The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Hallowed life

    Hallowed life

    • At 24, Hallowed Olaoluwa who has shattered every academic record in his path must live in a world of his own

    His academic records are so staggering for his age that it would almost ring hollow to refer to him as merely a genius. What this means is that even among intellectually gifted persons, there are multiple cadres and in such a classification of the exceptional, Mr. Hallowed Olaoluwa proves to be in a class by himself. Levels after levels in his educational trajectory; right from kindergarten to his doctoral offering, he showed astounding genius.

    To read his story backwards, last Wednesday at the Multi-purpose Hall of the University of Lagos, Olaoluwa, the Mabo, Ekiti State indigene confounded the audience at the institution’s convocation ceremony when he stepped out as the youngest Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) laureate of the school’s 52-year-old history.  At only 24 years, he scored a cumulative grade point average (CPGA) of 5.0 to emerge the overall best doctorate student. What this translates to is that he made an A in every course he offered. He studied Mathematics. He has bettered the record of 26-year-old Olabisi Adeyemi who had a CPGA of 4.98 in 2012.

    Olaoluwa’s doctoral feat is only an affirmation of a prodigious journey started at age 5 in 1994 when he began primary one.  In less than 20 years, he had acquired a Higher School Certificate at 13, double first degrees in Physics and Mathematics at 18, a master’s degree at 19, PhD at 24. How did he achieve this seeming miraculous feat? “I had four double promotions in the primary and secondary schools. In primary school, I was promoted from primary five to primary six in the middle of the session. I also obtained three other double promotions in the secondary school, always passing my exams with distinctions”, he explained.

    The highly gifted youth whose parents are missionaries of the Deeper Life Church, had his early school life in the French-speaking country of Central African Republic (CAR). It was at the University of Bangui in that country that he unfurled fully and showed the world the rare intellectual endowments he possessed. He was admitted into the university at the age of 15; he opted to study Mathematics and Physics simultaneously, a venture none had contemplated before then: “Running two programmes simultaneously was not done before; neither had it been done after. I was an exception to the rule due to my performances and God’s grace… ,” he informed.

    He bagged first class degree honours in the two courses, graduating at the age of 18. He also did the same subjects (Maths and Physics) at the Master’s level, earning his M.Sc. with distinction in the two fields as well.

    But what might be the magic of this rarefied academic excellence? Olaoluwa does nothing extraordinary apart from being serious with his studies. He said his time on campus was dedicated to research and work. He would often go to his department to work, see his supervisors and collaborate with his colleagues. But it was not all work and no play for him. According to him, he has friends and also interacts with them. He has hobbies; he plays the piano and he loves watching football. As a member of the Deeper Life Church he relates with brethren, evangelises sometimes and sings in the choir.

    Olaoluwa who is a UNESCO Ambassador of Peace wants to get even more PhDs. He wants to go abroad to earn another doctoral in Mathematical Physics or any other such combinations. He advises students never to be afraid of Maths but to always see it as a challenge to be overcome. That, he posits, is the mindset required to conquer Mathematics.

    Olaoluwa is a burning beacon of light for Nigerian youths. In an age when youths have their eyes set on material things and quick fixes, Olaoluwa has proved that rigorous study will always bring glory and honour.

  • Herdsmen in combat gear?

    Herdsmen in combat gear?

    • It is high time the Federal Government stopped the new trend of herdsmen with AK47

    Rather than abate, the incidence of Fulani herdsmen attacking communities all over the country seems to be worsening. One of the latest such attacks took place in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State where about 40 communities were attacked by the herdsmen who were said to be armed with AK47 rifles. They reportedly entered the communities about two weeks before the attack, with their livestock. And, as in other places where they had illegally grazed their cattle, they left farmlands destroyed as well as raped some women in the communities.

    The herdsmen have been on the rampage in several parts of the country, including Benue, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kaduna and Katsina states – all in the north – where the host communities have had to complain bitterly about their illegal and criminal conducts. With the attack on the communities in Enugu, it would seem the herdsmen are intensifying their movement down south.

    About 12 years ago, former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, was so angry about what he called “your people are killing my people” that he protested to the then Oyo State governor, when a dispute arose between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous farmers in the state. The allegation turned out to be unfounded, or, at best, the other way round. We should sound a note of warning that the herdsmen’s movement down south is going to be a different ballgame because of the mutual distrust and hatred among the different ethnic nationalities that make up the Nigerian nation.

    For instance, as in other communities where the herdsmen have left havoc in their trail, the Enugu communities affected by the latest attacks have warned that they would be forced to take actions in self-defence since the government is unable to rein in the marauders. Such threats should be expected because people naturally resort to self-help when they discover that the government cannot give them adequate protection.

    So, the point must be made, and unambiguously too, that there is nowhere in the world where anybody can lay claim to the kind of freedom that the herdsmen want to claim wherever they go, without regard to the laws of the land. They should be made to realise that where their right to graze their cattle stops, other people’s right to protect their own source of livelihood and lives begins.

    Herdsmen are known to carry knives and sticks, but when they now carry sophisticated weapons like AK 47 rifles, that should naturally make the government inquisitive because no nation can afford to have sophisticated arms in the hands of just anybody. Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, reportedly escaped death in March when Fulani herdsmen opened fire on his convoy in North-Central Benue State. The governor was in the area to see the recent raids by Fulani herdsmen. But when the herdsmen sighted his entourage at Umenger, they opened fire with the security details returning fire for fire. The governor’s entourage had to retreat when they discovered that the herdsmen had superior fire power. We should be worried when herdsmen now do their business in combat gear.

    The Federal Government should see, as a matter of urgency, the challenge posed by these herdsmen and deal with it as such. We wonder why those perpetrating these murderous acts are hardly arrested not to talk of being made to account for their crimes. We do not have to wait until it becomes intractable, with its attendant consequences that could even threaten national cohesion, before addressing it. If the security agencies need to be better kitted, the government should do that immediately.

  • A Balancing act on Iraq

    A Balancing act on Iraq

    President Obama has, so far, struck the right note on Iraq, where Sunni extremist militants are seizing territory and threatening the existence of the state. He has been cautious — emphasizing the need for political reform in Iraq and reaching out to other countries that could have an impact on its fate.

    His opening to Iran has been the most controversial and potentially the most important move. Iran has the most leverage with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and its prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. The United States has been negotiating with Iran for months over Iran’s nuclear program, but the agenda had not gone beyond that until Mr. Obama sent a senior State Department official to discuss Iraq with an Iranian official in Vienna this week. The two countries cooperated on Afghanistan in 2001 against the Taliban, and, in theory, they should be able to find common interest in stabilizing Iraq.

    Mr. Obama has called on Mr. Maliki to form a broadly representative government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds as a condition of any military action by the United States. The American ambassador in Iraq and a senior State Department official have been pressing that issue in Baghdad. Even so, Mr. Maliki on Tuesday refused to reach out to Sunnis. Maybe Iran can make him hear the message.

    The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — the rebel group known as ISIS that is sweeping across Iraq — is also waging war in Syria, commingling those conflicts and fueling Sunni-Shiite tensions throughout the Middle East. Mr. Obama and his aides have been consulting regional leaders, whose interests would be severely threatened by an Iraq in total collapse, whether they acknowledge it or not. Turkey, for instance, should shut its border to militants and to materiel flowing into Syria and Iraq. And Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other gulf states need to stop financing (directly or indirectly) ISIS, which began as an Al Qaeda affiliate, and other extremist groups.

    President Obama has said Iraq needs support to “break the momentum of extremist groups” and that he is considering his options, including military action. If there is a case for military action, Mr. Obama still needs to make it.

    Speculation in recent days has focused on airstrikes by drones or planes against militant targets; if they are ordered, officials say they are likely to be isolated and tactical, like American operations in Yemen, and Iraqi forces would have to follow up on the ground.

    If Mr. Obama decides to take military action, he must make it clear that it would not be done to support Mr. Maliki’s government, but to disrupt the militants’ momentum while the Iraqi Army regroups.

    In the meantime, the administration has to develop better intelligence on the militants’ movements. It plans to provide more weapons to the Iraqi Army, even though major units disintegrated as the militants swept through northern Iraq. American officials say there are still capable Iraqi units to build on, but that seems a risky bet.

    Whatever action Mr. Obama takes, it must be grounded in a larger political strategy that considers the full spectrum of sectarian dangers that are roiling the region. On Monday night, militants reached Baquba, about 40 miles north of Baghdad, before being turned back. In a horrific show of sectarian reprisal, 44 Sunni prisoners held in a Baquba police station, controlled by the Shiite-led government, were killed by the police as the Sunni militants attacked the station.

    –  New York Times

  • Jonathan’s pettiness

    Jonathan’s pettiness

    • It was not presidential that Jonathan did not congratulate the new Emir of Kano

    Whoever advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to congratulate Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the newly installed Emir of Kano, did not do him or his office any good. And the president should have known better and ignored the counsel. Such an act is too puerile and blinkered to be associated with the presidency. The new emir is the immediate past governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) who in the twilight of his tenure was controversially suspended from office by the president on February 20.

    Sanusi had accused the government of not accounting for over $20 billion oil money in the Federation Account.

    The legal and public hullabaloo generated by his contentious removal from the apex bank’s post were yet to subside before the position of the Emir of Kano, hitherto occupied by late Alhaji Ado Bayero, became vacant. Being a Fulani prince, his name was among three others forwarded by the ancient town’s kingmakers to Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso for approval. The governor, in line with prevailing chieftaincy laws across the federation, picked Sanusi. We are not surprised by the noticeable degree of disenchantment from some elements in Kano. Traditional rulers’ selection anywhere has not been controversy-free. But once done, we expect all to work for the good of the community. Alternatively, the aggrieved may go to court.

    Therefore, whatever dissonance might have existed between the new Emir and anybody in government should not be taken to a ridiculous extent. This is the juncture at which we disagree with the refusal of President Jonathan to congratulate Sanusi. More inexcusable is the fact that the President cancelled his scheduled homage to the new Emir in Kano (as is often the practice) prior to the announcement of the kingmakers’ choice. To us, this is simply because Sanusi was the favoured candidate. That aborted presidential journey to Kano would have equally afforded the president an opportunity to commiserate with the family of the departed Emir.

    The Emir of Kano is one of the foremost revered traditional rulers in the entire north. And Sanusi, being the present occupant of the throne is just the symbol of that throne and the custodian of the culture and tradition of his people. Whoever has respect for Kano people must show deserved regard for the person occupying the post – for the people of that state, through their governor and kingmakers, have deemed him fit to sit over such revered throne and for him to lead them traditionally.

    All said, the new emir must realise that his new role is a different ballgame from that of the CBN.  As CBN governor, Sanusi discharged his functions with controversial activism that was quite alien to the tranquil dignity and aplomb becoming of an apex bank’s top man. We therefore call on him to learn from his past mistakes. He should also realise that his new status does not give room for undue playing to the gallery. The position of Emir, is a reserved one that demands more restraint.

    So, Sanusi needs to display a new temperament that reflects his new, royal aloofness. He should not discriminate on the basis of religion or area of origin of inhabitants in the state. He should always endeavour to heal the wounds created by the rancour that followed his selection by genuinely working for unity among the aggrieved within and outside the state.

    The late Emir, a cosmopolitan traditional ruler by any standard, set the template for him to follow. We expect Sanusi to emulate him. He was chosen because the kingmakers and the governor realised he could fit into the turban left behind by the late Emir. He cannot afford to disappoint. We congratulate and wish him success.

  • Dora Akunyili (1954-2014)

    Dora Akunyili (1954-2014)

    • “Madam NAFDAC,” a woman of disconcerting honesty, passes on

    Professor Dora Akunyili’s untimely passing last week was a personal blow to many Nigerians who saw her as a symbol of the heights the country could attain if only its citizens put the nation above themselves. In a nation full of predators masquerading as public servants, she stood out for her commitment, her passion, her forthrightness and her patriotism.

    Professor Akunyili imposed herself on the national consciousness with her successful stint as Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Like most federal agencies, NAFDAC was riddled with inefficiency and corruption. It had spectacularly failed to regulate the pharmaceutical industry; fake and expired drugs and foods were so rife in the country that they outnumbered the genuine article. Heartless businessmen were importing drugs and food unfit for human consumption into the country and reaping huge profits. The conventional wisdom was that nobody could clean up the mess.

    It was a challenge that Akunyili accepted wholeheartedly. Her tactical approach was a masterpiece of selflessness: realising that her fellow-Igbo had invested heavily in the business, she sent a strong symbolic message by tackling them head-on. Nobody could doubt the sincerity of a regulator who began with her own, and from then on her campaign was taken seriously by a hitherto-jaded Nigerian public.

    Her victories against the scourge of fake foods and drugs are a testimony to the comprehensiveness of her campaign. An estimated N5 billion worth of fake drugs was destroyed during her tenure. The infamous Ariara market which was a centre of the fake drugs trade was shut down until the traders agreed to police themselves. Akunyili preached against the dangers of fake drugs and unwholesome foods with such intensity that the nation and the world sat up and took notice. By the time she left NAFDAC, she had attained global renown which was manifested in a shower of accolades and honours.

    Her next job was that of Minister of Information. This was a very different assignment, beset by challenges of another kind entirely. The moral clarity of the NAFDAC job was replaced by the partisan ambiguities of political propaganda. Professor Akunyili approached it with her usual energy. A rebranding programme was set up; the search for a national catchphrase began; the country was touted around the world as the “Heart of Africa.”

    However, things did not turn out as well as expected. Akunyili discovered that her audience was less willing to accept her ministerial pronouncements at face value, especially when they appeared to run counter to visible evidence. The disconnect reached its peak during the illness and subsequent death of President Umar Yar’Adua. Akunyili found herself more and more out of touch with the facts that she finally famously confessed to having no information about the ailing president, even though she was Minister of Information. To her credit, she was the first credible voice within government to urge that the true state of the president’s condition be made known to the nation.

    Unlike most Nigerian politicians who hang on to office, Akunyili left both her ministerial position and her membership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in order to contest a senatorial seat in Anambra State under the All-Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). She lost narrowly in a closely-fought and often-bitter campaign, but resurfaced as a member of the state’s delegation to the National Conference.

    Regardless of the ups and downs of her public career, there is little doubt that Professor Akunyili left a positive impression in the minds of a majority of Nigerians. Her competence, her passion, her commitment to excellence and her disconcerting honesty will never be forgotten. May her soul rest in peace.

  • Ado Bayero (1930-2014) 

    Ado Bayero (1930-2014) 

    •He was an icon on the throne

    It was fitting that the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, who made his exit on June 6, aged 83, survived a vicious attempt on his life supposedly by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram on January 19, 2013. At the time, it was reasonably speculated that the violence was prompted by his unambiguous and strongly expressed opposition to the group’s campaign against western education, which was an impressive demonstration of his liberal-mindedness and progressive vision, considering the fact that he was one of the country’s preeminent and highly influential Muslim leaders.

    He lost his driver and bodyguard to the gun attack, which left two of his sons injured; and it is not difficult to guess the emotional damage he must have suffered as a result of the stunning and unparalleled assault not only against his person but, perhaps more importantly, also against his exalted royal office. The outrageous and widely condemned physical attack on the then emir’s motorcade was predictably psychologically devastating for him, especially given the fact that it was carried out as he was leaving a religious function at a mosque in Kano city, suggesting that his attackers had no respect for the pious circumstances and for his old age.

    Bayero, well-regarded as an advocate of peace, did not deserve a violent death; and it was appropriate that he passed away peacefully in Kano, among his people who loved him profoundly and paid moving posthumous tributes to him and his unprecedented 50-year rule. It is instructive that the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), which represented his immediate geo-political base, praised him “for his humility, truthfulness on issues, determination to serve the country and above all his religious chastity.” Equally enlightening, on the broader national canvas President Goodluck Jonathan described him as “one of the most decent and respectable Nigerians he had had the privilege of interacting with.”

    It is noteworthy that at time he attained the throne on October 22, 1963, and became the 13th Fulani emir of Kano and the 56th potentate of the Kano kingdom, Nigeria had just marked three years of independence from British colonial domination; and his reign witnessed a variety of democratically elected civilian governments and autocratically imposed military administrations.  This exposure to varying political leadership structures over the period of his rule meant that he was in a constant state of adjustment.

    To be specific, among other order-changing developments, he was compelled to adjust to the reduction of the constitutional powers of the emir by military regimes between 1966 and 1979; the abolition of the Native Authority Police and Prisons Department; the displacement of the emir’s judicial council; and the weakening of the emir’s powers by the local government reforms in 1968, 1972, and 1976. Two particular incidents are worth mentioning as further illustrations of the power-altering challenges he faced. In 1981, Abubakar Rimi, then governor of Kano State, restricted village heads from paying traditional homage to Bayero; and in 1984, the government placed a travel ban on the emir and another royal personality, Oba Okunade Sijuade, the Ooni of Ife.

    Nevertheless, he maintained a respectable image and enjoyed the esteem of the traditional society, the religious community, and the political circle. Decorated with the national honour, Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), it is a measure of his stature that he served as the chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Also of relevance is the fact that he had a taste of politics when in 1954 he won a seat to the Northern Regional House of Assembly and later became the Nigerian ambassador to Senegal.

    Besides his legacy of peace and harmonious cohabitation irrespective of ethnicity, faith and other divisive factors, Bayero’s demonstrated sense of justice deserves emulation, especially by the country’s power class. Before he became emir, as head of the Kano Native Authority police division from 1957 to 1962, he made efforts to correct the unfair detention of political opponents influenced by powerful individuals in Kano.

    In stature as well as carriage, he demonstrated in fullness how to be a traditional ruler in a democracy riven by pious and ethnic schisms.

  • Missing in action?

    Missing in action?

    • In spite of technical assistance from abroad, Boko haram still flexes its ominous muscles

    It is more than two months since about 279 girls were abducted from their school dormitories in Chibok, Borno State. Two months ago, most Nigerians would have sworn that the girls would have been out before now. They have good reasons to be. If the outrage generated by the abductions could pass for unprecedented, far more was the movement which it gave rise to. While the movement, known as #BringBack-OurGirls, which debuted in Abuja, has since caught global imagination in drawing attention to the plight of the unfortunate girls, the force it has generated across global capitals has become impossible to ignore.

    The second reason for the optimism is the generous offer of foreign military assistance in the rescue effort. As at the last count, we have had more than half a dozen offers of help from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Israel, China, Australia and Pakistan.

    Nigerians welcomed the offers in the hope that it would help to locate and rescue the girls, and with it, the prospects of containing the insurgency. Now, if the initial optimism was borne of the knowledge of what the foreign partners could possibly bring to the table in the war against Boko Haram, the reality, unfortunately, is that there is nothing as yet on ground to suggest that the helpers understand the fierce urgency of the moment.

    For nearly the whole of the past two months, the foreign helpers can be said to be missing in action. Not only has there been no let up in the number and scale of attacks by the terrorists, death tolls from successive attacks have continued to mount, with the most notable being the attack on Gwoza community, Borno State, which left some 200 dead, days after its emir, Alhaji Idrissa Timtab, was killed in a spectacular ambush. This is aside another reported abduction near Chibok, said to involve 20 women.

    We understood from the very beginning that deploying foreign boots on Nigeria’s soil was out of the question. Indeed, our understanding is that the offer of assistance would cover broad technical areas viz: to assist the Nigerian military with vital intelligence obtained from the use of sophisticated technology to ease the fight against the terrorists; to help track movement of their funds; and to shore up capacity of our military in counter-terrorism.

    Two months on, citizens are increasingly wondering whether the offer of help has any real substance beyond the initial (probable) boost to the psychology of the fighting men.  In other words, it is doubtful that their presence has done anything to tilt the military’s advantage in battle. Not only have the terrorists stepped up their attacks, they continue to roam unchallenged, picking their targets with ease.

    We must say that two months ought to be long enough for our military helpers to get down to the business. If their coming was to bring their technological expertise to bear on the war on terror through collaboration with their Nigerian counterparts, two months ought to suffice for the fruits of collaboration to be visible.

    Again, we have heard the suggestion bandied that the Nigerian military cannot be trusted with vital intelligence. While we consider that – and this is to put it mildly – balderdash, our response is that the helpers ought to have evaluated the risks before,not after the offer.

    Without prejudice to the international dimensions of the war, we understand the war to be primarily Nigeria’s to fight. We consider it only fair that those who made promises live up to their responsibility. It is the least they could do to help the military do the job.

  • Friend or fiend?

    Friend or fiend?

    •Police brutality in the Ekiti fracas has no place in a democratic order

    THE show of shame in Ado-Ekiti on June 8 is an indication that democracy is still deformed in Nigeria. Security agencies trained and armed to protect democrat ic institutions, leaders and the polity, interpret their roles as acting in partisan interests to defend the president and his appointees. It is no longer profound to submit that the Ekiti State governorship election scheduled for Saturday would be a test-run for next year’s general elections. The display of partiality by the Ekiti State command of the police suggests that the institutions involved in election management have not really learnt the necessary lessons.

    The practice of sweeping out the marks of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is already a convention. It was therefore to be expected that following the mega rally held by the PDP at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium the previous day, the APC would symbolically sweep out the stadium and adjoining streets. It is part of the political game and does not in itself provoke violence.

    But the APC supporters got more than they bargained for when armed policemen accosted them, recklessly fired canisters of teargas at them, leaving one dead. Leaders of the party, including Senator Babafemi Ojudu, House of Representatives member Oyetunde Ojo and interim chairman Olajide Awe were not only harassed, others got arrested. An attempt by Governor Kayode Fayemi of the state to intervene in the matter, reports have it, further provoked the Mobile Police Unit Commander Selenkere Michael to threaten him with arrest. His boss, the police commissioner, Felix Iyanna, did little to arrest the situation until it had got out of hand.

    It is interesting to note that Michael had served as aide-de-camp to President Goodluck Jonathan when he was deputy governor of Bayelsa State. The Mobile Police commander even threatened to get the governor arrested, a move that betrayed his ignorance of the law he was engaged to enforce. He was oblivious of section 305 of the 1999 Constitution that confers immunity on the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors. Besides, he displayed his ignorance of the role of the state governor as chief security officer of the state from whom his boss, the commissioner of police, ought to take orders.

    It was also a demonstration of poor training and lack of professionalism. No one who bears arms on behalf of the state is allowed to turn them against citizens. The police are only allowed to use the arms handed them in self defence or to prevent total breakdown of law and order. All the reports so far indicate that the rallying party men were engaged in peaceful procession. They needed no permission to do so and certainly did not deserve the savagery of the mobile police men.

    The Fourth Republic is 15 years old. It ought to have matured to the point of embracing the due process and rule of law in settling all forms of contests. The forthcoming Ekiti election should be handled with great care; otherwise the fragile pillars of Nigerian democracy could cave in.

    Nigerians desire stability, peace, progress and prosperity. We call on the police authorities in Abuja to thoroughly investigate the brutality, murder, and insubordination by the Ekiti State Police Command in general and the mobile unit in particular. As a first measure, we expect that the officer be removed from the scene, if only to prove that the claim that he was acting on orders was false. The history of elections in that part of the country shows that while the electorate could conduct themselves with decorum, they could also fiercely resist injustice.

    Ahead of Saturday poll, we enjoin the politicians and supporters to comport themselves and submit to the ultimate power of the voters. Other actors involved in the conduct of the election, including the candidates, the electoral commission and the security agencies should realise that the image and integrity of Nigeria is at stake. History and posterity are waiting to return their verdict on the roles being played by all involved

  • Terrible tariff

    Terrible tariff

    •Why is govt making books more expensive to read?

    THE recent imposition of a cumulative 62.5 per cent tariff on imported books is yet another demonstration of the policy inconsistencies that have come to define the Jonathan administration. A toxic combination of levies, duties and value-added tax, the tariff was approved in February.

    It is difficult to imagine a more wrong-headed policy. At a time when Nigeria is beset by a multi-dimensional crisis in its education system characterised by significant percentages in functional and absolute illiteracy, relatively low school enrollment, and an entrenched antipathy to reading, the Federal Government decides to make the importation of books even more difficult than it already is. In so doing, it contradicts the goals of the National Book Policy, and violates existing international conventions, such as the 1950 United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Treaty, which commits members to facilitating the free flow of ideas by dismantling all barriers to trade in books and related materials.

    The ostensible reason for the measure is that of reviving the comatose local publishing industry by raising tariff barriers to external competition. However, such reasoning becomes untenable when the uniqueness of books is considered. They are not just another manufactured product that can easily be replaced with a viable local substitute; books are the building-blocks of knowledge, enlightenment and understanding. In other words, their intrinsic value is so great as to place them virtually beyond price.

    Like all badly thought-out policies, the new tariff strikes at unintended targets: it harms local publishers almost as much as it does the supposed foreign competitors. The relatively expensive and inefficient printing industry has made it very difficult for local publishers to produce standard-quality books at competitive prices. This has made it necessary for them to print abroad in countries like Dubai, China and Turkey. Now, they will have to choose between mediocre work at home and increased expense abroad.

    The local book market is not that profitable, either. In spite of a huge population of an estimated 170 million people, there is a deeply-engrained antipathy to reading which has affected the demand for books. This has artificially reduced profitability by restricting the market to educational texts, religious books and the occasional self-help treatise; even such best-sellers are vulnerable to the depredations of the pirates and smugglers that abound in the country.

    These shortcomings are worsened by policy issues that make long-term planning hard to implement: the lack of official support for local publishing; abrupt changes in prescribed books for educational institutions; unreliable school calendars; wildly-fluctuating costs of essential inputs like paper, ink and equipment, and the decline in bookshops, libraries and other outlets for books.

    The consequences of the new tariff are obvious. The increased expense of books will further deepen the low esteem in which reading culture is held, and by extension it will worsen the already-formidable challenges facing the education sector. This will in turn negatively affect Nigerians’ ability to properly prepare themselves for the knowledge economy which is the defining principle of development in the 21st century.

    If this grim fate is to be avoided, then the Federal Government must take another look at its imposition of the tariff on book importation. Books are not luxury items; they are simply too valuable to be treated like any other import. If the authorities are truly interested in building up the local book industry, they should consider a more nuanced approach to the issue by working with local publishers to see how cost-effective local production can be encouraged over time. This will include developing paper-production capacity, long-term financing for printing and publishing, and widening the market for books and related materials.

  • Iraq in Peril

    Iraq in Peril

    What’s happening in Iraq is a disaster and it is astonishing that the Iraqis and the Americans, who have been sharing intelligence, seem to have been caught flat-footed by the speed of the insurgent victories and the army defections.

    Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is said to be in a panic. It is hard to be surprised by that, because more than anyone he is to blame for the catastrophe. Mr. Maliki has been central to the political disorder that has poisoned Iraq, as he wielded authoritarian power in favor of the Shiite majority at the expense of the minority Sunnis, stoked sectarian conflict and enabled a climate in which militants could gain traction.

    With stunning efficiency, Sunni militants in recent days captured Mosul, the second-largest city; occupied facilities in the strategic oil-refining town of Baiji; and are now headed for Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes and untold numbers have been killed.

    The insurgency’s gains will not be a threat just to Iraq if the militants, who have also been fighting in Syria, succeed in establishing a radical Islamic state on the Iraq-Syria border. No one should want that — not the Kurds, not the Turks and not the Iranians.

    The deadly surge is the work of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq and is considered even more violent than its predecessor. Since the United States withdrew from Iraq at the end of 2011, the group has steadily gained strength and recruited thousands of foreign fighters; it broke with Al Qaeda earlier this year and is now viewed as a leader of global jihad.

    As this week’s events unfolded, it was alarming to learn of the swift capitulation of thousands of Iraqi Army troops who surrendered their weapons to the enemy and disappeared. After disbanding Saddam Hussein’s army in 2003 after the invasion by coalition forces and dismantling the government, the United States spent years and many billions of dollars building a new Iraqi Army, apparently for naught. The militants have captured untold quantities of American-supplied weaponry, including helicopters, and looted an estimated $425 million from Mosul’s banks.

    The growing violence in Iraq was apparent throughout 2013, when more than 8,000 Iraqis were killed, including nearly 1,000 Iraqi security forces; news reports say the militants planned a takeover for more than a year. Given the Iraqi Army’s cowardice, it is understandable that the Kurds, who operate a well-managed semiautonomous region in northern Iraq, on Thursday took control of Kirkuk, a disputed northern city with important oil resources. It signals one more step toward the breakup of the state.

    The turmoil has revived a debate over whether President Obama should have left a small residual force after the 2011 American troop withdrawal. It’s an academic argument, because the Iraqis refused. Falluja was the militants’ first big target, and Mr. Maliki did a turnabout last year and sought help from the White House, which quickly provided Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones. Other Iraqi requests — for more drones, F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopter gunships — are still in the pipeline.

    Last month, Mr. Maliki also asked for airstrikes. The United States has a strategic interest in Iraq’s stability and Mr. Obama on Thursday said America was ready to do more, without going into detail. But military action seems like a bad idea right now. The United States simply cannot be sucked into another round of war in Iraq. In any case, airstrikes and new weapons would be pointless if the Iraqi Army is incapable of defending the country.

    Why would the United States want to bail out a dangerous leader like Mr. Maliki, who is attempting to remain in power for a third term as prime minister? It is up to Iraq’s leaders to show leadership and name a new prime minister who will share power, make needed reforms and include all sectarian and ethnic groups, especially disenfranchised Sunnis, in the country’s political and economic life — if, indeed, it is not too late.

    – New York Times