The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tony Marinho

  • CBN; gridlock; military messages

    By Tony Marinho

     

    A Apology: The title of last week’s article was ‘Monthly Body Exam; Equiano@275’

    We wish you a Merry Christmas especially children. We must appreciate all who have been good to underknown children and the Lazarus at their gate.

    CBN reviews downwards banking fees. Customers revolted by withholding their money, forcing action. Good times or bad, banks always ‘smile to the bank’.

    We thank the CBN and Governor Emefile for boldly correcting these previously CBN-approved self-inflicted ‘over-charge’ errors. The reason used to be that a banker is CBN Governor and not an economist.

    Do bankers in CBN protect their roots, fellow bankers and banks, to the detriment of citizens? The next governor should be an economist!!

    Daily gridlock takes a terrible toll. Your life stops, dangers of fire from gridlocked petrol tankers, gunfire from opportunistic armed robbers, goods ruined, appointments cancelled, business lost and return trips impossible, accommodation problems, added expenses, higher petrol consumption and increased wear and tear on drivers and vehicles costing the country and citizens billions.

    Ask Minister Mamora, forced to join road sufferers for five hours in last Saturday’s routine Lagos Ibadan road gridlock. He complained that ‘even my pilot car could not pilot me through the ordeal,’ according to Premium Times.

    We do not have pilot car o!!! He should tell us why NASS 8 of which he was a prominent influential member diverted the N150m allocated in the 2017 budget for the road to Constituency Projects scams or schemes. Unfortunately, as Nigeria’s roads grind to a halt during Christmas and New Year celebrations, gridlock is experienced routinely by Lagos residents or travellers on the Ibadan Lagos Road and other mistakenly called ‘Expressways’ nationwide.

    Gridlock has strangled the Asaba-Onitsha Highway and the Benin Ore Road. That gridlock was preventable if the Second Niger Bridge had been built 40 years ago when citizens raised the alarm. Instead it was cunningly, criminally and mischievously politically ‘promised, un-promised and re-promised’ since the 1980s and by every Presidential candidate since 1999.

    Many have blamed this ‘political ambivalence’ on the ‘political and policy’ continuation of the civil war. Nigeria does not suffer from a ‘failure to plan’.

    The Second Niger Bridge has been in all plans. It is the politicisation of actionable plans that is our bane. And no one is ever held accountable for this ‘pathological political failure to act’. The road gridlock is caused by serial selfish past political gridlock.

    On Feb 27, 2013 this column read almost as follows- “Nigeria’s failure to develop railways, roads and power and cancel history from schools were no mistakes but part of a deliberate punishable criminal anti-development conspiracy against Nigeria and its development-hungry citizens.

    It was deliberate government policy. Those civil servants, politicians and military adventurists who sat at Federal Executive Council and Ministerial Meetings vetoing power grid development, standard gauge railway line, East West Roads, Second Niger Bridge and history from the curriculum know each other. We want to know them before they get more misplaced national honours.”

    And 7 years later – still no Second Niger Bridge or East -West Road!

    Nigeria is suffering from the ‘anti-development strategies’ of its political and civil servant classes. Today there are many more people and vehicles on the same road network used 40 years ago.

    Very few new roads have been built and no bridges in new directions. Most have deteriorated. Imagine the gridlock in Ikoyi Lagos if the PDP President Yar’Adua had refused the APC Lagos Governor Fasola’s Lekki Bridge Project? We have been talking ‘4th Mainland Bridge’ in Lagos for 20 years.

    Read Also: Yuletide: Tackling Niger Bridge gridlock

     

    Same problem -not yet actionable. We are still after 40 years awaiting the completion of the East West Road. There are so many ancient bills struggling to pass through the mangled walled of NASS in the very noisy ‘hollow chamber’ -lots of noise but little progressive movement.

    The disgraceful battle, for power and funds, between the Presidency and the NASS over the years has cost Nigeria 20 years of fast track development, demonstrating a huge flaw in the governance structure as practiced in Nigeria.

    The American can afford to play such politics because they have a 1st world growth-oriented infrastructure maintenance culture independent of government’s politics.

    Nigeria, a so-called developing country, does not have that luxury as governance is in total control of everything and has no delegated routine maintenance function. This is why Nigeria has such an abysmal ‘pothole filling’/road maintenance strategy.

    The perpetrators of our failure to develop, or failure to thrive will routinely be the first to get National Honours and change their MON to OFR and even CON [-man???].

    To be fair, in the past American rail and road contracts were mired in corporate and political corruption involving governors, legislators, bribery, murder and organised crime. Granted our current in-power Government and the NASS seem to be smoothening quite a few of the ‘political potholes’ plaguing development. The flagship achievement is the Jan-Dec budget cycle.

    What is the logic for the Nigerian Armed Forces to announce a phased withdrawal of forces in three Northern states? Surely this is music to those engaged in the oscillating War with Boko Haram, infiltrating ISIS, kidnappers and invaders of farms and terrorists from Chad and Niger, and those occupying three LGAs?  Surely our enemy should not learn armed forces movements from NTA? To win the war we should re-strategise ‘Military Media Messaging’.

     

    …….And a Happy New Year 2020.

  • ABCDEFGGHI=Avoid bribery & corruption daily everywhere for good governance here immediately

    By Tony Marinho

     

    Self-exam called Monthly Total Body Examination from Jan 1st, 2020: Regardless of politics, take your health seriously from  Help your doctor to 2020. help you! Many diseases give early warning signs: swellings, lumps, thickenings, skin discolouration.

    Remember the Monthly Breast Examination was recommended for early detection of breast cancer. A success stories. Extend that success to the whole body. Choose one convenient day monthly, morning or night, to do a Monthly Total Body Exam from head to toe.

    Imagine everyone world-wide standing in front of a mirror or lying down and examining their body from hair on the head to sole of the foot.

    When it comes to the abdomen lay flat on your back and press all areas of your tummy with your bladder and stomach empty.

    Politicians of obviously questionable character, even if not convicted, insult our intelligence or assault our sensibilities by blaming God loudly for ‘winning’ elections of questionable quality.

    UK Elections-lessons for Nigeria: A seismic change, landslide result of an election in the UK in which 32million voters participated.

    No one died, was injured, was threatened, was set on fire, was stopped from voting. These are the people from whom we supposedly inherited, after colonialism, our democracy.

    Exit polls were accurate. Full results announced at the local level. No one is in court, no one challenging the result.

    The Labour Party is wisely asking itself why it lost so badly. The Labour Party is not blaming the Conservatives.

    Of course, Nigeria could easily be in this ‘safe election zone’ situation. It just takes the decision by the ‘stakeholders.

    Every politician must join the fight against election malpractice. Parties do not intimidate, rampage, rig, riot, rape and rubbish elections or set fire to citizens.

    Politicians and people do. Political Parties are inanimate groupings.

    NGO, police murders: More NGO AID workers murdered for trying to help people in need. Leah and many others still missing, millions still in neglected IDP Camps.

    Read Also: Corruption a threat to the world, says UN scribe

    Visa on arrival is not new, the suspicion that it will be misused is also not new. Visa on arrival happens in many countries.

    It is to prevent overload of visa offices in missions abroad home countries, long distances for families to travel to visa interviews abroad.  and where long standing for any government It is to prevent overload of visa offices, cancelling long distances to visa interviews abroad.

    Make Olaudah Equiano Relevant: Please plan ‘Relevance of OlaudahEquiano@275’ nationwide activities. Certainly, the media has the power to report activities and also encourage the direction of policy and future activities.

    A present active press should be deploying its education and entertainment journalists to sniff out writeups and events on the subject. They should raise the question of Olaudah Equiano much wider on the pages of the newspaper Some schools in Nigeria already study Olaudah Equiano’s life.

    All schools are encouraged to at least read the internet on the subject. As schools and many businesses start the Christmas/New Year break holidays we have a duty to remind them to get involved in learning human rights from the lessons of Olaudah Equiano and other past unsung heroes.

    We look forward to Ake Arts Books Festival and the Kaduna Book and Arts and Book Festival school, your Drama Department, your English Department, your Poetry Club your Literary and Debating Society, your state, children, and youth presenting the great 2020 Festival(s) of Olaudah EquianoRelevance@275, Nigeria’s first best-selling author who sold over 10,000 copies of his autobiography.

    In many countries it will be a big event. It had better also be big in Nigeria, the place of his birth in Delta State and from where he was kidnapped when he was just a boy.

    Is he relevant today? Of course. Kidnapping, child abuse, entrepreneurship, overcoming adversity are all relevant today across all levels of education and health and social responsibility.

    The needed and expected year-long multiple, school by school, department by department, activities amounting to 2020 Festival(s) of Olaudah EquianoRelevance@275 must begin driven by everyone interested.

    Everyone can research and talk to their family members about the relevance of Olaudah Equiano. You, the reader, share this with teachers and encourage your children at home to do the needed research.

    Does your children’s Head teacher or Principal have Olaudah Equiano in the curriculum for 2020? Contact your members of School Boards of Governors, school, children’s school, neighbourhood school, pass it to the teachers, artists, dramatists, writers, comedians you know.

    It will only be big if we all take individual and collective ownership. It will only be successful and reach millions if you bring this information to the ‘stakeholders’ – educators, students, the media, corporate bodies and philanthropists.

    Do not forget ‘relevant ministries and departments’ at Federal, state and LGA level. Bring on board the Federal Minister of Education, Directors of Primary and Secondary School Curriculum for 2020, education staff including LIEs -Local Inspectors of Education, NUC, Association of Nigerian Authors, National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, your State Governor, the Commissioner of Education, Commissioner of Health and Commissioner of Youth, Sport and Social Development, ANCOPS, SPEB, NUT etcetera.

    Only 3 of over 200 teachers and principals had heard of Olaudah Equiano in one public census at a 2019 education summit recently. We have till 16-10-2020, Equiano’s 275th birthday, to reverse that statistic.

    MERRY CHRISTMAS.

  • Jail time; okada; police; fire; Olympics?

    We are borrowing billions to replace the billions stolen by a cohort of political and other so-called leaders who should all be deeply in jail by now.

    If one governor can take N7,680,000,000 from his people’s funds without a word of apology or remorse, what have the other governors and co-conspirators done? We blame an abusive federalism as the cause of our problems and it has contributed to our woes.

    However consider what that N7.6b, over N16b today, could have done against poverty and for job creation, scholarships, training, education, roads and agriculture in one state of 3.5million [N2000+/soul] or in your state. Check your governors. Does the time fit the crime?

    How do judges calculate the jail time for serious crimes like massive unimaginable fraud and mind-numbing theft? It seems that judges seem to under-calculate the jail time for serious fraud and theft?

    Is this because they are bound by outdated laws which were written when no-one, not even greedy politicians, ever imagined anyone being so sick as to steal N1billion, let alone N7b from suffering citizens desperate for your leadership? We in medicine know that fraud and theft cause death and disability.

    What is a just sentence, fair for the guilty and the deprived citizen? The idea that stealing money is ‘not really a crime’ because ‘no harm is done, no blood is shed, there are no dead bodies’ is a lie told first by thieving bankers and retold by serially thieving politicians.

    There is harm, bloodshed and dead bodies. If a person can face a sentence of life, and it was nearly a death sentence, in prison for ‘hate speech’ and 21 years for exam cheating, why can we not equate cash with equitable criminality and prison time?

    Remember that the same justice system puts thieves away for seven years for stealing a goat. If a person steals N100,000 should they go to prison for seven years or a week or a month or a year? If one steals N1million, N10million, N100m, N500,000,000 or N1,000,000,000 or 7,680,000,000 or N7.6billion, what are the appropriate jail times? Surely anything over N100,000,000 should attract a lifetime in jail – 30 years.

    Nigerian thieves appear to be the best and greatest. Justly, therefore, they deserve and should be given the very best and longest jail times because they steal so much, depriving so many of a successful life and sometimes depriving them of their lives.

    Judges should not be shy. Please give them the best and longest sentences. The thieves do not steal concurrently, they steal serially.

    Therefore, their crimes should be added together, one after the other.  There are many more governors and LGA chairmen needing jail time.

    Who gave motorcycles aka Okada, the authority to displace four-wheel vehicles on the roads? Who allowed okada to drive like cars in the middle of the lane instead of on the right side?

    Who empowered okada riders to be so foul-mouthed, to live so dangerously, to drive so fast, to ignore the safety of their passenger and themselves and to swarm like stinging wasps? The okada epidemic is a daily danger to everyone and not just the passengers and cars.

    Read Also: ‘2020 budget to tame corruption’

     

    One is always fearful seeing women and children, some babies, being driven at 40-80km per hour. The okada rider’s aggression, rudeness and speed must be combated. Already the death and destruction caused by okada have become the norm.

    Have you tried using a crossroad or a roundabout, especially if there is no police presence or a traffic warden in Ibadan or many towns and cities?

    There used to be ‘offside rule’ which merely says, ‘do not enter unless you can exit’ and prevents roundabouts and level crossings getting blocks. Unfortunately, from morning to night, drivers abandon their good manners, common sense, respect for others on the road and the Highway Code.

    They go mad, preferring to block the road with a mental plan of ‘if I cannot go then no one goes’. They do this rather than obey the first laws of the civilized road ‘after you’ and the answer to merging lanes ‘one each from each lane one after the other‘.

    Hurray: French court jails sex traffickers, mostly Nigerian, for forcing Nigerians into prostitution. At last they arrest the organisers and pimps not the girls. Nigerian police take note!

    Why do kidnappers and robbers maliciously kill policemen and drivers doing their job? More than six this last week. No compensation can be enough for the families of these ‘Killed in The Line Of Duty’.

    Another day another fire! Market fires are 80% of fires in Nigeria. This time at Owode Onirin market Ikorodu Lagos State where there as a fire last month.

    And we say we have no jobs for our town planners. We all know our fire services nationwide are often underfunded, have poor quality employment requirements and are treated as third rate or of no consequence by state political officials.

    In the UK and USA, the Fire Chief stands next to the governor during press briefings on fire disasters and can speak authoritatively. No so in Nigeria. Fire prevention must be our goal, not fire quenching.

    Olympics 2020. Let Nigeria know that it is almost too late to begin to plan. The USA, UK etc have been planning, practicing and preparing for over 20 years for the 2020 and 2024 and 2028 Olympics etc. Whither Nigerian sport?

  • Boyo; Nnaji; Adeyemi; Which Nigerians?

    Henry Boyo, a pragmatic economist, has died –a huge loss to a serially unappreciative Nigeria. He sang an alternative economic tune to the standard economic songs and practices which have largely ruined the naira and decimated the expected indices of growth including having over $100b in foreign reserves. I am not an economist but a medical doctor and ‘social commentator’. We shared to same sane song of economics. It was relief and a pleasure to see him, always the outsider, like me, telling the horse riders how better to direct the economic horse of state. It was disgustingly nauseating to many, including him and myself, when the erring and disappointing governors finally admitted, we were right, and they were economically incompetent and wrong not to save, as advised by many, including the then multiple minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Our current travails are largely a result of the 1999-2015 profligacy and corruption at federal and state level with maximum bipartisan guilt. It gives him academic vindication. Ideally, Henry Boyo’s papers and publications should be compiled and set against the economic mistakes of the times. His mission of economic enlightenment fell on too many deaf ears and blocked minds, but his mission is accomplished.  He cannot be blamed for a deaf country. May Henry Boyo Rest In Perfect Peace.

     

    ‘Our current travails are largely a result of the 1999-2015 profligacy and corruption at federal and state level with maximum bipartisan guilt. It gives him academic vindication’

     

    Bart Nnaji; what happened to him? It is now 40 years after a 3,000Mw failed grid tipped us on the path of permanent 3,000Mw failure. ‘The experts’ are still ‘talking’ power sector reform around the supply, transmission, distribution, privatization, recapitalization debacle as well as poor meter cover and criminally ‘over-estimated billing’ with a near zero sustainable green energy component though we have a God-given sun at our service. Bart Nnaji, a minister of power who made power work so well within three months that he was removed in what the citizens believe was brilliance and honesty driven ‘too-know’ and ‘over-performance’? He was too good for the greedy petroleum cartel which keeps Nigeria dependent on fuel-guzzling generators making us the shamefaced ‘Generator Generation’. Please recall Bart Nnaji to bipartisan national service.

    Smart Adeyemi, APC, wins the senatorial seat over a very forgettable someone whose claim to infamy includes animalistic antics and undistinguished dancing disaster moves, banal songs and disgraceful display of wasteful wealth through acquisition of a fleet of nauseatingly exotic sports cars flaunted like a red flag before the bull of Nigeria’s mega-poverty.  We have lost a lot cerebrally and must demand serious forward-looking leadership politics from ‘Smart’. Amen! What does this mean to the party seats balance of power?

    Kara Bridge. Federal government reopens Lagos – Ibadan diversion at Kara Bridge with one half completed ‘because of the festive season’, not ‘because of the citizens’! Shame!!! A guarded ‘Hurray’ but no ‘thank you’. Our ‘thank you’ has been swallowed up in the unimaginably delays and actual physical and mental agony and suffering inflicted on us and the one we will still suffer including the increasing ‘Kara Bridge Axis Robbery’ as the needed police will withdraw to celebrate Christmas. Abi no be so?  We shall all be ‘seeing is believing’ after such unlimited suffering. They say the Lagos entry is completed and the Lagos exit will be completed in 2020. But did they smoothen the Lagos exit to tide us into 2020 or is it business as usual ‘roforofo’ bad road? Nigerians, nobody loves you. How much does it cost to smoothen over one kilometre of potholes to give millions of travellers and tens of thousands a smooth Christmas? When will the ministry of transport say to Nigerians ‘We wish you a smooth season’?

    Read Also: Good night, Henry Boyo

     

    Which Nigerians receiving national honours ruined us? Remember we still do not know which Nigerians held meetings to strip the third lane and the multiple amenity spots and lighting from the original Lagos – Ibadan Expressway plan approved by General Gowon. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings to divert toll funds supposed to be used for maintenance. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings which refused to allow ‘maintenance as and when due’ on that and 100 other decrepit roads across Nigeria. Then we had money and naira was naira! Those Nigerians who held those meetings which authorised these illegal deeds are sleeping happily, and un-accused, with their loot watching the debacle on the expressway caused by their actions on TV. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings allowing thousands of axle-breaking overweight trailers to exit Apapa and Tin Can only to de-stabilise bridges and gauge out huge car-crashing tracks on the expressway.

    Which Nigerians held meetings making sure the East – West Road is still not completed? Which Nigerians held meetings to remove history, geography, maintenance of roads and buildings of all types, bursaries, scholarships, pensions, salaries as-and-when-due from the lives of suffering and aspirational Nigerians, young and old? Which Nigerians held meetings ensuring the removal of ‘practicals’ including sports equipment, books in libraries, chemicals and equipment for science studies in chemistry and physics and biology, art equipment, technical and machinery parts and carpentry tools in schools and tech institutes?

    ‘Which Nigerians will hold meetings’ to restore these to the lives of Nigerians? Governors who have serially failed with their resources since 1999 to make their states successful, must break out of their stereotypical kleptomaniacal mould of non-performance and shine or we are doomed to Dubai watching instead of Dubai walking!

  • Hate: eliminate ‘minority’, ‘Wazobia’?

    Daily millions suffer for the diversion of the N150b to the constituency projects of Eighth National Assembly – NASS -8, from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. This delayed misery inflicted for 2+ years. Can we prosecute NASS-8?

    Cancelling ‘death sentence for hate speech’ is not enough. Cancel the Bill. If we ‘halt and reverse hate actions, then hate speech will die’ from lack of gossip to feed on and nothing to become inflammatory about. For example, the discussion around a group suggesting that after eight years in power, power should remain in the same group for another eight years could precipitate a hate action that will result in an avalanche of hate speech all because of suspected breach of an unwritten ‘rotation policy’ agreement.

    On the subject of ‘hate speech’ or ‘hate speak’, as some would call it, there is much more beneath the tsunami wave of hate speech than meets the eye. The spoken word is merely the tip of a ‘hate iceberg’ with the years of preceding emotions and sometimes physical discomforts and even violence arising from ‘hate policies and resultant hate actions’. These are buried precipitating a reactionary tide of hate speech.

    Hate speech is not only about words to protest about the crimes often committed by government, its agents or its wards against humanity in farms, on highways and in school’s admission policy.  Those who propagated the hate policies leading to reactionary hate speech protect the practitioners of hate actions.

    Look into our history for the real origins of hate speech and even hate actions.  Once upon a time, we were in love with Nigeria and Nigeria was in love with us giving us her ‘SOS- Soil, Oil and Sun’. We had fun, making Nigerian friends not ‘minority’ or ‘WAZOBIA’ or ‘ethnic’ friends -just ‘friend’. We thought the world of each other; knew and sang the national anthem by patriotic heart and at every opportunity with a heart filled with pride and carried the green passport with what they now call ‘swag, good swag, not deceitful arrogant swag. Of course the politicians set fire to the happy camp of nationalism giving the military the needed opportunity to put the wetie and other fires, interethnic and near genocidal, out and set off ammunition dumps of their own during the ‘Great World Coup Cup Wars’ of the 1960s-80s.

    Read Also: Abdullahi makes U-Turn on Hate Speech Bill

    The unitary actions of successive government destroying the equality of Nigerians before the law; the execution of government policies is among the greatest hate actions and hate crimes that have crippled the growth of Nigeria and created the feeling of inequality almost since the federal system was usurped by the early coup and countercoup plotters which set in motion the inequalities perpetuated in governance today. All Nigerians of goodwill were dismissive when in 1978 power began to fail so regularly that children were called ‘child of darkness’ celebrating the return of NEPA with clapping. Then, candles were a major import. This was before the ‘Generator Generation’ and 40 years of deprivation later! I have operated in the abdomen of several women with a torch while politicians luxuriated in generator power. Too many of our frustrations today are directed against distortions to life caused by the discriminatory and hate policies and resultant hate actions of 50 years. Not including ‘maintenance’ in contracts and cancelling history and scholarships and delaying pensions are all ‘Hate Actions’.

    Hate speech is everywhere, assimilated as ‘normal’. We should recommend a ban on two words immediately, without the need for a draconian ‘death sentence’ Hate Speech Bill to be misused in future. Nigerians did not invent the truism that ‘Actions Speak Louder Than Words!’ But Nigerians conveniently put aside the hate actions that lead to reactionary words and label the words of victims of hate policies as hate speakers. They often deny any relationship to the precipitating hate action. This is convenient, but typically arrogant, forgetfulness and deliberate disassociation of cause and action and consequence i.e. actions leading to reactionary words.

    The most glaring hate speech word is ‘MINORITY’ a word that insults and diminishes millions of fellow Nigerians and is used to take government policy ‘Hate Actions’ against many ethnic groups in Nigeria. Victims have had to resort to seek God’s protection by acclaiming ‘One is majority with God’ to fight discrimination and to console themselves when being cheated.

    The second most frequently used ‘Hate Speech’ word is the word ‘WAZOBIA’. This ‘hate speech’ word – ‘WAZOBIA’, a unity clarion call to only ‘big three’ ethnic groups out of 344, seeks to force Nigerian unity. WAZOBIA’s use casually, in comedy and programming is obnoxious, insensitive and ethnic hate speech. WAZOBIANS open the wounds and insult the nerves and sensibilities of the tens of millions of NON-WAZOBIANS who are supposed to be ‘Team Nigeria’. Everyday, too many Nigerian soldiers and police and now even thugs and ordinary voting citizens who are not WAZOBIAN die for a Nigeria lacking in respect for them. WAZOBIA is no longer a joke! Comedians should find other jokes.

    Perhaps if the comedians concentrated comedy on ‘True Federalism’ it may rescue us from ‘False Federalism’ called ‘Unitary Nigeria’ by those with a strangle hold on Nigeria’s purse strings and policies for decades creating the hate speech scenario the NASS-9 seeks to silence with huge N10million fines. Only a Nigerian NASS-9 saturated with huge Salaries and Perks and Constitutional Allowances- SAP, can think that N10m is an OK fine.

  • Rail; NGO, Hate Bills

    Weep Nigeria, well and long. You have been forced to operate at 10% capacity, a failure but alive. But your future was decimated, miniaturized by our leaders who have led us to loss. Blame nobody else, no war or enemy action. While Nigeria wobbled, our sister and senior independent country, Ghana@57, has done it again. Congratulations for signing a ‘High Speed’ train contract for $2.6b with the African Development Bank.

    I asked why Nigeria was not signing high speed railway contracts. I was told Africa is not ‘ripe or ready’ for ‘150-400km high speed’ trains yet. They said that about the cell phone remember? We have the cellphones but no cell phone factory in Africa. But Ethiopia, Kenya and Morocco have active ‘High Speed Railway’ Programmes! Apparently Ghana and the ADB’s Akinwumi Adesina, are following suit. Nigeria ignores its injuries, and loss of trillions of hours of Lagos travel time inflicted upon us in 1983/4 by unitary government’s Buhari’s action cancelling the visionary Lagos State’s local Jakande Metrorail Project. Buhari’s action negatively impacted Nigerians till today. We are stuck in Lagos traffic and Apapa gridlock from persistent government policy myopia. In fact, Nigeria@60 paid a contract cancellation fine of $84m- 184m. The citizens received no apology. Belatedly a second term Governor Fashola rekindled the Lagos railway to partial fruition through the ‘Lagos Light Rail Project’. Stuck in traffic, we stare at the stalled constructed concrete beams hanging over us like a burial tomb. How dare a then serving Lagos State governor, Ambode, repeat painful history and ‘re-cancel’ the light rail perhaps due to differences in contract sums or policy? Instead, gridlock reigns as Lagosians suffer where there should be no suffering -like on the Lagos-Ibadan ‘Expressway’ at the hands of Eighth National Assembly – NASS-8.

     

    ‘How dare a then serving Lagos State governor, Ambode, repeat painful history and ‘re-cancel’ the light rail perhaps due to differences in contract sums or policy? Instead, gridlock reigns as Lagosians suffer where there should be no suffering …’

     

    Even with Obasanjo’s opposition to Lagos and Tinubu, why did Fashola not restart the Lagos city railway back in 2007 with Lagos State’s megabucks Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). But that was not the only ‘failures to grasp future’. Obasanjo recruited late Chief CSO Akande to redraw a national rail master plan. From 1999, Obasanjo had the US, Canadians, Chinese, Indians and Germans begging to support him with railways.  Little or nothing happened and we suffered on.

    Read Also: Hate Speech Bill, a bad law

     

    Nigeria has the disease ‘Developmental Myopia’ plaguing many Nigerian leaders who are technically blind when they attend forward-looking international conferences. They utilise international standards only for self-interest and not spirit and practical people-development. Ride on Ghana. One day, perhaps, Nigeria will be led by ‘Great thinkers and doers’, not those who will execute another ‘Death Sentence’ – willing to kill to ‘win’ state elections. If not, we will remain in this misery in gridlock at roundabouts and on roads formerly called expressways. Even our current 2019 upgrading of railways will need an immediate re-upgrade to the 21st Century. What warped logic says that in 2019 a Lagos Ibadan-Express train has to run just once a day or through Abeokuta instead of a new railway parallel to the existing expressway and run hourly back and forth and side by side on two tracks?

    We must identify several components of the current NASS-9 rush to enact ‘strange fruit’ as new bills- particularly as relates to hate speech and NGO Bills in particular and the much advertised ‘DEATH SENTENCE FOR NEARLY ALL’. Professor Soyinka has spoken against the death penalty. Listen to him. Strangely NASS 1- 9 have never recommended the death sentence for any corruption crime even in billions and costing citizens’ lives. In regard to NGOs, first Nigerians know that government has failed to deliver in spite of trillions, mostly stolen, misappropriated and mis-acquired by all arms of government. In addition, our poor showing on all international positive indices and accompanying actions, including abolishing history, that have caused many NGOs to step up with kobo-kobo private and international resources to cover government failures and fill the gaping hole created mostly by theft and corruption. Poverty and social problems from schools still exist worldwide and need solutions.  Although ‘political and good governance and human rights NGOs’ will be first targets by the ‘full force of law’, old students associations social care-givers and their supporters will follow. After six months in office, nobody will be free.

    The NGO Bill is an all-encompassing draconic Unitarian piece of ‘illegal’ legislation breaching human rights which if passed will cause many to stop involvement as advocates of the needy, back-away from being philanthropists, withdraw volunteer time and reduce money available to be spent often substituting for the failure of governments to provide adequately for the down trodden citizenry. And this as the NASS basks in the stupendous ‘legitimately’ acquired  luxuries of office which would probably be considered before God if not the judge as ‘illegally legal’ or illegitimately or immorally acquired when placed on a scale of every other UN government political structures worldwide and Nigeria’s ‘enforced’ corruption-driven poverty.

    Another NASS-9 Law – ‘Hate Speech’ Law with a Death Sentence. This must go along with ‘Hate Action’ Analysis. You cannot take a comment on a mass murder calling for the prosecution of perpetrators of a particular group as hate speech without full appreciation of the horror of the ‘Hate Action’. Ignoring hate speech in our history which has laid the mistrust of today will merely create government backed illegitimisation of genuine expressed concerns and internationally accepted legitimate responses to Hate Actions today. Nigeria is plagued with more hate action than hate speech.

  • Road; Language; Plastic; Bill

    Don’t laugh. Six hours is a lot. It is a diabolical professional ‘engineering and political will’ disgrace of inhuman dimensions dangerously disrupting the daily duties and lives of many millions of citizens, families, businesses and casual travellers -an economic disaster. It makes rubbish of any tourist agenda. It is true that it took six hours on Sunday November 10, Ibadan to Lagos on the former and now desperately dysfunctional defunct on the 120km Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Still not fit for purpose and postponed till 2020. In that time, the plane passing us in stuck traffic had arrived in London-4000+km. We only wanted to go 120km.

    When it was built in the mid-70s, we travelled the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, when it was an ‘expressway’, in 45 minutes sometimes two or three times a day. Then the potholes came from overweight trailers and poor and no maintenance.  Yes,  we can blame the collapse of the L-I-E on ‘permanent  maintenance failures’ by civil servants and their political and military handlers and the nonsense called ‘tolling’ which was ‘extortion/stealing in disguise’ from travellers money and also overweight, above axle capacity articulated trailers and a 50-year deliberate northern power block rejection of railways. Add to this the apparently inhuman, certainly callous and of course the Eighth National Assembly (NASS-8) which refused to release an allocated N150billion in 2018 Works budget for completion. If allocated for 2018, this N150billion would have saved every one of the over one million suffering citizens- on the road sometimes two to six hours of their lives/day wasted throughout 2019. Instead the NASS-8 diverted the N150b to constitution projects. EFCC is making some of NASS-8 members sweat as they ‘account’ for the money. But we have lost forever, those wasted millions of hours in 2018 and now millions of hours every single day x 365 days of 2019. Amazingly the last three months were not enough to finish the job and so the road, a common 120km road is to be finished in 2020 -perhaps????

     

    There are many new areas of study opportunity if only universities open their eyes on behalf of the students to fulfill the projected needs of the nation. Set up departments of drone development, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, plant chemistry and pharmacology, renewable energy studies in partnership with foreign universities and corporate body support

     

    The word ‘maintenance’ should be compulsorily introduced into our government contracts and lexicon. And government officials and political parties must ‘hands off gratification from contracts’ believed to be 30-70% of the contract sum.  Now the Minister of Works tells us the roads are ‘Not as bad as road users claim’. He should sit for six hours on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. ‘Mr President -Give Us Our Road Back’.

    University Foreign Language: Yes, universities mean universal education opportunity and acquisition. But how can a university make foreign languages compulsory for all its courses i.e. every student must learn a foreign language?  Is that really the next great thing for university students in Nigeria -another unnecessary burden – being forced to study a language they mostly do not want or need? Presumably university students already have at least one foreign language, English, which is the language of communication. Certainly create new and refreshingly different courses in railway engineering with Chinese support but remember that technology is not the preserve of China alone and many English-speaking countries in the developed world also run high speed railways. If I were a vice chancellor or chairman of council, I would recognize that certainly our university Department of ‘Future Research and Development’ needs to Google and study the 1000 different and overlapping courses and curriculum available in the top 100-150 universities and polytechnics worldwide and synthesise them into some new courses that can be offered locally, with help from abroad if necessary- and preferably in English. It is a pity that too many students in Nigeria are trapped, even before any clear thought, into studying the same old courses and course content.

     

    Read Also: Fashola to appear before Reps over state of Nigerian roads

     

    How many of Nigeria’s over 120 universities themselves ‘Study the courses and curriculum content of the top 50 universities worldwide’? A comparison with local universities will surely enrich their own courses and content. There are many new areas of study opportunity if only universities open their eyes on behalf of the students to fulfill the projected needs of the nation. Set up departments of drone development, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, plant chemistry and pharmacology, renewable energy studies in partnership with foreign universities and corporate body support. To this end Dangote, NNPC, Glo, Zenith and other top players in the stock exchange must look beyond their ETF and TEF contribution to tertiary education. They should take lessons from their counterpart corporate bodies abroad who invest in and request universities to develop strategies to investigate and solve problems encountered in their business, service and manufacturing environment. This they can do by sponsoring conferences but, much better, by actually providing grants international cutting-edge high technology science equipment to get cutting edge research done in the core areas of growth.

    Ban Plastic bags etc.: Nasarawa has established a ‘Solid Waste Management Plant’ targeted at reducing ‘plastic and polythene material’ pollution to make the state clean and reduce floods. All state governments should take note and implement similar projects before plastic strangles Nigeria. When will Nigeria ban plastic already banned in 10 African countries?

    The ‘Amended Deep Offshore Act’ or Bill signed by vacationing president in UK: Will Nigeria really get $1.5b per annum instead of the current $250m? Who will pay for governments which ignored this revenue until the president was in the winter UK environment? Government staff must be made more accountable and prosecutable for the consequences of their actions and inactions.

  • INEC: Ameyo Stella, RIP

    ABCDEFGGHI=Avoid Bribery & Corruption Daily Everywhere For Good Governance Here Immediately for a Nigeria@60.

    When a man steals N1billion from the education budget is he not mad? Is he not a ‘murderer of Nigeria’s children’s mind’ and a terrorist and a high-ranking Boko Haram leader – the unarmed wing? The EFCC is alive and well. Much more please before they steal.

    We the citizens need to and want to and do love Nigeria. We know Nigeria should be much better after the huge unsung and unappreciated efforts of our parents, ourselves and our children. Those who seek and take and sometimes seize the leadership must know this and require a serious attitudinal change, otherwise Nigeria will not last forever. Nigerians mostly do not elect thieves. The elected strangely ‘elect’ to steal upon their election, ‘selection’ or ‘stealing the election’ aka ‘stealection’.

    ELECTION: Any political office holder can decide not to steal. Elections loom in Kogi and Bayelsa states. INEC is again faced with the prospect of yet another violence-prone election. INEC is not a security agency. It is merely to provide an election. The political parties should keep the peace, not INEC. Do not blame INEC or even the police if violent party people steal ballots and kill people. Blame the parties.

    Why do we loving citizens of Nigeria, to which we have given so much, live in fear of the oppressive actions of each succeeding ‘elected’ government and its local agents? Nigerians feel unprotected by government. We are under-policed and even robbed by the uniformed services. Nigerians feel they need protection from the government of the day confirmed by the current wave of insecurity, attacks in broad daylight traffic, robberies, kidnapping and mayhem even by uniformed agencies. Recently four FRSC staff were accused of murder. Can you believe that? When did traffic control authority become a ‘license to kill’? These agents, mostly unsupervised, are mostly greedy and dishonest with no psychological evaluation.

    Our police are murdered so that judges and others can be kidnapped. The press ignores the dead policemen and their families. Yet we are all equal in the sight of God.

    I know you do not remember to teach your children this. I know Nigeria, with its pathetic 10 year ‘Review Cycle’ Curriculum Review Committee Method, does not have a programme to teach all its 50million+ children this. ‘This’ is the huge story and lessons from the short life of Ameyo Stella Adadevoh, the female medical doctor and medical martyr and her co-martyrs who died and also those who survived confronting Ebola in an Ikoyi Obalende Hospital Lagos. She, Ameyo, died on Aug 19, 2014 and the episode is remembered in the film 93.  She was named by her father Professor Kwaku and Mrs. Deborah Adadevoh after her aunty, Stella Ameyo Folasade Marinho, nee Adadevoh who had a stellar nursing career in London, UCH Ibadan and then back in the UK, where she retires as a nursing sister and returned to Ibadan. ‘Aunty Stella’ was a grand-daughter of Herbert Macaulay and was much loved by her families of Marinho, Adadevoh and Macaulay and friends. Sadly this lady, the senior Stella Ameyo, has also died recently at 83, in Ibadan. We mourn her as we join her children Ade Jerome and Bunmi Marinho and their families in prayers for her safe repose.

    However five years after the doctor’s own premature death and as we bury her Aunt Stella Ameyo Marinho, we must use the death of her aunt to demand long overdue ‘Memorial’ action. Another death and a subsequent funeral create a powerful stage from which to join others demanding quick action from President Buhari and governors. They and their ministers and commissioners of Women Affairs, Health and Education must correct the non-recognition for Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh-Cardoso and the other medical workers, dead and alive. Living heroes and heroines are also valuable to the nation.

    The ‘Ebola-stoppers’ deserve posthumous and other awards and recognition and the naming of some permanent structure not for their sake but so that generations unborn will learn to do good. When will their story become compulsory history in the Nigerian primary and secondary school curriculum? When will their story be used as source and plot thematic material for theatre production in the many undergraduate theatre arts departments and faculties and even ‘Medical School Drama Nites’? There are many women’s groups and NGOs like Zonta, Inner Wheel, Girl Guides, women professional bodies in medicine, law, engineering, architecture et cetera. Do not forget several thousand old students and old girls associations. Each should immediately plan to award a ‘Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh [and coworkers] Prize for Selfless Service’, if they have not already done so to encourage and motivate their impressionable youth.  Perhaps the Obalende roundabout and a girl’s school and a female medical students hostel in for example Unilag where her father was vice chancellor and a female ward in General Hospital, Broad Street and a Virology Laboratory, and a corner or seat in the Gardens and Parks scattered across Nigeria can be named for her, Dr Adadevoh and the other heroes. They belong to us all and anyone can immortalise their memory. Such awards would be inspirational for all who hear about them, men and women, boys and girls to venture into science and science professions, promote girl-child education. Awards are not only for politicians.

  • Edozien; NASS: Prorogue, Laundering

    Al-Baghdadi, violent Islamic Caliphate and ISIS leader, is dead by the Americans. Any positive import on Nigeria’s painful anti-ISIS war?

    Professor Emmanuel Edozien, the Ojiba of Asaba, died on October 5 at 81 years old. He will be remembered by his contemporaries, corporate and government contacts, fellow economists and administrators, Catholic church and charity beneficiaries, students, family and friends by the many ways he positively contributed to their personal, professional, medical and societal progress and development. For us in Educare Trust, Professor Edozien has been a foundation patron since 1994. His particular fatherly enthusiasm towards the youth and personal grasp of repercussive dangers to society from ignoring youth development culminated in Educare Trust ideals. These are 1] Decentralise CSR to grassroots- the marketplace, distributorship sources of corporate funds instead of remote HQ CSR in Lagos and Abuja only and 2] ‘Building Permanent Youth Centres, one in each ward.  He used his corporate strength to guide the shareholders at PZ Cussons, to achieve the ‘Nigerian Youth Dream’ of a ‘PZ -C Permanent Youth Centre’ a reality for millions of ‘unknown’ youth.

    We pray God will console the Professor Emmanuel family. May he rest in perfect peace. Amen.

    Legacies, like Professor Edozien, are of value when we learn, build and act on them positively. And many LGAs and government collaborating with corporate Nigeria, take up the legacy of opening Entrepreneurship Inspirational Youth Centres in every one of Nigeria’s 16,000 wards. If not, the growing reactionary youth will totally consume us.

    How to partially prorogue NASS:

    I called last week for ‘New Bills to Prorogue [cancel/suspend] senate or House of Representatives (HoR) to force a partial NASS suicide’ to save an ailing Nigeria oppressed by a poor-performing political class and with over N100billion savable. Many citizens questioned the possibility of NASS taking this milestone by removing this overpriced political millstone from the neck of a drowning Nigeria from ‘NASS@SalariesAndPerks’, SAPing us dry.

    Answer: ‘Nothing Ventured- Nothing Gained’. ‘Let the NASS Reduction Games Begin’. The European Union (EU) has many EU-hating UK Brexit-eers as UK- MEP Members of the European Parliament. We need more politicians who want to reduce NASS size. It is not crime but a citizen’s right to remodel parliament. The associations of political parties, professional and allied bodies [NBA, NMA, ASSU, NANS, NUT, NLC and other unions and student umbrella groups and even socio-cultural and sports development associations and clubs must come together with the Association of CSO, CBOs and NGOs including JDPC to write new ‘NASS Partial Prorogue Bills’ and state level while Nigeria still has a nation to remodel.

    The needed ‘NASS Reduction Bills’ can be written by and debated at NBA meetings and by competition among every law student groups, law faculties and volunteer firms and individual lawyers:

    1] Bill to convert the bicameral house to one house and prorogue [suspend/ cancel] The Nigerian Senate [or House of Representatives] without compensation.’

    2]  Bill to elect only one senator per state in a new 37-member senate’ or

    3] Bill to reduce HoR membership to one or two [choose] per state

    4] Bill to have NASS members fully funded by their states of origin

    5] Bill to allow for ‘Sitting Allowances Only’ for NASS members, paid by the state of origin

    6] Bill to put all political office holders on existing but elongated salary scale up to level 25

    Let NASS start the ‘Bill Ball’ rolling. At first the Berlin Wall, fall was a dream, a joke. It fell. We will overcome NASS bloatedness. Amen.

    NASS Image Laundering:

    Tragically, instead of ‘Partially Proroguing’ itself, NASS sets up a committee to ‘Launder the NASS Image’. NASS members tarnished the NASS image by their greed, lack of stellar and timely performance, defensive clannishness when questioned, verbal abuse of citizens summoned before it and being too petty to attain the ‘political moral high ground’? ‘Laundering’ is required when something is dirty, illegal or wrong and needing cleansing, legalizing or righting. In ‘Money Laundering’ a criminal act, stolen money or crime proceeds are ‘made clean’ by injecting stolen money into ‘legitimate’ businesses.

    Nigerians are familiar with image laundering by past Nigerian governments which covered their odiferous and  traditional ‘failure of the country to thrive’ by hiring expensive foreign ‘Hollywood-style’ PR image makers to ‘de-toxify’, sanitise and otherwise ‘spin’ their self-inflicted tarnished images. We used to cringe in shame as foreign friends made rude jokes while reading ‘laundered lies’ which ‘PR laundrymen’ disseminated in numerous pages of military and other ‘Nigerian Government Adverts’ in Newsweek, Time, and international newspapers- costing millions of dollars to Nigerian citizens.

    Please tell NASS that the ‘NASS Image Laundering Committee’ is unnecessary. Self-examination is best and ask EFCC, CSOs, NGOs and the social Media for answers. NASS actions and deliberate inactions perhaps for gratification, god-fatherism, poor performance and recycling, all contributed.  NASS should ‘Act Responsibly’ with ‘political power’ and stop doing anything it cannot honestly explain to EFCC, God or in public. Slash SAPs to ‘sitting allowances only’ and paid by the state of origin. Cut NASS to one House, preferably the HoR. Cut or cancel the NASS pension scam/‘scheme’. Slash bill and budget approval times. Normalise January-December budget year. NASS members should consult in home states. Initiate ‘Operation Restructure Nigeria’.

    Look worldwide. People protesting politicians everywhere. Nigeria demands better, faster, permanent progress from politicians. Roads, railways and culverts, corrupted by 30-50% kickback contracts corruption cannot live up to ‘construction standards’ or construct themselves.

  • Wanted: Prorogue NASS Bills

    You heard ‘prorogue’ first just three weeks ago. Nigeria also needs Bills to Prorogue [suspend/cancel] senate or House of Representatives to force a partial NASS suicide for economic savings of N100b+ and quick political parliamentary action -a ‘change’ situation.

    The NLC has forced the federal government into a pay agreement. All federal employees including politicians up to president require to be on the ‘Single National Pay Spreadsheet’.

    The NLC ignored an opportunity to fight for 1] Political office holders to be on levels up to Level 23-25 for President. 2] Political ‘Salaries and Perks’ be reduced, and 3] Introduce ‘Pay Reduction Reforms’ in the criminally outrageous ‘Political Pay and Pension Structure’.

    The NLC seems to have joined a political class least committed to the ‘Nigeria Dream and Project’ even though politicians are among the highest paid political officials worldwide.

    Strategically, the NLC, like NASS rejects its vital contribution to the Nigerian Dream, except on pay structure matters. Worldwide, the workers have checkmated unbridled politicians. Remember Lech Walesa and the Solidarity strikes in Gdansk in Poland? It is Nigeria’s turn for fast change.

    United, the big unions can force foot-dragging politicians to 1] Restructure salaries and 2] Restructure the country. How dare NASS repeatedly take N125-150b for 469 [109+360] NASS members? ASUU and the NMA are strong unions which must harness their intellectual power towards national issues including protesting almost criminally negligent poor FG budget for 1]Education and 2] Health totally just N94b which dangerously threatens the physical and mental capacity for knowledge acquisition of ‘A Healthy Mind In A Healthy Body’ of all youth nationwide. Beyond conference communiques ‘falling of deaf political ears’, did ASUU or the NMA cry out at this imminent failure of good governance?

    ASUU voice is strangely silent. Perhaps because of the can of worms of ASUU lecherous lecturers and prostituting professors, performing and receiving academic sexual favours matching Harvey Weinstein’s horror Hollywood stories. This sex for marks, demanded by treacherous teachers or offered by entrapping students, is ancient and modern. Make use of ASUU ‘Think Tanks’ capacity and the NLC to ‘Restructure Themselves’ and strategize to cut the cost of government.

    Ask why no politician since 1999 from any party has rejected the Salaries and Perks ‘seized’ from the budget. One day, NLC’s conditions for accepting a new pay deal will include a cut in NASS ‘Salaries and Perks’, numbers and houses. Government will never downsize itself -political suicide or Hara-kiri.

    Politicians do not mind if you kill or die during elections but are not, so far, nationalistic enough to self-sacrifice and commit political suicide for the greater good.

    The Buhari government has cut trips by ministers and seated them in business class. Hurray! It will save a few million naira, but loopholes must be blocked. The Buhari government has submitted to NASS a law increasing VAT to 7.5%, up from 5% punishing the poor further. Buhari conveniently ‘forgot’ to add a ‘VAT Formula Modification’ clause to the Bill to correct the corrupt VAT Distribution Formula. No to more ‘VAT Robbery’ of high VAT states to criminally enrich VAT-less states. The IMF was silent on this discriminatory aspect of VAT. The IMF should always sniff around and research the secret agendas of Nigerian ‘wonder’ policies.

    The President has ordered a forensic audit of NDDC. Good. Please add the Amnesty Programme and the IDP funding. Four years late as he would have saved NDDC billions and seen more projects completed by now. Where the President’s party’s Restructuring Policy Bill ensuring devolving functions and funds to the State and LGA level? Where is the government’s ‘NASS Downsizing Bill’?

    Buhari’s ‘change’ manta leadership is wearing thin. Police are still taking bribes at checkpoints – stopped easily by suspending/sacking the supervising DPO or CP in affected states or the IGP. The infamous Aso Rock ‘kitchen cabinet’ should ‘breakfast with Buhari’ on bills needing immediate delivery by the federal government or its party members to the NASS. The citizens are tired of dying for policies and politics and politicians, it is time for the politicians to work or die, politically-speaking, for the good of the citizens and Nigeria. A season of political suicide is better than Nigeria’s murder.  Let the following bills be presented and re-presented until they are passed….

    1] Bill to downsize NASS and convert the bicameral house to one house -Senate or HOR

    2] Bill to Prorogue Senate without Compensation [WC].’ or

    3] Bill to prorogue House of Representatives WC.’

    4] Bill to elect only one senator per state in a new 37-member Senate’.

    5] Bill to reduce HOR membership to one member per state.

    6] Bill to have NASS members’ fully funded including house and allowances and any pension’ by their states of origin.

    7] Bill to allow for ‘Sitting Allowances Only’ for NASS members, paid by the state of origin.

    8] Bill to Restructure Nigeria by restructuring exclusive and concurrent list.

    Let’s start the ‘Bill Ball’ rolling. NASS Bills take years. It will sound like a joke until suddenly it is serious, and we succeed. Only when politicians stop laughing will the citizens begin to laugh.

    The only permanent thing is change. Worldwide arrogant corrupt presidents and ministers are jailed, and parliaments are reduced as political and economic necessities. President Buhari, self-styled ‘Mr Change’: Worldwide harmful traditions and customs like Female Genital Mutilation are being eliminated before their cancer destroys the country. Our cancerous 1999 constitution and NASS need ‘change’.