The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Nobel and how not to judge Achebe

    In one of the most poignant ironies of global literary history, the creator of Things Fall Apart, doubtless the most famous African novelist, died without the Nobel Prize for Literature, undeniably the world’s grandest literary decoration. Long after Chinua Achebe’s death on March 21 at age 82, it is likely to remain a puzzle to many how it happened that the prestigious award eluded him. However, Achebe’s loss again prompts age-long questions about aesthetic objectivity and the determination of artistic value. He lived long enough and his oeuvre was sufficiently broad, which led many to argue that the Swedish Academy, custodians of the yearly Nobel Prize, not only had adequate time but also available body of work to have reached a favourable conclusion on Achebe. If this did not happen, could the reason have been that he simply did not measure up?

    Achebe’s most recent laurels before the end, the 2007 Man Booker International Prize and 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, provided deep insights into his stature in the world of letters. It is interesting that on the judging panel of the International Prize was the South African female writer and 1991 Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer who said Achebe was “the father of modern African literature” and that he was “integral” to world literature. Also of interest is the fact that there were 14 other finalists for the award, worth 60,000 British pounds, including the female British novelist Doris Lessing, who was awarded the Nobel Prize later that year. The biennial literary award, given to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation, rewards one author’s “continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.” The judges for the year compile their own lists of authors and submissions are not invited.

    It is intriguing that Achebe was preferred for the International Prize ahead of Lessing who was picked for the Nobel Prize in the same year. It is uncertain whether Achebe was among the Nobel finalists that year, or any other year for that matter, because nominations are officially kept secret for 50 years. Achebe was the second recipient of the International Prize, began in 2005, and which in 2011 was given to the American novelist Phillip Roth. After Roth was announced as the recipient, Carmen Callil withdrew from the judging panel, saying “I don’t rate him as a writer at all; in 20 years’ time will anyone read him?”

    Indeed, this divergence is significant because, on the issue of artistic longevity and reader appeal raised by the judge, Achebe continues to enjoy a wide readership more than 50 years after his first novel. In fact, the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart in 2008 was a global party. It is fascinating that one of the 2011 finalists, John le Carre, asked to be removed from consideration, saying that he does not compete for literary prizes. It is a matter for conjecture whether the award would still have gone to Roth, irrespective of le Carre’s withdrawal. However, it goes to show how even extra-literary situations can intervene in the award of literary prizes.

    Although the $300,000 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, which recognizes artists who have had an extraordinary impact in their field, is, unlike the International Prize, extra-literary in scope, its award to Achebe at a ceremony in New York, nevertheless, made a huge statement for his literary accomplishments.

    Even though Achebe produced other worthy novels, they were overshadowed by Things Fall Apart, his1958 debut novel and pioneering work of African fiction, which reportedly sold over 10 million copies and was translated into some 45 languages in his lifetime. It is rated among the best written in English, and in the estimation of many, by itself, guarantees Achebe’s place in the pantheon of literary greats. Achebe’s then unprecedented plot of a pre-colonial African people, the Igbo, who lost their pristine condition to Westernization, catapulted him into the limelight, even before his other novels, No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987).

    It is remarkable that Achebe’s pre-eminence in the continent’s literary firmament, particularly because of Things Fall Apart, led to cases of mistaken identity where people mistook other prominent African writers for Achebe. Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiongo said he had been a victim and, according to him, Nigerian playwright and 1986 Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said the same too of himself.

    By the time Soyinka received the Nobel Prize, the first African to do so, Achebe’s magnum opus was close to its 30th year, and his most recent novel was published 20 years back. Although Soyinka was reportedly a popular choice, many wondered about Achebe. Before his demise, three other African writers were recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz (1988), and South Africans Nadine Gordimer (1991) and J.M.Coetzee (2003).

    Since age is no disqualification, it remained a theoretical possibility till he died that Achebe could be eventually picked for the award despite his advanced years. After all, Doris Lessing, the oldest recipient of the award, got it at 88. But the ways of the Nobel Prize are mysterious, probably more than any other major literary award. To be eligible for the 112-year-old Nobel Prize, now worth about $1.4 million, a candidate must be nominated by a stipulated qualified person. In its work in choosing a Nobel Prize winner the Swedish Academy is assisted by a Nobel Committee comprising four to five Academy members, elected for three-year periods. It often happens that the same names are put forward time after time, until the nominee either wins the prize or dies or the sponsors give up.

    It is noteworthy that the Swedish Academy has long been controversial for its apparent Eurocentric bias as well as sometimes baffling decisions, and there is a thought-provoking list of widely acknowledged “great writers” who never won the Nobel Prize while supposedly lesser writers did. One recent instance involving 2004 Nobel laureate, the Austrian female novelist and playwright Elfriede Jelenik, provides food for thought. According to reports, Jelenik herself believed that she should not have received a Nobel Prize and that she had only been chosen for “being a woman.” A member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Ahnlud, shared Jelenik’s belief and resigned over her selection, claiming she had “done irreparable damage” to the prize.

    From these happenings, it is evident that if Achebe went to the grave without the Nobel Prize, it is not necessarily a statement against the aesthetic intensity or artistic profundity of his fiction. The questions are: What standards of assessment determined his inappropriateness for the prize? Was his fiction deficient in form or content? Or was he unlucky for non-artistic reasons? One thing is certain, though, for a writer who produced fiction that belongs to the literary canon, Achebe’s exclusion from the Nobel Prize ironically provides enlightenment on how not to judge literature.

     

    • Macaulay is on the editorial board of The Nation

  • A most contentious amnesty

    A most contentious amnesty

    After many months of dithering, the scale of killings in the North and the virtually stalemated military campaign against Boko Haram terrorists have seemed to finally persuade the Goodluck Jonathan presidency to resignedly offer amnesty to the violent Islamist sect. There is hardly a voice of dissent against amnesty in the North, perhaps because the region has borne the brunt of the violence undermining regional commercial activities and engendering poverty, social dislocations and alienation. But the South has been largely unenthusiastic about amnesty. It describes the proposed deal as wicked, unfair and counterproductive. Even if the Jonathan government goes through with the deal, a consensus between the North and the South on the amnesty deal is unlikely.

    Amnesty for Boko Haram militants is still a long way off. There is no agreement yet on who should be talking with whom, or when the talking should begin. More importantly, and no matter how much everyone pretends these things do not matter, there are deeply troubling issues, some of them moral, surrounding the proposed amnesty deal. First, and considering the senseless bloodshed, would it be wise to extend amnesty to Boko Haram masterminds, or should amnesty be limited to only the foot soldiers? If the masterminds know they would be excluded, would they be willing to talk peace and sheathe their swords? Assuming that that dilemma can be surmounted, would the proponents of amnesty, who have persuaded themselves that Boko Haram is largely a product of economic alienation, not expect a massive infusion of funds to wage war against poverty in the affected areas?

    And if funds are allocated to fight economic alienation in the affected areas, would this not amount to rewarding lawlessness? Would it not suggest to future law breakers that levying war against the state has its sweet rewards? There are many more issues surrounding the amnesty issue that require deep reflections and negotiations before the deal can fly. But overall, if no one is punished for the senseless waste of lives and destruction of public property, it is hard to see how an enduring peace can be secured in the face of such grave injustice. This may be why many have qualified their support for amnesty with a call for the sect’s masterminds to be punished, while others have asked for Boko Haram leaders to demonstrate public penitence before amnesty could be given any consideration.

    The country, particularly the federal government and the North, is desperate for peace, for the scale of destruction is so massive that the region may need many years and much help to rebuild its economy, an economy which was in the best of times gasping for breath. The country will also have to ask itself why the economic inequality in the country seems pronounced in the North in spite of the federally allocated and internally generated revenue accruing to the state and local governments in the Boko Haram region. The question is whether the revenue is too small or public officials have injudiciously used the money. Finally, and still on the propriety of amnesty, the country will have to ask itself whether by negotiating with terror, it is not demonstrating lack of character and principles or setting a precedent that could yet return to haunt it in the future.

  • Northern leaders and amnesty for Boko Haram

    I want to believe that anything the north wants from the federal government they get it without much ado. During the voter registration in 1999, when it was programmed that the data should include religion, the north rejected it because they felt it will not favour them and the federal govt agreed with them.

    Every discerning Nigerian should now know that the northern politicians are the brain behind the Boko Haram insurgency. The northern leaders felt that too much money is going to the Niger Delta through 13 percent derivation and amnesty granted to the Niger Delta militants by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The northern politicians thought of the ways to increase their earnings by floating Boko Haram sect with an agenda to forward their demand to the President during dialogue with the sect. Now that it seems that President Goodluck Jonathan is not favourably disposed to granting of amnesty to the sect as demanded by the northern politicians, you will not be surprised that the activities of Boko Haram will now extend to other states of the country in order to bring the federal government to its knee.

    During the presidential campaign in 2011, it was this same politicians who made a statement that should Goodluck Jonathan win they would make the country ungovernable for him. This is happening now. The President himself knows those who made that statement but when he became the President he failed to muster the will power to bring to book those who threatened the peace of the country during electioneering campaign.

    If the north had won the 2011 presidential election, Nigerians would not know anything like Boko Haram and we would have been saved from these incessant cold blooded murders.

     

    By Israel Oyegbile,

    Sabo Tasha, Kaduna

  • In defence of gay marriage

    Most arguments against gay marriage in Nigeria which I have come across reveal two basic things: a violently dangerous conservatism and intolerance, and a disguise of ignorance for morality. More appalling, for me, is that in this postmodern age many of our critics who claim to be well-read expose the most insipid of shallow thinking. I take as my reference point Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode’s article, “The American Supreme Court and Same Sex Marriage” (The Nation on Sunday, March 31, 2013). Mr. Fani-Kayode’s piece summarises, to a large extent, the backward, hypocritical and reductive thinking that characterises the intellectual poverty of many of our so-called elite towards the question of gay marriage.

    In his piece, Fani-Kayode vehemently dismissed the US and many European countries for endorsing what, for him, God has forbidden. In his words, “what is the world coming to? How come we suddenly find it easy to turn our backs on the word of God which specifically defines marriage as a holy union between a man and a woman which was designed primarily for the purpose of procreation?” In the same vein in his characteristic fervour for double-speaking, the blabbering critic sermonised that gay people should, however, be allowed to only “fuck” insofar as they do not extend the act to marriage. Fani-Kayode, a devout conservative Christian as he impliedly asserted, went on to remind us that sexualities cannot be legislated. Yet, those “deviant” sexualities such as gay must not be allowed to materialise into marriage. He sanctimoniously added, “I say ‘yes’ to a tolerant and open society that allows individuals, if they so choose, to be gay… without any legal sanction… At the same time, I say ‘no’ to same sex marriages which I believe are a step too far and a direct attack on the family and God’s purpose for a holy union that is designed and meant to lead to the procreation of children.”

    Mr. Fani-Kayode’s argument smacks of deceit, an utter hogwash, at best. First, “his God” abhors same sex marriage. I ask, does “his God” at the same time endorse gay “fucking” so long as it does not lead to marriage? Why is Fani-Kayode pretending to be accommodating in thinking, when actually his arguments are ultimately contradictory? He should have been courageous enough to simply say he hates the idea of homosexuality, without this puerile pretence to logic. Second, the reductive argument that one “Universal God” ordained heterosexual marriage, and that homosexual relationships are “abominable and morally repugnant” seems to me too debasing, with an amazing lack of depth. Fani-Kayode and many others who adopt this apparently false moral argument must do themselves and the society the simple duty of reading a little beyond their religious scriptures. I ask, which god ordained marriage, let alone a heterosexual marriage in the first instance? All marriages are a product of certain socio-political, religious, and cultural constructs. No god(s) or deity(ies) at any time ordained one mode of sexuality. But for the sake of argument if truly there is such a god as Fani-Kayode’s, who designed and installed a certain mode of sexuality and who Fani-Kayode impliedly claims designed the whole universe, then my question is this: if gay sex is not part of its design, how is it possible that gay practice is rearing its ugly head in this god’s heterosexual design? Why does Fani-Kayode have to fight for this powerful designer of the universe? If there is such a god as the religionists claim, then they should worry their god(s) over the imperfect works of its hands to have allowed something outside its purpose and design to somehow creep in to ruin its art. I make to say with all sense of restraint that this “creation” or “design” that we call world is fundamentally flawed, perhaps a product of a demented divinity! Ironically, the same Europeans who gave Fani-Kayode “a Christian religion” that he is fronting as a universal moral are the ones redefining the basis of that religion. And our frenzied and worried brother cannot comprehend this cultural evolution that stands the dogma of religion on its head.

    Here are my arguments for gay marriage! If individuals in the very least have a right to sex, then they should be as free as to decide for themselves the kind of sexual leaning they desire. Tolerance must accommodate human differences from ethnicity and religion to sexuality. If a man is gay and desires to have a family, should we say to him, “marry a woman to raise a family, but you can go out and “fuck” your male partner at will!” That is what Mr. Fani-Kayode is saying: be gay, but you must never marry!

    Gay marriage is not a threat to the family and marriage institutions as Oga Fani-Kayode opined. In my understanding, a family is a social unit of people biologically or socially related and who live together towards certain bonded ends or even just to live together without any duty bound ends in mind. If this idea of the family holds any water, then no one pattern must be enforced for people to follow.

     

    By Arthur Anyaduba,

    School of Postgraduate Studies,

    Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

  • Oshiomhole:  Master story teller at 60

    Oshiomhole:  Master story teller at 60

    At a church service to mark his birthday anniversary on April 4 last year, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole told the audience the story, among several others, of how in his growing days in his native home of Iyamho, Etsako West Council Area of Edo State where he was born 60 years ago, the natives, including his father, would dash into the bush at the approach of tax collectors and resurface when signalled that the invading government officials had left.  The collectibles included personal income taxes, especially under Schedule Two, for those in opposition political parties as well as bicycle and radio licence fees. As a lad he always wished he could ride in the car, a land rover most probably, the tax officials used then.

    He recounted how, as if ordained by fate and at his father’s pleading, it was the same tax collectors’ ‘’official’’ car that took him out of the village on his long and tortuous journey through life to Government House where today it is his lot to manage taxes and their collectors as well as numerous official vehicles of all makes and sizes.

     Of course, everyone present was entertained by the celebrant who, but for God’s intervention, may possibly have remained in his village to tell stories by moonlight. He still tells stories, only that these days he tells the stories of his involvement in labour activism, while working at a textile factory in Kaduna; his climb to the pinnacle as No. 1 leader of labour in the country; his travails as defender of the rights of the working poor; his foray into the murky political waters and war with the “god fathers” and his conquests over those who want to perpetually keep the state poor and under-developed.

    Each story Comrade Oshiomhole has had to tell touched on his life as a child, young man, husband, father and grand-father, unionist and leader of government. What stories will he tell at 60 years of age? They probably will centre round his passionate drive to achieve his vision for Edo State and its people. He will tell the story of how in the last four years as governor, he has had to fight and subdue the witches and wizards that conspired with corrupt government officials to keep development away from the people. Portable water supply, for example, had eluded several communities in the state owing to a resigned belief that water could not be found underneath their land.  The story of the many successes in the provision of water to Ekpoma and other rural communities across the state using three state of the art Dando drilling rigs will be told for many years to come. From Ogbido, Ogbona and Iraokhor to Iruekpen, Ugbogui, Udo and many more the people now enjoy this basic facility which had eluded them for ages.

    Comrade Oshiomhole  at 60 will tell the story of how he met a deliberate state policy which created ‘’disaster’’ of streets and roads in the state. The state of roads, state and federal, was so bad the people had come to believe that nothing could be done about them. It was in that state of despondency that Oshiomhole came to the rescue. Today at 60, Oshiomhole will tell the story of how he resolved to rehabilitate, construct and reconstruct major roads not only in the state capital, Benin City, but also in other urban centres across the state. Intra and inter-city road networks spanning several hundreds of kilometres have been constructed and reconstructed all over that state. In Benin City, gateway roads like Airport Road, Akpakpava Street, Mission Road, Sapele Road, Oba Market Road, Siluko Road, Sakponba Road, Dawson/Uselu/Ugbowo/Oluku Road have been reconstructed to make them befitting of capital city status. These roads and streets and many more now have covered drains, walkways and street lights.  Upper Mission Road, Upper Lawani and many other roads in Benin City and elsewhere across the state are currently receiving attention. He will tell the story of how he has turned Five Junction around. Residents of Benin now journey from their faraway parts to see and appreciate the new face of this area which was erosion ravaged.

    At 60, Oshiomhole will gleefully tell the story of how he reclaimed Costain-Isonorho and adjoining streets in New Benin area of the state capital made impassable by refuse from people who subjected the inhabitants to daily abuse of offensive odour and disease. Today, the whole of the area has tarred streets with walkways, covered drains and street lights. It is now renamed Gani Fawehinmi Layout. He will tell the story of how he embarked on the very ambitious project of draining Benin City of ravaging flood water which had rendered many homeless and many roads impassable. Steady progress is being made on the massive canal from Ugbowo through Evbotutu/ Ekenwan to Oko/Ogba River which is expected to hold and take flood water from several secondary drains under the Benin storm water master plan.

    He will tell the story of how in the past four years he took several communities across the state from darkness to light through provision of electricity to communities that had taken darkness as a way of life. Oshiomhole will tell of the transformation his government has brought to the school system in terms of infrastructure and personnel. From Edo North through Central to the South Senatorial District very many primary and secondary school buildings have either been renovated or reconstructed. The Red Roof Revolution, under which all renovated or reconstructed buildings wear red coloured aluminium roofs, floor tiles, pvc ceiling and electric fans, has been carried to all nooks and crannies of the state. He will tell the people of how more than 50,000 children attending private schools have returned to the public school system because of this transformation and how children of the poor in public schools now feel like those of the rich. For the first time in Edo state, education is truly free from primary to secondary level with all forms of levies abolished. Students at the state-owned Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma have had their fees reduced considerably too.

    At 60, Oshiomhole will also tell the story of how he turned the health care delivery system in the state around. From mere consulting clinics, hospitals in urban centres have benefitted from his administration’s policy of massive infrastructural and manpower development. Rural communities across the state now have fully renovated or new primary healthcare centres equipped and manned by qualified personnel. He will tell the story of how he has restored normalcy to traffic management in the state with the establishment of a traffic management agency charged with the responsibility of organising, co-ordinating and managing traffic in the state. Order has returned to motor parks and roads in Benin City. The Comrade Bus has become the most popular means of intra-city transportation in the state capital as well as between the capital and other major towns and  villages.

    The comrade  tells good stories, and I am sure he will not forget, at 60, to tell the story of how he has helped to redefine politics and governance not only in Edo, but in the whole country. He will tell the story of Edo State of four years ago when the swan song was lamentation without development and how he has had to involve the people in the development of the state as partners. He will tell us that never again will the people be taken for a ride by elected officials.  He will say that ‘’never again will someone come in the future and say that ‘sorry Edo can’t work, sorry there is no money to do anything; sorry we can’t pay salaries, sorry we can do nothing about erosion’’. Comrade Oshiomhole will tell the people how the ‘’one man, one vote’’ mantra has come to stay as a strong electioneering slogan built around leadership by the people. He will tell the people how he is prepared to take the state to the next level of development and solicit their support by paying their taxes and rates promptly.

    What will the people of Edo State tell Comrade Oshiomhole as he celebrates 60?  The relationship between the comrade governor and the people has been very cordial. This has been demonstrated by the outpouring of emotion each time the governor is cited in public places, not only in Benin City, but everywhere in the state. School children, market women,the young and the elderly troop out to welcome the governor anywhere he goes in appreciation of the good work he has been doing in the state. The people will, therefore, tell the comrade governor that they love him and wish him a happy bsirthday.

  • Okorocha’s leaps in the dark

    Okorocha’s leaps in the dark

    The Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, set the tone for his approach to governance with his maiden broadcast on June 6, 2011. During the broadcast, the governor, tagging his administration Rescue Mission government, announced a coterie of policies and far-reaching decisions regarding the state and its people.

    This came at a time when the governor’s partners in governance, particularly the legislature and the executive council, were yet to be inaugurated and constituted respectively. Thus, several major policies were initiated without consultation or being made to pass through rigorous scrutiny by the legislature or any other relevant body.

    As it is generally known, any public policy initiated by a government under separation of powers system must be backed by an enabling legislation. That is, the legislature must pass such a policy into law. This also allows for public participation and contributions through legislative hearings on such a bill under consideration.

    As is often the case, if there are negative reactions from the public or the legislature regarding the bill, the executive may withdraw it or it may not be passed into a law that would later become a policy of the government. This enables the government to save the cost it would have otherwise committed to the execution of the policy. This is the hallmark of responsible and responsive governance.

    This has not been the case with the administration of Governor Okorocha. He instituted a number of policies and embarked on some projects which have been generating rancour and controversies between the government and the governed. The government has had to reverse some of these policies based on the public’s reaction or rejection of the policies.

    One of such policies is the relocation of the Imo State University main campus from Owerri zone to Ideato in Orlu zone. There were widespread public reactions and opposition to this move but it fell on the deaf ears of the government. Without an enabling legislation, the government acquired land and immediately started construction of new structures for the university. Hundreds of millions of naira were spent.

    Several of the buildings had been completed. Out of the blues, Governor Okorocha, while interacting with a group of media practitioners, announced that his government was reversing its decision and returning the Imo State University back to Owerri zone based on negative public reactions. He also announced that the structures already developed in the Ideato zone would be appropriated for the newly proposed Imo-European University. He claimed that the proprietors of the new university would reimburse the state treasury for every penny the government spent on the project.

    The governor also embarked on the spree of awarding contracts without taking into account the paucity and volatility of the state’s source of revenue. Over a hundred road contracts were awarded. Contracts were also awarded for the building of a hospital in each of the 27 local government areas of the state. The government also embarked on the construction of over 320 security gates in Owerri, the capital city. The road projects have largely been stalled. The hospitals have also been abandoned. The security gates have only not been abandoned but have been dogged by the controversy of the governor claiming that he never approved the construction in the first place.

    The government further mired itself in bitter controversy by announcing the dissolution of the constitutional offices of elected local government councils and replacing them with illegal transition committees during his maiden broadcast. Statutorily tenured commissions of the state were also dissolved during the same broadcast.

    As a result of its several illegal acts, the government has been subjected to over 300 citizen law suits. It is most likely that at the end when all the judgments from the various law suits may have been entered, the government’s treasury will be so burdened with judgment debts that the state will be hard pressed to finance any capital project.

    With the illegal transition committees, the government will also end up paying two salaries for every political office in its local council areas. The July 5, 2012 Court of Appeal verdict has established that decision.

    Critics have characterized Okorocha as exhibiting destructive bulldozer-like attitude through his actions and conduct, tagging him with the label of ‘bull in a China shop’. As a result, the governor has alienated himself from the well-meaning citizens of Imo State. His policy and project summersaults have projected him as undisciplined and immature administrator.

    It behoves a responsible potential government to make credible campaign promises after factoring in necessary cost implications. As a commentator observed, trying to execute campaign promises made purely out of emotions, when the resources are not available for execution, only advances the hardships of the general public. A responsible government should bite only that which it can chew.

    It is also pertinent that any policy or project of a long term nature must be backed by law or popular public opinion before it is embarked upon. This is the essence of democracy. As an observer once said, when the head of any administration imposes his will through executive fiat, it is no longer a democratic government but rather, an autocratic or imperialistic one.

    Consultation and sensitization translates to due process. This brings about transparency.

    • Uzodima writes from Imo State

  • PDP is the problem of Nigeria

    SIR: These are indeed troubled times for the national chairman of PDP Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. These are indeed troubled and unpredictable times for the ruling party that has traversed the political landscape for the nearly 16 years like a bull China’s shop, destroying everything in sight and breaking everything breakable. It can never be out of place to suggest that the ruling party is putting everything in place to fight the last battle to keep our stolen and conquered patrimony.

    In London, Tukur is crying out loud that the opposition is bent on destroying his PDP and asked members to prepare for battle ahead. I guess that the stress and strains occasioned by the deep crisis in PDP is beginning to take its toll on the chairman. I may not like PDP because the party is synonymous with poverty development but I do not want anything to happen to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. I pray that he will live long to see how Nigeria will be after the demise of PDP in 2015.

    For nearly 16 years, PDP has shown that it is deficit in honour, deficit in integrity, deficit in capacity, deficit in skills required to transform our dear country. Under our very eyes, this party has ruined the future of a promising country, dividing the country in order to remain in power, frittering away our common patrimony with reckless abandon and accepted impunity as a way of life. In 2015, it is either we destroy PDP or PDP will destroy us completely. This is the reason why good men must take a stand in Nigeria come 2015.

    A British soldier dying of bullet wounds at the battle of Trafalgar says “London with all your problems I love thee”. I love Nigeria with all my heart in spite of her teething problems because I know there is nothing wrong with our country, our land, our air, our water, etc. The leaders of Nigeria have failed her in all fronts, in all spheres and in all facets. They have made Nigeria a land without soul, without mind, without eyes, without heart.

    The PDP will not go down without a fight. They are ready to sacrifice our hard earned democracy. They can stop at nothing to bring the roof of the house down. The desperate gang will not let go easily. They have to suffer a crushing defeat to let my people go. The signs are there. The plot to destroy the opposition is gathering storm but it will fail.

    The task to reclaim Nigeria from PDP is going to be local, national and international and on all fronts. In 2015 everybody must answer his or her father’s name, loud and clear. The slogan is – give us Nigeria or we die because this nation is worth dying for. Yes this country is worth dying for. Let us sweep PDP and redesign our country for the better.

    • Joe Igbokwe

    Lagos

  • The clash between Police and NSCDC

    SIR: It is not only despicable but lugubriously unspeakable for those empowered by the constitution to protect lives to constitute themselves into a gang of monstrous death hawkers. The news of the alleged murder of NSCDC officials by the Police at Ikorodu did not come to me as surprise because other ‘sister’ security agencies in Nigeria including the Army have one time or the other been victim of Police massacre and belligerent bellicosity. The dynamics of crime in our society points to the irrefutable fact that the Police alone cannot be relied upon to provide security for lives and properties. Ipso facto the NSCDC was established by an act of parliament to perform specific duties, which includes the protection of oil facilities and to complement the effort of other ‘sister’ security agencies in Nigeria.

    It is shocking to note that the officers allegedly killed by the Police were on a legitimate assignment to checkmate vandalism at Ikorodu. One would have thought that the Police who arrived the scene of crime owe Nigerians a duty to complement the effort of the NSCDC officials in accordance with the principle of espirit de corps but the reverse was the case. As the NSCDC lost two of her personnel while others escaped with various degrees of injuries.

    I dare to submit that there are clear jurisdictional dichotomy that exists between security agencies in Nigeria, but the real challenge is that we live in a nation where the Police desire to perform the duties and responsibilities of the NDLEA, DSS, immigration, prison, road safety, customs and even that of NSCDC. This challenge will linger on if we fail to amend the Police Act. I therefore call on Nigerians to appeal to the National Assembly to begin the process of amending the Police Act as a matter of urgent public importance. Our service chiefs should lay more emphasis on inter-service relationship so as to reduce the incessant case of inter-service bellum-inter-duos in Nigeria.

    • Ogbaisi G.

    Ekpoma, Edo State.

  • Still on the same-sex marriage debate

    SIR: There is perhaps no debate that is divisive right now as the one on same sex marriage. It has been ranging on for ages and from the look of things, it’s not about to abate, not with all the sides sparing no punch to make their voices heard. Hardly, a day goes by on the international news channels that you don’t hear one party or the other advocating their position. It got a head even during the election of the new pope that those in support were rooting for some candidates who they feel are most likely to be sympathetic to their cause.

    The whole argument is all about seeking equality in relationships in that a marriage should be considered as a union between two people as against the current practice of strictly seeing it as a union between a man and a woman.

    Those in support are of the opinion that irrespective of your gender you should be able to marry whomever you want without any discrimination. For some, it is discrimination in the cloak of apartheid and the other forms of discrimination that the world has been subjected to. While those against are of the opinion that it is against natural law, and that such relationships are not self sustaining as it would need a third party to bring forth a fruit i.e. children.

    The way it is being carried on is as if everyone in Europe and the US are in support of the proposal to legalize same sex marriage. And from findings, opinions are evenly divided on the issue and even some states have those who are against more than those who are in support. It seems there is a conspiracy on those against not to be heard. I think journalism and news reporting is all about airing fair and balanced news which has been lacking in the debate. It took me listening and reading some faith based news channel and magazine for me to know that there are millions as well who are against.

    I personally find same sex relationship disgusting and will not for any reason advocate it being legalized and accepted as a norm like the heterosexual marriage. This does not mean I feel more important or human than those in support or who in fact have such inclination. But nobody should be blackmailed and made to look stupid just because you do not support it. My disagreement stems from several levels and one of the reasons for my speaking now is to at least give voice to those against.

    Studies have shown that most prison inmates are victims of dysfunctional families where in most cases the father absconded leaving the woman alone to cater for the children. Are we not with this debate making rooms for more future prison inmates where man and man or woman and woman will try to play the role they are not meant for? No matter how physically built a woman can be, she cannot play the role of a man same with a man. There are inherent attributes that God gave to a man and woman that cannot be supplanted by any artificial attributes. The future of children from same sex relationship from the foregoing is at best uncertain.

    And by the way, where do we stop? Soon enough, the argument will be for human beings to have the right to marry their pets like cats, dogs, horses and donkeys as some opinion in this regard is already brewing. We must not allow ourselves to be cowed by the developed countries.

    • Olumuyiwa Ayoola

    Palmgrove, Lagos

  • Re: Omatseye’s Achebe versus Soyinka

    IR: I found Sam Omatseye’s professional statement on an old subject matter of who is the greater writer – Chinua Achebe or Wole Soyinka – in The Nation of April 1, extremely enlightening, objective and seminal.

    I always thought attempting to establish this ranking was frivolous and uncalled for. For once, I can see the value of peer-review as distinct from press hypes which invariably establishes the vintage judgement and standards that create Nobel Laureates and underpin literary creativity. You successfully established for me that this is not necessarily a matter for populism or one of who is bestseller but deeply nuanced.

    I sure will keep this for reference.

    • Tunji Olaopa

    Abuja