The Nation Newspaper

Category: Monday

  • ‘Till Death Do Us Part’

    In a profound sense, the ultimate casualty of the gripping murder case involving the convicted wife killer, 32-year-old Akolade Arowolo, must be the couple’s five-year-old daughter, Olamide. Not even her father, who is facing a death sentence for the crime committed on June 24, 2011, in their matrimonial home in Isolo, Lagos, could escape the thought that she was the greatest victim. His late awareness prompted what should now be considered as his famous last words; and the rhetorical question mirrored the knotty riddle that will haunt him until he is eventually hanged, according to the court verdict. He asked: “Jesus, what will happen to Olamide, my daughter?”

    It was the little girl’s grandfather, and father of the knifed banker, Titilayo, who gave the public a clue about the tormenting fate that most likely awaited her. George Oyakhire said: “When she comes of age and begins to ask questions and is reasonable enough, we will tell her everything that happened.” Tragically, it is certain that no one can be sure how she would take the news, or handle the information. How will her mother’s murder and her father’s punishment for the act affect her trajectory in life? For fatalists, this intriguing drama must have the fingerprint of destiny. But won’t such an interpretation be simplistic?

    Without doubt, the most chilling and unimaginable dimension of this particularly thought-provoking uxoricide was the expert testimony of the forensic pathologist, Prof John Obafunwa, who analysed each of the 76 stabs that mutilated the body of the deceased, stating that a sharp weapon applied with “tremendous force” must have been responsible for the horrifying injuries. According to Justice Lateefat Okunnu of the Lagos High Court, who sent Arowolo to the gallows, “The post-mortem was detailed. It gave report of every injury, both external and internal. It gave details for injuries to the eye, the chest, the breast, the lung, the stomach and diaphragm.” If murder was not the motive, what could have been the objective of the cornucopia of wounds? The sheer scale of the stabbing not only makes it difficult even to speculate about whatever could have been the trigger; it also strongly suggests that the attacker was not in his right mind, which cannot be a justification.

    It was perhaps a measure of his shame at the mindlessness of the killing that he couldn’t bring himself to admit his guilt, meaning that he sensed the indefensible extremity of his conduct, a realisation that led him to a ridiculous lie. How on earth did he expect anyone to believe his fantastic tale that the multiple cuts on his wife’s body were self-inflicted? It was the height of delusion, no doubt; it was also revealing of desperation for exoneration. Remarkably, the reality of his own brutal behaviour was simply overwhelming; and his out-of-this-world testimony further demonstrated his possible psychological sickness. However, his reported dependence on his late wife and consequent frustration, traumatic though the situation must have been for him, was no excuse for murderous madness. Despite the weight of evidence that convicted him, he curiously insisted on his alleged innocence, saying shortly after the judgment, “I am coming out soon in the name of Jesus. I can’t die. I did not kill her.”

    If Arowolo’s descent into the abyss of falsehood to save his neck was alarming, the defensive role of his parents, especially his mother, and their readiness to sacrifice the truth for parental loyalty, constituted a study in human nature. They proved to be biased and unreliable witnesses, a fact that the judge highlighted with unapologetic bluntness.

    It is striking that Arowolo’s death sentence has not generated any controversy about the appropriateness of capital punishment, which has come under criticism in certain quarters in the country in recent times. Interestingly, pro-life human rights activists have not reacted against the judgment, which suggests that punishing murder with death may not be altogether lacking in rationality. Indeed, it would appear that, given the publicised details of the killing, any verdict short of the death penalty would have been generally unacceptable, if not condemnable.

    For a process that started in July 2011, the conclusion of the trial on February 21 means that it took under three years to determine the guilty party and deliver a verdict. It is apt to reflect on this apparent promptness, and to wonder why so many other murder cases in the land never reach the same stage of resolution. Is it that the Arolowo murder case was more straightforward? It is instructive that he was convicted based on circumstantial evidence, and the lack of eyewitnesses proved not to be a hindrance to justice.

    Not surprisingly, perhaps, religion was visible, particularly in the image of the Bible-clutching Arowolo who seemed to have had a spiritual experience in the period of his trial, which he spent in detention. It is predictable that people will seek divine intervention when things go awry, even when the situation is self-inflicted and a consequence of godlessness. It is difficult to see Arowolo as God-fearing; and his projection of Christianity when faced with the result of his evil deed was an absurd spectacle. He evidently missed the message in this guiding question: “When you do what pleases you, does what you do please God?”

    Oddly enough, love gave birth to death at the home of the Arowolos; and this was not the type of sacrificial death popularised by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. In this case, the husband gave a negative spin to the phrase, “Till Death Do Us Part.” Their two-year marriage was a tempest, according to the testimonies of those who knew them; and the worst happened, paradoxically, on the husband’s birthday. It is a pathetic story of wasted lives, particularly of the young couple, if not their innocent daughter who could still enjoy redemption.

    The reality that love can indeed grow cold is at the heart of this morality play, which has lessons to teach on the nature of anger and hate, the destructive quality of frustration, the fickleness of relationships, and even the impermanence of emotion.

    Will Arowolo appeal, if only to prolong the wait for the noose? He may wish to exhaust every avenue to stay alive, the very chance he denied his victim. However, there is no doubt that, with the death sentence hanging over his head, he is likely to die many times before his death.

  • Arising from Sanusi’s suspension

    The controversy that trailed the tenure of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was further heightened last week with his suspension from that office. Announcing the suspension, the federal government had alleged sundry misdeeds including financial recklessness and disregard to due process.

    But many saw the action quite differently. Given the unresolved allegation on the missing $20 billion oil money which Sanusi had raised, it was not difficult for people to construct a positive correlation between that and his current fate.

    The action was therefore seen in some circles as part of the plans by the government to get even with a recalcitrant public servant who had consistently portrayed his employer in a very bad light by dishing out conflicting figures on alleged missing oil funds. This impression was further given fillip by the immediate appointment of an acting CBN governor and a designate substantive governor who will take over when the current tenure of Sanusi expires in a few months time.

    All these tended to convey the impression that Sanusi may as well, have been on his way out of that seat.

    He has been prodded to challenge the action in the courts and he never wasted time in availing himself of that option. Some have even said that there is no difference between this suspension and outright sack especially since a substantive governor designate has been appointed. These are some of the issues for the courts to determine.

    But President Jonathan has insisted that Sanusi could still return to his work if the panels investigating alleged financial recklessness and other infractions give him a clean bill of health. Insisting that he had the powers to suspend the CBN governor, Jonathan said Sanusi still remains the CBN governor and will only cease to be so if found guilty of the infractions.

    He was responding to insinuations that he suspended Sanusi because of his allegations on missing oil money and to incapacitate him from giving further evidence on the matter. But Jonathan said it had nothing to do with that since the two queries issued him by the Financial Reporting Council dated April and May last year.

    In all, Jonathan seems to be saying that Sanusi has serious issues to thrash with the CBN Board and the Financial Reporting Council. These issues were clearly itemized by his spokesman Rueben Abati in a statement soon after the announcement of the suspension. They among others included what Abati called Sanusi’s “consistent refusal and negligence to comply with public procurement Act in the procurement practices of the CBN, unlawful expenditure by the CBN in intervention projects across the country, deploying huge sums of money as the CBN did under the watch of Mallam Sanusi without appropriation and outside the CBN’s statutory mandate”

    And given that some of these issues were already within public domain before Sanusi’s whistle blowing on the alleged missing money, it will be difficult for anyone to sweep them under the carpet. It is true that Sanusi donated millions of Naira to some victims of the Boko Haram scourge in Kano. It is also not false that he had been embarking on some projects which even members of the public had to raise some issues with. The answer given then was that they were part of the social responsibility of the apex bank. But now, we are being made to understand that they are actually outside the mandate of the CBN. If that is so, the minimum expectation just as in the case of the alleged missing oil fund is for due process to run its full course. Sanusi should therefore face the Board of the CBN and the Financial Reporting Council by responding to the queries or any other inquisition that may enable them sort out the matter. After all, he has presented himself as an apostle of due process and good corporate governance. For him to continue to command respect in this regard, he must be seen to be coming with clean hands. It is a universal legal maxim that he who goes for equity must come with clean hands. Sanusi must therefore demonstrate to his teeming supporters that he is not one of those who thrives more on precepts rather than examples. That is the challenge now. But that does not in any way jeopardize the allegation on the missing oil money which must be decisively addressed either through the suggested forensic auditing or any other approach that will lead to the final resolution of the matter.

    Therefore, if the federal government has now woken from its slumber to require Sanusi to account for acts of omission or commission while in office, it is within its statutory duties. No body in his right senses will quarrel with that. What has not really gone down well is not the suspension but the appointment of a substantive governor designate that seems to have given an air of finality to the matter.

    Be that as it may, questions are bound to be raised as why it has taken the government so long to take action on Sanusi’s alleged misdeeds? Why did the government keep quiet when these infractions were being committed? Why is it now Sanusi has boasted that he can only be removed by the senate that all of a sudden, these reports are being dusted up? All these posers can be raised. They are also suggestive of ulterior motive in the dusting up of the queries in the heat of the altercation between him and other key officials of government. Yet, this does not in any way whittle down the fact that those queries were indeed issued. They do not in any manner lessen the gravity of the alleged offences. Neither will they substitute for the imperative of accountability and due process in the conduct of government business.

    Not a few Nigerians are dissatisfied with the way Sanusi conducted himself as the head of the nation’s apex bank. Not a few are unhappy with his confrontational posturing and subsequent daring of the president to the effect that only the senate has the powers to remove him. This writer marvels at his guts and courage. It will take only a CBN governor from that part of the county to do some of the things he did while in office. Did we hear one governor reminding us that we should be careful in dealing with Sanusi because he has blue blood in his veins, whatever that serves in the present circumstance? Sanusi wants to be seen as a forthright person. He postures as an apostle of good governance and due process. He is now being asked to show practical evidence of these. So even if the inquisition is ascribed to witch hunting, blackmail or an attempt to settle scores, they can only be sustained if Sanusi is not guilty of the infractions.

    Perhaps, the experience of the late musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti after the destruction of his entertainment center and residence by the military may come handy here. He had been asked to respond to the boast by Sunny Okosun that he will dethrone Fela as the Afro beat king. Fela had this to say in reply, “that Okosun, him don fight government before? Let him fight government and see how the thing be” Fela fought the government and knows how it tastes. He wanted Okosun to savor that taste first and if there is still anything left in him to challenge him, then the competition can commence. Sanusi can now tell his own story of the outcome of hurling pebbles from his glass house.

  • Foreign neighbors and Boko Haram

    There appears to be a renewed focus on the role of neighboring African countries in the festering Boko Haram insurgency that has kept this nation on its knees for some years now. It is not that the foreign dimension to terrorism is new. It is not. The experience of countries grappling with it has always shown the cross boarder angle to the debilitating scourge.

    It has not been different in the Nigerian situation despite attempts by some apologists to play down this angle to the festering problem. The military had always drawn attention to the difficulty in taming the menace because of the relative ease with which suspects flee to neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

    Because of the affinity in culture, language and ethnicity between these countries and zone that hosts the insurgents it has been pretty difficult to differentiate between Nigerian members of the insurgent group and foreign mercenaries.

    The government has also been hesitant to accuse the leadership of some of these countries of complicity in this guerrilla warfare. But increasingly, it is dawning on us all that unless we get a good handle to this dimension of Boko Haram insurgency, the battle to stamp it out of our shores may turn out an exercise in wishful thinking.

    Already, there have been attempts to chide the military for lacking the sophisticated hardware and capacity to successfully conclude the battle and save the lives of innocent citizens that are regularly slaughtered in these senseless onslaughts.

    It was apparently on account of such frustrations that the Borno state governor Kashim Shettima recently took swipes on the military. His grouse borders on the relative ease with which the sect has been operating and killing innocent people in his state in the last few days. And the renewed killings have been very frequent and deadly.

    But even as the debate on the capacity of the military to rise to the challenge is yet to abate, reports of the seeming complicity of Cameroon has featured very prominently. In the last couple of weeks, the media have been awash with reports linking that country either directly or indirectly with complicity in the Boko Haram debacle. In the face of this, the Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, David Paradang came up with the shocking story that our borders are perpetually open and lack effective control.

    The first report had it that a leader of the sect Ibn Mohammed Abubakar wrote to President Paul Biya of Cameroon complaining against incessant attacks on its members by their forces. He was further said to have threatened to levy war on that country if its forces continue to lend support to the federal government’s military campaign. The sect leader according to a Cameroonian daily was piqued by a joint operation which the Nigerian troops and those from Cameroon conducted in a boarder town of Limani.

    A few days later, there was another report that the same country was not cooperating with Nigerian troops in this battle and that has made it difficult for our troops to pursue fleeing insurgents into Cameroonian villages.

    What is certain from these reports is the fact that our neighboring African countries have a key role to play if we must win this war. This fact is not in doubt. From accounts of most of the attacks that have been recorded, these onslaughts are planned and executed from outside the shores of this country.

    We hear of their sophistication in weaponry. We hear of insurgents armed with such deadly weapons as armored personnel carriers, anti aircraft batteries and rocket propelled grenades. There is also the surprise dimension and the quick disappearance into the thin air immediately after these attacks. Even with the aid of fighter jets, it is still very difficult to trace the sources of these attacks.

    But very regularly, the military speak of their escapades and constraints while pursuing insurgents into neighboring countries. Even as it has become obvious that our foreign neighbors provide safe heavens to these terrorists, not much has been heard from the government on efforts to partner with them to stamp out this senseless war.

    The impression fast gaining ground is that the federal government is tepid in its handling of this dimension to the Boko Haram menace. This impression must not be allowed to take root. It is also very instructive that of the north-eastern states entangled in these attacks and killings, all share boarders with these African countries. Does this not instruct that concrete steps must be taken to engage them on ways out of the debacle? Is the relative ease with which insurgents attack and flee without being caught not sufficient signal that this battle cannot be won without the cooperation of Chad, Niger and Cameroon? And if we cannot secure the confidence of these countries, is it not high time we secured our boarders firmly such that cannot permit of the kind of cross boarder movements that have aided and abetted this crisis?

    These are some of the issues that have been brought to the fore by the conflicting reports on the roles of these countries in the nation’s fight against terrorism.

    Take the case of Cameroon which the sect purportedly threatened to levy war against if it obstructs it or cooperates with the Nigerian troops in fighting it. If this report is true, one or two inferences can be made. It is either that government had all this while shut its eyes to the atrocities of the sect for some inexplicable reasons or it had no information on their activities. It could also be a subterfuge for Cameroon to refuse doing the needful in ensuring that its grounds are not used to carry out attacks in this country. They may have even simulated that report to give the false impression that the threat has imposed restrictions on the kind of support that country could give the Nigeria government. This is more so with the current focus on the role of neighboring countries in sustaining the scourge of terrorism.

    Whatever it is, the crucial role which Cameroon and other neighbors can play to decisively tame this monster is no longer in doubt. It is now certain that we must get a clear handle to this dimension for these senseless killings to be contained. That is the real issue now.

    These countries cannot possibly feign ignorance of the movement and storage of the sophisticated military hardware at the disposal of the insurgents. It is also instructive from all these that the terror group means business and is very well funded. This contrasts sharply with some of the patronizing perspectives usually adduced on these shores on the root cause of the Bobo Haram insurgency.

    The poor cannot afford the sophistication in armament and training which the sect has been ascribed. The poor cannot afford armored personnel carriers and the enormous logistic support that have been put into this useless battle. So Boko Haram has very strong backing both within our shores and outside of it. Those from within can be handled but not the ones outside our shores without parternering with the host countries. That is the direction to go if we must win the war against terrorism.

    But our boarders must be highly secured such that it will be easy to differentiate between citizens of those counties and Nigerians in those areas. At the moment, such a difference does not exist.

  • Homosexual desire

    Let me begin by recounting a near-homosexual experience I had in the 1970s. I was in my early teens and a student at the Methodist Boys’ High School in Broad Street, Lagos. Opposite the school was the First Baptist Church, where I was member of the choir; and Sheila Cinema, where I sneakily saw Chinese films, which were popular at the time. Somehow, I became friends with a bouncer at the film house, a muscular man who was far older and who I regarded as an elder brother in a cultural sense. He seemed to like me, and would occasionally demonstrate generosity towards me.

    Then, one day, he asked me to come around on a Saturday morning. When I got to the cinema, he took me to an inner room and appeared to be tense. He was incoherent, and I couldn’t really make out why he wanted to see me. While I was still trying to understand his puzzling behaviour, I noticed he had a big bulge in the crotch. He was clearly in a state of sexual arousal. Instinctively, I sensed what he was up to and felt a deep awkwardness. He offered money, which I refused, saying that I would come back later as I was being expected at home. I was a bit fearful, but he didn’t try to force me, perhaps conscious of the fact that such a move could result in a loud resistance, which would attract the attention of the people around.

    He let me go, and that was how I escaped being sexually abused by a male. Of course, I consequently broke my connection with him. I couldn’t fathom why he found me sexually attractive, despite the fact that I was the same sex as him. What if he had forced me into the act? Whatever he desired, would it have involved penetration, or invasion, of my anal orifice? Would I have been physically hurt? Or psychologically tortured? Would I have been consequentially converted to homosexuality? How would such an experience have influenced my sexuality, which was decidedly heterosexual?

    This background is significant in the context of my reflections on the current emotionally charged gay debate, particularly hostile Western reaction to the country’s anti-gay law and the local defenders of the legislation. The country’s criminalisation of homosexuality, which means that anyone in a same-sex marriage or union would face up to 14 years in prison, also makes it illegal for anyone to operate or participate in gay clubs, societies and organisations, or to officiate, witness, abet or aid the solemnisation of same-sex marriage, which attract a 10-year jail term. In addition, such partnerships concretised overseas are considered void in Nigeria. Fundamentally, the law states that “Only a marriage contract between a man and a woman shall be recognised in Nigeria.”

    I wonder whether there are aspects of the new law that cover happenings such as my encounter with the bouncer. In that particular instance, a scheming adult attempted to take advantage of a vulnerable minor, which was definitely reprehensible. However, supposing the situation involves two consenting male adults fully conscious of the import of their relationship? Should such a couple be blocked?

    Interestingly, mirroring the storm is the fact that notable Western nations, the United States of America (USA) and Canada, as well as the European Union (EU), have separately criticised the new law, with a common thread alleging a violation of “fundamental human rights.” It was UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay who wrapped up the opposition, saying that rarely has there been legislation “that in so few paragraphs directly violates so many basic, universal human rights.”

    The government’s defence, which forms the kernel of local protest against perceived meddlesomeness of the foreign voices, was supplied by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati who said, “We have received enquiries from some foreign embassies on why the bill was signed into law and told them our cultural values do not tolerate same-sex marriage.” He added: “More than 90 per cent of Nigerians are opposed to same-sex marriage. So the law is in line with our culture and religious beliefs as a people. And I think that this law is made for a people and what the government has done is consistent with the preference of its environment.”

    Actually, this appeal to religion and culture is not as conclusive as it is perhaps intended to be. For instance, Pope Francis, head of the world’s largest Christian church with an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics, at least 19 million of them Nigerians, reportedly said that he couldn’t “judge” homosexuals. More specifically, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, representing the Church of England, in a joint letter addressed to Jonathan, made it clear that “The victimisation or diminishment of human beings, whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex, is anathema to us.” They emphasised that homosexual people “are children of God, loved and valued by Him and deserving the best we can give – pastoral care and friendship.”

    Ironically, in a striking demonstration of reverse evangelism, the West is now on the receiving end as beneficiaries of its proselytism seek to re-educate it. Are Nigerians, therefore, better Christians than those who introduced the faith to them? Defenders of the anti-gay law have also projected an Islamic point of view, which they insist is intolerant of homosexuality. Intriguingly, however, devotees of indigenous religions have not been as expressive of distaste for same-sex relationships. It is noteworthy that local stories abound of people who allegedly indulge in sodomy, particularly for occult purposes, including acquisition of supernatural power and riches.

    From the cultural perspective, it would appear that the official view of culture is rather inelastic. There is no doubt that human culture is always work in progress; it is even more so given the reality of increasing globalisation, which is not to endorse domineering moves by the West. When all is said and done, the world is far from an agreement on homosexuality, and no one should assume the authority of forcing it down the throats of people who have different values.

    Be that as it may, central to the controversy is the nature of homosexual desire in human beings. Is it biologically driven or socially acquired? Fascinatingly, there is evidence of homosexual behaviour in certain animals, including mammals, birds and fish. Is its condemnation a question of human morality, then? According to modern research, homosexuality relates to all sexual behaviour between animals of the same sex, that is to say, “copulation, genital stimulation, mating games and sexual display behaviour.” It is curious that more attention is apparently being given to males than females in this matter, for lesbians have relationships too.

    It is apt to ask: Can the anti-gay law succeed in preventing people of homosexual orientation from expressing their sexuality, if they cannot behave otherwise? Welcome to the world of closet gays! The difficulty of the heterosexual imagination is that it cannot accommodate other possibilities of sexual manifestation, which itself is cause for wonder.

  • Jonathan’s innocence

    Jonathan’s innocence

    If the society today allows wrongs to go unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the approval of the majority – Barbara Jordan.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has always been a façade, and he basks in it. That façade is innocence. In his gait and simper, he affects the persona of childhood, and whenever he wants Nigerians to perceive him, he wants us to think of him first as an innocent. A man, in his grey years of the fifties, in his full Niger Delta outfit complete with the hat, still conveys the diaper sentiment.

    It is not for nothing that his only memorable quote is that he grew up without shoes. Or, to others, that he does not want to be called a pharaoh, etc, which also conveys the personality of the dove.

    A few days ago, he failed in trying to do that, although he tried. He asked Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and vicar of our financial soul, to proceed on suspension. This followed an earlier conversation with Sanusi in which he asked the imperious heir to the Kano throne to resign. The man said he would not and the President needed the Senate to effect his designs.

    The President bided his time, consulted his lawyers, and they told him he could suspend him. Since he had a few months left in the saddle, Sanusi could not return before June when his term expired. Practically, the suspension was a sack.

    That would be sack through the back door, a serpentine ambush. That is innocence, Jonathan style. “All things truly wicked start from innocence,” crooned American novelist of precision, Ernest Hemmingway.

    How to effect this? He would organise an investigation that neither the National Assembly nor the Nigerian public would be aware of. The result would be quickly documented, and the charges would become indictment. So they charged him with financial recklessness and misconduct. They said he was reckless for contributing hefty money to education, as if it was not part of the corporate responsibility to the society for a CBN that made an income of about N600 billion for the Federation Account under him. The CBN endowed chairs and contributed to some universities. The innocent man did not like that even though in his full term as president, no one university has advanced in any area and he has no significant track record. Yet, Sanusi erred for continuing a tradition that even his predecessor Charles Soludo participated in.

    They charged him with spending more money, about N38 billion on Nigerian mint, than the budget for Nigerian mint company. They did not look at the figures well because it is not Nigerian Mint Company alone that prints our money but other countries around the world also do it for us. They forget that the man cut down the cost of printing in his tenure from close to N50 billion for the same purpose. They accuse him of spending money on Boko Haram victims, as though to indict him for spending institutional money on his kinsmen in the North. But check the record. Most of the beneficiaries were Christians from the South. The CBN contributed about half a billion to flood victims and he helped mobilise banks to give one billion for that purpose.

    They said he spent money on Emirates Airlines to ship money within the country, and Emirates is an international company. But they were a little too excited or else they should have distinguished between Emirates Airlines and Emirate Touch, a local concern.

    For a president who delights in making pilgrimages from church to church and attracting the image of a lamb to himself, he should have done a little homework, or asked his men to be a little thorough with his work.

    He carried the game against Sanusi to a serpentine venom. It is in his style to act as though he did not act. He was only responding to the charges and so he sent the man on suspension, so the matter could be investigated.

    Really? The former aviation minister’s case was being investigated while she clucked in office. She even travelled with him on a Christian pilgrimage to the land of our Lord. No one pressured him to rid the CBN of Sanusi, but he let him go. Pressures mounted relentlessly over Oduah. He merely said the report was on his table. Up till the time of writing, he has not acted on it. She is still innocent and the President knows a lot about that. She was removed from office not on the ground of her malfeasance but because, like other ministers, they had to pursue some other personal goals.

    If you suspend after charges are levelled, why are the other two angels of Jonathan still in office? The one, is the minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Sanusi charged that $20 billion cannot be accounted for. Three important officers are involved. The finance minister, oil minister and Andrew Yakubu, the group managing director of the NNPC. None of them has been asked to go on suspension. The money at stake is close to N5 trillion, and that is the budget for a whole year.

    If N5 trillion is spent prudently in a year, most of our major roads will be in perfect shape, all our hospitals will not lack basic equipment, the schools up to the universities will be well funded and equipped and industries in full throttle and the jobs will be available for more than half of our restive youths today.

    Yet, Sanusi’s only wrong seems to be that he wanted us to look into this money and he is being punished for it?

    Sanusi’s style is the contrast to the president. He is direct, frank and has been accused of reckless volubility. That is true. He has been more than a little flamboyant for his sober position, and some of his utterances make him more of a gladiator than an accountant. He was hasty about the charge of $48.9 billion, which was cut down to $10.8 billion, amounting to N2 trillion. Yet, he was right to unveil the matter as he saw it. If he were quiet, we would not know of that hefty sum. He has said he did not leak the letter he wrote sounding the alarm of the missing money. Who knows? But the letter had reached the President about three months before it was leaked. Why the presidential tardiness or inaction?

    Some have also said that after raising the alarm, he should have resigned. It is a matter of style. The argument is that he could not be in government and fight from within. They miss the point. The CBN governor is no staff of the President. The President enjoys the privilege to nominate him, and there is a reason why the same law denies him the right to fire him. After all, the CBN governor does not report to the President but the National Assembly.

    The prerogative to appoint derives from the inability to confer that right on the lawmakers because of its rowdy potential, or the judiciary being the judge. You cannot be a judge in your own cause. Being the head of the executive branch the President can nominate him. But that is where it ends.

    The CBN also plays a role to check and report the financials of the executive and that is why the President cannot show power over him once the Senate hires him. In fact, it is the Senate that hires the CBN governor. The President merely suggests subject to the wisdom of the Senate. If the office of the auditor general of the federation had not been crippled, it should be checkmating an executive on a financial frolic.

    Therefore, the suspension was an act of serpentine impunity, a firing from the back door. He took liberties with his presidential powers and licensed himself to violate an institution over which he has no powers.

    He knew he fired him, hence he promptly appointed a successor at the same time he appointed the acting governor.

    Obviously the move was to divert attention from the $20 billion, so we can start saying “why is a corrupt Sanusi accusing Jonathan of corruption? Is it not a case of the pot calling the kettle black?” But if he was sure of his charges against Sanusi, why did he not bring it to the floor of the National Assembly so the nation can dig and know the truth about any footloose financing?

    As lawyers say, the President went to equity but where are the clean hands!

  • Now Jega is seeing reason

    It would appear the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega is gradually coming to terms with the contradiction which his avowal to delimitate constituencies before the 2015 general elections had been. He was last week reported to have expressed doubts on the possibility of conducting the exercise before the said elections.

    Jega premised his pessimism on two planks: alleged lack of interest in the matter by the National Assembly and the controversy surrounding accurate and acceptable national census figures. For these intervening variables, he now doubts the commission can meaningfully proceed with that programme.

    It is good a thing Jega is coming to terms with the futility that he can possibly conduct a successful constituency delimitation exercise especially given the very fluid times this nation is currently passing through.

    When sometime last year, Jega and his team approached the National Population Commission (NPC) to seek data to aid them in the exercise, he was pointedly told by the then chairman of the commission, Festus Odimegwu that there were no certified data for the various enumeration areas of the country. Odimegwu had also shocked the nation when he disclosed that politicians bought numeration areas in the same manner they buy voters’ cards during election to gain advantage and that it was on account of observed flaws that the 2006 figures were not published.

    Despite this, Jega pressed on with the exercise. In his calculations, though there were issues with the 2006 census, it still remained the most credible and acceptable source of data to carry out the exercise. He had then also attempted to pacify critics by arguing that the exercise was to engender equality in electoral constituencies and not to create additional ones at the federal level.

    Apparently buoyed by this flawed perception; the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the electoral law that permit census to be conducted after every 10 years, Jega had pressed on with the project. He signed a memorandum of understanding with some agencies of government, partnered with some others in the overall bid to enhance the success and credibility of his pet project.

    Curiously, after expending resources and energy on the obviously controversial and ill-timed engagement, he has come to terms with the subsisting reality that he was headed on a wild goose chase. In an article in this column then, we had drawn copious attention to the inadvisability in continuing with the exercise given the weighty issues that are standing against it. The issues we raised then are some of the ones Jega is belatedly coming to terms to with. It was a huge surprise that Jeja thought he could proceed with the exercise and record some success when he had been advised by the NPC that there were no reliable data for the various enumeration areas. And since the most vital data for that exercise remains the census figures, it is to be imagined how delimitation arising from an obviously flawed exercise can stand the test of time.

    It is even more startling having admitted that the 2006 census has been faulted, Jega was still led to the misleading conclusion that it remained the most credible source of data for the exercise. How he came to that conclusion despite facts to the contrary must have been a function of educated guess. Even then, he seemed oblivious of the controversy that trailed a previous attempt by his predecessor on the same issue.

    Take the case of Lagos State which was so dissatisfied with the outcome of the 2006 census that it had to embark on its own independent count which produced a figure of 18 million people as against nine million allotted to it by that census. To make matters worse, the census tribunal had annulled the figures allotted to its 20 local governments. The state has since been urging NPC to conduct another headcount so as to accord it its rightful place within the census matrix.

    Even then, since the heightened insecurity in parts of the north culminating in the exodus of people for their safety, demographic dynamics have been at play. The changes have significantly altered whatever figures that were credited to the various areas thus further stultifying any attempt to rely on them for planning purposes. At the moment, Lagos State is ‘harvesting’ from a huge chunk of those who fled the north on account of the hostilities. It is even being estimated that the population of Lagos may well be over 30 million now.

    Its corollary is that the population of those states from where these people fled has been significantly reduced. The point being raised here is that little will be gained by the current INEC proceeding with the exercise unless Jega has some other interest to satisfy before he leaves office. Moreover, after eight years of the former census and barely two years to a fresh one, the population of the country would have altered very significantly.

    The most rational thing to do in the circumstance is to defer the delimitation until after the 2016 census. If that exercise corrects the flaws of previous headcounts, then any delimitation arising it, will command more credibility and acceptability. Such figures can then be deployed for the delimitation exercise. It also does not make much sense for INEC to have said it did not intend to create new constituencies at the federal level. Our reading of this is that even where there are genuine reasons to create additional constituencies, the commission will shy away from it. This is very curious to say the least.

    Why then embark on an exercise that will not do the needful? These contradictions point to the inappropriateness in embarking on the exercise before a headcount that truly reflects the demographic dynamics of the country is in place. Anything other than that, will amount to further perpetuating the observed inequities of the past that have been at the root of continuing systemic dysfunctions. The matter of population has been so politicized in this country that serious efforts must now be made to once and for all determine the accurate population of the diverse peoples that make up the country.

    This undue politicization is further underscored by the senseless opposition to the inclusion of such vital statistics as ethnicity and religion in previous census questioners. Tell me what anybody stands to loose if we know the accurate figures of the ethnic nationalities as well as the religious denominations of our diverse peoples. There can be no other reason than some groups have thrived on deceit on these matters and are afraid of the backlash of such deceits being exposed. But how can we record meaning progress in a system that relishes in deceit and injustice without compromising our corporate unity?

    With general elections close by and mounting skepticisms on the capacity of the electoral body to conduct free and fair elections, Jega would be taking too much to think he can embark on another contentious engagement without being heavily bruised. He already has so much in his hands that he should allow constituency delimitation to wait until we have an accurate and reliable census. Then, an exercise deriving from it will have a wide measure of national acceptability.

     

  • Avoiding tragedy

    Avoiding tragedy

    Last year, I caught a glimpse of one of Nigeria’s familiar tragedies. It was at the Adeniji Adele part of Lagos Island. By instalment, the residents were parting with their homes and lifestyles. Most tragically, they were going to part with their lives.

    They knew this and they did not know this. They, like people in other parts of the city and the country, abided in buildings and blocks of flats with all the shadows of extinction. Surrounded by soft earth, marshes and fragile foundations, the homes threatened to either sink like a shipwreck or collapse like an Iroko tree. In whatever direction, apocalypse peered,

    That day, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State met with the residents. It was part of a plan to relocate them before tragedy did it for them. If he relocated them, it would be to a home on earth and in the safe precincts of Lagos. But if tragedy relocated them, it would come like a thief in the night, and they might be in heaven or hell, or whithersoever they believed – my words! The response to the governor of example, who used tamer, conciliating register, reflected the quiet desperation of the inhabitants. The unanimity to his plans underpinned not just their plights but also those of other Nigerians whose homes sprang up into blocks of flats built without an eye to standards and the future. Down in their psyche, they knew they perched narrowly between life and death.

    That is why Nigerians should not take slightly the gratuitous debate about the standards of cement in Nigeria. Cement was always a part of the vocabulary at home when I was growing up because my father, Moses, was a sales manager in a major cement company in the country. I cannot forget his perorations on the value of cement in installing the civilised world. Cement is modern home, modern office, modern infrastructure, modern joy and fear. So its abuse vouchsafes us to cataclysm.

    So if the Standards Organisation of Nigeria is calling for a standard cement grade to be world class at 42.5 and some manufacturers are sticking to 32.5, we should worry. The SON has said that 32.5 is for pasting, and 42.5 for blocks. Yet, some of the cement makers are saying we have used 32.5 for 54 years. That is 54 years of tears. The sort that we have seen cause tragedies around the country. It is not just a matter of housing for me. It is a matter of standards.

    We have always lived, especially in the past 15 years, with the substandard. It pervades our whole life. We live with fake drugs, fake furniture, fake food, fake water, fake lovers, fake priests, fake politicians, fake elections. Because of that, we have Nigerians, rich or poor, who now crave makeshift in place of quality and longevity. So when those in the board rooms are counting their humongous profits, they should realise that real lives are involved.

    It is the real horror in homes. It is not for nothing that true horror movies happen in homes. Some of the homes are posh and luxurious. Others are derelict, hollow and abandoned. Whether it is the animal-sponsored fear with crocodiles or dogs, or the child-inspired trepidation, the tragedy of the house is the greatest tragedy. It is the shattering of intimacy, the loss of the basic unit of society, the implosion of the cell of civilisation.

    I visited last year The University of Toronto, the first time since I left in 1992. I was in the graduate residence known as Massey College. It was as though I left the place six months ago. Everywhere remained as intact as in 1992. One of the officials who accompanied me to the suite I lived in as a student said that was the plan of the founders: to maintain the quality.

    In western societies, standards are not up for compromise. The My pikin scandal that rocked the medical world in Nigeria is the same as the crisis of poor elections. Our education system has lived with what former president George W. Bush called the soft bigotry of low expectation. Just as Aliko Dangote has insisted, unlike others, that his cement is 42.5, others should follow suit. We need homes that do not fall. We want homes of laughter, not disaster; of faith, not fear; of solid walls not waiting for wailing.

    While some Nigerians are gung-ho about celebrating our centenary, they should realise that some countries have passed an age of bellyaching over standards. They take it for granted. Rather, they are itching to reinvent the world. The United States is now working on a new technology known as quantum computer, which will disrupt the world as we know it, from aging, to robotics to health care. It ramps up the current digital world of ones and zeroes by collapsing them into one unit. The CIA, NASA and Lockheed Martin are now investing in it. Rather than go up, we are grappling with the false version of what the world wants to leave behind.

    One thing that characterises this ominous addiction is the China syndrome. Now Nigerians go to China to make the counterfeit versions of world-class, blue-chip goods from electronics to fabrics to footwear. They have flooded the market, with the consequence of not only suffocating local initiative but also endangering our lives and currency.

    A new survey shows that while we gape for China goods, Chinese citizens pooh-pooh even the top brands like Gucci or Chanel in their country and prefer to buy them in the United States and Europe, buoying those markets.

    So if the world standard for cement is 42.5 as SON and Dangote have insisted is 42.5, then it is high time we criminalised any firm or group that insists on anything lower. It is not about the figure. It is about quality and safety of lives. I still recall the clear-eyed curiosity of the Adeniji Adele residents as they returned to their homes of quivering safety, and I still shudder.

     

  • Operation Totality

    With about two months to the April terminal date of the six-month extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states from November last year, the central government will need to stop pussyfooting in the anti-terror campaign against relentless and remorseless Islamic fundamentalism represented by Boko Haram. By that date, if there is no news of success, which is likely, it would mean that a mere militia has defied the country’s armed forces in a virtual war for one year, given that the emergency introduced in May 2013, initially for six months, was extended for the same period.

    It is noteworthy that the newly-appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Marshall Alex Badeh, in his inaugural statement, indicated the complication that would arise by the end of the extension, if the precarious security situation remained. He said: “I was telling my colleagues that we must bring it to a stop by April 2014 so that we do not have constitutional problems in our hands. We do not want to go back to the Senate and start begging and lobbying.” Referring to the equally new Chief of Army Staff, he added, “If we do our work cohesively, I can say that General Minimah will finish that thing in no time.” It is interesting that he suggested a possible failure of integration. Certainly, glossing over such a critical factor cannot be in the best interest of the operation. Furthermore, lack of cohesion in this context sends a negative message about the professionalism of the forces.

    The questions are: Will the presidency seek further extension of emergency rule? Will it toughen the conditions of the emergency? Can it do so without considering the possible political disadvantage to the governing party, especially in view of the approaching 2015 general elections? How will the legislature treat such a development? Can the country afford to have demilitarisation of the troubled areas?

    To go by the course of the conflict so far, there is no question that victory against the insurgents within what is left of the emergency period will be a miracle. Evidence of the apparent deadlock was perhaps provided, last week, by the invasion of Konduga, Borno State, with Boko Haram fighters killing 51 residents and abducting 20 girls. Eyewitness accounts said the rebels numbered about 400 and some of them were dressed in military camouflage; they stormed the town in army trucks led by an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC); they unleashed destruction on the community for four hours, and fled around 10pm when a military aircraft intervened. It is instructive that the state governor, Kashim Shettima, who visited the scene, said the attackers “are better armed and better motivated.”

    Against this background, the government ought to finally come to the realisation that its counter-terrorism measures are not only ineffectively limited; its approach is also hopelessly inadequate. It is apt to contemplate whether the restrained emergency, with the retention of democratic structures, specifically, elected executive and legislative institutions, which was a politically correct move by President Goodluck Jonathan, is itself not a drawback. In other words, is the theatre of war sufficiently militarised for the purpose?

    From the signs, it is illusory to regard this confrontation in terms other than warfare. Therefore, it is important that the armed forces must not pull their punches if indeed they desire to drive home the point that the Islamist group is punching above its weight. This situation calls for a multiplication of force, pure and simple.

    In connection with the advocacy of all-out aggression, there is a puzzling paradox in the expected counter-argument, which is based on so-called human rights grounds. The April 2013 incident in Baga, Borno State, which saw the military facing harsh criticism for alleged deployment of excessive firepower in an encounter with Boko Haram, reportedly resulting in high fatalities and structural damage particularly on the part of the civilian populace and the vulnerable, is a good example of how defenders of human rights tend to lose focus of what is really important. Quick to jump to conclusions, devoted antagonists of the administration seized the opportunity to level charges of human rights abuse and crimes against humanity at the army. Indeed, international observers, notably the United Nations (UN), Britain, USA and Human Rights Watch (HRW), understandably expressed concern about the alleged atrocities and called for a probe.

    Remarkably, the controversy failed to settle the issue of just how much force is acceptable in this battle. Boko Haram has been on the rampage since 2009, and the rather belated imposition of emergency rule only served to acknowledge the mind-boggling scale of the crisis which has been extremely costly in terms of loss of lives as well as property, not to mention developmental atrophy. For instance, and revealing of the group’s apparent contempt for Badeh’s time-table, not long after he spoke of ending the carnage, the rebels carried out devastating attacks in Adamawa and Borno, which claimed 138 lives.

    The truth is that warfare, which is what this is all about, must necessarily come at a price; and the fear of recording unfortunate non-combatant casualties must not be a basis for frowning upon the option of maximum belligerence. What is important, and must be emphasised, is a thoroughly professional approach by the enforcers of the emergency.

    Interestingly, the role of the volunteer youths who constitute the Civilian JTF (Joint Task Force), specifically, their selfless informal contribution to the government’s anti-terrorism efforts, not only demonstrates the undeniable value of effective intelligence, which will prove crucial in winning the war; it also underlines the support of the locals for the cause of the armed forces.

    Regrettably, there are grave allegations, maybe not unfounded, of an anti-terror racket that is working against the goal of crushing Boko Haram, which would mean a loss of easy state funds for the campaign that end up in private pockets. In addition, it is believed that there are political undercurrents which may have little to do with the supposed religious impulse of the rebels. There is no doubt that these possibilities also hinder progress, just as the limited military operation.

    The tragedy of defeat, for that is what the under-performance of the military represents in this case, is that it may likely spur other nonconformists as well reinforce general insecurity across the land. “The war against terror must be won,” Jonathan reiterated while decorating the new military chiefs. However, talk cannot be enough. The seriousness of the situation must be addressed with a sense of totality.

     

     

  • Acrobatic Atiku

    It’s a season of spectacular somersaults, and spectators are in for enlightening entertainment. Since it’s a free show, many eyes will be glued to the arena of political acrobatics, particularly with the striking entry of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, 67, whose separation from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) represents possibly the biggest endorsement of the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) by a politician from the other side.

    There is no denying the fact that this latest divorce, a gripping sequel to similar moves by five former PDP bigwigs and incumbent governors, Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Ahmed Abdulfatah (Kwara), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) in November last year, mirrors a certain inconstancy, which apologists have laboured to define from the perspective of realpolitik. Expectedly, Atiku must have been conscious of the burden of fickleness as he offered a rationalisation for this specific review of his relationship with PDP.

    His argument : “In 2006, as a result of my firm stand in defence of our constitution and our democracy, my supporters and I were pushed out of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party, a party that we worked tirelessly with other compatriots to build as a vehicle to restore democracy to our country. We later returned to that party in 2009 when a new leadership of the party and the country promised a new direction of inclusiveness, of internal democracy, of an end to impunity, adherence to the rule of law and respect for the dignity of members and Nigerians. Sadly, however, these promises have not been kept.”

    It is unclear why Atiku, the country’s second in command from 1999 to 2007, had apparently unreserved faith in those he has now charged with unfaithfulness, and returned to the party’s embrace after his alleged ejection and subsequent unsuccessful 2006 presidential run as the candidate of the former Action Congress (AC). Against the background of his embarrassing loss at the PDP’s primary for the 2011 presidential election and his subsequent alleged informal exclusion from its leadership structures, it was understandable that he felt claustrophobic and needed a new space for political expression. Interestingly, the fresh breathing space he found has turned out to be APC, which has a strong AC content, suggesting a return to familiar turf. His statement on his resignation from PDP described APC as “a party of change committed to the improvement of the lives of our people and to the continued existence and development of Nigeria as one indivisible country.” The questions are: Has he come to stay? Will he stay?

    Although he called his move “the right decision”, his destination was intriguing, especially because he bypassed the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the party he claimed to have co-founded and which he is believed to have financed heavily. This seems to corroborate the view that maybe his overriding inspiration was situational wisdom, even fair-weather logic, although he emphasised that “this is not about me”; no doubt, conscious of such damaging interpretation of his new association.

    It is this possibility of unprincipled changeability that darkens the integrity of his expressed purpose and, not surprisingly, the party he has dumped twice treated his departure not only with cynicism but also farcical contempt. PDP’s Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, said,” We are waiting for Atiku to go on this voyage and to come back. He has done it before. This is not the first time and we will welcome him back when he comes, because APC cannot win election.” In a significant sense, Information Minister Labaran Maku stretched the metaphor of travel, likening him to a peripatetic migrant. “They keep migrating from one place to another,” he said, adding, “A party is not just a market for people to stand for elections.”

    There is no question that the issue of likely presidential aspiration is central to the pros and cons of Atiku’s defection, particularly as he has never veiled his desire to be president. It is probable that he was only being diplomatic when he declared, “ I will do all within my God-given powers to help the APC win elections all over Nigeria and bring true change to our country and its long-suffering people.” Whether in the unlikely event that he chooses to sacrifice his predictable ambition, or in the context of his possible failure to win the party ticket, all eyes will be on Atiku. The unfolding drama, with the twists and turns that are to be expected, will be interesting to follow.

    Being a political acrobat must come with its own difficulties, and it would appear that even Atiku must appreciate the fact that his latest flip puts him in a tough position. It certainly won’t enhance his image, if he continues to indulge in spins, which is not to say that he should become undynamic. Indeed, the concept of perpetual motion may be without virtue in this case. It is noteworthy that Atiku was a prominent member of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Third Republic, apart from his two-time membership of PDP, his time in AC and link with PDM.

    Given the diverse ideological strands suggested by these platforms, it is important to consider whether Atiku’s political trajectory is informed by any firm philosophy. It is too easy and unconvincing merely to appeal to a self-righteous interest in working for thoroughgoing socio-political change and advancement, without any demonstration of a fundamental guiding principle. Talk is cheap!

    According to him, “The process of building a nation, of securing and deepening democracy is indeed difficult. And it is not a lineal process. There would be alignment and realignment of political forces. There would be ups and downs and zigzags, triumphs and challenges. Amidst all that, patriots must remain focused and do what has to be done to save and build the country and serve our people better.”

    In other words, perhaps more acrobatic displays should be expected, and even Atiku should not be ruled out. The poet Christopher Okigbo wrote of “a going and coming that goes on forever.” In this specific context, the going and coming cannot go on forever.

  • The castle

    The castle

    Every Nigerian knows this. We may find something to eat, or secure a place to play, or embark on a rambling ride for work around town or from town to town. But one thing we must not escape, cannot escape is where we want to lay our head, the place with a roof, with a proprietary space, the place called home.

    The mighty and the small, in whatever state or estate, covet it. Yet the concept of home was for ages taken for granted until civilisation kicked us in the face, when the city sprouted out of our desire to strut out of our rural rut. The home before then was a mud and thatch and meals and family and joy of the simple. Poverty was defined differently in terms of the plenitude of barns, the size of harems and the stoutness of farms and expanse of compounds. The architecture of homes was tame, relative to today. But they never described their lives as simple even if we do so today retrospectively.

    Enter the city, and the throng of people from the rural reaches. Crowds became material to prosperity. The cash replaced cowries and other standards of currency, and roads had to be cleared for factories. Then the city met inventions, and the cars, the trucks, the trains, and the machines and the flavour of different cultures and peoples merging in one metropolis.

    Welcome to the modern world. All of them needed to have shelter. Just before feudal life collapsed into a capitalist half-light, workers slept in dormitories, coddled, curdled, huddled, the picture of a jumbled life. But they lived for the day, for the wage.

    Sounds familiar? If you live in any city in Nigeria, whether Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Owerri, Warri, Benin or Ilorin, you know the story. People want a place they can call their own. In the west, the concept of the condominium, now called condos, has become one of the three Cs of capitalism – cars, condos and credit cards.

    The city is the place for the strangers, either from far or near. And they need two things from the city – a job and a home. But if they don’t have a job, they need a roof over their heads. Upon this depends their health, their pride, their launching pad for family. But, more than jobs, it throws up the greatest challenge. It is one of the triumphs of the western world that they have built sprawling condos that unleashed the middle class, especially in the aftermath of the Second World. The United States created the suburbs.

    To do this, you did not rely on the measly income of the average worker who could not buy his house even if he saved from here to eternity. So the genius of the mortgage system came to be-[I ing, and with that hope for the homeless.

    Well, the governor of example, Babatunde Raji Fashola, launched a programme that must be seen as the first in this part of the world, but also a domesticated version of it. To qualify for a home you must not have had one, must have paid taxes in the past five years, will fall into the trap of the law if you had a home while you applied, must pay 30 percent down and pay the rest in ten years, must be resident in Lagos. You don’t have to be an indigene, must not sublet it or rent it out in the period of the contract.

    It is a paean to vision and ambition. Pictures of all Lagos homes and their owners are in a data base, so you cannot lie that you don’t own a home if you do. Recently, a residency registration happened to document where you live and what house you own, and you must have a number to even qualify.

    The Lord also once lamented that birds had places to sleep but the son of man had nowhere to lay his head. Challenges abound though. It won’t be easy for those who want a bed-room apartment to fish out 30 percent of N4 million, or even the so-called middle-class to ferret out about N10 million for three bedroom flat of N32 million. But this is the skein of dreams. It means not all who are first time owners or those who have paid their taxes in five years can necessarily have the financial heft to own the home.

    But it is a start, and it is revolutionary. It is bold leap into a place where the cost of cement, iron rods, sands, etc is no longer as accessible as when Lateef Jakande built his. Owning a home for anyone is an act of will and ambition of a life time. Hence those who qualify know that it is not an opportunity to let slip. That is where the dream of a government meets the hustle of the citizen, and that is the beauty of the programme unleashed by Governor Fashola last week.

    For them, it will be Fashola’s castle brought down from the air. Before now, this kind of programme was like a castle in the air. People imagined it, caressed it, wedded it. Now they can own their castles.

    “Castles in the air,” mused Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, “are so easy to take refuge in – and so easy to build.”

    I recall the story of the man who once asserted that in the early 1970’s, he hoped that when God took over the earth he would be one of the righteous ones left to pick the goodies. He exclaimed that he would inherit the UAC House and his fellow church members picked other big mansions in Lagos. That is the imagination of the poor, what Ibsen in his play, The Master Builder, saw as the human capacity to build rooms after rooms. The poor always seek a way out of their penury, and what other way than the home.

    When governments turn plebian phantasies into reality, they become dazed. The city dweller often comes to the city and finds it hard to find a home. It is like the novel by Franz Kafka titled The Castle when a stranger enters a city and cannot find whom he wants to see in the city castle. Bureaucracy, language, a serpentine row of rooms and offices and other barriers frustrate him. How do you get a land without bribe or frustrating agents, or certificate of occupancy, or survey or buy that room without loan or how do you get that loan without knowing somebody, or how do you buy that condo if you speak a different language from the owner, agent, etc. It is an irony that just as Kafka’s character never got what he wanted, Kafka never finished the novel before he died. “Illusions are more common than changes in fortune,” he wrote in the novel.

    The programme, with its inevitable drawbacks, provides a platform to temper dreams with experience.