The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • From the cell phone

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

     

    An understatement, sir. We must recognise that we are at war. An unconventional war requires an unconventional approach to win. The type of war the Israelis fight through assassinations, the Americans through their drones and the Colombians who defeated Escobar with the help of a vigilante group known as Los Pepes (people persecuted by Pablo Escobar). These people weakened his army by using the same terrorist tactics of bombings and assassinations that Escobar used. If we choose to fight any terrorist organisation successfully, we must be as merciless and relentless as they are, if not more. Anonymous

    You can’t fight a terrorist gang without accepting the fact that you have one. Lets face reality, Boko Haram is a terrorist group. Its activities are similar to those of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabab and others. The Nigerian Government should accept the fact that it is dealing with a terrorist organisation and act accordingly. If our intelligence and the whole security apparatus can’t handle the sect, then let our ‘rulers’ (not leaders because we don’t have any) seek help from the international community. “It’s better to appear weak and save lives than to appear strong and lose a nation.” From Opubere Samuel Apiri, Ogbia, Bayelsa State.

    Re-Security on their minds. Collaboration among the northerm states, Northern states versus Southern states and Federal Government, Northern and Southern state governors. Besides, the ‘people’ need to be motivated in their own way, to expose the criminals and the crimes. Where persuasion fails, the law enforcement agents should employ FORCE! Quite unfortunate all those are happening to Nigeria, my country. From Lanre Oseni.

    It is rather unfortunate that this country has found itself in a mess. The elder stateman only expressed his views on the government’s inability to handle the Boko Haram insurgents. He implored the government to use the Udi and Zaki Biam examples to end the menace. While the other elder stateman reacted to it.

     

     

    For Dare Olatunji

     

    Re-Putting those teeming graduates to work. It is the very bad situation of unemployment in Nigeria, that had led to such requests for a First Class in other fields aside transport to apply as drivers. The worst, Ph.Ds! The last place for such should have been classrooms in polytechnics or/and the universities. To me, it is a re-colonisation of educationists. I do not envy those requests; anyone knows what it takes to obtain a FIRST CLASS and a Ph.D. From Lanre Oseni

    If all we can do to honour hard-earned certificates is to offer them truck driving as a viable employment, why increase the number of universities we have? Can’t we be truthful to ourselves and admit that, given the lack of long-term planning for national sustainability while only distributing ‘monthly allocation’, the only place we are heading for is a doomed tomorrow ? From Olu Balogum, Ilorin.

    Can you help the good people of Kogi State inquire from Alhaji Ibrahim Ijala Wada what has happened or what is happening to the billions of naira donated by the good people of Nigeria. The largest donor, so far, is Alhaji Aliko Dangote, towards alleviatting the sufferings of flood victims in Kogi State. Sir, people are suffering. My brother-in-law Gbade lost hìs 12-year-old son to a hit and run driver in Gadumo Village on Ajaokuta Road. He was crossing the road to submit a form for the distribution of relief materials, all he and hìs family got that day was four cups of rice and some packets of spaghetti! The story making the rounds is that the donations had gone the way of the state allocations from Federation Account.We have not been privileged to hear or read how much Kogi State government had contributed. The waters are gone and the people are back in their houses, to bear the pains of the flood. Such monies, if diverted, could invite the wrath and anger of God. From Musa Bakare

    Nice to read your write-up on Dangote’s attempt to ‘enslave’ educated Nigerians. Again, it was vintage OLATUNJI DARE. From A.Osakwe

    Re: Putting those teeming graduates to work. I suggest that those of you in the media should entreat those teeming graduates to think of self-employment rather than truck driving. Let us not give to others what we cannot contemplate for our children. And, in any case, any graduate that wants to go for truck driving should have his degree re-examined. From Rodsimeon Idaewor

    Many thanks for all your articles in The Nation newspapers, published by the Vintage Press Limited. From Barrister C.C. Obi, Port  Harcourt

    This is Chris from Edo State. I hope they are not drawing Dangote into Nigerian politics that is already corrupted to distract him from the good work he is doing: employing the masses in his private sector.

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    Obasanjo did not find his size but Jonathan has no focus and vision of governance. From Ken, Ore Ondo State

    Quite unfortunate, Gowon led us to a war, Obasanjo finished it. Gowon had been sleeping for 35 years not minding the trends but one would understand Obasanjo’s stand. Gowon should tell us his own solutions. If he does not have a viable option, let him keep quiet. Gowon is not a match for Obasanjo. Baba is Baba. From Cardinal Wole Arogundade of SRA, Abuja

    Thanks, for your reminiscences; bringing sweet old memories of Ajuwa flooding to my subconscious. I remember telling someone who had referred to Ajuwa as a local school with derision, to perish the thought, that Ajuwa was only located in a rural area! We had the best any Ivy League could ever offer then. Thanks, to the visionary, GG. If GG had done what he did at Ajuwa in a traditional African setting, he will be deified in death. I wish the government could name the school after this uncommon legend. This is not likely to be strange as the school, to everybody in the area, is ‘School Garguilo’. It will merely affirm the people’s perception of the school. From Dr. Dare Owolabi (Michael) ’73/78, Dept of English & Literary Studies, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti

    Mr Omotoso, I assure you that Baba (Obasanjo) will hit back in full measure in the fullness of time. He usually laughs last! From Barrister Moronkeji.

    Obasanjo is a personality whose heroism I celebrate. But I hate him for imposing leaders on us. Gowon remains a true father, the General to this nation. Anonymous

    Re: Obasanjo finds his size? Gen. Gowon (rtd) using the word ‘irresponsible’ to describe Obasanjo’s comment could be said to be as ‘diarrhoea of words, constipation in ideas’ as no nation can survive on truths concealed but truths revealed. You cannot prepare omelete without breaking eggs. Dr Jonathan, the President, should join action to his vision of excellence. Afterall, no-nonsense Elijah mentored Elisha, Moses mentored Joshua, Jesus mentored the l2 disciples but Judas who refused mentoring ended up with suicide. Jonathan should listen to his mentor. From Dr Taiwo

    Obasanjo finds his size? Many will not agree with Obasanjo’s style but truth is truth which ever way you put it. I voted for Jonathan but he has disappointed me and many others. His ever-smiling face has not solved our numerous problems, especially in the area of security. From Rodsimeon Idaewor

    Obasanjo lacks the moral right to accuse Jonathan. It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. What GEJ met on ground is an aggregated misrule of the long years of military experiment and the uncoordinated eight years misrule of Obasonjo’s civilian autocracy. What happened to our roads, power generation, the killing of innocent notables, such as Bola Ige, Dokubo, and his hatred for the Yoruba, the platform he ascended power. Let him sèek restitution and forgiveness from Nigerians and God. From Femi

    For God’s sake leave Obasanjo alone as somebody who does not know that he knows nothing. I wish I do not have to say my former Head of State. From Ajaja M. O., Itapa Ekiti, Ekiti State

    It is rather unfortunate that this country has found itself in a mess. The elder statesman only expressed his views on the government’s inability to handle the Boko Haram insurgents. While the other one reacted to it. I do not believe that they are in a boxing ring. Therefore, the issue of whether Obasanjo has found his match should not have arisen. Please, stop creating animosity where there is none. From Butko Salmwang, Jos

    Jonathan is no match for Obasanjo. The government of today has lost track on everything, most especially security. They must not aggravate it further listening to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. From Sanwo T. O.

    Obasanjo was right in his decision on Odi. Who is Gowon beside Obasanjo; who is Jonathan as well. They are without ideas to move the nation forward. Obasanjo is a man. Anonymous

    No matter the size of Obasanjo Nigeria still has a few who are even bigger than him Yakubu Gowon is one of them. From Yinka Afolabi, Minna

    Obasanjo finds his size? The former President may have been wrong in his approach but he did say the TRUTH. Silence isn’t always golden. Jonathan is afraid of stepping on toes. That’s why the issue has taken a horrible dimension: STAFF COLLEGE et al. Pray, may GOD FORBID their entry into NASS and ASO ROCK VILLA.We hope to see in action the promise of the present leadership to nip the operations of Boko Haram soon. From Femi Ajayi, Ibadan

    Re: Obasanjo finds his size? Sir, agreed Obasanjo is a man who is very bold to always call a spade a spade, but he does not deserve to be referred to as an ‘irresponsible man’ by someone of Gowon’s stature. It is rather an insult to Obasanjo. Obasanjo has done more good for this country than Gowon; it is very very unfortunate and sad! From Dapo, Okeagbe

    Your whimsical piece on Obasanjo in The Nation of 29/11/2012 was good to read. It made me laugh. The General appears to have been beaten by Jonathan’s swift response to his handling of Odi in the early days of his administration. Much worse is Gen Gowon’s response: ‘highly irresponsible’. To say the least, this is measure for measure. The former President has met his match in the two individuals. Anonymous.

     

    For Mohammed Haruna

     

    There is nothing like “NSUKKA UNIVERSITY” as stated in paragraph three of your (last) column. There has been, there is and there will be UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, Nsukka.

    From Josiah Daniel-EBUNE Abuja.

    ‘’General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, arguably Nigeria’s greatest political engineer…’’ Mohammed Haruna, where did his ‘engineering’ lead us to as a country? You’re shamelessly dressing that perennial political footballer in borrowed robes. This is pure sycophancy.

    S-Y-C-O-P-H-A-N-C-Y! From Barrister Samuel Ehis Irabor

    You got it wrong by informing readers of your well read column of The Nation on Wednesday that Mahmud Jega, (deputy editor in chief and Monday back-page columnist with Daily Trust) went to BUK! No sir. The highly gifted writer was my classmate at the then University of Sokoto, now Usman Danfodiyo University, between 1977 and 1982. He made a very high second class upper in Botany but has now turned to be a highly successful journalist. From Abdulmajeed Bello, Ilorin.

    The man himself wrote in his column, penultimate Monday, that he applied and got admitted into BUK. I assumed from that that he finished there. Apparently I assumed wrongly, as he subsequently left BUK to pursue his degree in Sokoto. I therefore stand corrected. Anonymous

    I have just read your article on ABU (at 50). Mobile phones have destroyed grammar. From Dr Mann Tolofari. Port Harcourt.

    I find your article on the great ABU quite interesting. What more can one say about this remarkable citadel of learning? I cannot but agree with all you said in your piece except one particular statement which I think was erroneous. You claimed that ABU “literarily sired BUK”. Check your facts. Abdullahi Bayero College (ABC), as the precursor of BUK, was established before the Nigerian College of Arts and Science, which later became ABU. Anonymous

    Now it’s true that when ABU was established, ABC became a campus under it. Of course ABC, until it became a fully fledged university, churned out graduates under ABU such that long after that people found it difficult to separate BUK graduates from ABU’s. It is a burden which most of us, proud alumni of BUK, find hard to swallow especially given that we are equally as good as any ABU graduate as the examples of Mahmud Jega, Garba-Deen (Mohammed), Dr Farouk Kperogi and others within (Daily Trust) attest to. Anonymous

    I have no intention of stealing ABU’s deserved thunder, but please do give us our deserved due too. From Iliyasu Gadu.

  • We need to embrace humanism in Africa

    We need to embrace humanism in Africa

    SIR: it was Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, who once said: “Fear created the gods, and fear preserves them, fear in bygone ages of wars, pestilence, earthquakes and nature gone berserk, fear of acts of God, fear today of the equally blind forces of backwardness and rapacious capital.” Sadly, this saying was true of Africa of Nkrumah days and true of Africaof today. Millions of Africans are suffering and dying due to fear and ignorance. Many people across region are languishing under the tyranny of objects and schemes created by fear-fear of the unknown and of their own mortality. And this underscores the imperative of humanism; the urgent need for an outlook based on reason and compassion. Africaneeds humanism to realize its potentials. And here are some ways humanists can help Africans fulfill this need. Humanists can help Africans by providing a place and a space where they can think freely without the fear of god or fear of acts of god.

    A freethinking climate is necessary if we must generate ideas we need to recreate and renew our society. Humanists can help African children and youths by campaigning for the improvement of education and for the inculcation of thinking skills which they need to live meaningfully in the contemporary world. Humanists can help the women and girls, the elderly and disabled persons in the continent by being their voice, and speaking out for them and ensuring that they are treated as human beings; that they are not targeted and abused for who they are, branded as witches and killed. Humanists can also be the voice of gay people in the region by speaking out for their dignity, humanity and equal rights. Humanists need to counteract the wave of homophobia sweeping across the region. Many Africans look up to humanist oriented individuals to help enlighten and liberate the people from faith-based organizations and institutions that terrorize and tyrannize over their lives; fanatical groups that spread unreason, fears and prejudice. Many people across the world are looking up to humanists to help wake Africans up from their dogmatic and superstitious slumber. The international community is looking up to humanists to work and campaign to end witch hunting and erase this stain on the conscience of our generation.

    Humanists need to take action to combat the exploitation by fear mongering god men and women, prophets, pastors and imams, the peddlers of paranormal wares who make fortune out of popular gullibility and desperation. Africaneeds humanists to help free the people from the bondage of superstition, fanaticism and dogma. People are looking up to humanists to work and campaign for the realization of a secular society and the enthronement of a government based on the will of the people, not the will of god or the earthly instruments.

    The African continent is facing real threats from the forces of religious extremism, dogma and superstition. These forces of Dark Age have hijacked our politics; they corrupt our democracy and hamper social change and respect for universal human rights. Most of Africa’s democracies are de facto theocracies-traditional religious, Christian, Islamic and Chrislamic theocracies. Today, we know that democracy can sometimes be used to deny the rights of minorities or justify harmful traditional practices. We know that the fears that are crippling Africaare not only the fear of the acts of god but more the fear of those acting in the name of god – the priests, pastors, prophets, imams, sangomas, witch doctors that confuse, manipulate and exploit gullible ignorant folks. The witch hunters, the jihadists and ‘crusaders’, in Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, Algeria and in other places who kill and maim or incite people to kill, maim and abuse in the name of their god or the supernatural.

    In Africa, humanism can be a force for peace, freedom and emancipation. In many parts of the continent, many societies are at war due to religious bigotry; many people live in a war or slavish situation due to irrationalism and superstition. Tradition often trumps human rights; nonsense trumps common sense in countries across the region. Religion and superstition based violence is ravaging many communities leaving death, darkness and destruction in its wake. And it is left for humanist and freethinking individuals and groups to promote and deliver the peace dividends – the emancipatory and enlightenment capital of humanism.

    To this end, let us heed those wise words of Nkrumah and take action for humanism and rationalism by providing the much needed space where ‘the cluster of humanist principles which underlie the traditional African society’ can be harnessed and nurtured to further the cause of African renaissance and enlightenment.

     

    • Leo Igwe

    Founder, Nigerian Humanist Movement.

     

  • Obasanjo’s recipe for Boko Haram is inhuman

    Obasanjo’s recipe for Boko Haram is inhuman

    SIR: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his latest blistering public criticism of the Federal Government, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s response to the Boko Haram insurgency was slow. This is, no doubt, arguable. He spoke in Warri as the moderator of a public lecture by former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, in honour of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who was marking his 40th anniversary as a pastor. He seemed to have chosen theright forum to express his concern over a scourge that has become a national security problem, but his position was defective. The former president reportedly accused his successors of allowing the Boko Haram insurgency to fester. But Obasanjo retains the unenviable record as being the only former Nigerian leader (apart from General Muhammadu Buhari who is understandably an oppositional presidential candidate) who relishes open castigationof the seeming actions or inactions of the government of the day. The impression Obasanjo creates about himself is that he is not happy to see the other man in the leadership saddle. This tends to confirm the views in certain quarters that he has the penchant to destroy people than to build them. At a point, he donned the garb of a conciliator by going to Maiduguri amid the escalating Boko Haram insurgency to seek to broker a truce. He claimed to have obtained the permission of President Goodluck Jonathan before embarking on the enterprise. At the end of the day, the move turned awry when his host in Maiduguri with whom he sought to kick-start the process of reconciliation, was killed about three days after he (Obasanjo) left the town. But today, it is convenient for Obasanjo to wrongly accuse Jonathan of slowness in responding to the Boko Haram insurgency simply because he wants to portray the current administration as weak and incompetent. It is also game for Obasanjo to stomp on the Jonathan presidency just because he was instrumental to the political arrangement that threw up the Umaru Yar’Adua-Jonathan presidential ticket in 2007.

    The truth, however, is that Obasanjo cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time on the same issue as he has tended to do in the Boko Haram case. Here is a man who went to Maiduguri purportedly on a reconciliation mission now turning round to recommend the Odi treatment for the town of Maiduguri and perhaps other towns in the North just to nip the Boko Haram insurgency in the bud. He would have loved to see Jonathan deploy soldiers to the flashpoints to level the places – annihilate the innocent and the ‘criminals’ in a military action. To Obasanjo, this is pro-activeness. This is how to show that the Federal Government or the President is not weak. This approach does not accommodate rationality that is grounded on humanity: how can you commit genocide because you want to take out some criminals? While reflecting on the crisis at Odi, Obasanjo had said at the Warri forum: “I attended to a problem that I saw; I sent soldiers. They were killed, 19 of them (were) decapitated. If I had allowed that to continue, I would not have the authority to send security anywhere again. I attended to it…. If you say you do not want a strong leader, who can have all the characteristics of a leader, including the fear of God, then, you have a weak leader and the rest of the problem is yours.”

    Obasanjo claims Jonathan’s response is slow. He also claims that his successor, the late Yar’Adua, was soft on corruption; but I ask: when he (Obasanjo) became president and inherited the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta region, what did he do very quickly to end the scourge? Was it not the late Yar’Adua who ended it with his famous Amnesty deal?

    Indeed, on both scores, Boko Haram and corruption, Obasanjo has been unfair to his successors. It is in his character to be so disposed; only that I am surprised that he is behaving as if he has fallen out of favour with the government he helped to enthrone. But then by recommending the Odi recipe for the Boko Haram insurgents, Obasanjo has succeeded in showing to the world the inhumanity and irrationality of his presidency. He cannot in a self-ignited frenzy railroad a cruel recipe on Jonathan; and, as far as I am concerned, the president’s systematic and multi-faceted approach at tackling the Boko Haram insurgency, which factors in the innocent civilian population, is the best in the circumstance and should therefore be sustained.

     

    • Callistus Omoregie,

    Benin City, Edo State.

     

  • Silent tremors in Turkey

    Silent tremors in Turkey

    Turkey is gradually changing in such dramatic ways that were the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), to rise from the grave, he would probably drop dead from shock. The change is not recent; perhaps it was even inevitable. After founding the Republic of Turkey in 1923 on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, Ataturk embarked on cultural, economic and political reforms to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a westernised and secular state. The epicentre of the reforms was secularism, which sought to preclude unhealthy religious influences on politics. Specifically, in 1927, courses relating to religion were excluded from the curriculum on the excuse that non-Muslims also lived in Turkey. Between 1927 and 1949, no religious instruction was permitted in the school system to prevent the sort of abuse of Islam that contributed massively to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Armed Forces stood as guarantor of that secularism, that is, until the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into office in 2002 and began to slowly and more palpably roll the curtain back by, among other things, introducing religious instruction in school curriculum.

    Now, after a long time, and after series of turbulent struggles with ruling parties that introduced non-secular policies into governance, the Turkish military has finally bowed to public policy by allowing the inclusion of elective Koranic courses in the curriculum of military high schools. This is not only surprising; it may in fact presage a steady surrender of the republic to religious influences in line with significant public opinion. But whether that opinion will serve the republic well in the near and distant future is not clear. It required the firm hands and ruthless conviction of Ataturk to resist the yearnings of Turks for Islamic influences in Turkish life, whether in education or in politics. The situation is now changing in favour of non-secularist policies, but the military, for which Kemalism is both a doctrine and a nostalgic way of life, still remains largely insulated from religion. Indeed, the rollback became sharply evident after the 2007 elections, which the AKP won more emphatically than it did in 2002. First was the controversial election of Abdullah Gul as president, in spite of his past involvement with Islamist parties. (The presidency is ceremonial, as effective power resides in the office of the prime minister). And second was the proposal of the government that same year to lift the ban on headscarves in universities.

    Of all the issues bifurcating the Turkish Republic, the headscarves controversy represents perhaps the most poignant. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had in the 2007 elections made electoral promise to lift the ban on headscarves. On winning, he caused the parliament in February 2008 to amend the constitution to that effect. But the opposition, at the head of widespread public protests, applied to the Constitutional Court to annul the amendment. The Court upheld the appeal and retained the ban. By 2010, however, the ban was no longer enforced, even though the law remains in force. For a society that is 95 percent Muslim, it is instructive how they respond to the controversial issue of religion, especially against the backdrop of the secularist principles adumbrated by Ataturk. For now there are enough forces to safeguard Kemalism and keep Turkey on the straight and narrow path of secularism. But the tide is changing, albeit slowly, almost like silent tremors, and with religion constituting a dangerous undertow to the continuing modernisation and stability of the republic.

    A majority of Turks appears to recognise the salience of the Kemalist doctrine of separation of roles between religion and politics as a factor in modernisation and social and political harmony. Turkey was fortunate that as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated, Ataturk came along with his visionary leadership and forceful personality. He was prescient enough to appreciate the drawbacks of the past and the high ground Turkey must climb in order to take its pride of place in the modern era. That great lesson is lost on Egypt, Iran, present Iraq, and sadly Nigeria. The case of Nigeria is particularly depressing. Having never tasted modernisation, it has also failed to produce leaders who knew where to draw the line and strike the right balance. This is why the northern part of Nigeria is in turmoil, and why, if the Southwest does not take extraordinary measures now, it could also become susceptible to the destabilising forces of retrogression masquerading as religion.

     

     

  • Let’s unearth the truth about Boko Haram

    Let’s unearth the truth about Boko Haram

    SIR: I was very enraptured when I came across the invitation by Boko Haram to have General Muhammadu Buhari as one of their mediators with the Federal Government. It was in the belief that more revelations would emerge. As a concerned Nigerian and a practising Christian, I am worried, just as others are, on the frequent attacks on churches by the sect which led to the loss of some of my precious teachers at the Bayero University Kano some months ago.

    Many people are of the suspicion that Buhari was behind the hazardous activities of the sect, quoting what they claimed was his proclamation in the 2011 campaign tours that “he would make Nigeria unstable if he was not elected president,”, a statement I never heard from him because I actively participated and heard all his speeches during the presidential campaign tour. They alleged his statement gave rise to the post-election crisis and now Boko Haram.

    I remember vividly, Buhari’s popular statement to his teeming supporters was“vote, stay and guard your votes till they are counted.” He said this everywhere he went. The 2011 general election which was to some extent, rigged in favour of the government in power generated a lot of crisis in the northern part of the country, which led to the burning of numerous churches by the hooligans. The hooligans whose targets were the PDP big shots suddenly turned the whole aggression against Christians, not minding the fact that a lot of them had supported and voted for Buhari against their Christian brethren.

    With a Christian cleric, Pastor Tunde Bakare, as his running mate and for the fact that the National Chairman of CPC, Prince Tony Momoh himself was a Christian, nobody from the Buhari camp could have encouraged any mob action against Christians. Now, the sect has mentioned the General along with five other personalities as trusted mediators between them and the federal government. The blackmail of Buhari is now seen as the bargaining power for juicy gains from the PDP government and some inconsequential people have taken that as their new profession.

    The General, who rejected his invitation on the grounds that he could not mediate for a group he does not know and which revels in killing innocent souls, has never been confronted by anybody for turning down the request. If he had not been invited as a mediator by the sect, his detractors wouldn’t have had the privilege of knowing his innocence.

    If Buhari had any hand, directly or indirectly in the activities of Boko Haram, he would not have come out openly to denounce its invitation as a co-mediator. The sect would have come out with some striking revelations if at all Buhari had betrayed them. There are some disgruntled elements in Nigeria who are usually prepared to use religion for their personal aggrandizements; they derive benefits from sponsoring violence and this is not new in our dear nation.

    During Shehu Shagari’s administration, the Maitatsine crisis broke out in Kano and other parts of the north where innocent people were killed; up till now, and just like Boko Haram, nobody can clearly define its objectives and what the Maitatsine really stood for. This was the handiwork of some disgruntled elements who wanted to create unnecessary confusion in the polity. That was not Buhari.For anybody to link him to the chain of unfortunate activities happening presently in Nigeria is a disservice to the nation.

    If President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan had confessed in a national broadcast that he knew members of Boko Haram and some are part of his PDP-led government, I can’t understand why Nigerians are not pressurizing him to expose the so called members but rather accusing people whose guilt are not confirmed. Where would somebody whose income and financial status is known by all Nigerians, get the funds to procure the expensive cars and other weapons used by the Boko Haram?

    Even if it is true that the person who spoke for the sect was their real spokesperson, it could be that they have seen Buhari as an honest person who cannot be bought over by both sides. This is because of their involvement of other reputable Nigerians like Dr. Shetimma Ali Mungono, who can be attested by anybody as a patriotic Nigerian in their negotiating team.

    While I strongly condemn the devilish activities of Boko Haram and those behind them, I strongly believe that their day of reckoning is around the corner. I believe in the universally accepted statement that “ninety-nine days for the thief, one day for the owner”.

    • Comrade Richard Tersoo Mnenga,

    World Peace Academy, University of Basel,

    12, Basel 4053. Switzerland

     

  • The challenge of change

    The challenge of change

    •Continued from yesterday

    Further to these have been the jumpstarting of industrial development through the establishment of technology parks for small and medium-scale enterprises; urban renewal; the creation of micro-credit facilities; development of the agro-allied and solid minerals sectors; and massive investments in the tourism corridor.

    It’s still the structure, stupid!

    Yet, we still face fundamental odds. The structural deformities of the Nigerian federation have circumscribed many of the possibilities of our state, and many other states in Nigeria and the country as a whole. Both local and international observers have described Nigeria as an “embarrassment of riches,” both in human and materials terms. Why then is the Nigeria state in such a wobbly state and why are the citizens of the country trapped in such disappointing socio-economic and political realities? What could be done to bring about sustainable change at the national-state level?

    It is difficult, if not impossible to sustain good governance at the national level in Nigeria because of the structural fatalities that I have mentioned earlier. The over-concentration of powers in the Federal centre must give way to devolution and decentralisation of power and authority. Therefore, a critical fundamental political restructuring of the Nigerian federation is an unavoidable step that must be taken to generate the basis for the creation and sustenance of a participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive national governance and one that is based on the rule of law. I am convinced that this can, and will definitely, happen in Nigeria at some point in the near future.

    Nigeria is a deeply divided, but immensely blessed and potentially great country. Why Nigerians and foreigners are often focussed on the deep divisions, little is said, for the most account, on our immense assets and potentials. What Nigerians need to do is to use our immense blessings, both human and natural, and transform our potential greatness into real greatness, in order to reduce our deep divisions and enhance or strengthen our unity. The two steps I have elaborated above are critical in doing this. There must be a fundamental political transformation of Nigeria; then, good governance must become the underlying basis of political power. With these, I believe that the question of deepening democracy and enhancing development would be largely resolved. Nigeria cannot achieve this without a national resolution by Nigerians to come together as one people with a common destiny.

    The true representatives of the various parts of Nigeria last met between September and October 1958 to agree on the ways in which the federation should be constituted. This was during the last round of the Constitutional Conferences preceding independence. Since then, neither the military regimes nor the civilian governments at the centre have allowed the Nigerian people to come together democratically and in all their diversity, to re-determine their common fate. Those at the centre of power in Nigeria have become so terrified about change that they have foreclosed the possibility of a national dialogue. Fifty years after independence and against the backdrop of the unrelenting inter-ethnic and inter-faith bloodletting, after five decades of abysmal leadership at the federal level – which has turned a country which was regarded at independence as the hope of Africa into what Eghosa Osaghae describes succinctly as the “crippled giant” – there is the need for a new national togetherness that will re-authorise the federal union and re-energise Nigeria.

    Those who are clamouring for this kind of change are fundamentally concerned with how to create a country that is strong, stable and liveable, one that is diverse but united, and one which, through good governance, ensures life more abundant for all. Such a good life that is provided by good governance is neither bound to ethnicity, nor to religious affiliation. In the Nigeria that we seek to re-create, our divisions will not be the parameters of our oneness and common humanity; rather, our oneness and common humanity will be the basis of resolving our divisions. We seek to create a country in which all Nigerians will have the confidence that when they lose, they have lost fairly; and that when they win, they have won equitably. It is the absence of this seemingly simple logic of national togetherness – one that is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and one that is based on the rule of law – that has been the frustration of most Nigerians. From the insurgency in the Niger Delta to the extremisms in the far north, justice, equity and fairness can be used as the mechanisms of preserving and consolidating Nigeria’s national unity.

    While the fundamental restructuring of the Nigeria State will address key questions of political transformation, such issues as the writing of a people’s constitution and the question of constitutional governance, the fundamental precepts or authorising principles of national togetherness, citizenship and the nationality question, the political economy of federalism, including the raising, sharing and spending of public revenue, human rights, justice and equity, the nature of the autonomy of the constituent parts vis-a-vis the centre, the recognition and protection of minority rights, and such other fundamental questions; good governance is geared towards resolving the questions of social and economic reconstruction, electoral reform, strengthening of legislative oversight, security sector governance, social security, public sector reform, privatization, gender equality, and other such issues. The dynamism and vitality or vivacity of the Nigerian people, the diversity and beauty of our climate and land, Nigerians’ passionate and unsurpassable nationalism when the Super Eagles are playing against other national teams, and the astonishing good sense that even our much-maligned national elite exercises every time Nigeria faces an outrageous conflict that threatens to terminate the country as a corporate entity, all convince me that Nigeria, in the course of time, will rise to match her manifest destiny.

    Conclusion

    As I said at my inaugural address in October 2010, it is possible. Positive change is possible in Nigeria. There are many change agents who are devoted to ensure the legitimacy and responsiveness of the State, the deepening and expansion of democracy, good governance and national unity in Nigeria. These change agents are not only in the civil society. We also have them in the political society and the State. There are many challenges that these change agents face, but most of us, and I count myself among them, are undaunted.

    In Ekiti State, with massive investment in Agriculture, infrastructure, public education, social services and health, and by creating a conducive environment for private enterprise to thrive, thereby creating economic opportunities for our people and working towards expanding the middle class, and by creating synergy not only locally, but also regionally among our contiguous states and by partnering with international development agencies, we have shown that change is possible and that good governance is achievable – even in a resource challenged state. This change is not only material, but also attitudinal.

    As for my people in Isan-Ekiti, two years after, I still don’t use siren when I drive into town, and they have now embraced this as part of the best practices of good governance. Positive change is constantly beckoning on us. We only have to continue to rise up to the occasion but I urge friends of Nigeria not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

    I thank you for listening.

  • NCC’s ban on telecoms’ promos in order

    NCC’s ban on telecoms’ promos in order

    SIR: The indefinite ban placed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on all promos and lotteries in the Telecoms industry is a welcome development. According to the Director, Public Affairs of the NCC Mr. Tony Ojobo, the ban is with immediate effect and shall continue to remain in force until such a time as may be determined by the Commission. It is very valid to assert that prior to the coming of this ban, Nigerians had for months suffered unnecessary hardship imposed on them by GSM providers in the country who under the guise of carrying out promos, which was nothing but unbridled capitalistic war to outwit each other, recklessly rolled out all manner of ridiculous promos, and bogus prizes.

    It is on record that while this long season of anomie reigned, no week would pass by without one new promo or the other being unleashed by a GSM provider, ostensibly to overthrow the other competitors. Thus, the GSM companies simply

    relegated efficient service delivery and subscriber satisfaction to the background, and in a naturally expected bourgeois class-imposed scramble, some Nigerians too, unmindful of the huge fortune being made by these GSM companies via this conduit, also latched on to the so-called promos, seeing them as free-for-all. Most of them spent thousands of naira buying loads of recharge cards in time past with nothing to show for it. Had it stopped at just the problem of terrible over-congestion of the networks and continuous dropped calls perhaps it would have been a lot easier to explain. It got to a stage when the GSM companies were promising subscribers amazing prizes like winning an airplane for recharging up to N3000, or a huge luxurious bus to start a dream transport business or winning one billion naira.

    At this point, the scramble to win the so-called star prize simply skyrocketed. While the GSM provider smiled to the bank, the already

    terrible network congestion tightened, confidence of subscribers in the sector was further imperilled and after so much pressure. Close to six months of this reign of “GSM Calls go-slow” that was mindlessly imposed by the Telecoms companies, Nigerians suffered one unsavoury fate or the other, only by reason of the fact that they could not make calls out when caught in very terrible situations, and as at that time the NCC was nowhere to be found. Where then does one situate all of these losses, if not at the doorstep of the NCC? The NCC like every other Government Agency is not supposed to avail itself of a deep slumber akin to the type the biblical Jonah in that Ship on the way to Tarshish, while companies under their superintendence go on frolics of their own. A chronicle of the plenitude of misdemeanours of these GSM companies will leave one amazed. For instance, many a time, Nigerians have had huge amount of credit vanish from their phones after

    making just a short call

    without a refund from their GSM provider. Countless times too, people are simply cajoled to switch from one package to another, usually offering all manner of goodies, only to do so and see that all of one’s credit is gone. That is not to also leave out the unending flow of very many unnecessary promo SMS asking consumers to get one song or the other that usually adds no significant value to the subscriber. Also, the idea whereby some of the self-acclaimed giants amongst the GSM companies periodically thump their chest claiming to have hit a certain subscriber base usually above 10 million, whereas the necessary infrastructure is totally lacking, is just another way of short-changing subscribers. Much as Nigerians appreciate the NCC ban, it may turn out to be nothing but removing a tiny speck out of a log-filled eyes, if these other menace catalogued about are not addressed. Now is therefore the time for the NCC to indeed regulate these GSM companies

    and checkmate their unconscionable recklessness which transcends the congestion on their networks, but rather streams into their other roaming activities.

     

    • Olusola Adegbite, Esq.

    Block 107A, Mayo-Belma Close,

    PW Estate, Kubwa, Abuja.

     

  • The challenge of change

    The challenge of change

    Further to these have been the jumpstarting of industrial development through the establishment of technology parks for small and medium-scale enterprises; urban renewal; the creation of micro-credit facilities; development of the agro-allied and solid minerals sectors; and massive investments in the tourism corridor.

    It’s still the structure, stupid!

    Yet, we still face fundamental odds. The structural deformities of the Nigerian federation have circumscribed many of the possibilities of our state, and many other states in Nigeria and the country as a whole. Both local and international observers have described Nigeria as an “embarrassment of riches,” both in human and materials terms. Why then is the Nigeria state in such a wobbly state and why are the citizens of the country trapped in such disappointing socio-economic and political realities? What could be done to bring about sustainable change at the national-state level?

    It is difficult, if not impossible to sustain good governance at the national level in Nigeria because of the structural fatalities that I have mentioned earlier. The over-concentration of powers in the Federal centre must give way to devolution and decentralisation of power and authority. Therefore, a critical fundamental political restructuring of the Nigerian federation is an unavoidable step that must be taken to generate the basis for the creation and sustenance of a participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive national governance and one that is based on the rule of law. I am convinced that this can, and will definitely, happen in Nigeria at some point in the near future.

    Nigeria is a deeply divided, but immensely blessed and potentially great country. Why Nigerians and foreigners are often focussed on the deep divisions, little is said, for the most account, on our immense assets and potentials. What Nigerians need to do is to use our immense blessings, both human and natural, and transform our potential greatness into real greatness, in order to reduce our deep divisions and enhance or strengthen our unity. The two steps I have elaborated above are critical in doing this. There must be a fundamental political transformation of Nigeria; then, good governance must become the underlying basis of political power. With these, I believe that the question of deepening democracy and enhancing development would be largely resolved. Nigeria cannot achieve this without a national resolution by Nigerians to come together as one people with a common destiny.

    The true representatives of the various parts of Nigeria last met between September and October 1958 to agree on the ways in which the federation should be constituted. This was during the last round of the Constitutional Conferences preceding independence. Since then, neither the military regimes nor the civilian governments at the centre have allowed the Nigerian people to come together democratically and in all their diversity, to re-determine their common fate. Those at the centre of power in Nigeria have become so terrified about change that they have foreclosed the possibility of a national dialogue. Fifty years after independence and against the backdrop of the unrelenting inter-ethnic and inter-faith bloodletting, after five decades of abysmal leadership at the federal level – which has turned a country which was regarded at independence as the hope of Africa into what Eghosa Osaghae describes succinctly as the “crippled giant” – there is the need for a new national togetherness that will re-authorise the federal union and re-energise Nigeria.

    Those who are clamouring for this kind of change are fundamentally concerned with how to create a country that is strong, stable and liveable, one that is diverse but united, and one which, through good governance, ensures life more abundant for all. Such a good life that is provided by good governance is neither bound to ethnicity, nor to religious affiliation. In the Nigeria that we seek to re-create, our divisions will not be the parameters of our oneness and common humanity; rather, our oneness and common humanity will be the basis of resolving our divisions. We seek to create a country in which all Nigerians will have the confidence that when they lose, they have lost fairly; and that when they win, they have won equitably. It is the absence of this seemingly simple logic of national togetherness – one that is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and one that is based on the rule of law – that has been the frustration of most Nigerians. From the insurgency in the Niger Delta to the extremisms in the far north, justice, equity and fairness can be used as the mechanisms of preserving and consolidating Nigeria’s national unity.

    While the fundamental restructuring of the Nigeria State will address key questions of political transformation, such issues as the writing of a people’s constitution and the question of constitutional governance, the fundamental precepts or authorising principles of national togetherness, citizenship and the nationality question, the political economy of federalism, including the raising, sharing and spending of public revenue, human rights, justice and equity, the nature of the autonomy of the constituent parts vis-a-vis the centre, the recognition and protection of minority rights, and such other fundamental questions; good governance is geared towards resolving the questions of social and economic reconstruction, electoral reform, strengthening of legislative oversight, security sector governance, social security, public sector reform, privatization, gender equality, and other such issues. The dynamism and vitality or vivacity of the Nigerian people, the diversity and beauty of our climate and land, Nigerians’ passionate and unsurpassable nationalism when the Super Eagles are playing against other national teams, and the astonishing good sense that even our much-maligned national elite exercises every time Nigeria faces an outrageous conflict that threatens to terminate the country as a corporate entity, all convince me that Nigeria, in the course of time, will rise to match her manifest destiny.

    Conclusion

    As I said at my inaugural address in October 2010, it is possible. Positive change is possible in Nigeria. There are many change agents who are devoted to ensure the legitimacy and responsiveness of the State, the deepening and expansion of democracy, good governance and national unity in Nigeria. These change agents are not only in the civil society. We also have them in the political society and the State. There are many challenges that these change agents face, but most of us, and I count myself among them, are undaunted.

    In Ekiti State, with massive investment in Agriculture, infrastructure, public education, social services and health, and by creating a conducive environment for private enterprise to thrive, thereby creating economic opportunities for our people and working towards expanding the middle class, and by creating synergy not only locally, but also regionally among our contiguous states and by partnering with international development agencies, we have shown that change is possible and that good governance is achievable – even in a resource challenged state. This change is not only material, but also attitudinal.

    As for my people in Isan-Ekiti, two years after, I still don’t use siren when I drive into town, and they have now embraced this as part of the best practices of good governance. Positive change is constantly beckoning on us. We only have to continue to rise up to the occasion but I urge friends of Nigeria not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

    I thank you for listening.

  • Brinkmanship in Egypt

    Brinkmanship in Egypt

    The assumption of sweeping powers by President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt on November 22 has triggered widespread protests that are sharpening divisions in this North African country of ancient fame and modern underachievement. On the one hand is the Freedom and Justice Party, which consists of the Muslim Brotherhood, and on the other hand are liberals, leftists and Coptic Christians who form a rainbow coalition of opposition groups. The controversial powers assumed by Morsi preclude the Supreme Constitutional Court from challenging his decisions.

    In effect after gaining presidential powers, and with the parliament still dissolved and legislative powers inhering in the presidency, Morsi has now with the new decree also assumed judicial powers. This has prompted many respected opposition politicians, including Mohammed ElBaradei, former United Nations nuclear watchdog chief, and ex-Arab League chief Amr Mussa, to suggest that Morsi had become Egypt’s new pharaoh. Morsi on the other hand claimed he needed the wide powers to safeguard the revolution, retry Mubarak loyalists accused of murder, and guarantee that the transition to democracy would be on course and the new draft constitution concluded and subjected to a referendum.

    Recall that in February 2011, the military command had enacted an edict dissolving the constitution and parliament. But after Morsi assumed office in 2012, he immediately and summarily revoked the dissolution and ordered the parliament back to session. The order, however, led to a politico-judicial crisis requiring the intervention of the Constitutional Court, most of which members were appointed during the Hosni Mubarak era. The Court ruled that Morsi acted outside the confines of his powers. With this background in mind, Morsi’s supporters have argued that the Court was again poised to bring the sledgehammer down on the Constituent Assembly that was drafting the new constitution. This was because leftists, secularists and Christians had boycotted sittings due to what they observed was a draft constitution that looked even more Islamic than the suspended 1971 constitution.

    In at least 13 of the provisions in the new draft constitution, there is little doubt that if passed in a referendum, Egypt would become more Islamic than it had been under the 1971 constitution. Does this amount to a betrayal of the January 25, 2011 revolution? Liberals, leftists and Christians think so. The Muslim Brotherhood says no. Will the divisions heal soon? That will depend on many factors. Already, the judiciary, which is beginning to bear the brunt of the illiberal tendencies of the Muslim Brotherhood, is on strike to protest the ouster of court powers. What is certain is that the manner Morsi has gone about “protecting the revolution” has rankled with many groups in Egypt and raised suspicion about the ultimate goals of the Muslim Brotherhood. Work on the draft constitution was supposed to be concluded in January. But because of widening divisions in the Constituent Assembly and the boycott by many groups, the work was cut short and hastily and perhaps shoddily concluded last Thursday.

    If Morsi hopes to ensure a smooth transition for Egypt and obviate the protests and counter-protests rocking Egypt, he will have to begin to act like a statesman rather than leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. He must recognise and respect Egypt’s sectarian pastiche and focus on the goals of delivering prosperity to a people currently dependent on sizable foreign aid, and enthroning a stable and progressive country, albeit with a dose of Islamic flavour. He cannot afford to forget that he narrowly won the June presidential poll with 51.73 percent after a run-off, and that those opposed to his party’s non-secular platform are nearly as many as those in favour. He cannot also afford the brusqueness his government now seems noted for, or the brinkmanship the Muslim Brotherhood is foisting on so tentative and vulnerable a polity. It would be a shame if the Arab Spring were to flounder in, of all places, Egypt, due to his excesses and especially the promulgation of judicial and constitutional measures that are apparently needless and avoidable.

     

    Tomorrow: Silent tremors in Turkey.

  • In defence of how China picks its leaders

    In defence of how China picks its leaders

    the coverage in the western media of leadership changes at the Chinese Communist party’s 18th congress has been almost uniformly negative. Critics say corruption pervades the upper echelons of the party, policy issues are not publicly discussed and the Chinese people are completely left out of the process.

    There is some truth to such criticisms but they miss the big picture. The Chinese political system has undergone a significant change over the past three decades and it comes close to the best formula for governing a large country: meritocracy at the top, democracy at the bottom, with room for experimentation in between.

    There is a good case for popular participation at local levels. People usually know what’s needed in their communities and they have a good sense of the competence and character of the leaders they choose. In fact, most Chinese participate in local-level elections.

    In a big country, however, one person, one vote is problematic. From a moral point of view, citizens should vote for the common good because their votes affect not just themselves but other people. Yet voters tend to vote with their pocketbooks. Many can’t even do that well, since they lack economic competence. One group of voters – the rich – has a better understanding of economics and finds it easy to skew the system in their favour.

    To remedy the problem the economist Bryan Caplan proposes tests of voter competence, but that’s a non-starter in democracies because nobody wants to give up the vote once they have it. Hence, it really is the end of history, but in the bad sense that no improvements are possible once the system of one person, one vote is in place.

    There is a deeper problem with democracy. It confers voting rights only to adults within national borders. But it’s not just voters who are affected by the policies of the government: non-voters such as future generations and people living outside the country are also affected. In Europe and the US, the public repeatedly votes for lower taxes and higher benefits, recklessly mortgaging the future of their countries. And let’s not mention global warming.

    So how leaders should be chosen at the central level? Ideally, the process should be meritocratic: the mechanism should be explicitly designed to choose leaders with superior competence and virtue. Over the past three decades or so, the CPC has gradually transformed itself from a revolutionary party to a meritocratic organisation.

    Today, universities are the main recruitment grounds for new members. Students need to score in the top percentile of national examinations to be admitted to an elite university that grooms future leaders. Then they compete fiercely to be admitted into the party. Only high-performing students who have undergone thorough character checks are admitted.

    Those who want to serve in government then usually need to pass government examinations, with thousands of applicants competing for a single spot. Once they are part of the political system, further evaluations are required to move up the chain of command. They must perform well at lower levels of government and pass character tests. Then there are more position-specific exams that test for specialised skills.

    The advantages of Chinese-style meritocracy are clear. Cadres are put through a gruelling process of talent selection and only those with an excellent performance record make it to the highest levels. Instead of wasting time and money campaigning for votes, leaders can seek to improve their knowledge and performance. China often sends its leaders to learn from best practices abroad.

    Yes, meritocracy can only work in the context of a one-party state. In a multi-party state, there is no assurance that performance at lower levels of government will be rewarded at higher levels, and there is no strong incentive to train cadres so that they have experience at higher levels because the key personnel can change with a government led by a different party. Hence, less talent goes to the bureaucracy, because the real power-holders are supposed to be chosen by the people.

    In practice, Chinese-style meritocracy is flawed. Most obviously, there is widespread corruption in the political system. Term and age limits help to “guard the guardians”, but more is needed to curb abuses of power, such as a more open and credible media, more transparency and an effective legal system, higher salaries for officials, and more independent anti-corruption agencies.

    When it comes to political systems, western opinion leaders are still stuck in a narrative of dichotomy: democracy versus authoritarianism. But the competition in the 21st century, as the scholar Zhang Weiwei writes, is between good and bad governance. The Chinese regime has developed the right formula for choosing political rulers that is consistent with China’s culture and history and suitable to modern circumstances. It should be improved on the basis of this formula, not western-style democracy.

     

    • The writers are a professor of political theory at TsinghuaUniversity and a Shanghai-based venture capitalist