The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • The Kelvin ultimatum

    The country that would unravel must necessarily suffer from little masked men toying with long rifles.” That is no divine injunction or a line from Machiavelli, it is a Hardball original and you may go ahead and quote it dear reader! Of course you would not be surprised I made such cast-in-bronze assertion if you are any circumspect about what has transpired in our harried polity in the past weeks. Samplers: An Archbishop was abducted in Port Harcourt, Rivers State; a prominent lawyer was snatched in Benin City, Edo State; some folks in Nasarawa State called Ombatse have been giving our security operatives sleepless nights and last Thursday, September 19, somebody by the name Kelvin who sojourns in the creeks of the Niger Delta has raised an ‘army’ against the State and has gone ahead to give us all a 60-day ultimatum. And you still think our dear country is not unraveling?

    The Kelvin’s (his surname is Ibruvwe) ultimatum galled Hardball to no end. Not because of the ugly sight of rebellion he and his miserable gang presented. Did you see the Kelvin story on the front page of this paper last Thursday? It was a bold, albeit sad picture of hooded men in army camouflage uniform totting AK47 rifles. It was a gaudy terror posse complete with charms and amulets meant to scare the hell out of mere mortals like you and I. But Hardball was not in the least impressed. Such duplicitous bandits have been with the world from the beginning of time. They are merely seeking to have an undue advantage over everyone else in the quest for the ‘good’ life.

    What impressed me about the Kelvin challenge is that his group seemingly took its photograph in front of a mass of villagers, mainly women, children, young boys and girls who looked thoroughly enamoured of the scene. It was as if to say, thank god for giving us our own militants too to protect us and ‘shoot-out’ our rights for us from Abuja. And to confirm Hardball’s grim concern, on page 2 of the newspaper under reference, an elderly woman, obviously a grand mother from Kelvin’s Kokori community, Ethiope East Local Government Area (LGA) who spoke with correspondents was quoted as saying: “We thank God for using our son, Kelvin to fight for our course (sic). He and his group are fighting for what is just, equitable and legitimate. Therefore he should not be given a bad name.”

    Unless this is some kind of subterfuge hatched by desperate politicians, this Kelvin’s affair should worry President Goodluck Jonathan, it should afford all the security chiefs a loss of face. Kelvin is reportedly a well-known kidnapping kingpin. From his ignominious trade, he has metamorphosed into what he calls Liberation Movement for the Urhobo People (LIMUP). His liberation rhetoric is well-known and surely, well-worn: his community Kokori in spite of being oil laden and having produced oil for about 50 years, is still very impoverished. He therefore gives government 60 days to build factories, provide amenities and give jobs to the youths or all the installations kokori hosts would be blown to pieces.

    What will President Jonathan do now that the country is going pieces under his watch? Our leaders in the last few decades (Jonathan inclusive) simply refused to lead but preferring to ride on the gravy train the country has now reached a point of no return. Our LGAs have been left forlorn and bereft of governance for so long. Any group of bandits numbering just a dozen with half a dozen rifles can easily overrun any portion of our countryside. And such groups are multiplying across the country. Can President Jonathan put his foot down and reclaim the country from hoodlums or will he continue to wring his hands and dole out more amnesty ‘bribe’?

  • ASUU strike and FG’s war on education

    SIR: It is now about three months that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike, yet the government has refused to listen to the union. Rather than engage in good faith negotiations, the government has resorted to scare and diversionary tactics, calling the union’s bluff, and asking the striking lecturers to return to the classrooms. We believe that such diversionary methods smack of nothing but cheap blackmail.

    It is instructive that while the government has refused to fully honour the 2009 commitments it made with ASUU, the government within the same given period had increased by almost 950% the emoluments of the at least 17,000 elected and appointed public officials at both the states and federal levels. These few individuals in a nation of 162.5million people earn over N1.4trillion, which is more than a third of the national budget.

    By the same token, ASUU has not been quite focused and strategic in waging this struggle. The union hasn’t been able to put the issues where they are hence the misconception that the struggle is all about the N92billion arrears in allowances owed members of the union. The real issue is government consistent refusal, year in, year out, to follow through on the release of funds for research and development of the universities.

    Virtually, all of the public universities are in dire need of facilities, which includes buildings, technology tools, laboratories, science and engineering equipments, lecture theatres, libraries (especially digital libraries), constant electricity supply, et cetera. The government since the 2009 agreement owes the public universities N400billion arrears in funding for research and development.

    There is also the question of how ASUU arrived at the N92billion arrears in allowances the government supposedly owed, for it is the management of the universities that can truly determine what the government owed and not ASUU, because ASUU is not part of the management. Indeed, our investigations reveal that not all academic staff are entitled to the money in question; the money is meant only for some category of staff that work outside teaching, such as Heads of Departments, Supervisors of Masters and PHD students, Course Advisers and Exam Officers.

    It is a sad truth that our government is yet to realise the importance of education in national development. A country that wishes to develop cannot do so without recognising the place of education and if this government really wants to make a difference, then it must radically begin to revolutionise its values and re-order its priority in so far as education is concerned.

    In today’s world, to compete effectively and integrate successfully into the global economy, education must be given the top priority it deserves. Nations all over the world including neighbouring West African countries are fast realising this, and Nigeria must be no different. This government has the rare opportunity to show that the security and welfare of the Nigerian people is its primary concern.

    In the same vein, we call on ASUU to refocus the trajectory of the struggle by looking beyond the strike option, because if the only tool you have in your toolkit is a hammer, you would keep treating every issue as a nail. ASUU must adopt other strategies if it genuinely intends to win this struggle, and the union could begin to consider other options as marches, freedom-rides, Sit-ins and Camp-outs. Imagine what could have been achieved, for instance, if the union had staged strategic marches in six key cities of the nation, including Abuja and then, capped it all, with a Sit-in, at the Education Ministry and at the National Assembly Complex for just two to three weeks!

    • Eneruvie Enakoko

    Conscience Reports, Lagos

  • Nigeriaism, patriotism and development

    THE more the merrier goes an age-long adage. However, considered from the context of population, or in the sphere of population density, it is indeed a farce. It masks differences (be it religion, cultural, ethnic, or sheer multitude of people)

    By Nigeriaism, we mean the nationhood of the entity called Nigeria and the history behind the nation. Patriotism on the other hand is devoted love, support, and defence of one’s country – national loyalty. The concept of patriotism can best be captured or can be conjured better in expressing it as ‘Nigerianism’.

    Since the amalgamation, has Nigeria showed any sign of being a nation? Has the country made any progress in sorting herself out on the way forward of becoming a country? Have the peoples of the country accepted one another truly?

    The answers to the following puzzles will not be in the affirmative. The current system is just a farce. The Nigerian leaders and proponents of one united, harmonious Nigeria are deluding themselves; this delusion comes from the erroneous belief that “the more the merrier” or what in Igbo Language is called igwebuike –the higher the number, the stronger we become or simply crowd is strength.

    This was why Nigeria got her independence in 1960. Historically, Nigeria like Ghana was to have her independence in 1957 but it was extended to 1960 because the northern part of Nigeria was not ready for self-government and the southern Nigerian had to wait for their northern brothers. Why did the south wait? The only answer is Igwebuike.

    Furthermore, the hypothesis that was given by the likes of late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was that Nigeria has to be one in order to dominate in Africa. They were successful in waiting, merging, having independence together and becoming the most populated country in Africa. But did they dominate Africa? Yes, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa – and so what?

    In fact, instead of the country to be merrier owing to her population, the country is even suffering the ignominy of a criminally large population. Worse still, the country has failed incredibly in her pursuit of dominance at both the regional (Africa) and global stage.

    The other disheartening issue is that Nigerians have failed to appreciate the marriage. There is no respect among ethnic groups; hatred, stereotyping, and ethnic bias are a common sight in the country. We identify ourselves as “Ibo”, “Hausa” or “Yoruba” before Nigeria. Our actions, body language all point to the fact that we have not accepted like we say, “the other tribe or ethnic group”. The proponents of one Nigeria are afraid of going against the grain of public opinion but like any other concept, we have to engage in rational discourse.

    With poverty looming over us, hatred, and bad-mouthing showing up perpetually, it is obligatory that we explore and obviate this problem. But what has caused this problem to linger is the fact that people are afraid of the consequences of pointing out the way forward. And the way forward is to divide Nigeria into different countries, or practice confederalism or resource control federalism –some call it true federalism.

    A divided Nigeria will accelerate development. The current system is an embarrassment to federalism. The quasi-federalism we operate now has killed the cardinal attribute that describe Nigerians. It has ended competition, hard work and passion for the development of the country. It enthroned parasitism, where states sit idly by and wait for the central government to dish out the monthly allocation from the resources of other states. This parasitic system buoyed some state leaders to kill any zeal of creativity in revenue generation. It is an act unbecoming of a federal state. And in effect, it destroyed the competitive nature of the regional setting, killed the focus and vision of the regional actors. All these forced the country to retrogress as well as eroding any form of patriotism that the citizens must have imbibed.

    The hypothesis of this piece is that a divided Nigeria will expedite development. This view may seem radical, pessimistic and unpatriotic. The closest that Nigeria can go to development will be either to divide, or practice confederal, or the true federal system.

    Another salient flaw in this system is the bloated nature of the system. Because we see the country as a cake, that must have informed our irrational system that suck the nation dry. The executive arm is bloated, the legislative arm bloated and criminally ineffective. The emoluments of those in government are heavy load to the resources of the country. It is like having a six year old baby carry one hundred kg of load. The load from these criminal salaries of those in government is suppressing any development that will come to the country.

    So, how can dividing, or practicing a confederal system or true federalism-a system which gives the state power to control her resources, help develop Nigeria? We will evoke the concept of another Ibo saying, “NkembuNkem”, nkeanyibunkeanyi”-my own is my own and our own is our own. This will allow the distinctive countries-that will come out of Nigeria, states – in case of confederalism or true federalism to see to the development of their place. The people and their leaders, we assume, will have a shared sense of duty and committed to developing their place. They will do this by reducing cost, by being sincere- they will eradicate or reduce corruption and wear a thinking cap on how to develop their country or state. And the people on the other hand will be patriotic, obedient and participate in causes of development. We view the success of the regional setting in the early 60s as a sequel of this concept of “nkembunkem”- my own is my own.

    Nigeriaism has failed so far to stimulate development in Nigeria. It also has failed woefully to integrate the peoples of Nigeria; thereby, acting as a fertile ground for ethnic bias, parasitic attitude, lack of patriotism, bitterness and hatred. Like we have hypothesized, for Nigeria to develop, there should be a sense of ‘my own’ on the part of leadership and followership. And this can only come by dividing the country or practicing a confederal or true federal system. The magic is that it will give the power of development to states, regions etc. this singular act will bring a sense of shared duty in the regions or states.

    In essence, for Nigeria to move forward, she has to try a new style other than being stuck on this unworkable one.

    •Temple is a doctoral student at the University of Canberra, Australia.

  • President Jonathan must hear this!

    SIR: I recently visited Toronto, Canada.On our way from the airport, I engaged my host in a discussion about the country in general. These are some of the insights: First was the deliberate plan of the Canadian government to discourage excessive wealth acquisition. How is it done? I probed. Due to the transparency in the system, all monies earned are traceable. Therefore, the more money you make, the more the tax you pay. This made a lot of sense to me. Wealth can easily be spread and too much affluence will not reside with few as we have in Nigeria.

    As each day progressed, I learnt new things. I discovered that their housing system was well structured; my host enlightened me on their mortgage system. One deposits about 30% of the house value with interest rate of not more than 5% with credit receivable after five years. What that means is that you could sell the house after five years and use the credit to buy a bigger house if one desires. I discovered that cars are leased to buyers at interest free loan payable within 78 months.

    I also learnt that people pay heavy tax but enjoy the value in the provisions of good road, free health care and education. There is legislation for students to attend schools within a geographical axis they reside. The road network was super. All roads tarred to the inner streets. I was informed that routes are reconstructed if they observe too much traffic. Obedience to traffic law is sacrosanct as heavy penalties are paid or licence may be withdrawn. Water and electricity were working without any hitch.

    On farming, we visited a family friend for barbecue dinner and guess what, the corn we ate were all fresh and sweet from the farm nearby. When we were going to the beach about two hours drive from town, I saw farmlands running into miles operated by professional resident farmers who live on the farm with all good things of life. When we went to an eatery for lunch, I request to use the gents or toilet, the guy was lost until I explained further. He said, you mean ‘washroom’? You don’t say you want to use the gents (for men) or ladies (for women).

    The few days spent in Canada set me thinking about the real essence of leadership and why our own leaders don’t see all these when they travel or refuse to implement them in our nation.

    On my way back to Nigeria, the problem started from the airport as the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials could not set bars for passengers to queue on a straight line. With the air conditioners not working, there was chaos. Anyway, we grumbled our way through immigration and waited again endlessly for our baggage to roll out of the conveyor belt. The custom men too harassed what is left of the tolerance in some of us.

    By the time I got to Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the road I left bad a few weeks ago had gone worse due to rain and usage. I thought the contract for this road was awarded. Couldn’t the contractor patch the bad portions and reduce traffic on this road? On getting home, there was no light, we had to start the generator to first pump water and enjoy electricity hence polluting the environment. I was seriously depressed and felt like selling all I have acquired and relocate.

    As I was reflecting on my predicament, my friend who accompanied me from the airport said “ Agagu is dead”. Without much thought, two things about him flashed through my memory. What will Nigerians and people of Ondo State remember him for when he was minister for power and steel and governor?

    Life truly is vanity. Agagu is gone but our President is still alive and can make the necessary change. This 2015 distraction is too much. It looks like a deliberate ploy for him to fail. Obasanjo gave us GSM, President Jonathan should give us light.

    Remember, all you have is today. Tomorrow is in God’s hand.

    • Ayodele Kupoluyi

    Ogun State

  • A fight between two lions

    A fight between two lions

    Five months ago I left the PDP and I told the world why I chose to do so. I also said that the party had hit the rocks and that it was a sinking ship. Few believed me at the time but today even the most chronic of doubting Thomases have changed their minds. The division within the ruling party has now become so self-evident that only a fool would believe that things can ever be the same again between those that honestly believed that they had cornered the market on our country and that they would rule Nigeria for the next 100 years.

    Never in the history of our nation has the ruling party at the centre suffered the kind of division and open rupture that the PDP has suffered in the last few weeks and months.To most this is a blessing in disguise but to the members of the party itself it is a terrible affliction and nothing less than a curse of monuemental proportions. Yet anyone that is familiar with the way God operates will understand what is going on and will appreciate the fact that only the Lord could have done this- He has divided their tongues and caused them to turn their swords upon one another.

    The truth is that the PDP stopped operating like a political party quite a number of years ago. For the last few years it has been nothing more than a cult of personality and power- a contraption that was put in place simply to take power, under the guise of democracy, and to keep that power ad infinitum.  It’s sheer incompetence in governance at the federal level in the last five years and it’s insensitivity to the plight of the ordinary people and to the fortunes of Nigeria are manifest for all to see.

    Yet, that is of the least concern to those that control and lead the cult. This is because their only purpose and raison d’etre for being together is to hold on to power at all costs and to share the resources of our nation amongst themselves. With that power comes the most extreme and insufferable manifestation of arrogance and this explains why it is that no-one, no matter how big or small, matters to the PDP.

    As long as they hold the centre and control the purse strings they believe that every single Nigerian not only has a price but also bows and trembles before the Almighty federal government. They forget that with hubris always comes nemesis and that like the mythological Greek character Icarus, the closer they fly to the sun the more the wax that holds their wings together begins to melt.

    What is going on in the ruling party today has little to do with the ordinary people of Nigeria. It is simply an internal and brutal struggle for the very soul of the party which is being waged between the new order, led by a relatively weak, inexperienced yet desperate president and the old order, led by a highly experienced, dangerous, calculating, patient and ruthless former president.

    The latter group is fully backed by elements from the old ruling military establishment who have effectively been running the affairs of this country and determining who would become what since 1966. President Goodluck Jonathan came to power on the backs of these people though he never asked for it and, in fairness to him, he now seeks to assert himself and break free of them. They, on the other hand, see the PDP as their construct and their creation. They see it as THEIR platform. They believe that they literally own it and that they also own the president that they afforded the rare privilage of mounting it in order to acquire power by their collective resolve.

    That platform was conceived and established by a tiny group of exceptionally powerful men led by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and General Aliyu Gusau in 1998 almost immediately after General Sani Abacha was murdered and General Abdulsalami Abubakar came to power. Its objective was to keep Nigeria one, to bring General Olusegun Obasanjo to power, to keep the progressives and radical elements out of it and to protect the interests of the powers that be, the ruling class and their business associates.

    Given this scenario it does not take a genius to figure out the fact that the stakes here are enormously high.  In the minds of the protagonists and antagonists one thing is clear- whoever ends up controlling the PDP, they believe, will end up controlling Nigeria with its vast oil and gas resources and it’s enormous influence on the African continent. What they fail to appreciate is that once the internal struggle for the soul of the party becomes too pronounced, too bitter, too violent and too extreeme, it creates the potential for destroying the very foundation of the platform itself and it may well result in the loss of power for them all.

    With an increasingly disciplined and well-organised opposition in the form of the APC, whose ranks are growing by the day, this seems increasingly likely. Consequently for the first time in the last 14 years of democracy in this country, as a consequence of the divisions within the PDP, the opposition may well be set to take power by 2015.

    Yet regardless of this both sides in this internal conflict are so drunk with power and the lust for it that they fail to see or appreciate this point. To them, there IS no oppostion and there IS no other platform that will be allowed to take power.

    They believe that even if they fight one another from morning till night for every day of the month for the next one year, once an election comes whoever wins that fight and ends up controlling the party can and will rig the elections and take power in 2015. It is this strange and peculiar disposition and mindset that has seized their minds that moves me to describe what is going on within the PDP today as a fight unto death between two factions of blind, desperate and reckless men.

    Both sides are so used to power and the wielding of it that they are not mindful of the implications of their recklessness and extreme and uncompromising positions. This may be good for Nigeria because it clearly signals their collective end but it is not good for either of the two warring factions themselves. My view is that at the end of the day both sides will lose simply because one will come out on top, though badly wounded, weakened, dissipated and diminished and the other will be utterly crushed.

    Whichever way it goes by the time this fight is over the party will end up being a shadow of its former self and a pitiful counterfeit version of the original brand. Given the circumstances, there can be little doubt in anyone’s mind that the glory days of the PDP are longer over and more likely than not shall never return.

    Permit me to end this contribution by making an analogy. The lion is the king of the jungle and the story is often told about how he controls his pride and runs his kingdom. We can learn a little from that here. The lion remains head of the pride for as long as he lives. He has all the females at his beck and call and he gets to eat before anyone else even though he rarely hunts with the others. His role is simply to lead and to rule, to lay down the law, to define the boundries, to give orders, to judge others, to enjoy the spoils of office, to mate, to procreate and to protect the pride from outside aggression.

    He is the king and he settles all disputes with a mighty roar and an iron claw. So protective of his own power is he that the minute his own male offspring begins to approach adolesecence or manhood he throws them out of the pride to go and fend for themselves. If they insist on staying he will fight and kill them. No-one challenges his authority and neither does he brook or tolerate any opposition to his rule.

    He may delegate power or authority from time to time to others, but as long as he lives, he is king. The only way to remove him from power is for a younger and stronger lion to come from outside, or indeed within, and to kill him. Once that is done the younger lion becomes king and remains king until he is also toppled and killed by another. What is going on in the PDP today is very similar to the lion’s dance.

    We have, on the one hand, the old lion and his loyalists, who delegated authority and power to his favoured son 2011 and who now wishes to re-assert his authority and reign him back in.

  • Nexim Bank: Repositioning for Nigerian non-oil exports

    In recent decades, export competitiveness in the era of globalization has been at the heart of domestic economic growth and development debates. Against the background of growing disparity in income between the developed and the developing world, due largely to divergence in industrial capacity, the central question has always been: what can and should be done in developing countries to boost export growth and diversification, and enhance competitiveness in international markets?

    In 2007, a leading economist at the MIT, Alice H Amsden noted that the gamut of policies, practices and institutions which led to the rapid skill formation and industrialization in successful exporting countries of the developing world was carefully built, diligently developed and tested over many years, led to trade protectionism, competitive pricing and the establishment of Export Processing zones which afforded access to imported input at world prices and often more advantages.

    In Nigeria, no bank understands the intricacies of export growth, export development, export diversification and export competitiveness more than the Nigerian Export-Import Bank – NEXIM Bank, the Trade Policy Bank of Nigeria. Established in 1991 by Act 38 of 1991 originally as an Export Credit Agency, owned equally by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI), NEXIM has since 2009 reformed its processes and redefined its focus to promoting the diversification of the Nigerian economy and deepening the external sector, particularly the non-oil sector through the provision of credit facilities in both local and foreign currencies; risk-bearing facilities through export credit guarantee & export credit insurance; business development and financial advisory services etc.

    In pursuit of this renewed mandate of promoting export diversification and deepening the non-oil sector, the Bank’s current strategic initiatives are targeted towards boosting employment creation and foreign exchange earnings in the Manufacturing, Agro-processing, Solid Minerals and Services (Tourism, Transportation and Entertainment) industries –  The MASS Agenda of NEXIM Bank.

    The Bank is concerned with the competitiveness of Nigeria’s products and services in foreign markets. According to the MD/CEO of NEXIM, Mr. Roberts Orya, Nigerian exporters have looked away from their traditional market of West Africa and the African region, and focused on the markets of Europe and Americas despite not having the competitive edge. This is different from the practice of the most successful exporters of the developing world including South Korea, Turkey, China, India, Brazil, etc., which for strategic commercial reasons,entrenched their regional competitiveness before venturing outside their core trading blocs.

    NEXIM understands that export-competitiveness requires actions at the highest national level. No doubt, theAdministration of His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, in pursuit of the Transformation Agenda, is showing strong political commitment to boost Nigeria’s export-competitiveness.

    Just recently, at the inauguration of the new NEXIM Bank Board as reconstituted by President Goodluck Jonathan for improved performance, the Coordinating Minister for theEconomy and Honourable Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed satisfaction at the achievements of NEXIM and restated Government’s determination to trade expansion. The CME said that, “…the Government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has embarked on a path of transforming the economy; trying to work with our private sector to expand trade, particularly regional trade, incorporating the West African zone and even beyond…” She charged the new Board to understand that NEXIM has a responsibility if Nigeria is going to play its role of being the powerhouse within the West Africa sub-region, and beyond.

    NEXIM takes developmental rather than a purely financial-return-maximisation approach in its lending. The Bank focuses on the identification, development and financing of projects thatagrees with national objectives on private sector developmentand non-oil export.

    NEXIM Bank received commendations from its Shareholders for its support to the Creative and Entertainment sector, and facilitation of the establishment of the Sealink Project, which will boost access by Nigerian exporters to the ECOWAS and Central African markets.

    The shareholders of the Bank have given it the approval to strengthen its balance sheet, including attracting offshore lines of credit. Already, NEXIM has partnerships with many overseas financial institutions, like the African Development Bank, Afrexim Bank, Islamic Development Bank, India EXIM, to name a few.

    With the inauguration of the bank’s board headed by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Dr. Sarah Alade, it is expected that the nation’s export trade policy will strengthen, even as NEXIM Bank continues to grow its funding interventions and export advisory services.

  • Let’s give peace a chance

    Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly of the United Nations has devoted the Day to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

    It is the day the United Nations invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities and to otherwise commemorate it through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.

    This ideas of peace is very germane in any society as people and nations can only make meaningful progress in an atmosphere of peace, justice and equity.

    Nigeria, though regarded as the giant of Africa has been experiencing increasing spate of bloodshed, kidnapping, and all forms of inhuman treatment in the name of ethnic cum religious clashes most especially in the north.

     Recent statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria stated that developmental projects that would have ameliorated the living standard of the rural poor in the north have been greatly hampered by the unrest in most parts of the north. Many communities have been disserted, churches burnt, and business destroyed. Children have been left to become orphans and women are increasingly becoming widows, a situation which portends great danger for the sustainance of the people and even the yet unborn generation in the region.

     It is however disturbing, and very alarming, the rate and consistency with which Christians are being killed, maimed and rendered homeless in most of the deadly attack on innocent citizens in northern Nigeria, in a manner similar to the genocide in Rwanda. The brutality, cruelty and inhuman manner in which the people are being systematically and consistently killed by individuals claiming to be adherents of the Islamic faith has reached an alarming proportion.

    In the northern parts of the country, these individuals and groups of individuals have been operating for years with reckless impunity and without regard to law and order, or respect to the right of other Nigerians to live and express their faith in God according to their choice.

    As the world celebrates the International Day of peace which focuses on Education for peace, it is necessary to educate Almajiri children who are being used by the violent groups. It is important to note that until we take alamjri children off the streets and provide quality education and empowerment for them to lead a better life, we will not know peace.

    We will continue to experience draw back in our effort to enthrone lasting peace in Nigeria when we have most of the Alamjiri children live in hopeless condition. They sleep on the street; they are covered with flies and lie in inhuman conditions. They are always ready to kill without human feeling because they themselves grow up in hopeless conditions. We will be able to engage a wider spectrum of our society on acts of peace and peacebuilding when they are educated.  Achieving gains in education will have an impact on all the Millennium Development Goals as well as lower child and maternal mortality, to better health, higher income and more environmentally-friendly societies.

    We wish to state that there are indigenous northern Christians in the North who are facing inhuman persecution due to their faith. They need our support and prayers. We should all raise our voice at whatever level that we are in support of the persecuted persons in total condemnation of murders and destruction.

    Emmanuel is the Secretary, Board of Trustees, Voice of Christian Martyrs.

  • Politics and governance according to Jonathan and his cronies

    It is time for President Goodluck Jonathan to tell us the difference between politics and governance in Nigeria. This is because the two words have been used interchangeably, consciously and unconsciously by the presidency. The president and his cronies, including Mr. Labaran Maku, Dr. Doyin Okupe and Dr. Reuben Abati who thought they can be fooling Nigerians with their grammars have been mixing the two words in their utterances, bodies and languages. Governance to a layman means administration of the state while politics is purely political issues.

    It is unfortunate that despite the number of certificates and courses undergone by the president and his megaphones, practically, none of them knows the difference between the two. They always get the two words wrong whenever they want to respond to issues, even issues of international concern.

    Investigations from the presidency revealed that President Jonathan is no more governing but politicking. The utterances, body language of the president and his cohorts, including Alh. Bamanga Tukur and Chief Edwin Clark and other loyalists of the Bayelsa State-born Zoologist turned politician about his bid in contesting the 2015 election since months ago have shown that the president is not more interested in the administration of Nigeria but how to use all the humanly possible means to re-contest in 2015. Anytime he talks, he talks 2015 not knowing that this is the time for him to prove his critics wrong by staying clear of political upheavals to allow him govern well.

    I am not saying he should not re-contest in 2015 but only time will tell where the pendulum will surely swing to. 2015 is more than a year to this time and the president has the grace to turn around the fortune of Nigeria for good considering the vast resources and human materials within our disposal.

    A clear evidence within my disposal to show that the president is only politicking is the series of meetings he has been having with both his loyalists and other aggrieved members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the factionalisation of PDP at the expense of the general welfare of all Nigerians. He has been hosting and lobbying various religious leaders, traditional rulers, ex-militants and some perceived influential citizens whom he thought can help him to make his 2015 ambition come to pass. All these are to the detriment of Nigeria and Nigerians.

    Besides, there are two PDPs, one led by Alh. Bamanga Tukur and the other by Alh. Kawu Baraje. None of the factions is ready to shelve their swords. The party is now in disarray which has resulted to consultations, confrontations and accusations from the presidency and other loyalist of the president to the president’s perceived enemies. The president on his own side in order to save his office and consolidate on his influence in the party has been moving up and down thereby neglecting his official duties.

    Sources close to the presidency revealed that President Jonathan has been having sleepless nights, lobbying and politicking in order to acquire the party by all means.

    As a citizen of Nigeria by birth, I have the right under the constitution to criticise constructively and condemn in totality and strongly actions of any elected or non- elected Nigerian if his or her actions are contrary to the constitution and inimical to the wellbeing of the society.

    By Musliudeen Adebayo,

    Ibadan, Oyo State.

  • ASUU agreement and government’s honour

    Recently the government declared that if it were to implement the ASUU/FGN 2009 agreement, it would shut down its operations.

    While this is unfortunate, it only goes to show the level of sincerity and interest government has shown on education, if not disdain.

    Apart from this assertion being economical with the truth, it does not explain why government went into the agreement wholeheartedly for the betterment of the universities and educational sector in general in the first instance. May be government needs to be reminded that when it allegedly paid trillions of naira to the so-called oil importers who never supplied a drop of petroleum products, the country was not shut down even though this amount represented about half of the entire budget for the year.

    The truth is that when it comes to education, government usually becomes reluctant even though implementing the agreements will not hamper the smooth running of government operations but rather uplift it.

    Enough of the time wasted so far and the hardliner posture of government. What this imbroglio shows is that it does not care about its own honour inherent in honouring agreements. Or are we to believe that it was a deceptive ploy to hoodwink stakeholders and Nigerian people that it was committed to uplifting the universities?

    One wonders where the interventionist spirit of the government had gone to when similar support had been offered to banking and entertainment industries as well as railways in their hour of need.

    What government does not realise or is ignoring is that the sector also voted massively for it to come to power and as it is with the dividends of democracy elsewhere, deserves to be treated fairly in the scheme of things, the least of which is the implementation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement which has been there even before the 2011 elections.

    President Jonathan whom the buck stops on his table must therefore as a matter of urgency treat his own kind and ‘’constituency’’ with fairness by setting up a committee to implement the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement to bring back life to the universities. After all, government’s honour is at stake.

    ByEmmanuel Tyokumbur,

    Department of Zoology,

    University of Ibadan.

  • For whom the NYSE bell tolls

    For whom the NYSE bell tolls

    What an irony most viciously twisted that President Goodluck Jonathan has elected to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday. A most symbolic duty usually conferred on personages of means and renown, by that bastion of global capitalism, NYSE. President Jonathan egged on perhaps, by some overzealous handlers, has been corralled, albeit unwittingly, into having to sound what Hardball fears amounts to an ominously morbid alarm. Now how is it that a seemingly innocuous bell that merely gives opportunity for a few pictures for international news media is being twisted into a dark Elizabethan tale?

    Simple: as Jonathan performs the symbolic bell-ringing at the centre-point of the world’s largest, most vibrant and most prosperous economy, his minders and indeed all patriotic Nigerians would have to be in fervent prayers and supplication so that some rascals do not begin to question his locus and temerity for taking that prestigious spot and feigning to belong there. We must pray that nobody as much as googles ‘Nigeria in global economy’ if only for the sake of basic information. If anyone did, they would easily be confronted by what we Nigerian journalists call ‘shock find’. It would be revealed that Nigeria ranks among the poorest pool of economic development possible in the entire world.

    According to the World Economic Forum, WEF, Global Competitive Index (GCI) for 2013-2014, Nigeria ranked 120th out of 148 countries on the list. Nigeria under President Jonathan dropped five places from 115th position of last year. By this, the country ranks among the most wretched countries of the world like Liberia, Laos, Mali and Yemen. The survey under purview would become the more depressing when Nigeria’s case is viewed against the 12 major parameters employed which include weak institutions on which it ranked 129th out of 148. Others are engrained corruption, undue influences, weakly protected property rights, insecurity (142nd), poor infrastructure (135th) and poor primary education enrolment 146th out of 148th.

    A little more casual browsing will show that the man gaily ringing the NYSE bell runs a hollow entity called Nigeria which is considered the worst place to be born, the worst place to live and the country with the worst primary school enrolment record. It would be discovered that women still die almost unrestrainedly during childbirth and even babies seem automatically at risk as they are born into the Nigerian space. It is surely the country with worst power infrastructure known anywhere with about a measly 2000 megawatts for a population of about 160 million. And on account of this, and since our president pretends his country, Nigeria, is still a member of the global economy, many manufacturing firms had to recently relocate to neighbouring West African countries.

    Further checks will show that Nigeria imports nearly everything, including staple foodstuff like rice, wheat, palm oil, corn meal and even fruits to name a few. All these stuff we really ought to be exporting to the rest of the world. We will also find that Indians, Chinese and South Africans have taken over the productive economy, including retail trade, eateries, hotels and hospitality businesses. They will find to their bemusement that the president enjoying the rare ‘privilege’ of ringing the bell at the NYSE is actually overseeing a geographical conundrum that currently spins malevolently at a precipice. He oversees a banana republic that seems to be at the end-stage of a terminal affliction. Hardball can only make silent prayers, for the sake of country at least that no rascal picks on our president as he heaves that sacred capitalist bell. ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’: that was Ernest Hemingway writing in 1940 and we paraphrase him.