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Category: Korede Yishau

  • We can’t pray poverty away

    By Korede Yishau

     

    Not long ago, a leader urged his people to pray to overcome challenges in their state. It didn’t look to me that he had played his part before seeking God’s help.

    His reasoning reminds me of Daystar Christian Centre’s founder Pastor Sam Adeyemi who once said if prayers could build infrastructure prayer warriors would have achieved that with dispatch.

    Imagine if prayers can end a situation where one of three Nigerians lives in poverty, which represents thirty-two per cent of the population. Imagine if prayers can stop thirty-seven per cent of children from suffering malnutrition.

    Imagine if prayer can make a thing of the past, half of the Nigerian population who use unsafe or unimproved sanitation. What if prayers can take Nigeria away from being 43rd on the sustainable development goal index? What about praying away the fact that poverty is concentrating in fast-growing countries like Nigeria and by 2050, more than 40 per cent of Nigeria will still be under poverty’s jackboot? If only we can use prayers to get over our slot as the country with the second-highest number of deaths of children under the age of five? Alas, prayers cannot do all these!

    According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), no fewer than 250, 000 children in Nigeria die on their first day of life.

    The figure is the second highest in the world, according to the 2017 multi indicator cluster survey.

    A child born in Nigeria today, no thanks to this situation, is likely to live to the year 2074 while a child born in Denmark is likely to live until the 22nd Century! The quality of life is a different kettle of fish.

    Most of these children regrettably die from preventable causes such as premature births, complications during delivery, infections like sepsis, malaria and pneumonia.

    Prayers cannot stop this, only policies and programmes can.

    That leader’s quest to use prayer to achieve what he should use the financial resources at his disposal to accomplish brings to mind two videos and some pictures I saw recently: The first video shows ‘unending’ lines of almajiri waiting for manna from heaven and the other shows a great man, Senator Elisha Abbo, sharing milk, malt and Fanta as a way of empowering the poor.

    The pictures are of a council boss in Enugu dishing out wheelbarrows to empower the needy and to give the exercise an innovative edge: the wheelbarrows were given out on hire purchase. Such ingenuity. Soon poverty will be history in the area. All hail Madam Chairman!

    The second video increases my respect for the senator. It reinforces my belief that his blood is saturated with milk of human kindness and his compassion is at its peak.

    In case you have forgotten, Abbo is the one in a CCTV footage beating a woman in the presence of an armed mobile police officer who accompanied him and three other women into the shop. His philanthropy has mounted since then.

    Seeing Senator Abbo’s magnanimity and the unending lines of almajiri remind me that the rankadede culture is not limited to the almajiri alone. It has become a national culture.

    Politicians also beg; they beg for votes — do not mind the fact that they also steal votes. So beggars are not just people who seek alms on the streets. We are all beggars one way or the other.

    On the micro-level, family members beg one another for money. Friends do the same. Colleagues beg colleagues for assistance, financial and otherwise. Church members beg pastors and vice versa for cash.

    To complete the world-class works of the likes of Senator Abbo and the council chairman, there are a number of things the government must do to bring 100 million people out of poverty. Prayer cannot do it. Faith without works, the Bible warns us, amounts to nothing.

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    Nigeria needs more investment to grow its economy at a higher rate to be able to lift 100 million people out of poverty. Prayer cannot do it. Nigeria is only growing at about two per cent and if our country continues this way, there will be more people in poverty.

    We need investments, and badly too. The investment we need is almost double what we have now. Nigeria must connect with people who want to invest in it. Agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure are areas where we need investment. We should remain open for business until we have reduced poverty to the barest minimum.

    We must have at the back of our mind that the global market for foreign direct investment is highly competitive and, to tap into it, we must position ourselves strategically. We must change the perceptions that we are all about oil. We must tell people that Nigeria is also about tech, agriculture, services and manufacturing.

    Nigeria must take advantage of the fact that we are critically important as Africa’s largest economy. We must use our longstanding relationships with countries, such as the UK, the U.S. and others, to pull in the needed help. We must correct the notion that our economy is difficult to operate in.

    To make investors have confidence in us, we must respect agreements. Contracts must be sacrosanct, a situation where change of governments lead to policy somersault must be ended. The PI & D controversy, which is yet to die down, is a good example of how one government’s mistake can affect the other.

    We must also improve on our ease of doing business credentials. I agree some gains have been made, but they are not enough.

    So, let us quit trying to pray poverty away. We must work towards ending it. That remains the only way out! Prayers can only help to make our work better. Praying without doing the required work is bloody waste of time.

  • Evil in our Father’s name

    By Korede Yishau

     

    There is one question I have been repeatedly asked since April 2018 when my novel, In the Name of Our Father, was published: Which real life pastor did you have in mind while conceptualising Prophet T.C. Jeremiah? My answer has always been that there was no specific person but an amalgam of evil men desecrating the pulpits.

    The hallmark of Prophet Jeremiah’s life is deceit. He dupes the people in the name of God and feels people should be happy he, with a special grace, is the one messing up their lives.

    He gets involved in murder, infidelity, blackmail and sorcery in his desperation to retain his ill-gotten spiritual power, patronage by the rich and powerful, and relevance. He fears not God because he is sure the Father up there is merciful and does not strike like the god of thunder.

    On Tuesday, I ‘encountered’ a man very close, if not worse than Prophet T.C. Jeremiah. The only difference between this man, Michael Oluronbi, and Prophet T.C. Jeremiah is that unlike the fictitious protagonist, there was no evidence that he was using fetish means to further his ends.

    But like T.C. Jeremiah, Oluronbi saw nothing wrong in having sex with his church members. Painfully, some of them were kids so it will not be out of place to describe him as cradle snatcher.

    Oluronbi, as presented in a special report published by The Nation on Wednesday, was the definition of evil. The 61-year-old was laid bare by London Bureau Chief Olatunde Kazeem.

    The self-proclaimed pastor, who is a trained pharmacist, was convicted by the Birmingham Crown Court, United Kingdom, for sexually assaulting six girls and a boy. Some of the girls, who are now adults, are siblings.

    He raped one of them in her mother’s bedroom and her room downstairs where the church’s altar was when mother was working at nights. One of them had five or six abortions over the space of five years.

    To add salt to injury, Oluronbi’s wife, Juliana aided his evil ways. She was also found guilty and is awaiting sentencing any moment from now. Some of the victims said Mrs. Oluronbi took them for abortions on two or three occasions.

    Oluronbi’s evil started in the 80s in Cherubim and Seraphim Church of God, Ayo ni o Edgbaston parish, United Kingdom. The church was on Gillott Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham in the 1980s and belonged to Juliana’s parents.

    In 1989, Oluronbi broke away with about 40 members to set up his own Cherubim and Seraphim Church of God. A single mother of six offered him the sitting room of her family home in Winson Green, Birmingham, for service.

    Some of Oluronbi’s victims are the children of the single mother. His first move was to sow a seed of discord between, the woman and the father of her children. Oluronbi said he saw visions that her kids’ father was a bad person and ensured he was banished from the house.

    “I did not want him as a husband. I wanted him for his prayer, his guidance. He was a pastor of the church and I wanted him for the security of my children,” the woman told the police.

    Read Also: How Nigerian pastor raped six girls in UK

     

    But Oluronbi wanted much more and he got it. After succeeding with that, he started a sexual dalliance with her but the evil in him made him reach for her daughters, and he was able to convince each of them not to reveal their affair to the other.

    It was not until 2009 when two of the siblings found the courage to discuss their abuse that the pastor’s end started. The sisters, then in their 30s, visited each other in the United States, after one had a baby.

    The husband of the host overheard the conversation about the abuse and telephoned Oluronbi to challenge him about his behaviour. Another sibling, who was visiting Nigeria last year, also discovered that she was not alone in the abuse. The West Midlands police was contacted using a text-based reporting system.

    Oluronbi was arrested last May at the Birmingham Airport. It was feared that he was attempting to flee the country. When the case got to the court, victims laid his evil ways bare, including how he would rub jelly on the genitals of a nine-year-old to make penetration of his penis possible.

    Using the excuse that God asked him to conduct ‘holy baths’ to ward off evil spirits, Oluronbi violated them –leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations.

    “That it could escalate in that way owes itself to the grip this man had over them,” the crown prosecutor, Phil Bradley, stated at the Birmingham Crown Court.

    The Police said: “His conduct towards all of them is made all the worse because of the context in which it occurred. He was the pastor of the church at which all his victims and their families worshipped.”

    Detective Inspector Dave Sproson, from the Public Protection Unit, added: “These were sickening crimes committed against children who had put their trust in Oluronbi and looked up to him. I hope his conviction offers some closure to the victims and I would like to thank them for their bravery throughout the trial.”

    What this story confirms to me is that religion has become an instrument of enslavement by men pretending to speak for God.

    A particular man of God in Nigeria relishes showing us funny theatrics, including getting the devil to visit his church and his technical team interviewing the devil, who boasted that he was the first pastor standing up to him.

    This man’s theatrically violent performance is only one example of bizarre practices that have crept into Christianity.

    My final take: Trusting God is not akin to suspending one’s brain and serving God is not synonymous with being gullible. Certainly, having faith has absolutely nothing to do with being stupid. Every man of God is first a man.

    Like the rest of us, they make mistakes. It is wrong for anyone to sublet his or her life to them. We must always use our brains.

     

  • Predictions 2020

    By Korede Yishau

     

    A lot of good things will happen in Nigeria this year. From this first quarter, they will start manifesting and by the last quarter, we will see them fully blossom. These good things will not happen by power or might; all glory will be to our men of power who are quarrelling. From Bayelsa to Rivers to Edo to Kogi to Abuja and others, the fights are raging.

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his predecessor, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole, are engaged in serious ‘roforofo’ fight. Their aides have joined in. Stones, cudgels and even guns have boomed. Insults have been traded. There are almost no new insults to throw again, thus old ones are re-traded. This is recycling at its best! And it is all in the interest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    It all blew open with the proclamation of the House of Assembly and the elbowing out of Oshiomhole’s men. Oshiomhole, Obaseki said, came to him, asking that they join forces to fight and end the practice of godfatherism in the state. The partnership, he added, helped them in changing the narrative of development in the state. At the time, Oshiomhole, said the governor, believed godfatherism was bad.

    “He said let the people lead but today he wants to lead the people, against their interest,” the governor claimed. But Oshiomhole and his supporters counter that Obaseki is subjecting democracy to violence and tending towards autocracy.

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and outgoing Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson have, for the good of Nigerians, thrown decorum to the wind. In a related development, Dickson is also tackling former President Goodluck Jonathan. At the centre of this triangle is Dickson’s inability to choose his successor.

    Oshiomhole’s APC won the governorship election. David Lyon is going to take over from Dickson and not his preferred Senator Douye Diri.

    Dickson believes Jonathan and Wike have a hand in the defeat. Dickson’s anger remains fresh, so evergreen that even when there was an attack on soldiers in a gunboat not far from Jonathan’s Otuoke home, the governor did not deem it fit to mention the ex-president’s name in his statement condemning the attack.

    For Wike, who does not suffer fools gladly, Dickson should quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Rivers governor even told the leadership of the party not to mediate. The time for such, he declared, was over. The Soku oil wells, which the court has awarded Rivers, have helped to fuel the quarrel. It will not end anytime soon. But, it will all turn out in the interest of our nation as you will soon find out.

    In Kogi, Senator Dino Melaye, though defeated, is not bowed. Every day he takes the battle to the doorstep of Governor Yahaya Bello, who some mischief makers call Yeye Bello. Bello, a confirmed boxer, returns punch for punch.

    Like an average Nigerian, my first reaction about all these elephants fighting is that we, the grass, will suffer for it. I felt the fights were for selfish reasons. I felt to hell with them all. I wondered if we were cursed as a people to have leaders who prioritise themselves over us. I was angry.

    But my anger subsided when my spiritual eyes open and I begin to see well-planned streets, with streetlights and walkways made of interlocking stones and medians glittering with well-cut stones. I also see covered drainages in the cities and towns and many even serve as the walkways.

    Only then did I realise that these men are fighting for us and as a result of their fights Nigeria will boast of good roads. Potholes will become a thing of the past. We will overcome the where-are-you-from challenge. The area or state where you are born will have nothing to do with where you are allowed to legally claim. If you are born and bred in Lagos, but your parents are from Edo, you will be free to claim Lagos.

    Because of the far-sightedness of these leaders, Nigerians will no longer be beggars. The era of begging our governments to give us good leadership will come to an end. Our health institutions will cease being in shambles. Our education will drop crutches and walk freely.

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    Our roads will part ways with being death traps. We will get every sector of our national life right. Gone will be us being a work in progress this sixtieth year after Independence. Because of these men of vision, one of three Nigerians will not again live in poverty, meaning thirty-two per cent of our population will break the poverty chain. Thirty-seven per cent of children, who still suffer from malnutrition, will break free.

    Thanks to Obaseki, Oshiomhole, Wike and Dickson, and others pummelling one another, about half of Nigerians, who use unsafe or unimproved sanitation, will sing a better song. Nigeria will exit its 43rd position on the list of sustainable development goal index.

    What else but praise do these men deserve for leading fights that will make poverty recline and stop the prediction that by 2050, more than 40 per cent of Nigeria will still be under poverty’s boot? The situation now where we have the second-highest number of deaths of children under the age of five will be consigned to the dustbin of history. All glory to these men fighting all over the country.

    We also have them to thank for the fact that soon and very soon our country will stop crawling and start running. Our political class will truly be better than the military. Many of the players on the political scene who are yet to be cured of the military hang-over will receive their healing.

    They will bid a garrison mentality bye. Our democracy will cease being one without democrats. Selfish interests will no longer masquerade as national interests. The good of one will no longer be sold as the good of all. All thanks to our fighting leaders.

    What’s more? On account of these men’s squabbles, this time next year we will all kneel and thank God for these leaders whose ‘roforofo’ fight has ensured an end to kidnapping, insurgency, corruption, fraud and other vices that have left our country prostrate since birth.

    My final take: No one should beg Obaseki to settle with Oshiomhole; neither should anyone mediate between Dickson and Wike. It will be against predictions 2020 to settle Bello and Melaye because their fight and others are the tonic and aspirin that will free our nation from its afflictions.

  • Letter to Seyi Makinde

    By Korede Yishau

     

    Good day, your Excellency. I have chosen the first week of the year to write to you for one major reason: the beginning of the year is usually a time for thinking. It is a time when many look at the past and make decisions about how to make the future better.

    Please forgive my bad manners for not first wishing you a happy new year, and for not asking after madam and the rest of the Makinde clan. May this year give you renewed vigour to make Oyo stand gidigba.

    I have watched with keen interest the accolades you have been garnering in the last seven months that you have been in the saddle as the ‘constituted authority’ in Oyo State. I was not amused when some people were celebrating you over lighting up a particular road.

    My fancy was tickled when I learnt you have chosen to use your personal car instead of expending the state’s lean resources to buy brand new Sports Utility Vehicle. I clapped a bit for you when you explained why you would not push hawkers off the streets. And I was happy when you explained that Christmas decoration was done at no cost to the state.

    It is also gratifying that you regularly engage your people and even share banters with them at such a forum. While all these populist moves are commendable, I want to call your attention to some serious business that you need to attend to.

    Let me start with the Oke-Ogun belt which has a lot to offer but, for a myriad of reasons, its goldmine remains untouched. There is a town which I am sure you are aware of known as Ado Awaye. It is about 20 kilometres west of Iseyin in Iseyin Local Government Area.

    In this tucked-away community lies one of nature’s greatest gifts to man. It is a suspended lake nestled on one of the crests of rocks, which surveyors love to call “sleeping lion”.

    Sir, to get to this Wonder of Oke-Ogun, you have 350 steps to climb from the base. All you need is about an hour. But as you go, there are ‘consolation prizes’ in the forms of historical shrines and others on the way. Once you climb up, Benin Republic border beckons.

    You have a full view of the border into this neighbouring country and a breath-taking view of a range of hills. Many who have got to a point called “Esekan Iku” (the verge of death) have their names etched permanently on the rock with pieces of stone.

    The inhabitants rely on the lake for water. The lake does not know the dry or wet season. It retains the same volume of water all year round. The thick vegetation remains evergreen all through the year. Sir, the suspended lake is just one of the many good things about the Oke-Ogun axis of Oyo State, which are waiting to be fully put to profitable use.

    Your Excellency, apart from the suspended lake, other tourism potentials include the Royal Forest (Igbo-Oba) in Igboho; Old Oyo National Park; Asabari Hill, Saki; Rock formation (Agbele hill) in Igbeti; Ikere Gorge Dam, Iseyin; Akomare Hill, Iganagan; Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s birthplace, Osoogun; and Imofin Hill.

    Mr. Governor, of the state’s 33 local government areas, Oke-Ogun has 10. These 10 local governments boast of land which is suitable for agricultural and agro-allied uses, but 70 per cent of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and related activities.

    Oke-Ogun is not just about land alone; inside the land, nature deposited mineral resources, which unfortunately still lie unused. These minerals have been found in commercial and mineable quantities. I believe you can work with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development to make the best of the marble and dolomite in abundance in Igbeti, Olorunsogo Local Government and in Alaguntan, in Orile Local Government.

    My sources also tell me that Tourmaline is found in quantum in Budo Are and Komu, Itesiwaju Local Government. They should not be left to artisanal mining. Sir, you can choose to start with tantalite, which I understand is in huge deposit in Olodo, Egbeda Local Government and Seperati in Saki East.

    Sir, there are large quantities of feldspar in Atiba Local Government and in Itesiwaju Local Government, quartz is in commercial quantity.

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    Other resources include Bismuth in Iwajowa; agate in Iwajowa and Itesiwaju; cassiterite in Saki East; columbite in Itesiwaju and Saki East; talc in Ona-Ara; kaolin in Ado-Awaye in Iseyin Local Government; and coloured Granite in Irawo, Atisbo Local Government.

    From what I know sir, there are no exploitations of these resources on a commercial scale to yield abundant wealth. No value is added to the abundant raw materials to generate jobs and wealth. Farming is still done at the subsistence level, making it impossible for the cycle of poverty to be broken.

    Sir, I have pointed your attention to Oke-Ogun because it seems to me that successive administrations have treated other parts of the state with some sort of disdain. Oyo State is not just Ibadan. There are goldmines outside of Ibadan that must be tapped for the good of Oyo State.

    Your Excellency, the education system in the state generally needs help and I am happy that you pointed out in your New Year message that you have increased funding to the sector to improve the quality. Your goal, you said, is to make Oyo State the hub for education tourism in Nigeria. I will be glad to see that.

    Like many states in the country, our healthcare sector does not command respect. So, it will be great if you turn hospitals to “state-of-the-art facilities that provide top-notch services to our people”.

    The renovation and equipping of the hospitals and primary healthcare centres must be done with dedication. The hospitals should be such that you and members of your family, and members of your executive council, can rely on for treatment when the need arises.

    I usually laugh when a governor claims to have built ultra-modern hospital but jets out of the country to treat the simplest of illness.

    My final take: It is good to start well but the true test of a man is in finishing well. Starting well and messing up along the way always erases the gains of the early days. So, the emphasis should be on being consistent until the end. Bye, for now, your Excellency. And please, do not ignore my words! Happy New Year.

  • A new year, a new decade

    By Olukorede Yishau

    It is a New Year. It is also a new decade. And these facts pop up questions in my mind: Will Nigeria and Africa become new? Will old things pass away? The fresh air hovering around also puts me in a reflection mood. And China comes to my mind, not for being in constant fight with the United States or for its funny kind of democracy, but for the lessons Nigeria and Africa can learn from this nation, which at the end of two decades of hardship and internal conflict in 1980 had a telephone penetration rate of 0.22 per cent—one of the lowest rates in the world at the time. Telephone lines were restricted only to senior government officials. Poverty rate was 88 per cent and registered vehicles were 365,000.

    I was in Shenzhen, the home of Huawei in China, in April last year. Last Friday, I was back in China. This time around, I went beyond Shenzhen. I was in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and many other parts of China. In 24 hours, I was in all these cities and towns and I returned to Lagos that same Friday. I even took a break to see Sugar Rush, Jade Osiberu’s latest movie at the Genesis Cinema inside the Maryland Mall. After the movie, I returned to China to complete my odyssey.

    Let me confess before I am taken for a liar. The trip was not physical. It was spiritual and the talisman that took me there is known as Travelling with Big Brother. The ‘juju man’ behind this talisman is Solomon Elusoji, a journalist who spent ten months in the new Big Brother and recorded his junket across China.

    Elusoji uses a style which shows his creative writing skills. The book is like a letter to his best friend, Elizabeth who had told Elusoji that going to China was like going to war.

    Reading Elusoji brought back memories of the little China I saw in Shenzhen. Until the early 80s, the city was on its knees. Like the bulk of China, poverty was a friend to many of its inhabitants. All it took to change this city’s fortune — and by extension, China’s fortune — was a right decision by a focused leadership. The government of the time had no money to spend in developing the city so it declared the city a special economic zone. Foreign investors were encouraged with all manners of incentives.

    The first focus was how to reform the nation’s telecommunications sector, which was in a terrible state. Like it was in Nigeria and for the bulk of Africa at the time, the telephone was for the rich. The investors changed all that and in a few years, the telephone became for all. This era gave birth to Huawei, now a giant in the global telecommunications world.

    Elusoji took me further than Shenzhen. Through him, I was educated about the Chinese brand of politics. The Chinese have a political event known as ‘The Two Sessions’. The Two Sessions, Elusoji observed, is China’s stab at a democratic spirit. It is a conference of the country’s legislative and consultative bodies, the National People’s congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). “The NPC, made up of 3,000 delegates from across the country, is the country’s legislature. But it is not your typical democratic law-making assembly – it has never voted down a proposed law from the Communist Party, China’s sole ruling party. However, since it held its first meeting in 1954, instances of dissent and a lack of consensus have increased, leading some to believe that China is becoming increasingly democratic.

    “In 1982, three delegates abstained from a vote for the first time; the first ‘no’ vote was cast six years later. Then in 1972 only two-thirds of the congress voted in favour of the Three Gorges Dam, a highly controversial project that took decades to come to fruition,” Elusoji wrote.

    The NPC delegates, according to Elusoji, are elected by provincial lawmakers chosen by lower-level assemblies at the city and country level. China, Elusoji wrote, does not recognise dual nationality for its citizens.

    What Elusoji has to say about Hainan broke my heart. The picture of Sanya’s Phoenix International Airport in Travelling With Big Brother makes the Murtala Mohammed International Airport looks like an airstrip. The airport is “a stunning modern edifice that facilitates flights between 136 domestic and 23 international airlines”. Sanya is on Hainan Island. It is China’s southernmost province and is known as the Hawaii of China. In 2017, Elusoji wrote, the city made the New York Times’ top 52 places to visit in the world. Tourist arrivals, in 2015, were about 15 million. Revenue from tourism businesses are in billions of dollars.

    Like Shenzhen, the Chinese government designated the island as a special economic zone, a decision, which made property prices jump up. In April 2018, President Xi Jinping followed up the special economic zone status by deciding to build the whole of Hainan Island into a pilot international free trade zone.

    Hainan’s infrastructure development is solid and has helped drive tourism. Its high speed railway was completed in 2015. The road network allows hitch-free movement around the Island. Like all good developments, Hainan’s growth has its downside: the ordinary people have been priced out of town. Ecological deterioration and water pollution are also issues the city is battling with.

    Hubei is another destination Elusoji dragged me to. It is known as a ‘province of lakes’ and its capital, Wuhan, is described as the ‘City of Rivers’. The Poverty Alleviation project in Lijiawa village and other parts of China are initiatives Nigeria needs to copy, and fast, too. “In Lijiawan, a village with 844 people and 234 households, the poverty alleviation project has resulted in a collectively built solar panel which generated power that is sold to the national grid. Revenue generated from the solar panel’s electricity each year is as high as 60,000 RMB (about $8,000),” wrote Elusoji.

    The book also took me back to Guangzhou, which I flew in through during my April last year trip to Shenzhen. What it has to tell me about Beijing makes me have a mixed feeling about whether or not we will ever get infrastructure and others things right and when.

    My final take: This year, Nigeria needs to declare special economic zones in many cities. Studying and adapting the China model may go a long way. We also need poverty alleviation villages to free our people from the shackles of want and lack.

    Elusoji’s book, with its crisp and descriptive language, has made him taller in my sight. This is a very important book that is not just for only those interested in Sino-Africa relations; it is a book that reads so well that even if you want nothing to do with the land where Google and Facebook are banned, you will still enjoy the creative energy poured into writing it.

    Happy 2020!

  • Thank you 2019

    By Korede Yishau

     

    By the time you will read this column next week, we will be three days into 2020. For me and for you, 2020 will be great. 2019 has been good. My debut novel, In the Name of Our Father, which was published in April 2018, received critical favours this year.

    The novel has been the subject of undergraduate and post-graduate studies: Four undergraduates at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lagos State University (LASU) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) have used the book for their final year projects; and an Msc student at the University of Ibadan (UI) and a PhD in the North have also made use of it as one of their texts. So, on behalf of In the Name of Our Father, I say thank you to 2019.

    ABU’s Jamiu Ilufoye concerned himself with the Marxist leaning of the novel. Marxism focuses on the conflict between the dominant and repressed classes. Ilufoye wrote: “Many African writers, through their creative piece, have written to criticise the government of the day and the faulty structure of governance in the society.

    It is against this backdrop that this study, therefore, seeks to examine the Marxist ideology embedded in Olukorede Yishaus’s In the Name of Our Father.

    “In the Name of Our Father, Yishau’s debut text, mirrors the Nigerian society by showcasing its ugly nakedness: it tells the tragic story of a critically sick nation. As Ibrahim (2019) critically observes, Yishau’s novel In the Name of Our Father, from the Marxist perspective, ‘describes religious and military rulers as the dominant class in the society.

    Yishau has used his novel to redeem the society from the money-oriented religious leaders, and also to challenge the military rulers who hauntingly enforced their ideologies on the common man’.

    He argues further that ‘Yishau’s novel does not just critique the class and capitalist system in the religious warehouse, but also revolts against the superstructure in the Nigerian society’.

    “From the Marxist point of view, Olukorede Yishau’s In the Name of Our Father expounds basically the brutality that characterises military governance and/or authorities in the Nigerian society; side by side religious despotism which is arguably its key tool in subjugating the masses. Marxism suggests that colonialism is the mother of religion and it is what colonialist used to penetrate Africans.”

    Ilufoye continues: “In the Name of Our Father chastises the hypocrisy of religious leaders who parade themselves as the warden of Christianity.

    It similarly reveals the affinity between religious and political leaders, and how religion is often used as a tool, not only to exploit, but also to tame the consciousness of the plebs from causing a revolution.

    “Meanwhile, religion is not the only tool used here; military hegemony is also deployed to silence the people from opposing the misrule of the upper class. Hence, the journalist, Omoeko’s encounters is not unconnected with the attempt to unfold an array of religious misconducts that plagued the religious temples in Nigeria. This is captured in Omoeko’s fictional story ‘Angels Live in Heaven’.”

    Another ABU product, Ibrahim Munir, studied the socio-religious cynicism in the novel.

    Munir wrote: “Olukorede S. Yishau’s novel In the Name of Our Father joins the corpus of Nigerian literature by baring issues that relate to military regimes and thematises religious indoctrination which defined the military government in Nigeria.

    “The narrative is reminiscent of the author’s self-imposed mandate to engage his writing in the socio-political and religious issues that characterise the Nigerian state. In this way, Yishau fictionalises Nigeria in its monumental woes, emphasising its political and religious drawbacks and making public the meretricious, cynical qualities that define leaders in Nigeria, either politically or religiously.

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    “Sourcing materials from the military history of Nigeria, the novelist addresses the characteristic attitudes of men driven by power and selfish interest at the expense of the masses. The author thus seeks the medium of journalism to present cases socio-political scourge on which the Nigerian state thrives. As a human right activist, the novelist uses Justus Omoeko to reveal the animalistic tendencies inherent in the military regimes and how people who raise the consciousness of the masses are unjustly brutalised.”

    Yishau’s In the Name of our Father, Munir observed, lays bare the despotism that defines military government. “The author thus creates real-life situations using fictional experiences. In more ways than one, General Idoti, the Commander-in-Chief, is representative of the holier-than-thou life cherished by military leaders.

    The narrator thus pokes at his follies and provides convincing instances that validates the claim that most military leaders are self-centred, power-drunk and condescendingly cynical,” the scholar wrote.

    He concluded that issues such as materialism, hypocrisy and greed reinforce socio-religious cynicism in In the Name of Our Father. “Without mincing words, the novel dramatises the material benefits that underlie social, political and religious practices in today’s Nigeria,” Munir wrote.

    UNILAG’s Benjamin Arkorful’s focus is not much different from Munir’s. He focused on the hypocrisies and gullibility as it concerns religion. “Critically perusing the title of the novel – In the Name of our Father – one is quick to point the hypocritical nature of the Christian religion. The poor congregation are easily manipulated because the pastors exert their vile through the expression “in the name of Jesus” thereby making the people oblivious of the hypocrisy behind the expression.

    “In this situation, it is accurate to state that religion has been used to legitimise and perpetuate the status quo of the poor masses.

    This is because, despite that they live a miserable life, the pastors who are to intermediate between God and them rather exploit them all in the name of our father and collect the little money that they have.

    At this point in time, therefore, we cannot but conclude that these pastors’ aims are to make money through the plight of the poor masses thereby perpetuating their status quo.

    “In addition, Yishau demonstrates Karl Marx’s conception – religion is the opium of the people (or the masses) in the novel under discussion. Marx opines that religion is used as opium to opiate or bring hope to the hopeless soul, sigh to the oppressed creature and spirit to the spiritless situation. This is hypocritical because they do not practice Christianity with the aim of worshipping God, rather they resort to religion to get rid of their crisis.

    “In fact, some people go to the extent of using diabolic powers under the disguise of Christianity to opiate their plight. Yishau makes this claim evident in his novel. For example, Alani, who is faced with many challenges of life, resorts to Christianity to seek refuge. Out of desperation, Alani tells pastor David, after he (Pastor David) has told him, ‘you’ve seen a lot to last a man for the whole of his life’ that ‘I want to put it behind me by staying with you and doing the kind of job you do’ (29). From this dialogue, it is evident that Alani sees Christianity as his opium that can console his distressed heart,” Arkorful wrote.

    What more is there to add? My final take: We are about five days away from 2020 and if you do nothing else, do not give prayer contractors access to your lives. God is for us all and we can all seek His face. Let’s send fake pastors and prophets to their early retirement!

     

  • Christmas for Sowore, Sambo

    By Korede Yishau

    When I penned the initial version of this piece, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami was still insisting that the Federal Government could not order the release of Sahara Reporters publisher Omoyele Sowore and ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki. But some hours before this newspaper went to bed, Malami granted my wish and in the spirit of the season, he did what he said he would not do: He ordered the release of Sowore and Dasuki. His reason: Because the courts said so.

    Reading Malami’s statement and seeing the reason he gave made me wonder why all the drama of the past few months when in the long run, the government was going to obey the courts.

    The disobedience of the court orders had made me wonder what kind of a world we would have had if we are all free to do what we want. Imagine if I am free to slap you and you are free to retaliate; I am free to take over your house, your wife and your kids and you are free to fight back; I am free to shoot you at sight; and if you do not die, you are free to shoot me back. What a world that will be! Chaotic is the best word that will capture it.

    I will pay a fortune to find out how it was in the beginning when there were no systems in place to check excesses. Over time, each society evolved different ways of keeping order. Elders in African villages formed some form of jury system and rules were set and whoever flouted them was severely dealt with.

    In most societies, if you killed, you would pay with your life. Some offences carried the penalty of being banished. So severe were some of the punishments that generations yet unborn suffered the consequences of their forebears’ sins.

    Colonialism came with the court system. The origin of the court is traced to the 12th century. This institution came with the authority to adjudicate on legal disputes between parties. Civil, criminal, and administrative matters now became the business of the courts to resolve.

    Up till this day, courts are central to dispute resolution, and, as citizens, we are all supposed to be bound by the decisions of the judges whether we agree with it or not.

    Since human judgments are subject to mistakes and sentiments, courts have levels: High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. If you are displeased with the decision of the High Court, you are free to appeal and if the decision of the appeal still does not favour you, you can try your luck with the apex court. After that, you can only seek solace in God!

    The judiciary does its work through a proclamation known as order or ruling. The orders can be interim or permanent and parties are supposed to be bound by it.

    My first knowledge of court orders being flouted was under the military. These dictators had no respect for the rule of law. When they take power, the first thing they do is to suspend the constitution and rule with Decrees. All past military governments in Nigeria, from Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, to Gen. Yakubu Gowon, to Gen. Murtala Mohammed, to Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, to Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and Gen. Sani Abacha, operated under Decrees. Through these Decrees, they could do and undo. They were laws unto themselves.

    Though the judiciary, unlike the legislature, still operated under the military, they were largely reduced to handling civil and criminal cases that had little or nothing to do with government. Anytime the courts adjudicated on matters involving the government, they were flagrantly disobeyed.

    With the return to democracy in 1999, we expected an end to a lot of things, one of which was disobedience of court orders.  Section 287 of the Constitution enjoins every government to obey and enforce the judgments of courts of records.

    Olusegun Obasanjo, as president, will be remembered for flouting the order on the creation of local government areas in Lagos State. Obasanjo refused to obey the Supreme Court when it ordered his administration to release the allocations for local government councils in Lagos. Obasanjo had ordered the seizure of the money because he felt the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu administration ‘unconstitutionally’ created additional local councils. He did not want the administration to fund these new councils from funds intended for the pre-existing councils. The Supreme Court saw no sense in his action and ordered the release of the fund but Obasanjo ignored the apex court.

    The Obasanjo administration also for a long time ignored a court order that Rashidi Ladoja was illegally removed as Oyo State governor. Also, the administration flouted the Supreme Court order that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should not have first line charge on the Federation Account. The corporation had two accounts, the Special receipts Account and the Expenditure Account, which were on first line charge.

    As gentle as many said the Goodluck Jonathan administration was, it failed in its handling of the Justice Isa Ayo Salami matter. The National Judicial Council (NJC) is the apex body in the judiciary. This body ordered the Jonathan administration to reinstate Justice Salami as the Court of Appeal President but the administration ignored it.

    The Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has not been able to rise above this miasma that the Obasanjo administration and, to some extent, Jonathan’s, were rebuked for.  On July 5, 2017, Justice Hadizat Shagari ordered the Federal Government to make the names of looters public. This followed a suit by a rights organisation. The order is yet to be compiled with or appealed.

    There is also a yet-to-be obeyed court judgment ordering the administration to compel former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the late President Umaru  Yar’Adua, and Jonathan to account for the Abacha loot. Justice Mohammed Idris made the order in 2016.

    It is good that Sowore and Dasuki have been released, but we also have the issue of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat.

    The Federal Government was ordered to release El-Zakzaky and his wife. The judge awarded N25m each in favour of the husband and wife for the violation of their rights. They were accompanied to India for treatment but returned under circumstances that make it difficult to know who to believe between the security agents and the El-Zakzakys’. Till date, both remain in jail and the N50 million awarded in their favour has not been paid.

    Before the Christmas Eve release, on at least two occasions, judges ordered Dasuki’s release on bail pending the conclusion of the criminal cases filed against him. Like Sowore, he was released at a point but was re-arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services.

    My final take: As we celebrate Christmas and await the New Year, we, the leaders and the led, should ask ourselves: What will Jesus do? Will Jesus deny people their rights? Obviously not! The courts are like gods and their orders should not be flagrantly ignored. The government should emulate Jesus and let the courts have their way! No matter how ridiculous it thinks the orders are.

    And to Sowore and Sambo, merry Christmas!

  • Remembering failed 2009 Christmas Day bombing

    It will be 10 years On Wednesday that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the then 23-year-old Nigerian, tried to bomb a Detroit-bound plane. His trial was expected to be a long one. But Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty on the first day and ended his trial in 2012 abruptly. OLUKOREDE YISHAU recounts his journey to life imprisonment for the crime, which was committed 10 years ago.

     

    Not a few were shocked when the news broke on Christmas Day in 2009 that a Nigerian tried to bomb a plane filled with no less than 100 passengers. The shock assumed another mien when it emerged that the failed bomber is son of a very rich and influential Nigerian. Even his father thought something was wrong somewhere. But time soon cleared the fog. And Nigerians accepted the truth that one of them, Farouk Abdulmutallab, the son of Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, a former chairman of a first generation bank, had joined the league of international terrorists.

    Investigations and pre-trial stages took some three years. The trial was expected to witness a practical demonstration of how underwear bomb works. An expert witness was on stand-by for the demonstration. The prosecutors were also ready to play video recordings of three demonstrations conducted by an expert.

    Also planned was a video showing Abdulmutallab and others training in a desert camp, shooting weapons at targets, including the Jewish star and the British Union Jack. The tape also included a statement, justifying his actions against “the Jews and the Christians and their agents.”

    But Abdulmutallab was not ready for all those dramas. In October 2012, he pleaded guilty on  first day of the trial.  Abdulmutallab said: “I attempted to use an explosive device, which in the US law is a weapon of mass destruction, which I call a blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent Muslims, for US use of weapons of mass destruction on Muslim populations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.”

    After his sentencing, Abdulmutallab, detained at a federal prison in Milan, was moved to a federal super-maximum prison in Florence, Colorado, where other convicted terrorists are serving their time.

    His court-appointed lawyer, Anthony Chambers, had filed a document arguing that a mandatory life sentence for the Nigerian would be unfair for a crime that did not hurt any passenger on the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

    Chambers said the only passenger injured was Abdulmuttallab, who had his groin severely burnt before the fire ignited by the bomb in his underwear was put out by other passengers.

    Abdulmutallab planned his 23rd birthday to be his last. December 22, 2009 was his 23rd birthday. That day, he was in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. At other times, the graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University College, London would have been with his siblings and parents for the birthday and the Yuletide. Rather than join other members of the family, Abdulmutallab was putting finishing touches to a suicide mission that could have killed more than 100 people, three days after turning 23.

    A day after what he thought was going to be his last birthday on earth, he returned to Nigeria via the Kotoka International Airport. He did not make contact with his parents, whom he had denounced some months earlier.

    His trip to Lagos was only on transit to Amsterdam. He had no plans to make the trip to Detroit, United States, the airline’s final destination. He planned to blow the plane up with an underwear explosive device mid-air. But, the explosive failed him. He was arrested and taken into custody.

    And on December 22, 2011, he clocked 25 inside the Federal Correctional Institution, Milan, Michigan.

    al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based arm claimed responsibility for the failed attack, which was also hailed by the late Osama bin Laden, just months before the al Qaeda’s leader was killed in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan.

    He lent credence to his relationship with  acclaimed terrorists when during the pre-trial stage, he shouted: “Osama’s alive,”  as he entered the courtroom. At some point, he hollered ‘jihad’ and stared at the ceiling when Judge Nancy Edmunds told jurors about the alleged plot to blow up the plane with a bomb in his underwear. On another occasion, he hollered: “al-Awlaki is alive.” He made the remark about a week after al-Waki was killed.

    There are evidences Abdulmutallab was radicalised through the Internet and his meeting with al-Awlaki.

    Abdulmutallab’s plot to take advantage of the fact that his first statement was taken without his Miranda Rights read to him was aborted on September 18, 2011, when Judge Edmunds handed the President Barack Obama administration a major victory in its approach to Miranda Rights for terror suspects, endorsing the interpretation of the public safety exception.

    The judge said: “The agents limited their questioning to approximately 50 minutes, a period sufficient enough to get information to address the threat to public safety.”

    Edmunds said the agents handling the case were “mindful of defendant’s self-proclaimed association with al-Qaeda and knowing the group’s past history of large, coordinated plots and attacks and feared that there could be additional, imminent aircraft attacks in the United States and elsewhere in the world.”

    Details of his plot with Awlaki were released in 2012. They were contained in documents filed to back up request for his sentence to life imprisonment. The documents showed that  Abdulmutallab, after making contact with Awlaki, spent three days at the late  cleric’s house discussing martyrdom and “jihad”.

    al-Awlaki introduced him to a bomb maker for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who made the bomb for him to attack an American airliner.

    “Prior to the defendant’s departure from Yemen, Awlaki’s last instructions to him were to wait until the airplane was over the United States and then take it down,” one of the filings said.

    To drive home the argument that he deserves to rot in jail, the U.S. government, in the document, noted:  “When the airplane was about to cross over the United States border, they said, he went to the restroom, washed his face, brushed his teeth, put on cologne, returned to his seat, said prayers, and then pushed the plunger on the device – but it failed to detonate.”

    One of the documents added that he told his interrogators that he interpreted the failure of the bomb to explode as evidence that “it was not his time to die”.

    Some days ago, his father, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, who just clocked 80 years, told Daily Trust:  “When I heard about the incident, I never believed it was him. I thought someone stole his passport and tried to do that. But I discovered two days later that he was the one.”

  • For West African leaders

    By Olukorede Yishau

     

    West Africa, of which Nigeria is the biggest, should not be where it is. It should have gone farther. My trips around the sub-region have largely made me ask the question: When are we going to start? I have also come to the conclusion that the buck stops at the table of its leaders for its sorry state.

    The blame for its stunted growth is no one but theirs. And, perhaps, a complacent citizenry.

    And the rain started beating us from the dawn. The leaders of the region at independence were treated as demi-gods because they were the founding fathers and, as such, considered as life presidents.

    So, it was a taboo to talk about succession. This led to the coups d’etat in the sub-region. Those violent interventions did not resolve the issue.

    Democracy should be seen as a necessity and not otherwise. Quasi-democracy that many of the countries in the sub-region operate is not doing us any good.

    The elite should work towards ensuring that clear mechanisms are put in place for the good of democratic institutions.

    The value system, which emphasises accountability, transparency and hard work, must be promoted. Only people who can provide the basic needs to the citizens should be allowed to get into power.

    As a follower, I am ashamed that people still get into power and become overnight billionaires. Gone are the days when people were challenged over ill-gotten gains.

    Now, all over the sub-region, leaders who had nothing before coming into office suddenly become overnight billionaires, owning businesses everywhere and stashing money in numbered accounted oversees.

    Worse still, the lucre of office even gets into their heads and, as their tenure winds to an end, they plot how to stay in office for life.

    Where that is impossible, they move to install their lackeys whom they believe will protect their interest. Some even want to install their sons.

    An ex-president in the sub-region was brought into power by a coalition. He had no money of his own during the electioneering campaign.

    But the people believed in him and did all within their means to ensure that he defeated the then President. However, once he got hold of power, he bared his fangs.

    He distanced himself from those who helped him into the office and vowed that his party would be in power for 50 years. To ensure this ’50-year-reign’, he tried to install his son as his successor.

    For me, the sub-region has not given women their place in politics. Equal opportunity for the genders remains a dream. There is no doubt that women should not be discriminated against.

    There are many examples all over the world to show that women can work miracles and excel where men have failed. Expectedly, the issue of getting women more involved also raised the question of how women who are in office have fared.

    The exploits of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a former Liberian President, who cleaned the mess that men created, should be enough for the sub-region to give our women the chance to rule.

    Significantly, leaders in the West African sub-region need to be reminded that power is transient, no matter how they try to make it otherwise.

    The inglorious role of the opposition in making leaders see themselves as more than humans needs to be addressed. Several cases abound of opposition politicians who, after elections, jump ship to join the ruling party rather than stay on course as political watchdogs, keeping the governments in the sub-region on their toes.

    The lure of being close to the powers-that-be, thus ensured that otherwise critical voices are silenced.

    The leaders in the sub-region do not see the people as the ultimate. And it is not too late for the people to take back their rightful position.

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    Collectively, we must ensure that our leaders do not take us for granted. We must ask for our dues and ensure we get them. While not asking us to be violent, when we insist and refuse to be intimidated, the leaders will have no choice but to let our will prevail.

    Examples abound in more advanced societies where the people have had their way by grounding the government through non-violent means.

    Now is the time for us to let the likes of Wade know that they are our servants, and once they try to become something else, we would not hesitate to show them the exit.

    Also critical to the challenges drawing down the sub-region is the state of the judiciary. It is an issue we all must find a way around.

    In the sub-region, judges are said to shamelessly collect bribe in the open. Cases of bribery and corruption in the bench in the sub-region are rife.

    Except for a few instances, it is a taboo for individuals or groups to win cases against the state. The state is god and should not be defeated. If this madness continues, leaders in the sub-region will continue to ride roughshod over the people whom they pretend to be representing.

    The judiciary in the sub-region needs to be revitalised and made truly autonomous. The deepening of electoral reforms, reinforcing legislative autonomy and enforcing constitutional provisions are also germane.

    The ECOWAS Court should be given all it needs to be able to bite. It is toothless for now. No thanks to leaders in the region.

    Nigeria should be leading by example in all ramifications. One of Nigeria’s neighbours is the Benin Republic, a small country.

    Compared to Nigeria, the Republic of Benin is extremely small. But it also seems to have been able to use that to its advantage. Social amenities work in Benin, far better than they do in Nigeria.

    The beautiful-looking traffic lights are religiously obeyed, even by motorcyclists. Some roads, not just major roads, are paved with interlocking blocks to ensure longer life span.

    The tollgates are the international standard and toll payers see that their money is used to maintain the roads. All these happen in a country where what largely passes as petrol filling stations are the common sights in northern Nigeria: jerry cans of petrol hawked from the roadsides.

    To add salt to the injury of Nigerians, Benin Republic has a better supply of electricity. ‘Big Brother Nigeria cannot vouch for 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply.

    Many areas in Nigeria have not had electricity supply for months, and the Distribution Companies (DisCos) often insist that they pay bills for service not rendered. Ghana is even a better example in the area of infrastructure.

    My final take: We deserve better in the sub-region and the time for us all to work towards getting the best is now. Not tomorrow.

  • Behind the headlines

    Olukorede Yishau

     

     

    160 years ago, Rev. Henry Townsend published the first newspaper in Nigeria. It was known as ‘Iwe Iroyin lede Yoruba Fun Awon Ara Egba’. With that singular act on the solid rock of Abeokuta, he built a solid foundation for what has become a very vibrant industry. The industry has made long-standing and inspiring contributions to our great but struggling country.

    The environment for the media has been very tough but editors, columnists and journalists generally have soldiered on. They are rights activists, they are kingmakers and they shape policy direction.

    Significantly, they are heard but, most times, not seen. They celebrate others but almost no one celebrates them. Many of them even believe they should not be celebrated because theirs is a calling that craves some sort of anonymity.

    The Gatekeepers by O’Femi Kolawole documents the careers of 20 top journalists in the country. The book is divided into twenty chapters, with a chapter dedicated to one editor or columnist or leading broadcaster.

    On the pages of this book, we meet the great Mike Awoyinfa, a superb columnist, history maker and Nigeria’s King of Tabloids. We also meet Gbenga Omotoso, the immediate past Editor of The Nation and one of Nigeria’s longest serving Editor.

    Another gatekeeper, whose inspiring story is laid bare in this book, is ex-presidential spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi, who is now the Editorial Board Chairman of ThisDay. Adeniyi edited almost all the titles on ThisDay’s stable. We also meet Mrs. Olabisi Deji-Folutile, a woman who has been able to show that what a man can do a woman can do better.

    This book sheds light on the amazing life and career of Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, a Theatre Arts graduate who became Editor of The Guardian.

    Mr. Kolawole also gave us rare insight into the story of the man who holds the record of being The Punch’s longest serving Editor. Until Martins Ayankola broke that record, it was held by journalism scholar, Mr. Gbemiga Ogunleye, the Rector of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).

    My former boss and source of inspiration, who remains one of the best writers Nigerian journalism has ever produced, Mr. Dare Babarinsa, has inspiring anecdotes to share in this book. Babarinsa, Tell magazine’s co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Gaskia Media, has mentored and is still mentoring many a reporter.

    On the pages of this exceptional book, we are given exclusive insights into the man Eric Osagie, the immediate past Managing Director of The Sun, the tabloid birthed by Awoyinfa and the late Dimgba Igwe. Osagie, we find out in this book, is angry at the country’s political class, who he sees as Democratic Parasites.

    His successor, Onuoha Ukeh, also finds generous space in this book and the story he has to tell is nothing but a confirmation of the saying that with God all things are possible. Ukeh started his journalism career as a copy and production man and, today, he is the MD/Editor-in-Chief of The Sun. Before then, he was Editor of the daily paper, a position he attained after editing the Saturday title.

    The Gatekeepers also introduces to us Tokunbo Adedoja, one of the youngest Editors in recent media history. Adedoja, the policeman’s son and Political Scientist, is now Director, ThisDay Digital, after his period as Editor of ThisDay on Sunday. Adedoja, we find out on the pages of this book, has an uncommon career in Nigeria’s media history. I will leave you to find out what that entails when you buy and read this book.

    Mr. Kolawole also ‘intrudes’ into the privacy of the don of Daily Independent, Mr Don Okere, who is editing the Ogba-Lagos-based newspaper. He tells us Don is the second of eight children of his parents. There are many more juicy details about the Editor of Daily Independent.

    Do you know that the father of the respected Editor of the Vanguard, Mr. Eze Anaba, was a factory worker at the Ewekoro Cement Company? Do you know that despite his meagre pay his father was always buying newspapers? Do you know that his father died when he was still young and against all odds he found his way to the UK for a Master’s degree?

    Mr. Kolawole has the answers to these questions and many more about the consummate professional called Eze Anaba, who is passionate about leaving a legacy for posterity.

    The history of broadcasting in Nigeria cannot be complete without Mr. Bisi Olatilo, the polyglot who is the founder of Biscon Communications. The veteran broadcaster remains an inspiration. The Gatekeepers gives us rare insights into his colourful life.

    On the pages of this book, we will also meet and better understand others, such as Azuh Arinze, the publisher of Yes International Magazine and author of The CEO’s Bible; Juliet Bumah, the editor of Sunday Telegraph; my boss, Mr. Wola Adeyemo, the cocoa farmer’s son who rose to edit Tell; and Mr. Debo Abdulai, who is the Editor of the Nigerian Tribune.

    The book also features Mr. Tokunbo Ojekunle, the broadcaster who fell in love with radio as a four-year old boy, Mr. Ademola Adegbamigbe, The Editor of The News and Mr. Seye Kehinde, who redefined soft-sell journalism in Nigeria.

    Aside telling us the stories of the editors, columnists and broadcasters featured in it, it also tells us the history of some media houses. Reading Azu Arinze’s story, for instance, is like reading the story of FAME Weekly, Reel Stars, National Encomium and YES International.

    Omotoso’s story gives fascinating insights into what happened to The Comet, a newspaper he edited for its entire lifespan. From the story, it is clear that the first edition should not have been circulated because some things were not right but as Editor Omotoso had no power to dictate to the owners; he swam with the flow and we are all witnesses to what happened after that first edition hit the market: The bang that was to follow the coming of The Comet was not herd. The problem, according to Omotoso, was not in the quality of stories or their presentation, but the printing equipment failed the paper and the quality it produced was below standard. So, despite parading some of the best hands in the profession at the time, The Comet did not catch many people’s fancy. Aside the machine issue, the paper, Omotoso revealed, also did not have the financial chest to prosecute the war!

    Aside The Comet, FAME Weekly and National Encomium, this book also provides perspectives on newspapers and magazines, such as The Concord, TELL, The News, Newswatch and so on.

    The book also brings back memories of journalists such as Kunle Ajibade, George Mbah and Chris Anyanwu and their ordeals under the despotic regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha. It also reminds us of the late Dele Giwa, who was bombed on Talabi Crescent, off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja. Coincidentally, the house where he was parcel-bombed is now home to The New Telegraph newspapers.

    The book also opens an important debate about the media’s role in the ‘Elite Nigerian Problem’. Is the media guilty of helping the political elite to under-develop the country? Your guess is as good as mine, especially if you have it at the back of your mind that he who pays the piper calls the tune!

    The book is highly recommended for journalists, aspiring journalists, students of journalism and anyone who is interested in knowing how the media works.