The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Abia: No longer goons’ own

    When one is entrusted with the people’s confidence, resources and fortune, one would need the amazing grace of God to discharge one’s responsibilities with utmost care, prudence, transparency and equity.

    In 1999, Orji Uzor Kalu was, elected Governor of Abia State. His mandate was to impact positively on the people of the State using the common wealth of the people.

    Odimegwu Onwumere, wrote a piece that is full of incoherence on page 21 of Thisday of Monday 31st December, 2012. In the said write-up, Odimegwu Onwumere, fruitlessly and unethically expressed his grouse over the ‘claim’ by one of Governor T. A. Orji’s aides that the governor has restored the dignity of the Abia person? Kalu, being conscious of the havoc he wrecked on Abians, would not want to hear of the restoration of the ‘dignity’ of Abia people. Hence he has continued to cry wolf where none exists.

    For purposes of educating Kalu and equally calling him to order, let me talk on ‘dignity’ and its restoration in Abia State. Because of his crude and uninformed background, Kalu does not know that ‘dignity’ is that intrinsic quality in one that earns or makes one deserve respect. Dignity does not necessarily flow from wealth. Rather, it is an inalienable associate of character.

    When a person’s ‘dignity’ is restored, the person enjoys enhanced positive image. By virtue of constitutional democracy, every Abian is entitled to certain fundamental human rights such as:

    (a) Freedom of thought,

    (b) Freedom of association and

    (c) Freedom of worship

    Any time that fundamental right of an Abian or any other individual is violated or denied, it goes a long way to cause psycho-social depression. This, certainly, affects the individual and, therefore, impacts very negatively on his or her character and, by clinical extension, his or her ‘dignity’.

    I am saying it for the umpteenth time that during the tenure of Kalu as Governor in Abia State, the fundamental rights of many Abians were deliberately and consistently trampled upon. Today, Governor T. A. Orji has given appointments, contracts and other life-support incentives to many Abians without subjecting any of them to any form of oath-taking. This is restoration of ‘dignity’.

    For the eight years that Kalu presided over the affairs of Abia State, he never gave any quantifiable consideration to the health of Abians, hence he did not think it necessary to erect even a one-bed clinic.

    That Governor T. A. Orji, a quintessential administrator and an accomplished alumnus of Nigeria’s premier University of Ibadan, has been able to build and equip 250 health centres spread across the State and two functional diagnostic medical centres in Umuahia and Aba, has definitely tormented Orji Kalu who now perceives the governor’s performance as a deliberate design to dump him in the dust bin meant for non-performance.

    Abia is an oil producing state, courtesy of Ukwa-West Local Government Area. Throughout Kalu’s tenure, every plea made by the people of Ukwa-West for his administration to set up an Oil Producing Area Development Commission naturally fell on a deaf ear. He did not grant the request because, true to his nature, Kalu hates the progress and comfort of his fellow human beings. But no sooner did Chief T. A. Orji become Governor than he set up the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission. That commission has helped immensely in the development of Abia State, particularly the Oil producing areas of the State. Many Traditional Rulers from Ukwa-West had no vehicles but today are proud owners of jeeps that have, for sure, enhanced their status. Kalu has always been a victim of ignorance and, so, will not realize that an elevation of this magnitude for Traditional Rulers in Ukwa-West would go a long way to give impetus to their ‘dignity’. Does this not justify the Governor’s aide’s claim?

    Kalu’s eight-year governance of Abia State did not witness any quantifiable empowerment of the Abia youth. His administration only recorded donation of ‘Tokumbo’ motor-cycles and wheel-barrows to Abia youths. On the contrary, the Government of Ochendo has motivated Abia youths with more than five hundred cars and more than two thousand tricycles, otherwise known as keke-Napep. The beneficiaries of this unparalleled benevolence of the Governor have subsequently become self-employed and are living very responsible lives and discharging their social cum community obligations. For youths that could only dream of motor-cycles and wheel-barrows during the administration of Kalu to have their taste redirected and their status radically upgraded, Kalu, would not perceive any meaningful restoration of ‘dignity’ in this context. What a pity!

    In order to address the problem of youth unemployment and its attendant youth restiveness; a twin problem that was unattended to during the era of darkness which Kalu’s Government represented, the T. A. Orji’s Government has offered employment to four thousand and five hundred Abia youths and is encouraging them to acquire useful skills with the money they are paid in order to guarantee a stable future for themselves. Because Kalu would not wish or see anything good in Ochendo’s Government, he would not agree that youths that were hopelessly abandoned by his administration but are now being rehabilitated by Governor T. A. Orji have had their ‘dignity’ restored.

    While the Federal Government of Nigeria legislated eighteen thousand naira as minimum wage for the Nigerian worker, the Abia State Government, under Ochendo, pays twenty thousand and one hundred naira to her lowest public servant. It is only the devil that will not see restoration of ‘dignity’ in this vivid expression of humanity.

    In this piece, I do not intend to mention the numerous legacy projects initiated and being executed by the administration of Governor T. A. Orji in the State. Should I talk of the civil servants’ secretariat complex that is eighty percent completed or the five thousand seat capacity International Conference Centre, also eighty percent completed?

    If Kalu should claim he has not seen the new functional Industrial market before the University of Agriculture Umudike, would he be justified to say he has not seen the modern Umuahia market at Ubani-Ibeku, which is just conspicuously along his Ohafia-Umuahia Road? There are too many projects to be mentioned that space and time may not permit here. I, however, challenge Orji Kalu for an open contest on the issue of restoration of ‘dignity’ for Abians by Governor T. A. Orji.

    To ascertain how myopic Kalu and his uninformed Odimegwu Onwumere are, one has to compare and contrast between their preposterous claim that there is no restoration of ‘dignity’ in Abia and their contradictory questioning of the source of money with which the wife of the governor, who through her Non-Governmental Organisation; Hannah-May Foundation, has been touching the lives of the less-privileged by building a three-bedroom bungalow, with provision of water and furniture for such people in the State. It is for the reading public to assess and evaluate if indigenes of a State who, hitherto, had no shelter of their own but through the milk of kindness of the Governor’s wife now own their own houses should be said to have been impacted positively on or otherwise.

    • Chief Ubani, KSC, JP, writes from Aba

  • Public security and Lagos Traffic Law

    The recent murder of 27-year-old medical doctor, Irawo Adamolekun, by a gunman operating on a motorcycle at the Anthony Village end of Ikorodu Road, Lagos, has once again brought to fore the need for Lagosians to support the state government’s implementation of Traffic Law as it particularly affects the activities of commercial motorcycles operators.

    According to the report, Irawo, who was driving in a black Kia Sephia II saloon car with Lagos number plate GP 388 AAA, was shot in front of the traffic warden spot linking Access Road to Ikorodu Road. It was learnt that the victim that had just left Osuntuyi Medical Centre, Obanikoro, where he works, was shot after he declined to part with valuables when the gunman attempted to rob him in traffic. The gunman, who was reported to have shot the deceased at close range, mounted a waiting motorcycle on the other side of the road and fled the scene.

    A recent police report shows that out of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in Lagos between July and September 2012, 22 involved commercial motorcycles. According to the report, it out of eight robberies that occurred in July, seven involved the use of Okada while it was also used in 10 out of 14 robberies in September 2012 and five out of eight robberies in August of the same year. Looking at available facts and figures, there should be no controversy about the fact that the operations of commercial motorcycles in the state need to be regulated.

    Aside constituting serious threat to security, the misery and grief that commercial motorcycles has brought into several homes in Lagos is un-imaginable. Statistics from the Lagos State Management Authority (LASTMA) reveals that not less than 619 people were killed or seriously injured in commercial motorcycles accident in the last two years. The breakdown shows that 107 people died while 512 sustained serious injuries. Among the dead were 71 males and 36 females. In 2011 alone, 47 people were killed while 98 others sustained serious injuries from commercial motorcycles accidents. Between January and October 2012, 63 people were killed while 59 sustained serious injuries.

    Fortunately, the security situation across the state is now getting better. Thanks to the meticulous implementation of the traffic law, especially the part that restricts commercial motorcycles from plying certain parts of the metropolis. Going by the available facts and figures, it is quite obvious that the restriction order placed on Okada by the law has helped, in no small measure, in stemming the tide of robbery cases in the state.

    Consequently, the urgent task before every Lagosian is to give the new law a chance since it is mainly enacted to protect the people. Lawlessness and social disorder don’t bring any good to any nation. A nation whose citizens derive pleasure in reckless and disorderly behaviours cannot achieve rapid social-economic transformation. Indeed, governance becomes easier and cheaper in a lawful and orderly environment. A few of the complications we experience in the polity today are the direct effect of the unruly and disorderly state of affairs in the country.

    As the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has always said, the state’s road traffic law is for the safety and security of the life of citizens. It is about safety and security. It will be recalled that the governor once apprehended a commercial motorcyclist riding against traffic only to discover that the culprit was in custody of a gun and, a lady’s hand bag and a baby’s sanitary pad. The Lagos Police Command has continued to tell those who care to listen that one of the serious security challenges in the state is robbery with motorcycles.

    Being one of the most important pre-conditions for human existence, the state government has always placed high premium on the security of lives and property in the state. This explains the setting up of the State Security Trust Fund which has become a model for other states in the country. The main objective of the fund is to effectively fund the security needs of the state on a sustainable basis. In its determination to make the state crime-free, the Fashola administration has opened up most hide-outs and joints that hitherto served as bases for fraudsters and armed robbers and turned them into beautiful environment.

    Other steps that have been taken by the state government at boosting public safety and security include establishment of the state surveillance and command centre, re-organisation and strengthening of the state’s anti-crime outfit, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), procurement of new telecommunication equipment, bullet proof vest and uniforms, and additional patrol vehicles, establishment of Nigeria’s first dedicated Emergency Call Centre which can be reached toll-free on‘767’ and ‘112’ numbers on all networks, beefing up of the Neighbourhood Watch ( a complimentary community security outfit), introduction of the Community Security Assembly (CSA) among others. Another major component of the state’s security programme is the ‘SAFE CITY PROJECT’ which is a comprehensive security programme, whereby a fixed wireless monitoring device will compliment a Central Security Surveillance (CSS) from a command post with the aid of surveillance cameras.

    In-spite of the state government’s investment in the security sector, it is vital that every segment of the society partners with it to ensure that the investment yields fruitful dividends. An effective public security cannot be obtained without the active involvement, participation and support of every segment of the society because public security is the responsibility of all individuals, groups, communities, organizations and other units that constitute the state.

    It is a known fact, in Lagos State for instance, that despite the magnitude of government investment in public security, there are still herculean challenges that government’s resources alone cannot tackle. In as much as everyone in a state pursues varied interests, the pursuit of public security should, nevertheless, be the common goal of all. The involvement and participation of individuals and non-governmental actors in the issues of public security is, therefore, a necessity for the actualization of a secured society.

    • Ibirogba is Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy

  • Mali is no joke: God save our soldiers; NASS and SAP: Renounce, resign or be sacked by 2015

    Our 700+ fellow Nigerian soldiers, inexperienced and underequipped for desert warfare, will soon be thrown into Mali to fight and die – at their country’s orders and for pittance. When the body bags start returning from Goa, how will Aso Rock and NASS receive the dead Nigerians and compensate the weeping widows and half-orphaned children? Empty promises, neglect and abandonment? Will someone steal these soldiers’ allowances and court-martial them for complaining as in the past? Death is no joke and Mali will be no joke. God save our soldiers! While our gallant soldiers, guardians of the nation, ‘prepare to die for their country and a financial pittance’, other political Nigerians, including NASS members, bring Nigeria into disrepute by their ‘salarymania’ and should be sacked by 2015. Time up. Assessment zero/11!

    Nigerians are too forgiving, satisfied by too low government standards. ‘God will do it if politicians do not’ allows mediocre political acumen to fool them with ‘photo-trick’ and political doublespeak! Nigeria’s treasuries are robbed by a quantum of official corruption, thievery that would leave the mafia envious and ready for a ‘Mafia- Politician Exchange Learning Programme’. Nigerians elevate politicians to God-like status -‘honourable‘, ‘distinguished’ and ‘excellent’ for no job done praising each politician as if an angel or mini-God has appeared. Since the angel often wears the wings of an agbada or babanriga, the comparison is not far-fetched. Unfortunately the Nigerians, politically myopic, fail to check the price tag of such ‘dividends of democracy’ which is uniformly outrageous because every contract has a huge 30-70-100% deducted for the political party and politicians and civil servants in power. This must stop! If Ibori can get N50-60m as a past convicted governor, sit with your children and calculate what all past governors, state, LGA and national politicians are getting for past services in secret payments. Use the Freedom of Information Act to find out the truth. The Nigerian fails to remember that is the same ‘angels’ who contributed to the impoverishment of the national social services and life expectancy in every good thing.

    Nigerians must not be forced to express huge gratitude out of all proportion to every petty attempt by politicians to meet sworn obligations to provide governance and reverse the deviousness and delay of past politicians over 50 years. Government has been so bad for so long that much more needs to be done by the politicians than they are doing now in order to pull us out of this unnecessary quagmire created by past failed politics and a continuously failing political class. This political class, cross-party, is solely centred on acquisition of the nation’s wealth and diversion. As usual politicians cannot see this huge cloud of corruption above their heads which shrouds every single one of them in ‘fat Salary And Perks, SAP, legally illegal thieving’, darkness and stains their agbada and babanriga and women’s attire, by their huge untaxed salaries alone if nothing else and there is a lot else. We the people can see it and are telling them that the end of political financial rascality is near. Let every political party and every politician and political office holder, in NASS and everywhere from the Presidency to LGA, know now that Nigerians are sick of them. We will not invite the armed forces to rescue us because Nigerians know that the armed forces always fail in governance abandoning development plan precipitating ‘dark NEPAless Ages, waterlessness, roadlessness, educationlessness and corruption. If there is no political party or individual to renounce and change these SAP immediately, Nigeria cannot survive to 2015 with this financial stranglehold. Have you seen a Kenyan Masai bleeding a cow to get blood for breakfast? He does not kill the cow. He stabs the jugular vein lovingly, takes a little blood and stops the bleeding and the cow goes about its business. Nigeria is bleeding to death and the holder of the knife is the Nigerian politician. But even politicians can be advised. There will be change. The people may or may not take your Greek gifts and your bribes but they will never vote for you again. The current politicians have outlived their usefulness to the Nigerian society. The politician is one item that is too expensive to maintain and is now priced out of the market, unaffordable by Nigeria and the Nigerians. New cheaper versions are required. Political vacancy, vacancy!! You are a costly limousine getting stuck in the mud at every turn when Nigerians need to get to the promised land. Nigerians do have an alternative to a greedy multiparty political class. A new generation, old and young, is coming and if it is not allowed to come, only God will be able to save Nigeria from this greed killing the Nigerian cow! But God may be tired of saving Nigeria. He gave us oil a million years ago, fertile land, an able bodied population, waterways and solar power. We have refused to be saved. God even gave us some good politicians but they have been suffocated, corrupted, disenfranchised, murdered or otherwise silenced.

    The change can come now or in 2015 when every single NASS and political office holder nationwide who does not renounce the fat SAPing Salaries And Perks, will be replaced by new politicians of all ages sworn to reduce their SAP. Politicians must find love for Nigeria and remember Mali and the blood of fellow Nigerians that will be spilt.

  • Oshiomhole Vs the Police

    Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, the governor of Edo State, may mean different things to different people. But one thing is constant and sacrosanct: his small frame notwithstanding, he is a man who is not afraid to do ‘battle’ with whoever crosses his path. He is an expert in verbal assault. He does not carry any weapon or missile but his tongue is his own “ballistic missile”. He uses this so effectively that he has become so well known for this art of deploying his tongue as ‘weapon of mass destruction.’

    In his days as president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the teeming Nigerian workers were his troops. These were the men he unleashed at recalcitrant employers who would always short-change their employees. He led them in many ‘picketing’ assaults on many companies, corporations and even government establishments. Several times, he came out victorious as he was able to extract a better condition of service for the workers.

    As governor, Oshiomhole has gone to battle with the vampires of Edo politics who nearly strangulated the state politically and economically by holding on to the jugular of past governors of the state. In the last four and a half years, he has succeeded in caging the so-called godfathers, many of whom have been forced to vote with their feet. Those who dared to confront him have met in him, a formidable foe not easy to overrun. Consequently, they have either beaten a retreat into their cocoons or put a permanent adhesive on their lips.

    Even though he has conveniently secured a second term in office as governor, Oshiomhole is a bitter person at the moment. He is bitter that he is yet to get justice for the gruesome murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, his former private secretary. Oyerinde was callously mowed down by heartless hoodlums in his residence in Benin City, the state capital, on May 4, 2012.

    Since then, it has been a cat and mouse game between the security agencies and his killers on the one hand, and the police and the State Security Service, SSS, on the other. In fact, the situation can be best described as a potpourri of confusion for short. It is so bad that while the police paraded some people who they told the public were responsible for Oyerinde’s death, the SSS also paraded another set of people as the real culprits.

    And if the public is confused on which of the storyline to believe, the police and SSS are even more confused than the public. Yet they have continuously denied that there is any rift between the two agencies who should be working for the same goal. Right now, the two set of suspects are in different courts charged with the murder of one and the same person.

    Perhaps, Nigerians may have gone to sleep too soon while the security agencies continue to blunder, as it were, over Oyerinde’s case. If that is true, that seeming stupor was truncated last Thursday in Abuja at the formal launch of the new Police Code of Conduct. The event had in attendance, Vice President Namadi Sambo, state governors, ministers, top brass of the Police and other dignitaries.

    Trust Oshiomhole. He will not allow such an opportunity to slip away. So the setting that afternoon provided him a good platform to vent his anger on the police hierarchy over the alleged shoddy investigation conducted by the police officer who investigated Oyerinde’s death.

    The warrior-governor caused a stir during the course of his speech at the occasion, when he called for the immediate dismissal of Peter Gana, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG, in charge of Criminal Investigation Department at the Force Headquarters, for allegedly bungling the investigation of the murder. The governor demanded that Gana be charged with murder or conspiracy after the fact of murder.

    In the wake of the dastardly killing of Oyerinde, Gana was detailed by the Inspector General of Police, IG, Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the murder. But Oshiomhole alleged that instead of going after Oyerinde’s murderers, the DIG seized Oyerinde’s friend, Rev. David Ugolor, and clamped him into detention. He also accused the DIG of presenting a gun which was recovered from a previous crime scene as the one used in the murder.

    Turning his face to the IG, Oshiomhole said: “The DIG frustrated the investigation using another senior police officer to thwart investigation. As I am talking now, that police officer has just been promoted by the police authorities. I demand that the DIG and that police officer be dismissed immediately…I am aggrieved over the murder of my private secretary and the way in which it was trivialized. I am saying it knowing that the Vice President is here.” According to him, “I feel terrible that as a governor, I can’t get justice. If I can’t get justice, then an average Nigerian cannot expect justice, and we can’t have justice if we can’t tell the truth… The country cannot be reduced to a banana republic. When the stick and carrot game is appropriately applied, the message of discipline would be clear to all.”

    Giving an example of such culture of impunity, Oshiomhole cited a case. He said: “I want to be specific. In Edo State, a policeman manned an illegal roadblock, contrary to the orders of the IG. Members of the public complained and the fact of the illegal block was established. It was discovered that a soldier was recruited illegally by an ASP to man this illegal roadblock, extorting money from motorists. In my view, that borders on armed robbery because the man carries arms…Having arrested him, the Army proceeded to do what a responsible force should do by dismissing the soldier. IG, you will be shocked to know, and this is not 10 years ago that your men in Benin decided to shield this officer and, recently, I learnt that one of them was even promoted. While the military dismissed the soldier, the police promoted their own. How can you have discipline in such an environment?”

    Last Friday, a day after Oshiomhole made his vitriolic attack, the IG dismissed as unfounded the allegation by the governor that the police was shielding the killers of his private secretary. The IG said that he would respond to the governor’s allegation at the appropriate time and in “due course”.

    Yes, the IG is right to have refrained from delving into the details of that investigation and the role played by Gana. But this is surely one very hard nut that Abubaker would have to crack during his tenure as IG, otherwise he could plunge the entire service more and more into the abyss of public odium. For instance, how will the police explain the allegation that those it paraded are known armed robbers who had earlier been in police custody long before Oyerinde was killed? How will they explain the allegation that the gun allegedly used for the crime had been in police exhibit room long before the murder?

    The public is aware that the police is usually inclined to shielding his officers from public ridicule. But in this present circumstance, the IG should not put his image or job on the line by defending the indefensible. He should come out and tell the public the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

    Even if the conspiracy theory as propounded by the governor might be regarded as overkill, the way and manner the security agencies went about their investigations without harmonizing their findings, leaves much room for suspicion and condemnation. It is true that the job of internal security as regards crime prevention, detection and prosecution is solely the concern of the police, but the refusal by the sister agencies to cooperate on the Oyerinde issue has further exposed the unhealthy rivalry within the nation’s security apparatuses. Instead of a synergy, they seem to be working at cross-purposes for God knows what!

  • From the cell phone

    For Olatunji Dare

    If the detractors of the government’s transformation agenda should realise what nationhood entails and that it is not just for President Jonathan. But for the generality of all Nigerians, they would desist from all forms of mischief. Thanks Mr Dare on your “a president, endless distractions” From Sgt Emmanuel Joshua.

    It is strange, yet unquestionably a fact that injustice and dishonesty on the part of our “leaders” are responsible for all the distractions so far. If our leaders starts to be truthful on all matters and stop presenting fictions as facts, the country will be better for it. The president’s judgment at any point in time should be controlled by duteous devotion to the needs and aspirations of Nigerians. From Adegoke O. O, Ikhin, Edo State.

    Because GEJ is an academician, I hope he will readily translate this Yoruba saying in respect of his transformation agenda: if it takes a man 10 years to prepare for madness, for how long will he go insane? Fellow Nigerians, 2015 will decide. From Tunde Opada. No 2 Iye Road, Eruku. Kwara State.

    Well I don’t have much to say but you should continue your good words of advise to all Nigerians both home and abroad! Happy new year. Anonymous.

    I read your piece, A President’s endless distraction I concluded that you are one of those sycophants Presidential aides. Why do you try to hold brief for the president in regard of the poster pasted on his behalf. If actually he knows nothing about the poster, why can’t he summon the courage to fish out those behind such act? Are you trying to pretend as if you do not know that your boss is nursing second term ambition? Lets call a spade a spade and stop seeking relevance sycophant. From Jonathan, Lagos.

    Agenda-focus does not show as having germinated any clear fruit. Let us, however, and despite the above, as well as the distraction lend our support to Mr President since he said things will be accelerated and move fast, I believe, development-wise, this year, 2013. Enough of distractions! From Lanre Oseni.

    I am amused by Minister of Agriculture’s N60b GSM for rural farmers when 90 per cent of rural dwellers don’t have GSM network? Anonymous.

    I disagree with your article on the “President’s endless distractions”. Constructive criticism is a beauty of democracy. It is a clarion and wake-up call for him to adjust for the overall interest of the country. He is not being distracted but he showed put his thinking cap on and face the numerous challenges facing the nation. I don’t want to believe that you have been compromised as you are known as an intellectual of high repute. From A. Aiyeoribe. Ilorin.

    I am interested, do you have your write ups compiled in book form? I am interested. From Yomi

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    What is so special in this minister? That is Mrs Madueke, and what is so unspecial about Barth Nnaji? It’s the snow white set of teeth and angel face. Shikena. From Ch. Ayodele- Okeluse

    Let all of us give personal attention to the family unit, its values, and ethics, the community and the nation would take care of itself. Let us return to the basics. From Biyi Adesanya, 1, Azeez Aina Street Ibadan.

    There is no doubting the fact that human, moral, ethical development are necessary for real education that will be “developmental” for self and societal growth. In turn, the self, community, government and private sector also need to give support for adventurists of total education. That way, the society at large will get back rewards of real and total education. From Lanre Oseni.

    The government of each state much stand for good education . Anonymous.

    I share your concern for education for purposeful development and management of resources, such being anchored on manpower utilisation, welfare and benefits. The tertiary institutions would not justify their costs, except we have paradigm shift of purpose, curriculum and on public-private funding and management. The gap between these institutions and the social-economy could be bridged if the mandate of these institutions are reappraised to warrant that they are economically accountable and sustainable. The requirement of subsidy would not absolve their accountability for effective and efficient utilisation of resources trusted upon them. This applies to the government’s own institutions in particular. Education provided should meet the requirement of the community, as representing the nation. Curriculum would include citizenship education, provide social integration and facilitate employment. The universities must undertake investment projects that would attract commercial partnership and be managed transparently with the best research, technology choice and innovations. We would love to read more from you. From Engr. A. I. Adewunmi.

    GEJ is the most civilised, most transparent, most effective and educated Nigerian President.

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    Obasanjo can do well to please relax. We know our statesmen and women by their antecedent, not noise makers. Your column is a must read for me any day. From Clement Mmonu ( Port Harcourt ) RS

    Mr Fix It had been appointed as NPA chairman and also struggling to be elected as BoT chairman. This is a man who was a minister of Works during Obasanjo’s era could not fix Ore- Shagamu Road. He has been fixed politically both at home and outside. He can only be awarded best loser of the year. For Obasanjo, what does he stand to gain for contradicting himself on Boko Haram issues. It’s like, to him contradiction is a fun because he accused the President of not using his style in Odi of the sect and turned asked the President to talk to Boko Haram. He funded the failed third term and said if he had wanted it he would have gotten it. What a joke. He should be awarded with honourary degree in controversy. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Dockyard Apapa Lagos.

    Fair enough, you mentioned governor of the year. Why can’t Nigerian journalists get into the habit of nominating, formally, annually and transparently/credibly, best performing governor contest? From Dr. Fred Amadi, Port Harcourt

    Re: “Honours 2012”. For that brilliant article, I hereby dub you “Journalist of the Year”. Anonymous

    Gbenga, if you had thoroughly revised your Editorial Notebook, you would have seen a paragraph on the reformers Inspector General of Police. Mr Mohammed Abubakar. For sweeping aside illicit police tax/road blocks. Don’t you think he merits a prestigeous award? Be fair. From Segun Makurdi.

    “Honours 2012” can also be awarded Editorial of the year. It was a flashback of the drama that made Year 2012 unforgettable. May your ink never see vapour. From Ifeanyi Louis, Abuja.

    To be frank, Owelle Rochas Okorocha deserves the award. Thanks to the awardee just go to Imo and see for yourself I dey envy the. Anonymous

    Please don’t forget the ‘oil found in Mafoluku, Oshodi’, Lagos in the 80s as reported by Concord. I expect you to visit Mafoluku to check the production level before giving your award to Ilorin. From Ade

    In my opinion, all your awards for the awardees were faultless. However, year 2012 was more of combat of ills than admiration of achievements. Since Mr President had pledged that the current year-2013, would be speedy of growth, let us cooperate with and support him. From Lanre Oseni.

    Thanks for your “Honors 2012” Editorial Notebook. The bit on flour is misleading. Flour bread is the common phrase while I think you wanted to refer to wheat flour as against cassava flour. Abroad, you have various kinds of bread’ flours’ eg rye(bitter), corn ( popular in South America and East Africa)etc. The interesting thing though is consumers are allowed to make their choice as all are produced and allowed to find their place in the market. From Felix Dokpesi.

  • Why Kano needs additional universities

    Why Kano needs additional universities

    With over 9.4 million people, according to the 2006 census figures, Kano is the most populous state in the country. Yet, access to tertiary education has always been a challenge for its teeming youth. Year in year out, hundreds of secondary schools across the state churn out thousands of students eligible for university education, alas only a fraction of this huge number get to see the four walls of university lecture halls. Why?

    Up until last year, overwhelming number of such students could only be accommodated by Bayero University and Kano state University of Science and Technology, Wudil, established by Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso during his first term in office between 1999 and 2003. However, the vice chancellor of Bayero University had told Governor Kwankwaso that of over 50,000 that apply to the university, it could only admit about 5,000. The bottom line is, the overwhelming percentage of the 45,000 students are from Kano state. At a time when youth restiveness is gaining ground, to say these rejected admission seekers are a time bomb is to belabour the point.

    I was with a friend last week Tuesday when I saw a newspaper advertorial, placed by the Kano State government, calling for private partnership for the establishment of a conventional university and a medical one. I spent a few minutes reading, or more appropriately, pondering over the content of the advert. And my friend, perhaps seeing the keenness with which I looked at the page, interjected. He asked if I thought additional degree-milling institutions, as he called them, are desirable in present day Kano State. I have heard similar question as my friend’s since the first move by Governor Kwankwaso, upon his return, to set up additional university in Kano which he successfully started and named Northwest University, Kano.

    The concern of my friend and his co-travellers is not something that one can easily wave away especially knowing well the manner state governors complain of inadequate fund to run the machinery of governance. Close home, the previous administration is an apt example of such trend. As a government that personified ineptitude, they spent eight years squandering people’s common vault on seeking political patronage and obscurantist ‘human development’ projects that ended up developing nepotism and perpetuating gargantuan corruption.

    In contrast, in Kwankwaso we see strict financial discipline that is unmatched in recent history. Thus, by sharking off the culture of profligacy and closing in all avenues of ‘authority stealing’, government’s coffers is now brimming with enough money to do all the things that we were told could not be done by government. At a point, during those uneventful years, common government duties of payment of salaries and pension benefits became something of a Herculean task. However, with minimal expenses on dispensable projects and government programmes, Kwankwaso has made things that we could only dream of three years not only possibilities but realities.

    To answer my inquisitive friend, I first reminded him that the two new universities being considered are going to be under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. Thus, the state government is not the one to sponsor the universities and convolute its payroll by employing additional staff.

    The PPP arrangement would see the government contributing physical structures to support any private investor willing to finance the running of the proposed institutions, including staffing. Government’s role is basically to provide enabling environment for the operation of additional universities that would benefit the teeming admission seekers from the state.

    Kwankwaso’s ultimate aim in this venture is to close a gaping void in access to education. While realizing that the government cannot shoulder all the responsibility of catering for the need of thousands of students who are thirsty for university education, the government evolved the idea of this noble partnership in providing tertiary education.

    The governor had recently paid a visit to the world renowned Gulf Medical University in Dubai where he discussed the possibility of the university partnering with the state government to establish a private medical university in Kano to be fashioned after the one in Dubai. The governor tabled before the university management the option of using any of the three new hospital facilities in Kano for the purpose. The proposed sites are the Centre for the Control of Infectious Diseases located at Kwananr Dawaki and constructed by Pfizer Inc, the Paediatric Hospital along Zoo Road and the general hospital at Giginyu.

    Meanwhile, for the conventional private university, the government is looking at the possibility of using the magnificent Ado Bayero House, located in the heart of the metropolis. Already, the newly established Northwest University is using part of the building as a temporary site, pending the completion of the permanent site at Kofar Kabuga, which is going on a healthy pace.

    It is a known fact that in comparison of its huge population size, the number of Kano indigenes that get admitted into the university per annum is not anything to write home about. Many qualified students cool their feet at home not because they don’t have requirement or cannot afford the fares but because there are simply no space to accommodate them. This initiative would therefore go a long way in ameliorating this dangerous trend. If ideal mind is called a devil’s workshop then ideal mind of a young person is more fertile a workshop than that of an elderly person. Therefore, getting the young people engaged through academic pursuits is not only commendable but something that all well meaning citizens of Kano should encourage.

    With the success story of the Northwest University, which has already admitted its first set of students for various degree courses and employed hundreds of job seekers from Kano and beyond, establishing two additional universities will further strengthen this drive of educational empowerment.

    Lawi wrote from Kano.

  • Ladoja’s Sermon on the Mount

    Ladoja’s Sermon on the Mount

    Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State, relishes the comparative edge he had over the government of his former deputy and immediate past governor of the state, Adebayo Alao-Akala, in terms of people’s estimation of the quality of their governments. Where Alao-Akala was perceived as a profligate and jolly-good fellow leader who made no distinction between public and private purses, Ladoja came across as a shrewd and miserly governor who had the people at the epicentre of his administration. In spite of the scandal of his EFCC rout over the scandalous sales of the state shares that ran into billions of naira during his government, Ladoja still relishes that phantasma of his popularity.

    Thus, once in a while, like the Roman Emperor peeping out from the patio and issuing codes of association to his people, Ladoja peeps out from the patio; this time through postings on his Facebook page.

    Last week, Ladoja walked to the patio again. This time, he regaled the audience with some codes of good governance. In surprisingly good English and coordinated articulation but flaw-filled logic about how a society must be governed, the former governor sought to teach Oyo State about good governance. But the Sermon on the Mount was so awkwardly penned that you ultimately wondered whether the same Ladoja, credited by his supporters as filled with some political know-how and sagacity, was the one behind that façade. The sermon on the Facebook was riddled with apparently self-serving treatises which showcased him as myopic and lacking the grasp of the dictates of good governance.

    Ladoja’s sermon was chequered. He dwelt on health, education, hospitality and road construction and in all, his vainglory and self-congratulations were as vivid as Mount Everest. If you read his sermon, you would almost believe that you were reading one of Obafemi Awolowo’s imperishable thoughts on how to administer a developing nation, the blueprint of which he had successfully practicalised. For once, you wouldn’t believe you were listening to Ladoja, whose reign as governor was as unimpressionable as himself and whom many in Oyo State still wonder why the EFCC had suddenly gone docile over his case of alleged sales of billions of shares belonging to the state.

    The most instructive of Ladoja’s intervention in his sermon was his statement over the commendable Ajimobi government initiative of building the first civilian-constructed fly-over bridge in the state after the one constructed by the David Jemibewon administration over 30 years ago. A very mercurial politician that he is, Ladoja had earlier quipped, in a radio interview late last year, in the guise of commending Ajimobi, that his administration midwifed the idea of constructing over-head bridges in Ibadan. Craftily, he sought to appropriate the glory that Oyo State residents and visitors to the state had been heaping on the governor for building the fly-over. In the sermon on Facebook under reference, Ladoja again brought up this sickening quip. His administration was the one that conceived the project, he said, ad infinitum.

    This stomach-churning sermon has elicited several comments. One, since when did dreamers become actualizers? How many leaders of Chief Awolowo’s time dreamt to change the faces of their province but ended up disappointed and going to their graves with their dreams? Leaders throughout the world do not claim success for their dreams and designs but what they actually achieved while in office. How does anyone go into the basement of Ladoja’s mind to gouge out or gauge his dreams? How does one establish the veracity or otherwise of this claim? Even though he claimed that his government designed three over-head bridges but as at the time his cousin and current governor took over office, none saw the light of the day, despite spending over three years in office. The present government has only spent less than two years and Mokola overhead bridge is almost completed. Ladoja never laid any foundation of any of the bridges, not to talk of awarding their construction. It’s high time our leaders stopped claiming glory for dreaming dreams.

    The former governor again went on in his dream world sermon. He believed in 30 students per class, he said and attempted to actualize it during his administration. Whether Ladoja dreamt this or not, what the current state government inherited was that, between him and his nemesis, Alao-Akala, a decayed educational system was the lot of Oyo State. Structurally and in all other facets, education was in stasis in Oyo. The state was placed Number 34 out of 36 states of the federation; classes had become dilapidated and moribund. But less than two years of Ladoja’s cousin, Ajimobi, coming on board, the situation has totally changed. The state’s position moved to 23rd and a massive rehabilitation of classrooms is on-going. Thousands of furniture are also being procured for the schools. That is the difference between a dreamer and an actualizer.

    Ladoja the dreamer and sudden critic was not done. Admittedly in innuendoes, he criticized the state government for, according to him, building a hotel when there are other needs of the people. This also reveals the quality of or the knowledge base of the former governor of the state. Is Ladoja ignorant or is on a mischief roller-coaster? Because this is a gaffe that even a toddler in Oyo State or Year 1 student of Development Studies should not make. First, Oyo State government is not building any hotel. The one he sees springing up on the Mokola Hills is being built by Hilton Group, in partnership with the state government. In other words, the state’s liquid fund injection is not only minimal but negligible, except its land deposit to the Private Public Partnership venture. But for Ladoja’s rabid ambition to destroy anything not his, building a gigantic hotel should have been commendable because it will expand the economy of the state and employ thousands of our people. It is apparent that the former governor neither appreciates the dictates of a new and modern economy that is thriving throughout the world, nor is he happy to have his cousin be the engine of such economic innovation in Oyo State.

    Funny that in his unsolicited homily, Senator Ladoja never commended the present government for its unprecedented strides in aggressive expansion of the economy, in order to alleviate poverty and its quest to push this with unprecedented vigour. Nor did he commend the government for its massive urban renewal that has become the sing-song even in the mouths of babes and the suckling. The hotel he talked so glibly about, for instance, is meant to provide envisaged investors with a place to stay. Right now, even Premier Hotel, one of the biggest in the state, does not have the wherewithal to accommodate international investors of the hue envisaged in Oyo State. Aside infrastructure, security and clean environment have also engaged the attention of the present government. But Ladoja’s self-righteous homily does not have room for such.

    Is it not a gratuitous insult to the people of Oyo State that all Ladoja talked about his having done was combating guinea-worm when he was in government? How come he would turn his bile at a government that has done more roads than him and his former deputy put together? Why would he not have kind words for a man who has literally and metaphorically cleaned the dirt that they foisted on Oyo State? Oyo State is better than before and is wearing a new look. Our leader(s) should not mislead the public because of their ambitions. Ladoja had an opportunity to do exactly or even better than his cousin in government now but he was too busy designing and dreaming.

  • Zoning and the politics of mediocrity

    Zoning and the politics of mediocrity

    For some time now, the media in Akwa Ibom state has been awash with arguments and counter arguments on where the next governorship seat in Akwa Ibom State should be zoned.

    Obong Victor Attah, the immediate past Governor of the State, hails from Uyo senatorial District. He ruled the State from 1999 – 2007.

    His successor and incumbent governor, His Excellency Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, whose tenure will expire by 2015, is from Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

    Thus, there has been calls by various groups within the state that Eket Senatorial district be allowed to produce the next governor of the state in 2015 for the sake of fairness, equity and justice.

    Others disagree; they argue that in each occasion when governorship primaries were conducted, aspirants from the three senatorial districts were allowed to compete amongst themselves for the best candidate to emerge. They argue that, for equity to prevail their candidate should not be excluded from the primaries.

    Others reason that, since the PDP constitution recognizes zoning, its internal organ is usually manipulated to favour a candidate in the senatorial district the office is zoned. But the proponent of this idea fail to advance reason why this organ was not used to stop the present speaker of the House of Representatives from emerging as the winner of the election to the office of the speaker even though the party had zoned the office to the South-west. Though it could be argued that the event at the House of Representatives wasn’t purely a PDP affair that other parties joined in electing the current speaker, the truth of the matter is that some PDP reps members voted against zoning in that election; they voted for the best candidate and the best candidate won the election.

    This argument no doubt, will continue in weeks, months and years ahead of 2015. But one thing is certain; by 2015 a governor will emerge from one of the three senatorial districts. By then the gladiators will sheath their swords and turn it into ploughshare, party interest will prevail and everyone will be enjoined to support the government. That is the hallmark of party politics: no permanent friend or enemy but permanent interest. What this means is that whether there is zoning or not, each senatorial district has a duty to project a candidate that has electoral values.

    In my opinion, the argument about which senatorial district should produce the next governor of the state is neither here nor there. The exercise rests squarely with the delegates in one hand and the entire voting population in the state on the other hand.

    Though the debate may help to sway the mind of the delegates but each senatorial district must produce a candidate that possesses tall credentials that can be marketable to the delegates. The candidate must be seen to be above board in all his dealings both within and outside government. Emphasis shouldn’t be about power shift, but a person who will run a good government devoid of tribal and ethnic sentiments. He should be someone who would not allow the burning anger expressed by Governor Akpabio in his developmental strides to wane. Such person should be able to provide us with electricity, safe drinking water in our homes and not borehole water, harness hidden treasures in our land and use it to create jobs for our people.

    Thank God the present administration in the state has done a lot in the area of infrastructural development. But a lot more is needed to ensure that the “Real sector” of the economy work well.

    We desire a person who will focus on wealth creation, resuscitate our ailing industries and build new ones under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model. It baffles me when things such as ceramic wares are imported into this country when we have abundant deposit of clay materials in Itu Local Government Area that can be used for ceramics work. So effort must be geared towards industrialization.

    The clamour for power shift to senatorial districts can only breed nepotism as a section will see it as an opportunity to enrich his people. It will kill patriotic and nationalistic zeal in our people. It will rather encourage a local champion whose score-card will be what he has actually achieved for his senatorial district while the state will be the worst for it. Neophytes, charlatans and mediocres could hide under the cover to find their way into the Hilltop Mansion.

    What the present democratic dispensation requires is for us to evolve a culture where every leader irrespective of his place of birth and dialect will see the state as his primary constituency, where governance will be carried out not by ethnic or tribal sentiment but based on fairness, equity and justice. Such that an Eastern Obolo man or woman does not need to wait until his kinsman becomes governor before roads, school, hospital and pipe borne water are built in his domain. Same goes with an Ibeno person and other ethnic grouping that make up the state.

    We should dissipate our energy on issues that unite us not those that divide us. The call for power rotation based on senatorial districts can further divide us as smart politicians could manipulate the system to permanently favour a particular tribe that have spread in all the three senatorial districts of the state.

    I am pleased with the way and manner the present administration is running the affairs of our state. The vision of the governor and his team from day one has been that of transforming the state from a mere pedestrian state to a destination of choice. This the administration has achieved by completing projects such as the Airport, Ibom Power plant and establishing new ones such as the E-Library, Ibom Tropicana, Specialist Hospital and Olympic-sized stadium project and other’s too numerous to mention. The facts here are that all these project are of high class and meet international standard. So any visitor to Akwa Ibom State either for leisure or investment will find on ground first class facilities to aid his stay thereby confirming the state as a destination of choice. This feat achieved by the current administration should not be squandered on the altar of senatorial district politics. This is because the governor as a former commissioner was groomed, tested and found to be suitable by His predecessor Obong Victor Attah to be his successor when he vacates office. So rather than zone the office to any particular senatorial district, an individual (irrespective of where he comes from) with potentials for good leadership should be identified and groomed to assume governance in 2015 and continue the good works.

    Collectively, we owe this state a duty to bequeath it a tested leader with proven track record of achievement when the current regime comes to an end in 2015.

     

    • Ntoop, a political analyst writes from Uyo

  • Corruption: Nigeria’s biggest problem?

    To put simply, Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It hurts everyone who depends on the integrity of people in a position of authority.

    It is an illegal, immoral and dishonest behavior, particularly among people in position of authority.

    It is the fastest growing industry in Nigeria. There is a saying in some quarters that “if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

    Graft has eaten deep into the nation’s fabric such that it would be an herculean task to find honest people in different corners of Nigeria.

    It has become a constant discussion on radio, television and other media. Corruption has dangerously threatened our society to an extent people don’t really cherish hardwork and diligence anymore.

    Those who acquire material wealth by crooked means were praised and honoured, while hardworking and poor people are treated with disdain.

    Corruption has become our way of life. Corruption is everywhere, you can see, feel, hear and even smell corruption in the country. The influence of corruption is highly felt in all sectors, including the various arms of government.

    The private sector and religious group are not left out; sometimes I wonder what the country has become. Those people that pilfered our commonwealth are hero worshipped by all and sundry.

    Even those who were expected to spearhead the fight against corruption in the society are also guilty of the same offence.

    Or what would you say about a police officer who was summoned to arrest a criminal only to turn around and accuse the complainant of committing the offence after money had exchange hands?

    Some Nigerians have expressed their views on the situation.

    To Sylvia Chikeze, a youth corps member, successive governments in Nigeria had not demonstrated the necessary political will to tackle the problem head on.

    She said, “The mentality of an average Nigerian is being exploited by our government in the sense that if you don’t do whatever it takes to either be rich or successful then you are never going to get anything. Corruption is something that has eaten deep into our society and I doubt if it can ever be tackled.”

    A retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, Musa Olisa, corroborated Chikeze’s view, saying government only paid lip service to anti-graft war.

    “We need political will to tackle graft in this country and it is obvious that the government is not ready to do this, but only paid lip service to it.

    “Corruption has gone round in Nigeria – both in the public and private sectors. Individuals too are not left out. Government at all levels are not genuinely concerned about tackling corruption. Several factors had made people think that the police force is one of the most corrupt organizations in Nigeria, but this is not true.

    “Recent reports have shown that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Airways and even the media are more corrupt and that shows how far we had gone as a nation, “Olisa told our correspondent.

     

     

  • Osun: Long throw into the future

    What is happening in the state of Osun at the moment may not be aptly captured for its significance by the present generation. We are witnessing dramatic changes in the state at close quarters; so we may fail to grasp its strategic importance appropriately. Yet we can see the stirrings of a great social and political movement never witnessed before in the state in recent years.

    I refer in part to the recent report of the provision of free uniforms and health books to over 750, 000 students of public schools in Osun by Governor Rauf Aregbesola. Planned as part of a total package to revamp education in the state, the uniforms are in three different types to match the tiers of school structures namely elementary, middle and high schools.

    Local adire fabric is the stuff of the uniform while tailors from all the local governments of the state are employed to sew the attire. This is a deliberate ploy to apply a sector, education, to empower the citizens of the state. While the children are being equipped with education for them to be useful to society in the future, the government is correspondingly arming their parents economically by offering them jobs through the sewing of uniforms and the weaving of adire.

    Ogbeni Aregbesola says the first set of uniforms will be free while subsequent ones will be bought at highly subsidized rates. He declared that the new unified uniform system would “promote unity, ensure uniformity and foster a sense of belonging in the public in the primary and secondary schools”.

    The governor declared: “The idea of the Osun school uniform stems from our belief in the need to create a unique identity for our students in the public schools; and a good way to do this is through unification of school uniforms which is after all what uniforms are meant to be. Consequently, the school will also help promote unity irrespective of the differences in the socio-economic and cultural background of the pupils”.

    According to the Ogbeni, N800m was expended on the school uniforms, out of a whopping N2.6b spent on education in Osun in the last two years of the present administration. He said N1.8b meanwhile was spent purely on grants for meals for the students and examination fees. These include N342m just announced by the Ministry of Education as money paid by the government to enable Osun pupils write their WAEC papers. The government says these expenses do not include the salaries and emoluments of the teachers and the administrators of the school system. With all these, you can’t dispute the claim of Aregbesola that the state of Osun under him is the country’s “biggest spender on education despite the fact that it ranks 34th on the table of 36 states in the federal allocations”.

    At the event in Ede where he unveiled the uniforms to the public and the students, Ogbeni also gave free health books to the students. The action is symbolic of the governor’s oft-stated declaration that developing human capacity is a double-prong strategy: you must attend to man’s body and soul. To get the best in a man, you need to feed his body and his intellect. It boils down to the old Latin saying: mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body). You can’t take care of one and ignore the other. There must be a balance of attention to the two. While the uniforms partly address the outward academic need of the pupils as well as the economic yearnings of their parents, the health books offer a guide to taking care of the body so it can get the right sustenance for its upkeep.

    Together, the uniforms and the health books make up what economists and sociologists refer to as the ingredients of human capacity development. And as we all know the human factor constitutes the most critical of all the factors of production. But the human being must be refined and be well equipped to play that crucial role of harnessing the other factors of production for the all-round development of society. Where a society boasts all the other resources, land, money, infrastructure etc. etc. without the accompanying entrepreneurial intervention in the form of man (the skilled or educated man), all the other factors would amount to nothing. In fact, the human factor is the most critical. The man or woman with skill can work wonders and create resources even in the absence of nothing. The example of the wealth and prominence of nations without oil comes in handy here. They do not depend on the so-called petrodollars to attain the great heights they have reached.

    Isn’t that the challenge we are facing in Nigeria where we have enormous resources at our disposal but with little to show for it in terms of development of human capacity all because we don’t have the right and visionary leadership to harness our latent resources? The state of Osun is teaching us that with whatever means at the disposal of a society it can still make a difference in the lives of the citizens if you throw up a caring leadership who would be passionate about service and be sensitive to the needs of the people. The future will rightly capture the events in Osun, even if the present isn’t also oblivious of them, just as the Awo era relished the achievements of the sage in his lifetime but with the greater impact reserved for the generations that came after Obafemi Awolowo.

    • Adeoye is a retired journalist in Lagos.