The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Getting things rightly done

    Next year’s budget proposals and presentations are here again. The big question is: will the principals of this project allocate the 26% UNESCO recommended minimum to the educational sector or at least raise the bar from the current 8.5% national level of allocation? Or will the education ministry be split into ministries of tertiary education and basic education as recommended by the 2012 Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities report for efficiency? Education truly counts. Now is the time to give to education what is due to it as minimally required of all responsible governments globally.

    Getting it rightly done this time around is a moral obligation. Education must be allocated the UNESCO minimum in the budget. For there is no need to neglect the sector and expect the unions to go on strike before meeting its needs or attempting to do so. Stakeholders in education are human beings and would appreciate good deeds done to it through proper funding, infrastructure and welfare issues. For instance, there is need for agreements or promises to be implemented when and as at when due for the smooth running of the sector and government in general .Naturally, the morale of staff will be greatly boosted if there emoluments are weighed against economic indices and raised to enable them meet their needs against inflationary forces from time to time without necessarily waiting for agitations to take place. Believably, this applies to all sectors and is supported by diverse theories of human motivation to excel.

    Notably, Nobel prizes in core academic disciplines like chemistry, physics, economics, medicine and physiology are like an exclusive preserve for countries that invest heavily in their human resources through education. This investment in human resources we hear is the practise in other climes where they have a living or sustainable wage for their workers. However, if wishes were horses, the Nigeria of the dream of many of us would be cast in this mould. Getting it rightly done for the benefit of all is what many Nigerians pray for. This reminds me of my days in a private school where the business thrived on the efficiency of the staff, and which I believe was sufficiently motivated within the financial strength of the owners as we were comparatively among the highest paid among our peers. Although this did not automatically make us rich, we were able to meet some basic needs and returned service for the ‘’good or handsome money’’ paid to us. Now the agricultural sector also wants 10% of the budget and this is serious because we all need food to survive and to especially support local production and be able to feed ourselves as a nation and to have control over our food security. Again, now is the time to get it rightly done by making the inclusion to reflect as such, as that due to education.

    The other day, I was surprised to hear that the Federal Road Safety Corps had insisted that the old number plates were analogue and the preferred new one was digital. By whatever logic, one wonders what sort of computer would reject an input of those numbers whether reversed or non-reversed, if not to simply exploit hapless Nigerians. Like one of our professors would say, for a computer it is what you put in that it will return to you, and so the saying goes: garbage in, garbage out. All that needed to be done was to capture the old number plates in a new database at little or no cost at all! Just getting it rightly done is the answer. Nigerians, nay, motorists, need not be harangued into such unpopular policies. If it were in other climes, this commission owes the citizenry an apology over this policy. In contrast, while at a zebra crossing in Europe as the first arrival, I was surprised that the driver of the oncoming vehicle to the point where I stood stopped for me and waved me on to cross the road, obviously because I got there before him. While being initially scared to cross given the way some of our road users here treat pedestrians with scorn, I braved the odds and crossed, thanking him in return. One wonders how many of us Nigerians are willing to treat others with dignity. I think it all has to do with getting things rightly done.

    While not alluding to self-righteousness, it is time we got things rightly done for the benefit of all. There is no need for agitations to be made before agreements and promises are met or for salaries to be increased for workers. Caring employers always have feelers to know when an agitation is most likely in order to respond positively to such aspirations and yearnings. There is even no need to allow ASUU or other unions to go on strike before the desired attention is given to those sectors. At least, even in this country, there are some categories of workers who don’t go on strike, yet they are well-catered for.

    By different news accounts, Benue and Ondo have both claimed they were the first to implement 27.5 teachers salary increment which leaves one wondering whether it is getting their first or doing it rightly to the satisfaction of the agitating teachers to sufficiently motivate them. In addition, what must be done to protect unarmed people along the Benue-Nasarawa border from armed marauders? Should these people be allowed to carry arms in self-defence? Will these increase the chances of them being killed by their attackers? Should the Benue Government set up a committee to look into these attacks usually aimed at Tiv farmers or remain silent and pretend that the attacks will go down? Should the Benue government facilitate arms license for vulnerable communities? Should the Benue government apply the principle of licensed arms acquisition as in Zamfara State to keep the terrorists at bay? What should be done rightly to right the wrongs done to these vulnerable Tiv communities? In conclusion, everything should be done rightly to motivate and make all happy in this country.

    Emmanuel Tyokumbur, Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan

  • Whodunit?

    Whodunit?

    After keeping her counsel for well over a week while the heavens raged, Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, finally faced members of the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation and told them that the BMW armoured cars bought at a cost of N255m by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, were not meant for her use.

    At about the same Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was denying ever granting waivers for the clearing of the armoured cars. What she did apparently was grant a waiver for the clearing of cars used for the 2012 National Sports Festival, EKO 2012, hosted by the Lagos State Government. Meanwhile, officials of the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) caught in the eye of storm have denied violating any laws or breaking any rules in making the purchases. In between denials they get tangled up as to what cars were bought and who they were bought for.

    Then here come Coscharis Motors who have equally denied any wrongdoing – blaming the whole probe on a political conspiracy. Well said, brothers and sisters. In Nigeria nobody ever does anything wrong; credit is as always reserved for poor old Mr. Devil!

  • Jonathan’s legacy

    Jonathan’s legacy

    Sometimes you get the sense that President Goodluck Jonathan missed his calling. Rather than politics I suspect he would have made a good reverend with his preachy speeches.

    He was at it again in Okrika, Rivers State this weekend at the burial of his mother-in-law, Mrs Charity Oba. For the president what really counts is what is left behind.

    His words: “The key thing is that whether you are being buried silently or you have the privilege of being honoured by so many people, is what did you leave behind? As a political leader and to most of my friends here who are politicians, politics or holding political office is almost like death.

    “While you are there you are on the stage. The day you leave what will people remember you for? That has always been my guiding principle.”

    Well said, Mr. President. The trouble is most observers don’t get a sense that your legacy is what keeps you awake at night. They suspect that 2015 is more like it.

    As a result of what is shaping up to be a bruising battle for power over the next 15 months, we’re already witnessing the

  • Europe he we come!

    These days it seems like the bulk of the African continent wants to flee to Europe and the Americas. The more daring may even put distant Australia in their sights. For years small groups of migrants have perished in the Sahara as they sought to cross the massive desert in search of a better life across the Mediterranean.

    The desperation of the present exodus to Europe was dramatically underlined by the disastrous drowning of more than 300 Eritrean and Somali asylum-seekers when on October 3 their fishing boat caught fire and sank barely half a mile from the island of Lampedusa, off the Italian coast.

    I recall what one of the migrants in a quarantine center on the island told a journalist: “I will keep trying until I make it.” Not even the regular drownings in the treacherous seas are enough to deter these desperate souls. For them life in their countries is already hell, dying on the sea would be something on an improvement.

    Although these dramatic headlines of migrant misery suggest that only the rabble are fleeing, the truth is that our elite actually set the example. They run to Europe and America for proper healthcare, to hide stolen loot, give their children decent education and take their leisure.

    But when they run they do so in style – travelling business or first class or by private jets. Their subjects who are fleeing the mess which these elite created back home cannot afford economy class tickets, and so will scrounge to get a seat on the sort of creaky craft that went down near Lampedusa.

    These shameful African leaders who didn’t fix their countries, and are still not doing so, are primarily responsible for putting their devastated people to flight. They should be held to account for creating conditions driving droves away from their homes.

    A leader whose incompetence and callousness drove 300 hapless souls into a watery grave on the borders of Europe is no better than his colleagues facing trials for war crimes at The Hague. Many African leaders are daily committing economic crimes against humanity in their domains. Ultimately their victims pay the supreme price in places like Lampedusa.

  • Open memo to Dialogue Committee

    PresidentGoodluck Jonathan has inaugurated a 13-member Advisory Committee headed by Professor Femi Okurounmu to establish modalities for the National Conference which the President had promised Nigerians during his nationwide broadcast that marked our country’s 53rd Independence Anniversary on 1st October2013. The Committee has since commenced its preliminary consultations and other activities within its mandate.

    Nigerians have already started discussing the merits and demerits of this offering by President Jonathan. The Deputy Senate President and Chairman, Senate Committee on the review of 1999 Constitution, Ike Ekweremadu, has been quoted to state that he believes a National Conference must have a legal framework for it to deserve the appellation of a ‘Sovereign’ National Conference. He may be right. Mr. Ameh Comrade Godwin quotes the Deputy Senate President as insinuating that a call for a sovereign national conference that is not backed by a suitable legal framework might lead to anarchy. He may be right too.

    The All Progressives Congress APC has announced it will boycott the conference. The party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, was also reported to have described the conference as diversionary. He may be right too.

    Some Nigerians have welcomed the President’s offer as long overdue. To such groups, Nigerians need to come together and discuss the way forward for Nigeria. They may be right too.

    The country’s Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, is taking great pains to explain to Nigerians and others that the President meant well. He may be right too.

    Every Nigerian has an opinion on this national confab, whatever it may end up being called, sovereign or not. However, one reality continues to stare us all in the face in all the discourse and pronouncements concerning our affairs as Nigerians. We need a confab like this one. It is indeed long overdue. Without prejudice to the integrity of all those who have ever ruled this country, I believe that we could have fared better as a nation and as individuals given our huge human and material resources. We should have done better socially and economically. A GDP at $400b is not where we ought to be in 2013.The current 4,500 megawatt electricity capacity is definitely not where this great country should be at. Dysfunctional systems and myopic choices in public administration of schools, hospitals, infrastructure and utilities do not speak well of our country in 2013. Insecurity at all levels, kidnappings, assassinations, bomb blasts, unbridled vituperations and viperous altercations by champions of ethnic self-determinationhave not helped the matter in any way. In the meantime, well-meaning Nigerians and other friends of our nation are befuddled by the parallax positioning of our country’s great potential and the crass mediocrity in public governance. It defies all sane imaginations, to say the least. What have we done wrong as a nation?

    It is true that we are 371 identifiable tribes in Nigeria. This actually came as a surprise to me. For those who may not know and for the purpose of my treatise, I will mention us all here state by state: Igbo (Abia, Anambra, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers); Bachama, Banso, Batta, Baya, Bilei, Bille, Botlere, Bura, Bwatiye, Bwazza, Daba, Daka, Palli, Ga’anda, Gira, Gizigz, Gombi, Gude, Gudu, Gwa, Gwamba, Holma, Hona, Ichen, Jibu, Jirai, Kaka, Kambu, Kilba, Kurdul, Lakka, Lala, Ubbo, Mambilla, Matakarn, Mbol, Mbula, Muchaila, Mundang, Njayi, Pire, Sukur, Teme, Tigon, Tur, Vemgo, Verre, Wagga, Wula, Wurbo, Yungur (Adamawa); Longuda (Adamawa, Bauchi); Margi (Adamawa, Borno); Babur (Adamawa, Borno, Taraba, Yobe); Kanakuru (Adamawa, Borno); Ngweshe (Adamawa, Borno); Shuwa (Adamawa, Borno); Eket, Anang, Ibeno, Ibibio, Okobo, Oron (Akwa Ibom); Andoni (Akwa Ibom, Rivers).

    Zul, Bambora, Banka, Bara, Barke, Bele, Boma, Bomboro, Buli, Burak, Buta, Chama, Chamo, Dadiya, Daza, Deno, Ouguri, Duma, Galambi, Geji, Gera, Geruma, Gingwak, Gubi, Gururntum, Gyem, Jaku, Jara, Jimbin, Kamo, Kariya, Kirfi, Kubi, Kudachano, Kushi, Kwami, Miya, Ningi, Pa’a, Pero, Polchi Habe, Rebina, Sanga, Saya, Segidi, Siri, Tangale, Tula, Waja, Warji, Zaranda, and Zayam (Bauchi).

    Jukun (Bauchi, Benue, Taraba, Plateau); Tera (Bauchi, Borno); Pulani (Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, etc.); Hausa (Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, etc.); Angas (Bauchi, Jigawa, Plateau); Jere (Bauchi, Plateau); Kwanka (Bauchi, Plateau); Limono (Bauchi, Plateau); Bole (Bauchi, Yobe); Karekare (Bauchi, Yobe); Ngamo (Bauchi, Yobe).

    Izondjo (Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo, Rivers); Akweya-Yachi, Egede, Etolu, Ufia, Utokong, Yalla (Benue); Tiv (Benue, Plateau, Taraba); Idoma (Benue, Taraba); Dghwede, Gamergu-Mulgwa, Gwoza, Kanembu; Mobber, Mandara, Chinine, Gavako (Borno); Higi (Borno, Adamawa); Buduma (Borno, Niger); Abayon, Adim, Adun, Agbo, Akaju-Ndem, Anyima, Bachere, Bahumono, Bekwarra, Bette, Boki, Efik, Ejagham, Ekajuk, Ekoi, Etung, Ikom, Iyala, Mbube, Nkim, Nkum, Ododop, Olulumo, Qua, Ukelle, Uyanga, Yache, Yakurr (Cross River); Mbembe (Cross River, Enugu).

    Isoko, Isekiri, Ukwani, Urhobo (Delta); Bini, Esan, Etsako, Etuno, Okpamheri, Owan, Uneme (Edo); Ebu (Edo, Kogi); Ebirra (Edo, Kogi, Ondo); Auyoka, Warja (Jigawa); Kurama (Jigawa, Kaduna, Niger, Plateau); Attakar, Ayu, Bina, Gure, Jaba, Kafanchan, Kagoro, Kaje, Kajuru, Kanikon, Katab, Kiballo, Manchok, Moruwa, Rishuwa, Rumada, Rumaya, Srubu (Kaduna); Kanufi (Kaduna, Adamawa, Borno, Kano, Niger, Jigawa, Plateau, Taraba, Yobe); Kamaku (Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger); Uncinda (Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto); Bassa (Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Plateau).

    Koro (Kaduna, Niger); Gwandara (Kaduna, Niger, Plateau); Gwari (Kaduna, Niger, Plateau); Mada, Ninzam, Nunku (Kaduna, Plateau); Shira, Teshena (Kano); Achipa, Danda, Duka, Zarma (Kebbi); Kambari, Reshe (Kebbi, Niger); Bunu, Gbedde,Igalla, Ijumu (Kogi); Ogori, Owe, Oworo, Yagba (Kwara); Yoruba (Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Kogi); Awori, Egun (Lagos, Ogun); Baruba, Bauchi, Boko, Gade, Gurmana, Laaru, Lopa, Nupe, Pongo, Rubu, Ura, Yumu, Zabara (Niger).

    Dakarkari (Niger, Kebbi); Alago, Ron, Afizere, Afo, Amo, Anaguta, Ankwei, Bada, Bashiri, Birom, Bkkos, Buji, Burma, Bwali, Challa, Chip, Chokobo, Doemak, Eggon, Fyam, Fyer, Qanawuri, Geruma, Goernai, Gusu, Irigwe, Jidda-Abu, Kantana, Kenem, Kulere, Kwalla, Kwaro, Kwato, Mabo, Mama, Memyang, Miango, Miligili, Montol, Munga, Mushere, Mwahavul, Nakere, Pai, Pyapun, Rindire, Rukuba, Shangawa, Shan-Shan, Sikdi, Sura, Yergan, Yuom (Plateau); Tarok (Plateau, Taraba).

    Abua, Degema, Ebana, Egbema, Engenni, Epie, Etche, Gokana (Rivers); Kyenga, Shanga (Sokoto); Bakulung, Bali, Bambuko, Banda, Betso, Bobua, Chamba, Chukkol, Dangsa, Diba, Gengle, Gornun, Gonia, Gwom, Jahuna, Jero, Jonjo, Kaba, Kadara, Karimjo, Kenton, Koma, Kona, Kugama, Kunini, Kuteb, Kutin, Kwanchi, Lama, Lamja, Lau, Mbum, Mumuye, Ndoro, Nyandang, Panyam, Pkanzom, Poll, Potopo, Sakbe, Sate, Shomo, Tikar, Vommi, Waka, Wurkun, Yandang, Yott (Taraba). Finally, Affade, Bade, Buru, Chibok, Manga and Ngizim (Yobe).

    These are the exciting 371 tribes that make up Nigeria. Let me thank you for reading thus far. The geographical location of these tribes in and across state boundaries is very instructive in my humble estimation. This historical and geographical fact cannot be lost to our political attempts to set up administrative convenience or glorify champions of self-determination.We fought a bitter civil war based on self-determination. I also daresay that we created 774 local government areas based on self-determination. In spite of all these attempts at miniaturizing Nigeria, the cry for a sovereign national conference has not abated. We have now received an offer from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of an opportunity to discuss openly the way forward for Nigeria. We cannot afford to refuse this golden scepter extended to us as a free people.

    So, what should we talk about in this national confab? Let me start by positing what must not be discussed. The break-up of Nigeria should not be broached because it is negative, divisive and destructive. The confab must be about addressing the wrongs in our national life and creating a sense of belonging in every Nigerian irrespective of language, tribe, culture, religion, social status, age, gender or physical condition. We should discuss the rights, privileges and responsibilities of every Nigerian at all levels of governance and social interaction whether at federal, state or local government levels. These are unifying, edifying and positive.

    The 1979 and 1999 constitutions of this great country spoke great things about the fundamental rights of every Nigerian in all spheres of our corporate and individual existence. Every right and responsibility was well articulated. The 34-year old 1979 constitutional promises of free mobility, secure full residence rights, feeling of belonging, eradication of corrupt practices and abuse of power, efficient functioning of government services, national prosperity, self-reliant economy, equitable and judicious harnessing and distribution of the country’s resources for the common good of Nigerians, suitable and adequate shelter, food, water supply, reasonable national minimum living wage, old age care, unemployment and sick benefits, welfare for the disabled, and equal rights, obligations and opportunities have all gone up in smoke despite their reinforcement in the 14-year old 1999 constitution. Is 34 years too short a time to offer, implement and enforce these rights for all Nigerians? Other failed constitutional promises include the sanctity of the human person, zero discrimination of any kind, adequate medical and health care facilities for all Nigerians.

    Do Nigerians deserve any less? Why enshrine constitutional rights when we have no will to uphold them? Rather than speak about these real issues, we are distracted by fools who are seeking to enthrone self-determination over fundamental rights. In my humble opinion, enemies of the people of Nigeria are already touting self-determination as the panacea for the troubles of our beloved country. They posit that political minimization of Nigeria into clannish, tribal and religion-based balkanization would create better economic, political and social emancipation for the people they purport to represent. What a fallacy! The three regions of Nigeria were first divided into 12 states, then 19, then 22 (plus Abuja), then 30 and now 36 states. Some politicians are still crying and calling for more states. Have we fared better? Has the leadership culture changed to substantiate the gains of our multiplication?

    Leadership that does not recognize, hallow, respect and painstakingly seek to respect the fundamental rights of every Nigerian no matter where they may reside cannot claim to represent the democratic yearnings and aspirations of the people for a better and improving life. This is the real issue that we must come to terms with. It must be a contract between the rulers and the ruled; the leader and the led; and the governors and the governed. If this is not so, even states as small as 5 persons cannot satisfy its constituents.

    A free national forum, by whatever name it may be called, is the light in our very dark tunnel. Let us take this road and dispassionately discuss the rights, privileges and responsibilities of any person who qualifies as a Nigerian and fashion out credible ways and means to hold each Nigerian accountable for each single breach of our national contract.

     

    Robert Okechukwu OBIKUDU wrote from African Development Bank, Tunis

  • Tribute to Bisi Fayemi at 50

    Tribute to Bisi Fayemi at 50

    She has many traditional titles and cognomens such as the Ochiora of Enugu, Erelu of Isan kingdom, Mother

    General, Erelu Bambam, Bisi yato si Bisi etc, but she is popularly called Erelu Bisi Fayemi. She is the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State and an internationally acclaimed feminist social crusader. My first essay about this enigma was in April 2008 when she was honoured with the traditional title of Ochiora which means the leader of the people, the second was in July 2011 after she launched the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF), a fund with which she has improved the lives of Ekiti women tremendously. This is the third article on the occasion of her 50th birthday celebration which she postponed till this October (she actually turned 50 in June 2013) because of the painful death of her close friend and sister, the late Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs Funmilayo Adunni Olayinka, who passed away on April 6, 2013 and was buried on April 26, 2013.

    My first encounter with her was on January 1, 2007 at Ibadan when on my way to Lagos, I visited Dr. Fayemi at home, the first time I would see him after we left the university almost 21 years after. When he saw me and my brother, Mojeed Jamiu, he stood up and hugged us one after the other and immediately called his wife and said: “Bisi, meet Hakeem, my school mate. He will be working with the rest of the campaign team.” Mrs Fayemi greeted us warmly and I noticed she was a pleasant person. We discussed for about 30 minutes and we proceeded on our journey to Lagos. I saw Mrs Fayemi after that encounter at the campaign office in Ajilosun a few weeks after five of us (Biodun Akin Fasae, Yemi Adaramodu, Fola Afolalu, Tai Oguntayo and I) had been inaugurated in February 2007 as members of the media committee of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation. She would come to the campaign office with bag loads of gift items from Ghana for us with words of encouragement about the impending elections in April. After we were robbed by the PDP of the gubernatorial mandate on April 14, 2007, she became more frequent in Ekiti and she virtually relocated from her Accra base, shuttling between Isan and the campaign office at Ado-Ekiti, mobilising, encouraging and empowering the women through her organisation at the time, the African Women Development Fund (AWDF).

    We really got close in April 2008 when we accompanied her to Imezi Owa, Enugu where she was honoured with the title of Ochiora. We went together with Yemi Adaramodu (now Chief of Staff), Kunle Dada (Hagler) and Mrs Ronke Okusanya who led a delegation of other Ekiti women. Mrs Funmi Olayinka (of blessed memory) joined us by air in Enugu from Lagos and we were lodged at Robban Hotel. The night of the coronation was very interesting. Mrs Fayemi invited Adaramodu and I to her room where the late Mrs Olayinka joined us.

    We didn’t know it was a ploy to prevent us from going out that night as the plan was leaked to her. Mrs Fayemi told us, “so Hakeem and Yemi, let us start gisting  joo!” Unknowingly, we entered the trap. We thought it was going to be a short gist, but we were wrong! Mrs Fayemi chose her best topic, Women Emancipation and the Beijing Conference. We discussed and debated that for more than one hour with drinks, meat and grilled fish flowing with it. The refrigerator was loaded and that was where I started suspecting that we had been “captured”. By the time we said we were going after about 2 hours, they both said: “What else do you want to go and do outside again? If it is drink, you cannot finish the ones here except you people have another agenda!” So we capitulated and stayed. Her friends and colleagues who came with her from Ghana joined us in the room and the gist became a mini party. I told them the story of how at the age of 10, I indulged in one of the pranks of young boys when we erroneously believed that you could charm a girl with a juju ring buried inside a lizard for seven days. One day, the ring was given to me to try on a girl we had all admired in our neighbourhood, but whom none of us had courage to talk to. So I was given the charm by my mates. I smacked the buttocks of the girl with the charm and instead of her to follow me as expected by the charm, she dealt me a dirty slap, and as I looked back for encouragement from my friends, they had disappeared. I was left alone to face the disgrace.

    My story was very funny to them that all the women in the room laughed their hearts out! They said in unison, “it served you right!” We finally left the women about 1.00am for our rooms.

    Mrs Fayemi was at the tribunal anytime she was in Ekiti and after the serial judicial losses at the various tribunals, she was a pillar of support for the struggle and she never wavered. She comforted the women, she gave them hope and she strengthened their courage and determination to remain steadfast in the struggle, assuring them we would triumph at the end, and this came to pass when victory was achieved on October 16, 2010. Her husband, Dr. Fayemi, was sworn in as Governor of Ekiti State and she officially became wife of the Governor. Before this, she had changed the lives of many African women, especially widows and the less-privileged through her organisation, the AWDF.

    This is why she was honoured in Enugu where she has brought hope and smiles to widows, many of those who expressed their gratitude to her. On getting to government, she resigned as the President of the AWDF, and in 2011, launched the Ekiti Development Foundation (EDF) through which she has tremendously empowered Ekiti women. She has visited the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State more than thrice giving loans to women to improve their businesses, giving foodstuffs to widows and tools to artisans. She has paid medical bills of many indigent patients, both male and female; she inaugurated the Multiple Birth Trust Fund through which those who gave birth to twins and triplets were given financial support and future endowment funds. She is behind the food bank project and soup kitchen with a Non-Governmental Organisation whereby elderly and indigent Ekiti citizens were provided with foodstuffs, both raw and cooked.

    She was recently on tour of markets in the state where she interacted with the market women, bought food items, provided them with measuring bowls, wallets and other souvenirs. She donated a bus for each market head in the 16 local government areas. She also listened to their plights and promised to communicate same to the governor, while she solved those she could immediately.  She is at home with all segments of women organisations in Ekiti State many of which chose her as their patron.

    In government, she has remained her amiable and likeable self. In fact, it is glaring even to critics that Bisi Fayemi is not a run-of-the-mill First Lady who engages in frivolities. She is focused and levelheaded though sociable. In government, she is a problem solver and hates to see anybody short-changed or sad. She is an avowed and committed crusader of equity and social justice. It is a common saying in Ekiti that in Erelu Bisi Fayemi and her husband, we have two for the price of one because Ekiti people are enjoying the benefits of good governance from husband and wife who are passionate about their welfare. She does not only defend women, she is also a defender and lover of children, and no wonder, she was the brain behind the gender based violence law and the Child Right Act in Ekiti State. She has a pure heart and she is a cheerful giver and kind to a fault. I cannot remember the number of thank-you messages I have sent to her for one gift or the other during festivities and this she has been doing for many people before she got to government. Even though she is not infallible and has her own shortcomings which are human foibles like every other mortal, there is no iota of doubt that she is one of those human beings who will not willingly do wrong.

    Her credential is intimidating yet. She is very humble and as gentle as a dove. She is in the league of world female leaders such as President Hellen Sirleaf of Liberia and former South African First Lady, Mrs. Graca Mandela who had on many occasions graced the events of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) which she headed until she resigned. Bisi Fayemi had received standing ovation on the floor of the General Assembly (UNO) for her efforts through the AWDF to make life better for African women. She narrowly missed the African Leadership Hunger Prize Award in 2008 when she was nominated.  On April 5, 2011, she was presented with the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the field of philanthropy. With this award, Mrs. Fayemi joined the rank of past winners such as former South African President, Nelson Mandela, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sheela Pattel, Fazle Hasan and Queen Rania. In 2011, she was appointed as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF) by the Federal Government. She was listed in March 2012 as one of the 100 personalities working for the advancement of women and girls in the world. Her contribution to important national discourse was very key such that President Goodluck Jonathan noticed her absence during a discussion about HIV/AIDS in Abuja when the President asked: “Where is the wife of Ekiti State Governor? I enjoyed her contribution the last time she was here.”

    As we celebrate this woman of substance, we in Ekiti are proud to call her our own and we thank God for sparing her life till this day. We wish her Happy Birthday and many more prosperous years of service to humanity.

  • Keshi’s pay and giant fish metaphor

    The picture still looms graphically in Hardball’s mind. A few months ago a whale washed up to the shore on one of the beaches in the Lekki axis of Lagos and in less than 24 hours, Nigerians, not unlike scavengers, mobbed the carcass and picked it clean. It did not matter what had incapacitated the mammoth sea animal. No one pondered for a moment that whatever would have put down a whale would obviously annihilate any man. Seeing the fallen giant, Hardball could not help contemplating the majesty of the behemoth in the deeps. There it was, lifeless and being hacked at, that very deity of bottomless expanses of water. Which man would dare to even behold it in its glory as it prowls in its mythical domain?

    Hardball cannot help thinking that Nigeria today cast the pathetic image of a giant fish out of water, gasping and thrashing, fighting a futile battle in the last throes of death. In every sphere of life, in every minute endeavor Nigeria daily proves to be a basket case just as her leadership consistently seem to show up to be of the meanest quality in her annals. Everywhere you turn in the realms of public service particularly, you are confronted by inertia and abhorrent practices probably not known in any land. Hardball’s rush of adrenaline has this time, been triggered by the news recently that the nation’s chief football manager has not been paid salary for more than seven months.

    Speaking with BBC Sport last week, Stephen Keshi, the coach of Nigeria’s senior national football team said, “The lowest point of my career is working and not being paid for seven months. I have never had this kind of experience before.” He said further: “In Mali, they will never owe you; your salary will hit your account before the end of every month. It was the same in Togo…Owing me up to eight months makes me feel I am not being appreciated, it is like they think I am being favoured in what I am doing; I am not being favoured, I am giving everything I have to the job – I need to be respected and given my pay.”

    But to Keshi’s outcry, an unnamed official of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), the agency responsible for football here was said to have retorted to the effect that the coach couldn’t complain because he makes enough money from bonuses and gifts from across the country. It is a mindset like this that will create the kind of scenario we face now; in other climes, heads would have rolled over this scandalous and seeming willful act. Where there are no sanctions, impunity reigns which is why such an official will summon such temerity to talk about bonuses and all that.

    Withholding of coaches salaries and dues are the stocks in trade of our football (mal) administrators and it does not matter whether it be local or foreign coach. It actually is not a new phenomenon it’s just that we thought things were getting better now. How could a coach who is perhaps one of the most successful we have had in recent history have his salary frozen? We thought the fellows at the NFF are beginning to come round considering the exponential boom in football in today’s world but it seem the leopard cannot change its spots easily.

    With the League Management Company (LMC) striving to benchmark against the best in field and build our football, NFF still lives in the past apparently. The irony of the situation is that Nigeria’s football is perhaps our biggest brand and best export commodity today. Consider the capital we are making of our Under-17 in the on-going FIFA World Cup. There is so much more to where that comes from if we can harness our football potential.

  • FGN-ASUU imbroglio: Need for pragmatism

    On July 1, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of all academic staff in the 74 federal and state universities in Nigeria rose from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State and resolved to embark on another fresh round of industrial action to compel the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to honour the 2009 Agreement and 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with its leadership.

    It is imperative to look at the background of issues which prompted ASUU to embark on this fresh round of action, after less than two years of relatively stable academic calendar after the 2011 industrial action which was suspended on February 2, 2012.

    In 2001, the FGN negotiation team entered into an agreement with ASUU aimed at resuscitating the university system in Nigeria and saving the system from total collapse. The agreement provides for re-negotiation every three years for impact assessment and implementation. The agreement was due for re-negotiation in 2004, but the FGN reneged and it didn’t take place until 2007, when the then Honourable Minister of Education Dr. (Mrs.) Obiageli Ezekwesili, on behalf of the FGN inaugurated the FGN-ASUU Re-Negotiation Committee led by the then Pro-Chancellor University of Ibadan, Deacon Gamaliel O. Onosode (OFR); the ASUU Re-Negotiation Team was led by the then President of ASUU, Dr. Abdullahi Sule-Kano.

    Out of the 10 issues agreed on in 2009, two have been implemented (extension of retirement age of academic staff in professorial cadre from 65 to 70 years and staff pension clause). Of the eight remaining, none has caused more ruckus than the revitalization of Nigerian universities as well as the payment of Earned Allowances of academic staff totaling N1.5 trillion spread over three years, 2009-2011.

    In the 2013 fiscal year, Nigeria’s budget stood at N4.9 trillion out of which N426.53 billion was allocated to the education sector representing 8.7% with the university sub-sector getting a paltry sum of N55.4 billion. The World Bank in its report of global education in 2012 stated that allocation to education sectors in some countries improved tremendously with Ghana 31%, Cote d’Ivoire, 30.0%, Uganda, 27.0% South Africa, 25.8%, Swaziland, 24.6%, Kenya, 23.0%. Our annual budget allocation relative to the education sector stood at 8.4%. It is also painful and disheartening that Nigeria could only spend 0.76% of its GDP on education, while other less endowed countries invest more of their GDP in education (Angola, 4.9%, Ghana, 4.4%, Kenya, 6.5% and South Africa, 7.9%.

    This amount does not only fall far below the UNESCO 26% minimum benchmark for allocation to the education sector, but has far-reaching negative implications and effects on the ability of university administrators to strategically position them to perform their traditional roles of making the university a place for teaching, learning, research and community engagement.

    It is a compelling paradox that Nigeria so richly endowed with human and natural resources with over 167 million people, with approximate land mass of one million square kilometers suitable for commercial agriculture and over 34 solid minerals, largely untapped and ranked among the top ten crude oil and natural gas exporters with daily crude oil output of 2.2 million barrels per day is still grappling with trivial issues of nation building, development and optimum harnessing of its potentials.

    For many years successive governments have not deemed it fit to prioritize education and give it its pride of place in the scheme of things.

    The importance of education towards the socio-economic, political and technological development of any society cannot be overemphasized. It is the catalyst needed to drive any nation towards greatness. The advanced nations of the world like United States of America (U.S.A), Japan and China, knowing the critical role education plays in national development annually commits the whopping sums of $282 billion, $104 billion, and $60 billion respectively towards funding Education, Science and Technology research and development (R&D) initiatives. The impact of this investment can be attested to their positions in global ranking of development competitiveness, standard and quality of life of their citizens, with over 60% of the Top 400 universities in the world coming from these countries, led by California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

    To resolve the lingering industrial dispute best characterized by A. Rapoport (1974) as asymmetric and structure-oriented conflict due to its longstanding antagonistic and fractious nature calls for constructive engagement on the side of both ASUU and FGN and deep reflection of ideological pragmatism rather than rigidity. The ASUU under the leadership of Dr. Nasir Fagge should as a matter of patriotism and strategic national interest call off the industrial action and return to lecture halls in the interest of long-suffering students who have been compelled to spend four months at home, while efforts are being intensified by well meaning Nigerians and stakeholders to compel FGN to honour its agreement and commitment to the university lecturers.

    ASUU should listen to the calls of well-meaning Nigerians and interest groups by strongly considering using alternative dispute resolution channels and mechanisms such as the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), for their collective bargaining on remuneration and conditions of service. Moral suasion should also be deployed by ASUU leadership, by appealing to stakeholder on tertiary education through its board of trustees (BOT) led by eminent and highly influential professors Chukwuka Okonjo and Eskor Toyo as well as highly placed individuals and groups in corridors of power to favourably consider their proposal and demands. ASUU should understand that strike should be used as a last resort in industrial disputes as many channels of agitation are available to them to put forward their grievance and demands without causing disruption in the academic calendar, so that the option of strike is not made ineffective as its frequent use has become counter-productive in our circumstance.

    On the other hand, the FGN should as a matter of urgency figure out a more ingenious way of honouring their commitment and agreement with ASUU, through appropriation of extra budget for the education ministry through the National Assembly. The NEEDS assessment report of the Dr. Gabriel Suswam-led committee should be implemented without further delay. This will halt further decline in the quality and standard of Nigerian university graduates. The claim by government officials that meeting the demands of ASUU will lead to the collapse of the economy is ridiculous and self-serving; one wonders where government sourced over N3 trillion to bailout commercial banks in the wake of the financial crisis in 2007; the N500 billion to the aviation sector and billions of naira to the creative media industry (Nollywood).The claim by President Jonathan of politicisation of the strike in his last presidential medial chat is diversionary and unfounded. The ideological difference between ASUU as radical, progressive union and successive governments in Nigeria at the federal level is a historical phenomenon dating back to 1988 when ASUU first organized national strike for fair wages and university autonomy under General Ibrahim Babangida for which it was proscribed on August 7, 1988. It didn’t start with the present administration and has nothing to do fundamentally with anyone occupying the position of minister of education.

    • Arinze, is a Post Graduate student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

  • Nigeria’s teeming prayer warriors

    SIR: Whether it is written or not, Nigeria is the number one praying country in the whole world. Anyone who thoroughly traces the history of this nation would confirm that we qualify for ‘prestigious awards’ in that regard. Even in my neighbourhood there about 183, if you like, mushroom prayer houses which jam lips every day and night in prayers.

    Various religious groups pray including the traditionalists who I occasionally stumble on in my locality mustering some words with white chalk circling one of the eyes. But whatever be the content of these numerous prayers is what I cannot really tell. Very recently, some members of the National Assembly organized a National Prayer Breakfast for divine deliverance from myriads of ‘evil spirits’ tormenting the country. As if that was not enough, our amiable President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan led a delegation to the Holy Land of Israel which among other, perhaps, important things, is to ‘pray’ for the country.

    When the founding fathers of America were building what we regard today as the world’s power, they did not only pray but also worked. While one side of their eyes, legs, hands, and brain were closed in prayers, others were working indefatigably. With this, one begins to wonder the kind of leaders we have in this country. There are millions of families in this country who can hardly afford a comfortable meal per day. Thousands are dying of hunger. Will these numerous prayers place food on their tables? Most of the highways across the country are in shambles. Particularly, the Enugu–Onitsha expressway is not only a death trap but death on its own; can these prayers fix them, other than our leaders rolling up their sleeves to their real responsibilities?

    If these insincere prayers have any dint of potency in them, we would have by now have felt their impacts. I think it’s just a mere political ploy designed to deceive Nigerians, and portray themselves in the good light as serious leaders. The greater percentage of our leaders at all levels lack even the minutest iota of ideas, political will, and focus to live up to their responsibilities in office.

    To be apt, Nigeria does not need prayers any more. We need attitudinal change. Our leaders should stop deceiving the gullible ones among us with their dishonest prayers; prayers that lack value. Prayers that couldn’t indict James Ibori, until real rule of law brought him down abroad. Dishonest prayers that have dumped several presidential committees’ reports, both past and present; prayers that allowed thieves to abscond with pension funds; prayers that could not repair federal, and state roads across the country while many die daily. It will pay this country greater prize to nail these ‘prayers’ and face her challenges, and indeed, tackle them headlong.

     

    • Odogwu Obinna

    Awka, Anambra State

  • Double jeopardy for varsity lecturers

    SIR: This letter has become necessary because of the deadlock that appears to have become the case in the ASUU/FG imbroglio. This has elicited a number of questions namely; is it a crime to enter into agreements? Is it fair that the party that reneged on an agreement should punish the party that has not defaulted in an agreement? Is it proper to use state power to muscle the Ox that threads out the golden corn simply because the Ox dared to ask for what is its due? Is it just to beat a child and at the same time insist that the child should not cry?

    The above questions seem to capture the plight of university lecturers who without any prejudice to any bad faith entered into agreement with the federal government four years ago and are today being punished for daring to ask that the agreement be implemented after four years of grace and forbearance. It beats imagination that humans would revel in treating their fellow beings with inhumanity. It is now four months since the salaries of academics have been stopped for having the audacity to ask for a duly signed agreement to be implemented. It is akin to a debtor beating up a creditor for having the effrontery to request that the money he borrowed be refunded.

    The NO WORK NO PAY is a good policy if the worker is not justified in withdrawing his service. But in the present scenario, the lecturers are not the offenders/instigators in the impasse; rather ASUU is merely trying to compel the federal government to honour the agreement it willingly entered into with it. The consequence is that double unfairness is visited on the lecturers, their children, wives, aged parents, other dependents and students who for no fault of theirs have also been caught in this cross fire.

    This senseless hardness of heart is resulting in multilayered injustice and unfairness which will be very difficult to redress. Nations suffer ultimately because of the quantum of injustice generated in the polity. I therefore use this medium to plead with the federal government to allow justice to reign. If our university is transformed by acceding to the request of ASUU, it would have only fulfilled its mandate in line with the transformation agenda of the federal government. Providing infrastructure is quite capital intensive and this is why ASUU has allowed four long years to enable the government to prepare adequately for it. It is also good to mention that if the government closes its eyes to fulfill this obligation it will be on record that it was during this administration that education received a new lease of life. May Godly reason guide our leaders in decisively and urgently tackling this problem.

     

    • Prof. G. O. Ozumba

    University of Calabar