Category: Letters

SIR: I wish to communicate my displeasure on the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics ASUP. Education is generally viewed as a precious gift that a good government can give her citizens. It is no more a news that ASUP embarked on strike since October 4, 2013. One had hoped that the misunderstanding will be resolved within the shortest time. I am disappointed with the way the issue is being treated by both parties. Last December, the supervising Minister for Education met the Council of Chairmen of Nigerian Polytechnic Governing Council headed by Chief Ebenezer Babatope and they were all instructed to meet their local chapter ASUP chairmen on the issue. We were made to believe that 90 percent of ASUP demand had been met. Unfortunately, ASUP National President, Comrade Asomugha made us realise that only one out of four demands had actually been met. How does this represent 90 percent? Who is fooling who?

ASUP and the federal government should bear it in minds that students are no fools neither does it mean that we don’t know what next but we are only being patriotic.

The federal government should resolve this issue without further delay. Meanwhile, we demand an apology from both parties for using us as scapegoat in the strike. The federal government should include in their subvention to polytechnics, relief fund to support house rents for the students for the duration of the strike. ASUP should ensure that they open their door for negotiations to hasten our resumption back to school. Lest I forget, will the students currently in ND2 be allowed for HND without the mandatory one year Industrial Training since the lost time was occasioned by the ASUP strike? Inasmuch as we have been loyal to our country, we should not be taken for granted.

•Comrade Olawoyin Edris Busayo,

Federal Polytechnic, Offa.

SIR: His inability to stand tough on critical matters or cleverness to navigate the political waters is causing his vulnerability to drift to the shores.  He has evidently extended the frontiers in the evolution of the nation’s political system.  He may have taken the nation to the top of the mountain, his exasperation shows he does not have the wherewithal to cross it to the promise land.  Corruption is endemic.  Boko Haram is still raging.  Regionalism is rearing to the fore, not to mention the baggage of the first lady.

He often states publicly that he supports wealth creation in response to his approach to the havoc of corruption.  This may indicate his insensitivity.  He may be suffering from bureaucratic hangover, the symptom of overexposure to corruption.  He is like one wearing a fabric woven with smeared threads and for him to remove the dirt will strip him naked of power and close allies.  He is in a crucial position to fight corruption with the same gravity the military is fighting Boko Haram.  One can see the casualties of the war on insurrection sadly but political bandits are freely roaming the high places.

The genesis of the Boko Haram insurgency can hardly be divorced from the crisis in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  Who can forget the famous statement by a PDP big wig about making the country ungovernable?  He has been unable to reconcile with the North who feels aggrieved on the rotation of the presidency within the party.  His ambition to be president requires the theoretical brilliance of Einstein to yield a political success.  Meanwhile the country is bound by a burning desert fire that he cannot quell.

Glitzy mansions are springing up like mushrooms in the Niger Delta region and one doubt if they are being built by the inept Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC).  Most Nigerians suspect that the source of the wealth is from oil theft.  He takes the posture of Buddha and watches the scandal in a transcendental bliss.  It is understandable that he is in a precarious position being a son of the region.  Democracy demands the use of political process to balance the distribution of the nation’s natural resources.

His political flight may be finally drowned in the ocean by the excess luggage of the first lady.  Unofficial opinion poll indicates that she is viewed by most Nigerians as a disgrace to the nation’s democracy.  Michelle Obama can stand for a cause and make Americans proud but the nation’s first lady does not know the shortness of her intellectual sophistication.  It is shameful that she fronts herself as the mother of the nation.  The award to her as a global cybercrime champion is the crown of tokenism.

Events are unfolding in the polity that may put the piloting of the affairs of the nation on the fast track.  The crumbling of PDP may be a blessing for the nation’s democracy.  Nigerians appreciate the structural changes by the current administration.  One cannot take for granted the sanity in the banking system for example.  There is a euphoric shift in the political wind.  The brewing of a Tambuwal/Fashola 2015 ticket will make a stormy campaign season.  The siren is on.  Let the bright lights shine for the people to see.

• Pius Okaneme

Umuoji, Anambra

SIR: I read John Shittu’s reaction to Segun Odegbami’s comment on Mikel Obi, published on page 24 of The Nation of Wednesday, January 15 wherein Odegbami was portrayed to have made scathing comments on why Mikel failed to win GLO-CAF player 2013 award. In the said publication, Odegbami was quoted to have said that when Mikel is not featured in the Chelsea team, he is rarely missed and when featured he is not expected to do any thing following which Shittu gave Odegbami a tutorial on modern day football and why great coaches have all kept playing Mikel in Chelsea. I wholly adopt Shittu’s comments and analysis of Mikel’s prowess and Odegbami’s condemnation as mine.

It was the same Odegbami in his analysis of Nigeria’s chances of lifting the Nations cup in South Africa 2013 said that how far Nigeria would go in that competition would depend on how far Mikel would take us. Just like Odegbami predicted, Mikel took us to conquer Africa and on her way, conquered Yaya Toure and his Cote –d’Ivoire despite their boast before the match.

Mikel was in the last Confederation cup in Brazil where again, he sparkled with no Yaya Toure anywhere near the competition except if he came as Mikel’s fan.

Mikel in his club, Chelsea is always a beautiful sight to behold; marking, blocking, passing and switching accurate passes from his half to the next end which has earned him and his club, champions league trophy, Europe cup among other laurels. Yet, Odegbami is not satisfied.

I am not surprised at Odegbami’s negative comment on Mikel, after all the same Odegbami in a programme two years ago on AIT, tried to justify the un-sportsman-like conduct of Nigerian fans in jeering and booing Super Eagles in course of play to the advantage of their opponent. He rationalized that negative attitude of Nigerians on the ground that he too was booed when fans adjudged that he and mates were not playing to their satisfaction.

CAF is setting a dangerous precedent in Africa as they use club competition to determine the best player for Africa even in a year CAF organized Nations Cup. If players now realize that Nations Cup play little impact in the choice of best player for the continent, they would prefer to stay back in their clubs rather than participate in an African competition that will not count much to their profile.

It is time Africa rethinks. Okocha suffered this same humiliation like Mikel. Where is Mustapha Haji in Africa legends today who was chosen ahead of Okocha?

•Barrister Victor C. Nwaugo

Aba

SIR: After weeks of internal strife over the controversial oil benchmark as contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) approved by the National Assembly in the 2014 budget, both chambers unanimously agreed on $77.5 per barrel, paving way for the presentation of the national budget by the executive. Thus, the 2014 budget christened ‘Budget for Job creation and Inclusive growth’ was presented on behalf of President Jonathan by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy on Thursday, December 19, 2013.

Of course, budget or no budget has never been a major pre-occupation of the man on the street because he does not understand how the trillions of naira he sees in the newspapers and/or hears on TV and radio translates to food on his table. Be that as it may, we must not be apathetic on the issue of budget because it is critical to the development of virile and robust economy.

Being one of the millions of Nigerian youths hoping for a better 2014 in terms of employment opportunities, I was expectant; however, after getting the details of the so-called N4.642tn. “budget for job creation and inclusive growth” where N3.73tn or 72.71 per cent of the budget was earmarked for recurrent expenditure which will only be of benefit for about six percent of the population and N1.1tn or 27.29 per cent was set aside for capital expenditure for about 94% of the population, I become weary.

Recalling the Minister’s word that “Job creation is the key to really solving the problems of the Nigerian economy”, I could only wonder how a budget where recurrent expenditure will gulp about 73% at the expense of capital expenditure of 27% could be said to be a budget for job creation and inclusive growth. Who is deceiving who?

If there is anything that millions of Nigerian youths are yearning for, it is job opportunities; there are millions of graduates seeking for employment opportunities to no avail. There is no doubt job creation will boost the economy. But how many people have benefited from the jobs that were supposed created through the 2013 budget of 31.9% capital expenditure?

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala knows better and does not need to be told that job creation and inclusive growth depend on an all-inclusive capital expenditure, where the impact of development could be felt by the masses.

In the same vein, the mammoth sum of N836.6m for fuelling generators in 2014 by the presidency and other ministries, departments and agencies of government is conspicuous when considered from the standpoint that the government, had after the privatization of the power sector promised that Nigerians would begin to see significant improvement in power supply from the first quarter of next year. Specifically, President Jonathan had while inaugurating the Phase II 500 Megawatts Omotosho National Integrated Power Plant in Ondo State two months ago promised stable power supply in the country by the middle of 2014.

The National Assembly should look into this recurrent issue critically and push for more funds to be allocated to boost agriculture, housing and healthcare infrastructure to generate employment and empower Nigerians at the grassroots so as to make it “budget for job creation and inclusive growth” as it is called.

• Ogundimu Babatunde Solomon

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

SIR: Democracy by its conception is meant to further the people’s well being. It is a system that gives the people the opportunity to determine their destinies. Democracy is not democracy, when it is devoid of social and economic justice. The opportunity that is embedded in democracy for self-determination was seized upon by the people of Oganenigu, Dekina local government, in the election that produced the current Governor of Kogi State –Captain Idris Wada, in 2012.

Oganenigu is the largest political ward in Dekina local government and by extension, Kogi State in general. Ironicaly, Oganenigu is the only ward in Dekina local government, whose ward headquarters is yet to be accessed by tarred road.

Your excellencey, the people of Oganenigu voted for you because they consider you to be by all standards, an achiever, judging by your track record of achievements before you became governor. The people of Oganenigu voted for you in the expectation that, you will redress the criminal marginalization of the community by successive administration in the state.

. The last time complaints in respect of the same road reached your good office, you promptly directed action. That is to be saluted. But your excellency, the quality of work carried out on that road in 2012, as you directed, is to say the least, worse than the laterite construction, carried out on the road in 1978.

Your Excellency, the people are counting on your benevolence to once again rise to the occasion. The first reason why the people are getting more and more desperate is that the road is now almost unmotorable, a nightmare and a death trap. A journey of 16 kilometers (Oganenigu-Etutekpe) that should ordinarily take less than 25 minutes now take two whole hours. This is pathetic in 21st century. The loss of man-hour on the road, hazards like accident, unbearable cost of transportation and wear and tear on vehicles and other means of transportation, is excruciating.

Oganenigu is a very large community with a cluster of about 13 villages known for abundant forest resources and other agricultural produce. Regrettably, the people are beginning to lose interest in farming for which they have comparative advantage because their market is almost extinct because of bad road. The internal traders and farmers can hardly transport their farm produce to the nearest –Anyigba market, at a profit, because of high cost transportation.

Your excellency, it is sad to note that poverty is widespread in Oganenigu, not because the land is not endowed or the people are lazy. It is simply a case of tears in the midst of abundant potentials that cannot be harnessed due to slim opportunity –marginalization. Daer Captain; help urgently before Oganenigu is completely cut-off from the rest of Nigeria.

• Omonu Nelson Yakubu-Gowon

Mararaba, Nassarawa State