The Nation Newspaper

Category: Thursday

  • ‘Niggers’ with attitude

    It is not what you call him, but what he answers to that matter most. This minute, another innocent child is born into the world as a Nigerian ‘nigger.’ He will grow up pitifully, as just another poor black ant. His parents shall name him Clinton, Dave, Cregg, Oliver, Richard, Lovett, Colet, Da Silva, Humphrey, Jackson, to mention a few. His real names: Akanbi, Chiedu, Chimaroke, Isichei and so on shall become his “native names” or “middle names;” names he shall grow to loathe and be ashamed of. At a tender age, he shall be taught to despise anything and everything Nigerian, by parents who will persistently bemoan the erosion of the Nigerian culture.

    That impressionable child will be enrolled in schools that teach the superiority of western civilization. He shall be taught to think of Africans, Nigerians in particular, as an inferior race. He shall be psychologically defrauded and taught to accept his place as member of a hostage race and generation. As he grows up, he too shall learn to evolve a masochistic appetite for alien norms, unearned riches, undeserved acclaim and everlasting humiliation. Time and over again, he shall learn to assimilate and project “imported condescension” as the next best palliative to his innate malaise.

    Like his forbears, he will get too impatient for his daily dosage of indoctrination and imported disdain and thus quit gawking at celebrated perversion on cable TV, social media and foreign news publications to be part of it. He shall doggedly sweat his way through standoffish, ill-bred and disdainful foreign customs and immigration officials in order to enjoy his share of dishonor and racial profiling abroad. Abroad, he shall labour to be part of what kills him. Like hordes of Nigerians slaving away abroad, he shall strive and try the patience of reluctant Caucasian hosts with his recalcitrant corruption and doggedness for eternal humiliation.

    He shall crowd the sidewalks of New York, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and London, sweeping the streets, doing the dishes and washing the anuses of elderly Caucasians with the shameless carriage of “a nigger who would rather die than return home.”

    And if he is fortunate to come from a privileged background at home, abroad he shall dwell, enabled and hampered by the lowliness of his mental skies. He shall desperately seek to impress caucasian course mates and neighbours with extravagant parties and insane acquisitions. He shall traipse the largely well kept streets – by immigrants like him – of London and New York in his desperate quests to purchase monumental forgetfulness at the mall. The over-celebrated malls of America and Europe shall continually whet his yen and titillate his airs. They shall become heaven to the ‘hellish’ markets of Ajegunle and Oyingbo ‘Ibo-made’ products.

    He is everything that is wrong with the black race. So pronounced is his inferiority complex that the tragedies of his civilization perpetually wail in its littlest details; take for instance, the contemporary Nigerian’s obsession to host extravagant wedding ceremonies and birthday parties abroad to the benefit of the host state and loss of valuable revenue abroad.

    It is even more amazing to see him obsess about foreign football leagues while the local football league suffers a slow, gruesome death. Like tadpole in Iju-Ishaga road crater, he believes if he could wade in the puddle for so long, he would grow scales and scissor-tail like an alligator in the English wild.

    An inelegant ‘mumu,’ he keeps pretending to channel joy and fulfillment from the attainments of another land while he bemoans the “poor leadership” that’s “killing Nigeria.” In response, he seeks escape by renouncing his roots. He conveniently forgets that, no matter how long the tabby cat pretends to roar like a lion, it will forever remain a cat…a whiny, pitiful parlour pet.

    The Nigerian youth has learnt to justify his moral claim to the successes of western civilization. He has learnt to intone that the so-called “first world” was built from the blood and sweat of his slave ancestors thus his right to a stake in the “first world.” Thus today, the average Nigerian continually celebrates his cultural graduation from the servitude of slavery to being verbally nettled condescendingly as a “third world nigger” and subsequently distinguished by association with his perceived level of evolution.

    The Nigerian ‘nigger’ no doubt personifies the imagery of the black nigger in Chika Onyeani’s “Capitalist Nigger: The Road to Success: A Spider Web Doctrine.” He suitably illustrates Onyeani’s depiction of the black race as a consumer race and not a productive race. “We are a conquered race and it is utterly foolish for us to believe that we are independent. The Black Race depends on other communities for its culture, its language, its feeding, and its clothing.” “Despite enormous natural resources,” he says, “Blacks are economic slaves because they lack the ‘killer-instinct’ and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude of the caucasian, as well as the ‘spider web economic mentality’ of the asian.” Onyeani calls for economic liberation through hard work, self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and fiscal discipline; he advocates building of better black neighborhoods instead of moving to hostile white neighborhoods; he appeals for unity, because “When spider webs unite, they can be a lion” (Ethiopian proverb). Onyeani condemns self-destructive behaviors such as ethnic warfare, dictatorship, black-on-black crime, and slavery in Africa.

    But fitting as it is to the Nigerian malaise, Onyeani’s literature is just another version of Johann F. Blumenbach’s human racial classification in which the “caucasian” is at the top of the hierarchy and the black is at the bottom. Capitalist Nigger is also reminiscent of the French philosopher Lucien Levy-Bruhl’s “primitive” or “prelogical mind,” which he originally attributed to the Africans; and Hegel’s exclusion of sub-Saharan Africa from the world history among others.

    Like Onyeani I believe in the liberating character of the truth. However, I do not subscribe to his legacy of disbelief about Africa which permeates European imagination. Instead of confronting old stereotypes, Onyeani recites them with relish, thereby refreshing erroneous notions in the reader’s mind.

    His description of the African as non-productive, lazy, slavish, Neanderthal, dishonest, undisciplined and genetically unable to take care of himself is contemptible even as it speaks to the core of the Nigerian nigger.

    I do not agree with Onyeani for his “Capitalist Nigger” epitomizes the worst of blasé witticism that serve like double-edged sword, decapitating plausible realities and counter-arguments in its quest for applause. Yet in his subtle narcissism subsists truths, relative truths if you like.

    It rediscovers and plumbs the depths of inferiority plaguing the Nigerian nigger. It is what makes the Nigerian Presidency nurture insults from perverse caucasian governments threatening to withdraw financial aids if Nigeria fails to legitimize same-sex copulation and marriage. It is what makes an average Nigerian lose his head in arrant madness over foreign soccer leagues. It is what makes the Nigerian lust to be less than to the pleasure of the so-called “first world.”

    It is an emotional attachment, a bond of interdependence between captive and captor that develops when someone threatens your life, takes away your freedom, and doesn’t kill you.

    It is what causes the Nigerian to bark like a stray dog, pitifully seeking the collar end of the leash of the “first world.”

  • APC and Christians without spirit of Christ

    What came to mind as I read the front page story of The Punch last Sunday about the threat of prominent Christians in the All Progressives Congress, (APC) to quit the party over an alleged plan to field a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket was St. Paul’s admonition to the Romans “Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him, but if Christ is in you, your spirit are alive because of righteousness”. (Romans 8: 8-11)

    In the story, Femi Fani-Kayode, a former PDP stalwart and Obasanjo’s Man Friday, was quoted as saying the biggest mistake that the APC can make is to field a Muslim/Muslim ticket in the 2015 presidential election. Doing that, according to him, would lead to the loss of the election. For him, “Any party that present a Muslim/Muslim ticket ceases to be a political party and can be better described as a religious cult”.

    I am sure Fani-Kayode, if he is not speaking as a PDP mole in APC, knows most Nigerians now know there is no disagreement between Muslims and Christians in the sharing and looting of our national patrimony and the attendant creation of an army of unthinking miracle seekers. Obasanjo-Atiku Christian/Muslim ticket marked an era when politicians irrespective of their religion fought each other over who stole more from the commonwealth. Yar’Adua’s Muslim/Christian ticket witnessed an era when politicians irrespective of religion justified massive stealing claiming they sold properties to contest election. The current Jonathan Christian/Muslim administration has been described by many observers as the most corrupt in our nation’s history.

    Nigerians know it is Christian and Muslim politicians that have elevated religion to a divisive issue of Nigerian politics in the forth republic in order to exploit the vulnerable poor and ignorant among our people. I hope APC which has become a haven for all manners of disgruntled and sometimes discredited politicians will have the courage to remind Fani-Kayode that besides the indiscretion and hypocrisy of Muslim politicians in Zamfara and other parts of the north which gave rise to the current insurrection by Boko Haram, it is those Christians who are deficit in the spirit of Christ who have by their utterances, actions and misrule created an army of unthinking miracle seekers. Beyond their open demonstration of piety by legitimizing the exploitation of poor people by prosperity prophets through their regular presence in their unending crusades, they equally engage in waste of taxpayers’ money that could have gone in to other developmental purposes on pilgrimage to Mecca and Jerusalem.

    I am not sure Nigerians are in a position to make a distinction between Nigeria’s greedy Christian and Muslim politicians. What Nigerians expect as Nasir El Rufai has said are leaders “with integrity, capacity and competence to create jobs, fight corruption and rebuild our nation without discrimination” and who would choose to worship their God privately”.

    But denunciation of Christians without the spirit of Christ must not be misconstrued as an endorsement of Muhammadu Buhari, and Bola Tinubu, Muslim /Muslim ticket for the 2015 race. If you ask me, I will say both are too old to face today’s challenges. We must not forget that the average age of the major actors like Obafemi Awolowo, Bode Thomas, Anthony Enahoro, Rotimi Williams, SLA Akintola, Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa etc during Nigeria golden age 1949-1959 was about 34. But I also think both leaders are a blessing to Nigeria. Since political parties world over often need major stakeholders, they can be the pillars behind the power, delegating without abdicating.

    While APC party strategists may be right to see Buhari’s popularity in the North-west and North-east as great asset because most of his supporters are poor, underprivileged pauperized victims of the feudal system who are not democrats but miracle seekers, I think any candidate he adopts and openly campaigns for can secure for APC the benefits of his goodwill. But as for the South-west, APC does not need Tinubu on the ticket to sweep the area. Tinubu as a leader has already paid his dues. Yorubas know their true leaders. They are also discriminatory voters. Awo asserted as far back as 1952 that the Yoruba will not vote for you because you are Yoruba if you don’t have programmes that can impact positively on their lives.

    And here lies the strength of Tinubu. Even his detractors acknowledge his great achievement in retrieving the South-west from Obasanjo and those the Yoruba call ‘akotiletas’ who sold the common patrimony bequeathed onto us by Awo and his fellow South-west patriots, replacing legacies of excellence and meritocracy with mediocrity with the likes of Fayose and Akala at the helm of affairs in the region. I am sure Tinubu will see his liberation of his Yoruba people from the tyranny of Nigeria as a noble endeavour. And this has its rewards. It was as a Yoruba leader, that he single-handedly restored honour to a Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar who was turned an orphan by Obasanjo and PDP. The vice presidency in Nigeria cannot be a major attraction.

    In any case, he can look back with pride that at 62, he has groomed enough young Turks out of which anyone can be deployed to serve as vice president if one is needed from the zone. Otherwise, the only responsibility the Yoruba want of their leader is installing a good structure and electing credible people at the centre which would guarantee good governance as now obtains in the west. This is the only way to stop the influx of refugees from besieged North-east where PDP party chairman comes from, unskilled labour from North-central states of Benue and Plateau where the Senate President hails from and those who are trying to escape the anarchy unleashed on their land by militants and kidnappers in the South-south and South-east geo political zones where the President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation hail from. The South-west can only remain haven of peace when peace reigns in other geo-political zones.

    Price of liberty as they say is eternal vigilance. There are more reasons Tinubu is needed more in the South-west than in Abuja. It is no more news that President Jonathan has nothing but disdain for the Yoruba. During the fuel subsidy protest which later led to the discovery of the theft of about N1. 7 trillion, his aides accused Lagos and West who they claimed were the greatest beneficiaries of fuel subsidy of fuelling the crisis. It is on record the President tried to instigate the other Nigerian nationalities living in Lagos against their chief host during the 2011 elections. Obasanjo, his godfather recently accused him of sponsoring disgruntled PDP members to recruit people into the Labour Party to derail the giant strides made by governments of the South-west in the last three years.

    Analysts of the President’s politics of subterfuge have even averred that his appointment of Musiliu Obanikoro as minister of state for defence whose first official assignment was illegal drafting of soldiers to stop construction of public housing projects in Lagos based on a claim that the land belongs to Federal government, and Jelil Adesiyan who was at a time linked with the murder of Bola Ige, an unrepentant Yoruba irredentist, as new minister for police affairs, are seen as part of his silent war against the Yoruba.

    The president and his aides can play the ostrich, but the Yoruba who read meanings to mere greetings know that the imposition of Buruji Kashamu, a man described by Obasanjo as ‘drug baron’ who has cases to answer in the United States of America’ as chairman of the South West PDP Mobilisation and Organisation Committee; the manipulation of PDP primaries to guarantee the emergence Fayose as Ekiti governorship candidate in spite of his ongoing trial for murder and corruption; and Omisore as PDP candidate for Osun State in spite of his antecedents can only be evil machinations of those who hold them in contempt.

    Tinubu as de facto leader of his people must not allow himself to be distracted just as the late Bola Ige did.

  • Confab: Good start, but bumpy road ahead

    Confab: Good start, but bumpy road ahead

    Contrary to widespread scepticism and apprehensions, the National Conference in Abuja got off to a good start. The initial hiccup over voting procedure on the decisions or resolutions of the conference has been amicably resolved by consummate tact and diplomacy, with both sides accepting a compromise. Instead of the 75 percent of minimum votes that Northern delegates had asked for to block decisions they may not like, and the two thirds that most of the Southern delegates had demanded, the conference settled for 70 per cent of delegates voting on any contentious issues on which a consensus cannot be reached. This is a fair deal.

    The plenary session has also gone quite well. The Chairman of the Conference, Justice Kutigi, has earned the confidence and respect of the delegates at the conference, essential for its success. With the exception of the controversial speech at the plenary by the Lamido of Adamawa threatening secession, which was denounced by many delegates, including some Northern delegates, most of the other interventions at the plenary have been forthright, responsible, and sober, reflecting the mood and hopes of the public that this conference will be successful. It has to be as it may well be the last chance for Nigeria to secure its future as one united and prosperous nation. The selection of committee chairmen and vice chairmen caused some sharp disagreement. But this too has been resolved. There has been no real threat so far of secession, although the idea is never too far from the surface.

    A bumpy road ahead.

    However, the road ahead of the conference is likely to be bumpy. It will require a display of statesmanship on all sides to resolve some of the thorny issues that will emerge at the conference. Both at plenary and at the committee level, where the really important work and trade offs will be done, great tact and diplomacy will be needed to move the conference forward and avoid its total collapse, with some regional delegates walking out of the conference. Among the contentious issues likely to emerge as the conference progresses are the formula for the sharing of the national revenue, state control of natural resources, the demand for state police, federal/state relations, presidential vs. parliamentary system of government, the future role of ethnic nationalities in the nation, the demand for the restructuring of the country into six regional zones as the basic unit of governance in the country and the demand for the creation of more states in the federation. Some of these issues are more contentious and important than others.

    Resource Control.

    Of these, the most difficult and contentious is the sharing among the centre and the states of the federally collectible revenue. Currently, the federal government gets about 51 per cent of these national revenues, while the 36 states, plus Abuja, and over 700 local governments together receive the balance of only 49 per cent. By any standards, the federal share is much too large and has been a sore point with the Southern states where there is a strong demand for a significant reduction in the federal share of the national revenue. Although there is really no regional or party consensus on this among the delegates, most of the Southern states would prefer that revenue allocation be based on the principle of derivation, as was the case in 1960 when Nigeria became independent. At that time, the annual budgets of the Western and Eastern regions of the country were both bigger than those of the federal government, to which the three regions made financial contributions. It was during the long period of military rule in Nigeria that the federal share of national revenue increased dramatically to the point now where its share is more than that of all the other governments of the federation combined. But most Northern delegates are not too keen on any radical change in the formula for revenue allocation. It suits the Northern states.

    There is no justification for this gross financial imbalance between the federal and the states at all, and the states are right to demand a larger share of the federally collectible revenue. It may be argued that Nigeria needs a strong central (federal) government and that this requires adequate financial resources at the centre to successfully run the country. But over the years, the federal government has not really succeeded in doing so despite the huge financial resources at its disposal at the expense of the states and local governments. Instead, the nation is in a far worse state now than it was at independence, when the share of the federal government in the national revenue was less than 30 per cent. Besides, the reduction of the economic activities of the federal government, through the strategy of privatisation and withdrawal from state sponsored commercial enterprises, should also lead to a reduction in its financial commitments. These should now be confined to security and the improvement of social and physical infrastructure in the nation. It is in the states that more funds are needed to improve the standard of living of the people. That is where new jobs, in huge demand, can be created, not at the federal level, where there has been a colossal financial recklessness and mismanagement. Less federal funds should also lead to less corruption and financial profligacy at the centre.

    The Southern states, particularly the oil bearing states, want to be in control of their oil resources and will, as usual, ask again for not less than 50 per cent of the federally collectible revenue, as they did at the 2005 national political reform conference in which I participated as a federal delegate. The Northern delegation will oppose this as it did in 2005, offering 19 per cent instead, which the South -eastern delegates rejected. It was on this issue that the 2005 conference broke down completely. This scenario of the wide divergence between the Northern delegation and the South- eastern delegation over revenue sharing is likely to repeat itself, unless the two sides in the dispute are able to work out a suitable and mutually acceptable compromise. This will be difficult to achieve and may lead to the total collapse of the conference.

    State Police.

    The creation of state police is another controversial issue. Many of the states, particularly in the South, want state police to check the extensive coercive powers of the centre, often used to harass and intimidate the opposition parties. The recent conflict between the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, and Mr. Mbu, the former Commissioner of Police in the state, shows what use the federal authorities can make of the Nigerian Police which it controls exclusively. Thinking of a reversion of political power to the North in future, Northern delegates are not keen on state police. But Nigeria is the only federal state that runs a single federal police. The police should now be de-federalised so that states that want to create their own police force can do so. There will no doubt be some abuse of the state police by governors. But such abuse will be no worse than the current abuse of the Nigeria Police by the federal government. But here again, there is a conflict between the Northern and Southern delegations that could end in a deadlock. I think Nigeria will be better policed by a multiple police force instead of a single police that has become corrupt, inept and incompetent. The creation of state police will enable the federal police focus better on the current and increasing internal security threats to the nation.

    Though still contentious, it should not be too difficult to reach a consensus on most of the other issues, such as the creation of more states (unlikely), the replacement of the existing presidential system by a Westminster model or the cumbersome restructuring of the country into six administrative zones, for which there is little support in the country. The fact of the matter is that whatever the attractions might be, these proposed changes are no longer feasible. The states are here to stay. It will be difficult now to dissolve them. And responsibilities for the creation of new local governments should be turned over to the states. It should not be a federal matter at all. There is a limit to how far and how often the Constitution should be amended or changed. The problem of Nigeria is not really the Constitution but an inept, incompetent and corrupt leadership, a drag on the nation.

  • Is Boko Haram an Islamic insurgency?

    Is Boko Haram an Islamic insurgency?

    The answer to this question depends on the aspect of Boko Haram one is dealing with. It seems that there are three types of movement coalescing into what is now called Boko Haram. One is a religious movement, another is a political movement and the third is a criminal component and it seems each is feeding on the other. Unfortunately there is now evidence that some army personnel who are not loyal to Nigeria are beginning to surface in the ranks of Boko Haram. In order to put these movements in perspective, it will be clearer if one looks at religious movements in the Sudan broadly defined as a whole. In the modern history of the western and eastern Sudan stretching from the Senegal valley across to the upper valleys of the Nile, Islamic fundamentalism has played a very important role. The most well known of Islamic revolutions in the western Sudan is that of Usman Dan Fodio, whose son Muhammad Bello and brother Abdullahi founded the Sokoto caliphate. Usman Dan Fodio was an itinerant preacher against syncretism, corruption and misrule among apparently Muslim rulers in Hausaland. Islam had been well planted in Hausaland since about the eighth century BC particularly in Kano and Katsina with many clerics from North Africa visiting Kano and Katsina to lecture at mosques there. But over time, the Muslim rulers of these areas became more materialistic, corrupt and dictatorial in the conduct of state affairs. Taxes were arbitrarily levied and collected on the peasants and the nomads. It was these grievances that Usman Dan Fodio exploited to lead a rebellion against the Habe rulers between 1804 and 1808. This movement succeeded beyond his wildest dreams and drove away from their throne Hausa, Nupe and the Yoruba rulers. There is no doubt that Usman Dan Fodio was a pious man but one needs more than piety to found an empire. The political and military prowess of his son Muhammad Bello and Abdullahi his brother facilitated the emergence of the Sokoto caliphate. By the time the British overthrew the caliphate, almost all the evils of the Habe rulers had resurfaced in the caliphate and had undermined the moral fabric of the state. This point was proved by the Satiru revolt of 1905/1906 led by the blind cleric Saybu Dan Makafo who was able to mobilise people against the corrupt practices of the caliphate leadership and its English and French successors both in Sokoto and Dosso.

    The example of the Fulani-led revolt and the creation of the Sokoto caliphate were followed by fellow Fulanis in Massina now part of Mali and led by Sheikh Amadu Bakr Lobbo El-amin in 1810 and between that time and 1845, an ascetic type of Islam was imposed on the community and the sharia and Islamic jurisprudence were strictly followed. A much wider movement in the western Sudan was led by Al-hajj Umar Tall a tukolor, a group closely linked with the Fulani who also established along the upper Nile valleys, a so called Segu-Tukolor empire in which he imposed himself on the largely Malinke ethnic groups in those areas. Al-hajj Umar is well known in West African history as the man who was responsible for spreading the Tijanniya brotherhood, a revolutionary form of Islamic tariqa that preached equality of all peoples. These three Islamic revolutions by and large purified the society and brought new regimes based on the sharia that were more favourable to the ordinary people. Although over time their decline and eventual fall became inevitable.

    A much bigger and militant movement employing modern methods of warfare as well as sophisticated arms took place in what was then known as the Egyptian Sudan in 1881. This has gone down into history as the Mahdia or the Mahdist state which lasted between 1881 and 1898. The Sudan was for several decades under Turko-Egyptian control and oppression in the form of arbitrary taxation, corruption and inept rule was characteristic of the regime. It was not too difficult for a millenarian movement led by Mohammed Ahmad who proclaimed himself Al mahdi in the tradition of Islamic thought prevailing in that area. This was based on a doctrine that in difficult times, an “Imam of the age” would come and take over rulership of the state, purify the society and bring the society nearer to God. Sheikh Mohammed Ahmad declared himself this “Imam of the age” and the messiah the people were waiting for. He was able to found a state between 1881 and 1898 before the combined forces of the Egyptians and the British defeated him under a Bible-waving General Charles Gordon, whose death aroused national sentiment in England. The man who later became British Prime Minister and Second World War hero Winston Churchill took part in the fighting against the Mahdist leadership. The Mahdia has left an indelible imprint on Sudan even up till today and the Umma, a political party led by the grandson of the Mahdi, the Oxford educated Sadek el-Mhadi has been in and out of power several times. It is quite clear that any movement claiming to be an Islamic movement should aim at purifying society and since Islam generally does not separate politics from religion, such a movement must have a plan of creating a state in which the sharia would be the law and some kind of theocracy would be the mode of governance.

    The closest thing we have to Boko Haram therefore was the Maitasine uprising in Kano in 1980 and its blind fury and murderous campaign against the society generally did not conform to any reformist paradigm of Jihad. It did not appear to have had a programme of creating a state or replacing the then political status quo. It was also secretive and syncretist in nature. It mixed Islam and traditional African religion. The Maitasine revolt however was on such a scale that a division of the Nigerian army had to be deployed against it. Muhammad Marwa its leader was apparently killed in the campaign against them. This Maitasine revolt later reared up its ugly head in 1982 in Yola and Bulunkutu at the outskirts of Maiduguri. It was also on the same level of violence as the one in Kano and thousands of people perished in Yola and Maiduguri. This latter offshoot of the Maitasine was apparently led by Musa Makaniki who after the violence in Yola escaped to Gombe and from there to the Cameroons before he was caught in 2004.

    The Boko Haram at its inception was more of a religious movement founded by Muhammad Yusuf apparently of Kanuri extraction and with some level of western education. Because of the grinding poverty and unemployment of the youth, he attracted some followership to himself and it seems in the competition for power by politicians, his services were sought but after electoral victory, he and his movement were discarded and security forces were unleashed on him before he was killed in police custody. His death was a signal for widespread revolt which is now led by certain Abubakar Shekau who may be in the pay of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and with possible link with the Somali Al-shabab. What is significant now is the apparent foreign involvement in what is going on. Compared with the Islamic revolutions of the western and eastern Sudan, Boko Haram and Maitasine movement can hardly be said to be Islamic movements. Boko Haram seems now to be rooted in local grievances against constituted authority and its followership is the army of the unemployed and uneducated and those with smattering knowledge of the Holy Quran and with the possible sponsorship of aggrieved politicians and the enemies of Nigeria both inside and outside the country.

    What is common to all these ‘Sudanese’ Islamic movements is their roots in economic grievances and political oppression by the rulers. They seem to begin during the dry season when food and water are in short supply and when the hard times then prevailing lead people to expect the coming of the Mahdi sent divinely to bring liberation and succour to the oppressed. Boko Haram with its murderous campaign killing women, children and fellow Muslims can hardly qualify as an Islamic movement.

  • A Daniel has come to judgement

    Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.
    –Daniel 5:13,14.

    THERE was nothing they did not do to paint them as villains after slaughtering them like rams in an uncompleted building in Apo, Abuja last September. According to the State Security Service (SSS) and the Army, the deceased were Boko Haram elements. This, they explained, was why these menial job workers were killed in cold blood. In their characteristic manner, they alleged (or is it lied?) that the deceased were harmed. Were they? According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), they were not.

    The SSS and the Army came up with that lie to justify their extra judicial killing of the eight men, who were said to be squatters in the uncompleted building. The SSS, in particular, was vehement in its claim that the deceased were armed. Its spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, was always on air and in the papers, vilifying those slain. There was nothing she did not say about them. With such a mindset, it was obvious why they had to kill those tricycle operators (Keke NAPEP) without giving them a chance for fair trial.

    The SSS was the mastermind of the mission to flush out the so-called Boko Haram element from the uncompleted building following what it described as intelligence report. It brought the army into the matter in line with the agreement among security agencies to work together when the need arises. What is this intelligence that the SSS was referring to? It claimed to have received a report that Boko Haram members were hiding in the uncompleted building. From what later transpired, it seemed it did not bother to verify the claim before swinging into action.

    The SSS, it seemed, was carried away by the claim that it had Boko Haram so close to it and yet it did not know all this while. The way out, it thought was to storm the ‘sect’s hideout’, wipe out the dissidents and be applauded for doing a good job. But, it did not go that way because it acted on a faulty premise. The SSS did not distil the information it got. It took it at its face value because it chose to believe its informant, who perhaps, might have sold it a dummy in order to get himself off the hook.

    That is the problem of our security agencies. They tend to believe the first person, who brings a report to them without digging into that person’s motive. From all that we now know, the informant may not have told the SSS the entire truth. He may have given the agency wrong information in order to save his own neck. In the process, he did not care a hoot if innocent people were put in trouble. This is why the SSS should have been circumspect in using his information.

    As a security outfit, the SSS should know better. It is a well known fact that some people can go to any length in getting others into trouble. But security men are expected to check and cross check information that comes to them to avoid the kind of thing that happened in Apo last year. It is good, we are told, for 99 criminals to go scot free than for an innocent man to be convicted. In this case, the SSS turned this altruism upside down.

    We are not writing this because we hate our security agencies. No, not at all. How can we hate them when without them we are not safe. All what we are saying is that they should be more careful in the discharge of their duties to avoid the shedding of innocent blood. For sure, nobody is happy with the way Boko Haram is terrorising the country, but that is not to say that our security operatives should be given the latitude to kill anybody under the guise that he is a member of the sect. If they do that they won’t be different from the Boko Haram that we are all condemning.

    Although the Senate cleared the SSS and the Army of any wrong doing in the killing of Apo 8, it was obvious that it did not do a good job of investigating the incident. The ”Distinguished Senators” were more concerned with ensuring that Apo, where they live, does not become a theatre of Boko Haram’s operation. So, it had to come up with a report endorsing the SSS and the Army action. They were not bothered that people were killed for no just cause. And these were some of the people that voted them into power.

    The Senate was not thorough and painstaking in its investigation. You cannot compare what it did with that of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Some of the flaws in the SSS/Army operation as highlighted in NHRC’s report should not be discountenanced by our security operatives to avoid making the same mistakes in future. The SSS and the Army need to study this report to see where they went wrong and make amends. It is in our collective interest that they do not treat the report with levity.

    Contrary to the claims that weapons were hidden in the uncompleted building, no arms and ammunition were shown to have been recovered from those killed, the report said. It also indicted the SSS and the Army for forcefully moving some of those arrested in the building to their states of origin, with a warning that they should never return to Abuja. By so doing, they were exercising the power that they do not have. Neither the SSS nor the Army has the power to bar any Nigerian from any part of the country.

    They did that with those who do not know their rights and because they also had something to hide. They were afraid that those arrested will talk and what they will say will not be palatable. Most importantly, NHRC held that the Apo 8 were not Boko Haram members, adding that they were killed in cold blood. ”There is no credible evidence to show that the victims were members of Jama’atu ahlus sunnah lid da’awati wal jihad (JALISWA) also known as Boko Haram or involved in direct participation in hostilities. They were, therefore, protected, civilian non-combatants.

    ”The defence of self defence asserted by the the respondents (Federal Government, SSS, Chief of Army Staff and Attorney-General of the Federation) is not supported by the facts…the application of lethal force was disproportionate and the killing of the eight deceased persons as well as the injuries to the 11 survivors were unlawful”, NHRC said. Sadly, those we voted into office did not see it this way. It is unfortunate that our lives do not matter to them. Our votes do and after getting those votes, they dump us just as they dumped the Apo 8. Thank you, NHRC for affirming the innocence of these innocent souls. May they get justice no matter how long it takes.

  • National Conference could immortalize Nigerians

    In human history, the ongoing National Conference in Abuja is the kind of event that confers immortality on some persons. Its story could end up being as follows: The greatest modern country of modern Africa and of the Black race stood on the verge of collapse. But it occurred to one leader to put a National Conference together to save the situation. Some men answered the call of duty at the conference, pulled delegates from disparate directions together, and saved the tottering country and set it on the path to stability, prosperity and greatness in the world.

    Were this the outcome of this National Conference, President Goodluck Jonathan, of course, and his posterity forever, would earn the most precious laurel of all. But there would be many others who would earn laurels almost as precious as his.

    For every one of the nearly 500 delegates at the conference, a successful conference that changed the destiny of Nigeria would be, certainly, the most important historic event in their lives – a proud record for themselves and their families forever. And then there are some who are already eminent citizens, and who are now leading various delegations at the conference. In the souls of such men and women, given the moral mess that Nigeria has become, a titanic battle must now be raging – either to strive hard and sacrifice all in the quest for a great Nigeria, or merely to surrender to base desires like seeking to enrich themselves in Abuja, Throne of Corruption. If they choose the noble path and save Nigeria, the rewards are likely to be dizzyingly mighty.

    I know virtually all of these leading citizens. Most of them belong to my generation, and some are my friends. I am excited for all of them from all corners of Nigeria. But, because of the limitation of space, I will pin-point only the few who belong to my Yoruba nation.

    After President Jonathan set up an Advisory Committee for the National Conference and called for memos, countless meetings followed all over Nigeria – some by leaders of nationalities, some by civil society organizations, some by professional groups, etc. Among my own people, the Yoruba nation, all these finally climaxed in many Yoruba national conferences – in the Palace of Oduduwa at Ife, in Ishara, and then in Ibadan. The final conferences in Ibadan were particularly widely publicized, and large crowds came without restriction from all over Yorubaland.

    Two major things resulted from these conferences. The first is a small leadership team, consisting of Chief Olu Falae as chairman, Gen. Alani Akinrinade as vice-chairman, and Dr. Kunle Olajide as secretary, charged with the task of guiding the whole exercise. Successive conferences accepted, endorsed and validated this little working committee for the Yoruba nation. Around it there also coalesced other prominent leaders – among those who finally made it to the National Conference, old warriors like Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi and Dr. Tunji Braitwaite, and younger warriors like Hon. Wale Oshun, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Otunba Gani Adams, and others.

    The second thing from the many Yoruba conferences is what we call the Yoruba Agenda for the National Conference. We Yoruba, of all political persuasions, have, since 1949, been proposing clear ideas about how to organize Nigeria, a country of multiple nationalities, into a harmonious and workable federation. Central to these views has always been the idea that our various nationalities should be respected, and be made the basis for structuring the Nigerian Federation – that the large and sizeable nationalities should each constitute a federating unit, and that smaller and contiguous nationalities in various parts of Nigeria should join to constitute federating units. Another important idea is that the federating units should be strong constitutionally and materially, so as to be competent centres of development. In recent years, the latter has meant that the excessive powers and resources perversely loaded onto the federal government by the military regimes should be returned to the federating units. This whole package is now called “Regionalism” – because it proposes six strong ‘Regions’.

    All these ideas have now been condensed into the Yoruba Agenda for the National Conference which is therefore the MANDATE for all Yoruba persons at the National Conference. In fact, the decision was taken at the Ibadan Conferences that anyYoruba delegate who betrays the Yoruba Agenda at the National Conference should not return home to Yorubaland. It is that binding.

    At the National Conference, then, we have a Yoruba leadership and a Yoruba Agenda, both broadly backed by the Yoruba nation. Furthermore, back home in Yorubaland, and among the millions of Yoruba people in the Diaspora, there has solidified a consensus that we Yoruba will contribute our very best to the reviving of Nigeria (and therefore to the success of this National Conference), but that, if resistance to change and improvement in Nigeria should continue to be impossible to overcome, then we would not continue to be part of a chaotic, corruption-ridden, poverty-generating, and blood-drenched Nigeria.

    So, the Yoruba delegates at the National Conference are fully aware of their duty – and of their enormous support from home. Therefore, we all have the right to expect that they will do their duty to Nigeria, and thereby, to their Yoruba nation. And if they do that diligently and help Nigeria to make a resounding success of the National Conference, they would become some of the immortal heroes from the successful National Conference.

    Similar stories are true of most of the nationalities of Nigeria. The hope, therefore, is high that Nigeria will begin to experience very important changes soon – and begin to grow and prosper.

    Happily, the news from Abuja is that the Yoruba delegation is working hard towards its destiny. They have been meeting regularly and building cohesion. Not surprisingly, there are some of them who were inclined initially to promote partisan or sectional objectives, and who were cool initially towards some features of the Yoruba Agenda – such as regionalism, or the replacement of the presidential system with a parliamentary system. For various reasons, they would have wanted significant parts of the status quo in Nigeria to remain. But, fortunately, they are few, and they have gradually yielded to the logic of the Yoruba Agenda.

    Even more importantly, the Yoruba delegation is stretching out its hands towards other delegations. Days before the National Conference opened, the Yoruba leaders, and leaders of the South-south and South-east, had met for two days in Asaba and agreed to a common agenda very similar to the Yoruba Agenda. The delegates of these three zones continue to meet in Abuja, and making contacts with delegates from the Middle Belt and the far North, and the chances look good now that the Asaba accord could serve as the instrument for restructuring our federation and setting our country on the path to stability and progress.

    In summary, then, I can see the probability that some men and women of my Yoruba nation could soon count among the front-line immortals who saved Nigeria. For the rest of us Yoruba people, our duty is clear – support and encourage our delegates, and never leave them alone until victory is won

  • Tired wings? (1)

    (Travails of travel with Arik Air)

    Arik Air is breathtaking for once and only once; just at the moment when its aircraft lifts off the runway to soar into air or while perching in the heart of its destination’s city centre. In that space and at that hour, you get to see what its founder, Sir Arumemi-Ikhide had dreamed years before the airline’s establishment: “To make Nigeria proud of its aviation industry” by offering “a superior level of customer service” while delivering “on all promises made” to the airline’s customers.

    The airline’s purported bid to reinforce its corporate vision and mission statements has seen it weather a challenging timeline spanning its birth in 2002 till date. However, cruising with Arik Air, you get to see the perversion of that dream. Travelling with Arik Air today is like wishing on the false hope of an artful dodger. Disappointment is around the corner more often than not. Undoubtedly, every customer of Arik Air would have a different story to tell in testament of the airline’s efficiency or otherwise; some of such stories will be identical in praise of Arik Air and many more, I presume, will be identical sob stories of customers unfortunate enough to have been on the receiving end of the airline’s inefficiency.

    Here is my sob story: following several upsets and disruption of plans occasioned in my life by Arik Air’s characteristic flight delays, two years ago, in the first quarter of 2012 to be precise, I rebelled against reason and purchased a flight ticket to Monrovia, Liberia for a two-week editorial assignment. Unfortunately, I arrived 10 minutes after passengers were checked in and thus had to pay a penalty of N15, 000 to join another flight to Liberia two days later.

    On the day of the trip, I arrived at the airport within stipulated check-in time but to my chagrin, I, alongside several passengers, was granted first row ticket to Arik Air’s theatre of insensitivity to clients. We were made to wait five hours longer for a flight that should have taken off in the morning. Predictably, many of us (travelers) were angry but in the face of intimidating reality of our hopelessness, we resigned to fate and the devices of Arik Air.

    By the time we were called onboard the aircraft, nobody offered apology; when we complained to an Arik Air staff, she pleaded that we understand. I seized the opportunity to remind her that Arik Air refused to be understanding when it imposed a penalty f N15, 000 on me for arriving 10 minutes late after check-in time two days earlier. She simply grinned and marched off in brisk steps.

    And just recently, I purchased a return ticket to Gombe from Arik Air. As usual, the airline dropped me in Abuja to join a connecting flight to Gombe. I would not dwell on the delay suffered as it has become characteristic of the airline but what I find appalling was the airline’s inability to inform me about a change and delay in flight schedule of its Gombe-Abuja-Lagos bound flight.

    On arrival at the airport, I was told by an Arik Air staff that the flight had been delayed till 7 pm although t was supposed to take off earlier. It was even more confusing to note that while my flight ticket bore 3.15pm departure time, I received a message even before leaving Lagos that the return flight had been postponed till 4.15pm.

    While in Gombe, I placed a call to Arik Air’s help desk, and I was made to understand that the departure time from Gombe-Abuja-Lagos had not changed; I was informed that departure time was still 3.15pm.That had to be confusing. It was. Notwithstanding my complaints that I did not receive any text message, call or email notification that the flight had been delayed till 7pm, Arik Air operatives simply informed me that there was nothing they could do. Few minutes after I stormed out of the airline’s Gombe airport desk, the airline sent me a text message that the flight had been delayed till 7pm. That was hilarious.

    Further calls to the establishment’s help desk yielded no positive result as four of Arik Air’s help desk officers craftily cut me off the line perhaps in realization that there was no structure or dependable measure in place to assist any traveler that’s left stranded due to the airline’s inefficiencies.

    Exasperatedly, I tried getting a refund of money paid for the return flight but that proved abortive as Arik Air staff informed me that I won’t be given a refund until I produced the teller I was issued at Arik Air, Lagos airport desk, as evidence of payment. At this juncture, I asked the officer attending to me if Arik Air had details of my flight itinerary, and he said they do; three online help desk officers also confirmed that Arik Air had my flight itinerary yet they all stated that I would not be given a refund because I could not produce the teller which to them, was the only evidence that I truly paid for the Arik Air ticket with which I had completed the first leg of my contracted air travel with their establishment.

    I could not understand what was going on; Arik Air made a good show – at the beginning of the year – and still makes a big deal of its elevated and technologically-driven operations; if the airline’s operation is truly as sophisticated and as it touts it to be, why was it difficult for Arik Air staff to confirm if I indeed paid for the ticket with which the airline issued me boarding pass throughout my first part of the trip? Why should such minor detail pose an accounting problem if the airline’s transactions and operations are truly driven by avant-garde technology?

    Eventually, I found the teller and presented it to Arik Air but I decided against getting a refund. I opted to wait till 7pm to join the Arik aircraft out of Gombe. The plane landed in Abuja and from there I joined a flight to Kano from where I joined another connecting flight to Lagos. It was indeed a hellish experience that saw me hopping on three flights from Gombe to Lagos between 7pm and 10.30pm.

    In retrospect, I cannot single out the happenstance that portended the grisliest horror to me; from the airline’s inability to communicate change in its flight schedule in advance to the gross unprofessionalism and insouciance of Arik Air’s online help desk staff, terror bloomed like a medieval troll at its prime.

    Arik Air is not the first or the last Nigerian enterprise that inefficiency continually leads to defile the hallowed sanctums of trust. Several organizations spanning the aviation, telecoms and banking sector frequently maltreat their customers knowing they would always go scot-free.

    Sadly there is no effective legal mechanism and consumer rights protection agency to defend the rights of their helpless customers every time they are cheated, oppressed or forced into compromising and vulnerable situations by the almighty Nigerian ‘big businesses.’

    Arik Air’s case however, is particularly confounding given its penchant to evoke filial and nationalistic bonds with prospective Nigerian customers.

    • To be continued…

  • Jonathan’s light up rural Nigeria initiatives

    Thirty million Nigerians don’t have access to electricity. This was revealed in Nsukka last week by the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, during the First African International Conference/Workshop on Application of Nanotechnology to Energy, Health and Environment. He also used the occasion to announce government’s commitment to “providing electricity to all households through the Federal Ministry of Power under ‘Operation Light up Rural Nigeria Initiatives”. In fact a “comprehensive road map on access to power which will systematically connect households through grid and off-grid solutions is already in place”, and according to him, “the pilot programme will provide energy-efficient lighting to homes, streets and community centres with up-to-date solar technologies.”

    He also spoke of a plan to replicate this pilot project across 36 states of the federation.

    First, the minister’s 30 million figures are questionable. It is on record that late last year, he had said “the situation where only 25 per cent of Nigerians have access to electricity is a nightmare caused by human beings used by evil forces”. His Minister of State for Power, Zainab Kuchi, after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC), late last year also publicly declared “We have 160 million Nigerians now and we are only giving power to 40 million of that population, what it means is that there are about 120 million Nigerians that are without power and wish to buy power.” It is obvious government has no record of those who have access to electricity and those who do not and those who live in partial darkness.

    But beyond government confusion about statistics in a country known for planning without facts and records, government new love for rural dwellers will mean the fate of 130 million Nigerian who live in partial darkness and scores of industries shut down because of energy problems now stand on the balance. Before embarking on this unnecessary dissipation of energy, Nigerians would have liked to see partial fulfillment of the promises government made when it sold off generating stations built from the sweat and blood of the people to government-favoured private concerns. As at last week, most part of the nation was in darkness in spite of raised expectations and promises of government that sunk between $25 and $51 billion over a period of 14 years before the energy sector was handed over to the new owners.

    Unfortunately, because of government past history of insincerity and unfulfilled promises, many Nigerians will probably express cynicism about the project. Government case is not helped by the fact that we are embarking on this new wave of contracts on rural electrification when no one has been held accountable for the N7billion PDP frittered away on derailed rural electrification programme in 2010 by some members of the legislature and their fronts.

    It will be recalled that EFCC on June 14, 2010, had accused both Godwin Elumelu, and, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, his counterpart as Senate Committee Chairman on Power of misappropriating over N10 billion of public funds. EFCC claimed the rural electrification exercise “were used as conduit pipes with which funds of the Rural Electrification Agency were siphoned and were awarded to companies either not pre-qualified to be awarded the contract, or were phoney or existing companies”. EFCC even went ahead to add other offences- ‘misappropriation of N500million to buy houses; diversion of REA’s funds; flouting of government’s rules on award of contracts and award of fictitious and unnecessary contracts without following due process.’ But once Justice M.G Umar of Abuja High Court absolved all the PDP men and their collaborators on March 24, 2012, claiming ‘he was unable to find a prima facie case or complaint disclosed in the proof of evidence against the respondent’, the government did not even bother to appeal. Between seven and 10 billion naira earmarked for rural electrification went down the drains.

    It is perhaps for the above reason, many think the new government frenzy for award of new sets of multi-million contracts without first tracing the funds EFCC alleged ended in the bank accounts of some PDP officials is informed more by concern to raise money for 2015 elections than the advertised love of the rural dwellers, who currently live in their perfect bliss unlike the 130 million Nigerians who live in partial darkness and are slammed with outrageous arbitrary bills monthly, by new owners of the PHCN.

    President Jonathan should therefore understand why most Nigerians who are under siege from all corners now believe his administration is at war with Nigerians. While they are treated as a conquered people by government functionaries, they have equally become captives of government licensed importers of substandard products and inefficient service providers who declare annual profit that will make investors in the home of capitalism in America and Europe green with envy. Or how does one explain a situation where the new PHCN owners behave like bandits forcing consumers to pay for energy they knew was never generated let alone supplied?

    And in all this, government has refused to take responsibility. For the on-going energy crisis, government has absolved the new owners of the energy sector from blame just as it has exonerated itself. The minister has attributed the crisis to ‘non-availability of gas, infrastructure vandalism, sabotage in the sector and low water-level to power the hydro power plants’. The minister pretended to have forgotten it was government and not helpless victims of government inefficiency that awarded multimillion dollar contracts to repentant militants to secure our water-ways and the pipelines such as Trans Niger, Trans-Forcados, ELPS A pipeline, Alakiri-Onne LBVS, Afam VI IPP, all of which recently came under attack by vandals.

    Similarly left out in the minister litany of woes is corruption which Nigerians and the international community consider the bane of the energy sector. While the president has continued to play the ostrich claiming corruption is greatly exaggerated in Nigeria, his own PDP warring party members have insisted the nation’s inability to generate 3000MW in 14 years was the result of corruption of their members.

    If the minister chooses to discountenance the claim and counter-claim of corruption of PDP members, ignore the N7 billion rural electrification fund traced to PDP members, he cannot feign ignorance of a piece of information given to us by Solana Oluhmense early this week to the effect that two United Nations Special Rapporteurs sent a letter to our president in November 2013 demanding accountability for a total of $51billion sunk in Nigeria’s power sector in the past 10 years.

    Successive PDP governments since 1999 have shown their agenda is PDP and not Nigeria. Obasanjo, who inherited only a total power capacity of 1500mw in 1999, had also said while inaugurating the Nigeria Integrated Power Project (NIPP) in 2001 that the scheme would add 10,000MW to the national grid before the end of his term in 2007 and hoped his successors would be driven with the same zeal and moves the planned target up to 20,000 MW by 2015. Dr Doyin Okupe late last year told Nigerians that “before the end of 2014, Nigerians’ long held dream of joining the worlds list of countries with uninterrupted power supply will be closer in reality than it has ever been.” President Jonathan himself had earlier said any Nigerian with generator would by 2014 have no need for them. The reality today is that we are generating 3717MW.

    The government has by its antecedents of failed promises shown it is deficit in honour. This is why many Nigerians will see the government promise to provide “electricity to all households” as just another avenue to raise funds for the 2015 election.

  • National Conference: Respect for nationalities (large or small)

    There are some Nigerians who think that the way to build a “Nigerian nation” is to destroy our various distinct nationalities and their cultures. Since independence in 1960, this has been the dominant direction of the policies of those who control our federal government. They have engaged in all sorts of manipulations aimed at depressing and gradually eliminating our various nationalities.

    Their master strategy has been to build the federal government into the controller-in-chief of every minutest detail of public policy, resource control, and administration in our country. In that, they have succeeded considerably. And from that intoxicating mountain top, they have gradually eliminated the teaching of our indigenous languages, history and cultures from the curricula of our schools, subdued our state governments to implement the federal educational policies, and generally tried to raise a new generation of Nigerians with no roots in any of our indigenous nationalities or cultures – a new generation of culturally (and ethically) mangled, confused and opaque “Nigerians”.

    Those who have allowed themselves to fall into this kind of thinking about the future of our country need to look more carefully at what they are doing and promoting. Any kind of folly can be romanticized and made to look attractive, but, in the final analysis, folly is folly. This aggressive integrationist approach to the building of Nigeria (or of any country) is folly unlimited. It will not only fail to “unite Nigeria”. Some influential Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Kanuri, Ijaw, etc of today may, for various reasons of their own, accept and promote the federal integrationist agenda for their nationalities. But if they succeed, they cannot thereby create a united Nigeria; what they are very likely to create would be something like a repellently monstrous Nigerian society – a Nigerian society in which Nigeria’s currently evolving character of the amoral, the greedy, the corrupt, the comprehensively disloyal, etc, will be ruthlessly dominant. From the vortex of this kind of society, there will almost certainly emerge someday a new generation of Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Kanuri, Ijaw, etc, that will embark upon reviving and recreating their authentic indigenous cultures and nationalities.

    In short, the experience in our world is that indigenous nationalities and their cultures are near impossible to destroy. Men and women who find themselves in the position of leading and guiding a young country like Nigeria ought to look around them in the world – need to try and understand how certain things have evolved in older countries that are similar to our country. In the world, there are very many countries that are, like Nigeria, multi-ethnic – countries in which different nationalities live in their ancestral homelands. Many of these countries have existed for hundreds of years, and yet in none of them have the nationalities died out or fused into one integrated mixture. It doesn’t happen.

    Let’s take the example of Spain. Spain has existed since the mid-15th century (that is about 600 years) as a country consisting of Spaniards, Catalans and Basques. The Spaniards have been the overwhelming majority since the beginning, and that, coupled with general mixing of the various peoples over time, has helped Spanish culture, especially the Spanish language, to spread quite strongly among the smaller nationalities. In fact, Spain came under a dictatorial regime in the first half of the last century, and the regime tried ruthlessly to suppress the identities, especially the languages, of the small nationalities – and declared their languages illegal. It didn’t work. In recent decades, the Catalans and Basques have revived their cultures and their languages very successfully. Both now want separate countries of their own out of Spain.

    Britain (or the United Kingdom) has been a country consisting of the English, Scotts, Irish and Welsh for about 500 years. Because the English have been the largest nationality from the beginning, the English language has spread in the homelands of the other nationalities. Each of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales has large numbers of citizens from other homelands. Even so, each homeland belongs to its nation. In fact, every one of the Scotts, Irish and Welsh have been strongly reviving their cultures in recent times. Most of Ireland broke away in 1921 and created a separate Republic of Ireland, and the Scotts are now about to do the same. The smallest nationality, the Welsh, are now doing everything to revive their language, in order to make it the language of their own separate country which they hope to have soon.

    Like Nigeria, India is a British-created, third-world, country, consisting of hundreds of nationalities. Fortunately for India, after the northern provinces broke away soon after independence, India’s political leaders agreed that the best policy was to respect each nationality and encourage each culture. It has worked wonderfully. An eminent Indian scholar and statesmen, S.D. Muni, sums up its effect as follows: “The elaborate structure of power devolution has combined with the linguistic basis of federal unity (the use of the linguistic nations as the basis for the states of the federation) to facilitate the management of cultural diversity in India and to help mitigate pulls towards separatism and disintegration”. Muni adds that both at the federal and state levels, Indians are dedicated to “a consciously followed approach to preserve and promote the cultural specificities of diverse groups” – that is, the federal government respects and encourages every culture, and each state that consists of two or more nationalities carefully respects and encourages the culture of each nationality. He concludes that these approaches have helped every nationality to identify happily with India.

    Unfortunately, to worsen the Nigerian situation, some people are said to intend to propose that the National Conference should include in the constitution a provision granting any Nigerian the rights of an indigene anywhere he chooses to go and live in Nigeria. In one of Shakespeare’s plays, two ministers of a king are worried about something that their king is proposing to do. One shakes his head sadly and says, “This will drink deep”; the other answers, “No, it will drink cup and all”. A provision like this in the Nigerian constitution can become a major wrecker. All over Nigeria, our nationalities are most likely to begin to protect their homelands from take-over by new artificial indigenes. Whoever imagines that any people will easily let themselves be robbed of the emotional and mystical ownership of their homeland is thinking dangerous thoughts.This law will result in greatly increased difficulties for those who already live outside their own ethnic homelands and those who intend to.

    Such a provision is unnecessary any way. Already, any Nigerian can go and live and do business anywhere in Nigeria. And the electoral laws include residency qualifications. We should just leave things at that, and let the passage of time do whatever with the rest. What Nigeria needs is manifest dedication to the protection of each nationality and its culture, and the promotion of a consciousness whereby those who go to live in other people’s land respect their host nation, and desist from misinterpreting their land ownership rights for ethnic territorial ownership rights. The homeland of each of our nationalities is theirs. Nothing can change that.

  • A guide to dream jobs

    A guide to dream jobs

    THERE is a big debate in town. The issue is how to resolve Nigeria’s calamitous unemployment crisis, which has created an army of hustlers, scammers, tricksters, pranksters and charlatans posing as experts, who possess answers to the problem.

    In response to a massive demand by readers, Editorial Notebook is joining the debate – as a public service – to expose those pretenders, who have seized upon this problem to compound a bloody mess.

    Here then, dear reader, is the authentic guide to those dream jobs you have always wished you could grab. It covers all categories of job seekers – from ex-governors and ex-ministers to the much exploited university graduates who have fallen victim of scammers in high places and all others willing to work but can’t just be engaged.

    If you are an ex-governor, who is dying to return to office, you can secure your party’s ticket in a simple way. Tell the party you are a tough guy who possesses the right credentials to send the incumbent packing. Your opponents and critics – there will be many of them who will claim to know your background – will call you names. Thug. Thief. Nescient. Addict. Never mind. It’s all politics.

    Lobby your way to the party chairman and other leaders. Regale them with stories of your valorous past, beating your chest that you and only you possess the magic to unseat the incumbent. “Take me to the President. Empower me. Hand me the ticket and see if I won’t remove him,” you will boast, screaming, your eyes dashing restlessly. You can even bang the table – for emphasis.

    “But you’re facing fraud and murder charges. People are talking,” the party chair may remonstrate. Press on. Tell him that these are mere allegations. “An accused is presumed to be innocent, until the court says otherwise. In any case, who doesn’t know that justice is slow to get here,” you will tell him, shaking your head.

    Before long, the party will discover that you are the ideal man. Before other aspirants wake up from their drunken stupor, you have snatched away the prize. Some of your opponents will hit the media, condemning you. “You can’t exchange our gold for iron; we no go gree,” they will be crying.

    Relax. Even the most vociferous of them has his price. He will soon be summoned to Abuja where he will be promised a better life after you must have won the coming election. He will join you.

    Many may want to remind you of your pernicious past, asking why you are so desperate to run. Pardon their ignorance. “I’m not in this for fun; my wife dreamt that I will be back at the Government House,” you will reply.

    If your dream job is a ministerial portfolio, you do not need to worry much. Easy. It bears some similarities with the ex-governor’s. Pose like a no-nonsense, hard man who can stop a moving train with his bare chest. Your testimonials? Of course, those little things that your enemies – those envious fellows who will always talk about the past instead of facing their own issues – describe as detestable, disgraceful and criminal. They are assets.

    You will be reminded that you once assaulted a revered elder statesman at a palace ceremony and that the man, a former senior government official, was a few days after murdered in his home. Don’t panic. We all get accused of one thing or the other everyday; don’t we?

    Those headhunters will be stupid not to realise your potential, particularly in an election year. But you need to play your part well. After you must have been nominated – there will be so much noise about this, as I have said earlier – you then begin a crash programme to prepare you for the screening at the Senate. Get some Nollywood chaps to teach you how to sob and cry at will.

    Then get set to face the Senate. Deck a nice national dress, a long golden necklace dangling from your neck and an expensive watch struggling to stay on your wrist. Questions over, the Senators – cheeky fellows all – will naturally ask you to say something about yourself, some details that may be too strong to find space in your CV. This, I must warn you, is the most critical aspect of this all-important exercise. Dip your hand into your pocket, whip out a handkerchief and burst into tears. Begin to sob. “I know nothing about his death. They said I killed him. How could I have killed a man who paid my school fees, who mentored me and (more sobs)… .If I knew about the chief’s death, may God punish me. They keep saying I did it. I never did. I was detained.”

    It is not over o. You will keep sobbing until somebody comes in there to get you out, even as you continue crying, your white handkerchief now soaked in tears and your eyes as red as fire. Don’t bother. The end, as they say, justifies the means. Days after, you will be announced minister and given a sensitive portfolio.

    Even after this, those enemies of yours, those busybodies to whom everybody is a game to be hunted down with hot gossip, will continue. Why did you hurriedly leave the neighbourhood – bag and baggage – if you did not have a hand in the murder? Why did you remove the man’s cap at the palace? A witch cries yesterday and a baby dies today, who does not know that the witch killed the baby? They will ask such fatuous questions.

    Some will say you got the job because the ruling party has a sinister plan to subvert the people’s will in the coming elections by giving you a portfolio that will facilitate its dubious scheme. Be calm. After all, the prize is all yours now.

    The other day in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Gbemi, former senator and daughter of the late charismatic politician, Dr Olusola “Oloye” Abubakar Saraki, mounted the podium to shred the cherished family bond, railing at her elder brother, the former governor and senator, Dr Bukola Saraki. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chiefs, including President Goodluck Jonathan, were all smiles as she promised to deliver the state to their party. Now, there are speculations that the big gal will soon join the cabinet. A minister.

    Former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party that has issued the ruling PDP a quit notice. In no time, he began to condemn the APC, saying it was taking too long for it to have structures. He quit. Now in the PDP, Shekarau has not stopped singing like a hungry bird, granting interviews to condemn the APC. His reward: a ministerial job. Soon, according to sources.

    Tamuno Danagogo is a typical government pikin. He has always been in government since 2000. He is Rivers State PDP’s ex-legal adviser, twice council chairman and, until recently, a commissioner in the Rotimi Amaechi administration.

    Amaechi got into trouble with President Jonathan when the First Lady dared him to demolish the waterfronts that harboured all manner of criminals. Besides, Amaechi contested and won the Governors’ Forum election. Abuja needed foot soldiers to fight the governor. Danagogo joined the Abuja forces. He quit his job as commissioner. Then his adversaries went to town, saying unprintable things about his family, health and faith. Smart guy. He never replied. Now he is the Minister of Sports.

    So much for political jobs. As for the private sector, merit is still essential in many cases. But it is always better to know somebody as most jobs are never advertised. You keep announcing your status as a jobless man, until somebody who knows somebody that knows somebody who is somebody in the company agrees to put in a word for you.

    A civil service job? Be ready to buy a form. It doesn’t cost much; about N2,500. Look for a godfather who may have been allocated a slot. He will simply send your name to the right office and a letter of appointment will come. No interviews. No stress.

    You may also join the race for some slots announced in a government agency. A note of caution here. You need to be knowledgeable in martial arts. Besides, go for a stress test in a good laboratory where a doctor will certify you fit. Thousands of applicants will be herded into a stadium for a test of endurance. There will, no doubt, be pandemonium. Stampede.This is where your martial arts knowledge comes in. Ensure you do not fall as this may have lethal consequences.

    If, unfortunately, you get trampled and die -God forbid – it is not the end. The government will give your family three slots of its warehoused jobs. If you are lucky to survive, well forget about your broken arm and bruised head. Accidents happen every day. It is automatic job for you – all thanks to President Jonathan’s ingenuity, which has confounded many an expert and critics of the Transformation Agenda. Many countries, including the industrial giants who seem to have stopped thinking, I have just been told, are set to emulate what has been scorned here as death-for-job.

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