The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

Adieu! Lateef Adegbite

SIR: I started reading about Dr. Lateef Adegbite in the late 1970s. I was so impressed by his intelligence and sincerity that I could not resist reading anything connected with his name, whether he granted an interview, or he presented a paper. He was the Secretary-General of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), and a Muslim leader to reckon with in Yorubaland. He was a legal luminary.

I pulled Dr. Adegbite’s legs on two occasions. One day, he said he could not imagine himself, as a Muslim leader, giving his own daughter in marriage to a Christian. I waited till another occasion when I heard him talking about Nigeria’s unity. I quickly reminded him of what he said that he would never give his own daughter in marriage to a Christian. He ignored me. But, if I had a son old enough to marry his daughter, he would have learnt a lesson of his life.

On another occasion, Dr. Adegbite rated Islam, as practiced in northern Nigeria, higher than what obtained in the south, where, according to him, Islam was syncretised with African traditional religious practices. I then asked whether syncretism was not better than mass impoverishment that pervaded northern Nigeria. I mentioned the case of a highly placed northern Muslim who was accused of being behind the disappearance of train (the railway system) in Nigeria, so that his own long trucks (popularly called trailers) would get business.

In all of that, I did not lose respect and admiration for Dr. Adegbite, because I knew he was sincere, and would say things as he saw them, or what he actually felt, without hypocrisy. On another occasion, he said it was not possible to maintain the Ramadan discipline after the Ramadan, given human nature, and the fact that the Ramadan was a special month. You see he was not given to illusion!

Just about two months ago, Dr. Adegbite impressed me again when he told America not to include Nigeria on the list of terrorist countries, nor brand Boko Haram as a terrorist group without qualifications. He spoke my mind, because I believe the real terrorists are those who truncated rotational presidency, and are creating mass poverty through embezzlement of public funds, and “fuel subsidy scam”.

I mourn the demise of Dr. AbdulLateef Adegbite in empathy with Nigeria’s Muslim community. The country misses his wisdom and sincerity. May the Almighty Allah grant eternal rest to him, and grant his family members the fortitude to bear the loss.

• Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

University of Ilorin.

October 2, 2012
Nigeria @52: Myths and realities of leadership, development and pluralism

It is pertinent to remind ourselves at the outset that Nigeria is the prime product of British colonial adventure in Africa. It was constituted to abstract natural resources for the benefit of the British economy. As Sir Olanihun Ajayi has reminded us

“As at 7 January 1897 there was no place or area or country called Nigeria. The country known and called Nigeria came into being in 1897 as a result of an article in the Times of 8 January 1897 by Flora Shaw pressing that the aggregate of all the towns and villages or the protectorate consisting of many ethnic nationalities should be called Nigeria. That aggregation of several empires, kingdoms, various nations and tribes constituted what is now known as Nigeria….”

That the seeds of economic disabilities and structural deformities between the regions carried over from the colonial to the present have proved a major constraint to the efforts at building a modern nation-state can be illustrated from different episodes of our national history. This is not to say that the evident imbalances could not be redressed, given a patriotic, visionary and national leadership. But this has been lacking. In any case given over 50 years of co-evolution and co-existence of the nationalities new centres of equilibrium could have emerged to mould and drive new social forces in the direction of integration and harmonious coexistence. That this has not happened is the modern day dilemma that Nigerians and their friends must face.

Contemporary Nigeria is poised on a knife-edge. On the one hand are arrayed the forces of retrogression such as Boko Haram ready to drive the nation into the abyss never to rise again-sectarian conflicts with their attendant violence, divisiveness propelled by ethnic, religious or social inequalities and inequities. On the other hand are progressive forces pushing for economic and desirable social reforms. Indeed, the progressive institutionalisation of some of these reforms has led many outside observers such as Goldmann Sachs and the rating agencies to regard Nigeria as one of the emerging economic forces of the age of globalisation. If all goes well and Nigeria holds out, it has been said that the country may be unrecognisable in 5-7 years when compared with her dismal present. How can these contradictory visions of the Nigerian future emerge and co-exist from the same reality?

There is among the youth a sense of alienation, anomie and a brooding angst at what they regard as their betrayal by the post-independence generation of leaders particularly the military when they held sway in governance. Nasir el Rufai has given a graphic account of this leadership and its failures. Given the unacceptably high unemployment rates, the sense of deprivation amongst the youth is to be expected but this comes at a time that there is a total collapse of our values. High rate of corruption in both the public and private sectors as recently sign-posted by both the pension and petroleum subsidy scams are prevalent. The 419 scam is, as they would say, old hat. The collapse of the educational system has been facilitated by the high rates of examination malpractices often encouraged and facilitated by parents, teachers and those who would normally have passed off as role models. The total discount of merit and scant regard for excellence are emblems of the new order. The worship of money and materialism is in contradistinction to the apparently high level of religious zealotry and showmanship. We are now in the era of wealth without work. Hypocrisy, insincerity and pretentious display of phoney values is the order of the day. So where will national redemption come from and how did we get here?

It has often been said by some of our leaders that there are settled issues in the Nigerian political economy. The truth is that there are no such settled issues for we have not sincerely and dispassionately looked at the problems of Nigerian nationhood except from the vantage point of how we can take advantage of one another to advance our personal or sectional interests. Nevertheless, it is fair to state that given the state of the global environment, breaking up Nigeria into whatever number of constituent sovereignties is not an option. Globalisation enforces mutual interaction in an interlinked matrix of economic entities. Nations separate only to cooperate in new economic formations. That is the reality of our new world. Moving forward into the harmonious peaceful and united nation of our dreams enforces on us the duty to get rid of some shibboleths from the past that have dogged our every step in the journey to nationhood.

First and foremost we must re-establish and embrace the values of truth and justice as the unchanging foundations in the management of human affairs. There are some historical untruths that we as a nation must confront if we are to move forward together. In the documents British Documents at the End of Empire (BDEE) (ed. Martin Lynn) that I referred to earlier, there is irrefutable evidence that both the pre-independence census and elections were manipulated to produce a pre-determined result favourable to a section. The demands of truth enforce on us the obligation to rectify these anomalies. Justice, however, enforces on us a corollary obligation – we owe the duty of care and fairness to all Nigerians. No part of Nigeria can be allowed to wallow in poverty even as some revel in affluence. It is the obligation of the Nigerian state to ensure fairness in the management and distribution of the resources of the nation to all parts and to all citizens. It is also the obligation of the nation to ensure fair rewards and incentives to honest labour, enterprise innovation and creativity and to create the environment that promotes these conditions. These are necessary conditions for peace and unity.

Secondly, we must re-admit merit and the pursuit of excellence as part of our national objectives. In a merit-driven national endeavour ideally recruitment to national leadership cannot be on the basis of a roster or quota but on the basis of knowledge, competence and overall national interest. In societies that embrace these values, the recruitment of leadership and training of leaders in a common environment where they can compete even as they share visions of the future.

In Nigeria, there is the anomalous presumption that Nigerian leadership must emerge from particular sections of the country. This position discounts the position that localised leadership can only project a local rather that a national vision of leadership. Nigeria, and particularly the North, has paid a heavy price for this anomaly. In the 52 years of Nigeria’s independent existence, the North has produced nine of the 13 leaders and they have been in charge of the government for nearly 40 years. In much of that time development in the North has markedly regressed. Indeed, the post-election violence of 2011 had indications that it was an uprising against the leadership. Thus, the dominance of the north in the politics of Nigeria has contributed markedly to the under-development of the North and by extension of Nigeria. In other words sectionally-driven leadership recruitment has not enhanced Nigerian development, has conferred no obvious advantage to the section of the leader except to individual benefactors.

In the effort to rebuild Nigeria, there is a need for drastic restructuring and redesign of the architecture of the nation. We also need to reorganise the priorities of the nation such that the eradication of poverty and the creation of wealth will be pursued as necessary conditions for the rebuilding of the nation in an atmosphere of peace and unity. Towards this objective we need to focus on the immediate and/or expeditious solution of four problems-

• reconstituting leadership with a Pan-Nigerian vision

• reconciling and managing our diversities

• guaranteeing citizenship and citizen rights and

• restoring and realigning our value system

In the pursuit of these goals it is evident that we will need to cultivate a new mind set in tackling our problems. The challenge to put Nigeria on a fast track development needs priority attention being given to the hardware of infrastructure (power, transportation etc.) but also the software of our vanishing value system anchored on integrity, hard-work, entrepreneurship, thrift and sincerity. We must do away with the culture of impunity in governance and the entitlement complex that has put a wedge between different segments of our people. We must return compassion to one another and passion with vision to our leadership. The c-word corruption must be extirpated from our body politics.

We must not forget the challenge of our youth and women – by far the vast majority of our people. We must remember that over 60% of our population is under 30 while the gender parity between male and females suggest that releasing this explosive pent-up energy of our youths and women can guarantee us a quantum leap in our development trajectory. But the key is education. Given the release of this vast human capital, trained and skilled, the Chinese miracle that took precisely eleven short years can be upstaged. The missing link is leadership – a leadership that is well-educated, passionate and visionary. We must as a people pursue

wealth with equity

truth with compassion

justice with fairness

reconciliation with empathy

• Excerpts of a paper delivered by Professor Anya, FAS, OFR, NNOM at the Cosmopolitan Women’s Club at 52 Independence lecture in Lagos.

October 1, 2012
Re: Imoke’s undignified view of women

SIR: I frown at Dr. Cosmas Odoemena’s article in The Nation of October 18 page 20, which offers criticism that is intellectually sterile and not well founded. The article marked Imoke’s speech with a quotation mark but did not indicate the closing quotation mark, so we just have a loosely running sentences being attributed to Imoke.

It will interest Odoemena to know that human beings, whether men or women, are a part of tourism assets. They fall under what is referred to as the social attraction of tourism products. A city having beautiful women shows that the women are naturally, culturally or cosmetically beautiful and tourism is about ‘experience’ –something beautiful to look at, certainly not ugly sights. For a city to have beautiful women also means that the men are sensitive to beauty as such both sexes are aesthetically conscious.

Beauty either as body adornment or other forms of embellishments shows that such a society has risen. There is refinement of taste in the way the people look, walk or their environment, and that such a society has time for leisure which ultimately means that it is a stable and organized society. If Odoemena is not being mischievous, the word delicacy is not a reference to human beings. In his entire article, there is no sentence directly from Imoke referring to women as delicacies.

Above all Cross River State has a high cultural history of women beautification. The richly decorative coiffure of the Efik women, in the hinterland the nsibidi and eblemi body decorations and the moninkim maiden dances are all forms of indigenous expressions of beauty among Cross River women. It is a misplaced emphasis to assume that beauty connotes sexual gratification. It is more about wellbeing and pleasantness. I am yet to see an ugly woman among the President’s cabinet. Finally, the dignity, respect and prestige of womanhood are also embodied in her beauty which must be admired, praised, sang or painted like Mona Lisa.

Dr. Victor Ecoma.

Calabar

October 1, 2012
Aren’t we tired?

Today, as Nigeria celebrates her 52nd Independence Day anniversary, the question I’d like to put to us as citizens of this dear country Nigeria is, “Aren’t we tired?”

Aren’t we tired of the tick tock frequency with which bombs are going off in our country? Aren’t we tired of seeing fellow Nigerians being killed for religious and political purposes? Aren’t we tired of the perpetual fuel shortages? Aren’t we tired of the continuous threat of fuel subsidy removal? Aren’t we tired of the politics being played with the fuel subsidy report? Aren’t we tired of the brazen corruption in the oil sector? Aren’t we tired of over 40,000 people (i.e. over 100 people daily) dying on our roads every year? Aren’t we tired of the litany of air crashes? Aren’t we tired?

Aren’t we tired, fed up, exasperated with the Nigerian situation? How can things so simple become so complicated? How can things so basic become so complex? And how can things so easy become so ridiculously hard?

Aren’t we tired of always complaining, criticizing, and grumbling about our country and doing basically nothing about it? Aren’t we tired of consistently blaming government for anything and everything that is wrong with our country? Aren’t we tried of forgetting that we, the people of Nigeria, are the government and are therefore responsible for the present situation?

Aren’t we tired of our children and youths not being able to get the quality education they deserve? Aren’t we tired of the mass failure of our students in their WAEC/NECO/GCE? Aren’t we tired of graduates of many years being unemployed for many more years, roaming the streets? Aren’t we tired of the fact that some of our children do not know what it is to have water flow from the taps in their homes? Aren’t we tired of parents panicking (every school year) for fear of not being able to pay their children’s school fees?

Aren’t we tired of the stock market scams? Aren’t we tired of the free fall of the naira over the years into the dungeon of despair? Aren’t we tired of the strangulating effects of IMF and World Bank policies? Aren’t we tired of the crushing burden of the foreign debts we are now accumulating?

Aren’t we tired of the chaos, confusion and catastrophe? Aren’t we tired of all the crises – ethnic, religious, political – and the high price we pay for each one of them? Aren’t we tired of playing the blame game; of blaming the colonialist, the West, the military, our past leaders, the present government, the politicians etc., etc. – everybody but ourselves?

Aren’t we tired of the agents of today’s superpowers becoming prophets of doom by predicting the disintegration of Nigeria by 2015? Aren’t we tired of not taking responsibility for our destiny? Aren’t we tired of our bad image in the international community?

Aren’t we tired of hearing worn-out excuses as the reasons for our country’s stagnation? Aren’t we tired of treading water and being reluctant to launch out into the deep sea of greatness? Aren’t we tired of a nation with great potential and nothing to show for it?

Aren’t we tired of people dying in our hospitals because they did not even have N1000 for treatment? Aren’t we tired of being stressed up and stressed out from spending untold hours in traffic especially in Lagos? Aren’t we tired of seeing mountains of refuse all over our urban centres?

Aren’t we tired of the scams and scandals in the pension funds? Aren’t we tired of pensioners dying because they had not been paid their pensions for months and years on end? Aren’t we tired of seeing people who served this land being made to look like fools because they didn’t steal our money? Aren’t we tired of people working hard to make a living in the heat of the day only to have little or nothing to show for it?

Aren’t we tired of PHCN not providing sufficient electricity? Aren’t we tired of the noise and air pollution of our generators? Aren’t we tired of the high price we pay to fuel our generators because PHCN struck?

Aren’t we tired of the number dropped calls we have daily on our GSM lines? Aren’t we tired of the bad network we experience almost every day? Aren’t we tired of the paying one of the highest tariff for making calls (and sending SMS) in the world?

Aren’t we tired of wearing second –hand clothes and shoes? Aren’t we tired of driving tokunbo (secondhand) cars? Aren’t we tired of hearing stories of untold misery, hopelessness, doom and gloom?

Aren’t we tired of the irresponsibility in high and low places? Aren’t we tired of the frivolity of men and women of ill-will and the irresponsiveness of men of goodwill? Aren’t we tired of evil men in our society playing Russian roulette with our destiny while the good men play safe, not wanting to get involved?

Aren’t we tired of our country being described as one of the most corrupt in the world? Aren’t we tired of the unscrupulous men being extremists in their deeds? Aren’t we tired of the spirit of moderation in the few good deeds of the noble men? Aren’t we tired of seeing the passion and the zeal of corrupt men as they embezzle our billions?

Aren’t we tired of the passivity and the apathy of men of integrity as they remain mute in times of moral crisis? Aren’t we tired of the bad men coming together aggressively to form the critical mass needed to allow evil to triumph in our society? Aren’t we tired of the good men trying timidly to come together to form the needed critical mass that could give birth to a positive change?

Aren’t we tired of the wicked men’s well-established power blocs of oppression, repression and suppression? Aren’t we tired of looking for where the upright men hid their power blocs of liberty, freedom and emancipation?

Aren’t we tired of evil men violently perpetrating evil? Aren’t we tired of good men sparingly sowing seeds of goodness? Aren’t we tired of us as a people not taking responsibility for our people, our country and our future? Aren’t we tired of not doing anything because we could only do so little? Aren’t we tired of groping in the dark without any clear-cut vision?

Aren’t we tired of travelling all over the world – London, Paris, New York, Dubai – but not for one minute conceiving in our minds the possibility of having cities of greater status in our own country? Aren’t we tired of the special treatment we receive as citizens of this great country at international airports in other countries?

Aren’t we tired of waiting for Nigeria’s Messiah when, collectively, men of goodwill ought to be the Messiahs unto our people?

Aren’t we tired of not wanting to pay the price for a great new nation? Because whether we like it or not, sooner or later we will have to pay that price, and the later the higher; it’s just a question of time. Aren’t we tired of having our cup of endurance spilling over and not doing anything about it?

Aren’t we tired of everybody waiting for someone else to do something even though anyone could do it but no one has been willing to?

Aren’t we tired of the status quo and don’t we want to change it? Don’t we?

I sure hope you are tired, simply tired and ready to change the status quo! I dare to believe that together, we can CHANGE the status quo! I dare to believe in a GREAT NEW NIGERIA!

Change only occurs when the cost of remaining the same is higher than the cost of CHANGE!

Is the cost of remaining the same now higher than the cost of CHANGE? Is the cost of maintaining the status quo higher than the cost of CHANGING the status quo? Is the cost of you remaining an old Nigerian higher than the cost of becoming a NEW NIGERIAN? Is the cost of holding on to the old Nigeria higher than the cost of building the NEW NIGERIA of our dreams? Is it?

These are the questions we must NOW answer as individual Nigerian citizens and collectively as a nation. I end this by asking once more; “Aren’t we tired?”

• Simoyan, an author and activist writes from Lagos

October 1, 2012
Still on the Governor of the Year award

SIR: My attention has been drawn to many insinuations about the recent Leadership Governor of the year award won by Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Some people who are not happy over the awards for obvious reasons are saying all manner of funny things to denigrate the award. For the avoidance of doubt, Leadership newspaper is one of the most credible in the country today. The award criteria is open, credible and independently verifiable. Fayemi was given the award because of what he has been able to do in just two years in office. He was nominated for the award when he was just one year in office but he has done a lot more since last year and this has confirmed he is the right choice. He is the first Governor in Nigeria to sign into law, the Freedom of Information Bill, the bill against gender based violence and the social security bill where Ekiti elderly citizens receive N5, 000 naira monthly.

Despite the meagre resources of Ekiti State, and the debt of 42 billion inherited from the Oni’s administration, Fayemi is currently embarking on a massive transformation of the state capital through road construction, urban renewal, and provision of pipe-borne water, streetlights, traffic lights and the general beautification of the city. The governor has also done a lot to improve the quality of education by renovating all schools in Ekiti State in two phases with the first phase almost concluded in just eight weeks; health care delivery in Ekiti is one of the best you can get in the country; many industries are being revived while the tourism potentials of Ekiti are being presented to the world with the complete transformation of the Ikogosi warm spring resort and the development of the tourism corridor of that area. He has completed many rural electrification projects which has brought light to a community that had been in darkness in the last 200 years.

No matter the laurels Governor Fayemi brings to Ekiti, some people who are very petty and envious would dismiss such laurels for obvious reasons. Some want to be Governor in 2014 even though they are not qualified to be councillors, some want to come back as Governor after the mandate they stole was retrieved and despite wasting the time and resources of Ekiti State while their illegal reign lasted, yet some of the critics are mere attention seekers.

The Governor is not distracted by the usual distractions and tantrums of frustrated politicians. They are afraid of their political future and fate because of the stupendous level of development that Governor Fayemi has brought to bear in Ekiti. This is the dilemma and the lamentation of failed opposition politicians and their ragtag foot soldiers who would never see anything good about Governor Fayemi even if he wins the Nobel Prize.

Ekiti people are in for a good time and the Leadership Governor of the year award bestowed on the Governor is a challenge to do more. He is a workaholic, a serious minded fellow not given to frivolities and very thorough. Recently, he signed an agreement with SAMSUNG in South Korea to establish a computer academy in Ekiti State. The academy will be the first in West Africa and the third in Africa after South Africa and Egypt. Detractors may continue to say whatever pleases them but the masses of Ekiti people have realized who their true leader is. They have known the difference between interlopers and pretenders who ran Ekiti aground and a popularly elected governor who has restored the lost glory of Ekiti State.

• Hakeem Jamiu

Ado-Ekiti.

October 1, 2012
Re: The face of postgraduate medical training

SIR: My attention has been drawn to the write-up titled ‘True face of postgraduate medical training’ by Dr. Timi Babatunde in the October 22, edition of your newspaper.

I can not hold brief for, or defend the National or West African Postgraduate Medical Colleges, which are the institutions responsible for organising and publishing results of examinations. It is obvious that the target of the accusations contained in the write-up are examiners who are responsible for setting the questions, marking the papers, and deciding the results, which are ratified by the institutions except in cases of genuine appeals and protests. As an examiner therefore, I am constrained to put in perspective the deliberate misrepresentations and omissions of the writer or complainant.

Firstly, if the writer is truly a doctor, s/he ought to know the bodies that should deal with such complaints.

Secondly, the residency training prepares doctors through a postgraduate scientific and professional apprenticeship for appointment as Consultants. Consultants are the last port of call for decisions about diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients seen at the highest levels of health care facilities. Patients often live of die through their opinions, which can only be challenged by peers in the same specialty. With such responsibilities, one can only sympathise with those who are passing through the training which we have also passed through with its challenges. There can therefore be no apologies about the fact that standards have to be set, they have to be high, and they have to be maintained. These examinations are therefore to be compared to the ICAN or elevation of lawyers to the position of SANs.

When it comes to examinations, questions are set by a Court of Examiners made up more than one individual. When questions are to be scored, they are either marked in conference, or marked by at least two independent people after a marking scheme has been agreed, and marks are reconciled before final scores are awarded. At the end of every examination, a meeting of all examiners reviews the whole examinations with scores, with thorough discussion, hard consideration for borderline candidates and sometime sympathetic consideration leading to upgrade of borderline failures.

A major issue is the attitude of trainees. Dr. Babatunde forgot to inform his readers that those who are pursuing the program leading to the Fellowships are qualified medical doctors who are fully employed as Registrars and Senior Registrars, and earning full salaries while going through training and sitting for examinations. In addition to that, most of them are engaged in private practices either as proprietors or in the employment of other private practitioners. Some moonlight in two or more places in addition to their full and permanent employment. Although these practices are frowned at, there is little that a trainer can do, other than grumble since he/she is not the employer of the one in training. All these are in spite of the fact that the trainee is aware that there is generally a maximum period of about six years within which the hospitals expect them to complete the training and give room for others to come in. A good number are also married with children. This is what I call eating your cake and wanting to have it at the same time. You will then wonder how much time is available for reading and preparation for these examinations. In addition, some of the trainees are already formed family men and women, who are not so amenable to instructions. In an attempt to finish quickly, some candidates also appear for these examinations against trainers’ when it is obvious that they have not prepared adequately. Since the examination is a human system, it is not perfect. It is however pertinent to show that results are not always as erroneously presented, For example, the results of the last examination in my Faculty shows that 29 out of 97 passed the Primaries, 52 out 90 passed Part I, and 35 out of 41passed Part II.

Agreed, examination fees should not be prohibitive, but the argument that doctors in full employment and earning salaries are heavily handicapped can not be sustained.

As trainer and examiners who agonise over the performances of the candidates, one can not help feeling being unfairly treated by this write-up simply designed to vilify the examiners

and the postgraduate medical colleges.

P. O. Olatunji

Lagos

October 1, 2012
Addressing the problems of the education sector

SIR: A recent report quoted the National Universities Commission (NUC) Executive Secretary, Professor Julius Okojie as stating that 60 percent or more of university lecturers are without PhD. What right to good quality of education does this give us the future leaders of this great country? In what ways does this prepare us for the future? I think it is time we start asking ourselves tough questions.

The earlier we as one people realise that we can’t heal what we refuse to confront, the earlier the journey to the rehabilitation of this once flourishing and bright sector. It hurts to find that our educational institutions especially our colleges and universities are behind international standards in technology, research, development amongst many other things.

Is there a solution to this problem putting the future of this country at a great risk? Personally, my answer is ‘yes’. But as one people, one nation, the decision depends on us. The moment we say ‘yes’, then we just unwrapped our determination to make things work for this precious sector. We will also be showing the zeal in laying a solid foundation in education for generations yet unborn.

What policies and structures are we to put in place to make this intended transformation a reality? Why don’t we take a journey into history and try to figure out what brought upon us this predicament and then proffer solutions to each of them.

Political instability will be the first thing that comes to mind. Since independence till the end of the military era in 1999, we have experienced gross political instability. The ever recurring military succession and coups have affected our educational systems negatively. We do not have long term ministers of education; they spend just a short period of time in office before being replaced. Usually, one comes on board and just decides to change everything according his or her taste without considering the changes and policies that the previous minister had kept in place and it goes on and on. To solve the problem of leadership instability is to prevent the future ministers of education and all other people from changing policies and structures that have been in place without necessary or important reason.

Another point that comes to mind is the inadequate fund provided to the higher institutions. And even the funds provided by the government are not channelled properly due to corruption and looting at every level. My solution to this problem might sound absurd, but if properly considered is worth a shot. Students in higher education institution should be billed heavily; in this way the public institutions will be able to run their institutions without waiting for grants and funds from the government. Government can come in by giving financial aids and scholarships to students in need or exceptionally gifted either in extracurricular activities or academics.

This way, the schools will have sufficient funds to run their programmes with the aid of modern research equipments and machinery. The institutions will also be able to send their lecturers abroad to gather more experiences and to upgrade their ways of doing things. As for the students who borrowed money to finance their education, they would be expected to pay back with very little interest charged as soon as they are employed. This is one sure way to enhance the quality of education.

• Oluwayemisi Joseph

Egbeda, Lagos

October 1, 2012
Arise, My Compatriots!

SIR: Nigeria, oh my Nigeria! A country so bless’d but, denied of her blessing. Nigeria, my belov’d; a country battered, not by its enemies but, by its own.

A country so rich in natural, human, economic resources yet, poor because of human wickedness.

A country, with the best seasons in the world, where Mother Nature concentrated to do some extra work.

A country so talked about by the world in envy! Nigeria, envied by peoples and nations of the world.

Ah! Naija! Who do’ it? Who inflicted you with these pains, sickness and misery?

How can you be so treated by your own, spat on, horsewhipped, dragged on the floor, condemned and crucified! Ah! My country, Nigeria, why?

Would we continue to allow us to be so pummeled by a tiny group? Defecated on by this tiny cabal? No, we must stand up and fight.

Our ancestors must not be shamed and disgraced by this mindless tiny group.

The spirit of our founding fathers shall not be mocked at!

We must rise up and ask questions, rise and take up the challenge of rebuilding a battered nation.

Oh Nigeria! Is it not said that when the frog in front falls into a pit, others behind take caution!

Nigerian youth must rise up for the nation, to rebuild, reconstruct, now is the time.

Time for us to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the shining sunlight of racial justice.

We must rise to open the doors of opportunities, hope for all God’s creation in Nigeria.

We must rise to lift our country, NIGERIA from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

We must rise to kick away anarchy and doom, corruption and bad leadership, it is a challenge and we must achieve it.

Nigeria, the great masquerade of Africa, must be woken up from its slumbering and snoring, it must be rightly prepared to take its God given leadership position.

And, this is the duty of our youths, the ‘police and army’ of the nation.

Since our elders have failed, do we need to fail too? Tufia! We must transform our country.

How long shall we wait to get to the Promised Land? Promises of Nigerian politicians are promises of ‘419ers’.

Indeed, we must take up the gauntlet and move to compete with the Asian tigers, for they are not gods but, human with blood running in their veins.

Our country sickly position is not making anyone smile, it brings out complains from even a mentally unbalanced person.

It has made a child of 13 years develop wrinkles like a 60-year old.

What shall we do? For after wet, comes dry season! After darkness, comes day.

What shall we do? Nigeria must flourish again, this land must be healed.

Healed from all curses, nemesis, ills, sins, mistakes, wickedness, misgovernance and bad leadership.

Nigeria, must indeed flourish again!

The green, white and green flag must fly again with confidence among nations, The Arise O’ Compatriots sang with every respect. The pledge read with sincerity.

Nigeria must be lifted again, away from the doldrums, for our nation must be resurrected.

• Uzodinma Nwaogbe

Maitama – Abuja.

October 1, 2012
Anambra 2014 and Okeke’s hallucinations

Recently, one J.E Okeke wrote an offensive article titled “Why governor should come from Anambra North”. Offensive, not because it contains the intellectual barbs one expects from a serious writer; nay it rather offends because it offers no serious appeal to the truth nor facts about the matter

raised.

Nevertheless as a firm believer in the libertarian theory of the press, which notes that the sole method of arriving at the truth in the long run is by free competition of opinion in the opinion market

and that the one that seems most rational will emerge and be generally accepted. This tenet thus necessitated this response.

Okeke who claims to head the Anambra North Peoples Assembly, unfortunately hindered his own article via his opening statements which ran as thus “Not a few readers of The Nation on Sunday September 9, must have been thoroughly appalled at the interview granted by Senator Chris

Ngige and his response to the question of agitation for the next governor to be of Anambra extraction.”

Now even a year one student undertaking a general study course in philosophy and logic would

obviously agree that Okekes scraggy opening comments is nothing but a fallacy of hasty generalization. True Mr. Okeke may have been appalled by the Ngige interview, in fact he is allowed to be appalled and has the freedom to be appalled, he may even lead a one-man protest and picket The Nation newspapers or NTA Onitsha, God knows that I do not have a problem with that, but if that is the case then he should have spoken for himself alone and not resort to numbers or a crowd he doesn’t have.

Rambling further, he accused Senator Ngige of not understanding the agitation of Ndi Anambra North and of doublespeak since Ngige as a democrat candidly called for Ndi Anambra to collectively decide who would govern them come 2014 and at the same time questioned the notion or assumption that come 2014 it was the turn of the people of Anambra North since at no point in time did the people of the state collectively agree to zone the office of the governor to any zone.

An unbiased fellow can obviously decode that there is no distinction between Ngige’s call for the people to choose their governor and the fact that Ndi Anambra at any level had never agreed to a zoning formula. In all spheres of our society the people have leaders who naturally represent

their views or interests. These leaders act as a go-between their own people and other leaders from time to time. Most local governments and the senatorial zones have a coterie of able leaders, leaders who have the confidence of their people, but such leaders would agree that at no time has there been a discussion nor an agreement on the principle of zoning, had there been such an agreement then the likes of Joy Emodi and Chudi Nwike would have allowed Mbadinuju and contestants from Anambra South to jockey for the position of governor in 1999; no this was not the case as both aspirants on the platform of the All Peoples Party and the Alliance for Democracy contested and lost out to Dr.Chinwoke Mbadinuju.

Again in 2003, 2007 and 2010, several aspirants from Anambra North filed out keenly to contest the primaries of their various parties and the elections proper. Amongst these aspirants were the likes of Okey Odunze, Alex Obiogbolu, Joy Emodi, Tony Nwoye, Emma Anosike, Benjamin Obidigbo and a host of others who slugged it out with the eventual winners of such elections. My question to Okeke is that if such an accord actually does exist, then the aforementioned aspirants should never have joined the fray to contest the position of governor. Surely, they would have held their peace and allowed for their turn as prescribed by the accord. Let’s assume that one of these candidates

mentioned had won, would they have been stopped from taking the oath of office simply because a fictitious accord existed only in the minds of Okeke?

Okeke’s assertion that the zone made a pact with the incumbent, Peter Obi and is a reason why the incumbent was declared winner in 2010 is in error and another shade of falsehood attempted, one

emanating from his hallucinations, which naturally tends to backfire as it removes from the article whatever remained of its credibility. It is on this note that I advise Okeke to allow sleeping dogs to

lie. Even if Governor Obi and the likes of Okeke had any agreements concerning 2014 after the robbery of 2010, pray how it is binding on me or other persons from Anambra state, since neither I nor my leaders were privy or party to such an agreement?

Again Okeke entangles himself in his own labyrinth when he advocates “that from debates grow a better understanding of issues confronting a nation”. One is then forced to wonder why he is then against Ngige’s call for an agreement by leaders of the state concerning the issue of zoning, or is Okeke trying to be clever by half?

Finally why is Ngige central in all of these arguments? Surely he is yet to declare for the office as he is presently rather concerned with his present mandate as a senator representing the people of Anambra Central. Again, he is not the only politician to have spoken on the zoning matter; others like Soludo, Ukachukwu, Andy Uba, Ifeanyi Ubah, Victor Umeh and Obinna Uzor have also aired their views on the issue. Okeke seems to have been blinded, deafened and dumb to the statements credited to those mentioned above but it seems that there is a “His name is John” effect when Ngige is involved. Perhaps there is then more to this than being about it being the turn of the people of Anambra North, a script driven by the fear of Ngige designed by self-seeking politicians with the purpose to deny Anambra the best in leadership.

This we must resist in its entirety as it is nothing but undemocratic in all ramifications. The 2014 elections should be left for Ndi Anambra to decide. Let us allow the people to lead!

• Igboeli Arinze writes from Awka

October 1, 2012
At 52, hope deferred, betrayed or made forlorn

In an article published in 1997 by Professor J.F Ade.Ajayi, historian and former vice chancellor, the disconnects suffered by countries which pretend ignorance of their histories were examined. Entitled The Rearview Mirror, he wondered how any society could hope to make progress and confidently face the future when it did not consider where it had been or where it was coming from. He thought it weird that any society could attempt to build something on nothing. The eminent historian’s discursive essay comes to mind today as Nigeria struggles to make meaning of its existence and independence. It has been 52 long years of groggy presence on the world stage, underachieving, wasting and draining its potentials. It is imbued with unquantifiable talents, its children among the world’s best, but in vain it waits for the harnesser to bridge the gulf between its past and present, and bring together in one powerful and mesmerising whole the energies this most vibrant of societies is capable of.

Alas, instead, the country has trudged forward as if it is only the present that matters, as if both the past and future menace its existence. The lessons of the past seem lost in its history books and dog-eared files of dispirited bureaucrats. Not even its leaders appeal to the past, nor dare hope for a glorious future beyond what they could pay lip service to. Nigeria’s age distribution shows the country is disproportionately young, with most of its elected officials and workers, including civil servants, born after independence. But the courage, stamina and adventurousness associated with the young have either been lacking in the developmental battles the country is waging or are completely misdirected. Indeed, no country has seemed so capable of harbouring virtue and villainy in one exquisite whole as Nigeria. It has produced world-class academicians in the arts and the sciences; but it has also concocted, for want of a more appropriate word, the crassest opportunists and global renegades.

In spite of making major contributions to the knowledge industry, it periodically fails in its greatest moments of distress to rationally examine its own problems or proffer sensible solutions. It reels from poll parroting alien and inapplicable dogmas to embracing half-baked and sometimes monstrous homegrown theories. Perhaps now is the time for Nigerian leaders to honestly come to terms with their failures and deficiencies, especially seeing what horrendous aftereffects these have imposed on the country and its people. It begins with rejigging its education and returning its schools to world-class status. It won’t be easy, and change won’t come in a hurry. This should, however, be followed by a deliberate effort to harness the intellectual capabilities of experts and applying their ideas to the problems confronting the country.

Surely, after living in denial for so long, demonstrating appalling lassitude, and fiddling as the country burns, it must be time to put an end to the dithering that has moved the country closer to the precipice. Let the people talk and kick-start the process of re-engineering their country away from its dysfunctional structure; and let them determine whether they want to stay together and if so, work out what they want to give up in order to stay together peacefully. Let them begin to address the fact that this and previous generations have betrayed the country either by their indolence or by their cowardice, and that if the future of coming generations is to be secured, if the coming generations are to remain competitive on the harsh world stage, the sacrifices required to guarantee these advantages must be made now and the price paid in full by those who seem determined to wipe out that future.

October 1, 2012