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  • True Federalism: Southern govs must work together

    The maiden gathering of Southern Governors Forum (SGF) was held in 2001 at the Akodo Beach Resort, Ibeju Lekki, here in Lagos.

    The initiative to set up the SGF was received with mixed feelings at the time. There were those who read partisan political moves into the idea. Others saw it as essentially sectional and potentially divisive while some dismissed the SGF as another superfluous talk shop of doubtful utility.

    However, the convener of the inaugural edition of the forum and my illustrious predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, gave a robust articulation of the necessity for the forum in his address to participants, which remains relevant and pertinent even today. On that occasion he said, “We are of course aware that our northern brothers have met regularly and publicly articulated common positions of interest in the polity. While some have condemned such meetings, I believe very strongly that such fora should indeed be actively encouraged and supported. Our democracy and federal system can only be strengthened when various groups and component parts of the country are free to discuss and pursue their perceived common aspirations within the framework of the law.

    There are unquestionably issues of common interest to us as governors of states in the southern region of Nigeria. This does not mean that there are no matters which the South-West, the South-East, or the South-South, respectively, may feel constrained to pursue separately at other fora”.

    From its modest beginning in 2001, the SGF held at least nine meetings over the following four years with the last one taking place again in Lagos on Friday, 25th February, 2005. During this period, the forum became a significant voice on matters of critical import both to the south and to Nigeria as a whole.

    Perhaps, we need to quickly remind ourselves some of the landmark achievements obtained through the pressure exerted by this forum in the past. The first was its collective advocacy for the special allocation to oil producing states in the federation account which resulted in the current formula of 13% accruing for Derivation in allocating revenues from the Federation Account.

    Another major victory won towards strengthening the country’s practice of true federalism was the declaration by the Supreme Court in 2002 that the then prevalent practice of the federal government deducting monies from the Federation Account as a first line charge for the funding of Joint Venture Contracts, NNPC priority projects, servicing of Federal Government’s external debt, the judiciary and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other federal obligations were illegal and unconstitutional.

    The Supreme Court in that case abolished the special funds created by the Federal Government to enable it draw funds from the Federation Account to pay for matters that fell within its exclusive responsibility before sharing whatever was left with the states and local governments.

    Despite these successes, there is still a lot to be done. There is certainly a lot to be done about true federalism; an issue that requires urgent, meticulous and proactive attention by this forum.

    No less disturbing is the failure to undertake the periodic review of the revenue allocation formula as provided for by the constitution to reflect evolving realities. This is another critical matter that ought to engage this forum in order to enhance the viability of the states and local governments as well as their capacity to fulfill their developmental roles in the polity. All too often, states are disparaged for always carrying begging bowls to Abuja in quest of hand-outs from the federal government.

    This is a function of our present national constitution that burdens the federal government with activities and responsibilities that rightly fall within the province of the states. The productivity and revenue-generating capacities of most of the states are thus stifled thus turning them into no better than street beggar states incapable of even meeting routine obligations of paying workers’ salaries and pensions without federal support.

    Lagos State has fought and won several legal battles since 1999 that has systematically strengthened her autonomy and enhanced her fiscal viability. Over the years, the state has won legal control over the management of its environment, control of urban and physical planning, regulation of overhead masts, registration and regulation of hotels and restaurants and control of her inland waterways. And these victories do not belong to Lagos alone, but to all other states in the federation and which they must explore significantly.

    I believe that If Lagos has been able to achieve so much fighting singly, the SGF can accomplish much more by thinking, planning, strategizing and acting together.

    This resuscitation of the SGF is coming at a most appropriate time. As we are aware, the Senate and House of Representatives are currently harmonizing their differences on the proposed amendments to the 1999 constitution before they are transmitted to the state Houses of Assembly for approval. It is important for this forum to comprehensively look at the proposed amendments with a view to working with our respective Houses of Assembly to ensure a coordinated response on our part that will strengthen the practice of democracy, federalism, constitutionalism and the rule of law.

    In our deliberations, particularly on the pressing need for greater devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources from the centre to the states, our preoccupation must not be with having a weak centre and strong states or vice versa. Rather, in the words of the Indian politician and statesman, Bhupesh Gupta, on the floor of the Indian parliament on May 9th, 1969, “Therefore, we want a centre which will function on the basis of democratic principles and safeguard the unity and integrity of the nation as a whole; whereas at the same time we must have the states enjoying a wide range of powers, economic, political and otherwise, in order that out of this arrangement there develops a symphony of centre-state relations to the common good of the people of the country. There is no contradiction between having a democratic and viable centre and having at the same time, strong, democratic states”.

     

    • Excerpts from speech delivered by Ambode, Governor of Lagos State at the meeting of the Southern Governors’ Forum held on Monday at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos
  • Stella Obasanjo: A Collector’s Biography (Part 1)

    Stella Obasanjo: A Collector’s Biography (Part 1)

    Love her or hate her, you never could ignore her

    Monday made it twelve years since Nigeria‘s former First Lady passed on.

    STELLA OBASANJO.  Nigerians know her for her love of pancake (face) powder and all feferity (much preening and primping).Then, dying after a tummy tuck; such vanity!

    But here you will find out that she was so much more than that.

    Her husband and former president Olusegun Obasajo, OBJ’s exploits with the fairer sex were legendary.  So, when he was sworn in as president people wondered, So Who Will Be First Lady?

    OBJ wasted no time in giving an answer.  There will be No First Lady.  For real? But even now I can still remember the brouhaha Stella created when suddenly she came out with – I Am First Lady.

    Furthermore, she went on to decree ‘I am the ONLY First Lady in Nigeria: all other First Ladies are henceforth Wives of Governors.

    Whaat! Nigerians wondered aloud – Who Is This One, Now?!!

    I will never forget how I came to know Stella Obasanjo.

    A big lady friend whose husband was in the forces had invited me to a RAFPOWA (retired officers wives association) event.  I had tried to wriggle out of it because I thought I wouldn’t know anything about what was going on, and would not know anyone but her.  She insisted and I felt obliged to attend.

    It was a morning event in Victoria Island and I went there on time as is my usual.  Big, big women and big men were in attendance and to my surprise, so was Nigeria’s First Lady!

    I sat down and waited; surely it would be snappy one with the guest of honour already in house.  But to everyone’s bewilderment, there was nothing happening; soon we saw the organisers locking heads and talking in concern.  Suddenly I heard someone say – oh, she’s a Presenter with Cool FM, let’s call her (indicating towards me!).  Next thing was that a live microphone was shoved under my face and with quick push I was ‘made’ the MC of the day.

    Turned out the MC hadn’t shown up and the event was running late, so yours truly was put on the spot.  Even a well prepared MC could easily fumble, seeing  the intimidating audience in that hall, how much more me?  What of all the protocol?  You get it wrong and you’ve made very big enemies for life!  But I quickly brushed all these aside and got the event started.  I do MC Comedy (very tricky) but behold, Mrs. Obasanjo was laughing ‘with all her belly’ in no time!  It was working!

    And then about 40 minutes later the woman MC arrived and I hurriedly handed over.  Many minutes later I was called back again to pair with her.  Not to boast, but mere reading this column you can tell that I am a bright and lively person.   Once I stepped aside that day, there was a definite drop in the atmosphere in that gathering.  The new lady made everything dull!!

    We finished the event that day, and thereafter I got to handle some other events of Mrs. Obasanjo’s including her personal citation even though that particular event ended up being shifted indefinitely.

    It was thanks to her I went to Aso Rock for the first time and severally thereafter, and I can tell you Stella is a most remarkable lady, a Quintessential Woman as Senator Ben Murray Bruce has called her.

    Love her or hate her, you never could ignore her.  Her time as First Lady was most impactful.  Here are some of the things I found out about her myself, as well as what I came to learn about Mrs. Obasanjo.

    Stella is the first in a large family of about eight children(!).  She was of the Abebe family from Edo State; her father rose through the ranks to head up UAC (same place Sen. Bruce’s parents worked at).

    Young Stella gave everyone nicknames; I think her father was ‘Napoleon’ for being a big commander!  She grew to be a mother figure to all her siblings and relatives.  It is no wonder she was a mother to her husband’s (numerous) children even though she had but one son for him.  I have seen one of ‘her’ grandchildren (she’s OBJ’s granddaughter) happily doing her homework inside the Office of the First Lady at Aso Rock.  Stella was good to all her husband’s children and he himself has testified to this.

    Unlike her husband who was a lover of the African Time concept, if Stella gave you an appointment for 2pm, at the dot of time she would either walk in; or you would be ushered in to her.  Like I said at that first event, I went there at dot time and there she was.  OBJ in contrast would come to events about one and a half hours late.  And then he formed a habit having the venue locked from the inside, until whenever he would be ready to leave!

    Even the Queen of England would not lock anyone out of anywhere, for coming late.  I’m told that if a dignitary came late, after her arrival at an event, she would turn and glare at the person, not lock the doors of a private hotel for heaven’s sake!

    I suppose OBJ was always late for his dates with Stella!!

    Stella called OBJ – Olu, he called her Stella (emphasis on LA, not on STELLA as is the correct stress).  I’m told they had their hot quarrels with Stella always trying to make sure she got her point through.

    Ever – smiling Stella was real good company and always acknowledged friends.  There was a story of how one day, then US President Bill Clinton saw her at an international airport where both were in transit.

    He screamed Stella, and waved – she smiled waved on hollered back, Bill!

    Others we have had would have frowned their faces at him for calling them by name, in public.

    Socially, Stella was also partial to the bottle, of course all things in moderation.

    She was a glamour queen and a lover of fashion.  She said of herself that – Stella was a lady who, when she walked down the streets of Benin, cars stopped and people stared at her in admiration!

    In Part 2:  How Stella would fly in Ade Bakare from London for dress measurements.

    And her rivalry with the Vice President’s wife-

    Like Husband: Like Wife!

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  • ‘Smoke on, bo, something must kill man, anyway’

    The above caption brings to mind the versatility and creative prowess of Nigeria’s best satirist/journalist, Chief Sam Amuka-Pemu, known by his pen name Sad Sam in his heyday as star-columnist in the defunct SUNDAY TIMES, and Kenny Adamson, one of the most imaginative cartoonists this country has ever known.

    The Federal Ministry of Health some 30 years ago began this campaign against cigarette smoking, adverting peoples’ minds to the danger inherent in stuffing the brain with cigarette smoke which the promo said could kill. Yet, it was a fad in the land then, to find boys and girls, men and women smokers swelling their ranks at an alarming rate.

    Lung cancer became a companion of cigarette smokers and that became a big worry for the nation health managers which led to the nation-wide campaign “Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health” on billboards and print and electronics media across the land.

    That message achieved insignificant success and I think it was this realisation that prompted Uncle Sam, (who had just moved from Punch in Ikeja where he was a co-publisher with Chief Olu Aboderin, to found his own breezy Vanguard newspaper at the Canal in Kirikiri) to commission Kenny to draw the cartoon of a man emitting smoke all over his head while I learnt the inimitable newspaper manager himself wrote the caption that went with it, which is the headline above.

    I recall this famous cartoon  and its caption when one hears the rate at which our youths, having graduated from ordinary but equally harmful cigarette smoking to consumption of deadly hard drugs, unwittingly kill themselves.

    True, majority of these unemployed youths come from lowly backgrounds but how do we situate the few from affluent homes who are also in the hard drug consumption fad? What could be responsible for all these? Is it not traceable to parents failure to meet their obligations to them, or over-indulgence by some parents who seemingly open their tills for their children to dip into, and live styles of foreign artistes and stars – styles that are not just reckless but alien to our culture ?

    Is government also not culpable with some of their policies that are not too youth-friendly and which must have pushed these impressionable boys and girls to seeking self-help, which inexorably lead them to their ruin? How effective has been government’s effort to block the source of supply of these hard drugs to the country and their patrons?

    The trend that is now alarming, given the recent deaths of children of some prominent people in our society in a row, deserves urgent governmental intervention in active collaboration with parents to see how this trend can be arrested. Deliberate and sustained efforts at giving automatic employment to school leavers and graduates must be made by governments at the states and central levels while conducive and easy access to funds be encouraged through fiscal  and monetary policies to little and medium businesses, because it is also evident that recourse to hard drugs is also becoming a pattern among young business people who are either finding it hard to access loans or are finding it equally difficult to repay them. Either way, frustration has led many to this well-paved pathway to damnation and death !

    But honestly, can anyone tell me why  a younger friend from Botswana once told me in London that he would not stay a day extra in the UK after his graduation from the  Uni(versity), because almost  everything Great Britain could offer to entice young graduates to stay back and join the country’s labour or employment force, was equally available in his Botswana, a very small African country compared to Nigeria.

    The question that arises from this, is why is it difficult to do so in Nigeria that is more endowed with unbelievably massive mineral, vegetable and human resources than Botswana.

    Can it be for the lack of visionary leadership or the entire system that is skewed towards the impoverishment of the majority, at the expense of a sickening minority?

    All these and more are questions begging for urgent answers, if we are not to be regarded as a nation that deliberately plans to deplete her human resources by default through policies that encourage dying more than living!

  • Elections, leaders and democracy

    Kenya’s rescheduled  elections this week  and Nigeria’s  political parties sparring for the 2019  elections capture our attention today  in the  way democracy and the rule of law is being applied in both nations. We  look at that along side the new revelation in the US media  that the Democratic Party leadership in  the US  was aware  that one of its agents was funded  during  the campaign  to gather information that was damaging and could be used against Republican candidate Donald  Trump who eventually won   the 2016 US  presidential  elections.

    Let  me state  clearly  that  I strongly  believe  that democracy  should  be based on the  rule of law  and no matter how  I berate  that lack in its practice   nowadays, I  see  no alternative to democracy in governance and the organization of any political  system  whose  objective is the peace,  prosperity  and progress  of its electorate or polity. I  say  this so  as not to be mistaken for  an anarchist  given  the strident  tone  with which   I have  in recent times berated  constantly  the  practice  of democracy globally  in general and  Nigeria in particular. I offer  no apologies  for this approach since democracy to me is work in progress socially  and politically  and  in such situations , the best  is always yet  to come.  The best example  of this  is Spain and the  Catalonia  Independence debacle  unfolding before our ours as the best  test of  the application of the Spanish  constitution Article  55  which   has never  been used  before  and which is now to be  invoked  to arrest secession constitutionally  as enshrined  in the Spanish  constitution that Spain is indissoluble. That  to me is the rule of law under stress or  even  duress, but very  much at play. That  to me is democracy  so  much  at work as work in progress in a positive direction of the rule of law.

    It  is in this context  therefore  that we look  at  Kenya’s  postponed  election deriving from the cancellation of the last elections this year  by the nation’s Supreme  Court. That  election   was won by incumbent  President Uhuru  Kenyatta  who  defeated Raila  Odinga,  who  has now decided not to participate in this week end’s election because  to  him   the electoral reforms that  marred the last  elections have not been  corrected and the anormalies  that led to the Supreme  Court cancellation  are  bound to repeat  themselves  in the new elections this week. Of  course the incumbent president disagrees and  has asked Kenyans  to turn  out  en mass  to  vote,  as  their  leaders  fought  for democracy  and they should  not lose their  right  to vote. However  aside  from their differing attitude on the electoral  climate and environment in  Kenya ,  the  pedigree   and  ancestry  of these two leaders   are  required  here  to shed light  on the fact  that since Kenya became a multi party  state  in 1991  elections in  that  nation  have been marred  by rigging , and violence.

    The  2002  and 2007 elections provided crucial  land marks in the nature of  Kenya’s  elections. The 2002 elections saw  to a  change of  government from  Arap  Moi  who picked Jomo  Kenyatta’s son  Uhuru  to succeed  him.  But  a deal  had been  made between  Raila Odinga  whose  father  was Jomo  Kenyatta’s  Vice  President but who could not succeed  Kenyatta  because he was a communist  and the Cold  War  was on and he had  to be supplanted by Arap  Moi  whose  regime was so  corrupt that the saying was popular in Kenya  in his time that -why  hire  a lawyer  if you  can pay  a judge.

    In  2002  therefore  the opposition agreed to have not  a strong  president but  a weak  one to  defeat  Moi and it was agreed that Kibaki  would be president and Raila Odinga PM. But  Kibaki had an accident during campaign and that left Raila to be doing most of the campaign.  Yet  when  Kibaki won  he reneged on this  arrangement which  however  came to pass in the aftermath of the post elections violence at the next elections in 2007  when  the   impasse  was resolved with Kibaki  becoming President and Raila Odinga who really won the 2007 elections becoming PM. Now  Raila Odinga believed  he won  this 2017    presidential   elections that the Kenyan  Electoral  Commission gave to incumbent President Uhuru  Kenyatta  and Odinga  has refused to contest this week end’s new elections and that has put Kenya’s  electoral  fate and political stability  on tenterhooks. Especially  as it is evident that Odinga’s  supporters  will not support the new results  and Kenya’s politics  will  return  to the usual  post  election violence and the rule of law  will take a break in that  polity.  How long that  would  take for peace to return  is anybody’s guess  for now.  Surely t is a sad  day  for democracy  and the rule of law in  Kenya for now.

    In  Nigeria,  however  it  is  pre- presidential  election jitters  that confront the past and present political  parties  in power. The opposition  PDP  which  lost power  in 2015  is positioning itself  for  clinching power back  in 2019  by  discrediting the selling point of the present APC  Administration which  is the war against corruption. The  PDP anti APC  drive  is being led  by the PDP governor of Ekiti State Ayo  Fayose. The  latest missile hurled  at The APC  now is the return of the Pension boss who fled Nigeria after embezzling huge pension  funds  but  who has now returned  purportedly on reinstatement to his job  with payment of 22m naira arrears  to the indignation of the Nigerian  public.

     

    • Continued online
  • A living legend: Afe Babalola

    A living legend: Afe Babalola

    In every generation, God has a way of blessing mankind with a few akoni-eda (exceptional colossus individuals) whose ways and accomplishments would be confounding to their fellow countrymen. Aare Afe Emmanuel Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) is one of such rare distinguished few in Nigeria. He is an Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). Aare was the former pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Onetime chairman of the committee of pro-chancellors of Nigerian universities. Winner of the best pro-chancellor award in 2005 and 2006 and winner of Queen Victoria commemorative award at Socrates award of European business assembly in Oxford, UK; member of the Rector of Europe, October 2007; vice president, Rector of Europe 2010; and honorary professor of an international University. His over $2b investment in education has resulted to over 6,727+ beneficiaries and to his credit are large quantity of crops and animal production of different species in his integrated mechanized farm.

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    Aare Afe Babalola B.Sc (Econs) Lond; LL.B (Hons) Lond; FFPA, FNIALS, FCIArb, LL.D; Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN); Doctor of Letters (LL.D)

    In September 2017, he bagged the latest award of a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), in appreciation of his “service to the nation and significant contributions to human development” from Nigeria Defence Academy University, Kaduna during their 28th Convocation ceremony. Earlier honorary awards include Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) University of Ado-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, 2000; Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) (D.Litt) Kogi State University, 2012; Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) University of Lagos, February 2013; Doctor of Laws (h.c) University of Jos, March 2013 and Doctor of Management (honoris causa), Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), 2014 as well as Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) University of London.

    He has handled over 10,600 court cases as a solicitor and general advocate, many of which were landmark cases some of which could have scared away the cowardly. He is also an honorary alumnus of Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti. The exemplary Ekiti man brought honour to Nigeria when he bagged Doctor of Law from the University of London. The award made him to belong to the elite class of honorary recipients of the degree of the University of London, having been preceded by only two Africans in the history of the University, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The award from London has made Chief Afe Babalola a living legend. This distinguished status and outstanding recognition has been described by the emeritus  Prof Michael Omolewa as “a symbol of victory over all forces that hinder growth, a real demonstration of the point that one can make it to the very top by perseverance, and without the initial advantage of rich parents, powerful contact and connections, and even against all odds, the limitation of wealth and the disadvantage of place of birth or ethnic origins. The award also offers the recognition for the investment in neighbours and the wider society of kindness, sensitivity, and passion for the pursuit of excellence.”

    Aare Afe Babalola who is a giant today had a very humble beginning, his life story of success will remain an inspiration for indigent students and struggling Africans; where there is a will there is way, God being one’s helper. He started off as a teacher enrolled for the Senior Cambridge School Certificate examination by private study with the help of tuition courses which he ordered from the Wolsey Hall, Oxford.

    Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital (ABUATH) Complex

    He  left Ado-Ekiti for Ibadan on January 5th 1948 with determination not to return to his hometown until he had obtained a university degree. After passing the Senior Cambridge School Certificate examination, he obtained B. Sc degree in Economics through private study. His determination through private study later earned him degree in Law from the University of London as an external candidate. Subsequent to traveling for the mandatory stay at an Inn in England, he returned to Ibadan to establish his legal practice, Emmanuel Chambers. His diligence and dedication to law profession earned him Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and his law firm has trained over a thousand eminent lawyers more than twelve of whom became SANs and four of whom became Attorney Generals and Ministers of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

    A prominent member of Ekitipanupo Forum and an unequaled pillar of support for the preeminent Ekiti indigenous intellectual roundtable. ABUAD hosted 10th anniversary celebration and 2nd public lecture of the forum in 2015. It was indeed a rare honour for Ekitipanupo Forum to appreciate the distinguished Ekiti man who holds 2015 Ekitipanupo Timeless Merit Award and made him the chairman of the first Ekitipanupo colloquium held in 2016.

     

    Unveiling the plague

    Afe Babalola University commissioned 400-Bed Teaching Hospital in the Ado-Ekiti campus on October 20th 2017. The hospital is built on 60 hectares of land and consists of 9 blocks. the central block is five floors while the remaining eight have four floors each making total of 37 expansive floors.

    In order to give the teaching hospital complex an international touch in health care, teaching, training and research, ABUAD has entered into partnership with organisations which include:

    World renowned Abbot laboratories in conjunction with Afriglobal Diagnostic Services to provide modern laboratory equipment.

    Aster Hospital Group, Dubai and India is providing healthcare of international standard for which they are internationally acclaimed especially in surgery. To mark the commissioning, Aster will carryout 50 free operations.

    Project C.U.R.E. United States of America provided modern hospital equipment installed in the new ABUAD hospital.

    Naruia Export , India provided and installed five Modular Theaters as well as Pneumatic Tubes.

    JNC International provided CT scanners, MRI and other radiology and diagnostic equipment.

    Trigenesis India provided dry wall partitioning and cubicle track

    Protech Gas supplied medical gas and oxygen

    Adler England provided steam boilers

    College of Pharmacy, Howard University, USA will set up a joint pharmacy department and factory to manufacture drugs

    Bridge of Life (BOL) USA will supply kidney dialysis machine Care 4 You Association of Demark will supply equipment and gadgets.

     

    • Continued online
  • Tough people last

    Tough people last

    Tough times don’t last but tough people do. This quote by Robert Schuller is a timeless lesson. I believe that tough people last because they understand the dynamics of time. Time is dynamic! Time is imprintable, it can carry a positive or negative charge based on our actions or inactions, there are resources placed in time and it takes a deep understanding of the concept of time to enjoy the vast potential. Times and seasons change but principles don’t change. The defining characteristic of a principle is that it is true for everyone and it never changes. Like the laws of gravity, there are universal moral laws that are inescapable..hmm..the law of Karma or cause and effect says what you sow is what you reap. The point is tough people anchor their actions on moral principles. I wonder how life would be if there were no tough times…films having a lot of suspense are more thrilling, I make bold to say that tough times help us appreciate the peaceful times better, of course without darkness you cannot fully understand the beauty of light. Problems, difficulties and hardships are a part of everyone’s life. Yet some people handle them better than others. They have developed mental toughness that allows them to push through hard situations and successfully face adversity. A tough person is strong, determined and can tolerate difficulty or suffering. He/she is not easily broken or defeated. I have been through some tough times and I know you can recall tough times and maybe are going through some tough times right now, but they don’t last.

    I recall an encounter I had with a nest of wasps. While doing a general cleaning in my compound I discovered a wasp’s nest on the fence, close to my bedroom. I was as angry as a wasp! Did you know that wasps are capable of stinging multiple times and are known for their single-minded pursuit of vengeance. This was really scary, I sought help from the two security guards around but perceived they were totally oblivious of the danger looming. They responded ‘we will do something about it before the next weekend’ I was shocked at their response, how on earth will I sleep this night with these ‘strangers’ close by? The thought of calling a nearby fumigation agent was a respite until I remembered it was a public holiday yet I stretched my legs to confirm, it was locked. Now I had to take the bull by the horns, thanks to google, I did my research online and got the necessary details to confront the wasps. I got a cover for my body. Got a long stick and shut all the doors and windows. Fully aware of their pursuit of vengeance I made an escape route for myself when they attack. So I launched out with the stick and with a mindset of ‘if I perish I perish’…I strategically held the long stick and hit the nest. I missed the first attempt and I saw the wrath of the wasps as they came looking for me..of course I escaped. After about 20 minutes they were back in the nest and I decided to trouble them again, this time I sharpened the stick and launched out…yes! The nest came down and the wasps unleashed their full wrath..I ran for my dear life..in fact I ran outside the gate, panting and shouting ‘They are down’…immediately the two security guards I earlier approached for help suddenly summoned courage to spray an insecticide to kill the wasps. What a battle.. I was stunned..that was the end of the wasps nest.

    One vital lesson I got from the wasp encounter is that until you make up your mind to take responsibility and drive the change you desire, the situation most likely will not change for good. Experience has taught me that the battle is not to the strong but the tough..the good book corroborates this; By strength shall no man prevail. Toughness is not a function of your size, you can whip up a batch of biceps, call it 6 pack muscle, that does not make you tough. Mental toughness is a function of mind building. In the words of Amy Morin’ mental strength means that you regulate your emotions, manage your thoughts and behave in a positive manner, despite your circumstances’.

     

    • Continued online

  • Lewdpapers or newspapers?

    It troubles ones to observe that Nigeria’s clean weekday newspapers metamorphose into lewdpapers at weekends. Saturday and Sunday when you look forward to domestic company with child-friendly weeklies, you are trapped in an oppressive nightmare, wrestling with nudepapers. They flaunt naked images of female bodies not healthy for impressionable young minds. But these expressive photos also harm the larger society with destructive far-reaching consequences: they devalue the dignity of our womenfolk; they offer false and ungodly standards about intimacy between man and woman; they trigger an unending chain of loose moral conduct among the youths and the adults.

    We appear to have become quite tolerant of this creepy soft and hard pornography on the sacred pages of our newspapers. It used to be a coy feature in the gossip outlets and fashion magazines in the local media. Later, our submission to the decadent values of the capitalism of the Western world took us to an adventurous and bolder threshold that led to the publication of wholesale underground cover to cover magazines trading in sex.

    Since Playboy magazine, whose founder Hugh Hefner died recently, began the business in the 1950s in the print medium, producers of porn have deployed new technologies in filmology, starting in the late 1970s to push the trade to wider and more daring platforms.

    They moved from 16mm to the readily available camcorder which even the unskilled could operate to shoot bedroom scenes for commercial distribution. Finally in the 1990s, following the dawn of the Internet, man was completely overwhelmed by this carnal craze. It’s only a button away on your palm device. Of course it’s one’s choice to visit such sites or resist the urge and recoil from it. No one takes your finger there.

    But this line of defence isn’t acceptable because we need to protect our vulnerable youth and society from easy exposure to potential peril. We can’t be fence sitters if there are threats to our collective cultural purity, sanity and morality such as lewdpaper journalism poses.

    There is palpable danger to our humanity. Our traditional values will go under if we are sold to consuming depravity and licentiousness that manifest in displaying sensitive parts of the body that ought not to be so profaned. That is where you find the difference between sedate civilization and its antithetical obscenity.

    It is disingenuous to suggest that posting pictures of couples in love making act, half-clad females, models in thigh-high slits and those baring their breasts along with graphic literature on sex is part of the information and education as well as entertainment agenda of the media, which the Nigerian constitution guarantees. It speaks of freedom of expression, information (and dissemination) and access to it. But it isn’t unfettered freedom. For instance, despite the acclaimed principle of fundamental human rights, the law doesn’t give one the freedom or right to take one’s life.

    To be sure, we can’t rule that all photographic portrayal of coital organs or activity is porn. We can have them aplenty in educational or medical textbooks. But the text that accompanies them is dispassionately technical and instructional.

    On the other hand, our lewdpapers have a motive to trigger sexual arousal by bringing up pictures of seemingly impeccable women in seductive killer mood. They defile the minds of those who fall for them and force them into an addiction akin to the calamity caused by alcohol and drugs.

    When a man is given to porn, he is in a merciless three-fold hold. He has dehumanized himself because he is prey to fantasy and futile chase for gorgon goddesses who won’t spring alive from the screen or the nudepapers. His wife would no longer please him since she has paled beside the newfound youthful sex object in the pictures he is served every weekend. It is the beginning of the breakdown of the home—and alas of society.

    Secondly, an early authority, Jeff Olson, had this to say: “as pornography pollutes the mind, it often turns into an enslaving… addiction where there is a ‘continual lust for more’… an addiction to pornography doesn’t happen overnight. It sneaks out on a man overtime…”

    The third dangerous effect of this retail of porn in our weekend newspapers is that it rocks the settled sanctity of sex and ruins our respect for women who are the industry’s most violated. Porn attempts to demystify a sacred activity meant to symbolize man’s partnership with God in His plan of procreation and perpetuation of the human race. It seeks to give flippant flavour to a deep-seated pleasurable affair found only in a conjugal setting. Thus it gives the impression that men and women are nothing more than animals feeding only on sex.

    The danger lewdpapers constitute is regardless of whether the victim is married or single. As far as they arouse one the red button for adventurous quest, they represent an anathema and a no-go area. Researchers in the United States of America and other western countries report that exposure to porn leads to deviant cravings including rape, child molestation and divorce. In one study, 86% of convicted rapists admitted that they regularly used porn. 57% said they tried to re-enact what they saw in the sex video.

    Porn is a deadly assault on our society. It works on all aspects of society—the young, the old and adults.  It wages a mind war which is far more devastating than when physical weapons of mass destruction are at work. Such battles aim at the soul—the very essence of a human being. When we talk of the breakdown of society and insensitive leadership and institutions, we must trace the deficiency to a spiritually and morally stricken soul. That’s where you find loose values and insensitivity to character and integrity, which undermine the foundation of the community.

    The Pied Piper of Hamelin who caused national grief by killing scores of children in 1284 didn’t drop a bomb. He played seductive music that pulled the kids away from their parents into perdition. Nigeria’s own Pied Piper is in town, in the garish gab of porn.

     

    • Ojewale is a writer based in Ota, Ogun State.

  • Jaw-jaw, don’t war-war

    War is the watchword of many in this world. Arms have trampled aims. Battle is the spittle that comes out from man’s mouth. Fight him, curse him, kill him, chase after, catch up with him, if he outruns you, poison his footsteps. That is the new anthem of the country. No sigh of relief but mischief. There is war in the world, nation, state, city and society. Our streets are greeted daily by cries and gnashing of teeth. Our homes are homicidal, there is trouble everywhere, everyday even in our minds. We sleep with our eyes widely opened.

    If we can’t reign peace, can’t we let peace reign? Newton’s Law – every action attracts reaction. If a fowl pours away my drug, I’ll break its eggs. Law of Karma. What you sow is what you shall reap.  No one is expected to sow yam and reap orange. “Do me, I do you”. Evils for evils. Madness for madness. War is what we want, we pieces peace and opt for war. Where do we keep tolerance, perseverance, negotiation, reconciliation? We tend not to understand the common proposition of Wilson Churchill: “It is always better to jaw-jaw than to war-war”. To “jaw-jaw” is to talk lengthy, to discuss, rub minds and negotiate, to agree to disagree and to disagree to agree. That is, to negotiate is always better than to have war.

    Things are tense in essence. Fowl now eats the intestine of fowl. Man kills man. No love among lovers but lust. There is economics in saying the truth. Illegal tender outmanoeuvres our legal tender. Love for money overshadows love for God. Selfishness versus selfishness. City is hot. Our land that used to flow of milk and honey now flows of the innocent blood. Animated human beings are dehumanising humane humans. All ways to the promised land are blocked – there seems no way. There is a way anyway, but we have refused to foot it. When a load spurns the sky and scorns the land, we place it somewhere else, don’t we? The only way to end these troubles is to make peace_ to jaw-jaw not to war-war.

    Genocide is ruining Myanmar. The Buddhist terrorist is the new Adolf Hitler, killing massively. No peaceful area in North and South Korea. America is bullying co-countries. Xenophobia is the only way South Africans could pay back other Africans. In my country, the noise of war is deafening our ears. Nnamdi Kanu is the Ojukwu of this time. The rattled snakes of the 1967 civil war are provoking venoms of secession.  They say they want “Independent People of Biafra”(IPOB). Redlines are the headlines of our social media platforms. The fire of Boko Haram is yet to be extinguished. Evans, a notorious kidnapper is being celebrated while in detention of the police. While the poor pray to be rich, the rich prey the poor. There is war, war everywhere.  If peace cannot make the world, let the world make peace. Peace and only peace can save the world.

    “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction”. The above are words of Martin Luther King. If truly we want peace, military should not be tooled to fight militants. Hate speech should not interlude hate speech. We do not have to pay evils for evils. He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better than the mad man himself. He who betrays those that betrayed him is also a betrayer. An eye-for-an-eye principle cannot save us from the war of this world.

    When talking about an “eye for an eye”, Jesus, taught us to turn the other cheek during the Sermon on the Mount. He preached to His disciples in the Good Book: “You have heard that it was said – ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Mt 5:38–39). That is peace, peace-making in its real sense. Whenever the infidels frequented in tormenting Jesus, he would say: “Father forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing “. That’s exactly how to make peace or make it reign. The creeping of a lion is not of cowardice. A gentle chameleon was queried why he walked without thud. He said it was because he did not want the earth to cave. Just to let peace reign, we have to prefer to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Waging war against war cannot end a war, only peace can do that. Let us make a difference, we should not all sleep and put our heads all in one direction. Peace is possible in this world, only if we reign it or let it reign.

    Above all, the wars around us in the world are infinitesimal compared to the one in our minds. War of the mind is the greatest. Unless we win the war in our minds, the conundrum of how to win the war in this world would remain riddled. When there is peace in our minds, there will be peace in our homes, cities, societies, states, countries and the world at large. If the war that preoccupies our minds are defeated, the rat shall hiss like rat; the bird shall chirp like bird; human shall speak like human; our land shall flow again of milk and honey; the farmers shall harvest abundantly; despite our ethnical, religious, linguistic, traditional differences, we will live together both peaceably and peacefully and there shall be peace everywhere.

    John Kennedy had rightly said: “If mankind will not end war, war will end mankind “. This is a piece of peace: jaw-jaw; don’t war-war.

     

    • Olarotimi writes from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

  • Why economists can’t manage economies well

    Economists claim to be concerned with promoting rapid growth, full employment and stable prices. Have they been successful in their attempts to achieve their claimed objectives? No! Economists and economics-based institutions cannot manage our economies well because of the inherent debilities of the discipline of economics. And what are the inherent debilities of economics?

    The first inherent debility of economics as an area of knowledge is its methodology. Economics like other social sciences adopted the scientific method developed for the physical and biological sciences, believing that the application of the scientific method to social science would transform economics into social physics that would provide for students of society, the excitement which natural sciences were providing for the students of the physical sciences (DeFleur, et al., 1977). By conceiving social sciences as social physics instead of social biology, social scientists, especially economists, made a fundamental error from the onset. The consequences of the methodological error are many and fundamental too. They should therefore be considered as the fundamental debilities of economists.

    The second defect of economics is that it is ahistorical and mechanistic. That is, economists’ understanding of the economy lacks a sense of history and appropriate logic. The equations (laws) of physics and mechanics adopted by economists are about time-independent responses of solids like metallic rods, springs, wires, etc. By adopting such laws, economists claim that economies behave like iron wires, spring and rods subjected to small strains and that development does not take time to achieve; development is achieved instantaneously. Economists’ theories are always timeless functions. Economists find it hard incorporating historical evidence into their analyses. Economists do not understand that nations grow and become transformed. They think that the development process is like a once-for-all game such as a football match. They pretend not to be aware that European and American cultures were not counted as the Great Medieval Civilizations (GMCs). The Chinese, Indian and Islamic cultures were the GMCs. Economists do not understand the industrialization process.

    The third debility of economics is that it is unable to distinguish between trivial growth and Competence-Building Growth (CBG). Economists measure growth as change in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a nation; that is, the change in the goods and services produced in a nation in a year. Mere computation of GDP and the change in it does not describe the true economic situation in a nation. Nigeria now has   OPEC-quota of about 2.5 million barrels per day of crude petroleum. The exploration and production are done by multi-national companies. Increase in the number of barrels produced and increase in the international price of crude petroleum swell the earnings from sales of crude petroleum and the Nigerian GDP. The increase in GDP this way cannot be a true reflection of the state of Nigeria, because it has nothing to do with Nigerians. This explains why economists measure growth which has no impact on the people – growth without development. Nigerians lack the competence to explore and produce oil and gas. It is through learning that man acquires all competences. So, it is CBG that Nigeria and other African nations should promote and measure, not GDP growth.

    The fourth defect in economics is that it does not know the primary source of CBG and industrialization. Economists who advocate that African nations should provide favourable environment for inflow of foreign investment into their nations to promote growth do not understand what national economic growth entails. Hence they believe that nations get transformed through mere capital investment. However, Douglas (1948), Abramovitz (1956), Solow (1957), Gerschenkron (1966) and Ogbimi (2003), all demonstrated that capital investment is not the primary source of Competence-Building Growth (CBG) and industrialization. Economists who claim that capital investment is the most important factor of production do not know that in the Middle Ages (450-1450), land was the most important resource in England. The lord of the manor owned the land and all those who did not own land were slaves (serfs) who worked for the lord. The claim about the special role of capital in promoting economic growth came during the industrial age, following the claim by Karl Marx (1867) that the capitalist does not begin to produce till he has accumulated enough capital.

    The fifth debility of economics is that it is based on equilibrium or static analysis. This defect is a very serious one. Real growth is a transformation.  Our research activities in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, showed clearly that learning is the primary source of CBG. One who has learnt something new is transformed from an undesirable status into a desirable status. One who cannot read and write may learn to read and write and be transformed. So, true growth is a transformational process, not an equilibrium one as economists assume. It was through learning that agricultural/artisan European, American and Asian nations increased their knowledge, skills and competences over 2000-3000 years, achieved industrialization and became transformed.

    The sixth weakness of economics is that it does not understand the relationships among the fundamental variables of an economy, so economists’ reports on growth and inflation rates are always incorrect.  The fundamental variables in an economy are employment, productivity and inflation. The values of the three variables must be reported together to understand the true state of an economy. The results of our research show that the employment level (in quantity and quality), is the independent variable which determines the levels of productivity and inflation (the dependent variables) in an economy. The consequence of this defect in economics is that rather than increase employment so as to increase productivity and reduce inflation, economists pump money into economy and claim they are reflating an economy. Then they borrow unnecessary money (mop up excess liquidity) at high cost to society to reduce inflation.

    The seventh weakness of economics and economists is that they do not understand the production or supply side. So, they are unable to promote production. The eighth debility of economists is that they see employment only as a cost-item. They never consider the benefits those employed bring to the organization or nation. Our research results show that employment is the” blood” of an economy. Unemployment is a national loss. Economists’ lack of understanding of the relationships among employment level and levels of productivity and inflation has been the biggest obstacle to promoting economic growth in Africa during the past five decades. Economists promote retrenchment – rightsizing and downsizing, rather than promote training and employment to link the educational sector and the rest of the economy to channel the knowledge developed in educational institutions into production activities. It is impossible to use the knowledge, skills and competences possessed by an individual or group of people without employing them.

    It is clear that economics cannot serve as the intellectual basis for proper management of any economy. Sadly, economists are never prepared to learn and acquire new knowledge. African nations must adopt more robust planning teams composed of technology management experts, scientists, engineers, psychologists and others who are ready to learn.

     

    • Professor Ogbimi writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

  • The Green Shirts of Niger Delta

    When T.Y. Bello (Toyin Sofekun-Bello) sang: “The land is green, is green, oh oh oh; the land is green, is green, can’t you see” she might have had the Niger Delta in mind. No part of our country is more lush fully green than the Niger Delta with its all-year round rainfall.  Even in times of tragic oil pollution, some plants stubbornly sprout with their green coated in oil, as if to say, ‘this land is ours’

    The irony however is that the rich natural vegetation of the region has not translated into food self-sufficiency or security. Like most parts of the country, the Niger Delta has become like Abdul, the man in the fairy tale who wants to get rich without working. Yes, oil is a rich resource, but as we know, it is a wasting one; not only will it not last, but also, its  importance is diminishing daily with humanity finding alternative ways of powering energy and automobiles. In fact, future cars will be run on recycled water. This is why the government of President Muhammadu Buhari harps not just on the need for alternative sources of income for the country, but with its Green Initiative, backed by various programmes like the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme and those of the Bank of Industry, point at agriculture as what would save the country.

    When in July, 2015, I was appointed the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme with the sustainable reintegration of 30,000 ex-militants as a main target, I worked out in the back of my mind, the fastest and best way to achieve this. My conclusion is   to let the Amnesty Beneficiaries blend with the greenery of the region by attracting them to return to culture the land and fish ponds.

    This I also found as the answer to the federal government’s primary objectives in the Niger Delta which is to ensure peace and sustainable development. So apart from continuing the existing projects such as developing the human capital resource of the region through tertiary education, professional and vocation training and empowerment, my team and I took the sure turn to agriculture. We entered into partnership with various organizations like the Bio Technology Resource Centre, University Agriculture faculties and established farms to train the ex-agitators.

    These seedlings we are planting are beginning to sprout. You can imagine my joy when on Friday October 13, before the chiefs, elders and people of George Town, Okrika, Rivers State, 20 young men in green overall stood before us, the mass media and the world, as I handed over to them a modern, zero-waste, integrated cluster farm. These were part of the 105 youths the Presidential Amnesty Programme had trained under the Songhai Rivers Initiative Farm. While their colleagues are being empowered with single stand- alone farms and ponds, this was our first experiment to group ex-agitators into cluster farms, register them as cooperatives and watch them become not just self-employed, but also employing other unemployed youth.

    The model farm, fully funded by the Presidential Amnesty Programme which we handed over to the beneficiaries, has 30 ponds, one  run-off earthen pond, 5000 bird poultry including broiler and  layers, free range, cropping and processing sections, one administration and sales office, two feed stores, two implement stores and one control room.

    I told the beneficiaries that they have a once in a life time opportunity not just to make a decent living for themselves and their families but also to employ a number of the unemployed. I also  informed them that  the Amnesty Office was further empowering them by handing over to them as a start-off package, 1000 fingerlings to 2000 post fingerlings,  100 Point of Lay Birds and an additional 200 broilers, 10 piglets  and a crop section with  cucumber, pepper, pumpkin and okra.

    Perhaps the most critical aspect of this farm is that it is designed to be one with an all-year round production by running a staggered stocking and harvesting plan. With this, commercial sales have been programmed with the sale of eggs by November 1, and, smoked fish, broilers and vegetables in December.  We opted that smoked fish, rather than fresh fish be sold, first to add value and secondly to make more profit.

    I was also very happy with George Town which provided the land for the farm. I was elated when the traditional leader of the town, Chief Akuro Richard George said with this project, we had brought federal presence to them and that the project has established a bond between the George Town people and the federal government. His request that the Presidential Amnesty Programme establish a skills acquisition centre in George Town to cater for lots of unemployed youths is one that sits well with the Presidential Amnesty Office.

    My happiness knew no bounds when the chairman of the ex-Agitators Cooperative, Emmanuel.T. Promise, thanked the federal government for giving them the opportunity of their lives to  run a  viable and sustainable business of their own.  These are men who had picked up arms to fight the country, but who are now role models for their peers and are resolved to run their lives in peace and security.

    The occasion further convinced me that this is the way to go; that this cluster farm which we registered with the Rivers State government as “Okrika Agro Farmers 105 Cooperative and Investment and Credit Society Limited” must be replicated in other parts of the Niger Delta. Already, we have 1,000 beneficiaries   who have either been trained, being trained or are on the waiting list to be trained in agriculture.

    As we continue with this, our attention is also directed at rice farming for which we have already trained 305 beneficiaries with two of them establishing their rice farms in Ughelli. My vision is to produce tens of thousands of youths in the Niger Delta cladded in their green overall and shirts, turning the region into a Green Belt and blending with the green vegetation.  This is the beginning of what I call the “Green Shirt Movement” The Land is green and is becoming greener, can’t you see?

     

    • Brigadier General Boroh (Rtd) is Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.