The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Nexim Bank: Repositioning for Nigerian non-oil exports

    In recent decades, export competitiveness in the era of globalization has been at the heart of domestic economic growth and development debates. Against the background of growing disparity in income between the developed and the developing world, due largely to divergence in industrial capacity, the central question has always been: what can and should be done in developing countries to boost export growth and diversification, and enhance competitiveness in international markets?

    In 2007, a leading economist at the MIT, Alice H Amsden noted that the gamut of policies, practices and institutions which led to the rapid skill formation and industrialization in successful exporting countries of the developing world was carefully built, diligently developed and tested over many years, led to trade protectionism, competitive pricing and the establishment of Export Processing zones which afforded access to imported input at world prices and often more advantages.

    In Nigeria, no bank understands the intricacies of export growth, export development, export diversification and export competitiveness more than the Nigerian Export-Import Bank – NEXIM Bank, the Trade Policy Bank of Nigeria. Established in 1991 by Act 38 of 1991 originally as an Export Credit Agency, owned equally by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI), NEXIM has since 2009 reformed its processes and redefined its focus to promoting the diversification of the Nigerian economy and deepening the external sector, particularly the non-oil sector through the provision of credit facilities in both local and foreign currencies; risk-bearing facilities through export credit guarantee & export credit insurance; business development and financial advisory services etc.

    In pursuit of this renewed mandate of promoting export diversification and deepening the non-oil sector, the Bank’s current strategic initiatives are targeted towards boosting employment creation and foreign exchange earnings in the Manufacturing, Agro-processing, Solid Minerals and Services (Tourism, Transportation and Entertainment) industries –  The MASS Agenda of NEXIM Bank.

    The Bank is concerned with the competitiveness of Nigeria’s products and services in foreign markets. According to the MD/CEO of NEXIM, Mr. Roberts Orya, Nigerian exporters have looked away from their traditional market of West Africa and the African region, and focused on the markets of Europe and Americas despite not having the competitive edge. This is different from the practice of the most successful exporters of the developing world including South Korea, Turkey, China, India, Brazil, etc., which for strategic commercial reasons,entrenched their regional competitiveness before venturing outside their core trading blocs.

    NEXIM understands that export-competitiveness requires actions at the highest national level. No doubt, theAdministration of His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, in pursuit of the Transformation Agenda, is showing strong political commitment to boost Nigeria’s export-competitiveness.

    Just recently, at the inauguration of the new NEXIM Bank Board as reconstituted by President Goodluck Jonathan for improved performance, the Coordinating Minister for theEconomy and Honourable Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed satisfaction at the achievements of NEXIM and restated Government’s determination to trade expansion. The CME said that, “…the Government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has embarked on a path of transforming the economy; trying to work with our private sector to expand trade, particularly regional trade, incorporating the West African zone and even beyond…” She charged the new Board to understand that NEXIM has a responsibility if Nigeria is going to play its role of being the powerhouse within the West Africa sub-region, and beyond.

    NEXIM takes developmental rather than a purely financial-return-maximisation approach in its lending. The Bank focuses on the identification, development and financing of projects thatagrees with national objectives on private sector developmentand non-oil export.

    NEXIM Bank received commendations from its Shareholders for its support to the Creative and Entertainment sector, and facilitation of the establishment of the Sealink Project, which will boost access by Nigerian exporters to the ECOWAS and Central African markets.

    The shareholders of the Bank have given it the approval to strengthen its balance sheet, including attracting offshore lines of credit. Already, NEXIM has partnerships with many overseas financial institutions, like the African Development Bank, Afrexim Bank, Islamic Development Bank, India EXIM, to name a few.

    With the inauguration of the bank’s board headed by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Dr. Sarah Alade, it is expected that the nation’s export trade policy will strengthen, even as NEXIM Bank continues to grow its funding interventions and export advisory services.

  • Let’s give peace a chance

    Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly of the United Nations has devoted the Day to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

    It is the day the United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities and to otherwise commemorate it through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.

    This ideas of peace is very germane in any society as people and nations can only make meaningful progress in an atmosphere of peace, justice and equity.

    Nigeria, though regarded as the giant of Africa has been experiencing increasing spate of bloodshed, kidnapping, and all forms of inhuman treatment in the name of ethnic cum religious clashes most especially in the north.

     Recent statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria stated that developmental projects that would have ameliorated the living standard of the rural poor in the north have been greatly hampered by the unrest in most parts of the north. Many communities have been disserted, churches burnt, and business destroyed. Children have been left to become orphans and women are increasingly becoming widows, a situation which portends great danger for the sustainance of the people and even the yet unborn generation in the region.

     It is however disturbing, and very alarming, the rate and consistency with which Christians are being killed, maimed and rendered homeless in most of the deadly attack on innocent citizens in northern Nigeria, in a manner similar to the genocide in Rwanda. The brutality, cruelty and inhuman manner in which the people are being systematically and consistently killed by individuals claiming to be adherents of the Islamic faith has reached an alarming proportion.

    In the northern parts of the country, these individuals and groups of individuals have been operating for years with reckless impunity and without regard to law and order, or respect to the right of other Nigerians to live and express their faith in God according to their choice.

    As the world celebrates the International Day of peace which focuses on Education for peace, it is necessary to educate Almajiri children who are being used by the violent groups. It is important to note that until we take alamjri children off the streets and provide quality education and empowerment for them to lead a better life, we will not know peace.

    We will continue to experience draw back in our effort to enthrone lasting peace in Nigeria when we have most of the Alamjiri children live in hopeless condition. They sleep on the street; they are covered with flies and lie in inhuman conditions. They are always ready to kill without human feeling because they themselves grow up in hopeless conditions. We will be able to engage a wider spectrum of our society on acts of peace and peacebuilding when they are educated.  Achieving gains in education will have an impact on all the Millennium Development Goals as well as lower child and maternal mortality, to better health, higher income and more environmentally-friendly societies.

    We wish to state that there are indigenous northern Christians in the North who are facing inhuman persecution due to their faith. They need our support and prayers. We should all raise our voice at whatever level that we are in support of the persecuted persons in total condemnation of murders and destruction.

    Emmanuel is the Secretary, Board of Trustees, Voice of Christian Martyrs.

  • Lagos and revival of Nigeria’s football

    Recently, the city of Lagos was agog, as the final of the 68th edition of Nigeria’s oldest football competition, now christened the Confederation Cup, took place at the Teslim Balogun Stadium amid pomp and pageantry. Since the Lagos State government began to host the final match of this annual football competition about four years ago, it has brought in lots of innovations aimed at restoring its lost glory. For instance, the state government usually uses the occasion to honour past heroes of the competition, both living and dead. In the last edition, 10 of such personalities, including ace broadcasters’ whose colourful radio commentaries brought glamour to the completion in time past, were honoured. Included in this year’s honour list are late Ishola Folorunsho and late Earnest Okonkwo, two ace radio commentators whose unique style of radio commentary added colour and grandeur to the competition. Others in this year’s honour list include legendary footballers such as, late Muda Lawal, former Super Eagles Coach and Jogo bonito exponent, Joe Erico, former Super Eagles coach, ‘Wonder Boy’, Paul Hamilton, 1985 FIFA U-17 World Cup winning coach and Sebastian Brodricks-Imasuen.  Others are Dominic Iorfa, Joe Erico, Josiah Dombraye, Toyin Ayinla, Stanley Eguma and ace broadcaster, Walter Oyatogun.

    According to Lagos State Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Enitan-Oshodi, “The essence of this honour is to appreciate the outstanding performance of some players who had featured in the Federation Cup”. The long term objective is to motivate the present crop of players that their efforts in the competition will not go unnoticed even after they had retired. Without doubt, the role being played by the Lagos state government in the revival of football, and indeed other sports, in the country, is a reflection of the sporting personality of the state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

    The earliest impression of the state governor, painted in most media reports was that of a sports loving individual. He had been photographed in sporting attires playing active football even after his election into office. Consequently, it was clear from the outset that sports loving Lagos youths are in for a great time. When one realizes that sport has moved beyond the level of recreation, which it used to be in time past, to one with a mega-buck earning status, the efforts of the state government in encouraging the youth to take active part in sports will be properly appreciated.

    Globally, football has become a money spinning sport. The organisation and management of football in Europe, for instance, is a multi-million dollars venture with all the teams running other sports related businesses. Indeed, all sorts of professionals-doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, grass men, scouts, etc-are employed by the various teams in their drive for soccer glory. Football, in Europe, has gone beyond the mere recreational activity that it is in Nigeria. As a result of the excellent manner it is managed in Europe, youths across the continent have found in football a means through which they could use their talents to escape poverty. Young players such as Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabrigas, Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi among others – thanks to football – have become multi millionaires before they clocked the age of 21.

    Ironically, in Nigeria, what we have is the exact opposite of what operates in Europe. The once exciting Nigeria local league, that produced household names like Segun Odegbami, Adokie Amaesimeka, Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini among others, has become a shadow of itself. Hitherto widely followed teams such as Stationery Stores, Spartans of Owerri, Rovers of Kano, Abiola Babes, Leventis United, etc have gone into extinction while popular European clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan etc have been in existence for over 100 years. Unlike in Europe, where the clubs are purely run as business ventures, clubs in Nigeria are mostly run by governments on a non-profit basis. Unfortunately, football administrators in the country are mostly only interested in fighting over the paltry funds that come from government rather than creatively and passionately evolving strategies to lift the game. This is why, some of our footballers travel to less known footballing nations such as Bangladesh, Sudan, and India among others to further their careers.

    There was a time when Nigerian footballers were the toasts of the soccer world. Then, we used to have up to six nominees among the 10 footballers for the annual African Footballer of the Year Award. Indeed, the high point of the country’s dominance in African football was when Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amuneke, Victor Ikpeba and Kanu Nwankwo won the title in successive order. Other sports such as lawn tennis, table tennis, wrestling, volley ball, basketball etc are not exempted from the rot that currently pervades the nation’s sporting landscape.

    If we are to offer the teeming youth in the country an opportunity to fulfil their God-given potentials, we must change our attitude to sports. If we could go as far as the World Bank to get a tested professional to manage the Ministry of Finance, then we need a thorough-bred sport personality – someone whose whole essence revolves around sports – to take charge of the Sports Ministry. Equally, a complete overhaul of all sporting facilities in the country is needed. Since it seems those saddled with overseeing the nation’s prime sporting facilities are overwhelmed with the enormity of the responsibility, government can resort to the PPP model.  Similarly, the private sector needs to take more active part in the project to restore the nation’s lost glory in sports. All over the world, the initiatives and funds that drive sports come from the private sector. With the needed private sector drive, moribund school sports competitions across the country could be resuscitated.

    Finally, governments across the country should focus on sports development at the grassroots.  Lagos State is leading in this regards with the recently inaugurated Lagos State Sports Endowment Fund which is geared to take sports to all parts of the state. The state government has also resuscitated competitions such as the Principals’ Cup among secondary schools, the School Sports Festival, the State Sport Festival, the U- 13 Soccer Championship, the U-15 Swimming Competition, Governor’s Cup, the International Squash Racket Competition, MTN Street Soccer, Oba Cup, among others.

    Additionally, it has embarked on sports and recreational infrastructural development which has transformed the popular Campos Square in Lagos Island into a mini stadium with a seating capacity of 5,000, multi-purpose hall for all outdoor court games, FIFA Star 2 Artificial Turf, and administrative offices/equipment stores as well as the Agege Stadium into a sporting facility with a FIFA standard playing turf and a seating capacity of 15,000.

    It is only in doing this that we can discover new sports heroes and deal with the identical issues of job creation and youth restiveness in the country.

     

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Nation-building: The missing link

    If there is one incontrovertible point that the recurring and destructive challenges of Nigeria have proved in more than half a century of its existence as an independent entity, it is the disturbing view that its bereavement of good leadership is the cause of our backwardness and poverty.

    To be sure we do not lack the raw ingredients to brew to transform us into an eminently prosperous society. We have them aplenty, indeed a surfeit of these. There is a landmass that triples a host of vastly developed European nations put together. This implies that size isn’t essentially the issue. There is more to owning a treasure.

    We also have enormous foreign-currency magnetising resources, chief of which is crude oil. This has proved, over the decades, near inexhaustible. But it is deceptive wealth as it hasn’t led us to the Promised Land. Again what we deduce here is that it is not enough to possess seemingly bottomless wealth. What do you do with it? Who handles it? In whose custody is it for optimum utility?

    Next we have the putative advantage of population. One out of six black men on planet earth is probably a Nigerian. Our population is more than that of the other nations of the entire West Africa sub region added together. A breakdown of the statistics indicates that most of these Nigerians are vibrant young men and women ready to work productively for the fatherland but they are either forced straight into crime or idleness which eventually leads them into anti-social activity and parasitism! On this score also, we discern that to have large human resources is not the magic wand for the greatness of a nation. Something in the form of a direction must come along.

    Matching this dynamic population input in the mix is a rich potpourri of our cultural diversity coupled with an impressive array of such tourism destinations as Yankari, Obudu, Ikogosi etc. etc. that can spin us hard currency, local and foreign investments and jobs if the industry finds its way into the hands of a visionary and committed leader. But one more time, as it is with the other resources we have mentioned, something vital is missing and making the system malfunction tragically.

    Ditto for politics. We can truly boast of fulfilling all the righteousness of the political process: periodic elections, party formation, party primaries, going on the hustings to campaign, voter registration, massive media enlightenment on polling conduct etc. etc. Yet the majority of the people don’t enjoy the dividends of democracy for who all these mammoth motions and rituals are performed.

    Again the sad refrain: something is missing!

    What is the problem and where is it? Certainly the problem is not in our stars. It is in the calibre of leadership.

    Dr. Michael Oladele-Cole, a prominent Nigerian industrialist, is as concerned as we are on this sore point. He declared recently: “More than ever before in the history of its existence, Nigeria needs an urgent solution to the many leadership challenges besetting it which are threatening the nation’s economic infrastructural and ethical revolution.” And Catholic cleric George Ehusani has added: “We need a shift in leadership focus sustained by transparency and accountability where civil society will engage the political leadership in balancing policy objectives against concrete acts of governance.”

    And speaking on Channels TV during an interview, Adetokunbo Obayan, a leadership consultant said: “The reason we are where we are as a nation is not accidental. It is because the holders and occupiers of many of our platforms of leadership have relatively failed. They failed to understand what leadership is and they failed to deliver leadership.”

    Some compatriots may question the stand of these gentlemen in putting wholesale blame at the doorstep of leadership for the woes of the country, and not also on the followership. We believe however that the problem is located in both spectrum of society but a slightly heavier weight of the burden is one of the leadership. There is a massive leadership problem which the country has been struggling with from its very inception. And it is getting worse.

    The country’s political elite has failed thus far to provide that calibre of leadership which the country needs to free its genius. At every turn in the political life of the country, leadership has been abysmal right across the board, to the extent that the ethical and moral decline has degenerated so terribly that a systematic collapse confronts the country.

    This situation makes the question of leadership so desperate that the search for a suitable leader to unbottle that genius in us needs some creative new approach.

    We are broadening the search for the appropriate leader who can, not only pull Nigeria from the brink but also put it on track for economic development and modernity.

    Media is our tool in this business. Our advocacy is uniquely designed to investigate the potential of a prospective leader and propagate him via radio, television and documentaries, basically from the achievements. The key factors that will be isolated and all-encompassingly searched and propagated are the perceivable content of the individual’s thought processes manifested in his activities, and the moral-ethic background to his delivery.

    We are informed on this path because the role of politics in identifying a potential leader has over the years been long on selfish interest and hopelessly short on moral/ethical values of the individual. Most of our leaders are railroaded onto positions of leadership without any demonstration of ability to comprehend the problems of our societies on the basis of which they could fashion a sustainable plan. Less than one per cent of the leaders Nigeria has ever had drew any plan for the country’s development.

    All of this should change if the country is to progress. We must scout for that leader who has not only demonstrated a capacity for creative thinking; his resource management capability should be in evidence from his work. And when we find such leader or leaders we must present them powerfully to the Nigerian public, the political parties and the international community.

    We are confident that we can make an impact with this approach because our experiences as journalists and political consultants have taught us one great lesson that leadership of a country like Nigeria should transcend narrow partisan politics, but the truth of Nigeria’s political experience is that most of the politicians engaged in party politics are parochial in thinking, limited in experience and bereft of the fundamentals of ethical moral discipline. This is the bane of their failure in governance especially at the federal level.

    We call on all Nigerians to join us in this noble mission to identify committed and selfless leaders who will help to release the chained genius in the bottle of Nigeria’s bottomless resources. Less endowed countries have struck gold and elevated their society through the sheer inputs of good leadership. We shall begin to identify some of the potential leaders who measure up to this identity in the days ahead.

    •Obafemi and Ojewale, promoters of WriteConsult, sent this article from Lagos.

     

  • Corruptitude: Ballad of our nation

    There is my country? Who has seen my Nigeria? Who knows where my people have gone? Who will tell me, where to find my kith and kin? Who will show me where I can find the soul and the spirit of my nation? Where are you, my origin, my country and my people? I am searching everywhere and all over- in the streets, in the alleys, in the winding and pothole infested roads, in the towns, in the villages, in the forests – for my country, the old Nigeria.

    I cannot find my country.

    Oh yes, I see my country now, I feel my country on the streets, along the highways, in the print media, on the television screens, in the honourable houses, in the corridors of power, in the seat of government, in the state houses, among the first and the last ladies, in the party conventions. In all these, I see my country; I see my nation, in the utterances of our leaders. I see my nation, in the impotence of our population. I see my Nigeria in the open display of illegal and laundered loot, acquired at the expense of the sick and the dying. Blood money and gore wealth, plundered from the carnage of democracy and the carcass of governance. Arise O corruption, Nigeria’s fall attain. I see my nation with tomorrow’s hope dashed, today’s optimism buried and yesterday’s achievement interred. I see my nation, harvesting today the seeds of the sorrows sown yesterday, saving a little harvest for the greater painsof our tomorrow.

    But, this is not the Nigeria I grew up in, certainly not the Nigeria that nurtured me. No way, this is not the Nigeria that made me what I am. The Nigeria I see now is not my country, can never be my country. It is not the place I can call my own. This is not the country for which, in 1960, I was ready to live and even die for. Not the country, no, no, it cannot be, it is not!

    The yellow “danfo” bus came charging down at top speed, against the traffic, and directly facing our lane. Headlights flashing at 12 noon, I thought this must be the end of the world. Who is after this driver? What is pursuing him? Just before the expected crash, the vehicle swerved right and swerved left leaving my body on earth, and my heart in my mouth about to be spewed into heaven. When I opened my eyes, I was still alive, but the danfo was gone. I checked my heart; it was still beating, so I swallowed it. I touched my bones, they all appeared intact. The wetness I felt down below, thank God, was not blood. The danfo gone, I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when this time, the three sons of thunder: Madness, Mayhem and Pandemonium, came blasting through the slow moving line of vehicles. Three automatic self-driven black land cruisers came charging down the same lane the danfo had just passed. The three drivers Rasaki (RSK), Lamidi (LMD) and AbdulQuadri (ABQ) were each hanging out of the left side of their vehicles, while the on the right side of each vehicle, hung out a uniformed devil, gun cocked, eyes the colour of red hot iron, nostrils breathing lava, mouth foaming magma, and a voice, which sounded like a volcanic eruption. The other occupant in the vehicle later told me the uniformed man barked out an order “KI-LIA-DI-WEY”!

    The FGN number plated land cruisers which blazed through the same lane as the danfo bus, made me realize that it was normal to violate the law. The lawlessness of the “danfo”driver was in obedience to government sanction and desire to break with impunity the laws the government swore to defend.

    Has Nigeria gone on a journey, a temporary journey, perhaps a journey away from the essence and embodiment of Nigerian? Is this a journey of no return to the grave of disintegration? Is this the failed hundred year amalgamation journey on a one-way ticket, non-refundable, non-reroutable trip of self-inflicted suicidal annihilation?

    The wedding ceremony was billed for 10 in the morning. Only the officiating minister, came to time, his time! The two families, including bride, groom and entourage, came also in their own respective times. The choir came last, but the pianist was nowhere to be found. Rumour had it that the “pianist-for-hire” was at the Friday night disco jam session till the early hours of the Saturday wedding morning. He needed to wash with “holy water”, the stench of beer before entering the house of God. More important, he needed to gather himself together. He eventually came, just half an hour later. He was there bodily, but not in spirit. The officiating minister had to wrestle the tune of the first song, from the pianist. The tune he chose for “my soul shall praise the king of heaven” had nothing to do with the song, at all. The tune he chose reminded me of the tune of Fela’s “Jen ko ku”!

    Church over, it was time for the reception. Before then a well-dressed man nearly lost his life’s savings as a smartly dressed person fished through the folds of his flowing agbada to retrieve the envelope containing the cash spraying, less the ten naira he dropped as church collection. Gratitude for the warning given by the officiating minister, everyone was on the alert. The men wrapped their agbadas tightly around their frames, while the women tucked their crisp naira notes between the bosom and the brassier. The cost for hiring the ultra-modern reception hall equaled the 30 month gross salary of a Professor with over 35 years of meritorious service and close to the 70 year retirement age. In the hall, I was drowned in sea money, but not a drop could I take, taste or drink. I sat on a chair rented for the equivalent of my two weeks’ salary, rested my elbows on a table hired for the same amount as my pay for one week’s work. I listened to music from a band that charged 10 months of my salary. The cost of “have this for coming take aways” would have paid my salary for 17 days. (Note all salaries at the rate prior to Federal Government ASUU agreement, the same agreement, which if implemented, will render the Federal government impotent)

    It was time to dance. Sweating foreheads waiting to be swiped with “naira- kerchiefs”, hands up raised in celestial hallelujah, floating angelically above suggestive bodies gyrating to background music from the depths of Pentecostal praise worship.

    Naira o o o, Naira x2.

    Naira you don win o, Naira

    Patapata you go win for ever, Naira

    Godliness and mammon competing for the soul of a nation. Righteousness trashed by materialism in the battle for the character of Nigeria.

    Corruption has become our national attitude, our national anthem, and the ballad of our nation. Every aspect of our life – from the home, to the school, to the work place, to the seat of government, and in the corridors of power, – is polluted with corruption. Is honesty an iroko tree in the mangrove swamps of Nigeria? Is probity a rare commodity in the halls of our National Assembly? Is integrity an unwanted stranger in our government houses? Is corruption the blood that runs in the arteries and veins of our ministries?

    “Corruptitude” is corruption’s absolute and final stage, the ultimate, the concluding phase and the point of no return of corruption. It is a point when we assent to the corruption perpetuated by one of our clan because he is our kin, and consent to the corruption by others, because we pray and wait for that future date, when God Almighty answers our prayer for the chance and opportunity to excel in committing even greater and more damaging acts of fraud, depravity, perversion, and immorality. We now have a country, where corruption is the national anthem, where corruption has become our attitude, and “corruptitude” our national ballad, in every ramification!

    Yet, I hear another song of Nigeria. In the morning, I hear it, above the blaring horns. In the afternoon, I hear it, louder than the screaming sirens. In the night, I hear it, piercing the noise of generators. I hear it above the riot of party politics. I hear the voice of Nigeria of old, the silent voice of sanity, the quiet voice of probity, the mumbled voice of honesty, the calm voice of decency, the still voice of honour, the hushed voice of reason, the tranquil voice of integrity, the serene voice of virtue, and the soothing voice of godliness. I hear it, the voice of my old Nigeria. We must not let the voice of today drown the voice of the past. Only then can our prayers be answered.

    • Prof Tomori is a retired university teacher and administrator

  • Nigeria: The search for survival

    A few weeks ago, Oronto Douglas, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, made the following pregnant statement: “As President Jonathan continues to rally all patriots and leads the charge in rebuilding critical Infrastructure (roads, rails, airports etc) and ensure access to education for millions of Alimajiris and other Nigerians, as he focuses attention on building and strengthening institutions (INEC, EFCC, ICPC, CBN, NASS etc) for the good of our people and our democracy, it is important that a “we the people” agreement be midwifed by all Nigerians for the good of Nigeria”.

    Naturally, millions of Nigerians got from this statement the impression that President Jonathan was at last about to take themost important step which we had all long expected of him. Rebuilding critical infrastructures, widening access to education, and strengthening institutions – all are routine jobs of any ruler in a modern country. Beyond such routine concerns, every country has, at given times, its unique and critical problems to tackle. In Nigeria, our unique and critical problem today is to ensure that our country will have a chance to survive at all. Making sure that Nigeria will have a better chance to survive is an order of priority infinitely higher than all the routine tasks of government. And the only way Nigeria will have a better chance to survive and prosper is to settle the nationalities problem – to structure our federation in ways that show respect to our various nationalities, and to empower the federating units of our federation to serve their citizens much better than now.

    No serious person who is interested in the welfare and future of Nigeria today can fail to see that Nigeria is descending rapidly towards some final collapse. After decades of manipulation and distortion, what was originally a Nigerian federation has become an undefinable monstrosity. An enormous, ponderous and unruly Federal Government controls all the essence of power and resources, and progressively makes nonsense of the states. In the growing chaos, the persons elected to the Nigerian National Assembly have resolved to themselves that they are not in Abuja as representatives of their constituencies and states. They are adding to the political and constitutional disorder that is wrecking our country. In Abuja they give most of their energies to two main pursuits – namely, grabbing bigger and bigger shares of the national cake for themselves, and erecting for the National Assembly a separate “sovereignty” of its own, a separate sovereignty derived not from the people of Nigeria but from the legislators’ own wilful designs. Apparently, even the political parties that sponsored these legislators for election into the National Assembly have lost all ability to make them support or oppose anything in the deliberations of the Senate and the House of Representatives – with the result that one hardly ever notices party positions among these political merchants. And, to the shock of all concerned observers, their National Assembly is proceeding, even in this hour of greatly heightened disorder and uncertainty in our political system, with their plan to further strengthen the powers of the “federal” authority and to further destroy the states, by turning the Local Governments into adjuncts of the Federal Government.

    In these dark hours in the history of our country, there is still one source from which Nigerians ought still to be able to expect salvation. That source is the presidency of Nigeria. And that is why, when Oronto Douglas, one of the most influential officials serving the presidency, made his statement about a “we the people agreement” some weeks ago, a whole lot of Nigerians thought we were, at last, about to begin to get constructive leadership from President Jonathan towards properly restructuring and reordering our stumbling country. But it has been weeks since then, and nothing has come from President Jonathan. To many Nigerians, President Jonathan’s presidency is becoming one of the most painful experiences ever.

    Over four years ago, when some influential Nigerians seemed to be raising objections to replacing our deceased President, Yar’Adua, with his Vice-President, Jonathan, very many Nigerians at home and abroad insisted that the Nigerian Constitution should be obeyed. Very many of us then happily, and even proudly, welcomed a Jonathan presidency. We did so for two main reasons. First, we were glad that the Jonathan presidency had finally killed the unspoken assumption by some of Nigeria’s most influential leaders that a Nigerian citizen from a minority nationality did not qualify to be president of Nigeria. And secondly, we were excited that this first minority man to become Nigeria’s president was from the Delta in particular. The peoples of the Delta have been the most consistent and persistent warriors against the excessive powers being heaped on the Federal Government, and against the excesses of federal authority. Countless youths of the Delta have sacrificed their lives for that cause. So, naturally, when one youth from the Delta providentially became our president, we were certain that an era of change had dawned in our country, and that we would quickly begin to see the return of our country to a sane and sensible federalism. Instead, what we have seen for over four years is just another Nigerian president sunk in the lure of rabid federal power. We are forced to confess now that President Jonathan has shamed many of us who supported him. He has chewed up our support of him and spit it back in our faces.

    In the circumstance, those who desperately desire that Nigeria should survive and succeed must now begin to search for hope in the whole spectrum of Nigeria’s political life. In my humble opinion, there is only one reliable corner where a ray of hope seems to be arising today. And that is in the new political grouping known as APC – All Progressives Congress. I say this because I have found some welcome perspectives in the statements and behaviour of this party – apart from the well-known progressive and federalist credentials of some of its leaders. For instance, the communiqué of a recent convention of Progressive Governors belonging to the APC stated that the convention “discussed constitutional amendment extensively”, rejected the National Assembly’s plans concerning local governments as capable of weakening “the fundamental principles of our federalism” and of tilting Nigeria “towards a unitary state”. It declared that “the issue of Local Government Administration – – – is within the purview of the federating units”, and that “Federalism is the basis of our sovereignty”.

    And then, some days later, one of the captains of the group, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, while speaking at a Fawehinmi Memorial Lecture in Lagos, made a very clear and compelling case for true federalism for Nigeria. I find this speech of his so important that I intend to focus on it in my column next week. But on the whole, if this fledgling party continues to provide leadership in the all-important issue of true a federation for Nigeria, it will become the party to be supported by all who sincerely want to see Nigeria become orderly, survive and prosper.

  • Jonathan and challenge of leadership

    Like the Biblical King Nebuchadnezzar, intoxicated by power, equalled himself with God to the point of calling the bluff and disregarding danger warnings by some prophets in Israel and later paid heavily, I first noticed signs of arrogance in our President in the wake of the new petroleum price regime. Believing he was going for real consultation with the clerics and possibly consent to their genuine advice, President Jonathan bluntly told members of the National Council on Inter-Religious Affairs, (NIREC), who had gathered at his instance in Ilorin to deliberate on the planned increase in petroleum pump price, that he was ready to be stoned after the increase and would be glad to return home. I recall the clerics, including traditional rulers, told our President, albeit unanimously, that no matter the propriety of the increase, the timing was absurd. And, true to his words, the president went ahead to approve the new price regime and almost collapsed the nation, thereafter.

    To those who had seen him as an amenable leader, who would humbly accept sincere, though bitter truth and stand with the ordinary Nigerians, this was the first sign that the future was pregnant. Now, many years after, the same lack of tact in handling party affairs, has put the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in disarray. With the events of the last three weeks, particularly the emergence of the Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led faction of the PDP, (nPDP), it would be a shock surprise to still find anyone pretending that all is well with the PDP, or, perhaps, that where there were issues, they would simply fade away with the passage of time.

    While one could possibly hazard a guess as to why things seemed to have come to a head in the face of the coercive rather than diplomatic leadership style of the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led National Executive Committee (NEC), it has remained a huge surprise to everyone in the know of goings on in the party that those who should know better, the presidency and PDP elders, for instance, are still acting as if all is well.

    Probably thinking everyone would swallow the morsel of uninspiring leadership provided by Tukur, without saying a word as often the case, the presidency, now, coming round this delusion, has began a high-octane all-out war. But if this exemplifies the lack of tact or visionary leadership by party leaders, their greatest undoing is the sustained needless and clever-by-half pillorying of real and imagined party members opposed to the 2015 plans, using the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other sundry agencies.

    Today, as they say, the cookies have terribly crumbled. As everyone could see, the poor handling of this supposed mere belly ache has helped it to grow without inhibition into a malignant cancer, delicate and potentially hard to handle, without eating the humble pie by first admitting mistakes of poor approach to a subject matter to which every party member has a right of opinion, good or bad. Or, a genuine reconciliatory move as opposed to the Greek handshake and fake smile that have characterized the much publicized peace overtures by the party leadership. Unfortunately, while the presidency has maintained that it had no hand or that it was not providing support to the apparent illegal ostracization of party members by the Tukur-led executive, or sparked off the fire of attrition in the party, evidences contrary to the position have gradually, but steadily been emerging in the last few months.

    Interestingly, the current balkanization of the party can very easily be traceable to the unbridled 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan. Shockingly too, even when presidency’s imprimatur are all too clear in the lingering crisis, it has continued to push on its 2015 agenda even when it obviously hurts unity in the party and economic development of the nation. Not only has the presidency equally cleverly spurned moves aimed at bringing peace in the party where it does not favour its plans, but also enjoyed the company of foxes, who only tell him what it wants to hear.

    Like Rivers’ Governor Rotimi Amaechi, whose crime Tukur leadership says included among others, an alleged vice presidential ambition and gutsy questioning of the president’s second term ambition, not a few Nigerians have expressed displeasure at the manner the presidency has handled issues in the last three years. But for excelling in no small measure in sustained media fireworks painting dreamy and illusionary achievements in a government that is yet to fix power supply, curtail corruption in public offices, heavily dependent on importation, failed in arresting deteriorating standard of education, encouraged lawlessness, among others, it has done well also by cupping up some ridiculous fantasies, simply wishing Nigerians were still living in the past where sweet-coated promises still made sense, as opposed to what eyes can see or what can be felt in money-worth road network, effective legal system, improved health sector and general public good.

    Curiously, while all these presented call to duty, the presidency, seemingly blinded by ambition, has continued to wage war against those who paved the way for peace resulting in the many smooth transitions that has taken place at the presidency after the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua. Now, beyond the Rivers crisis, NGF and Boko Haram challenges, presidency is adding one form of battle or the other to its heavy list, everyday. Whether this is a tactics of those who currently enjoy good perks by the presidency to remain relevant in the scheme of things is anybody’s guess, but more than anything else, the presidency has shown it enjoys wielding the big and strong stick rather jaw-jawing with party stakeholders.

    Hurting as this obviously is, it would seem, the presidency has declared war on some party members even as it has used the court to shutdown the National Secretariat of the nPDP in Abuja and Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. With prominent members of the old PDP, possibly including the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambawal, about nine governors, and 57 Senators, including strategic party members identifying with the nPDP, presidency has let loose its attack dogs on its enemies of their 2015 programmes. Only recently, the president sacked the Minister of Youths and Social Development, Alhaji Adbul-kadir Inuwa because of his closeness to the governor of Sokoto State, who is opposed to his second term ambition. Ironically, it turned out as one of the most damaging public actions of the current administration. According to presidency sources, the minister was allegedly sacked because the former minister could not supervise a rancour-free election by the National Youth Council of Nigeria, a Non-Governmental organisation that is not an integral agency under the direct supervision of the former minister!

    But if Inuwa’s sack points to dictatorial vestiges in a supposed democratic regime, sending the EFCC and police after people like Senator Dr Bukola Saraki, former governor of Kwara State, Abubakar Baraje and others, is, perhaps, ambition taken too far. Like most inexplicable moves, not a few people were shocked that Saraki is being invited for questioning by EFCC on the same issues for which he had been cleared!

    While other political parties are joining ranks and reaching out to aggrieved members, PDP is busy demonizing and dividing its house. The Nigeria Police Force under the current dispensation is increasingly being converted to a mere ‘armed brigade’ for hunting down opponents and perceived enemies of the president’s second term project. Only last week, a few days after its illegal withdrawals of security details of Senator Saraki and Baraje, the Inspector General of Police contemptuously sent his boys to prevent Governor Amaechi and his visiting former speakers from entering into Government House.

    • Barakat writes from Lagos

  • From the Cell Phone

    Segun Gbadegesin

     

    The war within is a mere strategy by Atiku Abubakar and six or seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to get Jonathan out of the way for 2015 presidency. Whose interest is Atiku serving? The interest of the masses he failed, with Obasanjo for eight fruitless years. Atiku can fight the war within and destroy PDP, without realising that a parasite that thrives within a system and fights for the demise of that system, dies with the system. Of what good is it, if he wins the war within and loses the one outside? Nigerians are awaiting his account of stewardship as Vice President. A bad follower cannot and will never be a good leader. From Emma, Awka

    Nigerians are doomed if the faction called the New PDP takes over power to form government because it has nothing to offer. Look at its demands: 1. Mr. President should not recontest in 2015; meaning disregard constitutional principles. 2. EFCC should stop investigating us; meaning forget about good governance which strives on accountability. 3. Restore PDP structures in our states to us. 4. Remove PDP National Chairman; just for them to have more say and control in the party. It is all self-interest and nothing for Nigerians. From Evangelist Ubi Etowa, Director-General, Door to Door Group, CRS

    Thanks for that wonderful article. I commend you for that. But I think that some of our so-called politicians are not patrotic. I also think it goes beyond PDP or APC. What Nigeria needs is a good leader. Thanks! Anonymous

    Re: “The war within.” You have said it all. The crisis within the PDP should not be our problem except that since the war started, all governmental activities have suffered. Look at the plight of ordinary citizens who cannot make ends meet. They do not have access to potable water. There is no electricity to light up their homes. No decent educational facilities for their wards. Those in the rural areas are still defecating in the bush and, for the party in power, these do not bother them except infightings and intrigues. The Yoruba says: To be greater than someone is not a matter of quarelling; supremacy fight cannot be easily obliterated. So, let them continue to fight one another. APC is standing by to rescue Nigerians from the claws of wolves. What a shame! From Prince Adewumi Agunloye

    “The war within”. Well said! A party whose members are governed by the principle of personal gaim and egoism. If the party leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, had placed priority on PDP members over service to Nigerians, it may have been war outside; primarily, war with human rights activist. It is time for the media to welcome more comments as The Nation had done. The centre in PDP close circuit politics cannot hold, the egoism imploded and exploded, and now they have fallen apart, courtesy to Chinua Achebe of blessed memory. From Dickson Unogu, Warri

    I agree with you; they are warring only for their personal interests. I cannot wait for a revolution against this undemocratic democracy in Nigeria. From Opde Emmanuel, Port Harcourt

    “The war within” is highly informative. From Barr. Azikiwe

    O“The war within” is fantastic. PDP is a party for rascals. They lack radicals with good leadership endowment. A house divided among itself must fall. From Chinedu, Delta State

    Segun, answer the Obasanjo’s question: Who is Boko Haram? (A) New PDP (B) Old PDP (C) Elderly Mediators (D) All of the above? From Ichie Uche

    I am really worried because Odili used our money to campaign in his attempt to become the President and now Amaechi from the same state within just 14 years and nobody is talking . Will anything be left for our kids? From Igonikon

    Just as you mentioned, the group has no intrest of the masses at heart. They are self seeking individuals whom on given circumstances would not be able to agree among themselves. Anonymous

     

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    “As the PDP implodes” is another phrase to proclaim the implosion of the presidency. The party preludes the presidency, which gives birth to the presidency. Without the party, the government cannot survive. From Alhaj Hon. ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos

    I want to ask: Is it the old or new PDP that will rule the country for 60 years? Anonymous

    Indeed, “The war within” is a fact. Tell them more. Anonymous

    You guys in the media are trying; calling a spade a spade. The dust is, indeed, gathering. Sooner or later it will spew emissions the effect of which can be disastrous. Woe unto them whose evil designs would wreak havoc. From Nse

    It is a pity that Jonathan has been unable to read between lines that Tukur, Asari Dokubo, Patience and hordes of others are doing more harm to his ego than good. I expected a well- read person like him to have a mind of his own. Jonathan, at times, blows hot, and in another fraction of a second he blows cold. How can a Ph.D holder continue to behave like that? He cannot call his wife to order nor help Tukur rein his tap-like tongue. Does he take Baraje and Oyinlola to be his school boys? He is hardening their hearts the more by his outbursts. Well, my prayer is that Jonathan should continue in this manner as Pharaoh did before his final fall. From F. T. Babatope, State Of Osun

    PDP is gone for good and the burial will hold soon, just watch out. Lastly, there’s a need for total cleansing of our country. From Noble, PortHarcourt

    Many thanks for your very articulate and research-oriented weekly column “At Home Abroad”. The article on PDP implosion is superlative and incomparable. Sir, do us an article on the criminal charges hanging on the necks of all PDP ex-governors, members of the National Assembly (NASS), Farouk Lawan, Hembe, ministersb and others now strutting about. I hope I am not asking too much. Regards. From Aghaobodo Oyem Esq, Asaba.

    You always speak my mind. I have no doubt Jonathan will be disgraced out of office. Remember what he did to Hon. Justice Salami? Keep up the goodwork. From Dan, Esq. Abuja

    In fact, the man saw defeat a long time ago. He is only looking for a scapegoat for his fall. He has forgotten the law of Karma. Anonymous

    I read your piece on Mr. President and his crew which I must say is the first and vivid comment on this show of shame and disgrace the so-called biggest party in Africa is going through. It proves right the saying that the people around a man make or mar him. The people around Jonathan are his curse and they will eventually bring him doom and put his name on the blacklist of Nigeria’s history. From Agu Daniel

    You are a prophet; all these will come to pass. Comparing the happenings now in Nigeria and the Bible is a good way of avoiding the impending disgrace that awaits Jonathan in 2015. Those of us that suported him then will reject him vehemently. Anonymous

    I must concur with you but, it is rather unfortunate that ignorant fellows run political parties here. The conclusions of these struggles are certain: the PDP would be denied oxygen and Jonathan would have no platform to contest in 2015. Knowledgeable leaders must come to these conclusions also because with the general resentments against Jonathan and PDP— the people see Jonthan as Judas and Baraje group as the messiah. Nigerians should prepare for the emergence of a new president before 2015. These are the destinations of the present chaos. From Akin Malaolu

    Thanks for your article. Never mind, those who fail to learn from the lessons of history will live to regret it! They should be directed to read the book tiltled “The House Has Fallen” by Meyer. From Chris, Ilesa, Osun State

    The implosion of PDP as a party was long overdue. The party is made up of so many strange bedfellows. People who are selfish and self-centred. What we are witnessing is their lack of internal democracy, party discipline, and cohesion. But other political parties should be on the alert because they may bounce back and do what they know best – rigging. From Ojo A. Ayodele, Emure Ekiti

    When the horse has lost the will to move, the rider does not force a mechanical move. Of all the registered political parties in Nigeria, the one which came closest to fulfilling its promises – or lack of it – is the Peoples Democratic Party. The party had promised nothing. And that pretty much was what it delivered. Is Bamanga Tukur aware that a threat is merely a promisory note of retaliation, to be paid at some future date when one has the capability? Where is Vincent Ogbulafor, today? Despite its attractions to a ruthless leader, war has an obvious disadvantage: one side is liable to be utterly defeated and it might be his. The implosion of PDP was timely. From O. O. Adegoke, Ikhin, Edo State

    He who says injustice is his daily food will surely dwell in the cloud of injustice. Oyinlola connived with the presidency and removed Ayo Salami because he stood on justice. Now Oyinlola is crying wolf over the sealing off of their factional secretariat, do me I do you man no go vex. Both old and new PDP are birds of a feather. Tukur is talking from both sides of his mouth, believing that that the President loves him. The President will disgrace him even more than his predecessors. The president said no PDP no Nigeria, he is still living in the past. He will be disappointed unceremoneuosly. He is a day dreamer. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos

    In 1975 at the peak of Gowon’s misrule, several writers offered free constructive advice to him but all fell on deaf ears. A lot has been said to Jonathan in the past one year but his wife and self conceited loyalists will not let him listen nor hear. Another begining of the end? From Tunde Opada, Eruku, Kwara State

     

    For Olakunle Abimbola

     

    I doubt it so much whether the political nincompoops go through these golden articles. Anyhow, history and posterity will vindicate you, with the unfolding turn of events. From Prince Sina Agunlejika

    The fear of APC is the beginning of crisis in PDP. From Gordon Chika Nnorom

    Re: “Of Rehoboam and Jonathan.” You are a very brilliant and loaded writer. I thirst after The Nation on Tuesdays. I just cannot stop reading this piece over and over. It is complete. But a prayer: PDP must ‘kaput’; whether Wike ‘wikes’, or Jang ‘jangles’. From Jimo Akeran, Igbesa, Ogun State

    Re:“Of Rehoboam And Jonathan”. I laughed when I read that ‘…Jonathan appears to be the first Nigerian President voted out of power’. Sir, without mincing words, President Jonathan is not a wise ruler like the biblical Solomon. He is simply a disappointment. Unlike Ojukwu’s comment when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo passed on, Goodluck Jonathan would be the worst president Nigeria ever had. Watch it; he will soon be politically irrelevant. From Lekan Ajayi, Ibadan

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

     

    Reacting to your piece in The Nation newspaper of September 17 on page 17, which you titled ‘The King’s goats’, particularly the aspect having to do with denying Governor Rotimi Amaechi access to Government House in Port Harcourt,, I want to advise you spend time and money to get the facts so as to avoid misinforming the public. Anonymous, Port Harcourt.

    Re: The king’s goats. The end remains the termination of a cinema show!. Whether the King’s goats or sheep, good governance is our requirement from the ‘king’. I am bothered less about the motive of relieving the nine ministers of their job. To me, that was a routine by all Nigerian previous leaders in the 36 states and the 774 local governments, including those that are yet to govern. Why? Changing or reshuffling in Nigeria is an erroneous index of performance. No matter the number of times reshuffle is done, and no matter for how long some ‘goats’ are kept or retained by the ‘king’, ‘We the people’ will eventually mark the scripts to determine his/their continued existence. From Lanre Oseni.

    Please tell me in which country has political party members asked the president not to run for a second term. Your paper should leave the president alone. Anonymous.

    The president is playing politics of reprisal, which is very dangerous to the survival of our democracy. Politics is about persuasion, not vengeance. There is no amount of explanation that will make the world believe the president about the sacked ministers. He fired them because they are loyal to the ‘New PDP’. If that is how the president plays his own politics, he should prepare for battle. The president has played into the hands of his enemies by listening to those sycophants around him. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    The cabinet reshuffle was long overdue, but was it done based on non-performance or as an agenda for 2015? I asked this question because some of the sacked ministers had performed so well to remain in office. They were taken out because of their association with the so-called ‘disloyal’ governors. There are some ministers that need to be sacked for not living up to expectations in spite of the resources at their disposal. We have taken it as a good step in the right direction for the president to take bold steps in his actions for cabinet reshuffle. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Tunji, the fact is that Jonathan has respected the ‘rebels’ so much. Atiku should know that he is under Jonathan today just as Jonathan was under him when he was vice president. Everybody in Nigeria is under him (Jonathan) today. All oracles, witches, wizards, marine powers, all are under him. So, they should allow him do his job. If they are fighting Mr. President, let him fight back, and stop siddon look’. Atiku could not control PDP in his ward. Anonymous.

  • A terrible waste of youth

    The system that fed Daniel Oikhena’s foreign fetish functions unhindered as official and unofficial responses to the 13 year-old’s illegal attempt via Arik Air’s wheel compartment to land in his cherished United States of America indicate. Attention appeared devoted to excising wanderlust from the fresh-faced teenager when the escapade symptomises a growing socio-cultural malaise.

    Isolating the popular stowaway from rampant cases of desert ‘pilgrimages’ and stormy Mediterranean voyage to hostile ports of Italy and Spain elevated official negligence to high art.

    Daniel’s late August emanation as Lagos State’s non-august visitor highlighted the country’s lingering state of dysfunction from decades of poor leadership as demonstrated by incendiary approach to the 2015 general elections and slipshod handling of a national strike by university lecturers. Despite efforts by the authorities to manage the Daniel affair, the notoriety of illegal emigration and near-collapse of the national structure clearly erode national ethos.

    What does the Nigerian desperately seek to get away from? Why did Daniel lack counsel? Are the allegations of maltreatment, despite his parents’ denial, true? How did the lad manage to replicate a stunt from at least one of the American films he may have watched? Are movie stunts, shorn of technological garb, simple enough to be replicated anywhere?

    I digress with the latter query, subject to the reader’s indulgence, of course. Nonetheless, I will submit a solution. Not necessarily deploying common formula that parents and guardians limit the hours children spend in front of the TV as wholesale aping of Nollywood actors and American superstars little accentuate development of the young mind. Wards with fertile imagination and more than a healthy dose of adventure and iron will, as young Daniel’s demeanour implied, also require special attention from teachers as well.

    But by what means should these traits be determined? Well, I leave that to the experts. What if the relevant ministries and child welfare agencies in the land are, in common with other ministries and government agencies, staffed by political appointees? Then we shall have to do things right for once, shan’t we?

    In place of the more temporary curtail of adolescent daydreaming, let the state address obsolete facilities and wield the big stick on errant officials. Let the system support parenthood with roles as correct as possible. And let negative impact of American popular culture on Nigerian youth through social networking sites, fashion, music, films and language be countered with indigenous language, art and cultural material packaged for or not for profit by experts with government supervision.

    To refine young minds and achieve analytical depth, leisure should transcend late-hour frolic. Tours to amusement arcades, recreation centres and theme parks could compete with trips to shopping malls, nightclubs and bars. Thoughtful movies, cultured music and exciting games at film theatres, art galleries and secure stadia should displace the drumbeats of war. Eventually, the tense youth would sooner stroll through a city park or read a book than practice violence.

    But the onus rests not with the government alone. The private sector, driven by the rich and successful, if monopolistic, should invest in social facilities targeting the youth. Donation of laboratories, libraries, furniture, hostels and flood relief materials in tandem with establishment of youth-based facilities across the country would consequently please the optimistic and disarm the critic.

    The country operates in the zone of minnows because talent continually slips catchment. Contrast, for example, the productivity of United States of America’s baseball, basketball, athletics and football collegiate systems with the scenario of local sports policies gathering dust and principals and games-masters ruing technical equipment. The U.S. nurses successive generations of world-beaters and commercial icons thus while raw talents pummel the innocent beneath bridges or chase after motor vehicles on Nigerian highways to hawk sachet water. And we mourn the dearth of Olympic sprinters and pugilists.

    With serial erection of opulent edifices by corrupt businessmen and officials daily gobbling playgrounds across the country, the society continues to chew its young and spew ambition. Idle youth find expression in the south as kidnappers cum robbers, and in the north as ‘Civilan JTF’, the vigilante youth group meant to assist security agents fighting the Boko Haram scourge. You have heard of ‘dogs of war’; well, now you have ‘pups of war’. It’s war for sport; strife for school; AK-47s for pens; body bag for school bag; and body count for medal count.

    No system can be more irresponsible than one that allows its promising youth to be devoured by professional terrorists. What happens when the terrorists prevail as occurred with the mowing of 24 young fighters in Borno State recently? The army or government goes on to pacify surviving but broken relatives with tokens? Members of the youth militia, despite heeding the call to serve their communities, hardly signed up to die for the country.

    Crime-fighting should be reserved for the well-trained aided by technology and welfare. As significant, administrators must seek to constantly match policy with manpower recruitment so as to forestall troop decimation and protect collective integrity. No true citizen would desire otherwise.

    At an estimated 70 per cent of the population, the youth is the strength of the nation, functioning as the most critical sector for planning and administrative purposes. Officially for leadership failure, the sack of erstwhile Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadir, indicted the government’s selection and appointment process as much as rife conjecture of the former minister’s ‘sin’ of fraternising with opposing figures. Subsequent ceding of supervision to the sports ministry barely convinced as it signified official rating of the ministry’s relevance to national development.

    The Nigerian child lives a brutish life. The late author and irrepressible wit, Quetin Crisp, noted of life: “You fall out of your mother’s womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave.” I say of our youth: “You push out of your mother’s womb, you crawl across lacklustre country under sentimental fire, and drop into an intellectual grave.”

    Despite the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) singsong, inadequate maternal and child healthcare as the first obstacle precedes basically flawed education marked by poverty – with or without school shoes – fraudulent textbook supply, and inadequate teacher training and motivation. With youth guidance and counselling at deplorable levels, lucky is the child that eventually matches career choice with talent and commensurate training.

    The space science and astronomy classes initiated by the Lagos State government may be a brilliant idea but once implemented it must be sustained and improved by successive administrations for enduring relevance. That would help filter the system for minds inclined to greater ideals and, better still, spare an embarrassed nation further blushes from archaic learning.

    Beyond psychiatric test for young Oikhena or talk of separating the boy from an apparently unfit home always lay the blueprint for action. Failing to evolve with the times is, in spite of our hapless selves, failing to save Daniel from himself, let alone reining in Leroy Ugaga, the 25 year-old wannabe that attempted despicable rehash from the same base in the wake of Daniel’s futile shuttle. That, people, is the real McCoy. He, besides apathetic officials, needs psychiatric treatment more.

    Nigerian society with its peculiar values failed the stowaway, and we must quickly institute reform to avert youth atrophy. Scholarship award from Southwest-based socio-volunteer group, De Raufs, may have tempered agitation somewhat, but Daniel’s parents and the government fatefully bear the standard in youth welfare revolution.

  • God save the king

    It could have passed for the ultimate evangelical statement if the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, had abdicated rather than eat his words. By such spectacular somersault, he would have delivered a potent message about his awakening, for that was what his attempted corruption of culture was all about. In the end, however, he demonstrated a rather disappointing failure of conviction.

    There is a fitting Biblical metaphor for his spiritual superficiality. In the well known story about The Rich and the Kingdom of God, a man approached Jesus, saying, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”  The answer he got was unexpected. Jesus replied, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

    It is evidential that the Itsekiri monarch was not actually ready for such spiritual sublimity, though he desired the image of a committed Christian, which itself was an aberration on account of his position as the official custodian of indigenous religion. There is no doubt that he has luxuriated in royal splendour  since his ascension to the throne in May 1987, which makes the new spiritual awareness that he flaunted 26 years after a study in the complexity of faith.

    It is unclear how long he had nursed the ambition to overturn the cultural situation of his people, but when he eventually unveiled his mission, it would appear that he underestimated the depth of devotion to ancestral values in Warri Kingdom. Or, ironically, perhaps he derived overconfidence from his apparent sovereignty, which itself was informed by the very customs he wished to extinguish. Apart from the legal colour of the edict he issued in order to achieve his purpose, nothing else gave credit to his background as a lawyer and the second university graduate to take the kingdom’s throne. The idea he championed was not thoroughly contemplated, and betrayed certain confusion about religion.

    “The New Order of Iwere Kingdom”, which he tried to decree, was food for thought, particularly its proscription of the 533-year-old royal title, Ogiame ,  and substitution with a nebulous reference to “a royal priest in the Order of Melchizedek.”  The diction of the edict demonstrated the burden of ignorance. It read: “I also repent of the name and title of “Ogiame” that my ancestors and I have borne, as it connotes our allegiance to Umalokun (god of the river) and other deities of the sea, all of which are false gods.”   The Olu said, “We have also been worshipped as gods by the people under our rule and in our domain,” and prohibited “all sacrifice of wine, blood, food, water, kola nut and other items (known and unknown) offered in Iwere land.”

    However, it was the peak of cultural and religious sightlessness when he declared, “On behalf of the royal bloodline, the throne, the people of Iwere land, I publicly enter into a new covenant with God.” This represented the most devastating blow against indigenous religion, and carried all the weight of backward thinking. It was reminiscent of the logic of British colonialism and the Great Commission promoted by the early white missionaries.  Consciously or unwittingly, he painted the outdated image of a dark continent and locals living in spiritual wilderness.

    Intriguingly, the Olu could not locate the Almighty in Iwere culture, at least in the sense in which he understood the concept. His perspective was tragic and worrying because it revealed an abysmal lack of understanding   about the place of indigenous religion and culture in a global village of multiple faiths. A primary lesson of this “collision of altars” is the difficulty of indigenous religion in the context of a diverse globe in which certain faiths have the advantage of apparent numerical dominance.

    The example of Susanne Wenger, the departed famous Austrian artist who became a priestess of Yoruba religion, has relevance in this drama. She championed a crusade for the conservation of nature in the Osun Osogbo Grove in Osun State, which is the site of perhaps Nigeria’s best known cultural and religious festival in honour of a river goddess; it is also an official World Heritage Site. She was, interestingly, accommodating of all paths that led to divinity. Contemplate this quote: “There are innumerable ways to get spiritually involved. But you must find your own way.” There is no doubt about the global recognition of Yoruba religion, which is reinforced by the fact that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2005 added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

    The Atuwatse II, who was known as Godwin Toritseju Emiko before kingship, is perfectly entitled to the demands of his “informed conscience”, but so are others who may not share his publicised Christianity. It’s a pity that he prompted a communal revolt by his role, which was essentially anti-people. However, he also helped, inadvertently, to encourage a re-examination of the pervasive syncretism across the country. For the rebellion against his edict was not necessarily a vote for purity in the practise of indigenous religion; it was more like a call for moderation in the zeal for the foreign faith.

    For sure, he will now need the inscrutable benevolence of the Almighty to retain the dignity of his office, having succeeded in self-demystification. Things will no longer be the same, even if he sits on the throne. It is noteworthy that rescinding the edict does not translate into the diminution of inclination; and social pacification does not eliminate suspicion. In the end, Wenger’s words ring true. With profound insight, she reasoned, “We can only hope that the things we believe are true.”

     

    • Macaulay is on the editorial board of The Nation