The Nation Newspaper

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  • World Bank, WFP and Borno restoration

    As a creative and novel response to persistent passionate pleas to the international community by President Muhammadu Buhari, the World Bank, through its FADAMA project, and the World Food Programme (WFP), are collaborating to restore livelihoods of over 7, 500 conflict-affected households in the North-east state of Borno.

    Since the Boko Haram terrorist group began its genocidal assault to take over the North-east in 2009, over eight million people have been displaced, tens of thousands of children kidnapped, thousands of children forced into war either as child soldiers, sex objects or cannons for suicide bombs detonations. It was therefore not surprising that the Global Institute for Economics and Peace, in its 2016 Global Terrorism Index, rated the dreaded Boko Haram group as the deadliest terrorist organisation in the world.

    The enormity of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement, as aptly captured by the “Three Rs” of the Borno Governor, Shettima Kashim, was not lost on the President as he pleaded to world leaders during a high-level event on “The Humanitarian Crisis in the Lake Chad Basin: A Turning Point,” in New York, jointly-sponsored by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the African Union, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the margins of the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly that: “It is time for collective global action to invest in the people of Nigeria’s North-east and the Lake Chad Basin region. We are renewing the call for re-dedicated international action to end the humanitarian needs of victims and address the root causes of terrorism itself.”

    Same call was made by President Buhari in his address to the 72nd General Assembly of the UN in September, as he reported remarkable improvement in the war against insurgency and continuing efforts at wiping away the vestiges of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east and Lake Chad Basin, even as he reiterated that: “these can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support.”

    It was therefore a cheering and positive historical development in international and multilateral networking for humanity, when on October 4, just few dates after Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, (WFP), met at the Government House, Maiduguri, to sign a MoU on partnership between WFP and FADAMA III Additional Financing II. Through this partnership,   FADAMA and WFP will collaborate in restoring livelihoods, stabilizing communities, through income generating activities, agriculture interventions, and social protection – cash-for work interventions.

    Specifically, the project aims to increase asset ownership of beneficiaries involved in livestock and agricultural production with special focus on youth and women heads of households; and develop and maintain community assets through cash for work benefiting the most vulnerable community members including youth in peri-urban setting in Borno State.  Initially targeting 7,500 households, implementation is planned to start in November for a period of 12 months.

    The Country Director of the World Bank, Rachid Benmessaoud, represented by Senior Agriculture Economist and Fadama Task Team Leader at the World Bank, Dr.  Adetunji Oredipe, informed that Fadama III Additional Financing II project has been effectively mobilized for rapid response to an emergency—specifically to contribute to the restoration of livelihoods for victims of violence and insecurity in the North-east. In this regard, “US$50 million was approved by the board of the World Bank in June 2016 in  response to the urgent food and livelihood needs of farming households who have been affected by conflicts in the six North-east states, namely  Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe.” The entire project resources, according to Oredipe, will be used to finance food security activities including food assistance, advisory and extension services, agricultural inputs and rehabilitation of infrastructure to help restore agriculture production and livelihoods of 24,000 farming households (approx. 192,000 individuals).

    While assuring that the Fadama team “will continue to look for avenues and innovative ways of partnering with other willing agencies to push the frontier of enduring sustainable strategy to provide better life for the millions of affected people in Borno State and beyond”, Oredipe expressed appreciation for the political will of the government to successfully execute the project:  “On behalf of my Country Director, Rachid Benmessaoud, our appreciation goes to His Excellency, Governor Shettima Kashim, and his counterparts in the six states of the North East, for providing the political support and conducive environment for the project team. I am happy to note that this project is succeeding because of your commitment and financial support”.

    WFP’s Director of Field Operations, Dr. Tito Nikodimos, counting on his organisation’s experience worldwide and in Nigeria, enthused that: “we are happy to partner with FADAMA and to contribute to food security and restoring livelihoods in vulnerable households”.  WFP targets 1.1 million in the three states Adamawa, Borno and Yobe covering 27 Local Government Areas in total. In its humanitarian response in the North-east, WFP provides food or cash assistance where markets are fully functioning. In addition, specialized nutritious food is provided to children and pregnant and nursing mothers to prevent malnutrition. Between July and December 2016, the number of people reached by WFP increased from 85,000 to more than one million monthly. The partnership will, no doubt expand and deepen the reach in the next 12 months.

    For Borno’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohammed Aliyu Dili, the project could not have come at a better time. An earlier assessment by WFP showed an improvement in food production in the state. “Our people are now preparing and some are even harvesting their crops. In his words, “any assistance in whatever form will no doubt bridge the gap in restoring their livelihood and improving the food security, especially of the communities devastated by the insurgents”, he said.

    The Borno governor described the event as “special moment that marks a new page of cooperation between Fadama III Additional Financing II, a flagship project of the World Bank in the North East of Nigeria and the World Food Programme (WFP) here in Maiduguri”, saying the situation in Borno State, as you are all aware, calls for an initiative of this nature where strong partners will agree to come together latching on their individual strength to form a coalition to pursue a common cause. The partnership, he believed, will make a positive impact in the lives of our people who are devastated by the insurgency.

     

    • Oladunjoye is National Media Consultant to the Fadama Project in Nigeria

     

  • Mediating Nigeria’s conflicts (1)

    There is little doubt that Nigeria is under pressure from conflicts; but as some argue, many of the disputes have always been there. Whether it is the Boko Haram war, Niger Delta crisis, separatist agitations, herdsmen attacks, cattle rustlers, armed robbery and kidnapping, corruption or even politically induced crisis, there is the argument that these are mutations of crisis, which has been with us, some since Independence.

    Of course, the Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, like its predecessors have been doing what it can to put out the fires. One strategy it has successfully adopted is to mandate the vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, a distinguished professor of law, to act as the chief strategist in using mediation and conciliation to fight the fires. Whether it is the Niger Delta crisis, or cries of marginalisation, or high profile kidnapping incidents, or even fallouts of natural disaster, the vice president has been entrusted with managing the situation.

    Of note, this strategy has achieved a lot, and as a practitioner of law and mediation, I can say that mediation has a lot of advantages, as a means of dispute resolution. In appropriate cases, mediation will prove to be economical, voluntary involvement and compliance, cost saving, enduring and even faster than litigation. Even arbitration, which is another method of dispute resolution, though bogged down by technicalities, is cheaper and speedier than litigation; especially were parties are foreclosed from appealing an arbitral award.

    So, this two piece instalment, will attempt a conceptual argument for the use of mediation as the best tool for dispute resolution.

    What is a dispute? A dispute is defined as “a conflict or controversy; a conflict of claims or rights; an assertion of a right, claim, or demand on one side, met by contrary claims or allegations on the other. The subject of litigation; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon which issue is joined, and in relation to which jurors are called and witnesses examined.”

    From the above, dispute and conflict are inter changeable.

    But specifically a conflict is defined as “a sense or perception, whether real or imagined, by one entity/person that his/her primary self-interests is being threatened by another entity.” From the definitions, it is clear that sometimes a dispute or conflict may be unreal, imagined, or a mere perception. Again where a dispute exists, the real cause or the causa causans may be cluttered, either by emotion, an earlier unresolved issue or other unrelated matter to the perceived conflict at hand.

    So, in many instance, one or both parties may be confused as to the real issues at stake.

    When a dispute or conflict arises, theorists agree that human beings respond in five general ways. These are: avoidance: this means that people simply ignore the conflict, dodge it, or walk away. A weaker party usually opts for this method.  The next is accommodation: here one of the parties merely submits, gives up everything, and expects little or nothing in return. Another is competition: here the parties seek to have their respective way, and may be willing to go to any length to assert same. Indeed “maximum competition could lead to war, whether of the military variety, trade wars, or social or economic clashes.”

    The next reaction could be compromise: this involves the parties accepting to meet each other half of the way. Here each party has to lower his/her expectation, and may not be very satisfied by the decision or agreement. Collaboration: “Collaboration is premised on the idea that no party’s interests are fully satisfied until all parties’ interests are fully satisfied.” In collaboration, parties put their interests on the table, bargain and agree. It is regarded as a win/win approach to conflict resolution. A major collaborative method of conflict resolution is mediation.

    When a dispute arises, there are various tools for its resolution. One commonest tool is litigation. This is defined as the: “ultimate legal method for settling controversies or disputes between and among persons, organizations, and the State. In litigation process, a case (called suit or lawsuit) is brought before a court of law suitably empowered (having the jurisdiction) to hear the case, by the parties involved (the litigants) for resolution (the judgment).” As the definition said, litigation is the ultimate legal method for settling dispute. It is the ultimate because it is binding, and parties are under compulsion to obey, when a judgment is passed.

    Of note, the definition did not consider it the best, because by nature the process is adversary. Again the litigants are contending to be clear winners in the dispute. Indeed the parties are competitors.

    Another method of dispute resolution is arbitration. According to Orojo and Ajomo: “Arbitration is a procedure for the settlement of disputes, under which the parties agree to be bound by the decision of an arbitrator whose decision is, in general, final and legally binding on both parties. The process derives its force principally from the agreement of the parties and, in addition, from the state as supervisor and enforcer of the legal process. So, where two or more persons agree that a dispute or potential dispute between them shall be decided in a legally binding way by one or more impartial persons of their choice, in a judicial manner, the agreement is called an arbitration agreement.”

    According to Professor Ezejiofor not every dispute can be referred to arbitration. He argued: “Disputes that can be referred must be justiciable issues which can be tried as civil matters. They must be disputes that can be compromised by way of accord and satisfaction. These include all matters in dispute about any real or personal property, disputes as to whether contract has been breached by either party thereto, or whether one or both parties have been discharged from further performance thereof.”

    Conversely “disputes arising out of illegal transactions cannot be referred. Thus, a difference relating to a contract which is illegal for being inconsistent with a government order cannot be enforced and may be set aside. Disputes arising out of void transaction such as wagering and gaming contract cannot be referred. It is a settled policy of the law that an arbitrator should not be empowered to settle criminal charge which is a matter of public concern”.

    To have a valid arbitration, the parties in the dispute must have consented. Without a valid agreement by the parties, there can be no valid arbitration. Thus: “The arbitration agreement is at the basis of every arbitration: it is pertinent to note that the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction is derived solely from existence and validity of the agreement of the parties.”

    With respect to mediation, Wikipedia defines it as: “a dynamic, structured, interactive process where a neutral third party assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques.” In the second part of this piece, I will discuss mediation and its advantages more elaborately.

  • False start in Digital Switch Over

    For the Nigerian broadcast industry, it must have been a rude shock to encounter the damning report on the status of the equipment and facilities deployed by federal government-owned NTA off-shoot, Integrated Television Services (ITS) for the Digital Switch Over (DSO) pilot project in Jos and the Ilorin broadcast centre. It is disheartening to say the least that after years of failed attempts to launch the nation’s digital broadcasting system and meet the international dateline for the switch over from analogue broadcasts, our success in switching on is again doomed by deliberate bungling of routine implementation processes.

    In the first part of “Realities of the Digital Switch On (DSO)” focused on signal distributors widely published in the press by Tony Dara, a renowned broadcast engineer, it was revealed that behind the façade of official bravado over the Jos pilot project lurked a scandalous scenario of obsolete equipment, old transmitters and buildings and failure to meet set targets. The disturbing implication of these lapses is that the nation is heading for another display of the “bad image” to the rest of the world as well as short-lived success of government implementation of the DSO, not to mention the tirade of tantrums from millions of Nigerians soon to be shut-out from receiving digital broadcasts.

    For general information, it should be understood that the idea of granting NTA automatic status as national digital signal distributor for the DSO was to enable the federal government to provide leadership and retain dominance for control in the national interest relying on NTA’s undisputed spread and experience in television broadcasting. As long ago as 2012 when the White Paper on DSO was released and an implementation team tagged DigiTeam established with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as supervisory regulator, the ITS should have been up and doing to live up to expectations and justify the confidence reposed in the “expertise” of the “largest television network in Africa”. The series of forced postponements in launching the DSO was like injury time to perfect the take-off of the pilot project in 2015.

    Alas, the situation today – going by the Dara Report – is that the combined collaboration of government agencies-DigiTeam, NBC, and NTA/ITS- has instead inflicted serious injury on the anticipated grand success of national roll-out of digital broadcasting in Nigeria, a feat that several nations across the world have accomplished impressively. What these agencies have delivered amounts to a false start of one bogus step forward and several bungled steps backward, mere motion without movement. It is another indictment of the role of government agencies in carrying out their statutory functions to the people of Nigeria in accordance with international best practices and good governance. Perhaps we will ultimately have to privatize government for Nigeria to really move forward!

    Specifically, one is at a loss to understand how and why NTA/ITS under the watch of NBC and by extension the information ministry could go ahead and install “transmitters that have been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer,” as the Dara Report authoritatively asserted.  Or why old analogue antenna masts and towers of the NTA transmission system were retained for “switch over” to digital broadcasting? So even the Jos pilot project showcase of government in DSO put up by ITS supposedly to cover the whole of Plateau from three sites “remains an illusion” since only Jos city location, not the entire Jos township can receive digital signals? And we cannot even provide new buildings customized for the DSO equipment and facilities and we are “managing” old buildings “that are clearly neither fit for purpose nor appropriate for digital broadcasting workflow.”

    We are clearly bedevilled by the notorious “Nigerian factor” again contrary to the best efforts of the reformist Buhari administration to change the disastrous course of the ship of state. At the root of all the identified flaws in the NTA/ITS components of the DSO NIGERIA project are the same old cankerworms of corruption, maladministration, hidden agenda among other entrenched malpractices that are against national and public interest. Here again is good reason for believing that corruption is not about to fight back when it is not only alive and kicking but, in this case, even blowing its trumpet on bogus DSO!

    Nigeria cannot afford to be the butt of jokes as the Dara Report predicted and therefore the National Assembly DSO Committee should seize advantage of the candid, authoritative and patriotic findings and do the needful to prevent the imminent crash-landing of the DSO “pilot” project by launching a thorough public inquiry to unravel the scandalous aspects of the NBC/NTA/ITS implementation of the DSO NIGERIA. Anything short of prompt and transparent review of the situation described in the Dara Report will only confirm that the Nigerian Factor bedevilling the DSO and all the concerned federal authorities is not only an infectious pandemic but also potentially incurable even to the national legislature. In addition, it is advisable to consider the constitution of a body of patriotic, independent, professionals in the broadcast industry to act as implementation vigilante for the DSO NIGERIA project since those who saw some things wrong with it refused to say anything! Meanwhile Tony Dara should not be intimidated as we expect him to complete the revealing investigation by covering the entire spectrum of DSO NIGERIA implementation so far.

     

    • Longwai is a student-broadcaster in Jos.

     

  • In search of new Nigeria

    It is very worrisome that after over five decades of nationhood, our nation isn’t really fulfilling the aspirations of its founding fathers. It is disheartening to see that currently, our beloved country seems perpetually bedeviled with a myriad of problems that suggest a nation on the brink of collapse or extinction. There are a lot of insecurity issues, economic woes, political instability, belligerent youth restiveness, indiscipline and many others. Surely our beloved nation has seen turbulent times that leaves you wondering how we got into this quagmire.

    There is a precarious air of volatility currently pervading the country. It suffices to state that not everyone, not even adults can boast of possessing the needed acumen that can sustain them into securing an enviable pedestal either now or in the immediate future because life is just so unpredictable in our dear country where you will agree that anything can happen anytime. It is the youth especially that suffer so much from this uncertain state as their future hang in the balance. Their thirst and lust for money brought about by the present harsh economic quagmire has blindfolded some of them, thereby making them ready to do anything just to make money.

    It will definitely not be out of place to opine that the state of giddiness being experienced now in spite of all the lamentations about our situation is brought about by the levity with which each successive government has tackled and is still tackling corruption which I see as a bane to our present predicament. Nigerians have been described as special species as many wonder how they continue to cope with innumerable daunting challenges. They are daily surrounded with embroiled corruption going on around them coupled with shameful acts of impunity and retribution inflicted on their psyche by the elite. Ours is a country where trillions of hard and local currencies are looted and stashed in homes and unexpected places while those found culpable are only tried in the media. Hence the big question, how do we tackle a dreadful national malady as corruption?

    Corruption has become a grave blight of our nation, to the extent that the few who have access to the country’s collective wealth continue to get richer while majority wallows in abject poverty. Gone are the days when we had the upper, middle and lower classes. We have become a laughing stock; serious investors shun our nation for the fear of corruption. Unfortunately, in the midst of all these, our culture of wastage lingers on as scarce national resources are filtered away in unproductive ventures when they could have been committed to better use.

    There is a need therefore for government to do more than it is doing presently. Sincerely, stiffer penalties and stringent measures like international travel ban, circulate their names to embassies for possible blacklisting, enforcement of repatriations for those who might have managed to get away, newspaper disclaimer listing, amendment of existing relevant laws that will ameliorate the ease of enforcement and so on, should be meted out on whoever is found culpable no matter whose ox is gored. We should actually borrow experiences from other countries like China, Egypt and so on, on how they were able to solve their corruption issues.

    Indiscipline is another major bane of our nation and it cuts across all sectors. When Nigerians go abroad, they adhere strictly to the laws, rules and regulations of their host countries. They are fascinated about how things work, how it is possible to trade and do business seamlessly and how it is possible to use your details to apprehend you whenever you run afoul of the law. However, whenever this same people return home, they frustrate every laudable effort to do things right. How sad!

    The business environment isn’t really getting better either. As it is usually with us, we want everyone to go into one business enterprise or the other, enticing them with one loan or the other. While this is not really a bad idea, it has to be emphasized that most of those who access such loans have little or no expertise in the business area they want to venture into. Of course, the consequence of a failed business is usually more devastating on the economy and on the morale of the individual involved.

    In as much as it is good to encourage local business enterprise, we need to start thinking about developing potentially viable areas such as ICT, sports, arts, tourism etc. Lots of opportunities abound, especially for the youths, in these core areas as they represent new globally recognized money-spinning ventures.  Therefore, all tiers of governments and other stakeholders must have a rethink and make efforts at developing these promising areas if only for their job creation potentials.

    In as much as things are not going really well in the country, it needs to be stressed, however, that there is nothing about our current situation that is insurmountable. Several countries around the world have had similar or same experiences. The only difference is that while others identify their challenges and frontally work on them, for example Japan and Switzerland with limited territories but amongst the strongest economies of the world, we seem to cover up ours and keep on living with the pretext that they never exist. Unfortunately, countries that attain valid nationhood are those that demonstrate sufficient resolve to solve their problems.

    Over time, human beings have proven their resiliency by demonstrating that great things are possible and man is capable of incredible successes in spite of monumental odds. Nigerians must not be an exception but remain hopeful. I wonder if it will make any difference to this generation if government at this time can re-introduce back into our schools at all levels our past History, Civics and Government, Health and Social Studies, books, literature, films and all forms of records to show our past and present history. Hopefully this will help us most especially the youths to have a rethink and chart a way forward for themselves that will secure and safeguard their future.

    While directing our energy towards a search for a new Nigeria, we must necessarily change our attitude to life and work pattern, respect the laws and regulations of our country, shun bribery and corruption, be more proactive, productive and invest more in our nation. Most importantly, we must as a matter of urgency stop recycling the political elite in order to save our beloved country.

    We cannot afford to remain too docile as a people. We must speak out and allow our voices to be heard. We must not despair but keep doing the right things to save our country from this tempestuous period by doing all we can to escape the condemnation and damnation of history and posterity. We cannot be the people and the generation that gave up even as others fought to save their own countries. Nigeria is our beloved country; we must work to salvage it together.

     

    • Olowu-Adekoya is of Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning & Budget, Alausa, Ikeja.   

  • Why Ndigbo must listen to Chidoka

    Every reasonable person watching affairs in Nigeria, would likely conclude that the greatest issue in Igboland today, is neither the much-advertised Second Niger Bridge nor the nightmare people go through to access federal roads in the area, because of their impassable nature.

    Certainly, these are huge problems that raise concerns of monumental proportion. But they pale into insignificance when laid side by side with the question of locating the place of the Igbo man in Nigeria’s socio-political architecture, and which, more recently because of Biafra and all the concomitant attachments thereto, has now assumed a new meaning, having become, somewhat, a matter of life and death.

    Yes! Life and death, because, never in the history of the nation, 50 years on, since the civil war, has the situation of Ndigbo become this precarious. Whether real or imagined, the reality is that countless Igbo people envisage danger and the smell of death in their land.

    Not that there had been anytime in the last decades after the war that the Igbo did not have issues with Nigeria. In fact, at the historic Mkpoko Igbo conference in 1994, where they articulated their position for the 1995 Constitutional Conference, under the late General Sani Abacha, they had encapsulated all else into a singular mantra – marginalisation.

    The claim is that the Igbo people have not only been encased in a glass cage, but their relationship with and in Nigeria is that of Jonah in the belly of the fish. However, though the problem did not disappear completely, but through some political brinkmanship and manoeuvring, which appeared to nibble at it, the din of this singsong, had ebbed considerably over the years, until now.

    Recent events have escalated the echoes of this unpalatable song several decibels over. The two-year plus government of President Muhammadu Buhari, appears to have eroded all the gains achieved in this regard. In fact, if the situation had remained at the level of pre-democracy times, many people would have been less worried. But there are actually many who fear of a cataclysmic eruption that would lead to fire and brimstone, raining on Igbo people not only in the South-east, but in many parts of the country.

    Even though the recent quit notice to the Igbo to leave the North has come and gone without any bad news so far, its implication in addition to the recent military operations, such as the Show of Force that led to the alleged invasion of the Afaraukwu, Umuahia, Abia State, home of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Operation Python Dance, that has succeeded in throwing a huge military pall across the entire Igboland, has gone a long way to increase the fear that something sinister is actually in the offing, if not now, then in future.

    So, why is every other candidate in the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election next month not making Biafra an issue in their campaign? Why keep mute on an issue, which is as dangerous as an exposed dry gunpowder?

    Why, for instance, is Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State, who today is the number one citizen of that state favouring the mundane, banal, insipid and totally fanciful mantra of exporting pumpkins abroad as his campaign talking point than this matter that strikes at the very existence of the same people he wishes to continue leading? Does he think that forcibly getting youths in his state to remove the insignias of Biafra from their shops, vehicles, keke and other belongings or stopping them from carrying out open demonstrations in the streets would cure the anger in his state at the moment? Why the obvious morbid fear?

    Of course, it is obvious that it is more politically correct to keep silent over the issue, because speaking in any manner could be interpreted as an affront and thus, offend the powers that be, who assumedly, hold the key to any election. For that reason, it becomes a no-go area.

    How infantile! Now, if you are afraid to speak to the very issues which tug at the very soul of your people, or paper over them, ostensibly, in order not to give offence, what right have you then to aspire to govern over the same people? Has political office become that alluring and sweet that it has to be bought at the price of cowardice?

    Leadership goes beyond building roads or providing water. It includes pointing out the direction in which the people you superintendent over their affairs should follow. How many people can point out the roads or bridges built by Ojukwu of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, or Chuba Okadigbo? But today, their names resonate with the people, because, at critical periods in their times, when the bells tolled, they stood up to be counted among their people, because, all politics, as they say, is local.

    Is that not why the candidate of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Osita Chidoka is making such waves at the moment in the same political arena, having seemingly linked up to the conduit connecting leadership to the people’s heartbeat and aspiration?

    How come it is only the former Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and former Minister of Aviation that seems to have dared the odds, picked up the gauntlet and presented the case of the Igbo people in the manner he is doing presently?  Of course, nothing in his conduct has indicated an open support for the wrong actions of the Biafra agitators. But he has equally not thrown the baby away with the bathwater. Recall that he was the one that went to personally drive Kanu in his own car out of Kuje Prison a few months ago. Yet, he has never failed to denounce each wrong step the IPOB leader took, such as no-election stance of the group and even street agitations.

    He has continued to tell anybody who cares to listen how, as a governor, his main task, would be to interpret the Igbo people to Nigeria and vice versa. He has taken time to explain in practical terms how he intends to accomplish this task. This included an immediate campaign for a referendum through the National Assembly for the creation of another state in the South-east, to bring it at par with other zones in the country, personally meeting with Buhari to present the case of Ndigbo and ask him to treat them better, and pushing for the abolition of State of Origin, as an official requirement in the affairs of governments in Nigeria.

    Hear him: “I’m asking all the Igbo youth who are aggrieved, who are angry about the situation in Nigeria that our war will no longer be in the streets. Our war will be of intelligence. It will be a war of Uche, Uchu na Egwu Chukwu. We will not be afraid of making Nigeria work for you.”

    Now, in which way would this sort of mind-set constitute an affront, offend the powers that be or be interpreted as confrontational? Instead, would it not provide an elixir and a soothing balm to the already festering pain the Igbo nation and indeed Nigeria is undergoing at the moment and benefit both sides in the end?

    You only needed to attend one of the Chidoka rallies, such as the one to flag off his campaign, which held at Amorka, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, on September 30, to see how the same youths who did not mind to stop bullets with their bare chests, are now buying into the mantra of using the political process to pursue their aspirations. That is the effect of strategic thinking.

     

    • Igboanugo, is an Abuja-based journalist.

     

  • Nigeria @57: Musings of a young citizen

    On Sunday, Nigeria turned 57. It was indeed a great cause for celebration. Amidst all the aplomb and celebration lay a very important question: Is the unity of Nigeria really non-negotiable?

    Let us examine the hypothesis surrounding Nigeria’s “sacred unity”. On October 1, 1960, 57 years ago, Nigeria gained her independence amidst much celebration and fanfare. I was not born then but I have heard and also read about how Nigerians were filled with so much hope and promise of a better future, a future which people like me still dream about till this day. As for the question posed above, I am contending that the “Nigerian Unity” our leaders have sworn to protect is incomprehensible and indeed a disaster for our nation.

    As the popular saying goes, “only a foolish man tries the same thing several times expecting different results”.  Is Nigeria this foolish man? For 57 years, we have been “united” and what benefits has this brought? We have had 57 chaotic years of poor leadership, a civil war and our people by the hour sink into moral delinquency. Whenever people bring the argument that ”our unity is sacred”, I ask ”How many countries have the same level of diversity as we have in Nigeria”? Nigeria has over 300 tribes and languages. All these tribes and languages have been merged into a strange contraption called Nigeria.

    I am of the opinion that the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in January 1914 was a grave mistake that we have yet to recover from. It took Malaysia and India far less time to rectify similar mistakes.

    They recognised their differences early with the former splitting into Malaysia and Singapore while Pakistan and Bangladesh were created from India. However, the mistake called Nigeria has been made and it’s far too late to correct it now. The only solution is to minimize the effects of that mistake. The only way to achieve this now is by restructuring the country while abiding by the true rules of federalism, in a similar model as provided for in the constitution used in the period from 1960 to 1966.

    The period from 1960 to 1966, otherwise called First Republic, was arguably Nigeria’s golden age.  Power was effectively shared between the centre and the various regions. This gave autonomy to each region, basically enabling us to function as “three autonomous regions in one nation”. In those six years, Nigeria had visionary leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and the less talked about Chief Michael Okpara, Nigeria was at its closest to achieving its promise and delivering on the hope which Nigerians were beaming with at independence on October 1 1960. However, the ill-fated coup of 1966 happened and since then we haven’t had such quality of leaders. These leaders focused more on their regions and paid little or no attention to the “One Nigeria” myth. They were silent big achievers unlike the loud ones we have as leaders today. The fact still remains that the period from 1960 to 1966 under a regional system of government was our golden age. If it worked once, we can try again. Our representatives in the National Assembly should indeed hear the pleas of advocates of restructuring as the current system of “unitary federalism” has left our country in a coma for a little too long. It is worthy of note to mention that I lend no credence to the thuggery of separatist groups like IPOB but the only away to allay such fears and to prevent a re-emergence of such groups is to restructure this country in a way that will accommodate all our differences. The unity might be non-negotiable but the structure of the country is definitely very negotiable and in fact must be changed. There is need for devolution of powers instead of concentration of powers at the centre. We must re-ignite healthy competition between the regions.

    Cost of governance must be reduced to free resources for development. Our system must be tough on corruption.  Source of revenue for the state must be diversified. We must allow component units to discover their strength and exploit it for development purposes.

    In all, I wish all Nigerians a happy 57th independence, although I am of the opinion that there is little to celebrate. We can self-reflect and hope for a better future. I pray to the Good Lord to bless our country and enable us fulfil our true potential as the “Giants of Africa”.

     

    • Olaniyonu writes from Bwari, Abuja.
  • Obi, a welcome godfather

    Obi, a welcome godfather

    Presently the reigning vibes in the Anambra State political terrain is this ear-boozing song – Godfatherism. Most Anambrarians believe that Dr. Willie Obiano is evidently so desperate to clinch a second term berth that his followers, who are thinning by the day, are catching at straws like the proverbial drowning man.

    From the saying that the former governor, Mr. Peter Obi was demanding seven billion naira from the incumbent governor as the money spent while the ‘Godfather’ (Obi) installed his Godson (Obiano) to the fairytale that Obi left APGA on his own for pursuit of federal appointment, down to the fact that he betrayed APGA by leaving the party, and on to such concocted tales – all in efforts to make Mr. Obi abandon any interest in Anambra State politics of 2017.

    But Obi, even though not interested in responding or exchanging words with them amidst very tempting provocations, decided to cut across their ice by getting deeply involved with same election. Their disappointment could be felt, seen and even touched. However, these could not debar the ex-governor from assisting in riding his dear state of what many perceive as aliens in power.

    Right from when primaries were getting closer and hotter, Gov Obiano’s cronies were busy shouting, attempting to sow seeds of crisis into the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), just because it was then clear that former Secretary to the State Government, Oseloka Obaze was not only a strong contender but also being supported by Obi. From under table intrigues of clandestine nature to open rascality like arranging a handful of paid protesters in Onitsha, the Obiano camp went agog with what many call debasing politics of open blackmail and outright lies masked in propaganda.

    Obaze has been busy selling his programme, convincing Anambra people that he is the best person for the job. Rather than do likewise, Obiano and his people are only shouting godfather up and down the streets. Is godfather a negative phenomenon? The late EzeIgbo Gburugburu, Dim Emeka Ojukwu was Mr. Obi’s godfather? What about Obi himself? Wasn’t he Obiano’s godfather? Let’s face it – Obiano himself confessed he was swimming when he was called home to govern. He was provided even the air ticket to fly home to that call. And according to Joemartins Uzodike on various radio appearances, Obiano came home with a jelly-coiled hair. He was taken to a barber’s shop for a haircut, clothed responsibly and was fed until he became governor by the man who made him governor. He, Obiano was bought a jeep, a Prado jeep and a Lexus jeep for his wife – all paid by the man who made him governor. In all we hear about godfatherism none has been as completely domineering in execution like the one Obi did for Obiano.

    Today, let’s agree that Obi is Obaze’s godfather…but Obi is not taking care of Obaze’s looks. As SSG for three years at least he inherited official cars he’s still using. He’s conveniently taking care of himself and family. He’s made enough savings as a very prudent man to purchase his own nomination and declaration of interest forms. He’s been funding his campaign team. In his fleet were vehicles he personally bought to boost his campaigns. His posters, literature, handbills, various meetings are sponsored by the man. Obaze is never the type of lame godson Obiano was.

    If Obi was Obiano’s godfather, did Obi one day arm-twist his godson? When this godson and the other godfather, the former national chairman of the party, demanded for Obi to leave the party didn’t Obi leave immediately? If there’s any truth in this propaganda-gone-sour, why didn’t Obi insist on being paid this sum before he left in the true ways of the godfather Obiano and his cronies want ndi Anambra to believe Obi represents? And the bold question should be – What manner of godfather would leave his godson’s party if indeed his interest hovered around recouping his campaign fund?

    But looking at the man Peter Obi, which state in Nigeria would not truly wish he was a godfather in anointing any governor? Can a good husband be a bad man? Not likely. Obi, in eight years of governing Anambra State developed all parts of Anambra via ANIDS. Poverty Alleviation; Education; Health; Security; Agriculture; Road Infrastructure; Public Utilities; Water; Judiciary; Housing; etc – Obi scored first in all these. He brought the state to enviable positions in all departments that for once, ndi Anambra sang in unison that he was God-sent.

    What was Obi’s secret of performance? Professionals say it’s prudence and I can’t agree more. Obi is so prudent that they christened him aka gum. Yes, he aka-gummed Anambra’s scarce resources that he was able to give real governance to the masses. That’s why they love him….they shout Okwuteee anywhere they see him. They still love the only real governor they’ve ever known. Ndi Anambra dream of another governor like their Okwute once more. If indeed he is a godfather to Obaze it is to the latter’s huge credit.

    This is the major set-back the other Godson lacks that is driving his camp crazy. This is why they are lying to and cajoling ndi Anambra to reject godfatherism. There are godfathers and there are godfathers. Peter Obi is one godfather ndi Anambra will welcome with open arms. Already majority are saying – if Obi tells us to vote for Obaze we will gladly do so.

    Anywhere in Anambra, every of the 177 communities have more than one reason to welcome Obi with genuine love. He’s built schools, constructed roads, built hospitals and health centres, provided amenities, boosted industries, provided poverty alleviation via agriculture and SMEs, and many others. Such a man should be called back to be a godfather any time. Because today, the hawks are back in governance. What the poor masses see is governance of enriching private pockets and denying the poor masses, despite being cripplingly overtaxed immediately Obi left. What they are seeing is a government where the only finished projects are located in one community – Aguleri.

    The masses want the Obi days to return. They are happy that Obi is interested in bringing those days back by being actively involved. In fact, they were afraid that since Obiano disappointed in continuing with good governance that Obi would abandon Anambra. But they now know how much their Okwute loves them. They will do everything to see those great days back.

    Love him or hate him, Peter Obi is one person great majority of ndi Anambra will welcome wholeheartedly as a godfather.

     

    • Akosa wrote in from Onitsha.

  • Leave the Senators, Reps alone now

    If an independent commission sets a miserable N18,000 as Minimum wage to pay the Majority, then the Senators, like the Gods, Are Not to Blame

    book about how Dr. Goodluck Jonathan got to be president is to be launched this month. It’s titled: On a Platter of Gold. I would have titled it: Goodluck’s Run of Luck, or something. Because on a platter of gold is the best phrase to capture how Umaru Yar’Adua obtained to the presidency. Upon being sworn in as president after all that went before (do read my piece “PMB please forgive them” for the details), Yar’Adua announced to the world that the process of his emergence was flawed. So, the earnest expectation of the conclusion of that statement was: The process of my emergence was flawed and so I’m calling for fresh elections/… and so I’m stepping aside/… and so I’m bowing out altogether.

    Did he say or do any of these? Not At All. Rather he even secretly vowed to himself to die on the seat of power. And he did.

    One southern governor, sworn in May 2007, remained in office till 2012, then elections were conducted. He went to the courts, got a court order and restrained INEC from including his state when conducting governorship elections nationwide in 2011, as scheduled. His projection had been to remain in office till August last year 2016, if possible even till now, if not for one aggrieved Adamawa governorship aspirant whose state was in a similar predicament.

    He appealed to the Supreme Court. Only then could INEC conduct elections; in fact the Supreme Court averred that the southern governor as well as four other governors should have vacated their seats before May 29 the previous year.

    So what concerns these two with Senators’ salaries? Everything, trust me, and here is the reason why.

    Firstly you can imagine there would be fear for one to even cast a headline like this, against popular opinion, thus putting oneself at risk of being dismissed outright. But if you have read this far, it would be great if you would follow me right through onto a logical conclusion.

    The Senators are reportedly paid about thirty nine million naira as monthly salary, with the House of Representatives members take home coming close on the mark.

    And I’m saying we should leave them alone. You might wonder,

    maybe I ‘have’ someone there, so I am ‘benefitting’ from their jumbo pay. Or don’t I know the former CBN governor Sanusi had said that one quarter of the nation’s revenue goes to maintaining just the lawmakers?

    1. It might interest you to know that I am a broadcast journalist by profession; I am a Newscaster (pictured). One cardinal component of the salary in this profession is the Wardrobe Allowance. This obtains universally for obvious reasons. But may I let you know I have NEVER been paid even “SKIRT” Allowance, not “BLOUSE” Allowance, before we even talk of Wardrobe Allowance! Never, not once, and none of my colleagues have either except those old school broadcasters who enjoyed in the early days. It was just 2 weeks ago Alhaji Lai Mohammed called for a return to a Media Salary Scale.

    Or the Hardship Allowance! A couple of weeks back  Nigerians saw and heard how soldiers assaulted, brutalized and maimed journalists right inside their own NUJ building in Abia State and called that a Python Dance. What could be harder and more risky than my job? But the day hasn’t dawned yet in which Hardship Allowance is paid.

    I still say to leave the Senators alone. There are places to beam that searchlight on and one of those is the payment of multiple pensions to former political office holders. Individually, this is in megabucks, monthly. These people all draw from the common purse, it’s just that their style is “Chop and Clean Mouth” .

    Take for instance the person who has called the National Assembly members “a gang of unarmed robbers”. This same person draws multimillions in multiple salaries. I call it Mega Jumbo Pay. The payment made to that entire ilk is a great drain on our commonwealth. I daresay the cumulative pay of one of them alone can pay 10 Senators a month.

    Multiple pay to those people like Chief Obasanjo is not only duplicitous; it is underhanded and also fraudulent.  The act constitutes a crime against all the youths and workers of Nigeria.

    People rush to crucify the ex-governors who ‘make’ laws’ for their exit into a life of luxury. This, to be paid for by their then impoverished states. But I tell you they only learnt from their masters, OBJ being master of the game! He draws from the army, from the state and federal governments, and from being a former president. Not satisfied, he THEN makes a ‘law’ that all past heads of state are to have an official association ‘Council of State’ and be paid MORE multi-millions even for giving more of their vacuous ideas. The shallow reasoning of these demagogues is what has put Nigeria in our retrogressive state.

    The thing with the senators reduces to this everlasting truth by Publius Syrus: Nemo judex in causa sua. It’s a Latin phrase that means, literally “No-one should be a Judge in his own Case”.

    Yar’Adua knew he was rigged in, did he leave? No.

    That southern governor knew he was pushing 5 years on a 4 year mandate, did he say Ah ah, my time is up? No way. Walk away from all that sugar being rubbed on his lips? Not possible! It just must be another to say TIME UP. And it is they, the umpires that we need to take to task. If the RMAFC, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation & Fiscal Commission (an independent national body) sets and maintains a most miserable N18,000 monthly minimum wage to pay the majority; and then sets 40 million monthly minimum for some others – then Senators, like the Gods, Are Not to Blame*.

    The umpires are.

    So much so that even if the Senators set their own pay, and they get paid while others are owed – the blame still lies with the umpires who are the ones charged with that responsibility. They are paid to do it, but they abdicate their duties. Senators don’t go to the treasury to grab the money there, and share amongst themselves. It is paid them.

    So clearly the umpires are the ones we should hold to account. Not the Reps; NOT the Senators.

    Short and simple – the members of the RMAFC should be dismissed and replaced. With rapid speed. And that’s my take.

     

    • The Gods Are Not To Blame is an African classic by Zulu Sofola. 07055547031 sms or whatsapp.

  • Nwando Achebe: Her story and her glorious professionalism

    In the world of History, there are two kinds of historians: those who narrate history, and those who make history while narrating it! Professor Nwando Achebe is the latter—one of the few daughters of Africa to attain the status of full Professor at a Research 1 University, due to the dint of her hard work and research. By taking the less-travelled road of chronicling the histories of African women to carve the distinct path of her scholarship, she has evolved history into herstory.

    I am endeavouring to talk about one of Africa’s greatest children, who was formally robed on September 22nd with both the vestment and “skin” of academic attainment along with the challenge to do even more. So, how does one begin to talk about the achievements of someone whose contributions to historical scholarship are a work of history in themselves? Indeed, how best can one capture the excellence of the scholarship of Professor Nwando Achebe, a scion of great storytellers of Africa, who has distinguished herself in her own right by forging also her own path of storytelling in the often treacherous terrain that we call academia?

    For those of us who talk for a living, sometimes finding the right words to convey the profundity of a moment such as this can be difficult. It is neither because word has failed us nor just because word can ever fail even us; it is mostly because, at times like this one, language itself teases us. Words challenge us to find enough of its component parts to express the depth of the overwhelming emotion that one senses on a day like this one. Consequently, we search for the right words and, as soon as they are spoken, we realize our feelings are even more intense. Therefore, please forgive me, my colleagues and fellow Africans if, when you read this piece, you sense that my words still do not adequately convey the import of what we are celebrating. What I underscore today can only transport a fraction of the pride and admiration I genuinely feel for Professor Nwando Achebe, a Scholar’s Scholar!  Whatever is deficient about my abilities to fully swoop the magnitude of this moment into a few minutes’ tribute (just as the swift hawk swoops down on a chick for its meal), time and history will make up for it as the academy registers the weight of her contributions to global history and scholarship in the years to come; in the end, history will absorb her.

    The late and legendary Chinua Achebe once said “It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have – otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.” Derek Walcott’s endorsement of this line of thinking is, in fact, very dense: “Time is the metre, memory the only plot.” Since I don’t have the literary license to add an exclamation after Walcott’s “plot,” I won’t do it now! However, the more I ponder on the words of these two great literary giants and intellectuals, the deeper their embedded truth resonates with me. The storyteller defines a culture, people, and their history, while taking liberty with the “metre” of that past and time to generate a series of plots. The storyteller, coupled with the historian, is the one who ensures that the children of the survivors of catastrophic historical events can rise from the rubbles of the past and, like the Biblical Nehemiah, embark on the project of the restoration of the present.

    Dr. Nwando Achebe embodies the political task with which the historian is imbued by the scope of her research in African history. As we all know, her area of specialization is women, gender, and sexuality and, on those scores, she has delivered excellently. In the process, she has deployed her robust intellectual energy to tell the stories of African women that would have otherwise been tucked away in dusty archives and women’s oral history that have declined, according to the order of nature. She has revived the memories of these women of our past and we, the descendants of those women, can walk taller. Prof. Achebe’s scholarship has created a memory for us to know the paths our mothers have once walked. Now we too can forge our own paths with the light the historian has provided, rather than be mere shadows in the light of others. Her work reminds us to honour women.

    Endowed Professor Nwando Achebe’s first book showed women in their multifaceted contours. Entitled Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900-1960, the book confronts the age-long belief that the Igbo had no kings. In a jarring confrontation of this belief, Farmers, Traders, Warriors and Kings, does explore the northern part of Igboland where the idea of Igbo kings was not an aberration, but in fact, they had female kings! Contrary to the stereotypical depiction of African women as passive and eternally dependent on male strength, women in these areas served as warriors and some of them even took on traditionally male roles by marrying other women themselves. This book throws into relief the complexity of socio-political interactions, spiritual principles, local customs, and the gender politics of pre-colonial Igboland. Her study of the triadic phase of African colonial history—pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial—yielded valuable insights into the place of gender in African thought, indeed, in such a way that Western feminist scholarship, which has dominated the field, has not been sufficiently analyzed.

    Her second book, The Female King of Colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe, continued in her activist scholarship of telling women’s own stories. Prof. Achebe excavates the story of a woman, Ahebi Ugbabe, who became a king in colonial Nigeria, not just a Queen by British tradition for the female royalty, a study that provides the fascinating trajectory that led her to the throne. Like the exiling to the Seychelles of the Asante royalty by the British back in the then-named Gold Coast (now called Ghana since 1957), Ugbabe was also exiled from Igboland, to become during her banishment, an adventurer who travelled far across cultures. She took up prostitution and along the way, she learned many languages as well. Ugbabe would eventually become a king with the support of the network of friendship and power she developed along the course of her travels and eventual odyssey. This critical biography shares numerous insights into a female’s route to gendered power and authority in the colonial history of Nigeria, similar to how the lives and times of the Asantehene (or King of Asante in Ghana) has enriched the cultural history of neighbouring Ghana.

    Indeed, in the recognition of the sterling work of scholarship Dr. Achebe invested in this book, she was awarded the 2012 Gita Chaudhuri Prize by The Western Association of Women Historians, the 2012 Barbara “Penny” Kanner Prize (Western Association of Women Historians) Winner, and the 2013 Aidoo-Snyder Book Award of the African Studies Association Women’s Caucus.

    Time and dwindling space will not permit me to continue talking about all of the other excellent published works by Prof. Nwando Achebe; for, she is not only a researcher par excellence, but also a distinguished writer as well, indeed a fine chip from the old block. From the time she completed her Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles, having studied with some of the best historical minds of that institution, she has distinguished herself by showing that a rolling stone gathers no moss, hence staying at MSU this long; she has also shown distinction in the field of African (or Africana) Studies. Our dear Professor Nwando Achebe has written many refereed and popular articles on contemporary issues, particularly about women in Nigeria, with many more works to be published soon. She has also delivered more than a hundred invited and endowed lectures in the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, China, and Portugal (where she and her distinguished mother, Professor Christine Achebe, co-presented a recognition to her distinguished father in celebrating 50 years of Things Fall Apart). A public intellectual to be reckoned with, Prof. Achebe also regularly makes contributions in the media via TV, podcasts, newspapers, and high school books. She is currently serving as a member of the African Studies Association’s Board of Directors and is past co-Convenor of the ASA’s Women Caucus. She is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of West African History. Additionally, she has been the recipient of several research grants, including from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Fulbright-Hays Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, amongst others.

    I join in celebrating Prof. Achebe as she is awarded The Jack and Margaret Sweet Endowed Professorship of History at Michigan State University (MSU). We are celebrating a woman whose research embodies one of the most beautiful names we give our children in the south eastern part of Nigeria–Nkolika, the female name that means “remembering is supreme.” Our fathers gave their daughters this name because, just like what the great storyteller (Chinua Achebe, himself) once said about historians, they create the memory that forms the arsenals of those who have survived history. Historians like Prof. Nwando Achebe, often rare breeds, make us remember, and because remembering is supreme, we know the paths we have walked before. We know where we want to go, and how we should remember today for tomorrow. We owe it all to historians, or as in this case, the herstorians, including Professor Nwando Achebe; the women and, indeed, scholars like her, who help us to remember through the histories of the women they narrate. And, above all, in relating this history and the stories of these women, Prof. Nwando Achebe (as the creator) makes her own history in academia and outside of it as well.

    Congratulations, indeed!

    • Prof. Falola of University of Texas at Austin

  • Excursion into the past: What Adesanya told Obasanjo

    I owe the story I’m about to recall entirely to Senator Abraham Aderibigbe Adesanya, the NADECO leader now of blessed memory.

    I think it was sometime in 2006 or 2007 during my years in London that I went to visit my townsman and uncle, Senator Adesanya in one of the most secured luxury apartments I had ever seen in the United Kingdom, where he was convalescing.

    So tight was the security in that place that getting in was like the scenario painted by Apala musician, Haruna Ishola in one of his songs, of an ant trying to enter into a rock without an opening to explore. I think the song goes thus: “Erin pa mi titi, ikan lo oun wo’nu apata, lai s’ilekun to mi a ba t’ategun wole, iru ogbon wo lo mi a lo, iru ete wo lo ma da si; eniti o l’owo teru, to loun mi a da damaski, gbese ti o ni tan, lo ra’wo le.”

    But I was armed with all the details that would unlock the door for me into that apartment said to have been provided for the lawyer-politician by one of his ardent supporters in the pro-democracy struggle of those heady years.

    The aging man was elated to see me once I was ushered into his presence. I prostrated full length to greet him and he responded by saying, “thank you, Aguntasolo (the sobriquet given me by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in my first-ever one on one meeting with him in his Park Lane, Apapa home in 1977 and by which his associates like Chiefs Ayo Adebanjo and Olanihun Ajayi as well as Mama H.I.D Awolowo used to call me by, till today).”

    I sank into a sofa in the modest sitting room and after thanking me for making the time to come and pay him a get-well visit, my host went into throwing the usual banter of which he was famous.

    We discussed first his health and every other subject under the sun before he narrated his most intimate encounter with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as president of Nigeria.

    He spoke of his desire to meet with the retired army general to discuss issues of national interest but on the condition that he would rather the meeting with the president hold anywhere but Abuja. They eventually settled for Ota where he said he bared his mind in an unflattering manner.

    According to Senator Adesanya, he told his host his worry about his style, that he (Obasanjo) was too stubborn and heady. “I told him in plain Yoruba: Segun, ewure ni e,” Adesanya recalled that encounter with the then President, explaining that, like the proverbial goat that keeps returning to where he was always getting whipped, Obasanjo was always unrelenting in the pursuit of any issue he applied his mind to.

    Senator Adesanya told me that after he had finished telling his host his mind, the man sought his permission to respond; and the response came in the form of a song: “omo o le jo Baba, ka ma binu omo, e o roju aiye, omo o le jo Baba, ka ma binu omo, Olusegun yi jo Baba e ju, omo o le jo Baba, ka ma binu omo”

    This song, according to Senator Adesanya, prompted him to ask Obasanjo which father he was referring to in his song, to which the unputdownable General replied: “enyin ni, sir”. They both roared in laughter.

    Truth is the witty Egba high chief may not be too wrong, if one recalls Senator Adesanya’s antecedents when he newly returned to the country as a young lawyer in the 60s, from the UK from where he qualified.

    He was bubbling with political ideas and was keen in entering the arena of politics as a contestant into the Western House of Assembly for an Ijebu Igbo state constituency, in which his party leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had a preferred candidate in an established educationist, Mr E.O.J Bamiro. But Adesanya would have none of that; he instead chose to run on an independent platform; and boy, it was a swirling electioneering campaign he had. The sing-song then, which had a rebellious tinge to it, laid emphasis on going with the youth: “E je ka dibo f’omode, e je ‘a dibo f’omode; Bamiro o gbodo nibo, Sanni (the NPC candidate) o gbodo nibo, e je ka dibo f’omode”. Though he lost that election but it was the episode through which he warmed his way into Awo’s heart and for which he earned the Ijebu East Senatorial seat in Ogun State, a decade later in 1979.