The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Gospel according to Segun Oni

    SIR: The PDP’s preparations for victory celebration had been very elaborate prior to the Supreme Court judgment in the case of former governor Segun Oni against the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Part of the elaborate preparation must have been the thanksgiving service that was arranged to hold at the Methodist Church, Tabernacle of Praise, Ifaki, on the judgment day, which had to hold, all the same, to offer a humbled Oni an opportunity to preach a gospel of the acts of God, except that he cited no verses of the Bible.

    He said he accepted the judgment as an act of God even though it was such a despicable loss on his part as the Supreme Court out-rightly struck his case out and described it as “frivolous and an abuse of court process “

    He proceeded to educate those who might not be close or familiar enough with the almighty God that He sometimes imposes His wish regardless of the direction of our prayers.

    “At times when God wants to favour you, He will refuse to hear your prayers,” he said, amidst a farcical self-justification speech which he must have needed urgently to overcome his shock.

    He had virtually denied that he went to the Supreme Court to win his case, insisting that his main purpose was to make a point against unscrupulous judges and restore sanity to the judiciary.

    He claimed he did not file the case out of desperation even as his boasts and flaming confidence since he filed the case had made his motive appear much worse than being desperate.

    There was this fear which he created that he and his party, the PDP, would not mind endangering the rule of law and cause a set-back to the nation’s democratic project.

    Filing the case at the Supreme Court at all was, in itself, a disregard to the Constitution of Nigeria or an attempt at re-writing the constitution by sheer misuse of political power.

    Because Justice Isa Ayo Salami, the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, was Oni’s main target of action, President Goodluck Jonathan had stayed action on his re-instatement despite having been investigated and exonerated, as if the president needed the out-come of Oni’s suit which had appeared to have been filed with a nod from the President ab initio .

    With the Supreme Court judgment, the president or the PDP is now exonerated from a charge of interference in the case but, far beyond this, the wrong of the non-reinstatement of Justice Isa Ayo Salami should now be righted.

    In the same vein, Oni and his Ekiti PDP should not just be humble temporarily but permanently, so that the current peace in Ekiti State can be sustained, so that desperation, in its other various violent dimensions in the past, can also cease.

    • Jide Oguntoye

    Oye Ekiti

  • That London arrest of Arik Air cabin crew

    SIR: Concerned about the negative image the arrest of two Arik Air cabin crew members at London Heathrow has brought to Nigeria and the frightening security implications of same, I brought a motion to the floor of the House of Representatives calling for an investigation on May 23. Unfortunately, my colleagues felt otherwise and the motion was not entertained.

    Of the two crew members, Olubunmi Daramola was arrested with 6kg of cocaine with a street value of N180m concealed in her hand luggage. The second, Delita Abibimgbi was arrested for being in possession of 60 packets of cigarette also in her hand luggage.

    While I abide totally with the democratic decision of the House, I still feel personally concerned that such an incident could happen.

    Here therefore, are my personal thoughts on the matter and it is my wish that the Nigerian public sees more in the incident than just the fact of the arrest of the crew members.

    First, there is the need and urgently too, in my opinion, to condemn the action of the crew members and reassure both the United Kingdom authorities and the wider international aviation community that Nigeria will render every support and co-operation in the course of their investigation into the incident. I consider this expedient in the face of the ease with which the western press labels an entire Third World country with the negative acts of even one of its citizens; and proceed to criminalize the entire population accordingly.

    Next, we have numerous security and related aviation officials saddled with the screening and clearance of all passengers, crew and luggage at our airports. We have also invested significantly in the acquisition and deployment of modern screening equipment. So how did the two girls beat all security screening to board the flight? What protocol does the airline operators have in place to ensure that their staff members do not bring banned items and substances into their airplanes? How much background checks and profiling are undertaken in the recruitment and deployment of staff? Are there collaborators, paid from our commonwealth, but criminally circumventing the screening and flight clearance process in our airports, who are they and how do we stop them to ensure the integrity of the system?

    If it was so easy for a young cabin crew to ferry 6kg of cocaine in a handbag into the plane and over to London, how difficult then is it to take guns, bombs(IEDs), etc into the same and other planes in the face of our deteriorated security situation and what’s the implication to a beleaguered nation?

    In a terror-stricken era such as we live in, I am deeply concerned that the incident portends mortal danger to our collective physical and psychological wellbeing as a nation; especially as our airport security remains predominantly based on access control and checkpoint screening. In other climes, there is a predominant reliance on intelligence gathering/sharing, passenger profiling and staff background checks. This way those who are considered threats to civil aviation are put on a “watch list” or “no fly lists”. This adds a qualitative impetus to airport security systems.

    Our case is also compounded by very porous perimeter fences around our airports that allow people with no business in the airports easy access to them; including miscreants and possibly anti-progress elements.

    I do also hope that public pressure would be brought to bear on the relevant aviation authorities to do all that is necessary to ensure that incidences as this do not repeat or better still make it impossible for them to occur.

    • Linus Okorie,

    Member of House of Representatives

    Abuja.

  • Fronm the cell phone

    For Dare Olatunji

     

    Cry my beloved country. 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 which must have its 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

    Nothing good is coming from what they know how to do best if not lies, deceit, blackmail and name calling. Can the ruling party sustain the democratic setting with all these atrocities? If the ruling party thinks witch-hunting Amaechi or perceived opponents can earn the President a second term, they must be joking. The President will fall like a pack of cards. He is playing God forgetting the yesterday in his life. He has allowed himself to be fixed by those who feed fat on every crisis. Mr. fix it is doing what he knows how to do best now, but he should also remember that, the Most High will do what He thinks best. Mr. fix it should think of three things in life: First, when he started; second, the present and third, the future.

    If Jonah Jang thinks Jonathan is his friend by calling him to context the NGF election, he must be joking. Where was the President when Jos was boiling? If the President said he is so much in love with Jang let him annoit him his successor. Enough of this harrassment of those he calls his enemies. Take my words, the President will regret his actions very soon. A lie can travel 1,000 kilometres in a second but, at the end, the truth will prevail. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa Lagos

    What played out in the NGF election happened in the 2011 election. Some of the actors now did not win the election as governors. They are masters of rigging, harrassment and kidnapping of opponents. Above all, what money cannot do, more money can do. That is their belief. Anonymous

    Having succeeded in exposing majority of Nigerian 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 presently doing to Governor 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 and think. From Adegoke O. O., Ikhin, Edo State

    Amaechi suspended himself from the 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 because of 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

    That the PDP will self-destruct is a destiny foretold given all the atrocities it has committed against the people since the military unleashed it on Nigerians for daring to force them out of power. What have we got in 14 years of the locusts? Nothing! Let us pray harder that the divine Hand that we are seeing completes His assignment. Have a very good day, Prof. Regards. From Olu.

    ‘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 Alhaji ADEYCorsim, Oshodi, Lagos

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    He, who makes trouble for others, the great Chinua Achebe had said, also makes trouble for himself. The attack Jonathan unleashes on Amaechi on all fronts and through the backdoor is bound to backfire later, that is if it has not already started doing so. To me, turning the open and clean victory of Amaechi to that of Jang, all of a sudden, courtesy 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 do come 2015? I think the 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 embarrassments the PDP governments have been over the years. From Emmanuel Egwu

    What do you expect Jonathan to do now when he has enslaved himself with sycophants who are not telling him the 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 forgetting that 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 allows a loser to congratulate a winner witha handshake; a gesture that usually douses after-election fist blows on cheeks and major upheavals, and makes US great. May Nigeria be exalted through righteous acts. From Samuel Ojo Sanni, Mopa Kogi State

    I read your comments on the President! What you said was the truth but how many of us like and accept the truth? Keep it up! From Emughedi Arthur, youth leader, Arukwo Community, ABOLGA, Rivers State

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

    Your opinion on the election of Governor ‘s Forum is the objective view of the public. The PDP’s belief that the concensus agreement should supercede the election is curious. It simply shows that we are being ruled by wrong leaders. You can now know their plan for 2015. Anonymous

    You talk about Amaechi as if he were a hero of some kind. Please, come to Rivers State and see what we have here before you go on praising him. Anonymous

    I’m very pleased with your balanced article of May 30, on NGF’s show of shame in its election. I was lucky to watch when the video recording was relayed and it was very clear that some can kill to subvert the truth. But, let them and their masters never forget that it was the same politics of impunity that brought down the Shagari regime. Let them ask Umaru Dikko and the late K. O. Mbadiwe and others, who were tools of subversion then, they will tell them that there are still some young revolutionists in our forces today. They should watch it. God bless Nigeria. From EZ

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    What a piece! Shouldn’t comedy have its limit and limitations…? Jang, who could not even pay his workers the minimum wage, had the irreverence to go to church to celebrate. Thank God, people like you still make us keep hope alive. I hope you will not one day go the way of Abati? I really enjoy reading your piece. Anonymous

    It is the governors’ integrity that is at stake. Involvement of the presidency is speculative. It means Amaechi was not in control in Rivers. From Bar Cole

    I am yet to recover from the shock I got, watching Governor Jang, a grand-father for that matter, claiming victory of an election he was roundly defeated. Could this be the reason many states 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 a democrat. What Nigerians need now is development rooted in credible democratic principles not building of dubious roads, bridges, and airport which is a cover up for dictatorial tendencies. From Ifeanyi O. Ifeanyichukwu, Abuja.

    Imagine Governor Jonah Jang who cannot maintain peace in his state fighting to become the NGF chairman, wonder, they say, shall never end. From Kunle Adeyemi

    Your write-up ‘When governors go gaga’ is a classic and must read. It shows clearly the type of politicians and deceitful leadership we have. Kudos to you! Anonymous

    Whether Governor Amaechi rigged the election or not, he still won. I believe God is really on his side. Let us join him to celebrate his victory and look forward to what the future holds for Nigerians. Anonymous

    It is sad to see people like Mimiko and Obi, who were victims of rigged elections and 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? There is nothing excellent about these excellencies. Anonymous

    My Editor, do not forget that 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; to plunder the national treasury. Any wonder we are the way we are after 14 years of the locusts? But the blood of the innocent does not rest easy. So, it is pay back time. Let us pray they do not take the nation down with them. Regards. From Olu

    Jang should stop decieving himself. You do not endorse a defeated candidate after a very transparent election has been held. PDP should bury its face in shame and throw in the towel instead of continuing its act of always wanting to steal other contestants’ victory in election. From Mathias Val.

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: ‘Wobbling and fumbling to 2015’ (your article in The Nation of June 2). The outcome of the election did not show a Governors Forum, rather, it reflected a disunited power bloc. Personally I am happy at their disunity as their sittings had been for selfish purpose rather than for the people. They wanted fuel subsidy removed; they voted against savings but wanted excess crude receipts, shared and spent. They wanted to determine who becomes Nigeria’s head of state. All the parties in acrimony are advised to tread softly. From Lanre Oseni.

    I just read your article titled ‘Wobbling and fumbling to 2015’. It was a masterpiece. It showed the desperation and the ‘do-or-die’ antics of the president, oblivious of the challenges staring at him. But to stoop so low to be involved in who leads the NGF is laughable and a pointer to what to expect in 2015. May God save Nigeria from myopic leaders. From Igbinosa Gabriel, Benin.

    Thank you for your write-up. You are a prophet in this situation; if they like, let them listen, their doomsday is fast approaching. From Ekundayo Aiyedogbon, Ekirin-Adde, Kogi State.

    Your write-up is another eye opener for the President and his men. But, will they truly see the handwriting on the wall? This seems the beginning of the end for them. Have a nice week ahead. From Festus.

    Your article of June 2 was well researched and precise. I think Nemesis has caught up with the PDP after 14 wasted years. God is a just God who feels He should deliver his children from bondage. One thing is clear, Mr. Jonathan should leave Aso Rock come 2015. Shikena! From Alhaji Aiyeoribe, Ilorin, Kwara State.

    Jonathan is naturally nice and Jonah Jang is very responsible. Anonymous.

    My dear Tunji, I want to commend the depth of your article in The Nation Newspaper of June 2. You got it right. The NGF drama has equally vindicated those that have not hidden their blame on Jonathan for the woes presently ravaging our nation. Most PDP governors are sick and tired of him and anything that has to do with him. They’ve not forgotten the imposition of Tukur and Anenih on the party, the choice of Jang became a reminder. Amaechi is a symbol of victory over the PDP efforts to ruin this nation and Nigerians are more than ever determined to challenge this. The presidency is seriously preparing its expected end. From Orji Henry.

    The Yoruba are the problem of his country; they are hypocrites, they set the country ablaze and hide …. We in south south and south east will vote for GEJ come 2015 … Anonymous

    Whose interests are the governors serving? Many of them have disappointed their citizens over non-performance. Is Nigerian Governors Forum in our constitution? Let the governors make peace because crisis would not augur well for democracy in the country. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia.

    Tunji, after reading your article, I felt satisfied; in fact, this is the same formula they are going to use in 2015. May God save us from the hands of … leaders. From Olu.

    ‘Wobbling and fumbling to 2015’ will surely end in disaster and defeat, as it happened to the author of the phrase, the man with the copyright, who led the national Under-20 team to a wobbling and fumbling outing in that year’s Under-20 world football tournament. From Alhaji Adey Corsim, Oshodi, Lagos.

     

  • Re: El-Rufai and his unemployed daughters

    Re: El-Rufai and his unemployed daughters

    Sir: I refer to the comments of Uwalaka Temple in The Nation of Monday,June 3, on the issue of Mallam Nazir El-Rufai’s position concerning unemployment and its consequences which he embellished with his inability to get job for his daughters.

    Let the Mallam say that to the marines.Who is deceiving who? He has refused to tell us the truth which is probably that he is yet to get his desired job for his daughters or the daughters themselves are choosy due to the fact that they have a father who can feed them for as long as they decide to stay on.This reminds me of a benefactor who wrote a note to one of his friends thus:’Jide has finished his NYSC and in need of a job, not badly o’! It isa confirmation that the influentials discriminate and select the type of job for their wards.Mallam’s case is possibly no exception.I want to believe if his daughters apply to any of the higher institutions in the North with their Master’s degrees, they are sure to be given jobs as lecturers.

    One doubts if such a job is meant for such ladies/girls with silver spoon. Sincerely, the way things are going in this country is scary, and if care is not taken, if concerted efforts are not made by the leadership of this country for mass employment programme through strategic thinking by all stakeholders, the pending crises will be unstoppable and only God knows the end- result because it will cut across all the strata of leadership.

    One wonders about the essence of leadership if not to create job opportunities among other responsibilities. There is the need for a solemn assembly where basically the issue of unemployment would be discussed. A stitch in time saves nine.

     

    • Adeyemi Odedokun

    Lagos.

     

  • NGF: The parade of godlessness

    NGF: The parade of godlessness

    SIR: The recent outcome of the Nigerian Governors Forum chairmanship election is another revelation of sequential show of shame from the elected governors who preach and talk about values and ethics, yet would fail on the same count when it mattered most. Apparently, getting the result – either false or genuine to their patron, President Goodluck Jonathan was uppermost in the camp of group of 16 governors.

    Like the biblical story of the woman brought to King Solomon for judgment after overlaying her child, would rather had the child severed into parts two rather than allow the rightful mother to take possession of the child, the Goodluck Jonathan camp of governors have merely betrayed their if- I- can’t- have- it, -let’s-spoil- it attitude of their mentor President Olusegun Obasanjo who is of the generation of the Solomon woman. Their total disregard to democratic rules of engagement is an eloquent revelation to the fact that they lack the passion required for genuine and purposeful leadership; theirs is a passion motivated by gains.

    That they buried their consciences and came out with the effrontery to showcase Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State as the duly elected chairman of the Governors Forum when a video evidence declared otherwise is a monumental show of shame and a total ridicule of the Nigerian character. They are like the Pharaoh magicians Janess and jambress, who are ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

    Governor Jonah Jang’s show of success is like the proverbial mischievous thief who having stolen from the market place displays his booty as spoils of victory over his adversary (the rightful owner of the stolen item).

    Unfortunately, Jonathan will not be judged by the Governors’ Forum approval or disapproval, or even his so called transformation agenda, but on how much value his government has had on the average Nigerian and the manner which he has achieved that by his understanding of how to lead purposefully.

    The president needs to make significant moves to convince the electorate that he has the capability to lead by providing their very basic needs instead of spending so much time and resources to advertise his little achievements and using loyal state governors to launder his second term agenda. The loosing governors should tender their unreserved apology to the people of Nigeria and then ask God for mercy.

    Ambition is right, but ambitions that negate the rules of engagement are assault on our collective integrity, sense of purpose and the rule of law. They need to assure Nigerians that they can be trusted in words and action. The parade of godlessness may just be another delicate integrity joggling act. Their action could spell disaster to Nigeria.

     

    •Smart Osazuwa Osagiede,

    Benin City.

  • Freedom Park and Osun’s changing landscape

    Freedom Park and Osun’s changing landscape

    SIR: Having lived in Osogbo in the past seven years and I can attest to the massive government projects going on in last one and a half year or so. Although these projects, especially the road dualisation starting from Old-Garage, have had a disruptive impact on the life we have been used to in Osogbo, but I’m taking it in my stride as well as many others. However, I am particularly impressed by the development of the rail terminal at Old-Garage because I am very familiar with that area, which is my major route of operations.

    The Old-Garage rail terminus, like many others around the country, had for long been allowed to lapse into a state of disrepair. But just a little over a year ago the place started witnessing resuscitation which culminated in the launch of the Aregbesola train sometime in April last year. I had thought that would be the end of the story. I was wrong. Few months later, the bulldozers came calling on the mini-shanty settlement that had developed in and around the rail terminal; and as if one was in a dream the slum had simply disappeared and the placed had been swept clean.

    As if that was not enough new sets of earth-movers, popularly called caterpillars in these parts, came on site with workers who began clearing, digging, shovelling, levelling and paving. The result is that, today, from the ashes of the old sum, a new landscape has risen, called Freedom Park. I find its sheer beauty stunning, to say the least. This is probably because I’m still finding it hard to erase from my memory the ugliness of the dead slum that had given way to the new park. The rail terminal is now a carefully paved and macadamised platform with clearly marked-out parking spaces, complemented by a giant electronic screen where residents can be entertained by satellite TV programmes such as the more comfortable enjoy in the cosiness of their sitting rooms.

    The park’s real beauty comes out at night when the bluish-white flood lights beam down on the vast space. Another impressive side attraction for me is the seal of the state government and the phrase, ‘Osun a dara’, that are beautifully and clearly engraved in stone on one side of the park. The park also serves the additional purpose of separating vehicular traffic coming from Okefia and heading towards Olaiya intersection away from that heading towards Aiyetoro and Igbono, thereby reducing the bottleneck that builds up at the rail crossing.

    The new park is now the talk of the town and it’s a compelling site for those seeing it for the first time. To my mind, if this is what this government is all about, then I think the people of Osun State are in for a new era of positive development.

     

    • Titi Ajayi (Mrs)

    Ilesa, Osun State

     

  • NGF again: Rage of the Giffen goods

    The 19th century English economist, Sir Robert Giffen, observed that low quality goods attracted a disproportionate amount of patronage from people of low incomes until such a time that their incomes rise. It was also observed that if care was not taken, Giffen goods had the potential of elbowing out quality goods from the market. Hardball craves the indulgence of his patient readers to take refuge in this 19th century conceptual leisure of our learned economist friends. For after regaling the public for months with the endless machinations of our learned politician friends, of whom President Goodluck Jonathan is the archetype, this columnist must come to a moment such as this to amuse readers with the esotericism of our friends besotted to terms like demand and supply, Pareto optimal, Ricardian equivalence and other such paradigmatic interplay of economic and engineering concepts. After all, there is Pareto frontier in engineering for which a set of algorithms has been developed to take care of what is referred to in computer science as the maximum vector problem or the skyline query.

    To cut to the chase, Hardball is saying this Wednesday that the Giffen goods concept has a lot to do with the recently concluded Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) election for which economists and engineers will have to bring their combined expertise to resolve the conundrum. Not only are the inferior goods (in this case the defeated governors) trying to squeeze out quality goods (in this case the victorious governors), it even seems there will be no solution to the complex matrix that has translated defeat into victory and victory into defeat until economists and engineers come up with the algorithms to take care of the puzzle. Readers of course recall that on May 24, the governors elected one of their own to be the chairman of the NGF for the next two years. That election, in which the president unsuccessfully attempted to surreptitiously impose a puppet, led to the emergence of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as winner by 19 votes to Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State’s 16 votes.

    But by the most dazzling display of electoral legerdemain ever conceived in these parts, the Jang-led team, of which Ondo governor, Olusegun Mimiko, is the incontestable and incomparable spokesman, argued that pre-election endorsement was in fact superior to Election Day voting. To rewrite the rules of political science is one thing, but to stand morality on its head is quite another in this blighted part of the continent. However, much more than unilaterally and arbitrarily rewriting rules, the Jang-led warriors have gone indifferently ahead to summon meetings of the Group of 16 (G-16), relocate the NGF office in Abuja, direct the public to visit the NGF website, receive or engineer more congratulatory messages over the supposed election victory than the victors, and have generally carried on with such messianic zeal and fury that you would be forgiven if you thought the diffident Amaechi-led team was the defeated group.

    Albert Einstein was reported to have once exclaimed he needed more mathematics in his arduous search for a unified field theory, and on his death bed. (By the way, contrary to popular notion, Einstein was never poor in mathematics, having at the age of 12 independently found a proof of Pythagoras’ theorem after acquiring a book on Euclidean geometry). Compared with Einstein, it is not clear what else the Jang-led team would need to rewrite every scientific theory the world has known. They have supplied us the mathematical proof that defeat can in fact be equal to or more than victory, and they have, by the way they carry on, shown us that the earth does not revolve around the sun. In the days ahead, we must patiently wait to see how their Giffen goods would drive out the victorious Amaechi goods, and how their chief priest, Dr Jonathan, and his alter ego, the eclectic Dr Mimiko, would inspire the creation of a new world, a nirvana in which neither loss nor defeat exists.

     

  • The law on homosexual marriage

    SIR: Why is it that the only thing Nigerian rulers do quickly is whatever will limit the people’s freedom, even freedoms guaranteed by God? Commercial motorcycles are banned, without any consideration for the pedestrians who patronize them. Many houses and shops are demolished arbitrarily, etc.

    The House of Representatives is advocating 14 years imprisonment for anybody caught in homosexual marriage and act. How is that an urgent priority in Nigeria? Are the homosexuals the ones destroying our economy? Why are the legislators refusing to award death sentence to those embezzling pensioners’ entitlements which result in the death of many pensioners? Why no death sentence for those defrauding and misappropriating our national resources, thereby creating mass misery and avoidable deaths?

    Who is to be imprisoned for 14 years; adults who find themselves to be homosexually oriented which they cannot explain how it came about? Can the legislators explain how homosexuality ensued? And if not, why legislate on a mystery that you don’t understand? Homosexuality has been in the world from time immemorial, and found in the most ancient books and anthropological records. Does wisdom not require threading cautiously?

    Some scientists have identified homosexuality with genetic disorder, like happens with sickle cell. Why should the homosexual suffer inordinately for his or her natural sexual orientation? It is a different matter if an adult homosexual is romancing an underage person. Even then, the punishment should be same as with a heterosexual adult seducing an underage person. Otherwise, the Yoruba say, why ask a married woman who owns her pregnancy, when you are not the husband? How can you tell a free adult who to marry or who not to marry?

    What solutions have Nigerian rulers found to political disorder, election rigging, insecurity, embezzlement of public funds, inadequate infrastructure, and strangulating mass poverty? What is the punishment for liars who say Nigeria’s economy is the fasted growing economy in the world? What is the punishment for those who renege on their election promises, such as President Goodluck Jonathan who promised to spend a single term, and is now scheming renege?

    Without any conscience about mounting debts, dearth of infrastructure, and mass abject poverty, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi-Okonjo Iweala said international investors are dying to come to Nigeria. She did not say why they are not here. What punishment for such persons insulting the intellectual integrity of Nigerians? Why distracting Nigerians with homosexuality issue that is personal and private affair? Yes, witch hunt.

    Were Nigerian rulers there when God was deciding the sexual orientation of every individual or what? How many of the world’s mysteries can the legislators explain? Until we respect homosexual right, divine freedom and justice will elude Nigerians as a whole. The country will chase shadows, instead of what really matters.

    • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin.

     

  • Jonathan’s perspective on OPC and MASSOB

    Jonathan’s perspective on OPC and MASSOB

    President Goodluck Jonathan has not availed the country reasons for labelling the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) as national security threats. He owes the country a full explanation. Does the label have anything to do with the antecedents of the two groups both of which are regarded in many circles as ethnic militias? Or does it have anything to do with their present dispositions? Or perhaps, it has something to do with the lackadaisical manner the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, was at first handled before it snowballed into a full terrorist group. Whatever the considerations were, the country will be puzzled that the president has suddenly considered the OPC and MASSOB security threats almost at par with Boko Haram, the Islamist sect against which a full blown military engagement is underway.

    During the presentation of the mid-term report of his administration in Abuja on Democracy Day last week, the president suggested that, “Nigeria faces three fundamental security challenges posed by extremist groups like Boko Haram in the North; the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra in the South-East; and the Oodua People’s Congress in the Southwest.” If this is not strong stuff, then consider his next statement. “The activities of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and OPC,” he added tersely, “though not as violently intense as those of Boko Haram, they still pose a serious security challenge to the Nigerian state.” It was expected that the president would say something major on the security challenges facing the country, but no one thought he would make such sweeping statements that are capable of boxing his administration in?

    Except the OPC is a sleeper cell of militants, there is nothing to show that in the past few years, it is an active militia able and willing to levy war against the state on the scale or even half the scale of the Boko Haram sect. In fact more than anything else, the OPC has become both a cultural organisation and security consultants to troubled and harassed neighbourhoods insufficiently serviced by the regular law enforcement agencies. Its leaders are not only known, they have also bidden for federal government’s lucrative pipeline security contracts, especially pipeline protection and surveillance jobs. In addition, their leaders are increasingly at the forefront of cultural activities, particularly those with tourism potentials.

    MASSOB’s leaders are known, and their offices are not hidden. They send out periodic press releases, grant interviews with their photographs emblazoned all over newspaper pages, and have advanced reasons for the Igbo to receive equitable share of national resources or, failing that, to enter into either a confederal arrangement with the rest of the country or outright autonomy and independence. They have advocated these causes openly through public channels. Admittedly, their advocacy has sometimes been accompanied by violence, but often they have been provoked by or resulted from a misunderstanding with law enforcement agents. In any case, because their members and leaders are known and their grievances understandable, if not legitimate, the state has a responsibility to engage them within the confines of the law. It will be counterproductive to radicalise them.

    This is, however, not to say there are no fringe elements within both groups, just as there are fringe elements acting more dangerously and independently in other areas of national life. Indeed, this column had in the past worried that the elite in both the Southwest and Southeast had engaged in unregulated romance with ethnic militias, a habit it concluded amounted to an abdication of the reasoned leadership they should give conservative and radical elements within their regions. However, it amounts to a hasty and extreme measure to label the two groups as security threats before engaging them in discussions and monitoring their activities to establish a pattern of constitutional subversion. It must be recalled that the federal government also failed to engage Boko Haram until it gradually metamorphosed into a terror group after its leaders were extrajudicially murdered. The same mistake must not be repeated.

    By summarily describing the OPC and MASSOB as security threats, the president will face intense criticisms from puzzled citizens. He will also endure unflattering comparisons between his kind consideration of Niger Delta militants to whom placatory mouth-watering contracts have been given and the heavy-handedness with which he seems prepared to deal with the considerably tame and ostensible militias from other parts of the country.

     

  • A most mediocre JAMB

    SIR: In a country where corruption has eaten deep into the pillars that uphold it, where do we place credibility? The recently concluded examination (Paper-pencil test) has proven the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board culpable, inadequate and inefficient in all aspects.

    Students were said to have cheated during the course of the exams; but really, who is to blame? If the examination questions were not leaked by JAMB officials, is it then the candidates that manufactured the papers?

    I was at the JAMB office in Ikoyi where a certain science student who wrote the examination for English, Biology, Chemistry and Physics had another subject Government replacing one of these subjects! After complaining, she was asked to change her course but is this possible when she never wrote Government in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations?

    After seeing my results in the exams and not printing it out immediately knowing that I have at least a minimum of three (3) checks with the scratch-card, I tried to print the result the next day only to be told that it had been cancelled! What a painful experience because I did not cheat. How can JAMB reward hard work with frustration? How shallow can a system be?

    I read a report of court granting JAMB seven days ultimatum to remark scripts of students. How can JAMB itself validate the fact that there was truly malpractice? Can their supervisors be trusted because as I have heard in some centres, the supervisors themselves are the backbone of malpractice?

    A centre might have as much as 400 students, if only 50 were involved in malpractice, should the remaining 350 go down with them? What really is the job of the supervisors if they cannot separate the goats from the sheep?

    A way out is having JAMB agents disguise as students unknown to none at the exams centres that way, we can really know what goes on there.

    There is no use crying when the head is off. In the self-same way, there is no use fighting malpractice when corruption is deep rooted in the system. The future of the youths should be considered paramount. I do not say JAMB should be scrapped or not, only that the system in the country is ignoble.

    Left is two words to the government of this country, not an order but nevertheless must not be left unsaid ‘TAKE ACTION’ and don’t discourage us the more.

    • Funke Adeoye

    Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.