The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • In recognition of responsive governance

    In recognition of responsive governance

    Ten years ago, I answered the publisher’s personal phone call to contribute to his new publishing venture as a back-page columnist. I readily agreed without asking for a contract or compensation. I did because I believed in his mission of truth in defence of freedom and I thought that I can make worthy contributions to the same. My relationship with the paper has remained constant since then. It has been on a volunteer basis and I appreciate the mutual respect that the relation engenders.

    Yet I have always wondered whether I am making any difference. Surely, I get some compliments privately every now and then from readers. And I have constructively engaged thoughtful readers who react to my submissions. But, not on a few occasions, I have asked myself if I am making inroads into the minds of those that wield powers. Do they even read my contributions? And is it worth the effort to continue if I am not making any tangible impact? Or should I just shift my attention to other areas where I can at least make a difference?

    These thoughts never cease running through my mind, especially in the last five years. Then something happened last Saturday. And it changed my thinking. It was a breakthrough that was unexpected. It was a confirmation of relevance. It was a profile in responsive governance, on which I had all but given up.

    Before I get into what really happened, I would like to discuss my understanding of responsive governance as a compact between government and citizens.

    Reference to government requires clarification. For as our people warn, careless disregard for the need to clarify our meanings was responsible for the untimely transition of the first Elempe. Elempe had invited many people to his farm with an instruction for them to be armed with their cudgels, which was going to be their tools for the day. Each of them did exactly as instructed. They assembled on Elempe’s farm, and as soon as he showed up, they welcomed him with thorough beating, sending him to the great beyond.

    By government I mean a democratic government, which is voted into power by the people and is therefore responsible to them. From this, it follows that the people are the best judges of the performance of their government and they have the right and the responsibility to remove it from power if, in their judgment, it fails to live up to their expectations.

    This excludes authoritarian regimes of monarchical or military formations. To ask for responsiveness from such paradigms of government is to engage in wishful thinking or incoherent logic. Thankfully, we have conveyed both to historical archives. If that is the case, then semblances of the past have only historical relevance and should have no dominance in our present.

    To find our way to responsive governance, we need to stop by first at the doorstep of governance. Though derived from government, governance is distinct from its root. Governance is about process. It is the system adopted to carry out the activities of government. Clearly then, it is value-neutral. Hence the common recourse to the adjectives “good” and “bad” to qualify “governance.”

    A system of governance may ignore the right of the people to be heard or consulted. Or it may choose to impose its understanding of what is best for them without their input. Or worse, it may decide to stifle their imagination or suppress their aspirations. In some of these instances, we may have a system of governance, and it may even work to some extent, but it is not a responsive system.

    Ignoring the thoughtful considerations expressed in dignified and courteous language is one of the highest forms of unresponsive governance. But democratic governance requires responsiveness on the part of those we choose to serve in the steering of the ship of the state. In other words, they are servant leaders with a mandate to represent our interests and marshal the resources of the state to advance those interests.

    What, then, is responsive governance and why does it matter? It is a system that takes people seriously and responds to their expressed interests, not necessarily by adopting them (the challenge here is clear) but by not dismissing them with a wave of the hand. A responsive administration reassures the people that they are integral to the resolution of the challenges facing them as citizens and that government is only their agent, which has listening ears and is ready to work with them towards a deserving end.

    Truly, governance can be overwhelming, especially when resources are not commensurate with needs, as it is always the case. Responsiveness implies that an administration or its subset does not play favouritism in the allocation of scarce resources.

    This is not just a question of ethical justice. It is also a demand of sound economic reasoning. For as it happens too often, we do not always pay attention to the way in which we shoot our national interest in the foot just by failing to reject partial approaches to developmental projects. This happens when we neglect one area that is well placed for the realisation of common national interest in some specific developmental agenda but is not well-represented in the corridors of power where decisions get taken.

    Responsive governance is a system that recognises the limitations of those in position of authority- that they do not have the monopoly of wisdom. But recognition of this limitation is not an end in itself. It must lead to three orientations on their part.

    First, they must educate themselves on the issues. The demand for this is so obvious that it does not need justification. If you place yourself before the people to be allowed to lead them, you have to demonstrate your capability for leadership, which requires knowledge of the challenges and the alternative solutions to them.

    Second, they must assume a humble posture that recognises that the people also have some knowledge of the issues, and be ready to learn. Third, they must be sensitive to, and constructively engage, those citizens who volunteer ideas about the issues and/or frustration concerning their perception of governmental attitudes and approaches to them.

    This last point leads me to my promised explanation of what happened last Saturday. Last week, my column was on Ikere Gorge Dam. I had expressed my concern over the neglect of the project initiated in 1977 with a potential to maximise not only the agricultural potential of the country but also its overall development agenda. This much we now know and are rightfully correcting our past missteps.

    On Saturday, I received a surprise phone call from the Honourable Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN). He informed me that he had been reflecting on the matter of Ikere Gorge Dam and its potentials. He explained that he was particularly interested in the power aspect of the dam which, as he confirmed, has the potential to increase the rate of rural electrification exponentially. He further explained to me in details, the developmental goals of the administration as well as the specific objectives and action items on its immediate agenda.

    It was vintage Fashola, the thoughtful actor and active intellectual. From his days as Governor of Lagos State, he has established himself not only as a knowledge-driven administrator but also as one with an eye on the people’s need. His thoughts have always been on fair and excellent outcome. He takes his mandate seriously, and he is always looking for how to deliver the best results for the people, working with them.

    Of course, there are limitations to responsive governance, even with the most respectful, sensitive and knowledgeable administration. We operate a bureaucratic system with rules and regulations that can stymie the most ambitious and people-oriented agenda. A case in point is the regulation governing the grossly inadequate maximum amount that can be advanced to mobilise contractors. To enable responsive governance in these dire times, the administration asked for emergency economic powers. Hopefully, the National Assembly and the administration can resolve this matter for the people’s benefit.

  • Edo election: If I were the C-in-C

    All the things we loathed so much about the previous administration are happening to us now. The other day we were assailed by the apparition of a rented crowd protesting on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari to counteract the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) crowd.

    Today we are being inveigled to postpone an election at the eleventh hour by a tendentious security apparatchik with a putrid history requiring critical surgery. In no proper democracy would any so-called security clan assume the dubious high ground to seek to stymie a long-planned national democratic process based on some nebulous security report.

    This worst kind of corruption that borders on criminality is a carryover from the madness of the Jonathan administration. It is an affront and indeed an assault on our collective psyche. This grand chicanery; this opportunistic and orchestrated subterfuge must be purged quickly before it assumes an endemic status.

    At a time like this, one expects the President as Commander-in-Chief, to unfurl in its majesty and order the appropriate security chiefs to perish the thought of an election postponement; do their job or resign. After the polls, this hoax must be investigated and heads must roll.

    This is the way we must deal with this impertinence lest one day they would require the President to quit the Villa for one year for security reason.

  • WAI: War Against Inertia

    ast week on this space, I had interrogated the new Agriculture Promotion Policy in an article titled: “Ogbeh’s ‘low energy’ agric policy”. Not a few readers have since taken me on, expressing their disappointment that I did not do enough to review the content of the document.

    But the point of the article is not to review the policy just for its sake, but to help call attention to the critical condition the country has sunken and proffer solutions. The policy in itself is not the end but the need to make our agriculture productive and profitable in the shortest possible time. In any case, a review of the policy in the traditional sense would take about half a dozen instalments. I wager that you don’t have that luxury of time just as we do not have such space.

    But to reiterate, the document simply lacks the urgency of now, which is why one described it as ‘low energy’. And one had proffered one’s simple panacea on what is to be done: we need to stop the importation of staple food items almost immediately. With well-structured task forces we can produce all the rice, chicken, fish and tomatoes consumed here by Christmas 2017 with excess to ship across the borders. This should be the target of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). But one is afraid to say that implementing that document as presented would take at least five years – and result is not guaranteed.

    Without boring you with a rehash of last week’s piece, it is the same virus one found in the Agric policy that plagues the entire administration of President Muhammadu Buhari – a visible lack of urgency that sometimes borders on inertia. At a period that demands speedy response to key, targeted issues, it is utterly frustrating to notice little motion in the expected direction. And one must note that it is not about funding or a lack of capacity in the human administration, but a dire absence of adrenalin, that urgency to run.

    While the PMB administration plans to reintroduce the ‘War Against Indiscipline’ (WAI), which was the president’s brainchild during his first coming in 1983, we will rather suggest a War Against Inertia. There is no doubt that PMB means well for the country and will love to see immense progress in his time, but he may end up achieving little if the presidency cannot diagnose the root of its problems.

    Why is it that the more this administration tries to change things for the better, the more the economy and indeed the polity seem to sink deeper into mire. About one and a half years on, nothing seems to be happening and now we have drifted from a ‘technical’ recession to a full blown one.

    Examples abound of a few quick things that could have been done and missed opportunities. One that came to mind first was PMB’s promise before his inauguration to float a national carrier. But a few months after he ascended to power, he told us that it was no longer his priority.

    Yes it may not be the country’s immediate need, but it is sure a necessity. To the extent that government does not need to commit huge funds to it; it will curb foreign currency flight and indeed earn us forex; it will create jobs and catalyse the growth of our aviation industry. Not least important is that it would boost Nigeria’s image by emblazoning her name into the sky and across the world. It ought to have been done. In the last one year, Ivory Coast set up her national carrier; she cannot be better than Nigeria in any sphere; it may well be just the ability to get things done.

    That ought to have been ticked off as one major accomplishment of this administration. It may also have helped resolve the miasma arising from keeping a large presidential air fleet, which has sure become an embarrassment in a time of economic depression.

    If half of our foreign currency earnings are spent on importing petroleum products, one would have thought that the major mantra of the PMB administration would have been to refine by any means possible. An administration with eyes squarely on the ball would have set a target with timelines for ending the importation of petroleum products.

    As it stands, Nigerians do not know what exactly is going on in that regard. We the people and the government too seem to be waiting for Dangote’s refinery to come on stream. But the trouble is that regardless of what Aliko has told us, his refinery will be ready when it will as he is not under any obligation to respond to the nation’s matters of strategic importance.

    Imagine how reassured Nigerians would feel now seeing that work is going on day and night on projects to end fuel importation; knowing that there is relief in sight at a stipulated time. We expect that this administration would have listed the main guzzlers of foreign exchange and worked out radical measures to drastically curtail if not end their importation. If we no longer earn forex, then we must stop spending it recklessly. That we do not see drastic actions in this regard is nothing but inertia.

    Let us close with the Chibok girls and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) matters. It is bad enough that PMB promised he would free the girls by December 2015, but not to be seen to have done anything is what riles the parents and agitators. A panel was to have been set up to reconstruct the entire Chibok affair – zilch. If any concrete attempts are being made to rescue the girls, we do not know and no one bothers to show us.

    It is scandalous that Nigeria cannot manage her internal refugees. It signals an acute state of inertia that hundreds of thousands of our children are dying for lack of food under the watch of the federal government. Who really is in charge of the IDP matter? There must be an arrowhead and if he is not effective, he must be fired, pronto!

    One wants to wager that the PMB administration suffers more from inertia (an unwillingness to take action) than a lack of revenues.

     

    What Zuckerberg and Ezekwesili have in common

    The straight one word answer is ‘genius’. To break it down further, they both share traits like passion, brilliance, empathy and the common touch. Mark Zuckerberg needs no introduction; he is the American founder of Facebook, while Obiageli Ezekwesili is a Nigerian chartered accountant, former minister, former World Bank vice president and co-founder of Transparency International. Today she is the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOGs) arrowhead. This week, the two iconic figures were in the news. No, they were on the streets. Mark was walking freely on the streets of Lagos in spite of the scare-mongering of the US government about how unsafe Nigeria is for her citizens. But all Mark cared about was to touch Nigerian youths in a special way to make them rise to the kilimanjaro of their aspirations.

    At the other end of town, Oby rekindled the BBOG campaign by sealing her lips and sitting defiantly on the road leading to the Presidential Villa. All she wanted was to rid the government of its lethargy and make it act decisively to free the school girls held by terrorists.

    It takes one man… or woman to change the world.

  • Ikere Gorge Dam and renewed interest in agriculture

    Ikere Gorge Dam and renewed interest in agriculture

    A few years ago, I drew the attention of readers to the unfortunate abandonment of Ikere Gorge Dam, a project that was conceived with genuine interest in the development of the rural communities of Oyo State and beyond. My intervention then was out of concern for the regrettable daily loss of the immense economic potentials that the project has, not only for the area, but also for the entire nation in multiple ways. I was also concerned about the scientifically-proven risk of deadly flooding that the abandonment of the project poses for the entire area from Iseyin to Igbeti.

    I am revisiting the issue now for two reasons. First, the Buhari administration has rightly pivoted its economic revival policy towards prioritising agriculture. I have no doubt about the reasonableness of the policy direction and the genuineness of the motive of its architects. But I am concerned that in the present budget, the dam has a paltry allocation of N11million for irrigation project, while N9million is allocated for operation and turn around maintenance. This dam is not even operational!

    No doubt many areas and zones of this land of ours are capable of making enormous contributions to this new orientation of the federal government, each with special capabilities and different resource bases. But no one can conscientiously deny that Okeogun is one proven area of agricultural capability, having been branded the food basket of the old Western Region in the First and Second Republics.

    But times changed. Agriculture was abandoned as a matter of development priority for government. And young men migrated from rural to urban centres with no sellable skills. The result has been staring us in the face ever since with the massive unemployment numbers and attendant high crime rate. Even in the backwoods of Okeogun with uncompromising ethical codes, it is now disheartening to hear of cults in schools and area boys around towns and villages.

    The second reason is a rehash of my concern for the risk of the danger that the abandonment of the project poses to the area. This is especially more urgent in the light of the new scientific prediction of an earthquake in the area in future.

    Surely a completed dam project, just by that very fact, does not guarantee immunity from the devastation of flooding during an earthquake. But while a completed dam would at least have inbuilt security devices, including fortification of the dam walls, an abandoned dam that is already corrupted by nature can hardly withstand the fury of an earthquake. The danger such a prospect poses to the lives of the people is better imagined than experienced. Therefore, if our federal government cannot improve the lives of Okeogun people, it should at least leave them undisturbed in their destined condition.

    These thoughts were running through my mind when I was presented with the gift of a wonderful pamphlet that was published by Okeogun Development Council early this year. Titled: Ikere Gorge Dam: A Goldmine Waiting to be Explored, the pamphlet was edited by Mr. Jare Ajayi, the General Secretary of the council, who was kind enough to give me a copy. The pamphlet is a wealth of information waiting to be digested by policy makers if they are truly interested in the agricultural and rural development agenda of President Buhari and his administration.

    The pamphlet conveys a message of economic urgency regarding the potentials of Ikere Gorge Dam for irrigation farming, generation of electricity and tourism. I was elated to learn that the “dam was planned to generate 3750 MW of hydroelectricity for dam and rural electrification programme and to irrigate up to 1200 hectares of farmland” and that “the Gorge also has a big potential for tourism.”  By itself, each of these three economic benefits that the dam is designed to produce (irrigation farming, electricity generation and tourism) is capable of reversing the undesirable and economically-unproductive rural-urban migration that the area has witnessed in the last 30 years.

    Incidentally, the original impetus for the dam more than 40 years ago, was the drought of 1973/74, which jolted the military regime. And upon taking over the government in 1975, the Murtala/Obasanjo administration took steps to prepare the nation for any such natural emergencies in  future. Its policy response was the establishment of 12 River Basin Development Authorities scattered throughout the country in 1976/77. Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority, one of the 12, had responsibility for the development of the Ikere Gorge Dam and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Rural Development was the supervising ministry. This project has been on since 1977!

    The pamphlet also disclosed, what might be expected from our knowledge of most development initiatives from the 50s and 60s, that the Obafemi Awolowo administration in Western Region discovered the dam in the 50s and it was eventually taken over by the federal government. “During the Awolowo period, there was a big farm… Around 1966. there were about 10,000 herds of cattle… There was also a large cashew plantation.” These were the words of an Iseyin elder, Mr. Emmanuel Oke, in a 2013 interview reproduced in the book.

    Mr. Oke went on to compare Ikere Gorge Dam with Akosombo Dam in Ghana. Both are natural dams. But while “the water level at Ikere Gorge Dam is 38 metres deep, Akosombo Dam is 36 metres.” Greater depth means greater capacity. And “if Akosombo Dam could produce 1,200 megawatts of electricity, Ikere Gorge Dam could do something similar or even better.” One might also add that if Ikere Gorge Dam had 10,000 herds of cattle in a ranch in 1966, as Mr. Oke confirmed, we have a home-grown answer to free range cattle rearing with its unsavoury consequences. And just as Akosombo Dam has turned into a tourist attraction earning enviable foreign exchange for Ghana’s economy, so can Ikere Gorge Dam do for Nigeria’s.

    The current state of the dam is pathetic, but it is not an insurmountable task. The engineering design of the first phase covering 3000ha out of 12000ha was completed. Contract for the sprinkler irrigation system had been awarded since 1990 and by December 1997, it was 72% completed. Much has not been done since then. There is a pilot irrigation with only 20 hectares of land available, which is grossly inadequate. But as Mr. Oke observed, it is a starting point crying for further expansion.

    As the pamphlet reveals, the design of the dam was well thought-out. With “a gross reservoir capacity of 565 cubic metres…it was designed to…”supply 233 million cubic metres of irrigation water to the 3,000ha in phase 1; supply raw water to Iseyin, Okeho, Iganna and environs” and 92 million cubic metres “is to be released  and picked up for treatment and distribution by the Water Corporation of Oyo State.” It was also designed to “release 80 million cubic metres of raw water into the river channel to be taken up at the Adiyan intake of the Lagos State Water Corporation.” And it was to generate “six megawatts of electricity for dam operation and rural electrification.” Beside crop farming, the dam was designed to promote fish farming and cattle ranch.

    There is talk about political will. It is hard for me to understand why political will should be lacking in this case in which taking decisive action to execute the project can only elevate the political standing of a leader. If the initiation of the project in 1977 was triggered by the experience of drought, it cannot be denied we have had a recurrence of the 1973 drought off and on in the last 43 years.

    Presumably, government interest in the project waned because the country enjoyed the influx of oil revenue, which we saw as a substitute for revenue from agriculture. Experience has now taught us that oil is not a reliable source of national revenue, and we have rightly decided to retrace our faltering steps to our source. Serious leadership that takes this prospect of agricultural revolution seriously would commit resources to reviving Ikere Gorge Dam for a prosperous future.

  • A decade of royalty and faith

    A decade of royalty and faith

    Preamble

    To some people, the number of years spent on earth matters much more than anything else. To some others, life is not much about longevity as it is about quality. Believers in the earlier concept ensure the yearly celebration of their birthdays even if there is no success accorded to it.

    On the other hand, those who think more of qualitative and meaningful life often see celebration of birthdays as a mere social anathema signifying an unnecessary aristocracy of birth against the necessary aristocracy of intellect which they perceive as the propeller of human growth and development. Mostly, women belong to the earlier concept.

    It was against the background of this analysis that Nigeria’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe wrote in the introduction to his autobiography entitled ‘My Odyssey’ thus: “Man comes into the world and while he lives, he embarks upon a series of activities absorbing experience which enables him to formulate a philosophy of life and to chart his causes of actions. But then, he dies. Nevertheless, his biography remains a guide to those of the living who may need guidance either as a warning on the vanity of human wishes or as encouragement or both”. Human life is a pilgrimage from the unknown to the unknown. No one knows whence he emanated or whither he is bound. The greatest philosophy of life should be to live for the benefit of others as much as one lives for the benefit of self. And that is what philosophers call a footprint on the sands of time.

    This article would have been published in this column last Friday. But yours sincerely was not available either in the country or at any settled place to be able to put pen to paper and add a voice to those of the pros or cons. However, since an occasion like this is a platform for history to which contribution can be made promptly or deferred, it can never be too late for ‘The Message’ to be a contributor to this golden honour hence this humble addition.

    Not his birthday   

    A few days ago, precisely on August 24, 2016, Nigerian media were fully awash with greetings and congratulatory messages to His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The day was supposed to coincide with his 60th birthday. But unknown to most people who tried to help him celebrate the occasion, His Eminence would rather celebrate achievement than mere birth date. That is the school of thought to which he belongs. Though, he is of royal blood, his assumption of the exalted royal throne of the Sokoto Caliphate ten years ago (2006) at the age of 50 was not due to his birth per se but to the evident achievements of his intellectual being as an intellectual entity. And the impact of his fatherly royalty as well as his competent leadership of Nigerian Muslim Ummah in the past one decade has been unprecedentedly historic. This Sultan does not celebrate birthdays because he does not believe in the aristocracy of birth but that that of intellect. However, he does not deprive those who want to celebrate it for him of their right to do so.

    Point of reference

    When His Eminence was seven years on the throne in 2013, yours sincerely wrote an article about his leadership style in this column which remains as current today as it was then. Thus, the article is repeated here for the records. Please, read on:

    “In every crowd of horizontal men, there is always one vertical man who deserves honour not much because of his vertical position but because of the significant difference which that position makes to the crowd. History and man are like Siamese twins or a pair of scissors. The one cannot do without the other. History makes man just as man makes history. And their symbiotic relationship ensures that reciprocal baton of substance continues to change hands between them for as long as they remain in existence”.

    “Ten years ago, in Nigeria, an innocent human crescent lay hidden in the firmament of the orbit waiting to be sighted before prompting Nigerian Muslim Ummah into a united folk. That crescent is the towering personality generally known today as the SULTAN. The gentleman’s name did not ring any bell in Nigeria before he was named and crowned ‘THE SULTAN OF SOKOTO’ in November 2006.

    Thus, the emergence of Brigadier General Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar (rtd.) as the successor to the exalted throne of the great Sokoto Empire without any controversy came as a surprise to many Nigerians. At 50 years of age then, many people thought that he was one of the youngest men to become the Sultan in many decades. But he disagreed with such a suggestion as he recalled that his own father, Sultan Abubakar Sadiq III who was demised in 1988 ascended the throne at the age of 37.

    With a sound military background and a diplomatic pedigree facilitated by modern travelling exposure, since coming into office, this Sultan has consistently demonstrated a rare royal leadership depicting him as a millennial royal Captain divinely designated to pilot the affairs of Islam and the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria with great success. Some random peripheral but irrelevant noises about him and his office by certain relevance seekers do not make any difference in this case. After all, a trillion dogs may line up on a railway to bark at a surging train and that can never halt its surge.

    Philosophers’ assertion

    Philosophers who assert that every new century has a way of producing a great leader may be right after all. The example of Sultan Abubakar is a manifest attestation to that assertion. Ever since he assumed the exalted royal office about a decade ago, this gentleman has convincingly exemplified all the qualities of genuine leadership. Every statement he has made socially, religiously or politically and every action he has taken officially or privately has proved to be a school from which all well-meaning people have learnt one lesson or another.

    As Chancellor

    Five years after his assumption of office, the symbiotic relationship of history and man was reconfirmed in Zaria, on Wednesday, (November 23, 2011), where a galaxy of well-meaning men and women from all walks of life assembled to say “we are here to bear witness”. That was the day His Eminence was installed as the CHANCELLOR OF AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA. The occasion was just one of many laurels accruing to him since he assumed office as Sultan. Before then, he had been the Chancellor of the University of Benin. But none of these matters to him as much as his service to humanity. Besides building a very solid bridge across Nigeria in all strata, this Sultan has significantly reduced the once dominant tribal tendencies to the barest minimum.

    Definition of leadership

    A onetime American President, Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), once described a leader as “a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like it”. By his activities and functions so far, Sultan  Abubakar has proved Truman right by demonstrating to Nigerian Muslim Ummah that the time has come for the reformation not only of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) but also the Sultanate.

    When he assumed office in 2006, he hinted that the Sultanate would be put on the internet to enable all educated Muslims have access to their leader.  And in this age of computer, can anyone meaningfully lay claim to any serious knowledge without adequate access to the internet? That is why he decided to start the reformation of the Sultanate through the instrumentality of the internet. And as an exemplary leader, he demonstrates his leadership prowess by possessing mastering fingers on the computer.

    Islam’s first law

    In Islam, education is the first law. It is only through it that man can understand life in all its ramifications. That was why Allah’s very first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) ordained education thus: “Read in the name of Allah who created; He created man from clots of congealed blood; Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, Who taught man by the pen; He taught man what he did not know…”Q. 96:1-4. To further emphasize the compelling need for education in Islam, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported to have said in one Hadith that “knowledge is a lost treasure. Muslims should look for it and pick it wherever they could find it”.

    Without education there can be no information. And without information there can be no progress. That is why the Sultan started his reformation of the Sultanate from the premise of education. It is only with education that most problems in this world can be solved without much ado. Sultan Abubakar also believes that education without social harmony is like a virtue without value and that there can be no harmony in a society where people are overwhelmed by ignorance and penury as is the case in Nigeria. Thus, he has consistently focused on both. Perhaps that was why he initiated many educational programmes including the scholarships for female Muslim medical students in the South-West Nigeria being managed by the Muslim Ummah of that region (MUSWEN).

    At his installation as the Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University five years ago, Sultan  Abubakar told the crowd that the current socio-economic indices in Nigeria were a clear indication that the country had begun to drift. He lamented the nation’s unprecedented underdevelopment despite the enormous resources with which Nigeria was endowed. Today, the situation that warranted his lamentation has become more manifest.

    About corruption

    In His Eminence’s words: “Corruption has emasculated our progress even as poverty and unemployment have pushed Nigerian citizens to the brinks, fuelling and confounding social conflicts even as inter-communal crises have extracted heavy toll in both human lives and property”. He went further to say that: “Persistent insecurity has generated panic and anxiety; our social and physical infrastructures are far from meeting the needs of the nation; the country appears to be adrift and at the core of all these is moral decay engendered by ignorance and greed.”

    Tertiary education

    At the same occasion, His Eminence also noted that “the reform of the tertiary education sector could not be effective without putting in place, the progressive developments required in the basic and senior secondary education sectors. He insisted that “our state governments, especially those of the North, must begin to realize the enormity of the challenges facing the education sector and take urgent and necessary steps to address these challenges.” He lauded the founding fathers of ABU, especially, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and urged the authorities of the ABU to continue to abide by the cardinal principles on which the institution was founded.

    That is the renascent Sultan for you, a man who is at the topmost echelon of the tree of comfort but feels so much concerned about the plight of the peasants who are deliberately consigned to the weeding of the shrubs without any hope in the official policies. He has never relented in his advocacy for good governance and denunciation of corruption and religious intolerance.

    As a guest of CAN

    When he was invited in January 2010 as a Special Guest of Honour to a religious seminar organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) with the theme: ‘Knowing Your Muslim Neighbour’, Sultan Abubakar delivered an historic speech that reverberated meaningfully across the entire world. And in May, same year, he also invited the leadership of CAN to a special conference of the NSCIA held in Kaduna. The theme of that conference was: ‘Islam in the Eyes of the Christians’. He is the first Nigerian first class Monarch ever to engage in such an interfaith affair at the national level and his speech on that occasion was also electrifying. Please read an excerpt from that speech as presented below:

    “….we initiated, as we had done for the JNI, a thorough review of the activities of the NSCIA and an extensive reform of its structures. It is our firm belief that these reforms are not only desirable but necessary, to reposition the Council to play its strategic role as the apex Islamic body in the country and to respond, effectively and meaningfully, to the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

    NSCIA’s reform agenda

    We have had extensive consultations over the last one year and have received very useful inputs on the reform agenda from all the constituent bodies of the Council. Our strategic objectives in this exercise had been and shall remain: firstly, the promotion of Muslim Unity and Solidarity, to accord the Ummah the ability to speak with one voice and to act and work together for the advancement of Islam.

    Secondly, the development of Education and Economic Enterprise, to enable the Muslim Ummah play an active role in the socio-economic life of Nigeria is a sine qua non.

    Thirdly, the promotion of peace and religious harmony both within the Muslim Communities and between the adherents of Islam and those of Christianity is a joint effort that cannot be handled with levity.

    Fourthly, the establishment of effective linkage with Government, at local, state and federal levels, to safeguard the interest of the Ummah and to build consensus on those vital issues that bind us together as a nation must be pursued and sustained.

    It is therefore our hope that as we bring this reform process to its logical conclusion, we will receive the support and patronage of the entire Muslim Ummah as well as the co-operation of all stakeholders including State Governments and indeed the Government of the Federation”.

    The task of governing

    “On that occasion, His Eminence laid emphasis on “the task of overcoming Nigeria’s problems and he called for sacrifice, dialogue and understanding. He said all national stakeholders must overcome the myopia of greed and self-centeredness to move this great nation forward and safeguard its strategic interests….we must begin to look into the future with hope and confidence and to ensure, first and foremost, that we shore up the foundations of our political system. The National Assembly, and indeed all tiers of Government, should not relent in their current efforts at Electoral Reform and in ensuring that Nigerians have a genuine electoral process that guarantees free and fair elections. Unless and until we do that, our nation will continue to be haunted by the unholy alliance between fraudulent elections and illegitimate electoral outcomes, the consequences of which we all know too well. We must break away from this vicious circle and confer on Nigerians the power and indeed the ability to decide, freely and willingly, who leads them at all levels of governance”.

    Conception of leadership

    Talking about leadership, His Eminence said “there is also the urgent need for us to re-evaluate our conception of leadership as a nation…. needless to add, that there is no way we can make genuine progress as a nation when a significant number of our populace wallows in abject poverty unable to secure the requisite means for their sustenance and to cater for the health and educational needs of their families. Democracy must build a humane society capable of looking after legitimate needs of its citizenry. For it to be truly successful, it must be able to bring real progress to all sectors of our diverse society. He concluded that “finally we must all work hard to limit the influence of wealth in our society and to support those values that promote social responsibility, excellence and hard work”.

    That is Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, a leader who knows the problems of his followers and associates with them in solving those problems. Through his humble interaction with all Muslims in Nigeria irrespective of tribal or geographical boundaries, he has become the first Sultan to create a strong feeling of a united Muslim Ummah under a competent and considerate leadership. And by speaking out incessantly against policies which seem to deliberately impoverish ordinary Nigerians across board, this Sultan has brought a rare hope to Nigeria and the Muslims are the luckiest for it. Such a leadership deserves allegiance, loyalty and regular prayer from the Ummah and not just celebration of birthday and congratulatory messages to mark the occasion.

    We pray for the elongation of his life with very sound physical health, exemplary wisdom and Allah’s constant guidance. Amin

  • Between mind restructuring and political restructuring 

    Between mind restructuring and political restructuring 

    The debate on restructuring is not abating and new thoughts are introduced into the factory of ideas on a regular basis. The latest is from Governor Ganduje of Kano State, who has urged us to bother more about mind restructuring and less about geopolitical restructuring. Presumably once we restructure the minds of Nigerians, either geopolitical restructuring will be added unto it or it would not be necessary after all. To drive home his point, the governor referred us to the United States as a model of diversity without concern for geopolitical restructuring.

    I am sure that Governor Ganduje means well for the country. According to media report, the ultimate goal for which he recommended mind restructuring instead of geopolitical restructuring is “to return the country to the path of progress.” This is also the desired goal of those who believe that absent political restructuring and true federalism, including devolution of power to component entities, the country will not experience the desired progress. Here then we have a conflict of views on the path to progress.

    I commend Dr. Ganduje for offering an alternative perspective towards the same end point, one that is substantive in its recommendation of mind restructuring. There are several issues to raise about the governor’s recommendation of mind restructuring as a substitute for geopolitical restructuring. But before we take on that task, there is a more urgent task.

    In support of his position, Governor Ganduje offered the example of the United States, which “is more geopolitically fragmented with more nationalities than Nigeria” and is the “strongest nation in the world.” Presumably then, diversity is not a liability. If this was the point of Ganduje’s reference to the United States in the context, I do not think he has any opponent, certainly not from advocates of political restructuring of Nigeria. They too see our diversity as our strength, provided it is well managed. By this they mean a truly federal structure, which we do not have now. Hence, the demand for political restructuring for the country to realise the potential strength of our diversity as does the United States.

    But Governor Ganduje meant something else and this is where the facts may not be on his side with respect to the political structure of the United States. The governor argued that “the United States attained its present status because of the ability of its leaders to harness the positive thoughts and actions of its heterogeneous population, and not by the restructuring of the country along geopolitical divides.” That is, it is not the political structure of the United States that helped its development into the most powerful nation on earth. Rather, it is the ability of its leaders to harness the mind and body of citizens that made the difference.

    One philosophical challenge to this position is that it creates a false dichotomy where none is warranted. Certainly if the structure wasn’t right to start with, the mind of the population cannot be harnessed effectively for the task of development. In the case of the United States, we are in a good position to determine which played the leading role in its progress over the years. It is the political structure which was settled early on in the intense debates before its constitution was ratified.

    The debate over the merits of federalism and confederalism engaged the convention delegates for long before they finally settled on federalism with the Bill of Rights enacted as compromise to protect the liberty of citizens. State rights were recognised. Limits were placed on federal government powers, and state and federal governments had dual spheres of authority. Each state has its constitution, state anthem, state symbols and other paraphernalia of governance. States control the minerals under their soil and on the basis of the revenue that accrues to them from taxation on the extraction of such minerals by private companies, some states, such as Texas, choose not to charge their residents state tax. This is how heterogeneity works and diversity benefits the entire country.

    Now, since the structure had been given adequate thought from the beginning and it works, there is no need for restructuring. If it aint broke, don’t fix it! We also opted for federalism in Nigeria at the beginning. But along the way, the country ailed, and in our effort to put it right, we applied the wrong remedy. The military chose to fix the challenge of leadership with a change of structure. It is this wrong move that needs correcting.

    Dr. Ganduje observed that the United States is “more geopolitically fragmented with more nationalities than Nigeria.” To a large extent this is true, but it is also misleading. It is true to the extent that every nation of the world has an imprint in the United States and it has become a nation of nations. But it is misleading because residents and citizens of the United States do not have the sense of place or the sense of origin that many Nigerians are encouraged to have.

    No one asks a United States citizen his or her state of origin when applying for a job or scholarship. Rather the question is always state of residence. That is not the Nigerian experience. Therefore, for Nigerian citizens, place of birth is a barge of identity no matter how long they have resided in another town, city, or state. So, whereas the United States has more sub-nationalities than Nigeria, this sub-national identity means less for a typical American than it does for a typical Nigerian. Americans freely move about states without loss of identity.

    Furthermore, the fact that the United States has a federal system that prioritises the autonomy of states on many governance issues is the most brilliant device which has fuelled its progress. The governor of a state in the United States is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his or her state. The governor is in charge of the security of the state. The governor appoints the Police Chief who hires his or her team.

    The governor determines the size of civil service the state needs and, based on the size of its economy, the state determines how much it can pay to its workers. The federal government has nothing to do with these state issues. Surely, there are tensions in the relationship and there are times when the United States federal government attempts to overreach and the states resist with law suits. There are also times when states try to play fast ones with regulations that affect their minority populations especially in matters of voting rights. In such cases, the federal government, especially one that is headed by a progressive president, may seek to intervene to make things right, usually by going to the courts.

    The effectiveness of the United States system of federalism is made possible because the states in the federation are viable entities on their own, and the residents of these states and especially the voting population challenge their governments to be effective. They have nothing to complain about if they are not as effective as they are expected to be. They are to manage their bureaucracies and their economies for the benefit of their population. Therefore, as CEOs, governors have to roll up their sleeves and remain competitive to attract investors and make their states business friendly.

    Viability of states makes the difference. In Nigeria, on the other hand, many states are no more than glorified municipal counties. The point of political restructuring is to correct this imbalance. It doesn’t make sense that states just exist on paper with little to discharge their responsibilities without the intervention of the federal government through financial bail-out. Geopolitical restructuring is the prerequisite for the viability of the constituent entities of the federation.

    Mind restructuring, by which Dr. Ganduje means the development of the mind and the harnessing of the positive thoughts of the population, is not an alternative to geopolitical restructuring. They are complementary, and there is reason to believe that if the structure is not right, the development of the mind will suffer. The evidence is too obvious to ignore.

  • Ogbeh’s ‘low energy’ agric policy

    For want of a kinder description, one has elected to find solace in Trump-speak here. Of course we all know Donald Trump don’t we? The brash, swashbuckling presidential candidate of the Republican Party, his reputation and the sheer prospect that he might just end up in the White House continues to confound the world.

    But because even the devil has his day, let us borrow something from Trump to illustrate our point today. In the early days of his party’s primary election campaign, Trump had literally ‘slayed’ one of the prospective candidates, Jeb Bush, damaging his campaign mortally.

    He of the Bush dynasty that had produced two American presidents already, Trump had described Jeb as “a ‘low energy’ candidate who does not have the will to win the presidency.” Poor Jeb, a much younger man, lived under the rubbles of that verbal shelling until it became futile for him to continue in the race.

    Now, for want of a more polite description, one would take some liberty here to describe Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh’s recently released Agriculture Promotion Policy (2016 – 2020) as a ‘low energy’ document. The strategy document is nearly at variance with the realities of today.

    Though Chief Audu Ogbeh, a renowned farmer heads the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), the job of producing this document was obviously farmed out to consultants who simply made a ‘job’ of it as they are wont.

    And it’s difficult to love consultants. You know what they say about them: about borrowing your watch, telling you the time with much flourish handing you a fat bill? It must be the same scenario at the Presidency where ‘professional economic consultants’ have just concluded that the best way forward for the ailing economy is to grant the president emergency powers.

    By omission or commission, they seek to return Nigeria to dictatorship through the back door. How presidential emergency powers would translate to Nigeria earning more foreign exchange or drastically reduce her staple food imports has not been explained. But this is story for another day.

    APP 2016 – 2020 is frustratingly long on wooly prognosis and tragically short on solutions. For a PhD dissertation on Nigeria’s agriculture, it would probably earn an ‘A’ but for strategy a document take Nigeria from her current morass of food crisis and acute foreign currency shortage to sustainability, it is an ‘F’.

    What is wrong with APP 2016 – 2020?

    First, there is no urgency about it at all and Nigeria is in an emergency of sort: we need to stop food importation immediately; we need to earn foreign exchange. Last month before the Senate, Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had lamented that forex demands for the importation of rice alone stood at $14 billion.

    Today in Nigeria, our basic salary cannot buy a bag of rice and finally, if rice import is banned outright today, an implosion may ensue in the polity almost immediately. All of this suggests a situation that is urgent and critical. It is the same situation for chicken and poultry products, milk and dairy products among others.

    In the light of this, one would expect an agric policy that is in line with these realities and that can galvanise the expedited production of these commodities.

    What must be done now While this document may be beneficial in the medium to long terms, there are a few things that must be done immediately:

    One: need for task forces on rice production value chain, poultry production value chain, dairy production value chain and fish production value chain, for a start.

    Task force on rice production value chain (call it a presidential task force if you like, I don’t think we need any emergency powers to do this). This team will monitor, support and coordinate all rice production, processing and marketing activities all around the country regardless of the ownership. It will ensure that critical presidential and institutional support and intervention reach the fields and the mills and even the silos and warehouses real time.

    They will work on the entire ramification of the rice value chain. Quarterly report is presented to a presidential committee headed by the president or his deputy. The task force itself is reviewed each year for a maximum period of three years. This way, we can achieve self sufficiency in rice production in two years flat.

    The task forces on poultry production, dairy production and fish production will work in nearly the same fashion. In two to three years, Nigeria can achieve self-sufficiency in rice, poultry, dairy and even fish production. The ultimate objective is to conserve ample foreign exchange by ending importation of these products.

    Other task forces on areas, such as agro-cooperatives and on reduction of harvest wastages may be looked into. Again because of the versatility and wide acceptance of such crops as cassava, maize, yam and millet, there may be a need to pay a special attention to their planting, harvest, processing and preservation.

    FMARD would continue to implement the APP in the medium and long term and to develop a system that would eventually meet and take over from the task forces at a juncture. Of course export cash crops would be among its major prerogative. Is it not criminal that some factories in Nigeria still import palm oil and raw rubber sap is taken out of Nigeria to Ghana to produce vehicle tyres that are shipped back here at exorbitant rates?

    What are the urgent actions required for post-harvest wastages in such fruits and crops like water melon, mangoes, oranges, tomatoes, yam and potatoes? The situation is urgent!

    In other words, APP 2016 – 2020 lacks the requisite adrenalin to attend to our immediate problems; it’s a ‘low energy’ policy.

     

    Zamfara 8: Low presidential umbrage

    Again and again, it happens and all we hear is tepid presidential assurances and nothing is ever done. When 74-year-old Madam Bridget Abahime was butchered in Kano on June 3, the president told us the action was “utterly condemnable” and that justice would be done if we maintained the peace.

    When Deaconess Eunice Olawale was slaughtered on July 9, it was the same refrain. Not one person have we seen detained or in the box.

    This time eight innocent Nigerians murdered with seven of them roasted right in their home and our president tells us again that ”it is barbaric and the law will take its course.”

    Not good enough at all. Where is presidential umbrage which requires that the IGP is summoned and given express orders to pick up all the suspects, put them in handcuffs and parade them the following day? Presidential umbrage would cause the police to expedite prosecution of cases like this to make one or two example of these murderers.

    But increasingly, government has shown that it has no interest in deterring some people from cold-blooded killings in the name of Islam. The polity will become a jungle when  government pushes the citizenry into having to defend themselves… that is where we are now. Zamfara is one case too many.

     

  • The NSCIA’s Deputy President-General

    The NSCIA’s Deputy President-General

    Preamble

    Habits die hard. They come with human nature and grow with human nature. They are the symbolic traits with which human personalities are identified and labeled in any society. Great people are known, not by the mighty castles in which they live or the sizes of cars they ride on roads or even the power of oratory they possess. What rather makes some people great in the sight of their fellow human beings is the conduct by which they relate with others as well as the footprint they leave on the sands of time at the point of their departure. The true greatness of any human being is permanently encapsulated in the pearl of humility rather than in the cave of vanity. The one is indelible. The other is ephemeral.

    Habits of great People

    Philosophers believe that humble people are invariably characterised by certain distinct habits which are manifest in them. Some of such habits can be summarised as follows:

    • They are consciously aware of the situations around them.
    • They retain their relationships with others without minding the differences in their habits. •They make difficult decisions with ease and stand by them.
    • They put others first in their consideration. 5. They listen patiently but with rap attention when others are talking.
    • They exemplify endurance with maturity.
    • They talk only when necessary and give room for others to express their views.
    • They are far from domineering despite the giving hands with which they are endowed.
    • Above all, they radiate the fear of Allah in their judgments on issues and in their lifestyles.

    Which of the above listed habits is not manifest in the newly elected Deputy President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr) Sakariyau Olayiwola Babalola OON?

    For those who know him closely, none of those habits can be faulted. His election to the second highest position in the apex Islamic body in Nigeria is a confirmation of the pure intention with which the Muslim Ummah of the South-west Nigeria (MUSWEN) was established a few years ago. Nothing can better depict Allah’s guidance in the choice of leadership in MUSWEN than the replacement of humility personified (Aare Arisekola) with humility personified (Dr. S. O. Babalola).

    Clarification

    By the way, it is necessary to clarify here once again that the election of the late Aare Abdul Azeez Arisekola-Alao as NSCIA Deputy President-General was not because he was Aare Musulumi of Yoruba Land. It was rather due to his unsurpassed role in the NSCIA for years as recognised by the apex Islamic body and his well known humility. The title of Aare Musulumi of Yoruba Land is regional and peculiar to the League of Imams and Alfas in the South-west Region which initiated it and appoints the conferee. On the other hand, the post of Deputy President-General is national and appoint-able only by the NSCIA without any recourse to the League of Imams and Alfas of South-west. In a nutshell, the one has no direct bearing with the other.

    Happiness and Solidarity

    To show happiness and solidarity with Dr Babalola as the new NSCIA Deputy President-General, many Muslims, men and women bombarded the ‘Message Column’ with a deluge of congratulatory messages and felicitations some of which could only be accommodated here today. Others will be published later. They are as follows:

    Chairman,  MUSWEN’s BOT

    On behalf of the Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN), I heartily congratulate the NSCIA President-General, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and the entire Muslim Ummah of Nigeria on the laudable election of our amiable Chief S. O. Babalola as Deputy President-General of the apex Islamic body in Nigeria. I pray the Almighty Allah to make the great task easy for him.

    Prince Bola Abdul-Jabbar Ajibola, Chairman, BOT, MUSWEN.

    Lagos State FOMWAN

    On behalf of all Muslim women in Lagos State, I wish to congratulate Alhaji Babalola on his appointment as NSCIA Deputy President-General. May Allah give him the strength and wisdom to carry out his duties in the new office.  Congratulations Sir!

    Dr Ajoke Sariyu Ashiru, Amirah, FOMWAN, Lagos State.

    Osun State Muslim Community

    The entire members of Osun State Muslim Community congratulates our father, Alhaji  Babalola on your well deserved appointment  at NSCIA General Assembly/NEC meeting in Benin, Edo State. Baba, we are proud to identify with you in your wonderful dedication to Islam and inspiring insight into the general well being of world-wide and Nigeria in particular. We wish you many more years of greater achievements.

    Alhaji Mustafa Olawuyi, 1st Vice-President, Osun State Muslim Community.

    Ondo State Muslim Community

    The entire members of Ondo State NSCIA and my humble self congratulate Alhaji Babalola on his well deserved elevation. It is a round peg in a round hole. I pray Allah to give Baba long life with good health to lift Islam to higher pedestal.

    Imam Habibullahi Akinpelu, Chairman, NSCIA, Ondo State.

    FOMWAN, Ondo State

    I hereby join others to in congratulating our Baba. May Allah see him through in playing a leading role in piloting the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria.

    Alhaja Faosat Aliu, Amirah, FOMWAN, Ondo State.

    Ekiti Muslim Community

    The Ekiti Council of NSCIA felicitates with Alhaji Babalola on his election. The cap really fits the man who has demonstrated his love and commitment to Islam with his wealth, time, energy and experience. All of us in Ekiti State pray that Allah will grant him a successful tenure.

    Alhaji  Y. O. Sanni (President); Alhaji Tajudeen Adejumo (General Secretary)

    Oyo State Muslim Community

    The muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS) hereby felicitates with Dr. S. O. Babalola on his election as Deputy President-General of the NSCIA. May the Almighty Allah grant him wisdom and other wherewithal with which to guide and guard the Ummah as he has been doing on the path of glory.

    Alhaji Ishaq Kunle Sanni, Chairman, Oyo State Muslim Community.

    NACOMYO

    The leadership of Southern Zone of NACOMYO congratulates Alhaji Babalola on his election. If his antecedent is anything to go by and his performance as MUSWEN President, he is no doubt a right choice for the new position. He together with other leaders can take the Ummah to the next level.

    “And holdfast to the cord of Allah and do not be disunited…” (Q. 3: 103). We advise the new Deputy President-General to bring all groups together including youths.

    Alhaji Mustapha Balogun, Chairman/NVP2 Southern Zone

    UNIFEMGA

    The Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA) heartily congratulates Dr Babalola on his election. May Allah elongate his life  and bless him with good health to be able to shoulder the responsibility. Engineer Abdul Waheed Olayimka, President, UNIFEMGA

    MURIC

    The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) congratulates Alhaji Babalola. It is a well deserved post. We have no doubt that the Ummah will benefit from his wide experience and immense philanthropy.

    Prof Ishaq Lakin Akintola

    MUSWEN’s Finance Committee

    We thank Allah for His favours and blessings on the Muslim Community in Nigeria. Congratulations to our indefatigable Baba S. O. Babalola on his election.

    Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti, Chairman, Finance Committee, MUSWEN.

    MUSWEN’s Shura Committee

    My dear brothers and sisters, let us  rally round Alhaji Babalola and give him our maximum support towards a successful tenure in this laudable assignment which Allah has just given him. May Allah grant him wisdom, patience and increase him in knowledge with which he canrun the office.

    Imam Sulaiman Titilope, Chairman Shura Committee, MUSWEN

    MUSWEN’s Education Committee

    This is to heartily congratulate an inspirational leader, a great philanthropist and a devout Muslim, Alh Babalola on his election . Considering his antecedent and pedigree, you very well deserve this position. With you occupying the position, the Muslim Ummah is sure to witness peace and harmony in Nigeria. May Allah strengthen you to be able to achieve more for Islam in Nigeria.

    Prof. Muhib Opeloye, Chairman, Education Committee, MUSWEN.

    MUSWEN’s Health Committee

    The election of Alhaji Babalola, the visionary President of MUSWEN is a well deserved honour. It is our belief that Alhaji Babalola will add value to the body. May Allah (SWT) reinforce his Iman and give him the wisdom, patience and good health to make a success of Allah’s grace on him.

    Professor and Dr. Lateefah Durosinmi, Chairman, Health Committee of MUSWEN & former National Amirah of FOMWAN respectively. (Both are also members of MUSWEN’s CWC).

    MUSWEN’s Planning & Strategy Committee

    The entire members of Planning & Strategy Committee of MUSWEN congratulates our President, Alhaji Babalola . We equally congratulate His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto  and President-General of NSCIA for the gift of an able hand to assist him. May Allah (SWT) provide the duo and all members of NSCIA NEC the enablement to accomplish the task of propelling Islam to greater heights.

    Aare Sulaiman Afolabi Ogunlayi, Chairman, Planing & Strategy Committee

    IET

    Alhmdu Lillah! The election of Alhaji Babalola is another welcome case of a round peg in a round hole in the Council’s recent appointments. His dedication to the Ummah is palpable and all he needs is the Dua’au of every member of the Ummah that Allah (SWT) grants him every success in the post.

    Abullah Jibril Oyekan, former IET Director and member, CWC, MUSWEN

    MMPN

    On behalf of Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN), I hereby felicitate with our father, Dr Babalola on his new election. We in MMPN have seen you, through your pedigree, with listening ears who practices what he preaches as you have demonstrated as the President of MUSWEN. We herby assure you of our full cooperation and support in the discharge of your national duty as we pray Allah to continue to strengthen you in health and faith.

    Alh. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, President, MMPN

    TMC

    It is not surprising that the nomination of Alhaji Babalola was met with overwhelming and resounding support from all Islamic organisations and eminent personalities at the recent NSCIA General Assembly/National Executive (NEC) meeting held in Benin, Edo State. No matter how big a crowd may be, Alhaji Babalola always stands out because of untiring charitable support service to Islam and humanity. You worked hard, you deserve it and you are unsolicited. Please, accept the felicitations of ‘The Muslim Congress (TMC) on this wonderful and well-deserved recognition to serve Allah and His course. May Allah strengthen and guide you always.

    Dr. Luqman AbdurRaheem, Amir, TMC.

    MSSN Lagos State Area Unit

    We rejoice with Alhaji Babalola and wish him a successful tenure. We have no doubt that you would bring positive changes to the apex Islamic body in Nigeria.

    It is our expectation that you would complement the efforts of your predecessor (the late Arisekola Alao) and that of the NSCIA Secretary-General, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede in ensuring the rights of Muslims are guaranteed and not trampled upon in South west.

    We appeal to you to be a voice against oppression of Muslims in your region and Nigeria at large.

    Saheed Ashafa, Amir MSSN Lagos State Area Unit

  • Journalism ethics and the ‘Salkida code’

    “In fact, Boko Haram (the Islamic State of West Africa Province as they like to be known) is as deadly today as it can ever be. This time around, thousands of them are not in their caliphate that is known to all, they are dispersed to the most unlikely places developing cells and creating new platforms to launch surprise attacks, whether on soft targets or not.”

     Ahmad Salkida

    The above excerpt is taken from a February 16, 2016 article of Ahmad Salkida titled, “Boko Haram: it’s about human lives not territories.” As we know, Salkida, the Nigerian freelance journalist known to have access to the terror group, Boko Haram, was declared wanted Monday by the Nigerian Army. Two other persons: Aisha Wakil and Ahmad Bolori, were also on the Army’s list of infamy.

    According to the army, the trio were suspected to be collaborators with the Boko Haram insurgents after a preliminary investigation of the latest video of the missing Chibok girls released by the terrorists. While the other two had reported to the army authorities, Salkida who apparently resides in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) had said he would only show up upon receipt of air tickets from the army.

    The Nigerian Army declaring Salkida, a journalist, wanted has raised a cloud of dust especially among his colleagues most of who plead he has some kind of ‘professional immunity’. Some have argued that he owes a duty to his readers to report news as it is, while others weighed in that his sources too must be protected no matter who they may be.

    Who is Ahmad Salkida? To put the matter into perspective, we must first attempt to fathom the true persona of Salkida. The best we know of him is that he is an indigene of Borno State. His biodata online is scanty, but it indicates that Salkida is self-educated, but certainly not in media studies or journalism.

    Though his background is hazy and unspecified, he is known to have been familiar with the early Boko Haram clergies including Mohammed Yusuf in his teenage days in Maiduguri. The sect had been quite influential in the 90s and the then Governor Ali Modu Sheriff had deployed it to his political advantage. He is blamed for corrupting their pristine ideals and indeed, radicalising them.

    According to a colleague of Salkida in one Abuja-based daily he worked with briefly, Salkida whom he described as a very brilliant and wild-eyed young man with the heart of a lion, had always been part of the Maiduguri radical sect’s implosion galvanised by Sheriff. When therefore Boko Haram became a cause célèbre, it was easy for him to cross the red line and waltz in and out of the danger zone.

    Given his connection with the Abuja media circle even before social media became popular, Salkida was able to serve his ‘friends’ in the sect, providing ‘media intelligence’ and direction. As the sect morphed into a full blown terror group with the killing of Yusuf in July 2009 and the bloody revenge attacks of 2010, Salkida also grew in influence especially with a few exclusive reports about the sect. He immediately became an authority of sort not only on the sect but on ‘conflict reporting’ as his biodata suggests.

    Of journalism ethos, ethics and news source: The Salkida episode requires more detailed interrogation and needs be held up as a case study in media faculties and journalism schools. It must be stated that Salkida is not a journalist in the classical sense of it – neither by training nor by practice. Providence simply thrust him into the biggest story of our time and how he has reacted to it is the reason for this piece.

    As the violent reprisals grew into armed insurgency and then a well-oiled terror machine, Salkida was caught in the exciting divide and he conveniently played the dual roles of journalist/conflict expert to the outside world and intellectual resource person, mediator and negotiator to the group.

    It is apparent that he loved both roles as he grew in stature internationally and probably in means too as he and his family relocated to Dubai where he currently lives. During the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, he as well as Aisha Wakil were involved in a multi-million dollars negotiated settlement with purported Boko Haram sect that was later disclaimed as a ruse.

    All this back-grounding is to highlight the fact that Salkida is not a journalist in the strict sense of it. Secondly, circumstances may have thrust upon him events, far above his ken to heave. It is therefore troubling to hear it being said that he owes allegiance to his source as journalism tradition demands.

    One begs to differ and basic journalism teaches that fundamental ethics and ethos of the media is to edify humanity, uphold the sanctity of the very society he lives in. A true journalist is a crusader for this noble cause and all noble causes at that. We were taught in journalism school to always uphold justice, truth and the human essence. In other words, and to illustrate, a journalist is most likely to be found on the side of the tenant against a shylock landlord, an employee against a wicked employer, the people against a tyrant government and good against evil.

    To boil it down, why then would a journalist worthy of that noble vocation protect a terrorist ‘source’ in the face of a dire national security threat and massive loss of lives of innocent fellow compatriot? It is to suggest that journalism is about the sanctity of the news source or for that matter, that it is an end in itself. In this case, news gathering and reporting is not only for the sole purpose of broadcasting the activities of a deadly terrorist group but for the greater purpose of ending the scourge.

    Studying the activities of Salkida, carrying out the simplest content analysis of his articles, there is no doubt where his sympathy lies. He hardly has any word of condemnation for the wanton blood-fest unleashed on his country and countrymen; causing no fewer than 15000 deaths not to mention untold carnage to lives and livelihoods. We speak of a matter of grave national catastrophe here and not infantile journalistic escapades.

    If perchance Salkida had an inkling of the location of one IED that went off; if he ever knew the hiding place of the kidnapped Chibok girls and one of those deathly ambushes of the military; if he knew and withheld such information, then what he has done is grand treason not covered by any known journalistic code.

    Unschooled and inexperienced, Salkida may well be excused for taking such liberties he did under the guise of journalism practice. Let us blame it on the fact that he may have been caught up by forces beyond his control.

     

    Uche Ogah and Nigeria’s leadership selection process

    The recent report in national newspapers relating to a case of grand forgeries against Mr. Uche Ogah is a cause for concern. Going by the sheer magnitude of the case, one would have expected both the security agencies and his party to have pre-empted his very aspiration to contest for the governor of Abia State.

    According to court documents in circulation, the allegations are so weighty that in other climes, he would have been barred ab initio from seeking public office. We hope our security agencies would be more diligent in carrying out background checks on political aspirants. This would go a long way in sanitising the polity and our democracy would be better for it.

  • Our followership ethical challenge 

    Our followership ethical challenge 

    Political leaders in general, and elected officials in particular, get blamed for any and all national headaches— unemployment, poverty, insecurity, corruption, underdevelopment. Blame is justified because leaders ask to lead, and blame for lapses comes with the territory that leaders occupy. Not a few will argue that if political leaders voted into office by the electorate are not prepared for the heat, they should not get into the kitchen of politics.

    However, I argue here that followers also share in the blame of bad governance that creates national headaches. Followership blame may come at two levels. First is the low bar that followers set for the evaluation of potential leaders. Second is followers’ selfish expectation of leaders.

    Normally, we should elect leaders and, once they are in office, judge them by their integrity, by their empathetic feeling of the pain that their followers endure, and above all, by their competence. These three qualities are complementary but they sometimes get emphasised differently at different times.

    In the US presidential election of 1980, integrity played a greater role than competence. That was against the background of the Watergate scandal. Jimmy Carter won handily against Gerald Ford who had pardoned Richard Nixon, to the dismay of many voters. Four years later, competence was brought to the fore by a worsening economy and the Iran hostage crisis which respectively impacted the economic fortunes of voters and shook their sense of national security and national pride.

    With his demonstration of an empathetic understanding of people’s pain, Bill Clinton won the first presidential debate against George H. W. Bush in 1992 and he went on to win the presidency. His demonstrated competence in turning the economy around in his first term won him a second term in 1996 and effectively saved his presidency in 1998 even with his impeachment by the House and his damaged integrity.

    A pertinent question is here in order: If and when their votes are allowed to count and elections are not rigged, are our people also guided by similar concerns of integrity, empathetic understanding of citizens’ pain, and again above all, competence? Or are there other considerations that sway us one way or the other? For reason of space I cannot address this question as fully as it deserves. But I can hint at the route to an answer from our most recent experience.

    Back in 2010 at the time of the unfortunate sickness and eventual demise of former president Yar’Adua, an unexpected crisis arose in a republic guided by a constitution that is very clear on succession. There was a reluctance to have the then Vice President Dr. Jonathan serve as Acting President while the President was out sick. And when the President passed on, there was another crisis on whether the North should present a candidate to contest for and complete Yar’Adua’s second term. In both of these crises of succession as acting and as substantial president, clearly other considerations were in play before reason eventually prevailed.

    In the lead-up to the 2015 presidential election, with the emergence of the All Progressive Congress as a strong contender in the national elections, the criteria of integrity and competence were brought up and advanced in favour of candidate Buhari, while the accusation of incompetence and weakness in dealing with corruption and security were levelled against candidate Jonathan. But as the points and counterpoints were being canvassed and litigated, an extraneous issue that mirrored the interjection of 2010 was brought to the fore. The claim was made without any sense of irony that every zone was supposed to get two terms and that the Southsouth should not be denied a second term. Clearly here, the criteria of integrity, empathy and competence were not considered essential to electing the president.

    The above narrative from our recent past gives us a hint about the issues that we prioritise in the selection of leaders. And as a corollary, it should also provide us with a good barometer of leadership perception, understanding, and appreciation of their responsibilities and obligations to different demographics and constituencies. That the fight against corruption has different meanings for different segments of the population should therefore not come to us as a surprise.

    But there is more. Our differing demographics notwithstanding, each individual and/or group could still demand accountability based on the values that each holds dear. However, it appears that beside the group or traditional culture that makes us cling to nativist urges, we share a Pan-Nigerian culture that privileges certain attitudes which we do not find repugnant even though they are antagonistic to our true interests as individuals and as a people.

    We nurture a culture of negative work-ethic, godlessness despite our religiosity, and materialistic greed. “Possessive individualism” is philosopher C. B. McPherson’s description of the liberal capitalist ideology about the nature of market relations and the ethos that they create from the 17th century to the late 20th century.

    That description fits us perfectly as a people based on the way we like to acquire the so-called goods of life. The difference is that where it originates, there is at least a combination of acquisitive tendencies with positive attitudes to work. For them, the urge for production precedes and predominates the urge for acquisition. They work hard to produce much more than what they need. For us, the reverse is the case as we unceasingly indulge our ferocious appetite for material things without a corresponding interest in production. The consequence is that we have to rely on other countries, including those of our age for the satisfaction of our desires, which are not always desirable.

    The difference between the positive work ethic and modesty of life of the average citizens of countries whose consumption pattern we strive to outdo and ours is alarmingly huge. Our national culture celebrates pomp and pageantry, and respects flamboyance at the expense of modesty. We mock the alowomajaiye (penny pinchers) and applaud the profligates with flashy lifestyles even as we fail to investigate the source of their wealth.

    The anti-corruption fight has divided the country into the camp of supporters and opponents for a number of reasons. Some genuinely believe that it is one-sided. Others argue that the fight has left the economy uncared for. It appears to me, however, that one challenge of the fight is that corruption itself is a national pastime whether we want to honestly admit it or not.

    Corruption permeates all the segments of society and while the big-time culprits are being chased, the small fishes in the pond of corruption are swimming safely in its filthy water without being hunted. It is the television producer who demanded N150, 000 from a prospective interviewee or the programme would be cancelled. And it was cancelled. It is the case of the education officer who demanded padded envelope from a school proprietor for the registration of his school. Once given and received, no further questions would be asked and regulations need not be enforced. And we wonder why the education of our children is in such dire straits! It is the case of the policeman who turned the other way after a handshake with a driver’s stuffed hands, not worrying about the overloading of the vehicle, which went on to crash, killing all the passengers.

    The foregoing samples do not exhaust the list of self-help schemes on the part of those with access to some level of power. Hardly is there an exception. Even teachers who used to be role models for probity have also tasted the forbidden fruit and a variety of fees are their means of making more than ends meet. Examination fraud is team work.

    Folks without access to such formal positions of authority resort to “fine bara” of various shades and at various levels. From area boys to party stalwarts, they depend on the crumbs from the table of the powerful and connected and will entertain nothing that stands in the way. Talking ill of their benefactors gets into their skin; defending him/her is self-interest.

    It follows, therefore, that when leaders are ethically or criminally implicated, followers cannot creditably claim innocence.