The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

Garlands for Aminu Tambuwal

Sokoto state with a heritage of history, colour and pageantry blazed another trail when drums were rolled out in an evening set aside to recognize achievements which had brought honour to the state in various fields of human endeavours.

The government had set aside a day to honour indigenes of the state whose accomplishments in their chosen carriers could not be ignored. Among those honoured with the 2012 prestigious State Merit Award include the Speaker of Nigerian House of Representatives, Rt.Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

Others were the Car Designer with the General Motors Company of United States of America, (USA) Alhaji Jelani Aliyu Haidara Dogon Daji, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, Sarkin Gobir, Gwabadawa, Alhaji Mohammadu Zayyanu and the only female honouree, Hajiya Sa’adiya Omar Bello

The auditorium of Sokoto state Polytechnic, venue of the award ceremony, was filled to the brim hours before the arrival of prominent indigenes of the state and other important dignitaries drawn from within and outside the country. As expected, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar led other prominent indigenes of the state, which included former President Shehu Shagari to the epoch event, while Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko led government functionaries.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was represented by the Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bello Sali, while the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamagar Tukur, was represented by his Deputy, Chief Sam Sam Jaja.

Also present at the Seat of the Caliphate for the memorable event was the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alfa Belgore.

For the Speaker, who was cheered into the venue by hundreds of volunteers, the aphorism that ‘charity begins at home’ holds true. A prophet is now being recognized at home.

The arrival of the man of the moment, accompanied with scores of his colleague members, led by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha electrified the entire venue of the event. Secretary to the Government of Sokoto State, Alhaji Sahabi Isah Gada, was quick in laying the template and the motive behind the award, which was to honour indigene of the state at home and in Diaspora who offered quality service to humanity at all levels.

Linking the rich tradition of the Caliphate to the present and the future, he stated that the administration of Governor Wamakko was determined to recognize worthy individuals, whose achievements in life brought honour to the state. Like the Biblical saying that those who are diligent in their services shall stand before the Kings and not mere men, the honourees, including the Speaker stood before the King with cheers from the teeming crowd.

Tambuwal’s moment of glory came when he stepped forward to receive the Merit Award from Governor Wamakko when the hall erupted with a loud shout of Allah Is Great. The governor himself summed up the honour done to the Speaker in his remarks at the event when he remarked that Aminu Tambuwal had impressively lived up to the confident expectations of his colleagues and the people of Nigeria.

He enthused: “As an illustrious son of the Caliphate, he (Tambuwal) has taken up the challenge of national leadership foisted on him by his esteemed colleagues, who rallied round and almost unanimously elected him Hon Speaker of the Lower House over a year ago….No doubt, Alhaji Aminu Waziri has impressively lived up to the confident expectations of not only his colleagues, but indeed, fellow Nigerians with his calm and responsible leadership of the House in a manner that has strengthened our democratic dispensation and deepened our understanding of the delicate intricacies and the necessary symbolic relationship between the three arms of our democratic government.”

Without equivocation, the governor was emphatic that Sokoto state and the Caliphate are proud of the Speaker. “I must say without equivocation, that we are deeply proud of this young man and charming public officer, particularly for being a worthy ambassador of the culture and traditions that define the significance of the enduring legacies of the Seat of the Caliphate in the evolution of the nation….We are also proud that through Aminu Tambuwal, the sterling human and leadership qualities nurtured by his unique upbringing has once again proven to be not just relevant, but indeed indispensable to the much desired peace, unity progress and development of Nigeria.”

For earning the support and confidence of the diverse of Nigerians elected as Honourable members of the House of Representatives as the Speaker and Leader, Governor Wamakko concluded that Aminu Tambuwal merited the State Merit award.

President Jonathan in a message delivered by the Head of Service of the Federation commended the Sokoto State government for honouring people who had distinguished themselves in the service to humanity.

He stated that the gesture was in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, even as government was intensifying efforts to tackle the security challenge facing the nation. The PDP Deputy National Chairman in his remarks applauded the state government for recognizing and honouring contributions to nation building by people from the state, noting that such honour will act as catalyst for others to do more. He specifically commended the choice of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, adding that Tambuwal had done the party proud by leading the House very well.

Tambuwal while giving the vote of thanks was cheered to no end indicating that his popularity and acceptance among his folks have continued to wax stronger based on his performance as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

While thanking the people for the honour done him because of his modest contributions to nationhood and that of other recipients, the Speaker said they have been challenged to do more for the sustenance of the rich tradition and culture of the Caliphate. Tambuwal said the State Merit Award was special to him because it came from his own people. He also promised that the House of Representatives under his leadership will continue to decide on the side of the people for improvement on their standard of living.

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal was elected the Speaker of the 7th Assembly of the House of Representatives. He was first elected to represent Kebbe/Tambuwal Federal Constituency of Sokoto State in 2003 and has held leadership positions as Minority Leader, Deputy Whip before his current position as Speaker of the House. A lawyer by profession, Aminu Tambuwal was a strong force in the politics of the Nigeria Bar Association [NBA]; he belongs to the Body of Benchers including being a member of the International Bar Association [IBA], as well as member of the American Bar Association.

• Ojo, Chief Press Secretary to the Honourable Speaker wrote in from Abuja.

December 10, 2012
The rhythm of governance in Osun

When the 19th century British novelist and critic, Aldous Leonard Huxley, wrote that “experience is not what happens to a man, it is what a man does with what happens to him”. One man who fits into his philosophy is no doubt the incumbent governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, whom, to all intent and purposes, is a study in administration. “Rauf” as he is fondly called by his admirers represents so many things to so many people. For some, he is the arrogant, boastful and brassy fellow, who happened on the governorship seat of the state of Osun by mere providence. They see him as a schemer; who initially presented a humble façade to hoodwink the hapless people of the state of Osun before baring his fangs. To them, even if the governor change the status of the backwater state to ‘Paris’, it just won’t score in their performance sheet. To others, Rauf is God sent. A quintessential leader, who is perpetually angry at the state of development of the state; a man set to change the Osun epic, to lift the people from the doldrums of poverty and underdevelopment, to one of poverty reduction, wealth creation and accelerated infrastructural development. They see him as the biblical Moses, who came to liberate his people and take them to the promise Land, the land full of milk and honey. Now, let’s look at the people in the two schools of thought. For the so- called anti Rauf people, who are basically found among the beneficiaries of the old order, that is, those that are benefitting from the profligacy of the PDP era, and, of course, his political opponents and their followers, who naturally should be expected to cuddle the sour grapes, Rauf can not be a performer. For the opposition, their mindset should be appreciated. They would give any thing to change the status quo. The only snag is that they work outside the established tenets of opposition as practiced in advance democracies. They would rather throw tantrum, turn the truth on his head, just to criticize in order to regain political relevance.

To discerning minds of the state of Osun politics, there is reason to wonder on which moral tripod the state of Osun chapter of the PDP stands to criticize a widely acknowledged performing administration like that of Aregbesola. How can it justify its attempt to con unsuspecting masses of the state of Osun to buy into this harangue bid ? Does it not take absolute morality to expose absolute immorality? It is very sad that this dinosaur of a party is applying every possible tactics to come back to public embrace through calculated media war and abracadabra. PDP’s selfish politics in the state of Osun is appalling. From what could be observed so far of the party, since its disastrous outing in the last election, what is left of it is its public relations desk which has been tirelessly using the media to sell the party’s “hard to sell image”. But political observers are not deceived because it is obvious that its main stakeholders are responsible for the political mishap it has suffered in recent elections in the state.

The party is today donating its voice to the public even when the voice has crass tones and cracked rhythms and rhymes. As a matter of fact, the party, including its affairs, was heading into oblivion, no thanks to Aregbesola led A.C.N administration’s unparallel sterling performance that has never been witness in the history of the state. With the way and manner Osun PDP is operating in the state, its activities are causing most people to feel that everything is turning against it and that the party cannot stand firm. And to that extent, the party has become an object of ridicule and scorn. It is unfortunate that Osun PDP is suffering from a political glaucoma. The foregoing explains why it cannot see the positive transformation going on in the state of Osun in the last two years and consequently, boasting that it will “recapture” Osun and the other South-West states in the next election. It is dangerous when members of any organization are greedy; the members would automatically become expert in this aberration called choice.

The stock-in trade of the PDP is to acquire power and use it maximally, often without purpose, nothing is considered too sacred or profane. The end justifies the means. And for those who feel Ogbeni is the best thing to happen to the state of Osun, they readily points to his numerous development projects in all sectors and the numerous seeds of goodwill Ogbeni has planted for the people of Osun state. It is on record that he inherited a moribund state, bereft of good motorable roads, functioning rural and urban infrastructure, a suffocating debt of N18.3b and a forlorn citizenry, when he assumed office on November 27, 2010. After almost eight years of dashed hopes and unfulfilled promises, Governor Aregbesola has, within a period of two years, been able to stabilize the polity and consolidate democratic governance by instituting meaningful social and economic progress through Employment of 20,000 job seekers through Osun Youth Employment Scheme (OYES), revolution both in the Education (O’School) and Agric sector (O’REAP), People-centred health care delivery, workers welfare and re-focused civil service, environmental sanitation and beautification, erosion and flood control, Urban renewal, massive road rehabilitation, reconstruction, construction and drainage works going on in virtually every senatorial district makes the entire state one huge construction site. Furthermore, he has instituted a new regime of human resource development, administrative reforms, due process and accountability, proper social integration, public law and order to realize a people oriented government.

So from schools to roads to hospitals to markets, employment generation, investment in ICT, name it, Ogbeni has succeeded in bringing forth an even developmental engineering throughout the three senatorial districts of the state. He has simply set a very high standard in governance. He has created a new benchmark. This is now the standard to beat. In other words, henceforth, whoever wishes to occupy the office of Governor of the state of Osun must be able to surpass this or at least match it. What that means to the people of the state of Osun, most importantly, is that henceforth it would be difficult for any charlatan without the capacity to deliver to present himself for governorship or any elective office for that matter. Ogbeni has through sheer brilliant performance turned the state of virtuous people into a one-party state. If he was an army general, the appreciative people of the state of Osun will follow him to the war front even blindfolded. He is a perfect illustration that the best form of political propaganda is to do the right thing.

• Aminu is the National Coordinator, Oodua Youth for Good Governance

December 10, 2012
Shaping the course of higher education

There is a sense in which it may be said that had the University of Nigeria not existed in the first place, the generation of post-independence leadership of the country would still have had to invent one. This is because, looking back now, the establishment of the university bordered on a historical mission, as encapsulated in the report of the Economic Rehabilitation of Eastern Nigeria (1955) which made the case for the immediate establishment of a full-fledged university in the region: “Such a higher institution of learning should not only be cultural, according to the classical concept of universities, but it should also be vocational in its objective and Nigerian in its content.”

The dawn of political independence in Africa was all the more remarkable as it offered the new nations a context to dream lofty dreams. It needs be emphasized that, in the case of Rt. Hon. (Dr.) Nnamdi Azikiwe, the founder of the University of Nigeria, the original impulse for the establishment of the University ran far much deeper than the crush of independence. His was a date with history, a summons to enact ‘Renascent Africa’ in bold relief. I make bold to say that few public institutions of higher learning in Africa can aspire to the philosophical foundations, liberal and utilitarian ethos that gave birth to the university in October 1960. Fewer still have impacted the course of the development of higher education and nation building as much as the University of Nigeria in the past fifty years.

The reason the University will for a very long time to come remain the reference point in the development of higher education hinges on its history as a catalytic influence in the diversification of knowledge and the democratization of access to higher education. The introduction of vocational courses and the teaching of General Studies (GS) have bred an academic tradition that defines the mission of the public university. Through thick and thin, this tradition has largely held firm and constitutes the connecting thread in the tangled web of the institution’s history.

Twenty seven ago, the University celebrated its silver jubilee anniversary. It was an auspicious occasion to reflect on the institution’s history and to contemplate its future. Onigu Otite, a pioneer graduate of the University and by then a professor of Sociology at the University of Ibadan suggested at the time that the chequered origins of the school made its first 25 years appear to collapse centuries of the normal rise and fall of such institutions elsewhere. Inevitably, the ravages wrought by the ugly spectre of the Nigerian civil war have since become an integral part of the narrative of the University. Upon his return to the war-scarred institution in 1970, Dr. D.R. Duncan, an Inter- University Council adviser from Cambridge University made a sobering observation of the patent devastation and destruction, on the one hand, and a burning determination and purpose to create something unique from the tragedy of the past, on the other.

Despite a succession of national educational crises punctuated by internal upheavals, the University has grown in exponential terms ever since. The take-off student population of 220 in six foundation departments in 1960 and an academic staff strength of 13, which, by the 1962/63 session had shot up to 1,248 students in 27 departments and colleges, and a total of 160 lecturers, pales in comparison to the current student enrolment figure of about 35,000, academic staff and faculty population of 1,785, in addition to non-academic personnel of 5,420. In fifty years, the University has graduated over 125,000 students in various degrees and diplomas (compared to the first set of 150 graduates in 1963) and today boasts 106 departments, 15 faculties, 10 centres and 3 institutes spread across four campuses- Nsukka, Enugu, Ituku/Ozalla and Aba.

With research at the heart of the founding of the university, post-graduate studies stand out as a beneficiary of the exponential growth of the institution. Fresh from the ruins of war, the school conferred its first Masters degree in 1971 and its first Ph.D four years later in 1975. In the 1978/79 session when the School of Post-graduate Studies came into existence, the post-graduate student enrolment figure stood at 288, but by 1984/85 session, the figure had risen to 1,309 students. By contrast, with all academic departments presently running fully functional post-graduate programmes, a total of 2,226 new students enrolled for various programmes under the school in the 2010/2011 session.

Much has been made of the ennobling dreams of the founding fathers of the university, but in reality those dreams might have counted for little without the commensurate sweat and exertions, commitment and conviction of the men and women in the arena of teaching and research. They surely deserve greater credit than they have received so far in any attempt at situating the arduous road travelled by the institution.

Perhaps no less so, the foster hands of the Michigan State University, the Inter- University Council and the various streams of expatriate egg-heads who worked under difficult conditions towards nurturing values that underpin the idea. The Nsukka environment in its pristine rural setting, with the totemic parched red earth and swirling dust storms, has since given way to evolving modernization, physical transformation, aesthetic renewal and the introduction of new teaching and learning tools and aids. At this juncture, the University is fully braced for new frontiers and higher heights in a world of shrinking borders.

The saga of the development of the University of Nigeria embodies the legend informing the narrative of its traditions and culture as an organic institution with a soul and life of its own. As we mark the 52nd Founders Day this year, preparatory to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the pioneer set of university graduates from a Nigerian university in October 2013, I cannot but register once more my appreciation of the tortuous journey that started with the singular vision of the Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, former Premier of the Eastern Region, former President of Nigeria and foremost nationalist.

• Professor Okolo is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

December 7, 2012
Nation in darkness and PDP greed

Mr Segun Agagu and Dr Chris Ngige have much in common. Both share PDP world view. Both were once closely linked with the power sector; one as a minister of power and mines and the other as a contractor to NEPA. They were both beholden to god- fathers; with one looking up to Aso Rock Villa, the seat of government and the other to the high priest of Okija shrine. Both won controversial governorship elections in their respective states of Ondo and Anambra. Both were unceremoniously removed by election tribunals.

From their antecedents, it is apparent that their recent blame game as to who contributed more to the nation’s energy crisis, is a continuation of PDP war of attrition and bitter struggle over sharing of our common wealth among its members, rather than genuine concern about the party’s legacy of darkness in the past 13 years, even after billions had changed hands.

Ngige, current deputy chairman, Senate Committee on Power Generation had alleged that “the Papalanto, Olorunsogo, Geregu, and Omotosho power plants built by the government of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 to 2003 were wasteful ventures” Ngige also insinuated political consideration in the siting of the plants.

Agagu, his former political ally has shot back, claiming that ‘between June 2000 and December 2002, ‘our electricity generation capacity increased from 1,425 to 4,300 megawatts.’ The establishment of four plants under attack, he said were completed within 24 months from contractors’ mobilisation, making them the fastest of deliveries in the history of Nigeria. ‘For all the four plants, a concessionary funding programme were negotiated with the Chinese Exim Bank through which Nigerian government paid only 35 per cent of their cost for the plants to be delivered. The balance of 65 per cent, he explained, was to be paid over a seven-year period at six per cent interest rate and two years moratorium’.

Obasanjo, who inherited only a total power capacity of 1,500mw in 1999, had also said while inaugurating the Nigeria Integrated Power Project (NIPP) that the scheme would add 10,000MW to the national grid before the end of his term in 2007. He had hoped his successors would be driven with the same zeal and move the planned target up to 20,000 MW by 2015.

To kick-start, besides the Chinese loan facility, the National Council of State and the National Assembly also approved an initial $2.5 billion for NIPP from the “Excess Crude Oil Account” (ECOA) in August 2005.

It is not unlikely that PDP legislators, some of who publicly claimed they sold houses to contest election soiled their hands in the process. But the greed of the new set of legislators that came in 2007 was without measure. From insight, we now know they derailed the project because of greed.

Dimeji Bankole, the then speaker of the lower house, (he was to be later arraigned for fraud at the end of his tenure as speaker by EFCC) was the first to claim that Obasanjo administration frittered away $16bn on the energy sector. Then President Umaru Yar’ Adua, Obasanjo’s imposition came out with a much lower figure of $10b as the amount frittered away on the power sector “without commensurate result”.

Godwin Elumelu, representing the PDP new breed legislators, as House of Representatives committee on power chairman was spitting fire while swearing he was going “to expose corruption in the power sector even if that would cost him his life”. Of course not totally unexpected in PDP ‘dog eat dog’ brand of politics, the Elemelu committee claimed there was indeed evidence of corruption in the process of awarding the contracts. But Instead of correcting the observed aberrations in Obasanjo’s contracts, they chose to throw out the baby with the bath water. The scheme was put on hold until Jonathan went back to it in 2010.

If we had any doubt about the real motive why PDP newly elected members were hell bent on probing the NIPP contracts, that became clear when an opportunity to spend N7bn of excess REA fund came. They had only two weeks to prevent the money from returning to government coffers.

Elumelu and his law ‘breakers’ ignored ‘due process’, allegedly nominated nine contractors by proxy, authorised the MD of REA to award them the contracts, and prevailed on the permanent secretary of the ministry who was also the acting minister to grant approval for the contracts and the payment of 15 per cent of the fee. The balance of 85 per cent was equally withdrawn from the REA account and lodged in the banks where those contractors had their accounts. (This is similar to the scandalous withdrawal of entire contract money before their commencement by Oyinlola’s PDP administration in Osun State).

But the EFCC was soon to prove that like Farouk Lawal, a ‘self proclaiming’ Mr. Integrity, Godwin Elumelu, and, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, his counterpart as Senate Committee Chairman on Power were men with feet of clay. On June 14, 2010, EFCC accused both of misappropriating over N10 billion public funds.

EFCC claimed Elumelu and Ugbane exhibited ‘undue interest in influencing procurement processes to obtain undue advantage in contract award in Rural Electrification Agency’. Ugbane was said to be one of the members of the National Assembly that initiated the Grid Extension and Solar Electrification contracts and inserted same in the 2008 budget of the Rural Electrification Agency. EFCC therefore concluded that the exercise “were used as conduit pipes with which funds of the Rural Electrification Agency were siphoned and were awarded to companies either not prequalified to be awarded the contract or were phony or existing companies”,

When the embattled PDP men, instead of defending themselves, sought protection from the court , EFCC added other offences- ‘misappropriation of N500million to buy houses; diversion of REA’s funds; flouting of government’s rules on award of contracts and award of fictitious and unnecessary contracts without following due process.’

But Justice M.G Umar of Abuja High Court was not persuaded. On March 24, 2012, he absolved all the PDP men and their collaborators, claiming ‘he was unable to find a prima facie case or complaint disclosed in the proof of evidence against the respondents’.

In the midst of this theatre of the absurd, with the legislators, their friends in the judiciary and the press, as leading characters, President Goodluck Jonathan who inherited about 2,800MW on assumption of office in May, 2010, went back to the abandoned Obasanjo NIPP. With about $8bn spent so far, output from the four already commissioned out of the 10 under construction took our total energy capacity to 4,439MW.

Sadly, this figure recently celebrated by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Mrs. Dere Awosika, is only a marginal improvement on what Agagu claimed we achieved in 2002 and far below Obasanjo’s projected figure of 10,000MW for 2007. The projected figure of 4,774MW when the remaining six are completed in 2015 is scandalously below the figure of 20,000MW projected for the same period by Obasanjo, the unrepentant father of PDP buccaneers.

For 13 years the nation remains in darkness. PDP men who have contributed to our tragedy and are said to be above the law, are now entertaining us. As Lamorde, the EFCC boss put it three weeks back, ‘several cases involving top politicians, accused of stealing public funds, have lingered for years after an initial public fanfare with’ some of the indicted officials still roaming the country as kingmakers, lawmakers, and political gladiators.’

This is the challenge before President Jonathan today as he makes steady progress towards liberating Nigerians from the darkness that his greedy PDP buccaneers inflicted on the nation. Nigerians voted for Jonathan and not PDP. He can ill-afford squandering the goodwill of Nigerians.

December 6, 2012
Really, what is Saraki’s legacy?

There is an established norm in Africa that you do not speak ill of the dead. That probably flows from the fact that death is one inevitable debt every mortal owes the creator. But I remember that the late Gani Fawehinmi once defied this time-tested African tradition when the late dictator Sanni Abacha died. In the midst of sheer hypocrisy and crocodile tears being shed by so-called prominent personalities, Gani instead dismissed Abacha’s death as good riddance to bad rubbish – a comment he premised on the many atrocities the goggled general committed against the people of Nigeria.

Since the death on Wednesday November 15 of former Senate Leader and strongman of Kwara politics, Abubakar Olusola Saraki, I have read and heard comments that amount to downright hypocrisy and undeserved insult to the silenced majority in Kwara State. I have also read obituaries in the papers that ran foul of basic facts about Saraki and the socio-economic and political status of Kwara in Nigeria. In what amounts to further attempt to rubbish recent history, the Senate has approved a motion calling on the Presidency to rename the Ilorin International Airport after the late Saraki.

I have no doubt that Saraki was a great politician – but in a context. That he deftly manipulated the people for selfish political ends for about 40 years spoke volume of his political/manipulative skills. But we must ask some questions, answers to which would determine whether we really want to move forward or not as a people in this country: what is the legacy of Saraki in Kwara where he held sway? How did Saraki affect the lives of Kwarans and the status of the state in his four decades of political leadership?

It has been established that Saraki single-handedly installed four governors in Kwara. Plus hundreds of commissioners, special advisers, board chairmen and members, ambassadors and so on. But to what end?

By naming a federal monument after Saraki, are we really convinced that a culture of politicians doling out N500 and pap and bean cake to the people is worth encouraging in this age? Are we convinced that politicians who specialise in giving fishes to the people are better than their counterparts who teach people how to fish? If Saraki’s politics was really worthy of emulation, how come many political pundits (including many of those praising him to the high heavens) sarcastically dismissed Kwarans as ‘Saraki’s serfs?’ Or is it a good thing to be a serf? Why should we honour a politician who ran a fiefdom in the 20th/21st century when he had the opportunity to use his influence to better the lots of the people? Anybody who cares to know should check the level of development in Kwara against those of its fellow first generation states created in 1967. I will give an example: the GDPs of each of all the second and third generation states (created in 1976 and 1987) are higher than that of Kwara under the grip of Oloye. Kwara of course is no match for any of its fellow 45-year-old states. This means Kwara under the watch of Oloye fared worse compared to each of the first, second and third generation states in Nigeria. His politics practically killed the spirit of enterprise in the people he was privileged to lead because he kept giving fishes in exchange for political relevance. I read in one of his interviews (reproduced after his death) that he used his money to distribute water to Ilorin in the 70s when there was scarcity of same. He said failure of the government to provide such basic amenities made him venture into politics. Good. Today, in 2012, Ilorin the state capital suffers water scarcity and lacks basic amenities. My younger brother (currently on his four-month internship) who schools in Offa, a metropolitan city, recently told me what hardship his colleagues would be going through now on

account of water scarcity. If things are this bad in big cities, can anyone imagine what the situation is in the remotest villages where people live in Gothic era? So how has he brought development to his people? Whereas whatever leverages the Yoruba have today (some say they are regressing now) they owe to the foresight and right-thinking of Awolowo, can we possibly compare Saraki to Awolowo for instance? History stands Awolowo out for his free education policy, for being the brain behind Africas first television station, and for establishing the still-surviving Oduduwa Group and so on. Perhaps nothing confirms the foresight of Awolowo than claims that the Western Region under him attained socio-economic development comparable to what obtained in the Eastern Europe. Or Saraki to Sardauna? Not known to have any house or bank savings despite being Northern Nigeria’s Premier, Sardauna lives in the hearts of Northerners today for conscientiously leading the regions self-discovery in education and development. If the North was once monolithic, it owes that to the great Sardauna.

These two (Awolowo and Sardauna) will continue to live in the hearts of the people not because they were giving them porridge but because they gave them lasting legacies for which their people became distinct, even long after they were gone. I have read an article by a former aide to Saraki who likened him to the Kennedys and the Gandhis. Americans and Indians would never pardon such comparison. It is an insult. The late Ted Kennedy spent his entire life worrying about affordable and sound healthcare delivery for the ordinary Americans. President Barack Obama, in recognition of Ted’s influence in this area, repeatedly appealed to his memory to rally Americans when the hawkish Republicans seemed bent on stopping his healthcare bill. Ghandi is revered globally for his non-violence politics, his support for the oppressed, and is a role model for several world leaders including Obama. He led India to independence. That is leadership. That is what working for

people means, not giving them N500 or paying their wedding bill. What tangible project or ideal would Kwarans remember Saraki for? When people hailed Saraki’s philanthropy, they failed to put it in perspective. Beyond going round villages with sacks of money on the eve of elections to poor farmers who struggle to pay their workers and Femi Fani-Kayode’s incoherent and contradictory narrative about his (Oloye) NADECO-era gesture to a widow, how many selfless gestures can we remember Saraki for? If that is philanthropy, then all Nigerian politicians are great philanthropists without global equals because they all buy cars, feed people, pay school fees and even send people on the holy pilgrimage for reasons we all know! Bill Gates is a philanthropist. Our own Moshood Kashimawo Abiola was.

Some might argue that Saraki never had executive powers and so could not have achieved much like Awolowo and Sardauna who were at some points chief executives. Such argument falls flat when one considers the fact that Oloye reigned more or less like an emperor who enthroned and dethroned chief executives. He wielded more power than his proteges who held office.

I have heard and read people paying glowing tributes to his ‘selflessness.’ Of course nothing confirms such selflessness than the attempt to make his daughter succeed his son as Governor of Kwara State! Equally selfless (or transformational) is his son Bukola who deemed his fathers attempt to crown his sister the governor a selfish gesture but saw nothing wrong in him (Bukola) succeeding his sister as Senator representing Kwara Central. And were Saraki’s peculiar politics truly worthy of emulation as our professional praise-singers would have us believe, then we should never condemn beggarly attitude. Truth be told, Saraki would be remembered for supervising Nigeria’s most enduring poverty-oriented politics which fed fat on the helplessness and gullibility of the people! For me, I see the torrents of praises from outside Kwara as a deliberate mockery of the victims of Sarakis politics. The people qualified to hail Oloye are the ordinary Kwarans who yearned for freedom.

Aso Rock, in granting or rejecting the Senate resolution on Saraki, may wish to answer the questions above especially whether Nigeria should embrace his patronage brand of politics. Also, is it desirable to give people money to offset their bills rather than secure for them an environment in which they need no big man to get basic amenities or pay their bills? The government should name the airport after Saraki if the answer to that question is in the affirmative. Else it would send a wrong signal to the world about what our values truly are as a people.

Anybody willing to gauge public opinion of the late Saraki should read people’s comments posted under each of the stories the papers have published since Saraki died. Most instructive indeed are the comments posted under The Punch story of November 15, Saraki dies after five years battle with cancer. That way, the Federal Government would know whether Saraki was a hero or villain to the people of Kwara. And if you care to know more, you may well ask those who lost their entire life savings, and in some cases breadwinners, to Saraki’s Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria (SGBN) bankruptcy.

• Ishaq writes from Ilorin, Kwara State capital

December 6, 2012
From the cell phone

For Segun Gbadegesin

An understatement, sir. We must recognise that we are at war. An unconventional war requires an unconventional approach to win. The type of war the Israelis fight through assassinations, the Americans through their drones and the Colombians who defeated Escobar with the help of a vigilante group known as Los Pepes (people persecuted by Pablo Escobar). These people weakened his army by using the same terrorist tactics of bombings and assassinations that Escobar used. If we choose to fight any terrorist organisation successfully, we must be as merciless and relentless as they are, if not more. Anonymous

You can’t fight a terrorist gang without accepting the fact that you have one. Lets face reality, Boko Haram is a terrorist group. Its activities are similar to those of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabab and others. The Nigerian Government should accept the fact that it is dealing with a terrorist organisation and act accordingly. If our intelligence and the whole security apparatus can’t handle the sect, then let our ‘rulers’ (not leaders because we don’t have any) seek help from the international community. “It’s better to appear weak and save lives than to appear strong and lose a nation.” From Opubere Samuel Apiri, Ogbia, Bayelsa State.

Re-Security on their minds. Collaboration among the northerm states, Northern states versus Southern states and Federal Government, Northern and Southern state governors. Besides, the ‘people’ need to be motivated in their own way, to expose the criminals and the crimes. Where persuasion fails, the law enforcement agents should employ FORCE! Quite unfortunate all those are happening to Nigeria, my country. From Lanre Oseni.

It is rather unfortunate that this country has found itself in a mess. The elder stateman only expressed his views on the government’s inability to handle the Boko Haram insurgents. He implored the government to use the Udi and Zaki Biam examples to end the menace. While the other elder stateman reacted to it.

For Dare Olatunji

Re-Putting those teeming graduates to work. It is the very bad situation of unemployment in Nigeria, that had led to such requests for a First Class in other fields aside transport to apply as drivers. The worst, Ph.Ds! The last place for such should have been classrooms in polytechnics or/and the universities. To me, it is a re-colonisation of educationists. I do not envy those requests; anyone knows what it takes to obtain a FIRST CLASS and a Ph.D. From Lanre Oseni

If all we can do to honour hard-earned certificates is to offer them truck driving as a viable employment, why increase the number of universities we have? Can’t we be truthful to ourselves and admit that, given the lack of long-term planning for national sustainability while only distributing ‘monthly allocation’, the only place we are heading for is a doomed tomorrow ? From Olu Balogum, Ilorin.

Can you help the good people of Kogi State inquire from Alhaji Ibrahim Ijala Wada what has happened or what is happening to the billions of naira donated by the good people of Nigeria. The largest donor, so far, is Alhaji Aliko Dangote, towards alleviatting the sufferings of flood victims in Kogi State. Sir, people are suffering. My brother-in-law Gbade lost hìs 12-year-old son to a hit and run driver in Gadumo Village on Ajaokuta Road. He was crossing the road to submit a form for the distribution of relief materials, all he and hìs family got that day was four cups of rice and some packets of spaghetti! The story making the rounds is that the donations had gone the way of the state allocations from Federation Account.We have not been privileged to hear or read how much Kogi State government had contributed. The waters are gone and the people are back in their houses, to bear the pains of the flood. Such monies, if diverted, could invite the wrath and anger of God. From Musa Bakare

Nice to read your write-up on Dangote’s attempt to ‘enslave’ educated Nigerians. Again, it was vintage OLATUNJI DARE. From A.Osakwe

Re: Putting those teeming graduates to work. I suggest that those of you in the media should entreat those teeming graduates to think of self-employment rather than truck driving. Let us not give to others what we cannot contemplate for our children. And, in any case, any graduate that wants to go for truck driving should have his degree re-examined. From Rodsimeon Idaewor

Many thanks for all your articles in The Nation newspapers, published by the Vintage Press Limited. From Barrister C.C. Obi, Port Harcourt

This is Chris from Edo State. I hope they are not drawing Dangote into Nigerian politics that is already corrupted to distract him from the good work he is doing: employing the masses in his private sector.

For Gbenga Omotoso

Obasanjo did not find his size but Jonathan has no focus and vision of governance. From Ken, Ore Ondo State

Quite unfortunate, Gowon led us to a war, Obasanjo finished it. Gowon had been sleeping for 35 years not minding the trends but one would understand Obasanjo’s stand. Gowon should tell us his own solutions. If he does not have a viable option, let him keep quiet. Gowon is not a match for Obasanjo. Baba is Baba. From Cardinal Wole Arogundade of SRA, Abuja

Thanks, for your reminiscences; bringing sweet old memories of Ajuwa flooding to my subconscious. I remember telling someone who had referred to Ajuwa as a local school with derision, to perish the thought, that Ajuwa was only located in a rural area! We had the best any Ivy League could ever offer then. Thanks, to the visionary, GG. If GG had done what he did at Ajuwa in a traditional African setting, he will be deified in death. I wish the government could name the school after this uncommon legend. This is not likely to be strange as the school, to everybody in the area, is ‘School Garguilo’. It will merely affirm the people’s perception of the school. From Dr. Dare Owolabi (Michael) ’73/78, Dept of English & Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti

Mr Omotoso, I assure you that Baba (Obasanjo) will hit back in full measure in the fullness of time. He usually laughs last! From Barrister Moronkeji.

Obasanjo is a personality whose heroism I celebrate. But I hate him for imposing leaders on us. Gowon remains a true father, the General to this nation. Anonymous

Re: Obasanjo finds his size? Gen. Gowon (rtd) using the word ‘irresponsible’ to describe Obasanjo’s comment could be said to be as ‘diarrhoea of words, constipation in ideas’ as no nation can survive on truths concealed but truths revealed. You cannot prepare omelete without breaking eggs. Dr Jonathan, the President, should join action to his vision of excellence. Afterall, no-nonsense Elijah mentored Elisha, Moses mentored Joshua, Jesus mentored the l2 disciples but Judas who refused mentoring ended up with suicide. Jonathan should listen to his mentor. From Dr Taiwo

Obasanjo finds his size? Many will not agree with Obasanjo’s style but truth is truth which ever way you put it. I voted for Jonathan but he has disappointed me and many others. His ever-smiling face has not solved our numerous problems, especially in the area of security. From Rodsimeon Idaewor

Obasanjo lacks the moral right to accuse Jonathan. It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. What GEJ met on ground is an aggregated misrule of the long years of military experiment and the uncoordinated eight years misrule of Obasonjo’s civilian autocracy. What happened to our roads, power generation, the killing of innocent notables, such as Bola Ige, Dokubo, and his hatred for the Yoruba, the platform he ascended power. Let him sèek restitution and forgiveness from Nigerians and God. From Femi

For God’s sake leave Obasanjo alone as somebody who does not know that he knows nothing. I wish I do not have to say my former Head of State. From Ajaja M. O., Itapa Ekiti, Ekiti State

It is rather unfortunate that this country has found itself in a mess. The elder statesman only expressed his views on the government’s inability to handle the Boko Haram insurgents. While the other one reacted to it. I do not believe that they are in a boxing ring. Therefore, the issue of whether Obasanjo has found his match should not have arisen. Please, stop creating animosity where there is none. From Butko Salmwang, Jos

Jonathan is no match for Obasanjo. The government of today has lost track on everything, most especially security. They must not aggravate it further listening to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. From Sanwo T. O.

Obasanjo was right in his decision on Odi. Who is Gowon beside Obasanjo; who is Jonathan as well. They are without ideas to move the nation forward. Obasanjo is a man. Anonymous

No matter the size of Obasanjo Nigeria still has a few who are even bigger than him Yakubu Gowon is one of them. From Yinka Afolabi, Minna

Obasanjo finds his size? The former President may have been wrong in his approach but he did say the TRUTH. Silence isn’t always golden. Jonathan is afraid of stepping on toes. That’s why the issue has taken a horrible dimension: STAFF COLLEGE et al. Pray, may GOD FORBID their entry into NASS and ASO ROCK VILLA.We hope to see in action the promise of the present leadership to nip the operations of Boko Haram soon. From Femi Ajayi, Ibadan

Re: Obasanjo finds his size? Sir, agreed Obasanjo is a man who is very bold to always call a spade a spade, but he does not deserve to be referred to as an ‘irresponsible man’ by someone of Gowon’s stature. It is rather an insult to Obasanjo. Obasanjo has done more good for this country than Gowon; it is very very unfortunate and sad! From Dapo, Okeagbe

Your whimsical piece on Obasanjo in The Nation of 29/11/2012 was good to read. It made me laugh. The General appears to have been beaten by Jonathan’s swift response to his handling of Odi in the early days of his administration. Much worse is Gen Gowon’s response: ‘highly irresponsible’. To say the least, this is measure for measure. The former President has met his match in the two individuals. Anonymous.

For Mohammed Haruna

There is nothing like “NSUKKA UNIVERSITY” as stated in paragraph three of your (last) column. There has been, there is and there will be UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, Nsukka.

From Josiah Daniel-EBUNE Abuja.

‘’General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, arguably Nigeria’s greatest political engineer…’’ Mohammed Haruna, where did his ‘engineering’ lead us to as a country? You’re shamelessly dressing that perennial political footballer in borrowed robes. This is pure sycophancy.

S-Y-C-O-P-H-A-N-C-Y! From Barrister Samuel Ehis Irabor

You got it wrong by informing readers of your well read column of The Nation on Wednesday that Mahmud Jega, (deputy editor in chief and Monday back-page columnist with Daily Trust) went to BUK! No sir. The highly gifted writer was my classmate at the then University of Sokoto, now Usman Danfodiyo University, between 1977 and 1982. He made a very high second class upper in Botany but has now turned to be a highly successful journalist. From Abdulmajeed Bello, Ilorin.

The man himself wrote in his column, penultimate Monday, that he applied and got admitted into BUK. I assumed from that that he finished there. Apparently I assumed wrongly, as he subsequently left BUK to pursue his degree in Sokoto. I therefore stand corrected. Anonymous

I have just read your article on ABU (at 50). Mobile phones have destroyed grammar. From Dr Mann Tolofari. Port Harcourt.

I find your article on the great ABU quite interesting. What more can one say about this remarkable citadel of learning? I cannot but agree with all you said in your piece except one particular statement which I think was erroneous. You claimed that ABU “literarily sired BUK”. Check your facts. Abdullahi Bayero College (ABC), as the precursor of BUK, was established before the Nigerian College of Arts and Science, which later became ABU. Anonymous

Now it’s true that when ABU was established, ABC became a campus under it. Of course ABC, until it became a fully fledged university, churned out graduates under ABU such that long after that people found it difficult to separate BUK graduates from ABU’s. It is a burden which most of us, proud alumni of BUK, find hard to swallow especially given that we are equally as good as any ABU graduate as the examples of Mahmud Jega, Garba-Deen (Mohammed), Dr Farouk Kperogi and others within (Daily Trust) attest to. Anonymous

I have no intention of stealing ABU’s deserved thunder, but please do give us our deserved due too. From Iliyasu Gadu.

December 5, 2012
In defence of how China picks its leaders

the coverage in the western media of leadership changes at the Chinese Communist party’s 18th congress has been almost uniformly negative. Critics say corruption pervades the upper echelons of the party, policy issues are not publicly discussed and the Chinese people are completely left out of the process.

There is some truth to such criticisms but they miss the big picture. The Chinese political system has undergone a significant change over the past three decades and it comes close to the best formula for governing a large country: meritocracy at the top, democracy at the bottom, with room for experimentation in between.

There is a good case for popular participation at local levels. People usually know what’s needed in their communities and they have a good sense of the competence and character of the leaders they choose. In fact, most Chinese participate in local-level elections.

In a big country, however, one person, one vote is problematic. From a moral point of view, citizens should vote for the common good because their votes affect not just themselves but other people. Yet voters tend to vote with their pocketbooks. Many can’t even do that well, since they lack economic competence. One group of voters – the rich – has a better understanding of economics and finds it easy to skew the system in their favour.

To remedy the problem the economist Bryan Caplan proposes tests of voter competence, but that’s a non-starter in democracies because nobody wants to give up the vote once they have it. Hence, it really is the end of history, but in the bad sense that no improvements are possible once the system of one person, one vote is in place.

There is a deeper problem with democracy. It confers voting rights only to adults within national borders. But it’s not just voters who are affected by the policies of the government: non-voters such as future generations and people living outside the country are also affected. In Europe and the US, the public repeatedly votes for lower taxes and higher benefits, recklessly mortgaging the future of their countries. And let’s not mention global warming.

So how leaders should be chosen at the central level? Ideally, the process should be meritocratic: the mechanism should be explicitly designed to choose leaders with superior competence and virtue. Over the past three decades or so, the CPC has gradually transformed itself from a revolutionary party to a meritocratic organisation.

Today, universities are the main recruitment grounds for new members. Students need to score in the top percentile of national examinations to be admitted to an elite university that grooms future leaders. Then they compete fiercely to be admitted into the party. Only high-performing students who have undergone thorough character checks are admitted.

Those who want to serve in government then usually need to pass government examinations, with thousands of applicants competing for a single spot. Once they are part of the political system, further evaluations are required to move up the chain of command. They must perform well at lower levels of government and pass character tests. Then there are more position-specific exams that test for specialised skills.

The advantages of Chinese-style meritocracy are clear. Cadres are put through a gruelling process of talent selection and only those with an excellent performance record make it to the highest levels. Instead of wasting time and money campaigning for votes, leaders can seek to improve their knowledge and performance. China often sends its leaders to learn from best practices abroad.

Yes, meritocracy can only work in the context of a one-party state. In a multi-party state, there is no assurance that performance at lower levels of government will be rewarded at higher levels, and there is no strong incentive to train cadres so that they have experience at higher levels because the key personnel can change with a government led by a different party. Hence, less talent goes to the bureaucracy, because the real power-holders are supposed to be chosen by the people.

In practice, Chinese-style meritocracy is flawed. Most obviously, there is widespread corruption in the political system. Term and age limits help to “guard the guardians”, but more is needed to curb abuses of power, such as a more open and credible media, more transparency and an effective legal system, higher salaries for officials, and more independent anti-corruption agencies.

When it comes to political systems, western opinion leaders are still stuck in a narrative of dichotomy: democracy versus authoritarianism. But the competition in the 21st century, as the scholar Zhang Weiwei writes, is between good and bad governance. The Chinese regime has developed the right formula for choosing political rulers that is consistent with China’s culture and history and suitable to modern circumstances. It should be improved on the basis of this formula, not western-style democracy.

• The writers are a professor of political theory at TsinghuaUniversity and a Shanghai-based venture capitalist

December 3, 2012
What is wrong with Pastors owing private jets?

Recent criticisms generated by the increasing number of our religious leaders acquiring aircrafts should be expected. This is so because such men of God are seen to be above the board and should be men not cut-out for worldly things. They are supposed to be men that should be distracted by the vanities of this world so that they can effectively discharge their duty of winning souls for Christ.

They are expected, against all odds, to stand firm in faith even in the face of daunting earthly trials, persecutions and tribulations.

But failure to adhere to this disciplined life is fast on the increase among a reasonable number of such high-flying Nigerian pastors.

Basically, the church is founded on the principles of virtue and sacrifice for the sake of Christ – a foundation laid on the threshold of propagating Christ’s teachings – to win souls by helping to bring those who have gone astray into the fold and to lead the faithful to salvation, being the ultimate desire of every devout Christian.

It is regrettable that many of our pastors and churches today have strayed away from this original obligation and purpose of pursuing righteousness, at the altar of chasing earthly material things as they never practiced what they preached.

But contrary to popular position, the ownership of private jets among pastors is not a luxury but a necessity and an essential tool for their pastoral and public duties. These pastors claim that evangelism will be made easier and more efficient through the use of jets.

However, the wealthy American, Warren Buffet recently punctured this line of argument when he said, “Everyone who says he needs a private jet to make important appointments is a liar. They need it for their ego. Name one of them that is busier than I am or who owns more US corporations than I do”. Buffet, who was once the richest man in the world, does not even own a jet as he often flies in commercial aircrafts!

Forbes magazine claimed that the nation may have spent about $6.5 billion in the purchase of private jets by government officials and pastors, a trend that had grown exponentially from about 20 jets in year 2000 to the current level of more than 160.

Top on Forbes’ list are pastors, especially, those of the Pentecostal churches, which have allegedly spent over $250 million on their new found hobby.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigerian is, perhaps, the latest but he’s really not the only one who now flies around the world in the comfort of his luxurious aircraft.

Pastors David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (Winners’ Chapel) is also said to own three private aircrafts, namely the Gulfstream G550 said to cost over $40 million, Gulfstream V Gulfstream G450 and a Lear Jet, which cost about $15 million and $14 million respectively.

Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, is said to own a Gulfstream Jet 5 brand worth $30 million. Pastors Joseph Agbodi of the Victorious Army Ministries, Sam Adeyemi of the Daystar Ministries and Temitope Joshua are said to own private jets, among others.

With the array of jet-owing pastors, the general feelings among the

people is that the expensive lifestyles of these pastors are in contrast with the teachings of Christianity, especially, amid the glaring poverty and hardship in the land.

Such resources committed to flamboyance and misplaced priorities like the purchase of jets as well as the cost of maintenance could have been deployed into more useful activities that will have direct impact on the lives of the pastors themselves and the people, in terms of generation of employment, social services and municipal facilities that will, in turn, spawn income for the churches and invariably reduce the burden of imposing frequent levies on the already drained members.

Apart from the controversial private jets, churches are now seen as places where religious leaders own choice properties, fortunes and to an extent, join the political train, to acquire power to become relevant in the

society. This is made worse when religious leaders compete among themselves to own fleet of aircrafts, travel in expensive jeeps in convoys of siren-blaring vehicles or have chains of businesses – these acts call to question, the sincerity of those who claim to have such divine calling.

Apart from some missionaries such as the orthodox and the Catholic Churches that have established schools, hospitals and other social services for both the rich and the poor, most of the churches that we now have run such ventures to secure their investments.

In a desperate bid to get money, some religious leaders go extra miles to make clearly unsubstantiated, cynical and spurious claims from their followers, who attend these churches, in a bid to get miracles, which in most cases, are non-existent.

From time-to-time, they organize vigils, crusades, deliverance services

and other crowd-pulling revivals, to bring together as many multitudes of worshippers to contribute to a pool of offerings that are managed absolutely with largely low level transparency and devoid of accountability.

Many of the so-called men of God are highly dictatorial as they engage in various antics such as divide-and-rule that tend to nefariously solidify their grip on the financial fortunes

of their churches and weaken the collective will of their congregations and resist any form of lawful challenge.

Proliferation of churches is, no doubt, a recent phenomenon in Nigeria as most of the existing ones were born in the late 1980s, after the economic depression occasioned by the Structural

Adjustment Programme and the painful Breton Wood institutions induced policies. This is coupled with the prolonged military rule that had induced some negative socio-political consequences

for the nation – endemic corruption, unemployment, sectarian crises and increased poverty.

These societal problems, fostered by bad governance over the years had led not a few adherents to quickly wish for a way out of such problems that governments, as a constitutional duty, had failed to offer any succour – so the fastest and easy way-out – visit mushroom churches, dance and smile away sorrow.

And at the end, people’s pitiable conditions remain same or even become more critical as the religious leaders smile home with financial resources at the detriment of these hapless people. It is instructive to note that recently, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, observed that ‘the acquisition of private jets by Christian leaders diminishes the moral voice of the church in the fight against corruption’.

Kukah spoke against the backdrop of the presentation of a private jet to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, by members of his church, at the 40th anniversary of Oritsejafor’s ministry.

The Prelate, who was guest speaker at the annual Founder’s Day Anniversary lecture of Providence Baptist Church in Lagos, described the exhibition of such opulence by church leaders as ‘embarrassing’.

“The stories of corrupt men and women being given recognition by their churches or mosques as gallant sons and daughters and the embarrassing stories of pastors displaying conspicuous wealth as we hear from the purchases of private jets and so on clearly

diminish our moral voice”, he had stated.

The nation is in dire need of change, due to the near collapse of all known social institutions – government, economics, education and marriage. For other pastors that may be contemplating of

purchasing their own private jets – which in all frankness is nothing but a status symbol – they should shelve such plans and be made to realize that the church, more than ever before, must be real agent of the much-desired change in the nation.

•Kupoluyi wrote in from

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.

December 3, 2012
Regional integration needs collective efforts

I Recently, at a South-South Economic Summit, the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, re-proposed regional partition of the huge cauldron called Nigeria for effective administrative governance.

Short after, the former Secretary General of Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku recommended a division into six regions instead of the existing 36 states. His reason, like that of the Nobel Laureate, is for effective and easy administration of the nation as opposed to the present gigantic central arrangement.

With the incessant calls from eminent Nigerians, it is becoming increasingly apparent that if the country must achieve and attain greatness, the central government has to be unbundled – the centre should be decentralised so as to give more effective administrative roles to the composite units, this time round, the regions; as it once was during the First Republic.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the present over-bloated Federal system constitutes a great and serious impediment to growth, progress and development. This explains why there have been repeated calls for drastic reduction in the size and cost of running the federal octopus if the nation must realize its aspiration of becoming a great country. Small, they say, is sometimes better and preferred because the bigger the head the bigger the headache.

Against this backdrop, the Governor of the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola with his fellow governor colleagues in the south-west have firmly resolved to look inward in search of lost value-based leadership, which can propel the fortunes of the region to greater height.

Hence, the renaissance of regional integration aimed at realizing a people’s collective potentialities that are necessary ingredients for nation building. To achieve this uphill task requires that all hands must be on deck; for any discordant tune carries within it a destructive seed.

Thus, Aregbesola, recognizing the spirit of collectivism and team-playing, intends to rally with other colleagues to discuss on how to take the south-west back to its days of glory in order to lift it out of its present doldrums.

In consonance with this intent, a summit tagged Yoruba Developmental Agenda was organized on September 23, 2010 at the Cultural Centre in Ibadan by all stakeholders across the Yoruba nation.

The summit offered a platform for exhaustive discussion on the way forward for the region; the outcome was a documentation of action plan by intellectual think-thank and politicians called Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN): A Roadmap.

Since then, the Governor of the State of Osun has been working tirelessly with others to make sure some of the enunciated proposals in the document sooner than later transform into concrete development for people of the region.

To Ogbeni, what urgently must come to reality are concrete steps towards a regional cooperation and integration among the south-western states –focus is also on Edo State – so as to boost the region’s socio-economic growth and development and improve upon its fortune collectively.

Collectively in the sense that to obtain prime result, the key word is ‘team-playing’ or what is called ‘consensus ad idem (meeting of the minds), in legal parlance, among the six states, the absence of which nothing meaningful could be achieved. Ogbeni’s passion stems from the need for sister states to come together and approach the multifarious developmental programmes highlighted to be vital to the region’s development.

This is how he succinctly puts it: “So if we want to integrate, it means we are formalizing a process that naturally existed before by our common heritage, language, history and uniformity of culture. It is an economic programme that cannot be affected adversely by anybody. It was natural. Traders will go to Owena Market whether any government wants it or not. Ditto for Akure Market or any market in the region for that matter.”

Further more, he said: “We are looking at a programme where all our governments can work and support ourselves officially with government resources. That is all. It involves conviction and commitment of a government.”

It requires team play. A team player is one who objectively believes in a cause of action and is ready to unflinchingly cooperate, genuinely join efforts, willingly collaborate, assiduously work with, support others, readily prepare to pool resources together and adroitly work in partnership with others to achieve their set goals.

These are, in Aregbesola’ opinion, the necessary components a team-player must possess to be able to participate in the developmental agenda. Going a step further, he also identifies the essential areas in need of urgent attention to include the following – education, commerce, Agriculture, transportation and wealth management and distribution.

Lagos unarguably needs help to boost its agricultural practice. In fundamental nature, in Aregbesola’s viewpoint, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti State have the potential to farm for Lagos.

In other words, with the current available resource, both human and materials, at the disposal of the six states, some revolution could be stirred in agriculture if they are jointly administered.

It is also Ogbeni’s observation that Lagos, with a population of about 15 million, has and provides a vast market for the whole region, the largest West African sub-region. Lagos needs food crops as well as raw material for industries, which exist in commercial quantities in other sister states.

What ought to be done is to facilitate easy and direct access of the farm produce to Lagos market as well as direct finished products from Lagos to the hinterland states. To this extent, intra-state trade and specialization would be established and promoted simultaneously among member states.

This is where transportation comes in. It was reported that the six states have sent a blue print on rail system within the south-west to the Federal Government for concession.

The state signed a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), whereby it undertakes to foot the bill of farm produce transported from the state to Osun as well as finished products returned to the state.

There is also preference for education. Today, there are numerous universities scattered across the six states – some well-established and some hurriedly and haphazardly put together. Aregbesola holds the belief that if the spirit of collectivism operates, the whole south-west can have just one big university with the existing campuses across the six states serving as colleges, with the field of studies allocated based on the need, the prevailing factors and existing resources as well as comparative advantage in those areas.

A typical example is the Harvard University, which has its main campus at Cambridge but also has colleges scattered across other states in the US. For instance, apart from its major Cambridge/Allston and Longwood campuses, Harvard owns and operates Arnold Arboretum, in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston; the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington; the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts; and the Villa I Tatti Research Center inFlorence. This is in addition to its operating theHarvard Shanghai Center in China.

In this way, resources allocated in different states for education would be pooled together so as to achieve best possible results.

All that it requires to achieve these laudable objectives is for the six states to work cooperatively by subordinating their personal interests in order to achieve a common goal. Kunle Owolabi is of the Bureau of Communications and Strategy, office of the Governor of the State of Osun.

December 3, 2012
Class Wars of 2012

ON Election Day, The Boston Globe reported, Logan International Airport in Boston was running short of parking spaces. Not for cars — for private jets. Big donors were flooding into the city to attend Mitt Romney’s victory party.

They were, it turned out, misinformed about political reality. But the disappointed plutocrats weren’t wrong about who was on their side. This was very much an election pitting the interests of the very rich against those of the middle class and the poor.

And the Obama campaign won largely by disregarding the warnings of squeamish “centrists” and embracing that reality, stressing the class-war aspect of the confrontation. This ensured not only that President Obama won by huge margins among lower-income voters, but that those voters turned out in large numbers, sealing his victory.

The important thing to understand now is that while the election is over, the class war isn’t. The same people who bet big on Mr. Romney, and lost, are now trying to win by stealth — in the name of fiscal responsibility — the ground they failed to gain in an open election.

Before I get there, a word about the actual vote. Obviously, narrow economic self-interest doesn’t explain everything about how individuals, or even broad demographic groups, cast their ballots. Asian-Americans are a relatively affluent group, yet they went for President Obama by 3 to 1. Whites in Mississippi, on the other hand, aren’t especially well off, yet Mr. Obama received only 10 percent of their votes.

These anomalies, however, weren’t enough to change the overall pattern. Meanwhile, Democrats seem to have neutralized the traditional G.O.P. advantage on social issues, so that the election really was a referendum on economic policy. And what voters said, clearly, was no to tax cuts for the rich, no to benefit cuts for the middle class and the poor. So what’s a top-down class warrior to do?

The answer, as I have already suggested, is to rely on stealth — to smuggle in plutocrat-friendly policies under the pretense that they’re just sensible responses to the budget deficit.

Consider, as a prime example, the push to raise the retirement age, the age of eligibility for Medicare, or both. This is only reasonable, we’re told — after all, life expectancy has risen, so shouldn’t we all retire later? In reality, however, it would be a hugely regressive policy change, imposing severe burdens on lower- and middle-income Americans while barely affecting the wealthy. Why? First of all, the increase in life expectancy is concentrated among the affluent; why should janitors have to retire later because lawyers are living longer? Second, both Social Security and Medicare are much more important, relative to income, to less-affluent Americans, so delaying their availability would be a far more severe hit to ordinary families than to the top 1 percent.

Or take a subtler example, the insistence that any revenue increases should come from limiting deductions rather than from higher tax rates. The key thing to realize here is that the math just doesn’t work; there is, in fact, no way limits on deductions can raise as much revenue from the wealthy as you can get simply by letting the relevant parts of the Bush-era tax cuts expire. So any proposal to avoid a rate increase is, whatever its proponents may say, a proposal that we let the 1 percent off the hook and shift the burden, one way or another, to the middle class or the poor.

The point is that the class war is still on, this time with an added dose of deception. And this, in turn, means that you need to look very closely at any proposals coming from the usual suspects, even — or rather especially — if the proposal is being represented as a bipartisan, common-sense solution. In particular, whenever some deficit-scold group talks about “shared sacrifice,” you need to ask, sacrifice relative to what?

As regular readers may know, I’m not a fan of the Bowles-Simpson report on deficit reduction that laid out a poorly designed plan that for some reason has achieved near-sacred status among the Beltway elite. Still, at least you can say this for Bowles-Simpson: When it talked about shared sacrifice, it started from a “baseline” that already assumed the end of the high-end Bush tax cuts. At this point, however, just about all the deficit scolds seem to want us to count the expiration of those cuts — which were sold on false pretenses, and were never affordable — as some kind of big giveback by the rich. It isn’t.

So keep your eyes open as the fiscal game of chicken continues. It’s an uncomfortable but real truth that we are not all in this together; America’s top-down class warriors lost big in the election, but now they’re trying to use the pretense of concern about the deficit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Let’s not let them pull it off.

•Culled from New York Times

December 2, 2012