The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tunji Adegboyega

  • Clinging to the serpent for help

    Clinging to the serpent for help

    That govs had to rush to IBB and OBJ to save democracy shows the depth we have  sunk 

    In one breath, it is good to commend the five northern governors who, seeing the way the country is drifting like a rudderless ship, took the matter to three of the country’s former heads of state. Yet, in another breath, one could also query the wisdom behind the decision. In a country where birds are no longer singing like birds and rats are not crying like rats, that is exactly what to do: look for people with the experience to intervene and get the country back on track. It is only when there are no elders that a country goes into ruins; it is also when the family head is no more that the house becomes desolate. Nigeria, as it is today is like the proverbial child strapped into its mother’s back but with its head bent. When that happens, then the elders around have become the exact opposite of what true elders should be.

    The governors in question are Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano). Nyako was not at the meeting held last Monday, which lasted two hours at the Presidential Lodge in Minna, the Niger State capital as he was reported to have been held back in Yola by a meeting with a Camerounian envoy. He was however represented by his deputy. They met with Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar. The good thing about the development is that the five governors are all of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The governors had earlier paid a similar visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 20.

    The visits afforded these former leaders the opportunity to play the roles they hardly could play well. General Babangida in particular must have relished the visit because it afforded him an opportunity to come into national limelight once again. Hear him: “I want to commend the governors and some of their colleagues. I was very impressed because they have seen the problem of the country as our problem and they have taken the right steps to consult widely in trying to find solution to some of these problems.

    “These governors are real patriots and I am very happy and I told them so,” Gen. Babangida said after the meeting.

    Now, what are Babangida’s antecedents? This is a man on whom we can write volumes without making reference to any library. This is a man who had all the opportunity in the world to write his name in gold but chose, rather, for selfish reason, to write it on the marble of infamy. If we look at his economic programme, the so-called Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP); it was a monumental failure. It was during his reign that the country’s currency lost its essence and it has never recovered from the slide of that era. In Babangida’s time, his go the slumber to talk about corruption despite the fact that the issue had become a cankerworm then.

    Babangida, perhaps, might have been forgiven for all of his maladministration if only he had honoured his promise to hand over to a democratically elected government. But, rather than do that, he chose to scuttle the process in spite of the billions that his government sank into a transition programme that failed, in line with the design of the evil genius. Babangida kept shifting the goal post, banning and unbanning politicians depending on his whims and caprices. As is usual with all evil geniuses, Babangida eventually shot himself in the foot when the June 12, 1993 election finally held in a peaceful atmosphere, contrary to the chaos that the Babangida government had expected. After failing to stop the election via a kangaroo court ruling on the eve of the election, and seeing that Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola was coasting to victory, Babangida summoned the courage to finally annul the result of the election, adjudged the fairest and freest in the country’s history. Now how can a man with this kind of antecedent save democracy?

    In the same vein, if it takes the deep to communicate with the deep, I do not know what lesson someone like Chief Obasanjo wants to teach when the issue is democracy. His eight-year tenure, from 1999 to 2007 was replete with various acts that were detrimental to democratic ethos. Is it his seizure of Lagos funds for months that we want to commend? Or the illegal manner by which some governors were removed by people backed by the Obasanjo presidency.

    As a matter of fact, this is the script that his estranged political son, President Goodluck Jonathan, has been playing and which is now heating the polity unduly. He did it in his home state of Bayelsa and got away with it. Now, he is experimenting with it in Rivers State, where he wants to remove the democratically elected governor, Rotimi Amaechi, by hook or crook. Although Jonathan’s presidency has continued to deny its involvement in the Rivers fracas, the more it does that, the more opprobrium it gets from Nigerians who are seeing through the presidency’s hands in all the shenanigans going on in that state.

    When the president of the federal republic descends so low as to be involved in the politics of a mere governors’ club and he gets rubbished in the process, whose fault is that? And, if the presidency still has not learnt its lesson and be able to truly gauge its true worth in the eye of the average Nigerian correctly, then it should have no one but itself to blame for whatever disgrace it attracts to itself. It is this Dance Macabre by the presidency that has made the five governors rush to where there can never be salvation in search of solution to some self-inflicted crises.

    That is the kind of thing that happens when one is caught up in the circle of confusion. The tendency is for such a drowning person not to mind clinging even to a serpent for help. Going to Babangida and Obasanjo to help solve problems of democratic nature is akin to asking someone to give what he does not have. Clearly, these two generals do not have any answer to the problems we have at this point in time. The only good thing working for General Abubakar is the fact that he promised to hand over the reins of power to a democratic government and he did within what we considered a reasonable time. But the choice of the then powers-that-be (Obasanjo) has turned out to be a disaster. But, if we can give General Abubakar the benefit of the doubt; we cannot for Generals Obasanjo and Babangida. Indeed, but for our common resolve, Babangida would have returned after he was forced to ‘step aside’ in August 1993. Nigerians seem unanimous in telling Babangida that ‘you step aside today, ‘you step aside forever’. In like manner, Obasanjo would have got a third term through the back door if we were not resolute in saying ‘no’.

    Politicians in the country have to ponder this sad development. By going to Babangida and Obasanjo in search of solution to democratic challenges is indication of how things have degenerated in the country. It shows the depth to which we have sunk as a people because, apart from General Abubakar, the other two generals are in the red in terms of goodwill and can therefore not draw anything from its bank. We gave them enough rope to tie themselves and they did not disappoint us. How then can they be the ones to rescue democracy, the very thing on whose grave they danced naked in their eras in government and in power?

  • The real tragedy of victory

    The real tragedy of victory

    Thoughts from Alabi-Isama’s Civil War memoirs

    It is not all the time that book presentations are fascinating. Indeed, they are seen usually as somber occasions for the serious-minded people; which means they are regarded more or less as ‘dry’ events. But not so the presentation of The tragedy of victory – on the spot account of the Nigeria-Biafra War in the Atlantic Theatre by Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama. In the about three hours that the occasion, held at the Bolaji Akinyemi Auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) on Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, lasted, there was never a dull moment.

    To start with, it was one that paraded a galaxy of retired military officers and other stars, some of them the best that this country ever produced. These included General Theophilus Danjuma, General Ike Nwachukwu, Gen. Raji Rasaki, Gen Alani Akinrinade, Gen Femi Daramola, Gen Mobolaji Johnson, Prof Wale Omole, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, representative of Emir of Ilorin, General Emmanuel Abisoye, renowned essayist, Prof Adebayo Williams; former Governor of Ogun State Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, among others. Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon could not make it to the event even though he had promised to if there was a window of opportunity. There were also some traditional rulers in attendance, as well as the Director-General of the NIIA, Prof Bola Akinterinwa.

    One of the major participants who ought to have been present but was conspicuously absent was General Olusegun Obasanjo, the author of My Command, a book which was almost torn to shreds by speaker after speaker at the presentation. Some had thought that Chief Obasanjo, for who he is, could spring a surprise by making it to the book presentation even if not invited. But that seemed only remotely possible, given the fireworks that had occurred between him and General Alabi-Isama after the latter had granted an interview to this paper in which he referred to Obasanjo as a ‘blundering general’. Of course, characteristically, Chief Obasanjo fired back; but the harm had been done because the interview had started to put doubts in the minds of many right-thinking Nigerians about some of the claims made by Obasanjo in ‘his command’ before the day of reckoning, which was last Thursday, came.

    Ordinarily, history should be as straightforward as a simple arithmetic or mathematics, especially when, like either, it is not raised to power anything. But ours is a country where people want to place history, including the very ones that we witnessed, upside down. It should be expected in a country where poverty is pervasive and people are ready to do anything for money, especially dirty money. Yes, it is possible, as human beings, to make mistakes in the process of recording some historical accounts, either because of the time lag or because of other reasons. But we must be able to differentiate mistakes of the heart from mistakes of the head. Like when a handshake is going below the elbow, presenting falsehood as gospel truth (which is what Alabi-Isama, General Akinrinade and others at the book presentation accused Obasanjo of), is reprehensible. Although General Obasanjo was literally in the dock on Thursday, he was conspicuously absent to defend himself. But it is good for Nigerians to have this pluralism of accounts on a major event as the country’s Civil War.

    However, the occasion was not just about the stiffness usually associated with book launch. In spite of the seriousness of the issues raised, there were also moments to remember in the lighter mood. For instance, if you thought it was only in the days of the Roman Empire that women (the so-called weaker sex) had serious grip over men, (the so-called stronger sex), you are mistaken; as it was then, so it is even now. Our own General Danjuma revealed that much when he said it was his wife who persuaded him to be at the book presentation. He said, as usual with most well-to-do Nigerians, this time of the year is when they usually travel out and he would have been out of the country, but for his wife who prevailed on him to personally grace the occasion. For people with dirty minds that might still be wondering what is happening, what madam used on ‘oga’ is ‘woman power’; this is quite different from ‘bottom power’. And, in case you are still in the woods, it is women that are outside that use ‘bottom power’, but when used from within, that is ‘woman power’! I used to think such things won’t work on a general as tough as the Danjuma of whom our coup stories sing. For those who were attentive at the book launch, they would also have heard from the horse’s mouth that even in the war front, ‘body no be wood’! As it is in peace times, so it is also in war situations.

    But there were very serious matters that the occasion also brought to the front burner of discourse. The occasion reminded Nigerians about how their money is being wasted to train military officers at home and abroad, only to retire them in their prime. Perhaps those so retired are even lucky because many of their colleagues were killed in or for participating in one coup d’état or the other. General Alabi-Isama was one of those retired prematurely. But, as he was lamenting his own untimely retirement at age 39, General Gowon reminded him that he was not alone, and that Alabi-Isama was much lucky as he (Isama) was only retired but in his (Gowon’s) case, it was double jeopardy. Gowon said he was not only retired prematurely, he ‘was also shoved aside’.

    Perhaps the most touching of the side attractions at the book presentation is the utter neglect that those who had served this country are suffering. The author brought to the event Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, the man who designed the Nigerian flag. Almost everyone present felt guilty that such a man could be neglected in old age and wondered what sort of country ours is where we leave our true heroes to rot in obscurity while celebrating nonentities. Imagine a man like General Benjamin Adekunle (the ‘Black Scorpion’ as he is fondly called), one of those celebrated in the book. He is bed-ridden and there is little to show that the government is doing enough to get him to live a normal life again.

    This was a man who fought gallantly during the Civil War to preserve the country. If we treat our heroes like this, how do we expect the younger generation to believe in the country? How do we tell them that it pays for them to lay down their lives for the Fatherland? How do we convince them not to dip their hands into the public till when in service, in order to provide for the rainy day when there will be no one to remember them? Well, we can still make amends concerning Adekunle and Pa Akinkunmi and many others who are still alive. Many of their colleagues have died, unsung.

    There is a lot more to say within the about three hours that the event lasted. Suffice it to say that the Civil War, an account of which Alabi-Isama has just given, ended on January 15, 1970, some 43 years ago. Have we learnt any lessons? Speakers at the book presentation do not think so. And I agree with them. That, for me, is the real tragedy of victory.

  • Rivers’ lawless five

    Rivers’ lawless five

    The President should call his goons to order instead of denying things that even angels cannot convince Nigerians about 

    How will former President Olusegun Obasanjo be feeling now, seeing the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency struggling to surpass his (Obasanjo’s) record in infamy? That is the question on the lips of many Nigerians who have been watching the nauseating developments in Rivers State. At the speed the presidency of his estranged political godson is travelling on the highway of impunity, it may beat his (Obasanjo’s) record before the 2015 election. President Jonathan has told us he is not Pharaoh; he said he is not Nebuchadnezzar either; but what he has not told us is who the son of man is. Perhaps he wants us to find out.

    Many of us are yet to know him; the best we can say of him is that he is a president who does not give a damn! At least that came, as they say, from the horse’s mouth. We also know him as a president who exalts figure 16 over and above figure 19. That is also a statement of fact. Till tomorrow, many of the our primary school pupils keep asking their parents and teachers about this jigsaw puzzle because, in their innocence, they want to take anything and everything coming from the president as the gospel truth. Poor kids! They are learning fast; even if it is the wrong values that they are being taught by those who should be transforming the country.

    By now, it is clear that the enemies of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State will stop at nothing to remove him. Many times they had missed the ball and went for the leg. Such was the situation on Tuesday when the state house of assembly was thrown into chaos when five members of the house wanted to impeach the Speaker, Otelemaba Amachree, and 26 others who are Amaechi’s loyalists. The personal intervention of the governor prevented the ‘lawless five’ from concluding their illegal mission.

    One might then ask: why didn’t Amaechi and the majority other lawmakers in the House allow the five members to luxuriate in their illegality and then go to court after to challenge their action? The answer is simple: we must have lost our sense of history to do that. Rashidi Ladoja did that and he regretted it; ditto Ayo Fayose, among others. I guess that must have been the reckoning of the five and their sponsors; unfortunately, again, they miscalculated. By now, the authentic speaker would have become history if they had trod that path; perhaps Amaechi too would have ceased to be governor. He would now be busy assembling a retinue of senior advocates that would fight the matter in court; mind you, not in his capacity as governor again but as ‘Simply Mr’. By the time the case is over, elections would have fallen due. Of course, if you remember the case of the two women that threw up King Solomon as a very wise king, you will also see that Amaechi’s opponents have nothing to lose if the five law breakers had been allowed to have their way; as a matter of fact, they would be profiting from their illegality now. And, you know what? They would have gone to church today to celebrate the ‘impeachment’, with some men of God blessing them too, apparently after being ‘blessed’ to conduct the thanksgiving service. The PDP is notorious for such celebrations and thanksgivings.

    That is what the Obasanjo presidency has taught us; and it is what the Jonathan presidency too wants to bequeath to us as legacy. A chip off the old block, you would say? But when a child has learnt the art of dying, the parents too must master the art of burial. That was what has happened in this case. Both Obasanjo and Jonathan have taught governors whose guts they do not like that they (governors) must get wise before and not after the illegal act. So, we are now having a culture of impunity begetting impunity.

    This is rather unfortunate. And to think that the presidency is being (even if remotely) associated with this makes it the more disheartening. The office of the president is an exalted one. But that office cannot be dignified more than the occupier wants it to be. It is sad that everything happening in the state now had been predicted; that is people want to cause enough chaos to warrant the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers. This is a reflection of the desperation of people who truly do not give a damn. What is most annoying is the Presidency’s serial denial of involvement in the developments. Perhaps it is apt to let the presidency know that Nigerians feel more and more insulted when such denials are made; and this in turn diminishes the prestige of the presidency.

    Those who have ears and know that they hear with them should listen to the voice of wisdom. The crisis in Rivers State is one (as I have always said since it became a public issue) no one can predict its end. Those who are after the state governor and think they can remove him by hook or crook might all end up rendering themselves jobless and throwing the entire country into crisis, if history is to be our guide. We all know how governors can be removed because it is stated expressly in our constitution, which is the grund norm. Jonathan’s presidency is culpable in this matter because it provided the impetus for the ‘lawless five’ who wanted to impeach a lawful speaker and replace him illegally. They would not have been that emboldened to embark on such a shameful voyage if the president himself had not given his failed candidate in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election, Jonah Jang, a heroic welcome after the defeat. If the president said 16 is greater than 19, how come those who see themselves as doing his bidding will not take the joke too far by wanting to impeach their speaker with only five in a 32-member house of assembly?

    This Rivers matter is particularly distressing because the common man cannot reap any tangible benefit from all the troubles being caused in the state. Here was a state where all manner of hoodlums once held sway but Amaechi reined them in. Now, in Port Harcourt, the ancien regime has returned, with people now having to raise their hands on the streets to show they are no criminals. If lives have not been lost yet, it is certain lives will still be lost in the course of this crisis with the audacity of the desperadoes to have their way, backed by the ‘federal might’. How then are they and their sponsors different from the ‘political’ Boko Haram that the government is fighting, because the fight in Rivers is all about political power just like that of the ‘political’ Boko Haram?

    Rivers State is sitting majestically atop enormous resources. The PDP, because of the way it has mishandled the crisis is probably afraid Amaechi might dump the party and is therefore bent on being in charge of the resources, with the 2015 election in view. Whatever PDP spent to prosecute the 2011 election is going to be a child’s play with what it would require to prosecute the 2015 polls. The election that brought President Jonathan in in 2011 was a walk-over; for sure, the next won’t be. That much is clear with the handwriting on the wall.

    But the president must be careful. It is a powerful statement that his side could not muster the simple majority required to win the 36-member NGF election, even though that was none of its business until he joined the fray. How then can a presidential side which lost at the national level hope to make it at the state level? The president should resist the temptation to use brawn where brain would have been sufficient because the result may be catastrophic. The fact that Obasanjo got away with that is no guarantee that President Jonathan will.

  • People’s revolution or military coup?

    People’s revolution or military coup?

    Time will tell in Egypt

    As at last Monday when the Egyptian military gave a 48-hour ultimatum to ousted President Mohammed Morsi to end that country’s political crisis or the military would intervene to do just that, it was almost certain that the former president’s days in office were numbered. There were no indications that he could do any magic to end the political crisis within that period because that was a thing he had not been able to do in months past. So, it was mere formality when finally the military abruptly ended Morsi’s presidency on Wednesday, at the expiration of the 48-hour ultimatum.

    Of course to Egyptians, it was both good and bad news, depending on which side of the divide the people are. While the opposition saw the fall of Morsi presidency as good riddance to bad rubbish, his supporters cried foul, insisting that what the military did amounted to a coup, even if disguised as a call to national service that the soldiers said it was. This is to be expected: one man’s food is another man’s poison. So, the debate will be on for some time as to whether the military acted right or it should have allowed the democratic process to run its full course.

    What cannot be denied however is that President Morsi was no longer able to hold the country together. That was not all, he also (as the army chief, Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi who announced the sacking of the government noted), had “failed to meet the demands of the Egyptian people”. The good thing though is that the military did not replace Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president with one of its own, but rather gave the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adli Mansour, the task of “running the country’s affairs during the transitional period until the election of a new president”. Of course Egypt is now too sophisticated for a soldier to take over in the circumstance. Gen al-Sisi also spoke of a new roadmap for the future; needless to say that the military suspended the constitution even as it pledged new elections following about four days of mass protests called by the Tamarod (Rebel) movement, in response to worsening social and economic conditions.

    For a president that came into power on June 30, 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair, following the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, it is too early to expect miracles on the economic plain. But Morsi could have done better, at least on the political front. Unfortunately, his tenure was marred by constant political unrest and a further sinking economy. Morsi compounded his woes when last November he issued a controversial constitutional declaration granting him extensive powers. Power, as we all know, corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This naturally led to a growing discontent which was exacerbated by his moves to entrench Islamic laws and concentrate power in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, a thing that irked and eventually alienated liberals and secularists. It would appear that the deposed president forgot that he was Egypt’s president and not president of just one segment of the country.

    Whilst not necessarily romanticising Morsi’s removal by the military, there are immediate lessons for Nigeria and other countries to learn from the development. The most usual lesson is that good governance has no substitute. It was lack of it that led to the unceremonious exit of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Unfortunately, Morsi who succeeded him did not seem to realise the need to build bridges across the socio-political divides. We are seeing signs of such ethnic jingoism in our politics, with ethnic champions taking over presidential battles as if it was only votes from their ethnic regions that brought the president to office. Morsi who had just about 51 percent of votes cast in the election that brought him to power last year ought to have known that his presidency was not standing on any particularly solid rock and that he needed to extend a hand of fellowship across political and other divides..

    For sure, Nigerian leaders have a lot to learn from the developments in Egypt. This is not necessarily about the military intervention but more about how the deposed president handled the crisis. Reports already say that Mr Morsi might be tried for the violent manner in which he handled the protests, especially in the front of the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters. As a matter of fact, some crimes allegedly committed by the deposed leader are now being raked up, which is not unusual when a man has fallen from grace to grass the way Morsi has. But then, the soldiers and the country’s new leadership have to be careful. As things stand, it is unlikely that Mr Morsi’s supporters will simply fold their arms and allow matters to lie low. Already, there have been violent reactions and these may continue for some time. The implication is that today’s leaders in Egypt too might be tempted to use force to quell the protests and this may open their flanks to accusations of high-handedness that they are accusing Morsi of.

    Although the last may not have been heard about the removal of Morsi, the point is, the military remains a force to reckon with in Egypt’s political calculations. This is evident in the cheap manner in which Mr Morsi was deposed. The soldiers not only gave notice that they would sack the government; they moved at the expiration of that notice and got the government out. Apart from Morsi’s supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood that have been crying foul and alleging that its leaders and supporters were being harassed by the opposition, perhaps in cahoots with the military, other people have been jubilating. So, in the final analysis, what did the extensive powers that Mr Morsi gave himself in November amount to if they could not rescue him when the soldiers finally struck? He was removed like a chicken and left to fight back only on Facebook, where he was asking the same people that he polarised to ignore the soldiers. That must have been a rhetorical statement, given the reactions on the streets of Cairo immediately after his deposition and even from the critical segments of the international community.

    All said, for a country reputed by some historians to have ‘tasted the fruits of civilisation while Europe was still groping in darkness’, there is still need for more political consciousness in Egypt that will deepen democracy by allowing the institutions to work and make it possible for incompetent leaders to be removed through the democratic process. How sweet would it have been if Morsi had been removed through the democratic process? Now, it is the word of the Egyptian military versus that of the Muslim Brotherhood and others who might be sympathisers of the Morsi administration. While the latter claim that what happened was a coup, the former (military) saw their action as a patriotic duty to Fatherland to prevent the country from slipping into an avoidable civil war. Yet, both may be right. For, as far as the Muslim Brotherhood is concerned, democracy is good for everyone else but them. Yet, if the crisis in the country degenerates into a civil war, it is like when heaven falls; it won’t discriminate. The soldiers have promised that the matter won’t get out of hands. How they handle the situation in the coming weeks, perhaps months, will go a long way to determine whether the country will ever be itself again.

  • Visa bond: Before casting the first stone

    Visa bond: Before casting the first stone

    Nigerian leaders should fix their country instead of blaming Britain for protecting its own interest

    Last Sunday, I had taken on Mr David Cameron, the British Prime Minister on this same page when he said that Britain plans to consult with its Nigerian counterpart to ensure that the anti same-sex bill passed by the National Assembly does not become law. I had said then that Mr Cameron and Britain should not turn Nigeria into Sodom and Gomorrah; and that we have values that run counter to what the Britons want us to embrace. In short, I had referred to them as interlopers. Then, I did not know I would have a return match this early.

    But here I am, and so soon, taking sides with the Britons today. Reports that Britain is planning a scheme that will force visitors from 18 years and above from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana whose nationals are deemed to pose a “high risk” of immigration abuse, to provide a cash bond of three thousand pound sterling ($4,600; 3,500 euros) (about N750,000) before they can enter Britain have sent the Nigerian elite throwing brickbats at the British authorities. The scheme, according to The Sunday Times newspaper which broke the news, will take effect in November and covers a six-month visit visa. The weekly paper said the move by Home Secretary Theresa May is designed to show that Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party is serious about cutting immigration and abuses of the system. Cameron wants annual net migration down below 100,000 by 2015.

    May was quoted as saying that “This is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain”. She added: “In the long run we’re interested in a system of bonds that deters overstaying and recovers costs if a foreign national has used our public services.” A Home Office official said the six countries highlighted were those with “the most significant risk of abuse”. Now, this is something that is still in the works; and many of our elites are already losing sleep. They cannot even wait for the policy to take off before taking on the British authorities.

    Well, unlike my position last week, that I did not see how our rejection of same-sex marriage could have affected Britain to make that country’s prime minister see in that decision a need to seek a change of position by the Federal Government, today, I say unambiguously that Britain is right in taking whatever measures it deems fit to protect its interest. If we do not know what our interest is, not to talk of how to protect it, we should not blame another country that is fastidious about its. As a matter of fact, my position is strengthened every minute by the fact that none of those who have criticised the proposed scheme has adduced any genuine reason why Cameron should not restrict the number of people coming into Britain, despite that country’s own serious economic challenges. Even the Federal Government that has also threatened to retaliate measure-for-measure has not given any convincing reason on how the proposed measure will affect it or affect Nigerians. The best everyone criticising the British has said is that the proposed measure is ‘discriminatory’. For God’ s sake, what does that mean? I don’t know how something that is only ‘discriminatory’ can jeopardise the interest of Nigerians or that of their government. It is a say-nothing reason that we are adducing.

    If you ask how many people are in a particular street anywhere here, it is unlikely you’ll get anything close to the appropriate number. This has been the way we run our own lives; unfortunately, this is not how things are done in better organised countries. At any time, they want to know how many people enter their country and how many people leave, at least for the purposes of planning. Here, we plan in a vacuum and because we fail to plan, or because we plan blindly, we keep experiencing a situation whereby we march forward to the past. Do we want Britain to become the way we are? A jungle where everything goes?

    If you like, you may brand me an unpatriotic citizen for taking this position; I have no apologies for that. But, before those who might want to cast the first stone at me do, they should sincerely ask themselves whether we would have been where we are today if successive governments in the country had been patriotic. When I was a child, I had relatives who travelled to Britain then and they never went with the intention of staying there permanently. They either went to study or they went on holiday; and they were always eager to return to Nigeria. I remember some of our musicians sang about the cold in London and about how and why our students who went there must face their studies in spite of the cold. One of such songs was ‘Ilu Oyinbo dara, ore mi o dun pupo’, etc.,(UK is good, my friend it is a sweet place, etc). Sweet as the UK was then, our people never went there with the intention of staying. As a matter of fact, even if they wanted to stay put there, there was another song to remind them about home, sweet home, where there is never a place like (Ile o labo sinmi oko)’.

    So, what is it that is now making Nigerians flee from their country to go stay and die abroad? In the good old days that I am talking about, the University of Ibadan, for instance, was recognised as a standard university worldwide. Our most sought-after universities can no longer find space among the first 1,600 in the world, according to the January 2012 report of Webometrics, a world tertiary education ranking institutions organisation, Those who ran the universities and other institutions aground are the ones now shouting that Britain should not ‘discriminate’ against Nigerians, even when that country has made it clear that Nigeria is one of the countries with. “the most significant risk of abuse” of British immigration laws. And this is a thing we all know.

    If you are in doubt, listen to Ambassador Patrick Olusola Onadipe, Deputy Chief of Mission in the Nigerian Embassy in China: “But I hope we will not be overwhelmed because a lot of Nigerians coming here have no business here, if I have to be very frank. This is because when they come they are misinformed.

    “A lot of them probably think they will get jobs here. But when they get here, there is no job. So, they don’t want to return home.

    “Less than 10 per cent of them have visible means of income; others don’t. So, they resort to anti-social activities, like pushing drugs, doing 419, yahoo-yahoo, Internet fraud, armed robbery, rape and even murder.” That is straight from the horse’s mouth and that is the way it is all over the world. Nigerian prostitutes are now hot cakes in Russia. That is how bad things have gone in the country.

    Rather than wish other countries should descend to our depth, we should aspire to their heights. If Nigeria feels sufficiently strong about the proposed British measure, it should reciprocate measure-for-measure when it takes off because I do not think the British should back down on this since it touches on their very soul. Let the legislators crying foul legislate truly for good governance; let the judiciary adjudicate professionally and let the government govern responsibly, such that 16 would not be greater than 19 in a simple arithmetic. When we all do our bit, Nigerians would find little cause to travel abroad in search of greener pasture. And whatever the British do with their immigration laws would not be our headache.

  • Doing it gay or straight

    British PM  should respect Nigerians’ rights on same-sex marriage

    British Prime Minister David Cameron will definitely be going off limit if he makes good his promise to meet with Nigerian authorities with a view to making them rethink the National Assembly’s position on same-sex marriage. Yes, countries can try to sway one another over certain policies or programmes that they consider inimical to their citizens or their countries, or better still, to global peace and harmony. That is part of what diplomacy is all about. And, of course, many nations have taken advantage of this vehicle to ‘talk’ to one another for their individual benefits. It is usually when diplomacy has failed that nations resort to war.

    But Prime Minister Cameron’s issue with a Nigerian legislation that is still in the works (or inchoate as we’ve come to know such since the days when Lagos State tried to create local governments a few years back), is puzzling. The National Assembly has prescribed 14 years imprisonment for same-sex marriage offenders. Those who witness, aid or abet such unions as well as those who operate gay clubs and societies, and engage in public displays of same-sex affection would be punishable by as many as 10 years jail. The House of Representatives passed the bill on May 30 while the Senate passed a similar bill in November 2011. But for the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan has not assented to the bill to give it the force of law, Mr Cameron’s proposed ‘consultations’ with the Nigerian authorities would have been belated.

    We have long anticipated that signing the bill into law may draw the displeasure of the U.S. and European Union countries that are generally critical of the suppression of gay rights in Africa, so, Mr Cameron’s planned ‘consultations’ on the issue should be understood from this context. But, as we say here, wetin concern agbero with overload? I wonder how this is an issue that these foreign countries should poke their nose into. How does Nigeria’s refusal to legalise same-sex marriage affect Mr Cameron or British citizens, or the citizens of any EU nation for that matter?

    No doubt, even as we speak, homosexuality is going on in some parts of the country and it has been like that for years; but it is not a national problem. As a matter of fact, I hear it is prevalent among some of our rich people, and some have even rumoured that they use it for different kinds of rituals or fetish purposes; not for pleasure as is the case abroad. But we have not made any issue out of it all the same. One, it is not rampant; and second, it appears it has been going on among consenting persons. This is how far we can go on the matter and to this extent, those who engage in homosexuality in Nigeria also have some right; it is not as if they cannot do it at all; what we are saying is that we do not want to see them do it. And I think the rest of us who feel this way should also have our rights protected.

    Honestly, apart from the fact that none of the two dominant religions in the country sanctions the act, it is disgusting. How does a man start caressing another man before the act? I can’t imagine how repulsive it would be for a man to be touched suggestively by another man; or for a lady to be touched in a similar manner by another female. Let’s even forget religion, the point is that homosexuality is unnatural. Maybe that is why it is common in the US and in the European countries. Most of the things we see in those places, including human beings, are not the way they were at creation. Take Michael Jackson of blessed memory, for instance.

    Sorry, if I am being somewhat obscene; it is inevitable; same-sex marriage itself is obscene, ab initio. In Nigeria, nay Africa, when you see a lady with pointed boobs, you can be sure what you are seeing is for real. In climes where Mr Cameron and others fighting for legalisation of same-sex marriage come from, chances are those things had been tampered with and whatever seems to be pointed there is only a caricature of the original. As usual, the whites have a way of giving those things some highfalutin names to make them attractive. For example, cosmetic surgical procedure for reducing the size of large breasts is fancifully called mammoplasty. In Nigeria, we knew little of tummy tuck until a few years back.

    The point I am making is that if permissiveness (or is it over-permissiveness?) has made America and Europe to disconnect from Mother Nature, thus making them to gladly embrace homosexuality, they are the ones that need to return to source; not the other way round. Nigeria is blessed with beautiful ladies of all shades and sizes; and for real. The same goes for handsome men. These may be in short supply in Britain because most of their ladies look one kind and this may explain why some of their men prefer hanging out with our girls that are in hot demand all over Europe. It is when men, as lovers of variety, cannot have access to such beauty of beauties that they start thinking of hanging out with men like them, and vice versa.

    Here, it used to be an abomination for people who were not legally or traditionally married to ‘know’ one another; that is gone because we’ve imbibed the wrong values. And that was something done between a male and a female. To now think of man doing it with man and woman doing it with woman! Haba, that is not only abominable, it is repulsive. It is alien to our culture. Is Mr Cameron aware of what they call ethnocentricity? Does it mean that Mr Cameron’s hands are not full to be thinking of such mundane ‘consultations’? If he wants to help his Nigerian counterpart, there are more serious areas of need where he can be useful. We still don’t have light; security remains a serious challenge; there is youth unemployment, etc. We do not need ‘consultations’ on same-sex marriage.

    Anyway, as Nigerian authorities warm up for Mr Cameron’s proposed ‘consultations’, they should be ready to let the British PM know that his country is the one that needs deliverance, not Nigeria, at least as far as same-sex marriage is concerned. Maybe we should even let him come over to have a feel of our hospitality to fully appreciate the point I am making. When he comes over, we should put at his service some of our girls from any of the fattening rooms in Calabar, to let Mr Cameron see what Nature is all about. I have no doubt that his opinion on the matter would no longer be the same by the time he returns to Britain. Or, how would the Britons feel when their Prime Minister returns after the ‘consultations’ to say something like ” em, em, at some point, the Nigerians seem to be making sense”?

    Honestly, thanks, but no thanks, Mr Cameron. We prefer the way we are and Britain should please recognise the fact that we are at liberty to do that. We are more interested in reclaiming our lost innocence; I do not know how legalisation of same-sex marriage can do that for us. If Britons want it gay, we prefer it straight. We don’t want to be part of the impending curse of the danger down below.

     

  • Uncommon fraternity

    Uncommon fraternity

    My message in this column on April 7 titled ‘The Faleye metaphor’ was like all media messages; it was addressed ‘to whom it may concern’. In the piece, I highlighted the plight of a young Nigerian who was compelled by circumstances to travel to China to further his studies in electronics and telecommunications engineering, after graduating from the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, with a diploma. A few months to the end of his studies, he ran into financial storm as plans did not go the way his aged parents had thought. A little over one million naira stood between him and his dream of a first degree.

    Some Nigerians were moved by the story; and one of the early persons to respond was Prof Adeleke Ojo of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, who donated N100,000 after he had got in touch with Seun Faleye, the student, in China, and confirmed the authenticity of the story. After that, one Mr Isimi chipped in N1,000 and another person, Mr Adetunbi Omoniyi gave N2,000; their widow’s mite, you would say. These donations were commendable but they were like a drop in the ocean, considering the over one million naira target. All remained quiet for more than two weeks and it was when one would have thought hope was lost that a miracle occurred: I got an email from DHL Corporate Social Responsibility Committee on April 23 inviting me for a chat with the father of the student, Pastor Samson Faleye.

    I could not make the appointment due to official engagement. But Pastor Faleye was there and it was then I knew the power of columns. He told me that after interviewing him on how things went awry with his son’s school fees, and they were convinced that the case merited intervention, they promised to help. The panel that conducted the interview comprising representatives of the company’s Employees Corporate Social Responsibility Committee told him they developed interest in the matter just because it came out in my column. The interesting thing is that these are people I do not know from Adam; but they said they have been following my write-ups and were fascinated by them.

    One has to go this far for some reasons. One, this case was brought to a happy denouement courtesy of members of staff of DHL, and not by the company as I initially thought. Perhaps it would not have attracted this much attention if the initiative had come from the company as an entity because it would have passed off as one of those corporate social responsibility initiatives that responsible companies do. But there is only a thin line between DHL doing it and the members of staff who have done it. As I was told, the ‘Employees Corporate Social Responsibility Committee’ which eventually approved the more than one million naira required by Faleye to complete his studies in China represents all members of staff of the company, from the least to the managing director, from whose salaries one percent is being deducted monthly to fund the initiative to help the needy.

    This might not be novel because I do not have any fact to support that assertion; but it is still something that is uncommon in our part of the world. Many people come together here in most cases to do evil. Yes, we are familiar with companies giving back to the society part of what they made from it (they call that corporate social responsibility), but not workers pulling resources together from their own salary, to help those in need, when they have their own needs to meet too. But that precisely is what the DHL staff have done. And it is marvelous in my eyes, just as I am sure it is in the eyes of Faleye and his parents whose investments, monetarily and otherwise, could have gone down the drain if help had not come when it did. In a country where many people, including public functionaries care only about ‘me, me’, and where very big people make pledges without fulfilling them, this is something to celebrate.

    The point though is that God is key in this matter because He it was who laid it in my heart to use this little space, not knowing that was what would ultimately settle the matter. My original plan was to get the story published in a bigger space as a feature story. I had thought the bigger the space, the bigger the attention. I now know things don’t always work out that way. A friend has always said, though jocularly, that teeth do not have to be many or big; that even if they are only two and they can crush stockfish, that is enough. I now believe him.

    Again, from what I was told, Faleye is the first individual to draw from this well of generosity. The fund from where he was assisted was initially set up to assist with UNICEF projects before it was changed when the contributors decided to take charge of affairs themselves and be able to monitor directly what the money is spent on. If the original idea had been kept, there is no way it would have been possible for Faleye to benefit from it.

    I do not know how many other companies would want to take a cue from the DHL staff after this story would have been published. But I know of at least one multinational that may be interested in the paradigm, following discussion with one of their senior members of staff that would want to read the story to have a good grasp of what the scheme entails.

    I have been maintaining columns in the last two decades plus. All this while, I thought it was only about influencing government and policy makers. I now know it is much more. But gratitude goes to God Almighty for using this column as a means to wipe the tears off the eyes of Faleye and all those who had been looking forward with excitement to the time he would be graduating in China. One could not have been happier being used as a vessel for this purpose. Personally, it is gratifying that what started as mere exchange of emails between me and the DHL committee on April 23 culminated in the remitting of N1.01million naira (excluding N171, 376.00 earmarked by the committee for Faleye’s flight ticket upon completion of his studies) to him on May 16. I have had to cut short my presence at a funeral involving a friend’s spouse to make the trip to the DHL office on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos on May 10, where I faced the committee’s team to clear some grey areas on the matter. The outcome is soul-lifting.

    Again, my gratitude goes to the DHL staff for this uncommon generosity, the same way they thanked me for bringing ‘…this to limelight’. But what if I brought it to limelight and they did nothing about it? I thank them for their abiding faith in this column. What they have done can only make me do one thing: keep up the good work. The DHL staff and those who gave their widow’s mite have set a good example; definitely, this country will be a better place for us all if we can be our brother’s keeper; if we can make our shoulders available for people in need to lean on. I mean we will all be better for it if we can have more of such assistance signed, sealed and delivered.

  • Welcome, Opon-Imo; goodbye, Igba Aimo

    As Osun people take ‘Tablet of Knowledge’, they should say ‘never  again’ to PDP-type ignorance

    Even Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo would have turned in his grave on June 3, when Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State presented ‘Opon-Imo’, the magic computer tablet that his administration has been working on for quite some time, to the world, at a well attended ceremony in Ilesha, Osun State. Not a few persons have acknowledged, and rightly too, that since the introduction of free education in the defunct Western Region by the late sage, Chief Awolowo in 1955, ‘Opon- Imo’ remains the second most revolutionary project in education, not just in the geo-political axis, but nationwide.

    The point is that only the mischievous will see an elephant and say it seems they just saw something; when we see an elephant, we should say so. ‘Opon-Imo’ is a milestone. That explained why Nigeria literally stood still for Aregbesola when he launched the computer tablet. The array of personalities that graced the event cut across ethnic, political and religious divides, which is something to cheer in a country where politics is being introduced into virtually everything, and in the most cynical, if not outright damaging manner. This was something that was killed in the June 12, 1993 presidential election (that would be exactly 20 years on Wednesday), but which was annulled by reactionary elements in the country.

    The Aregbesola administration has no choice but to be creative in its handling of education in the state, if it must live to its billing as a progressive government. The government inherited a situation where only about three percent of secondary school leavers in the state had the requisite pass for admission into tertiary institutions. This was an unusual situation in a south-western state which called for an unusual answer. The government quickly held a summit of education stakeholders which looked into the state of education in the state and made far-reaching recommendations. Needless to say that ‘Opon-Imo’ is one of the major responses by the government in tackling the problem.

    So, what is ‘Opon-Imo’? I do not know whether it has a parallel in the world, but I know it is novel in the country, at least no government in the federation, whether federal, state or local has done such a thing. According to Aregbesola, “It is a virtual classroom containing 63 e-books covering 17 academic subjects for examinations conducted by the West AfThe Yoruba, Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Ifa on ethics and life’. This section also contains an average of 16 chapters per subject and 823 chapters in all, with about 900 minutes or 15 hours of audio voiceovers”.

    Aregbesola added, “In the integrated test zone of the device, there are more than 40,000 JAMB and WAEC practice questions and answers dating back to about 20 years. It also contains mock tests in more than 51 subject areas, which approximates to 1,220 chapters, with roughly 29,000 questions referencing about 825 images”.

    In fact, there is so much to say for this computer tablet. But I would not dwell much on that because so many people have discussed these in some details. Suffice it to say that power supply is not a problem for those who might want to look at that aspect of our national life. Already, the UN organisation has said it would adopt ‘Opon-Imo’ as one of the major tools of its West African regional harmonisation efforts in education. This, as well as how ‘Opon-Imo’ affect governance is my concern. A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.

    But shouldn’t charity begin at home? You can be sure it won’t, at least not when the issue has to do with progress; and especially so that the charity is coming from an opposition political party. It is instructive that this all-important computer tablet was launched at a time the country’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was busy doing nothing, or at best going after some of its leading lights, celebrating and covering its laggards with the ubiquitous ‘federal might’ that the party’s leadership and the presidency keep demystifying by the day with their actions and utterances.

    Rather than bring innovativeness into governance, the ruling party has continued business as usual. The other time we were debating how much to spend on the vice president’s lodge. At a time when the government should be busy dreaming dreams for national development, the whole machinery of government was deployed to ensure the government’s favoured candidate won the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election. Just last Thursday, the PDP suspended another governor (in line with my prediction last Sunday that the party would deal with governors who refused to team up with it in voting for its failed candidate in the NGF election, Jonah Jang). We should expect more of such sanctions over frivolous matters, including governors being nailed over the inability of the party’s leaders to successfully perform their conjugal responsibility on bed, should that suddenly happen. And this is the attitude that the party would carry to 2015 and still expect to win the election.

    If indeed knowledge is power, then one can start imagining what the impact of ‘Opon-Imo’ would be on educational performance in Osun state in the next few years. And, for the benefit of many of our youths who mistake Obafemi Martins for Chief Awolowo due to our shambolic educational curriculum, it is important to stress that what is happening, especially in the south-western part of the country today is not novel to the region; they have their roots in the past. The former Western Region (now Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states) was the pace setter under Chief Awolowo’s premiership. The region has many firsts to its credit: the first skyscraper in the country (Cocoa House); the first region to implement free education; the first stadium in West Africa (Liberty Stadium, Ibadan; the first television station (WNTV) in Africa (forget the attempt by the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the ’80s to turn history on its head by claiming that the first TV station in Africa was established in Libya). We still have such people in the country today who would want to rewrite our unfolding history in their own image rather than in the image in which it occurred.

    If indeed Victor Huho is correct that ‘He who opens a school door, closes a prison’, then we can imagine how many prisons the Aregbesola administration must have succeeded in closing with its giant strides in the educational sector in Osun State. ‘Opon-Imo’ must necessarily remind one of the years of the locust that the PDP rule in Osun was. With ‘Opon-Imo’, ‘Igba aimo’ (the time of ignorance) must have been over in Osun; it must never return. Osun people are not dogs that will always return to their vomit. This, the people will confirm when they go to the polls next year to retain their governor. Goodbye to jati jati.

  • Welcome, Opon-Imo; goodbye, Igba Aimo

    Welcome, Opon-Imo; goodbye, Igba Aimo

    As Osun people take ‘Tablet of Knowledge’, they should say ‘never again’ to PDP-type ignorance

    Even Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo would have turned in his grave on June 3, when Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State presented ‘Opon-Imo’, the magic computer tablet that his administration has been working on for quite some time, to the world, at a well attended ceremony in Ilesha, Osun State. Not a few persons have acknowledged, and rightly too, that since the introduction of free education in the defunct Western Region by the late sage, Chief Awolowo in 1955, ‘Opon- Imo’ remains the second most revolutionary project in education, not just in the geo-political axis, but nationwide.

    The point is that only the mischievous will see an elephant and say it seems they just saw something; when we see an elephant, we should say so. ‘Opon-Imo’ is a milestone. That explained why Nigeria literally stood still for Aregbesola when he launched the computer tablet. The array of personalities that graced the event cut across ethnic, political and religious divides, which is something to cheer in a country where politics is being introduced into virtually everything, and in the most cynical, if not outright damaging manner. This was something that was killed in the June 12, 1993 presidential election (that would be exactly 20 years on Wednesday), but which was annulled by reactionary elements in the country.

    The Aregbesola administration has no choice but to be creative in its handling of education in the state, if it must live to its billing as a progressive government. The government inherited a situation where only about three percent of secondary school leavers in the state had the requisite pass for admission into tertiary institutions. This was an unusual situation in a south-western state which called for an unusual answer. The government quickly held a summit of education stakeholders which looked into the state of education in the state and made far-reaching recommendations. Needless to say that ‘Opon-Imo’ is one of the major responses by the government in tackling the problem.

    So, what is ‘Opon-Imo’? I do not know whether it has a parallel in the world, but I know it is novel in the country, at least no government in the federation, whether federal, state or local has done such a thing. According to Aregbesola, “It is a virtual classroom containing 63 e-books covering 17 academic subjects for examinations conducted by the West AfThe Yoruba, Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Ifa on ethics and life’. This section also contains an average of 16 chapters per subject and 823 chapters in all, with about 900 minutes or 15 hours of audio voiceovers”.

    Aregbesola added, “In the integrated test zone of the device, there are more than 40,000 JAMB and WAEC practice questions and answers dating back to about 20 years. It also contains mock tests in more than 51 subject areas, which approximates to 1,220 chapters, with roughly 29,000 questions referencing about 825 images”.

    In fact, there is so much to say for this computer tablet. But I would not dwell much on that because so many people have discussed these in some details. Suffice it to say that power supply is not a problem for those who might want to look at that aspect of our national life. Already, the UN organisation has said it would adopt ‘Opon-Imo’ as one of the major tools of its West African regional harmonisation efforts in education. This, as well as how ‘Opon-Imo’ affect governance is my concern. A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.

    But shouldn’t charity begin at home? You can be sure it won’t, at least not when the issue has to do with progress; and especially so that the charity is coming from an opposition political party. It is instructive that this all-important computer tablet was launched at a time the country’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was busy doing nothing, or at best going after some of its leading lights, celebrating and covering its laggards with the ubiquitous ‘federal might’ that the party’s leadership and the presidency keep demystifying by the day with their actions and utterances.

    Rather than bring innovativeness into governance, the ruling party has continued business as usual. The other time we were debating how much to spend on the vice president’s lodge. At a time when the government should be busy dreaming dreams for national development, the whole machinery of government was deployed to ensure the government’s favoured candidate won the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election. Just last Thursday, the PDP suspended another governor (in line with my prediction last Sunday that the party would deal with governors who refused to team up with it in voting for its failed candidate in the NGF election, Jonah Jang). We should expect more of such sanctions over frivolous matters, including governors being nailed over the inability of the party’s leaders to successfully perform their conjugal responsibility on bed, should that suddenly happen. And this is the attitude that the party would carry to 2015 and still expect to win the election.

    If indeed knowledge is power, then one can start imagining what the impact of ‘Opon-Imo’ would be on educational performance in Osun state in the next few years. And, for the benefit of many of our youths who mistake Obafemi Martins for Chief Awolowo due to our shambolic educational curriculum, it is important to stress that what is happening, especially in the south-western part of the country today is not novel to the region; they have their roots in the past. The former Western Region (now Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states) was the pace setter under Chief Awolowo’s premiership. The region has many firsts to its credit: the first skyscraper in the country (Cocoa House); the first region to implement free education; the first stadium in West Africa (Liberty Stadium, Ibadan; the first television station (WNTV) in Africa (forget the attempt by the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the ’80s to turn history on its head by claiming that the first TV station in Africa was established in Libya). We still have such people in the country today who would want to rewrite our unfolding history in their own image rather than in the image in which it occurred.

    If indeed Victor Huho is correct that ‘He who opens a school door, closes a prison’, then we can imagine how many prisons the Aregbesola administration must have succeeded in closing with its giant strides in the educational sector in Osun State. ‘Opon-Imo’ must necessarily remind one of the years of the locust that the PDP rule in Osun was. With ‘Opon-Imo’, ‘Igba aimo’ (the time of ignorance) must have been over in Osun; it must never return. Osun people are not dogs that will always return to their vomit. This, the people will confirm when they go to the polls next year to retain their governor. Goodbye to jati jati.

  • Wobbling and fumbling to 2015

    Wobbling and fumbling to 2015

    Anti-Amaechi crisis exposes the PDP for what it is even as the Presidency plays the ostrich

     

    What ordinarily should have passed as an innocuous election by governors in the country to elect their officers in a forum not known to the constitution has become a reference point for President Goodluck Jonathan’s popularity. And the reason is simple: the President himself has not done much to be detached from the forum that could easily pass for a social gathering where the governors unwind. So, if the President is feeling bad at the turn of events before and shortly after the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) election of May 24, it is self-inflicted. The humiliation, if the President sees the developments as such, is the kind of thing a leader suffers when he stoops so low to be involved in mundane things that should not have been his business, considering his exalted office.

    But President Jonathan did not seem to understand the prestige attached to that office. If he did, he would not have been an interested party in who heads the NGF or whether the organisation even exists or not. The only time the forum attracted the attention of Nigerians probably was the time it supported the Federal Government on the withdrawal of fuel subsidy in late 2011. And that was because it wanted more money for its members. Interestingly, both the Federal Government and the forum were on the same page; so, there was no quarrel then, even though subsidy removal was unpopular among the generality of Nigerians. That did not matter, either to the Presidency or the forum, once their own needs were met. But for mass resistance, fuel subsidy removal would have been rammed down the throats of Nigerians while the presidency and the governors would have been smiling to the banks, with their ‘protruding’ treasuries.

    Today, the music has changed. Governor Rotimi Amaechi, as chairman of the NGF in support of fuel subsidy removal who was then a friend to President Jonathan, is now his sworn enemy. But that is what life is all about. There are no permanent friends or permanent foes, but permanent interests. Of course, the story is well known. President Jonathan, despite a lackluster mid-term performance, is still interested in contesting the 2015 election. Apparently the man did not know how badly disappointed Nigerians are with his government because if he knew, he would not have awarded himself a pass mark in his assessment of himself on May 29. Where in the world is the student also the examiner? Or where in the world is an accused the judge in his own cause? This, unfortunately, is what the President has done and he can do that because this is Nigeria. But that is not our concern for today.

    We have been told that Amaechi has been ‘blacklisted’ because he is interested in being vice president in 2015. If this is true, isn’t this a legitimate aspiration? The point is that unless political calculations change, or unless the President changes his style, he will be resoundingly defeated in 2015. This has nothing to do with the fact that he was massively voted for in 2011. The handwriting is becoming clearer by the day. And that explains the desperation to clear all enemies, real or perceived, from the way to ensure there are no formidable challengers, and Amaechi happens to be the scapegoat. The calculation is, once you deal ‘ruthlessly’ with Amaechi, others who might be nursing similar ambition would get the message and queue behind the President, whether or not he has anything to offer.

    But Nigeria ought to have passed the stage where any elected official would breathe down the neck of another. The governor was elected just as the President. But for our warped federalism, nothing should make it possible for either to breathe down the neck of the other. It is obvious the architects of this anti-Amaechi crisis either overrated their own capacity or underestimated that of their opponents. That is why they have found it impossible to beat a retreat despite the fact that they have been fumbling serially and so embarrassingly; unfortunately dragging the Presidency along with them, notwithstanding that the presidency has said it is not a party to the crisis. They should go tell that to the marines!

    Those who are saying that the NGF crisis is between Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Amaechi of Rivers State either deliberately chose to amend the truth or simply want to make President Jonathan feel good; a thing that can never be because the president himself knows that the contest is this fierce because he (President) is leading the anti-Amaechi fray. And this explains the desperation on the part of the President’s goons to win by foul means since it is impossible for them to win fairly. The PDP, their party, also badly handled the crisis that should have been nipped in the bud before it festered. Rather than approach the issue maturely, the party’s leaders behaved like a village headmaster with a horsewhip to whip non-conformists into line.

    And when this failed, they contrived all kinds of shenanigans, from the formation of a parallel forum which they called the PDP Governors Forum, to reduce Amaechi’s influence as NGF chair. That failed. They then thought it was better to pull the rug off his feet by slugging it out with him at the forum’s polls. They were sold a dummy which they sheepishly bought; forgetting that there is a difference between dreams and deeds. At the NGF polls, again, they were roundly defeated. And, rather than graciously accept defeat, they have contrived all kinds of things to give the impression that Jonah Jang, Plateau State Governor, their defeated candidate at the NGF poll, won the election. Not surprisingly, from the formation of the PDP Governors Forum to the NGF polls, they always found ready tools for the dirty games. Nigeria is never in short supply of such characters. One of their favourites has God as part of his name but it is doubtful if he is allowing God’s will in this matter. Then the other had a namesake in the Bible who was the problem to other passengers in a troubled ship on the sea; the ship remained troubled until he was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish in whose belly he was for three days and three nights before he repented. Now, this second tool in the hands of the PDP went to church to celebrate the victory he knew he never had. If anyone was in doubt that he never had that victory, that doubt must have evaporated with the number of governors (whose votes he purportedly had during the NGF election) that honoured his invitation to their so-called new NGF Secretariat on Thursday. But this must be a different kind of Jonah because the biblical Jonah repented three days after. It is over seven days and seven nights and this Jonah of our time is still swimming in the mud of iniquities.

    Mark my words, the PDP rather than beat a retreat, will want to ‘deal’ with those governors that were absent at Jang’s event, their event. That is the way of Pharaohs. They don’t beat a retreat until they sink. We will start hearing the kind of things we never heard about those governors now that they have made themselves known. Their courage is however soul-lifting. However, those playing God today should know that this is the kind of crisis no one can tell the end. They should go ask those who played God yesterday. But the fact is that this crisis has exposed the PDP for what it is and it is a foretaste of what to come in 2015.