The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Boko Haram goes to university

    What an interesting development, the proposal by the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Prof Isaac Adewole, for partnership with the Nigerian Army in the counter-terrorism campaign against Boko Haram! Don’t forget that the name of the dreaded Islamist group mirrors antagonism to Western education and way of life. So when a centre for the very type of learning that the group is opposed to offers assistance in the battle, it appears to be a fitting move for self-preservation, which is said to be the first law of Nature.

    Prof Adewole, during a visit to Maj-Gen Ahmed Jibrin, the general officer commanding (GOC) 2 Division, at Ojoo, Ibadan, Oyo State, said: “The Chief of Defence Staff said the insurgency will end in April. I do not have the facts and information that he has. But I believe that winning the war involves winning the heart and soul of the people. The university can partner the military to find out what are the real reasons for the insurgency.”

    He added that the suggested collaboration between the Army and the university’s Department of Strategic Studies would also serve the purpose of “re-teething and retooling “the military’s personnel.

    The motive and objective may be appealing. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the professor’s academic background, the gesture was rather over-intellectual. Reminder: Boko Haram has been on the rampage since 2009, and at various times its spokesmen have projected its “guiding principles,” if such a positive-sounding phrase may be used in describing the group’s destructive philosophy.

    In other words, the group’s grounds for violence have not only been well publicised; they are also well-known. Driven by a theocratic agenda, perhaps fuelled by unacceptable socio-economic conditions, Boko Haram, the truth must be told, does not require any elaborate study to deconstruct it. The anti-terror effort should not be complicated with impractical over-analysis.

    It is noteworthy that Prof Adewole mentioned the comment by the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Marshal Alex Badeh, on crushing the terrorists by April, the terminal date of the six-month extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in November last year, following an initial period from May to October. Also worth mentioning is the fact that, in a demonstration of apparent contempt for Badeh’s time-table, Boko Haram carried out devastating attacks in Adamawa and Borno, which claimed at least 138 lives.

    This context clearly calls for urgent action, certainly not the type proposed by Prof. Adewole. Even considering that the Army buys the Vice-Chancellor’s idea, there is no doubt that the advocated strategic research would likely be time-consuming, which is a luxury the country can ill afford in the face of the group’s relentless and remorseless rebellion.

    While such study might be of intellectual value, it is highly improbable that it could be decisive in winning the terror war. It could be endorsed for academic reasons, but it would be over-optimistic, if not unrealistic, to imagine that it can yield the kind of concrete result needed at this time.

     

  • Nigeria’s leadership headache

    Nigeria’s leadership headache

    SIR: Is President Goodluck Jonathan aware of the enormity of our national problems? Has he lived up to our expectations, and performed his duties to the best of his abilities?

    Our President hasn’t shown the political will to tackle our multifarious national problems. He seems to be overwhelmed by them. And, based on any indices for assessing national leaders, he has scored an abysmal low mark.

    Nothing works in our country. The privatization of PHCN hasn’t translated to our enjoying uninterrupted power supply in Nigeria. The noise from generators assails our ears every night. And, our rutted roads are death-traps on which people die daily. Good road network and regular supply of electricity are incentives and forces for the rapid industrialization of any country.

    Nigeria has failed almost on all fronts, ranging from insecurity of lives and property characterized by kidnapping, armed robbery and Boko Haram insurgency, to the issue of corruption, which is the cancer asphyxiating Nigeria. like Emperor Nero, our leaders are fiddling around while Nigeria is burning. The twin evils of corruption and insecurity of lives and property are creating anarchic situation in Nigeria.

    Sadly, the national issues troubling us are subsumed under President Jonathan subterranean politicking for retention of power beyond 2015.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

     

     

  • UNIBEN vice chancellor must hear this!

    UNIBEN vice chancellor must hear this!

    SIR: It is utterly inconceivable that a university teacher can create unrealistic terms about a compulsory examination that ultimately demonstrate oppression and inevitably cause psychological pain as well as risk of property loss on the side of students diligently working to fulfill the conditions required for them to obtain a Bachelors degree.

    On Friday  January 24, a lecturer in the department of mechanical engineering, University of Benin (UNIBEN), rolled, to his class of eager students, a set of draconian standards that have to be met for anybody taking the course to be admitted into the examination hall.

    The examination is expected to hold on Wednesday February 5, and the conditions listed by the lecturer are not included in the examination rules and ethics of exams as written in the university’s

    code of conduct.

    The course, MEE 372 is software based (Autodesk’s AutoCAD 2007 ); students are expected to use a computer system for it. Since not all students have the financial ability to procure a laptop, many of them made arrangements to borrow laptops to participate in the exam.

    The lecturer however told the students that any student who wishes to write the examination must submit his/her laptop on or before 2:00pm a day prior to the examination date. Additionally, that all passwords must be removed from the system to enable him access and “scan” all laptops before the exam. Most disturbing is that he insisted that he would not be liable for any loss or damage to any laptop while under his custody.

    He claims that he needs to have access to every student’s laptop a day to the exam so that he can input the examination questions into them before the exam. He further explained that he may need to still retain the laptop for some time after the examinations to enable him mark the answers.

    How can a lecturer ask students to submit their laptops a day to the exam, knowing fully well that the students need it at such time for revision? How does he expect the students who have to

    borrow laptops to hand them over to him? How can he disregard the student’s right to privacy by asking them to remove their password thereby putting their personal information at risk of exposure?

    How can a lecturer say he will not be held liable in the event a laptop gets missing under his custody?  What if a laptop screen gets damaged in his care, or an entire unit gets stolen, how will the owner of such a system write the examination?

    One would expect that in a community of intellectuals, innovative solutions would be provided to situations that slightly deviate from traditional practices. It cannot be argued that the examination poses a challenge to the organizing lecturer. We expect that such challenges should be dealt with properly and in a way that ensures students’ convenience, adherence to examination standards and ethics of fairness.

    If the university could comfortably organize computer based tests for thousands of  students in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME JAMB), why can’t it organize it for about 100 students in just one department? Why ask students to bring their laptops for an examination when UNIBEN has a robust ICT centre equipped with many computer systems. In fact, the faculty of engineering recently built an ICT centre which could also be used to conduct such examination.

    Relevant authorities to look into this matter that could cause a lot of pain for 300 Level mechanical engineering students and those carrying over the course.

    • Edison Osaige

    University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus

  • On the defection of Shekarau to PDP

    On the defection of Shekarau to PDP

    SIR: The defection of a former Kano State Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, though very unfortunate, is nothing to worry about. Shekarau, just like President Jonathan, is a lucky politician whose relevance is overstated. While Jonathan rode to power through luck and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Shekarau rode to political stardom through the back of Muhamadu Buhari.

    In 2003, the people of Kano, just like during the 2011 presidential election, overwhelmingly voted for Buhari. During the electioneering campaign, Buhari categorically told his lieutenants in Kano to vote for Shekarau, a relatively unknown politician in the ancient city as governor. Fortunately for Shekarau, Presidential and Governorship elections took place the same day.

    Buhari, as one may recall, won Kano for his All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP. He also delivered the Government House, Kano to ANPP, sending Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso out of office.

    As preparation for the 2007 elections gathered momentum, Kwakwaso signified his intention to return to power. Skekarau, knowing the gargantum structure of Kwankwaso, spawned an intricate web of high wire intrigues against him by hurriedly setting up a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to probe his administration. The commission, within a month, came out with a controversial report banning Kwankwaso from holding public office for 10 years.  The report, without being thoroughly debated upon by the members of the state House of Assembly, was gazetted.

    Dissatisfied with the report, Kwankwaso dragged the state government, commission members and Kano Assembly members to court. Kwakwaso was then in Abuja, serving as Minister of Defence. His purported indictment made the re-election of Shekerau as Governor in 2007 a walkover. With Buhari as presidential flag bearer of the defunct ANPP, Shekarau was re-elected with a wide margin.

    In 2011, having had his integrity cleared by a court of competent jurisdiction, Kwankwaso declared his intention to return to Kano Government House. By this time, Shekarau, because of his presidential ambition, had used the instruments of state to hijack the ANPP structure from Buhari. The angry Buhari left ANPP with his teeming supporters for Shekarau to form the defunct Congress of Progressives Change, CPC.

    In 2011, Buhari, just like Shekarau, contested for the Presidency, scoring about two million votes in the ancient city of Kano. Shekarau, as the then incumbent governor of Kano, scored less than 500, 000 votes for his ANPP. Kwankwaso, then as the PDP governorship candidate, mobilised more votes for President Jonathan, the presidential candidate of the PDP in Kano than Shekarau did for himself and his party. When the presidential results were released, Buhari of the CPC came first; Jonathan of the PDP came second while Shekarau, the incumbent governor, came third. Shekarau also failed to retain Kano governorship seat for his party, the ANPP.  The ANPP of Shekarau also lost 75% of the National and State Assembly seats in Kano to the PDP.

    Now that Shekarau has left the APC he helped nurtured to the PDP, all one canwish him is good luck.

    Interestingly, Shekarau did not say that he left APC because Kwankwaso is not performing; rather his wish is to be placed above Kwankwaso, the man he succeeded as governor and the incumbent governor in the party. That is impossible. The general public might wish to note that Shekarau defected to PDP without most of his defunct ANPP members. Alhaji Gwarzo, the only Senator elected on the platform of the ANPP in 2011 has pledged his loyalty to Kwankwaso.  The few ANPP House of Representatives members in Kano have endorsed Kwankwaso as their leader.

     

    • Maxwell Adeyem Adeleye,

    Magodo, Lagos.

     

  • DISCO-theque blues

    Traditional discos are chambers of fun: blaring music, good booze, vigorous dancing, smooching lovers. They best exemplify Bobby McFerrin’s famous croon: “Don’t worry, be happy …”

    Not Nigeria’s latest Discos! These electricity distribution companies are the latest faces of Nigeria’s infamous generation of darkness! To be fair though, they are supposed to distribute, after the Gencos (power generating companies) must have delivered on the product.

    Still, what sort of due diligence is that, to be the hated visage of darkness generation, when your chore of distributing the ever phantom power is severe enough? Anyway, everyone has got to carry his or her own cross!

    Now, the Discos are not happy at all! They are screaming, squealing and cursing: power (or, from the costumers’ point of view, darkness) consumers are owing some cumulative N100 billion or more!

    The major culprits, they say, are government agencies: the army, police, ministries and parastatals and para-military forces which, the Discos claim, owe no less than 70 per cent of the debt. The remaining 30 per cent must then be households, and those beleaguered commercial and manufacturing interests still brave enough to plug into the darkness the Discos, from the tradition of NEPA/PHCN dark days, still claim is light.

    Now, what would Fela call government that consumes light but is adamant on not paying? Authority Stealing! So, as government presses its divine authority to consume power without paying, so did NEPA/PHCN press its own divine authority to collect tariff for supplying consumers darkness! PHCN’s market exit strategy was clear, at least to households: supply darkness yet generate bills; if consumers as much as complain, disconnect them!

    The Discos, as their own market entry strategy, appear to have embraced this bully tactic, knowing full well they are still monopolies. But it is a tragic strategy that will, sooner than later, bring them nothing but grief.

    Even as we speak, the disconnection gang are going about neighbourhoods, to disconnect consumers, for daring not to pay for electricity never supplied; and therefore, never consumed. In some neighbourhoods, they got away with it. But in others, especially the wild ones, the gangs had needed the Police to retrieve ladders from electric poles. The hungry and angry communities simply showed the disconnection gangs they had nothing to lose but their temper — which they would gladly unleash on visible agents of authority stealing and crass injustice!

    That brings the issue to a fundamental question: what is the integrity of the N100 billion debt owed? Could part of it be bills charged for phantom electricity?

    That is the hard question Discos need to ask themselves before embarking on escapades, ala NEPA/PHCN days.

    But perhaps, a bit of common sense. PHCN exited with a ruinous strategy. Discos therefore need to enter the market with a winning one. Before making a fetish of owed but controversial debt, they should ensure visible electricity distribution. If that is given, perhaps recovering their debts might not be that herculean.

    Nigerians, after all, are famous for their short memories and, with a little comfort, have the penchant to forgive and forget!

     

     

     

     

  • The real task before Kwarans

    SIR: The political class in Kwara State, has been agog with what has been termed ‘the struggle to upstage the Saraki political dynasty’ with its major proponents claiming that it had been an unduly overwhelming determinant of the political process for over four decades. The major players in the struggle are certain members of the political class believed to be aiming at the centre, come 2015.

    They are of the opinion that even with the present disposition, the acclaimed dynasty still dictates the direction of the state’s political affairs.

    With due respect, the present political process in the state does not call for any upstaging of a dynasty but an array of well-meaning and conscientious citizens under their various political platforms, individually aiming at the centre. Even if there had been an overbearing dynasty as purported, the emergence of the present governor definitely has put an end to that.

    The explanation is simple! The purported Saraki dynasty would have been further entrenched in the state’s polity had the former Governor Bukola Saraki bowed to the will of his late father, Dr Olusola Saraki during the primaries leading to the emergence of the PDP governorship candidate in the state in 2011. It would be recalled that Dr Saraki’s sibling was a major candidate in that process.

    On the defection of the G-5 governors to the APC, I wish to make it categorically clear that none of the those governors single-handedly took decisions without recourse to their representative constituencies and major players in their domain and also that the intentions of any of the governors, whether genuine or not, could only be assessed after they are presented candidates under their new platform and genuinely win elections, come 2015.

    Undoubtedly, the drivers of the present dispensation in Kwara State need to be encouraged to further get the resource-poor indigenes of the state fully convinced that theirs is an authority that is unshaken in a bid to ensure equitable distribution of the state’s accruable dividends of democracy.

     

    • ‘Segun ‘Bambo Ojomo,

    Lagos.

     

  • Help save Nigeria!

    SIR: There are two contentious issues threatening a possible drift to anarchy or catastrophic collapse of our great country Nigeria; the two must be promptly and transparently decided before holding the 2015 general elections.

    First, if we must live together as Nigerians, should it be as presently constituted? Perhaps we should convert existing six geopolitical zones into autonomous, self-governing regions or provinces under the leadership of a non-executive premier.

    They should control their own resources and contribute 13-15 per cent of their earned resource-revenue to sustain the federal government with drastic ally reduced membership of House of Representative. The President, at the federal level should be non-executive.

    Second, should Nigerians continue to fund our over-paid, under-performing and corruption-invested legislature or should members revert to being part-time and allowance receiving legislators, as earlier was.

    Truthfully, commencing the country’s restructuring with the conveyance of a national conference, grossly manipulated constitution amendment or the holding of an open debate between Dr. Oby Ezekwesili and legislators will only postpone the country’s doomsday. Every Nigerian 18 years old and above, should be allowed to directly participate in the determination of the two issues raised here-above, through the conduct of a simultaneous, countrywide, “queue & count national referendum”.

    Presently, this is where patriotic Nigerians should focus their combined demand.

    God save Nigeria!

    • Oshin Ayoade,

    Epe, Lagos State.

     

  • Cartoon

    Cartoon

  • Plight of retired teachers in Lagos

    SIR: I wish to call the attention of Lagos State Governor, Mr.Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) to the plight of retired Primary School Teachers under the purview of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). These categories of teachers were those not covered by the new contributory Pension Scheme because they had less than three years to retire when the scheme took effect in Lagos State.

    These teachers retired between 2008 and 2010 but have up till now not been paid their gratuities and accumulated arrears of monthly pensions. In the Civil Service that I know (I served for 28 years), retired Civil servants under the defunct pay as you go scheme are first paid their gratuities calculation on the number of years spent in service, thereafter, monthly pensions commence. This, unfortunately, has not been the case with retired primary school teachers under Lagos State SUBEB.

    In September 2011, however, these teachers were directed to report at the PWD, Ikeja office of SUBEB with all necessary documents which had earlier been verified. They reported amidst great expectations that smiles would be put on their faces by the payment of all outstanding entitlements. It was a great disappointment, to put it mildly, when these teachers discovered, from the Notice Board, that only September 2011 monthly pensions were remitted to an account with Sterling Bank.

    There were directed to approach any of the branches of the bank to collect the one month pension. Although these teachers, have continue to receive their monthly pension since then, nothing has so far been said about their gratuities and accumulated arrears of monthly pensions up till today.

    Another verification of these and other retired teachers took place in December 2013 without a word about their unpaid entitlements. A curious aspect of last year’s verification was the directives to submit two passport photographs of their next-of-kin. In SUBEB waiting until the demise of these pensioners before throwing their next-of-kin into another round of vertification every year?

    My appeal to Governor Fashola is to use his good offices to intervene and ensure that this category of retired primary school teachers are paid all their outstanding gratuities and accumulated areas of monthly pensions while they are still alive. No next-of-kin derives joy in collecting other people’s entitlements.

     

    • Barrister Ayo Olalere,

    Apete, Ibadan.

     

  • The Punch’s crusade against Aregbesola

    Newspapers have a critical role to play in any society. This is why I agree with the American statesman and former president, Thomas Jefferson, who once wrote: ‘If I had to choose between government without newspapers, and newspapers without government, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the latter’. Jefferson simply meant that a well informed society is more important than political governance per se.

    If newspapers, according to Jefferson, are preferable to government, then they have greater responsibility than governments. A newspaper has the duty to inform, educate and work towards a better society. In this third duty, it is looked upon to act as the gadfly and rein in the government on its excesses. It is also expected to fight the cause of the common man and work towards the enthronement of justice in society.

    However, this is only the good side. A newspaper can be as tyrannical as an evil government; it can hide under a seemingly noble mission to perpetrate evil. It can project a lie as truth and truth as lie. It can also foster its own agenda on the public and masquerade it as an altruistic public service. A newspaper can hoist and sustain an evil government as well as seek to pull down a good one. These are not postulations. They are complex issues that emanate from the contradictions of media practice in any society.

    It is with this in view that I am saddened by the editorial of The Punch of Tuesday, January 21, on Governor Rauf Aregbesola titled ‘Aregbesola’s misguided church project’. The editorial was an undisguised attack on the Osun governor for the policy of his administration on proposing a 200,000 capacity crusade ground in the state. The language was intemperate and disrespectful of the office and person of the governor and a poor attempt at ridiculing him before his constituents and in decent gathering.

    This is rather disturbing. An editorial is the voice of the newspaper – what the owners are saying on any issue and it carries the biggest weight. That is why it is often very thoughtful, incisive, well researched, well argued and written in persuasive and diplomatic language. Regrettably, these are clearly missing in this particular editorial.

    This leading article accused Governor Aregbesola of profligacy and misdirected government spending – a clear misprioritisation of government expenditure. It accused the governor of dragging government into matters of religion. It also portrayed the governor as a manipulator trying to bribe the Christians, in light of previous allegation of his bias against them in the state. It ended with not so subtle incitement of Christians against the governor.

    First, having been very close with the governor and part of his campaign team, let me say that the worship centre is not a hurriedly put together policy. He had enunciated this as part of his campaign promise as far back as 2006. Much later, he reiterated the promise soon after his inauguration at an event at my alma mater, Ilesa Grammar School, on December 4, 2010. This was not done in the closet; it was in the full glare of eminent personalities such as Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Justice Belgore, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran and others. This project was also announced to Pastors Adeboye and Mathew Ashimolowo during their different visits to the governor in December 2012. It was also repeated by the governor at the convocation ceremony of Joseph Ayo Babalola University at Ikeji Arakeji.

    Evidently, The Punch did not carry out due diligence on the matter or else it would have been restrained. How could the governor be accused of acting in bad faith by fulfilling a campaign promise, in a democracy?

    Secondly, government did not buy the land as erroneously alleged by the paper. It was a freewill donation by the people of the community through their traditional ruler, Loja Adelekan of Odo-Iju in Atakunmosa West Local Government. The compensation recently paid that was mischievously reported by The Punch was the government’s way of supporting the people of the community for their high sense of patriotism. It is a voluntary gift from the community.

    Thirdly, The Punch’s notion of separation of state from church is false. Where it began in Europe and the Americas, it was to stop the state from adopting Christianity as state religion; promote it above others and criminalise non-participation and membership by citizens. It does not connote absolute disengagement from religious activities. In the United States, for instance, the community church is part of the soul of the community through which the government sometimes relates with the citizens on matters such as civil rights, sex education and HIV prevention.

    In the United Kingdom, the Queen is the Head of State and Head of the Church of England. Her titles include ‘Defender of the Faith’. How then do we separate the Church from the state? It was atheists and modern day liberals who wanted God and every religious symbol removed from the public space that recreated the concept in their own image by asking for prohibition of prayers and Bible in schools, removal of crosses and Biblical images from public places and refrain from mentioning God in what might constitute a public gathering. This of course is not separation of state from church. It is waging a systemic war against organised religion with the consequence of citizens now having utter disregard for human lives and we now have school children taking guns to school and hacking their teachers and colleagues to death.

    In our land, at the inauguration of public officials and before courts, we are made to swear by Bibles and Qurans and end our oaths with the sentence ‘So help me God’. Is there a delinkage therefore between state and faith? We may pretend. But religion remains part and parcel of our daily life.

    Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a committed Christian and his Action Group (AG) had an official Christian chaplain. That was the spiritual guide of the party. Yet he was the first to establish Muslims Pilgrim Welfare Board when he saw the hardship Muslims went through while performing the Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca.

    We cannot also pretend there is no economic side to religion. Every year, millions of people make the pilgrimage to Mecca, Jerusalem, Rome and other religiously significant places. There are religious monuments and shrines in France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other places that have practically fallen into state ownership, maintenance and control.

    It should therefore not be surprising that the motivation for the Open Heaven Arena project is the realisation that Osun State, particularly Ijesaland, is notable for producing many of the Christian leaders in the country. These include Pastor Adeboye, Pastor WF Kumuyi, late Prophet Timothy Obadare, Prophet Gabriel Fakeye, Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo and many others. This is a huge tourism potential that could help shore up the revenue profile of the state. Apart from being a centre for spiritual retreat, there is an eminent economic sense in having 200,000 people visit your state at least once in a week. If each visitor spends at least N1,000.00, the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could be boosted by N10.8 billion in a year.

    However, this editorial is not about a worship centre but a demonstration of deep hatred and animosity against the person of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his administration with the malicious intent to pull him down. On a regular basis, The Punch takes an astigmatic look at every intention and policy of Aregbesola’s government, savagely attacks him and portrays him in bad light, sometimes using half truths and outright falsehood. Last week alone, the newspaper did two feature articles and a news item on Aregbesola, all hostile, biased and unfavourable. There was a time the paper reported that Governor Aregbesola bought cars for traditional rulers when nothing of such happened.

    The Punch has taken a very hostile and adversarial position on school uniform, school reclassification and now the revival ground. The interest of The Punch in Governor Aregbesola is beyond the ordinary. In these instances, there is an unmistakable instigation of Christians against the governor with the capability of triggering religious crisis, if not for the maturity of the good people of the state. The paper has fanned the embers of religious schism in Osun and by extension in the West, where hitherto none has existed and where people have lived in harmony for centuries.

    There is a pattern of jettisoning objectivity and every rule of professionalism. Discourse degenerated to personal abuse, name calling and utmost disrespect for the person and office of the governor. This is a great disservice to the memory of the founder of this newspaper.

    I began with responsibility. A newspaper is a public trust with a mandate that is superior to the personal interests and fancies of its minders. I daresay it is a sacred responsibility that should not be abused. The Punch has over the years built a reputation as a liberal medium in the quest for societal liberation. It is my sincere wish that it will learn a lesson or two on fairness and balance. When a newspaper deliberately diffracts facts to serve its prejudice, both the public and the newspaper are ill served.

    Prof Adeyeye is a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria