The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • The scorched snake

    The fall of Sambisa Forest, the stronghold of Boko Haram, last December was received with joy nationwide. The Northeast especially was happy that, at last, the evil forest fell. The fall of Sambisa was something that the people had long looked forward to. They counted days and nights and waited months on end for it to happen. But it did not. It was a long and stressful wait. It all started in 2009 when the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, died in police custody.

    His followers believe that he was killed by the police and so they took up arms against the state and the citizenry. Right before our eyes, Boko Haram became a terror to the people. It is not that it was any better than that before the death of its leader. It just became worse after his death. Yusuf’s dearth was an opportunity for his successors to unleash the sect’s evil intentions on the society. Here is a group which by its name claims that ”western education is sin”, but yet it uses western tools to propagate its ideals.

    Boko Haram claims it is fighting the cause of Islam, yet it does not reckon with Muslim leaders in the country.  The reason for its action is not far-fetch. Members of the sect believe that they are more pious than other Muslims. So, they cannot be under the spiritual  command of any other Islamic leader except the one chosen by them. Boko Haram was a disaster waiting to happen in the north because of the overindulgence of its youths. The north believed and still believes in indulging its youths. Rather than allow them to utilise their time and God given talent in tangible things, it engages them in menial chores that will not profit them, but the high and mighty.

    The rich fed off the sweat of the poor, who they used as domestic servants and also allowed to beg with bowls on the streets. They do this with others’ children, while their own kids are sent to the best of schools in the country and abroad. It was just a matter of time before someone like the late Yusuf will surface and change the orientation of the hoi polloi. He came with the message that the youths can take their destinies in their own hands and that they did not need any godfather to become somebody. It may not have been the best of indoctrination, but what was the alternative?

    The alternative was to shun the late Yusuf and find a way to survive without his help, but many of his disciples were afraid of taking a plunge into the cold hard world of the unknown. What their leaders could not do for them, the late Yusuf did within seven years before his death. This is why they were devastated by his death and vowed to wreak havoc on the society. They achieved their aim. The havoc Boko Haram wreaked on the northeast, especially Maiduguri, is unquantifiable. The sect destroyed houses, schools, churches and mosques.

    It also killed, maimed, raped and robbed. There was nothing Boko Haram did not do in the years that it held sway in Sambisa, which became its fort of sorts. It kidnapped people and took them there. Once they are there, that is the end of the matter – the victims are gone for good except a miracle happens. It did the unthinkable on April 15, 2014 when it abducted over 200 pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, in the wee hours of the night. It fled with the girls into Sambisa and dared the government to come for them there. For over one year, the girls were in captivity, with the then government doing nothing to rescue them.

    All that changed with the coming of the Buhari administration on May 29, 2015. The government has liberated the communities and local governments that were seized by Boko Haram and stamped its authority on those places. It has also rescued some of the Chibok girls, raising hope that more of them may yet be rescued. The sect’s abduction of the Chibok girls was the beginning of its end. If only it had known, it would not have snatched those girls from their school. That incident really showed the sect for what it is – a callous and bloodsucking monster.  Even those in the north who had sympathy for the group parted ways with it. The girls’ abduction was the height of its misadventure since it was founded in 2002.

    The Buhari administration’s determination to flush it out of Sambisa Forest yielded result when troops raided its theatre of operation codenamed Camp Zairo. The fall of Sambisa should have been the collapse of Boko Haram, but no it is not. Boko Haram is still struggling to remain a terror by attacking what the military calls ”soft targets”. Regrettably, it is doing more harm with these attacks because many of its members fled the evil forest long before troops captured it  The latest of such attacks was Monday’s invasion of a mosque in the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). Five persons, including Prof Aliyu Usman Mani, a veterinary doctor, were killed in the attack. We are happy that Sambisa has fallen, but we will be happier if Boko Haram too is crushed.

    The government also knows that Boko Haram will remain a threat as long as it has the power of attack by using minors as suicide bombers, just as it did in UNIMAID on Monday. The government has only done part of the job by annexing Sambisa, it will be doing the whole job by crushing Boko Haram never to rise again.  This will take time. But, we can help the government to hasten the fall of Boko Haram by giving out information on its activities.  If we know anything about the group and continue to keep quiet, it will not be fair to turn round to blame the government for the group’s continued threat, no matter how ”insignificant” such threats may be.

    In this battle against insurgency, we cannot afford to rest on our oars until Boko Haram is extinct. It is something that can be done because members of the sect are not ghosts; they are known to some people. Let us help the government to fish them out in order to save our country men and women from their fangs.

  •  The fall guy

    Poor Jim Obazee. He was until Monday boss of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). He lost his job barely 48 hours after the respected General Overseer (G.O) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor E.A. Adeboye, stepped down for Pastor Joseph Obayemi as G.O, RCCG Nigeria. If only Obazee had known, he would not have been bent on implementing the code of corporate governance for not-for-profit organisations to which churches, mosques and civil society groups belong. Obazee appears to be a stickler for the rule.

    He believes that things should be done in accordance with the law. Remember his spat with former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi? Obazee insisted that CBN is subject to the scrutiny of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). He asked that the CBN  should open its books to the FRC for vetting. Since that was under another era – an era in which Sanusi was not favoured by those in power – Obazee had his way not only in dealing with Sanusi, who is now the emir of Kano, but with those in the banking sector.

    Obazee’s stock grew. After all, he was doing the job for which he was appointed. Before his coming, nobody knew anything about FRC. His activities brought the council to the limelight. Initially, we all mistook the council for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) because of the similarity in their acronym. He changed all that as he gave FRC its own image within a short time of coming to office. He was passionate about his job and he insisted on playing by the rules. He threw the book at those who questioned his actions, telling them that, that is what the law says. He forgot that laws are made for man and not man for the law.

    His insistence on implementing the governance code for religious organisations, many of which have today become profit-making bodies, may have cost him his job. He might have had good intentions on insisting that churches and mosques play by the rules, but he forgot that in a society like ours, there are exceptions to the rule. In a society where mega churches and mosques abound, the law cannot but be silent. This is what Obazee did not know. If he knew, he would have trodden softly in enforcing the law against them. He also forgot one thing and that is that virtually all our leaders are the spiritual children of these powerful clerics. So, how do you expect a spiritual child to correct his spiritual father?

    The odds were against Obazee. Head or tail, he would lose. You cannot fight religious organisations and win. The faithful will tell you that will be tantamount to fighting God. Forget that many of these bodies may not be doing God’s will, but that does not matter to their members, who are die-hard believers in their spiritual fathers. Obazee may have suffered from misjudgement. He might have thought that since he was serving under a government – which is fighting corruption and other unethical practices – whatever he does in that regard would be appreciated.

    If he could not enforce the governance code under the Jonathan administration, which appointed him, because of certain reasons, he might have thought that he could have his way under the Buhari administration, which has no special relationship with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leadership. From the word go, CAN has been against the implementation of the code, which it sees as interference in its members’ internal affairs. Its former president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, criticised the law and used his connection then with Aso Villa to stop Obazee from moving against churches. Obazee’s hands were strengthened with the coming of the Buhari administration. The law can now take its course, he would have told himself and proceeded to implement it. Unknown to him, he was standing in the path of a moving train. The powerful whether in mainstream politics or outside it will always have their way.

    But Obazee did not read the situation well before moving against the churches as development as shown following Pastor Adeboye’s exit as G.O, RCCG, Nigeria. Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Okechukwu Enelamah was said to have directed him to suspend the implementation of the code’s provision, stipulating 20 years tenure for heads of religious and civil society groups . But he was said to have replied that there is no gazette to that effect and as such the provision could not be suspended. Adeboye cited this provision when he stepped down for Obayemi, saying many other G.Os in his shoes will soon follow suit

    Why did the minister want the code suspended? According to a newspaper report : ‘’There is an issue with the code of corporate governance and the minister wrote the FRC and told the council not to execute it because a lot of people from the private sector have complained about it. So, the minister wanted to look into it and see what the issues were. He (FRC boss) was asked not to go ahead with executing it. There is a controversy on that FRC issue and we are now looking into the matter to know what the issues are before we can finally take a decision. This is where the matter is currently’’. Denying the suspension of the code, the FRC said it is still in force. ‘’All the banks are complying with the code. If it has been suspended, why are they complying with it. The churches do not want it and that was why they went to court and they have lost’’.

    One would have thought that a matter like this would have been pursued up to the Supreme Court. But, no, the churches did not do anything after losing at the high court. Perhaps, they opted for ‘’administrative’’ solution to avoid a lengthy legal battle. So, whose order was Obazee executing in implementing the code? Can he allow his personal interest to conflict with his official function? Why did he not comply with the minister’s directive to suspend the implementation of the code? Who is in charge – he or the minister? Was anything at stake in his implementation of the code? Obazee might have misread the situation and conferred himself with the power he did not have in implementing the code, thereby forcing Adeboye to quit as RCCG, Nigeria leader.

    The government kept quiet for too long over this matter. If it had a position on the issue, did it make it clear to Obazee, who is expected to execute such decisions? Was the minister’s letter to him the government’s position? To avoid this kind of mess in future, which does not portray the government in good light, matters of this sensitive nature should be handled in public domain. By this,  I mean the government should have made it known through the media that it has suspended the implementation of the code. If it had done so, Adeboye would not have resigned ,  thereby throwing Nigeria, nay the world, into a frenzy.

    This turn of events at FRC is not good for the government. It shows that its house is not in order. If it was not Adeboye that resigned, would it still have sacrificed Obazee for ‘overreaching’ himself ? Blame not Obazee, but the government for this misadventure.

  • Merchants of death

    It was a season of love and sharing. A season when people looked out for one another. A season when a neighbour went out of his way to bless a fellow neighbour. A season when we wished one another compliments. But for the people of Southern Kaduna, it was not a time for compliments. Rather, they hid from one another because nobody knew who was who again. For them it was a hate season. The town was literally at war when it should be celebrating the season.

    It was December when the predominantly Christian community was looking forward to Christmas. Families had prepared for the festivities and were waiting anxiously for December 25, the Christmas Day. Then, the unexpected happened. Herdsmen struck in the community, leaving death and destruction in their trail. Southern Kaduna has always been a boiling cauldron. It is a place where people are known to operate on short fuse. The people are easily irritated and can do anything in a fit of anger. This was, however, not the case last month.

    The herdsmen came with a mission to loot and  kill and they had their way. They levelled many towns in Southern Kaduna and killed hundreds of people. For those who do not know, Southern Kaduna people are not lily livered; they can hold their own against any individual or group. They hold tenaciously to their Christian faith and can do whatever it takes to defend what they believe in. But the herdsmen stole in on the community as they have been doing in some other parts of the country. The government should have done something about these herdsmen long before the Southern Kaduna tragedy considering the havoc they have been wreaking on some parts of the country in the South.

    I had thought that they would never strike in the North because they are from there, but they have proved me wrong with their attack on Southern Kaduna, which is the hotbed of agitations in Kaduna State. Whenever Southern Kaduna boils, the country reels under its tremor. Kafanchan is a community in the south of Kaduna. In 1987, there was a religious crisis there which nearly ripped apart the state. The aftershock was felt in Lagos, the federal capital then. Former military President Ibrahim Babangida, who visited Kafanchan, described what happened as the ”civilian equivalent of a coup”. Painfully, 29 years after, the nation seemed to have learnt nothing from that bitter enterprise. If we had, we would have nipped the herdsmen’s attack in the bud.

    The herdsmen have done their worse in Southern Kaduna. They destroyed houses, farms, churches and a cemetery. What happened in Southern Kaduna was sheer madness. The herdsmen went berserk, killing, maiming and looting. The scale of destruction showed that it was a predetermined and well coordinated action. Only God knows what their quarrel with the Southern Kaduna people is about. Whatever it is, should they have resorted to bloodshed to resolve the matter? These herdsmen just love the smell of blood. This is why they are wont to kill and maim to prove their point. What point are they proving? That they are stronger than others or what? Or that they are above the law?

    It is disheartening that these herdsmen have been killing people and getting away with it. How come they have not been called to order? Do they have some powerful people behind them? Those who say they have strong backers may not be wrong after all because of the way they have been carrying on. I do not want to think that the government is deliberately keeping quiet and allowing these herdsmen to run riot across the country. The earlier they are brought to book the better before these attacks snowball into ethnic clashes. The Southern Kaduna mayhem is all the more serious because the herdsmen still struck under the nose of the police that were sent to restore order. Where were the police when this happened?

    The curfew that was imposed on the town also meant nothing to them. On Christmas eve, Goska and some other communities were attacked. If this could happen with a curfew in place and the police on patrol, will it be wrong to say that these herdsmen are being shielded? I do not want to sound like an alarmist, but we have to say things as they are in order to find a lasting solution to this crisis. We cannot just continue to watch while herdsmen, whether Fulani or from outside the country, are killing, maiming and looting at will. We must do something about them before it is too late. And the police must lead the battle to stop them. By the time one or two are made to face the law, the others will know that the game is up.

    But if we continue to treat the issue with kid’s glove, they will also continue to attack and kill people across the country. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has said that 808 people were killed and 53 villages destroyed in the mayhem and declared Sunday as a day of mourning. ”We are to pray fervently for our Southern Kaduna brothers and sisters who are victims of these wanton killings and also for the peace of our dear country Nigeria”, CAN said, adding : “The silence over the ongoing genocide in Kaduna in the last few weeks speaks volume about the perceived official endorsement of the dastardly and ungodly acts”.

    It is the government’s silence on these killings that is making people to impute motives on where President Muhammadu Buhari stands. I believe that the president stands for the country and he said that much in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2015 : ”I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”. There is no better time than now for him to prove that statement. Where are these marauding herdsmen from? Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai says they are from outside the country. Some people describe them as Fulani. Where they come from does not matter. What should be of concern to us is stopping their murderous act before it balloons into war.

  • Ode to a martyr

    He died doing what he knew best to do – controlling traffic and ensuring orderliness on the road.  That fateful Thursday morning of December 15, 2016, Surajudeen Olatunji Bakare left home hale and hearty. But something kept telling him that all was not well. He could not lay a finger on what it was and so he sought divine intervention. He called his widow, Joke, and children to pray for him. He knew that with prayers we can conquer evil. So, he set out for work after his wife, children and parents, who he called on phone,  had prayed for him.

    If only he knew what lay ahead, he would not have left home. His widow and children too would have stopped him from stepping out if they knew that was the last time they would see him. Putting aside his uneasiness, the late Bakare headed for work since he had a special assignment to carry out that day. The day had been set aside to deal with the menace of tanker drivers, who park indiscriminately on Apapa roads. Despite warnings from the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the police, the drivers have remained recalcitrant.

    They do not give a hoot about other motorists and road users. Once they park their trucks in that axis under the guise of waiting to load fuel at the depots that dot Apapa, nothing can move them to leave the road.  It is this loading of fuel that they use as excuse to cause congestion in Apapa, leaving motorists and residents to spend hours or at times pass the night on the road. This was the challenge the late Commander Bakare and his team faced on December 15 when they set out to clear the road. We all know the tanker drivers for who they are. They are short tempered and easily irritated and can do anything to have their way.

    And I think this is why Mobile policemen are attached to LASTMA operatives to ensure that tanker drivers do not become unruly in the process of getting them out of the road. Life does not mean anything to these brutes of tanker drivers. They value their trucks more than their own lives. So, in dealing with them, LASTMA men must be tactful and security conscious. The late Bakare tried to be, but something went wrong. What went wrong? This is what the government must find out.

    I do not know the number of operatives that were with him that day, but certainly, he could not have been alone on such a mission. I still wonder where his team members and the security operatives were when he was being lynched by truck drivers. How did it happen? Did he do anything wrong? These are some of the questions I have been asking myself since the incident happened. Is it now an offence for a traffic manager to call erring motorists to order? The late Bakare knew the enormity of the assignment he was going for that day. This was why he asked his family to pray for him before he left home and never returned. Recalling her husband’s last hours before he left his Itele, Ogun State home, the widow told this paper :

    ”My husband woke up and asked me to pray for him. He said he was going on operation and that I should pray that the operation be successful and I did. He woke his children up and asked them to do the same thing. We all did; we prayed for him and saw him off to the car. He gave me some warning before he drove off and I never understood what he meant. I never knew that those were to be his last words to me. He told me not to do what I am not supposed to do. I still do not know the meaning”. Elders say those about to die have the premonition of their death. Was this why the late Bakare asked his family to pray for him that morning? One  sure thing is that Bakare did not want to die when he died. But as Shakespeare observed ”death is a necessary end that will come when it will come”.

    Whether we like it or not when our time to go comes, nothing can stop it. We can see this from the late Bakare’s case. But the way he died is despicable. He was killed by animals in human skin, who feel that they must always have their way whether they are right or wrong. Was there no way to have averted his death? I think there was, if only the security agencies, especially the police, had risen to the occasion. Rather than rush to the helpless Bakare’s aid, he was left for beasts to maul. What is the essence of donning a uniform if it cannot save you in time of trouble? His uniform alone, which shows that he was an agent of state, should have deterred those mad men who descended on him from carrying out the dastardly act. What did he do wrong to warrant such a hot death?

    They claimed that a motor boy was killed by a LASTMA van. Assuming that is true, is it enough to maul him for that? The government has since said that the motor boy, who was sleeping under a petrol tanker, was overrun by his own driver while trying to evade arrest for wrong parking.  Where is that driver? Where are his colleagues and others who lynched Bakare?This matter should not be allowed to die just like that. All those involved in Bakare’s murder must be brought to book. The late Bakare deserves justice, his widow, children and parents too deserve justice.

    If the tanker drivers should get away with his murder, only God knows what they will do next. Bakare would have died in vain if we allow these drivers to still ride roughshod over us in Apapa. It is high time they were flushed out of the place. I know that the late Bakare’s boss, Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Chris Olakpe (rtd) will not allow him to die in vain. The Olakpe I know will not rest until those scoundrels are brought to book. My heart goes out to Bakare’s widow, children and parents. May his soul rest in the Lord’s bosom.

     

    2017

    In 72 hours, we will be in a new year. It is that time of the season to look back at the outgoing year and also to project into what the new year will bring. I pray that 2017 will bring good tidings for us. The much-talked about issue in the land today is the economy. It was not rosy at all in 2016 because of the plummeting oil price, the scary exchange rate and the ailing real sector. Nothing seemed to work in our country. Power, as usual, was epileptic, with the distribution companies loading us with tales upon tales of why the situation has not improved despite the privatisation of the sector. Power is key to a nation’s economy. If the power equation is not right, nothing will be right. Security is also vital. The government has been battling insurgency with all it has, but robbery and kidnapping seem to be on the rise. It needs an holistic approach in the handling of security matters. With Sambisa Forest seized from Boko Haram and Camp Zero reduced to Ground Zero, the government should ensure that the insurgents do not regroup elsewhere in the country. We say never again to insurgency. Our major headache in the outgoing year is recession, which the citizenry now blame for everything, especially the high cost of goods and services. The government has promised that things would change in 2017. It is change that we voted for in 2015, so if things change it will not be a surprise but a thing of joy to us. Nigerians cannot wait for recession to go and with oil price inching upward gradually, we may have cause to smile again in 2017. Happy New Year in advance.

     

  • Magu and the DSS papers

    Since coming to office about eight months ago as the anti-graft czar, Ibrahim Mustafa Magu has  been discharging his duty with single-minded purpose. All he is interested in is bringing to book those who used public office to enrich themselves. This cannot be a mean task, especially in a society like ours, where public officers, no matter their category, are untouchable. So, Magu is treading where even angels fear to walk by taking on these people. By so doing, he is only doing his job. But many, especially those affected and their friends, do not see it that way. They have taken it personal.

    What they do not know is that if they did not do anything wrong, Magu would not have come after them. As head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it is Magu’s duty to investigate pilferers of public funds. These are funds meant for national development and the provision of infrastructure. We complain of dearth of infrastructure today because these funds were not well managed. Rather than being used for the common good, they were siphoned by incorrigible public officers.

    The stealing of public funds did not start today. It is an age-long problem, which is as old as Nigeria itself. Every public officer believes that public office is an opportunity for him or her to become rich. This is why many who get into office without a kobo to their names leave office stinking rich. Where did they get the money from? This is the question Magu is paid to ask and he has been asking that question without looking at faces in the past one year. Unfortunately, this has earned him many enemies. Virtually all the public officers being probed or tried today do not like Magu’s face. They will stop at nothing to do him in, if they have the slightest opportunity.

    Magu has become an endangered specie just for doing his job. What these people want is an ally, who will join them in the looting of the country. Since Magu is not ready to play ball, they believe that the next thing is to ensure that he is not confirmed as EFCC chairman. If he were to be pliable, they would have been clamouring for his confirmation through some faceless groups. Never in the history of this republic has the confirmation of the head of an agency being so  delayed as that of Magu, who was appointed on November 9, last year, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Despite holding office in acting capacity, Magu has not allowed that to affect his job, which he has been doing conscientiously and to the discomfort of those who believe that they should have unhindered access to the treasury. He has become their enemy because he denied them such access. Magu, like everyone of us, is not perfect, but there is no denying the fact that he does his job with near perfection. He is diligent and committed – two key attributes – required for the enormous task of cleansing the Augean stable, which our nation has been turned into by unscrupulous public officers.

    Magu’s screening by the Senate is generating heat because of the kind of person he is – a no nonsense and uncompromising anti-graft czar. Were he to be otherwise, we will not hear all this noise about whether or not to confirm him. The Senate would have since asked him to ‘’bow and go’’. But because he is Magu, he is being subjected to all sorts of chicanery so that the president will withdraw his nomination. The Presidency also has its own share of the blame in all this. It is trite that the Presidency does not send a nominee for public office to the Senate for clearance without first knowing his security status. Why was this not done in Magu’s case?

    By not getting a security report on Magu before sending his name for screening and confirmation, the president unwittingly left him in the hands of hawks in the Senate and his administration. The president should not deceive himself that he and all members of his administration are on the same page in the anti-corruption crusade. No sir, there are many in your administration that do not share your sentiments about corruption. These people still believe in the old order of doing things – awarding contracts and collecting 50 percent and abandoning public infrastructure to decay. The Presidency made a huge mistake by not securing Magu’s security clearance before sending him for confirmation. It took a big risk by leaving this important task to the Senate, which could have exploited it to make Magu a turncoat.

    As things are now, the Department of State Service (DSS) may have given the Senate ammunition to deal with Magu, who does not enjoy cordial relations with many of the senators, who are either being probed or tried for one offence or the other. The DSS’ job is to screen some of the president’s appointees once their names are sent to it. After the exercise, it is expected to send its report to the president, who will on the strength of that report, decide whether or not to send the nominee’s name to the Senate. Magu was appointed in acting capacity after Ibrahim Lamorde’s exit. So, there was no need for his security screening before taking up the job. But what happened when the president decided to retain him for the job? Was he screened by DSS? What was the outcome of the screening?

    f he was found wanting by the  screening panel, was the presi    dent  so advised? Is it appropriate for the Senate to ask the DSS to screen a presidential appointee and use the outcome to determine the appointee’s fate without recourse to the appointing authority? And what is all this about the DSS writing two reports on Magu – one clearing him and the other rejecting his nomination? Which of these reports do we believe? The one saying that Magu is not fit for appointment or the other giving him ‘benefit of the doubt’ and asking the president to appoint him if he so wishes? There is confusion over this matter and it is only the DSS that can clear the fog.

    Let the DSS tell the nation if Magu is fit for appointment or not and state its reasons for whatever position it takes. For now, in this Magu case, it has not discharged itself well. It has only helped the Senate to arrive at an answer, which it has long wished for in order to paint Magu as unfit for the EFCC job.

     

    Wike’s faux pas

    By now, Nigerians know Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike for who he is. He is brash and rash and can do anything to get what he wants. The governor seems to enjoy swimming in troubled waters. To him, the end justifies the means.

    Wike is having a ball as governor and his desire is to rubbish his predecessor’s achievements. Whatever politics he likes, he can play with former Governor Rotimi Amaechi. After all, they were bosom friends before things went awry between them. But whatever he does, he should not drag Rivers down the drain. If he truly loves the state, he should be more interested in leaving it better than he met it and not take it down the religious ravine.

    Like every other state, Rivers has its own share of Muslims and Christians. But, last Friday at the Second Christmas Carol of the state, Wike was overwhelmed by the occasion when he was called to speak after the ministration of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. After greeting the eminent preacher,

    Wike said when he became governor last year, he thought it appropriate to introduce the yearly Christmas carol celebration because “this is a Christian state and I do not have any apologies for saying so”. But, the last time I checked, the Constitution in Section 10 states: “The government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion”.

    I don’t think this has changed. When last did His Excellency read his Constitution?

  • Death in the cathedral

    The thousands of worshippers who gathered in the auditorium of the Reigners Bible Church International in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, last Saturday came there for the consecration of their pastor, Akan Weeks, as a bishop. Everything went into the planning for the bishopric consecration in order to make it a success. Governor Udom Emmanuel was among the congregants. It was a day of joy for the pastor, his family, his spiritual children and well-wishers.

    An atmosphere of conviviality pervaded the church. The celebrator was at hand to receive guests as they came in.  There were pumping of hands and backslapping here and there as longtime friends reconnected. Laughter rang out loud from all corners of the expansive auditorium. The service started as soon as  Emmanuel came in and the national anthem was sung. For over 30 minutes everything went well, but suddenly, the unexpected happened – the auditorium crashed. There was bedlam as people scampered for safety. One’s survival did not depend on how nimble footed one is; it all depended on luck and where you sat.

    Up till now, we have yet to know the number of those in the hall. So, getting the true casualty figure is difficult. Do not believe the figures being bandied by the security people; it is in their nature to hide such things in situations like this. The truth is that many people died and we may not know their exact number no matter how hard we try because some people will not want it revealed so as to avoid public outrage. We do not pray for things like this but when they happen, we should have the courage to say the truth in order to avoid a recurrence. Buildings do not just collapse for the fun of it, something must have triggered the crash. No matter what we say or do, what has happened has happened. We can only take stock now in order to know whether the church brought this upon itself.

    What do I mean? What was the state of the building before the ceremony? Was it still under construction as reported in the media? How safe was it for human occupation in the state it was then? These are some of the issues we should look into if we want to get to the root of this matter. We should not allow religious sentiment to becloud our reasoning in determining what led to the crash. Scores of people cannot die while attending a church ceremony only for the government to keep quiet as if all is well. The dead like those who survived went to serve God and to witness the consecration of their bishop. As their spiritual father, Pastor Akan, like a good shepherd, should have been concerned about the well-being of his sheep.

    He should have done this by ensuring that he gathered them in a safe and secure environment. As ministers, we are charged to feed our sheep, not to allow them to die through acts of omission and commission. The news that we are hearing now that the church was asked to stop work on the building is not palatable at all, if it is true. Was the church served a stop work order? A building is not served a stop work order for nothing. The action must have been informed by what experts saw. What did they see to warrant the issuance of the order? And why did the church not comply with it? It is only in our country that a thing like this will happen and we will start looking for excuses to explain it away instead of taking action against the offenders. Are we saying that the lives of those who died do not matter? Over two years ago, a similar incident happened at the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos and till today the culprits have not been brought to book. Instead the church is dodging facing the law.

    This must not happen in the Uyo case. If something untoward had happened to the governor would we be handling this matter lightly? The answer is no. By now, all the church trustees and its other leaders would have been arrested. Even the injured pastor would be placed under arrest in the hospital. If that is good for the governor why is it not good for those who died in the crash? I feel sorry for the church and its pastor over what happened, but we cannot close our eyes to the fact that people lost their lives because of the negligence of some people. This is why those people are now on the run. They can only run; they cannot hide. Sooner than later the law will catch up with them. May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

     

    Mission to Gambia

    On Tuesday, some West African  leaders were in Banjul, The Gambia capital, to prevail on outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to accept the results of the December 1 election, which he lost to opposition candidate Adama Barrow. Jammeh is among the fast diminishing tribe of  African leaders still in office famously referred to by the west as the ”Africa Big Man”. By the west’s definition, the ”Africa Big Man” is a sit-tight leader who does not believe that there is life after office. So, he must die in office. Jammeh first came into office in 1994 through a military coup at the age of 29. In 1996, he transmuted into civilian president and has held office since then after being reelected in 2001, 2006 and 2011. After his reelection five years ago, he boasted that if he wanted he could be in office for one billion years. Pride, they say, goes before a fall. His pride led to his defeat in the December 1 election, which results he graciously accepted before making a volte face last Friday. What could have informed his sudden U’turn? Yahya Jammeh has become used to the presidential villa that he cannot imagine himself ever staying elsewhere. But he cannot impose himself on the people who have become tired of him.

    The time for him to go has come and the people have spoken that they no longer want him. If he decides to stay in office against their wish there will be bloodshed. He should not deceive himself that because he is president he would have the upper hand if crisis bursts out in The Gambia today. Jammeh has ridden the tiger long enough. It is time for him to dismount in order not to end up in its belly. It is to save him from himself that Presidents Muhammadu Buhari, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia),  Ernest Bai Koroma (Sierra Leone) and John Mahama (Ghana) went to talk with him. The good thing is for him to stick to his acceptance of the outcome of the election and not allow some people to mislead him.  It is heartening to hear that he was receptive to the four leaders’ advice to go. The consequences of his not leaving will be too grave for his tiny country, which he has ruled with iron fist in the past 22 years. Jammeh was still living in the past by recanting after accepting the election results. There is nothing for him to fear if he knows he has done well. For the sake of his impoverished country, he should go and allow a breath of fresh air in The Gambia. If he looked well he would have seen in the four leaders’ delegation another president, who just lost election – John Mahama of Ghana – and accepted the result without attempting to bring his country down. Jammeh should take a cue from Mahama and just go.

  • Rivers : Elections as war

    Whenever it is time for elections, Rivers State goes into war mode. Port Harcourt, the capital, and environs come under tension. Movement is hindered; people stockpile food at home out of fear. Do not blame them, they are only taking precautions in order not to be caught on the wrong side when hoodlums and other miscreants hired for the election start their thing. The state is now on edge as it prepares for a rerun election on Saturday. The ruling party in the state does not want to lose, while the opposing party, All Progressives Congress (APC), which is ruling at the national level, wants to win.

    This has been the case since Governor Nyesom Wike took over from his former political godfather Rotimi Amaechi on May 29, last year. For years now, there has been no love lost between Wike and Amaechi. They used to be bosom friends and political soulmates before they fell apart. Since they became estranged, the state has become their battle field. Now that they are in opposing camps, they see every election as a battle for supremacy and they approach it as  such. Saturday’s will not be different and the signs are already there. As in the past, the signs are ominous. The drums of war are being beaten and we can all hear the sound, but how do we stop this impending bloodbath?

    This is the challenge before the police, which have promised to do all they can to ensure free and fair election. We should not have our hearts in our mouths whenever election is coming in Rivers. Elections should not be seen as war not only in Rivers, but in all states of the federation.

    If our politicians truly love us and not just our votes, our lives will matter to them. They are using us as cannon fodders to attain power. It is 48 hours to the legislative rerun, yet the country has known no peace because of the election that will hold in only a fraction of Rivers. The din over the poll is deafening. Because of its determination to keep its turf come what may, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is throwing everything into the election. Led by Wike, the party has been accusing virtually every institution of state, beginning from the Federal Government to the police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of plotting to rig in favour of APC.

    During a campaign at Khana Local Government Area of the state on Monday, Wike, who will not allow any opportunity to go by without blaming his arch-political foe Amaechi of one thing or the other, was as usual unsparing in his criticism of those he believes are out to deprive him and his party of victory on Saturday. The rerun is a contest between Amaechi and Wike on who owns the state. Who is more popular between them? And in a free and fair election who will carry the day between them? In their days in PDP, they fought elections together and always won. But since their relationship became sour, they have personalised elections and other matters.

    In their characteristic manner, they want to use this rerun to prove a point about their strength. Their positions are reversed today. During the last general elections, Wike had federal might on his side because his party was then in power. Today Amaechi is enjoying federal might with his party in power in Abuja. Wike has been making noise all over the place for the fear that Amaechi, who was President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign chief, may use federal might against him.  Wike is used to having federal might on his side and deploying it in his use as we saw in the 2015 governorship election when former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan relocated to the state to give him maximum support. He won hands down.

    Why should he now be afraid of the same federal might? Your guess is as good as mine. He knows that you cannot beat the federal might no matter how powerful you may be. Wike is afraid of being given a dose of his own medicine. He believes that he should cry out now in order to have something to hold on to if his party loses the election. There were governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states with minimal fuss. So, why has Wike suddenly turned megalomaniac over a rerun? He and others interested in the rerun should allow peace to reign so that the election will be free and fair. He is alleging that his life is in danger. The governor specifically accused the police of planning to kill him. What will the police gain by doing that? He has also accused INEC of planning to rig the election in favour of APC.

    The police and INEC have denied his allegations, describing them as unfounded and baseless. Police Commissioner Francis Odesanya said Wike lied about his claim that 200 policemen were withdrawn from the Government House, telling reporters : ‘’Go to the Government House, the policemen are there…if the governor said I have withdrawn his police personnel, then it is the work of an investigative journalist to find out the truth in the allegation…’’ In its reaction, INEC accused Wike of instigating violence ahead of the rerun. Wike should stop blowing hot over this election in order not to send the wrong signal to the outside world. He should, like other  politicians interested in the election,  work towards its peaceful conduct. There should be no room for trouble makers this time around in Rivers over this rerun. Enough of bloodshed during elections in that state.

    The police must provide adequate security for INEC workers, election monitors and voters. It is their job to ensure that everything goes well during the exercise in order not to give Wike and his ilk something to hold on to if anything goes wrong. They must see to it that trouble makers are kept at bay during the poll. Anything short of this, the police would have failed in their duty and also opened themselves to public scorn and ridicule. We cannot continue to lose precious lives to elections in Rivers. This cycle of bloodletting must stop.

     

    The NYSC way

    No matter how hard hearted a person may be, the story of the late Ifedolapo Oladepo will melt his heart. She was deployed in Kano for the one-year mandatory  National Youth Service. Ifedolapo left home hale and hearty. But on getting to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Camp in Kano, she took ill. Everything was said to have been done to save her life, but she died. Since her death, the social media has been abuzz, with many commentators blaming the NYSC for not doing enough to save her life. The NYSC has since denied that it was negligent in the handling of her case. It said it did all it could to save Ifedolapo. At a briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, NYSC Director-General Brig Gen Sule Kazaure said the camp doctors battled to save Ifedolapo’s life, all to no avail. The doctors probably did not know what the first class Transport Management graduate was suffering from beyond the rashes she complained of having on some parts of her body. The autopsy, according to the NYSC,  showed that she died of kidney infection. What happened to the medical test Corps members are expected to undergo before being allowed into camp? Did she do that test? What is the result? Perhaps, if the NYSC had known that she had such serious condition, it might have exempted her from service on health ground, to enable take care of herself. What has happened has happened. I hope that we have all learnt a lesson from this so as  to avert a recurrence in future.  My heart goes out to Ifedolapo’s family, especially her grandmother. May her soul rest in the bosom of the Lord.

  • The fear of padding

    Never before was a budget so embroiled in controversy like that of 2016. For sure, what happened during the processing of the budget must have happened before. The only difference is that whatever it was, it was kept away from us. Unknown to us, a cabal had always been at work in the preparation of the budget. In the days of the military, those in the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office and the National Planning Commission (NPC) just gave us figures which we lapped up.

    The bureaucrats in the civil service know how to doctor (read as pad) a budget. Ministers who do not know their onions do not stand a chance with them. The more they looked the less they saw whenever these bureaucrats came with their abracadabra when computing the figures. Any minister of finance must be a step ahead of them in order to beat them in their own game. But they know how to win those ministers to their side.

    They tell them stories of how things were done in the past with everybody smiling home at the end of the day. ’’Oga, abi you come count bridge for here’’, they will tell a gullible minister. In no time, he will join them and become a pawn in their hands. They will commit all sorts of atrocities in his name and he will not be able to call them to order. The preparation of the budget was and may still be a means of stealing public funds. If we did not know in the past, we now know that budgets were never prepared with the best of intentions, at least going by the 2016 standard

    All those involved in the process had their own agenda and that was what is in it for them. What happened during the preparation of this year’s budget during this time last year was an eye opener. Being the first budget of the Buhari administration, the government did all it could to come out with a budget that will pass the integrity test, but the cabal still had its way. Even before the estimates were sent to the National Assembly, we had started hearing about padding here and there. The various ministries which were to forward their proposals to the Ministry of Budget, which is the clearing house, had doctored the figures to suit their own  needs.

    They put in irrelevances and allocated money to them, which they expected to cash once the National Assembly approved the budget. The assembly too has since become wiser to the ways of civil servants. Its members know how to handle such matters and can even beat the civil servants at their own game. They know what the civil servants had done in compiling the budget. So, they wait for them at the budget defence stage. By the time they ask one or two questions, the ministers and their coterie of aides will be looking askance. Then, they will be told to go back and take another look at the estimates, which is euphemism for them to go and add the lawmakers’ cut, if they have not done so. This thing has been on for ages and those involved have been doing it to the detriment of our collective will, while they have been smiling to the banks.

    The harm done to the budget by these padders is enormous because the money allegedly allocated to some projects is not eventually seen. The projects just appear on paper while the money ends up in the pockets of individuals. The most painful is that of the lawmakers, who are expected to protect the people’s interest. They too are on the take having been brought on the groovy train by unscrupulous bureaucrats. The lawmakers have perfected the act of making money with the budget. Since, according to them, they did not come to Abuja to look at the Eagle Square, they have found it profitable to pad the budget than to make appropriate funds for the people’s needs.

    We have heard from former House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Chairman Abdulmumin Jibrin how the lawmakers padded this year’s budget for their own gain. Jibrin was not saying anything new. It had for long been in the public domain that our lawmakers are corrupt. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said so many times while in office, but we did not listen to him. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to see the end of Jibrin’s allegations as his colleagues hurriedly suspended him before he could release more details about budget padding and corruption generally in the House. But the nation has learnt a big lesson from it all. Once beaten, they say, twice shy. With the benefit of hindsight, President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that he would not allow next year’s budget to be padded. Apparently still smarting from what happened to this year’s budget, he said in Abuja last weekend that he would prevent the padding of the 2017 Budget.

    ‘’I am waiting for the 2017 Budget to be brought to us in Council. Any sign of padding anywhere, I will remove it. I have been in government since 1975, variously as governor, oil minister, head of state and chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). Never did I hear the word ‘padding’ till the 2016 Budget’’, he said, adding that such would never happen again under his watch. Well said sir, but what did we do to those who padded this year’s budget beyond relieving them of their jobs? They should be brought to book to deter others who may wish to toe the same path.  If we do not do that, it will amount to paying lip service to the anti-corruption crusade.

     

    Cuba after Castro

    Cuba’s strongman, the irrepressible Fidel Castro, died last weekend at the age of 90. His death marked the end of an era in that island nation. Castro was a communist to the core. Even when communism was dying worldwide, he remained committed. He ruled his country with iron hand and called the bluff of many world powers, including the United States (US), which he railed against for years.   The Bay of Pigs episode will forever define his sour relations with the US. Cuba gave the US a bloody nose in that bitter enterprise following the failure of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to topple him between April 17 and 19, 1961. Since then, Cuba and the US have been fighting a cold war. There is no doubt that Castro loved his country, but he loved power more. This is why he did not allow democracy to thrive. He ran a one-man government and when he became ill few years ago, he handed the reins to his younger brother, Raul. The younger Castro, who was his elder brother’s defence minister and head of the armed forces, has been running the show for eight years now. At 85, age is not on his side. With his brother gone, he should be thinking of what Cuba will look like when he too eventually goes the way of every mortal.  The Castros have done their best for Cuba, but their best legacy for their country will be to leave it in the hands of capable people after they are gone. This is now the task of Raul Castro. Will he let go and allow the country to rediscover itself and chart a new course before the end comes?

  •  Long Bridge

    When 38 years ago, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was commissioned by former Head of State Gen Olusegun Obasanjo many saw it as the answer to the chaotic traffic along that corridor. The road leads out of Lagos to other parts of the country beginning with the nearby Ogun State.

    When it was constructed in 1978 it ranked among the best, if not the best in Africa. It was our pride and commuters boasted then that you could make Ibadan in 45 minutes from Lagos, a journey that hitherto took hours.

    It took the coming of the then Wole Soyinka-led Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to restore sanity on the road. The FRSC saved many motorists from killing themselves on the road, with its strict enforcement of safety regulations.

    As the busiest road in the land, the FRSC is duty bound to patrol it regularly to ensure that motorists do not turn it into a killing field. Even though it has been hectic for FRSC to ensure that things go well on the road because of its deterioration over the years, the agency needs to do more to regain its glory of the Soyinka days.

    To put the road back in good condition, Julius Berger (JB) and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) are working on it. Berger is working from the Sagamu Interchange to the Lagos end and RCC is in charge of the Sagamu Interchange to the Ibadan end. Since these companies started work on the road, motorists and commuters have not been finding things easy because of the attendant traffic.

    For about three weeks now, the road has been narrowed to one lane around the OPIC Plaza, causing traffic to stretch from that point to as far as Alausa, Ikeja secretariat and beyond, at times, most nights. On November 8, it took hours to move from the Otedola bridge to the Long Bridge. The Long Bridge, for those who know it, is not a friendly spot at any time of the day. It is what is known in underworld parlance as a black spot. It is a 5-kilometre bridge which motorists can drive through in five minutes. But if a motorist is stuck on it those five minutes can look like eternity because of the fear of the hoodlums lurking around the place. This is why the bridge is  more known for its danger, disaster, death and destruction.

    Motorists are suffering because Berger did not do what it should have done before embarking on the project.

    And what is this? It is the provision of an alternative route to reduce people’s  suffering on the road while the work is ongoing. What Berger and the government called alternative route while the firm was working on the other side of the road is a marshy red soil which is not motorable whenever it rains. Besides, it is a dangerous spot because of its proximity to criminals den. Those who commit crime on the Long Bridge are known to flee into the nearby  surrounding bushes. This is the route that they tagged alternative despite being aware of the inherent dangers in plying the road for motorists

    There is nowhere in the world that construction companies embark on a major work like this without providing an alternative route and such routes are always ready before the main job starts. But because Berger does not respect  Nigerian motorists, it did not take them into consideration in the equation of things.

    For all Berger cares, motorists could go to hell as long as it is working on the road. It is this lack of respect for the Nigerian people that is causing the chaos on the Long Bridge. What would it have cost Berger to work on the existing alternative route that passes through the front of the Nigerian Compass Complex and terminates at the tail of the bridge at Wawa? It knew it was going to work on that side of the road after completing what it was doing on the other side. Again, it did not care and nobody is asking the company questions. Before taking up this job, the appropriate thing would have been for the Federal Ministry of Works, FRSC, fire service, emergency management agencies and traffic management outfits in Lagos and Ogun states to meet to design a plan on how to ensure free flow of traffic during the road rehabilitation. Everybody felt unconcerned until confusion ensued last week following an accident, which led to a 15-hour gridlock on the road. It was a disaster waiting to happen and when it happened there was no answer to it because there was no contingency plan to take care of it. Must we always wait for disaster to happen before we act? There is no amount of trips from Abuja to Lagos by anybody that will solve such problems if we do not plan ahead.

    It is easy to blame motorists when such accidents happen because our leaders do not go through what we face in traffic, especially when a construction work, such as what Berger is doing on the Long Bridge, is going on. While we are sweating it out in traffic, praying for it to move so that we can get to our destinations in good time, they will zoom past in their convoys and even push us off the road in the process. Do they know how the people, who may have been in traffic for hours, feel when such happens? They do not because they do not feel the pulse of those they govern. On such occasions, the public heaps curses on them for being insensitive to its plight. To serve well, our leaders must come down from their high horse to the people’s level. If they had done that what happened on the Long Bridge last week would have been averted.

    The accident, which led to the gridlock, was said to have happened around 2.30am. My colleague, Bunmi Ogunmodede, and I drove past the accident scene around 4.30am, having slept in the office because of the previous night’s traffic. We thought when we leave in the morning the traffic would have eased, we were wrong. When we saw a stretch of vehicles as we approached the pedestrian bridge at Ojodu Berger, we knew something was wrong in front. Motorists were already taking one-way to beat the gridlock. We followed suit by reversing and crossing to the other side of the road. That was how we managed to get out of the logjam. If we had remained on our side of the road or waited in the office a bit longer for the day to break, we would have been caught in the 15-hour traffic lock down.

    That was early Wednesday, November 15. We got home but we could not make it back to work that day because of the gridlock. Friends and colleagues were calling and warning us against coming out because traffic was bad. Both sides of the road were jampacked up to Arepo and beyond. It was so bad;  man hours were wasted on the road just because our leaders did not make adequate plans to take care of such problem when it arises. So, it is convenient to blame it on motorists.  We say never again to such traffic disaster! But to achieve that, our leaders must learn from it and take concrete measures to prevent a recurrence. A country grows by learning from its mistakes and not by shifting the blame to the led.

  • America, their America

    He was the outsider in the race. Even in his wildest imagination, Donald John Trump never thought he would be elected president of the United States (US).  But in the wee hours of last Wednesday, the unexpected happened, the underdog upset the apple cart, shattering all polls that gave the election to Hillary Clinton. The outcome of the election was shocking and benumbing. Many across the globe are yet to get over it more than one week after the exercise. Many Americans are still wondering what hit them – a President Trump – is that who we really voted for?

    It seemed it never crossed their minds that election is a two-edged sword which cuts both ways. In such an uncertain race, anything can happen. The front-runner may become the loser and the underdog may become the winner. Elections are nobody’s race. The polls may give the race to a person perceived as the strongest among the contestants but that does not mean that he/she will win until it is all over.

    Trump did not enter the race as a serious contender. Politically, he was and is still a nobody. He came out of nowhere to give the presidency a shot, counting on his wealth to see him through since his fellow rich were not ready to identify with him. He was a political liability not worth doing business with. He knew his limitations but he did not allow these shortcomings to weigh him down. His limitations, which the Hillary Clinton camp hammered on, eventually helped him to win.

    Trump may have joined the race for the fun of it, but after emerging victorious, he must know that it is time for serious business. One thing he had going for him was saying it as it is. He was not afraid to say his mind and what he said resonated with Americans, especially those who felt that the so-called Washington establishment to which the Clintons are associated, had failed them. These people described as the white working class are not happy with the way things are in their country. They are demanding more inclusiveness in the affairs of their country, which they feel is in wrong hands.

    This class sees President Barack Obama as a settler who has been lording it over the country’s true owners in the past eight years. They would rather score Obama low than hail him for running a damn good presidency.  America was built by the blood of immigrants who these whites see as settlers. The country is still being developed by the blood of naturalised immigrants whose forebears toiled day and night to lay a solid foundation for a great nation. If the children of these hewers of wood and drawers of water cannot today lay claim to America as their country then something must be wrong with the so-called greatest country on earth. Not all that glitters is gold. America may have all it takes to be a great country, but it has not overcome its racist tendencies over 240 years after its independence.

    Trump knows his countrymen inside out. This is why  he played on these divisive tendencies to ride to the presidency. Having won the election, he has to win the confidence of his countrymen by showing that he has what it takes to run the country. The cards are stacked against him because many people worldwide doubt his capability. More discernible Americans are yet to believe what has befallen them. President-elect Trump! They are still in a daze. President-elect Trump!! They did not bargain for that. If the hands of the clock can be turned back, many Americans will want the election repeated so that they can pick the person that fits their choice. Do we then say that those who voted for Trump made the wrong choice? Yes and no.

    Yes, because many voted out of anger against a system, which they perceived has for long shut them out. They did not vote for capability, qualification and experience. They voted for racism, segregation and injustice, which are all the issues Trump expounded during his campaign. No, because they exercised their rights to vote for the person of their choice, regardless of whether he is incompetent and inexperienced. They believe they chose the person who made more sense to them – the man who promised to ‘’Make America Great Again’’. All they want is the return of their country. But, was their country ever taken from them? The Blacks, the Latinos, the Spaniards, the Jews, the Irish, the Filipinos, the Mexicans never stole America from the natives. Rather, they are contributing to its growth.

    America is what it is today because of its diversity. Some people like Trump may not be happy about that but that is the way the country attained its greatness. America may have reached a stage where it thinks it no longer needs these people but it cannot wish away the fact that without them and their forebears it may not be where it is today. Trump has his job cut out for him as the US’ incoming 45th president and that is to build on the gains made by his predecessors and not to do anything to split the country. If America splits, the consequences will be great for the world. Some people may say that will never happen, but they should know that there is nothing new under the sun. Great countries and empires fell in the past (where is the Roman Empire?) but the world is still standing today despite their death.

    It is the cataclysmic effect of the fall of America that bothers me because the world revolves around it. This is why when it sneezes, the world catches cold. Trump has a powerful nation to manage and the earlier he wakes up to the reality of the enormity of this task the better for him and the world. The critical American media has tried to guide him  to the right path before he assumes office on January 20, next year. Despite being shocked by his election, the media has asked him to put the country first in whatever he does. In its editorial on November 9, the New York Times said : ‘’So, who is the man who will be the 45th president? After a year and a half of erratic tweets and rambling speeches, we cannot be certain. We don’t know how Mr Trump would carry out basic functions of the executive. We don’t know what financial conflicts he might have since he never released his tax returns…we don’t know if he has the capacity to focus on any issue and arrive at a rational conclusion.

    ‘’We don’t know if he has any idea of what it means to control the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Here is what we know. We know Mr Trump is the most unprepared president-elect in modern history. We know that by words and actions, he has shown himself to be temperamentally unfit to lead a diverse nation of 320 million people…we know he lies without compunction… misogyny and racism played their part in his rise, but so did a fierce and even heedless desire for change. That change has now placed the US on a precipice.’’

    The Washington Post was no less scathing in its editorial. ‘’Donald Trump’’, it began, ‘’was elected the 45th president of the US on Tuesday. Those are words we hoped never to write…all Americans must accept the voters’ judgment and work for the best possible outcome for our country and the world. We have every wish that he will understand that the US system of government is not for or about one person…the powers of the Oval Office do not exist to punish his enemies…Americans are not and have never been united by blood or creed, but by allegiance to a democratic system of government that shares power, cherishes the rule of law and respects the dignity of individuals. We hope our newly elected president will show respect for that system…’’

    As the world awaits the inauguration of President Donald Trump, we cannot but wish that he will bring to this high office the high sense of responsibility that it deserves. The American presidency is too big for him to toy with or to turn into a platform to abuse women and others he perceives as his enemy.  Americans pride themselves in having institutions that can check any president, no matter how cantankerous he may be. The world is waiting to see how these institutions will work under President Trump. For America, this may yet be its greatest democratic test in its 240 years of nationhood.

     

    Life so precious

    CHILDREN, we are told, are an heritage of the Lord. They light up our environment, but whenever they become ill everywhere becomes gloomy. No one prays for a sick child. But as humans, once in a while such things happen. Anuoluwapo, we call her Anu, is a precious little girl. Going to two, Anu fell ill last weekend and could not attend church on Sunday. On Monday, she was taken to a health centre where she was treated and discharged. In the night, her condition worsened and she was taken to Igando General Hospital. The doctor said there was no bed and referred her to Ikeja General Hospital, where they were told the same story and directed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) without a referral letter. By then, it was about 11pm and all this while, my spiritual father, Rev Biodun Okunade (JP), had been trying to get me on phone. I did not know anything until I got home past midnight and was informed by my wife that our reverend had been calling me. I quickly called him and he told me what has been happening. Under what circumstances can general hospitals reject a patient who is at the point of death? Is it proper to reject such patients under the flimsy ground of ‘no bed’? If Anu were to be the doctors’ daughter would they have rejected her in such a critical condition? Thank God Anu is now recuperating in a private hospital. I dread to think what might have happened if the private hospital had not admitted her. May the mercy of God forever be upon her.