The Nation Newspaper

Category: Thursday

  • Gov. Ibikunle Amosun, the people are not smiling (1)

    This writer and this page will lead the applause for Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s stewardship the moment he surpasses his over-hyped and quite average performance. Apparently, Amosun has mended some roads, built new ones and constructed bridges. Among other schemes, he has initiated a 15-unit model school project, in purported fulfillment of his brief as Executive Governor, Ogun State. But tempting as it is to recount his laudable schemes, the purpose of this piece is to draw his attention to the maggots of neglect, arrant duplicity and underdevelopment infesting his government and the state, like a mind tumour.

    Tumour has been known to cause its victims to hallucinate or descend into psychosomatic degeneration until death, particularly if located in the brain. But Governor Amosun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has never been diagnosed with any such affliction, physically or metaphorically; hence unlike an ill-fated administrator, leading a government afflicted by nerve and ideological tumour, Governor Amosun may yet fulfill the promise of his party’s philosophy of ‘Change.’

    Until then, Amosun’s version of ‘Change’ will continually resound as a corny phrase he had to chant, to achieve an epic sweep at the polls. So far, it has worked for him. After all, he remains His Excellency, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State for a second term. It’s however, interesting to see him  bluster through his second spell in office, chanting ‘Change’ yet denouncing it in conflicting tenor and undertones.

    Amosun camp parades him as the people’s governor, a humane leader, yet he is stonily deaf and conveniently blind to the townships’ grief and the peasants’ sighs. There is a death trap at Owode junction, just before you get to Ifo; recently it claimed lives and property in ghastly vehicle accidents. And poor, helpless residents of Ijoko, Agoro, Ijako, Iyana-Ilogbo, Ilepa, continually die, slowly and accidentally, from the perils of plying their muddy and badly cratered roads.

    There is devastation in Alade, Elekunmefa, Imise, Onihale, Singer, to mention a few and to residents and traders of Lusada, Atan-Ota and Igbesa in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state, the roads leading to their communities are nightmarish and inimical to growth.

    At the point where the Lagos ghetto of Ayobo meshes with Ogun state, a hideous kind of filth palpitates. There is ugliness in Lafenwa, Aiyetoro, Olugbode and various communities along Itele road. More roads present an eyesore at Oju-Ore, Ilo-Awela and Oke-Aro. At Toll-gate junction, Joju, Temidire and environ, mucky pools still stagnate in devastating craters along the bypasses because these hotspots and scenes of multiple deadly accidents are allegedly inconsequential to Governor Amosun. Really?

    Lest we forget the people of Ewekoro who are dying slowly from the dangerous fumes persistently discharged into their communities by neighbouring multinational cement company, LafargeWAPCO Plc. Persistent reportage of LafargeWAPCO’s dangerous commercial activities in the area have been randomly scorned and condemned by the incumbent government of the state in the past, until a five-part series by The Nation spurred the government to stage a theatrical intervention that has so far, produced a remedy that barely addresses the health and developmental challenges incited by LafargeWAPCO in the area.

    A certain Barr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, who identifies himself as Secretary to the Ogun State Government, in a recent article published on September 5, by online medium, Opinion Nigeria among others, enthused that: “Of course, it is impossible to list the achievements of our government within this limited space. I must add that, Amosun, like our revered sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is a man that is conscious of his place in history. People like that are men of vision who will devote their all to the welfare of their people.”

    Will Governor Amosun live up to the full measure of Adeoluwa’s hyperbolic cant? It’s about time the governor and his peers, stopped misappropriating substance by channeling it from the exploits of late Obafemi Awolowo. Is it so hard for Governor Amosun to become an icon by his own terms? It needn’t be too difficult for him to aspire to greatness by his handiwork, good deeds to be precise. Until then, no quality of spin or PR blitz would dull the jarring notes of sorrow and the portraits of death presented by Ogun State’s neglected townships, on his watch.

    It is even more heartbreaking to see schools in the state deteriorate rapidly. Governor Amosun will do right by devoting greater attention to public schools on the decline. Consider for instance, the sad case of Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School (S.A.C.H.S), built in 63 hectares of land in Osiele, Abeokuta; it is ironical that Governor Amosun continually commemorates the life and death of the school’s founder, late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (M.K.O) Abiola on June 12 of every year, even as the school founded by the late politician and philanthropist, wither away in abject neglect.

    The school, initially established as Moshood Abiola Comprehensive High School in 1979 was later renamed, Osiele Comprehensive High School after state government took possession of it from the owner in 1980. It was later renamed after M.K.O’s father as Salawu Abiola Comprehensive High School.

    It need be said that while Abiola was alive, he traveled with friends and family on his birthday, August 24th of every year, to celebrate with students of the school. That day also happened to be ‘Abiola Day,’ a day set aside for rewarding outstanding students of the school with prizes.

    As you read, S.A.C.H.S is virtually dead. The hostels are derelict and the classrooms and school laboratories are severely impaired.

    There are other public secondary schools like S.A.C.H.S deserving Governor Amosun’s urgent intervention. While alumni of Abeokuta Grammar School, Baptist Boys Secondary School and African Church Grammar School (of which Gov. Amosun is an alumnus) to mention a few, have been staging progressive interventions to rescue their alma mater from neglect,  S.A.C.H.S alumni have fared terribly in this respect. The latter’s intervention would have been a saving grace for the school since the Abiola family apparently considers it the government’s burden, and Governor Amosun conveniently neglects it and other diminishing schools, to actualize his mega-schools fantasy.

    “Hundreds of school buildings have been renovated, but the governor will not waste the scarce resources of the state to maintain buildings that ought to be demolished…We will not deceive our people with cosmetic changes,” stated Adeoluwa in his fawning piece on Amosun’s model school project. No doubt, Adeoluwa and his principal, Governor Amosun, need to visit S.A.C.H.S, Egba High School, Egba Odeda High School, Methodist Grammar School, Arigbajo, and other schools within Abeokuta, Ijebu and the outskirts of Ogun State to determine if they are actually worth saving or not. So doing, both Amosun and his underling may see the error, wastefulness and pitiful grandstanding in expending millions of tax payers’ money on building new ‘model schools’ while several schools in the state suffer excruciating decline.

    No one wishes that Governor Amosun deceives the citizenry with what he and Adeoluwa considers “cosmetic changes” but since he is been paid handsomely with tax payers’ money for running the state, he is duty bound to provide cost-effective education with justifiable infrastructure, good roads and safety of lives and property in the state. It is a way to fulfill the promise of “Change” we can believe in and prosper by, that he made to the electorate at election time.                          

    •  To be continued…
  • Faces and phases of corruption

    Faces and phases of corruption

    WERE it to be a human being, it would have protested violently the terrible fate that has become its lot. It is clearly not by its own design. No. It is all part of the inequality and fairness that have ruled the affairs of man.

    Subjected to scurrilous attacks by many, it bears its scars with unparalleled equanimity, even as more lashes come cracking on its bloodied head. It is scorned, abused and misused.

    But, let’s be fair – are we fair to “corruption”? Must it always carry the can of our greed?

    Whenever the military intervened in governance, the scapegoat was corruption. Every societal ailment is blamed on it. Indiscipline, examination fraud, collapsed infrastructure and many more, our leaders claim, have their roots in corruption and its corollary of bribery and fraud, not forgetting their cousins 419, theft, forgery and others of like connotations.

    The high and mighty talk about it. The poor pour their thoughts on it, ruminating on its effects and how it has kept them on their knees. Our leaders warn us that if we do not block its flourishing path, corruption will someday fight back, landing a devastating blow that will knock the nation off its feet with dreadful consequences. What really is corruption that has seized attention in this amazing manner?

    How many of us know corruption? Don’t we think it is all about people putting their hands in the till, grabbing for themselves and members of their families what should be expended for the benefit of the masses?

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan laboured so hard to let Nigerians know the difference between “corruption” and “stealing”, which they often confused, despite his passionate protestations. He never really succeeded as his administration was painted as corrupt and inept.

    The other day at the ministerial screening, there were many allusions to –unprovoked attacks on, I dare say – corruption. Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola was asked if it was true that N78m was spent on a website during his administration. His Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, following a question, said a teacher who took advantage of his student was corrupt.

    He provoked a torrent of questions. Can a teacher be corrupt if his students are not? Is a student whose dressing leaves so much to the imagination, exposing her cleavage, not corrupt? How insulated from corruption is the teacher whose pay cheque always arrives late?

    At the University of Ilorin anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari warned lecturers to run away from academic corruption. What is academic corruption? Plagiarism? Or the type Amaechi was describing? Or concupiscence? Or stoking a strike when examinations are right at the door? Or sheer indolence?

    A politician, backed by the enormous power of the government at the centre, otherwise known as the federal might, turns an election into a war, killing and maiming many supporters of his opponent. He is proclaimed winner of the election –sorry for that slip; he is awarded victory. He visits churches after churches, proclaiming God’s faithfulness in his political life, kneeling down before clerics for blessings and leading the congregation to sing:

    He’s a miracle working God

    He’s a miracle working God

    He’s the alpha and omega

    He’s a miracle working God

    Ah! What a merciful God we have. He has the power to get anybody mocking His name to be struck by thunder, but He is full of mercy.

    Our man goes to Abuja in a desperate manner to compromise the jury sitting over his opponent’s petition against his bloody victory. His bid to see the Chief Justice fails. He launches a vicious attack on the integrity of his opponent’s camp and boasts that his election was endorsed by his people and sanctified by the Almighty. After all, he went to church for thanksgiving. Suddenly, the tribunal delivers a hammer blow- his election was rigged and it is nullified. His heart sinks.

    Heartbroken, he returns home to a deceptively defiant reception at the airport. He then goes back to church for another thanksgiving. Pray, what is this called? Electoral corruption? Religious corruption or corruption of religion?  Shouldn’t the clerics ask the politician to just confess his sins and sin no more rather than leading him on a thanksgiving revelry?

    Meanwhile, his opponent also gets a massive reception where he lambasts the poll rigger for borrowing heavily to finance his stay in office and starving the economy of funds by misapplying resources.

    Reception jams reception and thanksgiving jams thanksgiving.

    The other day, there were reports that two bankers had been arrested for allegedly managing proxy accounts that had N2.8b for Pension Reform Task Force chief Abdulrasheed Maina. This is not the first of such mind boggling allegations against Maina, who once shunned a Senate invitation and, strangely, evaded arrest by the former Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, who was directed to seize him. Thanks to our adherence to due process and rule of law as well as our incomprehension of the difference between “corruption” and “stealing”, Maina remains a free man. Whenever he feels harassed, there is always a crowd of people, some of them apparently ignorant of what pension is all about, carrying placards to excoriate the authorities for asking Maina to account for the billions collected by his task force.

    The cesspit of robbery that is pension administration is covered in a cloak of corruption. Is it not all simple stealing? Or fraud? Or both?

    A father once sang his adopted political son’s song to high heavens, threatening to bring hell down to earth should his son lose an election, but when the son lost, the old man changed his tune. First, he said he would not die because his party lost an election. Then he said his son was weak and could not fight corruption.  What do we call a father who abandons his son? Morally corrupt?

    Anti-corruption campaigners are deploying all manner of tactics to fight their battle. I got on my phone the other day a message urging the government to reinvigorate the war against corruption. There are two pictures of an ageing woman, deep hollows in her cheeks and her face a mixture of light and dark. Her complexion is the type called “yellow fever” in the language of the late songster, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Just beside this is another picture of the same woman – good looking, far younger, attractive and light complexioned with a heavy red, glossy lipstick lifting her face.  Above the two pictures is the caption: “Mr President, as you look for corrupt politicians in Nigeria, try and arrest the make- up artist who arranged this ‘organised crime’. Nigeria must be free of this. EFCC and ICPC copied.”

    A friend of mine has just informed me about a renowned professor’s plan to launch a massive research into “the dialectical analysis of corruption in Nigeria’s economic crisis: Facts and fallacies”. Among others, he is to examine the relationship between “stealing” and “corruption”, why the former attracts instance justice, otherwise known as jungle justice, and the latter takes just a stroll to the courtroom where lawyers argue on why the rights and privileges of an accused person should be protected in a circus that often fails to end – a vivid flashback to Fela’s “Authority Stealing”.

    A corruption suspect can even go overseas and continue to have a nice time, until the authorities believe they have had enough. At home, even if he is convicted, he may not go to jail – that seems to be for ordinary thieves, pick pockets and car snatchers. He only needs to get a doctor to declare that he has been struck by some terrible ailment. From the courtroom, he drives to the best hospital in town and sinks into a bed at the VIP section –air conditioner, satellite television (to ensure he doesn’t miss his favourite premiership team’s game), dedicated nurse and all that. He cools off, until the Court of Appeal determines whether he should go home or seek justice (for wrongful incarceration) at the Supreme Court.

    Corruption will someday urge a court of competent jurisdiction to grant it a perpetual injunction restraining our leaders, their agents, privies, officers, officials or whomsoever assigned the duty of maligning it to desist from so doing or be committed to prison.

    Dear reader, will corruption find a willing judge?

     

     

     

  • PDP and its house of cards

    PDP and its house of cards

    SINCE the major calamity that befell the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State, the party and some of its leading lights, including Governor Nyesom Wike, whose election was nullified, have been crying like malnourished babies. They have launched scurrilous attacks on the judiciary.

    The election was a war – bloody and savagery. Insane. The scars will remain indelible in many homes. An entire family was killed. Heads were smashed and limbs were broken – apparently following the crude order of former First Lady Patience Jonathan (where is Her Excellency, by the way?). Chai!

    The tribunal’s message is that no evil will go unpunished. Rather than cry, the PDP should embark on a purgatory and save us the tragedy of experiencing again its kill-and-go politics of motor park touts. Its attempt to ridicule the judiciary will collapse, like the house of cards its fake electoral trophy symbolised.

    We all knew those who were loitering around the Chief Justice’s home and office. We all knew those who kept quiet when a judge was said to have been compromised. The truth is, things are changing. The PDP should face the reality now or be doomed forever.

  • In defence of Saraki

    Dishonesty and greed by the political class were identified as threats to nationhood in Awo’s 1947  ‘Path to Nigeria Freedom’ rejected by some ‘ethnic groups, their political parties and political leaders’ who believed whatever they cannot have cannot be good enough for Nigeria. Awo, who confessed spending quality time studying and proffering solutions to Nigerian problems while some of his political enemies were frolicking around had posited: “Given a choice between the white man, the traditional rulers and the educated elite, the average Nigerian would choose the white man first because with him he was sure of fairness and justice”. “The people’s angst against the traditional rulers”, he continued, “followed their acquisition of new powers without the attendant checks and balances that existed in the pre-colonial era”. Ordinary Nigerians, according to him found trusting the educated elite difficult because of their “dishonesty and greed”.

    This is true today as it was back then. The traditional institution has lost its relevance in many parts of the country. Whatever respect it had left after years of receiving five percent  of LGAs allocation to ensure they look the other way while developmental allocations were  shared by politicians was further eroded by ex-President Jonathan ‘stomach infrastructure’ policy which allowed him to move from palace to palace allegedly distributing dollars to willing traditional rulers during last March presidential election.

    Similarly, ‘dishonesty and greed’ by the political class contributed to the collapse of the First Republic, the 1967-70 civil war, Shagari’s twelve two-third presidency, Babangida’s eight years of ‘transition without end’, and his annulment of the 1993 presidential poll considered by many observers as the most credible election in our nation’s history, the betrayal of Abiola, the winner of the election and his death in detention. And closely linked to ‘dishonesty and greed of the political class’,one can add  Obasanjo’s third term fiasco, his imposition of ailing Umaru Yar’Adua and an ill-prepared ex-President Jonathan in 2007 and 2011 respectively.

    Of course, ‘dishonesty and greed’ are the only plausible explanation for Saraki’s desperation to keep digging in even after publicly admitting he hid inside a small car parked in front of the senate chambers for three hours while his 51 other elected party members were having a meeting at another venue with the president and sneaked into the senate chambers where he was adopted Senate President by 48 opposition senators and about eight of his supporters. The same goes for Ekweremadu who threw a party to celebrate dishonesty and greed and without restraint. He told reporters he and his ‘Like Mind PDP senators, under the guidance of PDP veterans like Tony Anenih, Uche Secondus and David Mark gathered in Mark’s sitting room throughout the night scheming how to usurp the deputy senate presidency which by convention belongs to the majority party, a convention he had benefitted from for eight years.

    But in an effort to obfuscate the bane of the political class, dishonesty and greed, which Awo identified back in 1947, Saraki with his ‘like mind senators’, with huge resources at their disposal to hire SANs, public opinion molders, and buy space and airtime in the media, now talk of ‘witch-hunt, independence of the legislature, separation of powers and the protection of our nascent democracy’ after undermining the democratic process.

    They in fact now play the victim. Thus when Mrs. Toyin Saraki on the strength of a petition by Kwara PDP which  publicly congratulated itself saying,  “We are particularly delighted that our painstaking efforts at chronicling the monumental heist that defined the eight years, almost uneventful rule of former Governor Bukola Saraki in Kwara, has not gone unnoticed’, was invited for questioning, what they saw was persecution. They did not only accompany her to EFCC’s office, they retired to the Senate Chambers to pass a resolution threatening the executive of the consequences of harassing wives of senators.

    Not long after, the Code of Conduct brought the following charges against Saraki himself. Making anticipatory declaration of House 15A&15B McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos; Failure to declare property on Plot 2A, Glover road, Ikoyi;  No 1, Tagus Street, Maitama, Abuja (Plot 2482, Cadastral Zone A06, Abuja; – No. 3 Tagus Street, Maitama, Abuja (plot 2481, Cadastral Properties Limited);  Property at 42 Gerald Road, Ikoyi  earning him N110,000,000,00) per annum at a time the property was under construction; Failure to declare N375m GTB loan converted to 1.5m pounds sterling and used to purchase property in London; Operating a foreign bank account; Transfer of $3.4m from GTB to foreign bank account during tenure as governor and failure to declare leasehold interest in a property in GRA Ikeja among others.

    Once again, the ‘like mind senators’ saw the only thing they wanted to see – persecution – by the executive. What followed was a vote of confidence on Saraki by 83 senators. He was later followed and mobbed like a movie star by 81 giggling merry-making senators who on entering the court tried to dissuade him from entering the witness box.

    Some concerned Nigerians have tried to draw a parallel between what they have described as shameful behavior of our unreflecting senators and last week probing of Hilary Clinton’s handling of Libya crisis as Secretary of State by the American Congress. Some have even argued that in advanced democracies, Saraki and Ekweremadu and 81 like mind senators either for admitting to dishonest behaviour or for identifying with act bordering on fraud would have signed the warrant certificate for their political death.

    But has it not be said that comparison can be odious? This after all is not America, Britain, Australia, Canada or Ghana but Nigeria where dishonesty and greed by the political class are routinely celebrated and where 81 elected senators will see nothing wrong with the amount of material wealth the Code Of Conduct Tribunal alleged Saraki amassed between 1990 when he took his first real job and 2011, the end of his tenure as governor of Kwara State.

    But all the same, I sympathise with Bukola Saraki. Dishonesty and greed were not his own creation. Awo railed against it in 1947 long before 1961 when he was born. Saraki was similarly not the only governor whose wife would secure mouth-watering contracts from government.  In recent time, the wife of a serving governor donated N5billion on behalf of herself and unidentified friends to the campaign funds of ex-President Jonathan and heaven did not fall. The alleged material wealth of Saraki, as Ozumba Mbadiwe would have described it, is like a small fry in the mouth of an elephant. They are nothing compared to properties scattered around the world listed against the names of some Niger Delta ex-governors by the British Metropolitan Police.

    And to his credit, Saraki is not like some ex-governors dragged to court along with their sons by EFCC for money laundering, or those whose fathers stole the country blind.He is an illustrious son of an illustrious father, a proud owner of Kwara fiefdom. As ‘Bukola’, his Yoruba name indicates, he met wealth at home. He became a director of his father’s bank just after NYSC, a position which conferred on him the right to borrow as much as he desired without collateral and a rare opportunity he seized with his two hands.

    If you ask me, I will say Bukola Saraki is a man much sinned against. Here is a young man who inherited dishonesty and greed from the political class, wealth and influence from his father now being persecuted by mischief makers and a poverty-complex mob for dishonesty and for amassing wealth, claiming without proof that not even Bill Gates can boast of properties listed against his name. It is however reassuring Saraki is determined to fight with all the resources at his disposal – money, influence and his 81 loyal senators who share with him a common bond as targets of arrest by EFCC either for armoured-car deals, money laundering or drug related offences.

  • Wike’s misadventure

    By virtue of their office,  governors do not move anyhow. Their schedule is planned in detail and everything is done according to protocol. Without the protocol say so, a governor would not move out of his home or office. So, whenever a governor moves, it means all loose ends have been tied. The all-clear  to go is critical because of the governor’s safety and security.

    A governor is not supposed to visit any place on the spur of the moment. To do so will amount to disrupting  the security arrangements for his movement. In an impromptu change in a governor’s itinerary, his security aides may be stretched in order to ensure his safety. A governor is the charge of the state, which is responsible for his welfare and security. But some governors, out of mischief,  dump protocol and insist on doing things their own way.

    And when the bubble bursts, they try to defend the indefensible. They make up stories to cover their self-serving action, forgetting that the people are wiser than they think. I have not ceased wondering since the story broke why a governor with a case at the tribunal would go to the Supreme Court to see the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike called at the CJN’s office not once, but twice. With a petition challenging his election before a tribunal sitting in Abuja, where the CJN has his office, there is more to that visit than meets the eye.

    If The Punch had not broken the story of the inexplicable visits, chances are that Wike and his aides would have pretended as if nothing happened. As a lawyer whose wife is also a judge, Wike is expected to know that you do not visit a judge, whether in your private or official capacity, when you have a matter in his court. Even if he has a matter before his wife, she is not expected to discuss the case with him at home because like her fellow judges, she is expected to dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill will to all manner of men.

    Wike may argue that his case is not before the CJN, but he should not forget that the tribunals were set up by the CJN, who while inaugurating them warned that they should shun corruption. By trying to see the CJN, Wike’s intention was to go right to the top to pull strings in respect of his case.

    Wike knew what he was doing by embarking on those two visits in three days – between July 6 and 8. He knows that the CJN wields enormous influence over the tribunals. So, he thought by sweet talking the CJN, his lordship could be made to get the tribunal to play ball.

    The governor will never admit that he had ulterior motive in going to the CJN’s office without appointment; no he will never. He will defend his visits with the last drop of his blood, if need be,  because what he went there for is not for public consumption – it is not something the ears should hear. His reasons for the visits are puerile. He said he went to see the CJN to thank him for sending Bayelsa State Chief Judge Justice Kate Abiri to swear him in on May 29 and over the vexed issue of a chief judge for Rivers.

    ‘’I didn’t go there to lobby for anything cynical. If I was going to lobby for anything like that, would I go in the afternoon? You may wish to know that we have an acting chief judge in my state, and the judiciary is already on vacation and that the National Judicial Council (NJC) may also be on vacation. So, I needed to do a letter to the NJC on the need to extend or approve the appointment of the acting chief judge in my state. I went there on the two days in daytime; and see Nigerians, they are already imputing another meaning to the visits’’, Wike said.

    Yes, we are already talking because he did not exhibit utmost good faith. The governor did not act honestly under the circumstance. Who were those who followed him to the CJN’s office? If he had met the CJN would he have limited himself to issues of his inauguration and the renewal of the appointment of his state’s acting chief judge (ACJ)? Would he? Nigerians are no fools; they can see through Wike’s visits, whether or not he comes out with the truth.

    With due respect to him, the issues he listed for his visits are what the governor should not have broken sweat over  because they have been constitutionally settled. The CJN was not doing Wike any favour by asking Justice Abiri to swear him in. The CJN was only interpreting Section 185 (2) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the chief judge; or grand kadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal; or president of the Customary Court of any state can swear in a governor, where nobody holds those offices in the elected governor’s state. Moreover, immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation Mohammed Adoke (SAN) had asked Justice Abiri to take up that job last May 29, a directive, which the CJN later confirmed. Has he visited Adoke too to thank him? Must Wike visit the CJN personally to show his appreciation? Couldn’t he have written to thank the CJN?

    Must he also go to Abuja over the renewal of the appointment of his state’s ACJ? All he needs do is to write the NJC, seeking its approval to renew the ACJ’s appointment as contained in Section 271 (5) of the Constitution. Did Wike visit the CJN before he appointed the ACJ shortly after he assumed office in May? His wife is a judge; so if he is confused about these matters, why didn’t he seek her opinion instead of embarking on a mission that could have destroyed the judiciary.  Wike’s losses at the tribunal and the Supreme Court on Saturday and Tuesday have shown that the judiciary is not for sale. His malicious tagging of their lordship as “judicial terrorists” has shown the kind of person he is. Yet he calls himself a lawyer. The rerun will show if he really won the April 11 governorship election.

    By the way, will former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan be on hand again to deliver him?

    This piece, which was first published on July 23 with the title Wike’s tricky visits, is being rerun today under a different title with slight modifications following his losses in court.

  • Republic of two thousand kings!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Stink and the Nigerian ‘saint’

    There is no odor as dire as that which arises from tainted goodness. I will not deny any bit, the praise that is due to philanthropy, I simply say that we demand sincerity of all whom by their works and lives, pose to be a blessing to the country.

    This is the age of charity. And trust Nigerians, they are desperately exploiting generosity for all its worth. Thus everybody is a philanthropist; even youngsters as green as dug-up spinach have caught the bug – which explains the preponderance of self-acclaimed “youth leaders,” “advocacy gurus,” “motivational speakers” and “philanthropists” afflicting our world like plundering locusts at harvest time.

    A youngster on national youth service constructs tables and chairs for the school in which he’s serving and he pleads with selected mainstream media to mention it; then there is the advocacy guru who donates literature to a school library and pays the mainstream media to report it too, after which she posts it on Facebook and other social networking sites for all to see.

    Both characters among other things elevate and give expression to mankind’s greatest vanity: lust for applause and unearned greatness. In Nigeria, this has become social currency particularly among the youth. Youth seeking instant wealth and acclaim daily exploit the hackneyed terrains of philanthropy and what they perpetrate as “advocacy,” passionately praying and hoping that their exertions attract the attention and “goodwill” of local and international sponsors with deep pockets.

    “There is a clear-cut difference between philanthropy and advocacy,” many are probably jabbering by now. Agreed; but both fields of human endeavour are essentially set to the attainment of similar goals; sustainable development and the improvement of humanity.

    Philanthropy and “advocacy” as currently practiced by Nigeria’s youth is devoid of humanity. It is in essence, a partial and transitory act, projected in constant superfluity until the motives of the philanthropist and advocate are achieved. And what really are the motives? A fat bank account, a posh vehicle, a spectacular mansion, higher status, acclaim and unalterable greatness to mention a few.

    Greatness should be earned. The seekers of unearned greatness and material benefits are merely social parasites, moochers, criminals, who are too deficient in intellect and character to pioneer the oft tasking and spirited march to eminence. Essentially, they are a threat to humanity and the advancements we dream.

    There is nothing as deceptive and neurotic in concept as unearned greatness as it makes a wretch of the individual who seeks it. To substantiate it is in fact, impossible, thus the nation’s youth like her under-achieving ruling class, is caught in the web of such deceitfulness.

    Using ostentatious, indefinable sound-bites of altruism and collectivism as crutch, they struggle to give plausible form to their nameless vanity. Ultimately they seek to anchor it to reality to substantiate their deception to themselves and oft unsuspecting victims.

    Such deception never lasts. There is no short-cut to greatness. The best generosity and “advocacy” subsists in honest work. Be you a lawyer, doctor, accountant, journalist or accountant, your commitment to your calling represents the best form of advocacy.

    If you build a library, toilet or bathroom for your alma mater, why plead with the media to report it? Why package your so-called philanthropy or advocacy for the viewership and applause of all? It is only con-artists and social parasites that do that.

    Heartfelt, repetitive acts of diligence and altruism are sooner remembered and celebrated by the world. The world will accord you a listening ear and pay you the homage you deserve at fate and fortune’s appropriate hour. But a greater number of youth aren’t wired to accept such fact. They would rather seek the shortest cut to affluence. If by towing such path, they achieve their goals, they claim to be “smart,” but if they fail in their quest, they blame the government, their parents, the society and everyone else but themselves for the failures their lives become.

    It is our tragedy today that Nigeria still parades ‘promising’ youth with the heart of a lion and the wit of a hyena. It’s our tragedy that we still talk the talk of champions and walk the walk of cowards. It is infinitely heartbreaking yet amusing to see the Nigerian youth toil to harvest sugarcane where he planted thistle.

    The talk is of ‘seed.’ By every philanthropic act or showy advocacy, the lot of the unfortunate improves, it is claimed. Bet the “unfortunate,” ignorant recipients and audiences of such acts do not know that every such “charitable” act they approve, they applaud no humanity; rather they subject themselves as middling marks for their crafty philanthropists and “advocates” to rip off.

    By consenting to be deceived, the society establishes and confirms its shameful ignorance and it’s purely illusory foundations.

    This generation considers itself to be more intelligent than the one that came before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it thus its inexorable quest to outclass both bastions of our past and future. It is not clear however, how well it would fare in this arduous quest but many a youth have argued that it’s about time the “wasted generation” moved over.

    They claim that a new breed of Nigerian youth is fast evolving. This breed, they claim, do not seek handouts from the country’s under-achieving ruling class; no, they simply want the government to facilitate an enabling environment in which the youth could engage in gainful industry and thrive.

    By enabling environment, they speak of stable electricity, safe and usable road networks, security, access to free and quality education, free and affordable healthcare, and a corruption-free society to mention a few. I agree that such wonderful environment is overdue in Nigeria, but for what manner of youth should the government create such enabling environment? Resourceful, mean, currency-activated “youth leaders,” “advocacy gurus,” “philanthropists,” “motivational speakers” et al? Should Nigeria become more habitable for such characters and pretenders to humanity to flourish?

    To rebel against the established order, to criticize the current ruling class and in the same breath, court it; to lament the existing reality and confound extravagant hopes of the future by pillaging off the same reality are the common dispositions of a greater number of Nigerian youths. Add self-acclaimed genius to the mix, and you have yourself a perfect portrait of our leaders of tomorrow.

    You need to learn to crawl before you walk. It’s the way the universe is ordered. It’s about time the youth got busy doing honest work. The best advocacy occupies a crucial niche in honest industry.

    There is a sweet tang to success earned following years of slugging it out in the trenches. Career philanthropy and advocacy only encourages you to become a fraud unto yourself and your immediate society. There is no smart or street-savvy path to the good life. If you see certain people living large and amassing fortunes by circumventing honest sweat and industry, they are simply conning themselves off the rewards they ought to enjoy in their twilight.

    You need to be extraordinary at something before you earn recognition for it. Fortune seeks out he who has paid for it in sweat and honest toil but the lust for vanities steer importunate fools to the path to tragic twilight.

  • Urgent tasks for S/west leaders and governments

    Since the brutal attack by Fulani cattle herders on one of the most important fathers of the Yoruba nation, Chief Olu Falae, most Yoruba people have been, at last, waking up to a realization of the dangers that threaten their Yoruba nation in Nigeria. The signs of the shock, and the growing anger and outrage, are spreading in all directions among Yoruba people. A Yoruba leaders’ summit meeting even threatened secession from Nigeria on account of the incident – although many other Yoruba have denounced that threat, rightly insisting that, for a large and prestigious nation like the Yoruba, talk of secession ought to be over much more substantial and structural issues, and ought to be arrived at through very thorough considerations.

    Virtually all Yoruba are agreed, however, that the attack on Chief Falae represents a warning alarm to all Yoruba people and their leaders to brace themselves for the protection of their nation, and their nation’s interests and integrity, in Nigeria. When different nationalities, each living in its own homeland, different in culture and religion, are forced together into one country, dark forces of rivalry, envy, fear, ill-will, hatred, and primitive ambitions by some to dominate or even eliminate others, can sometimes be generated in the hearts of some of the nationalities against others. That is what happened in Yugoslavia, producing the horror of genocidal brutalities when that country disintegrated in the early 1990s. It has happened in many Black African countries too. It is the duty of the leaders of each nationality to ensure protection for their people in such a setting.

    Signs of these dark forces are strong in Nigeria. Some nationalities harbour ambitions to dominate others or even to dominate all. Some nations are trying to seize the homelands of the smaller nations. Some nations disrespect and try to destroy the traditional farming economy of other peoples. Some nationalities compulsively behave in unruly and disruptive ways in the homelands of others. Some try to use violence to force their brand of religion on others.

    If Nigeria is to be able to live down these fault-lines and become a stable and prosperous country, then Nigeria would need to be much better structured, and much better governed, than has been the case since independence. Also, much will depend on how much Nigerian nationalities respect one another. Those who migrate to other peoples’ homelands and choose to be disrespectful of their hosts, and to indulge in aggressive and unruly claims and behaviour against their hosts, and those who seek to dominate others or to destroy the economies of others, must know that they are essentially making Nigeria impossible to hold together.

    But also, very importantly, the leaders and rulers of each Nigerian nationality owe the duty of ensuring that inter-ethnic relationships in their own homeland shall develop in an orderly and healthy manner. For instance, nearly all Nigerians relocating from their ethnic homelands today are heading to the Yoruba South-west. Already, the coming of many of them is disorderly and unhealthy, and manifestly brewing conflict and confusion. Yoruba leaders, and Yoruba state governments, are doing little or nothing to respond to this growing crisis in their homeland. They are thus preparing the ground for big trouble in the Yoruba homeland – since it is impossible that the masses of common Yoruba people will forever tolerate being insulted and trampled underfoot, and having their means of livelihood destroyed, by immigrants from other parts of Nigeria. No matter how much Yoruba political leaders may be committed to Nigeria, the masses of Yoruba people are likely to react someday to these provocations.

    Hospitality to strangers is a well-established icon of Yoruba culture. Moreover, welcoming people from other lands is something that can add greatly to prosperity in Yorubaland over time.  However, the large-scale immigration into Yorubaland today creates many serious problems – problems that Yoruba people, Yoruba leaders, and especially Yoruba state governors and legislatures need to find answers to.  Yoruba leaders should establish some modicum of unity in their own ranks, at least for the purpose of facing these serious problems together. The six governments of the Yoruba South-west should put heads together to find and implement answers to these problems.

    The problems are many and complex, but they are soluble if seriously confronted. The leading problem is that the Yoruba South-west is not generating enough economic development, and enough jobs, for its burgeoning population of indigenes and immigrants. Among the Yoruba people themselves, in spite of their solid education, enough businesses are not emerging – largely because the governments are not guiding their people to develop a modern entrepreneurial culture. As a result, most educated Yoruba youths are unemployed, and most of the immigrants are unemployed too. Huge numbers of the immigrants, and many of the Yoruba youths, take to petty peddling of merchandise on the streets, which is a classic example of “under-employment”.

    The state governments must arise to this situation. The governments must create programmes of human development – improved basic education, job-skills education, entrepreneurial development and promotion, small business promotion, modern farmers’ programmes, and well-managed micro-credit systems, for all (indigenes and immigrants alike). The objective must be to achieve the purpose of the old Yoruba adage – “that the owners of the home and the strangers in the home may all have plenty to eat”.

    Another problem is the serious shortage of shopping centres in Yoruba towns. The old marketplaces are still offering great service, but more modern shopping centres and malls are urgently needed. Also needed are proper licensing of traders and stores, introduction of sales taxes, proper urban zoning, and proper control and management of street peddling. Laws should also be made to prohibit the existence of exclusive “tribal” marketplaces or shopping centres, so that all marketplaces and shopping centres shall be the common property of the community, equally open to all. Serious provisions also need to be made for the proper enforcement of law in business competition in Yorubaland, as well as for the prohibition of ethnic-based, or other, monopoly or cartel practices – including illegal or violent acts aimed at eliminating business rivals.

    Yet another problem is that, though Nigeria’s laws vest the management of the land of every state in the state government, most Yoruba states have evolved no land policies and no clear land transfer systems, and the states that have evolved such laws are not properly enforcing them. Therefore, land acquisitions and land transfers are occurring on a massively chaotic scale in all parts of the Yoruba South-west – obviously threatening the interests of indigenes and immigrants alike. The state governments need to deal urgently with these matters.

    Moreover, it is time to eliminate cattle herding in the Yoruba South-west, and the dangers that it brings to Yoruba farmers and urban dwellers alike. There is really no place for unrestrained cattle herding in a country like Yorubaland where there are cities and towns at short distances from one another all over, and where most of the rural folks live on peasant farming. The answer, undoubtedly, is that the Yoruba state governments should speedily promote modern cattle ranching in the Yoruba grasslands in the northern parts of most Yoruba states, encourage and assist Yoruba people to become ranchers there, and establish modern abattoirs for the slaughter and distribution of beef. All of these will discourage and ultimately eliminate unrestrained cattle rearing.

    In short, the impression must be eliminated that the Yoruba homeland is a “no-man’s-land”, a land without rules or order or leadership, where people from other parts of Nigeria can come and do as they wish. The Yoruba people can, and must, change all that – for their own good, and for the good of all residents in Yorubaland.

  • The enemy within

    THE ARMY is a revered institution. It is a major component of a nation state. It is a rule that nations must have armies because of any eventuality. The army is the live wire of a country in times of trouble. When there is a war, the army is called to duty. But armies are not all about war. They also help to stabilise their countries when the other law enforcement agencies, especially the police, are challenged.

    Its role in internal security is limited to throwing its might behind the police and other paramilitary agencies to douse tension. Once that is done, the army withdraws. Times without number, Nigeria has had to call on its army to help out in one or two situations. When in 2009 Boko Haram seized Borno State by its jugular, killing, maiming, burning and looting, we ran to the military for help. In no time, soldiers caught Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko Haram leader.

    Then there was a twist to the tale. After arresting Yusuf, the army handed him over to the police and before you could say IG, he had been killed. His death in police custody marked a turning point in the unabating murderous campaign of Boko Haram. Perhaps, things would not have been like this today, if Yusuf had not been killed. May be. Our military and our police cannot be the worst in the world despite their shortcomings. They have discharged themselves creditably on peace missions abroad. What then makes them to be their brother’s killer instead of keeper at home? If they can keep the peace well in foreign lands, why are they finding it difficult to do same back home?

    Because of the kind of people we are, we have been calling out the military to help in the conduct of elections. Elsewhere, elections are conducted with ease, but here they are like wars. Parties and their candidates run sleazy campaigns. All they do is to run down opponents, without telling the voters what they have in stock for them. For all they care, the electorate can go to hell. All they are after is to get to office. How they do that does not matter, so long the end justifies the means. How to get politicians to play by the rules has become our headache.

    As a way out, the military was brought into the electoral process. The essence of bringing in the military was to use them to sanitise the process. But what did we get at the end of the day? Our almighty military crashed on its face by its poor conduct. Rather than be an impartial umpire, the military chose to take sides with the government of the day. The 2014 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states exposed the underbelly of the military. Both states were then being controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC), but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was at the helm at the federal level, wanted those states at all costs.

    To achieve its aim, the then ruling party deployed the military, which was under its control, in both states. It first used the military in Ekiti, where the election was held on June 21, 2014. The soldiers took no quarters in the discharge of their duties. Many claimed that the soldiers  acted a script the way they went about their duties, citing their harassment of APC chieftains, who were prevented from entering the town to campaign for their party’s candidate, Dr Kayode Fayemi. On the other hand, the PDP, they said, was given a free hand to campaign.

    One may be tempted to dismiss these claims, but what happened shortly after the election showed that doing so may be hasty. An officer, Captain Sagir Koli, who was among those deployed for election duty, said he was shocked by what he saw during the poll. The army, he said, was favourably disposed to the PDP, adding that his boss, a general, looked the other way while atrocities were being committed. At the end of it all, PDP won. In Osun, the party could not have its way in the August 9, 2014 election because the people were prepared for it. Thanks to their mobilisation by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who had vowed that what happened in Ekiti would not be allowed in Osun.

    Yet, the army still harassed the people, preventing many from leaving their homes to vote. What happened in those states were child’s play compared to the smear campaign against Muhammadu Buhari before the March 28 presidential election. His West African School Certificate (WASC) was said to be missing from the army’s records. An officer went on air to make the declaration, insinuating that Buhari may not have the certificate. But, the subsequent  release of his results by his alma mater forced them to keep quiet.

    Now, the army has decided to do a soul-searching to ascertain where rain started to beat the institution. It has set up a high-powered ‘’Board of Inquiry (BoI), to  investigate, among other things, alleged malpractices and involvement of its personnel in Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections in 2014. The board, it added, will also look into any other state in Nigeria where other allegations of misconduct were made during the 2015 general elections. The army said: “The essence of the board is to prevent future professional misconduct by officers and men in the performance of their constitutional roles while strengthening the Nigerian Army’s support to democratic values and structures in Nigeria’’.

    What happened during the Ekiti and Osun elections is a big shame to us as a nation. Why is it that we cannot conduct peaceful, free and fair elections when some of our neighbouring countries that cannot match our resources do so with ease? What is it about elections that make our leaders lose their sense of reason and turn it to a ‘do or die’? Must they bring in the military to do their dirty job for them in their desperation to win  at all costs? It is good that the military is beaming a searchlight on itself to ensure that its men are not used for cheap political battles in future. Never again should what we witnessed in Ekiti and Osun in 2014 happen on our land. Never.

  • New airline should not be a priority

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

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

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

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

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

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

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