The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Still on Lagos and the new traffic law

    Still on Lagos and the new traffic law

    SIR: We will not appreciate the import of the new Lagos Traffic Law until we bring into focus some statistics about Lagos.

    The state’s land mass is only 0.4 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass, yet its population is more than 10 per cent of the country’s population. It is almost unimaginable that more than 70 per cent of Lagos population lives in the metropolitan area, which occupies only 37 per cent of land mass of the state. This cuts the picture of a megacity – the third largest in the world – bundled into a relatively small land mass. By estimation, it means about 13 million people live on just 1,324 square kilometres of land.

    Now, these people are not just lounging on the city’s extensive beach, coasting thorough the day. They are all in a race of economic pursuit, irrespective of language or colour. Like ants gathering food in the summer, everybody is on the move, as could be inferred from the following statistics: this littoral state consumes almost 50 per cent of the petroleum products in the country. The two seaports in the state account for 70 per cent of the country’s maritime activities. The Murtala Muhammed International Airport handles more than 70 per cent of all international flights in the country. About 40 per cent of Nigeria’s skilled workforce is in Lagos, where we have about 50 per cent of the country’s industrial and commercial establishments.

    It is possible that Lagosians can be seen obeying traffic regulations in other cities but a new “spirit” takes over once they are within Lagos boundaries.

    Let us keep this hyperactive nature of Lagosians to a side and consider some statistics about the city’s traffic infrastructure. Both rail and water still carry less than one per cent of overall traffic volume. The road network density of Lagos, put at 0.4 kilometres per 1000 people, is very low, even compared with other African cities. Also, there is an average of 222 vehicles per kilometre of road I Lagos, compared to the country’s average of 11 vehicles.

    A very unique feature of Lagos, compared to other industrial cities in Nigeria, is that traffic flows in unilateral direction. It is estimated that about six million people move to Lagos Island on daily basis to work. Therefore, even though, Lagos has about 16,000 kilometres of road network, about 10 per cent of this length carries the bulk of the traffic volume.

    Prior to 2008, about 75,000 minibuses, popularly called Danfo, and Molue ran the show on Lagos roads, providing hectic transportation services that drive people to high blood pressure. You needed to enter three buses to move from Ikorodu to Lagos Island.

    When we put all these together, there is no gainsaying Lagos needs a means, a law, to bridle the mad rush in the city – one strong enough to rid it of the current road malady and also protect it from whatever dimension its sprawling population growth may bring in the future.

    This law is needed for two altruistic reasons: first, the difficult transportation in Lagos accounts for disproportionate production cost and loss of valuable man-hour. If there is efficient transportation system, population density in the metropolis will reduce as people will not mind relocating to the suburb.

    Second, every injury and death to anyone in Lagos is not only devastating but also has far reaching impacts because many people “hustling” in Lagos, including the Okada riders, are breadwinners.

    Therefore, care must be taken to protect lives in Lagos because many other lives depend on what they earn. Too many needless deaths occur on Lagos roads and these would be reduced to minimal if this law is properly implemented.

    People complaining now should have done that during the public hearing stage. And this is a lesson that we must learn to participate in governance process. As for truck owners complaining that compliance with the law will lead to loss of revenue for them, I wonder how many times they have commiserated with those bereaved as a result of the reckless activities of their drivers. They do not seem bothered about many lives that have been lost to truck brake failures and unlatched containers falling off.

    Let us imagine the advantages this law will bring – a Lagos where we can all pursue our economic agenda safely – and accept it wholeheartedly.

    • Segun Balogun

    Lagos

  • Boko Haram: Multifaceted approach or indecision?

    Boko Haram: Multifaceted approach or indecision?

    In his address to the 67th United Nations General Assembly, President Goodluck Jonathan said, among other things, that peaceful ways of resolving conflicts were less costly and more effective. In a general sense, he is right; except that the devil is in the detail. Conflicts, it is true, come in diverse forms, and the means of fighting or resolving them do not respond to a generic pattern. The President had declared in his UN address that, “our response to these (Boko Haram and other conflicts in Nigeria) has been multifaceted, as we seek to address the root causes of these threats, exploring opportunities for dialogue, improving law enforcement to ensure public safety and security.” The President was very clever in lumping things together. Theoretically, the approach he enunciated before the UN is faultless. Most conflicts can only be resolved using a multifaceted approach, for as it is well known, they are often caused by a combination of factors.

    In the particular case of Boko Haram, though Jonathan was reluctant to describe the sect’s violence as terrorism in the truest sense of the word, it is, however, incontestable that its causes are rooted in socio-economic deprivation, general politics, and private and doctrinaire sectarian objectives. Analysts have in fact, failed to agree on the cause or combination of causes of the Boko Haram campaigns. The sect sometimes gives the impression it is fighting an unjust state that sanctions brutality and extra-judicial killings, and their arguments and facts make sense. At other times, however, it viciously fights innocent Nigerians opposed to its hate ideology or opposed to its leadership, and sometimes executes people its leaders claim misrepresent the sect. At yet other times, it has targeted Christians for no other reason than the fact that they belong to a different faith.

    There is no consensus among Nigerians on the factors that motivate the Boko Haram violence. Worse, the government, which should know better, has also reflected the general confusion by its inability to properly classify the sect or its methods. Since the Jonathan government has shown reluctance in describing the sect as a terrorist organisation, and because it even agrees with apologists to classify the sect into at least three categories of criminal, political and true Boko Haram, it is not surprising that there is no official consensus as to how to tackle the sect. It is this confusion that Jonathan reflected in his UN speech. But it is a confusion that only the equally clever can discern in his speech. The question the President has never answered and will never be able to answer is that aside from emotive considerations, in what ways are Boko Haram’s methods different from the typical terrorist’s?

    An appraisal of the President’s address shows only one thing: Jonathan has been unable to make up his mind whether to fight Boko Haram or placate it. Whatever fight he has sanctioned so far is only to the extent that the sect has failed to clearly accept the government’s olive branch. From all indications, the government has been too desperate to make peace with the sect than to soberly consider the moral dilemma involved in making peace with a violent organisation that levies war against the state and continues to terrorise and murder fellow citizens in cold blood.

  • Why Fayemi deserves Governor of the year

    It is no longer news that the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was recently named the Leadership newspapers Governor of the year 2011 at an elaborate ceremony in Abuja. Other awardees were General T.Y Danjuma who bagged Man of the year, businessman Aliko Dangote as Business person of the year, Condoleeza Rice, the former US Secretary of State as author of the year; Ann Marie Imafidon, the young academic wizard who bagged an Oxford University Masters Degree the age of 12 as the young person of the year.

    There are other awardees in other categories but the award of the Governor of the year conferred on Fayemi was the most discussed and the cynosure of all eyes.. Fayemi is always wary of awards because of the indecent and spurious nature of most awards that are equally conferred on unworthy fellows in the country. In fact, he has rejected many but for him to accept the Leadership award; there must have been a cogent reason. This was revealed in his acceptance speech when he said he accepted the award because the process of selection was transparent, predictable and independently verifiable. The award is credible because nobody was asked to pay any money. Predictably, the winner of the award last year was Governor Adams Oshiomhole who proved that he deserved the award going by how he has transformed Edo State and later secured a landslide victory for second term in office.

    Despite the meagre resources of Ekiti State (Ekiti earns 2.5 billion from the federation accounts out of which it pays 1.5 billion as salary), and the debt of N40 billion inherited from the Oni’s administration, Fayemi is currently embarking on a massive transformation of the state capital through road construction where about 15 completed roads would be commissioned in October while construction of five kilometres each is presently going on in all the 16 local government areas of the state. There is urban renewal, and provision of pipe-borne water, streetlights, traffic lights and the general beautification of the city.

    The Fayemi administration provides free and compulsory education at the primary and secondary levels while it reduced fees payable in higher institutions. It consolidated the amorphous higher institutions it inherited for purposes of better funding and overall management. They are now well poised to partner with the state government in its development efforts. The administration has also done a lot to improve the study environment by renovating all schools in Ekiti State in two phases with the first phase concluded in just eight weeks under Operation Renovate All Schools (ORASE). The renovation works include reconstruction of dilapidated classroom blocks, school halls, laboratories, chapels, painting of classroom blocks and school fence, PVC ceilings, new windows and new furniture.

    33,000 laptops have been distributed to students, teachers and the physically challenged in Ekiti State schools. This is an unprecedented achievement. The governor recently signed an agreement with Samsung in South Korea to establish an engineering academy in Ekiti State which is going to be first of its kind in West Africa. The academy will impact on the faculty of engineering in the state university and will provide after sales services of computers and training of electronic engineers. Samsung will also assemble its products in Ekiti. The deal is payback for Ekiti by Samsung which got the contract to supply the 100,000 laptops for each student in Ekiti.

    Health care delivery in Ekiti is one of the best in the country as more than 1.5 million Ekiti people have benefitted from the free health mission and programme of the government. Little wonder that the latest MDG Report (2012) circulated by the Federal Ministry of Health scored Ekiti high in healthcare delivery. According to the report, Ekiti has the second lowest infant mortality rate in the country. The Minister of Health recently commended Ekiti State for doing what no other state is doing on health care in the country. Ekiti is the only state that is doing free health 100 per cent to its pregnant women and covering 45 per cent of the state’s population under her free health programme.

    Many industries are being revived while the tourism potentials of Ekiti State 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. The Warm Spring has been completely re-engineered with a new swimming pool and a befitting landscaping, while modern chalets have been built for the use of tourists. An amphitheater is currently under construction at the resort and has reached 85 per cent completion. Ire burnt bricks which has been abandoned in the last 21 years is about to begin operation as installation of N400 million naira worth of equipment is ongoing. The ROMACO quarry company in Igbemo Ekiti and the Ikun Diary farm in Ikun Ekiti would soon begin operation.

    Fayemi has paid more than lip service to making agriculture the bedrock of industrialisation and a large employer of labour. Under the Youth Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (YCAD), 7,500 pilot commercial farmers have been shortlisted, while 1,000 hectares of land have been cleared for the purpose in Phase 1 of the project. The project is designed to result in a minimum of 20,000 youth commercial farmers by 2014. Farmers have been empowered via the provision by government, of agricultural soft loans, farm implements and herbicides, while millions of naira was expended on equipment to assist rice farmers to increase their yield. The empowerment of farmers is also being replicated at the local government level where farmers have been greatly assisted. The Federal Government recently approved two ultra-modern state of the art rice processing mills, one of which will be sited in Igbemo-Ekiti. The 600 million naira joint constituency irrigation project of the three senators representing Ekiti State at the Senate to be sited in Itapaji Ekiti, has attracted additional 600 million naira from the UNDP which will execute the project for which the state government has made about 5,000 hectares of land available. The project will allow for all season farming of tomatoes and pepper which shall be processed at the site. Residential buildings shall also be built on the farm and factory that will employ over 1,000 Ekiti youths. A cassava processing plant has begun operation in Orin –Ekiti while Chinese investors wooed by the governor have agreed to invest in large scale cassava farming in Ekiti. Cassava bread was launched by the Governor on August 7, making Ekiti the first state in the country to take the cassava campaign initiative seriously.

    The administration has employed a total of 4,643 graduates under the Youth Volunteer Scheme, 7,500 facility managers and street sweepers. 200 youths are undergoing skills acquisition while some 240 youths have resumed training under the auspices of the National Directorate of Employment which has established an active synergy with the state government not to mention the hundreds in the employ of the Traffic Management Agency. As a result of all these, the state was recently described as follows in the current Human Development Report: ‘Ekiti State is the most conducive environment to live, for long and healthy living with a life expectancy average of 55 years more than the national life expectancy average of 50 years’.

    Without a doubt, Governor Fayemi has impacted positively on large areas of the state and by the time on-going projects are concluded, the governor would have more than firmly planted his feet on the sands of time. The words of the elder statesman Alhaji Maitama Sule who presented the award to him capture the personality of the governor: “At a time like this, we need leaders not looters, leaders, not rulers. We need leaders with the fear of God; those who will not lie; leaders who will accept in public what they can accept in private; leaders who are not corrupt; leaders who will not steal; leaders who look in the eyes of the common man with compassion and not eyes of the privileged few. May I congratulate you on behalf of the nation because the nation needs leaders like you; let other leaders emulate this governor”.

    • Jamiu writes from Ado-Ekiti

  • More and more dysfunctional

    More and more dysfunctional

    Nigeria seems to be awash with small arms. Hardly a day passes without an announcement by the police of one seizure or another of arms and ammunition. The magnitude of each seizure often gives indication that the arms are certainly not meant for robbery or even kidnapping alone. Just this weekend, the Lagos State police announced the recovery of five rocket launchers, five dynamites, 11 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), 250 loaded magazines and 17,000 rounds of ammunition from a house in Lagos. Early September, security agencies also announced the recovery of a cache of arms in Oraifite, Anambra State. In that instance, the police said, albeit with a dose of exaggeration, the Anambra seizure was substantial enough to defeat a small army. According to a newspaper report of the Oraifite seizure, the recovered arms, some of them in underground armoury, included 17 rockets, 13 rocket grenades, one rocket launcher, 27 AK-47 rifles, one K2 rifle, two other rifles, one general purpose machine gun, six pump action guns, three locally-manufactured guns, one Berretta pistol, and some 14,425 rounds of live ammunition. The seized weapons doubtless packed a hefty punch.

    The weapons recently recovered from both Lagos and Anambra States are merely examples of the ubiquitousness of light arms in the country. More pass through the eye of the needle than are seized by the authorities. The Boko Haram Islamic sect, which is waging a sectarian cum socio-economic insurgency in the northern part of the country, also packs an even deadlier punch than the arms seizure in the two states listed above. It does appear that no one can halt the flow of arms nor curb the criminal uses to which the weapons are being put virtually on a daily basis. Indeed, the problem of kidnapping, which feeds on light arms, has become so pervasive that it is even underreported, while the country has seemed to reconcile itself almost completely to the menace of armed robbery.

    The proliferation of light arms, whether they are able to defeat or pin down a small army or not, kidnapping and ethnic and sectarian violence obviously indicate that there is something fundamentally wrong with the country. Officials appear to scratch the problem only on the surface. There is neither a coherent nor intelligent attempt to decipher the problem, let alone proffer realistic and targeted solution. As a result, the country is getting more and more dysfunctional, and the problem will get worse with each passing month the government continues to apply the anodyne measures of sermonizing and police action.

    Perhaps the problem is fundamentally rooted in politics, especially the need to restructure the country away from the unitary system that masquerades in the 1999 constitution as federal, but which has proved unworkable and now even cancerous. Perhaps the country’s leaders, or those purporting to lead it, need to climb down from their high horses to acknowledge that it is time to sit down and discuss not only where we should go and how, but also who we really are, the resilience of the ties that bind us, and the nature of the factors that disunite us.

    There is no guarantee that the country’s present leaders have the courage to meet the tough questions and hard choices confronting Nigeria. There is also no proof they will not begin to scramble for solutions only when things begin to unravel. But if the country is to put a lid on the burgeoning forces tearing the nation asunder, forces that are deceptively manifesting as kidnapping, armed robbery and sectarian bloodletting, we must urgently draft bold, intelligent and honest leaders willing and competent to handle the national crisis threatening to undo us.

     

  • What ails Nigeria First Lady?

    What ails Nigeria First Lady?

    SIR: It is almost a month since Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan disappeared from the public scene. Although, her spokesperson, Ayo Osinlu and President Goodluck Jonathan later indicated that she went for a long overdue rest and would be back soon.

    Since then, there have been conflicting reports on the state of her health.

    Has the President forgotten he is no longer a private citizen? Has he forgotten he lost his privacy the moment he took the mantle of office and became the president of Nigeria?

    The silence surrounding the condition of the First Lady reminds of former president, the late Umaru Yar’adua when everything was made hush hush! It was the silence that aggravated anger from Nigerians. But in this case, we are not even sure of what ails the first lady.

    Is it not about time the president comes out and tell Nigerians what the problem is?

    President Jonathan should learn from his colleague, the Argentinean president who suffered from thyroid cancer. There was no secrecy!!! Everything was made public. Even the citizens were notified of the date of her surgery. She had their empathy and support. They rallied round her and they all gathered together at different places to pray for her.

    It is time for our leaders to start treating us like citizens. They should stop seeing themselves as masters and they shouldn’t forget that secrets comes back only to haunt and taunt.

     

    • Kemi Okunade.

    Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye

     

  • Ekiti teachers, NULGE should sheathe their swords

    Ekiti teachers, NULGE should sheathe their swords

    SIR: There is a Yoruba adage which says: ‘If a blacksmith concentrates his energy on a particular spot of an iron, he intends to shape out an end-product”.

    Whatever write-ups and reports had been done in the past on the Ekiti teachers’ proficiency test and the Ekiti NULGE’s current face-off with the government, however fair or foul the write-ups and reports had been, there had been motives on the part of the writers and motives on the part of those who reacted in various ways to the publications.

    Our motives are the crux of the two tussles at hand which we should frankly examine and determine whether they promote or hamper the main objective of the creation of Ekiti State.

    The singular objective of those who fought for and won the Ekiti State creation, was to see the state, hitherto the often forgotten division in the old Western Region, march forward and keep pace with the luckier divisions of that old order in terms of development.

    If, by that act of state creation, Ekiti division was finally placed to make development happen, how much of development have we witnessed since 1966 when a military administrator, Col. Inua Bawa, took off in the task of governance?

    While Col. Inua Bawa and his successor, Navy Captain Atanda Yusuf, were military rulers and non-natives, only one out of our three past civilian governors, Governor Niyi Adebayo, was able to complete a term of four years. The two others, Ayo Fayose and Segun Oni were, each, unable to do a full term.

    While Governor Fayose had his controversial tenure cut short, Oni was stopped by the court on account of electoral fraud. The situations were similar in their effects –the environment was rendered non-conducive for the goal of rapid development.

    It was as if the ancient Ekiti Parapo War for which the division was famous was being fought, ironically, now by the Ekitis against the Ekitis!

    Perhaps that also is why it should be pertinent today to appeal to both the teachers and Ekiti NULGE who are currently at logger-heads with their government to have a re-think.

    One would not want to over-flog the teachers issue but haven’t we retarded the progress of Ekiti State enough with sheer obstinacy?

    The two issues being contended; the Teachers’ Development Need Assessment (TDNA) and Staff Auditing, do fall squarely into the category of pre-conditions for success in developmental goals.

    Ekiti teachers cannot be collectively bad. So, why must Governor Kayode Fayemi who decided to sift the chaff from the grains among teachers not be appreciated?

    The Ekiti NULGE was not unaware that staff audit was being done and that, reasonably, it should be concluded before minimum wage was paid so as not to incur higher losses by paying minimum wage to ghost workers and dupes if they truly existed.

    In any case, the governor said he would pay arrears at the conclusion of staff audit. Why shouldn’t NULGE reason with him? Do they know that, by their actions, they are dancing to the tune of detractors whose agenda, from Day One, had been to have this new government truncated like the past two?

    • Jide Oguntoye

    Oye Ekiti

     

  • From The Cell Phone

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     

    Building 11 new airports in Nigeria will certainly create more jobs in the aviation industry or won’t it ? From Uwem Ekanem, Uyo

    Gbenga, the man of the year. Goodluck Jonathan has nothing to showcase neither has he anything to tell Nigerians by October 1. He can only tell Nigerians the number of bombs that have exploded since he assumed office. Corruption is the order of the day; kidnappers, hired assassins are everywhere still our President said he is the most criticised leader in the world. He has not done anything that deserves commendation. As long as he sticks to his policies that are not favouring Nigerians, we will continue to critisise him. He brought harship to Nigerians by removing fuel subsidy. He said he is fighting corruption yet the subsidy fraudster are moving about freely. The President said unpatriotic Nigerians sponsored the protesters why didn’t he sponsor the counter protest? Mr Goody, wake up now. From Hamza Ozi Momoh. Dockyard, Apapa, Lagos.

    Gbenga, you actually hit the nail on the head on Jonathan’s ineptitude in your piece of 20-09-12. You aptly captured his inefficiency on major policy and political matters. To refer to the subsidy strike in Lagos nine months after shows he has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. I only hope is not building his castle in the air thinking South west wìll vote for him by attending the book launch of one of those he teargased during the subsidy strike. Lastly your joke on what manner of dialogue? Kept reeling on the ground with laughter your pen will never run dry. Amen. From Ayo Apelogun, Ilesha.

    Jonathan creates needless problems for himself through his wrong choices, actions and utterances and turns around to blame an imaginary opposition for the consequences. He is perhaps the only Nigerian President to date who believes Nigerians are incapable of differentiating between right and wrong. Anonymous.

    Re: Of fuel and other crises. By now, one expects the Finance Minister to have paid the subsidy to the marketers who have been given clean bills and penalise the culprits. We are innocent enough to be penalised to witness fuel queue again. Enough of the inefficiencies in essential public goods — fuel, roads and power. Cassava-bread remains a child’s play because the powers at the LGs, States and Federal Government will breach the rule. Although a Muslim, I completely disagree with the plan to dialogue with the Boko Haram. Where that is done, expect militancy in other parts of Nigeria. From Lanre Oseni.

    It is very unfortunate that the President regards the masses as fools, who can not think on their own. Did we need anyone to call us out to protest when the President gave us over 125 per cent fuel price increase as a New Year gift? Not a few people beleive that the labour leaders were settled to call off the protest by the time they did. Nigerians were not ready to accept anything above N65 per litre. From Alh. Adeboye Lawal Ibadan.

    A capital of less than N500,000 is enough to set up a small satchet (pure) water factory but our President is proud to taunt us with the fact that pure water is not available in his village! in 2012? No wonder he calls himself the most criticised President in the whole world. From Adeleke Foster. Anonymous.

    The plan to build 11 more airports is a waste of money. Only one flight comes to Jos, some of the passengers are or were from Bauchi and Gombe, yet the flight is always diverted to Kano to be able to fill the airline before going to Lagos. Both Bauchi and Gombe are busy building or upgrading airports.Where are the passengers going to come from when the plane which they use still has to go to Kano to fill up since the mid 90s? On dialogue, the government is simply negotiating with the political Boko Haram. The ideological Boko Haram can never negotiate a divine command and may soon start targeting the political one for daring to negotiate God’s command. In their view, God permits them to only give ultimatums. From Buga Funj, Jos

     

    Segun Gbadegesin

     

    Re-Ideas that live. I pray to live with idea and ideals that live and also die for the idea/ideals that live. To the end unitarism and achieve true federalism, we must see that we end corruption in its entirety, irrespective of our political affiliation! Just watch the big six who are bidding for the purchase of PHCN. These are some of those who will lead the true federated states in future. Where did the fund come from, to share PHCN purchase? They can not live for such ideas/ideals of Steve Biko, Martin Luther King and others. From Lanre Oseni.

    Re:Ideas that live: What an excellent piece of writing. Actually, in the fullness of time true federalism will eventually triumph over unitarism. From Andy Ashinze. Lagos.

    I read youur piece Ideas that live and I jumped and screamed, do we have leaders who will die for ideas that live?I don’t think so, especially, our current political leaders. Anonymous.

     

    For Dare Olatunji

     

    Most of the societal ills Gani fought against are still very much with us in excess. Anything more corrupt than the men and times of today cannot be conceived. Should we not expect more illegalities where the Constitution is spurious? Gani tried his very best. Afterall, virtue is aiming at the mark, not hitting it. The man who tries hardest is thereby the most successful. From Adegoke O O, Ikhin, Edo State.

    Dare, I loved reading your article. I’m particularly impressed by the hilarity evoked therein and your artistic deployment of suspense throughout your anecdote. Well, that’s the kind of society we have, consistently inconsistent about which way to go. From Saintmatthew (PH).

    Re-remembering Gani, our Gani. Prisoner J40/4990-Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, will see the face of Allah. Allah will forgive him his sins. His family he left behind will never meet with any trouble. His children and grandchildren will continue to excel in life. Late Chief, will be seated in al-janah fir dauz, AMEEN. He was an unequalled fighter-leader, a GEM. From Lanre Oseni.

     

  • Memo to President Jonathan

    Memo to President Jonathan

    SIR: I would like to commend you for your thoughtfulness in acceding to the demands of most Nigerians in reversing the planned introduction of N5000 note and the deliberate ploy to annihilate N5, N 10 and N20 notes estimated to cost a whooping sum of N 40 billion.

    I am excited that your decision to put this redenomination and introduction of new N 5000 note on hold was premised on the popular decision and wishes of Nigerians. Sir, in line with this spirit of benevolence, I wish to appeal to you to replicate this kindheartedness also by completely reversing the increase in Premium Motor Spirit from N 97 to N65.It is not too much a surprise independence anniversary gift to your compatriots come October 1.

    Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the SURE-P proceeds you promised. If you could not realise N1.3 trillion naira targeted, at least the international oil price has kept steady above the $100 per barrel mark – way above the budget benchmark price. You can impact our lives so much with that.

    Do you know that fuel queues have returned to our cities? You can put your detractors to shame once and for all by building more refineries and ensuring purposeful overhaul of the old ones. If you had thought of this immediately you took oath of office, on May 29, 2011, today the challenges of local refining of crude would have been a thing of the past. It would have been another good reason to roll out the drums and celebrate the breakthrough this Independence Day.

    You can start now.

    Boko Haram sect continues defiantly to ravage the North East/West and dangerously threatening the entire nation. How long would you allow this endemic blood-letting brute thrive to the detriment of our existence? Relying wholly on Ihejirika’s tactics could not guarantee the anticipated result. It will not and has not yielded better fruit anywhere else in the world. Change tactics.

    Thank you for honouring the Paralympians who made Nigeria proud and proved to the world that there is ability in disability. And Muhammad Tahir Zakari (MFR) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for his exceptional honesty in returning the sum of N6 million wrongly paid into his account. A good number of people would have zoomed off with the sum. But he followed the dictates of his conscience and chose the path of righteousness. Would it not have been better to seek for more Zakaris and the Paralympians and confer on them with National Honours instead of those you once accused as sponsors and members of Boko Haram?

    The licence of Dana Air has been restored less than three months after their flights crashed at Iju Ishaga in Lagos. As I put pen to paper, some families are yet to identify and recover the bodies of the victims. Kindly direct the aviation minister to take another look into the clean bill of health granted to Dana Air especially when the mandatory compensations have not been paid and inquest into the immediate and remote causes of the crash not concluded.

    Some national dailies have been speculating about the whereabouts and health condition of Her Excellency. Do not misconstrue the interest of the media for it is those we love, we ask after. It is our hope that as we celebrate 52 years of nationhood, we shall see her standing by your side as you wave school children and others march past you at the Eagle Square.

    Accept the assurances of my best regards and happy 52nd Independence Anniversary in advance.

     

    •Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru Zaria

     

  • Is government winning the war on terror?

    Is government winning the war on terror?

    SIR: The Joint Task Force on Wednesday claimed it captured the operational base of the Boko Haram in Kano. The JTF also killed one of the influential members of the sect suspected to be its spokesperson with the name Abu Qaqa. Of course, these are remarkable achievements and deserve commendation.

    Although, there cannot be clean victory in the war against terrorism but the government can mitigate if there is consistency in counterterrorism policy with long term strategy that is dynamic in approach. The recent attack against the sect’s operational base will go a long way in reducing the terrorists’ activities in the northern part of Nigeria. There is no doubt in the fact that the JTF assault on the sect’s active base will weaken their organizational capacity to launch future attacks on innocent citizens.

    The JTF should continue and ensure they locate and destroy all Boko Haram’s operational and command centers in Nigeria. The government should also locate their sponsors and active sympathizers for arrest and prosecution under the new anti-terrorism law. The judiciary must rise up to the occasion by complimenting the effort of the security agencies.It is disheartening to see how those who have been arrested and charged to court with credible evidences have been released from time to time without punishments commensurate to their deed.

    Since his appointment as the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rted) has consolidated on the existing “carrot and stick” strategy with much emphasis on diplomacy, intelligence gathering and quality intelligence analysis for operational tactics. The product of this approach gives timely interventions that prompted the arrest of the influential cadres and enable the JTF to locate the Boko Haram’s operational centre in Kano. The ability of the NSA to coordinate the security agencies thus reducing the traditional rivalry between them is a major milestone achievement.

    The government must try to consolidate on this gain by reducing all those things that breed terrorism in the society. While the military, law enforcement in collaboration with the intelligence community are doing their best to clear the mess they never created, the policy makers should understand that the only way out to win the war is to reduce poverty, create employment opportunities for young people, reform the Nigerian justice system and deepen the countries democratic values.

    Finally, a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy must be centered on four goals: First, stop terrorists from committing acts of violence by capturing them, disrupting their cells, or if necessary, killing them. Second, keep the most dangerous weapons out of terrorists’ hands. Third, recognising that it is impossible to prevent all attacks. Fourth, prevent radicalisation by helping to deal with grievances that are spawning terrorists.

    The government cannot achieve all these with the only use of force but through a comprehensive approach deeply rooted in good governance.

     

    • Oludare Ogunlana

    abovejordan@yahoo.com

  • Senator Mark takes umbrage

    Senator Mark takes umbrage

    Responding to a newspaper report on the appalling state of the multi-billion naira National Stadium, Abuja, President of the Senate, David Mark, suggested last week that heads ought to have rolled if Nigerians had not become accustomed to mediocrity in everything. But heads wouldn’t roll, he regretted, in spite of the fact that “the National Stadium, Abuja, our supposed symbol of sporting excellence, was recently discovered to be decrepit, overtaken by weeds and reptiles.” Pointing to the abandonment of such a costly edifice, Mark declared that what worried him the most was that “our psyche is beginning to accept this malady as normal.” Then he summed it up: “Ordinarily, such an appalling state of affairs ought to have been followed by voluntary resignations or mass purges. Nobody has resigned, and nobody has been fired. Distinguished colleagues, there is no doubt that a drastic overhaul of our sports administration is long overdue.”

    The most remarkable thing about Mark’s bewilderment is his statement that our psyche has begun to assume that neglect and slothfulness were normal. It is understandable why the senate president took umbrage so dramatically. No one would see photographs of the neglected stadium and not feel scandalised. He was probably not exaggerating when he wondered why no one had been sacked over the matter, and why the situation had lasted as long as it did. He was also right to link the debacles in sporting competitions to uncommitted sports administrators, poor maintenance of facilities, mismanagement and corruption. He was indeed right to view recent failures in international sporting competitions, particularly the Olympics, as a reflection of our domestic troubles and inadequacies.

    But he was wrong to assert that our psyche was “beginning to accept the malady as normal.” Our psyche wasn’t just beginning to accept the malady as normal because of the decay and neglect of the stadium in Abuja. Maladies have been accepted as normal in Nigeria for a very long time, perhaps as long as the country’s independence. He was also wrong to have inferred the National Stadium in Abuja to be our only symbol of sporting excellence. Where would he place the National Stadium at Surulere in Lagos, which also suffers dire neglect? Where would he place the National Arts Theatre at Iganmu also in Lagos, which maintenance is done in fits and starts? What of the Nigerian Railways, Nigeria Airways, Nigerian National Shipping Lines, etc. all of which collapsed under the weight of neglect and corruption? Have we maintained the airports, though another 11 are to be built with Chinese loans simply so that we can have at least one airport to match the best in Europe, according to the Aviation Minister? What of the various expressways and grain silos? Malady, any type of malady, has long been accepted as normal in these climes.

    If Mark and his fellow legislators need real excuse to take umbrage, perhaps they should recruit an enterprising newshound to help them prepare a long list of projects long since abandoned by federal and state governments, complete with photographs. Thereafter, they should set aside a day of mourning and prepare to let the dams break. If the stadium in Abuja is too bushy for them to indulge their wailing, the country should be persuaded to build them a wailing wall, and lend them the dignified presence of the president and governors and other officials who have all contributed to turning the country into a barren landscape of abandoned and “decrepit” projects.