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  • Asiwaju Tinubu: Nigeria’s Political Benefactor

    Asiwaju Tinubu: Nigeria’s Political Benefactor

    Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has contributed, more than any other politician in the last 22 years, to strengthening and sustaining Nigeria’s fledgling democratic culture. His contributions have come in kind, and I hear from the grapevine; in cash as well. These sacrifices are common knowledge to many Nigerians. But let us begin in 1994.

    After General Sani Abacha assumed maximum dictatorial powers, detaining and assassinating dissenting voices, Tinubu and other pro-democracy citizens teamed up to form NADECO. They mobilised Nigerians to oppose Abacha. They harried the regime through the press, rallies and demonstrations. This line of action soon put their lives in danger and Tinubu had to flee into exile. And even with all the deprivations of living in cold foreign climes, Tinubu continued to inspire and mobilise Nigerians at home and abroad, as well as foreign governments to sustain the pressure on Abacha’s dictatorship. And when, thankfully, Abacha expired in 1998 and democracy was re-introduced in 1999, Tinubu was elected the governor of Nigeria’s most populous state – Lagos. This was where his leadership attributes and capacity for organising people began to assume legendary status.

    He began the renewal of the spirit of Lagos, which had been suppressed by long years of military dictatorship. It was a time when excellence was re-introduced into the public lives of Lagosians. And it became evident in the quality and span of roads and other public infrastructure constructed at the time. It was also evident in the changing attitude of Lagosians. They began to re-develop a high sense of pride, dignity and confidence. And they began to have very high expectations of themselves and their governments.  But this did not happen very smoothly.

    In the 2003 general elections, P.D.P, with General Olusegun Obasanjo presiding, decimated the political territories of the main opposition party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and “captured” most of the Yoruba states of southwestern Nigeria. Only Lagos, with a resolute and resilient Tinubu, stood firm like the Russian defenders of Stalingrad in the Second World War, against the crude and abrasive tactics of Obasanjo. In the general elections of 2007, Obasanjo retained control of these captured southwestern states and tried; using every trick and tool in the game to take Lagos from Tinubu; but with equal cunning and blinding sophistication, Tinubu resisted, won his re-election and held Lagos.

    Then he counter-attacked, inspiring and bankrolling challenges to the illegal victories of P.D.P governors in the southwest. And he began to win back territories. Ekiti, Osun, even Ondo with the chameleonic Mimiko challenging from the Labour Party, was recovered from P.D.P through the moral and financial support of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. His actions at this juncture in the history of our nation, saved Nigeria from degrading into a one-party state, with the attendant lack of choice and ultimately lack of freedom.

    However, Tinubu was not satisfied with just improving the southwestern states, being a nationalist, he longed to see a better-governed Nigeria. So, towards the general elections of 2011, he began to reach out to other like-minded Nigerians. His grand vision was to form an opposition party capable of wresting power from P.D.P.  He expanded AD to AC then to ACN. But when the politically naïve and puritanical General Buhari, (I love him for this though) sitting on a high horse and thumping his nose at his erroneously perceived “impurer” politicians like Tinubu, failed to see and take advantage of the opportunity, Tinubu recruited Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the internationally acclaimed anti-corruption prosecutor and activist, to be the presidential candidate of ACN. Ribadu was never going to win that election; the euphoria of having a minority Niger Delta president was too strong across the country for a disjointed opposition. But lessons were learnt.

    The first of such lessons is that Asiwaju Tinubu means well for the country. The second lesson is that he is not an ethnic jingoist. The third is that the good of Nigeria comes far ahead of his personal ambition. The fourth is that he is always ready to sacrifice his personal ambition and resources to advance the course of our nation. The fifth and perhaps the most important lesson is that he will go to the ends of the world to recruit the best, least-corrupt and most capable brains to run governments in Nigeria. From Raji Fashola and Prof Yemi Osinbajo in Lagos, Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti, Rauf “Ogbeni” Aregbesola in Osun, to his support for Nuhu Ribadu as ACN presidential candidate in 2011, and his foresighted, astute and relentless pursuit of the merger of ACN, CPC, ANPP and others to form APC, and the total support extended to General Buhari to emerge as the presidential candidate of the APC, Tinubu has proven himself to be a true Nigerian patriot and has nothing more to prove to anybody. Action speaks louder than words (not that Tinubu is staying quiet). But his actions have demonstrated beyond question that he truly and completely believes in a less corrupt and better-governed Nigeria.

    Now, one cannot objectively assess a person or an issue without examining the other side of the argument. So, let’s consider the cases against Tinubu. A lot has been said about his wealth and these gossips have been followed up with allegations of corruption. From all indications, he seems to be a man with very deep pockets.  But a very rich politician does not necessarily translate to a very corrupt politician. Tinubu is a smart man, and I believe, when it comes to personal financial matters, he thinks like a businessman, taking advantage of emerging opportunities to make profit. This is the hallmark of successful business people. But what has Tinubu been doing with his massive wealth? From all indications, he has deployed, at least some of it, to the development of a viable opposition party, sponsoring younger and competent political leaders like Fashola, Yemi Osinbajo, Aregbesola etc, and building a strong A.P.C that has reinvigorated our democracy. And in all these, he never ever allowed his personal political ambition stand in the way of the progress of our dear country.

    The big question is; would a very corrupt politician be taking the risk of fighting governments that could easily jail him? Take a second to consider that Tinubu was a consistent voice of opposition to all-powerful and vindictive President Obasanjo, and has continued to harry President Jonathan, weaken P.D.P, and has led the formation of A.P.C, which from all current indications, is developing into the strongest opposition party in Nigeria’s political history, capable of defeating President Jonathan in the coming presidential election.

    And after all the money and time invested by EFCC, ICPC et cetera, in investigating Tinubu, the most grievous criminal charge they could bring against him was possession of a near-empty dormant foreign account. And they couldn’t even get a conviction. If Tinubu were a corrupt man and the government in power, with all the instruments of arrest and prosecution at their disposal has failed to find evidence against this man, then it stands to their eternal shame.

    And if after writing this, Asiwaju were to be convicted of corruption in the future, I will only feel a sense of sadness at the falling from grace of a man who has given so much for the development of a functional democracy in our nation. But for now, he will continue to enjoy my respect and admiration, and Nigerians of democratic inclination should be genuinely grateful, and should regard him as our number one political benefactor in this democratic dispensation.

    • Onyeka Ibe, a writer and politician can be reached through onyezibe@yahoo.com .

  • COMMENTS

    For  Segun Gbadegesin

    God bless you for an articulate piece. From Khalifa Abdulsalam

    I read your article “A moral outrage”. For writing this, you will be labelled APC member; but the truth be told you are so totally right and the country has to arise and with one voice condemn the impunity. Are there people not more qualified than Obanikoro? I weep as old politicians keep recycling themselves even when they are proven failures. From Dr. Austine, Port Harcourt.

    Thank you sir for your piece on Obanikoro confirmation. The confirmation is ridiculous and absurd; so if a senator is accused of murder, and in the name of stupid tradition, will such a person be confirmed as a cabinet member?  Sorry for this country.  From Kola Badru

    The present Senate comprises highly “distinguished” senators of the Federal Republic of the PDP, who have desecrated the validity and efficacy of our Constitution, very sad. But I am not surprised at their shameless act of confirming Obanikoro. They are gifted with immunity and impunity. True ingredients of lawlessness and recklessness. What a pity. From Yusuf Emmanuel.

    Obanikoro’s confirmation was a hatchet job by the PDP senators to oil the rigging machinery of PDP in the Southwest. The questionis: Can thousands of Obanikoro stand on the way of the people that are battle ready to take their destiny in their hands during the elections? From Kolade Ilesanmi Esq

    Sir, if Obanikoro had decamped to APC after losing the PDP gubernatorial ticket, would you have made the remarks, comments, sarcasms, diatribes, innuendoes and insinuations about him and Jonathan in The Nation? Search your soul. Do you really desire change for Nigeria? Go check history: real change and morality are twins. You are a journalist, you know this. Is there morality in APC? Your conscience will demand answer someday. Anonymous

    All senators who endorsed Obanikoro for minister are dead morally. Of course, Obanikoro’s nominee was the very first to kiss this moral dust. March 28 decides their fate. This rubbish must stop. From Vince Ekwurumadu, Owerri.

    I am so pleased and happy with your piece  on Obanikoro’s clearance by our conscience-less Senate. Keep on the good work. Nigerians are watching and reading the evils calculation of PDP. From Collins, Jos.

    There was a time when the “value system” in Nigeria was a thing of pride. Then we, little children, had adults we looked up to as role models. Today, most occupants of public and private office have nothing of significant value for the younger generation to emulate or look up to. As events and issues unfold, I pray that a bloody revolution or a replica of the Arab Spring does not arise in Nigeria. God save our dear country Nigeria.  Anonymous

    The gathering was unusually quiet in anticipation when it was the turn of Mr. Obanikoro. And the gavel fell for “the Is have it”. The gathering dispatched without any word. NIGERIA had lost an important game which would have bettered our world rating. We had just witnessed the public execution of Conscience by the PDP Senate. We had gathered in front of a TV in my office, for the live broadcast of the Senate proceedings of the screening of the ministerial nominees. One after the other, they took a bow before the Senate.  After all, they say, “a man who eats meat doesn’t bother about the suffering animals go through during slaughter”. Your piece “A moral outrage” is a classic, as I read through it, your stand became very clear. Anonymous

    Re: “A moral outrage”.  The rejection of Obanikoro began from the Lagos APC because they have always seen him as of political value, a man who could be dangerous to Lagos APC’s success! I do not know Obanikoro but once some people of a caucus in Lagos or/and Southwest hate him, even if he is good, he remains bad! Politics of hate should be halted by Lagos APC and Southwest.  From Lanre Oseni.

    Why would they wait until Obanikoro was nominated as minister before bringing out the tape? Was Ekiti election a last week’s issue? No one is sincere in Nigeria. Not even the journalists! Anonymous

    Sir, your piece “A moral outrage” was very apt and quite succinct. In fact, the PDP-led government’s commitment to the disintegration of our morals as a people is worrisome and must be halted by all well-meaning Nigerians. Their culture of insistence to push their immoralities and illegalities upon the nation and its people has become their norm, and this show of shame is fast eroding our collective pride as a people. It’s very obvious that this current president, and his collaborators ought to be sent packing come March 28, 2015.God help Nigeria. From SALIHU I

     

     

    For Olatunji Dare

    ICPC is not working really because corruption has become part of the present government. Corruption is now a national cake for every political appointee – looting the treasury without prosecution. It is very sad; how do we move the nation forward with corruption in governance? Time will tell. From G.C.Nnorom  I just want to comment on the piece in your column in THE NATION  of 10/3/15. As usual with your writing, it’s wonderful. You talked about the late Admiral Aikhomu using the term “misallocation” to describe questionable expenditure of public funds. You need to check the records again. I think the term he actually used was “misapplication”. Please, let me know the result of your inquiry. Thanks. From Ike U. Umuahia, Abia State. 

    Prof, you have committed an error of misquoting Admiral Aikhomu in your piece. What Aikhomu said was that public money could not be misappropriated, but it could be ‘misapplied’! You can see that ‘misallocation’ doesn’t align with the intended synonym in Aikhomu’s assertion. Still, bravo to you for the good work that you are doing. From G. O. Taiwo, Ikorodu.

    I think the word actually used by the late Aikhomu  was ‘misapplication’. Not that it mattered, though. It’s pure semantics, as you said.  What boggles is the mindless dimension it has assumed under the PDP administration since 1999. Now, we have the ‘largest’ economy in Africa with the largest population of poor people on the continent. The naira’ll be down to 300 to the dollar by June, at the rate we are going. For 16 years, with billions of dollars gone, they are barely able to add anything to the national power grid. To top it, we are the only oil producing nation in the world that imports nearly all the refined products we consume. And the locusts want another four years with us. How about that. Regards. From Olu.

    Sir, I love your infallible, informative and educating write-up. Jonathan and his political iconoclasts and demagogues have failed abysmally. They are poor students of history, surely, they will soon descend in to oblivion. From Saheed Olowo, IFO.

     

    For Dapo Fafowora

    Thank you sir on your piece on hate campaign. I’ve stopped watching NTA news. Most Nigerian leaders are bankrupt morally. From Bennetts Nosegbe, Benin city.

    Sir, your publication dated march 12 2015 “will presidential election be decided by hate campaign” The truth is that Jonathan and his so called small PDP lost focus. They have nothing to offer Nigerians than lies and hate speeches. From Ogbeche CP, Makurdi.

    Thank you sir, for your erudite analysis in The Nation of Thursday 12/3/15.This country must change for the best. May the ink in your pen never run dry! From KOLA  ATTA, Lagos.

    Truly BUHARI is a far better candidate for the president of Nigeria than Jonathan. BUHARI is more presidential, confident and charismatic, quite different from what is being said about him. From Rev Habila, Jos, Plateau State.

    If Obasanjo is a motor pack tout, what do we say about our number one lady? May Allah help Nigeria. Anonymous

    I read your article on the back page of d NATION on March 12th 2015.I blesses God for your blunt but truthful, well articulated write up. More grace to you. Thanks Sir. Anonymous

    Sir, I just read your column in the nation please keep it up. May almighty GOD continue to give you the ability to do more sir. Anonymous

    Buhari will deliver Nigeria from proverty that is why we cannot pray for Jonathan re-election. Please tell Jonathan to repent and ask all Nigerians to forgive him. From Pastor jp.

    Your article ‘will presidential election be decided by hate campaign?’ is a masterpiece. You vividly captured the present political situation in a truthful and realistic way. More grease to your elbows! From Hassan Kaffoi, Wuse,Abuja.

    Sir, PDP assuredly believes that the elections will be decided by the hate campaign against Buhari; to the extent that Jonathan’s wife uses gutter language, referring to a former head of state as brain-dead. After Jonathan himself had called his predecessor a motor park tout. They forget, when convenient, that “die ris god o” From M.N.Odiase, Agbor-Delta State

    Sir: The piece is thought-provoking. Hate campaigns will bear fruit because many Nigerians are politically ignorant. What are the issues in a world where many are homeless and hungry? The unvarnished truth is that hate campaigns can only depend and strengthen underdevelopment. Thanks. From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna

    The article: Will presidential election be decided by hate campaign? Is well thought out and a comprehensive comparison of the campaigns between the two leading parties for the forth coming general elections. In my considered view, Buhari is better positioned and deserves to win the presidential election despite his ugly past. For me, the cap will fit perfectly on him. From Chy, Onitsha.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: Thank you, Awujale: Mr. President should note that his 14 established universities are for his cronies, right from the VCs to other principal officers, including the staff requirements of which, if you are not a PDP member, you can’t belong. One is not surprised at the Awujale’s stand to look Goodluck Jonathan in the face. While it is the past time of GEJ and his party to openly revel in financial alchemy which is obviously bad, the ball is in the court of Yoruba Obas to ostracise the very few violently uncultured and fraudulent wolves among them, a.k.a. “I think Abacha was talking sense”. Haba! ‘Se nitori atenuje yi naa ni’? (is it because of what to eat?) GEJ should note that the south west is not a rehabilitation centre for its fraudsters, while doling out millions of dollars will come to naught by the time the cock crows, come March 28. Change will surely come. From Ch. Tunji Ayena, Ijabo Street, Igbemo Ekiti.

    One is not surprised that the Awujale came out clean as usual. May the almighty God continue to protect and grant this our forthright royal father length of days. From Bunmi Ajayi.

    Please permit me to use the opportunity of your column to appreciate Kaabiyyesi, the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona. He is a star. Nigerians are proud of him. If other traditional rulers in the country can just emulate half of the good and courageous things the Awujale does, Nigeria would have been a better country. I am an Igbo man from Abia State. I lived in Ijebu-Ode in the late 1980s … Let me recall when the Ita Osu Market was newly constructed, some officials of Ijebu-Ode Local Government wanted to play a fast one on non-indigenes; it was the Awujale who called them to order. He made sure that both indigenes and non-indigenes were fairly treated. The Awujale will live long to reap his good works. In Nigeria, traditional rulers who are doing well for their people don’t make noise. As they say, leadership flows down the line. Many Ijebu-Ode people are nice, transparent and have integrity because their Oba has those qualities. I worked and schooled in Ijebuland and I know how good they were to me. Other traditional rulers should borrow a leaf from Oba Adetona. Long live, Kaabiyesi. From O. Ogwo, Agwu, Kaduna.

    Thank you for commending the Awujale for his high-class handling of Jonathan’s visit. My Oba, the Orangun of Oke- Ila Orangun also deserves commendation for not being part of the Ife crowd. From Dr Adebisi, Ila-Orangun.

    What the nit wits at the foreign affairs ministry said of the purported conversation of the president and the Moroccan monarch was not at the president’s behest but was borne out of eye service that has destroyed the Federal Civil Service. Those who ordinarily cannot lead their homes are appointed into offices and the only way they retain their positions is by telling lies and defending the indefensible. Anonymous.

    Despite the situation in the country,  our traditional rulers should respect the institution they represent rather than compromise over gifts from politicians that want to buy them against their wish. Let them know that there is Nemesis. Oba Adetona has showed he is an exemplary leader that other traditional rulers should emulate by telling the president that his performances would speak for his reelection, not visiting traditional rulers to seek for votes. Nigerians would decide every election that INEC will conduct to vote leaders that would move the nation forward. From G.C. Nnorom.

    If other Obas and other traditional rulers had told the president  the bitter truth as Oba Adetona did, I believe the president would have known where he stands by now. It is very shameful that some of our traditional rulers are not saying the truth to our leaders because of financial inducement. In the history of democracy all over the world, I have never seen a desperate president like ours, who is trying to destroy everything in the country just because of reelection. I wonder what the president will govern if he destroys all our national institutions. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

  • Jonathan’s rampaging bloody politics

    It is essentially disturbing that Nigerians no longer see President Goodluck Ebele “Azikiwe” Jonathan as the nation’s saviour. His deceptive preachments, “My ambition doesn’t worth the life of anyone”, like the other swaddling hogwash, have been exposed for what they are: fraud. Since his re-election campaigns begin, no one is left in doubt that the nation is under the iron control of his PDP-led government. It has been “brain, as demagoguery offered by Femi Fani-Kayode of this world, and fist”, as offered by his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan.

    His second term bid has generated indignation amongst the people who saw in him previously puritanical statesmanship and a fitting image of a liberal democrat. All that has faded now, even though he has been reeving up and clashing down potent issues to show to the world that he is not as isolated as the opposition claimed. His government is truly a gigantic fraud. As we speak, the Senate has confirmed Musiliu Obanikoro as a federal minister, appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan, brushing aside allegations that Mr. Obanikoro played a key role in election fraud in Ekiti State. To make matter worse, Mr. Obanikoro was only told to “take a bow and go”, without answering questions, on the alleged Ekitigate.

    There is greater anxiety than ever before that put the nation on the spotlight, and has generated the fear that Mr Jonathan’s autocratic drift has been intensified. The “political momism”, my coinage for Dame Patience Jonathan’s verbal diarrhoea deal devastating blow to whatever peace-pact reached by all the fourteen political parties gunning for the presidency.

    The peace accord came under the auspices of formers United Nation’s Secretary-General and Common Wealth’s Secretary-General, Kofi Anna and Emeka Anyaoku, respectively. The violation of the peace agreement tobe non-violent is not merely an attack on the reputations of those elder statesmen who brokered the peace deal tarnished by the First Lady’s call for violence, but the nation’s sensibilities and the genuine crave for peaceful elections.

    In case you forget, the President’s wife told a crowd of supporters to stone to death anyone caught mentioning, “CHANGE”. She stated this in Calabar on March 2, 2015, while campaigning for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and her husband, the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan. “Anybody that come and tell you change, stone that person.’’ She continued: “What you did not do at 19, is it now that old age has caught up with you, you want to come and change? You can’t change; rather you will turn back to a baby. You will turn back to a baby. From old age nothing, so nothing like change. Rather (it) is continuity,” she fumed.

    She added a comical note: “Even though belle (pregnancy) is disturbing you, tell it baby, baby let me go and vote. Baby wait let me go and exercise my mandate. Baby wait let me go and do what I can use to feed you.  Baby wait for me, let me go and vote, after voting, I will come and deliver you,  and you won’t die because Goodluck has given all the safety measures.  You won’t die,” she enthused.

    Sad and abhorrent as the above banal statement might be from the first lady, it shows how she and her husband have sunk into the pit of desperation to be returned to power. ( The opposition All Progressives Party’s slogan for March 28 election is ‘change’, so Nigerians now know that Patience Jonathan advertently had called on Nigerians to stone the opposition politicians to death. Patience Jonathan has previously mocked the APC’s slogan saying that the PDP does not tell Nigerians about change because they are not bus conductors.

    As expected, Mr Jonathan is yet to respond to his wife’s call for stoning anyone who ‘talks change’ to death. Heeding the wife’s blackmail, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai’ (rtd), SURE-P Chairman was given the boot for a lecture he delivered last week in Abeokuta during the birthday ceremony of former President Olusegun Obasanjo where he declared that “change is inevitable”. Agwai merely spoke on the topic, “Imperatives of a National Security Framework for Development and Progress of Nigeria,” at the birthday ceremony where he noted that change in leadership was inevitable. He typically stressed the need for security sector reform, without which, he said, the country might be doomed.

    “In life, you find out that everything needs change; if that is what the community wants, what the people want, you must give it to them and, as such, it becomes inevitable. “You can have everything nice, but if you don’t have the right leadership to propel it, it cannot go anywhere. Integrity matters – doing what is good for the larger society and not just what you want to do for a narrow society to please yourself.”

    “The military has to be transformed and this becomes necessary from the point of recruitment, training and assuming leadership role. Our forces that are trained, equipped to defend us are now in a strange field. “We must have security sector reform because everyone that has anything to do with security must be re-branded for professionalism, efficiency and effectiveness. The military has nothing to do with politics, and if we allow it, we will run into problems,” he warned.

    Driving by wayward leadership principles – vast and sprawling bureaucracy, having little of the required efficiency usually credited to Nigerians, poisoned by mega-graft, besotted by constant confusion and cutthroat official rivalries occasioned by the muddling interference of party potentates, and often rendered impotent by the terror of his illiterate wife, Mr Jonathan was conned out of governance.

    That Mr Jonathan himself maintained dignified silence over his wife’s open call to anarchy, kidnapping and actual slaughtering of people didn’t come as a surprise. Nine members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State, southern Nigeria, were killed in two separate incidents in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, a few days ago. While five of the men were killed in the D-Line area of Port Harcourt, the other four met their untimely death along the Eastern By-Pass in the Marine Base area of the state capital!

    Journalists were not left out of the Rivers State political killing field to which Mr Jonathan turns a blind eye. Members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Rivers State who could not take the threat to their lives as they discharge their lawful duties in the state lying low took to the streets in protect with placard:

    “Journalists in Rivers State say enough is enough to insecurity and election related violence”; “We are tired of Violent Politics”; “Allow journalists perform their constitutional functions”, “When you kill journalists, you kill society”; “Toy with journalists, toy with the future of the nation”; “Journalism is a constitutionally recognised profession”; “Rivers Journalists may be forced to boycott polls coverage if…”

    At the top of the swarming heap of carnage and bloodbath stands the son of canoe-carver-born PhD holder from Otuoke, ferried by providence to power. His is pathetic governance, who, at the head of so great and powerful a nation, set out to attain its end. Six-year on, he is unable to create an enviable nation, burnish with abundant resources to the satisfaction of the electorate. Nigerians will be writing their page in the darkest of histories should Mr Jonathan finds his way back to Aso Rock in a country where second term in office do not amount to much.

    • Ikhide wrote in from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Stephen Lampe, God, and the Nigerian project

    Stephen Lampe, God, and the Nigerian project

    Undertaking a rather consuming tasking of reading a deep thinker, theologian and philosopher  like Stephen M. Lampe (a Nigerian great mind of world renown), is in part a continuation of my philosophical-theological learning, as it is a commitment to my inter-faith dialogue mission which Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah largely inspired. It is also a learning curve I require for seminar engagement requests of the likes of my dear friend and brother, Engr. Emeka Ezeh, DG Bureau of Public Procurement, who belongs to the school of thought that Lampe espoused.  I met Lampe for the first time in Washington D.C. when he was staff of the World Bank in the company of his friend the late Prof. Bade Onimode. After just a few hours of seminar engagement, he left a great impression of philosophical erudition in me and though we have not met ever since, even as a bible-believing Christian, I can attest of a truth that Lampe knows what he is talking about and deserves not just to be read, but to be savoured. Lampe is also the author of two theological classics: The Christian and Reincarnation and Building Future Societies: The Spiritual Principles.

    In this essay therefore, I have a daunting task. This is to reflect on a reflection about the idea of God. Now, that is a difficult, and even dangerous, exercise, especially in our volatile multi-religious national unfolding. This is for the simple reason that the idea of God raises all manner of alarms and hostility from all manners of quarters. This is all the more reason why Stephen Lampe’s effort in the 384+viii book, Thinking about God (2014), constitutes a courageous, and even daring, plunge where angels fear to tread. The book is all the more audacious because it is a taut seventeen-chapter ‘reflections on conceptions and misconceptions’ about the idea of God. It is a genuinely enlightening attempt at unhinging the idea of God from the bewildering ideological clutches of religious dogmas and theological doctrines. This is the unnerving task I have set for myself not only because Lampe’s book is intriguing, but also because the idea of God has been part of the firmament of my own philosophical ruminations for many years.

    The idea of God is an interesting paradox. First, it is a simple, three-lettered word submerged under multiple layers of philosophical assumptions, theological reinventions, eschatological anxieties, religious differentiation and socio-cultural interpretations. And yet, the idea is all the more complicated because it references the mysterious, the unknown, the mystical or the ineffable. Second, history is littered with the tales and horrors of many battles fought in the name of God, or many who have died defending the integrity of the idea of the Almighty. The Crusades and Jihads bequeath lasting and gory narrative about how the idea has taken hold of the heart of men and titillate our most base instinct for violence. Yet, the most sublime art and songs have been composed in the name of God. Think about Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel murals, or the best of Islam’s architectural flowering.

    Paradoxically, however, it seems that the more we pluck the depth of what ‘God’ means, the more we are perplexed about what the word signifies. Moving from the idea of God to its substance fundamentally requires what the Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, called ‘a leap of faith.’ However, does simple faith satisfies the yearning to unravel the depth of God? Stephen Lampe does not think so. Coming to a full and wholesome understanding of what he calls ‘the right conception of God’ takes more than faith; it is a duty which requires one’s entire mind and rigorous attention. Lampe seems to be saying that a conception of an adequate idea of God cannot be done on a part-time mental energy. And who wouldn’t agree? Hence, we arrive at the methodology of the book which is a combination of the theological and the philosophical. With all its fundamental queries, the book makes for a delightful refresher course on the philosophy of religion which I was acquainted with at the university as an undergraduate student of political science with a minor in philosophy.

    Consider Lampe’s opening salvo:

    To get it right about the conception of God is to get it right about everything else. False conceptions lead to false religions. False religions in turn reinforce various forms of unbelief. Worse still, false religions inevitably lead to hatreds, horrors, and all sorts of conflicts.

    This is straightforward. And the evidence of its truism confronts us on a daily basis. All we need do is turn on the radio (if you don’t stay right in the theatre of the religious carnage itself). Remember the September 9/11 mayhem at the World Trade Centre in the United States, the result of al-Qaeda’s religious revenge. Then draw closer home and remember the Boko Haram insurgency which has been challenging the territorial integrity of the Nigerian state based on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Religious fundamentalism has today become the scourge of modernity. It has resurged where modernisation theorists had predicted its eventual disappearance as enlightenment envelopes us all. They have been wrong. But then, that does not make fundamentalism any less wrong and pernicious.

    In seeing fundamentalism as false religion, it is not difficult to see the analogy between Lampe and Marx. For the latter, religion is an opiate which flows from false consciousness. But while Marx was deluded in his conviction that God would wither away with the entire bourgeoisie ideological framework, Lampe holds the idea of God as a primary cosmological fact which, among other things, can guarantee peace at various levels. This is a gratifying thought. Imagine the Crusades had not happened. Imagine al-Qaeda does not exist. Imagine Boko Haram hadn’t killed the over thirty thousand Nigerians. Imagine also that religion is not more than a personal conviction about the Ineffable-without the danger of any proselytising violence. This is why Lampe could argue, with conviction, that ‘seeking to acquire the right conception of God is not about religion; it is to follow the natural desire that is implanted in the human essence. Therefore, the search for the right conception of God is everybody’s duty and it should be quite a personal matter, not dictated by other individuals or organizations.’

    The Book’s Outline and Central Argument

    The book began with a masterly chapter one which serves as an introduction and an overview of the entire arguments. Chapter two to six constitutes the metaphysical components of Lampe’s work. The topics range from ‘The Mystery of Reality,’ ‘The Progressive Revelation of God,’ The Human Being and Human Purpose,’ to ‘Creation and Subsequent Creation’ and ‘Varieties of Unbelief and Belief.’ The other eleven chapters cover topics like the will of God, the perfection and omnipotence of God, the trinity, miracles, prayers, evil and the love and justice of God. All these chapters raise provocative and challenging issues that call for a deep reassessment of what we believe or assume about God. For instance, Lampe insists that our conception of God’s omniscience flows more with seeing God as all-wise rather than being all-knowing; his omnipresence presumes that God is accessible from everywhere rather than the orthodox view that he is present everywhere; and miracles are really the function of understanding the laws of creation rather than assuming that they suspend those laws.

    Stephen Lampe’s Thinking about God raises several thorny and philosophical issues. The first that one immediately confronts is whether there is actually ‘a right conception of God.’ This question becomes worrisome since it serves as the basis of Lampe’s claim that false conceptions lead to false religions and hence fundamentalism. If our conviction about who or what God is derives from a personal illumination, what makes my conviction better or righter than yours? And does Lampe’s philosophically adventurous effort not constitute an attempt to convince us, contrary to our own personal beliefs that, say; the Grail Message perspective is ‘the right conception of God’? Finally, if, as Lampe claims, God ‘remains an eternal mystery,’ how then can we ever achieve any right conception about him? How do we even know there is a God in the first place?

    These are critical philosophical questions which must necessarily attend a serious reading of the book. But my fascination with the book goes beyond a mere philosophical hair-splitting. The idea of God is an inescapable and inevitable dimension of the Nigerian project. We can extend Lampe’s fundamental argument that a suitable understanding of God contains a plausible and non-violent path to national renewal in Nigeria. At first instance, such a suitable conception of God would yield an understanding of a good citizen who loves and pray for the peace of Nigeria!

    When Harley Granville-Barker, the British playwright, asks the critical question-what is the prose for God?-he outlines a battlefield of religious understanding and misunderstanding from which any nation can never hope to be excluded. When fundamentalism hijacked and absolutized that prose, Nigerians die in their thousand. In the next part of this essay, we will critically interrogate how the prose of God can be enlarged enough to accommodate multiple religious and non-religious voices.

    A Critical Review

    ‘What is the prose for God?’ asks Harley Granville-Barker, the British playwright. That question turns on what anyone or any religion can consider to be the appropriate conception of the idea of God and the thrust of Lampe’s contribution. The logic would flow in the following sequence: Is there such a language that clearly delineates how God ought to be conceived? For the religious fundamentalist, the answer is a resounding affirmative. And such a prose, of course, is the scripture the fundamentalist favours. Such an answer essentially excludes others who have contrary voices and conceptions. The attempt to write a divine prose for God has led to so many misconceptions and misunderstanding such that the pages of that prose book have become too convoluted and combustible. We now fight over what we barely understand; we now kill others over a phenomenon that requires our intellectual humility.

    Stephen Lampe’s book, Thinking about God (2014), is therefore an attempt to induce in us the right measure of theological and philosophical humility that will enable us to rethink and reassess our uncritical assumptions and beliefs about God. While Lampe’s book raises critical and provocative theological and philosophical issues (and while I also think it struggles with a serious tension between just enabling a critical understanding of the idea of God and a subtle objective of projecting a Grail Message understanding of that idea), I said in the first part of this essay that my interest would be to see how the insights and lessons generated by the provocative book can enable a positive integration of the idea of God into the rehabilitation of the Nigerian national project. How might Lampe’s objectives in the book enable Christians, Muslims and non-Christians and non-Muslims become good Nigerians? In other words, how can Nigerians continue holding their idea about God without necessarily antagonising others who hold contrary views and conceptions?

    Now, if you still believe that religion, or more fundamentally, the idea of God, isn’t implicated in our failure to achieve national development, then you probably don’t understand the trajectory of Nigeria’s history. The idea of God, right or wrong, is ever present in the public sphere of political discourse. You perceive it in political rhetoric. Religious leaders and their homilies impinge on our perceptions of national affairs. A particularly virulent conception of the idea of God lies behind the confrontation of the Nigerian state by the Boko Haram insurgents. More importantly, once the idea of God surfaces on the public sphere, we begin to bicker and fight.

    Lampe’s Thesis as Solution to Nigeria’s Predicament

    There are two significant theological insights from Lampe’s book that may be converted for our civic/national purpose here. The first insight derives from chapter four, and Lampe’s consideration of the human person. The contention is brief and cogent: to understand God at all, we need first understand who we are. And who are we? The simple but deceptively profound answer: we are spirit. This automatically implies at the immediate level that we are more than our bodies; there is something else that makes us who we really are. This ‘something else’ is the God-essence in us. Now, let’s pause a bit and reflect: If all human are created by God to be spirit-beings, shouldn’t an appreciation of that fact be enough to develop a theological understanding of human right? Shouldn’t this recognition of our spiritual essence be enough to transcend our ethnic and religious affiliations? There is more-that we are spirit ought to imply that we are spiritual, but it does not. Rather than being spiritual, we remain essentially religious. Being spiritual means, according to Lampe, that one is connected to the Spiritual Realms, and one has thus progressively cultivate the spiritual values of love, beauty, lawfulness, selflessness, harmony, peace and happiness. Being spiritual therefore implies automatically the recognition of the principle of reciprocal spirituality.

    I will add two other values: empathy and tolerance. In other words, it becomes immediately easy for a spiritual person to understand why others are so much like him/her, and so much unlike him/her. This point is enough to prevent me from fanatically putting the knife to the neck of him/her who shares in the God-essence. This is how Buddha renders his admonition: ‘I have never yet met with anything that was dearer to anyone than his own self. Since to others, to each one for himself, the self is dear, therefore let him who desires his own advantage not harm another.’

    The second point that Lampe’s book provides refers to our willingness to cultivate an open-mindedness that is borne out of our personal conviction about what we believe. If, as Lampe argues, God is an eternal mystery I believe in, then that belief alone ought to cut short my religious arrogance and aspiration to spiritual infallibility. In other words, the mere possibility that my idea about God may fall short of who God really is must be enough to humble me. This humility ought also to generate the willingness to accept the possibility that some other people know something about God that I do not but can learn from. Open-mindedness, especially with regards to religious matter, does not come easy. Yet, its achievement is very much fundamental to any hope of national integration. This is how Lampe puts it: ‘…the equanimity and inner stability of genuine conviction precludes desire to quarrel and fight with people who hold different beliefs. Only those whose beliefs are shaky and whose motives are impure employ violence and other vile means.’ Yet, the essence of our religious attitude is that we do unto others what we do not want to be done to us.

    In this regard, all religions have a lot to learn from the Yoruba traditional religion and its culture of cognitive openness and accommodation. I grew up within such a receptive heritage. I was socialised within an indigenous communal framework whose cultural dynamics was tenacious enough to stabilise the simmering violence of Islam and Christianity. There were hostilities and stereotypes, but these were subordinated to the higher cultural value of tolerance and belonging. More than this, it made it possible for me to recognise the other persons simply through a spiritual rather than an ethnic or religious prism. I loved my grandmother, and she was a staunch Muslim. She gave birth to my father in a Christian home. And we all participated in the many cultural and religious festivities without, we believe, desecrating our religious conviction. I grew up with a very strong Christian ethos and perspective, yet I can tolerate others who do not share my faith. This upbringing and its several lessons stand at the root of my 2010 monograph, The Joy of Learning and its argument for an enlarged consciousness which learning instigates.

    We are living in a difficult period in Nigeria. The difficulty derived from the fact that for more than fifty years, we have been struggling to make sense of our nationality as a people. And to complicate matters, we have thrown the clog of religion into our untidy diversity. The idea of God that stands at the core of our major religions is too significant to be left to our uncritical religious sentiments. For Nigeria to move forward and achieve integral development, then religions must relearn the essence of cognitive openness. If Stephen Lampe’s Thinking about God has taught us any lesson, it is that religious arrogance demeans the God we presume to serve. And the first step towards spiritual humility is the willingness to accept others not as kaffirs, infidels or unbelievers. On the contrary, we are all children of God, however we chose to approach that God. No one religion encompasses the whole of the mysteries of God.

    •Dr.Tunji Olaopa, is Permanent Secretary

    Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Abuja, Nigeria.

  • Is religion an impediment on national thought? 

    On the 3 February, 2012, a debate was held at the Angus Memorial Hall, on the campus of Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of Igbobi College. The occasion afforded Old Igbobians not only a pleasant reunion, but was also evocative of a simpler and more innocent time. The topic – “Is Religion Occupying Too Much Space In Our National Thought Process” – was ably argued by two of the College’s legendary former debaters, Mr. Chris Borha [who thinks it is] and Professor Yemi Osinbajo, S.A.N. [who argued for the contrary view].The judges included two distinguished Old Igbobians, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi (a former foreign minister) and the Honourable Duro Adebiyi (a distinguished former judge of the High Court of Lagos State, 1968-76).

    Unfortunately, Mr Borha’s pyrotechnical oratory [which seemed to concentrate on the superstition he claimed religion fosters in Nigeria] failed to deploy the full weight of history, which was undoubtedly largely on his side, and was thus, rightly in my view, overcome in the estimation of the judges by the closely reasoned and impeccably delivered argument of Professor Osinbajo, a gifted and seasoned advocate, who contended that religion, among its other benefits, is the indispensable source of the moral strength of any civilized society.

    My personal opinion is that religion is, indeed, occupying far too much space in our national life. This is graphically illustrated in my own neighbourhood of Surulere, in Lagos. While there are at least six churches within a 300 metres radius of my house, I am yet to locate one single library in the whole of Surulere ! Yet, even the Lagos State and the Surulere Local Governments are in awe of these churches and are reluctant to intervene to abate the nuisance caused by the resultant appalling congestion and environmental degradation. This imbalance becomes more disturbing when an empirical analysis of history is taken into view.

    The Islamic Golden Age (786 C.E.-1258 C.E.), which laid the foundation for the later European Renaissance and Enlightenment, brought great progress in mathematics, physics, biology, medicine, education, architecture, the arts, philosophy, literature, scientific methods, etc., at a time when Europe was still in the grip of the Dark Ages, precisely because free thinking, rationalism, and the spirit of scientific enquiry were allowed as much space as spiritualism at the time. The decline of this grand and illustrious civilization, to which a lot of what we now recognize in modern life owes its existence, largely began when the stifling of ijtihad (independent reasoning) in the 12th century began and was replaced by institutionalised taqleed (imitation) thinking.

    Conversely, in Europe, the Church, through subtle means and not so subtle devices, such as the Inquisition, controlled all thought until free thinking, rationalism and scientific enquiry began to assert themselves and became the well-springs of that great flowering of knowledge known as the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries and the Enlightenment of the 18th century, which ensured, to this day, the great ascendancy and domination of the Western Judeo-Christian tradition.

    Even in the 21st century, religion continues to take questionable positions on subjects like birth-control, control of HIV-AIDS, the granting of the equal benefit and protection of the law to biologically-challenged homosexuals and lesbians, the ordination of female clergy and gender equality generally, stem cell research, etc., which many feel to be deleterious to progressive thinking.

    Nations (such as the Western democracies; Turkey; Japan; China; Taiwan; South Korea; Singapore; etc.) that have freed themselves from the debilitating constraints of imperious religion – an inherently conservative phenomenon – and opted for secular societies, thereby subtly circumscribing the influence and control of religion over their peoples, have often been the most successful, while those who have not (such as conservative Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, etc.; the conservative Catholic countries of Latin America and the Philippines; conservative, predominantly Hindu India) have been unable to realize their full potential.

    Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), the great Indian nationalist leader and first prime minister of India put it rather well, in his 1933 letter from prison to his then fifteen year old daughter, Indira [Gandhi] : “…And yet, the study of science makes a tremendous difference to a person…in life. The help has been chiefly in the training it has given and the outlook on the mind…. Almost all-modern life is based on science…. Science really means experiment, the finding out of truth by experiment, and not merely accepting facts just because someone has said so.”

    Religion too seeks the truth, but in contradistinction, its quest is based, not on experiments, but on faith, hope, and fear. It is increasingly idle to deny, in the light of the mounting scientifically verifiable evidence that has been accumulating for centuries, that nature rests on a rational, and not a mystical, foundation which gives nature and life both their largely predictable and not infrequent pitiless and cruel character. A few examples may illustrate this contention: if human beings insist on building their cities in earthquake prone regions, they will probably be destroyed without the possibility of any divine intervention, even if hundreds of thousands of innocent people are killed in the process; similarly, a person who fails to heed medical advice, and smokes like a chimney and eats and drinks like a hog, risks grave injury to his health for which no divine intervention may be available; a group of evil, but well-organized and resourceful, men may successful implement a genocide, without any divine intervention, if good men stand aside; a promising nation may be entirely run aground, without the slightest hint of any divine intervention, if otherwise responsible citizens hug their private lives and decide to look the other way. These are but only four elementary examples of the grip science and logical/rational natural laws have on nature and life. Those individuals and societies that respect and adhere to the guiding light of science and the logical/rational natural laws tend to thrive, while those who do not often fail to realize their full potential.

    What is certainly plausible today, therefore, is that the universe may just as well revolve around science and a set of logical/rational natural laws as it may around a Supreme Being. In this scheme of things, religion, if not taken too far, has much social utility; but taken to extremes, it can be a dangerous concept, ultimately subversive of the very same progress that science and the natural laws have the potential of bringing within our reach. It was the need for a balance between religion, on the one hand, and secular humanism in the form of free thinking, rationalism, and science, on the other hand, that informed Einstein’s famous quip that “science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind” (Albert Einstein, “Science and Religion,” Out of My Later Years,1950).

     

    • Adeogun who teaches law at the University of Guyana

     

     

  • Agbaje vs Ambode: Beyond the résumés

    Segun Ayobolu’s column, ‘illuminations’ of last and penultimate Saturdays, in the Saturday Nation provided a great opportunity to have another close look at the gubernatorial gladiators that are jostling to rule Lagos state. They are: Jimi Agbaje of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Akinwunmi Ambode of All Progressives Congress (APC). In the said publications, Ayobolu dwelled on the Curriculum Vitaes(CVs) of both candidates, and consequently raised a poser.

    Attempting to answer the poser raised by Ayobolu is for me a duty not only to Lagosians or its residents but of course to an average Nigerian whose interest directly or indirectly has to do with Lagos. For the avoidance of doubt, let us look at the question again. In whose hand – Agbaje or Ambode, will it be safer and wiser to entrust the almost one trillion dollar economy of Lagos State, especially at this critical period of the state’s evolution?.

    Ayobolu was generous enough to lead us into the contents of the CVs of these two men who are angling to take over the governance of Lagos come May 29th, 2015. As characteristic of any debate, participants are expected to take  the side  of the discourse convenient to marshal their  points. However, the slight difference here is that the Ambode/Agbaje discourse has been helped with the candidates credentials thrown into the public domain. The basis for comparison has thus been made easy and convenient.

    My immediate reaction was to verify the source of CVs of the candidates Ayobolu referred to. That the information was obtained from the WEBSITE did not only make it authentic but representative of an official information that each aspirant would want the public to know about them at this material  point. The investigator in me did check the two candidates websites and confirmed the correctness of Ayobolu’s CVs claims.

    Discussing in whose hand Lagos will be safer and wiser, majority of the answers will surely favour Ambode. A quick perusal of the two gentlemen CVs readily puts Ambode shoulder high. And why do I say so? The status and character of Lagos viz-a-viz its metropolitan and cosmopolitan outlook, the volume of its business in the neighbourhood of a trillion dollars and need to harness the existing potentials to greater heights can only  be appreciated by an Ambode who has a sound finance  background and  coupled with his meritorious experience as a former civil and public servant at the local and state governments  realm during which he played roles such as Accountant, Treasurer, Auditor-general of Local Government, Permanent Secretary-Ministry of Finance and above all, the Accountant General of Lagos State simultaneously.

    Ambode knows Lagos State inside out as far as governance issues, policy and challenges are concerned having worked in both the formulation and implementation of policies stages that had been used to govern Lagos over the years. Ambode had been part of the Lagos Development Agenda Policy from the days of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during which Lagos State Revenue generation hit the billion-naira mark. So Ambode’s experience is in quantum.

    The way and manner Ambode demonstrated competence in managing the resources of the state during the locust era when the federal government almost strangulated the state, through the non-release of the state allocations, was the saving grace of survival of the state then. This surely puts him in a better stead.

    From the CV of Jimi Agbaje, his experience as a pharmacist of note cannot be faulted as all notable positions held are straight jacketed within the narrowness of a Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical Association responsibilities. An appointment in the health sector either as a commissioner for health or in NAFDAC will have been a more appropriate pursuit for Jimi Agbaje.

    Talking about how crucial, time is, in Lagos evolution, Ambode had been part of the steady and critical evolution of Lagos State for the past 27 years as a policy maker and stakeholder until his retirement. And even after his retirement, his current consultancy service to Federal, State and Local governments on challenges in the world economy and best financial practices puts him shoulder high and makes him more current with global and economic trends today than Agbaje.

    At this point in time, Lagos State needs concentration and consolidation in its pursuit of global megacity status, increased profile in good governance, improved service delivery and financial prosperity which of course requires a genius who can deepen and widen the resource base for the greater benefits of Lagosians. Ambode knows where Lagos is coming from, where it is today and where it is going to and how to get there. Right from day one, Ambode will hit the ground running whereas this cannot honestly be said about Agbaje.

    Can we compare Ambode with Agbaje who has difficulty in understanding what to do with Lagos economy unless Goodluck Jonathan wins?. I felt sorry for Agbaje the other time when he was quoted as saying  that Nigerian economy by extension the Nigerian nation will collapse if Jonathan does not return; and again when he said that he was going to dot Lagos landscape with Internet hotspots in an economy in which energy is comatose. One wonders if these are his bold ideas. Truth is Agbaje still needs to learn the ropes when it comes to public and corporate governance. He lacks the requisite experience to govern Lagos state for now. Whereas Ambode is well equipped having served under the progressive leadership of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and of course, the diligent actualiser, Babatunde Raji Fashola(SAN).

    But beyond the CVs of the duo of Ambode and Agbaje are other issues of antecedents, personal pedigree, political platform on which both are seeking the votes of Lagosians. Agbaje has the burden of a failed PDP hanging on its neck while Ambode carries the grace of APC, a party that is associated with progressive and sterling performances. Beyond the CVs also are the issues of personal accomplishments, serious-mindedness, sense of purpose and of course,  the understanding of the job at hand and capacity to do it.

    With due respect, Ambode has symbolizes the portrait of an all round personality required to govern a state like Lagos. This is carefully demonstrated in the scope and content of his campaign which dwell on policy issues, functional areas of development, empowerment of youths, business promotion and security, environment, promotion of  formal and informal sectors,  and of course, women development, among others.

    Serious understanding of issues and purposeful intentions are obviously missing in Agbaje’s campaign. Despite the big ideas concept being flaunted, all you hear is –JK is Okay, JK you Know JK you Trust. JK that is known and trusted for what? His pharmaceutical exploits? His jumping from one party to the other? His non-existent big ideas? Is it the establishment of Internet Hotpots all over Lagos or the promise of True Lagos or Lagos for all? What campaign promises are these? Is the current Lagos not for all? This campaign is clearly bereft of ideas and lacks any cognitive input.

    To answer Ayobolu’s question pointedly, one thinks Lagosians, Lagos Economy and its Mega City ascendancy  will be safer and more secure with Ambode than Jimi Agbaje. Ambode has the requisite experience, the professional and intellectual capacities, the right political and technocratic platforms, over the years, at both the local and state levels. He had been involved in policy formulation and execution to the glory of God and in service to humanity.

    The difference between Ambode and Agbaje is very clear like 7-Up. Lagosians will surely be safer and more secure in the hands of Ambode as the new Lagos State Governor come May 29,2015.

    • Akin Bashiru is a Public Affairs and Corporate Governance.

  • Of farming and absurd politics

    This is certainly an era of absurdities and pettiness in the evolutionary transmutation of Nigerian politics. It is a season of desperation. Fair is foul and foul is fair; everything goes. Cudgels, nails and sundry impediments are being hurled at the wheel all in a desperate effort to score cheap political points. Distortions, contraptions and lies have become the norm especially in a raging media altercation. Like bull in a Chinese shop, crafty media propagandists and other hirelings have been let loose using sweet phraseologies and idiomatic to befuddle the gullible public.

    In the macabre display, one of the biggest victims is the incumbent commander-in-chief and some of his frontline lieutenants. It is within this atmosphere that the recent missile hauled at President Goodluck Jonathan and the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed by eminent columnist, Sam Omatseye in The Nation newspaper edition of Monday March 2, 2015 could be contextualized.  Nothing can be more diversionary than the unnecessary argument about the propriety or otherwise of a public officer engaging in farming. It is a needless infantile exercise because the constitution is very explicit about it.

    The Fifth Schedule Part 1 Code of Conduct for Public Officers under the 1999 Constitution puts the matter beyond doubt. While Section 1 states that: “A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities,” Section 2 put the provision in proper perspective by stating that: “Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph….nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming”.

    This provision clearly shows that it is firmly within the ambit of the law for public officers including the President to engage in farming. The 1999 Constitution, as amended, does not prohibit any Nigerian, including sitting public office holders, from acquiring landed property.

    Now, let me evaluate other postulations made by Omatseye in his opinion article. First, his conclusion that the land allocated to Ebele Farms Limited is meant for aviation purposes is both simplistic fallacious. Again, the ephemeral assertion by Omatseye that because the area is called aviation village all the land there had been set aside for aviation purposes is laughable. No, the cognomen is merely for descriptive reasons and does not connote ownership.

    Also, the attempt to paint the farm as bogus is surprising. In modern farming one person can farm in a piece of land as expansive as hundreds of hectares. Omatseye was apparently having a nostalgia of peasant farming in his community where each peasant uses primitive tools to farm in a couple of hectares.

    It is a statement of fact that one of the banes of the Nigerian experience is the tendency of many practitioners to take politics or governance as a full time career or a sole means of livelihood. Those who totally depend on politics for survival often end as liabilities rather than assets especially upon the end of their tenure, appointment or retirement from civil or public office. Thus the involvement of more public officers, including high profile leaders in farming will go a long way towards making them self-reliant and economically independent.

    The involvement of more people in meaningful farming activities therefore, remains a healthy development which will help to boost the Nigerian economy and contribute to the nation’s GDP and food sufficiency.

    As a zoologist, what is wrong if the President opts to deploy his immense knowledge in mechanized farming? Rather than vilify the President, he should be commended for boldly and sincerely taking step to contribute his quota towards our food security. Those who have been laboring through the media to incite the public against the President for doing what is simply and squarely lawful have not found any constitutional enactment that negates the explicit provision of Section 2, Fifth Schedule of the Code of Conduct for public officers in the 1999 constitution which states that “nothing in this sub-paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming.”

    Again, we have witnessed several instances where leaders establish farmlands and other businesses in other countries such as Ghana, South Africa and East Africa. Some leaders also illegally stashed money in foreign banks while other buy choice houses in London, New York and other mega cities of the world while Nigeria continued to import basic need like rice, fish and meat.

    Do they want him to become a liability to the nation upon leaving office as President harassing his successor for handouts? Is it not a healthy development that rather than go to sleep after serving he would retire to mechanized farming? The advantages are numerous. Apart from contributing handsomely towards Nigeria’s food sufficiency, certainly offer gainful employments to hundreds our teeming youths and women.

    With the steady decline of oil as our main source of revenue earning, we need to diversify urgently and agriculture is one sector that can provide the urgently needed rescue. Moreover, increased participation of more influential public officers and other Nigerians in farming will help to create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths.

    Lastly, it is untrue to claim that the Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed allocated farmland to himself. That is not to say that he has no constitutional right to farm or own a farmland. The truth is that he is not a shareholder in Bird Trust Agro Allied Ltd as claimed by The Nations. It is therefore blatantly incorrect to accuse of abusing his office and violating the 1999 constitution.  This is not to say that he has no constitutional right to engage in farming if he so wishes.

    It is certainly not corruption for a public officer to engage in farming as stipulated in the Nigerian Constitution of 1999. We need more farmers if we must succeed in making Nigeria self-reliant in food production. No amount of twisting of facts cajolery, incitement or intimidation will force the Administration to abdicate its responsibilities. Thousands of Nigerians hold land titles for farming purposes in the FCT. With its 8,000 square kilometer size, FCT is larger than some states in terms of land mass. It is more than enough of the needless attempt to politicize farming by a section of the media and its patrons. It has become very obvious that most Nigerians are uninterested in such distractive debates.

     

    • Mr. Achiniru, a public affairs analysts wrote from Durumi, AMAC, Abuja.

  • Reflections on Bishop without a cathedral

    Power comes from God, and it is the prerogative of God as the founder of this universe to bestow power on whom it pleases Him. In his concise letter to the Romans, Apostle Paul made it clear that before a God, the race is not about he that runneth or willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. You may dare to call Him a partial God but in His wisdom, he had warned that he will only show mercy to whom he will show mercy and will curse whom he will curse.

    In the race for the governorship seat of Abia state, there are two major contenders although some sections of the media, to entertain their audience, increased the number as it suits them. The race in reality is between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, while on ballot, there will be other candidates who space will not allow me mention today. But I intend to do so after the election.

    While the PDP after its primaries produced as its standard bearer Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu popularly known as Okezuo Abia (equity), APGA and its followers are still torn in litigations over who the party candidate is between one Alex Otti who is currently holding the ticket and another claimant Reagan Ufomba who is laying claim to the same ticket. As things stand today, Okezie Ikpeazu remains the man to beat as well as toast of many. Given the manner the news of his entrance and subsequent emergence spread like wild bush fire, many were forced to ask the pertinent question, who is Okezie Ikpeazu? Born Of strong religious parentage in Obingwa Local Government Area of present-day Abia State Okezie Ikpeazu is a living of example of whom God has blessed, no man can curse. Venturing into the uncertain world of politics with a doctorate degree acquired at a relatively young age, and in an era when societal values sieved diligence, hard-work and determination out of norm, thus leaving much to be desired in the polity, those who have known him will attest to one fact, and that is his impeccable dose of humility in spite of his educational attainment.

    A close observation reveals that he is a man not moved by his rare achievements in the academic world. He was always driven by the urge to serve. And curiously, he has only remained within verandahs of power even though he was eminently qualified to at least be within the living room. Unlike most politicians who always feel that lucrative portfolios are the measurement of ones political clout and rating, Ikpeazu would rather grab at the difficult task and walk on tough terrains where total commitment and even personal sacrifice were put to remain afloat and achieve desired results thus always standing him out.

    This was why he was able to make his mark as the General Manager of the State Integrated Passenger Manifest Scheme which ensured that Commuters and passengers who travel with the State-owned transport company were insured against any eventuality. After his stint at ASPIMS, Ikpeazu’s next port of call was the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency ASEPA where he had the tough challenge of maintaining the environmental orderliness in Aba the commercial hub of the state. While Ikpeazu stood under the sun to ensure a healthy environment and by implication a beter life for the masses, Otti coiled in the cocoon of his luxury vocation. A lifestyle he will always be used to. I cannot hide my amusement when people try to draw a comparison between Ikpeazu and Otti in terms of attracting electoral fortunes. What are the basis is what I always ask?

    Any attempt to compare Ikpeazu with his main challenger will reveal a movement on two parallel platform. It goes to show and clearly too that this man who has always been with the people will naturally carry the day. That was why it was easy to tell people who Ikpeazu is. It is rather unfortunate that in Abia today, the only profile of Alex Otti known to the common man is that he is a rich man. That further takes us to another dimension of critical analysis of his personal affluence and quite expectedly, the question that flows will be who are the benefIciaries of Otti large treasury before now?

    After building his palatial home while serving as Executive Director of First Bank, Mazi Otti in show of his affluence and proof of outright disconnect from his people build a helipad for his helicopter which takes him home from the airport. When the allure of political enterprise got a better part of him, what did he do? He quickly ran to Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa South also not found within the favored senatorial zone for the 2015 governorship race and within a short time allegedly erected another massive edifice in an alleged bid to attempt buying a birth right and ancestry of the Ngwa land. At an informal gathering recently, a renowned builder who happened to come from same local government as Otti put the entire worth of both houses at nothing less than three billion naira. This is what one man has spent for his personal luxury in the midst of poverty in the land.

    Today, one prominent feature of his campaign is financial profile and pecuniary inducement. He is ready to spend more, yet he never graded even the road to his house. No single person enjoyed the scholarship of our friend. But one thing that has eluded their permutation is their infantile or pedestrian knowledge of Abia political terrain. Abians are no fools. Their eyes are wide open and their political heritage or patrimony is of much value to them than anything else. They don’t want an arrogant leader who will feel he did them a favour by being their governor. They don’t wish for a visiting governor who will be chasing his vast business interests at the expense of the state and good governance.

    This is why it has been difficult for the people to accept Otti. Whereas  Ikpeazu is enjoying a cult- hero followership. They know who has been with them. They know who will occupy the government house and the gates will be open to all and his ears will pay attention to their needs. They know who will look them in their faces and guess that things be not be well and ask what the problem is. That is the Ikpeazu edge and no matter what any person say, his acceptance will reflect into victory at the polls.

    Rather than accept the fact, Otti and his political captors are masturbating in blame game. Again, there is a saying in Igbo parlance that onye nwere mmadu ka onye nwere ego and his Aro kinsmen concluded it with this wise saying “okpogho iche, mmadu iche; mkpuola iche, nwa Aro iche”, meaning that the real value is in the people not your wealth. It is then an instructive fact and mortal lesson to others, and obviously not a surprise that despite his financial war chest he has remained a pitiable lone ranger akin to a bishop without any cathedral daily spending to attract followers.

     

    • Emereuwa writes from Umuahia.

  • COMMENTS

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    The sane among us believe Buhari, but the others (Fayoses,  Mimikos, Oritsejafors), the chameleons (Odumakins, Adams, Fasheuns, Fani-Kayodes) and other hordes of harlots do not. Their place in jail (after the elections) are well kept. This is a Silent Revolution, which time cannot stop.  From Wole St.Jones,  Lagos

    ’All things considered’ highlight some fundamental truth about the Peoples’ general: his incorruptibility, audacity, and discipline – attributes in gross shortage in the current political landscape. Without doubt, he is more suitable and prepared than Jonathan for Nigeria’s top job! Anonymous

    Consistent with the Solomonic admonition of the Late Chief P.A. Gbinije that “A wise man should know when to quit. Otherwise, he might overstay his time and welcome”, I call on the best football Coach Nigeria ever produced to reject the job as Nigeria’s Super Eagles Coach. Nigeria’s football fans and our politicians are bad losers. Hence, we have had the largest change of coaches in the world, since 1960.Go Keshi Go! Our inability to qualify for AFCON generated insulting brouhaha, as if you have not won it before. Keshi, go my brother, a prophet is not respected in his own clime. Go, Keshi, go!, You will do better. From Chief Bobson Gbinije,Warri.        

    Re: All things considered, for Nigeria to   claim her rightful place in Africa and the world at large, we need a strong willed leader and, indeed, Super Rawling. What is the essence of a Ph.d qualification without integrity, honesty, lawless, corrupt, thuggery, insensitive to public demand, unfulfilled promises, blackout etc. Planned rigging by using the military/security agencies. All these are maladies to be eliminated. The funny aspect is the unreasonable act of the so called bread/butter Yoruba elders in supporting the corrupt administration. People are after money than freedom. We need change. From Past Odunmbaku.

    Prof. Segun I read your comment with great interest. Gen. Buhari is the right person we need to change nigeria for good. It is unfortunate that the matter has gone from democracy to a spiritual case. The pdp government, if not change soonest, will destroy the country. They are afraid of General Muhhammadu Buhari. pdp is full of corrupt elite. From mike, calabar.

    Nigeria is now in a democracy. Buhari’s past record was possible with military command. He cannot do it alone now. All those around him will influence him positively. Anonymous

    More ink to your pen today’s all things considered. Please keep it coming, sir. Anonymous

    May God of truth never depart from your house hold, Amen. Anonymous

    If Fayose has anything to do he should started thinking about the progress, of Ekiti State now and leave General Buhari issue. Anonymous.

    I truly accept the conversion of General Buhari as a true democrat. He was 41years when he became military leader; earlier, he had headed the petroleum ministry, had garnered democratic values in the last 31 years. He is a disciplined leader. He is much more needed than Jonathan. From Adeniran Abdul

    I think we still have to be grateful to Jonathan for reining in the Boko Haram boys within such a short time; after all, though he still owes Nigerians some explanations as to why he had allowed the insurgency drag for so many years, whereas he had all it required to end it all in just less than six weeks. Now rather than spoil for legal action against Patience Jonathan over her inappropriate remarks on the septuagenarians, don’t you think it will serve more useful purpose to write on how many a great leaders of that age the world over, have in several cases contributed more meaningfully to the growth of their various nations and the well-being of the people than the younger ones ever did? That I think would make the First Lady and her likes correct themselves faster and better. On the part of Jega, let him be allowed to conduct the election, and, of course, a neutral umpire, he must be. From Emmanuel Egwu.

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

     A leader seen in public shaking hands with an irresponsibly half-dressed youth is not fit to lead decent people and society. From Mat, Kogi State.

    Now they have a clue; their waking up from the slumber is belated, the 60years they dream to rule is a fallacy. Nigerians are wiser now. On March 28, they will really know their level. From Filiya, KainJi dam

    We must get it right on March 28 before the resource of this nation would dry up in some people pockets, since corruption is not crime, but ‘achievement’   .Nigerians are watching while the international community are laughing at us over corruption in governance. From G.C. Nnorom.

    Your treatise on Clueless Politic and Campaign is apt. One would wish that our educated and elite group could understand that the ruling party has exhausted its strength on all fronts and has nothing more to offer this nation. One, also, has been expecting that one of the tabloids could do a chronicle of all the embezzlement that have taken place in this country since 1999, and their position. Political debates are good, but meaningless propaganda on age does not give any clue on how proper the economy can be managed. From Mazi OAU, Owerri.

     

    For Prof. Olatunji Dare

     It is too late to cry when the head is off, the game is up and no two ways about it. Change is in the air, we are expectant come March 28. From G.C.Nnorom

    What other options does Fayose have than continue attacking Buhari and in his wildest berserk dreams continue to pray for the gentleman’s death? Even an idiot knows Buhari is the next president of Nigeria, and Fayose will never want to rot in Kirikiri. From N.Lawal I.B.

    Tell the President’s wife, Dame Patience Jonathan that at 70 plus, l am brain active, sexually active and if l am the President l will have prosecuted Boko Haram war since and as Permanent Secretary, Bayelsa State l will ask God oo to help bring back Chibok girls. From Nma Kadiri

    We are certainly at the brink of a new dawn. Dr. Jonathan’s antics were intended to win votes and be portrayed as an action president, but he only confirmed that he was clueless for three years. Kudos. Anonymous

    Sir, don’t let the Dame Patience fool you.  The fear of a 72-year-old instigated Jonathan’s PDP to shift the February General election.  Besides, what has age got to do with good governance? Jonathan is 15 years younger than General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB), had been in power for six but isn’t up to date with such basic things as payment of salaries.  As I compose this text, all PDP states are in five months arrears of salaries. Anonymous

    You cannot swim with a drowning person, if not, you might get drowned. You allow the person get drowned before you can go for a rescue. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) has drowned and sunk with the ship of the Nigeria  nation; that is why GMB is coming to rescue  Nigeria from further sinking with  Dr Jonathan in charge. Therefore, GEJ should save his face and leave the stage while the ovation is loudest. The Nigerian stream is polluted because the spring is polluted. From Evangelist .S.O. Makurdi

    After all, we have advantage that desperation has exposed their lack of rigorous thinking, sordid stealing, corruption and impunity. Indeed, they are intellectually indolent, despite their degrees. They awkwardly present their policies which are ludicrous by reason of their grim impotence expressed lack of coordination, organisation in governance even with their PhDs. Anonymous

    It is our fervent and declared belief that God will erase the psychological and physical effect of these tragedies, these past six years or so as quickly as human ingenuity can contrive: to repair the damage, to retrieve lost ground and to promote concord and unity in place of bitterness and enmity. Anonymous

    Uncle Tunji, thanks for your article on maters miscellaneous in which you blamed our President Jonathan. Please cast your mind back that Mr President used alternative dispute resolution (adr). From barrister chris uba, Jos.

    Concerning ‘Matters Miscellanous’, the bit about Jonathan bearing moral responsibility for Boko Haram carnage is of special significance to me as a believer in the Islamic traditions, because God makes it clear to believers that every ruler would, indeed, be held responsible and made to account for the safety and welfare of his subjects. If those Muslims around Jonathan had been sincere and told him this truth, would have given a damn about solving Boko Haram earlier and given good governance to longsuffering Nigerians. From Jaybee, ayobo,lagos

    Matters miscellaneous: To me it seems that to win the election there must be human blood sacrifice just before the election and also holy (paid) prayer that is the stage that we are in now! May God save Nigeria from do-or-die powers Amen. Anonymous

    Your article titled: Matters Miscellaneous is, indeed, a masterpiece. It epitomises the sway of mediocrity we are in. God shall rescue the nation from her political miasma soon. From  V. Castro

    Much has been said about plans to remove Prof. Attahiru Jega from office. Save for applying accustomed impunity, the powers that be know that there is no legal way they can accomplish that plan. Their real plan, and our real fear, is to blackmail Jega to resign. Let us pray that he does not yield. Anonymous

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Tunji, your satirical missive on our ‘Born-again’ President Jonathan’ was a masterpiece. There is a popular Yoruba axiom a ti ka ogbigbo mo ori igi, aamo ibi eye ti a fo which literally means that ‘the predator has been squarely rounded up and it has no hiding place’. Let’s call a spade a spade and not an agricultural implement, President Jonathan has misused the ample opportunity given him by Nigerians. Instigating millions of jingles, alongside frivolous crisscrossing of the country has no meaning by now. The die is cast already. Let me tell you, erecting millions of billboards and stage-managing of clan representatives to endorse a leprous government will not change the minds of the masses who have made up their minds for a change, come March 28. Chikena! From Ch. Ayena Oniayiye, Ijabo Street, Igbemo-Ekiti.

    Wise men speak because they have something to say but those who lack wisdom and direction would speak because they have to say something. The president should not be taken seriously about his sudden decision because I see it as a show of shame. A leader who has the interest of his people at heart will not abandon his responsibility for donkey years only to start jumping from pillar to post so as to make people believe that he is working. The president is like a headless snake moving helplessly for people’s reaction. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    He said he is not a General, Pharaoh, etc. but he was in Field Marshal uniform when he visited Chibok of recent! Fani-Kayode said on TV that the Chibok girls have been sold to rich Saudis as wives and others  abused, yet, President Jonathan said he would bring them all back!. Shekau had been killed several times by our army, yet, the Cameroonians know where he is currently holed up. Are we serious? Please, get some of these contradictions and advertise or use them. The Yoruba say when an elephant dies, we see different shades and sizes of knives, even cutlasses. Next stop, the mosque? The picture of your paper of March 8 throws up different (Obas’) staff of office, including the red, usually associated with danger! Anonymous.

    Three weeks to elections, our ‘born-again’ president’s efforts is a campaign against himself and his party. Nigerians are now wiser than he thought. We pray for more postponements and for more goodies that he deprived Nigerians in six years. But he should not forget that whichever day, month or year the elections are held, his report card awaits him. From Oche Oche, Benue State.

    Why all these rushing here and there for those rejected people? Is it because election is at hand? It is performance that would speak, if any. It is not a matter of visiting crowded churches and traditional rulers for votes; it is voters that would decide come March 28. Nigerians want change because propaganda of all is well whereas Nigerians are suffering in their land blessed with resources is not good for us. We wouldn’t allow it to continue in the next four years; we must get it right for a better Nigeria against the backdrop of insecurity and corruption that have taken the centre stage of governance. From G.C. Nnorom.

    Mr. Adegboyega, you forgot to mention the most important evidence that our president is (?). Last week, he went round Yoruba Obas to beg them for not making their daughter Speaker the last time. He, however promised them that not only would they get Speaker; they would get more plum jobs in government. Old things are passed away, joo. From Ayoola, D.

    Who told you that Chad is the one fighting Boko Haram and not Nigeria? Anonymous.

    Please leave omo Ibadan, Rasaki alone o. But on a serious note, it is only God that can save us from this president o. Anonymous

    Your write-up this time had a little soft spot for Mr. President even though you wrote sarcastically! However, truth was told by you but Nigeria’s challenges that were/are massive also require drastic leader (s). Then, one could later go ‘moderate’ when we are at the ‘Progress curve’. Depending on where the  pendulum swings between March 28 and 31,  when the result of the presidential election would have been declared, no Nigerian will ever govern with ‘kid gloves’ even when we reach the ‘Progress curve’. From Lanre Oseni.

    Thank you for your comment on ‘Born-again President Jonathan’. The president knows that Nigerians are aware of his three weeks to election strategies, which are vain efforts as they cannot translate to his victory. What his efforts are focusing at now is to create chances of blame for his possible successor. Anonymous.

  • PDP’s infamy, admission of failure

    In its desperation to hold on to power at all cost, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has suddenly thrown all caution to the wind. All of a sudden, decorum no longer means anything to the party and its leaders. An inordinate obsession for power has abruptly turned a ruling party into a shameless propaganda machine that is churning out series of lies in inconceivable fashion every minute. Lubricating the propaganda engine of the party is no other than a queer personality who, in saner climes, should be behind the bars over graft matters.  That the PDP could even make such a dubious character the rallying point of its presidential campaign propaganda mechanism speaks volume of the party’s make up. Without a doubt, the PDP is on the verge of self-destruct and the colossal fall of the phony “biggest political party in Africa” is imminent.

    It is rather strange how a ruling party, that is supposed to have the edge in a political contest if it had performed well in terms of delivery of visible dividends of democracy for the citizenry, has chosen, rather barefacedly, to resort to propaganda. A ruling party in a normal setting will go into election on the strength of its kept promises, showcasing its people-oriented programmes and meeting the visible testimonies from the people whose lives have been touched and their welfare needs met by the government. Unfortunately, this is not so with the clueless government of Goodluck Jonathan as it cannot point to anything as achievement since 2011 other than a dismally performing economy, a naira that is almost becoming worthless, the over 13,000 innocent lives lost to Boko Haram, a criminally high level impunity, hi-tech corruption and kleptomania of a high degree as well as kidnapping that has reached an inexplicable degree. Ironically, this is the same party that was initially talking about issue-based political campaigns.

    Unfortunately, for the PDP, lies and distortions is a lifeline for a brazen party that wants to cling on to power by all means. So, while the electorates were expecting to hear from the PDP what it has done to improve the economy, stabilise power, create jobs, stem corruption, advance education, upgrade infrastructure and beef up security, the party has chosen to play to the gallery by celebrating frivolities. It has resorted to character assassination and mudslinging as high point of its campaign strategy. Thus, if it is not about Buhari’s age today, it is either about his health, certificate, complexion, height, wife or his children the next day. The demonization of Buhari and other APC leaders have so much become the sole campaign manifesto and agenda of the PDP that the people are already getting tired of it.

    While flagging off his re-election bid campaign at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, President Jonathan took the demonization of Buhari to a ridiculous  height when he claimed that his administration could not win the war against Boko Haram because General Buhari did not buy ammunitions for the military while the latter was in power way back 1985. Unknown to the President and his gang of hypocrites, they were merely making a mockery of themselves because what readily came to the minds of men with lucid thoughts is why the President should think of winning  a 2015 combat with the weapons bought in 1985! This asymmetrical line of reasoning from the President clearly explains why the nation has been heading in the wrong direction since he came into office. It speaks so much of the sterility of the minds that have unfortunately been saddled with the highly demanding and daunting task of providing seasoned and reasoned leadership for the country.

    Naively, the more the PDP attempts to batter and disparage the All Peoples’ Congress, APC, the more it exposes itself to sickening public ridicule. For instance, as the party appears to have given up on Buhari and devised another cruel campaign against the person of Professsor Yemi Osinbajo, his running mate, who Femi Fani- Kayode, the basket mouth of the party who, strangely alleged to have swore to an oath with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign from office after six months, it got condemnation from the people who could not imagine how it suits Femi Fani-Kayode to thrive on ignoble ways. The desperate PDP has left that now to concentrated much energy on frontal attack on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who it  now disparages in a documentary which PDP’s television station, AIT broadcast last week to portray the APC national leader in bad light.  Unfortunately, this callous attempt has not, in any way, affected the profile of Asiwaju who is leading Nigerians to have the desired change and give the country the long awaited freedom this month.

    As at now, many parts of the country have started experiencing fuel scarcity. As if it is not disgusting enough that an oil producing nation of Nigeria’s profile is importing petroleum products into the country at huge cost, the clueless PDP- led government, in its characteristic lame duck style of buck passing, said, through Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the national chairman of PDP, that it is the opposition that is responsible for the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country.

    The joke around town now is that if it doesn’t rain for some time in the country, the opposition must be the ones behind it. Regrettably for Muazu and his apparently senile co-travelers, however, the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has come out to tell Nigerians that the devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) is the real reason for the current fuel crisis. Certainly, the PDP is an assembly of confused and illogical minds who are toying with the destiny of our great country and who must be voted out so the country can progress.

    Hypocrisy and double-speak have become the hallmark of the PDP. It is the worst case of double standard for the PDP to question the basis for General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House, London, when the same platform was used a few weeks back by the administration, when the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, first gave a hint of the postponement of the general elections. For the hypocritical PDP, it is alright for Dasuki to be at the Chatham House, a globally respected platform where statesmen speak on vital national and international issues, but it suddenly becomes an improper platform because Buhari is involved. The pointless eruption of the PDP and its propaganda machine against Buhari’s outing in London is exactly the kind of reaction that has turned the party and its leaders into a bunch of clowns across the world.

    The truth of the matter is that Nigerians are not in any way swayed by the PDP’s tissue of lies and propaganda against Buhari and the APC. They are quite aware that it is the trademark of the failed and unaccepted PDP led government. Nigerians recognize that the PDP’S resort to bankrolling clearly defective propaganda against leaders of the APC is an indirect way of admitting that it has failed the country, but are concerned about the desperation that the PDP and the Lords in Abuja are putting into this election. The way they have been going about to put everything on the way of a free, fair and credible election clearly shows that they do not want Nigeria to continue to be when they are voted out. When a ruling party relies a great deal on propaganda as a major campaign selling point, one does not need to go to a great length before submitting that such a party has nothing to offer the people.

    The fact that the PDP–led government has been wasting public funds in broadcasting damaging information about the APC and its leaders as well as the recent hiring of people to protest during General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House in London are indications of how the country’s hard earned resources is being squandered by the dense and inept Jonathan administration.  As it is now, the die is cast and there is no hiding place for these enemies of the people who want to perpetuate kleptomania,

    mediocrity, brigandage and lack of focus,  as imminent trouncing awaits them at the polls. You can postpone an election as much as you want but you cannot destroy the resolve of the people yearning for change.

    • Ibirogba is Honourable Commisioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State