The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Amosun’s infrastructural revolution

    The above quote clearly pictures the on-going historic infrastructural revolution in Ogun which many eminent Nigerians have described as ‘phenomenal’, saying, ‘it is such that has not happened anywhere in the country.’

    Many residents of the Gateway State, as Ogun is known, are fast becoming the biblical Philip who confidently told his friend, Nathaniel, ‘come and meet my Jesus.’

    It is true that the thirty-seven-year-old state is among the famous in Nigeria but sad to note that it was one of the so called ancient states with little infrastructure before the inception of Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration.

    In the last two years, the story has been a total turn-around from what it used to be in a bid to bringing about industrialisation that would boost the state’s economy as the government is committed to the construction and expansion of over fourteen major roads and fly over bridges, including the 107km Ilara/Egua/Ijoun/Oja-Odan Road which cuts across four local governments in Ogun West Senatorial District,10km Ayetoro-Olodo Road, Mobalufon/Ejinrin/Folagbade Road in Ijebu-Ode, Oba Erinwole Road/Kara/Isale-Oko Road in Sagamu, as well as Ilisan-Ago-Iwoye Road,Ojere/Onikolobo/Panseke Road,Omida/Sapon Road,Enu Gada/Ago-Iba/Itoku/Sapon/Ijaiye/Iyana Mortuary Road and Abiola Road respectively in Abeokuta,among others.

    Even critics had to conclude that the state government ‘is committed to doing too many roads’ because the on-going infrastructural revolution cannot but be noticed.

    Frankly speaking, at the take-off of the projects, many people became doubting Thomases, saying, ‘how can these be possible? but Governor Amosun in his usual manner said, ‘when there is determination and God’s grace, you can achieve your dreams, no matter how big they are.’

    It is to our amazement in Ogun that our state is indeed becoming a centre of attraction as all the road projects are 70% near completion without leaving any stone unturned.

     

    Femi Onasanya,

    Abeokuta, Ogun State

     

  • Nigeria’s open wound

    Sir,

    It is clear that none of the thieving political dinosaurs and neophytes alike parading themselves as leaders in this country can fix Nigeria. They are nothing more than brigands! Every time the opportunity comes to effect the desirable changes, they continue to leave the country worse off that they met it. And those who had the opportunity to serve more than once only succeeded in failing to effect the requisite changes conditioned by their previous woeful showing. Nigeria remains an open wound utterly deprived of orthodox or traditional medical treatment, or at least, any form of efficacious cauterisation.

    Consequently, suppuration has set in apace and the next stage of decay is that of gangrene. It is obvious that these demagogues cum reprobates are not on the same wavelength as the people with respect to how this country should be steered. While most Nigerians only seek employment opportunities and a business-friendly environment that would enable them to feed, clothe and house themselves, this bunch of neurotic and highly talented thieves are obsessed with looting the treasury with hyenas’ savagery, and a strength that more than equal that of the biblical Samson. They are extremely adept at stealing and negotiating soft landings for themselves.

    From my point of view, there are many categories of leaders in terms of their psychological make-up, temperament and conviction. Some leaders are futuristic in their thinking and are adept at seeing years ahead of their peers; they, more often than not, formulate far-reaching socio-economic policies with accustomed ease. The socio-economic cum political emancipation of their people is what they live and stand for. They are usually highly cerebral and self-effacing. Others are more at home with dealing with issues as they arise; but their responsive posture by no means constitutes slothfulness or inactivity. The third group comprises of those who desire to bring about positive change, but are either clueless as regards how to effect the change, or are utterly lacking any smidgen of leadership quality- President Goodluck Jonathan can be termed one of the doyens of this category.

    Lastly, and the least desirable, those who have no intention of affecting the lives of their fellow human beings positively, have no modicum of enlightenment in the real sense of the word, lead lives that are firmly balanced on moneyed interests, usually literate but unlearned, and educated but lacking real education in the actual sense of the word. Nigeria has been so unlucky to have the last category of leaders in endless supply. Most Nigerian politicians belong to the last group. Despite being rich in human and natural resources, this group of few reprobates are fast turning Nigeria to a dystopia, and there is seemingly no end in sight. Nigerians are in dire need of a change to be preceded by a revolution of the mind.

     

    Sordic Afis

    0808976967

  • Letter to Fela, 16 years after

    SIR: As you mark the 16th anniversary of your transition and communion with pan-African forebears, I feel obligated to write to you considering the inimitable doggedness and sacrifices you made for this country.

    Today, Martin Luther King’s America is a model and cynosure of human liberty, as even a black man is president, which more than fulfils his “I Have A Dream” project. Kwame Nkrumah’s Ghana is now the paragon of progress in West Africa, and the streets of Lagos no longer stream with Ghanaian “shoe makers” (a “profession” which was the exclusive preserve of Ghanaians in Lagos throughout the 1980s and 1990s). They have all returned home; not because of the “Ghana must go” policy of the Nigerian government, but because the survival of small and medium scale business is guaranteed with stable electricity supply and workable economic policies in Ghana.

    You must be wondering what is happening in Nigeria especially with the military rascality and brigandage that reached a choking crescendo when you left. Well, the soldiers have returned to the barracks and Nigeria now practices democracy, but let me quickly add that only the jersey has changed; the players and tactics remain essentially the same.

    By the way, please when next you see Ken Saro-Wiwa disturbing the peace of Hades with the cry of marginalization of his people; tell him to stop living in the past as his kinsman is now the emperor. Tell Ken his kinsmen are fully in charge and the “blood vessels” that sustain the Nigerian nation have been entrusted in the care of goons from the creeks. In fact every Tom, Dick and Harry from Niger Delta today is a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project whose view must be seriously considered.

    Electricity, water, food, house are still in the realm of imagination and hope (where you left them); unemployment is still employing Nigerians in millions (about 70% now); basic health care system remains elusive. Our roads continue to railroad people to your end of the divide and our aircrafts have been re-christened “flying coffins”.

    Authority stealing has never been this prominent, as Niyi Osundare aptly asserts that corruption has become “the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic.”

    I listened to your track “Authority Stealing” and shuddered when I got to the part where you maintain that the big thief in Nigeria is allowed to go home, while the small thief who probably stole to escape the pang of hunger is condemned to jail. I wonder if you composed that song for those days or for these days, because it aptly describes the reality of today where a man who stole a governor’s phone has been sentenced to 45 years in prison, while an official who stole over five billion naira police pension fund has been asked to “pay tax” and then go home to enjoy his loot.

    Nigeria today is like a rudderless ship trapped in a whirlwind at sea. Our captains continue to perform circus shows in the name of salvaging the ship; the senior captain, surrounded by his menacing lapdogs, looks and acts clueless, yet scorns at every voice that seeks to correct. The passengers have been mummified and converted to inmates who must contrive some smiles to endure suffering – “Suffering and Smiling.”

    While our “Ogas at the top” continue to fritter our commonwealth on frivolities, we give our battle to the lord; so we continue to throng Lagos-Ibadan expressway and Idi Iroko-Ota road every Sunday to entreat God, and continue to pay out tithes so that our pastors can fly our prayers to heaven in private jets. We are optimistic that our miracle on the way whether you believe it or not.

    The Lagos state government has built a museum in your memory to preserve your legacies – at least that’s good news. But as you assume mantle as the “diviner” of Hades, please make it your first duty to entreat the oracle on our behalf, as we have spent eternity entreating Western gods to no avail.

    • Banire Abiodun.

    University of Ibadan

  • The price of social change 

    SIR: In different parts of the globe, many people are working and campaigning for social change and transformation. They campaign for provision and improvement of social amenities, for education, human rights and humane laws. But the fact is that achieving social change-positive and progressive change- does not come easy. It has a price -and comes at a cost-sometimes the cost of one’s life. Very often people desire change, they demand for  improvement of their society but they do not know that change has a price. It requires hard work and struggle. People want change but are not willingly to pay the price for it. They want social progress to fall like ‘manna’ from heaven. And that is why the promises and possibilities of social transformation elude –and continue to elude many around the globe.

    Some of us may wonder:  Why is there a price on a good that benefits everyone? Why is it that some people are killed, framed, imprisoned because of their quest, work and struggle for human rights, equity and social justice? Why do we have to labour and sacrifice to win social acceptance and approval for social goods?

    Social change has-and comes at a price because there are people and powers with vested interest in the prevailing situations of inequity and injustice, and they are not ready to let go. There are people or institutions that benefit from the stagnation and rot, from the oppression, persecution and discrimination against others. And these people and powers fear change. They resist change. They feel threatened by any call for change. They hate people demanding for change. So when people are demanding for change in a society, they should bear in mind that there are forces who want the status to remain. And these forces use their propaganda tools to make people believe that the status quo is the best the society can attain, when it is not. They incite and mobilize the people against those working and campaigning for progress. They make people believe that those seeking positive change are the enemies of the society and sometimes the enemies of god.

    They do so because they think they will lose out if change happens. They think they will lose their position and power including the privilege and benefits that go with it. So when we are calling or working for a change we should know we are up and against forces and powers with vested interest in the status quo and who will do anything, go to any length to stop or undermine the process. But as we saw in Arab Spring and in other places around the world, forces with vested interest in tyranny, oppression and exploitation of the people always and will eventually bow to the pressure of popular power and demand. So, all campaigners for social change should draw strength from this.

    Those who have vested interest in the pervasive criminality and illegality are opposed to progressive change. Those who have their political, traditional and religious power base on witch hunting and other harmful traditional practices are against any efforts to eradicate this cultural scourge. But we cannot give up the task of changing the society due to opposition, threats and intimidation. Instead we must forge ahead and press on bearing in mind those thoughtful words of the African American thinker, Frederick Douglass. He said:

    “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favour freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle.”

    And I add, it must be a struggle at a price.

     

    • Leo Igwe,

    Bayreuth, Germany

  • Child marriage is crime against humanity

    SIR: Oliver Gold Smith said, ‘Law grinds the poor and rich men rule the law’. That is the case in Nigeria. Education is progressing to a level at which it becomes a game exclusive for the rich and robbers. As if evil is pleasant, as if the people pray for pain and poverty, a greater burden and evil is being introduced, to drain and dry the value of the poor.

    Child marriage, basically for underage girls, is a baseless issue which overtly opines that the essence of the existence of the female folk is to be used and overused or misused by the male folk at will.

    It is irritating that despite hard facts about the evils of child marriage, such as hard evidences of medical implication, many of the people’s representatives prefer to allow child abuse, female oppression, female abuse, in term of child or early marriage.

    There are several cases of Vesico Virginal Fistula (VVF) in Nigeria.

    Nigeria is said to record the highest cases of VVF in the world. The minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina revealed that Nigeria has the highest cases of VVF in the world with an ‘estimated’ 400, 000 to 800,000 cases of which 20,000 cases added annually.

    Why then, should some people fail to consider the well being of the young girl and risk their health by making them liable to becoming victims of VVF? No good reasons for this other than selfishness, Wickedness and heartlessness. Even in slavery, this was extremely unpleasant, infact, not practiced, and only in slavery can people be treated against their comfort, according to the owner’s wish. Children are not commodities, they are not disposable valueless-valuables, but assets worth protecting no matter their sex.

    There are claims that the law makers did not legalise child marriage in their recent resolution; that something similar to child marriage has been in the constitution; that the people should be grateful to the law makers for creating awareness and that many of the critics should not speak as if it is a new thing in the constitution. These claims seem correct- the law makers only refused to delete that law. But, must we retain evil because we did not initiate it? Is it compulsory that only those who make a law or initiate something can alter it? Must we continue everything that was done in the past?

    Concerning error, is it not because we are involved, is it not because it is in us, is it not because we agree with it and because we love to practice it, that make us to conclude that error should remain?

    Child Marriage affects mostly the female (and the poverty stricken frustrated parents). So it is still an aspect of the many evils of ‘a blind patriarchy system’ which still sees female as a property just for man comfort.

    Child Marriage is a crime to humanity. If we discuss the issue according to custom or culture of some people and conclude that it must be allowed, why did we not allow human sacrifice even though it used to be part of the custom of some people?

    Child marriage is a crime to childhood, womanhood and humanity. It is not as if the marriable or the mature are finished or scarce, it is not as if the underage will not attain the proper age so what is the essence of child marriage?

    •  Kuye Samuel O.

    University of Lagos

     

  • Lawmakers and jumbo pay

    SIR: The remuneration of members of National Assembly has been a top secret since the inception of democracy in 1999. The management of National Assembly and the leadership of both chambers have consistently frustrated any effortsmade to ascertain the actual remuneration of members. Requests and efforts by civil society groups, spirited individuals and newspaper houses to bring to fore, the pay package of these people have continued to suffer setbacks,even after the passage of the Freedom of Information Act which made it compulsory for such information and others to be available at the public domain on request.

    Presently, the reason for withholding this vital information from the public is staring all of us in the face.The wind has blown and we have seen the hidden rump of the fowl. The Economist, a United Kingdom based weekly magazine, has revealed and adjudged members of the National Assembly to have received and still receive so much undeserved money as salaries and emoluments of 116 times more than the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person and also more than legislators in developed and wealthier nations, thereby making Nigeria the most expensive democracy in the world.

    In the face of glaring abject poverty, dilapidated infrastructure and diseases to mention but a few, it is incredible and heart breaking to note that one single Senator and member House of Representatives takes home N61,330,560.00 and N48,195,647.00 annually respectively in both salaries and allowances. This is happening in a country where majority struggle to survive on less than one dollar per day.A country where a meager N18,000.00 minimum wage has become an unresolved issue in government/labour relations.

    People have seen that holding political offices as the easiest way to acquire illicit wealth. That was why politics has become a do-or-die-affair in Nigeria. In other climes, dog does not eat the bone hung on its neck. But the reverse is the case in Nigeria. If those expected to be ardent custodian of our national till will pillage it to suit their whims and caprices, the nation is doomed.

    Are we cursed or are we the cause of our misfortune and predicament?With little or no people oriented legislation to show, these people have dead consciences to have appropriated so much to themselves to the detriment of majority.

    Nigeria has consciously failed to measure up with other countries of the world in growth and advancement in human capital and infrastructural developments compared to her abundant natural and human resources because those in positions of authority have woefully failed to live up to their responsibilities. Nigeria has equally become one of the poorest nations in the world despite these huge resources obviously for lack of vision, selfishness and the high level of misplacements accorded priorities in the country. The question is who will save Nigeria?

    The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission is called upon to quickly review downward this undeserved jumbo salaries and allowances of members of National Assembly. The economy cannot sustain this legislative profligacy. When has the job of legislating in an air-conditioned chamber become more tedious than that of school teacher who is yet to receive the agreed N18000.00 minimum wage in many states of the federation?

    Finally, it is high time Nigeria considered Parliamentary system of government because it is more transparent and less expensive to run. Unfortunately, the same members of the National Assembly who are the drivers of constitution review and amendment initiative did not find it attractive for inclusion in the process.

     

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Zaria, Kaduna State

     

  • Ogun, pay my pension deductions

    SIR: After 14 years of meritorious service and voluntary resignation in December 31, 2012, from the employment of Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board I have not been paid my pension which was deducted from my salary.

    I need this money to start a small scale business pending the time my gratuities will be paid.

    I have written letters for the refund; till date, there has been no positive response.

    My pension administrator is SIGMA PENSIOSN LIMITED.

    I am using this medium to appeal to the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State to please act swiftly and use his good office to save my soul and others involved.

    • Babajide Olusola Olanrewaju

    Ogun State

     

  • Archbishop Tutu and a ‘Homophobic God’

    SIR: I am writing to draw the attention of the general public particularly our religious leaders to the recent bold and thoughtful pronouncement of the retired archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Prize Laureate, Desmond Tutu. Speaking at an event organized by the UN to promote gay rights in South Africa, Tutu said categorically that he would never worship a ‘homophobic God’ and that he would prefer going to hell to going to a homophobic heaven. “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place,” Tutu said. He compared his campaign against homophobia to that against apartheid in South Africa.

    Tutu’s statement is coming at a time of rising waves of homophobic attacks, persecution and killing in different parts of Africa. An anti-gay legislation is awaiting the signature of the President in Nigeria. Gay activists have been murdered in Uganda and Cameroun. Homosexual act is a crime in many African countries, and many gay people are languishing in jails across the region. The moves to tighten the laws against homosexuality have the strong backing of Christian and Muslim leaders.

    I hope some Christian and Muslim leaders in Africa would emulate Archbishop Tutu and begin to openly denounce and dissociate themselves from the ‘popular’ reverence and worship of a homophobic ‘God’ in the region

    • Leo Igwe

    Dept of Religious Studies

    University of Bayreuth, Germany

     

  • Why nothing works in Nigeria

    SIR: Nigeria is touted as the giant of Africa. The truth is, Nigeria has the potentials to become the true giant of Africa; it is not a giant. For all our human and material resources, Nigeria is mired in economic stagnation and technological backwardness. Nigeria’s woes are not unconnected with inept, corrupt and incompetent political leadership.

    We have not got our politics right since we became a politically independent country in 1960. Official corruption has ruined Nigeria. So, nothing works here. From education to health, to electricity, to infrastructural development, it is the same sad tale of rot. Monies set aside for the execution of capital projects are pilfered and stolen by political leaders supervising such projects.

    Can Nigeria become an industrialized country when such things as good roads and steady supply of electricity which are given in other countries are in a deplorable state here?

    Nigerians roads are death traps despite the fact that billions of naira are voted and budgeted yearly for the construction and rehabilitation of roads; the Benin – Ore road and other roads are death traps. These roads are marked by pot – holes and craters. Drivers get involved in road accidents while swerving to avoid entering the craters on our roads. Some of the roads in Nigeria, an oil- rich country, cannot hold candle to the ones in war – ravaged countries like Cambodia and Afghanistan. But, our political and religious elite with ill – gotten wealth own private jets and seldom travel by road. Now, the number of deaths caused by road accident outnumbers those resulting from malaria and HIV/AIDS infections. Nigerian roads are now killing – fields.

    I am a victim of the Nigerian bad road – network. On February 24, I was involved in a fatal road accident on the Umunnachi stretch of the Old Awka – Onitsha road. It was a multiple accident caused by a fast – travelling lorry with faulty brake, which claimed lives of some passengers on the buses involved in the accident. My right hand was trapped between the body of the bus and a deep gutter.

    In Nigeria, almost everybody lays claim to being a devout Muslim or Christians. We talk excitedly about God, Allah and Jesus, and pray fervently to God for break-through in our endeavors. Yet, we fail the simple test of love, daily. We wear the mask of religiosity, and fake piety to deceive others into believing that we are with love and moral scruples. Nigeria is a failed or failing state because most Nigerians are morally vacuous and spiritually arid. That’s the reason past leaders had stolen Nigeria blind.

    But, are our leaders not products of a society with warped values and perverted agents of socialization? Schools, which are agents of socialization, are breeding grounds for future leaders. Those that passed through the portals of our educational institutions are expected to possess exemplary character and deep learning. But, can we say that of them? Today, in our schools, lecturers trade grades and scores for sex and money. And, religious activities and staging of beauty pageants have replaced researches and scientific inquiry on our campuses. So, our universities graduates are not morally and educationally equipped to tackle the leadership challenges of the 21st century.

    Can our economy grow in a milieu of corruption, ethnic bigotry, religious intolerance, violence, blood-letting and over-bloated bureaucracy? It takes a competent, dedicated, and selfless leader for a country to ascend to the summit of economic prosperity and technological advancement. Those strutting their stuff on our political arena and calling the shots are ethnic chauvinists, religious bigots and perverted cradle-snatchers.

    So, bad leadership is at the root of our national woes. We practice democracy, which pre-supposes that sovereignty rests with the people. But, inveterate election-riggers, king-makers and other selfish interests subvert our collective will and impose their leaders on us.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi

    Anambra State.

     

  • Can ASUU get it right for once?

    SIR: You can’t judge a book by its cover – but you can tell a lot from the title. The disposition of Federal Government and state governments to the ongoing ASUU strike is not only disappointing but also a coward attempt to destroy the future of the Nigerian youth. If government is deceitful, ASUU will be more deceitful and callous to call off the strike when the agreement is not fully implemented.

    The proper word to describe the condition of our public universities is not ‘disintegration’ but ‘degeneration’ without any hope of redemption in the near future unless the government at all levels muster courage to salvage what is left. How long shall we keep the institutions alive on artificial oxygen and that, too, at the expense of the future of Nigerian youth? How long shall we keep pretending that all is well and that ASUU is only seeking pay rise? How long should we allow the business men and women in government to trade the future of our children in their spurious attempt to build business empires?

    Three things are basically responsible for the worsening situation of our universities. One, children of the policy makers and the power brokers that dictate what becomes of our educational system do not attend public universities. Their wards are either in private ones or abroad. Two, many of the power brokers and policy makers are proprietors of private universities. Any betterment of the public ones would affect their patronage and profits. Three, ASUU’s approach to negotiations give impression that the union seeks momentary attention. These three facts are glaring and would not allow the government to develop a road map toward revamping our shameful educational system.

    In the wake of the mushrooming of private institutions and reckless setting up of private universities as a result of myopic legislation in our country, there is an increasing demand that the NUC and other regulatory bodies must step in to check the rot by calling on the government to be more responsible. It is hypocritical and laughable that Gabriel Suswan-led committee on Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities could wait until ASUU went on strike to become visible. It is a deceit and bait; that would not go beyond normal rounds of talks.

    There is no other better opportunity for President Goodluck Jonathan to show he is both serious and committed to the nation’s education than now. At least two urgent issues need to be addressed as aggressively as possible lest Nigerians begin to cast aspersion not just on his person but also his government. His government is noted for parading ministers of high academic achievement but nothing to show for such. His government is equally known for exposing Nigerian youths to crimes and prostitution by deliberately forcing them out of the campuses in order to breed more thugs and child-brides. It is unthinkable that a government could be so comfortable to allow Polytechnics and universities to frequently embark on strike because of nonchalance and lack of focus on the government side.

    No doubt ASUU’s strike is becoming boring and irrelevant. The situation where the union goes on strike for months and returns to work when the reasons that necessitated the strike action were not met is counter-productive and meaningless. Why the strike in the first instance?

    ASUU’s strength and commitment to revamping the educational system is measured by the results of this particular strike. Should the lecturers call off or suspend the strike (when the agreement is not implemented) and declare another strike in future due to non-implementation of the agreement, Nigerian will be left with no option than to move against ASUU. It is either now or never to save the public universities. ASUU must bear in mind that the world is watching and its failure at this time will change public perception about the motive of the union.

     

    • Tola Osunnuga,

    Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State