The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • APC, Awo’s predicted synthesis, must walk the talk

    APC, Awo’s predicted synthesis, must walk the talk

    The starting point for the new party, therefore, is to ask: what do Nigerians want and what vision of this sleeping giant does it see a few decades down the line? 

    Time was 1983 and the NPN had just rumbled through the country courtesy its ignoble ‘moon slide’ victory of that year and, like Dr Reuben Abati just did, talking down to Chief Bisi Akande, the interim Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chuba Okadigbo, himself then a presidential spokesperson, was waxing lyrical, calling both Zik and Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, the highly regarded GNPP leader, unprintable names and asking them to shut up or be summarily dealt with.

    It was in that circumstances, the Avatar, the ever clairvoyant Awo, made the prediction, a whole 30 years ahead, which is today uncannily unfolding before our very eyes. Summarising the events of that year’s general elections, one in which the writer was an active observer-participant, Awo made it clear that by its own hands, the then ruling NPN has self-destruct by acting like the thief who took far more than the owner. NPN had then just rummaged through the length and breadth of Nigeria, even claiming to have won in Oyo and Ondo states, both in Awo’s impregnable Western Region.

    Consequently, at a well attended congress of the UPN in Abeokuta on Thursday, 15 December, ’83, he declared as follows: ‘The goal of dialectic process is perfection. It aims at the perfect attainment of all the virtues embodied in it. Whether we like it or not, all human beings are inescapably involved in the binary compounds of thesis and antithesis of the dialectical procession. In other words, all of us in the UPN and those of them in the NPN and other parties are already in the thesis-antithesis war. When the war is over, only the best of us will be accommodated in the synthesis, with the best in the antithesis in complete dominance’. Going forward, Papa said: ‘I do not hesitate to aver, in all sincerity and solemnity, that the NPN, together with its political regime and all that it stands for, symbolises the thesis, and that the UPN together with all those who are conscientiously and honestly opposed to the NPN, symbolizes the antithesis. The war between the two is already being waged with vehemence and inflexible resolve. Sooner or later, I believe much sooner than later -the figurative ‘explosion’ will occur in which the forces of the thesis and the antithesis, in their original forms, will disappear. Then the synthesis will appear which will embody the best in the NPN (thesis) and the best in the UPN (antithesis). But the dominant feature of the synthesis will be the best in the UPN’.

    As those words rang out that historic morning in the historic Olumo city at which the writer was present, what they poignantly brought back to me , especially when Papa talked of the ‘figurative explosion’, were my classes in Dialectical Materialism at the great university of Ife, Ile-Ife, as taught by one of the very best in the business, my teacher per excellence, Dr Segun Osoba.

    How prescient Chief Awolowo remains was beautifully captured by Chief Jide Awe, the Ekiti state interim Chairman of APC, as state governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, hoisted the APC flag in the state to the great admiration and acclamation of a huge crowd of jubilating leaders, members and supporters of the brand new party on Monday, 12 August, 2013 at Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    In a recent article in The Nation of Monday, 12 August, 2013, entitled :’ History, civil war and haunted house’, The Chairman of The Nation’s Editorial Board, Sam Omatsheye, wondered aloud as to how today’s events uncannily mirror the immediate pre civil war events in our country.

    One good example of things remaining largely the same, apart from the crass insecurity that envelopes the country, was how egregiously the PDP, like NPN before it, rigged the 2011 presidential elections especially in states in the North where the CPC actually won and, to cover up, found a solution in discrediting a just and redoubtable Judge who they never wanted to head the Presidential election Tribunal which they knew would have exhumed their electoral malfeasance. The very first thing the reconstituted Election Tribunal did, therefore, was to upturn all the reliefs the earlier panel had granted Buhari , including access to election materials and presentation before it of the database of the voters’ register.

    That, however, belongs to history and what must now concern us is a determination not to let our inability to learn from history repeat itself. Not many believed that APC’s registration would ever see the light of day and what did PDP not do to make it impossible? Working through agents external, and lackeys within the top echelons of the Electoral Commission, all manner of spurious, wannabe political parties with the acronym APC sprung up, one of them hurriedly filed by a self-confessed baby lawyer. It would later go to court hoping that its sponsors would be able to orchestrate the type of legal shenanigans that ensured Justice Salami’s matter was permanently before the courts. Like baby Moses in the holy writ, everything was done to abort APC but it is now here and about. It is now it’s bounden duty to shoulder those critical responsibilities Awo foresaw in what he called the Synthesis.

    The starting point for the new party, therefore, is to ask: what do Nigerians want and what vision of this sleeping giant does it see a few decades down the line? The Yoruba say, if you do not know where you are coming from, you will, at least, know where exactly you are headed. PDP, as a party and government, has taken Nigeria through a rudderless decade and a half and if Nigerians do not vote right, come 2015, this visionless party may just achieve its hoped-for 60 years and more.

    Without a doubt, circumstances in the country today are much more perilous than in the days of Awo and his contemporaries as, though a civil war we may have fought, nothing compared then to today’s Boko Haram which, as Abuja slept away until Obasanjo reminded them of something called carrot and stick, had carved out for itself, swathes of territory in a part of the country. Indeed nothing, not our epileptic power situation, nor the ravaging unemployment, more poignantly demonstrates the utter vacuity of the Jonathan administration than what Boko Haram has done, and continues to do to this country. Without peace, no government can embark, talk less of achieving, any meaningful economic development. Today, both Syria and Egypt are in shambles and one needs no rocket science to know that programmes for economic development must have taken a back seat in both countries.

    There is, obviously a crying need for infrastructural development, for stable power to jump start industrial and other economic activities just as unemployment, especially among our young graduates has to be tackled head-on. Corruption too has become so systemic that some concerned Nigerians are now planning to go on demonstrations in both the U.K and the U.S to draw international attention to our circumstances as the federal government has proved completely incapable of fighting it since it is actually its mainstay and hope for 2015.

    In order to make meaningful corrections and achieve much more, however, leaders of the new party must realise that they have the daunting task of going far beyond the merger. Reactions to my last week article were replete with accusations of lack of internal democracy -they called it imposition of candidates, – of religious extremism and ethnicity, amongst the leaders of the merged political parties just as many felt sure the party will most probably collapse on the altar of uncontrollable self-interest, especially when it comes to choosing its presidential candidate. These are all very weighty matters and although thus far, these leaders have demonstrated considerable self abnegation, much more will- power will be needed in subsuming self interest for the good of this very unhealthy country. Ego must be scrupulously kept in check and the leaders must ensure unimpeachable process of choosing its candidates for all elections, state, federal and presidential. As I concluded in my article under reference, APC has a distinct, indeed, very good chance of, not only re-engineering, but completely re- branding Nigeria.

  • Obasanjo’s sociology zero zero zero?

    Obasanjo’s sociology zero zero zero?

    Who are the examples in Obasanjo’s generation that represent the norms subverted by the generation that succeeds Obasanjo’s?

    General Olusegun Obasanjo stood sociology on its head a few days ago when he posited that the younger generation (younger than his own) failed Nigeria and Africa. As reported in The Nation, Obasanjo theorised “that his generation led the way with purposeful, progressive, visionary leadership marked by accountability and probity while the younger generation of leaders failed to continue with the good legacy that his (Obasanjo’s) generation left.” It is what Obasanjo has refused to acknowledge that raises questions about his own sociological knowledge or imagination, more specifically, about what is expected in all societies to be the responsibility of the older generation in the development of the younger generation.

    Now that Obasanjo has identified the generation that has damaged the chances of Africa to grow and compete with the rest of the world, it is pertinent to ask some questions. How were the members of the generation after Obasanjo socialised? What is the role of Obasanjo’s generation in the socialisation of the generation that has, in the words of Obasanjo, become a generation of deviance from the norms embodied by Obasanjo’s generation? Who are the examples in Obasanjo’s generation that represent the norms subverted by the generation that succeeds Obasanjo’s?

    Historically, Obasanjo’s generation came to power on account of fighting corruption perpetrated by members of the generation before his own or of members of his own generation who happened to have had access to political power. Is this an indication that the generation before Obasanjo was also bad or did Obasanjo’s generation lie to citizens when they accused their predecessors of corruption? The regime that succeeded Obasanjo in 1979 was led by people in a generation older than Obasanjo. Again, this group was removed from power by members of Obasanjo’s generation on account of what they called corruption under the presidency of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Shortly after, another group from Obasanjo’s generation booted out the regime that was manufactured by members of Obasanjo’s generation to replace ShehuShagari, and the rest is history.

    Sociologists and anthropologists all over the world believe that it should not be easy for a generation to castigate the generation after it for not acting normatively. It is generally believed that no generation emerges on its own into a cultural space. Each generation is groomed directly or indirectly by the generation before it. Each citizen is believed to be a product of socialisation or enculturation. This process includes the transfer of values from one generation to the one coming after it. This is done through schooling, through transfer from the older generation of what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in society. In addition, members of the younger generation learn by imitating the actions of those before them. In effect, apart from whatever is induced by genes, enculturation accounts significantly for what a citizen does or fails to do in his adulthood. While some section of a citizen’s behaviour or misbehaviour can be blamed on genetic inheritance, so much of it is blamed on the values in circulation when a citizen is growing up.

    Going by elements of sociology and anthropology with respect to the role of an older generation in the moulding of the generation after it, members of Obasanjo’s generation cannot be absolved from dereliction of duty with respect to the values or lack of values passed to the generation after them, even if we have to accept without incontrovertible evidence the claim that Obasanjo’s generation was saintly and stellar as rulers of their countries.To beef up Obasanjo’s claim that the generation after his own prevented Africa in general and Nigeria in particular from growing up, it is important to examine the kind of legacy that the generation of the saints left behind.

    Under General Obasanjo’s supervision, the constitution of Nigeria was changed from a federal constitution to a quasi-unitary one. This meant that powers and responsibilities including moral supervision of politicians by citizens, possible under the regime of devolution of powers in the years preceding the coming of Obasanjo to power, were withdrawn from regions and concentrated at the centre. The centre with no direct relationship with citizens became at the instance of Obasanjo the locus of power and resources, and the site of corruption and impunity. Institutions of learning, a major agency in the business of socialisation, were summarily transferred from the supervision of regional authorities to a federal one that had no known values to protect and promote. Moreover, members of Obasanjo’s own generation also introduced a policy that prevented older politicians from seeking power, on account of their understanding that older politicians were attached to the cultures of the nationalities that constituted Nigeria before the coming of military autocracy and the imposition of a unitary constitution. The new breed political class was a creation of the type of military oligarchy presided over by General Obasanjo.

    Apart from General Obasanjo’s proclivity to praise himself, and by extension, his generation in politics, the matter of why Nigeria or Africa is in a mess today cannot be explained via generation bashing. It has to be viewed as a systemic failure. Mugabe belongs more to Obasanjo’s generation than Dariye does, just as Mandela belongs more to Obasanjo’s generation than Tinubu does. Generation bashing is an over simplification of the problems besetting governance in Africa. It is like profiling or stereotyping. Nigeria and most of Africa have had their own share of good and bad old and young politicians.

    If age is everything, Obasanjo would not have picked Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as vice president to UmaruYar’Adua in 2007, as there were many much older politicians with interest in becoming the vice president at that time. Not including President Jonathan in his list of young people who have failed Africa is an indication that, though Jonathan is one of the youngest presidents in the world, he is still considered a good choice bequeathed to Nigeria by Obasanjo.

    Sociology or Anthropology 101 links older and younger generations in the preparation of citizens for socially adjusted citizenship at all levels; for nurturing by the older generate of the younger generation to sustain the values that keep societies going and predispose them to improvement; for members of an older generation to accept their duties and obligations in the failure of members of the younger generation after them for any moral decline, caused by failure to transfer right values to the new generation. Social continuity in all societies does not derive from a saintly father having a satanic son to succeed him or from an angelic mother raising a devilish daughter.Social continuity thrives on a sociological understanding that comes to terms with the existence of an umbilical cord between generations. To praise a good father under whose nose a bad son has grown is to promote Sociology zero zero zero.

  • Government, democracy and anarchy

    A  basic definition of government in Political Science is that a government is any government that can   legitimately and  consistently   maintain law  and order,  and  control the use of physical force within its given territorial area  It  follows therefore  that this  week’s   carnage in  Egypt, ancient    land of the Pharaohs  and  the  slaughter  of demonstrators  and supporters  of deposed President  Mohammed  Morsi  of the Muslim Brotherhood , a bloody spectacle brought to the rooms  and privacy of a global internet and TV audience,  should  provide food for thought today. This is because in just  one day   which  was Wednesday, the Health Ministry in Egypt announced that over 500 Egyptians    had been killed with over 40  Police officers included. The frighteningly bloody scenario  vividly showed a live tragedy  of  the use of violence  and force to establish law and order by a diarchy  of an Interim Egyptian  government  that claimed to have legitimacy  and authority which those it had to disperse, members of  the Muslim Brotherhood equally claimed it did not have.  In  effect then,  in Egypt this week,   a  violent contest ensued for the soul and possession  of  the powers  and might of the Pharaohs who  once ruled Egypt with a mighty hand, and it was a spectacle  that would  have made the  ancient rulers tremble in their graves, given  the way and manner Egyptians were  mowed down with  tanks, guns  and ammunitions   by   the government of   the day   in its resolve to assert  its authority, and prevent  a descent to anarchy in Egypt. But  then,  was Egypt  on the way to anarchy with the way the Morsi supporters were behaving or did the government  overreach itself in the way it ordered the clamp down and  the bloody removal of Morsi supporters? These are  the  questions begging for answers now  and in the immediate  future or perhaps eternity. Who  knows?

    Such  answers must   anyway  include speculations on Egypt’s immediate past especially the Housni  Mubarak era  and its closure by the Cairo Street demonstrations  two  years ago. We  ask   loudly,  would  Mubarak have ordered the sort of clamp down we saw last Wednesday? With the benefit of hindsight it is now clear that the US must have shown a red card to Mubarak that made him go peacefully by resigning and suffering the humiliation of being brought to trial in a cage and on his sick bed . But where was the US last week? Of  course  US  President Barak  Obama was on vacation  and he issued a statement from there. Yet,  the  angry  mobs of the Morsi supporters were still busy setting fire to government buildings in Egypt and the toll of the dead Egyptians was rising. In  his speech the US President said America cannot decide  the future of Egypt  as that is for the Egyptian people to decide. Which sums up the kernel of US policy on the Middle East and Egypt and  that    is to promote democracy and step aside once the situation gets murky and bloody, especially with the death of the US ambassador   in Benghazi still very much in mind. Which  also  inadvertently  but  inevitably opens the way for Islamic parties to fill the vacuum created by US dithering, volte face and lack  of commitment to its allies in the Middle East.

    The truth the Americans must face is that anywhere they support democracy in the Middle East, anti American sentiments centered around US  support for Israel   against  the Palestinians  and the building on the occupied territories,  will make the Islamist parties  to win  democratic elections  in such places.  It  is apparent that the US  is feeling the heat in this regard and that explains why it closed so many embassies all over the Middle East on security grounds last week towards the end of Ramadan based on information it intercepted on the plans of the leaders of Al Qada to cause mass terror   in the region at the end of Ramadan.

    One  cannot but recall US  relations with the Shah  of Iran  and how similar it was  to the fate that befell Housni Mubarak   of Egypt and US  withdrawal  of support at the last minute   in 2011. In the Shah’s case he was lucky to flee  and go into exile. But  at  an interview later,  he said  he could have stayed  if he wanted but he did not want any more bloodshed   and that paved the way for the return of Ayatollan Ruhollah Khomeini who  was in exile in Paris, France. Given what happened to Egyptians supporting Morsi this week, one must commend the Shah’s humanity and respect for human lives. Yet,  the Shah’s  departure ended any hope of democracy in Iran and brought in a theocracy that called the US ‘the Great Satan’ and waged war globally against the interests of the US and its allies. Similarly the US through the war on terror eliminated Sadam Hussein in Iraq, planted democracy and got Shiite Muslims who are in majority in terms of population  into power  and Iraq’s government became ipso facto a stooge of Teheran, while the Sunnis who  were in power under Saddam but are a minority  in Iraq, have been  blowing up   anyone and everything   in Iraq  ever since. Apparently and  on the surface,   the Americans hardly do any   diligent cost benefit analysis of their foreign forays to plant democracy,  but just jump  in when there are demonstrations and jump ship when demonstrators face the  fire power of the sit tight tyrants they want out of power, as  the Egyptians are learning at   very high   human  and mortal costs.

    Nigeria should learn  a lot from the Egyptian debacle which has led to the Interim government in Egypt  declaring   a one  month curfew and  a state of emergency. The  problem with Egypt is that the army is the political organ  giving the orders  while the Police is the organ pulling the trigger. It is a fascinating situation really. The army cannot come in because of US funding for Egypt’s huge military apparatus. But according to Obama the US has canceled a scheduled military exercise   for next month with the Egyptian army. This is meant to deter the army from joining the police in killing Morsi supporters but it may backfire if the army decides to really bare its fangs   and join the foray, once it knows that the US funds  are not coming anyway , and that will make Egypt’s  volatile politics  even  more costly and bloody in terms of human lives.

    The  lesson for Nigeria   ironically   is with regard to Boko Haram, the state of emergency in some North Eastern states  and the situation in Rivers State. This  week Boko Haram killed over 40 people worshipping in a mosque  and on Thursday the CNN showed the Head of Boko Haram mocking Nigeria and its army whose spokesman reportedly said  the Boko Haram leader had been killed together with his father who provided spiritual leadership to the terrorist group. What  is clear is that the Boko Haram leader’s video and the killing of innocent Nigerians in mosques and churches portray Nigeria as  a nation in  a state  of anarchy that Egypt was going before the clamp down or even after . In Nigeria election is not due till 2015 yet the political system is overheated with an arrogant and impudent Boko Haram challenge that mocks the nation and   the strength  of  its army   on global TV while claiming that it has subdued Nigeria and is now after the US. Nigeria should not be allowed to go the way of Egypt before the 2015 elections. Yet if you look again at the Rivers’ state political and security dispute between the Commissioner  of Police and the Governor of the State, it is a lesson in a descent    to anarchy. This  is  because the Police have withdrawn police protection for the Governor who does not trust the Police Commissioner and thinks he should be redeployed. But   the PC’s boss,  the Inspector General of Police has said that the PC is a professional doing his job and that speaks volumes on the security situation of the state and the safety of the governor himself .With what legitimate force can the Governor assert his authority and legitimacy in ruling the state outside the police?  None to me and that is really dangerous in a state that abounds  with  deadly  militant groups and well armed youths. There  may not be anarchy yet in Rivers state,  but it is already  getting to that,  and that,  compounded with the video of a taunting Boko Haram leader,  make us   look  as  a nation  like a rudderless ship lost  on the high seas   certainly around Port Harcourt, and that   too, really,  is a huge pity.

  • Why Mt. Obasanjo erupts

    He makes headlines. This Wednesday was no exception. The papers hit the streets with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s outburst at a number of Nigeria’s public figures whom he effectively dismissed as failures. Former Delta State Governor James Ibori was one of them. So was ex-governor of Bayelsa State Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, as was former Speaker, House of Representatives Salisu Buhari. Ex-governor of Edo State Lucky Igbinedion was another, as were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ex-governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu.

    In age Obasanjo categorized them as the younger generation. In governance or leadership he dubbed them failures, lacking in morals and integrity. As he named them, he took a bit of time to hint at their ‘sins’ and their ultimate comeuppance. The former president started by drawing some comparisons.

    “During my administration as president, we had some people who were under 50 years in leadership positions. One of them was James Ibori; where is he today? One of them was Alamieyeseigha, where is he today? Lucky Igbinedion; where is he today? The youngest was the Speaker, Buhari; you can still recall what happened to him. You said Bola Tinubu is your master. What Buhari did was not anything worse than what Bola Tinubu did.”

    Obasanjo was speaking on Tuesday at a forum in University of Ibadan.

    On Wednesday morning it was the headline, and predictably, many have returned fire. Some dismissed the Egba chief as impertinent and meddlesome, preferring to spot the speck in other people’s eyes while paying no attention whatsoever to the log in his. Others pointed out that, as lawyers say, he had no locus standi to point the finger of accusation on the people he named as failures. As performance goes, Obasanjo was told that he was not qualified to criticise those he picked on, being no better than them.

    What I find puzzling about the man is his logic and generalisations. His current exertions betray a conclusion that anyone below 50 years is unfit for public office. Judging from his Ibadan salvos, Obasanjo tended to suggest that Atiku and others failed because they were young or younger than the former president and his generation.

    This is worrying. How old was Obasanjo himself when he became Head of State? As a renowned traveller, he surely would have shaken presidential hands younger than 50. I am sure he will remember that Bill Clinton made it to the White House at age 46. Barack Obama was inaugurated president at 48. What about David Cameron? What is it about youth that Obasanjo does not like?

    There is another interesting side of the man: his eruptions. If there is anything we remember him for, it is his penchant for picking a fight. And he does it to such great effect, throwing his weight and his words into it. He has battled Atiku. He has tackled President Goodluck Jonathan. He has locked horns with IBB. There are many, many others, and each time, he comes to the battle line with weighty accusations, dismissing his opponents and making them look small and inconsequential, especially to him.

    What gives Obasanjo such confidence and airs? Why is everybody else wrong and he alone right?

    In truth, he knows that we adore him perhaps even more than we hate him. We search hard and long to find something great his administration left for Nigerians, yet the impression is too often created that he holds the compass to our destination. As the state governors’ crisis persists, worryingly, Obasanjo has been reported as the man to foster the much-needed peace and unity. It has also been said, according to reports, that he is the man to dissuade First Lady Patience Jonathan from meddling in state governments’ affairs, especially Rivers’. Even the feuding governors themselves have reportedly blamed their plight on the former president, whom they accuse of abandoning their party and leaving it rudderless. I read something that amounted to saying, ‘All this calamity would not have befallen the party if Baba had not looked away’.

    Curiously, even the international community seems to believe that Obasanjo is not only a beacon in Nigeria but is also indeed the light in the rest of Africa. How many times has he been begged to mediate in crisis beyond Nigeria? And how many times has the man gladly obliged? Obasanjo has shown up in East Africa. In Ghana Obasanjo has appeared to teach them to conduct free and fair elections. In Senegal, where Abdoulaye Wade, then 86 years old last hear, was angling to return to office a third time, much to the anger of his people, Obasanjo also materialised to shape things up. Beyond Africa, Obasanjo is still wooed.

    Why shouldn’t Mt. Obasanjo erupt?

  • Larmode, Efcc and public perception

    Larmode, Efcc and public perception

    What exactly is happening to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission these days? Under the leadership of the no-nonsense Nuhu Ribadu, during the President Olusegun Obasanjo years, the fear of the EFCC was the beginning of wisdom. Never mind the allegations that Ribadu unduly personalized the organization or went mostly after the President’s perceived enemies, the truth is that Ribadu brought a passion and commitment to the job that sent jitters down the spines of corrupt public officers. So taken in were members of the public with the Ribadu persona that when he was removed from office by President Umaru Yar’ Adua and replaced with another lawyer and crack anti-crime officer, Mrs Farida Waziri, nobody was prepared to give her the slightest iota of a chance.

    But Mrs Waziri proved to be no push over. Yes, she was not as dramatic or given to theatrics as Ribadu but she also brought a reasonable degree of commitment and determination to the job. She tried to create an EFCC that would operate in a structured, systematic manner independent of her personality. It was during her tenure that a leading member of the PDP, Chief Olabode George was successfully prosecuted and jailed. She also spearheaded the successful prosecution of some bank chief executives whose greed and sharp practices had resulted in the virtual collapse of the country’s financial system. Given her stout resistance to attempts by the then Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Michael Andoaaka, to bring the EFCC under the wings of his office, it was obvious that her days in office were numbered.

    When Mrs Waziri was inevitably shoved out of office, the appointment of Ibrahim Lamorde as her successor elicited quiet optimism and exuberant jubilation in some quarters. For Lamorde’s image was that of the no-nonsense, goal getting officer who was believed to have been the real brains behind Nuhu Ribadu’s audacious operations as the country’s anti-corruption Czar. But alas, it has all turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts. For, under its current leadership, the EFCC seems to have lapsed into a prolonged slumber only to wake up intermittently to cases of selective hyperactivity.

    Nothing better illustrates this perception than the recent travails of Senator Bukola Saraki, representing Kwara Central Senatorial District in the Senate. Now, I am not exactly enamoured of the politics of Bukola Saraki or even that of his family and their seeming feudal hold on the politics of the state. But whatever you think of Bukola Saraki and his politics, the objective analyst must still give him credit for helping to bring to the fore of public consciousness, the massive and atrocious fraud perpetrated in the oil industry in the name of fuel subsidy.

    As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Bukola Saraki initiated a motion in the Senate for investigation into the 2011 Appropriation Act for fuel subsidy. He argued that while N240 billion was budgeted for subsidy of petroleum products in 2011, the actual amount expended for this purpose was well above N1.2 trillion. If this anomaly was not frontally tackled, he reasoned, the purported fuel subsidy at N1.2 trillion would exceed the total capital budget of N1.1 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.

    Senator Saraki’s motion further observed that although the sum of N240 billion was budgeted to cover subsidy of petroleum products for the entire year of 2011, the sum of N991 billion had been spent as at August ending. He thus suggested the setting up of a committee to investigate how the subsidy regime was being managed, proffer solutions to the inexplicable astronomical rise in magnitude of the fuel subsidies and check the massive fraud associated with the scheme.

    Of course, this motion raised public consciousness about the magnitude of the fraud associated with fuel subsidy, instigated a tremendous outcry and mass action by the civil society, led to intensive investigation of the entire scheme by the National Assembly and forced the EFCC to commence the prosecution of those firms that had benefitted from fuel subsidy payments while not supplying the country any oil. The funny thing is that the trial of these fuel subsidy criminals is being handled in a most tardy manner and proceeding at snails speed. Indeed, some of the indicted firms have reportedly been re-listed to participate, once again, in the fuel subsidy bonanza.

    Yet, as this charade goes on, the EFCC has summoned the energy to vigorously interrogate Senator Bukola Saraki over issues for which he had already been quizzed and cleared between 2004 and 2012 as regards his family’s dealings with Societe Generale Bank. Of course, the EFCC has a responsibility to carry out its duties without fear or favour. But it should also be mindful of public perception. Going soft on the oil subsidy criminals, while aggressively hounding the man who first drew attention to the entire fuel subsidy rot, sends a wrong signal and does its image little good. By the way, is it a coincidence that former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa state and public officers loyal to Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers State have, in recent times, attracted the search light of the EFCC? Is it a case of the voice of Jacob but the hand of Esau? Time will tell.

    OBJ: Tantrums of a

    dying dinosaur

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo never ceases to amaze. He must indeed be a man of formidable stamina and fortitude. Side-lined ignominiously by a President who practically rode to power on his back; subtly shoved out of the Chairmanship of his party’s Board of Trustees; defenestrated by his state’s chapter of the party; humiliated by the recovery, one after the other, of the states he had ‘conquered’ for the PDP in the South West; disrobed in public as a blundering, cowardly soldier by General Alabi Isama, whose incisive, well researched and meticulously documented account of the civil war makes Obasanjo’s ‘My Command’ read like a boy scout venture and even humiliated in unspeakable terms by his own biological son, these certainly are not the best of times for OBJ.

    In spite of it all, the old soldier turned farmer and politician remains undaunted. Just back from Zimbabwe where, at the head of an African Union (AU) election observer team he characteristically sanctioned a widely flawed and condemned poll, he took to the podium in Ibadan to declaim self -righteously on the state of the nation at a seminar on sustainable development. You can trust Obasanjo. He has absolutely no hand in the country’s continuing travails with poverty, instability and underdevelopment. No, the blame in his view rests squarely on the younger generation such as Atiku Abubakar, Salisu Buhari, James Ibori, Diepriye Alamiseigha and Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Here was a man who presided over the affairs of this nation as a military Head of State over four decades ago but wilfully and deliberately handed over power to the most venal, depraved and visionless faction of the political class on his exit from power in 1979. The country is yet to recover from that monumental error of judgement. Was it the youths who forced him to embark on the illegal and immoral third term adventure – the most corrupt venture in this political dispensation and one that turned out to be an unmitigated debacle? Was it the youths that goaded his administration to engage in the horrendous misuse of the funds of the Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF) as revealed during his public tussle with Atiku? Was it the youths who made him declare that the Y2007 election would be a do-or-die affair; an election he went to rig most scandalously? Was it the youth that led him into the corruption ridden Transcorp venture in which he acquired

    substantial shares as a sitting President? Was it the youths who induced him to compel government business contractors to donate humongous sums to his private library project? Was it the youths who compelled him to look aside as his aides soiled their hands in the Halliburton scandal – an issue that has been swept under the carpet in Nigeria?

    Of course, we can go on and on. The point is that OBJ lacks the ethical integrity to question anybody’s morals. He is like Chichidodo, the bird in Ayi Kwei Armah’s novel who hates faeces but feeds on maggots! He deserves pity, not anger. His are the tantrums of a dying political dinosaur.

  • Snippets from probe panel

    Snippets from probe panel

    Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi has changed the face of our football significantly, with the uncanny manner in which he has resolved some knotty issues.

    He demystified FIFA, which had in the past being threatening Nigeria for government interference. A visit to Zurich and fruitful jaw-jaw sessions with Joseph Blatter and his lieutenants served as the platform for Abdullahi to understand and interpret FIFA’s tenets to avoid violations. We are no longer being threatened. There is stability. I wonder where all the court cases have gone.

    Abdullahi’s unbiased intervention in the crises-ridden Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is chiefly responsible for Nigeria’s symbolic victory at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. All the noise made by Super Eagles players and the coaches amount to hot air because Nigeria has fielded stronger teams than the wiry squad we took to South Africa in January. Those wobbling and fumbling Eagles failed because the NFF was a divided house unlike what happened in South Africa.

    Those who hold contrary opinion to the fact that Abdullahi’s crafty handling of the NFF wahala contributed to the new dawn in the Eagles must tell this writer why the team couldn’t beat Kenya in Calabar? That was the team’s first game as African champions, yet the Eagles almost lost because the football fraternity was divided.

    But the issue today bothers on the far-reaching decisions being peddled in the media by the probe panel constituted to find out the circumstances surrounding the bonus show-of-shame in Namibia, where the Eagles and officials refused to board the aircraft to South Africa en route Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 2013 Confederations Cup.

    We are being told that the players would have to choose between signing the code of conduct to remain in the team or quit, if they decide otherwise. What a brilliant decision by the panel. We are blessed with talents, but we should cultivate the habit of grooming young boys in the nurseries or academies, as we have chosen to call them here. Is there any club in Europe without a code of conduct?

    Recall in 1996 how Super Eagles players were anxious to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, which the late head of State Gen. Sani Abacha stopped Nigeria from attending due to political differences.

    I recall how the players were ready to storm South Africa from their bases in Europe to circumvent the late Abacha’s directives. So, who says that the players don’t need Nigeria to blossom?

    Playing for Nigeria is nobody’s birthright. Any player lucky to be selected should consider it as a privilege and must be prepared to abide by the directives. This code of conduct exists in all the clubs where our players earn a living. No one has refused to sign it. Why then would anyone refuse to sign ours? How many players in the present Eagles started playing in Europe without passing through our national teams?

    The decision to peg the match bonus at $5,000 is welcome. Is it not a shame that our players want to be paid $10,000 for beating a team whose winning bonus is $85 each? If we pay $10,000 to beat minnows, how much shall we pay to pip big soccer nations, such as Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Holland etc? Shouldn’t there be a difference between what is paid as bonuses for qualifiers and the main tournament? Is this not what operates in their European clubs? Or would anyone of them say that what he earns as bonus for the domestic games is equivalent to what he gets for European competitions, such as UEFA Champions League, Europa Cup etc? Why must they now hold us hostage over bonuses?

    It is heartwarming to read that eggheads of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have been warned not to increase the bonuses from what has been stipulated. I just hope that subsequent sports ministers don’t play politics with the bonus issue by arbitrarily increasing it to score cheap praise.

    The talk by many that NFF takes along a horde of people is bunkum. NFF men dare not spend cash not budgeted for; otherwise, they will visit the EFCC cell. You need to see the retinue of hangers-on who accompany our leaders on trips within the country not to talk about overseas? Most times these other people are part of the Federal Government delegations. And it is not unique to Nigeria. What this translates to is that cash is provided for this group while outside the country.

    I like the suggestion that the players should apologise to Nigerians for the show-of-shame in Namibia. I look forward to other decisions, which will be advisory, but I hope that NFF and, indeed, the National Sports Commission (NSC) will stick with the panel’s recommendations. We don’t want a repeat of what happened in Windhoek.

    Tears for Okagbare

    I wish I had access to Blessing Okagbare for 10 minutes. I will tell her to stick with the long jump. I will urge her to concentrate on running the 200 metres, if she insists on participating in the women sprint events.

    Okagbare is a slow starter, like Usian Bolt. But, unlike Bolt, who has the capacity to catch up over a short distance, Okagbare needs at least 150 metres to outrun the pack. Over a short distance as the 100 meters, Okagbare gives up easily, especially if the eventual winner has zipped past the 50 metres mark.

    What is clear to discerning minds is that Okagbare can never win the 100 metres race in major international meets, except the smaller competitions, even though she has the potentials to do so. Those who win the big races have their schedules guided by their countries’ governments, making the lure for smaller races unattractive. The advantage in this strategy is that when they appear in any small meet, if the need arises, their events are staged at their behest.

    This is the missing link in Okagbare’s case, making it imperative for her to earn a living by running all through the year.

    I know that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the National Sports Commission (NSC), as well as Minister Abdullahi have done their best for her, yet the Federal Government must make Okagbare a brand that the corporate world should tag to.

    I will suggest that a presidential night with Jonathan be organised, where the President will sell her as a Nigerian project, first to next year’s Commonwealth Games and then the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

    At the presidential night, the President will advise the blue chip companies to invest in her and indeed other athletes. The President will also announce what these supportive firms will benefit from such an exercise.

    This presidential night could also be used by the President to reinvent the sports lottery project. But it should be held yearly, with the designated committees give account of their stewardship. Where they are found wanting, a new body is set up and the defaulters are made to face the wrath of the law.

    Okagbare needs help beyond the little that Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is giving. In America and Jamaica, Okagbare will be treated like the Super Eagles.

    I look forward to the day when Okagbare will win a big race. On that day, the world will be still for a few minutes, listening to our national anthem. Then the corporate giants will paint the picture of Okagbare in Nigeria’s colours on their products. Let them imagine watching her on television loosing up before taking her turn in the long jump, wearing warmers inscribed with their corporate logos.

    To stretch the argument further, let firms capture the setting where Okagbare emerges as the fastest woman in the world, wearing logos of their firms and talking to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera etc on 30-minute shows. The marketing window on their products and/ or services is awesome. Not forgetting front page pictures in all the big newspapers.

    Such support will compel Okagbare to shun those small races that burn her out for the bigger ones. Need I say more?

  • To the drawing board

    Preamble

    In a deeply thoughtful poetic out stanza, an Arab poet coined some philosophical wordings that have since remained axiomatic by all standards for people who can reason and draw the best lesson from the advantages of their reasoning. The wordings partly go thus:

    “We persistently blame our era for the calamities afflicting us when the only blame ascribable to our era is actually our own misdemeanour…….”

    Prompted by the news of another massacre last Sunday allegedly committed by the vandals called Boko Haram inside a Mosque in Kondoga, Borno State, where 44 civilians were reportedly killed in cold blood and yet another attack on the security forces in Bama leading to the death of 12 soldiers and seven policemen, this column, (The Message) quickly dusted its archive once again in search of facts about the wreath of thorns that littered our way to this stage of our common journey as a nation. And no document came more handy than a lecture delivered by His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa‘ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto at Harvard University, the United States on October 3, 2011.

    The title of the 33-page lecture which had once been fully analysed in this column under the topic ‘A voice from Harvard’ was ‘Islam and Peace Building in West Africa’. In that lecture, His Eminence enumerated the causes and effects of violent crises in the West African sub region with particular reference to Nigeria. He blamed such crises on three major issues: (1) political struggle for supremacy between the elite and the poor masses (2) bad governance on the part of the ruling class and (3) primordial ethno-religious sentiments. The most prominent of these three issues according to him is bad governance which engenders corruption, joblessness, poverty, exploitation, suspicion and general bitterness in the land.

    Observation

    Looking at the situation of Nigeria as a nation abundantly blessed with enormous wealth, one will surely find a puzzling irony in the fact that some citizens of such a nation can be paid a paltry sum of N5000 by some agents of Satan to kill innocent people mercilessly and burn their property with impunity as in the case of Boko Haram. Also, the abysmal level of penury and squalor in the land seems to be a sharp contradiction of what Nigeria ought to be as against what she currently is vis a vis her wealth especially as the so-called ruling class lives in extravagant affluence while the masses live in abject poverty. There are many questions on this hopeless situation to which His Eminence’s lecture had proffered solution since 2011. The summary of the lecture is that no smoke can be found where there is no fire. However, while the Federal Government and its agencies focus on the effect of violence, His Eminence believes that it is only by tracing the root cause of our calamities that we can find a permanent solution to them.

    Excerpts from the lecture

    “….Many people (outside our country) consider Nigeria as a theatre of absurd conflicts and interminable crises. They may be justified in holding this view; with the Jos crises festering for years, with post-election violence and suicide – bombings, it is difficult to think otherwise. When we consider Nigeria’s population of about 150 million, half the population of West Africa; its over 250 ethnic and language groups; its regional and geo-political configurations; its landmass and its diversity in religion and culture; we may be constrained to reach a different conclusion. Nigeria may, after all, be a paragon of stability which, as God Almighty has willed, shall undergo all the trials allotted it early enough in its national history”.

    “But in all fairness, systemic ethno-political and religious crises, like the ones we have witnessed in recent years, do not have a long history in Nigeria. They all began in the late 1980s, following the intense competition for power and influence especially among the western educated elite; the Kafanchan crisis of 1987, in Southern Kaduna, was quickly followed by the Zangon Kataf and other crises; all in the same vicinity. The democratic dispensation, which began in 1999 also came with its set of problems, the most visible being the Shari’ah Crisis and the First Jos Crisis which led to the declaration of state of emergency in Plateau State”.

    But these crises, varied as they were, reveal the multi-dimensional nature of Nigeria as a political entity. We witness the primacy of politics in almost all these conflicts. In the struggle for power and political supremacy, politicians exercise no restraint in aggravating the socio-religious and ethnic cleavages, which characterize the geo-politics of the Nigerian state. It should not be forgotten that the Second Jos Crisis of November 2008 was also ignited by a botched Chairmanship election in Jos North Local Government”.

    Second Dimension

    “The second dimension to these crises, especially in Kaduna and Plateau States, is the indigene/settler dichotomy, which is yet to be addressed properly by the Nigerian State. Many ethnic groups in these conflict areas see the other ethnic groups as foreigners who should not enjoy the full rights of bona fide residents. Most of these disenfranchised Nigerians also happen to be Muslims. However, those who oppose this dichotomy argue that these so-called settlers had spent more than two hundred years in the areas they reside. Moreover, as Nigerian Citizens, they have the full right to reside wherever they wish and pursue their legitimate business without let or hindrance. After all, they cannot be settlers in their own country”.

    Third Dimension

    “The third dimension of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises is their potential to become a systematic national crisis. When a person is killed in any of the areas of conflict, his co-religionists, especially in the cities react violently and begin to kill anyone they think is related to him. This often triggers further reprisals in other parts of the country where victims come from. It took a lot of efforts by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council [NIREC] which I co-chair, and other state authorities, to treat each crisis independently and reduce the risk of systemic reprisals”.

    Fourth Dimension

    “The fourth dimension of Nigeria’s crises is poor leadership and the bad governance usually associated with its management. Many of those charged with authority in the states where these conflicts occur are also parties to the crises. They make feeble efforts to control the violence and do so only when much of the damage has been done…”

    Governance

    “….The issue of poor leadership and bad governance also explains how the Boko Haram movement has been able to transform itself from a small Hijrah group in Yobe State, escaping from the uncertainties and contradictions of the Nigerian State, to a militant movement able to wreak havoc and destruction once provoked. Those in authority were prepared to court the leaders of this group when it suited them and to trample on them like flies when they were no longer useful…However, the recent bombing of the United Nations Office in Abuja has introduced an international dimension to terrorist’s activities, a development, which is hitherto entirely new to Nigeria”.

    The promise of dialogue

    “….When I became the Sultan of Sokoto in November 2006, some of the major problems I found on ground were the after-effects of the Riots, especially in Kaduna, Jos and some parts of the North East as well as a disturbing atmosphere of mistrust, fear and hostility, especially between the leaderships of Nigeria’s two major religions: Islam and Christianity. To resolve these knotty issues we chose the path of positive engagement, which we thought would engender meaningful discourse, improve communication and understanding and change the dynamics of our operating environment to that of trust and confidence…”

    “….The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council [NIREC] provided the right platform for this engagement. The Council, itself a product of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises, was composed of 25 members each from the two religions and co-chaired by myself, in my capacity as the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN]. The approach of NIREC was simple and practical. Firstly, we affirmed the sanctity of human life, Muslim and Christian, and insisted that anybody who takes the law into his hands, regardless of the circumstances, must bear the full legal consequences of his action. You cannot believe it, but despite the frequency of these disturbances, only a few people have ever been punished for perpetrating any act of violence. The masterminds go scot-free. Secondly, while appreciating the fact that we are required to look after the interest of our co-religionists, we must pay attention to the other dimensions of our conflicts. As many were preparing to declare a religious war in Jos, for example, we laboured hard to draw attention to the other dimensions of the crisis. It was a conflict between Muslims and Christians quite alright, but it was not a conflict between Islam and Christianity. When Nigeria’s President called for a parley among stakeholders, we made bold to declare the Jos crisis a political crisis. Thirdly, we adopted a tactical approach to conflict resolution. Whenever, there is a break-out of violence, we work together to restore law and order and ask the quarrelsome questions later. We take this approach to minimise loss of life and to ensure that the crisis is contained in the primary area it occurred. Also, we devised a quarterly meeting schedule that took us to all parts of the country. It was heartening to many to see us working together and preaching peaceful co-existence and religious harmony even in areas, which never registered an ethno-religious conflict”.

    Duties of NIFAA

    “I must point out that it was also our view that inter-faith action should transcend conflict resolution. For it to be effective, it must affect the life of the common man. NIREC floated the Nigeria Inter-Faith Action Association [NIFAA] to take up this challenge and NIFAA has been very active in the control of the dreaded tropical disease: Malaria. We also find that we must act together to address issues related to electoral reform, good governance and anti-corruption. I am therefore glad to state that the goodwill and understanding which these activities were able to generate, have given impetus to the development of inter-faith dialogue to a new level. I always remember, with happiness, the seminar organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN] in April 2010, on ‘Knowing Your Muslim Neighbour’, where I presented a paper on the topic. The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs [NSCIA] gracefully reciprocated by inviting CAN members to its formal meeting in Kaduna, where the CAN representative gave a lecture on Islam in the Eyes of a Christian and both Muslim and Christian scholars, gave inspiring responses on the scriptural basis of mutual co-existence. Despite serious setbacks in recent months, many of us remain committed to this positive engagement and to the promise that dialogue offers the resolution to Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises”

    Looking ahead

    ‘’…Understanding the multifarious nature of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises should strengthen our resolve and determination to deploy all the energies and resources at our disposal to see to their resolution. Our inability and reluctance to take meaningful action go to challenge not only our common humanity but also our self-worth. It is, therefore, important for us to appreciate, first and foremost, the importance of consensus building within the polity, with a view to ameliorating the current state of political polarization in it. The Nigerian political class must be able to speak and understand one another as well as to develop a minimum national agenda to chart the way forward. The political class must also be able to open dialogue on a variety of national issues, including the perennial problem of power rotation and willingly enter into agreements that they can honour with dignity….”

    “….Also, governance, at all levels, must translate into tangible benefits for all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation. Nigeria has the resources to make life more pleasant for its people. It is equally imperative to address the poverty problem as well as the needs of the youth population both in all the geo-political areas of the country. In a situation where over 50% of our population is jobless at less than 19 years of age, we are definitely sitting on a time bomb much deadlier than that of Boko Haram unless we take urgent action to defuse it….”

    “….Furthermore, there should be renewed determination to address both the Jos and Boko Haram sectarian crises. The Federal Government must take its security responsibilities seriously by effectively containing these crises. But beyond that, a genuine dialogue must be initiated, to begin healing festering wounds and to bring genuine understanding and reconciliation amongst the entire people of Plateau State and beyond. The social dimension of the Boko Haram cannot also be resolved by mere use of force. This is the reason why I have consistently suggested dialogue and education to counteract its message, especially those aspects dealing with modern education. Millions of Muslim pupils are already outside the school system. Millions more will definitely follow if urgent intervention is not undertaken to enlighten the younger generations. And the question I have always asked is What kind of society can we build in the 21st century when our youth turn their back on Science and Technology and are unable to produce the next generation of doctors, engineers and other specializations necessary for sustaining the socio-economic development of the society?….”

    Conclusion

    “….Finally, we should not neglect the impact of the International environment on Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises. Happenings in the US, Iraq, Afghanistan, Norway, Netherlands, the UK and France are as current and relevant as events in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja. We must preach international tolerance and moderation. The fight against extremist groups should never be perverted to become a fight against Islam and its doctrines. We should all remember that in the final analysis, it is not what the perpetrators of violence do that really counts. It is the actions we take, individually and collectively, that would shape the fate of humanity….”

    Comment

    For those who can deeply comprehend the above excerpts from His Eminence’s lecture of 2011, there can be no better choice than returning to the drawing board for a permanent solution. In no part of the world has any wound inflicted by sectarian crisis been healed in the contemporary time through the barrels of guns. Nigeria cannot be an exception. The causes of our crises are much more fundamental than their effects. And addressing the effects alone to the exclusion of the cause may be an approach too far from the solution. God save Nigeria

  • Just me being self righteous (2)

    Posterity will remember Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Christopher Okigbo. Our descendants shall remember Gani Fawehinmi, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa and Nnamdi Azikiwe. Tomorrow, while our children’s children and their great-grandchildren recollect Nigeria’s golden age, they will say it was when such leaders of thought and men were alive.

    They shall effortlessly forget “the boy who had no shoes” and yet emerged to become “President.” They wouldn’t think much of him and his cohorts in the ruling class even if they tried. Posterity shall remember the incumbent ruling class as the lower brutes that survived on the blood of the working class. They shall remember the working class as much lower brutes – forgettable elements in the annals of the Nigerian state.

    Time will come when the Nigerian ruling class shall pay with blood, melancholia and despair. From six-feet under and grisly jail cells, they shall lust for life, desperately seeking a second chance with a kind of humble defeatism. Within that same breadth of history, the Nigerian working class shall pay with more tragedy, more misery and blood even as they whine and lust for a better tomorrow.

    Until then, we shall continue to have “today” and yet fail to make the best of it. Now more than ever, we enumerate that pitiful lack of wisdom and aversion to freedom. Like the ruling class, we suffer a lack of intellect and knowledge – useful knowledge to be precise.

    Thus even if spurred by inexorable courage to topple the elite and change our stars, our tragedies shall persist in frequency and extent. After we inter the bones of the last of the ruling class, we shall raise our heads to seek our next best hero only to find none.

    That is because we who shall survive are as savage as the worst of the ruling class. Left to our own devices, we display an unforgivable lack of humaneness and character. Hence even if we could successfully seize power from the ruling class, we shall manage to remain not much in significance and sight. Simply put, were our dreams of change realizable, we shall always remain the next awful alternative.

    Sophistry and deceit are the springboards from which much of our civilization evolve; add mediocrity, mindlessness and greed; and you have a perfect representation of the Nigerian youth.

    We were wrong to think it a matter of years and decades that we would improve in citizenship and insight. We are unaware – like our base and iniquitous elite – that true knowledge essentially translates to being an emissary of truth, hope, superior culture and progress to both the literate and unschooled.

    We forget too that the true essence of learning, that is, both intellectual and vocational learning is never simply to teach breadwinning, furnish teachers for the public schools or be an epitome of polite society. It should above all be the appendage of that fine adjustment between reality and the growing knowledge of life; an adjustment which discovers the secret of civilization and the solution to its seemingly intractable problems.

    Insanely; to this end, we apply religion and milk it, we even get to abuse it. Thus by every manner of faith we commit the worst of inhuman transgressions – like playing God, terrorism and mass murder, lust for flesh and money.

    Today, we lack that broad knowledge of what the world knows and strive to know of progress – which we could youth besides food, shelter and clothing is knowledge. For without it, we become basically unequipped and sorely handicapped to satisfy our need for food, shelter and clothing.

    Thus the need to evolve and painstakingly propagate practicable knowledge and culture in unexploited and infinite capacity. Until we attain a broad, busy abundance of such understanding, not all the finest flavours of the proverbial national cake – be they oven-baked or sand-baked – can save us from our lusts and the affliction of the Nigerian ruling class.

    The knowledge we flaunt is basically a ghost of human education that yet despises the enlightenment and empowerment of the masses. Under the foul stench of every form of slavery, we fight a lost battle for survival within the tainted air of social strife and entrepreneurial selfishness. The progress we seek is impeded by our lust for cynicism and delusions of grandeur. We starve and die for our lack of honest and broadly cultured men.

    Patience, humility, good breeding and taste, comprehensive high schools and kindergartens, universities and polytechnics, industrial and technical colleges, teacher training colleges, literature, tolerance and tact – all these spring from proper learning and culture.

    It’s time we engaged in pursuit and dissemination of knowledge devoid of loose and careless logic – like the type that produced and still produce a good number of the Nigerian ruling class. And the final product of our training must be neither a medical doctor nor journalist, but a man. And to make men, our learning process must be replete with ideals as well as broad, pure, practicable and inspiring ends of living – not desperate, sordid, money-grabbing sound bites. The end product of our educational process must have learnt to work for the glory of his calling, not simply for pecuniary gains. The intellectual must think for truth and progress, not for fame or the applause of the gallery.

    And all these are attainable via human endeavour and yearning; by a conscious quest for learning; by founding the primary school for the secondary and the comprehensive high school for the polytechnic, university and teacher training colleges. If we could successfully weave such a system, we could finally establish an educational system and not a distortion of it; we could finally midwife multiple births and not ceaseless series of abortion.

    To bring about such bliss requires the presence of substantially gifted men of courage and culture – a principal prerequisite we seem infinitely handicapped to fulfill. Thus we have shadows of men constituting the Nigerian ruling elite and youth. Consequently, we have learnt to live off the attainments of men of stature accessible now in history and diminishing daguerreotypes.

    The ruling class couldn’t be bothered if our educational system is wrecked beyond redemption; the philosophy of its intransigence is discernible in its greed and brazen disregard for the future even as Nigeria shamelessly treads the trail of erstwhile educationally-challenged neighbours in Africa.

    The politics of greed and incompetence of the incumbent administration demands that it neglects the core issues militating against the success of the Nigerian education enterprise – like inadequate funding, poor research facilities, inadequate infrastructure, outdated lecturers and teaching methods, obsolete libraries and laboratories and the degenerate politics of discrimination between Nigeria’s polytechnic and university enterprise.

    Hence the fraudulence and apparent cowardliness of the incumbent administration in addressing Nigeria’s unending educational crisis – simply because the final products end up to be you and me and every minion unfortunate to belong to the Nigerian working class.

    It is therefore, the duty of every constituent of the Nigerian working class to see that in the future competition for our mandate, the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the humane, unpopular and true.

    • To be continued…

  • What ails Nigeria?

    What ails Nigeria?

    Opalaba once said that the most dreadful disease that an individual may be afflicted with is shamelessness, the inability to experience shame. I think he is right because while there is medication for dealing with, if not curing most other dreadful diseases, there is none for shamelessness.

    A nation is a collection of individuals and multi-nations are collections of nations. But while there is a common denominator of individuals, the nation is more than the collection of individuals that makes it up and therefore the most dreadful disease that ails an individual isn’t necessarily the same as that which ails the nation or multi-nation.

    I hate to do it, but let’s ignore the sage for a moment, put all semantics aside, and assume for the purpose of this dialogue that Nigeria is a nation. Sure, it is a nation of nations, a multi-nation. All that we need to establish from this is that Nigeria is not Opalaba—not an individual entity. Therefore the disease that ails Nigeria is not the same as that which ails Opalaba. And even if the disease of shamelessness ails some or many its members and their leaders, it cannot be validly inferred that shamelessness ails Nigeria as a nation.

    What then is the most dreadful disease that ails Nigeria as a nation? Let us consider some notoriously famous candidates: leadership, followership, poverty, inequality, sinfulness (godlessness), and diversity. This is by no means exhaustive; but they suffice for my purpose which is to show that none of them qualifies as the most dreadful ailment that afflicts Nigeria.

    Leadership is important and I have also argued in several column entries that in the life of a nation, “leadership matters.” A visionless leadership ruins a nation while a visionary one builds it up. It was Chief Awolowo’s leadership that gave the Southwest a head start. And because we have not been blessed with that kind of leadership at the centre since the beginning of the republic, we are where we are. Still inefficient and ineffective leadership is not the most dreadful disease because there is a cure for it, especially in a democracy. If a republic suffers from bad leadership it has the means of correcting it and effecting a change that it needs. This is where followership comes in.

    It has been suggested that Nigeria doesn’t have a problem of leadership; rather its problem is that of followership. The proposition makes a lot of sense. As I have just argued in the last paragraph a republic has options with citizen participation in the choice of leaders. That is what elections are for. But a nation that is afflicted with the disease of followership cannot get its act together to secure an effective cure for the disease of leadership. And it ends up replicating and multiplying delinquents as leaders. We have had this demonstrated incontrovertibly at many levels in the short history of Nigeria. Still followership is not the most dreadful disease.

    The disease of followership is attributable to certain curable causes which include poverty and ignorance both of which facilitate the onset of the disease of inequality. It follows that if we eliminate the cause, we may effectively eliminate the disease. We cannot here avoid reference to the sage again, for he had the foresight to know what the country needed to make progress. He zeroed in on investment in public education to cure the disease of poverty and ignorance, and improve the condition of followership.

    If we followed the sage’s prescription, we would not now have 69% of Nigerians living below poverty line as reported by the African Development Bank, or over 40 million citizens unemployed according to the information volunteered by Dr. Christopher Kolade, the Chairman of Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P). Of course, without a good educational programme, mass ignorance is assured, and a nation denies itself the availability of human talents for the initiation of development projects and without a critical mass of those projects, there can be no employment opportunities. But mass ignorance does more than make development impossible. It also makes impossible the critical reflections on one’s condition, which is the first step towards seeking change and improvement.

    Many of our social ills have been attributed to the trio of ignorance, poverty, and inequality. Thus, religious or ethnic militancy has been considered as having a direct causal relationship with these three ailments. This is in keeping with the common belief that a hungry man is an angry man, and it is true that the devil finds work for the idle hand. So sinfulness or godlessness is a direct result of poverty even in the case of those committing atrocities in the name of God. But as I have argued above, with the right remedies in place, these are curable diseases and the most proven of those remedies is a good educational system combined with an employment strategy that guarantees good livelihood that promotes human dignity.

    In Nigeria today, all the various ailments discussed above can be cured if we didn’t have a more serious ailment. Our sister nations succeeded where we failed. Brazil is one of the most recent success stories. I listened to a Morning Edition radio program on my way to work this week on how Brazilians moved from a mostly poverty-ridden country to a nation of middle and upper classes. Brazilians used to wait five months to secure interviews for visa to the United States of America. Now they wait for two days and the interviews last only a few minutes. This is because the Consulate knows that Brazilians have the money to spend in the US.

    Diversity is the last on my list. And though it moves us closer to the most dreadful ailment, diversity itself is not our disease. The United State of America is a country that makes its diversity its strength.

    The most dreadful disease that afflicts Nigeria as a nation is a genetic one; it is a birth disorder. But that is not the worse part. Birth disorders can be corrected with genetic modification. The most serious of our ailment is denial. We are in self-denial about our ailment. And a nation in denial will continue to suffer under the burden of self-deception and a failure to acknowledge that it is on the road to self-annihilation.

    Now, let me come back to the assumption I made at the inception of this discussion. I suggested that we ignore the sage and assume that Nigeria is a nation. I now want to say that we do so at our peril. But that is what we have done in the last forty years. We even abused him when he dared to suggest that Nigeria is a geographical expression, andbrought it up over and over again to scuttle his political ambition. Yet the truth is that our actions and attitude have never proved him wrong.

    Indeed, the individuals and groups that deny Awolowo’s conscientious declaration in public, urge it in the privacy of their ethnic conclaves. We are a nation of hypocrites and charlatans. We have managed to deceive ourselves about the authenticity of our claim to nationhood status. However, if we sincerely bring our private sentiments to bear on the dialogue about what the country needs to move forward, we would zero in on our denial and we would make the necessary constitutional arrangements to bring us into a more perfect union. Until then, we are only day-dreamers and shadow chasers.

  • Homosexuals: What Pope Francis didn’t say

    The world is going gay! Each new day another country endorses same sex marriage. Each new day, world leaders, Christian leaders and even our iconic Archbishop Desmond Tutu have continued to make room for and extend the conjugal rights of same sex people. While the moral majority is nigh being at the receiving end now, it faces an imminent danger of a harmful role reversal. Still nonplussed and trying hard to come to terms with what is obviously a gay revolution, the Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis weighs in in favour of gays and dampens the spirit of heterosexuals who are now derisively called ‘homophobes’.

    In a chat with journalists after a tour of Brazil recently, the pope declared that even though homosexual acts are sin, people with homosexual orientation must not be ‘judged’ or ‘marginalised’. “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge him,” the pope said. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this (orientation) but that they must be integrated into society,” he said. In other words, homosexual act may be sinful, homosexual orientation is not by itself wrong or sinful? But is it possible to have homosexual orientation without committing homosexual acts?

    Surely, hardly any man can claim to be more Catholic or even Christian than the pope but the point that must be made here is that this remark from the pope represents the single most important endorsement to be enjoyed by people with gay tendencies across the world. Has the dam finally broken, has the last vestiges of resistance to what is clearly an aberrant human behavior been lost? Man and man (or woman and woman) living together and cohabiting is abhorrent to humanity and sinful in the sight of our Christian God. It is not about marginalizing or judging, it is about repudiating our creator and the grave danger this act portends for humanity now, in the future and in the hereafter.

    Homosexuals will always remain people who have deviated from the natural course of God, they need help – psychological and spiritual help. For this reason, I reproduce below, an article by William Consiglio, titled: “Understanding Homosexuality” published on page1081 of the Parents Resource Bible. I have taken the liberty to modify the title thus:

    Help for homosexuals

    God’s word is truthful, and we can rely on it. It reveals God’s standards about life and human sexuality. In Romans 1: 24-27 we can see four moral and spiritual truths about homosexuality.

    Homosexuality is a behavior. The Bible never calls homosexuality an identity or an alternative sexuality created by God. The Word says: “Women… indulged in sex… with each other. And the men… doing the shameful things with other men…” (v.26-27).

    Homosexuality is a sinful behavior. Sinful means that such a behavior is displeasing to God. The Word says: “God let them go ahead in every sort of sex sin” (v. 24).

    Homosexuality is a substitute for God’s natural plan. God’s Word says that “ even their women turned against God’s natural plan” (v. 26). God created all people to be heterosexuals. Homosexuality is a spiritual and emotional disorientation, deviation and disorder in his plan.

    As with all sin, the root of homosexual behavior is caused and maintained by those who refuse to honour God. “They knew about him all right but they wouldn’t admit it or worship him or even thank him for all his daily care” (v.21). All sin is a turning away from God. All healing comes from a return to God. Spiritually and morally, homosexuality is a sinful behavior that distorts God’s natural plan for human sexuality.

    Homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin. It is important to understand that homosexual behavior has emotional and psychological roots. While homosexuality is sin, it is not the unforgivable sin. God knows that all of us are sinners, prone to emotional wounding and disordered behavior

    John 8: 1-11 contains the story of an adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus. If this had been a homosexual person, what would Jesus have done? Jesus loved the woman just as he loves all sinners, including homosexuals. He forgave her and commanded her to stop sinning. He said, “Neither do I (condemn you). Go and sin no more” (John 8:11) God loves homosexual people and call them to repent and be healed. He seeks their conversion and not their shame and ruin.

    There is healing for those overcoming homosexuality. How can those struggling with homosexuality “sin no more”? How can they change their feelings, behavior and life-style? There are six elements to an effective healing program for Christians who are overcoming homosexuality:

    •The overcommer needs personal relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. He or she needs to become a child of God. Only Jesus can give the overcomer this relationship to God because as he says, “no one can get to the father except by means of me” (John 14:6). “To all who received him (Jesus), he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

    • The overcomer needs a personal life that includes regular study and meditation on God’s word and a vital life of prayer.

    • The overcomer needs to be actively involved in a good Bible teaching/preaching church that offers fellowship and nurture in Christian holiness.

    • The overcomer needs a good Christian friend or married couple with whom to share burdens and be held accountable…

    • The overcomer needs to be committed to professional Christian counseling to learn about the roots of homosexuality, gain personal insight, and work through emotional healing.

    • Finally, the overcomer needs to be involved in a group support ministry with other overcomers. It provides HOPE – a place of Honesty, Openness, Prayer, and Encouragemnet. God loves the overcomer, so there is plenty of hope for those trying to overcome.

    LAST MUG: Fani-Kayode goes off the hook

    It is shocking that so much hatred and bigotry had remained percolated in some people all these year and that those demons were all this while looking for an opportunity to break free. One of such is as manifested in Femi Fani-Kayode’s interminable diatribe: “The bitter truth about the Igbo in Nigeria.” Surely it could not be this small matter of ‘deportation’ of 14 Igbo people to Onitsha that brought about this unhinging. Femi has created an ethnic mud-fight where none really existed and he is reveling in it all by his self.

    But one is pushed to interject his fun when he went so low as to release a shortlist (or is that his long list?) of all the (Igbo) women he enjoyed ‘intimate’ relationship with in his wild-oat sowing years. Gush, did Femi have to name names of women who are now married and running families? We thought this was the antics of excitable high school boys newly exploiting their libidinal prowess. To think that this is a one-minister in this country! I think opinion molders will do well to show a little more restraint when they put pen to paper.