Category: Lekan Otufodunrin

By Lekan Otufodunrin

 

When you are a writer, you want to write about everything, even those things others may consider not worth taking time to write about. An incident happened in my house and I took time to write a long Whatapp message to my wife and children about it.

The message is reproduced below so you don’t have to learn the hard way I did. It’s about water flooding the house, but it could be anything other thing that we all need to pay attention and avoid a disaster.

I learnt a hard lesson today about not responding to an unexpected sound, an indication that something might have falling or something might require my attention.

As usual, I was buried in one of those my endlessness writings and work on the Internet in the morning. Not even the information that food was ready could take me away from my seat as there were many things to be done about a fellowship programme I was planning for the next day.

At a moment, I remember hearing a faint sound of something dropping. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I just thought whatever it was, it can wait to be taken up. Maybe a cloth fell or something dropped from the table. It can wait I thought. But I later found out it was a big mistake that could have caused more grievous damage if I didn’t find out later than I did.

When I was done with my work, I wanted to take my bath before eating and heading out. I went to check the cloth ironed for me and the sight that greeted me in front of the bathroom was the last thing I expected.

No, no, I said to myself as I shook my head. It dawned on me that the sound I heard was of the water hose falling off when the water container in the bathroom was full.

Trust water to always find its way. It moved from the bathroom to your room and entered the next. It was half way in the visitor’s room when I arrived and I had to immediately run to the bathroom to pull off the hose.

No, Daniel, No Mummy, Dammy left about an hour earlier about an hour earlier and the enormity of the work required to scoop the water dawned on despite already running late for my appointment.

Long story short. I embarked on the ‘de-flooding’ of the bathroom and rooms that lasted for almost an hour. More than ten bowls of water scooped. Socked clothes, books, nylon, papers and others all over.

I didn’t want to take the pictures, but after seeing the dirt under the beds while scooping the water I did to remind us of the need to avoid dropping things that should be in the dustbin under the beds and tables.

In all things we should give thanks. Supposing I was the one that first left home. Supposing I didn’t check the rooms before leaving. Supposing, Supposing…

The lesson for me again; When anything requires my attention, check it out before deciding if it is urgent or not.

The lesson for all; don’t leave anything that could go wrong unattended home before leaving home, including switching off the lights, fan and other electronics.

If you have to leave before water could be filled up like in this case, shut the tap unless you have a firm promise of the person at home and you trust him not to forget himself or get carried away with what he or she is doing.

Some instances like this could be more devastating and the best thing is to avoid it by being alert to taking all necessary precautions.

 

By Lekan Otufodunrin

It happened last Monday on my way to work, but I can still feel some slight pains on my right hand and left knee. One moment I was on a motorcycle (Okada) with the rider, the next I was on the ground. My bag containing my laptop flung off, the phone I was holding thrown in another direction as I struggle to stand to on my feet to be sure I was not seriously injured.

We were not hit by another motorcycle or car. It was a lone accident that initially left me wondering what must have gone wrong this time around for the first time since I have been taking Okada rides in recent week to avoid driving heavy traffic on my route.

I remember the rider trying to drive carefully down a slope to avoid some on coming vehicles, but the moment he applied the brake, both of us were thrown off. Although I could not understand what explanation he was giving to his fellow riders who came to help him up with the machine, I could see that the problem was that the seat of the motorcycle might not have been properly screwed as it easily came off too.

As I walked back home and aborted my journey since my clothes were already stained, I reflected  the danger Okadas have become, despite providing alternative means of transportation. My rider who is one of the many persons brought in on almost daily basis to Lagos from another part of the country struck me like someone who is still mastering how to ride the motorcycle.

I see many of them in the neighbourhood I live been taught how to ride the motorcycle and without any official licence they start ridding and carrying passengers. Their ridding learning does not include knowing about traffic regulations. Their Okadas are not certified road worthy and yet they are allowed to endanger the lives of the people they carry. Some are also too new in Lagos that they don’t know the routes they carry passengers for.

They have become very lawless and don’t care about being arrested by law enforcement agents. They violate every traffic regulations and endanger the lives of those they carry and other motorists.

A colleague was crossing the road to enter his car and was knocked down by an Okada without a headlamp. The rider obviously did not see him because it was a bit dark, but the situation would been prevented if he had his lights on.

Because of the rate many riders are arriving Lagos to join in the Okada business, they have become a nuisance in neighbourhood where they operate and when any attempt is made to call them to order they sometimes get violent. They assemble at the entrance of many streets and convert street corners to repair points.

Why I and many others can afford to avoid ridding Okadas, too many Nigerians have no choice due to the inadequate transport facilities. The Lagos State Government and others have to really take steps to regulate motorcycle transportation to ensure that not only are the riders licenced, that their motorcycles are in good conditions to guarantee safety of the passengers.

There are existing laws in most states, but the governments have to do everything possible to enforce the regulations if they really care about the sanctity of lives. More transportation options have to be provided to reduce the dangerous boom in the Okada business.

Politicians should also stop empowering people with Okada.  There should be better things to empower them with.

 

By Lekan Otufodunrin

 

For journalists in Bayelsa State, last week was an opportunity to reflect on how well they have been playing the expected role of holding the government of the state accountable to the people and what they still have to do to ensure that the citizens are not denied the dividends of having a democratic administration.

Twenty of them state participated in a two-day workshop on Post-Election Reporting organised by Media Career Development Network sponsored by the United States Consulate General, Lagos at which the former Dean of School of Communication, Lagos State University, Professor Lai Oso and I were the facilitators.

Essentially, the workshop was meant to enhance the culture of democratic accountability and good governance reporting among journalists in Bayelsa State which has been caught in some political intrigues and litigations over the governorship of the state.

The duty of the media holding the government accountable which is enshrined in the constitution is one role journalists need to perform very well considering the reputation of many politicians in the country not fulfilling their electoral promises.

To get elected, they make all kinds of electoral promises and come up with various programmes which they usually promise to implement. Unfortunately, Nigerians have witnessed years of unfulfilled manifestoes, with most political office holders not ensuring the good governance they pledged.

The Public Affairs Officer of the Consulate, Mr Stephen Ibelli in his opening remarks stressed the need for journalists in the country to take the role of holding government more accountable to the electorate more seriously to deepen democratic ideals.

While commending the Nigerian media for the roles it had played in defending democracy despite the various challenges, Ibelli said the media must ensure accountability and transparency through independent and unbiased reportage of performance of elected and appointed officials.

As the fourth estate of the realm, Oso noted that the media as independent agencies are expected to serve as the watchdogs of the society and its institutions of governance.

According to him, watchdog journalism is essentially investigative journalism  that brings attention to wrongdoing through reporting information that some implicated parties want to keep hidden, adding that apart from revealing abuse/misuse of power, it also include “facilitating a general debate about the functioning of government.”

To perform the crucial roles highlighted by Ibelli and Oso, I urged the journalists to improve on their reporting skills beyond the usual reportage that does not interrogate claims of the government on what has been done and not done.

More than ever before, journalists need to engage in fact-checking, Data-journalism, Investigative journalism, solution journalism and effectively use the new media to ensure comprehensive monitoring of government activities based on the promises made and the expectations of the people.

While the participants like other journalists in the country have been doing their best to play the roles expected of them, what was apparent from their responses was the need for the Bayelsa government to be more transparent and willing to be held accountable.

Access to necessary information according to the participants is limited, while the government also seems to prefer dealing with journalists not based in the state and “social media journalists” hired to promote the activities of the government.

From the little I saw about the state capital and what I heard from participants and other residents, Bayelsa state can do with better governance. The resources of the state can be better utilised for the good of the state and its people.

 

By Lekan Otufodunrin

 

In case you missed it, below is what Elfredah Kelvin, a journalist based in Port Harcourt, River State shared online on December 31 titled “ OVERVIEW OF INCREDIBLE 20203  about what she accomplished in 2020.

• Over 11 grants from different organizations (within &Outside Nigeria)

“Multiple fully funded events (online&Offline) * 4-Fellowship ( within &Outside Nigeria)

• While enjoying Freelancing; Got 3 full-time job offers. Rejected two. Very proud of the job I accepted.
• Eight months deal in Dakar, Senegal on issues concerning Niger Delta region.
• Invited and got paid as a facilitator for a 2-day program.

In the year 2020 when Coronavirus disrupted our lives and work in many ways than we envisaged, it’s incredible that Elfredah accomplished so much in her career.

Rather than giving up on 2020 and leaving her career to chances, if any ever comes, she must have been more than ever be determined to succeed and maximize every opportunity she got.

I knew Elfredah who is a now a Reporter @GazetteNGR  since her fellowship year in the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Female Leadership Reporters programme.

She was hungry to learn. She was determined to overcome her limitations. She refused to be discouraged by the lack of commensurate pay for her work and hustles. She refused to see herself as a local reporter and dared to seek opportunities where many, with even better qualifications and experience, would not attempt.

If she had listened to discouraging comments of some colleagues who must have thought she was unnecessarily ambitious, she wouldn’t have come anyway near how far she has come from being a local reporter to being a journalist reckoned with nationally and globally.

Despite the challenges in our industry, there are many opportunities waiting for those who don’t easily give up. What is important is to strategically try hard and smart enough and be satisfied you have done your best even if you don’t get what you want.

In 2021, let it not be that you believe that you can’t make better career progress beyond the level you are now. Don’t get too worried about the second wave of COVID-19 and be expecting the worst in your career.

Among other steps, you must take, redefine your career goals in the light of the rapidly changing media landscape and have a work plan on how to achieve your aspirations.

Be honest about your limitations, including relevant skills and qualifications you don’t have and plan how to acquire them. If your progress will depend on the skills and qualifications, stop wishing about getting them, get them now.

Apart from enrolling for regular courses, there are free online courses and training you can participate in.

There are numerous free online resources for anyone hungry for knowledge.

You will also need to widen your horizon and networks. The circle within which you operate and your mentality is crucial to how much progress you can make in the profession. Be inquisitive, seek relevant information and belong to networks that can advance your career online and offline.

In whatever you do, be innovative and think about new and better ways of doing your assignments and projects. Keep tab of global best practices and don’t be contented with how things have always been done. Use new technology to improve your output.

Audit your areas of coverage and be sure you are not covering only a part of what you should be reporting or writing about. Find new experts to quote and let your audience get a sense of new perspectives in your content.

One last point, ensure maximum visibility for your work and accomplishments. Don’t be too modest to deny yourself necessary acknowledgement for what you deserved to be known and rewarded for. Work on your online presence and be searchable for your expertise.

 

By Lekan Otufodunrin

 

When companies or organisations sack some of their staff these days, there is a tendency for them to be accused of not being considerate about how the affected persons will survive.

However, as much as the companies would have loved to maintain their staff strength, there are new realities that require that they not retain only those they can afford to pay, but restructure their operations and have staff with skill sets that can guarantee the future of the organisations.

According to the companies, it’s not enough to have been a staff of their company for long, what is important now is that every staff have to be evaluated and retained on the basis of his or her skills in line with new demands.

“The media” for example, according to a management of a publishing company that recently reduced its staff strength “is gripped by a digital-first imperative and as a responsible media business, we have to be well prepared for the challenges that digitalisation imposes.”

Part of what digitalisation imposes is that traditional process has to be streamlined and only staff who have the skills to cope would be retained. Even as some staff are sent off, new ones would be hired for new lines of operations as part of survival strategies by companies.

To guarantee a place in the future of especially traditional companies that are facing stiff completion from new start-ups, employees have to take the following steps:

*Pay attention to new developments in the industry and be aware of your organisation’s plans for restructuring its operations.

*Review your skill set and be sure that you have what it takes to be retained in the new direction your company may be considering. Those who don’t have needed skills should request to be trained or get trained at their own expense before they are assessed.

*Be ready to be assigned new tasks and don’t resist being redeployed if the company is still willing to retain you.

*Be ready to take up additional assignments as the company may not be able to hire enough staff for some key tasks.

*Come up with suggestions on how your company can compete favourably against its competitors. Get helpful industry insights that should inform decisions to be taken by your company.

*Show concern about the fortunes of the company and don’t appear not to be bothered if the company is making enough returns or not.

*If for any reason, you are not able to cope with new developments in your organisation, plan your exit before you are asked to leave. Sooner or later, the management will not hesitate to add your name to the list of those to be asked to leave.

For those seeking employment, it’s also important that they are employable and not assume that they will get jobs just because they have one certificate or the other.

While sitting at some job interview panels, I am amazed about how unprepared some job seekers are for the positions they apply for.

How can graduates apply for jobs in companies they don’t know enough about when all they need to do is to get relevant information online. Why should anyone apply for a writing job and he or she has not past publications to show?

There are not enough jobs for graduates in the country, but only the best and those that have required skills will get the few ones.

 

By Lekan Otufodunrin

When last week the focus of this column was about how to ensure that Nigeria does not become a failed state, it was out of concern that we were dangerously sliding to a state of anarchy with dire consequences.

The two major kidnapping incidents in Niger State involving a bus load of passengers and students of Kagara Science Secondary School confirmed my worst fears and that of many about how criminals of all sorts are having a free reign in the country despite the claim by the government that its security agencies are on top of the issues.

The kidnappers of the passengers recorded a video of their captives being threatened with Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers while those who abducted the students are negotiating terms and conditions for releasing them.

Kidnapping has been on in Niger state for a while, but it seems the kidnappers decided to strike big this time to get the attention of the state government and be accorded the status some state governors have accorded the terrorists and bandits in their domains.

While security agencies have not been able to locate the kingpins and criminal gangs, Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gunmi has become a self-appointed mediator and negotiator with them.

As at Friday evening, Gunmi at a media briefing in the government house, Minna urged the federal government to give bandits willing to make peace ‘blanket amnesty’ if the current security situation is to be tackled after a visit to their camps.

According to Gunmi who said he had a positive discussion with the bandits, their justification for the criminal acts they are engaged in is that they were being killed and maimed unjustly.

But for the breakdown of law and order and the helpless situation we seemed to have found ourselves in, why should a group of persons violate the laws of the country with impunity and be dictating what they want without any fear that they could be apprehended.

A supposedly repentant leader of a bandit group in Katsina State, Auwal Daudawa was also quoted during the week to have said that he masterminded the kidnapping of the students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara because the state governor, Bello Masari dared his men.

He said in an interview with Daily Trust that Masari had ruled out the option of dialoguing with his group and he wanted to show the governor that they were capable of causing violence.

Having succumbed to negotiating with the bandits in his state, many factions have sprung up and wanted their own share of whatever their leaders were being given not to kidnap innocent citizens.

This is the danger of negotiating with criminals as there would be no end to their demands, having realised that the government is at their mercy.

To think that President Muhammadu Buhari hails from Katsina that has become the hotspot for criminal gangs is to realise how bad the security situation in the country has become. If criminals are not afraid of holding the President’s state to ransom, where else would they be afraid of operating?

The federal government cannot allow the reign of terror nationwide to continue and urgent solutions should be found to it.  Government officials also have to be united in ending the wave of kidnappings and other criminal acts irrespective of where the criminals are from.

Governors should stop making conflicting statements and get to the root of the alarming siege in our land.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

Lased on data by the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), of the 10 million applicants that sought entry into Nigerian tertiary institutions between 2010 and 2015, only 26% got admitted.

While not all of them might been qualified for admission, a good percent of the admission seekers would have met the requirements for admission in their institution’s of choice or others.

However, due to the lack of capacity and in accordance with the guidelines of the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) on the maximum number of students that should be admitted by each institution and for each course, many are year after year, denied the opportunity of University education.

To solve the problem, one of the solutions to make up for the shortfall would seem to be the establishment of more universities at either the federal, state and private levels.

This is being done and just last week, the federal government approved the establishment of 20 new private universities. With the new approval, the country now has 99 private universities, though the new ones have provisional licence for three years during which the ministry will monitor and evaluate their growth.

Federal Universities are for now 44, while states have 48 institutions with the chance of more being established considering the indiscriminate rate at which some states governors’ pronounce some other tertiary institutions in their states as universities, more for political reasons.

While there may be indeed need for more universities in the country, it is necessary to ensure that approvals are given based on the required standard than for any other reason.

I am particularly worried about the increasing number of private universities. The numbers approved is fraction of applications awaiting approval and one wonders why many think they have the capacity to own a university like private primary and secondary schools.

From all indications, ownership of universities has become a status symbol for some individuals and organisations. Because their contemporaries and similar organisations have universities, they also want one in their names or that of their organisations.

What is apparent from the way some previously approved private universities are managed is that their owners underestimated what is required and have been forced to adopt all kinds of measures to stay afloat and awarding sometimes questionable certificates.

Some of them should not have been approved in the first place or by now should have had their certificates withdrawn, but they have been allowed to remain because the NUC and its accrediting officers have chosen to look away and pretend that the universities have the capacity to run the courses they admitted students for when they don’t.

Some private universities have lived up to expectations and even done better than many federal and state universities, but there are others that lack resources, infrastructure and staff to run a tertiary institution.

Although the NUC had in past suspended the licences of some private universities, it has not been able to sustain wielding the big to ensure that the required standard for higher institutions are maintained.

While the number of private universities keeps rising, they have not been able to admit a substantial number of excess qualified admission seekers due to the fees they charge. Not many can afford their fees and so, many are still left without the opportunity to get the education they desire.

While the federal government can continue to grant approval for any qualified person or group, it is more important to pay attention to the worrisome state of federal universities, while states also provide the required resources for their institutions.

It is not fair that governments are not meeting the basic demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that has led to reoccurring strike, the recent lasting for almost a year, while private universities keep running uninterrupted.

If necessary priority is given to education in the country, federal and state universities will have more capacity to admit more qualified students who cannot afford the high fees charged by the private universities, some of which are not worth what they claim to be.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

Last December I was invited for a programme in Delta State and my condition for attending was that the organisers would provide flight ticket.

They accepted to, but I was still worried that distance we would still drive from the airport to the venue of the event outside the state capital.

A week before then, I had read about how some persons were kidnapped in a town in the state and was therefore not sure I wanted to risk any chance of being kidnapped.

When the programme was eventually postponed I was relieved of the tension I had secretly been experiencing about the journey especially at that time of the year. I am probably not a dignitary that could be the target of keep kidnappers, but with the indiscriminate kidnapping of persons across the country, no one is safe again except those who could afford full compliments of security protection that can scare kidnappers.

That is how bad the insecurity situation has become that no one is sure of what could happen to him or her on any journey, even major cities.

I read the harrowing story of a family of father, mother and children returning from Ebonyi State that ran into kidnappers on Owo road in Ondo State. The husband and wife were kidnapped and the children abandoned on the road. It took the payment of a ransom to the kidnappers said to be fulanis before the couple was released.

The wife was almost raped and children are so traumatised that they have vowed never to travel to their home town again

The couple were lucky to be released alive after a ransom was paid for them unlike some others who were killed despite the collection of ransom or due to the inability of their families to meet the demands of the kidnappers.

Apparently due to the free reign they have been having across the country, many criminals have become emboldened that they have formed gangs to extort money from their victims and their families without any fear of being apprehended.

While in some instances, security agents have been able to foil some attempts or rescue some victims, in many cases, families of kidnapped persons have been told to sort themselves out with kidnappers who usually ask for all kinds of huge amount apart from subjecting their victims to all manners of abuses.

Even when ransom is paid for the release of kidnapped persons, security agents have falsely claimed that they rescued them to give the impression that they are in control of the scary situation.

The quit order given to the herdsmen in the forest reserves in Ondo State by the governor, Rotimi Akeredolu that triggered a major controversy over the rights of any Nigerian to live anywhere he or she chooses to between the Presidency and State government is indicative of the extent of lawlessness that has gone on for long without anyone calling the groups of persons accused of being involved in the kidnapping spree to order.

Like it has been rightly noted, but for the breakdown of law and order across the country, no one should should have had the audacity to illegally occupy a government forest reserve.

Having violated the law of the state, they should have been arrested and not given a quit notice which they and their sympathisers are contesting as they have no justification to be in the reserves.

The outburst of Sunday Igboho and others like him who want to take the laws into their hands is due to the frustration of having watched the herdsmen not only  destroying the farmlands of their people, but kill and maim those who resisted the invasion of the Fulani who they have tolerated for too long.

The situation didn’t have to have degenerate to this level of helplessness before the government took necessary action to curtail the herdsmen and protect lives and property of their people.

For once, the rampaging herdsmen who falsely claim they have the right to graze their cows anywhere they like must be called to order. Their lawlessness has gone on for too long and its time they abide by the laws of the land.