The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Managing success

    We are an interesting country to behold. We make simple things look very difficult. We think more about ourselves than what we can contribute to our country. And this trend didn’t start today.

    The story from Germany ahead of the friendly against Mexico is disturbing. We are being told of our players seeking to play for clubs rather than our dear country. This is not the first time this has happened. And we are not capable of stemming the tide.

    We have thrown our arms up, but my fear is that we may have burnt our candles at both ends. I had thought that with the European season coming to a close, our players would assemble in Germany to plot the country’s strategies towards ensuring that we make the 2016 World Cup in Brazil.

    But that is not the story. Ahmed Musa has opted to play in the Russia Cup finals rather than participate in the Mexico friendly. Musa told the Super Eagles secretary that in the event that the Russia Cup final clashes with the Mexico friendly, he would play for his club.

    Could Musa have had the temerity to contemplate such a move if he were a fringe player in the squad? Is it not through Nigeria’s matches that he got the Russian deal? Is the Mexico friendly not meant to provide the platform for the players to understand themselves before the crucial 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Kenya in Nairobi on June 5 and Namibia in Windhoek on June 12?

    The flipside to the Musa story is what are the Mexicans doing for the game? Mexico’s big stars such as Manchester United’s Hernandez aka Chacharito, want to play the game. The Mexicans have three crucial World Cup qualifiers and they are in the Confederations Cup. For them, the Nigeria friendly is an opportunity to prepare for both tournaments.

    Stephen Keshi definitely needs God’s grace to have a full house of committed players for the Mexico game.

    Musa is not alone in the choice of clubs over country. Agency photographs showed John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses boarding the flight with their Chelsea mates to the United States. Obviously, they are out of the Mexico game.

    Moses, who played Chelsea’s last Barclays English Premier League game against Everton, is said to be nursing an injury, according to a letter purportedly sent to the NFF by Chelsea’s doctors.

    The question is: when did Moses sustain the injury? Was Moses not the person who headed down the pass that resulted in Chelsea’s goal against Everton last Sunday?

    We all saw him play the game. At no time did he fall down or collide with anyone. He walked off the pitch in celebration? Or could this be another conspiracy between the player and the club?

    Our players must stop insulting our sensibilities with their conduct. Chelsea couldn’t have listed Moses in their squad to the United States if he was injured. By the same token, John Mikel Obi can’t just wake up in the US to say that he is fatigued and can’t play the Mexican game. If so, what is he doing with Chelsea in the US? When last did Mikel play for Chelsea to necessitate the purported fatigue story he is selling? Did he not struggle to be fit for the Europa Cup final?

    Mikel’s history of boycotting games played on undulating pitches around Africa is legendary. When he didn’t play Chlesea’s closing stages games, I knew he would opt out of the game. I knew that he would not play the World Cup qualifiers because he wants to participate at the Confederations Cup, where he hopes to battle midfield supremacy with the bigger boys of the game.

    The story of Kalu Uche’s injury is weird. He even wrote to say that he was injured. Not one report revealed that he was. Is this his payback for Keshi for missing the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations held in South Africa? Kalu Uche is Nigeria’s highest goal scorer in Europe this past season. His injury would have been the biggest news. Anyway, let us see how Keshi fixes this “injury” puzzle.

    However, I’m worried about the silence from the NFF. Ordinarily, these unexpected withdrawals ought to elicit comments from it. Unfortunately, the NFF has cast an indulgent eye on the matter. Times past, it would have directed the players to report to Germany for the Eagles doctors to ascertain the veracity of their claims.

    NFF doesn’t want to interfere in this clay-pot-and-rat setting. It is leaving the matter for the coach to handle. I hope this doesn’t signal Nigeria’s ouster from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

    My fears are not unfounded because the boys could miss the stiffer of our two World Cup qualifiers against Kenya on June 5. And we would be in big soup because Moses and Mikel are the pivots of the team in the absence of recuperating Emmanuel Emenike.

    Curiously, the manner in which the coaches have handled players who played in the past has been awful. The coaches have made the players dispensable, such that no one would honour any late invitation.

    The dropped players sulked over their exclusion from the AFCON winning squad. This setting has tied the coaches’ hands in terms of seeking for substitutes, except they resort to the home-based. Therein lies one of the problems with our 2014 World Cup qualification ticket.

    If the coaches had cultivated the habit of talking with the players while with their clubs, it would have been easier for them to foil this late exclusion from the Mexico game.

    The coaches are shocked that the players didn’t give them any hint about their plans. How could they when their views are not sought before invitations are made?

    What is clear is that Keshi has lost the players’ confidence and trust. They are not ready to die for him. They feel he will dump them the way others were dumped, if their form drops. So, they would rather spend quality time with their clubs or proceed on their vacation.

    Perhaps, if Keshi had honoured the truce meeting scheduled in Abuja by the NFF before he left for the United States on vacation, the players would have laid their grievances on the table. All the issues would have been resolved and we would have had a fuller camp with our best players contending for positions.

    Keshi has assured us that there is nothing to worry about. I believe him because we have the talents. Yet the questions I want to ask Keshi are – when will the rebuilding of the Super Eagles stop? Won’t Keshi tell us some day that Moses is not in his plans? Will the Big Boss not shut out Mikel from the Eagles over this surprise change of heart?

    Eagles are suddenly a tournament team. They need to be in camp for long periods to gel. I had thought that the 14 days before the June 5 tie against Kenya would serve the purpose.

    Many people will argue that Moses, Mikel, Kalu and, indeed, others are tired from the season’s matches. True. How about those who are in the camp? Most countries eager to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have scheduled warm-up games for their teams ahead of the qualifiers. Yet stars such as Frank Lampard are with Chelsea and would play in the friendly against Brazil at the end of the month.

    No ambitious country goes to a soccer war with her best players sitting at home. If they were injured, then their absence is tenable. Where they opt out of the country’s matches on spurious grounds of being injured only to star for their clubs, is a slap in our faces. And it is grossly unacceptable.

    If they knew that they won’t be available, they should have discussed their decisions with the coach before the list was submitted to the NFF.

     

     

  • The politics of security, change and culture

    In China recently the authorities organized earthquake drills to educate citizens on how to react to real earth quakes and escape or save lives in what is a dangerous natural disaster that has claimed many lives and property and is more common in that part of the world than others. In the UK a great debate ensued in Parliament recently on the gay rights Marriage bill that polarized the Conservative party, the senior partner in the ruling coalition just as two men shouting religious slogan killed a British soldier in Woolwich in a terrorist act that saw the PM cutting short an official trip to denounce the terrorist act while stressing that Britain will never succumb to terror or terrorism. In Kenya the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission -TJRC – which investigated various political crimes and assassinations in Kenya from independence till the 2007 post election violence, found the newly elected President and Vice President in the March 2013 elections culpable, but did not recommend sanctions as the two leaders have similar charges pending against them on the matter at the International Criminal Court at the Hague. In Nigeria the newspapers were replete with pictures of the Chief Priest of a cult whose members killed over 20 men recently with the Chief Priest asserting that his god protected him against the policemen who he said had been given orders to bring him to the state capital dead or alive, but got killed instead as they were drunk on their way to destroy him.

    From preparing against a natural disaster, to making laws that change the face and nature of marriage, to having financiers and executors of thuggery and violence in positions of power in a democratic dispensation or allowing a security risk to market the prowess of his clan god or deity on a national and global scene, the contention I am making today is that a cultural and religious sea change is abroad in the world as we know it today and this has great and far reaching import for the peace and security of the world as we know for now.

    Let me start on a happy note even though the issue is a natural tragedy like an earthquake but it is its planned management and the foresight involved, that creates a good lesson on crisis management. The new Chinese leadership in China has identified corruptionas a target for zero tolerance and elimination in China under its new mandate. But natural disasters have no calling cards and do not give notice of appearance. China’s earthquake drill is therefore a pragmatic and innovative effort to protect lives and give people courage when such disasters happen so that people, as far as is possible under the circumstances, know what to do to keep alive or even to save lives in the process. Coincidentally a recent survey on the global perception or sovereign reputation of key nations of the world put Germany as No 1 dethroning Japan which obviously lost its enviable position because of the way it handled it nuclear plant radiation explosion in recent times . It is instructive that Germany closed its own nuclear plants after the Japanese nuclear disaster at great economic costs but in deference to German public opinion. Iran was rated the worst nation in terms of global perception not unlikely because of its quest for nuclear power on the pretence of getting electricity for which it is facing UN sanctions. In addition Iran has been reluctant to ask for expert aid during outbreak of natural disasters in which it has had more than its fair share in recent times.

    My fascination with the Chinese Earthquake drill stems from the socio economic and cultural problems of armed robbery and now terrorism facing some nations especially Nigeria. People flee here at the sight of armed robbers whereas if drills can be organized the robbers would know that people in the environment have some knowledge and information on how to react to them rather than just fear and that they can thwart their criminal activity successfully. This itself can be a formidable deterrence against the current high incidence of armed robbery or rampant terrorism or even kidnapping. In the Woolwich terror killing in the UK, a lady reportedly boldly told the terrorist who was saying that terrorists would wage war on London that they will fail and the lady even asked him to turn in the bloodied knife he was wielding after killing the British soldier. Really I think drills and mass orientation campaigns to resist armed robbers and terrorists will go a long way in reducing their menace and in making our environment safer than hitherto.

    On the gay marriage bill debate in London, my view is that the world is turning upside down in that part of the world and a culture shock is afloat. But the government seems hell bent on getting the bill through with the active support of the leadership of even the opposition labor party. Which really is to be expected as leftist parties have such inclinations towards gay rights and marriage just as the Democratic party of President Obama is trying to bulldoze its way through in Congress and the US Supreme Court. This is in spite of the fact that the public is getting annoyed at the redefinition of marriage by a go British government that got to power in a hung parliament and does not have a mandate for the policy it is rushing through in the UK. Indeed those opposed to the great gay marriage drive have complained that no party in Britain put this in its manifesto in the last elections and it is unfair to create such a cultural and religious change without the requisite democratic mandate. This is also unlike the situation in France where the socialists made it clear in their campaign manifesto and are fulfilling their promise although most French citizens have now woken up from their slumber and are now frowning at the development.

    The situation in Kenya however is a clear case of locking the stables doors after the horses have bolted. The two leaders indicted in the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee Report are now the newly elected and sworn in President and Vice President of Kenya even though they were on different sides when they commited the post election violence five years ago. Now, who in Kenya will bell the cat for their prosecution? Also given their new alliance and their running successfully on the presidential ticket in Kenya, who can say that violence and thuggery do not pay, at least in the politics of Kenya? Even though the 2013 Kenyan Presidential elections were said to be free and fair there is something suspect in a legitimacy or authority gained in an atmosphere of violence as choice is a prerequisite for true democratic power and legitimacy. This surely is sorely lacking in Kenya’s two leading politicians for now given the TJRC Report just published in Kenya.

    Lastly the picture of the aged Chief Priest of the Ombatse Cult Alla Agu was on the front pages of some newspapers this week as he reportedly spoke through an interpreter when a senator from the area visited him with some pressmen in Lakyo, Nasarawa state this week. Obviously the man whose cult members reportedly killed 20 policemen had no regrets on the incident. Instead he seized the opportunity to glorify the god of his sect. Reportedly he said ‘It is the governor that asked the police officers to come here and arrest me, cut my head and take my head to him. When they came because they were themselves drunk, my god did not allow them to come to me and they died on the way.’ As reported, the Ombatse Chief Priest spoke in the presence of Senator Solomon Ewuga of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during a visit to him in his Lakyo community. Really, I wonder what the Inspector General of Police will make of this, given the high death toll of the Police in the hands of the Ombatse cult members as reported by the governor of the state. To me it is unbelievable that a man like the Ombatse chief priest is not yet in police custody at least for his own protection not to talk of the image of the police in providing security for all Nigerians including policemen. In addition, the interview has helped in marketing unwittingly the ‘protective capabilities’ of the Ombatse Cult god and this is bound to open lucrative opportunities for the cult with people looking for protection from all sorts of attacks and assaults on both sides of the law in our society. I find it thoroughly amazing that the police have not been able to find their way to Lakyo to see the Chief Priest at least to take a statement on what happened. Surely that speaks volumes on the security of all of us who greatly sympathise with the police on the loss of so many men in the incredible case involving the Ombatse Cult of Lakyo in Nasarawa state in Nigeria.

  • On the whining plain

    So, with presidential alacrity, some detained Nigerians with strong links to the Boko Haram sect have been set free and handed over to various state chief executives? That is okay. But inasmuch as we cannot question the so-called ‘presidential magnanimity’ in the furious rush to ensure peace in troubled parts of the northern region, I guess we reserve the right to make some observations as regards the freedom granted these suspects, including women and children. We just hope that the authorities are truly convinced of the willingness of these persons to steer clear of suicidal tendencies and live the kind of normal lives which every law abiding citizens crave. Do we take it that the freed suspects now know that their freedom to exhale does not necessarily mean that they must force the rest of us to conform to whatever they believe in? In the simplest of words, do they know that we don’t need to die for them to live? That there is nothing salutary in turning the land into a killing field just because they perceive other Muslims, Christians and people of different shades of religious persuasions as mere unbelievers, worthy only of  being bombed or having their throats slit.

    As a matter of fact, freedom or presidential pardon is one thing, showing remorse is another. Is there any guarantee that these mothers, suspects, wives and children have shown enough remorse for the deadly sins their husbands, nephews, uncles and relatives inflicted on the state? What kind indoctrination or radicalisation did they go through at the Boko Haram camps? And is this presidential pardon well thought out? Or is it just another jerky political gimmick aimed at consolidating towards 2015? Don’t get it twisted. This does not in any way suggest a radical position against playing politics with human face regardless of how scary some smiling faces can be. What should worry us is the hurried nature of the directive and the promptness with which it was carried out.

    Question is: how much of justice is this government willing to sacrifice on the altar of peace? In Martin Luther King’s words, peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice. It is commendable that Jonathan has seriously taken exception to the plight of these persons after the raids on their camps and has swiftly moved to ‘rehabilitate’ them through the state governors. But, while at it, can he also spare a thought for the widows whose husbands were callously slaughtered by members of the sect; children who now have to grapple with the harsh realities of precarious living as their parents had become victims of a mindless carnage by the sect. There are countless widowers whose wives were bombed into layers of shredded meat at worship places and such other persons who have deadly imprimatur of terror etched on their psyche for ever? These persons also need the attention of the state as the quest for lasting peace continues at the war front.

    Knucklehead, still in the whining mood, read somewhere that respected Ijaw chieftain and President Goodluck Jonathan’s unrepentant apologist, Chief Edwin Clark, has posted a ‘No Vacancy’ sign on the gate of Aso Rock. Well, that is also okay too. It is jolly well that the 85-year-old has a good accomplice in another wily old fox and  Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, who once made such a proclamation some two years into Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s first tenure as a democratically-elected president. Now that the two forces have coalesced to work for Madam Patience’ husband, we can only urge them to exercise some patience in ensuring that their ‘son’ continues in that seat after the conduct of a free, fair and credible election in 2015.

    Like the Catholic Bishops put it, those beating the war drums and threatening the final breakup of this fragile nationhood if their kinsman is not foisted on the rest of us for another four years should understand that the only way to avoid a cataclysm of bloodletting is the institution of an electoral process that is free of the shenanigans of the past. For Pa Clark and ex-policeman Anenih, did it not occur to them that the reality of oncoming general elections is indicative of a wide range of vacancies in government houses, including the one presently occupied by Jonathan? What we cannot quarrel with is the right of Jonathan to re-contest, subject to the people’s power. Surely, 2015 cannot be a Jonathan sole candidacy rant, neither is it that of any other candidate. One thing is clear: fragmented, callously raped and thoroughly battered as it is, Nigeria is just too big to be placed under the permutation of cavorting spin doctors. I whine!

    The other day, I stumbled on a news report quoting the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, DSP Frank Mba, as saying that “those making inciting statements about 2015 could only be arrested when they had carried out their threats.” The statement, I assume, was meant to hit the final nail on the declaration by the Director of Navy Information, Commodore Kabiru Aliyu, who recently explained away the security forces’ impotence at shutting up those threatening war over a Jonathan presidency thus: “We are in a democracy and so it is not easy to gag members of the public. If we do so, the media and the human rights community will complain about infringing on the fundamental rights of the citizenry. We must not be seen to be gagging members of the public.”

    So, Oga Mba and Aliyu, does it mean that any Nigerian, be it a knucklehead, dunderhead or even a yam head, can say anything for and against the system and walk free on our streets? You know, when these top security chiefs talk glibly about citizens’ rights, democracy and freedom of speech, I can’t help but giggle. Can Mba assure us that nothing, absolutely nothing, would be done to anybody that stands in front of Louis Edet House, shouting “I must bomb this police Headquarters someday. I must set this place ablaze!” Will the heavily armed police personnel ignore his rant and presume that since he had not carried out the threat, he should be allowed to ‘carry go?’ Or would the men of the Navy, SSS, Army, Air Force or even Civil Defence extend the same hand of fellowship to anyone making such potentially combustible comments at their gates in the name of democracy and free speech? Is it just a question of conforming to the ethos of democracy or kowtowing to the whim of those speaking in favour of the real Oga at the top for now? Yet, I whine.

    The Yoruba have a saying that crying is no excuse to claim that one’s vision has been thoroughly impeded (“Bi a ba n sunkun, ko ni k’a ma riran”). Even in this private musing, I can see through their deceit. We know those who can sit atop Mt. Aso Rock and beat the war drums. We know those who have the effrontery to speak proudly about a negotiated presidential pardon as if they were doing the state a huge favour by accepting the gesture. And, like the Catholic Bishops noted, we ought to know when amnesty is being offered to repentant militants and when the state is surreptitiously appeasing criminals and their sponsors. We know when the rules are criminally trampled on to please some sacred fat cows. And we couldn’t have missed the message that there is a limit to this buzz about freedom of speech with the way and manner federal forces have been swooning on one Mr. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi for daring to speak so ‘negatively’ on how the nation is sinking into the valley of a misbegotten governance. Why didn’t they wait for him to declare his intention to run in 2015 before asking that his head be made available on Oga’s menu? Or is the gander no longer qualified to take the sauce meant for the goose?

  • The torture called driver’s licence renewal

    I don’t discriminate when it comes to good music. But if I ever prefer a genre, it would be reggae, particularly the roots rocks type for which the likes of Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and Eric Donaldson are reputed. I love these reggae artistes not just for the rhythm of their music, but also for their thought-provoking messages. These were also the qualities that endeared me to Johnny Nash’s songs, particularly the one that says “if I follow my mind, I will never do wrong.”

    The message of Nash’s song hit me hard on May 10. That was the day I fell into the trap of vehicle inspection officers (VIOs) at the Abule Egba section of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. There, I was arrested by the men in black and white over my driver’s licence which had expired by about one month.

    Ironically, about one week to the expiry date on the licence, I had made an attempt to renew it at the Ojodu, Lagos office of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) co-habited by the VIO, but I was turned back at the gates by a road safety official who insisted that there was no more parking space in the expansive compound. My plea that the road safety official should allow me to park somewhere beside the gates was like a sword driven into his heart. He flared up and hauled abuses at me, unmindful of the fact that I would be his very senior boss, if I had chosen a career in the commission. Perturbed, embarrassed and humiliated, I was left with no choice but to turn and drive away, particularly because my stay at the spot was already causing a traffic chaos.

    I had left in the hope that I would return the following week to process the renewal. Unfortunately, I was attacked in broad daylight by gunmen who did not only rob me of money, phones and other valuables, but also went away with the key to the car. Scared by the ugly experience, I abandoned the car and shut my mind to driving. As fate would have it, it was the very day I decided to drive again that VIO officials accosted me and impounded my car.

    I had underestimated the trouble I had fallen into when an official of the VIO waved me down and demanded for my papers. Of course, the vehicle licence, insurance, road worthiness and all other particulars were in good order. But the moment he sighted my driver’s licence and discovered that it had expired by about one month, he beckoned to his superior and told him that I had no driver’s licence (not that it had expired). All my pleas fell on deaf ears. So also were the efforts I made to explain the circumstances and the frustration I had suffered in the bid to renew the licence. They drove my car straight to their yard and issued me a fine ticket.

    I had always appreciated the zeal with which VIO men carried out their duties and wished that other public servants would exhibit the same degree of commitment. But I was awfully disappointed to find that their zeal was clouded by certain ulterior motives. Their motivation, I later realised, could have come mainly from other unofficial fines they make offenders to pay, including the N1,000 an offender pays as demurrage for each day the car sleeps in their yard and N200 he pays for inflating each of his car tyres which are deflated as soon as his car gets into the yard. In my own case, for instance, I was arrested late on a Friday when it was no longer possible for me to pay the fine at a designated bank and retrieve my car. By the time I got there the following Monday after I had paid the fine in the bank, I was made to pay N3,000 as demurrage and N200 for each tyre inflated by their vulcanizer.

    I was alarmed when I demanded a receipt from the lady who collected the demurrage and she said she had none left. She gave all manner of excuses, but I insisted that I would not leave until a receipt was issued for the N3,000 I paid. In the end, she reached for her drawer and grudgingly gave me one. But for the money I paid to the standby vulcanizer, there was no receipt of any kind.

    However, the foregoing is not the real reason for this piece. My concern is the rigour I had to pass through just to have my driver’s licence renewed. I had endured the same rigour when I renewed my licecnce at the same Ojodu offices of the VIO and FRSC three years. There, they had captured my image and took my signature, thumbprint and other data. The impression I had then was that the rigorous exercise I underwent then was meant to make subsequent renewal of the licence very easy. So, as I headed for the Ojodu office of the FRSC about two weeks ago to renew my licence, I thought that all they would do would be to check their computer for the data they collected three years ago, ask a few questions to see if any of the pieces of information I gave had changed, take the expired licence and issued me a new one. How wrong!

    The moment I walked into the premises, I was confronted by the sight of aggrieved licence seekers, some of whom said they had paraded the place for weeks in fruitless effort to obtain new licences. Surprisingly, many of them had their data taken like mine three years ago on the basis of which they were issued their expired licences. Now they have to go through the entire process of downloading a fresh application form from the Internet, supplying new passport photographs, going to the bank to pay the sum of N6,350 and then move endlessly from one office of the VIO and FRSC to the other. In short, the process of licence renewal is so cumbersome and tedious that it seems a more dreadful punishment than being sent to a Boko Haram enclave in Borno State. Of what use are the data the FRSC collects year in and year out when one has to go through the present rigours of licence renewal? That is the question everyone is asking.

  • Ladies at war

    A fierce war is raging in Nigeria, and I do not mean the one declared by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

    It is the “battle of the first ladies” – being fought with political and legal weapons in defence of egos.

    Ex-First Lady Turai Yar’Adua is fighting to retain prime land allocated to her in the capital, Abuja, when she was president of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM).

    The property was taken from her after the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010 and given to the current First Lady, Patience Jonathan, in her capacity as the new AFLPM head.

    African leaders, nearly all of whom are men, have the African Union (AU) headquarters – a stunning building funded by the Chinese in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

    So, in these days of women empowerment, no-one can fault their spouses for setting up the AFLPM.

    Some critics may argue that such a facility should be within the AU complex in Addis Ababa, but that would not show that Africa’s first ladies are independent of their husbands.

    To the delight of the Nigerian government Abuja was therefore chosen as the AFLPM headquarters, as no other country made a bid to host it.

    Mrs Yar’Adua was known in Nigeria as a very tough woman who saw her union with the president to include a unity of office.

    Many insiders described her as the alternate president, more so when Mr Yar’Adua fell ill and was admitted to hospital in Saudi Arabia in 2009.

    At the time, Mrs Jonathan was the unobtrusive wife of Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who wielded no power.

    Eventually, Mr Yar’Adua died and Mr Jonathan became president. Power shifted.

    That saw the natural abdication of Mrs Yar’Adua and the enthronement of First Lady Patience Jonathan.

    The battle for the choice piece of land in Abuja started.

    Ex-First Lady Yar’Adua’s lawyers said that the land in question was allocated to her for a non-governmental organisation, the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WYEF), which she had launched.

    As far as they are concerned, it was never meant to be the headquarters of the AFLPM – an organisation launched more than a decade ago.

    Not so, said her successor.

    Her spokesman said the property was originally allocated to Mrs Yar’Adua as president of AFLPM, but was later reviewed in favour of WYEF and the decision by the authorities to re-allocate it to the AFLPM was the only “appropriate logical action”.

    Mrs Yar’Adua took the Federal Capital Territory Administration to court to reclaim the land. She won earlier this month.

    The court ruled there was no evidence to show that the land had been originally allocated to the AFLPM, as claimed by the justice minister. The government responded by saying that it would appeal against the ruling.

    Every Nigerian knows that the battle is not one for the courts.

    Even the court had advised the two parties to settle the matter amicably.

    We lay men say that courts deal with the law and politicians in power make the law. As it is in Nigeria so it is in every other African country.

    Come to think of it, there are scores of properties in the choicest parts of Abuja available for allocation.

    I wish I knew what is driving the battle over this one.

    So far, other African first ladies have not intervened.

    I think they should launch a mission to resolve this dispute, if indeed their objective is to promote peace across the continent.

    Culled from be BBC

     

  • New NFC boss saga: Confusion Na Wa!

    APOLOGIES to Cinema Kpatakpata for borrowing the title of their award-winning film to illustrate the drama that has engulfed the Nigerian film Industry in the last few days over the appointment of a University lecturer as the new Managing Director of the Apex film agency, the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).

    Not a Marine Engineer after all. He is also not Danjuma Dado, as many had speculated, But Danjuma Wurim Dadu, as we were later to find out. I sympathize with the two Danjumas who had earlier rushed to the Information Ministry, laying claims to the position. A movie on that scenario could make a good comic – a laughable drama on wishful thinking by the wrong Danjumas and on the other side, a careless government for not preempting the friction.

    In accepting the ‘correct’ Danjuma, perhaps the film industry should take consolation in the fact that, George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars movies was just a race-car driver, who spent most of his high school years racing on the underground circuit at fairgrounds and hanging out at garages. There is also, James Cameron, who studied Physics and English, but did several jobs such as truck driving before his landmark successes as a film director, film producer, screenwriter and editor. What about Harrison Ford who was a carpenter, and Sylvester Stallone, who was a Lion cage cleaner?

    Even then, some filmmakers have thought about the creativity endowed in human beings and didn’t rule out Danjuma completely. They had thought of the fact that he could have some knowledge of film. They had hoped that in a worst case scenario, he would have been an administrator or project coordinator somewhere with proven leadership and managerial qualities. But behold, the new Managing Director of NFC happened to be someone handpicked by divine favour; the kind of favour that religious people pray and fast for; asking God to give them unmerited blessings. Our Danjuma got it; just by earning a PhD and teaching at a University for about two years. And guess what, he teaches at the Department of Building, Faculty of Environmental Design. There is no evidence that he has any professional affinity to film, except that on his facebook page, he seems to be a lover of music. Yes, music… Isn’t soundtrack a part of the substance of a movie?

    Now that other aspirants have been beaten hands down, we can only hope and pray, that Oga Dadu will turn out to be that unassuming messiah that the film industry needs, irrespective of his inexplicable transition from ‘building’ profession to the art, business and politics of filmmaking. One of the prayer points must also be that God should make him a fast learner, a listening leader and charismatic person, who will be good at steering the ship of existing technocrats? After all, isn’t he supposed to be just an administrator?

    However, this is a case of mixed reactions, and as it appears, only the man wearing the shoe knows where it pinches. If acclaimed moralists have got the powers, the word ‘selfishness’ could have been expunged from the dictionary, but if that were to be done, can it be undone from the human psyche? Are we all not selfish by nature, and is this not the reason that a pastor will profess ‘unmerited favours’ for his church members even when he knows that someone will be at the receiving end of that grace? Isn’t it true that one man’s smile is another man’s frown? Otherwise, why would someone work as a civil servant for about 20 or 25 years and at the peak of his career, a man who has worked elsewhere just for two years, in an unrelated profession, is brought to take his place in the name of political appointment?

    But even at the Civil Service level, why should headship be a factor of turn-by-turn? Isn’t merit the reason that the private sector is competitive and progressive? Why must headship also be for the most senior? Couldn’t government get people in directorship position tested as potential administrators? Also, why leave people in acting capacity for so long, creating room for ‘ambition’ and so much inactiveness in the system. Just thinking… Thinking still, how much has the industry benefitted from the leadership of administrators who are knowledgeable in the art of film? Pushing their shortcomings aside, how much could they have achieved with so much politicking and bureaucracy in the system? So much confusion about who we are and what we want… even writing this piece is as imprecise as I would have loved it.

    So much agitation to review the appointment of Dadu now, when the film industry could have jointly proposed people it trusts long before government made an independent choice. Why would government listen to such agitations now, when between the expiration of the tenure of the erstwhile administrator and now, they had individually lobbied themselves for this position? Why would government respect the views of the filmmakers now? So much confusion in the film industry, so much marking time without matching, but the show must go on!

  • Make emergency rule count

    Make emergency rule count

    There are reasons why emergency rule declared in three Northern states is not a bad thing. On Tuesday, an unusually tough-talking President Goodluck Jonathan provided the grounds for troops to move into Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states and do everything within the law to rescue them from the grip of Boko Haram.

    It is easy to understand why. For every single strategy adopted to stop the killings and keep the peace in the North has failed to produce result. Initial closing of the eyes and wishing the violence would not continue did not help. The President’s appeals that enough was enough, was not enough to impress the insurgents. Nor did the region-wide rounds made by National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki. Occasional military clashes with members of the sect did not yield much fruit either. Even the arrest of several alleged members of the sect has not stemmed the blood flow in the land.

    A peace offer named amnesty just about blew up in the President’s face as soon as he announced it, with the sect appearing to seize the initiative and declaring that it needed no forgiveness. Jonathan has gone on to constitute the amnesty committee anyway, but there is no evidence that dialogue is taking place or that members of Boko Haram are laying down their arms. They have increased in stature, in reach, in tactics and in courage. They have gone on from shooting or bombing street crowds to targeting public institutions and international organisations, even kidnapping. They also seem to be inspiring some local cult groups, a recent example being the killing of scores of policemen in Nasarawa State.

    When the sect threatened back in 2011 that its fighters would “hunt down” Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda and his former counterpart in Gombe, Senator Danjuma Goje, the two gentlemen promptly  begged. Yuguda apologised “for perceived injustices caused” the group. Goje “hereby tender my public apology to the organisation for any wrong done to it in the course of performing my duty as the then governor of Gombe Sate.”

    You cannot blame the pair. It was wise considering the might of Boko Haram.

    The Jonathan administration, having also appealed for peace, amnesty-wise, and was yet to get any promising response, seems to have resorted to emergency rule almost as a last-ditch effort but also because of the continuing killings and unending public criticism.

    Emergency rule may do the trick but only if it is made to count. Already, the decision not to tamper with the democratic structures on the ground in the three states is a splendid idea. But the operation must be comprehensive, the methods and strategies clearly thought-out. The emergency rule must be comprehensive enough to achieve its aim, which is stopping the violence and restoring peace. Its methods and strategies must conform to accepted standards. The troops must be professional on duty, never losing sight of the conventions guiding their activities.

    It is pertinent to recall the Baga massacre of last month. The killings and other atrocities in the community have left questions hanging over the military, with the international community keeping a keen eye on developments. Professionals deployed to keep the peace must not be accused or found guilty of criminal behaviour.

    The entire military and law enforcement community must also ensure that while the emergency rule subsists, the violence they are trying to halt does not spread to other parts of the country. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa are clearly not the only stomping grounds of Boko Haram. They are also quite active in Kano and have caused no small havoc in Bauchi, Plateau and several other places. While the emergency beam focuses on the three focal states, will there also be enough attention on other areas presumed to be Boko Haram-free?

    While the emergency rule lasts, will the Jonathan administration come to grips with the root causes of the insurgency and begin to fix them? It will be naive to simply say the enemies of the President are at work. Not everyone will like a president, any president, but when war is levied against a nation by some of its citizens, as the President himself conceded in his Tuesday broadcast, the finger of accusation should not merely point to political enemies. There are clear societal dislocations and inequities that should be addressed. There are terrorist vibrations in the South from where the President hails.

    Hear the President: “It has become necessary for me to address you on the recent spate of terrorist activities and protracted security challenges in some parts of the country, particularly in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and, most recently, Bayelsa, Taraba, Benue and Nasarawa states.”

    The emergency rule should offer him the opportunity to reflect on the spread of violence in the country and stamp it out for good. Jonathan should make the military option in the three Northern states count for the whole country.

    It may sound like a tall order but is that not why he is in government and in power?

  • The price and psychology of terrorism and survival

    The price and psychology of terrorism and survival

    The  man on record as saying –  give me a place to stand and  I will shake the world – is probably making a plea which may be mistaken  for a bit of hysteria, but  is still  at best , a mere request. However the  man interested in overturning the status quo  by all means in other to press home his point is a different kettle  of fish. This  is the  insurgent    or  terrorist  who is a man of violence and force,  who  regards death and mayhem as the hall mark of his world view and is not making a plea  by any stretch of the imagination to anybody,  except  to force his view point  down the throat  of all stakeholders  in his environment.  In   sharp contrast    however, the  man fighting for survival  values life  and prays or dialogues  with a view of a better tomorrow. Such a man is different  again from the suicide bomber who is ready to die now for what he  believes he or she has been denied prior to his killing himself,  and taking  all in the vicinity to his perceived world beyond, or  his mortal destination. Indeed,    the man fighting for survival  and even  the rabidly violent insurgent   must keep  away  and keep doing so from the vicinity of the suicide bomber who does not believe in any tomorrow,   finally   and  anymore.

    Such is the scenario I am creating today in view of the latest news  this week in Nigeria on which I admit to a touch of ambivalence, and  on the  global  scene at large this week. The first is the Boko Haram video on global news showing that the terrorist organization has kidnapped children and women and is ready to  get ransom on them   or use them as bargaining chips for the release of  its members in government custody. The  second is the presidential declaration of state of emergency  in three states namely Borno, Adamawa  and Yobe  which have been scenes  and states in which the Boko  Haram   have had a field day in laying siege most violently and with impunity, on the territorial integrity of the Nigerian state in recent times.

    In  the world at large, from Liberia where the head of the presidential body guard threatened to come with guns after journalists critical of government, to Turkey’s Prime Minister’s   frantic  visit to the  US on the Syrian crisis, to  the election of Nawaz Sharif as the new Prime Minister in a volatile Islamic   democracy    like Pakistan;  the issues involved revolve around survival, insurgency, terrorism and   the grim but dangerous battle to keep the ship of state on course  by all means, as is now the main preoccupation of the embattled Nigerian government and president.

    Let  me go back to the earlier categorizations I   made  and stress that the ‘man’  inherent in my assertions  and definitions of the characters so identified namely terrorist, insurgent, survivalists and suicide bombers can refer to  the opposite sex, institutions , states  and governments.  Starting with Liberia therefore it would appear that the presidential body guard boss spoke the mind of his boss, the president of Liberia because for days there was no recant or repudiation of his assertion from the presidency. He was reported to have told journalists that they are terrorists and that   though   they have their pens the security people have their  guns and that they would come after journalists if they write anything that threatens the territorial integrity of Liberia. In protest, the Liberian media published blank front pages and sought audience with the Liberian president to no avail. Eventually the security boss issued a recant and said the media and security forces are indeed partners in progress in protecting the territorial integrity of Liberia but the damage had been done   and this is clear to deduce. This is because in keeping silent, the Liberian president unwittingly endorsed his aide’s undisguised and hostile warning to the press. That studied silence in a reverse situation between the state or presidency and the press can be sufficient for a security coup on which there could be a black out from the press. In tacitly approving an undemocratic gesture  by the security chief President Sirleaf  exposed herself to a   future  or imminent security risk on which she may cry wolf later  to survive,   without  being taken seriously  by the press  she has treated  with contempt and disdain through her trigger happy,  gun totting security chief this last week. In threatening the press to survive albeit through her security chief, therefore, the Liberian president has unwittingly shot herself in the leg in terms of her future security and survival in the performance  of her duty as president of Liberia.

    The Turkish  PM Erdogan’s visit to President Barak Obama in the US   was indeed a journey  for help to survive in dangerous waters  that relations between Turkey  and Syria, Turkey’s  northern neighbor have become in recent times. On a personal level, the relations between the two leaders can be likened to that between a suicide bomber and a survivalist. Really, Syria’s leader, Bashar  Assad knows he is sinking in terms of rejection by his people  and he is ready to bring down the house , this time the  entire region in which Turkey is the real leader,  down with him. Latest reports indicate that Assad’s forces are using chemical weapons and are bombing targets inside Turkey thus drawing Turkey into a war with Syria. But the Turkish  PM has done so well for his nation  economically  and has won back to back three terms in elections and knows that war with Syria is unpopular with his countrymen. Also, in getting popular and getting more powerful Erdogan has been able to cage the army in Turkey and historically the army is the guardian of Turkey’s secular democracy which  has taken a hiding   from Erdogan’s electoral successes .  Erdogan’s problem is that his party is Islamist  and Turks are wary that he is violating the nation’s founder’s laid down principle that the army , which Erdogan has boxed into a corner by trying its  leaders  for previous military coups, is the official  guardian of Turkey’s  secular  democracy. That  was what Kemal Ataturk the founder  of modern Turkey handed down as the governing principle in Turkey.  In  effect  then,  the army is watching Erdogan in his cat and mouse survival game with the suicidal Assad of Syria and waiting to cash in, once there is any insurgency against the Turkish PM for his foray into Syria to support the Syrian  rebels and for which he  has gone to Washington to  seek protection as a dutiful  and committed democratic  and still  secular leader of Turkey.

    The story of the re-election of former Pakistani  PM  Nawaz  Sharif  is a story of political survival in a difficult environment where religion and politics are the key catalysts for political power, control  and   participation. Pakistan must be the only nation in the world where religious insurgents threaten democracy but are still not able to succeed in deterring Pakistanis from performing their civic duties of voting for their leaders of choice. Nawaz Sharif had alternated power as it were,  as PM with the late Benazir Bhutto, in between coups that had sent either packing one time or the other.   The present scenario was even more interesting and symbolic in that former military ruler Parvez Musharaff who sent Sharif packing in a coup before, was around to contest the election but was denied participation in the electoral process  by the judiciary . Interestingly during Musharaff’s military rule he invited the late Benazir Bhutto from exile to contest elections but did not invite Sharif who nevertheless came in a much publicized flight   from Britain, only for his flight to be diverted to Medina in Saudi Arabia after     Sharif had risked his life for the journey.   Ironically,   Nawaz has survived the exile to be PM of   Pakistan today, while the man who denied him entry into Pakistan then,   former General Parvez Musharaff is facing charges for not providing sufficient security for Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated while campaigning in the election for which Nawaz was then denied entry into Pakistan. Also, most intriguing in Pakistan is that the present president, the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband knows that under Nawaz Sharif, whose party has sufficient majority to rule alone, his time in office is up or at best in great jeopardy,  as  president of Pakistan. This  is because  it was under the  previous premier ship of the new PM that the  president  was jailed for money laundering;  a charge that the highest   court  in Pakistan has ordered should be executed by successive PMs  of Pakistan who  were members of his party, which has now lost power to Nawaz Sharif’s party,  which is a very volatile development indeed.

    On  Nigeria, let me round up  by commending the Nigerian president and government on the state  of emergency  declared  in three states in the North East namely  Adamawa , Borno  and Yobe . For three reasons I say the commendation is well deserved. The first is that the president no matter how belated has shown that he is  now  in charge,  as nature abhors a vacuum in fighting anything,  including insurgency  and terrorism. The second is that that the wolves in sheep clothing, which he admitted are around him, now know that the battle line is drawn and that they either play ball and support him or leave office before it is too late. The third is that by involving the army the president has given the institution a great   opportunity to prove its mettle as well as assert and display its loyalty and commitment to the Nigerian state and its fledgling democracy. Given  the dire circumstances we have found ourselves through earlier vacillations and dithering in dealing with terrorists, insurgents  and  now  police- killing  cultists,  the state of emergency is like a breath of fresh air and  vibrant  leadership,  unlike the earlier putrid verbiage and vocabulary  of negotiations   with,  and  amnesty  for  merciless insurgents and unrepentant terrorists. Taking the bull by the horn  always seemed a strange strategy for this presidency in confronting those who threaten our nation’s territorial integrity and security with impunity till now One  therefore   hopes and prays that now that the cat is at home mice and terrorists  would flee in whatever direction they  wished, and allow  peace to reign in our fatherland henceforth –   with our president fully  and firmly  in  the saddle in  pursuing  their imminent rout and defeat. Amen

  • Where is Emmanuel?

    A two-year relationship between a U.K-based Nigerian, Emmanuel, and a Caribbean lady which was supposed to end in marriage in June this year has ended abruptly with the whereabouts of the prospective groom unknown after a visit to the country. Lekan Otufodunrin reports

     

    Initially it was supposed to be a case of a fiancée missing in transit. Rachael from a Caribbean Island whose Nigerian fiancée, one Emmanuel Adebanjo, travelled home to Nigeria from his United Kingdom base to see his mother suddenly became incommunicado.

    The last time she heard from Emmanuel who she usually communicated with every day before his sudden disappearance was in February. All her attempts to contact Emmanuel who she was supposed to get married to in June this year after two years of courtship failed. “I had a phone number for which just rings without anyone responding,” she recalls.

    Just when she began to panic about Emmanuel’s fate, she started getting messages from some “relatives” of her husband to be claiming that Emmanuel was involved in an accident a day after he arrived Nigeria and he was the sole survivor.

    The “cousins” refused to give Rachael the name of the hospital where Emmanuel was being treated and other information to locate or speak with him because they said she was not yet known to the family. They claimed they were trying to raise money for Emmanuel’s treatment after selling some of his property and asked how Rachael was willing to assist them.

    In an email to ST the cousins wrote: “Hello madam, you have to be patient until we can get back to you… We have not told his mother about what happened to Emmanuel because she will be so devastated with shock and only close family members are informed.

    “We are making arrangement for him to be flown back to the UK, but the financial side of it is yet to be concluded. You have not visited Nigeria before, hence no member of the family knows nor ever seen you before. So we cannot release him to your care. Our hope lies on the fact that the moment he is able to get better, we will ensure he speak with you and he will decide if he will come direct to you or to the UK. Have a blessed week and God bless you. Kunle.”

    Although she had reasons to suspect that the cousins may be scammers, she found it difficult to believe that Emmanuel could be part of the scheme.

    “I know him well. He has nothing to gain by trying to scam me because he knows I am not a rich person”

    In her search for information on Emmanuel’s whereabouts, Rachael reached out on the phone to someone he had introduced to her as an uncle in Nigeria. In their first telephone conversation, the uncle said he had not heard from Emmanuel for some time and was not aware if he was involved in any accident since he is not sure he was in Nigeria.

    The only home address ST had for Emmanuel in Nigeria, was 41-43, Ashabi Cole, Agidingbi Road, Ikeja, Lagos which turned out not to be none existing. The street was none residential.

    Much later when Rachael told the uncle she was going to hire a private investigator to fish out Emmanuel, he called the following day to say that Emmanuel was in the UK and had an accident, was not working, had no job and was embarrassed of his situation and could not face her.

    With the hide and seek now over and Emmanuel still incommunicado, Rachael, family members and friends are shocked at the turn of events.

    “This is a man who was coming back and forth to our country over a period of two years- something is still amiss to me here- while here he met my family, friends, boss, church priest, etc helped my children paint the house, and more- he was a very mild mannered, polite, calm, but always on the computer – I wonder if his resume was in fact legit- it was very long and detailed- should have had a job easily with that.

    “Everyone of my friends are shocked, the men who met him tell me they are depressed because they all can’t believe it. It is not a regular thing for us here to run into this type of thing or people. All I can say that he is lucky my father is not alive. He had a lot of contacts. I am not sure if Emmanuel would have been able to hide from him,” Rechael said.

    Rachael and Emmanuel had known each other through a Nigerian for about two years and he usually visits the Island from his UK base staying about a month each time.

    According to Rachael, “when he came here it was not to do anything, but to get to know one another better- you cannot have a long distance relationship with someone unless someone goes to visit the other person often before taking it to the next step.

    “I thought it better for him to come here around my people to check him out – and they all thought he was a great person – who knows – so when he came here we went to the beach swimming, concerts, movies, church, family get – together, he even went to my class to help me get ready for the beginning of the school year in September – I mean he just fit in with everyone.”

    For now there has been no word from Emmanuel or his uncle and cousin.

    “I have not heard a peep from anyone – but I can see someone coming and going off line on Yahoo Messenger, but they have not made any further contact and neither have I. It is almost as if he has dropped off the face of the earth- or so he wants me to think.”

    The chain of events still seems like a bad dream for Rachael, but she is glad she didn’t get married to Emmanuel before finding out about his true identity.

    “We live and learn – but suppose we had married? He would then have had access to much more than he would by this act, so I appreciate God spared me that. Always look for the silver lining in any situation,” Rachael said.

  • The fight against glaucoma

    As the world ended observation of World Glaucoma Week in March, it was revealed that not less than 4.5 million Nigerians suffer from this incurable disease.

    In his bid to address this challenge, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation has contributed €150,000 to endow a professorship of glaucoma in the Department of Ophthalamology at the University of Mainz, Germany. This will help to support research on the early detection and treatment of glaucoma. The foundation has previously contributed more than €100,000 in an effort to find a cure for this most frequent cause of irreversible blindness. The foundation has also established a Nigerian Fellowship for Cataract Surgery and Glaucoma Management at the same university. Dr. Funmilola Ogun, consultant ophtalmologist and associate lecturer at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, has received training for her work in Nigeria through this initiative.

    There is no cure for glaucoma yet, but innovative and unique treatments are being explored by Dr. Norbert Pfeiffer and his team at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Germany.

    By analysing tear fluid and blood samples, Dr. Pfeiffer has discovered that auto-antibodies found in patients can act as markers for detection of the disease. Even though glaucoma is not considered a classic autoimmune disease, these changes in antibody profiles might be used as a screening test. It is known that antibodies develop many years before the clinical onset of the disease, hence, autoantibody profiles have the potential to be powerful and highly specific markers to assist in the diagnosis of glaucoma.

    This exciting discovery of improved biomarkers for detection may contribute to a better understanding of the genesis of glaucoma, and has the potential to open a new avenue that will radically change treatment options.

    What is glaucoma?

    Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegenerative disease and the leading cause of blindness among Africans after cataracts. Intraocular pressure damages the optic nerve that transmits images to the brain, resulting in a gradual loss of vision. Initially there are no symptoms or pain and the disease can go unnoticed until the situation becomes critical. Without treatment glaucoma can cause blindness within a few years. Blindness from glaucoma is 6-8 times more common in Africans than Caucasians.

    People of all ages can be affected by this disease. However, certain groups are at a higher risk of developing glaucoma than others:

    •Individuals who have poor vision (short-sightedness)

    •Diabetics

    •Those who have a family history of glaucoma. Family history increases risk of glaucoma four to nine times.

    •Less common causes include blunt or chemical injury to the eye, severe eye infection and blockage of blood vessels in the eye.

    •Intake of cortizone

    Glaucoma most often occurs in adults over age 40, but can also occur in young adults, children and even infants. Onset of the disease in Africa is common between the ages of 30-40 years, compared with 40-60 years old worldwide. Africans are six times more likely to develop glaucoma and ten times more likely to become blind; ten years earlier than Europeans.

    How can glaucoma be prevented?

    Diagnosis of the disease is difficult, with average detection currently at ten years after onset. The first sign of glaucoma is often the loss of peripheral vision which can go unnoticed until late in the disease. In some cases, intraocular pressure can rise to severe levels. In these cases, sudden eye pain, headache, blurred vision, or the appearance of halos around lights may occur.

    Regular eye examinations are the best form of prevention against damage caused by glaucoma. A complete eye examination with an eye specialist every one or two years is key to protecting your vision. Getting informed and staying healthy is also necessary in managing glaucoma. It is important to see your eye doctor regularly so that glaucoma can be treated before long term visual loss occurs. If the condition is detected early enough, it is possible to arrest its development or slow the progression by medical and surgical means.

    Remember! A burglar is on the prowl and he is right around the cornea. This “thief of sight” is neither heard nor seen, and can smash your precious window on the world. It is up to you to arrest glaucoma. Get tested!

     

    •Farris is the Director General, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Abuja