The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Ownership society in Ekiti

    Ownership society in Ekiti

    The captivating story of how Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State is deeply committed to the development of the state is daily being told by everybody, particularly by rural dwellers in the state. The story is fascinating not just because the indigenes want to showcase mere political promises made to them by their governor. The truth is that the governor has vowed to ensure that the development of Ekiti is more evenly distributed so as to make the state a model place in the country.

    To make true this commitment, last week, the governor distributed N300 million worth of cheque to eighty-two communities to enable them undertake certain projects. Last year, as part of his rural development programme for the state, the governor held series of meetings with community leaders and their traditional rulers. The idea as canvassed by Governor Fayemi then was to use the representatives of the rural people for Self-help programme embarked upon by the state government.

    The essence was for the people to use the money to complete abandoned projects in their local places. Besides using the money to also provide boreholes and complete some road culverts to avert flood erosion in the future, the governor advised them to see the projects as their own. “We must ensure that the rural places work. The ideal thing therefore is that the essential infrastructural facilities have to be in place so that our people would feel the impact of democracy,” the governor said.

    He also assured that more money would be distributed shortly to other communities that have not received. With the grants-in-aids programme through which more developments are expected to spread to more places, the governor assured his people that more new projects would be put in place subsequently even in far rural settlements with high population density.

    Ekiti State has come to serve as a model state where rural development is given priority attention because the leadership has chosen to do so. It was to facilitate this decision that the government promptly established an appropriate and relevant ministry to carry the people along. Now, with the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment, the concept is to make concerted efforts to eradicate poverty and wipe away tears from the eyes of the poor rural folks.

    Fayemi’s unalloyed interest in the welfare of the rural people is part of what makes democracy tick and equally deepens people’s love towards what is good. The governor made that resolve clear when he told the mammoth crowd that gathered at Oye-Ekiti, for the ceremony that “As part of the efforts of the present administration to bring development to the rural communities where over 75 percent of the people reside, the Ministry of Rural Development and Community Empowerment was created in January.”

    It is evident that this ministry is meant essentially to serve the purpose of the people. Part of the promises of the government is to use this avenue to revive and shore up cooperative societies to reach out more effectively to the grassroots.

    With this, it is clear that more farm settlements will be established while many moribund ones rehabilitated to provide more jobs for the people. When completed, the state, no doubt, will serve as one of the food baskets of the nation.

    Adedoja Ibikunle, a retired teacher who turned up for the Oye-Ekiti ceremony, wondered aloud when he said: “when God wants to bless you, He does not need too much promises from your leader to do so. He does it in the simplest way possible. You can see the simplicity of the governor, his lovely gestures and the humble disposition of the people around him… This is gradually becoming the Ekiti of our dreams when it was created.”

    Ibikunle’s optimism truly represents the views of many Ekiti indigenes whose love for what is good have never been in doubt. Over the last few years, it is mainly children who spread the news most often. They take the news to the people, to their schools in different dramatic ways. This is what has livened up their otherwise drab lives, simply because they can feel the changes in their own parents who provide their daily needs. In essence, their rural areas are no longer drab, dull and dry. They can feel it and children do not spare a situation when it portends good omen for them and their folks.

    What with more funds to the tune of N3.2billion which will soon be disbursed through the same channel for agricultural developments and purposes, the government, is keen on providing more jobs for the youths. The provision of farmlands and settlements will also ensure that more rural roads are constructed to facilitate the movement of food crops from local places to the urban cities.

    The joy of most rural people in Ekiti State is that the government of Fayemi will leave the state far better than he found it. When the governor assumed office a few years ago, he made it point blank that Ekiti State would no longer be perceived as one of the most backward states in Nigeria. Using the meagre resources at hand, the governor has made the state far more better than he met it. People can now breath fresh air of freedom and progress.

    From the way he has been creating and sustaining big and mouthwatering projects in the state, one wonders whether it is an oil-producing state where there is excess money for projects. However, the Fayemi’s administration has made it obvious that no matter the amount of revenue generated by a state, a good leader can still use it for meaningful development and purposeful recreation.

    Leadership, in the real sense of it, does not consist of mere promises to hoodwink the people and win their votes. Leadership comes with total submission to the will and sentiments of the people. It is the electorate who should be in the position to sing the praises of their leader because they can feel the impact of what he has done.

    Today, Governor Fayemi doesn’t have to say it. All he has been doing to elevate the state are there for everyone to see. That’s why school children also sing his praises. They too can feel, see and enjoy the good things that happen in the state, things no one can conceal or deny or even sideline in any way.

    • Dada writes from Ado-Ekiti

  • Anyaoku to deliver lecture on foreign policy July 14

    Anyaoku to deliver lecture on foreign policy July 14

    Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku will on July 14 deliver a lecture on the basis of Nigeria’s foreign policy. Venue is the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja. The time is 4 pm. A statement by Prince Henry Odukomaiya, Media Consultant to the Anglican Diocese of Lagos West, said:

    “What is the Commonwealth of Nations? When and where was it inaugurated and by whom? Are there any obligations and advantages inherent in membership of the organisation?

    “Answers to the above questions and many clarifications on the basic plank of Nigeria’s foreign policy since the country gained political independence from Britain in 1960 will be provided to the congregation of Arcbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, on Sunday, July 14, 2013, at a lecture begining at 4.00 pm.

    “On hand to give the lecture will be one of Africa’s best-known international civil servants and the first African Secretary-General of the Commonwealth,. 80-year-old Chief Eleazer Chukwuemeka Anyaoku. Born at Obosi, in Anambra State, Chief Anyaoku was educated at the University College, Ibadan, where he studied as a college scholar, graduating with a London University honours degree in classics in 1959. Three years later, he married Miss Ebunola Olubunmi Solanke; the union is blessed with four children.

    “Chief Anyaoku was Nigeria’s External Affairs Minister in 1983 before a military junta seized power from President Shehu Shagari at the end of that year.

    “Among the highlights of his 34-year service to the Commonwealth of 54 nations was his role in making the Commonwealth an active agent for promoting democracy and human rights and his seminar role in the processes leading to peace and democracy in Zimbabwe, Namibia and, in particular, South Africa.

    “Chief Anyaoku has had extensive international exposure and service. Among many positions held by him are: Distinguished visiting fellow at the Centre for the study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics (2000/2002); president of the Royal Commonwealth Society with headquarters in London (2000/2006); president of the Royal Africa Society with headquarters in London (2000/2007); international president of the World Wide Fund for Nature with headquarters in Switzerland and operations in over 100 countries (2001/2009).

    “He is currently the chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on International Relations in Nigeria; a trustee of the British Museum and patron of the Nigerian Museum; Chairman, Orient Petroleum Resources Plc in Nigeria.

    “Besides, he has received decorations from Nigeria (CON, CFR and a recipient of one of 50 special awards to mark Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary), and the highest national civilian honours of Cameroon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Namibia, Republic of South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago’s Trinity Cross (TC) as well as an honorary knight of the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) from the Queen of England in 2000. The freedom of the City of London was also bestowed on him in 1998.

    “In 2003, the University of London established a professional chair in his name, the Emeka Anyaoku Professor of Commonwealth Studies at its Institute of Commonwealth Studies. He is a holder of 32 honorary doctorare degrees from Universities in Britain, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, the Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

    “His publications include: ‘The Missing Headlines’ (by Liverpool University Press in 1997); his memoirs: “The Inside Story of the Modern Commonwealth” (by Evans Brothers Limited in 2004); and “The Racia Factor in International Politics” (by the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs in 1977). A biography of Emeka Anyaoku, Nigerian Institute for International Affairs in 1977). A biography of Emeka Anyaoku, “The Eye of Fire”, written by the Canadian author, Phyllis Johnson, was published by Africa World Press Inc. and reprinted in Nigeria by Spectrum Books Limited in 2000.

    “Among his many ground-breaking achievements, Emeka Anyaoku, as Commonwealth Secretary-General, was the first African Chief Executive of a global inter-governmental organisation, long before Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan at the United Nations; the first African International president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an office previously held by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh; the first African to have a professional chair named after him in a British university; and the first African trustee of the British Museum.

    “Chief Anyaoku’s lecture is this year’s third in quartely series of life testimonies, sponsored by the AVMCC’s elite society, the torchbearers, under the generic title: “God in my life”.

  • Imperfect alibi

    Nigeria’s running political sitcom which Hardball had earlier titled ‘Morbid Obsession’ is yet far from achieving denouement. And if you thought the Aso Rock edition which we titled ‘Tunneling Down’ was interesting, last Tuesday’s episode, let’s call it ‘Imperfect Alibi’ was a firecracker of a show. It was a portrayal of the farcical side of civil rule; it was democracy at its most banal and bizarre. It was a show of jungle democracy so real that it could have been true. Or was it true?

    Well let’s consider the narrative, the plot and sub-plots. At about 9am on Tuesday July 9, while President Goodluck Jonathan and about one third of his cabinet were airborne en-route to China, trouble broke out in the trouble-weary Rivers State in Southsouth Nigeria. Inside the rarefied chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) to be precise, five renegade members bearing a fake mace, sat and deigned to impeach the Speaker and to install one of their kind as Speaker. Where was the Nigeria Police when this sacrilege was being perpetrated, you might ask? The police, which you may be free to describe as Aso Rock police, was part of the grand plot apparently. Suborned and compromised it seemed, they aided and abetted the savaging of the constitution, their own very life-string and essence. But they neither knew any better nor just didn’t they care.

    It was almost late in the day when a quorum of the House woke up to the retrograde act of the renegades. In fact it took the storming of the House by Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his team before the encircled majority could fight back. The bogeyman of a Speaker sitting under an ersatz mace, was already making an acceptance speech when he was nudged from his brief, precarious perch. In the ensuing free-for-all, skulls were cracked and work equipment were damaged. It turned out a mini theatre of war and ingenious tactical options were freely deployed by men we thought were mere law makers. Eventually, the barbarians were dislodged and anarchy prevented – no, postponed since the sitcom is still running.

    The grand plot was to yank off the Speaker, Mr. Otelemaba Dan Amachree to pave way for impeaching the governor of Rivers State, Amaechi. A hare-brained and utterly unconstitutional plot you would think in which five out of 32 members sought to over-run a House but this kind of show is not a novelty in the ruling party (PDP) democracy. We have about half a dozen examples to cite.

    But President Jonathan’s oriental alibi falls to pieces because the fight in Rivers is his fight. The foot soldiers who visited with him in Aso Rock a few days ago to ‘solidarise’ with him and plead on behalf of Governor Amaechi were all at the ‘battlefield’ last Tuesday directing proceedings. But yet another plot has crashed, the president would have learnt to his chagrin. We see no letting up however. The presidency is obsessed with ousting the government in Rivers State and it has tried every trick in the books including pulling the party’s rug from under his feet, stationing an enemy police chief, attempting to stampede him out of the leadership of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and literally shutting down the state. Remember we called this running drama ‘Morbid Obsession’.

    Let us leverage from Barbara Tuchman, the great American historian and Pulitzer prize winner in her essay, An Inquiry into the Persistence of Unwisdom in Government. She posits that: “The lust for power, according to Tacitus, “is the most flagrant of all the passions” and cannot really be satisfied except by power over others.” Tuchman could have been here to witness the “flagrant” attempt to defile Nigeria’s democracy in Rivers State, last Tuesday. Next plot please!

  • Boko Haram’s July gift

    SIR: Gifts are like hooks in as much as it attract attention from the receiver; gift is cake until you taste it you wouldn’t know which brand it is made of.

    Boko Haram has just declared ceasefire from their hostilities. Imam Muhammadu Marwana, the armour bearer of the Abubakar Shekau-led Boko Haram dreaded sect reportedly said “in sha Allahu, from the time Iam talking to you, we have ceasefire because of the discussion held so as to have peace over this struggle.”

    Marwana is asking Nigerians and individuals who lost their family members to forgive and forget.

    Over 4000 innocent Nigerians have died, properties worth millions of naira perished since 2009 when the dreaded sect started their bombardment. Nigeria as a country has not known peace; the North-East remain the centre of golgotha. The UN building in Abuja; the media, Chinese construction workers and the latest South-west merchants were not spared from the Boko Haram hunters. There is no one or region that is not affected by their activities. Nigeria police force and the military have also become their prey on daily basis. The pain inflicted by the sect goes round and the rumours spread across the globe like wild fire!

    Now, the dreaded sect through one of their commander has asked for forgiveness in the month of July after sucking the blood of 30 innocent students in Potiskum, Yobe State. I wonder if they could be taken by their words and how many relatives and families who lost their loved ones would be ready to forgive.

    The federal government, after much pressure, has offered the sect amnesty but instead of accepting the offer, the sect told the federal government to come out for amnesty instead.

    What is the idea behind Boko haram’s July gift? Could this be a special gift for the month of Ramadan or a methodology for another dubious and callous acts?

    Yes, they have offered a gift that looks like cake. Cake is good and delicious but the perception could only be confirmed after the taste because some cake appeared to be good but are not.

    Christians in the 17 southern states have described the ceasefire deal with the Federal Government as a ruse. The Jama’atu Nasri Islam, the umbrella association of muslims has welcomed the move. However, the situation now is like dinning with the devil; long spoon is needed to avoid unexpected damage. A mere statement of ceasefire from this group of terrorists is not enough; Nigerians need evidence in their action.

    • Sunday Alifia

    Ibadan

  • Who is afraid of Ekweremadu?

    SIR: A national daily quoted the Governor of Enugu State Sullivan Chime to have said in a town hall meeting in Enugu that it is the turn of the Enugu North Senatorial District (Nsukka Zone) to produce the next governor come 2015. In a swift reaction, Senator Ike Ekweremadu was also quoted to have told reporters in Abuja that there was nothing like “zoning” in Enugu governor’s seat.

    Zoning is not enshrined in the Nigerian constitution of 1999 so amended. It is only unpopular and weak aspirants that would base their ambition on such parochial tendencies. Enugu North Senatorial Zone has taken refuge in zoning and power shift. They have expended so much energy on zoning in a manner that suggests that aspirants from the zone are incapable of competing in a free and fair contest.

    Since the creation of Enugu State in 1991, the contest for governorship in the state has always been opened to all aspirants from the three senatorial districts. As late as last election, Governor Chime had contested against aspirants from Enugu East and Enugu North and no one was barred from contesting the PDP primaries.

    In 2015, Enugu people are desirous of a leader who would consolidate on the achievement of the Chime administration. The people desire a development –minded leader with a disposition towards making the whole state his constituency and not one who comes with a “zoned” mentality. Such mundane and primordial consideration as “zoning” and “power shift” as being canvassed by those who cannot match the intimidating profile of Ekweremadu should be consigned to the dustbin.

    It will be terrible for the ambition of such a political heavyweight to be sacrificed on the altar of zoning. One is left to wonder why the gentleman governor would now be involved in such an undemocratic principle. I am worried that if this discriminatory policy is allowed to stand, we will not only be encouraging illegality, but also be destroying the core values of merit, hard work and excellence in favour of indolence and mediocrity.

    It needs to be stated that Senator Ekweremadu has not yet thrown his hat into the ring but has met the constitutional requirement. Be that as it may, his perceived ambition has featured prominently in the political discourses in the state and my candid advice to the North Senatorial District (Nsukka Zone) is to device a means of winning the gubernatorial election come 2015 than basking on the euphoria that the governor had erroneously zoned the coveted seat to them.

    • Emeka Ozoagbo

    Enugu, Enugu State.

  • Parradang: Taking charge at a time like this

    It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us.”

    These lines from the opening sentence of Charles Dickens’ famous novel, Tales of Two Cities, may just be the apt description of taking up a top security job at the moment, under the present circumstances of our dear country. It is more so true for David S Parradang, a gentleman officer who was recently elevated to the position of Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). It is a moment anybody in a structured organisation hopes and waits for. The sense of fulfilment and joy in attaining the pinnacle of one’s career is unequalled.

    But is this the best of times? Not really. These are times of great challenges. And the NIS, as a very important apparatus in the security structure of our country is far from being immune to the myriad of internal and external challenges bedevilling the system, largely on account of present security challenges. Taking up the NIS top job at this time comes, therefore, with enormous challenges. This, one could say, is the worst of times for it.

    No. It is the best of times because it is the time when true men are figured out from the summation of all men. It is when the waves are tumultuous that a master swimmer is marked from the array of swimmers at the beach. One’s ability at problem solving in a relatively short time and within a difficult situation is a marker of one’s worth.

    Therefore, in spite of the bumps on the thorny path, the coming of Parradang at this critical juncture is an important episode. It could not have been better time. Besides, the aphorism, God’s time is the best is time tested.

    The many challenges before the NIS’s new helmsman could be broadly categorised into two. First is at the organisational level, the internal cries and disconnect. It is only when one sets one’s house in order that one can tackle the other issue; the external challenges.

    In keeping with the current trends in immigration work the world over, there is the need to reposition the NIS for better efficiency and to close all avenues capable of dampening morale of officers and men. In recent past, there have been cases of gross inequality and nepotism in treating officers and men in terms of postings and promotions. The evil of nepotism is rapidly gaining ground in the public sector, unfortunately. But it could be least afforded in security formations where any trace of injustice and inequality among officers could have a devastating effect not only on the organisation, but the country at large. Fairness should therefore be the first step towards building a more dedicated, more efficient Immigration Service.

    In a situation whereby this is sacrificed, laxity, corruption and insubordination will find a comfort zone.

    As a service that holds the key to our nation, the immigration has to be disciplined, corrupt-free and in tandem with global best practice. The first port of call for any visitor to Nigeria is the Immigration Desk of our foreign embassies. Any blot of corruption or inefficiency from those manning such desks would be a huge blemish to the nation. Then comes the entry points. Extortion by men in uniform, NIS personnel inclusive, has for long been a big national embarrassment. Whether under duress or by solicitation, taking money from visitors sends a terrible signal about us as a country. But this ominous culture, like all facets of corruption tearing down the fabric of the country, is too much engrained in the system. However, stopping it would not only boost confidence and respect for the NIS, it will also lessen the severity of our perception as a corrupt country by foreign visitors.

    Now, there is the argument of welfare which some often use, albeit dangerously, to excuse cases of corruption by public servants. While it is not an excuse for corruption, poor welfare has a way of affecting output of workers or their conduct. It should therefore be a priority for the new Comptroller General to make sure that men and officers of the service are well catered for. Incentives for personnel on special assignments, especially at this point in time, will go a long way in gingering them up and for the country to get the best out of them.

    On the other arm of the challenges for the new NIS boss is the general threat posed by the current insurgency in the north. The role Nigerian Immigration Service could play in phasing out the insurgency is paramount. Many an analyst has pointed to the porosity of our borders as a one of the major ambers fuelling the flame of insurgency in the country. It will be Parradang’s major test to make our borders tighter. But this too could be easier said than done as the service is riddled with so many challenges for efficient border security. First is the paucity of personnel, in comparison with the vastness of the border. Secondly, the service is largely analogue in the area of border security.

    However, with a man like Parradang, who has demonstrated so much competence and finesse in his illustrious career, I believe all the challenges are surmountable. As someone who knows him fairly well from his days as Comptroller in Kano, I can vouch for the man’s uprightness, dedication to duty, equity and thoroughness.

    What he would require primarily is the necessary support from all quarters for a more focused immigration.

    • Abdulaziz is a journalist based in Abuja

  • John Kumuyi’s wedding brouhaha

    SIR: Arguably, the church has deviated from its paramount functionality of promoting God’s instructions into elevating human rules. It has shifted from the responsibility of connecting men to God  into connecting men to men, serving and servicing the body but starving the spirit and soul. Godly-character has been replaced with gorgeous charisma and character. The church now passes for a congregation of deceitful doers, home of hypocrites, platform of pretenders and circle of sycophants.

    In recent weeks, I have read loads of comments on the wedding ceremony of John Kumuyi, son of the Pastor W.F Kumuyi. I will share with you a comment I recently received  from one of John’s age-long friends, Kenny Oretimehin.

    “I have spent over 20-years in Deeper Life Church and I’m privileged to know this John guy, every boy in the youth-choir with me can bear witness that unlike some other pastor children, John was an epitome of a child of Jesus. John so humble, kind as in no segregation of any sort. John ate with us and times he would stay in the brick hostel with us, sometimes slept overnight.

    If disobeying some church rules is a sin then I think all Deeper Life members are sinners! The TV was once the devil’s box and now all Deeper Life churches use flat screens!

    I just want Pastor WF Kumuyi to beware of the sycophants around him! The same way they moved him to curse the youth choir in the congress of 2002 leading to the permanent ban of the youth-choir led by Dr Oikelomen (Bro Albert).

    I grew up in a church choir where the colour of your tie is a sin, the wrist watches and belts were always sins, the bright coloured shirts and gowns/blouses were issues!

    Why should John’s apology letter be read in the church? We were not told of his wedding! We don’t even know anything about him. The apology is a word of expressions from the offending to the offended. Why should he apologise to me that he didn’t offend? Besides the letter should be read by himself not by this pastors to show a level of godly sincerity and repentance.

    Pastor Kumuyi should remember his late wife Sister Abiodun; she wouldn’t want her son’s wedding to cause headaches! Pastor should be careful with the people around him.

    To my brother and friend, John Kumuyi, God bless you and your marriage.

    The church as a gathering of (un)gathered people must not loose sight of its primary responsibility of promoting cordial relationship between God and man, even in the face of its expanding secondary responsibilities.

    • Elegbede Tayo Jet

    Lagos

  • Boko Haram as ghost story

    Boko Haram as ghost story

    Tales out of Nigeria seem so ghoulish lately that it gets a bit difficult to differentiate between the real and the surreal. And things happen so fast like flashes of lightning that before one can track one activity to a logical train of thought, several others interject rudely leaving you somewhat inebriated and dizzy. Consider this sequence of events: terrorists suspected to be Boko Haram (or a splinter thereof), invades a government secondary school in Yobe State slaughtering no fewer that 40 pupils in cold blood. This was Saturday, July 6,. The following day, Sunday July 7, gunmen reported to be Fulani herdsmen invaded Akuruko village in Guma Local Government of Benue State, leaving in its wake, about 34 dead and houses razed. The marauders were said to have made their way from the neighbouring Nasarawa State and they were wielding sophisticated arms.

    The third day, Monday July 8, it so happened that the Federal Government had “reached and understanding” with the militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which would lead to the signing of a ceasefire deal with the group. Tanimu Turaki, Nigeria’s Minister of Special Duties and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North revealed this “understanding” in the Hausa Service of Radio France International. This “understanding” with the leadership of the Boko Haram, according to Turaki, was reached after weeks of “discussion” and “interface” with them.

    On the same day, Monday July 8, 2013, the British Home Office (equivalent of ministry of internal affairs) had approached the British Parliament to pass legislation banning Boko Haram and two other Islamist sects based in the United Kingdom. Boko Haram has also been outlawed by the Nigerian government and its leader, Abubakar Shekau declared wanted. The United States government recently placed a bounty of $7million on the sect’s leaders.

    From the foregoing, do you see why the affairs of this clime seem like a long-running ghost story with confounding twists and turns? Now if a government has proscribed a group and declared its activities illegal and acts of terrorism, with its leader on its wanted list, how come the same government is in “discussion” with such an illegal and terrorist group? If the Federal Government has elected to “discuss” with terrorists, why is it on the terms and conditions of the terrorists which we suppose includes shrouding the so-called “discussion” in secrecy? It is common knowledge that the first condition precedent to negotiating with any armed group is to down tools and cease fire? How come the Federal Government has been “discussing” with terrorists under the boom of the guns? The leaders we have been discussing with are they the same ones who are on the wanted lists across the world?

    Now who are the terrorists we are in discussion with? Are they the same ones locked in a bloody battle with Nigeria’s military in the Northeast? Who is the terrorist, who is the peacemaker and who is the government? In this ghost trail, who is the ghost? If all of this would result in billions of naira of amnesty booty, even Hardball would step out all so coolly, lugging his own Kalashnikov defiantly and wearing a natty, slightly graying beard to boot. So why should we take Turaki for his word? Why should we take it for granted that he is discussing with the authentic Boko Haram sect as many splinter groups seems to have emerged? When you do your business at night or left-handedly, you are bound to encounter ghosts every step of your way or put differently, you are bound to smell like a ghost. We are trapped in a woolly, spooky time aren’t we? Don’t howl now!

  • Southwest integration: Source of new hope

    Since the Nigerian federal agenda to demolish, confuse and disorient the Western Region began in 1962, the citizens of what is now called the Southwest have been allowed, or we have on our own managed to seize, only few happy hilltops. The latest, and easily the most hope-inspiring, has been the statements from state governors in 2011 that they would embark on integrated development for the region. Suddenly, it was as if our own boys whom we had just elevated to the position of governors of our states were going from house to house in our homeland, knocking at doors, and shouting, “Wake up, a new dawn is here!”

    At that joyful noise, the whole lot of us sprang up. Among us, some of our most gifted ones, working together under the umbrella of an association named Afenifere Renewal Group, went to action. And soon, they showed without doubt that they were indeed worthy of their name – that they are a group truly dedicated to renewing. As I write these words, I have on my table the hope-filled document which they produced for us, the booklet appropriately called the “DAWN DOCUMENT”. The document competently examines our region’s need to return now to an integrated approach to the advancement of our progress as a people, and lays out the strategies that would work best in the light of today’s realities.

    Since the publication of the DAWN DOCUMENT we have continued to get welcome reports about the quest for the integrated development of the region. Particularly importantly, we have heard that all the six South-west governments are faithfully working together on this worthy enterprise – even though not all belong to the same political party, and even though our boys in politics have been doing what politicians commonly do, which is to compete party against party for public office. Following developments in Africa is part of my life’s pursuit, and I would say, with pride, that there are not many places in Africa where one would find politicians collaborating maturely like this over an important thing – even when, at the same time, they are striving politically to push each other out of public office. It is, I think, a chip of the political sophistication and maturity which we as a people have built up over many centuries in the context of our advanced monarchical system.

    According to the best of reports, the six Governments have set up a commission, with an executive director, and charged it with the task of ensuring that the Integrated Development Agenda moves forward properly and according to schedule. We learn that an office has been set up in Cocoa House in Ibadan for this commission, and that the commission is now set to go. In short, after all the needed preliminary steps have been carefully taken, we will now begin to see action on many fronts.

    We, the people of the South-west, are excited. We know it is not yet time to begin to sing “Happy days are here again”, but we will sing ,”The darkness they brought to our land is clearing/Soon we shall dance and laugh again”.

    In Nigeria, the journey towards development and prosperity, led and guided by the indigenous leaders of our peoples, started in 1952. We started off then as three regions – Eastern, Western and Northern Regions. We in Western Region immediately shot forward and ahead of the other two regions in all fields of development. We became easily the front-runner and pace-setter. In fact we became “First in Africa” not merely “First in Nigeria”. The advantages we commanded over the other two regions were many. We were, unlike most of Nigeria and most of tropical Africa, a people with a rich urban civilization. Since the 10th century (that is, for more than 1000 years now), we have lived more and more in large towns. When the first Europeans came to the coast of West Africa in the 15th century, they saw our coastal towns (like Eko, which they began to call Lagos), and wrote from the coast about our large towns flourishing a few miles from one another in the interior. Naturally, a country with towns of its own is easier to develop and modernize than another country where new towns need to be built to provide centres for development.

    But that was not all. We were also, by 1952, far ahead of the rest of Nigeria in education. Since the middle of the 19th century, Christian missionaries, and some of our own people, have been establishing schools in our Yoruba homeland. Our having towns everywhere in our land made it easy to found schools everywhere in our land. As early as the 1870s, we were already producing university graduates (lawyers, doctors, engineers, writers, etc). By the time the British created Nigeria in 1914, we were far ahead of the other parts of the new country of Nigeria in education. No other Nigerian people produced their first university graduate until 1934 – that is nearly 70 years since we had been producing many university graduates. We had been publishing newspapers in our towns (the first one starting in Abeokuta) as far back as 1859. Therefore, when the three regions started the competition to modern development in 1952, our Western Region was very much stronger than the other two Regions. In fact, most of the money available to share among the Regions for their development was being produced by Yoruba cocoa farmers.

    And then – and then – as we started, God gave our region a leadership that was enormously capable in planning, organizing, mobilizing, and accomplishing, development and progress. The highest leader of this leadership group, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is the man we now regularly celebrate as the modern father of our Yoruba nation. We celebrate him for many reasons. We celebrate him for the great steps he led us to take in development – for starting our program of Free and Universal Primary Education (the first in Africa), and our free and comprehensive health-care services, for establishing our Western Nigeria Television (“First in Africa”), for building our Liberty Stadium (first in Nigeria and probably in Africa), for establishing programmes that made our cocoa farmers the most productive farmers on the African continent and our region the foremost exporter of cocoa into the world market, for establishing various other institutes for agricultural research, for building in Ibadan our Cocoa House (for a long time the tallest skyscraper in Nigeria), for establishing for our Region a world-class, professional, and widely respected civil service, and for starting the plans for our own Regional university (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife). Under his leadership, we became quickly a very democratic modern country, where rulers feared the people at elections, and the men in power did not use their power to manipulate elections – with the result that our elections were free and fair. Even in his own small town of Ikenne, bright younger men arose as electoral candidates for other parties from time to time and gave him a good fight, and nobody ever tried to falsify the results of the elections. Indeed, we enjoyed watching our big men of both parties struggle and sweat during election campaigns, knowing that we the common people owned the final decision at the polls. Above all, Chief Awolowo and the other leaders of his generation gave us confidence – confidence that we, as a people, could achieve anything and rank among the best in the world.

    But we were not living by ourselves alone; we were living as co-citizens with other peoples in Nigeria. Some of these other peoples saw the future not in terms of modern progress and prosperity, but in terms of subduing and dominating other peoples. In the hands of such people, Nigeria’s federal government became, after independence, a dangerous weapon, focused on subduing and, if necessary, destroying, other peoples. This dangerous federal weapon was unleashed against our Western Region in 1962, in order to stop our progress and destroy our pride. All that was sustaining our growth and pride was wrecked. Election rigging was imported to our homeland, and our region was turned into a land of perpetually rigged elections, of violent fights over elections, and of hideous corruption. Our bright dreams, nurtured under the Awolowo generation of leaders, vanished. And so, today, we are living in a level of poverty unknown before in our history.

  • Our cursing president

    Our cursing president

    If curses were some kind of magical instrument of statecraft, President Goodluck Jonathan would probably be the best leader on earth for if there is an art he seems to have mastered so well, it is reeling out curses to ‘enemies’ of the state. While last Saturday’s gruesome attack of a school and slaughter of pupils is nonpareil in the annals of Nigeria’s recent terror madness, the President’s stock response and numbing reaction is becoming a study in presidential paralogia.

    Nobody seems to have the accurate figure of the number of pupils killed at the Government Secondary School, Mamudo, in the Northeast state of Yobe, but it is not as much the number as the method and viciousness. Some national newspapers reported between 20 and 29 while the American wire service, Associated Press (AP) seemed quite definitive about 42 dead students and teachers. Here is one account: “It was a gory sight. People who went to hospital and saw the bodies shed tears. There were 42 bodies, most of them students. Some of them had parts of their bodies blown off and badly burnt while others had gunshot wounds,” a local resident reportedly told AP.

    Another account from escapee teacher and pupils say the gunmen gathered their victims in a hostel and threw explosives and opened fire. They burned the pupils alive, reports an injured student from his sick bed. The insurgents believed to be of the Boko Haram sect were especially bestial, adding a satanic fervor to their act this time. But this is not their first attack on schools; indeed this is the third in the last one month having struck in Maiduguri (Borno) and Damaturu (Yobe).

    What this suggests is that they had established a pattern of targeting schools in recent months and we ask, why had our security agencies not cottoned on to it and deployed preemptive measures. It is scary that ill-trained bandits could invade schools and public facilities, unleash mayhem, have a field day and disappear into the sand dunes without a trace. We appreciate the vast and tough terrain; we appreciate that not every inch of the large states of the Northeast of Nigeria can be manned. What this calls for therefore, is improved and relentless intelligence surveillance. There must also be efficient and rapid response. We know that what is going on is not a James Bond movie but we are thinking of a situation where any strike or heavy deployment of arms anywhere in the country ought to trigger an alarm. For how many more schools will be attacked and how many more innocent pupils will have to be cut down in cold blood before we can brace up to this challenge.

    Finally, if this manner of free-wheeling attacks and killings is embarrassing, it is even more so when President Jonathan reacts. In this latest attack he had this to say: “The killing is barbaric, completely wicked. Anybody who will target innocent children for any kind of grief or emotional dysfunction will certainly go to hell.” Going about placing a curse on killers and plunderers is certainly not part of a president’s call. A president’s duty, especially in a time of national conflict and emergency, is to project steely resolve, character, courage and a certain invincibility that reassures the citizenry. He is expected to assess the situation quickly and objectively and assert authority, including sanctioning negligent aides. To curse is a sign of weakness never to be associated with any president. To lapse into curses like a fish wife is to abdicate responsibility, to surrender.