The Nation Newspaper

Category: Femi Orebe

  • President Jonathan bares his fangs: Events in Ekiti a mere foot note

    President Jonathan bares his fangs: Events in Ekiti a mere foot note

    And if the president had once claimed that 13 is greater than 16 in the governors’ forum affair, who is a governor not to uphold the harebrained action of seven where eighteen is stipulated?

    This is more than serious…why must everything, from federal to state, be so much brigandage? Lord have mercy!’, wrote Professor Mobolaji Aluko on the ekitipanupo web portal, commenting on the sealing of the National Assembly by the Nigerian police  as well as  tear gassing its members on that  unfortunate day when  all  of  President Jonathan’s make-belief  as to being a pacifist got  completely blown up to smithereens as  no  Nigerian Inspector General of Police, born of  woman,  not to talk of a mere  state  Commissioner of Police,  as is being claimed, would dare enact that horror  movie without the express say so of the President.

    Happily, if Professor Aluko was still wondering as to what has befallen the country under the Jonathan presidency, not so a perspicacious Tatalo who, in his column of Sunday, 17 Novembe, 2014  in The Nation had written, inter alia, as follows under the Title: Political War Games In Nigeria – “It would be politically foolish and obtuse to the bargain to ever imagine that Jonathan and his strategists are unwise enough not to realize his electoral limitations at this crucial moment. If that is so, it brings us to the central thesis of this piece. Jonathan and his handlers  may very well not be preparing for an electoral competition but for a physical conquest in the guise of a democratic quest”. Evidence of that now abound as we would show in this article.

    In the meantime, not knowing that what  Ekiti people currently  regard as  the embarrassing dividends of their decision of 21 June, 2014  are  nothing more than the dictates of  a man dead set on contesting and winning an election, no matter what  that entails for the nation, I am convinced that with what happened at the National Assembly this past week,  they must by now have begun to see how exactly they have been badly had. For confirmation of that, simultaneously as the National Assembly members were being shut out from the House, the Ekiti state House of Assembly, in a most macabre undertaking,  was deceiving itself into believing that 7 of its 26  members can impeach a speaker where the constitution prescribes two thirds, which is 18.  I saw one of the seven on Channels television during the  past week making what he considers a justification of their illogic and I saw perfectly why Ekiti has become the butt of jokes the world over as a visit to a Facebook  account will more than confirm. However, the worst was to come when the state governor popped up claiming it is that illegal  ‘speaker he was going to work with, emphasizing, repeatedly, that he had no apologies. What a land of honour gone awry! And if the President had once claimed that 13 is greater than 16 in the governors’ forum affair, who is a governor not to uphold the harebrained action of seven where eighteen is stipulated.

    Nor did they stop there. As contained in a Press Release by Wole Olujobi, Press Adviser to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the legal as distinct from the rabid impostor, “the Police and ?the Department of State Security have withdrawn their personnel from the security teams of the Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin, and the  Deputy Speaker, Chief Adetunji Orisalade. This followed the  invasion of the Speaker’s Lodge this evening by Mr Dele Olugbemi, the purported new Speaker, who led PDP members in a forceful occupation of the building’.  Again it should be obvious to Nigerians from these  events  that Abuja is the falconer and that the state governor is nothing more than the President’s viceroy in Ado-Ekiti.

    It certainly cannot get more scary but only a fool would claim not to have seen all these coming given President Jonathan’s single-minded ambition,  after six years already spent on the post,  not only to contest, but to be declared winner in the  2015 presidential election. Indeed, given the unequaled success of their newly fangled election rigging tactics  which we saw deployed  in Ekiti in June, arising from which the President asked some foreign Ambassadors in the country to inform their Heads of state that the 2015 elections would be a successful and seamless excise, even where he had not proposed  a single effort at improving our chaotic and fraudulent electoral process inthos six years, it is obvious that  Nigerians must be prepared for more of the same as these people are not preparing for an election in its true sense, but as Tatalo put it, a physical capture. I just hope the oposition isbeing properly warned as it will no longer be able totalk of a failure of intelligence. Both PP and the President have shown enough of their hands.

    So successful was their scientific rigging in Ekiti on 21 June 2014 that  because there was not a single reported case of ballot snatching or  illegal thumb printing but  rather, a calm and  peaceful  voting, Ekiti people  believed they got what they voted on that day even where neither the PDP nor its candidate had done a single positive thing for the state and the people  for the past four years apat from the emergency rice and beans which in no way compared with all that Fayemi had done in office to cater to the needs of both the needy and the general populace. I  can understand, however, that  that the 20,000 ghost workers he eliminated by his introduction of e-payment to the government’s financial system rankled amongst the rogues. But I tell them, what they are celebrating is science, miraculously, but clinically settling matters long before the voting proper. And since VANISHING INK, instead of the constitutionally prescribed INDELIBLE ink  was what INEC  provided voters, the deed was done, even without a whimper. For those in doubt, I  once again ask  them to Google: NIKUV and the Zimbabwean presidential elections as well as NASENI and its own  findings on the 2013 Presidential election in Zimbabwe,  another African country. So PDP was not inventing the wheel but merely catching in on the new fad in election rigging. As to those who question why there were no riots, I  say, how could any sensible person react to an apparently ‘flawless’ election, even if the state was not completely militarily locked down. And by the way, were there any cries of anguish from the victims of  atomic bombing  in Hiroshima? Science is clinical enough to ensure that the victims could not react. Instead, where they are not dead, the victims are put in a permanent state of delirium; the very state Ekiti presently finds itself though unknown to many.

    But  all these are mere preparations for the  big prize: the 2015 presidential election. And  so Nigerians, not only in Ekiti but in all the Southwest states  as well  as others like Akwa Ibom and Rivers, where you see governors or Abuja sponsored contestants daring everybody,  insisting it is their way or the high way;  in Kwara, where they hate Bukola Saraki with a passion, Kano, because  they still cannot imagine a triumphant Emir Sanusi Lamido, in spite of all the make belief and some other state must brace up  for the Ekiti treatment.  Photocromism, otherwise known as scientific rigging, in  its various variants, will be deployed in these states by their rogue scientists who are mostly from a Middle East country  whose national economy thrives most  on the military industrial philosophy.

    As things stand today, President Jonathan’s strategists have their plans for ‘pacifying’ each geo-political zone to ensure that zones with high voter populations are compromised and others leaning more towards the opposition APC are completely messed up. It is this that accounts for the shenanigans  we are  witnessing in the distribution   of Permanent Voter Cards and the  man to pity here is Chairman  Jega who is not complicit since he is not even trusted. Instead, middling officers in the IT departments  with, possibly a dedicated director,  are in charge of all the schemes to add to or subtract from the number of voters in each zone as illicitly decreed by the men of power. The Northeast,, unfortunately, shot itself in the foot when the likes of Modu Sheriff deliberately encouraged illiteracy, and ended up as the birthplace of Boko Haram which authorities have done everything to ensure thrives until the 2015 election is over.  In the huge Northwest and North Central, what used to be occasional bloodletting between  the various tribes has taken a life of its own and in the Southwest, it is the turn of the MACHO MEN to rein in  the Yoruba, a distinguished people with thousands of years behind them. As for the South South and the South East, they are already presumed safe and delivered.

  • Re: Fani Kayode’s some hard questions for Buharists

    Re: Fani Kayode’s some hard questions for Buharists

    To get involved in any discourse with Femi Fani Kayode, the ‘most brilliant’ Nigerian polemicist, must be the equivalent of throwing oneself into a conundrum

    It is curious how some scions of thoroughly illustrious Yoruba fathers easily lose it once they are close to the power loop and this is usually in spite of being very educated in their own right. Examples are too many to delay us here but writing recently on the phenomenon, Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan of The Nation attributed it to an infernal fear of having to live below the stinking opulence they were used to growing up. But should that be enough reason to lose one’s integrity and overall bearing?

    To get involved in any  discourse with  Femi Fani Kayode, the ‘most brilliant’ Nigerian polemicist, must be the equivalent of throwing oneself into a conundrum of unending self promotion by a man who so loves  President  Jonathan any criticism of the number one citizen is a dagger in his throat.  Femi obviously has more than enough reasons to love a man who has the power to cause the EFCC, or any anti-graft body for that matter, to withdraw court cases, even if there are enough grounds to secure conviction. Add to this the need for the young man to be adequately compensated for dumping the APC.  It is small matter if, like he did to former President Obasanjo, he had severally thrashed the president before his Pauline conversion in an archetypical case of crass opportunism.

    Let me briefly narrate a not too dissimilar story. I once wrote on these pages an article that was very critical of my aburo, Akin Osuntokun.  That was during the Obasanjo era when he, Fani-Kayode and Segun Awolowo were top men in the Villa with Fani Kayode  eagerly playing  the president’s armour bearer, throwing tantrums at whoever it was who disagreed with President Obasanjo on any issue.  Osuntokun, not exactly as acerbic, was not particularly far behind. That was what triggered my article.  Being Obasanjo’s blue-eyed boys, Akin could very easily have got me arrested and heavens would not have fallen.

    But he chose differently. He telephoned me, remonstrating: Egbon, you were very unkind to me in your column today and he went on to explain why, out of sympathy to an old man, he felt constrained to always defend President Obasanjo who, in truth, was having a real bad press.  I then asked him if he knew a certain Segun Awolowo to which he said, of course, yes. I went further to ask if he had ever seen him insult anybody to which he said no, even though they were both in Obasanjo’s service.

    I then reminded him that, like Segun, he too is from a lofty pedigree and should therefore be guided in whatever he does. Not once again did I see him roughly address anybody in defence of Obasanjo.  Not so a truculent Fani Kayode who forever sees himself in superlatives and as having a divine right to act with impunity. Nobody, not a Wole Soyinka or a Muhammadu Buhari, is immune to his uncultured tongue.

    Now, coming to matters of the moment, if anything surprised me in his recent tirade titled: Some Hard Questions For The Buharists, it is the statement credited to Opeyemi Agbaje, an astute professional I had interacted with severally.  According to Fani-Kayode, the following are Ope’s questions: ”How come the only debates we have in Nigeria are over a “Muslim-Muslim” ticket? How come the opposition party’s instincts are always in that direction-Nuhu Ribadu/Fola Adeola? How come a discussion of a Christian-Christian presidential ticket is completely inconceivable? How come Buhari, who even in a military regime instituted a Muslim-Muslim/North-North ruling clique along with Idiagbon and eight or nine out of 11 Supreme Military Council members, is now testing the ground again with another possible Muslim-Muslim pairing? Is it that we have a shortage of capable Christians in Nigeria?”

    Given Agbaje’s  assiduity,  these questions  should rather  be  directed to  a  president  for whom,  going to Jerusalem, when not kneeling before pastors, has  become an annual ritual.  The president it is, who not only frequents Jerusalem but ensures that jet-owning pastors are in tow. He, it is, who has completely politicised religion that integrity and efficiency have been pushed far into the background as determining factors for office. Opeyemi should cast his mind back to 2011 and tell Nigerians who and who were more qualified to take Nigeria out of its present morass than the duo of Nuhu Ribadu and Fola Adeola.  These are relatively young men you would never see romancing corruption or directing that corruption charges be withdrawn from courts; men who will never protect corrupt ministers or aides. It is essentially to mask these foibles, these predilections in some quarters, that religion has been deliberately imported, as a façade, into our politics.

    As to why not a Christian -Christian ticket, the APC as a thinking party, must reasonably walk away from the religious booby traps the president and his minders, especially the CAN leadership, have woven into our politics. A ticket of same religion has since been rendered completely unreasonable for any party that wants to win election. Nor could it be a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the same reasons and the eagerness of the Metuh’s of this world to dub the APC a Moslem party. APC is considering a Moslem Presidential candidate because equity demands that it should be the turn of the mostly Muslim North to have its turn at the presidency, come 2015, or for how long can we keep a part of the country away from power in a democracy?

    Fani Kayode also quoted the views of one Oladeji in support of his quaint views but to treat those views with more than a benign neglect is to waste precious time on nothing.  Described by Fani Kayode as a seasoned and experienced journalist on the stable of Mr Nda Isaiah’s Leadership newspaper, it should not be difficult to see where Oladeji is coming from and what motivations drive him.

    Fani Kayode’s uneasiness is, however, much simpler, as he personally elected to put himself in a bind by promising what he could not deliver.  His defecting to the APC, in the first place, is allegedly, the result of a promise he gave to a well-heeled northerner to influence the emergence of a Christian northerner as APC’s presidential candidate. He bolted the minute he saw the futility of that self-inflicted assignment. We should therefore expect more of his diatribes against APC leaders as we inch towards the elections. Only that this time around, he demonstrated a level of illogicality so unbecoming of one so seemingly brilliant.

    Among other things, he had written:

    “… in the APC-controlled Lagos State today 80 per cent of State House of Assembly members are Muslims, 80 per cent of Local Government Area Chairmen are Muslims, 80 per cent of National Assembly members are Muslims and 80 per cent of Commissioners and key government functionaries are Muslims.  It is also a fact that every single state that is under the control of the APC in the south west today is governed by a Muslim whilst 90 per cent of APC governors throughout the Federation are Muslims’. Then he concludes jubilantly: ‘That is the APC for you. With them you will never see what you will get until it is too late.”

    Now if this young man were in full control of himself, shouldn’t he have remembered that this had been the position long before the merger of the parties and the founding of APC?  This inexplainable gaffe should be enough to tell Nigerians how desperation has driven Fani-Kayode to his misadventures.

    Having also failed miserably to add any value to Senator Omisore’s quest for the governorship seat in Osun State, in respect of which he must have characteristically promised much to his new friends, and given his gift of the garb, I will advise this young man to try his schemes towards emerging a top member of the Jonathan  campaign; that is, if his  loquaciousness would not turn awry for both party and candidate.

  • Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, 59-63 at 50

    Christ School, Ado-Ekiti, 59-63 at 50

    In tandem with the School’s new development plan, the set had, first of all, contacted the principal to identify its most urgent need which turned out to be a bore hole to serve the kitchen and the school clinic which do not have a running water of their own.

    At a glorious 2014 Reunion& Home Coming event hosted by both the 59-63 / 70-74 sets from Friday, 23rd to Sunday, 25th October, 2014, my set (59-63) put together an absolutely unforgettable re-union that will long linger in our memories. It was, first and foremost, an opportunity for massive Thanksgiving to the good Lord who has kept us safe these many years; and having been weaned, from tender ages on Christ, there was no shortage of gratitude to God. And how exhilarating it was, jubilantly singing together again the school song: Christ is our corner stone (Songs of Praise 464) in those, once wondrously sonorous voices, now going croaky. The husky voices were, however, invigorated by those of the much younger 70-74 members and current students. Where I sat, directly in front of Oga Dele Falegan, (Oga being our patented way of addressing seniors no matter the age difference) former Director of Research, Central Bank of Nigeria, it was easy to affirm beautiful singing  as one of our major  attributes at The School from the beautiful way he sang. It was simply exhilarating and spiritually uplifting.

    Our own segment of  events  had kicked off the evening of Friday, 23 October at a sumptuous ASUN (roasted goat meat) night hosted by Dr Oye Adegbite,  FCA, and his dazzling wife, at their sprawling country home in the Government Reserved Area of the state capital. What a night of camaraderie and reminiscences! What a night to remember! We were particularly honoured by the presence of two great icons of The School.  First, Chief F. A.  Daramola, our highly revered teacher, and father of Hon Bimbo Daramola, who at 87 chooses to personally drive himself around.  Be not surprised, he is The School’s most venerated games master after the unmatchable Chief R. A Ogunlade of blessed memory. The other was Chief (Dr) JGO Adegbite, School goal keeper, senior prefect and, the first Registrar of the Ekiti State University who, coincidentally, is our host’s uterine brother.

    He was obviously the night’s hero as he regaled us with joke after joke. Wande Adebiyi, aka Flamengo, and incidentally another School goal keeper, was, however, not far behind. Yours truly relived the idiosyncrasies of one of our most loved teachers, the late Mr J O Iluku. And, of course, one of our own, the Venerable Jide Iyiola, said the prayers. In the meantime, Biodun Adu, Consultant Gynaecologist, far away from his London base, kept phoning in to share in the joy of the occasion. It was a night to remember.

    But looking back now, it is funny, if not surprising, that none of us that night remembered to recall that  song, weaved around a mythical Asian king, and  with which all students of our time, but  now unfortunately discontinued, were socially welcomed into the life-long family of CHRIST’S SCHOOL at  an archetypical BULLYING event.  Bullying  has been described as  the use of force, threat, or coercion,  to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others, and has occasioned suicides in places like the U.S, but not this thoroughly enjoyable one which  requires some elucidation especially for the sake of readers not already conversant with it.

    Midway into this  unforgettable night, at their very first attendance at  a socials event  in the school, new students are filed out on the expansive bowel  of the  QUADRANGLE, to be taught what is simply described as a song. The song, you are told, is about a king named O WATANA, OF SIAM, who is presented in much more mythical terms. You are soon engrossed in this fascinating new song which you soon start singing rather exuberantly, dancing in circles. That, however, is until you see your seniors, now a hilarious audience, singing back and pointing fingers at you.

    What they are singing now is what you get when you fully spelt out the king’s name which is O WHAT AN ASS I AM but which they now pluralise and turn to: O what asses you are, O what asses you are, O what an ass! Boy, you can only imagine the look on the new students’ faces but it is a night you will forever remember.

    The next day’s events took off a little behind schedule as a result of the state’s environmental exercise. So to the school’s Alumni Hall we headed an hour later at 11 am to kick start the 2014 REUNION & HOME COMING EVENT proper with a lecture on MY VISION OF CHRIST’S SCHOOL BY YEAR 2033, the Guest Lecturer being another iconic alumnus, Mr Kehinde Ojo, the immediate past Ekiti  State Commissioner of Education who is, unarguably, a man of many firsts.

    A member of the school football team, he was Senior Prefect and later, principal. A state merit award winner, he was one of the first set of school principals to be appointed Tutor-General by the Ekiti State government. He was therefore the ideal person to envision The School as it turns 100 in 2033. And didn’t he make a wonderful job of it! This, however, was after the Chairman of the event, our teacher and now Acting Vice Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Professor Femi Ajisafe, has called for the observation of a minute’s silence in memory of our dear classmates who have joined the Saints Triumphant. May the good Lord continue to rest them and uphold those they left behind. Amen.

    Chief Daramola, Professor Ajisafe and  Mr Ojo were later presented with plaques in appreciation of their support.

    This was followed by the inauguration of projects. In tandem with the School’s new development plan, the set had, first of all,  contacted the principal to identify its most urgent need which turned out to be a bore hole to serve the kitchen and the school clinic which do not have a running water of their own. This we agreed to do, thus solving a problem that has existed like forever and it was commissioned by Chief Daramola in the presence of the principal, his  immediate predecessor, and  a rapturous kitchen staff,  some students and members of staff. As it turned out, the bore hole will now also serve the school chapel. In addition, we donated 5000 customised exercise books to the students.

    The last event for the day was the dinner hosted by the 70/74 set to which our set had been graciously invited and what a night of good food, wine and camaraderie, at the Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti.

    We all punctually assembled the following morning at the School Chapel for the Anniversary Service which, for us, was a debt repaid us by the school.

    How so?

    Way back in December ’63, believing that the set was too troublesome,  the  Principal, Canon L.D Mason, had promptly sent us home directly after our School Certificate exams without allowing us have the luxury of the usual send forth service to which  every set looked  forward to. This service, therefore, mentally took us back fifty one years; and how throatily we all sang trying to re enact those days of angelic voices. The sermon was taken by one of our most humane and revered teachers, and later university lecturer, The Very Revd John Olu Aina.

    As we look forward, trusting Christ, whose name we bear, to our 60th  anniversary, we all agree that this has turned out to be a wonderful occasion at which many of us were seeing again, for the very  first time, since that December day in ’63. We therefore thank God for His grace upon our lives as we say the School Prayer again:

    Grant O Lord

    That Christ’s School may be a Christian School

    Not in name only

    But, in deed, and in truth

    For the sake of Christ

    Whose name we bear

    This short recap will not be complete without expressing the set’s deep appreciation to both our Chairman, Adegboyega Adepitan, and our indefatigable Secretary, Oyeniyi Allen Alebiosu, both of who literally abandoned their personal chores to ensure we had a glorious outing. And our hearty appreciation goes to the elders and all who made it a worthwhile outing. Thank you all and God bless.

  • Short Takes

    Short Takes

    While some said my choice – Buhari/Amaechi – cannot hurt the president, most of those who reacted said that will be the very last nail on the coffin of impunity, insecurity and corruption, otherwise known as the PDP.

    I received tonnes of reactions on the 4-part article: Periscoping APC’s Ideal Presidential Candidate. While some said my choice – Buhari/Amaechi – cannot hurt the president, most of those who reacted said that will be the very last nail on the coffin of impunity, insecurity and corruption, otherwise known as the PDP.

    Today’s SHORT TAKES, therefore, parade eloquent testimonies as to why the latter opinion will prevail, come February, 2015.

    PRESIDENT GOODLUCK                        JONATHAN

    . “Without security, there is no government. So it is not debatable, it is something we have to address and we are working towards that with vigour. But if I’m voted into power within the next four years, the issue of power will become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for the next four years.” – Jonathan to Nigerian diplomats at UNECA, Addis-Ababa, 2011.

    The only improvement I can see is public money being splashed on private companies called Gencos, Discos, whatever.

    DR REUBEN ABATI ON THE                 FIRST LADY.

    “The sober truth is that democracy is about rights and responsibilities, a democratic dispensation therefore cannot be a licence for disagreeable conduct as a norm; just as the possession of power in any form does not guarantee the right to be reckless or to ignore the etiquette required of office holders. Anyone in the corridors of power, either by chance or right, or appointment, is expected to behave decorously.

    Dame Patience Jonathan, our president’s wife, failed the test this week in Okrika, Rivers State. It is trite knowledge that there is a critical difference between Yenagoa and Abuja, and a world of difference between being the wife of a Deputy Governor/Governor/Vice president and being the wife of Nigeria’s No 1 citizen. When people suddenly find themselves in such latter position, prepared or unprepared, anywhere in the world, they are taken through a crash programme in finishing and poise and made to realise that being the wife of an important man comes with serious responsibilities. If Dame Patience went through such re-orientation, the course was incomplete. -The Guardian, Thursday, 27 August, 2010.

    SOME KEY  NIGERIANS ON                 GEN. BUHARI

    PRESIDENT SHAGARI -“After the Army  toppled our democratic regime it has option but to install Buhari as head of state so as to avoid credibility problems, especially in the sight of the international community because of his being an epitome of integrity.”

    -.PRESIDENT OBASANJO -“There are only two honest and reliable Nigerians – myself and Buhari. All what the PDP is saying of Buhari being a fundamentalist is mere hot

    lies. They just fear him. He is as reliable as he is hardworking, honest and incorruptible.”

    .GEN. ABDUSALAMI – “Buhari was honest and sincere in all his conduct that perhaps, only very few Nigerians could match him in integrity.”

    PRESIDENT JONATHAN – “Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was a true patriot, respected former head of state, elder statesman and a nationalist.”

    -.LATE GEN. ABACHA (PTF INAUGURAL SPEECH).-“I have realised our collective mistake in over-throwing you. I have seen the terrible damage which our action caused to the Nigerian psyche. I am most sorry. Please, come and do what is best known about you. Patriotic service to the nation.”

    – PRESIDENT IBRAHIM BABANGIDA -“If Buhari quits PTF job as he promises, and as we knew him to mean his words all along, I will  support the idea of scrapping PTF as no one else can do the job like him. I respect Buhari. He was my boss. He was an honourable man. And I can say this anywhere.”

    .ALH. ISIYAKU IBRAHIM –  “As a member of PDP BOT, I decided personally to donate  N5,000,000 to Buhari’s campaign organisation because of my firm belief  in his ability to right all the nation’s wrongs-.

    ALHAJI ISIAKU IBRAHIM -MEMBER, PDP BOT MEMBER (at a Book launch in Kaduna) – “Buhari is as clean as the book I am holding.”

    -SEN. MAKARFI  (a former Kaduna State governor)- “If the truth must be said, Buhari remains the only real threat to PDP whether he runs for the presidency or not due to his wider followership among the masses that now hate the elite circle.”

    – BALARABE MUSA (a former Kaduna State governor) – Punch January 21, 2011 – “General Buhari rose from the rank of a Lieutenant in the army to a General. At one time, he was a GOC. He was later appointed Military Administrator of the old North-East. He was in the Petroleum Ministry as minister. In December 1983 he became Head of State via a coup. During the late General Sani Abacha’s regime, he headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) before former President Obasanjo scrapped it. But I read in the papers where the General himself said after obtaining his CPC presidential form, which cost him over N5 million, he is now left with less than a million naira in his account. Now, my task is to challenge all of us to ensure this man becomes president. General Buhari deserves to be given a chance. When he became Head of State after the 1983 coup, thousands of Second Republic politicians, including me, were picked and locked up by the junta. But even in Kirikiri I discovered that the NPN elements among us were giving bribe to prison officials to ensure they got a double ration of food. It dawned on me that people who can offer bribes even in Kirikiri have no reason to be our leaders. Buhari was vindicated.”

    ON SPEAKER TAMBUWAL’S              RESIGNATION

    “Concerning calls for Mr. Speaker to step down from the position to which his colleagues freely elected him on June 6, 2011, we wish to reaffirm that the Speakership of the House of Representatives, or any other national elective position, belongs to the generality of Nigerians, not the political platforms upon which such leaders emerge. While the case of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who as a sitting vice president moved to another political party – and did not get judicial reprobation for the act – is still fresh in our memories and the clear provisions of Section 50(1) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution easily settles the worries regarding the continued Speakership of Rt. Hon. Tambuwal. It says: ‘There shall be a Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.” It would, therefore, amount to an affront on members’ privilege to question their constitutionally-guaranteed right to freely elect their leaders. “Additionally, Order 1, Rule 1 (2) of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives states: ‘In all cases not provided for hereinafter, or by sectional or other orders, precedents or practices of the House, the House shall by resolution regulate its procedure’. “It is in the light of the foregoing that the House wishes to appeal to those who seek to ‘regulate its procedure’ from outside its hallowed chambers to have a rethink, as the nation’s Constitution, the Standing Orders of the House and precedent – as in the Speakership of the late Rt. Hon. Edwin Ume-Ezeoke in the Second Republic on a minority platform – have all provided answers to what may have otherwise been a knotty political issue.” -Hon Victor Afam Ogene (Deputy Chairman, Media and Public Affairs.)

    When I heard the government has withdrawn the Speaker’s security details, my reaction was: very good; there goes the 2015 budget in flames!

  • Concluding the series: APC’s ideal Presidential candidate (4)

    Concluding the series: APC’s ideal Presidential candidate (4)

    Since General Buhari is known all over the country as a decent and untainted person, it should not be unduly tough to accede to his emergence in a consensual manner

    As the title goes, this concludes our modest effort at showcasing General Muhammadu Buhari (RTD) as APC’s best leg forward in the 2015 presidential election, if the party’s intention is not to be  just an ‘also ran’. Conscious of the fact that the party is out to rescue a Nigeria already clobbered by indescribable corruption, some hard truths will be told, and  pleas made to some of the leading lights of the party who  must  bend over backwards, think less of self and give  a pride of place to our hemorrhaging country.

    The first of these pleas will go to the contestants who have been to all the nooks and crannies of the country selling their visions for party and country; trying to gain members’ support. This must have been at great personal costs. Both the party and the candidates must, however, ensure that since only one of them will eventually emerge, everything must be done to avoid fallouts which the opposition could latch on to hurt the party at the election proper. That could easily happen if the contestant finally chosen is perceived by Nigerians to be morally unsuitable for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  Since General Buhari is known all over the country as a decent and untainted person, it should not be unduly tough to accede to his emergence in a consensual manner. This is not to suggest that others are not honest, but this is a man who has held the highest office in the land and has never been known, even alleged, to have abused his office.  This will not only demonstrate party unity but will allow every segment of the party to coalesce around his candidature and ensure that he gets everything needed for a successful campaign. After all, the party survived the serial obstacles the opposition erected on the way to its emergence. It is also to be noted that President Jonathan did not emerge PDP’s sole presidential candidate because there were no other interested party members. Even as you read this, a scion of the redoubtable Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, is apparently still fuming.

    However, if settling the presidential slot looks fairly straight forward, not so that of who emerges the Vice Presidential candidate. Given the unending geo political rivalries for political office in our country, even if in reality that never translates to any meaningful advantage, as we saw in the Obasanjo presidency when infrastructure in the entire Southwest collapsed, and akin to what is  currently happening to the South South where the East-West road is taking like forever to complete, I should, ideally, be rooting for a Southwest Vice Presidential candidate. But political reality suggests differently.

    Who becomes the Vice Presidential candidate, and where he comes from, are issues that must be handled tactically and strategically. This is one position that can, and should, indeed, be used to maximally hurt the president in order to substantially reduce the advantages derivable from his literal capture of the Southeast.

    First and foremost, both General Buhari, who is my preferred contestant, and whoever emerges his Vice Presidential candidate cannot afford to be both non-current holders of a high political office given the massive logistical advantage holding such an office confers in our skewed democracy especially with regard to funding, security and overall logistics especially when they will be contesting against an incumbent who does not take prisoners.

    That fact, in my view, should, automatically eliminate any of the gentlemen whose names are currently being mentioned from the Southwest. The only remaining likely candidate is, unfortunately, caught up in the Muslim/Muslim argument which the PDP must eagerly be awaiting to latch on to. Without a doubt, trying that combination will be ill advised as it will be used by the PDP to scare away millions of voters from the party, especially in the North Central zone. So much has President Jonathan, unfortunately, imported religion into our politics that APC dares not go there at all. Nor has Boko Haram helped matters either.

    President Jonathan’s undisguised favoritism towards the Southeast from where he appointed not less than 70 percent of the headship of the country’s regulatory agencies, the Central Bank inclusive, in addition to the most important ministries in his government, has so cemented his capture of that geo-political zone that it would be unwise for the APC to consider any candidate from there. So complete is the president’s hold on the Southeast that former Governor Obi of Anambra State thought nothing of abandoning his promises to the Ikemba for the Jonathan cause, an issue that so upset Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, the late Igbo leader’s spouse.  I say this with considerable unease given Governor Rochas Okorocha’s immense, pan Nigerian goodwill; a goodwill that is obviously only a fractional appreciation of his large heart which knows neither Jew  nor Gentile.

    It is to be noted that the Yoruba, who also voted hugely for candidate Jonathan in 2011, have been remorselessly shortchanged by his government; a fact he admitted during the recent electioneering campaigns in the Southwest.

    This therefore leaves us with only the South South as where the Vice Presidential candidate can come from. As tactics, it must be a deliberate intent of the APC to keep the president busy campaigning in that zone rather than for him to have the luxury of taking their vote for granted. He must be made to sweat for every vote he would get there unlike in 2011. Luckily, there is a groundswell of reasons to ensure that.

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi has shown conclusively that he has all it takes to emerge the APC VP candidate. He has successfully fought a ruthless opposition to the hilt. Many in his situation would have crumbled, if not cave in to the multi-pronged attacks spearheaded, no doubt, by the presidency. The governor enjoys tremendous support in a state where, since 1999 PDP has routinely allocated its massive two million plus votes to itself. The APC must not let that happen in 2015 and with Amaechi on the ticket that will be an absolute impossibility.  Additionally, the massive anti-Jonathan sentiments arising from the Bayelsa/Rivers Soku oil wells crisis and the deliberate, inexplainable  impediments placed on the opening of the Abonnema  seaport as well as the Soku gas plant projects approved by the late President Musa  Yar’Adua will ensure that many  will not be favorably disposed to Jonathan’s candidature.

    This article was about concluded when Wale Adeoye, a former Senior Special Assistant to Governor Fayemi and a top chieftain of the O’odua  Nationalist Coalition, sent me the Coalition’s resolutions at its Ibadan meeting of October  7, 2014.

    The relevant part, to this subject, reads as follows:

    1. The coalition believes that it is more strategic for the Yoruba and the APC to present and support a South-South candidate as the Vice President in the forthcoming election. Such a person will neutralise the passion of PDP’s ethnic minority campaign tactics as well as strengthen confidence in the APC among ethnic minorities across the country.

    2. The coalition resolved to have its contact committee meet with the APC in Yoruba land to recommend Governor  Amaechi in view of his dogged spirit and libertarian heritage in the belief that given that he is an Ikwerre, with close genealogical ties to  the Igbo, he would certainly enjoy a modicum of Igbo support and so break into the president’s near monopoly of that zone. Also, the fact that the governor is highly regarded both in Nigeria and internationally, has vast political linkages across the country and can be trusted would be added advantages.

    What more can I say?

    As for the Yoruba, the most suitable post in an APC- controlled federal government, would, in my view, be the Senate Presidency. Given Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s yeoman’s contribution to the emergence and sustenance of the party, it should not be too much to cede this position to him, either in his personal capacity, or to his nominee.

    And the nominee could very well be his spouse, the highly effective Senator Oluremi Tinubu who would be returning as a second term senator.

    Concluded.

  • Periscoping APC’s ideal presidential candidate (3)

    Periscoping APC’s ideal presidential candidate (3)

    But the contestants can themselves make the job a lot easier for the party by giving the pride of place to Nigeria rather than to self.

    Before delving into our ongoing discuss on the ideal presidential candidate for the APC, it will be interesting to hear the views of our delectable 82-year-old Mama  Adebimpe Okunade, a retired University  of Ibadan teacher, on the immediate past governor of Ekiti, Dr John  Kayode Fayemi. She wrote as follows on ekitipanupo this past week under the caption:

    ‘A DIGNIFYING EXIT INDEED

    “Dr John Kayode Fayemi is a man of honour, integrity; highly educated, civil and committed to the welfare of his people. As a decent person, he went about doing his work with diligence. Dr. Fayemi changed the land scape of Ekiti State and how government business should be done. His work and comportment resonate throughout Nigeria and beyond the shores of this country. There is no doubt that he stepped on many toes. In a predominantly corrupt society, changing the fraudulent ways the affairs of government are run will no doubt incur the wrath of entrenched interest groups. Dr. Kayode Fayemi did a lot to block leakages. Some of his policies to improve education ran into stone walls! How can the quality of education improve when teachers are incompetent?  Dr. Fayemi “offended” teachers and pilfering civil servants.

    I salute your wife for being so supportive and for her love for Ekiti people.

    Kudos to all the members of your team for a job well done. My dear Kayode, you did well, you did very well. We are proud of you. As you bow out of office in style and dignity, you step into peace; you step into progress and into higher calling. “Usedale Ekiti a gbe o. ”

    And  in that same thread, may I use this opportunity to salute the gentle intellectual giant, Professor Dupe Adelabu, who  stepped  seamlessly, though in a particularly difficult circumstances, into the delectable shoes of  her  sister, our  own beloved  Moremi, the late Mrs.  Funmi Olayinka, as Deputy Governor, and so effectively complemented the governor.   Ekiti remains grateful for your impeccable service to Motherland.

    PERISCOPING …

    “Since 1999, PDP has presided over our country’s decline. Nigeria in my experience has never been so divided, so polarised by an unthinking government hell bent on ruling and stealing everything. We in the APC are resolved to stop them in their tracks to rescue Nigeria from their stranglehold” – Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    Since the PDP assumed the reins of government in 1999, incompetence at the highest levels of our government has transmogrified into a Boko Haram, about the most dangerous insurgency group on the continent of Africa, easily outpacing  Al-Shabab and like the dreaded ISIS, decapitating humans by beheading them; lack of moral turpitude since that time has turned our country into a citadel of corruption,  just as impunity has turned us to a laughing stock in the comity of nations. No Nigerian now, not even Mr. President, can sleep with his two eyes closed.

    These are but only a few of the demons which must concentrate the mind of the All Progressives Congress as it sets out to choose a candidate that will square off against a powerful  PDP incumbent come February, 2015.  Mindful of how few and far between it is for incumbents to be defeated at elections in Africa -God bless Ghana -APC needs not be told that this is a task that must be handled with the greatest sense of responsibility.

    As  the columnist, Gbogun gboro of The Nation,  reminded us this past week, no thanks to the PDP, Nigeria is now one of the foremost contributors to poverty in the world and, according to  him, quoting a World Bank Report, it ‘will by 2030  be one of  the main contributors to global poverty’.  On the   Human Development Index  which  is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development, Nigeria has, since 1999, occupied the lowest of the three categories of  high, medium and low, placing between 147 -182 in company of lowly countries like Djibouti, Lesotho and Zwaziland. Nigeria actually currently ranks 158. No thanks to a kleptomaniac PDP government which, rather than deal decisively with corruption, prefers to romance it, serially dropping corruption charges against its members. Although the government has been touting its annual growth average of over seven percent, I think it needs be told that with the country’s dilapidated infrastructure and over dependence on oil and gas, massive youth unemployment and with between 60-70 percent of the population living below the poverty line, there is absolutely nothing for the Jonathan government to gloat about despite those voodoo statistics by the likes of TAN. Fifteen years after, Nigeria now generates far less than the 4000 MW of electricity it generated in 1999 after having most of the 20 billion dollars claimed to have been spent in that sector stolen. It will be interesting to see what sane people would vote more of the same come 2015 and thereby consign Nigeria into purgatory.

    In choosing its candidate, therefore, APC must ensure that it will not be bogged down, wasting precious time, trying to extricate its candidate from  any corruption  baggage  from his past. Starting out so late in its national campaign whereas PDP, through its various surrogates, had jump started its own campaign for the last six months, APC can only ill afford such distraction.

    With a list of contestants that  boasts a past Head of State, a former Vice President, a two-time state governor and former Minister of the Federal Republic as well as a respected publisher,  picking its candidate will certainly not be the easiest of tasks.  But the contestants can themselves make the job a lot easier for the party by giving the pride of place to Nigeria rather than to self. In other words, the contest must never be allowed to degenerate into a do or die affair. This plea is important given Nigeria’s extremely precarious circumstances. Nigeria is in dire straits which, unfortunately, those milking us cannot see owing to our government’s visionlessness; a situation that has turned Nigeria to something totally unthinkable some two decades ago. Corruption now roams the nation making nonsense of everything decent and developmental. APC must, therefore, see itself as being on an urgent rescue mission. I suspect this must have motivated Dotun Falua, a technocrat, when he suggested that APC must confront a prurient PDP with its very best, the MR CLEAN, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    He wrote: Name any Nigerian who had been a state governor, a GOC in the Nigerian army, a minister of petroleum resources as well as a past head of state who is, today, not living in unspeakable opulence. Buhari, he says, has been all these but has only a house in Kaduna and another in his native Daura. Here, he says, is a Nigerian, against who nothing despicable has ever been found or even alleged. As GOC in Jos, Buhari, he says, taught Chadian rebels who crossed into Nigeria  the fear of the Lord by pursuing them straight to the very gates of Njemaina, the Chadian capital, thus implying that with a decisive president like him, Boko Haram would not have stood a chance of becoming the menace they have since become, seizing over 200 of our girls for over six months now. Concerning allegations of being a religious fanatic, Dotun asks if Buhari is more  religiously fanatical than President Jonathan who he claims was the only known head of state who abandoned his official duties to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria in tow?  He concludes by saying that all the moral deficiencies both Buhari and Gen Idiagbon, his Chief of Staff,  wanted to correct in his first coming, have since grown into demons tormenting contemporary Nigeria.

    Need I add a word as my own contribution except to suggest that Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, should, for strategic considerations, be Buhari’s ideal Vice-Presidential candidate.

  • Ekiti: Dr Kayode Fayemi bows out in a blaze of glory

    Ekiti: Dr Kayode Fayemi bows out in a blaze of glory

    Here is one man, together with his wife, our dear outgoing First Lady, who, in their youth, have prepared themselves for whatever challenges life may bring: cultured and well educated.

    No matter what ruckus or melodrama currently engulfs  Ekiti State, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, the Omoluabi-outgoing governor of the state for the past four years, leaves behind him nuggets, indeed, absolutely unprecedented  firsts in the annals of governance, not only in the state but in the entire country. The gentleman politician will look back to these four years as a period he gave of his best to his people; never for once allowing himself to be carried away by the appurtenances  of  transient power.  Not for once did he ensconce himself in the giddiness that office can so very easily engender in lesser individuals nor did he ever forget that there was, one day, going to be the day after. He was neither garrulous nor off putting. Dr Fayemi was, forever, his composed and comported self.  Nobody who knows him would have been surprised.  Scion of a decent Christian parentage, intellectually sound and supremely confident, humble yet so self-effacing you could not have expected anything less.

    Effective August, 1983, I had completely abandoned any involvement in politics consequent upon the crisis of that year in Ondo State, a part of which Ekiti was. I had to relocate to Lagos as was comprehensively captured by the Guardian edition of Tuesday 20, 1983 under the caption: POLITICIAN ON THE RUN SENDS PEACE MESSAGE HOME -no thanks to the murderous post- election escapades of the NPN, the precursors of today’s PDP.  But  by 2009, two  whole years after his mandate had been stolen and after closely observing  his  seriousness and total commitment to retrieving  same  as well as my  observing  how very inpudently President Obasanjo had turned Ekiti into a plaything, I decided to throw my hat into the fray on the side of  Ekiti and Dr Fayemi. Since then, there has been no looking back and today, I am as proud as could possibly be seeing what development Ekiti has experienced under his leadership.

    Until the Ekiti Election Tribunal currently sitting validates the PDP victory in the June 21 governorship election, that is if it does, I shall remain unpersuaded that the PDP truly and transparently won that election. I say this from the heart in the total belief that we Ekitis could never have overlooked all the governor did in those four years, in every segment of the Ekiti society sans his having to relocate the Ekiti treasury to the Erekesan Market in the state capital for every Ekiti citizen to take his or her pick. Indeed, it continues to diminish each and every one of us Ekiti to be told by Nigerians across the board that we were driven by 2kg bags of rice to make up our minds on such a momentous occasion.

    If, and when the tribunal does confirm the PDP victory, I shall on this very page advise the incoming governor Ayo Fayose, who is  my aburo, to take to heart the fact that four, even  eight  years, is not eternity and that, as it is now for Dr Fayemi, there is going to come for him  the day after. It is therefore important that like Fayemi, the development of Ekiti, in peace and harmony, should concentrate his mind.  Fortunately, he severally told Ekiti people on his campaign tours that he is a changed man. He must know that the people will be extremely eager to see him demonstrate this.  Of course, he knows me well enough not to be unduly silent if we see that change only in breach.  Governor-elect Ayo Fayose knows what role I played, leveraging on our extant relationship, in his working with Dr Fayemi during the rerun election; a role significant enough to make him call me as soon as he got out of a tiff with former governor, Otunba Niyi  Adebayo  in governor Fayemi’s office reminding me of what fears he had expressed earlier on during the discussions. I shall remain resolute in calling attention to what I know will redound to the benefit of our people far beyond the sounding bites of politics. This is even more critical given that PDP is not known to run people-oriented governments either at state or federal level. For them, it is come and eat. I am not a politician but only a citizen journalist and Governor Ayo Fayose must be ready and prepared to hear from me whenever necessary through this very page.

    I digress, as this is about the sterling performance of an outgoing governor, one who has demonstrated the qualities that have earned him the name Omoluabi governor, like Otunba Niyi Adebayo before him. Here is a man whose word is his bond; the very reason he was given the epithet, ‘O WI BE E SE BE E’ meaning he does that which he promises.  Nor can anybody forget in a hurry Dr Fayemi’s empathy for the underprivileged. It was this that resulted in his unprecedented – in Nigeria – his welfare package for the elderly from which not less than 20, 000 elderly Ekiti citizens received a  N5000.00K  monthly stipend.  He did not stop there as his spouse, our highly regarded First Lady, among other welfare packages for the underprivileged, not only fed hundreds of citizens but also distributed raw rations which the beneficiaries took back to their respective homes.

    There will be no better way of concluding this article than to quote a total outsider, this time THIS DAY’S Olawale Olaleye who, unlike me, cannot be accused of undue partisanship writing about Dr Fayemi. In the paper’s edition of Friday, 10 October, he wrote:

    ‘As he prepares to leave office sometime next week, outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has shown leadership even with his approach to disengagement.  He is by every means in a class of his own. ?His background as much as his upbringing, without much ado, are two major factors contributory to the make-up of this adult enigma.  Break him down in whichever way, the outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, painfully took the fall but stood even taller. He crashed out, tumbled but refused to crumble. ?He was not even down let alone out. He is still standing tall as he plans to quit with dignity, class and respect.

    “From idea conception, articulation, implementation, and its constructive follow-up, he’s proven to be an astute administrator and a unique breed politician. ?He seems to be leaving behind shoes bigger than anyone of a lower-caste. He is bequeathing a vision, comprehensible only to anyone of his ilk.

    “Perhaps, for those who had their doubts about the quality of this intelligentsia, his magnanimity in defeat immediately after the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State, sums it up. Much as he may have expressed reservations about some of the processes that led to the election, he knew he had a responsibility to congratulate the winner, Mr. Ayodele Fayose. In any case, for every contest, there would always be a winner and a loser. He admitted to having lost the election, but not without a genuine and sincere fight. He’s since moved on and this can be located in many respects…’

    As he bows out gracefully, I haven’t the slightest doubt Dr Fayemi is headed for higher ground. Here is one man, together with his wife, our dear outgoing First Lady, who, in their youth, have prepared themselves for whatever challenges life may bring:  cultured and well educated, this is one couple for whom contentment is a creed. A perfect match, Nigerians and the world at large will have more reasons to celebrate this duo.

    As for me and them, we are inseparable.

    I wish them God’s abundant blessings.

  • Chief Deji Fasuan at 83: Scaling accidents of life!

    Chief Deji Fasuan at 83: Scaling accidents of life!

    In Scaling Accidents of Life, the author is seen copiously quoting, with an amazing power of recall, events of the past 70-75 years both here in Nigeria and elsewhere

    Sincere apologies  to  the wonderful readers of this column as it momentarily diverts from  our ongoing periscoping the ideal  APC candidate  for the 2015  presidential election to give due honour to one so thoroughly deserving(of it). Had the young Deji Fasuan been only half as rascally as he was in elementary school, he most probably would never have attended Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, and his entire life trajectory would certainly have been different.  Writes  the author in his  soon to be presented, 415-page autobiography: SCALING ACCIDENTS OF LIFE: ‘It was at a class in Are-Ekiti in 1945. I sat on the last row and, as usual, was certainly not listening to my class teacher when I impulsively answered ‘I WILL SIR’. Asked what I was affirming, I looked clueless whereupon he told me:  ‘Like it or not, I will send your name to Dallimore for the entrance examination to Christ’s School, next month’. I would not only  subsequently write the exam but  pass and got  admitted. His life ambition before attending Christ’s School was as uncomplicated as just wanting to pass Standard Six, become a pupil teacher and, if  lucky, attend  St Andrew’s College, Oyo,  but God purposed by far differently for this octogenarian from  Okedoba Quarters, Afao-Ekiti.

    As he turns 83 this week, I bring to the public space, glimpses of his life of ‘divine’ ACCIDENTS, the seventh and last of which, would see him catapulted to the position of a Chief Executive Officer of a huge Western Regional corporation. A proper review of Scaling Accidents of Life should, God willing, come shortly after the book’s official launch already tentatively slated for Thursday, 27 November, 2014.

    After a short stint in the civil service, Chief Fasuan in 1955, again miraculously, since he did not apply for admission by himself, gained admission to Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, where he graduated in Economics in 1959. A rash of jobs  later, he soon  got  employed at the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC), where, as Liaison Officer,  he represented the government of the  region  on  many companies in the emerging Ikeja, Ilupeju and Apapa Industrial Estates. Among these were the Nigerian Textile mills, Wrought Iron Nigeria, Pepsi Cola, Ikeja Airport Hotels, WAPCO, Guinness, Nigerite, and Dunlop. He would later serve on the board of most of the companies.

    In Scaling Accidents of Life, the author  is seen copiously quoting, with  an amazing power of recall, events of the past 70-75 years both here in Nigeria and elsewhere. In his Foreword to the book, Aare Afe Babalola, Owner/Founder of the incomparable Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti,(ABUAD), wrote: This book  is a rare and robust compendium featuring a combination of the author’s humble beginning, his rich experience as an investment banker and public servant of note and one  guaranteed to be a useful and helpful companion for those who desire to learn a lesson in contentment and honesty.

    Divided into 36 chapters, seven of which are devoted to the seven ‘accidents, the book could justifiably have been titled: GOD IN MY LIFE. This piece opened with the very first. The second teaches a lesson in openness and the essence of  not being unnecessarily secretive with friends.  The author’s friend, Mr Joseph Adeniyi, leveraged on his knowing the details of his friend’s school certificate result to respond on his behalf to an advert for admission into Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. That was an advert he stood no chance of seeing as he was visiting home. As it turned out, his letter of admission arrived several weeks ahead of his friend’s who had even thought he probably wasn’t admitted. The third accident was much more fortuitous. Cash strapped, most of the time at the university, how he was going to spend his December holidays  in 1955 was clearly beyond him as he could neither pay his passage to Nigeria nor afford to pay  the university for  his feeding and accommodation during the 4-week vacation. He was still ruminating over this when on the Saturday preceding the commencement, mother luck took him to the CMS Bookshop in town. While glued to the section on biographies, he got a gentle tap on the back. Turning, he was face to face with the Archbishop of West Africa, Anglican Communion, who was based in Lagos but made a brief stopover in Freetown on his way to England. On enquiries, His Lordship not only got to know that he is a Nigerian, but that he was from Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti. ‘Ooh, you must be a good boy’, said the Archbishop, who promptly introduced him to the local priest. The literally stranded young man would be the priest’s guest, not only on that occasion but on many more – the hand of God, indeed.

    The fourth  also revolved around money -this time, his fees , failure to pay  which would  see him ‘sent down the hill’, that is, drop out. His fees, to date, had been paid from personal savings and all  manner of  hardly sufficient fund raisers  by relations but the  sheer inadequacy had led him to  the Teachers Training College, Ikere Ekiti  with which he signed an accord to teach for  two years for every year of sponsorship after  graduation. By the time the second tranche was due, the school headship had changed and the new principal, if he would continue at all, had  added some disagreeable conditions  which he , in turn, promptly rejected though he knew not how he was going to pay. This was when the miracle happened again, as the College Bursar, totally out of the blues, inadvertently sent the money to the university and thus saved his brushes.

    The fifth would happen far away in the United States of America. On his way to attend  a World Bank Project Analysis course in the spring of ’72,  he  had a brief stopover in London where, at the African Continental Bank branch, he  changed  his pound sterling traveller’s cheques to dollars but  inexplainably forgot to collect them from the Manager, Mr C.B Akintola.  He did not discover this until his plane landed at the Foster Dulles Airport in Washington. Naturally, he looked completely lost as  he went through airport formalities. This was the point at which a total stranger forcibly tucked a five dollar bill in his pocket and advised he took a train to his hotel rather than a cab. Entering his hotel room, he met an envelope, addressed to him,  containing 25 dollars and  intended to cover his preliminary expenses. The ACB Manager later forwarded his traveller’s cheque to him. The sixth accident had to do with a plot in his  office  but which collapsed completely and redounded to his advantage. He was unjustly transferred to the industrial department which they considered a ‘Siberia’  with the intention of  hampering his progress only for him to have much faster rise than the plotters. As it would happen, the  incumbent acting Head of Department had to be transferred because he did not possess adequate qualifications and chief was  promptly made to head the department.

    The seventh, and final accident, has to do with his name being put as number one on the list of those to be compulsorily retired shortly after he had just been promoted Director of Investment Supervision. This was during the general civil service  purge  but upon further enquiries by the governor, Gen  David Jemibewon, the Secretary to the State  Government wrote an opinion, describing him in superlative terms. The situation drew the ire of the governor who promptly ordered the immediate removal of his boss and appointed him in his place.

    Many more instances will qualify as  divine accidents in the life of a straight talking Chief Oladeji Fasuan; a man in whom there is no guile and who has, with enormous justification, earned the reputation of one who says it as it is. Scaling Accidents of Life will be a worthy addition to any library.

  • Periscoping the ideal APC presidential candidate (2)

    Periscoping the ideal APC presidential candidate (2)

    And I make bold to say that Nigeria, in its current dire straits, needs Buhari more than he needs Nigeria

    Writing in his column in The Nation of Thursday, September 25, 2014, the highly regarded Ambassador Dapo Fafowora clinically dissected one of the many evil consequences of PDP’s screaming ineptitude since assuming power in 1999.  On why Nigeria is no longer respected at international fora, he wrote:  ‘It is because of the widespread corruption in Nigeria which has continued to undermine economic and social development. Virtually all the state institutions, including the executive, legislative and the judiciary, have broken down completely. The other day the Chief Justice of the Federation was reported as complaining that the judiciary was rotten with many judges openly taking bribes to distort justice. The bench too is believed to be as corrupt …’ Now that the PDP has decided to  adopt  insecurity, nation-wide darkness(16 years ago, Nigeria was generating 4000 MW as against today’s below that figure), unprecedented level of corruption, de-industrialisation, massive unemployment, even official money laundering,  by  foreclosing  competition for  elective posts , come 2015, it is important that APC should go out  to deliberately choose  an  individual who, irrespective of  ethnicity or religion, has a track record of incorruptibility in high public office; a candidate whose integrity is so overpowering, overwhelming and assured, that Nigeria  could be lifted up from its current stagnation in  the lowest rungs of  the human  development indices within his first four years in office.

    South Africa, a country we now claim to have upended after re-basing our economy, has just seized a humongous $9.3 million ferried into that country in a private plane, ostensibly to illegally purchase arms, simply because it is alien to the PDP federal government to be honest in anything.  Indeed, the government, only this past week, withdrew the fraud charges against former Works Minister, Hassan Lawal, just like it did in the Abacha case, all for narrow political considerations. As it turned out in the money laundering case, the company they claimed they were going to buy arms from is not even authorised by the South African authorities to deal in arms. Hardly could anything be more demeaning of a country than that seizure, but our government is beyond shame. Everything is about cutting corners; never for them security of life and property, every government’s raison detre,  guaranteed uninterrupted electricity, anti-corruption, employment for  teeming millions of  our unemployed youth, or  programmes designed to reduce mass poverty as long as TAN and the Protectors can conjure claims  of a so-called transformation agenda.

    I was ruminating over these PDP-induced national malaise as I reached page 337 of ‘SCALING ACCIDENTS OF LIFE – an upcoming autobiography by the incomparable patriot, Chief Oladeji  Fasuan, only to  see right before me, a letter the author addressed to Governor Fashola on 1, June 2011. The letter reads as follows: “Dear Governor, during the last elections, I voted for a non-existent Buhari/Fashola ticket. Some of my friends (notably Afe Babalola, SAN) laughed at me. I pity them because until there is a Buhari/Fashola ticket or something containing the characters of these two men, Nigeria will continue to tumble and stumble till we get the right national leadership. Know what these two represent? BELIEF, COMMITMENT, RAW DETERMINATION plus CAPACITY, WILLINGNESS and TRANSPARENCY.

    It is on the heels of the octogenarian’s above testimony that I present below, the views of Fola Aiyegbusi, a young Nigerian patriot, who is critically aware of the perilous times we are:

    ‘My reaction will start with a question:  Is Nigeria ready for an incorruptible president? The answer, unfortunately, is no.  Nigerians only complain of corruption when they are not the beneficiary.  That is when you hear ludicrous rationalisations for corrupt practices as in the one Femi Fani-Kayode recently did entitled: “of cash, the jet and Pastor Oritshejafor,” in defence of his co-religionist.

    ‘Today in Nigeria, General Buhari stands out as an epitome of incorruptibility, very much unlike the rest. As Head of State  between  1983- ‘85, his  government  gave a monthly account of crude oil lifted, how much it was sold for, and what  government was going to do with the revenue generated  there from. That now sounds like ancient history. As a military Head of State, he was not obliged to do it but because of his innate transparency and that of his Chief of General Staff, General Tunde  Idiagbon,  they   opted to lead by example. Today, under a PDP administration, reports of unremitted oil revenues are legion. Rather than openness in the Nigerian extractive industry,  it is corruption galore and we now daily hear of millions of barrels of stolen crude oil in spite of sweet heart, multi-billion pipeline security contracts awarded  to some of our president’s  Ijaw  compatriots.  Are oil thieves ghosts, since you need a barge worth millions of dollars to engage in oil stealing or are they being protected by higher authorities?  Any Nigerian wishing the country well already has his choice for the office of president because the general has already demonstrated, in previous posts, the ability to perform creditably the onerous task of ruling this largest agglomeration of blacks in the universe.

    ‘Anybody rushing to join the PDP today must have his eyes on corrupt enrichment, especially going into an election year.  Were Nigeria a serious country, that party ought to have been asphyxiated to death by now.  With their bulging 2015 campaign budget, not a few unreflecting Nigerians would still head there in search of loot.  Or what, other than monumental corruption, ethnic and religious bigotries and insecurity of life and property can Nigerians point to as benefits of PDP’s fifteen year stranglehold over Nigeria?  Never in the history of our country have religion and ethnic sensitivities been as pronounced as we now have.

    ‘But the time for change has come. For the APC to vanquish a thoroughly clueless PDP, General Buhari is its only option and with any of governors Tunde Fashola, Adams Oshiomhole, Rochas Okorocha, Chris Ngige or Kayode Fayemi. General Buhari will be APC’s ideal presidential candidate.  He has the drive, the passion and the sheer perspicacity to rescue this country from this journey to nowhere.’

    I say a big thank you to Fela for his well crafted views. As my own little contribution, let me quickly say that despite all the attempts by the opposition to dress the general in the robes of a Taliban, he comes to me, in the words of an elder, as a bridge builder who connects easily with his conservative north and the progressive Southwest and Middle belt in particular. A spartan soldier/politician, GMB has more than demonstrated the ability to lift Nigeria far beyond its present morass.  And I make bold to say that Nigeria, in its current dire straits, needs Buhari more than he needs Nigeria. Indeed, only this past week, Tunji Ololade, my co-columnist at The Nation, in his column, Reality Bites, of Friday, September 25, 2014, put the situation very brilliantly when he wrote: ‘Again, we are set to elect familiar ogres we do not know to power. Some of them we know we ought to shy from but we would still go ahead to vote for them, won’t we? Granted the reins of hope come 2015, shall we choose misery and tragedy undiminished? Shall we choose ruin over rebirth, distrust over trust, shallowness over depth and puerile platitudes over the precision of promising logic?’

    These are the questions Nigerians, given our  present circumstances, must critically interrogate from now till that February date when we cast our votes for the next president; not phony religious sentiments, unprofitable ethnicity or filthy lucre in whatever currency. These are the realities Nigerians must face squarely, come February, 2015 unless we want to remain glued to  our current miseries.

  • Periscoping the ideal APC presidential candidate (1)

    Given the fact that corruption is our greatest problem in Nigeria, one that even pushed Boko Haram to what it has now become, Gen Buhari’s integrity should count positively for his candidacy.

    Justifying its tag as truly macabre, this past week showed, unambiguously, that PDP  will  stop at nothing to bring Nigeria down with it. Nigerians woke up  early in the week to read about the  PDP governorship aspirant in whose account  $50,000 was  allegedly found –how the godfathers must be missing Mr Ibori; soon after, it was  the turn of a Judge of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Justice Charles R. Norgle, to  cause  the eminent  PDP Southwest poster boy, Buruji Kashamu, the total indignity of having to waste money on a newspaper advert just to tell Nigerians that he will ‘fight till he gets justice’.  Judge Norgle had refused Kasamu’s motion to be acquitted in an earlier indictment of importing drugs to the U.S, but rather held that should Kasamu ever come to the U.S, voluntarily or not, he could be put on trial in the Federal District Court in Chicago.

    You would have thought that was enough for one week of what the APC has appropriately described as PDP’s  ‘series of global ridicule to which it has subjected Nigeria and her people’.

    Then popped up the mother of all ridicules, when a plane allegedly bought for evangelism was, instead, converted to laundering money , ferrying $9.3 million dollars to South Africa, accompanied by two  Nigerians and  an Israeli contractor. The money has since been ordered seized by the South African Assets Forfeiture Unit.

    All these are only a small fraction of PDP’s corruption ridden government and it is the more reason Corruption should be a key subject of APC’s campaign to tackle this government. Nigeria had never been this corrupt. It is for this reason I focus today on who the ideal APC Presidential candidate should be.  I hereby invite interested Nigerians to send me their views in not more than 800 words.

    Below are the views of  Abiodun Ayodele, a young Nigerian publisher, who has a good  grasp of  strategy.

    Under the title: APC AND THE 2015 PRESIDENCY, he wrote:

    “Can APC win the 2015 Presidential election?

    Yes. Can APC lose the 2015 Presidency, in spite of, having the potential to win it? Yes.

    The 2015 Presidency is in APC’s hands to win or lose, and  hardwork or lack of it, as well as  creativity or lack of it will determine which way.

    The APC national hierarchy as presently constituted  is in good hands with  the Chairman, Chief Oyegun and his Deputy, Chief Segun Oni being former state governors.  Lai Mohammed a lawyer with impressive thinking and writing ability is also there but  has the team demonstrated  the capacity to prosecute the 2015  elections to victory?

    So far, not convincingly.

    The  Chairman says  APC is  ‘maturely engaging President Jonathan but what does this mean or amount to with the President? Is it a compromised silence to hurt the interest of APC in 2015 or a lack  of  capacity to prosecute the 2015 presidential election  to  victory?

    Either way, it is unthinkable that APC, and the Nigerian people especially, would be  happy to allow President Jonathan  continue in office beyond 2015.  Why would a grossly incompetent leadership be allowed to continue to drag Nigeria further down in corruption, vision-lessness, poverty, and  the daily loss  of thousands of  innocent citizens in all manner of untamed conflicts?

    The Oyegun team’s ‘silence’ has given fillip to the PDP to monopolise the airwaves like a colossus. They now daily  insult the Nigerian people on television networks with their  huge lies of achieving so much in office!  The PDP now confidently deceives the people to believe that there is no person more capable than Jonathan for 2015 and, in truth, who will blame them for making these wild claims when the nearest opposition party seems to be taking a nap? (Apologies to Sabela Addide of The Punch newspaper)

    WHO SHOULD FLY THE APC FLAG?

    The simple answer to this poser is that evidences of previous electoral contests affirm that the most acceptable of APC’s likely candidates, and who can surely win, even massively, is General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

    Why General Muhammadu Buhari?

    The  truth is that here is an honest man who is also known for  honesty of purpose, and to date, no Nigerian has come up against him with any shred of a shady financial deal in all the positions of responsibility he has  held in the country. The APC hierarchy can do a simple arithmetic to confirm this assertion  or what did AC, and later  A C N candidates in the presidential elections of 2007, and 2011 score against him?

    General Muhammadu Buhari’s major electoral weakness has been his weak campaigns that were characterized by very  poor publicity of his personal qualities and his  unalloyed commitment to the public good, which he continues to demonstrate by drawing attention to how people in government have turned themselves to ‘authority stealing’. (apologies to late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti).

    Most Nigerian youth are not aware that General Muhammadu Buhari was once a Nigerian Head of State and that he neither stole public funds,  increased the price of petrol , nor allowed corruption to thrive in government, unlike what currently obtains in all the three tiers of government.

    General Buhari has the personal weakness of always keeping quiet over damaging allegations  against him, and, his campaign teams, over the years, have not been hard working. The campaign teams have, instead, always tended to conclude, naively, after losing an election that the general is probably not wanted by Nigerians and so would always be rigged out  by PDP. They say these things only to hide their  laziness and inability to put all material facts about General Buhari in the public domain to secure him the people’s vote. A Redeemed Church pastor friend that voted for General Buhari in the 2011 election told me he adjudged him the only candidate deserving of his vote at that election. I have also been privileged to listen to a top company executive after the 2011 poll complain of Nigerians’ folly in electing the current president. He said he voted General Buhari. These two people are Yoruba. Others I have met told me they voted General Buhari at

    the 2011 poll. No wonder he scored nearly 10% of Lagos votes in 2011 in spite of literally not campaigning here in the South. Any greater evidence of Buhari’s electoral acceptability? General Buhari can partner with persons like Professor Utomi, Governor Okorocha, Femi Falana (SAN), Prof. Akin Oyebode, or a notable Company Chief Executive or academician and the team would be more than convincing to win”.

    As my own little contribution, for now, let me add that I think the general’s campaigns had lacked adequate funding and his overall logistics suffered thereby; weaknesses which an APC  well-funded, issues-based campaign should effortlessly cure. For instance the CPC was primed to have won at least two or three additional  states in the governorship election in 2011 but for  lack of  funds and inadequate logistics.

    Given the fact that corruption is our greatest problem in Nigeria, one that even pushed Boko Haram to what it has now become, Gen Buhari’s integrity should count positively for his candidacy.