The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Attention: Gov. Imoke

    SIR: This is an urgent appeal to under His Excellency Senator Dr. Liyel Imoke to come to the aid of Egboronyi Community in Abi Local Government Area of the State. The community requires his urgent intervention in the area of pipe-borne water, roads and also to assist her renovate and build new classroom blocks for her Primary and Secondary Schools.

    We need qualified  doctors and nurses in our community hospital. In short, we are asking the state government to come to our rescue to redress years of neglect.

     

    • Evang. Patrick Ikpabi. E.E.

    Egboronyi, Abi LGA,

    CRS

     

  • Why we must declare war onWhy we must declare war on greed

    SIR: It seems to me that we are on a long “moral holiday” reminiscent of the ancient Feast of Fools. The Feast, which had many cultural and historical variants, was generally marked by unrestrained hedonism and lawlessness. During its observance, it was customary for masters to serve slaves.  The Lord of Misrule had the provisional power to legislate vices. Right and wrong meant nothing. Children were not required to observe codes of proper conduct. They were at liberty to do anything to get money. Greed reigned supreme.

    Greed is a menacing force. It is destroying our material and moral universe, and dragging us towards a black hole. It has so heightened our self-absorption that we do not wholeheartedly inspire the best in others and contribute to the well-being of our nation.  The fact is; patriotism and greed hardly coexist. Corruption flourishes where greed is not denounced. Hence, many wealth-besotted Nigerians think it is okay to underhandedly enrich themselves from public coffers, if they have the opportunity. In view of this, any strategic plan to combat corruption would be ineffectiveness in the long run, if fighting greed is not integrated to it.

    Greed corrupts motives. Greedy leaders do noble things, but with seedy intentions. As long as crabs walk sidewise, it is wrong to expect greedy leaders to be propelled by pure motives and set things right. They cannot. History’s verdict is; money-lovers are bad leaders. Don’t forget, the love of money is the spring of all evil. Greed reduces our capacity to build anything of enduring value for humanity. It makes us to scoff at the conventionalities of transparency.

    Whenever there is brewing corruption scandal in Nigeria, if you have the luxury of time to read some comments it has elicited on social media, you are likely to get the feeling that greed has muddled our sense of priority and undone our collective capacity for critical reflection. This is evinced in how we confer primacy on side issues, overlook the substance and spin conspiracy theories that seemingly make government and people of other tongues and tribes the scapegoat of the ethical failings of grafters from our ethno-religious affinity.

    One of the marks of a greed-ravished society is that religion acquiresthe essential character of business conglomerates.  ”Get gold, forget God” becomes the subtext of sophistic sermons of preachers jinxed by illusion. This has given rise to the perception that religion is a system of embellishing delusion in order to promote devotion to money.

    This sentiment is reinforced by spiritual airheads who market totems of handmade gods, exploit unsuspecting miracle seekers and build empires from proceeds of deceit.  In fact, it is foolhardy to expect religious leaders who graduated from the Business School of Balaam, a prophet turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil to draw attention to the dangers of living primarily to make money.

    One of the greatest minds of modern era, Albert Einstein, noted; “Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.” Greed rules by delusion. It makes us to tune out the voice of truth and reason.  Wherever greed rules, domestic happiness does not come with prosperity.  The saying, “The shoemaker’s son always goes barefooted” is true mostly of the greedy.  For, greedy people do not seek riches to enrich the world, but to impoverish humanity and turn society to a junkyard of shattered dreams.

    Dear compatriots, let’s not forget; freedom from want is a precursor to inner enlightenment. The joy of wholeness will elude us, if we live like moral cretins that are enslaved to wants. The journey to personal wholeness begins with the knack to rightly differentiating needs from wants. Conflating needs and wants makes us victims of the crushing yoke of consumerism.

     

    • Omozuwa Gabriel Osamwonyi

    aceomozuwa@gmail.com

     

  • Suswan and plight of Benue teachers

    SIR: Primary schools are where one starts acquiring formal education as the foundation or beginning of a journey towards his or her chosen career in life.

    However, Benue State government under the leadership of Governor Gabriel Suswan has being so lackadaisical about the education at the primary school level in the state. This is because, teachers in the state owned primary schools have been on strike for more than eight months now. The governor is however more concerned with plans and strategies to enable him perfect his ambition to win the 2015 senatorial seat against Senator Barnabas Gemade.

    If the governor had bothered to reflect properly, he would have known that tackling the problem of primary schools’ teachers is one of the major things that could make people vote for him and not by using money to buy people or bribe them to vote for him when time comes as he may be thinking and planning.

    In case Governor Suswan does not yet appreciate this, the provision of education for the people of Benue State is one of his responsibilities as governor. It is not something that the people of the state have to beg him for. Therefore, as a matter of urgent necessity, let him start doing what he supposed to do to get the primary schools’ teachers back to classes peacefully without victimization.

    What is right must be done to end the ongoing getting to a year strike of the primary schools’ teachers in Benue State.

    Enough is enough.

    • Awunah Pius Terwase

    Mpape, Abuja

     

  • The ‘religion’ Nigeria needs

    SIR: In today’s Nigeria, no one is exempted from being kidnapped: from babies to nonagenarians. The recent case of an 80-year old Hajia Hawawu Bello abducted in Nagazi Uvete in Adavi Local Government area of Kogi State as reported by The Nation as well as Madam Ogboro Dark, the 90-year old mother In-law of the speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly as reported by Thisday of Saturday May 31, is fear-provoking.

    How did the state of affairs get this bad in Nigeria? I reminisce about my boyhood days when I ran errands for strangers and for friends of my parents and it was forbidden to collect a reward for these efforts. I was told to self-sacrifice when I ran errands for the aged. Respect for the aged was never negotiated; it was an entitlement.

    Those were the days when we didn’t pay attention to the part of the country you came from, which religion you practiced and where the love for philistinism didn’t make us discriminate against each other.

    I remember going on boyhood hunting expeditions during school breaks without a water jar and when thirsty I asked the men in the rural villages to offer me water and they instructed their wives in ‘Kule’ to prepare a meal of ‘Fura da nono,’ for me. They intuited how hungry I might also have been. I also recall running into many Fulani herdsmen in the plains; they were normal, meek and unassertive and they never revealed the vicious streak I read about daily in the papers nowadays.

    I remember when thieves were caught, they were undressed but not in their birthday suits, and paraded around in the city with songs of vilification, before they were handed to the police. Such stigmas lasted forever and discouraged them from re-engaging in such acts again. They were never beaten, never had foreign objects poked into their genitals like the publicised case of brutality by mobsters of the women caught stealing pepper in a market in Lagos. They were never rounded up and reprehensibly scorched like the four innocent undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt in Port Harcourt in 2012.

    Oh! How quickly times have changed in Nigeria today. Children are interned at home now and can’t talk to strangers or run errands like I did. The environment is so unfriendly today and our children are exposed to more risks, previously undreamed-of. I am left to wonder if they will ever enjoy this country.

    Children at the moment may certainly not know the beauty of ‘Yawon Sallah’ and ‘Yawon Christmas.’ No thanks are due to religious persons who back youths (who should be meaningful to self and country) with cudgels, cutlasses, knives and firepower, to go free and become agents of darkness and machines of death. There is now the assumption that when people are killed they must have done something wrong even when they run into irrational gangs during a crisis. Will kidnappings, religious crisis, mob lynching’s, ritual killing, cannibalism ever end in Nigeria?

    I am shocked that in this country any person can be lynched and kidnapped with impunity and there is no law to immediately punish wrongdoers.

    How can we come out of this retrograde bigoted quagmire of hate, criminality and discrimination?

    Collectively, it is essential that we begin to install the principles of chastity, goodness, endurance, uprightness, self-restraint, tolerance and duty to man and God. We must understand that service to man is service to God, and cease from the false supplications and sacrifices we make to God while, ironically, we leave our doors closed to humankind.

    Maybe Nigeria needs to look for humanity rather than nationalism, religiosity, tribalism and regionalism.

    • Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt.

     

  • Celebrating pioneers of child and adolescent mental health

    SIR: By various accounts, majority of children in sub-Saharan Africa face a life of poverty, insecurity and poor mental health. These factors hinder their ability to develop into healthy adults, live an improved quality of life and fulfil their life aspirations. Until recently, virtually all social and health interventions for children had focused on the major causes of mortality to the neglect of mental health issues and social problems that have serious consequences for children’s growth and development and the society at large.

    Despite the identified burden of mental health problems in children, there are very few services for child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) care in sub-Saharan Africa and a lack of trained professionals. There was also no regular or coordinated training of health professionals for child and adolescent mental health care until recently. What this means is that the majority of African children with disabling mental disorders go untreated and children within the community do not have access to mental health promoting services or environments. There is no doubt that with the present problems of insecurity and violence in several African countries including Nigeria, the mental health burden will be rising.

    To bridge this huge gap in mental health care for children and adolescents, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided funding to the University of Ibadan to establish a Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. In the last 18 months, the centre has had the privilege to train mental health professionals from different regions of Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    Today, Monday June 16, the centre will celebrate 13 successful students who completed a rigorous 18 month Master of Science programme in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (MSc. CAMH), first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. This landmark ceremony will hold in the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.

    Coincidentally, the milestone event holds on the occasion of the 2014 Day of the African Child, a yearly event to commemorate the public killing of school children in a protest against apartheid-inspired education in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976. The Day also presents an opportunity to focus on the roles of all stakeholders involved in upholding the rights of the African Child, and to renew efforts towards eliminating the existing obstacles to the realization of these rights.

    This year has as its theme – “Right to participate: Let children be seen and heard”, aimed at generating increased awareness about the need to promote emotional and mental health of African children.

    • Olatunji Oladejo,

     Director of Public Communication,

    University of Ibadan

  • Football as diversion: Time up!

    SIR: “Any government in Brazil that does not take football seriously cannot last 24 hours.” That was Chief Lekan Salami, the late football icon and former chairman of the Ibadan-based IICC Shooting Stars FC giving what, in today’s social media world, would have made a compelling tweet, a hashtag that would have trended for years. He was making a case, in the late 70s/early 80s, for greater commitment on the part of government to the game of football. Of course, he merely highlighted the primacy football in the Samba nation of Brazil.

    How times have changed! Then it was “Give us the World Cup or we die”. Now, the placards read “We don’t need the World Cup.” Then, it was ‘we need money for football, football and football.’ Now, the aluta chorus is “we need money for hospital and education.” Then, it was “FIFA, please make Brazil home”. Now, the popular cry of death-daring protesters on the streets of Brasilia, Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Mendoza, Fortaleza, Salvador and Recife is “FIFA, go home!”

    Time up! The game no longer wears the diversionary charm of inducing the giants of South America to forget their problems – life-threatening problems similar to what obtains in the land of their brothers and sisters across the Atlantic. Brazilians are now much more concerned about poverty, inflation, unemployment, insecurity, monumental corruption, dearth of health, educational and transportation facilities and infrastructure and many more.

    President Dilma Rousseff’s government has been rocked with jeers and violent protests to its very foundation. The million-man marches have not been to “earnestly yearn” for Dilma, but to register the people’s outrage over a 2014 football World Cup hosting at a whopping cost of $11.7b at a time when the lot, tears and sorrows of the ordinary Brazilian are graduating from difficult to unbearable. Remarkably, a big supporter of the millions has been the legend, three-time World Cup winner and Brazilian football icon himself; Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele. An update tweet has just been generated on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, venue of the +20 Earth Summit exactly two years ago: There has indeed been climate change; now, any government in Brazil that takes football too seriously may not last 24 hours!

    That update apparently has yet to hit the newsfeed page of Reno Omokri, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Special Assistant on New Media. He still lives in the world of the old media. His act of chest-beating, in listing the African Cup of Nations trophy which the Super Eagles won in 2013 as a great achievement of the President in the last three years showed he has failed to use his position to prepare the ground for the localization of the lessons of the Brazilian experience. What a mean offside positional play within the prevailing socio-political circumstances in the country.

    The era of deploying football to divert attention has landed in the dustbin of history. Football itself, as evident in more sophisticated systems, flourish better in nations waxing strong in political stability, socio-economic prosperity, infrastructural efficiency and general security. It is only when this is admitted and made to count that we can, in the long run, stave off the Brazilian experience. It is only then, even as the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and their likes are manipulating the on-going 2014 World Cup festival to canvass for Goodluck, that any “good luck” could continue.

    • Dele Akinola,

    Ikorodu, Lagos.

  • Amosun, the change agent

    SIR: My first contact with Senator Ibikunle Amosun and his amiable wife was in December, 2000 when he hosted the Students’ Union Executive of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta to an end-of-the-year party at his house in  Ikeja. A quick assessment of him revealed he would like impacting the younger generation.

    Afterwards, I unconsciously joined those that see him as a role model and believe in his ideology. SIA, as he’s fondly called, has ideas that have been transforming lives in Ogun State and beyond. He identifies with and networks visionary people with world-class strategies and policies that can transform their communities. This conscious and scientific method facilitates and delivers visible change in the shortest time frame.

    A chartered accountant of repute, Amosun believes people are endowed with capacity for change. Therefore, Omo Oye Omo Ajiri (his epithet) took up the challenge to re-orientate and lead the people by courageously joining active politics in 1998.

    SIA’s team has always consisted of dedicated professionals and other categories of people who are eager and ambitious to transform their environment.

    Ogun State’s history has shown that its true sons and daughters are progressive in nature, imaginative and courageous. They are passionate about setting the pace by uplifting others, helping them to make a responsible choice in life.

    My testimony about SIA’s character is visible to the world through his achievements in the last three years of his administration in Ogun State. No doubt, the tax payers, business community and indeed the prayers of the good people of the state have helped him to attain this feat.

    Congratulations to the this generation for voting SIA as governor in the 2011 election and for giving him the overwhelming support to transform  Ogun from ancient to modern state in such a record time in Nigeria’s democratic history.

    • Seyi Enitan-Olubode

    Abeokuta, Ogun State

  • ICPC: Hues and cries about stealing and corruption

    Corruption is an issue Nigerians love to discuss with passion because it is believed to be the crux of the country’s under development. It is an issue that many often discuss with sentiment, palpable frustration and anger over the seeming inability of successive governments to eradicate. On such occasions, the political leadership, government functionaries and public institutions charged with the anti-corruption war are always at the receiving end of the public display of disappointment.

    Such was the case recently, when a statement credited to the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Chief Ekpo Nta, that stealing is erroneously reported as corruption drew scathing criticism from some members of the public. He had, during the visit of a delegation of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria to the Commission, observed that Nigerians needed more understanding of the various dimensions of corruption in order for all to be able to tackle it effectively. He explained, for example, that stealing is erroneously reported as corruption.

    His observation apparently hit the wrong chord in the hearts of some people who reacted with severe criticism, suggesting that he was probably not committed to the war against corruption. Some, including a section of the media, went to the extent of calling on him to step down, arguing that his statement portrayed him as a tool in the hands of the political authorities whom they accused of not showing the required seriousness to effectively address the menace of corruption.

    However, there are some who believe that the furious shooting of diatribe by the critics at the chairman over a harmless and sincere observation that merely pointed attention to the obvious but often ignored misrepresentation, was unnecessary, particularly after the clarification issued by the Commission to shed more light on the statement. The Commission had explained that stealing is corruption if it involves a public officer abusing his office for private gains as provided in sections 16 and 19 of the ICPC Act while stealing or theft as defined by criminal code and penal code falls within the police powers to investigate and prosecute.

    This clarification can hardly be faulted. From the legal and constitutional perspective, stealing is recognised in the statute books of every country as a criminal act whether it is committed in or outside the public service. It has prescribed punishment in the relevant criminal and penal codes. Even private business concerns and corporations have rules for dealing with stealing or theft, in their establishments, which may include recovery of the stolen items and dismissal of the culprit with or without prosecution.

    There is no denial, by the critics, that a lot of Nigerians actually report plain stealing as corruption, such as the theft of crude oil or theft of refined petroleum products through pipeline vandalism. Which means that they (the critics) also subscribe to that notion. Why is this so?  Perhaps it is a way of blaming government for everything that goes wrong. Perhaps it is because of the historical antecedent of what is associated with corruption in Nigeria. The face of corruption Nigerians readily point to is the stealing of public funds through embezzlement or the mismanagement or abuse of public heritage.  This is referred to as the ‘chopping’ of government money in local parlance.

     The purge of the public service during the Murtala Muhammed military regime which sanctioned both the military political office holders and civil servants deemed to have corruptly enriched themselves and the arrest and prosecution of political office holders of the second republic by the Buhari/ Idiagbon regime, for misappropriation of funds and corrupt enrichment, were seen by the people as stealing of government money. So is the current effort by the administration of President Jonathan to prosecute public officers indicted in the pension fund scandal and others. To many Nigerians, the offences of corrupt enrichment, misappropriation of funds and cases of fraud involving money all mean stealing.

    Nigerians would readily pardon any form of corruption such as, favouritism, falsification, forgery and acts of official misconduct that do not involve money. They would wave such corrupt practices off with phrases such as “it is not new”, “everybody does it”, “this is their own chance”, “it is their time, wait for your turn” etc. It is against this background that the observation by the ICPC chairman raises a challenge that must be taken seriously.

    Nigerians need to understand what constitutes corruption, its various forms and how to tackle it collectively. It is only then that the people can appreciate the efforts of anti-corruption agencies and offer their own support where it is needed to rid the country of the menace. It should also be understood that Nigeria is not alone in the anti-corruption war. It is a global campaign that also affects the most developed countries of the world. It is a structured war with internationally recognised templates for prosecuting it and assessing its effectiveness in terms of achievable results and targets over a period of time.

    Like all global campaigns in which the United Nations Organisation is involved, the war against corruption is properly structured under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) 2006. Nigeria is a signatory to this convention. Although some countries such as Nigeria had set up their anti-corruption agencies before the convention came into force, it offers a broad framework for countries to design their own campaigns in accordance with their environment and their laws. What constitute corruption is well defined under this convention.

    According to the ICPC Chairman in a recent interview in The Nation newspaper, the anti-corruption war in Nigeria is in tune with the UN Convention and its provisions are captured in the ICPC Act. The ICPC is properly structured to international standard and it is working accordingly. In fact, in a bid to design a robust frame work that takes care of the peculiar needs of Nigeria’s anti-corruption war, the ICPC Act lists some offences which the UNCAC does not envisage. They include false statement, such as false declaration of assets, failure to report bribery, obstruction of justice and making false report or petition.

    What the ICPC chairman said in that statement, which appeared to have been clearly misinterpreted and misunderstood by his critics, is that a lot of Nigerians are yet to understand that corruption comes in various forms and dimensions. It is not about embezzlement of public funds alone and certainly not about general theft in and around the society, which is within the jurisdiction of the police. It is also about those actions we take or witness that compromise the socio-economic well being of the nation, the welfare of our fellow citizens and our own future.

    How many Nigerians, for example, have reported bribery in public and private offices or reported suspicion of a case of illicit enrichment in their neighbourhood? The anti-corruption war is a structured war with a clear mandate and roles for both the anti-corruption agencies and the citizenry. It is important for the citizenry to understand this clearly and not hold the agencies to responsibilities outside their mandate.

    The ICPC chairman has raised a very important point in the anti-corruption war. The people must understand the war and how to support it. The Commission may need to design a public education initiative in this direction in addition to its existing advocacy programmes.

    By Ezekiel Babalola

    Surulere, Lagos

  • SOS to Ajimobi

    SIR: This is to bring to the notice of the amiable and dynamic Governor Senator of Oyo State, Mr Isiaka, Ajimobi the deplorable condition of our roads in the following areas: Amosander road to Awe to Aba-apata, Emi-abata to Odo-oba which is the boundary between Oyo and Osun State.

    The above mentioned villages are the food basket of Oyo State. I am sure the governor is quite aware of this.

    The governor of Osun State  Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has done his part from Ejigbo to Odo Oba the boundaries of the two states. We the people of this area therefore appeal to our listening governor to please use his good offices to ensure that remaining parts that belong to Oyo State that lead to the above mentioned villages are tarred so that this people of the area can, without difficulty, harvest their produce and take them to the city for sale.

    The people of Amosander, Awe, Aba-apata and Emi-abata will not forget you and your government if these roads are tarred.

     

    • Mustapha Aremu Taiwo,

    Aba Emi-abata Oyo,

    Oyo State.

  • Nweke’s quest for Enugu East Senatorial seat

    SIR:  As 2015 general elections draw nearer, all manners of Dick and Harry are jostling for various elective positions without stating who they are, where are they coming from and what they can do for the people and the country at large.

    It is of utmost important that the track record of aspirants be properly scrutinised before supporting such people in the elections. The political parties should see themselves as channels for good governance that owe the nation a duty of producing the best materials for the good of the people.

    This is major task before political parties and the people of Enugu East senatorial district as the countdown to 2015 elections begin in earnest. The cacophony of voices among aspirants in Enugu East senatorial district are becoming louder by the day. Among them is the outgoing Director General, Nigeria Economic Summit Group, (NESG) and former minister for information, Frank Nweke (Jnr).

    Ever since Nweke declared interest to run for the position, councillors from the area who saw him as the right man for the job and paid him solidarity visit have been suspended by those that see him as a threat to their ambitions. Even men of yesterday who have lost relevance and are constant visitors to the courts of justice for fraud, mismanagement and other heinous crimes are still intolerant of a new order as exemplified by Nweke.

    Interestingly, Enugu east senatorial district is comprised of six local government councils made up of three Enugu metropolitan councils, and three rural council areas. Winning elections in the senatorial district could be as challenging as interesting because the urban population is mainly non-natives. It is also remarkable that since 1999, no Senator has represented the zone twice in quick successions.

    Nweke Jnr stands out distinctly as a technocrat. He is said to be the new kid on the block, without blemish and with confidence. As one who had wealth of experience in public and private sector, he is expected to do well in legislation that will drive growth in government.

    It is even said in some quarters that stakeholders in and outside the zone wanted him for governorship in 2007, but that he declined to pursue further studies that has now equipped him better for a national assignment. In 2011 also he was tipped for Senatorial seat, but for

    some arguments then that he did not want to engulf himself in the fray, he stayed away.

    Within and outside the zone, Nweke jnr is dear to the hearts of progressives and the grassroots. Many see his foray in the contest for the senatorial seat as a paradigm shift from the old order of godfatherism. His youthful exposition, exposure and intellectual prowess speaks for him.

    At the moment, he seems to be the man of that will effectively represent Nkanu land. He is not among those who see senatorial seat as retirement benefit or consolidation of a captured territory. He is viewed as a detribalised Nigerian who has always got it right with whatever he sets out to do.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates in Enugu east senatorial zone who will be electing candidate for the Senatorial position should live above boards to decipher that they will not be electing just a Senator for the zone, but a national player who has criss-crossed the divides of the country. One of such men is no other person than Frank Nweke Jnr.

    • Ikechukwu Ogbodo,

    Enugu