The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Still on the gay rights debate

    SIR: It baffles me when I see people channel their energy to rationalize absurd and vile courses in the guise of liberty, freedom, or emancipation. Even in the so-called most liberal societies, human behavior is regulated to protect the society and its inhabitants from the harmful effects of the excesses the liberty of expressing our freedom might exert.

    Dr Pius Oyeniran Abioje of the University of Ilorin in The Nation’s letters page of January 16, titled “Lawmakers death warrant on homosexuals” stated that African leaders have used their Christo- Islamic bias to legislate laws and therefore endangered homosexuals. I find his views as self-serving and impudence to the intelligence of our leaders and their capability to take beneficial decisions on behalf of their people.

    It is an affront for anyone to posit that our sense of morality is the absolute product of our holy books. Long before the advent of Christianity and Islam, Africans are known to posses’ classic virtues and high sense of responsibility which has stood the test of time beyond functional and structural evolution. Except some people are saying we are only politically liberated but still a moral colony of the West, it must be admitted by all that we are rational beings, with our own values, beliefs, and customs which has helped sustained our homogeneity for eons. We might be importing some foreign cultures which are beneficial and others detrimental to our society, no one should challenge our collective conscience and right to filter those things we are sure will destroy us. Every society derive its laws from the peoples culture, belief, and values which are actually the pillars that define appropriate actions, why would anyone rubbish ours down to religious sentiment just because it does not serve his or her selfish purpose?

    I personally do not have any problem with homosexuality or gay people, but I must admit I have issues with gay rights, why? With gay right you encourage what ordinarily some people would not contemplate, more innocent people are disposed and made cushy disciples, and more worrisome is that you are institutionalizing what is capable of wiping out humanity. Yes, wiping out humanity because procreation is threatened by the flourishing of same sex union. Like drug use, abortion rights, prostitution rights etc why are most nations of the world sceptical about endorsing these human preferences? I believe they know institutionalizing it will explode it and its explosion will be a threat to their existence as a people.

    Homosexuality just like heterosexuality and most human behaviours, is a learned orientation that can be unlearned or managed, hence the need to limit its exposure because people learn more from what they are exposed to, and young peoples’ mind is easily imprinted upon by the actions of mentors they seek to model. To the best of my knowledge, the resolve of African leaders and indeed the National Assembly is the honest reflection of our collective conscience on this issue. The effort being garnered to discredit their noble resolution in the name of religious bias is unfounded and a cheap blackmail. But if African leaders had remained silent about this matter, they would have been guilty of negligence to protect the people they swore to defend. The bill on homosexuality in Nigeria did not in any way infringe on fundamental human rights, neither does it ratify incarceration or death penalty to anyone that is solitarily or publicly gay in Nigeria. Ipso facto, the bill is aimed at protecting the sacred institution of marriage which is the hub of the society, the paramount fountain of value transmission, and the primary source of procreation, nay the survival of the society. The bill is the most shrewd and pragmatic legislation African leaders have delivered and we support and uphold that the long arms of the law don’t spare you who seek to institutionalise that which we all abhor.

    • John Samuel Tuwan

    Ojo – Lagos

  • Abuja’s ban on mini-buses

    SIR: The recent ban on mini buses on some routes in Abuja by the FCT administration was never intended to cause any hardship to the residents. The true situation is that the FCT minister intends a realistic delineation for mini and high capacity buses in the FCT, just like it occurs in all modern cities of the world.

    It is mischievous for some persons to claim that the decision of the FCT administration to ban mini-buses from operating in the city centre is borne out of conceit or any other reason. The ban has been in the pipeline since 2010 and it arose as a result of the challenges posed by the actions and operations of the mini-buses which had led to congestion in the city, persistent gridlock, and chaos from their unruly nature.

    The policy is intended to reduce traffic accidents, improve security and restore sanity on major roads and interchanges in the nation’s capital.

    This policy on the restriction of the operation of mini-buses on some routes in the city is similar to the ban on motorcycles by the former FCT administration which was greeted by a negative general public uproar but in the long run it is the same general public that is commending the efforts of government. When the high capacity buses commence services in the city, it will no longer be a situation of everything goes as there will be designated bus stops and the high capacity buses will be compelled by virtue of the agreement entered into with the administration to strictly adhere to picking and dropping of passengers at designated bus stops and ensuring they do not impede other road users as was the norm when mini-buses were operating in the city.

    Residents of the FCT must view the new policy on transportation as bringing order back to the very chaotic situation; as no responsible and well meaning society that sincerely wants development, thrives on chaos.

    The vision of Senator Bala Mohammed is to move the FCT to the next level of development and this includes the new policy for transport operation that is designed to provide an organised transport structure; which invariably is in the overriding interest of the plethora of residents of the capital city.

    • Mohammed Awwalu Ibro

    Abuja

  • N23 billion pension fraud: What a country!

    SIR: Permit me to lend my voice to the public outcry against the wishy-washy judgment meted on Mr John Yakubu Yusufu, one of the police pension scam jobbers who confessed to stealing our pensioners money. The big question now is this: is it enough for the self confessed thief to say yes I stole as much as N23 billion and be asked to part with a miserable N750, 000.00 as fine and be made to go home and steal no more?

    This feeling of impotent rage which has enveloped the citizenry at this judgment by Justice Mohammed Talba of the FCT High Court, Abuja, which is absolutely laughable, should be condemned by all.

    I only hope that other judges would not ridicule the efforts of the anti-corruption agencies.

    Like one Monday Ubani who registered his displeasure on the judgment, I also call for and very quickly too, an urgent amendment of the Penal Code, which he says does not impose punishment sufficient enough to deter corruption. While his legal colleague Bamidele Aturu who also spoke on the judgment in The Punch of Tuesday January 29, said the sentence portrays Nigeria as a country that is not serious to fight corruption.

    It is a known fact that the aged who have served our nation meritoriously die daily while waiting endlessly without getting paid their well earned meager pension.

    I want to say emphatically that Justice Talba’s judgment is a great disservice to the strained investigation leading to the indictment of Yusufu. It is a slap on the EFCC officers who ordinarily would have been thrilled that their hard work be rewarded by the society and its best institutions. This is indeed a shame to the judiciary.

    Another big question is: What does this teach our youths or those who have their hands in the till already? I will say it simply means ‘carry go, collect enough after all, the law will only recoup a negligible portion and you will go a free man. After all, is that not what Justice Talba did to Yusufu?

    Our value system has gone down indeed. Ha! We are headed for doomsday! No shame for the thief again, wahala de!

    • Ngozi Austine

    Awka.

  • Why farmers need phones

    The widespread diffusion of ICT, particularly mobile phones is known to have the potential of bridging the digital divide as well as alleviating poverty through the direct and indirect job creation. Mobile money has now become an imperative factor for financial inclusion and the key driver of funds from the informal sector to the formal/banking sector.

    The lack of access to a broader set of financial options in rural areas represents a potential constraint to entrepreneurship and the ability to undertake socially and privately profitable investment projects. Participants are geographically scattered, financial transactions are small and rural incomes tend to be unstable.

    Narrowing the digital divide is not a subject of debate. It is fundamental to the nation’s goal of becoming one of the top 20 largest economies in the world by the year 2020. Nigeria presently has an estimated population of 160 million people with the number of unbanked populations placed at about 70 per cent. Because it is upon this category of people that Nigeria depends for local supply of food, the agricultural sector has a huge transformational prospect in this case. It is critical and important for financial inclusion.

    The cell phone is a portable, revolutionary tool. More people in the world have access to mobile phones than they have to running water, electricity, or even toilets. It comes across as a tool for bringing the rural dwellers into the mainstream economies. As of May 2012, Nigeria’s mobile telecommunications subscribers’ base hit 101.1 million. According to the African Journal of Business Management, published on 15 February, 2012, majority, about 70 per cent of the population in developing countries, particularly in Africa, live in rural areas and have no access to financial services.

    In Nigerian agriculture, the women occupy a significant position numerically and in terms of volume of activities. Nigerian women farmers constitute 70 per cent of the country’s agricultural workforce and produce 80 per cent of the country’s food, yet most of them lack access to almost everything that could make farming worthwhile and gainful. They are not only susceptible to the whims and caprices of weather; they also face challenges such as lack of funds, inadequate agricultural information, inability to preserve farm produce, and poor access to the market. Others are lack of information about crop production, pest control, treatment of animals, economic and health information.

    The time has come for Nigeria, a developing country, to enhance the contribution of women entrepreneurs to the creation of meaningful and sustainable employment opportunities and poverty alleviation. Improving access to financial services, including savings accounts, can make all the difference. Women are considered good savers, and research has demonstrated that they are more likely to reinvest their savings in their families and communities.

    The World Bank notes that gender equality is smart economics as it can raise productivity, improve other development outcomes, including prospects for the next generation, and contribute to more representative decision making in societies. However, various researches have shown that one of the easiest ways to enhance financial inclusion is by enhancing women’s welfare and participation in the nation’s economy.

    Recognising that ICT holds great potential for rural dwellers, particularly female farmers, President Goodluck Jonathan, in his widely reported 2013 budget presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly, said his administration will give millions of mobile phones to women farmers. The president had explained that “these ministries are signing MOUs with the Ministry of Women Affairs to deliver on specific services for women.” According to him: “The Ministry of Agriculture, for example, will work with its ICT counterpart to ensure that five million women farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs receive mobile phones to be able to access information on agro-inputs through an e-wallet scheme,” and announced that “N3bn has been set aside to be disbursed to participating MDAs as incentives for them to deliver on these targets.”

    Prior to that time, however, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, had announced government’s plan to distribute 10 million mobile phones to smallholder male and female farmers, beginning from 2013, in equal proportion for both genders. The minister had said that the phones would carry features such as information on climatic conditions, market prices of farm produce, extension workers and how farmers can access agricultural funds. He explained that the initiative was aimed at subsidising the cost of major agricultural inputs, such as fertiliser and seeds. “By that the farmers can get information on planting seasons. We cannot do that by newspapers, we need to have something they can relate with in local languages,” he had said.

    Experts have observed that five million mobile phones in the hands of women farmers will create a platform for multiple services with the overall aim of improving the economic standing of the poor farmers. It is interesting to note that the mobile money initiative that began in Africa is being exported to other continents, including the developed countries. Other countries in the Americas and Asia are preparing to launch their own mobile money services as well.

    Around the world, millions of smallholders are facing effects of climate change. Extreme or erratic rains, flood and drought threaten their livelihoods. Most of the farmers work five hectares or less, often in remote areas. With a population estimated at 167 million people, 25.4 million bank accounts and over 90 million phone subscribers subscribing to mobile payment, Nigeria promises to become Africa’s biggest mobile money market. The compelling needs of millions of unbanked Nigerians are expected to drive the country’s mobile money volume to surpass Kenya’s celebrated 9.5 million M-PESA subscribers among its 39 million people. Massive use of cell phones by rural farmers can create thousands of rural jobs for some local service providers. Feedback from a group of farmers in Ondo State has shown that “they want extension to be strengthened.” By what means could that be done most easily, especially given their recognition of the fact that they need inputs and that rural road conditions need to be addressed? They have indirectly substantiated why they need phones but were not able to establish firmly the rationale because of concerns for charging their batteries. Their problem actually presents an opportunity in the sense that a business can be spawned from this gap they have identified.

    If road access is a problem and farmers see their need for inputs, it means they are better off with phones that save them time, reduce their trouble and uncertainty and remove the risks of making needless trips. Some extension services can be personalised and delivered on phones. This will make it easier to reach more beneficiaries, especially as there is a prevailing problem of low ratio of extension officers to farmers. A few will be able to serve more farmers, overcoming the logistic barriers and making a better use of time and other key resources, yet achieving more in agricultural productivity.

    • Dr. Oyeleye is media aide to the Honourable Minister of Agriculture

  • US drones in Niger Republic, Burkina Faso

    US drones in Niger Republic, Burkina Faso

    The United States on Monday reportedly signed a “status of forces” agreement with Niger Republic, Nigeria’s neighbour to the North, to deploy surveillance drones in that country to carry out spying and monitoring missions on Islamist militants in the Sahel. A similar agreement had been signed with Burkina Faso, and US drones are already in operation there feeding French forces in Mali with information on Tuareg rebels and Islamist militants affiliated to al-Qaeda. It requires no clairvoyance to know that there would be a very limited sharing of intelligence gathered by the drones with the host countries. The agreement with Niger is said to impose no constraints on military-to-military cooperation. This means that the deployment of surveillance drones could easily graduate to deployment of armed drones. Ethiopia and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa preceded the West African sub-region in accepting US drones on their soils.

    It will be recalled that the use of American drones in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia have become so controversial that they have generated resentment among the local populace and civil liberties groups. The danger is how to draw the line between gathering intelligence on militants and attacking the militants on one hand, and gathering other kinds of intelligence on the host countries. In 1962, the Action Group political party sensitised Nigerians to the dangers of an Anglo-Nigerian defence pact, leading to massive demonstrations and the eventual collapse of the deal. Such sensitivity is lacking today. Apart from the secrecy that surrounds the operation of armed drones, there is also the unacceptably high incidence of civilian casualties. According to a foreign newspaper report, “The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism has monitored American drone strikes all around the world and calculates that in Pakistan alone there have been some 362 strikes since 2004. They are estimated to have killed up to 3,461 suspected militants in the country and as many as 891 civilians.”

    President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic has regrettably already given permission for the deployment of the drones. However, as in all the countries where drones have been deployed, there is no telling how far things can go or get out of hand. Meanwhile, Nigeria is just next door, and drones are extremely difficult to shoot down or to compromise. Only yesterday, this column deprecated the inability of ECOWAS leaders to be proactive on Mali, thereby allowing the situation to degenerate to the point of triggering French intervention. France was Mali’s former colonial master. It is evident that the quality of leadership in the region, nay, in Africa as a whole has declined horribly. There are no brilliant and perceptive leaders conversant with their countries’ histories, nor even keenly aware of the dangers of neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism. The mediocre leaders rule their countries badly, and embrace desperate methods, including opening up their countries to harmful external influences, to mitigate the effects of their misrule.

    It is not surprising that between 2009 and 2010, and also in 2012, the prestigious and most expensive leadership prize in the world, the Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance, was not awarded to any African leader. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, “The $5m prize is supposed to be awarded each year to a democratically elected leader who governed well, raised living standards and then voluntarily left office. The $5m prize is spread over 10 years and is followed by $200,000 a year for life.” In 2011, Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires won the prize. The dearth of sound leaders should worry everyone. And that paucity of good leaders is nowhere more evident than in West Africa.

    A tragedy is befalling Africa – the tragedy of insensitive, retrogressive and unintelligent leaders. It is almost as if it is not the same Africa that produced the likes of Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Kwame Nkurumah, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Nelson Mandela, among others. With the turmoil in Mali, the deployment of drones in Niger Republic and Burkina Faso, the likelihood of US-Africa Command, and the collapse of state economies, the continent, or at least West Africa, is being opened up for recolonisation. Sadly, African leaders, whose poor judgement led them to recently accept the new $200m African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa as a gift from China, have become inured to the dangers of external control which their incompetence and lack of foresight are engendering.

  • Plight of Enugu’s newly recruited teachers

    Plight of Enugu’s newly recruited teachers

    SIR: There was loud ovation in Enugu State when in January 2012, new teachers were recruited to join the state civil service to bridge the gap in the shortage of manpower in most government owned secondary schools. The successful candidates recruited after rigorous processes of written and oral interviews couldn’t thank their creator enough.

    The scramble for the job dislocated many families. Some qualified jobless housewives who succeeded in the recruitment had to abandon their families from different parts of the country and relocated to their place of posting in different remote areas of Enugu State. Some others residing in neighboring states like Anambra and Imo at the greatest risk of their lives, shuttle daily from their base to different schools where they teach in Enugu.

    They go to work with much enthusiasm not only to impact on their students but also banking on the hope that their monthly salary will henceforth cushion the effect of their heavy spending on transport and other logistics.

    But painfully the countdown began. January, February, March to December no sign. To give them false hopes, sometimes, they will be called to Enugu for verification, computerization and other jargons making the teachers whet their appetite that something is in the offing.

    The situation became so bad that for 13 months the new teachers never received a dime as salary. Frustration gave way to anger and despondency while Christmas for them was not only a sad reminder of a failed system but a moment of regret.

    Suddenly, news began to fly that they are not being paid because the governor is sick and has traveled abroad for treatment. That Chime has left instruction that his deputy should not sign any cheque above N500,000. Some also alleged that the money for the new teacher’s salary was stashed away in the ministry as a fixed deposit in a bank while some powerful people are eating from the accruing interest. The situation has led to the return of the old and outdated aphorism that teachers reward will be in heaven.

    The real question now is whether government had genuine intentions to employ the teachers at the first instance or was it a political gimmick? If the intentions were genuine, why then owe people for one year and expect such people to work and still survive?

    During the Christmas season, some of the new teachers received bank alerts of one month salary out of the 13 months owed while some didn’t receive at all.

    What is happening in Enugu state is a national embarrassment, a misnomer and an aberration. Where are the men of conscience? What of the influential people in the society, the church, civil society groups and other leaders of thought?

    Now that it has been confirmed that Governor Chime is alive while the Acting Governor, Sunday Onyebuchi has also voiced out that Chime properly handed over to him, I think there is no need playing games with people’s misery. Paying the teachers will be one step for us to believe for real that Enugu is working.

    • Patrick Chiejina

    Awka , Anambra state

  • Airports remodelling commendable

    Airports remodelling commendable

    SIR: Critics of the on-going remodelling exercise at the nation’s airports agree that something is wrong with the airports and the facilities therein. They agree that a lot is rotten with the system of operation. They also agree that the human component too needs to be addressed. So, a listening President said, Oh something needs to be done urgently to address all the issues that people are raising concerning our airports. And pronto, he set in motion the process of bringing back the glory of the airports. Hardly had he taken the first step that bullets of abuse started to fly. From the President to the ebullient Honourable Minister of Aviation to all the chiefs at the Aviation agencies, none was spared. This is not fair. We must learn to appreciate whatever a sitting government is doing right.

    It is not a secret that a lot had gone wrong with the airports, but here is now a conscious effort to put those things right and some people are not satisfied. What do these critics want the government to do? Close down all the airports? No, that cannot be the answer. What the Aviation Minister is doing right now about these airports should be commended. For example, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in Rivers State which are always the reference point in these caustic attacks were commissioned in 1979; that is 34 years ago. The facts are there for all to see. People passed through the airports and lamented that we are probably a cursed people. That our airports were not better than bread ovens, so some said. People said unprintable things about past ministers and those at the helm of affairs at the aviation agencies. Critics at every turn called for the heads of everybody to roll.

    But this administration listened to the genuine cries of airport users and has begun a major restructuring and remodelling of the nation’s airports. What is going on today in the aviation industry in Nigeria is unprecedented.

    There is a massive construction work going on simultaneously at not less than 11 of the nation’s airports. Users of these airports can attest to this fact that no administration in the history of this nation had had this kind of stoic determination to make a difference in the aviation industry and thus embark on the kind of work going on at present at the nation’s airports. It is rather unfortunate that instead of praise, what the critics are heaping on the President, the Honourable Minister of Aviation and everybody that has anything to do with the industry is abuse.

    For God’s sake, can’t we for once, appreciate a good that someone is doing for our country?

    The wisdom of not closing down the airports for the remodelling should be appreciated. What the nation is going to lose if they are closed down could only be imagined. Definitely jobs would be lost. Families would be affected and the perennial cry of increasing unemployment would reach a crescendo. The popular saying ‘’No gain without pain’’ will suffice here. It is like the pains of a woman going into pregnancy and after nine months is delivered of a baby. The pains are there but the relief after the pangs of childbirth and the joy of a baby in the home bring satisfaction.

    Nigerians will in a short while begin to see the result of this dynamism when the remodelled airports begin to work.

    • Ola Ogundolapo

    Omagwa, Rivers State

  • Still on the rot at Police College

    Still on the rot at Police College

    SIR: The president visit to Police College Ikeja on Friday January 18 was a visit long overdue and better late than never. Though the visit was triggered by the documentary televised on a Lagos – based privately owned Channel Television, the unscheduled visit allowed the President to see things the way they were. I think he should be commended because if he had informed the Inspector General of Police and co. they could have covered up the true situation of things at the Police College.

    During the visit, the President moved round and saw the rate of dilapidation of the college. The grasses were not cut, the hostels facilities were too bad, the wall separating the college from the highway patrol barracks, Ikeja was said to have collapsed a year ago, thus giving access into the college by all manners of people, making the security in the college to be pathetic.

    Apart from the rot, the college is also being dogged by recruitment scandal which came to the surface when the President visited. It was alleged that many under-aged people were recruited which prompted President to ask for the age of one of college trainee. Another problem of the college is the fraud that was alleged being perpetrated against the trainees. Each trainee was paid N3000 instead of N14000.

    Like the President, there is nobody that will not be angry if he/she sees the rate of rot in the college in spite of the huge of amount of money that was allocated to the police colleges in the budget.

    For instance, in 2011, N291.946 million was budgeted for all the 10 Police Colleges across the nation. In 2012, N296.757million was budgeted for the same colleges and in 2013 budget, N280million has also been set aside for all these 10 police colleges apart from the money each of this college is generating from renting out the field of the college to the public for ceremonies as it was witnessed on the day the President visited.

    But it is a pity that all the money that is meant for development of these police colleges was not being utilized well.

    Having commended the President for that surprise visit, I also commend the management of Chanel Television for televising that documentary that revealed the sad state of the college.

    However, President Jonathan must not see the documentary as a calculated attempt to damage the image of his government as he has said but rather he should see the documentary as a wakeup call to his government. Therefore instead of angrily asking for who permitted Channels Television to film the depreciation in the facilities of the college, he should rather be serious with the question why and how the college got to that deplorable state in spite of the huge amount of money that is being pumped into the college.

    The DIG ‘E’ Department who is in charge of the trainees and the college commandant must be probed on how they have been managing the college’s monies. The IGP, his predecessors and other past DIGs of ‘E’ Department must also be asked to say what they knew on how the Police College Ikeja come to that deplorable state. After the thorough investigations, anyone that is found wanting must be dealt with accordingly.

     

    • John Tosin Ajiboye

    Osogbo Osun State

  • Nigerian media abandon coverage of Mali War to foreign media

    Nigerian media abandon coverage of Mali War to foreign media

    An estimated 150 journalists from 40 different news organisations have been travelling with French troops since the intervention in Mali began on January 11. Of the lot, none is Nigerian. Many of the reporters are embedded with the French forces, though they do not get near 100km of the fighting in a country so vast and so arid. No Nigerian journalist is embedded with the Nigerian troops, and so Nigeria’s role will not be accurately reported, as the recent report of Nigerian soldiers’ inadequacies by The Guardian (London) showed. There will be no news of display of valour, nor any story of sacrifice, bravery and passion for a noble cause. Indeed, the absence of Nigerian media in the Malian conflict is a terrible reflection of the decline of Nigeria, its leaders’ loss of self-confidence, and the disorientation of its foreign policy.

    Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders had the golden opportunity to stamp their authority and vision on the Malian crisis a few weeks after Captain Amadou Sanogo and his band of coup plotters struck on March 21, 2012 to remove the elected government of President Amadou Toumani Touré. The coup truncated the election that was due in June, three months later. While the regional body swiftly imposed sanctions in April and tried to force the restoration of Toure’s government, that effort, which was unfortunately half-hearted, only ended in partial success as Sanogo merely formally resigned. Sadly, as part of the compromise, President Toure was also compelled to resign. But by the following month, it was all but clear that Sanogo still retained effective control.

    It was at that point that Nigeria missed it. It had the power and leverage to persuade ECOWAS to sustain sanctions until Sanogo and his fellow coup plotters were arrested and tried for treason. If that had been done, and the regional body had gone ahead to contribute troops in sufficient number to battle the secession in the North, they would have secured international support. If the battle against the secessionists had been led by Nigeria, and if we had got our priorities right, Nigerian media could have accompanied the troops and reported from the war front. But when sanctions were hastily lifted and Sanogo held on to effective control, it emboldened Tuareg rebels in the North to declare secession, capture many key northern towns, and in early January began their ill-fated advance on Bamako. The frenetic events that started some 10 months earlier naturally culminated in the drastic French intervention of January 11 and the imposition of news blackout.

    It is humiliating to Nigeria in particular that France assumed the leadership of the Malian War. It in fact indicates Nigeria’s lack of vision. In addition, it will be remembered that the interventions in Liberia (1989-1996; 1999-2003) and Sierra Leone (1991-2002), which were led by Nigeria, attracted more foreign reporters than ECOWAS media. Since a country can’t give what it does not have, the poor relationship between the local media and the Nigerian government has continued to reflect badly on the coverage of Nigeria’s foreign adventures and the international image of both the country and its faltering and spasmodic media. The times call for urgent change. Where is that Nigerian leader who will champion the needed change and restore African pride?

    Meanwhile, for a conflict taking place in West Africa, and in which some 20 people were alleged to have been extra-judicially murdered recently by vengeful Malian forces in the northern town of Sevare, Niono and Mopti, Nigerian media can only regurgitate the news and accept foreign media analyses on postwar Mali. An article in DigitalJournal.com made the following observations: “The French have not organised a single press conference in the capital of Mali, Bamako. The sole French media official in Bamako is apparently there mainly to refer media questions to Paris. The Malian army has banned journalists and human rights organisations even from areas that had been in their control for a number of days…Whenever operations are underway, communications are cut off… An Al Jazeera article speaks of Mali as a war without images.” Future crises will show whether Nigeria has learnt some lessons.

     

  • Merger: Opposition parties should go for it

    Merger: Opposition parties should go for it

    SIR: Perhaps we all do not know that the future of our democracy and, indeed, the future of Nigeria’s political and economic strength lie in the strength of the political opposition. By political opposition, we certainly would not mean a particular political party or parties today but whichever party may be in the opposition in the future that is virile enough to be an alternative choice of the electorate in a presidential election.

    As at today, Nigeria does not have a political party which can boast of being an alternative government at the centre, and, so, we are yet to have a political opposition in the real sense of it. What we run is a one-party system disguised in an ostensible multi-party system.

    Because of the absence of a virile opposition, the progress Nigeria has recorded so far has come only by trial and error or by sheer luck, so much so that all our visions as a nation which are aimed at self-sufficiency, stable electricity, standard road networks etc. have come as mere jokes.

    An unchallenged ruling party would run at its own pace, if it does not become dictatorial or absolute in the process, and the whole nation would be at its mercy, waiting helplessly, regardless of the electoral rituals of four-year intervals.

    A multi-party system which is not able to achieve anything better than this for a nation cannot be said to be an evolving, let alone perfect, democratic system.

    It is in the light of this that we must rightly view the current moves by the A.C.N, C.P.C and A.N.P.P to merge into one political party as a nationalistic proposition, whether or not they are able to topple the P.D.P at first attempt in 2015.

    While plurality or mushrooming of political parties portrays a people as free and imbued with fundamental human rights, it also portrays them as purposeless and unserious. If power, truly, is the goal of political parties, then plurality or mushrooming of political parties can even be stupid and reflective of our lack of unity as bane of nationhood.

    We all need to realize this bane and rise up to prevent it; to cure the inadvertently designed self-retardation. It is gratifying that the A.C.N, C.P.C and A.N.P.P are taking the merger initiative today as it should be, as against the creation of two-party system by a decree during the Babangida military regime.

    •Jide Oguntoye

    Oye-Ekiti