The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Peace Corps: Posers for police

    In their cruel determination to drive Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) out of existence, there is no lie considered too ‘sacrilegious’  to be told about it. The situation has gotten so bad that even the truth that is so glaring is being turned upside down. This explains why supposedly government law-enforcement institutions have long kissed truth goodbye and embraced lies as an instrument of their operation. In a nutshell, they have elevated falsehood into an art.

    Ever since they rudely invaded the new Corporate Headquarters of the PCN, arrested and detained the National Commandant, Dr. Dickson Akoh, and forty-nine other officers, these implacable enemies of the Corps have been rather shifty in the way and manner they supply one lie after another. They have perfected the art of lying to the extent that they keep manufacturing them with the passage of each day.

    This pathetic lie of the Police Force came to a heady climax with the recent affidavit disposed to by one Sgt. Philip Tumba of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Legal Department of the FCT Police Command, which was sworn to at the Registry of Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, 21 March, 2017. In the aforementioned affidavit which contained tissue of‘ lies, the Police denied what is already well known in the public domain.

    Apparently aware of the water-tight case of the PCN against it and the impending embarrassing defeat staring it in the face, the Police Force resorted to what it knows how to do best—lying, even on oath, which is a serious criminal offence punishable under the laws of the land.

    Sgt. Tumba, through that affidavit, was either being economical with the truth or merely elected to stand honesty on its head when he denied that the act of rascality perpetrated by security operatives on the premises of the Corps on Tuesday, 28 February, 2017, was not an invasion, but a lawful execution of its duty.

    He also lied when he said that no officer of the Peace Corps was brutalised or injured. He even chose to fault the PCN’s position that some of its officers were brutalised and admitted at National Hospital, Abuja, a position that has already been confirmed by several media reports supported with pictures of the victims. To further buttress the position of the PCN on the issue, journalists from Channels,NTA and AIT, including Radio Nigeria and other radio stations actually interviewed the victims at the hospital and even captured their pictures.

    If the Police Force claimed that it did not arrest any Peace Corps Officer, does it mean that Akoh and the 49 others that were paraded on 1st March, 2017 flew to Force Headquarters to be paraded as such? How did the police get the official uniform and portrait of the National Commandant that it gleefully displayed to the world as exhibits?

    In that same aforementioned affidavit, which is riddled with lies, the Police Force went on to further lower its esteem in the eyes of the whole world when it described its closure of the Peace Corps offices nationwide, especially the National Headquarters, Abuja, which the Police have cordoned off with Armoured Personnel Carrier and a pick-up van as a mere cordoning off of a “scene of crime to secure it for further and detail investigation.”

    The question to ask is: why didn’t the Police conclude investigation before rushing into this premeditated action of beating, arresting and detaining innocent Nigerians? Why the indecent haste in closing a legal organisation that is duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)?

    In No 11 of the affidavit, the Police Force gave itself kudos for doing what it said was for “public good and interest in order to prevent further illegal extortion of money from the unsuspecting members of the public.” Nothing can be further from the truth! This case of extortion that the Police keep recycling about the Corps has been over-flogged. This is the same allegation, which the Police Force itself and the ICPC investigated and gave the Corps a clean bill of health in the past.

    The allegation of the Corps creating camps in different parts of the country and organising military-like training is neither here nor there. I wish to restate for the umpteenth time that the Corps had never claimed to be or acted like a paramilitary organisation as it does not have the power to arrest, detain or prosecute.  Over the years, the training of its recruits has always been observed by both the Police, DSS, officials of Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, including Traditional Rulers of the Local Government Areas where the Training Camps are situated.

    On the issue of the Corps providing uniforms and badges of ranks for its recruits, it is necessary to state here that in Nigeria today, there are about 47 youth organisations that wear uniforms with badges of ranks, including Boys Scouts, Boys Brigade, Girls Guide and even the ubiquitous officials of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) popularly called ‘Agberos’. How many have the Police raided or closed?

    If the PCN is as notorious as the Police would want Nigerians to believe, how come the respected umbrella body of the whole world cum Africa, the United Nations and African Union respectively gave it a Special Consultative Status under their Economic and Social Councils (ECOSOC)? How come millions of Nigerians are not on the same page with the Police Force in its malicious claims on the Corps?

    The truth about this matter is that the Police Force has shot itself in the foot and is trying to find a convenient way out of its self-imposed logjam. This tango between the Police Force and the PCN has exposed its hypocrisy and its wanton ways of parading alleged criminals even before investigation is concluded. Its actions against the Corps are a clear case of vendetta. So, no amount of side-tracking the truth will save the Police Force from the sword of Damocles that is hanging ominously over its head. History, like the late Nnamdi Azikiwe once said, will vindicate the just.

     

    • Oche is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja

     

  • Arewa North ready for Nigeria’s breakup?

    He who call ourselves Southerners in Nigeria do seriously need to listen more carefully to the voices of those of our countrymen whom we call Northerners. As things stand today, most of what we tend to hear from the North (or essentially from the Arewa North) are merely the things that we choose to hear. We hear only those voices of the Arewa North which staunchly oppose the restructuring of the Nigerian federation.

    But there are many Arewa Northern voices that have been saying profoundly important things – things that we would all benefit greatly from if we would only pay attention to them.

    In a recent article, I commented on an interview which Professor Ango Abdullahi gave to a newspaper in February. On reading that interview again and again this past week, I find that I must comment further on it. In terms of the affairs of this country, Professor Ago Abdullahi is one of our most resourceful persons, one of the men in whom our country has put the most investment through exposure to varied experiences. He has been through many facets of our country’s life – student at our country’s premier university (Ibadan University)), university professor, vice-chancellor of one of our Ivy League universities (Ahmadu Bello University), politician, participant at no less than four of Nigeria’s constitutional conferences, adviser to a Nigerian federal administration, now a leader and spokesman for the highly prestigious Northern civic organisation, Northern Leaders Forum.

    What has fascinated me the most in the said interview by Professor Abdullahi is his view on the question whether or not Nigeria should break up. Professor Abdullahi says that, fundamentally, Nigeria’s unity is negotiable, and that there is nothing sacrosanct about it – that there is nothing sacrosanct about the unity of any country. Expatiating further, he went into the history of the countries of the world – “in the history of nations around the world” he explained, “you find numerous examples where countries started as one. India started as India; the following year it was India and Pakistan, another year it was India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; Bosnia recently, Soviet Union, super power, there are 15 countries now from what used to be one super power only 15 or so years ago. There are so many countries like that around the world. Britain, the so called oldest democracy in the world only two, three years ago there was a referendum that Scotland wanted to leave the union and so on. So, this is a continuing thing and there is no such thing as a permanent nation even if that nation is made up of one ethnic group. – – – If we agree that we should live together as a people and as a country, so be it, but if the general consensus is that Nigerians want to go their separate ways either on the basis of ethnicity, culture, history or religion, why not.”

    Asked why then the North has been opposing the breaking up of Nigeria, he answered that it is not true that the North is opposed to the breaking up of Nigeria. What has been happening, he added, is that people have been “putting words in our mouth” – meaning that Southerners have been assuming what they believe that Northerners want, and not adequately understanding what Northerners are saying. He added further, “if anybody tells you that the large informed opinion in the North is against the dissolution of Nigeria, he is telling you lies” – obviously meaning that any Northern leader who claims that the North opposes the idea of breaking up of Nigeria is misrepresenting the true opinion of the North.

    Professor Abdullahi was asked whether he was sure that he was speaking the true mind of the North. Are there no Northerners who would contradict him on this matter, he was asked. And he answered, “They (that is, such Northern opponents of his views) are welcome. I am waiting for them. I am speaking my mind. I am a northerner and there are so many people who share my views and there are so many people who may not share my views; but I can assure you there are quite a number of people who share these views today. The indicators are very clear. The North appears as if it is the one that should carry the can for Nigeria’s unity, and this is not acceptable anymore. If Nigeria is beneficial to all Nigerians, so be it; but Nigeria should not be kept while the North is being blackmailed and that Nigeria unity should be at the expense of the North. So this is not acceptable anymore. So, the North is ready for dissolution, anytime”. In another breath, he added emphatically, “Absolutely, absolutely, we are (ready for the breakup of Nigeria).”And he added further, “other Nigerians do not want Nigeria; so I don’t see why the North should insist on having Nigeria. That is the biggest index I have. And this is on the basis of the recent statements” by members of the Nigerian elite.

    He says, ”the only thing we have not done, which I prefer we (should) do, is Sovereign National Conference where the decision of the people will determine whether Nigeria stays as a country, or people will go in as many separate ways as they choose.”

    It was pointed out to Professor Abdullahi that the North, as he has explained, is obviously saying two contradictory things at the same time –accepting the breakup of Nigeria but opposing the restructuring of the Nigerian federation. He answered, “Which restructuring? What restructuring do you want? Initially, there was a bloc country broken into regions. The regions were broken into states and today, there are 774 local governments, mainly in pursuance of so-called grassroots participation in government. What else is there?”

    Needless to say, all of these are extremely heavy stuff. Most observers, at home and abroad, think that most citizens of Southern Nigeria have come to the conclusion that there is really no road forward for Nigeria any more, and that the best solution is to dissolve Nigeria –in order to allow various peoples of Nigeria to find their own roads forward. According to Professor Ango Abdullahi, pursuing dissolution is more meaningful to a lot of people than pursuing restructuring; and those who believe that the North (even the Arewa North) is opposed to the dissolution of Nigeria are flatly wrong.

    The greatest question thus arises –whither is Nigeria bound? What shall we choose? One thing seems certain today, namely, that the events and developments of these days demand of us to take a decision one way or other, and as soon as possible. As virtually all Nigerians are saying, we cannot just muddle on like this.

  • ITF:  Towards economic prosperity

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is the human capital development agency of government charged with the responsibility to train and retrain the nation’s human capital through various programmes and policies.

    The Fund’s new DG/CEO, Sir Joseph Ari,  has a new template to do the needful in areas such as Agriculture, which is a major preoccupation of most Nigerians and a key component of the economic diversification agenda.  For instance, the Fund intends to develop the capacity of Nigerian farmers along the agricultural value chain. Specific areas targeted by the plan include fish farming, poultry production, crop production, Agric-mechanization, Agric-business and post-harvest management, manure production, Technology and farm management, and water resource management.

    To actualise this, the Fund has commenced the training of 17,000 farmers using its Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in Kano and the Centre for Excellence in Jos and undeveloped lands owned by the ITF in states for the establishment of demonstration farms.  This is even as efforts are in place to acquire land in eight states – Anambra, Benue, Kano, Plateau, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun and Niger for the same purpose.  In view of the breadth of this plan, the Fund will collaborate with States, Ministries of Agriculture, existing local farmers, farmers’ associations like Fadama for farm equipment, seedlings and capacity building and also explore the possibility of financial grants from International and Local Agencies including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry amongst others. The plan on agriculture is premised on the conviction that to achieve food security and conserve the huge foreign reserve that is currently expended on the importation of food items, the requisite capacity of Nigerians farmers must be developed.

    In the construction sector, the Fund intends to equip Nigerians with skills in these areas: welding and fabrication, reinforcing metal works, domestic electrical installation, carpentry and joinery, tiling, masonry, block and brick making, plumbing and pipe fitting and Plaster Of Paris (POP) making. According to the plan, in 2017 alone, the ITF will train 18,500 Nigerians in the aforementioned trade and craft areas using ITF Industrial Skills Training Centres and selected satellite centres. To ensure achievement of this ambition, the Fund will enter into collaboration with agencies and organisations like Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN), Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB), Julius Berger Plc and SETRACO amongst others for technical and financial assistance.

    For the Services industry, the ITF will build the capacity of Nigerians in 17 trade and craft areas including: GSM repairs, generator repairs, computer hardware repairs, software installation, marketing, catering services, event management, automobile and tri-cycle maintenance and repairs, autotronics, tailoring, air condition and refrigeration maintenance and repairs, ICT web design, satellite dish installation and maintenance, facility maintenance and repairs and interior decoration. In all, 9,250 Nigerians will be equipped with these skills.

    In addition, efforts have been stepped up, under the plan, for the formal commissioning of the Lokoja ISTC, even as plans are underway towards the establishment of 36 Industrial Skills Training Centres in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Similarly, three Automotive Parts Production and Training Centres will be established in Badagary, Nnewi and Kaduna while six Centres of Advanced Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) will be sited in the six geopolitical zones of the country. Three specialized Centres in Oil and Gas will also be established. All these projects are expected to be completed between 2018 and 2020.

    Sir Ari’s body language shows that Nigeria is in a hurry to join the industrialised nations of the world where the populace will be trained and retrained to meet needs of the people. With this spirit, Sir Ari said,  ”barely one month in office, Management unveiled a ‘home made’ Plan that was wholly generated internally by staff’.

    The plan, which is tagged as the ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Actualisation of Mandate is captured in quick wins, Medium and long-term goals. A number of programmes have been earmarked for implementation as quick wins. They include:

    • National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP) which commenced in 18 states of the federation on 1stMarch, 2017.
    • Technical Skills Development Programme (TSDP) in collaboration with NECA.
    • Skills training on wheels using our Mobile Training Units.
    • Training people to turn passion to profession.
    • Women Skills Empowerment Programme (WOSEP) and
    • Development Agricultural Entrepreneurs (Agripreneur).

    In addition to these, we shall continue to identify the training needs of our contributing employers and develop cost effective training programmes as intervention strategies in line with our mandate. Scheduled and unscheduled training programmes will be implemented in our thirty seven (37) Area Offices and five (5) Industrial Skills Training Centres.  Safety programmes will be promoted and implemented for companies based on identified needs. We shall also continue to render any service required by public and private sectors as contained in our mandate.”

    Since Sir Ari assumed office, as the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, ITF has witnessed many unemployed youths being trained and graduating from various skill acquisition centres of the Industrial Training Fund, ranging from Tailoring and Fashion Design, Carpentry and Joinery, Interior Decoration and Bag making.  Sir Ari’s mandate is huge, but the tasks are achievable based on his deep inside ITF knowledge and wherewithal.

    Nigeria should rest assured the core mandate will be achieved to the fullest. Sir Ari achieved greatness through sheer hard work, honesty and commitment. As a lawyer, business administrator and broadcaster par excellence, eloquent scholar and patriot, he is also selfless, humble to a fault, and a team player. It is his philosophy that managers/leaders should at all times live exemplary lives of service and add value always. He is focused on ensuring that the Fund staff work towards the full actualisation of the mandate, which is necessary for any organisation to thrive. In fact, he strongly believes the Fund has a serious role to play in helping to get the country out of economic recession.

  • Tantalising tales of a Nursing Father (2)

    In addition to the illustrious Ben Tomoloju’s breezy and captivating foreword titled ‘A Celebration of Humanism’, a major delight of Dr. Sylvester Akhaine’s book, ‘The Case of a Nursing Father’, for me is Dr Tunde Fatunde’s prefatory ‘Open Letter to the Author’. This is in itself a titillating and fascinating review of the book made even more interesting by Fatunde’s explication of Akahine’s essays using the methodological and philosophical framework of the late Professor Billy Dudley who was his teacher at the University of Ibadan. In doing this, Fatunde gives us rare insights into the aspects of the life, style and mind of one of Nigeria’s greatest political scientists.  The eminent scholar had died about a year before I gained admission into the Department of Political Science at Ibadan in the early eighties although he had taken leave of the institution much earlier but his influence still loomed large in the department and indeed the entire Faculty of Social Sciences. Some of our brightest and best teachers were his students and they spoke fondly of him. A Professor of Sociology once spoke admiringly of Dudley in one of his classes saying the political scientist was in a class of his own with an uncanny ability to “sustain discourse at a high level of abstraction for prolonged periods without contradicting reality”. Phew!

    Any encounter with some of Billy Dudley’s books such as ‘Instability and Political Order: Politics and Crisis in Nigeria’, ‘An Introduction to Nigerian Government and Politics’ or his seminal inaugural lecture, ‘Scepticism as Political Virtue’, for instance, would agree that they are permanent and enduring legacies to students of politics. The scope of his knowledge was truly encyclopedic. In Fatunde’s words to Akhaine, “I want to conceptualize your collection of essays by borrowing a term called faction, a concept popularized by Odia Ofeimun with whom I studied a course Political Philosophy, under late Professor Billy Dudley, a distinguished scholar at the University of Ibadan…In Billy Dudley’s class, we were only six students, other colleagues deliberately avoided his courses like Ebola Fever, because if you are not willing to accept the fact that all disciplines are more or less interrelated in what is known as body of knowledge, then you have to quickly go and register for courses like history of local governments in Nigeria”.

    Fatunde recalls that Professor Dudley in teaching a course, ‘Ethnicity in Nigeria’ made use of physics, mathematics, anthropology, political economy, sociology and political theory to explicate his subject matter. But what is the relationship between these observations on Dudley by Fatunde and Dr Akhaine’s collection of essays? In the former’s words, “I see a similar model from the first essay ‘The case of a Nursing Father” to the last one, “Beyond Whispers, Baba goes Home”. Between these two chapters are essays which reflect your complex experiences and the way your globalized visions interact with other human beings from your village, Emaudo, old Bendel State, now Edo State in Esan land to cities and towns in Nigeria and abroad. To put it succinctly, you are a permanent student of life on this earth and your experiences are your permanent teachers! This paradigm applies to all of us”.

    In reading Dr Akhaine’s collection of essays in this book, however, I find him philosophically and ideologically nearer to another great titan of Nigerian and African political science, the late Professor Claude Ake. This is perhaps because as a scholar he is firmly situated within the radical political economy tradition, which was Ake’s forte as best exemplified by his magnum opus – ‘A Political Economy of Africa’. Professor Julius Ihonvbere, in his edited collection of a selection of Claude Ake’s previously unpublished works titled, ‘A Political Economy of Crisis and Underdevelopment in Africa’, notes that Ake’s writings “have tried to respond to the need for a dialectical and holistic approach to the study of the African crisis. Though they have all been written at different times and for different occasions, a single belief, commitment and concern run through the chapters: the need to organize, work and struggle for peace, change, growth, development and progress against the odds of capitalism, exploitation, repression, marginalization and dehumanization”. It appears to me that these are also the central concerns of Dr Akhaine both as an academic and a popular writer and particularly in this book.

    Indeed this the author clearly brings out in the last chapter of the book titled, ‘Beyond Whispers, Baba Goes Home’, which is a moving tribute to the late Marxist economist, radical political theorist, socialist thinker and organizational genius, the late Baba Oluwide Omojola, who was Akhaine’s ideological and intellectual mentor as well as moral exemplar. According to Dr Akhaine, “I was one of Baba’s many adopted children, from the point of view of the fatherly role he played in my tutelage as a revolutionary Marxist. I became class conscious in 1983 with my induction into a Marxist cell built by Blessed Isi Momodu at Ekpoma…On coming to Lagos in the mid-eighties, Baba and many other comrades opened up opportunities for me to excel and achieve greater ideological clarity”. He is even more explicit in this regard when he writes that “The love of my life, political economy, not bourgeois political economy, which focuses on the relation of things but the Marxist variant, whose method is the method of abstraction and interrogates the material conditions of society which underpins my scholarly endeavour, was a course I had intended to deepen through my association with Baba”.

    The works of Billy Dudley and Claude Ake no doubt evince the highest standards of logical and analytic rigour despite their divergent ideological and philosophical orientations. Dudley was less overtly ideological than Ake and perhaps even a little disdainful of Marxian analysis. In his 1974 presidential address to the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), Dudley makes a remarkably prescient case for the period for open, competitive liberal democracy much against the conventional ideological wisdom of the time.  As he put it “There are some of us, who unfortunately think we can do without politics. In the ultimate Marxian millennium when “administration” replaces politics, that may very well be. But we are nowhere near Marx’s millennium…The politics of the closed society, and by definition any society which is not open and competitive is closed, is the politics of deceit and sycophancy. It is the politics which dehumanizes the individual person and enslaves the intellect. For a Nigeria which is self-avowedly committed to change and development, the politics of the closed society would hardly be an option”. This collection of essays by Dr Sylvester Odion Akhaine, just as his other works and indeed his life, demonstrates as much commitment to the cause of liberty and democracy as it does to that of social justice and equity. None of these goals as experience teaches can be meaningfully and realistically pursued at the expense of the other.

  • Constant crisis in the Supreme Court

    Crisis is not new to the Supreme Court in Nigeria.      From inception, there has always been one crisis or the other, in that court.

    In 1958, the incumbent Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Stafford Foster Sutton was to retire. He had earlier served as Attorney General of Kenya from 1944-1948 and served also as attorney General of British Malaya from 1948-1950.

    The expectation was that his number two man, Justice Samuel Olumuyiwa Jibowu(1899-1959) was to succeed him. Justice Jibowu was at that time the first Nigerian to be serving in the supreme court of Nigeria. He had rich credentials. He was called to the Bar in 1923 at middle temple in London. At a time, his father was the Secretary of the Egba nation. In fact if you look at the Nigeria Legal Practitioner’s enrollment list, you will see that Olumuyiwa Jibowu who was sworn in on August 8 1923 was lawyer Number 69 while Justice Adetokunbo Ademola who was enrolled on September 10 1934 was lawyer Number 121 while Chief Obafemi Awolowo(1909-1987) who was enrolled on December 24 1946 was lawyer 168 in Nigeria. He had a brother, Sunbo Jibowu, who was a Politician, father of Kayode Jibowu, who later became Chairman of Ikoyi Club between 1988-1990 before handing over to Mr. Yanju Scott, who served between 1990-1992. But Justice Jibowu was never ap9pointed Chief Justice. Instead Justice Adetokunbo Adegboyega Ademola (1906-1993) was appointed Chief Justice on April 1 1958.

    A petition was written against Justice Jibowu that he made a political statement and therefore was not fit to be Chief Justice.

    When I was Press Secretary to three Military Governors in Ondo state (now Ekiti and Ondo states) between 1986 and 1991, his spouse Lady Deborah Jibowu who later became Chairperson of one of the Government Agencies usually visited me in my office and she told me expected great stories of her husband. Ten months after Justice Adetokunbo Ademola became Chief Justice, Justice Jibowu died on June 1 1959. A street in Yaba, Lagos not far from WAEC office is named after him.

    The expectation was that Chief Theophilus Owolabi Shobowale Benson (1917-2008) pioneer Minister of information in Nigeria, who was lawyer Number 190 and enrolled on September 9 1947 like Chief Victor Babaremilekun Adetokunbo Fani Kayode(1921-1995), would tell his own side of the story in the saga. He never did till he died in the early hours of February 13 2008.

    In 1972, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola gave notice of retirement, General Yakubu Gowon quickly set in motion efforts  to pick a candidate to succeed him. There is an office then in Lagos Island. It lies between Strachan street and Moloney streets. Though in ruins now, diliapidated and abandoned following movement to Abuja. That office was then called cabinet office. It once served as the office of the Prime Minister. It used to be the most powerful office outside of then Dodan Barracks. It was called the heartbeat of Government. All appointments and decisions pass through that office. It was in short the clearing house. That was then.

    Outstanding civil servants including Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Alhaji Baba Gana Kingigbe, Mr. Buka Usman, Alhaja Lateefat Modupeola Okunnu,Bisi Oguniyi, Ambassador Olu Otunla, ambassador Oladapo Fafowora, Mr. C.O. Lebi, Ambassador Olu Adeniji, Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, Alhaji Shehu Musa, Kabiyesi Festus Ibidapo Adesanoye, the late Osemawe of Ondo, Eniolorunda Ojumu, Samuel Olu Adekunle, Olusegun Olujimi Ologunebi Ogunkua, Eddy Ugbodaga, Prince Kola Adeyemi,Prince Samuel Arieoukuoba Igbinoghouau Akenzua,(1917-2016),who later became the Oba of Benin,Tunde Kamiliu Kasali,Ambassador Olu Abiola,Chief Grey Longe and others once worked in that office.

    At the time Justice Ademola gave notice of retirement, the office was headed by Alhaji Umaru Sanda Ndayako(1937-2003), a schoolmate of General Yakubu Gowon in Barewa College Zaria,founded in 1921 by British Governor General, Sir Hugh Charles Clifford (1866-1914)but was originally known as Katsina College.

    Alhaji Ndayako, who later became 12th Etsu Nupe expectedly, submitted the profiles of serving Justices of the Supreme Court to General Gowon for consideration. General Gowon looked at the list, skipped it and did the unthinkable. He appointed Dr. Taslim Olawale Elias (1914-1991) as Chief Justice of the Federation.

    At the time of the appointment, Dr. Elias was not serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court. He was the first Attorney General and Minister of Justice and later Dean Faculty of Law, University of Lagos. He was Lawyer Number 308 and enrolled on December 15 1951. The appointment shocked many. The argument then was not that Dr. Elias was not qualified, but that he was not a serving Justice of the Supreme Court although he was the incumbent attorney General of the Federation.

    On July 29 1975, while away at the Organisation of African Unity meeting in Kampala, Uganda, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed (November 8 1938- February 13 1976) toppled his school mate and senior in Barewa College, General Yakubu Dan Yuma Gowon (83). One of the first things he did was to fire Justice Elias as the Chief Justice of the Federation. He too did the unthinkable and appointed a non-Nigerian, Justice Arthur Darnley Alexander (1920-1988) as Chief Justice. Justice Alexander was born in Casteries, St. Lucia in the West Indies in the Caribbean. He served as a crown counsel and legal draftsman in Jamaica and as a magistrate in Turks and Caicos Islands. He came to Nigeria in 1957 on the invitation of the premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who had appealed to the Colonial Office in London to help source a legal draftsman; Alexander then served the region in various capacities. He was Legal Draftsman, Western Region, Nigeria from 1957-1969 and was acting Director of Public Prosecutions in 1958. In 1960, he was appointed the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary of the regional Ministry of Justice and in 1963; he was made Queen’s Counsel. In 1964, he was appointed a judge in the Lagos High Court. In 1964, the then Premier of Mid-Western region, Chief Dennis Chukwudi Osadebe (1911-1994) appointed him to head the Owegbe court tribunal which was targeted at the deputy Premier of the region, Chief Humphrey Omo-Osagie(1896-1977) who was eventually cleared of any wrong doing.

    He was appointed Chief Justice of the South Eastern State now Cross River and Akwa Ibom states. At the time he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Federation, there were more than twelve serving Justices of the Supreme Court who were his seniors.

    Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore (80) has the shortest tenure, so far, as the Chief Justice of Nigeria since independence. He was the tenth Chief Justice of the Federation. He served between July 2006 and January 2007—barely six months. His predecessor Justice Muhammed Lawal Uwais retired on June 12 2006 .

    The nearest to him is Justice Dahiru Musderphar (74), a close ally of General Sanni Abacha, who served between August 21 2011 to July 16 2012. But Justice Belgore was not to be the Chief Justice but for a  peace meeting initiated by President Olusegun Obasanjo with Justice Uwais, Justice Belgore, Major General Abdullahi Muhammed(rtd.) then Chief of Staff to the President and the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufott Ekaette,in May 2006 in the Villa. It was after the meeting that the National Judicial Council finally submitted Justice Belgore’s name via President Obasanjo to the Senate, presided then by Senator Ken Ugwu Nnamani(68).

    The calculation then was that why make Justice Belgore Chief Justice when he has only six months to serve. He fought back like wounded lion with all his contacts insisting that if only for one day, it was his right to be Chief Justice.That is all I will say on this issue for the moment.

    We should not forget also that Justice Belgore is from one of the most powerful ten families in Ilorin like the Sarakis,Abdul-Razaks,Sulu Gambaris,Barajes,Onikijipas,Oniyangis,Idiagbons,Kawus, who are regarded as untouchable in that ancient city.

    As I said earlier, crisis is not new to the Supreme Court. Notwithstanding it must be acknowledged too that the National Judicial Council has been implementing necessary reforms within the Judiciary in the last sixteen months. The council should be commended and encouraged.

     

    • Eric Teniola, a former director at the presidency, stays in Lagos.

  • Obaseki’s rescue mission in Edo

    The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and perhaps the best way to keep your mind productive is to ensure that your hands do not stop working.

    In Nigeria, for the most part, the prevailing socio-economic, ethno-religious and political challenges take their root from these two sides of the same coin: Idle hands and wasting minds.

    Call it the insurgency in the north-east, which has claimed the lives of over 30,000 people and displaced over two million, with an estimated economic loss of $9 billion, representing around 50 per cent of Nigeria’s budget for 2017, or any of the other less analysed restive situations around the country, they all take their roots from idleness of a large proportion of the population, particularly young people.

    Unfortunately, these very counter productive socio-economic upheavals have spread across the entire country in the form of herdsmen-farmers fatal clashes across the north-central regions of the country and militancy in the Niger Delta which almost brought the country to its knees recently.

    With the atrocities caused by terrorism in the north and militancy in the delta area already well documented, the rising problems of violent thuggery and gangsterism which are equally deadly and devastating to socio-economic and political cohesion in states like Edo, are creeping in subtly, poised to become an intractable problem in the near future that will result in national emergencies if not checked.

    In Benin City and other parts of Edo State, the names of these thugs and gangsters, some of who now lay claim to some form of political relevance which is actually non-existent, dot the societal horizon.

    Ask these fellows and their likes what they do for a living, or what skills they possess with which they ply one trade or the other, for their economic survival and the answer you are certain to get is…….wait for it……., NOTHING. They have no jobs, no vocations, no trade.

    Yet, you see these hoodlums move around in top dollar SUVs, build expansive houses with wives and children spread across the various local governments of the state.

    If you thought that these people seeming to live in opulence without any commensurate productive effort is a tragedy, then more tragic is the fact that the younger generation have idolised  and projected these thugs firmly as their role models. This poses potent threat to posterity and must be addressed.

    If a survey is carried out in the sub-urban and parts of the urban centres of Edo State to determine what children want to become when they grow up, the outcome will likely be shocking.

    Those days are gone when children wanted to become doctors, lawyers, engineers and scientists when they grow up. Now they want to be community thugs and local tyrants, who now somehow seem to be the ones with all the money, fame and power, for creating absolutely zero economic value.

    However, judging by some steps that have been taken by the Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, since he took office, it seems like he has set out to adjust some of these maladies.

    A good example is his decision to return the responsibility of revenue collection in local governments across the state to local government employees.

    Obaseki’s argument anchored on the fact that only parties empowered by the laws of the land should carry out constitutional activities like collection and remitting of government revenue is sound to any fair-minded person.

    But for the thugs and gagsters who have made government revenue collection their forte and have in the past amassed mind-boggling wealth for themselves as a result, Obaseki has murdered sleep.

    Threats are being issued and efforts are being made to stir up violence in the state with the instrumentality of proliferating secret cult groups across the state, as well as activities of other criminals.

    Some politicians and interest groups seeking undue relevance in government and in the polity have also thrown their subtle or sometimes brazen support behind these aggrieved thugs who have been nothing but leeches to the government for decades. There are also allegations that major security agencies that are supposed to be unapologetically on the side of law and order, are sometimes in passive support of these hoodlums, conferring with them and treating their criminality with kid gloves.

    They want the waste to continue, because when there is chaos and disorder, people receive patronage that they do not deserve.

    Each of these individuals consider themselves as power blocs in the state and they demand to be courted ‘one-by-one’ by the governor. When they are told that the appropriate thing to do is to form themselves into interest groups with productive agenda, they get offended. Their intention is to reduce the responsibility of governance in the state to continuous frolicking with individuals towards satiating each person’s selfish needs. This will never be a sustainable approach to governance.

    The biggest mistake being made by these people is that they have failed to understand the resolve of the Edo governor to stick to only decisions and activities that are in the best interest of the majority of the Edo people instead of satisfying the greed of a handful.

    The old model of governance made popular by some Nigerian governors, where state chief executives seem to strengthen their political security, simply by patronizing individuals who have created some mobster status for themselves, as well as some so called political leaders and godfathers, is never in the interest of the larger population of any geopolitical entity.

    The most essential, yet most limited resource available to a governor or a president for that matter is his time. Instead of spending it courting the approval of a few individuals in the name of political survival, it must be spent meeting the manifold and dire needs of the teaming populace with the people left to judge in the fullness of time, who has served them well and who has betrayed them.

    Having analysed the problem, Obaseki seems to clearly understand that among the negative actors comprising the thugs, mobsters and the seemingly responsible politicians who support them are many who are largely victims of the system, so he is therefore developing models that can return them into the state’s productive economic cycle.

    He has identified the need to create massive amounts of jobs and is deploying a clear strategy to ensure that millions of decent jobs are actually made available. The idea is that people mostly want to be honest and decent as long as in their honesty, they can be gainfully employed and be given the dignity deserving of responsible members of the society.

    Obaseki’s foray into the development of the Azura-Edo power plant is clearly part of the overall strategy. It is a 450MW Open Cycle Gas Turbine power station being constructed near Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria.  It is the first phase of a 1,500MW Independent Power Project (IPP) facility located on a 100-hectare site, large enough to accommodate future expansion of the power plant.

    The plant is situated close to Nigeria’s main trunkline, the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS), which is only 1km from the Azura-Edo project site.

    With power generated and effectively deployed in Edo State, the governor is working on industrial zones that will receive the power evacuated, along with favourable tax regimes and massive human capacity development through revamped global-standard technical education.

    When all these come on stream, it is expected that labour will move from thuggrey, gangsterism and the prevailing wasteful ‘community youths’ system in different suburbs in Edo into technical and vocational schools for skills acquisition that will help them benefit from an actively evolving economic climate.

    Many have said that by trying to change this very negative status quo, which puts money where no real value is created, out of fear of a political backlash, Obaseki is trying to commit political suicide. But the governor himself seems to have effectively counted the cost and is resolved that it is always a suicide mission when anyone attempts to put the interests of the helpless many over those of the ‘privileged’ few.

     

    • Ajayi, a social commentator writes from Benin City

  • Amosun: Filling a basket with water

    The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, recently signed the bill to upgrade the state-owned Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) to Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology (MAUTECH), Abeokuta.  Governor Amosun also signed into law the bill to establish the Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia.

    In all sincerity, I am not against the establishment of a University of Science and Technology in Ogun State, like we have in other states in the country.  As the Speaker of Ogun State House of Assembly, Mr. Suraj Adekunbi puts it: “the House gave the bill accelerated passage because of the priority the government accorded education.” Any serious government, like the Ogun State government, ought to make education one of its leading priorities.

    Yet, what seems to be more disturbing is the manner in which the bill was passed. Apart from the sheer unseriousness displayed by the members of the House, the decision of the governor to establish a state university of technology at this critical stage calls for our general reconsideration.

    First, there is a need to put it straight to the governor that the upgrade is coming at a very wrong time. The problem with education in Nigeria is not just about non-availability of institutions of learning or its insufficiency. We see universities, polytechnics, colleges, institutes and all of that everywhere. Yet we still complain bitterly about a ramshackle educational system in Nigeria. The signal this sends to us is that the establishment of universities and colleges is not the main challenge. Rather, government irresponsibility and disregard for education.

    For a nation to develop and advance there is need for education to get well financed. Sadly, the government here is more focused on constructing mansions where pilfered public funds are kept. Our government takes education less seriously. Even with the number of schools have we in this clime, we have never been ranked among the first 100 universities in the world – we have a long way to go. The reason behind this is that schools are not funded and adequate facilities are not provided.

    Our leaders are like contractors that had laid a single foundation of a proposed large housing estate and had to jump to lay another foundation in another separate place without any hope of completion. Instead of ensuring the complete construction of the first estate, it jumps to lay another three separate foundations. It will never focus on one to ensure its completion. Or is an uncompleted building habitable, in a saner society?  Lack of purpose, to say the least!

    Ogun state is not excluded. Creating more institutions where there are many underdeveloped ones is a symptom of a government that is lost in transit. No matter the amount of “love” the governor is said to have for education, this decision is a bad one. It is bad because it is inappropriate.

    Only in Ogun State, we have over 7 public higher institutions that are by far underdeveloped. There has been NO serious steps taken by our “education loving” governor to improve the sad state of our institutions. And so, we see many of our lecturers embarking on industrial actions every now and then; no fund anywhere.

    On a more serious note, the only time I see the governor parading on our various campuses in Ogun State is when he goes about inaugurating projects he has not embarked upon – he will tell us the “mission to rebuild continues”. Those new buildings and projects you see on Ogun State- owned higher institutions are embarked upon by generous private individuals and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).

    The popular Olabisi Onabanjo University, which is the best among all the institutions in the state, is still very far below what is expected of a university. We are still underdeveloped. Same thing with   Tai Solarin University of Education. What about Tai Solarin College of Education? That one is quite below standard. Mapoly has not even attained the height of a standard polytechnic, not to talk of a university.

    We should not even attempt to mention other “semi-polytechnics” in the state; Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic, DS Adegbenro Polythecnic, Gateway Polythecnic, Gateway Institute of Petro-gas Institute and all of that are more of advanced secondary schools.  You see, excluding Mapoly, other ‘polytechnics’ in the state ought to be scrapped. They are as good as village secondary schools. As of today, Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic main campus is just there for nothing. No classrooms and all of that. They still manage secondary school classes in Ijebu-Igbo.

    Now, it is evident that the governor has picked a very wrong card by not improving existing institutions before establishing new ones. We have failed to acknowledge the fact that it is not just about establishing universities or colleges. What remains sacrosanct is to consider whether we are ready to fund them or not. Institutions not funded are as good as non-existent.

    Establishing a new university and polytechnic whereas there are many underdeveloped ones around, is just another fine means of filling the basket with water. Here in Nigeria, we usually mistake watering baskets for good governance. Take for instance, since the conversion of OOU to a multi-campus institution many years ago, the College of Agricultural Sciences, Ayetoro, just relocated to its Permanent Site December 2016. Prior to now, the college has been sharing classrooms with Ayetoro Comprehensive High School students. I can even predict that the new polytechnic established in Ipokia Local Government will share classrooms with secondary school students before they build their own campus – which will not be built by this administration.

    Let’s take another critical look at the legislators that passed the bill. Just like the way quarrel is not new to our legislative arm of government, accepting executive proposals and bills hook, line and sinker is also no stranger. Look, when legislators throw chairs and get their big heads “maced”, they tend to create an impression in the unsuspecting citizens and constituents that they are ‘fighting’ for their rights and entitlements. But, it is far from the truth. They usually fight because of their very greedy and selfish interests.

    Members of Ogun State House of Assembly that participated in passing the bills aforementioned are anything but serious. The bill for the establishment of the university and polytechnic were passed without any form of debate or related actions. Who does that? In serious Houses, the issues raised in this piece are related issues that ought to be debated.

    For our democracy to grow, we cannot continue to take the business of law making as child’s play. It is a serious business. Bills ought to be debated in the House, no matter the good intention behind them.

  • Free trade zones not free-for-all 

    The Nation newspaper of February 7th, 2017, featured an interesting piece on the despicable degeneracy plaguing the regulation of Free Trade Zones (FTZs) in Nigeria. At the heart of the brouhaha is the all-important question of which agency has authority to superintend over the specialised free zones, namely, the Oil and Gas Free Zones, as against the general purpose free zones.

    A Free Trade Zone is a specially delineated territory within a country where economic activities carried out therein are not covered by the fiscal and monetary policies that prevail in the host country, referred to in trade parlance as the Customs Territory. Such exemptions generally cover taxes, import duties and foreign exchange regulations, among others.  Irrespective of the nomenclature in use—nomenclature varies from one jurisdiction to another— free zones have become incubators of economic growth and development and with their attractive package of incentives, they constitute a veritable means of attracting foreign direct investment and enhancing national competitiveness. In a nutshell, the overarching objectives of a FTZ are enhanced foreign exchange earnings, cultivation of export orientation and employment generation.

    It is obvious from the extant laws that a centralised regulatory regime exists in Nigeria under Nigeria Exports Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), with a 1992 establishment law. The government, however, deemed it fit to establish another free zone authority in 1996 to regulate the only specialised oil and gas free zone in Nigeria then, Onne/Okpokiri Oil and Gas Free Zone. Hence the name of the authority, by force of law was, and remains,” Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority” (OGEFZA), without any need to pluralise the word, zone.

    The immediate source of the raging battle to control the second generation oil and gas free zones is traceable to an alleged Executive Order of 2014 and the impending amendment to the law establishing the Oil and Gas Export Free Zone Authority. The first question that comes to mind is whether the principal law contains a provision, omnibus or otherwise, to accommodate recourse to executive orders. The second question relates to the economic benefits of the proposed amendment as against territorial supremacy between regulatory agencies. And yet the third issue concerns the need for a transitional arrangement, in the event that territories would be ceded either by force of law or expediency of an executive order.

    First, it is obvious that the NEPZA law is an encompassing law whose mandate covers licensing and regulation of integrated free zones as specified in schedule 3 of the law. Interestingly, from the newspaper article referred to in the opening paragraph of this piece, two of the free zones vociferously opposed to being subsumed under the authority of OGEFZA, are integrated free zones, namely, Snake Island Integrated Free Zone (SIIFZ) and Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) Free Zone.

    On the other hand, it appears that the OGEFZA law was intended to licence and regulate operations in a solitary free zone, the Onne/Okpokiri Oil and Gas Free Zone. It is, presumably, for this reason that the law provides for a representative of the host state government, Rivers, to serve on the Board of the Authority. On the other hand, the NEPZA law does not provide for a Board representation for the Cross River State government for playing host to the premier free zone in Nigeria, Calabar Free Zone.  Another proof that OGEFZA is intended to cover a specific zone in a specified geographical location can be gleaned from the required wordings of the trade documents in case of imports and exports. Section 17 of the December 2003 subsidiary legislation requires the relevant Bill of Lading to be marked, “Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.” If the specificity of the OGEFZA law is water-tight, one may wonder at the effrontery of its management in making a foray into NEPZA’s mandate, a situation akin to seeking to milk the cow fattened by another. It is, however, regrettable that the law in question seems to suffer from a lack of internal consistency.  This is because section 5(2) mandates the authority to take over the functions of NEPZA as they relate to export of oil and gas. Even at that, the power conferred on OGEFZA under the said section is explicit on exports, with a loud silence on imports. The law is indeed an ass!

    Here lies the remote source of the audacity of OGEFZA, beyond the two reasons alluded to earlier. But which of the regulatory options confers optimum economic benefit to Nigeria? Broadly speaking, we are faced with three models, namely, Unified Regulation which brings all free zones under one authority irrespective of specialisation; Decentralised Regulation along specialisations irrespective of location; Decentralised Regulation defined by geographical contiguity.  Without putting a finger on numbers, the objective criteria for optimum economic benefit should include ease of doing business in order to cultivate and retain investors’ confidence; minimum administrative cost; balance between geographic contiguity and streamlining free zone services; strategic complementarity, among others.

    Thus, the National Assembly must be wary of unwittingly entrenching, in the course of amending the law, the alleged monopolistic hold of a certain maritime service provider, as insinuated in the article under reference. On the contrary, the legislature will do well to leverage on the amendment process to open such services to competition.

    In the meantime, the supervising ministry of the warring agencies, the Ministry of Industries Trade and Investment (MITI), must hasten to arrest the ugly altercation, poignantly dubbed a “free-for-all”, arising from the precipitate action of the OGEFZA as this portends grave damage to the confidence of investors. Even if the government is inclined to give force to the rather ambiguous provision of section 5(2) of the relevant law, it should tarry awhile, in deference to the impending amendments.

    In any case, any change in policy that is not preceded by transitional arrangements can only be implemented in fits and starts, depicting the dysfunctional state of our institutions.  And this is what holds sway at the moment, a situation whose remedy lies on the rigour, diligence and patriotism the legislature brings to bear on the process of amending the laws in question.

     

    • Shettima is a retired Deputy Director of CBN

  • Anambra: A case for progressive politics

    It is sometimes said that Anambra politics is a peculiar brand that hardly exists elsewhere. Its unusualness derives from two distinct characteristics. One, it is capital intensive. Two, it is fractious, and can be potty when inclined. But in all its irregular beats, it does not fail to requisition help from within its fold which, in the Anambra spirit, is rendered unstintingly.

    Not thinking differently perhaps, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the intrepid economist and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, urged against the tendencies, advocating rather new elite cohesion and consensus in what he called statesmanship politics. He enjoined the motley aspirants to the November governorship election not to waste their resources, but to deploy them to the burgeoning start-up companies and help create value-adding jobs in the state. “Can we then implore most of the contestants to rather deploy the billions of Naira they would soon waste on the campaign trail into building medium scale industries in the state?”

    Before this exhortation evaporates into a puff of illusive smoke or becomes a blathering topic of a politician on the stump or an agendum for others in endless nocturnal meetings, it is important to flesh out some details. One, politics in Anambra is no small business. The volume of cash deployed in the venture (greater percentage of which is invested outside of the state) if ploughed into the economy would redefine the Anambra narrative. Perhaps investment profile of the state as well as her exploits in areas of security, agriculture, education, infrastructure, public utilities, health, and youth empowerment, among others, would have recorded huge success. By now the Obiano government should have advanced to finer aspects of governance and not be grappling with opening the state up to investors. Two, I- can- do- it- spirit of the Igbo man has greater expression in Anambra than any of the five core Igbo states. Virtually every well-heeled man or woman in Anambra is deluded with the idea of gubernatorial grandeur. Unfortunately, nothing, including stark defeat, deters the resolve to heat the political space. Consequently, the state is left to bear the brunt.

    It is against this background that the call for statesmanship politics becomes apt. It serves the state and ndi Anambra better to appraise the Obiano administration and give support where necessary so that it will complete the task before it.  This, perhaps, is the better way to get the state to achieve greatness. As it is, everybody in the state, including known opposition, cannot disclaim the many achievements of the government. How it severed, in less than three months, the dead hand of insecurity and brought economic prosperity. How, in three years, the volume of investments in the state tripled to $5.2 billion. How the wheel of governance has continued to run smoothly amidst so many elsewhere that have grounded to a halt. How road network in the state is about the best, if not the best, in the country. How these roads are duly interspersed with bridges. How, outside the three flyovers in Awka, the agrarian and oil communities hitherto separated by water and deep gully erosions have been connected by well-constructed bridges. How impossible it is to recount in detail some institutional changes made by the government since inception, which carefully insulated the state from recession and pushed her up the ladder of development.

    Perhaps it is to sustain the changes which have bolstered growth that Professor Soludo, a no less equal competitor for the governorship position, decided against any ambition just to support good governance. He knows that any change in leadership will easily upend all what have been achieved. He is not deluded that the aspirants would offer anything new. He knows that the economic miracle some of them have been promising can be achieved by investing in the economy and not until they assume the office of the governor.

    It is no longer news that there has been a burst of activities (economic cum social) in the last three years of Obiano, which positively altered the value of life and property in the state. At any rate, the population of the state has increased in the last three years just as the value of landed property has made some appreciation. These things can only get better through sustained effort and not by any miracle or by changing a successful general in the course of war. After all, it is said that “continuous effort and not strength or intelligence unlocks potential.”

    So far as the effort is concerned the state has gained a lot of mileage. Today Anambra is celebrated and coveted with equal passion. It is therefore unwise to contemplate change amidst the ongoing transformation in the state. No reasonable person will be willing to see such great effort made naught by unbridled ambition.

    It is not often said, but it takes more than a term of four years for proper development to be entrenched. More than that, it requires conscious succession of leadership for such to happen. Lagos State is a good example. The story of Lagos is told better since the active succession to power in the state by one and the same party (AC/ACN/APC). Before Tinubu, Fashola and Ambode, the story of Lagos was told differently. Before 1999 the state revelled in false splendour.  Its journey to a megacity neither started before 1999 nor outside the influence of their home-grown party.

    The development journey of Anambra might not have followed the same pattern. Regardless, what is known of the state and her development, apart from the PDP effort of 2003- 2006, was essentially the making of the APGA government. It will therefore amount to political indiscretion to change the engine of development now that it has progressed from a chugging effort to an accelerated speed.  The cost would not just be enormous but can be choking to Anambra.

     

    • Ejike Anyaduba wrote in from Abatete
  • Who is a Mother?

    Who is a Mother?

    A lot of people believe that a mother is any woman who gives birth to a Child. However, it is important to note that Mothers come in different form.

    They can be Mother by birth, Stepmother and a mother by adoption.

    Having said that, a real Mother is someone who shelter, guide and care for a child. She’s a patient and virtuous woman who is always ready to do everything for her children.

    She is supportive and always ready to accept her Children’s flaws and weaknesses and knows how to correct them.

    Every lady as the tendency to become a mother, yet only a Mother knows the biological Father of her Children.

    Furthermore, it is important to note that the actions of a Mother influence her children in diverse ways. When the society expects her to influence her children morally, academically, spiritually and in every area of life, she has to be careful not to influence them wrongly.

    Some Mothers train their children with tight fists.

    A Mother should be her Child’s first love and best friend, anything a Child learns from his Mother cannot be separated from him.A mother should instil in her child the accepted norms and values of the society and ensure that the socialisation process at the family level is effective and qualitative.

    As a mother, ask yourself these questions
    1.When last did I pray for my children?
    2  When last did I correct them?
    3. When last did I sit them down and let them understand how life works?
    4. How did I interact with my children? Am I harsh or too jovial?
    5. In what way do I show them love?
    6. How often do I pay attention to them?

    A Mother’s Impact on a child’s life cannot be overemphasised, as she plays the lead role in constructing the child’s future. Train up your child in the way he should go and when he grows older he will never depart from it.

    God bless all the virtuous women who have not been found wanting in their duties. Who have done all they can to see their children succeed, who have hawk under the hot sun to buy their children a pair of shoe, who have received insult from their husbands and families just because of their children, who have cut their sleeping time short just to ensure their children sleeps well, who never get tired of loving their children, who has made praying for their children a lifestyle. Only God can reward you!