The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • Herdsmen barbarism

    No civilised society should allow the hoodlums to get away with the New Year murders in Benue State

    It was New Year and new bloodshed for scores of families from the Middle Belt state of Benue. It is a new chapter in the ongoing macabre narrative of the malicious bloodbath between the herdsmen in the north and the farmers.

    The governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, broke down in tears when he visited the morgue of the Benue State University and saw the piles of the dead. As at last count, at least 30 persons passed away after the onslaught of the herdsmen on two local government areas, namely, Logo and Guma. The dead included four livestock guards. It happened in the night when the residents were asleep. The attack did not discriminate regarding gender or generation, since children and parents, men and women perished.

    Other than the dead, many more were injured, and investigations are still on as to the extent of devastation that also left homes and other properties destroyed. This is the sort of barbarism associated with banana republics, an ambience without the rule of law or even respect for minimal decency.

    The Federal Government, especially the presidency, has condemned it. That is routine. In a country where the odium generated by the Fulani herdsmen and the farmers has been a nightmarish constant, the New Year killings reflect a failure of leadership, particularly as regards the acuity of its security personnel in marshalling its intelligence resources to avert disasters like that.

    This accounts for the collapse of the streets of Makurdi into protests of a people at once enraged and sad, hoisting placards that expressed their disdain not only for the governor and the president, but also for the party in power. So dangerously chaotic were the eruptions of the street rage that Governor Ortom had to be guided out of harm’s way by security forces.

    Some analysts anticipated sporadic attacks in the wake of the enactment of the Anti-grazing law by the state government. The concept of the law contrasts with the path of its neighbour, Plateau State. Benue State launched its programme in the context of outcries across the country, especially in the middle belt and south, branding the herdsmen as a murderous menace. The debate called for the institution of ranching, which will stop any potential clashes between farmers and herdsmen.

    With the Benue State law, the herdsmen were forbidden to track their cattle through the state. That meant, in the lights of the Fulani herdsmen, a disenfranchisement. Some of them left town and plotted their return with bloody consequences. That was the result: many dead and a deep bitterness between people in the same country.

    The umbrella body of the Fulani herdsmen known as Miyetti Allah had first resisted the concept of ranching. But with increasing counterpoints, it has accepted it provisionally. For instance, the anti-grazing law in Plateau State is accompanied by a clear programme of designated ranching acres in the state. This means that the state has put in place a system of understanding between the herdsmen and the farmers, and the stages of progress in its execution.

    The Benue anti-grazing law did not accommodate a programme that consisted of how the herdsmen could operate in ranches. Such a programme should involve the Federal Government and a working budget. As in Plateau State, it should also involve a platform of dialogue that will make the Fulani herdsmen stakeholders of the ranching policy.

    That this programme was not put in place methodically was seen as alienation by the herdsmen and inflamed them to the New Year barbarism.

    But, when a people have objections to a law in a democracy, the best approach is to engage it in the combustion of ideas rather than the spasm of bloodshed.

    The imperfection of a law is no licence to caveman cruelty as the herdsmen exhibited. The families now mourning the loss of their loved ones may not have anything to do with cattle rustling, which is an act of thieving no civilised society should condone. Yet, how can stealing a cow be repaid in blood?

    That is why we are not satisfied with the Federal Government’s handling of the rage of attacks in parts of the country. No part of the country has been spared these dark episodes. Late last year, we witnessed a round of tragedy in Adamawa State where two communities fell to the murderous attacks of the same nature in Benue State. The communities were Lawaru and Dong in Demsa Local Government Area. In the course of last year, neither north nor south escaped such theatres of mayhem, including states like Edo and Delta.

    The culprits should be hounded and brought to face the severity of the law. Such dark impunity should not be allowed to go unpunished in this country. Nigerians should be made to know when and how the law takes its course on these dedicated outlaws.

     

  • Why writers like me write on governance and reform

    From the moment I commenced my work as a public servant in the late 1980s, it already dawned on me the kind of challenge that will confront my intellectual temperament. I see myself as a writer, a commentator and an administrator, and therefore knew from the very beginning thatI could not be the typical civil servant who must only be seen but never heard; someone who works from behind the scene and holds his or her critical political and development opinions in check, but only within the ambit that public service rules permit. This picture of the public servant is meant to service one of the famous dichotomies of public administration, the politics-administration distinction. This dichotomy differentiates the politician’s function from that of the administrator. In other words, while it is up to the politicians to outline policies and programmes that define what governments do, it is the duty and responsibility of the public servants to only advise about the policies, and eventually implement them.

    But I was coming to the public service from a lifetime aspiration to become a university scholar with the intellectual capacity to dissect realities for understanding. I was coming from a background of terrible politicalexperience which already opened up series of critical questions about Nigeria itself and its governance dynamics. How then could I be right in the middle of the policy architecture of governance, and not be heard but only seen? In what ways then would I be able to facilitate the optimal functioning of the policy architecture if I could not offer critical interrogation of its flaws and fault lines? How could I as an expert-insider not be able to apply the insider perspective to the reform of an institution that is meant to deliver the gains of democracy to Nigerians?

    All these were not questions I formed antecedent to my entry into the public service. They were questions that were forced into my consciousness as I gradually confronted the dysfunction of the institutional dynamics within which the Nigerian public service system operates. But the question of why I write about reform now has an added poignancy now because of two fundamental feedbacksfrom my readers and those around me accentuated by comments of a number of revered elder statesmen lately. The first set of “commentators” wonder why I keep writing when it seems no one really appreciate the deep insights that my advocacy and public education bring to the governance equation in Nigeria. “If those who constitute the primary target audience which could fruitfully engage with the ideas and recommendations you push are more concerned with maintaining and sustaining their power base through networks of patronage, why take the enormous trouble to push reform ideas?” This is a valid response, more so when those in government seem not to care evidently, about fresh and innovative ideas and strategies that could radically challenge orthodox practice. The other group of “commentators” has actually asked when I would roll out my political ambition! It would seem to these sincere readers that the whole essence of engaging the public at this fundamental level of reform thinking is to facilitate political support.

    I am definitely not a politician.And I do not write because of some instrumental reason, like securing a political base from which to launch a future political aspiration. However, I cannot run away from the necessity of getting my expert knowledge into the right heads and those that matter. Since it is public education and advocacy on matters that concern Nigerians themselves, other discerning readers have challenged me on the technical level of the information I pass to the public. The challenge therefore is: If there is a crucial problem of a lack of a critical reading public, what do I stand to benefit if my writings fail to get across to the leadership and the people? And, it has been suggested from various corners, why don’t you deploy other approaches that leverage development and strategic communication, for example?

    These are all critical issues that go to the very heart of why anyone writes and especially why anyone will want to write in a place like Nigeria. NgugiwaThiong’o, the committed anticolonial Kenyan writer, gives us a sense of what is involved in this hazardous endeavour: “Write and risk damnation. Avoid damnation and cease to be a writer. That is the lot of the writer in a neo-colonial state.” Nigeria is not only a difficult place from which to write, it is even more difficult to write about transforming Nigeria. The Nigerian condition is defined by a serious lack of institutional framework that could be used to make development serve Nigerians. As it stands now, Nigeria is not working, and this is sufficient disincentive for anyone with any modicum of patriotic sentiment.

    I consider myself a patriot. But patriotism is a serious matter. I remember the agony I went through on first encountering the dysfunction of the Nigerian bureaucracy. The agony became compounded with the series of commentaries and anxieties expressed by those who fear that the civil service is not a place to commence a good career. In 2003, a New Zealand public service expertand senior colleague observing me in the forefront of reform management asked me to prepare for war! According to him, thinking one might be a change agent or reformer in a conservative bureaucracy, especially the one in a third world state like Nigeria must be tough luck. It did not take me too long to realize how apt he was. Bureaucratic politics is a significant part of the condition that has crippled the institutional stability and dynamics that democracy requires. It eventually dawned on me that such dysfunctionality hides the key to Nigeria’s greatness. And this is not only the reason I eventually decided to stay on, but also to commence writing for public educationwhen I became a permanent secretary, through a rigorous process of public education and advocacy about reform and its complexity and benefits.

    I took my inspiration to write, despite the enormous difficulty involved in writing as a bureaucrat in Nigeria, from three significant sources—Plato’s Republic, Thomas Moore’s Utopia and Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.” These three sources introduced me to the urgent need to undermine the status quo and reconstruct its institutional foundations in order to achieve a difference, of favourable circumstances, that could serve good governance and development. These three writers were united in their concern with social change and empowerment, both politically and spiritually. I encountered Plato first, and as a secondary school student with a curious mind always searching for answers. Reading the Republic gave me my first sense of the urgency of reform, and the troubles involved in challenging the status quo. When I eventually got round to reading Martin Luther, I understood immediately what role leadership plays in directing and leading people either right and wrong; and what could be gained in fighting for institutional reform. Luther was a reformer, par excellence, and he suffered for it. Yet, he did not back down. His experience introduced me to the strong passion that stands behind the knowledge of reform. Thomas Moore defines for me the boundary of what is possible if one is ready to push reform to its limit.

    However, my favourite of these three is Plato. And this is simply because his reform programme, outlined in the Republic, combinedthe radical institutional challenge of Martin Luther and the fresh breath of newness contained in Moore’s Utopia into a revolutionary reinvention of the state into a projection of what human will and institutional balance can transform the government into. Plato began from the declining situation of ancient Athens, and then moved on from there into what Athens could be transformed into. Ancient Athens and contemporary Nigeria are certainly and distinctively different. But they share significant institutional failure in the sense that the government was already disconnected from the aspirations of the citizens; and democracy was no longer empowering. It is worse for Nigeria because democracy needed to work in order to facilitate the transformation of the lives of Nigerians. And how best can democracy become optimal outside of the institutions that are its nuts and bolts? This is the very juncture at which my public service credentials reinforce my philosophical temperament.

    Writing must always serve a purpose, as far as I am concerned. And the purpose in my own case has to do with Nigeria’s complicated struggles with national integration, national development and democratic governance. For more than twenty five years, I have attempted to weave a reform philosophy around these three frameworks in a way that could serve the purpose of good governance. I have written essays andjournal articles; I have given lectures and talks; I have travelled across Africa and outside of it; I have written monographs and books. But in the final analysis, my greatest challenge has come from my advocacy and public education engagements.How best to communicate the challenge of institutional reform in Nigeria? How do I communicate with the public and even with those few who have been engaging my public commentaries on the complexities of public service reform in Nigeria? If development is about the Nigerian people, then a large chunk of them need to be made aware of the stakes involved in development, and the limiting factors.

    Nigerians, in order words, need to understand the dynamics of institutional reform, so that they can adequately participate in democratic governance.

    When I began my public administration reform campaign particularly, I had a lot to fall back on in terms of intellectual and practical understanding of public administration, first from Adebayo Adedeji,LadipoAdamolekun, A. D. Yahaya, M. J. Balogun, Alex Gboyega, and Humphrey Nwosuto Dele Olowu, Victor Ayeni. I thoroughly immersed myself in Simeon Adebo’sThe Unforgettable Years that detailed his revolution of the Western Region Civil Service. I also ardently followed the career trajectory of Chief Jerome Udoji, Ali Akilu, SuleKatagum and those of the super-permanent secretaries – the Ayidas, Asiodus, Ebong, et al, as well as those in the forefront of policy work, the Okigbos, Aboyades, Claude Ake, Mabogunje, Elaigwu, etc. What is obvious to me, in my reform campaign, is that there is so much passion to reform the public service as the most germane institution of democracy in Nigeria. This alone is obvious from the historical analysis of administrative reform in Nigeria. At the administrative, technocratic and political levels, successive Nigerian governments, from independence till the dawn of the democratic dispensation in 1999 have attempted to transform the Nigerian public service into a world class institution delivering democratic services to Nigerians. However, passion is not enough to innovate and transform institutions.

    The core of the problem is two-fold. On the one hand, the passion displayed by governments is undermined by a significant lack of reform knowledge that displays a glaring disconnection between what we need to do and how to carry it through the complex landmines, especially of reform execution. On the other hand, reform thinking is often carried out outside the purview of those for whom it is meant. When democratic governance is eventually optimized, is it not for the empowerment of Nigerians? Why then must they not be actively involved in the transformation of the institutions that will serve them? This is why making the public service technologically savvy constitutes one of the major plank of the reformdynamics. For reform to succeed there is the need to achieve reform ownership in a way that will enable both the government and the governed to buy in into the reform process in all its complexities. This is the very core of the reason why I have dedicated myself to public education and sensitization about the public service and why it must work.

    I have been retired now for close to two years. While I may have lost my high ground as an expert-insider, I have equally gained perspective as an expert-outsider striving to facilitate reform through the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP). This is a think tank that was founded to raise the bar of reflection on how government can work better through research and executive education.While I speak through my public commentaries to varieties of Nigerians, ISGPP speaks institutionally to the core of the experts and government officials who need to know what reform involves and how it can be facilitated through the merging of passion and knowledge deployed to the execution of policies.

     

    • Tunji Olaopa,

    Executive Vice Chairman

    Ibadan School of Government and Public

    Policy (ISGPP)

    Ibadan

    tolaopa2003@gmail.com

    tolaopa@isgpp.com.ng

  • Matters of the Hearts

    Space constraints in advertently affected the Ooni story in part 3 but here it is now along with a few others to conclude this series:

    The OONI OF IFE-Oba EnitanOgunwusi

    My brother Roy was at Ile-Ife along with his cousins to see the Ooni over some business prospects there.

    Oh, you met the Ooni of Ife, what’s he like, I asked my brother.

    He’s a very nice guy!

    Now my brother is a very nice guy himself, so I gave the Ooni a mental check mark.

    Begging the question – (so) what’s the problem on the home front?

    The Ooni got married as a single father but as soon as he was crowned, the end of that marriage was announced. He immediately married another, also a divorcee. Not one year later that too crashed in 2017; the wife relocating to America. Social media was awash with that story, all September.

    Well, one thing I have noticed is that oftentimes it is the nice, cool great guys who fall into the hands of awful women. The converse is also true, good women get hooked up with mean, vicious men. It is sad.

    Soul E & Queen Ure

    Soul E was arguably the most on-point singing sensation on the Island. His one hit, a self-titled debut stood him apart on the path to a great musical career.

    Then it happened-he got bitten by the love bug! Soul E (real name Emmanuel Okose), a pastor’s son had long told his father that by his own self-assessment, he would end up marrying an older woman.

    Then he fell for UreOkezie, 15years his senior. Their romance was hot, red hot and sizzling. They were the talk of the town couple.

    Soul E blamed the media squarely for his breakup with Ure. Everyone was horrified. 3years later he married another banker, Petula – he has vowed to keep the media out of his marriage this time. He is quite active on social media, commenting frequently on national issues. But I can’t help asking – how about the music?!

    Queen Ure –she left her job in the bank to follow her passion for music! Sadly, that bombed, but the business-savvy lady has a hair-making company.

    And then she ended the year 2017 with…a NEW HUSBAND, 8 years after Soul E!

    The media wrote that Urewed Pastor Silas Newman Briyork, in her second marriage. But I can tell you that’snot quite correct. This is her third just that the second only got up to the traditional marriage. I was physically present at Ure’s first marriage, in Chris Okotie’s church, to a good Christian friend of mine. Ure practically walked out on the marriage without even letting her husband know- he literally read of it in the tabloids. That marriage breakup was the first in his whole extended family. Devastated by it all, the brokenhearted guy relocated abroad and has remained there ever since.

    PSquare: Peter & Paul Okoye… and Anita & Lola Omotayo. The news on Psquare is always about the split but here you will get to see the more positive side of the multiple award-winning duo. It’s all about their coupling.

    Twins Peter and Paul Okoye are model husbands and family men and in the music industry, superstar males devoted to family are rare. The Okoye twins truly stand out.

    I remember back then, every social outing I went to, I always saw Paul, Peter and… Lola Omotayo,everywhere together.

    Like Paul’s wife Anita says, they 2 started together when she was 18 and have been inseparable even after marriage and kids. I concur- based on the fact that I never saw Paul with ANYONE inLagos other than his brother and girlfriend; all throughAnita’s school days in Abuja.

    Paul has said that Anita is his first love. They dated for 11years before marrying in2014.

    About Peter, I share MunachiAbi’s annoyance over their romance rumor. Beauty queen, rapper and record label owner Muna was invited by Psquare to star in their Ifunanyavideo. The rumor mill caught fire about: Muna with Peter.

    Muna says she’s known Lola for years and knows how much Peter loves Lola; that she had nothing and would never do anything with Peter.Says Muna on the rumour: Its heartbreaking, very frustrating. I believe her.

    Peter and Lola’s love was strong all through their storms till they married. In the face of opposition, at 29 Peter got 35 year old Lola pregnant: they weathered the stiff opposition to their relationship till they finally got married in 2013.

    But while Anita says Paul’s humility was an attraction, I can tell you Peter, that I met is proud and arrogant. For now though, it is such a pity that the wives are being fingered in the breakup saga.

    Next week- the essential Princess Filesresumes, firing on all cylinders!

    • 07055547031 WhatsApp/sms

  • Are you a learner?

    To whom much is given much will be required, it goes without saying that to whom little is given little will be required. The question is how much have you been given? Can you really say you have been given little? In 2017 we were all given 365 days, 52 weeks and 8,760 hours. No doubt life gives, time gives, friends and enemies give(Yes! enemies give with bad intentions which work together for the good of the upright), circumstances give, challenges give, day gives, night gives…and the list goes on. Everything in life gives but how much can you account for? Hmm..food for thought. On this note I say happy new year to you! I hope you’ve had a great start to the new year. I appreciate your comments and feedback, they are really encouraging. We all need encouragement especially to keep up a good work. I acknowledge all the happy new year messages, thank you for all the prayers. I would advise that in addition to sending new year goodwill messages please endeavour to treat people well. Your actions speak louder than words or text messages! I’m beginning 2018 relaxed and ready to maximise all opportunities. One thing is certain opportunities abound in the midst of the seemingly challenging times. Don’t sink into hopelessness rather look up and see the possibilities loaded in the new dawn of 2018. I can see clearly now that the coast is clear for greater exploits. What can you see?

    A man once complained to me about his thirteen year old daughter who squandered a sum of three hundred thousand naira (N300,000) in less than two weeks. My mouth was agape when he angrily voiced out his grievance. All I asked him was; Sir, but what do you expect a thirteen year old to do with three hundred thousand naira? The man obviously understood the direction of the conversation, so he held his peace. Honestly, I put the blame on him, the father! Why place such huge financial responsibility on a pampered teenager? Also I remember a nineteen year old girl who won twenty six million naira from Naira bet. Suddenly she became an ATM that everybody comes to withdraw from without depositing, in less than two months she was flat broke and all her debtors broke into a run. My heart bled when she told me her story. For a few minutes I was numb and in deep thoughts wondering what I could tell her. Personally, I have observed the dearth of gracious words in our society, most people are just regurgitating words and I do not want to be in such category. All I told her was ‘Pain teaches obedience…learn from your mistakes and start building a new solid foundation’ Today she is an intern in an IT company.

    I would like you to see the new year as a blank page that has been given to you by God, the giver of life. The calendar gives us a mental feeling of a new beginning however what will differentiate 2017 from 2018 are your actions. The page of 2018 is new and as a student of life you are required to write on it. Consider that everything you do becomes a letter on the page. Be careful of what you are writing because someday all the pages will be bound together to make a storybook. I hope yours will be a good storybook for all to read and be inspired. More importantly people will be blessed through the challenges you overcame. I would advise you own your page too. In other words take charge of your days. Don’t allow the day to slide away without learning something concrete that can change you for the better. Remember there is no learning in the grave. Don’t be afraid to be a learner, this year make up your mind to learn habits that will improve the quality of your life. Also you need to unlearn the rigid ones that keep you stagnated. I have observed that most people will rather settle for certainty than explore the uncertain. Most people will rather settle for a bicycle than explore a motorcycle…or power bike, most people will rather settle for a car than explore an helicopter or airplane…what I’m saying is that raise the stakes! Aim higher… technology is evolving and whatever you are doing now can be done in a better way, don’t be afraid to try something new particularly one that can enhance your skills and career or even family life.

    My heart cry today is that more people will learn to seek fresh insights through study instead of just regurgitating other people‘s words. That way, we will have more gracious words that will liven the souls and spirits of men. I truly hope you have a year of greater exploits.

  • Buhari’s largesse, a boost for the people’s morale

    Buhari’s largesse, a boost for the people’s morale

    Around the Christmas time, President Mohammed Buhari ordered the release of names of newly appointed chairmen and members of government boards, corporations, et al but the release immediately drew flaks for government because it contained names of dead people.

    What could have been responsible for this, many asked. The opposition saw this error as an opportunity to mess up the ruling party as inept; while a reason was adduced by the party that the list released was one drawn up in 2015.

    To me, the government explanation is insufficient to ward up a clear charge of tardiness on its part. I go further to say that that explanation was clearly unacceptable in part, because some of the names in the list put the lie to the fact that the list was prepared in 2015. If the list was prepared then and some of the appointees died before the list was made public, some of the names in the list couldn’t have been put in in 2015 because they were serving in some statutory agencies and boards then and their tenures had not run out.

    What is implied here is that some of the names released must have been newly inserted, which should also have given those Buhari assigned to prepare the list, the opportunity to know the dead ones in the old list and yank them off, without bringing the sad memories of the dead back to their families, as reported, and also without giving the much-maligned Buhari regime yet a bad image!

    The least that can be said on that is that a Federal Government worthy of the name should get more organised and coordinated in future.

    That said, Buhari, by the timing of that list, appears to have suggested that he will be more positive this year than in the previous two years of his administration.

    How do I mean? The last two years had witnessed excuses being given at every turn for government’s failings and inactions, which I found nauseating.

    New helmsmen of government in America will, at their inauguration, point at the failings of previous governments and why the country was where it was at that point in time but they never wasted time in moving on, to redress faults so identified.

    They must have bought into the thinking of Robert Kiyosaki who once said: “Complaining about your current situation in life is worthless. Have a spine and do something about it instead”.

    President Buhari, with the release of the list must have also bought into this thinking, and should be commended for it. Across the land, there is jubilation that people have been recognised and given a part to play in the running of government. One state, I think Ekiti, according to a newspaper advert, said the state had never had it so good, in terms of federal appointments while in some other states, cymbals and flutes are being rolled out to celebrate some appointments whose sitting allowances (I’m told no salaries may be paid) will not be sufficient to sustain the lifestyles the recipients think will come with their new positions.

    But the effect is not lost on the psyche of our people. I suspect newspaper advert revenue will be upped in the days and weeks ahead as more appointments will be released and congratulatory messages splashed on the pages of newspapers for their own, who have just been invited to get busy and be part of government at the centre.

     

    Tinubu’s loss, Tinubu’s gain…

    A few weeks ago, we mourned with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the loss of his son who was snatched by the icy hands of death.
    You could touch the man’s pain with your hands, by the statement he authored after his young son’s transition to eternity. And, as is usually said when one suffers such tragedy, only God consoles the most.
    The Supreme Being has proved Himself the greatest Comforter, as he has visited the home of the Tinubus again; but this time, delivering to them a bundle of joy. Sade, Jabagan’s first daughter and the head of all market men and women in Lagos State, has been delivered of a baby boy after a long wait for the fruit of the womb.
    Congrats to Mother Sade, the Iyaloja-General, and her husband, Hon. Ojo; as well as the Asiwaju himself. Our God is good – all the time!

  • Sunset at noon: Tribute to the late Olomu of Omu-Aran

    A pall of darkness descended on the ancient city of Omu-Aran, headquarters of Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State on December 1, 2017 when the news of the demise of its 29th  monarch, Oba Charles Oladele Akande Ibitoye, Adogbajale bi Ileke II, the Olomu of Omu-Aran, crept into its news wave.

    So terrifying was the news which, was discussed in hushed tones until it was officially broken on December 3, 2017 by the Olomu-in-Council.

    The town is yet to recover from the shock of the sudden exit of the monarch whose 24-year reign, brought phenomenal development to it.

    Born on October 28, 1953 to the Ijawusi Ruling House of Ikoja compound, Olomu Ibitoye ascended the thrown of his forefathers on February 19, 1993 after the demise of Oba Suleiman Akande Durotoye, Abegunde II, who reigned from 1945 to January 6, 1993.

    The late Oba Ibitoye attended SIM/ECWA Primary School (Agamo), Omu-Aran from 1960 – 1967; Offa Grammar School (1968 – 1972) and School of Basic Studies, Kwara State College of Technology (1973 -1975).

    Coming into office at a relatively young age of 39, Oba Ibitoye brought his high education (B.Sc. Business Administration, UNILAG, 1979) and his wealth of experience as a senior civil servant in the Kwara State Internal Revenue Directorate to bear on his royal responsibilities.

    His experience as a former Secretary-General of the Omu-Aran Development Association (ODA) from 1985/86 and other virtues made his adjustment to his royal duties seamless.

    Oba Ibitoye set necessary machinery in motion to consolidate the gains of his predecessors in all sectors of community development.

    Under his royal watch, Omu-Aran grew in leaps and bounds educationally, politically and socio-economically.

    From its single boarding Native Authority Primary School (Makaranta) which was established by colonial-era man J.D. Clarke in 1931, the town now boasts of more than 20 private and public colleges (four of which were founded by the community) and the world-rated Landmark University founded by iconic cleric Bishop David Oyedepo.

    There is also the Moses Orimolade University, owned by the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, under construction in the town.

    With his high network, Olomu Ibitoye attracted many federal institutions and agencies to the town. They included a Federal Government Girls College, Nigerian Prison Service Training School, Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority Area Office; Immigration Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Civil Defence Corps centres.

    At an advanced stage of construction in the town also is a half-a-billion Naira dam project of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources designed to boost potable water supply, irrigation and fish farming among the teaming population.

    In the field of commerce, Omu-Aran is ranked third in Kwara State, coming only after state capital Ilorin and Offa. Indeed nothing underscores its cosmopolitan status more than the daily influx of non-indigenes in the town. This has brought about huge investments in real estate, quarries, commercial farming, livestock/poultry farms, feeds and other agro-allied and manufacturing industries.

    This has made the town the commercial hub of the southern part of the state and “treasure island” for many towns and villages in neighbouring Ekiti and Osun states. With an array of international-standard hotels, Omu-Aran now serves as a hospitality and tourism destination for many local and foreign travellers and tourists.

    Nestled in a girdle of hills in the Southern Senatorial District of the state, Omu-Aran has a population of 148,610 (2006 census) on a land area of 73.7 square kilometers.

    A bridge-builder in the state’s traditional circle, Olomu Ibitoye abhorred religious acrimony, hence the peaceful co-existence of people of different faiths in his domain. It is to his eternal credit that Omu-Aran, during his reign, recorded no history of religious crisis despite a preponderance of divergent religious organizations and institutions.

    On inter-communal relationship, he ensured total harmony between Omu-Aran and all its neighbouring towns and villages.

    An embodiment of visionary leadership, the late Olomu also deployed his administrative dexterity by galvanizing his community into modernity through numerous self-help initiatives – Omu-Aran Day and Odun Omu-Aran fund-raising series since the late 90s.

    Among the gains of the initiatives were the rehabilitation and equipment of the towns’ four colleges, construction of a ring road to open up new lay-outs, the new City Hall complex and three additional police posts to enhance security.

    The legendary achievements of Olomu Ibitoye will eternally engrave his name in Gold in the annals of history of Omu-Aran and Igbominaland. Unequivocally, I say that he left Omu-Aran better than he met it. His footprints will remain indelible on the sands of time.

    I commiserate with the State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the State Traditional Council, the Igbomina/Ekiti Traditional Council, Olomu-in-Council and all sons and daughters of Omu-Aran, home and in the diaspora, on this great loss of a dynamic and progressive Oba.

    It is one death too many, coming on the heels of the passing of two of the three ward heads of Omu-Aran — the Eesa and Odofin Aran, Prof. Oyin Abogunrin and Chief Amos Bamigboye respectively.

    After darkness comes a glorious dawn. Omu-Aran will gloriously overcome this debilitating blows, wax stronger and soar higher. This is a task and a collective resolve.

    Adieu Oba Oladele Ibitoye, Adogbajale bi Ileke II. Good night.

  • LNG Act vs NNDC Act: How Nass leadership saved the day

    LNG Act vs NNDC Act: How Nass leadership saved the day

    Last month, between the Senate and the House of Representatives, though many Nigerians are not aware, a development occurred which created scare among the international oil and gas companies, particularly subscribers to the LNG project.

    Sometimes last June, Senators from the oil producing South-south geo-political zone protested during plenary that gas producing companies operating in their region are not contributing to the funds that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) require for development efforts in the oil producing areas. They noted that, unlike oil companies, the gas producing companies are hiding under the pretense that they were not specifically mentioned in Section 14 of the NDDC Act which mandated oil producing companies to contribute three percent of their total annual budget into the coffers of the commission to evade making any contribution.

    While the Senate leadership promised to engage the gas producing companies and ensure that the grouse of their counterparts are redressed, the representatives of the oil producing communities in the House of Representatives decided to take a radical measure. They sponsored a bill to amend the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Act.

    In the amendment, they inserted a clause that the LNG company and other gas producing companies must pay not less than three percent of their annual total budget into the coffers of NNDC as their contributions to the fund. They also included that the percentage should be fixed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources as he may deem fit.

    The implication of the amendment into the LNG Act is that, unlike the situation of the oil companies as contained in the NDDC Act, the percentage of the budget of the gas companies to be contributed into the NDDC may be as high as 10 percent depending on the rate fixed in a particular year by the Minister.

    This realization rang a bell in the ears  of the gas companies. They quickly sent a delegation to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki  and Speaker Yakubu Dogara seeking their intervention. They explain that the amendment to the LNG Act has grievous operation for the smooth operation of the LNG project and other gas companies and their ability to fulfill the contractual agreement which they have with international buyers of their products as well as the targets already set on the production, sale and development of the products.

    They also added that the uncertainty created by the flexibility of the funds to be contributed into the NDDC makes budgeting and planning difficult for them, a situation not good for their business. Saraki and Dogara, at a meeting with their colleagues during a joint leadership parley of both chambers in Saraki’s house considered the plea of the gas producers. It was then agreed that the House should step down the amendment bill on the LNG Act.

    Rather, it was agreed that both chambers should adopt the NDDC amendment bill which is already before the Senate seeking the inclusion of the gas producing companies in section 14 of the original Act. The section fix the percentage of the budget due to be paid by the oil companies. Thus, the Senate bill passed on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, amends the sub-section 2 (b) of the NDDC principal Act by substituting the existing words. The new provision reads that what will be contributed is 3 percent of – (i) “the total annual budget of any oil producing company operating onshore and offshore, in the Niger Delta area” and (ii) “the total annual budget of any gas processing company operating in the Niger Delta area, excluding the cost of feed gas”.

    With the passage of the NDDC (Establishment) Act 2000 (amendment) Bill 2017, the House has therefore dropped its amendment to the LNG Act. This is a credit to the good relationship between the two chambers of the 8th National Assembly. It also underscores the pro-business and pro-people stance of the present National Assembly, as they seek to balance between national interest and the need for key players in the economy to remain afloat and happy that their investments are not jeopardized by legislations and government policies.

    More important, the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly have demonstrated their ability for prompt response to issue that affects their constituents and to always ensure that the nation and her people are not short-changed by multi-national companies operating in Nigeria.

    One therefore commend Senator Saraki, Rt. Hon. Dogara and their colleagues for rising to the occasion when necessary and for being able to carry along the people in ensuring that things go on seamlessly in the process of making necessary changes to the law, albeit in overall national interest.

     

    • Quassim is an Abuja based legislative/public policy analyst 

  • Gidado Idris: A tribute

    Even in death, he got what he wished: to be buried where he died. In getting his way, he breached a strong tradition, one that preferred particularly outstanding citizens to be buried at ancestral origins where forebears laid. This departure from tradition capped a life that was a fascinating study in tensions between undiluted commitment to the establishment, and an unrepentant pursuit of the personal. His grave in Abuja will be listed among the few graves of people from Zaria, in a city whose name was snatched by the military from the former Abuja (now Suleja), a town founded by Alhaji Gidado’s forebears from Zaria more than 200 years ago.

    For a man with intimate links with Zauzzau royalty and privilege, Alhaji Gidado was buried without the almost mandatory traditional title worn by Nigerians who lived with distinction. He had won many battles to stay without a title, deflecting unceasing pressure to wear the turban towards uncles, cousins and offspring. It was neither arrogance nor conceit: he had deep respect for traditional institutions, and the uncle that brought him up, Turaki Ali had moulded his attitude to a system that had provided the foundations for controlled change in the context of preserving the status-quo, which was the substance of northern Nigerian political framework from early colonial times to the late 1960s.

    Alhaji Gidado died without a single trace of the temptation to harvest the political terrain, another of the many traditional channels into which people of his privilege, status and experience veered, with mixed results. He was organically linked by history, shared values and experiences with members of the northern elite who provided the myth of the Kaduna Mafia, and the half dozen clusters of influence such as Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Northern Union, Jamaatu Nasril Islam etc., but the only membership register you found him on was the IBB Golf Club, Abuja, that exclusive resort it took a lot of effort to get him to join, but once he joined, it became his second skin. He kept his children and relations on a short, disciplined leash, insisting that everyone earned his stripes the hard and proper way. He was a one-wife Hausa man through his life, leaving behind a record of devotion to a woman he married from the distant community of Samaru Kataf, a pillar whose commitment to him was only surpassed by her devotion to the Islamic faith she embraced on marrying him. He was fiercely loyal to friendships and relationships, and he was possibly the only person of substance I knew who did not tolerate or encourage the unending retinue of seekers and courtiers that followed power and wealth everywhere. His incredible generosity with his personal time and resources was defined strictly by his personal perceptions over what was important: a major standard-setting gesture at his old school, Alhudahuda College, Zaria, or a hefty push in a marriage of a relation who had not expected it.

    Alhaji Gidado Idris himself would not contest being described as different. He would treat that characterization as neither a slight nor a compliment. Over four decades of public service may have reinforced a character trait to resist unwarranted visibility, but it was a trait he cultivated and jealously guarded. It allowed him the luxury to choose his manner of engagement, and at his most comfortable moments, you saw a man endowed with a towering intellect and a gifted sense of humour. He had strong opinions about politics and society. His life had spanned a huge chunk of the nation’s history, and bits of it combined to make him a walking history. His incredible recollection of events was helped by his being either a small, yet intimate part, or a major player in them. In fact he was never entirely outside public service, which explained why he would insist on joining dotted lines between events and phenomena that occurred 40 years apart. He was not a witness to history. He was every inch a part of the history of a nation that saw the brightest glimpses of greatness, even when it plunges into the deepest valleys of despair and infamy on occasions.

    His rise from a humble clerk to the pinnacle of Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) was fuelled by a combination of hard work, an uncanny ability to learn quickly and adapt, and some luck at working under superiors who tolerated competence from officers that defied conventions. Early in his career, he learnt the imperatives of meeting challenges and difficulties when he and a handful of clerical and administrative officers had to retrieve files from outside the bedroom doors of the Sardauna in the very early hours of the morning, or pay the price with the telling displeasure of the Premier if he finds them there at 5.30 am. The Sardauna was a hardworking task-master, yet tolerant and compassionate towards youth and impetuousness. The young Gidado’s awe at the massive powers of political leaders was tempered by privileged proximity to their weaknesses, humanness and the frailty of their hold on power. He had tremendous respect for leadership, but had many scars to show for his insistence that rules are capable of being enforced even at the highest levels. He would remove shoes and kneel while engaging presidents and Heads of State, but in the same position he would successfully argue for an option different from that of the leader. He earned respect by being humble, and at trying moments, his ability to remain calm, his experience at managing acute challenges and his disciplined practice of letting the leadership claim the credit for his contributions made him a lot less of  a threat, and a lot more as an asset.

    Alhaji Gidado was no superman. His life was a series of skirmishes around propriety and rules. He won some and lost many. He offended superior powers when he proved stubborn in defence of what was right, and he paid the price with unpopular or punishment postings. Sometimes his seeming effrontery offended powers, such as when he provoked the anger of the late Abacha two days to the latter’s death by asking him to clarify if the decree on his self-succession should state whether he will continue as a civilian or military head of state. Such was the anger of Abacha at the question, that the late SGF left in such a hurry without his shoes, and on getting home, instructed his wife to pack up as he was sure he had lost his job. His pivotal role in the transition from Abacha to Abdulsalami will be registered as the triumph of maturity and experience, but the day it all happened could very well have had a tragic end. His legendary reticence at being public with his views and experiences meant that he died without the record of his life in a book that we all pressed hard to get. He had mellowed down somehow, or the Daily Trust had succeeded in a coup of sorts when they got him to speak on some aspects of his life a few years ago. This was a fair compensation for his refusal to grant an interview as SGF on key policy issues under the Abacha administration, in spite of the best efforts of his loyal and competent Director of Press, Eric Teniola, Special Assistant, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu and I. He agreed to an internal compromise: we would draw up our own questions and provide answers to them and convince crack Daily Trust interviewers to accept and publish them as conducted interview. Naturally, the journalists balked at the idea, and although we gave them decent distance to decide their response, we knew there were some tough arguments over appropriate response. So, 20 years after that incident, here is an apology to Mahmud Jega and his colleagues over our assault on their professional integrity. We genuinely thought we were providing a bridge between an SGF who needed to speak on important issues but will not, and a media organization that had knocked on the door loudly enough for some response.

    When he left public service as SGF, Alhaji Gidado insisted on retaining his National Honour of GCON which was awarded to him by the General Abdulsalami Abubakar, but revoked by President Obasanjo who took over from General Abubakar. His insistence that one leader had no right to take away what another leader had properly and legally given was typical of the thread that held together his most basic values about public service and politics. There was always a right way and a wrong way of doing things, and while he would make allowances for mediocrity, he was passionate against tolerating impunity and high-handedness. Needless to say, he had been pained by the spectacular collapse of the foundational role of the public service in governance, and the quality of political leadership that has been responsible for it. He held strong views about the intimate linkages between corruption and the near-total collapse of security of citizens and the Nigerian state. Sadly he would not live to see if the nation he served for his entire life will recreate itself and emerge stronger from many of its current challenges. He ran his race well, and it will be fitting to hope that there are Nigerians who will live like he did, with total conviction that this is a nation deserving of respect and service.

     

    May Allah grant him Aljanna.

  • Senate: Reflections on 2017

    Like an old car parked in the garage, nobody cares about propaganda politics anymore. Its tyres are now flat. Its methods are now known and its inaccuracies are now easily decipherable with the quickest click of your smartphone. This is why throughout 2017, the Senate, under the leadership of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, carefully worked to meet the demands of Nigeria’s ‘New Governance Order’ — an order that is now defined by delivery and actual performance over orchestrated publicity, and effectiveness over obvious hype.

    When people ask: “What should we expect from the 8th Senate in 2018?” The answer is simple: “Look back at the Senate’s performance in the past; it will give you an idea of its future.”

    Looking back at 2017, we all remember that the year started off with the budget. Talks about #OpenNASS accompanied the conversation about the 2017 appropriations bill — and commentators across the social-media-sphere all had a thing or two to say about the alleged secrecy behind the National Assembly’s annual spending.

    Some predicted that 2017 would be ‘no different’, while others laughed at the idea of the legislators agreeing to open up their books for the first time since 1999. This status quo narrative permeated through Facebook and Twitter, all the way to ‘those-annoying-broadcast-messages-that-your-parents-send-you-on-Whatsapp’ — and the consensus in the court of public opinion was clear: #OpenNASS would never happen!

    While the naysayers preached ‘Never!’, and the self-proclaimed political pundits speculated and hypothesized, the Senate President had promised #OpenNASS, and he would deliver. Though it was difficult at first, however, through constant consultation with his colleagues in both the Senate and the House, and the political will of the entire National Assembly leadership, on Thursday, May 11, 2017 — in a move that shocked observers — the National Assembly released the breakdown of its annual budget to the world. This budget is now on the National Assembly website. You can check it out yourself.

    Fast forward to two weeks later — if Drake was Nigerian, his ‘Back to Back’ chorus would have been the Senate’s soundtrack. Following the release of its budget details, in quick succession, the Senate passed the historic Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (#PIGB). This piece of legislation that had tripped up the 6th and 7th assemblies scaled the 8th Senate within 24 months.

    Right now, many people still do not know that the PIGB passed by the Senate in 2017 is aimed at unbundling the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for better performance, creating a sustainable framework for the effective governance of Nigeria’s petroleum industry, and putting an end to the issues that cause fuel scarcity across the country.

    The Senate did not stop there. It went on an anti-corruption sprint. It passed the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Between Nigeria and Other Foreign Countries Bill. In July, it passed the Whistleblower Protection Bill to protect people that inform the authorities about corruption. And, it also passed the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill (NFIU) Bill at the end of July — in order to get Nigeria re-admitted back into the EGMONT Group after its suspension. This move was aimed at giving our nation the previous access that it once had to the network, resources and expertise of 154 other financial intelligence units around the world in our fight against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.

    Similarly, the Senate responded to Nigeria’s 2016 economic recession by fast-tracking the passage of the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill and the Credit Bureau Services Bill in 2017. Both bills, which were signed into law by the then-Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in May 2017, were aimed at providing Nigerians across the country with easier access to credit.

    The impact of both ‘Access to Credit’ Bills passed by the Senate, and the National Assembly as a whole, were brought to the fore when in September 2017, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that due to the Senate’s access to credit legislation, 20,684 movable assets valued at N392 billion had already been registered on the National Collateral Register (NCR). Similarly, in October 2017, the World Bank rated Nigeria among the top 10 most improved economies in its 2016/2017 Doing Business Report. All of this was due to the fact that the Senate had focused on creating more opportunities for MSMEs in Nigeria through well-crafted legislation.

    Of course, we cannot forget the Senate’s 2017 comprehensive amendment to the electoral act of 2010, which ensures the full biometric accreditation of voters with Smart Card Readers; the instant transmission of accreditation data and results from polling units to the collation centres; and giving INEC unfettered powers to conduct elections by electronic voting.

    We also cannot forget the Review of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This exercise, brought about the approval of notable pieces of legislation like the #NotTooYoungToRun Bill, which reduces the qualifying age for election into the House of Representatives from 30 years to 25 years; the age qualification for contesting for a state House of Assembly office from 30 years to 25 years; and the age qualification for contesting the office of President from 40 years to 35 years.

    The #NotTooYoungToRun Bill and the other constitutional amendments passed by both Houses of the National Assembly, are currently making their way through the state Houses of Assembly, and are likely to become the focus of a lot of political discourse this year.

    To close out 2017, the Senate received a few final and significant notches on its legislative belt, when President Muhammadu Buhari signed six Bills into law on December 30, 2017. Notable amongst them were the amendments to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act, which now mandates the gas producing and processing companies to contribute to the development of the Niger Delta region. Additionally, with the signing into law of the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act by President Buhari, all Nigerians with gunshot wound will now be able to receive immediate medical treatment — instead of having to file police reports. This Bill that started in the House, but was fast-tracked by the Senate through concurrence in the latter half of 2017 will definitely save many lives.

    As we look back at the year that has just passed, to give a snapshot of where it currently stands, the Eighth Senate has already passed 140 Bills in 30 months. This is more than the Fifth Senate that passed 129 Bills in four years, the Sixth Senate that passed only 72 Bills in four years, and the Seventh Senate that passed 128 Bills in the same timeframe. This Senate has also cleared over 120 public petitions in two years and seven months.

    In this regard, when people ask this year: “What should we expect from the 8th Senate?” You can tell them: more people-centred legislation that will impact various aspects of our national existence; more thorough oversight on government spending to ensure transparency and accountability in the utilization of our national resources; and more focus on getting Nigeria’s economy back on track by creating more opportunities for everyone.

    • Onemola is Head, New Media, Office of the Senate President.

  • If Nigeria must break through

    With the efforts at the executive arm of government to inspire change in all ramifications in Nigeria, there is a silver lining of a breakthrough in the country. The notion of a breakthrough is reaching the desired destination from a torturous journey, not by magic or miracle but by a definitive and systematic process that requires careful planning and patience. This is the gist of President Muhammadu Buhari’s thesis on process reform instead of restructuring obsession while addressing the nation on Monday.

    So, in what way must we reform our processes or must we act to achieve that systematic breakthrough?

    There is no doubt that every responsible government acts in the interest of the public, as whatever the government chooses to do or not is the open definition of public policy. Today, we blame our government and the leadership for every ill that plagues our land, expecting it to act with dispatch in public interest. Yet, if government must act with the urgency and intensity we expect, it must necessarily abridge the diverse and often conflicting vested interests that have limited our ability to reach our full national potentials. Therefore, it must step not only on the mighty cancerous toes causing extreme pains in our body politic, but also crush the feeble viral fingers of criminal toddlers.

    The problem with our nation is the erosion of a national culture built on integrity. Integrity is defined as an unimpaired character that stands public scrutiny, demonstrated by a well-ordered private and public life devoid of moral or material corruptibility. When integrity is asphyxiated in any polity, the essence of public service is lost as hedonism and pursuit of vested interests take over the instinct of virtually every stakeholder. We all lament that our constitution is deficient in certain areas and advocate that our nation must be guided by the rule of law, yet we are not united around the core value of integrity that needs to be addressed for the protection of our collective national interest. We all cry for national rebirth or reform without appreciating the depth integrity deficit in our polity.

    There are three dimensions to the compromise of this core value in Nigeria: abdication of public service, professionalization and desecration of politics and celebration of corruption. The sin of abdication of public service is a product of the desecration of the noble art of politics and condoning of corruption in public and private life in the country. Mahatma Gandhi, the man Indian deify as father of the nation, in 1925 illustrated these vices as politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity and worship without sacrifice. Our nation rates very high in all these disturbing indices, needing serious and collective intervention. In discreet and practical terms, our government must make fundamental decisions that would produce radical changes in our culture of disdain and corruption. This of cause is the fulcrum of the president’s idea of process reform.

    There is optimism that the various reform initiatives of the government will manifestly address these issues. At the street level however, the understanding of reform is withdrawal of rights and privileges and curtailment of freedoms. Therefore, it induces trepidation and rejection. Yes, reform may seem punitive (and of course would ‘block’ some vested interests), its longer term goals and objectives are to ensure equilibrium in the society by expanding access to national wealth, ensuring provision of public goods and services and guaranteeing protection of life and properties of all citizens.

    The urgency with which we want the government to address the accumulated challenges of the nation demands the initiation and pursuit of radical reform policies that must definitely inconvenience many interest groups during the process of implementation. Such reform process will manifest in rigid state control, seeming over-regulation of public life with strong monitoring, compliance and deterrence strategies of enforcement that are punitive in outlook. But we cannot in a world of democracy and human rights afford official high-handedness and return to a police state. Without being overly prescriptive, what our nation needs in this difficult moment is the regulation of our public life in a manner that does not cause extreme dislocation, nor induce shock and glut.

    Since our first sin in Nigeria is the abdication of public service, we need a restoration of pride in public service through consolidation and alignment of the public sector with recognition, empowerment and reward of bureaucrats and technocrats who are invaluable to national growth and development but have suffered a high degree of de-motivation and insecurity in the recent past.  The pursuit of our national reform project must be real and tangible in its criminalization of corruption in all its ramifications. It must of cause seek to de-professionalize political offices, but ensure that only citizens with impeccable record in public and private sector management are attracted into politics to continue “to serve with integrity”.

    The seed of our national reform should be sown in benchmarking our national core value on this vital index of good governance. Our reform agenda should be capable of exorcising the nation of the cardinal sins illustrated by Mahatma Gandhi. In assuming public office and conducting public affairs, we must adhere to the Seven Principles of Public Life, the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Reforming Nigeria is a hydra-headed challenge, demanding a 360 degrees attention to reach our Canaan. We must acknowledge and respect the genuine agitations of many Nigerians on the future of our country but such agitations and expressions will be meaningless if the fundamental issue of evolving a national culture built on integrity is not addressed. This should be our beacon as we engage ourselves in the subject of National Rebirth, Restructuring or Reform.

    Happily, President Muhammadu Buhari has in his national broadcast of Monday, given an insight into what a New Nigeria will look like with the definitive actions he has outlined to cleanse the rot in our country. The President believes we should pay special attention to process, beyond obsession with restructuring. I seem to agree with him. Most of our processes of ensuring distributive justice are fundamentally flawed. They are the reason for the agitation for restructuring. So, when the processes are fixed, it will even be easier to achieve restructuring without controversy or threat to our corporate existence.

    The critical and urgent nature of the reform process however demands a correct appreciation from players in the mass media as providers of public service, through the style and content of our mediation or moderation of issues in the public sphere, by setting the agenda for reform in way and manner we frame issues and problems. The existence of trust between the government, the citizen and the press, and involvement at every stage of policy making process through public deliberation or participation will smoothen our ride along the difficult path of reform and inspire our preparedness for change.

    This is the essence of change; after all, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.

    • Solanke is of Voice of Nigeria, Ikoyi, Lagos.