The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • The leader Nigeria needs

    The leader Nigeria needs

    SIR: Fifty-two years of nationhood is a time for celebration. If for anything that the entity called Nigeria still stands, against the expectations of our detractors. Though this is a time to be merry, yet it is a time for sober reflection, a time for stock-taking, a time for introspection. We are 52, but we all know that we are nowhere close to where we should be as a nation. Many things have helped slow our progress, but the most significant is bad leadership. Nigeria has had a perennial lack of good leadership going forward.

    Our founding fathers made the sacrifices and won us independence, all along showing us the way of good leadership. But we lost the way. If Nigeria must take its rightful place in the comity of nations, then good leadership must be a cardinal aspiration.

    We must start early to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Nigerians must not be driven to vote by anything else but by what, how and when a person will deliver. A political office holder in Nigeria, with all the indices showing failure, still goes into office to complete a term, and even ready to get a second term, if not third term to “correct his mistakes”.

    Nigeria is no guinea pig for charlatans.

    Any politician who does not sit down to have an in-depth analysis of what he is going to face, and proffer solutions even beforehand is no better than the ordinary Nigerian and should not lead those who are perhaps smarter. Nigeria, like any nation is an on-going study. And only a studious and brilliant politician can succeed.

    Politicians should search themselves well before offering themselves to lead. Those with nothing to offer should steer clear, and cheer from behind. And those lucky should hit the ground running. Appointment to political offices should be solely on merit and not to please political godfathers, or any ethnic or religious interest. To a good leader, Nigeria comes first before his political party.

    In addition, manifestoes must be made clear before-hand, and not to foist any policy arbitrarily to blackmail Nigerians when the person has got into office. No matter how the issue of fuel subsidy may seem altruistic to those who understand it, President Goodluck Jonathan would not have gotten one vote if he had as much as hinted it. Any contraption has to go through a referendum. If Nigerians say no, or if Nigerians cannot be convinced or carried along, then so be it. Democracy is about the will of the people. A good leader must know that the more important constituency is his people.

    There cannot be any plausible excuse for non-performance, except ineptitude. Not even insecurity. In war times, flowers bloom and warring couples still have children. Even those that are fighting the government can be won over by good leadership.

    There are many potential great leaders with innovative ideas scattered all around Nigeria who will never get the chance to showcase it because they are not anointed by one godfather or the other or do not belong to a particular party, or affiliation and in the end the country is the loser. This is no way to achieve greatness.

    Sadly, there is hardly any sector of Nigeria that we can give a pass mark. Government in a shoddy manner allowed the former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji to leave, and since then the little light we saw has disappeared. Just when you think the bombs have stopped exploding, they go off again, taking lives and property with them. Who can stop the killings?

    Youths, and graduates are roaming the streets in search of non available jobs, and in the absence of jobs some have resorted to all sorts of crimes. Who can change that? Nigerian roads have long remained death traps killing Nigerians along the way. Who can fix them? Many Nigerians who may have had dreams now do not believe in their country any more. Who can win them back? Only good leadership can change our fortunes.

    At 52, we must strive to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must put in power those who have been tested and trusted, irrespective of where they come from, or which party they belong. Leadership is about selflessness, compassion, passion, and vision. Till date, no Nigerian leader is iconic, as far as Africa is concerned. Nigeria deserves more.

    • Dr Cosmas Odoemena

    Lagos

     

  • Adieu! Lateef Adegbite

    Adieu! Lateef Adegbite

    SIR: I started reading about Dr. Lateef Adegbite in the late 1970s. I was so impressed by his intelligence and sincerity that I could not resist reading anything connected with his name, whether he granted an interview, or he presented a paper. He was the Secretary-General of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), and a Muslim leader to reckon with in Yorubaland. He was a legal luminary.

    I pulled Dr. Adegbite’s legs on two occasions. One day, he said he could not imagine himself, as a Muslim leader, giving his own daughter in marriage to a Christian. I waited till another occasion when I heard him talking about Nigeria’s unity. I quickly reminded him of what he said that he would never give his own daughter in marriage to a Christian. He ignored me. But, if I had a son old enough to marry his daughter, he would have learnt a lesson of his life.

    On another occasion, Dr. Adegbite rated Islam, as practiced in northern Nigeria, higher than what obtained in the south, where, according to him, Islam was syncretised with African traditional religious practices. I then asked whether syncretism was not better than mass impoverishment that pervaded northern Nigeria. I mentioned the case of a highly placed northern Muslim who was accused of being behind the disappearance of train (the railway system) in Nigeria, so that his own long trucks (popularly called trailers) would get business.

    In all of that, I did not lose respect and admiration for Dr. Adegbite, because I knew he was sincere, and would say things as he saw them, or what he actually felt, without hypocrisy. On another occasion, he said it was not possible to maintain the Ramadan discipline after the Ramadan, given human nature, and the fact that the Ramadan was a special month. You see he was not given to illusion!

    Just about two months ago, Dr. Adegbite impressed me again when he told America not to include Nigeria on the list of terrorist countries, nor brand Boko Haram as a terrorist group without qualifications. He spoke my mind, because I believe the real terrorists are those who truncated rotational presidency, and are creating mass poverty through embezzlement of public funds, and “fuel subsidy scam”.

    I mourn the demise of Dr. AbdulLateef Adegbite in empathy with Nigeria’s Muslim community. The country misses his wisdom and sincerity. May the Almighty Allah grant eternal rest to him, and grant his family members the fortitude to bear the loss.

    • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin.

  • Re: Imoke’s undignified view of women

    SIR: I frown at Dr. Cosmas Odoemena’s article in The Nation of October 18 page 20, which offers criticism that is intellectually sterile and not well founded. The article marked Imoke’s speech with a quotation mark but did not indicate the closing quotation mark, so we just have a loosely running sentences being attributed to Imoke.

    It will interest Odoemena to know that human beings, whether men or women, are a part of tourism assets. They fall under what is referred to as the social attraction of tourism products. A city having beautiful women shows that the women are naturally, culturally or cosmetically beautiful and tourism is about ‘experience’ –something beautiful to look at, certainly not ugly sights. For a city to have beautiful women also means that the men are sensitive to beauty as such both sexes are aesthetically conscious.

    Beauty either as body adornment or other forms of embellishments shows that such a society has risen. There is refinement of taste in the way the people look, walk or their environment, and that such a society has time for leisure which ultimately means that it is a stable and organized society. If Odoemena is not being mischievous, the word delicacy is not a reference to human beings. In his entire article, there is no sentence directly from Imoke referring to women as delicacies.

    Above all Cross River State has a high cultural history of women beautification. The richly decorative coiffure of the Efik women, in the hinterland the nsibidi and eblemi body decorations and the moninkim maiden dances are all forms of indigenous expressions of beauty among Cross River women. It is a misplaced emphasis to assume that beauty connotes sexual gratification. It is more about wellbeing and pleasantness. I am yet to see an ugly woman among the President’s cabinet. Finally, the dignity, respect and prestige of womanhood are also embodied in her beauty which must be admired, praised, sang or painted like Mona Lisa.

    Dr. Victor Ecoma.

    Calabar

  • Still on the Governor of the Year award

    Still on the Governor of the Year award

    SIR: My attention has been drawn to many insinuations about the recent Leadership Governor of the year award won by Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Some people who are not happy over the awards for obvious reasons are saying all manner of funny things to denigrate the award. For the avoidance of doubt, Leadership newspaper is one of the most credible in the country today. The award criteria is open, credible and independently verifiable. Fayemi was given the award because of what he has been able to do in just two years in office. He was nominated for the award when he was just one year in office but he has done a lot more since last year and this has confirmed he is the right choice. He is the first Governor in Nigeria to sign into law, the Freedom of Information Bill, the bill against gender based violence and the social security bill where Ekiti elderly citizens receive N5, 000 naira monthly.

    Despite the meagre resources of Ekiti State, and the debt of 42 billion inherited from the Oni’s administration, Fayemi is currently embarking on a massive transformation of the state capital through road construction, urban renewal, and provision of pipe-borne water, streetlights, traffic lights and the general beautification of the city. The governor has also done a lot to improve the quality of education by renovating all schools in Ekiti State in two phases with the first phase almost concluded in just eight weeks; health care delivery in Ekiti is one of the best you can get in the country; many industries are being revived while the tourism potentials of Ekiti are being presented to the world with the complete transformation of the Ikogosi warm spring resort and the development of the tourism corridor of that area. He has completed many rural electrification projects which has brought light to a community that had been in darkness in the last 200 years.

    No matter the laurels Governor Fayemi brings to Ekiti, some people who are very petty and envious would dismiss such laurels for obvious reasons. Some want to be Governor in 2014 even though they are not qualified to be councillors, some want to come back as Governor after the mandate they stole was retrieved and despite wasting the time and resources of Ekiti State while their illegal reign lasted, yet some of the critics are mere attention seekers.

    The Governor is not distracted by the usual distractions and tantrums of frustrated politicians. They are afraid of their political future and fate because of the stupendous level of development that Governor Fayemi has brought to bear in Ekiti. This is the dilemma and the lamentation of failed opposition politicians and their ragtag foot soldiers who would never see anything good about Governor Fayemi even if he wins the Nobel Prize.

    Ekiti people are in for a good time and the Leadership Governor of the year award bestowed on the Governor is a challenge to do more. He is a workaholic, a serious minded fellow not given to frivolities and very thorough. Recently, he signed an agreement with SAMSUNG in South Korea to establish a computer academy in Ekiti State. The academy will be the first in West Africa and the third in Africa after South Africa and Egypt. Detractors may continue to say whatever pleases them but the masses of Ekiti people have realized who their true leader is. They have known the difference between interlopers and pretenders who ran Ekiti aground and a popularly elected governor who has restored the lost glory of Ekiti State.

    • Hakeem Jamiu

    Ado-Ekiti.

  • Re: The face of postgraduate medical training

    SIR: My attention has been drawn to the write-up titled ‘True face of postgraduate medical training’ by Dr. Timi Babatunde in the October 22, edition of your newspaper.

    I can not hold brief for, or defend the National or West African Postgraduate Medical Colleges, which are the institutions responsible for organising and publishing results of examinations. It is obvious that the target of the accusations contained in the write-up are examiners who are responsible for setting the questions, marking the papers, and deciding the results, which are ratified by the institutions except in cases of genuine appeals and protests. As an examiner therefore, I am constrained to put in perspective the deliberate misrepresentations and omissions of the writer or complainant.

    Firstly, if the writer is truly a doctor, s/he ought to know the bodies that should deal with such complaints.

    Secondly, the residency training prepares doctors through a postgraduate scientific and professional apprenticeship for appointment as Consultants. Consultants are the last port of call for decisions about diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients seen at the highest levels of health care facilities. Patients often live of die through their opinions, which can only be challenged by peers in the same specialty. With such responsibilities, one can only sympathise with those who are passing through the training which we have also passed through with its challenges. There can therefore be no apologies about the fact that standards have to be set, they have to be high, and they have to be maintained. These examinations are therefore to be compared to the ICAN or elevation of lawyers to the position of SANs.

    When it comes to examinations, questions are set by a Court of Examiners made up more than one individual. When questions are to be scored, they are either marked in conference, or marked by at least two independent people after a marking scheme has been agreed, and marks are reconciled before final scores are awarded. At the end of every examination, a meeting of all examiners reviews the whole examinations with scores, with thorough discussion, hard consideration for borderline candidates and sometime sympathetic consideration leading to upgrade of borderline failures.

    A major issue is the attitude of trainees. Dr. Babatunde forgot to inform his readers that those who are pursuing the program leading to the Fellowships are qualified medical doctors who are fully employed as Registrars and Senior Registrars, and earning full salaries while going through training and sitting for examinations. In addition to that, most of them are engaged in private practices either as proprietors or in the employment of other private practitioners. Some moonlight in two or more places in addition to their full and permanent employment. Although these practices are frowned at, there is little that a trainer can do, other than grumble since he/she is not the employer of the one in training. All these are in spite of the fact that the trainee is aware that there is generally a maximum period of about six years within which the hospitals expect them to complete the training and give room for others to come in. A good number are also married with children. This is what I call eating your cake and wanting to have it at the same time. You will then wonder how much time is available for reading and preparation for these examinations. In addition, some of the trainees are already formed family men and women, who are not so amenable to instructions. In an attempt to finish quickly, some candidates also appear for these examinations against trainers’ when it is obvious that they have not prepared adequately. Since the examination is a human system, it is not perfect. It is however pertinent to show that results are not always as erroneously presented, For example, the results of the last examination in my Faculty shows that 29 out of 97 passed the Primaries, 52 out 90 passed Part I, and 35 out of 41passed Part II.

    Agreed, examination fees should not be prohibitive, but the argument that doctors in full employment and earning salaries are heavily handicapped can not be sustained.

    As trainer and examiners who agonise over the performances of the candidates, one can not help feeling being unfairly treated by this write-up simply designed to vilify the examiners

    and the postgraduate medical colleges.

    P. O. Olatunji

    Lagos

  • Addressing the problems of the education sector

    Addressing the problems of the education sector

    SIR: A recent report quoted the National Universities Commission (NUC) Executive Secretary, Professor Julius Okojie as stating that 60 percent or more of university lecturers are without PhD. What right to good quality of education does this give us the future leaders of this great country? In what ways does this prepare us for the future? I think it is time we start asking ourselves tough questions.

    The earlier we as one people realise that we can’t heal what we refuse to confront, the earlier the journey to the rehabilitation of this once flourishing and bright sector. It hurts to find that our educational institutions especially our colleges and universities are behind international standards in technology, research, development amongst many other things.

    Is there a solution to this problem putting the future of this country at a great risk? Personally, my answer is ‘yes’. But as one people, one nation, the decision depends on us. The moment we say ‘yes’, then we just unwrapped our determination to make things work for this precious sector. We will also be showing the zeal in laying a solid foundation in education for generations yet unborn.

    What policies and structures are we to put in place to make this intended transformation a reality? Why don’t we take a journey into history and try to figure out what brought upon us this predicament and then proffer solutions to each of them.

    Political instability will be the first thing that comes to mind. Since independence till the end of the military era in 1999, we have experienced gross political instability. The ever recurring military succession and coups have affected our educational systems negatively. We do not have long term ministers of education; they spend just a short period of time in office before being replaced. Usually, one comes on board and just decides to change everything according his or her taste without considering the changes and policies that the previous minister had kept in place and it goes on and on. To solve the problem of leadership instability is to prevent the future ministers of education and all other people from changing policies and structures that have been in place without necessary or important reason.

    Another point that comes to mind is the inadequate fund provided to the higher institutions. And even the funds provided by the government are not channelled properly due to corruption and looting at every level. My solution to this problem might sound absurd, but if properly considered is worth a shot. Students in higher education institution should be billed heavily; in this way the public institutions will be able to run their institutions without waiting for grants and funds from the government. Government can come in by giving financial aids and scholarships to students in need or exceptionally gifted either in extracurricular activities or academics.

    This way, the schools will have sufficient funds to run their programmes with the aid of modern research equipments and machinery. The institutions will also be able to send their lecturers abroad to gather more experiences and to upgrade their ways of doing things. As for the students who borrowed money to finance their education, they would be expected to pay back with very little interest charged as soon as they are employed. This is one sure way to enhance the quality of education.

    • Oluwayemisi Joseph

    Egbeda, Lagos

  • Arise, My Compatriots!

    Arise, My Compatriots!

    SIR: Nigeria, oh my Nigeria! A country so bless’d but, denied of her blessing. Nigeria, my belov’d; a country battered, not by its enemies but, by its own.

    A country so rich in natural, human, economic resources yet, poor because of human wickedness.

    A country, with the best seasons in the world, where Mother Nature concentrated to do some extra work.

    A country so talked about by the world in envy! Nigeria, envied by peoples and nations of the world.

    Ah! Naija! Who do’ it? Who inflicted you with these pains, sickness and misery?

    How can you be so treated by your own, spat on, horsewhipped, dragged on the floor, condemned and crucified! Ah! My country, Nigeria, why?

    Would we continue to allow us to be so pummeled by a tiny group? Defecated on by this tiny cabal? No, we must stand up and fight.

    Our ancestors must not be shamed and disgraced by this mindless tiny group.

    The spirit of our founding fathers shall not be mocked at!

    We must rise up and ask questions, rise and take up the challenge of rebuilding a battered nation.

    Oh Nigeria! Is it not said that when the frog in front falls into a pit, others behind take caution!

    Nigerian youth must rise up for the nation, to rebuild, reconstruct, now is the time.

    Time for us to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the shining sunlight of racial justice.

    We must rise to open the doors of opportunities, hope for all God’s creation in Nigeria.

    We must rise to lift our country, NIGERIA from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

    We must rise to kick away anarchy and doom, corruption and bad leadership, it is a challenge and we must achieve it.

    Nigeria, the great masquerade of Africa, must be woken up from its slumbering and snoring, it must be rightly prepared to take its God given leadership position.

    And, this is the duty of our youths, the ‘police and army’ of the nation.

    Since our elders have failed, do we need to fail too? Tufia! We must transform our country.

    How long shall we wait to get to the Promised Land? Promises of Nigerian politicians are promises of ‘419ers’.

    Indeed, we must take up the gauntlet and move to compete with the Asian tigers, for they are not gods but, human with blood running in their veins.

    Our country sickly position is not making anyone smile, it brings out complains from even a mentally unbalanced person.

    It has made a child of 13 years develop wrinkles like a 60-year old.

    What shall we do? For after wet, comes dry season! After darkness, comes day.

    What shall we do? Nigeria must flourish again, this land must be healed.

    Healed from all curses, nemesis, ills, sins, mistakes, wickedness, misgovernance and bad leadership.

    Nigeria, must indeed flourish again!

    The green, white and green flag must fly again with confidence among nations, The Arise O’ Compatriots sang with every respect. The pledge read with sincerity.

    Nigeria must be lifted again, away from the doldrums, for our nation must be resurrected.

    • Uzodinma Nwaogbe

    Maitama – Abuja.

  • LASSA, please check indecent advertising

    LASSA, please check indecent advertising

    There is no doubt that the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has been doing its best to make Lagos State live to its lingo as the ‘State of Excellence’. However, there are some salient untoward happenings which urgently require the attention of the State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASSA) and by extension, the State House of Assembly. It is common to find boutique managers displaying openly dummies of naked women, all in the name of doing business. This is bad for children and teenagers who are passersby on streets and roads where such boutiques are located.

    Managers of such boutiques also fail to realize that this not only give a bad image to the state but also portrays the country in bad light. This unfortunate development in the state, and possibly in other states in the country, becomes worrisome when it is common to find law enforcement agents such as the police, staff of KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline), the agency established by the Lagos State government to check acts of indiscipline in the state and who should be courageous enough to check the societal menace by cautioning the boutique managers look the other way.

    Another societal menace many are grappling with has to do with noise pollution from speakers of record sellers. A good example of an area that is notorious for this is Pen Cinema in Agege Local Government Area. The menace is so pronounced that it has become impossible to make or receive calls within 200 metres from all roads in that vicinity.

    It is rather unfortunate that rather than the noise pollution menace in the state to abate, it is on the increase and becoming more widespread despite the firm presence of LASSA that is charged with responsibility of advertising policy in the state.

    It is therefore hoped that LASSA will sensitize boutique owners and record sellers on the dire need for decency and decorum to be imbibed in the manner by which products and services are advertised in the state.

     

    Odunayo Joseph

    Iju, Lagos State.

     

  • Imminent death of Igbo Language

    Imminent death of Igbo Language

    Every Igbo knows one way or the other, it is a matter of time before the language goes extinct. The factors that would lead to these are not farfetched. On many occasions we have tried to bring the attention of those that matter to this issue through the media. One can only hope that someday the right choices will be made. Igbo has a rich cultural heritage that dates back to the 30th century. Around the 9th century, bronzes found at Igbo-Ukwu were used to make items like iron swords, bronze and copper vases and ornament. The Portuguese explorers made contact with Igbos in 1434 long before the Atlantic slave trade exports that took millions of Igbo people including other Africans to America. Although historians of Igbo culture have not agreed on their exact origin some believe that they have been located around the Niger-Benue confluence. Hence, due to population pressure, they migrated through the Niger. But generally, history tells us that many of these tribes supposedly came from different parts of Africa many centuries ago. Several history books claim that these tribes originated from Sudan, Egypt, North Africa and other territories. Nevertheless the Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas were among the early settlers in Nigeria. It is part of our history that Igbos have manifested their zest for adventure and industry in their roles as national public servants, educators, captains of industry and commerce and philanthropists.

    The colonial contact brought many changes in the traditions of Igbo people. With the arrival of a new culture, the Igbo traditional beliefs, religion, family structure and functions including social stratification were all affected. The gradual substitution of new status values for the old in the areas most exposed to the foreign rule had infectious impact. For instance, the modern Igbo with his Christian education and western orientations have the belief that the good will be rewarded in heaven while the bad will end up in hell after the judgment day whereas, the traditional Igbo believe in the ideology that the spirit goes neither to heaven nor hell but comes back on earth to join his lineage.

    Another thing is our adventurous nature. The Igbo people are increasingly mobile, they were found in all parts of the country before the civil war broke out. They are also presently found in many African countries particularly Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia and Dakar. Unfortunately, not much is done by the Igbos outside to preserve their culture and language especially to their new born. This is because they are traders and industrialists, they tend to blend with their immediate environment in all ramifications. Their dressing, language and tradition gradually fade. The most unfortunate and a major contributor is the fact that most Igbos do not visit home often, they stay many years without a single visit. Some have never been to their hometown because of a misguided belief that their hometown is bewitched and ridden with evil spirits.

    Igbos accept changes so easily and adapt to them. They readily embrace the western type of education through Christian philosophy of evangelism. This is what is depicted in our home videos today. There has been no effort by the Nollywood directors and writers to educate us a little about our history, one that will make people see and understand that the region was not completely primitive. No attempt to paint a beautiful picture of the culture and tradition of the Igbos. No attempt to depict the Igbo history based on events that took place in the past.

    Another thing is to learn to give honour to whom it is due. Prof. Chinua Achebe, has taken a bold step to regain the pride we once had for our language with a new Igbo dictionary/encyclopaedia. This is very important as Igbo is the only tribe among the three major tribes in the country without a channel on DSTV. The others have Africa Magic in Hausa and Yoruba. Sadly, most of the English speaking Nollywood films are done by Igbo actors and directors. Further steps needs to be taken to ensure that the language is heard on renowned radio network service like BBC, Voice of America and others like German radio, France and Chinese radio if possible. As the Hausa language has achieved success with the Hausa BBC station.

    Until we take this issue seriously, we will be working towards the prediction that the Igbo language will go extinct by 2025.

    Ugochukwu Obinka

    Director, Planning and Research

     

  • Ajimobi’s ‘New Deal’ and Oyo PDP

    Ajimobi’s ‘New Deal’ and Oyo PDP

    SIR: The use of diversionary tactics to dissipate the energy of the governing class has become an acceptable tool of the opposition in modern democracy. It is equally a truism that effective leadership is determined by the extent to which the leader can resist the antics of the opposition. The first prize if such a leader allows himself to be swayed is that he would lose focus of his programs and projects to the people.

    It is a paradox that the PDP in Oyo state has never seen anything good in any of the transformation agenda of Ajimobi administration. It is one thing to acknowledge the quality of a project even if it means offering an input on how it can still be better. While the Oyo State government has been consistent with facts and figures about the number of roads it has awarded across the state, the PDP has not faulted the figures as well as their locations. Instead, the party continues to claim that most of the roads and bridges had actually been in the pipeline since Akala days.

    If for over four years the PDP could not get itself together to actualize these “pipeline” projects, it may need another decade to implement them.

    When the PDP discovered that it had lost the battle on the issue of quality of work on the road projects, it resorted to cheap propaganda touting inconveniences caused to the public in the course of road construction. The plain truth is that the people cannot eat their cake and have it at the same time. But even at that, the government has not been found wanting in creating alternative routes with adequate notice to the public before commencement of construction work.

    One innovation which Governor Ajimobi has brought into governance in recent time is the quality of personnel he had brought on board. This is the first time in history of Oyo state that recycling of personnel in the service of the state would be jettisoned. In the past it had been the case of club of ex-this, ex-that holding sensitive positions in the state even when their physique and psyche could not meet the challenges of such offices.

    For the first time we see the executive council of the state made up of people within productive prime age burstling with energy and mental alertness to deliver dividends of democracy to the people. It is to the credit of the governor however that in limiting his cabinet to prime age bracket substantially, he did not neglect the aged either. He put them in less challenging positions in the parastatals and other agencies where they can take their stride.

    One other area where the governor has performed miracle in the state is in relative peace that has permeated the state. When one reflects on what used to be life in Oyo state two to three years ago, one begins to wonder whether the road transport workers of that time was different from the present set of NURTW.

    The institution of traditional rulership has witnessed relative peace and stability unlike in the past when government caused commotion and confusion within the rank of traditional rulers through phony elevations aimed at distorting history for selfish some purposes.

    • Agboola Sanni Ibadan