The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • For mummy Bene Madunagu at 70 (1)

    Subtitled ‘Tributes to revolutionary commitment, struggle and service’, the book, ‘Bene Maunagu at 70’ edited by her husband, Dr. Edwin Madunagu, mathematician, academic, radical thinker, Marxist, revolutionary strategist, celebrated newspaper columnist, archivist and much more, is a remarkable portrait of and testimony to the life and times of a unique woman who has been of inestimable value to the struggle for social justice,  human dignity, gender equity and people-oriented development in Nigeria. Not many outside her immediate circle of influence, whose lives she has touched in diverse ways, knew that Professor (Mrs) Bene Madunagu clocked 70 on March 21, this year. As this 153-page publication, deliberately designed to be accessible and reader friendly shows, Professor (Mrs) Madunagu is not just a loving and devoted wife and mother, she is in her own right a first class scholar, revolutionary organizer, accomplished administrator, human and women rights activist as well as labour leader in addition to being a relentless fighter for progressive social change.

    This book is an enthralling, abridged account of aspects of the protracted struggle for a just social order in post-colonial Nigeria and the immense sacrifices which many radical activists and revolutionaries, including Comrades Bene and Edwin Madunagu, have made towards the achievement of this objective. Yet, it is not a narrative that indulges in self glorification or seeks to paint a self-serving picture of personal heroics. Rather, what comes across in virtually every page is a deliberate attempt to understate and subsume the activities and undertakings of the individual under the collective banner of the groups within which they operate. Although this is not explicitly stated in the book, I have the feeling that a fundamental belief that informs the ideological orientation and philosophical disposition of the Madunagus is that no man or woman is an island and that the life of the individual cannot be truly meaningful when taken out of the context of the collective good of the society within which he or she is embedded. For such an altruistic and other-regarding worldview, a narcissistic attitude to life cannot be an option.

    Even though this book is a collection of tributes to Professor Bene Madunagu by those who know her most intimately and have worked and/or collaborated with her in different spheres over the years, the life, beliefs, values and motivations of the editor, Dr. Edwin Madunagu, shines brightly through the pages. This is certainly inevitable as the story of this exemplary couple is that of two individuals becoming indistinguishable from one indivisible soul united in friendship, love, comradeship, political commitment, class struggle and revolutionary consciousness.

    Comrade Edwin describes “the three integral attributes of the relationship between Bene and myself” as “compatibility, complementarity and love”. Interestingly, though the Madunagus would most probably categorize themselves as humanists, Comrade Edwin, in elaborating on the love component of their relationship refers his readers, “revolutionaries and non-revolutionaries, Christians and non-Christians- to what Saint Paul said in his first letter to the people of Corinth; that is, the Holy Bible: First Corinthians, Chapter 13”.

    In a society characterized by mindless accumulation of wealth by all means and at all costs with deleterious consequences for the vast majority of a badly traumatized people who sink ever deeper into poverty while some tiny minority luxuriate in criminal loot, the Christ-like selflessness of the Madunagus is truly amazing. Writing about the defining essence of their relationship, Comrade Edwin reveals that “All major decisions in our organizational, political, professional, occupational, financial, and family lives since 1975 have been taken together and executed together – sometimes with one person above ground and the other underground. Beyond this, everything that can be called property (which, excluding literary acquisition is very limited) is collectively owned in a revolutionary sense- with the formal and legal ownership residing with Bene”.

    It certainly takes more than common courage, determination, commitment, resilience and discipline for a woman to be the kind of uncompromising radical and revolutionary that Professor Bene Madunagu has been in a kind of society like ours. Yet, ever since she got acquainted with her future husband when they were still graduate students at the Faculty of Science, University of Lagos in 1973, Comrade Bene has led a life of unwavering purpose and focus not just on the welfare and wellbeing of her family but also the struggle for the liberation of millions of our people from the humiliating grip of poverty. The most incredible thing is that the sacrificial path, she has chosen in life is entirely voluntary. For, this is a woman who has all the intellect, talent and ability to make as much money as she could have wanted to accumulate and live a life of opulence in the midst of mass poverty like so many other less gifted but more unscrupulous men and women have opted for.

    Professor (Mrs.) Bene Madunagu obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany from the University of Lagos in 1972; a Master of Science degree also in Botany specializing in Mycology in 1975 from the University of Lagos and a Doctorate degree in Phytopathology (Botany) within a record period of 18 months from the University of Ibadan in 1986. As Comrade Edwin tells the touching story of this great Nigerian patriot and hero, “After her Master’s degree, Bene was employed as an Assistant Lecturer in the University of Lagos. She moved over to the University of Calabar, on July 1, 1976, as Lecturer II. For their actual and purported roles in the April 1978 national student action, “Ali Must Go”, Bene and her husband, Edwin, who had joined the University in August 1977, as well as 10 other University teachers and administrators across the country were summarily dismissed in September 1978…Bene was instantly recalled from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, where she had just begun a Ph.D. programme on a fellowship. The fellowship was withdrawn, her salary stopped and her official quarters in the University sealed up. She was left stranded in London and had to be repatriated back to Calabar by the Nigerian Embassy”.

    After 32 months out of job, Professor Bene Madunagu was reinstated in April 1981 after she won a case in court challenging her dismissal. She rose from the position of Lecturer 1 in 1986 to become Senior Lecturer in 1990, Associate Professor in 1995 and full Professor in 2000. A prolific scholar, she has published over 40 scientific papers in learned local and foreign journals, authored several academic books for use at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in addition to examining not less than 25 Master’s degree theses and 18 PhD dissertations in various universities in Nigeria. In a tribute to Professor Bene by Dr. E.J. Umana, Associate Professor of Phytopathology, Dr. S.E. Udo, Associate Professor of Ethnobotany and Field Biology and Dr. A.A. Markson, Associate Professor of Phytopathology and Applied Mycology, all academics she had nurtured and groomed, she was described as “…a Professor of Professors, an activist, a philanthropist and a heroin of our time. She is a woman of substance, a dependable pillar of hope and succor to, not only the women folk whose cause she champions, but to all who have the privilege to come by”. On attaining the age of 65, Professor Bene Madunagu retired officially from the University of Calabar on March 21, 2012, and delivered her Inaugral Lecture on April 18, 2012.

    The various organizations and groups which Mrs. Madunagu helped to form, participated actively in or led between 1973 and the present reveal the intensity of her passion, her abundant energy and the diversity of her interests. These as itemized in chapter two of the book include Nigerian Youth Action Committee (1973); Society for Progress (1974); Anti-Poverty Movement of Nigeria (APMON,1974); Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Nigeria (1976); Calabar Group of Socialists (1977); Democratic Action Committee (1980); Women in Nigeria (WIN,1980); Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU, since 1980); Movement of Peoples of Democracy (1977); Directorate for Literacy (1986); Socialist Revolutionary Vanguard (1989); Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI, 1993); Centre for Research, Information and Documentation (CENTRID, 1992); Conscientising Nigerian Male Adolescents (CMA,1995); Calabar International Institute for Research Information (CIINSTRID, 2000) and Congress of Popular Democracy (CPD,1998).

    Describing her mother as her inspiration and role model, Professor Bene’s daughter, Unoma Madunagu-Agrinya writes, “I grew up different from other girls in my community who felt they were not as smart as boys and could not take on roles traditionally assigned to boys…Because I am proud of who I am, I will do the same for my children especially my daughter. She will grow up knowing that she is a human being and has equal rights with her brother. Her sex does not limit her, only her mind does”. And her son, Ikenna Edwin Madunagu, depicts her qualities as a mother who was compassionate yet a strong disciplinarian; a wife who stood faithfully by her husband both when he was in detention and when sick and a feminist and activist as well as a mentor and a woman. In his words, “You have shown that as a woman, you do not need to sell your dignity to survive in this ruthless world of male dominance. You have also shown most men that they can be supportive of the girl child, their wives and women generally, and that violence against women is not the answer”.

  • Religion, Colonialism, and power

    To  say  that religion   is  the root cause of the present global  violence in the world  today  especially  in the Middle  East  where migrants are fleeing to Europe  for dear life is no exaggeration. To  insist  that colonialism  had  a hand in the origin  of this debacle  too  will   not   be  an understatement.  To  further  argue  that the leading world powers  are using   such  religious  violence   to further  their  own  political  agenda  to dominate the world in their  own  way  is also  a logical  deduction. Yet  in spite  of all   these   prognostics,  religion  has  been,  in the past   even  till   now,   an instrument of order,  peace  and  love as preached  by   its founders. Yet,   colonialism went hand in hand with religion in several parts of the world to mould and build    tribes  , fuse  and merge cultures,  to create  many of the different  and diverse nations of the world,  as we know  it today.

    For  the purposes  of today’s  topic  it is necessary to state   some home truths  before coming to the necessary  and inevitable  conclusions. Brexit, Donald  Trump  and  now  almost Frexit  came about because  of the early  forays  of the Europeans to get  power  to dominate  and civilize  the world their own way. Colonialsm made  citizens of colonies proxy  citizens who spoke the language of their colonial  masters and adopted  their  ways of life. That  is why migrants  are  fleeing  instinctly  to the land of their former  colonial  masters   today  mostly   and nowhere  else. The  fact  that such migrants  are coming   at a time  that ISIS has declared  war on the west and has vowed  to create  a global caliphate has  made it difficult for Europeans to accept these  migrants as mere  victims  of war. Europeans fear  these Muslim migrants  as potential  fifth columnists or a Trojan horse  that will slaughter Europeans for ISIS  once  they are granted asylum as they  had  no intention of integrating  or  assimilating in the first  instance. This  is what we  non Europeans have labeled  xenophobia and the more liberal  Europeans have condemned,  while  nationalists  and populists have argued that it is time to  take back   their  lands  from foreigners  and strangers.  This   again    is  what  has  degenerated  to  testy and vicious  voting across  Europe   in elections   and   referendum  like Brexit and  lately in  France  where the two  front runners  like  Emmanuel  Macron  and  Marine  Le  Pen  do not belong to the established  parties  and Macron  especially  has never  contested  for any election  before. This  has been called  a second French Revolution by the media and  it is really  a political earthquake.

    The  personalities of the two  French  presidential  candidates   and their  lifestyles  are what I will  use  to  illustrate  todays’  topic and  show the relationship  between contemporary religion, the  legacies  of colonialism  and power.  Emmanuel  Macron  the French presidential  candidate  is married  to  a woman 24  years  older  than  him. Marine  Le Pen  lives  with  her partner and they  are  not married in the way  we  know it in this part  of the world. Such  ways  of life  are  an abomination in our  part  of the  world where same  sex marriage  is a taboo. Yet  in  France if either Marine Le  Pen  wins  or Macron   does, either  will  be the first and most powerful  citizen  of  France. A  situation which    does  not bother  the   French but is certainly  unthinkable  in the US . Yet  the US  under  the Obama Administration tried  to muzzle some African  nations like Lesotho  and Uganda over their anti gay marriage and  legal  rights  by asking them  to cancel such  laws or  forfeit the foreign  aid they  had always given them.  It  is notable  that African  nations  like  Nigeria stood  their  ground  and when Obama snubbed  Nigeria on his only W African  visit   to  Senegal  the Senegalese told  him clearly that  they  have nothing to learn  from the Americans on gay relations as it is an anathema  to their way of life. This  then is where  the issue  of the Anglican  Church  of  Nigeria comes  to mind  in the way it objected  to the ordination of gay bishops by  American  Episcopal  Churches  while the Head  of the Anglican  Communion then  turned  a blind  eye  to the  occasion.  It was left  to the last  Nigerian  Primate but one,  Peter  Akinola  to do battle on behalf  of the   global   Anglican  communion  and  insist  till  now that  homosexuality is not  part of the teachings  of the bible.  To  a large  extent  that  view  has  prevailed  to the chagrin of the British, our  colonial  masters  who  have since  gone on to  legalise  gay rights in  their   nation   beset  with  huge problems of   failed   multiculturalism, radicalization, and now xenophobia resulting in  Brexit  and a greatly  divided nation.

    Yet  the same  British  colonialists taught  us the art of governance  as their colonial  subjects and even  though  since Independence in 1960  we have gone our separate  ways as sovereign nations   we  do  not for now have much  to show for their tutorship in good governance  and responsible   transparent  leadership.  Our  present existence as a nation remains  a loud legacy  of British Colonial  administration  and   a huge testament    to  how   successful  they  have been at  how  to  manage  our  affairs   as we  have  done  so  far  to  the detriment   and   suffering of  our  masses    who  are resigned  to  inhuman  and  unending  poverty  in  the midst   of  gigantic  oil  wealth  which  the rich and powerful   have  plundered  successfully  into  their  private   pockets It  is however  poor  consolation for us as Nigerians to say that the British  are  being punished  for misguiding  and  misleading us with   the new  problems  of  migration, radicalization and Brexit.  We  too as a people  since  independence  have  largely  been  the architect  of our  general  misfortune.

    Anyway   as the saying goes  there is no cloud without  a silver  lining   and  this  is the concluding part of our  story  today. The  150th Anniversary  Celebrations   have begun  Lagos   in  Lagos for  Cathedral  Church  of  Christ,  Marina,    where  I worship  and I  cannot  hide  my joy and that  of the clergy  and congregation of  that  ancient  Cathedral  at  the occasion.  The  Cathedral  at  Marina   is the  oldest  in  Nigeria  and has  been  a source  of joy  and pride  to Nigerian Anglicans  since  it was founded  in 1867.    The   foundation stone was laid by  the  Colonial Administrator then John   Hawley   Glover  who  noted  rather  casually  and  patronizingly then as  a colonial  Christian   and  master,   that the establishment of the  Church would  civilize  a people  ‘oppressed by superstition, robbery  and  violence ‘. That   was 150 years  ago    but    the world  has moved  on since.

    Nigeria  today  is a leading member  of the global  Anglican  Communion and great  Nigerian bishops,  and prelates  have preached sermons  globally   and  at  the illustrious  Christ Church  Cathedral, Marina,   which  has great choir  comparable   to   that  of  St  Paul’s  Cathedral Choir  in  London  just  as the quality of service, chanting of psalms and singing  of hymns  by the Cathedral  congregation  are  of no lesser  quality.  I use this opportunity  to  pay tribute  to great  Bishops  of   the  Cathedral   like Bishops  Irunsewe  Kale, Festus  Segun, Archbisop Abiodun Adetiloye, my favorite  Bishop,   and  Provost   Sope  Johnson, my friend and  favorite Provost, who  was in charge  of the Cathedral  for  25 years.  I  salute   the  present   Cathedral   Bishop  of Lagos  Adebola  Ademowo    and the new  Archbishop  Fape    from  Remo,  as  well  as our  new  Provost  Bola  Ojofeitimi.   Although  a relic of colonialism, the Anglican  Church  has  done more  than any other religious  institution in Nigeria  to make  education  the instrument  of economic  growth  and  development   and the Cathedral  on the  Marina  was   a starting  point  150 years  ago.    That   certainly   is highly  commendable and worthy of celebrations. Once again long  live the Federal Republic of  Nigeria and  long  live  the  Cathedral  Church  of Christ Marina Lagos  at 150.

  • Sue, Jonathan, sue

    At the rate he is going, former president Goodluck Jonathan may soon be asking to be crowned the best leader Nigeria ever had. The thought alone is unfortunate. On April 8, in this space, in an article entitled ‘Jonathan finds his voice too early’, I expressed my dismay at Dr Jonathan’s penchant for self-praise and sweeping condemnation of his successor. While conceding to him his right to free speech, I thought it was impertinent for him to be applauding himself and his administration so frequently, and carrying on as though Nigerians made a huge mistake by voting him out in 2015. I also felt that given the weight of accusations hanging over some of his principal officers, a good number being prosecuted, that Dr Jonathan should have refrained from much public speech-making until the investigations and court processes were exhausted and the accused cleared.

    But that was not to be. The former president has been speaking, and very loudly, to just about anyone, casting himself as the great leader that was rudely turfed out. Now this week he grabbed the headlines again, lashing out at President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he portrays as his family’s chief tormentor.

    Let’s quote him: “I feel sad about the way my family is being hounded,” he says in a book ‘Against The Run of Play’ written by top flight journalist and presidential chronicler Segun Adeniyi, chairman of ThisDay editorial board. The timing of the release of the book, on Friday, is arguably a clear bid to fortify Dr Jonathan’s quest to lend himself to the Nigerian public by not only exonerating himself of blame but also dismissing President Buhari as perhaps little more than a non-starter?

    From its fairly lengthy excerpts, the book also offers the former president a platform to spin a bizarre conspiracy theory of international proportions, with the United States, Britain and France cast as co-conspirators in what should now be regarded as a coup that robbed him of reelection. Dr Jonathan also accuses a former chairman of his party, and the police chief at the time of working against him, and the INEC chairman of superintending over what he regards as a fraudulent election. And the media and civil society of joining the siege against him.

    This is bizarre because Dr Jonathan fails to flesh up the allegations, leaving them laughably sketchy and incredible. He does say America, Britain and France perceived from his body language that he was supporting corruption, and mounted a campaign to scuttle his reelection bid but this proves nothing. Nor does he suggest why even his own appointees would betray him, too.

    Dr Jonathan who has been criticised for saying what was termed corruption was no more than mere stealing, also finds the book a good medium to teach President Buhari how to better fight graft.

    “Society,” he says, “is like a building. You build it one block at a time. If every president decides to go in to dismantle what his predecessor did, society will never make progress. I expected President Buhari to correct whatever mistakes I may have made and then carry on from there. But a situation in which people go into exile for political reasons is not good for us.”

    Dr Jonathan’s argument is hard to place, even harder how he fought corruption. He does not explain why people would go into exile if they have nothing to hide, but rather hints at highhandedness in President Buhari’s style, portraying himself as a true democrat.

    He would have had a point there, but for that little incident on a weekend in the middle of 2014 when the military under his watch raided leading media distribution centres, seizing or destroying the day’s copies, threatening distributors and charging journalists with “publishing and selling falsehood.”

    Now who in his family is being harassed? If the EFCC thinks his wife Patience should explain the origins of over N1b allegedly found in her bank account, how does that amount to harassment? If the quintessential democrat thinks anyone is breaking the law by harassing his family, he knows where and how to get justice, doesn’t he?

  • Where are the police?

    Where are the police?

    Where are the police dogs used at trouble spots? Are they dead? What happened to the canisters of tear gas? Where are the riot policemen? Crowd violence at match venues is frightening. Newspapers report bloodied faces of match referees and broken structures at match venues. Soccer crazy Nigerians must now wear canvas shoes to match venues. They need them to run as fast as they can. The flipside is that such a scenario wouldn’t encourage people to watch games with their families, just as it is at sporting venues globally.

    Are the police waiting for carnage before acting? Are league venues not an open invitation to chaos without adequate policing?

    The Inspector General of Police should spare the thought for the league centres.  Police presence at such venues should be intimidating to create the atmosphere for the referees to professionally interpret the laws of the game. Referees pelted with stones in the course of matches will freely favour the home team to save their lives. Then the away team returns home to tell their fans what they experienced with plenty of embellishments. A war scene is created even before the second round game is played. This setting will be experienced when the second round of matches begin.

    Violent fans are known by soccer faithful, but many people don’t like reporting them because they are protected by prominent citizens. These criminals flaunt their lawlessness. Whoever challenges them is doomed. These roughnecks invade the pitches to beat up the referees and maim others.

    Must the police wait for the League Management Company (LMC’s) invitation before doing their job? The police are trained to identify criminals. The hoodlum is a criminal and his antics are familiar to everyone, but only the police are legally armed to accost them. It may interest the police to know that their English counterparts, for instance, have a special police squad trained to handle crowd violence. Where is ours? Who will save our league from urchins? Who will arrest the hooligans? How do we expect any company to remain in this chaotic system to beam matches live? No way. Violence at match venues put such companies’ equipment at the risk of being destroyed.

    It hurts to know that South Africa television station has pulled out of the league coverage stating among other reasons breach of contract with the LMC. Without sounding like alarmist, it won’t be wise for anyone to take his family to match venues. Those who watch those games at home on match days will be idle. Yet, we expect fans to throng the venues. Not possible. It is one of the reasons Nigerians prefer watching the European leagues.

    Indeed, footages of troublesome scenes at match venues have been highlighted on Supersports as they happened. It was easy to apportion blame since pictures don’t lie. It was easy for Spersports to repeatedly stream these games because they were doing the job as a business aside the fact that the company’s reputation of was at stake, should it compromise. Besides, irate fans would be fooling themselves if they decide to destroy Supersports equipment at the stadium because the master dub was in the company’s office and other online platforms as they happened.

    Supersport towered over other broadcast units on this aspect of not tampering with such sen sitive documents. And it is this cutting edge that I want us to sustain lest the beasts who pummel the referees, players, officials and fans, resulting in wanton destruction of properties and lives, would be back.

    Mountain of Fire Ministry (MFM) Football Club of Lagos’ player Olatunbosun’s rocket shot against Enugu Rangers FC inside the Agege Stadium in the “Centre of Excellence” couldn’t have been adjudged the best goal of the week globally, if Supersport didn’t transmit the game live on television. It was the streaming of the goal online that attracted the attention of the Goal of the Week panel on CNN to list it among others. Soccer faithful shouted Eureka since it helped to signpost the fact that the domestic league was growing. MFM’s Stephen Odey and a few others’ exemplary displays during matches have reverberated in the media, forcing the Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr to watch their games. Both players are likely to join the Eagles in their training camp in France. This is one of the biggest advantages of showing a game on television. It doesn’t matter if Odey and Olatunbosun play for Nigeria against Bafana Bafana. What counts is that they would have gained a few tips from training with the big boys. They would have cultivated new friends. They can now dream big – playing in Europe. Besides, others in the domestic league will know that they too can be invited to the camp.

    I’m not looking at the propriety or otherwise of the decision to stop beaming our matches live by Supersport. Nor do I want to blame the LMC. I feel strongly that both bodies should sit in a meeting with government officials to find out how the flaws established by the two parties are resolved, lest we turn our league venues to theatres of violence.

    We are experts in constituting panels to find out what happened after any misfortune, in spite of the glaring need for such acts to be nipped in the bud. We will save lives today if the government can intervene in this Supersport impasse rather than look the other way to say we can get another television broadcast right company. Not in this recession. But we can scale down the bundle sold to Supersport to cut cost or restrict the deal to the telecast of live coverage or get all the parties to respect the tenets of the contract before government officials.

    We should not allow any lacuna that will be exploited by the criminals at league venues. No life is worth being lost on the altar of parties holding on to their grounds. After all the deal was struck because of lovers of the beautiful game who throng the stadium weekly to watch games. It is instructive to state here that in spite of Supersport’s coverage, many referees have suffered untold pains. Leaving the venues without checks, such as the SuperSport coverage, would be an invitation to death for those how dare raise the alarm about any discrepancies noticed, except such a person is armed. In fact, referees will freely allow home teams to win, if that is what will guarantee them a peaceful exit from the stadium.

    It would be foolhardy to expect our local broadcast outfits to replace Supersport seamlessly, given the high-tech equipment Supersport uses at match venues. When our local stations handled the league coverage, we had laughable tales like power outage, thugs preventing the television gadgets being set for broadcast and tapes doctored to suit interest groups. Of course, thugs stop the away teams from filming matches as required by the laws governing the game. They destroy recorded materials, and manhandle anyone recording games at the stands. Most times they restate their experiences in other centres to justify their action.

    This seeming double-standard in the way the matches are supervised raises the question about the rules of the game and how offenders of the law are dealt with. Who are the referees assigned to cover matches? What is the level of neutrality of the match officials to ensure fairness? How regularly do the LMC and NFF evaluate matters arising from league coverage? How many of the beasts caught beating match officials have been prosecuted?

    What plans do the LMC have to effectively police matches in the absence of television coverage? Is it not time the LMC sat with the Inspector General of Police to find a way of policing match venues? Shouldn’t there be a regulation to make it mandatory for the hosts to employ trained security operatives who will man the inner perimeter of the playing areas? These are the people who should arrest intruders and hand them over to the police like we witness in other climes?

    How was it possible for a particular club to win all its home games last year, with many of the goals coming from second half penalty kicks? Accusing fingers have been pointed at many officials of participating  clubs who hold strategic position in the league’s organisation, which they exploited to their home teams’ advantage. For how long will this impunity continue?

  • 100 days in trumpland

    100 days in trumpland

    It has been 100 exciting and most memorable days of Donald Trump’s unusual presidency in the United States. His presidency so far has been the fascinating spectacle it promised to be ever before the boisterous, billionaire businessman assumed chief tenancy of the White House. Americans and the entire world are daily being entertained by the veritable reality TV show that governance has become in Trumpland. But that is exactly why my initial distaste or dislike of the man is gradually turning to grudging admiration. There is something unpretentious and likeably down to earth about Trump’s presidency. Not for the Trump presidency the hypocritical posturing that presidential politics and governance tends to be in America and more irritatingly so under President Barrack Obama.

    Celebrated widely for being the first black man to be elected into the world’s most powerful office Obama sauntered and whimpered through a somnolently unmemorable two terms.  In office but hardly in power, this undoubtedly cerebral black president’s body language evinced nothing but seeming subliminal apology for his racial identity prompting an annoying and insulting condescending attitude towards blacks both in America and Africa. But then, I digress.

    You may hate him. You may love him. It does not matter. Trump is to himself true. He is unabashedly white and proud. He is American and arrogant and does not see why Latinos and blacks and unruly immigrants and extremist Muslims should become pestilential locusts in his beloved country. Trump is no Obama misleadingly creating the impression that the President of America can also be a harmless pope. He is no Hillary Clinton whose compassionate moralizing gloves would hide the iron fist of America’s militaristic imperialism. With Trump you know exactly where you stand. He is a pathological manipulator of the truth whose aides proudly trumpet their right to inhabit their own unique world of alternative facts and manufactured realities. But then, was it not Winston Churchill who famously stated that in politics truth is often protected by a bodyguard of lies or something to that effect?

    During the campaigns Trump proudly flaunted his allegedly illegal tax infractions as evidence of unexceptional brilliance in exploiting the loopholes of the system for self enrichment to the apparent approbation of millions of his country men and women. Unlike the ascetic Obama apparently with eyes only for his beloved Michele or a workaholic Hillary Clinton with a passion first and foremost for recondite policy papers, the worldly Trump can hardly restrain himself at the sight of attractive women and is prone to boasting lewdly about his conquests to boot! Yet, the voluptuary Trump is the toast of otherwise morally puritanical Christian evangelicals in his country. The point is that Trump does not deny his sinfulness and human frailties but makes no excuses for them. He is like that self-conscious sinner that Jesus talks about in the Bible who comes to the father, admits and humbly asks for forgiveness for his faults.

    On the other hand, liberals like Obama and Hillary come across like the haughty Pharisee who flaunts robes of self-righteousness before the father demanding justification because they are at least not as bad as the Trumps of this world. The seeming intellectual superciliousness and superior moral affectations of these liberals promote a condescending ethical relativism that blurs the dividing line between right and wrong with grave consequences for society. Hence, the restraining influence of God or religion is barred from schools, the judicial system and public life in general. Consequently, sexual perversions of all sorts proliferate. Abortions, sexual diseases and predation, rampant divorce, teenage pregnancies and other assorted ills flourish. Violent crimes of all kinds plague society.

    In a climate of moral anarchy that leads to widespread disintegration of families and the prevalence of dysfunctional values and attitudes, a substantial number of people become chronically habituated to dependence on a welfare system originally designed as a corrective to the inequities of an unjust class society. It is within this context that the rise to political prominence of demagogues like Trump can be properly situated.

    I am impressed so far by Trump’s doggedness and tenacity in trying to fulfill his campaign promises against great odds even if I disagree fundamentally with his values and philosophical premises. At least he stands for something. He is unlike those liberal relativists who do not believe strongly in any values and thus all too readily fall for anything.  I listened to some CNN analysts during the week who dwelt on the fact that Trump has the lowest poll ratings of any American president in the first 100 days and that he has not made any meaningful effort to reach out to and win support beyond his republican political base. In the first place, given how wrong and misleading the polls were before his election against the run of play (apologies to Segun Adeniyi), I don’t see any reason why Trump should take these alleged low poll ratings seriously now.  Again, it was because they did not believe strongly enough in the liberal values they professed that first the Bill Clinton and later Barak Obama presidencies, consciously moved the Democratic Party so much ideologically to the right that it became difficult to distinguish from the Republican party. Why should Trump make the same mistake?

    The so –called ‘Third Way’ championed by the social democrats like Bill Clinton in the US, Tony Blair in Britain, Gerhard Schroder in Germany and Francois Mitterrand in France in the early to mid eighties represented nothing but a capitulation to far right neo-liberal policies that addressed the symptoms rather than the root causes of what essentially remains a fundamental and protracted crisis of capitalism.  The implication in the US has been an ever increasingly ideologically defanged Democratic Party that was unable to arouse sufficient enthusiastic support among its traditional electoral base to prevent the triumph of Trump in the last election despite Obama’s purported high poll ratings and Hillary’s predicating her campaign on the need to perpetuate his legacy.

    Some have expressed the view that the Trump presidency constitutes a grave danger to the world given the administration’s bombing of an air force base in Syria as well as its current saber rattling in North Korea.  During the campaigns, Trump gave the contradictory impression that he would scale down America’s military engagements in the world while at the same time significantly enhancing the country’s military capacities that he believed had been considerably weakened under Obama.  Trump has no doubt given the indication that America under him will not only profess its military prowess but will not hesitate to assert it either in concert with willing members of the international community such as China or alone. However, as has been demonstrated so far in his first 100 days, American institutions are sufficiently strong and resilient to deter any reckless adventurism either in terms of domestic policy or militarily abroad.

    It is highly unlikely, for instance, that Trump will get the requisite backing from the military establishment for a preemptive first strike against North Korea that could prove so costly in terms of human lives that it would not be worth the effort. Already the administration has unsurprisingly indicated its willingness to continue on the path of strategic restraint with North Korea while keeping open the military option. In any case, given her antecedents as Secretary of State and her rhetoric during the campaign particularly with respect to Syria and Russia, there is no reason to believe that Hillary Clinton would not have been more bullish on foreign affairs as President.

    Trump in these 100 days has moved in the direction of significantly scaling up military expenditures while substantially cutting down on spending on welfare for the disadvantaged and vulnerable sections of society. These were also the policy trajectories of the earlier conservative administrations of Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes and to a milder extent the Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Obama Democratic administrations. Trump is also bent on massive tax cuts for the wealthy and far reaching deregulation of the economy purportedly to stimulate investment and economic activity, create jobs and boost prosperity.

    As has always been the case in the past, these trickle down economic policies will most likely result in short term economic booms only to be followed by recessionary contractions far more severe than preceding ones. If Trump’s economic policy bubbles burst as will most likely happen sooner or later, the American electorate may be confronted with the unfolding French scenario where they may be forced to seek salvation outside the framework of the two dominant establishment parties.

  • Balarabe Musa, PDP’s incompetence and APC’s fascism

    Balarabe Musa, PDP’s incompetence and APC’s fascism

    Former Kaduna State governor, Balarabe Musa, recently used piquant phrases to describe the character and operations of Nigeria’s two leading parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Mallam Musa, who is and also the chairman of the almost forgotten Peoples Redemption Party (PRP),  is undoubtedly an agitated and impatient idealist, but his characterisation of the two bungling and bumbling parties is unimpeachable. The progressive politician had mercilessly skewered the two parties last week while responding to reporters’ questions last week in Abuja. The PDP, he summed up, was incompetent; and the APC, he growled, was fascistic. Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo had delivered a similar judgement on the two parties not too long ago; but Mallam Musa possessed better and ethical justification to reach the salient conclusions the entire country seems to be coming round to.

    “I will tell you they are complete failures,” said Mallam Musa of the parties. “If PDP was incompetent, APC is even worse. In the case of the PDP government, it was just incompetence, and you can negotiate with incompetents. But in the case of the APC, it is fascism and you know that you have no stand with a fascist who clears the obstacle by any means. This is what we are experiencing now. We have replaced incompetence with fascism.” The divisions between the two parties may however not be as neat as the former governor painted it. While the PDP was truly incompetent in office, especially judging from the reckless wastage of the country’s resources and the mindless stealing that undermined the economy under its 16 years leadership, the APC, on the other hand, is not just fascistic, it has managed so far to have combined that singular vice with a multiplicity of dubieties and incompetence.

    To dwell on the PDP, despite the telling effects of its incompetence and the bold relief in which that ineptitude is increasingly etched, is to flog a dead horse. It is sufficient to say that the party, which had boasted it would rule Nigeria for 60 years without explaining why it chose that silly and arbitrary figure, had no system in place to govern well, nor the men to champion its cause and promote the modest values it managed to conceive. It suffered a humiliating defeat in 2015, a consequence of its lack of discipline, dearth of values, and partisan pride. Unlike shortly after it lost the general elections, when some people wondered whether the country was not too hasty and sentimental in repudiating the PDP, only a few people now view the exposure of the kleptocracy that hobbled the nation without concluding that keeping the inept PDP in power for 16 years was both excessive and indefensibly generous.

    Mallam Musa was neutral in judging the two parties, though he will of course be unable to supplant any of them with his own fairly untested and nearly forgotten party should that thought ever cross his mind. There is nothing to show he thinks of any supplantation, however, for like every other Nigerian, he is realistic enough to know that to nurse a party to national prominence, if not invincibility, requires both financial and human resources of grandiose and intimidating proportions. His current frustrations in running the PRP, including getting justice for the party when it is assailed by conspiratorial busybodies and conniving jurists (see box below), is a testament to the abominable course politics has taken in the country.

    No one will question why Mallam Musa dismissed the PDP as incompetent. But given the unrestrained national excitement over President Muhammadu Buhari’s rejection of avarice, some Nigerians may cavil at the former Kaduna governor’s disparaging conclusions. But Mallam Musa is neither given to histrionics nor has he ever been accused of been flighty, irrational and tempestuous. His point of view may be disagreeable, and his ideological conviction considered inflexible, anachronistic and unworkable. But he is a logician of great accomplishment, an ethical politician of high standing, not by persuasion but by deep and genuine conviction. Such men rarely exaggerate or say something out of spite. If Mallam Musa says APC is fascistic, he is probably, if not unimpeachably, right.

    The former Kaduna governor did not elaborate on the fascism label; but he needn’t. The facts are clear for everyone to see, even to those mesmerised by the president’s unconvincing rationalisation of many of his draconian actions. Section 1 (1) of the 1999 constitution says: “This Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” But repeatedly, the president and his cabinet have placed themselves above the constitution. Suspects are routinely detained for longer than the constitution mandates; and when regardless of the government’s umbrage the courts summon the courage to grant bail, sometimes as many times as possible for effect, the Buhari presidency ignores the courts, and accuses them of colluding with saboteurs and conniving at corruption. In the opinion of President Buhari, the outrage caused by the malfeasance of the suspects far outweigh the government’s disobedience of the courts.

    In other instances, the Buhari presidency goes beyond pursuing the media trial of suspects to outrightly disobeying the constitution by detaining suspects ad infinitum. In the popular case of the Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the government not only approved of the massacre of more than 300 of his followers — men, women and children — and their hasty burial in two mass graves, the injured and almost blinded leader and his wife have had their constitutional rights suspended or even abrogated. There are many other cases, sometimes during security operations and anti-corruption war, when the government has backed its campaigns with autocratic, poorly conceived and unconstitutional measures. The country shudders to think what would happen to the liberties guaranteed the people by the constitution had the ruling APC been a united, pacesetting and ideological party fascinated by its own repressive tendencies.

    Mallam Musa does not of course indicate whether he thought the disunity in the APC significant enough as a factor in the party’s fascistic approach to governance. Nor is it clear to anyone whether the disunity had anything to do with any ideological struggle within the party. What seems clear is that a faction of the party has hijacked power, not on ideological grounds, but probably on sectional, cabalistic or even sectarian grounds. It is that faction’s brutal use of power, its abhorrent deployment of Machiavellian tactics, and its camorra-like methods that gall the judicious and emit the fascistic signals picked up by Mallam Musa and every Nigerian sensitive about the concepts of freedom and justice.

    The former Kaduna governor is right to say that Nigerians can indeed negotiate with an incompetent leader, for an incompetent leader is sometimes amenable to other views; but not so a fascist. A fascist is obsessed with his own point of view, believes himself to be infallible, is paranoid about other people’s objections and observations, hates to be proved wrong, and is overall messianic about his role and objectives in leadership. There is indeed no negotiating with a fascist. Mallam Musa sees the APC as a fascist party; it is unlikely he exaggerates. He must however hope that he does not become a Cassandra whose warnings are fated to be disbelieved, and that the current factionalism in the party does not give way to one supreme, fanatical faction with which neither man nor gods can reason.

  • Ondo LG dissolution and PRP

    ON the surface, the March 31 judgement of a High Court in Ondo State ordering the dissolution of the 18 local governments sworn in by former governor Olusegun Mimiko should not raise eyebrows. It however does. The case was originally instituted by Balarabe Musa’s Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), but long since abandoned because the reason for going to court, non-inclusion in the ballot in last year’s local government poll, had been resolved. Someone, somewhere, some say agents of the new All Progressives Congress (APC) Rotimi Akeredolu government, revived the case and asked for the LGs to be dissolved.

    Alerted to the case, the PRP chairman and the party’s lawyer, Femi Aborishade, and other party supporters thronged the court to confirm that they had discontinued the case, and that in any case, they should be heard. Justice S.A. Sadiq, however, reportedly disregarded the PRP leaders and their lawyer, and chose to recognise another lawyer claiming to represent the party, one Segun Agodo, a stranger to the case. The PRP, which had participated in the election, insisted it had no reason to ask for the LGs dissolution, but the court went ahead anyway. Indeed, it was the APC that had boycotted the election last year, though the party’s name and symbol were on the ballot. It had claimed that it had a case pending in court questioning the composition of the state electoral body, OSIEC.

    Immediately the court dissolved the LGs on March 31, though their tenure was to expire in April 2019, the state government announced new caretaker chairmen. Earlier, however, the 18 chairmen, all of whom belonged to the PDP and feared what injury the new APC government was capable of inflicting, had gone to court to bar the government from sacking the LGs. The former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, assented to their request and barred the government from interfering with the councils. But the APC was reported in February to have appealed Justice Kumuyi’s January 17 decision and was waiting for its determination when the idea of reviving the PRP case occurred to some bright minds in the APC. The government’s lawyers, however, said they were not aware of the case, let alone any appeal. But in March, the government had frozen the accounts of the LGs. Eventually, not even the PRP was allowed to have a say in the case they were purported to have filed, a case both the PRP chairman and lawyer had said was overtaken by their participation in the LG poll.

    The manner the Ondo State government cleverly tweaked the legal process, and the collusion of the judiciary among other insalubrious measures, probably prompted Mallam Musa to suggest that the APC had become a fascist government far worse than the incompetent PDP government it replaced. Few Nigerians will disagree with the PRP national chairman.

  • New measures of strong leadership, stability and certainty

    Britain’s PM Theresa May stunned the British people and the world at large in our global village by calling for a most unexpected election on June 8 this year after having said earlier at a program long forgotten that she would not call for an election until 2020.

    Her announcement coming just after the power consolidation referendum won narrowly in Turkey by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the French presidential elections this weekend threw our mind back to the importance of elections in any democracy.

    Elections simply the all important democratic ritual needed to take or reclaim power or lose it totally in that simple political process of seeking power from the wishes of the voters or electorate and that really, is the essence of democracy. Theresa May has therefore thrown hat into the ring and is challenging all other political parties to accept the challenge to compete and grapple for power on June This is because she is confident the time and the mood of the British nation is ripe for her to consolidate a good majority for her party, the Conservative Party.

    She did not mince words in saying that the leadership of the major opposition Labor Party is in shambles and cannot lead Britain confidently into a post – Brexit future. However it is the language and words that she used in her new election announcement that shall command our attention today.

    In her speech at 10 Downing Street, she said Britain needed stability, certainty and strong leadership to see Brexit through and she needed a fresh mandate to provide the strong leadership to accomplish that. Which I found very brave and see as a sign that she believes her party and herself have done enough to be returned massively to power and Parliament in the June 8 elections.

    Which is also a great gamble but based on a very educated guess which I hope may not misfire as the Brexit vote did to her predecessor who had to relinquish power because of the failure of the Remain campaign on which he had based his political life and office.

    He lost both, and his successor is now making even a greater gamble based on her party’s reading of the mood of a rather moody British electorate now even edgier and more nervous after the harsh reality that Britain has indeed parted company with the EU.

    All the same I find Theresa May’s confidence of chances of renewal of power in a fresh mandate admirable and commendable. That to me is the stuff of leadership based on performance and delivery on promises made to the electorate.

    Certainly no leader or politician who has failed to live up to the expectations of the electorate will abandon the safety and security of tenure of office and power to risk such power in an election at which anything can happen. is in that light that we look today at the concepts of stability, certainty and strong leadership used by the British PM to sell her leadership and party to the British electorate in the forthcoming June 8 elections in Britain .

    We shall look at what these concepts mean nowadays and what they portend in the face of the contemporary challenges facing our world today. In short for Britain what do they mean in the context of migration, security and ultimately Brexit as well the long shadow of Donald Trump’s recent emergence as US president ?.

    In Turkey, what do they mean in the face of Turkey’s role stemming the flow of migration to Europe from the Middle East and that nation’s long application to join the EU . In Nigeria what are their import in the quest to defeat Boko Haram, fight corruption and keep the nation united and on the path of growth the face of a nagging recession ?.

    Also what do they mean for the French as they elect their president tomorrow and the polls show that Marine Pen would at least would qualify on the first ballot. Giving the jitters to Muslim French citizens that anti migration policies would take the front seat in French politics if she wins in a France that has largest Muslim population in Europe.

    Starting with ‘Britain Labor Leader Jeremy Corbyn has already taken on a quaint Trump disposition and mantle of being anti-establishment and has raised the spectre of political correctness that Trump used successfully to defeat Hillary. Corbyn has boasted he will win against the ‘rigged system ‘in favor of the rich on the simple reason that the Conservatives and the media don’t expect him to lead Labour to victory because he is not one of them.

    That doesn’t sound like a strong and confident leader certain of victory on June 8 or his leadership of his party thereafter. But Donald Trump looked and sounded like that at the outset of his campaign. For now that leaves Britain without a credible and alternative leadership in the elections and puts Scotland which is at odds with Brexit in a quandary on dealing with Theresa May’s stance on no going back on Brexit. It also firmly places the issues of migration, integration and multiculturalism on the laps of the Conservatives to deal with as they seem fit and that is something someone like the Mayor of London, a Muslim would never find palatable.

    Such problems need to be nipped in the bud in this coming election before they bring the British political system, anchored on political stability by its ageless constitutional monarchy with the saying that -with the Queen in Buckingham Palace, every Briton sleeps well I in his bed, to its knees. After last week’s victory, Turkey’s President Erdogan appears the quintessence strong leader of modern times trying to garner political stability for his nation.

    But he has used strong arm tactics to mobilise for power in a democracy and has no succession plan or second in command, in case anything happens to him. That means that Turkey’s political stability is personal to him being alive long enough. The military in Turkey however bears him a grudge on secularity and their eroded role as guardian of Turkey’s democracy. Erdogan must perpetually watch his back as he has murdered sleep in Turkey and cannot like Macbeth, sleep again. Turkey’s history is revealing on that score.

    The Turks took over the Muslim Caliphate even from the Arabs because they are a highly militaristic people. According Gibbons‘ Fall of the Ancient Roman Empire‘ the Turks took over the Ottoman Empire because as the Caliphate leadership became military and the Turks were militaristic in nature, they dominated and took over the leadership of the Ottoman Empire and Caliphate. That is some piece of history for Erdogan to ponder on as he reconsiders Turkey’s membership of the EU and hopes to return the death sentence, which EU membership forbids.

    For now he holds the ace on the EU, especially Germany on the threat of flooding Europe with desperate migrants if Turkey’s membership resolved immediately. But Turkey is still a member of Turkey’s generals hold important positions in that military and institution. It remains to be seen how they react to their new president while they retain their positions and all important military arrangement now threatened with political contrivance.

    For now Turkey may look stable, strong but its future under Erdogan is dicey with the moody the military casting a long shadow that is quite ominous least. In the French elections of tomorrow if Far Right Marine to the next round it would mean that France will eventually of Brexit and Trump. That would be sad for a France that of Liberty, Freedom and Equality and the French Revolution which taught the world a bitter lesson that the rich should poor too far behind if they hope to survive. But then the the U-turn would be obvious.

    The first is terrorism , then then lack of integration and the growing political power French citizens and most importantly unemployment. Both socialists and communists have proffered political solutions over but those have not deterred terrorists enough to guarantee and security of French citizens. Le Pen offers a strong leadership to control influx of foreigners to make France safe Trump promised and won on the promise to make again in the last US elections.

    The signs are very much there highly egalistic France has become so security conscious that seeking refuge in a xenophobic future and a strong state and Pen , albeit a woman , may be the choice of the French solution in this 2017 presidential elections starting tomorrow. Lastly we look at Nigeria in the context of these ideas so far in other lands. Undoubtedly Nigeria has a strong leader his earlier military leadership of the nation.

    Yet the nation fast enough on the path of stability and certainty. The reason difficult to see. Our President is sick and a sick president treated and healed to move the nation forward. That is not enough to say America’s FDR- Franklin Delano Roosevelt- on wheel chair when he led the US and the Allies to win World War. Even then, FDR was president from 1933 to had better health facilities even then than Nigeria today has no duplicate and our health facilities are poor Nigerian leaders have learnt to go abroad for treatment As late Bisi Onabanjo, a former governor said on a return overseas medical treatment, life has no duplicate. So we must president to be strong enough to finish Boko Haram enough to take on the Senate especially in the daily struggle separate powers between the executive and the legislature war on corruption afloat and going.

    The recent probe of NIA are signs that the Presidency is able and willing enough the war on corruption through. We wish the president the health because it is only when he is well that we can in our beds. Like the British have always said of their again, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Our President is sick and a sick president needs to be treated and healed to move the nation forward.

    That is the truth. It is not enough to say America’s FDR- Franklin Delano Roosevelt- was on wheel chair when he led the US and the Allies to win the Second World War. Even then, FDR was president from 1933 to 1945, the US had better health facilities even then than Nigeria today and since life has no duplicate and our health facilities are poor and dormant Nigerian leaders have learnt to go abroad for treatment for dear life ’ ’ 08022467644

  • Lessons from Abuja Airport runway repairs

    Lessons from Abuja Airport runway repairs

    In December, 2016 alone the facility handled about 5000 domestic flights justifying its rating as the second busiest airport in the country after the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos. Completed in 2000 and officially opened for operations in 2002, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recorded a growth in passenger movement at the facility from 2, 126, 645 in 2005 to 4, 341, 637 in 2015. Yet, this critical facility’s runway, designed and built to last for 20 years had, before the advent of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, functioned for 35 years without undergoing the requisite periodic, comprehensive maintenance. It was thus inevitable that critical portions of the runway had completely failed constituting a danger to flight and passenger safety and necessitating its closure for six weeks from March 8 this year to enable far reaching repairs and upgrade.

    Of course, it would have been easier and more convenient to assume that since no major air mishap had ever occurred at the airport, luck would continue to smile on the facility and all would always be well. Unfortunately, as several air crashes in the nation’s aviation history has shown, once an ordinarily avoidable air fatality is allowed to occur through complacency, neglect or carelessness, the consequences are eternally irreversible. It would also have been perhaps more preferable and popular with the flying public if the airport had been allowed to continue to function normally while necessary repairs were carried out piecemeal possibly at night. The federal aviation authorities however deserve commendation for firmly standing by the decision to completely shut down the airport for the stipulated period while preparing the Kaduna Airport as an effective although admittedly inconvenient alternation for the duration of the Abuja airport repairs.

    As the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, rightly said at the time in reaction to popular opposition to the closure of the airport, “The total architecture of the runway failed touching on the safety component of our operations which we cannot negotiate. So we better stay safe than do something stupid. We decided to close down the airport and make a total rehabilitation of the runway itself in the interest of safety”. Apart from the distance of about 200km between Kaduna and Abuja and the rampant incidence of criminality on the road, most people were pessimistic as regards the possibility of the six-week deadline being met for the reopening of the Abuja facility. This was a reflection of a chronic and largely justifiable lack of confidence in the ability of public authorities in Nigeria to meet set objectives within specified timelines.

    To the surprise of all, however, work on the Abuja airport was completed ahead of schedule and the facility was opened for use a day before it was formally expected to resume operations on April 18. The new Abuja airport runway was reconstructed using new technology such as glass glide for the first time in the country to reinforce its durability and prevent surface cracks. Apart from the runway, other facilities have either being newly provided or upgraded at the facility to meet the global protocol on standard and best practices set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Lift and escalators for the aged and physically challenged persons have been provided at the departure hall of Terminal B. A new terminal, the D wing, which had long been abandoned has been rehabilitated, equipped and put in use complete with its own fingers for flight boarding. The local B wing and the international C wing have been given a comprehensive face-lift including the overhauling of their air conditioning systems and provision of new toilets, VIP lounges and other ancillary facilities.

    However, the cost of allowing the Abuja airport runway to deteriorate over the years due to lack of maintenance was the expenditure of another N3.2 billion on the preparation of the Kaduna Airport to serve as an alternative. But this has luckily not been a waste after all. For, the Kaduna Airport has now been substantially upgraded and now enjoys an expanded and improved runway, enhanced fire cover, more efficient instrument landing system, improved air space services and weather reports, the repair of its Voice Omni-directional Radio Range (VOR) and other navigational aids and the completion of a previously abandoned passenger terminal.

    In order to ensure that the Kaduna Airport does not lapse into disuse thus frittering away these gains, it would certainly be wise for the aviation authorities to commit additional funds to further modernization of the facility. The experience of the last six weeks has shown that Kaduna can be a viable aviation route if the necessary facilities and conditions are made available. The new Kaduna-Abuja train line, started by the preceding Jonathan administration and completed by this government, improvement on the road between the two cities, provision of free shuttle bus service and the maintenance of tight security facilitated the smooth and safe movement of arrivals at Kaduna Airport to Abuja.

    The cooperation and harmonious operations of the Ministries of Transport; Power, Works and Housing; the Kaduna State government and Julius Berger Plc, which made the completion and reopening of the project ahead of schedule possible is laudable. Surely, the more we have of this kind of inter-governmental and inter-agency rapport rather than the needless conflict, rivalry and turf wars that has been a huge distraction to the Buhari administration,  the more effective and productive use will be made of what remains of its tenure.

    President Buhari has expressed his appreciation to the Ethiopian government for that country’s extraordinary cooperation with Nigeria during the period that the Abuja airport was closed. Unlike most other International carriers that refused to fly to Kaduna, Ethiopian Airlines was reportedly the first to land an aircraft at the Kaduna airport on the very day the Abuja airport was closed and consistently maintained its operation on the route for the stipulated six weeks. The Airline’s Airbus A350 was also the first to land at the repaired Abuja runway on the very day it reopened. This is certainly an inspiring indication of the immense possibilities of inter-African cooperation if the political will and commitment can be mustered.

    Given the over N400 billion reportedly expended by the Dr Goodluck Jonathan administration on the expansion and modernization of 17 domestic and five international airports across the country, including a $1 billion Chinese loan for the same purpose, it is amazing that most of our airports are in the state they are today. Yet, rather than continue to whine and moan over the mess inherited, the aviation authorities simply went ahead to do what they had to do to enhance the operational safety of the Abuja airport. This is the kind of spirit Nigerians expect to see from the Buhari administration in the days ahead.

     

    Federal University, Oye Ekiti shows the light

    As a young member of the Editorial Board of the defunct Daily Times in the mid eighties, I benefitted enormously from the presence of the then Dr. Kayode Soremekun as a visiting member of the Board.

    The political scientist, international relations expert and specialist in the national and global politics of oil was then on sabbatical from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). His contributions on the board were radical, enlightening, uncompromising, irreverent and penetrating. One of the articles I remember him writing for the Daily Times was titled ‘Nigeria and the Pertamina affair’ in which he likened the opacity and corruption that characterized the management of Nigeria’s oil sector under the Babangida regime to that of Indonesia’s graft ridden state owned Pertermina oil corporation. In another piece, titled ‘Bitter Life’, he descended heavily on the then flamboyant First Lady, the late Mrs Maryam Babangida’s  Better Life for Rural Women pet project describing it as of little relevance to the lives of millions of poverty stricken Nigerian women. It certainly took great courage to write such articles under military rule and on the platform of a paper like the Daily Times.

    At the inception of the Buhari administration, Professor Kayode Soremekun was appointed Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE). I am not surprised at the choice of three eminent Nigerians who will on Saturday, 29th of this month be conferred with honorary degrees by the university. They are a centenarian and retired principal of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti, Chief Adepoju Akomolafe; 89-year-old retired principal of Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, Chief Francis Daramola and the first indigenous principal of Queen’s College, Lagos, Efunjoke Coker. They will be conferred with honorary Doctor of Educational Administration in recognition of their contributions to education, scholarship and manpower development in Nigeria. Justifying the decision at a pre-convocation briefing, Professor Soremekun submitted that honorary degrees should not be reserved exclusively for politicians and moneybags arguing that “The gesture is to remember these great Nigerians, who contributed to scholarship. It is sad that we are all suffering from amnesia which makes us forget people so easily. With this, we will be setting a new moral standard for society”. Surely, FUOYE is commendably showing the light for others to find the way.

  • Exposing age cheats

    Franco-German tactician Gernot Rohr has been talking since he returned from holidays about his plans for the Super Eagles.  Rohr has the task of getting Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations slated for Cameroon. So far, the odds are in Nigeria’s favour to qualify for both competitions except that the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are bad customers any day.

    Indomitable Lions are Africa’s kings. They have rebuilt their team with new boys who play with zeal and determination. Any team desirous of a victory over the Cameroonians must match them grit-for-grit, with their strongest points being the players’ pace and ruthless finishing in front of the goalkeeper. Coaches dread the Indomitable Lions and Rohr isn’t an exception.

    Rohr has been providing insights into the kind of squad he wants for Nigeria. He watched the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He took notes, which he hopes will guide him in beating the Lions in Uyo in August. Rohr has been ruffling feathers of those who were head coaches. Rohr told us, for instance, why Vincent Enyeama cannot return to the team, stressing that the goalkeeper had disciplinary issues with chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), although they will tell you that Enyeama can return to the squad if he is listed by Rohr.

    Rohr informed us that the Eagles will play two friendlies against a Corsican side and against Burkina Faso in France as part of his plans to effectively prepare the Eagles for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa inside the magnificent Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo. Rohr guided the Eagles through its 1-1 draw against Senegal in London March 23.

    A few people criticised the influx of new kids in the Eagles camp after the 1-1 draw against Senegal. But Rohr revealed that he threw the camp open when it became apparent that the Burkinabes’ game had been cancelled. Rather than dismissing the players, he reckoned that the best opportunity for the mulattoes he had been trying to convince to play for Nigeria to appreciate the need to belong here was for him to invite them to play against his team. It worked magic. They came in droves and we can safely say that Chelsea kid Ola Aina and Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom may be the surprise package to destroy the Cameroonians.

    There is also the excitement around the Eagles over a likely game against either 2014 World Cup champions Germany or the Three Lions of England at an unnamed venue when the matches of FIFA-free window of November 13 are played. Such high profile matches are what we need to truly prepare the Eagles for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Victory over Germany will shake Europe with the team becoming the toast of other European countries that will be in any World Cup group having an African nation. But the thunderbolt that Nigerian players lie about their ages has stirred the hornet’s nest with our shylock club agents going for his neck – “Kill him”; “Sack him” and “What is he saying… are some of the rants from these people who have mostly enslaved our good players in all manner of clubs outside the country. We should learn to take the lessons arising from the message than pillorying the messenger. For Rohr, age counts when you discover any talent. Investing in younger players, most times, means longer stay with the national team, if they are not injured. Of course, it will be ridiculous for us to invest in 30 young players and they would all be injured at the same time.

    These agents are the ones who falsify our players’ ages in a bid to get them to play for Nigeria as a pre-requisite to get European clubs’ contracts. The list of players who have changed their names when they get to Europe is long. Our players have many international passports with different names. And Rohr’s comment about their ages isn’t strange. Many former stars have been mocked by their European mates and managers about their ages.

    Time was when a particular club agent had 70 per cent of the members of the squad. In fact, it was said then that anyone who wanted to play for Nigeria must sign with this agent or consider his dream a mirage. Indeed, stars such as Sunday Mbah rue the mistake they made by refusing to join the camp, culminating in his unceremonious exit from the Eagles. 

    Since the time of Clemens Westerhoff, it has been difficult to set the criteria for picking players in the Super Eagles. The team has become a rehabilitation centre of sort, with many of them unable to represent the country in more than two competitions after their debut. Yet other countries such as Brazil, Argentina, England, Spain, France and Germany etc have graduated many of their rookies into their senior teams.

    In 1989, Nigeria lost 0-2 in the finals to Portugal. Paulo Sousa and Jao Pinto starred for the Portuguese side. Don’t ask me to name our Nigeria U-20 players in the game because they retired many years ago.

    Let us check out the list of Spanish youngsters who were in Nigeria for the 1999 U-20 Youth Championship which they won. In the 1999 tournament held in Nigeria, Seydou Keita (Mali) Xavi (Spain), Gabri (Spain), Pablo Counago (Spain), Fernando Varela (Spain), Ronaldinho (Brazil) and Shinji Ono (Japan) were the leading lights. They are still playing the game with Ronaldinho crowned the World Footballer of the Year. We had Julius Aghahowa, Pius Ikedia and Joseph Yobo as our brightest stars. Where is Aghahowa now? Is he still playing? For how long did he play for Nigeria after he was discovered in 1999? What about Ikedia? Yobo quit the Eagles after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, becoming the first Nigerian to be capped 100 times.

    In 2009, Neymar drew all the applause spotting Brazil’s over-size jersey as a substitute in most games at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos during the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Brazil didn’t play in the finals like our Golden Eaglets. Yet, many of those young boys are in the Brazilian side. Ours have either retired or have quit the game for several reasons.

    Rohr’s age salvo is the fillip that the domestic league clubs need to compel them to parade U-15 players for their junior teams. The league Management Company (LMC) and indeed the NFF can start collating the names of the players. Aside setting the template for the future, LMC and NFF men can guide the players’ movement to Europe, not to countries where the game is just a novelty. We are losing talented players to shylock club agents because we don’t have credible data for the correct names of players even if they falsify their names.

    Perhaps, the NFF could move to regularise the youth academies. This is the only way we can collate data that shape the way our players develop. Conversely, the NFF should start grading the coaches who train all levels of our football. Only specialised coaches should be given badges to train kids from age three to 12 to ensure that they have a grasp of the rudiments of the game. Countries with discerning patterns of play acquire them from the regulated academies.

    With a regulated academy structure, it will be easier for national team coaches to assemble boys and girls who are under 17, for instance, for the Golden Eaglets and Falconets, using the talents in the academies and those playing in the local league. This structure reduces the time to blend the players for the coaches since they would have been schooled to play under a unitary pattern designed for the academies and the clubs.

    We have won the U-17 World Cup diadem five times, yet we haven’t been able to play in the World Cup finals at the U-20 level since 1989 and 2005. It doesn’t add up, especially where the bulk of the U-17 players graduated to the next category. Winning the cadet trophy five times suggests that we have a viable template for nurseries. Foul. The dearth of talents is the reason Rohr is opting for the Nigeria-born kids, whose ages are verifiable at the touch of the button on any wire service, unlike ours where we still present manipulated sworn affidavits, even for talents born in the 20th and 21st Centuries.

    We cannot continue with a system that has crippled our sports. We need to do those things others do seamlessly if we hope to compete with them. Age plays a vital role in sports. We recycle ageing stars because we have no nurseries to groom talents. Rohr’s comments should push us to emulate others.

     

    Federations’ elections

    So much has been divulged in the media about the guidelines for the next federations’ elections. What shocks this writer about the guidelines is that we want to eliminate people who won the previous elections through rule-change at short notice. I’m not supporting sit-tight administrators. No. If they were duly elected through a process, then they should be allowed to be voted out, where we are sure that they are unpopular.

    Those of them with tenured mandate should quit honourably as they got to the position because others quit when it was time. Those who are functional officers in their international federations should be made ex- officials so that they can keep their positions. It must be said that they got there through Nigeria’s platform, which we must protect, no matter who is involved. Nigeria is bigger than anyone.

    Honourable sports minister sir, Nigeria mustn’t be banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for electoral breaches. The rules shouldn’t be different when it comes to Nigeria as 210 countries in IOC run their elections without qualms. Ours shouldn’t different.