The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • What do we in the South-west want?

    We, the masses of the people of the South-west are living in poverty – in a degree of poverty that we have never known in our history. For us, independent Nigeria has meant poverty and more poverty. We are not used to living in poverty. We know confidently that we can beat this poverty – our history proves that unambiguously. We are confident that the boys we vote for to govern our states can lead us to victory in the fight. All we want is a chance to fight unhampered. We are not asking for favours.

    The agency that hampers struggle and success in all parts of Nigeria today is the Federal Government. It was not so in the 1950s. From the time when our country became a federation in 1952, and until 1962, the federating units of our federation (the then regions) had enough autonomy, and enough of control over their own life and resources, to make progress in all directions. The Federal Government was not an obstacle then, as it is today. And the Federal Government was not weak at all. There was a careful and sensible balance between the powers given to the Federal Government and the powers given to the regional governments. The regions were made the centres of detailed development, while the Federal Government was made to stand above all, protect the regions, defend our country, and speak for our country in the world. That was the kind of sane and sensible arrangement that our leaders (our Awolowo, Azikiwe, and Ahmadu Bello) agreed upon. Each region had its own Coat of Arms, its own flag, even its own representative in London to see to its affairs abroad. It was not perfect, but it was good enough – and it worked very well.

    It was under this sensible arrangement that the genius of our Awolowo could blossom in our Western Region. He was a thinker, planner and achiever above all others. Our region was free to breathe and live and thrive. Under this atmosphere of freedom, our Awolowo and his team of capable colleagues were able to make miracles happen. That is how our region became “First in Africa” in a whole lot of development achievements. But the other regions were proudly achieving too. Gradually, in the Eastern Region, a culture of small industrial businesses raised its head. The Northern Region was starting far behind the Western and Eastern Regions in education, but, under its great leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Northern Region embarked upon a very admirable development progress in many directions too. In the midst of all this excitement, we celebrated Independence in 1960. Our Nigeria was growing and prospering and heading for the highest in the world. And we young Nigerians proudly bragged to our friends in the countries where we were studying abroad that our Nigeria would soon become the Blackman’s World Power of modern times.

    Then came 1962 – yes, 1962, the year that we Nigerians must forever remember with sadness, no matter what the future may hold for our country. In that year, the people in power in the Federal Government thought to themselves that this region called the Western Region was just too successful on its own strength, too confident, too proud. Therefore, they decided that the Western Region needed to be humbled, cut down and subdued. Most of our young people of today do not know this horrible story. I was young then. I had just graduated from university. The day I finished my last BA degree examination at Ibadan, the car sent by my employers to bring me to my new job was waiting for me in front of the examination hall. By evening, I was somewhere in my new job. That was the way that we citizens of the Western Region lived in those days. After graduating, it was time for us to start supporting the parents who had supported us in the long years of higher education; and it was time to start helping our younger brothers and sisters to get higher education too. Our life was orderly and sure. We walked the earth with assurance and pride. Then suddenly, the federal plot to destabilize our region went to work. Our regional government started to crumble all around us. It was awful! It was very awful!

    Those who should have advised against the attack on our region, and who might have perhaps prevented the attack on our region, chose to support the attack. They calculated that our fall would benefit them somehow. Our pace-setter region was overrun and brutalized – until we the youths of the region rose up and struck back with a mighty revolt. Our revolt shook Nigeria to its foundations.

    And from that, there followed many disruptive developments, the central piece of which was a series of military coups and military dictatorships going on until 1999. The people holding federal power in 1962 had attacked our region because they wanted the Federal Government to become much stronger than it was – to control much more power over Nigeria. In essence, they wanted to destroy the federal arrangement. The military dictatorships that followed wanted the same. One of the major ways in which they went about achieving that unwise goal was to splinter the country into more and more states – until we finally reached 36 states. Their creating more and more states may look like a desire to give more and more local parts of Nigeria power over their own lives. But that was not their real intension. Local demands for states gave them the opportunity to splinter the country into small weak states that the Federal Government could easily dictate to. For instance, saying that the new small states were simply too small and too weak to hold the assets and development products of the former three regions, (highways, universities, control over export products, etc), they seized all for the Federal Government. To control the Local Governments in each state, they listed the Local Governments in the Nigerian Constitution and provided that they should deal directly with the Federal Government – so that the Federal Government maybe able to manipulate them against their state governments. A federal system disappeared, and Nigeria became essentially a country ruled under a unitary system of government.

    As things stand today, it is no longer clear what the state governments can freely do. There is hardly anything the Federal Government does not interfere in. We have seen the Federal Government stop states from building or improving roads, or claim to be the sole controller of all natural resources, or take over taxes paid by companies doing business in the states, or order the police into action in states or even march soldiers into states without any consultation with the state governments, or insist on determining the number of Local Governments in states, etc. The Federal Government presumes to have the right to sack the elected governors of states, and to dictate how much state and Local Governments will pay to their employees. The Federal Government is the mighty power behind the culture of corruption that has wrecked Nigeria’s name in the world. It is the enormous agency that promotes and guarantees poverty in Nigeria. The Federal Government stands in the way of state authorities ambitious and eager to fight poverty in their states. This is not a judgment on this or that president. It does not matter who the president may be. If we do not urgently curb the excessive powers and presumptions of the Federal Government of our country, and restore considerable development competence to the federating units of our federation, poverty will rise to such heights that Nigeria will not be able to contain the anger it generates.

    That is why we the citizens of the South-west, as one people, want the Nigerian federation to be restructured without delay. Together in our own region, we can beat poverty and return to a life of progress and prosperity. But this ambition is not a selfish one. All peoples of Nigeria will benefit. And Nigeria as an entity in the world will benefit.

    So, we say to all our politicians, our governors, our federal and state legislators, and members of our local governments: Pool your energies and influences in your parties, caucuses and alliances, to get the Nigerian federation restructured now. Recover the autonomy which our regions enjoyed in the Nigerian federation until 1962. All that has been concocted to replace the federation that we had at independence is an imposture which most Nigerians detest and reject. Liberate yourselves so as to be free to give us the kind of government we desire – the kind of government that can lead us quickly out of poverty. We elected you, and we will stand solidly behind you. In whatever you do in your politics, make sure that you include the restructuring and restoring of the Nigerian federation seriously on the front burner, and you can count on our unflinching support. We are watching.

  • Duress and peace in Delta

    As the news of the sad event swept through the Benin River Itsekiri communities in Warri North Local Government area of Delta State, it sent shock waves down the spines of people. That attack on over six Itsekiri communities and villages in that area by a group of Ijaw youths penultimate week still baffles a lot of people. Why would a group of disgruntled militants wake up one day and decide to go on a killing spree of their fellow citizens who did not do them any harm or provoke them by any means?

    It is already sad enough that the nation is facing many security issues that have been claiming so many lives and rendering a lot of people jobless and homeless. With this latest unwarranted attack by the Ijaw youths, one begins to wonder when the problem of ethnic hatred and hegemony will ever come to an end in Nigeria. If mere instincts for economic and social survival could push a group of people to have the mind to exterminate as many as 20 hapless people in one day, what is the real essence of that means of survival if the people eventually get it?

    It is no longer contestable that what propelled this attack on the part of the Ijaw youths was the quest to grab their own largesse of the oil rig. When this group of boys who are also dislocated militants discovered that they have been edged out of the Federal government amnesty which has guaranteed oil rig to other Ijaw militants, they opted to make their presence known and felt by the Nigerian populace. But why attack hapless and innocent Itsekiri people in order to register their grouse and anger?

    It is well known throughout the nation that the Ijaws are the greatest beneficiaries of the amnesty programme. And so it follows that at this grave moment in the nation’s internal crises, the youths should understand and so do well to encourage that peace reigns supreme in the land. But the boys resorted to sporadic attacks on their neighbours just to curry for attention and probably arm-twist the government of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan to give them their own booty. That was however, a very wrong calculation and approach to an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with the state government of Delta, nay the Itsekiri people themselves.

    When the Ijaw youths first attacked their own communities and there was no hue and cry, they decided to move over to their Itsekiri neighbours. This was to draw the anger and response of the people and bring the state to pay attention to their nefarious demands. But how can that be, when Governor Uduaghan has given the state its most glorious and peaceful years since he became the number one citizen of the state? Who doesn’t love peace? Why would people want to puncture the normal flow of things in the state now?

    As it is, it does not do anyone any good to begin to foment trouble now. That the Ijaws were asking that the Chairmanship of Warri North Local government area at Koko be given to an Ijaw man, to many right-thinking Nigerians, was a mere smoke screen. They know that democratic governance is done through the ballot boxes. So, why would the people just wake up and push an Ijaw man into the position of the Chairmanship of the local government?

    Even the trouble-makers who went all out killing and maiming for that purpose know it is not possible. It is not possible simply because it was the people who voted their chairman into office. An election time is the appropriate moment to make the desired change in the status quo and that is exactly what the grumbling youths should wait and do in the next election in the local government.

    When the Itsekiri Legacy Rebirths met last week over the issue, they made a lot of observations that are meant to help douse the temper in the region. It is instructive that the Itsekiri youths have been prevailed upon not to retaliate. This is a good sign, showing the maturity of civilized people. It is also good that government should on its part fish out the perpetrators of this barbaric act to serve as a deterrant to others. Appropriate punishment should be meted out to them so that peace in Delta State can continue unobtrusively.

    It is interesting to note that the resilience and wisdom of Governor Uduaghan, an Itsekiri man, shows a leader with a big heart, a leader who knows how to accommodate others for the sake of peace. But that should not be taken for granted. Those who have been displaced should be provided for. And the Federal government whose amnesty gestures take care of militant groups in the area should act first to prevent a reoccurrence. It doesn’t make any sense when another person is made to suffer due to the neglect done by the other. Amnesty is solely a federal government concern which no group of people for whatever reason should try to localize or trivialize for their selfish end.

    Characteristically, the Delta State government has been showing deep sense of political savvy in its dealings with different groups in the state. Therefore, everybody ought to come together to encourage this peaceful coexistence so that both economic and political El-dorado will continue to be the lot of everyone.

    By embarking on the rebuilding of these communities and compensating the families that lost their loved ones, that sense of love and peace will equally permeate the inner-recesses of the people. There has to be a sense of reassurance both in the people and in the communities if the proper apparatuses of security are put in place to checkmate the excesses of criminals in the region.

    If at the point of laying down their arms for amnesty in 2009, a lot of Ijaw youths still possess some, it is a clear indication that there is no sincerity in the exercise in the first place. This is one of the issues the Amnesty committee has to look into so as to allow Deltans to continue to savour their peace. We cannot isolate peace from the progress of the state. The youths themselves should be busy doing legitimate businesses to help for a better society for all.

    • Mene writes from Sapele

  • From the cell phone

    For Dare Olatunji

     

    I believe our society is governed by laws as guaranteed by our constitution and one of such laws prescribes capital punishment for such offence, which you disagree with. That this aspect of law is no longer obtainable in some countries is no reason why it should be jettisoned. You seemed to suggest offences, including capital, should not be investigated or subjected to due process of extant law. I can only imagine and shudder at what becomes of our society when we get to the situation you canvass. We can ill afford this. Take Boko Haram for example, the government has been accused of not doing enough to stop it, yet no one has made any suggestion to bring about any solution to the menace. Please, capital punishment should be. To govern a country like Nigeria with propensity for crimes, sans capital punihment is an invitation to anarchy. From Ikem

    We humans cannot be as wise as God. When someone kills a fellow human being and investigation proves it, the killer has to be killed too. Anonymous

    If you allow a killer to go scot-free with impunity, any other person may be his next target. Anonymous

    When the law prescribes a punitive measure against a certain offence in the society, any lawful authority that uses that law lawfully against the offender must not be reprimanded. Such an authority has done nothing wrong other than obeying the law. From Ewang

    I totally disagree with your opinion on the back page of The Nation Newspaper of July 9, on capital punishment. It was full of sentiments not in tandem with our culture and tradition. No amount of advocacy can destroy a solid fact no matter how wealthy it might be. The Bible says, those who kill by the sword shall die by the sword. I am wondering what other governors are waiting for to sign the execution of other convicts. I believe you read Justice Mary Odili’s observations in affirming the conviction of a soldier who strangulated his 12-year-old wife for ritual purposes. Your paper on Saturday July 6, reported it. Should such convict be allowed to go or stay and eat in the prison hoping for parole? I disagree with you. From Iroh Cosmas, Enugu

    There is a mystic bond between wrong and punishment. The wrong is the negation of the right and punishment is the negation of that negation. It is of essence that punishment should be directly proportional to the wrong. From Lucas Nwaoboshi

    With an Adams on the throne, those executed would have thought that death had bypassed them. bBut till their last breadth, they could not understand what went wrong. Who is to blame? The government that did not care for its citizens, or its poor citizens who took to crime to survive? Things have really fallen apart for the dead and the centre can never hold again. Anonymous

    The unruly servant makes a wild master. First, stop Boko Haram before eliminating capital punishment in Nigeria. We are not yet ripe for that. Talk about Black Apartheid in Nigeria between the self-styled Majority and the rest of us. Regards. From AEO, Uyo

    Is there no Black Apartheid in Nigeria? Please, say why my language is not listed in the 1999 Constitution and even in my handset? Thanks! From Augustine, Uyo

    It seems we are running a country of dishonest men and women.True or false? Then, let us move away by launching my book entitled: The Twelve Main Tribes of Nigeria and Struggles to build a United Country. I will send you a copy if you agree to serialise it in the spirit of patroitism. From AEO, Uyo

    I quite agree with you that capital punishment is not a deterrent, albeit life imprisonment without option of parole could be an alternative. But the bottom line is that convicts on death row should be properly tried before THE final execution. This will forestall erroneous execution and miscarriage of justice. From Ojo A. Ayodele, Emure Ekiti

    Capital punishment if removed from our constitution will increase the rate of killing which has assumed a frightening dimension. Nigeria is not ripe for the abolition of capital punishment. From Idris Sule, Abuja.

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    It was a shameful act, thanks for being the mouth piece of the commoners… The man said he never had a shoe to go to school; now that he has got more than one, he does not want us to rest. Anonymous

    Powerful, punchy and absolutely revealing. You have said the truth. Please, note: paragraph 5, line 4; the word is ‘forbidden’. From Ade, Nasarawa

    We all know that the truth is bitter but I strongly believe in the rule of law if Nigeria is operating a democratic system of government. I am strongly with the Rivers State governor and the 27 House members because I know the end shall justify the means. But, before that, we need to stand for the rights of our people. From Cassy

    President Jonathan is not capable of any serious thought that can engineer the kind of transformation envisaged in Segun Gbadegesin’s piece. The only transformational thought our President is capable of is the kind that will transform a shoeless school boy to a stupendously wealthy politician whose wealth can not be reasonably justified outside of graft. From M. A. Tsuwa, No.1 Club Road, Bauchi

    How I wish that that man called Jonathan will read and take a clue from your colomn, because he is heading towards doom day by day. What a piece, “Transformational Leadership Revisited”! Anonymous

    It is painful to see things degenerating to this level in Rivers State. A president who went to school without shoes is now denying others from wearing shoes. Surely, the Commissioner of Police in the state has the backing of the president. It is very clear that Goodluck Jonathan is behind the troubles in Rivers State. Anonymous

    In this Rivers State crisis, Mr. President is not helping matters. We should all be concerned as it has actually affected the country’s image in the comity of nations. Anonymous

    Re: “Transformational leadership revisited.” Personally, Mr President needs to transform some of his advisers in order to get it right, that is: Leadership of transformational development. To some extent, Mr President transformed the rule of law. However, the bully-culture of recent times should be retreated from so that all the three regions or the six geo-political zones will not begin to use the life-jackets with the bad expectation of a sinking boat! From Lanre Oseni

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    Thanks for this incisive treatise on a cancerous issue. When a mother goat chews, its kids watch its jaws. The youths are watching. Trust me, they will surpass their present ‘teachers’ in law-bending and law-breaking…time shall tell! Anonymous

    There are elders in Rivers State, but elders are different from elders. The love of money has beclouded their sense of reasoning. The elders who should have been the pillar of truth in Rivers have become tools the president is using against the governor. The elders in Rivers should remember that their children are watching, that no matter how the president claims to love them, it is not genuine, but for his own political interest. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa Lagos

    Sir, you left no stone unturned in your analysis of the happening in Rivers State. I thought it to be a political interest as it happened to Dariye, Fayose, and others but this one is going brutal. I smell a state of emergency. From Godwin C. C. Mba (Esq)

    The desparation of President Goodluck Jonathan for 20I5 is the root cause of this legislative rascality by these five hypocrites who call themselves lawmakers. These are mere thugs who are not educated about democratic norms. President Jonathan should not challenge God Who has been so merciful to him. It is a terrible thing to fall in the hand of the Lord for God is a consuming fire. Anonymous

    Ordinarily, one would be tempted to admire Governor Rotimi Amaechi as a principled and performing governor. His problem lies in his lack of tact and diplomacy. However, he would overcome. From Barr. Moronkeji

    The elders have compromised. Jonathan should not criticise the coup in Egypt again, he is laying a solid foundation for another one in Nigeria. From Okunlola Kayode Ada, Osun State

    Keep your investigative journalism practice objective. Write-up very good. No negative comment from me than to praise your courage and patriotism. From E. O. Daramola

    Societies most certainly can only beget their kinds. A society full of rascals and thugs can only have elderly rascals and thugs. The situation in Rivers State is a typical example of a society in complete decay. From M. A. Tsuwa. No. 1 Club Road, Bauchi

    Where are the elders? Not once has Governor Amaechi listened to them. Not then; not now. Also, bear in mind that in Rivers State, the governor and the state’s ministerial nominees are never from the same ethnic group. A foolish way to strengthen his nemesis you will say. The man got to Abuja and grabbed extensive powers. Now, the fight to finish is on. Anonymous

    It is like you have stolen my thougts and feelings by what you wrote about Rivers “Where are the elders?” All you wrote is 100% true. Nigeria is in real trouble. An Igbo proverb states that a thief sent by his father, operates without fear. Nigeria is now a community where thieves are guarded by the head of the vigilante while operating. Where can we run to? Like Okonkwo, the father is killing the son instead of protecting him. Things are fast falling apart. From Sunday Ossai, Ketu Lagos

    What is happening in Rivers State is nothing else than the dividend of a stolen mandate. Until we stop one-party system, we would continue to reap this type of dividend. In other words, the Rivers people should note that if we do not stop people who steal our mandates and impose themselves on us, then we will see more doom from them which even the elders cannot stop. As for these acts and actions, only time will tell. From Sunny Igiri, Port Harcourt

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    On ‘Rivers lawless Five’ (your column of July 14) it seems things are getting out of hands in the state. Gov Amaechi should watch his back. Our elders, former presidents, religious leaders, etc. should please intervene to save our hard won democracy. Enough is enough. From Barrister Moronkeji.

    I am a regular reader of The Nation Newspaper. I reside in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State. I have just read your piece in the edition of July 14. I wish sincerely to appreciate, encourage and pray for you and others who are doing what you are doing. The Presidency and its cohorts should know by now that they cannot push the Rivers State governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), out of office through any unconstitutional means. As for the 2015 election, President Jonathan should forget it. We will continue to pray fervently for you all for standing by the truth. Remain blessed. Anonymous.

    Even if the Presidency is claiming ignorance of all that is happening in that state, isn’t it legally and duty bound to stop the madness? With the open activities of the minister of state for education who has abandoned his duty post at this critical period in the education sector, coupled with the public utterances of the First Lady, Nigeria we hail thee! From Agbaakin Akinwale, Ado-Ekiti.

    You Yoruba and your brand of opposition politics! Apart from bad-mouthing the president, you will be deluding yourselves if you think your efforts on Amaechi can yield you any political space in Rivers State. Your fabrications and propaganda are nauseating to decent Rivers people who know Amaechi so well. All the political investments on Amaechi will come to naught, come 2015. From Amadi, Port Harcourt.

    Oga, must all your (The Nation) staff be biased about the presidency and PDP for you to retain your jobs? All the ACN people are perfect in your views! From Ejike.

    Why did Amaechi move to the assembly chambers with his thugs to partake in the fracas? Is he a member of the legislative arm of government? No writer in The Nation is denouncing this invasion? From Okey, Calabar.

    The origin of the /Rivers crisis is three-pronged: quarrel on oil boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa, sharp face between Patience Jonathan, Okrika and Amaechi and Amaechi’s failure or refusal to support Jonathan’s second term! The carrier is not the thief technically, the recipient is the thief! Remove the blame from the President; lay it on Cry-helpers in Wike and the five lawmakers. As it is, in the interest of Nigeria’s survival, just as Nigerians massively attacked Boko Haramism, let good Nigerian elders from the six geo-political regions come together to settle the Rivers crisis. From Lanre Oseni.

    Tunji, you and your ACN masters are also in the Solomon’s court. After luring the young and misguided Amaechi to overreach himself and he is about to get the reward of a very unwise political investment, you are now insinuating and wishing a forceful regime change, just as the UPN and the Western press did in 1983. God forbid; Nigeria is stable and President Jonathan is in charge. You people should stop misleading the people. Let the voters decide. Clearly, they can see through your mediocre write-ups. Anonymous.

    How can five lawmakers claim that they had impeached the speaker who has 26 members behind him? It sounds funny. The crisis rocking Rivers State House of Assembly is an embarrassment and a slap in the face of the so-called honourable members. Those behind the crisis should sheathe their swords for peace to reign in the state because it is always difficult to build in times of crisis. What happened in the assembly complex is not good for democracy. I believe the world is watching the characters in leadership positions. I am sad about the role of our security agencies in the crisis; rather than finding a solution, they were watching the show of shame. The IGP should redeploy the commissioner of police in the state and other principal officers for taking sides. Nigerians should rise up and say enough is enough. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Your article published in The Nation on the lawless five legislators in Rivers State is very inspiring. Don’t be tired; keep on telling the powers-that-be the truth. Thanks. From Ismaila, Kano.

     

  • Alabi-Isama’s memoir: War by other means

    When all is said and done, it would appear that the Nigeria- Biafra War did not end on January 15, 1970, after all. Contrary to formal history, the conflict, ignited on July 6, 1967, merely took on new forms and dimensions, following other courses, employing   different weapons, and redefined by changing perspectives. It is 43 years after the internecine warfare was deemed over, but fresh wounds are still visible, and the fighting fields are as active as ever. The combatants are still busy, plotting, calculating, and thinking strategy, their vision fixed on the conquest of foes.

    This reality is, by deduction, the motivation for the title of a captivating new book on the war by Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama, paradoxically called The Tragedy of Victory. The 670-page tome loaded with about 500 pictures and maps, promoted as an on-the-spot narrative of  combat in the fiery Atlantic theatre, is the latest and, perhaps, the most comprehensive account of the civil war so far, particularly from the federal side.

    “We’re back to status quo, which is a complete tragedy,” Alabi- Isama told a team of journalists from The Nation, comprising Sam Omatseye, chairman of its Editorial Board, and two members, Steve Osuji and yours truly. The context was an interview in a book-filled room at the headquarters of Spectrum Books in Ibadan, Oyo State.  It was afternoon, and the 73-year-old author, an animated conversationalist, spoke as if shooting at targets, with an impressive presence of mind and precision of expression. On the fundamental question as to the accuracy of his historical work, he said, “I have 450 pictures in the place. I am talking about facts and figures.” The beauty of his book, he emphasized, was its pictorial fidelity.  ”That’s it. That’s all. Otherwise it would be my words versus his words,” he said of the authoritative value of the photos, while positioning the book as a counter –narrative to an earlier account of the war by another major participant on the federal side, speaking of the 1980 book My Command by General Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Still on the potency of photos, one remarkable individual who was at the war front in a soft capacity also experienced the interview with Alabi-Isama. There was a small group of observers in the room, and this unobtrusive man was eventually introduced as the war photographer whose lenses captured the violent drama of those unforgettable years. He was 69-year-old Bolomope Amusa, who said, “Photography is the best method of keeping permanent record.” Not only Alabi-Isama owes this man an incalculable debt, the world is indebted to him as well for his visual documentation of the war. The documentarian’s skill produced an amazing range of pictures that covered various faces of war. Although one individual was not in that room, her spirit hovered. She was Alabi-Isama’s mother, who somehow kept the pictorial treasures, perhaps waiting for this day when her son would need them to tell his own story.

    Indeed, Alabi-Isama’s war memoir seeks not only to contradict Obasanjo’s; its ultimate ambition is to rubbish the latter as well. This is a fascinating combat, to speak in martial terms, for both soldiers belonged to the legendary Third Marine Commandos (3MCDO), with then Lt. Col.  Alabi-Isama as Chief of Staff and then Colonel Obasanjo as Commander, having replaced the famous “Black Scorpion,” then Col Benjamin Adekunle, ahead of the surrender of rebellious Biafra. It is an irony of history that both men are shooting from conflicting sides about a war in which they were participants in the same camp.  “I’m detribalized, so my thinking is clear,” Alabi-Isama told the interviewers. Apart from the fact that he had a Christian father from the Niger Delta and a Muslim mother from Ilorin, Kwara State, his reference to ethnicity was inevitable, for it was the nub of the escalation of hostilities that lasted three years. However, although the guns stopped booming in a physical sense, the martial metaphor remains. Interestingly, but sadly, the country is still in a state of war, still torn by the ethnic idea, still held captive by tribal imagination. This noticeable frozenness, of course, has consequences. The intense ethnicization of the space of political power, with the centrifugal results threatening the country’s soul, remains the bane of the polity.

    This tragic trajectory informed Alabi-Isama’s perspective that the war merely gave a Pyrrhic victory.  His position: It neither improved “our humanity” nor enhanced “our unity”.  True, the pervasive material poverty, the concentration on self, the expansion of the personal to the detriment of the collective, the continuing assault on uniting cords, even the cynical faithlessness regarding  the possibility of convergence in diversity, these are current expressions of  the apparent  failure of the Nigerian Dream.

    “You know those who really lost in this war?” Alabi-Isama asked. He supplied an answer, saying, “The children who witnessed the killing of their parents. Their psyche was marred for life.”  In this way, he captured the evil of the time. He recalled words that rekindled the war, such as, “pogrom and counter-pogrom”, “genocide”, “blockade”, “starvation”, “war strategy”, “war reporting and sensationalism”.  He also spoke of fascinating afflictions of war, the “tiredness” and “madness” that affected the combatants.

    To properly situate Alabi-Isama’s role in the war, it is noteworthy that at the outbreak of hostilities, he was at age 27, according to his book, a troop commander until August 1967, and guarded the Niger Bridge at the Asaba end, before his transfer to the 3MCDO at the Calabar front. He led the attack with three brigades from Calabar to liberate Odukpani, Ikot-Okpora, Iwuru, Akunakuna, Itigidi, Ediba, Ugep, Obubra, Afikpo, Oban, Ekang and closed the international border against Biafra at Nssakpa. He also led the 3CMCDO troops from Calabar in April 1968 to capture Creek Town, Itu, Uyo, Ikot-Ekpene, Oron, Eket, Opobo, Abak, Etinan, Bori-Ogoni, Akwette, Afam, Aletu-Eleme, Elelenwa, Okrika and Port Harcourt in May 1968.

    His war experience as a tactician and strategist, the highpoint of a military career that spanned 1960 to 1977, forms a major part of the book. His early life also takes some space, with the poignant loss of his father when he was just four years old and the filial bonding with his mother being of particular significance in his story. He actually joined the army as Abdurahman Alabi, taking his mother’s family name, and by age 37 his military career was over, on account of retirement allegedly occasioned by a clash with the establishment.

    The Nigeria Project remained dear to his heart, he told the interviewers, adding that he was already looking beyond his first book which will be launched on July 18 at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.   He leaked the title of his sequel: “Nigeria-Biafra: A family at war.”

     

    • Macaulay is on the editorial board of The Nation

  • Okonjo-Iweala and governance in Osun

    Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy has a knack for cutting superfluous controversies. Though highly self-opinionated, her coruscating brilliance is not in doubt. She speaks candidly on any aspect of economics that catches her fancy. One may have deep reservations about her soaring prognosis on the Nigerian dodgy economy and even dislike the somersaulting policies of the government she is a part of; certainly one can’t deny that the former World Bank technocrat often ardently means whatever she gives voice to. It is in this context that I view her recent remarkable appraisal of governance in Osun State. This should remind us of the useful lesson evident in the idiomatic expression that it can be counterproductive to throw out the baby together with the bath water. The minister’s considered utterances sometimes embody unassailable facts.

    I commend Okonjo-Iweala for adding her notable voice to those of many others who have conscientiously spoken about the unprecedented improvement evident in the socio-economic condition of the State of Osun since the advent of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s administration. Media reports quoted the Finance Minister as saying that Aregbesola is a model for good governance, having demonstrated clearly that good governance in Nigeria is feasible. She made the remarks in the address she read at a two-day workshop organised by the World Bank in June at Iloko-Ijesa for volunteers in the Federal Government’s Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). It must be remembered that the unimaginable success of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) necessitated the existence of YESSO. About a year after the introduction of the scheme in Osun, the World Bank reportedly began to study the programme and later submitted that OYES provided a practical platform for mass employment. It recommended the idea to both the Federal Government and states in Nigeria.

    In the said address read by her representative, the National Coordinator of YESSO, Peter Papka, Okonjo-Iweala rightly observed that the initiatives of the ACN government in Osun gave comforting assurance that it is very possible to level the perilously imposing mountains of youth unemployment across the country.

    Hear her: “You [Aregbesola] have demonstrated that good governance is possible with your programmes. You have demonstrated that youth development is possible. Your programmes so far have demonstrated that you are a good example of government and governance”.

    These are no patronising sound bites, for when the minister says “programmes” she guilelessly speaks of the numerous sustainable O’initiatives of the state government, which continue to undeniably redefine the social and economic conditions of the people of Osun.

    That the State of Osun comes first as the state with the least unemployment woes in Nigeria is a reality that can no longer be ignored by those who incessantly carpet its government. Before Aregbesola became governor, those of us who live and make our living in Osun know that the state was a haven of youth unemployment, infrastructural decay and economic stasis. Poverty stalked and menaced the people. But that is no longer the case. The transition that has been witnessed in the state for the past two years now has soothing evidence of concrete transformation. Youths whose lives were steadily wasting away have been rescued, given training in useful skills and empowered to start small businesses. Farmers have their own happy stories to tell. Under the aegis of the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme, agro-allied businesses have received a massive boost. With the computer tablet, free school uniforms, free daily feeding for pupils in Elementary Class 1-4, building of ultra-modern schools across the state, and increase in funding, the education system of Osun as we used to know it has changed significantly. Infrastructural development enjoys adequate attention now. Old roads are being rehabilitated and newer ones are springing up. A few weeks ago I read in the papers that all the nine state hospitals are already being renovated. That is in addition to the marked changes in healthcare services. Indeed, great things are taking place in Osun. Those who can’t hear see them; those who can’t see hear them; and hardly is there a single household in the Land of the Virtuous that doesn’t benefit from the policies of the present government.

    One other way to test for the genuineness and effectiveness of the policies of the Aregbesola administration is to invoke the methodology prescribed by the seasoned British economist, Dudley Seers. According to him, to understand whether a state or country is developing or not, three main questions need to be asked: First, “what has been happening to poverty?” Second, “what has been happening to unemployment?” Third, “what has been happening to inequality?” He contends that if we notice tangible declines in all of these key areas, doubtlessly the entity – state or country – can be said to be in an era of development. However, he cautions that if one or two of those core issues have an organic tale of misfortune, or if the three are becoming more unbearable, it would amount to sheer lunacy to describe that misery of biblical proportion as development.

    Surely, Okonjo-Iweala had issues of unemployment, poverty, and inequality in mind when she lauded Governor Aregbesola as an exemplar of good governance. The capacity of the Osun people to live dignified and meaningful life has been (and is still being) made possible through a consistent and focused implementation of programmes that squarely address poverty, unemployment, and social injustice. This is a fact that a high-ranking PDP apologist has affirmed dispassionately. And I see this as another clinical deconstruction of the two-for-one-penny fable of secession and islamisation that some calcified minds who could not stand the vision of Aregbesola wickedly spawned against him but to no avail.

    •Awopegba writes from Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State.

  • Zoning, Akwa Ibom and 2015

    The 2015 general election promises to be another defining moment for Nigeria as a country. The situation is no different in Akwa Ibom State where the search for the successor of Governor Godswill Akpabio has begun in earnest, even though the elections are still two years away.

    Already there has arisen a lot of argument in many quarters regarding where the next governor should hail from. Ethnic warlords and political jobbers believe the next occupant of the Hilltop Mansion, as the Akwa Ibom State government house is known, must come from the Eket Senatorial District. They argue that the district has never produced a governor in Akwa Ibom since the creation of the state about 25 years ago and that it is the turn of the district to produce the governor of the state in 2015. It is rather regrettable that our brand of politics is based more on ethnic and other primordial considerations rather than the capacity and the ability of the candidate to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. To my mind, we seem to have lost it as a people.

    Akwa Ibom State was created on September 23, 1987 by the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s former military president. The state was carved out of the old Cross River State with Uyo as its capital city. The then Col. Tunde Ogbeha was the first Military Administrator for the state.

    Just like every other state in today’s Nigeria, Akwa Ibom State has three Senatorial Districts namely the Uyo Senatorial District comprising the Ibibio speaking people, the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district populated largely by the Annangs and the Ibibios and the Eket Senatorial District made up of the Oron, Eket and the Ibibio speaking people. Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, the incumbent governor is an Annang man from the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District while his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah is an Ibibio man from Uyo Senatorial District.

    For the avoidance of doubt, at no time has zoning ever been a factor in the governorship election of Akwa Ibom State. The eventual emergence of Obong Victor Attah and even his successor, the incumbent Akpabio as governors at different times were purely an electoral computation and not based on any zoning arrangement, as the race was thrown open to every senatorial district in the state. A closer look at the profile of the various contestants for the governorship seat at different phases of the gubernatorial election may suffice here. The facts are there for anyone to glean from.

    In 1991, during the subtle democratic experiment of former military president, General Babangida, culminating in the creation of two political parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC), the ethnic origin of the aspirants in Akwa Ibom State was never an issue for debate. Prominent aspirants for the governorship race of that era included the late Obong Akpan Isemin from the Uyo Senatorial District under the platform of the National Republican Convention, Etukudo Ekporo, also from the Uyo Senatorial District, under the National Republican Convention political party, Mfon Amana from the Eket Senatorial District under NRC and Ekong Etuk of the SDP from Uyo Senatorial district. However, the political drama of the early 1990s ended with the dissolution of the two political parties of the Babangida era by the late General Sani Abacha.

    Similarly, at the commencement of political activities in 1999, notable gubernatorial aspirants emerged from every section of the state and included Obong Akpan Isemin under the All Peoples Party (APP), Obong Victor Attah, PDP, Uyo Senatorial District, Dr. Mfon Amana (APP) Eket and Benjamin Okoko (PDP) also from Eket Senatorial District.

    Then, again, in 2003, the profile of contestants was equally representative of the different senatorial districts in the state. Notable aspirants who indicated interest in the governorship position included Obong Victor Attah (Uyo ) under the PDP platform, Ambassador Etim Okpoyo and Dr. Udonsak both from the Eket Senatorial Zone, declared their intentions under the platform of the PDP and the ANPP, respectively. Dr. Ime Umanah from the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District joined the race also under the ANPP platform.

    In the same vein, the number, calibre and representativeness of aspirants were to increase in 2007 when democracy appeared to have taken a firmer root in the country. Of the six prominent governorship aspirants, three under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were from the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, namely, Don Etiebet, Dr. Ime Umana and Godswill Akpabio. Uyo Senatorial District produced two aspirants, namely, Group Captain Sam Ewang of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and James Iniama of the Action Congress of Nigeria. Larry Esin was the lone contestant from the Eket Senatorial District. Akpabio won the election and is currently serving his second term in office.

    Furthermore, not even the power of incumbency could deter other aspirants from contesting the 2011 governorship election in the state. Three notable aspirants under the PDP vied for the governorship ticket. Of the three, Akpabio was the lone contestant from the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Imoh Udo from Uyo Senatorial District and Frank Okon from the Eket Senatorial District. Senator Akpan Udoedehe from the Uyo Senatorial District contested under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria while Group Captain Ewang, a former Military Administrator of Ogun State, also from Uyo, vied for the governorship position under the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Esin from Eket Senatorial District contested under the banner of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

    My layman’s understanding of zoning presupposes that when a particular position is zoned to a certain senatorial district, only aspirants from that region are eligible to contest for that position. But that has never been the case in Akwa Ibom State.

    From the foregoing therefore, it is glaring that the governorship election has always been an open contest for all Akwa Ibomites irrespective of the ethnic origin or the senatorial districts they hail from. This therefore makes nonsense of the agitation for a zoning formula in the state even as the so-called zoning argument has only served to expose the insidious role of ethnicity and tribal sentiments inherent in the politics of the state. This type of thinking can only retard the development of a people.

    The present scenario where zoning appears to be a front burner issue equally throws up some pertinent and soul-searching questions: where is Akwa Ibom heading in 2015? What has suddenly gone wrong with our politics? Why should we be seen to be trivialising a serious issue of electing the chief executive of our dear state?

    It should be noted that our hope and progress as a people lies not in our ethnic origin or other divisive considerations, rather, we should be clamouring for those intrinsic values that tend to strengthen the bond of unity among us.

    This becomes more imperative in the 2015 governorship election when all people of Akwa Ibom should join forces together to elect a man of honour and integrity as governor. We need a governor that will make meaningful impact in the lives of the people. We should choose meritocracy over and above zonacracy. Akwa Ibom needs a youthful leader who is honest, sincere, pragmatic and reasonable in managing the vast resources of the state and not an ethnic bigot foisted on the state to execute the agenda of his godfathers.

     

    •Akpanobio writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

     

  • Osoba: How to celebrate a beacon

    Mount Rushmore is the home of a frozen history of the United States of America. It parades giant busts of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, four men whose administrations straddled the first 150 years of US history.

    Nestling in Rapid City, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore is a testimony to achievement, history and statesmanship. It tells the story of the giant strides of US democracy trapped in the statues of the figures who drove noble and patriotic visions of nation building in difficult times.

    It is said to have attracted thousands of people from within and without the US with visitors describing Mount Rushmore as the Shrine of Democracy. The project was begun by Gutzon Borglum on August 10, 1927 and completed 14 years later in October 1941, at the cost of $900,000, a princely sum then. It is a stately structure carved out of a solid granite cliff reaching high to 5,725 feet that is visible miles away. Each head of the four presidents is 60 feet high, suggesting that during their tenures they posted larger-than-life performance!

    Those who troop to the site return remarking that they are challenged to offer selfless service to society so that history would also note their contribution and record it to inspire upcoming generations. The Rushmore Four have exerted such sweeping influence that it is claimed that in moments of national distress, US presidents often head there for inspiration.

    Now, if sculpted history of men of acclaim can move people to aspire to do better for mankind and society, it follows that more of such persons should both be celebrated and held up for mention in every generation. If Nigeria is today buffeted by failed values and falling (fallen?) standards guiding our national and private lives, does it indicate that we have no great masters to lead us or to teach us? Or is it a case of refusal to heed them?

    Either way, the point appears to be that a Mount Rushmore can be beneficial to aid the process of reshaping or reforming society, its people and the organs enabling their existence.

    Nigeria needs its own Mount Rushmore as much as my own professional constituency, journalism, does to galvanise us to higher levels of probity, accountability and selflessness in service to man and God. We have all missed the mark on this score. We need some pep talk from past and living history figures.

    Marking the birthday of Aremo Segun Osoba today has drawn me to this discussion on the need to identify heroes of the nation and of its institutions. Today we mourn the absence (or is it loss?) of men and women who constitute examples of the staying power of principle, of those who in the face of personal peril, can stand up for what is right.

    I declare with solemnity that Osoba is one such person. He has evinced this both in his days as a practising journalist and as a politician. Let me cite a couple of events that support this position. In 1984, when we all stood in awe of Decree Four that sent Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor to jail, Osoba was the Managing Director of Daily Times, owned by the military government under Muhammadu Buhari. Osoba took a mortal risk to enter the dock as a defence witness during the trial of the two journalists who were said to have breached the decree. Of course he was aware of what could befall him: dismissal and possible arrest by the ruthless military rulers. But he put principled professionalism first before personal considerations, even if it hurt! In the event, no harm came his way.

    Another occasion was when he was in charge at The Sketch in Ibadan. After the 1983 ballot, the government owned paper fell into the hands of the NPN administration of Governor Omololu Olunloyo. There was a tight-rope walk here: the two other owner-states Ogun and Ondo were UPN-controlled. Again Osoba sought refuge in the unfailing time-honored rock: the principle of balance. He broke the paper into parts, giving to NPN its due (propaganda) and to UPN its share of stories. He didn’t accede to NPN’s demands for exclusive coverage of party stories. Nor did he blackout UPN.

    He says of this leveler policy: “We became very innovative in the designing of the pages and in balancing the stories that came our way. That is the only way you could be sure of survival. You must be professional, innovative and think ahead. It was not necessarily under the military alone. Even civilian governments are intolerant of criticisms. One must also be objective. When we carried stories that were offensive to the government, we balanced it with their reaction.”

    Respecting the ethic principle was constantly at work even when Osoba was Ogun State Governor on sabbatical from journalism during his second coming.

    Between 1999 and 2001, he championed a non-party-based campaign over the payment of Excess Crude Oil revenue due to the states. A hefty N198b windfall had accrued following the sharp rise in petroleum products in the world market from the second quarter of 1999. The price exceeded the $18 per barrel projected in the budget. Then the Federal Government, acting on the advice of the Central Bank of Nigeria, ‘sat’ on the money and refused to share it out to the states as was the practice. The state governments kicked against this sudden change in the rules of the game and threatened that unless their share was paid, they would as well reject their monthly allocations and trigger unprecedented social, political and economic paralysis nationwide.

    Osoba, an Alliance for Democracy governor, waded in on the side of the PDP governors notably those in the Niger Delta who were vociferous in the agitation for the release of the excess funds. While his party was berating the ruling PDP for alleged maladministration, Osoba refused to join the blame game. He was reported to have finally broken the logjam by marshalling a strategy of lobby that required deft negotiations rather than open confrontation or politicking.

    I do believe that these are enduring virtues and values the nation needs to see reflect in its citizens for the regeneration of society. We want to see them in politics, in our homes, in schools, in interpersonal relationships, in workplaces and in a word, in our spirit, soul and body.

    If journalists do finally have their own Mount Rushmore (which we need) Segun Osoba should have his effigy there. Yet he told a reporter that the honour is due rather to others. He said: “I am not the best reporter. There are greater journalists alive. Sam Amuka is a man who has founded two major national newspapers and both are still alive today- The Punch and The Vanguard. Alhaji Lateef Jakande is the oldest living journalist for now. Alhaji Alade Odunewu is over 80. At the age of 77, Sam Amuka is still practising. He is the oldest practising journalist in Nigeria. There are greater journalists than I who still need to be celebrated… That would spur me to insist on us celebrating greater journalists who are still alive and greater than I.”

    What modesty! What self-effacement!

    Happy Birthday Aremo Segun Osoba!

    • Ojewale writes from Ota, Ogun State.

  • Ownership society in Ekiti

    Ownership society in Ekiti

    The captivating story of how Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State is deeply committed to the development of the state is daily being told by everybody, particularly by rural dwellers in the state. The story is fascinating not just because the indigenes want to showcase mere political promises made to them by their governor. The truth is that the governor has vowed to ensure that the development of Ekiti is more evenly distributed so as to make the state a model place in the country.

    To make true this commitment, last week, the governor distributed N300 million worth of cheque to eighty-two communities to enable them undertake certain projects. Last year, as part of his rural development programme for the state, the governor held series of meetings with community leaders and their traditional rulers. The idea as canvassed by Governor Fayemi then was to use the representatives of the rural people for Self-help programme embarked upon by the state government.

    The essence was for the people to use the money to complete abandoned projects in their local places. Besides using the money to also provide boreholes and complete some road culverts to avert flood erosion in the future, the governor advised them to see the projects as their own. “We must ensure that the rural places work. The ideal thing therefore is that the essential infrastructural facilities have to be in place so that our people would feel the impact of democracy,” the governor said.

    He also assured that more money would be distributed shortly to other communities that have not received. With the grants-in-aids programme through which more developments are expected to spread to more places, the governor assured his people that more new projects would be put in place subsequently even in far rural settlements with high population density.

    Ekiti State has come to serve as a model state where rural development is given priority attention because the leadership has chosen to do so. It was to facilitate this decision that the government promptly established an appropriate and relevant ministry to carry the people along. Now, with the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment, the concept is to make concerted efforts to eradicate poverty and wipe away tears from the eyes of the poor rural folks.

    Fayemi’s unalloyed interest in the welfare of the rural people is part of what makes democracy tick and equally deepens people’s love towards what is good. The governor made that resolve clear when he told the mammoth crowd that gathered at Oye-Ekiti, for the ceremony that “As part of the efforts of the present administration to bring development to the rural communities where over 75 percent of the people reside, the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created in January.”

    It is evident that this ministry is meant essentially to serve the purpose of the people. Part of the promises of the government is to use this avenue to revive and shore up cooperative societies to reach out more effectively to the grassroots.

    With this, it is clear that more farm settlements will be established while many moribund ones rehabilitated to provide more jobs for the people. When completed, the state, no doubt, will serve as one of the food baskets of the nation.

    Adedoja Ibikunle, a retired teacher who turned up for the Oye-Ekiti ceremony, wondered aloud when he said: “when God wants to bless you, He does not need too much promises from your leader to do so. He does it in the simplest way possible. You can see the simplicity of the governor, his lovely gestures and the humble disposition of the people around him… This is gradually becoming the Ekiti of our dreams when it was created.”

    Ibikunle’s optimism truly represents the views of many Ekiti indigenes whose love for what is good have never been in doubt. Over the last few years, it is mainly children who spread the news most often. They take the news to the people, to their schools in different dramatic ways. This is what has livened up their otherwise drab lives, simply because they can feel the changes in their own parents who provide their daily needs. In essence, their rural areas are no longer drab, dull and dry. They can feel it and children do not spare a situation when it portends good omen for them and their folks.

    What with more funds to the tune of N3.2billion which will soon be disbursed through the same channel for agricultural developments and purposes, the government, is keen on providing more jobs for the youths. The provision of farmlands and settlements will also ensure that more rural roads are constructed to facilitate the movement of food crops from local places to the urban cities.

    The joy of most rural people in Ekiti State is that the government of Fayemi will leave the state far better than he found it. When the governor assumed office a few years ago, he made it point blank that Ekiti State would no longer be perceived as one of the most backward states in Nigeria. Using the meagre resources at hand, the governor has made the state far more better than he met it. People can now breath fresh air of freedom and progress.

    From the way he has been creating and sustaining big and mouthwatering projects in the state, one wonders whether it is an oil-producing state where there is excess money for projects. However, the Fayemi’s administration has made it obvious that no matter the amount of revenue generated by a state, a good leader can still use it for meaningful development and purposeful recreation.

    Leadership, in the real sense of it, does not consist of mere promises to hoodwink the people and win their votes. Leadership comes with total submission to the will and sentiments of the people. It is the electorate who should be in the position to sing the praises of their leader because they can feel the impact of what he has done.

    Today, Governor Fayemi doesn’t have to say it. All he has been doing to elevate the state are there for everyone to see. That’s why school children also sing his praises. They too can feel, see and enjoy the good things that happen in the state, things no one can conceal or deny or even sideline in any way.

    • Dada writes from Ado-Ekiti

  • Parradang: Taking charge at a time like this

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us.”

    These lines from the opening sentence of Charles Dickens’ famous novel, Tales of Two Cities, may just be the apt description of taking up a top security job at the moment, under the present circumstances of our dear country. It is more so true for David S Parradang, a gentleman officer who was recently elevated to the position of Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). It is a moment anybody in a structured organisation hopes and waits for. The sense of fulfilment and joy in attaining the pinnacle of one’s career is unequalled.

    But is this the best of times? Not really. These are times of great challenges. And the NIS, as a very important apparatus in the security structure of our country is far from being immune to the myriad of internal and external challenges bedevilling the system, largely on account of present security challenges. Taking up the NIS top job at this time comes, therefore, with enormous challenges. This, one could say, is the worst of times for it.

    No. It is the best of times because it is the time when true men are figured out from the summation of all men. It is when the waves are tumultuous that a master swimmer is marked from the array of swimmers at the beach. One’s ability at problem solving in a relatively short time and within a difficult situation is a marker of one’s worth.

    Therefore, in spite of the bumps on the thorny path, the coming of Parradang at this critical juncture is an important episode. It could not have been better time. Besides, the aphorism, God’s time is the best is time tested.

    The many challenges before the NIS’s new helmsman could be broadly categorised into two. First is at the organisational level, the internal cries and disconnect. It is only when one sets one’s house in order that one can tackle the other issue; the external challenges.

    In keeping with the current trends in immigration work the world over, there is the need to reposition the NIS for better efficiency and to close all avenues capable of dampening morale of officers and men. In recent past, there have been cases of gross inequality and nepotism in treating officers and men in terms of postings and promotions. The evil of nepotism is rapidly gaining ground in the public sector, unfortunately. But it could be least afforded in security formations where any trace of injustice and inequality among officers could have a devastating effect not only on the organisation, but the country at large. Fairness should therefore be the first step towards building a more dedicated, more efficient Immigration Service.

    In a situation whereby this is sacrificed, laxity, corruption and insubordination will find a comfort zone.

    As a service that holds the key to our nation, the immigration has to be disciplined, corrupt-free and in tandem with global best practice. The first port of call for any visitor to Nigeria is the Immigration Desk of our foreign embassies. Any blot of corruption or inefficiency from those manning such desks would be a huge blemish to the nation. Then comes the entry points. Extortion by men in uniform, NIS personnel inclusive, has for long been a big national embarrassment. Whether under duress or by solicitation, taking money from visitors sends a terrible signal about us as a country. But this ominous culture, like all facets of corruption tearing down the fabric of the country, is too much engrained in the system. However, stopping it would not only boost confidence and respect for the NIS, it will also lessen the severity of our perception as a corrupt country by foreign visitors.

    Now, there is the argument of welfare which some often use, albeit dangerously, to excuse cases of corruption by public servants. While it is not an excuse for corruption, poor welfare has a way of affecting output of workers or their conduct. It should therefore be a priority for the new Comptroller General to make sure that men and officers of the service are well catered for. Incentives for personnel on special assignments, especially at this point in time, will go a long way in gingering them up and for the country to get the best out of them.

    On the other arm of the challenges for the new NIS boss is the general threat posed by the current insurgency in the north. The role Nigerian Immigration Service could play in phasing out the insurgency is paramount. Many an analyst has pointed to the porosity of our borders as a one of the major ambers fuelling the flame of insurgency in the country. It will be Parradang’s major test to make our borders tighter. But this too could be easier said than done as the service is riddled with so many challenges for efficient border security. First is the paucity of personnel, in comparison with the vastness of the border. Secondly, the service is largely analogue in the area of border security.

    However, with a man like Parradang, who has demonstrated so much competence and finesse in his illustrious career, I believe all the challenges are surmountable. As someone who knows him fairly well from his days as Comptroller in Kano, I can vouch for the man’s uprightness, dedication to duty, equity and thoroughness.

    What he would require primarily is the necessary support from all quarters for a more focused immigration.

    • Abdulaziz is a journalist based in Abuja

  • Southwest integration: Source of new hope

    Since the Nigerian federal agenda to demolish, confuse and disorient the Western Region began in 1962, the citizens of what is now called the Southwest have been allowed, or we have on our own managed to seize, only few happy hilltops. The latest, and easily the most hope-inspiring, has been the statements from state governors in 2011 that they would embark on integrated development for the region. Suddenly, it was as if our own boys whom we had just elevated to the position of governors of our states were going from house to house in our homeland, knocking at doors, and shouting, “Wake up, a new dawn is here!”

    At that joyful noise, the whole lot of us sprang up. Among us, some of our most gifted ones, working together under the umbrella of an association named Afenifere Renewal Group, went to action. And soon, they showed without doubt that they were indeed worthy of their name – that they are a group truly dedicated to renewing. As I write these words, I have on my table the hope-filled document which they produced for us, the booklet appropriately called the “DAWN DOCUMENT”. The document competently examines our region’s need to return now to an integrated approach to the advancement of our progress as a people, and lays out the strategies that would work best in the light of today’s realities.

    Since the publication of the DAWN DOCUMENT we have continued to get welcome reports about the quest for the integrated development of the region. Particularly importantly, we have heard that all the six South-west governments are faithfully working together on this worthy enterprise – even though not all belong to the same political party, and even though our boys in politics have been doing what politicians commonly do, which is to compete party against party for public office. Following developments in Africa is part of my life’s pursuit, and I would say, with pride, that there are not many places in Africa where one would find politicians collaborating maturely like this over an important thing – even when, at the same time, they are striving politically to push each other out of public office. It is, I think, a chip of the political sophistication and maturity which we as a people have built up over many centuries in the context of our advanced monarchical system.

    According to the best of reports, the six Governments have set up a commission, with an executive director, and charged it with the task of ensuring that the Integrated Development Agenda moves forward properly and according to schedule. We learn that an office has been set up in Cocoa House in Ibadan for this commission, and that the commission is now set to go. In short, after all the needed preliminary steps have been carefully taken, we will now begin to see action on many fronts.

    We, the people of the South-west, are excited. We know it is not yet time to begin to sing “Happy days are here again”, but we will sing ,”The darkness they brought to our land is clearing/Soon we shall dance and laugh again”.

    In Nigeria, the journey towards development and prosperity, led and guided by the indigenous leaders of our peoples, started in 1952. We started off then as three regions – Eastern, Western and Northern Regions. We in Western Region immediately shot forward and ahead of the other two regions in all fields of development. We became easily the front-runner and pace-setter. In fact we became “First in Africa” not merely “First in Nigeria”. The advantages we commanded over the other two regions were many. We were, unlike most of Nigeria and most of tropical Africa, a people with a rich urban civilization. Since the 10th century (that is, for more than 1000 years now), we have lived more and more in large towns. When the first Europeans came to the coast of West Africa in the 15th century, they saw our coastal towns (like Eko, which they began to call Lagos), and wrote from the coast about our large towns flourishing a few miles from one another in the interior. Naturally, a country with towns of its own is easier to develop and modernize than another country where new towns need to be built to provide centres for development.

    But that was not all. We were also, by 1952, far ahead of the rest of Nigeria in education. Since the middle of the 19th century, Christian missionaries, and some of our own people, have been establishing schools in our Yoruba homeland. Our having towns everywhere in our land made it easy to found schools everywhere in our land. As early as the 1870s, we were already producing university graduates (lawyers, doctors, engineers, writers, etc). By the time the British created Nigeria in 1914, we were far ahead of the other parts of the new country of Nigeria in education. No other Nigerian people produced their first university graduate until 1934 – that is nearly 70 years since we had been producing many university graduates. We had been publishing newspapers in our towns (the first one starting in Abeokuta) as far back as 1859. Therefore, when the three regions started the competition to modern development in 1952, our Western Region was very much stronger than the other two Regions. In fact, most of the money available to share among the Regions for their development was being produced by Yoruba cocoa farmers.

    And then – and then – as we started, God gave our region a leadership that was enormously capable in planning, organizing, mobilizing, and accomplishing, development and progress. The highest leader of this leadership group, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is the man we now regularly celebrate as the modern father of our Yoruba nation. We celebrate him for many reasons. We celebrate him for the great steps he led us to take in development – for starting our program of Free and Universal Primary Education (the first in Africa), and our free and comprehensive health-care services, for establishing our Western Nigeria Television (“First in Africa”), for building our Liberty Stadium (first in Nigeria and probably in Africa), for establishing programmes that made our cocoa farmers the most productive farmers on the African continent and our region the foremost exporter of cocoa into the world market, for establishing various other institutes for agricultural research, for building in Ibadan our Cocoa House (for a long time the tallest skyscraper in Nigeria), for establishing for our Region a world-class, professional, and widely respected civil service, and for starting the plans for our own Regional university (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife). Under his leadership, we became quickly a very democratic modern country, where rulers feared the people at elections, and the men in power did not use their power to manipulate elections – with the result that our elections were free and fair. Even in his own small town of Ikenne, bright younger men arose as electoral candidates for other parties from time to time and gave him a good fight, and nobody ever tried to falsify the results of the elections. Indeed, we enjoyed watching our big men of both parties struggle and sweat during election campaigns, knowing that we the common people owned the final decision at the polls. Above all, Chief Awolowo and the other leaders of his generation gave us confidence – confidence that we, as a people, could achieve anything and rank among the best in the world.

    But we were not living by ourselves alone; we were living as co-citizens with other peoples in Nigeria. Some of these other peoples saw the future not in terms of modern progress and prosperity, but in terms of subduing and dominating other peoples. In the hands of such people, Nigeria’s federal government became, after independence, a dangerous weapon, focused on subduing and, if necessary, destroying, other peoples. This dangerous federal weapon was unleashed against our Western Region in 1962, in order to stop our progress and destroy our pride. All that was sustaining our growth and pride was wrecked. Election rigging was imported to our homeland, and our region was turned into a land of perpetually rigged elections, of violent fights over elections, and of hideous corruption. Our bright dreams, nurtured under the Awolowo generation of leaders, vanished. And so, today, we are living in a level of poverty unknown before in our history.