The Nation Newspaper

Category: Korede Yishau

  • Just before we turn 60

    Just before we turn 60

    By Olukorede Yishau

    In a matter of days, our dear Nigeria will be 60 years as an independent nation. For 46 years before Independence, the Colonial masters toyed with our lives, rewrote our story, made us believe Mungo Park discovered River Niger, where our people had long been fishing, and impressed on us a culture we are yet to fully understand.

    As we turn 60, girls in Nigeria, according to the World Bank, get an average of 7.6 years, and boys get 8.7 years of education. The 2019 Gatekeepers’ report shows that across sub-Saharan Africa, girls have an average of two fewer years of education than boys.

    The report also shows that one in three Nigerians live in poverty. That represents 32 per cent of Nigerians. The number of people living in poverty increased from 66.83 million in 2017 to 67.48 million in 2018.

    Thirty-seven per cent of children suffer from malnutrition. This is 37 per cent of the kids’ population. About half of Nigerians still use unsafe or unimproved sanitation, according to the Gatekeepers’ report.

    Nigeria still ranks 43rd of 52 African countries on a recently compiled sustainable development goal index. The implication is that the country has only gone 47 per cent towards achieving sustainable development goals.

    Nigeria, the Gatekeepers’ report also shows, still has the second-highest number of deaths of children aged five and under. It tags behind India. Interestingly, the report observes that education is not enough to bridge the gender divide.

    “In some countries where girls tend to be well-educated they are still underrepresented in the workforce because they also face discriminatory norms and policies.”

    We are clocking three decades at a time the world is forcing itself out of the tight corner COVID-19 has boxed it. Schools are just being opened in Nigeria. Cinemas and other entertainment-based businesses are still locked. From the media to manufacturing and others, thousands have been rendered jobless. There are fears we are also heading towards recession. The times are really scary.

    In the midst of all these, the actions of many in political offices are disgraceful. They behave as though the world can respect us when our actions show that we see ourselves as inferior. They are stealing the people blind and taking the money abroad. Even at a time like this.

    One of the revelations at the probe of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) shows that the pandemic provided a cover to steal. Members of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) in charge of the commission admitted awarding themselves N1.5 billion for Coronavirus relief. They also approved funds for foreign trips at a time COVID-19 locked up international airports. Maybe they wanted to charter jets to travel out of the country.

    Sixty years after, we are yet to get our politics right. What we call politics at the moment is nothing but a joke. The Labour and the Conservative are the two political parties that have decided the fortunes of the United Kingdom for time immemorial. In the United States, the Republican and the Democrats dwarf other parties to swing the American pendulum whichever way they want. It is rare to hear that a Conservative member defects to Labour or vice versa. It is also hard to find a Republican or a Democrat defecting.

    Nigeria's Independence

    In Nigeria, our democracy, which is patterned after the U.S. and the UK, is a variant of what obtains in both nations. But that is where it all ends. In the main, our party system is unique to us, in an abnormal way. It is difficult to discern the ideology or principle behind our political parties. The only glaring thing is the desperation to grab power.

    Closely related to our faulty politics is the relegation of merit. Almost everything is done on the basis of ‘where-are-you-from’. The advanced world has shown us clearly that we can only achieve tamed progress with this kind of attitude. At a time in the United States, two Bush brothers were governors in two different states. If it were Nigeria, they would have been confined to Texas where their father was from. It matters not that they were born in different states and had contributed to its growth through tax payment and other means.

    Except Lagos, Kaduna and a few others, indigenes of other states have no place in their civil service. Whether you were born and bred in those states mean nothing. You are from where your father comes from. Your mother’s state is irrelevant. Our problem is so compounded that some people will not even agree to sell landed properties to non-indigenes. The most ridiculous is when love affairs are put asunder because parents will not allow their son or daughter to marry from outside their state or tribe.

    Even within the same state, the part where you come from also matters. It is not alone for you to be from Kwara or Lagos or Ogun. In some instances, what part of these states you come from also counts. For me, we can never grow with this sort of mentality.

    In Yoruba land, some sub-ethnic group will not allow their children to marry from the Ijebu stock. The myth is that the Ijebu are fetish and can do anything for money. So for this ridiculous reason, love has been sacrificed. There is also the myth that Egba women are quick to abandon their husbands when things are tough. As a result of these, an Egba woman is no go area for some Yoruba. In the Southeast, some parts believe that they are the ‘superior’ Igbo.

    What do we make of discrimination within the same town? Some towns are divided culturally into two, a situation which leads to what I once referred to as “one town, two people”. Loyalists of the two traditional rulers in such towns clash regularly and blood is shed. Yet, these are supposed to be one people. They have been made two by tradition, which someone describes as “peer pressure from dead people”. The hatred dates back to ancestors who are long dead but their evil is living after them.

    If people within the same town cannot accept one another, how can we blame people from different ethnic groups? But what really should matter is the fact that Nigeria is one country which needs all of us to work as one to get it out of the crossroads. We are in trouble and everybody is needed to run and help the area they are born or where they reside.

    The tight corner that the challenge of state of origin has pushed us into has seen people committing perjury to claim a state that will help them get the best of every situation. Not a few have been known to claim Lagos today and shift to Ogun the next day. A sizeable number of students in our universities have had to pay a bribe to get documents showing they are from a catchment area. This would not have been the case if you are allowed to claim where you reside or were born, instead of where your ancestors hailed from. In states where governments pay bursaries to indigenes, forged documents are used by students to be eligible.

    My final take: Nigeria is a super-important country and because of this, our primary healthcare system deserves utmost attention. Our education deserves the chunk of our energy and resources. There is no justification why the quality and funding of our education and primary health care system are below some countries with lower-income.

    Our government should be responsive to our least-empowered citizens, and give more support for farmers to adapt to climate change’s worst effects. We can do better.

  • Eriye Onagoruwa’s Dear Alaere

    Eriye Onagoruwa’s Dear Alaere

    By Olukorede Yishau

    Let me tell you a bit about a young Ijaw woman named Alaere. She wants a fantastic career and the joy of motherhood. When she is yet to conceive, her mother-in-law blames her and subjects her to snide remarks. Others from her husband’s side join in torturing her emotionally. And when she eventually conceives and suffers a stillbirth, the mother-in-law begins the process of bringing an underaged as second wife for her husband.

    As she goes through the drama in her home, there is also abundant drama at work: Her Managing Director wants an affair; a female boss also wants her for a romantic relationship; and her driver, Alhaji Wasiu, proves to be annoying.

    Alhaji Wasiu wants an heir by force and subjects his wife to all manners of rituals, including eating monkey. His five female children mean nothing to him until he drives his wife to her death bed. What men do in search of heirs!

    Alaere’s travails are laid bare in Dear Alaere, the debut novel of Eriye Onagoruwa. This novel published by Paperworth Books, on the surface, is about Alaere’s tortuous journey to motherhood. But, it is more than that. It is a social commentary on patriarchy and its evils, Lagos and its contradictions and Nigeria, and its failures. It is a very important story rendered in appealing prose! This is one book likely to break your heart in a pleasant dimension and mend it in an exciting manner. Eriye Onagoruwa writes amazing characters, including the annoying Alhaji Wasiu, who I felt like slapping anytime he opened his dirty, stinking mouth.

    Please buy, read and gift to loved ones.

  • Are they leading us to the grave?

    Are they leading us to the grave?

    By Olukorede Yishau

    Men and women have a major problem. They easily forget history, even theirs. Or they just pretend as though unaware of their own beginning. Cote d’Ivoire President Allasanne Ouatarra, 77, was a man after my heart. I was appalled by the attempt to stop him from taking office after he won the presidential election. My joy knew no bounds when he eventually took office.

    Sadly, he is working his way into ignominy with his attempt to rule the country for a third term. With this ambition, Ouatarra has obviously forgotten the way he got to power. Laurent Gbagbo, the man he replaced, was disillusioned by his quest for life presidency. For no less than six months, Cote d’Ivoire was turned upside. Men died. Women died. Children died. And the elderly were not spared in the orgy of violence that followed Gbagbo’s desire to rule for life. Gbagbo ended up in Hague for crimes against humanity.

    The country erupted in excitement when Gbagbo was forced out for Ouatarra. Now, it is looking like history will repeat itself and the people will rejoice after Ouatarra’s imminent ouster. Rioters are on the streets of Abidjan because Ouatarra has reneged on an earlier promise not to seek a third term in office.

    Ouatarra’s desperation has brought back the debate on whether or not Africa is cursed with bad leaders. This has been reinforced by the military take-over in Mali. I hate military rule with passion but men like Ouatarra give soldiers the excuse to usurp power and end up leaving things worse than they met it.

    Aside Mali, there is also trouble in Guinea over succession. Its president insists on an unconstitutional third term.

    These men who are unwilling to leave offices are old, tired men. Sudanese-British billionaire businessman Mo Ibrahim once complained about the average age of African leaders. He asked: “Are they leading us to the grave?”

    A study showed that the average age of the 15 oldest African leaders, at some point, was 77 compared to 52 for leaders of the world’s ten most-developed economies.

    At the time he was unceremoniously kicked out of office, the late Robert Mugabe was 94. He led Zimbabwe for 37 years. The man who took over from him, Emmerson Mnangagwa, still qualifies as one of Africa’s oldest leader. Mnangagwa, also known as ‘Crocodile’, is about 78 years old and is already unleashing terror on his country, including the arrest of Booker Prize nominee Tsitsi Dangarembga. Yoweri Museveni, who has led Uganda since 1986, is over 76. The country’s constitution had limited the presidential age at 75, but to allow Museveni to continue in office beyond that age, the constitution was amended. The amendment engendered bitterness in the country but Museveni was not moved. He got what he wanted and that was all that mattered.

    The situation in Tunisia was scandalous. Its late President, Beji Caid Essebsi, was 92. He was a beneficiary of the revolution in the country which led to the Arab Uprising in the Middle East. If not for death, he would still be in power. His 87-year-old ‘younger brother’, Paul Biya, has been ruling Cameroon since 1982. He has survived coup after coup.

    Abdelaziz Bouteflika only left office as Algerian president controversially last year at 82. He was in the position since 1999 and was serving his fourth term before he was forced to resign. A man, who is two years younger, Arthur Peter Mutharika, is President in Malawi. Another age-mate of his, Alpha Conde, is in charge of Guinea and his scheming to stay in office is currently turning the country apart.

    Namibia, Ghana, and Nigeria also have presidents who are over 70. Hage Geingob of Namibia is 76. Ghana’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is 76. His Equatorial Guinea counterpart Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is 78 years old. Ridiculously, his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, is Vice President. Our dear President, Muhammadu Buhari, is 76 years and has three more years in office. Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara is 76 Years.

    If old age equals wisdom, Africa should be the best. But what do we have to show for these wise men ruling us? Almost nothing.

    Don’t think I am asking our old people to go and die. We need their wisdom, but largely in the background. A few of them can be in the main arena, but what I abhor is a situation where they take over the arena — which is what is happening in the African political space. Under these leaders, Africa remains backward. Its people are daily trooping to the developed world. Its professionals are ever ready to emigrate to the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Australia is now home to a number of them.

    Under these wise men, corruption and illicit flow of funds are problems the continent is grappling with. A joint report by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Global Financial Integrity, a United States research and advocacy group, says: “The illicit haemorrhage of resources from Africa is about four times Africa’s current external debt.” The report, Illicit Financial Flows and the Problem of Net Resource Transfers from Africa: 1980–2009, discovered that illicit outflows from Africa over 30 years ranged from $1.2 trillion to $1.4 trillion. I found something very instructive in the report. For many, Africa receives aids from the developed world. But what this report found out is that what the developed world gets from Africa indirectly far outweighs the aids the continent receives. This explains why Raymond Baker, president of the Global Financial Integrity, argued that Africa has been a net creditor to the rest of the world for decades. He said: “The traditional thinking has always been that the West is pouring money into Africa through foreign aid and other private-sector flows, without receiving much in return.”

    This clearly shows what we need with Africa’s rich resources. Our gold, diamond, cocoa, crude oil, and many more are made to serve private interests.

    My final take: Africa will not progress with men like Ouatarra, Biya, and Conde replacing general interest with personal interest. No one should be allowed to rule more than two terms of four years each. Anything more than this is giving room to men to play God.

    Eriye Onagoruwa’s Dear Alaere

    Let me tell you a bit about a young Ijaw woman named Alaere. She wants a fantastic career  and the joy of motherhood. When she is yet to conceive, her mother-in-law blames her and subjects her to snide remarks. Others from her husband’s side join in in torturing her emotionally. And when she eventually conceives and suffers a stillbirth, the mother-in-law begins the process of bring in an underaged as second wife for her husband.

    As she goes through the drama in her home, there is also abundant drama at work: Her Managing Director wants an affair; a female boss also wants her for a romantic relationship; and her driver, Alhaji Wasiu, proves to be annoying.

    Alhaji Wasiu wants an heir by force and subjects his wife to all manners of rituals, including eating monkey. His five female children mean nothing to him until he drives his wife to her death bed. What men do in search of heirs!

    Alaere’s travails are laid bare in Dear Alaere, the debut novel of Eriye Onagoruwa. This novel published by Paperworth Books, on the surface, is about Alaere’s tortuous journey to motherhood. But, it is more than that. It is a social commentary on patriarchy and its evils, Lagos and its contradictions and Nigeria, and its failures. It is a very important story rendered in appealing prose! This is one book likely to break your heart in a pleasant dimension and mend it in an exciting manner. Eriye Onagoruwa writes amazing characters, including the annoying Alhaji Wasiu, who I felt like slapping anytime he opened his dirty, stinking mouth.

    Please buy, read and gift to loved ones.

  • Little things as big things

    Little things as big things

    By Olukorede Yishau

    I have been a student at Coronavirus School in the last few months, not because I wanted to but, because it compelled me. But, despite my misgivings about the tight corner the virus has pushed us all, it has been months of learning that nothing should be taken as settled.

    It is because of a time like this that a brilliant mind, Robert Breault, once said: “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things”. The significance of these words is one of the lessons of this unpleasant time. The things we considered small and somewhat inconsequential are now longed for.

    Before the virus reared its ugly head, I could sneeze anywhere and expect “bless you” from those around me. I could cough and expect sympathy or even empathy. It never occurred to me that a man would shout on his daughter and order her to avoid me all because I sneezed in a supermarket. “That guy just sneezed,” he screamed at the daughter to get her to refrain from entering the supermarket. As I passed by the daughter, I laughed. But the message in retrospect is: Never take anything for granted.

    I have learnt that men will always be men; they will lie, steal and try to hide their secrets in vaults even amid a pandemic. The members of the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) paid themselves N85 million to attend a graduation ceremony in the United Kingdom at a time Nigeria was on lockdown and airports shut. Approval for the funds was given in April when countries were on lockdown and there were no flights. Even the pandemic was not enough to make these guys change their ways. Men and women, who are saddled with managing money to battle a pandemic, have seen another avenue to short-change fellow compatriots by inflating figures and outright stealing of money meant for palliatives or diverting the palliatives.

    Palliatives meant for the poor have been turned to patronage for political lackeys. Politicians have made men and women throng rallies to drum support for their re-election in disobedience to physical distancing and leaders play games with lives by denying the existence of a killer in virus form. And this has taught me to believe less in the political class.

    I have learnt that if you give men and women the choice to die by virus or by hunger, they will easily choose to die by virus while hoping some special anointing will come to their rescue and make them pass through the shadow of death with no evil befalling them. All you need to believe this is our disobedience of the protocols against the virus.

    I have reconfirmed that men of God are men first, or how do I explain the discordant tunes from the men of clothe? One man of God will have us believe COVID-19 was caused by 5G technology and that lockdown was to enable installation of the masts for this technology to work. Before his words sink in, a colleague will counter and describe all his words as gibberish. And on the re-opening of churches, one man of God is spitting fire on those who closed the churches in the first place, and some others are saying their churches will remain closed despite the permission from the government to commence services. The drama gets intense when one of them says he is waiting to hear from God before deciding whether or not to open his church. What all these have taught me is that pastors are first men and we should never treat them as God or prayer contractors.

    I have also learnt that things you think are settled can give way. Or what other lessons are there when men and women lose their jobs, not for incompetence, but just because their employers can no longer pay? I know people who were making a kill from our owambe culture. Who could have ever known that our Saturdays could be complete without weddings, funerals and what have you? The absence of parties has crippled owners of event centres, social diary television programmes and caterers. Many a photographer relied on wait-and-get services at owambes to support their families. They could never have envisaged there would be no parties to gatecrash and make quick cash from. It was just taken for granted. Now, we have all learnt the hard way that nothing is really settled. They only appear so.

    I have learnt money does not answer all things. Before this weird era, I could buy tickets and fly to different countries of the world once I had their visas. Now we have visas in our passports and money to buy tickets but we cannot fly because of the suspension of flight operations. Who would ever have predicted that the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and other hubs around the world would at one point become scanty? Who would have thought our big men would be denied the opportunity to fly abroad to treat headache and joint pain? Money sure does not answer all things.

    I never believed a year will come when Hajj and Umrah will not hold; never thought there will be a Sunday without churches being opened; never, ever thought I will be afraid to shake or hug friends; and it never occurred to me that even breathing where there is a crowd will come with apprehension. We took all these for granted as though they were settled. I have learnt they are obviously not.

    My final take: If I have my way, I will banish Coronavirus to the evil forest, that dreaded place where our forebears reserved for those perceived as bad for the society. On another note, it has been a sobering factor letting us know we are at the Creator’s mercy and He does as He wills with us and we have absolutely no power over His decisions.

  • Are male ministers getting away with murder?

    Are male ministers getting away with murder?

    Olukorede Yishau

     

    A little over a year ago, this space was home to a piece titled ‘I am a feminist’. In it, I expressed my frustration with the female folk being repeatedly told ‘you are a girl o or you are a woman o’. This statement is usually made when a woman or a girl does things the society believes should not be done by a girl or a woman, or when she is refusing to do something that society has labelled chores for the female folk. We have even extended this thinking to matters of probity and accountability. We expect women to be more accountable. We are quick to scream: Doesn’t she know she is a woman?

    It is hightime we started screaming: Doesn’t he know he is a man? We should have screamed at Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Chris Ngige when he desecrated his office by attacking  Hon. James Faleke, the chairman of a House of Representatives committee probing the crisis at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF). Let me also add that I was appalled the day Minister of Niger Delta Godswill Akpabio appeared before another House of Representatives Committee and addressed members as though they were kindergarten kids. The altercation between the National Assembly and Minister of State for Labour and Employment is in a class of its own.

    Ngige’s and Akpabio’s tactics did not bring a smile to my face. They were extremely rough and made me wonder what would have happened if some female colleagues of theirs had employed their ‘roforofo’ strategies on members of the National Assembly. We would have screamed: Don’t they know they are women!

    Over the years, we have this penchant for expecting women to act differently, even in matters of corruption. A few months ago, I came across a tweet in which someone expressed surprise at the kind of money ex-Minister of Petroleum Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke stole. He had wondered: “Doesn’t she know she is a woman!” That tweet touched a nerve on account of its sub-text – Would it have been okay if Mrs. Alison-Madueke was a man? Does being a woman make her alleged stealing a bigger crime or issue?

    I had cause to remember the tweet a few days ago when I read a statement by Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) challenging Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, to a public debate on how school children were fed while at home during the lockdown.

    The world over, school children are fed to ensure not just mental and physical development, but optimal school attendance with free meals as an incentive. The UK government in reaction to a call by footballer Marcus Rashford budgeted a whopping £500 million to provide food vouchers to indigent students this summer to help cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    I want to believe Onwubiko will soon ask Ngige or Akpabio for a public debate. Except you have been living on Mars, you must be aware of the show of shame enacted by these men at the National Assembly. Thanks to Akpabio’s appearance, the world was treated to the infamous “Off your mic” show. Now our lexicon has a new addition.

    Akpabio accused lawmakers of benefitting from the rot at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) — an accusation he has been unable to substantiate about a month later, with billions still unaccounted for at NDDC. Akpabio is still keeping his job and HURIWA has not sought a debate with him to substantiate his claims. Professor Daniel Pondei, the NDDC CEO who ‘fainted’ while being asked to account for the funds allocated to the commission, is still keeping his job and drawing a salary. HURIWA needs to invite these men to a public debate.

    Ngige has been in the eye of the storm following his summary dismissal of the board of the NSITF despite a recent memo from the President saying that ministers could no longer sack heads of parastatals without following due process. After the sacked executives called out Ngige and accused him of abuse of office and inflation of contract sums, what did Ngige do? He appeared at the National Assembly and turned the probe upside down. He called Faleke a small boy, condescendingly described him a Mushin boy, and did not answer the charges. He rose and went back to work and is still at work. We should have screamed at him: Don’t you know you are a man? I am waiting for HURIWA to call for a debate over this.

    I feel a pattern of harassment of female ministers seems to be emerging in Nigeria and I will provide a few examples. Where women ministers have been accused of some malfeasance, the reaction of the horde is almost mob-like. The cries for crucifixion are very loud and there is always that unspoken – doesn’t she know she is a woman?

    The vilification of women in politics is just one of the many injustices the female folks face in our country. It is so bad that when a woman is doing well many of us believe she must have used the ‘bottom power’. Brilliant women abound and even when we acknowledge their brilliance, we still find a way to rubbish their records by attributing their rise to extraneous factors.

    In 2008, Dr. Adenike Grange was forced to resign as Minister of Health following allegations that she had awarded last minutes contracts that were captured in her ministry’s budget. Following loud and virulent attacks, the woman was forced to resign; she insisted she had been misadvised by the civil servants in her ministry.

    Former Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun had to resign over allegation of forging an NYSC certificate. A male colleague, Adebayo Shittu, who was Minister of Communications, was accused of not having an NYSC certificate but what did he do? He said he deliberately refused to serve because he thought he “didn’t need it to become a member of the state assembly, and that is already a service.” He did not resign and neither was he hounded out of office. He left the cabinet after completing a term. He should have gone like Mrs Adeosun.

    Imagine for a moment that the trio of Akpabio, Ngige, and Keyamo were female ministers and they took on the lawmakers. Imagine the headlines. Imagine the condescending tone of the lawmakers. Imagine the outrage that would have ensued on social media with Nigerians calling the female ministers disrespectful and uppity and asking: “Don’t they know they are women!”

    A scandalous case of how many of us try to drag women down is a recent tweet from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which described the serving NIPOST Chairman Maimuna Abubakar as “a privileged young lady who happened to be appointed to high office”. Just imagine the reaction if social media handlers of a female minister tweeted those disrespectful words about a man!

    The whole scenario brings to mind the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day: Each for Equal. An equal world is an enabled world in which women and men are equal and should be treated as such.

    I expect HURIWA to also throw its challenge at Akpabio and Ngige. That way it will be clear that corruption in high places is the target.

    My final take: It is as if when men misbehave it is okay but when women are the ones caught with their hands in the cookie jar all hell breaks loose. Corruption is bad and it should not matter who is involved. If a man is involved, let us crucify him, and if a woman’s hand is found in the till we must give her the same treatment. Male ministers appear to be getting away with murder. We must change the way we address and treat women. But are we ready?

  • Hello Dadiyata

    Hello Dadiyata

    By Olukorede Yishau

    I have no idea where you are but, by some supernatural means, I hope this gets to you. Your father named you Abubakar Idris but we all know you as Dadiyata, the name with which you tweeted in Hausa.

    Seeing a poster online with your daughter reminding President Muhammadu Buhari that you were still missing did not just break my heart, it made me ask what has become a rhetorical question: What is the life of a Nigerian worth?

    It was a year some days back when you were, according to reports, accosted by two men as you were about to lock the gate and arrested from your home in Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital, where His Excellency, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is the Chief Landlord. You were 34. Since then, you have been incommunicado and despite shouts on the social media, we are not sure when we will see you again or if we will ever see you again.

    You were a supporter of Rabiu Kwankwaso and an unapologetic critic of Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje. You were good at your job as a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State. There are claims that your disappearance may not be unconnected with your criticisms of the APC government in Kano State. No one has been able to prove that. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described your disappearance as an “apparent desperation to intimidate, suppress and silence public opinion and free speech in Nigeria as well as to further entrench a siege mentality on our citizenry”. The party, through its spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan, accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of being responsible for your ‘abduction’.

    “The PDP, therefore, demands the DSS high command to speak out as well as take urgent steps to secure the release of Idris from his abductors before it is too late,” the statement said.

    Your wife Haneefa sued the DSS Kaduna command, the Commissioner of Police and the state, seeking your “unconditional release” and payment of N50 million in damages. The DSS and police denied arresting your, deepening the dilemma.

    A lot has happened in our dear country between then and now. As I write, Southern Kaduna is boiling. The echoes of the past are being heard. A war seems to be brewing. Men, I hear, are prepared to fight back like they did in 1992. And sadness envelops me because I am a man of peace who has no memory of being involved in any physical combat in decades.

    In the recent altercations, men, women and children have been mowed down. The Human Rights Watch reports that gunmen killed at least 43 people between July 21 and 24, and that 178 people were killed in the past seven months.

    Governor El-Rufai claimed the recent attacks were carried out by armed bandits terrorising the Northwest, but witnesses blamed a militia targeting Southern Kaduna communities on ethnic grounds. El-Rufai is clearly unable to stem the tide. He is not even trusted by the people of Southern Kaduna who see him as biased. This sort of image worries me and I wonder who will mediate. Without mediation, peace cannot be attained. War zones do not witness peace until the leaders from the warring parties agree that the senseless killings and arson are enough. They all must chorus enough is enough and peace will take root. For now, the people of Southern Kaduna are clearly on the receiving end and I fear retaliation and going by precedence, I shudder at what is likely to come.

    Dadiyata, the Coronavirus pandemic is another major blow that has hit us since you were taken out of circulation. When it first descended on us, we locked up everywhere and when it became glaring that hunger virus would start killing people, the government decided to give us the licence to storm the streets and either die or live. The figures are not going down; the curve is far from being flattened; and deaths are being recorded here and there. Schools are being opened in phases and by today, mosques in Lagos will be opened for prayers and on Sundays, churches will witnesses praise and worship for the first time in months. But there are fears the opening of the worship centres will aggravate things. We will wait to see the fallout. The figures in Abuja, where worship centres have been open, seem to support the belief that the figures might mount in Lagos soon.

    At times I wonder what you would have written on the drama around the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), that agency put in place by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration to give the oil-rich region the special attention it deserves, but unfortunately, its funds have enriched more private purses than help build the people. Fainting now seems to be an art and theatre appears to be in vogue when explanations are sought for mismanaged commonwealth.

    How can I forget to tell you that most of our compatriots have found it difficult that life is almost nothing, that it is not worth taking too seriously to the extent of solely keeping the wealth that can turn around the lives of millions, and that we should do all within our capacity to make our country and the world a better place?

    But, my brother, it has not been all bad news. Some Nigerians have shown the world the good in us. Professor Charles Egbu has just made history as the first Black to become the Vice-Chancellor of a UK University. Egbu’s appointment as VC of Leeds Trinity University, East London, United Kingdom makes him the first Nigerian and black person to achieve this historic feat.

    Also, Victor Osagie, an Information Technology Consultant, was recently honoured by the Cabinet office of the United Kingdom for his ingenuity for the mass production of ventilators to boost the National Health System (NHS) fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The office believes Osagie is one of the best Britain has to offer.

    Osagie’s team delivered the quality control system that rapidly converted disused warehouses into assembly lines. His team converted Ford Motors vehicle production lines and Airbus Aircraft production lines into ventilator production lines. Osagie and his team produced over 14,000 ventilators in 90 days. This boosted the NHS ventilator capacity from less than 9000 pre-COVID19 era to the over 25000 capacity in July 2020.

    Ikenna Nweke, a Nigerian, returned a missing wallet with foreign currency in Japan even when no one was watching him. Nweke, a doctorate student in a Japanese university, turned down the offer of compensation. He projected honesty, integrity, and contentment, which the bulk of Nigerians represent.

    Lt. Victor Agunbiade was honoured with the Navy and Marine Corps Development Medal by the United States Navy for effectively managing its largest overseas cash disbursement of $45 million (N17.5 billion).

    My final take: With the DSS and the police saying you are not with them, I am at a loss as to what to believe. If you are with them, the law can be used to get you out. This is a more delicate situation and I am afraid to even voice my fears about what has possibly happened to you. For now, we can neither mourn nor rejoice. The only thing we can hold on to is hope, hope that one day soon you will appear and stay with us and continue to speak truth to power.

  • To hell with the danfo drivers among us

    To hell with the danfo drivers among us

    By Olukorede Yishau

    Niran Adedokun, journalist, lawyer and public relations specialist, has a new thought-provoking book of essays in bookstores. It is titled ‘The Danfo driver in us all’. Reading the titular essay made me retrospect. Days after I finished reading this important book I chose to think about the good in us.

    The Danfo driver metaphor connotes disorderliness and corner-cutting for personal gains. I am taking liberty to use the metaphor to represent the minority giving us bad names but grabbing the headlines.

    They are the ones who run government agencies like Danfo, they are the ones who steal money and they are the ones who use stolen funds to decorate their garages with Rolls Royce, Cadillac, Limousine, Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes-Benz Maybach 62, and a lavish fleet of armoured Range Rovers. They fill their vaults with currencies running into billions, which they will never finish if they live for the next 100 years. They live as though we are not all just strolling by on this unpredictable journey called life.

    As you read this, many are glued to the new season of Big Brother Naija show, with companies falling over one another to sponsor it. Ask these companies to sponsor a research by Hallowed Olaoluwa, who is seen as Africa’s Albert Einstein, and all you will get are excuses. Olaoluwa earned First Class in Mathematics and Physics at 18 and had two Master’s degrees in Physics and Mathematics at 19. He earned his doctorate degree at 24.

    We have Professor Charles Egbu to celebrate as one of our recent successes. He has just made history as the first Black to become the Vice Chancellor of a UK University. Egbu’s appointment as VC of Leeds Trinity University, East London, United Kingdom, makes him the first Nigerian and black person to achieve this historic feat.

    There is also Victor Osagie, a Nigerian Information Technology Consultant, recently honoured by the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom for his ingenuity for the mass production of ventilators to boost the National Health System (NHS) fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The office believes Osagie is one of the best Britain has to offer.

    Osagie’s team delivered the quality control system that rapidly converted disused warehouses into assembly lines.  His team converted Ford Motors vehicle production lines and Airbus Aircraft production lines into ventilator production lines. Osagie and his team produced over 14,000 ventilators in 90 days. This boosted the NHS ventilator capacity from less than 9,000 pre-COVID19 era to the over 25,000 capacity in July 2020.

    Haters will pretend not to have heard of Ikenna Nweke, a Nigerian, who returned a missing wallet with foreign currency in Japan even when no one was watching him. Nweke, a doctorate student in a Japanese university, turned down the offer of compensation. He projected honesty, integrity and contentment, which the bulk of Nigerians represent. By now, he should have become a brand ambassador to serious firms.

    Another star we should be celebrating is Lt. Victor Agunbiade, who the United States Navy honoured with the Navy and Marine Corps Development Medal for effectively managing its largest overseas cash disbursement of $45 million (N17.5 billion). Agunbiade, who joined the US Navy in 2008, managed the money and was able to account for every penny.

    We should also pop the champagne because of the likes of the amazing Odogbolu-born Olurotimi John Badero who has been recognised as the world’s first and only fully trained cardio-nephrologist.

    There are millions of other Nigerians doing us proud all over the world. According to the Migrations Policy Institute, 29 per cent of Nigerian-Americans over the age of 25 hold a graduate degree, compared to 11 per cent of the overall U.S. population. A report by the American Community Survey shows that among Nigerian-American professionals, 45 per cent work in education services and many are professors at top universities. ImeIme A. Umana, the first Black woman elected president of the Harvard Law Review last year, is Nigerian-American.

    The good ones are not only abroad. Nollywood may not be what we all want it to be but there is no denying the fact that this industry, built through the resilience of filmmakers, actors and other professionals, has done very well against all odds. With little or no government support, thousands now feed through this industry producing one service or the other. The world has taken note and men and women from this industry are now part of the Academy of Arts, the body behind the Oscars. Netflix, one of the biggest streaming firms in the world, has found Nigeria irresistible. Without the resilience of these Nigerian filmmakers, which created a mountain out of a mound, there would have been nothing to attract the giant.

    Soon we are going to see Lola Shoneyin’s ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ as a series on Netflix. Wole Soyinka’s ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ will also become a movie. Both are to be bankrolled by Netflix. All thanks to the men and women whose sweat gave us Nollywood.

    The music industry is another sector where Nigerians have built a beautiful edifice out of rubbles. After the Fela era, our musicians’ glow ebbed on the international stage, but now home-based Nigerians are playing big at the world stage. Davido and Wizkid are two of our stars who regularly show up on global billboards. They are also getting gold and platinum ratings.

    In the world of literature, Nigeria is no pushover. We have many stars who have been published globally. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chigozie Obioma are just two of this enviable clan. Obioma’s two books – ‘The Fishermen’ and ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’- made the Booker Prize shortlist. I do not have to mention the likes of Prof. Wole Soyinka because they are in a class of their own. There are many talents published locally who are also an absolute delight to read.

    We also have great companies that have shown that we are good. One such is the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited. NLNG is both our pride and cash-cow. Nigeria makes the kind of money from NLNG from only a few other sources. When President Muhammadu Buhari came in, the Federal Government initiated a bailout package for states owing their workers. The bulk of the money which made up the N400 billion package came from the company. It has made over $25 billion from a $2.6 billion investment, paid over $5.5 billion as Companies Income Tax, Tertiary Education Tax, WHT, VAT and PAYE and regulators’ levies and other fees have cost it over N51 billion. Former Coordinating Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala described the company as a beacon of hope for a better Nigeria. She described it as the most successful Nigerian company with 49 per cent government ownership, which she described as a distinguishing feature among companies in the public and private sectors.

    While celebrating our goodness, we need to get our politics right. What we call politics at the moment is nothing but a joke. The Labour and the Conservative are the two political parties that have decided the fortunes of the United Kingdom from time immemorial. In the United States, the Republican and the Democrats dwarf other parties to swing the American pendulum whichever way they want. It is rare to hear that Conservative member defects to Labour or vice versa. It is also hard to find a Republican or a Democrat defecting.

    In Nigeria, our democracy, which is patterned after the U.S. and the UK, is a variant of what obtains in both nations. But that is where it all ends. In the main, our party system is unique to us, in an abnormal way. It is difficult to discern the ideology or principle behind our political parties. The only glaring thing is the desperation to grab power.

    This brings me to a tweet by Kadaria Ahmed, ex-Editor of defunct Next, who now owns Radio Now 101.9 Fm: “Our actions matter as much as, if not more than, our words. We cannot be a great people or respected when our actions show we see ourselves as inferior. Can we stop stealing our people blind and taking the money abroad?”

    My final take: The bad few should not be allowed to define us. At every given opportunity, we must trumpet the achievements of the men and women who are doing us proud, home and abroad. They are our ambassadors and deserve all the accolades we can give them. And we need to dispatch to hell every Danfo driver tendency in us. The good must triumph!

  • Shall we blame Sanwo-Olu?

    Shall we blame Sanwo-Olu?

    By Olukorede Yishau

    Each time it rains in Lagos State, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu receives imaginary strokes of the cane from some residents. His offence: Our drainage channels are clogged by plastic bags. So, each time there is a flash flood, what takes over our roads is not just water but an assemblage of nylon bags, Styrofoam cups, take-out packs, and other disposables.

    With the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) predicting that we will have not less than 240 to 270 days rain in Lagos between March and November, we all need to beg Sanwo-Olu to stop this ‘plastic assault’ on our gutters and canals.

    Another angle to this plastic menace concerns ocean waste. Some of these plastic bags that we drop in the drains find their way into the ocean. A report in September 2019 by the Voice of America (VOA) showed that Nigeria generated an estimated 32 million tonnes of solid waste per year, one of the highest in Africa. Plastics constitute 2.5 million tonnes.

    A report by the World Economic Forum projects that by the year 2050, plastics in the oceans will outweigh fish. Of the 260 million tonnes of plastics produced in the world each year, about 10 per cent ends up in the ocean and 70 per cent of this sinks and damages seabed creatures.

    The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), in a study, says 83 per cent of the 4.8–12.7 million tonnes of land-based plastic waste that ends up in the ocean originates from Nigeria and nineteen other countries. Of course, our dear Lagos plays a vital role, no thanks to our indiscipline. Over 200,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste from land-based sources in Nigeria, according to estimates, is discharged into the Atlantic Ocean each year.

    Plastic bags in the drains and the Atlantic Ocean are not the only things these folks blame Sanwo-Olu for; another bothers on dredging along the coastline of the state. A report indicates that if illegal dredging should continue, local government areas in the riverine areas have a high risk of flooding measured in kilometres. Seventy-nine per cent of the Eti-Osa local government landmass is listed as black spot. Of its 168km, almost nothing is left with 133km under threat.

    Jokes apart, it will be unfair to blame Sanwo-Olu for our refusal to play our civic responsibilities. Dredging endangered coastline and clogging the drainage channels with nylon bags, Styrofoam cups, take-out packs, and other disposables show irresponsibility. It can be argued that the government should enforce discipline, but is it too much for us to be good citizens?

    Drive through Lagos some minutes after a downpour and you will be confronted by drainage systems clogged by plastic bags. Our gutters are blocked, not by sand, but by plastic bags and other plastic products. It was never like that. I cannot recollect seeing streets flooded with plastic waste after rains in the 80s and 90s. We were more responsible then.

    We have become reckless, very reckless with the way we dispose of plastic bags. And when the rains come, they are washed into the drainage and everywhere is flooded. We blame the government for blocked drainages but the bulk of the fault should be placed on our abuse of plastic bags. The government is not blameless. Its fault is that it does not instil discipline in its citizens by catching and punishing offenders. Aside from punishing offenders, we need to emulate the policies elsewhere.

    In advanced countries and some developing ones, the danger of plastic bags is being tamed. The first time I noticed this was on a trip to the United Kingdom. I bought an item in a store and I was asked if I needed a plastic bag for the item to be wrapped. I wondered why I was being asked when it should be obvious that I should be given a plastic bag as a right. It dawned on me that I was asked the question because a new law just came into effect mandating stores to charge for plastic bags. When I saw that I was to pay five pence, I declined, offering to carry the item without the bag. After that, I started going with a plastic bag anytime I went for shopping. I was saving money, but the country was being saved and the environment was the better for it.

    To show its seriousness to save the environment, the UK government has made all retailers double the current five pence fee for plastic carrier bags. The government was obviously encouraged to take this line of action after statistics show that the current plan has helped the environment.

    Before the policy was introduced in 2015, the use of plastic bags in supermarkets in England was out of control. Over 7.6 billion carrier bags were given to customers in 2014. The introduction of the policy, researches have shown, led to retailers taking 15 billion carrier bags out of circulation.

    Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and The Co-op, which are the UK’s seven biggest supermarkets, recorded 86 per cent drop in plastic bag sales after the policy was introduced. This, said statisticians, means an “equivalent of one person using around 140 plastic bags each year before the charge, to just 19 bags in 2017-18”.

    A report by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) shows that plastic bag marine litter dropped by half. All thanks to the charge.

    Interestingly, small and medium shops that still give out bags free of charge still give over 3.6 billion plastic bags to their customers every year. The new plan intends to force small and medium shops to implement the ten pence charge. This will be more reduction in waste and money for local, national, and environmental charities.

    By 2022, a tax will also be introduced on plastic packaging without at least 30 per cent recycled content. The European Union by 2021 will ban plastic straws, cotton swabs, disposable plastic plates and cutlery. These are the stuff we see in our drainage channels anytime it rains. They block the channels and contribute greatly to flooding the roads with water and waste.

    According to a report in the standard.co.uk, about 55 countries have introduced a complete ban on single-use plastic carrier bags.

    The report said: “Bangladesh became the first government to ban the bags as early as 2002. Since then, dozens of countries followed suit, with African nations leading the way including Eritrea (2005), Tanzania (2006), Uganda (2007) and Rwanda (2008).

    “Since 2010, European countries have also begun to introduce full bans. Italy passed legislation scrapping all plastic bags in 2011, with countries like France and Monaco following in 2016. Macedonia also introduced a full ban on carrier bags in 2013.”

    Other countries also charge for single-use plastic carrier bags. They include Denmark, Cyprus, Germany and Poland.

    “Across the pond in the USA, regional bans are in force across the country, including in the state of California, but several districts such as Washington D.C are operating a charge on plastic carrier bags,” said the report.

    We need to follow the world in reducing waste by making people pay for plastic bags in stores. We have too many plastic bags, which we call nylons in our homes, which we do not need and end up throwing away. Many of them and the disposable plates we use at our uncountable owambes end up in the drainage channels and help flood our streets.

    Most of our roads are tarred with asphalt, a material whose water-resistant level is abysmally low. We should thus be responsible enough to do all within our capacity to curb flooding. The government must play its part, but ours should also not be neglected.

    My final take: The time to be environment-friendly is now. At the end of every year, we come up with New Year resolution. I wish to introduce a new month resolution, so as we get into a new month, let our resolution be that we will not contribute to flooding by emptying our plastic wastes into the drains.

  • If NDDC could talk

    If NDDC could talk

    By Olukorede Yishau

    My name, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), implies that I was born to turn around the region. Some two decades later, the region is just slightly better than I met it and even President Muhammadu Buhari is tired and wants to get to the bottom of the rot that has rendered me ineffective no matter the efforts to frustrate a clean start.

    Given the recent drama over me, some people are seeking my demise. One genuine reason will be that as the lifespan of the roadmap put in place after my birth expires this year, I am nowhere near achieving the mandate given to me.

    If you also consider the atrocities that have been committed in my name, you may see some sense in the quest to have me dead, buried, and forgotten. But, for goodness sake, I am still in my prime.

    Since I came to be under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, I have been attacked by people who feel I have only helped some people to roll on the lap of luxury, enjoy the extravagancies of women of easy virtues, and turn champagne to hand-washing liquid. They are quick to add that I have provided easy cash for some men with brawns and questionable brains.

    The Niger Delta, which deserves to be a paradise, remains the base of poverty, degradation, rejection, and desperation. Many still live in houses made of wood. There are bits of luxury here and there but in short supply. It is something many hear about and see when the rich choose to throw their weight about. The majority lives in hell; the minority in heaven. It is like the people have sinned and come short of the glory of God to be consigned to that sort of existence. Or is it that they have sinned against their leaders, the men they elect to lead them? Or, better still, the men who forced themselves on them as leaders.

    In some parts of the Niger Delta, they never see night. The multinational operating in these areas have their flow stations so close to homes and send out gas flares throughout the day. So, the only way to differentiate between night and day is to check their wristwatches.

    In many towns, oil pipelines are not underground. They are in the open. And often they burst or are burst and our soils and existence are damaged in the process.

    The people have shouted, protested, and threatened violence over their fate, yet change has refused to come. It is as if the multinational also has another licence: to send them all to their early graves so that their leaders can have all the wealth for themselves, including the little they manage to spend on basic amenities. This environmental genocide, as some have called it, is having serious effects on the people. Strange diseases are killing them. Expectant mothers are developing strange allergies. Yet, health centres are ill-equipped to take care of their health needs. They have several people with aggravated asthma. Premature death is not uncommon.

    In the 50s, the need for special treatment for the Niger Delta, as a result of its difficult terrain, dawned on the authorities. As such, the region has had interventionist agencies, such as the Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), attending to its needs. It was the OMPADEC that gave way for me. So, when Obasanjo gave me life, my mandate was to develop Niger Delta. But, the impact I could have made was limited by the fact that my dues were not given to me and the little given to me were not judiciously used. The statutory payments that should be made to me were withheld by all arms of government. It ran into trillions and all efforts to get the money released for the betterment of the people did not work.

    I came at a time when things were really at the edge and there was hope I would right the wrongs. My predecessor, OMPADEC, was programmed to achieve next to nothing. One of the first things those in charge of me thought of was a Masterplan for the region. The Niger Delta worked with other stakeholders in the region to design this plan whose dream was to turn the creeks around by this year, but you all know where the region and its people are.

    Obasanjo, in his preface to the Masterplan, was so optimistic that with the plan, the Niger Delta would get back its groove. But I have been bogged down by internal and external factors. At a point, I owed its contractors over N1 trillion on existing contracts. At a point, contracts were awarded with no design and no specific location but with the sole purpose of collecting advance payments.

    There were instances where one contract was awarded to two or three contractors. Many were just interested in taking money meant for a road, hospital, or other projects and did not care to do the job.

    There were allegations that members were colluding with outsiders to institute legal actions against me and later push for an out-of-court settlement, after which they shared the settlement money. There was a time I had over 400 court cases against me in courts.

    A presidential report on me showed that I got into projects that were not connected with my mandate as an interventionist agency. What on earth was I doing renovating Port Harcourt Club and commissioning a study on the generation of electric power from the gully erosion sites? In-fighting by those running me over how to share the money and further pauperise the people are common.

    The quality of some of the infrastructure projects those running me have delivered falls below acceptable standards. To them, I am seen as a ‘contract cow’, whose award letters were hawked in the major cities of the country. Leaders in the region have part of the blame for my woes.

    I must also point out that the blame for non-realisation of Masterplan, as it expires this year, is not just mine. Other stakeholders, such as the Federal Government, Southsouth state and local government areas, and the oil giants, have not done their parts as envisaged in the Masterplan. The Federal Government, for instance, has not released all cash due to me. Several trillions of naira statutorily due me are held by the Federal, state, local governments, and the oil giants. So, I have far less than I need and, to make matters worse, people are still mismanaging and stealing the inadequate cash using all kinds of tactics.

    Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, in her few months as acting MD, laid a foundation which, I am afraid, has not been built on. Ever since she stopped handling my affairs, it has almost been garbage in, garbage out. The last few months have been particularly painful. Instability in management has been the new norm. The so-called forensic audit to unravel why I have failed to fulfil my mandate has engendered ‘roforofo’ fights. Now that I am supervised by the Ministry of Niger Delta, you will expect things to be different, but that seems to have compounded my woes, with the minister, Godswill Akpabio, and my former interim head, Dr. Gbene Joi Nunieh, trading tackles like professional footballers. She recently denied that N22.6 billion was spent under her stewardship and alleged that the minister threatened to remove her from office if she did not do his bidding. Akpabio fought back, claiming she was removed for insubordination and lack of the prerequisites for the job, such as the NYSC certificate. He even did some side tackles about four failed marriages! She fired back the following day asking if he wanted to be husband number five. She also added that she once slapped him for sexual harassment. Just yesterday, there was another twist in the tale. Dr. Nunieh received visitors she suspected were out to abduct her before Governor Nyesom Wike played the Superman.

    Members of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) in charge of me now could not account for N183 billion when they appeared before the Senate ad-hoc committee. They admitted awarding themselves N1.5 billion for Coronavirus relief. They are also unable to respond to claims of misappropriating N40 billion.

    With all this nonsense going on around me, are those seeking my demise not justified? But in life, there will always be issues, and issues are meant to be resolved but you don’t throw out a baby with the bathwater. I need to be restructured for enhanced performance. Incorruptible people should man my affairs. Killing me may kill the future of not just the Niger Delta, but Nigeria.

  • Hushpuppi and other puppies

    Hushpuppi and other puppies

    By Olukorede Yishau

    If you have ever found it hard to sleep because of nightmares filled with enemies you cannot identify, filled with all kinds of abuses, filled with pleas for help harkened to by nobody and filled with sweaty fingers and shaky legs, then you will understand his dilemma. When he could no longer bear it, he told his dotting mother who felt the way out was to seek the face of God. Together, they headed for a Lagos suburb church to see a pastor. Before praying for him, the pastor asked a question: “What is your profession?” Before he could answer, the mother said: “The profession children of nowadays do.” The pastor interpreted that to mean he was a Hip-hop musician, but it did not take long before he realised that the boy was a fraudster who had made many people cry by swindling them of their hard-earned money.

    Last year, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, I encountered some intriguing characters on a bus. Some men of the anti-robbery squad were running after a boy suspected to be a fraudster known in local parlance as Yahoo boys. He escaped, but his colleague was not fast enough. Two male passengers in the bus started lamenting in favour of the boys. One of them justified defrauding white people on the premise that between colonial times and early 60s, our forefathers were cheated and made to lose money from cocoa sales. As far as this elderly man was concerned, Yahoo boys were only helping to repatriate what our forefathers lost.

    Before I could recover from the shock, another elderly passenger made a call to someone asking him to tell his son to be careful because policemen were after Yahoo boys. If the person was not a Yahoo boy, why would he be asking him to be careful of policemen?

    I remember the Osogbo and the Lagos events because of Ramon Olorunwa Abbas alias Hushpuppi. Until the law grabbed him by the neck, he was the toast of many musicians and celebrities. His trial started last week in Chicago after he was arrested with 11 others in six simultaneous raids carried out by the Dubai Police, and extradited to the United States for conspiracy to launder millions of dollars from business email compromise (BEC) frauds and other scams.

    Hushpuppi’s story is akin to that of a man who shot an arrow in the air and covered himself with a mortar to escape being hit. He told us he was a social media influencer and displayed opulence in such a way that Africa’s richest Aliko Dangote has not. The one who described himself as the billionaire Gucci master had 2.3 million followers as of June 2020.

    Hushpuppi forgot the rule that “if you cannot do the time, do not do the crime”. His lifestyle had given the impression that the streets of Dubai and others in its class were paved with free cash. But, the reality is: You have to sweat it out to make ends meet. You have to earn every single kobo and if you engage in illegal activities or break the law, even if innocently, you will face the music.

    Like the two events related have shown, Hushpuppi is not the only one who has given or is giving Nigeria a bad name. He is not the only one who has made our green passport a suspicious document and an object of ridicule. We have many others I have chosen to address as puppies, who are rubbishing the country and its people home and abroad. Unfortunately, they are in the minority but sadly grab the headlines.

    Last year, the United States released a list of 77 Nigerians involved in scams. Before then, it arrested a popular Nigerian youth, Invictus Obi, over a number of scams. Many of the indicted 77 have been nabbed in the U.S. and some have been picked up in Nigeria with the assistance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Like Hushpuppi, they might be extradited to the U.S. to face the music.

    When Hushpuppi and his partners in crime were nabbed, the police seized from them 13 luxury cars worth N2.640 billion. The gang, before meeting the waterloo, had made over 1.9 million people cry by duping them of about N169 billion. Also found on them were 21 laptops and 47 smartphones among others. They were geniuses in hacking into the computers of their targets and move money from one account to the other across the globe.

    The saddest part of these puppies’ tales is that the proceeds of their fraud always end up on expensive properties, designer clothes, expensive watches, luxury cars, and charter jets. They also waste money on wine and women. They live like tomorrow will never come. To them, there is no sense in the Biblical poser: What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

    The fate of Hushpuppi and other puppies like Invictus will not make others in their trade learn. The allures of having garages beaming with Rolls Royce, Cadillac, Limousine, Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes-Benz Maybach 62, and armoured Range Rovers are irresistible for these bad eggs. They will continue to fill their wardrobes with hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer wears and never repeat a piece of clothing or footwear. They just want to enjoy life as much as possible before their hearts stop beating.

    Conmen, for me, are not only these puppies who reap where they do not sow. They certainly go beyond men who ask for plenty of cash to buy chemicals to wash supposed black currencies into crispy dollars and Pound Sterling.

    There are conmen on the pulpits who call themselves men of God but they are really men of god; their god is small and his only motivation is cash obtained by deceit. What do you call a ‘man of God’ who, during a church service, brings out his mobile phone and dials God? The confused man proceeds to ask ‘Is that heaven?’ He then begins to say all manners of nonsense and his excited congregants are in awe of him. They are excited that, finally, their woes are over. He then adds a clincher: “I will soon release God’s phone number.”

    There is also another puppy on the pulpit who once engaged a demon in a shouting match. The demon he employed for his deceit looked like one of those actors in a badly-scripted Nollywood home video. As expected, he defeated the boasting demon and declared the devil a liar when he is actually the liar and devil in human form.

    What about another conman on the pulpit who practically strangled a woman with a stiff neck. How on earth can someone with a stiff neck be delivered by squeezing the life out of the ailing neck? She collapsed and after a few seconds the ‘pastor’ performed some abracadabra and the old woman jumped up shouting Hallelujah. She was healed. Just like that!

    I have heard the like of Hushpuppi blame the conmen in power for pauperising the people. This, to a large extent, cannot be faulted. But, that is not a justification for breaking into the account of people overseas, and at the end of the day, all you do with it is buy cars, wine, houses and squander so much on women. Why do we squander money enough to give us hospitals of world-class standard and universities that can rival Harvard on frivolities? Is this life really worth having in our vaults currencies running into billions?

    Amid all these evils wrought by the puppies of this clime, it is heart-warming that for every Hushpuppi there are ten Ikenna Nweke who will return a missing wallet with foreign currency even when no one is watching them. Nweke, a doctorate student in a Japanese university, returned a lost wallet and turned down the offer of compensation. He projected honesty, integrity, and contentment, which the bulk of Nigerians represent.

    Hushpuppi and other puppies cannot erase the records of Wole Soyinka, the late Chinua Achebe, Segun Odegbami and millions of others.

    My final take: There is no justification for defrauding either white or black people. No fraudulent person will go without paying the price. It is even worse when the victims are Americans. The FBI and Interpol will go to any extent to get you and when they do, it will be too late for had-I-known.

    • Segun Gbadegesin will return in August