The Nation Newspaper

Category: Thursday

  • Revolutionary Rascals (4)

    Hell is, charting the future by you and me. Together, we personify the lot that we seek in leadership and then, an aberration of it. Such bleakness and hope should never subsist in a nation’s youth, it would seem. But it does and we have ourselves to blame. ‘Ourselves,’ being the mass of cocky, impotent breed constituting Nigeria’s youth.

    Men like the ruling class we have now thrive by the cowardliness of youth like you and me. We own their meal tickets and the least they could do by us is to treat us with appreciable tact and respect but they don’t because they know that we are undeserving of certain human courtesies like, accountability and deference.

    Yet, to all the monstrosity they affect, we could only sit back and curse the times. This business of cursing the times has gotten old, hasn’t it? It’s time we shed the walnut of the crinkled shell. We have got more serious work to do. But for all the courses we have set adrift, nobody offers direction, all we have are self-righteous louts and purveyors of morals that have learnt to asphyxiate moral, where integrity silences to double-speak.

    All we do is quote dead men of note and recycle wisdom spent in their years of birth. All we do is tout sophistry and over-tasked arguments because it is politically correct to do so. Virulent rant, cynicism and condemnations on social media networks and news pages are hardly the solutions that we need.

    Social media activists and company will do Nigeria a lot of good if they could mature beyond impotent rant and activism on Facebook. So would every other individual qualified to be addressed as a vestige of Nigeria’s dying future and youth.

    I do not despise their lot for having found cause to ventilate their anger and discontent with the status quo; I only pick issues with their lot for perpetually engaging in a never ending duel with themselves and their shadows. It’s somewhat incestuous, brassy and all that vainness, all that cowardice will ever be.

    Facebook, Twitter activists and company should never let so much luster, brilliance and fury go to waste. Anybody could lampoon the ruling class via bitter and condescending vitriol posted as status update on the over-glorified Facebook wall. It takes courage and amazing degree of firmness to marry profitable action to rhetoric.

    If we truly intend to make our lives fruitful, to ourselves and the generation next, we should begin to see in imagination, the things that might be, and the way in which they are to be brought into existence. We should stop squandering time and passion defending and lamenting unjust privileges enjoyed by the ruling class. We should begin to aim at making the world less cruel, less full of conflict between rival greed, and more full of humane elements whose growth has not been dwarfed and stunted by oppression.

    A life lived in this spirit—the spirit that aims at creating rather than possessing—has a certain fundamental single-mindedness and purpose, of which it cannot be wholly robbed by adverse tyranny and circumstances.

    If we could summon the courage and the vision to live in this way, there will be no need for the regeneration of our fatherland into fragmentary parts by political reform or bloodbath; all that is needed in the way of reform shall come automatically, owing to the moral regeneration of youths.

    Let us begin at the grassroots. Let us begin to court the segments of society we would rather not be caught courting. Let us begin to include the “despicable area boy,” “irascible market woman of the metropolitan market and the sidewalk” in our march for freedom.

    Let us begin to value the insolence of the enfant terrible police officer, disgruntled teacher, directionless undergraduate, campus cultist cum political assassin, and respond to it in plan. Let us begin to value the inputs of these human integers that we have learnt to disregard and smother in our march for freedom.

    The evils of power in the present system are vastly greater than is necessary, but they shan’t diminish by any suitable form of activism save our concerted effort to do the hackneyed in ways it has never been done before. No bloody revolution will serve our cause; the ballot remains our next best alternative as usual.

    It’s about time we stopped speaking with divided voices. It’s about time we freed our kind from the leash of the predatory ruling class. I speak of that great bulk, not only of the very poor, but, of all sections of wage-earners and even of the professional classes, that are the slaves of the need for getting money.

    Almost all are compelled to work so hard and covet hand-downs from the predatory ruling class that they dare not aspire to that unimpeachable standard of morality that has as its main objective, freedom and attainment of the common good.

    If we could induce every Nigerian in his youth to desire his own happiness more than another’s pain; if we could be induced to work constructively for improvements which we could share with the entire world, the whole system by which our nation diminishes might be reformed root and branch within a generation.

    Let us begin to build that proverbial bulwark of citizenship whose ideal of patriotism is held untainted by wantonness, ill-bliss and the temptations of power. Let us not be daunted by the prevalence of socio-political unrest and ineptitude in governance. And let our passion not be overcome by the emergence of narcissists and corruption of broadly cultured men.

    We could start by becoming the stalwarts they never want us to become. We could start by exciting dormant will to pulsate where ambition joins with hope to perpetuate, for the love of the good, our common good.

    Let us begin that assemblage of writers, artists, students, lecturers, free readers, thugs, social commentators, militants and labour groups that we love to espouse and yet shy to perpetuate.

    We are done with impotent saw; let us begin to match our threats with action. Let us begin the movement by which we would reclaim our destinies, and will, from the grasp of the lot in whose clasp we asphyxiate.

    If we could so successfully network in thousands and tens of thousands on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter et al; if we could so painstakingly network to dance (SalsaNaija), see movies (S.H.A.R.E Monday movies) to mention a few; how can we not congregate to salvage our lives from machinations of men bereft of heart, and honour?

    We are done quoting Awolowo, Azikiwe, Bello, Voltaire, Bonaparte, Fawehinmi and others. Let us not mock humanity excited by men channeling peace in quilted sleep. Let us begin to propagate such deeds that would become incense for poetry, and history that elevates.

    The odds are great but we who have learnt to navigate the worst of mine-fields with determination and grace should learn to exterminate the ogres that maul our lives to pieces. It’s about time we formed a party of the people, for the people, by the youth.

    • To be continued…

  • The growing discontent with public corruption

    The growing discontent with public corruption

    One of the major sources of discontent and outrage in Nigeria today is the widespread and growing public corruption in the country. Many high profile public figures, including about a dozen federal ministers, and several former governors, are under investigation by the EFFC, the anti-graft federal agency, for alleged financial crimes. The former Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, Mr. Usman Nafada, have been arraigned in an Abuja High Court on multiple charges of financial impropriety, ranging from the award of inflated contracts, in breach of the Procurement Act, to borrowing money illegally from a commercial bank to fund unauthorised and outrageous increases in the allowances of the members of the House. The total sum involved in the charges is about N42 billion. This was done despite the public complaint of the Governor of the CBN that payments to members of the National Assembly constituted over 25 per cent of the recurrent budget of the Federal Government. Bankole and his deputy are now on bail and have both denied any wrongdoing in the matter. We must presume they are innocent until the court determines otherwise.

    The case has fuelled widespread discontent and cynicism about financial probity in public expenditure in Nigeria. Last week, it was reported in some local newspapers that former President Obasanjo had declared flatly at a meeting of the ILO in Geneva that, since he left office, public corruption had grown worse and that he did not think President Jonathan, his former protégé, was capable of dealing with the monster. It would have been better if that damaging criticism, from a former president, had been made at home, rather than abroad where it received wide publicity. It was President Obasanjo who had set up the EFFC and the ICPC to fight public corruption. It had appeared that some progress was being made initially in the fight against corruption. Two presidents of the Senate and a Speaker of the House of Representatives had been removed for fraud. But he was himself so overwhelmed by the large scale fraud in the public sector, involving some of his aides and close political associates that he virtually gave up on his fight against public corruption. His unconstitutional and unsuccessful bid for a third term, in which bribes were openly and freely used, also undermined his credibility and commitment to the fight against corruption. His own daughter, former Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello, now being considered for appointment as a federal minister, is believed to have been implicated in some financial scam in the Federal Ministry of Health where funds intended for official use were simply diverted into private pockets. The scandal was swept quickly under the carpet. It was never brought to a conclusion by the EFFC. Many of Obasanjo’s critics thought him to be rather selective in determining those who were to be probed.

    It is a matter for deep regret that many senior officials and public servants get away with their loot without the government being able to do much about it. In some cases, such as the Siemens affair, or the Tarfa Balogun affair, the government accepted plea bargaining to let the culprits off the hook. Some Nigerian lawyers have expressed serious doubts that plea bargaining has any place in Nigeria’s legal system. But this despicable tactic has become the trend now among major public figures being charged for fraud to avoid their prosecution in the courts. Far too many culprits are being treated with kid gloves instead of being made to bite the bullet if found guilty of financial impropriety. And once the dam broke it was inevitable that financial scams would continue to flourish in the country. It is significant that in the campaign before the 2011 elections corruption did not feature as a major issue. The candidates were too afraid to speak openly about it. Most of them had soiled their hands.

    The grave concern about public corruption is not confined to the country. Our major trading partners and potential foreign investors are just as concerned. Nigeria’s financing gap, currently estimated at over $40billion annually, is large and still increasing. We will need to continue borrowing abroad for the foreseeable future. But we are accumulating foreign debt all of which might not have been necessary if we had managed our economy and finances with greater probity. When President Obama met recently with President Jonathan in Washington he expressed grave concern about corruption in Nigeria. Most foreign observers doubt whether our leaders are really committed to fighting corruption vigorously and courageously. In fact, the perception of foreigners who wish to invest or do business in Nigeria is that it is impossible to do good business in the country without getting involved in the prevailing public corruption. Foreign reporting about Nigeria has been generally negative and has centred largely on the mass public corruption in the country with many of these reports placing Nigeria in the bottom league of corrupt countries.

    I recall how in 1981, thirty years ago, at a meeting in Harvard of American and Nigerian businessmen, which included Chief Ernest Shonekan, then Chairman of UAC, the late Chief Jerome Udoji, then Chairman of the Nigerian Tobacco Company, and the late Chief Adeyemi Lawson, their American counterparts complained bitterly and angrily about corruption in Nigeria. As the guest speaker on the occasion, I was obliged to assure the Americans that the Nigerian government was doing something about the problem. I was wrong as the problem has become worse since then.

    In a recent article on Nigeria at page 18 of its edition of May 28- June 3, the influential and respected British weekly, The Economist, observed that ‘Nigerian leaders are so greedy that they have subverted the entire machinery of the state to serve their needs. Every policy is a scam, every regulation a source of rent”. The article went on to say that “Freed from kleptocrats, Nigeria could be an African giant”. This is a devastating and vivid description of the scale of public corruption in Nigeria which we may not like. But very few people here will disagree with the disturbing report of the paper. In most cases, these damaging reports are based on reports in the Nigerian media, particularly the newspapers, the only watch dog on public corruption.

    To further complicate matters, there was some press speculation in the local media last week that the former Speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy, may not face prosecution in the court at all over the alleged N42 billion scam, and that the government may decide to withdraw the charges against them; not for lack of evidence, but as a sort of political deal. I was with some friends recently and many of them had expressed the view that a deal would be made by the government on this matter, and that the whole thing would be swept, as usual, under the carpet. I had said I considered the idea absurd and improbable, and that I believed the case would be fully prosecuted. As may well be imagined I was truly horrified by press reports that the authorities might be contemplating such an absurd idea. If Bankole and his deputy are innocent of the charges against them, then let them prove this in court. It is not for the authorities to withdraw the charges against them.

    When this sort of thing occurs, the public is left with the conclusion that financial crime pays and that the culprit, if well connected, will be let off the hook. Some years back the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Ette, was accused by her colleagues of fraud and was forced to step down from office. To clear the way for her possible appointment as a minister the same House that had adjudged her guilty has now reversed itself on the matter and declared her innocent. How does this encourage or promote financial probity in government? How can we convince potential foreign investors that we are committed as a nation to fighting public corruption in our country? A deal over this matter will be reprehensible and morally indefensible. What kind of legacy are we leaving our children with?

    With the exception of Lagos State, many of the state governments have said they are not in a position to pay the new minimum wage of N18, 000 per month. How can these state governments convince the workers that they are truly unable to pay when the workers read reports in the media about the hefty salaries and wages of public officials, particularly the members of the National Assembly, as well as the huge financial scams in which they are involved? As I write this, thousands of pensioners have not been paid their pension for up to a year, or even longer, on account of the large scale scam in the Pensions Office, where funds meant for pensioners were simply diverted into the pockets of senior officials of the Pensions Office. A former Director of Pensions has been arrested by the EFFC and is now under investigation for salting away some N12 billion. In fact, before his arrest he was rewarded for his alleged misappropriation of such huge public funds by being made a Director in the Petroleum Ministry.

    Regrettably, public corruption is not confined to the public sector. It has spread its tentacles to the private sector, including the banks, many of which are on the brink of collapse, the Stock Exchange and stock brokers, the oil sector, the Universities, and the judiciary. In fact, virtually every facet of life in Nigeria has been badly infested with corruption, the economic consequences of which are very clear. Nigeria’s target of becoming one of the top 20 industrial economies in the world by the year 2020 will not be realised unless we manage our resources better by tackling the problem of public corruption. The wanton disregard for the rule of law and the inability of the government to come down heavily on public corruption is directly responsible for the violence and tension in our country.

    In a poor country such as Nigeria, corruption breeds mass poverty and this, in turn, creates widespread social discontent that spills over into social crimes such as armed robberies, kidnappings, and terror bombing in the country. The dire security situation in the country will not be resolved by creating additional units of law enforcing agencies, many of which have been badly compromised by corruption. Instead of that, we should take practical measures to create more jobs by spending more on health, education, and infrastructure. We need to assure our youths of a better future, a better society that will reward hard work and punish fraud and other social crimes.

  • A nation in denial

    People and institutions hate to hear the truth about themselves, especially when such is not palatable. It is natural to feel that way. We want to hear nice things being said about us because they are what make our heads spin. When we hear negative things we get demoralised and even feel unwanted. At such times, we see the world collapsing on our heads. We become lonely despite being surrounded by people. As it is with people so it is with nations. Nations are at their best when things are going on smoothly for them.

    They are at their worst when things are the other way round. No person or even nation prays to see the hard side of life, but when it comes, some take it as a quirk of fate, others blame it on some perceived enemies. The truth is life is full of ups and downs. This is why the Yoruba say that people’s problems are not the same. The problem which stares some in the face may have its back turned on others. That is life and we have to accept whatever portion the Almighty allots us, just as Job accepted his fate in the Bible. If I sound like a preacher today please forgive me for I am doing as being led by the Spirit. Why this sermon? You will get my drift shortly.

    For over three years now, we have known no rest from the clandestine and sometimes not so clandestine activities of the Islamic sect Boko Haram. To say that Boko Haram has made the country unsafe will be an understatement. The group has simply made the country ungovernable. Yet, the government does not wish to accept this fact. In Abuja and the Northeastern part of the country, the fear of Boko Haram is so palpable that you could feel it in the air. In some Northeast states like Borno and Yobe, government activities have been paralysed. Nothing seems to work in these states again because of the fear of Boko Haram.

    Where they hold, government activities are done in hiding far from the reach of the murderous group. Our government has unwittingly handed over power to Boko Haram, yet it is mouthing ‘’Nigeria is safe’’. Is there any dispute about that? ‘’Nigeria is safe’’; it is safe indeed. Or is it not safe? For two years (2011 and 2012) now, the Independence Day anniversary has been held in the confines of the Presidential Villa and not on the expansive grounds of the Eagle Square, as we used to do in the past, all because of the fear of Boko Haram. Yet, we are told ‘’Nigeria is safe’’. If ‘’Nigeria is safe’’, the government will not move the celebration of that august anniversary to the hallowed grounds of the Villa. It would have stuck to tradition by holding it at Eagle Square. To prove its claim that ‘’Nigeria is safe’’, the government should hold the 53rd Independence Day anniversary at Eagle Square on October 1, next year.

    The issue of the nation being safe or not came about because of the bombing of the Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, and the Force Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja on November 25 and 26. Being military and police formations, these are places, which many thought were out of the reach of Boko Haram. But it scored a bull’s eye when it hit those formations about nine days ago. The military is pained by the audacious attack and it has since moved to ensure that such does not happen again. Nobody prays for that, but we need to come clean with the people about these matters. The government does not have to lie because the facts are obvious. There is insecurity in the land. Even those with police escorts are not safe not to talk of those of us who cannot afford that luxury.

    Presidential aide Doyin Okupe can blab and blab about safety in the land because he enjoys privileges which many of his compatriots are not entitled to. He has round-the-clock security both at home and at work and as such does not know what is happening in town except what he reads in the papers. May I point out to him that the papers, which reported that the country is not safe were not being unduly sensational; they were reporting things as they are. Is Nigeria truly safe? Okupe knows the answer in his heart of hearts. To issue a statement that Nigeria is safe amounts to standing the truth on its head. Nigeria is not safe and the earlier those in government wake up to this reality the better for all of us. How safe is our country when people disappear at will?

    How safe is our country when

    mothers are kidnapped

    while taking their children to school? How safe is our country when old men and women are abducted right in front of their houses? How safe is our country when vice-chancellors are kidnapped in broad daylight? How safe is our country when our leaders flee their home-states to seek refuge in neighbouring states? How safe is our country when the central government suddenly moves the celebration of our National Day from its traditional venue to where it considers a more secure and safer place? Dr Okupe, I am sorry to say, Nigeria is not safe. Oh! wait a minute, you may be right after all that ‘’Nigeria is safe’’. Your claim of a safe Nigeria is strengthened by the relocation of Yobe State government officials to Jigawa State. According to Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu , who is the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, ‘’insecurity’’ forced the Yobians to relocate.

    Said Aliyu : ‘’The (insecurity) situation has reached a situation whereby members of the state Executive Council in Yobe now run away to nearby Jigawa State for their safety. What is happening is very scary…those who are after us have defeated us and have taken over , what is the best way out and how do we address this situation because if the government institution is relocating then it means nobody is safe. We must stand up and say no to terrorism in northern Nigeria. We must tell the government what to do and many of us have access to government’’. Aliyu is not an alarmist as people like Okupe may want to describe him for speaking the way he did. The governor probably spoke out of concern about the way things are going. When we did A nation under siege in this space last week it was to draw attention to the worrisome state of security in the country. Things just keep going down the hill and government seems not to know what to do.

    Those who have ideas about what to do are not ready to avail government of their expertise because they are benefiting from the chaotic situation. These are the people Aliyu is appealing to, to help the government resolve the Boko Haram riddle. As concerned Nigerians, we cannot watch and allow things to continue like this; more importantly, government should admit that it has a big problem on its hand and reach out to those who can help it. All hands must be on deck to flush out the Boko Haram elements and the government must take the lead in this all-important task instead of living a lie.

    Let Sanusi be

    Many Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governors have come and gone. So, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s case cannot be different. When his time comes he will go but he will be remembered as the most outspoken governor in the history of the bank. You may not like some of his interventions on burning national issues, but one thing is clear he will never leave you in doubt on where he stands. His latest intervention, which I find interesting, is generating ripples. There is nothing new in this position; it is the same old position he has held on such matters. Since he assumed office, he has been critical of the high cost of governance; the unviable states and local governments and the spending of the nation’s scarce resources on a few elected public officers and their aides. We know as a fact that a large chunk of the budget is spent on maintaining these officers who contribute virtually nothing to the development of the economy. The nation can ill -afford to continue to maintain them unless we want the economy to go kaput. There is economic sense in what Sanusi is saying. We cannot say that because we don’t like the man’s face we should not listen to him when he talks, especially when he is making sense. Whether or not a CBN governor should talk like that is a different matter. But as a Nigerian, shouldn’t the CBN governor contribute to discourse relating to his area of specialisation in order to enrich public debate? I think he should and when he does we should listen to him for our own good. I don’t think Sanusi is out of line this time because he is not talking politics but economics. As you will notice, I have deliberately kept quiet about his take on civil servants because of the controversy over what he actually said. Did he demand the sack of half of civil servants? He said he didn’t. Having made that clarification, it will be unfair to hold that against him as some people are now doing. Their intention is to pitch Sanusi against the all – powerful labour movement. What a way to deal with a public servant with a caustic tongue, they would have reasoned. But labour should not allow itself to be used against Sanusi in this instance for he has spoken well. As the Yoruba will say, a stubborn child has his own day.

  • Annus Horribilis (1)

    The year 2012 is a leap year and I am ordinarily not a superstitious person but in Nigeria, we always say that leap years are bad years. They are years when horrible things happen. This has been the case in Nigeria this year. There are so many deaths of important people in this country this year. The ones that come readily to mind are the deaths of Professor Tokunbo Sofoluwe the young Vice Chancellor of University of Lagos, Oba Oladele Olasore, Wole Adeosun, Lamidi Adesina, Hope Harriman, General Muhammad, Peter Agboola Osuntokun, Yemi Ogendegbe and Olusola Saraki. Tokunbo died suddenly in harness without warning and broke all our hearts. He was not only a wonderful mathematician and computer scientist, he was also a wonderful man. He made an impression on everyone who met him and his death was a personal loss to me. Not only because I saw him as a younger brother, but also because his older brothers were my school mates and friends. Tokunbo was like a junior brother that I never had. I still think about him all the time and sometimes wonder why good people die young. But God is a mystery and He alone is his own interpreter and I believe when we get to heaven, he will make it plain to us. Tokunbo’s death created a void in the lives of many people which will be difficult to fill.

    I remember also the late Professor Adebayo Olumide, foremost neurosurgeon who passed on in Ibadan recently. He was a first class surgeon, a gentleman, more like a gentle giant because of his height and disposition. We were together in the USA in 1980 when he spent a sabbatical year in Washington DC. My heart goes to his amiable wife Ronke, a daughter to Sir Samuel Manuwa and to his children who were little when I last saw them. Bayo will be missed for his wit and gentle manners.

    Another horrible loss was the death of Kabiyesi Oladele Olasore, the Ajagbusi- Ekun, Aloko of Iloko who joined his ancestors a few months ago. Kabiyesi was a fine man in everything. A chartered accountant, a banker, a former minister of the Federal Republic, a businessman, an educationist, a philanthropist and a public spirited man. He was a gentle soul, an amiable man who felt concerned about people. He loved people and he tried to draw people close to him. I did not get close to him until he became the Aloko and a couple of times, he invited me to come to Iloko to visit with him. Unfortunately, I was too busy to take up his invitation and I regret I did not do so. I once stayed overnight in his excellent hotel in the sleepy town of Iloko. What is most impressive about him is his commitment to his hometown and its development. When he was Secretary of Finance in the federation, I believe he caused a contract to be awarded for the dualisation of the road between Ife and Ilesha and he insisted that a spur to Iloko must be part of the award. He built an excellent secondary school in Iloko, the facility of which will put to shame several so called universities. One wonders why he never converted this school to a university especially now that all kinds of mushroom universities are springing up daily. Oba Olasore was a Christian. He used to come to the Holy Ghost services at the Redemption camp and when my wife was alive, his sister used to be a guest at our camp house. I believe Kabiyesi was born in Kano, he spoke Hausa well and he had a global view about life. He will be sorely missed.

    Before him another titan in the accountancy world, Chief Wole Adeosun also a former minister and managing director of First bank also passed on to glory. Chief Wole Adeosun worked in NAL Merchant Bank, a foremost merchant bank in Nigeria. He was also involved in economic policy formulation in the country for several years. I remember him travelling with us to the far East when I was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as special adviser to the Minister. Both he and Oba Olasore were relatively young and in their passing, Nigeria will be the poorer for it.

    Just as we were settling down and digesting the implications of these losses, news broke that the former governor of Oyo, Alhaji Lamidi Adesina had passed on. Lamidi Adesina was a columnist in the Tribune for several years and he was a diehard supporter of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his politics. It was therefore not surprising that he was elected on the platform of the UPN into the House of Representatives during the second republic. Alhaji Adesina’s politics was centrist and a grass roots man. He had his ears to the ground and he knew what the people wanted, he was different from Alhaji Adedibu who belonged to the other side of the coin of Ibadan politics. Adesina was a professional teacher and in whatever he did, the teaching profession influenced him. I remember when he became governor, I had occasion to visit him in his Molete home. I had a personal mission that I wanted to accomplish during my visit. I will not go into details but the gist of it is that I wanted him to reconcile the Awolowo and Akintola’s political factions in Yorubaland and I wanted him to do this through a signal appointment of a young man who in his own marriage had reconciled Akintola and Awolowo’s faction of political tendencies in yorubaland. Alhaji Adesina received me with kindness, consideration, respect and commended me for my action. Even though he did not carry out my request, I know he consulted with the late Chief Bola Ige. I would not know what Chief Ige said, but the appointment did not come through. There wasn’t much money when Alhaji Adesina was governor so in terms of physical achievements, there were no dramatic things that he did as governor under the Alliance of Democracy Party but he maintained peace and civility in the state and brought into governance respect for law. He kept a lid on the excesses of party supporters especially in a situation where Yoruba people felt aggrieved by the persecution they suffered under Abacha and naturally wanted to give bloody noses to those perceived as Abacha’s supporters in Ibadan. It is a pity that Alhaji Adesina took ill and died at a time when the ACN needs his advice especially in these difficult years of preparation for politics of 2015.

    • (To be continued)

  • Revolutionary Rascals (3)

    Posterity shan’t forget “the boy who had no shoes” and yet emerged to become “President,”soon. In the near future, President Jonathan and company shan’t be worth much save vivid models of how not to become statesmen. Yet he shall be worth more than the average Nigerian in his youth, today.

    That old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out. In our fatherland, it is virtually dead.

    Thus our depiction as lower brutes – forgettable elements in the annals of the Nigerian state. Like our fathers, we shall start to agitate like the young at the age of 60 but then it will be too late.

    We shall die silent. Silent on the innumerable excesses and grotesqueness of leadership we loathe but have learnt to endure like the gifted curse of an eternal hump. It is never my intention to discountenance such vigorous activism that has become the pastime of contemporary Nigerian youth neither do I intend to ridicule the highly informed protest we consistently launch to counter the meanness of the Nigerian ruling class – for such articulated dissent are worth dying for.

    But despite the riotousness we orchestrate, our heartfelt protests resonate futilely like the maniacal hooting of owls caught in the blaze of the midday sun. Such enterprise…such severe impotence is best suited – as demonstrated by the current ruling class – to presidential corridors and parliaments that neither humanity nor the blandest form of patriotism could substantiate.

    Such silliness is best suited to citizens’ bars and soapboxes we mount in our rant-activated living rooms and courtyards – sounding boards for that infinite, untamed temperament we ennoble till date.

    We shall die silent. Looking around on the noisy inanity of our discontent: words with little meaning, rage with little passion and actions with little worth, one comes to the sad realization that among other ills, we diminish the significance and inestimable timelessness of the intense violence of silence.

    The riotous band of social media activists, youth leaders, human rights activists, women’s rights activists, advocacy chieftains, youth pastors, and so many more that we claim to incarnate distressingly negate that proverbial breed of noble, purposeful youth, scattered and integrated here and there, each in his separate devices – determinedly striving to achieve our individual and collective freedom from the ruling class.

    We are in no measure comparable to such salt of the earth thus our evolution in the worst of ways. Like a forest that has no roots and yet crowds with leaves and boughs, our grandiloquent agitation shall soon wither and die; as the stray notes of a flippant symphony.

    The contemporary youth is as dumb as doornails. Ah yes! I could say that again. A tireless lust remains our woe. Yet we who cannot do without spurting like barrel-heads, to curse our luck and curse the times, even as we do nothing to salvage it, would like to revolt.

    We speak of revolution like the next best thing we could orchestrate after our last follies have fallen silent. We forget that there is a time to speak and time to act; time to scream and silently orchestrate the inestimable violence of uprightness.

    At this juncture, many would cling to the timeliness of the brazen and fundamentally futile, defunct Occupy Nigeria Movement; they forget that despite our lack of hesitancy in confronting the State and our romanticized wish to abolish the status quo as the protests dragged, the eventual result was as usual, an opportunistic contract between the exploiters (the government) and a part of the exploited (labour leadership), at the expense of the rest of the exploited (you, me and everyone) – something Noel Ignatin would call “the original sweetheart agreement.”

    Says a lot about our revolutionary potential; today, the Nigerian youth is written off and our grievances dismissed as the crazed rant of a pathetic mass of revolutionary impostors. President Jonathan and company couldn’t be wrong for eventually dismissing us as essentially hopeless and misdirected.

    Despite the fervor and promise of the Occupy Nigeria movement, the Nigerian youth remains exploited and perpetually exploitable – victims of what George Bernard Shaw, terms “the stupid system of violence and robbery which we call Law and Industry.”

    Times without number, we moot and romanticize the inevitability of a Nigerian revolution, driven by the nation’s band of poor, disadvantaged youth. We dream of the moment when the

    Nigerian ruling class shall pay with blood, melancholia and despair for every ill they have wrought on us. We envision them in shallow graves and grisly jail cells, lusting for life and desperately seeking a second chance with a kind of humble defeatism. But within that same breadth of history, the Nigerian youth shall pay with more tragedy, more misery and blood even as we bemoan the disappearance of our “better tomorrow.”

    And the reason is hardly far-fetched; in desperate pursuit of our better tomorrow, we have “today” but yet fail to make the best of it. Like the ruling class, the Nigerian youth suffers a lack of intellect and knowledge – useful knowledge to be precise.

    Thus even if spurred by inexorable courage to topple the elite and change our stars, our tragedies shall persist in frequency and extent. After we inter the bones of the last of the ruling class, we shall raise our heads to seek our next best hero only to find none. That is because we who shall survive are as savage as the worst of the ruling class.

    Left to our devices, we display an unforgivable lack of humaneness and character. Hence even if we could successfully seize power, we shall manage to remain not much in significance and sight. Simply put, were our dreams of change realizable, we shall undoubtedly remain the next awful alternative.

    We are victims to an irrepressible yearning to actualize ourselves according to the magnitude in which greed has made us; to speak and act out what vanities we incarnate. We mistake this insatiable craving for stirrings to a revolt; although it is in actuality, a half-awakened common consciousness, sprung from common grief over our common hardship in poverty, low wages and bad leadership. And, above all, lack of equity and opportunities.

    All this cause us to think some thoughts and moot some measures together; but when this mutual agitation is ripe for expression, our actions and voices trail off in confusion. Sophistry and deceit are the springboards from which much of our civilization evolve; add mediocrity, mindlessness and greed; and you have a perfect representation of the Nigerian youth.

    We were wrong to think it a matter of years and decades that we would improve in citizenship and tact. We are unaware – like our base and iniquitous elite –that true citizenship essentially translates to being an emissary of truth, hope, superior culture and progress to both the literate and unschooled.

    Now that time, among other things, devaluates every hackneyed premise, anecdote, and elitist abstraction we recycle and foster, shall we begin to affect such citizenship deserving of our battered State? Shall we begin to rise in purposeful rebellion against the foul breath of socio-political oppression and economic slavery characteristic of our decrepit State? How?

    Let us begin from the grassroots. How?

    • To be continued…

  • Police accommodation and my friend igp Abubakar

    Police accommodation and my friend igp Abubakar

    Let me say from the beginning that I am an admirer of police IGP Abubakar. I got close to him at a workshop celebrating democracy day held at the villa sometimes in May 2012. I was invited to the workshop as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations. I was not wearing a nametag, so IGP Abubakar may not be able to remember who I am. We did not talk, but we exchanged pleasant glances and I kind of liked his body movement whenever something ridiculous was said by one of the speakers. Just let me say I like his boyish looks and youthful countenance.

    When he took over as IGP, the first decision he took was to dismantle police checkpoints on the highways. This was a masterstroke. With this decision, he endeared himself to the all Nigerians who had become victims of police harassment on the high way. The hours of my journey from Lagos to Ibadan were reduced by half and my fear of being shot by drunken policeman holding a gun and asking my driver and I questions disappeared. The fear that armed robbers might take over the roads has generally not materialised. This is not to say that the roads are completely free of armed robbery and armed brigands. There has been an armed robbery attack recently on the roads between Iyin and Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State and on many other roads in the country. But the IGP’s removal of road blocks remains unimpeachable.

    The public face of the police as represented by the current IGP remains friendly and attractive. As a Nigerian, I know that policy innovation and change are usually challenged by entrenched vested interest. IGP Abubakar may not be complaining loudly, but he must be definitely fighting to get his colleagues to embrace his policies. It is a pity that the Boko Haram problem remains intractable. But this is not a police problem alone; it is the problem of the armed forces and the problem of all Nigerians. People have suggested that we must take palliative measures to reduce the sufferings of people in the affected areas and give people hope where there seems to be no hope. In order to make policing successful we need holistic approach because after all, in a period of hopelessness, when dying is seen sometimes by fanatics as an easier option than living, policing becomes difficult. Organised state violence as represented by the police and the Armed Forces can only deter when people care for their lives. But the element of deterrence is removed when people are ready to die and have no fear of dying and believing that by dying they go to a better place in the hereafter. We must continue to pray and encourage the police IGP and his team, but in leading the police, the IGP must ensure that he makes life tolerable for the rank and file of the police. This is actually the kernel of this write up and appeal not only to the IGP but to Mr President and the legislative branch of government to come to Macedonia and help the police.

    Whenever I drive on Bank Anthony way in Ikeja, coming from the local airport and I see the police barrack on my right, I feel sad. The place is so totally run down and the houses dilapidated with dirty clothes hanging in the veranda, corridor and windows of all the buildings, giving the impression of largely filthy and unkempt surrounding. These buildings are standing on prime land in Ikeja and they are an eyesore in a rapidly modernising city like Lagos and in the words of Ronald Reagan, the former American President, I say to IGP Abubakar “please tear down these walls and these buildings”. They are not fit for human habitation. What I am saying for this barrack would apply to virtually all police barracks in Nigeria. I cannot but single out Ibadan where I live. The police command headquarters in Iyaganku in Ibadan has buildings with broken windows and generally rundown environment. I have no doubt that the police IGP and his team are aware of this and I am sure the Executive and Legislative leadership in Nigeria is also aware of this.

    There is need therefore to do something about this because to me, this is a national security matter. We cannot keep police rank and file in filthy and unhealthy surroundings and expect them to see themselves as stakeholders in the society and this perhaps accounts for the mutual distrust if not hatred between the police and the people they are supposed to protect. If we want to get the best results from our police, we must properly provision and house them. If the government finds it difficult to build decent barracks for the police, government should have a rethink about police accommodation.

    In some countries in the western world for example, the police live among the people in their own homes and go to their offices routinely. In the case of emergencies, they can be summoned to these offices where equipment and ammunitions are kept. Our government could adopt this practice and give every policeman loans to build his own home wherever he likes. But perhaps, Nigeria is not ripe enough for this kind of policy. So we must go back to the issue of building decent barracks for policemen. We can have a ten-year programme of Police Barrack Development. These barracks perhaps could be built at the outskirts of the cities in some kind of police villages where environmental beauty and greening would be taken into serious account. The current practice where policemen are housed in one-room apartments should be jettisoned. Series of three-bedroom bungalows for the rank and file would be appropriate and policemen would also be educated about the need for small families.

    Some years ago, a Police Development Fund was launched. Unfortunately, this excellent idea was marred by corruption and the billions collected were stolen by those put in charge and the case like all cases of corruption in Nigeria has died a natural death. But in the mean time, the problem of policing remains. People complain about the police but do nothing about their material condition. There is a need to do something about this and if needs be, some of us might send a private person’s Bill to do national Assembly for discussion and for possible passage. The policeman can become our friend if we stretch our hands of fellowship to them.

    Cynics may ask if there are no other institutions needing reform. Yes the whole country needs reform. But we must start from somewhere. There can be no improvement in our lives if there is no security. It follows that we must do first things first by securing our society through a reform of the police and thereby securing our lives, because at the end of the day reform is about people and police reform would guarantee human security and societal well being. In other words, police reform should be a priority not because of altruism but because it is in our enlightened self interest.

  • A nation under siege

    Nigeria is not at war, but it is at war with itself Why do I say this? In the past three years, internal security has been stretched beyond its limit while trying to curtail the activities of those who have declared war on the country. With no corresponding response from the security agencies to their murderous acts, these renegades have made the country virtually ungovernable.

    Yet, we have a government and a thing like this is happening. It is the job of government to secure the country and ensure the safety of lives and properties; but doing this has become an Herculean task for the present administration. These days, all sorts of characters with guns strike at will, killing, maiming and looting.

    If Boko Haram is not doing its own, bandits are busy terrorising the people. No part of the country is safe now from the grip of these bad boys. Perhaps, if it had been Boko Haram alone, the public would have known the direction to face to seek divine solution to this gargantuan problem. As things are, the people are between the devil and deep blue sea.

    Who do we run to or who do we run from between Boko Haram elements and your run-of-the-mill bandit? None, I say, because there is no difference between them; it is like six and half a dozen. They are only different in name, but similar in evil deeds. As if to see who will outdo the other, these renegades have been unleashing terror on the country in a relay race like manner. As soon as one finishes a lap, it hands over the baton to the other and vice versa.

    Between Sunday and now, the nation has known no rest from these animals in human skin, apologies to the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. And I tell you, they, especially Boko Haram, are not selective in those they attack. They attack civilians, military and para-military personnel. So, if the military and the police can be attacked, who then is safe from Boko Haram and those we commonly refer to as die-hard rogues?

    Although, Boko Haram has a history of attacking military and police formations, it has never done so in quick succession as it did on Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, it hit the elite Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, and on Monday, it took its destructive campaign to the Force Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Headquarters in Abuja. That same Monday, gunmen struck in the polytechnic town of Auchi in Edo State, looting and killing.

    In Jaji, 15 were officially confirmed dead. The figure is believed to be higher than that unofficially; two reportedly died in the SARS attack. Fifteen persons, among them three soldiers, were said to have died in Auchi. Chances are that the casualty figures are likely to be than these by the time we take proper stock of what happened. I will be putting it mildly to say I’m not shocked by the attacks on the military and police formations considering what they went through in Boko Haram’s hand not too long ago.

    The attack on the 244 Recce Brigade also in Kaduna a few months ago prompted the army to devise means of stopping the Islamic group’s suicide bombers from hitting home easily. The metallic security device, we were told, can stop any bomber who runs into it at the entrance of any building, particularly a church, where it is placed. Were there no security device at the entrance to the church in Jaji last Sunday when Boko Haram struck? Or is it a matter of complacency by the army? Could it have relied only on its name-army- to scare away the fundamentalists?

    What about the police? With the havoc Boko Haram wreaked on the Force Headquarters not too long ago, should the police have gone to sleep so quickly in taking steps to tame the group? Does it not speak volume about our police that Boko Haram could successfully hit another of their facility and get away? The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), it was reported, has ordered that security be beefed up in all police and public buildings, is that to say, there were no such security measures in place before now?

    Boko Haram and hoodlums will always be a step ahead of our security agencies if they are only quick at taking fire brigade measures. With the way Boko Haram has been terrorising some parts of the country, these agencies don’t need to be told that they have to be pro-active and not reactive to curtail the group’s activities. If they continue like this, it will only amount to shutting the stable when the horse has bolted away.

    But for how long will the people continue to live in fear of Boko Haram and hoodlums? The fear of these people is the beginning of wisdom for many Nigerians now. We live in fortresses, yet, we are not safe. Billions of Naira are voted for security and defence, but we don’t know how the money is spent because neither us nor our properties are safe. We-the leaders and the led- are at the mercy of renegades, who have become law unto themselves. Will we ever know peace?

    Yes, we can, if the government can get its act together and use its might to do what should be done in matters like this. Should a government keep quiet in the face of serious challenge to its authority by renegades? The answer is no. I pray that the government will summon courage to act before things get out of hand (as if they haven’t) because it will be too late to cry when the head is off. No renegade can be bigger or mightier than government, except a government which does not know the enormity of its power.

    READERS’ TURN

    RE: When president fight

    Boko Haram’s reign of terror is fuelled by its knowledge that we have a leader that lacks courage and vision, to send a signal to the blood suckers that somebody is in charge; that is why they issued irritating terms of dialogue to the presidency to our shame from: Joseph Solomon, Kaduna, 08099577661.

    It is better our president accepts instructive criticism and rise to the Boko Haram challenge. His in action shows that he does not value life just like Boko Haram. From: 08030817528

    The president should go to battle with Boko Haram not former President Olusegun Obasanjo. From: 08163498511.

    President Jonathan is planning to seek second term in office, that is why he is afraid of fighting the killer-group in the Northern part of Nigeria. From: Bola Oluwatuyi, Akure, 08136055942.

    May the Lord grant our president listening ears, a receptive heart and wisdom. From: 08095607404.

    Our president is too soft on Boko Haram. He should stop saying that Boko Haram will soon be a thing of the past because whenever he says so, the evil men hit harder. From Edet Bassey, 08027343842.

  • Babalakin as a distraction

    Like most Nigerians who know Dr Wale Babalakin only through his celebration by PDP, I cannot also claim to know him beyond the positive picture of a brilliant lawyer, an astute businessman, a hard taskmaster in pursuit of excellence, painted in our heads by the media. If there were doubts about those positive attributes, they disappeared at the site of MM2 masterpiece he built on concessionary basis. If there were still other cynics, PDP, his current nemesis, took care of them by forcing him on the public consciousness.

    It was Obasanjo’s government that first appointed him Chairman of the Constitutional Drafting Sub-Committee of the National Political Reforms Conference in 2005. He moved up in 2007 to become an Honorary Special Adviser on Legal Matters and General Counsel to late President Musa Yar’Adua. In February 2008, he was conferred with the National Honour of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR). He was later appointed Pro-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri and Chairman, Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigeria Federal Universities.

    PDP presented him as a national icon and role model that represents ‘the new Nigerian spirit of enterprise, scholarship, courage and consistency’. But all that changed when Obasanjo, in spite of fraudulent ‘due-process’ policy his administration introduced, unduly influenced the choice of Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney above other PDP warring contenders for the reconstruction of the 106 kilometres Lagos Ibadan express way at N89.53 billion on “Built, Operate and Transfer Concession Agreement over a period of twenty five years.

    The project like many derailed basanjo lofty initiatives became a victim of internal PDP wrangling while Nigerian users of the road suffered untold hardship. Babalakin’s name became a metaphor for all that is wrong with PDP; graft, corruption, inefficiency, ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude’ of its office holders who squandered billions on rehabilitation of roads year after year, while the nation’s network of roads remain in state of near collapse,

    Babalakin’s name also took on the imagery of: death of thousands of motorist as a result of accidents, wasted man hours of motorists caught in the traffic grid lucks, unruly truck drivers, who cannot be tamed by an undisciplined PDP administration interested only in squabbles over contracts, the shame of Ogere where motorists crawl for over five kilometers due to indiscriminate parking of trailers at both sides of the roads and more.

    Yet Babalakin has chosen to leak his wounds quietly. He has refused to talk about his many wars with government officials, the tanker drivers in Ibafo, and above all, his battles with demons, witches and other evil forces that drove this well educated man to seek spiritual help from churches that dotted both sides of the express road.

    But as a detached observer, I sympathise with Babalakin solely on account of the double jeopardy he has now suffered. While Nigerians blamed him for the tragedy of the failed Lagos Ibadan derailed project, he is presently being hounded by EFCC. It alleged his companies- ‘Stabilini Visioni Limited and Bi-Courtney Limited, between May 2006 and December 2006 laundered N3.4b for Ibori through Mauritus to buy an aircraft. It has also claimed that Babalakin knew the money to be as a result of criminal conduct by the said James Ibori. It did not however say how.

    Owning an aircraft in Nigeria has become a status symbol. The president has a fleet of nine. Between 2000 and 2012, PDP years of locust, the number of private aircrafts grew from 20 to about 150. They are mainly owned by ‘members of the political class, business organisations, religious leaders, business persons, and a number of state governments, including Rivers State, Lagos State, Taraba State and Akwa Ibom State’. Why is EFCC not showing interest in how serving political office holders and private individuals channel the funds used in purchasing their private jets?

    And Since EFCC expects Babalakin to know or care about the source of money for contracts awarded by governors, shouldn’t the organization extend the probe to all those who got contracts from Ibori as well as from other indicted ex PDP governors?

    What we have been told is that Delta state government awarded contract to Babalakin’s firms along with some others who transferred the money to Mauritius to purchase an aircraft

    We have not been told that Babalakin’s companies involved in this transaction collected money without executing the contract. Even if it is thus established, when did EFCC start running after failed contractors? Is this not the same PDP that defended President Jonathan’s appointment of Dr. Doyin Okupe as presidential adviser on Public Affairs in spite of his alleged shoddy implementation or non implementation of contracts from Imo and Benue states? In the two cases, all the PDP men agreed money exchanged hand. In fact Benue and EFCC went to court demanding for a refund of N600m for contracts not fully implemented.

    As it is often the case, it would appear we are being entertained by government and EFCC, once again to divert attention from other national issues. First, even if the involvement of Babalakin’s companies in contract to purchase air craft for Ibori has suddenly become an offence, what can Lamorde’s EFCC do about it? Was it not only last week he informed the senate that ‘several cases involving top politicians, accused of stealing public funds, have lingered for years after an initial public fanfare with’ some of the indicted officials still roaming the country as kingmakers, lawmakers, and political gladiators.’ Did the alleged laundering of money to buy aircraft by Ibori and Babalakin’s companies fall under the category of ‘small petty thieves, 419 and yahoo yahoo boys’ he claimed his agency has capacity for?

    Besides, we have witnessed this theatre of the absurd before. EFCC once chased Dimeji Bankole the former Speaker of the Lower House from Abuja to Abeokuta in the middle of the night to execute his arrest for alleged fraud. There were even some temporarily chased out of the country. The former EFCC helmswoman once assaulted us for weeks through daily press briefings about the sins of those Sanusi, the CBN governor claimed contributed to the collapse of banks due to their non performing debts. To the shame of EFCC and Sanusi, some of those names have become pillars of Nigerian economy after buying some of the banks following government injection of tax payers’ money. Others have become government advisers while many leading light of PDP on Sanusi’s list are now law makers working feverishly to curb corruption in Nigeria.

    Without the distractions of Babalakin and Ibori who has proved to be bigger than Nigeria until the intervention by the British judiciary, this government and its EFCC have their cups full. Only last week, the world acclaimed audit firm, KPMG in its report. rated Nigeria as the ‘most fraudulent country in Africa, with the cost of fraud during the first half of 2012 estimated at N225 billion ($1.5 billion)’.The Africa Fraud Barometer only last Wednesday identified ‘Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa as accounting for 74% of the total number of cases of fraud on the African continent, with Nigeria recording the highest overall value of fraud in the first half of the2012’. The Punch newspaper, putting together reports of various probe committees set up by the President says ‘over N5tn in government funds have been stolen through frauds, embezzlements and theft since president Jonathan assumed office in May 6,2010’

  • Reminiscences (GG at 80)

    Reminiscences (GG at 80)

    FIRST, a confession: The subject of this article is well known to this reporter. So, dear reader, take it easy, if you feel that there is a tinge of subjectivity here. But, I assure you, Notebook will be as conscientious as it has always been.

    Our first meeting was in September, 1974. The sun was getting set to set, its recession a bit slow. Behind the hills that ring the town, the sun was showing its face, bright but weak. And there he was, just after a long row of palm trees that lined the red – earth, dusty road that led to the school premises, mowing a field of green grass that had grown wild. He had on only a pair of white shorts, his trademark, as I discovered later. No top.

    As he looked up from what I later found out to be a routine task for him when students were on holiday, he wiped sweat off his brow and continued his business. I announced my presence.

    “Good evening sir.” “Pele o (hello). How’re you?” “I’m Gbenga Omotoso, the table-tennis player you discussed with Mr Babajide in Ibadan.”

    His face brightened up. He burst into laughter and seized my hand as he screamed: “Ping pong!” And so began my relationship with the man who paid my – and many others’ – way through secondary school, a teachers’ teacher, father of many children –none of them his, biologically – , worthy chief, consummate farmer, confident trainer and frontline humanitarian.

    Chief Guy Gargiulo, an Italian naturalised Briton, was the headmaster at Ajuwa Grammar School, Okeagbe – Akoko, Ondo State, from 1963 to 1978. He had had a short stint as Physics teacher at Igbobi College, Lagos before moving to Okeagbe to help give the school a push.

    He advanced in age to 80 on August 13, but all was quiet as he was away in England. He returned to Nigeria this month and a reception was held in his honour last Saturday on the premises where he helped shape the future of many students who are today prominent citizens: Otunba Solomon Oladunni, former Vice Chair, Mobil. Tuyi Ehindero, ex- Managing Director, Unilever, Zambia. Tunji Abayomi, rights activist-lawyer and politician. Akinwunmi Bada, ex-CEO, Transmission Company of Nigeria. Oba Oladunjoye Fajana, ex-African Development Bank/World Bank chief and now Ajana of Afa, Okeagbe. The Right Rev. Jacob Ajetunmobi, Bishop of the Anglican Communion, Ibadan Diocese. Tayo Alasoadura, former Commissioner for Finance, Ondo State. Commodore Sanmi Alade, Nigerian Navy. Mike Igbokwe, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a legion of others in banking, sports, industry and government.

    There are not many people of whom one can say: “O…he had a great influence on my life.” Many there are who can proudly say this of GG, as we excitedly call him. All his efforts were geared towards imparting in us all the virtues to which he subscribed – hard work, courage, loyalty, endurance, honesty and more.

    He feared nothing. The only fear he ever had was being bitten by snakes, he told us. But the day he held one and was bitten, the fear ended. Then he started reading about snakes. We were taught how to catch and keep them. But GG warned us never to go near the cobra, saying there was no remedy to its poison. The last time I visited, he had a snake, which he nicknamed Angelina, at home.

    His idea of education is not the mere acquisition of a certificate as a visa to some perceived Eldorado; not a theoretical exploration of some esoteric facts and figures, but a total package to prepare the youth for any challenge that life may hurl on their way. Every student was encouraged to learn a trade – bricklaying, auto mechanic and others. The Ajuwa Printing Press, which was run by students, was popular. It printed our exercise books, report cards, inspirational poems, such as Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling’s If, and the ubiquitous poster, “Speak English, remember your WASCE” that adorned our classrooms.

    Gargiulo persuaded us all to love farming – we all had copies of a poem he wrote on Obasanjo’s Operation feed the nation (everything then was an operation; the military era) – as he led the way every evening. The maize farm was a beauty to behold, the sheer greenery and the glittering golden, thread-like strands sprouting from the cobs. The vast row of teak, their rustling leaves dropping in the harmattan. The short palm trees and their scarlet fruits. The gmelina. Our yam came from the school farm. The eggs we had once a week came from the school poultry. It was fun caring for the rabbits and watching the cows graze.

    Our farm products were sold and the proceeds invested in shares in the name of the school.

    For GG, sport was a priority. The yearly marathon was compulsory for all. So was swimming. The community and the students built a dam to facilitate this. From the dark brown pool and the pontoon that were carved out of the dam, boys and girls were moulded into national champions. No fewer than two former students are now coaches . This reporter was a table tennis star, the very reason I won his heart.

    He believed that no student was so bad that there was no redeeming feature. He once told of a student who led the mechanic club. He was poor, academically, but Gargiulo predicted his greatness. The man rose to become a top Leventis Motors manager, admired by all for his deep understanding of Mercedes cars, just like the Germans.

    It was not all fun at Ajuwa. I recall a riot. GG had gone to Ibadan to buy books. The day he was to return, students stormed the Okeagbe-Ikare road, bearing cudgels and sticks. They were singing war songs. Some sympathisers advised GG to stay away to save his life. He refused to. A few metres away from the school, he parked the van and walked, his face wreathed in a big frown, even as he asked the unruly students:”What’s going on here?” “You want to kill me? Go ahead now!” He was booming like a lion and swearing–he always did when seized by anger–. His hair sprang up and his hands betrayed red hot blood running through his veins. His face was red – it was always so whenever he got angry.

    One after the other, the students dropped their weapons, ran into hiding behind the palm trees and sneaked into the classrooms. GG, later in the night, relived the incident. He told me: “I saw that you, like the others, held a stick, but I was damn sure you wouldn’t hit me. It was the wise thing to do; otherwise you would be attacked.” I never knew he saw me among the mob.

    GG had few friends, among them the late Tai Solarin, the frontline educationist and critic.

    Gargiulo was always struggling to speak Yoruba. Why? The logic was that if he could speak Yoruba, there was no reason for us not to speak English. His favourite proverb is Aya nini ju oogun lo (Being bold is greater than having juju). To those who scorned him for always wearing shorts, he would say: Sokoto gbooro ko d’ola (Trousers are no symbols of wealth). He wore trousers only on special occasions, such as when a governor was visiting.

    When Immigration officials harassed him in Akure, the Ondo State capital, demanding his papers, they got more than they bargained for. They asked him to be reporting in their office every day, wondering why he would not relinquish his British nationality if he so much loved Nigeria. One day when he was tired of it all, GG faced the officials and said: “Gentlemen, ti a ba ti n fi apari isu han alejo…(When hosts begin to show the guest the hard top of the yam, it’s time to leave.” “They didn’t let me finish. They said ‘go; just go now!’ That was the end of the matter. But, why should I suffer to get a permanent stay here after about 30years? I still, even in my old age, contribute to building this great country.”

    The last time I visited my alma mater, less than two years ago, I learnt of how Gargiulo shed tears on seeing the destruction of his dream. I was touched. Ajuwa is a like a war – ravaged town, battered and bludgeoned by the very people who swore to care for it. Plundered. An old lady, used and dumped.

    Is this strange? No. Considering the rot in almost all areas of our national life, the fate of Ajuwa is not strange. But, when cometh another GG?

    Obasanjo finds his size?

    WHEN former President Olusegun Obasanjo lampooned President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the Boko Haram monster, it was clear that a civil war was on in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Jonathan didn’t turn the other cheek. Cheeky Christian? Rather, he delivered a blow at the heart of Obasanjo’s much vaunted agility to tackle such problems. He said Odi was a disaster, an atrocity against women and children. In fact, His Excellency was short of calling in the International Criminal Court.
    Enter Gen. Yakubu Gowon. He said Obasanjo’s castigation of Jonathan was “highly irresponsible”. Now, observers are asking: Has Obasanjo found his match?

     

  • The sullied branch (2)

    It requires some rudeness to disturb with dissent that savage benevolence of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). I speak of the infinite dishonesty and ineptitude of officials of the Ijaiye-Ojokoro district offices of Nigeria’s worst public utility till date.

    As you read, officers of the district office’s task force, comprising gangs of officials apparently trained to relate like domesticated thugs and hyperactive hoodlums are on rampage. Just recently, neighborhoods in the district were on the receiving end of their malevolence as they went to town primarily to inflict pain and hardship on residents within their service area in the name of revenue generation drive.

    The pack of PHCN muscles were led by Managers of PHCN, Ijaiye-Ojokoro and Adura Bus Stop, off Old Lagos-Abeokuta expressway axis. Their modus operandi (M.O.) as usual, involved splitting into units of mean squads to descend on every household unfortunate enough to be within their service area.

    Take the case of residents of the Millennium Housing Estate, Ijaiye-Ojokoro; many were caught unawares as the PHCN agents invaded their estate over the weekend principally to force defaulters to pay up money owed the PHCN for services rendered.

    I would not dispute the fact that some of the residents, like most Nigerians, are guilty of defaulting in payment for services rendered by the PHCN; but it’s equally noteworthy that many deliberately refuse to honour bills forced on them by the PHCN for perceptibly good reasons too, like very poor quality of service and instability of electricity supply.

    “It’s outrageous!” said a resident. The latter lamented how the PHCN charges him between N3, 000 and N5, 000 every month for electricity that is hardly available and enjoyed by his household. Scandalized by what they consider the PHCN’s contemptible manner of service, many users of electricity refuse to honour the bills thus piling up debts ranging from N7, 000 to N20, 000-plus monthly.

    Consequently, PHCN invades the estate as it does surrounding neighbourhoods at random, to cut-off the connection cables of defaulters and cart them away to their office. Besides the brazen manner in which they operated in the estate and environs, the PHCN terror squads committed grievous acts unbecoming of civil servants whose salaries are paid by tax payers; they seem perpetually programmed to shake down, torment and destroy the peace of the average tax payer who also doubles as their benefactor.

    For instance, at Millennium Estate, Ijaiye-Ojokoro, one of the terror squads on rampage harassed a senior citizen endlessly. But for the latter’s unconquerable spirit and defiance of their monstrosity, they would have harassed him and gone scot-free. The victim, a retiree to be precise, managed to fight them off when they threatened to cut off his connection cable and go with it. The poor old man futilely but courageously held them off for about 30 minutes but sensing that he was about to be overwhelmed, resorted to an age-long but dependable measure of self-defense; promptly his bullies beat a retreat except a vicious lady amongst the squad who was hell-bent on giving the senior citizen interminable grief.

    Having failed at bullying the old man and carting his connection cable off, the PHCN terror squad pounced on the cable of one of his neighbours. Unfortunately, the neighbour wasn’t at home thus giving the officials opportunity to vandalize the resident’s connection cable. The consumer in question was issued a bill of N7, 164 in the month of September of which he paid N5, 900. His recent bill in addition to his outstanding amounted to N4, 300 or thereabouts.

    And that according to the Manager Customer Care, of the PHCN’s Ijaiye office, doesn’t make the consumer a worthy victim of their enfant terrible terror squads. “This is a bad job,” he said staring unbelievably at the consumer’s bills. Corroborating him, the Manager Marketing, of the PHCN office in Adura, reasoned that the resident was undeserving of the menace of any of their terror units.

    Even more worrisome is the fact that the PHCN operatives ignored an unoccupied apartment with abominable outstanding bills to vandalize the connection cable of the victim in question. That the PHCN terror squad that vandalized the consumer’s cable deliberately ignored duplicated copies of his receipt pasted at his door even as they left a bill amounting to N12, 400 plus beside it, evokes feelings of trepidation and disbelief. The problem obviously arose because the payment the consumer made, having been recorded at the Ijaiye-Ojokoro district office wasn’t reflected in the records of the Adura office.

    Eventually, the consumer was urged to pay only the N4, 000 plus that was actually his outstanding bill. Having paid the bill, he was made to wait endlessly for PHCN staff whose duties it was to return his vandalized cable to him. Six hours since he started hustling from one PHCN office to the other, the consumer was made to understand that his connection cable was not in PHCN’s custody.

    Having agonized over what could have happened to his cable between his apartment and the PHCN office, he discovered that the PHCN terror unit that cut the cable tagged it in the name of a neighbour whose cable wasn’t cut.

    Without apology, the consumer’s cables were returned to him and he was advised by a PHCN staff to seek a competent electrician to reconnect his apartment to the grid as it would be foolhardy of him to pay the office the reconnection fee. “They will collect your money and they won’t show up to reconnect you,” warned the PHCN official.

    It is instructive to note that there is no law empowering the PHCN to embark upon mass vandalization of consumer connection cables at random. It is even more disheartening to see that the soldiers and gatemen at the PHCN, Ijaiye-Ojokoro office are more courteous and gentlemanly than the PHCN staff manning the public corporation’s offices.

    Forget the sauciness and intolerable unprofessionalism exhibited by certain key officers at the PHCN Ijaiye-Ojokoro office, the situation is no different across various district of the corporation.

    Oftentimes, PHCN operatives employ the use of subtle or barefaced threats to extort “reconnection fee” and “tips” from residents. In the case of PHCN staff that visited Adeaga Street in U-Turn, Abule Egba, recently, they exhibited no inhibitions sharing the bribe extorted from residents even in the presence of their victims, the residents.

    “They are very shameless people. No sooner than they collect money from us, they begin to share it amongst themselves,” said a consumer who claimed that he had to part with N1, 500 before his house was reconnected.

    Perhaps it’s because they earn too much for doing absolutely nothing to serve the tax payers who pay their salaries that many PHCN staff have learnt to bite the fingers that feed them. It is even more deplorable to hear them argue that they are only responding in kind to the manner of consumer publics they serve.

    There is a lot more anomalies being perpetrated by PHCN staff within their offices and with Community Development Associations (CDAs) nationwide. In Ijaiye-Ojokoro, Owode-Ijako, and Sango Ota among others, complaints abound by both consumers and disgruntled PHCN staff. But that is discourse best saved for another forum.

    • To be continued…