The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Senate should join House to pass rape law

    SIR: There is no gain saying the fact that the menace of rape has assumed an alarming proportion in Nigeria in the recent time. The Nigeria media are awash with stories of rape cases, especially, involving minors. And one sad thing about some these cases is that they often result in unwanted pregnancies, and because the country’s legal jurisdiction does not permit termination of pregnancy, the victims are further traumatised, psychologically and otherwise.

    The perpetrators cut across tribe, class and religious orientation. It occurs more with those who are closely related with the victims than with strangers. No doubt, the present legal framework (Criminal Code and Penal) is so obsolete and grossly inadequate to protect the victims of rape in the country or deter potential rapists.

    One of the best options of bringing this ugly trend to its barest minimum is by strengthening our legislation and bringing them in tandem with the present realities. And there appears to be no better approach to this than the quick passage of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAPP) Bill into law. The Bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on March 15, 2013 and has just gone through the First Reading in the Senate on March 18, inter alia, expands the definition of rape to include both men and women. The Bill equally makes provision for the compensation of victims and recognition of their rights, which is a huge improvement on the present legislation where the victims are practically not recognised.

    There are other violence against persons which the Bill outlaws. For instance, it makes provisions for the prohibition of female genital mutilation and political violence by “state actors”. Under the Bill, it is an offence to abandon one’s spouse, children and dependants without meaningful sustenance. There is no doubt that the Bill, when passed into law, will reduce maternal mortality rate in Nigeria, as it seeks to enhance the reproductive health rights of our women.

    While the House of Representatives deserve commendation, our Senators should show more concern by working assidiously towards the passage of the Bill before they commence their break for the 2015 election. Nigerians, civil society groups and other stakeholders need to mount pressures on the Senate to pass this Bill now.

    • Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

  • Ekiti, Osun 2014: The war Sambo would want

    SIR: Vice-President of Nigeria, Architect Namadi Sambo, was quoted as saying:”We are going to war front and (to) bring back our stolen mandate; everybody knows that Ekiti belongs to PDP; they used all instruments to take it away from us…. Osun is PDP. Osun was stolen from us. The end of stealing has come.”

    Although Vice- President Sambo went further to restate the federal government’s commitment to free and fair election, his earlier war threat had taken away the wind from the sail of his seemingly patriotic but reluctant words which could only sound, at best, as an after-thought or mere window-dressing.

    What was loud and clear in his speech, as PDP’S campaign committee chairman, was a declaration of Ekiti and Osun states as war-fronts rather than a theatre for free and fair election; and his listeners /readers from the two states should, by now, perhaps, count themselves lucky not to have been caught unawares.

    In response, the APC candidate in Ekiti State, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, has described his declaration of war as “unbecoming of a Vice-President” but he should have added: “even as a campaign committee chairman “because preparing the voters’ minds for war in Ekiti and Osun was not only outrageous but inciting and counter-productive to the spirit and intents of democracy.

    Moreover, by claiming that Osun and Ekiti states had always been PDP states, Sambo was only unsuccessfully trying to twist the facts while he succeeded largely in reminding the people of the two states of the sheer nauseating brigandage which had seen the past PDP governors into office in the traditionally progressive South-west.

    Snatching of ballot boxes with the aid of shameless armed policemen, stuffing of such ballot boxes with thumb-printed ballot papers right in the confines of the police stations only for the obvious result to be announced to astounded, robbed voters; such were the methods of electoral conquests then and such was what the judiciary eventually reversed with its judgments in Ekiti and Osun states.

    Could it be the same kind of war that Sambo had intended to wage again in Osun and Ekiti states this year, going by his words which had been spoken from the abundance of his heart? If so, would INEC, the Ekitis and Osuns be expected to simply fold their arms and allow the PDP to come and rough-ride again, using the police?

     

    • Jide Oguntoye,

    Oye-Ekiti

  • Niger 2015: Candidates’ imposition won’t work

    SIR: With barely 10 months to 2015 general elections, the quest for replacement of Niger State governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu under the People Democratic Party (PDP) is already in top gear. In recent days, the news of who succeeds him has been dominating the airwaves. The governor was quoted in the media on April 7, “that those who are outside his cabinet nursing the ambition to succeed him would likely not have his support, as his wish is to have a successor from his cabinet”.

    Two weeks later, he came up with another tale while receiving turbaned community chiefs in Minna on April 23, “that the deputy governor of the state, Hon Ahmed Musa Ibeto and the state commissioner of works, Alhaji Mohammed Muazu Bawa have told him about their intention to contest for the governorship position of the state but he has not given his support to anybody”.

    The story of how Babangida Aliyu emerged as the flag bearer of PDP in 2007 will be told someday by the actors. His transition from public service to PDP and election as governor did not take up to 120 days. He did not even participate in the primary election.

    Late Senator Idris Kuta of blessed memory once reminded Governor Kure then that Niger State is too big for an individual to single handedly impose his successor. Kure ignored his words and went ahead to give all necessary support to late Alhassan Guna in 2006. The consequence was not only mass exodus of PDP members to All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), but the loss of the loyalty of the party men across the state. Now that Governor Aliyu is heading to the same direction as his predecessor, the forces to outsmart him are far too large for anyone to imagine.

    Why will the governor aver that someone from his cabinet will only have his support? Is it because he did not deliver some of his campaign promises to the state? Is he interested in imposing a puppet so that he continues to rule by proxy? Is he advising the other hopefuls outside his cabinet but of the same party to seek their mandate in another party?

    Is he fair to Nigerlites by saying that he’s asking God to give him (not the masses) choice of a good successor? Is chief servant not aware that Nigerlites are conscious of his body language? Is he not trying to mete the same injustice Governor Kure did to Nigerlites while trying to impose late Bala Guna, which he the chief servant ended up as beneficiary? Is the chief servant telling Nigerlites that those gubernatorial hopefuls in PDP outside his cabinet are not capable of leading the state?

    We don’t need to educate ourselves that electorates are going to vote wisely in 2015 as many anointed aspirants will not only be rejected in general election, but will be turned down by the voters. Many sitting governors have tried that in the past and failed. The most spectacular case is that of Governor Isa Yuguda and his predecessor, the incumbent PDP national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu in 2007 gubernatorial election. The anointed candidate was not only routed by Yuguda of ANPP at the poll, but the sitting governor was defeated at the senatorial contest.

    Malam Ibrahim Shekarau did the same thing in Kano by trying to foist his anointed successor on the people, but failed woefully as his anointed successor was defeated by Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso. Former Governors Mahmud Shinkafi and Ali Modu Sherrif both were sitting governors. While Shinkafi was rejected in his second term bid as governor in 2011, Ali Sherrif as sitting governor, was rejected in his bid to return to the Senatorial seat he left.

    This time around, Nigerlites are ready to liberate themselves from the hand of oligarchs who believes in the politics of allegiance and imposition which they have capitalized on to turn the state into their personal estate.

    •Ibrahim Muye Yahaya

    Muye, Niger State

  • The APC and its tickets

    The print media is awash with the activities of the All Progressives Congress as it positions itself for the 2015 general elections. As expected, most of the commentaries are about its presidential ticket. Permutations of possible candidates are as varied as the interests behind the analyses. While some commentators suggest open primaries to promote its democratic credentials, others prefer a consensus candidate from among the party’s very capable hands to avoid divisive rancour. Still, some others are insisting that the old brigade should now give way to younger and fitter nominees. A new dimension to the jostling was introduced with the purported threat by some prominent Christians to quit the party over any Muslim/Muslim ticket.

    Before we conclude that old age is now a liability to our brand of politics, we should recollect that a turbulent South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, assumed office at a ripe age of 74. It is a combination of his age, wisdom, charisma and political savvy, that guaranteed him a smooth and highly successful transition from white minority to black majority rule, without a violent backlash that was otherwise sure to come with the dismantling of apartheid. Just imagine South Africa in a civil war, and appreciate that his achievement is indeed spectacular.

    It is not a Christian characteristic to threaten blackmail against Muslim /Muslim permutation contemplated by your political party, because you should know that Nigeria is never going to transmute into a theocratic state. Nigeria has for long been under crushing oppression by both Christian and Muslim leadership alike operating at all levels of government. The cumulative consequences of their wicked policies and conduct are what we experience today. The antecedent of the aspirants and their political agenda are what is paramount. As far as is visible, the only plausible Muslim/Muslim combination is a Buhari/Tinubu pair. If the APC can produce a Muslim /Christian or a Christian/Muslim equivalent, fine. But I think that the Buhari/Tinubu combination, should it materialise, is about the best gift any opposition party could offer a nation on the brink of turmoil. We urgently need a clearly distinctive alternative to the present chaos. And that alternative is already amply demonstrated by their records of public service.

    It is common knowledge that Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu constitute the central core, the genesis of the APC. The intimidating profiles of these two statesmen are very much in the public domain. With all due respect, the truth is that they stand head, shoulder and chest above all the other very eminent compatriots in that party’s fold. Their public records suggest they can and will present an excellent drive for the government and nation on the path their vision will create, relocating it away from its reckless, ruinous, corruption-driven politics to a comfortably secure and stable polity. They are also our surest and safest bet into the Industrialised Club.

    As a politician, the tall, ramrod straight, bespectacled general has certainly by now moved a long way from an active military background that influenced his approach to issues during his first outing as Head of State. If Buhari and Tinubu can establish a smooth and harmonious working relationship, if they can bond effectively, like Buhari with Idiagbon way back, or like Obasanjo with Atiku during the earlier part of their first term, then it is done. They have earned very tremendous goodwill from the multitude, north and south.

    But, first, they have to reach there. For a successful campaign later, the party has to concentrate fully on the one at hand. Everyone sure knows that both Ekiti and Osun States are very firmly in the hands of the APC because of the brilliant performances of their helmsmen. They are therefore expected to triumph again in the gubernatorial elections coming up shortly. But the party must give its all for that success. It should know that its chances anywhere in 2015 depend on these elections which they must win in the first ballot, no matter the tactics adopted by the opposition.

    John Ingwu

    Calabar

    tauriuseven@yahoo.com

     

  • Tribute to a mother

    For seven days before her departure, I could not look straight at her face again! But I kept coming to the hospital each day.

    For the days, a devastated acceptance, gradually, began to dawn on me that the ultimate – death – was drawing near! But inside me, I kept deceiving myself that Mama could not leave us just like that.

    Again, gradually, I could see those smiles were freezing.

    And on February 10, 2014, at 2pm, the smiles were forever frozen. And the woman died.

    The woman? Chief (Madam) Dorcas Oyinlola Jegede, The Iya Ijo of Methodist Cathedral, Isale Aro, Osogbo, Osun State. She was 95.

    Two of her children were with her at the time of her departure while two others and a grandchild had just left for a nearby pharmacy. But Mama had been ready for her journey back to her Father in heaven.

    Not just five years ago! Not just a decade ago! But more than two decades ago!!! Mama spent her last 133 days with us in Ibadan. Throughout, she refused to take any medication because she believed that that would prolong her life.

    I have never seen or met a human being created by God who was as prepared for eternity as Mama. She was not afraid of death at any point of her life.

    Her prayer was that she should not weep over her children and grand children.

    For about two months before her departure, Mama would say that she had seen heaven in her dreams. According to her, heaven was the most beautiful place. No wonder, she was so eager to go “home”.

    But finally, a month or so to her departure, she told us that in her dream, she saw a multitude of people walking on a very massive highway and few others walking along a narrow path and she joined those on the narrow one to enter into a place of joy.

    When Mama woke up, she started to sing “Lehin aiye buburu yi…. Jerusalem ilu ayo … (After this sinful world… Jerusalem my home)

    Mama was my mother NOT my mother-in law. This is because words like “children – in- law” were not in mama’s dictionary.

    One of mama’s stepchildren, Sir (Chief) Sunday Jegede, a former General Manager of Total Nigeria Plc in a tribute said of her “you cooperated with and encouraged our beloved late father to ensure that every child received full attention and consideration to grow as well as was necessary up to the individual’s endowment and capability.

    An instrument of peace, mama ploughed the field and sowed it. Many of the fruits from her field are her children and many others she did not bear. She groomed many to adulthood and greatness without any fuss.

    A great and honest historian, mama, till two weeks before her final departure, would recall incidents that happened fifty, sixty years without falsifying the facts and figures.

    A highly loved and respected leader in the secular and economic community, mama would only eat the yams she planted and drink water from her own well. She was a mother in a million.

    She returned to mother earth after a funeral service at her church – Methodist Cathedral, Isale Aro Osogbo on , April 25, 2014.

    Mama, you have lived well and done well. Rest in peace

    — Tunde Akingbade is a former chairman, League of Veteran Journalists, Oyo State.

  • The paradox of a country

    SIR: For many people around the globetoday, the mention of Nigeria do not stir up an image of an emerging economic super-power on the continent but of insurgency, poverty, criminality, pervasive corruption and mounting social ills.

    With vast arable land and good climatic condition, plethora of mineral resources, oil and gas, Nigeria would have become the South Korea of Africa today but for ineffectual utilization of these resources, coupled with brazen looting and lack of commitment to the course of our fatherland by successive leaders. The country can best be described as African Tragedy.

    Unfettered by the rule of law and goaded only by the lure of personal interest, Nigeria’s political class have become vanguard of unbridled self-aggrandisement and frenetic looting, leaving the masses swinging between hope and despair even under a so-called democratic dispensation.

    Mass unemployment, poverty, failed educational system, virtual absence of power supply, insurgency and diseases are evidential signs of a country where leaders have failed to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the electorates.

    In the presence of the mounting challenges, the government has resorted to esoteric economic theories of rebasing that makes the country the largest economy in Africa even as millions groan in abject poverty. Today, insurgents daily snuff the lives out of defenceless citizens just as applicants in their millions pound on one hundred vacancies and farmers unable to access agricultural credit. We are at the highest level of economic confusion as a nation.

    The federal government should do more to combat the Boko Haram insurgency through active participation of local governments across the country. Given that most of the attacks being recorded are actually carried out at the local government levels and in remote villages, the federal government should create a Special Security Intervention Fund for local governments. With such fund, they should be able to host police units and aid vigilante groups for effective security operation.

    The world’s biggest power plant built by Chinese in China at the cost of $22.5b is generating 22,500MW of electricity. I am bewildered at Nigeria’s level of power generation of 4,100MW after over $25 billion have been poured into this sector. We have the water and we have coal but we cannot generate power just for local consumption as the emerging largest economy in Africa; who is fooling who?

    Our leaders clearly have not done enough to justify their positions; posterity will remember them if they choose to lead in the way of God for the betterment of the general public in fulfillment of their campaign promises.

     

    • Onogwu Muhammed

    Lokoja-Kogi State.

  • FCT minister and court order on Park and Pay

    SIR: Park and pay is a worldwide practice around the world. As the Nigerian capital city develops, people will have to pay for parking especially in city centres. The idea behind introduction of the park and pay regime in addition to ending the traffic congestion on the streets of Abuja, is to create employment and some level of security for vehicles in the capital city.

    The reaction by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed to the judgment of an Abuja High Court is commendable. The court, presided over by Justice Peter Afeni, had in its ruling of Thursday April 17, averred that the scheme was illegal. However, the court also made it clear in the judgment that the scheme was an excellent government policy, but that it only lacked legal status.

    It is a hallmark of good leadership for a leader to stand up and accept a court judgment that on the face value seems quite unfavorable. His response is a departure from what have witnessed in some states where court orders and verdicts were flouted at will. The minister took the path of honour by opting to abide by the court judgment.

    Also heartwarming is that the minister has put in place mechanism for a review of the Park and Pay scheme with a view to addressing areas of serious public complaints. Such areas include the fines usually slammed on offenders. Many people were of the opinion that the fines were too hefty in some cases and in others, too draconian, in additional to the fact that people were not being given enough grace period before their ticket expired. But even though nobody has been availed with a copy of the recommendations of the review committee, one may infer that the review would address most of these observed lapses in the implementation of the scheme.

    Parking management is a scheme introduced by municipal authorities all over the world to control and sanitize the cities and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja will not be an exception. The FCT was designed by the founding fathers to conform to all the parameters that a modern city should have for smooth and convenient living. On-street parking is not one run-off thing; it has been in the design from the day the city was conceptualized.

    The FCT administration, in its wisdom, only deemed it fit that it was the right time to activate this scheme to control the flow of traffic in the city.

    •Mohammed Awwal Ibrahim

    Garki, Abuja

  • Ogun 2015: Sustaining Amosun’s legacy

    SIR: Ordinarily, foreign diplomats are always economical with comments in the land of their postings but when they do such are taken seriously. That was the assessment when the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle in company of the US Consul General (in Lagos), Jeffery Hawkins expressed delight and had cause to hail the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun “for the rapid development of the state” since his emergence in the governance of the state.

    One may make bold to conjecture that Amosun has always aspired to be the best among others; his developmental strides are self-evident with laudable achievements in the areas of good roads, provision of potable water and well channelled canals.

    These are evenly spread across Ogun State. There is something awfully lacking in Nigeria today- a central database where all statistics and completed projects are stored in the country where all claims can be verified. Such a centre will check the spurious claim by governments and individuals. This is being posited because there had been times when projects awarded but not even started were passed for completion.

    Such an independent database should not collaborate with either federal or state sponsored project verification agents. When we such a situation, Nigerians will begin to decipher the myth from the reality and the people of Ogun State will be able to appreciate superior economic growth and development taking place in their land. This independent assessment body would have been able to say what the American ambassador observed when he described what is going on in Ogun State as “What I see is fantastic rapid development in Abeokuta. The roads, the bridges, the flyovers are very impressive.”

    These envoys used the phrase “very, very” repeatedly as an indication of a deep understanding that only a tame and dedicated man of integrity can achieve these transformational goals in less than three years in office. Many of the projects like road construction were undertaken to demonstrate compassion for the masses as a grassroots leader and to ensure that the dividends of democracy percolates to all the segments of the state.

    The uncommon transformation of the state is demonstrated in his personal commitment to make a difference.

    The mission to re-build in Ogun 2015 is wake up call to ensure the spirit of continuity for more dividend of democracy and the needed change required in the state. As Martins Luther King (Jnr.) argued in March, 1965: “ Any real change in the status quo ante depends on continued creative action to sharpen the conscience of the nation and to establish a climate in which even the most recalcitrant elements are forced to admit that a change must come.

    • Olusuji Tajudeen

    Abeokuta South

  • Time to imbibe new lessons in security

    SIR: Some of our brothers have turned the country upside down. Fear stalks citizens like long lazy shadows. Abuja, in particular, is as nervous as a virgin. If it’s not Boko Haram today, then it’s herdsmen who also happen to be experts in directing helicopter drop-offs and are equally smooth in their use of semi-automatic weapons. I suspect most of their sponsors have lost control of the boys. The violence seems to have taken on a life of its own and co-coordinating its stoppage is proving damn near impossible at the moment.

    It’s become too painful to hear about the regular unchecked and unnecessary loss of lives. The abduction of the young girls from a secondary school in Borno and their unimaginable fate is simply too depressing. We have finally confirmed our membership of that exclusive but ignoble club of mad primitive countries where repression seem their only raison d’être.

    Easter Sunday was a bust for most churches in Abuja. Pentecostal pastors were especially unhappy. Private jets and four-wheel drives on order would have to wait a little longer. Continuing fuel shortage and the Nyanyan bomb blast means that most motorist couldn’t go anywhere in their own vehicle. Comprehensive vehicular insurance is a tricky business in Nigeria so cold rationalisation is setting in. Folks are beginning to think that it would be altogether a bad thing to lose one’s life and one’s vehicle in a single incident.

    And the police are back on the streets. Every other vehicle with tinted glass is pulled over, not to check its interior for safety reasons, but to demand to see the tinted-glass registration papers. Inevitably, disappointment climbs onto the face of the officers when the correct document is produced.

    Mistrust is rearing its ugly head again amongst neighbours. Homeowners are beginning to re-interview their gatemen. You don’t even want to hear a motorcycle or a car backfiring on your street. Everyone’s nerve seems on edge. Female education might become negatively impacted in the North-east in the short-term, and NYSC postings of female graduates to any part of that region at this time would seem a cruel and morbid assignment.

    It is very easy (and right) to sometimes blame the lack-lustre nature of the current government. Also, it is only human to think that our security operatives are not protecting us adequately enough – especially in light of past reports of Army personnel caught collaborating with the insurgents. But it is not all bad news. There abound a lot of good interceptions and foiling of potential violent or terror attacks by both security personnel and vigilant citizens.

    Recently in Wadata Market, Markurdi, a female ‘beggar’ was caught with a bomb under her wheelchair. Also, a tattered looking fellow who looked like a scavenger was nabbed by security agents in Abuja. In Kaduna, security operatives busted a group of terrorists as they put the finishing touch to their plan of attacking a Police Station in Kwanan Dangora. Items recovered from the miscreants included Improvised Explosives Devices, a machine gun, AK 47 riffles, fully charged magazines, 66 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunitions and a jerry can of petrol.

    In Lagos, security operatives reported quietly nabbing some 54 suspects in the last few months. I am sure that there are many more cases of terror prevention by some vigilant citizens and hardworking security operatives that go unreported for obvious security reasons. We have to applaud those folks where they have excelled. It could not be an easy job at all.

    However, those little but significant victories weren’t obtained without vigilance. It is now incumbent on every person to be conscious of their immediate environment. As citizens, it devolves on us to be extra vigilant at this time and to be very security-aware. This situation won’t last forever of course, but it is the hand we have been dealt by our fellow brothers. We must do all we can legally to protect ourselves and our properties.

     

    • Michael Egbejumi-David

    demdem@hotmail.co.uk

  • My encounter with Fashola

    SIR: Ordinarily, speaking with a leader, nay a governor, should not command an headline  but when a governor decided to explain his administration’s action upon a text message sparing ample time to tutor his enquirers, then such a governor is by every standard, a leader, a good listener and a servant leader.

    This is the summary of my encounter with Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State on Saturday, April 19.

    The road linking Agbelekale from Aboru to Iyana Ipaja has been undergoing reconstruction since a couple of months ago. However, the time being spent and the quality of work being carried out leaves much to be desired.  This observation prompted a text message to the governor, calling his attention to the low quality of job on the road.

    The governor wasted no time reeling detailed explanation on the deliberate short-term intervention road mending going on across the state.  According to the governor, the present scheme is designed to relieve the people particularly during this rainy season pending a comprehensive overhaul thereafter. What a compassionate leader!

    Mr. Fashola was at home with distance of roads across the state currently benefitting the gesture of this short term intervention road surfacing.  He finally prodded me to greet and felicitate with neighbours on Easter season.

    Few minutes after bidding me farewell, the state Commissioner for Works was on the line with me courtesy of my message which the governor forwarded to him.  He also toed the line of the governor explaining the rationale for adopting this option.

    I guess if Nigerian leaders can humble themselves the Fashola way, perception of the citizen will improve and civic duties will be better performed.

    My dear, enviable Governor BRF,  I salute you, sir.

    • Wale Idowu,

    Aboru, Lagos