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  • Piercing the fog of revolution

    Piercing the fog of revolution

    WHAT’S happening on the ground in Cairo and Benghazi appears to be a case of political opportunism – no, not by Mitt Romney, though there was some of that on Thursday – but by Salafist Islamic extremists who are unhappy with the success the more moderate Islamist and secularist parties in Egypt and Libya have had in building political support.

    We’re still in what I like to call the “fog of revolution” in both countries, where it’s hard to know for sure what’s happening and who benefits, so my reporting comes with a basic caveat. But based on conversations with sources who were on the streets Tuesday in the midst of the Cairo demonstration, and who have been following events in Libya closely, it’s possible to pierce the fog a bit and offer some basic analysis:

    First, the situation in Cairo: The Arabic banners of the protesters moving toward the US Embassy identified them as members of the Nour Party and the Asala Party, the two leading Salafist groups that have competed in the Egyptian elections. The Salafists, whose name connotes respect for the Islamic “ancestors” of the Prophet Muhammad’s time, are more conservative and less pragmatic than the Muslim Brotherhood that is now ruling Egypt.

    An analyst who was in the midst of that crowd Tuesday told me he thinks the Salafist demonstrators were using the pretext of a supposedly anti-Islamic American film to send two messages: the first was obviously anti-Americanism, which is potent in today’s Egypt; the second and more interesting message was a challenge by the Salafists to their rivals in the Muslim Brotherhood government of President Mohammed Morsi.

    As is so often the case in revolutions, the Cairo uproar appears to be partly a case of radicals wanting to undermine a more moderate governing party. The Salafist demonstrators’ threat was augmented by violent hooligans, who are often described as soccer fans but increasingly are inflammatory anarchists.

    A similar process of post-revolutionary jockeying is going on in Libya, and it tragically led to the death Tuesday of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The Salafists’ assault on the US Consulate in Benghazi at first appeared to be a “copycat” attack like the one in Cairo, but US officials said it may have been planned by extremists linked to al-Qa’ida. They were augmented by a well-armed Islamic militia. Their anger, again, is mixed between a baseline anti-Americanism (sadly, always a draw in the region) and a challenge to Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib and the secularist parties that are the backbone of the new Libyan government.

    Does America have an interest in the internal fights taking place in these countries still quaking from the Arab uprisings? Yes, of course it does, especially when US embassies are targets of protesters and American diplomats get killed in the crossfire. But this isn’t really about America: It’s about different factions battling for power in a fluid political situation.

    Unfortunately, the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 is an apt parallel. That was the work of a group of extremist Iranian “students” who were unhappy that the post-revolutionary government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini wasn’t proving radical enough. They captured the revolution when they seized the embassy. The lesson of that disaster is that local security authorities must quickly restore order – and if they can’t or won’t, then Americans must move out of harm’s way.

    Also worrisome is the link between Salafists (whose posters disturbingly appear in Cairo neighbourhoods near Heliopolis populated by members of the military) and the more violently “takfiri” wing, which believes it’s permissible to kill apostate Muslims, and has links with al-Qa’ida. The takfiris hate the ruling Muslim Brotherhood, if that’s any consolation.

    The delicate political balance in Egypt and Libya makes the blunderbuss campaign rhetoric of Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, especially unfortunate. His comments make this crisis more “about America” than it needs to be.

    Let’s return to the main trigger for these events: It’s the success of the tolerably non-extremist (I won’t say “moderate”) governments in Egypt and Libya in consolidating power, and the anger of the more radical Salafists at this success. Morsi, for example, has just won pledges of billions in financial support from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Gulf Arabs are making a bet that over the next year, Morsi can stabilise Egypt and get the economy moving again. Despite Wednesday’s tragic events, the US should make the same bet.

     

    Source: The Australian

  • Men of the Lagos police command must wake up to sustain war on criminals

    Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, appeared right on the mark when he said his men in the Lagos State Police Command were sleeping; that was after last Sunday’s robbery incidents in the state which caught many Lagosians unawares. Of course there had been pockets of robberies in Lagos before that incident; there had been some cases of car snatching and even armed robberies; it was just that they were not as serious as that day’s. It must have been some two or so years that Lagosians were treated to such a rude shock by armed robbers who operated in broad daylight then, robbing banks and other places of value. As a matter of fact, such operations then usually began as part of the devil’s perilous package of the ‘ember’ months. So, for Lagosians, end-of-the-year accidents were not the only headache then; they were also worried about end-of-the-year robberies.

    But the state government gave the robbers a good chase, equipping the police, boosting the pay of their men on patrols and assisting them with sundry other items that they need to facilitate crime prevention and crime fighting. With the kind of investment the Lagos State Government has made into providing security, the bulk of which is splashed on the federal police force, it would be interesting to know if it would require anything more substantial to run its own police force. Soon however, the investments began to yield result; the heat became unbearable in Lagos that the hoodlums relocated to neighbouring states, making residents in the state to be able to sleep with their two years closed for so long.

    But that was until last Sunday. Many people who went to church had probably just returned and were relaxing at home when the news hit the air waves. I was somewhere on Dopemu Road when a call came from a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official who called the Lagos Traffic Radio and alerted of the robbery operation going on around the Agege area of the state. That was the road I and my family members that were going out were supposed to take; I only made a detour when I got to Dopemu Road so as to show them something along the way. So we did not have inkling of how serious the robbery was until we were returning and we took Capitol Road. It was there we saw a crowd of sympathisers and we knew it was not a joking matter.

    Given the manner of their operations, it would seem that the robberies in the metropolis on the day were well planned. That it took the better part of Sunday afternoon was one pointer to this. The robbers attacked a bureau de change at Agege where they shot some of the currency operators and carted away two sacks (Ghana-must-go bags) containing foreign and local currencies. They also reportedly gang-robbed in the Anthony, Ojodu, Itire, Ikeja, Ilasamaja and Gbagada areas of the state between 1.00 p.m. and 3.00 p.m. Obviously they came to Agege purposely to attack the bureaux de change operators there and they made a big catch. Indeed, if the stories of millions of naira and other foreign currencies the robbers were reported to have carted away there are true, then the people operating the bureaux de change attacked must know there are moles in their midst. If not, how come the robbers knew when such huge sums would be found on them?

    The robbers killed no fewer than six persons, including three policemen and a commercial bus driver. The incident was unfortunate for one because the Lagos State Government has invested heavily in the police, even as it has led the private sector to do same. As a matter of fact, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of the state was to launch 114 new patrol vans presented by the 20 local government areas and the 37 local council development areas in the state, 40 motorcycles and other equipment for the police, to battle rising wave of crime in the Lagos metropolis the day before the robbers struck. Also billed for launching for the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, were four big vans and an ambulance vehicle, bullet proof jackets and helmets. The other equipment, apart from the patrol vans, were donated by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, STF. Good enough, Mr Abubakar was present at the event.

    Could it have been that the robbers carried out their operations because they felt waiting until the equipment were launched could make the job more difficult and hazardous for them? We might need to investigate if there was no collusion between the hoodlums and some bad elements in the police. This is much more so that there were claims that the robbers probably intercepted police communication, hence they were able to navigate their way without much hitches.

    Well, the state police command has said the robbers made it easy because they (police) were trying to avoid a situation where there would be many civilian casualties. This makes sense. But the robbers’ success in their operations makes it imperative for the police to restrategise so they won’t be giving us the same excuse if the bandits decide to strike again. We are already in September and Christmas and the New Year celebrations are only a few months away. Everybody wants to celebrate; thieves, robbers and hard-working people. Whilst people who actually worked for their money would make their celebration low-key, knowing that January is usually a ‘long’ month, those who made cheap money from armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes want to celebrate big because every day is Christmas for them until they are caught.

    All said, we have to do something about unemployment in the country. Without mincing words, the governments, particularly the Federal Government, has to give Nigerians the enabling environment to do something worthwhile with their lives. It does not appear this government has the hands on the handle concerning what to do to stem the tide of unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, and if it has, it is damn too slow in making progress.

    Well, the Lagos State Police Command has said its men are not sleeping. Its spokesman, Ngozi Braide, a deputy superintendent, also debunked claims that there is an upsurge of crimes in the state. In her words, “There is no upsurge at all. Yesterday night (Tuesday September 11) we arrested eight suspected armed robbers with seven AK47 rifles and six locally made pistols. So, the men are not sleeping”. I agree with her that crime has gone down considerably in the state. But the state police command has to prove that it has gone down for good. And the only way to do that is to ensure, as the inspector-general has warned, that there is no repeat performance of last Sunday’s incident in the state. The command would also do well to apprehend the robbers as demanded by both Governor Fashola and Mr Abubakar. That will be the icing on the cake and a true deterrence to others who might be planning to replicate the act. That naturally should be the least to expect from a police command that the state government has had to bend over backwards to provide mobility, allowances and other forms of assistance. It will also be a way of ensuring that their colleagues and others killed by the bandits did not die in vain.

    So help them God.

  • For the large bank buildings, the economy was lost

    For the large bank buildings, the economy was lost

    This week, dear reader, this column is under the weather for various reasons. It is reeling right now under the weight of the Universal Madness Bug (UMB) that has bitten into different aspects of our universal existence. On the foreign scene, there is the one who allegedly makes a film in America while others pay the price for it with their lives without ever having watched the said film. At home, there is a government that has decided to be functionally indifferent to the protests of its people over its desire to introduce a central bank note of N5000. Then, there is the Nigerian market. Now, Nigerians have found themselves buying a small bowl of beans for the price it took them to buy nearly a bag of the stuff a year or two before. Yes indeed, friend, the world is gone mad, worse than the hatter! And the bank is to blame.

    Oh yes, there is a connection all right. Listen. The most recurrent nightmare most men (or women) have in this world is not knowing where to empty their bladders and bowels. No, that comes second. The one that comes first is not having something to put into the system in the first place that would require emptying. The story is told that somewhere in the world, people queued up for the services of a bathroom. The first man, who was rather fat, entered and everyone on the queue could hear the belch and the fart loudly as he relieved himself. He came out refitting his belt with quite some difficulty and everyone thought, there goes a highly satisfied man. Life has been kind to his mouth. The second man went in and everyone could also hear the gurgling sounds coming from his nether regions and everyone thought, as he also came out refitting his belt with difficulty, that life had treated his hands kindly. He got something to do. The third man to go in was a thin, desperately poor man who nevertheless hated to advertise the fact. He hated the fact that people would know he was poor if he could not bring out sounds of wealth from his bowels. So, he went in, sat a while on the bowl and began to make very impressive thunder-like sounds. Thinking it was about to rain, everyone ran for cover. After doing his little business, the poor man came out thinking, life is good.

    Seriously, I read in the news this last week about how a minister was complaining loudly that the banks had contributed little to the Nigerian economy, and I thought, ain’t that right! I have said it umpteen times here (or was it in my dreams?) that the Nigerian banks are more pre-occupied with making money than rendering any service. All you have to do is listen to the obscene, year-end profits declared by these banks to know that many things are not right. I always think, what business has a bank to go declaring profits when it has not carried out its real business? You ask me what their real business is? I’ll tell you.

    The real business of the banks is to cater to my business needs. I want to buy/build a house, buy a car, plant pineapples, raise chickens, feed birds, buy shoes, etc., I should be able to contact my banker. Indeed, in many cultures, valued family relationships are often in this order: father, mother, family doctor-lawyer-banker, children, etc. In many societies, the banker gets called to a death-bed the same time as the doctor. So, who says bankers are not important? The truth is that Nigerian bankers have abandoned their first love: their clients, and have gone after money; or houses (in the fashion of the former Oceanic Bank boss) or both. This is why they cannot serve their nation, like good youth corps members. As I am writing this, I have no idea who the manager of my bank is; neither, I dare say, does he even know that I am his client, thank God.

    Nigerian banks can be more contributory to the Nigerian economy if they would just take a few short steps. First, our banks should please stop making money the end of, rather than the means to, good service. Imagine, how can a single bank be left in the enviable position to scramble madly for money at all costs? If I did that, I would be sent to prison. It is a distortion of duties when banks run wildly after money in order to make quick gains which the manager then sits over, as we have seen done in many of the cases before the courts. Don’t we know that puts the said managers in all kinds of danger, such as being sitting targets for all kinds of friendships? In gatherings now, bank managers are introduced after governors.

    Now, listen to this story which really happened, I assure you. Once, someone was posted to a town to oversee the operations of the newly established branch of his bank. Naturally, he asked his nearest though poor relation in that town for a church he and his family could attend. At the church, the manager and his family were introduced to the overseer of the church by this same relation. Soon, the same relation noticed a fast friendship developing between the overseer and the bank manager. In a short while, the friendship rapidly grew to the point of exchanging home visits. The poor man felt rather left out. ‘In all the years I have been attending that church, the overseer never visited me,’ he grumbled.

    Again, I have sort of noticed that Nigerian banks seem to have a predilection to build preposterously big buildings and I always ask, whatever for? Why on earth does each bank feel so compelled to put up such mammoth, gigantic, beautiful, awesome buildings? No wonder my money does not come out of the ATM machine so fast: it has a long distance to cover. Clearly, you do not need a very large space to do business involving millions of any currency and I am talking from experience — no, not my own experience, someone else’s.

    You remember the children’s rhyme that goes something like this: for the loss of a shoe, the horse was lost, for the loss of a horse the soldier was lost and for the loss of a soldier the battle was lost, don’t you? Well, for the large buildings which shield our bankers and their operations, the Nigerian economy is going… going… Right now, the banks cannot see the economy because their views are blocked by their large buildings. I honestly cannot find any reason at all to construct large buildings, particularly now that ATMs are stationed by the roadsides where rain and sun and armed robbers visit the poor heads of the users.

    So, here’s what I think. I think bank managers should go outside and take a look at their buildings and then decide if they really need them. Their decisions may even help them reduce their overhead costs. Then they should commit more into agriculture. This is where our bowl of beans comes in. If farmers are made the targets of at least a good part of the banks’ resources, surely the advantages will come round to us all. Food prices would come down. Families would, for instance, stop counting the number of beans to put on the children’s plates and, more importantly, the farmer may get to be able to bring some of his earnings back to the bank for safe-keeping. Then, more agriculture-related businesses can open up. Seriously, I would rather that the central bank addressed this problem before thinking about introducing new notes.

     

  • Nigeria’s shoppers rival Russia and the Middle East for West End spending

    Nigeria’s shoppers rival Russia and the Middle East for West End spending

    ON her twice-yearly visits to London from Nigeria, Victoria Appiah stocks up on everything she needs for the next six months. “I basically only do food shopping back home,” she says, standing outside Marks & Spencer’s flagship store in Marble Arch, central London. “It’s not that you can’t get these things in Lagos, but everything here is much more reasonably priced.

    “If you want cheap products, Chinese-made have taken over in Nigeria, and you can’t always vouch for quality.”

    Thousands of Nigerians agree. Visitors from the west African nation are the UK’s fourth biggest foreign spenders, ringing up an average £500 in each shop where they make purchases – four times what the average UK shopper spends.

    Holidaying or visiting relatives abroad is increasingly open to millions of middle class Nigerians, with the number of visitors to the UK increasing by more than 50% to 142,000 a year in the decade ending 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. In a country projected to become Africa’s biggest economy next year, and the world’s fifth most populous by 2050, businesses at home and abroad are cashing in. In Debenhams’ Oxford Street branch, signs in Hausa, one of the official Nigerian languages in the country’s largely impoverished north, direct shoppers to items on sale. This year, the shop said that Nigerian customers were its biggest overseas spenders.

    Daily flights plying the lucrative route between Nigeria and the UK have ballooned in the last decade. British Airways permits almost double the normal baggage allowance for the six-hour haul.

    In some cases, Nigerians are literally using their deeper pockets on sprees. Shola Obadeyu wore a heavy duffel coat while queueing in Heathrow for a flight back to her sweltering home city of Abuja. “I can save [airline] baggage space by putting small things like vest tops and underwear in the pockets,” she said as she queued with other passengers, almost all struggling with bulging suitcases. Back in Abuja, Obadeyu sells wares bought in London “at prices that don’t kill you”.

    Others are tapping the market. A mushrooming middle class snapped up 10m microwaves last year. Big name brands from Apple to Zara have sprung up to feed those aspirations.

    The African-based discount supermarket giant Shoprite is pouring $205m into its current three outlets in Nigeria, while the US hypermarket Walmart sees scope for 50 outlets in the country.

    On a recent trip back from Europe, Marie Claire Lienou lugged 50kg of frozen meat in a freezer bag back to Nigeria. “You can’t compare [Shoprite’s] prices here with their prices in Europe. For 10 steaks there I can buy two here. You just pay what you have to for the convenience and guarantees,” she said, pushing a trolley laden with relative luxuries such as bagged salads.

    “Nigeria is very crowded, traffic is terrible, fakes [wares] are everywhere. The only thing I’ll buy from the market is fresh bulk vegetables, because there are no fake tomatoes,” she added.

    Being middle class in Nigeria isn’t cheap. In a brightly lit KFC across the shopping centre, Taiwo Edun, an engineer, treated his girlfriend to crispy chicken and chips, a luxury beyond the reach of many at $20 (£13) a pop.

    “I don’t consider myself in the super-rich class, I’m not chartering flights for my friends to go on holiday like some Nigerians can. But I can come here maybe once a month,” he said.

    The widespread corruption and infrastructure woes that plague Nigeria – including daily power blackouts that are smoothed over by millions of generators – push up the costs of running businesses here, keeping most dependent on informal, market-style retail.

    Abrupt plans to introduce a new 5,000 naira (£20) note worth five times the current highest bill have caused an outcry, with market sellers saying it would drive up prices.

    On the back of one of the notes will be Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of the Afrobeat singer Fela Kuti. Ransome-Kuti made her name as an activist with a mass protest against policies that increased prices for market women.

    Meanwhile, those who can afford it continue to see a better deal abroad. The country’s central bank throws billions of dollars into propping up the naira at artificially high rates, hurting millions of local exporters and encouraging Nigeria’s shopping exodus.

    Indicating her clutch of M&S carrier bags, Appiah said it was her five-year-old grandson’s favourite shop.

    “As long as the weather is not too cold, Nigerians will be shopping in London,” she said.

    Source: www.guardian.co.uk

     

     

  • Nigeria: What went wrong? (2)

    Nigeria: What went wrong? (2)

    In the part one of this write-up, I tried to stir up our minds regarding the good glorious days and the degenerating downward dip Nigeria seems to be heading despite all the natural and human endowments she is blessed with. It was pointed out in the first part, that there is the need to ask ourselves some probing and agitating questions now. In starting this second part, it is pertinent to simply and squarely state that we as Nigerians must prepare our minds to answer and address these questions sincerely, seriously and assiduously if we are to get out of this conundrum of cluelessness, callousness and corruption devouring the soul and spirit of our nation. Hear one elderly Nigerian that gave a glimpse of those good and glorious days:

    “The 1970s? That was the time I was an undergraduate. We all went to university free of charge and ate the best of food. While attending lectures or reading in the library, your bed was being made. All free! Yes free. We ate the best of diets…Before you finished writing your degree exams, you had three job offers in your hand.” (sic)

    What Went Wrong?

    Impatience

    Can it be stated that Nigerians are impatient with our leaders and the process? Could it be, if we had been patient with Tafawa Balewa or Murtala Muhammed/Obasanjo or Buhari/Idiagbon, we would not have been at this messy bus stop our nation is? It is alleged by some that Nigerians are impatient as we want good governance like an instant coffee. It is like, if we will have it, then, we must have it now: due process or not! Even in Singapore and Malaysia, where there were strong leaders with penchant, proactive and patriotic political will to initiate transformation agenda with commendable success, it took the duo of Lee Kuan Yee and Mohamad Mahathir respectively many years to inculcate and institutionalise the process of good governance and nation building into the fabric of their nations. My sojourn in the two countries for seven years and interaction with their citizens made me to come to this conclusion.

    Within the West African context, Ghana today is far better in terms of virtually all indices for measuring good governance than Nigeria but they endure great trying times when Jerry Rawlings was having it raw with the system and the sycophants that were then dragging the country towards a precipice. Be that as it may, there are some other Nigerians whose opinions is that we have not been really blessed as a nation to have a real visible, visionary, viable and versatile leader at the saddle at the centre who is so passionate and proactive to initiate and institutionalise transformational changes at vital levels such as infrastructural development, agro allied, health, education, power, housing, security, and job creation.

    Military Incursion Into Governance

    A section of Nigerians still think that the early political leaders would have adapted and adjusted to learning the democratic ropes had there be no military aberration into governance. The main job of the military is to guard and protect the sovereignty of the Nigerian nation from internal and external aggression. However, in Nigeria, and most especially some countries in Africa, military incursions were popular few decades back. The men in uniform (khaki) surreptitiously came in to introduce ‘reforms’ which later were the undoing of many nations where they held sway. For instance, the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) during the heyday of General Babangida, is a good reminder of the road that we must never pass again as a nation.

    Corruption: Hydra-headed demon

    Before signing off on the military incursion into our political life, it will be good to mention that even though corruption is present to a degree, it was during the military era that the hydra headed demon was dignified and deified to the point of institutionalisation. Was it not during the infamous IBB regime that corruption was practiced and peddled in high quarters until it went viral like cancer covering the whole flesh, soul and spirit of the Nigerian nation? It was so bad then that it seemed every Nigerian has a price tag on his/her head. I remembered then that the most common word in the lexicon of Nigerians was “settlement”.

    Oil Doom with accompanying evils

    The discovery of crude oil brought so much joy and Nigeria suddenly became wealthy. After decades of oil prospecting, production, and marketing, Nigerians are very poor with many living less than minimal level universally acceptable. In effect, one can state without mincing words: “Nigeria: Rich Country, Poor People!” When we were growing up as teenagers, our elderly ones were then reveling in the richness of Nigeria while our leaders did not have the vision for growth; possessed little education regarding socio-economic development and management of human and natural resources. It was like too much money with little leadership acumen!

    Then came the Udoji Award in 1973 resulting in the great increase in wages and promotion of many public servants with their emoluments backdated to upwards of six months! Many Nigerians were on spending spree buying electronics, clothing, cars, wristwatches, etc. Our leaders did not have the foresight then to aggressively develop our infrastructure. What do we have to show for our petrol dollar? Howbeit, we still have some feeding fat on pension forgetting that the days of reaping and reckoning are coming for those who made lives difficult for the average Nigerians.

    Bad Governance

    It is undeniable and almost incontrovertible that many Nigerians today attribute our parlous state to clueless and visionless leaders at all levels especially at the centre. This is the thought of Professor Chinua Achebe, the enigmatic and erudite scholar, as contained in his treatise on Nigeria: “The Trouble With Nigeria”, in which he saliently and succinctly stated that “I am saying that Nigeria can change today if she discovers leaders that have the ability, the will and vision.” Achebe’s book was published in 1983, and I would say that that may be the situation then. Putting it simply and squarely, both leaders and followers are to be blamed for our present state. Be that as it may, the corrupt and cancerous climate gradually leading us to a precipice may be responsible for breeding bad followership who are cheering callous “dealers” (in sartorial splendour of leaders) to go on with catholic zeal and zest grounding the nation.

    Need for Restructuring

    It is the stand and stake of some that the centre is over loaded with matters that the states should handle leading to insecurity, resource control agitations, militancy, greed, avarice, political instability, championing of ethic chauvinism, unnecessary demand for more states while many of the existing ones are on the brink of insolvency or bankruptcy, etc. In essence, there is the need to revisit the system. Are we truly operating federating units or just called a federation? There is the need to dialogue in a National Conference to iron out certain issues if Nigeria will continue to exist as one indissoluble nation knowing we have many nations with the “nation” called Nigeria. This brings us to the next point that will be discussed in the next part of this series.

    I will sincerely value and appreciate your responses and/or feedback. Thank you for reading.

    Dr Ekundayo, an organizational management and leadership researcher and expert based in Ikeja, Lagos, can be reached via: drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com.

     

  • Air crashes, sacrificial cycles and the weekend phenomenon

    Air crashes, sacrificial cycles and the weekend phenomenon

    The Dana Air crash and the recent lifting of its suspension from flying in Nigeria has once again brought to the fore the issue of plane crashes and the safety of air travel in our country. The fact of the matter is that ninety nine per cent of fatal air crashes that have occured in Nigeria in the last 10 years have taken place on a weekend. The question is why is this so? Is it a mere coincidence or is there something more to it? What is it that is so different about those three precious days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday that make up our weekends? What is it that makes planes and helicopters drop from our skies, that causes the blood of our people to flow and that cuts short so many precious lives during the course of those three days? The facts are as follows. EAS Airline crashed in Kano on May 4th 2002 resulting in the loss of 77 souls. This took place on a weekend. An Aenail spray aircraft belonging to Berfieex Nigeria crashed in Bauchi State on March 6th 2004 with the loss of all the souls that were on board. This was on a weekend. A Nigerian Airforce jet crashed into some farmland in Yar Kanya, Kano State on Jan 28th 2005 resulting in the loss of the souls on board. This took place on a weekend. Bellview Airlines crashed in Lisa village just outside Lagos on 22nd Oct 2005 resulting in the loss of 117 souls. This took place on a weekend. Sosolisso Airline crashed in Port Harcourt on 10th December 2005 resulting in the loss of 108 souls. This took place on a weekend. ADC Airline crashed in Abuja on 29th Oct. 2006 resulting in the loss of 105 souls. This took place on a weekend.

    An aircraft belonging to Harka Air crashed in Lagos on June 24th 2005 with the loss of all the souls on board. This took place on a weekend. A Nigerian military plane crashed in Oko village, Benue State on Sept. 17th 2006 with the loss of 15 Generals of the Nigerian Army. This took place on a weekend. An OAS service helicopter crashed in Warri, Delta State on Nov. 10th 2006 with the loss of 4 souls. This took place on a weekend. Wings Aviation Airline crashed on March 15th 2008 in Cross River State with the loss of 6 souls. This took place on a weekend. In 2009 and 2010 there were a series of small light aircraft crashes, an Airforce jet crash and helicopter crashes that all resulted in the loss of souls. They mostly took place on a weekend.

    An OAS Helicopter crashed in Ife Odan in Osun State on 29th July 2011 resulting in the loss of 3 souls. This took place on a weekend.

    On June 2nd 2012 A Nigerian cargo plane shot off the runway into the highway behind Accra’s Kotoka Int. Airport resulting in the death of 10 Ghanaian nationals that were driving past the airport in a bus. This took place on a weekend. The following day on June 3rd 2012 Dana Airlines crashed into a residential area in the suburbs of Lagos resulting in the loss of 176 souls. This took place on a weekend. Curiously the Dana crash of June 3rd 2012 took place exactly 10 years and one month (less one day) after the EAS crash of 4th May 2002 had taken place. This clearly represents the end of a 10 year sacrificial cycle. Another curious fact is that there had been an earlier ADC Airline plane crash on 7th November 1996 in which 142 souls had perished. Exactly 10 years (less 9 days) later, on 29th Oct 2006, another ADC Airline plane crashed with the loss of 105 souls. This again represents the end of a ten year sacrificial cycle. If the skeptics are ready to waive away the weekend crash phenomenon as a mere coincidence that has nothing to do with the paranormal, what would they say about the ten year cycle? Is that a coincidence too?

    I do not seek to create panic, alarm or fear by sharing this information and neither do I wish to disrespect the dead or to be insensitive to their loved ones. I rather believe that we have a duty to find out and expose precisely who and what was responsible for their deaths and to do all we can to ensure that such terrible things and such strange patterns of events do not recur. We owe both the living and the dead that much. Without digging deep, looking within ourselves, indulging in spiritual reflection and thinking outside the box we cannot possibly do this. Quite apart from that I am very mindful of the fact that knowledge is power and we need to begin to gather all the relevant facts and do the research in order to fully appreciate and understand precisely what we are dealing with. All that is done in darkness must be brought to light and all that is hidden must be exposed. Secrecy, strange practices, spiritual wickedness in high places, rituals, sacrifice, ignorance, occultism and mysticism must give way to the power and workings of the Holy Spirit and to the light of truth.

    They say to solve a problem one must first recognise it for what it is. In order to break this jinx and free ourselves from this strange pattern of events and frightful cycle of crashes the aviation authorities must continue to work very hard, the necessary reforms must be put in place, the airline operators must be far more mindful of their responsibilities, the flying public must be far more vigilant and, most important of all, we must all pray to the Living God to keep our airspace and our air travellers safe and sound. The importance and efficacy of such prayers cannot be overemphasised if this evil cycle and pattern is to be broken. The great philosopher C.S. Lewis once said that the greatest trick that the devil ever played on mankind was to make him accept the idea that he does not exist. Many have fallen for that trick, yet the sad truth is that he not only exists but that he is also alive and well on planet earth. Worst, still he has many followers and many delight in doing his bidding. After the attack on the United States of America on September 11, 2001, George W. Bush said the following famous words, ‘’It is enough to know that evil, like good, exists. In those that do such things, evil has found a willing servant.” This is wisdom. Sadly, evil has found many willing servants in our beloved country Nigeria. May the souls of those that have perished in our skies continue to rest in perfect peace. Happy flying.

     

    •Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation

     

  • Who will stop this national dishonour?

    Who will stop this national dishonour?

    About time we re-jigged the honours awards

    Nigerians do not judge the greatness of their country by the number of national honours compatriots and friends receive. If they did, no country would match theirs which bristles with over 150m souls. Rather than ascribe any greatness to this annual ritual, they are largely filled with contempt. Tomorrow, a hefty batch of 149 Nigerians and others will wear assorted batches of honour, adding to the discomfort of critics.

    I criticise the awards but am compelled to put things in perspective. First, a nation’s leadership ought to recognise citizens who lift its profile. There are people of unimpeachable character who made the shortlist. To that extent, there is nothing wrong honouring one’s own. Second, those who oppose the awards do not necessarily have any personal grouse with people who made the shortlist, else the critics’ exertions will amount to nothing more than “bad belle,” as we say in local parlance. Three, opposition to the awards is not a blind attack on the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency or administration. Before the President came on the scene, these dubious awards were already a tradition, cast in Aso Rock.

    That is precisely why this piece seeks a rethink of the awards with a view to removing the dishonour that has trailed the national honours. That is why I hope that Jonathan will be the man to make the difference and offer us something profound, worth celebrating.

    I am aware that the National Honours Awards is backed by a piece of legislation dating back to 1964. But I do not doubt that majority of Nigerians believe the exercise is far from what its initiators had in mind. I imagine that creators of the awards hoped to reward sublime service to the fatherland and, by that token, inspire every other Nigerian. I imagine that those who fashioned the awards did so not in their own image but to reflect the unquestionable contributions of countrymen and women. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, was not hailed GCFR or Grand Commander of the Federal Republic. Nor was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first President. Nor, indeed, were Premiers of the Regions. Can we, by any stretch of the imagination, contend that latter-day administrators and recipients of national honours are giving more to the fatherland than their predecessors did?

    Every society, no matter how small or remote, has a way of recognising and rewarding its heroes and heroines. That was why, in a village, you could have just one or two persons addressed as Chief or picked out for one form of honour or another. They probably defended the community in a way only few did or ever will. Maybe, they saved lives at the risk of their own. Maybe, everywhere they went their integrity preceded them. One way or another, they deserved to be honoured, but neither paid nor lobbied for it, nor were foisted on the people by powerbrokers.

    This picture has since changed, of course. You can get any honour you please, even a crown and throne. If none existed, a new one can be fashioned in your image.

    We all agree that the standards have since crashed in matters of chieftaincy titles. Now, we must all concede that the principles of the national honours have also been lowered. There are more questions asked, less answers given. For instance, what qualifies you for the national honours? Is it the office you occupy or your impact in that office? Or is it the size of your bank account or fleet of cars? Is one’s character a determining factor? And what is the expediency of these awards?

    Some of our present-day heroes, as determined by the National Honours Awards, are picking up their awards in the first year of attaining office. In other words, the office makes the award, not the officer. It offers the wrong sort of incentive to such office seekers including those seek it through foul means. The end justifies the means, I must conclude.

    There are those, too, whose bank accounts are very deep, their cars a dizzying fleet, but their constituencies remain eternally unsatisfied and angry at the way those moneybags became their leaders. Are those people worthy of our national honours? And then, there is the issue of where the physically challenged stand in the matter. The point has been made that they deserve to be honoured. Why not? If the aim is to reward excellence, it is even a more compelling reason to celebrate those who do well in spite of deformity. They have a bigger story to tell than their able-bodied compatriots. While the strong, as it were, foundered at the Olympics, the weak broke records at the Paralympics. What a way to tell youngsters that victory awaits those with a will to fly and fly high enough.

    A certain inspired man called Paul, once said all things may be needful but not expedient. It may be needful to bestow awards but must it be an annual ritual? And considering the challenges facing the country, why continue to indulge in a ritual that adds to the challenges?

  • National bazaar

    National bazaar

    Another National Honours season and again, President Jonathan fails to make a statement

    It was nothing short of a debacle last year. The icing on the unsavoury cake was during the ceremony when right there before live television, the president ran out of medals to hang around the necks of some of the awardees. The round metal ware simply finished and the procedure had to be suspended. Well before the elaborate ceremony, the sheen had been taken off what ought to be a glorious national affair when by far the most illustrious nominee among the pack last year, Professor Chinua Achebe, declined the largesse. Having turned it down once before in 2004, he said the deplorable conditions for which he did so had not improved. Achebe’s snub, the sour retort from the Presidency and the ensuing uproar framed last year’s show, making what ordinarily ought to be a cherished little metal almost worthless to recipients and prompting the President to promise a review of the process the following year.

    Here we are again, the list of national honorees is out and nothing really has changed. The number is still large and unwieldy; a total of 149 – far more than what an American president would give out in four years in the equivalent Presidential Medal of Freedom (PMoF). In fact there are so many things wrong with the manner Nigeria’s National Honour is managed today that the wise option may be to suspend the show for a few years.

    Apart from the large number, an award that must only be bestowed on those who have most distinguished themselves in their fields of endeavour as stipulated by the law establishing it, is now handed out to anyone who wants it badly enough. Thus populating the list are politicians, elected officials, businessmen and government appointees. We see for instance, about a dozen Senators and House of Representatives members on the list who have been selected not for any remarkable legislative work but perhaps, because they are favoured. It is the same for Justices of the Supreme Court. Not for any notable excellence at the bench or landmark pronouncements and bodies of work, no; it seems only sufficient to rise to the apex court to be deserving of the high honour of a Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR).

    The same logic holds true for handing out the award to sitting governors, federal ministers, permanent secretaries and all manner of nominees from state governments. We strain to see the criteria employed by the selection committee but cannot find any; neither can we see the requisite rigour needed in discharging a duty of this magnitude which output ought to symbolise the very essence and character of our nation. The highest award in the land ought to project the most distinguished and the best exemplar of our national life. But we see on the list, people who bear about them, the bold question marks of infamy and some who are currently under the scrutiny of graft agencies. There are even allegations that certain categories of the award were on shelves where those who wanted them desperately could acquire them. We can only put it down to a mindless debasement and bastardisation of what ought to be one of our most prized national assets. And it brings us to the question: what is our national essence?

    We admit that this year’s list is an improvement on the last one but only by a token, as the deserving awardees can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

    This award is strictly the prerogative of the Presidency and it is the place of the President to restore credibility and respect to it. There are Nigerians high and low who are truly deserving of honour and it will be a test of the perspicacity of the Presidency to find them, wherever they may be across the globe, and single them out for honour. As we have said on this page several times before, the Presidency must stand firm in dispelling the notion of the National Honour as a largesse to or reward for loyal friends and party stalwarts. It is not a status symbol or a badge of ‘honour’ for the high and mighty. The awardees need not be more than a dozen each year who would symbolise the very essence of our nation. It should never be given to serving government appointees or officials unless in exceptional circumstances.

    Let people buy up all other awards on earth but our National Honour must be pristine and must be jealously guarded and preserved. If we honour unfit characters, we elevate these traits to our national ethos and it is indeed an affront and assault to our collective psyche. Handing out our National Honour to the undeserving is an affront to our fatherland. What we ask of the President does not require a billion naira budget or any especial rigour, but the sheer will to do the right thing no matter the odds. That is the touchstone of quality leadership.

  • The BRT on Ikorodu Road

    The BRT on Ikorodu Road

    I am writing to comment on the effectiveness of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system which was introduced on the Ikorodu -Owode – Mile 12 road a few years ago by the administration of Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State.

    Since that road was decongested by the BRT buses, it has been very easy and safe for commuters to travel from Ikorodu to other parts of the state. There is no doubt in the minds of those who do not even want to see anything good in the state to appreciate the fact that Ikorodu-Owode-Mile 12 residents are happier now.

    When I moved to Ikorodu in 2006, it was hellish. In fact, near impossible for me to go to work every morning. Often, I’d wake up as early as 4.30a.m in order to beat the early morning traffic. It got to a stage that my wife suggested we abandon our home in Ikorodu to go live somewhere closer to Apapa where my office was located.

    However, I contemplated on the incessant movement of the kids and my young family then. Today the BRT buses are stationed in choice and popular bus stops in the whole of Ikorodu metropolis; all you have to do is move to the bus stop nearest to your house. There you can board the one going to CMS, TBS or Costain directly and from there to other destinations.

    The arrangement is so comfortable and appealing to the people that today the usual tension on the roads and at the bus stops have considerably reduced. People can wake up at their own time now, walk leisurely to the bus stop and in a few minutes be at their destinations. Good soup, like we usually say in a local parlance, na money make am.

    Whoever says good thing is not good, well, let his wife beget a monkey-like baby for him and let’s see how he will feel. Governor Fashola has a human touch, with the zest of an urbane leader, civilised and foresighted. He is not like other Nigerian leaders who will travel abroad only to admire the good things there. When they come back they’ll glorify what they saw and enjoyed.

    Fashola visited places abroad where BRT is a huge success and came back to give us a replica of what we need here to live good and reasonable life. For those who may wish to know, BRT is a remarkable project in places like Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador and Porto Alegre, all major cities in Brazil in South America. Also in Bogota in Colombia, Brisbane in Australia and Jakarta in Indonesia, this mode of transportation have been in operation over time.

    In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city of twenty-five million people, sitting precariously on the Atlantic Ocean, the BRT system has come to put smiles on the faces of residents. It is so effective that most commuters even shun the rail and the underground tube. The success of BRT in Rio is so remarkable because like Lagos, it was the former capital of Brazil and today it is its main commercial nerve centre. The city is also 75% sand filled just like Lagos. I therefore commend Governor Fashola for his steadfastness in this regard. If he had done this system the other way round, people would have risen against him today.

    All we are saying is: let him travel more to come and replicate more juicy things to make life more pleasant for Lagosians. Ikorodu people will continue to give their kudos to him. Very soon Ikorodu will be a town to emulate.

     

    By Kola Ibitoye

    Ikorodu, Lagos

  • Local Content Bill and the insurance industry

    Local Content Bill and the insurance industry

    Growing the Nigerian economy can never be through a one-off government policy, but by developing a bouquet of policies whose implementation is intricately interwoven to achieve desired economic prosperity. The manifestations of the economic growth therefrom will be in the form of increased production of goods and services, higher industrial capacity utilization, direct and indirect employment generation, improved commercial and trading activities and ultimately, improved standard of living of the citizens and higher revenue to government from company and personal income taxes. And so the cycle of economic prosperity continues.
     It is in that context that the government of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan deserves commendation for signing into law in 2010 the Local Content Bill. The implementation of the law has begun to have impact on the economy in terms of human capacity development in all spheres of social and economic endeavor, especially oil and gas, generation of more employment opportunities and greater retention of capital within the economy that would have been spent as consultancy fees and salary for expatriates. Of particular interest is the current development in the insurance industry where underwriters and insurance brokers have shown greater capacity to insure and, to a reasonable extent, reinsure the high net-worth properties of government and its agencies and parastatals.
     Zeroing in on the oil and gas sector, Nigeria’s economy has been the greatest beneficiary with the insurance and reinsurance of the properties and equipment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) joint venture valued in millions of dollars. Years past, it used to be Lloyd of London that handled the account and repatriated all its gains, leaving the Nigerian economy high and dry. That is now history because the Local Content Law has effectively put paid to that. Perhaps in anticipation of a time like this, insurance underwriters and insurance brokers have shown keener interests in the oil and gas sector of the national economy and have gone all out to acquire enormous experience and expertise in oil and gas insurance. A considerable number now have the technical capacity to participate in providing effective cover for dollarized assets.
     The account of the NNPC joint venture is the focus here. Quite unfortunately, some insurers and brokers see the account as an opportunity to earn a share of the national cake so they desperately seek to be one of the brokers to insure NNPC’s multi-million dollars assets. They fail, deliberately or ignorantly to appreciate that the NNPC is a business entity being managed in the best national interest by a crop of competent and skilled Nigerians. These skilled NNPC staff ensure due diligence in awarding contracts and in the appointment of consultants as is compelling on all governments, agencies and parastatals in the country. Transparency has been the hallmark of their operations and that has translated into improved economic prosperity for the country.
     The due diligence which effectively shot out some brokers in the insurance of NNPC assets did not meet well with them. National interest, they felt, should be sacrificed for their selfish interest. Instead of doing a self-appraisal to determine why they failed to secure the NNPC account and brace for a better presentation the next year, they are stridently trying to discredit the NNPC management which acted in the best interest of the country. They alleged that the NNPC had violated the Local Content Law by reducing the number of brokers handling its account instead of increasing the number so as to spread the risk. They just refused to realise that effective insurance is not about the number but the capacity and competence of those employed.
     The kernel of the Local Content Law is the promotion of the involvement of indigenous companies and manpower and the use of locally produced goods and services in all areas of the petroleum industry. The implication is that if the NNPC finds only one company qualified and competent it can appoint only that company without any sentiments or prejudice. In so doing, NNPC would not have violated the local content law so long as the company is indigenously owned. The law does not compel NNPC to appoint any number of insurance brokers to insure its assets, only just that the broker must be an indigenous entity.
     These aggrieved brokers needed to be reminded that providing cover for the assets of NNPC is not job for the boys. Rather, it is a serious business for competent insurance brokers who show character and capacity to provide effective cover for the assets of NNPC joint venture. It gladdens the heart that they have not been able to fault the process of selecting the preferred brokers. The NNPC duly advertised in some national newspapers for interested brokers to express interest in the insurance of their properties and the advert specified all the requirements for qualification. If the requirements were inadequate, the brokers should have, in national interest, made the point rather than wait till after they were not deemed qualified to insure NNPC properties.
    The NNPC has consultants working for it in all spheres of life – health, education, communications, food and hygiene, engineering etc based on their capacity to deliver quality service and where any of them shows inability or complacency, its services are dispensed with without any row on the pages of the newspaper. So why will some insurance brokers resort to discrediting the NNPC for employing due diligence in picking fewer brokers to insure its properties?
     The action of these few brokers indicates that they are desperate. They probably were passengers in the last dispensation when a consortium of 34 insurance brokers handled the account, thus earned money without offering corresponding services. That is a most dishonourable way of earning a living. For sure, if they did offer quality service, the NNPC would have gladly reconsidered them first. Gone are the days when brokers who had no credible base and expertise could wish for and get reasonable accounts like that of the NNPC without justifying why they deserve to be retained as NNPC insurer. Rather than looking for ways to improve the quality of their services and how to better package their bid in future, they are dissipating energy by impinging on the credibility of NNPC under the cover of an association. They forget that the cover for NNPC assets is not an association issue but that of the competence, credibility, capacity and expertise of the company expressing interest in the insurance of the assets.
     The truth is that good corporate governance in Nigeria is taking a stronger foothold over and above the desire of a few to maintain the status quo. Both the Local Content Law and the Petroleum Industry Law require people of courage and character to get Nigeria flying to attain Vision 20:2020. The nation has the capacity. The insurance industry can play a significant role in the attainment of this goal. Central to the role of the insurance industry in achieving this are the insurance brokers. Without a strong insurance broking sector the insurance industry cannot go far and by implication the economy will be in danger.
    Therefore, brokers must be more up and doing in helping to drive the national economy positively through competent service delivery. Offering low quality service which may discredit the broking sector of the insurance industry is undesirable. Quacks and charlatans who masquerade as brokers but get plum accounts through their godfathers are a threat to the credibility of the insurance industry. Employing unethical practices or winning accounts through godfatherism must end.
    •Joy wrote in from the Delta State University, Abraka