The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tony Marinho

Dividends or Demands of Democracy? Envir/ Land Use Demands – Terrorist Taxation: A ’penkele mess’

Alhaji Lam Adesina, Former Governor and ACN leader in Oyo State is dead. We console his family. May he Rest in Peace. His legacy, limitations and achievements, will be analysed politically. All governors must think of their legacy. Today the living working citizens have serious economic challenges in Oyo State aggravated by IGR strategies. This requires intervention by current Governor Ajimobi.

A letter from a State Commissioner may appreciate you for ‘services rendered’ or be an Internally Generated Revenue Demand. The citizens are asking from government agencies ‘When is a ‘‘legality’’ an immorality?’ Bad Breaking News 1 on 1-11-2012: The Environmental Ministry’s Commissioner Dauda signed a dreaded ‘Demand Notice: Annual Environment Development Charges’ for my and hundreds of other business premises, N50,000/annum backdated 3 years to 2009 before this government came in. This N200,000 is payable ‘within three weeks or you.. ]face] a fine, imprisonment, seal of premises – 2004 law.

Bad Breaking News 2 on 29-10-12: Courier letter dated 29-10-2012 delivered on 9-11-2012 -10 days lost. Finance Commissioner Adelabu signed to me and hundreds of others a 2012 Land Use Charge of N126,000 for commercial use of building within 30 days. We could pay a discounted N107,000 if paid by 13-11-12, N157,500 paying between 13-28 Dec, N189,000 paying between 29 Dec-Jan 28 2013 and N252,000 paying between 29 Jan-28 Feb 2013, or ‘property will be liable to receivership by the state or its agent and any other ENFORCEABLE reliefs.

How can a charge double in four months? Does that make it easier to pay? Is this mere law enforcement or extortion? Is this bad political advice, legalised illegality or political rascality like when ‘people’ working during Adedibu/Akala’s time extorted up N20,000 ‘within one week’ from Ibadan businesses for ‘fire protection’? Those promoting excessive government charges should explain and perhaps be ‘sued’ by Civil Society and Consumer Protection Agencies. Are these government charges, their size, time frame, threat factor and insulting wordings not ‘terrorist tactics/Tax Terrorism similar to colonial taxation? Imagine if we had enforcing state police. We should feel at home in a state we love, not in occupied territory.

Let public officials publish their own payments for charges in their business officers and homes. We hear the Residence Charges are coming also. What an unpleasant End of Year present from Government for an ‘annus horribilis’ with the January fuel strikes, poor power, dwindling business, November fuel scarcity and N120/litre fuel. Now triple taxation! Does government want blood from stone?The Governor, as a professional, businessman and politician, should please intervene. Can the Governor please cut the fees by 80% and cut out corruption opportunities of ‘negotiation’? A little from a lot of citizens is better than a lot from a few. Obama and the Red Cross made ‘billions’ from millions of $10-50 donations and not $1000s from a few.

These charges may breach the human rights of citizens who deserve civility not ‘demands’. Just because someone calls it ‘TAX’ or ‘Charge’ or ‘Demand’ does not make it morally correct in amount. Even if it is ‘legitimate’ and ‘IGR’, Fellow Nigerian citizens need protection from overzealous taxation. Where is the Citizens Ombudsman? The authors of excessive tax bills should be cautioned and sanctioned because their wild assessments are causing panic among their tax victims, the voting Nigerians of 2015. This ‘mental assault’ intimidates the citizens and the letters should be rewritten. There should be trust and mutual respect between citizens and government, not a master servant relationship. This is not a human face of government.Does no one uphold the SERVICON pact not to abuse the citizens’ trust and respect?

Would the Commissioners writing these letters be happy to receive letters promising such violence and vitriol? The bills are too high, too late in the year, with too short a notice for payment and too severe punishments. Does government want us to steal to pay these bills? Whenever the amount is agreed, bills and rents can be more easily paid by 12 monthly instalments like in civilised countries instead of once annually, ‘within one month’. An honest business professional could lose his business for this while the dishonest one will pay up and even ‘bribe up’. Meanwhile billions are stolen in government inflated contracts and corruption nationwide daily for no punishment.

IGR must be ‘Intelligently’ and empathetically collected. Are these letters different from the threatening text messages and letters sent by Boko Haram, kidnappers and robbers forcing citizens to pay ‘protection’? They have ‘legal’ backing but every schoolboy knows the quote ‘The law is an ass’ and interpreted differently by every lawyer and judge. Indeed the ‘law is a manipulated ass’ used by authorities to legalise immorality. The principle of environmental care and land use are good but extortion is not.

Firstly a charge for 2012 is issued in November 2012. Secondly, which financial wizardry makes N126,000 malignantly become N252,000 in four months, 300% interest per annum? Is that legal? Neither the Mafia nor Shakespeare’s Shylock and his ‘pound of flesh’ charge such interest rates? A la Adelabu of old, this is a ‘’penkele mess’’ demand of democracy, not a dividend. The citizen needs protected from government agents paid by citizens’ taxes. Struggling business, education and health services lift the state’s income and reputation. They are not pariah or the enemy but partners in state progress. The governor can intervene. For me, Agodi prison is a real 2013 possibility.

November 14, 2012
Felabration, Felamuseum are great! Annual ‘Soyinka Nobel Grant’ and Soyinkamuseum?

Felabration, Felamuseum are great. Nigerian leaders should think ‘legacy’ and count the country’s losses in potential revenues from creative sources. They should study the success of the musical Fela and know that they are responsible for loss of millions in income which has been mopped up by the Amercians.

It is not too late, with the family of Fela, for the federal government, Lagos and Ogun State governments and the banking and communication giants to sponsor Nollywood and National Theatre stage and mount separate film, stage and radio Fela-licious productions. They could be called for example the recently coined Felabration, or Felamania or Felaforever or Felafever.The world appreciate a home-grown version. In this Nigerian production his children and grandchildren can play Fela at different stages of his life. Such ventures as these, the film and stage musical, will be major boosts to Nigeria’s documentary history. The music score is already laid by Fela himself and can be added to by Fela aficionados.

Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka with his personal experience of Fela’s antecedents, may be persuaded to take on the task or at least supervise others. In civilised countries a Nobel Prize winner in Literature would have been given an annual ‘Laureate Grant’ to come up with an annual performance to tour Nigeria and perhaps the world to promote Nigeria and offer a conduit for others to achieve higher heights. But no, we will await a death in the family to express what might have been and eat ‘cow’. The late great Steve Rhodes would have been ideal to participate in this project. Of course new blood must be given free reign to get a new perspective on the Felathing.This project is an investment, entrepreneurial, job creation, money spinning venture at home and abroad. It is not a charitable enterprise but a business venture to benefit all concerned and the nation. It should therefore be taken on after study of the success of Fela and the other ones from South Africa – Ipitombi and Umoja from South Africa.

It goes without saying that Nobel laureates deserve an annual grant from governments to do what they do best in their area of expertise –to draw the attention of the world. Abroad Chemistry and other science Nobel laureates attract massive grants and funding to their chosen field and universities. Soyinka should be in control of a large grant from which he would dispense funds to artistic protégés and projects nationwide as well as being able to put up an annual radio play and film. How much would he have needed for this? N25-50-100m Soyinka Nobel Laureate grant is not too much as a start. Witness the enthusiasm for ‘instant millionaires and imagine the enthusiasm for one of 10 Annual Soyinka Grants of N200,000 -500,000 each towards plays and films funded by government realising that this strategy combats crime and keeps youth occupied and enthusiastic. It is an employer of labour. Image the anticipation nationwide of the 1st or 15th Annual Soyinka play!

The arts world in Nigeria is very dry without budgeted government and private sector grants. Abroad these are taken seriously as lottery and grants are targeted at the arts in all its forms. We cannot expect South African MTN to sponsor a rival to South African Ipitombi? Maybe Glo will take up the challenge instead of wasting so much on bonanzas etcetera. Here in Nigeria art was an aside except for the mainstream pop music and magic or ‘violence’ films until the reality shows helped. Our art is making waves abroad through Nollywood and AfricaMagic. We must continue the evolution and add to the cerebral depth that has already been achieved. This requires budgets and funding. Has the $200m promised the arts by the President materialised? There is no excuse for ’starving’ Soyinka and others of the funds that will bring honour on radio, stage and in film worldwide. While Soyinka will live a long time, I dread to think of the ‘what might have been’ stories in future. An immediate annual Nobel Laureate Grant in the Arts budgets of the Federal Government and Soyinka-loving states will solve this problem and salve our consciences by funding a new generation of Soyinka works and the works of those sponsored, nurtured and supported by Soyinka and other great Nigerian artists like Kilani and Professor Ishola Akinwunmi. Just one percent of all those thousands of hundreds of ‘billions’ stolen and lost in gas flaring will more than change the face of art in Nigeria. If funds were spent on these developmental and constructive activities there would be much less for politicians and criminal contractors and civil servants to steal. Congrats to Governor Fashola of Lagos for agreeing to have a Felamuseum – a small step in the right direction. We do not have to await a death before having a museum. It is now we should be building a new and exciting Soyinka Exhibition/ Museum to house Soyinka’s life and times, works and worries, poems and prose, photographs and newspaper headlines, music and struggles, politics and successes. Imagine what that Soyinkamuseum will be like with Soyinka’s and Tunji Oyelana’s ‘Chairman’ playing, screens showing Kongi’s Harvest snips and plays and books displayed. Imagine how inspiring it would be to be at the Soyinkamuseum and see him walking through and talking to you. Imagine if Felamuseum had opened during Fela’s life time.

November 7, 2012
Plane crash, poor state hospital; Jonathan’s 3rd peaceful election’; ‘Nigeria’s Corruption Carpet’

News: Plane crash in Yola. Sorry, but whose money? Is Yola General Hospital well equipped enough to receive plane crash victims? Governors must think about people, not personal profits. Congrats to President Jonathan for maintaining the election peace in the Presidential, Edo and Ondo elections–a hat trick. No violence- a true legacy.

While malignant corruption festers, a dying Nigeria teaches in schools that the theft of a goat is seven years in jail while a multibillion theft will fetch you a choice hospital holiday and ‘plea bargaining’ by returning 1/10th of the stolen money – punishment inversely proportional to the crime. Political righteous indignation at oil baron thieves is misplaced. They are all the same –thieves of votes or money! The judiciary has failed us. Imagine the judiciary ‘awarding’ a child molester only two years in jail with option of N80,000 fine. A fine for such a crime against your daughter, Mr What Justice?

The true guardians of people’s right to a better life–NLC, ASUU, NMA, NANS, NUT, PENGASSAN – deserve GCFR for their guarding of the republic, their sacrifices and foresight. When they protest on behalf of the downtrodden, the downtrodden and the politicians shower curses on them for ‘not being patriotic’. The real thieving culprits are ‘dividends of democracy’ politicians, contractors, conmen and especially civil servants drawing up ‘no work-no pay’ agreements. They have all stolen us blind leaving the citizens to ‘manage’ crumbs and still expected to be grateful as the politicians award each other more and more PPPs-Prizes, Profits and Plaques and ‘Best Governorships’.

Ribadu’s NNPC revelations amount to N86.6b or N577 /Fellow Nigerian, the $5b waste from gas flaring or N5,000/Nigerian, the megabillion pension scams, the N44billion UBE unaccessed funds or N600/ Fellow Nigerian Youth, the 30-70% contract percentage kickbacks for contracts, the electricity multimegabillion scam, Ladi Kwali Hall conferences, juicy NASS oversight allowances and customs ‘customers’ make massive needless suffering and death for the citizens. Scams amount to more than N10,000/Fellow Nigerian/per annum in losses. We have allocated enough contractor funds to build a road around the world and still we meekly accept to risk our lives and die on potholed death-trap and gridlocked Lagos-Ibadan, Ore-Benin and the East-West roads. Enough of billionaire contractors!

A serious government would have ‘A National Road Emergency Strategy’ and divide roads into 10-20km blocks and award them to hundreds of hungry qualified contractors for rapid completion. As in primary school the favourite example was: If one contractor can build a road in 36 months, 10 contractors can build it in 3.6 months. Or one big billionaire contractor should employ 10 times the staff working at 10 points to finish the work in one tenth the time – 3.6 months. It is criminal to give one billionaire political contractor a 300km road to build in 36 or 48 months. Nations in a hurry know better. And Nigeria needs to hurry into the 21st Century.

These revelations have lifted one tiny corner of ‘The Corruption Carpet’ covering Nigeria. We are horrified by the huge stealing while the same officials ‘lament’ about ‘poor allocations’ and ‘government cannot do it alone’. But ‘government can steal alone’!

The protests by Nigeria’s unions are at the serial abuse and poor treatment by politicians and absence of ‘civilisation indices’ in spite of great wealth hidden from the public scrutiny. In education these ‘civilisation indices’ are a friendly learning environment. In health these ‘civilisation indices’ are modern medical equipment and 16,400 Primary Health Centres –one per Ward, 21st Century equipment as used by brilliant medical Nigerians abroad. But in our medical ‘counterfeit centres of excellence’ only the signboard says ‘excellence’.

Nigerians, not just those who fly to hospitals abroad at our expense, deserve modern equipment as a birthright from our wealth. For the physically challenged, ‘civilisation indices’ include modern movement aids, braille, wheelchair access and computerised prosthetic limbs. For roads ‘civilisation indices’ include the thousands of side roads which must be ‘guttered’ and tarred. In transport we lack thousands of kilometres of railway tracks and modern human mass transit bus and monorail. On youth issues ‘civilisation indices’ include 16,400 non-political ‘Ward Youth Centres’. In addition we require serious entrepreneurial training, a broader job market, sponsored computerised sports databases, mini stadia and holiday coaching camps. On sanitation, ‘civilisation indices’ dictate that communities has rights to water and toilets. ‘Civilisation indices’ require we are malaria, polio and pothole free and also corruption free. With this money Nigeria can afford free quality health and education.

When will politicians learn to leave professionals alone to do their job? Nigerians have been ‘managing’ or coping with nonsense government and running ‘on empty’ since the military era. Stop corruption and fill Nigeria’s tank with the unstolen money. Government distribution of Sallah ram and Xmas rice to the few will not solve our corruption problems.

Nigerians do not want ‘dividends of democracy’ but return of the stolen ‘dividends of being Nigerians’. There is a lot to spend that stolen money on. Why do we allow theft when so many are deprived?

PS: How do Nigeria’s $billions ‘disappear’ untraced? Poor systems without computerisation, dishonest supervision and corrupt policing! Who own the colluding banks? Will the colluding managers, accountants, auditors and drivers escape unpunished? A bold leadership, non-political, must clean Nigeria’s stinking Augean Stable before Nigeria dies. Work and pray-with both eyes open or they will steal you too!

October 31, 2012
Saving 1,000,000 LIVES; Nobel Prize for MDG inventors; Poor Health Budget AGAIN!

I am an obstetrician, a courier delivering babies to paediatricians. The new initiative ‘Saving 1,000,000 lives’ is a good one as a health professional is only as good as the equipment at hand. The Nigerian delivery system must be forced into the 21st Century with an electronic fetal monitor, sonicaid, in every labour room and the alert line for safe delivery must move to above Apgar Score 5. Government should ensure that medical equipment only attracts single digit bank interest loans! Why is medical equipment more expensive here than in the USA or UK?

What is the fate of a baby in a country where policemen accompanying vaccinators are killed? We are faced with preventable diseases including ‘Ignorance’ and malaria. IGNORANCE ELIMINATION and EDUCATION are keys to good heath. ‘Saving 1,000,000 lives’ requires that there is a multimillion naira Health/Media Outreach Budget and scheduled Health Ministries/all Media houses meetings for life skill messages/advertisements. Is there CSR ‘free’ airtime, 30-60minutes/day divided into 30-60 seconds slots for life skill messages?

Why do the Secretary General of the UN, Directors of WHO and UNICEF not select 50-100 most important life skill messages annually for the ‘Global Fund Membership’ as ‘Global Fund Advert Moral Media Group’ and disseminate them on commercial packaging and in international and national media?

Where are the UN, WHO, UNICEF incentives, Annual Prizes for ‘Best life Skill Message’, ‘Best Corporation in Life Skill Dissemination’? Only a fool depends on Bill Gates and BMGF, UNICEF, DFID etc to buy local airtime to save his own children.

Non-life saving commercial messages out-number ‘life skill health and social’ messages in the media by 100-1000:1. Can the megabucks advertising billions and CSR schemes/scams be harnessed by an ‘Annual UN/WHO/UNICEF Moral Media Campaign’ for ‘ignorance elimination’ strategies? Let every commercial message carry a ‘piggyback’ ‘Unrelated Life Skill Message’ at no extra charge. Cigarettes and alcohol carry negative messages. Every other commercial product can carry piggyback messages. That ‘Social Message Advert Revolution’ will change the world! Women still get pregnant without taking pre-pregnancy folic acid to help prevent anencephalus and early abortion. Why is this, and malaria and typhoid information not taught in schools?

Health facilities in Africa are a human right. Our Polio, Onchocerciasis, AIDS adverts, ATM, Insecticide Treated Nets programmes are successes of Rotary, Carter, Bill Gates and the Global Fund which ‘Grant’ Africa Life while Nigerian fathers do not buy ITN for their children? Do our markets, schools or religious houses even have cartoon posters with preventive health messages? Religious leaders should save the body and soul. The media must become morally involved in Medical Ignorance Elimination.

Professor Ransome-Kuti championed Primary Health Care (PHC) and Clinics -one in every ward 16,400. ‘Saving 1,000,000 lives’ demands 10-20million posters to fill the 1.5million classrooms and 10,000 markets with life skill messages at Coca Cola-like advert saturation level? Politicians readily see the need to make 10m personal portrait posters for votes but will never budget for 10m life skill health posters for 100m+ Nigerians. A picture is worth a 1000 words except in Africa. These PHCs need funds. There is a survey ‘The Sorry State Of PHCs’ in The Nation Tue Oct 9. The government hospitals are also in the 19th Century resulting in ‘Out Of Stock-itis’.

The Mortality Rates are known but one death in a family is 100% death and pain for the family especially if it is due to preventable diseases like malaria. There is a lack of political love. The ‘Saving 1,000,000 lives’ project notes that a lack of drugs, water, sanitation, happy to work personnel, power and simple equipment are ‘political diseases’ stacked against the ill, malaria-ous child. Delay is deadly! Nigerian children should not suffer, neglect, hardship and difficulty and our passport should not condemn our babies and children to the lowest rung on the world’s mortality rates ladder.

Annual professionals’ meetings should provide an annual ‘State Of The State, Nation- An Audit’ highlighting solutions because politicians are ignorant of budgetary needs. Shamefully politicians have allocated a mere 6.04% of Nigeria’s 2013 budget to health instead of the 15 to 20% recommended, so how do we ‘Save 1,000,000 lives’?

Medical management is not nuclear physics. The current ‘save one million lives’ is anticipating need and avoiding greed! It is preventive strategies, posters and media messages, kindness, medicines and equipment and replacements. The ‘work happiness factor’ demands 3 monthly painting, carpentry work, and refurbishment. Training is a special area- newsletters are as valuable as SMS updates. Specific skills may require ‘short course’ rotations through experts.

The original MDG idea team deserve a Noble Prize in Preventive Medicine for forcing governments to attempt to achieve standards saving millions of lives. start a campaign.

Much of our problem is from the CINS of politicians – Corruption, Incompetence, Negligence and Selfishness. No medical professional should have to treat malaria without facilities. Delay is death. But politicians have not yet even realised the tremendous value of water, for sanitation and thirst, as a human right.

Persuade the politicians that the solution to Nigeria’s malaria and other health problems lies not in more multimillion naira Ladi Kwali Hall conferences and four wheel drive vehicles but in funding PHCs, and hospitals. The required 16,400 PHCs need N5m each per annum for running costs. Simple.

Finally: BREAKING News: ‘Nigeria’s Senate President calls for EMERGENCY IN HEALTH SECTOR’ but it is too late for too many dead babies.

October 24, 2012
Politicians must take potholes seriously. They kill people and business and taxes!

Let the deaf hear. Potholes are a yardstick of political success. It is official. Do you know why we talk about potholes so annoyingly frequently in the column? It is because potholes are the symbol of national failure, destroying lives and businesses and making a mockery of going to school to learn about good governance, Internally Generated Revenue, Foreign Direct investment and tourism proposals and repositioning Nigeria using 20-2020 vision. Potholes are a simple assessment of the commitment of politicians, political parties and individual governments to a social and moral contract with the citizens. The ‘Politics of Potholes’ is not about ‘making straight’ the path to an LGA chairman’s country home or to a particular governor’s son’s wedding venue. Potholes are about failed responsibility to the people and about abuse or non-use of power. Potholes are not a game of ‘guess how many potholes are in my LGA, state or country’.

Potholes are murderous and about human suffering and blood, human blood, not contracts. Are politicians and civil servants blind, misinformed or totally incompetent? The people bleed and see the blood on roads, cars, danfos and buses and staining the operating uniforms in Nigeria’s operating theatres where we remove the ruptured spleens and broken limbs of ‘Pothole Attack Victims’. Potholes are not about ‘excuses’ and inflated non-executed contracts and delayed budget. Potholes are about societal decay, incompetence and delay and the abdication of government’s responsibility to the citizenry. Nigeria is just one big ‘Government Neglect’ pothole in spite of sufficient funds to fix every road within one dry season since it refuses to work during the rainy season out of mental and engineering laziness not due to a lack of civil engineering capacity.

Unfortunately, the most powerful ‘road user’ voices in the land are silent. We do not hear of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NMA, NURTW etcetera, market women at their AGMs catching ‘anti-pothole fever’ and shouting about potholes. No country with our pothole achievements should have travel and entrepreneurship programmes. We are all held hostage in our own country, confined by the strictures of our potholed roads. For millions, daily travel is a nightmare for which serious prayers are needed to avert a disaster. Often prayers are not enough. And our government seems powerless to prevent the continued infliction of massive unnecessary pain on the collective psyche and physical bodies of the population. The deliberate clogging of the Ogere traffic artery on the Lagos-Ibadan road is a case in point and a recurrent national shame and security disaster waiting to happen. The trailers used to commit these terrible crimes are owned and registered by the high and mighty in the petroleum industry who are now donating to flood relief almost nationwide.

That Ogere park is too often strangled by tanker and trailer drivers is not news, nor is it news about the impunity with which they do it. Only in Nigeria would that be a two or less lane road. Even Ikorodu road should and can easily be six lanes each side. No one will be brought to book for holding the nation to ransom for 11 hours. Since all the major players in the Ogere hold up are known, they should be fined by the federal government to act as a deterrent to their staff repeating such a crime against the citizens of Nigeria in future. We are used to students shutting down trunk ‘A’ roads for perceived transgressions. This new one where adults embark on similar activities is an unwelcome event that puts at risk millions of lives and billions of naira. A Boko Haramic conflagration in that circumstance would have had catastrophic repercussions. Only God can quantify the losses caused by such a decision. But who cares. It reminds us of the danger of putting police with ‘big shots’ to attempt to drive roughshod over the rest of us. We must also remember that in all likelihood, the shot tanker was probably wrongly parked causing unnecessary go-slow or full stop. Remember that the Ogere is notorious for indiscipline and obstruction just like its predecessor Sagamu. It was these same people’s fathers who blocked Sagamu to the extent that it prompted the building of the expressway in the first place. This was typical knee-jerk reaction and no long term plan to anticipate problems and build additional lanes in advance. Since then, 40 years the road has not improved, but it has deteriorated and in fact narrowed to its present sorry state where one tanker can paralyse the key artery out of the port city of Lagos. What a shame and we are not at war. By now in any forward looking country, there would be five major and several minor roads out of Lagos. But like they say, there are more bridges in river-less Abuja than in the whole of the rest of the country put together. Na wa O! Such selfish politicians cannot build a great Nigeria which is as weak as the smallest pothole.

Now that potholes at federal level have been declared wanted dead or alive on or before December, let us pursue with equal vigour the execution of potholes on state and LGA roads. All Nigerians must renew ‘The Great Nigeria Anti-Pothole War’ and fight it to its logical conclusion-no more deaths. Nigerians must no longer accept rough and rubbish roads. Nigeria can afford and must provide standard roads.

October 17, 2012
Hail to the pothole; the beatification of the pothole in Nigeria; GCFR Pothole

Ask politicians if they know that one potholeincreases travel time, causes accidents with injuries and death and creates orphans and widows. Ask what the 500,000,000 to a billion potholes cause economically and mentally in Nigeria?

It is official, we have been mis-led. The old colonial and then early republic efficient army of pothole fighters, aka PWD, was defeated and disbanded by the military probably simply because they both wore khaki. PWD refers to the defunct dead and executed Public Works Department charged with road maintenance and anti-pothole activities which are not nuclear physics but have a 100 year history. The PWD does this through its foot-soldiers armed with a wheelbarrow, shovels, head pan, a pick, a watering-can for pouring tar, a stove for tar in the watering can, a road beater and sometimes even a small roller all under a tripod of sticks with a red flag to warn road users that important government work – pothole filling – was taking place. They wore khaki -shirt, canvas shorts and a straw hat. This PWD army successfully fought potholes countrywide. So why change a winning team? What happened to that legacy causing the present pothole virus? This in spite of billion-billions declared as spent and the ineffective ‘over 400 engineers’ retrained by FERMA. No Nigerians escapes the dreaded ‘potholeitis’ of FERMA and stateERMA and LGAERMA.

The military abandoned professionalism and failed to recognize the PWD as a most effective weapon of mass destruction of potholes in the war on potholes. Potholes grew wild. No one could combat them. The military was interrupted by an epidemic of coups, corruption and incompetence and the terrorist potholes mutated into many shapes and sizes. The military announcing a strategy to wipe out the terrorist potholes which had nearly ground the country to a halt and claimed many lives. It was a new secret weapon – ‘the contractor’ to kill potholes in their thousands overnight. ‘The contractor’ was a monumental failure and contractor status was rubbished, associated with quick wealth for no work. Contractors were defeated and blamed the rainy season for failure as if Nigeria has the highest rainfall in the world. It soon became obvious that pothole fighting required a new weapon. The contractor was replaced by ‘the mega-contractor’ attracting multiple billions of naira presumably to fight billions of potholes all at once. This was another failure. Both the contractor and mega-contractor blamed everyone except themselves for failure of ‘The Pothole War’. The professionals are there providing power and pothole filling around the world. Empower them or else face destruction of the nation. Why should Nigeria be the pothole of the world?

There are needless potholes all around and all governments’ attempts at billion naira beautification projects and also ‘job creation’ road cleaning teams are rubbished because the nation’s 100m+ citizens are stuck in a ‘billion potholes’ watching the absurdity as road sweepers sweep around potholes and the cement for pothole filling is diverted to flowerpots and roadside decorations. Simple politics: Fix potholes, clean gutters, do beautification! They do not go hand in hand, they go in sequence. A pothole is a sign of abject failure of government and is unacceptable. It is not to be ‘managed’ or endured. A government Council in the UK paid out £750,000 as fines for axel, tyre and break damage to cars. Our neighbourhood watches, NGOs need to make pothole awareness a national clarion call. Governments should heed the warning. When Obasanjo was stuck in potholes near his home he was booed and ‘stoned’ with pure water. Politicians may be ‘stoned’ with shoes or actual stones. Only politicians, not the people, will prevent this by their good works. Roman road exist today without potholes 2000 years later. What type of idiot cannot build a road that will survive rainy seasons? Such a person does not deserve to be an engineer or politician in a ‘great’ country like Nigeria. Fast forward to today 2012.

Today, is it not true that National Assembly members take N35-45 million/quarter or $2-4,000/day while Indians make $3,000/month and Obama earns $300,000/year? Is it not true that Nigerian government contracts are 30% more in dollar terms than anywhere in the world while we get 100% less delivery on contracts? The failure of the pothole to be filled is judgment and massive failure of politics, politicians and civil service. A failure to prioritize the needs people using the road daily. We require a planning loving pothole filling government before potholes get ‘GCFRPothole’ as having most effect nationwide.

Retribution, restitution, revenge describe politicians’ actions to each other and the nation. One day we must be prepared for the revenge of the people especially if Ghana streaks ahead with petrodollars. ‘Ghana’s Peaceful Evolution’ will contrast with ‘Nigeria’ Coming Violent Revolution’ and our politicians will be to blame, not the Nigerian revolutionaries. The children of those denied pensioners will wake up annoyed enough one day to take the enforce the law. Governance is not a joke about how much tax Nigerians can endure for no services. Power, potholes all need fixing by December not an illusionary promise for 2020. We know the figures. We know there is money. What is missing is political and professional competence and love. If not let us ‘beatify and beautify the pothole’ in Nigeria and raise it to Sacred Pothole’ status, making it untouchable while we die!

October 10, 2012
Still on Nigeria@52: Where is the love? The rights of Women at work; Police palaver

Nigeria or at least the electorate is still searching for a truly great selfless Nigerian with the love of Nigeria and the love of Nigerians as the cornerstone of his or her presidential policy thrust. As we ‘celebrate’ 52 years let us ‘cerebrate’ on the huge lack of achievement during that time compared with God-given resources, mineral, manpower and mental. If Ghana had a 100th of what we had, imagine where Ghana and Ghanaians would be now. We are also constantly reminded to look at Indonesia where imaginative leadership motivated by a deep love of Indonesia and Indonesians resulted in that Asian tiger riding on palm oil plantations originating from Nigeria. So we may be one year older, but are we one year better or one year wiser?

The idea that the federal budget is for stealing needs a change. An anniversary is a good time to swear renewed allegiance and oaths to the country and citizenry. Of course they have been sworn but did they mean anything beyond photo-op for the paparazzi and yawning time for local channel viewers?

I join millions of fellow Nigerians to apologise to our female police, rank and file, for the law that forbade them to marry or have children for three years after joining up and needing more than automatic permission to marry. Perhaps such a law exists throughout many uniformed and civil service institutions and even some banks et cetera may have such secret policies. I hate to think how many of them were forced to compromise themselves with immoral senior officers in order to get that ‘Permission To Marry’ stamp. In Nigeria nothing is as it seems and exploitation of employees is seen to be a right for the ‘authority figures’. They see nothing wrong with such bestial behaviour as ‘that was what so-and-so did in the ‘glorious past’, so why should they be any better?’ Nigerians will exploit every loophole and this is why we need much more good high level monitored policing from a better equipped, better focused police service than is available at present. Our police service must join the 21st century police services in many areas including human rights and employees’ rights. Giving birth is a national service –hence maternity leave. Some of the police stations are unworthy of the name with no facilities or amenities for the police- male and especially, female.

The old standard Nigeria Police station should be re-designed with a leaf taken from South African Police stations, though the South African Police let Africa down by creating Soweto Two by shooting 44 miners and then accusing the miners of murder under an old obnoxious apartheid law. Police equipment referred to above includes every police station utilising locally available IT know-how with computerising of the police station and digital cameras to record crime scene and detained suspects for criminal face recognition records and fingerprints to avoid the Ibori incident, intelligence and weapons.

Every policeman should have a pre-paid cell phone. This ‘no marry’ is blatantly discriminatory as it did not forbid men from doing the same. In these days of men developing cold feet over marriage for financial and other reasons, such a law complicates an already difficult situation further. Let us remember that reproducing is a national responsibility which keeps the population steady or growing. This obnoxious rule should have been thrown out years ago by the Police Service Commission and must be thrown out by the NASS if it has not already done so. It is as bad as the old Maternity Leave Law which gave ‘Six weeks before and six weeks after delivery’ under which most Nigerian mothers in employment would lose days and weeks if she gave birth earlier than was predicted by her Last Menstrual Period (LMP) or did not start leave early enough. Most women have always desired to work longer to around 36 weeks so as to get about 8-10 weeks with the baby post-delivery before having to send them to creche or give them up to a nanny at home. It was an avenue for extortion from the helpless women by unscrupulous doctors who had to sign the maternity leave forms especially for civil servants. I personally fought for years, and successfully, to get the Maternity Leave Law to be a consolidated to read ‘12 weeks maternity leave, regardless of the date of delivery’. Unfortunately some retrogressive elements in the federal and state governments are still living in the past and insisting on cancelling any leave not used fully if the delivery comes before six weeks into the maternity leave. By using the ’12 weeks consolidated Maternity Leave’ we were able to eliminate frustration of the mothers, a mountain of paperwork as the date the mother wanted was when the leave started and fraud from medical personnel colluding for money to alter maternity dates. The women in NASS and state assemblies should fight to ensure that the ’A Pregnant Woman is Entitled To 12 weeks Consolidated Maternity Leave’ is what is being practiced in their areas. Enough of cheating women. Women must demand their rights to pregnancy and full three months maternity leave. For Police or the public, ‘Pregnancy is a National Service’ lasting much longer than nine months and still too many fellow Nigerian women die trying to complete this service. What will Nigeria@53 bring? Is there any ‘Love for Nigeria’ out there?

October 3, 2012
Nigeria@52; Ogun Crash; Wanted: Nollywood ParaOlympian and historic films; Wasted 60+yrs

The arrogance of government knows no bounds as we ‘celebrate’ Nigeria at 52. Shame on all governments as Nigeria ‘boasts’ of 4,700Mw- enough for a town in UK or USA when we have spent enough for the needed 100,000Mw and still reject ‘God’s’ solar power used by sunless countries.

Another 30 innocent Nigerian lives lost in Ogun State last week! No Nigeria@52 celebration for them or their families! The trailer company will go free, of course, while the families of the dead are condemned to parentless penury! America’s normal road is 4-6 lanes each side while Nigeria’s best road is two potholed ‘lanes’ except for the irrelevant 10 lane road in Abuja -the heart of darkness and profligacy. Is what is good for Abuja not good for all Nigeria’s major roads or do they have three heads in Abuja? Nigeria’s CINS of Corruption, Incompetence, Negligence, Selfishness need exorcising!

The Ogun crash will create more physically challenged Nigerians. The success of the Nigerian Paralymics Team is a 2012 Nigeria@52 story of triumph over adversity facing athletes. In another country, directors and writers would sign up Paralympians to turn their stories into award-winning ‘Triumph over Adversity’films. But no. Our Nollywood seems preoccupied with wizards and kidnappings, violence and violation, love and lust. The ‘new’ films should highlight the early life of Paralympians, other challenged individuals and those groups fighting for access to buildings and vehicles, educational support, more mobility aides, employment and training opportunities and show the odd governor or company sponsoring a wheelchair, airline ticket or laptop donation.

Once again at Nigeria@52, governments at LGA, state and federal can, but will not, address budgets, policies and infrastructure for the challenged. One NASS member’s Salary and Perks (SAP), is more than the annual budget for all associations of the physically challenged nationwide.

The government and NASS refuse government support for modern museums and exhibitions. The implementation of a personal aggrandisement NASS Museum Plan should be suspended. It is a mockery to have a museum for the questionable activities of politicians of questionable productivity and very high cost: Returns ratio when the nation lacks arts, science and history museums and exhibitions. These are part of education, entertainment and entrepreneurship and job opportunities for millions of youth worldwide.

By this insistence on a NASS museum, the house exposes itself to ridicule as the true history of the country is yet to enter the syllabus in any intelligent or critical detail, perhaps because the truth is bitter, unbelievable and ‘too sensitive’. But parents know Nigeria’s history and teach it. There are many good and bad biographies and autobiographies which if stripped of their sugar-coating could be compared to reveal the truth. This is a goldmine for researchers, scholars and filmmakers in modern Nigerian history. They can cut out the self-aggrandisement and come up with the authentic history of Nigeria 1960-2011 probably in several parts. The writers of such masterpieces can make them relevant by borrowing a leaf from other historians and writing the history as a ‘fact and fiction’ or ‘faction’ around fictitious individuals such as aides to the politicians involved or ordinary citizens happy, troubled or traumatised by the time. This is already being done about the Civil War and the independence era. Because we did not have a pre-independence bloodbath does not mean it was painless or not worthy of accurate record. We have the mosquito, not ourselves, to thank for that ‘ease’. Make the films, please.

At every October 1, we appraise Nigeria. The generator noise has cost us and deafened us for the last 30 years of my own Soyinkaian ‘wasted’ generation, now 60+years. Today, we and Nigeria are nowhere near what we dreamed of when we grew up sharing our plans and expected outcomes in Nigeria’s schools and on university campuses. Looking back, life has been so incredibly difficult, complicated by CINS. Unknown to us, and perhaps unknown to them, the evil military and subsequently the malignant political class were planning Nigeria’s financial and structural destruction. Military unitarianism and ethnic fiscal and political mis-applied federalism engineered Nigeria’s failure. Today’s Nigeria is not what we worked hard throughout the last 45 years as diligent university undergraduates, dedicated NYSC members and professionals. Are we the problem as we were in the civil service and government?

We have largely succeeded in bringing up our children at home or abroad and have lived almost our entire adult lives subsisting without and substituting for absences of tap water, electricity, landlines, security or care from the state. We have had almost nothing good from our country except what God has given that politicians cannot take away – family, the glorious Nigerian weather and clean air now polluted by 100,000 okada 2-stroke motorcycle engines in a murderous and misguided employment drive! We witnessed the economy collapse from 1970s N1:$1.5 to N150: $1. Today the preposterous N5000 banknote looms like a lethal cloud threatening malignant devaluation. Easily filled potholes litter the landscape taunting every responsible engineer while our politicians prefer stealing while we suffer mentally and physically in preventable traffic jams while they do beautification projects –planting a flower beside the pothole! What is it about Nigeria that makes politicians feel they can fail and nothing will happen to them or the country? One day there will be no country for them to rape and no road for them to escape! Where are the politicians who love the people and Nigeria@52?

September 26, 2012