The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Re: Private jets as vehicles for the gospel

    I believe there is no gift that should be considered too big for a true man of God, all things considered. Many of the big churches today started very small, with their pastors having neither bicycles nor shoes to put on as they toiled day and night for the church to become what it should be spiritually and materially.

    I think it was in a situation like this that Paul sought to know why it should be considered too much for him to reap members’ material benefits after he had sown spiritual fruits in them. We have often seen some barren members of these churches giving birth to many children. The lame walk. The dumb speak. Small scale business men and women become billionaires and chronic diseases disappear all because of pastors’ prayers and cries to God about their members.

    If we can view the entire church setting and its activities holistically, what kind of material gifts in appreciation of pastors can be compared with all these?

    Emmanuel Egwu, Enugu

    •The growing army of jet pastors in Nigeria further confirms and re-affirms the veracity of Karl Max’s locus classicus, which states that religion is the opium of the masses. Just as I urge Nigerians not to forget Majek Fashek who told us in one of his lyrics that religion is politics.

    Why will they not buy jets while their congregation is sinking in the ocean of poverty and despicable peasantry. We need men like John Wesley to challenge this height of clear spiritual criminality.

    Godfrey Ehimare.

    •If you people have nothing to say, keep quiet. The world could have been a better place to live in. I pity you, Vincent. To judge God’s servant for good or bad is suicidal. Others, be warned.

    Uduak Israel, Owerri.

    •My dear brother, your piece on private jets as vehicles for the gospel was a masterpiece. Our present day men of God are too interested in wealth. Some of them are enjoying it here because they fear that they may not make heaven! They have disappointed God and mankind. I even believe there is Boko Haram in the church now. Leave them joo.

    Benson, Umuahia.

    •Your write-up on private jets is as good as my vision. It may sound like one of those stories but I tell you of the truth that it was God-inspired. God is raising a new generation of people who, like Elijah, would tell it as it is. This is my burden and I wish you are the chosen one to share the mind of God at this hour.

    Seerci Yehu Edobumn

    •Thank you very much for your peice on private jets. Keep it up, my brother.

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    •Hmmm, beautiful write-up. But don’t forget that Jesus rode on a colt nobody had used before. These men of God did not beg to own private jets. Neither did they steal to acquire them. And mind you, they don’t own those jets for pleasure. Go and read your Bible well; there is nothing good that God witholds from the righteous

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    •If these business moguls masquerading as men of God don’t engage in mindless acquisition of material wealth, how can we know that this wicked world is gradually fizzling out of existence? Have you forgotten that the Bible said that when the world would be coming to an end, men and women would be lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God?

    Any pastor who ignores the poverty that is sending thousands of Nigerians into their early graves and resorted to buying private jets, which Jesus would not have done, must be a rogue. His relationship with Christ is highly suspect.

    The Bible talks about discerning the spirits of those that come to us with the name of the Lord, because many people are ignorant of what the Bible says: many self-seeking capitalists passing off as ministers of the gospel are trading on their spiritual and psychological vulnerability, using the name of God.

    Ifeanyi O. Ifeanyichukwu, Abuja.

  • Leaders, power  and legacies

    As  mortality beckons the great Nelson Mandela I recall the Chinese saying  that says-count no man lucky until his death. With Mandela, at this stage of his life, and even well before now, one can easily say he has been an extremely lucky man and he has really earned that luck, right before our eyes  Today we discuss Mandela’s luck, an enduring one at that and compare it with those of other world  leaders who are well, alive and very powerful but who must tremble at the prospect of the saying that no man can truly be said to be lucky until his death.

    We  look at events in Ghana where the incumbent president just won the presidential elections with just over 50%  of the votes cast  and the opposition is contesting the results  and has gone to court.  We  examine the situation in Egypt  where  the president has kowtowed to protests on his seizing the powers of the courts,  only to proceed on a referendum that will give him the powers he had seized and returned under duress – by the back door.

    Of course the Egyptian people are still on the streets crying foul and saying they did not uproot one  dictator  planted by the army for years only for him  to be replaced by another one they just elected through the ballot box. Which  again puts  nagging doubt  on the desirability or otherwise of democracy in some nations and circumstances globally. We  end up again  with S Africa   where a unique transition of leadership is  taking place  again  by the ballot box. In  all these  instances we have at the back of our mind the Chinese saying – count no man lucky until his death.

    Let us go back to Mandela and his fight with mortality  to which he must succumb as he is mortal. But Nelson Mandela,  the world’s most famous prisoner is already destined for immortality in the way he fought for the liberation of his nation from the shackles of apartheid.

    He  was honored with the Nobel Prize for peace with his compatriot and president of S Africa  de  Klerk with whom he negotiated the exit of apartheid and the enthronement of democracy in what has become the Rainbow nation today. But it is in the way that he shunned power  and served his nation for only one term of five years  during which he forgave his jailors  through The Truth and Reconciliation Committee  headed  by another Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu,  that Mandela secured his immortality  as a reference point on selfless leadership,  globally and eternally.

    At  that  time Mandela would have been hailed as the Messiah if he  had wanted to be a life president of S Africa. After him S Africa has had what I will  call two and half presidents namely Thabo Mbeki who served for almost two terms and Kwagima Motlanthe the present Vice  President who held fort briefly  after Mbeki was defeated in a leadership contest of the ruling ANC   by President Jacob Zuma who had been sacked by Mbeki   as  Vice President  for corruption.

     Now  this week the ANC  is having its national conference at which it will elect its leader who automatically becomes president of S Africa as  the ANC is assured of 60%  of the votes cast in any election in S Africa. This time however both the President and Vice President of S  Africa   are vying for the leadership  of the ANC  although Zuma is favored to defeat his Vice. One  thing that is certain is that S. Africans are disenchanted  with the performance of Zuma as President. Mbeki this week said that S Africa is drifting as a nation and something needs to be done urgently. The  Marikana Mine shooting of 34 miners by the Police recently is a great dent on the leadership credentials of the ANC  under Jacob Zuma.

    The  horrible fact that the survivors  of the Marikana shooting were first charged to  court  under an apartheid law still in the statute books before they were left off, showed that apartheid has not died a natural death when ANC  took power democratically  and till  the Marikana   incident. Also,   Zuma’s traditional ruler life style of four wives and 21  children and a renovation of his country home with $24 m  when miners were asking for  pittance as wage increase  showed that Zuma has become power drunk  as the leader  of a popular party in power in S/Africa  namely the ANC. Worse still Zuma’s defence of his insensitive profligacy that he took mortgage on the renovation of his country home is like adding insult to injury. Zuma’s actions  bear out vividly a good example of the dictatorship  of the majority  in any nation especially S Africa at this point in time.

    If  care is not taken,  however,  Egypt  under its President Mohammed Morsi is headed in the same direction as the ANC in S/Africa. This  is because the Muslim Brotherhood is well organized in Egypt and has proved its planning and organizational capabilities in the way it has survived several dictatorships in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood survived under Gamal Abdel Nasser  and its member killed the late Anwar  Sadat and survived the government clamp down that followed the assassination.

    Now the Muslim Brotherhood has its own  member as president from a free and fair democratic election in Egypt  and who can really blame it for having things its way  especially as democracy is intrinsically a game of numbers  and it has the majority as well as organizational skills that the other opposition parties lack. This  means that secular Egyptians and Christians are in for a tough time in Egypt’s new democracy under the Muslim Brotherhood and that really is the unfortunate truth.

    In  Ghana  too the election results  have divided the nation into two equal parts yet one can claim victory as there  is no room for a run off election. The  incumbent president who took over on the death of his boss has now been legitimately  elected. The circumstances seem similar  to that of Nigeria  as well as  the succession. Unlike  Nigeria Ghanaian leaders have not gone to court in the last two elections in that nation. Now the losers have gone to court alleging irregularities, which  is the Nigerian way.

    But  then a result that involves a victory of just over 50%  can be painful for the losers because of its closeness. A  way out would have been some form of power sharing or proportionate  representation. That however will depend on the constitution which mostly as a document is blind until situations such as this arise   and legal gymnastics take over . I  bet Nigerian lawyers are taking the next  flights to Accra to participate in what they have perfected at  the expense of our fledgling  democracy, which is post election litigations. I really wish Ghanaian politicians the best of luck especially as oil too is flowing in Ghana now.  Anyway I fervently   hope Ghana and Ghanaians do not swallow and follow the Nigerian example hook, line and sinker on elections and litigations.

  • Keshi: This is your life

    Keshi: This is your life

    How time flies. It’s almost looking like yesterday, yet 12 years have rolled by. He had been invited to partner Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere to guide the Super Eagles to lift the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria and Ghana co-hosted. In fact, the National Stadium main bowl in Lagos broke into a frenzy when Stephen Keshi emerged from the tunnel with his traditional salute.

    This time, he wasn’t holding the ball nor was he punching the air and pulling his tug to signify his readiness for the impending game. He had deliberately delayed his appearance to test his popularity. Where I sat, I told my friends that the Keshi/Bonfrere combo was another anarchy that would further disintegrate the Eagles and pave the way for the Dutchman’s exit. They dismissed my view. I kept quiet since the future was just around the corner. Here is it today. How prophetic I was.

    For most Nigerians and, indeed, watchers of the beautiful game, the Bonfrere/ Keshi’ combo was the dream technical crew. That combination was all that the Eagles needed to lift the Africa Cup of Nations. But alas, it never happened. Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions nicked in a nail-biting final game that ended in penalties.

    Please, don’t remind me of Victor Ikpeba’s kick and the guilt he felt, putting his hands on his head. If he had worn a straight face or jubilated a little, perhaps, the referee would have had a second thought and awarded us the goal. It would have changed the trend of the game. But all these are in the past since Nigeria settled for the silver. Cameroon went home with the trophy. But dear reader, this is not the reason for this article.

    Things later turned awry between Bonfrere and Keshi. This combination was a time-bomb that was bound to blow the weaker person away, but our narrow minded officials lacked the foresight to envisage it. They always play to the gallery. For the Nigerian administrator, the quick fix therapy is the best for our problems since it leaves the cancer unhealed for “chop- chop” in the future.

    Bonfrere knew that with Keshi, he stood no chance with the players. The Dutch wanted to be the Sherriff. In doing so, the Big Boss had to be swept aside. Keshi lost the plot to remain in the Eagles. Our gullible officials demoted the Big Boss to the Flying Eagles with a big nomenclature of technical adviser.

    Keshi wasn’t fooled by the title. He took the job. Yet, he knew he belonged to the Super Eagles, having been drawn away from California to change the team’s fortunes.

    Let me not bore you with details. Bonfrere lost the Eagles job and Shaiubu Amodu wiped shame from the Big Boss’ face by making him the deputy. Together they salvaged Nigeria’s pride by qualifying the country for the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup. The troika (Amodu, Keshi and Joe Erico) didn’t attend the competition, having being sacked in controversial circumstances. I digress!

    Back to the discussion. At that time, the Eagles were training in Ota, this time with Keshi as flying Eagles technical adviser. Newshounds stormed Ota to get juicy stories. It was quite a pitiable sight watching Keshi from the fence follow the Eagles’ sessions like journalists. The players knew that the former captain was around. They couldn’t greet him like they would have wished. But it was Keshi who felt the pain most. This writer had the privilege to ride with the Big Boss back to Lagos. He wished the team well but he nursed a grudge.

    As the journey continued, I told him he would coach the Eagles. He just had to manage teams outside Nigeria for him to be better appreciated. I reminded him about the story of his sojourn at Stella FC of Abidjan and how that suspension changed his life and, indeed, his career. Every disappointment is a blessing, this writer reminded the Big Boss.

    Shocked, Keshi turned, (he sat in front) and said: “Oh boy, na big talk be that o! I don dey get offers. But I believe say na Eagles go better pass. As I dey talk with you, Togo wan make I come. I go try there.

    As Keshi dropped me where I parked my car, the big scoop as I got to the office was: Keshi gets Togo’s job.

    My colleagues sneered at the story describ ing it as another public relations stunt. They said so in whispers, but I couldn’t be bothered. Didn’t Keshi call the Togolese president to accept the job? Months later, the story was carried by the international media and my colleagues looked at me in awe.

    I lost touch with Keshi because he left immediately to take the Togolese job. Need I tell the story? Nor do I need to reel out what happened to Keshi in Mali?

    I have gone through the memory lane to situate my relationship with Keshi. Hence, one wants to plead with him that the future that I foretold is here. As I said then, his problem won’t be the absence of quality players but how to blend them. He told me then that he would be fair in his selection and that only the best would make his list. I ask: Keshi, do you still hold this principle to heart like you did in 2001?

    Again, I asked Keshi then if he had the guts to ward off foreign agents or their cohorts in picking his players. He said coaches fell for such poisoned chalice because of the lure of foreign currencies.

    Pointedly, Keshi asked, “do you know how much I’m worth in any known currency in all modesty?” I have seen money. I have flown in many club presidents’ private jets as a player. I’m also not reckless with earnings. So, who is that agent and how much does he have? That agent could be a former player or manager. Please, I have made my mark in Europe to fall for peanuts. I ask Keshi again, “do I still trust you to shun agents when picking Nigeria’s 23-man squad to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations?”

    The journey through the gridlock from Ota provided the proper setting. I also asked Keshi what he would do to players who feign injury and those who hide them to earn call ups. Keshi said: “If I take my players through callisthenic exercises, I will know each one’s injury problems. I played the game under renowned physiotherapists and I know what they did and how they discovered injured players. As for those who dodge national calls, it won’t happen because Nigeria is blessed with at least six players per position. Besides, I will develop a good relationship with my players. I will talk to them at home and ask questions about their welfare. I did that as the team’s former captain, so I know what I’m talking about. The Big Boss tag didn’t come because of any mafia setting in the Eagles. I led by example and the players trusted me.

    “Let me give you this example. Before the final qualifier against Algeria in Algiers, I summoned all the players to my room. I laid down the jerseys on the bed. I told them that we needed to fight the Algerians to get the ticket. I warned anyone who wasn’t ready to fight not to pick the jersey. It was a soul-searching session. I tell you, the first person to pick the jersey was Rashidi Yekini. The next was Daniel Amokachi and I have since loved both players, even as a coach.”

    Asked if he was a trained coach, his countenance changed, but Keshi broke into a smile and said: “my brother, I have served coaches and played as captain for most of the clubs I played for. I know what to tell the boys, how to prepare them for games and know what do to change the course of matches. Aside, I will go for coaching courses because I know that the game is dynamic. But note that football is more of practical than grammar. When I get to that bridge, I will cross it.”

    I asked Keshi what transpired in the Seyi Adebayor saga and his reply confirms all that has happened to Adebayor with renowned managers such as Arsene Wenger, Roberto Manicini, Jose Mourinho and even with Harry Redknapp until he renewed his contract at Tottenham.

    Put simply, Keshi said that Adebayour was undisciplined. Adebayor’s talk about Keshi wanting to share from his transfer fees to Arsenal, Keshi said, was cheap blackmail.

    Perhaps this story told by Aisha Falode about what she saw with the Malian side after their crash from the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations will suffice. Ma soro ju, like Aisha loves to address me, “I saw the big boys in the Malian side, Kanoute, Keita, name them, plead and some shed tears to try and convince Keshi to stay. But Keshi told them he was through with the job and needed fresh challenges.”

    Dear Keshi, your story is sweet, but it could turn sour, if the Eagles fail to fly in South Africa in January. Nigerians are bad losers. They want the Eagles to win every game convincingly. Shuaibu Amodu won matches, yet our administrators organised interview sessions with foreign coaches in the hotel where the Eagles stayed in 2010. The Eagles were still in the tournament. That is how wicked the Nigerian is with the Eagles.

    Should Keshi panic and press the distress button? Not necessarily; all he needs is to open his eyes and pick the best. He must be at his wits’ end to read games properly and make prompt substitutions.

    Keshi, this Eagles job is your life. Make it or mar it in South Africa. Good luck!

  • Re: Doctoral degree holders as truck drivers

    •All these occurrences are a mockery of education as a sector and as a profession. Lack of job/employment is just a function of corruption among leaders in most sectors, the university inclusive.

    In the current 2012/2013 admission exercise, the University of Ilorin denied my son admission in ICT even when he was number one on the admission list before its release in September. The cut off mark was 50 per cent and he scored 74 per cent. He had six Bs and two Cs in his O’level result. But on both the merit and supplementary lists, his name was missing.

    Petition letters went to the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, (NUC), the Minister of Education, the outgone Vice Chancellor Oloyede, the incoming Vice Chancellor Ambali Abdulganiyu and the Registrar, Oyeyemi. Only the Senate responded a little but to no avail.

    All the letters went by express mail service (EMS) since October 8, 2012. The university was not bothered. The minister and the NUC did not show any sign of being bothered. Is that a country to die for? What kind of products would be produced where mediocres are offered admission to displace the best? Insulting enough, my son and his parents are Kwarans from Ojoku, a rural community in Kwara State. That is why many of our graduates are unemployed and unemployable.

    Unemployment will not abate until corruption is killed and the Buhari/Idiagbon and OBJ?Ribadu styles oif administration are entrenched, because the wrong people gain admissions, get the jobs, assume positions of prominence and take wrong decisions on the mass of the people. The three sectors to cleanse for us to move forward are the universities, power (PHCN) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Unfortunately, it is difficult to convince illiterate parents to send their children to school nowadays.

    Lanre Oseni.

    •I would rather tell you to stop wasting your time writing to advise the government. But then, you need to do your job. They simply cannot comprehend. Instead, maybe you should try to write about the consequences of their misdeeds when the country unravels. These people will not learn until then and it will be too late.

    The only thing they might stand to gain is refugee status in another country if they manage to survive the uprising, for it will surely come to pass. When? Your guess is as good as mine. Will it happen? I bet it will.

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    •I agree that there is massive unemployment in the country. The neo-colonial socio-economic system we operate is to blame. Private property is its basis. It energises underdevelopment and enfeebles progressivism. Its education is not, as Cesaire said, “to invent souls”. It does not teach the masses that everything depends on them.

    Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna.

    •N300,000 per month, excluding allowances, will be paid to Dangote’s graduate drivers.

    Yusf Leo Gwamna, Kaduna

    •What is wrong with doctorate holders becoming truck drivers to fend for themselves and their families? If you are not satisfied with the situation, relinquish your office for them. Is farming not a way of life? We are talking about bringing the good life to many people as quickly as possible. Truck drivers are not criminals; they earn their income legitimately.

    Izuata, Benin City.

    •Any degree holder in Nigeria, and master’s, MBA or PhD for that matter, who applies for job as truck driver must have a questionable certificate. Unfortunately, you people in the media keep on highlighting the issue. What is education after all? Application of knowledge.

    Every unemployed graduate in Nigeria must get a copy of The Mafia Manager rather than looking for jobs that are not there.

    Rodsimeon Idaewor.

  • NYSC: Service or servitude?

    NYSC: Service or servitude?

    My service to my people is part of the discipline to which I subject myself in order to free my soul from the bonds of the flesh…For me the path of salvation leads through the unceasing tribulation in the service of my fellow countrymen and humanity”-Mahatma Ghandi

    The above quote by the late Indian Statesman epitomises patriotism in all its ramifications. However, it requires life, hope and sincerity of purpose to be so dedicatedly determined. Perhaps, if Ghandi had been a Nigerian he would have made such a statement with reservation and that is if circumstances of life would ever permit him to make it at all. This indicates that an Indian of Ghandi’s status and intent might be an aberration in Nigerian environment. Detailed analysis on this may be left for another day.

    In about six month’s time (precisely May 22, 2013), the compulsory National service scheme in Nigeria generally known as National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) will be 40 years old. When the time comes, the Federal Government will characteristically roll out drums to celebrate the occasion with pump and pageantry. And the cost will, as usual, run into billions of naira. Thereafter, stories of scam will start flying around and a commission of inquiry into the scam will be set up to investigate the matter for three months or more during which some hundreds of millions of naira will also be spent either as the cost of the investigation and documentation or that of another commission to investigate the first commission which might have been engrossed in corruption. That is Nigeria for you. Yet, we are fighting corruption tooth and nail.

    Forty years is universally acknowledged as the age of maturity. It is the age of mature reasoning when man is expected to handle matters with little supervision. It is the age at which the mistakes of the adolescent years are corrected. Incidentally it is the age at which every Prophet of Allah except Isa (Jesus) was commissioned to deliver Allah’s message to the people. Any man at that age who can still not think before acting is called ‘a fool at 40’. Ditto a government or a nation.

    The establishment of the NYSC scheme by the military government under the leadership of General Yakubu Gowon was not fortuitous. With the promulgation of Decree 24 of 1973, the scheme was established on May 22 of the same year not only as a demonstration of the government’s genuine intention to fulfil the regime’s post civil war policy of ‘Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation’ (otherwise called three ‘R’) but also to accelerate the country’s socio-economic development as well as to foster national unity and integration.

    The Scheme was charged with the responsibility of mobilising, deploying and administering youths who are graduates of tertiary institutions for one year compulsory national service during which they are to be groomed for leadership. The objectives of the Scheme which compel the youth graduates to serve in states other than those of their origin are as follows:

    •To inculcate discipline in Nigeria youths by instilling in them a tradition of industry at work and of patriotic service to Nigeria in any situation they may find themselves

    •To raise the moral value of Nigerian youths by providing them with the opportunity to learn about higher ideals of national achievements as well as social and cultural improvement

    •To develop in the Nigeria youths the attitudes of mind, acquired through shared experience and suitable trading which will make them amenable to mobilisation in the national interest

    •To enable Nigeria youths acquire the spirit of self reliance by encouraging them to develop skills for self employment

    •To contribute to the accelerated growth of the national economy

    •To develop common ties (among Nigeria youths) geared towards the promotion of National unity and integration

    •To remove prejudice, eliminate ignorance and confirm, at first hand, the many similarities among Nigerians of all ethnic groups and

    •To develop a sense of corporate existence and common destiny of Nigerian people

    There were four cardinal points upon which the scheme is based. These are Mobilisation, Orientation/ Induction Course, Primary Assignment/Community Development Services (CDS) and Winding Up/Passing Out. Through these cardinal points the scheme mobilises Nigerians below the age of 30 years who are graduates of universities/polytechnics for a one year national service in any part of the country. Such qualified Nigerians are given an instrument of mobilisation otherwise known as call-up letter which shows the state of service and other particulars relating to the prospective Corps members.

    Also, a three weeks training programme primarily designed to prepare corps members for the one year national service is provided and the training takes place in venues called Orientation Camps located in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The orientation course provides a platform for interaction among youths of diverse backgrounds and inclinations. Then, at the end of the orientation exercise, corps members are posted to serve in both the public and private sectors. During this period, they provide skilful assistance in meeting the much needed man-power in the rural and urban communities. The corps members are distributed to all the communities which make up the 774 local government areas in the 36 states of the federation plus the Federal Capital Territory.

    In addition, a Community Development Scheme was designed to be carried out by the Corps members along with their primary assignments. The CDS was planned to bring development to the host communities through the activities of the Corps members for whom a day was set aside in a week to carry out Community Development initiative based on community need and to provide a platform for sustainable development in active cooperation of host communities.

    Finally, a winding up/passing out programme was designed to draw the curtain over the service year and bring the corps members together once again to enable them share their experiences during the service year and deliberate on their individual future agenda. This is an opportunity for most corps members to exchange contact addresses and thereby establish permanent relationships. And from such relationships, inter-tribal marriages and business partnerships emerged. The scheme remains one of the greatest achievements of General Yakubu Gowon as Nigeria’s military Head of State.

    At the time of formulating the NYSC policy, Nigeria was still a country plagued by a myriad of problems generally known with underdeveloped countries such as poverty, mass illiteracy, acute shortage of high skilled manpower (coupled with most uneven distribution of the skilled people that are available), inadequate socio-economic infrastructural facilities, terrible housing shortage, lack of water and sewage facilities, road, healthcare services, and effective communication system.

    Faced by these almost intractable problems, which were further compounded by the burden of reconstruction after the civil war, the government and people of Nigeria set for the country, fresh goals, and objectives aimed at establishing a new Nigeria from the debris of the old. The aim was to build a united, strong and self-reliant nation; a dynamic economy; as well as full open opportunities for all citizens in a free and democratic society.

    It must be remembered that only five Universities existed in Nigeria by the time. These were the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; University of Ibadan, Ibadan; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Ife, Ile Ife and University of Benin, Benin City. All these universities, except University of Ibadan, (which was left behind by the colonialist as a national heritage) were forcefully acquired by the federal military government from their regional owners. And the inadequacy of needed manpower supplied by these universities warranted the inclusion graduates of Higher National Diploma (HND) from polytechnics and later, the holders of National Certificate of Education (NCE). (The latter was however excluded with time when more universities and polytechnics emerged).

    These universities and other institutions of higher learning are normally expected to serve as training grounds for future leaders, besides being committed to the advancement of learning and knowledge as well as training of people for good citizenship. Perhaps the experienced deviation from this expectation led to the accusation levied by members of the public against the products of those institutions of being too elitist in their outlook and of not identifying with the plight of common man by appreciating the predicament of the vast majority of the citizenry who live in the rural areas.

    Besides the reasonable policy of emulating graduates’ national service from some civilised countries, the year 1973 symbolised the foundation of many great thoughts that would have made Nigeria a great African nation. That was the year in which Nigeria could be said to have gained economic independence by changing the national currency from pounds and Shillings inherited from the colonial masters to Naira and Kobo. It was also the year in which Nigeria’s oil boom began. Corps members were paid a monthly stipend of N180 which was about the new salary of a fresh university graduate at that time. That stipend was not to be increased until the 1980s when inflation began to force the corps members to agitate for more. And for most of the 1980s the stipend paid to corps members was not more than N200 per month. It was only in the 1990s that the stipend attracted some major reviews.

    Apart from preparing corps members for formal post graduation jobs and managerial administration, NYSC also served as a major employer of labour by opening door for many job seekers to be employed across different cadres. As a matter of fact, 1973 in the history of Nigeria can be called the turnaround year. But how much of that turnaround was utilised for the benefit of the country is a different question.

    During the celebration of 20th anniversary of NYSC scheme the need to reassess and upgrade it arose. Thus, Decree 51 was promulgated on June 16, 1993 to replace Decree 24 of 1973 with which the scheme was originally established. The aim of the new Decree was to look beyond the immediate present and think of the future leadership of the country for which the corps members were being groomed. This was done with a view to giving them the proper guidance and orientation relevant to the needs of the country.

    Deep down in the hearts of the formulators of the NYSC policy the scheme was primarily to inculcate in Nigerian youths the spirit of selfless service to the community, and to emphasise the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social backgrounds. The history of our country since independence has clearly indicated the need for unity amongst all our people, and indicated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity could exist in independent of others. And, looking at the scheme retrospectively, it is evident that the real effect of the scheme is vivid not only in the understanding of the cultural settings of certain tribes by corps members from other tribes but also in the settlements of some of those corps members in some parts of the country which, hitherto, could never have been in their dreams.

    Now, almost 40 years after the commencement of this visionary scheme how much of the country’s objectives have been achieved? Does the scheme truly remain a national service that it was designed to be or a servitude to a political clique called leaders? In its early days, NYSC was the pride not only of the serving corps members and prospective graduates looking impatiently towards their turn to serve but also that of the nation. Does that still obtain today? Has corruption not derailed the original purpose of that laudable scheme? Are the genuine graduates of universities and polytechnics not being replaced by ghost graduate as characteristic of Nigerian system? Are graduates qualified for the service not being delayed for a year or two to enable corruption thrive by bringing in hoodlums and political thugs at the expense of the nation? Have factors like nepotism and tribalism not crept into the scheme today? Have stories of embezzlement and other financial scams not disorientated potential corps members and devastated the zeal in them to serve their nation? And what becomes of hundreds of thousands who have served in the past 15 years or thereabouts?

    Is Nigeria really reaping the fruits of the NYSC scheme today? Should compulsory service to the nation be an end or a means to an end? And now that corps members are incessantly becoming sacrificial lambs either at the slaughter slabs of some barbaric elements in the North or in the dragnets of some brutal kidnapper in the East shouldn’t there be a review of the law guarding that scheme if only to safeguard humanity and civility? Should parents continue to lose their children at that level to barbarism and unwarranted brutality in the name of non-existing national unity? Some people sat down to plan the establishment of this scheme. Besides planning to embezzle money through its celebration what plan does the current government have for sustaining it and safeguarding the lives of the youths being compelled to serve the nation?

    These and many other questions are begging for urgent answers from the current government while some elements in the government are preparing to become richer by squandering billions of naira on the celebration of the scheme’s 40th anniversary even as most Nigerians remain in penury and squalor. If the pleasant past produced the agonising present to the benefit of a clique of misfits let no one assume that the agonising present will, in the like manner, produce a hopeless future. The days of life are never the same in other countries. They cannot be the same in Nigeria.

    “Allah never changes the situation of a people (or a nation) until those people have sincerely repented and refrained from their iniquities”.

    Q. 13:11

     

  • Readers’ parliament 23

    Who’s your daddy?” (1 and 2)

    You have said the mind of sane people still remaining in the church. The most foolish people are those that even with the glaring diversion of our hard-earned money into their personal accounts, we still can’t talk to a “man of God.” Church is another business: “Me and my sons” limited. 08079279831.

    What a beautiful and educative write-up you have here. You have expressed exactly my views but most times those close to me think I am an unbelieving individual who is too proud to be subservient to any of their fraudsters called daddies. 07038001105.

    The problem is that most believers are not interested in truly and faithful worship of God rather people are just interested in their wicked desires. There is no more dignity in labour. Everyone wants to make it without working hard. Present day pastors and church founders are preaching their own gospel, not that of Jesus Christ. From Sunny Okafor. Nkpor. 08035755641.

    Who is this? What religion is he representing? Could this not probably be the foretold antichrist? These and many other questions will definitely be agitating and tormenting the minds of the few of the Nigerian faithful who will care enough to read this masterpiece of exposition but will not reason deep on its intent and thus miss its intended purpose –that is, a call to add a little bit of sensibleness to their misconstrued faithfulness. For those who will not read the article for whatever reasons aside from those who see any attempt at redirecting their incorrigible wayward daddies as an affront to Christ. Our prayer is that people of like mind, effrontery and boldness like you…who are truly interested in honest and sincere belief should not rest even when it is sure that your fans will be very few. Have solace in the fact that truth and honesty are orphans in the morally and religiously deprived society that we find ourselves. Keep up the finer work.08032078292.

    Hello, Mr. Olatunji, I have been following your article and I love your presentation. I totally agree with you where you wrote:“he strips the believer of intellect and thought, he silences his ability to think.” That’s what is happening to the two major religions in Nigeria. I find it very depressing that people can no longer think on their own. I have wondered while reading the article if this writer is a free thinker, only to be disappointed in the last paragraph in which you mentioned “God-given intellect.” NANDIP. From Wuse 2, Abuja. 07037793312.

    Thank you Olatunji for your piece. You have put it just as it is. My prayer is that this truth will set free all who have been bewitched by these hirelings. God bless you. From Ben Ilebode ESQ. Benin City. 08033015690.

    You are on point but how many people will listen to you? The soul of the Nigerian believer has been sold to the smooth tongue of the daddies’ greed and craze for materialism in the name of religion. This philosophy thrives on pervasive poverty and a hopeless economic situation occasioned by inept political leadership.08057797241.

    Your article was very good. May God bless you to unravel more. Nigerian pastors are shamelessly corrupt. Thanks. 08038772010.

    This is about the best local article that I have read in a while. God bless and keep you. 08098422768.

    You have just hit the nail on the head. People rush to spiritual homes for deliverance forgetting that deliverance lies within us just as the kingdom of heaven is in us. From Biodun Soga. 08060006790.

    That was an excellent piece bro. So glad to find out someone else is in their right senses. Let them worship on God, the father. 08023506040.

    I have read Part 2. You are a serial, blatant, cureless clown who tells the truth with religiosity, sentiment. Shame. From Pity. Kehinde Olalemi. Ibadan. 07041851806.

    May your pen never run dry. I enjoyed the article. I hope those who have ears will listen. We are in a state of decadence that makes people believe easily and get quickly brainwashed that there is miracle waiting for them at the expense of their intellect and ability. The so-called daddies capitalize on the socio-economic problems of the country to exploit them claiming that by paying their tithe, miracle is on the way. From Rotimi Akinbiyi. 08033050814.

    The creeps in our worship houses (1&2).

    My friend, it appears you are qualified to be appointed a ‘chartered writer’—From 08187209543

    Kudos! I consider myself a victim of our desperate pastors because my wife is hooked on their opium. Our society is gradually slipping into the abyss because of illiteracy and unwillingness amongst the literate to read. We have more “men of God” and less godly men. 08037400478.

    Mr. Ololade, I read your June 3, opinion. The question is, ‘are u five years early or one day behind the time?’ I am surprised that a Nigerian could say such a thing in this 21st Century. It’s okay, it’s an opinion. Jacob. 08034679229.

    Nobody made them pastors, apostles and bishops and till tomorrow, they are fakes, they claim God spoke or called them. The biggest liars in the world is and among them adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ? They go all length and even make magic and yet, prosperity , healing etc is not achieved because the source is satan. In Nigeria, less than 10% are real Christians. Thanks. 08039456567.

    You have told the pastors the truth. Until you tell your Islamic terrorists the truth, I will continue to believe you are suffering from Logorrhoea. Truth. 07041851806

    Ola, you have not come by a more candid expository on our National malady in our time as yours on page 21 in The Nation of August 12. If I could, I will post unedited to all Nigerian Pastors hoping they will understand. Keep it up. From E.J Ebong. 08038137269

    There is no reward for goodness other than goodness. The truth you have said in the Nation about the true nature of Islamic Banking will be a success for you and your entire both in this world and hereafter. Amen…From Goodluck! 08065392578

    “The Creeps in our worship houses 1 and 2”: Nobody made them pastors, apostles, and bishops and till tomorrow, they are fakes. They claim God spoke or called them yet they are the biggest liars in the world. Is any among them adhering to the teachings of Jesus Christ? They go to all lengths and even make human sacrifice to make magical prosperity, healing and so on. In Nigeria, less than one per cent of the people are real Christians. Thanks. 08039456567.

    Olatunji, I have not come by a more candid and expository piece on this national malady in our time. If I could, I will post it unedited to all Nigerian pastors hoping they will understand. Keep it up. From E.J. Ebong. 08038137269.

    There is no reward for goodness other than goodness. The truth you have said about the true nature of Islamic Banking will attract success to you and your entire household both in this world and the hereafter. Amen. From Goodluck. 08065392578.

  • POT POURRI: Sanusi, Okonjo-Iweala’s DoD budgets and our fiscal autocracy

    Nigeria continues to spin like a yo-yo, like a place where there is no government. I wakeup everyday feeling like I am in a God-forsaking place. A place like Somalia or the outer fringes of Afghanistan; it is like madness assailing one as one watches our government officials in action. I want to wager that the number of mentally deranged people must have increased in the last three years of this administration. There are so many incongruities that one can only attempt to brew a potpourri…

    Dj Sanusi One is now convinced that the central bank governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi must be suffering from some form of verbal disease. And the antidote to it, I wish to recommend, is that he should never be allowed to go near a microphone as long as he remains a government official. The mic has a certain visceral effect on people; especially when you have it in one hand and you are faced with a ‘good’ crowd. Some don’t know how to start, being shy and tongue-tied; some don’t know how to stop, being so much in love with the sound of their voice. Many act like disc jockeys (DJs) – with the mic half into the mouth as if relishing an ice cream cone, they merely perform to titillate the crowd.

    Methinks our governor of the CBN falls into this last category. Only night club DJs have such audacity or temerity if you like, to say whatever they would and whichever way they desire it to their sweating and oft inebriated mass of revelers. But certainly not a CBN governor; the equivalent of Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and U.S’s Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, they are to be seen bearing their unflappably stark disposition. An unrestrained sneeze in the public could start an economic flu, it could simply suggest that the economy ails.

    This is why we think it is crazy when a soul of such eminence like our CBN chief suggests openly that 50 per cent of the country’s civil servant should be suddenly rounded up and put on a journey of no return. Addressing the annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) recently, Sanusi had expressed concern that 70 per cent of government’s revenue was being spent on the government. Quite correct; but what is his solution? Get rid of half of all the civil servants. Haba Malam!

    There are so many things wrong with his logic apart from the odium of its issuing from the CBN helm. One, Sanusi is in a position to know the percentage of the budget consumed by the civil servants and to know that it must be insignificant compared to what the National Assembly carts home and what the political appointees squander. Second, why not figure out and pursue a radical restructure that will eliminate such baggage like the ghost workers, the Senate, the number of ministries, departments and agencies for instance? But most troubling is that Sanusi is a member of the inner circle of this government as well as member of the economic committee. Making his kind of loose public statements suggest two things: either there is deep trouble in the cabinet or he is not suitable to hold that exalted position. He and his colleagues are supposed to be driving change, even the most difficult of changes, not raising alarm from the podium all the time.

    Okonjo-Iweala’s DoD budget One is stunned to near stupefaction that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the author the 2013 federal budget that is daily torn to shreds by the National Assembly Committees. This budget is DoD – dead on delivery! It is the same manner the current one (2012) is mired in controversy, inertia and benumbing revelations. Following from Sanusi’s out-cry about a fatuous government, how could we propose over N1.3 billion for Aso Rock meals and refreshments and especially so if we remember the uproar that trailed similar budget head last year? Again, why does the Presidency keep such large fleet of aircraft requiring N9 billion to be voted for their upkeep? There is additional N9 billion for the completion of the vice president’s official residence (to make a total of N16 billion for that singular project); over N2billion for another banquet hall in the presidency and N6.2 billion for publicity of a petroleum bill… These curious examples are legion.

    With the budget replete with these sort of crazy expense heads, one asks, what is the job of the budget office? What input does the minister of finance make in the preparation of the budget and why is there no element of rigour in the entire appropriation document? The 2012 and 2013 budgets are studies in fiscal indiscipline and recklessness. Why is there so much frivolity and wantonness in the budget of a country that lacks power supply, good roads, schools and hospitals? A nation’s budget is its soul; the most important driver of the system and the economy. Does it explain why the economy is in such a topsy-turvy state?

    And the reign of fiscal autocracy It used to be said that Nigeria was dying slowly but now, any citizen who has a modicum of love for dear country knows that the country is on a rollercoaster to her doom. There seems to be no mitigating factor, no one to apply the brakes. In short, no one seems to be thinking on behalf of our country, Nigeria. There seems to be emerging a deadly twist in the march to Nigeria’s perdition. It is what may be called ‘fiscal autocracy’ – a few people in ‘strategic positions’ simply hijack the revenue allocated to their MDAs or State.

    We are particularly worried about by the States here. In the last three years, the looting of States has become more brazen with most governors simply pocketing their State’s allocation. Budgets are mere charades; institutions and systems have become sepulchral and forlorn. In most States of the federation today, it is one- man show turned to high art – the governor is the legislator, the commissioner, the council chairman and the councillor. The sun practically shines from his eyes and returns there at dusk. He is absolutely not accountable to anyone; he runs riot over the state.

    In most States of the federation, especially in the (Southeast, Southsouth and most of the North) there is a total disconnect between the government and the people. Apart from a few fancy projects in the towns, most States have been made arid and desolate. Most local councils and communities across Nigeria are as grave as an abandoned graveyard. Absolutely nothing happening; our governments are on holidays. The EFCC said recently that N15 billion in raw cash were intercepted at our airports in the last 10 months. These are funds meant for the development our communities that are being shipped out in a frenzy; in preparation for the next election perhaps. Nature abhors a vacuum; the youths in these abandoned communities simply help themselves through kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and thuggery. The real pain is that there is hardly any example to cite that illustrates a State government functioning right. It is a scary scenario; an autocracy donning the babanriga of democracy. Let us pray…

    LAST MUG: Professor Okonjo and the kidnappers: What possibly could be the offence of 82-year-old Professor Kamene Okonjo mother of the finance minister? Her very name, Kamene seems to raise that rhetoric question. She just happens to be alive in a clime that has no worthy leaders. This most damaging scourge has been with us for over a decade now; did the government ever attempt to find a holistic solution to it? The same manner they have treated potholes on our roads, power failure, failed schools, etc, it is the same attitude they have shown towards kidnapping. While we pray for mama Okonjo’s safety, our problems will not go away. We have to solve them!

  • The challenge of citizenship

    The challenge of citizenship

    Let us agree on a few maxims about citizenship, starting with what citizens are not. First, citizens are not subjects. That is to say that they are not members of a kingdom where the king is the state. When Louis XIV of France declared himself as the state, he did not consider those he ruled over as citizens; they were his subjects owing their allegiance to him. But a citizen does not owe allegiance to an individual, no matter how highly placed.

    Second, citizens are not robots. That is to say that they are not brainless and mindless machines programmed to respond in particular ways. Fela’s lyrics concerning the zombies of this world are inapplicable to citizens.

    Third, citizens are neither Saints nor Satan. That is to say, citizens are neither perfect beings nor irredeemable devils. Since no human being is perfect, and since citizens are human beings, it follows that they are not perfect. It is not a mystery that saints are not declared as such until well into their having departed the world of sin!

    A satanic being is incapable of doing any good. But no matter how bad a citizen is, there is always some redeeming value. This is what institutions are expected to do and why Jean-Jacques Rousseau pleaded with the Government of Poland to create institutions that are capable of making citizens out of human beings because “it is national institutions which shape the genius, the character, the tastes and the manners of a people; which give it an individuality of its own; which inspire it with that ardent love of country..”

    Now to what citizens are. First, citizens are self-determining beings. They are responsible for the laws that they are made to follow. That makes them lawmakers as well as law-keepers. They are lawmakers in the sense that their elected representatives, who represent their interests, are responsible for the making of laws. As such keeping the laws is not an imposition; it is a case of the maker also being the keeper. And it does not matter that my preferred representative is not the choice of my fellow citizens.

    Second, citizens are rational and deliberative beings. Reason is the master driver of the affairs of citizens. They deliberate on the most effective and efficient means for their desired ends. They have self-regarding as well as other-regarding interests which they want to promote. The latter include interests of a parent for a good education for her son or daughter, or the interest of a philanthropist for the welfare of motherless babies. Citizens with such interests deliberate and reflect on how they can have their interests realised and will throw their support for candidates who share their interests and concerns. Once those candidates get elected, our citizens will mount pressure on them to support legislations for the realization of their common interests.

    Third, citizens are morally conscious. This does not contradict my previous point that citizens are not saints. What this means is that citizens are aware of the distinction between right and wrong. They know what conduct is wrong, and if they do not suffer from a weakness of the will, they would refrain from such conduct.

    More importantly, citizens are aware of their responsibilities to fellow-citizens and to the state of which they are citizens. They are conscious of the moral wrongness of breaking the law; evading taxes; aiding and abetting corruption; and violently thwarting the will of the people in elections. A citizen will also put the good of his country above everything else because he or she identifies that good as his or her own good as well. After all, the peace of the tree is the peace of the bird that perches on it.

    It is readily apparent that the picture of the citizen that emerges from the foregoing is not the reality that many of us are familiar with. Rather, we have citizens in name only, and never in deed. When the jurist suggested that there is only one Nigerian nationality with its citizens, he took the form for the substance.

    Of course, the state confers citizenship, but to what end is that? Do the citizens have the inspiration to conduct themselves as such? Can citizens be deliberative and rational when they are confronted daily with irrationalities as the order? Can they espouse morality in an immoral society led by evil impostors? Can a citizen see herself as self-determining when she knows that her vote counts for nothing and the lawmaker representing her is an election robber?

    Our present predicament goes back to the sandy foundation on which the national edifice was laid. We went into independence fractured and divided. While the nationalists were seemingly united in their quest for independence, there was no united focus on building lasting national institutions or creating a common patriotic citizenry. There was no national hero, nor a national leader that the entire country can look up to. There was no inspirational leadership that cut across the divisions of cultural nations that predated the Nigeria we came to acknowledge as nation. In the circumstance, what could have helped to create a sense of belonging was the development of strong national institutions. Instead, the selfishness of those who got themselves into national offices prevented them from seeing beyond the immediate interests of holding on to power.

    A just electoral system is a sine qua non for a strong democracy. Yet the election that ushered in independence was nothing close to just. And since then, it has gone from bad to more than worst. But ideal citizenship is a product of a strong democracy. It cannot come out of nowhere. Therefore it is in vain that we wish for the emergence of good citizens without selfless leaders who are willing to sacrifice their self-interests for the good of the nation.

    There are many lines of division that make the dream of a united country so elusive. This was recognised earlier in our years as a toddler nation. We even got it written into the first national anthem. But while we declared our brotherhood despite the difference in “tribe and tongue”, those who had responsibility for following through to make our brotherhood a reality were guilty of deepening the differences. Later developments, some deliberately pursued as state policy, put to rest the insincerity of the declaration. And when for once, citizens in action rather than words, issued their own declaration of unity in diversity, raising the hope of a brighter future based in strong democracy, they were rebuffed by their self-imposed leaders. It was not only another missed opportunity, that selfish and thoughtless act on behalf of a clique, drew the country back at least another thirty years.

    Six years later, the public struggle of the few courageous ones and the private support of the silent majority appeared to pay off when the coward dictators that relied on the power of the gun instead of the content of their ideas were shamed out. But appearance is not reality and for more than twelve years we have simply either matched in place or backward in every sphere of national life. Security is presently where we never experienced it since the various inter-tribal wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. The quality of education at all levels was much higher in the days before independence. And the health status of citizens has never been more precarious.

    What is needed, then, is a citizenry that takes seriously the responsibility of citizenship to serve as the gadfly perched on the back of lethargic and uninspiring leadership. We must resolve to confront a jaded leadership that threatens our citizenship status; come together state by state, local government by local government in demand of good governance.

  • Annus Horribilis (2)

    The death of Olusola Saraki the Waziri of Ilorin and the god-father of Kwara politics was most unexpected and Kwara politics will never be the same again. Olusola Saraki born of an Ilorin father and a Saki mother was a quintessential Yoruba man with Fulani heritage. He trained as a physician qualifying in 1961 in England. He came home to set up a medical practice in Lagos and achieved great success by having the retainerships of several companies and industrial houses in Lagos. It was surprising to many of his friends in Lagos when he decided to go into politics in Kwara and he bestrode the political landscape of Kwara like a colossus for several decades. He made governors and unmade governors until he was able to make his son Bukola Saraki governor and his daughter Gbemi, senator. He wanted Gbemi to succeed her brother. This was not to be because Bukola Saraki rightly had a different opinion. Father and son had to part politically but before long both were reconciled and certainly Olusola Saraki must have died a fulfilled man knowing that his legacy will survive in his children. Some of us for historical and ancestral reasons have abiding interest in Kwara politics. It is our hope that the passing away of Saraki will usher in peace, stability and development in Kwara state and that Kwara will become part of the mainstream of Yoruba politics for which it has always been.

    Before the death of Saraki, Hope Harriman, a foremost Estate Surveryor who had contributed hugely to the development of this profession in Nigeria passed on in distant Washington DC. I got to know Mr Harriman very well at a time he was married to Deola my cousin and whenever I met him, he was always excited about talking about their two sons whom he affectionately referred to as his Ekiti Boys. He was very proud of these young fellows whom he sent to Cambridge where he himself had studied. Mr Harriman was in Government College Ibadan with my late brother Abiodun in the late 1940s. He was a colorful man and highly cerebral just like his late brother Ambassador Leslie Harriman. He was a member of a group called the Patriot. He was an Elder statesman who was worried about the decline of Nigeria. As an Itsekiri man, he agonized over the threat against his people posed by the larger neighboring nationalities of the Ijaws (Izon) and the Urhobos. He did whatever was possible to bring peace to Warri and Itsekiri land. He was an avuncular man who enjoyed life to the fullest. He will be sorely missed.

    The assassination of General Mohammed Shuwa in Maiduguri came to most people as a shock. General Shuwa, a Shuwa Arab/Kanuri man was one of the heroes of the Nigerian Civil war. He was a rather dour and quiet military man who was not as successful as Benjamin Adekunle, the famous black scorpion of the 3rd Marine Commando Division of the Nigerian Army. It is ironical that both Gen Shuwa and Adekunle have been living in relative obscurity and isolation after their heroic actions in the civil war. I wish the Federal government will do something to ennoble Adekunle who is still alive and for the family of General Shuwa who had passed on to eternity.

    The demise of Justice Kayode Eso in faraway London also came as a surprise and I would be writing separately about him because he deserves a full length treatment and homage as the best Chief Justice Nigeria never had.

    Coming nearer home, the cold hands of death struck within my family in the passing away of my older brother Peter Agboola Osuntokun a gentleman, if there was ever one. A man who inspite of the fact that he was not cerebrally endowed, worked very hard to leave a legacy behind. He would be missed by the family particularly by his immediate children and wife and by the larger Osuntokun family. In the same vein, Yemi Ogendegbe whom I have known as a brother since 1956 when his father was Western Nigeria Regional Minister of Works. Yemi and I were also in later years at Ibadan Grammar School after I left Christ School for my higher School Certificate Course in Ibadan. He was a very handsome man, pleasant and gentle to a fault and also had a wonderful smile. It was a shock to me when I heard that he died suddenly without being ill. My heart goes to Mama who is very much alive in her 90s and to Yemi’s siblings. His death just shows graphically the futility of life.

    The passing into glory of these titans should raise fundamental questions in the minds of our leaders and should make all of us understand that we are but mere players on the stage of life and that no one lives forever and that power is transient that wealth itself is of limited value. J.J. Rousseau says that’ all men are born equal in the sense that they are all born naked’. We brought nothing into this world and when we go, we will go with nothing. This is why King Solomon says all accumulation of wealth is vanity because at the end of the day, the man who accumulates wealth will not be here forever to spend it. All of us and particularly our leaders should try and have a sense of history and be moderate in whatever they do. Power is not the end of life and it is what one brings to life that matters. Building mansions and estates and buying jets and having fat accounts when the vast majority of humanity is suffering may bring us fame for some time but this will not endure and one day, the owner of life will call us home. This is the lesson in this horrible year or ANNUS ORIBILIS.

  • A nation under spell

    Nigeria was not always like this. Even though we had our challenges, they were looked int speedily with the government of the day do the needful to assure the citizenry of their safety and security. We didn’t appreciate what we had then. We probably thought that the government was not doing enough to protect us then; now we know better. If government at the national level then strove to maintain law and order, the same cannot be said of the present administration under whose watch life has short, brutish and nasty.

    To the government, it is normal for things to be the way they are. This is why it could say that ‘’Nigeria is safe’’, a political statement, which it knows is far from the truth. If it knows that it was not true why then did it make/ The answer is obvious. It was made for the sake of foreigners who may be interested in investing in the country. Our government forgets that foreigners are no fools; they have their embassies and high commissions and can easily obtain information about the country from there. Lying about a nation’s state of security in order to attract foreign investments should not be an attractive option for a government with such a challenge on its hands.

    What the government should be looking for are solutions and not to compound issues by trying to pull wool over the people’s eyes. Every nation has its security challenge no doubt, but the difference is in their respective attitude towards remedying the situation. Some tackle the problem head-on, while others pay mere lip-service to the challenge. Unfortunately, we are in the latter group. Rather than be making progress as a nation, we are regressing. Problems that were solved some 20 to 30 years ago have returned to haunt us without the government being able to proffer any solution. What can then be said of us as a nation?

    Rather than accept our shortcomings, we have chosen to live in denial and the implication of this choice is that we are not ready to solve our enormous problems. Is it that the government is incapable of solving these problems? Or is it sidestepping these problems for political reasons? With the way things are, the government has virtually abandoned the people to their fate. With a government like this, we have only God to run to now for help. What is wrong with us? What is it that makes our government behaves without a care for the people? Do we have a government?

    Of course, we have, but its impact is not being felt. What we have is a government only in name, no more, no less. If Nigeria were to be a human being, many will say that, that person is under a spell. Are we not under a spell as a country from the look of things? A country which is suffused with oil but imports refined products for domestic use. Today, we are in the grip of a fuel shortage, which has virtually grounded the country. From Sokoto to Gusau; Minna to Ilorin; Ibadan to Lagos; Port Harcourt to Asaba; Benin to Enugu, motorists are stuck in fuel queues. For many, the filling stations have become a second home. They sleep and wake up at these places, yet they don’t get petrol to buy. Diesel and kerosine are different kettles of fish. Their prices are out of the reach of the common-man. And the government’s response to that is that diesel is not for them.

    What about kerosine, a product which is widely used by the common-man? The product’s price has shot through the roof and the poor cannot afford it. Yet, this is a product that Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole described as ‘’common-man specific ‘’.With the price ranging between N120 and N150 per litre no poor man can afford it. The government is not concerned about all this. It has ceded its powers to marketers who now play games with the importation of fuel.

    Because a lot of money is involved in the deal, they have held the nation to ransom, demanding payment for job not done . Many of them do not import fuel but they get paid all the same in a huge subsidy scam to which the country has lost trillions of naira. Subsidy is meant for the less privileged but it has been hijacked by the well heeled with the connivance of those in power. Today, the most lucrative business in town is oil marketing. Whether you have a registered company or not; whether you have an office or not, once, you have the right connections, you are in business. The millions will start rolling in without you doing anything.

    This is how many marketers bleed the country with those in power turning a blind eye. The present fuel scarcity, we were told, was caused by the vandalism of the System B2 pipeline at Arepo in Ogun State sometime in September. The vandals later killed three officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) who were sent to fix the pipe. Since the destruction of the NNPC has not been able to send other engineers to repair the damaged pipe for fear of their being attacked by vandals.

    Does it mean that we are at the mercy of criminals? If NNPC cannot send its men to repair such an important pipe for fear of hoodlums, then we are in for a long drawn fuel scarcity. The System B2 supplies all of the Southwest fuel and some parts of the North, particularly Ilorin , Kwara State. Must we watch and allow hoodlums to seize major national assets? What is the government doing to flush out these vandals from not only Arepo but other places where they are operating?

    Government must know when to bare its fangs and when to be soft. This is a time to be hard on people such as pipeline vandals and the like who are drawing back the hand of the clock. Boko Haram has turned out to be the menace it is today because of the government’s lukewarm attitude to serious national crises. What about kidnappers? These ones have turned kidnapping to an art all because the government has been indulging them. The truth of the matter is these boys are making a hell of money from the illicit trade. This is why they have kept on kidnapping people. They won’t stop unless we are ready to match them fire for fire. Is government ready to do that or will it keep on paying them ransom in secret while coming out to tell the public a different story?

    We have what it takes to become great; what we need is the will to do what is right and take certain drastic actions no matter whose ox is gored. We are not a cursed nation; so we should not behave like one.