The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lekan Otufodunrin

  • Buhari: A lot is not some

    And then the economy. We have a very young population and our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million.

    “The 60 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. A lot of them have not been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country and therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free.”

    The quotes above are the exact words of President Muhammadu Buhari while responding to questions at the Commonwealth parley in London.

    The meaning of the quotes is very clear and does not necessitate the controversy which they have generated, especially by those who want us to believe that President Buhari meant something else.

    Yes, President Buhari did not use the word lazy in his response, but what better word can be used in an headline when someone says a group of people ‘sit and do nothing’?

    When the president says ‘a lot’ and not some of our youths, why should his statement not attract the wide condemnation it has received from those who rightly feel he was insulting them despite all they are doing to make the best of the economic mess the country has become.

    There are those who claim that Buhari was not referring to all Nigerian youths, but those from a particular region of the country, likely the oil producing states.  He should have been bold enough to say so if he really meant so and damn the backlash if he was ready for it.

    Youths in the East sit down and do nothing with all the businesses they do right from tender age? Even Niger Delta youths, how many of them fall into the category of those asking for what the president is referring to?

    The reference here is ‘a lot’ of Nigerian youths, including those who have gone through thick and thin to acquire education and can’t get requisite jobs largely due to embezzlement of our oil resources.

    How can the president say lots of Nigerian youths who have not gone to school are making unjustified demands with the hundreds of thousands who after getting through primary and secondary schools can’t get admission into higher institutions? For those who have gone to school, what are the prospects for them?

    Can we blame youths who make the so-called demands for free things when they hear all the stories of the good old days in Nigeria when those who were not as educated as them got the best of everything almost free?

    For me, the statements were clearly unguarded. There is no justification for the president to have reinforced such negative and out rightly wrong perception about our country at an international forum.

    Our leaders, especially President Buhari who has been a military head of state and now a civilian president, owe Nigerian youths apologies for the squandering of our riches over the years.

    Our country is poor, with debts for future generations to pay, not for what we don’t have, but for what has been mismanaged.

    Buhari simply miss jived and should apologise instead of anybody making excuses for him.

  • Sex for marks

    Is it true that a Professor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) demanded to sleep with a female student as a condition for adding to her score in a course taught by the lecturer as revealed in an audio tape circulating online?

    Hopefully, the panel set up by the management of the institution will confirm the truth about the matter and recommend appropriate measures to curb such shameful incidents in higher institutions.

    However, if the content of the audio is anything to go by, the matter is a very clear one. The female student based on an outstanding discussion with the professor put a call through to him to confirm the condition for her request to be granted.

    The shameless, unguarded professor was too lost in his wayward ways that he didn’t realise that he was being recorded. The student repeatedly mentioned the name of the professor apparently to prove that the person she was speaking with is her randy lecturer who is old enough to be her father, but had no inhibition about negotiating for five rounds of sex.

    From the kind of things the professor said in the call, he must have engaged in this reprehensible act for long and nemesis has just now finally caught up with him. For a man of his status and the high moral standard expected of lecturers, there is no basis for him to have entertained any sexual discussion with any student over marks.

    It is not unusual for students who fail to get required pass mark to plead for additional marks, especially if they are a few marks away from the cutoff point, it is left for the lecturers concerned to dismiss such request and even further penalise such students for having the audacity to ask for such favour.

    However, because some lecturers are known to engage in all manners of deals over examination scores, some students who fail are usually bold to try their luck. While some ask for sex like the professor, others demand for payments.

    The issue of sexual escapades of lecturers is not new as some are very brazen about it and go to the extent of deliberately failing female students to force them to yield to their demands. There have been instances where some lecturers collude to fail some targeted female students to give the false impression that it is not a case of one lecturer failing a student, but that the student failed more than one course.

    The professor is just unlucky to have been caught in the act unlike many others who are notorious for sleeping with students they are supposed to be teaching academically and morally.

    If only adequate measures were taken to penalise known culprits, the moral decadence on campuses at the top would not have degenerated to the level it is now. There are even cases of willing female students who are awarded undeserved high marks above others in compensation for what they gave in kind.

    The OAU is yet another test case to demonstrate the seriousness of university authorities to curb sexual excesses of lecturers who have refused to live up to the high expectations of their positions.

  • The case for IDPs

    Until recent years, the classification Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was not in common use in the country. Although the country has witnessed some crises in past years, having IDP camps was not as pronounced as we now have; no thanks particularly to the activities of the Book Haram terrorists mainly in Northeastern parts of the country.

    So many have been displaced across various states for one reason or the other that the government and other organisations have had to establish camps to cater for them.

    Last Thursday, I was part of a stakeholders’ round table meeting on a project titled: Monitoring Media Reportage and Portrayal of IDPs in Africa’ organised by Journalists for Christ International Outreach with the support of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC),  Bread for the World, and Waldensian Church’s Otto per Mille (OPM) Office in Italy.

    The project will examine the media portrayal and reportage of and about IDPs in Nigeria, Kenya and DRC with a view to identifying gaps in reportage within the context of advancing in-depth reportage on displaced persons in Africa.

    It also aims at galvanising stakeholders to respect and uphold basic rights and principles in line with OCHA ‘Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement’ intended to enhance an effective and timely response to the needs of IDPs.

    Based on the contributions of participants at the meeting, it was agreed that though the media has been reporting about the plight of displaced persons in the country, a lot still has to be reported about the various challenges they are coping with and the need for necessary actions to be taken by the government, local and international organisations.

    Beyond the occasional reports, mainly when government officials visit the IDP camps, it was noted that there was need for more in-depth coverage on salient issues of conditions of the camps, lack of basic facilities, human rights abuses, transparency in disbursement of funds and others.

    What usually comes to mind when IDPs and their camps are mentioned is the provision of relief materials, but the displaced persons need more than basic relief materials to cope with the trauma of being displaced from their homes or losing their family members.

    Most of the IDPs have gone through harrowing experiences that subjecting them to some inhuman living conditions amounts to double tragedy for them. The huge amounts government and support organisations claim to spend on catering for displaced persons are sometimes not commensurate with what is available in the camps.

    Early in the week, I watched a report of epidemic outbreak in a camp in Cross Rivers State due to lack of enough doctors to attend to infected persons.

    Except in instances where circumstances that led to the displacement of a group of persons remain unresolved, IDP camps are not supposed to be permanent. Necessary steps have to be taken to as quickly as possible return the victims to their natural abode with provisions made for their resettlement.

    Hopefully, the media monitoring project should reveal the gaps in media coverage and provide a basis to demand for best practices in catering for displaced persons in Nigeria.

  • Dapchi girls: Matters arising

    I join in congratulating the federal government on the swift steps taken that ensured the release of 104 of the girls recently kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in Dapchi, Yobe State.

    My very sincere condolence to the families of the five girls said to have been trampled to death during the journey to the kidnappers’ den, while I also sympathise with the parents of the only girl who was not released her for refusal to renounce the Christian faith.

    Unlike the case of Chibok girls which has remained unresolved with only some of the girls released after very intricate years of negotiations and swapping with some Boko Haram commanders, it’s good that the nation, especially the parents have been saved from yet another round of agonising uncertainty on the fate of the Dapchi girls.

    Nothing can be more important than the lives of the girls, so it is commendable that necessary urgent steps were taken to ensure their prompt release.

    However, the federal government has a major task in ensuring that the only girl still being held, Leah Sharibu, is freed. If the other girls were released unconditionally by the terrorists as the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, claimed, there is no justification for Leah to have been held back for refusing to denounce Christianity.

    Whatever backdoor negotiations ensured the freedom of the other girls should be continued by the government to save the country from the continued embarrassment of not being able to ensure the safety of defenceless students.

    With the experience of the Chibok girls, one would have thought that necessary precautions would have been taken to protect possible targets of terrorists, but unfortunately an unjustifiable security lapse made it possible for the insurgents to take away over 100 girls in broad daylight in a convoy of vehicles without anyone attempting to stop them.

    The buck-passing between the military which left the school area days before the girls were kidnapped and police that claimed that they were not handed over to is a shame and calls to question the quality and capacity of security personnel we have.

    The abduction of Dapchi girls should not have happened. If it had not happened, some of the girls subjected to unimaginable psychological trauma would not have died and we would not have a case of some fundamentalists reportedly apologising for kidnapping the freed girls because they did not know they were Muslims and holding on to one for being a Christian.

    The euphoria of the release of the girls should not be an excuse for not penalising those who made it easy for the terrorists to kidnap the girls to serve as deterrent to others. We risk having more mass abductions of students unless it is clear to all concerned that such lapses will not be tolerated.

    Like an analyst noted, the federal government should avoid giving the impression that terrorists can always have their way and negotiate the release of their captives for whatever amount of money they ask for.

    There are many versions of the Daptchi narrative from the government and others that do not add up, but what is important is that the matter should not be politicised. There is no need comparing which government acted faster or not. Our focus should be on how to get Leah and the Chibok girls still being held by the insurgents out.

     

  • Great women inspire and make the world go round

    Last Thursday was International Women’s Day with the theme #Pressforprogress.

    I read many interesting stories of the progress women have made and still need to make in the quest for gender equity.

    One particularly touching tribute on the outstanding leadership roles women play in our society was by an award-winning journalist, Arukaino Umukoro, in appreciation of the mentoring he got from his former editor, Mobola Lanre-Badmus.

    The piece reproduced below is a good example of how every willing person has a chance of being someone’s guiding light.

    “I’m blessed to have beautiful, strong and intelligent, super amazing women in my life; that I could write a bestseller about each of them.

    This Facebook post is for one of these special amazons. They say people make the world go round; I think women make the trip worthwhile  🙂

    “I remember walking into her office in Lagos about 10 years ago, not knowing what to expect. She had fixed an appointment after one of my closest mentors had introduced me to her. Fresh from the university, I was simply armed with a degree in Industrial Chemistry and untapped potential, waiting to be ushered into a professional world I didn’t really know much about at the time. And I wondered if I could fit into it.

    “But she welcomed me warmly after I had introduced myself. She had that vitality and effervescent personality. She asked me about my passion for writing and then gave me my first ‘journalism’ test. About an hour later, I was ushered back to her office with my ‘script.’ She read it. Although she said she was a bit impressed with my writing; she noted that it needed more polishing. But then, she asked me to resume that week in the magazine where she was Editor-in-Chief. Just like that.

    “She gave me my first chance to become a professional journalist. I took it like my life depended on it. I knew I had to make my closest circle proud.

    “A few months after swapping my chemist lab coat for professional journalism robe, I won my first major award, as the magazine’s “Writer of the Year.” It was a brand new standing fan, which she presented it to me. I felt on top of the world. She had so much confidence in me and belief in my raw talent, it was almost like I was her special somebody. It was a huge statement of her faith in me, and that unexpected gesture spurred me to greater heights.

    “For over a year, I learnt the ropes of quality journalism, excellent writing and leadership from this amazon; from hours-long pep talks, discussions to editorial meetings at the office. She gave me daunting assignments, because she just had faith in my abilities, even when I didn’t believe I could. She was my boss, teacher, mentor and big sister, all rolled into one. The editorial meetings were brainstorming sessions; she drove everyone to perform better; ‘No, you can do this and that better!’ She would always insist. Sometimes, it seemed she was hard, but simply getting the job done wasn’t enough, she wanted it to be the best, and for you to be the best at it.

    “Nine months after I had joined the magazine, I was to go for the compulsory national youth service in the Northern part of the country. She paid for my flight ticket to the NYSC camp. Then she insisted that I got redeployment to continue my job with the magazine in Lagos. Although it didn’t work out, she still gave me a few editorial assignments to do from my NYSC base, and assured me that a job was already waiting for me as soon as I finished my youth service.

    She kept her word.

    “Mobola Lanre-Badmus. Thank you for the platform you gave me to explore and harness my potential and talents; for the opportunities to grow and excel; for simply being amazing to me.

    “Thank you for the standing fan too. I’m out here, eternally standing, because being outstanding in one’s calling or profession is one of the many great things I learnt from you. Thank you so, so much, from the depths of my heart, with love.”

     

  • Making sense of a world in motion

    Making sense of a world in motion

    I couldn’t make it to the Lagos Social Media Week this year but I did my best to follow up on the week- long activities at the venue online.

    Social media has become a major feature of how we communicate globally that we all need to pay attention to what it makes possible.

    The various platforms can be a major distraction in our daily lives, but it’s up to every user to decide how he or she wants to maximise the potential it offers. Like every other thing, it has its good and bad sides which must be understood by anyone who wants to use it.

    Not being on any of the platforms is not an option for anyone in this age who does not want to be left out of the global inter-connectedness which social media offers.

    There is a Yoruba proverb which I usually use to explain why everyone should use social media one way or the other. Literarily translated, the proverb means, whoever closes his or her eyes to allow a bad person to pass bye, he or she will not know when a good person will pass bye.

    For me, being on social media requires being discerning and deciding what to use it for. Originally designed for social communication, the platforms have now become professional tools for advancing personal and corporate brands.

    The problem is that many don’t know what to share or hold back on social media. There is need for a lot of restraint as whatever we share remains part of our life story that can be accessed long after we have forgotten about it.

    One session I would have loved to attend was the one where the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Mr Segun Agbaje, spoke on how to make a sense of a world in motion. The world is indeed in motion and everyone must understand what is changing and what is not, to survive.

    Nowadays, it is so easy to be left behind in whatever endeavour except one pays attention to the changing landscape around in all sectors. There is need for constant innovation and review of how things used to be done.

    The disruption caused by social media and other technologies is such that only those who are alert to them can remain relevant.

    Despite the changes, there are things that remain sacrosanct, which Agbaje drew attention to.

    “You can’t feed people with what you think they want, you have to give them what is important. Honestly, for me, I think those values will remain values and in whatever business modules you do, it’s got to be value-centred and value-driven because values are not going to change.

    “In this fast moving world where everything seems to be going at speeds that nobody understands, you can develop the ability to see it in slow motion.

    “If you get to the point where you can see this world in slow motion, even though it’s moving very quickly, you would have built a competitive advantage that will allow you to beat your competitors,” Agbaje stated.

  • Journalists as fact-checkers

    Fact by its original meaning, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is something that truly exists or happens. It is something that has actual existence or a true piece of information.

    By this definition, facts contained in speeches of public or private individuals, publications or any other claims are supposed to be true.

    Fact, according to another popular saying which is supposed to be one of the guiding principles of journalism, is supposed to be sacred, while comments are free.

    Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the ethics of journalism profession requires that journalists are purveyors of truth, not false claims of any kind by anybody.

    Even the Constitution requires that journalists hold the government accountable to the public.

    If facts are supposed to be truth, why should we check them? The answer, for me, is probably due to what renowned journalist Ray Ekpu described as faction; a mixture of truth and facts which journalists have to work with.

    One of the ways to effectively perform the above role is to regularly ensure that we cross check what is presented to us as facts by the people we report.

    Judging by the high possibility of most of many sources to offer fiction as facts these days, we must take extra steps to sort fact from fiction, which is the motto of Africa Check, a fact-checking organisation with headquarters in South Africa.

    Being able to sort facts from fiction has always been part of journalism, but more than ever before, the new Fact-checking concept requires more rigorous approach to ensuring that false claims by anyone are not allowed to appear as truth.

    There are too many claims by especially political office holders which must be subjected to scrutiny so that the public is served with the truth and nothing but the truth.

    When public office holders know that their claims will be fact-checked and they stand the risk of being exposed, they will be more conscious of the claims they make.

    They will do their best to ensure they don’t make empty promises which they cannot accomplish.

    Especially in this age of new media where too many unverified information go viral and the public is misled and misinformed, there is need for journalists to engage in regular Fact-checking.

    The sources journalists rely on also need to be fact-checked to ensure that people don’t claim to be what they are not, as it happened in a recent instance in a national newspaper.

    A convocation speaker widely advertised as a professor from Oxford University in UK turned out not to be. This is a man who for years has laid claim to excellent credentials that turned out to be false.

    Some of the claims are on the Internet but it took a whistle blower to expose the lie.

    As publisher of Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi, noted during a meeting at the Africa-Check office in South Africa, Fact-checking is journalism plus. It is yet another way of practising journalism which journalists have to master.

    It gives journalists the opportunity to go beyond being press statement journalists. This means they will not only report what people say, but deliberately go out of their way to verify them.

    When there are no stories, Fact-checking can bring out stories buried in speeches, statements and publications.

    Being a journalist in 2018 and beyond will require more than the way journalists have always sourced and disseminated information.

    Journalists will need to master new skills like Fact-checking to remain relevant and be able to function as multimedia journalists in and out of full time employment, considering the changing media landscape.

  • A plea for the dead

    I can’t remember when last I got a letter sent in a stamped envelope through the post office.

    I was therefore surprised when one in a small brown envelope was delivered to me last Friday in the office. The letter was clearly meant for me considering that my names were correctly spelt but the name and address of the writer at the back of the envelope was not familiar in any way.

    Who is likely to know me in Owerri, Imo State, the land of Statutes that would prefer to send me a letter instead of a mail or telephone call as I am used to being contacted, I tried hard to imagine.

    It used to be that newspapers got piles of posted letters to the editors or columnists, but not anymore with the telephones through which they can send text messages or email for whatever views they wished to express or any complain they had.

    I hesitated to open the letter, not sure what the content could be, but it looked so flat that I imagined that the content could not be anything but a one page letter.

    For a moment, I remembered the letter bomb incident that killed former Editor-in-Chief of defunct Newswatch Magazine, Dele Giwa but I dismissed the thought as there was no basis for me to think whoever sent the letter could mean any harm.

    Because of the uncertainty of the content of the letter, I probably should have offered a short prayer before opening it, but I didn’t. Thankfully, it turned out to be a harmless letter from a reader who claimed to read this column and has “garnered much from it”

    He explained that he desperately had to resort to reaching me through posted mail because the contact details in my column was not clear enough for him  and the matter he wanted to draw my attention to was very important.

    Indeed, it was a pitiable matter which requires urgent intervention and every assistance he can get to save him a major embarrassment.

    Here is his tale:

    “I’m bereaved. On January20, 20-1-17, I lost my dad. He’d a fatal motor accident, resulting in his death. He died at a hospital where he was sent to, not by me.

    “I’m the eldest son of my dad. The doctor billed N270,000. The doctor has the tally to the morgue. He won’t give me the tally unless I pay him the amount. But I don’t have such an amount. I’m sixty seven; I’m at my wits end.

    “The name of the doctor is (I leave out) and the hospital is in Umuguna. Please, please and please I would like you to mobilize well to talk on my behalf concerning the bills. The mortuary bill is increasing as the days roll by. This is too much for me. I’m growing restless about my dad’s corpse in the mortuary.”

    The above is the plea by Bernete U Ebere-Emezue who can be reached through Berneteuzoma2013@gmail.com or 08026230410. The letter was dated January 8 but I got it on February 16, 2018.

    Would be glad if the matter has been resolved before now, but if not, I plead with the doctor to take pity on the writer and collect whatever he and other family members can afford to pay.

    This is one case of an unhappy Imo citizen the state Commissioner for Happiness should be interested in.

  • We are not Camerounians

    We are not Camerounians

    Publications by some media in Nigeria on the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) crisis have reflected that The Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) is part of the Republic of Cameroun. Inadvertently, therefore, the story of the Ambalands is misrepresented in most media. So I respectfully call attention to the following.

    The Republic of Cameroun gives the impression to media that we are part of their country. We are not Camerounians. Specifically we are Southern Cameroonians (Ambazonians). We are not part of La Republique du Cameroun (The Republic of Cameroun); we have never been, and do not want to be. Be simply reminded that we were the UN Trust Territory of The Southern British Cameroons. French Cameroun was another UN trust territory quite apart from us. We were still a UN trust territory when French Cameroun had their independence on January 1, 1960. Ours was scheduled for October 1, 1961 but during the night of September 30th the then already independent Republic of Cameroun marched their army in. Since then they occupy and administer the territory. This is easily verifiable. It may interest you to note also that during the UN vote for on our independence, the already independent Republic of Cameroun (and already a UN member) voted against it.

    Our country is not the Southern part of the Republic of Cameroun. The Republic of Cameroun is to the east of our country and we share boundaries with Cross River, Benue and Taraba states of Nigeria. This does not require hard work to find out. But we now hide in foreign lands for lack of a homeland. And our compatriots back home in the Ambalands are simply miserable.

    We are not separatists or secessionists or any, such as agents of the Republic of Cameroun would want some to believe. For more than half a century, we have been subdued and subjugated; enslaved, terrorised and fashioned into the freedom fighters we are today. More exactly, we are ‘restorationists’ and, having restored our statehood on 1st October 2017, we are now defending it.

    The question of Biafra is not similar to ours and does not even concern us. The so-called Biafra is an integral part of Nigeria, right at independence. It is thus considered Nigeria’s internal problem. It is thus a grave mistake for any news organ to liken that case to ours which is a case between two separate countries with separate independence dates. The Southern Cameroons has clearly marked and internationally recognised boundaries.

    What we read in the press is thus an unfortunate misrepresentation of our case and, regrettably, works against us. If you understand that the above is as true as it is, and note also that we do not have any treaty of union with the Republic of Cameroun as required by article 102 of the UN charter, then you can tell our story better and more exactly. We do not hide it, and you shouldn’t either, that the conspiracy against us was worked out by Britain and France. If you need any clarification on any of the points stated here, or more information to understand better, you can always get back to us. We will give you truth that is easily verifiable.

    • Ngwa Ntonufor is a concerned Ambalander

     

  • ‘Hurricane’ Ambode

    Isn’t it ironic that some Lagosians are complaining that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is executing too many projects at the same time?

    Instead of finishing some before embarking on others, some are worried that many ambitious projects are being executed simultaneously, night and day, across the state with the attendant problem of the usual traffic holdup in the state being complicated and people being displaced.

    Lagos has indeed become a construction site with projects like the International Airport road, Oshodi Terminus, Sango- Agege Motor Road and the Pen Cinema Bridge.

    Unlike many other states littered with uncompleted projects and many parts begging for development, Lagos is witnessing massive rural and urban renewal.

    The master plan for Oshodi Bus Terminus appeared too grand to be true when it was first made public, but a drive through the place now, especially at night, is indicative of the high-performing stuff the Ambode’s administration is made of.

    While many of his colleagues cannot justify what they are doing with the monthly federal allocations they get and internal revenue they generate judging by the slow pace of development in their states and unpaid salaries of civil servants, Ambode has proved that according to his campaign slogan, the progress of the state is very paramount to him.

    Past projects awarded early at the inception of the administration, like the Abule-Egba Bridge was completed on schedule, while the ones under construction have projected completion dates.

    If Lagosians thought they were lucky to have had good governors like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Mr. Raji Fashola (SAN) who performed creditably well during their tenures, Ambode is proving to be yet another outstanding Chief Executive of the state who is determined to do better than his predecessors and leave the state much better than he met it.

    There were doubts initially that Ambode may not be able to match the development recorded  by Fashola, but if what we are witnessing in Lagos, just in the first term of the present administration is anything to go by, the citizens haven’t seen anything yet about what Ambode wants to make of Lagos.

    While some may argue that the state is richer than many others and has enough funds to execute his many projects, credit must be given to Ambode and his predecessors who have been committed to fulfilling their electoral promises and ensure that state sets the pace of development for others to follow.

    From Tinubu to Fashola and now Ambode, there have been sustained development plans which have ensured improved infrastructural facilities and good governance.

    Urban development doesn’t come easy considering the cost of reconstruction, not only in terms of finance but the sacrifice to be made by those who may be displaced. This explains why many buildings and structures are being demolished. Movements around sites of construction have also been hectic.

    Good enough, the government has promised to compensate those whose properties were demolished. This should be done without unnecessary bureaucracy to limit the loss of those affected. It will be unfair if they have to wait for too long before they are compensated.

    Traffic movement around construction sites have to be supervised to prevent congestion along with provision of enough alternative routes.

    It will also be necessary to ensure adequate safety measures at the various sites to prevent accidents. Some of the contractors work in the night without enough illumination. We don’t have to wait for any major accident of vehicles running into tractors before asking for standard safety precautions.