Category: Opinion

Once again, the political landscape in Nigeria is turbo changed. Politicians and their supporters are at it again. Claims and counter claims flying everywhere; some of them half-truth, others clear falsehood. But in most of the cases, outright deceit of the highest order is dressed in garb of roses giving the unwary the impression that his/her interest is being factored into the political baggage waiting to be emptied on their laps when the seat of power is mounted.

Interestingly, this kind of politics may be called “Nigerian brand”.  It is perhaps only in this clime that a nonentity, one without a clear idea of what the seat he/she is struggling to occupy entails, in terms of responsibility and responsiveness, wants power at all cost. What matters to most of them is “the end justifies the means,” without minding the method and methodology of getting to that expected end provided they laugh at last while others unjustifiably cry. Ironically, this is a country where people who have occupied political positions in the past; who wants to continue in that position or move up, are not pinned down to give account of their previous stewardship before taking another step. Rather, they are allowed, or in most cases, they are imposed on the people they claimed to be leading by hook or crook.

Another ugly face of politics in Nigeria is the godfather syndrome. It has, indeed, messed up the entire political landscape that it is now common to see someone without any pedigree being foisted on hapless people without any care about their feelings and cries. In this regard, the basic tenet of democracy, which means that majority of the people, should be allowed to choose their representatives are lost. One-man-show becomes “our choice”. But in this deceitful venture, the godfather and godson soon pathways because a house built on sand, never stands the blow of a strong wind.

This article has a seeming sense of lamentation because the writer’s heart, aches whenever he reflect on what is going on in this country in the name of democratic practice. A former Minister of Sports, Hon Damishi Sango, a stalwart of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state, called it: “half democracy”, in a recent interview in the Sun newspaper. The questions that readily come to mind are: How long shall we continue with this macabre dance that leads to nowhere? Shall we continue with the deceit …till when?

Shall we continue with the “half democracy”… till when? Every right thinking Nigerian of voting age and voting power should think of this. But God has a way of changing situations. The wind of change and shout for change blowing across Nigeria seems to have some divine connection or approval if you like. You can deceive the people some of the time, but you can’t deceive them all the time, goes the popular saying.

This brings me to the issue of Enugu state governorship seat. And the question again is: Who does the cap fit? His Excellency, Barrister Sullivan Chime has done well in the area of infrastructural development, especially on roads in Enugu urban centres, but is this enough reason to accept his ‘godson,’ whose capacity to govern Enugu state in this day and age is questionable?

This is the time to look at the contestants critically before we vote during the coming elections. We need somebody who will lead us to the realization of the economic potential of Enugu state come May 29,, 2015. To my mind, that person is Barrister Okechukwu Cleophas Ezea, known more in political circles as “Ideke”.  In this time and life of our people, it is no longer a case of who is shouting louder or who is being foisted on the people in the name of continuity but who can perform?

Luckily, Ideke hails from Nsukka zone where our people expect the next governor to come from in an effort to balance the political equation in the state. He is focused, patient, determined and a high business player. More importantly, he has the passion to lead his people at any point in time. Indeed, he represents the change our people have been clamming for.  The time to recognise his consistency and struggle for the governorship seat of Enugu State under the flagship of All Progressive Congress (APC) is now. Our people can’t afford to go left when others are moving right. The wind of change and cry for change should berth in Enugu as it is going to berth in many other states.

In terms of academic qualification, this is a man who made distinction (aggregate 6) in his WAEC when examination was a true test of knowledge. He went ahead to study political science at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and came out with second-class upper division in 1986. With hunger for further education, he went ahead to read Law at the University of Lagos and graduated with LLB in 1991, and was called to the Nigeria bar in 1992. He did not stop there as he also obtained his Master’s degree in law in 1997.

On the business angle, which matters a lot on the issue of leadership, it is clear that he is ready to champion the economic growth of the state. He is the Managing Director/CEO of Ideke Shipping limited and Darmik Ventures Ltd established in 1993, with staff strength of 250 workers, most of who are from Enugu State.

After an exciting career in the oil industry as a freight and logistic services provider, spanning over two decades, Okey Ezea decided to venture into the murky waters of politics in 2007. Since then, he has been trying hard to explain to Enugu state people, his convictions and plans to make a difference if he is voted into power. But he could not succeed till now for no reason but rigging. His people love him because he gave jobs to many indigenes of the state even as a private businessman.  He has faced a lot of intimidation from the ruling party but he has refused to be  cowed. This is the reason why he has offered himself again, a quality that marks him out as a leader.

A family man of impeccable character, Barrister Ezea, in one of his recent addresses to Enugu people said: “The 2015 general elections is almost at hand and this gives us the opportunity to assess our journey in civilian democratic governance since 1999; to determine our successes and failures. For so many years, we have been under civilian authoritarianism in Enugu state and because our people have failed to ask questions from those who are leading them, it is getting worse by the day. All the institutions of democratic governance have been so weakened and personalised, that we no longer have a choice as to who should represent us. We can’t continue to accept this obnoxious state of affairs.” I think this is the time for our people to listen to him and give him a chance.

 

• Architect Eze is a public commentator based in Enugu.

Dear Nigerians,

Today is D-Day. It is a moment of joy that Nigeria has again been given an opportunity to stand on its feet. In this, I see clear evidence of God’s love for us. But we must now do our part. Let money not blind us to the task that is ours to do for the wealth that can be ours is far greater than any that our friends might offer us to induce our support for their candidate.

Over the last few days I have had the opportunity to meet with the foreign minister of the Netherlands and later to speak to members of his staff. They sought my opinion on the rape of girls and women by Boko Haram. Is rape being used as a weapon of war as is the situation in Congo?, they wondered. What can be done to address this problem?, they asked. Perhaps it was wrong of me but I had already moved ahead of the particular challenges of abductions, poor education and healthcare, corruption, and other symptoms of failure in our society. I was already in the future where our country was being governed by a leader I could trust. A leader who spoke with a simple sincerity and integrity and had the will to match his words with actions. I looked at them and told them that Nigeria will soon be able to address its challenges because our actions in the coming days would place us under a leadership capable of tackling our problems from their roots, once and for all.

I trust in you, the people of Nigeria, because my father trusted you. I trust that in spite of all the money that has been given to some of our leaders over the last few weeks, in spite of all the lies some have been peddling, that you understand what is at stake for Nigeria. It is no less than the fate of 170 million people. Only sincere and effective leadership can secure our country and secure for us a tomorrow worthy of the sacrifices of our heroes, worthy of our ambitions for our children. I know that things are rough. I know that the incomes in most households cannot meet the burden of your needs and that some of you are sorely tempted to just take care of yourself and your nuclear family. But even if you individually are connected and can access the spoils being divided through the bankrupt system that has been used by Nigeria’s government, can that be said for all those you care about? Can that be said for the majority of Nigerians? By now we should understand that we will do best individually when we look out for everyone collectively.

In reaction to this letter, some will tell you that I am only being partisan but let me ask you if, since 1999, I have ever publicly endorsed a candidate? The truth is that my parents sacrificed everything, including their lives that Nigeria may work. It is not working and cannot so long as some hold the whole country to ransom. What our president must do is to transform a system, not simply replace the few benefiting from it with a different group of chosen few. A true transformation may mean that the few will not be as rich but the majority will no longer be poor. So let us take a stand so that Nigeria is no longer for sale. No one can buy what we will not sell at the market. When we refuse to sell our country to the highest bidder, we will also be protecting our legitimate aspirations to live in dignity, security and prosperity.

Today the world celebrates Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore for moving a small island country in Asia from third world to first. But imagine if the people of Singapore had never given him a chance to lead them. Would the world even know that the country existed today, talk less of recognising it as one of the world’s success stories? That is the task before you on Saturday. Everything depends on you.

One last message for President Jonathan. Thank you for your efforts to lead Nigeria. Should the results of the elections not favour you, please be aware that a smooth handover would still secure you a place among the giants of Nigeria. The curses that surround those that stood in the way of the peoples’ mandate on June 12 will never be yours should you lose and yet demonstrate the exemplary leadership that others failed to show then. Do not doubt that your name can yet be written in gold.

So in closing, to avoid any confusion, let me say clearly: in the 2015 presidential elections, I endorse General Muhammadu Buhari fully and without reservation. In 1993 my father promised Nigerians that if given the presidential mandate, our people would say farewell to poverty. We know that because the elections were annulled, he could not fulfil that promise. Sadly, that promise remains unfulfilled till today. It is my honest conviction based on a disinterested assessment that General Buhari is our best chance of seeing that promise fulfilled.

Thank you all for reading this.

 

•Abiola-Costello, daughter of Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the 1993 Nigerian presidential election, writes from Abeokuta.

Hafsat Abiola-Costello

His frame conveys his person.  Standing at over six feet tall and  carrying a physical presence you cannot but notice, his appearance can be intimidating.  His other credentials are no less so.

Indeed in the course of his first encounter with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the last quarter of 1998, the former military leader had mistaken him for fistful bouncer, as against the newshound he is!

Obasanjo, then presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, fresh from a long sojourn in prison, was in need of a thoroughbred journalist who would manage his media affairs on his campaign train.  When the reporter was introduced to him, Obasanjo, himself a burly personality, was shocked to find a giant.  He sized him up, punched his chest as though to confirm his suitabilit for the potentially tough task ahead and promptly advised he wore a tag, so that people would know he was truly a journalist.

Welcome to the world of Emmanuel Babatunde Olusunle, a man of several components.  He is the quintessential teacher, the versatile reporter, the prolific writer and the consummate poet. Yes, he is an engaging scholar, a peculiar politician, a seasoned public communications guru and a sports aficionado.  Put simply, Olusunle is a professional surprise.

How does one celebrate a character so diversified, yet so reticent and non-controversial?  Yes, “Brother Olusunle” as some of us call him, has been around for a while.  He was born in the month of March (specifically on the 30th day of the month) and so belongs to the zodiac sign “Aries” which I fortuitously share with him.  Come March, 30, 2015 therefore, he will clock the golden age of 50.

Olusunle belongs in the finest collection of Nigerian journalistic talent. Mentored formally and inspirationally by several top professionals in the business, notably Dr Yemi Ogunbiyi, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Prof. Niyi Osundare, Prof. Olu Obafemi, Prof. Femi Osofisan, Prof. Olatunji Dare, Dr. Chidi Amuta, Mr. Ray Ekpu, Mr. Dan Agbese among others, he stands tall among his peers in the generous contribution of his Okun ethnic group to the Nigerian media.  Exceptional journalists, like fine wine are not in short supply in Okunland. Olusunle will thus rank amongst the Tunde Ipinmishos, the Segun Ayobolus, the Gbemiga Ogunleyes, the Eniola Bellos, the Simon Kolawoles, the Ishaq Ajibolas, the Sanya Onis, the Ronke Bellos, the Lara Owoeye-Wyses, the Vincent Akanmodes, the Kola Ologbondiyans, the Gani Obaros etc, just to mention a few of his kinsmen who have distinguished themselves in the pen profession.  He has risen to the pinnacle of his career both in the newsroom and in the public service, without losing touch with the people he encountered on his way to the top.

A typical example is Huseini Zekeri.  Zekeri was a junior staff in the Press Unit of Government House in 1995, when Olusunle returned for his second stint in the service of the Kogi State government as Director of Press Affairs/Chief Press Secretary to the Military Administrator, from the Editorial Board of the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc.  He first served as Director of Information and Public Affairs to the pioneer civilian government of Prince Abubakar Audu, between March 1992 and September 1993.  He subsequently served in the administrations of Col. Paul Omeruo and Col. Bzigu Lassa Afakirya respectively.

Much as Olusunle served as Chief Press Secretary for less than three years, Zekeri and his colleagues in the Press Unit still have evergreen, nostalgic memories of their erstwhile boss, while they have also remained permanent decimal on his mind.

Nearly a decade after Olusunle completed his tour of duty in the unit, this writer was opportune to step into his shoes as Chief Press Secretary in the administration of former Governor Ibrahim Idris.  It was a most pleasant surprise which served as a major challenge to me, that all the staff in that Office who worked with Olusunle and members of the Government House Press Crew, still speak in glowing terms about him. Zekeri, Aminu Salami, Mrs. Billy Akubo, Peter Abuh and many more, still celebrate Olusunle as a most kind-hearted and extremely hardworking boss they worked with, 20 years after they first met Olusunle.

Zekeri is particularly “notorious” for regularly obtaining permission from the Unit, either to keep appointments with Olusunle on his regular visits to Kogi State, or to assist him deliver messages for “my Oga Olusunle,” as he fondly calls him.

Sustaining friendships and maintaining relationships evidently are among attributes of the very amiable Olusunle, which have facilitated his career ascension over the years.  When Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, CON, was appointed Director of Publicity of the Obasanjo Presidential Campaign Organisation in 1998, the very first person he co-opted into the assignment was Olusunle.

The paths of both men had first crossed in 1990 when Olusunle joined the Daily Times of Nigeria Plc at a time Ugochukwu was Acting General Manager, Times Publications Division, but substantive Editor of Daily Times.  Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi was the Managing Director and it would seem Ogunbiyi and Ugochukwu shared a similar passion for quality, hardwork and versatility.

By some coincidence, Olusunle, like Segun Ayobolu, Yomi Ola, Emeka Odo, Gbenga Ayeni, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi,  Hakeem Bello, Dapo Adeniyi, Tunde Kaitell, and late Femi Olatunde and Imokhuede Ogunleye respectively, were favourites of the Managing Director and Editor of the Daily Times at the time.

Once, he got on the Obasanjo project, Ugochukwu reached out to Olusunle who by the way, he left behind in Daily Times when he (Ugochukwu) retired from the organisation in 1994 after logging 20 years and ascending the position of Executive

Director, Publications.  Even while on his assignments in and out of Kogi State, Olusunle made it a point of duty to keep in touch with the newsroom of the good old Daily Times and indeed his senior colleagues.

Much as his rise to the top has been meteoric, Olusunle’s upward movement has been, nonetheless steady.  He was born March 30, 1965 in Kaduna in the old Northern Region few years before the outbreak of the fractious Nigeria Civil War.  Very evidently, he had a rapid growth both in the physical and cognitive domains.  He betrayed signs of erudition early in life, attempting the General Certificate of Education, GCE O’ Level as an external candidate at age 14, while still a form four student at the iconic Immaculate Conception College, Benin City, earning five credit passes at one sitting in that casual attempt.  Of course, he went on to secure a Division One result with four distinctions in the main West African School Certificate Examination at age 15, in 1980.

He was done with his Cambridge-Moderated Higher School Certificate Examination, HSC in 1982 and had grabbed a Bachelor of Arts degree honours in English from the University of Ilorin at 20 in 1985.  At 24 in 1989, he added a Masters degree in the same discipline from his alma mater, shuttling between Ponyan at the heart of Yagba East LGA in Kogi State where he was a teacher, and Ilorin for the programme. He had by the way, taught Use of English at the erstwhile College of Technology, Owerri, Imo State for his National Youth Service Corps.

Just before his 27th birthday in 1992, he was appointed Director of Information and Public Affairs of the newly created Kogi State.  His creative mentor, the internationally  acclaimed multiple-award winner, Professor Emeritus Niyi Osundare, had observed in a congratulatory message following that appointment that: “You have the intelligence urbanity and energy which the job requires … You are one of Nigeria’s surest investments in the future”.  Prof. Olu Obafemi who taught Olusunle in his college and post-graduate days described him as “an indomitable quester after great heights and excellence”.

Following Obasanjo’s inauguration as President in May 29, 1999, Olusunle was appointed Special Assistant to the President on National Orientation and Public Affairs.  He found himself serving under his long standing senior colleague, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, who was Presidential Adviser on the same brief.

As a poet, Olusunle has published two very well received volumes of poetry, Fingermarks (1995) and Rhythm of the Mortar (2001).  A third collection with the draft title Assorted is in the works.

It is a tribute to his painstaking documentation of aspects of the Obasanjo Presidency that an aggregation of his essays and newspaper publications on that era, On the Trail of History: A Reporter’s Notebook on Olusegun Obasanjo, was published in 2006.

Indeed, not many people remember that Olusunle is a very gifted theatre artist. When he was not attending classes as a student of English in the University or participating in activities of the Creative Writers Group, he was busy in the theatre arts department rehearsing scripts. In school, he shared the stage with respected theatre names like Tunji Bamishigbin and Prof. Sunnie Enessi Ododo. His first television credit, Return of the Native, on NTA Ilorin in 1982, saw him perform with Nollywood’s Alex Osifo-Omiagbo. He recently starred in Bamishigbin’s soap, Valley Between.

But Olusunle’s foray into the murky waters of Nigerian politics has been enervating.  Twice he has aspired to represent Kogi West in the Senate and twice he has not been successful. Many believe he has on both occasions, been a victim of the dubious manipulations and chicanery that politicking entails in Nigeria.

He is a member of several professional associations notably: Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA; Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR; Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ and the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE.

Despite the distractions of public life and politics, he is a doctorate student of Media Arts at the University of Abuja and has contributed to several books and journals.

A devoted family man, he has been happily married to his heartthrob schoolmate, former Funmilayo Adedeji since 1994 and the union is blessed with wonderful children.

 

•Richard Olaniran Elesho, formerly of The News magazine, is Director-General, Press Affairs to the Executive Governor of Kogi State.

The opponents of Buhari’s bid for the presidency have found considerable propaganda material in some of the general’s stern and, indeed, undemocratic, albeit reformist and patriotic policies as a military ruler. Exploiting this propaganda with maximum bias, the PDP crowd, led by men who have little regard for balance or context (not to talk of fairness) have dismissed the APC candidate as incapable or unworthy of leading a stable, democratic government.

These detractors naturally ignore the fact that thirty years ago, when Buhari was called upon to lead a military junta, there was a national crisis characterised by suffocating corruption. Hence his impatience with democratic procedures, given the military tradition under which he was operating. He was also a young man overwhelmed by passion and patriotic zeal to rid his country of its class of unscrupulous wheeler-dealers whose debauchery and predation have now practically spiritually and socio-economically bankrupted the country.

Naturally, the last kind of person wanted as ruler by these lords of the Nigerian captive patrimony and their henchmen hunters of political carrion, is the strait-laced Buhari. Under a system capable of throwing up the very best, one may cavil at his candidature. The reality, however, is that today, our best are often blocked out by cabals of impunity-hardened scoundrels who have hijacked the state in the name of party politics. Buhari has therefore become the popular answer to this unconscionable, ravaging plague of a class. His commitment/patriotism, his aversion to corruption, and his untainted antecedents in the murky, yet enticing Nigerian political waters, make him eminently qualified.

But there is no need avoiding confronting the issues that Buhari’s detractors have seized upon to argue his rejection. Concerning his lack of democratic credentials, it must not be forgotten that the military junta led by Buhari made no pretensions to democratic niceties, or even to the travesties of democratic institutions which are common in these parts. It however saw itself as reformatory. Thus it tried paying off the accumulated debts of the dissolute Shagari regime, and sturdily stood against enslaving the country to IMF and other institutions, as Babangida later did. Similarly, the socio-economic climate was made inhospitable to the forerunners or equivalents of subsidy-thief cronies or billion-naira pension scammers like the fugitive Maina (rumoured to be a friend of Jonathan), not to talk of those who have sold the country’s fixed assets to themselves in the name of privatisation.

Unfortunately, the regime also committed some serious human rights violations, including the execution of some merchants-of-death peddlers of hard drugs for easy money, while wrecking other people’s lives. But there were no extra-judicial or mysterious murders unlike in the regimes of subsequent rulers, when even distinguished public figures were slaughtered in their own homes during the civilian rule of so-called democratic governments under whose watch these dastardly crimes have been permanently buried!

If Buhari’s human rights abuses as a military ruler could be excused by the nature of non-democratic governments and the passion of a relatively young man to check the excesses of those reducing his country to a state of normlessness, no such extenuations can be found for Jonathan’s attitude to the rule of law, his reactionary views to the prerogatives of his office, and the personal, neo-fascist uses to which he is liable to put state institutions in his reckless pursuit of power or quest for political advantage over the opposition.

Indeed, it is a tragedy for a man of Jonathan’s “education” to feel that his power and authority as president entitles him to indulge in the kind of abuses and perversions of democratic institutions perpetrated by his predecessors, especially since this has been largely responsible for the instability and failure of socio-economic development in the country. It is now well known that Jonathan’s innocent disposition masks an instinctive intolerance for the cardinal principles of democratic governance, such as transparent elections, independence of the judicial and legislative arms of government from the executive, and the primacy of the rule of law.

Thus he has, under a complicit stooge like David Mark, divorced the Senate from national, as against PDP party interests, while estranging the vibrant and largely independent House of Representatives. As another instance of promoting personal and partisan interests over national or institutional considerations, Jonathan routinely abuses his executive powers to get the police and the army to back state governors that have practically usurped the rights of their state legislatures. The first example of this was in Ogun, although the most abominable instance, which also involved a desecration of the office and person of the state chief justice, is the on-going stasis in Ekiti State.  It is instructive that the police is now regarded as having merged with the PDP, the president’s party. And recently, the Sahara Reporters published tapes of the abuse of the military to rig the 2014 elections in Ekiti. Also, in the run-up to the election postponement, a right-wing clique within the military leadership appeared to have been insinuated into decision-making. One only hopes this is not aimed at making the military a bulwark for  what seems the  PDP ideal of a one-party neo-fascist state.

The problem about Jonathan having another term in office is, therefore, not to so much about what he did or failed to do during his first term. The problem about his continuing as president of Nigeria is far more fundamental, bordering on the kind of person Jonathan is, and the formidable demands that leadership in a postcolonial state call for, even in the best material possible. Unfortunately, circumstances have not dealt too kindly with African countries and their choice of people to direct their affairs following the catastrophe of colonialism. Because our indigenous religions, political and other cultural institutions are practically in ruins, we are bereft of the ideological and spiritual wherewithal to chart  a course through our complex problems. The disparate nationalities that constitute the Nigerian state also lack the common purpose for coming to agreement on the choice of the leadership to inspire us to achieve stability and development.

A critical situation such as ours therefore requires a leadership with two basic endowments – character and intellect,  both of them  imbued with special attributes including passion, ability to inspire, and a commitment  to equity and justice, and to the promotion of the general good above personal or partisan considerations at all times. When we look at Jonathan with dispassion shorn of self-serving preferences and considerations, we find that though he has his attributes, they are not the stuff that are conducive to effective leadership.

For example, in those things that do not concern his personal interests, he lacks passion and commitment. Thus, unlike Buhari, he feels little concern about, or aversion to, evil, which has become so pervasive in the country today. Naturally this raises serious questions about his sense of values. However, in those matters that concern his personal or political interests, he will steamroll every obstacle, while defying all constitutional or moral niceties in the process. Most of the time he resorts to guile and dissembling, clad in his natural mask of bland innocence or insouciance, even when he has just exceeded his constitutional powers, or suborned state agencies to break the law.

In spite of his seeming simplicity, Jonathan is a man of over-weening ambition. He craves power and its perquisites. He also cherishes his friends and cronies, to whom he has been very generous, many say at the expense of state institutional integrity, transparency, and the fight against corruption. But the most hazardous thing about a man like Jonathan remaining at the helm of affairs is his open subservience of national considerations, like peace and stability or the public good, to his political ambition and personal aspirations. This has become all too obvious in the desperation with which he has abandoned propriety, scruples, and even decency, in the pursuit of the most despicable means to retain power.

A few examples are appropriate: Jonathan has in recent times resorted to bribing and cajoling hordes of unemployed youths in order to secure their votes.  It is remarkable that it is only when he craves the votes of these young people that he is aware of the grave youth unemployment problem. He has also largely been making some strange new friends from the most unlikely quarters. About a week ago, MASSOB, and then OPC, two ethnic militias staged violent, disruptive demonstrations in southeastern major cities, and in Lagos respectively.

The demonstrators, some of whom were armed, were led and protected by the police as they asked for Jega, chairman of INEC, to be sacked. Is it a coincidence that Gani Adams, the OPC leader, according to undenied news, has recently won a ¦ 9 billion “pipeline protection” contract, along with other political friends of the president? At another level, Jonathan unabashedly promotes communal feuds, like the one between the Itsekiri and his Ijaw group, and even within clans of his own Ijaw nationality. But perhaps the most diabolical of the president’s schemes is the exploitation of his Christian faith to win supporters, regardless of the potentials of such gambits for chaos. What does one make, then, of his bland declaration that his bid for reelection is not worth a pint of any Nigerian’s blood? Surely, a typical Jonathanian sanctimonious posturing and repudiation of responsibility, partly for his own unwitting culpable actions, and also for the campaign of hate conducted on his behalf.

Still, Jonathan may be no worse than the average contemporary politician. But the times demand a leader that can disperse the pall of darkness that hangs like shroud of death over Nigeria’s prospects.  And Jonathan is not man to do this. Space has not permitted a discussion of his prodigal dissipation of the country’s resources, thereby prolonging the socio-economic adversities that have heralded a dissolution of values and mores, while creating social ills like kidnapping, baby factories and sale of human parts. In the final analysis, Jonathan is a victim of the impunity of power, especially as exercised by Obasanjo, his former godfather, and others before him. It is now up to Jonathan, like former African rulers in his position in Benin, Senegal, and Kenya, to allow the electorate a free choice  of whom they want as their leader.

• Akinola writes from Bodija, Ibadan

In the 21st century, there are indications that the humanities and the sciences are still vying for space and recognition in public consciousness. The Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) is now closely associated with a much more significant desire for a systematic scrutiny and appreciation of the humanities and has since the 1990s come to define a central arena for debates over the relationship between humanities and society in Africa’s most populous country; Nigeria. NAL was formally inaugurated at a meeting held at the University of Ibadan on November 14, 1991, as an apex organization of Nigerian academics and scholars in the Humanities to promote, maintain and encourage excellence in all branches of humanistic studies.

The humanities as a field of study and epistemological domain surfaced in Nigeria only in the late 1940s. Its development was delayed for as long as was practicable by British colonial brinksmanship.  Prior to this date, and from the period of the country’s first Governor-General, Lord Frederick Lugard who cobbled together what became modern Nigeria in 1914, the policy of government in the colony was to control and regulate the content of education in a way that would preclude the emergence of ‘trouble makers’. Lugard had argued in 1915 that literary education (as opposed to technical and vocational education recommended by the colonialists) could be a ‘social nuisance and a danger to the country’ since it has an inclination to sharpen the critical faculty, and also the tendency to produce ‘an attitude of bitter hostility’ on the part of the governed towards the government.  The education of the colonial peoples, essentially, remained at the level of agriculture and technical subjects and the cultivation of love for manual labour.

At the inception of the University College, Ibadan, whereas the University College Ordinance assented to in His Majesty’s name on the 1st day of September, 1948, required the new university “to advance learning and research and to provide instruction in all branches of liberal education”, the University privileged training and research activities in science and medicine in the academic development of the university. The determination of the founding fathers in this regard became more obvious when the first seven out of the twelve professorships advertised for the new university were in Surgery, Medicine, Public Health, Pathology, Anatomy, and Gynecology.

In spite of this, however, by the late 1950s and early 1960s the field of humanities began to take pre-eminent position in Nigeria. This development occurred for several reasons. The order of emphasis of educational activity at Ibadan, the only university then in existence in the country was reversed in the Second University College Ordinance which was enacted in 1959. The central focus of the Ordinance became the pursuit of a regular and liberal education in all classes and communities. Also, with the rise of African nationalism after World War II, a lot of interest began to be generated in African history and historiography. There developed the widespread recognition of the need to document and write the indigenous history of Africa.

Thus, as more Africans joined the academic staff of the university, the major focus of the humanistic field quickly became the desire to change European perceptions and African consciousness of the nature of culture and civilization. The discipline of history played a crucial role in this regard. The ascendancy of Kenneth Onwuka Dike, a British-trained Nigerian historian as the arrowhead of this new epistemology, played a crucial role in this regard. His appointment in the 1950s as Professor of History during Nigeria’s nationalist ferment was significant. When in 1956 Dike was appointed to the headship of the Department of History at Ibadan, he became the first African to head a Department of History anywhere on the continent. Up to the 1950s European imperialism and intellectual traditions had created a universal history dominated by European presence. With Dike in place, the Ibadan School of History emerged and defined this field within the aspirations of the age. The intellectual ideas and trajectory of the Ibadan School were shaped by the prevailing Nigerian social and political conditions. The school began to reflect the ongoing struggle for control of discourse on African history

Although History was the dominant academic department in the humanities in the early years of the university, the discipline of English followed history’s approach subsequently. Just as the African historian contested the assumptions of imperial history, other subjects within the humanistic field also developed a Pan-Africanist or even archetypal interpretation of the colonial episode in Africa. The authorial ideology and vision of Pan-Africanism of the 1950s became widespread. This became the dominant tendencies of the humanistic field. At inception, the Department of English at the University College directed its energy towards the study of English Language as a colonial apparatus for education and enlightenment. Its focus for a long time remained a general focus on the classical and Anglo-Saxon literary and linguistic traditions of Western civilizations. With the anti-colonialist struggles of the day fast permeating the intellectual world, the Department of English at Ibadan “pioneered series of research into the languages and literatures of Africa and African peoples, including their phonetics and folklore as resources and subjects of critical analyses.” The department inevitably trained the first set of African writers such as Chinua Achebe who went on to produce remarkable works of African literature. Achebe, with his Things fall Apart and several others would help to roll back the colonial literary tradition in place. In the 1960s, the most significant aspect of the changes going on in the academia catalyzed major changes in society. The major arguments and positions of these scholars were not lost to the public.

Nationalist ferment and “the transition from colonial rule to black self-government in African territories brought with it political, economic and social reverberations, of a magnitude consistent with such a radical shift in power locus.”  Prof. Charles E. Nnolim, in his paper at the NAL Symposium of August 10, 2000 entitled, “Literature, the Arts and Cultural Development” clearly adumbrated this. He averred: “ …the [19]50s and 60s saw the full flowering in Nigeria, of what has been identified as cultural nationalism or cultural reaffirmation which,…was aimed at reasserting the “African personality”, at regaining the cultural initiative, at rehabilitating African culture in order to give our people “a new vision of life, to rescue them from the trauma of cultural confusion in which they have been left as a result of European acculturation, to provide them with new values, new outlooks and new spiritual bearing with their base in the African culture and psychology.” This is a high point in the extended public debate over how best to build this country and its people.

NAL had since the 1990s increased the pace at which it has sought to give direction to the country by applying practices developed over time to public consciousness, an invaluable ingredient of nation-building, through its annual lectures. The lecture is statutorily scheduled for the second Thursday of February of every year.  However, due to the presidential election earlier slated for February 14, 2015 and now March 28, the 2015 version of the lecture was fixed for March 24, 2015. This year’s lecture will be delivered by Professor Sam Ukala, a Professor of Theatre Arts and Drama at the Delta State University, Abraka. Ukala, a distinguished scholar won the glamorous NLNG The Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2014 with his play, Iredi War. Prior to this, he had won the ANA/British Council Prize for Drama (1989) with his work entitled Akpakaland. Prof. Ukala will be speaking on the topic: Is the Nigerian Critic Still Timid? Like in the past, the NAL lecture this year will also clearly echo the massive investment in liberal education and discourses.

 

• Adesina, Secretary, Nigerian Academy of Letters is of the Department of History, University of Ibadan.

The Nigeria project currently cuts the perfect imagery of one surviving on a  life support and reeling in the throes of decay , corruption has taken strong hold of its jugular and insecurity wraps up the  specter in a helluva of clearly hopeless grip. The question then is, who possesses the requisite capacity of will power and courage to enact  the extra-ordinary feat of daring a well entrenched, deeply rooted system and rescue the nation from the ironic grip of  institutionalized corruption and impending state failure.?

Professor Tam David West, in his book,  ‘THE SIXTEEN SINS OF BUHARI’ , ran an exciting array of extrapolations with philosophical  exegesis on those traits and character of Buhari, perceived by his critics as extreme , rigid and uncompromising yet account for the very reason he is admired by many people across the nation and beyond. In a feat of profound  erudition , the revered professor engineered a fresh theme of the virtuous appeal in Buhari’s strong moral convictions and standpoints, ditto, his rigidity and resolute reflexes  as the necessary requisites for overhauling the Nigerian state from the narrow confines of deepening corruption, decay and collapse of values to the wide expanse of openness and national integrity in governance.

The caliber of intellectual giants scattered across the nation’s ethnic and religious divides who subscribe to Buhari’s radical attitudinal  philosophy is an absorbing reminder that when values and honest purpose combine to confront national emergency , the barriers that differentiate our individual identities  and persuasions which are so often tossed up for exploitation to weaken national spirit, unity and togetherness dissolve with teasing and accelerating ease.

Nigeria’s over fifty years of independent national existence and her attempt to secure reasonable placement in the continent as a decent democratic nation have offered nothing in return but deep seated corruption , recurring misadventure of embarrassing electoral fraud and scandalous manipulation of popular will. The nation’s headache and worry for now , in the  true depth of what constitutes its most daring challenge is its inability to overcome these identified and identifiable malaises . Individuals with appetite to overturn these untidy records and redirect national efforts in nation building are favoured with exceptional traits of commitment to radical advocacy of reformism and rectitude built around incorruptible character , honesty , devotion to public good and above all, the taste for good conscience, fairness, equity and  justice.

A nation trapped and troubled by its own  fabrication of institutional failures and the attendant unedifying and ignoble national character of this mould and form is in dire need of exceptional personalities whose strength of character and vision are sourced and originated from the reassuring and appetizing drive for moral reorientation, iconoclastic rebirth  and  reformism of national values. Such strong content and proportion of extremism identified in their views and character, more than just being in the opposite direction and antithetical to the general trend, offers portent remedy to the decay that has gripped the nation. This edifying  symbolism transforms them into exceptional super personalities and popular reference point for positive change in a nation’s unrewarding downward slope and decay .

Marooned in its own peculiarity and hunted by the urgent necessity to reverse its misfortune , Nigeria needs an individual with radical orientation and character , woven around commitment to defeat the monstrous albatross of deepening corruption and collapse of values which effect  have for long arrested the nation’s development. This much the behemoths in the People’s Democratic Party  (PDP ), their cohorts and local sympathizers know that the arrival of Buhari on the scene this time, and its peculiar  message of Buharism explosion , under a larger platform of consolidated opposition parties sounds a deafening death knell to  its brutal and tyrannous hold on  power for an unbroken stretch of sixteen years. Thus, the tepid  kick out of certain death that the ruling party is exhibiting in its desperation to cage the Buharism phenomenon  is just an  expressive pointers of the fear of a Buhari victory , certain to end underserved , ruinous and exploitative privileges, abridgement of national benefits for unduly privileged few cabals bent  on continuing the despoliation of our  national patrimony and values. Their hopelessness and fear are well marked out in the  graduated series of orchestrated black mail , willful lies and character assassination as seen in the abhorrent cruelty and utter shamelessness exhibited in the forged /false medical report of Buhari , the cacophonous falsehood and senseless noise over Buhari certificate which assumed a cantankerous and dangerous dimension and blown out of proportion at the expense of honest reflection for quality leadership , climaxed by the current disingenuous, tacit PDP-sponsored  campaigns to postpone the February election. In our considered opinion, Buhari’s refusal to be drawn into the polemics of these orchestrated propaganda underscored the purity of his vision and the clear-headed honest conception of power as only a means  of service to humanity- this singular display of worth of attitude gained national currency with blistering flammability to his credit.

The signification around the character and personality of Muhammadu Buhari presents a radical departure from the contagious , well entrenched and rampaging  culture of corruption , deceit, double standard, dishonesty, rapacity, and offer the exact opposite of these negativities as his trade mark. Though an entity of the political extraction  , Buhari embodies a rare character of peerless stoicism and stubborn resistance to corrupt temptations and extravagant life style -the raison d’être for his electrifying popularity which is quite offensive with choking toxicity and a source of hyper phobia to the super -rich and the ruling class of those who love and dread /hate him offers rich evidence on the cult personality that Buhari has come to symbolize in our recent political history . The huge population desire him to liberate the nation from the stench of decay, whilst the ruling class considers him as an irritating albatross, patently intolerant to any machination aimed at sustaining the swing of the corrupt status-quo. Indeed ,the centrifugal political repositioning and re-alignment of hitherto disparate regional opposition parties  around the  new  All Progressive Congress , APC,  followed by mass exodus of the members of the splinter groups of the PDP, are pointers to the significant political development that the nation is set to witness in the next few days when the Buhari phenomenon, around which the progressive potentials of the APC’S presidential quest is rested would be given a perfect mass expression on the 28 March, 2015 historic presidential election. The arrays of significant issues and unfolding developments in the polity aggregated and interpreted to arrive at the decision of migrating to the new party, APC are fundamental to the overriding need to attain democratic maturity via a vibrant and credible opposition  party – a significant blow to the ruling party’s desire for a unipolar strangle hold it had enjoyed for well over a decade . It is worth stating that the central philosophy of ‘CHANGE’ embedded in the campaign slogans of APC is organically linked to the perceived value and credibility  that the Buhari’s  immense  personal popularity  would bring into the party.

The political lexicon that describes accurately the spontaneous explosion of Buharism in the contemporary Nigeria politics is conspicuously embossed in the narration that emphasizes the necessity and suitability for close partnership , understanding, cooperation and a sense of national emergency among members of the opposition party , APC to save the nation’s tottering democracy .

Still smarting from the barrages and intense degree of PDP-engineered campaigns of calumny against Buhari which heated the polity to a boiling point , the attendant destabilizing  pranks not unduly mentioned , but aimed at deepening the seed of mistrust and  mutual suspicions among the people , to  wit, a wickedly unnerving cold blooded   attempt  to contain the Buharism explosion , a new twist,  with its unwise cruel wish of death for Buhari climaxed the PDP’s rudderless desperation for power retention. However, the good attraction which counts as paradoxical revolution to the foregoing  reveals a notable positive exception  as Buhari’s magnetism soars on in an uncontained progression. The spontaneous spread of Buhari’s popularity across the nation’s geo-political  zones ,  his  adoption by hitherto sworn opposition members, critics and adversaries are new additions to the phenomenon of the Buhari persona, we dare say a redeeming  feature for the many unwarranted attacks and campaigns of calumny  targeted at him and above all a precious appetizing piece of meat in the nation’s political menu for the APC to furnish  its taste and preference in the upcoming presidential election and beyond.

We  therefore advise that the APC put to great  use, its enormous structure and professionalism  in managing the unfolding  mass  of  goodwill and surging band of immigrants across parties into its fold , strive with excited and exciting  enthusiasm to coalesce all into a solid bloc and stream away from the offensive triviality of engaging or falling for the PDP’s preference for reducing serious issues before the nation to mere supremacist tussle , and above all,  deploy more effort in contemplating and reflecting on ways to lead the nation out of the woods and the plague that the PDP had inflicted on the nation.

 

•Yakubu is the National Publicity Secretary of the Muhammadu Buhari Legacy Foundation