t’s a new world, and an online company known worldwide as Youtube is at its cutting edge. It is the rave of the politician as well as the marketer, of the youth as well as the aging and dying. It enflames the passion of scandal and of any new cause, even a cause of revolutionary proportion.

The technology wave has caught the modern human almost like a jolt, a civilisational shock. We had email, now Neanderthal if important. We’ve had twitter, popularised by a rogue president. We have WhatsApp, eminently sociable and lethal. We have Linkedin as a platform for enterprise. Instagram has fuelled both vanity and intelligence.

But no one today has the influence of YouTube. It combines visual with audio pleasures and targets with a flexibility and reach, as well as an excitability that none of the others can muster.

The company has made many a jobless into entrepreneurs and advanced causes buried by traditional media and fringe ideas have finagled their path to the mainstream. We also know that it has fallen to the arms of artists of mischief, turning reality into doubt, and fact into fiction. But it is part of the challenge of a brave new world.

YouTube has announced that with its audacious offering, it has profited its customers with over $50 billion in three years.

“The YouTube Partner Program was revolutionary when we launched it back in 2007, and it’s still revolutionary today,” purred the CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, while speaking at the inaugural ‘Made on YouTube’ event. “Over the last three years, YouTube has paid creators, artists, and media companies more than $50bn. That $50bn has changed the lives of creators around the world and enabled new voices and stories to be told. But we’re not done yet.”

Nigerians are a part of this feast, although we are not aware as yet the percentage of the Nigerian windfall.

Read Also: YouTube partners Afrochella to mark World Jollof Day

But here’s the breakdown. Over the last three years, YouTube has released $50 billion to over two million creators, artists and media companies. This happened through its Partner Program. This surpasses any other platform. It amounts to $45m a day, $1.9m an hour, $528 a second, for the last three years.

This success has inspired the company to new offerings. Hear YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, Neal Mohan: “And now we’re changing the game again, this time by opening it up to Short-form creators and introducing revenue sharing to Shorts. This is the first time revenue sharing is being offered for short-form video on any platform at scale, adding to the 10 ways creators can already earn revenue on YouTube. It’ll be available to all of those in YPP — including the new, mobile-first creators, who will be joining the program for the first time.”

It’s a new opening for the Nigerian dogged creator who can apply to its YPP (YouTube Partner Program) with its threshold of 1,000 subscribers and 10 million short views over 90 days. It will enjoy advertisement monetisation. For the long-form videos, too, creators are not left out. They can apply to the YPP with 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours.

For those with smaller activities, the company has new apps like Super Thanks, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Channel Memberships. These are opportunities for Nigerians to take their creative capacities to higher, edgier levels. It is a new frontier that keeps opening new paths and new areas to mine.

We have seen that the Nigerian space has also become a place for scoundrels to push divisive rhetoric, skits with tendentious motifs, and soundbites of the wrong motives. YouTube must be wary of such incendiary material, although it has shown a level of concern to curb uninspired posts.

An alarming alleged assault on a policewoman, Inspector Teju Moses, raised questions that have gone unanswered for too long. A viral video showed her in uniform bleeding, and seated on the floor.  Perhaps this striking incident will make the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) decisively address such issues that have a bearing on its image.

Police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi said in a statement: “Zainab Duke, an Mbaise-born activist, grievously assaulted her orderly in company of some accomplices on Tuesday 20th September, 2022 at her residence in Garki, Abuja, due to the refusal of the orderly to breach professional ethics by carrying out menial and domestic chores at her house.”

He also said “the preliminary investigation shows overwhelming evidence of culpability on the part of the professor and her domestic staff.” He added that the suspect “has no acquaintance with the police in any form as erroneously peddled on social media.”

According to him, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, had “ordered the withdrawal of all police personnel attached to the professor,” and “directed the express prosecution of the arrested suspects.”  Police are on the trail of a fleeing suspect, he stated.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) called for a review of the operations of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) of the NPF, saying “there is an urgent need to free many police officers loitering in private houses and following big men around” when the country is faced with serious security problems. The commission criticised “the abuse of police orderlies by Nigerians who now use them as status symbols or convert them to house helpers who clean, cook, or do menial jobs.”

The questions are: Who approves the placement of police protectors? Who should be given such police personnel? What are the considerations?  What are the conditions?

Interestingly, these same questions came up in May 2020 when the then IGP Mohammed Adamu ordered the withdrawal of policemen protecting the chairman, Five Star Group, Emeka Okonkwo aka E-Money. At the time, a top police officer was quoted as saying the police chief “was surprised that policemen were attached to him in the first place and were being used like domestic servants, carrying umbrellas, opening doors, and doing menial jobs for him.”

Read Also: PSC dismisses seven top police officers over gross misconduct

Indeed, there is a string of instances showing that this issue is not new.  It is puzzling that the police have not resolved the issue, which is why it has come up yet again in the case of the alleged assault on Inspector Moses.

In March 2018, the then IGP Ibrahim Idris had ordered immediate withdrawal of all police orderlies attached to private individuals and companies. His order was not new.

His immediate predecessor, Solomon Arase, also ordered the withdrawal of all officers from private individuals a few weeks before he left office. He had complained that the police could not afford to attach officers to private individuals when there were more pressing security challenges across the country.

In February 2012, the IGP at the time, Mohammed Abubakar, also issued his own directive, saying it was time to bring professionalism, efficiency and integrity to police operations. In October 2010, the then police boss Hafiz Ringim called for immediate removal of personnel attached to private individuals. In 2009, Ogbonna Onovo, IGP 2009-2010, ordered immediate withdrawal of all orderlies attached to private individuals.

The alleged policewoman-basher and her employee, Rebecca Enechido, have been arraigned. The suspect was reported to have asked journalists: “How could I have given the order that she should be assaulted?” The trial is expected to clarify what happened, and the guilty should be punished.

The incident once again showed that the police need to get their act together, and discourage the abuse of their officers by those they are assigned to protect.  It is unacceptable that police protectors often find themselves in situations where they are used like domestic servants. At all times, and in whatever situations, the police should not only be seen as professionals but should also act professionally.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) owes Nigerians explanation about the poor performance of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) which is reportedly winding down. This is even as the number of metered Nigerians are below average. According to NERC “of the 10,514,582 registered energy customers as at December 2021, only 4,773,217 (45.40 per cent) have been metered compared to 42.93 per cent metering as at September 2021.”

Amidst this poor performance, the commission reports that: “The reduction in the number of meter installations in 2021/Q4 was largely driven by the winding down of the NMMP (National Mass Metering Programme) phase zero.” While we are not enthusiastic about the strange business plan of using public resources to install meters for private business interest which the distribution companies (DISCOs) are, we are even more appalled that the mass metering project is winding down with less than 50% of energy customers meters.

Still, the responsibility to ensure that energy customers are fairly treated by the DISCOs lie with NERC, which is the regulator of the sector. It is a national scandal that DISCOs flagrantly exploit customers with what is commonly referred to as crazy bill. Indeed, we consider it absurd that more than a decade after electricity distribution was privatised by the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, the DISCOs are still allowed to exploit customers with dubious billing system.

We thought that even under the questionable circumstance the privatisation programme was executed there are still performance schedule in the agreements, which the beneficiaries must have violated severally. If there was none, it behoves on the regulator to put in place protective measures for customers. Even the National Assembly ought to be interested in the way energy customers are being exploited by the DISCOs, if the executive branch appears beholden to their bad ways.

In the meantime, we hope the tentative measure put in place by NERC will tame the criminal exploitation of the energy customers by DISCOs. NERC said they have “set maximum limits to the amount of energy (energy caps in kWh) that might be billed to unmetered customers.” Accordingly “The cap for each customer is set based on the customer category, consumption of metered customers on the same feeder and the customer’s tariff band.” The commission added: “The caps are computed based on three-month data of actual consumption records of metered customers on the same feeder.”

As unfortunate as the challenge of overbilling of energy customers is, the crisis bedevilling the electricity sector is beyond the metering challenge. Despite the high promise of the privatisation, electricity generation is still far below the needs of customers. It is unfortunate that a nation as large and disperse as Nigeria has at best times only been able to generate less than 5,000 megawatts of electricity. As if that challenge is not enough, there is the lack of capacity to efficiently distribute what is usually generated.

To further compound the national electricity challenge, there is incessant collapse of the national grid. On this page we have severally called for decentralisation of the grid. While we acknowledge the recent effort by the Buhari government to bring a foreign technical expertise to manage the grid, we believe that the surest way to electricity stability is a decentralised grid.

Again, we acknowledge the effort to increase the generation capacity, but a lot more needs to be done. In the report under review, NERC said: “The commission approved the issuance of four new generation licenses with a total nameplate capacity of 508.5MW and the renewal of two existing licences in 2021/Q4.” Also, the commission “granted an aggregate capacity of 253.75MW captive power generation permit to eight companies and approved 25 mini-grid permits.” These are positive steps that must be accomplished.

Just as many had predicted, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) would, at its meeting last week, raise the industry’s reference lending rate from 14% to 15.5%. It also pushed up the minimum cash reserve – the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) – that banks are mandated to keep with the CBN as liquidity from 27.5 percent to 32.5 percent of their total deposits, while retaining the Liquidity Ratio at 30.0 percent.

The measures, as announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele, were intended to rein in inflation currently standing at 20.52 percent. Expectedly, it came with threat that the banks immediately voluntarily fund their accounts to match the new CRR or risk sanctions.

To start with, it is worth recalling that the same MPC had, sequel to their meeting in July, hiked the rate from 13 per cent to 14 per cent. At the time, the rate of inflation, then adjudged to be among the highest in the world, was 18.6 per cent. Notably, that hike itself came after an earlier hike in May from 11.5 per cent to 13 per cent, following a two-year freeze. In other words, between the May hike and the latest round, the MPC has moved the rate by some four percent.

Of course, the MPC would argue that current exigencies are such that justify the serial hikes. The body would obviously point at the unprecedented inflation rate, the menace of excessive liquidity (of which the apex bank itself must be held as the chief culprit no matter its oft-stated good intentions), and of course the global inflationary trends all of which recommend monetary tightening of sorts.

For us, the real question is whether perfunctory rate hikes that have become something of a ritual actually provide any reprieve for an economy already suffering multiple traumas. Although the jury may yet be out, there is at the moment no proof that previous hikes have delivered any tangible benefits considering that the inflation rate has remained on an upward spiral all this while. Which begs the question – what would happen, should, say the inflation rate exceed the current level? Will there ever be an end to the ritual of PMC rate hikes?

More importantly, did the MPC consider the impacts of the hikes on the manufacturers and other players in the real sector, given the additional burden that this would constitute to their operations? What about the subsisting problems of the high cost of energy, particularly of diesel, access to foreign exchange and other infrastructural challenges that have remained impregnable; shouldn’t these have been taken into account?

In any case, isn’t it ironic that an apex bank that has been rather indulgent in deficit financing, one that is said to have piled up a whopping N20 trillion in ways and means, would at the same time be acting as the drum major for monetary tightening?

Our understanding is that current challenges are multi-dimensional. The monetary authorities obviously have a part to play. In any case, the use of monetary policy instruments, even when their efficacy is provable can only be a part. Even at that, any tool that precludes strict discipline on the part of the apex bank itself would be a half measure. As it is, the CBN cannot be creating a mess with its unbridled monetary expansion on the one hand, while constraining the lending activities of the banks on the other.  It is like seeking to clear one mess with another. It cannot work.

As for the Federal Government, we can only hope that it plays its part by maintaining fiscal rectitude; curbing corruption, wastes and profligacy that continue to constitute an albatross on government business.

At independence in 1960, Nigerians were hopeful of better years ahead. The founding fathers pledged to build a country that would rival any other in the world within the shortest possible time. Leaders like Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Ahmadu Bello who participated actively in negotiating the structure and nature of the federation promised to operate the 1960 constitution to the satisfaction of the people.

Sixty-two years down the road, rather than move up, the nation has rolled down the hill; rooted to the valley. Nothing seems to be working. At the heart of the sorrow, tears and blood flowing freely in all parts of the country is an utter failure to get the political and economic structures right. We have allowed ethnicity, religious bigotry, crass indiscipline and nepotism to tear apart a country  that once held out so much promise. Till date, rather than pull the country together in the same direction, political parties, politicians,  religious leaders and parasites parading themselves as captains of industry, continue to fan embers of disunity. Hence, today, Nigeria is reputed to be the headquarters of poverty in the world. The United Nations Development Programme  (UNDP) ranks the country low in all parameters employed in compiling  the Human Development Index. Communicable and non-communicable diseases continue to take the lives of the poor at random. Maternal and infant mortality rates here remain one of the highest even on the African continent ravaged by wars and communal conflicts. Could anyone have predicted at independence that things could be this bad six decades after the colonial masters had formally exited the land? One woman who saw through the veneer of nationalist struggle was Adunni Oluwole, founder of the Nigerian Commoners Liberal Party. She campaigned across the country in 1955 that handing the reins of governance to Nigerians at the time would amount to sentencing her to the experience we have today. Until she died in 1957, the woman stridently preached her gospel throughout the Western Region, even after she had been ostracised from Ibadan, her land of birth, and consequently chose to settle in Akure.

Two years after independence,  the Action Group, reputed to be the best organised in the country,  broke into two. Chief Ladoke Akintola, the Premier of Western Region, edged on and supported by the Northern Peoples Congress  (NPC), founded the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). Thus, the stage was set for battle for the Western Region’s soul. The opportunity came by 1964 and 1965 when NNDP was foisted on the region and NPC was forcibly returned to power at the centre. Since then, things have fallen apart irretrievably,  as the centre erected on a weak foundation collapsed.

It’s time to reexamine the edifice. It’s time to look into recommendations of the constitutional conferences held in London and Ibadan in the early 1950s, and those held under military rule and in the  current dispensation.  Without a solid foundation,  perhaps confirmed by a referendum,  it would be impossible to mobilise the people to build a truly independent and strong nation.

The debt burden that has led to debt service outstripping revenue, inexplicable oil theft in the Niger Delta, separatist agenda in the South East, overwhelming insecurity in the North and budding youth restiveness in the Southwest signpost a bleak future if 2023 does not bring a visionary leader who appreciates the precarious state of the nation, and is determined to genuinely weld the disparate groups together.

Sixty-two years is long enough time to build a nation of our dream. Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Singapore,  a nation that suffered many disadvantages at independence in 1965, has managed to leapfrog itself from  the third world nation to a first world entity within a generation.  Lee Kuan Yew was determined to accomplish the task and he did. Before our very eyes, the United Arab Emirates has become a destination of choice for the elite in various countries and, even in Aftica, following the massacre of the mid-1990s, President Kigame transformed a war ravaged Rwanda to a model for many others on the African continent.

All Nigerians have a duty to locate true leaders who can build a new country out of Nigeria; one that could rally Africans to take a respectable place among the regions of the world in another decade.

A grievous allegation is making the rounds: that the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) could be home to some itchy palms, sheer vermin that could undo the public health good NACA was set up for.  Authorities there should investigate these allegations and fast.

A report from the Sunday Punch of September 18 claimed The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) has suspended procurements in NACA.

This drastic move, according to the story, followed the alleged discovery that some unnamed — and maybe so far unknown — NACA officials had tampered with bids for a contract worth US$ 12 million.  The contract was to upgrade warehouses in 13 states to “pharma-grade level.”  The Global Fund is major funder for the upgrade.  The bid bags were alleged to have been slashed by in-house itchy fingers — how crude!

The Global Fund, which major pool contributors are Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Kofi Annan, Jeffrey Sachs and Amir Attaran, is reported to have frozen further actions on the warehouse upgrade project.

Its auditors have not only queried the alleged “opaque” procurement processes of NACA, its five-member team has also reviewed NACA’s procurement processes, just to be sure its funds are appropriately spent.  That review started on September 4 and ended September 30.

Meanwhile, pending the results of the audit probe, The Global Fund’s health programmes, which NACA currently manages, are being pushed to the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme.  What is not clear is if NACA would regain the accounts if the audit probe clears it of any financial blame.

However, Dr. Gambo Aliyu, the NACA director-general, maintained he wasn’t aware that The Global Fund had withdrawn, from his agency, any of its funded public health programmes.  He also flatly denied that NACA, under him, had been found guilty of any procurement fraud.  He even cited a report from The Global Fund that absolved him of any wrong-doing.

He nevertheless admitted to a NACA-Global Fund collaboration to strengthen and make more transparent his agency’s internal mechanisms: “ … we are discussing and we are looking at ways to strengthen our internal control mechanism to make sure that our absorption moves as fast as it could.”

But beyond controversies, something is crystal clear: seedy accounting and reporting processes, real or perceived from NACA’s end, could spell doom for Nigeria’s battle against ATM.  Without funding international agencies, among which The Global Fund is prime, that could translate into a very serious public health challenge, with COVID-19 still lingering, with all its socio-economic dislocations.

That is why Dr. Aliyu and his NACA can’t afford to sound sanguine over serious allegations that border on national pride and breaching the sacred trust of international public health partners.  Indeed, NACA should, more than anyone, be seen in the driver’s seat, going after in-house roaches, if indeed the director-general had received The Global Fund’s bill of clean health.

Country honour and sanity demand no less, NACA being Nigeria’s prime battle axe against HIV-AIDS.  Add tuberculosis and malaria, and you would see how NACA, on its sturdy back, lugs Nigeria’s heavy public health, with its expanded ATM portfolio.

Indeed, the stats of Nigeria’s ATM burden is dire.  Nigeria has the third highest number of global HIV infections, with 1.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAIDS).  That might look puny compared with Nigeria’s estimated overall population of 217 million (as at September 2022). But in absolute terms, the PLHAIDS number is still staggering.

Nigeria also bears the highest tuberculosis burden in Africa and it is sixth in the entire world.  As at 2019, Nigeria had the highest number of malaria cases in the world.  It also accounted for the bulk of malarial fatalities though, thanks to advanced medical feats, the numbers are now far lower than what they were, say 30 years ago.

Which is why nothing should be done to stifle international support funding to progressively scuttle this three-pronged health menace, once and for all.

Already, Nigeria is the biggest beneficiary of The Global Fund grants.  From the 2017-2019 to the 2020-2022 funding cycles, it has already received over US$ 1.56 billion to tackle ATM.  The Global Fund has also awarded Nigeria US$ 294 million to lessen the impact of COVID-19.

Seedy accounting and dodgy reporting from NACA could threaten all of these programmes, leading to avoidable public health emergencies that bode no good for the economy and the country’s overall political wellness.

That is why cleaning up the image of NACA is an urgent national task that must be done, with NACA itself taking the lead to flush out its alleged thieving rats.

Apparently reacting to the suggestion by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) should try to generate more funds for the government, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, the board’s registrar told the committee that the only way this could be possible was for JAMB to be allowed to increase its fees. The committee was exploring the possibility of completely taking off JAMB from the national budget so that the government would no longer be thinking of making budgetary provision for it any longer.

Prof Oloyede spoke during his appearance before the committee that was interfacing with Federal Government’s agencies on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure on Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF-FSP). Specifically, he was reacting to the statement by Saidu Abdulahi, deputy chairman of the committee, to the effect that even though JAMB was not a revenue generating agency, it could still make more money for the government than it is presently doing.

“As much as we don’t want to see you as a revenue generating agency, if there are avenues for you to explore (to make more money for the government)…If we do that, we will be ridding the government of some burden because you have demonstrated that you generate enough to take care of your operation.”

This prompted Oloyede’s reply that if JAMB must exit budgetary allocation, it “must be allowed to fix a new price for the form and return to the old price of N5,000. For example, if we fix N10,000 for the form, nobody will ask the Federal Government for a kobo.” The JAMB boss indeed travelled down memory lane to put his point in perspective. He reminded the committee that when he assumed office in 2016, the board  was charging N5,000 for form but had to seek permission from the Federal Government for a downward review after rendering about N7.8billion surplus to the government in the year. A 30 percent price reduction was subsequently granted the board, bringing the cost of forms down to the present N3,500 which it has since maintained, in spite of the spiralling inflationary trend in the country. Other examination bodies have been adjusting their fees to reflect the level of inflation.

But not only has JAMB stuck to the present fee for forms, it has continued to return billions to government coffers as surplus every year.

Read Also: JAMB conducts supplementary UTME Sept. 24

This would appear the reason why the committee felt it should be able to do more. Since JAMB does not have a machine for printing money, the only way it could return more surplus to the government is to charge more for the major commodity it sells —application forms. But the committee knows the implications for the Nigerian parent who has to bear the burden of the increase and is therefore averse to any idea of an increase in the cost of forms. It would seem the committee wants to eat omelette without breaking eggs, which is impossible.

No doubt, the government is in dire need of money. But there are several ways to ensure more government’s money stays in government coffers. The government must be tougher with its anti-corruption war. In spite of its avowed commitment to the war, some public officials are still stealing in billions. There is still so much profligacy at every level of governance. This must be curbed.

Nothing we have said should be taken to mean aversion to the idea of JAMB making more money for the government. We are only opposed to the situation where all attention would be on one institution that is performing to ‘excrete’ more. The onus should be on the government to ensure that other agencies which should be rendering surplus funds to the government do so. Oloyede did not perform any magic in JAMB. What he has done is financial reengineering which ensures that loopholes were blocked. Until he came on board, no one ever looked in the direction of the board returning any substantial amount as surplus and no one would have if he had continued with the old order. There are several public institutions with the capacity to do same and would actually do so if the searchlight is focused on them.

For JAMB to make more money, it must be institutionally prepared to absorb this burden. Moreover, the envisaged autonomy for JAMB, which is what the envisaged order is all about, should first be experimented within a period of, say, two, years to test its validity.

It is important, however, for both the government and JAMB to tread cautiously in the quest for autonomy. Our concern is that no matter how the envisaged surplus is to be realised, it should be done without fleecing the candidates. Things are already tight for the average Nigerian and the government should not add to the burden by raising JAMB’s fees. It is also important for the government to ensure judicious use of the surplus, now and in the future.

It has been a long, colourful and fulfilling journey for Bruce Onobrakpeya, the celebrated master artist who turned 90 on August 30.

When he became a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Artists in 2000, it was recognition of his stature as a veteran as well as acknowledgement of his work and achievements. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) underlined his value by giving him the Living Human Treasure Award in 2006.

Two prestigious honours from the Nigerian government further cemented his ranking as a “national treasure.” He was the second winner of the Nigerian Creativity Award in 2010, and recipient of the Nigerian National Order of Merit in 2017.

There is no doubt about the special quality of Onabrakpeya’s creativity as printmaker, painter and sculptor. Indeed, his Ovuomaroro Studio, Papa – Ajao, Lagos, is a recognised tourist attraction in the megacity. Also of touristic significance is the annual Harmattan workshop in his home town, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State, which he started in 1998.

His artworks, according to him, “cover a very wide spectrum of interests.” He explained in a recent interview: “I am preoccupied with the environment. I am preoccupied with the philosophy of our people, nature; I am interested in politics, folklore, myths, legends and the life that is not even seen. Sometimes, my works are also quite scientific; derived from the scientific formula.”

He was trained at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, (now Ahmadu Bello University). He got into the institution in 1957.  By his account, he acquired technical skills at the college, but it was the Zaria Arts Society, later known as Zaria Rebels, that shaped his professional practice.  Formed by a group of art students at the college, the society pursued the idea of “decolonising” the visual arts, rebelling against the concept of art taught by their European teachers. He taught at Saint Gregory’s College, Lagos, until 1980.

Read Also: Art Exhibition: Bruce Onobrakpeya, Kanye Tagbo lend voices to austism

His intensely personal style is ultimately a result of rebellion against received ideas.  Regarded as “the father of printmaking in the modern Nigerian art scene,” he is known beyond Africa for this form of art.

His works have been exhibited in many places across the world. Some of them are in public collections at various locations, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, National Theatre, Lagos; Museum of African and African-American Art and Antiquities, New York, USA; Vatican Museum, Rome; National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, USA; Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, Abuja, Nigeria; the British Museum; King Mohammed VI Collection, Morocco; Tate Modern, London.

Interestingly, his works are in periods. He started with Mythical Realism (1957–62), which involved paintings and prints depicting folklore themes, and northern landscapes. In the Installations Period, beginning from 1995 to the present time, he creates works of art by arranging discarded materials. His installations promote environmental protection.

It is commendable that the Bruce Onobrakpeya Foundation, which was established in 1999, remains focused on promoting art at various levels. He is the president of the organisation responsible for the yearly Harmattan workshop. He dreams of making the Agbarha-Otor centre “thoroughly international.” This is a legacy project that demonstrates not only his passion for art but also his sense of giving back to society.    ”We have been receiving artists there who are learning one craft or the other,” he said.  ”Even younger people who didn’t have the opportunity to go to school learn something and take that away. It gives them an opportunity to make a living from what they do.

“Young people who are in university and so on also come to learn, and even artists who are professionals come there, interact with one another, give lectures, and by the time they spend a session there and go back, they are refuelled, and they have the ability to work for another one year, and then they come again and refuel.”

Remarkably, the nonagenarian is full of life. He plans to publish some books, and looks forward to yet “another period of artistic creativity.” We wish the living legend more seasons filled with many colours.

Selflessness can be described as the defining essence of his life. Chief Kola Daisi, lawyer, philanthropist, eminent businessman is indisputably one of the most prominent sons of Ibadanland. Rising to become the Ekerin-Aare of Ibadan and later, the Bashorun of the ancient city, Chief Daisi was prominent on the line of ascension to the coveted royal throne of Ibadanland. Yet, he abdicated his ranking on the Olubadan lineage to his son largely on account of the advanced age at which he would have become monarch if it came to his turn in the line of succession.

The natural human inkling would be a desire to mount the throne, no matter how short his tenure would be on account of age. But Chief Daisi took a sacrificial decision on the issue, both to benefit the younger generation and the exalted royal seat if other gerontocratic aspirants on the waiting queue emulate his example. He is in a sense by this example of self-denial the proverbial preservative salt of culture and tradition.

Of course, Chief Daisi who recently clicked 90 did not become a shining star of his generation and a role model for younger ones by happenstance. He had a solid academic preparation attending the CAC Primary School, Itabale, Ibadan, and proceeding from there to Ibadan Boys High School where his brilliant grades enabled him to gain admission into the London School of Economics. The young Daisi obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and also trained and qualified as a lawyer before returning to Nigeria.

At the law firm of Chief Ayo Rosiji where he began his legal practice, Chief Daisi won early recognition when he won a landmark case for the chamber. He practiced his legal profession in Lagos, Ibadan and other parts of the country before he moved on to work with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) for 11 years, culminating in his becoming the organisation’s chief executive. His training in Economics, no doubt, gave him the requisite knowledge and skills to perform this role with distinction.

He later served as Executive Director of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and was a co-founder of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce. As an active member of these chambers of commerce, he excelled at the Lagos City, state, national and continental levels. These experiences and contacts enabled him to become an exceedingly successful business entrepreneur, investing extensively in banking, real estate and blue chip companies, among other ventures. Given his vast experience and business acumen, Chief Daisi was appointed to serve on the organising committee of summits of the then Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as several international trade fairs.

Chief Daisi was the founding Chairman of the O’dua conglomerate of companies and also served on the boards of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Airways and Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), although his transformational vision in these capacities were hardly ever implemented to our collective loss. His selflessness would not allow him to savour his success alone with his family. Rather, seeking to give back to society, he established the Kola Daisi Foundation (KDF) in 1992 “to help Nigerians in the areas of healthcare, poverty alleviation and children’s education”.

The KDF, among its several altruistic activities constructed 15 classrooms in Chief Daisi’s old C.A.C. Primary School in Ibadan, established a youth centre catering for thousands of youths in collaboration with Educare Trust while also setting up a primary and community hospital in Yemetu, Ibadan, run by the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, but funded by the foundation. In 1998, the KDF donated a two-story computer centre to the University of Ibadan consisting of a lecture theatre, several tutorial rooms, offices for academic and administrative staff as well as a computer laboratory. Remarkably, rather than naming the complex after the donor, it was named in honor of Chief Ayo Rosiji at whose chamber Chief Daisi began his legal career as a springboard to his later accomplishments in life.

Branching into education, Chief Daisi is the founder of the Kola Daisi University which focuses on vocational education and skill acquisition, with the aim of reducing youth unemployment in the country. His vision is to make products of the institution creators of wealth rather than seekers of employment. In his words, “Kola Daisi University is not a business venture. If it were, I would not be doing it at this age. It is an opportunity to inculcate in our young men and women the value and virtues that will enable them to birth the Nigeria of our dreams. It is people that build great nations but only built people can build great nations. So, our vision at Kola Daisi University is to build the people that will build Nigeria into a great nation”. That is the essential selfless and patriotic Chief Daisi. We wish him a fulfilled birthday at 90.