The Nation Newspaper

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  • Issues that should drive constitution review

    I welcome you all to Lagos. Let me start by thanking you for your commitment to the ongoing process by the legislature to review the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I must also state that Lagos State has always responded and participated in several review exercises and calls for amendments of our Constitutionas initiated in the past by the National Assemblies in 2005,2009 and 2011. We will continue to do so.

    The defining feature of federalism is the autonomy and recognition of the separateness and independence of each government that makes up the Federation. If this is true, we must therefore ask ourselves these salient questions:

    1. Why should States be precluded from performing several important Constitutional responsibilities?
    2. Why does the Federal Government hold legislative and executive powers on matters of local concern which over-stretch its administrative and supervisory abilities?

    iii.Why should the Land Use Act, NYSC Act, Code of Conduct Act form part of the Constitution?

    iv.Should we not have a sharing formula that ensures that States and Local Government Councils are empowered to discharge their Constitutional responsibilities? We need to be truthful and frank about fiscal federalism.

    1. Should the Constitution not confer power on State Houses of Assembly to establish State Police with clear jurisdiction and well-articulated protocols for the regulation of its relationship with the federal police?

    Ladies and gentlemen, these questions are at the centre of the issues Lagos State wants addressed in this constitutional review. We must identify and address the provisions in our constitution which have become stumbling blocks in the spirit of true federalism and in our efforts to fully realise our potentials in all sectors of the nation.

    Some selected areas identified by our State for amendment are as follows:

    The Executive List and Devolution of Powers

    We believe that the principle of appropriateness should guide the sharing of powers between the federal and state governments. Our political experience and long era of military rule has resulted in the Exclusive Legislative List being tilted heavily in favour of the Federal Government at the expense of the State Governments.

    The effect is that whilst the States are precluded from performing several important constitutional responsibilities, the Federal Government is equally unable to function effectively as it holds legislative and executive powers on matters of local concern which over-stretch its administrative and supervisory abilities.

    Land Use

    It is the position of Lagos State Government that the Land Use Act be separated from the Constitution and made applicable only to the Federal Capital Territory.Land has always been and should remain a residual matter for the State Houses of Assembly to legislate upon, hence the Land Use Act should become Land Use Law of the States.

    Revenue Allocation/Special Status

    The current revenue allocation formula by which the Federal Government takes as much as 52.68% of centrally-collected revenues in the Federation Account, leaving the States and Local Governments with 26.72% and 20.60% respectively has created a glaring and unacceptable imbalance in the financial resources of the three tiers of government.

    The sharing formula should be limited to Federal and State governments. Since Local Governments are to come under the purview of the States, allocations to them should be shared to States as they can have as many Local Governments as they wish. The 774 formula is inequitable.

    We also strongly posit that Lagos State be granted a special status in the proposed Constitutional amendment being the former federal capital territory of Nigeria, the economic and commercial nerve centre of the Nation, taking into cognisance of the high population density and continuous influx of people into it.

    State Policing

    Over the years, the Federal Government has been unable to prioritise and provide the resources that are necessary to pay, equip and train policemen to the level required by the challenges they face. With about 300,000 policemen to a population of more than 140 million (a ratio of 1 to 467), it is obvious that Nigeria is grossly under-policed.

    These inadequacies are most keenly felt in the more populated areas of Nigeria like Lagos and in spite of a growing army of educated job seekers flocking the cities, this inadequacy in the number of policemen has not been remedied due to funding constraints and administrative inefficiencies of the Police Force itself.

    For a State like Lagos, the problem is particularly acute. With a population of over 22 million people and the most rapid population growth profile in Nigeria, the inadequacies of the security system have been most keenly felt. We have had to take some radical steps to aid the force and bring succour to our people.

    We have had to inject huge financial resources to support all security agencies in the State. However, this level of involvement is still inadequate, mainly because the State Government has no influence over the number of men recruited for or deployed to Lagos State and the operational command of the force within the State.

    It is the position of Lagos State Government that the provision of Section 214 (1) should be amended allowing the States to establish their own State Police Service.

    Federal Land Registry

    It is an aberration for the Federal Government to continue to operate land registry in Lagos State. The Federal Land Registry which was established when Lagos was Federal Capital Territory ought to have been closed down and all title therein moved to the Lagos State Land Registry. The National Assembly is urged to look into this and correct this anomaly.

    I will also like to seize the opportunity of this occasion to express to you the imminent dangers inherent in the proposed Stamp duties Bill which no doubt seeks to cripple the internally generated revenue due to States in the federation in favour of a Federal Government Agency- NIPOST.

    The Bill is presently before the National Assembly and it is a grave threat to the principles of fiscal federalism and as representatives of the true beneficiaries of the Act as it presently stands, there is need to put an urgent and immediate end to its further coordination by the National Assembly which also has the noble tradition that once a matter is before the Court, all activities on the matter would be suspended. Lagos State Government in Attorney General of Lagos State Vs Attorney General of the Federation has approached the Supreme Court on this matter.

    The Lagos State Government is committed to transforming Lagos into a thriving State where the quality of the lives of its citizens is guaranteed through legal parameters. It is therefore our hope and earnest expectation that the proposed amendments will be given due consideration.

    On this note, I have the great pleasure of declaring this retreat open and wishing you a successful deliberation.

    I thank you for your attention.

    Itesiwaju Ipinle Eko lojewalogun

    • Mr. Ambode, the Governor of Lagos State, delivered this speech to the Constitutional Amendment Committee of the National Assembly last week in Lagos.

     

  • Even Baba God talk say: Let there be light

    Even Baba God talk say: Let there be light

    True, in this world there are terrible disasters that could befall a man, some natural, some man-made.

    Barring all these though, I think the worst thing to happen to any human being in this communication age is to come home in the evening after a hard day to meet a dark house, a power blackout, no light.

    The absence of power supply hits you right to your very existence-life is simply brutish without power.

    Then the empty theorists would come into government to rebase the economy and loudly proclaim that in this vast continent, this is the largest economy.  Large economy; low power supply, low access to power – how do these possibly go together??

    The only largeness we who live in Nigeria feel is the extent of funds we expend on sourcing our own power.  What is an office, school, shop, company or house without power?

    A look at other African countries and countries that got their independence around the same time as Nigeria, I think  isfair and useful comparison on how other economies are faring.

    South Africa – like me, you must have been totally shocked when you heard that ours was the largest African economy. Yep, we were told Nigeria beat South Africa to second place.

    But here’s a closer look…

    1. Africa’s largest electricity producer (Eskom) is in South Africa and 85 percent of the people there have access to power. With an installed capacity of 44,175mW, about 1,500mW is sold to South Africans.
    2. In Singapore, relevant reforms have led to adequate and reliable electricity supply. Singapore got her independence in 1965, five years after Nigeria did.
    3. Malaysia. They gained independence in 1957, Malaysia is now an investors’ choice because of developed infrastructure and reliable power supply.

    Then   the recession in the country toppled Nigeria’s status of largest economy with South Africa regaining its top spot in August 2016.

    Narrowing it down to power though, South Africa with a population of 50 million has ten times more power than Nigeria, and this power is accessed by almost all the population according to the World Bank.  Out of our 170 million people here ,less than half of the population (48 percent) have access to it.  Thus with predicable constancy, contestants for the position of President repeat their campaign promise of powering up the nation.

    Sadly successive administrations have only made us pay more for more darkness.

    More annoying is the truth of the words of Prof. Aderemi Kuku, President of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences.  Nigeria supplies power to her neighbouring countries.  But she still does not distribute to her own citizens.  He is referring to Niger Republic, where power supply is constant, Nigeria supplies them.  (Nigeria also supplies power to Togo, Republic of Benin).

    In December 2013, Nigeria’s Presidential Task Force on Power announced that Nigeria’s power supply was 3,800mw, now it is put at roughly 4,000 peaking at 4,700mw in a good year.

    The power we have first of all is erratic, not constant.  If there is power every night for 10 days for instance, it will cancel out, effectively, by roughly as many dark nights.  And vice versa.

    Experts have long been warning that the countries that will make developmental strides are those that: diversify their economies and pay premium to infrastructure and to industrialization.

    I am not “an expert” but I will still state it that the ONE infrastructure requirement essential to any meaningful development is STABLE POWER SUPPLY!

    But there is a State chief executive that is passionate about industrialization.  Some others merely make the word “industrialization” a part of their political jargon knowing very well it takes power to industrialize.  This man is demonstrating his seriousness – by addressing the power deficit, in spite of the challenges inherent in this.

    Last November, the Power Minister BabatundeFashola commissioned at 330KVA station in AkwaIbom with 12 interconnectivity links to EVACUATE POWER to the national grid.  AkwaIbom currently generates about 150mW of power.

    Amazingly, in spite of the dilemma, power supply to residents in AkwaIbom has improved remarkably in the current administration.

    There was Okobo, there was Ini, whole local governments without power for several years – they have all been powered up now!  How did this governor do it?  Simple. In addition to measures has put in place to increase the state IPPs installed capacity,he WENT himself to where power is distributed.  Now for other Governors – ALL courtesy calls must be made TO them, never BY them.

    While the fat cats sat in their offices, Governor Udom Emmanuel very early took a trip to the Power Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company to brainstorm on ways to have improved, and relatively stable electricity into his state supply system.  That meeting resulted in an agreement onimproved  power.

    Relatively stable power – too good to be true you may think.  Well I saw it myself, which is what is giving me the confidence to document this.  I travelled to Uyo for the Nigeria – South Africa AFCON qualifier.  I spent one night there, travelling back on Sunday evening, and the remark on the lips of everyone there was – incredible; power only went off for about 10 minutes in 18 hours!

    Could that just have been ‘arranged’, because of all the foreign visitors for the match?

    I can authoritatively say that it is no fluke.

    I paid a private visit to AkwaIbombetween 27th – 30th June – and power was very present throughout.

    The result is immediate and tangible.  Governor Emmanuel has commissioned a functional Toothpick and Pencil factory in AkwaIbom, Nigeria’s first, ending Nigeria’s shame of HAVING to import common toothpicks.

    At a public hearing on power within the week, House of Representatives Speaker YakubuDogora made us know Nigerians spend an estimated $5bn, fueling their generators.  He spoke for us all when he said this is unacceptable.

    A World Bank report has said that “Nigeria continuesto suffer from chronic shortage of generation capacity”.

    AkwaIbom’s Governor Emmanuel is taking deliberate steps to improve on that.  And if this is replicated in other states, Nigeria won’t have to continue to suffer for very long!

    07055547031 – Whatsapp or SMS

  • How Balewa declared state of emergency in the West in 1962 (II)

    IN reply, the Leader of Opposition in the Federal Parliament, and Leader of the Action Group, Chief Obafemi Awolowo said: I beg to move the following Amendment to the Motion already proposed by the Prime Minister: “To delete all the words of the Motion after-That – and substitute- “This honourable House declares after having regard to the provisions of section 65 of the Constitution of the Federation of Nigeria a state of public emergency does not exist.” “May I draw the attention of honourable Members to the provisions of section 65 of our Constitution. It is not usual for Members to read the Constitution unless occasion such as this arises or some other incidents which affect us occur. Section 65 reads:”65(1) Parliament may at any time make such laws for Nigeria or any part thereof with respect to matters not included in the Legislative Lists as may appear to Parliament to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of maintaining or securing peace, order and good government during any period of emergency.”

    “The section 3-(3) In this section ”period of emergency” means any period during which (a) the Federation is at war; (b) there is in force a resolution by each House of Parliament declaring that a state of public of emergency exists; and (c) there is in force a resolution of each House of Parliament supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House declaring that democratic institutions in Nigeria are threatened by subversion. “That is the section, Mr. Speaker, and I hold the view very strongly- and that view is in no way shaken by the speech made by the Prime Minister that the step which the Federal Government now proposes is uncalled for and unwarranted.

    “The first question which any reasonable person ought to ask himself is this. Is there a state of emergency in the Western Region? That is the most important question which the Prime Minister and the Cabinet must ask themselves. I submit with greater respect that a state of emergency does not exist in Western Nigeria. “Not long ago after independence, there was rioting of a most severe nature in the Tiv Division of Northern Nigeria. Several lives were lost, several properties were destroyed, there was arson and a host other crimes were committed. At that time, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Prime Minister as he is the Prime Minister,today. He did not think it fit to call this Parliament to declare a state of emergency in the Northern Region. Also in Okrika- there was widespread rioting in Okrika; again, several lives and properties were lost.

    I understand that this widespread rioting in Okrika occurred twice in the Eastern Region. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet did not think it fit on that occasion to declare a state of public emergency in the Eastern Region. “But, because the Action Group is pursuing the normal democratic processes as laid down in our Constitution to oust someone who happens to be very close friend of the Prime Minister, and also because the Action Group is looked upon as a moral foe to the N.P.C., this very far-reaching provision of our Constitution is now being invoked, only in respect of what might be described as squabbles inside the Chamber of the Western House of Assembly. It is doing violence to our Constitution and doing violence to the construction of words to suggest that what happened in the Western House of Assembly amounts to a state of public emergency.

    “I was present there myself and when I left that Chamber, those who were outside the Chamber did not even know that anything was happening inside the Chamber. Ibadan is peaceful- the whole of the Western Region is peaceful; it is true that the newspaper have been exaggerating the situation in the Western Region, the Prime Minister himself has lent his support to this exaggeration; he cancelled all his engagementswhether they existed or not I do not know; the Governor- General was suddenly summoned back from his holiday in Nsukka to come to Lagos even when there was no deterioration in the situation in the Western Nigeria.

    “ I maintain that this is a calculated, premeditated attempt on the part of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to try, if they could, to castrate the Action Group, to disturb the welfare of the people of the Western Nigeria who have always been looked upon as the foes of the N.P.C. “May I say that I can understand the yearnings and the wishes of the N.C.N.C. and the stand of the N.C.N.C. in this matter. Every political party wants to be n power- we want to be in power here in the Centre one day, and by the grace of God we will. But the N.C.N.C. wants, naturally, to fish in troubled waters. If I were in their shoes, I would think that no occasion is more favourable than now to have a dissolution of the Legislature of the Western Region, because this dissolution now would mean a split in the votes of the Action Group.

    It might be that by such a split, they could sort of fluke in and form the Government of Nigeria. In any case, whatever happened after that dissolution, the N.C.N.C. would not be any worse off than they were before, namely to be in the Opposition- that is the worst that could happened to them . But there is a chance- the off-chance- that they may just manage to win. “Therefore I can understand the action of the N.C.N.C. in this matter, because that is the party in opposition in the Western Region. The N.P.C. has no foothold in the West, and it is doing its very best to find a foothold in the Western Region.

    “There are a number of persons who call themselves N.P.C. Members for Ibadan, but they are by themselves; they have some following of a type among people who live in Mokola, Ibadan, that is to be understood; but the N.P.C. as such has no following in the Western Region, and it is the N.P.C. dominated Federal Government that now wants to impose its rule on the people of the Western Nigeria, simply because there was what the Prime Minister called uproar in the Chamber of the Western House of Assembly- not an uproar in Ibadan as whole; not uproar in Ogbomoso the home of Chief Akintola who is involved in this matter; not an uproar in Ijebu-Remo; not an uproar in Ikorodu, not an uproar anywhere in the Western Region.

    The Prime Minister thinks that this very farreaching provisions of the Constitution should be invoked merely to save a friend! “Secondly, what is a public emergency? What is a state of public emergency? May I say that my view quite candidly is that a state of public emergency arises only when there is widespread violence in any part of the Federation. In this particular case there is no widespread violence or rioting or disturbance in the Western Region. And yet, the Honourable Minister for War- for Defence- sent soldiers to Ibadan as a matter of routine I think, because the soldiers there have been moved to Congo; and then he went on the air to say”Oh yes, we have sent them there because of the tension in Ibadan.” Where is the tension in Ibadan? I may walk about the streets of Ibadan, and if the Mnister of Defence challenges, I invite him to come along to Ibadan and go about the streets of Ibadan.

    But they want to create this artificial tension in the Western Region in order to invoke this far reaching provision of the Constitution. “Thirdly I say- I said it outside this House and I want to repeat it on the floor of this honourable House- that the action now being taken by the Federal Government is a gross misuse of power; I do not say abuse because as far as I can see there is no abuse yet- I hope the Federal Government does not abuse its power in the process of implementing this Resolution, but so far it is a gross misuse of power; the circumstances which should warrant the use of this power have not yet risen. “What is more? The Prime Minister was very, very careful in stating the events which led to his having to decide to take this action which he is now taking.

    I never knew him to be journalist, I know him to be an educationist, a politician and a statesman, but like some journalists he has put a little bit of twist and slant in relating the events, so as to show that it is the Action Group, vis-à-vis Chief Akintola that is at fault in this matter. Why did the Prime Minister not tell this House the story which the Police have no doubt told him concerning the events in the House of Assembly on that day! He knows the story but he has chosen not to tell it, and since he has failed to tell it, I will tell that story and challenge the Prime Minister to deny it.

    “The truth is that in the House of Assembly that day, hon. Members were assembled as we are here now assembled; prayers were said and then immediately after that, one Mr. Oke, a supporter of Chief Akintola, a Member from Ogbomosho, jumped on the desk and was running about on the desk and then lifted a chair and struck somebody on the head. That is how it started, and then thereafter one Mr. Ebubedike, the Member for Badagry, who lives in Ajeromi, took the Mace and then in an attempt to strike the Speaker with the Mace, the Mace struck the Table and broke into two. These events were witnessed by the Police and then chairs were lifted and were thrown all over the place by supporters of Chief Akintola. •Eric Teniola, a former director at the presidency stays in Lagos

  • What is happening in UNIOSUN?

    THE death of a 400-Level Microbiology student, Oluwafemi Shonibare of the Osun State University, Osogbo by suspected ritual killers, is quite unfortunate. It was an incident that has left the university community devastated as well as parents and friends of Oluwafemi Shonibare. However, it has been observed that the editorial comment by a national newspaper, beside being sensational, was not based on appropriate information surrounding the activities of the university in relation to the security of students living on and outside the university campuses.

    It is totally wrong and misleading to classify the Osun State University, Osogbo as a ritual shrine in the mould of the infamous Okija Shrine in the earlier days of the current republic, rather the editorial board should see incidents of this nature, which sadly, occur regularly in our various communities as a decadence of moral values and desperate search for wealth. I felt this should be seen as a national and social problem which definitely begs for urgent interventions. There is no doubt in my convictions about the academic credentials of this university which are clearly shown in the recent feat of her law students (who recorded a 100% pass in the final law school examination where the entire country could only present a 30% pass), the university representative also came first in a debate organised by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, among Nigerian universities. Recently, one of the UNIOSUN students graduated as the overall best medical student in Ukraine.

    This and many more are clear indications of the university’s commitment to quality and effective teaching, research and community service. It is instructive to posit here that the two examples given in the editorial happened outside the university campuses and to Nigerian citizens who were victims of inhumanity. Despite the fact that the university is a non-residential one, the management has in place an arrangement where hostels outside the university shall be registered for proper monitoring of the safety of her students, but unfortunately, some owners of such hostels have refused to be part of this initiative.

    Of course, no known law compels them to do so. Severally also, the Security Unit of the university has collaborations with the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps with positive results on these efforts. The management of the university is not relenting in this type of collaborations. It is pertinent to note that none of these ugly incidents occurred on UNIOSUN campuses reinforcing the need for residential facilities on the campuses. Ironically, this same newspaper in an editorial after some “students” of the UNIOSUN were attacked by some men of the Nigeria Police in December, 2016 condemned the call of the UNIOSUN management for hostel facilities on her campuses as being frivolous. Regardless, the university has initiated a public and private partnership approach in the provision of hostel facilities on her various campuses.

    This has yielded encouraging results with the interest shown by four different developers and work will soon start on the construction. In addition to this, the abandoned hostel facilities on one of the six campuses are being rehabilitated by the current administration and will be ready soon for the use of the students. The assertion of a glaring absence of security in the university is not correct. The university’s security unit is populated by experienced personnel who are always on ground 24/7 to attend to security challenges that may rear their heads on the campuses. The collaboration with national security agencies has also assisted on several occasions.

    I am quite aware that the management has resolved to step up the collaboration with these various national security outfits. “The assailment of students on several occasions by ritual killers on one hand and the police and the Nigerian Air Force on the other” as alluded to in the editorial are direct consequences of activities of students outside the university campuses. Swift responses of the university management to all these incidents really calmed down frayed nerves. The university is always in constant touch with the government of the State of Osun on issues relating to the safety of her staff members and students and responses from the government had always been impressive and encouraging.

    Once again, while appreciating the concerns of the editorial board of the newspaper, we want to assure the entire public that efforts will continuously be geared towards the safety of lives and property of staff members and students. I can assure the public that the university management is leaving nothing undone to ensure proper investigation and prosecution of suspected perpetrators of this heinous crime, and to show the seriousness of the university management in ensuring the proper prosecution of the suspects in this case, the Deputy Vice – Chancellor (Academic) was personally present in court, representing the university management on July 7 when the suspects were arraigned before an Osogbo magistrate court. Finally, I will like to advise that these untoward occurrences, which are clearly social issues of disturbing national dimensions, should not be localized. It will be helpful for society, including the media, to collectively fight this social menace that is threatening our collective existence.

    • Fadare is a corps member, serving in the Legal Unit, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University.

  • The implications of UNIMAID bombings

    CONSIDERINGthe rate at which the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and its environs are being bombed, one cannot predict that more suicide bombings of the institution by the terrorists would not occur between the time of writing this article and that of its publication. For some time now, UNIMAID has been an unwilling host to suicide bombers whose actions have caused incalculable damage in terms of human and material resources as well as trauma to the staff and students of the institution. Within the past five months, the institution has witnessed about 10 suicide bombings with the death of a university professor, some security operatives and bombers who lost their lives while carrying out their nefarious activities. Some valuables, including a mosque, were also destroyed. Before now and since the inception of the insurgency, UNIMAID was regarded as one of the three safe zones in the state capital free from possible Boko Haram attacks; the other two being the Government House and the army barracks. On most occasions, when Maiduguri was brutally attacked by the insurgents, UNIMAID was at peace.

    Similarly, at the peak of the insurgency, some educational institutions in the North-East were attacked and many students were killed, but UNIMAID was untouched. For example, on July 6, 2013, 24 pupils, a teacher and an Islamic preacher were killed when gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members attacked Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State. Also, on October 1, 2013, Boko Haram militants murdered about 50 students of Yobe College of Agriculture, Gujba, Yobe State, when they invaded the students’ hostel at night. On February 25, 2014, Boko Haram members attacked Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, killing 29 students and injuring several others. On April 15, 2014, Boko Haram members kidnapped more than 200 students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.

    Official records show that over 1,500 schools were destroyed by the sect in the North-East, including 524 in Borno State. Though there were atrocities meted out by the insurgents to other educational institutions as stated earlier, there was peace at UNIMAID until the insurgents started unleashing terror on the institution in recent times. The question that continues to rattle many is why the sudden U-turn by the sect with its fangs and claws on UNIMAID, which had been on holiday as a result of the onslaught or harassment by terrorists for years, even after its power had been destroyed? Individuals and security experts have advanced different views on the sudden turn of event. While some individuals allege political motives for the present predicament of the university community, others accuse politicians, especially from Borno, as the masterminds.

    It will be recalled that in two separate statements, the military had accused some politicians from the North-East, Borno in particular, of frustrating the efforts of the military to end the insurgency for selfish motives. On the other hand, there is the allegation that some individuals within the military are not disposed to ending the insurgency for selfish ends. According to some security experts, the sudden attacks on the UNIMAID should not surprise anyone as the insurgents would always cash in on any opportunity to hit their target.

    The porous nature of the campus coupled with its massive unprotected land could be an invitation to the insurgents. Others are of the view that the strategic position of the institution could not be ignored by the terrorists always looking for a loophole to strike. Established in 1975, it is located on the outskirts of the state capital along the Maiduguri – Konduga – Bama Road, leading to the main entrance of the Sambisa Forest at Kawuri vllage where the insurgents had their sanctuary for almost six years. Besides, some security analysts pointed out that since the Sambisa Forest was becoming uncomfortable for the insurgents, they must look elsewhere for relevance and possible impact. The withdrawal or reduction of troops from some parts of Borno, including Maiduguri, on the grounds that the insurgency had gone down is equally attributed to the current predicament of the university.

    Without fear of contradiction, one can say that if UNIMAID is in trouble security wise, as currently observed, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, is in trouble. What we must not forget is that after all, the Sambisa Forest was never conquered. Yes, the unbearable military onslaught forced the terrorists to abandon the Camp Zero, their headquarters in the Sambisa Forest. They relocated to other places, including parts of the massive forest, and they did so with their members, arms and ammunition. Hence their guts in the constant harassment of various places in Borno today, despite the popular opinion that the Boko Haram fighting power had been decimated by the Nigerian military.

    No one would contest the fact that the Boko Haram fighting power has been on the downward trend, at least of late. However, before the shout of Jack Robinson, the recent sudden emergence of the fighting spirit of the insurgents is not only frightening, but puzzling. The sleepless nights and nightmares of the citizens, which for some time now were becoming a thing of the past, are gradually coming back, no thanks to the insurgents on the prowl again. The insecurity in the UNIMAID without immediate counter-measures, especially from the military and federal government, does not augur well for people’s confidence building in governance.

    Must the UNIMAID be overrun by the insurgents with the incalculable destruction of lives and property before the late alarm would be sounded? It was the slipshod manner the erstwhile administration led by President Goodluck Jonathan that brought us to this seemingly unending insurgency we are paying dearly for today. We cannot and should not go back to Egypt again. The institution’s management is handling the situation with some interim measures, but the capacity to bring the situation under effective control is not there.

    It lacks the financial muscle. For example, the university needs N2.6 billion to build the perimeter fence to make the institution safe. Following the unrelenting bombing, Governor Kashim Shettima recently gave the sum of N50 million to the institution to facilitate the digging of trenches in addition to his administration rebuilding the university mosque destroyed by the insurgents. The National Assembly has passed a resolution urging the Federal Government to immediately take action on the security challenges confronting the university. This is highly commendable. The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, also deserves praise for sending a team of officials to assess the situation. Let the resolution and the visit translate into action. •Izekor is a journalist and public affairs analyst.

  • Trump should go back to school

    On Tuesday, May 23, Judson Phillips, an American on-line journalist called on President Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promise by tearing up the Paris Climate Change Treaty which President Obama signed along with many other countries in 2015. President Trump eventually did this on June 1, when he announced that the United States will be withdrawing from the historic global agreement reached by 195 countries ostensibly to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and limiting the rise in average global temperatures.

    The history of the Paris Climate Change treaty can be traced back to the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio in 1992. This conference which was later popularly referred to as the Earth Summit did not set any legally binding limitations on emissions or enforcement mechanisms. In December 1997, all the parties involved in the Earth Summit gathered together again in Kyoto in Japan and signed the Kyoto Protocol in which they agreed to broad outlines of national emissions targets.

    Unlike the Earth Summit agreements, Kyoto Protocol committed industrialized countries to take the lead in reducing emissions. The initial aim was for industrialized countries to stabilize their emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. The failure of key industrialized countries to move in this direction after the Earth Summit was a principal reason why Kyoto Protocol moved to ensuring binding commitments.

    Thus, the Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which strengthened the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate (UNFCCC) that commits participating countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made CO2 emissions has significantly contributed to it. The Protocol was adopted by 193 countries on December 11, 1997 and entered into force on February 16, 2005. USA signed the Protocol on 12 November 1998, during the Clinton presidency. To become binding in the USA, however, the treaty had to be ratified by the Senate, which had already passed the 1997 non-binding Byrd Hagel Resolution expressing disapproval of any international agreement that did not require developing countries to make emission reductions”. The resolution was unanimously adopted by the 95 members of Senate. As a result, this treaty that the Clinton administration signed was never submitted to the Senate for ratification.

    On March 28 2001, President George W. Bush announced that the United States would not implement the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. This announcement put an end to all hope of reviving the Kyoto treaty on global warming. President Bush declared that his administration had “no interest” in its implementation and he withdrew the US signature signed by Vice-President Al Gore on behalf of the Clinton administration. This death warrant represented a blunt rebuff to European hopes of establishing a global programme to slow down the emission of greenhouse gases, amid startling new evidence of rapid climate change.

    After Kyoto Protocol came the Paris agreement which entered into force on November 4, 2016. The Paris agreement is not an amendment of the Kyoto Protocol. It is indeed a new instrument of the UNFCCC that replaced the Kyoto Protocol. This Paris agreement was a response of the international community to the clarion call of the Secretary General of the United Nations, to come to an agreement on halting global warming during the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly on 23 September 2014 in New York. The Paris agreement was meant to enforce emission reductions through commitments of countries in realistic nationally determined emission levels. The aim was to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, as from 2020.

    Just before the Paris agreement came to force, precisely on September 03, 2016, President Barak Obama deposited with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the respective instruments required to join the Paris Agreement which was described as “the most ambitious climate change agreement in history.” China also did the same on the same day. This was a giant leap towards solving global warming problems because these two countries contribute 40 percent of global emissions. Ban Ki Moon must have opened a bottle of champagne in celebration on that day.

    The critics of the Paris Agreement claim among others that the pact would disproportionately burden U.S. families and businesses relative to developing nations just to prevent global temperature rise by less than 0.2 of a degree Celsius. They went further to claim that the Pact will saddle the U.S. economy, job creators and consumers with enormous costs. Specifically, a study by National Economic Research Associates consulting, revealed that compliance with the Paris pact would cost the U.S. economy nearly $3 trillion over the next few decades.

    This is not to say that there are no supporters of the Paris Agreement in USA. It was reported that even some Republicans in Congress, as well as several representing districts particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, rebuked President Trump’s decision to tear up the treaty because according to them, “climate change is a serious issue,” A popular business mogul who is a member of Trump’s Business Advisory Council tweeted that he would withdraw from the council if Trump withdrew America from the treaty.

    When President Trump eventual withdrew from the treaty, a wide chorus of voices called him to rescind his decision on the Paris agreement. These include World leaders, hundreds of scientists, CEOs of major energy companies and other big corporations as well as many Trump advisers. Expectedly, Democrats in the U.S. collectively decried the withdrawal as “a low point in modern American leadership.”

    The immediate past president of the USA who signed the treaty, decried President Trump’s decision by saying that: “The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that (will) reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.” He added: “I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.”

    John Kerry, President Obama’s Secretary of State and a key player in crafting the Paris agreement also denounced the U.S. withdrawal as “… a self-destructive step that puts our nation last. This is an unprecedented forfeiture of American leadership which will cost us influence, cost us jobs, and invite other countries to walk away from solving humanity’s most existential crisis. It isolates the United States after we had united the world.”

    The Minister for Environment in Canada, Catherine McKenna, added her voice by saying: “Canada is deeply disappointed at the U.S. position, The Paris agreement is a good deal for Canada, and it’s a good deal for the world. No one country can stop action on climate change.” Canada is a northern neigbhour of the US where all greenhouse gas emissions from the US result in acid rain due to wind and other meteorological conditions. The same situation exists in Europe where greenhouse gas emissions from Western Europe are blown by wind into the Scandinavian countries where they drop as acid rain. What these two examples mean is that pollution has no geographical boundaries. This is a basic fact in ecological studies which President Trump does not know or to save his face, pretends not to know.

    Unfortunately, those supporting the tearing of Paris agreement are more than those who don’t support it in the present ruling class in the US. President George W. Bush tore the Kyoto Protocol apart in 2001. President Trump tore the Paris agreement apart in 2017. This reveals one naked fact. The world cannot trust the Republicans with leadership in global environmental issues.

    As an ecologist, I know that none of the critiques of Paris agreement are based on sound ecological reasoning. Ecology is different from economics. Ecology, the science of this fragile domain that we live in, does not put reasoning based on economic gains before reasoning based on the cost of natural resources which economists don’t usually factor into their equations.

    To my mind, one basic difference between Republicans and Democrats in US politics is their divergent views on the global environment and sustainable development concepts. This is the reason why each time the Republicans won the Presidential election in the US, my body chemistry went into recession for months. Somebody should tell these conservative US politicians that greenhouse gases don’t respect artificial geographical boundaries. Somebody should tell them that we should bequeath to our children and great grandchildren what our forefathers handed over to us in respect of natural resources and all the environmental parameters. My fear is that they won’t listen. Anything short of enrolling them in a school where they will undergo a short course in ecology won’t work. Donald Trump in particular with his super-imposing stature and extremely self-opinionating nature, should please go back to school during his first vacation, to study the basic principles of ecology. It won’t take him more than four weeks.

     

    • Prof. Badejo, Pioneer VC, Wesley University, Ondo, writes from OAU, Ile-Ife.

  • Building a nation without the youths

    Currently, with the exception of Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who is a little above 43 years of age and could be described as  relatively youthful, no other African sitting   president is  in the same age range or bracket. In Nigeria, the story is not different, except for those that got to position of authority through undemocratic means in the time past. Only   the incumbent governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, is just a little above 43years and the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), now minister in charge of Power, Works and Housing,  who governed Lagos State at a relatively youthful age; others got to power at over 50

    Chances are this category of political office holders may remain in leadership positions till they are well above 70. A very good example that readily comes to mind is President Muhammadu Buhari. This very trend has earned Africa a laurel as a continent that produced the oldest serving president in the world in the person of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who is a little above 93.

     In this clime, “youths are the leaders of tomorrow’’ has become a form of a mantra, a sermon by our leaders that we can describe as a gospel without the truth. They preach this without taking pragmatic steps to develop or design strategies that will help it see the light of the day. The youths in particular are also beginning to view it as a one-sided narrative especially when it is coming from our present crop of leaders. It has become an epigrammatic tales that revolve round a particular plot construed around the electioneering campaign, with the sole aim of achieving electoral victory. It lasts as long as the electioneering period and fizzles out as soon as the winners emerge. Youths are never assured again that they are “the leaders of tomorrow” till the next electioneering campaign. And the cycle goes on and on. This has been the grim fate and burden which successive generation of Nigerian youths has grappled with since 1960.

    However, recent happenings round the world’s political arena as regard the emergence of some youthful presidents such as France’s Emmanuel Macron, 39, and other young leaders occupying exalted positions in their countries have served as an awakening of political and leadership consciousness among Nigerian youths. Heightened youth agitations around the country have become a hot topic for national discourse and have taken the centre stage with the 2019 elections around the corner.

    The social media has become not just a platform for this debate but willing tools. Youths on their part are getting unusually busy aligning and realigning politically. Proliferations of politically induced associations are becoming conspicuously visible. Sadly, however, our sit-tight political elders and leaders who claim the wisdom of Solomon as to how to run the polity are not ready to let go power or shift political boundaries to accommodate the restive youths.

     Instead, they are perfecting anti-youths political strategies and tactics they hope to use to perpetuate themselves in power.

    Current waves of political activism on the part of the youths are viewed by political pundits as a step in the right direction. They opine that it calls for celebration because alarming apathy has been the sad commentary about political participation of young people in Nigeria thus giving some Methuselah politicians the leeway to continue to occupy the political space unchallenged.

    It recently got to a comical but worrisome stage that some political parties and their gladiators were appointing and anointing men well above 60 as national youths leader of their various parties.  Some of these political grandfathers recently at different gatherings declared that current crop of Nigerian youths are not matured politically enough to be saddled with critical political positions. The youths were roundly accused of not being any different from the “politically matured‘’ adults.

     A school of thought shares the opinion that in today’s Nigeria, and in politics, both the adults and the youths in politics are bonded by a common denominator: corruption and abuse of public office.

    The above scenario leaves huge question mark on the political future of young Nigerians. Victoria  Ibezim-Ohaeri, a Harvard trained lawyer and executive director, Spaces for Change, rues that “the inability  of Nigerian youths to occupy political or leadership  positions in the country, be it elective or appointive should be blamed  on the nation’s inglorious departure from politics of ideas to money politics or what is currently  referred to  as the politics of the highest bidder which the youths have no financial muscles to partake in and therefore settled for the easiest option at their disposal which is praise singing or what is referred to as ‘’Otinkpu’’ in Igbo local parlance” .

    On corruption allegation against the youths, the legal luminary said the allegation has no basics as corruption knows no age, gender or tribe and is not limited to the youths but cuts across all spectrums. She added that the youths lack leadership experience because they have not been given the opportunity to participate and learn what leadership is all about like the Obasanjos and Gowons of this world that had that opportunity at their very youthful stage.

    I have had the opportunity of chatting with many youths on the subject and my finding is that they have been fed with and with fundamentally wrong tradition, ideals and values of seeking instant gratification, wealth without work and pleasure without conscience. These negative and self-limiting qualities have dovetailed into making youths willing and ready tools in the hands of the politicians whom they serve ingloriously.

    Constitutional limitation is another big snare. Age limit for most of the elective positions imposed by the Nigerian constitution shuts the doors of elective opportunities to the youths.

    The book, “Good to Great’’ authored by Jim Collins, a management consultant, opines that ‘’ the first duty of a great leader is to find the right people and give their rightful positions. I hold the view that there are many ‘right people’ among Nigerian youths whose youthful zeal, energy and intellect will be hugely beneficial to the socio-economic and political growth of our fatherland if entrusted with critical positions of authority and leadership, whether appointed or elective.

    Nigerian youths as a matter of urgency should crawl out of their shells and start thinking as professional politicians so that they could end up becoming political entrepreneurs as advised by Steven Silbiger in his wonderful masterpiece titled “The Jewish Phenomenon”. No time will be better than now, for the youths to learn how to prioritize, distinguishing importance from fundamental and always going for the fundamentals as they guarantee the best results.

  • Lynch-mob justice

    Mankind has been in a quest for justice for social equilibrium and peace.  We often hear scholars talk about moral justice, legal justice social justice and of course mob justice.  The concept that everyone is equal before the law remains unattainable because in every society, equals have been discovered to be treated unequally. There is therefore perpetual friction and conflict in the society due mainly to the failure of the state to dispense justice and ensure order in the society.  In the face of this, citizens take it upon themselves to dispense justice without the legal niceties. The expression, lynch-mob justice may be a contradiction in term just as ours is a country of contradictions.

    The Jamaican Reggae maestro,  Peter Tosh in his hit album in the 1970s, ‘Equal Rights’ gave lyrical  stimulation that adequately reflects the reality of today’s Nigeria.   Hear him, “Everyone is talking now about peace; none is talking about justice… Everyone is talking about crime, crime; tell me who the criminals are?”   We will attempt to tell you who the criminals are shortly.  We are today confronted with crimes of unimaginable proportions across the country whereas the state appears overwhelmed and lackadaisical in reining in the criminals. Kidnapping and merchandizing in humans and human parts have become the most lucrative business in Nigeria in all its bizarre nature.    Armed robbery has given way to internet fraud run by a cartel of Yahoo Yahoo boys.    Nigeria has earned a notorious reputation for transforming internet and credit card fraud into a Trans-Atlantic trade.

    The world of crime does not just end there. Government officials and functionaries engage in looting spree of the treasury on the one hand while the “honourables” in the National Assembly are not only securing humungous budget for themselves through budget padding but desperately trying to make laws that will grant amnesty to looters and other criminals.  Ours have become a country of scavengers.   The jackals and hyenas revel in animation that the Lion King that thought he could fight the heist and cabal behind it is struggling with his health to give them a good fight.  The cartel that drive the networks of criminal underworld have unofficial security cover of the state and are never caught or successfully prosecuted.

     The hungry and unpaid teacher who stole a pot of soup in order to feed himself got punished in the same way that poor Jangebe got his hand chopped off in Zamfara State for stealing a goat.  When we heard of the punishment of these poor folks, we recline in our sofas believing that justice has been done.  In the same vein, we have government officials who are alleged to have stolen billions in different currencies from the national treasury leaving the country punched to the ground in comatose.  These loots are not invested in the economy but simply stashed away in unusual places like overhead tanks, septic tanks or buried in the cemetery and farmlands.  When they are called to account, they seek refuge in court to get reprieve from the judiciary.  Out there, we all rise and shout to high heavens for the respect of rule of law, human rights and justice for this class.  This is the hypocrisy of the society that we live in today and we all carry the wound of the bruises that we receive for the conduct of the ravaging locust that government officials have become.

     Today in Nigeria, everyone runs a government in his small home; providing power, water, and security for his entire family.  Government presence is hardly felt in the life of the ordinary Nigerian in the manner of social contract with the citizens.  Apart from the city of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, criminality, insecurity, weak governance, lack of infrastructure and inability to extend the rule of law to all parts of the country pose grave challenges to the corporate entity of our nation.

    This is one of the reasons why the Boko Haram sect was able to carve out a caliphate for close to six years in the North-east and are still digging in in some areas.  This no doubt is the reason why someone like Nnamdi Kanu has blind followership in the South-east calling for secession and Indigenous People of Biafra.  This is the reason why cultism and kidnapping thrive in South-south region.  This is the reason why, the Niger Delta militants mutate every now and then to something more monstrous.  This is the reason why a strange cult known as Badoo is ravaging part of Lagos draining blood and brain tissues from their victims for their fetish act.  This is the reason why the teaming youths are voting with their legs and dying in their scores in the Mediterranean Sea as they seek greener pastures in Europe.

    In the face of these mindless assaults on the citizens, the law enforcement and judiciary have become complicit and helpless. The ordinary man on the street is left to take his destiny in his own hand and the only means left for him is to seek self-help. People decry the practice of running tyre ring round the necks of common criminals who are roasted to eliminate the vermin.  No doubt a barbaric practice, but it is a vote of no confidence on law enforcement and rule of law in our country.   In times of emergencies you do not see any security agents.  You only see them when the criminals have made good their escape harassing the victims and extorting money from them to buy ink and paper to take statement.

    We may campaign for restructuring of the country from now till eternity, if we do not first deal with the problems of crimes and criminality in all its colour and temper we will go nowhere.  Who are these criminals?  They include government officials and functionaries who are looting the treasury and allowing our infrastructures to collapse; they are the civil servants who manipulate the ministries and divert funds for personal use; they are the honourables who pad the budgets for their selfish ends; they are contractors and minions of government officials who after being mobilized to site give 10 percent to the government department and abandon the projects.

    The criminals include some rogue lawyers and judges who pervert justice by allowing criminals to escape on the altar of legal technicalities.  They are the clergies, Christians and Muslims alike, who preach hate speeches and prosperity at the expense of godly morality, brotherly love, unity and justice.  They are the traditional rulers who do not summon the moral will to speak truth to power due to patronage.  They are the media and the civil society organisations that are not able to rise above pecuniary consideration and parochial interest to expose the rot in our system.  The criminals include the political jobbers and intellectual rebels that service the machinery of government and ignore doctrine of the philosopher king.

     The man who stole a pot of soup or N2,000 to buy food because he is hungry is the victim.  Nigeria has a young and growing population and it is a time bomb if we do nothing today and depend on the might of the state.  It is a potential revolutionary moving force without leadership and if not rein in by good governance, we are all done for.  The lynch-mob may soon go after their tormentors who make Nigeria to earn the notorious status as, fantastically corrupt.

    • Kebonkwu Esq is an Abuja based attorney.

  • UPP: Self-determination through restructuring

    Not even a sworn enemy would succeed in discountenancing the contribution of Chief Chekwas Okorie, to the struggle of Ndigbo for political reckoning in Nigeria. Such, would be a long, weak, tortuous and hectic struggle.

    A young man who began to attend the meeting of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the umbrella socio-cultural organisation and apex decision-making body of the Igbo people in 1976 as an undergraduate, he must have been bitten by a certain bug which apparently injected into his bloodstream a certain virus, which impelled him to take up the gauntlet of the Igbo struggle without looking back. Today, 41 years later, he is still in the struggle, despite the ups and downs, contradictions and downright upheavals on his way.

    However, unlike the table banging strategy, which has created the present noise and chaos in the country, he chose a different course, the political solution as an option in his approach and has since gone ahead to tread that path, with a concomitant attempt to first pursue the unity of the Igbo in his own way.

    Having adopted this strategy and apparently compelled by other factors, such as his young age and perhaps limited financial resources to take it slowly, he began with Nzuko Abia na Imo, a socio-cultural association seeking to bind the people of Imo and the newly-created Abia State under one umbrella and when Ebonyi State was also carved out of Abia, changed the name to Nzuko Abia, Imo na Ebonyi.

    With the success of the organisation and the mileage or traction that it attracted, he upped his ante with the establishment of Igboezue Cultural Association (ICA), another body that now comprised the entire Igboland.

    Yet, unlike many similar Igbo outfits that many times spoke and acted out of variance and in many cases tried to tip the balance as a result, this organisation appeared quite sober and restrained. Instead, it became the intellectual and ideas backbone of Ohanaeze, with the Igbo body always adopting the ICA positions, not only for their depth and originality, but for being in sync with the thinking and belief of the larger Igbo community.

    Again, with the ostensible success of the ICA, came the idea to move into yet another and bigger platform – a political party. First, was the Peoples Democratic Congress (PDC), between 1996 and 1998, which failed to fly, because the authorities then denied it registration.

    But, three years later, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was born through the same instrumentality. In fact, by that singular act, Okorie became the first Igbo man to found a registered national political party in the history of Nigeria.

    Of course, this particular feat was not only celebrated within the South-east particularly, but became the veritable vehicle for transporting the Igbo political ideology and aspiration, just as was originally conceived by its promoter.

    In fact, the belief in many quarters is that APGA, actually won all the governorship elections in the South-east, in its first outing in 2003, but was denied the enjoyment of the benefit of that feat by the powerful Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) forces at that time.

    Apart from the perceived rigging culture of the party then, it is also believed that then President Olusegun Obasanjo, a veteran of the Nigerian civil war, was alarmed at the implication of such a political milestone that he actually did everything to stymie the party, if not kill it outright.

    The subsequent leadership crisis that suddenly erupted within its fold which lasted for almost a decade was seen as the handiwork of the clandestine federal government’s effort to do it in, by sowing a seed of discord among the contending parties, fearing the security implication of such a sharp rise.

    However, even if the government angle is unfounded, what seemed quite obvious is that those who took over the leadership of APGA from Okorie, either lacked the vision, tenacity or the gusto to propel and grow it beyond a certain limit, or were simply distracted by individual aspirations that they simple forgot the raison d’etre for its formation.

    The result is that the party, which even by official records, was the third in ranking at the end of the 2003 exercise, soon became quite diminished and relegated. It suddenly lost the passion and drive, which made it a sort of movement, whilst its original leaders traversed beyond the nooks and crannies of the South-east to such places as Sabo Ngeri, Kano, Central Market, Kaduna, Alaba International Market and Olowu Spare Parts Market in Lagos, and even as far as Adamawa and Maiduguri, died almost immediately, to raise the consciousness of the Igbo people, its target.

    Such is the irony that today, whilst the leaders of the South-west, which successfully moved the political momentum of the South-west from the Alliance for Democracy (AD), through the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), to the All Progressives Congress (APC), are enjoying power at the national level, their South-east counterparts appear to be groping in darkness like a herd of blind cattle left in the wilderness.

    Stewed in its continuous and consistent internal crisis, which seems to find new fervour and flavour each passing day, APGA is now being threatened with total extinction, by the obvious possibility of losing the November 18 Anambra State governorship election.

    Therein lies the fresh attraction for the United Progressives Party (UPP), yet, another of Okorie’s attempt at achieving his dream Igbo political emancipation. One only needs to be in the South-east to experience the loud, deafening din as it roars into contention as the party to beat in any election from now onwards.

    Though, established in 2012 after Okorie returned the APGA certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), indicating the end of his battle to reclaim the leadership of the party, the UPP has suddenly assumed a phenomenal role in South-east politics, especially with the texture and tempo of the current agitations in Nigeria at the moment.

    With the Biafran spirit raised to the optimum, it has become a platform through which those convinced about the political option in the quest for the distinct Igbo identity are finding ambience.

    In fact, many of its supporters and members have renamed it the Biafran National Party, to underscore its impact and place in the current Igbo political undertaking in the Nigerian polity.

    Nonetheless, Okorie, though does not see anything wrong in such a corruption of the party’s name, explains that its ideals go beyond the Igbo to the fight against every form of oppression in the country.

    This, he says is because the party is founded on the ideology of self-determination and restructuring, which has become a national singsong. “Today, we’re the only political party of the 45 that exists at the moment that has come out with this bold initiative. So, as we approach the campaigns for 2019, we’ll take this message to every nook and cranny of this country, so that they will not see it as an Igbo agenda, but an agenda that will liberate Nigeria. Because what is holding Nigeria down is the type of structure it is operating and that structure must be dismantled and a new one put in place and you will see Nigeria experience a quantum leap in its development. So, this is what Nigerians should expect from us.

    “The party is therefore as important to the people of the Southern Borno, the Middle Belt, the Southern Zaria, and the Niger Delta, as the people of the South-east, because of the common feeling of oppression,” he says.

    Will the current momentum in Nigeria find expression in UPP? Something must certainly give.

     

    • Igboanugo, a journalist, writes from Abuja.

  • Bolanle Ambode’s passion for less-privileged

    Some pass through life without really making a mark while others struggle endlessly without having much to show. Some wallow in abject poverty which, as much as they try, they couldn’t really get out of. Indeed, one of the most profound tragedies of life is that some are born poor, live poor and die poor. The issue of poverty and the poor is an age long subject. Some experience poverty due to unexpected crisis while others are born into it.

    The Holy Bible aptly underscores the reality of poverty when the Word of God asserts in Deuteronomy 15:11 that: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land’’. This amply presupposes that God knows that no matter how prosperous a society is, it will always have a sizeable share of the poor. Poverty is dehumanizing and humiliating. Some are not only poor, but they are helplessly and hopelessly so.

    But then, there is a way out for the poor. According to Deuteronomy 15:11 mentioned earlier, though God had earlier affirmed that the poor will never cease in the land, but He was quick to add that: Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land’’. It is in yielding to the latter part of that Bible verse that wife of the Lagos State governor, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode has clearly distinguished herself as a ‘friend of the less privileged’.

    Touching lives of the less privilege is certainly her unrelenting passion. She finds all possible means of reaching out to them. There are always rooms for any underprivileged that crosses her path. She makes life easier and liveable for them as much as she could. Whether working with them, part of their household or even being a leader, on her table is several ways to solve the problems of the deprived.  This includes relieving them of their sufferings through several empowerment programmes, scholarship initiatives, offsetting of medical bills among others. She does this because she believes that everyone must have hope for a better tomorrow.

    Hope is an essential component of life. But to the less privileged, hope is a daily necessity. Without hope, life would be an excruciating torment for the downtrodden. Hope has the ability to help people heal faster and easier. Individuals who maintain hope, especially when confronted with enormous life challenges, appreciably boost their chances of recovery. Essentially, people who possess hope and think optimistically have a greater sense of well-being.

    It is as a result of her deep understanding of the power of hope that Mrs. Ambode puts in so much to invest in giving hope to the less privileged folks in the society. In our clime, medical conditions that are considered challenging or complicated could be quick path to untimely death as many lack the financial wherewithal to effectively take care of such illness. This is why Mrs. Ambode has been deploying the platform of her Foundation Hope for Women in Nigeria Initiative, HOFOWEM to intervene in some critical medical cases as it particularly concerns the downtrodden.

    Just a few examples will suffice. When John Akinbo was born into the world, parents, family members and friends rejoiced at his birth. The joy was however short-lived as it was discovered while the boy was barely two years old that he had a hole in the heart. Thus, began the parent’s gradual slide into confusion and pain. But then, it wasn’t long before help came and hope re-ignited. Through HOFOWEM, young John was to get a new lease of life as he was sponsored to India for surgery which hugely turned out to be a success. Now, John has a solid basis to hope for a better tomorrow.

    In same vein, when it dawned on Mrs. Folake Muritala that she needed to undergo a hip replacement surgery, it was like her world was falling apart. This is in view of the enormous financial cost of such operation. Characteristically, HOFOWEM intervened and offset all the medical expenses. Today, Mrs. Muritala could contentedly look at life with eyes full of hope. Thanks to HOFOWEM, the harbinger of hope!

    HOFOWEM also partners with other foundations through financial grants to support various humanitarian causes. For instance, HOFOWEM provided Sebeccly Cancer Foundation with grants in support of cancer cause. Also, it assisted Irede Foundation with grants for the provision of prosthetic limb for children with mobility issues while grants were also provided to Children Development Centre to support children with autism. Lydia Foundation was also supported with grants to rehabilitate prostitutes

    Widows in particular prominently feature in HOFOWEM’s scheme of things.  Recently, HOFOWEM put smile on the faces of 103 widows when it doled out cash and a variety of gift items. The objective was to ameliorate the sufferings they daily contend with as a result of the loss of their bread winners.  A major aim of the programme was to guarantee that the widows were able to live happily and depend more on themselves after the death of their husbands.

    One other crucial area where HOFOWEM is helping to give hope to the less privileged is education. Education has long been recognized as a way out of poverty and ignorance for individuals, and as a way of promoting equal opportunity. Late South African  President, Nelson Mandela once reinforced the power of education when he described it as the greatest engine of personal development through which anyone could achieve his/her dreams, no matter how massive.

    Sadly, however, in the last few decades, the standard of education has drastically diminished in the country. Pronounced poverty, especially, has made it almost difficult for parents to invest in quality education for their wards. Across the country, many children have become hawkers and street beggars, just to make ends meet. A few of them that are interested in education could not actualize their dreams as a result of the inability of their parents to provide seemingly simple school’s accessories such as shoes, bags and books.

    It is partly as a result of this that HOFOWEM came up with the initiative to provide public primary school pupils with shoes and socks. The essence is to ensure that no pupil drops out of school or is denied access to education because of failure to obtain item as seemingly minute as shoes.  Through “Project Bright Steps” for public school pupils in Lagos State, HOFOWEM annually dole out 175,000 school shoes and socks, to children in primary 1-3 in Lagos State public primary schools.

    According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate and to help put smile on the faces of others”. If viewed from this perspective, it could be rightly affirmed that Mrs. Ambode is living a purposeful life.

     

    • Omojoye wrote in from Palmgrove, Lagos.