Years ago, a nation was born out of extreme circumstances in which a section of people were forced into choosing secession as our only means of survival. Ironically this section of people were from a region that  had contributed so greatly to that nation they then wanted to pull out from. That nation was Biafra, a country that survived and fought for 33 months against the onslaught of the Nigerian nation aided by two world powers and against the twin horsemen of disease and starvation.

Biafra from all indications was a model, she was a beacon of light to all who through the adequacies and inadequacies of their political systems all over the world  found themselves in somewhat a disadvantaged structure.

But what really was Biafra’s identity? What legacies of history can be attributed to this  Republic of the free men and women east of the Niger?

Firstly, Biafra was not merely the sheer perhaps whimsical will of one man, then Colonel Emeka Ojukwu to lead his own nation. Some historians  see Biafra as the egoistic call of Ojukwu. Some say that he stalled every move by Gowon to heal the wounds, some allege that his rich background as an Oxford graduate contributed to his obstinacy to Gowon’s attempt to bring the situation in the nation to normal. It is said that he also felt that by virtue of rank, he and not Gowon was fit to lead the country? This my dear reader remains untrue since Biafra was more or less the gasping response of the people of the Eastern Region to the senseless slaughter that befell her people in the North and under Gowon’s watchful eye in Lagos. Men, women and cjhildren were butchered with much ceremony during those dark days of long knives. Ojukwu, then leader of the Eastern Region had asked those who survived the first onslaught to return back, thus to have expected Ojukwu to trust the safety of his people to the vacilliating promises and assurances of Gowon and Hassan Kastina who then was the Military Governor of the Northern is similar to asking the lamb to accept a hungry lion’s guarantee of safety and security even if the lion swore with his ancestors mane.

Are we quick to forget that the Aburi Accord which was unilaterally repudiated by  Gowon was another reason for the declaration of Biafra, Aburi was perhaps Ojukwu’s last hope that he would preserve the link with Nigeria without bloodshed nor the further humiliation of his people, Gowon’s flip flop manner at implementing the Aburi Accord forced Ojukwu into the hands of the hawks who demanded Biafra.

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Even at that, Ojukwu still believed in one Nigeria, operating under a different framework, a nation that moved further apart in order to preserve her existence instead of a collision that would serve no one nor region any good. If Ojukwu was power hungry or one seeking for his own kingdom, the Eastern Region would have been more than prepared for seccession and his boast of no force in Black Africa would defeat Biafra would have for sure been more than a boast. We can surely see from history’s many versions that at the point of secession, Biafra had a few arms and even well trained men, Ojukwu was no doubt a strategist who would always know what the odds were, it would  therefore be unfair to think otherwise, Biafra thus was a forced child of circumstance that Ojukwu was asked or should I say forced to give birth to.

Again, it will be unfair for Biafra to be described as an Igbo republic or worse an Igbo rebellion. A close look at the Eastern Region which pulled out of Nigeria shows that it was made up of the Igbos, Ijaws, Efik, Ikwerre, Ogoja, Ibibio, Kalabari and so on. In the build up to the declaration of Biafra, all within the Eastern Region, living then in the North as at the time of the pogroms  had been declared as Yamirin( A derogatory word used by the average Northerner to describe the Igbo man) all suffered either the loss of a loved one or a disfigured one, the Northern mob encouraged by those in authority slaughtered everyone who was from the Eastern Region under the guise that they were slaugthering the Yamirin.

Not only that, the Eastern Region minorities were adequately consulted on matters affecting the Region, even the choice of willing to be unfree partners in any association of a political or

economical nature  was offered to the Eastern Region leaders including the minorities whose  response was  a solemn seven point declaration authorising Ojukwu to declare the Eastern Region as a Republic as soon as practicable.

Some cynics may attempt to pooh pooh the idea by asking why minorities were quick to embrace one Nigeria as soon as they were overun by Benjamin Adekunle’s Third Marine Commandos, my answert to this would be who wouldn’t? Or would the Yorubas from Ore to Lagos not have danced welcome to the ‘liberating ‘ Biafran Army which on the course of its Bliztrieg would have swept an already panicking Gowon out of Lagos?

Even a later defiant Paris was to initially welcome Hitler and the army of the Third Reich when Germany invaded France.

Third, there are many who assert that Biafra was everything unafrican since she allied herself with countries that were deemed then as not to friendly to the African cause. Countries like Portugal and South Africa ( Racist South Africa) top this list.

Those who agree with this line of arguement are  simply naïve, the support of these countries for Biafra was simply political. Nigeria at that point presented the biggest threats to South Africa’s hegemony in Southern Africa. Nigeria was also to back those seeking independence in Namibia and Angola. Namibia then was under South Africa as its Trustee while Angola was a colony of the Portugeuse. Thus the balkanization of Nigeria would have been a Christmas gift to both nations. Even at that, Biafra’s major agenda was survival as a nation first , the war could not afford Ojukwu and other foreign policy makers the luxury of selecting friends based on ideology and what have you not, even if it meant aligning with the devil himself. Again those who hold such myopic views forget that Biafra had the likes of France, Kaunda’s Zambia,Bongo’s  Gabon, Nyerere’s Tanzania,  Boigny’s Ivory Coast and Papa Doc’s Hait supporting and recognising Biafra. Of these nations the Pan African credentials of Nyerere and Kaunda is not in doubt, they forget this or the fact that Britain which was supporting Nigeria was treating Ian Smith’s racist Zimbabwe with kid gloves. The same Britain also had companies that were patronizing Racist South Africa then.

Biafra today was the first attempt by the African to define himself and redraw his borders, how in God’s name could such be unafrican?

However, let us agree that cost of that war today is still with us; the loved ones, the properties destroyed and confiscated  and the continuous marginalisation of the Igbo by every administration, where we have five states, least number of Local Government Councils, lack of federal presence etc are legacies left behind to teach us a people a lesson, but come what may, and in what manner, the Igbo people know and will know that Biafra had her identity and it is not what they taught us in our history classes or what our institutions have been primed to say but it is in our belief that then and  as in now, our will to freedom, justice and survival was God given and that it was in our duty to take it.

The Nigerian political space is literally buzzing with activities. The party primaries of the two biggest political parties, the All progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have thrown up a lot of news, shocks and talking points. The horse-trading, the lobbying, the negotiations, the intrigues and permutations are all getting really very interesting.

The power of the state governors more than ever before seems to be more evident. The lack of true internal party democracy, the power of self-preservation, the playing to the gallery by some politicians and the fact that as they say, in politics there are only permanent interests and no permanent enemies appear so glaring with the kind of politics that is being played out.

The former governor of Anambra state, Mr. Peter Obi stirred the media space, both the orthodox and social media with his recent withdrawal from contesting for the presidential ticket under the PDP and his resignation from the party. From Abia state, the Minority leader of the 9th Senate Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe of the PDP had gone to contest for the governorship of the state but withdrew recently allegedly sighting displeasure along with some other aspirants in the party with the way the party primary was held.

There are rumours that he is set to join the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) to seek the senatorial ticket to return to the Senate in 2023. There are accusations and counter accusations from some other candidates across party lines who have expressed displeasure at the lack of internal party democracy in the two political parties under review.

The former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu withdrew from the Enugu governorship race almost on the eve of the party primary in the state leaving the field to the Enugu East zone that has produced the party flag bearer. There are rumours and allegations that the present governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi  from Enugu North fell to the pressure of those he allegedly owes his own emergence as governor, the two former governors of Enugu state from that zone.

From Rivers state, Senator Magnus Abe of the APC who was an aspirant to the governorship seat there has threatened to challenge the party primaries in court because he feels the right processes were not followed. The waiting games continue.

The Roundtable Conversation has noticed however that the seeming chaos in the primaries across party lines in the South of the country seem relatively absent in the Northern part of the country. Some political analysts feel that the socio-religious nuances of the Northern region could be a factor in the ways political contests are handled in the region. The issue of fatalism in the predominant Christian and Islamic religions is handled differently in both regions.

The Roundtable Conversation is excited at the events in the Nigerian political space not necessarily because the processes are perfect but for the lessons about the democracy being practiced and how the events can shape the future for good or for bad. The cultural and sociological nuances that have defined the return to democracy since 1999 keep playing out. We can see the kind of authority governors wield in their states, the systemic flaws are so evident. The wrong things happen because the system is not structured detect , prevent or to punish impunity and abuse of power strictly.

The Roundtable Conversation spoke to Dr. Sam Amadi, a lawyer and lecturer and a veteran political analyst. We wanted to find out whether the wave of resignations and withdrawals from contests across the nation was an indication that personalities in the political space are beginning to re-define themselves or change their ways.

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Dr. Amadi believes that politicians do not necessarily change. They only change tactics depending on how politically expedient their new moves are to them. To move from a party simply because you fear losing the primary contest is neither here nor there. To him, for individuals that have been members of a particular political party for decades, held different political offices, contested several elections and won under the same system must not pretend to be holier than others when the same system does not work in their favour. A candidate gets to become a Councilor, from there to local government chairman, to secretary to government to House of Reps. or Senate then to governor or any other hierarchical positions then suddenly seeks another post and when the system does not favour him, he opts out and pretends he is acting patriotically.

In the South East for instance, there have been issues of zoning that seem to have worked in a place like Enugu state. For an Ekweremadu who has been in the field, held many positions for decades to want to thwart the order just because he wants to be governor of the state should be critically evaluated.  His leaving the contest does not seem a virtuous step by any measure.  For Senator Abaribe, he is from the same local government with the incumbent governor Ikpeazu, how right is it for two governors from the same local government to monopolize leadership for more than a dozen years?

To  Dr.  Amadi, many politicians do not like leaving power and they often cite the example of America that we model our democracy after but that to him is a flawed example because while we can get a congressman or senator in America that has spent decades in office, they operate a system that is a bit more structured towards performance and their earnings are not as huge as what our legislators earn comparatively.

In the American model, individuals are often ideologically attracted to political parties based on values that are consistent with either the Republicans or Democrats or they run as independents. It is not common to see the kind of movements from being a governor to the Senate just because they can. In cases where it has happened, it is often based on proven records of performance and not because the   candidate can abuse power to emerge.

It is a constitutional right of individuals to contest for any post at any given time but posturing as having been violated when you lose out in a contest is laughable.

The Roundtable Conversation wanted to find out why Nigerian governors wield enormous powers in determining which aspirants gets what. Is that not a violation of democratic tenets? Dr.  Sam believes that a lot influences the democracy we practice. First is that the system is still not functional enough to put a leash on the all-powerful governors for a number of factors. There is a huge illiterate population and there is poverty. What this means is that the illiterate poor is concerned about the next meal and might very likely see whoever gives him ‘bread’ as the one to follow.

So the party members are the ones close to the grassroots and as such, they move with the familiar. There could be intellectuals in the city but how many of them are known in the rural villages, invariably when elections come, they go with those they are familiar with and not necessarily the intellectual that could make better policies in the long run.

So the panacea to the present situation is for the intellectuals in the city to move down, join political parties and begin to educate and re-orientate the people who do not know better. The people align with the familiar people that they interact with so there must be a new way or doing things so the people understand that temporary handouts cannot solve long term development problems of infrastructure deficit but the people are trapped.

Asked about the solution, Dr. Amadi believes that pragmatism is key. The people must begin to understand that the people are trapped and the pragmatic thing to do is to look for leaders who are open to a system that can guarantee productive economy. We must stop being idealistic and expect that an angel must be in power for things to work, no, things do not work like that. The important thing is to elect individuals with an understanding of what ought to be done.

To him, functional politics is not idealism, we must be ready to sieve candidates and vote in ones that can be open to innovative ideas about development. Everywhere in the world, no society seeks out the saint amongst the people. The idea is to make a pragmatic workable choice that is amenable to development.

To Amadi, politics is often called ‘The Art of the possible’ which means that the people must work with the best that is possible given other variables. Mobilization, education and interactive communication with the people are important and that is what the elite ought to be doing. The people would then learn the implication of wrong choices and things can change for the better.

Staying in the city and moralizing about the ideal without considering the variables those socio-economic and other cultural issues throw up will just mean expecting miracles to happen without human efforts. So it might just be futile idealizing for a different outcome when no efforts are made to enlighten the people whose votes matter.  If we complain about delegates collecting money for ten years, it won’t change anything.

Once there is supply, the people will take. when people don’t care about money because they are able to take care of themselves and their families, it will be less. Sometimes the overwhelming status quo remains till something happens to bring change. The best option is to build structures that can criminalize and track such acts of illicit exchange of funds for electoral favours. We must be able to identify a Nixon that can go to China. In essence, let us get a member of the existing order who is ready to make changes and we can see  changes lead to development.

For the APC and PDP, the die is cast in the next few days.

The dialogue continues…               

On my upper left arm as on the arm of those of us who were born in the middle of the last century, there is a scar or to be accurate, in my case, two scars. This is as a result of the administration of a vaccine against small pox. In the case of those born roughly thirty years later, their own smaller scars are on their right arm and these were as a result of their encounter with a different vaccine, this time the BCG vaccine deployed against tuberculosis. In the case of the small pox vaccine, that exercise has been discontinued because on the  8th day of May 1980, the World Health Organisation announced to the world that this scourge had been eradicated and done away for good. Babies born today still have to endure the misery of the BCG vaccine because this particular scourge is still as active as ever and continues to kill a large number of people in places all over the world including Nigeria.

Until a little over ten thousand years ago when mankind somehow discovered the science of agriculture, man roamed around in little bands continuously scouring the earth for sustenance. At this time the threat of transferring microbial infections between people on a large scale was minimal because there was always quite a substantial distance between the roaming bands. Should one band pick up an infection, it circulated within the band and did not get across to other groups so that the threat of epidemics, not to talk of a pandemic was simply non-existent.

Eventually, humans discovered agriculture and their roaming days came to an end for most of them and were replaced by a sedentary life style which for all that, guaranteed a constant supply of food both from tilling the soil and using the animals which they had domesticated as ready sources of food. For the first time in the history of man, he could not only stay in a safe environment but had the facility to climb to the top of the food chain and be spared the danger of being hunted for food by other animals which were better equipped than man to kill and eat prey, including man. There was therefore a massive improvement in the lot of the species which was now the master of all he surveyed. The constant availability of food encouraged man to gather in larger and larger numbers until the possibility of spreading infections on a large scale entered the equation and public health concerns became a feature of human existence. In addition to human proximity, humans now lived cheek to jowl with their domestic animals and began to acquire pathogens from them which is how for example, the dreaded tubercule which is the cause of tuberculosis crossed over from cattle to humans and much later down the line brought up the necessity of the administration of the BCG vaccines to neonates in an attempt to protect them from the awful and frequently fatal effects of tuberculosis.

Small pox has been infecting and killing men, women and children for more than five thousand years as some Egyptian mummies prepared from around that period showed the characteristic pock marks associated with small pox. Such has been the power of this contagion that it has been calculated that no less than 10% of all human fatalities over this period has been caused by small pox. To situate things in proper perspective, 300 million people died from small pox infection in the 20th century alone, even though no infection was reported in the last twenty years of that century. The point to be made here is that small pox infection is related to the spread of civilisation along extensive trade routes both on land and along rivers so that it seems that this infection was the price that mankind has had to pay for the comforts of civilisation, starting from the Chinese some five thousand years ago and spreading to the rest of the world over a period close to five millennia.

No other infection has harvested people in the large scale manner of small pox. To start with, three of every ten people infected with small pox died within two weeks or so following the onset of symptoms of the infection. This means that this pathogen extracted of a mortality rate of 30%. The enormity of this mortality rate can be compared to that associated with Covid at less than 3%.All those who had the misfortune of surviving this infection displayed signs of the encounter in the shape of deep, disfiguring pock marks and in many cases cowry shell like eyes which had been blinded by the pox. To describe the visitation of small pox as a mere misfortune is to be unpardonably guilty of an understatement. When the Yoruba peoples of South west Nigeria first encountered this terrible condition some five hundred years ago, they were so impressed by its ferocity that they elevated it to the status of a God which was worshiped with extreme fear and trepidation, so great that it surpassed the fear of Ogun and Sango put together. Sopona the implacable God of pestilence was put in a class by itself and worshipped in its own inimitable style according to its exceptionalism. The God of small pox was called by many names and yet it had no name.  It was known by many names all of them used  betraying the power of this god which brought so much sorrow, death, disfigurement and suffering in its wake. When people made their supplication to Obaluaiye, Oluode, Olofin they were addressing the same deity and had no connection to the Olu which early Yoruba Christian coverts appropriated from the Yoruba pantheon of deities and conferred on their freshly minted God. Those who were slain by the god were not mourned, instead thanks giving offerings were offered to the god even as all their worldly goods were forfeited to the devotees of Sopona which made a very great impression on the people. Any visitation of the God led to deadly consequences in terms of both bodily and economic destruction. It made such an impression that those of the people who were taken away as slaves across the Atlantic took the worship of Sopona with them. At least in Cuba, December 17 has been set aside for the annual propitiation of Sopona which has acquired the name of St. Lazarus, the man who was raised from the dead by Jesus after he had been entombed for all of four days. The choice of a man who rose from the dead to be made the figurehead for Sopona is quite fitting in the sense that surviving an encounter with small pox could be considered to be tantamount to rising from the dead.

There is no doubt that the history of the world would have been much different from what it is but for small pox. For example, it has been shown that the mighty Roman empire was finally finished off by a small pox epidemic but the number of deaths caused by the Roman epidemic pales into piddling insignificance by horrors inflicted on the New World when small pox was introduced to the Western hemisphere following the intrusion of Europeans spear headed by Christopher Columbus in 1492. The indigenous peoples of that region had no previous encounter with small pox and this being the case, had no natural immunity to it. Both in the North and South, indigenous Americans were mown down like grass by small pox which is why a few hundred Spaniards riding on horses were able to seize the whole of South America from the owners of the land. It has been calculated that the populations inhabiting the New World was reduced by 90% in next to no time, clearing the land of people who had lived in that region for more than ten millennia. It was this rapid die-off that encouraged the Spaniards to take up the dastardly option proposed by a priest, of importing slaves from Africa in order to exploit the riches of their newly conquered territories which had been won for them more by the dreaded god of small pox than their valour on the battle field.

For Africa and West Africa in particular, small pox was a double edged sword which over the centuries following the European incursion into the New World continued to wreak havoc on the land. In the first place, this infection wreaked havoc on Africans in Africa as shown by the fear that it generated among the Yorubas who turned it into a conquering god in a futile attempt to ameliorate its awful effects. It is not to be forgotten however that seven out of ten people who were infected survived this ordeal and thereafter became immune to it because there was never a re-infection. This meant that over the years, the disease had become endemic in that region and unlike the indigenous Americans there was a large pool of people who had developed resistance to the infection. Once this fact had been established, the Europeans descended on Africa with uncontrolled ferocity and over the next three centuries and a half, transferred no less than twelve million Africans across the Atlantic and into slavery. It was the unpaid labour of these transported Africans that created the wealth which made the industrial revolution possible from the middle of the eighteenth century. As every schoolboy knows or should know, it was the search for raw materials and markets for manufactured goods that brought several European countries into the heart of Africa to create their nefarious colonies which have blighted our every existence in no uncertain manner since then.

Recently I published a piece with a similar title for the Nigerian youth. In it, I assured the youth that the Progressives were with them and will solidly remain with them. I didn’t put it the other way around-i.e., that the youth should be with the Progressives-because the Progressives have never acted as a united force before, in the way the youth did with the EndSARS movement of October, 2020. That the Progressives have not come together in this way, is, perhaps, because we have never teetered on the precipice of political anarchy and total collapse as we are today; inches away from a failed state. Now, they have every reason to do that.

Talking about Progressives in Nigeria can be quite misleading.  Let me therefore distinguish between ‘Progressives’ and persons who call themselves “Progressive” by merely describing their political party as such.  In reality, even within conservative parties, there are Progressives (though they may be few), and there could be many conservatives in a progressive party. The bulk of the real Progressives exist freely in society, and these are people who think, concurrently, about the present and future progress of their societies while devising strategies that will ensure a chain-relationship between the present and the future. Progressives are persons who subscribe to egalitarian ideologies.  They’re thinkers who put their ideas into action to move the society forward. Where the progressives are dormant or muscled into silence or chucked out, the society doesn’t progress. That such is the case with Nigeria is evident in our regression to a primitive state of anarchy and bestiality.

Every society has its progressives, but since political systems are often corrupt, they don’t like the progressives. This is why progressives usually operate outside of political parties. It is also the reason why progressive political parties run or populated by real progressives such as Aminu Kano, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro, Gambo Sawaba, Michael Imoudu, Balarabe Musa, S. G. Ikoku, Eskor Toyo, Lateef Jakande, Paul Bassi, Raji Abdallah and a host of others would not go far in a corrupt society like ours. Nigeria has a surfeit of progressives most of who operate outside of political parties. These are the people I’m addressing in this writeup and I proudly count myself as one. We have them in the forces, in the business sector, and in the civil service. They abound in the media, the creative industry, the academia and at all levels of the education industry.

We, the progressives, are a formidable force. If we don’t have the numbers, we have the intellectual wherewithal – the reach and the power to influence, convince and mobilize the youth and adults around us. The question is: What should we do that has not been done in the past? Why haven’t we had a good, stable and widely accepted government since the demise of the first republic? The reasons were (and are) well known, but those who should have done what was needed did not do so. What is needed now is the coming together of the real progressives to speak with one voice and act in one accord. WE NEED TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE AND ACT IN ONE ACCORD!

One of the reasons why Nigeria hasn’t had a good government is because we have always had weak political parties that have no ideological basis for existing. Unfortunately, it is to these clueless parties and their clueless operators that we have given our allegiance. Thus, whether the candidate was good or not, whether they possessed leadership quality or not, whether they had the level of education needed to run a modern state, with an understanding of the intricacies and intrigues of international politics and economics or not, was not our concern. We have therefore continued to suffer the twin evil of parties without ideology and power grabbers without a clue as to how to run governments.

The second reason arises from this twin evil; for, what the combined force does is to ensure deliberate exclusion and isolation of the Progressives, or frustrating them into compromising their positions and ideals. The result is that the Progressives choose to stay out and take no action. But we all know now, that this state of affairs can no longer be accepted unless we are all ready to go down with the sinking ship! It is said that if you fight with a mad man, you would be considered mad since no one would know the difference between you two. I believe the same thing would happen if you were seen wining and dining with a mad man, or a thief.

Nigerians have been taken for a ride for too long; on a very rough and long ride. The ship of state is rotten and falling apart, and if we do nothing, we are all going down with it.  I’m not a prophet of doom. I love this country too much to wish it anything but progress. But it will be foolhardy to sit by, look the other way and believe that 2023 is going to blow us any good wind. We will be in for the rudest shock; for the roughest ride. The regular and well known political charlatans, crooks and fortune seekers are all out there, spending billions that have been stolen from our common wealth. They will throw those monies around and win the poor, the gullible and weak-minded voters if we sit by and watch. Stand up and do something wherever you are. Talk. Act. Vote. Make sure that your vote counts.  Make sure that the votes of those you mobilize count. I know the question that is on your minds: Who do we TALK, ACT, and VOTE for?

As I have said to the youth, we should not act in a hurry.  First, we must hope for a good dark horse to emerge. And there just might be one. An individual in an unknown party. Or even someone well known but who has not been soiled by the mud of the swindler-parties. We cannot expect an angel from Mars or Venus. It has to be a Nigerian, and out of the hundreds galivanting all over the place, there would be a sane soul who speaks love of country and the egalitarian language of progress, of a movement out of the mess characterized by anarchy, insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and a totally dysfunctional education system. There will be one sane sole voice that will speak the language of a modern society without forgetting its roots, its culture, as well as the language of international politics and economics that is needed to return us to the path of life, and connect us to the path of our future progress. IT IS THAT SANE SOLE SOUL THAT WE MUST TALK, ACT, AND VOTE FOR.

My article this week is directed, primarily, at my Ekiti compatriots who will, by the grace of God, be voting at the forthcoming 18 June, 2022 governorship election in the state.  We must know that being a highly educated and exposed people, Hosea 4:6 – my people perish for lack of knowledge – must not apply to us as  we go to cast our vote.

The piece will, therefore, deal less with the  achievements of  the APC government in power in the state which, by the way,  we know like our palms – but much more with the other wanna be political parties that want  Ekiti people to foolishly put their future in their hands. We would, however, not be unduly bothered with the PDP  which has unravelled since its primaries. We are therefore left, essentially, with the SDP as about the only other party of any consequence in the state.

The first thing I would like us to bear in mind is the fact that this is going to be a very consequential election, the result of which will either ensure a continuation of the state’s current developmental trajectory, re- introduced when Governor Kayode Fayemi came back in October 2018, after the  interegnum of between 2014-18 which saw the thrashing of  several existing laws which were procedurally passed by the  state House of Assembly, and the stoppage of many of the agencies established by the previous Fayemi administration  under its Social Security Scheme for the benefit of the vulnerable, most at risk elderly population. A good example was the N5000 monthly stipend paid to citizens 65years old, and above, flagged off  way back, November, 2011.

Happily, Governor Fayemi has since resuscitated them.

Even though I had cause to express harsh words against  the administration of  Governor Segun Oni, 2007 – 2010,  I know, and hugely respect him.  He is the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party ( SDP) in the forthcoming  election.

It was in  attestation to this fact that I wrote as follows concerning him in my article: ”Ekiti: Again I Ask Must Our Politicians Always Fight To The Death? of  Sunday, 13 February, 2022: “That said, let me confess that I am personally delighted at the news of His Excellency, Engr Segun Oni’s imminent departure from the PDP.  I can see why PDP can no longer sleep easy, both here at home in Ekiti, and in Abuja. Governor Segun Oni is a highly respected, absolutely incorruptible politician who could never  have stomached the chicanery that played out at the Ekiti PDP primaries”.

Unfortunately, governance is not about individuals, simpli cita, even while we cannot  discount an individual’s leadership qualities, the reason social scientists have not  yet stopped interrogating the question of Holism versus Individualism.

As a result, even though I shall be writing at great personal pain, the truth must still be told of what we know   of Oni’s government when he was governor, just as we must educate our people about the SDP; a rootless political party, with nil federal presence or influence, besides the shenanigans we have been reading from its National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenugba who, referring to a top, even foundation member of the party wrote: “The Party also notes his endeavours to defraud unsuspecting party members, friends of SDP and the public through dubious requests for financial support and by impersonating as the SDP’s National Chairman announcing illegal fees for fake State Congresses and Convention and fake Expression of Interest Forms and Nomination Forms for political elections.”

Ekitis should, of course, know better than to throw our fate into the laps of a party like the SDP, which has neither national, nor any regional import.

The truth about the SDP in Ekiti today, as elsewhere, is that it is not only an essemble of disgruntled, strange bedfellows, joined together mostly as a colony of aggrieved individuals, dissstisfied with their former political parties, It is a party of individuals feeding fat on angst, either against persons in  parties where they were recently driven out from, or even against some of their new party mates, as well as those who, realising they have no chance of fulfilling their political ambition in those parties, had to jump ship. The party is, therefore, a tribe of  scheming, angry individuals, to control who, will task the, no doubt, considerable abilities, of  the  easygoing Governor Segun Oni. Regardless of  the above negativities though, I’ll be the first to concede that  the party’s leading lights in the state are respectable Ekitis. What they lack, however,  is  the ability to run an efficient, and  coordinated government, that will not only continue the socio- economic trajectory of the present APC  government, but take the state to the next level. I say this  because we have experienced them in government. So this conclusion is in no way conjectural.

This piece, as I can be observed labouring to explain because of my respect for Governor Oni, is not intended to be polemical. But truth must still be told as this election has everything to do with the corporate good, or otherwise, of Ekiti, our little Jerusalem.

To validate many of my assertions above, I crave, in particular,  governor Oni’s apologies, as I go to my archives to  quote, at some length, from my article: ‘Ekiti At 13’, of 27 September, 2009 when he was the state governor.  Therein, I wrote as follows:”Governor Oni, in spite of the peaceful exterior which he tries to evince, has had no peace as Ekiti state governor. His failure as governor is, therefore, so palpable you could cut it with a knife. Governing strictly by reflex, his government has been dubbed a‘photocopy government”.

“ For instance, having just come back on a visit to Brazil, he recently said that Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, will be transformed to a mega-city. He said this before a distinguished audience which, I was told, could only erupt in a guffaw”.

“Mr. Governor should please tell the world the state of the Ado – Ifaki 12 kilometer road contract which he awarded,  at  hundreds of millions of naira, to a PDP politician some three years ago. It is now in a far worse condition”. “You must also have heard about governor Oni’s ‘world class’ this, first class that. His Teaching hospital will be the first of its kind, just as his stadium would dwarf the Maracana stadium and the entire world will come to savour and go to replicate it  in their own corners on terra firma. You are made to believe that Governor Oni would not do a single thing that will not enter  the Guinness Book of Records”.

“Yet, in spite of the fact that the recent riots at the state university had three different panels set up to investigate it – one by the government, another by the Ewi –in-Council with my oga, the distinguished Chief Alex  Olu Ajayi, as Chairman, and another by the institution, and all, according to my  source, arriving at the same conclusion, yet no report has been released till date”.

“Ikun Dairy Farm, with 700 cows imported at a whopping cost of N600M, complete with Zimbabwean white farmers in toe, is now in shambles, with its staff unpaid just as the animals have resorted to self-help; feeding by rampaging Ikun farms”. “Salaries of state workers are no longer paid as at when due, but un-requested, and totally unnecessary preferments are being gifted third parties without let, or hindrance. No thanks to a directionless government”. Good thing is, Ekitis will very soon reclaim their state”.

If the above was at a time when a much younger Governor Segun Oni was operating within the ‘largest political party in Africa’, one can only imagine  a SDP government in the year of our Lord 2022 and beyond.

Writing recently about the same Oni administration, Wole Olujobi, Deputy Director, Media and Publicity, of the BAO Campaign Organisation wrote:

“Those were days when  their government turned Ekiti to a cauldron of hell, unleashing horrendous violence on the people especially in the 2009 rerun election  during which several people, including Ahmed Musa were killed, and Segun Ajayi lost his leg in Ido-Osi as thugs unleashed mayhem on the  people in a desperate bid to violently seize power”.

To, therefore, elect a SDP government in Ekiti state today, will tantamount to empowering people I can only describe as “war lords” who, in whatever area of government  they find themselves, will be absolutely uncontrollable since they are mostly ex – this, ex’-that in the  state, and therefore, too important in their own eyes.

As we  say in Ekiti, ika kan o ni wo nwon ni di.

We would have, therefore, with our eyes wide open,  brought back those horrendous days of outright mayhem, when Ekiti was always in the news for the wrong reasons. That was a time my colleagues at The Nation’s commentariat, even the editorial staff, nearly nicknamed me “Ekiti columnist”, as I, almost every week, wrote  to try to  repair the Ekiti image  which was being so heedlessly pulverised by the party, and government in power in the state; a sort of self immolation.

I urge my Ekiti  compatriots, as they go to vote, to compare what an uproarious scenario we would have created, compared to a government which will be headed by a  respectful, almost self – effacing Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji who, were his government  ever to commit an unintended error, we could take  to any of the following Ekiti dignitaries: Chief Deji Fasuan, under whom he served, barely aged 30, as Secretary to the Committee for the creation of Ekiti state, our Royal Father, HRH, the Ewi of Ado – Ekiti, or any of our two highly regarded former governors, namely, Otunba Niyi Adebayo and Dr Kayode Fayemi, under both of who  he learnt the ropes of his political/ administrative skills, as well as deepened his Omoluabi attributes.

Ekiti ni aimoye enia ti a le fi ejo ijoba Biodun sun.

Lending all these a historical perspective,

Ekiti turned out worse from about when, as young men, those who now populate the SDP,  came into the state’s politics whether as members of Progressive parties or belonging in their natural habitat, the PDP,  from where former governor Ayo Fayose recently drove them away, enmass.

But for Governor Oni’s personal attributes, I doubt if SDP would have any member in Ekiti state.

In consequence, to vote SDP into power in Ekiti will result in a rehash of the highly atavistic politics of the Governor Segun Oni era when, through all manner of machinations,  PDP  was able to manufacture a 50:50 division in the State House of Assembly, even after the party had been beaten, blue and black,  in both the governorship and legislative elections, as would subsequently be affirmed by the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, while annulling Oni’s election.

I have gone to all these details of our not too recent history so they will serve as a mnemonic – an aid to memory – as we go to cast our votes in the make or mar, 18 June,  2022 election, so we can tell our children, even generations yet unborn, that we did our very best in ensuring that Ekiti stood, ramrod steady, on the path of peace, Concord and development by voting BAO.

Concluding, let me leave us with BAO’s eternal words to which I haven’t a scintilla of doubt, that we can all hold him up to:

“I would like to assure you that your labour of love will never be in vain. As we commence our campaign journey today, I am sharing with you the ideas that have been carefully designed to keep our state working. “These ideas have come from my interactions with various categories of Ekiti citizens at home and abroad. I have listened carefully to all that has been said to me, and I am deeply convinced that the task ahead is possible by God’s grace, and with us working together,”.

“There is no magic wand to build our state, and the sustainable progress we want will not happen overnight. We have been on a long journey to reclaim our land and restore our values. It is now time to hunker down and sustain all our gains. – Lifted from his speech titled: “TOGETHER WITH YOU, LET’S KEEP EKITI WORKING”, in which he unveiled the following as his Agenda: Education, Agriculture and rural development, Health care, Industrialisation, Social Investment, Arts, Culture and Tourism and completion of all ongoing projects.

He promised to complete 500 kilometres of rural farm roads within his  first four years in order to enhance agricultural development and to ensure food security in the state. Other areas of focus  will be Youth Development, Job Creation and  Human Capital Development. He equally promised to strengthen the state’s security architecture through massive deployment of technology  adding that his government would work with security agencies to bring crime rate to the barest minimum.

Therefore, Vote APC, Vote BAO and guarantee Ekiti’s continued development in an atmosphere of peace, come 18 June, 2022.

Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lives. Truth is the child of time, erelong she shall appear to vindicate thee”. – Immanuel Kant. German Philosopher

Nasir El-Rufai, in an earthshaking interview with the Vanguard Newspaper on the 24th February, 2020,had unequivocally thrown his considerable weight behind a southern presidency, after eight (8)years of president Muhammadu Buhari. His words:”It  would be unjustified for the North to seek to retain the presidency  after President Muhammadu Buhari might have completed his eight years”. When El-Rufai made this farsighted statement, it seemed  like he was crying wolf,where there was none.

Predictably, but regrettably the Vanguard interview didn’t win El-Rufai any friend. Thankfully, El-Rufai, expected no garland,not because he went against the unreasonable and unconscionable  position of some northerners, who  before the commencement of Buhari’s second term, had lunched the campaign  for the retention of the presidency in the region, because it was a matter of conviction. The major plank of their argument, is that the death of late President Umaru Yar’Adua shortchanged the north, in the turn by turn rotation of power, that lays little or no premium on performance.

Goodluck Jonathan, Yar’Aduas’ vice, had gone on to complete the tenure of  Umaru Yar’Adua and got re-elected in his own right  for another four year term,before his resounding defeat in 2015,in the hands of Buhari.

For daring to weigh in favour of a southern president, some of his colleagues are believed to have been behind several anti El-Rufai campaign,the reward for daring to torpedo their plot. In reaction  they also embarked on a subterranean move to draft former president Goodluck Jonathan into the 2023 presidential race,because it offered them another  short cut to power. Meanwhile,in the south, the narrative driven by some lazy analysts was that El-Rufai was strategically positioning to benefit,in the event the south, is unable to present an acceptable candidate.

Clearly El-Rufai, was compelled to speak up for these main reasons;the state of the country, the long term impact on the integrity of North, if it reneges on power shift to the south. The other being, El- Rufai’s sense of justice, which abhors injustice. El-Rufai, might have also been scandalized, on how quickly some Northerners seem to have forgotten the challenges the region faced  from the Ibrahim Babangida annulment of the 1983 presidential election, believed to have been won by late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, which truly speaking, it’s yet to fully recover from.

The north bore the brunt of the annulment,for the action of Babangida, against Abiola, his friend.

But in the event they had forgotten, El-Rufai out of a sense of duty deemed it necessary to remind them of the proud heritage of the north, which is that its word, is its bond:”I want to say that those of us from Northern Nigeria honour agreements.We do not violate unwritten political agreements and I will be the last person to lead in violating that agreement”.

Without doubt, the North has solid voting power,but it has always needed allies to win elections at the center. A fact that seems lost on some political neophytes, interested only in acquiring power,for its flamboyance. Once Aminu Tambawal, was elected governor of Sokoto state, in 2015, he kickstarted his presidential campaign. In what is a ringing indictment of Aminu Tambawal, Sokoto state, is one of the two states that couldn’t present its final year students for the ongoing West African Examination Council (WAEC)  examination. The other being Zamfara state, which has remained a bread basket case.

Despite Buhari’s popularity and solid 12 million voters, he consistently failed in his previous presidential bids,until El-Rufai forced Buhari and Bola Tinubu to merge their parties into the formidable All Progressives Congress (APC), that eventually defeated the PDP, led by Goodluck Jonathan, a man they successfully tagged as clueless.  In 1979, the South-South states of Rivers, Cross Rivers,had helped president Shehu Shagari to power. In 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo, despite being rejected by the South-West, won the election, with support from the other sections of the country.

In politics,  I Owe You (I. O. U), is a normal political debt(s) from previous support, and it seriously counts. It’s a wash my back, I wash your back life,and people hardly forget breaches.

If the APC makes the strategic blunder of presenting a northern presidential candidate, the party, will most certainly disintegrate overnight. The North, just can’t afford to squander its tremendous goodwill, on the altar of a pot of porridge, considering the political consequences. The Yorubas, are unlike the Ibos, who lack the capacity to make the PDP pay a heavy price for treating it with utter contempt, despite its solid support for the party since 1999. Until 2015, the South-West, had never aligned  politically with the north. If the north retains the presidency, hardline Yoruba leaders, will feel justified in their anti-North stance.

It would have been a miracle,if these political neophytes, the key drivers of the Goodluck Jonathan project – Buni, Abubakar Malami, Bagudu, and Badaru- understood the fundamental issues involved in their unholy quest for power. For instance, how can the APC(what is left of it,since the South-West would have moved to another party) market Goodluck Jonathan, that it convinced Nigerians, was a drunk and clueless? Worse still, is  that Jonathan can not deliver the South-South to APC. Jonathan, in fact  had lost whatever was left of his reputation, since he became identified with the APC.

The times are equally perilous. Nigeria, without doubt is at a precipice, and the shenanigans of some politicians hasn’t helped,the deeply unstable country.

El-Rufai is opposed to zoning, because of the drawbacks, but to the extent that it reasonably ensures  an orderly transition and fairness, he has consistently thrown his full weight behind it. During the visit of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, one of the legion of presidential hopefuls, he once again demonstrated his commitment to power shift.

Those who believed El-Rufai is a power monger, and has for ever been  plotting to become the president (which by the way, he is eminently qualified for),must have been greatly disappointed, that he didn’t buy the presidential form. He has further confounded his traducers, by what appears to be political realignment with Bola Tinubu, who is not his enemy.

El-Rufai, has been a victim of a campaign of calumny, outright lies, and slander, but has refused to be defined by his traducers. His  convictions have continued to drive his politics, extremely patient and open to dialogue, at the end of the day, the least of his worry, is being right in the eyes of others, who most times are not ready to stand up for any principle.

History like they say, will always vindicate the just. Indeed El-Rufai, has already been vindicated on several other issues, like the religious preaching bill, the APC crisis etc. When he embarked on “operation APC National Convention must hold”, he was called unprintable names, undeterred, he single handedly rescued the party from the hands of the charlatans holding it hostage. Never mind that his traducers only grudgingly acknowledge his role. It’s to El-Rufai’s credit that he refused to be distracted,  until the convention was delivered.

Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, can never be accused of keeping quiet, when the country needed him to speak up. By standing firm, he has greatly contributed to the stability of a bitterly polarized country.

It was getting close to midnight on Saturday 30th April 2020 and there we were by the poolside at Heidi Court, Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos savouring what some of us suspected could be “the last of the summer wine” or more appropriately the final moments of our connection with civilization – in terms of tranquility, order, decorum and conviviality.

The last piece of the puzzle was the front page of the day’s “The Nation” newspaper which carried the bold headline: “We Are Neglected, Two Lagos Slums Cry Out For Help.”

The rest of the report should be of interest to the President of the World Bank, Mr. David Malpass and the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Anthonio Guterres as well as Dr. (Mrs) Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

“Over 60 per cent of the residents of Lagos are poor and live in the over 100 slums and informal settlements scattered across the city.  They lack water sanitation, and other basic services.  This makes them particularly vulnerable during a health crisis.  The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHS) defines a slum as a wide range of low-income settlements and/or poor human living conditions, which include the vast informal settlements that are quickly becoming the most visual expression of urban poverty.  This is also the case in other cities in Nigeria, where the growth rate of urban population is faster than economic growth which increasingly out – paces health and social services.

Their leader said his people are unhappy because they have not felt the impact of Government adding that his people have resigned themselves to fate after years of seeking the government’s attention without success.

We have been begging them for a very long time to connect us with the water in Mile 12, but nothing has happened.

We don’t have water to drink and we wonder if we have a government.  We only depend on vendors for potable water which goes for N100 for a keg of 25 litres.  How do we cope with that?  This is a community that has Government officials.  This is Lagos State not anywhere else? He said.”

From the front page of “ThisDay” newspaper we learn that the police are bored with chasing rapists, kidnappers, arsonists, fraudsters, money ritualists, terrorists etc. Instead the headline delivers a startling revelation:

“Police Quiz Ekiti Pastor who charged Church members N310,000 fare to Heaven.”

With perfect timing, our hostess the ever charming Heidi is checking to make double sure that we take a second helping of the delicious food and plentiful supply of exotic wine plus more.   The spirits are on special duty to chase melancholy, despair and guilt.

Suddenly, the celebrant (her 87-year-old husband who is the other half of fifty years of blissful marriage), Professor Theo Ogunbiyi is summoned to cut his birthday cake.  Rather than agonise over whether there is enough room for eighty-seven candles on the cake, the eminent retired surgeon demands a knife and with clinical precision proceeds to slice the cake with a little assistance from his beloved wife.  Hovering in the background is their son, Michael who is ever so eager to ensure that we are all having a great time.  We owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

Then it was time for boisterous singing of “Happy Birthday” followed by a somewhat dodgy rendition of

“He Is A Jolly Good Fellow.”

The cheer-leader was none other than Richard Akerele (a “Gregorian) whose father Dr. Oni Akerele was my father’s [Chief J.K. Randle] classmate at King’s College.  Actually, it was Dr. Akerele who founded “Egbe Omo Oduduwa” in London in 1948 when he lived at 52, Messina Avenue, Kilburn and Chief Obafemi was the indefatigable Secretary.  Richard’s wife, Elder is both Italian and Nigerian.

From the celebrant’s speech, it was evident that the guest list had been deliberately pruned down to the “usual suspects” – family, friends and close associates.  Out of the blues, I was invited to propose the toast of the celebrant.  As is often the case, the best speeches are the ones we never get to make !!

It has been a turbulent week with terrorists on a rampage and kidnappers pursuing their own perverted version of “equal opportunities” – men, women, and children.  Apart from bombing trains, they attacked military barracks in Kaduna and its environs.  The line between “soft” and “hard” targets has become blurred.  The American National Academy of Sciences delivered a sombre message in the midst of carnage and turmoil:

“Terrorists seek to provoke their adversaries into a reaction, preferably an overreaction.”

We are not talking science but anarchy and chaos.  Let us get on with the business at hand – a toast to one of nature’s finest specimens.  He attended St. Gregory’s College, Obalende and that makes him a “Gregorian” before proceeding to St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University where he studied medicine and specialised in surgery.

Seated next to the “Birthday Boy” is none other than his soul brother, Chief Olabode Emanuel, a Chartered Accountant who is also a Gregorian.  This is double jeopardy !!  Ten days earlier he celebrated his own 87th birthday – in London.  Now, there is a problem.  How do you propose the toast of one Gregorian to the exclusion of the other Gregorians (including Mr. Olusola McGregor, the Quantity Surveyor whose family house was next door to the Ogunbiyi’s on Bamgbose Street, Lagos)?

The least I can do is to acknowledge that the Gregorians have done a superlative job of rescuing their school from ruin and set it on the path to becoming a national treasure.  It has become the stuff of folklore.

From being a Catholic school that had delivered a ceaseless stream of high achievers to Nigeria – in law, medicine, civil service, banking, military etc it was seized by a vengeful Governor of Lagos.  The classrooms became overcrowded and the hapless teachers were devasted  by rapidly diminishing morale and escalating indiscipline.  It was a dreadful nightmare and colossal disaster.  King’s College, Lagos suffered a similar fate.  Its toilets became a festering eyesore.

Almost by divine intervention (after military take-over) the government surrendered St. Gregory’s College and other mission schools to their original owners.  That was when the Old boys of St. Gregory’s College went to work.  Much of the credit must go to Dr. John Abebe, President of the Old Boys Association, who literally rallied the troops.  It was a fiercely driven rescue mission and amongst the highest donors were Professor Theo Ogunbiyi, Chief Bode Emanuel; and Prince Olu Awogboro who became Trustees of the St. Gregory’s College Old Boys Association.  I make no secret of my campaign to win election as the next President of St. Gregory’s College Old Boys Association (notwithstanding the fact that I attended King’s College, Lagos) !!!  Fortunately, Dr. Michael Omolayole, who is a Gregorian in addition to being a graduate of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University is firmly in my corner.  He will be 94 on October 13, 2022. His keen sense of humour and intellectual curiosity remain undiminished.

Sadly, we live in a nation where intellect and intellectualism have been jettisoned.  The same fate has befallen history, civics and integrity.  Nigeria has been underserved and shortchanged.  But who cares?  We blew the opportunity to build a vibrant country.  Even now, we remain unrepentant.

Dr. Omolayole having served as Chairman & Chief Executive of Unilever Plc (previously Lever Brothers Limited) and adviser (“Kitchen Cabinet”) to President Ibrahim Babangida is well versed regarding our nation’s economic statistics and financial data to wit: “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” which has gone viral with the following damning message:

“As of 29th March 2022, the foreign currency exchange rates were:

Sterling £1 = N783

Dollars $1  = N560

Euros €1    = N670

42 years ago, precisely on 1/3/1980 the exchange rate was: $1 = 0.78k.

Where are our:

NITEL Communication

Nigeria Airways.

My campaign has been great fun.  From the polls it looks as if I have successfully wooed the Old boys of St. Gregory’s College to join the bandwagon.  We are on a roll.

However, there is a snag.

The application form to participate in the election is FREE for old boys of St. Gregory’s College but for those who did not attend the school, it is a hefty N100 million!!  Some of us remember how in the 1950’s and 1960’s the entire budget of Nigeria was not even up to N100,000,000 (one hundred million naira).  That was before corruption invaded our nation.

Please permit me to press the pause button and take a break for commercials.  I wish to acknowledge the unparralled sagacity  and profound magnanimity of another Gregorian.  I refer to retired Justice Charles Archibong who amazed me and my firm when in the judgement he delivered in the dispute between a Norwegian company Statoil Limited and Abucon Limited (owned by a Gregorian, Dr. John Abebe) ruled that the accounts of Statoil should be audited over a period of ten years and that J.K. Randle & Co., Chartered Accountants should be paid the sum of U.S.$1,000,000 (one million dollars) for their professional services in this regard.  It is of no consequence that we did not receive a dime.  That does not in any way detract from the generosity of spirit and recognition of my firm’s professionalism so powerfully demonstrated by His Lordship.  May he continue to prosper regardless of his premature retirement.  His heart was in the right place.  His considered judgement should serve as a counterpoise to the judgement delivered in Greek methodology by the philosopher and playwright Euripides whereby Iphigenia, a beautiful damsel was sacrificed by her father for his country but it turns out to be a wasted tragedy.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 to 1968) was right on the button when he delivered his monumental verdict:

“The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, but it Bends         Towards Justice.”

In the meantime we have more pressing matters to contend with.  It has to do with the safety and security of the old boys of King’s College, Lagos.  On  April 22, 2022 an ex-Gregorian Royal Father (a boxer) passed away after spending fifty-two years on the throne of his forefathers.  He was my friend.  He was a great scholar and repository of Yoruba history and tradition.  In accordance with tradition, he must be accompanied to heaven by a retinue of handpicked stalwarts/stewards.  Consequently, Old Boys of King’s College have gone into hiding until the funeral ceremonies are completed followed by forty days of mourning.

This has prompted the following responses which are all over the internet:

(i)            “Where is Bashorun J.K. Randle now?  Has he relocated to St. Gregory’s College, Keffi Street, Obalande, Lagos to volunteer for royal service?

–              Funsho Kufeji (Race Club of Lagos – Horseracing).

(ii)           “On account of the incontrovertible fact that (KC) King’s College Old Boys are enamoured of emulation of Gregorian culture, one can infer that they dissembled as Gregorians to follow the Royal Father on his celestial sojourn.  They must be applauded for achieving their eternal goal of substituting the mundaness of their “floreat” garments for the splendour of the Jesuit (St. Gregory’s robes.)”

–              Demola Akinrele S.A.N. (ex-St. Gregory’s College and Cambridge University).

(iii)          “Bashorun, perhaps Gregorian old boys are less timorous than their King’s College colleagues.”

–              Dolapo Akinrele S.A.N. (ex-St. Gregory’s College and ex-Cambridge University).

There are many more which have flooded social media.  Most of them recommend that old boys of King’s College should grasp this unique historical moment to do their duty to “King and Country” !!

However, I remain thankful for the following intervention by a veteran broadcaster and grandmother, Mrs. Mobola Onajide:

“When Oba Ewuare of Benin (1440 to 1473) passed away some centuries past, those who felt threatened by the use of the Egyptian method of monarchical burial ran to a place in the Delta with lots of palm trees and some to other parts of present day Midwest for shelter (and refuge).

• Bashorun 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, J.K. Randle Professional Services

The European security landscape is changing, and its changing rapidly. Sweden and Finland, two Scandinavian countries with a long history of wartime neutrality and non-participation in military alliances are seeking NATO membership. In the case of Sweden, it will be abandoning its more than 200 years of non-alignment that has been at the heart of its security doctrine and has defined its national identity. Finland’s president, Saulli Niinisto, announced his country’s decision to join the alliance last week Thursday, and Sweden followed suit in a matter of days. For Russia, this is, without doubt, a terrible outcome. The invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a security dilemma. Russia’s attempt to increase its security through an aggressive military action in a neighbouring state has only increased its insecurity. Of the 14 countries that share a border with Russia, five of them are already members of NATO. The addition of Finland, another country that borders Russia, only decreases its security.

As expected, Russia has threatened retaliatory steps of a ‘military-technical’ nature if Finland becomes a NATO member. And in what appears to be a clear signal that the West is willing to look Russia in the eye and ignore its security interests, the United Kingdom pledged to come to the aid of Finland if it is attacked. The Nordic countries in NATO, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway have pledged support to both countries if they are attacked before their membership quest is realised. But, let us be clear, Russia’s ability to launch expeditionary actions against Finland in the short term are severely limited. Britain’s Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff, recently said that 25% of Russia forces have been effectively taken out. Intelligence analysts have noted that the loss of military equipment by Russia in its ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine has been so great that it is unlikely to have the capacity to fight another war for years. In fact, intelligence reports suggest that Russia might be running out of some vital military equipment, including precision-guided missiles. It is not surprising that both Scandinavian countries, whose populations have previously rejected the idea of joining NATO for the fear of antagonising their nuclear-armed neighbour, are now willing to take this historic opportunity to guarantee their security. Yet, while ascension provides security to both countries in the short-term, is NATO’s article 5 the watertight guarantee it is often portrayed as?

The validity of article 5 as a collective security mechanism and a serious security guarantee is rarely questioned. Indeed, I admit that I have previously shown unquestioned deference to article 5 and what it represents. In an interview on TVC news last month, I had insisted that article 5 provided such a powerful security covering for Finland and Sweden that Russia would not even dare attack both countries once they are members of NATO.  And while that analysis is not invalid given the current state of Russia’s military and economy, I am not convinced that article 5 would serve Finland or Sweden’s long-time security interest.  Unlike Sweden, Finland’s neutrality during the Cold War was not by choice. In 1948, it signed a bilateral treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the USSR that enforced neutrality in the emerging Cold War. The terms of the treaty required that Finland ensures that its territory is not used as a staging post for attacks against the Soviets if war broke out between the West and the USSR. Indeed, it was concerns about the vulnerability of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) to attacks from Finnish territory that primarily drove the Soviets’ invasion of Finland in 1939. For Russia, that threat to St Petersburg, Putin’s birthplace, has now re-emerged—and this is my worry. Although Vladimir Putin has suggested that the decision to join NATO by both countries does not threaten Moscow directly, but take his statement with a pinch of salt. Afterall, the former spy is a master in subterfuge. He will bid his time. When Russia rebuilds after the war with Ukraine (and it will), do not be surprised if Russia revisits this fundamental threat to its national security.

And if Putin doesn’t, there are more radical individuals in the corridor of power in the Kremlin—any of them could be Russia’s leader after Putin’s exit. One prominent name is Nikolai Patrushev, a former KGB operative and the Secretary of Russia’s National Security Council. Patrushev replaced Putin as head of the FSB and led the intelligence agency from 1999 to 2008. He is one of Putin’s closest friends and considered one of the most hawkish of Putin loyalists. It was Patrushev who authorised the 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London. Patrushev has been quoted saying that he believes that the US’s “concrete goal” is the break-up of Russia.  Another is Putin ally, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, who recently suggested that if Finland joins NATO, then it is legitimate to question its continued existence.  Zhuravlyov insisted that “the Finns in general should be grateful to Russia for their statehood, for the fact that Finland exists as a country”. Readers would recall that this is reminiscent of the revisionist sentiment that Putin extended last summer on Ukraine’s claim to sovereignty. The Russian president wrote a 7,000-word essay on the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians to show why Ukraine couldn’t be an independent state, free from Russian influence. While Zhuravlyov and his ilk may be dismissed as sabre rattlers in the interim, the sentiments they hold regarding the threats they believe these recent events constitute to Russia’s security are widely shared.

My argument is if Putin or a more ultranationalist leader revisits the ‘Finnish problem’ and credibly threatens the use of nuclear weapons to bring Finland into its sphere of influence, would the UK risk the complete destruction of London to fulfil its obligations under article 5? Would the United States be willing to sacrifice New York in order to protect Helsinki? Article 5 or not, I am convinced that no western leader could ever justify making such a call to the electorate. Unless a state believes its continued existence is in peril, it is difficult to imagine that anyone would risk a nuclear war that no one will win. Indeed, academic research supports my argument. Research have shown that defence pacts and military alliance obligations are more often violated than upheld. For instance, from the 1800s to 1945, states only honoured their alliance commitments 66% of the time but that compliance rate has dropped further to 22% since the end of World War 2. Clearly, states have found a new willingness to shirk treaty responsibilities. NATO’s article 5 may have been triggered in response to the 9/11 attacks, but Russia is not Afghanistan. The treaty obligation might be valuable in deterring conventional wars, but would likely falter in the presence of a credible nuclear threat.

• Dr Adediran is Assistant Professor in International Relations at the Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom. He can be contacted on: bolaadediran2020@yahoo.com

In a matter of weeks, voters in Osun will again cast their ballots to elect a governor who will run the affairs of the state for the next four years. With governorship candidates drawn from different political parties fighting hard to occupy ‘Bola Ige House’, July 16, 2022 promises to be a battle of wits between diverse contenders: the incumbent with experience on the one hand, and the political greenhorns, on the other hand, all jostling for the highest office in the state. Without a shred of doubt, it will most certainly be a clash of supremacy between unpretentious reality and fictive perceptions.

As we all know, good leadership is about vision, empathy and passion for governance. With so much at stake to take the state to the Next Level of its development, the time for casting predicaments on primordial sentiments as the oxygen for winning support is over. With the situation of things on ground, coupled with the urgency to make things work better, the lot falls on the electorate to look for a candidate who has the capacity to inject a clear strategy and requisite tenacity to push through development plans, irrespective of inhibitions – anticipated or otherwise. Such a candidate must be prepared to devote more energy to the provision of “inclusive governance strategy” and “improved conditions and welfare of the citizenry.”

As the saying goes, ‘one good turn deserves another.’ By now, the good people of Osun are governance-conscious! They can see for themselves how far the governor has gone to make life meaningful for them! As such, they cannot be cajoled by empty political brinkmanship! Judging by the results of the last Governorship Primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, one can also safely conclude that Gboyega Oyetola’s government was well-received as a total package of good governance. Outcomes of various opinion polls conducted in the state also affirmed these affective feelings. Of course, this is an important advantage to the governor! That he is therefore the governor to beat is no longer news! He has all the advantages. What he has done, rather, than mere campaigns, will secure victory for him. As a matter of fact, his victory is sealed and delivered!

By the way, compare Oyetola’s administration with previous governments and one will find out that, from all sides, it has been songs of improvement to the people. That he has governed Osun – not by mere promises – is there for all to see. The good news is that the governor has not only fulfilled all the promises made during the 2018 campaigns but also laid the foundation for a knowledge-driven economy. Obviously, this has helped a great deal in shaping values through morals; which therefore implies that, whoever wants to contest against the Iragbiji, Osun State-born administrator in the forthcoming election must also have that in his kitty. Otherwise, frittering resources that could be channeled to alternatively profitable economic ventures and investments can only be likened to a monkey who misses its branch.

Surely certainly, the hallmark of development is when one is not afraid to review or reappraise policies. In a clime where a thick and suffocating cloud of concern envelopes everywhere, the governor opted to commendably blend into the mood of the society. It is therefore pertinent to note that, within a short period of four years, his passion for functional education and accessible healthcare has been awesome even as his radical approach to urban renewal projects remains an authentic source of lessons in performance. Talking in specific terms, Oyetola has built and equipped schools and employed manpower resources to manage them. He has constructed and/or reconstructed not less than 2,000 kilometers of roads and revitalized about 332 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), thereby ‘guaranteeing healthcare facilities in all communities across’ Osun. His investment in Agriculture is huge and has begun to yield fruits. Through his friendly policies and provision of an enabling environment, Commerce is bourgeoning even as investors are being continually attracted to the state. In the area of security, ‘Ileri Oluwa’, as he is fondly called, has not been inadequate.

Despite the struggling national domestic economy and the attendant pressure on our political system, Oyetola has done his best to sustain the local economy. His administration has not taken a dime as loan since assumption of office, a situation which would have worsened the people’s level of impoverishment. He has also ensured that civil servants and pensioners get their salaries and allowances promptly. He has not been frivolous with the state’s meager resources and the bottlenecks which, hitherto, provided props and backdrops for leakages and wastages, are consistently being blocked.

Another quality working for this man of many parts is that he is an unregretful progressive. Take for instance how he tried to review the policies of the immediate past government to reflect the current yearnings of the people! Why many people may not understand the reason behind the review has to do with the fact that significant members of the society had reservations for some of these policies and had made such known to the government through a feedback mechanism. And the government acted in utmost good faith!

Well, it is interesting to note that, as at the time of putting this piece together, I doubt if there is any feasible thing about the opposition in Osun. As of now, coordination among the parties partaking of the July 16 election remains elusive. For a party that’s going into an election in less than two months not to have settled in terms of candidature can only confirm that failure has already acquired a life of its own within the opposition. Talking specifically about the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which, unarguably, is the major opposition party in the state, the question is: if a party cannot successfully run its internal affairs without factionalizing it, how will it run a state as sophisticated as the ‘State of the Virtuous’? That’s a major issue; for it only presents the opposition as a crude blend of unserious and disorganized contenders.

Apart from the major opposition party that has been gallivanting all over town like a miniature version of the theatrics associated with our Nigerianness, the perception of other opposition political parties boastfully beating the war drums preparatory to July 16 only reflects the influence of their registered candidates. Anyway, since their gods “have ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell”, Osun APC need not patronize specialists in vigils of marathon significance, or carouse with restless permutations before bringing these tiny politicians to their knees.

Lastly, the frightening truth is that, in powerplay, things are not what they seem! How do I mean? It is a global phenomenon that emergence of candidates, if not properly handled, possesses the proclivity for rupturing the structure of political parties, even to the point of becoming a trophy of victory for the opponents. Yes, discreet investigations have shown that Osun APC is one, which is a huge plus for the Gboyega Famodun-led party. But then, one can only hope that it would do the needful in terms of reconciliation of some few people who may have been offended, pre- and post-APC primary elections, which, coincidentally, are just a month or so to Osun governorship election!

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

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

 ”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”  Aristotle, Greek Philosopher 

The utility of the above summation by the great Aristotle emphasizes the need for political leaders to, above all, recognize the prime essence of performance and excellence for posterity while in public office rather than being consumed by the flame and obsession of politics. It is a well-known fact that all over the world, awards are given to individuals who have distinguished themselves either as leaders or professionals in their chosen fields of endeavours. These recognitions or awards as the case may be, are usually conferred on personalities not just for the fun of it but as a means of encouraging them since, as they say, “to whom much is given much is expected”.

Since coming into office in 2019, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya (Dan Majen Gombe), the Gombe State helmsman has received so many awards and recognitions. Two of the most recent awards readily come to mind. The ones by Leadership newspaper as the 2021 Leadership Governor of the Year, which he personally received and the other, by Vanguard newspaper which declared him as its 2021 Personality of the Year under governors’ category. The two high profile recognitions came almost in quick succession in attestation of Governor Inuwa’s giant strides in the social, economic and infrastructural development of the state.

So what are these clinical deliverables that the two national dailies saw in Governor Inuwa Yahaya to warrant the honours?

For Leadership newspaper, the award, it said, was premised on the governor’s leadership acumen which, it observed, was tailored towards repositioning the state on the path of sustainable economic growth, rebuilding the state’s decrepit infrastructure, constructing roads with spread across the state, providing job opportunities for youths and women as well as empowering the people of the state with his agricultural transformation agenda.

Having previously served as the state’s Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, the governor’s job had been well cut out for him: to propel Gombe State towards the path of rapid development. Here, the tabloid would note that true to the people’s hopes, the governor has not disappointed them.

Governor Yahaya, in the opinion of the newspaper has brought his vision, passion, humanity, pedigree, and above all, his dexterity and Midas touch to bear on governance in the state’s socio-economic landscape. Across the 11 local government areas of the state, there is a congruence of opinion that Governor Inuwa’s solid performance has rendered his re-election a fait accompli.

Proof of that is the coming of various development partners to the state. Not only is Gombe now the best state in the ease of doing business in Nigeria, it has equally been adjudged the safest and most peaceful state in the Northeast geopolitical zone.

As for Vanguard newspaper, the tabloid recalled that after about 25 years of its existence, Gombe State, the Jewel in the Savannah, has beaten the path of a new dawn under the transformational leadership of Governor Yahaya.  On the Governor of the Year award, the newspaper said the award is for few selected state governors that managed to distinguish themselves in the circumstances of the operating environment. The paper said that it found that upon assumption of office, the Yahaya administration was confronted with a treasury in distress, burdened with about N124 billion in loans/bonds, pension/gratuity arrears and contractors’ liabilities. The fiscal stress could be gleaned from the recurrent obligations amounting cumulatively to about N900.4million monthly to service the liabilities.

Yet, the administration through its deft managerial skills was able to turn the situation around.

For instance, while the usual practice is for new administrations in Nigeria’s governance space to abandon uncompleted projects inherited from previous administration, especially if the new administration is not an extension of the preceding one, Governor Yahaya chose the road less travelled. Determined to salvage and possibly turn-around the taxpayers’ money into viable assets, the administration embarked on completing those projects.

Among these were the Mega Motor Park said to be costing the state about N3billion to complete on which extensive work was ongoing to get it ready for commissioning. By the way, the project was one of the several of such that compelled the current administration to draw up a well thought out robust financial plan to deal with the fiscal implications. Prior to the advent of the Yahaya administration, the 11 local government areas of the state had to borrow N1.3billion monthly to pay salaries.

The Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya administration had, within the first three months of its coming into office, stabilised the LGAs financially and today, they are now able to pay their salaries and pensions as at when due on their own.

Convinced that a good network of roads is critical to the economic revival and development of the state, the administration has also recorded impressive strides. A new Gombe in which the various parts are now well linked up via good roads is now springing up, starting from the initial Network 11-100 Project, (100 kilometres of roads in each of the 11 local governments) to the mega revolution in the construction of over 150 other strategic roads across the state till date.

Some of the on-going road projects include: the 25km Billiri-Gujba road, the 15km Sabonlayi-Ayaba road, the 15km Ladongor-Fubawure road, the 17km Kumo-Kalshingi road, the 10km Kutare- Mona road, the 10km Kundulum-Mallam Inna- Kurba road and the16km Marraraban-Jarkwami- Daniya roads as well as the Industrial Cluster road networks. These projects have since been completed and are being enjoyed by the people.

Other road projects completed by the present administration include Dukku-Kalam-Dokoro, Dukku-Jamari, Bambam-Tula-Yiri, Kwanar-Rugaji- Kuka-Bakwai-Galgaldu and Bajoga township roads, among others.

The Inuwa Yahaya administration also initiated and completed the 15.2km Jabba- Garin Wada, the 21km Degri-Talasse and the 16km Malala–Dukkuyel regional roads. These are aside the township road projects in Gombe metropolis.

In the educational sector, over 340 classroom blocks have either been constructed or renovated and equipped with modern teaching and learning materials. Same with the health sector; the government has overhauled 114 Primary Healthcare Centres, PHCs, across 114 wards in the state just as the ongoing N1.8 billion General Hospitals in Bajoga, Kaltungo and Kuri is nearing delivery.

So also is the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project/World Bank, NEWMAP/WB, erosion control project at a cost of N2.9billion already completed; this project has greatly assisted in reducing the menace of erosion and flooding in the state capital especially in the Gombe State University to Mallam Inna area.

The provision of ultra-modern solar powered street lights on all roads covering over 114km of roads, is another giant stride by the Yahaya led administration.

Thus the performance award bestowed on Governor Inuwa Yahaya by both the Leadership and Vanguard newspapers is therefore most auspicious.

• Misilli is Director-General (Press Affairs) Government House, Gombe State.