The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • Golden Eaglets; Books and budgets; Soyinka; Potholes, Politics and Lekki Bridge

    Congratulations to the Golden Eaglets who politicians feel have given us temporary unity. Nigerians are united in suffering from power failure and potholes and no books or sports equipment in schools.  We await true unity from the national conference.

    If you want children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want children to be more intelligent read them more fairy tales – Albert Einstein. There is a new giant library in Birmingham, UK. Is there a new non-Presidential library in Nigeria? Unlikely! Our schools are designed for failure. I had a delightful experience at the privately run Zaccheus Onumba Dibiaezue Memorial Library on Awolowo Road Ikoyi Lagos run by Mrs. Ifeoma Esiri and her wonderful team. I discussed and read from my book The Laterite Road to SS2 students who had also read the book. The President will be presenting his budget this month for 2014. Is there a meaningful budget for books in schools?

    Next year we will go wild celebrating Professor Wole Soyinka@80 and his Nobel Laurels. Would it not be a fitting tribute if every Nigerian student in school had a copy of at least one Soyinka book? In fact why does every Nigerian single school not have a collection of selected Soyinka books available in their library? Probably because there are so few libraries and there is no budget for library books in most Nigerian education budgets. Even if we do not value books for our children, let us at least value our Nobel Laureate. The shame of the Nigerian government knows no shame. It now relies of corporate bodies to give books to its children, a secret responsibility of good governance while delighting in giving out exercise books with no knowledge content in them.

    Every room, home, office, taxi, danfo, bus space should be discussing their topic the Sovereign National Conference. It is a non-political topic. This is a non-political journey hijacked by politicians. The journey is not about politics, though it has a political component which has been overblown to take the lion’s share of the discussion. It is about life itself and the happiness and wellbeing of its citizens.

    It is only in Nigeria that bridges flood and it costs more manpower to make a hole in the bridge to drain the rainwater than exists in the coffers or the craniums of the collective engineering genius of FERMA.

    FERMA should face questions of ineptitude and threats of disbandment for forcing the additional and needless suffering of travellers.  In civilised countries, engineering teams mark and fill immediately all the major potholes. Here, only in reaction to extreme public pressure and blood on the roads we are finally marking potholes. It will still take months to fill them. Which part of ‘EMERGENCY MARK-AND-FILL POTHOLES’ does the multibillion organisation like FERMA and construction companies like Julius Berger and RCC not understand? The very idea that roads should be repaired only because holidays are approaching or a president is visiting is repugnant. Is going on holiday at Xmas/New year more important than getting to work for the rest of the year? How can government allow a government agency like FERMA to pretend to be Father Christmas, delivering a birthday present of pothole filled roads only for the same roads to be abandoned immediately after the festive period? Shame! Worldwide, work is made easy by providing mass transport, good roads. Holidays are a by-product but the main thing.   If this is the mind-set of FERMA and even the FRSC which works mainly during ‘EMBER Months’ then no wonder we remain the slowest moving nation on wheels, five to six hours to travel 127kilometers and with the East-West Road still a mirage. Heads should roll for neglecting their work during nine months of the year only to wake up when the outcry becomes thunderous or when ‘Jesus comes’ annually at Christmas. ‘The Nigerian Pothole’ should be enshrined in the forthcoming constitution as an eliminable goal. No Nigerian pothole should be given the freedom to grow for nine months or nine years in Nigeria before it is filled for a presidential visit or at one Ember Month or one Christmas or the other. Care and concern for citizens welfare is and must be a daily government concern. Governments which perform just before elections are failures even if they succeed in returning to power by any means necessary. We must install meaning to our lives and governments must realise that more selfishness by it and its agencies will destroy Nigeria.

    The newly created and carefully timed federal government –Lagos State stand-off over the new Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge is an interesting example of how little government at the centre is concerned with the suffering of the citizens in the states. Rules are more important to evil governments than people even when the rules are relics of colonial oppression and control. Is government supposed to be oppressive? The bridge is good, the waterways are local. Federal government would be wise to zero in on building a second and third Niger Bridge and completing the East-West road rumoured to be 65% complete, instead of disturbing a perfectly executed bridge project. Could it be that the current federal government is jealous of the success of the cooperative effort the government of late Yar’Adua and Lagos State? Or is this a disguised political petty attempt to discredit the Lagos government’s contribution to traffic control?

  • Nigeria Police: Pulling down an institution

    Nigeria Police: Pulling down an institution

    It is now obvious that the most important ‘crime-fighting’ assignment confronting the Nigerian Police is frustrating everything associated with the so-called ‘New Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).’ Running a close second is hounding opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration.

    The force has devoted itself to these tasks with uncommon efficiency. They have perfect intelligence about where heady G-7 governors would pop up next, and would storm the venue in Armoured Personnel Carriers ready to crush those ‘heating up the polity.’

    When they are not chasing rebellious PDP governors through the states our fearless police tear-gas elements of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to prevent them from taking to the streets.

    Being true defenders of the people’s right to express themselves, the police gladly look the other way when a rival group of protesters denouncing ASUU walks down the same street.

    In the latest display of their commitment to enforce orderliness, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has banned all gatherings, receptions and carnivals at airports nationwide. This, of course, is the force’s response to the dramatic four-kilometer march to Port Harcourt airport by Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his supporters. The facility had earlier been shut to prevent them from gathering to receive the national leadership of the All Peoples Congress (APC) during the week.

    Frankly, if the police could deploy their new-found zeal for cracking down on government’s political foes to tackling armed robbers and kidnappers the crime rate would crash to near zero.

    Recently, the opposition Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) described them as “the armed wing of the PDP.” You may dismiss this as the vituperations of partisans, but it also succinctly describes what the force is turning into.

    Over the years different administrations have abused the police – using them as tools for pushing their petty agendas. But the manipulation of this national institution by the current administration is lowering the force to a despicable new low.

    Mouthing clichés about “global best practices” in the use of airports doesn’t hide the fact that the police have chosen to insert themselves deeper into the mud-fight between the political elite – hiding under law enforcement.

    The remit announced by Abubakar is broad enough for any mischief-maker to abuse. Will a group of associates coming together to receive a VIP qualify for the mandatory volley of tear gas? You would have expected the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to take the lead in giving this sort of directive. But no the overzealous police have to lunge in with all the elegance of an elephant.

    It was not too long ago that dance troops and flag-waving supporters were swarming all over Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to welcome First Lady, Patience Jonathan, from her overseas medical trip. On numerous occasions tumultuous crowds have received our victorious football teams at airports. Those raucous receptions were not hazardous to national security back then.

    But in today’s Nigeria any gathering of the “wrong set of persons” – whether at airports or in the recesses of governors’ lodges – becomes a conspiracy.

    Those in command positions who have made themselves agents for shrinking our freedoms should remember that come the day of accounting the argument that they were merely obeying orders wouldn’t hold water. Their unconstitutional actions will be their legacy as they have nothing significant to report on the crime-fighting front.

    In their desperation to please the current occupants of Aso Villa, they forget that their real loyalty should be to the constitution – not to individuals who can vacate those powerful positions tomorrow.

    Being pliant tools in the hands of those controlling the levers of state might seem like the way things are done around here, but people should note that what they are actually doing is destroying an institution that should serve all – whether you are in power and or opposition.

    This deliberate act of attrition by those who ought to build up the organisation is a crime. It is one of the reasons the growth of our democracy will remain stunted. With the force reeking of the sordid smell of partisanship, it is difficult to see how political parties other than the one in power will accept the police as impartial arbiters as we draw closer to the 2015 electoral battles.

    But more than anything, the sorry state of our police speaks to the pedestrian quality of our political leadership. It comes down to whether you are a civilian with despotic traits or a visionary statesman.

    Those who are not small-minded understand that the police should be used to uphold freedoms and the constitution. The parochial would see the force as another tool for entrenching themselves in power and brutalising those who disagree with their ambitions.

    That is what separates the likes of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, John Kuffour from the Robert Mugabes and Paul Biyas of this content. A country’s police force cannot be more elevated than those who control it. The way we’re abusing ours shows the leadership column into which our current masters fall.

    Lastly, the never-ending misuse of the force by successive rulers is the best argument for its reform. The only way to salvage anything from this ruin of an institution is to decentralise it and bury the Frankenstein monster that the national police have become.

  • The new power regime

    It was the birth of a new era in power supply in Nigeria. Perhaps, this is the best way to describe what happened in the country last Friday. On that day, a flurry of activities took place across the country as new power managers assumed control of what was left of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Namadi Sambo, the Vice-President, personally handed over 11 power distribution and five generation companies, created out of PHCN, to their private owners on behalf of the federal government. The handover ceremony was replicated in many other centres and zones across the country by several ministers and top government officials who were all bubbling with enthusiasm, hope and a sense of fulfilment.

    For me and many others, that day may not be a memorable day. The reason is not far-fetched. In the last few months, there seems to have been a striking steady power supply in some parts of the country, especially in Gemade Estate located within the precinct of Gowon Estate in Egbeda/Okunola axis of Lagos. It is not to say that residents of this estate and other adjoining places have been experiencing uninterrupted power supply all along. What makes the power supply steady and regular, as I claimed earlier, is the fact that the area in question could boast of between 12 to 16 hours supply of electricity on a good day.

    That is not to say that the erratic supply pattern has tremendously improved for that matter. In many instances, especially during the nights, power supply could become an on and off thing for more than six to eight times between the hours of 7p.m and 7a.m. The period or length of seizures varies from few minutes to longer periods. This way, you have to be constantly on your toes to put off your electric appliances every now and then or risk severe damages to them. Many a time when power is restored after each outage, what follows is high current that, more often than not, send your bulbs crashing if not together with your TV-set, microwave machine, sound system, fans and what have you.

    Anyway, between last Thursday and Friday, the area was thrown into total darkness. It was so worrisome because, being the eve of the eventual handover of PHCN to successor companies, there was this anxiety of what to expect after the handover. I made a call to a fellow resident in the estate who had always liaised with officials of PHCN on behalf of other residents to find out what the problem really was. I was shocked when he told me that PHCN officials had embarked on a strike action, preparatory to the takeover by new investors. I went further to ask him what their grievances were. He told me that though about 80 percent of them had allegedly been paid their severance entitlement, the remaining 20 percent had not, and that was why they went on strike. And they needed to do that on the very day new investors were taking over. That is strange. Could it be a bad omen or a prelude to what to expect in the days to come?

    I had resigned to fate while expecting the worst to happen. But I was surprised when, at about 5p.m that Friday, power supply was restored. Barely three hours later, we suffered yet another blackout that lasted up to an hour before power was again restored. Since then, the on and off thing have taken turn for the worse, thereby making everybody to wonder whether things can actually get any better.

    All the same, we are all eagerly awaiting a new era in power supply in the country. With the transfer now perfected, I believe the investors should move quickly and focus on the vexed issue of achieving a remarkable improvement in power supply. That is the least obligation they owe the average Nigerian who has waited all this long to witness this new era. In actual fact, Nigerians may not be prepared to listen to excuses, such as those the federal government had ceaselessly reeled out in the past. In the same vein, it will be just too early in the day for the government to suddenly go to sleep. It has a duty to ensure that its efforts translate to better power supply in the shortest possible time because Nigerians are in a hurry to see things happening the way they should be.

    For too long, Nigerians have suffered untold hardships from epileptic power supply. Not only have they been so discomforted in their daily lives, they have also continuously lost the vital ingredient so important for industrialisation and improvement in their welfare as citizens. This has, no doubt, led to the collapse of industries or lack of them with the consequent astronomic cost of living.

    Therefore, this handover represents a milestone in the country’s effort to break the jinx of poor electricity supply, which has plagued the nation all this while. This ordinarily should signify a transition from the era of national darkness to improved power supply. But if I may ask: Are the new power managers ready to meet the yearnings of Nigerians for improved power supply? This question becomes germane in view of reservations expressed in certain quarters that a few more years may be needed to achieve the required stability in power supply in the country. Again, the question is: how many years will it take us to arrive at the desired Eldorado?

    There is no gainsaying that Nigerians are obviously looking forward to a new beginning in the country’s quest for rapid industrialisation, which will help to curb the endemic unemployment problem now starring the country in the face. This is why the new operators should do everything possible to justify the implicit confidence reposed in them by the government in its determination and commitment to provide Nigerians with adequate power supply. Above all, what Nigerians expect from this privatization exercise is appreciable difference in electricity supply from now onward.

    The good news is that all labour issues with workers of the defunct PHCN have been resolved following the near completion of payment of severance, pensions and gratuities of all the 47,913 workers. It will surely help to remove inherent obstacles and ensure a smooth transition. And to achieve a hitch-free performance, the federal government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Gas Company and some private sector concerns, has embarked on a robust gas master plan with the specific aim of meeting the gas requirement for power supply. It is true that uninterrupted gas supply to the power plants is crucial for their effective performance. This is because the rampant incidence of shortage of gas caused by disruptions in supply had been one of the major handicaps to the optimum performance of the power plants in the country. This ugly situation should not be allowed to rear its head under the new dispensation.

    On the likelihood of hiking electricity tariff, nobody should be surprised that this issue appears to be on the front-burners of the investors who have pointedly told the National Electricity Regulatory Commission to review the current tariff upward. I think it is premature to ask for increased tariff at this point in time. What Nigerians need is an assurance that this privatization will ultimately manifest into improved power supply across the country. Once this is achieved, consumers are not likely to kick against affordable tariff.

    The truth is that there is no moral justification for an increase in tariff. Many Nigerians believe they are currently being short-changed with the criminal bills they pay without adequate power supply.  They will accept no excuse, even as they are yet to be taken to confidence on the details of the improvement they should expect from now onward. However, the optimism is that power supply will record the same kind of improvement recorded in the telecommunication sector following the arrival of private investors on the scene many years ago. In this regard, it is hoped that the present transition from one octopus public power company to multiple private providers will, sooner than later, prove to be a worthwhile venture.

  • S-NC in 2014? Combat govt anarchy: Nigeriawhistleblowers.com; FERMA-a failure?

    Critics of Sovereign National Conference (SNC) emphasise that the federal government has misled us before. Indeed at every turn federal government, comprising small-minded petty people in uniform- military, babanriga, agbada -has serially abused its power and disenfranchised, disappointed and failed millions of Nigerians through subterfuge for sectional power and personal gain. These little people are as guilty of anarchy as gun-wielding terrorists. Once in power they mainly claim the power for themselves.

    Government anarchy is evidenced by unbridled mega-corruption and arrogance, viciousness and violence by officials. The disbandment of several agencies of state government for corruption, assault and battery is welcomed but we need prosecution of guilty officials, not discharge. Indeed their leaders should face prosecution for failing to supervise staff and unleashing staff to abuse the authority their uniforms. We need more staff for regular forensic financial and social auditing to prevent fraudulent financial and moral behaviour in government. Imagine a meeting hearing that a vehicle costs N70m, doubling the cost and taking a bank loan, unavailable to Nigerians, and paying three times the inflated cost over three years. Is that not corruption and money laundering? First Bank should face sanctions and a boycott threat from Nigerians. Investigation must dissect the minutes of aviation meetings and identify who took the crazy repayment decisions. Who were the final beneficiaries of the Aviationgate N255m? Was this just standard procedure and part of the ‘Secret Internally Generated Party Revenue Programme’- a large party cut from every contract done at state level as well- with funds to be funnelled to the party preparing for 2015 elections? We know it is the tip of the ‘Inflation of Contracts Iceberg’ by which governing parties get their money. We should have a Nigeriawhistleblowers.com website where Nigerian whistleblowers register all suspected cases for scrutiny, exposure and clearance.

    Since we have mass unemployment, why not increase staff auditing, supervising or monitoring corruption and incompetence in the public service, police, and parallel organisations like road and traffic control organisations? How many citizens have been killed by police –public encounters recently? In addition anarchical government is manifest by politically motivated demolitions of buildings, throwbacks to the civil war. Such activities are thinly disguised ‘Abuse of the Master Political Plan’.

    Is the end of any hope for good governance in sight or should we consider this sudden interest in NC by the presidency and the milito-democracy of the Senate President as an olive branch? Or is it a poisoned olive branch to affect all those who touch it or is it an olive branch coiled around a dagger to stab us with or to cut us as a two edged sword when it is withdrawn after we have grabbed it with both hands leaving us bloody and crippled yet again? Only time will reveal the true government agenda drawn up in secret by the little men hiding under the cloak of governance while millions of our children have no textbooks and potholes fill the roads.

    Whatever government’s agenda, the S-NC, a people’s forum beyond just politics, should go ahead immediately in early 2014. Already the first order of business has been suggested: Adopt and incorporate most of  past reports and summaries of political and social significance including the 118 clauses already proposed by the National Political Reform 2005 committee, the Belgore Committee and others highlighted by ex-Governor Bola Tinubu and other concerned Nigerians. Once in place that will not take a month let alone the whole of 2014.

    Who will be the delegates? The suggestion that existing LGAs should be the basis for the S-NC on the principle of one person /LGA sounds like a sound principle if you are ignorant of Nigeria’s politico-military history. These LGs are a main problem of true federalism needing solution and a deliberate mis-creation of the morally corrupt military and feudal federalism to always favour the North by giving them ‘sovereignty, senatorial and representational and therefore financial superiority’ as many revenue allocations and other fiscal advantages are based on LGAs. Such brazenly fraudulent illegalities in LGA creation were legalised in the 1999 constitution and the trademark of Nigeria’s military regimes waywardness. They remain un-reversed and irreversible even during the democracies of 1999-2013 because of the advantage in the NASS to the cheats. Which senator/representative will vote himself out of power? Suffice to say that Lagos has 20 federally recognised LGAs while Kano and Jigawa formerly one state Kano have 77 LGAs. The Census tribunal and Festus Odimegwu the executive whistleblower exposed the flaws in this corrupt distribution of LGAs. Is justice, emphasised by Professor Soyinka as the bedrock of decent society, served by cheating Lagos in 2013? It is such devious financial and political discrimination that created the animosity resulting in this festering feudal federalism in need of a S-National Conference.

    Meanwhile multibillions in salaries funding FERMA’s inactivity fail to translate into filling Nigeria’s potholes except at holidays like December or governor’s or president’s visits? So we can die January to November? Why should FERMA not be disbanded for failing Nigeria’s road challenges? Why did FERMA not predict, anticipate and avert the flood and subsequent three-hour traffic jam on Sunday afternoon at the lowest point of the bridge/road just before Otedola Estate on the Lagos Ibadan Road by maintaining functional drainage holes in the bridge walls? FERMA should defend itself against incompetence charges or is it so underfunded that it cannot fill potholes?

     

  • Nwabueze’s distortions of Nigeria’s History (II)

    Nwabueze’s distortions of Nigeria’s History (II)

    In the first part of this article last week I tried to debunk Professor Ben Nwabueze’s thesis in his recent essay on the 1914 amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria that the idea of a “Northern Nigeria” was a subterfuge by the country’s British overlords to keep it permanently divided and empower the North to replace the British as its permanent overlord after Independence.

    He gave six reasons for his position that the North is a creature that has no basis of unity in its sociology, culture, language and religion. I tried to show how each and every one of those reasons was banal and specious. I concluded the article by promising to show the reader this morning how the professor’s thesis was a hatchet job for President Goodluck Jonathan in his undeclared war to remain on his seat beyond 2015.

    In my rebuttal, I showed how the learned professor did serious violence to the historical fact that, long before the British came to our shores, the people who lived within the area that became Nigeria in 1914 had related with each other through wars, internal migration, trade, religious propagation and diplomacy. I should have added then that the professor’s origin itself was a symbol of these varied historical intercourses.

    According to The New Who’s Who in Nigeria published in 1999 by the Nigerian International Biographical Centre, the professor comes from Atani in Ogbaru Local Government of Anambra State. Atani, as the man knows all too well, or at least should, was originally an Igala town. Old folks in that town, I am told, still speak and understand the language. And its inhabitants still look up to Idah, the historical capital of pre-colonial Igala Kingdom, as their spiritual capital.

    Before the jihad of Usman Dan Fodio which begun in 1804 and reached Nupeland and further down the Niger-Benue confluence region by 1810, the Igala Kingdom had extended over parts of Yoruba, Nupe, Ebira, Doma and other neighbouring tribes. It had even extended to parts of Igboland on both the Western and Eastern banks of the Niger, including Asaba, Nsukka and Enugu and, of course, Atani, the professor’s hometown.

    Dan Fodio’s jihad contributed to the decline of the kingdom at the same time that it led to the expansion of Nupe Kingdom. But then the Nupe Kingdom itself had its origin partly in the Igala; Tsoede who founded the Kingdom in the 15th century was an Igala prince whose mother was Nupe.

    The area that became Nigeria had (and still has) four hydrographical systems: Niger-Benue, along with the many of the tributaries of the two mighty rivers, which is by far the largest, and Chad, Cross River and Atlantic.

    These four hydrographical systems were the arteries around which many empires, kingdoms – most notably Kwararafa, Borno, Sokoto, Borgu, Oyo, Benin, Nupe, Igala, Ijaw and Efik – rose and fell and many so-called stateless people like the Igbo, Tiv, Ebira, Kambari, Dakarkari and Idoma and the many tribes on the Jos Plateau, fought, with various measures of success, against subjugation by the larger hegemons long before this corner of Africa was colonised by Europeans.

    None of these empires, kingdoms and so-called stateless peoples existed in isolation. For example, as we have noted already, the founder of Nupe Kingdom was half Igala. Again History teaches us that Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder and the third Alafin of Oyo, was born of a Nupe princess.

    East of the Niger, Calabar, as the late Dr Bala Usman said in his seminal paper I referred to last week, may have been an Efik polity, but the majority of its people were Igbo, Ekoi and Ibibio while further west the city states of the Lower Niger were of mixed Ijaw, Igbo, Igala, Edo and Nupe origin. Indeed, Opobo, established by King Jaja in 1873, was predominantly Igbo.

    So for anyone to say, as the professor has, that the people of Nigeria were strangers to each other within or between the regions until the Whiteman came along and eventually amalgamated the two in 1914 is to do great violence to the pre-colonial history of Nigeria.

    However, important as it is to expose the professor’s distortion of our pre-colonial history, it is really besides the point of today’s piece. This, as I’ve said, is to show that his amalgamation essay, stripped of any pretence, is a hatchet job in support of President Jonathan’s war to retain his job for another term.

    It has since become a notorious fact that the greatest opposition to the president’s wish has come from the North. What better way then could there be to help the president achieve this wish than by exposing the whole idea of a Northern Nigeria entity as a sham created and nurtured by a colonial master than never wished the country well?

    Unfortunately for the professor, even the most casual reading of his essay will show that he was determined not to let any inconvenient fact get in the way of his objective. Instead, he was determined to square and squash any such inconvenient fact.

    Perhaps the most glaring of such inconvenient facts was the widely accepted notion that Plateau State, along with Benue, is the core of the Middle Belt region. However, through the kind of “monstrous act of gerrymandering” he has accused the British colonialists of in creating Northern Nigeria, he curved out the state out of the Middle Belt and added it to his not-so-Middle Belt states of Niger, Nasarawa and Taraba. The lately departed Chief Solomon Lar, a, if not the, chief protagonist of Middle Belt, must be turning in his grave at such monstrous “travesty.”

    This gerrymandering was deliberately wanton; a little over halfway through the essay, the professor claims that “no Executive President of Nigeria has ever come from the Middle-Belt states of Benue, Taraba, Kogi and Kwara, and the South-East.” Obviously the man had to squash the fact that General Yakubu Gowon, as the longest serving military ruler of Nigeria 1966 to 1975), comes originally from Plateau State and is your quintessential Northern minority Christian.

    Similarly, it seems everyone, except the professor, knows that Taraba State has always been part of the North-East geo-political zone in what is now widely accepted as the country’s six geo-political zones, the others being, North-West, North-Central (aka Middle Belt), South-West, South-East and South-Central. For the professor, however, Taraba, is in one breath Middle Belt along with Benue, Kogi and Kwara and in the next breath not-so-Middle Belt along with Niger, Nasarawa and Plateau in an area he concedes half-heartedly “may arguably be grouped with the states in the True North as having some, albeit tenuous sociological, cultural, linguistic and religious as well as geographical nexus with them.”

    Third, the man says one of the ways the idea of one North poses a threat to the country’s unity has been its “persistent demand for power shift to the North which reared its head in…2007…”

    This demand, he adds, has failed to take into consideration the fact that, except for General Olusegun Obasanjo (February 1976 to October 1979) “all the rulers of Nigeria, military and civilian, were from the North.” It is truly amazing how the professor could have forgotten so soon that the first military ruler of this country was his fellow Igbo, Major-General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (January to July 1966), and it was that first military misadventure by essentially an Igbo cabal of military officers which lies at the root of the country’s long running predicament.

    As for the North’s “persistent demand” for power shift rearing its head in 2007, again the professor seems to have forgotten it was his Igbo compatriot, Chief Alex Ekwueme, who planted and popularised the idea of power shift as far back as 1995 during General Sani Abacha’s Constitutional Conference.

    Our professor, it seems, suffers from schizophrenia on Northern Nigeria. In one breadth he says it is a fiction foisted on Nigeria by its British colonisers and in the next breadth he says it has had “a powerful hold…on the thoughts, attitudes and views of the people of the area,” such that it poses a grave threat to the country’s unity.

    Clearly the illogic of the argument that the unity of one section of a country necessarily poses a threat to the unity of the country seems to have escaped the fine mind of our professor. One would have thought until the various sections of a country are united, the country as a whole cannot be.

    Paradoxically, having misdiagnosed the country’s problem the man still arrives at the sensible and rational conclusion that the way to cure the country’s North-South divide is “by the creation of a national front for the activist pursuit of the NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA.,” (emphasis mine) needless to say, the worn out mantra of President Jonathan’s administration and a choice of phrase which speaks volumes of where our professor was coming from.

    How this national front can be created, he does not say. Whichever way this can be achieved, a national conference of ethnic nationalities, as seems to be currently on the cards, is certainly a non-starter.

    This, however, is a subject for another day, possibly next week.

     

  • Rage of the rapists

    Rage of the rapists

    Nigerians have largely been silent of something very sinister unfolding all around the country. No thanks to the never-ending twists in the reality show that the N225 million armoured car purchase scandal has become.

    It is the rage of the libidinous. Nothing and nobody is too young or old to be penetrated against their will. The near total absence of outrage over the daily reports of appalling sexual crimes is indicative of how brutalised and unfeeling we have become. We are now so desensitised that the things that ought to shock us we now take in our stride.

    Senators gave a nodding acknowledgment the other day that something terrible was going on that needs to be addressed. They were hopping mad over reports of the rape last week of a two year old girl, Chinwendu Onwudiwe, by a police corporal in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, near Abuja.

    Leading the chorus of outrage was Senator Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom South) who pointed out sundry ways in which cruelty was being visited on babies. They were being kidnapped, abused and sold as commodities she said.

    The other day a 50-year old ‘pastor’ – and I used the word advisedly as these days all sorts of characters parade themselves as ‘pastors’ – was arraigned for allegedly raping three school pupils at Mpape, Abuja.

    The suspected rapist who is now standing trial before a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court is supposedly the overseer of a church and proprietor of school where the victims were students. The prosecutor told the court that this was not a case of a man succumbing to a moment of weakness, rather the accused violated the two seven-year-olds and the nine-year-old pupil at different times when they supposedly in the school learning.

    If what the Abuja clergyman did is shocking, what transpired between two minors in Lagos is downright disturbing. A 14-year old boy has just been arrested for raping a nine-year-old girl to death! The deceased was said to have been assaulted over five times by her sex-crazed assailant in the Ikorodu area of the state.

    Sometime last year Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime, was forced to address the press following shocking reports of young men in the Opi community of the state gang-raping women whose ages ranged from 60 to 80.

    In the last few months litanies of cases of sexual violence have inundated the media. It’s as if a dam burst and suddenly all these outrages were coming out. We should be especially troubled because many rape cases go unreported as victims want to suffer in silence and avoid the stigma. This implies that the problem is deeper than we can imagine.

    No type of rape is excusable – whether it involves a minor or two adults. But I am particularly troubled when I read of grown men forcing themselves on two-year olds. What on earth could be responsible for this? How on earth did we come to this point?

    All around us the most despicable things are happening. People are kidnapping their fellow human beings and receiving a ransom before setting them free. In some cases they kill the hapless victims even after getting paid.

    People are killing their fellows with a view to using them in money-making rituals. We live in the age of the internet and digital television and yet in so many ways our people are still being seduced by superstitious illogic.

    Something is badly broken in this society and until we fix it nothing will work in Nigeria. We can call a thousand national conferences they will come to nothing if we don’t sort out the basic things.

    At the root of what is unfolding now is the fact that we no longer hold anything dear. Nothing is sacred, trust has disappeared. We no longer have a concept of what is right or wrong. You see it every day on the streets. The man who sits patiently in his car waiting for the light to turn soon begins to question his sanity when he sees everyone else jumping the light, or driving against traffic.

    We have lost every sense of the shameful and dishonourable. That is why two people in high office can shake hands on deal only for one party to repudiate it without batting an eyelid.

    In a society where parents actively fund the participation of their children in examination malpractices, it is no surprise that 40-year olds are sating themselves on babies.

    In some other society it could be argued that these sordid sexual crimes are the direct result of an absence of moral teaching. That cannot be said about this country. The nation is virtually sagging under the weight of churches and mosques. The airwaves are saturated with religious noise but very little spirituality. There is so much spouting of that which is Godly, while clearly the fear of God has taken flight in their lives of those generating the cacophony.

    We cannot deny that exposure to the internet and modern technology exposes a society to all sorts of influences like pornography that brings out the worst in both young and old. Still, the insidious influence of technology does not tell the whole story. It is a cocktail of things that have done us in.

    If ever there was a candidate for shock therapy it is Nigeria. We need to be jolted back to our senses. Psychologists and sociologists can study the unfolding phenomenon and provide more scientific and coherent explanations as to what rape is on the increase. But we don’t need anyone to tell us that when adults are running around violating babies, that society’s moral sickness has plumbed new depths.

    What is to be done? The change we hanker after is not going to come from outer space. Special breeds of pure aliens are not going to descend on Abuja to rescue us from the dissolute crew presently in charge. We must still look to the few who retain some modicum of sanity among the elite to lead that rebirth.

    A good place to start is by making people understand that when they go off the rail, they will pay a steep price. A major difference between Nigeria and some other countries is their willingness to enforce their laws. Their citizens are human just like us – subject to the same passions and weaknesses. But the vast majority of them know that there are certain lines that cannot be crossed. Here, all those lines have become blurred.

  • ‘We the People’ NC in 2014; Babangida; Abacha; Airport carpark vs cars; One student: one backpack

    ‘We the People’ NC in 2014; Babangida; Abacha; Airport carpark vs cars; One student: one backpack

    Politicians and military interventionists have failed over our 100 ‘Amalgamarriage’ or 53 post independence years. Will the politicians fail this amazing opportunity to ‘Resit’ and ‘restructure’ the future or will it succumb to more political mathematical futility like 12 2/3?

    The examiners, the citizens, the nation, want to adjust ‘The Syllabus’. So far the politicians have wasted fruitless selfish years since 1999 failing to achieve that. ‘The Syllabus’, The Constitution, review will allow all Nigerians a part and an input to replace the Abacha military constitution of 1999. We have an opportunity as sovereign people to actually have a ‘WE THE PEOPLE NATIONAL CONFERENCE in the auspicious year 2014, well before the 2015 elections.

    Why does the press disseminate the uncharacteristic ‘words of wisdom’ from failed rulers? So Babangida has just discovered what millions have known since 1980 – that ‘True Federalism or Fiscal Federalism’ and ‘more powers to state and LGAs’ are the solutions for Nigeria’s boiling troubles and lack of a feeling of citizenship and Nigerianship? Now we are forced by an ignorant press to listen to Babangida singing sweet democracy true federalism songs. So it is at last time for true federalism? The dance is complete. The masquerade is exhausted. Is that a conversion, paradox or a 419?

    It is sad that the Abachas, who arrogantly run for governor, punch Nigeria in the face for the $185m ‘Abacha Loot’ held in Lichtenstein.  Their lawsuit is an attempt to keep stolen property, property stolen from Nigeria –surely a criminal act. The Abachas can therefore be charged for being ‘Receivers of Stolen Goods’ and ‘Illegally Benefiting from the Financial Crime of Others At Large or Dead’. It is of note that $185m is as much as Buhari and Babangida paid to stop Lagos getting a rail line- ‘Jakande rail’ in 1983. Wow! How much hate they must have had to stop a railway which would have carried millions totalling 1+billion now? Of course Obasanjo’s too had a ‘Jakande rail’ moment with the cancellation of the then successfully on-going World Bank funded Lagos-Ibadan third lane in favour of Babalakin’s Bi-Courtney with disastrous results and death and time delays for millions daily. And how much was paid by the Obasanjo government as compensation to the contractor for that contract cancellation –perhaps the recurring number $184m?

    As we are forced to witness the nauseating scenario around the purchase of two bomb-proof cars with N250m we Fellow Nigerians get nothing. Angry users of rubbish FAAN international pot-holed car park at the MMAirport Lagos have to pay a parking fee. Why did the collective aviation agencies not tar that ‘rubbish FAAN car park’ area for ordinary Non-VIP travellers? Nigerians don’t ask for bomb-proof cars but we do expect a fraction of the N250m to be spent on making public airport car parks welcoming and usable.

    The company Julius Berger had students marching with JB blue logo plastic bags full of educational goodies. Now Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC is also donating educational kits. We live in a country that expects its private companies after paying education tax to still contribute to education while government irresponsibly misapplies the earnings of two million barrels of oil per day at $105/barrel and spends N250m on two vehicles while children lack books. Nigeria can easily kit all students with the 15 textbooks and novels and 12 exercise notebooks needed annually and placed in adire or other home-grown backpacks/satchels from the proceeds of one day’s oil earnings and still have change to steal. This systematic ‘ONE NIGERIAN STUDENT- ONE BACKPACK OF BOOKS METHOD’. Education and living basics are the sole responsibilities of government. Private companies and Corporate Social Responsibility funds should be the icing on the education cake- travel, exhibitions, scholarships, competitions and prizes –not toilets and running water. The 40million students deserve immediate books, this month before buildings and we do not need another 2013 Ladi Kwali Hall multibillion naira Education Summit. Books build brains. A book is the life saver and Gold Standard and goes further than a beautiful bookless classroom.

    Fires cause global warming. Massive fires burn millions of trees causing forest destruction and global warming. Is it not more environmentally friendly to try to save the forests from fires by making tree-free corridors between tree blocks? This would also provide tree trunks for the wood industry. Talking of global warming, what is the contribution of festive period fireworks displays ay New Year and Christmas global warming and smoke pollution? It is worth a study because major firework displays are entirely under the control of man. What is the carbon footprint of New Year fireworks worldwide?

    If Nigeria had been hit by the ‘Fires of Australia’ what would have been our fate from the emergency services? Already we have a new cholera outbreak officially claiming more than 60 lives caused by poor hygiene and water supply. Cholera in 2013?  Imagine the real figure of deaths.

    The very public suggestion that the whistleblowers for the N250m cars did wrong means that the Freedom of Information Bill is still not accepted by government agents. This was made clear by the ‘forced’ resignation of Odimegwu from the census Commission for ‘whistle-blowing’ by revealing the well-known truth about the last census figures. Remember Justice Salami and Professor Grange. Truth is the first casualty of war, civil or military, declared or not! It is obvious that we are still at war in Nigeria.

  • Sarkin Zazzaun Suleja et al

    Sarkin Zazzaun Suleja et al

    In keeping with my promise of last week, below is the longest of the reactions to my tribute to Sarkin Zazzaun Suleja, Alhaji Awwal Ibrahim, on occasion of the celebration of the 20th year since his ascension. This reaction and the next will be the last of such lengthy reactions I will publish under my column, much as I would like to promote sensible debates on issues. Henceforth any response by text or email longer than 150 words should be sent to the editors of this newspaper who, of course, have the discretion to publish or not.

    Sarkin Zazzaun Suleja

    Sir,

    A couple of years ago I wrote to you when you referred to the late President Umaru Musa as a subject of the emir of Katsina. Yet again, you have used the same characterization for a whole lot of people, the people of Suleja and no doubt, by extension other Nigerians as subjects. I was deeply disappointed when you referred to the President of a whole country of over 170 million people as a subject. I am not writing this to castigate you, but to ask that you please re-examine one of the most fundamental of all beliefs, namely, if in this day and age or in any age for that matter, the ruler / subject worldview is moral, democratic or decent. In my mind, there is no decency in a world where we still refer to citizens as subjects. We should be actively challenging and dismantling such primitive institutions and moving our people toward a world of equal worth, to a merit based world, a democratic world, where hereditary or anointed leaders is a thing of the past.

    To paraphrase a famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a quote you know very well, “We should judge a person by the content of their character and contribution and not by any other consideration”

    I mentioned to you in the last letter I wrote to you regarding referring the late Umaru Musa as a subject, that many, many years ago, at the beginning of your brilliant writing career and a self-made rising star, I happened to be around a couple of your friends, people you knew very well, when some of them made what was meant as a disparaging comment regarding your humble beginnings. The moment I heard the comment I instinctively reacted because it felt raw, unfair, mean spirited and elitist. They were clearly saying in no uncertain terms, “well so what, he is still a subject, therefore beneath us”. I took offence and said something to the effect that “the guy has good character, is friendly, humble, sharp and hardworking, what more do you want?” As far as I was concerned they were no better than you.

    I knew jealousy is a universal human condition and our friends were young and therefore might not yet have been fully discerning, but it didn’t make it any less offensive. Sadly, there you were effectively saying the same of the late Umaru Musa and now the people of Suleja and by extension the people of Nigeria.

    Sure, there is an important distinction; you were not saying it to be mean spirited or out of jealousy. Nevertheless, the word, the characterization and the world it describes is fundamentally demeaning. That world and that word should be assigned to the dustbin of history.

    In my eyes, I put no one above you and you are not someone’s subject by any definition of the word. You are one of the few people in that country that have earned their place in life by striving to maximize the gifts the Almighty God gave you. No one gave you anything. You earned it fair and square. You didn’t become who you are by chance or through connections or any sort of patronage, that much is very clear about you.

    What the people of Suleja and everyone else for that matter need, is someone who would contribute in real terms, to the quality of their lives. The real king, the real prince, the real princess, is literally in the trenches, working, producing, toiling, sweating and getting dirty with the people. That is the only qualification you need to become a king, a prince, a princess, and every single person could become that. In that world there is no subject.

    Sahalu Saidu

    Etsu Nupe

    Sir,

    Thank you very much for your columns. They are always informative and educative. Please keep it up. My only comments or observations on your tribute to Etsu Yahaya Abubakar are as follows.

    Firstly, Etsu Yahaya is not the 13th Etsu Nupe. He is the 36th. Why? If you analyse Nupe history from 1300 to date, you will discover that we had 19 authentic or independent or non-controversial Etsu Nupe starting from Tsoede, the first Etsu Nupe (1483-1591), to the last Etsu Nupe Muhammadu (1795-1805) before the Fulani jihad. The period from 1805-1832 was characterized by succession dispute, factionalisation, Fulani intervention and ascendency. Hence during this period puppet Etsu Nupe were produced and retained in power by the Fulanis until they finally took over the title in 1832.

    It is a historical fact that Mallam Dendo throughout his life refused to crown himself as Etsu Nupe. Rather he gave the title to his favourites from any of the two factionalized or divided Tsoede dynasty (Yissazhi and Gwagwazhi) while he himself retained the real power. This situation continued until he died in 1832 when his children took over the title and the power that went with it. This continued up till 1897 when one of the faction sided British (Royal Niger Company) against Bida.

    Therefore if we add 19 independent Etsu Nupe from Tsoede dynasty (Old Nupe kingdom) with 17 Fulani Etsu Nupezhi, then Alhaji Abubakar Yahaya is 36th Etsu Nupe not 13th.

    We have 17 not 13 Fulani Etsu Nupes because Usman Zaki, Masaba, Abubakar, and Muhammadu Makun each reigned twice. Thus if you add 4 to 13 you will get 17 Fulani Etsu Nupes not 13.

    Additionally, if we are to talk of Etsu Nupes that ruled from Bida, the correct count would make Etsu Yahaya the 15th not 13th because Abubakar and Muhammadu Maku ruled twice from Bida. From the foregoing analysis the appropriate position Etsu Yahaya occupies in Nupe history is 36th.

    In addition to the tribute you paid the Etsu, let me say he is a peace maker, bridge builder, reformer, role model, pillar of unity and a socio-economic promoter.

    Furthermore, when you mentioned national leaders Niger State has produced so far you left out Dr. Nnamadi Azikwe, the First President in Nigeria who was born in Zungeru, and General Inuwa Wushishi, former Chief of Army Staff.

    Finally, the attack on Bida was by Royal Niger Company not British West African Frontier Force. Again the war lasted 12 days not two days and 17 British Soldiers including Lieutenant Thompson lost their lives, not eight as was said in one of the feedback to your article.

    Also the person who criticised your assertion that after the fall of Bida, the rest of the Sokoto caliphate fell easily was wrong because with the fall of Bida, as you said, other Emirates and Chiefdoms in what is now Nigeria fell like a pack of cards. In fact, it was only Bida that fought gallantly against Europeans. This was evidence in Goldie’s words when he said “Nupe has always and rightly been looked upon as by far the most powerful State of the Sokoto Empire and the fall of Bida will strike terror far and wide”.

    Danjuma Ismaila

    National Archives

    Ilorin.

    07034563107

    The National Conference

    Sir,

    Please recall my earlier text to you on National Conference being convened by President Jonathan in which I said I objected to your write up. You should disregard my comments as I later realised you and I were saying the same thing in certain aspects of your write up concerning the behaviour of our politicians not keeping faith with the constitution.

    The only area I still object to is in your belief that Jonathan is playing the same game of insincerity simply because the previous military leaders played the same game in the past.

    Ekiran SP

    +2348028258487

    Sir,

    I can assure you that Jonathan will fail in this gamble. I come from the South-South and I don’t think any sensible person down here will vote for this man again in 2015. Whatever result he will gather here would be rigged by people like Goodwill Akpabio, the Army, the Police and the INEC. If the security personnel were loyal only to the Constitution, Jonathan would score zero in non-Ijaw areas of the South-South.

    +2348086220897

     

    Sir,

    At least the president did not mention “Kare jini biri jini” in his quest to conquer 2015 election.

    Edward Ali kumo

    +2348071300190

    Prognosis of governorship election in Niger State

    Sir,

    If you cannot promote your brother Nupes for governor your silence would have been better. Your cousin, General M. A. Garba (rtd), has been in forefront of the struggle to produce one. May God protect him for his services to the Nupe people. You only serve the interest of your masters who are settlers in Niger. We know you were press secretary to one of them.

    In sha Allah, your prayer of making his son in law governor will not be answered and a Nupe man or woman will win as is the wish of your progressive cousin and other progressives across the Nupeland.

    Wing Cdr Magana( rtd)

    +2348126980353

    Sir,

    (Contrary to your remark that only Niger, Kano and Ogun States have produced more than one head of state each), I thought Katsina also produced both Gen Muhammadu Buhari and the late President Umaru Yar’adua.

    +16623806072

     

  • Christians against Aregbesola?

    The Punch columnist Abimbola Adelakun on Thursday October 17, once again regaled readers with her article captioned The Christians against Aregbesola in which she allowed sentiments and lack of proper appreciation of facts and law to interfere with her regular no-nonsense style.

    It would appear that the central thesis of her write-up is that Aregbesola should take a stand in favour of a particular religion. According to her, “Aregbesola tries too hard to pander to every existing religious belief in Osun State… this kind of politics is confusing as it is unimpressive…he does all these without any coherence or stating where he stands in the whole affair”.

    Ms Adelakun appears to be confusing the position of a private person and that of an elected governor who has sworn to uphold the Nigerian Constitution. Whereas a private person can take a standpoint in favour and patronage of a particular religion, doing so by Aregbesola, a governor that ought to uphold the Nigerian Constitution will be unconstitutional.

    Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) entitles every citizen to his/her right of thought, conscience and religion. A governor is also oath-bound ‘to do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour or ill-will.’ What appears to be confusing to the writer is simply the fact that Aregbesola, though a Muslim by faith, has decided to respect and give accommodation to all religions and beliefs as stipulated in the constitution. Being committed to upholding the constitution, he has decided to be more open-hearted to other religious views while ensuring that all faiths are treated equally.

    The Constitution of Nigeria does not denude a man of his religious faith just because he has attained certain public office, yet the constitution is grossly antagonistic of any attempt to prefer one faith to the other using public machinery. Rev. Fr. Moses Adasu was governor of Benue State between January 1991 and November 1992 on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). While in office, the catholic priest wore his cassock throughout without any hue or cry.

    Another grave lie being bandied about is that the Osun government has introduced Ifa studies into the curriculum. There appears to be some confusion on this allegation coming from the same writer who eloquently debunked the jaundiced view on traditional religion and advocated the teaching of comparative religious studies. How would her expectation of the teaching of comparative religious studies be accomplished if there should be no reference to Ifa?  In any event, it should be expected that a writer of such repute should make simple research before putting pen on paper. Page 399 of the West African Examinations Council Regulations and Syllabuses 2009-2012 lists Wande Abimbola’s Awon Oju Odu Mereerindinlogun (UPL Ibadan 1978) as one of the recommended texts to study for poetry to be examined in Yoruba. One hopes the writer will get a copy of this book recommended by the West African Regional Examination body to discover that this book, among many others in the WAEC syllabus, purely contains the teaching of Ifa. How can Aregbesola now be guilty of introducing something which has been part and parcel of the West African Region examiners syllabus for decades?

    The writer went further to say “…he (Aregbesola) is busy throwing his religion in your face with billboards that announce his private devotions”. This allegation must be put in proper perspective. The truth of the matter is that, in 2011, Governor Aregbesola travelled for lesser hajj to Mecca. Some political desperadoes went to town saying he was receiving treatment for cancer. Some political enthusiasts, who felt that the wicked lies should be debunked, quickly got pictures of him at the pilgrimage and displayed it on billboards to counter the falsehood. On arrival, the governor ordered the immediate removal of all such boards.  Apart from that isolated 2011 incident, one is compelled to ask the writer to disclose the locations of those billboards that she eloquently alleged to be in existence in 2013.

    It is unfortunate that a respected columnist with unfettered access to information from a government office would derisively tag a revolutionary and well thought-out educational policy as madcap! It is also unfortunate that a clearly thought-out educational policy and programs of the government will be so dismissed in a derisive and laconic manner. What is madcap about providing school uniforms for 750,000 students and pupils? What is madcap about feeding about 300,000 pupils daily with nutritious home-grown foods?; What is madcap about distributing 150,000 e-learning device to students where all the recommended books and past questions are stored for use? Please let us be told what is madcap about employment of over 3750 teachers in one fell swoop and massive teacher training? What is madcap about building and equipping of 170 new schools in a state hitherto famous for acute shortage of educational infrastructure? What is madcap about an educational intervention that has seen the state moving from number 32 out of the 36 states to number eight in the rating of performance in external examination?

    We find it distasteful for a writer, who having abdicated her role of investigation and balanced analysis, resorted to sitting in the comfort of one cool house in a foreign land to cast so many aspersions on the personality of a head of government without factual or legal basis.

    Perhaps, there may be the impression by a perceptive reader of Adelakun’s column that she is a die-hard secularist who sees no good in any religion. While she is entitled to her opinion, it is however unjust to seek to railroad a governor to proscribe a practice that the constitution freely allows a person to observe. While the pristine lectern of a newspaper back page is a secured refuge from which the author can magisterially shut down people’s rights just because she feels so, the position of a governor is not so easy. A serious government must respect all shades of opinion while striving to leave its foot-prints on the sands of time.

    Perhaps, what is looking strange to Ms. Adelakun is the fact that apart from Aregbesola’s compliance with the provisions of the constitution to be even handed among all beliefs he has also decided to remain fidel to the injunction of his faith as enshrined in the Quran 16:90 to wit- ”Verily Allah enjoins justice, and the doing of good to others; and giving like kindred; and forbids indecency, and manifest evil, and wrongful transgression”.

     

    • Basiru is Regional Integration and Special Duties Commissioner in the State of Osun

  • Stella Oduah’s romance with scandals

    For quite some time now, Stella Oduah, the masculine and wrestler-built Nigeria’s minister of aviation, seems to be permanently hooked to scandals of various dimensions and magnitude. Her 27-month tenure as minister has been dogged by several controversies and scandals. Not only this, the aviation industry under her watch has witnessed two major air disasters leading to the loss of no fewer than 200 precious lives.

    The latest scandal involving the minister has to do with the purchase of two BMW 760 Li luxury cars which were recently purchased for her by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA. The way and manner the cars were procured as well as the exorbitant price tag placed on them seems to have compounded the integrity issues confronting her. The minister has come under severe criticisms from notable members of the public following the revelation that the NCAA bought the two bullet-proof vehicles for a whopping $1.6 million or N255 million. The armoured vehicles were reportedly delivered to her in August this year.

    The BMW is a fast-moving car with all the accompanied luxuries. For those who prefer a quick dash all around, any make of the BMW series could satisfy their sartorial taste. Findings on the BMW website indicate that the 760 Li HSS model purchased for the exclusive use of the minister has a shelf price of $186,000 or N29, 760,000 (at N160 per dollar). However, the price varies, depending on options, that is, the aesthetics – both the interior and exterior finishing of the luxury car. It is purposely built to meet the highest and most demanding security requirements. The 760Li High Security model has been tested by a German bullet and firing inspection authority. With its 6.0 cm bullet-proof glass, the car can withstand attacks with explosives or bullets of the armour-breaking 7.62x54R API calibre often used by terrorist organizations such as the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents currently ravaging the north-eastern part of the country. It has a reinforced body and explosion-resistant undercarriage that meets the higher VR9 standard. Even if it is hit by a high velocity impact such that could lead to a sudden loss of tyre pressure, the vehicle can run on flat tyres for an upward of 50 kilometres at an average speed of 80 kilometres per hour. The car’s emergency exit is conveniently situated around the front wide screen.

    There are other security features and relaxation ambience that come with the car. Its long-distance infrared technology can pick out people on the carriageway in poor visibility or at night at a distance of up to 300 metres. The optional rear-seat entertainment system allows two passengers to watch the same or different DVDs at the same time. It also allows the occupants of the back to follow the car’s progress on the navigation system, or even go on the internet as they cruise along. This is possible because two distinct and independent 9.2-inch colour screens are built into the front headrests. To complete this out-of-this-world luxury, in case the owner or occupant desires a good massage to emerge from exhaustion, tiredness or boredom, the car provides optional massage function in the rear-seat backrests.

    The latest revelation has come at a time when certain events in the aviation industry, which Oduah supervises, have become a cause for concern and embarrassment, not just for Nigerian air travellers, but also for the world at large. The first was the Dana Air crash in Lagos on June 3, 2012 barely one year after she took over as Aviation Minister, in which 159 people died. Another one was the Associated Airlines crash of October 3, also in Lagos, which claimed 15 lives.

    Apart from the two fatalities, many air passengers had escaped death by the whiskers on some other occasions. One of such happened a day after the Associated Airline’s crash, when a Kabo Airline’s Boeing 747-400 plane, which was taking an estimated 512 pilgrims for this year’s Hajj to Saudi Arabia, made an emergency landing at the Sokoto airport after suffering deflated tyres. The emergency landing caused some damages to the airport’s Instrument Landing System.

    A few days after this near-tragedy, an IRS Airlines Fokker-100 plane carrying 99 passengers also made an emergency landing at the Kaduna airport after developing hydraulic problem mid-air. The nation’s embarrassment is not limited to the Nigerian airspace though, as a Nigerian registered cargo airplane had also crashed in Accra, Ghana, on June 2, 2012, a day before the Dana crash.

    In the wake of the Associated Airline’s crash, the unrepentant aviation minister had stirred the hornet’s nest in an ill-informed press conference she addressed after the incident.  Oduah had incurred severe public criticism for describing the two major air crashes as “inevitable acts of God.” She said that, as minister, her job was to provide leadership and ensure that the right policies were in place for the aviation sector to run efficiently. She passed the buck on safety and industry regulation to the heads of the agencies in the sector, such as the NCAA, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority.

    While ‘natural’ disasters may not necessarily be anyone’s doing, the fact remains that with the controversy thrown up by the recent air disasters in the country, it is quite obvious that many things are wrong with the nation’s aviation industry. And from the look of things, coupled with the minister’s vague admission that air accidents are acts of God, it seems that the minister may be ill-equipped to deal with the situation decisively. Based on the fatal accidents and near-mishaps that we have witnessed in recent times, one wonders if the Nigerian aviation sector has excellent standards and maintenance regulations for domestic airlines. If there are, they don’t seem to be enforced.

    Again, the minister had said the aviation sector needed injection of funds if air travel must be safe and secure. if this is true (and we all know this), isn’t it then a contradiction that the same minister that desperately shops for operating funds is now engaged in a spending spree, compelling parastatals under her supervision to be buying amoured cars and other gifts for her? This is a dent on the integrity of the aviation minister.

    Except in Nigeria where anything goes, it is absolutely unethical for the minister to have accepted ‘gifts’ from the NCAA, an agency she supervises. If there were threats to her life as she claims, there are constitutional provisions for that, as a bona fide Nigerian, even if she is not occupying public office. She should have exploited that means instead of accepting gifts from an agency whose shoddy handling of the aviation sector, many believe, has contributed enormously to the death of innocent people.

    Certainly, Oduah may not be the only minister who breathes down too heavily on the parastatals they supervise. It is common knowledge that many of her mates compel such agencies to foot the bills of their transport, accommodation, feeding and more, each time they have to attend one function or the other. Even bills of family members, distant relations and other acquaintances are forced to be picked up by such agencies without a whimper from any of them. This is a corrupt practice that only a country like Nigeria, where ethical issues are taken with levity, condones.

    As usual, rather than cover their faces in shame and or make atonement for the unbridled corruption involved in the purchase of the cars, including the highly inflated figures presented to the public, the management of the NCAA is busy chasing shadows. Now, they are busy hunting for the whistleblower, while the minister is sitting tight in office. Is this how we will continue to run the affairs of this country? The answer is no. Something must definitely give way. It is either the government shows a firm commitment to fighting corruption in all ramification or the citizens resort to self-help, which may take the form of pelting thieving officials with stones and other available objects on the streets. If the chaos this will precipitate will force our leaders to redress the endemic anomalies in the system, so be it!