The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Who felled Awolowo statue in Ibadan?

    SIR: We are a forgetful people in this country. This is partly responsible for some of the woes that befall us. Because, but for our forgetfulness, many of those who latch on our poor memory would not have the temerity to insult us with their comments and actions. If we do this, we would be victors over those who seek to draw back the hands of the clock of state.

    I remember that some people were accused of destroying the statue of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, sometime during the regime of Senator Rashidi Ladoja. What has happened to those people till now? Indeed, who were the people who destroyed a statue that was supposed to remind us about the shining light of our century? Unfortunately, no one is asking questions.

    An ardent fan and apostle of the sage, Late Alhaji Lam Adesina, had constructed the statue, in memory of his political icon, Awolowo. The statue was made to replace that of the Unknown Soldier that donned the state capital before the Adesina government.

    But in the heat of the politics of ‘Kill and Go’, ‘Maim and Destroy them’ that was the order of the day then in Oyo State, this statue was demolished, apparently for political purposes. The refrain in Oyo State was that those who demolished Awolowo’s statue are not only walking free, they still intend to masquerade to re-enter the same Government House which Awolowo left as a legacy of the power of democracy. If they hated and still hate Awolowo this much, why should they want to reap from the dividends of his sagacity?

    When the barrier on the Mokola, Ibadan flyover was demolished recently, many people saw it as a throw-back to the demolition of the Awolowo statue. Those who demolished the sage’s statue, empowered by our nonchalant attitude as a people, and since they were not arrested and punished by the law-enforcement agencies, went ahead to demolish the flyover barrier.

    The way out is for the law-enforcement agencies to get to the roots of the demolishing of the flyover’s barrier. Once we find out who demolished the Awolowo statue, we will find out who demolished the flyover’s barrier. It is simple as ABC.

    • ‘Ladi Laotan, Ayeye,

    Ibadan, Oyo State.

  • On internally generated Revenues (IGRs)

    Permit me to air my views on the era of Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs). IGRs are revenue sources derived from the provision of goods and services by the agencies of government or non-governmental organisations that are not inclusive of external allocations, grants and benefactions. IGRs are critical to the affairs of organisations that are involved in its generation and are useful in the running of such outfits.

    Often, the viability of some organisations is determined by its capacity for IGRs. In some instances the rating and external allocation formula or even resource allocation is based on the capacity for an organisation to generate its own revenue.

    Hence, some organs or sections of government or non-governmental organisations are often looked down as a result of their inability or delay to come up with viable options for internally generated revenue.

    Thus every agency or section worth its salt is expected to be able to generate its own revenue or at least part of it and should not always be cap in hand looking for its sustenance from the powers that be. As a result of the quest for IGR, some moral issues have often arisen and the public has often questioned the rationale behind such moves.

    A case in point is that of revenue motive by FRSC through new number plates which was stepped down by the National Assembly on the grounds that if the agency needed extra funding it should propose in its budgetary submissions for approval. There is therefore no need to stampede hapless vehicle owners into the September 30 deadline and not only that with threats of enforcement to get at defaulters after this date. Must vehicle owners be made to suffer because the FRSC wants to make a point that it too has the capacity to bring in revenue for the government and thereby leverage on its own equitable allocation from the Federal Government.

    Again, what moral value is it for water corporations owned by government to be selling water in tanks when they cannot make the commodity available to the populace just in the name of IGRs? May be such outfits had better still add value to the water by bottling it for the public at a subsidized price.

    Emmanuel Tyokumbur

    Department of Zoology,

    University of Ibadan.

  • Suntai: History repeating itself

    Many at times one may wonder why our so-called leaders take delight in clinging to power even to the point of death or when they are incapacitated. Once they get into power via questionable or unquestionable means, they would not want to cede it even when they are incapacitated as if it’s their business venture.

    The political charade in Taraba State is not a different one. The governor, Danfulani Suntai, who has brain damage owing to air mishap which occurred last year is yet to fully recover but sadly his stalwarts want to hijack the politics of the state by playing politics with his health. Little wonder his health status is yet to be divulged by his disciples. They want to establish politics by proxy.

    They now want to duplicate what happened during Yar’adua’s era. We are all familiar with how they played politics with the late president’s health challenge. When he was terribly ill, his health status was denied Nigerians even when he was flown abroad. To make it more dramatic, they tried to fool us by using somebody’s voice as his in a foreign media, feigning that he was recuperating. How funny! To fan more tension in the country, he was flown back into the country to avoid losing his seat in the dead of the night and his then vice president- Dr Goodluck Jonathan- was turned down when he made an attempt to see ailing boss on his return. The charade continued until life was snuffed out of him. Prior to his demise, it was believed that the then first lady navigated the ship of presidency; she decided who got what, when and how.

    As the political crisis in Taraba lingers, I am afraid to say that history is about to repeat itself except something urgently is done to salvage the situation. This is because following the decision of the house to elevate deputy governor, Garba Umar, since the ailing governor had been away since last year, the wife of the latter together with her disciples-Jonah Jang of Plateau State and others went and brought him back to stop the inauguration of the former, not minding his health status. To them it is obvious that his position is more important than his health.

    It is sad and sardonic that Suntai, whom they claim has fully recuperated and is fit to assume his duties as the Chief Executive Officer of the state could not alight from the aircraft himself without aid, let alone waving his hand to his anxious fans that came to welcome him or speak to the pressmen in the airport.

    I was amazed when I watched the clip of his alighting from the plane on arrival. His face looked as if he swallowed an office pin. One of his aides held him in the arm. To avoid further embarrassment, he was whisked away to the VIP lodge of the airport. They claimed that he was very tired and needed to rest.

    To convince the Assembly that he was fit to resume his duties, he fulfilled his constitutional obligation by writing to them. This was trailed with mixed reactions as regards the authenticity of the signature. To ascertain this, he was summoned by the ‘doubting Thomases’ of the house to come and address them after the delegates that were sent to pay him homage were turned down. This generated uproar as the cabal claimed that he had done what the constitution stipulated and there was no need to address the house. How crafty! Who is deceiving who?

    I give kudos to the recent response of the law makers to the ailing governor, that he is unfit and as such should go back to US to continue his treatment. That is how it ought to be-it should be premise on capability and not on compassionate ground else history might repeat itself.

    Emmanuel Onoja is a corps-member in Ibadan.

  • Why political instability may persist

    SIR: There cannot be stability when the conditions for it are absent. Take the electoral system as a starting point. Popular protest against election rigging made President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to set up the Electoral Reform Committee, headed by Justice Muhammed Uwais. The most crucial recommendation of that committee, which was that the electoral system should be freed from the whims and caprices of the partisan President, Governor, and the ruling party, as the case might be, was jettisoned by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), using its upper hand as the ruling political party.

    There was a palpable and bourgeoning agitation for the implementation of the Uwais’s recommendation in the build-up to the 2011 general elections, but Dr. Goodluck Jonathan also thwarted it by nominating Prof. Attahiru Jega to replace Prof. Maurice Iwu as the chairman of the electoral commission. Too many Nigerian intellectuals swallowed the bait, saying Jega was incorruptible. I was almost a lone opponent, shouting, “But we want a strong institution and not just a strong personality!”

    Obviously, large scale manipulation of election results still trails our nation, as a consequence of our collective lack of focus, and PDP’s desperation to leave as much room as possible for election-rigging.

    Besides election-rigging, most of the major crises that have bedevilled Nigeria have bordered on which ethnic group or region controls Nigeria, from the civil war (1967-1970) to the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Hence it was a welcome development when some leaders from all over Nigeria decided on rotational presidency, starting with the South-west whose Moshood Abiola, was denied the presidency by the 1993 annulment. Against rejection by the South-west, the rest of the country voted for Olusegun Obasanjo; he lost even in his own ward in the 1999 presidential election. The South-west leaders who later embraced him regretted their lack of focus.

    At the end of Obasanjo’s two-term tenure, the rotation shifted to the North-west, and Yar’Adua emerged as elected President. Why did Nigerians again lose focus, and voted for Goodluck Jonathan in 2011, just because Yar’Adua died? Note that it was not only the PDP that chose its presidential flag bearer from the South-west in 1999 and 2003; or from the north in 2007; all the major opposition political parties did the same. What is more, even in 2011 when the PDP was arm-twisted to vote for Jonathan, the major opposition political parties still maintained the rotation stance.

    Why then should the All Progressive Congress (APC) shy away from appropriating rotational presidency among the six geo-political zones, for order, equity, peace, progress, and stability? Nigeria’s constitution condones federal character policy for the same reason; how does rotational presidency violate that spirit?

    Isn’t it significant that arguments against rotational presidency heightened after Jonathan truncated it in 2011? Any nation that loses focus on critical issues of election and political order can hardly be stable.

    • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin.

  • PDP: House divided against itself

    SIR: Not a few persons anticipated the implosion that hit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on August 31; the signs of trouble were all too evident. The PDP has often been accused of lack of respect for the rule of law, falsehood, deceit, and imposition of candidates, repression and several other undemocratic and dishonourable conduct. Despite the unhealthy baggage, it has managed surprisingly successfully to survive one crisis after another. This time, however, it seems to have pushed its luck too far.

    According to Hooke’s law, an elastic material will return to its original length provided the elastic limit is not exceeded. The PDP has considerable elasticity for lawlessness but obviously those pulling the strings miscalculated and ended up exceeding the elastic limit. Of recent, some of the actions of the party’s leadership have indeed been most bizarre.

    Following the Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) chairmanship election, it invented a queer arithmetic of 16 greater than 19. The dust raised by this disingenuous invention was yet to settle when five lawmakers (if you like, lawbreakers), egged on by the powers-that-be, attempted to impeach the Speaker in a house of 32 members. This is just one of the many infractions that have gone on in Rivers State all in blind quest to get at the governor.

    There have been arbitrary and bizarre suspensions of high ranking members including governors. In Anambra, Senator Andy Uba was handed the same pill when he questioned the handing over of the party’s gubernatorial ticket to Tony Nwoye. In fact, anyone who differed with the presidency and the party’s chairman was an enemy to be dealt with. Many complained but their complaints apparently fell on deaf ears.

    Things eventually came to a head at the special national convention when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar along with seven state governors and their followers staged a walk-out and went ahead to set up a parallel executive. Many have predicted possible tear in the umbrella but perhaps not many imagined it would be torn almost in two. Well, a patient will suffer in relation to the magnitude of his ailment. When a mighty tree crashes it must fall with a mighty thud.

    But does the PDP deserve the sympathy of Nigerians, or does its current travail call for celebration? It must be borne in mind that none of the issues over which the PDP gladiators are battling borders on the welfare of Nigerians. On the contrary, it’s mostly over the politics of 2015. In any sane setting, one must first give account of, and indeed justify, the opportunity given to him before asking for more. Now, how well has the power mongers disturbing the peace of the country with their squabbling done so far? Of what benefit is their stay in power to Nigerians?

    In the past few years, Nigerians have witnessed a surge in corruption like never before. Infrastructure is in decay, unemployment rife; poverty, hunger and insecurity stalk the land. Undergraduates have been at home for months now. Yet those to whom authority have been vested to tackle these present challenges seem unconcerned but are busy fighting to capture or retain power in 2015. They chase after rats while the house is aflame. There’s need for change.

     

    • Nnoli Chidiebere

    Aba, Abia State.

  • New face of politics

    SIR: Politics as usual has not served the industrious citizens of this nation well.  Nigerians have been disenfranchised by politicians who cared little for good governance.  The tide of unconscionable politicians is sweeping through the country like locusts.  They are voraciously squandering the immense resources endowed for the betterment of the people.  Suddenly politicians are living in palaces as if they are kings.

    Nigerians should avail themselves of the chance to do soul-searching on the personalities they consider for political leadership.  That someone is visible and loud does not make the person a leader.  Nigerians are very wise; only that if they allow themselves one minute to think about an individual’s character, judging from his or her speech or antecedent, they will be able to make an informed decision about his or her leadership capabilities.

    True leadership comes out of a conscience driven by a sense of social progress.

    Nigerians will individually have themselves to blame when they abuse their political franchise with bad choices.  The influence of poverty politics creates the corridor for charlatans to thrive.  The jingoists come around every election season and make promises and like a typhoon they disappear once they get into office.  The country has sufficient resources to satisfy the economic demands of the citizens.

    Now is early.  The poor masses have suffered tremendously from the neglect or ignorance of their civic responsibility.  If a politician offers you goodies, take them and thank him or her.  An enlightened citizen should endeavour to do his or her own political calculation and vote for the candidate that will best satisfy his or her interests.

    Democracy will yield abundant fruits when its tenets are strictly adhered to.  It behoves on the citizenry to disabuse themselves of the regression of vulgar politics.  The new face of politics in Nigeria will wear the mask of discipline and abhor the evil forest of corruption.  The future generation must be spared from the sins of their forebears.  An Igbo adage says suffering is on the body.  What good has the political road Nigerians travelled so far done for them other than total collapse of the social structure?   Turn on the light and see the disastrousness of the nation’s journey so far.

    • Pius Okaneme,

    Umuoji, Anambra State.

  • Suntai as pawn in Taraba politics

    SIR: When Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State and his aides set out on a journey to Adamawa on October, 25 2012 in his Cessna 208 -5N-BNG private jet, little did he know that even as an executive governor with enormous power at his beck and call, one day he will become a pawn in the political chessboard of selfish politicians. It is an unfortunate scenario of the healthy at the moment hiding under the malaise of the man in power and authority to fester their political nets. In these one can fathom “religion” in the political arithmetic of who becomes what in 2015 general elections. The common good of Taraba people is shoved aside for primordial sentiment, personal and selfish aggrandisement of some politicians.

    They should have a rethink and ask for God’s mercy those scrambling for power at the expense of the health condition of Suntai.

    This kind of drama was once enacted by a certain unelected cabal trying to hold political power by proxy and at all cost for former President Umaru Yar’Adua. The nation was nearly pushed to the precipice. What is the mind of the law in this case? Specifically, Sections 189 (1, 2, 3 and 4) and 190 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended provides the undeniable legal lead and solution to this imbroglio but the situation in Taraba demands more of common sense than the application of law. Call it another doctrine of necessity.

    Sentiments apart, Governor Suntai might not be fit to govern Taraba again but the fact remains that the only requirement of the law was for him to send a letter of his readiness to carry on with his duties to the House of Assembly. There was no place in the 1999 Constitution where it was stipulated that an ailing governor should or must physically appear and address the State House of Assembly to ascertain his capability to govern. The Taraba House of Assembly should not feign ignorant of the law.

    It must be restated that the 1999 Constitution created the lacuna upon which this in-fighting festers. Whatever position the contending groups must have taken, was anchored on this vacuum of the law because, the law itself is an ass which looked the other way or rather was blind to the case under review. The constitution makes it extremely tedious to remove a governor. Can you imagine a sick governor writing a letter to the House of Assembly declaring himself incapacitated? Which commissioner will cast a vote of incapacitation against a governor who picked him from the dust bin of obscurity and set him on the path of fame?

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in this circumstance is in itself incapacitated and should be declared so. This is an auspicious moment for us as a nation to insert some clauses that will correct these anomalies. This is the second time we have treaded this path to nowhere; we should get our acts right.

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Zaria, Kaduna State

  • ‘Do or Die’ politics of PDP in Offa

    SIR: To steal is criminal, how much more to steal a peoples’ mandate. In a civilized society, when the people have spoken, their voice should be heard. This is the essence of democracy; giving power to the people. It is the government chosen by the majority of qualified people in an area. When votes are being manipulated or fraud is being perpetrated to install unpopular candidate by a powerful minority, this is no more democracy. It is stealing and it is more heinous than theft.

    In the Offa local government run-off election held on Saturday, August 31, the results of the wards clearly favoured All Progressive Congress (APC) with all wards but one in favour of APC candidate. Constitutionally, the result of the election is supposed to be announced by the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) Returning Officer of the local government. Instead, the Returning Officer disappeared and an unknown man found his way to the state radio station to announce a contrary result.

    A returning officer is required to be fearless, upright and bold; he or she is expected to consider national cause over and above selfish interest. He is like a soldier who goes to war to protect the integrity of his country. Anybody who fears human beings more than God cannot serve as a returning officer. Anybody who cherishes bribe or fear human threat more than due diligence cannot serve as returning officer and ought to reject the post.

    For how long shall we continue to be in this wilderness? For how long shall we be patient before we get to the promise land? Now, the efforts of those that voted for their candidates have been reduced to nothing so much that it will be difficult to convince some of them in future elections.

    According to Winston Churchill, “the greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes”. So if the majority of people in an area are fools and they have foolishly but constitutionally chosen their representative against the wish of the wise minority, the wise minority should see it as one of the weaknesses of democracy and allow the wish of the majority fools to rule. There is no sense in ruling by force and it helps nobody to be in government against the wishes of the majority. Nigeria is not moving forward despite its great potentials because the right people are not in the right places.

    Over eighty per cent of our youths are not engaged. We have over 17 million housing deficits which means that majority of Nigerians are either homeless or living in sub-standard houses. We have never enjoyed 24 hours uninterrupted power supply. Our universities’ gates are perpetually under locks and our children under-fed in a country with abundant arable soil. We have oil but it has been our undoing; we would be better off without it. Our people are stark illiterates though they have passed the four walls of a school.

    Do we say that the KWASIEC officer who has turned back the hand of the clock in Offa local government re-run election does not know the implications of his actions on democratic development of the nation? No. He knows. The government should be interested in this case and punish the culprit as a deterrent to others in his shoe. Whether his action is right or the people are right is a matter of time.

     

    • Olufemi A. Oyedele

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • No merit in Jonathan’s second term bid

    SIR: A second term for any president or governor is not a must or a compulsory thing. The people should ordinarily want to have you do a second term, not you imposing a second term on the people.

    I am from the South-south, and by the foregoing arguments I should support Jonathan for a second term bid, but I prefer to differ on this matter. My position is clear: Jonathan has not proven himself to be a man that can take Nigeria out of its present state of insecurity, poverty, deprivation, joblessness, corruption, to mention a few dilemmas bedevilling Nigeria.

    A president that can wake up on January 1, and increase the price of fuel is certainly not a man of wisdom. Jonathan has failed the South-south with his purposeless leadership and inability to fight corruption head-on. He is being swung round like the “barber’s chair” to make his government unpopular by the same northerners he has surrounded himself with.

    Believe it or not, Jonathan had laid a bad precedent for the south, and it will be extremely difficult for a southerner to get to that position again in the country. I will rest my arguments this way: It is either PDP dumps Jonathan and remain relevant in 2015, or retain Jonathan and go into extinction in 2015. The choice is theirs. Thank God for viable oppositions.

    • Engr Osaro Ogbewe

    Benin City

  • Abuja General Hospital and expired drugs

    SIR: One of my friends visited the General Hospital Maitama, Abuja after series of complaints about his health. After examination by the doctor, he was given a list of drugs to buy. He went to the hospital’s pharmacy and purchased the drugs as instructed by the doctor.

    He is to take those drugs for 30 days. This is where I don’t understand: he has taken these drugs for 14 days and the drugs are going to expire within nine days, that is, before the 30 days given to him to use the drugs. If he goes ahead to take the remaining ones after the expiry date, what is the guarantee that the drugs will still be effective?

    Sometime last year, I encountered a woman who visited General Hospital Nyanya, Abuja. She was given some drugs that had only two days before their expiry date and she was to take these drugs for 16 days. Was that right?

    I am not a medical doctor that is why I am asking all these questions. Let us be honest, if you are to choose between drugs that have even a month before the expiry date and the one that has a complete year before it expire, which one would you go for?

    I call on the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii to be monitoring drugs in the government hospitals as well; he should not restrict monitoring activities to those hospitals, clinics and pharmacies owned by the private individuals.

     

    • Awunah Pius Terwase

    Mpape, Abuja.