Category: Commentaries

Segun Gbadegesin

 

The war within is a mere strategy by Atiku Abubakar and six or seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to get Jonathan out of the way for 2015 presidency. Whose interest is Atiku serving? The interest of the masses he failed, with Obasanjo for eight fruitless years. Atiku can fight the war within and destroy PDP, without realising that a parasite that thrives within a system and fights for the demise of that system, dies with the system. Of what good is it, if he wins the war within and loses the one outside? Nigerians are awaiting his account of stewardship as Vice President. A bad follower cannot and will never be a good leader. From Emma, Awka

Nigerians are doomed if the faction called the New PDP takes over power to form government because it has nothing to offer. Look at its demands: 1. Mr. President should not recontest in 2015; meaning disregard constitutional principles. 2. EFCC should stop investigating us; meaning forget about good governance which strives on accountability. 3. Restore PDP structures in our states to us. 4. Remove PDP National Chairman; just for them to have more say and control in the party. It is all self-interest and nothing for Nigerians. From Evangelist Ubi Etowa, Director-General, Door to Door Group, CRS

Thanks for that wonderful article. I commend you for that. But I think that some of our so-called politicians are not patrotic. I also think it goes beyond PDP or APC. What Nigeria needs is a good leader. Thanks! Anonymous

Re: “The war within.” You have said it all. The crisis within the PDP should not be our problem except that since the war started, all governmental activities have suffered. Look at the plight of ordinary citizens who cannot make ends meet. They do not have access to potable water. There is no electricity to light up their homes. No decent educational facilities for their wards. Those in the rural areas are still defecating in the bush and, for the party in power, these do not bother them except infightings and intrigues. The Yoruba says: To be greater than someone is not a matter of quarelling; supremacy fight cannot be easily obliterated. So, let them continue to fight one another. APC is standing by to rescue Nigerians from the claws of wolves. What a shame! From Prince Adewumi Agunloye

“The war within”. Well said! A party whose members are governed by the principle of personal gaim and egoism. If the party leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, had placed priority on PDP members over service to Nigerians, it may have been war outside; primarily, war with human rights activist. It is time for the media to welcome more comments as The Nation had done. The centre in PDP close circuit politics cannot hold, the egoism imploded and exploded, and now they have fallen apart, courtesy to Chinua Achebe of blessed memory. From Dickson Unogu, Warri

I agree with you; they are warring only for their personal interests. I cannot wait for a revolution against this undemocratic democracy in Nigeria. From Opde Emmanuel, Port Harcourt

“The war within” is highly informative. From Barr. Azikiwe

O“The war within” is fantastic. PDP is a party for rascals. They lack radicals with good leadership endowment. A house divided among itself must fall. From Chinedu, Delta State

Segun, answer the Obasanjo’s question: Who is Boko Haram? (A) New PDP (B) Old PDP (C) Elderly Mediators (D) All of the above? From Ichie Uche

I am really worried because Odili used our money to campaign in his attempt to become the President and now Amaechi from the same state within just 14 years and nobody is talking . Will anything be left for our kids? From Igonikon

Just as you mentioned, the group has no intrest of the masses at heart. They are self seeking individuals whom on given circumstances would not be able to agree among themselves. Anonymous

 

For Olatunji Dare

 

“As the PDP implodes” is another phrase to proclaim the implosion of the presidency. The party preludes the presidency, which gives birth to the presidency. Without the party, the government cannot survive. From Alhaj Hon. ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos

I want to ask: Is it the old or new PDP that will rule the country for 60 years? Anonymous

Indeed, “The war within” is a fact. Tell them more. Anonymous

You guys in the media are trying; calling a spade a spade. The dust is, indeed, gathering. Sooner or later it will spew emissions the effect of which can be disastrous. Woe unto them whose evil designs would wreak havoc. From Nse

It is a pity that Jonathan has been unable to read between lines that Tukur, Asari Dokubo, Patience and hordes of others are doing more harm to his ego than good. I expected a well- read person like him to have a mind of his own. Jonathan, at times, blows hot, and in another fraction of a second he blows cold. How can a Ph.D holder continue to behave like that? He cannot call his wife to order nor help Tukur rein his tap-like tongue. Does he take Baraje and Oyinlola to be his school boys? He is hardening their hearts the more by his outbursts. Well, my prayer is that Jonathan should continue in this manner as Pharaoh did before his final fall. From F. T. Babatope, State Of Osun

PDP is gone for good and the burial will hold soon, just watch out. Lastly, there’s a need for total cleansing of our country. From Noble, PortHarcourt

Many thanks for your very articulate and research-oriented weekly column “At Home Abroad”. The article on PDP implosion is superlative and incomparable. Sir, do us an article on the criminal charges hanging on the necks of all PDP ex-governors, members of the National Assembly (NASS), Farouk Lawan, Hembe, ministersb and others now strutting about. I hope I am not asking too much. Regards. From Aghaobodo Oyem Esq, Asaba.

You always speak my mind. I have no doubt Jonathan will be disgraced out of office. Remember what he did to Hon. Justice Salami? Keep up the goodwork. From Dan, Esq. Abuja

In fact, the man saw defeat a long time ago. He is only looking for a scapegoat for his fall. He has forgotten the law of Karma. Anonymous

I read your piece on Mr. President and his crew which I must say is the first and vivid comment on this show of shame and disgrace the so-called biggest party in Africa is going through. It proves right the saying that the people around a man make or mar him. The people around Jonathan are his curse and they will eventually bring him doom and put his name on the blacklist of Nigeria’s history. From Agu Daniel

You are a prophet; all these will come to pass. Comparing the happenings now in Nigeria and the Bible is a good way of avoiding the impending disgrace that awaits Jonathan in 2015. Those of us that suported him then will reject him vehemently. Anonymous

I must concur with you but, it is rather unfortunate that ignorant fellows run political parties here. The conclusions of these struggles are certain: the PDP would be denied oxygen and Jonathan would have no platform to contest in 2015. Knowledgeable leaders must come to these conclusions also because with the general resentments against Jonathan and PDP— the people see Jonthan as Judas and Baraje group as the messiah. Nigerians should prepare for the emergence of a new president before 2015. These are the destinations of the present chaos. From Akin Malaolu

Thanks for your article. Never mind, those who fail to learn from the lessons of history will live to regret it! They should be directed to read the book tiltled “The House Has Fallen” by Meyer. From Chris, Ilesa, Osun State

The implosion of PDP as a party was long overdue. The party is made up of so many strange bedfellows. People who are selfish and self-centred. What we are witnessing is their lack of internal democracy, party discipline, and cohesion. But other political parties should be on the alert because they may bounce back and do what they know best – rigging. From Ojo A. Ayodele, Emure Ekiti

When the horse has lost the will to move, the rider does not force a mechanical move. Of all the registered political parties in Nigeria, the one which came closest to fulfilling its promises – or lack of it – is the Peoples Democratic Party. The party had promised nothing. And that pretty much was what it delivered. Is Bamanga Tukur aware that a threat is merely a promisory note of retaliation, to be paid at some future date when one has the capability? Where is Vincent Ogbulafor, today? Despite its attractions to a ruthless leader, war has an obvious disadvantage: one side is liable to be utterly defeated and it might be his. The implosion of PDP was timely. From O. O. Adegoke, Ikhin, Edo State

He who says injustice is his daily food will surely dwell in the cloud of injustice. Oyinlola connived with the presidency and removed Ayo Salami because he stood on justice. Now Oyinlola is crying wolf over the sealing off of their factional secretariat, do me I do you man no go vex. Both old and new PDP are birds of a feather. Tukur is talking from both sides of his mouth, believing that that the President loves him. The President will disgrace him even more than his predecessors. The president said no PDP no Nigeria, he is still living in the past. He will be disappointed unceremoneuosly. He is a day dreamer. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos

In 1975 at the peak of Gowon’s misrule, several writers offered free constructive advice to him but all fell on deaf ears. A lot has been said to Jonathan in the past one year but his wife and self conceited loyalists will not let him listen nor hear. Another begining of the end? From Tunde Opada, Eruku, Kwara State

 

For Olakunle Abimbola

 

I doubt it so much whether the political nincompoops go through these golden articles. Anyhow, history and posterity will vindicate you, with the unfolding turn of events. From Prince Sina Agunlejika

The fear of APC is the beginning of crisis in PDP. From Gordon Chika Nnorom

Re: “Of Rehoboam and Jonathan.” You are a very brilliant and loaded writer. I thirst after The Nation on Tuesdays. I just cannot stop reading this piece over and over. It is complete. But a prayer: PDP must ‘kaput’; whether Wike ‘wikes’, or Jang ‘jangles’. From Jimo Akeran, Igbesa, Ogun State

Re:“Of Rehoboam And Jonathan”. I laughed when I read that ‘…Jonathan appears to be the first Nigerian President voted out of power’. Sir, without mincing words, President Jonathan is not a wise ruler like the biblical Solomon. He is simply a disappointment. Unlike Ojukwu’s comment when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo passed on, Goodluck Jonathan would be the worst president Nigeria ever had. Watch it; he will soon be politically irrelevant. From Lekan Ajayi, Ibadan

 

For Tunji Adegboyega

 

Reacting to your piece in The Nation newspaper of September 17 on page 17, which you titled ‘The King’s goats’, particularly the aspect having to do with denying Governor Rotimi Amaechi access to Government House in Port Harcourt,, I want to advise you spend time and money to get the facts so as to avoid misinforming the public. Anonymous, Port Harcourt.

Re: The king’s goats. The end remains the termination of a cinema show!. Whether the King’s goats or sheep, good governance is our requirement from the ‘king’. I am bothered less about the motive of relieving the nine ministers of their job. To me, that was a routine by all Nigerian previous leaders in the 36 states and the 774 local governments, including those that are yet to govern. Why? Changing or reshuffling in Nigeria is an erroneous index of performance. No matter the number of times reshuffle is done, and no matter for how long some ‘goats’ are kept or retained by the ‘king’, ‘We the people’ will eventually mark the scripts to determine his/their continued existence. From Lanre Oseni.

Please tell me in which country has political party members asked the president not to run for a second term. Your paper should leave the president alone. Anonymous.

The president is playing politics of reprisal, which is very dangerous to the survival of our democracy. Politics is about persuasion, not vengeance. There is no amount of explanation that will make the world believe the president about the sacked ministers. He fired them because they are loyal to the ‘New PDP’. If that is how the president plays his own politics, he should prepare for battle. The president has played into the hands of his enemies by listening to those sycophants around him. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

The cabinet reshuffle was long overdue, but was it done based on non-performance or as an agenda for 2015? I asked this question because some of the sacked ministers had performed so well to remain in office. They were taken out because of their association with the so-called ‘disloyal’ governors. There are some ministers that need to be sacked for not living up to expectations in spite of the resources at their disposal. We have taken it as a good step in the right direction for the president to take bold steps in his actions for cabinet reshuffle. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

Tunji, the fact is that Jonathan has respected the ‘rebels’ so much. Atiku should know that he is under Jonathan today just as Jonathan was under him when he was vice president. Everybody in Nigeria is under him (Jonathan) today. All oracles, witches, wizards, marine powers, all are under him. So, they should allow him do his job. If they are fighting Mr. President, let him fight back, and stop siddon look’. Atiku could not control PDP in his ward. Anonymous.

The system that fed Daniel Oikhena’s foreign fetish functions unhindered as official and unofficial responses to the 13 year-old’s illegal attempt via Arik Air’s wheel compartment to land in his cherished United States of America indicate. Attention appeared devoted to excising wanderlust from the fresh-faced teenager when the escapade symptomises a growing socio-cultural malaise.

Isolating the popular stowaway from rampant cases of desert ‘pilgrimages’ and stormy Mediterranean voyage to hostile ports of Italy and Spain elevated official negligence to high art.

Daniel’s late August emanation as Lagos State’s non-august visitor highlighted the country’s lingering state of dysfunction from decades of poor leadership as demonstrated by incendiary approach to the 2015 general elections and slipshod handling of a national strike by university lecturers. Despite efforts by the authorities to manage the Daniel affair, the notoriety of illegal emigration and near-collapse of the national structure clearly erode national ethos.

What does the Nigerian desperately seek to get away from? Why did Daniel lack counsel? Are the allegations of maltreatment, despite his parents’ denial, true? How did the lad manage to replicate a stunt from at least one of the American films he may have watched? Are movie stunts, shorn of technological garb, simple enough to be replicated anywhere?

I digress with the latter query, subject to the reader’s indulgence, of course. Nonetheless, I will submit a solution. Not necessarily deploying common formula that parents and guardians limit the hours children spend in front of the TV as wholesale aping of Nollywood actors and American superstars little accentuate development of the young mind. Wards with fertile imagination and more than a healthy dose of adventure and iron will, as young Daniel’s demeanour implied, also require special attention from teachers as well.

But by what means should these traits be determined? Well, I leave that to the experts. What if the relevant ministries and child welfare agencies in the land are, in common with other ministries and government agencies, staffed by political appointees? Then we shall have to do things right for once, shan’t we?

In place of the more temporary curtail of adolescent daydreaming, let the state address obsolete facilities and wield the big stick on errant officials. Let the system support parenthood with roles as correct as possible. And let negative impact of American popular culture on Nigerian youth through social networking sites, fashion, music, films and language be countered with indigenous language, art and cultural material packaged for or not for profit by experts with government supervision.

To refine young minds and achieve analytical depth, leisure should transcend late-hour frolic. Tours to amusement arcades, recreation centres and theme parks could compete with trips to shopping malls, nightclubs and bars. Thoughtful movies, cultured music and exciting games at film theatres, art galleries and secure stadia should displace the drumbeats of war. Eventually, the tense youth would sooner stroll through a city park or read a book than practice violence.

But the onus rests not with the government alone. The private sector, driven by the rich and successful, if monopolistic, should invest in social facilities targeting the youth. Donation of laboratories, libraries, furniture, hostels and flood relief materials in tandem with establishment of youth-based facilities across the country would consequently please the optimistic and disarm the critic.

The country operates in the zone of minnows because talent continually slips catchment. Contrast, for example, the productivity of United States of America’s baseball, basketball, athletics and football collegiate systems with the scenario of local sports policies gathering dust and principals and games-masters ruing technical equipment. The U.S. nurses successive generations of world-beaters and commercial icons thus while raw talents pummel the innocent beneath bridges or chase after motor vehicles on Nigerian highways to hawk sachet water. And we mourn the dearth of Olympic sprinters and pugilists.

With serial erection of opulent edifices by corrupt businessmen and officials daily gobbling playgrounds across the country, the society continues to chew its young and spew ambition. Idle youth find expression in the south as kidnappers cum robbers, and in the north as ‘Civilan JTF’, the vigilante youth group meant to assist security agents fighting the Boko Haram scourge. You have heard of ‘dogs of war’; well, now you have ‘pups of war’. It’s war for sport; strife for school; AK-47s for pens; body bag for school bag; and body count for medal count.

No system can be more irresponsible than one that allows its promising youth to be devoured by professional terrorists. What happens when the terrorists prevail as occurred with the mowing of 24 young fighters in Borno State recently? The army or government goes on to pacify surviving but broken relatives with tokens? Members of the youth militia, despite heeding the call to serve their communities, hardly signed up to die for the country.

Crime-fighting should be reserved for the well-trained aided by technology and welfare. As significant, administrators must seek to constantly match policy with manpower recruitment so as to forestall troop decimation and protect collective integrity. No true citizen would desire otherwise.

At an estimated 70 per cent of the population, the youth is the strength of the nation, functioning as the most critical sector for planning and administrative purposes. Officially for leadership failure, the sack of erstwhile Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadir, indicted the government’s selection and appointment process as much as rife conjecture of the former minister’s ‘sin’ of fraternising with opposing figures. Subsequent ceding of supervision to the sports ministry barely convinced as it signified official rating of the ministry’s relevance to national development.

The Nigerian child lives a brutish life. The late author and irrepressible wit, Quetin Crisp, noted of life: “You fall out of your mother’s womb, you crawl across open country under fire, and drop into your grave.” I say of our youth: “You push out of your mother’s womb, you crawl across lacklustre country under sentimental fire, and drop into an intellectual grave.”

Despite the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) singsong, inadequate maternal and child healthcare as the first obstacle precedes basically flawed education marked by poverty – with or without school shoes – fraudulent textbook supply, and inadequate teacher training and motivation. With youth guidance and counselling at deplorable levels, lucky is the child that eventually matches career choice with talent and commensurate training.

The space science and astronomy classes initiated by the Lagos State government may be a brilliant idea but once implemented it must be sustained and improved by successive administrations for enduring relevance. That would help filter the system for minds inclined to greater ideals and, better still, spare an embarrassed nation further blushes from archaic learning.

Beyond psychiatric test for young Oikhena or talk of separating the boy from an apparently unfit home always lay the blueprint for action. Failing to evolve with the times is, in spite of our hapless selves, failing to save Daniel from himself, let alone reining in Leroy Ugaga, the 25 year-old wannabe that attempted despicable rehash from the same base in the wake of Daniel’s futile shuttle. That, people, is the real McCoy. He, besides apathetic officials, needs psychiatric treatment more.

Nigerian society with its peculiar values failed the stowaway, and we must quickly institute reform to avert youth atrophy. Scholarship award from Southwest-based socio-volunteer group, De Raufs, may have tempered agitation somewhat, but Daniel’s parents and the government fatefully bear the standard in youth welfare revolution.

It could have passed for the ultimate evangelical statement if the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, had abdicated rather than eat his words. By such spectacular somersault, he would have delivered a potent message about his awakening, for that was what his attempted corruption of culture was all about. In the end, however, he demonstrated a rather disappointing failure of conviction.

There is a fitting Biblical metaphor for his spiritual superficiality. In the well known story about The Rich and the Kingdom of God, a man approached Jesus, saying, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”  The answer he got was unexpected. Jesus replied, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

It is evidential that the Itsekiri monarch was not actually ready for such spiritual sublimity, though he desired the image of a committed Christian, which itself was an aberration on account of his position as the official custodian of indigenous religion. There is no doubt that he has luxuriated in royal splendour  since his ascension to the throne in May 1987, which makes the new spiritual awareness that he flaunted 26 years after a study in the complexity of faith.

It is unclear how long he had nursed the ambition to overturn the cultural situation of his people, but when he eventually unveiled his mission, it would appear that he underestimated the depth of devotion to ancestral values in Warri Kingdom. Or, ironically, perhaps he derived overconfidence from his apparent sovereignty, which itself was informed by the very customs he wished to extinguish. Apart from the legal colour of the edict he issued in order to achieve his purpose, nothing else gave credit to his background as a lawyer and the second university graduate to take the kingdom’s throne. The idea he championed was not thoroughly contemplated, and betrayed certain confusion about religion.

“The New Order of Iwere Kingdom”, which he tried to decree, was food for thought, particularly its proscription of the 533-year-old royal title, Ogiame ,  and substitution with a nebulous reference to “a royal priest in the Order of Melchizedek.”  The diction of the edict demonstrated the burden of ignorance. It read: “I also repent of the name and title of “Ogiame” that my ancestors and I have borne, as it connotes our allegiance to Umalokun (god of the river) and other deities of the sea, all of which are false gods.”   The Olu said, “We have also been worshipped as gods by the people under our rule and in our domain,” and prohibited “all sacrifice of wine, blood, food, water, kola nut and other items (known and unknown) offered in Iwere land.”

However, it was the peak of cultural and religious sightlessness when he declared, “On behalf of the royal bloodline, the throne, the people of Iwere land, I publicly enter into a new covenant with God.” This represented the most devastating blow against indigenous religion, and carried all the weight of backward thinking. It was reminiscent of the logic of British colonialism and the Great Commission promoted by the early white missionaries.  Consciously or unwittingly, he painted the outdated image of a dark continent and locals living in spiritual wilderness.

Intriguingly, the Olu could not locate the Almighty in Iwere culture, at least in the sense in which he understood the concept. His perspective was tragic and worrying because it revealed an abysmal lack of understanding   about the place of indigenous religion and culture in a global village of multiple faiths. A primary lesson of this “collision of altars” is the difficulty of indigenous religion in the context of a diverse globe in which certain faiths have the advantage of apparent numerical dominance.

The example of Susanne Wenger, the departed famous Austrian artist who became a priestess of Yoruba religion, has relevance in this drama. She championed a crusade for the conservation of nature in the Osun Osogbo Grove in Osun State, which is the site of perhaps Nigeria’s best known cultural and religious festival in honour of a river goddess; it is also an official World Heritage Site. She was, interestingly, accommodating of all paths that led to divinity. Contemplate this quote: “There are innumerable ways to get spiritually involved. But you must find your own way.” There is no doubt about the global recognition of Yoruba religion, which is reinforced by the fact that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2005 added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

The Atuwatse II, who was known as Godwin Toritseju Emiko before kingship, is perfectly entitled to the demands of his “informed conscience”, but so are others who may not share his publicised Christianity. It’s a pity that he prompted a communal revolt by his role, which was essentially anti-people. However, he also helped, inadvertently, to encourage a re-examination of the pervasive syncretism across the country. For the rebellion against his edict was not necessarily a vote for purity in the practise of indigenous religion; it was more like a call for moderation in the zeal for the foreign faith.

For sure, he will now need the inscrutable benevolence of the Almighty to retain the dignity of his office, having succeeded in self-demystification. Things will no longer be the same, even if he sits on the throne. It is noteworthy that rescinding the edict does not translate into the diminution of inclination; and social pacification does not eliminate suspicion. In the end, Wenger’s words ring true. With profound insight, she reasoned, “We can only hope that the things we believe are true.”

 

• Macaulay is on the editorial board of The Nation