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  • If I forget thee, O Jerusalem…! (II)

    If I forget thee, O Jerusalem…! (II)

    Jerusalem, the capital of Israel (and the eastern portion of which the Palestinians expect to be the capital of their own state) is a harsh undulating land of hills and valleys where the traveller feels he is always either climbing or descending. It is one of the most fought over, most destroyed and re-built lands in the world, and this is not talking about a hundred years ago since the British Mandate, but going back thousands of years.

    The word ‘Diaspora’ is much used by virtually everybody. It is used for example to describe the skilled expatriate Nigerian community who exist in large numbers in the UK and America due to ‘brain drain’. But the word really arose from the repeated conquering and sending into exile all over the world of the Jewish people. It is said that the first Diaspora sent the ten northern tribes of ancient Israel into permanent exile all over the world. The second Diaspora, variously attributed to the Assyrians and Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed Jerusalem and sent some of its people into exile, – many in Damascus, but also left some behind in a mix of population with other peoples in the areas that would later be known as Palestine, and modern Israel.

    The important message here is that entering the big Arab market in East Jerusalem to visit the Wailing Wall, and to follow the fourteen stations of the cross, you can feel the mutual animosity between the young battle-ready soldiers of the Israeli Defence force deployed about to keep the peace, and the resentful Arabs shopkeepers, who feel their land has been taken away from them.

    For thousands of years, in every Jewish household, in Russia in London, in Poland, in Morocco, settling to table at Passover feast, adults and children would intone fervently, before breaking the bread

    ‘If I forget you O Jerusalem – let my right hand lose its cunning – ‘, and offer the ritual greeting ‘Next year in Jerusalem…’

    Every modern leader who has felt the frustration of trying to end the Arab-Israeli conflict has come to realize that need to see the battle between the two cousins – the Jew and the Arab, in context, as a prelude to trying to find a partial accommodation that everybody can live with in the modern day. Somebody was driven from his father’s vineyard fifty years ago, in the Six Day War, and he still has the land papers to prove it. Another person was driven from the same vineyards, two thousand years ago. There were no land papers, at least none still extant, in the times King Nebuchadnezzar.

    Climbing to a hilltop once during a Christian pilgrimage, your Israeli guide had pointed to a valley down below.

    ‘That is Meggido – the site of The Final Battle – Armagedon’

    She went on to expatiate. In the final battle down there, the forces of the unbelievers would come into battle against the Jews.

    And who would win, you asked?

    The Jews, she said, without a moment’s hesitation.

    There is another version of ‘the final battle’that is believed with equal fervor by some other people. This one is centred in a place called Dabiq in – yes,  northern Syria.In fact Dabiq is the name of the news and propaganda online magazine published by ISIS.

    What is to happen in Dabiq?

    The armies of the Unbelievers would be ranged against the True Believers.

    The outcome?

    There are several versions of this. A lot of deaths. The hastening of Judgement Day.

    This is the vision that has led hundreds of youths from different lands – including Europe and America – to come and kill, and die, in these alien lands.

    It makes the hair stand on end to think of the possibility of a limited man such as Donald Trump or one of his ilk,another GW Bush – but ten times bolder, ten times more ignorant, lacking the power of reflection,lacking the benefit of History, or the capacity to project into the future, becoming president America, and wanting to ‘project American Power’ in such an environment, perhaps wanting to outdo, or blunt the edge of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Playing into Armageddon script that Obama refused at the last minute to plunge himself and the world into. Bumbling about in a landscape where everywhere you put your foot there are ancient booby-traps, soaked in centuries of human blood and suffering, and convictions and certainties beyond the reach of rational human logic.

    The world is in for some interesting times, indeed.

  • Comic relief in season of anti-corruption war

    To the average human being, comedies can serve salutary purposes. They can also provide relief from the pressures and tensions of life. Everybody laughs and those who always exhibit the Idiagbon mien of believing that laughing is anathema to a serious minded life will even find relief in exercising a few muscles of the cheeks, whether due to contrived or induced smiles. Comic strips make life worth living and give escape routes for the tensions of the moment. They can also bring more rewards beyond the muscular exercise which they are known to elicit.

    In the United Kingdom there is an annual event termed “Comic Relief” where several leading personalities go out of their ways to carry out exercises that they are not, by virtue of their positions, normally associated with. These could be Ministers or other top Politicians and it also features celebrities all over the society. The events are usually primed to raise funds for the poor and the disadvantaged in the society by compelling these personalities to do all sorts of weird things for the simple purpose of making people laugh and there-from raise precious funds for noble causes in the society.

    I have seen whole communities benefit from such funds while several sick children have had their lives delivered from the misery of congenital diseases that would have made life a hell for them. This shows that Comic Relief may not after-all be limited to moments of jesting in order to provoke laughs from the audience. However, the comic relief coming from Nigeria in recent times is of a different sort but at least we are being treated to several performances from hitherto national characters who at one time were looked upon as icons of our national polity. Many are singing better than D’banj, Olamide and Don Jazzy put together. Many have even taken to consuming paper like they’ll consume “Kilishi” and we are loving the performances.

    Mankind actually needs periodic amusement but the cost may be a disincentive because of the shame that might accrue to those who provide it. Unfortunately in 2016 Nigeria we are being treated to another version of comic relief, the sort that does not provoke the emotion of shamefulness to the principal actors. The shame is on us, innocent Nigerians, who have been taken for a ride.

    The daily exposes of how our collective wealth has been pillaged by a set of human beings who acted like jackals would do to a wounded antelope has been giving us a lot of amusement but beyond this, we see the tragedy of a nation that had almost “gone to the dogs”.

    It is unimaginable that human beings in 21st century Nigeria could act like a pack of wolves would do to less fortunate beings. Instead of hiding their heads in shame, most of the actors and villains in the saga have been making boastful statements to the extent that one should be bothered about the state of their sanity.

    The recent exposes have given us a cause to have a rethink on how we see the act of governance. More worrying however are the puerile defences and obnoxious positions adopted by politically exposed persons who do not see beyond politics in the management of the information we have garnered in the past few months.

     My countrymen have seen it all but I personally get pissed off when meanings are read to otherwise simple acts of interdicting criminals who have acted like termites would do to soft wood. One source of bother is the disposition of these looters. They seemed to have adopted a mindset that never believed there could be a today even before a tomorrow. Did they know there will be a day of  reckoning? I am tempted to answer my own question in the negative.

     We have seen elder statesmen adopt boastful postures instead of hiding their heads in shame. They never believed there was a day of reckoning, even though at the peak of the campaigns certain “wise” individuals in their midst actually forewarned that many of them would need to be visited by their spouses in prison. I have seen this sort of constant battle when we do Christian evangelism. Everybody knows there’s a day of reckoning but this doesn’t deter men from pursuing a life of sinfulness. It has been impunity at its apogee but for good cause its a good thing we are being presented with this national amusement for now.

    Against this background the scale of the pilferage of funds meant for fighting the Boko Haram insurgency still does not bother a few Nigerians. I am so definite that greater revelations are coming by the time we peek into the deals in Nigeria’s “Golden Goose”, the NNPC. Many have not had the kindest of words for the Buhari government for its doggedness in the pursuit of corruption which had hitherto been as elusive as the Abominable Snowman. Does it occur to those demonstrating outrage that but for the slowness of the last government to act, many of our soldiers, even fine ones, would have faced the firing squad for failing to confront the Boko Haram insurgents with their bare knuckles? The hapless lot cried to the High Heavens about an Armed Forces that had been seriously depleted and was incapable of even fighting “Aluta” action by students? We never listened to them, rather, we sent them to jail and had many sentenced to death for acts of cowardice. Now we know what happened to the money! And we now know who the real cowards are!

    Sadly, the nation’s economy is comatose and President Muhammadu Buhari may not even have the solutions. Several actions so far taken in the management of our foreign exchange have been likened to sending a bulldozer to a weed infested maize farm. The sad part is that we had an internationally acclaimed economist as the coordinating minister for the economy yet the economy was run aground and someone else is now saddled with the responsibility of cleaning up the mess. It is however comical for us to exonerate Madam Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the economic farce of her government and the lack of accountability that allowed funds to be withdrawn from the Treasury for the purpose of pursuing an election which everyone already knew was a dead horse.

    I have seen the way political campaigns had buoyed up the national economy in times past but the last exercise broke all the rules. Precious dollars and freshly minted Naira notes went out in the pursuit of a lost cause without any effect on the money supply into the economy. Now we know why. Many of those who got the credit alerts and the Ghana-must-go bags knew all the while that they were pursuing a lost cause hence refused to allow the monies collected to filter into the economy. Now we are all forced to pay the price while the stolen monies have been lodged in septic tanks and obscure foreign accounts. What a shame!

    Our public officers do not know when to throw in the towel and it would seem it is because our people do not have a sense of shame. I searched and it has become apparent that when you stay too long in a putrefying environment, your olfactory organs begin to adjust to the pungent smells and the senses become deadened. This deadening is responsible for our lack of restraint in our decision making. That is why it is so easy for one to even see good, yet call it evil or vice versa. That is why a person so afflicted can even take his food to the toilet and proceed to eat without any feelings even while defecating at the same time. The Holy Bible refers to this as “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having…..conscience seared with a hot iron”.

     After such a long time on the rubbish heap, every man needs a fresh breadth of air to allow the system to recalibrate. That is why we are feeling a sense of revulsion now at the exposes going on, even though the real perpetrators and their praise singers don’t see any reason for the hue!

    Dasuki for President?

    When I read a full page advert in The Guardian alluding to an attempt to silence Dasuki due to 2019 calculations, I couldn’t but feel a rush of blood to my head because I felt too scandalised as a Nigerian. What do these goons take Nigerians for? I bet they take all of us for fools. Seems these people do not understand what endears leaders to the led neither can they still feel the seething anger of my countrymen especially when their sordid deeds are being exposed on a daily basis. I am really convinced they are living in a self constructed cocoon where they are feeding themselves with hallucinogens and are not even in tune with reality. Let them keep dreaming. Says so much for who and what they think we are. They may have managed to steal us blind but they cannot withdraw our sense of collective outrage.

     Thank God we are civilised people otherwise we would have taken them all to the zoo to feed them to the lions. I really don’t think they can have any more use besides providing nutrition for lesser beings. If this is their understanding of leadership, aren’t we doomed? I recently wrote on shamelessness and was hoping to wash the ideas espoused there out of my system but I can now see that they seem to be incapable of knowing what Nigerians want. They are definitely finding more trouble by stroking the beard of the lion.

    The blame game

    There is a comic relief of some sort going on in “Gods own country”, the United States of America. Many do not seem to realise that America is the cause of our problems and President Obama is the major trouble for Nigeria’s inability to market its crude oil yet he isn’t valued at home. His economic policies have put the American economy where it used to be. He has broken the back of OPEC and crude oil is sold for peanuts – a desire of America for decades. He has consistently fought terrorism and got rid of all the enemies of “Uncle Sam” yet he is not valued by the conservative establishment. Why not ship him to Nigeria where we have leadership problems. The likes of Donald Trump are stinging in their rebukes of this man who is a testimony to Black entrepreneurship. Why? Could it be because of his skin? One thing I know is that Obama is not a black man! He is half white and half black. If the whites don’t accept him as one of theirs, why should I accept him? After-all he isn’t as black as myself.

    Even though Trumps ideas are a danger to humanity, I am not much bothered because of my faith in the American society. At the appropriate moment if he hasn’t been obliterated by challengers in his own party, Donald Trump will be trumped by a Hilary Clinton who will perform a clinical decimation of this irritant to the American political landscape. Anyway the system needs a lot of comic relief too and Mr. Trump is doing a damn good job.

    • Professor Olumekun is the Dean of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State.
  • Vicious herdsmen and visceral conflicts

    Vicious herdsmen and visceral conflicts

    Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari confronts another simmering and ugly crisis situation. Nigeria’s cattle industry was once a key sector of Nigeria’s export and foreign exchange earnings. Although greatly reduced in size, with the hides and skin component nearly wiped out, the cattle industry and its value chain remains huge. The industry is situated dominantly in Northern Nigeria, with nomadic Fulani herdsmen moving cattle across the nation by foot.  Inexplicably, this age-long, peaceful husbandry practice has transmuted into a major national security challenge resulting in unending violence and bloodletting. Indeed, Fulani herdsmen violence ranks within the top four risks facing Nigeria. Oddly, whilst crisis situations – even if mundane or primordial – resulting in violent conflicts and disruptive demographic shifts, deserve attention and ought to preoccupy any purposeful leadership, this one is not. As such it is confounding to observers, why Nigeria’s political leadership’s response has been “tepid, indecisive, and desultory” and why policymakers dither in tackling the rampant carnages and fatalities resulting from herdsmen-farmers clashes. Many worry that these clashes and its security implications mimic the overlooked rise of Boko Haram.

    Nomadic Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farming communities are the main parties to the present conflict. Clashes between the nomadic Fulani husbandry communities and unsuspecting farming communities in the 36 states are incessant and dominate the news and political landscape.  Violence, wanton destruction of properties and fatalities resulting from such clashes have reached epic conflict proportions.  The grazing conflict, which already risks becoming identity-based, is further compounded by activities of cattle rustlers, whose activities predispose the”killings to ethnocentric interpretations.”Yet, it is imperative, in the national interest, that the grazing crises should not be identified strictly as a Fulani issue, since not all Fulani people are herdsmen.

    Conflict is often a manifestation of a clash between parties pursuing incompatible goals. Historically, land – be it geopolitical landmass or farmland – is inextricably linked to conflict.  Incompatible goals and scarcity of resources are identifiable root causes of conflict.  Thus, material scarcity, be it of water, food, space, natural resources and in this case, pasture for grazing cattle, can easily cause conflicts. Grazing land conflicts, like those over water in arid lands, are considered high-stakes classic distributional conflicts. So, nomadic Fulani pastoralists, driven by chronic scarcity of pasture, now feel justified in resorting to grazing their herds anywhere, including on subsistence community farms. Regrettably, the burgeoning conflict has its roots embedded in the absence of grazing regulations and clearly delineated grazing lands across the nation. And because grazing conflict involves land, space, killing of cattle and damage to cash crops, which are sources of livelihood, the ensuing conflict is emotive and increasingly deadly.

    Attentive Nigerians already recognize the unfolding traits of the present conflict.  They recognize that the grazing crisis is being exacerbated by a policy lacunae and absence of enforceable ordinances on grazing land ownership and violations.  They recognize also that the grazing crises are worsening and that government’s tardy and lethargic response is compounding the crises. Since the grazing conflict is not being proactively addressed through sensitization, pertinent public policies or provision of adequate infrastructure, the crises persist. Moreover, farming communities and herdsmen are also not being adequately protected. Additionally, the grazing conflict is further compounded by tertiary causes, such as “unemployment, and lack of education, population pressure, ethnic hatred and availability of arms,” even as climate change and desertification may also be contributing factors. Consequently, because the grazing crises are perceived by the herdsmen and farmers as rights-to-land-based, grievances, reprisals and adversarial posturing on both sides has intensified, pushing the conflict towards intractability. Although some states have set up the so-called “cattle menace committees,” they remain largely ineffectual.  The question remains why the grazing crises are not being recognized and urgently managed as a serious inter-group or ethno-political conflict by the Buhari administration.

    Crises resulting in conflict and mayhem are best addressed through policies that focus on the causes of the conflict, the dramatis personae, the conflict theatre and any cross-cultural differences at play. When a conflict is well mapped, acceptable resolutions are likely to emerge. Unchecked, such conflict sources coupled with cultural ignorance, insensitivity, miscommunication, misinterpretation and even hatred and reprisals, tend to lead to extreme violence, as is now the case. Hence, it is from this prism that any earnest evaluation of the conflict between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers over grazing lands must be articulated. Meanwhile, Nigeria is at a dubious junction of a multi-fangled conflict, with no clear policy guidelines or remedial measures in sight, but with a surfeit of official pussyfooting. Indeed, some observers believe that political and ethnic considerations, as well as traditional sentiments now becloud policy decisions, thus hindering robust response to the crises bedevilling this age-long husbandry practice.  If so, such a disposition does not inspire problem-solving confidence.  As it has been rightly observed, the Buhari presidency does not have the option of doing noting or perfunctorily doing little.”

    Some established facts subsist. First, the grazing conflict is needs-based and cross-cultural, if only in name. Second, the grazing conflict has assumed high-level of intensity and destructiveness and risks becoming intractable.  This affirms the conflict as a classical distributive conflict; with grazing land as the contentious resource. Third, though Nigeria may lack monitoring capabilities and parameters for measuring the intensity of the conflict, the spiralling rise in fatalities, destruction of properties and the growing number of internally displace persons (IDPs), should suffice as early warning signs.  They should also serve as informal benchmarks for measuring the scope and intensity of the grazing conflict.

    Relatedly, grazing conflict causalities in Nigeria continue to rise unabated.  Vicious AK-47-wielding Fulani herdsmen traversing Nigeria’s countryside and private farms are not exactly peacemakers. Evidence abound that the herdsmen, most reportedly non-Nigerians, now resort to kidnapping, killings and looting, rape and scotch-earth campaigns thus making the violent conflicts visceral. Two notable Nigerians kidnapped recently by the herdsmen include, Chief Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF)and HRH Akaeze Ofulue III of Ubulu-Uku in Delta State. The latter was murdered. From Abia, Adamawa, Benue, Ogun, to Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara, the horrid stories is the same.  Available data shows that while in a three year period – 2010 to 2013 – Fulani herdsmen killed some 80 people in farming communities across Nigeria, in 2014, the number of fatalities rose to 1,229 people. Years 2015 and 2016 have witnessed spiralling rise in the number of incidents and fatalities; the latest being in the Agatu and Tombo communities in Benue State, where a total of 315 people were killed. These clashes now occur almost daily across Nigeria; and grazing conflict now rank second to Boko Haram as a cause for massive population displacements in Nigeria. Still herdsmen’s rampages continue because their wielding automatic weapons have gone unchallenged by the federal authorities. Since states depend on the federal law agencies for general security, the states seem impotent to respond on their own.

    Stopping herdsmen violence in Nigeria requires understanding the genesis of the crises and applying solutions that are in tandem with internationally accepted conflict resolution best practices. The U.N. have stressed that “conflict becomes

    First, no one is persuaded to abide by laws; flouting laws should have its consequences. Second, while the herdsmen are nomadic, they belong to umbrella organs like Miyetti Allah Fulani Association, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association and Arewa Consultative Forum. These stakeholder groups can interface with their farming counterparts and traditional rulers to find solutions. Nigerians must admit that the grazing crises and the methodology for stemming it have since gone beyond persuasion.

    • Obaze, is immediate past Secretary to the Anambra State Government.

  • University degree in cultism and cruelty

    I guess it is high time, Nigerian universities began offering courses in the sociology of cultism and related human cruelty as a prelude to a Bachelor’s Degree in that field. Perhaps, Abia State University, Uturu, which harbour retaliatory cult groups, Burkinafaso and Mafia, who engage in orgy of killings, deserve the dishonour of hosting the first faculty. But who are the students who murdered Ebuka Nwaigbo and Samuel Ethelbert allegedly in retaliation for Collins Agwu, cut-off their heads, and set the heads up, as goal-posts, at a regular playing field, within the university, reportedly reserved for cultists?

    The Abia State government under Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State University management and the Nigerian police, Abia State command should all bow their heads in shame for not yet fishing out all the culprits to face the law. If I have the powers, the job of the Vice Chancellor of the university, the Chief Security Officer of the university, the Commissioner for Education in the state, and the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the university area, would all be on the firing line, unless they act fast. Again, if I were a parent, to a student in the university, particularly of the type that behaves strangely, even when I pretend not to notice, I will now be in mourning, because I may have fathered an extra-ordinary bandit whose level of depravity, is beyond ordinary human comprehension.

    Indeed, if I were President Muhammadu Buhari, my worry over the faith and future of the nation I preside over will further heighten, with the gory details of the Abia State University, infamy. Just last week, PMB had at an International Islamic Conference, on peace and nation building, in Abuja, expressed aghast over the cruelty of the Boko Haram and posited a solution. In his presentation, PMB said: “I assured Nigerians that at the end of hostility when the group is subdued, the government would commission a sociological study to determine the origin, the remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, (and) its international connections if any, to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence”.

    With the newest variant of cruelty exhibited by presumed students of a university, the expanding murderous intensity of inter-ethnic conflagrations, and the daily upsurge in violent youth-crime, the President’s alarm and prognosis should have a wider base and target. Tragically, the present and potential danger of murderous cultism at any university, as the Rivers State re-run election crisis has shown –by the number of wasted human lives, and the level of depravity engaged in, by educated-high-office-holders -is that cultists are already seeking and getting into positions of political authority, with all the grave consequences for the larger society.

    The government of Abia State headed by Okezie Ikpeazu must therefore wake-up to the intensity of the challenge facing the state as the future of Abians and our country is at grave risk with the kind of future leaders, which that university is breeding. I am by no means laying the blame for such a faulty foundation on the present governor considering that he recently came into office; but finding a lasting solution to the crisis lies squarely on his shoulders both as the Visitor to the university, and as the Chief Security Officer of the state. The immediate step the governor must take is to find out those involved in the heinous murder of their fellow students, regardless of their alleged involvement in cultism, and ensure that they are diligently prosecuted.

    The next and perhaps simultaneous step to be taken is for the Visitor to find out the list of the cult groups in the university and their membership. The governor should not broach the idea that finding out the members of the cult groups is not possible. Finding out the cult groups and dismantling them is as important as dealing with the present and past killers, whose level of depravity is entirely far beyond the contemplation of the provisions of the criminal code, with respect to the definition of murder. A cursory examination of the provisions of section 316, of the criminal code that defines murder will show that the markers of the law never contemplated the depravity of such killers as exists in Abia State University.

    Indeed, under section 316(1) of the criminal code, which is the closest to the insanity exhibited by Abia murderers, murder is defined thus: “Except as hereinafter set forth, a person who unlawfully kills another under any of the following circumstances, that is to say – if the offender intends to cause the death of the person killed, or that of some other person”. Perhaps when the law was made, it was not within the contemplation of the law giver that a murderer could be so despicably insane that he/she would not only kill, but would turn the act of killing to a cruel joke, with the intent to use the dead as an object of mockery for both the dead and the living.

    Please forgive my tautology. But I guess it is time to differentiate between mere murderers and cultist or terrorist murderers for whom exhibiting cruelty in the very despicable act of murder appears to be more important than the mere murder itself. Perhaps, a new law should provide for the crime of aggravated murder as different from an ordinary murder. Most likely, it is the aggravated cruelty and despicable inhumanity of the Boko Haramites, like the Abia cultists, that propelled the president to contemplate raising sociologists who will understudy the depravity of that cadre of murderers.

    No doubt, the class of murderers from the Abia State University are not mere murderers and the Abia State government and the university authority must take notice of that and act timeously; to stem the possibility that someday in the future, one or more of those involved in this heinous crimes, could turn out a major state actor, with all the grievous consequences. Parents, especially those whose children are still young must also brace up for real parenting. I cannot as a parent imagine a worst nightmare than to be informed that one’s child is a member of the gang that took out their alleged comrades in perfidy, in a manner, comprehensible only by the worst scoundrels.

    Just like the Boko Haram menace, which started as a local concern in Borno proved over time; it will be foolhardy for our national leaders to see the peculiar Abia murderers as an isolated matter. Cultism in Nigerian universities have been a widespread crisis and now that we have a responsible leadership at the central government, which commands the national security apparatus, it is imperative for a national initiative to be put in place for a holistic solution. President Buhari may have to send undercover agents back to the universities, with the clear mandate to eradicate cultism in our universities, whether private, state or federally owned.

    Part of the way out should also include, decentralising policing in Nigeria. Perhaps, if there is a university police, those scoundrels, masquerading as students in Abia State University, as in several others, would have been routed before their audacious impunity which portrays the youths of our dear country as implacable slaughterers.

     

  • PMB’s will to conquer terrorism

    One can never forget the second bombing incident in Nigeria when a terrorist attempted to bring down the Louis Edet House, the headquarter of Nigeria Police Force in the nation’s capital city, Abuja. This was to be the first suicide mission in Nigeria and a new dimension in the activities of the terror group – the Boko Haram –  in its deadly operations in Nigeria.

    This incident opened the door for our country’s descent into despondency and a long running show of shame. It exposed Nigeria’s numerous weaknesses to the world as the other security agencies were forced to build siege walls with artificial barriers like blocks, stones and other instruments to barricade their complexes. Each security outfit became wary and were willing to do the ridiculous if only to avoid any embarrassment from Boko Haram and their suicide bombers.

    If the siege mentality in the nation’s capital was troubling, then the news from the war front in the North-east, the Boko Haram heartland was dismal. There were countless number of stories of soldiers fleeing battles, widespread desertion, horrendous casualty and a band of terrorists that took on invincibility. The situation was bad enough that constitutionally scheduled general elections were placed on hold for six weeks under the guise of fighting a group that had grown the capacity to attack any part of the country at will.

    The coming of President Muhammadu Buhari marked the beginning of the end of Boko Haram. The inauguration of President Buhari and subsequent appointment of Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai remains that turning point in the war against the fanatical murderers. It marked the point when the commanders of the extremists, who decorated themselves without the sophistication and training of the Nigerian Army that was proudly rated as the best in Africa sequel to the evil ascendancy of Boko Haram being addressed as mere criminals.

    One can therefore not be blamed to have found the declaration by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, six months after the inception of the administration, that Boko Haram has been technically defeated. The Minister of Information, hitherto known for his persistent outspokenness during his days as the All Progressives Congress, APC spokesman demonstrated what he meant with a visit to Maiduguri. The city, until the exit of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was the administrative headquarters of Boko Haram just like Washington DC is to the United States of America. Senior officials of the previous administration had technically declared the North-east a no go area, even for those who are originally from the place.

    It was adequately reported, quoting multiple intelligence sources and operational reports, that the terrorists were all coordinated from this town while Sambisa Forest served as their armoury and Bite as the spiritual headquarters from where all their Imams and Alfas coordinating prayers for their success against our army. Ironically, mere prayer warriors can only win battles when there is no army like the renewed Nigerian Army under President Buhari and his able chief, officers and soldiers have made us to understand today.

    Just as the Boko Haram black flag has been taken down and burnt in areas that were once their strongholds, making it possible for life to return to normal, the siege around military facilities and other national assets in Abujais being lifted. The barricades have disappeared from Agura Hotel and other barricades are disappearing from around other facilities. Institutions that still have barricades in place either are not in tune with the mood of the times.

    Those days when we hear the then Minister of Information, Labaran Maku of the Jonathan administration declare the defeat of Boko Haram, Nigerians run to Agura Hotel to confirm if the double lane, which was sealed off to protect military offices in the vicinity, has been reopened to traffic or not.

    It is on this note that must appreciate President Buhari’s right choice in appointing General Buratai as COAS. The events that followed showed that the General shared the same trait of decisiveness with the older General that appointed him. This explains why Buratai was able to bring on board leadership with a focus.

    As opposed to when Boko Haram was fought from the comfort of air-conditioned hotel suites and the lobby of expansive duplexes and well-stocked ballrooms, President Buhar’s directive as implemented by Buratai, who demonstrated a clear understanding of guerrilla warfare yielded the quick turnaround that ensured that all the prophets of doom are put to shame as their prediction of doom for Nigeria amounted to nought. With the introduction of motorbike battalion under his command, something that is comparatively cheaper but was never contemplated, soldiers are now able to move quickly to wherever the terrorists are before they can cause much havoc.

    That these feats were achieved can also be situated in the anti-corruption stance of President Buhari, which Buratai has dedicatedly implemented as he exhibited intolerance for corruption anywhere in the Army. It must be noted that this anti-corruption component goes beyond not diverting money meant for arms purchase and personnel welfare as it also include rebuilding values to engender germane qualities not seen in any military formations anywhere in Africa.

    With the benefit of hindsight, the current administration might not have made the required mark in other sectors in relation to citizens’ expectations, but the fact that we can now sleep with our eyes closed is commendable as an achievement that should make any objective assessor score President Muhammadu Buhari the required first class performance. We must salute his will and determination to return Nigeria to being a stable and peaceful country.

     

    • Suleiman writes from Jos Road, Bauchi State.

  • Rescue of abducted girls: The Ambode example

    When three  school girls were abducted from the Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos State recently, memory of the abducted Chibok girls yet to be found almost two years after threw many people especially the parents of the girls into despondency. The parents feared their daughters may suffer the same fate like the Chibok girls abducted since April 15, 2014. But in a swift reaction, and in matching words with action, Governor Akinwumi Ambode proved many who had resigned to fate, wrong as the girls were rescued six days (they were abducted on February 29 and rescued on March 6)  after abduction thus ending the nightmare of parents.

    Had President Jonathan acted promptly like Governor Akinwumi Ambode did, and with a sincerity of purpose like President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chibok girls would probably have been rescued. It is unfortunate that the Jonathan administration foot-dragged about the rescue of the Chibok girls, wasting precious time, arguing about whether the Chibok girls were actually kidnapped or not, and by the time he was convinced that the girls were actually abducted, it was too late. To add insult to injury, the President’s wife, Patience Jonathan turned a serious matter to theatrics by inviting the Principal of the Chibok school and other officials where she insinuated that the girls were not abducted and that the whole incident was a “make believe” story to embarrass her husband.

    Unlike ex-President Jonathan, Governor Ambode left no one in doubt that he would rescue the girls and he immediately swung into action as he gave a marching order to the security agents who equally took the rescue seriously. In fact, the Inspector General of Police, Solomone Arase shifted base to Lagos. It was not surprising that Ambode got the full co-operation of security agents because he had earlier done the needful by providing security equipment worth N4.8 billion naira to the police for effective crime control in the city. This included, 100 4-Door Salon Cars, 55 Ford Ranger Pick-Ups, 10 Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-Ups, 15 BMW Power Bikes, 100 Power Bikes, Isuzu Trucks, three (3) Helicopters, two(2) Gun Boats, 15 Armoured Personnel Carriers, Revolving Lights, Siren and Public Address System, Vehicular Radio Communicators, Security Gadgets including Bullet Proof Vests, Helmets, Handcuffs, etc. The package included uniforms, kits and improved insurance and death benefit schemes for officers. The National Mirror editorial of Wednesday March 9, captured the governor’s strong resolve to rescue the girls: “Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State promised the rescue of the girls in no time. He did not sound defeatist, placatory or helpless while the security agencies did their job. He voiced his conviction that swift and coordinated reaction, guided by security intelligence, was a better and more sensitive approach to addressing the challenge than recourse to sensationalism or being panic-stricken”.

    Expressing their heartfelt gratitude to Governor Ambode for the swift rescue of the girls, the Anglican Archbishop of Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos Mainland Diocese, Most Rev. Adebayo Dada Akinde who led the principal of the school and the parents of the girls on a thank you visit to the governor said, “It was a most traumatic moment and sad for us as proprietors. Today we are thanking God for his intervention that a most unfortunate and traumatic event ended on a joyous note. All three pupils are now safe in the custody of their parents, they have been reunited. You acted and responded. Your response was prompt, your response was positive, your response was practical”.

    Today, we all know what happened to the fund allocated for arms purchase by the Jonathan administration. The diversion of that fund, running into billions of dollars left our army ill-equipped for battle. Even though it is the duty of the federal government to equip the police and other security agencies, Governor Ambode provided enormous support for the Lagos State Police Command and other security agencies in the state.

    The determination and concern with which Ambode pursued vigorously the rescue exercise of the girls shows a clear difference between a leader who cares and the one who doesn’t. Ambode’s slogan that Lagos will be uninhabitable for criminals is not  the usual political rhetoric but a statement of fact. This was corroborated by one of the arrested kidnappers who said: “I know that security in Lagos State is now tight and I was telling others that there was no way we would get away with this kind of job considering the level of security in the state. When I told them that we should end the assignment, other members of the gang threatened to kill me and then I took canoe to run away”.

    The cordial relationship between the governor and the security agencies has paid off greatly with the promptness and alacrity with which the police approached the operation. Other governors should emulate this. The security agencies should also be commended for their patriotism and the good use they’ve put the new gadgets donated to them by the Ambode administration. They were very tactical and professional in the rescue operation as they secured the release of the girls unhurt and arrested the culprits without firing a single shot!

    Even though the two abduction scenarios of the Chibok girls and Ikorodu girls were different,  the point remains that swift response would have made a difference in the case of the Chibok girls as it did in the Ikorodu girls. If solders had been drafted within 48 hours after the abduction of the Chibok girls, the girls would have been rescued. That this was not done was because the Jonathan government was pre-occupied with how to capture Ekiti State in the gubernatorial election coming up in June of that year as well as the 2015 Presidential  electoral preparations. By the time the reality dawned on the government that the girls were actually kidnapped, it was too late.

    The morale of the armed forces under Jonathan was low because of unpaid allowances and outdated weapons but it is better now with President Buhari as seen in the recapture of many lost territories and the decapitation of the terrorist group to a non-fighting force. Governor Ambode enjoyed the goodwill and co-operation of the security forces in Lagos State because he motivated them with material and welfare support which was lacking in the armed forces under Jonathan which made our soldiers run away from the battle-field when confronted with superior fire power of the Boko Haram terrorists. Even if they were deployed on time by then President Jonathan, it is doubtful if they would have been able to rescue the Chibok girls considering their low morale, arising from inadequate weapons which made them vulnerable.

    The unfortunate abduction has once again brought to the fore the need to put preventive measures in place  and beef up security around secondary schools in Lagos State. The schools should have private guards who could be useful in informing security agents immediately an abduction takes place even if they cannot prevent it.

    The timely apprehension of the culprits in the Ikorodu abduction is likely to discourage other criminals who may be planning such.

     

    • Afolabi writes from Surulere, Lagos.

  • UI crisis: Facts, fictions and fights

    The current financial crisis rocking the University of Ibadan (UI) in which the management team says it can no longer pay some allowances, after struggling to pay salaries, clearly confirms what has always been suspected: insolvency, if not bankruptcy. Following the crash of prices of crude oil in the international market, observers had predicted that there would be tough time for the country.

    Indeed, the tough time is here. Many states across the country are not only impecunious, their workers are as indigent as their dependents who are in the poverty trap as a result of non-payment of salaries. The distress scenario is fast spreading to federal government’s agencies and institutions with major shortfall in financial allocation. This is the genesis of the on-going crisis in UI where workers are giving the new Vice Chancellor , Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka sleepless nights over non-payment of what they called “earned allowance” for the month of February.

    This “earned allowance” which is a fallout of the 2009 agreement between the government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is being paid in installment through the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), pending  when the government will reimburse the university. But with the shortfall in personnel grant released by the government, the VC had no choice but to cry out that the university will not be able to pay the allowance. The workers, under different unions, including Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) scoffed at the dilemma, insisting that the allowance must be paid. They believe that UI has the wherewithal to pay the money.

    Determined to douse tension, Prof. Olayinka in a release dated February 22, explained the financial situation to the workers, citing paucity of funds as his headache. According to him, In 2015, the institution received N932,714,026.24 from January up to November. In December 2015, the allocation on personnel cost was drastically reduced to N663,972,634.60 – a reduction of N268,741,391.64. He stated that the shortfall accounted for why deductions for the month of December 2015 could not be paid to all deserving cooperative societies and unions.

    For the month of January, instead of a monthly allocation of N1,080,954,864.75, the institution got N782,346,495.95, a reduction of N298,608,369.16 – the reason it could not meet up with 100 percent  of its commitment on personnel cost .

    Unfortunately, the workers believe that there is money in the system to pay the allowance. However, since the union leadership appears to know better than the ordinary members, a congress was called in which members of the three unions, excluding Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were enjoined to converge on the main entrance of the university. As early as 7am, staff members had taken over the place, itching to be updated. The gates had been locked as usual. The vehicular movement had been effectively paralyzed.

    Wale Akinremi who spoke on behalf of other leaders, called the vice chancellor Prof. Olayinka unprintable names. Much sadder still, and more disappointing was the way he spoke with mannerisms of a street fighter, boasting with garage argot “ Omo Igboro l’emi o, mo de le ba anybody loju  je. Wa sa kaba kaba” roughly translated to mean “I am from down town and I can dent anybody’s face, you will run in defeat.

    This is indeed a sad commentary on civility, coming from a decent academic environment of Ibadan status. It is impertinence of the worst kind which must be condemned by all men and women of good moral standing. By the way, how did Mr. Akinremi emerge as SSANU chairman of Ibadan chapter? Well, what do we expect when decent people avoid politics and unionism like a plaque, leaving just any character to parade himself as chairman? One had thought Akinremi was too well bred and too fine a person to make a public display of such appalling bad manners, more so when he is said to have read Law from a sister’s institution. Beauty is truly skin deep. How else is indiscipline spelt?

    Respect for elders is one of the cardinal imperatives of our traditional customs. Anyone who could be audacious enough to make the UI VC the butt of his public grandiloquence, calling him unprintable names and describing him as “bastard” simply lacks good breeding.  Such a person doesn’t deserve to lead a union. A union leader who is worth his salt must employ cultured language and definitiveness of logic to fight his battle. Decent use of language is, to me, a maturity index. Importantly, linguistic competence dictates that one must be familiar with principles of politeness in spoken discourse. Insulting the VC, pelting him with a satchet of pure water as someone reportedly did at an earlier meeting is not only satanic, but repugnant to good conscience. It is a desecration of culture of civilization.

    Perhaps it is relevant to ask for Prof. Olayinka’s offence in all of this. Is he the one who caused economic crisis? Did the VC get more allocation than he has disclosed? Akinremi alleged that Prof. Olayinka did not behave as his predecessor, Prof. Isaac Folorunso Adewole! Haba! No two individuals are ever the same. Not even twins who passed through the same womb. In 2009, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua offered amnesty to the Niger Delta boys and achieved peace. The former President Olusegun Obasanjo had approached the same problem with force and failed. Does it mean Yar’Adua was the wisest president ever? Does it mean Obasanjo did not succeed in other areas? Every leader comes to the stage with his peculiar style and flavour. Therefore, it is invidious comparing Olayinka with his predecessor.

    Again, the VC was accused of reporting the union leaders to the security agents, the move which they said exacerbated the crisis. However, going by Akinremi’s pugnacious conduct and sadistic temperament, only a VC who will like to see UI burn will not report to the Directorate of State Security. Here is a supposed union leader who has created an impression that there is no evil from hell that is too heinous for him to sprinkle on his perceived enemies. Clearly, the threat deserves the attention of the Commander-in-Chief in Abuja!

    It is obvious that Prof. Olayinka has been unjustifiably maligned and publicly denigrated. He deserves apologies. Although that is part of the sacrifices he has to make as the 12th UI VC, he nonetheless deserves respect. His office as well commands regard of those who truly cherish intellectualism. Here is a man who has been demonstrating admirable maturity and wisdom since he took over on December 1, 2015, the mindset you associate with humble and confident learner-leader. He remains the leader to be proud of. He is the symbol of our collective academic excellence and achievement. Why then should anybody take joy in disparaging him?

    However, the earlier the workers in UI adjust their budgets to the current economic reality in the country the better. Manna does not fall in perpetuity. Heaven will not fall if the government directed the management to reduce the workforce by 30 or 40 percent because there is no money to pay everyone. Many will lose their jobs. They won’t be able to protest and lock gates.  Already, many state governments have started retrenching. Who says federal government cannot do the same? It is better we don’t push our luck too far. Incessant strikes over agitation for sundry allowance should be checked. It may sound stupid to those who have capacity to challenge their opponents to a roadside brawl, and dance naked in a market place, the fact is that the universities across the country should watch it.

     

    • Saanu is of the Directorate of Public Communication, University of Ibadan.

  • Buhari’s exchange rate policy: Fragility of goodness

    President Buhari has refused to give an inch in his rock-solid determination not to devalue the naira. Unsurprisingly, this has earned him critical opprobrium among professional neo-classical economists and others knowledgeable in the links between exchange policy and economic growth and corruption. This much was revealed in his recent Al Jazeera interview and discussions among many Nigerians. To many, the president’s foreign exchange policy does not make economic sense. But is that really true? Let me offer a perspective that will shed some light on the sense and sensibility of the president’s “stubbornness” with regard to devaluation.

    Before I do that, I would like to state upfront that if I were the president or his minister of finance, I would take the easy and tested neo-classical economic approach to the management of the Nigerian economy. It could deliver quick results and boost the confidence of investors, within and without. Having said all this, I would like to add by saying there is a path to robust national economic development through the president’s intransigent exchange rate policy. Alas, it is an arduous path. I am not sure if the president (one-term or two) or Nigerians have the time and patience for the road he has chosen to bear sufficient dividends.

    This is not his only problem. The main challenge in my thinking is that the kind of exchange rate policy Buhari’s government has decided to pursue requires a more comprehensive policy framework to uplift our national economy than has been presented so far. I have not heard the president’s men and women articulate such a multi-edged policy regime, which will be largely market-driven, integrally endogenous, and patently patriotic. The economic minds in Buhari government may think they are on a good path to economic Eldorado, but the path will prove to be very fragile if they do not immediately forge and implement a robust set of policies and programmes undergirded by a well thought-through social philosophy. It is within such a cohort of policies and programmes that his current exchange rate policy makes eminent sense.

    Buhari’s exchange rate policy makes good sense in this four-pronged national financial management framework. It is one that pursues value integrity, value solidarity, and value subsidiarity as my late friend economist Ashikiwe Adione-Egom would put it. By this he meant that the currency, financial, commodity, and industrial markets must be consciously linked and administered to yield endogenous growth.

    First, it is not enough to reject the devaluation of the naira while it is depreciating in the currency market. There must be economic policies that are in place to give value integrity and constancy to the national currency. Second, the government needs to find a way to mobilize savings through its monetary and financial policies and distribute such via the market to industries to aid long-term investment.

    If the Buhari government and CBN want to continue with their current exchange rate policy, then they need to have monetary and financial policy regimes that will be in financial solidarity with Nigeria’s development. Solidarity implies that the monetary system is channelling medium to long-term savings instruments at low interest rates to the industrial markets to grow local content in manufacturing and spur endogenous development.

    If the government and its CBN governor cannot show us how the financial system is (or will be) solidly connected and committed to the industrial and productive sectors of our nation, then, I am afraid, all the current talk about endogenous development will amount to underperformance. Frankly, this is why I maintain that the path the president has chosen is a fragile one—nonetheless, workable. Not that his nationalistic approach cannot lead the economy to prosperity; the problem is that the amount of work required to get us there is daunting. Besides, the president would need experts who are not only trained in orthodox neo-classical economics, but also in heterodox economic theories.

    The third major policy focus will be the development of a network of regional commodity exchanges that will channel commodities to the industrial and consumer markets even as they provide better decision-making information for farmers and merchants and enable them to efficiently buy and sell their goods. Of course, for these regional commodity exchanges to work, we have to also develop a system of commodity banking.

    Now, we have come to the final arm of the four-pronged approach to the kind of patriotic national economic management that Buhari is gesturing to but have not yet fully articulated. The president needs to put in place policies that will enable and empower people to use the resources available to them in their regions, states, and rural areas to create jobs for themselves. Nigeria’s ability to generate this kind of endogenous economic development that will accent value subsidiarity depends on sound (and patriotic) currency and financial markets.

    Egom would put it this way: A goodly operating currency and financial market reticulates jobs to all economic regions, spreads industries around, and encourages productive activities from bottom-up. Such currency and financial markets do not encourage economic activities to be concentrated at cities and urban centres when they could be best carried out in rural areas. Besides, economic activities are not to be allocated in the cities or urban areas to the detriment of rural regions.

    Buhari has high patriotic hopes for our country but his policy of rejecting the devaluation of the naira at this time in order to spur endogenous development may not enable him to quickly realize his lofty dreams within the current parameters of our national monetary-financial systems, which are oriented towards the outside world. The monetary-financial systems of our economy are not resource-conserving and are hostile to endogenous economic development. They cannot usher in a robust environment that can create and sustain symmetry and evenness in the distributing growth, jobs, goods, and services across the sectors and regions of country. The monetary systems have not wedded the financial circulation of money (savings in the banks and stock exchanges) to industrial circulation (money-capital financing production, industries, commodity exchanges, and long-term development projects). All these will need to change if the president is to succeed in his chosen challenging course.

    President Buhari has made a clear choice about the kind of national currency management style he wants to use. His choice is not atavistic or unthinkable as many of our so-called experts have argued. His problem lies elsewhere and it is threefold. First, he is gesturing to a drastic change of economic direction and orientation that the nation may not be ready for at this time. At least, the government and APC have not sufficiently prepared the citizens for it. Second, his economic savants and strategic communication experts have not been able to clearly articulate the robust policy framework within which the “stubborn” exchange rate policy sits. Third, the government has not articulated the kind of social philosophy and social-justice vision that will energize Nigerians towards the economic future he is frantically gesturing to. As long as this set of challenges remains, whatever goodness he intends with his exchange rate policy is at best very fragile.

    What I have done in this essay is not perfect, but it serves to nudge President Buhari’s ideas and reflexes towards a systematic economic framework in order to reduce the fragility of goodness in his exchange rate policy.

    • Wariboko is Walter G. Muelder professor of social ethics at Boston University, United States.

  • Edo 2016 and danger of godfatherism

    Nigeria’s long years of military rule brought about militarized leadership in the country. It was an era better imagined than experienced. With the return of democratic governance in 1999, Nigeria returned to the path of freedom, equity, fairness, rule of law, period elections and constitutionalism.

    But quite disappointedly and unexpectedly, a cabal crept in and hijacked the democratic and election processes in the country. That was the commencement of godfatherism syndrome in the country’s politics. A syndrome which perverts democratic processes through undemocratic means for the benefit of the members of the cabal at the detriment of the people. At a time, the syndrome became a democratic tradition and norm in the country.

    The godfathers who usually enjoy the backings of the powers-that-be then dictated the dynamic of political power both at states and national levels. They were worshipped by power seekers, and their homes became a Mecca of sort. Their words were laws and oftentimes above the law. Prominent among them were Chief Chris Uba, Sir Emeka Offor, Late Lamidi Adedibu, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih alias “Fix It” and others.

    It was Anenih who announced in 2002 while serving as Minister of Works during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2003. Anenih stated further that the then 21 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors would be given automatic ticket in 2003, thereby foreclosing any transparent primaries in the party.

    Just as dictated by Anenih, President Obasanjo and the PDP governors with the exception of Chinwoke Mbadinuju of Anambra State were issued automatic return tickets in 2003 to the disappointment of many Nigerians and party faithful especially party aspirants. It was the height of political impunity in the PDP and the beginning of the party’s disastrous end.

    Anenih also extended his godfatherism activities to his home State Edo where he operated like a political colossus, dictating who gets what, how and when in the party and the governments at will. He and his party had a field day for a while in the state until 2007 when the people of Edo State revolted with protest votes against Anenih and his party, PDP during the governorship election. It would be recalled that before the election, Anenih had preference for Senator Odion Ugbesia as governorship candidate of the party, but Obasanjo opposed him and imposed Prof. Oserehimin Osunbor on the party as its governorship candidate.

    Not even the PDP’s manipulations in the election could save the party’s candidate in the court of law as the court declared Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of the defunct Action Congress (AC) winner of the election. That was how Anenih’s godfatherism activities and PDP inglorious days ended in Edo State through the people’ votes. PDP godfathers paid dearly for their sins and it was end of dark era in the politics of the state.

    The greatest beneficiary of the demystification of political godfatherism in the state was Comrade Adams Oshiohmole who overwhelmingly enjoyed the support of the people. That was why the voters voted massively for Oshiomhole during his second term bid against the PDP candidate, Major General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) that was imposed on the PDP by Anenih and his cohorts against a popular and acceptable aspirant. Since then till date, PDP in the state has never known peace and may not know peace in the nearest future, especially now that the party is not in control of power at the centre. Having murdered sleep by political godfatherism and imposition of candidates during elections, PDP lost not only followership but leadership in the state. It is hard lesson the ruling APC in the state must learnt from, and a trap the party must avoid like a plague.

    But it seems obvious that ahead of the forthcoming governorship election in the state, if the APC fails to manage the primaries well, the party will go the way of the PDP in the election. There is already growing apprehensions and concerns among the people over the growing political godfather activities of Governor Oshiomhole. The situation deserves quick intervention of the Presidency and the party’s national leadership.

    It is public knowledge in the state today that Oshiomhole who was severely critical of Anenih’s godfatherism posture is doing everything possible to muscle the party hierarchy and impose his godson, Godwin Obaseki as his successor. Oshiomhole has told everyone who cares to listen that he will dictate who succeeds him. He has been going round the state picking political fights with the people, while trying to sell the candidacy of his preferred successor.

    The governor and his foot-soldiers have in a recent meeting tried to cow some of the party governorship aspirants to drop their ambitions and support that of his godson. But they have vehemently opposed him, asking him and the party leadership to create a level playing ground for transparent primaries. There are enough signs of what will befall the party in the election if Oshiomhole and his allies are allowed to impose unpopular candidate on the party. From the governor’s actions and inactions ahead of his exit from office, it seems he is working for the success of the opposition PDP in the election.

    It was recently alleged that passport photographs and signatures of some delegates are being obtained by the state government under the guise of emergency employment to cow and hoodwink them into a compulsory endorsement of governor’s preferred aspirant. Delegates to the primaries have been allegedly placed on a monthly salary of N20,000 effective December 2015 including a fertilizer scheme for Edo North delegates. There is urgent need to call Governor Oshiomhole to order before power drives him out of the way to detriment of the people of Edo State and the APC.

    A party that won election on platform of change mantra cannot afford to support political godfatherism and other undemocratic tendencies that destroyed the PDP and the political space in the last 16 years. President Muhammadu Buhari and other elected APC members in the last general elections were not products of political godfatherism and Edo State should not be different. If Oshiomhole feels that his preferred aspirant is popular and acceptable, he should not be afraid of presenting him for a free and fair party’s primaries.

    Nobody is or will be against Oshiomhole having an interest on who succeeds him because it is his personal and legitimate right. But such interest should not override the general interest of the party faithful and general public. It is not out of place that the governor’s choice of possible successor may be at variance with that of the majority members of the party faithful and the people, but such is not unusual in a democratic practice. After all the beauty of democracy is that the minority will have their say, while the majority will have their way.

    • Adiga, a public affairs analyst and human right activist wrote from Benin City, Edo State. 

  • Nigerian Universities: Global ranking and critical reform issues

    The idea of the global ranking of universities has become a veritable means by which we assess the performance of various universities across the continent. It is no longer news that most African universities struggle to make some visible showing in the forefronts of the ranking. For instance, in the Times Higher Education 2014-2015 world university ranking, European, Asian and mostly United States’ universities occupied the first 100 slots. Africa made its first appearance through the University of Cape Town, South Africa, at number 124, followed by the University of Witwatersrand, another South African institution at slot 251. Out of 400 universities, no Nigerian universities, federal, state and private made the list. In the January 2016 edition of the Webometric ranking of universities, University of Ibadan was first in Nigeria, 16th in Africa and 1296th in the world. Obafemi Awolowo came in at 35th in Africa and 2119th in the world.

    We often mostly deride the ranking as being unrepresentative and loaded against African institutions. The argument usually goes that such global assessments, for instance, Transparency International’s Corruption Index, fails to take into consideration the contextual realities on ground in the issues at stake. Thus, ranking African universities does more harm than good because these institutions are made to compete on academic standards that fail the text of comparative adequacy. However, any improvement in positioning is often celebrated and flashed across multiple media spaces.

    Ranking of all kinds measures specific performance metrics that statistically outline how a university is perceived as a center of learning and research. There are several lessons to learn from what we see and where we are on the ranking lists. The first such lesson is essentially symbolic. And it symbolizes national degradation. In other words, we learn through these rankings the value we place, as a state, on educational matter, compared to, say, the United States which conspicuously dominates the rankings, whatever the standards of assessment.

    Apart from the national economy, education constitutes a significant component of national development which no nation can ever hope to toy with without dire consequences that goes beyond a mere downgrading on any ranking framework. It is in this sense that Nigeria needs to look beyond lamenting or celebrating any ranking improvement or slump.

    If higher education constitutes a serious phenomenon that ensures human survival, at the level of the nation-state, it fundamentally becomes an institutional representation of national discovery of knowledge, and its utilization for development and progress. We can hypothesize that the extent to which a nation-state can function in developmental terms is conditional on its significant human capital (SHC) which is determined by the state of its higher education. There is therefore no nation that can assuredly rise above the quality of its own SHC or its higher education objective. In the third world, and especially in Africa and particularly in Nigeria, the truth of the disconnection between the SHC and national development is brought home forcefully and unfortunately.

    For instance, demographic data demonstrates that Nigerians all around the globe constitute one of the highest achieving immigrant groups in the world, and the achievements cut across all areas of human endeavours—space technology, education, science, art, healthcare, politics, etc. Yet, this high feat of optimization and productive innovation has not been transplanted to the Nigerian development dynamics as instigation for national progress. Nigerian universities can hardly be regarded as sites of optimization and productive innovation. In actual fact, they represent one sad index of our underdevelopment, especially in terms of governance, research outputs and relevant curricular dynamics. It is doubtful that Nigeria will ever produce another Nobel Laureate, groomed within the Nigerian university environment. This is because while the universities that produce the Nobel Laureates do so in the context of cutting-edge research that are defined by the capacity to transform national developmental dynamics, Nigerian universities are grievously dissociated from Nigeria’s developmental efforts.

    While the global community is vast transforming into a knowledge society, Nigeria appears to be standing right at the margin of significant happenings in academic context. Francis Bacon gave the world the fundamental thought that knowledge equals power. And that power translates into the capacity higher education has to induce development. Education is a badge of development. Higher education particularly represents a nation’s window into the global flow of ideas, dynamics, strategies, paradigms and best practices. Higher educational institutions facilitate the process by which insights are adopted, adapted, domesticated and calibrated for optimal national rejuvenation. But, at the conceptual level, it seems that Nigeria’s educational system is defined more as ‘tertiary’ than as ‘higher’ education. Tertiary education is distinguished by certification as a meal ticket; higher education is defined by research, discovery and innovation. And these three indices, in all truth, cannot be said to define any Nigerian university today. I doubt this should raise any eyebrow, except from sentimental patriots.

    Essentially, Nigeria’s tertiary educational system measures transformatory knowledge by the numbers of certificate a person is able to amass. This debilitating but ingrained culture ensures that we have quite a number of PhDs and educated people who lack the competences that a developmental state requires to move beyond development rhetoric. Let me reiterate this with a terrible joke I received sometimes ago on my WhatsApp: A group of Nigerian lecturers were on a trip. Immediately they boarded the plane, the captain announced that the plane they will be flying is a product of their students. At this announcement, many of them grew very frightened and disembarked immediately, except one. When asked why he remained seated, he said: ‘I have no reason to fear the plane crashing out of the sky. If what we taught the students is anything to go by, this plane will not even leave the ground.’ If the existing critical mass of capacities in Nigeria cannot fly a plane, make pencils, build bridges or process early warning systems in case of disaster management, then how far away are we from achieving a knowledge society?

    With these deficits, it is certain Nigeria is not ready to create a university of the future that rides on the knowledge revolution to facilitate qualitative development dynamics. Those who hold the future, I dare say, are those who are willing to take the risk of researching it. Over five decades since independence and it seems we have hardly moved forward to any point of radical rehabilitation. On the contrary, we seem to be compounding our own human capital deficit. But then, lamentation does not solve any problem; reform does. And Nigeria’s salvage point rests on unequivocal institutional reform. There are three focal points which assiduously undermine our educational effort today—governance framework, curricular dynamics and research philosophy. And these three also, fortunately constitute critical reform frameworks for ensuring a radical transition from tertiary to higher education.

    Governance, it seems to me, is key here. It is the steering mechanism that calibrates curricular and research directions. Governance issues range from the excessive oversight of tertiary education that ensures that the delivery of education is terribly fragmented beyond measure, to the mute issue of corruption in university governance across Nigeria.

    Apart from ensuring institutional stability in the midst of global and national multiplicity of contested ideological, economic cultural and political contexts from where the university must derive its objectives and direction, the responsibility of a morally responsible, administratively competent and intellectually savvy governance team in any Nigerian university is to facilitate networks in terms of research and teaching. This will be a network of different universities in Nigeria conjoined by research similarities. For instance, universities in the North could be associated with a research initiative that studies Islam, nomadic education, Sahel agriculture and desertification. Universities in the South could network around the oil economy, militancy, ethnic minorities’ issues, ecological issues like erosion, industrial studies, agriculture, mineral resources, urbanisation, and many other issues.

    What, for instance, makes the California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) the best school in the world in terms of global ranking? It is the combination of all these factors. But most especially, there is an academic-industry institutionalised partnership which ensures that research is backed by solid intelligence that grounds it in real developmental issues. The MIT-Silicon Valley experiment provides a template of the way for the universities of the future to go. The Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy becomes, in this regard, a timely framework which can serve as a fulcrum for public-private research initiative that could jumpstart the research networks collaborations of the future. To arrive at this point of global reckoning requires paying significant attention to four reform exigencies: (a) rethinking the idea of university autonomy away from a policing and micro-managing to  facilitative approach that significantly enables university governance and regulatory system; (b) the need for due care and sophistication in the quality of people appointed by governments into university governing councils; (c) the urgent need for a theory-practice mix in university staffing of faculties; and (d) designation of universities as centres of excellence based on strategic consideration of their comparative advantage.

    Higher education, through the harnessing of the significant human capital (SHC), constitutes Nigeria’s optimization window into global and national relevance. It is the engine room for socioeconomic fast tracking. But the first condition for such a rapid progress is to ensure that the fish does not get rotten from the head. Governance becomes our litmus reform test. The issue of the global ranking of Nigerian universities would really be a foregone conclusion once these universities are serving the developmental purposes Nigeria requires of them. In other words, rather than agitating about the ranking, let us declare a state of emergency on our universities.

    • Dr. Olaopa delivered this lecture at Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State.