Category: Opinion

The founding fathers of politics in Nigeria came with some ideals girding them. To begin with, one would discover that almost all of them were lawyers while those who were not lawyers were people with discernible convictions. Also, political parties or organisations at the time were always with a sense of direction, to the extent that no two parties were the same in their aspirations and/or the philosophies they believed in. Without doubt, the whittling down of these qualities gave rise to the mumbo jumbo being witnessed, currently, in Nigeria’s political firmament. Unfortunately, Nigerians felt unperturbed.

Once upon a time, Nigeria was not used to having fraudulent people, especially, in her decision-making positions. But how come they have now become thorns in her flesh? Take for instance, when political hoodlums realized that they could help themselves through the instrumentality of terror and violence, they hijacked the process and created for themselves a vibrant specific political space with juicy benefits to boot. Unlike the First Republic where hoodlums were put into their positions according to the dictates of the social stratification and the ranking of social statuses, these days, the texture of our politics has become so frighteningly rough and evil-permeable that a gangster can nurse the governorship ambition of a Nigerian state. These are issues Nigeria’s political class ought to have addressed long ago. But they couldn’t! Well, it’s not that they didn’t understand how to go about resolving them. It is frustratingly annoying that they’re also products of the confusion. Hence the difficulty in speaking to them!

When Obafemi Awolowo was arrested and eventually sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for treasonable felony, had Nigeria’s activists woken up to their calling and suppressed the trumped-up charges, Awolowo would not have been unjustly imprisoned. Of course, Nigeria would most certainly have escaped the mess into which she was eventually – and, conveniently, too – plunged. Awolowo went to jail and Nigerians went about their daily activities as if nothing had happened. As fate would have it, only the grace of Gowon saved the sage!

When Adisa Akinloye and ‘men of like minds’ from the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) went on a spending jamboree in London, Awolowo was the first to warn Nigerians of the economic calamity waiting to happen. Again, Nigerians behaved as if they were untroubled. Instead of sitting up to salvage the situation with unrivalled dexterity, the then President Shehu Shagari-led government chose lampooning the ‘old man’ as a hobby. Regrettably too, Nigerians ignored the warning! Since the old man had no power; and, since the society was gullible, economic depression had its way! Not long after, ‘austerity measures’ hit the country like a plague. Still, the society did nothing! Of course, that sounded the death knell for a government that was already on edge! Tantalizingly, ‘austerity measures’ has kept expanding, in different sizes and colours.

When the Wole Soyinkas of this world founded the Pirates Confraternity, there was a set academic standard which must be met before a prospective candidate would become initiated. That’s why conversations with any member of the Confraternity at the time were always laced with impressive delicacy and skill. Again, that was then! Gradually, the low-life popular culture of hooliganism took control and ‘Fadeyi Oloro’ usurped the functions of the 70-year-old Confraternity!

When on February 1, 1971, Adekunle Ademuyiwa Adepeju was shot and killed at the University of Ibadan (UI), the then General Yakubu Gowon’s regime was almost brought down because no calamity of that magnitude had ever befallen Nigeria’s university system before that time. To a typical Hausa man at the time, it was merely ‘nufin Allah ne’. So, ‘life continues!’ The Ibos simply thought that it was a Yoruba boy who was killed. Since the 23-year-old undergraduate was not from their tribe, ‘life’ also ‘continues.’ That’s not all! Half of the Yoruba population were not even as knowledgeable as to have understood that no Nigerian, let alone a university student, should be killed. But the elite shouted and Gowon was scared! Unfortunately however, after a time, some never-do-wells emboldened the Head of State. They advised Gowon to merely apologise to the nation, condole with Adepeju’s family on the loss, and assure them that government would look into it, which the junta did! But what has become of the Student Union Building named after the fallen hero? It is doubtful if students of this prestigious university still remember that a Kunle Adepeju was mowed by an unknown police officer in Nigeria.

Time it was in Nigeria when academic journals from Nigeria’s foremost universities were being accorded international recognition. Now, one even wonders whether Nigeria’s academics even have the time to sit down, think and write, let alone get them published in internal journals. The worst part of it is that lecturers are now promoted as professors, not based on their publications, what they do, or international recognition. No! It’s because they have been around for too long, marking time in the Departments; or belong to a cult; or something like that!

In 1972, the Nigerian Students Loans Board was established with the core mission of catering to the financial needs of Nigeria’s indigent students. At the end of the day, the rich and the elite hijacked it for their children while those for which it was originally intended were left gasping for breath. Unfortunately, those children who illegally benefitted from our commonweal have not even deemed it fit to give back to the society, which is one of the worse things. They are either in the UK, USA or Canada, making merry, thereby forgetting their humble beginnings. As such, the opportunity they had was never reproduced so that other people can have what they had.

Well, I have argued elsewhere that a tyrant is a tyrant to the extent that people believe the man is using the frontiers of his ambition and power given to him legitimately. That’s when a tyrant can be seen to be acting. But then, what is missing, centrally, is the control. The tragic truth is that, due to lack of control, those who hitherto had no business in politics came into it and impose their own values. The depth and impact of this tragedy can be felt from our mystifying and super-lifting an individual, simply because he spends a token of our commonwealth to build a substandard road for us, and commissions it with nearly the same amount of the cost of construction. What’s more? Every new and incoming government campaigns on the anvil of the most heinous crimes and dysfunctions of the incumbent government with a view to securing the votes of the masses. However, if one doesn’t have the understanding of the dynamics of power and how it relates to human beings, he is most likely to be offered a seat on the table of mammon in a way that’s likely to make him become a tyrant. And, as we know, when warped values become part of the majority, it becomes a problem.

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

• Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)

Dear vibrant, loving and concerned Nigerian youths, it has become absolutely necessary and imperative to write you this letter. I am as concerned as you all are about the current situations in the country, regarding economic and security challenges. I am a Nigerian business man whose business has been negatively affected and so, suffer the effects seriously.

I am a man who thinks with my head before I talk with my mouth, to avoid making wrong postulations and conclusions. I am also a man who makes use of my education to analyse current issues and situations to be able to know and figure out why things are the way they are. In other words, I am one who is not given to making spontaneous conclusions about problems without looking beyond the problems to know the causes.

I am a Nigerian who has followed the trend in Nigeria since 1979 till date and have observed that no Nigerian government has not been outrightly condemned since then.  I am also yet to see Nigerians not given to lamentations at any given administration, be it civilian or military.

Yes, there has always been complaints of one national problem or the other, ranging from economic, security, religious, corruption and the like, which have prompted religious bodies to embark on praying for God’s intervention in their respective churches and mosques. Recall that the Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria on June 27, 1993, composed a prayer called “Prayer for Nigeria in distress”, which is said during Masses in all Catholic Churches till date. Recall also that in 1998, another prayer called “Prayer against bribery and corruption” was also composed and is said in all Catholic Churches till date.

From the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari to the military government of Buhari; from the military government of Buhari to that of Babangida; from Babangida’s to that of Abacha; from Abacha ‘s to that of Abdulsalami; from the military government of Abdulsalami to the civilian administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, we have witnessed consistent lamentations. From the civilian administration of Olusegun Obasanjo to that of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua; from the administration of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to that of Goodluck Jonathan and from Goodluck Jonathan’s to the current Buhari administration, we have also been witnessing the same lamentations and in each case, there have been clamour for change of government.

Much as I agree that some of the administrations mentioned above performed below expectations, some were erroneously and unfairly condemned. As a troubled and concerned citizen, I have been under serious thought as to why this has always been the case.

In my reasoning, I identified key factors responsible for these consistent condemnations, which I have categorised into four. They are the mindset of Nigerians, illiteracy, restriction of view points to the Nigerian shores and disobedience to God’s commandments, with respect to responsibilities to our leaders.

Nigerians tend to have the wrong mindset of things happening around them without application of wisdom and common sense to critically analyse the situation with a view to making objective judgement. They follow the bandwagon trend of things without application of their individual initiatives.

They rely on unverified information or rumours, and so make conclusions, which more often than not are wrong. Some Nigerians, in their individual and private positions, do heinous and unscrupulous things, yet they are very quick to condemn others in other positions, a case of having big logs in their eyes and wanting to remove specks in others’ eyes.

I sympathize with some illiterate youths and the aged alike who I will not blame for making wrong inferences in condemning government leaders under which hardships are experienced. This is because they don’t have the academic or educational knowledge to look beyond the hardships to understand that there are certain reasons beyond the leaders for such hardships.

Unfortunately, there are the educated ones (youths and the elderly), especially those who studied economics, who behave ignorantly. Ordinarily, they would have applied their educational knowledge to do comparative studies and analysis at any given time to know if the government/leaders are to blame for certain problems in the society, and then use the knowledge so gained to correct or educate the illiterates.

We have witnessed incessant condemnations and complaints against President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to the extent that there is the usual clamour for change of government, with some people supprisingly and ironically asking for the return of a corruption infested PDP government. The same party, which squandered and plundered the resources of this country when it was in a state of oil boom and plenty.

Have you ever thought of and reasoned about what would have been the faith of this country if the same PDP government was allowed to remain and preside over our country at the time of the global oil glut of 2015? That was when the price of oil plummeted from 150 USD/barrel to 30 USD/barrel, the major reason for the steep fall in the value of the naira and the consequent rise in commodity prices.

Why condemn a government that not only inherited an impoverished economy, but under which the unfortunate oil glut occurred? Why it was trying to manage the country out of the effects, another global crisis of Covid-19 emerged in 2019, a pandemic that humbled and drastically affected the economy of all the countries of the world.

Immagine also what would have been our faith with this oil glut of 2015 and Covid-19 if the PDP was to be in power. Why blame a government that is managing the country and trying to steer us out of this  Covid-19 pandemic and it’s effects, when yet another event of the Russian/Ukraine war erupted, a war that also has negative effects on the world economy?

Ignorants and illiterates will ask what has the Nigerian economy got to do with the Russia/Ukraine war? Any thing that affects United States of America and European economy directly affects other countries’ economy.

There is no country in the world that is not currently in distress as Nigeria is, courtesy of these three global crisis of oil glut of 2015, Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine war. If you do not have access to the reports of current world events, you should have relations living in other countries who should tell you that things are terribly hard in those countries too.

The almighty United States of America and most European countries are currently in recession. The citizens of these countries rather than blame or condemn their governments, support and rally round them at this hard time.

Here in Nigeria, we jettison God’s injunction that says, pray and support leaders of your government as contained in 1 Timothy 2: 1-4.

We disobey God who says, “Do not curse your leaders”. We curse, abuse and vilify our heads of governments.

We blasphame against God who sees beyond us and is responsible for the enthronement of every leader in all countries of the world, including Nigeria, for specific assignments  and reasons. We know that God does not make mistakes in the choice of who He enthrones as the head of government.

There is no unprintable names they have not called our current President. Instead of thanking God for enthroning President Buhari, a corrupt free man, who despite the scarce resources occasioned by the three global crises mentioned above, has provided us with vital infrastructure like several kilometres of  roads, railways and housing.

There are various federal constituency projects spread across the communities in the country, diversified economy through the provision of financial insentives to agriculture and the dogged fight against corruption. We sin against God by wishing the president dead, with some even saying that he’s dead, and that one Jubril from Sudan is acting as him in the Villa.

We should appreciate God for enthroning Muhammadu Buhari as the president, who since his inception, has not meddled with any election in the country, unlike his predecessors. Rather he is bequeathing to us a sound electoral system that provides that everyone’s vote counts, which all Nigerians will be proud of.

Some religious leaders, instead of admonishing their congregations to hearken to God’s words, are surprisingly partaking in the cursing and abusing of the president. They have turned the pulpits and altars from where good news, prayers for leaders and solemn worship of God are supposed to be administered arena for making noises. They are shouting in the course of blaming, condemning and cursing government leaders with, however, the exception of a few churches, especially the Catholic Church,  which in daily Masses pray for leaders and the country.

How do you reconcile these acts of disobedience against God with the profession of being a Christian? What we have in this country are people who parade themselves as Christians in words but in deed, they are not.

I am not saying that this government of President Buhari is infallible. I am not saying that President Buhari is a saint, for nobody is. I am not, you are not. What I am saying in comparative terms is that this president and this government has outperformed the previous presidents and governments, taking into cognisance what was on the ground at inception and the unforseen global occurrences since then.

Do not forget the excruciating pains Nigerians used to undergo queuing daily at the petrol stations to buy fuel. But now, that is in the past. Remember that the South-South and South-East regions, for several years, were  crying and yearning for the second Niger bridge. This government, despite the meagre financial resources available, embarked on the construction of the bridge, which, before the end of this administration, will be commissioned.

In the area of security and insurgency, recall that we used to have almost on a daily basis, bombings and killings, to the extent that some communities in the northern states were captured and taken over by the bandits/Boko Haram. But now, we see remarkable reduction in the activities of Boko Haram, without any community in their hands.

Dear Nigerian youths and well meaning citizens of Nigeria, granted that we have not had it so bad in this country, no country of the world is better off either. Just because we have not had it so bad globally from 2015 till date, we must not throw our education to winds by being quick in condemning, blaming and unfairly judging this government. Rather we should apply the basic knowledge and principles gained from our education to understand the reasons for the hardships and so, enlighten the uneducated.

I listened to the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Alhaji Babatunde Raji Fashola, on Channel Television on the 24th of July, 2023, speak about infrastructure provision since the inception of this administration. Even though some of the things he spoke about I already knew, but I was enlightened the more about a lot, hearing from him.

I hope you too, our dear youths and citizens listened to him as well. You know Fashola, being a man of integrity and honour whose track record of achievement as Lagos State Governor as well as his achievements as a minister speaks volumes, should be taken seriously when he speaks.

We must not also throw our religious values and teachings to the winds to vilify, curse and disrespect our leaders. Rather, we must obey God by displaying Christian/Muslim values and virtues, praying and rallying round our leaders and government at all times.

We must not carelessly act by what we hear, but we should act by what we see in a rational and wise manner. We must, while reacting to certain issues and problems in the country, not restrict our judgements based only on the way we see it in the country, but also we should look at it from global point of view.

One thing I know as a certainty is that posterity will remember this president and his government under whom the country has been held together, despite the the senseless and ungodly agitations for cessation. It will sure be referred to as one of the best administrations in the history of Nigeria.

The memories I carry about Professor Ladipo Adamolekun constitute some of my most cherished personal and professional memories. These are memories I have built up over the entire course of my intellectual molding and professional maturation. In my very long list of scholars and practitioners of public administration and public policy, from Chief Simeon Adebo to Dr. Pius Okigbo to Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade and from Prof. Adebayo Adedeji to Allison Ayida to Ahmed Joda, Prof. Adamolekun occupies a very unique memory space for me. Memories constitute a significant link to our past; a fundamental record of what had happened to us. This is why it is easy to agree with Mattie Stepanek, the American poet: “Keep all special thoughts and memories for lifetimes to come. Share these keepsakes with others to inspire hope and build from the past, which can bridge to the future.” Celebrating Prof. Adamolekun, for me, is a special service to memory—a living memory—of someone whose scholarship and public service speak significantly to the trajectory of public administration in Nigeria. He is a veritable embodiment of what used to be. My mission in this piece, therefore, is to share my understanding of how this worthy patriot contains within himself a bridge to the future.

A significant dimension of my memories of Prof. Adamolekun has to do with his supervision of my doctoral thesis. Around the year 2000, my second shot at a doctoral program was at a point where the necessity of traveling back and forth to Zaria demanded by my professional responsibilities as a bureaucrat was weighing heavily on it. At this point, my supervisor at the Ahmadu Bello University, late Prof. Andrew Ohwona, had moved to Delta State University. It was also a period, at the Federal Ministry of Education, when I was in the forefront of the moves to re-establish the National Open University. And with the opportunity I had to undertake study visits to over half a dozen open universities around the world, I already got the idea that relocating my doctoral program to an open university would release me from the necessity of traveling, and hence of ditching the program again and again. Out of the numerous open universities that I contacted, I

opted for the Commonwealth Open University for a range of reasons, majorly their acceptance that I could carry my work at ABU forward. Thereafter, Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun was chosen as my supervisor, out of several names suggested to the university. That was a good fortune for me. As the historical trajectory of public administration that my doctoral thesis represents is embodied in the public administration career of Prof. Adamolekun.

The emergence and consolidation of public administration is linked to the efforts of the indigenous administrators who took over from the British colonialists—Adebo, Udoji, Abdul Aziz Attah, etc.—who, through their autobiographical reflections, contributions to conferences and books, and administrative reports, contributed to molding the shape and contours of public administration in Nigeria. But more so are the professional academics, like Prof. Adamolekun, whose forte are the universities, and who were in charge of the two nascent Institutes of Public Administration at the then University of Ife and Ahmadu Bello University. Adamolekun came to the Ife Institute of Public Administration with a DPhil in public administration. His arrival at the Institute solidified the emergence of the second group of academic pioneers that transformed the discipline of public administration. The first group, made up of scholars like Adebayo Adedeji and Mahmud Tukur who crossed over, after stints in the civil service, to the academics. The second group was made up of mainly academics who leveraged on conferences and original researches to consolidate the teaching of public administration.

When Prof. Adamolekun commenced teaching, his theoretical positions soon caused consternation, and he recognized it immediately. Of course, that was a moment of beginning for everyone concerned. But he was not daunted. The need to bridge the theory-practice gap led him to seek for an induction into the civil service and its bureaucracy. His internship, between July and December 1973, at the Benue-Plateau State civil service, was the commencement of his sterling public service that took him from the United Nations to the World Bank and back to Nigeria. Barely a year into his duty as a Public Administration Officer at the UN, the then Dr Adamolekun was recalled by the new VC at Ile Ife, the late Prof. Aboyade, to become the acting head of the new department of administration. And he was willing to cut short his plum appointment in New York to return and serve the university. That was the making of a patriot. The Department of Public Administration provided the auspicious atmosphere for Dr Adamolekun to pursue a brilliant career that was innovative in research. Indeed, like the academic pioneers, he became also innovative not only in the publication of original papers alone but also in championing specific research paths for the teaching of administration. For instance, his comparative experience in researching his thesis at Oxford provided him with a distinct advantage in combining research and teaching, especially as he had also had a stint in the civil service too. Thus, his advocacy of the “case method” approach (leading to the publication of the Ife Case Studies in Nigerian Administration, 1975) became an epochal one.

I should consider myself one of those who had the benefits of the immense mental magnitude and professional acumen of Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun. His critical positioning as a public sector specialist at the World Bank came in crucially handy when I became the technical lead to the reform strategy project at the Management Services Office of the presidency in 2002. Of course, it was obvious that such an enormous project would require the expert inputs from the World Bank, and Prof Adamolekun, together with Profs. Dele Olowu, M. J. Balogun, Tijjani Bande and Victor Ayeni, were right around the corner, providing the requisite technical support that the project needed. He was also very critical in the technical leadership, through the UK Department for International Development (DFiD) in 2009, for the review of the pilot implementation of the same project. The success of that strategy would eventually transform into the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) that became the benchmark and irreducible reform blueprint in Nigeria.

But beyond his public administration research and professional remit, Prof. Adamolekun saw immediately what investing in the communities of service and practice meant. And this led to his frenetic involvement in almost all the professional public administration associations and networks across Nigeria and the continent, from Nigerian Association of Public Administration and Management (NAPAM) to the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management (CAPAM); as well as CAFRAD—the continental research centre of excellence based in Morocco, the African Union Conference of African Ministers of Public Service, African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) based in Harare, and even the International Institute for Administrative Science (IIAS) in Brussels. And this is strategic to his mentoring capacity because the communities of practice underscored his many credentials, from research to professional competencies.

This is why it gnaws at me terribly most time that the NAPAM that once own the likes of Adamolekun, Balogun, Olowu, and many more; the professional community that once hosted the bigwigs in public administration, and provided the forum for mentoring in scholarship and expertise is dead and the critical stakeholders and community of practice and service do not see anything wrong about it. This is a forum that could be transformed into a generational game-changer in public administration in Nigeria, especially in our collective struggle to overcome the bureau-pathologies and dysfunctionality of the public service, and make it the starting institutional point of making the Nigerian state truly developmental, and a worthy player in the fourth industrial revolution. Indeed, as I mentioned earlier, Prof. Adamolekun gave his immense stature and attention to institutional reforms, and not least to the community of practice. We both once constituted a 2-man expert team, (in 2007), to review the status and functionality of the public service management development institutes (MDIs), including the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Topo, Badagry, the Centre for Management Development (CMD), Lagos, and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN). The objective was to scrutinize overlaps in areas of their training programmes. This is with a view to establishing the core domain of each, and recommending how their training services delivery could be mutually reinforcing to enable the economies of scale for the benefit of public sector institutions, and hence the human capital development spillover effect to the national economy.

A final point: Apart from their deep commitment to scholarship and public service with a sense that borders on professional obsession, there is another thing that Aboyade, Mabogunje and Adamolekun have in common. This is a deeply ingrained communal bonding that not only refocused their attention back to their place of birth, but also generates a restless sense of community service to uplift those places of birth. Aboyade was committed to Aawe, my home town, while Mabogunje’s commitment to Ijebu Ode speaks volume. In Prof. Adamolekun’s case, the place is Iju town in Ondo State. And his sense of community give-back is what has given birth to the appropriately named Kaleyewa House (“Kaleyewa” is translated from the Yoruba as “may our old age be graceful”). This is a foundation dedicated to the Ageing with Dignity Legacy Project for the elderly (75 years and above). How else does one appreciate the fundamental communal nature of who we are, something very significant to the Yoruba cultural heritage?

And to direct attention to that project, in lieu of the wining and dining associated with birthday bash and all that, says something about the heart of a man who gave himself for his family, for his community, and for his nation. Such a man ought to be celebrated beyond what he imagines. At eighty, may Professor Oladipo Adamolekun and his heart of service remain with us for long. And as he, in his autobiography, remembers his past and deeds, we all also should remember. Heroes must always occupy a worthy place in our collective memories.

And Bob Dylan was wrong—with Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun, we can relive the essence of what used to be; the Octogenarian enables us to think more about how we could remember the past to rehabilitate the future.

There appears to be a conspiracy between the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Research Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN].  They keep churning out statistics, data and projections which are deeply troubling.

Let us first debunk the conspiracy theory which, according to Dean Haglund, deserves a decent burial:

“The beauty of any conspiracy theory is that because it can’t be proved, that just makes it more “real”.  It’s not a question of believing or not believing, really; it’s more a question of just accepting a series of probabilities that lead to an undeniable conclusion.”

The Nigerian government has published a long list of conspirators.  Twitter (Treason !!)

• BBC and CNN (over End#SARS) and Lekki Toll Gate and more recently
• Wall Street Journal
• and The Economist.

The unbiased and the more discerning prefer courage to conspiracy or cowardice.  Adam Schiff the author of “Midnight In Washington” summed it all up:

“Courage is contagious, so also is cowardice (and conspiracy).”

While we are united in grief over what has become of our nation, we can take solace in

• Abstractions
• Sequencing
• Logic
• and, Argument

Nevertheless, it was the Wall Street Journal [WSJ] which really stirred  the hornet’s nest with the publication of a report on its front page, on  17th October, 2021 which alleged that the Nigerian Air Force had paid bandits the equivalent of U.S.$50,000 in exchange for weapons (anti-aircraft gun) that had been seized from the Nigerian military.  Apparently, the bandits had conspired and hatched a plan to gun down the aircraft of the President of Nigeria who was scheduled to travel to his country home/farm (in Katsina State) to celebrate  Eid el Maulud.  The specifications were provided in graphic details to wit a 12.7 calibre anti-aircraft gun.  The money was hand delivered not by DHL or UPS but by “unknown soldiers” while “the leader of the terrorists sipped tea and his boys dismantled the seized weapons for onward return.”

What followed in rapid succession was “The Economist” magazine special edition which was massively advertised before publication on October 23, 2021 with the attention grabbing title:

“NIGERIA:           THE CRIME SCENE CAPITAL OF AFRICA.”

The magazine which has been around for almost one hundred and twenty years took Nigeria to the cleaners.  It did not pull any punches.

Apart from slagging off the Nigerian army as “mighty on paper” but weak on the ground with an army !! of ghost workers, it accused the Nigerian military of selling arms  and ammunition to the same terrorists it is supposed to be fighting.  Conspiracy and treachery !!.  The Nigerian Police was given an extra dose of the same medicine:

“…..poorly trained, understaffed, under-paid and involved in the robbery of innocent Nigerians to augment salaries.”

Perhaps Nigerians need to be reminded of a Swahili proverb:

“Brothers love each other when they are equally rich.”

Instead of creating wealth, all we are sharing are grim statistics

Here is a report from the front page of  “ThisDay” newspaper of May 30, 2021:

“The travails of our present times are daunting.  Very daunting indeed.  The truth is that our country is at war.  We have been fighting enemies, seen and unseen.  We began with the seen.  They could be fought with tanks and bullets.  Then the unseen crept up on us.  It crept in cladded in the camouflage of some deadly mutating virus (poverty, ignorance and impunity).

–              Babajide Sanwo-Olu Governor of Lagos State.

On the same day, the front page of “Sunday Punch” newspaper carried the following report:

“MY WIVES RAN AWAY AFTER ONE GOVERNOR INFECTED ME WITH COVID-19  –  El-Rufai”

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Saturday recalled how he contracted the dreaded COVID-19 from a fellow governor in 2020.

El-Rufai, while speaking at the seventh Ahmadu Bello Foundation lecture in Kaduna on Saturday, also said no fewer than 50,000 people would have been killed by the virus last year if a lockdown had not been imposed.

The governor had, on March 26, 2020, imposed a lockdown on Kaduna, following the outbreak of the disease and partially lifted it on June 9, 2020, after 75 days.

According to him, he spent 26 days in isolation, adding that even his wives ran away from him.

The lecture tagged ‘COVID-19: Way forward for Northern Nigeria economy,’ was organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.

El-Rufai said, “A governor infected me with COVID-19 virus and I brought it to Kaduna. I was locked up for 26 days. My wives ran away from me. Fifty thousand people in Kaduna would have died of COVID-19 last year, but for the fact that Kaduna State was the first to lock down.

“I am happy to say because of COVID-19, we have been able to put in place infectious disease wards in our hospitals. People travel around the world so there may be ‘COVID-25’ or 30. With what is happening in India, the situation is scary. But God has been very kind to us.”

Emphasising the need for the North to improve on the quality of its leaders, the governor argued that 60 years after the demise of the  late Sarduana of Sokoto and premier of the defunct Northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the region had yet to have a leader like him (Sarduana).

According to the governor, the late premier of the North remained the best leader the region had ever produced.

He noted that the North must produce leaders that cared for the people, adding that there was the need to provide jobs for the North before the 500 million estimated population of Nigeria by the year 2050.”

The same newspaper carried another report about Kaduna on its front page:

“WE SOLD PROPERTIES TO RAISE N180 MILLION RANSOM, BOUGHT MOTORBIKES FOR OUR CHILDREN’S KIDNAPPERS” – Parents of newly freed Kaduna Students.

Also competing for space was another headline:

“ILLEGAL OIL DEALS:  FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO EXPOSE OFFICIALS BEHIND U.S.$69 BILLION LOOT IN AMERICAN BANKS.”

• Anti-graft agencies to trace bank details of suspected government officials.

The front page of “The Guardian” newspaper of May 30, 2021 was devoted to a big bold headline:  “CONCERNS OVER ALLEGED RE-LOOTING OF OVER U.S.$1.5 BILLION ABACHA BOOTY.”

What awaited readers of “Daily Trust” newspapers on May 30, 2021 was the following piece of shock therapy.

Headline:             “MASTER’S DEGREE HOLDER-TURNED SCAVENGER GETS SUPPORT.

“Following a Daily Trust interview with Yazid Surajo, a young Nigerian who opted to go into scavenging despite having a master’s degree, an Instagram group with more than 200 followers is set to support him to improve his business.

The leader of the  Instagram group known as ‘Hausa Room’ told Daily Trust that the group was raising funds to assist the young man to stand on his feet and at the same time create more opportunities for other young Nigerians.

The platform, Hausa Room on Instagram, it was gathered, was purposely opened to discuss contemporary issues and problems facing people most especially, females in Northern Nigeria.

“We want more people to participate in donating so that we will raise at least one million because we only have four hundred thousand at hand”, the platform leader said.

Daily Trust had earlier published the story of Yazid Surajo a young Nigerian with a master’s degree who chose to do menial jobs rather than stay idle, waiting for a white-collar job.”

On November 15, 2021, “The Punch” newspaper delivered yet another scoop on its front page.

Headline:             “EDO JUNIOR WIFE STABS HUSBAND TO DEATH, AIDS      LOVER’S ESCAPE BURING SIX ROMP”

“A man simply identified as Abdulateef has been allegedly stabbed to death by his wife after the deceased caught her with a man on their matrimonial bed.

The incident was said to have occurred at 3am on Sunday in Jattu, Etsako West Local Government of Edo State.

The PUNCH gathered that the woman stabbed the deceased to death when he came home at about 3am and met a man with her in their bedroom.

A source said, “The deceased had two wives who used to live with him but he had to rent an apartment for his first wife in a different location to allow peace to reign while staying with the junior one in his house.

“The deceased used to visit the first wife and spend the night there. But the junior wife was said to have been bringing another man to her matrimonial home anytime the husband spends the night in the first wife’s apartment.”

The source said the deceased came home on the fateful night from his first wife’s apartment only to meet a man with his junior wife in their bedroom.

According to the source, the deceased allegedly got hold of the visitor and that in the process, the woman stabbed him twice on his stomach apparently to pave the way for the lover’s escape and make it look like a robbery attack.

The source said the deceased died as a result of the injury before help could arrive, adding that the quick arrival of the police saved the suspect from being killed by a mob while the suspect has been arrested by the police.

Efforts to get a response from the state Police Public Relations Officer, Kontongs Bello, proved abortive as calls to his line were not taken and his messages were not replied.”

The editor of the newspaper could not resist publishing another riveting report.

Front page headline:      “NDLEA LAUNCHES FRESH RAIDS, SEIZES N4.9 BILLION COCAINE IN LAGOS PORTS, OTHERS.”

“Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have seized fresh consignments of cocaine and heroin with a combined weight of 16.85 kilogrammes worth over N4.9bn at the Apapa seaport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, both in Lagos State.

The agency said four persons were being investigated for the 13.65kg cocaine seized on board a ship, MV Karteria, that came into the Apapa port from Santos, Brazil, on Sunday, November 7, barely three weeks after 32.9kg of cocaine was intercepted at the port on another vessel, MV Chayanee Naree, also from Santos, Brazil.

A statement on Sunday by the spokesperson for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, also said in well-coordinated follow-up operations, no fewer than five persons were arrested in different parts of Lagos and Delta states in connection with the seizure of 3.200kg heroin found on a passenger, Christian Osondu, at the E- Arrival Hall of the MMIA, on Friday, November 5, during the inward clearance of Air Peace flight passengers from South Africa.

According to him, a swift follow-up operation same day led to the arrest of one Onyeka Ude in the Mafoluku area of Oshodi, Lagos.

Ude, the NDLEA said, reportedly confessed that his elder brother, Ikenna Ude, who was based in South Africa, instructed him to collect the bag containing the drug and hand it over to another person, who was supposed to come from Delta State.

“A second follow-up operation led to the arrest of Abanjo Innocent, who came to Lagos from Delta State to pick the bag containing the drug around Cele Bus Stop, Okota, on Saturday, November 6. He also confessed that he was contracted by one Chinedu Oseki, who is based in South Africa to travel to Lagos to collect the bag and bring it to Agbor Junction, Delta State.

“The third follow-up operation led to the arrest of Ihator Theophilus Isioma at Agbor Junction, Delta State, on Sunday, November 7,” the statement added.

The NDLEA said in Bayelsa State, its operatives on Saturday, 13 November, arrested one Emeka Obeluo from the Anambra West LGA of Anambra State, with 600 grams of heroin.

The suspect, a spare parts dealer based in Douala, Cameroon, had arrived in Yenagoa by waterway to waybill the substance to an undisclosed address in Lagos.

Babafemi also said, “Not less than four suspects were arrested and different quantities of cocaine, cannabis, tramadol and methamphetamine seized from them during weekend raids on Rumuokoro, Elelenwo and Omagwa/Elele communities in Rivers State.

“Those arrested include; Elizabeth Iniama, Sir King Emmanuel, Godgift King, and Amadi Bright.

“A total of 18.51kg of assorted illicit drugs were recovered on Saturday, November 13, when operatives raided a neighbourhood of Bayan Gari, and Sir Ahmadu Bello Way, Bauchi town, Bauchi State, where two suspects, Gabriel Iwagbunan and Ms. Cecilia Ezena, were arrested.

“While 23-year-old Hadiza Ibrahim was arrested on Saturday, November 12, along Okene-Lokoja highway with 54kg of cannabis, one Sunday Nnam aka Idowu, was nabbed same day in the Emene area of Enugu with 45kg of same substance.

“In the same vein, one Umar Muhammad was arrested with 25,700 capsules of Tramadol weighing 15.1kg in Tudun Hatsi area of Gombe.”

If it was not for real, it would have been a comical scoop.  It was actually delivered on the front page of “ThisDay” newspaper on November 15, 2021 courtesy of Engineer Sulaiman Hussein Adamu, the Minister of Water Resources.

“For example, we handed over the Central Ogbia project in 2016.  A year after, we went back but we discovered that it was under lock and key.  The Federal  Government spent N6 billion on that project and we went back and we asked why it was locked up.  We were told that the state government was not able to buy chemicals and diesel to run the scheme.  It would cost the state government only about N2 million to N3 million a month.  And that’s not the only one.  There are many like that.  Some of them were abandoned because the state would not even provide adequate security.  So some of the equipment were vandalised.

Is it the Federal Government that will go and be manning those water schemes ?  That is not our mandate and we don’t have the wherewithal to do that.”

On the same November 15, 2021 “Nigerian Tribune” devoted its front page to a scoop.

Headline:             “UNILORIN STUDENT BEATS FEMALE LECTURER TO STUPOR”

“A 400-level student of the Department of Microbiology, Faculty Of Life Sciences, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, has reportedly beaten his project supervisor, a female lecturer, to stupor.

Tribune Online gathered that the student, simply identified as Captain Walz, is a popular student in the school and reportedly carried out the ugly act because the lecturer refused to cover him for not observing the compulsory Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES).

A source in the university, who said the student has been arrested by the school security operatives and transferred to a police station, added that the offender proceeded to the office of his project supervisor, Mrs. Zakariyya, with the intention of beating her to death.

An eyewitness account had it that, “He went to the woman’s office to seek her help for his issue because he didn’t do the SIWES.

“He entered the woman’s office and started banging the table. The woman abused him and he moved closer to the woman and started slapping the woman.

“The woman tried to escape but he kept pursuing the woman, the lecturer ran into an office but Captain Walz broke the window and started punching her hardly.

“The woman was calling for help but people weren’t around immediately, until later.

“While trying to escape, he pursued the woman till she fell down and had head cut. He then tried to strangle her till she was in a coma”.

Speaking on the development, the Director of Information in the university, Alhaji Kunle Akogun, confirmed that Mrs. Zakariyyah, teaching staff in the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, is now relatively stable and recuperating after the ugly incident of Thursday where she was attacked by a 400Level male student.

“A visit by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sulyman Age Abdulkareem, in the company of the Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences, Professor Oladiji; the Director, University Health Services, Dr. Odunola and a few other staff to the victim and her family this morning, Saturday, September 13, 2021, confirmed that.

“The VC, who described the incident as sad and unfortunate, assured that justice shall be done on the matter.

“He has, however, ordered proper care of the victim on the bill of the university.

“He reiterated his commitment to the welfare of all staff and law-abiding students”.

A second scoop was delivered by “ThisDay” newspaper via Okey Ikechukwu.

Headline:             “WHAT THE CBN CANNOT DO”

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cannot do much about the value of the Naira for as long as we produce very little, consume much that is not produced here and retain a monoculture economy that is driven by a leadership elite that focuses on distribution and consumption, rather than production.  The calls for diversification of the economy have been on for over decades now.  These calls have been so strident, repetitive and over-dramatised by successive governments.  That is why, today, the concept has become all but threadbare, tiring, boring and of little interest to many people.”

• Bashorun J.K. Randle is a former President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is currently the Chairman, JK Randle Professional Services

Nigerians are multi-tribal, multilingual, multi-religious, multi-liars and multi-divisive. Many things about us Nigerians are in multiples, either in arithmetic progression or geometric progression. Nigerians can lie, so much that Steve Wonder could look into their eyes and know they are lying. Ask a Nigerian politician, if he is a tribalist or a religious bigot. He will deny and could even swear with the grave of his ancestor, to convince listeners that he is a nationalist and de-tribalised Nigerian. If only you could gauge the answer using polygraph, he will be busted as a pathological liar; for he is not only an ethnic chauvinist, but also a religious bigot.

The trending political jargon is Muslim-Muslim ticket, attracting condemnation and admiration. Going by our warped sense of value, many commentators make their submission through parochial ethno- religious prism. Ask the opponents what is wrong with Muslim-Muslim ticket; and their response will expose their stand as ethnic chauvinists and religious bigots. Ask the supporters what is good about the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and their answer will equally expose their chauvinism and bigotry. So, both divides are suffering from same maladies— ethnic chauvinism and religious bigotry.  Some Nigerians are so satanic that they add ethnic and religious colouration to serious political, economic and security decisions; and some even espouse conspiracy theories such as Islamisation and Fulanisation, as they dig deep in polarising Nigeria and pitching neighbour against neighbour.

It is unfortunate that religion and ethnic consideration creep into everything we do in Nigeria. The APC Presidential ticket is TINUBU-SHETTIMA, as stated in the files with INEC, just as PDP Presidential ticket is ATIKU-OKOWA, while Labour Party Presidential ticket is OBI-DATTI. Furthermore, the ballot papers will not even show the names of these candidates and their deputies, but the party’s logo. Instead of discussing the capability of the candidates and what they could bring to the governance table; we keep chasing shadow, as we turn purely political decision to religious pontification.

When the ethnic chauvinists and religious bigots speak, one gets the impression their constituencies (tribes and religion) are in perfect order.  Far from it, because most of the tribal warlords come from divided and warring ethnic setting, while the religious fundamentalists bastardise religion and spread hatred.

When you hear Nigerians talk about the religious cause (Christianity or Islam) you will think that they are sanctimonious special breed whose main resolve on planet earth is to adore God/Allah. When you listen to Nigerians as they vow to die in defence of their faith (Christianity or Islam) you would be ashamed of yourself for being rebellious against the Almighty having had no fanatical zeal to defend his cause. But when you see some of these very Christians or Muslims fight themselves out silly for ecclesiastical offices or egoism in God’s Holy Name/Allah, one begins to wonder whether or not their God/Allah is the same one whose messages to mankind are documented in the Holy Bible or the Holy Quran.

Mutual mistrust and divisiveness based on ethnicity, tribalism or religion is wrecking the nation. Ethnicity or religion is the prism through which people view– in support or expression of dismay many issues, especially critical ones like appointments to high-profile public posts. It is a situation whose sensitivity is so critical that, over the years, appointing authorities have had to grapple with how to strike a judicious balance, under which, irrespective of attributes like patriotic disposition, academic and professional credentials, as well as experience, they wouldn’t be seen to be favouring some groups above others.

Contrary to what some Nigerian politicians and journalists, many of who claim to be pro-democracy, think, family, clan, ethnic and religious affinities and ties, cannot be the basis of the representation of any citizens or, groups of citizens, in a democracy. Democratic representation is solely derived from the exercise by the citizens of the freedom of political association with all other citizens in the country and the exercise of the freedom of political choice between alternative candidates and parties.

In any electoral constituency in which there are different ethnic and sub-ethnic groups, or, religious and sub-religious, and these are seen as the basic units of political representation, it is very difficult for the voters in that constituency, to call a corrupt, or, incompetent, elected official to order, because, he was elected because of his origin and affinity, and not because of what he can do to promote the security and welfare of all citizens in his constituency. The basis of making him publicly accountable to those who elected him is very weak, because ethnic, or, sub-ethnic, religious, or, sub-religious, representation, does not allow for democratic accountability, and is fundamentally opposed to this pillar of democracy. Those who say that they are pro-democracy and yet insist on ethno-religious political units and ethno-religious representation, are either trying to fool other people, or, are themselves just confused, and actually do not know what they are talking about.

In a multi-religious nation like Nigeria where the practice of the religion of one’s choice is protected by the Constitution, there is no reason for any kind of religious bigotry. Christianity, Islam, African Traditional religion…generally all wish to achieve the same means, the enlightenment of the soul and the wellbeing of Mankind. These ends can be achieved all the so much easier if there is mutual cooperation and not the constant variations of the Jihad and the Crusades. Perhaps the best way is to practice what most religions teach, be kind to your fellow man.

Since all political parties in Nigeria have professed in one way or another an anti-ethnic position, there should be a basic and common platform of principles on ethnicity which all the parties can adhere to with strict discipline. Signing a public declaration (against ethnic chauvinism and for national unity) can also discourage many politicians from playing the ethnic card as the temptations to do so for political expediency are often great.

One thing common to all democracies is that from time to time, the electorate is invited to choose their leaders in the process described as elections. For the purpose of these elections groups of people come together to form parties which contest the elections and offer a choice to the electorate who, on the strength of the respective manifestoes presented to them cast the votes with which their government is chosen to direct the affairs of state for a given period of time. The government thus chosen will be in control of government until the next round of elections when the cycle of democratic contestation comes round again.

For the last twenty-three years, the Nigerian electorate has been called out every four years to choose their President, governors and other governing officials in order to satisfy that aspect of democracy which calls for the people to elect their leaders and in doing so, fulfil the demands of the Constitution. This is inspire of the fact that there are a great number of people who believe that the document which governs our democracy is flawed, fatally flawed and therefore irredeemable. On the other hand, there is a sigmificant minority which is ready to swear by a Constitution which guarantees their continued relevance to government from which they derive their sustenance in every sense of that word.

In obedience to the Constitution there are three tiers of government at federal, state and local levels and the leadership positions at those levels are filled at four year intervals during which the winners of respective elections hold all the powers that are prescribed by the Constitution leaving those who were not chosen out in the cold, helpless, powerless and disgruntled thereby causing perceptible tension throughout the polity. This is because in the current dispensation, the winners take all and since, to be brutally honest, those who take part in this circus are there for what they can extract as perquisites of their office, they are prepared to do anything to ensure that power remains in their hands or is wrested from those who are already in power in the shortest time possible. Because intentions are guided by narrow self interest, it does not really matter how the winning party wields the enamours powers at their disposal. They behave like lions which gorge on their food whenever they manage to catch and kill the prey which satisfy their all important but severely limited desire to keep hunger at bay until the next round of gorging is made possible by the availability of food. The need to satisfy their hunger is governed by the availability of the other animals which for the purposes of this discourse can be described as their electorate, at least as far as Nigerian democracy is concerned. This is why the question of power acquisition is fundamental to politics and is, to quote a once powerful Nigerian, is a do or die affair. It is one which cannot move us along on the path of development.

Political parties are of fundamental importance to political contestation at every level including that of the formulation of the principles with which the electorate is to be persuaded to use their votes to identify the preferred party to be trusted with power. In Nigeria however, the question is trust between the voters and those that are voted for is tantamount to wishing for that mythical pie in the sky for the simple reason that here, the only decision before the electorate is who is to be given the keys to the national treasury to do what they wish with whatever funds are available. No government is ever held accountable for whatever they do in government, not even when their misdeeds are so foul that they cry to high heavens and cover  the earth with their stench. Those who are kept out of power after every round of elections do nothing but scheme to get their own turn at misgovernment. They will do anything within the scope of their not inconsiderable dark powers to get back to power in the manner of a lion looking for the next unfortunate prey with which to satisfy his elemental desire for food. Just as you cannot reason with a ravenous lion, you cannot argue with a full blooded Nigerian politician on the hunt for power, especially since it is power without responsibility which is the epitome of uselessness. And so, the country lurches from one political cycle to another, regressing all the time and sinking ever deeper into the morass of despair, getting darker all the time.

It is clear, or at least it should be clear to anyone operating at even the lowest level of discernment that Nigeria has failed every examination of its usefulness to the people of this country. Our economy has tanked, our educational system is in shambles, our healthcare delivery system is in a state of irreversible collapse, our unity is now so fragile that dangerous fault lines have become impossible to ignore and are widening everyday, our civil services are being roasted on the hotbed of irresponsibility by their management cadre and our youths are wandering the world, rudderless and hopeless.  And yet, it does not appear that anyone is asking how our situation can be ameliorated let alone improved. All we are concerned with is who will be handed the tattered remains of available power next year when we are asked to choose the next gatekeeper of what remains of our national power. It is no coincidence that all those whose hats are now in the ring are supposedly self made multibillionaires in the poverty capital of the world. What empathy, let alone sympathy can any of them have for all those people, the vast and unfortunate majority of Nigerians who are struggling to get by on one solitary American dollar everyday that God sends them? And perhaps, more appropriately, what do they wish to do with even more money which is guaranteed to come to them and the army of sycophants milling around them at the end of the next round of sham competition labelled elections?

There are two main parties in Nigeria so right there we have a serious shortage of choice as it is either tweedledee  or tweedledum which is no choice at all, just a weird dance of musical chairs. Both parties are quite prepared to fight to the death over which of them would control our destiny over the next four years. Objective evidence however strongly suggests that neither of those parties is well up for the choice. There can be no shelter under the umbrella nor can we expect our Aegean stables to be swept clean by the broom however vigorously it is being wielded. Putting power in the hands of either of them is like doing the same thing over and over and consistently expecting a different result each time. It is not going to happen, now or any other time in the future and it is now time to get creative before we are forever ruined.

It is now time to devise how power can be effectively shared in this country rather than continue to insist that the winner continues to rake in all the chips on the table in the way of inveterate gamblers in a rigged game of poker. In many countries, especially in Europe, power is shared proportionately among all the parties that participate in an election, each party getting a share in the number of seats on offer in proportion to the votes gathered by each party in the election. In this way, all the parties are involved in government.

Perhaps the greatest failure of Nigerian democracy is the absence of any discernible opposition at every level of government from the federal to the local. All state legislative bodies are dominated to the exclusion of any opposition from the party that lost out at the last governorship election. The same goes for the local government level with all the local area chairmen are members of the same party. The party in opposition is effectively locked away from all available power and can only look on helplessly as the people in power gorge on all the food available to the victors. Given this situation it is unlikely that Nigeria will survive the next round of elections under the current dispensation.

The next government must be made up of all the parties which garner enough votes to secure the right to be represented in the next government if only because this will stop the next government from having unfettered access to the government treasury. People will immediately point out that there is is no provision in the Constitution for this arrangement and they will be right. But, given the catalogue of woes with which we now have to contend, it is obvious that we are in a state of emergency and to tackle it with any degree of eventual success, we need to think out of the box, as people are fond of saying these days. In any case, should we have a group of foolhardy military officers who think that they have a cure for all our ills, they will simply decapitate whatever government is in power and do away with our precious Constitution by fiat as they have done in the painful past.