The Nation Newspaper

Category: Jide Osuntokun

  • Congratulations Shetima Ali Monguno, my friend

    Congratulations Shetima Ali Monguno, my friend

    Like most Nigerians I was shocked to hear that Shetima Ali Monguno, 92-year old elder statesman was kidnapped by the Boko Haram insurgents and taken to unknown hideout. Like most Nigerians who know Shetima Ali Monguno, I prayed and prayed for his eventual release and God answered our prayers. For those who don’t know this man intimately, he was just another statistics in the number kidnapped or killed by this murderous group calling themselves Muslims and as many have said, a true Muslim would not commit murder, kidnap or harm another person, but particularly, old men, women and children even in the time of war. The Boko Haram says that they are fighting a Jihad and even if in their warped ideology, they have divided the world into two namely; abode of Islam and Abode of War; there is no way Shetima Ali could have belonged to the Abode of War as a true Muslim. His place of birth, Monguno had been in contact with Islam as far back as the seventh century, less than a hundred years that the Prophet Mohammed walked the earth and his family has been Muslims since that time. When in the 19th century, the Sokoto-Fulani Jihadist, particularly, the son of the Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, (Uthman bin Fudi) Muhammad Bello wanted on the pretext of purifying Islam to overrun Borno, they were resisted by Muhammad El-Kanemi, a Shua Arab Cleric who saw imperialism camouflaged as Islamic Jihad. Although Mohammed El-Kanemi eventually displayed the 2,000 years old Seifawa Dynasty, the integrity and independence of Borno was preserved. In order words, since about 700AD, Islam had thrived in Borno well before it got to Hausa land and other parts of Nigeria.

    These preambular statements are necessary to place Borno in the heartland of classical Islam where it had been for many centuries. Of course I am aware of the fact that a religion could manifest syncretistic tendencies which would need to be cleaned out in order to go back to the original religion. But whoever is leading the cleansing must himself be clean and holy. This was the case of Muhammad Ahmad, the grand Mahdi in the 19th century Sudan who styled himself the “Imam of the age” sent by God to return Islam to purity in the Sudan. His legacy still remains even up till today and at one time, one of his grandsons became Prime Minister of the Sudan.

    What we have in the Boko Haram is something like the Maitasine rebellion in Yola and Kano and its Bulunkutu counterparts in Borno in the 1980s. It was clear that the leaders of this revolt were not really true Muslims but people who mixed Islam with traditional African beliefs and were quickly suppressed by the Armed Forces of Nigeria. The Sultan of Sokoto has dismissed the Boko Haram and their murderous campaign as unislamic, the reason therefore, of the persistence of insurgency can be found not only in any Islamic ideology, but in the poverty occasioned by the corruption and oppression of the Talakawa, by the ruling elite in many parts of the North.

    Unfortunately, innocent people like the grand old man, Shetima Ali has had to suffer. It is common knowledge that Shetima Ali has held many important positions in Nigeria since the mid 1950s. He was a young minister in the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Federal Government and for several years minister in the Yakubu Gowon government; he was Pro-Chancellor of the University of Calabar at one time and for many years, a member of Nigeria’s delegation to the United Nations’ General Assembly. I got to know him very well as a man of integrity, purity and honesty. When I was Director of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) in Washington between 1979 and 1982, I welcomed him many times to the United States in my official capacity. He overwhelmed me with his simplicity. He usually travelled without luggage but with a small briefcase which he would check into the plane and inside the small briefcase would be a long dark Kaftan and that would be it. When everybody would be waiting for their luggage, he would simply walk out with his briefcase to our waiting car. And when asked why he had no luggage and his reply would be “as soon as he checked into his hotel, he would remove the long Kaftan he wore, send it to the laundry and replace it with a clean one in the briefcase and alternated this until he went back to Nigeria. He would hardly claim his tour allowance. He ate very sparingly which explains his slim figure of over six-feet. He spoke English beautifully and still speaks it beautifully and as a Muslim, who could marry four wives, he only had one wife, an English woman after he had divorced his Kanuri wife.

    As Minister of Petroleum during the Gowon years and President of OPEC, he could have become stupendously rich as many of his successors. He was so clean that in 1975, the University of Lagos wanted to give him an honorary degree for his exemplary life, but the young Turks including myself opposed it in Senate on an erroneous ground that nobody in public service in Nigeria could be clean. I later discovered that we were wrong and that our Vice Chancellor who nominated him, Prof. J.F. Ade-Ajayi was absolutely correct.

    Several years later, I had the privilege to discuss with Shetima Ali and he told me the story of his life, how the then Minister of Lagos Affairs, Musa Yar’Adua gave him a plot of land in Victoria island and didn’t know what to do with it for years until a friend told him he could develop it by contractor finance, and this is the only material thing he has to show for all those years of his national service. I used to visit him when I was a Professor in the University of Maiduguri in his simple and frugal house where he would sit on an arm chair in front of the house either reading or reciting the Quran. He would graciously offer me tea which was the only drink he ever offered me. This abstinence from any drink except tea probably explains his health and longevity. Even though his eldest daughter, Fati, was married to one of the members of the Supreme Military Council during the Buhari, Babaginda, and Abacha years; he never used that connection to enrich himself as many would have done.

    I have had occasions to discuss with him the problems of Nigeria when I was in Washington, United States and Bonn, Germany and he always appeared as an idealist who feel that if the leadership is right and exemplary, the country would do well. It is therefore a sad irony, that in his evening years he should be a victim of kidnapping and terrorism. I am sure the Boko Haram released him not because of any pressure on them, but because of the purity of the man in their captivity. They probably felt his death in their hands would undermine and erode the sympathy or tolerance that some people still have for them. Let us hope that the release of this saintly man would usher in the opportunity to dialogue with the Boko Haram and other insurgent groups, so that there can be peace in our time.

    The title Shetima which Alhaji Ali Mogunu bears is the recognition that Kanuris give to their men of learning. It is from the same Arabic root like Sayyid or Said or Sheikh. Other forms of the same word occur in Hausa land and even Borno as Shehu and among the Malinke as Shekhu or Sekou; all meaning “leaders”. Shetima Ali has been for many years recognised as a leader among the Kanuri, he was first identified as a young man by Sir Kashim Ibrahim, the Governor of the Northern region, who himself used to bear the title Shetima and one hopes that a man so recognised by his people would be listened to by the Federal government for his ideas which he had previously made public in settling this Boko Haram problem.

     

  • My wife Abiodun in my thought

    It has been 10 years since the cold hands of death took my beloved wife away and there is no way life can be the same. Marriages are made in heaven; this from my experience is the truth. I met the young lady who later became my wife in a multitude of people at Apapa Port when I and other members of my family went to welcome one of my brothers who was returning from the United Kingdom in 1963. As soon as I saw Abiodun something told me she was going to be my wife. I was a very shy person when I was young and in my generation boys and girls were educated apart unlike what operates today. Most of us boys were indoctrinated to feel that it was unethical and a waste of precious time that should be devoted to our academic work for young boys in secondary school to begin to fantasise about girls. So young people in my generation were rather shy and uncomfortable with girls. Unless it was absolutely necessary we did not relate with people of the opposite sex and when we did, it was most of the time adversarial. We also felt that only bad boys had girlfriends at least at secondary school level and somehow most of my classmates in Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti who had girlfriends did not do well either because they wasted precious time writing love letters instead of studying or they were just not smart enough.

    So even as a university student and at 21, we were still quite shy and uncomfortable in the company of ladies. So when I met the young lady who was to be my wife, I had to summon up courage to approach her. Her initial response was to say no and to put obstacles in the way of the relationship but I knew she was going to be my wife and the Almighty approved and six years later I married her. She brought a lot of joy to my life and also gave me four children, three girls and a boy all doing well in the profession of Medicine, Engineering, Psychology and Banking.

    The purpose of marriage from my own experience is three fold namely for procreation, and without sex there can be no procreation and thirdly for companionship in that order. When one is old the children will go away and have their own families, the desire for sex will wane and what would be left is companionship. This is the divine order because when God created Eve, he told Adam that he was giving him a helpmate. A helpmate is also probably the same thing as a companion. Someone who complements another person is a helpmate. The bible also says that a man shall leave his family and shall be joined to his wife and both of them shall become one. When a man loses his wife or when a woman loses her husband, half of the person is gone and the one that is left is like an eagle that is flying with one wing. It will certainly not be able to fly high and it may not be able to feed itself; what it will be able to do is continue to soldier on. This is the nature of things. No couple no matter how much they love each other will pray that they should die together. But it is usually easier for the woman to survive the man than the other way round. Who can query God? God in His omnipotence does whatever He wants to do and His decision is final.

    It is very hard to live alone especially when you have lived with someone for over 30 years and it does not make sense to me to want to start all over again with another person. Somehow one gets used to loneliness and being alone. What has helped me all these years since my wife’s transition is to bury myself in my work. But then no one can work for 24 hours, one still has to go to bed and sleep at night and then it hits you when it seems you are holding somebody but then you wake up and there is nobody and it is just in your mind. There is immortality of the soul no doubt and one knows even if one is not a Christian that the soul never perishes. But as a Christian, I believe my wife is in another realm and that all the pains of this life can no longer touch her but she will always continue to live in her children and grandchildren and in the love that I had for her and I still have for her.

    Diamonds are forever and love is imperishable. There is a sobering thought in all these that all men and all women have their appointed time. My wife was only 54 years old when she passed on. The consolation is that she had accomplished her mission. She was an ordained Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and had founded two parishes one in Europe and one in Nigeria and she has been engaged in the labour of love for God and man and God never forgets and my prayer is that she will have her just reward before God Almighty.

    Life for me has been full of ups and downs since her demise, more downs than ups but I have kept on in spite of the vicissitude of life because I have faith that my mission on earth will be accomplished. This piece is written to solicit prayers by all those who read it and to give comfort to all those who may be in the same position with me that all will be well. If Biodun had lived, she would have been growing old gracefully along her grey headed husband sharing with me my ups and downs. Finding someone to share your inner feelings, fears and hopes of the future and your children and children’s future is the big absence in my life. But the memories of what we shared, the laughter and the joys of husband and wife would linger in my mind until the end and until the heavenly divide separating me and my wife is eventually lifted as it is the lot of all humanity. It is well.

  • Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (4)

    Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (4)

    Added to this trend was Nigeria’s support for the removal of Muammar Ghadafi and his eventual killing which raised the question of whether Nigeria’s foreign policy in recent times has been hijacked by the West and whether Nigeria was sensitive to the question of sovereignty which our postcolonial leaders fought bravely for. Of course Muammar Ghadafi and Gbagbo were bad leaders, and Ghadafi in particular may not have wished Nigeria well in his past actions, but their removal by extra African forces, establishes a principle and a precedent that could perhaps haunt us in the future. This is why we must tread softly in our present entanglements in Mali, even though we are supporting a worthy cause and a principle of the non-violability and non-changeability of inherited African colonial frontiers. But care needs to be taken, so that whatever we do in Mali is not perceived as supporting Western led campaign and war against terror, in which some may misinterpret as war against Islam. Already, there is already a growing murmur in some parts of the North that Nigeria is in League with western countries to attack Muslims in Mali. This is not going to be the first time the bona fides of Nigeria would be called into question. In 1989 when there was a border skirmish between Senegal and Mauritanian forces following the migration of Mauritanian black citizens (haratin) into Senegal after their brutalisation by the Moorish regime in Nouakchott, Nigeria’s criticism of Mauritania was resented by some of our Muslim brothers right inside our foreign policy establishment. This was despite the fact then as it is now that black Malians, Senegalese and black Mauritanians are 98% or more Muslims. This lack of unanimity in our foreign policy seems to be a permanent feature of our relation in areas where religion directly or indirectly can be manipulated to undermine the unity of direction of our foreign policy.

    Future of West African integration and the role of Nigeria

    Leadership carries a cost. There would never have been a European Union without the sacrifices of France and Germany and the division in Europe in particular and the historicity of that division is much deeper than the colonially imposed linguistic division of West Africa. It is in Nigeria’s enlightened self-interest to support economic integration of West Africa as a prelude to political integration and union. The logic here is that Nigeria must continue to make sacrifices for the good of the region and in doing so; its leadership must carry along with it the entire citizenry.

    The population of West Africa is just slightly over 300million and less than the population of the United States. This population is very complex and we must not overlook this complexity, but if we create a situation in which all stakeholders see an advantage in economic integration, then, integration can become realistic practical politics. Nigeria should champion adopting a regime of a Customs Union (Zollverein) and it must be prepared to support countries that are not economically viable, through a distribution of custom duties on a demographic basis as well as basis of need. As at present, the neighbouring country of Benin, in particular, derives its economic well-being on smuggling of goods to and from Nigeria. A Customs Union would obviate this. The Customs Union should be the first step towards Economic Union. Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries for more than four decades have talked and planned the introduction of a common currency. In spite of the difficulties that dog this plan, it should not be seen as insurmountable and the goal should be fast-forwarded so that adoption of a common currency becomes a foreign policy goal in the future.

    There are other areas in which resources can be pooled together by governments and business people. This would depend on economic policies of the constituent governments in the region. Nigeria should lead the way in supporting a market economy in the region, without necessarily abandoning the role that states can play in the economy. We should not be glued to the orthodoxy of a market economy in which the state has no role at all. Even serious economists in the West are now beginning to see the positive role states can play in the economy through appropriate regulation of the market and the economy generally.

    Going hand-in-hand with economic integration should come ideological re-orientation of the politics in the region. It is now clear that development must be anchored on democratic rule. It is now proven that without adherence to fundamental human rights and the basic liberties and freedom, man would not be free to think through problems and to innovate and these are necessary conditions for development in a knowledge based world. In the past and even under military rule, Nigeria pursued a policy of spreading democracy in the region; a system of government denied its citizens at home. We must never in the future be in this invidious situation. In our sub-region, Senegal, Ghana and Benin are well ahead of us in the march towards democratic governance. We must do something about our democratic credentials so that laggards like Guinea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Togo, the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia do not find solace in our undemocratic practices, particularly, rigging of elections. It is by strictly adhering to correct democratic practices that we would make military intervention in politics a thing of the past; and unless Nigeria gets it right, it would be impossible for us to impose democracy in states in our region when anti-democratic parties seize power.

    Democracy should be seen in terms of peaceful co-existence of all the states in the region. Democratic states usually do not fight one another. This has been recognised as far back as the nineteenth century when Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote about “Pacific Federations” (foedus pacificum). He wrote that it is only when there is no democracy that war breaks out; and that it is when there is no democracy that the war party of the Bourgeoisie and the military fight war of expansion and conquest. This of course would not apply totally to Nigeria because Nigeria is a satisfied and contented country and has no imperialistic design on her neighbours. But the point of the peaceful nature of democratic government should be embraced by all and should be a driving force behind our foreign policy in the region and outside; and should be a fundamental factor of our relations with other African and non-African countries.

    Without security, there can be no development. The proliferation of small arms in the region is something to worry about. This problem has increased exponentially since the overthrow of Muammar Ghadafi in Libya and the infestation of the Western Sahara by terrorists allied to either the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb or al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa.

  • Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (3)

    Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (3)

    The present educational institutions that are grossly under-funded and under-financed are not capable of producing the outcome that this country needs for its industrial and economic leap forward. Yet this is critical to the kind of role Nigeria has to play in the sub-region. Nigeria can afford to finance its educational institutions at the appropriate level of funding and also provide modern infrastructure required in an emerging economy. One of the obstacles to this availability of funds is the current pervasive corrosive and debilitating corruption. It does not seem the Nigerian elite particularly those running the affairs of the country at public and private sectors realise that corruption is not just a criminal offence but has become a cog in the wheel of development and has therefore become a security issue because without development there would be a rise in poverty and immiseration in our country. Economic growth and development would redound on our country’s political stability, domestic strength and consequent power and influence in our region.

    Political stability is a necessary condition of development particularly in a post-colonial country like Nigeria. The bane of African politics is the instability arising out of the plural nature and the multiplicity of tongues in many African countries. The incessant coup d’états of the past was the result and the manifestation of this malady. In the case of Nigeria, about 350 different languages and ethnicities have been identified. Some of these languages are of course related. This multilingualism is further compounded by the divide of religion among votaries of Christianity, Islam and Traditional African religions.

    Poverty in the land has unfortunately exacerbated fissiparous religious and ethnic tendencies in the country. Politics in Nigeria is becoming gradually a zero-sum game.

    Electoral victories are most times manipulated through rigging and other anti-democratic means. Leadership selection is usually compromised by ethnic differences and affiliations to the extent that dissatisfaction with the political process is generally the outcome of electoral and political party processes. The result of all these is political instability.

    The exposure of the country to the outside world of terrorism has not helped. In order to be heard, ethnic and religious factions in the country sometimes result to arms as witnessed by violence in the Niger-Delta; ethnic militancy in the South-east and South-west expressed through cultural organisations and youth movements. But the most challenging problem the country now faces is the terrorism of religious fundamentalism in certain parts of Northern Nigeria. There is growing evidence and fear that the Boko Haram movement has links with the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Shabab in the Horn of Africa. The ongoing campaign against the forces of secession and fundamentalism in Mali, in which Nigeria is involved militarily, is the greatest challenge the current government faces. It is a case of stopping fire in a neighbour’s house so that it does not consume one’s house. For Nigeria therefore to remain stable and prosperous, steps would have to be taken to consolidate democratic and economic development at home. Once this is done, the place of the country would be assured in the sub-region, in Africa and in the world at large.

    Nigeria’s role in the future of the sub-region

    Unlike physical development of a country in areas such as housing, roads, infrastructure, telecommunication, educational facilities, health and social welfare, a country’s achievement in the area of foreign policy is sometimes difficult to measure. The dividends of foreign policy are always not quantifiable, even though peace is a factor in development, it is not easily measurable. Nevertheless, peace in our region, due to Nigeria’s leadership, especially when it physically intervenes to prevent wars would be obvious to everybody. In recent past, Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau, in Togo, in Principe and Sao Tome outside our region was decisive in bringing peace and avoiding war in those countries. Our intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone, worthwhile as it was, had to be subsumed in the final stages within the UN peace-keeping operations. Nigeria’s role in bringing peace to Liberia and Sierra Leone was not always acknowledged and sometimes it is forgotten when the success is ascribed to the UN; despite the fact that the fighting and dying in those two countries had virtually been done before the UN’s advent and presence and this was at a cost of about $8billion to Nigeria’s exchequer between 1989 and 1998.

    On the question of peace keeping for which Nigeria has acquired justified credibility and covered some yardage in our march to global recognition, there is need to preserve the sanctity of our reputation. Along with India and Bangladesh, we have provided troops in many UN Peace Keeping and Peace Enforcement operations. But in recent times due to corruption and the Nigerian “factor” our troops have sometimes been provided with poor arms and equipment leading to our troops performing below par and consequent UN criticism of our troops’ ineffectiveness and lack of courage. Our honour is involved. If we are to continue to be relevant in this respect we must adopt best practice in kitting, provisioning and arming our troops with weapons that are new and conformable to UN military standards. This in any case is a reimbursable expenditure and the UN pays for services that meet UN standards and there is no reason to buy cheap or second-hand weapons for our troops.

    Our involvement in peacemaking in the Ivory Coast raises some fundamental questions in one’s mind. For the first time in our history, Nigeria had to compete with South Africa in our sub-region for influence. In the past, we used to imagine there were two powers in West Africa, Nigeria and France, but the involvement of former South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki in the Ivory Coast was a sign of what is to come in the future, when South Africa and Nigeria would have to compete for Africa’s leadership. The denouement in the Ivory Coast finally came in the form of French military intervention, albeit under UN auspices to get rid of Laurent Gbagbo who is to face trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Nigeria was complicit in this French intervention. It is true that Laurent Gbagbo should have left power after losing the election; but a situation where a former colonial power intervenes to remove a sitting African president and with Nigeria being complicit in this removal raises a fundamental question in one’s mind.

  • A hegemon in a peripheral region: The future of Nigeria’s foreign policy – 2

    A hegemon in a peripheral region: The future of Nigeria’s foreign policy – 2

    The fact of Nigeria being a hegemon in this sub-region is therefore firmly established and based on economic and demographic factors. There are other factors that add to the weight of Nigeria as a hegemon in the West African sub-region. Its location in the mid-Atlantic and also at the geographical heart of the continent guarding the waters of the West Atlantic and the South Atlantic adds to the country’s importance.

    But globally, Nigeria is in a peripheral region. This is simply because in terms of global trade, the entire African continent south of the Sahara currently contributes roughly about two percent to global trade. In 1984, sub-Saharan Africa’s contribution to global trade was about six percent, but by 1998, it had dropped to two percent. Recently, this trend is reversing as Africa’s GDP grows at an average of between five percent and six percent from 2002 to 2008. But in spite of this, Africa’s gross contribution to world economy is still abysmally low; and most of Africa’s contribution to global trade is in form of low agricultural raw materials and minerals; and Africa’s contribution is largely shared between the oil producing countries of Nigeria and Angola and the mineral-producing countries of Southern Africa including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

    Nevertheless, Nigeria’s role as an important member of the UN is epitomized by its large contribution to peace-keeping operations globally. It is these facts that have sometimes made Nigeria and others to suggest that as the pre-eminent black African country, Nigeria should have a permanent seat in a reformed and representative United Nations Security Council (UNSC) whether a re-structured UNSC would ever happen remains a moot question. South Africa for economic reasons as the largest economy on the African continent and Egypt for geo-political and strategic reasons see themselves equally worthy of representing Africa’s interest. If Africa wants to have influence in the rest of the world, it would have to concentrate on rapid economic development for which its vast natural resources entitle her. What is good for Africa is also good for Nigeria. Nigeria’s wealth is largely due to the fact of its possession of huge hydro-carbons deposits which are wasting assets and which by best estimate may last for another 40 years. There is therefore a need for a total restructure of the Nigerian economy to anticipate what would happen in the near future. The future may not even be as distant as the next 40 years. The determination of the western countries to reduce energy dependence has led to significant technological breakthrough in automobile and mechanical engineering. Automobiles of the future may not be powered by hydrocarbons, but by alternative energy sources that may be friendlier to the environment and therefore preferable. The United States that takes about 60 percent of Nigeria’s crude oil exports is now aggressively pursuing oil exploration and exploitation at home as well as development of huge shale gas deposit in continental North America. In the last four years of Barack Obama’s administration, the United States has reduced energy imports by 50 percent and President Obama says he is determined to further reduce energy imports in order to free its foreign policy from influence of energy exporters to the United States.

    This is of course directed at the Arabs and the Middle Eastern countries, but Nigerians should also take a cue from it. The Nigerian oil industry faces a difficult 2013 as shale oil in the United States takes an increasing share of the North American market. According to the Togo based Ecobank, Nigeria’s crude oil export to the U.S may fall by 25% from 800,000pd in 2012 to as low as 580,000pd in 2013. There are already signs of stress in the fact that there is a drop in commitment of oil lifting for February and March. The coming into the market of other West African new oil producers and the return of Libya’s oil production is making the premium grade of Nigeria’s ‘Sweet crude’ unattractive economically compared to the cheaper “sour crude” oil grades available in the international market.

    The decline in oil influence may gradually be noticeable even in West Africa where for years Nigeria’s oil diplomacy has been very effective. In the past, Nigeria sold crude oil to most West African countries with a payment schedule of 90 days. Countries like Togo, Ghana, Mali, for example, were sometimes tardy in meeting their financial obligations to Nigeria, and sometimes their indebtedness had had to be written off in the interest of regional cooperation and support of fellow Africans whose common denomination was poverty. But in recent times, almost every West African country has now discovered oil at different stages of crude oil exploration and exploitation. This of course should lead to greater wealth in the sub-region and less dependence on Nigeria’s oil largesse, but increased wealth if well managed should lead to increase in regional prosperity and trade. Nigeria has the largest industrial and manufacturing complex in the sub-region and with increased wealth in the region should come the expansion of the manufacturing and industrial complexes in Nigeria all things been equal.

    There is a nexus between foreign and domestic politics. A country that is strong at home would be influential abroad. Domestic strength largely depends on economic and political stability. Therefore for Nigeria to crave continued influence in the sub-region, it must do something about its economy. The credo of economic diversification should not only be the belief of Nigeria’s political leadership. It should be seen as a necessary imperative and desirable practical politics. Deliberate efforts must be made to support small-scale industries or enterprises which in order climes not only create wealth, but also generate huge employment. In order to strengthen its economy, Nigeria must embrace market economy as much as possible while not completely removing the role of the state in investing in critical areas that may not be attractive to private investors. The environment must be made friendly for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) while we must clean up the corruption in the capital market to permit inflows and investments with special focus on infrastructural development, construction of power plants for the enhancement of electricity generation, mining, health sector, agriculture and agro-allied sectors.

    Nigeria’s population is young and needs to be employed and unemployment is becoming a security issue in the country. In an age of knowledge-based industrial and economic development, it has become critical for Nigeria to produce the right calibre of man-power to drive the economy. When I was ambassador in Germany from 1991 to 1995, the then German Chancellor Herr Helmut Khol created what was called a Ministry of the Future and put a young and cerebral academic to run it. This ministry was given a huge budget and it was asked to recruit young scientists to dream dreams about the future. It is not surprising that Germany’s stature as the pivot of the economy of Europe has not only been confirmed but enhanced especially in the face of virtual permanent recession of most of the economies in the European Union. Nigeria can borrow a leaf from the German experience and invest in knowledge through building first class institutions and support research and development. This can be achieved not by the number of the establishment of unplanned universities but by strengthening the existing ones. The Universities and Research Institutes must also demonstrate competence and dedication so that the outcome of their research can be harnessed for Nigeria’s industrial development. Academics must be courted and cultivated so that they become critical stakeholders in Nigeria. The present situation where Nigerian parents spend close to 160billion naira annually on their children studying in other West African countries because of incessant strikes at home derogates from leadership role of Nigeria in the sub-region.

  • Chief Ilemobayo Akinnola (1934-2013)

    Chief Ilemobayo Akinnola (1934-2013)

    The news of the death of Chief Bayo Akinnola came to me as a rude shock. His demise is not only a national loss but a huge personal loss to me because all my adult life I have always known him as Brother Bayo. The reason for this is the fact that he and my late Brother Kayode were like twins right from their time at the University of Ibadan.

    Chief Akinnola studied Arts while my brother studied Medicine but they had so much in common in their worldviews and particularly in the game of tennis which both of them played with ferocity. They were each other’s best man when they got married.

    Chief Bayo Akinnola was born in Ondo town in 1934. He lost his mother at a very tender age but his father doted on the young Bayo to the extent that he and his father were inseparable. He attended Primary School in Ondo before going to Ibadan Grammar School for his secondary education. His father and Venerable Emmanuel Alayande were friends and Venerable Alayande was given the mandate to shape and mould the young boy anyway the old teacher deemed fit. This included caning when and if it was necessary. I bet it may have been necessary sometimes. Chief Bayo Akinnola grew up to as a strappling young man, tall, athletic and very well spoken. He eventually became the Head boy of Ibadan Grammar School and from there he went first to the Nigerian College of Arts and Science in Ibadan and then to the University of Ibadan where he earned a degree in History and English. During his time in the University of Ibadan, liberal arts graduates were not only taught good English but also they were taught how to speak it. Throughout his life, Akinnola spoke Queen’s English with relish and panache.

    After his graduation from the University of Ibadan, he went to England on a British scholarship to do a Postgraduate course in Education before returning to Ibadan Grammar School, his alma mater. He taught me History in Higher School Certificate Class (HSC) in 1961 before he left and joined the Nigerian Tobacco Company first as a Salesman and later as an Executive. He was a very good teacher and because of his spoken English, highly admired by all students but it was clear to us that teaching was not his calling because instead of teaching us history, he spent most of the time talking about the Nigerian Youth Movement which was at that time a thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian government. Many of the leaders of this movement had socialist or communist inclination and they wore huge beards in the fashion of Fidel Castro or Che Guevarra the famous Cuban revolutionaries. Bayo Akinnola however was clean shaven. Chief Okotie Eboh the then Minister of Finance who was allegedly corrupt feared this young revolutionaries so also did the then Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. In a one hour lecture period, the then young Akinnola usually spent half of his time talking on politics and revolution while the remaining half was spent on what he was being paid to teach. But as young people we all enjoyed his class until he left apparently for greener pastures. Baba Alayande was sorry to see him go because even as one of his teachers, he treated him as a son. He sometimes loudly asked for where Bayo was during assembly if he did not see him in time.

    Chief Akinnola lived with his young wife Fumbi in a small bungalow at Ibadan Grammar School until he left. He bloomed in the business environment and it was from there that the Military Governor of the then Western Nigeria, Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi a classmate of his appointed him as Commissioner for Industries during the military regime that spanned the years 1966-1979. Chief Akinnola after leaving government set up his own industry in Ibadan and had plantation of citrus and other crops in Ondo and also fisheries business in Lagos. He was hugely successful in all his ventures and he travelled far and wide all over the world looking for business. The climax of his business enterprise was his appointment as Chairman of West African Portland Cement Company the maker of Cement at Ewekoro and Sagamu. This is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Nigeria. His contribution to that company’s growth was substantial.

    He held the traditional title of “Lotin of Ondo”. This was apparently in deference to his social standing and his embrace of a philosophy of Joie de Vivre that earned him the sobriquet in Yoruba of “Ojo gbogbo bi odun” (Everyday like Christmas). He loved life and lived it. He used every occasion to throw huge parties both in Ondo and Ibadan to which he invited his friends both young and old. He was never really in politics until in recent times when he apparently had political tendencies towards the ruling PDP. At a time he was chairman of a committee that chose President Yar’adua as a candidate of the ruling party in 2007. His role within the PDP was rather marginal. He was not the typical party man as he was very truthful and blunt but he felt he had to support the PDP especially when Obasanjo was the President because according to him, that was the highest position any Yoruba man had earned. He was also committed to Yoruba unity and he tried very much to help nurture an umbrella organisation that would have brought all Yorubas together.

    Some years ago, he became the “Lisa of Ondo” (Prime Minister) and spent his fortunes and the contribution of his friends to virtually rebuild the Palace of the Lisa in Ondo. He was a great churchman and he liked to sing and had a wonderful voice and with his size, he could bring a house down. Chief Akinnola was a good father to his children one of who is Mobola Johnson the current Federal Minister for Communication Technology. He gave his children the best education money could buy at home and abroad. Yewande is a lawyer; Akinyinka and Mobola are engineers and Arinola a banker. He was also a great grandfather and he used to take his grandchildren round the world at one time or the other. I once met him in an airport in Frankfurt in one of these great occasions.

    He will be greatly missed by all those who knew him and by his beloved wife Fumbi and children Yewande, Akinyinka, Mobola and Arinola and by us his brothers and many loved ones and the Nigerian public as a whole.

    His death brings one to the Yoruba saying “Erin wo ajanaku sun bi oke” which in his case is very appropriate being a huge man. When he is buried in Ondo, the town will feel his impact by the crowd that would come to say goodbye to the great man. Adieu Brother Bayo.

  • A hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy -1

    When one discusses world politics and which country has power and influence, the United States as a global hegemon comes to mind. The United Nations recognises regional integration as part of the building blocks for global peace and development. In this regard, depending on which region of the world one is looking at, one can identify regional hegemons in different parts of the world. In Western Europe, Germany is definitely a big force in the European Union because of its economic dominance. In South America, Brazil is an emergent regional power. China, Japan and India are dominant countries on the Asian continent, whilst among the ASEAN countries; Indonesia is certainly recognised for its future potentials. South Africa and Nigeria would be for the foreseeable future the giants among the constellation of states surrounding them. In North Africa and the Middle East, Egypt remains the dominant Arab country because of its population and size, in spite of the military dominance of Israel in the region; and in Eastern Europe and Eurasia generally, Russia in spite of the collapse of the Soviet Union would always remain a force to be reckoned with because of its military power and advanced technology.

    Not all regional hegemonic powers command the same influence. In any case, the powers of these regional powers are relative to the powers of the countries in their regions of predominance. Power confers influence on countries that have it. A country could have influence without power, but in most cases, most powerful countries have influence. There’s also a price to pay for being a regional power. Neighbours do not usually love powerful countries in their neighbourhood, there is always some element of resentment and envy and sometimes this is extended to nationals of regional powers. The image of the “ugly Americans” as an expression of hostility not necessarily to individual Americans but to their country because of its pre-eminence and domineering presence can also be seen in the way West Europeans partly for historic reasons resent the Germans and people in Asia generally resent the Chinese. In South Asia partly for historical and religious reasons, Pakistanis do not like Indians and Sri Lankans are wary of Indian influence. In the Pacific Rim, the two Koreas are united in their dislike of Japan. The same feeling can be observed in the treatment of Nigerians in West Africa, if not in Africa, south of the Sahara, as a whole. It does not really matter whether a hegemon or nationals of a hegemonic country throw their weight around, their domination is assumed. This preamble is necessary to situate our topic in its right context and perspective.

    Current political and economic reality

    All countries in West Africa, the area of Nigeria’s domineering power and influence belong to the Economic Community of West African States. The ECOWAS which is made up of the Republics of Benin, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Cape Verde, Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Togo, and The Gambia was formed in 1975. One of its founding members, Mauritania has had to withdraw because it felt it was not gaining anything from the Economic Union and also possibly because of criticism by members against its racist policy in which the Moors oppressed the blacks (haratin) who by some estimates are the majority.

    The current population of Nigeria is estimated at 170,123,747 and the population of the remaining 14 ECOWAS countries put together is 144,589,549. The nominal GDP of Nigeria is currently put at 238.920 billion dollars; whilst the total nominal GDP of the other 14 countries put together is 133.222 billion dollars. The closest to Nigeria in population and GDP is the Republic of Ghana with an estimated current population of 24,200,000 with a nominal GDP of 46.7billion dollars. This means that the Nigerian economy is over five times that of Ghana, while its population is about seven times that of Ghana. There is a remarkable decline in Ivory Coast GDP, obviously because of the war and instability in that country.

    For cultural, linguistic and colonial historical relations with France and Great Britain by countries in West Africa, there is a noticeable dichotomy between Anglophone and Francophone West Africa. This sometimes led to sharp political and economic differences and consequent clash of interest sometimes between Nigeria and some of these Francophone countries acting as surrogates of France. This was most noticeable during the fratricidal civil war in Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. The dominance of Nigeria can be captured by a cursory look at the Gross nominal GDP of all the Francophone countries and their population compared with that of Nigeria. The nominal GDP of the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and Guinea added together is 81.289 billion dollars and their population is 106, 270,874, compared to Nigeria’s GDP of 238.920 billion Dollars and population of 170,123,103. Even when the Lusophone countries of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde are added to the Francophone’s figures, the overwhelming Nigeria’s figures are still staggering. Of course population alone is not the only index of power but it is an important one. In the future politics among nations, any country with less than 100million people is not likely to amount to much. This is why countries like France and now the Russian Federation are paying their women to have more children. Of course overpopulation could be a drag on a country’s economic development and consequent power. But population that is educated and that can be easily mobilised is a factor of power. This was captured graphically in the 1960s when Premier Chou en Lai said in the event of war with the United States, China would be ready to lose 100million people and would still have one billion people standing. He added that if all the then 1.1billion Chinese people jumped from a certain height and the same time to a spot, the force would precipitate an earthquake that would have global consequence.

    The dominance of Nigeria is therefore clear and this dominance is obviously reflected in the weight at which Nigeria punches in the West African sub-region. This has led to some writers to describe the situation as that of Gulliver and the Lilliputians. This of course is not a good diplomatic expression and if used by Nigerians can bring a lot of hostility rather than friendship to the country.

    Leadership of course, carries its own burden. In the past, Nigeria has always followed a policy of self-abnegation in dealing with other African countries whether in ECOWAS or in the OAU now AU. This is why Nigeria deliberately removes itself from competition for the post of Secretary-General of the two organisations. But for the fact that the ECOWAS Secretariat is located in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja and the moribund scientific commission of the AU was located in Lagos, Nigeria in spite of its huge budgetary support for these two organisations was not getting much that was commensurate with its contribution. Critics of Nigeria’s foreign policy in recent times have argued that this past policy needs to change and that Nigeria needs to make its presence felt in relation to its financial support for these two organisations. Even though this policy of self-abnegation is not cast in iron, it is not likely to change soon.

  • Peace in our time

    Peace in our time

    The phrase “Peace in our time” was what Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister on the eve of the second world war said when he returned from Germany after meeting Adolf Hitler and appeasing the dictator by virtually signing away the independence and territorial integrity of Czechoslovakia. I am employing this usage to describe what I and all Nigerians of good conscience want for our country at this time. The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III recently said for peace to reign in our community, the federal government should come out with a programme of amnesty for the Boko Haram militants and all other militants who are terrorising Northern Nigeria. His argument is based on the fact that whatever grievances these people may have will be assuaged by an offer of amnesty that would presumably carry financial inducement. The Sultan is a very knowledgeable man; a retired Brigadier-General in the army who I believe has a doctorate degree from University of Lagos is not only a leader of the Muslim faithful but also an intelligent man. His call for amnesty is therefore something he must have considered and thought about very well; in other words, this is not a call that should be dismissed lightly.

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has issued a statement through its Secretary General opposing the call for amnesty. This opposition is based on solid ground that Boko Haram has committed capital crime of premeditated murder against fellow Nigerian Muslims and Christians alike, but particularly against several congregations of Christian worshippers in their various churches. They therefore argued that crime must not be seen to pay but rather criminals should pay for their crimes.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has come out to say there can be no amnesty for now. The emphasis is on NOW. This implies that there could be amnesty in the future. The President’s position is based on the fact that there is no clear identity of the members of Boko Haram. Secondly, he says he does not know what their grievances are and in his colourful language, he says he cannot grant amnesty to ghosts. He went on to say that the comparison between Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militants is not useful. He argues that people knew who the militants in the Niger Delta were and what they were fighting for and that it was easy therefore to negotiate with them and to mount a programme of training and financial inducement for them. He therefore challenged Boko Haram to come forward with their grievances and he will presumably reply them positively.

    The governors of All Progressives Congress (APC) met in Maiduguri recently and donated 200million naira to Borno State government in support of its peace effort. Following the courageous visit of these governors, the President himself has now visited Yobe and Borno states the epicentre of Boko Haram rebellion. There is no need to get into argument about the motive of the governors or President’s visit, what is important is that progress is now being made in the search for peace and all men and women of good conscience should pray for and associate themselves with the peace effort.

    Peace is an important condition for progress. Without peace, there can be no economic development or any form of civilization at all. Peace is also a religious injunction by both Islam and Christianity, the two major religions in Nigeria. Al- Islam means peace that is why the standard greeting in Islam is Salaamu a laikun while in Christianity the “peace of the lord” is a standard greeting and both are derived from old Judaism’s Shalom which also means peace.

    I have a personal stake in peace in North-eastern Nigeria and Nigeria as a whole. This is why I am extremely sad and saddened about the events particularly in Plateau and Borno states, two states where I spent five years of my life. I lived in Jos between 1972 -1974, two wonderful years of my life. The weather was beautiful and food particularly exotic foods like Irish potatoes, lettuces, strawberries, and so on were plentiful. Electricity locally generated by a mining company was constant and my daughter was able to attend Corona Nursery School all the way in Bukuru. I was able to purchase from VOM Veterinary Institute a pedigree Labrador golden retriever. I am going into details in order to show the peaceful nature of life on the plateau then. My wife commuted between Lagos and Jos by train. The various ethnic groups in Jos at that time were mainly Birom, Naraguta, Hausa, Angas, Jarawa, Igbo, Yoruba, Urhobo, Fulani and so on and they lived together in peace and practised their different religions without let or hindrance. It is difficult for me to believe that several years later, Jos and its neighbourhood have been reduced to a slaughter slab in which people are killed on a daily basis.

    The reason for this deterioration is political and until this problem is politically resolved, there may be no peace on the plateau. As for the north-east particularly Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Adamawa and Taraba, the situation there is similar yet different from what is going on in Plateau. I lived in Maiduguri from 1982- 1985, three wonderful years of my life in which I made lasting friendship and impact on the Maiduguri environment. Many of my former students are now occupying important positions in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi and Adamawa states and I am directing my appeal to all of them who may be in a position to facilitate the coming of peace into the North-eastern Nigeria to do so. Peace is indivisible and we must all contribute to it. The religion of Christianity to which people in the north-east adhere to should never be a cause for division, disunity and violence. After all both religions are Abrahamic religions and if need be God is capable of fighting for himself. Any human being fighting a religious war belittles God and questions divine omnipotence. This challenge to God carries consequences of curse if not in this world, in the world hereafter. Out of love for my personal brothers in the North-east, I appeal to them to give peace a chance.

    Finally, I know this country in and out. I am not an armed chair analyst. The cause of Boko Haram rebellion in the north is partly due to poverty. This poverty arises from climatic changes affecting the Lake Chad basin. The drying up of the Lake Chad and consequent poverty of the farming and fishing villages in the Lake Chad Basin has brought untold hardship to the people. Drinking water is sometimes so scarce that people had to make do with rain puddles. The corruption of the political leaders and government in the North-east is also a cause of the problem. The lack of a vibrant local press to articulate the desires and wants of the people who have been culturally conditioned not to question their leaders and who for years were satisfied with the crumbs from the tables of their leaders have all led to a complacency on the part of the leaders who have taken the people for granted.

    In 1982 I did a study on Islamic fundamentalism in the Sudan including the Western Sudan which also includes Northern Nigeria. One of the things we found out was Millenarian movement led by self-declared Imams always came at a time of extreme hardship, poverty, bad governance and adversity during which time religion becomes an opium of the people. Nothing has changed.

    It is therefore my considered opinion that all state governors in the North-east must embark on social justice and pro-poor development in which there will be zero tolerance for corruption. The federal government must also embark on economic intervention in the zone in order to bring development to the people so as to remove the current feeling of alienation. It is in this regard that the Sultan’s call for amnesty becomes relevant. I am happy with President Jonathan’s promise to intensify the search for hydrocarbons in the North East and to inject billions of naira into the economy of the North-east for this search. He should also channel resources towards the provision of portable water in the region. Agriculture particularly aquaculture and fisheries and rejuvenation of Lake Chad through negotiated channelling of the Ubangi-Shari from the Central African Republic should be looked into. The President’s Almajirai intervention through building schools for the roving band of young people being wrongly indoctrinated by barely literate Koranic teachers must be employed. Some of the teachers should be co-opted into the President’s schools and paid living wage. The work of rehabilitation of the brutalized proletariat and hoi polloi in the North-east must be through combined efforts of the LGAs, state governments and the federal government so that we can have peace in our time.

  • Centenary of Ibadan Grammar School

    Soon, Ibadan Grammar School will be celebrating its centenary. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Ibadan Grammar School came into existence. The school started as a community effort predominantly by the Anglican Christian community. In this regard, the man who became the first Ibadan-born Bishop of the Anglican community Bishop Akinyele played a significant if not overwhelming role in the establishment of the Grammar School. Over time, Ibadan Grammar School became a solidly Anglican Grammar School and the first Anglican Grammar School in the entire Ibadan division. Sister schools such as St Anne’s partly Anglican and Methodist and Yejide Girls Grammar School. solely Anglican came after the establishment of Ibadan Grammar School. The school was patterned after the older CMS Grammar School in Lagos which was founded in 1858 through the instrumentality of Mr. Macaulay a son-in-law of Bishop Ajayi Crowther.

    Ibadan Grammar School was first domiciled at Oke Are before moving to its present location across the bridge on Kudeti River in an Anglican environment harboring St Luke’s Teachers College and Ibadan Grammar School itself. This was supposed to have been in a virgin forest where for many years farmlands surrounded the school. Today the city has caught up with Ibadan Grammar School and the school is now almost in the middle of the town in Molete. Unfortunately, the road linking the town with Molete has witnessed a lot of degradation and for some years the bridges over river Kudeti were swept off by the rampaging floods that afflicted Ibadan some years ago.

    Ibadan Grammar School belongs to the “AOINIAN” schools. A confederation of schools of the Anglican Communion in some parts of the old western region including Egbado College Ilaro, Oduduwa College Ife, Abeokuta Grammar School, Ijebu Ode Grammar School, Ondo Boys High School, Imade College Owo and so on. These schools competed with each other in games and athletics every year and champions in these games were highly applauded. The school attracted people from near and far including students from Eastern Nigeria and the Mid-west which we know today as Edo and Delta. Because of this, the school usually had a formidable soccer team. The school was largely a boarding school but there were sprinklings of day students among the students population. The most famous of the headmaster of the school was the legendary Arch Deacon Emmanuel Alayande who was a son-in-law to the founding Principal of the school, Bishop Akinyele. Alayande was a prominent member of the National Union of Teachers and he used his influence with the Western Nigeria Government to secure the license to recruit the best of teachers including men and women from abroad. Because of this, the school was very popular in the old western region and outside it.

    When I was a student in the school in 1961 and 1962, the only son of Sir Francis Ibiam who was the Governor of Eastern Nigeria was a student there. During my time, names of students read like names of who was who in the old Western Region and Lagos. Arch Deacon Alayande was not only a great teacher but he was also a great man. He treated every student as if they were his children and as a professional teacher, he did not spare the rod. He was a very influential man in Nigeria at that time and he carried the honorific title of chaplain to the Action Group, the party in power in western Nigeria. Arch Deacon Alayande was also on the board of West African Examination Council (WAEC) and was therefore in the position to determine the course and curriculum of secondary school education in Nigeria.

    Of course Ibadan Grammar School was not a government college. It did not have the kind of facilities government colleges in Ibadan, Benin and Ugheli had; nevertheless its students never felt inferior to their counterparts in Government College, Ibadan except when the girls of the three famous girls schools, St Anne, Yejide and St Theresa favoured the boys from Government College over them as boyfriends! The school was a training ground for leadership because of its cosmopolitan nature. Every student had to learn fast in order to survive in an atmosphere dominated by boys from Lagos who were exposed to the cut throat competition of Lagos life. It is therefore not surprising that some of the products of the school have done really well in the corporate life of Nigeria. People like Chief Bayo Akinnola an industrialist and Lisa of Ondo, the Ibru brothers – Alex and Goddy, Mike Adenuga and Patrick Dele Cole to mention a few.

    Ibadan Grammar School has been a victim of vicissitude and tragedy that have afflicted education in the country. During the administration of the UPN government of Chief Bola Ige who incidentally was an old boy and a senior prefect, all the schools in the old Western region were taken over in a leveling process by which all schools were opened to all and sundry. This affected standards and since school fees were abolished, the school went into a total decline. This ideologically driven programme of free education at all levels was a disaster in the whole western region. Ibadan Grammar School is no longer what it used to be. The road leading to the school has been washed away by rain and it remains practically un-tarred. Roofs of most of the building have been blown off by howling wind and it seems to me that the boarding houses are no longer in operation because most of the boarding houses appear to be totally deserted. The classrooms are in shambles. I used to be the school librarian while I was there but I am sure there is no library there at the moment. To put it biblically, God has departed from the house of Israel.

    The story of decline in Ibadan Grammar School is also replicated in Government College Ibadan. The school I understand has been returned to the Anglican Communion but the level of its collapse is so great that it will require wholesale rehabilitation to put it right. This is where the government of Oyo state and the old boys and girls of the school would have to do something. With the calibre of some of the old boys, it should be possible for them to use some of their tax deductible income to fix the school. Ibadan Grammar School shall rise again. A 100years old school, with a great tradition must not be allowed to die.

    The tragedy of Ibadan Grammar School epitomizes in a glaring way the decline of everything that was good while I was growing up. Thank God for my alma mater Christ’s School Ado Ekiti which has somehow managed to survive the buffeting of time and political and policy somersault in educational planning and development in Nigeria. Christ’s School owes its survival to the engaging interest of its alumni and alumnae who over the years have paid unusual attention and interest in the affairs of the school. Without being immodest, the set of 1956-1960 to which I belong blazed the trail by donating a block of classrooms to the school several years ago. Others have since emulated us. Ibadan Grammar School should borrow a leaf from Christ’s School which is after all, a sister Anglican School.

  • ACN governors and infrastructural development

    If a foreigner were to come to Nigeria and wonders how to identify which party is in government in any state in Nigeria, the best information to be given to him would be watch out for road construction, drainages, youths mobilization as a distinct mark of ACN administration in the states under the party’s control.

    This distinction began in Lagos first with Governor Bola Tinubu and further dramatised by the stupendous efforts at the reconstruction of the state by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola. His example has now become a yardstick of measuring performance of ACN administered states.

    In this regard, the whole sale reconstruction of city roads in Ado-Ekiti and Ibadan is a miracle to behold. I went to primary and secondary school in Ado-Ekiti many years ago and now, I am a regular visitor to the city, the Kayode Fayemi administration has so much changed the face of the city that I can no longer recognize anywhere unless I am told where I am.

    The crisscrossing of the city by dualised roads has definitely given Ado-Ekiti the much desired appearance of a capital city. What the city needs is for individuals especially those whose houses border on the highways to rise to the occasion and give their homes face-lift so as to synergize with the newly constructed roads of the city.

    Ado-Ekiti is much smaller than Ibadan. Ibadan is definitely the largest city in tropical Africa even though through manipulation of figures by the National Census Board, we are now told Ibadan is the third largest city coming after Lagos and Kano. I totally reject this claim on the grounds that there has been no epidemic that has wiped out people of Ibadan and that the population of the city could not have contracted dramatically the way the National Census Board claims; that is of course another issue for another day.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi has done what nobody believes could have been done to bring Ibadan, a largely traditional African city to modernity. He has removed or he is removing all the shanties that constitute an eye-sore to every visitor to Ibadan. If the Governor can finish all the projects that he has embarked on in modernising the city, his name would go down in history along with those of Lagelu, Oluyole, Ogunmola and Latoisa as the builders of Ibadan. I cannot but celebrate Ajimobi because Ibadan is my second home. I completed my secondary school in Ibadan and I am an alumnus of the University of Ibadan and I reside in Ibadan, so, I am an Ibadan man by any definition and I should therefore be happy if Ibadan is doing well just as I am very happy that Ado-Ekiti, the capital city of my home state is doing well.

    It is not Ado-Ekiti alone that is being opened up by Fayemi, every part of Ekiti is feeling this infrastructural revolution. The road linking my home town of Okemesi with other towns through Ita-Awure was abandoned for more than a decade but it has now been reconstructed and opened up to traffic. Okemesi is a border town and according to Prof. Anthony Asiwaju, my colleague at University of Lagos, all border lands whether of state or country should be given special preference and attention in order to encourage the feeling of patriotism and loyalty so as to avoid developing a feeling of separation, alienation and attraction towards their neighbours on the other side of the boundary.

    I think Prof. Asiwaju’s theory is correct and my governor has done something about the apparent neglect of border towns in our state. What is good for Okemesi will be good for Moba LGA, Effon- Alaaye and Omuo. But in the meantime, all praise should go to our amiable and indefatigable governor.

    In 1967, I was a graduate student in Canada and one of my professors, one Professor Farley was coming to Nigeria for a conference at the University of Ibadan, I decided to send him to my folks in Nigeria and on his return, I wanted to find out his impression, he did not think twice before telling me that Ibadan was the biggest slum that he had ever seen!

    Ajimobi’s efforts in Ibadan would change the face of Ibadan forever and I pray that he would have the resources to complete the Ibadan road revolution he has embarked upon. When one looks at what is going on particularly in Ekiti, Oyo, Edo, Osun and Ogun states, the question one asks himself is whether there were no governments before the advent of these ACN governors. It is like foundational infrastructure is newly being built and I hope our people would be sensible enough to continue to elect and elect these governors who having put their hands on the plough would not look back until the work of development is done. Our people should realize that you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. In the process of urban renewal, some properties would necessarily have to be pulled down. We should not whine and complain too much because government is only seeking the greater good of all.

    Alfred Graf Von Schlieffen, Field Marshal and Chief of Staff of the Imperial German Army in the 19th century developed a defense strategy which envisaged the possibility of Germany being attacked from the East and the West and in readiness, instigated the construction of fast-moving railway lines and roads to move troops back and forth from warfronts in the East and the West so that once an enemy is knocked out in either direction, troops could be moved to where they are needed. Adolf Hitler, the German Chancellor (1933 – 1945) added the building of autobahnen (express roads) to the Schlieffen plan. In war time, the efficient transportation network was remarkably decisive.

    After the collapse of Germany in 1945, this efficient network of transportation grid and German ingenuity proved decisive in what the Germans called “wirtschaftswunder” (economic miracle) of the German recovery. A country or state that is not in permanent motion is a dead country or state. Transportation is key to economic development and once the ACN states complete their transportation revolution, rapid economic development is bound to follow.

    Yoruba land ko ni baje; o baje ti ! Nigeria ko ni baje o; o baje ti !