The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Children and cell phones

    SIR: Our children are now very much interested in the manipulation of cell phone, watching films and other thrillers every day. They are deep rooted in the act in such a way that they often forgo doing their home work, reading their books and attending to other home chores. More worrisome and disturbing is that those in the secondary schools go to school with the gadgets which they browse in the class even when lessons are going on. This craziness in frivolous activities has in fact contributed in no small measure to the massive poor performance in examinations by students.

    Unfortunately, this syndrome is manifesting at the time the government is setting every thing in motion towards achieving quality education for all by 2015. All the same, the situation is not completely out of hand as the government, especially the school authorities, can do something to remedy the situation.

    Against this backdrop, I suggest to the government, teachers, parents and other stakeholders to do everything within their strides to correct this aberration. Otherwise, our nation would be infested with bunch of illiterate graduates in the near future.

    The last UTME witnessed the worst performance ever known in the history of this country. Only 10 out of 1.7 million candidates who sat for the examination scored 300 and above. Such a poor performance should move stakeholders, especially the present government to find a lasting solution to the problem,

    Regrettably, the deadline projected for making education in the country superb clashes with the next general election. I have the eerie feeling that government would do much on the issue since the campaign for governance in 2015 has dominated the polity.

    Nigeria has all it takes to bring back education to an enviable height like in the days of our famous trio, Awolowo, Balewa and Azikiwe of blessed memory. My heart bleeds whenever I see the poster, STUDY IN GHANA in our major towns and cities. Imagine Ghana that was sent packing decades ago now, like the biblical Joseph feeding us educationally. Nigerians now go to Ghana to study. Is not shameful?

    Parents should do something about this indulgence in frivolities by our children because they are the first people to feel the impact of their misbehaviour. The bottom line is parents should not buy their children cell phone until they finish their secondary education.

    • Nkemakolam Gabriel

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Good Night, Pini Jason

    SIR: For certain reasons, I never knew Pini Jason had exited our terrestrial milieu until I saw “Just Before Pini Jason Goes Home” by Kanayo Esinulo in The News, May 27.

    I was jolted. Could it be the same Pini Jason? I ran through the piece and it turned out to be the same ace columnist.

    I was an addict of Pini Jason’s column in the Vanguard in those days. I recall sending him a letter in 1990 or ‘91 on his criticisms of the then military government.

    He acknowledged it was a rare occasion where he would take up a reader’s reaction in his column.

    Pini was one of the few in the media of that era that excited my friend, Biodun Sodule and I.

    There was Chris Okojie of the “Blunt But Fair” sports column in the same Vanguard – I sent write-ups to him regularly from 1989 as far as I could recall.

    Danladi Bako’s “Morning Ride” was a ‘must watch’ for us every Saturday morning on NTA Channel 5.

    I met both Chris and Danladi for the first time at the National Stadium in 1991 during a match between Nigeria and Burkina Faso. It was almost 20 years after that I met Bako at Daily Independent during one of our Editorial Board meetings. How ineffable was my joy! But Danladi had no cheery tidings for me when I asked after Chris.

    I never had any particular encounter with Pini but always admired his incisive and cerebral opinions on national issues both in the print and electronic media.

    Pini later had a stint as Media Adviser to the immediate past governor of Imo State.

    It is interesting that I later became a columnist myself and a guest analyst on stations like Channels, AIT,  TVC and Galaxy before my current post as Special Assistant on Media to the governor of Ogun State.

    I have no doubt that whatsoever is my story today, Pini Jason had had a positive part in one way or the other.

    Pini fought a good fight and ran a good race. We all can make our lives sublime…

    • Soyombo Opeyemi,

    Abeokuta.

  • Re: Abati going gung-ho

    SIR: A parable in my local parlance says that you do not bite the finger that feeds you. But we now live in a world where people do not only bite but axe-off the finger that fed them. HARDBALL in The Nations of Friday June 14, forgot the Shakespearean mantra which says that “I hate ingratitude more in a man than lying, vainness babbling, drunkness” at the time he wrote his piece titled “Abati going gung-ho”. I want to believe that we must all commit to the survival of the truth regardless of how it hurts.

    Please let me state unequivocally that I do not intend to hold brief for Abati, Ribadu and Hardball but to lament how docile and senseless our youths are. How can the so-called leaders of tomorrow sit down to submit their auditory facility to people whose record speak for it self without the courage to challenge them in public?

    Is is not surprising to note that a  man who was wasting away as a refugee in another man’s land now claims that the government that emancipated him from the prison of self-imposed exile is tyrannical in nature? The man who once chaired the EFCC was quick to forget how his pay-master used him to impeach duly elected governors with minority members of state assembly.

    The retired policeman turned politician forgot how he harassed and intimidated anyone who dire to challenge his former pay-master. I will not forget how he humiliated his former boss (Tafa Balogun) in broad day light at the court in the name of war against corruption. Our friend who benefited from ‘unmerited’ promotion was dismissed from the service but was later re-instated and retired by the government which he claims is heading toward tyranny.

    In his day, the EFCC was nothing but a monstrous vampire which seek for the blood of those against his master. Ask him why he killed the presidential ambition of one of the South-south governor when he was not  the chairman of INEC or  any political party?

     I believe, the erswhile presidential candidate is the least of men that can make such remark. I concede to others the right to make such statement.  It’s a self-evident fact that the government he served defines the whole concept of tyranny in our democratic experiment. Those who know him should let him know that he erred on the path of reason. If you think I lied, please go check his days in government because they say”res ipsa loquitur”.  God bless Nigeria.

    • G. O. Ehi

    Benin City, Edo State.

  • That Polio outbreak in Taraba

    SIR: Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours.

    The last time the case of polio was reported in Nigeria, it was in March in FCT Abuja. It is rather unfortunate that we are also hearing about the case of another polio outbreak in Taraba State. On June 7, there was a report of an outbreak of polio in Saayor village Sandirde Ward in Gassol Local Government Area of the state.

    The first case of polio virus was recorded in Dissol, Wuryo Ward in 2012. The current outbreak in Gassol local government is said to be the most dangerous and has already paralyzed eight innocent children in the community.

    It was reported that the chairman of Gassol local government, Alhaji Takura Bashir was worried about the new outbreak particularly as he claimed that immunization officials had already visited the affected areas to asses as well as to immunize all children below the age of five to zero. He blamed the outbreak on the immunization supervisors and focal officers in the LGA for their inability to carry out proper supervision.

    I will still like to share my experience as World Health Organization (WHO) independent monitor during the immunization plus days in 2010 covering two villages, Ogbooro and Agbonle in Saki East LGA of Oyo State. During that immunization period, I discovered that some health workers employed by local government to administer the vaccine to the children in the rural area did not reach there. What they did was pour away the vaccine meant for some of these remote villages. Some of these health workers also complained that some of the local government health officials that engaged them short-paid them.

    Though we have not heard of any polio case in Oyo State, this attitude calls for concern.

    The Taraba State case should be a wake-up and clarion call to the individuals and agencies in charge of administering polio vaccine to be more proactive.

    Taraba, with population of about 2,688,944 and with the 16 local governments must therefore be very serious with the welfare of her little children. It was reported that the acting Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar recently launched the 2013 second round immunization days in Mutun-Biyu, the headquarters of Gassol local government area where he charged the council chairman and traditional rulers to handle immunization with all seriousness. I will enjoin religious leaders to also join the fight against polio in Taraba State so that our little children will no more be victims of this preventable disease.

    I will also like to call on the three Senators from the state, Anthony Man, Dahiru Gassol, and Emmanuel Bwacha and members of House of Representatives from the state to join in the fight against polio in their different constituencies.

    Neighboring states to Taraba must watch against polio outbreak in their domains.

    On its part, the Federal Ministry of Health must not relent in its effort and campaigns to eradicate polio in Nigeria because until polio is eradicated across the country, every state is still at risk because the virus is spread through person-to-person contact.

    Let’s always remember that ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.

    • John Tosin Ajiboye

    Lagos.

  • Killing polytechnic education

    SIR: Should our polytechnics continued to be relegated to the background? This question has been asked times without any consensus as to whether the answer should be in the affirmative or not.

    This confusion is worsened by the government’s inability to be decisive and make up its mind on what it hopes to do with polytechnic education. This inconsistency in public policy formulation and implementation could largely explain why our polytechnics will have to be on strike for several weeks running without anybody really doing something concrete to end the imbroglio.

    Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics have down tools over the non-constitution of governing councils for Polytechnics, Monotechnics, and Colleges of Technology; non-release of government white paper of the visitation panels to federal polytechnics; and non-commencement of the NEEDS Assessments of the Nigerian polytechnics.

    Others grievances include need for the changing of the deplorable conditions of state government-owned polytechnics, monotechnics and Colleges of Technology; the continued appointment of unqualified persons as rectors and provosts by some state governments and the failure of most state governments to implement the approved salary package (CONPCASS), and 65 year retirement age for their members.

    To any discernible mind, the agitations put forward by the workers are legitimate and reasonable. What is worrisome, however, is the inability of the appropriate agencies in addressing the issues raised but this is not happening maybe because it’s about the polytechnics.

    It is saddening that polytechnic education in Nigeria is being treated with disdain, culminating into why their graduates are regularly stigmatized in the labour market.

    Despite what critics may say that polytechnics have outlived their usefulness, the strategic importance of polytechnic education – as enunciated in the Nigeria’s National Policy on Education – to provide for practical, technical knowledge and skills that are necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and economic transformation – cannot be over-emphasized.

    The nation now needs well-orchestrated objectives that will harness its many talented manpower to produce the synergy that will drive it to development that is not made possible under the present arrangement.

    The bitter truth is that inasmuch as we have university graduates who are better than polytechnic graduates, there are also polytechnic graduates who are also far better than the university graduates. So, polytechnic graduates are not mentally inferior in anyway.

    The government should end the ongoing strike by embarking on dialogue with the angry workers. The workers too should be responsive, bearing in mind that all their demands may not be met at a go. This is the right thing to do.

    • Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

  • Tackling the menace of building collapse

    SIR: The ugly phenomenon of building collapse in Nigeria, with resultant loss of lives and properties, injuries, structural and collateral damages to other properties as well as public infrastructures, is becoming quite alarming. Here in Lagos, we have had a fair share of cases of building collapse with its ensuing trauma and agonies. The case of Lagos is particularly aggravated by its population density, the wet nature of the environment as well as the landscape of the state which most builders do not often take into consideration before embarking on building activities. The situation is further exacerbated by the refusal of residents to heed government’s warning to vacate buildings that are discovered to have faulty structures and therefore unsuitable for human habitation. This is often the situation with most collapsed buildings in the state.

    Similarly, the influx of many people to Lagos, on a daily basis, exerts much pressure on the available housing, leading to overcrowding in most houses with its resulting extra load and apparent distress of most buildings, particularly in densely populated areas. The desperate attempt by the residence to get out of the hook of terrible and shylock landlords by getting roof over their heads at all cost, couple with the eagerness of developers, both professionals and non-professionals, to get quick returns on their investments often leads to situation where regulations are deliberately or ignorantly circumvented thereby compromising standards at the expense of people’s lives.

    There is no point in apportioning blames in respect of the ugly trend of building collapse in the country. Everyone simply has a role to play to if the trend is to be reversed. Governments across the country need to ensure that building regulations are strictly adhered to while the people must be willing to play by the rules. Unfortunately, Nigeria is a place where illegality thrives, people build structures without approved plan, building permit and other necessary authorizations, while estates spring up without approve layout plan. It is estimated that more than 60% of structures across the country falls within this category. To cut cost, many people result to using substandard materials which are prevalent and abundant in Nigeria, both homemade and imported. Sadly, every cheap thing comes with a price.

    In Lagos, the State Government is not oblivious of the threat which the occurrence of collapsed building had over the years posed to government’s efforts to protect lives and property. The governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), recently inaugurated a six-man tribunal of enquiry on collapsed buildings.

    As earlier stated, citizens also have a role to play in curbing the trend of building collapse in the country. It is a fact that most construction activities take place in full glare of the people. Hence, it is important that people take interest in the safety of human lives by reporting structurally deficient building or any illegal construction and contraventions in their environment to the appropriate authorities. The human life is sacrosanct and it must be treated as such. This is why we must all come together to put an end to this menace.

    To effectively tackle the hazard of building collapse, we need to build synergy, build network, harmonise efforts and frequently review success recorded. This is the only way forward if we are to put an end to the agonies and trauma associated with the dreadful incidence of building collapse in Lagos, and indeed the country.

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi

    Ministry of Information and Strategy,

    Alausa, Ikeja.

     

  • IGP: Save us from hoodlums

    IGP: Save us from hoodlums

    SIR: The residents of Ilogbo-Ota, Ado-Odo Local Govt. Area of Ogun State seek the quick intervention of the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force (IG), Mohammed Abubakar to save them from the reign of terror being unleashed by hoodlums allegedly led by two well known characters.

    The residents have been living at their mercy since   March 7, when one of these men and his agents invaded Oke-Odo Ekusere while armed with dangerous weapons terrorizing innocent villagers.

    They mounted illegal road blocks, extorting money and valuable items from their victims. In the process, many   innocent people were injured, some were attacked with machetes.

    These men carry on as if they are above the law with the police looking helpless.

    Ogun State people, particularly Ilogbo community, deserve peace, progress and development.

    The community humbly seeks your urgent intervention in this regard with a view to protecting innocent lives from these violent characters.

    • Chief Matthew Alani Dada

    Ilogbo-Ota, Ogun State

  • Why INEC must register APC

    Why INEC must register APC

    SIR: The news that some unnamed persons have surreptitiously submitted an application for the registration of a political party to be known and called the African Peoples Congress, which shares similar acronym with the authentic All Progressives Congress (APC), a new party being proposed by some opposition parties does not come as a surprise. It’s a throwback to the nihilist politics of the second republic. Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim (advocate of politics without bitterness) had formed the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) then and all of sudden, the great Zik came to seize the party from him. That was why Waziri left with his supporters and structures to form his Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP).

    But the Federal Electoral Commission then resolved the registration problems with aplomb to the satisfaction of all concerned. This is more reasons why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega and his men need to learn a lot of useful lesson from this. They should not allow themselves to be used to derail our hard-earned democracy.

    The uproar and imbroglio surrounding the registration of the newly formed All Progressives Congress (APC) is not a surprise for those who watch with keen interest. The ruling party, PDP, has smelt a rat that the coming of APC will wrest power from them and will be their undoing come 2015; that is why they seek to thwart the emergence of the party.

    The decision of the opposition parties ACN, CPC, ANPP and APGA to merge caught the ruling party napping and sent shivers down the spines of the reactionary forces holding down the destiny of this nation; they recognise that the hour of liberation is nigh.

    Therefore, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could go to any extent to upturn the effort of the APC from seeing the light of the day. Consequently, the shenanigan unfolding as regards the emergence of the parties with acronym APC is just a tip in the iceberg of the subterfuge the anti-democracy forces plan to unleash to make the APC a stillbirth. Nevertheless, the scenario is an eye opener for the proponents for the APC of the enormity of the task before them, signal for the authentic APC to brace up to face the hurdles. Also, it would afford them opportunity to know that they are on the right path.

    Jega is therefore advised not to allow himself to be used to truncate and thwart the legitimate aspiration of the APC. This is all because those who allowed themselves to be used for such objectives have become irrelevant irritant footnotes in the bosom of history. May God almighty give INEC the wisdom, knowledge and ability to perform their task and do what is just and right.

     

    • Ademola Orunbon

    Epe, Lagos State

  • June 12 and the road to conscience

    June 12 and the road to conscience

    SIR: When Professor Eghosa Osaghae described Nigeria as a ‘Crippled Giant’, he was merely speaking the minds of many. That appellation describes everything that has been wrong with Nigeria since independence. Even the late Chinua Achebe identified leadership as the bane of the country over three decades ago. Leadership it is which continues to confound us. It is the reason why even as we bask in the euphoria of our nascent yet shaky democracy, those who are supposed to recognise democracy from where it was coming from have failed to give it the recognition it deserves.

    On June 12, 1993, Nigerians forgot their differences, tribe, religion and tongue. Twenty years after, we are still undecided as to how to accord that day its rightful place in our political journey to democracy. Since 1999, all those who have tasted power at the top have refused to listen to wise counsel to accord June 12 its due.

    June 12 may seem to those at the top as an irrelevant period in our history. It may appear as yet another useless eon that should be swept under the carpet like past ones which comes to us in fragments. It may sound to the Nigerian leadership as that period that must be suppressed, buried or even thrown in the dustbin of history. But we must not forget that the past always has its way of finding and haunting the present and future.

    Are we surprised that 53 years since independence and 14 years into our nascent democracy, we are still battling with electoral malfeasance? Are we not shocked that we are yet to find that good luck we have always yearned for even when ironically, good luck seems to be the norm peddled everywhere by political shenanigans and economic sycophants with little or nothing to show for it? Are we not seeing that ethnic tensions and religious intolerance which June 12 swiftly shoved aside have begun rearing its big and ugly head more than ever before in our political history? It is only the blind that would simply deny seeing the paintings on the wall. Even the blind in today’s Nigeria sees better than those with eyesight!

    If for all the salt we are worth, we cannot give adulation to that day and the significance it envisages; then we are not worth celebrating our heroes past which Chief Abiola luxuriously belonged. It is most unfortunate that the democracy we all claim to enjoy today, even when there is nothing to enjoy, what with the myriads of challenges confronting us as a nation, is not seen from the angle of the June 12 insignia. We are blinded by our prejudices that we do not understand that one man, against all odds and who despite the wealth, fame and connections in his possession, which ordinarily should have been channelled towards personal comfort, decided to suffer and risk his life and all the good things of life to pay the price for the freedom we are quickly tearing apart today.

    Abiola meant a lot to all Nigerians and we must do his memory a lot of good, not by mere rhetoric or speeches, as we have witnessed in the last one year, but by committing ourselves to acts that pursue equity and social justice for our nascent democracy and the vast majority of our people, after all, the democracy we all critique vehemently today was what Chief Abiola died for.

     

    • Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

    Lagos

  • Obama should speak on witch hunts in Africa tour

    Obama should speak on witch hunts in Africa tour

    SIR: Later in the month, President Barack Obama arrives Africa for a three-nation tour. Obama will visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. He will use the opportunity to strengthen ties and promote issues of mutual interests. I hope President Obama will, during his trip, speak out against witchcraft related killings and abuses in Africa.

    Belief in witchcraft and magic is strong and pervasive in Africa including Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. Witchcraft accusation is widespread, and related abuses are rampant. Witch hunt presents a major human rights, humanitarian and development challenge to the continent. In fact belief in malevolent magic and other occult powers presents the greatest obstacle to African renaissance and enlightenment.

    Most Africans take belief in witchcraft seriously. The term witchcraft evokes fear, panic and apprehension in the hearts and minds of people. Witchcraft accusations corrupt and poison fellow feeling and family relationships.

    In Ghana, suspected witches are banished to ‘make shift camps’ in the North of the country. In Congo DRC and Nigeria, children accused of witchcraft are abandoned and forced to live on the streets. They are subjected by pastors to torture, inhumane and degrading treatment in the name of exorcism. In Uganda, old women are often branded witches and children are killed for ritual purposes. In Kenya, witch burning is rampant particularly in Kisii region. In Malawi, elderly women were until recently jailed for witchcraft. In Cameroun and Central African Republic, witchcraft is recognized by law and suspected witches are tried in state courts. In Nigeria, witchcraft accusation is illegal but accusations continue to take place across the country with impunity. Witchcraft related murders often go unpunished.

    In one of the countries Obama will be visiting- Tanzania- albinos are targeted and killed for ritual purposes. The body parts of albinos are harvested, sold and used for ritual potions which many people believe will bring good luck, power and wealth. Some people mistakenly identify witchcraft as ‘African science’ and witch hunting as part of African culture. Many people fear to speak out against witchcraft related abuse because they believe witches exist, and witchcraft is real.

    President Obama should, during his visit, help raise the profile of the campaign against witch hunt and related killings and abuses and help bring an end to this dark age phenomenon. He should pressure African leaders to take pro active measures against these horrific abuses- to decriminalize witchcraft, enforce the laws against witch hunting and support victims of accusation.

    He should help rally international support for victims of witchcraft accusations and those internally displaced due to witchcraft –those who are languishing in camps in Ghana and Burkina Faso, and accused children living on the streets of Congo Kinshasha, and in Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers states in Nigeria.

    The American president should Obama should not miss the opportunity of using his upcoming trip to Africa to make a clear and categorical case against witch hunt, witchcraft related killings and abuses.

     

    • Leo Igwe,

    University of Bayreuth, Germany