women. One of the greatest natural resources God has endowed us with is awesome physical strength combined with speed and acute power of mental co-ordination. It is a rare gift only found in few other countries in Africa and Latin American countries. Carefully harnessed, the result is a human specimen of immense grace and spectacular physical feats. Applied to football, basketball, boxing, wrestling, tracks and field events, etc, it is a talent that is in hot demand all over the world. It is a resource that could yield as much revenue to Nigeria as crude oil.

    But here we are, unable to manage our stadia; we allowed a forest to grow in our number one stadium in Abuja right under the nose of the presidency. Our national stadium in Lagos has been in a state of decay for more than ten years. The national league is in perpetual turmoil having been infiltrated by ragamuffins, the sports associations are comatose with most so called administrators scurrying about looking for morsels. Nobody is thinking or attempting to seek out and groom talents. School sports where virgin talents were plucked is long dead and forgotten. For instance I have a 13-year old who has been sprinting with seniors and running invitational relay since she was 11. In serious places, she would have been placed under special watch but nobody cares.

    160 million voices praying

    Another reason we must pray is that our opponents, Burkina Faso, prays too. They probably pray better than us. Did you see them after their grueling duel with Ghana last Wednesday how they went on their knees – players and officials, forming a large circle and pointing heavenwards, showered thanksgiving to heaven? Something tells me that our match on Sunday would be first a divine showdown. I see a game of celestial favours; who does our Maker want to favour most? Who needs it most, who is seeking and knocking and asking more? As we meet in the mosques, churches and even in our homes, let us all say a prayer for the success of the Super Eagles on Sunday February 10, 2013 – if 160 million people, in spite of their blemishes pray, our God is bound to hear. Amen.

    LAST MUG: National Assembly and 2013 budget: as it has become our practice, the 2013 Appropriation Bill is yet to be passed into law. The National Assembly and the Presidency continues to squabble while the country bleeds. Dawdling over the budget has become a national pastime in the last few years. NASS, one must say, is mainly to blame for this; the body still does not seem to assimilate the magnitude and import of this document. It seems to view it more from the prism of contracts and ‘constituency’ projects. It cannot exact proper oversight on the executive if it has its hand deep in the cookie jar. We need a high minded NASS.

     

  • Family involvement in education

    Family involvement in education

    In the past several weeks, I have argued for the need to bet on our innocent children whom we voluntarily choose to bring into the world. I submit that we bet on them when we create a future that is worthy of them and the country which they in turn can be proud to call theirs. We create that future by investing in their education from the cradle so that from the first time they open their eyes, they see a nation that cares and educates, just as they behold the love of an extended family of mother, father, siblings, uncles, aunties and grandparents who first welcome them with loving hands and cheerful faces. Today, I discuss how this initial joy of welcoming a new member of the family must lead to a lifetime of involvement in the education of that original bundle of joy.

    The idea, popularised by former First Lady, former Senator and now former United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that it takes a village to raise a child is originally an African belief and no indigenous African brought up in the tradition of the ancestors can escape its practical import. We come from social settings in which any older person in the village, whether a blood relation or not, has the traditional authority to discipline you so you don’t bring the village into disrepute and so that you don’t cause yourself avoidable harm. We all have stories of great uncles who are more fearful than our fathers. But more to the point, we have cases of perfect strangers who, on account of their consideration of our best interests, may choose their own way of bringing us back to our senses. I have one such story, which weaves together in an interesting way, the elements of my thoughts for today.

    It was my last year in the elementary school, the Okeho Literary Society—a group of young men and women who had advanced in the education ladder—put together a program of after-school study group to prepare us for the final regional examination, the Primary School Leaving Certificate Examination. My cousin, Iyabo Ojeleye and I were enrolled by our parents. On our way to the evening class one day, we chose to walk by a fence littered with broken bottles. Unbeknown to us, Mr. Longe, the local pharmacist, sitting by his shop had been watching us. Now Mr. Longe wasn’t an indigene of Okeho. However, having been persuaded that we were endangering our lives, he knew what to do. He secured a horsewhip hanging on his door, and as we neared his shop, he pulled up his almost 7-foot body frame, with the horse whip in hand and shouted at us: e fee foju ara yin sera yin? (“do you want to hurt yourselves?”) Iyabo has been a sprinter all her life and before I knew what was going on, she had left me behind. I too managed to escape. But of course, the matter had been reported to our parents and what we escaped in the hands of Mr. Longe, we eventually received in the hands of Papa. Later in life, Isaac, Mr. Longe’s son, was one of my very good students in every respect, an outcome that I attributed to good family background and parental involvement.

    The event that I just recalled is narrated to underscore the point of this discourse. First, it takes a village to raise a child. But second, as our people also understand, there has to be a demarcation of ownership in a matter of joint property. Parents have to take effective ownership of family responsibility in the education of children. And this has always been our tradition even in the pre-colonial days when our focus was on practical education for skills that were considered essential for a successful life—farming, trading, crafts, and family professions. Parents secured apprenticeship for their children, and developed good relationships with the masters training their kids. And when “western education” was introduced, in spite on their deficit in that area of knowledge, many parents understood that the future of their wards was in the hands of the teacher and the school. So they got involved in various ways.

    My father was a self-taught reader and writer and was always proud when he would converse with me in English in the presence of his friends. In my student days away from home, I always enjoyed reading his letters in what I thought then was an archaic cursive writing until my children had to learn cursive in the elementary school in the United States. My friend, Bisi Adesola’s father, and my father became close on account of our education. They never missed a Parent-Teacher Association meeting and, interestingly, even after each of us had left the schools, they would still attend those meetings. For them, just as there are student alumni, there are parent alumni with responsibilities to be involved.

    I followed my father’s lead almost to a fault. While he had no choice but to let me leave home for higher education, since there was no secondary school or secondary modern school in Okeho after my completion of the elementary school, I had a choice, and my wife and I decided in favour of keeping our children close to us. All our children gained admission to the popular Unity Schools when those schools were supposed to be the best. But we decided that they would be better off with us if we were actively involved in their schooling. We chose to be active in the Parent-Teachers Association of Moremi High School, Ile-Ife, a public school located on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University. I served as the Chairman for a couple of years. I knew that the school had a dedicated staff led by Deacon J. A. Ogunwuyi who is now a proprietor of his own school. And of course, my children still tell tales of how hard it was for them in the house when they had to study for several hours a day. The point is that a school is what its clientele makes it and these include the teachers and the parents.

    The literature on parental involvement in education is convincing. There is copious evidence that when the family is actively involved in the education of their children, it has a positive influence on the achievement of the children not only in school but throughout life because it enables them, not only to do well in examinations and earn good grades, but also to develop better social skills which help them in life. Initiating and nurturing family involvement in the education of children is a double-lane approach by parents and schools because there is a lot at stake for both but certainly more for the parents. A school where accountability is taken seriously and where there are consequences for failure would leave no stone unturned in getting all hands on the deck for successful students outcomes. On the other hand, parents know that the future of their kids, and their own happiness and peace of mind are at stake. They therefore have a lot more reason to get involved. Careers are important, but as the elders remind us, the probability is very high that a child that is inadvertently let untrained and unskilled may end up destroying whatever legacy an illustrious career has succeeded in building.

    Surely, not all parents have the patience, skills, or self-confidence that are essential to an effective involvement on all fronts. A parent may not be able to offer direct help for a child’s home work. This is where the entire family structure has to be deployed. We pride ourselves as communal in orientation. We create the phenomenon of aso-ebi. And as I recalled above, it has also been our tradition for community organisations to get involved in the education of their members. What it requires is a new orientation that privileges the very idea of community which our urban-centered individualism has jettisoned. Then what one lacks, others can supply and together we can build a new coalition of committed family and community for the education of our children.