The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • Motion without movement

    Nigerians are busy from dawn to dusk.  Everywhere you turn, from the remotest hamlets to the mega-cities of state capitals.   From the farmers, shoe-shine boys, traders, and civil servants in the various ministries and government offices to the politicians presiding over the entire machinery of the state, there are endless activities.   Everyone is embroiled in the frenzy of back and forth movements to eke out a living.   With the relentless burst of energy, one is surprised that we still have citizens who cannot afford to put food on their tables.   To the ordinary Nigerian, life is a struggle from cradle to the grave, and nobody can support the other because of grinding poverty. The family unit which is the only social support system is collapsing as you see senior citizens and elderly people abandoned to beg for alms on the streets and traffic just to stay alive.

    Nigeria has become a painful reminder of the heinous apartheid regime in South Africa; black- on -black exploitation and violence.   Our leaders are ever busy round the clock.   Our institutions are like wind mills continuously running with officials going from one board meeting to the other but there is hardly any evidence on the ground that translates to improvement in the life of the ordinary man on the street.   Nigeria has become like a country on a barber’s chair; rocking and swinging; all motion, but no movement.   We preach change, but the more things appear to change, the more they remain the same.   All the orchestrated transformations are a mirage as they are found only on pages of newspapers and tabloids and footages on the tube.

    Nigerians had high hopes at independence of a great future.   Our currency was at par with the United States Dollars in the 1970s.   There was some enthusiasm among the regional leaders in a healthy rivalry across the geopolitical zones to develop infrastructures and grow the economy in the areas they were best gifted with comparative advantage.    Institutions like the Nigerian Army and indeed the Armed Forces were pan-Nigerian in outlook, character, content, and highly patriotic.

    Since independence, the politicians have remained the same: greedy, exploitative, wasteful, and divisive.   They engaged in obscene acquisition and display of wealth.  The politicians of today have carried it into a new height with Nollywood gusto.   Exotic cars are not enough anymore so, they now buy private jets and engage in the past time of driving (piloting/flying) the jets at the expense of their duties.   The patriotism of the political class is only in language at public gathering but not at heart.   The credentials of the ruling class are their tribe and religion, which they promote above other considerations.

    Today, Nigeria remains more divided than we were in 1960 and through the period of the civil war.   Our leaders parrot patriotism and decree that Nigeria will not breakup while they instigate hatred and acrimonious relationship to serve their political survival.

    In the early 1960s and 1980s, they were some religious extremists like the Maitatsine Sect.  It did not take too much of the combined efforts of the Nigeria Police and the armed forces to crush them.   It took the patriotism of the Armed Forces to see us through the Nigerian civil war, which ended with the patriotic declaration of no-victor, no-vanquished.   When Chadian soldiers made adventurous incursion into our territory in the 1980s and killed five of our soldiers, it took only the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division to muster his troops give the Chadians a bloody nose and they retreated with their tails between their thighs.

    Today, when nations are gaining territories, we negotiated and ceded our own territory of Bakassi with its people to Cameroon.   Today, after six months of the abduction and kidnapping of over 200 Chibok school girls, the only thing we hear from the government and the military high command is that, “we know where the girls are.”   Wait a minute!  Remember the Beslan School tragedy in Chechnya, when some extremists and terrorists invaded and held the children as hostages?   It took Russian troops only hours to storm the place and crush the terrorists.     It was bloody, there were collateral damages but the Russian Federation and parents were spared the agony of suspense, expectations, and hope.   The lunatic terrorists were taught a bitter lesson not to trifle with a vigilant prepared nation.

    Today, we are faced with an insurgency from some depraved extremists called Boko Haram, and for over five years, the armed forces are dithering and not able to rein them in.   They are growing by the day, gaining grounds and territories, and hoisting their flags.   Sadly, we are finding all manners of excuses that obviously are balderdash and do not hold water.   We complained that the insurgents are using superior weapon system than the Nigerian Armed Forces.   The survival of Nigeria as a corporate entity depends so much on the type of armed forces and political leadership that we have.   Let us stop to live in denials; the Nigerian Armed Forces of today, is polarized, politicized and fractious just as the politicians.    The grumbling and mutinous behaviour of officers and men in the military even in a theatre of operation should not come as a surprise to anyone who understands the dynamics of soldiering.

    I hold strongly to the view that equipment and materiel not driven by patriotic discipline and well trained personnel would not translate to victory in any theatre of operation and cannot hold the nation together.   What the Armed Forces just like other institutions are doing is simply offering employment to jobless youths.   The result is what is playing out everywhere you see troops deployment whether it is at the roadblocks and Internal Security Operations, fighting the insurgency or any other engagement.  While nations are coming together, internal forces are pulling and tearing us apart and destroying our institutions in spite of billboard sloganeering by parasitic and amorphous organizations.

    Before our very eyes, different ethnic nationalities are forming armed militant groups in most cases better equipped that our own national police and the armed forces.   This certainly portends ill omen for the survival of our corporate entity as the country is awash with small arms and light weapons of different calibres.   How did the weapons come into the country and in the hands of unauthorized people and groups?   We have the ubiquitous Police, Customs and Immigration and yet these weapons come into the country unnoticed.   We have the publicity seeking Directorate of State Services who can sniff out moneys hidden in the boot of vehicles during elections and yet do not have an idea of weapons in wrong hands.   The Nigerian leaders are playing the ostrich while the nation sits nervously on a keg of gun powder.

    Like buccaneers and ravaging army of locusts, our leaders visit endless hardship on the citizens and make the people subsidize for corrupt and inept government officials.   Look at the buffoonery of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigerian (TAN) across country.   Look at the histrionics of the PDP governors’ and National Executive Committee of the party’s endorsement and adoption of one candidate for the party in their forthcoming National Convention.  Why did they bother to organize a jamboree called National Convention to waste resources when a candidate has emerged?    We dissipate energy on unproductive jamborees and console ourselves that we are working and the nation is working.  We put out frightening figures of growth in our gross domestic products.     With all the statistics of growth and improvement reeled out by the government, we have remained on the same spot.   This is the time for us to take a good hard look at our country, remove the veil of deceit, and tell ourselves the truth.   No doubt, we would be better and stronger together with our different tribes and tongues just like a rainbow and a coat of many colours.

    We need a new consciousness, the consciousness of thinking Nigeria first.   Yes, it is possible.   We should make conscious effort to move our country forward.   We should not pretend to work; we should work to add value to the quality of life of the ordinary Nigerian.   We should build our infrastructures and fight corruption with benevolence of spirit and good conscience for the future of this country.   Our tribes are not our problems.   It is not our religion neither is it our tongues.   Our problem is our divisive and self-serving leaders.  We are tired of this circuit show of motion without movement; it is time to translate our potentials to reality.

     

    • Kebonkwu writes from Abuja

  • Gradual killing of the system

    Since the civilians took over government in 1999, we have had eight Inspector Generals of Police till date. They are- Musiliu Smith (1999-2002), Mustapha Adebayo Balogun March 2002- January 2005, Sunday Ehindero 2005-2007, Mike Mbama Okiro 2007-2009, Ogbonna Okechukwu Onovo 2009-2010, Hafiz Ringim January 2010- 2012, Muhammed D. Abubakar2012-2014 and Suleiman Abba 2014- till date. A keen observer will note that in some cases, some Inspector Generals of Police, even introduced new uniforms during their tenure.

    From 1999 till now, we have had seven Chiefs of the Air Staff. They are Air Marshall Isaac Alfa (1999-2001), Air Marshall Jonah Wuyep (2001-2006), Air Marshall Paul Dike 2006-2008, Air Marshall Michael Oluseyi Petinrin (2008-2010), Air Marshall Mohammed Diko Umar (2010-2012), Air Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh(2012-2014) and Air Marshall Adesola Nunayon Amosu from January 2014 till date.

    From 1999, we have had nine Heads of Service of the Federation. The post is a creation of the constitution. They are Abu Obe1999-2000, Mahmmud Yayale Ahmed 2000-2007, Ms Obele Okeke 2007-2008, Ms Ammal Pepple June 16 – June 15 2009, Steve Oronsanye June 16 2009 – November 15 2010, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi November 16 2010 – September 2011, Alhaji Isa Bello Sali September 30 2011 to March 2013, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji March 25 2013 to August 2014 and Mallam Danladi Kifasi August 19 2014 till date.

    All things being equal, Alhaji Kifasi will retire in December next year when he clocks 60. He has served as a member of the governing board of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    I am told that Alhaji Kifasi is highly imaginative and hardworking. Poor soul. According to the pioneer Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms established in February 2004, Goke Adegoroye who retired as permanent secretary of FCT two years ago, there are over 150,000 federal civil servants (mainstream) as at now.

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was established on April 1, 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel.

    From 1999 to date we have had eight Group Managing Directors for the corporation. From March 17, 2010 when he became acting President till he was finally sworn in as President, on May 6, 2010 following the death of his predecessor, five Group Managing Directors of the NNPC have served under the current President. Likewise the present Minister of Petroleum Resources has appointed four group Managing Directors for NNPC since she came to the Ministry on April 16 2010. They are Dr. Jackson Gaius Obaseki May 1999- November 2003,Engr. Funso Kupolokun November 2003- July 2007, Engr. Abubakar Yar’adua August 2007- January 2009, Dr. Muhammed Sanusi Barkindo January 2009- May 2010, Barrister Ladan Shehu,  April 2010 to May 2010, Engr. Austen Olusegun Oniwon, May 2010- June 2012, Engr. Andrew Leah Yakubu, June 2012- August 2014 and now Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha from August 2014 to date. Dawha joined the NNPC in 1988. All things being equal, he has less than five months to serve. The NNPC has a board of directors of which the Minister of Petroleum is the head. The board was constituted on July 17 2012. It was again reconstituted with the same membership last week.  From 2012 till now, the board has met only once. Other members of the board are Abdullahi Bukar, Steve Oronsaye, Professor Olusegun Okunnu, Daniel Wadzani, Bernard Otti and Peter Nmadu.

    From 1999 till date, we have had seven Chiefs of Naval Staff. They are Vice Admiral Victor Kare Ombu (1999-2001), Vice Admiral Samuel Olajide Afolayan 2001-2005), Vice Admiral Ganiyu T.A. Adekeye (2005-2008), Vice Admiral Ishaya lko Ibrahim 2008-2010, Vice Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim 2010-2012, Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba 2012-2014 and Vice Admiral Usman Oyibe Jibrin January 2014-till date.

    From 1999 till date we have had eight Chiefs of Army Staff. They are Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, May 1999- April 2001, Lt. Gen. Alexander Ogomudia, April 2001- June 2003, Lt. Gen. Martin Luther Agwai June 2003- June 2006, Lt. Gen. Owoye Andrew Azazi, June 2006-May 2007, Lt. Gen. Luka Nyeh Yusuf, June 2007- August 2008, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazau, August 2008- September 2010, Lt. General Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika, September 2010-2014 and now Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah, January2014 till date.

    The post of Chief of Defence of Staff is the highest in the Nigerian Armed Forces. The position was established for the first time under 1979 Nigerian Constitution with General Julius Alani Ipoola Akinrinade (75) as the first Chief of Defence Staff. Gen. Akinrinade, a war hero is from Yakoyo near Ile-Ife in Osun State.

    From 1999 till date we have had seven Chiefs of Defence Staff.  They are Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi 1999-2003, General Alexander Ogomudia 2003-2006, General Martin Luther Agwai January 2006-May 2007, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, May 2007-August 2008, Air Marshall Paul Dike August 2008-September 2010, Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin September 2010-October 2012, Admiral Ola Ibrahim October 2012- January 16 2014 and now Air Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh January 16 2014 to date.

    From 1999 to date, we have had six Chief Justices of the Federation. They are Muhammed Lawal Uwais 1999-2006, Salihu Modibo Alfa Belgore 2006-2007, Idris Legbo Kutigi 2007-2009, Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu 2009-2011, Dahiru Musdapher 2011-2012, Aloma Mariam Muktar 2012 to date.

    All these appointments clearly define who really we are.

    These career appointments made in the last 15 years alone have ceiling on the number of years one has to spend in the service before you retire or you are kicked out. In case of judiciary, seniority takes precedence.

    All the appointments were made by the President. In some cases, he made the appointments, in consultations with the National Assembly or the National Council of States. He does not need consultation before appointing anyone as Group Managing Director of NNPC neither does he need to consult anyone before appointing anyone as Head of Service once, he is a Permanent Secretary.

    But there is nothing in the law or in the procedure of appointments, which says anyone less than two years left to serve, must be appointed head or anyone who is the most senior.

    And there is no law that says the Presidents can not appoint someone that has at least four to six years to serve before retirement, so that he or she could carry out the necessary reforms before he or she retires. Changing service chiefs constantly, like we change police uniforms, is amazing.

    Why must a new President distrust serving service chiefs to the extent that he has to appoint his own, bearing in mind that since 1999 till date only one political party has been in power in the centre?

    We all know that in the military tradition once you appoint a junior officer as service chiefs all his seniors automatically retire. Let us imagine how many trained and experienced officers that have suddenly left the service in the last 15 years- their careers suddenly cut short and their families in total penury, in a country of their own which they once served proudly.

    Human nature being human, someone who has less than a year to spend in the office, however competent or patriotic he or she could be, will be more concerned or worried about his retirement plans than bringing any tangible inputs into  the service, more so  when pensioners in Nigeria are treated like endangered species- neglected and humiliated. A service is not a laboratory where you perform annual experiments with new reforms and with different headships.

    The problem is that we don’t allow the system to grow. And a system does not grow over night. It has to be systematic and gradual. If we don’t allow the system to grow, then we must expect all kinds of corruption, misconduct, irregularities within the system, hence the numerous gigantic and difficult problems that have now plagued us.

    .

    Teniola, a former director at the presidency stays in Lagos.

     

  • Effective representation and realising bayelsa development dream

    Since the restoration of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, after several years of military interregnum, Nigerians have been looking forward to seeing the good things that come with a system of government ranked as the best form of government on planet earth.

    Apart from the brief diarchy that was introduced under the Military rule of General Ibrahim Babangida, which was more or less a resemblance of democracy, many Nigerian youths since 1983 were yet to see the full blown practice of the system called democracy. Even if they do, it exists only in their imagination and textbook experience which is quite far from practice.

    Some of them must have read too, the book, Treatise of Human Understanding by John Locke, who happens to be one of the forerunners of liberal Democracy anchored on the principles of representative system.

    The system automatically substituted all the cannons of the divine rights of kings whose pronouncements in the years past were deemed as laws and unquestionable.

    In Africa, traditional rulers who were highly revered like deities because of the enormous political and trado-religious influence gave way to the democratic superstructure, and every other thing caved in.

    This democracy which originated from the town hall system of meeting in Greece, where all the cacophony of voices were heard have given birth to the refined representative system.

    One of the benefits is that it affords the people the right in liberty to choose a leader of their choice.

    Second, it gives the people the choice and the chance to appreciate the needs and aspirations of the people it represents.

    Third, it provides what a contemporary British political scientist Professor Harold Lasky in his book “The Grammar of Politics” would aptly describe as the best system for a peaceful change of government.

    Fourth, it enthrones a regime of accountability to the people it represents.

    In Nigeria, only few names have been able to hang on to their seat in the green and red chamber of the National Assembly based on their sterling performances.

    For example, the Senate President David Bonaventure Mark, who is regarded as first among equals of his colleagues have attracted projects critical to the needs of his Idoma people of Benue State like road networks, award of scholarship to indigent students of Benue State among other empowerment programmes. Apart from that, he has remained focused and consolidated on his symbiotic relationship with the executive arm by ensuring stability in the system and unwavering commitment to the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

    In the North-West, the constituents of speaker Aminu Tambuwal and the minority leader Gbajabiamila in the House of Representatives could feel the impact of effective representation.

    In the South-East, names like, Ike Ekweremadu, Emeka Ihedioha and Mrs. Okadigbo ring bell like that of a good stock in the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

    Recently, this writer stumbled on the commissioning of a cottage hospital built by Senator (Mrs.) Okadigbo, wife of Late Senator Chuba Okadigbo at Ogbunike in Anambra State. I watched the event with utter dismay such that I began to ask questions what are our Bayelsa Representatives actually doing in the National Assembly.

    The question of what Bayelsa Legislators are doing is common questions on the lips of the ordinary people of Bayelsa State. This question is cropping up in every socio-political gathering, drinking joints where the legislators are discussed in a manner as if it is a moot court trial.

    This attest to the increasing political awareness among the people, the capacity in drawing comparative analysis and arriving at valid deductions in which nothing is happening as far as Bayelsa legislators are concerned. One could recall the experience of a former Senator whom the constituents accused of distributing expired computers that never functioned for one day as a constituency project.

    While some of the national legislators from Bayelsa State are being tagged as snoring law makers and seat-warmers because of the absence of their impact. The sad story is that, some of them were just too fortunate to be members of the National Assembly being products of “harmonisation”, a new found political lexicon in Bayelsa State.

    The sad dimension is that instead of attracting projects critical to the development of the State, they have constituted themselves overnight to become Abuja based politicians and embarking on an unnecessary political adventure of fanning the embers of disaffection by undermining the government of their home states.

    In other states, apart from judicious use of constituency projects funds, legislators wield their constitutional powers in the exercise of their oversight functions by lobbing and influencing budget process in ensuring that projects of interest that will transform their constituents and states in general are captured in the budget. They use such projects to touch the lives of ordinary people in their constituents, while Bayelsa Representatives have become spectators in an arm of government that constitutes the fulcrum of democracy. In Bayelsa State, some of them have rather constituted themselves like Lord of the Manor while legislators in other states are working and warming themselves into the hearts of the people as servants of their constituents.

    This is the reason; opinions were divided in Bayelsa State when Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, then in the green chamber indicated his intent to contest the governorship of the state.

    Some were of the opinion that the state could not afford to lose his absymal performance at the National Assembly. While others held the view that the time was ripe to replicate his effective leadership in the National Assembly at the State level.

    As a ranking member of the House and House Committee Chairman on Justice, he sponsored and co-sponsored the passage of landmark bills into acts. These include, the freedom of Information Bill 2007, the Political Parties Internal Democracy Bill, The Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2009 and Kidnapping and Hostage Taking Bill 2009. Back home he was regarded as the voice of the voiceless.

    These enviable profile as a legislator endeared him to the masses who freely gave him the appellation, “Contryman Governor”. This is what effective representation is all about and we expect our representatives to make same impact. Elections are round the corner and any legislator that deserves return to the National Assembly must show his scorecard.

    As it is, Bayelsa State have no reason to complain about marginalization if our legislators and political office holders at the National level know what they are sent to do.

    It will be unfair for them to expect President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to do everything for Bayelsa State. The people expect them to be working in synergy with Mr. President and the governor in the development of the state.

    The report by a national daily about  subterranean moves by some Abuja based politicians led by a national legislator to undermine the government of Hon. Seriake Dickson is a sad commentary on the political frame of mind in the state.

    This is coming at a time all responsible Bayelsans and the South-South in general are working round the clock to realise the common vision of Mr. President’s re-election.

    Anybody embarking on such contrary journey does not mean well for President Jonathan, the people of the state and the south-south as a whole. They must have a rethink and reorder their footsteps which is inimical to the collective aspiration of the people of the state. This will amount to the story of a hunter; having killed and carried an elephant on the head was busy using his toes to further search for a snail.

    This is the time the people of the state must draw the red line between self-serving politics and articulation of a collective aspiration. With the close of a general election Bayelsans should make wise choices in who they send to the National Assembly. They should choose their first elevens of men and women who have distinguished themselves in various fields of human endeavour, who have the capacity of articulating their common dream and not those who will only come home to flex unnecessary political muscle like a local terror.

    This is the best practice of representative democracy all over the world.

    The culture of sending our third and even fourth eleven to represent the state under the guise of political patronage is a disservice to the state. No doubt, this is one of the burdens that has slowed down the pace of development in the state. Now, we have the proverbial knife and the yam at our disposal, we cannot therefore afford to join the hues and cries of marginalisation which we were used to.

    Bayelsans who are close to Mr. President must do everything possible to positively cuddle him well to the path of success and avoid acts that will constitute a dog in the manger.

    The governor of Bayelsa State deserves the support of all men of goodwill, given the very high aggregate of his performance index. Creating dichotomy between Abuja based politicians against the state government should not be the priority. It is an unnecessary distraction to the commitment of the governor to the development of Bayelsa State.

    This is the time for unity of purpose in nurturing to fruition the beautiful vision the people of the state have cast for themselves.

    •Fente writes from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State

  • Agagu: Musing requiems and missing refrains

    I enjoyed the choral quality of the remarkable choristers of Chapel of the Resurrection, University of Ibadan on Saturday September 13, 2014. I enjoyed the majestic sways and metrical swings which elaborately enlivened the first remembrance service of my late boss and former governor of Ondo State, Dr.Olusegun Agagu. Resplendent in their flowing robes, these lively minstrels are not the common spectacles found in many churches.Either in their strides or in their songs, they were poles apart from the profane prances of conventional choristers in manyminsters who pull all kinds of stunts like asonto, soki or alanta in the name of praising of God.  The reason is simple. Most members of the choir here are matured women of advanced ages as opposed to youngsters in cassocks. In other words, at Chapel of the Resurrection, the choristers are mothers in the cathedral.  And their delivery of moving mantra at the Agagu’s memorial service was momentous. So was the insightful sermon delivered by Bishop George LatunjiLasebikan. From the rhythmic presentation of lively songs to the rhetoric enunciation of inspiring homily, the remembrance service was a refreshing moment of celebration. For once, family and friends put aside the groans of loss and put on the garment of praise in appreciation of Agagu’s legacies. Everyone frolicked and pirouetted to serial song ministrations that became a classic tribute to a towering persona of service. From her charismatic swirls on the promenade, Mrs. Olufunke Agagu, the heroic widow of the late politician, left no one in doubt that it was a good day for the Agagu clan. But as I sat ensconced in deep thoughts, my mind wandered through the labyrinths of sonorous hymns and my imaginations went wild. I picturedAgagu’s trademark dance steps, his swaying hands and husky voice. He loved hymns. Even at political rallies, the former governor entertained his followers with hymnal choruses. I remembered how, on sighting the mammoth crowd that gathered at First African Church Primary sports ground in Igbokoda in Ilaje Local Government Area, during his re-election campaign in 2007, he burst into songs; Ha egbe mi, e  w’aasia, bo tin felele,ogunjesufere de tan, a feresegun. Do dimu, emifere de, be nijesuwi… Indeed, Agagu turned everything to songs with scholarly relish and sang about everything with jocular flourish.

    Notwithstanding the exquisite stagecraft of the singers, I felt there was a missing rhyme in this hugely musing requiems for Agagu. The closing hymn should have been that foreboding song Agagu sang with delight the last time he hosted some media chiefs at his Ikoyi residence. On that fateful day,I was busy with my usual editorial work in my office when my phone rang.  The caller was Mr. Femi Agagu, younger brother of the late governor. Oga wanted me to join him in Ikoyi. And off I went.  Already seated in my oga’s sitting room were two colleagues; Moses Jolayemi, managing director of Newswatch Newspapers and Steve Ayorinde, who was then the managing director of National Mirror. We exchanged banters.  Then I turned to Agagu:   “Excuse me sir; I was your Chief Press Secretary when you were governor. Four years after we left office, I still continue to function in this capacity. When will I befree from this job.” Agagu’s response was quick and philosophical “Ojoikul’ojoisimi’’.  (No rest until one dies)Among other things, our discussion ranged from electricity power situation, politics, development and the economy. Then, we had a good meal courtesy of mama, as we call Mrs OlufunkeAgagu. We also drank good wines and champagne. I remember how excited Jolayemi was when oga brought us a bottle of Dom Perrignon. ‘’ This is what my publisher in ThisDay, (Nduka (Obaigbena) called the sign of good life’’ Jolayemi said. From that moment, our conversation became light and social. Momentarily, I was docked on my transition from a serious journalistic engagement to a chronicler of high profile parties.My defence was simple and swift. Events business has become sophisticated, culminating in elaborate birthdays, weddings and flamboyant funeral ceremonies. Jolayemi recalled that in his home town of OkeImesiEkiti, when influential people die, the community would explode in celebration. ‘’ during the funeral service in the church,’’ the Newswatch boss said’’ the choir would sing thus baba o, aye ye o, oni aye ye, l’orunmaye’’.  Meaning whoever is honoured on earth will be honoured in heaven. Agagu took over as our choir master, chorusing this song repeatedly. ‘’ Ilike the corollary of this song. It means that if a man lives well on earth, he will also live well in heaven’’ Agagu affirmed. For the rest of the evening, that was our song.

    So, as I sat at Chapel of the Resurrection for the memorial thanksgiving, my mind meandered through thoughts and all sorts of imaginations. From the benefit of hindsight, the well-choreographed song was a dirge with a binge of prophesy. Agagu had lived well. The glorious service was an evident of the bliss beyond.

    As we walked out of the church, my imagination snapped again. What would have Agagu be doing after such a church service attended by high profile Nigerians? I was certain one thing. He would probably have asked the minister of power, Professor ChineduNebo: ‘’ Prof, Where are we on power generation?’’  Certainly, from former President OlusegunObasanjo, he would enquired ‘’ Baba, where are we on the reconciliation in the PDP?’’Of course, he would have tapped the Communications minister, Omobola Johnson: ‘’ Mobola, where are we on our last discussion?’’

    Indeed, for anyone who has worked or walked closely with Agagu either in his academic or political odysseys, “where are we” is a familiar refrain with which he did follow ups on projects and assignments.Subtle but suitable, witty but weighty, Agagu’s utterances are enduring epithets of a snooping intellect. They come in aclear diction which carries conviction, passion and a predilection for profound explanations.One year after his death, many of us are still filled with fond recollections of Agagu’s words on the marble; his indelible humour and undeniable clamour for sanity in the society. In my personal diary of encounters with this spectacular man, I have cherished moments that I often share to inspire those who care about service.  As governor,Agagu canonized diligence and criminalized indolence. In those six glorious years of his executive superintendence in the sunshine state, he ran a conscientious government guided by virtues, values and voluminous fruits of service delivery. In and outside government, he was the scourge of the slothful, the mercilessnemesis of the lazy. Agagu’s allergy for lethargy was informed by his incredible energy and admirable knowledge.  A man of destiny who bestrode the nation like a colossus, his place in contemporary history is replete with extraordinary strides and exemplary streaks.  His tenure witnessed faithful implementation of life transforming programmes. From education to health care, from infrastructure to Agriculture, from Tourism to industrial development, Agagu took Ondo State to greater heights. The records are legendary. Agagu’s achievements are imperishable on the sands of time and in the hearts of the people.

    He achieved so much, because of his passion for service and he never left anything to chance.

    •Olowolabi, former chief press secretary to late Gov. OlusegunAgagu, wrote from Lagos.

  • On Aregbesola’s education policies

    An opinion article titled ‘Aregbesola, education and election promises’ written by Tade Adekunle from Osogbo on September 24, makes an interesting reading but still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The author does not sound familiar, but it matters little.

    His main concern is on his perceived state of education in Osun which he used the last result of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination to buttress. According to him, Osun pupils’ performance which was 22nd out of the 36 states that sat for the examination was worrisome and an indication that the state’s educational policies are not working. He then stacked his cards with the issues of merger of schools and standardised school uniform.

    The author tries hard to be civil but the piece is riddled with cynicism and thinly disguised mockery of the state’s education summit chaired by the revered Prof Wole Soyinka, that had recommended comprehensive review of the education policies of the state, early in the life of the administration.

    Adekunle sounded like the voice of one of those who stoutly resisted the education reforms in the state from the standpoint of opposition politicians, religious former school owners, disgruntled teachers or an old student revelling in past glory, even when the alma mater had fallen into disgrace and disrepute. They forged a coalition of the disgruntled with the opposition in the August 9 election and were thoroughly trounced and disgraced. He might just have resumed where they left, considering his conclusion that the policies should be reversed.

    It should be pointed out, however, that the immediate result of an examinationis not and cannot be the right yardstick to measure an education policy. Those who wrote the last examination in question must have been in the school system at least for 11 years (assuming they spent five years in primary school and six at the secondary level) in the school system. The result you have today is a cumulation of all the inputs and efforts within that period.

    We all know that it is not the day you plant a crop that you harvest it. What is being harvested today could not have been planted yesterday. The result of today is the reflection of the neglect and putrefaction that had crept in. That is not Aregbesola’s making and it will be illogical to blame him for this.

    And it could have been worse, since the problem is longstanding. Governor Aregbesola noticed this and cried out when he was inaugurated upon observing that less than five percent of those who took the WAEC and NECO of 2010 passed. This actually informed his convoking the education summit early 2011.

    The state government is doing everything needed to turn education around. This includes hiring over 10,000 teachers, training and retraining them, kitting them and giving them all necessary motivation. It also involves building new state of the art schools, rehabilitation and equipping existing ones and providing 150,000 computer tablets to senior pupils and their teachers (out of which 50,000 has been delivered and distributed). Do not forget that elementary pupils now enjoy free feeding and medication in all public schools, to which the government commits N3.6 billion every year.

    For school furniture alone, the government, as at last year, had committed N2.5 billion. Grants to schools was jacked up to N856 million from the N122 million inherited from previous administration. Before Aregbesola’s coming, no school had instruction materials, but his administration has committed N506 million to providing these. These are verifiable facts.

    Beyond those still sulking because the reforms had cut off their extortion channels in the schools, even the teachers and other stakeholders are full of praises to the governor, claiming that they feel proud to be teachers for the first time.

    The central basis of opposition to the reforms is the inability of some stakeholders to reconcile to the facts that the state government owns all the schools in question. They are still living in denial since the takeover in 1975 or thereabout. The tragedy is that eight out of 10 agitators, when asked, still think that the schools belong to the old missions and the reforms are superfluous government interference.

    The government had explained countless times that the mergers were brought about by the policy of classifying schools into elementary, middle and senior categories. The mergers are therefore necessary to streamline these schools into the various classes for operational and administrative purposes. These policies do not affect private schools.

    What the governor promised, due to much agitation, was that some of the schools would be returned to their original owners. This is after some of the mega schools being built are completed and the pupils moved into them. At no time did he promise that the policy would be reversed. It is high time all the agitated were reconciled to this. Those hoping for a reversal are only engaged in wishful thinking.

    The governor, being a student of history, does not wish to erase the memory of any school. However, mergers and closures are part of the history of education. Even in the affluent world, when the caretakers can no longer maintain a school or it is no longer relevant to the need of that society or community, it will be merged with others or shut down. Plato’s Academy no longer exists, but it is etched permanently in the books, in the philosophy and the memory of those who have acquired western education. Where a school is closed, a monument will be left as its physical legacy.

    What is more important, however, is its intellectual legacy and how it has affected our time and society. Those still sulking over the carcass of a dilapidated and ruined physical structure should let go and embrace positive change.

    On school uniforms, the government has explained that the uniform distinguishes those in public schools from others. Even in the United Kingdom, this is the norm – uniforms are the same and can be picked in any convenient store. What mark them differently are the badges, cardigans and berets branded for each school. In our neighbouring Benin Republic, all school children wear khaki as uniform.

    Aregbesola has carried out a revolution in education in Osun. I am of the firm belief that with the policy direction, funding, equipment, motivation and technology, all driven by the passion and will to change things for better, Osun, within the shortest possible time, will be producing the best school leavers and world beaters in all fields.

     

    • Fasure lives in Osogbo

  • Ndigbo and Jonathan

    God, in his infinite wisdom, created me Igbo. If it is possible to reincarnate, I will return to this world an Igbo. I don’t know any section of Nigeria that could withstand the rest of the Nigerian federation for a whole 30 months as Eastern Nigeria did between 1967 and 1970. Despite the severe economic and air blockade, Biafra was a bold statement about the blackman’s scientific and technological capabilities, as the preeminent American scholar of sociology, Stanley Diamond, reported to the world in 1968. Frankly,  I don’t know of any part of Nigeria that would come out of the catastrophe with practically no money, and yet within only three years there were scarcely physical traces of the war. Perhaps only the Igbo could challenge the Yoruba in educational development and within a mere 20 years  (from 1945 to 1965) “wipe out their educational handicap in one fantastic burst of energy”, as Chinua Achebe puts it in The Trouble With Nigeria.

     In any endeavour where merit is the sole criterion for determining recognition like sports, music and education, the Igbo would always excel. The Igbo are often referred to as the African version of the Jewish people whom Ali Mazrui, the most published African scholar, calls in his most ambitious book, Cultural Forces in World Politics, a race whose prodigious achievements in science, philosophy, finance and international politics are far in excess of their population. In her charming book, World On Fire, Amy Chua, an economist and distinguished professor at Yale Law School, calls the Igbo “an economic dominant” group in West Africa. The Bamileke people of Cameroon are called Igbo on account of their industry and entrepreneurship.

    However, the Igbo, once guided by such far-sighted men as the Great Zik of Africa, Michael Okpara, Akanu Ibiam, Ukpabi Asika, Pius Okigbo and others, are now in dire need of strategic direction. Already, it would seem we are not being taken seriously. On Thursday, January 30, Governor Seriake Dickson led a large delegation of Bayelsa leaders to thank Vice President Namadi Sambo for “supporting our son, President Goodluck Jonathan”. Sambo’s contribution to Jonathan’s presidency is a matter of speculation.

    Why does Governor Dickson find it important to constantly thank Vice President Sambo for his support but has not uttered a word of gratitude to Ndigbo who have given Jonathan unprecedented support, far more than he has received from his own Niger Delta region? Has Edwin Clark, the leader of the Ijaw, ever publicly  acknowledged Igbo support for Jonathan?

    Erstwhile Anambra State governor Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who for years was in the vanguard of the campaign that “it is either an Igbo president in 2015 or Nigeria will cease to exist” now threatens war if Jonathan is not returned to office next year. He probably borrowed the war threat from the lips of Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force. How did Ezeife, a former lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda and retired federal permanent secretary who holds a Harvard doctorate in economics, find himself in the same company as Mujaheed Dokubo? Indeed, there is a Jonathan frenzy throughout Igboland. But it is not founded on any discernible rationality. A very influential Igbo professor who is one of the architects of Igbo support for Jonathan is often the first person to admit in private that Jonathan’s development presence in the South-east is embarrassingly poor, saying it is worth about the sixth of federal government’s  projects in the North-central geopolitical zone.

    The Enugu-Onitsha highway is not passable. The Okigwe—Aba Road is a death trap. The Umuahia—Ikot Ekpene Road is probably the worst road in the world, after the road leading to Arochukwu. All federal roads in the South-east, with the exception of about three or four, are in a messy state. The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company has been handed over to Emeka Offor’s Interstate Electrics which the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the National Council on Privatisation in a joint report declared financially and technically incapable of doing electricity distribution business. Ironically, the consortium promoted by the five South-east state governments and the finest entrepreneurs from the zone and recommended by the BPE/NCP for the Enugu Disco was in a bizarre act overruled by the Jonathan administration. Electricity distribution is a natural monopoly, so it means all parts of Nigeria can develop in the foreseeable future but not the South-east. No place can grow without adequate electricity.

    True, a number of Igbo people have under Jonathan been appointed to “juicy positions”. There are more Igbo private jet owners now than ever. But in a world where the buzz expression now is inclusive development, as opposed to a policy which excludes the majority of the people from the economic process, the new concept of Igbo empowerment is anti-thetical to development. Igbo leaders are not asking Jonathan to help create a system which could accelerate development of Igboland which unfortunately is increasingly becoming an economic desert. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show the South-east and severely security-challenged North-east to be the least developing geopolitical zones in both relative and absolute terms.  No one is asking the president to build natural gas pipelines to the South-east, as there are in the South-west, so that heavy industries could be established in the area. No one is asking that a seaport be built in, say, Onitsha, for economic and strategic reasons.

    In his absorbing book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence, Dubai Ruler Mohammed Maktoum explains that the establishment of the world’s largest man-made port and other seaports in this desert emirate has been at the heart of Dubai’s phenomenal development. Igbo leaders are not even asking Jonathan to do something as simple as directing ministries, departments and agencies to patronize Innoson vehicles, so that this ingenious Innoson Motors firm would not go the way of Anammco in Enugu which collapsed on account of poor patronage by even government agencies across the nation. Igbo leaders are not asking Jonathan to help revive the Nigerian Cement company at Nkalagu in Ebonyi State.

    What we rather hear from these leaders is that Jonathan is a great leader because he has promised to build a second bridge on the River Niger so that traffic would flow easily from Asaba to Onitsha during Christmas and Easter when Igbo people return home en masse. Is this what is called strategic thinking in the 21st century? The Jonathan presidency is modernizing the Lagos—Kano rail which is bound to have a significant impact on the economies of these two states and their neighbours. Neither Lagos State governor Babatunde Fashola nor Kano State governor Kwankwanso has ever kowtowed to the president for this strategic and capital intensive initiative. But the moment the president promised he would start the second Niger bridge, Peter Obi, in his capacity as chairman of the Conference of South-east Governors, mobilised large delegations of Igbo leaders in a well-choreographed show of endless public adulation and obeisance to Jonathan. Frankly, it is unrealistic to expect any major ethnic group which has chosen this inelegant role for itself to be taken seriously. Any wonder the president had no difficulty throwing out Festus Odimegwu, a particularly brilliant and gifted technocrat, out of office once Governor Kwankwaso balked at Odimegwu’s pledge that he would be the first chairman of the National Population Commission to conduct a credible national census?

    To be sure, Igbo leaders are at liberty to support any person. But such an endorsement should be on certain conditions which must hinge on long term interests of Ndigbo. The current hysteria over Jonathan without negotiating any deal for the development of our homeland belittles all of us. It is does not portray a people prepared, in Achebe’s words, to join the rest of the world step into the 21st century with restored hope and dignity.

    • Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • FRESH and the burden on INEC

    In all honesty, can anyone expect the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to be truly independent, going by the obvious lack of impartiality on the part of its head? To say no is to state the obvious. And the reasons are not far-fetched: First, it is a contraption created, bankrolled, sustained and regulated by the sitting government. And if the adage that he who pays the piper dictates the tune is anything to go by, then it must as of necessity do the bidding of its benefactors.

    Secondly, this is Nigeria; a country where executive meddling, undue influence and tinkering with the system are the stock-in-trade of our political aristocracy. It will be counter-productive to the agenda and perpetuity of the ruling class to allow such a strategic agency to run free of its reins on the tenets of autonomy and independence. Thirdly is the political pathogen called the PDP, a party that has exhibited Nigeria’s worst tenures of governance, whether military or civilian, and is yet intoxicated with its self-belief, and aims to perpetuate itself for at least 60 years! After 15 years at the helm, Nigerians are to expect another 45 years of abject poverty, diminishing returns of their lives, misery and insecurity, which the PDP symbolises.

    So, to ensure that PDP’s reign is not truncated, organisations like INEC are doing their utmost to dismantle all forms of opposition. The commission is also leaving no stone unturned in fulfilling its mandate, which saw it de-registering some parties in 2012, protracting the course of justice by unduly delaying the trumped up appeal of the Fresh Democratic Party’s victory in the judgment delivered by Justice Gabriel Kolawole at the Federal High Court 5, Abuja Division, which quashed its de-registration on July 29, 2013. This cannot be allowed.

    If public morality still counts, no member of the Uwais Committee on Electoral reform set up by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua should get involved with INEC. Why? One of the key recommendations of that committee is that for INEC to be truly independent; the President should not appoint its chairman. Sadly, Prof. Attahiru Jega was a member of that panel, and a signatory to its recommendations. When he was offered the chairmanship of INEC by President Goodluck Jonathan, he grabbed it with both hands. This obvious infidelity to principles is symptomatic of the degeneration of our ethical and moral ethos.

    Jega was a distinguished unionist, whose exemplary leadership of ASUU is still a reference point because he fought the military dictatorship to a standstill. As a university teacher, he rose meritoriously to become a professor. He was the sitting Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano when he was appointed INEC chairman. He certainly was not jobless, poor or hungry—key factors that inspire lust for public office by political touts in the corridors of power in Nigeria. Prof. Jega would have received my vote if he had run for public office, because of his pedigree in the human rights community. Was the allure of the lofty offer of INEC chairman simply too much for him to reject that he forgot the unwritten rule that you cannot benefit from a wrong you help to right. This sudden change of attitude by this crusader is hard to comprehend. The arrogance of INEC under his watch now seems to fire off wildly in dozens of different directions.

    To affirm his strong moral credentials, he ought to have rejected Jonathan’s offer of the INEC job, since the President refused to implement the recommendations of the Uwais panel which his boss, late Yar’Adua, set up, obviously with his full knowledge as the then vice president. No wonder he now he finds himself in the eye of the storm with the controversial de-registration of political parties, and the subsequent calls for his removal from the helm of the electoral agency.

    Now, the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) has called for his resignation, following the agency’s decision to create additional polling units. The bone of contention, according to them, is the basis for the skewed allocation of more units to the north, especially the war-torn North-eastern part of the country where droves are fleeing from the insidious Boko-Haram insurgency. Even a lone voice that spoke against SNPA’s demand agreed that “if indeed Jega deserves to be sacked, he should have been a long time ago…” The capricious de-registration of political parties and his snub of the FRESH court verdict is the reason why.

    It will be recalled that in the heat of his December 2012 de-registration exercise, and after the Rev. Chris Okotie- led party won its landmark judgment upturning the de-registration, a league of 20 deregistered political parties called the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties demanded his immediate dismissal for deliberately flouting the ruling of the court on party de-registration. The National Chairman of Peoples Progressive Party, Damian Ogbonna, who read the position of the coalition, said: “We state for the avoidance of doubt that we have lost faith in Professor Attahiru Jega as an unbiased umpire in the political process. Having publicly exhibited his partiality and disdain for many political parties in the country, we believe he is no longer in a position to honourably superintend in elections where the same parties are participants. Accordingly, we demand that Professor Jega be dismissed immediately as the chairman of INEC.”

    One thing is certain: the piper’s payer is dictating the tune here. INEC is playing deity, because when the story of the Commission (2007 – 2014) is written, Jega, who responded to the SNPA by saying “I will be there in 2015”, should not expect to receive accolades if he persists in dragging his own name in the mud for whatever reasons. He is unwittingly etching himself on the list of names which conjure failure and are synonymous with the breakdown of developmental aspirations and dreams of the nation. It is without equivocation that only a truly independent INEC, operated with forensic checks and balances, can ensure a truly free and fair electoral environment.

    • Ojekwe wrote in from Owerri, Imo State.

  • Oni, Fayemi, Aregbe and politics of character

    Without any fear of inaccuracy, I was the first person in the media industry-both national and foreign-to have an exclusive interview with Engr. Segun Oni after his swearing-in as the governor of Ekiti State in 2007. The interview happened less than a month after he settled down for the serious business of governance. The interview was a no-holds barred and I asked then Governor Oni many questions. Not minding the political tendency on which I may be leaning as he was meeting me for the first time-having been introduced by Dr. Samuel Arowolaju (a senior friend) as a media guy from the United States, he answered my questions candidly and without mincing words.

    Some of the questions revolved around his predecessor, now governor-elect Ayodele Fayose and he said more than a mouthful. Hear him: “On the 29th of September, 2005 we had a meeting that was to become a rally somewhere along Falegan Estate area. We actually had a peaceful meeting but the police came in nonetheless. They said Governor Fayose had prepared an agenda to get some of us. They came to get me and fired some rubber bullets…They kicked me, beat me up and I was dragged on the main road of this (Ado-Ekiti) city and thrown into a vehicle. People were watching from afar. The police thought they’ve thrown my lifeless body inside the vehicle but when they realized that I wasn’t dead they took me to the police station and sprayed teargas on me. They wanted to spray the teargas into my nostrils but I told the guy if he did that I would die and the policemen watching him are the ones who would give evidence against him and he would never get out of it.”

    I asked the then governor if he was contemplating revenge since he then occupied the same office his predecessor allegedly used to attempt to snuff life out of him. The governor said: “The only lesson I took away from that unfortunate incident is that power is very transient. You see, when you have power and you refuse to use it based on your whims you enhance its value.”(Italics mine for emphasis). I never stopped thinking about this last sentence since as reflecting the man’s strength of character.

    A different aura, as if issued from the core of his being, enveloped Ekiti State when John Kayode Fayemi took over the mantle of leadership. The calm that descended on the state, which reflected the persona of Fayemi was palpable. Scrupulous Nigerian entrepreneurs and the international community saw in him his genuineness and started to set up shops in the state so much that billions have been sunk into hospitality and other service businesses by private investors. The governor will probably go down in the 18-years’ history of the state as the only governor that continued with the projects of his predecessor, despite the very painful and tortuous experience to which he was subjected in regaining his mandate. On assumption, he became the first governor in this dispensation to declare his assets and that of his wife. The governor declared an eight-point agenda as a blueprint of his administration that not only touches every socio-economic strata of society, but also implemented virtually all the points and sub-points on the agenda during his tenure. This remarkable feat earned him the sobriquet of “O wi bee, O se bee” which literally translated into “He said it, did it”. As part of rebranding the state along the lines of the values that he holds dear, Ekiti state is now known as “Ile Iyi, Ile Eye,” a phrase that embodies a virtuous state that I hope the new helmsman will keep.

    Osun State was a violent and highly traumatized state on its way to a bottomless perdition when Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola took over its administration. It was a beleaguered state not because it is socio-culturally disposed to brigandage, but because a class of its own people was attempting to take away its very soul. On his assumption of office, Aregbesola decided -almost from Day One of his administration-to take the road less travelled. This earned him the description of an unusual man running an unusual government. He believes that a people, as that organic structure that makes up society, must coalesce around some core principles which must of necessity become their ethos if they must realize their collective destiny. The state was also rebranded along this line of thought.

    His administration created a crest, a Coat of Arm, a flag and a state anthem that the country’s central authority stuck in its primordial hunter and gatherer political disposition accused him of trying to secede from the republic. The governor did not stop there. A state known as the “State of the Living Spring” became known as a “State of the Virtuous.” He has been described by people from various walks of life to be a “scrupulously honest and humble” chief of state, which probably contributed in no small measure to his victory at the recent poll for a second term. I have given the synopses of this trio in order to identify a common thread that runs through them. And this is the character thread.

    Much has been said by political scientists and pundits that one of the major reasons why the All Progressives Congress(APC) has been unable to gain significant traction so far is because of its inability to anchor its existence on a political ideology or an identity. It should look no further. The opposition political party should make character the lifeblood that gives it sustenance. Character should be seen by the people as what distinguishes it from the ruling party. It should be seen as its main pillar. It should be the first identifier of the party’s candidates for electoral offices from henceforth. This time tested virtue should be its brand.

    As much as Nigeria has been touted as having the largest and the most promising economy in the continent, much of the rest of the world still will not touch her even with a long pole because the country’s government and its people are deemed as hopelessly corrupt and lacking in character. Therefore, injecting character into the body politic will most definitely reverse the self-destructive trajectory of a pathetic country such as Nigeria. Other social pillars of justice, fairness and equity that must be present to lend support to the growth and sustenance of any society can only thrive with the presence of character. A nation without character is a living dead.  They say that character is really what you do when no one is looking. I will add that it is also when one is willing to go against the grain because the values that one represents will be seriously compromised or impaired, as exemplified by the people of the State of Osun when they overwhelmingly voted for the presidential candidate of the party they identified with in 2011 even when they knew that his chances of winning was hopelessly low.

     

     

    •  Odere is a media practitioner. He can be reached at femiodere@gmail.com.
  • Comments

    Comments

    For Dare Olatunji

    Sir, How many of our so-called leaders could be counted on to place the correct interpretation on what they read, saw, and heard, to benefit from the lessons and, for that matter, the warnings which it might contain? Very few indeed. Painfully, Nigeria is now   a place being  ruled by criminals, theives, plunderers, and looters. Enough is enough.  The electorates should vote wisely in future elections, for a positive change. From Adegoke O O, IKHIN, EDO STATE.

    Sir, at times l wish Nigeria did not exist!! From Jayjay, Abuja!

    The funniest thing with our Nigeria leaders is that they don’t tell Nigerians in diaspora true picture of things happening here.They tell them all is well, they romance issues affecting state of the nation,whenever they travelled outside Nigeria for an event.it is very unfortunate. From Gordon Chika Nnorom,Umukabia,Abia

    Prof Dare, I may begrudge your absence or that of your representative from my book launch, on July 25,2014, it does not, however quench my hunger for the pithy, if not witty, instalments you serve every Tuesday; exampled by your signature piece of September 16,2014; “Jamborees withhout end”; incisive as it gets and frothing, as it were, with your characteristic brilliance… Cheers! From Eghosa Imade

    Jamborees without end was a nice piece of literature but to the wrong people. In President Jonathan style of leadership, you are a mischief maker and blackmailer. It is better for you and my other colleagues in journalism to join the train of TAN and trumpet the foolery called Transformation Agenda than to attempt to say the wrong. President Jonathan has never admitted any wrong because he hardly differentiates. Let us just join Mantu, Jerry, Sarah Jibril etc and end up as habitual sycophants. Nigeria is in bondage only the Almighty can rescue it. Well done. From Sanusi Muhammad fmr Media Advisor to Bauchi State Governor.

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    This is the most unserious government that this nation has had since independence. We have a compromised Senate and House of Representatives. So what do you expect.  From Dogara Jimabo, kwali-Abuja

    Mr Omotoso, I hope you are not serious in your submission on President Goodluck Jonathan’s right to choose his friends in total disregard to ethical requiremnts of his office as the President of Nigeria. Remember he is not a commoner like you and I. May God protect and bless Nigeria.Anonymous

    The Seized $9.3m Cash! It is a shame the Nigerian Army claimed to be in the know. The question is; those two Nigerians, are they in the Army and what are their names? Who sent them? The man from Israel, what is his role in the saga. Could the Presidency be behind it. Why is the Federal Government. not prosecuting those named as sponsors of Boko Haram? The why of question is indeed endless.  The Nation is perhaps the best in the country today. Nigerians will love to know the truth, so help dig deep for posterity.Anonymous

    My heart bleeds because Nigerians might never get to know the whole truth.Anonymous

    Thanks for the great satire. But the man has a better ‘defender’ than you are. One very old man from Niger Delta. The man recently threatened to ‘expose’ those attacking President Jonathan over corruption issues. But, if my memory is still good, I learnt that the military, in their days,once seized properties,  including numerous cinema houses, from one old man who once worked for government. What did the man do? Just curious. Enjoy your day. From Olu.

    On the seized $9.3m cash, whether Pastor, President, military or/and any businessman, let us be told why the payment was not made electronically! Why the cash? Only explanation would suffice. From Lanre Oseni.

    Honestly, these are serious questions on President Jonathan’s cross. But more worrisome is Pastor Oritsejafor’s connection to the  jet.  Why his own of all the private jets in the country?  From Barr Aliyu Abubakar- Abuja.

    The seized $9.3m reflects the thieving nature of President Jonathan’s Federal Government and goes to show that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was not wrong, after all. Anonymous

    I dont know what the presidency takes us for, the kind of information they are giving to the public on important issues are not just palatable to the ears of my six years old boy not to talk of millions of Nigerians. There must be a change in 2015 at that level or else this country is doomed. Anonymous

    Re:The seized $9.3m cash. Cashles policy is for masses. Is the cash from the CBN or from their ‘SILOs’? Who will find out for us? From R.Omionawele, Ibadan.

    Remember that the  big umbrella of PDP is a shield for all manner of criminal activities. That was the purpose it was sewn in 1998. All you need is steal any amount of money, kill, engage in bunkering, any fraud then run in and you are saved. PDP umbrella is a strong tower, the vilest offender runs into it and he is saved. Do we need to mention names? So Modu Sheriff has gone into the family fortress period. Did DSS Marylyn Ogar not tell us that they’ve invited the man? Its business as usual. At least  Jonathan’s 2015 ticket is now certain. Anonymous

    We need no ghost to tell us that President Jonathan and his vicarious agents have breached the Electoral Act in commencing his campaign in more than 90 days before the 2015 election.We call on INEC to institute/invoke and carry out necessary disciplinary action leading to his suspension/banning from the 2015 presidential election.INEC must discard the ‘sacred cow’ syndrome by creating a level- playing field.From Chief Bobson Gbinije,Mandate Against Poverty(MAP)WARRI.

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: The Synagogue tragedy. When disaster of any sort would strike, beings in rare occasions may know. In many cases, everyone bares mouths in wonder. The Synagogue building collapse on 12th September we should agree was still an ‘act of God’. The pressure of human beings on building staircases, upstairs as well as frequency of visits and, finally, items/materials placed upstairs occasionally bring down some building parts. However, substandard materials like cement, gravels, planks, etc. used at the time of finalising the building must definitely have been highly contributive to its collapse. … The Ministry of Planning, the LGs and the Ministry of the Environment had messed up human beings and Nigeria with the collapse. From Lanre Oseni.

    Who paid you to write this rubbish (‘The Synagogue tragedy’)? Truly, journalism is for the mature mind. Structural defect is left for the professionals in the field of structural engineering to determine a faulty or substandard building. It will interest you to know that foundation that forms the base of building determines the capacity of floors the building can carry. The edifice in contention structurally is built to carry the capacity and beyond. Many foreign engineers were on site before the incident. The Ikotun neighbourhood and beyond saw that an aircraft caused the collapse. Have you not heard of more lethal weapons of mass destruction – ether biological, chemical or nuclear? Please read Weapons of mass destruction by Michael Kurt. Or you equally pretend not to have heard the South Africans’ account as perceived by him on the snapshot of the plane, leading to greater pictorial evidence and not mere allegations as envisaged by hearsay men. Journalism is equally digitised as opposed to your quite un-educative and uninformed sentimentalism. The issue is Nigeria and its airspace management. Soon, the fallout of this investigation will embarrass you. Anonymous.

    Prophet T.B. Joshua should take heart and believe that a leaf cannot fall from a tree without the knowledge and consent of God, and also believe that God is aware of all that happened to him. He should remain grateful to God as he claimed that there is nothing new under the sun. Indeed, he should cast his mind back to the time he was nobody to what he is now. Whatever may have been the cause of the tragedy in his church, God is the ultimate investigator that knows what is hidden. From Ozi Hamza Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    Confirmed: all are morally bankrupt. Are there no lawyers, judges, COREN, NSE members, town planners, journalists, etc. in the church to point out this lawlessness to the chairman/chief executive of the church (SCOAN)? Most churches in Nigeria are running parallel governments. They are habitual/perpetual law breakers. They are into all trades, from sachet water to hospitality, yet, they don’t want to pay tax simply because the government must be seen as religious. I need to be told a business that is more lucrative than the church. They will soon start to trade in the stock market, since some of them have shares, even in breweries! Religion is more prone to sink Nigeria. Nigerians prefer ‘miracles’ to labour. We hope Gov Fashola will not mind probing this disaster. CAN will accuse him of promoting Islam; that is Nigeria for you, but we want justice all the same. The high and mighty in the church will try blocking useful information, all in the name of religion. From Akinlayo, A. Osun State.

  • Nigeria in search of credible leadership

    In his article on Boko Haram and Stephen Davis on the back page of The Nation of September 11, Dapo Fafowora highlighted the shortcomings of the federal government in handling the insurgency. He pointed out that the central government appears confused and bewildered by the audacity of the insurgents. This submission is unauthenticated by conflicting reports making the rounds. What is certain is that some substantial patches of the north-eastern zone, especially some parts of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, are in the hands of insurgents.

    What is debatable in Fafowara’s piece is his apportioning blame. Despite recognising that ‘the insurgency is a direct consequence of persistently bad governance in the North, characterised by the long period of grinding poverty, lack of jobs, and rampant social injustice…’ sadly, he was swayed by the penchant to ‘demonise’ the North  at the expense of the reality; which is that our national pride and our populace is being decimated.  The longer this conflict goes on, the harder it will be to salvage this country from the precipice that decades of corruption and maladministration have pushed it to.

    Unfortunately, Fafowora appears to heap all these shortcomings on the North. In reality however, bad governance, poverty and unemployment are not the exclusive preserve of the North, they are all-pervasive. And the only redemption is a credible, caring and accountable leadership at all levels of governance. Much hope is being hinged on the 2015 elections but first, Nigeria and Nigerians have to survive up to 2015.

    The two major threats to this short term goal, and by extension to democratic governance, are the insurgency and the baseless, so-called American forecast that Nigeria would disintegrate by 2015. The most annoying aspect of the latter is the belief of some Nigerians that the prediction has to come true because some American day-dreamers had said so. Such people are working assiduously, by act of commission or omission, to realize such doomsday prophecy for Nigeria.

    There should be a conscious resolve to prove to all these insurgents and prophets of doom that they are a pack of liars and Nigeria shall grow in strength and grow into an exalted country among the comity of nations.

    But we cannot help but lament that if our leaders had listened and taken appropriate steps as proposed by various groups at the right time, we would have by now put this issue to rest. The embattled Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State drew the attention of the nation early enough to avert what we are in today, but the centre refused to listen. In fact he was threatened, maligned and humiliated. Now, the mewling little cub in the backyard has been allowed to grow into a formidable marauding monster that would spare no one. It has now become clear that the insurgents are after territorial conquest as evidenced by their seizure of nine local governments, which cover at least one-third of Borno State, some parts of Adamawa and Yobe states, as of now.

    The recent deadly encounters in Konduga demonstrates that the insurgents are not only holding on to what they have, but have the ultimate objective of over-running Borno and Yobe, and possibly Adamawa as well. This must not happen.

    With nostalgia one reflects on how impossible such a scenario would have been under Obasanjo, for instance.

    I will explain why.

    In the ‘70s when I was a member of the Borno State Executive Council, there was an incident on a small fishing island on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad. For reasons best known to them, Chadian soldiers overran the little village and hoisted a Chadian flag. The information filtered into Maiduguri and the government alerted our security forces. Within 48 hours, the GOC of the Third Division routed the Chadian soldiers and re-hoisted the Nigerian flag. That is not all; within the same period of 48 hours, the then Head of State, General Obasanjo, in the company of the GOC and the Borno State Governor, flew into Ndjamena to meet President Malum of Chad to demand explanations. The Chadian leader was so rattled that he was visibly shaking like a rat facing a terrier. Since then, there hasn’t been any incursion into Nigerian territory by any force or government until now. Big chunks of our territory have been appropriated by insurgents who are hoisting flags and declaring the creation of new kingdoms.

    Our soldiers, who gallantly and successfully fought in many fronts in other parts of the world, are today being embarrassed in skirmishes in our backyard. We have had over 200 Chibok girls in captivity for the last 150 days! No one is certain of what is happening to them giving rise to speculations.

    Madam Due Process and now Mother of Chibok Girls (MCG), Dame Oby Ezekwesili has virtually shouted herself hoarse on this issue, but is anybody really listening? She too, like our troops, need to be encouraged, and reminded that one with God is majority.

    Her heroics, and those of our troops, should be lauded. There is a need to celebrate the heroes who have given their lives or shed their blood for this country and in this sense, names that have emerged, such as Lt. Col Adeboye Obasanjo, who was injured while leading troops to regain Michika, should be lauded alongside his team, who demonstrated courage under fire.

    This kind of pride for one’s country and readiness to die for it made the famous World War II British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, declare; ‘We shall fight on the land, we shall fight on the sea, we shall fight in the air! We shall never surrender.’

    When confronted with logistics problems during the civil war, General Yakubu Gowon declared: “It is not the guns that fight wars, but the men behind the guns?”

    Such motivation for the troops is as vital as the weapons they take into war and for them to withstand intense enemy fire, they have to learn and be encouraged to believe the age-old military dictum that says dolce et decorum a votre pays moris – meaning ‘it is sweet to die for one’s country.’

    The leadership of the military needs to find ways of making our fighting forces internalise such beliefs. Whatever needs to be done to fully motivate our troops and take care of them should not be compromised because no battle, let alone a war, is won with disgruntled and mutinous soldiery. Field commanders have to cultivate the confidence of their units and be able to confidently say to their men, ‘I will be proud to lead you guys to battle, anytime, anywhere!’

    •Hon. Badawy, OFR, mni represents Bade/Jakusko constituency in the House of Representatives