The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tunji Adegboyega

  • On the march again

    On the march again

    Lagos records giant strides in security, roads and transportation

    Unlike the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration which took over in Lagos in 2007, the incumbent Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, did not have an early start in governance. Fashola’s successor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (perhaps drawing from his own experience when he was assailed by a barrage of criticisms in the early months of his administration for not hitting the ground running), deliberately left some projects that it should have commissioned for the Fashola government. Prominent among these was the Bus Rapid Transfer (BRT) project which has now become a toast of many Lagosians and is contributing its own quota to the transportation sector in the state. Fashola could only have conceived the idea of BRT, concluded and commissioned it in less than a year after being sworn if he was a miracle worker!  The same was true of some roads that he opened shortly after assuming office. Of course it was obvious to the discerning that the Fashola administration could not have been the architect of those projects which it commissioned a few months after its inauguration.

    However, the Ambode government did not have such privilege. It was therefore not long before Lagosians began clamouring for action from the governor, barely four months after his inauguration. Obviously mindful of the criticisms that Fashola received over some of his policies which some Lagosians saw as draconian, Ambode must have decided to bid his time, in the expectation that people would be rational in their behaviours in public and act with due consideration for others. Unfortunately this assumption turned out to be misplaced as rats no longer cried like rats in the state and birds no longer cried like birds.

    Examples abound to support this position. One was the roads where ‘danfo’ drivers and others simply became law unto themselves, especially after what they considered a directive from the new governor giving them such liberty for licence. The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials who should direct affairs on the roads too went to sleep, or at best looked the other way when traffic laws were breached with impunity on account of this same obviously misinterpreted directive. The result was the return of gridlock and insanity to the roads, with the usual lawless ‘Okada’ riders not left out in the ensuing bedlam.  Oshodi, for instance, returned to its inglorious past and one could spend 40 minutes from Cappa Bus stop in the area to under the bridge, a distance of about one kilometre! After Ambode’s riot act, this has reduced greatly to 10 to 15 minutes. It should be sustained.

    Matters were not helped by the armed robbers and other miscreants who took advantage of the governor’s simplicity to unleash terror on the citizens. Ikorodu was hard hit by the activities of the hoodlums who struck in the town twice within three weeks in June, robbing four banks, killing and maiming in the process. We also had incidents of fuel tankers falling and spilling their content, with attendant loss of lives and property, especially immediately after the inauguration of the new government. Not to forget the activities of the same fuel tanker drivers who incessantly made the Apapa axis of Lagos a no-go area. Of course there were also roads begging for attention, especially with the rains creating craters in them.  Naturally, the same people who were complaining of Fashola’s high-handedness when he came up with some of the policies that restored sanity in the city began to ask what the new government was doing.

    Mercifully, the inertia, perceived or real, that some people have been complaining about appears to be giving way with recent developments in the state, particularly in the last three weeks. One major area (at least as it affects me as a Lagosian) is the reconstruction now ongoing at Capitol Road in Agege. I had looked forward to the day this would be done and so, when I eventually saw construction equipment there about three weeks ago, I literally leapt for joy. The Fashola administration it was that wetted people’s appetite and raised hopes on that road when, some years back, it began the construction of drainage on it. But since then, the road was abandoned for whatever reason. Now, it is not just being rehabilitated, it is being done at a speed one could hardly have imagined.

    I am always touched by ‘tokenisms’ from government, particularly when such touch the lives of many in the areas inhabited by the poor or the middle-class. I celebrated Arigbanla Street also in Agege, Lagos, on this same page when the Fashola administration decided to tar it in response to the floods that usually seized the street and its adjoining areas. Before then, people living in that area always had their hearts in their mouths whenever it rained or was about to rain. Indeed, ladies who used to fold their skirts then to the point that you did not have to bend down to know what they had under would not forget that it was Fashola who saved them from that perpetual embarrassment.  I see whatever it was that worked for Fashola on Arigbanla Street working several times over for Governor Ambode when the rehabilitation of Capitol Road would have been completed. Unlike Arigbanla Street, Capitol Road rehabilitation cannot be seen in the light of tokenism. It is a major artery for many Lagosians, including the millions in Egbeda, Ikotun, Idimu, Agege, Iyana-Ipaja and the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, among others. Even as the road is yet to be asphalted, grading alone has reduced travel time there significantly.

    Still on transportation, Governor Ambode commissioned the Mile 12 – Ikorodu BRT extension and formally flagged off its operation with about 438 buses on November 12. Whilst one may agree with the governor that the new deal would bring comfort and convenience to commuters in the state and Ikorodu residents, as well as those who use the road to connect other areas, the state government should pay more attention to water transport in the Ikorodu axis. I know of some big men who travel by ferry from Ikorodu to work on the Lagos Island daily and they have been giving fascinating reports about their experience. The state government should expand the ferry services, the parking space and other facilities at both ends to encourage more eye-brow customers to patronise the ferry services.

    The other major area that has seen some significant attention in the last three weeks is security. The governor, just last month, handed over 100 4-door salon cars, 55 Ford Ranger pick-ups, 10 Toyota Land Cruiser pick-ups, 15 BMW power bikes, 100 power bikes, Isuzu trucks, three (3) helicopters, two (2) gun boats, 15 armoured personnel carriers, revolving lights, siren and public address system, vehicular radio communicators, security gadgets, including bullet-proof vests, helmets, handcuffs, uniforms, kits and improved insurance and death benefit schemes to the police and the Rapid Response Squad at a total cost of N4.765bn.  The governor advised the police at the handing over ceremony that Lagosians would no longer accept excuses for security lapses. I want to respectfully add that the police should handle the vehicles and equipment with utmost care. Ambode’s message to the dare-devil criminals who might have been hopeful of having a merry Christmas and happy new year now by making others who genuinely acquired their property weep is to look elsewhere or risk meeting their waterloo.

    It can only be hoped that the ante would at least be sustained if not upped because of the state’s strategic importance. As the country’s industrial hub and a mega-city, it must be seen to be on the move all the time.

     

  • Buhari: 42 months to go!

    Buhari: 42 months to go!

    With six months already gone, the president should realise that time flies!

    Going by Nigeria’s constitution, the president, governors and legislators have a four-year mandate, after which they return to the electorate to seek approval to continue, or go home to rest. So, exactly 42 months from now, Nigerians would either be waiting for the return of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term, or be preparing to swear in another president if they deem him to have performed below expectations. The choice is the president’s.

    Traditionally, many writers who remember the import of today as exactly six months since the president came on board would dwell on his activities of the last six months. For me, however, this has become predictable despite its little significance. The last six months is gone; it can never be recovered. So, we should look forward to the remaining three-and-a-half years of the Buhari presidency. And, if we even think the president has 42 months to go, we must have lost sense of the country’s political trajectory.  Unless there is a new paradigm, the race for 2019 will begin at best 24 months from now. This is much more so that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) trounced at the polls is not resting. It wants 2019 to come as early as yesterday, in its dream of returning to the same power it occupied for 16  wasted years.

    In fairness to the president, when he assumed office, a few things changed for good in the country. Perhaps the most noticeable of these is power supply. Nigerians suddenly realised that electricity supply to their homes and businesses improved even as President Buhari was yet to form his cabinet, and even as he was yet to add a single megawatt to what he met on ground. Nigerians simply attributed these positive changes to Buhari’s ‘body language’. Only a few remembered that he was yet to appoint ministers then. But the recrudescence of fuel scarcity and a few other challenges have changed that perception. Buhari, where is your ‘body language’? They began to ask. The number of those asking the question began to increase as they watched the scarcity worsen from days to weeks. If the matter is not resolved this weekend, more people would still join those wondering what has happened to Buhari and his ‘body language’.

    One can only imagine what could have happened if the president had not named his ministers until now because, even as there were no serious challenges before the team was finally sworn in November 11, many Nigerians had started to be apprehensive of when we will know those that would work with the president. President Buhari promised to have his cabinet latest September but when the month was almost ending and he was yet to fulfill this promise, Nigerians naturally began to ask questions: if it took him this long to name his cabinet, then how far can he go, given the time so far spent without ministers? For me, however, the time the cabinet is chosen is immaterial. This has nothing to do with the performance of the ministers. We have had situations in the past where presidents had named cabinet almost as soon as they were inaugurated; yet we had nothing to show for it. Indeed, some of such ministers left us worse than they met us. But this should not be taken as assurance that we will have value for money only because Buhari’s ministers were late in coming. Far from it. What I am saying is that the time the cabinet is formed is not necessarily a guarantee of good performance. Even after naming the cabinet, some people say if the list paraded as what the president could offer, why did he waste our time before naming them? Irrespective of what Nigerians, particularly arm-chair critics might say, President Buhari believes he has named some of the best persons that can better do the job he wants for the country.

    One thing is that, as with the Jonathan administration when we had Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, former Governor Raji Fashola would appear Okonjo-Iweala’s equivalent in the Buhari administration, with his bagging of the power, works and housing portfolios! Not a few are wondering what President Buhari intends to achieve with this appointment in particular which, to me, signposts the measure of his implicit confidence in the former governor. Suffice it to say that President Buhari found a soul-mate in Fashola. Remember his hard-line posture as governor and Buhari’s tendencies too when he was a military head of state. But, whether the president has made the right decision or not is in the wombs of time.  We have also seen solid minerals, agriculture and the economy as Buhari’s other areas of focus, given the ministers he appointed to oversee the respective ministries. If the ministers in these ministries (particularly Fashola) succeed and make reasonable dents on the challenges in their ministries, then Buhari’s presidency would have been made.

    With his cabinet now formed, both the president and his cabinet members know the country’s problems. President Buhari knows like any other Nigerian that the economy was destroyed by the rapacious Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government that he took over from; he knows that there is insecurity in the land; he is aware that Nigerians are not happy with the state of power supply, that the roads are bad; our schools are in urgent need of revamping, our hospitals are now worse than the ‘mere consulting clinics’ that he met when he came as military ruler in 1983. With the crash in oil price and the massive corruption that pervaded the land, especially in the immediate past, it has become a daunting task to expect sudden improvement in the country.

    Expectedly therefore, some Nigerians have said the government is too slow in making things happen. I have the feeling some may even be silently asking how come the government has not built ‘a single’ refinery in the last six months if it does not want to remove fuel subsidy! As a matter of fact, some are asking: how many corrupt Nigerians has the government jailed? These were the same people who accused General Buhari of high-handedness when he clamped many Nigerians suspected of being corrupt behind bars without due trial in the 1980s. That has been the case with human beings; they are hardly patient for results; preferring instead, quick fixes which often break down as soon as they are fixed. It has been like that since the days of Moses when he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt.

    Whilst it may be tempting to see some of the criticisms, particularly those coming from the former PDP chieftains (some of who should be behind bars now but for rule of law) who ruined the country, as deserving of little attention, the president should be interested in constructive criticisms, irrespective of where they are coming from because it is part of what keeps government on its toes.

    What should not be lost on him is that Nigerians not only want change; they want the change that would endure and President Buhari should know that time is not on his side. Before we know it, it would soon be one year that he took over. That would be less than a quarter of his four-year tenure because, as I said before, the race for 2019 will begin anytime in 2017 and attention would be shifting from the present government to the next, unless the president succeeds in steering affairs in a way that would make this unattractive. And one way to do that is by giving Nigerians the good governance that PDP could not give in 16 years.

    With six months already gone, those asking for President Buhari’s policy direction obviously have a point. Government, like an aero plane, needs a compass. Otherwise, ministries would be working at cross-purposes and ministers will be singing discordant tunes. Beyond that, there must be yardsticks with which to measure the government’s performance. This implies the government setting timelines to its programmes and policies. We need to see all that in the coming weeks, perhaps months, to keep hope alive that there will, indeed, be light at the end of the tunnel.

  • Governors’ vigil for bailout

    Governors’ vigil for bailout

    Time to  face reality 

    Nigeria’s governors are at it again! They want more money. But for how long will they be going cap-in-hand to Abuja to look for money or ‘bailout’, as the fine bara (begging) has now become famously known? Bailout gained currency in the country when the Federal Government, perhaps in some cases for want of what to do with public funds, started giving money to some sectors of the economy, ostensibly to get them out of the woods. Thus, the textile sector, the agriculture sector and even airlines benefited from this free money that no one is sure the government can ever recover. Anyway, was the money ever meant to be recovered?

    In fairness to the governors, their financial fortune has dwindled over the last 12 months or so; with the continued fall in crude oil prices. It would appear reasonable too, as the governors argued, that they agreed to a minimum wage of N18,000 per month when crude oil was selling for $126 per barrel; it is now $41. Now that crude prices have fallen, they added, it is difficult for them to sustain the minimum wage. Zamfara State governor Abdulaziz Yari, who read the communiqué issued by the governors at the end of their meeting held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, under the auspices of their umbrella body, the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) on Thursday, said: “The situation is no longer the same when we were asked to pay N18,000 minimum wage when oil price was $126 (per barrel) and continued paying N18,000 minimum wage when the oil is $41 and the source of government expenditure is from oil and we have not seen prospects in the oil industry in the near future”.

    This is the extent to which I sympathise with the governors. Even then, the sympathy should be qualified because this is not the first time that crude prices would fall. And, as a major crude oil producer, we have always known that the international oil market is volatile and that this volatility is beyond our control. Yet, we did not as a country take any practical step towards providing any cushion such that we would not catch cold whenever crude prices slump or sneeze. Year in, year out, our schools have been turning out graduates (including governors) at all levels that were taught in the various schools some lesson about diversification of the economy. We have heard so many economic experts who wrote papers upon papers delivered at seminars and symposiums about this topic, and many of these papers only gather dust in government establishments; that is when the documents have not been handed to the groundnut seller across the road in the government offices in exchange for groundnut due to lack of space to keep them.

    In other words, successive governments that should have seen the developments that eventually culminated in the slump in oil prices, including the discovery of shale oil, which have put everyone in Nigeria in a mess, merely paid lip service to diversification or, characteristically Nigerian, simply wished that no evil would befall oil prices in Jesus’ name!. Even when we lost the United States, our major crude customer, a thing that should have warned us further of the impending crisis, we celebrated the replacement of the U.S. by Russia and some Asian countries.

    It is sad that I have to return to the Goodluck Jonathan administration so early after my leave, but it is inevitable because it was under his watch that oil prices plummeted last year and the only thing that occupied the then president’s mind was reelection; a thing he did not deserve considering the result he posted after running the country for about five years.   At a time President Jonathan should be strategising on how to address the challenges facing the country’s jugular, he was busy polarising virtually everything that seemed a hindrance to his second term ambition; everything including the NGF some of whose members suddenly became exposed for the dullards that they were as they claimed that 16 was greater than 19 in an election involving just 35 persons!.

    One point the governors must realise now is that the era of sharing is gradually coming to an end in the country. It’s now time to bake. Few persons, if any, have been talking about baking, the emphasis has been on sharing; we have dissipated so much energy on revenue sharing formula when we should be talking about revenue baking formula. This is a reality that our governors have to start accepting. And I want to believe we are getting there because the governors too tasted what a vigil is like. I hear their meeting lasted from Wednesday to the early hours of Thursday last week. So, when the poor too talk about vigil, the governors would have a feel of what they (the poor) mean. I hope the governors would permanently wake up to this reality on baking before it is too late. They gave that impression on Thursday.

    And, when the time for baking comes, no one would need to tell state creation agitators that their time is up. Even as we speak, they seem to have gone into hiding since the cash crunch set in. The truth is; many of them will get silenced for life the moment states begin to fend for themselves. Even as things are, creation of some of the existing states was a mistake. because most of those who created them did so more for political expediency.

    Without doubt, the Federal Government has to shed weight even under the lopsided federalism that we are practicing. But then, the governors have to resolve this time around that if the NGF must be relevant, they would use it more for functional rather than the dysfunctional purposes that many of them used it for under the Jonathan presidency.

    It is not just a question of meeting President Buhari again as the governors resolved at the meeting; it is about being ready to take hard, even if painful decisions about unlocking the potentials buried in the bowels of many of the states and checking corruption. After all, they (governors) met with the president on the same issue in June; yet, not all of them paid their workers with the money as directed by the Federal Government which bailed them out then. The truth is; unless things improve, I foresee a situation where one of these days, all that the governors would bring back from Abuja would be the admonition given by one of the military commanders during the civil war when his subordinates told him that their food supplies at the battle front had been exhausted. The commander simply told the soldiers to “go and manage”. When he was reminded that there was nothing left to ‘manage’, he merely repeated himself; ‘I say go and manage’!

    The solution to the economic crisis is not in reduction of minimum wage as some of the governors are thinking because the N18,000 minimum wage is ridiculously low. How many of the governors with girlfriends would ‘dash’ their mistress N18,000 for transportation even for a single trip (or a single shot) and expect to see her again?

    My point is that, before the situation gets this bad, the governors should start thinking about alternatives to the Abuja ‘fine bara’. President Buhari may not be in a position to bail them out all the time if things do not improve, because he too will be under pressure from Nigerians to deliver the democratic dividend he promised them during the electioneering. Let our governors put on their thinking caps so that they won’t have to go and ‘manage’ when it is visible, even to the blind, that there is nothing to ‘manage’. In the same vein retrenchment does not seem a likely option so that we do not compound the present security situation. Rather, what is required is a pragmatic and holistic approach to getting our economy out of the woods and this involves all, the president, governors and other stakeholders.

  • While I was away …

    While I was away …

    I hardly thought I could go on leave for about five weeks without the temptation to resume my column within the period. Of course, as with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, temptations there always will be, but the most important thing is for one to successfully overcome them. So many things had happened since I went on leave on October 1. But the one that almost made me break my vow not to feature on this page until the leave is over was the defeat suffered by Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, at the election petition tribunal which ruled, on October 24, that his election did not comply with electoral guidelines. Wike’s attempt to challenge the constitution of the election petition tribunal as well as the powers of the tribunal to sit in Abuja instead of Rivers State was equally dismissed by the Supreme Court to which the Rivers State governor had turned for protection.

    Wike for now remains governor; but for how long will depend on subsequent judgments by the appellate courts that he has approached or will approach (depending on where the pendulum of appeal swings at the Court of Appeal), to upturn the tribunal’s judgment.

    And this … Just last Wednesday President Muhammadu Buhari finally constituted his cabinet, about six months into the inauguration of his government. Of all the appointments, apart from the disappointments in many of the postings which proved book makers wrong, that of former Lagos State governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola who bagged both the power and works and housing ministries, has attracted the most comments. Hopefully, we would have the opportunity to comment more on this and other developments as they unfold now that I am back.

    I thank all those who were not aware I was on leave and therefore voiced concerns over the ‘disappearance’ of my column. Like the ram that keeps moving back, I have only gone to get reinvigorated. Continue to ‘stay tuned’.

     

  • Thank you all

    Thank you all

    But for fear of being reprimanded by one of my lecturers in those days who banned us from using the expression ‘words are not enough to express my gratitude’, I would have said just that in appreciation of the uncommon show of affection and support to me by our friends and relations during the burial of my father, Special Apostle Gabriel Adeshina Adegboyega on October 10.

    I am particularly grateful to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Minister of Solid Mineral Resources, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who ‘threatened’ to be there and ‘carried out the threat’. I am also grateful to Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, former Chairman, Punch Nigeria Ltd; Mr Tunji Bello, Secretary to the Lagos State Government;  Professors Adebayo Williams, Tunji Dare, Ropo Sekoni, Moses Makinde; Ambassador Dapo Fafowora; Mr Bolaji Sanusi, Managing Director, Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA);  Mr Victor Ifijeh, Managing Director, The Nation Newspaper; Mr Ade Odunewu, Executive Director, Finance and Administration; Editor (Daily) Mr Gbenga Omotoso; Chairman, Editorial Board, Mr Sam Omatseye; Mr Kayode Komolafe, Deputy Managing Director THISDAY Newspaper;  Mr Louis Odion, former Commissioner for Information, Edo State; Mr Waheed Odusile, President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Mr Chuddy Oduenyi.

    I am also grateful to our General Editor, Mr Adekunle Ade-Adeleye; General Manager, Corporate Services, Mr Soji Omotunde; Group Sports Editor, Ade Ojeikere; Chief  Internal Auditor, Mr  Sunday Adeleke; Editorial Page Editor, Mr Sanya Oni; editorial board members –  Olakunle Abimbola, Femi Macaulay and his wife; Mr Steve Osuji; Mr Segun Ayobolu, Editor-at-Large, and Mrs Christiana Babalola, former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Oyo State; Mr Wale Adeeyo, and Mr Akin Ogungbe, Chief Executive Officer, IDCL.

    To the Chairman, CSS Bookshops Ltd/Bookshop House Ltd, Ven Segun Agbetuyi; former Chairman of Spring Bank and Ogboye of Oke Ona, Chief Eddy Amosu; Omogbadero of Owu, Prince Laja Omofade; Asiwaju of Awori Land, Senator Ayo Otegbola; Director, Sterling Publishers PVT, India Vikas Ghai; Archbishop, Ibadan Province of The African Church, J.O.O Abbe;  as well as Olumuyiwa Aduroja, SAN, I also say a big thank you. Others included The Nation’s Legal Admin. and Personnel Manager, Mrs Folake Adeoye and her husband; Executive Secretary, Newspaper Proprietors Association of  Nigeria, Mr Feyi Smith; barristers Gabriel Amalu, Paschal Madu, Rev and Mrs E.O. Ogungbe as well as members of Ivory League and their wives.

    Special thanks also to the Chairman, Emmanuel District of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, Special Apostle/Pastor S.O. Ewulo; the teams from C and S Movement Church, Olorunsogo District; C and S Movement Church, Ilasamaja Branch; C and S Movement Church, Aba Efun Quarters; (Ife/Iwo District, Ibadan); C and S Movement Church, Oke- Afa,  C and S Movement Church,  Challenge Branch, Ibadan;  C and S Unification Campus Fellowship, Yabatech Chapter, as well as Mafoluku Landlords Association and others too numerous to mention. Above all, I am grateful to the Almighty God who gave us good weather throughout the three-day event.

  • At Large, at large at last!

    At Large, at large at last!

    Finally, death, that necessary end, came for versatile sports editor, Abimbola Akinloye, on October 13. I was on leave, trying to recover from the shock of my father’s death when death sneaked in and took Akinloye away. I cannot remember when exactly we met at The Punch. But I remember he was the sports editor there for some years and he maintained a weekly column that he called ‘At Large’, which was a must read for sports fans then. Soft-spoken, easy going, Akinloye could hardly hurt a fly. I can count the number of times he was ever angry. Yet, he was diligent at his work.

    After my exit from Punch, I lost touch with him until a few years back when he resurfaced in this paper, after a chance meeting with our group sports editor, Ade Ojeikere. They had useful discussions and Abimbola thereafter began a weekly column with us. It took some time for me to notice because (I must confess) I am not a sports enthusiast. When I eventually got to know he was writing for us, I tried reaching him on phone and succeeded on at least one occasion that I can remember. We spoke at length, compared notes and promised that we would be communicating frequently thereafter. That never came to be.

    For one, Akinloye, even in the best of times in those days at The Punch, was not an extrovert. But things had even degenerated further about two decades later, as he had almost become a recluse as a result of (what I was told was) a terrible sickness. For this ageless sports editor, we lost touch again, at least as far as communicating with each other was concerned. I just came to the office about three weeks ago to check on one or two persons (as I had been on leave since October 1) only to be told that Akinloye had died.  It sounded incredible initially but I was devastated when I confirmed it was true. Akinloye has since been buried, but I owe him this short tribute.

    Incredible,  At Large is finally at large; never to be seen again.

    May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

     

  • A dad like no other

    A dad like no other

    Tribute to a worthy father

    And it came to pass. My father, Special Apostle Gabriel Adeshina Adegboyega eventually passed on August 11, a week to his 80th birthday. Born in Lagos on August 18, 1935, Special Apostle Adegboyega was the only surviving child of his mother, the Late Madam Christiana Olaide Adegboyega (nee Gooding), who had twins thrice and lost them all. His father, Pa Jonathan Ola Adegboyega died in 1984. It was therefore not surprising that the mother was resolute that nothing would take her son this time around without having her to contend with. She put her all into it, and, luckily, the son not only survived her, he died about 20 years after the mother passed on.

    My father’s experiences in life; particularly in his 35-year sojourn in Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) Plc have taught me that life is full of risks and every profession has its fair share of them. Being a banker is sweet, with all its allures. I can say that and confidently too because I know the ‘privileges’ I enjoyed even as a ‘common bank manager’s son’ back in those days. ‘Omo manager ni’yen’ (that’s the (bank) manager’s son), was the usual way I was introduced whenever I went to any important function with my father.

    On another level, however, I was a proud beneficiary of the bank’s scholarship designed for the children of the bank’s members of staff at a time when my father was almost nothing there in the ’70s. I was then about 12 years old. We were interviewed by a panel, including some white men (or a white man) and my father’s grooming on the common pitfalls before the day of interview greatly helped in my scaling the hurdles. Then, it was easy for the son of a nobody like me to get the scholarship because merit was the watchword. I do not know whether the scheme is still there and if so, whether it is still intact with its soul and innocence.

    Back to my dad. For a child that was thought would not even clock 15 years to have lived for about 80 years was a record. What happened was that, at age 13 (1948), just out of curiosity, the young Adegboyega went to a Christ Apostolic Church at then number 98, Lagos Street, Ebute-Metta, Lagos, where a vision revealed that he was not likely to witness his 15th birthday. This was corroborated in several other places. The solution, the pastor told him, was prayer and fasting. Despite being a boy then, Adegboyega did not take the matter lightly. He eventually got addicted, as it were, to both, until death did them part. I remember I once asked him in the ’80s why he would always be fasting when he had money to buy food and indeed ensured that the rest of his household had enough to eat and drink. He replied that I would soon find out. I have. This earth, my brother! Apologies to Kofi Awoonor!!

    The world, indeed, is war. After battling with many childhood challenges, the old man also contended with many challenges, especially in his years at UBN. I recall an occasion when (I think in 1983) I was doing my vacation job at the Osogbo branch of the bank. He indulged me the use of his personal car, a Datsun 180K saloon, to work (bank managers then were not found with the exotic cars we now see many bank workers in) but somehow, on this fateful day, I refused to take the car to the office because my father had chastised me the day before, for an offence I cannot remember. I never knew it was Providence at work. Right in the commercial bus that I took to Osogbo were some five or six old men who had an axe to grind with my dad. Their complaint was that Mr Adegboyega was not the first bank manager to come to that town (Ikirun, Osun State); they therefore did not know how he could be so ‘stingy’ with money that did not belong to him. In essence, they wanted loans but apparently were turned down by my father who was then the manager of Ikirun branch of Union Bank because they did not have collateral. They were then planning how they would use charms to eliminate him via road accident, knowing full well that he would always travel down to Lagos every month end to collect rent.

    I was in the spirit where I sat and continued praying that the men should never find out who I was because there were only few passengers in the vehicle. The about 20 minutes journey from Ikirun to Osogbo was like eternity. When I eventually alighted alive, I went quickly to the accountant, one Mr Adisa, and told him I was travelling to Lagos. He asked if I had told my daddy and I said no, but that it was important I travelled. Those days, there were no GSM phones and there was no internet. In no time, I was in Lagos. What shocked me again was that, as I was narrating my experience to my paternal grandmother in Lagos, my father also came in from Ikirun. I am not sure he planned to travel that day. As soon as I saw him, I stopped the discussion with his mother and there was perfect silence until he reminded us that we could not shut him out of whatever our discussion was because one of us was his mother and the other, his son.

    His mother then asked me to repeat what I just said and I did. What surprised me was the characteristic calmness with which he took the matter; saying that he already had a message in his church to that effect, and that it was nothing to worry about because God had taken charge of the situation.

    About two years or so before, when he was manager at the Iseyin (Oyo State) branch of the bank, he had another unforgettable experience. One Saturday morning, he simply told me to get ready for an outing. I did. I am not sure if any other person in the house knew where we were going but soon began to get worried when we moved further from the town to the thick bush on the way to some other towns after Iseyin where we then lived. Then in the middle of nowhere, we stopped. I quickly remembered the story of Abraham and Isaac. Then, as I kept wondering what our business was in the thick bush, he asked me to bring out a cellophane bag from the booth of the car. It was then I knew that the bag contained charms and amulets.

    It was at this point that he told me what our mission was: to burn those charms and amulets. But not until he had explained to me how he came about them, because that, naturally, was the next question I would have asked him. I knew that he had given up all fetish practices since becoming a Christian, and especially since he became an elder in the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church. One after the other he brought those things out from the bag and began to tell me who gave him what. All of them were given to him by people we knew to be his friends and who were very influential in the town, ostensibly to protect him against enemies that might want to harm him because of his strict adherence to the banking rules and procedures, especially as they pertained to loans and advances. Everybody needs loans but not everybody can afford to repay.

    He then told me the other reason why he could not have had anything to do with those charms apart from his being a Christian, which, really, is the native intelligence aspect of the incident: he said even if he was still using charms and amulets, it did not make sense for him to use those ones because he was an ‘odd man out’. In other words, all the people that gave the things to him were indigenes of the town; how then could he be sure that they all meant well with the charms and amulets?

    I can go on and on. In spite of its allures, however, I pity bankers because many of them had gone to prison for crimes they never actually committed. I pity them too because many must have died prematurely over loans and advances that they either refused to give or that they gave but which later turned out to be bad loans. Be that as it may, I must thank whoever or whatever averted UBN’s dissolution under Charles Soludo’s ‘consolidation’ of the banking sector in 2005 for contributing immensely to my father’s longevity. The bank was his life and he was ever proud to introduce himself as a retired Union Bank manager, with a big emphasis on the bank’s name.  But what has happened to the banking sector in the country? Where is the honesty of old, the hard work and discipline  that still made it possible for someone like my father with only limited academic qualifications to rise to the position of manager in an established bank like UBN? We need some soul-searching.

    Of course this piece would not be complete without mentioning the fact that my father was a strict disciplinarian. This runs through in almost all the tributes on him. He was also a devout Christian.  I was therefore not surprised that he died in the course of a sickness which began on August 5 on his way to a midweek service, and from which he never recovered.

    May his soul rest in perfect peace as he returns to Mother Earth on October 10.

     

    This column will be on leave for the next few weeks. Please bear with me.

  • The import of Saraki’s trial

    The import of Saraki’s trial

    It is significant that our Number Three  Citizen is undergoing trial

    Whether Senate President Bukola Saraki is guilty as charged of any, some, or all of the 13-count charge levelled against him by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) or not is immaterial. To me, the import of his arraignment before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Tuesday is the significant thing at the end of the day. Dr. Saraki is the country’s Number Three Citizen. But that should count for nothing when allegations of the type made against him as senate president are concerned. Indeed, it is in our kind of country where such a consideration is an issue.  Elsewhere, even sitting presidents could be tried but for the immunity that many of them enjoy.

    So, the fact that Nigeria has come to a stage where its Number Three Citizen could be taken to court to account for his past actions, even while in office, is significant. This is a country that has thrived for too long on impunity and unless this tendency is checked, we can never make progress. Nobody should have the feeling of being above the law. For me, that is the icing on the cake in the matter.

    Senator Saraki has specifically been accused of making anticipatory declaration of House 15A and 15B, McDonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; failure to declare property on Plot 2A, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos; failure to declare property on No. 1, Tagus Street, Maitama, Abuja (Plot 2482, Cadastral Zone A06, Abuja); failure to declare property No.3 Tagus Street, Maitama, Abuja (Plot 2481, Cadastral Properties Ltd) and claiming to own property on No. 42, Gerard Road, Ikoyi and earning N110,000,000.00 per annum on it at a time the property was under construction. Other allegations are: failure to declare N375m GTB loan converted to 1.5m Pound Sterling and used to purchase property in London; operating a foreign bank account; transferring of $3.4m from GTB to foreign bank account during his tenure as governor and failure to declare leasehold interest in No. 42, Remi Fani-Kayode Street, Ikeja, among others.

    But rather than face the issues, some Nigerians, as usual, are beginning to read political meaning into the trial. For me, this is neither here nor there. Much as this may just be true, it may also be only perceived to be so. But again, whatever it is should count for anything. What we should be bothered about is whether Dr. Saraki is in the dock for the appropriate reason/s or not. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s elite have a way of hiding under all manner of excuses when they are put on the spot. They are either alleging political persecution or flying the ethnic or religious kite, whichever suits them. Now, how does political victimisation answer the questions posed by Dr. Saraki’s arraignment? It is a matter of ‘did you’ or ‘did you not’? That, I think, is the issue and those alleging political victimisation know this too well. But that has always been the way our elite shielded themselves from trial in the past. Rather than address issues, they launch into the realm of irrelevancies.

    Indeed, but for the times that are fast changing with the fall of the ancien regime at the polls in March, Dr. Saraki had, before finally making up his mind to appear before the CCT, raced to the Federal High Court, Abuja, with an ex-parte application seeking to prevent the CCT from proceeding with his trial, the way the big people in the country used to frustrate the judicial process in the past under the guise of protecting themselves. We have one of them that has been under the cover of perpetual injunction not to be investigated for years!  As usual, the plank of Dr. Saraki’s argument was not that he is guilty or not, but that of technicalities. He wants the court to order that the status quo be maintained in the matter. “In the absence of any substantive AGF in the time being, this court (Federal High Court, Abuja) has the jurisdiction to direct parties to maintain status quo, pending the hearing of the motion on notice”. His argument is that since there is no subsisting AGF as provided for in Section 24 (1) of the CCB and tribunal, the charge against him by the official of the AGF before the CCT was null and void. Thus, we saw the usual resort to technicalities in the past that has had many cases of fraud and corruption in the country inconclusive, in some cases for years. It is these same technicalities that many people have exploited in the country to shield themselves from trial when their collaborators in other countries have already acclimatised to prison life.

    Watchers of our political development must have seen a recurring pattern in the reluctance of our big people to be called to question over the decades, particularly since the beginning of this democratic dispensation in 1999. The argument about persecution is taken to the ridiculous extent of alleging that someone is being tried because someone does not like his face. And I have always argued that we should be less bothered about that. What should concern us is whether the person being accused is guilty or innocent. But our big people want a utopian situation whereby all thieves would be caught at a time; another way of saying thieves should never be caught. I do not know any country where all the thieves were simultaneously rounded up. We should deal with situation as they arise. If the then President Olusegun Obasanjo had caught thieves that were his enemies and Umaru Yar’Adua had also caught thieves whose faces he did not like, the number of big thieves would have been drastically reduced in the country because people would be mindful of the possibility of the coming to power of a king that would not know Joseph. Of course no one would have expected former President Goodluck Jonathan to catch any thief because he did not see any. As far as he was concerned, the monumental corruption that went on unabated under his very nose was nothing to worry about; it was mere stealing! Notwithstanding, we would have fewer big thieves to contend with in the country today if his predecessors had caught the thieves that they could catch in their time, be they friends or foes. Many of the big people would have been serving their jail terms now.

    However, whether Dr. Saraki should step down from his exalted office or not is a different question entirely. That is purely a moral decision left to him since our laws presume an accused guilty until when convicted by a competent court. Although in our clime, accused are looked at scornfully; in some other countries, it is not so. One may not have felt comfortable having the country’s Number Three Citizen in the dock, with the media making the picture to tell the kind of stories that suited their fancy; some slanted the picture of the senate president in the dock to look like that of a trapped rabbit, etc. I still feel Dr Saraki should be left alone to take the decision as to whether he felt sufficiently embarrassed enough to want to continue in office or whether to see through the trial to the end. But the signal is good for our political and other elites; including bankers who fiddled with their customers’ money, that it is no longer business as usual. A man who stole a goat because he is hungry due to the activities of our corrupt rich that have made jobs disappear into the oblivion should not be sent to prison when those responsible for his plight are moving freely, in some cases, with police protection.

  • Next level indeed

    Next level indeed

    Nigerians devise new way to launder money: swallow dollars!

    Some years back, gonorrhea was seen as a disease of the famous in the country. At least that was the way those selling what they regarded as its cure in Molue buses used to advertise the product/s. The reason why the disease was so regarded probably has to do with the temptations that come with fame, some of which are irresistible. Attraction to the opposite sex ranks high. Since the idea of asking people to zip up was not yet common then, chances of people contracting gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were very high.  What the gonorrhea cure vendors were saying in essence is that should someone who is not too famous contract the disease, he or she had nothing to be ashamed of. He or she should just walk into any hospital or contact the local drug seller for solution. Today, despite the avalanche of churches and mosques, as well as all manner of campaign asking people to refrain from premarital sex, or have at most one sexual partner if they cannot flee from it, we have many cases of STDs

    Just as these STDs used to be the disease of the famous; so was money laundering, at least in Nigeria. Mere mortals could not have engaged in it because the stakes were usually high. Hence, it was usually heads of state, governors, ministers, etc. that engaged in money laundering. Some of them, including highly placed Nigerians, have had their days in jail abroad for engaging in it. But what we hear these days is that because some of those countries that they used to stash the money (usually ill-gotten wealth) have tightened the noose on them due to fears that such monies could be used for terrorism or drug-related matters, these rich Nigerians have now devised a way to beat the new measures. They are now said to be ‘warehousing’ those monies in buildings that they constructed specifically for that purpose. If this is true, then it is only a matter of time for us to be led into the new tricks of our big thieves.

    But, just as our big men are trying to find a haven for their ill-gotten wealth, some not-too-rich Nigerians came up with their own version of money laundering. According to reports, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) Joint Task Force (JTF) team has smashed a money laundering syndicate of six at a hotel on Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos. They allegedly swallowed $156,000 cash in a money laundering bid.

    What we were used to are stories about people swallowing hard drugs with the intention of taking them abroad to sell. Even when that started, it was strange to the rest of us who could never in our wild imagination have thought it possible or practicable for human beings to swallow hard drugs with the intention of excreting it later for monetary gains.  That practice apparently is still very much with us as the law enforcers keep making arrests that are widely reported in the media. But with advancement in science and technology, it was only a matter of time for the appropriate machines to be developed to catch up with such characters. Of recent, security agents have begun to arrest people with suspicious huge foreign currencies at our airports, with the aim of exporting such huge sums contrary to the law. Again, this seems not to be enough. But, like the Abiku (Ogbanje) and his mother who continue to engage one another in a battle of wits, those bent on making money, no matter how, have continued to deploy their God-given talent for even more sinister purposes. Given this new dimension, it would seem killing for ritual purposes too would soon be on the decline because many of those in the act are also being caught. Perhaps these are the reasons that made some other people come up with the idea of swallowing cash.

    Nigerians may not be the only nationals harbouring all manner of criminals, local and international, but we should hardly be surprised when our people are subjected to extraordinary frisking by security agents abroad because, if we have lost our own capability to be shocked, we should not expect others to be like us; and when they don’t, we should not be crying foul as if we do not know the extent some of us can go to get rich quick. It beats my imagination that people could be as ingenious as to even contemplate swallowing money. An equally baffled online commentator appropriately tagged it “Next Level Money Laundering”. I doubt if there could have been a better headline for the report.

    I wrote on this same page that for everything that God or man has made, there is always an adulterated version. When we talk about money laundering, it was not something for the hoi polloi; it was and remains a crime committed by the rich and mighty. But the poor who want to do what the rich do but could not muster the huge amounts the rich launder allegedly came together, with six of them trying to export $156,000. Even at a generous exchange rate of N220 to a dollar, the total amount is N34.3 million. Is this sufficient for six men to take the risk of swallowing cash? Many of those who swallowed drugs died in the process; just as many who are crossing over to Europe from Africa in search of the elusive better life. Yet, none of these is sufficient to deter others from doing same. Swallow cash? This sure, is more than next level in need. It smells more of next level indeed.

    The Nwosus, the police and jurisdiction 

    Even as the full and final report of what actually led to the abduction, on Monday, of Toyin, wife of the Deputy Managing Director of The Sun, Steve Nwosu, is yet to be released, one thing that has come out of it is the question of jurisdiction. According to report, when the marauders got to the Nwosus’ house, the husband placed calls through to the ‘Area E’ Division of the Nigeria Police Force in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, but they did not respond on time because, according to them, the street where the Nwosus live is under Okota Police Division, which is outside their jurisdiction. I am not a policeman and therefore do not know how these things work. But I guess the divisions were created for administrative convenience and should therefore facilitate, rather than hinder efficiency. The Fire Brigade is a good example. When there is a fire incident, and you call the appropriate emergency numbers, fire fighters from as many as three fire stations could meet at the scene and collaborate to put out the fire. That, I think, should be the model. The police authorities could look at the issue again if that, strictly speaking, is not what obtains now.

    It is gratifying that Mrs Nwosu was released at about 2.20 a.m. on Thursday. But the family might have been saved the agony if the police division initially contacted had responded swiftly.

  • Labour’s timely campaign

    Labour’s timely campaign

    Buhari must seize the momentum of the National Rally on Good Governance and Corruption

    For once in recent years, Organised Labour in Nigeria impressed me with the protest march it organised against corruption in 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, last Thursday. The states are Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Edo, Kogi, Kaduna, Plateau, Rivers, Bauchi, Jigawa, Abia and Enugu.  This is the way it should be. Labour is a critical segment of the country’s population and should be in the vanguard of progressive movement, including calling governments to order when they are derailing. The last time we saw labour in action in this country was during the fuel subsidy riots in January 2012. Even by the time that struggle was over; many allegations were levelled against the labour leaders, with some Nigerians believing that they eventually sold out to the Goodluck Jonathan government.

    Matters have not been helped concerning the Labour movement by the scams that have been brewing in its fold, first on the Nigeria Labour Congress’ (NLC)  now messy and controversial housing scheme, and the last February NLC elections that were stalemated. Many people believed the latter was the result of the infiltration of the Labour movement by  unprogressive elements in the country who would not want Organised Labour to speak with one voice, knowing that once they are able to unite, then, the antics of the corrupt ruling elite would be exposed and neutralised.

    That Labour was joined by some civil society groups is a good development because the civil society groups that were very active in the military era simply went to sleep as soon as we returned to democratic rule in 1999. This, indeed, was one of the things that the looters exploited to empty our treasury.

    I was fascinated not only by the protest march but also by the statements made at the rallies. Realising the despicable role that the judiciary had played in strengthening corruption in the country, the protesters warned: “Gone is the day when people that are corrupt will get perpetual injunctions restraining EFCC from prosecuting them. If we have such cases, Nigerian workers are ready to go to their residences and bring them to court and also interrogate the judge … We are also demanding that the penalty for corrupt public officers should be … capital punishment. It has worked elsewhere and there is no reason why it should not work here”. But this threat will remain an empty threat unless if the protest was genuine and it came from the bottom of the hearts of the organisers and their members. The point must be made, and poignantly so, too, that this is the mood of the nation. Those who want President Muhammadu Buhari to move on without looking at this sordid past are either the looters or their agents. We need to know what happened to our collective patrimony.

    I suspect that it is only a matter of time for the looters to quarrel with the capital punishment for them because rich people hate the sight of blood. It is for the same reason that they dislike the word ‘revolution’. But they almost always instigate revolution with their actions. For those opposed to capital punishment, Ghana remains a typical example. We all know what Ghana was like before the intervention of Jerry Rawlings who publicly executed six military generals, including former heads of state, over the same issue of corruption in 1979, in what has become known as the “Jerry Rawlings Solution”. The result is what that country is today. Even former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Farida Waziri, recommended the same panacea for Nigeria: “If some 20 high-profile offenders are tried and sentenced to death, this will send shock waves to Nigerians and curb both the impunity and intolerable prevalence of corruption in Nigeria”, she once said. Ghana may not be the best of countries even today, but it is far better than Nigeria in terms of corruption.

    Again, China has capital punishment for corrupt persons and that country is not doing badly either. When we even consider that what we are contending with are not pick-pockets but hardened thieves, then we see the need to be more draconian about corruption. For every naira that is stolen from the public till, someone suffers. Indeed, we cannot count the number of people that the massive looting we witnessed in recent years had killed. We cannot quantify the amount of social dislocation either. So, why must we allow those who caused such havoc to continue to harass us with their ill-gotten wealth?

    Labour has every reason to be worried about corruption. Many people have said it, and it is clear that this country has to kill corruption so that corruption would not kill it. Our textile sector is a typical example of how bad things have become for workers in the country and also a reason why Labour must be interested in how the country is being run. A company like Afprint, for example, used to operate three shifts with about 2,000 workers per shift; that was a workforce of 6,000 from one company alone. The 6,000 did not include management and administrative staff, not to talk of expatriate staff. All that is gone simply because of mismanagement and corruption in high places! And this is for just one sector of the economy. Unfortunately, many of those who ruled the country, particularly in the immediate past, do not seem to be remorseful of the grievous harm they did this country’s economy through their unbridled lust for public funds.

    Labour’s intervention at this point in time is good. Indeed, elsewhere, such intervention would have sent the guilty panting because they know the implication. Labour however has to put its house in order to be able to continue to speak with one voice and sustain the trust and confidence of Nigerians. None of those who stole this country blind would be happy seeing that NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) can come together to protest and even recommend the death penalty for them. If it is possible to check their pants, we would see evidence of the fear underneath. As for me, I do not have any strong sentiment for or against capital punishment. But then, I want to agree with Labour that people who brought this once-upon-a great nation to its present sorry state deserve nothing but the severest punishment. What they have done is worse than armed robbery. It is even the more annoying when such people are still walking as free citizens and making provocative and insensitive statements about the country, less than four months after losing out in a general election. In saner climes, many of these people would be hibernating in the remotest parts of the country, praying that no one should open the book of remembrance that would make people fish them out. Indeed, many of them would by now be cooling their heels behind bars or in hell in a place like China. But here they are, because this is Nigeria, they are just opening their mouths and all sorts of nonsense are coming out.

    President Buhari should seize the momentum by ensuring that nothing goes wrong with the anti-corruption war. No one should be deceived that those who looted the country’s treasury, like their type elsewhere, would go to sleep. As they say, corruption will always fight back. The corrupt know they have murdered sleep and therefore cannot sleep any longer, especially with a person like Buhari as president. So, they must be plotting every minute on how to scuttle the anti-graft war if they fail in their bid to negotiate their way out of the mess they put the country. I hear some of them are already being led to the president by some eminent people who they think can get them out of trouble. I also guess the president knows better.

    As I have always said, however, Nigeria should be interested most in its money; those of them who are penitent and return their loot may be pardoned. But it won’t be a bad idea if the hardened criminals among them rot in jail. If death penalty is considered anachronistic, then they should get nothing short of life sentence. There should be no opportunity of coming out of jail to enjoy the loot. That can only work in a country where people have a sense of shame; not in Nigeria.