The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Tragic reversal

    • Nigeria leaning on Chad and S/African mercenaries calls for urgent fixing of the country  

    On 18 April 1983 Chad, under warlord President Hissene Habre, invaded and seized 19 islands on Lake Chad, inside Nigerian territory.

    Nigeria’s retaliation, by 21st Armoured Brigade in Maiduguri, under the overall command of the then Brig. Muhammadu Buhari, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division, pushed the invaders some 50 kilometres deep into Chadian territory.

    Thirty-two years later, however, Chad, though under an international coalition of forces, would appear the game-changer in Nigeria’s bungled war against Boko Haram, plaguing Nigeria’s North East in particular, but planting morbid fear in the whole of northern Nigeria.

    Only a few days after Chad’s intervention, under an African Union (AU) conceived international regional force against Boko Haram, the integrated armies of Nigeria, Chad and Niger (Cameroun is reportedly yet to join, except in battling Boko Haram inside its own territory) have recaptured, from the Islamists, Malumfatori, Gamboru, Mafa, Abadam and Marte.

    Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has, of course, balked at the suggestion that Chad, not the Nigerian Army in its own territory, is calling the shot. Nevertheless, it is clear that Chad’s intervention has been decisive; and if the current successes mark the final turning point to eventually routing Boko Haram, Chad will, not unjustifiably, claim credit.

    The defeat of Boko Haram cannot be bad news — in any case, not to the luckless North East locals, whose towns had been captured, and people exposed to Boko Haram’s savage code.  But it is certainly sobering, if not outright bad news, that neighbouring Chad had to come to Nigeria’s rescue.  Pray, what plague has afflicted Nigeria and its military?

    That sobering question is imperative because, parallel to the Chad intervention, news came that Nigerian authorities had allegedly hired 100 South African mercenaries to help free the rump of the Chibok 276 school girls, who Boko Haram kidnapped in April 2013, to intense universal outrage.

    Executive Outcome, the mercenary company, is reportedly owned by one Lt. Col. Eeben Barlow, formerly of the South African Defence Forces; who from newspaper reports had previously fought in Angola, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. He was allegedly hired, aside from springing the Chibok girls, to “skill” Nigerian soldiers.

    So, Nigeria would spurn a military training offer by the United States, only to hire mercenaries to do the job? And these mercenaries, who their home government has disowned, with Maite Nkoana Mashabane, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, expressing sadness at the development; and saying there are enough laws to prosecute the alleged mercenaries, any time they set foot in South Africa?

    Nuhu Ribadu, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss but now Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Adamawa State, has admitted Nigeria embraced black market arms because the Western countries were shunning it. So is Nigeria, though a democracy, fast sliding into a pariah state again? What really is happening to this country?

    President Goodluck Jonathan, on the virtual eve of a crucial election, stands legitimately charged with leading Nigeria to bust. Still, his tenure is only the culmination of a progressively decaying Nigerian state.

    Take the Chad intervention, which should really be counter-intuitive. Chad is less populated, less blessed with resources, less vital in regional standing in the context of global geo-politics, and has smaller military budget.

    Yet, it appears to suffer less corruption (than Nigeria, in any case!) and has somehow instilled more discipline in its army. It appears a long, winding road from 1983, when Buhari crushed the Chad invasion of Nigeria! And what if Chad, after its current help, suddenly develops territorial ambition, with Nigeria manifesting disturbing symptoms of a country unable to defend its integrity?

    Nigeria, from the saviour of West Africa to the wimp being saved by less endowed countries, is a tragic reversal of monumental proportion. But that grave challenge compels a solemn re-visit, to halt the decay in the Nigerian state, once and for all.

    By making the right choices, this election offers a historic opportunity for a rebuilding process, starting from the scratch.

  • The change we need

    SIR: I have been following the electioneering campaigns of all the major political parties with keen interest and expectedly, they have been feeding us with promises to win our votes. In as much as no single party /candidate will come out to tell us what we do not want to hear at this critical period, there is need for Nigerians to peruse all these sugar coated talks and decipher the realistic ones from mere rhetoric. From whichever angle we look or interpret these numerous promises vis-à-vis the situation on ground in the country, one thing is very certain and, that is the need for change.

    I will want to draw the attention of Nigerians to the basic changes that we are expecting from the administration that will come on board from May 29.

    Foremost, we want a government that can guarantee the security of lives and properties of the people. We need a government that will make the environment conducive for citizens and residents to be able to move freely at all times without fear of intimidations or attacks, a government that will make the country attractive to foreign investors and tourists. We want a government that will protect the lives of our children in boarding schools as well as those on the streets.

    Secondly, we want a government that will revive the collapsed manufacturing industries. We want a government that will encourage the growth of the agricultural and other sectors of the economy to be self sustaining, a government that can make the naira to be very strong and competitive again.

    Thirdly, we want a government that will be prudent in using our resources to better the lots of Nigerians. We want a government that will make our roads to be motorable again and not the death traps we have presently. We want a government that will make our refineries to work, a government that will make our electricity to be stable.

    Fourthly, we want a government that will make education and health care services relatively cheap and affordable for all Nigerians. We want a government that will bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, a government that will make our teachers/lecturers get their rewards on earth and also cater for the welfare of our pensioners.

    Fifthly, we want a government that will tackle unemployment and give the youths hope for the future. A government that will make Nigerians proud everywhere they found themselves (that is a government that will make the Westerners/foreigners treat our people with respect and dignity).

    Sixthly, we want a government that can fight corruption and eradicate the menace from our system; where public office holders would be made accountable. We want a government that will put measures in place to ensure free and fair elections at all times, where every vote will count.

    We want a government that will put measures in place to discourage other countries from turning country to dumping ground of all worthless and inferior commodities. We want a government that will bring back discipline and order to the ways we do things in the country.

     

    •Raymond Oise-Oghaede,

    Lagos

  • CJN’s timely warning

    CJN’s timely warning

    Election judges should learn from history and not kill this democracy

    The warning by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to the judiciary, while swearing in the 242 judges appointed as members of the election petition tribunals, is not only timely but ominous. The learned justice without equivocation said, “Let me use this opportunity to serve a note of warning to all judicial officers. Do not allow any political party or politician to compromise your integrity or your future. We must never again be used as tools to truncate our nation’s democracy”. We commend Justice Mohammed’s sense of history, for remembering the ignominious role played by some judicial officials to truncate the June 12 election, in 1993.

    We consider his warning as timely because there are already clear indications that some politicians who are jittery over the likelihood of losing at the general elections, have resorted to concocting every trick in the books to arrest the elections slated for February 14 and 28, by instituting some dubious cases before the court. So, just as they did in 1993, some lackeys of people in government, are already shopping for pliant judges in the mould of late Justice Bassey Ikpeme, to procure similar ignominious judgments as hers, to truncate the general elections.

    The warning is ominous because really there is the possibility that such dangerous judges, as envisaged by Justice Mohammed, actually sit in the sanctum of our national courts. Such possibility is a present danger to our national cohesion, considering the enormous damage that a dubious judge could do, with his or her powers, particularly when applied for a devious end. We hope that the chief justice’s warning to deal with such judges is not mere rhetoric. To protect the upcoming elections, we urge the CJN and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to be on the lookout for such duplicitous cases, aimed at truncating our hard-earned democracy.

    The CJN and the NJC must do all that is legitimately in their power to frustrate any dangerous invasion of the political process, in order to avoid the incalculable harm that a dubious court order could do to the wellbeing of the nation. So, without descending into a court’s arena, it is important that no court is allowed to arrest the upcoming election or the participation of the candidates on spurious claims, by duplicitous litigants. As Nigeria rolls into the final week before the presidential election, the Nigerian judiciary should be wary of issuing ex-parte applications, black market or late-night judgments on the eve of the general election, aimed at frustrating our national aspirations.

    We also congratulate the judges who have been sworn in as members of the various tribunals to handle the election petitions that may arise from the national election. Their responsibility, as the CJN noted, will be very demanding and they should note that Nigerians have invested enormous hope in this election, and as such, they must gird their robes, to do justice to the litigants without fear or favour, should any of them feel cheated and approach the tribunals for redress. Again, we commend the chief justice when he avowed, “any judge found wanting would only have himself or herself to blame as the National Judicial Council will definitely not spare the rod in ensuring that the honour, respect and independence of the judiciary is protected”.

    Thankfully, the election is slated three months before the handover date to a new government. So, where the tribunals are diligent, all the disputes should be settled well in advance, including any appeals, before the May 29, 2015 handover date. Here again the admonition of the CJN was timely, when he said, “Since you all do not have the luxury of time in the discharge of your duties, I urge you all to be pedantic in your deliberation, but do not allow ‘red-herring’ technicalities to distract you from the part of justice”. In this regard, the CJN should ensure that the tribunals follow dutifully, the practice directions that should preclude meaningless interlocutory applications.

    There is no doubt that the courts would play an important role towards a successful transition programme, after the next elections. Such role may be as important as that of the electoral umpire, and any duplicity by any of the tribunals could spell doom for our fragile democracy. The election petition tribunals must therefore be ready to act as  honest, diligent and impartial arbiters, for the inevitable disputes that would arise from the general elections. Considering the poor reputation of the judiciary, this election may provide it an opportunity to redeem her image. So, we agree with the CJN, when he told the judges, “it is crucial that you consider all the evidence before you carefully, deliberate conscientiously, and adjudicate swiftly and justly as not only you but the entire judiciary will be on trial”.

  • No to postponement

    The statement issued from the presidency without a sense of shame. President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesperson Doyin Okupe cast an insult on the decency and collective civic faith of our people when he said the country’s leader wants to postpone the elections slated for February 14 and 28 of this year.

    The expression  of “concerns” is no more than a kite from the presidency to shift the election from the dates. We want to state categorically that the elections of February 14 and 28 are sacrosanct, and efforts by the presidency and his party, the People’s Democratic Party,  to postpone them undermine the spirit and letter of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Okupe  gave a number of reasons for a possible postponement. One, the permanent voter cards insufficiency. Two, insecurity in the northeast. Okupe also said the Independent National Electoral Commission was not ready. He also gave a version of INEC president’s presentation to the Council of State’s meeting on Thursday.

    The issue of insecurity did not begin today and it has been a persistent problem in the country. The citizens in the states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Gombe have not even shown that they are not interested in the polls. Only some designated local governments areas have been taken over by the Boko Haram sect. The INEC President, who meets with party leaders later today, had told the Council of States that he is ready for the elections. He has achieved a substantial compliance in the distribution of PVCs and has repeatedly shown that his commission is up to the task of the polls.

    He said that he has distributed up to 65 per cent of the PVCs, and was ready to go ahead with the polls. More PVCs will be distributed before February 14. But Okupe, who spoke for the president said there was an area that was outside the purview of the INEC: Security, that is.

    Is security not the first and primary responsibility of government? If the Jonathan administration that has bungled ignominiously the fight against the subversive sect cannot provide security for the elections, it is an admission of failure.

    If the president wants to postpone the elections, if even for a few weeks, does it mean that this government would wipe out Boko Haram in a few weeks? This same government that has not been able to roll the insurgents back after a state of emergency, the creation of a division and trillions of Naira on security budget?

    This is mischief from high places. If the government is concerned today about security, what does it have now that it did not have in the past? Apart from the advances of the Chad and Cameroun armies, ours has been a supine soldiery in that Area. Even those countries cannot give a timeline for the prosecution of the battle against the insurgents.

    What Okupe did is a roll-back to the years of the June 12 crisis under Ibrahim Babangida where the postponement of election was a fixture that eventually led to an election that was annulled. The president should be clear what he wants. If he wants a postponement, he should tell us he is afraid of an election. The people are poised to vote, and Jega has said he is ready for the vote.

    What is at stake is not just an election, but the integrity of the constitution of Nigeria. We hope this is not a quicksand from the PDP under Jonathan. The president had always had postponement in mind when he met with the visiting secretary of state of the United States, John Kerry. Kerry suggested that a postponement was not in order. Jonathan said he would hand over May 29, cleverly ignoring the issue of poll postponement. He also sent his National security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to London to fly the postponement kite.

    Under Ibrahim Babangida, the elections were put off repeatedly as ploys to shift handover dates. So, Nigerians cannot be fooled by any shenanigans from the Jonathan administration. The news report had it that the plot is to put off the elections date after date until it leads to the expiry of Jega’s tenure in June. In that event, two things would have happened. One, the overthrow of the constitution by shifting the handover date. This will mean the president will overstay his constitutional tenure in office. Two, the planting of a new INEC boss who may be pliant to the cause of the Presidency.

    The consequences of this scenario for calm in the polity are better imagined that delineated. We hope for the peace of this country that it is not the design of the president and his men.

    According to the constitution Jega is the only person who can decide whether the elections can be postponed or not. A meddlesome president will only undermine the sanctity of the constitution and democratic spirit.

    This democracy belongs to all Nigerians. It does not belong to the president. He is the leader by a democratic process. He should not be seen to want to subvert it from above.

  • Doyin Abiola at 70

    •An astute journalist and achiever joins the club of elders

    On February 1, Dr. Hamidat Doyinsola Abiola joined the club of septuagenarians and could therefore reminisce on the past with a view to guiding the up and coming. Although she would have loved a very quiet and silent celebration, the public eye, being on her projected the event as an uncommon attainment. While it is given for many in the society to attain the age, not many are considered as achievers who have the right stories to tell.

    As a journalist, she attained a height that is the dream of many. In 1980, she was appointed the first woman editor of a national newspaper, National Concord. An incredulous public was soon convinced that there is nothing about the office that should make it an exclusive preserve of men. She adroitly ran the newspaper and it became a reference point.

    Dr. Abiola who obtained a doctorate degree in journalism in 1979 also proved that theory and practice should not always run along parallel lines. She managed the men and resources in the paper in such a way that it became the envy of older newspapers and those who had thought partisan considerations would becloud the writers’ sense of judgement were soon disappointed.

    In two years, she had proved her mettle and moved up the ladder as director/editor-in-chief. When the pioneer managing director, Chief Henry Odukomaiya, a respected elder in the profession, had to bow out in 1984, his shoes were considered so large that a number of professionals wondered if the fortunes of the paper would not begin to decline. His successor would have to manage an array of achievers who had been assembled to produce a first-class newspaper, Mrs. Abiola was found fit and proper to run all divisions of the group as Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief.

    Dr. Abiola was not just the wife of the publisher and proprietor of the vibrant group of newspapers, the largest selling at a point, she was highly regarded by all in the industry. Her robust intellectual capacity and sound managerial skills made her a reputable journalist.

    Her strength of character was aptly demonstrated during the struggle for the validation of the mandate overwhelmingly won by her husband, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election. The adversity faced by the family when the embodiment of the nation’s democratic struggles was locked up by the Abacha regime was enough to break the spirit of mean men and women. The regime put in place measures to frustrate the late Abiola’s businesses, including the newspapers; yet, the Concord manager refused to oblige them the pleasure of having the last laugh. She would neither betray her husband nor the struggle.

    At 70, she could look back and say though she literally walked through the valley of the shadow of death in the days of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) resistance movement, she held on till the very end. Heroes and heroines are made in a country’s difficult moments. Men of straw find it very easy to betray a cause they had hitherto professed, but, Dr. Abiola passed the test. She stood for Nigeria, would do nothing to put pressure on her husband to recant and rather gave him all the encouragement he needed.

    We commend Mrs. Abiola’s spirit, poise and vision. As a woman of substance, she has been a true trailblazer and shown that greatness is not merely inherited, but achieved. She has also demonstrated that hard work, faithfulness and steadfastness lead to imperishable legacy. We call on her to write books on her experience as a journalist and the struggle to free her country. This is a debt she owes and must pay back in expressing gratitude to God for sparing her life till this moment.

  • The great giver

    • Chief Molade Alexander Okoya-Thomas, foremost Nigerian philanthropist, dies

    The death of Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas marks the cessation of a life whose distinguishing feature was its overwhelming generosity. In a country where the wealthy are better known for their avarice and predation, Okoya-Thomas stood out for the depth and consistency of his commitment to the well-being and advancement of society.

    The unique nature of his open-handedness can best be seen in the case of Miss Precious Obiekwe, an SS 3 student of Holy Child College, Ikoyi, Lagos. In 2009, her family, owing to diminishing fortunes, had taken the decision to transfer her to another school which was perceived to be not as good. According to Miss Obiekwe, Chief Okoya-Thomas spoke to her in church and offered to sponsor her education; though they had had no previous contact with him.

    As an act of generosity, it had all the hallmarks of Okoya-Thomas’ personality: it was discreet, utterly altruistic and aimed at bringing out the very best in the beneficiary. Miss Obiekwe says he maintained regular contact with her and had promised to sponsor her medical training in Canada after her secondary school education. “He just couldn’t stop doing good,” she declared.

    Chief Okoya-Thomas’ philanthropy certainly demonstrates the way in which “doing good” was an unwavering commitment on his part. He is perhaps best-known for his sponsorship of the annual Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship for nearly half a century. Long before it was conventional wisdom, Chief Okoya-Thomas  realised the vital importance of organised sport to the wellbeing of youths and sought to have them engaged in positive sporting and other activity as much as he could. The table tennis championships have become an important fixture on the nation’s sporting calendar and has given rise to many athletes who have gone on to distinguish themselves internationally.

    Apart from personal demonstrations of generosity, Chief Okoya-Thomas’ contributions in the area of sport extended to his participation in various fund-raising committees and bodies in which his leadership, as much as his donations, had significant impact. They include the Lagos State Sports Council, the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, the Third All-Africa Games Appeal Fund Committee, the National Appeal Fund for Sports Development and the Sports Trust Fund. He also built and donated a sports hall for the Lagos State University (LASU) in 2009.

    Given the extent and longevity of his philanthropy, it is clear that Chief Okoya-Thomas was not engaged in acts of so-called “subversive generosity,” that ambiguous kindness which is merely a cover for less-honourable intentions. He did not seek to buy himself influence of the social, political or economic kind; he was not trying to boost his profile by taking advantage of the vulnerability of others; he certainly was not attempting to show off. His openhandedness was simply the manifestation of a fundamental generosity of spirit.

    This is, unfortunately, a character trait which is sadly lacking in the majority of Nigeria’s wealthy elite. The country has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of billionaires, but the positive effects of their presence are not as spectacular. Instead of the emergence of more public-spirited individuals like Chief Okoya-Thomas, what is seen is the advent of a shockingly crass materialism. Nigeria is renowned for its world-beating consumption of champagne, its growing number of private jet owners and the feverish rate at which it acquires the latest cars.

    Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas has shown that the possession of large amounts of money does not result in a loss of humanity or the absence of a sense of propriety. He demonstrated that intelligence, competence and hard work can create wealth which must be utilised judiciously and responsibly. May the soul of the man who couldn’t stop doing good rest in peace.

  • Teflon president-in waiting

    SIR: Teflon is a kind of plastic often applied on pans to prevent food from sticking to them. If anything can be said about the developments in Nigeria’s political arena these days, it is that Gen. Buhari, the APC presidential candidate is really”Mr. Teflon.”

    In its panic mode, the PDP campaign organization of President Goodluck Jonathan has thrown everything at its disposal at him. None, nil, nada has been able to stick!

    First, political darts were thrown to no effect. At age 72, Buhari was declared to be too old to be President by over-weight pot-bellied political hounds that cannot even outrace the General in a 50 metre race! Their contentions were laid bare when the honourable people of Tunisia elected an 88-year old gentleman as President of their country.

    Next, they went into the kitchen and started throwing everything at him. General Buhari has cancer they screamed. No luck! His doctors promptly disabused their minds and brains; they have become befuddled.

    They picked up another refrain; Buhari has no secondary school leaving certificate. For a time, it looked like their allegation would gain traction. Then the General displayed what made him a General; strategy! In a concerted, well-orchestrated response, all of the institutions the General attended made public all of the information in their possession. All of the information released by these institutions point to the fact that Gen. Buhari has satisfied the requirements of the appropriate section of the Nigerian Constitution. They have not stopped. Gen. Buhari wants to convert Nigerians to the Islamic faith, they avow, even though at all the times he has run for the office, his running mates have been Christians! Another blatant lie. However, Gen. Buhari gets more popular by the day and the endorsement by the people that really matter, the voters, are coming in bunches.

    The PDP and its cohorts, in my humble opinion, have two problems. First are the memories of the Nigerian people. They have gone through both administrations; Jonathan’s and General Buhari’s. They remember and prefer Buhari’s two years in office over Dr. Jonathan’s six years in office. The differences are just too glaring! Hence, they have picked up Gen. Buhari’s refrain of “change.”

    The second problem is encapsulated in late Chief S. L. Akintola’s memorable assertion – You have not suffered in life and you say you are wise. Who is your teacher? This assertion is a major problem for the PDP. Nigerians have suffered tremendously. And they are still suffering. Finally, the die is cast, the last straw has broken the camel’s back and they do not want to suffer anymore. They have smartened up!

    Nigerians want results now not promises. They want the electric power they pay for not the darkness that hovers over them for days, months even years. They want roads, hospitals, schools, and social services which they know the country can pay for but which have been denied them by peculator incumbents of public offices. They have realized that now is the time for good governance, not good luck! Nowhere in the world has good luck built a country. Instead, honesty, integrity, consistency, commitment, visionary leadership, cooperation and character build nations.

    Like Barack Obama, who rode into office on the crest of a popular political movement that destroyed every political “monument” or obelisk in its path in 2008, Buhari’s train is riding through the thick and thin of the needless hurdles being put in its path by mediocre political midgets, political prostitutes and hirelings of no consequence to the country, with the ease of a knife going through butter.

    Honestly, seems to me like this is Buhari’s divine assignment. He has a date with destiny.

    • Angelicus-M. B. Onasanya,

     Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State

  • World Cancer Day

    •Increasing numbers of the disease should inspire a special policy in Nigeria

    On Wednesday, Nigerians joined the rest of humanity to mark the World Cancer Day, a day set aside by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise awareness on prevention, detection and treatment of the disease.

    Cancer, which describes a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body, is among the leading causes of death worldwide. In 2012 alone, approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths were recorded. Of these, more than 60 percent occurred in Africa, Asia and Central and South America – that is 70 percent of the world’s cancer deaths.

    As one would expect, the statistics for Nigeria is as chilling as can be: an estimated two million Nigerians are believed to be down with the disease. Head of Oncology and Radiotherapy Unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, Prof Remi Ajekigbe, puts the estimated figure of new cancer cases at 100,000 yearly – with LUTH alone recording no fewer than 3,000 new cases yearly. Of the cases, more than 50 percent are said to occur in women – the commonest being breast and cervical cancer; the cancers frequently associated with men are prostate, lung, colorectum, stomach and liver cancers.

    What is equally noteworthy is that survival rates from the disease have doubled in the last 40 years owing to vast advances in science and medicine. Even at that, the number of new cases is projected to rise by about 70 percent over the next two decades.

    This is where the theme for this year – Not Beyond Us –would seem particularly apt. Aside underscoring the challenge ahead, it also underlies the resolve of the global scientific community to tackle the scourge via the avenues of new treatments and solutions within reach, with specific focus on four key areas: choosing healthy lives, delivering early detection, achieving treatment for all and maximising quality of life.

    Hardly an entirely new approach, this strategy would seem pragmatic; cancer treatments, even where facilities for its management are readily available are known to be very expensive. For most developing countries, including Nigeria, specialised cares for sufferers of various types of cancers are not just limited; the facilities available are overstretched just as the cost of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are well beyond what most cancer patients can afford.

    This is where the benefits of the approach that places primary responsibility on the individual in the area of preventive check-ups and while discouraging those life-styles that predispose the individual to the disease, cannot be over-emphasised. Just like in other aspects of our national life where preventive strategy comes highly recommended, we do not think that the government is doing nearly enough to promote behavioural changes that could help cut down the rising incidences of cancer. And to imagine that we are here referring to things as basic as improved diets, routine exercises to avoid obesity and avoidance of alcohol and smoking that can be handled at the primary health care level.

    The biggest challenge however is in the area of research and the provision of equipment for cancer treatment. For a nation that aspires to join the league of developed countries less than five years from now, it is a crying shame that it does not have a centre of excellence devoted to cancer treatment and research. Even worse is that most of the radiotherapy machines in the country are said to be obsolete – constantly breaking down due to high patient load –which is why affluent Nigerians now leave in droves for treatment abroad.

    Providing our tertiary health institutions with grants to procure cancer equipment in the circumstance would not be a bad idea. The institutions can then be expected to concentrate on training the requisite manpower.

  • Embarrassing cold-shoulder

    •The Jonathan administration should put aside hubris and address the United States’ concerns in fight against Boko Haram

    The seriousness of the Nigerian government to tackle the intractable Boko Haram insurgents can only be gleaned from the degree of trust reposed in her military and the calibre of influential foreign countries willing to give a helping hand. This is why we are particularly not comfortable with the widely touted dwindling defence relationships between the Nigerian government and her militarily powerful United States (US) counterpart at this security fragile period of Nigeria’s history.

    Our position has been further amplified by recent report in a New York Times publication that the Pentagon now reportedly bypasses Nigeria, preferring to work with security officials in the neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger to resolve the Boko Haram impasse. One quoted senior military official with the US Africa Command, under anonymity, reportedly said: “We don’t have a foundation for what I would call a good partnership right now. We want a relationship based on trust, but you have to be able to see yourself. And they’re in denial.”

    Sometime in December 2014, the Federal Government cancelled the final stage of American training of a newly-created Nigerian Army battalion. Since then, there has been no official clue or signal in the direction of rapprochement on the issue. The degeneration has even reportedly led to the refusal of the US to sell Cobra attack helicopters and other lethal weapons to the Federal Government to combat the Boko Haram insurgency under the pretext that the Nigerian Army would not be able to use them responsibly.

    The New York Times alsoreported that American officials are not willing to share raw data intelligence with the Nigerian military due to their impression that the nation’s military has been infiltrated by Boko Haram, and the need to protect their sources. The corruption and far-reaching human rights’ abuses committed by Nigerian soldiers have equally been serious contributory factors to the sour defence relationships between the two countries.

    This is a damning verdict casting serious aspersion on the capability of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to maintain the respectability of the nation’s military and sovereignty. Worse is the fact that such a verdict is coming from the outside based not on frivolous parameters but on empirical evidence gathered during American military trainers and specialists’ close contact with Nigeria’s military personnel.

    We are still in quandary over why the US, Britain and France, among others, will be working confidently with neighbouring countries to solve a major Nigerian security problem and will not be comfortable doing same with the nation. This might not be unconnected with Nigeria’s military’s uncooperative attitude to serious security issues. For instance, if neighbouring countries mentioned above that are sharing borders with Nigeria have checkmated Boko Haram’s incursions into their territories, what stops Nigeria from doing same for years that the insurgents have been tormenting her?

    We want the Nigerian government to note that the panacea to the Boko Haram insurgency is not in undue emotional reaction to cold facts at the disposal of the US. The Federal Government should rather be grateful to the Americans for drawing its attention to this grave anomaly because the real solution to the Boko Haram challenge lies in urgently addressing all the salient issues/fears raised by the US – not in obviously rash diplomatic steps. President Goodluck Jonathan should come clean on this matter since what is at stake is more than the personal ego of an individual but the dignity of the nation’s army as well as the sanctity of the country’s corporate existence.

  • Hope for a nation in bondage

    SIR: By commission and omission, Nigerians brought this great nation on her knees. So, let us go soul searching before casting our treasured votes. The general elections should not be about filling posts as usual. It should be about redefining who we are, what we want, the challenges of a true federation and above all, how we want the world to perceive us as from the next republic.

    In 1960, a child of flawed constitution was born, deformed, hydra-headed and still stammering in adolescent and incoherent on her knees at over 50 years of age. Delivered in bad faith for  the sole purpose of a sustainable, exploitative, British prosperity and selfish-interest; born of questionable parenthood, kidnapped and nursed in the crib of commanding officers since age seven, nursed mostly by  army generals and inept leadership in politics.

    One of the last generals standing upright, reformed, and apologetic of the rot they left behind, bids a come back to straighten things up. That’s General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB)’s unfinished business in today’s politics.

    Let GMB come in and infuse sanity, discipline, dignity, not on his command but on the rule of law and justice in a nation yawning for true fiscal federalism.

    My choice of GMB is informed by the legendary traits of his leadership virtues  and discipline. The nation is bursting at the seams with brilliant minds, in all spheres of life but fatally wanting in leadership! Grossly under-utilised and wasting like our vast potentials of arable lands, bring in merit and a just social order, and you will harvest bountifully, human resources of immense proportions.

    That’s what we need to excel, as in the economic miracles of BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia India and China.

    Although, and most unfortunate but true, even the best amongst of us, when given the opportunity are often converted easily in a land thoroughly wired in corruption. Just take a cursory look at how the high and mighty in governments, politics, business, even our religious leaders; thriving on Alleluyah merchandise,  are not spared of this plague, as they often come cascading from the altar of grace to be refurbished on grass. Buhari’s legendary integrity, austere and disciplined life are values our nation’s bankrupt elite can profit from.

    Ours is a nation in bondage by our own doings. From rural Otueke, to cosmopolitan Kaduna, Jos, Enugu, Port Harcourt and mega city of Lagos, the prognosis is very bad. The pang of  birth, the pain of hunger, distress and pleasure are the same in all human beings. Let the truth be told, the same sun that shines its brilliance on the mansions and glittering-marbles in the  cosmopolitan cities, hides not its face from our rural dwellings, creeks and oil-spilled-rivers of the Niger Delta or such severally fouled-up-rivers, criss -crossing our entire lands, west, east, north and south. Our needs and wants, though varied, converge at a point of realities in our daily lives.

    PDP gave us no choice; we must embrace this great opportunity for change, even though we have no faith in our men of straw, called politicans. The privilege few that parades the corridors of power bestriding  the land like colossus; haunting down and diminishing our commonwealth with reckless abandon; veiled in legal instruments, concocted by unconscionable but various ingenuity. Amazing, but true. Fate must have ironically, unfairly destined GEJ of the shoeless fame to toy with the need of this famished nation in dire need of good governance. What an irony?

    Let facts speak, when millions lose their jobs, the economy wanes and commerce goes into comatose as we are witnessing now, the President should lose his job.  He should feel the pinch in his now severally acquired golden shoes.

     

    •  Goke Omisore,

    Lekki, Lagos.