The Nation Newspaper

Category: Jide Osuntokun

  • Republic of two thousand kings!

    The Constitution of Nigeria defines it as a republic and in a typical republic it is not expected that one will find kings. There is however a precarious coexistence between our imported republicanism and traditional institutions. During the British Raj in India, special status was accorded the maharajahs some of who were very powerful and rich and who also had the loyalty of their people. Rather than abolishing them, the British set up a parallel administration and also used these native potentates as agents of British imperial control. This system by which an imperial overlord controlled a native people has gone down into history as indirect rule. This system was imported into Nigeria by sir Fredrick Lugard who had a stint in India before coming to Nigeria after some time in Uganda where the British controlled that country through the Kabaka of Buganda and other native rulers in Bunyoro, Ankole and the Northern Territory constituting the protectorate of Uganda.

    On getting to Nigeria, especially to the northern part of it, Lugard embraced the emirate system already in place after removing what he called unsavoury excesses of the Fulani rulers. He then set up the Beit-el Mal ( Native Treasuries) into which taxes were paid by farmers and cattle owners and the money was divided with two-thirds going to the colonial government while the emirate administrations retained one-third from which the emirs and their officials were paid. This worked rather smoothly because the people were used to paying tribute in kind and the systemization of the tribute as taxes was welcome by the ordinary people as well as by the Masu sarauta. The whole thing was so profitable to the rulers that the most viable emirate of Kano paid its emir a salary that was at par with that of the Governor -General himself.

    Lugard seeing the hierarchical structure of native administration in Yorubaland tried to introduce the same northern system sometimes with disastrous consequences. He equated the Alaafin with the sultanate of Sokoto not knowing that below the apparent powers of Yoruba obas lie checks and balances preventing any of them becoming poobahs or tyrants like those that existed in India. Furthermore each oba enjoyed considerable amount of autonomy vis-à-vis neighbouring rulers including apparently powerful ruler like the Alaafin. There was also no urgency to raise taxes because large sums of money accrued to the colonial government from customs duties, levied on moral grounds and supported by the Christian missions, on so-called trade gin which was cheap alcohol largely produced in Holland and used as articles of trade by Europeans on the coast. Payment of tax was however considered salutary by the colonial government which forced the payment of taxes on the people through the chiefs whose powers were enlarged beyond what they were accustomed.

    In the South-eastern part of the country among the Igbo and Ibibio and other related people, the absence of native rulers controlling considerable number of people presented the colonial administration with problems of how to locate the centre of power. The republican nature of an acephalous society was overcome unsuccessfully through the creation of what were called warrant chiefs. The British simply gave warrants to whoever appeared to be assertive enough and prepared to work for the British colonial administration to become Eze. Of course these were not rulers in the sense of what largely prevailed in the north and the south-west.  Because there were no big towns and the people lived in clans, it was difficult to find or locate any foci of traditional power. This led in most places to direct administration by colonial officials occasioning many revolts against them. However by the time Lugard left Nigeria after the First World War in 1919, indirect rule was the system of government in the protectorate of Nigeria while direct British administration was the rule in Lagos. The position of traditional rulers in the north and south-west was codified in customary laws of Nigeria.

    When India became a republic after independence in 1947, it abolished the maharajahs although they were left with their considerable wealth which made them to continue to wield influence if not power. In Nigeria no such step was taken. The traditional rulers continued to retain their titles and some perquisites of office as well as respect and loyalty of their people. In any case, it was inconceivable for any government of Nigeria to abolish traditional rulership. No government of Nigeria since independence is strong enough to take such an explosive decision. Rather the civilian administrations of the regions created Houses of Chiefs as upper chambers in bicameral legislatures. Thus in Nigeria, we have a republic and several thousand kings of various and ranging power and importance. There is no hierarchy of importance nationally but all first class rulers like the Sultan of Sokoto, Emir of Kano, the Alaafin of Oyo, Shehu of Borno, Ooni of Ife, Oba of Benin belong to the first rank while others follow. There are no such rulers in the south-east. The Igbos have a saying that Igbos have no kings and everybody is king in his own house. Apart from areas like Onitsha and Nri and the western periphery of Igboland influenced by Benin and Igala cultures, there are no kings or kinglets in Igboland.

    The current phenomenon of Eze Ndigbo is not known to Igbo history.

    I had foreseen trouble a long time ago when people began to crown themselves Eze Ndigbo of Yorubaland, Eze Ndigbo of Lagos or Eze Ndigbo of Ibadanland etc; and addressing themselves either as royal majesties or royal highnesses and referring to their houses as palaces. Not only that, they also started conferring chieftaincies on others. I was not surprised that trouble reared its ugly head in Akure, one of the oldest kingdoms in Yorubaland when a so-called Eze Ndigbo of Akureland began parading himself around with a crown on his head and coral ornaments around his neck and hands and issuing orders and even disregarding the Deji, the king of Akure. This was a sure cause for trouble. But for quick intervention of elders of the town, there would have been a break down of law and order. A situation where a mere trader in the morning becomes king in the evening cannot be acceptable to the local people who still see their kings as vice regal of God on earth. These parvenu settler kings or ezes have become an irritant and a source of worry to an ordinarily tolerant people.

    Unless a holistic approach is made to solve the problem, it will reoccur again if not in Akure,  certainly in other Yoruba kingdoms where the phenomena of Eze Ndigbo is beginning to challenge traditional order of a people who feel threatened by the encroachment of the Nigerian state. Since there is no legislation backing titles not approved by tradition, legislations should be passed making it an offence for people to go about bearing titles not rooted in the culture of an area. It is generally known that two rams can not peacefully drink from the same calabash; neither can an oba and eze rule over the same territory.

    I know this phenomenon is also found in the north of our country. Yorubas and Igbos living in Hausaland should desist from having Eze Ndigbo and oba Yoruba. Northerners should desist from such titles as Sarkin Hausa or Sarkin Fulani, Shehu Kanuri of Lagos or any other Yoruba town. Respect begets respect; we must in the words of Sir Ahmadu Bello not forget our differences but understand them. We must respect each other’s culture in order to live amicably together. If there is a need to have leaders of various ethnic groups, they can be called leaders and certainly not kings. A king must have a territory and being sold land to build houses does not confer suzerainty on outsiders living amongst other people. Certainly citizenship of Nigeria on all Nigerians should not lead to the derogation of the cultures of constituent peoples of our country.

    I am not suggesting ethnic hostility or antagonism of one people against the other but the way to prevent this is by mutual respect and protection of each other’s interest. In a rapidly modernizing world, people tend to hold on to their culture. The Yoruba obas represent that culture in Yorubaland and any undermining of that institution strikes at the heart of Yoruba culture. We are economically dependent on one another and it is doubtful if one group can survive without the other in present day Nigeria but as Yoruba people are wont to say, we cannot because we want to eat beef call a cow a brother!

  • New airline should not be a priority

    Some weeks ago it was reported that a committee of civil servants was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the mode of setting up a new airline. One of the ostensible reasons for such a venture is that it will create jobs. I suppose the old argument of national airline carrying our national flag is like a national anthem one of the paraphernalia of a state must also have been made. Before our president is pushed into embarking on such a venture, I plead that the committee be dissolved with immediate effect. A national airline should be the least of our worries in the face of dwindling national income and the pressing needs of security and physical needs of our country. We must learn from our recent history. We once had Nigerian Airways and national shipping line among other national enterprises which were run down and run bankrupt by our people. The question to ask is what has changed in the attitude and orientation of Nigerians to give us the impression that if we establish a new airline the outcome will be different? It is only a mad man who keeps doing things the same way and expects a different outcome. The very week we were contemplating establishing a new airline, Air France laid off 2,000 of its staff to remain trim and in business. So those advising that we will create jobs with this new air line better come up with another reason. The other reason adduced for this venture is that it will conserve foreign reserves. There is no prove it will do such a thing. Even if we have our own airline, a preponderance of its operation will be in foreign exchange. Besides are we going to decree that all Nigerians must fly the airline? Government officials can be compelled to do so but not the average Nigerian who is spending his or her own money. If government is interested in participating in the aviation industry, it should buy into Arik Airline for example, while leaving the day to day running in the hands of private entrepreneurs. By so doing, this existing company would have its scope expanded so that it can cover not just the whole country but also maintain presence in key capitals of the world.

    I have no problem with state intervention in the economy but running airlines should not be on the list of state intervention when we have the wide field of agriculture untouched. I will like to see huge state plantations of cocoa, cashew, rubber, palm oil, groundnuts, soya, rice, cotton, cassava, maize, yams, plantains, as well as state fisheries producing all kinds of fishes, shrimps and prawns for export. Mechanization of agriculture is the way forward and not the back-breaking cutlass and hoes agriculture that our ancestors invented centuries ago and which we dumbly carry on with. By investing in agriculture on a massive scale, we will solve the problem of poor human nutrition and give jobs to our people to do and also put money in their pockets. Poor nutrition damages the brains of children thus depriving us our own future Albert Einsteins.

    Four percent of American population is currently feeding the whole world through mechanization and addition of value to their agricultural produce. This is the way to go for serious approach to solving our dependence on hydrocarbon exports whose value may continue to diminish. Also being a finite product, it is inferior to renewable produce from agriculture.

    For policy consistency, we cannot be privatizing government holdings in many companies while setting up a national airline. If we do that, there will be pressure for a national shipping line. There will be demand for one national something or the other which will again be avenues for graft, corruption and self enrichment. The companies will be filled by bureaucrats on quota basis who will have loyalty not to the nation but to their ethnic cohorts in an unending chain of predictable failure of such ventures. The agricultural interventions I have in mind will be based on environmental factors of availability of land, preparedness of the local people, land and soil suitability, adequacy of rainfall or availability of water for irrigation and willing participation of state and local governments with equity investment by the federal government. The upshot of what I am saying is that the government has its plate full and it should not be distracted by the issue of a national airline.

    America has no national airline and even British Airways has its majority shareholders as Japanese. Many national airlines are being sold to local and international investors. If we must have a national airline, then let us go to the market and ask people to buy into the idea. If there are takers, then we will know that we are on the right track. But if not, we should perish the thought of establishing a national airline. History is not on our side.

    If there is need to focus on transportation, and I believe there is a need, then what obviously comes to mind is our railways. We are the only medium income country that transports its goods on roads thus creating avoidable carnage on our roads leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths yearly. Movement of goods by road is not only inefficient and costly, it has in recent times become very dangerous for our people. Apart from needless accidents on roads that are constantly damaged by heavy and huge trailers and articulated trucks, some of them carry unlatched containers which constantly fall on innocent people smashing and killing them on the spot. This has led without success to banning them in day time to reduce the rate of mortality of the driving public on city roads. The question to ask is when are we going to join civilized mankind who places value on human life? The most relaxed and cheapest way of travel in Europe is by rail. One can move over hundreds of miles by rail reading or eating or even sleeping while doing this. We were told by the last government that it had fixed the railways from Lagos to Kano and it was about to fix the one from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.  No such thing was done. Whenever I see what goes for trains in Lagos with human beings hanging precariously on top of them like cattle going to slaughter, my heart sinks.

    Surely trains have been running since the 19th century. It should be possible for us to provide decent trains to move goods and services across Nigeria. If this is one of the achievements of this government, our people will remember it for good. Trains are a common people’s and not so common people’s airline if one can say that. Since all governments should want the happiness of their people, revitalization and modernization of Nigerian railways should be this government’s priority, not setting up an airline.

  • Many farewells and good byes

    In recent times, many eminent Nigerians have crossed the great divide between the living and those who now belong to the ages. No matter how old our loved ones may be, we do not want to lose them. The question then arises what is the age when we will be comfortable with the death of our loved ones ? The Bible in one breath said 70 but in another breath it says 120. I have not met any one who will want to live for 120 years. It is therefore safe to assume that  the time one should go is when one is no longer useful to society. It follows that longevity should go hand in hand with how useful a person is to his or family, immediate or national environment. In other words age is mere number!

    When I heard that Chief (Mrs ) H.I D  Awolowo passed on, I called one of her children to commiserate with her and to say mama lived well and died strong! She died at a time when she was still aware of her environment and that her death called for celebration. Of course I know no matter how old she was, the children would still mourn her departure and naturally shed tears of sorrow. But her death is a celebration of life. As believers, we know what has happened is a transition to a higher realm. On her own, outside the achievements of her husband, mama was in the words of her inimitable husband, a jewel of inestimable value. Need anyone say more? Nothing can be added or removed from that testimony.

    When Deacon Gamaliel Onosode joined the saints triumphant, I shed some tears not because he was too young at 83. But because we may never see the like of him again in this country. Onosode graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1957 with a honours degree in Classics and was recruited for management training by the British and from then on he never looked back. At one time or the other, he was chairman of several blue chip companies that were Nigerian branches of British transnational companies such as Lever Brothers, Dunlop, Nigerian Breweries, Cadbury, National Acceptances Limited that metamorphosed into NAL Merchant Bank  among many others. Wherever he went, he had the Midas touch and every thing he touched turned to gold. He never soiled his hands as would have been the case with other Nigerians. Whenever he was not listened to as chairman, he did not throw his weight around, he simply left quietly without making a fuss. This kind of behaviour earned him the sobriquet of Mr Integrity. What better accolade can one dream to have in a country where corruption cries to high heavens for intervention. With this kind of reputation, the nation sometimes called on him either as a Special Adviser to the corrupt and inept Shagari regime or as mediator between the government and one industrial body or the other such as in dispute between the Academic Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU). In whatever position he found himself, he served well. Onosode the romantic that he was even toyed with the idea of running for president. But he was before his time. A country deserves the leader that it gets and obviously Nigeria was not deserving of a leader like Onosode. Nothing but apparent headache came out of his political venture. But we must acclaim his trying. Many of us are closet or arm-chair politicians who cannot take the plunge into the real political competition.

    One of the areas Onosode left an indelible mark is in guiding universities to the right path of doing things properly. In this regard at different times, he served as chairman of council and pro- chancellor of the universities of Ibadan and Lagos. He remained the pro-chancellor of the University of Lagos until politicians saw such a position as part of the spoils of office and moved to take over in their usual buccaneering approach to public life. I remember listening to Onosode doing a clinical analysis of what is wrong with Nigerians being the fact that our people live two lives of separating public life from private life. He said whatever is wrong in private life cannot be right in public life. We are very frugal with our personal resources yet we go on to loot the national treasury and waste state resources thoughtlessly. We abhor and deprecate dishonesty in our individual lives but see this as being smart in public life. We are individually religious but our religion is forgotten when dealing with the affairs of state. He  was clean in character and in appearance, always well dressed in western suits except when for cultural reasons, he may be found in his native Urhobo attire. Even though he could afford living in the high-brow areas of Ikoyi or Victoria Island, he remained till the end in his bungalow in Adelabu Street with the masses in Surulere, Lagos.

    On a personal note, the Kayode Osuntokun Trust approached him  some years ago to chair its annual lecture in memory of the late Professor Kayode Osuntokun, my brother. He asked what he was supposed to do. He was told all he had to do was chair the occasion and call for a few questions after the lecture. He agreed that since the man being honoured was a honorable man, he would do us the honour of presiding. On the day of the lecture, he announced that he would like to donate some money to the Trust but he had no money at that time but he was expecting some money from his investments and that as soon as he got the money he would send a cheque. We had actually forgotten his promise when his cheque of a substantial amount of money came in . That is the kind of man Onosode was. He was a blessing to mankind and a challenge to us in Nigeria to rise above our petty jealousies and pedestrian life to a life devoted to serving man and God. Onosode  demonstrated that we must be Christians in truth and in deed and not just in name. Vox populi vox Dei – the voice of the people is the voice of God – so goes the Latin saying that Onosode would have been familiar with in his lifetime and  we Nigerians affirm  the goodness and righteousness of this man  and we believe that God in His infinite mercy will look favourably on his soul. Onosode was a simple but not simplistic Nigerian, a man of culture and erudition, a renaissance man if ever there was one!

    When tragedy struck in Saudi Arabia,  one prayed that no Nigerian would be involved. But as we waited with bated breath for details of the casualties, we were told by the Saudi authorities that some African pilgrims did not follow strict instructions and thereby precipitated the stampede that led to the death of close to 1500 souls. We still felt maybe our people were not involved. When we learnt of those involved like Tijani El -Miskin and our own dear Hajia Bilkisu Yussuf, our sorrow was deep and we became inconsolable. First of all, we learnt through the Iranians who lost up to 500 souls that the Saudis were lying. What the Iranians told the world was that a Saudi Prince was approaching where the pilgrims were performing their rites and in an attempt to make way for him by his large security detail, a stampede ensued. The racially motivated statement by the Saudi government was quickly withdrawn to be replaced by promise of compensation! What value can one place on lives of the departed souls?

    Bilkisu Yussuf was a friend and a colleague. She belonged to the radical group of Northern Nigerian intelligentsia nurtured by our friend Bala Yussuf Usman, the radical historian from Ahmadu Bello University. Bilkisu was a radical and at the same time a conservative Muslim lady. She rose to the height of editing the Triumph, a newspaper founded by Abubakar Mohammad Rimi’s government in Kano in 1979. She was a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Affairs. In fact, I gave her name to our chairman Chief Emeka Anyaoku as a replacement for Professor Joy Ogwu when she was appointed Foreign Minister. Bilkisu served on this council for about 10 years through the presidencies of Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. She was a very useful member ferreting information from different sources on the problems facing Nigeria externally. She also belonged to innumerable NGOs particularly devoted to girl-child and women issues as well as the issue of peace and religion. She never missed her prayers in spite of her sometimes punishing schedule. It is only God who can make plain the reason for her death in Saudi Arabia. May God forgive her sins and have mercy on her soul.

    From the lives of these three people who made impact  on various areas of our national life, we know that it is the courage that one brings to life that counts and not the tonnage of our gold and diamonds. We are all on an earthly journey and what will matter at the end is whether we are an instrument for good or ill and a curse or blessing to our generation.

  • Democratic rights and responsibilities

    When the original 13 colonies in British North America revolted against the Crown in 1776, their battle cry was no taxation without representation which was saying they would pay if their government was elected by them and responsible to them. The British loss of America was due to her refusal to understand this ordinary meaning of democracy. They did not quite learn a lesson from this experience because they repeated the same mistake in all their colonies and dependencies from Canada to the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Australasia. One after the other, the process of decolonization was completed whether Britain liked it or not. Colonies and protectorates have become history except in a few islands where there are too few people to make independence and self-government sustainable.

    Self-government was conceded to the western and eastern regions of Nigeria in 1957 and the northern region in 1959. Nigeria as a whole became independent 55 years ago on October 1, 1960. We are expected to govern ourselves on the basis of government of the people by the people for the people with government expenditure provided by the people through taxation which could either be direct or indirect. Citizenship goes with responsibility. The fact that we in Nigeria have had our government run on funds accruing to us largely from taxes and sale of hydrocarbon resources has made corruption rampant since revenue of government is not derived from our labour and sweat.

    In most modern democracies citizens do not only contribute money to run the state, they also offer themselves as soldiers in periods of national emergencies. The idea of a citizen army was fundamental to republican democracy as enunciated and practiced by revolutionary France through the levee en masse as distinct from the old type of armies controlled and commanded by the old aristocracy. The upshot of this piece is that if people desire to govern themselves, they must be ready to discharge their own part of the bargain by properly funding the government. This also enjoins the people to take possession of the government through transparent process of democratic elections. The people must ensure that those who claim to represent the people are legitimately elected on the basis of universal suffrage of one person one vote without any chance of rigging as had often been the case in our country. As we often say in Nigeria, people must assert and defend their democratic rights by not only voting at elections, but also protecting their votes until they are counted and collated.

    All these are easier said than practiced because many times those who control the levers of power in the state have sometimes manipulated the organs of government to pervert the cause of electoral justice by depriving people of their legitimate rights to elect their own government. It is this kind of scenario that made John Locke to suggest that the people have the right to revolt and change the government because as he argued, government is based on contract between the ruler and the ruled and if and when one party breaks the terms of the contract, the covenant binding the two parties is therefore revoked and setting up a new government will be in order. Not only this, governments are set up for the good of the people and as the American Declaration of Independence  claimed that governments are set up to guarantee certain fundamental and inalienable rights such as the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. In other words government is a serious business and should not be taken lightly and those who offer themselves for service must be those who are called and not those with Buccaneering intention of going into government for personal pecuniary self-aggrandizement. When governments are properly set up even the major religions of the world say government must be supported because God is not a God of chaos because without government man would revert to a state of nature in which according to Thomas Hobbes life will be short nasty and brutish without any form of civilization. In other words it is in the interest of right thinking people to preserve government.

    What is government? It is characterized by a functioning bureaucracy answerable to the executive which also monopolizes all the organs of legitimate means of violence such as the police and the armed forces. The power of the executive arm of government is moderated and checked by the legislature constituted by the elected representatives of the people and empowered to make laws for the good governance of the state. These two arms are complemented by the judiciary which arbitrates cases between the people and the government and ensures legality in the affairs of state, as well as ensuring legality of relations among the people and various corporations and commercial activities in the state. Functional government is therefore expensive; however the existence of a functioning government is the hall mark of civilization.

    I am going into all this to establish the fact that we have no alternative but to find ways and means to support our various governments in spite of dwindling resources available to the state following essentially what is the collapse of the global oil and gas market and consequent reduction in national revenue. For a long time our various governments have had to rely on unearned income from commission charged on oil and gas production. Taxes were hardly paid except by those earning salaries. The vast majority of our people paid no taxes at all. This would have been excusable if all who did not pay taxes were poor. But this included the rich entrepreneurs and captains of industry and commerce as well as big time farmers and proprietors, all kinds of institutions and medical facilities as well as all kinds of NGOS and sectarian bodies. There is a need for all states to levy property taxes on property owners and the burden of this would fall on those able to bear it with the proviso that those living in their own homes would pay less than taxes levied on leased out properties as currently the case in Lagos. This is the only way states will be solvent and not rely on borrowed loans to pay civil servants. These times call for everybody to fulfil their obligations to the state by paying their taxes.  It is the duty of government to ensure that all taxable adults pay taxes and that nobody has the right to enjoy national and municipal facilities without paying for them. There are no more free lunches anywhere. Whatever is good costs money be they be good schools, hospitals, roads, railways, communication and aviation facilities etc.; no one should be free-loaders at the expense of the state. There is no point for anybody demonstrating and demanding free education at all levels. There is nowhere in the world where that is available. Not in the USA, China, Cuba or anywhere. We can only talk about free universal primary education and one hopes our various governments would not only provide this but strengthen it. The travesty of what goes for primary schools in Nigeria need to change. I have always advocated that primary school buildings should be as good as university buildings as one finds abroad and in Southern Africa. The present sheds and huts called primary schools should give way to aesthetically architectured buildings. Primary schools should be so attractive that young people would want to keep coming there. The pupils there must be fed once in the afternoon every day. The present situation of children of the elite avoiding schooling with the children of the masses would have to give way correspondingly with the improvement in primary schools. What applies in the case of primary schools must apply to the secondary level where parents would have to contribute even if minimally to the cost of education at that level. Higher education would have to be paid for if standards must be maintained. Scholarships must be given to children of the poor by their local governments.

    How we finance government in a time like this will require financial and administrative ingenuity. The size of government would have to be cut. Do we really need the horde of legislators at local, state and national levels? Must they also be full time? Do we need a bi-cameral National Assembly? Do we honestly need the horde of bureaucrats administering underdevelopment? Do we need 40 ministers and the existing ministries all over the place? Do we need 36 federal universities and 40 state universities that are poorly funded and requiring heavy administrative costs? Do will need the same number of poorly-run polytechnics turning out unemployable young people? We have so many questions which we must begin to pose because of the need for rational decisions to be taken if the purpose of government is to be achieved.

    We cannot solve our problems in the course of this government or even in our own lives but we must begin in order to hand over to the next generation a legacy that will justify that we once lived in this environment or else our children and grand children will curse us and they will be right to do so. Government is too important to be left in the hands of those who are in government. We as guardians of the present must play our part by being watchful and ensuring that government would not depart or deviate from the well trodden path of good governance, political and fiscal rectitude.

  • Nigerian Diasporas families

    Since 1995 I have had to visit my children abroad and in recent times and as my children got married and settled down the urge to visit them has become almost a family imperative. Everybody in their old age likes to bond with their children and grandchildren. What I am describing has become almost a common experience of people of my generation. Some of us are lucky to have their children living and working in Nigeria but others including myself are not so lucky. In the past, living abroad was seen as being most desirable or admirable and those having children living and working abroad were celebrated. Of course there are things to say for living abroad such as financial stability for those who are highly educated and who have jobs to do. Currencies do not lose value as our own. I remember the 1970s when our naira was at par with the pound sterling and was almost two dollars to a naira. The naira today is in downward spiral of 260 to a dollar. There is relative physical security abroad. The standard of life, good transportation, education and health infrastructure are much better than what we have in Nigeria. We can also humor and cajole ourselves by saying we are in a global village where ideally there should be mobility of labour and free movement. But there are several consequences of moving from one’s native country and moving abroad. The obvious one is for a black person becoming part of a visible minority in a white, brown or yellow country. I include yellow and brown countries since our people are no longer restricted to Europe and the Americas but increasingly go to countries in Asia particularly India and China even if on a small scale. There is obvious discrimination against so-called people of colour as they say in the West. A black person would have to work harder and perhaps be more qualified than a white person to attract the same attention and consideration. When a highly qualified African applies for a job sometimes he or she is told that he or she should not contribute to the brain drain from his or her country, thus an act of racism is couched as an act of concern for development in poor countries forgetting that everybody has one life and should be able to live that life to the fullest wherever he or she chooses to live.

    Of course those who argue like this have a point in that people with highly needed skills should be encouraged to stay and foster the development of their underdeveloped countries. But what is usually forgotten is that the corrupt political leaders of our country make it impossible for people to function optimally thus leading to frustration and in some cases depression and even mental breakdown.

    On a macro national level we are told Nigerians abroad send about $20 billion home every year. This is second to our earning from oil which is greatly endangered in these days of oil selling at $40 a barrel. No one can be categorical on the size of Nigeria’s diaspora. But it seems we may have about a quarter of a million in the UK and perhaps over a million in the USA and Canada. Some have foolishly suggested we may have up to 10 million in the Sudan. I disagree with this  estimate. The so-called fellata in the Sudan were migrants from West Africa either left behind on the way to or from the hajj or those West Africans who went to work in the cotton fields of the gezira scheme. They are now Sudanese and have cut their ties with their ancestral homes and hardly send money which they obviously do not have to Nigeria.

    On a micro level of individuals and particularly me, it is not very easy for me to get along with a situation where all my children are living abroad. I am sure many Nigerians will glibly say they will like to have the kind of problem that I have. I know some of our people in Edo and Delta states have had to sell their homes to send their female children into prostitution in Italy or to the Gulf states in the Middle East. I do not know why the incidence of this type of trafficking is pronounced in these two states but that is the truth and reality. Of course I sympathize with them and their parents. No one having seen these young people on the highways and city streets in Italy, will not be overwhelmed by this tragedy. Thank God my children do not belong to this category of Nigerians in diaspora. I suppose this digression is a different kettle of fish.

    In my case I have to travel thousands of miles annually to see my children and their families at considerable cost to me physically and financially. I may be able to handle this but the fact that my children are all married to foreigners make my situation a bit difficult. I have no in-laws in Nigeria that I can socialize with. I have also not received the traditional gifts of yams and prostrations from the parents of my sons in law! My Igbo friends would have demanded the cost of educating their daughters from kindergarten to university from their prospective in-laws! There is also the fact that my grandchildren, sons-in-law and daughter-in-law operate on a totally different cultural level from mine. God knows of course that I have been exposed to western culture as a student and assistant professor within western educational milieu and I have had the honour to represent my country one way or the other at very high levels in the West thus bringing my living in the West cumulatively to 15 years but I remain an African essentially. My children unfortunately now share more with people in the West than they have with Africans. My children and their spouses all work making it impossible when visiting to be catered for appropriately. My daughter- in-law does not know how to cook and does not cook at all and unless my son cooks then I will either eat bread, cereals or bland food from restaurants.  I have never complained and I really have no right to do so. I am a long-suffering civilized old man. My daughters do the best they can but combining the care of a visiting old father with work is also not easy. I am not sure the situation would have been different if my children were married to Nigerians abroad. The situation would only have changed if my children were married to Nigerians living and working in Nigeria.

    As one grows older it may become increasingly difficult for me and people like me to annually travel thousands of miles to visit our families abroad. In spite of what our children consider as unsafe Nigerian environment, they will have to be visiting their old folks at home. I hope from what I have said above it will become clear that while in favour of global freedom of movement, it is not the best thing for families to be split by wide and long distances. I am usually aghast at Africans taking great risks to get to Europe and America and to stay anywhere but home! Foreign countries are not what they are cracked up to be. One is happier at home than abroad. The extended family network can come in as a cushion against hard times as well as support in times of difficulties. When I am abroad I always like the anonymity but hate the feeling that I am perceived as just another Black man on the road needing white sympathy. I do not know how my colleagues relate to their grandchildren in Nigeria but in my case I cannot discipline my smart alec grandchildren who are totally disconnected from my culture.

    But on the whole it is still a good world but can be better if my children and their children were a telephone call away from me. I have been with my children in the last few weeks but as we have always related to each other on the basis of candour and honesty my children particularly Fola will not be surprised by my views since I have always opened up to her and my views should not be considered as a criticism of my present family reality. In fact I have been blessed by wonderful sons-in-laws namely James, Owen, Ralph and my adorable daughter-in-law Heather and my brilliant grandchildren Finn, Morenike, Abiodun and those still expected.

  • Emerging political leadership in the western world

    The recent election on September 12, of 66 year old Jeremy Corbyn as the new leader of the British Labour Party has made many people to take critical look at emerging trend in western democracy and its leadership generally. Jeremy Corbyn has been in parliament for 32 years representing Islington North, a borough of London. He studied in a London polytechnic and made a career for himself as a trade union organiser before being elected into the House of Commons. He is cast more in the image of a previous Labour leader Michael Foot, a member of the remarkable Foot family that included the famous lawyer, Sir Dingle Foot,  MP, and their brother Hugh Foot, Baron Caradon, Governor of Cyprus and later ambassador and permanent Representative of the UK at the UN and John Foot MP, later Lord Foot and their sisters Margaret and Elizabeth.

    Like Michael Foot, Jeremy Corbyn is a political iconoclast who never voted along party lines in parliament and disobeying party whips 500 times. Up till two months ago the man never even thought of contesting for leadership of the party until some friends nominated him to broaden the debate on leadership of the party. Ironically those who nominated him claim now that they did not vote for him. So what kind of man is Jeremy Corbyn? He appears to be an idealist who believes in global justice, peace and development. And at home in the UK, he would work for equality of opportunities, and strengthening of the welfare state so that nobody is left behind in the race of life. He feels there is too much inequality in the UK and that every Briton should have free access to higher education and affordable housing. He does not believe in the free market and he will roll back nationalization particularly of the railways and public transportation and will ask the Bank of England to print money to reflate the economy rather than follow the austerity programme of the Tories which Corbyn claims has impoverished the Britons particularly the poor people. He is saying everything that reasonable people can associate with but when he says he will remove British nuclear deterrent by abolishing the Trident and withdraw from NATO, people who are willing to tolerate his idealistic socialist programmes begin to get worried that he may be risking the security of Great Britain.

    The reality now is that Corbyn has been elected and he won in all the critical groups of the unions and affiliated members, regular members, and new members who have recently paid to join the party. The parliamentary party apparently distanced itself from him but any attempt to remove him will destroy the party because 59.5 percent of registered members voted for him. The question now is can this unconventional politician lead Labour to victory in 2020 when the next election is due? The answer is in the air. Many pundits feel Labour has signed its death warrant by electing Corbyn. This is the feeling of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown two former Labour leaders and prime ministers of the UK. But others feel Jeremy Corbyn has energized the politics of Britain to the extent that young people who were disinterested in politics are now flocking to the banners of the Labour Party. If this is true then the emergence of the new Labour Party leader may usher in a new trend in the politics of Europe where the typical lying politicians are shunted off and replaced with politicians who are honest, truthful and authentic and not those telling the people what is apparently palatable for the moment.

    Unlike in the UK, the outsider who wants to lead the Republican Party and become president of the USA is Donald Trump a loud-mouth billionaire who is saying the wrong things and yet is riding very high in the polls. His solution to illegal immigration through Mexico is to build a high wall running for thousands of miles across the southern border of the USA with Mexico and somehow make the Mexican government pay for it. His solution to the ISIS insurgency is seizing the oil wells in Iraq to deprive the caliphate source of income. He would also force Japan and China to buy as much from the USA as the USA buys from the two countries. As for Putin’s  Russia, Trump will build up the United States armed forces that  the whole world would be trembling before it and even Putin, the Ayatollah Khamenei or anyone else will not mess with the USA again. There is of course Bernie Sanders who has declared himself a socialist running against Hilary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination. He is attracting a lot of crowd of people but it is probably out of curiosity for the elderly man who has committed suicide by declaring himself a socialist in the USA where socialism is like original sin.

    Compared with what is happening in the UK, the American situation is not only pathetic but laughable. One hopes a man like Trump or any one like him will not become president of the USA with his hand on the nuclear button. We have seen this before in 1965 when the Republican Party nominated Barry Goldwater, a rabid Cold War warrior who said extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice and moderation in the defence of freedom is no virtue and threatened to use American nuclear arsenal to overawe American enemies. The Americans rightly voted against him by electing Lyndon Baines Johnson.

    The point that comes to my mind is the general decline in the quality of political leadership in the West generally particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world including even Germany where Angela Merkel does not really inspire much enthusiasm thus the grand coalition between the Social Democratic Party and her own Christian Democratic Union/Christian Socialist Union ruling Germany in a grand coalition without a party in opposition.

    For me these people hardly compare with people like John F. Kennedy, General Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer, Nikita Khrushchev, Harold Wilson, Chou En-lai, Mao Zedong, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Ahmed Sukarno, Josip Broz Tito, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah, Ahmed Sekou Toure , Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere to mention a few. I may be a bit nostalgic but it is difficult for me to accept the current leaders are on the same pedestal as those of yester years.

  • Ade Adefuye (1947-2015)

    This is one of the most difficult tributes that I have ever had to write as a columnist. I have lost my wife, members of my family and close friends, but this is the first time I have lost a close academic colleague who is also a brother, a friend as well as a diplomatic colleague. The difficulty arises out of the culture of the Yoruba of an older person not participating in the burial rites of a younger person, yet Ade was too close to me for me to remain silent at the transition of this relatively young man. As the Yoruba will say, death neither talks of the day it will strike nor does disease say of the month of its affliction. I know also that death is an inevitable end of our earthly sojourn and it will come when it will come. In spite of this when death comes it is still unacceptable to those of us on this side of the earthly divide. I have been reconciled to the reality of death a few times when I watched my loved ones in agony during sickness and silently talking to God and saying if it His will to take them home and knowing they would not survive the sickness then I pleaded to God to take them home. I did this during the sickness of my most beloved wife and my illustrious brother Kayode. In my church we always glibly talk of making heaven but of course nobody is in a hurry to go to heaven. Death is always a difficult topic for man yet it is a journey we will all have to take. In my home town of Okemesi, during the annual masquerade festival the egungun used to say heaven should not be too hasty to receive us since we are all coming there.

    I left the University of Ibadan before Ade Adefuye entered there. I first met him in 1974 when I left the Jos campus of the University of Ibadan for the University of Lagos. As a young man, he naturally gravitated towards me being the second youngest man in the department and from that time on we remained brothers until I heard the terrible news of his death. When the news broke on August 27, my children not wanting to upset me kept the news from me until the next morning when my son was driving me to the airport in Atlanta on my way to Toronto Canada. The whole thing hit me like lightening strike.  I tried to call his wife and children who on hearing the news took off from London to be with Sola their mother in Washington. I finally reached one of his children Tolu. What is most terrible about death is its finitude and its irreversibility.

    Of course I have asked myself whether Ade had a pre-existing cardiac problem. All I can say for sure is that Ade worked himself to death serving Nigeria and humanity. In 1988, he was appointed High Commissioner to the Commonwealth Caribbean Island of Jamaica and he gave the assignment all the energies he could muster. After two years on the job, he was well known not only in Jamaica but in the entire Commonwealth Caribbean islands. He was on first name terms with their prime ministers. He brought the weight of his academic scholarship as a historian of Africa to bear not only on his diplomatic assignment but also on historical pedagogy in their schools where the contribution of Africans to world civilization had been deliberately suppressed to justify slavery and the legacy of white domination even in so-called independent island countries of the West Indies. I had myself taught for a year in the University of the West Indies Barbados in 1971-1972 and had witnessed how the black man was at the bottom of the racial hierarchy in the West Indies. His success in the Caribbean more than justify my firmly held view of the place of the historian in diplomacy as well as the place of carefully chosen professional as a leaven to the sometimes over ritualized diplomatic corps.

    His influence in the West Indies became extremely useful to Nigeria when Chief Emeka Anyaoku decided to succeed Sonny Ramphal as Commonwealth Secretary General in 1989. Each commonwealth country had a vote, with India of over a billion people having the same one vote as a small Caribbean island of a 100,000 inhabitants. Through Ade’s influence, the entire 15 votes in the West Indies went to Anyaoku even though on its own his candidacy was a formidable one. Without   Adefuye corralling the whole of the West Indies, the outcome may have been different bearing in mind that  Anyaoku’s  opponent was  Malcolm Fraser, a former Australian Prime Minister who had the support of many south African countries which felt a white Secretary General would be more effective in confronting apartheid South Africa and its white minority regime.

    Adefuye’s success with the election of Anyaoku led to his being cross posted to London as Deputy High Commissioner, a position he held with much aplomb, dedication and loyalty. After leaving London for home in1993, he was appointed Deputy Director and later substantive Director for Africa in the Commonwealth Office in London working directly with Anyaoku until the latter retired leaving Adefuye behind. His schedule and brief involved travelling all over Commonwealth countries particularly in southern Africa settling political problems and civil strive. He was constantly travelling sometimes at short notice. I once asked him if his constant travelling had any adverse effect on his health. He said it did not but I am aware from well established studies that after a certain age, I think 55 years, even pilots are asked to retire. For 10 years Ade was always on the road or in the air until he reached the age of 60 and having served for 10 years he retired from the Commonwealth Secretariat making this his second retirement having retired from the University of Lagos earlier on in the 1990s. He then subsequently joined ECOWAS in Abuja as a director doing the same trouble shooting job of a peace maker in the ECOWAS sub region. It was from there that President Umaru Yar’Adua through the good offices of Governor Gbenga Daniel appointed him as ambassador to the United States.

    As usual with Adefuye, he more than discharged his responsibility as a worthy envoy seeing in particular the establishment of a Bi-national commission between the USA and Nigeria to facilitate closer cooperation between them. He had a difficult job persuading the USA to assist Nigeria in selling arms to us in the fight against Boko Haram because of the USA’s perception of Nigeria as a hopelessly corrupt country and  because of our army’s alleged violation of the rights of civilians during its military operations in the north-east of Nigeria. Adefuye constantly travelled home at short notice and was many times grilled by officials of the State Department who while recognizing the sterling quality of Adefuye felt he was badly let down by his home government. He was recalled by the new government after serving more than the normal term of posting but had to wait to facilitate the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari in July. It was while he was packing to return home that tragedy struck.

    I have followed Adefuye’s activities in the 40 years and there are two things that stand out in his character. These are loyalty and hard work. He was an indefatigable worker who was absolutely loyal to any course he embraced as well as being totally loyal to those who helped him along in his career which will include the late professors J. F. Ade Ajayi, Akin Adesola, both former vice chancellors of the University of Lagos, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu , General Ike Nwachukwu and Chief Anyaoku.

    I believe that the place of Adefuye in the history of Nigerian diplomacy is settled. His family can justifiably be proud of his achievement and take solace in the fact that he served his country well. Ade was a good and loving husband to Sola and a good father to Bunmi, Tolu and Baba.  His place in his family is definitely irreplaceable. He worried to no end to see his children achieve their potentialities and to settle down in life. Thank God he left two lawyers and a computer genius behind and it is my prayer that God will perfect the ways of these children even beyond what Ade would have wished for them. Rest in perfect peace, dear brother and most beloved colleague.

  • Loot recovery, an existential imperative

    It does not appear to most Nigerians that  our country is broke and in financial mess. If this were so, the kind of talk coming from some people about recovering as much as possible common patrimony appropriated by a few would have been unthinkable. How can any priest worth his robe be pleading justice for treasury looters? This is an abuse of priestly privilege. We have to be careful in this country not to drag the name of God in the mud. Rule of law is good but must be accompanied by justice and public good. We are all for rule of law but in the Nigerian case, what is rule of law when cases of corruption have been in the law courts for up to a decade without resolution and some of those charged have come back to occupy executive positions as governors and legislative positions as senators? One is not surprised that these so-called legislators within three months have expended N31 billion on themselves while meeting for only 15days. It does not appear that these legislators know the precarious situation of our national finances. How on earth can members of parliament be paid N23 million per month after the public had been told that they were going to cut their budget by 30 percent? An ad hoc committee in the senate that suggested salary reduction was peremptorily dissolved by the leadership of that body following a rejection of its recommendation. Those who had earlier suggested that the legislative branch has been cornered by remnants of the ancien regime has been proved right by the financial shenanigans going on  in parliament. The Buhari administration would have to be prepared for a fight or else all its  ranting  against corruption would amount to to a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing. If it has records of corruption, it is in its interest to quickly take those involved to court and prevail on the Chief Justice to direct his colleagues to dispense justice quickly  and transparently without cases being bogged down with innumerable adjournment and legal technicalities.

    It is really a pity that even before the campaign against corruption begins, hired hands have begun to raise the dust of possible ethnic persecution. I cannot understand why anybody should justify corruption because it is perpetrated by one’s ethnic cohort. I am yet to see anybody in Nigeria sharing the proceeds of corruption with members of his or ethnic groups. This kind of argument is the flimsy defense by the weak and guilty party. The fight against corruption must start somewhere. It is no use saying we must begin in 1960 or some other date. Wherever there is evidence of corruption, whether in recent past or any time in the past should be dealt with without statute of limitations. We of course know that judgement on corruption should begin with the sordid deeds of recent past and if anybody stole money for his ethnic group, let him or her come out and name those of his or her ethnic group who benefited from the loot. I sincerely hope the emphasis of the anti-corruption campaign should be recovery after which punishment may be considered.

    The price of crude oil on which the economy largely depends has fallen below $50 a barrel and it is not likely to recover soon. It is therefore imperative on the Buhari administration not to count on possibility of oil bonanza. It will not happen. Those who manipulate global pricing of commodities will ensure that oil and gas are kept at this level for the foreseeable future. The western economy is benefiting hugely from low energy cost while India and China that used to guzzle oil are also benefiting from the slump in oil price. Developing economies are also benefiting. It is countries like Nigeria, Venezuela and Russia that have become hopelessly dependent on a mono product that are in for a shock. This is why the effort of the CBN to conserve foreign reserves should be applauded. We ought to be sufficient in food production. We should eat only what we can grow. It is as simple as that. Imagine what the hundreds of billions of naira spent on rice and wheat imports can do for our farmers and those who may want to take to farming. Our economy which for years has encouraged buying and selling must now focus on agricultural and industrial production at home. All the young men hawking all kinds of Chinese and Indian goods and fried plantains and so-called  pure water must be redirected back to their villages to cultivate the land or as gangs engaged in building  roads and houses which our country needs. Economy based on retail of other people’s goods is no economy. It is merely exporting Nigerian jobs to India and China. I am for encouraging local industrialists and foreign investors. But one is unhappy seeing Indians and Lebanese people coming to our country and borrowing billions from our banks without bringing their own money into the country. This has been going for a long time to the detriment of the economy. These people are able to do this through the corrupt connivance and collusion of of our banks. This will call for government oversight of the banking sector. It is not only in government that corruption is rampant, it is also prevalent in the private sector.

    The upshot of what one is saying is that Buhari is not lucky coming at this lean time because those who ran the economy at the time of surplus and plenty did not save for a raining day like we are witnessing now. This rain will not stop soon unfortunately. This is why there is a need for radical transformation of our approach to governance. We must not only conserve funds through prudent management of funds, we must also find other avenues to generate funds. People have glibly talked about solid minerals. We have heard this noise before. This was touted as money spinner during the Abacha regime. Not much came out of it except for the diversion of government money into the bottomless chasm of unprofitable ventures. If this sector is to be encouraged, it must be done transparently and with the private sector at its vanguard. We also need to conclude whatever privatization regime the government may have in mind as well as resuscitate the textile industry while banning importation of cheap textiles from Asian countries. Nigeria made a mistake of over-reliance on oil and gas while neglecting other areas of our economy. We now need to encourage companies that can add value to our agricultural products to go into production . While one is not suggesting state enterprises  that proved our undoing in the past, we must not be doctrinaire about private sector led economic development especially now that this government is seized with the problem of tackling unemployment. There may be need for state intervention in a few areas such as the development of vast plantations of such produce like cocoa, cotton, palm oil, rubber, cashew soya been wheat and even groundnuts. Local governments could be financially empowered to do this and get local youths employed in the process. We must not be encumbered by economic orthodoxy. Whatever can work in our clime should be experimented with. These are difficult times and this government must not be shy to try things that may not have been tried elsewhere before. We must put on our thinking caps and work ourselves out of this economic doldrums.

    The starting point is the recovery of the loot. This will show  the world not only that we mean business and that we are serious about cleaning the Augean stable of corruption, it will also show that we realize that this task has become an existential imperative for our country.

  • The Iran nuclear protocols: To be or not to be?

    After grueling negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1  namely the USA ,Russia ,Great Britain ,France ,China and the Federal Republic of Germany  an agreement was reached to prevent Iran from proceeding to build nuclear weapons while tacitly accepting Iran’s sovereign right to conduct and develop its nuclear engineering expertise. The United States as the most important power in the world and self-appointed guardian of the nuclear non- proliferation international regime was the lead negotiator. The United States in recent years has been saddled with the problem of limiting the number of countries that have become nuclear weapons states, especially following the joining of the nuclear weapons club by unstable states like Pakistan and North Korea and the possibility of these weapons falling into wrong hands precipitating their usage with worldwide ramifications.

    But the most concern is the extension of nuclear weapons arms race to the tinderbox of the Middle East where it is generally known that Israel has the weapons obviously as defence against being overrun by the hundreds of millions of Arabs who still do not recognise the right of existence of a Jewish state in the Arab Middle East .For quite some time the status quo seemed to have been the bedrock of some precarious stability in the Middle East because the Arabs were  technically far behind nuclear weapons capability; and secondly the Arabs seemed  more inclined to enjoy their petroleum-induced wealth rather than worry too much about the military imbalance in their region; thirdly, American and western influence  helped to moderate possible Arab radicalism. Egypt which remains the most important Arab country has remained in the western orbit since the death of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser and the richest Arab country Saudi Arabia is more concerned with the stability of the monarchical regime of the kingdom than on foreign adventure, and in this regard it enjoys AMERICAN military, political and financial support.  Arab radicalism in Libya,  Iraq ,and to some extent in Syria has largely been neutralised following the so-called Arab spring uprisings and American intervention which have totally reduced those three countries to shells of their  former selves . The removal of Saddam Hussein paved the way for military superiority of Israel for a long time to come. In fact, the chaos within most of the Arab countries, even though not particularly welcome by the international community, has given the West and Israel opportunity to shape events in their own fashion.

    But the coming of non-Arab Persian Iran into the military and political equation has become a matter of serious concern in the West .This is not only in the West but also in the Arab world. Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 has decided to confront the USA and Israel in the Middle East. Iran is now a major player in Iraq where it is supporting the Shia government in Baghdad and ironically for its own reasons involved in joining the USA to fight the so-called Islamic caliphate in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).. The agreement reached with Iran followed a previous agreement some six or seven months ago urging Iran not to continue  the enrichment of its nuclear fuel to weapons grade in exchange for easing of the UN imposed economic sanctions following the reluctance of Iran to permit unrestricted UN inspection of its nuclear facilities . Iran appeared to have complied with this agreement . The p5+1 then after grueling negotiation with Iran which will permit UN  unrestricted inspection of Iran’s nuclear facilities including its disposal of nuclear fuel to prevent its upgrade to weapons grade agreed to recommend to the UN the lifting of all sanctions incrementally according to the speed with which Iran complies with this internationally agreed protocol. This agreement to become binding will have to be approved by the Iranian parliament and the U.S. Congress. The other powers that negotiated the agreement seemed to have said implementation will follow the signing of the agreement by Iran and the USA . Iran stands to gain a lot in trading with the rest of the world once the sanctions are lifted .And in spite of the protestations of ayatollah  Khamenei  who still sees America as an enemy ,the  Iranian parliament will ratify the deal . It will then be left to what the American congress will do

    The agreement has been subjected to unrestrained campaign by the Republican Party and even some members of the Democratic Party in spite of their man in the White House .  The Jewish lobby is very powerful in the USA .This  is also a pre election year and the agreement has unfortunately become a victim of electioneering campaign  in America . All Republicans claim that the agreement will lead to the destruction of Israel and this emotional mantra has been aided by Binyamin Netanyahu the pugnacious prime minister of Israel who against all known international norm seems to enjoy being a player in domestic American politics by openly criticizing the American president Barack Obama . One can of course appreciate Netanyahu’s concern because for Israel it is a matter of life or death. This is why the American president said AMERICAN commitment to Israeli security is absolute and that no American president will negotiate away Israel’s security. In spite of this assurance Israel remains unconvinced. Of course there are voices within Israel that supports the agreement but Netanyahu feels Iran would receive so much money from the lifting of the UN sanctions against it that it will have money to destabilise the entire Middle East and threaten the state of Israel whose existence many in Iran are opposed to.

    President Obama has argued that if at any point Iran is found not to be complying with the agreement the UN would be called upon to reimpose the sanctions.

    Israel says Iran cannot be trusted in spite of public declaration  by the Iranian government and the grand Ayatollah  Khomeini that nuclear weapons are  unislamic  and that Iran is committed to peaceful use of nuclear knowledge  .The grand ayatollah had previously issued a fatwa against Iran’s development of nuclear weapons . It is simply an impossible situation. Israel has genuine fears and if it attacks Iran, the Islamic republic will retaliate and there is no certainty that America will go to war with Iran unless Iran first attacks Israel. This is the dilemma facing Israel and it is in the interest of both Israel and Iran to moderate their rhetoric while the USA and the rest of the international community seriously finds a solution to the Palestinian problem based on two sovereign and independent states  within secure borders ,one for Israel and the other for the Palestinians . This is the cause of the interminable problem in the Middle East .The other problem of Persians and Arabs ,Shia and Sunni Muslims living together will eventually be resolved within the overarching pan Islamic religious architecture . These two issues are going to be the main foreign policy issues in the area for foreseeable time to come and it will not be solved unilaterally by Israel or Iran and the Arab states and foreign powers as patrons of one group or the other.

  • Kabiyesi Okunade Sijuwade Waja, Erin wo ajanaku sun bi oke (2)

    When Okunade Sijuade became the Ooni he was well-prepared for the throne following in the footsteps of the great Ooni Sir Adesoji Aderemi who was at a time the Governor of Western Nigeria  and who  had earlier on used his considerable influence  in 1951 to sell the then new Action Group to the Yoruba people who had been supporters of the Herbert Macaulay-led NCNC .

    Oba Sijuwade’s grandfather, Olubuse1, was on the throne when the British took over Ife.  And unlike some Yoruba kingdoms, Ife did not insist a prince must have been born while his father was on the throne (Omo ori ite). In Benin, the Edaiken of Uselu (heir apparent) being the first son normally takes over when his father passes on. In Ife, one must come from one of the ruling houses apparently not sequentially.

    Kabiyesi Okunade Sijuwade brought glory to the throne using his contacts and charm all over the world to spread the glory and civilisation of the Yoruba, particularly in South America and the Caribbean, most especially in Cuba, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago where there exists substantial Yoruba Diaspora as well in the West African states of Benin Togo and Ghana.

    Okunade Sijuwade was a bridge builder in Nigeria and his close relationship with Alhaji Ado Bayero and later with the Obi of Onitsha is too well known to be dwelt upon here. His relationship with the Oba of Benin was a bit prickly apparently because of the old age of the Benin monarch and the pressure on him not to accept any notion of subservience of Benin to Ife.  Kabiyesi was also very close to the Igbinedion family, having been of great help in the business growth of the Esama of Benin. This close rapport with the Esama may not have been favourably regarded in the palace. Kabiyesi nevertheless held his Benin son, as he called the Oba of Benin, in great respect; and in spite of his rather cold relations with the Alaafin of Oyo, he tried to get on as well as he could. Many people stoked the fire of discord between Iku Baba yeye  Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi and Onirinsa  Okunade Sijuwade;  but the two, in spite of occasional public sniping at each  other, continued to  maintain  reasonable and correct relationship.

    The Ooni was a thoroughly modern ruler, some may say too modern for a traditional throne. The question is at what point modernisation becomes destructive of the old order rooted in mystery and mysticism. Some critics of Yoruba Obas say the institution is suffering from overexposure and that the institution is becoming too familiar and that they are many times seen at public gatherings including parties. Ordinarily, Yoruba Obas do not eat in public or should not eat in public. But in these days of thoroughly modern traditional rulers, not just in Yoruba land but all over Nigeria, it is becoming difficult to put traditional rulers in some kind of cultural straightjacket. But at the same time we cannot afford to sacrifice the institution on the altar of modernity.

    People point to the Bini monarchy’s aloofness and its hidden isolation from the public is greatly admired by many people who admire African tradition. I remember some years ago, precisely in 1991; as a new ambassador to Germany, I went with some colleagues to the Emir of Kano Ado Bayero who was a close associate and bosom friend of Ooni Okunade Sijuwade, for a familiarisation tour.. The Emir, having served previously as ambassador to Senegal before becoming the Emir, was very happy to see us as colleagues, wanted to chat with us and wanted to shake hands with all of us.  When it was the turn of Ambassador Subeiru Kazaure to greet the Emir, he refused to allow the Emir to shake his hand. The revered Emir got the message and he stopped shaking the hands of the rest of us.  When I remember this episode, I think the Emir was right because when our rulers become too familiar we may no longer hold them in awe as we should do.

    This problem is global. Even the European monarchies are struggling to be both popular and remote. The Japanese and the Thai monarchies are like the Bini monarchy in their remoteness. I would like the Yoruba Obas not to be seen everywhere and to be a little remote but not totally cut off from the people they are ruling over. To strike a balance will be a problem but the current familiarity would have to be reduced in order to preserve the sanctity of the monarchical institution.

    On a personal level, the transition of Kabiyesi Okunade Sijuwade, Olubushe11, is a great loss. I used to see him visit Chief Oduola Osuntokun in the 1950s and 1960s in Ibadan. Chief Osuntokun himself being young related well with the young prince from Ife. He was introduced to him by another Prince of Ife Ademiluyi who served as parliamentary secretary to my brother who was at one time or the other minister of Finance, Lands and Housing, Health and Social Welfare and lastly Education in a long parliamentary and ministerial career spanning the years 1951 to 1966.  When Chief Osuntokun left Ibadan, Prince Okunade Sijuwade, now Ooni of Ife, transferred his affection  to my most celebrated and cerebral brother Professor Kayode Osuntokun.

    I remember when our mother died in 1985 the Ooni sent a large sum of money to Professor Kayode Osuntokun as assistance towards burial expenses and also the royal staff of office as a mark of respect for the dead.

    Since my brothers passed on, he has been very affectionate to me, sending for me and others to advise him on national politics.  I remember his asking me to draft a speech for him which he delivered when General  Abacha  drafted him to chair an advisory committee of traditional rulers. He again once called the late Professor Kunle Olusanya and myself in the presence of the late Professor Saburi Biobaku to intervene and intercede on our behalf when the late Professor Omotola the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos was giving us a hard time after we were hurriedly recalled from France and Germany respectively by General Abacha in his onslaught on the Yoruba people who were considered enemies of his regime.

    The last honour he did to me was attending my 70th birthday and giving me unforgettable gifts. It is, therefore, obvious that I lost a brother and a father just as Yoruba people lost a symbol of unity. My greatest regret is that as Bapitan of Oyo I never tried to reconcile both the Ooni and the  Alaafin because  I felt the division between the two was so deep-rooted and  was like a riddle and a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.