The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Celebrity trash, trashy journalism and everyone (3)

    He could not have a better society even if we tried. We could not have a better nation too. We cannot be the land of the free inhabited by free people. Every day, we are reborn into the anguish of what we are desperate to forget.

    One can never make the words too strong; we are captives now other than before 1960. We are independent although we are yet to be free. Freedom too should be a fount from the heart. It isn’t. It desecrates our hearts and corrupts us. It stacks up profanities like fancy bricks in you and me till we become outstanding perfections of wantonness and ruin.

    Our cries are of insecurity, unemployment, epileptic power supply, selective justice, dwindling economy, hospital corridors of death among others but a greater ruin subsists in you and me, particularly in the Fourth Estate. One should not make the truth seem forced – Nigeria ruins because journalism has failed us. And journalism devastates on the strength of our failures.

    Thus journalism and the society remain opposite faces of a rusted coin. It has become the way of the Nigerian press to inform, educate and entertain with the clarity of an ice-blur or soot-smutch. No more is the media the vanguard of truth, justice and accountability. No more does it seek to understand our painful silences in order to scream them.

    Currency style is still politically and economically correct in newsrooms nationwide, and relative truths and half-truths hang stock-still, like bad philosophy, where the mint-blaze of advertisements, electronic money transfers and brown envelopes successfully domesticate even our most hardnosed critics and newshounds.

    Everybody insists that Nigerian journalists are crappy and lost; some claim we are maddened by poverty and greed but I would say we have simply realized delusion to be our favoured pattern of truth. I would say, we are only responding to the archetypal syndrome perverting our psyche – driving us to lay to waste, humanity and our most treasured industries.

    Our degeneration began no sooner than we destroyed every crucial appendage of our social bedrock. As it does to every other crucial sector, the Nigerian society provides the worst of simpletons to serve as conscience to the nation. Scholarship we extol produces the citizenship that corrupts and sets us back in abominable leaps. In our Fourth Estate, the few good hands are still keeping faith half-heartedly. They are shamelessly underpaid, persistently disrespected and denied of even their meagre income.

    But the middling second-rate and third-rate smile home from the banks. Their garages flaunt automobiles and hand-outs that dwarf the principles and achievements of the few good hands. Thus is our vision for Nigerian journalism: to perpetuate a litter of men so grossly employed beneath the faculties of a humane mind, that a little money, fame and other paltry inducements quite cheaply buys them off the fabled press’s most principled pursuits.

    Like every one of us, the Nigerian journalist answers to different prices. He is as perverted as the social system that produces him and conditions him to serve as a reluctant watch –dog, rambling lap-dog, obsequious stunt-dog, dung-dog, junk-yard dog among others – as circumstances and his vanities dictate.

    An efficient journalist and wholly conscientious one at that do what he can whether his employer and the society appropriately reward him or not. The inefficient journalist on the other hand offers his inefficiency to any bidder with a wad of cash; he is forever lusting for political office or “Corporate Affairs” spot. He is rarely disappointed however.

    Hence the average journalist’s inclination to report the shameful shenanigans and delusions of grandeur of every constituent of the Nigerian society flaunting a wad of cash. This frantic posturing of the journalist to serve the interests of every actor, politician, musician, reality show contestant and business executive for the paltriest gratification is merely a manifestation in the journalist of the fetters of indignity holding the Nigerian society captive.

    Our maddening lust for wealth and tireless celebration of it without doubt epitomizes the greatest disgrace of our kind. That so many are ready to live by luck in a mad dash for affluence and the frills of enterprise without appropriately earning it perpetuates the startling immorality of our kind and the most indecent culture of enterprise.

    The philosophy, poetry and religion of our kind are not worth the dust of a destitute puffball. Hence today, we stir in mind the worrisome notion that God created our kind in jest. Burning with our inordinate yearnings, we make God out to be a mischievous money-bag scattering a handful of currency in order to see us scramble for it amusingly.

    Our world’s a raffle. From stardom, power, sudden wealth and chances to our base necessities, everything is on a sweepstake. Yet it worries us not to foster such satire on our social institutions. The reality show contestant is as much a gambler as his fellow in the underground casinos and dangerous crannies of Lagos. The only difference is that one shakes duplicity and the other shakes dice.

    And we have journalism to celebrate them both as it does our criminally-minded thug-fathers, god-fathers, clerics, drug barons, park-thugs, business leaders and aristocracy to mention a few. If this isn’t the nastiest distortion to the media’s esteemed “Status-Conferrer” theory, what is?

    The lure of affluence is truly great that withers the grains of wisdom in even in its most dependable repositories in the Nigerian society. How can the journalist not cultivate such rot? Despite his purported depth and candour, he is essentially, a luminescent mirror into the soul of the Nigerian society.

    It is remarkable that of all our media, there are so few moral teachers, “Agenda-setters” and “Status-Conferrers” we could tip as beacons of a better tomorrow and a better society. Most are shamelessly employed in excusing our misdemeanors while brazenly extolling the insanity of our infinite perversions.

    The best journalists that have been we hardly get to know because this paltry band choose not to grovel before misguided celebrities and impart into our insufficiently tasked minds, trivial affairs of pop-idols, spoilt rich trash and their over-celebrated kids.

    “But we are only human!” we rationalize. We claim that it’s due to human nature that we want to know who’s sleeping with whom and why somebody’s so upset about it. The same applies to the world of celebrity. With the latter, we are hopelessly curious because we do not know them personally and it never hurts anyone to obsess about them, right?

    Actually, it does hurt everyone and someone. It perverts our minds and pushes back the boundaries of public and private lives into the binds of distorted reality. And yet our uncontainable fervor for such trifling reports. Celebrity news may be cheap, easy and relaxing to read.

    But therein subsists the reason for our hurtful realities. Celebrity trash journalism hardly reflects our reality. But faced with the burgeoning thirst for such content, more publishers are giving over more of their column inches to such debris ignoring the real subjects that matter for a profit.

    Overdosing on gossip isn’t a good idea but like pathetic junkies eternally in need of a fix, we grovel and lust for the next best decadent pinch.

  • The Prophet’s medicine

    The Prophet’s medicine

    This article is a deliberate diversion of readers’ attention from the madness of the moment in Nigeria. Such diversion becomes necessary as a relief from the current overwhelming tension in a country where every news item is sad and every hope turns forlorn. A worthy columnist must know when to bite and when to blow editorially if only to sustain the readership of his/her column. This is the time of mental, physical and psychological sicknesses. And there must be a medicament. The most appropriate medicament for all diseases is the one prescribed by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) bout 1,500 years ago which still remains potent and will keep remaining relevant for the rest period of human existence on earth. Please, read on:

    Adam, the primogenitor of mankind, was hardly one hour old when he started prescribing medicine against ailments. He was commanded by Allah to teach the Angels the names of all things which they (the Angels) had confessed not to know. By teaching the Angels, Adam could be said to have carried out the duty of a teacher which suggests that teaching was probably his first profession. But, those in the information sector could as well, argue that what Adam did was more of information dissemination than teaching.

    Thus, for the purpose of academic exercise, a fierce debate might ensue between teachers and journalists over what can be called the first profession of the first human being. But the truth is that both professionals are right. By teaching, a teacher informs. And by informing, a journalist teaches. Thus, the two professions are mutually complimentary.

    What Adam actually did by teaching the Angels was to cure the worst disease in them as well as in man. That disease is ignorance. Shortly before the creation of Adam, Allah informed the Angels that He was going to create a new living being and put him in charge of the garden to be called the earth. But, feigning knowledge, the Angels kicked against the plan and advised their Lord not to do it. Allah then told them in a tone of finality that “I know what you do not know”. (Q.2:31). It eventually took Adam, by Allah’s command, to heal those Angels of their disease (ignorance).

    If Adam had not taught them the names of all things on earth, as revealed in the Qur’an, the Angels would have remained ignorant forever. And, Allah’s messages to mankind, as contained in the divinely Revealed Books, would not have come through them.

    In ordinary man’s view, medicine is the substance required to cure an ailment. Such substance may be natural or artificial. It may also be as crude as herbs or as sophisticated as surgery. However, it is generally believed that a person does not need medicine unless he is ill. That is why the Western conventional medicine is rather curative than preventive. Illness resides in the body just as ignorance makes the mind its abode. Today, in most cases, people neither go to the hospitals nor take medicine unless they are sick.

    Though unlettered, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had known this before he diagnosed two basic ailments and prescribed two fundamental medicines for them. The first of these ailments is ignorance. The second is poverty. And poverty in this case is not lack of material wealth alone as many people erroneously believe. It is lack of many things including health and conscience. Thus, in Islam, ailment is basically of two classes: ignorance and poverty. Many people are victims of one. Many more are victims of both.

    A person is said to be poor-sighted when he cannot see well without artificial aid. He is deemed poor in memory when his remembering ability becomes weak. He is also pronounced poor in health when some of his organs malfunction or he lacks some active enzymes or minerals or vitamins. Thus, man may be poor, not in terms of money or material needs but despite his possession of both.

    As an antidote for ignorance, the Prophet prescribed the Qur’an. And for body ailment, he prescribed honey. Qur’an is the encyclopaedia of life which personifies knowledge in all its ramifications. There is nothing about knowledge whether spiritual or mundane, in this world or the hereafter, that is not contained in the Qur’an.

    By recommending the Qur’an as medicine for ignorance, the Prophet simply provided cure for the ailment of the mind. And by prescribing honey for body ailments he encouraged prolongation of life expectancy through a boost to the immune system. It is not by accident that a whole chapter in the Qur’an (chapter 16) is named after the insect that produces honey. Verse 68 of that chapter reads thus:

    “And your Lord revealed to the bee (saying): Build your homes in the mountains, in the trees and in the hives which men shall make for you. Feed on every kind of fruit and follow the trodden path of your Lord’.

    “From its belly comes forth a fluid of many hues as healing (drink) for mankind. Surely in this, there is a sign for those who can reason….” And, in the Bible, references are made to the use and efficacy of honey in more than 25 places.

    Contrary to general belief, honey is not the only product of the bee. There are six others so far known to man. These are: propolis; pollen; royal jelly; bees wax; bee venom and bee bread. More can be discovered as research continues in line with the Qur’anic challenge. Each of these products has specific functions in maintaining and immunising the human hormone system.

    To produce honey alone, the bees make contact with at least 250,000 plants picking and metabolising their flower nectars. It is possible for them to contact more plants depending on the richness of the vegetation in which they dwell. ( Nectar is the main raw material which the bees use to produce honey). Propolis, on the other hand, is produced by the bees from the resin of certain specific trees.

    Through research, propolis has come to be known as the strongest anti-biotic ever discovered by man. This product is used not to protect the living alone but to preserve the remains of the dead as well. At least it is on record that the famous historic Egyptian mammies were embalmed with propolis several millennia ago. This same propolis is the product used by the bees, themselves, to sterilise their bodies against bacteria and secure their hives against viruses brought in by predators. Whenever they sting such predator to death, it is propolis they use to embalm it to prevent its decaying body from polluting the hive.

    Pollen is the secret of longevity. It heals almost all the old age diseases like prostate, arthritis, pneumonia and bronchitis. It rejuvenates the nerves and reinvigorates the hormonal glands especially in the aged. Royal jelly on the other hand solves the problem of infertility in men and women. It is the exclusive food of the queen bee which enables her to lay an average of 2000 eggs every day. And bee venom is a natural vaccine which strengthens human immunity against all diseases. It works like magic in the human system especially when applied through the natural acupunctural points in the body.

    Bees wax, as distinct from other products, is used to produce non-chemical cosmetics and to coat pharmaceutical tablets and capsules while bee bread is used to prevent or heal children’s diseases.

    The use of each of these products to heal human ailments depends on the extent of knowledge of apitherapy possessed by the user. (Apitherapy is the use of bee products to prevent or heal human or animal ailments). A specialist in this field is called apitherapist.

    The uniqueness of using these products for healing or prevention of diseases is in the fact that they do not entail any negative side effect. And that is a major sharp difference between them and the synthetic drugs manufactured chemically by the conventional pharmacists.

    Honey is the only known product in the world that serves as both food and medicine. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once reportedly told his patients while prescribing honey for them thus: “let your food be your medicine and your medicine your food”. There is no known nutritional value in terms of vitamins, minerals and enzymes that is not proportionally present in honey.

    Raw honey, for instance, contains about 80 different substances that are most important for human nutrition. Besides glucose and fructose, honey contains all of the B-complex minerals like vitamins A, C, D, E and K as well as trace elements such as magnesium, sulphur, phosphorus, iron, calcium, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper and manganese. The live enzyme content of honey is one of the highest of all existing foods. Honey also contains hormones and antimicrobial and antibacterial factors.

    The composition and nutritional value of honey differ in relation to the floral sources honeybees have visited. For example, recent research supports the claim that dark coloured honeys have larger amounts of antioxidants. The inorganic contents of honey, minerals and other trace elements, play a significant role in human metabolism and nutrition. Owing to its chlorine content, honey is appreciated as an excellent tonic and helps people to overcome suffering from constipation and other enteric problems.

    (38.2% fructose, 31.0% glucose,17.1% water, 7.2% maltose, 4.2% tri-saccharine & other carbohydrates, 1.5% sucrose, 0.5% minerals, vitamins, enzymes).

    Whereas no synthetic medicine can and should be taken by any ill person without doctor’s prescription, honey requires no such prescription for anybody who is not allergic to it. Honey is a multipurpose food and medicine. It can be taken along with other foods or alone.

    And, as an antiviral and antibiotic substance, honey is the best medicine for the eye and the ear diseases, tooth ache, insomnia, staphylococcus, constipation and whitlow as well as for burns and wounds. After many centuries of disputing these facts ignorantly, conventional doctors have finally come to realise that no medicine is as effective in sealing up surgical wounds and healing sores as honey. Today, honey is used for these purposes in most public hospitals in various parts of the world, including Nigeria.

    Besides the above medicaments, the bees also assist mankind in producing foods by pollinating their crops. At least, these wonderful insects are responsible for pollinating about 80 per cent of the crops anywhere in the world. It is, therefore, an understatement to say that without the bees, humanity would starve to death. Bees are a vital part of our environment. Killing them is like killing oneself.

    If most people were knowledgeable about the efficacy of the bee products in preventing and healing diseases, hospitals would have been less congested and substantial percentage of their incomes would have been saved to enhance the quality of their lives. The world of bees is a wonderful world. It takes only those who know it to appreciate it and benefit from its healing miracle.

    Through divine instinct, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had known this almost one and a half millennia ago and he had recommended it to humanity accordingly. The fact that honey is still a subject of scientific research today is a further confirmation that the unlettered Prophet from Arabia was a divine genius.

    The case of bee and honey is like that of hen and egg. No one can tell which first came into existence. Without bee there can be no honey. And without honey, the bees cannot exist since honey is the food upon which they depend for survival.

    But, how can one recognise genuine honey in this era of rampant adulteration? That is one of many questions to be answered in this column in the future God willing.

    The story of the insect called bee is inexhaustible despite centuries of research on it. It is therefore impossible to tell it all in a one page column of this type. Much, more will be said on this subject subsequently if only to assist Nigerians in safeguarding their health matters thereby enhancing the quality of their lives.

    That Prophet Muhammad (SAW) knew this much even as an unlettered person at a time when the world was assailed by blatant ignorance and primitivism is a further confirmation of Michael Hart’s classification of him as the greatest human being that ever lived on earth. But then, what makes the difference between the bees and other insects? What type of life do the bees live vis a vis other insects? What is the relationship between the bees, the plants and human beings? How do the bees conduct their communal life and how do they make honey? Besides honey, how do they produce other substances useful for human health? These and other relevant questions about the insect called BEE will be answered in this column next Friday in sha’Allah.

  • Peace in our time

    Peace in our time

    The phrase “Peace in our time” was what Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister on the eve of the second world war said when he returned from Germany after meeting Adolf Hitler and appeasing the dictator by virtually signing away the independence and territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia. I am employing this usage to describe what I and all Nigerians of good conscience want for our country at this time. The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III recently said for peace to reign in our community, the federal government should come out with a programme of amnesty for the Boko Haram militants and all other militants who are terrorising Northern Nigeria. His argument is based on the fact that whatever grievances these people may have will be assuaged by an offer of amnesty that would presumably carry financial inducement. The Sultan is a very knowledgeable man; a retired Brigadier-General in the army who I believe has a doctorate degree from University of Lagos is not only a leader of the Muslim faithful but also an intelligent man. His call for amnesty is therefore something he must have considered and thought about very well; in other words, this is not a call that should be dismissed lightly.

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has issued a statement through its Secretary General opposing the call for amnesty. This opposition is based on solid ground that Boko Haram has committed capital crime of premeditated murder against fellow Nigerian Muslims and Christians alike, but particularly against several congregations of Christian worshippers in their various churches. They therefore argued that crime must not be seen to pay but rather criminals should pay for their crimes.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has come out to say there can be no amnesty for now. The emphasis is on NOW. This implies that there could be amnesty in the future. The President’s position is based on the fact that there is no clear identity of the members of Boko Haram. Secondly, he says he does not know what their grievances are and in his colourful language, he says he cannot grant amnesty to ghosts. He went on to say that the comparison between Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militants is not useful. He argues that people knew who the militants in the Niger Delta were and what they were fighting for and that it was easy therefore to negotiate with them and to mount a programme of training and financial inducement for them. He therefore challenged Boko Haram to come forward with their grievances and he will presumably reply them positively.

    The governors of All Progressives Congress (APC) met in Maiduguri recently and donated 200million naira to Borno State government in support of its peace effort. Following the courageous visit of these governors, the President himself has now visited Yobe and Borno states the epicentre of Boko Haram rebellion. There is no need to get into argument about the motive of the governors or President’s visit, what is important is that progress is now being made in the search for peace and all men and women of good conscience should pray for and associate themselves with the peace effort.

    Peace is an important condition for progress. Without peace, there can be no economic development or any form of civilization at all. Peace is also a religious injunction by both Islam and Christianity, the two major religions in Nigeria. Al- Islam means peace that is why the standard greeting in Islam is Salaamu a laikun while in Christianity the “peace of the lord” is a standard greeting and both are derived from old Judaism’s Shalom which also means peace.

    I have a personal stake in peace in North-eastern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole. This is why I am extremely sad and saddened about the events particularly in Plateau and Borno states, two states where I spent five years of my life. I lived in Jos between 1972 -1974, two wonderful years of my life. The weather was beautiful and food particularly exotic foods like Irish potatoes, lettuces, strawberries, and so on were plentiful. Electricity locally generated by a mining company was constant and my daughter was able to attend Corona Nursery School all the way in Bukuru. I was able to purchase from VOM Veterinary Institute a pedigree Labrador golden retriever. I am going into details in order to show the peaceful nature of life on the plateau then. My wife commuted between Lagos and Jos by train. The various ethnic groups in Jos at that time were mainly Birom, Naraguta, Hausa, Angas, Jarawa, Igbo, Yoruba, Urhobo, Fulani and so on and they lived together in peace and practised their different religions without let or hindrance. It is difficult for me to believe that several years later, Jos and its neighbourhood have been reduced to a slaughter slab in which people are killed on a daily basis.

    The reason for this deterioration is political and until this problem is politically resolved, there may be no peace on the plateau. As for the north-east particularly Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Adamawa and Taraba, the situation there is similar yet different from what is going on in Plateau. I lived in Maiduguri from 1982- 1985, three wonderful years of my life in which I made lasting friendship and impact on the Maiduguri environment. Many of my former students are now occupying important positions in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Adamawa states and I am directing my appeal to all of them who may be in a position to facilitate the coming of peace into the North-eastern Nigeria to do so. Peace is indivisible and we must all contribute to it. The religion of Christianity to which people in the north-east adhere to should never be a cause for division, disunity and violence. After all both religions are Abrahamic religions and if need be God is capable of fighting for himself. Any human being fighting a religious war belittles God and questions divine omnipotence. This challenge to God carries consequences of curse if not in this world, in the world hereafter. Out of love for my personal brothers in the North-east, I appeal to them to give peace a chance.

    Finally, I know this country in and out. I am not an armed chair analyst. The cause of Boko Haram rebellion in the north is partly due to poverty. This poverty arises from climatic changes affecting the Lake Chad basin. The drying up of the Lake Chad and consequent poverty of the farming and fishing villages in the Lake Chad Basin has brought untold hardship to the people. Drinking water is sometimes so scarce that people had to make do with rain puddles. The corruption of the political leaders and government in the North-east is also a cause of the problem. The lack of a vibrant local press to articulate the desires and wants of the people who have been culturally conditioned not to question their leaders and who for years were satisfied with the crumbs from the tables of their leaders have all led to a complacency on the part of the leaders who have taken the people for granted.

    In 1982 I did a study on Islamic fundamentalism in the Sudan including the Western Sudan which also includes Northern Nigeria. One of the things we found out was Millenarian movement led by self-declared Imams always came at a time of extreme hardship, poverty, bad governance and adversity during which time religion becomes an opium of the people. Nothing has changed.

    It is therefore my considered opinion that all state governors in the North-east must embark on social justice and pro-poor development in which there will be zero tolerance for corruption. The federal government must also embark on economic intervention in the zone in order to bring development to the people so as to remove the current feeling of alienation. It is in this regard that the Sultan’s call for amnesty becomes relevant. I am happy with President Jonathan’s promise to intensify the search for hydrocarbons in the North East and to inject billions of naira into the economy of the North-east for this search. He should also channel resources towards the provision of portable water in the region. Agriculture particularly aquaculture and fisheries and rejuvenation of Lake Chad through negotiated channelling of the Ubangi-Shari from the Central African Republic should be looked into. The President’s Almajirai intervention through building schools for the roving band of young people being wrongly indoctrinated by barely literate Koranic teachers must be employed. Some of the teachers should be co-opted into the President’s schools and paid living wage. The work of rehabilitation of the brutalized proletariat and hoi polloi in the North-east must be through combined efforts of the LGAs, state governments and the federal government so that we can have peace in our time.

  • The many enemies of ‘Ijaw Governor-General

    The many enemies of ‘Ijaw Governor-General

    Memories are very short and no condition is permanent. How sad jobless critics of the recent presidential amnesty to convicted former governor of Bayelsa, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, can hardly remember the man once once bestrode Nigeria like a colossus. As ‘Governor General’ of the Ijaws, he was even touted as a possible replacement for Chief Obasanjo as president of a nation where thieves, the indolent, oil/financial fraudsters, armed and pen robbers always steal the limelight.

    The travails of a man now claimed to be the brain behind the then rampaging Niger Delta militants, started with his offshore detractors that chased him around the world investigating his involvement in corruption and money laundering. The war was led by the governments of Britain, United States, South Africa, Bahamas and Seychelles as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank under the Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative’. It was the international community that told us of his accumulated properties, bank accounts, investments and cash exceeding £10m in value. It was his off-shore enemies that revealed his portfolio of foreign assets which included accounts with five banks in the UK and further accounts with banks in Cyprus, Denmark and the United States; four London properties acquired for a total of £4.8m; a Cape Town harbour penthouse acquired for almost £1m, assets in the United States, since seized by the US government and almost £1m in cash stored in one of his London properties. It was Britain Metropolitan police that charged him to court from where he jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria allegedly dressed like a woman.

    It was only after this, Ribadu, then the helmsman at EFCC, overstepped his bounds by securing the conviction of the ‘Governor General’ of Ijaw nation, an affront he paid dearly for. And now our president who has made a fetish of his piety through various public demonstrations including exhortation amidst his state house church congregation that “when God gives us power, we must use it for the glory of His creation”, has granted the Ijaw ‘governor general’ an amnesty.

    Those who are not stakeholders in the affairs of Balyelsa state have assailed us for over a week on the amnesty granted the convicted former governor. These busy bodies have forgotten that President Jonathan as everyone knows except mischief makers is a pious man Like late Tai Solarin who claimed he would accept gift from the devil if it would advance the course of education, he has in fact gone ahead to enthusiastically accept a gift of a church from a government contractor for his community Jonathan, a man of faith obviously to ensure the hard working fishing community of Otuoke need a place to commune with God , the only one who can lessen their burden after each day on the sea paddling canoes.

    Last week, he was in Lagos to rake in about N7b from government contractors, sitting PDP governors and the ruling PDP for the expansion of evangelization work in Otuoke. (Less inspiring critics claimed the fund should be diverted to purchasing fishing trawlers for those who operate on high sees with paddle canoes). But the president knows, ‘they that labour without putting God first do in vain’.

    Critics of the president’s granting of amnesty to a man he calls his god-father seem to have also forgotten that our humble president is a loyal and compassionate leader; whose sense of fairness and magnanimity is unparalleled in our nation’s history as long as there are no imaginary enemies that threaten his position and his control of PDP. If Ogbuluafor, the former PDP chairman, the disgraced former governor of Bayelsa and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, the chairman of now divided Governors Forum have different tales, it was because they misread the president’s mood.

    But what if one may ask, are the problems of critics who like professional undertakers that weep louder than the bereaved who have assaulted and libeled our humble president this past one week? First, a ‘coalition against corrupt leaders’ led by Debo Adeniran, its chairman, said the pardon of convicted ex-governor Alamieyeseigha who Okupe said had served his terms was another proof that the present administration was corrupt.

    I cannot see the logic. They also claim a man the president and his spokesmen claimed had suffered enough did not deserve a pardon because he bled his state’s covers during his tenure as governor’,

    But the fishing Ijaw communities, who by nature are God-fearing and submissive like their illustrious son(s), have never complained to anyone that their ex-governor used part of their funds to buy a few properties in Europe and America. Not even the revelation by Sahara Reporters that the president himself as governor of Balyelsa donated $1m of his state poverty alleviation funds to a resourceful media guru who has changed all the rules of journalism (apology to Uncle Sam Amuka) to bring Beyoncee from the US to sing for about two hours to an audience Otuoke people had no opportunity of attending attracted any reaction. Can’t these critics understand that for the Ijaws of Bayelsa, their children are their children, right or wrong?

    Another critic of the president action is Ribadu. Probably still nursing the wounds of having been rubbished as chairman of Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, whose report, Okupe said was inconclusive on the day of its presentation before he had time to read it. The report was finally thrown into the dustbin. And now a man whose views did not sell when consulted is without being asked for his views, claiming the ‘amnesty granted Alamieyeseigha and ex-Managing Director of Bank of the North, Alhaji Mohammed Bulama, is capable of stopping the war against corruption’. But we all know that war stopped a long time ago. Obasanjo, Jonathan’s and Ribadu’s godfather has even confirmed that. Will someone tell Ribadu, a failed presidential candidate to stop belly aching, keep his views to himself and allow our elected president to run his government?

    Ribadu, not done also said the pardon granted Alamieyeseigha and Bulama would send a negative message to the judiciary and law enforcement agencies. One will like to know which judiciary he is talking about. Is it the one that freed Ibori, a man called a thief in government house and jailed in Britain, or the one that freed Igbinedion and Yusuf with a slap on the arm after massive looting of our resources? Or could it by any chance include the judiciary that is busy shielding children of PDP stalwarts alleged to have committed barefaced robbery through ‘plea bargaining’ which my good friend, Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN) recently described as ‘commercialisation of our Criminal Code’? As for the police, I thought before the police authority chased him out of the force and the country, he passed his judgment on the police by putting his then IG in chains before securing his conviction for stealing billions of police welfare and equipment funds. (By the way, if ex-IG Balogun has the right connection, he is also due for amnesty).

    According to Okupe, a Yoruba adage says “you ask a thief to run and he runs, you ask a thief to drop what he is holding and he drops it, what are you chasing him for again?” In his view, the framers of the constitution envisaged the need for some ex-convicts to be re-integrated into the society, especially if they have shown penitence and willingness to contribute positively to societal growth. I agree with Okupe who is just a marvel when defending President Jonathan. Not too long ago he suffered the same fate, not as a convict but as an accused, when called upon to come and contribute positively to societal growth by President Jonathan.

  • Presidential abuse of power

    Presidential abuse of power

    Presidents have wide powers; they have the power of life and death. They can give life and they can take life, but they cannot create life. Only God can create life. The enormous powers that presidents wield derive from state authority. As custodians of the sovereign power of their states, their word is law. When they speak, they do so with authority and whatever they say is final. Nothing to add, nothing to subtract. It takes the fear of God not to misuse these powers. As mortals, we are easily carried away by small things, especially when we find ourselves in a position to determine other people’s fate.

    The president does not only determine the fate of his people, but also that of his nation. We are all at the mercy of the president. We go, if he tells us to go; we come when he tells us to come. Though we voted him into office, we are at his beck and call once he assumes power. When one occupies an office as high as that of the president, it is easy for him to be carried away by his new found powers. In such a situation, it is easy to misbehave because power, though sweet, is an intoxicant. Those who got drunk on it ended up as bad leaders. Check : Idi Amin; check: Sani Abacha; check : Augustine Pinochet.

    These were leaders who abused their offices. They had the opportunity to write their names in gold, but they chose to write them in the blood and sweat of their people. They were bad leaders and today, they occupy prime places in the hall of infamy. What is in power that makes people to lose their senses? Is it the office that changes the occupant? Or is it the office that brings out the true nature of the occupant? No matter how we look at it, one thing that is certain is that some people tend to change once they are privileged to hold a small office. As soon as their status changes, they also change, showing their true colours. So, it may be wrong to say that it is the office that changes people.

    No matter the office we occupy, people will always be themselves when the chips are down irrespective of their background. It is easy to forget our humble background when things appear to be rosy for us. We tend to forget the sufferings of the past; we tend to forget that we were once like those now complaining about happenings in the country. We perceive those complaining as our political enemies who don’t wish us well. If only we could pause and reflect, we will remember that we also passed that road. Then, our grievances were genuine and we took the government to the cleaners for its unpopular policies!

    But now, we perceive the government in a different light because we have been invited to ‘serve’. What kind of service is it that will make us discard our principle for filthy lucre? Must public officials live by bread alone? By this, I mean should they always be guided by what they will ‘eat’ in whatever they do or say? I am at a loss over how some people change overnight just because they have found themselves in government. As president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan is surrounded by many lieutenants. He has them all, ministers, special advisers, senior special assistants, special assistants and so on and so forth. But is the president getting quality advice from these people? Whether or not he is, that na im toro.

    The buck stops at the president’s table. As the principal, he is liable for what his agents do. This is the burden of leadership. He cannot hide under the guise of what his aides did in order to exonerate himself from blame. Was the president under the influence of any advice when he granted state pardon to his former boss, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha? Or did he do it sou moto? What informed the president’s decision to pardon the former Bayelsa State governor? Was there a petition from the once popular Governor-General of Ijaw Nation? On what grounds did he seek the pardon? Is it that he has turned a turn new leaf and will never steal public funds again if he finds himself in power in future?

    When the rumour started making the rounds last Wednesday that the president had granted Alamieyeseigha pardon, many were dumbfounded because it was the last thing they ever expected our so-called meek and genial president to do. Alamieyeseigha brought shame to Nigeria when he was caught in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2005 for money laundering. The British legal system, which is no respecter of persons, dealt with the case the way it should. But before his pending trial could be concluded, Alamieyeseigha escaped from London dressed like a woman. How he did that still beats the imagination up till today.

    He thought once he got back home, everything would be forgotten, that was where he made a big mistake. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo ensured his impeachment and trial. He entered a plea bargain and got away with a slap on the wrist. As if that is not enough, he has been granted state pardon, meaning he never committed any crime. Ha-ha.

    Instead of being made to rot in jail, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment and asked to return billions of naira and also forfeit some properties to government. This punishment, which many consider inadequate, is what the president has now wiped off with his ill-advised pardon for Alamieyeseigha. For the opprobrium that Alamieyesegha brought to this country abroad, he deserves to be treated like the common criminal he is for life. He does not deserve this pardon.

    It is a gross abuse of the

    president’s power under the

    Constitution for him to have pardoned Alamieyeseigha. By this act, Jonathan has breached the Constitution which he swore to uphold. Yes, the Constitution allows him, in the exercise of his prerogative of mercy in Section 175 to grant people pardon, but he ought to be mindful of how he uses the power. He should be conscious of public feeling on such matters and as such think deeply before naming the beneficiaries of state pardon. This is why in his oath of office he swore “that I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions.” Has Jonathan lived up to this oath in this case?

    What has Alamieyeseigha done since he was convicted eight years ago to show that he has learnt his lessons? I don’t know except to be seen in the president’s entourage now and then. If that is the only criterion for granting state pardon, then it is a big shame that some 53 years after our Independence, we have not got our priorities right.

    What is stopping the president from granting state pardon to Lucky Igbinedion, Tafa Balogun, Cecilia Ibru, James Ibori and their ilk? Yes, what is stopping him?

    With what the president has done, we should declare amnesty for all ex-convicts, no matter what they did. After all, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. But it is not too late to right this wrong. If Jonathan could reverse himself on the renaming of the University of Lagos, there is nothing to stop him from withdrawing the pardon he granted Alamieyeseigha in the public interest.

  • Post-mortem of a pardon

    Post-mortem of a pardon

    NO event has been this tendentious in recent history. Not even the President’s handling of the deadly Boko Haram insurgency. Nor the reckless fuel subsidy removal of last year and the criminal negligence of our roads and hospitals; the novelty of governors just taking off on “well deserved” holidays and the emotional sight of old men and women protesting their unpaid pensions. None.

    The presidential pardon handed DSP Alamieyeseigha, a chief, former governor of Bayelsa State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, ex-convict and – thanks to his munificence – governor-general of the Ijaw nation – has put the Presidency under fire since it was packaged and delivered eight days ago.

    No doubt, President Goodluck Jonathan must have reviewed the situation with his friends, aides and associates. What was his conclusion? Regrets? Triumph? Who said what behind the scene? Are more pardons coming? Who are the VIP ex-convicts clamouring for pardon? Editorial Notebook’s reportorial skills have been pressed into action to resolve these and many other questions to which readers are seeking answers.

    Thankfully, I ran into an uncle of mine in Sangotedo – the tiny beach town on the outskirts of Lekki, the Lagos home of the rich – whose friend’s brother claimed to have met a senior official of the Presidency who swore that he attended one of those post-mortem sessions. The source, I was told, pleaded not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, and the fact that he is not authorised to speak to the press.

    Here is his unconfirmed report of the aftermath of what has been described by some critics of the presidential action as the alarming pardon:

    Dr Jonathan sits down on a sofa, the national flag resting behind him. He is surrounded by some aides, friends and associates. He whips out a handkerchief to rub his face, smiles and adjusts his position. They all greet him.

    Thank you, gentlemen. You’re all welcome. And, if I may ask: How do you people see this pardon for those they called coup plotters and the other people?

    The aides keep quiet. But before the President could go on, a leading businessman, who is a regular visitor to the Villa, cuts in.

    My President, you know I won’t deceive you. That was a great decision. The critics have not been fair to you. They say your chief target was your former boss, DSP, and that you only used the others to pad the list and make it look national and sincere. Don’t bother yourself about busybodies. A great leader must take decisions – popular or unpopular – but history will not be kind to any leader who refuses to take bold decisions.

    Thank you, chief. You see, I don’t give a damn. The question is: don’t I have the right to pardon anybody that I wish to pardon? Doesn’t the Bible say ‘I will have mercy on who I will?’ Here is a man who has helped me; no; a man who has been so helpful to this country. The creeks are quiet, oil production is rising; do they think it’s their noise? Honestly, I don’t give a damn!

    You’re right sir. There has been so much jubilation in Bayelsa. Big celebration. I saw it with my two eyes on television. I saw Alams on an open roof vehicle, waving to the cheering crowd. In fact, as I was coming here, somebody called me to tell me how this boy, em…em… James Ibori, received the news. He said the guy was lamenting, saying: “Shoo! See Alams o. E don free. Dem say he fit contest again to be senator or whatever. Why me I run comot? Even Lucky dey enjoy now, after coming back from court. Ha…I don yab. I fall my people hand.”

    Really? You see, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. As far as I’m concerned, I have taken a decision, approved by the Council of State, a body of our most experienced people, including elders and giants in law. So, what are they talking about? I’m here to take decisions and I have taken a decision. If you’re not pleased with my decision, you’re free to go to court.

    I agree with you sir. You see, a decision that is not popular with some people is being celebrated by others. It’s all politics. A friend of mine has just told me that you’ll soon be getting applications for such pardon. I understand Tafa Balogun is interested and I said, ‘why not?’ He was a damn good police officer; only the money problem. They said he stole, but his friends are saying he got no fair trial. This is a government of rule and law. And it must be seen to be so. Then, one crazy fellow was crying that Abdulrasheed Maina should come out of hiding.

    Another, who claims to be an economist and financial expert, said he heard from a reliable source that Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi would not seek another term. You know who he suggested as Sanusi’s successor? Shettima Bulama, the former Bank of the North chief and beneficiary of the pardon.

    Thank you bo. If the only thing I can do to help the man is what I have done, I have no apology. God used him to draw me into politics. The man has gone to jail. He has lost weight. He has lost property. What else do they want; make he quench? They say his pardon will undermine the war against corruption. But I ask, how? Just one man? Did he not serve? Abeg make I hear word.

    And somebody was saying Baba ,the one in Ota, that he was scorning the whole thing, that when he saw it in the newspapers, he screamed: “Alams pardoned…I dey laugh o!” When his boys asked him, “Baba, what’s the matter?” He started grumbling: “A man I sent to jail kulee and he came out jeje. Now, he’s pardoned. If that is what they want to be doing now, dat na dem toro. Alaremu has done his own. I started the EFCC. They said I was using it to grab my enemies. I wonder who I should have been using it to catch; my kids? Now they are free to be using it for their former ogas. Me I don do my own.

    (The President, pointing to one of his aides, a suppressed smile on his dry lips).What is all this talk about clemency, amnesty, pardon and all those gymnastics.

    Sir (an aide springs up to his feet, adjusts his jacket and straightens his bent tie). Mr President sir…em…emm. I don’t see the point they are trying to make. It’s all grammatical gymnastics, as you have rightly observed. In fact, there is so much ignorance about this matter and I have told them that the critics are suffering from sophisticated ignorance, which has heightened their anger. And they need some remedial tranquilisers for mollification of the situation.

    Hmm…I trust you! When people are ignorant and they see politics in everything, they won’t learn. As for us, we must refuse to lose focus. We must.

    (Another aide is struggling to rise onto his feet, the leather seat screeching, as if it’s crying to be freed of the weight that has been dumped on it. He eventually stands up, a file in his hand).Mr Presden sir. I went on television the very next day after the Council decision. And I told all those armchair critics to stop it. You ask a thief to run; he runs. You ask him to drop what he has stolen; he drops it. What else do you want?

    (The room burst into laughter, sparked by the strange allegory of the aide. In this lighter mood, another aide stands up to talk). Sir, the joke in town now is playing on the word “Alams”. They say: “Latest entries in Nigerian Urban Dictionary”: 1. Alams (noun). (i) An oga at the top who is much higher than a mere political godfather; he is generally believed to have the swagger of a tribal deity.

    (ii) Anyone who is intimate with oga at the top

    2. Alam: verb. To pardon someone of corruption e.g: “ Our accountant has been sacked for embezzlement of company funds but the board has alamed him.”

    Everybody was seized by laughter. The session closes as the President turns to the staircase, saying: “Good night, gentlemen.”

  • Still on Senator Enang’s lie with statistics

    Still on Senator Enang’s lie with statistics

    The power of propaganda, as an aphorism goes, lies less in its systematic and deceptive distortion of the truth than in the willingness of people, generally speaking, to be lied to. This willingness to be deceived is possibly the only, certainly the best, explanation of how many otherwise knowledgeable individuals, institutions and pundits in the country swallowed Senator Solomon Ita Enang’s recent mendacity on the sacred floor of the Senate that Northerners controlled 83% of the country’s oil wells, hook, line and sinker.

    Predictably, my column to that effect last week drew a lot of flack. Of the 47 texts and the odd email or two I received in reaction, the vast majority supported the senator. Several, including one from +2348183916532, warned me not to “insult our senator for revealing the truth to Nigerians.”

    Another from a reader, who simply called himself Godfrey (+2348076823815), quoting Thomas Carlyle’s words about every man having a coward and a hero in his soul, described the senator as “a man who has a hero in his soul.” He then proceeded to give me some words of advice on how one should “learn how to accept the truth, no matter how bitter.”

    Another reader, Ubong Joseph, texting from +2348023262979, was less charitable. “Mr. Mohammed Haruna,” he said, “l’ve just finished reading your piece on Senator lta Enang’s submission on ownership of 83% of Nigerian oil blocks by your brothers and your comments is yet an indication that as a typical Northerner the “Food is Ready” and “Share the Money” syndrome of the North must be maintain(ed) indefinitely by your Northern Cabal. For actions and comments like this, may the soul of Lord Lugard never, never Rest in Peace for that forceful Amalgamation in l9l4.”

    Elsewhere much of the reactions to the senator’s claim have been no less supportive than those of the three above. One of the most interesting, I believe, came from “General” Ateke Tom – yes, he of the war-lord fame from the Niger Delta. The reader, I am sure, can readily recall that only last August, the respected New York Wall Street Journal, published a damning article which exposed how he, along with four other former war-lords, received the princely sum of $40 million a year from the Presidency, ostensibly to stop oil theft in the region. Ateke Tom’s share of the fees, the newspaper said, was $3.8 million.

    The scandal, obviously, was not just that the payments were under the table. Worse, no services were ever delivered in return; oil experts have said there have been more oil thefts in recent years than at any time before these payments of what was clearly protection money to the ex war-lords.

    In a full page advert in Thisday of March 11, “General” Tom, writing as “Leader” of IZON IKEMI which he described as “a nascent group of concerned Nigerians drawn from the Ijaw speaking states of the Niger Delta,” praised Senator Enang for his “patriotism” in exposing the way the villainous Northerners have cornered the oil wealth that did not belong to them.

    IZON IKEMI, he said, “heartily commends the patriotism of Senator Ita Enang… for exposing the deceit in the oil sector of our nation.”

    Senator Enang may be a hero and a patriot for many in making his claim, but anyone who really cared for the truth would never have needed more than to merely scratch the surface to see that his claim was anything but the truth.

    The simplest way to get the most authentic facts is to get the oil authorities, specifically the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), to publish the list of all the oil wells we have in this country and their ownership. If I want to prove the senator wrong, one reader said quite sensibly, I should get my facts and publish it.

    Well, I tried ahead of today’s column and made little headway; Dr Omar Farouk, a spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said his department didn’t have the figures and directed me to the DPR. I called the director, Mr Osten Olorunsola, several times on the 14th of this month and got no response. I then sent him a text identifying myself and requesting for the list. I was yet to hear from him as at the time of this writing. And I wasn’t really surprised; a mutual friend, who is an expert in the oil business, had asked for the same information and was refused.

    However, even without DPR publishing the list there has been sufficient information in the public domain for any sensible person to see through our senator’s mendacity. For example, back in 2007, Mr. Basil Ominyi, then Chief Executive Officer of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, by far the country’s biggest oil producer, told Corporate Nigeria, an annual guide for business, trade and investment in the country partly sponsored by NNPC, that his company produced over 40% of Nigeria’s oil and supplied 75% of its commercial gas. He also claimed that the company’s mining area of 31,000 square kilometres “contained more than half of Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves.”

    In the same interview, he pointed out that NNPC’s joint venture with his company, along with similar ventures with ExxonMobil,ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips – all three from the U.S. – Eni from Italy and Total SA from France, accounted for nearly 95% of Nigeria’s oil production. The ownership structure of all six joint ventures is between 55 and 60% in favour of NNPC. In terms of management control, Northern presence in all six is virtually nil, or at best marginal.

    Commonsense – which, alas, seems so uncommon in our essentially malicious politics – should instruct us that the dominance of our oil industry by the giant oil multinationals has left less than 10% for ownership by our local oil companies. Anyone who imagines that Northerners controlled 83% of this leftover from the Big Boys need only refer to the list of the indigenous oil companies and their owners which Olusegun Adeniyi, the authoritative and well-informed Thursday columnist of Thisday and the chairman of its editorial board, published last week, to see that his imagination is precise only that – imagination, and a wild one at that.

    Before Segun, Government, an in-depth investigative weekly publication in the stable of Leadership newspapers which looks like a cross between a Sunday newspaper and a newsmagazine, had published a three-page list of all the actors in the oil business, including the multinationals, the local companies, the service companies and the drillers, etc, in its edition of February 4. Even the most casual examination of the lists in the two newspapers will give the lie to our senator’s claim of the ownership structure of the country’s oil wells.

    The motive for that lie is obvious, or should be, to any reasonable observer of our politics; divert the public’s attention from the bigger culprits for the short, nasty and brutish lives of the hapless people of the oil producing Niger Delta. And the bigger culprits are no other than the leaders of the region themselves, including, of course, our distinguished senator and the ex war-lords of the region like Ateke Tom, who have been living it off in Abuja and other big cities of the country since the declaration of amnesty for the region’s militants several years ago.

    Few Nigerians have captured the level of culpability of the region’s elite for its woes than, first, Chief Edwin Clark, the self-declared leader of the region, and second, Chief James Ibori, the jailed ex-governor of Delta State.

    More than five years ago, Chief Clark told The Nation (August 11, 2007) that the governors of the region were the most corrupt in the country. “Nigerians,” he said, “are worried why the recent activities of EFFC resulting in the arrest and trial of certain governors in the country have not affected the former governors of the Niger Delta who were known all over the country and the world as the most corrupt and investigated governors by the EFFC.”

    Long before Chief Clark, the jailed Chief Ibori provided probably the biggest insight into the cause of the Niger Delta’s predicament of poverty in oil riches. Lamenting the self-exile in far-awayAustralia of Dr. Eric Opia as the fugitive boss of OMPADEC, the precursor of NDDC, the governor told the since rested Post Express (July 11, 2001) “Our son Opia is on the run today. Those that stole OMPADEC money are still walking the streets. Those that ate OMPADEC money are not from the Niger Delta. If Opia took money actually and embezzled it, yes he is our son. The money is still within the region.”

    Clearly, it is this inexplicable attitude among the likes of Chief Ibori that only those from the Niger Delta should be free to steal the region blind, and not any perceived control of the region’s oil wealth by outsiders, which is the principal source of the region’s predicament.

    Those who all too readily jumped at Senator Enang’s blatant mendacity to blame outsiders for the problems of the Niger Delta should be honest enough to accept that scapegoating others is no solution to those problems.

     

  • Not a shouting matter

    Not a shouting matter

    The recent news that Adams Oshiomhole, the Edo State governor, and Mohammed Bello Adoke, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, verbally assaulted each other at the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, may have come as a big surprise. A hot argument had ensued between both public officials when they met at the State House for the Council of State meeting on the recent Presidential pardon granted to some VIP ex-convicts. The bone of contention was the shoddy handling of the investigation of the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, Oshiomhole’s Private Secretary. It almost got out of hand but for the quick intervention of those who witnessed the ugly scene.

    Trouble reportedly started when the AGF told the governor that Oyerinde’s matter should not have been referred to his office as it was a state matter. Oshiomhole said he was enraged because the AGF seemed not to have respect for his office. According to him, Adoke should have directed his anger at the Deputy Inspector General of Police that referred the case to the federal level.

    Oshiomhole said: “And I asked him who should know better? If the Deputy Inspector General of Police refers a matter that he ought to have referred to the state to the federal Attorney General, who is the one dragging him into the matter? Who is the one politicising the matter? And I said if he has any complaint he should complain to the DIG who referred the case to him.”

    Oshiomhole was not done yet: “The point is that you know some of these guys. I am a governor. I am elected. A minister is appointed. He has to respect my office even if he doesn’t respect my person…We also complained that this matter ought to have been referred to Edo State DPP not federal because it is a state offence, committed in Edo State. I am doing my best to raise the issue because that is the least I owe someone who gave his life. And someone else who doesn’t think life is important is attacking me. For him, it is a matter to trivialize and to joke about.”

    When he was cornered by journalists on his way out of the Villa after the meeting, all Adoke could say was that he had no reason not to accord due respect to a sitting governor like Oshiomhole. He said, “I will not disregard his office. He is my personal friend. I have the highest respect for him. He is a governor of this country but I will not join issues with him. I did not trivialize his office and I have no reason to trivialize his office.”

    Ever since the news broke out, I have watched the video clips of the altercation several times. It is very shameful to say the least. When one considers that such a thing could happen right inside the executive chamber of the Presidential Villa where important decisions that could make or break this great country are taken, then it becomes an abomination altogether. During those fleeting moments the altercation lasted, it was as if the sanctity of the chamber was desecrated.

    In the first place, there was no reason for such an altercation to have occurred. If, as the governor rightly said, the AGF walked up to him where he was seated and said that the Edo State AG should have known what to do when the Police referred the murder file to the AGF for advice, Adoke could have done this on a lighter mood, not jokingly as the governor claimed. By this, the AGF’s action could be interpreted to mean that he only wanted to open a window of opportunity to explain certain things to the governor.

    Perhaps, the AGF thought that he could put the governor on the same page with him and shed light on the Oyerinde’s issue as a way of breaking the logjam in which the case is now enmeshed. It thus appears as if, rather than be calm and allow the AGF to unfold his real intention to him, the governor suddenly grew impatient and blew up the whole thing. I am sure that Adoke could not have been joking with such a sad, sensitive and controversial issue.

    When Oshiomhole took the Police to task in Abuja recently over the shoddy manner the investigation into Oyerinde’s murder has been carried out, this column celebrated the governor for his doggedness in the pursuit of justice for his slain personal secretary. However, this latest show by the governor looks more like the product of uncontrolled temperament, which cannot be excused. Therefore, my take on this avoidable altercation is that, in as much as the AGF publicly said he had “no reason not to accord due respect to a sitting governor like Oshiomhole” and that “he will not join issues with him”, the governor should have reciprocated his gesture in a more cordial manner. As they say,”respect begets respect”. If a governor can ‘vibrate’ on or holler at a sitting AGF like Oshiomhole did, how will he treat those who are genuflecting before him in Benin City?

    The governor said while he was elected, the AG was appointed and so what? Who cares? The governor has a duty to perform just like the AG also has a duty, nay, a daunting task to perform as well. The issue of trying to accord one more importance than the other does not arise. Both are very sensitive and important positions. Perhaps, if you engage lawyers on this issue, they might want to say that the position of a federal attorney-general carries more responsibility than that of a governor, but that is not the intention of this piece. What this piece is all about is to point out the fact that the governor may have over-dramatised his pent-up anger against the AGF. That was why he may have scuttled the AG’s good intention.

    I think the governor should have been patient enough to allow the AGF conclude his speech when he approached him. I do not believe that the AGF was out to trivialise the case of Oyerinde. He was probably trying to look at the issue from a lighter mood which the governor resented and it blew up in his face.

    After the entire scenario had died down, Adoke refused to be ‘tricked’ by anxious journalists who had expected him to fume like the governor did. He simply maintained that the governor was a “personal friend” and that he had the highest respect for him. I doff my hat for him for that. But if it is true that Oshiomhole is, indeed, Adoke’s friend, then it means, perhaps, that the governor could have possibly woken up from the wrong side of the bed on that fateful day and that accounted for his sudden burst of anger.

    A lot of things are happening in the polity these days such that can work up many a chief executive of a state. Administering a state as tempestuous and volatile as Edo State might not be a tea party after all. So many issues are in contention for attention. The civil servants are at war over the appointment of someone out of the civil service as a permanent secretary. The governor had recently turned down the request of the Minister of Information to open the State’s vault for the purpose of hosting the jamboree called “good governance tour”. Many other issues like that could be a positive source of migraine for a governor.

    It is quite shameful that even at the position of a governor, justice is still elusive in this case. That goes to show the level of rot in our Justice system in this country. And Adoke alone cannot be held responsible for that. It is just as important that all Nigerians, and not only Oshiomhole, should strive to get to the root of Oyerinde’s murder without making real and imaginary enemies at every turn and bus stop.

  • Patriotism, NYSC and ‘True Federalism’; ‘Victims Compensation Fund’

    Patriotism, NYSC and ‘True Federalism’; ‘Victims Compensation Fund’

    N886.4 billion distributed in February! Meanwhile, no books in schools and unrepentant failure of power supply. We are so rich in our poverty! Shame on us! But at least the almajiris are sitting on the best school furniture in Nigerian schools.

    Apparently suggesting that the NYSC should be scrapped is ‘unpatriotic’. The ‘Unpatriotic List’ is long. It includes not to have true federalism and to have only 20 LGAs in Lagos State Vs 77 in Kano/Jigawa States but who cares about those aspects of patriotism! Changes will not get through a ‘patriotic’ National Assembly. NYSC, under the guise of ‘patriotism’, serviced educational, health and other needs of all but especially so-called disadvantaged states at a cheap rate, allowing billions to be stolen. Today’s resultant decay has given an excuse for terrorism and arises from yesterday’s failures to develop in spite of funds at each point in our fiscal history. In human terms, patriotic NYSC members are often treated little better than cheap labour, cajoled into accepting wretched accommodation and feeding during orientation as their ‘patriotic duty’ and in ‘the national interest’.

    Remember the hundreds of patriotic parents sending their patriotic starry-eyed sons and daughters to go for NYSC only to have them return in coffins. Sometimes they arrive in those coffins with their throats slit merely for being NYSC members attempting to serve their country patriotically. And we are not at war, so they were not sent into ‘enemy territory’ but into a neighbouring state! What compensation do you give those bereaved and grieving parents whose children’s goals have been so sadly truncated? One who has lost a husband or wife is a widow or widower and one who has lost both parents is an orphan, but there is no word in most languages for one who has lost a child. Those parents will weep fresh tears today as they read this small honour done to their children, forgotten by a country struggling and killing its children in order to become a nation.

    Where is the ‘NYSC Memorial Wall’ listing and honouring fallen NYSC members? I did my NYSC in 1975 and we lost comrades. I am here with family and children but they have been dead since 1975, 38 years. What impact has that loss had on their parents and siblings and economic loss to Nigeria? Does anyone think about these things? When you get in your car, bus or walk down a road, it may be the last time due to no fault of your own, no matter how patriotic you are! Our police and soldiers are dying in greater numbers than their colleagues posted to war-torn Mali, in shootouts, drive-by attack, robberies, bomb blasts and as escorts for bullion vans and VIPs.

    Money and other material compensation acts do not substitute for a life needlessly lost or the pain inflicted by such a loss on the family. Prevention of loss is better than compensation. But for many, compensation is all they can see as a survival strategy for their families. However, if compensation is big enough and regular, it becomes helpful in paying the daily maintenance utility and education survival bills of those left behind. What compensation actually comes to the family survivors of the victims of the robberies and bombs? What comfort does that give to the junior brothers and sisters of the slain who in their own turn are now being called up to serve NYSC in the same states where their brothers and sisters fell victim to ‘unpatriotic actions’ of others, actions which can be triggered at any time? One-off compensation, one dose cure, even N1 or 10million, is inadequate. We pay ridiculously huge salaries and outrageous disengagement allowances, and even life-time pensions and salaries to convicted or pardoned four-year office holders. Therefore government and NASS owe NYSC and other victims of bomb blast and violence in this ‘The Undeclared War’ in Nigeria regular stipends to enable siblings and children and old parents achieve some measure of physical and fiscal comfort.

    Such an all-embracing ‘Victims Compensation Fund’ would be a welcome act of ‘patriotism’ by government and NASS. It would need to be renewed every year by N1b or more budgetary allocation and run by public/private competent hands without huge governance, not by ‘pension scam’ government officials. Meanwhile NYSC is sending unarmed young men and women into violence-prone and armed areas-just because there are Nigerians living there. It is unpatriotic to send them into harm’s way as the uniform, title and job mark them as targets. The suggestion of scrapping NYSC may attract attention to the NYSC to provide better safety measures and protection and to get members deployed in relatively safe areas. Do the NYSC officials and those complaining against NYSC being scrapped send their own children into such unsafe areas? Perhaps not! If the NYSC cannot be run better and safer, then it would be patriotic to reappraise it and perhaps restructure it or suspend it in some states or scrap it as having outlived its usefulness. One of such reappraisal suggestions is that it should justify its existence and the cost in lives.

    Meanwhile, let us salute those currently in NYSC, pray for their safe return, set up state and national memorials to ‘NYSC Heroes Past’ and initiate political strategies to legitimise and legalise a ‘Victims Compensation Fund or Foundation’. To many heroes past and present are dying in vain.

  • Our new reality

    Our new reality

    With two well-timed knockouts on the nation’s anti-corruption pretence all within one week, the hapless citizens of this country may have finally been let into the innards of the goodluck seduction. Of course, you know what I’m talking about; the sensational pardon granted Messrs Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Shettima Bulama and Chichi Ashwe by the President Goodluck Jonathan.

    To cap it all was the icing on the presidential infamy; weekend’s N6 billion cash haul at fund raising event of Jonathan’s church in Lagos.

    To imagine that it was not nearly a month that I wrote on this page about winning as both addictive and intoxicating, and how this President, once coy mistress of power has since mastered the intricate game of decoy. Today, those who doubted the President’s resolve to cart all the trophies home, or his determination to carve the field of play in his own image only needs to to look at the streams of trophies rolling in. Unfortunately, it seems that the nation has a lot less to worry about the president’s trophies now as his infinite capacity to bruise the nation’s psyche, something that must be seen as doubly troubling.

    Troubling because the nation is being reminded yet again, that those invested with the authority of state have very little appreciation of right and wrong, and the notion of office as public trust.

    To start with, it is doubtful that anyone was fooled by the federal character appearance of the pardon largesse. As we have since seen, not only was the Presidency less than elegant in bunching of “goats” with “sheep”, its officials have since given the game away: its all about the the self-styled Governor-General of the Ijaw nation! And it may well be connected to the politics of 2015! To make things beautiful and plausible, the issue has been reduced to the novel arithmetic of crude: the net difference between 700,000 and 2.4 million barrels of crude daily more than equal a DSP pardon!

    It seems to me however that this particular pardon undermines the very basis of the punishment. This is the the point missed by those who maintain the legality of the president’s action. Yes, Alams and company have paid for their crimes. Assets said to be proceeds of their crimes have been forfeited to the state. So what? The question is what lessons are we sending to potential, albeit privileged criminals, if not that a presidential pardon can undo all things?

    Now, I move on to the presidential fund-raiser for the St Stephen’s Anglican Deanery and Youth Development Centre, Otuoke, the President’s home town, held at the high brow Civic Centre, Victoria Island Lagos at the weekend. It was a classic in presidential extortion – and that is to put things mildly.

    What is a deanery and youth development centre that would attract N6 billion cash haul in a single fund-raiser? That obviously sets a new limit in financial obscenity, a new low in public morality. No doubt, the President was merely following a trail earlier blazed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he coralled the nation’s captains of industry to donate into his Presidential Library Project.

    Just like the Obasanjo donor, it was the list of familiar faces: assortment of friends of those in power, the league of government contractors, the club of influence pedlers and their likes.

    Prince Arthur Eze alone is said to have donated N1.8 billion. How much did the business tycoon pay as income tax in the last three years? The Board of Inland Revenue should be interested in finding out.

    Jonathan’s Man Friday, Godswill Akpabio would not be overshadowed; he doled out N230 million on behalf of the PDP governors forum. Liyel Imoke, who only recently came back from medical vacation also chipped in N100 million also on behalf of his South-south governors.

    Whose money? Tax payers money in the service of the president’s private project. And all of this in a moment of executive impunity.

    While I don’t claim to know what a church in a village stands to benefit from a N6 billion youth centre, a village which the President himself conceded that his children may not even live, it seems to me that the project speaks only to the vanity of the presidential office. Here, it does not even make things better that God’s name is being dragged into an exercise that speaks both of the vanity of men and the pervasive stench of corruption in the land.

    Again, the president may have done no wrong; indeed, it seems inevitable that we are going to be regaled with the defence of the shameful fundraiser. We are sure going to be told of how God loves a cheerful giver, how the amount donated are for worthy causes.

    It does not matter. The hapless Otuoke folks would have something of a memoriam for their beloved son’s sojourn in presidential office, however, it takes nothing from the immorality of it all.

    Of course, the nation has a lot to worry about. Today, hunger stalks in the land, the Boko Haram is on rampage in the North-east and the North-central; the power situation has since relapsed.

    While those in the corridors of power celebrate shadows, the ordinary folks in the street lives with the reality of denial. But these come nowhere the daily assault to what they know as public morality, their sense of right and wrong.

    That, courtesy of GEJ, is the new reality we have to live with.