The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Child abuse: A societal problem?

    Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment or neglect of a child or children.

    Child maltreatment could also be described as an act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.

    Child abuse can occur in a child’s home, or in the organizations, schools or communities the child interacts with.

    There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.

    Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. Most nations with child-abuse laws consider the deliberate infliction of serious injuries, or actions that place the child at obvious risk of serious injury or death, to be illegal. Physical abuse is the intentional or non-accidental production of a physical injury.

    Child sexual abuse on the other hand is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.

    While emotional abuse is defined as the production of psychological and social deficits in the growth of a child as a result of behavior such as loud yelling, coarse and rude attitude, inattention, harsh criticism, and denigration of the child’s personality.

    In many parts of the world, particularly in the developing countries, innocent children are subjected to hardship all in because of poverty.

    Some parents or caregivers are in the habit of beating, biting, blaming and yelling at their children all because they want to correct them of their wrong deeds.

    Children are often punished for behavior they are too young to control. Abusive parent has failed to understand the need to imbibe in the children the desired qualities and ways of life.

    It shouldn’t hurt to be a child. Many children who should be in school or with their parent to receive parental care, love and protection are on the street, on the highways hawking to earn a living or to help their parent.

    Many children had been exposed to sexual act and other anti-social behaviour through this.

    Abused children believe they don’t have values; they cannot affect the world around them hence they angry, dejected and depressed.

    Abused children are likely to experience generalized anxiety, depression, truancy, shame, suicidal and homicidal thought or to engage in criminal activity and promiscuity.

     

  • More controversies for African First Ladies

    More controversies for African First Ladies

    Last year, a mendicant African Union (AU) needed the benevolence of China to get a new and befitting $200m office complex in Addis Ababa. On the other hand, ‘wealthy’ Nigeria is proudly and confidently proposing to shell out N4bn to build the headquarters of African First Ladies’ Peace Mission (AFLPM) in Abuja on a controversial land. Nigeria’s generous spirit is obviously unlimited and undiscriminating. The Senate, which is considering the Federal Capital City’s proposed budget for the project, has so far given the impression it is scandalised by the presidency’s absolute lack of reality check. The country’s economy is in such dire straits, the Senate said, that it is shocking the government could tend to that project at all, not to talk of voting such a huge sum for its execution.

    In his reaction to widespread outrage over the AFLPM office project, the FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammad, knowingly begged the question. He tried to justify the allocation by arguing that according to the law the FCT was charged with the responsibility of building public offices. As he put it, “The Decree No.6 of 1976 that created Abuja also simultaneously created the FCTA with duty and responsibilities to plan, design, provide the infrastructure and construct public buildings as well as services to the entire 8,000 square kilometres of the FCT…As part of its remit to live up to its international obligation, the Federal Government accommodates certain international bodies – just like it is done across the globe; every year, the cost of rent or accommodation for such bodies tends to be above one billion naira…In Abuja, this obligation is transferred to the FCT Administration and as part of its efficiency measure, the FCT Administration saw in the proposed headquarters of the African First Ladies Peace Mission building an opportunity to save cost by using the AFLPM building to serve multiple roles in providing office accommodation as well as housing not just the African First Ladies Peace Mission but to other international bodies as well.” But who is disputing the functions of the FCT? It’s the project and the public money, stupid.

    Even if you ignore the obfuscation in the minister’s response, how could you also ignore the tendentious view that the AFLPM had become a part of our international obligations? And who can forget the messy controversy surrounding the land upon which the office complex is to be built? In February 2010, the land was allocated to the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WAYEF), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) run by the immediate past First Lady, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua. In November 2011, however, the FCT minister revoked the allocation and transferred ownership of the land to AFLPM, thereby setting in motion a very nasty and embarrassing struggle between the two First Ladies. The minister of course later explained that the earlier allocation to Hajiya Turai was inappropriate in the first instance.

    No matter how much the Senate wants to cooperate with the presidency, it is unlikely it can be persuaded to approve the expenditure for AFLPM as part of the FCT budget. After all, the sponsors of the project had vehemently clarified in 2011 and in July last year, during a dispute over supply of cars for the AFLPM summit, that it was an NGO. Taken together with its recklessness on the centenary project and other financial imprudence such as the N12bn proposed expenditure for the construction of two city gates for Abuja and rehabilitation of commercial sex workers in the FCT, it is clear that the President Goodluck Jonathan presidency has lost all sense of restraint in spending money and prioritising projects. The legislature must recognise that in spite of being sometimes ineffective in carrying out its oversight responsibilities, the onus for saving this democracy is on its shoulders. It should do what is right on the AFLPM office project, and put a leash on a presidency that has lost virtually all sense of reality and proportion.

     

  • From the cell phone

    For Dare Olatunji

     

    I read your write-up. If the head is rotten what else. On the stolen police pension, none of them will see peace again in life. They suffered old people who served their nation well. The government should address how to pay the pensioners. If the Finance Minister’s father or Police Minister’s is one of them, the money would have been paid to the pensioners by now. God will judge everybody in this country. Anonymous

    Going through the last paragraph of your column, it was clear you have not been updated with the bizzare judgment passed on one of those involved in the police pension fund fraud. A travesty of justice! Anonymous

    The most important lesson from any incident that caused you mental torture is not to allow that kind of incident to occur again. The government should have begun the repairs of the Police College before looking for scape goats. Sadly, the government and its officials often find themselves trying to dilute bitter truths with sweet talks and illogical points. But, whenever they are through with deceiving themselves, they find the stubborn truth, still staring them in the face. From Adegoke O O, Ikhin, Edo State

    I sympathise with officers and men of the Nigeria Police. The other day, a neighbour called me on phone at about 9pm to say a police patrol team had arrested him for being in possession of a toy gun. But, if he could contribute 10 litres of fuel he would be released. I rushed there with fuel and secured his release. The story is again told of how the officers in the salary section deduct handsome amounts upfront to settle electricity bills of those living in the barracks but, PHCN does not receive a single kobo. Anonymous

    You talked only about solicitation. The sorry state of the Police College and the barracks may also be the reason many of them persecute instead of protecting the populace. Government should please provide accomodation fit for human beings. Anonymous

    Well, I have never failed to buy any copy of The Nation I see your write-up in.You mentored me, unknowingly, taking time to polish and publish my pieces in The Guardian since 1991 while a corper. My sixth sense told me then that you were publishing me to encourage me. One day, I came calling, you were so humble and amiable. You made me feel great. Then, you informed that some honoraria were available for some eight pieces. It was the greatest honour of my life then. Those pieces have fetched me two university jobs. The first drew the attention of Prof. Fola Lasisi, who gave me my first major job as the PRO, University of Uyo. Then I followed Bola Ige into politics. By the time the bubble burst, Eghosa Osaghae, enamoured of my affiliation with your OpEd page, lured me into the academia. Today, I answer Dr.Femi Meyungbe-Olufunmilade, HOD, International Rels.& Strategic Studies, Igbinedion Univ/Prof, EastCarolina Univ. Dare is great!

    The mess in the NPF is not an isolated case; corruption has become a part of our nation. I am sure it is a ‘core course’ in police academy. God save us. From Onyilo, Abuja.

    Dear Dare, it is difficult to beleive that those that stole police pension fund are being covered by our judiciary. Yusuf was merely given two years jail with an option of fine. God save this country! From Fatukasi Tuyi. Akure.

    Dear Dare, if it was in my part of the country, we would have started your name with ‘I’ and replaced the ‘E’ with ‘A’. That would have been IDARA, meaning joy or jubilation. It was a well-articulated rendition in The Nation of 29/01/13. Please, also ask them to explain why police contractors and consultants are never paid on time, sometimes, for two years and more. What happens to the funds allocated for such projects? Do they develop wings and fly? Is it that Mr. President is not aware that these contractors and consultants are going through pains of unimaginable proportions? From Etokowo Owoh, uyo

    We do buy the uniform ourselves even salary is not equal; they do not promote according to the law of this country. Please, why? Anonymous

    Re: The shame of our police barracks. It is quite unfortunate that Mr. President misunderstood the exposure of the rot in the Police College. If I were the President, I would make Channels Television get the first Corporate Merit award in Nigeria in 2013 for helping institute good governance. The police should be well welfared by the Federal Governmet in the overall interest of security of Nigeria and its citizens. Same for our properties! From Lanre Oseni.

    I agree that the police cannot do better than the neo-colonial social system that created it. The truth is the police will never be the same in a people-oriented order which is a far cry from the existing system based on self-interest. Thanks. From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna

    Please, continue to hit hard on the IGP, Police Service Commission and the Minister of Police Affairs for them to sit up. From Festus, Lagos

    To me, all these fraudulent practices are guaranteed by the present administration. So, it is our luck. From Abayomi O. E.

    Sir, on ‘Jonathan’s CNN interview’, your views represent those of the majority! God bless Nigeria! Anonymous

    Sir, with due respect to his office, the present occupier of the presidency is incompetent. From Nemodat

    My worry is even people we thought should know how to present matters with wisdom end up with careless and disrespectful criticisms. Must you criticise the government or Mr. Presidnt in everything. Pray for this man, Jonathan, he needs time and patience for age-long problems he has come to face. Long live Mr. Presidnt, same the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Anonymous

    Jonathan needs help; I felt sad watching our President in an interview with Amanpour on CNN on January 23, 2013. As a lecturer at the University of Ilorin, in the early eightie,s I used to tell my students that a good leader must have what I call the three Cs: Character, Charisma and Capacity or Capability. Jonathan urgently needs fresh hands. From Olu Omoba, Ikeja

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Sir, I read your column From the summit. Jonathan’s response to Amanpour is no surprise. A man Channels TV gave an opportunity to write his name in gold for posterity and he blew it. Instead, he asked how on earth Channels got into Police College undetected. Why has Abati and Okupe not come out to defend the blunder? Anonymous

    All you said concerning Jonathan’s CNN interview are true, if not, a judge will not slam on a thief that stole over N27b, two years or N750,000 fine. From Tayo

    My heart skips each time a Nigerian has the microphone on for a white journalist. The white skinned to us are gods that must be adulated with our excessive talks and unrestrained expressions. Next time, CNN comes to town for GEJ, Lord, let me miss the episode! From Olanegan Taiwo, Akure

    On your article From the summit, this country is in trouble because there is no crime that our government is not mentioned as being part of. We the masses should forget about our leaders and fight for our freedom. Thank you, for saying the truth. Anonymous

    The need for innovation in various aspects of teacher education in this country is critical and it is the government that has to lead, not only through policies but by ensuring their implementation. As we speak, the core provisions of the National Policy on Education on teacher education are yet to be implemented. And the rot deepens in that critical sector but, write on! From Prof. Kanu

    With all due respect, I love the way you emphasise teachers, students and government issues. But, you should not stop there; continue hitting the nail on the head so that we can produce good leaders of tomorrow. From Matthew.

    The Nigerian teacher is not so far from the brink of illiteracy as the pupils they wish to impart knowledge on. Teaching in primary and secondary schools cannot be better; it is not competitive. The teachers are parboiled from their different colleges and universities of education meant for all comers. In short, faculties of education in universities admit the worst students. What about the NTI and the Sandwich ‘nonsense’ to raise money by most of the universities? They are not to add to knowledge. They subtract from it. These are the harbingers of the poverty of teacher education. You only need to see them on the field. From Ola Akinduro, Idanre, Ondo State.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re:’ Justice Talba and the pension thief;’(The Nation, February 3). The judgment by Talba against Yusuf attests to the local and conservative belief that Law as a course or field rests on lies, or how else do we marry a penalty of N750,000 on an individual theft of five percent of people’s pension or/and collective theft of 71 percent of people’s pension of N38 billion? If the law did not provide for the N750,000, why did the judge not consider the reasonableness and measure-for-measure penalty? That judgment was bad. It does not encourage reading Law. From Lanre Oseni.

    Plea bargaining is another way of encouraging corruption in governance. The recent judgment of John Yusuf’s pension funds fraud is an insult on the intelligence of Nigerians; it is a wicked one from the judiciary. The judiciary is an arm of government that encourages corruption; it should desist from this so that Nigeria can move forward. If we don’t fight corruption seriously, Nigeria is going nowhere. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    A Chinese proverb: ‘a man who steals a melon is a thief; a man who steals a kingdom is a king’. And the paradox that Nigeria is; steal billions, get an accolade. Anonymous.

    There are three major ingredients that make any country great. 1. Functioning police system that arrests, investigates, and prosecutes, 2. A credible judicial system with integrity and honesty that dispenses justice accordingly. 3. The energy (e.g. electricity and gas) to power the industry and productivity base. Now, tell me, which area of the three mentioned is working in Nigeria? Why? Corruption ! How can we change it? Certainly not through churches and night vigils; and not by being docile, and not by continually making wrong choices at the polls, either. We have to take our destiny in our hands. For a start, after 16 years of incompetence, it is time for the PDP to go. Time to try something else. Anonymous.

    The truth is always bitter. Let me tell you this, Nigeria is a nation of ignorant people and thieves. Less than five percent are righteous. That is why everything we do is determined first by personal gains, before we consider the collective well-being. That is why we sell our votes regardless of what the vote buyers have to offer … That we are not massively protesting is an indication that we are comfortable with all the ‘manure’ that we are fed with everyday. Tell me, which aspect of Nigerian life isn’t rotten? We cheat in everything, including sports, where we falsify age. Simply put, Nigeria is a nation of cheats where falsehood reigns and money and materialism are gods; we have no consideration for ethics and morals. Therefore, we are getting what we deserve and it will be so until we change our ways. For now, keep moaning. Anonymous.

    Thank you, Tunji, for your write-up as usual. I am one of your fans; I am a pensioner with the Federal Ministry of Education. My question is: do we still hope to retrieve Nigeria from thieves and their collaborators? Only God can see us through. Anonymous.

    There has been a general understatement or lack of appreciation of the true import of the gravity of what Mr John Yakubu Yusuf did. He did not just steal , he stole the pension! This lack of appreciation of the true gravity of the offence probably influenced the EFCC in charging him under the Penal Code and not the EFCC or ICPC Act, and definitely influenced the way the judge exercised his option in granting Mr Yusuf an option of fine rather than sentence him to two years’ imprisonment . In social and advanced economic policy and practice of modern states, pension occupies a fundamental and very basic and sacred place. Find out the rigours that a Nigerian newspaper owner went through in South Africa and the role that provision for pension for prospective (not even actual and employed workers) plays in that country. See civilised societies and understand what Yusuf did. Anonymous.

     

  • Presidency, South-south and Ijaw hegemony

    Presidency, South-south and Ijaw hegemony

    SIR: Events that began with the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010, have come to unveil the historic fraud that was then held as a South-south political platform.

    Presently, the flag of the irredentist Ijaw minority has been treacherously substituted as a South-south political platform, even as their ethnic leaders have superimposed themselves as South-south leaders leaving the peoples and nationalities of the zone without any facility for their own true political expression.

    Today, it is clear to the people of all nationalities in our geo-political region that the sole aim of what was presented to them as a regional mandate in 2011, was actually the establishment and perpetuation of an Ijaw hegemony that subsumes the political expression of the entire zone to its exclusive agenda. This hegemonic ambition, verifiable by the pattern of President Goodluck Jonathan’s appointments since his emergence, is characterized by a near-monopoly of significant empowerment and strategic ministries and positions by the Ijaws to the exclusion of other South-south nationalities. For example, of the six ministerial slots given to the South-South zone, three are occupied by the same Ijaw ethnic nationality. A similar analysis of other key appointments in the presidency, federal departments, parastatals and agencies, portray the same lopsidedness and inequity against other nationalities of the South-south.

    This dominion and monopoly over the other South-south nationalities like the Urhobo nation, which constitute a major block of zone, is classically illustrated by the fact that the entire Bayelsa State which is exercising the so-called South-south Presidency, in addition to a full minister, is made up of the same eight local government areas as the Delta central senatorial district of the Urhobos in Delta State. Yet in the entire South-south, the Urhobos can only boast of chairman of a moribund river basin authority. Even of the eight LGAs that make up the President’s Bayelsa State, a couple of them such as Sagbama LGA have significant Urhobo population. In Delta State, where the Ijaws are a small minority, with Urhobo as the overwhelming majority, the only minister from the state is ironically from the Ijaw minority. What do we call this if not internal colonialism?

    Of equal symbolic evidence, is the exclusive appropriation of the amnesty programme and other related patronages by the Ijaws in the aftermath of a struggle that was supposed to be of the Niger-Delta region. Thus, both the Niger-Delta minister and the head of the Niger-Delta amnesty empowerment programme are both of Ijaw extraction. It is also manifested in the sudden spate of territorial expansionist crises involving Ijaw communities in different parts of the Niger-Delta region such as Edo and Ondo states.

    Now, the cumulative internal crisis of confidence in our zone, engendered by this surreptitious superimposition has degenerated to such depth of bitterness. On top of all these, is the growing realization that our collective political future as minorities stand the danger of being irretrievably compromised in the politics of Nigeria by the accident of history that precipitated the Jonathan Presidency. Our people have come to realize that the dishonesty and betrayal of trust that trailed the president’s candidature, in relation to the zoning principle of the People’s Democratic Party, after the death of the late President Yar’Adua in 2010, is capable of collectively stigmatizing us as an untrustworthy people in the future politics of this country.

    The time has come, to put an end to this national deception, to deconstruct the fraud that is presently assumed to be a South-South political platform and to herald the true political vision of the present day South-south Nigeria.

    • Maxwell Okirikpo

    Effurun Delta State.

  • Open letter to VC, University of Agriculture, Makurdi

    Open letter to VC, University of Agriculture, Makurdi

    Sir: I would like to congratulate you, Prof E. I. Kucha, on your appointment as the fifth vice chancellor of Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi. Your appointment deserves a special mention and commendation because it is the first time Minda, the host community will be producing the vice chancellor of the great institution.

    Professor, you have been entrusted this responsibility at a very crucial time when the University is in deep coma and is gasping for survival. In medical parlance, coma is a state of extreme unresponsiveness, in which an individual exhibits no voluntary movement or behavior. The founding fathers of this university modeled it after Harvard and Oxford, and dreamt that like Harvard and Oxford,it will also attain glory as one of the best in Nigeria, Africa and the World. But unfortunately, today, the university is not even ranked among the top 10 universities in the country.

    Dear Professor, as you are aware that the academic standards of the university are declining day by day and the issue of cultism has assumed alarming proportions. The havoc being caused by violent cult activities has become a source of worry and concern to students, lectures, parents and the government. It is not that the situation is completely out of control; even today a lot can be done only if one has the determination and the will power to do it.

    Sir, the country and the good people of Benue State hopes that as the captain of the ship, you will rise to the occasion and take necessary steps to stem the rot, to restore the old glory of the university. The host community, Minda have high hopes and they believe that you shall not let them down.

    As you are well aware, the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi has produced brilliant graduates in the past. Today, the reverse is the case. I therefore, hope that unlike your predecessor,you will demonstrate greater courage and will to take necessary action to surgically remove the cancer of cultism and academic bastardization of the university and save the institution from slipping in to oblivion.

    Finally, I appeal to all stakeholders and the senate of the university to take time to learn from the honey bees. At theheart of hive,which house as many as 100,000 is the “Queen”. Each bee has a special duty to perform. Some are ‘Forager Bees’ who encounter the perils of the outside world in order ro collect food. ‘Guard Bees’ protect the hives from intruders. Some bees serve even as ‘Undertakers’; these are responsible for removing dead bodies from the hive. Others are ‘Water Collectors’ who bring in moisture to regulate humidity. In addition the, ‘Plasterers’ make a kind of cement to repair the hive, and ‘Scent Fanners’ station themselves at the entrance and fan the scent outward to signal the location of the colony to lost or disoriented one. The ‘Scout Bees’ keep the hive alert to opportunities and dangers from the outside world.

    From the above analysis, it is safe to ask: what is our contribution to the safety, progress, growth and protection of the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi? As bona-fide sons and daughters of this great institution,we cannot afford to sit and watch. The job of building the university will not be accomplished unless every one cooperates.

    • John Akevi,

    Nitel Qtrs. Bauchi.

     

  • Re: Hypocrisy of yesterday’s men

    Re: Hypocrisy of yesterday’s men

    SIR: I think Kingsley Ogbeide-Ihema spoke the mind of many people when he said “if you offer a fool the liberty of your silence, he would offer to himself the liberty of your consent”. I consider it appropriate to salute Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the President for his well articulated rejoinder titled “Hypocrisy of yesterday’s men” in the Sunday edition of The Nation of February 3.

    It’s a pity we find ourselves in a nation where those who were once involved in the system now turn themselves into ‘messianic’ political icons and professional fault-finders. This group of yesterday’s men and women think that without them in government, the ship of leadership will derail.

    I was in school when one of those yesterday’s women superintended over the educational sector as minister. During her tenure, we saw the mass production of ‘dis-educated, mis-educated and uneducated’ graduates in Nigeria. Those who gained admission into the four walls of the university left with only one wall standing. Under her watchful eyes, the menace of examination malpractices reached an unprecedented dimension. Incessant strike action punctured our academic calendars to the extent that four years courses stretched up to five or six years. The result was that the general public lost confidence in public academic institutions completely.

    This woman who should have been banned from public office for life in view of her abysmal failure in the educational sector now claims to see what she could not see few years ago. Nigerians should not forget that she was a part of the federal executive council that spent over $16 billion on power, yet the only thing we got in return was darkness. Those who think I am wrong should please check their history books.

    • Ehi G.O.

    Benin City.

     

  • Obasanjo should bother about his meddlesomeness

    Obasanjo should bother about his meddlesomeness

    On Monday, virtually all newspapers published the photograph of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo participating actively in Sunday’s worship service at the Aso Villa chapel. He was in company with his host, President Goodluck Jonathan, the president’s family, and other cabinet aides and friends. Obasanjo was at the Villa with a few members of his own family. After the service, in which the former president prayed fervently for his host, whom he had traduced repeatedly in the past few months, he went for a private lunch and discussions with the president. Some newspaper analysts construed Obasanjo’s presence at the Villa as a sort of rapprochement with his protégé. Perhaps it was.

    Obasanjo’s visit came a few days after a news magazine, the New African, published an interview quoting him as accusing Jonathan of mismanaging the campaign against insecurity. That interview in turn came at a time when the uproar over Obasanjo’s vehement denunciation of Jonathan’s conflict resolution style was yet to die down. The former president had last November dismissed as weak Jonathan’s approach to the Boko Haram menace compared with his own vigorous approach to tackling insurrections. The brickbat between aides of the two leaders stoked the cold war triggered by factors yet to be fully and accurately determined. Analysts suspect those factors were probably connected with the unsuccessful effort by Jonathan to call his soul his own in the face of Obasanjo’s obtruding and sometimes risible political behaviour.

    Since Obasanjo has refused to detach himself from the government of the day, as well as from general governance, observers have been quick to judge that his obtrusion had reached a clearly portentous stage. They in fact read metaphysical meanings to his every move in favour or against the ruler of the day. Observers, for instance, equate his lunch with the president on Sunday ominously with the lunch he had with former Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, shortly before the latter’s fall. And they also recall his public show of affection for Otunba Gbenga Daniel, whom he publicly fed cake, as an indication of his ability to cynically purge himself of any feeling for his enemies, no matter how hard they try to placate him. It remains to be seen whether Sunday’s Aso Villa ‘rapprochement’ should be interpreted as a simple gesture of reconciliation or as a complex foreboding of impending apocalypse.

    What is not in doubt, however, is that the country, nay, Obasanjo himself, should be worried that whereas the former president was his own man when he ruled the country, he seems reluctant to allow Jonathan to come to his own. But what worsens the whole messy interaction between the former and current presidents is that one man or two, as the case may be, appear to determine by questionable deductions the fate of more than 160 million Nigerians. That galling resort to faulty reasoning led to the foisting of the late Umaru Yar’Adua as president in 2007. It also enthroned Jonathan himself two years later, which perhaps explains why he is wary of extricating himself from the bind he finds himself. That twisted logic has indeed now taken on a life of its own, gaining momentum by the week, and threatening to spiral out of control every time a disagreement spews out from the pressure pot.

    Obasanjo has become the leitmotif of Nigerian politics, a reputation he obviously revels in. He will not discard the distinctive triumphalism that accompanies that exalted status, for there is no incentive for him to self-immolate. The better option would be for Jonathan to wean himself off the former president’s tutelage. But that also assumes Jonathan has the courage to cross the Rubicon and burn his bridges. More, taking that fateful step calls for a cleverness never before exhibited in these parts, one so unusual as to be sufficient to establish a president as a true leader. Obasanjo has an obtruding personality; he won’t let go of the reins of power. It is in fact Jonathan who has the responsibility of freeing himself and offering the country independent leadership, assuming he can summon the required confidence, courage and wisdom.

     

     

  • A most outrageous judgment

    A most outrageous judgment

    SIR: The option of fine of N750, 000 for a criminal crime of N23 billion fraud by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT high court against John Yakubu Yusufu of the office of the Police Pension Funds is worrisome.

    Yusufu is one of the eight civil servants accused of diverting about N32.8 billion.  Certainly, this sentence does not weigh balance with the offence committed.

    We all must realise that corruption is a monster that should be fought by all and sundry in this country. The message from Justice Talba is that corruption pays. If you must steal, steal handsomely.

    It is quite unfortunate that people still steal public funds with impunity without stiff penalty under the laws whereas somebody will steal a handset for instance and would be sent to jail for 10 years with hard labour.

    As in the case under reference, imagine the feelings of the Nigerian public especially the affected pensioners who have greatly suffered and some even died while waiting for their pittance pension after many years of meritorious service to the nation before their retirement.

    It is injustice! No doubt, our laws are defective just as our judiciary is questionable. There is an urgent need to amend the laws in such a way that the punishment will always be commensurate with the offence committed and in all other areas where amendment is necessary. The judiciary should also step up effort in the fight against economic and financial crimes or else…….

     

    • Alani Ayo

    Abuja.

  • The scourge of corruption

    The scourge of corruption

    SIR: Nigeria is in the prison of corruption. Corruption is Nigeria’s Achilles heels, its bane. It has eaten off the moral fabric of Nigeria, and it is asphyxiating the country, too. Corruption rears its ugly head in all facets of our national life.

    A Nigerian who is not corrupt is considered to be an abnormal human being. He is called a “mugu” – a sucker. We have a culture of corruption into which teenage youths are socialized. When parents hire surrogate candidates to write such examinations as UTME, SSCE and NECO for their children, they have unwittingly initiated and socialized their children into the culture of corruption.

    It is sad that our educational system has become dysfunctional owing to corruption. Rich parents send their children to Ghana and Europe for schooling as our cult-infested schools have become grounds for staging beauty pageant competitions and propagation of religious bigotry. Our economy is ailing and hemorrhaging from deleterious corrupt practices that are deftly perpetrated by those minding our financial chests and collective wealth. As Nigerians perceive occupying positions of power as opportunity to amass wealth by fair or foul means, our political leaders are helping themselves to our collective wealth.

    Monies that should be channeled into fixing our infrastructure are stolen by people holding positions of influence and power. So, our hospitals have morphed from consulting clinics to mortuaries. Poor people go to our hospital to die, and not to recover from their ailments. Our roads that are filled with craters are death-traps that cause the deaths of Nigerians daily. The dilapidated East-west road has remained an open sore in the psyche of our leaders. In spite of the humongous money injected into the power sector in the country, electricity supply has not improved. Electricity supply in Nigeria is like a maudlin lady with personality disorder, whose mood swings from being hilarious to being cantankerous. Manufacturing industries have relocated to Ghana where regular supply of electricity is guaranteed and assured. Their relocation of their industries to places outside Nigeria further compounds our unemployment problems. So, who is not unconscious of the fact that corruption is the polio that has crippled Nigeria?

    Until corruption is rooted out of Nigeria, Nigeria can’t achieve its potential in spite of its natural and human resources. Can Nigeria develop and become a great country when recruitments into the federal civil service, the Nigerian Army, FRSC, Immigration Services and others are characterized by bribery and corruption? People who are unsuited for jobs in some establishments have got jobs owing to the Nigerian factors of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

    Sadly, the judiciary has become the cemetery of our hope for a better Nigeria with their questionable judgments. Last week, a High Court sentenced one John Yakubu Yusufu to two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of N750, 000.00, for stealing N32.8 billion pension funds.

    Is it enough comeuppance for the crime he committed, which pauperized many retired police officers? People with Kleptomaniac tendencies will loot the treasury while in power knowing that the judiciary will give them a very light sentence when they leave power. The National Judicial Council and other regulatory bodies should address and tackle the rot in our judicial system. A corrupt judiciary spells doom and trouble for us. A stitch in time saves nine.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

  • Who manages Nigeria’s image?

    Who manages Nigeria’s image?

    SIR: The above question was posed for debate on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Nigeria’s leading perception manager Yomi Badejo Okusanya (YBO). To tackle the poser, his outfit CMC Connect staged a colloquium for the citizens to jaw-jaw.

    To ex-military governor and one-time foreign affairs minister, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (rtd), “the promotion of material self interest by the elite and the ruling class to the detriment of the welfare of the people… is a threat to the management of the image of Nigeria.”

    Nwachukwu condemned what he termed “ the primitive acquisitive tendencies” of the “ leadership group” and “monetization of the politics” of our age and said they “ impede social development.”

    The retired General coupled these with the “violence all over the place,” and held that Nigerians are not treated well abroad because of our poor image; leadership group should work on it for a positive change; media should examine its strategy of reporting negative trends while not covering up criminality and impunity; they must strike a balance ; government alone can’t be saddled with managing the country’s image ; individuals should imbibe right values and be “ good” ambassadors of Nigeria abroad.

    The debate reignited can’t be a one – affair because of its inherent dynamics and the interconnectivity of perception and reality. As ex-Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party Audu Ogbeh said during his famous war of words with former President Olusegun Obasanjo “perception is reality.” So it is an on-going debate. We must agree with that dictum if we are to seriously address the image dilemma in Nigeria. What we see and hear and read in the media – local or foreign – has a powerful impact on our inflection and actions. And no matter the texture or nature of these reflections and actions, we must be careful not to fix our gaze in the direction of the media for blame. For, the journalist can’t but be faithful to his job: reporting what he sees faithfully.

    So the kernel of the dialectics at work is to “tamper,” as it were, with what goes on in the society, since what goes on in society is what the reporter sees to report. He can’t manufacture or concoct what is not there. True he sometimes exaggerates. But again you embellish what is on the ground. You don’t adorn what isn’t happening.

    Those who gathered at Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos to consider the issue as they honoured YBO were aware of this link between (mis)governance and image and therefore submitted that image management is not an abstruse enterprise disconnected from reality. In that case it must be said that what we refer to as reflection or image is noting but the totality of what the citizen derives (benefits) from his government. It is equally the reaction of that citizen to governance. Vice versa, it is government’s reaction to the citizen’s perception of its actions. Who manages this friction – laden intercourse? Or isn’t it more instructive and practical to ask: how do we manage the inevitable friction?

     

    • Banji Ojewale

    Ota, Ogun State