The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Europeans, not whites please

    Super Eagles chief coach Stephen Keshi was exceptional in Monday’s interview on DSTV. He chose his words. He acknowledged everyone’s contributions towards the February 10 feat at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    Keshi observed decorum as he responded to key questions. Rather than compound issues, he offered diplomatic answers. He raised the hope of a brighter relationship with his employers when he apologised over what he termed ‘annoying’ answers of the past. That is the way forward, Big Boss. Do not be deceived by those urging you to discountenance your employer’s contributions.

    One was particularly interested in what Keshi’s remarks would be on fielding Sunday Mba and the success story that the Warri Wolves striker struck in the country’s achievements.

    Keshi tacitly evaded that the question. Instead, he chose to look at the home-based kids as a group. That was commendable. But it is instructive to state here that the purported meeting that led to Keshi’s decision to throw in the towel came from the fact that his employers allegedly forced him to field Mba, Kenneth Omeruo and Onazi. I had thought that the coach would clear the air on this issue. He chose to wave it aside. I know that he would return to it soon. His body language suggested that he would spill the beans again.

    The story was that his employer didn’t see any reason why Joseph Yobo would play ahead of Omeruo. They were miffed that he played Omeruo at left back when he ought to have been fielded in the heart of the defence. I had thought that Omeruo’s inclusion arose from the gap created by the red card which Ambrose Efe had in the first game. There is more to this aspect of the story and I promise to unravel it.

    While in Johannesburg, it was disclosed that the coach’s employers wanted Onazi to replace a fumbling Igiebor in the central midfield along with Mba and Mikel. The question many would ask is- why did they have to recruit the coach if they could do his job?

    This expose is meant to open up what transpired in the ill-tempered meeting. It remains to be seen when Keshi would respond to some of these stories. Many of the board members had challenged Keshi to explain why he didn’t field these guys in earlier matches.

    Like in the game of draught, it is those watching that notice the players’ flaws. It was good that Keshi took their advice. He could have rejected their directives.

    As the interview progressed, it was quite interesting watching Victor Ikpeba challenge his former captain with certain facts. It was vintage Ikpeba. He was quite a stubborn lad as a player but massively talented.

    However, the flaw in Keshi’s brilliant interview was his consistent reference to foreign coaches as whites. It had a tinge of xenophobia, a subtle racist slant that belies his hatred for whites, when in actual sense he meant Europeans.

    One would have thought that a celebrity such as Keshi should have a public relations person who would groom him through pre-interview sessions to purge him of such irritating words as whites instead of Europeans.

    Would anyone really say Europeans are whites as the colour indicates? I don’t think so. I would rather that Keshi used the term Europeans, which makes more sense than the xenophobic word- whites.

    Aside this flaw, Keshi showed that he had learnt from his sojourn in Europe.

    Keshi referred to Aminu Maigari as his boss and friend. But his revelation left gaps about other members of the board. He held back for other members, although he did say that it was his employers’ responsibility to arrange friendly games and other logistics for him.

    True, but board members, such as Christopher Green, travelled with the squad throughout their preparations. No mention was made of his contributions? Did I hear you say that Ade has started again? No; this is stating the obvious because we must resolve the feud, if we truly want to move forward. Already, the board’s vice president, Mike Umeh, has challenged Keshi to name the two members. Umeh left unanswered what would happen if the coach doesn’t oblige. Fragile peace or peace of the graveyard, if you ask me.

    Keshi talked about two board members who gave him hell in South Africa. I don’t need an oracle to spot Green and Emeka Inyama, two men who have followed the game with passion with Sharks FC of Port Harcourt and Enyimba FCof Aba, before handling Abia Warriors.

    Green and Inyama know their onions. Perhaps, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, Mike Umeh and Deji Tinubu are as exposed as they are in the game. But Green and Inyanma played the game even though not to Keshi’s level. Some of their tips could be handy.

    In the spirit of true reconciliation, Keshi should embrace Green and Inyama. It doesn’t make him the weaker person. It would portray him as a mature man with a large heart and as an incredible team player. Time to sheathe the sword is now.

    The biggest lesson that Keshi should learn is how to be receptive to suggestions, no matter how poorly or rudely they were delivered. Hitherto, this writer received calls from the Big Boss.

    For many people, this writer hounded the former Eagles chief coach Samson Siasia because he wanted Keshi. Do they still hold this position now that Keshi has delivered the Africa Cup of Nations diadem? I doubt it.

    “Ade cannot change. He attacks every Nigerian coach. He wants a European coach for the Eagles.” These are some of the potshots thrown at this writer. I support foreign coaches because of their exploits with our national teams- until this feat by Keshi. No apologies for my position because I want the best for my country.

    Even Keshi is not averse to employing European coaches. Such coaches must be the best, he says and I agree. Such tacticians as Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola etc. Why not? We have the cash.

    Keshi says he is prepared to learn from the best foreign coaches. That view tells the story of a man who wants to succeed. I hope that chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) watched the Monday night interview because we need a renowned European tactician to rejuvenate the body’s technical department. We need to define the way we want to play our football, using the finer qualities of the average Nigerian footballer.

    We need a football template that would be introduced to the youth at the grassroots such that it would be very easy to go to any of our age grade teams and pick a replacement(s) for any position in the Super Eagles. Nigerian football needs a style unique to us, like we see with Brazilians, Dutch, Germans, French and Spaniards.

    We could opt for the hybrid, but that initiative must come from renowned European coaches with a rich history of nurturing football nurseries. I wish Arsene Wenger were available for us. Perhaps either Harry Redknapp or Pep Guardiola would be the suitable option. I just wish they would come.

    Our footballers are talented, but they need to be taught the rudiments of the game at a much younger level. It hurts to see Eagles coaches teach our senior players how to control the ball and what side of the foot they should hit the ball with. These are elementary stuff taught at the academy levels, which are missing in our football system. Our local league is an eyesore. The state football federations don’t exist. We only hear of them when it is time to accompany the national teams to international competitions. They hardly have syncronised football programmes.

    The game is played in the state by government owned teams. Most of the state football federations’ chiefs lack the initiative to design programmes that would effectively engage the grassroots coaches and the players.

    A renowned European coach as our technical man would help train and retrain our coaches. It is true that Adegboye Onigbinde can man the position but he won’t earn the respect of our local coaches, some of who believe that his methods are not in sync with the modern time and that he needs to give way for the younger ones.

    Need I state how Onigbinde’s efforts have been frustrated by coaches that he even groomed as players? Nigeria is the only country where anyone can present himself as a coach and he gets the job. No standards are set. It is unbelievable that Nigerian coaches are in cadre C, the equivalent of primary six in coaching in Africa. It is not good enough, irrespective of what Keshi has achieved with the Eagles in South Africa.

  • The pope and African dinosaurs

    The pope and African dinosaurs

    What was going through the minds of Africa’s political dinosaurs as Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on February 11? What were the Mugabes of Africa thinking as the Catholic pontiff said he was stepping down from his exalted office?

    Many are honoured to kiss his papal gold ring. Multitudes struggle to touch him.  Amongst Catholics, there is a strong feeling of being lifted upon being blessed by the Pope. Yet, a great deal of that gave way as Pope Benedict ceased to be the head of the Catholic Church on Thursday.

    There was more he left behind. His sovereignty was chief of them. Although the Vatican is essentially a city, making it the world’s smallest nation, yet it is self-governing all the same, and the pope is its head. He answers to no council chairman or city mayor. There is no state governor to dictate to him, and no president or prime minister to sanction him. The pope is sovereign. When he travels the world, presidents receive him warmly and listen when he speaks. Millions across the world hold him dear as their spiritual father.

    What were Africa’s long-reigning despots thinking that Monday morning as Pope Benedict shocked the Catholic world and much of humanity with his decision to give up all the power and privileges?

    I can bet some of them may have concluded the Pope has lost his mind. Some within the Catholic fold have asked the Pope to rescind his decision, saying the head of the church does not traditionally resign. Indeed, no Pope stepped down in 600 years, which is why the Catholic world has been grappling with unusual challenges for two odd weeks now. One of those challenges is what Pope Benedict shall be called since Catholics are not used to a living ex-pontiff. Will he revert to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger? After some thinking, they have decided to call him Pope emeritus. The man himself has pledged “unconditional obedience” to his successor, forestalling another possible problem of loyalty.

    But I am certain that on February 11, the issues of post-Benedict XVI in the church were not on the minds of expired African leaders who have sworn to die in office rather than leave the scene.

    Pope Benedict XVI stepped down on account of old age and frailty which come in the way of effective discharge of duties. At 85, he is well aware that he lacks the energy of travel, of regular church supervision and of such other demanding responsibilities with which popes are saddled. He reckons that his office demands more than he can give. I also believe he places his health above the perks of office. More crucially, I think Pope Benedict was persuaded to let the whole world know that someone else can also do the job.

    All of that is nonsense to our sit-tight leaders whose time elapsed decades ago though they have chosen to hang on till death part them and the office they hold. At 70 they believe life has just started and that they can outrun a cheetah. At 80 they think there is none wiser who can lead the country better.  When they leave the plane of self-deceit, they descend into mindless corruption schemes. They design self-perpetuation plots to secure their ill-gotten wealth. These are the people who have made the continent a laughingstock among the nations and continents of the world. These walking relics of bygone ages have made a mockery of Africa and its people.

    By 2009 when he died in office, Omar Bongo was 74, more than half of which he spent in Gabon’s Government House as president. Within that time he had  changed the name of his hometown from Lewai to Bongoville and combined the office of president with those of defence, information, planning and prime minister, among others. He also managed to secure choice properties and assets in the sweetest parts of Europe. France was a favourite ground to show off his many acquisitions and his well-tailored trousers. He knew where to source high-heeled shoes to disguise his vertical challenge. Till his death, the official word was that he was fit as a fiddle.

    Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 71, has been ruling Equatorial Guinea since 1979 and is clearly Africa’s longest-serving president. His country is among the world’s biggest oil producers but his people are ranked among the poorest, while he is reckoned to be in the league of the richest. If he does not die in office, he is very likely to hand over to his son.

    Robert Mugabe, 89 last month, is easily Africa’s oldest non-monarch leader, though neither his country, Zimbabwe, nor the rest of the continent is proud of that. He looks destined to die in office. Paul Biya, 80 in February, has been in power since 1975, first as prime minister and then president.

    These are the dinosaurs of Africa, who, between them, have inspired other Africans to seek power and hold on to it until death do them part. We have seen enough of that reckless ambition in Nigeria, through the military days down to what we call democracy now.

    I have no experience of Catholicism but I believe the pope has left a good legacy. He preferred to shock his two billion congregation with the suddenness of his resignation rather than grieve them and himself with incapacitation. Our African dinosaurs know that they are unloved but do not care whether we weep or rejoice when they die in office. All they care about is themselves.

     

  • Financialism — A moral and ideological warning for world leaders in action

    Financialism — A moral and ideological warning for world leaders in action

    Next Thursday March 7 is the book launch of an unusual book by two unusual people, one a Nigerian and the other an American. The book is a rich synthesis of the unique life, career experience and contact of the co authors on the management of the global political economy illustrated with good stories and analogies. The stories especially remind one of ‘tales by the moonlight‘ which in the slogan of Hallmark Films are’ good stories well told ‘ to teach morality and inculcate wisdom. The book’s focus is on the political economy and how past, historical, ideological and philosophical efforts at making the global economy work to reduce poverty and inequalities have failed. This failure, the authors contend will continue unabated unless the present global trend and error of taking Financialism, which the authors call a corruption or negative mutation of capitalism as the ideological panacea for the world’s political and socio – economic ills, is immediately and urgently acknowledged and corrected.

    The title of the book is Financialism – Water from an empty well; How the financial System Drains the Economy. The authors are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former Governor of Lagos State, leader of ACN and an astute businessman; and Brian Browne, the former US Consul in Nigeria from 2003 to 2007 who has served as a diplomat widely in Africa and is a Columnist in this newspaper, The Nation. The Forewords to the book are by two global giants in their own right namely Professor Wole Soyinka the Nobel Laureate in Literature and the Reverend Jesse Jackson the former US presidential candidate who made the famous statement that ‘God is not finished with me yet‘ when he lost the bid for presidential candidature. The two forewords which are rich in the experience of both well known warriors against poverty, oppression and man’s inhumanity to man, literally beg the reader to take time and the book to benefit from the practical, cerebral, real world, strong views of the authors on the running of the political economy. This is a book written by co authors who were bold enough to admit that even though they are not professional economists or planners they are not afraid to affirm that both past and present economists have not been successful in theory and practice to get the world out of incessant and successive financial and economic crises.

    The book’s main thrust is that the market economy driven from Wall Street by greed is leading the world to another financial abyss so soon after the global meltdown of 2008 .The book argues that Wall Street and financial markets have claimed the top of the US ‘ business totem. ‘Wall Street and the financial houses became the new temple of the American Economy‘ and this has been achieved with the mischievous claim that this was the newest, productive and dynamic form of capitalism when it is indeed the face of financialism which the authors say is an assault on itself.

    It postulates that the real sector which produces goods and services in manufacturing has been abandoned by governments who now dance to the tune of invisible market forces dictated by the financial markets, its leaders and its products. It is this false recipe that the apostles of global financialism have put forward as the blue print for the global economies to adopt to survive financial crisis and the co authors are shouting foul in Financialism.

    Comparison abound between Nigeria and the US in the book. While the US is said to be on the decline because of its arrogance and the thinking of its citizenry that it has the best products and is God’s own country, Nigeria is seen as never having tasted prosperity; and has always been wallowing in poverty because of poor leadership; and the fact that the Nigerian nation skipped the manufacturing stage whilst the US is the first post – industrial nation in the world. According to the authors ‘America has become apostate to its own ethic of hard work, solid savings and low debt. It forgot that debt which comes cheaply is the most hard to pay ‘Americans, according to the book worship money and no one can be successful politically in the US without being obliged to fund raisers who are beholden to the financial system and its sponsors from Wall Street.

    Even President Barak Obama was not immune to scrutiny as the authors correctly predicted that he would be reelected as he desired because he is part of the establishment and raised funds there from , and thus would be able to do scant reform; and the book was written well before the reelection. Which shows the predictive foresight of the co authors.

    My intention here is not to do a book review but to draw readers attention to the book albeit in the form of a me and my big mouth manner. This is because I am really fascinated and excited by the amalgam of fresh ideas and stories in the book whose main concern is on the global political economy, its past and present management and the course in which it should be directed to achieve sustainable global prosperity and social equity. The book provides ample research material for this column with its name of Global Economy and Politics. The book also is a lesson in constructive criticism, as it provides suggestions to both Nigeria and the US on the way forward after averting the powerful and all -consuming ideological ambush of Financialism.

    All the same I cannot resist the temptation to put the book in the context of this column especially with regard to events of the past week. The book Financialism should be a companion to world leaders who genuinely want to lead their people aright and into prosperity especially in this age and time of austerity and youth unemployment which are the hallmarks and by products of blatant Financialism as exposed by Asiwaju Tinubu and Brian Browne in their book. I would recommend the book to South Korea’s new first lady president Park Guen – Hye who was sworn in this week and who promised to recreate the economic prosperity her late father a military dictator Park Chung Hee achieved in making S Korea one of the Asian Tigers through export driven growth and prosperity decades ago.

    I recommend the book to the Castro Brothers who have ruled Cuba between them since 1950 when they sent Baptista packing from Havana with the illustrious Che Guevara leading the attack. This week Raul Castro – who recently took over as president from his senior brother , the ailing Cuban leader Fidel – was elected for another five years till 1918 by the Cuban National Assembly. Raul Castro has said he would step down then and has made provision for a successor if he did not make it to 1918. Significantly Raul told the Cuban Assembly that he was not appointed into office not to introduce capitalism but to protect and promote socialism. While that may sound ambiguous it still shows how far from rapport Cuba is from its big neighbor and exporter of capitalism, nay financialism, the USA.

    The book is recommended for the leaders of Italy especially with the hung parliament from last Sunday’s election, that has made the world to see Italy as ungovernable. To me, aside from the center left party that claimed only the lower house, two real winners emerged from the last Italian elections for different and opposing reasons and that explains why they cannot ever form any coalition .

    The first winner is Beppe Grillo a comedian that Italian took seriously because he said politicians are useless and have run Italy aground and the people voted for his party – the Five Star Movement and its candidates -even though they know they lack the experience to govern. The second winner is the epitome of the discredited Italian politician that Grillo campaigned against, Silvio Berlusconi now the Houdini of modern Italian politics. The wily fox Berlusconi simply bent in the direction of the storm of anger against his past political and personal record and wooed the electorate by condemning the reforms of austerity measures with a promise of tax refund, and the Italian electorate got hooked and returned him and his center right party – People of Freedom – to relevance on the edge of political extinction. Surely, these two unique Italian leaders who are part of the present world leaders in action, will benefit immensely from Financialism – Water from an empty well, by the co – authors – consummate politician and leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and fellow columnist, Brian Browne.

  • Dispensable lives

    Mother Nature could be beautiful, kind and nurturing, but she also has her dark moments. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes, cyclones are all natural disasters that have the gargantuan capacity to destroy communities and indeed cities. The biggest most recent natural disaster was the Haiti earthquake in 2010 where an estimated 316,000 people were killed by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and a minimum of 52 aftershocks. As devastating as these events were, they were not preventable because they happened naturally.

    But when disasters are caused by man, it is inexcusable. Mankind has frequently created catastrophes that have devastated the immediate environment and taken countless innocent lives. The effects of chemical or radioactive spills are especially horrific to a person’s physical and mental state of health. The adverse effects resulting from chemicals are known to evoke a wide spectrum of biological responses in people, depending upon the extent of their exposure and its potential to interact with the person’s anatomical structures and physiological functions. These effects could finally result in clusters of disease or instantaneous death.

    That is why when I shockingly learnt of the alleged dumping of harmful waste by the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KPRC), the NNPC subsidiary in Rido community of Chikun LGA, Kaduna State, I was appalled. The community of Rido is about half a kilometre from KRPC with an estimated 30,000 people residing there. But between June 10 and 14, 2012, a powdery, dusty substance was dumped by contractors that were hired by the KRPC. Almost immediately, two human deaths were reported with a high death toll of dogs and chickens within the vicinity. At least six more deaths were reported within two weeks of this alleged callous crime; many children were admitted into the community’s only hospital and clinic. Many villagers experienced respiratory tract problems, as the fumes they inhaled were toxic and caused incessant, severe coughing. Even though children and animals alike had gone to the waste dump to pick wood and other things, those that did not go near the dump site experienced severe symptoms as the wind blew the powdery substance to nearby distances. The village head, nurses that work in the community and eyewitnesses have clarified the above facts.

    The proprietor of Biams Integrated Farms, a farm located 500m from the vicinity of the waste dump, recorded the loss of 700 chickens in less than three hours, within four days of the waste’s dumping on their poultry farm. Staff employed at the farm complained of headaches and bloated stomachs. Justifiably, the matter is now in court and it would be inexcusable for the legal system not to take this matter with the seriousness it deserves. KINGS (Kaduna Integrity Groups), an NGO, has on behalf of the Rido community taken the matter up in court and a legal battle has been in the works since last year. Abdullahi Umar Ladan, leader of KINGS, has repeatedly called on the relevant authorities to come to the aid of the people in Rido Community by avoiding another illegal dumping of any toxic waste.

    A veterinary doctor of Biams Integrated Farms, Abdul Ganiyu, spoke about the high mortality rate experienced with poultry on the farm. He also described some of the symptoms experienced by villagers, who described the smell of the waste as “having a tear-gas effect”. The victims spoke about taking painful breaths from the fumes of the waste.

    Despite the fact that the waste has long been evacuated, residents of the community are still suffering from the effects of this traumatic event. The KEPA (Kaduna Environmental Protection Agency) has also confirmed that industrial waste was dumped in Rido community when KRPC refurbished some of its facilities. KEPA had informed KRPC that any waste to be dumped has to be done only with official clearance from KEPA, as industrial waste is a specialized waste and there are usually specific sites where these are dumped — far away from community settlements. There have been futile promises by the affected government agencies to look fully into the matter but, till date, no impactful action has been taken on behalf of the people of this longsuffering community. The KRPC has continuously denied any misappropriate action taken by them, claiming that any dumping of waste was conducted by contractors. If indeed toxic waste was dumped by KRPC, then there need to be accountability by the organization as well as adequate compensation for the victims.

    Whatever the facts, a chemical incident has resulted as an unexpected, uncontrolled release of a chemical from its containment. The WHO defines a public- health incident as “where two or more members of the public are exposed (or threatened to be exposed) to a chemical.” In a majority of cases, it’s an acute release where the exposure and dose do not rise quickly and public health measures are not taken so promptly, even though the public- health concern can emerge suddenly and acutely. Chemicals enter our body through the eyes, skin, lung or digestive tract. The rate varies from different chemicals and the concentration of a chemical as well as length of time of exposure can have varying but ultimately damaging effects.

    So how do we protect our people and environment from exposure to these chemical disasters? The federal government should set up procedures and organizations to ensure that the public- health management of any chemical incident is effective and comprehensive. In the case of the Rido community, it is apparent that the safety measures put in place were not adequate enough to protect them. At the local level, public- health authorities need to identify situations where chemical incidents could occur and assess the likely risks to exposed people, property and the environment. There should be facilities for emergency plan development and implementation. This means well- stocked pharmacies within a clinic, functional ambulances and highly trained staff attached to the clinics.

    Vulnerability assessment, also known as community risk assessment (CRA) in the field of chemical incident management, is an assessment of the potential effects of a chemical incident in the local area. This is composed of four major steps: identification of hazardous chemical sites, identification of possible incident scenarios and exposure paths, identification of vulnerable populations, facilities and environments, and lastly estimation of health impact of potential chemical incidents and the requirements for health-care facilities sensitized on the dangers of such. There should also be proper monitoring of vulnerable areas with emergency phone lines available in preparation for any chemical incident.

    In April 2010, a Maesrk Line vessel, “MV Nashville” was apprehended by the Nigerian Ports Authority. It was filled with toxic waste. In June 2010, a ship, “MV Gumel”, was detained in Lagos with several containers of toxic waste. Similarly, in 1988, radioactive waste was dumped in Koko, Delta State. The list seems endless. Ironically, in all these cases, the federal government sought substantial compensation for these crimes. There should not be double standard in how the crime of toxic waste dumping is investigated.

    Since it is proven that chemical waste has a long-lasting impact on our society and environment, all potential victims are entitled to compensation. Sadly, there can be no compensation for those innocent adults and children that lost their lives in 2012 in Rido community. A community’s basic right to coexist in peace and lead happy, healthy and productive lives has forever been blemished by the incident of chemical waste dump.

    No matter how powerful or influential an organization is, no one has the right to play God with innocent people’s lives. And if that unfortunate gamble is indeed taken, then, the culprits should be ready to not only face the wrath of God himself but be accountable to the proper authorities within the confines of our judicial system

     

  • Memo to the ‘resurrected’ First Lady(2)

    Memo to the ‘resurrected’ First Lady(2)

    And what in the world do they mean by tagging you a murderer of truth? They said you looked at them straight in the face and danced through your lies to the embrace of your husband. They wondered why it took you close to four months to come out with the half-truth, knowing that you never told anyone what you were actually treated for. In that split moment of self-glorification, the truth that had been hidden for months hit us like thunderbolt. By the time you finished the sermon on how you were brought back from the dead, you left us searching for the appropriate words to describe your conduct. Some called you a despicable liar. But I believe that was too harsh. I’d rather put it mildly by saying you were simply being economical with the truth. That’s a nicer way of saying it. It is a special privilege that Nigerian citizens accord top citizens; we are a grateful nation and we dare not accuse the highly-placed of lying from both sides of the mouth. For three harrowing months, you twisted logic and foisted the most incongruous illogic on us. I’ll explain, Ma.

    But first, your words when you mounted the pulpit on that innocent Sunday: “I actually died; I passed out for more than a week. My intestine and tummy were opened. I am not Lazarus but my experience was similar to his own. My doctors said all hope was lost.

    “A black doctor in London who is with us in this service was flown in when the situation became critical. It was God himself in His infinite mercy that said I would return to Nigeria. God woke me up after seven days. I know that some people somehow leaked the information that I was dead. They are people that I trust and rely on; to them, I was dead and I would never return to the country alive. Some of them even sold my things off.

    “I won’t say everything here. It is the Lord’s doing that I returned alive. When God says yes, nobody can say no. People are always afraid of operation (surgery) but in my own case, while my travail lasted, I was begging for it (surgery) after the third operation because I was going to the theatre every day. It was God who saw me through. I did eight or nine operations within one month. It was not an easy one.”

    Now, my observations: Take, for example, the belated comparison of your ordeal to that of Lazarus in the Bible. From Nigeria to the Bible; indeed, you and your ways have come a long way Ma. People said if it was indeed true that you ‘died” for seven days before God’s healing balm touched you through your doctors, then you missed the chance to praise Him by, first, baying for the blood of imaginary enemies on your arrival in Nigeria. They said you went off the cuff by blowing the trumpet of no surgery in Germany when you actually went under doctors’ scalpels more than eight times! They also noted that your confession was lacking in key details and they are asking salient questions—If it was not “that hospital”, which hospital did you stay for the six weeks? If it was not cosmetic surgeryor tummy tuck, what were you treated for? Was it food poisoning as being alleged or could it be common cold and catarrh or even toothache? You see, the ways of VIPS like you never cease to confound us.

    Madam, you missed the point if you think that those asking these questions do not wish you well. On the contrary, they are your true friends—the ones that would never think of selling off your things because you were on a sick bed. They are not even qualified to become business fronts to the high and mighty. All they want from you is to set good examples. They want to see a virtuous woman that would not take God’s mercy for granted. They said your ‘resurrection’ will only have meaning if you begin to truly touch lives positively. For your information, there are too many vulnerable children out there who have no access to basic healthcare; many Nigerians cannot afford treatment for common ailments like malaria and flu; countless others rely on self-medication; and many more have died due to poor healthcare facilities.

    Yet, in this country, billions of dollars are frittered on medical tourism by those who are expected to make the system work. White elephants are erected to satisfy the taste of those in power. These, to my mind, are the physical evidence of wasted billions. Has it ever crossed your mind Ma that that black medical doctor that was flown from the United Kingdom to save your life, and who was probably flown into the country with taxpayers’ money just that he could attend your extravagant thanksgiving ceremony, could have been working in any of our medical facilities if they have not been turned into glorified consulting clinics! It grew so bad that those who loot the public till now travel abroad to give their teeth a clean wash! State governors and their lackeys now retain the services of medical personnel in far-flung countries while the hospitals at home rot away. There is no doubting the fact that your famed ‘resurrection’ must have left more than a modest dent on the nation’s leaky treasury. We, the people, thank God for your life. And in doing that, we hope that we would not have to die before having the chance to exhale….like you just did even if yours was heavily garnished with tissues of lies!

    For the records Ma, I hope you understand that my piece is not an affront. Some people don’t like telling the truth, others don’t like hearing it. The truth hurts for a little while, but lies hurt forever. That you were given a second chance by the Ceeator demands something deeper and ennobling. A little bit of introspection should make it clearer. If only you can take a pulse and reflect on these things, you will understand that your decision to side-kick imaginary enemies devalues the essence of the office. However, in all this, the choice is yours for one lie often begets another. Good enough, truth is eternally triumphant. Make your choice, Ma!

  • Jonathan’s tactical error on Amaechi

    Jonathan’s tactical error on Amaechi

    There is hardly a better way to justify the saying that no condition is permanent. Six years ago, he gnashed his teeth in the cold after he was shut out by the powers that be in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Today, Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, is not just the beautiful bride, he holds the ace as far as the party’s survival is concerned.

    After his tenure as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, he threw his hat in the ring for the governorship primaries of the party in the state in the build-up to the 2007 general elections. He won the primaries, but with the culture of impunity that prevailed in the party while Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo held sway as President, he was shoved aside by the party’s hierarchy and his cousin, Celestine Omehia, was handed the party’s flag.

    Amaechi remained stoically calm as Omehia and other PDP stalwarts embarked on vigorous campaign for the governorship seat. But no sooner was Omehia declared the governor-elect than Amaechi headed for the courts to file a case against the PDP for wrongly substituting his candidacy with Omehia, and to ask that he be declared the elected governor of Rivers State. After a protracted legal battle, judgment was declared in Amaechi’s favour and Omehia had to vacate the seat for him.

    But he had hardly settled down in office when his first adversary emerged in the person of former Minister of Information and prominent Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clarke. The two had got along well until 2008 when Clarke’s clamour for amnesty for Niger Delta militants became their point of disagreement. Amaechi, known for being principled, vehemently opposed the clamour for amnesty. He believed the only motivation behind Clarke’s push for amnesty was the fact that most of the militant youths were Ijaw like him. The smouldering feud would later extend to Clarke’s political son, President Goodluck Jonathan. But it was not fanned into a flame until sometime in October last year when the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMFC) ceded some of Rivers’ oil wells to Bayelsa, Jonathan’s home state.

    The development resulted in widespread protests in more than 30 communities in Rivers State and even in Abuja where some indigenes of the state also protested. Before long, verbal assaults began to fly between Amaechi and the governor of Bayelsa State who claimed that the 11th edition of the administrative map of Nigeria had given the oil wells to Bayelsa. Insinuations that President Jonathan had used his office to influence the ceding of Rivers’ oil wells to Bayelsa left him offended and highly embarrassed. A few weeks later, there were reports of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFCC) investigating the Amaechi administration over corrupt practices. There were also reports of attempts by the Presidency to instigate the Rivers State House of Assembly against the governor.

    Jonathan’s loyalist and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe reached into his verbal armoury and launched a missile against Amaechi, accusing him of disrespecting the President. “He (Amaechi) sees himself as the governor of governors, and he begins to feel that he is even bigger than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I want to make him know that God is still God. He must have respect for the Presidency. He must have respect for the President of this country. In America, even within the same political parties, they struggle and they fight over positions. But once a President emerges, everybody will hold his tongue and support the President to succeed so that Americans can get the best. But is that what our President is getting? It is sad, it is unfortunate that people from the South-South, even governors, particularly Governor Rotimi Amaechi, has no respect for the president of this country. I think this is the right time we should let him know,” he said.

    Determined to reduce Amaechi’s influence as the chairman of the highly influential Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Jonathan and his loyalists last week formed a parallel PDP Governors’ Forum with the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as the chairman. With his utterances since he was named the helmsman of the new forum, Akpabio, who only last year predicted that the PDP would remain in power for 50 years, has not hidden his desperation to crush any perceived threat to Jonathan’s second term ambition and PDP’s continued hold on power. “What the PDP is trying to do now is to cleanse its house; to try to identify the ones they call Judases and say to them ‘go out, the train is moving’. We will ask them not to remain standing otherwise we will crush them,” Akpabio told members of the National Working Committee of the party, including the party’s National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Yet many would see the confrontational stance of the President and his loyalists against Amaechi as a tactical blunder. Whether they know it or not, there are more loyal governors to Amaechi than there are to Jonathan at the moment. The reason is simple. Majority of the governors believe their ego was badly bruised with the Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s decision to dissolve the executive committee of the PDP in Adamawa State against their protestations. Now they are waiting for an opportunity to take their pound of flesh from Jonathan for failing to call Tukur to order. By implication, therefore, every move against Amaechi is a move against the governors, whose grip on their constituencies can only be underestimated at the President’s peril.

    If Amaechi was a mortar, he has become a pot since the face-off between Tukur and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. He is now far more delicate to roll. Like a mosquito that perches on the scrotum, his case requires much more diplomacy than the aggression being adopted by Jonathan and his men. Even if, like a leper, he is not endowed with enough fingers to milk a cow, he definitely has all it takes to spill the milk. Jonathan and his loyalists ought to have acted on the saying that if you cannot get a man to become your friend, you should make it impossible for him to become your enemy. But all that appear to be too late in the day as the feuding parties have crossed the Rubicon. Happily, however, the ordinary Nigerian could be the ultimate beneficiary. You know what I mean?

     

  • Hero or nothing like it

    Cowards with columns pass as men of valour. I am a columnist and perhaps a coward. But you would never know. You could never tell if I am true to the calling or just another character pushing pen and idle rant to make ends meet.

    It is never my intent to arrogate to myself some blundering heroism or self-abnegating priesthood, there is too many of my ilk doing just that. I write to vex your ego and caress it, as your prejudices dictate. I write to contend and affirm those defining moments in which you have discovered me to be a coward or villain, time and over again. But Nigeria has taught me that heroism is overrated; villainy could be relative and cowardliness is a virtue where perverted will consorts with ill.

    You are entitled to whatever you think of me. And I am entitled to what random thought I deem worthy of your readership – knowing the tenor of my rant inadvertently guides you to define me. So, if I am your hero, I believe you think too much of me. If I am your villain or contemptible coward…well, what can I say?

    But if you consider me to be an idiot, I hope you finally get to understand that no one can be a Nigerian without being in the strictest sense, an idiot. The average Nigerian is a special fool. The higher his status, the more adroit he is in perpetuating his folly. But this is hardly flak for the Nigerian fool in high places; it has always being his luck to find some greater fool to admire him. This is about the greater fool.

    This is about men and women of which every nerve is disoriented and every fiber that isn’t could be certified handicapped. This is about men and women presumably of higher learning and good breeding; those extraordinary Nigerians by whose talent and individuality Nigeria customarily channels pride and banalities of a better tomorrow. This is about the Nigerian columnist, the one whose dazzling intellectualism Moliere’s riposte of the knowledgeable fool fittingly substantiates.

    Today, we grovel at the feet of the ruling class, like mongrels. Today, we recognize the stench of the looter with the fattest envelope and our trained eyeballs hardly passes over the prospective interviewee with the promising smile which sooner breaks into a sneer.

    In our calling, there are still no-go areas. We can never question religion save the instances we get to castigate one faith to elevate another, in the heat of poverty-induced pogroms we have learnt to call ‘religious crises and ‘politics.’ Need I say people are simply hungry? They are jobless too. That is why they become cannon-fodder in needless genocides.

    The labourer still goes home with heavy steps, and the heart of the casual worker resuming night shift shrivels desolately, like fresh mutton sautéed with local gin. Even the newborn arrives sorrow-clad; he probably wishes that he had waited till never. Within this unbearable cheerlessness, the masses stare resignedly at our cover pages with knowing glares. They know they would never hear the infinitesimal clangour of chilled truth neither shall they enjoy the comfort of temperate hope because we have become the aberration of their desperate circumstances.

    The Nigerian columnist thinks himself a national hero; a noble intellectual and man of letters. Such is the wonder of a newspaper column; it goads many of us columnists to think too highly of ourselves. Add to the mix, a mass of fawning and frosty readership, and you have a perfect cocktail that makes a narcissist and lapdog of even the most modest journalist.

    How far we evolve depends on the quality of citizenship exhibited by his most patronizing and hostile audience. Yet it would never do to lay the blame for what we have become on society; that would be tantamount to perpetuating the “Nigerian factor” – that ageless pretext we have learnt to incite every time we fall short of measure.

    Who is your columnist? Is he truly that great, heroic man speaking and pricking conscience as a tireless patriot? Is he that uncommon, high-cultivated man of letters that has eluded our nation for so long? Is he a heroic seeker of truth and shiner of hope?

    It could be honourable to be all that and much more. But alas, we are no heroic bringers of light and that is because our readers aren’t heroic seekers of it. We do not seek to fight and conquer persistent monstrosities our ruling class manically visit upon us. Many a columnist live to echo the cynicism and intolerable disloyalty of all manners of readership. And many a reader live to applaud the treachery to the Nigerian State and posterity. The result is a gang of conscienceless and fortune-seeking citizenry.

    If we could overlook such decadence in our readership, we couldn’t justify a smidgen of it in Nigeria’s Fourth Estate even if we tried. Now that we have replaced our heroes past, we embellish their truths into absurdities and bad lies. Every day, we fail our people with shame we do not feel. We have become the stamen that lets down the azalea, the comforter that brings grief, the emissaries of needless hate. We have become slaves to the tyrants we ought to remove. Did we fight the military to a standstill so that we may become their instruments as democratic tyrants? Shall we forever be gut-challenged?

    We offer no direction folks save our shenanigans in the interest of the ruling class. Today every columnist seeks friends in high places but then, we are only being Nigerian. It’s time we inspired by the wisdom of dead writers; sages from whose ashes we struggle to rise. It’s time we held a cup of water for the dying veterans to sip. It’s time we searched their eyes to learn the gleam of courage and earn it.

    It’s time we screamed in coherence. It’s time we usurped the dominant order and rid our lives of the blanched bubus that makes us the vacuous wimps that we are. It’s time we congregated to produce the leadership that we crave. Now that the die is triple-cast, let us put our hearts where our pens write.

    And if we fall to the inanities we chasten and yet ennoble in others, then we shall know we are the broken clay pots calling the kettles black. We could midwife the dawn that would herald our freedom, yet.

    Let us become the conscience of the ruling class and the pulse of the breadlines lest we become dead to future generations; lest they never get to read of our selfless beginnings; lest they only get to know of the noon that confused us and the sunset of our debauchery.

    If we fail to change, our twilight will malign us. And in death, we shall lay rapt in the indecency of our lowly graves, our ears keen for the least abrasive diatribe we may get to treasure as the eulogies we never had.

    Let us brighten our world with truth. Let us imbue it with wisdom and deep delight; that we may strive more victoriously and make our world the best it can be.

  • One billion women… put down by men

    t is one of the most thrilling passages in the Bible. It is at once profound, dramatic, deep and a touch comical. The story as told in the Gospel of John chapter 8, goes about how early one morning while Jesus was teaching in the temple, a mob of scribes and Pharisees, His haters and mortal enemies who sought for any excuse to nail him, dragged a woman before him. They said to Jesus: “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such a one should be stoned. But what do you say?” Of course they were testing Him, seeking for something of which to accuse Him.”

    Having read their minds, he remained mute and busied himself doodling on the floor. When the mob remained persistent in demanding an answer, He looked up and said to them: “He who is without sin let him throw a stone at her first.” He resumed His scribbling. When he looked up once again after a while, the mob had slinked away, leaving only the alleged adulterer standing there. “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

    “No one, Lord,” she said.

    And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

    I have opened this piece with this little story to illustrate how bestial and murderous men had always been towards the women folk. There is even a Mosaic law somewhere in the Bible which escapes me now, that stipulates that if a man as much as suspects her spouse (yes, mere suspicion) of any hanky-panky, the woman could be made to drink a poisonous potion. Should the hemlock kill her, then her accuser would have been vindicated. If on the other hand she survived it, then life resumed as usual and the man suffers no consequence from his ‘false’ accusation.

    Such is the fate of the ‘fair sex’ that has left her in a perpetual state of victimhood and at the mercy of her other half who is supposed to be a partner and soul mate. Where is all this coming from you might ask? Well, the above illustration may well be a child’s play in today’s world. My fears were triggered by the unprecedented carnage against the women folk today. A recent report that by 2016, the world would have achieved a landmark record of the one billion mark in the number of women that might have suffered at least one form of violence including, murder, rape, assault, battery, acid attack, in the hands of their men folk lends credence to my observation. Sound the alarm! This has surely gone off the handle. And the statistics emanating from across the world is indeed horrific.

    South Africa (SA) seems to be the rape capital of the world as numbers coming out from various institutions show; with the United States coming a distant second. About 500,000 rape cases are said to be reported in SA annually while a whopping 25 per cent of SA men have admitted to committing rape. And how about this: one out of every three (yes, 3) SA women are said to have been raped. Could it be that raping of women is the primary vocation of South African men? But they are not the only terribly depraved hunks on earth. It is said that 230 cases of rape are reported in the United Kingdom everyday while a woman is forced into sex in the US nearly every six minutes, bringing the total of the number of women that may have been raped in the US to about 22 million. Phew! Demon, thy name is phallus, or vice versa.

    Nigeria has not done badly in this despicable orgy of violence against women, VAW. Unlike in the human development indices in which she often performs woefully, she has acquitted herself well in this department. Though Nigerian men may not be overly suffering from testosterone trouble like their US and SA counterparts, they seem to excel more in the area of physical violence like battery, acid birth and outright killing. It is thus estimated that about 25 million Nigerian women may have been violently abused. Listen to the news, read the newspapers daily and there is a streaming of reports of violation of the female gender. Here are a few samples from last weekend newspapers: a 46-year-old church worker in Abeokuta raped a 12-year-old-girl kept in his care. “I raped her and later gave her Panadol. I also threatened to kill her if she told anybody. I blame the devil for my action,” says the fiend. Another ‘monster’ called Jegede in Ibadan strangled his fiancée and her two-year-old boy. Yet another ‘ogre’ in Asaba called chukwudi, beheaded his wife after a dispute.

    We still remember the infamous case supposedly of four Abia State University students who made a video of their rape scenes and posted it on the internet exposing their victim. In a part of Nsukka in Enugu state, elderly women usually from 70 years are on the verge of becoming an endangered species as they have become the rape targets of much younger men who probably have fetish motives. In Plateau, Benue and some northern states, pubescent young girls seem to be their favorite. All across the country, women, young and old are abused and savaged at will by bestial men and at every turn; sadly, most of these demon-possessed men walk away unpunished. According to rights groups, only a small fraction of these heinous crimes is reported. This is because sexual abuse and violation of the woman person come with so much stigma. There is also sex for appointments, for jobs and for favors to the point that few female folks can get anything without the debasement of giving sex in exchange. And the chain goes all the way from the highest echelon to the street corners and village paths.

    Legislation is weak, prosecution is almost zero and advocacy is poor and haphazard. Apart from Lagos state and Ekiti (where action is being driven by the wife of the governor), most other states have inadequate or non-existent legislation to effectively tackle this monster. In fact many states still don’t consider VAW an important issue. But indeed, assault on the women folk is perhaps the worst scourge afflicting the world today. The UN, governments across the world, must step up campaigns and devise actions against the indignities and outright butchery of the woman folk.

    In our various communities, in home and at personal levels, we all have a duty to frown at any trace of violence and abuse of women. Fathers must more than before, exhibit love towards their wives and the women around them, especially where there are children. Let men who are men indeed, seize every opportunity to show that it is most cowardly of any man to as much as lay a finger on a woman; not even to raise his voice. Let real men never shy to show that the feminine gender is the most exotic creation of God; she is to be doused with love and not acid. Let us teach our boys that with love, you can never go wrong with a woman; and to our girls: resist any form of indignity from any man.

    LAST MUG: NNPC’s $1.5b fuel subsidy yarn: This oil ministry and NNPC people will lie until all their teeth fall out. Were we in a decent country, all the top people in our oil industry today would have been arrested and given a summary treatment. When did NNPC incur this subsidy debt of $3.5b? How does NNPC justify her plan to supply some fictitious creditors 15,000 barrels of our crude oil DAILY for FIVE YEARS to offset just $1.5b most likely phantom debt? Why should we believe Diezani Alison-Madueke about foreign subsidy debts when she is so befuddled about the local ones? This must be the foreign leg of the fuel subsidy scam; the House must probe every detail.

  • Greatness in our future

    Greatness in our future

    It is undoubtedly very easy to give in to despair. You work hard with little to show for it, and very soon you convince yourself that cruel fate is at work. Just as it is for an individual, so it is for a collective. The narrative of the past fifty-two years, which has almost always been about the avoidable road bumps that characterise our journey as a nation, would appear to justify a pessimistic outlook on life. What with an inept and ego-driven leadership and a wretched and submissive followership always content on the crump from the table?

    A leadership without the proverbial fire in the belly cannot dream greatness for the nation. A followership that resigns itself to the hopelessness sanctified by a fatalistic belief system cannot be the gadfly that leadership needs. And so we trudge on aimlessly and despondently, leading ourselves to believe that there is no greatness in our future.

    That is, until such a time when one or a few of us defiantly challenge the tale that we tell about ourselves and inspire us to unlock the door of greatness in us and uncover the greatness in our future. They ask of that which is not, why it is not and then call upon the deep that inheres in them to bring it into existence.

    Great leaders who leave behind enduring legacies work at greatness. They are disciplined and well-focused. They have no room for small-mindedness. They are dreamers. The greatest need of our society, the most good we can do for its perpetuation, is to understand the psychology of the dreamers and visionaries among us and create more of them.

    Regrettably, we have taken a different path, choosing to reward mediocrity and honour small-mindedness. Even the honour and merit systems we designed are crumbling under the weight of political and bureaucratic incompetence. We not only disparage high-achievers in positions of leadership, we also endeavor to ruin the reputation they build over a lifetime of commitment to goodness. Think of the Golden Era of the West and the inspirational leadership that wrought it.

    These thoughts overwhelmed me as I read about the Eko Atlantic City Project and there comes gushing in an exciting stream of hope that the spirit of the 50s is once again beckoning us to greater heights. The first skyscraper was built with a similar vision. So was the first Olympic style stadium. And virgin land was turned into an industrial estate. What the visionaries of the day saw as the greatness of our future, detractors saw as wastage of resources. And now we are reliving the same old intriguing tale of vision versus blindness, foresight versus shortsightedness.

    The Eko Atlantic City initiative by the Lagos State Government under the visionary leadership of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola is becoming a reality even in our lifetime. The project, continuing the tradition of Public-Private Partnership for development, which the state government has launched in other areas, including transportation, has been described as an engineering marvel. Former United States President Bill Clinton saw it as “an ingenious engineering feat” and excitedly predicted that “there will be countless numbers of people coming here to study (it).” And for President Goodluck Jonathan, “Eko Atlantic City is bringing us happiness.” So the happiness that this project generates is supposed to be a bi-partisan one. We should all be in celebratory mood in a renewed hope for a changing narrative. Why?

    The pride and celebration that Eko Atlantic City project warrants is not just because it is a gigantic project. I can think of two more fundamental reasons. First, in the midst of our national malaise, with our disproportionate share of angst, we are now able to point to such “an ingenious engineering feat” as Bill Clinton describes it, coming out of the vision of an indigenous leadership. It is redemptive. It is a spirit-uplifting narrative.

    Second, there is a more practical reason. While the project has been described in idealistic terms, we must not forget the pragmatic dimensions that make it a worthwhile investment. Lagos has an estimated population of more than 15 million people and still growing. As a typical African population without the sense or discipline of population control, with a projected rate of growth of 2.7 per cent, Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Sound planning demands that adequate account be taken of the pain that comes with growing and appropriate steps taken to cushion its impact. With a projected 250, 000 homes and offices on 10 million square meters of reclaimed land, this engineering feat, and idealistic city project is also a practical solution to a real problem.

    In spite of the tangibility of its projected results, and the happiness that, in the words of the President, the project is bringing us, not everyone is in the mood for celebration. In a rather caustic statement, the Lagos State branch of the PDP accused the state government of misplaced priorities with respect to the Eko Atlantic project. The party, well aware of the praises from President Jonathan and former president Clinton, implied that both presidents were simply ignorant about the intentions of Governor Fashola and his ACN administration. According to media reports, the PDP suggested that the reclamation of the beach was only done for selfish reasons.

    Not being a utilitarian myself, I can see where the theory makes sense in this kind of context. What has motive got to do with this? Assume that Babatunde Fashola was motivated by self-interest, the question is whether the end result of the policy that he has put in place benefits the greatest number of people. And while the answer to this kind of question cannot be fully known prior to the full implementation of the policy, a utilitarian would argue that we have history as reference. We cannot wait until after the fact to make a determination. If we do, we would never know what to do. The question is whether this kind of action or policy has the tendency to promote the most good. And the answer is yes, it does. And the Presidents are right.

    Let us then celebrate our collective achievements in a bi-partisan spirit. Let us applaud the creative genius and the visionary leadership that gives us something that we “can be very proud of” even as we look forward to the successful completion of the project.

  • Clinton’s hornet’s nest

    Clinton’s hornet’s nest

    “Conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it”.

    Uthman San Fodio

    Nest, to the hornet, is a sanctuary. Whoever wants to stir it must be ready for painful sting. It was the words of Nigeria’s lotus eaters against those of the former American President, Bill Clinton in Abeokuta, Ogun State, last Tuesday. When the latter opened up on the cause of insecurity in Nigeria particularly concerning Boko Haram, hardly did he realise that he was stirring the hornet’s nest. As a man who knows because he is in a position to know, Bill Clinton openly identified poverty as the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria without minding whose ox was being gored.

    Commenting as a guest speaker on Nigeria’s insecurity at ThisDay Newspaper’s awards ceremony, the former US President canvassed some ways by which Nigeria could effectively deal with Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country. Among the ideas he suggested were poverty eradication, thorough education at all levels, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths.

    Highlighting some desired programmes urgently necessary for curbing the spate of violence and general insecurity in the country, Clinton said: “You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don’t have it. You already have all these political problems — and now violence — that appears to be rooted in religious differences as well as all the rhetoric of Boko Haram and others, but the truth is that poverty rate in the North is three times that of Lagos”.

    Counselling on the need to re-design the country’s economic management to the delight of all and sundry while pointing out that “too much inequality” was capable of limiting growth and opportunities among the citizens of a country, he stressed that only a redistribution of wealth would go a long way to address the prevalent violence and insecurity in Nigeria. He went further to say: “You have about three big challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of the countries who have one big resource, you have a number of ways with your own money. It shows you have different ways. Now you are at least not wasting the natural gas, you are developing and selling it through the pipelines. You have to do better job of managing the natural resources”.

    “Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic opportunities to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem peculiar to Nigeria. In almost every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas. So you have all these political problems for now even violence. There appears to be political and religious differences and now, the rhetoric of Boko Haram and all that. You have to build a powerful state and local governments as well as a national policy that works along. If you just keep trying to divide the power if you will, into loosening strategy, you have to figure out a way to devise a strategy that will help share the prosperity.”

    He then went further to advise that education should be used as a tool to tackle poverty among Nigerians, saying that if citizens were well educated they would be economically empowered and hence have less inclination towards violence. He opined that: “Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from her oil industry and is a major supplier to the US, must not take a “divide the pie” approach towards attacking poverty”. He therefore advised that governments at all levels needed to tackle youth unemployment which, according to him, is a major source of instability across the world.

    Bill Clinton was not the first experienced public figure to make such truthful but painful comments about Nigeria and her style of governance. On January 27, 2010, the US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton also spoke in the like manner about Nigeria in Nigeria. And the reactions that followed her statement were not in any way dissimilar from those that are now greeting Bill Clinton’s statement of last Tuesday. Incidentally, both Clintons are a couple but spoke differently and in different capacities. While the wife spoke in official capacity, the husband spoke in private capacity. But the coincidence in their speeches is not just in the similarity of their statements but also in the similarity in the reactions that greeted both speeches.

    Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” in that meeting with Nigeria’s State Department officials in Abuja Mrs. Hillary Clinton said “….The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, states and local levels … Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state.”

    Nigeria, she continued: “Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalisation that needs to be addressed. Describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others”. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”.

    However, in a spontaneous reaction, some members of the ruling party who were then in government virtually told Mrs. Clinton to shut up and mind her own business by leaving Nigeria alone. The resentment came through the mouth of the then Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who, in a swift statement, said Mrs Clinton’s remarks were baseless.

    He recalled that the ruling party had cause to comment on the relations between Nigeria and the United States, following President Barack Obama’s visit to Ghana, “which was viewed by some commentators as a slight to Nigeria”. In his words: “ Although the ‘ruling party’ saw Mrs Clinton’s “visit to Nigeria as a further expression of the age-long strong cordial diplomatic relations between both countries, we are at the same time concerned that some of her remarks are not only way off the mark but also based on misinformation. Her sweeping statement on what she calls a ‘failure of leadership’ does not correspond with the reality of present day Nigeria where a committed leadership operating within the realm of the rule of law holds sway”.

    Professor Alkali said the ‘ruling party’ found Mrs Clinton’s “condescending statements against our country and leaders not contextualised,” adding that she “seems to have taken her briefs from individuals or groups and other failed politicians who have an axe to grind with the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

    He added: “It is a fact that the present administration inherited a lot of challenges that were entrenched in the body polity for a long time since assumption of office in May 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has demonstrated a rare but firm commitment to right the wrongs of the past, using constitutional instruments in order to strengthen democratic governance in the country.”

    Despite leaving a bad taste in the mouth, Alkali’s statement did not bother Mrs. Clinton who knew Nigeria better than the respondent Nigerians. Her reaction was rather that of a Yoruba adage that says ‘a dog that refuses to respond to the warning whistle of the hunter is surely destined to stray into permanent perdition’. If Bill or Hillary Clinton were a Muslim, some fanatics especially in Nigerian media would have characteristically accused him/her of wanting to Islamise Nigeria just for telling the naked truth.

    However, to the great delight of reasonable and patriotic Nigerians, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in a statement signed by its then President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said it wished “to align itself with the statement credited to the US Secretary of State the summation of which was that corruption, amongst other factors, has caused failure of governance in Nigeria”.

    “We cannot agree less and note that President Yar’Adua admitted that Nigeria was facing challenges in its war against corruption and bid to reform its electoral system, which has underscored failure of governance at the federal, state and local government levels,” it said, adding: “This intervention could not have come at a better time than now when agents of the government are on the prowl, deploying viciously the weapon of blackmail against the leadership of the NBA who has long identified this and continues to clamour for change” .

    He continued: “Secretary Clinton having reiterated the position of the Bar it would, perhaps, not be out of place for those who are quick to stand logic on its head to satisfy greed, to conclude that the top diplomat, being a lawyer, must also belong to Action Congress or any of the opportunistic organisations dubbed parties.”

    It is not strange therefore, that last Tuesday’s comments by Bill Clinton have drawn similar parochially partisan reactions from those who are benefitting directly from the ongoing rot in the country. It seems that politics in Nigeria is an animal carcass on which idle vultures must feast without caring about the pollution which the odour there from would cause to the environment. Even a blind person can perceive the poverty in Nigeria or smell its odour. It is rather an added assault on the public to say that Mrs. Clinton in 2010 and Mr. Clinton in 2013 must have been briefed by certain individuals who are antagonistic to the ruling government. Such a statement could only have come from people of feeble minds who exemplify the ineptitude of Nigerian government.

    Just last December 22, (2012), the Nigeria Muslim Forum, UK, held its 22nd Annual Winter Conference at Stamford Court University of Leicester. Among the dignitaries from Nigeria who spoke at the conference were Sheikh Isa Ali Pantami, a senior lecturer at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi who is currently undergoing a PhD course at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General (Retired) Abdur-rahman Dambazau, who is also a fellow at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, US; former Minister for Federal Capital Territory Dr. Aliyu Modibbo and publisher of a Hausa newspaper, ‘Rariya’; the President, Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria (SCSN) and highly respected medical practitioner Dr Ibrahim Datti Ahmad; the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Reverend Dr Mathew Hassan Kukah, who was unavoidably absent but made a pre-recorded video presentation; and Dr Abdullahi Shehu, a consultant neurologist at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry, a founding member and one of the trustees of Forum.

    At the conference, General Dambazau’s paper titled ‘Poverty Alleviation, Security and Stability’ addressed the question from social, economic and political points of view. In the paper, he made the meaning of poverty clearer, using verified statistical indexes to buttress his arguments. The retired general also looked at the ranking of Nigeria on the poverty table which showed Nigeria as one of the 20 most poverty stricken countries in the world; and the North-West as the most hit while South-West of the country as the least affected.

    “In his own contribution to the discussions the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Mathew Kukah stressed that poverty was one of the main causes of intolerance in the society, which in turn leads to conflict and insecurity. He said people react to poverty in various manners and that they respond to conflict in ways they feel would bring them justice. He also blamed the deterioration of the situation in Nigeria on injustice and warned that injustice would continue to breed violence in the country unless something was quickly done to ensure equitable dispensation of justice. He explained that diversity should be seen as an advantage to the society as it enhances growth, “although in Northern Nigeria the reverse is the case due to the failure to manage it well in view of the crises the region now faces”. He therefore advocated respect for human dignity as opposed to simply tolerating each other and significant boost to governments’ poverty alleviation policies. He also urged the Diaspora communities to lend financial support and contribute constructive ideas towards tackling the challenges in order to elevate the status of the country internationally”.

    In an earlier similar statement he made in January 2012 about Boko Haram and causes of insecurity, Bishop Kukah said inter alia: “We live in a state of ineffective law enforcement and tragic social conditions. Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals have created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilized for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy”.

    “Three, religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival.

    Rather than rallying our people, some of our religious leaders have resorted to divisive utterances, wild allegations and insinuations against fellow adherents of other religions. In the last five or so days, text messages have been circulating across the country appealing to some of our worst demons. We are told that many senior clerics either believed or encouraged the circulation of these divisive and false text messages. We must condemn this for what it is….”.

    ‘THE MESSAGE’ needed to add a voice of reason to the ongoing brouhaha over Bill Clinton’s admonishing statement not only because Islam is the total way of Muslim life but also for posterity sake. Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and everyone has a right to express his/her feelings on any matter that commonly affects all of us. God bless those who continue to stand out in spite of man’s inhumanity to man.