The Nation Newspaper

Category: Dele Agekameh

  • Jobs, not ‘Chinese Rice’

    Jobs, not ‘Chinese Rice’

    The avoidable deaths of Saturday, March 15, when more than 18 unemployed persons were trampled upon and lost their lives at the kangaroo Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment exercise, have, once again, brought to the fore the dismal statistics of and the raging debates on the state of unemployment in Nigeria. However, amidst the calls for resignation, suspension, dismissal, the tragedy should not be a platform to vent pent-up anti-establishment feelings or try to score cheap political points. I think what went wrong should be something that will sensitise the government and the generality of the citizenry, towards finding a lasting solution to unemployment in the country. This issue has remained unaddressed in view of the wanton job preference that is usually displayed by the teeming number of employable youth when openings are either advertised or announced.

    The unfortunate incident should form the fulcrum on which a solid programme of employment generation – at both the public and private domains – should revolve, not one that should be subjected to the application of fleeting palliatives. A system that allows impoverished job seekers to pay money to obtain job application forms, which, in the main, does not even guarantee them a job, is sheer robbery by the privileged. According to the International Labour Organisation, ILO, unemployment statistics for 2012, there are 197 million persons currently out of work worldwide, which accounts for six percent of the total world workforce without a job. In the Nigerian context, the issue of unemployment is traceable to many factors that include the soaring population figure; proliferation of educational and vocational institutions; structural and frictional unemployment; and the one that has flourished for over four decades -the preference by many graduates (and non-graduates alike) for socially-elevating and wealth-creating positions in the banking and allied industry, mobile telecommunications; Customs, Immigration, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and other Para-military formations; foreign service etc which provides leverages for immediate financial and job fulfilment.

    Perhaps, more than any other thing, the tragedy of this craze for “preferential unemployment” is that a large percentage of those unemployed persons seeking placement in these “life-changing” working environments are least trained or suited for such positions. Therefore, one issue that is incidental to finding a lasting abatement to the issue of chronic unemployment is that of self-employment through job creation. Though not an end-all panacea for full employment, being one’s own employer provides self-fulfilment and the platform to manage available time and also create employment avenues for others. This is the ideal situation, and this is where entrepreneurship readily comes in.

    Sometimes, when the various governments – federal, states or local governments – talk about creating jobs, I wonder about the magic wand they intend to employ to create these jobs when, in actual fact, what is on ground does not show any genuine commitment to either grow or support entrepreneurship in the country. Entrepreneurship or investing, in the Nigerian context, runs like a torture process, especially where basic and strategic infrastructures that will foster the holistic setting-up and growth of commerce and industry are lacking, grossly inadequate or outmoded.

    Many unemployed persons who have attempted the self-employment solution have been constrained by bad roads; lack of constant and adequate power supply; non-provision of potable and regular water supply; stress-filled allocation process for suitable and adequate land in rural and urban areas, including the procurement of certificates of occupancy; the non-liberalisation of regulations, procedures and approvals for the formation of new commercial enterprises and industries; the dearth of professional advice with back-up services by the relevant government agencies. Above all, any prospective entrepreneur, especially those coming from the unemployment queue, are confronted with the most debilitating and excruciating hurdle: financial capital to actualise the dream of self-employment.

    If these critical draw-back factors are surmounted by the willingness and resolve of governments at the various levels to provide the enabling environment for commerce and entrepreneurship to thrive, then the magnitude of the unemployment statistics will be greatly reduced. In tackling the ever-present ogre of unemployment with its attendant social problems, Nigerians have been greatly fixated on the Keynesian model that emphasises a preference for government’s intervention in the economy to reduce the spiralling cases of unemployment in all the strata of the production chain and those of service providers.

    In reverse, there are certain government’s economic policies, programmes, actions and inactions, that tend to trigger recurrent shocks and disequilibrium that sometimes reduce the aggregate demand for goods and services, which, in turn, reduces the demand for workers. In essence, government intervention has more or less amounted to mere tokenism. They include job creation in the public service, financial stimuli to employers of labour in form of waivers, tax holidays, low interest rates, protective import restrictions etc.

    Available statistics point to the inexorable fact that rather than creating long-lasting job opportunities for the teeming unemployed persons, the various levels of government tend to provide glorified “soup kitchen” alternatives that only address those issues that expire or lapse with the tenure of such governments. These include street-cleaning; traffic and crowd-control; communal farming; revenue collection; business clusters and cooperatives and even thuggery or bodyguard gangs.

    When viewed from the prism of the failure of various governments in their primary responsibility profile to cater to the welfare of its people, it is pertinent to say that the fear of the unknown and lack of focus in career choice for self-employment, contribute in no small measure to the frightening population of unemployed persons in Nigeria. Therefore, what should engage the attention of all Nigerians at the moment, is providing a holistic solution to what could have propelled 522,650 jobless youth to apply for, pay the sum of N1,000 each and be short-listed for 4,556 actual vacant positions in the Nigeria Immigration Service.

    When we place undue emphasis on issues of reparation and restitution as atonement for the unfortunate death of the applicants, which are merely cosmetic and tangential, we only scratch the surface of the ingrained problem of acute unemployment rather than provide a satisfying and holistic solution. The nagging question has always been: why is a large proportion of our employable populace unemployed? The sore point of the unemployment bottleneck is that the unemployed, including those that lost their lives struggling to fill non-existent places and extricate themselves from the millions-strong unemployed queue, are victims of the weak leadership modems at federal, state and local levels that lack the political will to create or enable platforms to reduce the frightening unemployment statistics which have overshot the irreducible indices of the ILO.

    It is glaring that we have lost the battle to provide decent jobs for our teeming population of employable youth, especially graduates of various disciplines who are roaming the streets after many years of graduation. In retrospect, the tragic occurrences of Saturday, March 15, were avoidable if proactive actions and due diligence were applied in the fateful recruitment exercise, rather than the commercialization of a process that would assuage the unemployment status of the 522,650 applicants.

    The delegates at the on-going national confab should focus attention on the prime issue of unemployment in Nigeria, which should be given as much prominence as those tagged as contentious or important to the survival and continued cohesion of the Nigerian nation. It would be a good thing if the delegates can do away with getting enmeshed in discussing such inanities as ‘Chinese rice’ and what they need to fill their stomachs, their craze for high-decibel but meaningless titles and all that. Instead, they should concentrate more on the nagging issues of chronic unemployment among both the skilled and unskilled cadre of persons in the country, as well as, insecurity, especially the perpetually rising cases of ethno-religious conflicts all over the place. These should be part of the highpoint topics that should be in the same realm as that of fiscal responsibility and revenue allocation, devolution of powers, creation of local governments, elections and so on. In fact, unemployment in the country is a tinderbox waiting for a stray spark!

     

     

  • The Nigerian Agenda

    The Nigerian Agenda

    When President Goodluck Jonathan dropped the hint that a national conference was in the offing in October, last year, the whole country erupted into a frenzy of debates. Many thought it was a tall ambition. They, therefore, spared the President no chance at all. To them, it was impossible. Others viewed it differently. To this other category of people, it was worth a trial. Both groups then went the whole hog to canvass their positions, but the President did not blink, he stuck to his guns.

    First, he set up a consultative forum of eminent and not-so-eminent Nigerians. Their mandate was to gauge the pulse of the people, collate their opinions and see the desirability of holding the conference in the second quarter of the year. Though there were some stumbling blocks on its way, the committee toured the six geo-political zones of the country in a record time. Everywhere it went, the scenarios were different. When the committee was done with its consultations, it presented a report to the President in which it assured him that the consensus of people was that they were willing to dialogue.

    Pronto, the President, through Anyim Pius Anyim, former Senate President and now the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, quickly puts modalities in place. The result was the inauguration of the 492-man conference inside the hallowed hall of the National Judicial Council Secretariat in Abuja on Monday, March 17.

    The conference started with great optimism but there was also skepticism among discerning Nigerians who were not so sure that the exercise could produce the desired result which would allay the fears of the citizenry about the political acronym called Nigeria. This stems from the fact that there appears to be a conflict within and among the ethnic nationalities that were corralled together 100 years ago in the political definition called Nigeria. Since then, this ethnic conglomeration has flourished under the atmosphere of mutual suspicion and sometimes disdain for one another.

    In the last two weeks, series of events bordering on muscle-flexing and playing to the gallery have punctuated the conference as various speakers, one after the other, scheme to foster hidden agendas. Come to think of it, the trend of events is not entirely new in an exercise such as this. History is replete with several examples where diplomatic discussions have dragged on for several years, over several round-table conferences, before the desired breakthroughs were achieved.

    The country recently celebrated its 100th year of nationhood. What used to be Southern and Northern Protectorates were woven together in a holy wedlock (or is it unholy?) by the British-born Lord Frederick Lugard. In 1960, the country became independent, free from the clutches of British imperialism and with a new Constitution. That singular event did not come overnight. It was preceded by three conferences at Lancaster House in London in 1957, 1958 and 1959 before the actual Independence Conference, where Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, all now late, finally put pen to paper to seal the union that produced Nigeria.

    In 1963, the constitution was amended but it later followed an unpalatable path as it was being gradually and systematically destroyed by the vaulting ambition of some of the dramatis personae of the country’s evolution. When late Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola broke pact with Chief Awolowo of the Action Group in the early 60s, since he needed the then Federal Government to protect him against Awolowo and his group, he literarily signed away so many things to the northern oligarchy.

    Therefore, since July 1966, the constitution of the country has always been a North-dominated constitution. Gradually, the North has moved from being one-third of the country at Independence, to six out of the 12 states decreed by General Yakubu Gowon (retd.), who became the Head of State in July 1966. From then on, it has moved gradually until late General Sani Abacha made the North 19 states out of the 36 states of the country in 1996. The old Western Region got eight states, while the old Eastern Region got nine states. What this means is that the north has assumed control over more than 50% of the country, leaving less than 50% to the rest of the country.

    For many years, whatever the North said became law. Now, ever since, this is the first time that the country is discussing. Hitherto, the military had dominated the whole period with the North always having the upper hand in everything and every coup in the country. What I believe is subtly playing out at the ongoing National Conference is the fear of the North that the South might treat them the way they had been treating the South all this while.

    In several conversations I had with some of the key delegates at the conference, across the country last week, it was clear that the climate of mutual suspicion, distrust and mistrust pervading this conference is so thick that it could be sliced with a knife. This is simply a manifestation of the old and archaic belief that one section of the country is superior to the others. The truth of the matter is that, in the reality of the present-day Nigeria, that assumption is no longer tenable as it is unacceptable. It is no longer “what we have, we keep”. This conference should afford each side of the divide the ample opportunity to state what they want. It is now left to the moderators, who are men of excellent pedigree, men who have distinguished and acquainted themselves creditably in their various professional careers, to pilot the conference successfully and steer it out of rancour and unnecessary acrimony.

    It is on record that when the issue of voting pattern erupted, the moderators quickly came to the rescue by constituting a balanced committee of 50 wise men to pave way for a compromise. Initially, the South wanted 66 percent votes to constitute a simple majority, while the North stuck to 75 percent as proposed by the President. After much consultation and arguments for and against, the North conceded 5 percent and came down to 70 percent while the South moved up by 3 percent or so. It will be good enough if they can reach a compromise on 70 percent. Like a Yoruba adage says: “Oju lasan ko la fi ngbomo lowo ekuro,” meaning “it is not easy to extract palm kernel from palm fruit.”

    So, for the Lamidos of this world and his ilk, we must all bear it in mind that we are living together in the same country. It is the responsibility of all of us to preserve and protect what we have. That was why probably the President said so much at the inauguration of the conference that the only agenda should be a “Nigerian Agenda,” not a Northern or Southern agenda. Whatever may be our desires, and I suppose they are reasonable ones, we should endeavour to canvass our positions without issuing vague threats; we must negotiate, we must be flexible, and we must concede where necessary.

    The North would have to realise that it can no longer force anything, just any concoction, down people’s throats. Let us accept the reality that history and sociology conferred on our multi-ethnic and multi-cultural existence, which we must guard jealously in order to preserve the bond of nationhood that binds us together. This is because in our diversity lies our strength as a nation and that is if we are able to rise above primordial and or clannish interests.

    Above all, all the delegates at the conference should take cognisance of one thing: “hungry and angry boys” are out there waiting restlessly for the outcome of this jaw-jaw. Therefore, let us stick to the rule of commonsense and avoid plunging the country into a needless vicious circle of conflict and bloodshed. Let us remember that the greatest wars in history ended up on a conference table where binding decisions are taken. At the end of the day, deaths and destructions that usually accompany all devastating wars become regrettable features of our lives. I think we can do without that in this country.

  • NIS: Extermination, not examination

    NIS: Extermination, not examination

    In the wake of the hullabaloo that greeted the unfortunate death of more than 19 applicants at the charade recently organised by the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, I reached out to Evelyn Abiodun, my niece, who participated in the event at the National Stadium, Abuja. Below are extracts from her account of the tragedy:

    “Exams into Nigeria Immigration Service holds (sic) Saturday, March 15, at 7am in your preferred exam state. Come along with a comfortable fitness wear” was what we were told. Harmless message, so it seems, but with unexpected consequence.

    The day before the ‘exercise’, Friday, March 14, I set out early to get all the necessary requirements ready. The preparation included shopping in the market for a pair of white shorts and shirt, white socks and running shoes. I also went to a government-owned hospital to obtain my medical fitness pass. I had arranged all my credentials, read up some past question papers and headed to bed with my alarm set for 4am the next day.

    “At 3:50am, earlier than my set alarm time, I was up from my bed, as I couldn’t put my head to rest from revising and envisioning how the day would look like. I was ready at exactly 4:45am, waiting for the taxi I had hired to come and pick me up at 5am (which cost me more than I would have paid anyway). I took off for the venue of the exercise, National Stadium, Abuja. In my excitement, I was already wearing my sport wear in the taxi because I couldn’t afford to be late or sloppy as a result of not being properly dressed before the exercise would take off.

    “On getting to the venue, my head stopped thinking for a while. I was startled by what I saw. Thousands of people were already at the venue! What! At 5:30am? What were they all doing overnight? Watching the clock tick all night? Or they just woke up earlier than I did? I thought that was shocking, not until I waited 10 more minutes to see troops pouring in. And it wasn’t even 6am yet! Then, the reality of how the day would look like kept sinking into my head. I was beginning to panic at the sight of the crowd alone. It then dawned on me that this must be the jungle for ‘the survival of the fittest’ – although many people didn’t seem qualified to me (they were so old, I could have sworn they were my grandparents’ age-mate).

    “As the day went on, at 7am, there was no more air to breathe, even in an open space. I was suffocating many times, as well as the rest of us. Hungry and confused, (I didn’t have breakfast because I thought we were actually going to do a fitness test), I walked around, assessed people, listened to their conversations; at least, I thought, to console myself that the crowd might actually reduce, as I saw many people who didn’t meet the requirements and there could be other reasons to disqualify many. I saw a good number of pregnant women and nursing mothers. What were they doing in this kind of exercise?

    “We were tossed around like ‘zombies’ most of the time. Walking and running around, whichever direction the crowd was going, even if we didn’t hear any firsthand announcement from the officers present. Yet, there was no sign of us actually getting into the stadium and we were drying up under the sun like damp clothes, with the officers watching helplessly across the gates. We waited and kept the hope of getting into the stadium, but no sign, not even a simple address from any of the officials present. Like marooned people, we were left alone and confused for hours!

    “Sometime around 12noon, to my greatest astonishment, I saw people climbing over the gates to get in. Suddenly, we were all struggling to climb the gates together; it looked to me like it might be the only way into the stadium anyway. Men and women struggling to climb and jump over the gates; it was a jungle indeed! As I tried to squeeze myself through the squash, then I noticed they had opened a small gate on the other side. I began to change my direction towards the gate instead. But that was also not an easy way to go, as it was tightly guarded by the crowd of people trying to get through. Many sustained all kinds of injuries in the process of struggling, but I was lucky to have made it in one piece.

    “Having finally made it through the squash, what next? We were told to sit according to our qualifications – higher degree holders were to sit upstairs and the rest to sit downstairs. I made my way upstairs and noticed all the seats there were as dusty as a desert. The usual struggle was not as bad as it was downstairs. I got my seat cleaned and sat down, awaiting the next call. We’ve been seated for more than one hour now; I was thirsty, hungry and tired at the same time.

    “I later went down to get something to eat and drink. The prices of refreshment had astronomically increased! Gala (usually N50) was sold at N100; Nestle bottled water (usually N100) sold at N200; pure (sachet) water (usually N10) was sold at N50. The most ridiculous of them all, a pack of jollof (white) rice with no meat and obviously no flavour was sold at N300! Why? N10 pencil was sold at N50, for those who didn’t come with their writing materials. Some people thrived on the suffering of others and were making cool cash on the spot. So sad!

    “As we sat, we noticed ambulances going in and out. People were being rushed into ambulances. Some of them had sustained serious injuries, while some had lost their lives in the midst of it all. May their souls find rest. That was the saddest point of the day for me. We still sat there for hours; no sign of anything going on at the venue. Everybody got impatient and frustrated at the long silence and lack of empathy shown to us. I mean we were out to look for job and not to be treated like refugees.

    “In no time, the anxious crowd started doing things to keep themselves busy. Some of the applicants entertained us with performances on the tracks – parades, football matches (sachet water bags were turned into football), running competition, funny kung fu practices and so on. I was sitting up there, clapping and hailing them (out of boredom). But as I watched people perform, I came to a realization: we actually do have many wasted talents in this country. If people could be so creative and entertaining, why on earth are these talents not adequately trained and utilised?

    “About 4pm, when everyone was tired and many had lost hope (including me), the examination kicked off. As if the wasted hours were not enough insult, the examination was the biggest of them all! The question papers could barely go round (of course, the crowd was more than the number of papers they brought in); the questions comprised 30 objective mathematics questions only. There was no supervision or rules guiding the exam – you could actually discuss the answers with the next person and just anyone around you who knew the answer. In fact, you could answer your phone calls while you write. Everywhere was noisy and rowdy. In short, it was my greatest point of discouragement because it was obvious to me that the examination was just a cover-up.

    “After I had submitted my paper (only God knows what I did in there), I left for my house, looking like I just got out of a mud fight. On getting home, I didn’t even have the energy to speak with anyone as I went straight to bed. As I lay there, I thought to myself: ‘Was it really an examination or extermination?’

  • An avoidable friction

    An avoidable friction

    A few weeks ago, precisely on Wednesday, March 5, under the headline: “Wanted: A war cabinet,” this column wrote: “ …The only way out of this quagmire in which the country has been enmeshed all this while is the urgent need for the President to form a war cabinet… A senior cabinet minister must coordinate the ‘war’. As things are now, it may be impossible for the National Security Adviser, NSA, the only person who probably performs the role of coordinating the military interventions in the North-east, to summon any of the head of the services to a meeting – I mean summoning someone like the Chief of Army Staff or the Chief of Air Staff that are both involved in managing the crisis to a meeting – not to talk of the Chief of Defence Staff. They will just ignore him because the NSA is more or less a Staff Officer to the President. That is why there is the need to quickly put a war cabinet in place.”

    This story was featured the very day new ministers were sworn in at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja. And of course, among the new ministers was Lieutenant-General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau (retd), who was designated as Defence Minister. Gusau came in to occupy that position which had remained vacant for some time while the insurgency in the northeast of the country rages like harmattan wild fire. A week before, the Boko Haram terrorists had added a bestial dimension to the orgy of bloodletting and brigandage which they have unleashed on innocent Nigerians by massacring sleeping school children at the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi, Yobe State.

    Not only that. The terrorists literarily went on a killing-spree in the three Nigeria’s north-east states of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno that have been under a state of emergency since May 16, 2013. Apart from the attack on FGC, Buni Yadi, where no fewer than 43 students were killed, they moved to Shuwa, in Magadali Local Government Area of Adamawa state, where a Teachers’ College, a secondary school and a Catholic Covenant were attacked. Next, it was the turn of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and epicentre of the terrorists’ attacks, where a twin-bomb explosion tore through the heart of the city, killing more than 50 people. Other adjoining villages, including Mainok, a village about 50 kilometres from Maiduguri, were not spared. More attacks had followed. It was the spate and ferocity of these attacks, which the terrorists carried out with ease as they moved in and out of hamlets unchallenged, leaving sorrow, tears and blood in their trail, that prompted the call for the formation of a war cabinet to help the government in the successful prosecution of the ‘war’ and bring an end to it with limited casualties.

    Since the publication of the column coincided with the appointment of Gusau as Defence Minister, my thinking was that the government will take a cue from the unsolicited advise the column gave to put things in the right perspective in order to checkmate the festering act of terrorism in that part of the country. But events last week, which allegedly infuriated Gusau, the Defence Minister, did not only confirm my fears about the absence of a centralised and coordinated command and control of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the North-east, it has also exposed the lack of appropriate synergy in the whole operation. This is probably why the terrorists appear to be invisible to some extent as they kept on having a semblance of upper hand over the Nigerian security forces that appear to be outgunned, outmanned and overwhelmed.

    The incident of last week also coincided with the day the terrorists had the audacity to mount an attack on Giwa Amu Barracks, a strategic military outpost in Maiduguri. Though the early morning attack proved costly and fatal for the terrorists, it is indeed a sign of the times. Reports have it that a Shilka Tank, a military artillery weapon that was strategically stationed to ward off attacks on the barracks, actually failed to fire when the terrorists attempted to swoop on the barracks ostensibly to pave way for the release of their comrades-in-crime numbering well over 250, who were detained at the military formation. The soldiers were said to have fallen back on other weapons to defend the barracks and subsequently repelled the invaders.

    Though they were successfully driven back, the terrorists were said to have torched the MRS, the traditional medical facility within the barracks as well as the detention facility but no detainees were freed. The detention facility is believed to be holding some highly placed terrorists’ commanders and therefore, their colleagues will prefer them dead than volunteer useful information to the security agents. Besides, the terrorists’ camp is said to have been seriously depleted by recent military onslaughts on their hideouts and so, they are badly in need of replenishment to boost their dwindling fighting capabilities.

    The temerity of the terrorists may have been halted for now, but the recent embarrassment suffered by Gusau so soon after assuming duty as well as the unrelenting terrorists’ campaign in the North-east has again brought into focus the call for the formation of a “war cabinet” to tackle the menace of these terrorists. There must be someone to bring everybody together. The present hierarchical arrangement, in which all the service chiefs have access to the President, is not helping matters. It must be properly structured. It is a good thing that Alex Badeh, an Air Marshal and Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, has quickly made up with Gusau, but the integral roles of the CDS and the service chiefs must be clearly defined to avoid any friction in the future. The Service Chiefs must be responsible to the CDS, while the CDS in turn is responsible to the Defence Minister; and the Defence Minister will then interface with the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

    Unfortunately, what has hitherto been in place is a wrong system whereby the Defence Minister was more or less sidelined in the scheme of things. Also, what had been in place is a figure-head CDS, who was supposed to coordinate the services on paper but nobody reports to him as even the President could summon any of the service chiefs without recourse to the CDS. This is wrong. For instance, the CDS does not know the budget of the defence. The common practice is that individual services – Army, Navy, Air Force – prepares their budgets and go ahead to the National Assembly to defend same without any iota of involvement by the CDS. The proper thing to do is that the CDS should present the budget and then go to the National Assembly to defend it. In other words, the CDS should coordinate the activities of the services and serve as a link between with the Defence Minister.

    Furthermore, we could achieve a better result if the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, is merged with the Ministry of Defence, with a mixture of soldiers and civilians working together instead of the present situation where only civilians sit in the Defence Ministry and award all manners of contracts which are not even required by the DHQ. I have no doubt whatsoever that the present Defence Minister parades excellent credentials and experience to steer the country through this turbulent period if only the government can do the needful. It is exigent to have somebody in charge because, as it is, it is clear that the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign lacks proper coordination as a result of the absence of a synergy among the security agencies in the country. What easily come to mind are the United States’ Department of Homeland Security and the Counter-terrorism Strategy in the United Kingdom, two agencies that are solely devoted to checkmate terrorism and terrorists’ activities in both countries.

    In the alternative, the government could appoint somebody in the mould of the coordinating Minister of Finance to coordinate this anti-terrorism war. If the government wishes, the person could be called Minister for Counter-terrorism or even Minister for Boko Haram.

  • The price of loyalty

    The price of loyalty

    I got the unfortunate news about mid-day last Wednesday when my phone rang. The person at the other end, a senior Journalist with one of the nation’s frontline newspapers, simply broke the unexpected news to me without much fuss: “The President has removed Bolaji Abdullahi as Minister.” Although that piece of news jolted me, it was not quite unexpected given the current political trend in the country. I managed to ask an incoherent question: “Why will the President do so at this time when the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil is just three months away?”

    The events leading to the Minister’s removal were, to me, some cock and bull stories or what is tantamount to giving the Minister a bad name in order to hang him. However, the case against the former Minister was put in the public domain by many of the newspapers the following day, in different banal headlines. One of the papers wrote on its front page: “The case against Abdullahi…did not identify with PDP’s plan to dislodge APC in Kwara; refusal to speak at PDP’s Ilorin rally; seen in company of Saraki and Goje, who are APC Chiefs; failure to fund PDP’s activities in Kwara State; and late arrival at the Emir’s Palace where Jonathan visited.

    Let us take these accusations one by one. It is alleged that the former Minister did not identify with the ruling party’s plan to dislodge the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kwara State. Yes, the Minister hails from Kwara State in the North-central geo-political zone of the country. Before his appointment as a minister of the Federal Republic, he was a commissioner in his state. If I am correct, he started as a Special Adviser to the erstwhile Governor of the state, Bukola Saraki, who is now a Senator of the Federal Republic. And it follows that it was Saraki who nominated Abdullahi as Minister.

    Now that the Senator has pitted his political camp with the APC, an opposition party that is pulling all the stunts to seize power from the ruling PDP, it would be absurd for Abdullahi to work against his political godfather. This is enough reason to put him under the prying binoculars of his pay masters. And to think that Abdullahi would fully participate in the antics of the ruling PDP to dislodge the APC from Kwara State would be daydreaming, more so, when the former Minister is adjudged to be apolitical in nature.

    It was, therefore, not surprising that Abdullahi avoided speaking at the Ilorin rally which was held some three days before he was shuffled out of the cabinet. Those who appointed him as a Minister should have known that all the while, he has never played politics with his job. Even those who knew him when he was a Commissioner have attested to that fact. So also is his political godfather, who said the young man was too married to his job than politicking all over the place. It is on record that Abdullahi was one Commissioner who never got himself involved in the revelry and jamboree of going to do ‘break-dancing’ at the airport each time Saraki, his boss at that time, was flying into Ilorin by air during his tenure as governor.

    Now, people expected this type of fellow who has cut out his own unique lifestyle among the multitudes of flotsams and jesters who daily flock around politicians looking for a mess of porridge to feast on to distance himself from the company of those with whom he has found comfort all this while. I mean the accusation that he was seen at innocuous hours in the company of his former boss, Saraki, and Danjuma Goje, the former Governor of Gombe State, who is also a Senator. Apparently, both Saraki and Goje are among the 11 senators who have changed camp from PDP to APC. Are these people now saying that one of the requirements of being a Minister in this country today is that once you are a minister, you do not have the right to choose those to associate with? Therefore, if seeing Saraki and Goje amounts to a crime, then it sounds as ridiculous as it is unthinkable.

    The same people have accused Abdullahi of failing to fund PDP’s activities in his state. If I may ask: Is there any evidence that the former minister was funding or had at any time funded the APC either? This question is necessary because right from the onset, he had been known to be apolitical. If this is so, why should anybody think he should dissipate energy and resources over any political party for that matter? At any rate, where will the money to fund the party come from? Is it from statutory allocations to his ministry, personal emoluments or inflated contracts? It would have been a different story if his accusers had said that he embezzled money that was given to him for onward delivery to the PDP in his state. If that did not happen, then it means that the former minister was expected to deep his hands into the public till to satisfy the financial want of some greedy, gluttonous and godforsaken politicians.

    It was also reported that the former minister was reluctant to attend the jamboree in Ilorin because he had an assignment to do outside the shores of the country but he was prevailed upon to stay behind and attend the President’s campaign visit to Ilorin. Even at that, a mischievous party chieftain who was in the same vehicle with the former minister was said to have quoted the former minister as saying: “If not that I am from this place, I would not have been on this entourage.” That statement means that the former minister had to work against his wish in order to satisfy the wolves that had encircled him and were hunting and hounding him ever since his political godfather jumped ship. It is a pity.

    I had a chance meeting with Bolaji Abdullahi on January 26, 2012, in London. At that time, he was Minister for Youth Development having been appointed a minister in 2011. He was later saddled with the task of supervising the Ministry of Sports before he was appointed substantive Sports Minister in March 2012. The venue of that meeting was at the Heathrow Airport in London. I had spotted him at the check-in queue on arrival at the airport that chilly winter morning. Although we were meeting for the first time, he instantly recognised me.

    As we exchanged banters, I was overwhelmed by his humble disposition. We soon got talking. I told him I was in London for the annual Presidents’ meeting of the EMEA Region (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) of the global Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, EO. He said he was also in London for a series of meetings for the Paralympics games and other games coming up in London that year. He told me about his determination to overhaul the National Youth Service Scheme to make it more relevant to the needs of contemporary Nigeria and other issues bordering on his vision for his ministry. Two months after, he was moved to the Sports Ministry. As we departed that day, the impression he gave me was that of a quiet, unassuming young man. He struck me as a person who knows his onions and could go places if given the opportunity to excel.

    Since that meeting, I have followed his performance and meteoric rise as a public servant and I must confess that he has been wonderful with what he had done as a minister. It is a pity that his zeal to excel has now been scuttled. The wolves may have succeeded in getting Abdullahi, their prime target, out of the way. By doing this, they have unwittingly caused the country a great harm; they have sacrificed merit for sycophancy.

    Above all, Abdullahi’s gargantuan achievements will live after him in the annals of competent administration and good governance in the country. No wonder, his achievements are already reverberating in the public domain and will remain permanently etched in national consciousness for a long time to come. He has done well for journalism, his profession and his generation.

     

  • Wanted: A war cabinet    

    Wanted: A war cabinet    

    It was a catalogue of deaths and destruction last week when the Boko Haram terrorists went on a killing-spree in the three Nigeria’s northeast states of Yobe, Adamawa and Borno. The attacks started on Tuesday at the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, where no fewer than 43 students were killed. From there, they moved to Shuwa, in Magadali Local Government Area of Adamawa state where a teachers’ college, a secondary school and a Catholic covent were attacked. By Saturday, it was the turn of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, where a twin-bomb explosion tore through the heart of the city, killing more than 50 people. Mainok, a village about 50 kilometers from Maiduguri, also had a taste of the orgy of violence and blood-letting.

    The attack on the Government College, Buni Yadi, bore the full imprimatur of a similar one on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at the College of Agriculture, Guijba, in the same state. In that attack, more than 50 students of the school met their untimely death. The terrorists attacked the college at midnight when most of the students were deeply asleep. That also, was not without precedence. In June 2013, the terrorists killed eight pupils and a teacher during an attack on Government Secondary School, Damaturu, capital of Yobe State. They also killed 29 pupils at Government Secondary School, Mamudo, also in the state.

    On Saturday, April 13, 2013, an unspecified number of students of Monguno Secondary School, in Monguno Local Government of Borno State, were killed as they returned home on foot and bicycles from the centres where they wrote the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE). Before that daylight massacre, six secondary school teachers, including a principal, were also hacked down by the terrorists in the same local government area.

    It is sad that our so-called security forces have always been caught napping each time these marauders come calling. In the killings of the school children who were accosted on their way from their examination centres in April 2013, no security agent was sighted at the scene of the slaughtering until more than three hours later. The same scenario has played out again and again. It was the same story at the School of Agriculture, Gujba. In the recent incident at FGC, Buni Yadi, the killers did not only have the luxury of time to carry out their devilish act, they also proved that they were out to destroy the hopes of tomorrow by separating the girls from the boys. While they mowed down the boys, they simply drove the girls away from school and advised them to go and get married instead of wasting their time at school. That is true to their name Boko Haram, which means “education is bad.”

    What is more sickening in all these, especially in last week’s incident, is the fact that the security agents who were stationed within the proximity of the schools left their checkpoints shortly before the terrorists came calling. Now, the security agents are running helter-skelter to unravel those who might have been complicit in the attacks among the local populace. Talk of medicine after death. By the way, why is it that these security agents, with the hordes of intelligence officers in their midst, have never for once nipped these attacks in the bud while the so-called rag-tag terrorists are daily giving them a bloody nose?

    There must be something wrong somewhere. It is either a failure of intelligence or non-intelligence at all, as the case may be (if I am permitted to put it that way). It is obvious that some people are aiding and abetting these criminals within the local population and among the security agents as well. For how long will the blood of our children be spilled like rotten milk on the altar of greed, selfishness and vaulting ambition of our overfed politicians both in uniform and babaringa? Every time, you hear about a fleet of vehicles consisting of more than 10 or 15 attacking a particular location. Why is it impossible for the security forces to pick them as they move along? I am quite aware that because of the dry season, almost everywhere in the affected areas is motorable at this time, but if the security forces are doing their work well, these terrorists should still be spotted.

    It is rather superfluous that while the brigandage and blood-letting that have been going on in the northeast of the country in the last four or five years (2009 – 2014) continue to spiral out of control, up till this moment, no single person has either been fingered or arrested on account of being the sponsor of this brazen terrorism against our fatherland. The other day, a former governor of one of the states in the Northeast was allegedly arrested in Cameroun by a Camerounian security officer who said he was convinced that the former governor is one of the financiers of the Boko Haram insurgency. The former governor was arrested on his way to see the governor of Northern Cameroun.

    Although the former governor in question was later released by an order from the Vice-President of Cameroun, after he quickly reached out to people, he is strongly suspected to have played a role in the rise of Boko Haram in the first instance and so, it will be difficult to isolate him from the unrelenting assault of the criminal gangs on the country. There is also this belief that this former governor may not be a Nigerian as he is said to hail from neighbouring Chad Republic, where he currently operates an airline and maintains a mansion. After his tenure as governor many years back, it was to Chad that he went to cool off and observe developments in Nigeria from the sideline until his recent visit to the country which sparked off a wave of violence in his native state.

    By now, I believe the security agencies should have the list of suspects who are collaborating with these terrorists in one way or another to wreak havoc on unsuspecting Nigerians, but, perhaps, because of political expediency, nobody wants to touch them. That is why some people think that if the President announces today that he will not be contesting the 2015 presidential election, the whole Boko Haram brouhaha will die a natural death. Since the President has an inalienable right to contest as President a second time as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution in use in the country, if he wishes, the onus is on the security agencies to do their work properly and contain this avoidable carnage that has continued to cast a dark spot on the image of the country. The only way out of this quagmire in which the country has been enmeshed all this while is the urgent need for the President to form a war cabinet.

    In the first instance, the troops which were deployed to the theatre of war in the Northeast went there purely for peacekeeping operation. Now the whole scenario has snowballed into a real war situation. Therefore, the strategy must change. A senior cabinet minister must coordinate the ‘war’. As things are now, it may be impossible for the National Security Adviser, NSA, the only person who probably performs the role of coordinating the military interventions in the Northeast, to summon any of the head of the services to a meeting – I mean summoning someone like the Chief of Army Staff or the Chief of Air Staff that are both involved in managing the crisis to a meeting – not to talk of the Chief of Defence Staff. They will just ignore him because the NSA is more or less a Staff Officer to the President. That is why there is need to quickly put a war cabinet in place.

    The war cabinet, as envisaged, will consist of seasoned Generals, both serving and retired, as well as some respectable and responsible civilians, whose duty will be to take care of the political angle to this festering crisis. It is time to end this genocide!

  • Rescuing Borno State

    Rescuing Borno State

    That Borno State is the founding home of the Boko Haram insurgency is no longer news. Muhammed Yusuf, the founder of the sect, was eliminated by unscrupulous security agents in very controversial circumstances after he was captured during a riot in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in 2009. In that mayhem, many people, including scores of security agents, were either killed or maimed. The security agents responded by mowing down whomever they suspected to be a Boko Haram member.

    It was during this melee that Buji Fai, a two-time Chairman of Kaga Local Government of Borno State and former Commissioner for Religious Affairs and Water Resources, was killed. He was captured alive in his farm along Bui – Danboa Road, but was later reported dead in very questionable circumstances. After he was arrested, the former commissioner demanded to meet Ali Modu Sherif, the then state governor. He was taken to the Government House half-naked in handcuffs. Unfortunately for him, Sherif was said to be out of office by the time they got there. The late Buji Fai was later taken to the police headquarters where he was reportedly killed. Mohammed Fugu, a Maiduguri-based businessman, also suffered a similar fate. He was reportedly killed by the police at the police headquarters in Maiduguri after he gave himself up.

    The government of Sherif displayed nonchalance to the killings when its officials later stormed Railway Quarters with bulldozers and demolished Yusuf’s house as well as Fugu’s compound. Dissatisfied with the development, Yusuf’s family went to court, accusing the police of extrajudicial killing of their patriarch. The court gave its judgment asking the Police to pay the sum of N100 million to the family, but the police appealed the verdict. By this time, anger had inflamed passion as the sect members were poised for war. That was how the whole Boko Haram insurgency started as a war between the sect members and security agents on one hand and the sect and government on the other hand.

    Though shortly after Sherif left as governor, the new helmsman, Kashim Shettima, paid the N100 million to Yusuf’s family, the sect members could not be placated as many contending interests had been introduced into the entire imbroglio. Remember that at the inception of the crisis, it was alleged that Boko Haram was a militant wing of the Borno political class under Sherrif. It was under his watch as governor that the sect blossomed. This, probably, accounted for the reason why Fai demanded to see the governor face to face on the day he was arrested on his farm before his life was abruptly terminated. That liquidation was probably to forestall what would have led to a great confession. Perhaps, that confession that never was, could have helped Borno government and indeed the federal government to bring the temerity of the sect members to an early halt. However, rather than abating, the activities of the insurgents have, in the last few months, escalated, particularly in Maiduguri, its traditional founding place, in spite of subsisting State of Emergency now in its ninth month.

    Since the beginning of this month, the sect appeared to be having a field day in their operations despite the presence of military Task Force in the state. Their ceaseless attacks have led to the untimely death of more than 300 people in this month alone. Last week, a terrified Kashim Shettima, the Governor of the state, shuttled back and forth to the State House, Abuja ostensibly to brief President Goodluck Jonathan on the killings. While addressing reporters shortly after, Shettima made it clear that Nigeria is “in a state of war”.  He also said the fight against Boko Haram was far from being won, as the insurgents seem to be more motivated than the Nigerian military.  He warned that the faster Nigerian leaders braced up to the challenge, the better for the country.   But a few hours after Shettima’s outburst, Doyin Okupe, an aide of the President on public affairs, in his usual boisterous manner, countered that the military was better equipped and motivated to fight Boko Haram militants. My take is that Shettima is the man who wears the shoe and so should know better where it pinches.

    At any rate, uncertainty now pervades most of the North-east each day, over fear of possible attack by the sect. The question being asked by many today is: for what use have the huge budgetary provisions made for the armed forces in the fight against the insurgents been put into? This is germane following the seemingly failure of the security agents to tackle the insurgency headlong since all these months that emergency had been in place. Rightly or wrongly, some people have attributed this lacklustre performance by the security forces to high level of corruption in the management of funds budgeted to fight the menace.

    Aside from the issue of up-to-date military hardware, it is believed that the absence of an operational air wing of the Army may have constituted a clog in the wheels of progress in the execution of operations in the affected areas. The fact remains that the Army pilots trained for such operations have largely been idle since they were not being utilised because of the absence of Army Aviation in the country. This has made the Nigerian Army to rely solely on the Air Force for air support in their operations. This, no doubt, may have greatly hampered the operational efficiency of the army in its ongoing combat operations against the insurgents as the Air Force was said to be more or less reluctant to take orders from the Army because of the inter-service rivalry.

    An air wing would make it possible for the Army to plan its operations and execute them speedily without relying solely on the Air Force for such support. There have been instances in the past where soldiers had been endangered when an expected air support was called off at the last minute after troops had advanced into the battlefield, at the Sambisa Forest. This abrupt tinkering with operational plans has often given the insurgents the upper hand as security forces have been easily routed for lack of the desired support. The casualty figures from these operational misdemeanors have been tremendous.

    Besides, the thinking is that there is a sort of political undertone in the insurgency attacks which have recently escalated in line with the body language of Mr. President which suggests that he will soon declare for a second term in office. The attack may be aimed at portraying the President as anemic and incapable of protecting the people in the far North. And the sponsors of the insurgency are believed to be some political gladiators in that part of the country. The government needs to unmask them in order to cut-off the oxygen supply to the insurgents.

    With the way things stand now, the onus is on the Nigerian military to gird its loins and effectively confront the menace of Boko Haram, particularly in Borno State, which appears to be its only remaining theatre of war, and its environs. Chris Olukolade, a Major-General and Director, Defence Information, has assured the nation that the military is capable of winning the war against the insurgents. Turenchi apart, the military really needs to demonstrate that it is an effective fighting force that can be relied upon by rooting the rag-tag Boko Haram terrorists from our soil without further prevarication.

    The insurgents may have taken sanctuary in the hills of Cameroun, from where they attack isolated villages every now and then. But, mind you, Cameroun could be quite reluctant to cooperate with Nigeria in the prosecution of this anti-terrorists’ campaign. That has been the nature of the francophone countries in Africa, especially in the West-African sub-region. If that is the case, we should not hesitate to close all our borders with Cameroun as was done in the past. It is only through this, that we can bring its government to see reason and co-opt it into this must-win war. This is a war that must be won at all costs even if it means declaring a full-blown emergency on Borno State.

  • Man, animal marriage

    Man, animal marriage

    The debate on same-sex marriage has been ranging back and forth for some time. It gathered momentum recently when Nigeria passed a legislation which put a seal on the abnormal behaviour. Since then, different groups and governments, especially the United States of America, USA, and the United Kingdom, UK, have been very vociferous against the clampdown. The reason is simple: their laws support such inanities and, therefore, whoever goes against such moral absurdity is regarded as a ‘sinner’. At least, that is the unfolding scenario that is threatening to suffocate all of us and lead us through the path of evil and perdition.

    Now the United States, the self-acclaimed custodian of morality, has gone a step further. On Monday, February 3, the most obscene event took place. The venue was the Chapel of Our Lady at the Presidio in San Francisco, California State, where the first-ever state-recognised human-animal marriage took place. Paul Horner, a 35-year-old local resident, was the groom during the wedding ceremony. He was joined in ‘unholy’ matrimony with Mac, his faithful dog, who is 36 years old in dog years. Mac was to have been the groom, but the animal ended up wearing a white veil at the last moment.

    On hand to perform the marriage rituals at the outdoor wedding was Reverend Father McHale. Shortly after he had officiated, an obviously elated Fr. McHale told reporters that he was extremely happy to be a part of “this joyous moment of life”. According to him, “this is the definition of true love my friends. There is nothing more sacred than the bond between a man and his faithful dog. It’s a fantastic day to be alive.” Among those who witnessed this eye-sore of a union was Horner’s entire family who flew in from Hawaii for the event, while Mac also had her puppies in attendance.

    In the book of California’s State Laws and Regulations there is a little known law that was passed as the state was being formed in 1850.  Article 155, paragraph 10, clearly states: “If a man and a man can get married and a woman and a woman can get married, if ever comes that day, then a human and animal will have the exact same rights to marriage in every eye of the law. God help us if this ever is to happen!” Now, it has happened. Since it is recognised as a legally binding marriage by California law, “Horner and Mac will have all the same tax benefits and everything else coming to them that a regular married couple would receive.”

    However, Horner, the man of the moment, surprised many when, after the wedding, he quickly said that he would not have sex with the dog. According to him, “I just love my Mac so much; I can’t wait till we can finally get back to the honeymoon sweet in Montana where bestiality is legal… People keep asking me why I wanted to marry a dog. I told them I just want the same God-given rights that every person in California is allowed to have. Don’t tell me I can’t marry my dog. I don’t tell you that you can’t marry a 500 lb woman with gas issues. That’s your decision. Don’t tread on me. I love my dog and I know he loves me a hundred times more than any gay wedding out there.”

    With this strange wedding between a man and a male dog now officially consummated, the US must have wittingly opened a new vista in the journey to bestiality and amorous rascality. It is a one-way ticket to Sodom and Gomorrah. As usual, they may be too willing to export this strange union to other parts of the world. What this signifies is that we are seriously in trouble with this convoluted definition of human rights as espoused by the Americans and their cohorts in other parts of the world.

    Nigeria has been placed under the hammer since the country recently signed the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013 into law. This action unsettled many gay-rights enthusiasts across the globe. When the Senate, the Upper House of the National Assembly in Nigeria, passed the bill on November 29, 2011, the international community greeted the move by launching a spirited campaign to stall the final passage of the bill into law. At the forefront of the international campaign were the UK, Nigeria’s colonial master, and the US. Since then, their resentment had multiplied not diminished.

    The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Australia towards the end of 2011 provided an opportunity for David Cameron, the petite British Prime Minister, to assault the collective sensibilities of Africans when he veered off mark during his speech and launched himself into a sermon ostensibly targeted at Africans at the meeting. In the long speech, which betrayed his deep-seated anger and emotional stress, Cameron laboured hard to espouse the beauty of same-sex marriage. He said his country would not tolerate a law that seeks to punish people because of their preferred ways of life in accordance with their orientations and beliefs.

    He was not alone. Barack Obama, the US President, added his own voice by issuing an executive order through a memo personally signed by him, empowering US diplomats worldwide to advance the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, LGBT, persons. According to the memo, “the struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons is a global challenge and one that is central to the United States’ commitment to promoting human rights. By this memorandum, I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that US diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons”. The release of that memo coincided with the day some handpicked Nigerians posing as gays, staged a protest against the same-sex bill in their country in front of the Nigeria House in New York.

    Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries, where sodomy laws were introduced during colonialism. In Uganda, punishments for homosexual acts range from 14 years to life imprisonment. By the new law, the gays in Nigeria risk 14-year jail terms if they do not retrace their steps and renounce such marriages. Also, any person who operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisations directly or indirectly will earn 10-year imprisonment. Those who administer, witness, abet or aid the solemnisation of a same-sex marriage are going to bag 10-year jail term. The signing of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill into law has foreclosed any pressure on the Nigerian government not to assent to the bill.

    Indeed, this is a piece of legislation that is needed in this country to protect the traditional family and the future of our children because the African cultural values do not tolerate same-sex marriage. Like I said in my column on December 14, 2011, “Africans abhor same sex unions”. African culture revolves round their ancestors, the living and the unborn children. Not even the advent of the dominant religions – Christianity and Islam – has been able to interfere with that fundamental belief. Therefore, marriage in African context has never been seen as a private affair. Rather, it is a community affair, and that is what gives it essence and meaning. Christianity and Islam frown at homosexuality. So also is African traditional religion, wherever practised. In actual fact, African traditional religion does not only frown at it, it imposes severe sanctions on those involved and even their families. So, for all practical purposes, homosexuality is un-African; the society condemns it in its entirety and, in most cases, ostracizes anybody involved or passes a curse on such a person or persons”.

    Now that human beings are getting married to animals – and maybe trees and other objects much later – this satanic practice, rather than bring development, will only spell doom for those who engage in it or who tolerate it in the name of civilisation. However, in Nigeria and as a people, we must remain steadfast and undaunted as we move gradually and steadily to annihilate the vestiges of bad influence on our culture, beliefs, tradition and norms.

     

  • Lagos terrorists’ threat

    Lagos terrorists’ threat

    In the book, The Olive Tree, Aldous Huxley, 1894 – 1936, an English writer, said: “The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings and that these individuals are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own.” Going by Huxley’s submission, the current scourge of terrorism that is ravaging the entire globe could be attributed to politics of various colours and dimensions. In some places, it is religious rivalry; in others it could be the struggle for political control or domination. Whichever way it is viewed, human rivalries, over the years, have found expression in violence, be it terrorism, assassination, arson, outright war or any other despicable criminal activities.

    In Nigeria, we have witnessed so many conflicts all over the place. When it is not tribal or ethnic rivalry, it is religion or politics. Today, the whole country has become one huge theatre of war. In Plateau State, it is both tribal and ethnic rivalry that has almost turned the place into modern-day George Orwell’s ‘animal farm’, where life is miserably short and brutish. This internecine war has paralysed the socio-economic life of its once bustling capital city, Jos. Further north is the unrelenting carnage being unleashed on defenceless and innocent people, especially in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe by the Boko Haram insurgents. Not even a state of emergency declared on the three states since May last year has been able to restore law and order. The whole thing has degenerated into a sort of guerrilla warfare in which elements of Boko Haram now make occasional incursions into isolated villages and hamlets, leaving deaths and destruction in their trail.

    Recently, new service chiefs were appointed to replace the former ones who had prosecuted the war against these terrorists without success. While taking over as the new Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, on January 20, Alex Badeh, an Air Marshal, assured Nigerians that the military would bring the Boko Haram insurgency in the country to an end before April this year. The CDS said that this was possible if the military approached its security responsibilities cohesively. He told the new Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Kenneth Minimah, who is expected to coordinate the fight against the insurgents, that it was possible for his work to be concluded in a short time. Badeh also gave the assurance that the other service chiefs – Air-Vice Marshal Adesola Amosun and Rear Admiral Usman Jubrin, Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Naval Staff respectively, would give the requisite support to the Army chief in the prosecution of the campaign to end terrorism in the country.

    From events that followed, it was obvious that Badeh was merely basking in the euphoria of the moment. The new CDS’ assurance was taken with a pinch of salt as various commentators on national affairs took him to task on the validity of his promise to end terrorism in the North-east in three months. When the commentaries became unbearable, the authorities at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, rose to his defence. As if in a volte-face, Chris Olukolade, a Major-General and Director of Defence Information, admitted that it was not possible for terrorism to be brought to an end anywhere in the world with a specific directive. He said that the CDS was aware of the complex nature of the problem of terrorism and was optimistic that the problem could be brought under control with the vigour and readiness of the new service chiefs when he made the statement.

    The denial by the Defence Headquarters coincided with an alleged plot by the Boko Haram terrorist group to invade Lagos. The terrorists were said to be planning to infiltrate the state in vehicles painted with military colours. This is worrisome. Some months ago, a terrorist group allegedly conveyed weapons to Lagos inside some of the numerous fuel tankers that ply major roads to the country’s former capital and indeed the nation’s commercial nerve centre. A raid carried out some months ago by security agents saved residents of Lagos and Ogun states from possible attacks by the terrorists.

    The joint raid led to the arrest of some suspects who are members of the Boko Haram sect.

    Before the latest threat, security agents had uncovered and dismantled the plot by the alleged terrorists to plant cells in the western part of the country with Lagos as the headquarters. Security operatives, who later briefed the National Assembly leaders last year about the reality of the planned invasion of Lagos, told the federal legislators that indeed the attackers had planned to cripple the economy. The security chiefs told the federal legislators that some of the attackers captured had hinted that the plot was deliberate: to cripple the nerve centre of the country’s commerce and industry, a city that hosts the international air and seaports, so that the nation’s economy could collapse.

    The federal legislators were thoroughly alarmed by the revelation about the sense of urgency of the insurgents to hit Lagos just to make Nigeria ungovernable. The implications of targeting the very strategic Lagos Third Mainland Bridge, the longest bridge in Africa, have been of major concern to authorities at all levels. The 11.8 km long bridge built by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc was commissioned in 1990. The Bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland. The other two are the Eko and Carter bridges. The bridge, which is a vital artery of the network of federal highways, commands high patronage.

    Since the eruption of the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern parts of the country some years ago, their activities have been concentrated in the North, where several lives and property have been lost. Though there have been some cases of arrest of suspected members in some states, the southern part of the country has not experienced or witnessed any attack by the sect members.   Therefore, the recent alleged plot to attack Lagos by the terrorists has been raising serious concerns among the residents of the city and other Nigerians. This is in spite of assurances by the security agents and the state government that they were battle-ready to nip in the bud any attack by sect members.

    Since he became Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola has been engaged in proactive measures against such attacks and other crimes in the city. The government recently launched the installation of 1,200 security cameras in the city. Already, the cameras have been deployed in critical locations. Though the Lagos State government is unrelenting in the fight against crime and criminalities in the state, deploying cameras all over Lagos is not enough. Those who will man them at the control room are very vital to the success of the project. Besides, the state needs to go all out to enlighten the populace on the danger of harbouring criminals in their neighbourhoods. Again, Lagos residents must be educated about the importance of volunteering useful information on suspicious movements in their localities so as to put the terrorists in check. The security agencies too must treat such information with utmost confidentiality in order to win the confidence of the people.

    Criminals are human beings; they are not spirits. In that case, with the support and cooperation of the people, they can be stopped in their tracks. Above all, our politicians or some of them that are in the habit of keeping criminals and other hoodlums as bodyguards who are usually let loose to commit all forms of atrocities on the society should desist from such ignoble practices and allow peace to reign. In the words of Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre, in New York, on September 11, 2001: “This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of life, and we, the democracies of this world, are going to have to come together and fight it together and eradicate this evil completely from our world.”

     

  • JAMB’s monstrosity

    JAMB’s monstrosity

    It was meant to provide a seamless passage, but ironically, it has become a monster that is tormenting Nigerian students and also causing collateral nightmares to their parents and guardians. That is the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB. JAMB is the official examination board for entrance into tertiary-level institutions in Nigeria. The body is saddled with the responsibility of administering examinations to students who apply for admission into any Nigerian public and private universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

    In recent times, a lot of public outcry has greeted the conduct of JAMB examinations across the country. The complaints range from inability to access the body’s website, inadequate examination centres, the nearness of these centres to candidates’ places of domicile and all that. But of particular contention is the body’s Computer-Based Test, CBT, which many people have attributed to the woeful results recorded last year in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, by students who were consequently denied entrance into the nation’s tertiary institutions. Now that another UTME is holding in April, stakeholders are worried about the insistence of JAMB to give priority to the CBT and deny those students who still want to do the manual exams, that is, pencil and paper exams, the opportunity to do so by drastically reducing centres for such exams to an intolerable minimum.

    JAMB had told the nation last year that it was going to conduct pilot CBTs till 2015 before it finally opts for the system to conduct its entrance examinations to Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. One would have expected the body to still tarry awhile to perfect the conduct of its pilot scheme before putting a seal of finality on it. Even in the last year’s examination, which marked the first pilot scheme, the CBT ran into hitches which necessitated the body to shift the examination for some candidates who registered for it.

    For instance, the examinations suffered some hitches at a centre located at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. As a result, no fewer than 200 students who were scheduled to write their exam at the centre had to be moved to other centres because they could not access JAMB’s site. This resulted in the CBT starting late. A similar incident occurred at OAK Comprehensive College, Ogba, another centre in Lagos, following a power outage cum technical problems. The consequence of this was the inability to connect the internet for the 180 candidates who were to sit for the examination. This development resulted in all the candidates being moved to another centre located on the premises of Chams, an IT-based company, located at the Government Reservation Area of Ikeja, Lagos, to enable take the examination.

    Even at that, it was not still plain sailing for the candidates. Prior to the incident, 350 candidates were earlier scheduled to sit for the examination at Chams on the day of the UTME, but with the relocation of other candidates to the centre, there was a population explosion which increased the number to 700. Since the capacity of the centre was 350 candidates at a time, the UTME at the centre was therefore postponed by another two days. The examination was invariably held in two sessions in order not to overstretch the infrastructure at the centre.

    Long before the commencement of the CBT UTME last year, Nigerians from all walks of life had expressed pessimism over the policy. Their argument was premised on the fact that it might not work after all. They hinged their resentment on the shameful epileptic power supply in the country, the low computer literacy level of many Nigerian students with much emphasis on those living in the poor, rural areas who may not have the least opportunity to work on the computer, as well as the sustainability of the policy which JAMB hopes to be adopted fully in 2015.

    There is no doubt that Dibu Ojerinde, a Professor and Executive Secretary of JAMB and his team mean well. The CBT may have been a good idea, especially now that the world is becoming increasingly ICT-compliant. One also appreciates the fact that the body’s target is to ensure that candidates’ papers are marked, and results released within a short frame of time after the conduct of its examination, but the body needs to make sure that it puts the proper machinery in place before the full take-off of the system. Like I said earlier, though Nigerians are not averse to Information Technology, most candidates, especially those in rural areas, do not have access to computer in their schools. Where they exist at all, they are drastically in short supply, perhaps, reducing the ratio of computers to students to like 1:100 or more.

    It is also quite understandable that all JAMB is doing is to improve the quality of examinations for Nigerian students so as to be able to compete favourably with their counterparts in any part of the world. However, introducing such noble policy without enough enlightenment, sensitisation and adequate preparation of the students through exhaustive pilot scheme, casts some dark clouds on the body’s determination to succeed in revolutionising the conduct of examinations in Nigeria. It is like Ojerinde is in a hurry to bring so many innovations at once to the body, mostly those that are not in tandem with available infrastructural facilities in the country. It was not surprising, therefore, that last year’s UTME recorded lots of irregularities and raised some uproar across the country.

    The 2013 UTME was taken by 1.7million Nigerian students with the hope of gaining entrance into the various tertiary institutions in the country. Unfortunately, the examination witnessed many lapses during the exercise and after the release of the results. This ugly development left many students wondering if they could ever gain admission into tertiary institutions through JAMB the way things were going. The situation is further compounded by the fact that there are limited or scanty spaces available for the candidates.

    Out of the 1.7 million candidates who sat for the 2013 UTME, only a miserable 500,000 places were available for them, leaving about 1.2 million candidates stranded. And to further rub salt into the wound, even the students who scaled JAMB’s hurdle were confronted by yet another problem when the universities were closed down due to the industrial action embarked upon by lecturers in public universities nationwide. They only had a rethink in January this year after keeping the classrooms under lock and key for an upward of six months.

    Now that the 2014 UTME is here again, the blunt refusal of Ojerinde and his men to see reason and allow the candidates to settle for the system of their choice for the examination is causing a lot of ripples in the land. So far, all entreaties to make JAMB to accommodate the pencil shading system, preferred by some candidates, have fallen on deaf ears. This obstinacy is creating panic and generating much furore among students and parents, who believe that the policies adopted by the body to address problems associated with the examination, is rather frustrating.

    Of greater worry is the difficulty in accessing centres through JAMB portal, especially for those who have opted for the paper and pencil system. The centres are not just there. And when they are available at all, they are located in far-flung destinations. For instance, the other day, one of the parents complained loudly that the only centre available for his son is in Kaduna. Yet, another complained that her child’s centre is located somewhere in Delta State.

    If I may ask, how would somebody who has lived all his lives in Lagos be asked to take his son or daughter to somewhere like Kaduna or Delta State, where they may not have been before, to write an examination? That looks more like a punitive banishment. And like James Glover Thurber (1894 – 1961), an American humourist and cartoonist, once said, “Men of all degrees should form this prudent habit: Never serve a rabbit stew before you catch the rabbit.” There is the need for JAMB to urgently address all these anomalies.