The Nation Newspaper

Category: Nuances

  • Possibilities in Nigerian politics

    Possibilities in Nigerian politics

    Probably more than any other social phenomenon and entity, politics and politicians have had an unimaginable level of bad press. For example, in a Borepanda.com set of political jokes, one says: “Politics is the most accurate word in the English language. Poly = many. Ticks = blood sucking parasites.” Another one claims: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it and then misapplying the wrong remedies.” Moreover, a sarcastic jocular conversation between a father and his child goes thus: “Kid: Dad, I want to be in politics when I grow up. Dad [replied]: Are you insane? Have you completely lost your mind? Are you a moron? Kid [responds]: Forget it. There seems to be too many requirements.” In addition, an insulting political riddle is: Question: “What’s the difference between a politician and a snail?” Answer: “One is slimy, a pest, and leaves a trail everywhere and the other is a snail.” But the ultimate political insult, from Laughfactory.com, is: “Politicians and diapers have one thing in common: they should both be changed regularly … and for the same reason.”

    This kind of negative stereotypes or prejudices seem to be the reason why many people who have moral scruples steer clear of politics. However, they are rightly admonished as follows in this Plato quote: “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” In fact, as Charles de Gaulle said, “Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.” This is profound, because politics affects virtually every aspect of our lives. This made the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to exhort Europeans as follows in relation to the Parliament’s elections from 6-9 June, 2024: “Go to vote. Otherwise, others will decide for you.” This is important, because as Otto von Bismarck puts it, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.” It may therefore be difficult to predict the creative extent to which politicians can go in achieving victory or exercising the electoral mandate with which they have been conferred.

    This is not to say that politics doesn’t come with bruises even for politicians. In a 20 February, 2018 news item in The Cable titled “Remi Tinubu: I was hurt by how my husband was trashed after 2015 elections,” the future First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu, was reported to have said: “I was hurt [by] what they did to my husband after the campaign. He didn’t say a thing. We were running three campaigns in my house, and for him to be trashed like that…”  She was further reported to have noted regarding Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reaction to his shabby treatment by his erstwhile beneficiaries: “I said ‘you are still helping out? Why are you helping out? He said, ‘this country matters to me more.’”

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    Politicians everywhere are unbridled optimists. For example, Mandela says: “I am fundamentally an optimist. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” This kind of unbridled optimism was manifested in the electoral destiny of then presidential aspirant Muhammadu Buhari. As narrated by Asiwaju in his famous Emilokan speech, Buhari had lost presidential elections there times and had decided that he would not contest again. In the never-say-die spirit of dyed-in-the wool politicians, Asiwaju said he told Buhari: “You will run again. We will back you, and you will win.”

    Providentially, Buhari won the 2015 presidential election and served for two terms. This development is consistent with the following assertions of Daniel Kahneman: “Optimistic people play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are inventors, entrepreneurs, political and military leaders – not average people. They got to where they are by seeking challenges and taking risks.”

    It’s about one and a half years now since the current President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, was sworn into office. But the losers in that election or those who did not want him to contest or want him to win are agonising still. The result of the election that presaged the swearing-in belied pundit projections. Media pundits who previewed the 2023 elections predicted that because he was a Muslim from Southwest Nigeria, he had no chance of winning the primary election of the All Progressives Party (APC) or the presidential election.   Religious pundits predicted that the Muslim-Muslim ticket would fail, because 2023 was not 1983. Ethnic pundits, especially the vocal elements in the Pa Ayo Adebanjo faction of Afenifere, predicted that true to type, the Northern elite would betray Tinubu and make him lose the elections. Political pundits identified some powerful individuals as the ones who determined who would become President, and that since he didn’t have their support, he would lose the election. In spite of all these pundit predictions, Asiwaju won the election, signaling the possibilities in Nigerian politics.

    Such possibilities have also been manifested in the camp of his opponents. In spite of the continuing claim that Mr. Peter Obi won the election, his new outreach efforts, going beyond his ethnic and religious comfort zones, indicate that in his heart of hearts, he knows what his true performance in that election was. If he really believed that he won, but was rigged out, his preoccupation should have been with preventing the ‘riggers’ from being able to rig him out again in the next presidential elections. However, he has embarked on courting blocks he ignored or actively denigrated in the run-up to the 2023 elections. The apostle of the 2023 elections as “religious war”, the exponent of “Yes, daddy”, and the patent holder for “Church, take back your country” is now visiting mosques, taking part in joint iftar – fast-breaking sessions with Muslims – and building boreholes in parts of Northern Nigeria, among other activities. It’s thus possible, after all, to teach old dogs new tricks in Nigerian politics.

    Another opposition-related demonstration of possibilities in Nigerian politics is in Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s letter to the Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, in which he proposed as follows regarding the ongoing constitution review process: “The office of the President shall rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the Federation on a single term of six years flowing between the North and South on the single term of six years respectively.” This proposal is ironical, because one of the reasons for the weakening of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of the 2023 elections was his refusal to concede the candidacy of the party to a southerner, after President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a northerner, had spent eight straight years in office. Moreover, underscoring the possibilities for self-realisation in Nigerian politics, Atiku Abubakar noted, in his 64th Independence Anniversary message on 1 October, 2024: “opposition parties languish in weakness.”

    The 21 September, 2024 Edo State governorship elections have come and gone, but they have thrown up all sort of issues which have serious implications for political consciousness and political behaviour. First is the issue of candidate selection, especially in the PDP. Internal democracy seemed to have been undermined through the imposition of a candidate largely alienated from the masses and could not address the electorate directly in their language without the assistance of an interpreter.

    Second is the issue of political harmony. In this regard, possibly due to the arrogance of power, the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki had fought his benefactors such as former Governor Adams Oshiomhole of the APC and prominent members of the PDP who accommodated him in the party when he had problems within his former party, APC; he had virtually ‘decapitated’ some legislators politically by making it impossible for them to effectively represent their constituencies; he had set out to politically annihilate his Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu; and he engaged the Benin traditional leadership in a running battle. The aggregate hostility of the aggrieved forces made possible the defeat of Obaseki’s preferred candidate in the governorship election, Mr. Asue Ighodalo.

    Third, the Edo election showed how far political hard-work and sustainable legacies could go in endearing a politician to their constituents. This was most remarkably demonstrated in the case of a septuagenarian, female voter who made the notable sacrifice of going to vote at that election in spite of her ill-health. The Nation report on the woman goes thus: “A septuagenarian, Fatima Jimoh, has said that she left her sick bed to vote in the Edo governorship election because of her love for former Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Jimoh, who was aided by her daughter, said she wanted to make Oshiomhole happy by ensuring his party won the polls. After voting at Unit three, Ward 10, Iyamho Primary School, Jimoh said, “I am not feeling well. I like Oshiomhole. I come out of illness to vote.” This is significant when it is noted that elderly persons like her, among millions of other citizens, were making sacrifices to validate democracy, at a time when some prominent Nigerians had been trying to undermine liberal democracy.

    Those who, like the Edo septuagenarian, are so committed to and can make so much sacrifice to sustain democracy should be given optimum opportunities to take part in key aspects of the electoral process. One of such aspects concerns the question of deciding who represents the different constituencies. It is in this light that the issue of the direct primaries mode of candidate selection should be revisited. In November, 2021, the National Assembly passed a bill requiring that the candidates for the different elections should be selected through direct primaries. This decision was widely applauded. However, it required the assent of the President at the time, who would not sign the bill into law until the options of selecting candidates by indirect primaries or consensus were included in the bill. Due to the exigencies of the time, the National Assembly complied with the dictates of the President.

    When the members of a constituency take part in the selection of a candidate, through direct primaries as happened in 1983, the chances of making the politician more committed and more responsive to the constituents are higher. The prospects of bringing to book more effectively erring politicians who get to office through the votes of such constituents are also higher, given the fact that constituents know their leaders more closely.

    All in all, as participation in the Edo governorship election underscores, very many Nigerians believe in the country, appreciate good governance and hope for good times.   

  • Shettima at UNGA

    Shettima at UNGA

    In a white flowing gown topped with his signature ‘K-Cap’, Vice-President Kashim Shettima represented Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York City, the United States, on Tuesday, 24 September, 2024. At that most distinguished forum, he delivered a speech on behalf of the President on the theme “Unity in diversity, for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for everyone everywhere.” The highlights below are excerpted from The Cable newspaper’s full transcript of the speech.

    In the speech, the Vice-President noted as follows: “The theme of this year’s General Assembly leaves us in no doubt that there is still work to be done to bridge the gap between aspirations and the realities confronting our world today. It also underscores the need to remind ourselves that the United Nations stands for inclusiveness – anchored on the tripod of peace, sustainable development and human rights. …  Today, these pillars of our organisation are threatened. They risk being broken by the relentless pursuit of individual national priorities rather than the collective needs of the nations that are assembled here today.”

    Underscoring the point, he noted: “From last year’s summit, and indeed from previous years, we have carried over the numerous challenges of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuses, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change, and a host of other vexations. The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part. Billions of dollars are being committed to the prosecution of wars and the fanning of the embers of conflict…. Yet, we always recoil from bringing out the resources we need to build peace and to deliver life’s necessities to people.”

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    Focussing on Africa, and noting the tendency for some to be attracted to military rule, the Vice-President said: “Our people need employment. They need decent livelihoods. They desire good and affordable education and healthcare for their children and families. They need to live in healthy, safe and secure environments. They need hope and they need opportunity. They desire to live in peace and tranquility, to pursue whatever gives them happiness and contentment. When governments fail to deliver, the people are bound to question the utility of democracy and other ideals, like rule of law.” He further opined: “It is the duty of the international community to bring back confidence in democratic rule and constitutional order, by paying more attention to the needs and aspirations of the people, rather than paying lip service to human rights, sustainable development and peace.”

    Concerning the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, in particular, the Vice-President declared: “We note that most developing countries are significantly behind in the achievement of these goals, largely due to a lack of resources … to finance their implementation and the burden of unsustainable external debt.” He then declared that “we must ensure that any reform of the international financial system includes comprehensive debt relief measures… Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden.” He also asserts: “It is for this and other reasons that we reiterate the call by countries, especially of the global South, for reform of the international financial architecture and promotion of a rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system.”

    He remarked further: “We are aware of the debilitating impacts of corruption on global prosperity and national progress. Proceeds of corruption and illicit financial flows constitute a huge chunk of resources needed for sustainable development. The recovery and return of such funds to States of origin is a fundamental principle of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. … Therefore, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets and to eradicate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies.

    He continued: “Moreso, there is a need to work towards common global standards to regulate crypto-currency trading platforms. This is the most effective way to provide confidence in these new markets and limit the potential for instability. Our own experience in Nigeria, as in other countries, shows that new technologies, when not properly regulated, can facilitate organised crime, violent extremism and human trafficking. In our own case, the trading of crypto-currency helped fuel speculation and undermined macro-economic reforms.

    On the issue of insecurity, he said: “We cannot build durable societies with the threat of terrorism, banditry and insurgency growing in our countries and regions. Indeed, violent extremism remains an existential threat to both national and international peace, security and development. We are making concerted efforts to contain and rollback this threat. The High-Level African Counter-Terrorism Meeting hosted by Nigeria in April 2024 and its outcome – “The Abuja Declaration” – promises to provide solutions to the challenges presented by terrorists and insurgents.”

    He noted further: “[W]e have also witnessed, in rich and poor countries alike, the corrosive impact of unfiltered hate speech and fake news across social media. There is much more that we could and should do, together, to strengthen those guard rails that will help release the most progressive elements of the new technologies shaping our world – and curb those more destructive tendencies. … We are particularly mindful of the imperatives of achieving the advancement of youth and women as a factor in national development, peace and security. Nigeria has developed its own National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, as well as a National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security, to ensure the participation of both women and youth in the peace and security sector.”

    In addition, he observed: “Climate change is a driver of insecurity, which also poses a veritable challenge to sustainable development. A few weeks ago, large areas of my country were inundated by seasonal flood waters, including one of our largest cities, Maiduguri, in the North-East. Other parts of Nigeria also experienced similar tragedies, occasioning the loss of lives and property. … We need not remind ourselves to remain faithful to the implementation of the commitments that we all gave voluntarily at the various [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] meetings. Failure to do so is merely to postpone the inevitable. No country is immune from the effects of climate change.”

    Moreover, the Vice-President declared: “Conflict prevention is the main reason why the UN exists. … Today, we are all witnesses to the heart-wrenching situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Territories. We cannot discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation or humanitarian imperatives today without reflecting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has been raging since 7th October last year. …  Of course, the conflict predates this period and has been simmering for a better part of half a century. What this tells us is that the international community has failed to live up to the spirit and aspirations of the United Nations to rid the world of inequality, violence and domination of one people by another.”

    More categorically, he stated: “Freedom is an inalienable right and a natural entitlement that cannot be denied to any people. The Palestinian people deserve their independence. They deserve to have a home of their own on territories already recognised by this very Assembly and by international law, which is being routinely ignored. Nigeria continues to urge efforts to bring back on track the ‘two state solution’ that offers the prospect for a new beginning for the region.”

    With regard to reforms, the Vice-President said: “The Security Council should be expanded, in the permanent and non-permanent member categories, to reflect the diversity and plurality of the world. … Africa must be accorded the respect that it deserves in the Security Council. Our Continent deserves a place in the permanent members category of the Security Council, with the same rights and responsibilities as other Permanent Members.”

    Moreover, he remarked: “Migration is a complex and polarising issue that impacts on rich and poor countries alike. Nigeria is a country of origin, transit and destination. We are a major stakeholder in the global migration dynamic, and understand the challenges and benefits it brings. Accordingly, I wish to reiterate our support for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The GCM, which all of us should continue to support, represents our collective efforts at providing major safeguards for the treatment of migrants.”

    The foregoing messages resonate with some of the other speakers at the 79th UNGA. For example, the dignitary who spoke immediately after him, His Royal Highness  Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, said as follows in the speech he delivered on behalf of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa: “Nineteen years ago, I had the honour of standing here and addressing this historic hall, where I touched on the pressing challenges confronting our world at the time: poverty, famine, deadly infectious diseases, civil wars, and weapons of mass destruction. These global challenges not only persist but have intensified. We find ourselves in a far more dangerous and unpredictable time due to major tectonic shifts in the global geopolitical order.” In other words, he questioned the utility of the United Nations in its present form.

    The Crown Prince thus noted: “Today, we support the calls for reform of the United Nations to ensure that it reflects current geopolitical realities so that it is equipped to continue carrying out its important global mandate for decades to come.” He continued: “In Gaza, we see Palestinians living through an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, with over 40 thousand people killed, many of them women and children. The protection of innocent life is enshrined in international law and a moral and religious responsibility.  It is clear that what is required is the implementation of an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the adoption of an irrevocable path to the creation of a viable, independent Palestinian state; and it must happen now!”

    In concluding, Vice-President Shettima recalled Nigeria’s joining of the organisation in 1960, and declared: “We remain committed to that ‘desire to remain friendly with all nations and participate actively in the works of the United Nations’, as expressed by our founding Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.” Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was affectionately called “The Golden Voice of Africa”, in admiration of his unforced eloquence. He had an unassuming carriage, and was widely respected for his frugal lifestyle, in spite of his exposure to the vast resources of the nation. As Nigeria continues to seek templates of moral regeneration, it is a fitting tribute that the Prime Minister got honourable mention in the Vice-President’s speech at UNGA 79.

  • Scare mongering in the Harris-Trump Presidential Debate

    Scare mongering in the Harris-Trump Presidential Debate

    Politics is by nature adversarial, and political language, through which political interests and attitudes are communicated, is understandably conflictual. A lot of scaremongering therefore takes place in politics, and the scaremongering is aided by demonisation which is itself facilitated by various linguistic and rhetorical devices. It is from this background that the first presidential debate, on 10 September, 2024, between the United States Vice-President Kamala Harris (who is the Democratic Party candidate) and former President Donald Trump (who is the Republican Party candidate) is examined today. The debate took place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor and Managing Editor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis, and has invaluable video recording and transcript by the television station.

    Firing the first salvo, Donald Trump said about Kamala Harris on the subject of abortion: “[H]er vice presidential pick [Tim Walz] says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth, it’s execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born, is okay. And that’s not okay with me.” Here, Trump uses emotively charged words (“abortion” and “execution” implicitly drawing a similarity between them) and appeals to the moral sensibilities of many Americans who oppose abortion. He also demonises the Democratic candidates by portraying them as murderers who, without human feelings, “execute” babies, and who allegedly cold-bloodedly and perversely consider their actions “absolutely fine”. He contrasts the Democrats with himself, declaring about the unfeeling killing of already born babies: “that’s not okay with me.” One of the interview moderators, Linsey Davis, noted in respect of Trump’s claims: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” And Harris expectedly said: “Well, as I said, you’re going to hear a bunch of lies [from Trump].”

    Harris also engages in scaremongering and demonisation when she said: “But understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. Understand in his Project 2025 there would be a national abortion ban. Understand in his Project 2025 there would be a national abortion – a monitor that would be monitoring your pregnancies, your miscarriages. I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, should not be made by the government.” Here, Harris uses the repetition of the word “understand” to underscore the need not to take for granted the extent of the presumed evil that Trump could do by signing a national abortion plan which would then come with the nightmarish act of installing monitors “that would be monitoring your pregnancies, your miscarriages.”

    The ‘abortion monitor’ is an allusion to the totalitarian world of George Orwell’s 1984, where a huge monitor is installed to keep tabs on everything that everyone is doing, curtail personal freedom and ensure that only thoughts and actions sanctioned by the State are allowed. She seems to imply by this allusion that a new Trump Presidency, like Orwell’s Oceania in which, constantly, “Big Brother is Watching You.”, would nullify personal freedom which would be an affront to a fundamental American value. She repeats the word “freedom” to underscore this, and uses and repeats the pronoun “your” to bring home the reality of the impending Trump-driven un-American denial of rights and make it personal. Following the pattern established by Harris above, Trump said: “Well, there she goes again. It’s a lie. I’m not signing a ban. And there’s no reason to sign a ban. … What she says is an absolute lie.”

    In the presidential debate, immigration was also a trigger of scaremongering. In this regard, Trump said: “What they [the Biden administration] have done to our country by allowing these millions and millions of people to come into our country. And look at what’s happening to the towns all over the United States. And a lot of towns don’t want to talk – not going to be Aurora or Springfield. A lot of towns don’t want to talk about it because they’re so embarrassed by it. In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.” The ultimate scaremongering in these utterances is in the demonisation of immigrants as pet-eaters. When it’s considered how so emotionally attached some pet owners are to their pets in America, calling a set of people pet-eaters is akin to calling them cannibals.

    All the same, Trump emphasises his claim by employing a repetitive clause structure by saying: “they’re eating the dogs … They’re eating the cats. They’re eating – they’re eating the pets.”   

    He intensifies the scaremongering by using the hyperbolic phrase “millions and millions” to refer to the population of these pet-eaters who have been allowed into the country by the Biden administration.  He also claimed that Americans have in the process been put under psychological pressure when he said: “A lot of towns don’t want to talk about it because they’re so embarrassed by it.” In respect of Trump’s claims, David Muir noted: “I just want to clarify here, you bring up Springfield, Ohio. And ABC News did reach out to the city manager there. He told us there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

    Trump continued his immigrant-related tirades against Biden and Harris: “They allowed criminals. Many, many, millions of criminals. They allowed terrorists. They allowed common street criminals. They allowed people to come in, drug dealers, to come into our country, and they’re now in the United States. And told by their countries like Venezuela don’t ever come back or we’re going to kill you. Do you know that crime in Venezuela and crime in countries all over the world is way down? You know why? Because they’ve taken their criminals off the street and they’ve given them to her [Harris] to put into our country. … Crime here is up and through the roof. … Crime in this country is through the roof. And we have a new form of crime. It’s called migrant crime.”  To this claim, David Muir said: “President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country.”

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    Trump intensified his negative portrayal of immigrants using deeply emotive words to refer to them. Such words include “criminals”, “terrorists” and “drug dealers”. He also repeated the word “criminals” not less than four times in this stretch of speech and complemented that with the repetition of the word “crime” not less than six times. Trump also insinuated that the immigration of the so-called “criminals” into the United States was a diplomatic strategy borne out of ill-will by their home countries. According to Trump, the “criminals” were “told by their countries like Venezuela don’t come back or we’re going to kill you.”

    He complements this far-fetched claim with a set of rhetorical questions: “Do you know that crime in Venezuela and crime in countries all over the world is way down? You know why? Because they’ve taken their criminals off the street and they’ve given them to her [Harris] to put into our country.” The presumed desperation of the situation is further underscored by Trump through his use of the hyperboles “Many, many, millions of criminals” and “Crime in this country is through the roof.” Then he issued the ultimate put down: “And we have a new form of crime. It’s called migrant crime.”  

    Trump further engages in scaremongering when he said about Harris: “She has a plan to confiscate everybody’s gun.” Americans are particularly very passionate about and protect jealously their constitutional right to carry arms. The right was granted in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” It is this ingrained 15 December, 1791 constitutional right that Trump said that Harris planned to take away from Americans. To intensify the predictable apprehension from Americans he used the emotive term “confiscate” along with the absolute or hyperbolic expression “everybody’s gun.” Understandably, Harris debunked the claim, saying: “Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away. So stop with the continuous lying about this stuff.”

    In addition, Trump engages in scaremongering and the demonisation of Harris when he said: “she hates Israel. She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers. She wanted to go to the sorority party. She hates Israel. If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now. And I’ve been pretty good at predictions. And I hope I’m wrong about that one. She hates Israel. At the same time in her own way she hates the Arab population because the whole place is going to get blown up, Arabs, Jewish people, Israel. Israel will be gone.” Here, Trump starts with the demonisation of Harris. He said “She hates Israel”, and repeats this verbatim three times to emphasise the point.

    He justified this as follows: “She wouldn’t even meet Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make an important speech. She refused to be there.” He also implied that Harris rated a sorority party above Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. Then he landed the utmost scare, using hyperbole: “If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now.” He intensified the scaremongering with the repetition of the claim: “Israel will be gone.” To this Harris responded: “That’s absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people.” She had earlier stated: “there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and in equal measure for the Palestinians.” Trump’s prediction of Armageddon following a Harris victory was ostensively intended to incite extreme hostility towards Harris in a country that has a very powerful Israeli lobby. 

    In the presidential debate, Trump easily lifted the trophy for scaremongering, demonisation and lying. However, with respect to overall performance, Harris seemed to have carried the day. In fact, the way one analyst put it, if you want to know who the winner was, mute the video of the debate and watch the overall body language of the contestants. From this, it would be easily clear that Trump was the one who was more discomfited.

  • Women and the challenges of insecurity

    Women and the challenges of insecurity

    I am immensely grateful for the wonderful opportunity that the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) has given me to be the Keynote Speaker at the Formal Opening of the 39th Annual National Conference on Friday, 23 August, 2024, in Akure, Ondo State. I congratulate the Association for continuing to be the vintage platform for protecting and promoting the interests of Muslim women, in particular, and those of Nigerian women, in general. FOMWAN is sharply-focused without being insular. This is reflected in the optimally broad theme for this year’s National Conference which is “Women and the challenges of insecurity.”

    In addressing this issue, I wish to begin by asking the question, “What is insecurity?” For this presentation, insecurity would be understood as having the feeling that one is unsafe or actually being exposed and subjected to various forms of violence or deprivation and indignity in the domestic or public sphere. Violence may involve psychological or emotional abuse and may result in lack of confidence or low self-esteem. Violence may also be physical and may result in various forms of bodily harm or loss of life. 

    In some situations in the domestic domain, women may be the agents of insecurity, and in others, they may be the victims. Women are believed to perpetuate insecurity through such actions as nagging, jealousy, neglect or even physical violence. Women are also, more commonly, victims of insecurity arising from, for example, emotional abuse, circumscription of freedom, and blame for lack of male children by spouses who have a preference for sons. These attitudes negate two Qur’anic principles.

    First, with respect to the primary purpose of marriage, the Qur’an, Chapter 30, Verse 21 admonishes as follows: “And of His Signs is that He has created mates for you from your own kind that you may find peace in them and He has set between you love and mercy. Surely there are Signs in this for those who reflect.” In other words, from the Islamic perspective, marriage is truly marriage only when it is a source of peace for both spouses. Second, the Qur’an, Chapter 16, Verses 58-59 states with respect to the disbelievers: “Whenever one of them is given the good news of a baby girl, his face grows gloomy, as he suppresses his rage. He hides himself from the people because of the bad news he has received. Should he keep her in disgrace, or bury her alive in the ground? Evil indeed is their judgment!” These two verses are relatable to the  Qur’an, Chapter 2, Verse 216 which states: “Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you and like something which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know.”

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    The following story of Maryam in the Qur’an, Chapter 3, Verses 35-38 is also instructive: “Remember when the wife of ‘Imrân said, ‘My Lord! I dedicate what is in my womb entirely to Your service, so accept it from me. You alone are truly the All-Hearing, All-Knowing.’ When she delivered, she said, ‘My Lord! I have given birth to a girl,’ – and Allah fully knew what she had delivered – ‘and the male is not like the female.  I have named her Mary, and I seek Your protection for her and her offspring from Satan, the accursed.’ So her Lord accepted her graciously and blessed her with a pleasant upbringing – entrusting her to the care of Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah visited her in the sanctuary, he found her supplied with provisions. He exclaimed, ‘O Mary! Where did this come from?’ She replied, ‘It is from Allah. Surely Allah provides for whoever He wills without limit.’ Then and there Zachariah prayed to his Lord, saying, ‘My Lord! Grant me – by your grace – righteous offspring. You are certainly the Hearer of all prayers.’” Following from this example, we should be praying for righteous and divinely-blessed children, irrespective of their sex.

    The high risk or actual occurrence of domestic violence in the form of wife-battering or husband-battering is another form of women-related insecurity. The strange thing about this kind of spousal violence is that it cuts across age, class, educational, gender, ethnic, religious, occupational, national and racial boundaries. So, you can find a poor, illiterate African or European person engaging in spousal abuse just as you can find a rich or middle class highly-educated professional one indulging in it. In the 16 December, 2023 edition of The Cable, one case that circulated widely on social and mainstream media was reported with the caption: “TRENDING VIDEO: Akwa Ibom ‘lawyer’ brutalises wife, locks her out.”

     Cases of domestic violence increase in moments of social or economic difficulty. For example, a 2021 research report by Alex R. Piquero and four others, titled “Domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic – Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis,” notes as follows: “[T]he evidence is strong that incidents of domestic violence increased in response to stay-at-home/lockdown orders, a finding that is based on several studies from different cities, states, and several countries around the world.”     

    Women are also subjected to widowhood-related emotional violence. In some cultures, the belief that women are inherently evil makes the wife the principal suspect when a man dies, even where the cause of death is obvious. These women are therefore made to go through different humiliating and unsafe cultural practices to prove their innocence. Related to this is the disinheriting of widows. The more common demographic pattern in many places is for younger, less economically secure women to marry older, more financially stable men. When such women are then widowed and concomitantly fully or appreciably disinherited, economic difficulties arise which contribute to what has come to be known as the feminisation of poverty.   

    In the public domain, insecurity is manifested in kidnapping, arson, vandalism, suicide bombing and other violent attacks on agents of government and other citizens. Though these forms of violence have been associated with men, women are starting to be identified as suicide bombers and collaborators with kidnappers. For example, a month ago, an editorial of Leadership.ng, titled “Resurgence of suicide bombing,” stated: “Residents of Borno State, North East Nigeria, were on June 29, 2024 reminded that despite efforts by the security agencies, the dark days of suicide bombing are still with them. This reminder came in the guise of three female suicide bombers who detonated Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in strategic locations, killing 32 persons, while 52 others were injured. They targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks, disguising … as wedding and funeral guests to gain access to the venues. More shocking is the report that one of them had a child strapped on her back who was killed after the bomb went off.”

    This notwithstanding, women are more commonly victims of violent crimes. One case that is gaining immense national attention now is the abduction, on 27 December, 2023, of Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, an Ophthalmologist with the National Eye Care Centre, Kaduna, who is a mother of five young children. While her husband along with whom she was abducted was released in March 2024, she and her young nephew remain in captivity. Medical practitioners across the country have been agitating robustly for her freedom. Besides the risk of rape, forced marriage and holding women as sex slaves, women are also vulnerable in situations of insecurity simply for being mothers. For instance, when violence occurs or is about to occur, apart from considering their own safety, mothers have the safety of their children to contend with, and this may compromise their escape response time. Lactating mothers also have to contend with breastfeeding their infant children in situations of inadequacy or even total absence of food.

    These are apart from the risks of sexual and other forms of violence and exploitation that women face in the vulnerable environment of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Moreover, in some parts of the country, females are targets of ritual murder, due to the strange belief that the use of female body parts, especially female genitals, in rituals, confers spiritual power and wealth.

    The different problematic situations could be prevented or remedied in various ways. Personal initiatives in this regard include the acquisition of optimum education, both Islamic and Western. This would increase women’s chances of getting paid appointments that can facilitate economic security. Alternatively, women could acquire robust artisanal or trading skills to enhance economic self-reliance. Establishing or joining positive social support groups could also ensure women’s psychological and emotional health. Moreover, it would not be out of place, wherever possible, for women to acquire martial arts or self-defence skills. Women who have the means and the need for them could also procure licensed arms.

    Some government initiatives could also provide women with opportunities for economic security. The hope for increased access to such opportunities comes, in particular, from the recent enhancement of Local Government autonomy. In the past, some governments at that level established small scale or cottage industries which employed a significant number of women.  At that time, information centres were also established to make access to information easy and facilitate the officials’ access to citizens’ feedback. Since it has been observed that women constitute the most active party members and the predominant voters in many parts of the country, FOMWAN could leverage on this trend to enhance female political education and participation, and increase female access to funding for investment and other facilities for economic well-being.

    This can be made effective through working with the Supervisory Councilors for women affairs and related officials. There are also corresponding officials at the state and federal Ministries of Women Affairs/Special Duties with whom FOMWAN could collaborate. Collaborative enlightenment or consciousness-raising programmes could also be run with security agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Nigerian Armed Forces.

    I have outlined above different forms of violence that result from insecurity and some of the ways in which they could be addressed. Furthermore, I wish to recommend that FOMWAN collaborate more extensively with other women associations to implement joint programmes towards enhancing the personal, domestic, social, economic and communal security of women in Nigeria. It is also desirable for FOMWAN to engage more young females more robustly to be able to pass down effectively the noble values of the association. Given the nationwide presence and systematic structure of FOMWAN and the need to ease coordination and facilitate the achievement of its enlightenment mission, it would be immensely helpful for the association to establish a FOMWAN Radio, to start with.

     I commend FOMWAN for the impressive initiative of bringing the very critical and quite topical issue of women and insecurity to the fore, and thank the association for the opportunity to be part of this immensely invaluable programme.

  • An introspecting North

    An introspecting North

    In ethnically heterogeneous Nigeria, contest for privilege and patronage among the different ethno-political groups is constant, and any presumed disadvantage is perceived as deriving from the malevolence of the contending groups. So, the spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, was reported by Sodiq Omolaoye, in a story titled “We regret voting Tinubu, won’t repeat mistake in 2027, Northern Elders fume,” in The Guardian (Lagos), to have declared on 9 April, 2024: “The North made a mistake in voting Bola Tinubu to the presidency in 2023, and it is unlikely that they will repeat the same error in future.” Suleiman was also reported to have said: “They will prioritise someone who is more inclusive, less controversial, and more aligned with the interests of all regions.”

    The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, was reported by Leadership.ng to have reacted indignantly, in a 13 April, 2024 story by Tarkoo David titled “Northern elders, a burden to

    the region – Matawalle.” The Minister was quoted as saying: “The so-called NEF is more or less a political paperweight trying to embark on a destructive journey that will bring the North to disrepute for the group’s personal and selfish gains.” He was said to have further noted: “The group is seeking to erode other people’s rights in order to be recognised or made relevant in the scheme of things despite the failure of their sponsored candidates in the 2023 general elections.”

    The Minister also charged: “The NEF has not deemed it fit to seek audience with Mr. President to discuss issues affecting the Northern region despite the numerous challenges facing the region as rightly highlighted by the president and being addressed by him.” Moreover, he was said to have observed: “The group is yet to visit any of the ministers dealing with issues of security, agriculture, water resources, police affairs, education, health, budget, foreign affairs, or any head of security agencies in the country so far for firsthand knowledge of government programmes and actions.” He was also reported to have asked rhetorically: “So, who is the NEF to want to undermine the president’s victory and even threaten to unseat him?”

    It was in these circumstances, among other ethnic, regional and economic challenges, that a group of Nigerians declared that they had scheduled protests from 1 to 10 August, 2024. The organisers tagged the proposed protests “10 Days or Rage” or “#EndBadGovernance.” From the rhetoric of the organisers, the Federal Government of Nigeria perceived the scheduled protests as an undemocratic scheme to topple the democratically-elected Tinubu administration. As scheduled, the protests took off on the first day of August, and it saw unsettling vandalism, arson and killings in Northern Nigeria.

    In a 4 August, 2024 interview with ARISE News, Ahmad Sajoh, Former Adamawa State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, said: “[W]hat played out was not a perception of Asiwaju by the North. What played out is a clear indication of the abdication of the responsibilities [of] we, the Northern elites. … We have abdicated our role and responsibilities to empower our young people. We’ve allowed a large army of uneducated, out-of-school children walking about in the streets, without homes, without families, without imbibing any values … And, imagine, when they broke into the National Library in Kano, they took away everything except books; not one book was taken by anybody. That tells you that … their direction is totally different from whatever you’re thinking of. We have neglected education in Northern Nigeria.”

    Speaking further about these children, Sajoh said, “They have been the reservoir from where insurgents have been recruiting their army. They have been the reservoir from where bandits and kidnappers have been recruiting their army. … So, this is the kind of people we’re breeding in Northern Nigeria. … It’s a wake-up call to every Northern elite … that if we do not turn around this situation, if we do not address our out-of-school children, if we do not address the absence of skills in our children in Northern Nigeria, if we do not address the problems of unemployment by people who are uneducated, we will end up with a bigger crisis than we are facing.”    

    In a TikTok video which has been circulating widely for some time now, Vice-President Kashim Shettima recounted his friend’s story: “His wife and driver were driving through Kano City. And some young men came out and broke the windscreen of the car and told them in Hausa ‘Shegu, ku na jin dadi, mu mu na wahala’ (‘Bastards, you’re enjoying, we’re suffering.’) And those young men did not run away. It was my friend’s wife and driver that scampered away. And very soon, very soon, we’ll reach that boiling point unless we wear our thinking caps and work for the people.” How prophetic, considering the daring attempt by the protesters to overwhelm the security personnel and enter the Kano State Governor’s Lodge! And, how prophetic, considering the Kaduna protesters defiantly climbing and standing on top of a moving police Armoured Personnel Carrier and hanging on to its front, sides and back!

    Read Also: Northern youths pass vote of confidence on Tinubu, Akpabio

    Moreover, in a 6 August, 2024 interview on the ChannelsTV programme “Politics Today” with Seun Okinbaloye, Shehu Sani, former Senator representing Kaduna Central, said: “[T]he new dimension … was that a day before the last protest, money was shared to youths, and then Russian flags were also shared. That shows that the whole intent of the protest is not simply about the policies and programmes of the government or objection to the removal of subsidy, but there was an attempt to create an atmosphere where there would be an overthrow of the government. And when you have this kind of situation, you would see that there is someone writing a script for anarchy, lawlessness, and disorder.”

    Shehu Sani had earlier on 4 August, 2024 introspectively said in a post on his Facebook page titled “The North; After blaming others let’s probe ourselves”: “Most public schools are free, our young ones still don’t want to go to school. … Most parents in rural areas hand over their children to a religious teacher in the city and the religious teacher depends on the children to beg or steal in order to feed him and his family. For ethnic, religious and sectional reasons, we protected, defended, praised and refused to hold to account all our kinsmen who led the country at every wasted opportunity for over five decades. The bandits and terrorists that kill and kidnap our people and [prevent] our farmers from going to their farms and [prevent] our children from going to school are not from any country or from the South of the country; they came from our homes and from our families up North.”

    In a 25 September, 2023 article titled “The North and Tinubu’s appointments” in his column in Nigerian Tribune, Lasisi Olagunju noted: “President Bola Tinubu gave our country’s Minister of Defence and Minister of State, Defence to the North; he gave the North Minister of Police Affairs and Minister of State, Police Affairs; he gave the North Minister of Education and Minister of State, Education; he gave the North Minister of Agriculture and Food Security and Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security. Again; he gave the North the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare plus Minister of Steel Development and Minister of State, Steel Development. To the North, again, Tinubu gave Minister of Water Resources and Minister of State, Water Resources. I can go on and on … No part of the South has that privilege of having ‘couplet’ ministers managing key sectors. It is double, double blessing for the North. I don’t think any president has ever done that.”

    Olagunju also observed that with these North-located strategic appointments, it could be argued that “the cluster pattern is the President’s way of ticking problems and attaching them to localised solutions.” He then asks whether with these strategic appointments, the North “should … still have the mouth to complain of lack of official attention to its endemic insecurity? … [S]hould it still rummage for policies that will wean it off the blight of mass illiteracy and of having uncountable millions of out-of-school-children? … [S]hould we ever hear it lament high incidences of child and maternal mortality and epidemics of preventable diseases? The whole of the agriculture ministry is ceded to the North; the entire Water Resources ministry belongs to the North. We wait to see how it will use these to feed its dying, hungry poor.”

    Specifically regarding the problem of insecurity in the North, Usman Yusuf, a Professor and vocal member of NEF, said on 16 March, 2024 in an ARISE News The Morning Show: “We have a Vice-President, No. 2, who is from the North. We have a Speaker of the House, who is No.4, who is from the North. We have an SGF who is from the North. We have the senior-most military officer who is from the North. We have all the Ministers of Defence from the North. We have the Minister of Police from the North. We have the National Security Adviser from the North. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would look at us and say, ‘You guys have no excuse not to bring peace to your land.’ So, it is up to us to look at ourselves in the mirror, we Northerners, especially those of us in government, and lock the door and say, ‘People, how do we take care of these problems?’”

    A 30 June, 2024 article by Suleiman A. Suleiman sombrely titled “The North in tatters” in Daily Trust outlined the bases of the Northern crisis: “First, an incline in religiosity has combined paradoxically but seamlessly with a precipitous decline in moral values right from the family level. Second, the traditional institutions, previously firm epicentres of Northern society, have been degraded by politics and the narrow-minded political ambitions of a few. Third, education, which should be a prized heritage of this very society, is either priced out of the reach of millions or lost its real value among many who have it. And where personal integrity was the default currency of all social transactions in Northern Nigeria to the envy and admiration of other Nigerians, money is the new god, such that people do just about anything in pursuit of it.”

    In this article, the focus has been on the North, especially considering the cataclysmic and yet ominous turn of events in the region during the “Days of Rage” protests. This however does not mean that the South does not have its own serious or related problems. In fact, the South needs introspection as much as the North does; and the growing introspective consensus in the North may even provide an emulatable template for our Southern compatriots.

  • The protests and the nation

    The protests and the nation

    Assuming office on 29 May, 2023 with the vision to make a difference, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed fuel subsidy and merged the dual exchange rate regime. The government believes these would have remarkable long term benefits for the country. Meanwhile, these policies have resulted in economic difficulties for the citizens arising from inflation and decline in purchasing power. This has made it difficult to satisfy the citizens’ food and other key needs. Many segments of the Nigerian society have therefore been making legitimate ameliorating demands of the government. To satisfy these demands and increase citizens’ participation in government, fund allocations to the state and local governments have been increased, and local governments have been granted financial and other forms of autonomy.

    One pro-government document entitled “What Government Is Doing To Address High Cost of Living” lists the following: “National Minimum Wage now N70,000. States expected to follow suit immediately; Import duties suspended on all essential food items, till the end of 2024; Import duties suspended on pharmaceutical raw materials and equipment to bring down prices; 30,000 petrol-powered commercial vehicles are being converted to the cheaper CNG alternative to bring down transport costs; 20,000 students of tertiary institutions have already been covered under Students Loan Scheme. 240,000 more to come; N50,000 presidential grant already disbursed to over 600,000 Nigerians. 400,000 more to come; N75 billion to be disbursed to 100,000 MSMEs starting August 2024; N110 billion approved for disbursement under Youth Investment Fund. Applications ongoing; Consumer Credit Scheme launched to enable Nigerians have access to credit facilities; Over N570 billion released to the state governments for expansion of livelihood support to Nigerians.”

    In spite of these efforts, some Nigerians gave notice of nationwide protests planned for 1 to 10 August, 2024 and ominously tagged “10 Days of Rage” or #EndBadGovernance. In a 28 July, 2024 presentation titled “A motley collection of farcical demands” in the Palladium column by Idowu Akinlotan in The Nation, the following are listed:

    “1. Return of fuel subsidy. 2. Addressing issues in the power sector. 3. Release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu from DSS custody. 4. Allowance for Diaspora voting during general elections. 5. Scrapping of the 1999 constitution and replacement with a people-made constitution. 6. Abolition of the Senate and introduction of part-time lawmaking. 7. Minimum wage increase to N250,000 monthly. 8. Investment in education and grants for students. 9. Free and compulsory education for children. 10. Release of EndSARS and political detainees with compensation. 11. Rationalisation of public-owned enterprises. 12. Establishment of a special energy task force for corruption-free power sector development. 13. Reconstitution of INEC to remove corrupt individuals. 14. Massive investment in public works and industrialization. 15. Shake-up in the judiciary to remove corrupt judges and judicial officers. 16. Reinstitution of a corruption-free subsidy regime. 17. Probe of past and present leaders who have looted the treasury. 18. Restructuring of Nigeria to accommodate diversity, resource control, and regional development. 19. End to banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes. 20. Reform of security agencies to stop human rights violations.”

     As critical-minded Nigerians have observed, the timing of the protests was not auspicious, given the fact that the government had put a number of fundamental measures in place which engender hope. For example, states which so-desire can now establish their own electricity and railways facilities. The naming of the protests as “10 Days of Rage” was also genuine cause for apprehension. What has happened in Kano and Kaduna, for example, where there was loss of lives, including that of a police officer, and where there was widespread arson and vandalisation of government property and that of individuals, has justified dissuading the organisers from going ahead with the protests. It was also contradictory to seek to end ‘bad governance’ in a democratic setting by defying court orders which restrict the protests to designated locations to prevent predictable carnage. 

    Making the release of Nnamdi Kanu one of the top demands of the protest organisers also served to ethnicise the proposed protest and bring to mind the vandalism, arson and murder which he was directing protesters to commit while the #EndSars protests of 2020 were going on. Ironically, on the 1st two days of the protest, no major protest held in the Southeastern states, and there were no prominent Igbo faces at the events in other locations. This has raised the ethnic hackles of those who believe that the Igbos inspired the protests and it has probably given traction to the call on an X handle – Lagospedia – for a massive protest from 20 to 30 August, 2024 for Southeasterners to leave Lagos and other Southwest states.

    Expectedly, the #IgboMustGo has attracted condemnation by Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the Yoruba socio-cultural group Afenifere through a release by Jare Ajayi the National Publicity Secretary, Atiku Abubakar the People’s Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the same elections, and the Southeast Caucus of the National Assembly. In a statement signed by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Hon. Igariwey Iduma Enwo, the Southeast Caucus said: “For the records, the Igbo nation, in obedience to the advice of their leaders, governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, parliamentarians and others in the private sector had taken a reasoned and strategic decision not to participate in the on-going nationwide protests. We are, therefore, surprised and disappointed that Igbos are still made scapegoats, and targeted as instigators of protests, as shown in several statements (such as the Igbo Must Go hashtag and call by a certain ‘Lagospedia’ X [Twitter] handle) and videos trending online.”

      The Lagospedia #IgboMustGo and the intense reactions to it call to mind the ominous African American Muslim phrase The Hate that Hate Produced. According to a Columbia University description of the expression, “‘The Hate That Hate Produced’ was a television documentary about the Nation of Islam presented by journalists Louis Lomax and Mike Wallace on ‘Newsbeat’ (a program of New York’s WNTA-TV) on July 10, 1959. Dramatically edited to maximize its shock value, the documentary introduced the Nation (and Malcolm X) to mainstream America. … The documentary served as a valuable recruiting tool for the Nation, swelling the ranks with new converts.”

    Asked, in a 12 October, 1998 interview by James A. DeVinney, what the expression meant in specific terms, Mike Wallace said: “The … meaning of The Hate That Hate Produced was, there is hate, hatred, suspicion, whatever, on both sides. If indeed the Muslims hated the Whites, and they acknowledged that they did, Malcolm was very eloquent about that. Elijah Muhammad was very eloquent about it. … They [the Muslims] wanted … to … separate the Blacks from the Whites in this country. If they felt that hatred, it was in reaction to the hatred that they [the Blacks] felt had been directed against them [by the Whites], therefore, The Hate That Hate Produced.”

    Given the swift and unanimous condemnation of the #IgboMustGo and the lessons which can be learnt from the American The Hate That Hate Produced experience, it is hoped that going forward, the different socio-cultural or socio-political groups in Nigeria and influential individuals would be sensitive to, timeously condemn and dissuade all who have the propensity for denigrating and threatening other ethnic groups or even individuals who do not share their perspective. As has been shown in the reactions to the Lagospedia post, connivant silence is not golden.

    The protests have also created ample opportunities for fake news. In a 2 August, 2024 press release titled “Nationwide protest: Kano looting video misconceived,” the Director, Army Public Relations, Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, said: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been notified of a viral video circulating in the social media, insinuating that troops participated in the looting spree by some unscrupulous persons who took advantage of the protest to perpetrate the looting that occurred on Thursday, 1 August, 2024 in Kano. … Contrary to the misconception portrayed in the purported video, soldiers of 3 Brigade NA responded to a distress call of hoodlums’ attack on Barakat Stores in the metropolis, the swift intervention of the soldiers however prevented the hoodlums from having a filled day. The troops intercepted some of the hoodlums and recovered some of the looted items, which they were conveying back to the Store, when another distress call of a planned attack on the Kano State Government House was received.” 

    Read Also: Protests: No life lost in Katsina — Police

    The NA statement continued: “Considering the urgency of the imminent attack, the troops immediately diverted to respond to the distress call in order to protect the Government House from the hoodlums’ attack. It was in the course of the response to distress call about possible attack on Kano Government House, that the video was shot. … Troops have since moved the recovered gallons of cooking oil and other items back to the store, where they were safely handed-over to the rightful owner. The management of Barakat stores has acknowledged and appreciated the effort of the troops and their professional conduct in a letter conveyed by the organization’s General Manager. … We urge the public to be cautious of misinformation and verify facts before drawing conclusions.”

    Peter Obi also stated as follows in a 2 August, 2024 report of The Punch titled “Videos being twisted to blackmail me, Peter Obi cries out”: “I have noticed some deliberate and well-orchestrated efforts by some persons to blackmail me …. Their dubious moves have led to the false circulation of a video from my recent keynote speech at the installation of Rotarian Professor A.U. Nnonyelu in Anambra State. They have twisted the video to suit their motive to suggest that I declared war on Northerners when, in fact, I spoke about declaring war on economic stagnation, insecurity, and corruption.” Obi further noted: “Another video circulating online, supposedly showing me leading a protest in Abuja, is also false. The video was actually taken during my visit to the Labour Party HQ, where I mediated a clash between the Labour Party and the NLC. The video was conveniently edited to create a false narrative.”

    That the supporters of the protests have themselves become victims of the protests proves true the saying that when you point a finger at someone, the remaining nine are pointing at you yourself. Similarly, when fire begins to rage, it doesn’t respect the person who set it. In addition, very many of those who opposed the protests or counseled against it on the basis of both recent and not-so-recent experiences have also become victims, especially with respect to creating testy ethnic relations. Therein lies the wisdom of the Yoruba proverb, “If your neighbour is eating bad insects and you do not try to stop them in good time, by the time they begin their bad cough in the night, you won’t be able to sleep.”   

  • Federalism and the local government autonomy verdict

    Federalism and the local government autonomy verdict

    What is federalism? To answer this question, let us look at Princeton University’s Encyclopedia Princetoniensis, which has an entry on “Federalism and federation” authored, ostensibly around 2015, by Brendan O’Leary, a distinguished Professor of Political Science and, according to his biography, “the inaugural winner of the Juan Linz prize of the International Political Science Association, for research on federalism and democracy in multi-national states.”  According to Professor O’Leary, “a federation may be defined as a political system in which at least two territorial levels of government share sovereign constitutional authority over their respective division.” Federalism could therefore be described as a political philosophy or system which recognises two or more territorial levels or tiers.   

    The Nigerian federation, as indicated in the 1999 constitution, has three tiers: the federal, the state and the local government. Encyclopaedia Britannica, in an entry on Nigeria, written by Toyin O. Falola and Reuben Kenrick Udo, and last updated on 17 July, 2024, observes: “The functions of the government at the local level were usurped by the state government until 1988, when the federal government decided to fund local government organizations directly and allowed them for the first time to function effectively.” The direct transmission of local government funds to them was later terminated. According to former Vice-President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, “the decision by the Federal Government to consolidate disbursements of local councils’ revenues into the state government accounts was a decision that was borne out of politics of hasty compromise.” This decision has resulted in a slew of problems.

    Since part of the functions of the Supreme Court is to interpret provisions of the constitution and resolve disputes between different tiers of government, the Federal Government approached the Court in respect of the undermining of the autonomy of local governments by state governments. On 11 July, 2024, the Court ruled in favour of the Federal Government, as follows, in the lead judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim: “It is the position of this court that the federation can pay local governments allocations directly to the local governments or through the states. In this case, since paying them through the states has not worked, justice demands that local governments allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the local governments.”

    Justice Agim further declared: “I hold that the states’ retention of local government funds is unconstitutional.” Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal for state governments to dissolve elected local government administrations and replace them with Caretaker Committees, and that local governments run by such constitutionally-aberrant unelected committees are not entitled to allocations from the federation account until democratically-elected officials have been emplaced.

    President Bola Ahmed Tinubu responded to the judgement as follows: “My administration instituted this suit because of our unwavering belief that our people must have relief and [the] judgement will ensure that it will be only those local officials elected by the people that will control the resources of the people. This judgement stands as a resounding affirmation that we can use legitimate means of redress to restructure our country and restructure our economy to make Nigeria a better place to live in and a fairer society for all of our people.”

    The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who instituted the suit on behalf of the Federal Government, also said: “I call it local government emancipation judgement … and I hope that local government officials will look at it as an opportunity to develop their various local governments. The ball is in the court of the governors. Let us see what they will come out with, but the judgement is clear as to what they should do. The judgement is clear as to what consequences will be attached to failure or refusal to follow the judgement of the Supreme Court, which takes immediate effect.”

    Even Opposition leadaer Alhaji Atiku Abubakar declared: “The court’s ruling is a step in the right direction and a major corrective action in greasing the wheels of national development across the country.  … I align with the decision of the Supreme Court that the structure of the Nigerian government is portioned in three layers, and of these, the local governments should be centers of development.”

    Read Also: Local government autonomy and federalism

    In an unsparing response to the Supreme Court judgement, in a 14 July, 2024 report in The Punch, titled “Tinubu’s govt will be remembered for confronting govs’ criminality against LGs – SAN”, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Nile University, Abuja, Prof Abdullahi Shehu Zuru, said: “In my view, the verdict was awesome and very unambiguous. … Every cogent observer of our democratic politics will admit painfully that the governors have succeeded in surreptitiously destroying the third tier of government in Nigeria because they have strangulated … the local government. So, what the judgment has done is to resurrect the local governments from the ashes of death.”

    Professor Zuru further observed: “Recall that during Ibrahim Babangida’s administration when the local governments were receiving their allocations and had the freedom to budget as well as earmark developmental projects at their level, this created what you might call the economic class at the local government level as there were contractors who were working for the local governments, and supplying foods to schools.” The validity of this claim is established by the fact that you can still see today some of the developmental projects which local government administrations executed before they became financially and logistically hamstrung.

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, noted that the decades-old efforts by the National Assembly at constitution review, to enhance local government autonomy, a seemingly unrealisable goal, had eventually been rewarded. Specifically, he said: “Today that impossibility became a reality. Everyone is happy and we are looking forward to local governments that will work functionally, and … extend goodwill to their own people undisturbed by the excesses by the state governors.” The President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio also remarked: “… the Supreme Court has spoken and we have no option than to abide by the Supreme Court ruling. So, I will just call on all states of the federation to respect what the Supreme Court has done and then we will go back to the legislature and see where we can dot the i’s and cross the t’s to ensure the full implementation.”

    In spite of the widespread praise of the Supreme Court judgement, there have been strident voices of opposition to or condemnation of the verdict. One interesting thing about these dissenting voices, who range from senior academics to lawyers to governors and to media personalities or even entire media establishments, is that they all, to a large extent, seem to have predicated their condemnation on the claim that the judgement is an affront to the concept of “federalism” or what they call “true federalism”.

    In a representative and magisterial articulation of this claim, The Punch editorial of 16 July, 2024 titled “Supreme Court got it wrong on LG autonomy” stated:  “In its latest judicial intervention … the Court declared that the government is portioned into three tiers – federal, state, and local. This is a blatant assault on the tenets of federalism. … The Supreme Court erred in its judgement as the LGs have no place in a federal constitution. Therefore, one of the fundamental flaws of the 1999 Constitution is to list the 774 LGs in it. This must be corrected. In federal jurisdictions, such as the United States, India, and Brazil, the constitution recognises only the centre and province/region/state governments. … Thus, the Supreme Court judgement is a conspiracy against federalism.”

    Those who oppose or condemn the Supreme Court judgement seem to be unanimous in insisting on the twisting of Nigeria’s legitimate version of federalism to align it with their narrow definition of federalism rather than broadening the definition of federalism to accommodate the Nigerian experience. In a 2017 article by Dr. Dele Babalola titled “50 shades of federalism – Nigeria: A federation in search of federalism,” the author notes: “Federalism, like most Social Science concepts, has no standard definition as it ‘may mean different things to all [people].’” He further observed: “In Nigeria, true federalism means different things to different people. The newfound phrase could be better understood using a geo-political lens.”

    In clinging unyieldingly to the narrow concept of federalism, opponents of the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy also engage in the fallacy of appeal to authority, by citing equally narrow definitional examples. Moreover, consistent with the logically-weak fallacy of red herring, some of these opponents shift focus and begin to dwell on matters not central to the original or specific issue of debate. They also find ad hominem arguments handy, preferring to engage in abuse rather than logical argument.

    The point being made is related to the fact that the precise meanings of words are context-dependent, and as contexts vary, the meanings of words change. Such changes could involve the broadening or narrowing of meaning as conditioned by different epochs or different events. With respect to this phenomenon, Richard Nordquist in Thoughtco.com notes as follows in a 4 November, 2019 article: “Semantic change may also occur when native speakers of another language adopt English expressions [e.g., ‘federalism’] and apply them to activities or conditions in their own social and cultural environment.” In other words, ‘federalism’ is not a semantically-fossilised word, and much of the controversies surrounding the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy, with respect to its consistency with the principle or definition of ‘federalism’ or ‘true federalism’, amount to mere grandstanding. Insisting on only the definition of ‘federalism’ as a two-tier political principle or system is therefore semantic tyranny.

    If we have any true hope for a redirection of our society for positive growth, the Supreme Court judgement provides a genuine justification. Local governments have been bedridden, and a new medicine has been found which has saved them from outright death. To aid full recovery, local governments must be trained on how to walk again, through robust reorientation programmes for their elected and career officials.

    The present state of affairs raises a question: “What can be done to counter the travesty that’s called State Independent Electoral Commission or SIEC-organised local government elections, which are, in many cases, popularity-or-performance-independent, and, in fact, have been referred to as coronations by “Emperor-Governors”? As the Supreme Court judgement has shown, wisdom never gets so completely used up in the world that we would need to go looking for more in heaven. So says the Yoruba proverb “Ogbón ò kìí tán l’áyé ká wa lo sí òrun.” And what does its English equivalent say? “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

  • The Hajj experience

    The Hajj experience

    Today is Eid-el-Kabir day. So, let me start by wishing all Muslims Eid Mubarak! Eid-el-Kabir is a key aspect of Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, which is the fifth pillar of Islam. Eid-el-Kabir is also called Eid-al-Adha and Greater Bairam, but the name that I find most graphic is the Yoruba one, “Iléyá” (‘Let’s go back home.’). It captures Prophet Ibrahim’s directive to his son Ismail to stand up for the merciful journey back home, after the divine reward for their faithfulness. The Islamic account is that Prophet Ibrahim prayed fervently to Allah to bless him with a child, and Allah answered his prayers by giving him Ismail. Years later, he had a dream in which he was commanded to sacrifice the child to Allah. He told his son about this grim test of faith. According to Chapter 37, Verse 102 of the Qur’an, Ismail responded: “O, my dear father! Do as you are commanded by God. You shall find me, if God so wills, one of the patient.”

    Ibrahim then took Ismail to the place at which the command was to be obeyed, and Ismail lay down submissively, awaiting his end. Seeing their unshaking faith, just before Ibrahim could slaughter Ismail, Allah replaced the son with a ram. The concept of Iléyá therefore encompasses the instruction to Ismail to stand up for the journey back home due to the happy turn of events, and the feasting which follows is in appreciation of the mercy of Allah. The slaughtering of rams during the festival is also in remembrance and appreciation of the fact that, but for the divine favour, Muslims would have been slaughtering their firstborns in worship of Allah.

    Eid-el-Kabir starts from the 10th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar, which corresponds to today, 16th June, 2024. The festival comes up on the day after the congregation of pilgrims on the plains of Arafah, re-enacting, in a sense, the day of judgement, especially with all pilgrims on Hajj in white, supplicating fervently for Allah’s mercy in all aspects of their life. As a scholar on TikTok @tawbahreminders puts it, “On the day of Arafah. Are you looking for a job? That is the day. Are you having health issues? That is the day. Are you having problems at home? That is the day to beg Allah. Are you looking to have a child …? That is the day. You’re having in-laws issues? That is the day. You’re having a lot of debt? That is the day. … The Prophet of Allah [Peace be upon him] said: ‘The best of dua is the dua done on the day of Arafah.”   

    At late afternoon on this day, pilgrims begin to move towards Musdalifah where they sleep for the night, before heading back to Mina and Kaaba to perform the remaining rites of the pilgrimage. And it was here at Musdalifah that I had my first major culture shock, when I performed Hajj in 2009. I did not know that we would have to sleep in the open and on rough ground; and it was not even as if the sleeping space was ample. I had to squeeze myself between those who were already sleeping and didn’t have enough room to fully stretch my legs. Amazingly, I slept soundly.

    The performance of Hajj is multiply significant. First, it constitutes responding to Allah’s call as found in Chapter 22, Verse 27 of the Qur’an which says: “And proclaim to the people the Hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass.” Second, wearing only two pieces of simple, seamless white clothes, known as ihram, by male pilgrims, symbolises humility, divestment from vanity, and equality before Allah. Third, tawaf – circling the Kaaba, the black cube-shaped structure in the middle of the Grand Mosque in Mecca seven times – appreciates the building of that structure for the worship of Allah by Ibrahim and his son Ismail. The circumambulation is an exercise requiring physical strength and mental acuity.

    Fourth, walking and briefly running between the hills of Safa and Marwa commemorate the inimitable motherly care by Hajar, the mother of Ismail, and her unflinching hope in the mercy of Allah by going through immense pain in search of water, back and forth, for her thirsty child, in a terrain in which ordinarily the hope of finding it was slim. As her reward, the well of zamzam was revealed to her. The message here is that even when you seem to be overwhelmed by problems, don’t give up, keep trudging, and believe that Allah’s grace will come.  Fifth, staying in tents in Mina symbolises humility, and the ritual throwing of small stones at a concrete wall signifies the conscious desire to distance oneself from evil. Sixth, converging on the plains of Arafah symbolises the consciousness of death and faith in the mercy and benevolence of Allah. Seventh, sleeping without accustomed comfort in Musdalifah represents humility, shedding vanity and sacrificing physically for the sake of Allah.

    In addition to being a religious, spiritual, and social event where you strengthen old relationships and establish new ones, Hajj has a tourist dimension. We visited the site of the Battle of Uhud, at which the enemies of Islam fought to annihilate the young religion and at which the Prophet and his companions suffered significant casualties, but prevented the fall of Medina or the capture of the Prophet. We also visited the graves of Prophet Muhammad and his companions in acknowledgement of their efforts in the preservation of the faith at great cost.

    Hajj also shows the example of leadership that is forward-looking and constantly thinking of infrastructural and logistical renewal. In 2010, modern train services were introduced to ferry pilgrims from the Kaaba to Arafah and back. This year, the construction of high-rise buildings has commenced to replace the tents in which pilgrims stay in Mina with comfortable modern accommodation. Moreover, an 11 June, 2024 report by GulfNews.com states: “Some 251 large electric vehicles are set for operation during the current Islamic Hajj pilgrimage season in Saudi Arabia to help the elderly and physically challenged worshippers perform the ritual circumambulation of the Holy Kaaba … [T]he round-the-clock service will also assist the pilgrims in easily performing the ritual S’ai between the hills of Safa and Marwa.” 

    In those days, some pilgrims used to walk to and back from Hajj and it could take very many months. It is believed that a significant part of the blacks in Sudan were those sub-Saharan Africans who made the journey on foot, but could not return home or were attracted enough by Sudan to stay back in the country. As children, oblivious of all the physical strains, stress and rigour involved in performing Hajj, we used to look forward to gifts of dried or fried Mecca meat (ram or camel), Mecca fruit (dabinu or dates), Mecca (i.e., zamzam) water and small camera-like toys from which pictures of different aspects of Hajj could be seen.

    Many popular Yoruba musicians have documented their pilgrimage to Mecca in their music in remarkable detail. Examples are Haruna Isola, Ayinla Omowura and Sikiru Ayinde Barrister. The sacredness with which Hajj was held in those days was shown in Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s narration of his unpalatable experience when it was rumoured that, after having performed Hajj and returned home, he was seen following a masquerade. In the passionate account in his 1975 music album Volume 6, titled “Ori mi ewo ni n se”, the police arrested him on account of the rumour, and he was released only after police investigations revealed that the allegation was false.

    The essence of this story is that, in those days, confusionist conduct was not tolerated. You were to choose either to be an Egungun worshipper or a Muslim. Once you had freely made your choice, you were to stick with it, and avoid any ambivalence that could engender mischief.  This principle is represented in the Yoruba proverb, “Tí o bá maa jé òsákálá, kí o jé òsákálá; tí o bá maa jé òsokolo kí o jé òsokolo; òsàkàlànsokolo ni ò ye omo ènìyàn.” (‘If you want to be òsákálá, clearly be òsákálá; if you want to be òsokolo, clearly be òsokolo; it’s being òsákálá and òsokolo at the same time that’s unbefitting of an honest person.’) That is, if you want to be known for one thing, keep to that rather than mischievously swapping or mixing identities.

    Read Also: Hajj 2024: 2,958 FCT pilgrims proceeds to Mina

    The very high level of social control which made Ayinde Barrister’s arrest possible is reminiscent of legendary Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew’s 1986 account of how Singapore became a prosperous country through stern discipline. In the speech placed on YouTube on 15 September, 2023, he said: “I am accused often of interfering in the private lives of citizens. … I believe as Singaporeans become more Westernised in their values and attitudes, they believe they got to have all the rights and privileges. I said, right. This is a new phase: give them the option; you decide; you make up your mind. You exercise the choice, you pay the price. And I say without the slightest remorse that … we would not have made the economic progress if we had not intervened on very personal matters: who your neighbour is; how you live; the noise you make; how you spit or where you spit; or what language you use. Had we not done that and done it effectively, we would not be here today.”      

    Interestingly, Hajj rites manifest significant gender-equity. The Kaaba was built by Ibrahim and his son for the worship of Allah, and pilgrims circumambulate it as part of Hajj rites. Ibrahim and Ismail also demonstrated unparalleled faithfulness to Allah, and this is celebrated in Eid-el- Kabir. Correspondingly, Hajar’s compassionate physical exertion for the sake of her child and her uncommon hope in the benevolence of Allah is celebrated in the movement between Safa and Marwa. 

    It is believed that when a person performs the pilgrimage properly, they would be as sinless and pure as when they were born. It is accordingly believed that within forty days of a pilgrim’s return home, the prayers they say for others would be especially efficacious.

    As Nigerians celebrate Eid-el-Kabir today, our leaders should, like Ibrahim, obey the dictates of good governance; and the followers should, like Ismail, repose confidence in and collaborate with the leadership in their efforts to create a more livable society. And even as the nation’s problems appear to be intractable, we all should, like Hajar, keep hope alive and take to heart the injunction of Chapter 39, Verse 53 of the Qur’an: “Despair not of the mercy of Allah.”

  • Medical tourism to Nigeria (2)

    Medical tourism to Nigeria (2)

    A US-based Architectural Designer and medical tourist to Nigeria narrated the following very recent personal experience: “I had a tooth problem in the US and visited a dentist. She took a couple of X-rays and explained to me that I needed some root canal treatment and crowning. She overwhelmed me with how bad it could get if I didn’t get treatment started immediately, and gave me a breakdown of the treatment and cost. She billed me $5999 after insurance. I went home feeling depressed and thinking about how to get $6000.  A month later, I came to Nigeria for my wedding and I decided to try out a dentist in Ibadan. The same root canal treatment that was $5999 in Chicago was done in Ibadan for N130,000 (less than $100). My point is that we need to trust the expertise of our brilliant Nigerian professionals with their affordable prices.”

    To provide a medical practitioner’s perspective on the increasingly complimentary reputation of Nigerian doctors and increasing confidence in the Nigerian healthcare system, this column sought the interview reported below with a highly-regarded Lagos-based medical doctor who is in his early 40s. Nuances: To start, could you tell us a little bit about yourself, Doctor?

    Ninalowo: My name is Dr. Hammed Ninalowo. I am a native of Lagos, and grew up in this city. I went to America when I was 16, and rounded off my higher education in the United States. I trained at the University of Pennsylvania, and qualified as a Consultant in Vascular and Interventional Radiology in 2016. I went into the area of Vascular and Interventional Radiology because it was something that was basically very scarce in Africa generally and even in America; there’s not a lot of us. It’s a field of medicine where we use minimally invasive techniques basically to diagnose and treat diseases. I started bringing back my practice and expertise to Nigeria in late 2018. At the time, we would come to Nigeria about every six weeks, for one week, offer our specialised services, and then go back to America. Quickly, it became very apparent that my services were very much needed in Nigeria. This increased my passion for even spending more time here. In 2019, I made the big decision to move my family to Nigeria. So, I started working in Nigeria for six weeks and going back to America for two weeks until COVID-19 came, and kind of disrupted that. So, I had an option to either stay in Nigeria or go back to America, but I have always had a passion for coming back to do medical work in this country. Therefore, I have been in Nigeria since, but I still go to America for about one week every eight weeks to run my clinic in the US.

    Nuances: Doctor, the trend of coming to Nigeria from abroad for medical treatment appears to be increasing. Is this really the case?

    Ninalowo: Yes, absolutely, that’s the trend. There are two different groups of such patients. One group of patients are Nigerians in the UK, Canada, in the US or abroad generally that have a lot of difficulties especially with social healthcare issues like NHS in the UK and Socialised Healthcare in Canada, where they have to wait in line for a very long time to get even simple tests like CT scan or MIR scan done. Conversely, in Nigeria, you could simply walk to any diagnostic centre and within 30 minutes you can get a CT or an MIR scan. Similarly, as far as accessing doctors is concerned, it is so much easier to access doctors here, even very highly-specialised doctors, because basically, we don’t have a long line waiting. And the skill level in Nigeria is even getting higher and higher as more patients keep coming. I am sure you’ve seen this trend in the field of plastic surgery. A lot of patients are coming to Nigeria to have plastic surgery, especially a lot of Nigerian women in the UK and in the US. And the reason for that is the price point. For the plastic surgery here, you can get it done for about 30 percent of the price you can get it done in America; and you still achieve the same result. And it’s the same thing for most of the parts of healthcare here in Nigeria. And then, I also have another group of patients, who are not Nigerian; patients from countries like Zimbabwe or other usually West or Sub-Sahara African countries, who do not have these services available to them.

    For example, we do something called fibroid embolisation, which is a minimally invasive technique to treat fibroid where we don’t need to cut people open. There are only two doctors in Sub-Sahara Africa that offer that currently; and it’s me and another gentleman in Ghana. So, patients come from all over Sub-Sahara Africa to get those services done. Same thing as things like biliary interventions – all of these interventions – treatment for brain aneurysm which we do now without cutting people open, which we do through a pin hole.

    Nuances: Do we have people coming to Nigeria from the Western countries, for example, the way they have been going to India?

    Ninalowo: I’ve not seen that yet. I think we are going to get there and I will discuss how we are going to get there. But I don’t think we are there yet, where people are coming from Western countries. But it’s going to happen soon because we now have the framework to make that happen.

    Nuances: Thank you. What are the things that could make Nigeria a more attractive destination for medical tourism?

    Ninalowo: If you look at what they did in India and even in Dubai, there were concerted efforts to make their countries or cities centres of medical tourism. But we don’t have that yet as the initiative of the Nigerian Government. I am an advocate for Lagos medical tourism and I talk about this on social media. And, you know, because of what I have been doing on social media, letting people know that the expertise is available in Nigeria, even more doctors with more expertise, are willing to now come back to Nigeria, full time or part time. But I think we need a concerted effort from the government, even if it’s just Lagos State to start with, to basically bring all of the private and public institutions together and say what services are now available in Lagos. What services can we now go out and advertise? How can we work together to advertise Lagos as a centre of medical tourism and as a centre of excellence for healthcare? A lot of healthcare facilities have opened in the last few years, which is why people like me could be comfortable practicing here. All the same, we still have ways to go in reaching the A-plus standards that we have in some healthcare facilities abroad as in places like India.

    Read Also: 18 teenage Nigerian girls forced into prostitution rescued from human traffickers in Ghana

    Nuances: Now, in specific terms, what can Nigeria benefit from medical tourism?

    Ninalowo: Number one, when you have a place where people are coming for medical tourism, that is definitely significant dollar inflow, because when people are coming into the country to access healthcare, they are not coming with naira, they are coming with dollars, and we’re going to charge in foreign currency. Then number two, increase in tourism is increase in the visibility of the country as a whole. Again, if you look at places like Dubai and Turkey, when people know that you have good healthcare, people are coming to your country for healthcare and when they know that it is safe to be in your country, I think the biggest thing is revenue gain for the government, and national exposure.

    Nuances: I have noticed some doctors coming to Nigeria as a team from the UK or the US to offer services on a periodic basis. Do you think these volunteers can complement the initiative?

    Ninalowo: Quite honestly, we’ve been very appreciative of medical missions. I think medical mission has its place in Nigeria; but it only has a very small place because these people that come to volunteer are not engaged for a long time with the patients. But the most important thing they do most times when they come in is skill transfer. They come and transfer skills to local surgeons, and that happens, especially in the area of cardiac surgery and heart surgery. In fact,  there is a foundation called Voom Foundation. They’ve been coming to Nigeria for a very long time. They used to go to places like LASUTH (Lagos State University Teaching Hospital). Now, they are based in a place called First Cardiologists Consultants, Ikoyi, in Lagos. These guys come around about every three months; they treat many patients and they also train surgeons. Some of these surgeons that they’ve trained are handling related cases independently now in public and private hospitals. So we do gain from these experiences; but as a whole, when we talk about setting ourselves up as a place for medical tourism, I think the foundations have limited significance. We need to make sure that the experts are here. When they are here, they can handle both the procedures that are done and complications that happen from procedures.

    Nuances: Thank you very much, Doctor. Are there any general thoughts on these issues that you can share with us?

    Ninalowo: As I said, I came to Nigeria very young in my career. You know, and I truly believe that we need to sacrifice to take care of our own people and this is what I preach to my colleagues. I have another of my colleagues, who is an orthopaedic surgeon who is about my age and who is moving his own family to Nigeria now. We have people like Yemi Johnson, who did this a while ago and who set a stage for us to do this and to explore this opportunity. And I think more and more people are coming in. So, we definitely need to continue to look at things like government initiatives which encourage people to invest in healthcare. We still need government interventions like low-interest rate loans, which the government is already doing; and making sure we’re not frustrated at the ports. We’re not supposed to be paying duty for importing medical materials or medical equipment, but that is still happening because things like theatre lights are still considered as chandeliers or regular lights by the Customs Services. So, we still suffer quite a bit from the import duties and the frustration of registering products. We still have a long way to go.

    • Nuances: Doctor, thank you very much.
  • Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye and mass weddings

    Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye and mass weddings

    A press release, issued by Ohaeri Osondu Joseph, Special Assistant, Media, to the Minister of Women Affairs, and carried in full by Channels Television on 14 May, 2024 stated as follows: “The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has said that the proposed plan by the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, to organise a mass marriage for the 100 female orphans in the State on May 24, should be investigated so as to ascertain their ages, consent as well as preparedness for the union.”

     The press release continued: “While acknowledging the good gesture of the Speaker aimed at alleviating the suffering of the impoverished by pledging to pay the dowries of the bridegroom and in the procurement of the materials for the mass marriage, Barrister Kennedy-Ohanenye observed the need for the Speaker to consider the future of the children by finding out whether they prefer marriage to education and empowerment. … According to her, by prioritizing education and empowerment over early marriage, the cycle of poverty and inequality that plagues orphans will be broken from their lives, thus enabling them to marry husbands of their choices and further reducing cases of gender based violence and out-of-school children which are usually the resultant effect of such unions.”

    The press release then declared: “Barr Uju also stated that in line with its mandate under the Child’s Rights Act, the Ministry has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and sought a court injunction to put a hold on the sponsored marriage until further investigation is carried out with a view to ensuring that the welfare of the orphans are adequately covered.” One of the things implied in the press release is that the Minister was acting prior to ascertaining the facts of the event she set out to attack.

    Meanwhile, a sobering piece by Rasheed Akinkuolie, titled “Mass wedding controversy in Nigeria”, in The News magazine of 22 May, 2024 notes as follows: “In Nigeria, cultural and religious differences influence marriage practices. In Northern Nigeria, where the majority of the people are Muslims,   mass or combined weddings are often organized for matured daughters,   even at the family level, if there are many of them. It is convenient, time saving and will minimize the cost of organizing multiple marriages at different times.”

    Akinkuolie notes further: “There are compelling reasons for mass weddings in Northern Nigeria today. The Boko Haram insurgency has claimed the lives of thousands of young men, displaced millions of people from towns and villages and dislodged farmers from farm lands. This has disorganized the society, making the normal process of organizing marriages between two consenting mature man and woman difficult. This system may return at a more auspicious time. Meanwhile, mass wedding of this kind will enable the young women involved to have shelter, protection, food and a home to raise children, even if the arrangement is not perfect.” Mass weddings could therefore, in a sense, be said to be guided by the Shakespeare-popularised principle that desperate diseases are cured by desperate means.

    In this regard, Akinkuolie observes: “The Honorable Minister, who is a Christian from the South East of Nigeria, where marriage is a big lavish personal event for the family and bride, may be shocked at the idea of wedding 100 couples at the same event. Her responsibility now is to ensure that the girls are not too young for marriage and those, who are still in school must be allowed to continue with their education. Those who are not, should be enrolled in schools or sponsored to learn a trade in a vocational school.”

    Before the profound counsel, the Minister had advertently or inadvertently lifted the lid off pent-up anti-North and anti-Islamic stereotypes and prejudice, and so-called analysts seemed to be competing with themselves in deploying derogative epithets such as “commodification” and “paedophilic mass weddings”. Ironically, the most apparent index of the commodification of women is in changing their names to their husbands’ names upon marrying, like a book the husbands have just bought. This kind of commodification of women is the affliction of Westernised or ‘educated’ Nigerian women. I hope that this is not the case with the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye. Incidentally, the kind of Northern females whose case the Minister has been fighting so impassionedly are not required by their culture to change their names after the mass wedding, and they are not likely to do so.

    In this regard, Chimamanda Adichie was reported to have said as follows in a post by “Emeka Gift Official on X”, on 21 May, 2024: “I didn’t change my surname to my husband’s surname because I love my surname, and all my documents bear my father’s surname. I don’t have the strength to run around to change it. People often tell me that I am abusing Igbo culture by still bearing my father’s surname. I laugh when I hear people say this. But the fact is that those women who bear their husband’s surname are the ones abusing Igbo culture. In pre-colonial Igbo culture, women didn’t bear their husband’s surname; they bore their father’s surname. Everything changed when the British colonized us. We then abandoned our own culture and followed British culture.”

    Women who resist the retrogressive Westernised marital renaming practice are sometimes made to go through a lot of pain. In a WhatsApp reaction to the article in this column titled “Marital renaming, cultural actors and cultural onlookers” on 28 January, 2024, a male Professor of distinction posted as follows: “There is a female senior academic I know who rightly retained her father’s name after marriage. An Islamic scholar, she maintained that and resisted the pressure of her colleagues that it was because she didn’t respect her husband, which was just sheer blackmail. But the situation changed when she registered her children for school. As there was no correlation between her own name and her children’s surname, she had to pay more and lose the benefit of rebate for staff members at the University School. The economic pressure of having to pay more than her family ought to pay made her to grudgingly go the compounding way. But I personally resent those inelegant compound surnames.”

    Other women are going through this needless pain in the hands of ignorant, self-esteem-deprived Westernised public officials. Another woman’s experience was narrated by her husband as follows in reaction to the female Professor’s experience: “It’s a pity that a woman who decided to do what is patently more beneficial to her has been subjected institutionally to this ‘harassment’. When my wife had our first baby and she insisted that the boy’s oriki should be used as his last name, it created some furore in the maternity ward. One of my neighbours, who was like an elder and who was also a nurse in the teaching hospital, was then approached by the busy-bodies and asked whether I really loved the woman and wanted the baby. He came home to tell me he had a difficult time persuading them that I was a loving husband to her and fully accepted paternity for the baby.  Coming to the issue of compound names, it’s an unnecessary baggage.”

    Read Also: Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye bungles it again

    Addressing such institutional female-traumatising experiences is one of the issues that should engage the Ministry of Women Affairs. In this regard, it is commendable that the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, intervened to stop the burdensome requirement for all women across the country, who marry and change their names, to come to the Nigerian Immigration Service Headquarters in Abuja to update their records. The Punch of 2 January, 2024 carried a report titled, “Name change: Stop asking women to travel to Abuja, minister tells NIS.”

    Specifically, the Minister is reported to have said: “There is one stupid thing I have seen and it is that a woman gets married, changes her name, and then she has to come to Abuja all the way from say Kaura Namoda or Enugu just to come and effect a change of name in her passport. It is absurd. … With the new reforms, you don’t need to travel to Abuja to change your data. Everything will be online.’

    With respect to the age of the potential brides, the Minister of Women Affairs did not ascertain whether they were of marriageable age. However, in a television interview of an apparently very mature woman who attended one of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential campaigns in the Northwest, when she was asked her expectations from the government if the candidate won, her reply was that she looked forward to the sponsorship of her wedding. So, when I considered Minister Kennedy-Ohanenye’s precipitate actions, I wondered whether she had ever encountered that kind of woman.

    I have had cause to note, in relation to impassioned reactions to the planned mass weddings, that mass weddings do not necessarily cause mass divorce. If that had been the case, the United States, where mass weddings are not practised and where women marry husbands of their choice, should have been the global model for marital stability. However, the following US divorce statistics do not support this. According to statistics by JustGreatLawyers, in a document titled, Divorce Statistics and Facts in 2021, “Fewer people are getting divorced, but fewer people are getting married, too. As a percentage, the crude divorce rates in the aforementioned years were: 49% in 2000, 44% in 2019.” In a similar vein, Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, a firm of lawyers, in a study titled, “Divorce statistics: Over 115 studies, facts and rates for 2024”, noted: “Almost 50% of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce or separation.”

    JustGreatLawyers reported as follow with respect to the five most common reasons for divorce in the US: “According to a study conducted by Certified Divorce Financial Analyst professionals, lack of commitment or incompatibility was easily the top factor leading to divorce. In the survey: 43% of respondents cited lack of commitment or incompatibility as the cause of divorce, followed by infidelity/affairs at 28% and money at 22%. Other factors, such as domestic violence or addiction (5.8%) and arguments or communication (1.2%) were less likely to cause divorce.”

    What is clear from all of the foregoing is that public officials need to avoid presumptuousness and precipitate actions. With respect to the expression “mass weddings” which some use with an ostensibly negative intention, the practice is more accurately “subsidised wedding” or “assisted wedding”. So, it is gratifying that, all said and done, the Minister of Women affairs has seen the need to view the idea more constructively and has accordingly pledged to assist the women to make a success of their marriages.