The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Toast to Prophet T.B. Joshua at 50

    SIR: If there is one man whose life and ministry has impacted spiritually, morally, materially on the lives of millions of people around the world, it is the founder and leader of the Synagogue Church of all Nations, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua popularly called Prophet T.B. Joshua. From a very humble beginning in the late 1990s, Prophet T.B. Joshua against all odd have continue to soar in his mission of changing lives, changing nations and changing the world.

    One astonishing feature that distinguishes Prophet T.B. Joshua from other men of God is his maturity in preaching and teaching the Word of God with power and the practical demonstration of God’s love for mankind through provision of assistance and succor to millions of people irrespective of nationality, tribe, religion or denomination.

    Prophet T.B. Joshua and the Emmanuel TV partners’ scholarship scheme stand out today as one of its kind in Nigeria. What marvels is the kind heart with which these assistance are given devoid of the usual showmanship and grandstanding exhibited by most people when they give to the needy. Recently, the prophet paid about N26 million to enable one Ms. Yinka Oduwale undertake a PhD study at the prestigious Oxford University in England. The gesture particularly challenged me. Thousands of families today are being restored through Prophet T.B. Joshua ministry. On more than one occasion, I have watched him donate millions of dollars in aids to people affected by natural disaster elsewhere in the world and at same extending similar gesture to charities organization and rehabilitation homes in Europe and America. Hence, Aljazeera once reported this unusual gesture as the flow of aids form Africa to America.

    Apart from students, athletes and people with disabilities are very dear to the heart of the Prophet. Every year, he and Emmanuel TV partners spend millions of dollars to train and develop talented athletes especially those living with disabilities.

    The life of Prophet T.B. Joshua has something to teach all of us, his very humble beginning is a testament to the fact that anybody can be chosen by God irrespective of his/her background. Prophet T.B. Joshua has taught the rich not to glory in their riches; that we must jettison the thoughts self alone.

    The simplicity and humility of Prophet T.B. Joshua is particularly a challenge to our billionaire flamboyant bishops and pastors whose ministries of prosperity, riches, gold, diamond and private jets have turned Christianity upside down in Nigeria and the world over. As this humble God’s servant mark the age of 50, I join millions of people across the world to appreciate God for the gift of a prophet for my generation.

    • Ijie Ben Asuelimen,

    Benin City, Edo State

  • NAFDAC: Using hi-tech to fight fake drugs

    NAFDAC: Using hi-tech to fight fake drugs

    Counterfeiting and faking of drugs and food substances have become a global industry, so also are the worries and concerns over the development. Particularly for Nigeria, the challenge has been the impetus needed to frontally and aggressively confront the menace. To the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria’s health boosting agency, falls that responsibility. The efforts of the Dr. Paul B. Orhii-led agency, especially its deployment of cutting edge technologies to fight and win the anti-counterfeit drugs war has gained global recognition.

    Take Truscan. NAFDAC’s successful deployment of this technology brought it global consciousness. There are also Black Eye and Radio Frequency Identification system (RFID). I hasten to add the Mobile Authentication Service (MAS), the world’s first anti-counterfeiting contraption which uses the SMS platform. Dr. Orhii is enthralled by MAS, especially for its cost effectiveness and immediacy of result. The simplicity of MAS is awesome. The programme involves the packaging of drugs with a scratch card placed on drug packs from the point of manufacture. When scratched, the hidden codes revealed on the packs could be sent free of charge via SMS to 38353 on the MTN, Zain and Globacom networks. Shortly afterwards, the sender will receive a reply confirming whether the product is genuine or not.

    Fantastic you will say! What it means is that NAFDAC may finally have succeeded in placing the responsibility of detecting counterfeit drugs in the hands of Nigeria’s over 114 million mobile phone subscribers. It will thrill you to no end to know that the agency is applauded globally as the world’s first drug regulatory authority to deploy and use hand-held devices at borders for on-the-spot detection of counterfeit medicines with resounding successes!

    While MAS may be a first choice because of its mass involvement appeal, Black Eye, Radio Frequency Identification system and Truscan equally have their own attractions. Black Eye has the capacity to screen multiple drug samples at the same time. This is how it goes: It compares a tablet that you are trying to check and tell you whether it is genuine or fake; and if you ask from the machine, it will break the product down into its active pharmaceutical ingredients; if counterfeited, it could reveal the inactive pharmaceutical ingredients. It is a ready tool in the hands of NAFDAC’s operatives because it can take up to 1000 different tablets at the same time and break them down and tell you which one is good or bad.

    The Radio Frequency Identification system has the ability to track and trace regulated foods and medicines and also prevent the forgery of sensitive documents. As hinted above, Truscan is a hand-held device using Roman Spectroscopy to detect counterfeit products. With this technology, NAFDAC officials can quickly scan imported products at the ports and release them on time without compromising their quality. Nigeria is now the first country in the world to use it to detect quality of medicines. Truscan’s efficacy is underlined by the glowing tribute from Roxy Nader of the London-based independent information provider on country risk and industry research, Business Monitor International. Nader, an authority on Nigerian pharmaceutical market has this to say on the agency’s deployment of Truscan: “NAFDAC has recorded a major food and drug regulatory milestone with the acquisition of the Truscan device”. It is instructive to know that following its success in Nigeria, the Food and Drug Administration agencies in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Canada etc, have also started using it.

    So much is the public confidence in the technology-driven war against counterfeit and fake drugs and food items in Nigeria by NAFDAC that critical stakeholders in the sector are ready to throw in everything and synergise with the agency to win the war. Removing the burden of tariff payment from consumers of the drug is a veritable incentive for its use. And so, key stakeholders in the sector (drug manufacturers) have come to the aid of consumers by accepting to fund it, although it is currently applicable to malaria drugs and antibiotics, being products most cloned and adulterated by the murderous counterfeiters. The NAFDAC has assured that efforts are also on to extend the service to other general purpose drugs.

    The Mobile Authentication Service guarantees befitting and enduring positive corporate image for pharmaceutical companies and their products, thus ensuring high level product patronage with the attendant high revenue yield for such firms. For pharmaceutical companies that are reluctant to key into the strategy because of its perceived cost implications, they might have placed higher premiums on profitability than the lives of their customers. From the larger interest of the society, this attitude is unpatriotic.

    Let me say unequivocally that Dr Orhii’s ongoing revolution in NAFDAC has succeeded in placing Nigeria in the league of serious countries of the world ready to do anything to protect their people from the merchants of death that drug counterfeiters have become.

    • Ikhilae, is a Lagos-based public affairs analyst

  • Tackling transportation problem in Abia

    What is truly lacking in many parts of the country today which has continued to inhibit development and opening up of the hinterlands is lack of access roads and adequate transportation system.  Successive governments at all levels especially during the long years of military regime did not help matters at all.  Several efforts and inputs by private individuals and organizations in the transportation sector has not been enough because majority of Nigerians rely on land transportation system to move around. Besides, the cost of such transport scheme is always unaffordable for some Nigerians especially in the rural areas. But in Abia State today unlike in the past, the situation has changed and is still changing for good with the present administration’s policy on massive road construction and rehabilitation across the senatorial zones in the state.

    The policy has brought about the opening up of access roads several parts of the state, especially in the agrarian communities in the hinterlands where farmers reside. Before now, some of the people in the rural communities in the state have not seen caterpillars talk much of using tarred roads. The state government under leadership of Governor Theodore Orji has remained consistent in pursuing the policy which is one of the cardinal programmes of his government.

    Apart from the ongoing construction and rehabilitation of roads across the state, the government has completed the following roads since the assumption of office. They include Abia Tower (Ossah) dualised road, Okpara Square dualised road; the Uwalaka Ahia-Orie Ugba road; Ibeku Road extension, Ozuitem Street, Abam-Orie Ugba Street, Umuovom Nkatta Road (Ochendo Bye-Pass), Ahieke-Okwuta-Isieke Road with spur to the Cenotaph, Uyo Street, Okwulaga-Afaraukwu Road, Umuafai-Lodu-Ahieke Road, Link Road between Aba Road and Timber Market, Nkata Ameke Road, Nkata-Alike Ring Road, New Secretariat By-pass, Ubakala-Old Umuahia dualised Highway, internal Roads in Abia State House of Assembly, Abia Transport Road, Enyiukwu Road, Okigwe Park Bye-pass and the asphalt overlay of over 25 streets within Umuahia the state capital and these roads were also beautified with streetlights and pedestrian walkways on the both sides.  The development has restored nightlife in the state capital amidst secured atmosphere devoid of crime of any sort.

    In the commercial city of Aba alone, the state government has completed the Okwu Street, Ezeogo Road (Opposite Ngwa High School), Nwala Street, Mount Zion Street, Ikonne Street, A-line and F-line, Ariaria Market. Other roads include Umule Road, Umuocham Azikiwe, Okigwe, Faulks Road, Orieohazu street, Unity Garden/Osisioma Ring Road, Timber and Allied Products Market internal Roads, Uratta Road, Dualization of Aba-Owerri Road with the spur at the Osisioma Ngwa end of the Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway completed, dualization of Aba-Port Harcourt Road, Udu Street, Umugo-Ugwunagbo Road, Uratta, Ngozi Avenue, Omenazu, Okigwe Road, East Street and the recently commissioned Brass street, Milverton Avenue, Azikiwe Road, George Street and Constitution Crescent.

    Knowing that lack of adequate drainage channels have always been the bane of road durability in Aba, the present government demolished all illegal structures in the city which made it possible for the construction of giant drainage channels at Ama-Ogbonna and Ngwa Road by East to control flooding in the city. Apart from the completed roads in the city, the perennial flooding at Binez junction of Aba-Owerri road where motorists spend hours before crossing over has been tackled.  Beside, work is ongoing in other roads in the city and will soon be completed before the rainy season sets in proper.

    Also not left out in the roads revolution by the state government is the rural communities where majority of the people of the state are residing. Some of the rural roads that have been constructed include Ozu-Abam Ndi-Okereke Road, Amaekpu-Okagwe-Ohafia Road, Amankalu-Alayi-Akoli-Imenyi Road, Ariam- Usaka-Ikwuano Road, Nunya-Eluama-Isuikwuato Road, Ovim-Isuikwuato Road, Aba-Obikabia Road, Umugo-Alaoji-Umunka-Umuodo-Ugwunagbo Road, the Ntigha-Mbawsi Road, Iyienyi-Okwoi-Ozuitem Road, Umueze-Agbo-Ubani Ibeku Road, Nkata Mbom Road, some internal roads in Ossah, and the Achara-Ihechiowa Road.

    Being mindful of the popular saying that vehicles have become an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete, Governor Orji had in 2009 rolled out the Abia City Transport Scheme which aside creating employment for the people, had equally resolved the perennial problem of lack of adequate and befitting intra-city transportation in the state. Since then till today, more than 1000  vehicles have been given out by the state government under the Transport Loan Scheme and the beneficiaries of the scheme are giving testimony today. That is why it has been possible for the state government to able to provide free transportation for indigenes of the state living in different parts of the country during yuletide celebration.

    With the ongoing revolution in the roads construction and transportation system by the present administration in the state, which are two key factors in industrial growth, the state is now on the verge of reclaiming its past glory as the industrialized giant of the country.  Especially at this point that the commercial city of Aba is getting adequate attention from the state government in the area of massive infrastructure development.

    • Dr. Uwa, a medical practitioner wrote from Aba, Abia State

  • Celebrating Bayero’s 50th coronation anniversary

    Celebrating Bayero’s 50th coronation anniversary

    SIR: When he was being installed 50 years ago as the Emir of Kano, Alhaji (Dr.) Ado Abdullahi Bayero promised to dedicate himself to the service of his people, the emirate, the state and the country in general. In retrospect, there is no doubting the fact that the 1963 pledge of the former Nigerian Ambassador to Senegal has not only been redeemed, but fulfilled with a stoical forbearance.

    Bayero, one of the longest serving emirs in the emirate’s history today stands out distinguishably among his peers as a patron of Islamic Scholarship who as well, embraces western education as a means to succeed in a modern Nigeria. His broadmindedness as well as his passion for the betterment of humanity has placed him in a vantage position to render selfless service, thus, validating Paul Harris’ postulation that “a true spirit of service is capable of working world’s redemption”. As a way of working for the redemption of his people, Bayero had served (before becoming Emir) as the Chief of the Kano Police – a position equivalent to a Commissioner of Police today.

    At the national level, the emir has served in various capacities. He was first chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 1966, and currently serving as two-time chancellor of Nigeria’s premier university – University of Ibadan (UI). He was first inducted on April 24, 1976 and served till 1984. He was again re-appointed in 2001. Cumulatively, Bayero has served the university for close to 28 years, thus, contributing in no small way to the stability, progress and development of the university.

    It is against his background that UI has decided to honour its one of the longest serving chancellors with a day of royal tributes and N12billion fundraising for the Ado Bayero Complex of the University of Ibadan School of Business” on June 20.

    Bayero’s long time friendship with the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade is an indication that the emir is a bridge-builder across the length and breadth of the country-a kind of attribute that the nation earnestly desires.

    Born 25 July, 1930, Bayero ascended the throne in October 22, 1963 becoming the 13th Fulani Emir of Kano and the 56th ruler of the ancient kingdom. A man of his words, his consistency in ruling by the tenets of his promise makes him a true royal father to look up to by both the young and old. Again, his commitment to the unity in the country and his advocacy for the education of both males and females earn him enormous respect as he is seen as a clairvoyant leader.

    He is not known for radicalism neither is he noted for religious dogmatism. His mien is as peaceful as his personality, cultivating the friendship of others without treachery. As he marks his 50th coronation anniversary, one can only wish him more peaceful reign and more years of service to humanity.

    • Sunday Saanu

    University of Ibadan

  • June 12 @ 20: To kill a ghost

    June 12 @ 20: To kill a ghost

    The ghost is still abroad. Now 20 year old, it has been with us these years traipsing about town taking prisoners, causing commotion and even handing favours to some. Remember Saturday, June 12, 1993? In fact let’s do a bit of ‘where were you’. Where were you that bright, rain-defying Saturday when Nigerians trooped out to vote? ( if you are 20 years or below, you were probably in your mother’s tummy whereupon you were most likely on that long queue by proxy as mummy waited to vote). Where were you that day Nigerians tried out that anachronistic voting system called option A4; a method in which we had to queue behind the candidate, rain or shine, and we had a physical head count as was done in the days of King Herod?

    Where were you when Nigerians unanimously queued behind a certain MKO Abiola in an option that left his opponent no option than to accept electoral defeat before the votes were counted? Where were you that day Nigerians voted against religion, against tribe and against the soldiers? Where were you 20 years ago when Nigerians in their majority refused to let go of their mandate which they freely gave to MKO? Where were you all through the silly machinations of the gap-toothed general who actually did not want to leave power but who had to run when come came to become and the ghost of June 12 refused to be exorcised? Where were you when the joker in Aso Rock was installed and the goggled general swiftly nudged him to a crashing fall like humpty-dumpty?

    Where were you that morning when Alhaja Kudi Abiola was gunned down along the expressway by Oregun? Where were you the day the ‘small’ general finally kicked the bucket on a most unremarkable date that even Hardball cannot readily remember now (but how can we forget that he packed up relishing delicious Indian apple flown in directly from that oriental land of the great Taj Mahal)? And where were you on that historic day of July 10, 1998 when news filtered out most eerily that MKO Abiola had died in detention or if you like, on that day MKO was believed to have been extirpated?

    June 12, 1993, well, for those who were not born, was the day a certain hardy businessman-turned politician stood election to become the president of Nigeria. The stuttering Egba man, from Ogun State in Nigeria literally took Nigeria by storm and had them cast off their religious and tribal incubus to vote as one and perhaps for one Nigeria for a change. It was the day MKO, the one who spoke in parables and riddles; the moneyman who loathed to see a man cry and who spent money as if he owned a plantation of money trees, won the freest and fairest election this land has ever seen. It was the day the boisterous and chivalrous hurricane of a man cast a spell on Nigeria and had her on a train to fairyland but was stopped short in its track and Nigeria was disembarked and left to wander about, now a ghost, now a loony and now a tramp, 20 years on.

    The ghost of June 12, or shall we say the ghost of Abiola still walks our landscape and cries us awake every night. It refuses to be rested because many of those who betrayed him are still around reaping from their evil enterprise. Not a few were his friends, many climbed to prominence through his magnanimity. But they still strut the land and worst of all they deny that he won that historic election even 20 years on. But the more they deny and equivocate and dance refusing to make atonement the more we are all sorry. And the ghost stalks still.

  • On the so-called six years, single-term presidency

    SIR: Nigeria has not been the same since Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (who was Vice President to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua) took advantage of the death of Yar’Adua to truncate rotational presidency. Towards gaining sympathy for his presidential ambition in 2011, Jonathan promised to spend a single term of four years, and he said it repeatedly wherever he went within and outside Nigeria. Less than two months after his election, he started hammering on seven years single term, but some voices cried foul. Yet, Jonathan used his presidential clout to control the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through which a referendum was stage-managed to rubber-stamp six years single term, and rejection of rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones.

    Rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones is in tandem with Nigeria’s federal character policy, while its rejection promotes political disorder as a corollary. Indubitably, Nigeria is fertile to terrorism without political order that can guarantee equity, justice, peace and stability. Secondly, Nigeria gave-up the British parliamentary system and adopted the American presidential system of a singly renewable four year term in office for President, Governors, and other political elective positions. With a single term of six years, Nigeria goes the way of neither Britain nor America.

    Note that the two older democratic countries have been on their political systems for ages and they are not contemplating change, rather finding better ways of doing what they have been doing. Professor Maurice Iwu spent many billions of naira to produce voters’ cards and registers. When Professor Attahiru Jega took-over, he described Iwu as one of the best accountable persons he ever met. But he jettisoned Iwu’s voters’ registers and cards, only to get billions of naira to issue new ones. Don’t ask me what has become of those materials and how many billions Jega is budgeting to demand for the 2015 general elections.

    Meanwhile, the only solution that Jonathan and the PDP-controlled legislature found to lack of fiscal discipline and unstable voters’ registers and cards is six years single term for President et al. Six straight years will quicken the pace for power mongers, so that they can all become President before Christ returns. When a heartless, clever totalitarian dictator rules Nigeria for six straight years, if the country does not go into oblivion, “everybody” will emaciate. Thinking about second term promotes sensitivity.

    • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin.

  • The gale of same-sex union

    SIR: The spate of same-sex marriage is winning over opposite sex marriage as many countries of the world continue to sign on gay marriages, making the same-sex marriage legal. Other countries still dragging their feet are under great pressure to do same. As Nigeria government has been recently rebuked for her anti-gay policy.

    Some renowned personality in the entertainment industry are living as gay couples, combined with the explosion of gay sex videos and pictures on the internet are fast turning a large number of innocent people into the fold.

    A same-sex marriage was held in France the day the gay bill was passed into law, while gays continued to storm every street corner in the world for recognition by law and demand to live the life style of their taste.

    The danger signal here is that those with same sex persuasion are more aggressive than those with opposite sex inclination. Following the violent history of those with the habit, and some protest slang that threatened ‘we will sodomised your children’, coupled with the description in one of the historical book of the world, the Holy Bible, where it was associated with rape and humiliation of those that have different sexual inclinations.

    How long then can those countries and states that are against gay marriage maintain this stand and what happens if gay marriage is finally accepted in every country? It will surely be a licence to wipe out opposite sex union, and the foreseeable time limit for this is 2030, that is if it did not happen before then.

    • Ojay Kaikai

    Akure, Ondo State

  • From the cell phone

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    I am yet to recover from the shock I got, watching Governor Jang, a grandfather for that matter, claiming victory of an election he was roundly defeated. Could this be the reason many states of the federation have become killing fields? I wonder what those that fall over one another to give Governor Akpabio awards are doing now that the whole world has seen that the man is everything but democratic.What Nigerians need now is development rooted in credible democratic principles not building of roads, bridges and airport that is a cover up for dictatorial tendencies. From Ifeanyi .O . Ifeanyichukwu, Abuja.

    Imagine Gov. Jonah Jang who cannot make peace between two tribes in his state fighting to become the NGF Chairman. Wonder they say shall never end. From Kunle Adeyemi.

    Are you the chief spokesman for APC? There was no trace of balance in your piece-Govs go gaga.To you, the President is meddling in the activities of NGF while Gov Amechi does not know anything about dissolution of Obio/Akpor elected council. Tell us about the election of ALGON Chairman in Rivers State. Anonymous

    Gbenga, your article on When governors go gaga is a classic and must read. It shows clearly the type of politicians and decietful leadership we have. Kudos to you. Anonymous

    ‘Doing what they know how to do best’ encapsulates the Nigerian politicians, most especially of the PDP stock.They lie, rig, steal, impoverish, kill, maim, exploit, blackmail, deceive, confuse and misrule, among others they know how to do best. From Alhaj ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos

    It is sad to see people like Mimiko and Obi who were initially victims of a rigged election and therefore had to fight a long drawn battle to secure their mandate, support another daylight rigging and arbitrary position. Are they saying they no longer believe in democracy? Anonymous

    Don’t forget one of the acronyms of the PDP is ‘People Destroying People’. The nation’s political landscape is littered with bones of innocent citizens, high and low, who dared to confront the powers that be in the PDP, especially during elections. They thump their chest and call it ‘do or die’, because they must be in power to control and plunder the national treasury. Any wonder we are the way we are after 14 years of the locust? But the blood of the innocent don’t rest easy. So, it’s pay back time. That the PDP ‘ll self-destruct is like destiny foretold. Let’s pray they don’t take the nation down with them. Regards. From Olu.

    Jang should stop decieving himself and respect his old age. You don’t endorse a defeated candidate after a very transparent election has been held. PDP should bury their face in shame and throw the towel instead of displaying their act of always wanting to steal other contestants, victory in election. From Mathias Val.

    Having succeeded in exposing the majority of Nigerians’ lives to years of unadulterated unhappiness through injustice, poverty, discrimination, hatred, unequal rights and opportunities, the administration of President Jonathan is again planning to extend its hold on power beyond 2015 with or without legal votes. In the plan, any opposition must be crushed like they are currently doing to Gov. Rotimi Amaechi. But can’t they allow civility to prevail? Is the government not aware that if we all resort to lawlessness, the only thing we can hope for is civil war, bloodshed and the end of our dreams as a nation? Chief Anenih and his co-travellers should please pause to think. From Adegoke O. O, Ikhin, Edo State.

     

    For Olatunji Dare

    Cry my beloved country. Uncle Dare these people are making mince meat of governance.They do not have regard for us and have demonstrated that they are just educated thugs desecrating the exalted office of the governor.What a pity.Can we now conclude that Nigeria is held by the jugular by a cult who must have their way while the people have their say? I am indeed afraid for the entity called Nigeria, for these people care for nothing,no one but themselves. Anonymous

    I don’t know what you people take Nigerians to be,we know the truth Jang won and Amaechi lost,(no propaganda pls).your Governol Idris Wada was at the election venue and he said the election was rigged,hence he was at the press briefing of the autentic chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum is he a liar? Anonymous

    Nothing good is coming from what they know how to do best if not lies, deceit, blackmailing and name calling. Can the ruling party sustain this democratic setting by all these atrocities? If the ruling party thinks witch hunt Amaechi or perceived opponent can earn the president second term, they must be joking. The president will fall like a pack of cards. The president is playing God, forgetting yesterday in his life. The president has allowed himself to be fixed by an expired PDP crooks who feed fat from every crises. Mr fix it is doing what he knows how to do best now, but he should also remember that the most high will do him what He knows how to do best. Mr fix it should think three things in life, 1. when he started, 2. currently and 3. the future. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Apapa Lagos.

    If Jonah Jang thinks Jonathan is his friend by calling him to contest NGF election, he must be joking. Where was the president when Jos boiling? If the president said he is so much in love with Jang, let him anoint him his successor. Enough of this president harassment of those he called his enemies. Take my words, the president will regret his actions very soon. A lie can travel 1000 kilometres in a seconds but at the end, truth will prevail. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Apapa Lagos.

    Dear Olatunji Dare, what is playing out in NGF election is what happened in 2011 election. Some of the actors now did not win the election as governors. They are masters of rigging, harrasment and kidnapping of opponents. Above all, what money cannot do, more money can do. That’s their belief.

    Having succeeded in exposing the majority of Nigerians’ lives to years of unadulterated unhappiness through injustice, poverty, discrimination, hatred, unequal rights and opportunities, the administration of President Jonathan is again planning to extend its hold on power beyond 2015 with or without legal votes. In the plan, any opposition must be crushed like they are currently doing to Gov. Rotimi Amaechi. But can’t they allow civility to prevail? Is the government not aware that if we all resort to lawlessness, the only thing we can hope for is civil war, untold bloodshed and the end of our dreams as a nation? Chief Anenih and his co-travellers should please pause to think. From Adegoke O O, Ikhin, Edo State.

    Amaechi suspended himself from PDP when he refused to accept the consensus candidate of the PDP. I believe that as a member of the party,its majority decision is binding on you otherwise you resign or face disciplinary action. Anonymous

    Good day sir, it was for your comments that I still have the desire to read any Nigerian newspaper. I pray that Almighty God will add to your days on earth. From Sunday Adepoju.

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Obj started it by building on rigging Anini gave them direction but one day the lier wlll have no lie to tell. From Sam Orah, Port Harcourt

    He who makes trouble for others, the great Chinua Achebe had said, also makes trouble for himself. The attack Jonathan unleases on Amaechi at all front through the backdoor is bound to backfire later, that is if it hasn’t already started doing so.To me, turning the open and clean victory won by Amaechi to that of Jang,all of a sudden, courtsey of the powers from the above is simply a public relay of how the last general elections were clandestingly won and lost at various levels especially that of the presidency. And with this, who then still needs extra-sensory perception to know what PDP could be up to, in 2015? I think this scuttling of Amaechi’s victory before our very eyes especially, should serve as a wake-up call to whichever political party that thinks itself a viable alternative to the embarassment that has been the PDP governments over the years. From Emmanuel Egwu,Egwu.

    What do you expect Jonathan to do now when he has enslaved himself with pycophants who are not telling him the bitter truth. We all thought he was going to be a listening president, but he has made himself a regional president. This is a man that Nigerians voted for massively because of how he humbled himself, but now he has turned to a terror rather than a listening man. Jonathan is the architect of his problem. Now he is supporting a loser, automatically he is also a loser. His puppets are praising him now forgetting those who did that yesterday are nowhere to be found today. The earlier he does away with those praise singers the better for him. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Apapa Lagos.

    US runs her democracy through crystal clear modus operandi that allow a loser to congratulate a winner with a handshake; a gesture that usually douses after-election fist blows on cheeks and major upheavals, and make US great. May Nigeria be exalted through righteous acts. From Samuel Ojo Sanni Mopa, Kogi State

    I read The Nation and saw your comments on the president,what you say is the truth but how many of us like and accept the truth.KEEP IT UP !.Thanks. From Emughedi Arthur youth Leader Arukwo Community ABOLGA Rivers State.

    If I were Jonathan I will rather listen to those who are cruising me, because he said it yesterday May 30 when he organised PDP family meeting that, if people are clapping for you examine yourself. Some governors are praising him for supporting Jang while others are criticing him. Now he has shot himself in the leg for supporting praise singers. From Hamza Ozi Momoh Apapa Lagos.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: ’Welcome ‘Opon-Imo’; goodbye to ’Igba aimo’. The introduction of ‘Opon-Imo’ really signifies the beauty of democracy such that when one regime administered less and subsequent one excels, then, the mediocre would work harder so that in future, both may meet at equilibrium. More power to Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s elbow for executing a good education policy for the people of Osun State. From Lanre Oseni.

    You are right my brother; however, ‘Opon-Imo’ should be complimentary rather than substitute to conventional classroom. The role of the teacher is a force to reckon with. If all ‘APC governors’ can work like Fashola, Aregbesola, Almakura and Yari, then, sooner than later, Nigerians would realise the mistake they are making if they do not give the APC a chance. If only my other northern governors, (excluding those of Kano, Nasarawa and Zamfara) can borrow a leaf from Aregbesola then, in no distant time, nobody would contemplate calling us parasites again. Anonymous.

    Your article on ‘Opon-Imo’ was a masterpiece. I wish it is introduced in other states in the south west. Anonymous.

    Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s developmental stride in education sector is a welcome move to make education sustainable and affordable in Osun State; other governors, particularly those in the south west, have a duty to sustain Awolowo’s tempo in education. From Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    It is my practice to read your newspaper at this hour – 4.00 a.m. to 5.00 a.m., especially the Comment and Analysis section. This is to enable me to read between the lines. I have just finished reading your column. Please I will like to know how I can get the ‘Opon-Imo’, your subject-matter in your write-up of June 9.Thanks. Anonymous.

    Your write-up on ‘Opon-Imo’; are you an objective journalist or a a paid ACN gent? Anonymous.

    My brother, Awolowo’s West meant Lagos, (excluding Lagos Island and Mainland), Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Delta states). This West continued under Chief S.L. Akintola for four years before Edo and Delta got away as Midwest Region. . The rest continued as West Region through SLA, Fajuyi and until a year into Adebayo when Lagos left and the remnant became Western State in May, 1967. Please refer to yours in The Nation on Sunday on ‘Opon-Imo’. From Wole Adebola Esq.

    Your write-up on ‘Opon-Imo’ is interesting; please keep it up. From Prince.

    I am on the same page with you on the piece on ‘Opon-Imo’. It is a good idea but can it impel education to grow out of the environment so that the learning process will relate to the pattern of work in the society? Simply put, can it change the neo-colonial state which religion and ethnicity lubricate? Thanks. From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna.

    While the whole world still marvels at the innovation of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the giant strides he is making in his emancipation programmes, one of which is the introduction of ‘Opon-Imo’ (Tablet of knowledge), regrettably, my own governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is busy chasing and leading in the inanity of defending his ignoble roles in the controversial election of the chair of the Nigeria Governors Forum in which his principal was roundly trounced. A pity you might say! Instead of wasting time, let him go to Osun to understudy the concept and the actual conception of ‘Opon-Imo’ and replicate the same thing in Ondo State. From Olu Ajayi, Abeokuta.

     

  • Jonathan should not sign anti-gay marriage bill

    SIR: Nigerian lawmakers have once again passed a bill against gay marriage. The bill which bans same sex marriage and outlaws any groups supporting gay rights was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives. The bill bans any gay marriage from being conducted in a church or a mosque.

    “Gay or lesbian couple who marry could face up 14 years each in prison. Witnesses or anyone who helps couples marry could be sentenced to 10 years behind bars. Anyone taking part in a group advocating for gay rights or anyone caught in a “public show” of affection also would face 10 years in prison if convicted by a criminal court’.

    Since 2006, there have been repeated attempts by the government to legislate against same sex marriage. But none of the bills has, as in this case, succeeded in scaling through both Houses of the National Assembly. So what we have seen in the case of the current bill is an unprecedented move to criminalize gay marriage.

    Here are reasons why I think President Goodluck Jonathan should not sign this outrageous bill into law.

    First of all, the repeated moves by lawmakers since 2006 to ban same sex marriage is clearly unwarranted. It is an indication of pervasive, persistent and obsessive homophobia among our politicians. And political homophobia is not consistent with the reason why the lawmakers were elected in the first place. Our lawmakers were elected to make laws that protect the citizens, not laws that harm them.

    The passing of the anti gay marriage bill is another sign that Nigeria is governed and led by those who are not forward looking in their legislative thinking and reasoning; those who cannot make laws and policies that reflect the realities of the time and the actual needs and aspirations of the people.

    There is no doubt that the bill enjoys the popular support of the religious groups in the country. Both christian and islamic leaders have come out openly and expressly in support of the bill. But that should not be interpreted to mean that the proposed law is good for Nigeria. No, it is not. Nigeria is a democracy, not a christian or an islamic theocracy. Democracy upholds the will of the majority while respecting the rights of minorities. This bill violates the rights of sexual minorities in the country.

    The provisions in this bill are not in accordance with Nigeria’s human rights obligations and commitments locally and internationally. The bill makes some Nigerians criminals based on who they are, the persons they associate with and the opinions they hold. It gives legislative backing to acts of religious fanaticism, to gay persecution and witch hunt, to inciting violence against persons on the basis of their real or imagined sexual orientation.

    Again the bill is not compatible with our local culture and traditions as many have argued. The cultures and traditions in Africa are diverse, dynamic and tolerant in terms of sexual, marriage and family norms and values. They do not sanction hatred, intolerance, oppression, persecution, and discrimination against persons with different sexual orientation or lifestyle as this bill expressly does. Hatred and persecution of gay people are certainly not the ‘African values’ which many politicians are using to argue against gay rights and support the ban on gay marriage.

    Generations yet unborn would be ashamed and horrified to know that we- the current generation of Nigerians- stood by and allowed this homophobic bill to become a law.

    So I urge President Jonathan not to sign into law the anti-gay marriage bill.

    • Leo Igwe

    University of Bayreuth,

    Germany

     

  • Tofa and the ghost of June 12

    TODAY marks 20 years since the result of the presidential elections won by the candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief M.K.O. Abiola, was annulled by then President Ibrahim Babangida.

    The events of June 12, 1993 traumatised a nation struggling for balance. Part of the scandal lay in the fact that the military authorities were never able to dredge up a rational excuse for cancelling what has come to hailed as one of the fairest and freest electoral exercises in Nigerian history.

    So instead of receiving acclaim for conducting such a poll, Babangida who signed off on the diabolical directive to scuttle a transition process on which billions had been spent, has been burying his head in shame ever since. Stopping short of apologizing for a treasonable act against the people of this country, he has managed to say he took responsibility for the action.

    But just as the name of former United States President, Richard Nixon, will forever be overshadowed by the disastrous legacy of Watergate; everything that Babangida achieved in his nine odd years in office – even the irony of superintending one of the freest polls in our history – will always be stained by the date “June 12.”

    The former military president does not deny that an election took place on that day. If the event were “fictitious” then there would have been no need to annul a “fiction.” Instead, he has over the years tried to justify the annulment by claiming he was blackmailed into doing so. At other times he would hint darkly that allowing the result of the poll to stand would have resulted in dire consequences for Nigeria.

    For another central figure in the bizzare events of 20 years ago, the chairman of the defunct National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof Humphrey Nwosu, the scuttling of his crowning achievement by the casual decree of one military dictator, was no fiction.

    So devastated was he that for 15 years he disappeared from public view . His vow of silence was only broken in 2008 when he emerged to confirm the obvious – that Abiola won the election fair and square. For him the matter was no “fiction” otherwise he would not have written a book about it.

    Of all the major players of that sordid chapter of Nigeria’s political history, only one figure remains resolute in living in denial – the former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention, (NRC), Alhaji Bashir Usman Tofa – Abiola’s opponent.

    Addressing reporters in Kano last week, he described ‘June 12’ as fiction and dismissed those still celebrating ‘the dead issue’ as idle.

    The fact that Tofa refuses to admit that something terrible happened on that day does not erase the reality or the place of those polls in Nigerian history. It also does not erase from the memory his role in the drama.

    Even worse, there are many like Tofa who are only too quick to move on to the next political blunder without analysing and learning from the past. The election is only free and fair where they are declared the winners.

    That is the tragedy of Nigeria and it makes the 20th anniversary of the annulment more poignant given the recent case of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election and the brazen attempt of losers to overturn an unpalatable outcome.

    This refusal to accept electoral outcomes is proof that the ghost of June 12 still roams the land. For as long as such despicable conduct continues, Tofa and all who participated in that chapter will continue to answers questions they would rather avoid. And that’s a fact!