The Nation Newspaper

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  • Edo Muslims: Mixing facts with fictions

    Edo State is entering a very peculiar stage in its political history. It is therefore expected that over the next few weeks or months, individuals and groups will, for partisan reasons, find it convenient to be biased in addressing issues of common interest. Indeed, as the race to replace incumbent governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, whose tenure winds up on Friday, November 11, heats up, stake holders will up the ante with antics deliberately designed to take the wind off the sail of their rivals’ ships. And without any doubt, the battle will be no-hold bared where ordinary onlookers will hardly be able to differentiate facts from jaundiced claims. It has begun in earnest as a faceless Muslim group took a full page advertorial in The Nation of Monday, January 25. In the said publication, the group called on President Muhammadu Buhari to save Muslims in the state from what it termed the Oshiomhole’s ‘…orgy of political repression and marginalization’. But a peep through the content reveals that the claim is a cocktail of falsehood deliberately orchestrated to turn a section of the populace against the governor.

    The first indication that the group is a front for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is its description of the governor, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. Besides referring to the state as an empire, it addressed the governor as an emperor, a unique description which fits aptly into the vocabulary of its chairman, the very loquacious Chief Dan Orbih. It is simply a proxy fight in the visage of the biblical hand of Esau, voice of Jacob.

    Ordinarily, the group made some weighty allegations that are worthy of attention. It however, messed them up with factual errors. For instance, it accused the administration of deliberately denying them of any worthwhile position in the cabinet, particularly in the distribution or appointment of commissioners. In its words, “When Adam Eric Aliyu Oshiomhole came to office, there was high expectation in the Ummah that he was going to reverse the trend of our under representation and low visibility in sensitive and key positions in government. This hope was immediately dashed when he constituted his first cabinet of over 18 commissioners without any visible Muslim presence. Only his friend, Abdul Oroh, made the list.”

    By interpretation, the group’s assumption is that Oroh lost his identity as a Muslim because he made the list not on the strength of the group’s recommendation but on his fraternal or personal relationship with the governor.

    While it is not very imperative to contest any claim by the group, one is however, constrained to point out its factual errors with regards to the number of Muslims in the governor’s cabinet. The truth is that though all of them are not commissioners, some of them can be said to be his eyes and ears. A few of them include his Private Principal Secretary, the very quiet and unassuming power broker, who took over from the late Olaitan Oyerinde, incidentally another Muslim, and Alhaji Mikano Kadiri, Special Adviser/Principal Security Officer, who commands such influence in the administration that no one can afford to ignore him. Others are Kassim Afegbua, his equally influential former Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, now information commissioner, Hajia Maimunat Momodu, Executive Director, Special Duties, Abdulahi Imhodagbe, Executive Director, Governor’s Office, Hajia Bilikisu, Executive Director, SACA, and Alhaji Abu, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Secretary to the State Government. The list is endless. Simply put, it is callous and wicked for anyone to deliberately turn facts on their heads all in an attempt to maliciously plant seeds of discord among the populace.

    The group also claimed that the state government denied it the use of the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia Stadium but conveniently excluded the fact that national security agencies provided the information that labelled its intended event as unhealthy for public safety. They also forgot that as the chief security officer in the state, the governor is duty bound to act decisively to forestall any breakdown of law and order, a reason for which he may have acted the way he reportedly did. Instead, it employed the so-called denial as an excuse to justify its scandalous accusation against him. They added that besides openly insulting and branding all Muslims in the state as “miscreants and thieves”, he went the extra mile of not sparing the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar, who incidentally is the President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA. Unfortunately, it failed to establish how the governor insulted the revered Sultan.

    Rather than admit that its claims are mere attempts to whip up damaging emotions against the governor, the group went on to accuse him of gathering and sharing N3 million of state funds to Muslim leaders on January 16, arguably to correct the mistake of preventing the group from using the stadium facility to discuss its numerous plights. But any cursory observer can tell that its sole aim is to take advantage of some fortuitous events and mischievously paint same as established rules designed by the governor to stifle the ambition of Muslim community in the state, one of which now includes the deputy governor slot in the next administration. Successfully, it squandered any public goodwill it may have envisaged.

    Yet, the group committed more blunders by presenting its case in a cocktail of mind blowing grammar obviously designed to impress readers. In one fell swoop, it alluded to the forlorn hope of its members in the state by claiming that they are “…sanguine that a lugubrious past was going to be consigned to the waste basket of history… But little did we know that our lacrimation was not going to come to an end…” as the condition Muslims found themselves remained a “Store house of mortification, denigration and suffocating misery” a reason for which they continued to “…remain luxated from all things of honour…”

    In order to be saved from what appears to be more than “… cruel mendacity…” it called on President Buhari to “…kindly intervene to extricate the Muslims from the shackles of mortification”.

    Igodomigodo, the wordsmith and Chief Zebrudaya Okoligwe, the clown, must be going green with envy.

    • Omoarelojie writes from Benin.

  • Foluke Ogunleye: Ritual of stupidity in Yorubaland

    In Yorubaland, as in other parts of the country, stupidity has become a routine ritual, and we all partake of it gleefully, unconscionably, like accomplished zombies.

    Will it be different tonight, I wonder? The question gnaws at mind now as we arrive on the street.

    It is the cars that tell us we have reached the right address. Parked on the pavement on both sides of the narrow road, they sit huddled against one another like disordered tombstones, barely leaving room for other traffic.

    But I have anticipated this, that there will be some difficulty on arrival to find a place to park. The deceased that we have come to mourn was a sister to the current Special Adviser to the country’s President so it is logical to expect the crowd to be large.  This is why I brought a driver along to drop me.

    I get down now, and he drives on to find a parking space.

    It is one of these sultry evenings. More cars are arriving; there is a lot of hooting and hullabaloo; but everything is nevertheless in surprising order, no doubt because of the heavy presence of policemen, many of them bearing guns.

    Two of their lorries, flashing blue and amber lights, stand conspicuously to the right in a kind of barricade.

    I turn like others towards them, noticing that they have blocked the main entrance into the street. But they usher us on with unfamiliar courtesy through a side gate. I am impressed.

    However it is still a long walk to the venue.

    The street is in one of the city’s elite neighbourhoods. Most of the buildings are two-storey affairs, unpainted though, as if still unsure of their final look. As you walk past, they glare at you furtively behind their walls like suspicious sentries.

    Ii is the same street, I now recall, where the playwright, Zulu Sofola, lived years ago, until she and her husband, right in the prime of their lives, passed away one after the other rather dramatically, in a scenario reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

    There are more vehicles now, and more police personnel as I pass. But their forms are already receding into suggestive ghosts in the falling dusk.

    At the bottom, where the street turns sharply to the left, a lone singing voice suddenly wafts towards us over some microphone. And now I see them, at the far end of the close, the crowd I’ve come to join.

    Lit by a few bulbs hung on surrounding walls, some marquees become visible now at the far end, in front of which are rows upon rows of white plastic chairs on which the guests are seated.

    I select one of the empty ones at the back and fold myself into a quiet anonymity.

    I can make out the figures more clearly now from my seat.

    The man singing is the leader of the choir obviously. Behind him, shadowed under the marquees, are his choristers.

    Directly in front of them are the officiating priests, seated behind a covered table.

    Facing them, on the first row, and about thirty lines of seats away, are the immediate members of the family of the deceased. I am unable to distinguish them clearly from the back.

    Closer to me, I recognize here and there some familiar figures from the academic community in Ibadan and Ife. The skin of our foreign colleagues glows dimly in the half light.

    In a very short while the seats around me fill up with new arrivals.

    One of the priests has stood up to make an announcement. The service is yet to start, he says, because the copies of the official programme, which have been printed somewhere, have not arrived.

    The priest does not say where the printing has been done, but it is an easy guess, given the family’s present links with Abuja.

    Now I understand why the choir master is singing alone—he and the choir have been asked to improvise something while we wait.

    He is a good singer, with a rich, sonorous voice. And he evidently relishes it. With the microphone in his hand, his voice drowns out the others completely, to his evident delight. He is the self-adoring hero of the evening.

    The audience however is disappointed, one can see. They have come not just to listen, but also to perform and participate.

    Indeed the main reason they are here/—why the ‘Service of Songs’ has become a popular social event in Yorubaland—is precisely this fact that it has become a kind of soporific, communal rite.

    As the people sing together and sink deep in the swampy bog of their grief, something strange happens, something close to catharsis. They achieve an illusory state of bliss, and it shelters them for a while from their trembling fear of tomorrow.

    The Service of Songs has become popular precisely because of its capacity to induce amnesia and, even if briefly, provide relief. It is our opium against the anguish of Sudden and Violent Death, now in flagrant rampage in our land.

    (After the songs we sit and drink ‘tea’, a misnamed concoction of cocoa powder saturated with milk and sugar, which has become a favourite with mourners, and whose sweetness is also an emblem of our penchant for quick nostrums.)

    Hence the audience is not much impressed by the choir master’s virtuoso performance. It is robbing them of the chance to shed their desperation, and escape into oblivion.

    But finally, to everyone’s relief, the priests decide to start without the programmes.

    Everything proceeds smoothly now. The hymns are announced an sung; the prayers follow in appropriate sequence; the sermon is prompt.

    Nothing falls out of place; priests and audience are on the same familiar page. It is a ritual we perform every week.

    For, according to the Christian calendar that we have all accepted, funerals take place on Friday mornings; and are preceded on Thursday evenings by the Service of Songs.

    Everybody who is here now was probably there last week at another service; and will be there next week at a similar wake. That is why the ceremony has become mere routine; why all the songs and Bible quotations are already part of our memory, to be recited at the slightest prompting. We do it every week.

    The service comes now to the interval assigned for tributes to the deceased. Speaker after speaker remind us tearfully of her pleasant personality and of her precocious, glittering achievements. They speak of her soft but impressive presence, her gracefulness and her religious devotion, and of her cherubic face, a feature that seems common to her family. For many of us, Foluke’s loss is a deep, deep wound that nothing can heal.

    Then the priests proceed to the final prayers. Soon it will be time for tea.

  • Ogun @40: Reminiscences

    The publicity created around the 40th anniversary of the creation of Ogun State by the state government has created a rush of memories. I was about 10 years old actually,  a primary four pupil, when the announcement of Ogun State as one of the three created from the old Western State was made. In my part of Abeokuta, which had then become the state capital, I doubt if anybody could talk of seeing on television General Murtala Ramat Muhammed as he announced the creation of new states. This is because I can’t remember any household with a television set. Even the black and white one. Oh, maybe there was one in the house of late Chief Akin Majekodunmi and I think the set was more of a status symbol. It was rarely on.

    Yet, it was celebration galore. People were generally in a gay mood. The ancient city was going to become a state capital, the seat of a new government, with the implication for attracting development projects, galvanizing the local economy and creating new opportunities for individuals.

    People were gathered around the redifusion which was the wireless radio set attached to walls in most houses. For the opinion leaders who had assumed the responsibility of agents of diffusion of new information, discussions were built around the new status of Abeokuta.

    In school, during civic studies classes, the states and their capital cities  as well as names of the military governors also changed. There were now 19 states.  No longer 12 states. New states like Ondo, Ogun, Niger, Imo, Cross River, Gongola and  Benue States joined the older 12 states whose names also changed. Myself and my colleagues began to adapt and memorise the changes in the Nigerian federation.

    The creation of Ogun State and the emergence of my town as the new state capital rekindled new interest in public affairs in some young lads like me. Like some of the older men around us, this new status of our town raised a lot of hope. It opened new vistas and possibilities. Many families welcomed their kinsmen who had hitherto lived and worked in Ibadan and other provinces. They returned to Abeokuta by transferring their services to the newly created state. Some came to join the civil service. Those were perfect examples of creation of states bringing governance closer to the people.

    The saying that when you take Ogun State out of Nigeria, then what is left is not worth much is perhaps arguable, but not without some merit. The state is the home of the longest serving Nigerian leader, former President Olusegun Obasanjo who served Nigeria as both military head of State and elected President. He was then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters and became Head of State less than two weeks after the creation of the state. That is also the home of Chief Ernest Shonekan who was the only non-elected civilian head of the Nigerian government. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose government introduced free education and initiated many pioneer development projects in Nigeria, was from the state. Others like the only Nigerian to win a Nobel laurel, Prof. Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka; first Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Adetokunbo Ademola; first Nigerian to sit on the Supreme Court bench, Justice Olufunmi Jibowu; first African specialist in Psychiatric medicine, Prof. Adeoye Lambo, who later became Deputy Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO); first Nigerian to head the Civil Service, Chief Simeon Adebo who later represented the country at the United Nations; first Nigerian Chartered Accountant, Sir Akintola Williams; first woman to drive a car in Nigeria, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and her three prominent children, Olikoye, Olufela and Bekololari;  first woman chartered accountant in Nigeria, Mrs. Toyin Olakunrin; and first woman to head a bank in Nigeria, Chief (Mrs) Ayoka Kuforiji-Olubi; were all produced for Nigeria by Ogun State.

    The first Nigerian to own a bank, Chief M. A. Okupe who started the Agbonmagbe Bank;  first Nigerian to own a merchant bank, Otunba Subomi Balogun; the owner of Globacom telecommunications, Otunba Mike Adenuga; and the founders of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Fola Adeola and late Tayo Aderinokun; are all from Ogun State. Pioneer in the Entertainment industry like Chief Hubert Ogunde and stars like Asa, D’ Banj and Ayinde Wasiu are all made in Ogun State.

    With these array of Nigerian leaders in the professions, industry and business, so much is expected from the state. Many believe it should lead the other states in the area of administration, infrastructural development, service delivery to the people and modernized economy. The state has lived up to expectations in some areas and at some times, she has also failed the people in others.

    For example, shortly after the creation of the State, the military government established a radio station, the Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) and later the Olabisi Onabanjo administration added the state television service. Immediately, both OGBC and OGTV seized and dominated  the nation’s airwaves. They became the “Nation’s Model Stations” and almost all  of the people who are big players  in the broadcasting industry today either cut their teeth in OGBC and OGTV or learnt from a professional who had earlier gone through the two stations.

    Incidentally, the two stations have become a shadow of their old selves and could not compete against the new, well equipped privately owned stations. That is one challenge the present government needs to tackle as we celebrate Ogun at 40. These two stations remain part of the landmark institutions for the creation of the state .

    Also, in terms of real development, Ogun State had a major leap during the Onabanjo era. The state qualified as one of the most rapidly developing units of the Nigerian federation in the period between 1979 and 1983. The UPN government established a state university, developed modern markets in Abeokuta and Ijebu Ode. In the area of education, not only was the state polytechnic the best in the country in some courses, the free education at the primary and secondary schools provided qualitative education. Students came from as far as then Bendel State, now Edo and Delta States, to Ogun State to benefit from qualitative education. Many new secondary schools were created to correct the shift system that obtained before October 1, 1979.

    Many of the rural areas were made accessible and provided electricity under the rural development programme of the UPN. In fact, it could be said that while the military governments of then Colonels Seidu Ayodele Balogun and Harrison Eghagha supervised the take-off of the new state, Onabanjo and his team actually laid the foundation on which today’s Ogun State was built.  In fact, Ogun State is a perfect specimen to demonstrate the belief that if the military had not intervened in 1983, the country would have solved some of the problems that have continued to bedevil her and achieved true development.

    However, that is not to say that the various military governments have not contributed to the development of the state. The state Polytechnic now known as Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, the OGBC, June 12 Cultural Centre, Mudashiru Lawal Stadium, Sam Ewang Estate, Adigbe Estate and many other projects across the three Senatorial Districts came into existence under various military administration. Between 1999 and now, the state  has been led by three civilians, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and the incumbent, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

    Each of these men has done his bit to contribute to the development of the state. From Osoba’s efforts in rural development to Daniel’s urban development projects and Amosun’s Mission to Rebuild the state, there has been consistent attempts to lift the state up so that it does not continue to be the weaker one when compared to her close neighbour, Lagos.

    Since 2002, there have been conscious efforts by various administrations to lift the state to a level where she can benefit from the tremendous opportunities that abound in the commercial capital of Nigeria, Lagos. Now, the driving philosophy is to move Lagos, feed and house Lagos. The objective is to make Ogun to Lagos what New Jersey is to New York. There is also talk of Ogun Standard, being a notch above the Nigerian Standard  and in fact being the harbinger of getting Nigeria to comply with global best practices.

    The efforts to rebuild its infrastructure, reawaken the pride of its people and create a modern economy that can absorb the thousands of youths who yearly graduate from the numerous private and public higher institutions in the state are commendable. There is still so much that can be done. In fact, development is still a work in progress. I wish more attention can be paid to rural development, particularly since some of the rural areas are closer to Lagos that the major towns. Also, much more  can be done in the education sector. It is our unique selling point since the Awolowo era in Western region. Tenement as a source of consistent revenue can still be explored.

    How I wish the process of evolving its leadership at all levels can also be more refined so as to allow for an all-inclusive participation where the best can be easily selected at all times.

     

    • Olaniyonu, immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Ogun State, is Special Adviser ( Media and Publicity) to the Senate President.

     

  • Rule of law as a bogey

    Rule of law as a bogey

    Defining ‘the rule of law’, has suddenly become akin to the job of coaching our national football team. Some Nigerians, particularly, sympathisers of the bandit-elite, that has serially raped our national treasury, have turned budding experts. For this group, granting of bail on liberal terms, as a lawyer would urge the court in favour of a client, is their measure of the application of the rule of law. Probably because, many in the past had brazenly stolen from the public purse, without paying any price, the effort by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, to get people to account for their action, is strange. And so, these Nigerians, psychologically deflated over the years, are involuntarily siding those on trial, against the state.

    Tragically, even those now scandalized by the contents of the can of worms, that we are daily assailed with, may eventually show little patience, as the marathon effort through the courts, to clean-up the can of worms, begin to drag. The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, vividly put it in grim perspective, when he compared the number of Nigerians in jail, with that of the United States. As he remarked, it is either Nigerians are not engaged in as much criminal activities as that other country, or that our system is just plain ineffective. I guess, our system is infective, and our treasury looters, know as much.

    But what is the rule of law? According to one of the earliest authority on this subject, A. V. Dicey, the rule of law, means, first, “the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power… a man may with us be punished for a breach of the law, but he can be punished for nothing else”; second, “equality before the law, or the equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary laws of the land administered by the ordinary courts”; and thirdly, “a formula for expressing the fact that the law of the constitution … are … the consequence of the rights of individuals, as defined by the courts”.

    So far, the Buhari administration has not shown any predilection for breach of the rule of law, in the fight against corruption; as it cannot be accused, fairly, of having breached any of the encompassing definition by A. V. Dicey. The error that some Nigerians have fallen into, is to equate the rule of law, with ineffectiveness and lackadaisical attitude of state officials, in the fight against corruption. Those in this category, for instance, prefer that the federal government lay all the charges against former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki and the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, in a single information-sheet, so that once the accused secures a bail, which the court is constitutionally enjoined to grant; predictably, the accused, his family and well-wishers will start a procession, singing and dancing back home, to mock our ineffective legal system.

    Surely, that expectation is not one of the requirements of the rule of law. I mean a requirement that the state, should make the prosecution of an alleged felon, as easy and as comfy as possible, for the felon. The rule of law envisages that the law be absolute, that it should be clear and unequivocal, that no person should have arbitrary power, whether express or discretionary, that one can only be punished for a breach of the law, that all men are equal before the law, regardless of class or social standing, and that the constitution is autochthonous and enforced only by courts.

    While chapter IV of the 1999 Nigeria’s constitution, as amended, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, the European Convention on Human Rights, Rome, 1950, the African Conference on the Rule of law, Lagos, 1961, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, Banjul, 1981, all sought to engrave in laws, the fundamental principles enunciated by A. V.Dicey; none I dare say, envisaged the level of depravity and savage ransacking of a national treasury, that has regrettably become the lot of Nigeria.

    But even while tasking the patience of the long suffering Nigerians, by waving the flag of the universal basic human rights, albeit, without the corresponding inherent universal basic human behaviour, the rule of law do not expect, the state authority, in its fight with any alleged felon, to be a light-hearted contest. The state without gain saying, is at liberty to apply all the tricks within the books, to reign in gross impunity, especially where the alleged grand larceny and malfeasance is such that if unchecked, could torpedo the state, the very custodian and protector of the universal human rights.

    In essence, when the state decides to severally arrest and charge Patrick AKpobolokemi, the former boss of NIMASA, or any of his kind, for multiple act of malfeasance, instead of a one-off arrest, and a single information sheet, that would have made it easier for him; the charge of breaching ‘the rule of law’, is borne out misrepresentation of law and facts. Indeed, to make it easy for him and his comrades-in-arm, who have allegedly looted out common treasury, is to breach the rule of law; particularly the provision that a man should be punished for a breach of the law.

    While Nigerians should be active, and on the watch, to ensure that under President Buhari’s government or any other, that no man is “punished for nothing”, that no person because of class, religion or ethnicity is treated differently before the law, and that no extraneous standard apart from the constitution or other laws, is used in the exercise of public power; nobody should misconstrue the decision by a prosecution agency, to file multiple charges for multiple offences, or the excise of the discretionary powers by a Judge, to grant stringent bail conditions, for grievous allegations of malfeasance against the state, as a breach of the rule of law.

    Listening to Mr Ibrahim Magu, the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the penultimate Wednesday, as he boldly laid his plan of action, against the vampires and marauders that has raped our national treasury, during his visit to The Nation Newspaper, I got the hunch that Nigeria needs to expand her prisons. But of course, successfully prosecuting many of the cases won’t be easy, with the strict legal requirement that all allegations must be proved beyond reasonable doubt; and with many of the stealing orchestrated through third parties, labyrinths of companies, and what have you.

    I am sure many Nigerians are looking forward to, how much can be recovered from the looters of our national treasury. While naming and shaming looters, also helps to soothe our traumatised society, there has to be a multifaceted approach to deal with this national crisis. Such approach should include a transparent resort to section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which makes provision for plea bargain, albeit advisedly. With our prisons severely congested with only 56,785 inmates, out of which 38,734 persons, are awaiting trial (2014), the challenge facing PMB’s government in its effort to return Nigeria, to a sane part, is egregiously enormous.

  • Nigeria’s faltering economy

    Nigeria’s faltering economy

    For Nigeria’s economy, this is certainly not the best of times. In towns and cities across the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory, Nigerians aren’t smiling at all because they are feeling the harsh economic realities personally. And if we will tell ourselves the bitter truth, it doesn’t appear there would be any way out any time soon. Our situation is compounded by falling crude oil prices in the global market as well as the foreign exchange mess we are currently in. Experts on the economy have been unanimous in their opinions that the signs are not good at all.

    And I think nothing better illustrates this fact than the recent warning by the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as widely reported by the media, that Nigerians need to brace up for a longer period of low revenue from oil sources. The governor spoke after the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank. Emefiele told Nigerians there would be need for the country to make hard and uncomfortable choices.

    “We are at an era where the drop in low crude price will remain for a long time with us. It is not going to be like in 2008 or 2009 where it was just for about eight months. So far, we have seen this for 14 months now and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel,” Emefiele said.

    From the CBN Governor’s explanation, it’s inevitable that certain trade-offs would have to be envisaged and accommodated as the Buhari government makes efforts to ensure that Nigeria’s economy transits from being oil-dependent to more sustainable sources of revenue which are consistent  with the economic realities and strategic objectives of the country.

    But how did we get into this mess and self-inflicted pain? I think in many ways. A number of factors, some of which were beyond our control because they are external, but a good number of which are internal because they were self-inflicted, combined to do us in.

    First, the external factors beyond our control. The glut in the global oil market due to shale oil production in North America and the decision of OPEC members to maintain their respective production quotas in order to drive out shale oil negatively affected foreign exchange supply into the country. Another factor was the increased oil supply from Iraq and the anticipated supply from Iran following recent lifting of international sanctions against it. Moreover, the US, which used to buy a fifth of Nigeria’s oil, stopped buying from us altogether mainly because of the success it has made, alongside, Canada, of shale oil production.

    As if this wasn’t bad enough, the slowdown in growth especially in countries like China, India and Russia including those in Western Europe which adversely affected the demand for commodities in general and oil in particular, also played a role. For instance, in previous years, China alone, with its over 1.35 billion population, was responsible for 34% of global growth. Unfortunately, the times are changing. All these factors, of course, resulted in one thing – excess supply of oil in the global market. The resultant effect of this was the inevitable fall in prices from $114 per barrel in July 2014 to $28 per barrel in January 2016, since the law of demand and supply still holds: a devastating decline of 75%.

    But like I earlier mentioned, we really should blame no one but ourselves for the situation we are in. We are responsible for this mess by our own irresponsibility. We didn’t help our own case because for many years, we solely depended on oil as the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. The 75% decline in oil prices from which Nigeria generates over 80% of its revenue only exposed our underbelly.

    We preferred, for instance, to send our children to schools abroad rather than fixing our own educational institutions. We chose to go for treatments in foreign hospitals not seeing the foolishness in not fixing our own hospitals and medical institutions. This is aside our preference for summer holidays abroad instead of developing and patronising our country’s vast tourist sites to attract visitors from across the world since this is ours is a beautiful land of amazing people. Between June and December 2015 alone for instance, Nigerian banks were said to have sold $1 billion to meet requests for BTA/PTA, airlines and school fees thus creating unnecessary pressure on the naira. We were standing on sinking round but carried on as if we were on solid rock while nothing could ever shake or destabilise us.

    Successive governments and leaders also failed to successfully diversify the country’s economy to a level where we are able to get returns from other commodities apart from oil. Tourism was continuously ignored even though it could be a money spinner. For agriculture, it was only lip service and promises upon promises. Cocoa exports haven’t returned in the South-west. Groundnut pyramids are nowhere to be found in the North. Oil Palm production in the East is a shadow of what it used to be back in the days. Power and infrastructure which would make manufacturing companies operate optimally were also left comatose.

    Entertainment wasn’t also paid much attention until the government of former President, Goodluck Jonathan, made some efforts at supporting Nollywood to do much more than it has so far done. Even the crude oil that God blessed us with, we preferred importing its refined products instead of ensuring that we produced all that we needed for usage at home and then export to other countries and earn foreign exchange. We paid little attention to the future and focused mainly on the present. So long we satisfied our pleasures and fantasies today, we felt everything was okay and believed, albeit wrongly, that all was well. We thought that tomorrow would simply take care of itself.

    Unfortunately, it’s evident that this was a glaring error, a foolish assumption. Like a thief in the night, tomorrow crept upon us when we least expected or prepared for it! The result of all these is also the decline in Nigeria’s foreign reserves from $37.3 billion in June 2014 to $28.396 billion in January 2016 which is even at the risk of continued depletion since it doesn’t appear there would be a rebound in oil prices any time soon.

    So, what is the way out? For me, there are no easy answers. Sincerely, there are no easy ways out. If you ask me, I think the fall in oil price is even a blessing in disguise for our country. This is the time to make amends for our errors over the years. I’ll admit that things might be tough initially. We will have to wait for a long period and bear the hard times like the Emefiele warned, and no one can even guess for how long this would last. But it would make us look inwards and challenge us to work for real economic growth. This is the right time for us to engage ourselves in serious introspection but most importantly, in taking concrete actions at diversifying Nigeria’s economy through agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and entertainment among others. Fact is there can’t be a better time. As a country, we must agree these are the right ways to go.

    While I believe the CBN Governor and his team have serious work on their hands, whether they will succeed at it is another matter entirely. However, it would be great if the CBN is able to successfully refine the framework for foreign exchange management in the country in order to ensure a more effective and liquid forex market. Now, fixing the economy at difficult economic times like this isn’t the work of a CBN governor or President’s economic team alone. It’s a collective job, and some of it as simple as buying Made-in-Nigeria goods and services.

    In the long run, Nigeria’s economy will be better for it. Our situation will turn around for good. And when another tomorrow comes, we will all smile again. But before then, we’ve got work to do, and a whole lot of it to get out of this forex mess!

     

    • Johnson, a public affairs analyst, writes in from Lagos.

     

     

  • Oshiomhole, Anenih, the controversial N260m

    Oshiomhole, Anenih, the controversial N260m

    Elder Statesman and former chair of Board of Trustees, (BOT) of the opposition party, People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) Chief Tony Anenih has laboured in the last couple of weeks, trying to explain how he ‘disbursed’ his own alleged share of the $2.1 billion arms money. Unfortunately, the attempt by his hack writers to clean him up in the eyes of well-meaning Nigerians have also collapsed like a pack of cards. Rather, they ended up messing him up the more. The policeman in him failed him this time around, as he could not fix this. What a sad way to end a glorious and robust political career for a man believed to be at the “departure lounge?” The all-seeing God, the God of the long suffering Nigerians is furious. He is set to trouble all those who have been troubling this great country, those who have clayed her feet and prevented her from moving at the pace she has been destined to move among the comity of nations. It’s a year of divine judgement, all the fasting and prayers by Nigerians have not been in vain, hallelujah! Yes, but for the divine intervention in the political affairs of this country, these revelations would not have come to light.

    Men of timber and caliber are now struggling to explain to Nigerians how they connived to loot the country blind and shared our common wealth amongst themselves. How are the mighty fallen! Again, thank God for His divine intervention in the political affairs of our country. With these revelations, the socio-economic cum financial rape on this country by the PDP in the last 16 years is better imagined than described. Sad enough, some gullible Nigerians still sympathise and shamelessly query the law for taking its course in its attempt to make these dishonorable Nigerians to throw up what they have fraudulently eaten. For instance, they query the manner in which former PDP Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh was brought to court last week. In a saner clime, it is unimaginable for anyone to raise any such question because Metuh is a man who confessed receiving 400 million Naira and boasted that he was not ready to return a dime from it. In the process of his interrogation by men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, he was alleged to have shreded his witten statement, chewed it like bitter kola! What can be more criminal than this? As a lawyer, one would expect Metuh to know better and behave more responsibly. In the eyes of God, Metuh is not more human than the common pick pocket who stole 50 Naira and is brought to court handcuffed and subsequently sentenced to years of imprisonment. Well, that’s a discussion for another day. Back to the main topic of discourse here, Oshiomhole, Anenih and the controversial $260 million.

    I read a piece in the Sunday Vanguard written by one Francis Ehigiator titled “we should be fair to Anenih”. In his attempt to launder the image of Anenih, he ended up fouling the political cum economic space the more. Ehigiator further insulted the sensibilities of Nigerians by his jaunduced opinion piece. Hear him: “ It is now also clear that the N260 million traced to his (Anenih) account could not be reasonably associated with money laundering neither could it be said to be in breach of public trust, having been received as a refund of out- of- pocket expense incurred on political assignments that would help to maintain the peace and stability of the nation during the crucial 2015 presidential election”. If an individual who has no direct bearing on security matters in the country could get as much as N260million as out of picket allowance to maintain security during the presidential elections, then how much did the inspector General of Police and other security chiefs get? How much did the commissioners of police in the state get and their counterparts in other security agencies? Ehigiator should know that his augment does not add up. He cannot pull wool over the faces of Nigerians on this matter that has to do with blood money. In any case, when did Chief Anenih become a security officer to earn such huge amount of money as “security vote”? As far as I know, the highly respected Uromi chief retired from the police about two and a half decades ago as an assistant commissioner of police.

    On his own personal explanation to the EFCC in a letter,  Anenih was said to have claimed that he spent a total of 400million Naira during the election, that is, 180million in excess of the N260million he allegedly collected from the office of the National Security Adviser, (NSA.) He is insisting that the former president, Goodluck Jonathan was owing him N180million, so he has nothing to refund to the Federal Government. He claimed that the N400 million was disbursed on the instruction of the former president, taking pains to list how the disbursement was made. Despite all these explanations, I believe Chief Anenih should be able to separate Jonathan from his government,  because they are two different entities. The money disbursed is not Jonathan’s personal money, rather, it’s our common wealth. It remains so, unless Chief Anenih is able to prove that the money he claimed to have been paid into his account was Jonathan’s personal money and not the one linked to the $2.1 million meant for arms purchase. So, the onus is on the chief . May God help the chief to wriggle himself out of this web, come out clean and “finish well”. But how much does an assistant commission of police earn monthly as pension? What are his other sources of income aside this pension? These and more are some of the issues the chief has to explain to Nigerians to wash his hands clean of this blood money. More importantly, Chief Anenih has to show proof that the personal money of N180million he claimed to have spent for the election was legitimately earned. Otherwise, everything will deemed to be our common wealth.

     

  • Sustaining tenure security in aviation sector management

    Sustaining tenure security in aviation sector management

    THE interesting thing about airports around the world is that they are purpose built with a lot of capital, precision and professionalism invested in the process. They are also built for several reasons; to serve as iconic and aesthetic structures for the country, to serve as worldwide public relations tool, to ensure safety and speed in the movement of persons and goods and finally for its commercial value of generating employment for the people and yielding revenue for the government of the country. Some of the aviation industries around the world which provides services for very many busy airports in the world are known for contributing substantially to the GDPs of those countries.
    The earnings from airports around the world is so huge that every major airport is putting in more investment with a hope for greater returns. Currently, global aviation revenue is put at 727 billion US Dollars and with a net profit of $29.3 billion US Dollars. This, no doubt serves as an indication that the aviation industry when properly managed is a very profitable enterprise. The countries that are on top of the airport financial heap are the United Kingdom, Dubai and Ethiopia. The United Kingdom whose airport arm through Heathrow alone processed about 68 million passengers last year the Dubai aviation industry through its international airport which has taken the record of being the current busiest airport globally welcomed over 70 million passengers in the last year and is making money through its 19 separate revenue categories.
    Continentally, the aviation industry has provided financial and PR mileages for countries like Ethiopia which is the leading airline venture in terms of revenue in Africa. Although South Africa and Kenya are losing money at the moment due to poor investment initiatives, the possibilities are there for them to meet the goals of generating employment and revenue when the bad tide will change in their favour in the no distant future.
    Although the Nigeria Aviation industry can be said to have served some of these purposes but not in a way that it should be, for a country with a population that is over a 170 million people. There is an unprecedented boom in the travel industry and Nigeria should take advantage of the world’s growing and travel hungry people of the world to build a world class Nigeria aviation industry which should be the center of the aviation world in Africa. It can be done in Nigeria as it has been done elsewhere. It takes people, ideas and a political will to do it and Nigeria has an abundance of these ingredients.
    It is very interesting that with Nigeria strategically and naturally positioned in the centre of Africa, its potentials as a hub are limitless. Airlines from Europe, the North of Africa and Southern Africa will enjoy it immensely as a half way route for budget flights across Africa. There will be enormous employment and income generation opportunities for individuals, organisations and governments.
    The question that should be asked is why Nigeria is not taking advantage of all of these potentials and opportunities that are available to it. It is not because there are more people in the United Arab Emirate, the UK or even Ethiopia. It is also not because of superior technology or clement weather. It is largely because of the quality of the people at the helm of affairs of the aviation sector and their capability to effectively manage men and materials including a tenure that has spanned a period that has made them have a deep understanding of prevailing operations conditions and to forecast what would likely happen in the industry. With longevity on the job they are adequately prepared to manage the vagaries of a constantly changing industry.
    The Chief Operating Officer of Heathrow Airport Mr. Normand Boivin took over the office in August 2011 while in Dubai Airports Corporation Paul Griffiths has been at the helms of operation since 2007. In South Africa, Mr. Bongani Maseko has served since 2011 while in Ethiopia, Tewolde Gedremariam has been in the office of the Chief Executive since 2011. Given space to serve over a period of time and to work gives a sense of belonging and confidence that is usually absence in a short and disorganized tenure.
    Engr. Dunoma is barely two years in office having been appointed in March 2014 and there are already numerous intense and extensive jostling through underground moves to take his position. While not canvassing for sit tight executives, the demand is that managers should be given room to build foundations that can provide public service with the kind of ingredients used by the private sector grow. With time, it is always possible to operate and carry out innovations that will improve services and revamp revenues.
    The absence of security of tenure is one major reason why Nigeria is unable to take advantage of this booming passenger and cargo haulage business. Lack of security of tenure is an invitation to turbulence and chaos in any sector and that applies to the aviation sector. In here, there is no respect for professionalism in the appointment, removal and replacement of those in the management structure.
    There should be security of tenure for the managers especially in the top cadre of the industry. There is need recounting what transpired when Princess Stella Oduah was in charge as Aviation Minister when Engr. Saleh Dunoma who was eminently qualified to be the Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was by passed in favour of Mr. George Uriesi. It was the height of infamy because Uriesi had served as a youth corper under Dunoma when Dunoma was already on Level 12 in the service.
    The sordid experience of Princes Oduah had its origin in the antics of Mrs Deziani Madueke who appointed Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun who was running a bit part airline with staff strength of less than fifty persons to manage FAAN. Aisuebeogun who was apparently given the appointment by one of the ruling party top brass had the job for upward of four years with two of those years learning the ropes in the.
    What could be pleaded as the justification for the insensitive appointment of Asiebeogun and the jump in rank for Uriesi except for the need to have their people plugged into lucrative political offices in the ministry? Professionalism should not be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. There is a certainty that the act of ignominy carried out by Oduah had ended with the last administration. There is the possibility that the current minister will still remove Dunoma and bring a loyal but incompetent political son to replace the man who had grown through the ranks of the parastatal and understands the nuances of the sector.
    Engr. Dunoma came at a period when FAAN could hardly pay staff salaries and was in the red to the tune of about Two Hundred Billion Naira which the then Aviation Minister borrowed for airport upgrade that turned out to be a sham. Today, the signature touches of Engr. Dunoma could be seen in may airports including the Port Harcourt International Airport that was shut down before he came into office. He stemmed the tide of propaganda airport remodeling into real modeling which could be seen in the Benin airport and which also stopped the leakages that was making airport users to dread the Lagos domestic airport.
    There is no demand that is too high for Nigerians to make from the aviation sector and this include security of tenure which can be waived if there is gross mismanagement and incompetence in the discharge of duty by the person appointed to occupy the office. The position of the Managing Director of FAAN should remain an appointive office and it should not feature in the debate of age as long as the person so appointed is working to sustain the investment and improve on returns.
    The airport is our window to the world and the world is watching us through our actions and inactions. The rebranding of the Aviation Industry with a goal for making it the aviation industry of choice in Africa will not only drive development goals it will also boost tourism. At the moment, the Nigerian Aviation sector including FAAN is at the bottom of the ladder of airports across Africa. Now is the time for it stabilize and stability requires the injection of confidence through the types of managers that are running the system. We may be speaking the minds of many Nigerians who are keen observers of trend in the aviation sector that both honorable ministers, Rotimi Ameachi, a man of achievement and characters and Senator Sirika- interestingly, a pilot who is in the know in the aviation industry should beware of political jobbers and interlopers who constant ply the corridor of power looking for where they can be fitted just to line their pockets and hurriedly improve their credentials would only bring backward the sector if allowed.
    The ministers should only be concerned with their supervisory roles and leave the day to day management of the airport to Engr. Dunoma to complete the good work he has started at FAAN. The success of the ministers with the aviation sector will be inextricably linked to the success of Engr. Dunoma. The man has the mentality, academic and work experience to successfully run the airport in a way that so many of his predecessors cannot lay claim to in the many years that FAAN has been in operation.

    •Ayela is a veteran journalist based in Lagos.

  • Still on the Abia governorship tussle

    December 31, 3015 was a special day for Abia and its well-meaning people. It was a day God delivered a unique New Year package to His own people through a well-thought out verdict of the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri.

    The day began like any other until late evening when news filtered into the state that the Appeal Court had delivered its judgment on the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti.

    Otti had approached the Appeal Court to upturn the judgment of the Hon. Justice Usman Bwala-led governorship election petition, which affirmed the election of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the governor.

    The five-member jurists of the Court of Appeal, headed by Hon. Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, not only annulled the purported election of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as the governor but declared Otti the winner of the election. The court resolved that Otti scored the highest number of lawful votes cast at the election. And Hon. Justice Omoleye, beyond pronouncing Otti the winner, ordered that he (Otti) should be sworn in.

     

    How Abians received the court of appeal judgment

    The jubilation that came with the eve of January 1, 2016 judgment was spontaneous and widespread. From Arochukwu to Umunneochi down to Umuahia up to Aba, Owaza and far end of Ndoki and Ohambele in Ukwa East Local Government Area of the state, the people’s joy knew no bounds. Villages, communities and cities erupted in wild celebration.

    The joy was palpable and infectious all over the state as residents danced and made merry all-night-long on the streets and churches, thanking God for finally taking firm charge of the affairs of the state. It was indeed a beautiful and divine as it coincided with the celebration line up to herald a New Year.

    This was the situation that pervaded and still pervades the state to date. Suddenly and just from the blues emerged the forces of evil, which have over the last 16 years held down Abia from growth and development.

    Swimming against the tide and in contrast with the popular feelings across the state, some disgruntled professional politicians began to hold nocturnal meetings, where the idea to sponsor serial protests against the judgment was hatched.

    So, barely 48 hours after the landmark judgment was delivered, PDP shenanigans, mixed with street urchins, took to the streets to molest unsuspecting motorists at the Aba-end of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in the guise of a protest against the judgment that brought joy and hope of economic and political emancipation to more than 90 per cent non-PDP Abians.

    Of course, it was clear that the intention of the few protesters was to create the false impression that the people of Ukwa/Ngwa extraction of the state were opposed to the judgment. But that aim was roundly defeated because in the real sense, such a protest ought to be spontaneous and instantaneous, coming on the spur of the moment. Rather the protest came two days after the judgment, giving it away as sponsored and an after-thought.

    The scanty size of the protesters, who later moved to the streets of Umuahia, turned out to be a child play, when a multitude of Abians thronged the major streets of the capital city on Wednesday, January 6 to celebrate Otti and the December 31 judgment.

    The celebrators, comprising supporters and admirers of the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank, took Umuahia by storm. The victory celebration attracted street traders, artisans, tricycle operators, motorists, market men and women as well as pensioners. The celebration was to continue in Aba but it was disrupted by the police on the orders of the state government.

     

    The April governorship election in perspective

    The story of the April 11 general election in Abia state can be comprehensively captured with a narrative of the bizarre drama that played out at the state collation centre on the premises of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Umuahia.

    The exercise commenced smoothly even though the atmosphere was tense. The State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, who was flanked on both sides by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Selina Oko, and security chiefs in the state, kicked off the collation of the results of the election from the 17 local government areas.

    Midway into the exercise and at a time Otti was cruising comfortably to victory, having expectedly shot into a comfortable lead in nine out of the 14 local government areas (LGAs) collated, came the bombshell. Prof. Ozumba declared the results of the election in Obingwa, Osisioma and isialangwa North LGAs cancelled.

    He said: ‘’By the powers conferred on me, I hereby cancel the results of Obingwa, Osisioma and Isialnagwa North LGAs based on incontrovertible evidence from international observers.’’ The cancellation was recorded by the local and international election monitors as well as journalists and security chiefs, who largely made up the audience.

    No sooner had he announced the cancellation than some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stole into the collation centre like a thief in the night.

    And in a brute and rascally manner, characteristic of the legendry Idi Amin of Uganda, they whisked the REC away from the collation centre to her office.

    Rising from a meeting, Ozumba, who now looked intimidated and mystified, immediately recanted, reversed the cancellation of the results and proceeded to re-admit them. At the end of the exercise, he declared the election inconclusive, with no clear winner. He ordered a supplementary election in selected polling units in Osisioma, Ugwunagbo and just one unit in Isialangwa North. No unit was listed for the supplementary in Obingwa, where the mother of all-rigging took place.

    This was how PDP arm-twisted INEC and paved the way for the declaration of Okezie as the governor, after awarding fabulous figures to the party in the three controversial LGAs.

     

    Post-declaration public reaction

    Ikpeazu’s declaration as governor was a sad commentary for Abians. Many people in the villages, communities and cities broke down psychologically with the INEC declaration. It was a dark Sunday for the good people of the state. INEC has dashed their hope of getting rid of PDP and everything it represented in the state.

    Relief however came their way, when Otti announced at a press briefing that he would challenge the result in the tribunal, pointing out that ‘’the battle has just be  started.’’ He described the INEC declaration of Ikpeazu as governor as ‘’a rape of democracy.’’

     

    Salient issues in Otti’s petition

    In his petition, Otti had alleged over-voting in Obingwa, Osisioma and Isialangwa South LGAs, signing of multiple ward results in the affected LGAs by local government agents rather than the duly accredited ward agents. He also requested the tribunal to sustain the cancellation of the results of the three LGAs in line with the initial pronouncement of the returning officer, insisting that Ozumba had no power to reverse the cancellation. He also cited sundry other irregularities and malpractices that vitiated the credibility of the results in the three contentious LGAs.

    Surprisingly, these weighty issues, which characterised the election in the three LGAs and rendered it substantially non-compliant to the Electoral Act, were dismissed by the tribunal.

    The cloud of depression and hopelessness that enveloped the cities, towns and villages in the wake of the tribunal judgment endured until December 31, 2015, the eve of the New Year day. However, Abia and its well-meaning people experienced a fresh breadth on December 31 with the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

    The judgment was the needed tonic that brought life back to many Abians, who were dying by installment each passing day as they waited patiently for justice and the recovery of their mandate.

    This is the reason for the unending joy today in the streets of Aba, Umuahia, Obehie, Ukwa, Umunneochi, Ohafia, Arochukwu and Bende as well as the villages and communities in the state.

    In his official reaction to the judgment, entitled ‘’Justice at last,’’ Otti said, ‘’It is said that the windmill of justice may grind slowly but it surely does grind.

    ‘’After more than seven months of tortuous and needless legal tussle, the will of the people has triumphed!’’

    Also reacting to the judgment, Ikpeazu, who urged his supporters to remain calm, said that he would challenge the judgment at the Supreme Court through his counsel.

    Aside from wasting the scarce state resources, pursuing a matter that is already sealed at the Court of Appeal, appears more like a wild goose chase and an exercise in futility. And expecting the Supreme Court to reverse the unanimous decision of a five-member panel of jurists looks like mere wishful-thinking, a mirage and a near-impossibility.

    Indeed, it amounts to self-delusion for anyone to expect the nation’s apex court to uphold a proven case of massive electoral fraud, brazenly committed by PDP desperadoes to continue to foist themselves on the people against their wish.

    According to a popular maxim, anyone who goes to equity must go with clean hands. It goes to explain therefore that going to the Supreme Court with proven cases of over-voting, massive electoral fraud, corrupt practices, irregularities and substantial non-compliance to Electoral Act, with an intent to shortchange the people and deny them their popular choice, is akin to going to equity with soiled hand. And nobody goes to equity with blemish and expects justice.

     

    • Great Nwadike is an Abia indigene resident in the United Kingdom

  • When Buhari’s war can succeed

    Every nation has its share of patriots and traitors. They manifest in human vessels as the forces of good and evil, which define the character of a nation. When patriots are in control, a nation prospers with dignity: when traitors are in charge, the people are destroyed. The Nigerian corruption scenario has become a global case study of how a nation can be a stark contradiction of lack in the midst of plenty.

    Over the course of the last three weeks, the barrage of claims and counter-claims coming from those being tried for corrupt practices in the arms procurement scandal shows that our great nation had been under the yoke of traitors for years. This is why a change in the status quo in virtually every sphere of our human endeavour is an imperative, if Nigeria is to emerge as a strong socio-economic force in the near future.

    Like Rev. Chris Okotie said at his Household of God church on Sunday, 17 January, 2016: “I urge Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign which aims to rid this country of the People’s Democratic Party’s legacy of a government of the corrupt, by the corrupt, and for the corrupt.” Indeed, there is a great need to support the present government in its corruption battle and nation building efforts. Since Nigerians voted for change, we must begin that great process individually and collectively with a change of attitude for the better by being genuine patriots, knowing that only all-inclusive change can transform Nigeria.

    It is a mirage for us to expect any dramatic change from President Muhammadu Buhari’s government if we remain detached from this anti-corruption war. Moving the nation forward is a collective task and not the solo effort of any particular leader or political party. Every Nigerian has a role to play in the quest to move the nation forward. We cannot appoint a leader as we always do and leave him to his own devices. We must hold our leaders accountable; we must compel them to walk their talk. Whatever President Buhari and his party promised must be delivered if they are to govern with peace of mind.

    If our elected leaders go off tangent at any stage or become complacent, it is the duty of Nigerians to call them to order. Once our leaders know that they must deliver on their promises or get sacked at the next polls or even impeached, they’d sit up: That’s one of the duties of patriotic citizens. This anti-corruption tsunami is a wake-up call to over-ambitious politicians and office holders, and an admonition to government to sustain the momentum. Everybody must become an anti-corruption fighter.

    Corruption is a global scourge, and pen thieves abound everywhere; look at the tsunami sweeping through FIFA headquarters for an attestation of this. But what differs between the Nigerian scenario and other climes like Europe and zero-tolerant nations like North Korea are obvious. For a start, those nations do not celebrate ill gotten wealth; neither does their economic legal system exculpate culprits with weak punitive measures. The economic system does not operate an open door policy which makes the perpetration of economic and financial crimes as easy as a, b, c. Neither do ex-convicts bask in the klieg-lights and media glory of social soirees with men and women in government. The populace ensures this.

    Demanding the heads of looters will not impede corruption, not if the system celebrates them. To realistically begin to curb corruption, plugging the channels that looters exploit is the best step forward. Rev. Okotie also posits that re-ordering the value system is the foundation upon which a corruption-free and equitable Nigerian society can be built. Let’s start there. Reports have it that CBN is to publish the list of suspected looters: They should also publish details of contracts and expenditures.

    Over and above the anti-graft battle is the need to rally together a united front and a cohesive nation at this time of low morale and an obvious national economic downturn: The corruption racket has taken a toll on the nation and the challenges of instability making rounds in the nation are the drumbeats of discontent; the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, the militancy in the south-south, Biafra agitations in the east, kidnappings across the nation, serial murders and ritual killings, proliferation of arms and IED’s and trafficking and laundering.

    As the anti-corruption war heats-up, still languishing at the back end of all these socio-economic crossroads is a traumatised nation with citizens who need a chance at redemption from the numerous challenges that coxswain their opportunities at attaining their best potential. This is what must go alongside the corruption battle and economic restructuring; reconciliation of old troubles.

    In closing, let President Buhari heed Okotie’s admonition never to relent or compromise because Nigerians are behind him. Your Excellency, Mr. President, you must fight to make Nigeria right. You have no choice. But your fight against corruption, injustice and for the rule of law must be fair to all. Unlike your predecessors, you must finish strong and leave a great legacy. Then, indeed, Mr. President, will your fight be right for Nigeria as indicated by the Pastor-politician

     

    • Elakhe, a member of the Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH), wrote in from Lagos.

     

  • Da-Bessie, our Mother Theresa, is gone

    Today, Friday, January 29, at the serene and sleepy community of Umuobiakwa in Obingwa Local Council of Abia State, dust will go to dust and sand to sand. The boast of life and all that it gives will lead but to the grave.

    Having breathed last on Sunday, November 29, at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu, Madam Bessie Okezie, mother of the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, will be laid to rest. A fruitful 87 years of life of service to humanity would come to a glorious end. But, unlike the simplicity of her birth and the simplicity of her life, her last day on earth would resound as a carnival. The peaceful community of Umuobiakwa will witness a great disruption, not of an earthquake or physical destruction, not of pandemonium and noise but of pomp and ceremony – the happy celebration of a life well spent!

    Indeed, the form and shape of Da-Bessie’s funeral will stand as a vindication for a life made sublime by compassion and care for others and a life of indelible footprints, not on the sands of time, but in the hearts of men.  For Da-Betsy’s journey, unlike the Shakespeare’s   tale told by an idiot,   was a rich tale  of meaning and significance. A meaning she lived out with her career as a nurse and midwife, a career that became her personality and a personality that became her life – a life that found expression in constant care and compassion for humanity.

    From the lowly trough of life, the journey began at mid-day on May 27, 1928 when she was born into the family of Mr. Mrs  Nwagwu Anaba of Umuafor Village in Obingwa LGA of Abia State.  Her father died in 1944 when she was 16 and her mother took the decision to send her to school which she started  at the age of 17.

    She obtained her primary education from Adventist Primary School Aba and later attended School of Nursing, Adventist Hospital Ile Ife and graduated in 1959. In 1975, she went back to further her education at the School of Midwifery, Methodist hospital, Amachara Umuahia.

    Mrs. Ikpeazu got married to late Ishmael Uleanya Ikpeazu of Umuobiakwa Village, also in Obingwa,  in December, 1961 and this union was blessed with three children; Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu (Governor of Abia State), Mrs. Ocheze Edith Ugboaja (A US-based Nurse)  and Barrister Iheanyichukwu Ugonna Ikpeazu.

    As a nurse, Mrs. Ikpeazu worked at Ahoada County Hospital, Ahoada Rivers State, Okpuala Ngwa General Hospital and Nigerian Christian Hospital, Onitcha Ngwa in Aba where she served as the matron until she retired in 1994. During this period, she also served as the Nursing Supervisor for the Motherless Babies Home, Adventist Hospital, Aba

    Mrs. Bessie Ikpeazu as an entrepreneur was the owner and CEO of Ulari Maternity Home/Clinic Umuobiakwa, a clinic where she saved many lives for no charge and delivered thousands of babies for little or no charge. She was a kind, loving, honest and God-fearing woman who loved her God and her fellow humans and lived peacefully with everyone. With her compassionate heart, she touched many lives both within the family, the church, work place and in the community. Through her generosity many orphans, widows, widowers and less privileged children found a home in her home. These many acts of kindness gave her the name “Nne Oha” as her love for people had no boundaries.  She was a prayer warrior, a Deaconess of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and also served as the Women’s Ministry leader for her local church for many years.

    In Umuobiakwa Village, she was a model wife and a role model to other women in the village. She formed the “We We” meeting for Umuobiakwa women which serves a melting pot and an avenue for social acclimatization for many women married into the village.

    Her hobbies in her younger years included knitting, sewing and farming. During her middle age and later years, she dedicated her life to the service of God, prayer ministry and humanitarian work. When her health started failing about 21 years ago and the doctors told her that she was not going to live much longer, she gave away most her possessions to the poor, with the explanation that her children may not remember to give things to this group of people when she was no more. One can say that at this time she began to prepare her life for the journey for eternal life just as Jesus demanded from the rich young ruler.

    Mama Bessie taught, not only her children but everybody who came in contact with her, the value of hard work, honesty, dedication and perseverance. She was indeed the proverbial virtuous woman of Proverbs 31.

     Today, it has been a season of mourning. If to live is to be known, Mama Bessie lived life to its fullest. If to die is to be forgotten, Mama truly will never die, for she shall forever live in the hearts of the many people she touched with her  compassionate hand. We shall remember Da-Bessie for her devotion to her calling and her defence for truth and the public interest.  We will remember her for many things, and significantly as a mother who stood out as a giant amongst women, not just because of the amazing capacity of her heart but more importantly for being  a role model and trail-blazer in the pursuit of educational excellence.  We shall forever celebrate the mother Theresa of our time, a woman who was an epitome of honour, integrity, and selfless service to mankind;  a woman who created her own ceiling and set many records;  a friend who showed the way for others to follow and a woman whose entire life was a total commitment to God and mankind.

    Why do we call her the Mother Theresa of our time? We do so because Da-Bessie personally decided to serve out her career as a missionary nurse and a missionary care giver. She found in her career a veritable platform to share love and care for the disconsolate humanity.

    As we mourn today, we raise our voice in unison to re-echo the immortal question:  death, where is thy sting?  How many scores of years and centuries shall pass before we conquer death and resolve the mystery of the great finality? Da-Bessie fought to live; her family wanted her to live. But, life and death are given unto man. The curtain is drawn and the poor player has strutted and fretted her hours upon the stage. Mama has crossed the twin bridge between the material and the transcendental. On this bridge is an ever busy traffic: some are coming in by birth; some are taking exit by death. Thus, is life and death part of the natural continuum. We all shall die. So let it be that Da-Bessie is gone!

    Goodnight, Da-Bessie. Take heart, mu Governor.

    • Adindu is Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State Governor.