The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • 9/11: FBI’s Final Report

    Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America, Osama is in every home (today). As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case, that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. And the only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.”  ¯ Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time)

     

    Preamble

    In about two months time, most Nigerian Journalists will begin, as usual, to mimic and chorus the voices of their Western ‘superior’ counterparts on the tragic occurrence of 9/11, 2001. Precisely, on the 11th day of the coming September, that event will be 15 years old. Ever since, so many statements and counter statements, disclosures and revelations as well as analyses and interpretations, have been advanced by people who are directly or indirectly connected to the incident. The thoughts and views of different people from different parts of the world on that incident have remained as diverse as the interests they represent.

    Some (Nigerian non-Muslim) readers of ‘The Message’ column have queried the leaning of this columnist so much towards religion, particularly Islam. They have wondered why yours sincerely can hardly put pen to paper in this column without tilting towards Islam in one way or the other. That is like querying the snail on why it incessantly goes about with its inseparable shell.

    Perhaps, it may be necessary to make a clarification here that there is no columnist in the world without a particular interest that he or she represents. Let the doubting readers of this column endeavour to verify this assertion and they will discover that every newspaper columnist or radio broadcaster represents an interest about which he or she is reflectively passionate. What matters in such cases is the necessary application of professionalism. After all, while this Islamic column called ‘The Message’ occupies only one page weekly in ‘The Nation’ newspaper to educate Nigerians about Islam, many other newspapers allocate about five pages or at least three pages to the propagation of Christianity and the Muslims are not complaining. That clearly shows where religious tolerance or intolerance lies.

     

    Voice of the Voiceless

    As a veteran Journalist and a devout Muslim, yours sincerely chose to represent (in Nigerian media) the voice of the voiceless majority who happens to be the Nigerian Muslims. And that is without any prejudice to the media activities of a retinue of non-Muslim professional colleagues who also represent the voices of the various religious denominations to which they belong in their faith. For any or some of such colleagues to want to intimidate or blackmail this columnist therefore is the height of professional absurdity. A pot must not tag a kettle black.

     

    Nigerian Media’s Perception of Islam

    In Nigeria, Islam is seen in the media from the perception of the non-Muslim Journalists who dominate the pen-pushing profession. Thus such Journalists see everything about Islam from their own biased perception as they often accuse the Muslims of practicing their religion against the expectations of the non-Muslims.

    What most Nigerian Journalists refuse to understand is that Islam is neither a dogma like other religions nor a mundane ideology that can be manipulated at will. It is rather a divinely guided total way of life for all its committed adherents. Any misconduct of a Muslim therefore, does not equate Islam in any way. There are laws and there are law breakers everywhere in the world. To attribute the misconduct of certain Muslims to the fundamental norms of Islam is to deliberately exhibit mischief with impunity at its peak.

    As an informed Muslim, I do not query the use of anybody’s column to defend or protect his or her interest, whatever that interest may be. And in the same token, I do not expect any civilized reader or fellow journalist to query my choice of interest. Doing so may not only connote irritating ignorance, it may also amount to implacable provocation or unwarranted aggression which in itself is a euphemism for fanatical intolerance.

    You may not like my thoughts or views just as I may not like yours. But in as much as I do not accost you for holding your convinced views, you do not have any right to accost me for holding mine. That is the democratic norm to which every civilized modern person should adhere in a multi ethnic and multi religious society like Nigeria. It is the also the principle of fair play with which journalism should be practiced as a profession.

     

    FBI’s Disclosure on 9/11

    On Friday, June 10, 2016, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released what can be termed as its concluding report on the 2001 disaster popularly known as 9/11. This can be found in Vol.52 Issue 22 of an American security journal called ‘The Onion’. Excerpts from the introduction to that report reads thus:

    “…..After 15 years of broadly targeting the 3.3-million-member community and extensively monitoring its activities, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declared an end Friday to its surveillance of Muslim Americans, saying its exhaustive study of their beautiful culture was finally complete”.

    Officials confirmed that the program was started in the fall of 2001 when federal agents, captivated by Islam’s complex history and rich spiritual traditions, redirected the full force of the bureau’s intelligence-gathering apparatus toward developing a more thoughtful, nuanced appreciation of the Muslim-American way of life. The Director of FBI, James B. Comey had the following to say recently when the latest report of the Bureau was about to be released:

    “We’d always known Islam was one of the great world religions, but it wasn’t until we recruited a network of 15,000 informants and infiltrated mosques all over the country (US) that we came to understand just how magnificent and fascinating it truly is,” said FBI director James B. Comey, who noted that agents gained a valuable and eye-opening understanding of Islam—while also learning a lot about themselves and their own faith in the process—after entering the Muslim places of worship to collect as much information as they could on the intriguing personal beliefs of the religion’s followers. “After analyzing the transcripts of thousands of phone calls and intercepting the communications of prominent Muslim-American leaders and academics, we’ve really come to admire their vibrant culture.”

    “The considerable amount of intel we’ve gathered and carefully pored over for the past 15 years has shown us that their faith and customs are really quite inspiring,” Comey added. “If there’s one thing we’ve taken away from all our surveillance, it’s what a glorious and enriching part of our world Islam is.”

     

    Explanation

    “According to sources within the bureau, the harvesting of internet data, widespread racial profiling, and the nationwide mapping of Muslim communities have allowed agents to closely observe the followers of Islam on an extremely personal level, thereby allowing them to develop a deep respect for the amazing ethnic and cultural diversity of the faith’s 1.6 billion believers, as well as the striking distinctions between the religion’s various sects, which, they stressed, went far beyond just Sunni and Shiite.

    Remarking on all the information they had gathered, FBI officials emphasized that adherents of Islam speak dozens of beautiful languages—Arabic, but also Urdu, Pashto, Farsi, Bengali, Javanese, and many others—and noted that agents came to treasure this linguistic richness after installing recording devices throughout Muslim-American communities and then surreptitiously listening in on Qur’anic study groups, prayer sessions, and social events.

    “Thanks to advances in video surveillance, we’ve been able to look inside Muslims’ homes and view some breathtaking calligraphy prints and hand-woven tapestries,” said former agent Casey Hanna, who fondly recalled assignments that allowed him to overhear moving recitations of the Hadith, which he was fascinated to learn come from an oral tradition and are considered to be the direct word of the Prophet Muhammad. “I went undercover in hundreds of Muslim-owned businesses and residences across the nation and was lucky enough to sample many variations on the aromatic stews and delectable desserts that serve as staples of halal cuisine—Arabian, North African, Indonesian. They were all delicious, and unlike anything I’d ever tasted.”

    “I’ll never forget this one instance when I closely trailed a New York shop owner for three straight years—his coffee was just spectacular,” Hanna added. “Muslims were the first people to drink coffee, you know.”

     

     

     Advanced Curiosity

    “After realizing they could not fully nurture their curiosity by limiting their study to Muslims in the United States, the FBI reportedly enlisted the help of the NSA to find out more about the incredible religion. Between 2002 and 2008, the bureau is known to have monitored 7,485 email addresses around the globe in order to learn answers to their many questions about Muslims’ compelling lives and rituals, from why they don’t eat pork, to what Muslim holidays are like, to why some Muslim women wear garments that cover their heads while others don’t”.

     

    Camey’s Revelation

    The Director, J. B. Comey, told reporters that the FBI also received information from the CIA, whose enhanced interrogation techniques and clandestine intelligence-gathering methods yielded many interesting revelations from Muslim sources around the world, such as the fact that Arabs make up only 15 percent of the global Muslim population, and that through most of history, women in Islamic societies actually had more property rights than women in the West.

    He said they thoroughly enjoyed studying “such a lovely people and such a lovely faith,” Comey explained that agents would often remove a Muslim citizen from their community and keep them detained for days, weeks, or even months on end to learn everything they could from them about Islam”.

    “There’s no way I could remember the names of all the Muslim citizens that our agents brought in to discuss the beauty of Islam with one-on-one, but rest assured that with their help, the FBI has gained a deep and illuminating understanding of Islamic culture,” said Comey, who noted that by combing through thousands upon thousands of citizens’ banking records, agents discovered with astonishment how some observant Muslims set up special loan payment plans to avoid paying interest, as they consider it usury, which is forbidden under Sharia law”.

    “It’s crazy to think about, but until little more than a decade ago, I had no idea there were Five Pillars of Islam that guided all Muslims’ spiritual lives. I also didn’t know anything about the multitude of Muslim contributions to mathematics and science that have been absolutely vital to the world. But that’s not to say they don’t value art, though. Poets like Rumi and Hafez drew upon mystical Sufist interpretations of the Qur’an to write verse that is every bit as sublime as, say, Keats or Coleridge. And don’t even get me started on the architecture.”

     

    Comey’s Conclusion

    In concluding the report of his team’s research and findings, FBI’s Director, James B. Comey told the American Muslims as follows:

    “As this program sadly comes to an end, I just want to thank Muslim Americans from the bottom of my heart for teaching us all about your faith and your culture,” he continued. “We’ve learned so much about you over the years. More than you could possibly imagine.”

     

    Observation

    From the foregoing, it can be vividly deduced that contrary to general global belief, Muslim terrorism in the US is more hypothetical than real. In other words, it is more of media propaganda than physical disaster. Another vital report from an FBI data summarized the scenario as follows:

    “Terrorism Is a Real Threat … But the Threat to the U.S. from Muslim Terrorists Has Been Exaggerated”

    The above conclusion seems to have brought to an end the 20th century view of a British intellectual but deified poet, Rudyard Kipling who in one of his poems once stated as follows:

    “…OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,“

    Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;

    But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,  When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!”  If that poem was sensible to the Europeans of the 20th century, it has surely become anachronistic to the Europeans of the 21st century. Today’s world is a global village in which no part can claim to be an island onto itself.

     

    Conclusion

    If it could take the well educated people of the United States a whole length of 15 years of rigorous research to understand Islam despite the involvement of experts in many areas of human endeavours, one can imagine the number of decades it will take half-educated Nigerians to even think of sitting down to study the divine religion called Islam. Nigerians are only good in copying from other countries either evil acts or satanic means of becoming rich as quickly as possible. The thought of emulating decency from other lands is alien to Nigerian so-called elite. But no matter how long it may take, reality will one day dawn on Nigerians about Islam as it is now beginning to dawn on Americans. Bitter as it may sound in the ears of Nigerian pessimistic bigots, America may soon become the voluntary haven of Islam with or without bigotry of the rest of the world, Nigeria inclusive.

  • Reconciling democracy and restructuring

    Reconciling democracy and restructuring

    I take seriously the reactions and responses of readers to my weekly contributions and I take time to digest them and, if necessary, respond. It helps also that they have been few and far between. They have also been generally thoughtful and thought-provoking. The latest, on last week’s column, is not an exception. While I find the tone of the comment mature and reasonable, and its general stance agreeable, I think that the logic of the argument is shaky. It is because I sympathise with the commentator’s fundamental position that I have chosen to respond to the flawed logic of the argument.

    The comment is interesting for at least two reasons. First, the author took the time to dig from the archives my column of January 16, 2015 to interrogate my position in the column of July 15, 2016. Quoting from my January 2015 column, the author wonders why I should now maintain my current position. In fairness, the commentator did not directly accuse me of inconsistency. Still, I suspect that there is a sinister aspect to his or her point: If that was your argument then, why worry now? You wanted the elections. You got the elections. Now live with it. For the commentator, it was a got you moment. Here, below, is the comment and in its totality.

    ‘“Fifth, if restructuring is an important issue for the polity, it is not too much to ask the presidential candidates to explain their positions on it to the voters before they (voters) head for the polls. Hopefully, candidates will have opportunities for debate on issues because such is an occasion for the electorate to get to know more about their prospective leaders. However, if voters don’t care about issues of restructuring and constitutional amendment, we cannot force them and we must be reminded about the inviolability of Lincoln’s wisdom: “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” (Riding Out the Gathering Storm (2) January 16, 2016.” The people have decided. Why are you worrying?’

    What is my response to the question: why are you worrying? First, I am not worrying. Rather, I am concerned about the future of the country that we all claim to love. With all the negatives that she has drawn to herself especially in recent times, does this country have a robust future that makes nations great? My intervention, through this column, has been generally focused on issues surrounding this question. Last week was not an exception.

    Second, the commentator seemed to infer that if I pitched my tent in favour of conducting a democratic election and letting the people vote their conscience, and they eventually did, then I should not be in a position to re-litigate the case for restructuring. “Why are you worrying yourself?” means “ You argued for the election to go on in lieu of restructuring before election. Why are you now arguing for restructuring?”  A fair interpretation of my column under reference and the one that preceded it cannot come to this conclusion. It’s worth recapitulating.

    The man of God, Pastor Tunde Bakare, had in a powerful submission, suggested the postponement of the presidential election to avoid what he referred to as “the gathering storm.” He recommended instead first dealing with the restructuring of the country. I differed respectfully while acknowledging the thoughtfulness of the pastor’s intervention.

    Surely, there was a gathering storm. But to my mind, that storm would have become a Level V hurricane if the election had been halted. And in view of the revelations since then, I still firmly believe that it would have been a huge mistake. I then suggested that a debate could be organised for the candidates with restructuring as the major issue. This is how democratic elections are conducted. If this is a matter that people cared about, they would make up their minds on the best candidate based on their evaluation of his or her position on the matter of restructuring. It was from this mindset that I brought in Abraham Lincoln who had suggested that citizens will have to live the consequences of their vote.

    Now, what contradiction is there between asking democratic elections to set the stage for restructuring, and now, after elections, asking for restructuring to be placed on the front burner? I certainly don’t see any.

    What is more, it was also clear that the antecedent of my suggestion, namely a debate on restructuring as the major issue of the campaign never received the blessing of electoral authorities. Therefore, there was no way to know what citizens’ preferences were. They went and voted presumably on other matters, including the proverbial and detestable stomach infrastructure appeal for which all parties competed with gusto.

    If the platforms presented by the political parties were evaluated through the medium of a political debate, and the people chose a candidate who rejected restructuring, the commentator would at least have a point. But since that was not the case, the logic that the argument relied upon is deeply flawed.

    But there is more. Assume what is not the case—that the people actually went to the last elections on the basis of an informed understanding of the candidates’ positions on restructuring. Assume further that with such an understanding, the majority chose to elect a candidate who rejected restructuring. Would the commentator then have a valid argument against me? Would I be found guilty of inconsistency? The answer from my humble opinion is “No”. The reason is quite simple and there are two parts to it.

    In the first place, democratic elections do not sentence a country and a people to a life-time of helplessness or hopelessness. When elections are conducted and won or lost on the basis of ideological positions, the losers do not as a result choose to fall on their own swords. They brace themselves up for the next time hoping that their position will attract more voters and secure a majority.  Therefore, while democracy is against imposing a position on the people, it is not against a persistent appeal to them all-year round and at every election cycle on behalf of a position that one truly supports. Consider that as my present position on the matter of restructuring.

    The second part of my response is quite simple. My last column takes the All Progressive Congress (APC) up on its declared interventions by way of its documented platform as contained in its manifesto. The point I made was simply that while I concede that the party did not make any direct pronouncement on restructuring, it should start fulfilling its promises on at least the three items that were clearly articulated in its manifesto. These included the matter of restructuring the police force with an emphasis on community policing, reforming the Land Use Act to encourage freehold or leasehold, and refocusing the economy, with particular reference to a new approach to mining.

    Is there any inconsistency in upholding the sanctity of democratic elections and calling on the victorious party to act up to its promise? I see none. Suspending an election in a democracy could be more problematic to the polity because it would create a dangerous precedence. The nation missed the opportunity for serious debate on restructuring through a sovereign national conference in 1998 prior to the return to civil rule. Of course, the military had also then been traumatised as an institution and was just too eager to quit the political scene. We can moan that missed opportunity for ever. But we cannot make up for it by intervening in the democratic process without appearing to favour one party or the other.

    Meanwhile, however, there is a moral justification for calling upon a political party to fulfil its promises to the electorate because, as Hobbes would say, justice is keeping promises voluntarily made. That was my message to APC. And if the party refuses to keep its promises, well, there is always a next time coming. I respectfully rest my case.

  • This wilderness…

    I have taken the title above from Kofi Awoonor, the late Ghanaian writer, poet, diplomat and academic. In his 1971 novel, This Earth, My Brother, is the line, “This earth my brother, shall witness a crashing collapse…” Awoonor, who by the way, was killed in the 2013 terrorists attack on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya was interrogating a woe-begone post-colonial Ghana in his famous novel.

    Awoonor rued the seeming wilderness that his country had lapsed into after the white man left and his compatriots took hold of the helms of power. It is this conundrum of hopelessness, an unyielding dark horizon that pervades Black Africa over half a century after independence that conjures in one, the image of a blighted wilderness.

    It is uncanny that this ominous picture would keep flashing in one’s mind in Nigeria of 2016. But the sad truth is that Nigeria has never managed to live the great example providence thrust upon it to live in the continent of Africa. It is remarkable that Nigeria in spite of her size, endowments and modest successes, still has the ruinous capacity to fall apart at the snap of the finger.

    It’s a pity that Nigeria remains till this moment, a tottering, clay-footed giant that can disintegrate like Sudan, Rwanda and Congo. “This wilderness, could witness a crashing collapse”, is the full-stretched title of this piece and it is informed by the dark auguries that continue to line our skies even after we thought we had secured a fresh beginning in the new government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Flashback, flash-forward: surely, it is only a wilderness that remains accursedly bare and barren from season to season; no flowers bloom, and rains guarantee no greenness. Exactly this time 50 years ago, this same nation was careening into a bloody civil war – the war came to pass consuming about two million compatriots. That orgy of hate and resentment has remained with us and is indeed bearing more asinine of springs.

    It is a wilderness where only yesterday, the president mobilised 1,000 soldiers to the far-northwestern-most part of the country to pursue cattle rustlers. We are so mono-minded and we hardly ask the right questions. How come every corner of the country is so vulnerable yet we have about 774 local council areas in the country? The reason is that these tiers of government which would have served as veritable outreaches of development and growth to our hinterlands are mostly moribund. Therefore, there are no buffers around our borders and outer fringes of our country and even our lives. Thus we are buffeted from all corners. We are forever exposed and vulnerable and under all manner of attacks.

    Is it not a hungry youth who has no stake in his country and who has never seen any government in his entire life who would take to rustling another man’s cattle? Youths who have been abandoned and left to the vagaries of the elements would easily become enemies of the environment that alienated them. And how do we respond: we send troops after them.

    It is a wilderness where cattle breeders roam the wilds with AK47 and slaughter farm owners in their paths. And it is only reminiscent of the wild, wild western worlds where the settled science of animal husbandry remains a boundless, free-ranging preoccupation. The rest of the world has contained and confined the cattle business in sophisticated ranches that nourish the world with milk, cheese and choice beef.  Not us, the dwellers of the wilderness.

    It must be a wilderness where topnotch military officers keep the funds meant to prosecute a war; renege in arming the boys properly and turn around to court-martial them for being shot in the back; for cowardice.

    It is only in the wilds that just three air force chiefs are being arraigned for a combined looting carnage of N21.5 billion. Here is the sordid checklist of properties seized from just one of the officers: a shopping plaza in Abuja worth N980 million; a residential mansion in Abuja worth N450 million; an executive mansion in Abuja worth N710 million; a four unit terrace house worth N720 million; a 35-room uncompleted hotel in Abuja; a parcel of land on Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; a block of 12 serviced flats on Parkview Estate, Ikoyi worth N1.8 billion and a quarry in Abuja worth $694,000. All of these cumulatively are worth about N9.6 billion. Just one man stole so much from a country’s treasury and we still call it a country and not a wilderness?

    His superior and bandit-in-chief has returned N2.3 billion via two bank drafts. Where in the world can few individuals remove so much from government treasury if not in a wilderness where animals roam? Many countries in Africa cannot raise a draft of N2.3 billion at a go.

    Finally, it is only in an irredeemably arid place that a fellow who is supposedly a senator of the federal republic would stand on the floor of the hallowed chamber to assault another senator who happens to be female and married. Senator Dino Melaye had threatened to beat up his colleague, Senator Oluremi Tinubu as well as deploying insolently vulgar and sexist language against her.

    Hardly anything seems to change as we are assailed by some shtick uglier than yesterday’s every new day. State governments cannot pay salaries anymore, ‘ghost’ workers are edging out the non-ghost workers. Yet in this digital world, no one can burst the ghoul on the payroll.

    The world around us is forever forlorn and blighted; well, for one streak of hope from the quarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which is locked in a relentless battle against graft. For instance, never before in this land had top military brass been brought to account or their budget scrutinised. And to think that defence ministry always had the fattest budget through these years.

    There may well be a streak of hope if the ongoing spat with systemic greed is properly managed.

    Aguiyi-Ironsi: 50 years after

    Sam Omatseye, chairman of The Nation’s Editorial Board cut the issues clean in his inimitable style on this space last Monday: “The Biafran ghost still spills cold blood.” He notes in his piece titled: The Biafran Ghost. He says further: “We may deny it and say our nation is not negotiable, but the past keeps growling and badgering. The more we claim we are together, the more apart we get.”

    One of the biggest casualties of the failed First Republic is General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s number one soldier and first military head of state. It will be 50 years on July 29 that he was gruesomely murdered by his aides in a betrayal most sinister. He and his noble host, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi.

    For a man who led Nigeria’s first peace mission; who tried to hold the country from disintegration and who never participated in any putsch, his country has done him much injustice almost obliterating his essence.

    As Omatseye seems to say, Nigeria may well be hiding from the ghost of Biafra instead of putting it to rest in the manner civilised nations do: memorialise it.

  • 9/11: FBI’s Final Report

    Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America, Osama is in every home (today). As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case, that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. And the only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.”  ¯ Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time)

     

    Preamble

    In about two months time, most Nigerian Journalists will begin, as usual, to mimic and chorus the voices of their Western ‘superior’ counterparts on the tragic occurrence of 9/11, 2001. Precisely, on the 11th day of the coming September, that event will be 15 years old. Ever since, so many statements and counter statements, disclosures and revelations as well as analyses and interpretations, have been advanced by people who are directly or indirectly connected to the incident. The thoughts and views of different people from different parts of the world on that incident have remained as diverse as the interests they represent.

    Some (Nigerian non-Muslim) readers of ‘The Message’ column have queried the leaning of this columnist so much towards religion, particularly Islam. They have wondered why yours sincerely can hardly put pen to paper in this column without tilting towards Islam in one way or the other. That is like querying the snail on why it incessantly goes about with its inseparable shell.

    Perhaps, it may be necessary to make a clarification here that there is no columnist in the world without a particular interest that he or she represents. Let the doubting readers of this column endeavour to verify this assertion and they will discover that every newspaper columnist or radio broadcaster represents an interest about which he or she is reflectively passionate. What matters in such cases is the necessary application of professionalism. After all, while this Islamic column called ‘The Message’ occupies only one page weekly in ‘The Nation’ newspaper to educate Nigerians about Islam, many other newspapers allocate about five pages or at least three pages to the propagation of Christianity and the Muslims are not complaining. That clearly shows where religious tolerance or intolerance lies.

     

    Voice of the Voiceless

    As a veteran Journalist and a devout Muslim, yours sincerely chose to represent (in Nigerian media) the voice of the voiceless majority who happens to be the Nigerian Muslims. And that is without any prejudice to the media activities of a retinue of non-Muslim professional colleagues who also represent the voices of the various religious denominations to which they belong in their faith. For any or some of such colleagues to want to intimidate or blackmail this columnist therefore is the height of professional absurdity. A pot must not tag a kettle black.

     

    Nigerian Media’s Perception of Islam

    In Nigeria, Islam is seen in the media from the perception of the non-Muslim Journalists who dominate the pen-pushing profession. Thus such Journalists see everything about Islam from their own biased perception as they often accuse the Muslims of practicing their religion against the expectations of the non-Muslims.

    What most Nigerian Journalists refuse to understand is that Islam is neither a dogma like other religions nor a mundane ideology that can be manipulated at will. It is rather a divinely guided total way of life for all its committed adherents. Any misconduct of a Muslim therefore, does not equate Islam in any way. There are laws and there are law breakers everywhere in the world. To attribute the misconduct of certain Muslims to the fundamental norms of Islam is to deliberately exhibit mischief with impunity at its peak.

    As an informed Muslim, I do not query the use of anybody’s column to defend or protect his or her interest, whatever that interest may be. And in the same token, I do not expect any civilized reader or fellow journalist to query my choice of interest. Doing so may not only connote irritating ignorance, it may also amount to implacable provocation or unwarranted aggression which in itself is a euphemism for fanatical intolerance.

    You may not like my thoughts or views just as I may not like yours. But in as much as I do not accost you for holding your convinced views, you do not have any right to accost me for holding mine. That is the democratic norm to which every civilized modern person should adhere in a multi ethnic and multi religious society like Nigeria. It is the also the principle of fair play with which journalism should be practiced as a profession.

     

    FBI’s Disclosure on 9/11

    On Friday, June 10, 2016, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released what can be termed as its concluding report on the 2001 disaster popularly known as 9/11. This can be found in Vol.52 Issue 22 of an American security journal called ‘The Onion’. Excerpts from the introduction to that report reads thus:

    “…..After 15 years of broadly targeting the 3.3-million-member community and extensively monitoring its activities, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declared an end Friday to its surveillance of Muslim Americans, saying its exhaustive study of their beautiful culture was finally complete”.

    Officials confirmed that the program was started in the fall of 2001 when federal agents, captivated by Islam’s complex history and rich spiritual traditions, redirected the full force of the bureau’s intelligence-gathering apparatus toward developing a more thoughtful, nuanced appreciation of the Muslim-American way of life. The Director of FBI, James B. Comey had the following to say recently when the latest report of the Bureau was about to be released:

    “We’d always known Islam was one of the great world religions, but it wasn’t until we recruited a network of 15,000 informants and infiltrated mosques all over the country (US) that we came to understand just how magnificent and fascinating it truly is,” said FBI director James B. Comey, who noted that agents gained a valuable and eye-opening understanding of Islam—while also learning a lot about themselves and their own faith in the process—after entering the Muslim places of worship to collect as much information as they could on the intriguing personal beliefs of the religion’s followers. “After analyzing the transcripts of thousands of phone calls and intercepting the communications of prominent Muslim-American leaders and academics, we’ve really come to admire their vibrant culture.”

    “The considerable amount of intel we’ve gathered and carefully pored over for the past 15 years has shown us that their faith and customs are really quite inspiring,” Comey added. “If there’s one thing we’ve taken away from all our surveillance, it’s what a glorious and enriching part of our world Islam is.”

     

    Explanation

    “According to sources within the bureau, the harvesting of internet data, widespread racial profiling, and the nationwide mapping of Muslim communities have allowed agents to closely observe the followers of Islam on an extremely personal level, thereby allowing them to develop a deep respect for the amazing ethnic and cultural diversity of the faith’s 1.6 billion believers, as well as the striking distinctions between the religion’s various sects, which, they stressed, went far beyond just Sunni and Shiite.

    Remarking on all the information they had gathered, FBI officials emphasized that adherents of Islam speak dozens of beautiful languages—Arabic, but also Urdu, Pashto, Farsi, Bengali, Javanese, and many others—and noted that agents came to treasure this linguistic richness after installing recording devices throughout Muslim-American communities and then surreptitiously listening in on Qur’anic study groups, prayer sessions, and social events.

    “Thanks to advances in video surveillance, we’ve been able to look inside Muslims’ homes and view some breathtaking calligraphy prints and hand-woven tapestries,” said former agent Casey Hanna, who fondly recalled assignments that allowed him to overhear moving recitations of the Hadith, which he was fascinated to learn come from an oral tradition and are considered to be the direct word of the Prophet Muhammad. “I went undercover in hundreds of Muslim-owned businesses and residences across the nation and was lucky enough to sample many variations on the aromatic stews and delectable desserts that serve as staples of halal cuisine—Arabian, North African, Indonesian. They were all delicious, and unlike anything I’d ever tasted.”

    “I’ll never forget this one instance when I closely trailed a New York shop owner for three straight years—his coffee was just spectacular,” Hanna added. “Muslims were the first people to drink coffee, you know.”

     

     

     Advanced Curiosity

    “After realizing they could not fully nurture their curiosity by limiting their study to Muslims in the United States, the FBI reportedly enlisted the help of the NSA to find out more about the incredible religion. Between 2002 and 2008, the bureau is known to have monitored 7,485 email addresses around the globe in order to learn answers to their many questions about Muslims’ compelling lives and rituals, from why they don’t eat pork, to what Muslim holidays are like, to why some Muslim women wear garments that cover their heads while others don’t”.

     

    Camey’s Revelation

    The Director, J. B. Comey, told reporters that the FBI also received information from the CIA, whose enhanced interrogation techniques and clandestine intelligence-gathering methods yielded many interesting revelations from Muslim sources around the world, such as the fact that Arabs make up only 15 percent of the global Muslim population, and that through most of history, women in Islamic societies actually had more property rights than women in the West.

    He said they thoroughly enjoyed studying “such a lovely people and such a lovely faith,” Comey explained that agents would often remove a Muslim citizen from their community and keep them detained for days, weeks, or even months on end to learn everything they could from them about Islam”.

    “There’s no way I could remember the names of all the Muslim citizens that our agents brought in to discuss the beauty of Islam with one-on-one, but rest assured that with their help, the FBI has gained a deep and illuminating understanding of Islamic culture,” said Comey, who noted that by combing through thousands upon thousands of citizens’ banking records, agents discovered with astonishment how some observant Muslims set up special loan payment plans to avoid paying interest, as they consider it usury, which is forbidden under Sharia law”.

    “It’s crazy to think about, but until little more than a decade ago, I had no idea there were Five Pillars of Islam that guided all Muslims’ spiritual lives. I also didn’t know anything about the multitude of Muslim contributions to mathematics and science that have been absolutely vital to the world. But that’s not to say they don’t value art, though. Poets like Rumi and Hafez drew upon mystical Sufist interpretations of the Qur’an to write verse that is every bit as sublime as, say, Keats or Coleridge. And don’t even get me started on the architecture.”

     

    Comey’s Conclusion

    In concluding the report of his team’s research and findings, FBI’s Director, James B. Comey told the American Muslims as follows:

    “As this program sadly comes to an end, I just want to thank Muslim Americans from the bottom of my heart for teaching us all about your faith and your culture,” he continued. “We’ve learned so much about you over the years. More than you could possibly imagine.”

     

    Observation

    From the foregoing, it can be vividly deduced that contrary to general global belief, Muslim terrorism in the US is more hypothetical than real. In other words, it is more of media propaganda than physical disaster. Another vital report from an FBI data summarized the scenario as follows:

    “Terrorism Is a Real Threat … But the Threat to the U.S. from Muslim Terrorists Has Been Exaggerated”

    The above conclusion seems to have brought to an end the 20th century view of a British intellectual but deified poet, Rudyard Kipling who in one of his poems once stated as follows:

    “…OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,“

    Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;

    But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,  When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!”  If that poem was sensible to the Europeans of the 20th century, it has surely become anachronistic to the Europeans of the 21st century. Today’s world is a global village in which no part can claim to be an island onto itself.

     

    Conclusion

    If it could take the well educated people of the United States a whole length of 15 years of rigorous research to understand Islam despite the involvement of experts in many areas of human endeavours, one can imagine the number of decades it will take half-educated Nigerians to even think of sitting down to study the divine religion called Islam. Nigerians are only good in copying from other countries either evil acts or satanic means of becoming rich as quickly as possible. The thought of emulating decency from other lands is alien to Nigerian so-called elite. But no matter how long it may take, reality will one day dawn on Nigerians about Islam as it is now beginning to dawn on Americans. Bitter as it may sound in the ears of Nigerian pessimistic bigots, America may soon become the voluntary haven of Islam with or without bigotry of the rest of the world, Nigeria inclusive.

  • Toward a more perfect union

    Toward a more perfect union

    It is undeniable that there is a deafening clash of ideas regarding the fundamentals of nation-building in Nigeria. While one group insists on true federalism and demands restructuring of the country toward that end, another sees unitarism as the answer, as a former senator boldly argued some years ago. And though a third group rejects unitarism, it sees nothing wrong with the constitution. For this group, what is needed is strong and visionary leadership.

    One voice advocates resource control and fiscal federalism. Another argues that the centre needs to corner the most resources. The pattern we have seen thus far suggests that whichever party controls the centre would see itself as the protector of the nation’s unity, and cannot be expected to give an inch, even when that inch can gain a mile in the journey to lasting unity.

    We have held four constitutional conferences including at least one national dialogue in the last 25 years with nothing tangible to show. The last confab was no exception with its decision to refer the crucial issues to a technical committee. Year after year, it appears that we are drifting further apart at the seam of national unity, with groups seeking new regional or zonal alliances which have never succeeded beyond the euphoria of the moment. The aftermath of a brutal dictatorship failed to teach us the most important lessons of democratic governance.

    The first of those lessons is that sovereign power resides with the people and that their desires expressly canvassed must be the basis of political wisdom and public policy. The second is that in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural system, respect for democratic norms also requires respect for the diversity and complexity of the polity.

    Just as the establishment of a legitimate political authority is the answer to potential anarchy in situation of absolute individual freedom, so federalism is the panacea against potential chaos where ethnic nationalities cohabit and each has an abiding interest in the protection of its inherited values and ideals of life, and feels compelled to repel perceived encroachments on such values. This is what advocates of true federalism understand clearly.

    True federalism does not espouse national disintegration as its adversaries wrongly contend. A pseudo-federal structure however fuels resentment and thus political crises of the kind that we have witnessed in our recent history. For even when there is no intention to impose values or to marginalise, “mind-readers” are pretty much in the business of psycho-analysing and drawing conclusions, right or wrong. Whether it be in the matter of animal grazing, or in the issue of revenue sharing, or in national cultural policy, there is plenty of room for diversity of positions and thus of mischief getting in the way of rational adjudication.

    Consider the case of animal grazing. Is this a state matter or a federal affair? To the extent that the federal government has an interest per its constitutional mandate, it is by no means an overriding interest, especially since the same constitution vests ownership and allocation of land in the states. Since land matters are cultural, one would expect that states are in the best position to oversee such issues. That is what a true federal system mandates.

    In the matter of revenue sharing, the central government has its obligations just as do the states. And while the nation has to determine the matter of what accrues to the centre and what to the states, it is not a matter of conjecture that states, being closer to the theatre of action regarding the welfare of the people, have a huge responsibility to bear. Therefore, states must explore all available sources of revenue and generate as much as possible for the discharge of their obligations.

    But what sources are available to states? They could tax their citizens. Yet, beside the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and Value Added Tax (VAT), there’s hardly any other fruitful source of taxation for states. Many of these states do not have big businesses or industrial complexes to tax. Taxable landed properties are a rarity; and self-employed citizens hardly pay tax because they don’t make much. The states surely have to do more. But we sometimes ask for the impossible, and miracles don’t come often these days.

    Which leads us to potential sources of wealth which, no thanks to over-centralisation, have been practically made inaccessible to states. Many of these states are sitting on enormous amounts of natural resources, including solid minerals, fossil fuel, and forms of renewable energy. States could attract private investors or incorporate public companies to explore these natural resources for direct benefit to their constituents. The federal government could then impose taxes on state earnings.

    That approach would not only enable the states to fulfil their obligations to their citizens, it would also make them less dependent on the federal government. And since almost every state has some such source of potential revenue, only a few without, if any, will continue to need the intervention of the central government for financial assistance. Would this threaten the unity of the country any more than inaccessibility of funds now does? Hardly. The present dire situation is more prone to chaos as we have witnessed thus far.

    The issue of policing and security has been on the radar screen of the public, especially since the beginning of the present republic. There is no denying the fact that the Nigeria Police is overwhelmed and overstretched. Some state governments, despite their own fiscal challenges, have had to raise funds for their police divisions. Yet crime is on the rise.

    The constitution provides for one police force for a diverse population of over 170 million. The reason for this, as every unitarist has argued ad nauseam, is to eliminate abuse and oppression of opposition by states. While there is a point to this argument, it is obviously one-sided, failing to see the log in the eyes of the supporter of the status quo. The federal government has also used the Nigeria Police for political ends as the last dispensation copiously demonstrated.

    In a federal system where governors are supposedly the Chief Security Officers of their states, they have no authority to control the Commissioner of Police whose boss is the IGP whose boss is the Minister of Police Affairs who works for the President. The charge of abuse of the police can go round. But if city police functions without abuse in other jurisdictions, we can certainly have state police without abuse. Surely, in an era of limited resources to states, this could be an additional burden. But if their responsibilities increase, so must the resources that accrue to them.

    I have identified a number of areas where we could make corrections and amend our constitution toward a more perfect union: cultural sensitivity to land use, resource generation and allocation, and policing and security. I do not think that advocates of true federalism and restructuring are asking for much more. Perhaps some may consider doing all at once as revolutionary and potentially destabilising. We must at least start somewhere.

    The present administration received the support and goodwill of a solid majority of Nigerians on the basis of its manifesto of common sense revolution and promise of change. Admittedly, APC shies away from a direct pronouncement on “restructuring” as a centrepiece of its manifesto; nonetheless its explicit insistence on change commits the party to sensible action on behalf of the people.

    First, APC can start by fulfilling its promise to “develop state-level Community Policing” and to “devolve the oversight of local policing, including the nomination of the State Police Commissioner and management of the prison service to the State.”

    Second, APC can revisit its promise to “revise Nigerian mining legislation to end its ambiguity, providing for a transparent tendering process for mining rights”, and to “provide a fixed percentage of revenues in guaranteed benefits schemes to local communities.”

    Third, APC promised to “amend the constitution and Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land…”

    Spearheading these changes can start moving us closer to restructuring and toward a more perfect union. Let’s do it.

  • There is a future to embrace

    There is a future to embrace

    Some narratives of the past are soothing and reassuring. We used to take pride in our communitarian ethos which abhors crass materialism and greedy individualism. Nationally, we’ve been through some good times which we unfortunately failed take advantage of. But we cannot now afford to cry over the milk that was spilled.

    On the other hand, however, there was plenty in our past that we are better off forgetting because, even in our neck of the wood, they are painful reminders of our individual and collective human depravity. Within and across nationalities and ethnicities, we were accessories to repugnant crimes against humanity, including slavery and genocide.

    Both of the foregoing observations go to show that the past is better left where it belongs. Of course, this is without prejudice to the wisdom of learning from the past to avoid repeating its mistake. What it means is that we can learn a lot from a time slice without obsessing with its positives or agonising over its negatives.

    The present is beckoning us for an embrace of the opportunities it offers for a makeover. Where the past divided, the present urges unity. As opposed to the moral and material impoverishment of the past, the present offers opportunities for genuine all-round enrichment of values.

    But the past demons have placed themselves strategically on the path of the present possibilities, blocking our views, and presenting us instead with illusive optics. With these demons, the present is simply an extension of the past, with its counter-productive understandings of our various conditions.

    These past demons mis-educate us about the reality of our condition. They pit us against the better angels of our nature. They present us with false hopes about the way out of the morass of our national existence. They recommend approaches that are inimical to our interests. Unknowingly, we succumb to their entreaties. Unfortunately, as a result, it has become clear that our present is no different from the past, the grievous mistake of which we are reliving and repeating. It is no surprise because we have allowed the demons of the past to attack our present.

    Nations have histories which have better be left as such. Ours is no different. Now is the time to embrace a future that is without the baggage of the past. How is this to be done?

    The present administration came to power with a great deal of optimism and a lot of goodwill. For even the most loyal supporters of the previous administration knew that something was terribly wrong that needed to be fixed. They might have thought that the necessary fixing could be done by that same administration. Now we know that a lot was wrong and that if the last administration was not the sole source of the wrong, it was an integral part of the rot that it created. It wouldn’t have been able to fix anything by itself.

    Corruption is no doubt at the centre of the nation’s challenge. And it is one area that the present administration has focused, rightly, like a laser beam. It also happens to be one of its campaign promises. It therefore needs all the support and encouragement it can get to do it right and lay a solid foundation for a future to embrace.

    But important as the fight against corruption is, corruption itself is a symptom of a more dangerous disease that needs to be cured. While a sizeable number of Nigerians applaud the administration’s anti-corruption fight, many yet have faulted it for one reason or the other. One of the reasons is the perceived one-sidedness of the fight, which they argue have been against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    While this is an understandable partisan grudge, it is not a valid point to argue, especially because the PDP administration has occupied all the branches of the central administration since 1999, while states just depend on the crumbs from the federal table. Secondly, at the same time that we shout on the roof top for true federalism, we must not give the impression that we need the federal might to probe state governments unless the largess from the federal purse are traceable to them as is the case with the allegation levelled against the Ekiti State governor.

    The partisan division in the matter of the appraisal of the anti-corruption fight is just one aspect of the challenge in that struggle, but it is far from being the only one. The other is more fundamental to our predicament and one of the demons of the past that has not faded away in the present.

    A few weeks ago, there was a news item regarding the position of the Southsouth and Southeast on the militancy in the Niger Delta. According to that news, the political leaders had approached the administration to drop all the anti-corruption investigations against members of the past federal administration, especially those from that zone in exchange for the cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta.

    The particular information may be false for all we know. But if it is true, it is a demonstration of a past demon that is not unique to the Southsouth. It permeates our reasoning across the zones and states of the nation. In general, we route for those we perceive to be our kith and kin even when they misbehave. And we refuse to see the logs in our ethnic or zonal eyes even when we focus on the speck in the vision of others. It is a confirmation of our core challenge: uniting for a good common cause even if it requires our shunning old parochial alliances.

    To meet this challenge, there has to be a recognition that we are a nation of individuals with a common purpose that cuts across our ethnic or linguistic divides. Basic to our common purpose is a prosperous and secure future that our great grandchildren can look forward to. How do we secure that future for them in an atmosphere of mistrust that has characterised our past and threatens the present? True, the root of that mistrust feeds deep into the crust of a forced marriage. But it is a difficult proposition to prove that each of the partners to that marriage has not benefited in some way. Not a case of the end justifying the means; but rather, a realistic invitation to come to terms with a reality that is inescapable.

    That reality beckons us to seek a promising way out of the unprofitable constant recourse to our various corners where we make no effort to rise above the primordial instincts which write the other off as irredeemably evil. In a world that is clearly shrinking by the hour, we are dealing ourselves very dangerous cards.

    In all these, however, leadership matters. Whether in politics, religion, education, business, or culture, leaders have a huge responsibility to rise above pettiness. A populist ideology that only seeks to manipulate the ignorant innocence of the masses is potentially more harmful than the threat posed by a gun-trotting maniac. The former, being in a position of trust, is more likely to negatively impact the lives of many more people.

    More pungently, our present environment of serious inter- and intra-group mistrust requires leadership intervention to allay fears and rekindle the hope of future leaders and followers in project Nigeria. This demands more than words of exhortation. It requires action that revamps hope for fairness across the board.

    Importantly, it calls for paying attention to and grappling with the structural defects that have presented debilitating obstacles to national development and individual and group prosperity. Too many lives are being wasted.

    Majority of Nigerians would answer the call to duty on behalf of their country if only they know that their labour of love will not be in vain as it appears to be the case with those who had paid the supreme sacrifice without much changes in the affairs of a nation for which they gave their lives. There is a future to embrace if only leaders will just pick up the mantle and lead in its direction.

  • Insolvent states: 10 points to ponder

    One of the long-running fallacies of Nigeria’s politics is the statement in some quarters that some of the 36 states of the federation are not viable. Some pundits even dare suggest that states be merged or that we returned to the long-discarded regional arrangement as a cure for all our ills. While a few knowingly make this proposition out of mischief, many have jumped on the merry wagon out of crass ignorance of the dynamics of economic development and nation building.

    But any clear-headed fellow would know that what makes a state or nation viable or flourish into prosperity is never the quantum of natural resources providence endowed it with. It is always the mindset of the critical leadership, the values inculcated in the people and a sustained culture of patriotic ethos and even national pride.

    One finds it preposterous when educated persons declare that a state with a population of a million to two million people and vast arable land mass is not viable. This is one of such misconceptions that have kept many parts of the country underdeveloped and now bankrupt.

    About 50 years ago, Singapore had a worse economic potential than any state in Nigeria today: a low-lying marshland reclaimed from the swamps of the Malay Peninsula. It was an environment tailor-made by nature to exist in desolation and perpetual muck.

    But by the sheer power of one man’s vision and unquenchable tenacity, those miserable pieces of marshy islands is today, the most developed city state on earth. It is the centre of world finance, shipping services, oil refining, chemical and pharmaceutical production. Lee Kuan Yew who built Singapore having won independence for his people could have sat over the lean cow that it was then and milked it to death. The kind of short-sightedness we have seen in our leaders since independence.

    This small mindset in our leaders still persists till this moment. A president or governor claims the mantle of leadership and all he does is to sit down and milk that single cow of state to death instead of nurturing and nourishing it into a large herd, into plenitude for the good of the land.

    Narrow-minded leadership is the fantastic difference we see today between Nigeria and Singapore. It is small-mindedness and folly that makes the difference between a viable place, a wasteland and paradise. Bayelsa State could have been a paradise for instance if it ever had a Yew since its creation.

    Yet, our bad behaviour persists and pervades the vast rich fringes of Nigeria. Some people sit on portions of the land, farting and guffawing over it and they turn around and tell us their portion is not viable and that the state is on the verge of bankruptcy. They sit still, obdurate, unthinking, un-teachable and inured to change.

    In the last two years, a long-foretold crude oil crash came upon us as if by surprise. Two years on, we cannot still see a radical shift in gear from any quarters. Today, about 15 states of Nigeria are said to be hovering at the precipice yet no serious attempt at a radical revamp. Well below are some tips for structured change:

    One: A change of mindset: most governors are still carrying on as if nothing has changed. But they must do a few things in the immediate terms if they don’t want to be booed out of office in the next couple of years.
    They must cut costs drastically and radically. For instance, I would immediately shutdown the Office of the First Lady and mop up the vast expenditure poured there. I would rethink the concept of the security vote. I would review appointees, deputy governor would have to man a ministry; ceremonies and trips would be almost nonexistent, etc.

    Two: Review workforce: Any serious government must know the size of its workforce especially now. Whatever it costs, government must find out the number of civil servants on its payroll before it can quietly manage it according to requirement. The bureaucracy bazaar must stop forthwith. Three: Review projects: major ‘earthshaking’ projects state governments embark upon, like airports, super-highways, etc must be put in abeyance now. Most projects must be revenues-yielding and must be structured under public-private partnership.

    Four: Review tax template: it is the height of low, if we can say that, when a state with a population of over three million declares N2 billion as internally generated revenues for 12 months.  The activities in motor garages, markets, commercial areas, personal income taxes, etc would amount to much if captured accountably.

    Five: Review current revenues centres: some government agencies in states can actually generate enough revenues to run the affairs of the state. Some of these include the transport companies; land registries and other commercial outfits. Such businesses must be run more professionally now and made target driven.

    Six: Create more revenues centres: In the medium term, more commercially driven agencies aimed solely at generating revenues must be created. If necessary, this could be on a PPP basis. For instance, entertainment and recreation centres; hardly any state capital has a standard zoo and family resorts. This is a huge earner if done well.

    Seven: Create agriculture value chains: most countries of the world still depend largely on agriculture for their sustenance. While developed one are at the processing end, less developed ones are at the production rungs of the value chain. Agric remains one of the biggest businesses in the world.

    A state can decide to produce all the poultry products consumed within its borders and beyond; another can focus on milk. These two items for instance are multi-billion dollars businesses and they are still largely imported into the country.

    Poultry products and milk have large and long value chains that would on their own galvanise the economy of states.

    Eight: Expand sports and entertainment bases: Not many state chief executives have been able to discern the huge opportunities inherent in these two aspects of human endeavor as tools for creating youth employment and generating revenues. With a bit of organizational acumen, numerous talents can be harnessed from these areas which translate to wealth.

    Nine: Catalyze establishment of industries: many states cannot boast of even one company that employs at least 5000 staff. And it is not as if there are no such companies across the world seeking virgin outlets but it is for a lack of requisite efforts by the governors.

    Ten: make the local governments work: No matter what a state government might do, it does not get the local council areas working accountably, most of its efforts would ring hollow. Ensuring the bulk of the LGAs federal allocations get to their various destinations will signpost the first important step in developing a state in an integrated manner. Not to get all your LGAs working is to embark on an exercise in futility.

     

    Abia logjam: Orchestrated bad faith

    The logjam and subsequent shutdown of Abia State for over one week (and still counting) is dripping with bad faith that is bound to set our democracy back many years. In the first place, the court in giving the judgment didn’t need to instruct the electoral body to act post haste on it.

    And the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was carrying on as if it was the one to form the new government in Abia. Both the court and INEC knew Governor Okezie Ikpeazu would indeed head for the appellate court. And he did. But INEC in its haste to take over Abia Government House shuffled the court papers.

    But this kind of bad behaviour in the polity would always have the un-salubrious effect of invoking damaging precedence on the polity. And can anyone quantify Abia’s economic losses these few days?

    Finally, this INEC is fast losing the aura and respect conferred on it by the last chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. Apart from assaulting our sensibilities, we cannot afford to return to the days of jankara INEC, can we?

  • What do the South-West Media Want?

    So much for Objective Journalism! Don’t bother to look for it here—not under any byline I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.”

     By Hunter S. Thompson, (Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72)

     

     Preamble

    The above quotation is probably much more relevant to Nigeria than any other country in the world. Like any other thing that has to do with decency, journalism in Nigeria has become a mockery of itself. Its three fundamental norms of information, education and entertainment have been turned into misinformation, mis-education and distraction.

    With the coinage of vocabularies like ‘maginalization’ and ‘Islamization’ (words that   cannot be found in any English dictionary), Nigerian journalists have blindly and ignorantly polarized the country’s social strata along tribal and religious lines. And with this queer professional whim, they have tacitly drawn a visible battle line among existing ethnic groups on the one hand and religious groups on the other (a euphemism for a furnace of implacable enmity).

    Thus, the prospect of a potentially great country becoming a nation has virtually been turned into a mere day dream that can hardly be linked to reality. If anything is antithetical to Nigeria’s cohesion as a country with potential greatness, it is the Nigerian media. And all these damages are being done in the name of press freedom.

     

    Ember of Discord

    In its usual act of beating the drum of war in the country, the Nigerian media recently started chorusing another sour song aimed at leaving another sour taste in the mouth of Nigerians. It has started classifying the recent appointments made by the current regime into that of North-South dichotomy. That is its new way of igniting a new war between the northern part of the country and the South. And, as usual, the drum beats are vividly coming from the south-west.

    It is sometimes amazing what the real agenda of the south-west media is. In 1999, two main presidential candidates were presented to the country on the platform of two main political parties. The two candidates were from the South-West and they were Christians. One of them emerged as the country’s President with majority of Muslim votes and there were no grudges from the Muslims even as he completed his two terms of eight years.

     

    Memory Lane

    At least, it can still be remembered that the man (Bashorun MKO Abiola) who won the 1993 unprecedented Presidential election that was annulled by military fiat and was eventually killed in detention was a Muslim from the South-West. It can also be remembered that the man (Ernest Shonekan who was appointed by fiat to replace Abiola as an interim President was a Christian from the South-West. Yet, the Muslims did not complain then as they did not complain when a former Vice-President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the South-South succeeded the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua (from the North) to complete the Northern slot of the Presidency. And he (Jonathan) later won another election with Muslim majority votes for a term of four years.

    Now, with another President from the North in the saddle, the senseless brouhaha has started again at the instance of the South-West media despite the fact that the current Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osibajo (a Pastor) is from the South-West. What exactly do the South-West media want?

     

     Reactions

    In a swift reaction to the new furnace of political war emanating from the South-West media, Sen. Eta Enang, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (who is of course a Christian), has said that the claim by some Nigerians of lopsided federal appointments in the country was untrue. He said that President Muhammadu Buhari followed strictly the principles of Federal Character in all federal appointments.

    Enang went further to state that “He (Buhari) has given us (in the South-South) the Chief of Naval Staff, a very high ranking officer in the Federal Security Council. He has also given us the minister of Budget and then, my humble self as the Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters. He has also given us the minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

    “In the entire South-South region, he went further to say that “he (Buhari) gave us Minister of Transportation in charge of about three ministries merged together. He also gave us the Minister of Petroleum and that of budget”.

    He added that President Buhari had visited Cross River State, despite his very tight schedule, to inaugurate construction of the international super highway from Cross River to Cameroon and other countries in the West and Central Africa. Enang did not forget to recall that “President Buhari also provided N6 billion to dualize the road from Calabar to Itu, enroute Ikot Ekpene, to Aba in Abia State.

     

     Further Reactions

    Another South-South cabinet member of the PMB government, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita: the Head of Service of the Federation, also debunked the unfounded allegations of appointment lopsidedness being projected by the South-West media. She said that insinuations that the president unduly favoured a section of the country in appointments were wrong and concluded that the appointments so far made by the president were based on merit and competence. In her words: “President Buhari allows competence and merit to be brought to the fore in his appointments and we are very happy about that. This means that “a door way has been opened for appointments based on merit. If it could happen to me, it could equally happen to anyone else”.

     

    Reaction from the South-West

    If the above reactions from the people of the South-South are seen as a way of keeping their jobs, what can we say of that of an elected Senator from the South-West? In his own reaction to the mischievously damaging media propaganda from his region, a prominent Senator from the South-West, Professor Olusola Adeyeye had the following to say: “This rehash of the prominent positions held by Muslims in Nigeria is mischievous and quite unfortunate. It is the typical Nigerian game of chasing needless shadows rather than focusing on the arduous task of nation-building”.

    He went further: “Until recently, some so-called Christians held commanding heights of the economic governance of our Republic. The Presidency, Headship of National Assembly, Secretary of Govt of the Federation, Head of Service, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the NNPC, the Stock Exchange etc were headed by so-called Christians. Tragically, they reprobately superintended the profligate looting of our common patrimony. The lone voice of courageous warning belonged to a certified Muslim, Sanusi Lamido, who succeeded Soludo and was hounded for his courage to expose the cult of looters comprising so-called Christians”.

     

    His Analysis

    In his analysis, Senator Adeyeye stated as follows: “Yes, the metastasis of economic ruins in Nigeria was gestated by these Christians. They reduced Pentecostalism to a reprobate pente-rascality (sic) whereby the Dukes and knights of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and the Christian Association of Nigeria became errand boys in the corridor of accursed political power. Their private jets were the conveyors of stolen money!”

    “Tunde Fashola is a Muslim. He now heads what used to be three big ministries. Was he chosen because of his religion? He was chosen because of his track record!”

     

    Prediction of Succour

    “The dust will settle in Nigeria. Change will come despite predictable resistance from reactionary principalities and forces. Hackney references to issues that divide rather than unite us whether by Muslims or Christians, are age-long stumbling blocks to progress.

    It really is a shame when well-educated Nigerians, whether Muslim or Christian, wobble themselves in religious intolerance. Unfortunately, the intolerance is nursed by some imams and pastors mouthing poorly considered facts. Even if seemingly compelling, facts degenerate into half-truths when they are placed, as is often the case, outside of proper context”.

    “The toxicity of half-truths rarely emanates from the profligacy of falsehood but rather from the subtle distortion of truth!  Blatant falsehood is intuitively obvious and as such easy to reject. By contrast, when truth is softly bent, it takes great discernment to perceive its toxicity.

    The Constitution of Nigeria enshrines that every state must be represented in the Cabinet of the Federal Government. Even those of us who feel that this, by itself, creates a cabinet that is too unwieldy, must tolerate such a provision until our pluralistic, multi-ethnic and multi-religious republic evolves into organic nationhood. As such, whoever is the President of Nigeria must have a minimum of 36nMinisters”

     

    Facts and Figures

     

    Of the six ministers representing the Southwestern states, two

    (Fashola from Lagos and Shittu from Oyo) are Muslims while four others (Adeosun from Ogun, Adewole from Osun, Fayemi from Ekiti and Daramola from Ondo) are Christians. All the five ministers from the Southeastern states are Christians as are all six ministers from the states of the south-south. In other words, of the 17 ministers from southern Nigeria, 15 are Christians while 2 are Muslims”.

     

    Analysis on the North

    According to Senator Adeyeye: “In the North-Central, Audu Ogbe from Benue, Solomon Dalong from Plateau, James Ocholi (now deceased) from Kogi are Christians. The remaining three ministers from that zone are Muslims. Even if all the ministers from Northeastern and Northwestern states are Muslims, we are left with a Federal cabinet comprising 18 Christians and 18 Muslims! We have a devout Muslim as President and a no less devout Christian as Vice President. The current composition of the Federal

    Executive Council is one in which only liars will complain that Christians have been marginalized. When in the history of Nigeria has a traveling President transmitted power to the VICE PRESIDENT? That is what Buhari does each time he travels”.

     

     The Legislature

    Senator Adeyeye went further: “Now, let us move to the legislature. Of the 10 Principal Officers of the Nigerian Senate, only three (Saraki, Ndume and Na’alla) are Muslims! The remainder (Ekeremadu, Adeyeye, Alimikhena, Akpabio, Aduda, Bwacha and Olujimi) are Christians! Adeyeye and Bwacha are lay preachers. The House of Representatives is headed by a Christian. With such a composition, the Nigerian Legislature is not a place where

    Christians can be said to be marginalized. In fact, few people realize that there are more Christians than Muslims in the Nigerian Senate”.

     

    The Judiciary

    And in his analysis of Nigerian Judiciary, Senator Adeyeye had this to say: “Now, let us go to the Judiciary. How many judges of the Supreme Court has Buhari appointed? The answer is Zero! Is it fair to blame him for appointments that predated his own election into office? The fear of God, the love of country and basic human decency dictate that we reject an amalgamation of intellectual sophistry with the dereliction of truth”.

    “Unfortunately, it is quite easy for detractors to pick and choose their facts in a manner that allows malignant campaigns of calumny.

    Professor Adeoye Adeniyi, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, was a deacon at Oritamefa Baptist Church Ibadan. He was the Chairman at my wedding. He was also our pediatrician. When he was leaving the University of Ibadan to head the College of Medicine at Ilorin in 1978/79, he handed Oluwatobi (our daughter) to a Moslem doctor in his Department. I asked him why he did not hand us to a Christian. Professor Adeniyi smiled and said, “you do not need a Baptist or for that matter a Christian doctor; you need a pediatrician who will respond even if you call after midnight! “May God guide our Muslim President aright as we wade through the fierce storms…”

    The above facts and figures have spoken for themselves. What do the South-West media want?

  • Hijab: Nigeria’s Media Conspiracy

    Hijab: Nigeria’s Media Conspiracy

    “The relationship of religion to Truth is like that of a menu to a meal. By describing the meal as best as it can, the menu points to something beyond itself. When we use the menu as a guide to the choice of our meal we do it the deserved honor. But when we mistake the menu for the meal, we do it and ourselves a grave injustice.”
    By Reb Yerachmiel

    Preamble

    It was not the intention of yours sincerely to write about the Osun State hijab crisis again in this column today. But doing so became inevitable as a way of clarifying some issues shamelessly but deliberately muddled up by some Nigerian reporters/correspondents who have connived to throw the ethics of their profession to the winds seemingly for the sake of bread and butter.

     

    In Retrospect

    About three years ago, a supposed Nigerian journalist of Yoruba stock from the Lagos/Ibadan axis of Nigerian media (name withheld) boasted to yours sincerely. He said that “you veteran journalists only spent the most active part of your professional lives to work assiduously for the stability of journalism in Nigeria while we, the touting journalists of today are here to reap the fruit of your labour.  Now, we do not labour much before riding in jeeps and living in mansions”. In response to that puzzling comment, I merely grinned in amazement.

     

    Update

    It was only last Tuesday, when Nigerian newspapers were awash with a glaring false news report of a press conference at which I was present that I came to grasp the esoteric meaning of the boasting comment of that unnamed pseudo journalist.

    The syndicated falsehood was filed to the various print media houses by the members of Ibadan-based glorified correspondents’ chapel including their so-called Chairman (a Pastor in a foremost Pentecostal Church). Embarrassingly, that report was the direct opposite of the statement made at the press conference in which I, as a veteran journalist, was involved. It was a clear evidence of professional abuse for which some of those correspondents are well known.

    The connotation here is that quackery has come to replace professionalism in Nigerian journalism. And, in truth, that much is very manifest in the current practice of what we used to proudly call ‘the noble profession’. The quality and dept of reportage these days serve as evidence of no thoroughness either in terms of proper training or those of professional ethics.

     

    The Missing Dignity

    In any modern society where normalcy holds sway, a journalist is seen like an arbiter who, through his reportorial, moderates fairly among conflicting parties without reflecting an iota of bias. If such an arbiter is the first to start a street brawl, how can he retain the dignity of an arbiter?

    Today, neither the nobility of journalism profession nor the pride of its practitioners exists any longer. Thus, genuine journalism can be said to be dead in Nigeria with average reporter becoming like a vulture hanging anxiously around the corner to feast undeservedly on the carcass of a comatose prey. Professionally speaking, journalism in Nigeria has unprecedentedly reached its dead end. What remains of it in the real sense is the shameless ‘pick and chop’ game in which the half-baked, so called reporters/correspondents are actively but greedily engaged.

    If the so-called ‘Fourth Estate of the realm’ could descent to such a notorious level within the same realm, one can imagine how much doomed has the realm itself become. With this crop of quacks parading themselves as journalists in Nigeria today, only a few patriotic parents would want to encourage their wards to become journalists anymore especially since journalism is fast becoming a symbol of falsehood. I may be one of such parents.

    What Transpired at the Press Conference?

    On Monday, June 27, 2016, most Ibadan-based media correspondents (about 27 of them) assembled at the grandiose Islamic Center situated on the famous Awolowo Road, (Housing Corporation Area), Bodija, Ibadan, on the invitation of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN). The latter, being the umbrella body of all Muslims in the South West region including the State Muslim Councils of those States as well as the League of Imams  Alfas of Yoruba land had planned a Press Conference at which to express its own reaction to the judgment given two weeks ago on the hijab case in Osun State.

    Meanwhile, as the noise kept raging on that judgment and loudly echoed with unambiguous partiality, as usual, by Nigerian media, MUSWEN remained calm and cautious as it kept consulting with the Muslim stakeholders in the region before arriving at the decision to hold a Press Conference on the issue to explain its position to the world on behalf of the South West Muslims.

     

    Presentation of Facts 

    Following the presentation of facts in an 11 page written statement read by the Executive Secretary of MUSWEN, Professor D. O. S. Noibi, OBE, DSc, FISN, FIAC, questions and comments were thrown open while the full text of the read statement was given to everyone of the correspondents present at the occasion.

    As a veteran who is well familiar with the nitty-gritty of reportorial, yours sincerely seized the opportunity to counsel those correspondents on the professional implication of editorialization and cautioned them against it. However, despite that counseling, the usual short cut was adopted in writing, syndicating and filing falsehood to their various newspapers. It was a shame beclouding the right sense of judgment.

    The Contents of the Press Statement

    For the benefit of the fair-minded readers of this column and numerous others the especially Muslims of the South West who may have been deliberately misled by the by some fanatical reporters present at that conference, the full text of MUSWEN’s statement is re-presented here below. Please, read on:

    “A judge can’t have any agenda, a judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case and a judge certainly doesn’t have a client. The judge’s only obligation – and it’s a solemn obligation – is to the rule of law.”

    Samuel Alito (US Supreme Court Justice)

     

    Opening Remark

    Gentlemen of the Press, on behalf of the leadership of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) and indeed all Muslims in the South West region of Nigeria, I want to warmly welcome you all to this all-important Press Conference.

    As we are all aware, MUSWEN is the umbrella body for all Muslims, Muslim organizations and Muslim institutions domiciled in the South West region of Nigeria. The body aggregates the aspirations and interests of all Muslims in the region.

    It is thus part of our primary obligations, not only to propagate Islam and defend the interests of Muslims, but also to promote the cause of peace and peaceful co-existence among the people, irrespective of their faith and ethnicity, in the region.

    This press conference becomes imperative against some recent happenings with regard to the use of hijab in public primary and secondary schools in Osun State. We wish to state that this is not the first time that MUSWEN would be addressing the media on the issue of hijab in Osun State public schools. The first conference was held on 20th February, 2014 when the issue was at its infancy.

     

    The Background

    The Osun State Muslim Community and the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) on February 14, 2013, dragged the Osun State Government to court seeking an order of the court to allow female Muslim students enjoy their fundamental right to use hijab in public primary and secondary schools in the State pursuant to Sections 38 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

    The suit which was directly instituted against the State Government also had the State Commissioner for Education, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, among others, as respondents. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Osun State Chapter, its chairman and other interested Christians voluntarily joined as respondents.

    The applicants told the court that female Muslim pupils/students were being harassed by the fourth and fifth respondents (Principal and Head teacher of a public secondary and public primary school respectively), insisting that such was a clear discrimination and infringement on their fundamental rights.

    The applicants premised their argument on a decision of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, in The Provost, Kwara State College of Education, Ilorin & 2 Ors vs Bashirat Saliu & Ors, which noted that female Catholics wear hijab, while Mary, the mother of Jesus was always depicted as wearing hijab on her head.

    However, the respondents insisted that only beret and face cap were recognized and that students should abide by the government’s directives. They insisted that allowing students to wear hijab in schools where Churches are located was alien to their religion and thereby urged the court to dismiss the application of the applicants.

     

    The Judgment

    In his judgment on June 3, 2016, Justice Jide Falola of the Osun State High Court observed that religion was introduced to the case when the CAN and others joined the suit, noting that he decided to deliver the judgment after all pleas to settle the matter amicably had proved futile.

    In a 51-page judgement, Justice Falola ruled that the use of hijab by female Muslims is their fundamental human right to freedom of religion, conscience and thought, and as such no female student should be molested or sent out of school for wearing it. Premising his judgment on Section 38 of the Nigeria Constitution and Article 8 of the 2004 policy published by the state Ministry of Education, Justice Falola held that female Muslim students were not exempted from the freedom of religion, conscience and thought.

    He ordered that the respondents should be restrained from disallowing the use of hijab by female Muslim students, adding that the students who wear hijab should ensure that it is in the colour prescribed by the first to fifth respondents. He said since the respondents had failed to cite any relevant authority in their response, he would be bound by the decision of the Appellate court in Ilorin which the applicants had cited in their application.

    Quoting copiously from Article 8 of the Guidelines on Administration and Discipline in Public Schools in Osun State which was issued by the State Government in 2004 which says “there are no mission school presently in Osun state as all schools have been taken over by government in 1975,” Justice Falola upheld all the prayers of the applicants and held that no student should be prevented from enjoying his or her right.

     

    To be continued next Friday in sha’Allah.

  • EXPRESSO, five years on…

    Exactly five years ago (Friday, July 1st, 2011), this column made its debut on the pages of this newspaper. Straight from a misadventure of a political appointment, I thought I had seen it all (my career having run the gamut from production editor to reporter, bank manager, editor and political appointee), I thought sitting on the editorial board of a national newspaper and casting a knowing and jocular glance at polity would be the right thing to do next.

    But I was wrong. The column over these years has been all but a cup of hot coffee it was intended simulate. Nigeria continues to present herself as a columnist’s nightmare. Imagine saying the same things everyday in different ways! Imagine doing so for five years! That could drive a man to the precipice, couldn’t it?

    The very first piece of Expresso says it all. It speaks about diversification long before the crude oil price crash; it speaks about prudence and proffered some simple ideas about how to gear up a state to sufficiency; it even warned President Goodluck Jonathan about re-appointing Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke… if only our leaders bother to read our humble opinions…

    Gov. Ajimobi: I dey laugh! (Friday, July 1st, 2011)

    Yes, it is the most cynical kind of laugher, the type Baba (You know who) taught us. But it is nothing personal to the Oyo State governor, AbiolaAjimobi, no. I am actually laughing at all the governors across the country who have just won a hard-fought election.

    Hard-fought or hard-bought election if you like; whichever it may be, must be like a stroll in the park now for most of them in the face of a rapidly unfolding labour brouhaha. I have singled-out Ajimobi as a representative of all the other governors on account of his maiden broadcast to the workers and people of Oyo State recently over the N18,000 minimum wage palaver.

    He is only the template for this article. In the broadcast, the Oyo helmsman had bemoaned the caper of a wage increment lobbed at him by his nemesis, the out-gone Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala. He regaled us of how Akala spent a huge sum just to perfect and institutionalise the ‘damaging’ new wage regime as a sweet parting gift. Ajimobi’s broadcast is indeed dirigible and one could hear Akala bellowing away in signature raucous laughter over palm wine and pounded yam in his Ogbomoso homestead where he has repaired to. Surrounded by kinsmen and residual sycophants, holding court, he would mock: “Ajimobi thinks winning an election is all there is to governance, by the time he is through paying this new wage, he would wish he had lost the election.” More laughter…

    But truly, governance or more appropriately, governorship(ing) will no longer be fun as it used to be when governors were lords and they had loose billions to play around with. By default, we may have ushered in our own quiet socio-economic revolution. Have you paused to ponder how labour achieved a minimum wage increase of about 150 per cent (from N7500 to N18,000)? Was it the pre-election fever that blinded all concerned to the implications of this chunky hike? Was it the mood of a populace stewing in ire upon the revelation that each of our National Assembly members needed a bullion van to cart home his pay? Was it a well-timed strategic labour manoeuvre? Did labour stampede the system to gain an undue advantage to the detriment of the rest of the polity or is there a divine design to it all?

    Methinks change is forcing itself upon us. The change that by sheer coldness of heart and mischief, we refused to embrace over the years, providence seems to the hauling at us like Boko Haram bombs, pardon me. Now Governor Ajimobi expects us to weep with him when he tells us in his maiden broadcast that if he implemented the #18,000 minimum wage the state would be in deficit every month as Oyo’s total monthly income is #4.2 billion. No sir, we de laugh. You asked for the job remember? If you can’t pay resign, says labour. I don’t agree with them but they have a point there.

    Conversely, Governor B. RajiFashola expects us to clap when we read that he has rushed to disburse about #5 billion of our tax money to pay a few hundred zobo-drinking civil servants who scarcely do any work. No, we are not clapping. In fact as the days go by, we shall have to be calling on him to account for what will amount to about #150 billion per annum (in wages, pensions and gratuities) of our revenue dished out to a few people. In due, time we shall seek to know the cost-benefit of spending such huge amount on a minuscule fraction of the population, and for him to show us in concrete terms, the returns on such spending.

    This #18,000 matter will yet unravel all of us.  Ajimobitells us in his maiden broadcast that Oyo generates a miserable #1 billion monthly. That’s a laugh. Between Tokyo and Auxillary (and all the other gears attached to each of them in motor garages across Oyo state) I bet they are doing double that number. Indeed, any state that cannot generate enough revenue internally to run its affairs is either not fit to be so called or the governor is not worthy of that title, or both.

    Therefore, we expect Governor Ajimobi in his next broadcast, (which ought to be quarterly) to declare that in the first quarter, his administration had managed to raise the IGR to #5 billion per month and hopes to raise it to #10 billion by year end. That would be showing a class apart from Akala wouldn’t it? And how ecstatic that would make Oyo people?

    In Ajimobi’s next broadcast, we will expect him to tell us how he intends to raise Oyo state to an enterprise doing a turnover of #150 – #200 billion annually. We want to hear how he is diversifying the economic base of his vast state and how the first shipment of his agric export will be due by year end. He will tell us how he intends to catalyse the setting up of at least five major industries each year making a total of 20 in four years. We expect to see in the next broadcast how Ajimobi has kept his administration lean and trim with only optimum number of appointees, cutting wastes and extravagance. To think that a certain state governor in Nigeria was alleged to have had about 2000 appointees! And another spent in building a fancy government house, a sum that would have been enough to build an entire new city. If nothing else, this #18,000 wahala will put paid to such madness. We will expect Ajimobi to tell us how many aides he has and their total annual emolument. We expect him to be upfront with us on his security vote and we expect him to make his MDAs work for the people by empowering his commissioners and aides. We don’t expect him to tell us how he jumps from one sky-scrapper to the other trying to do everything. He is not superman not king kong.

    Lastly, we expect him to tell us how his team dialogued with labor and got the optimum graduation of the minimum wage. We need to know how he has gone about re-orientating the civil service to make them truly serve and add value. We must know how many exactly is Oyo state work force; how he pruned the redundant class, retrained and reassigned them and how he ‘killed’ the teeming ghosts in the service.

    It is not the best of times to be a governor in Nigeria as it may no longer be business as usual (of sharing monthly federal allocation). But it is also the best time to be a governor for history makers.Those who will be sober, who will roll up their sleeves and see the #18,000 minimum wage as a challenge and an opportunity to excel. I do not think it is the best time for long, magician’s caps, the type we saw Governor IbikunleAmosun don the other day. It will not be time for flying abroad in search of any woebegone foreign investor as we hear Governor KayodeFayemi did recently. Any investor who is not on the internet must be an invader, more like. We hope a few other governors will find some good in this Ajimobi template. We wait.

    Last mug: Dieziani really shouldn’t comeback yet

    Delectable Mr. Deizani Alison-Madueke seems to be among the favourites of President Jonathan’s former ministers to return to her job. Her name is on every list of would-be appointees favoured by the President. It really will be a pity if she returns. There are so much sordid allegations swarming around her like flies that picking her,inspite of these would do the President little good.

    She needs to be left out to go clear all the debris of serious corruption allegations against her as immediate past oil minister. Insisting on her will thoroughly diminish the Jonathan Presidency before it had chance to take off.

    • Apology: Last week I had left a banger on the headline: “Corruption: Lessons Alhaji thought me.” That was actually a bomb as many readers pointed out. And who else do we blame than the devil, the enemy that made me so blurry I could not separate my thoughts from a tense I had been taught over 40 years ago. Apologies dear readers.