The Nation Newspaper

Category: Online Special

  • Remembering the Polycarps and martyrs of Nigerian Air Force

    Remembering the Polycarps and martyrs of Nigerian Air Force

     

     

    “It is the cause, and not the death, that makes martyrs” – Napoleon (1769-1821)

    Those acquainted with church history would have heard or read about Polycarp of Smyrna, in Asia Minor. A Greek by origin, Polycarp was accounted to be a disciple of John the Apostle and ally to others who had seen the Lord. Given his apostolic affinity, Polycarp was said to be an ardent believer of the gospel, having lived in harmony with the scriptures. He later became the Bishop of the church in Smyrna (in modern Izmir in Turkey) during the church formative stage, and at a time that its persecution was rife. As a church leader, Polycarp opposed many of the Roman traditions such as idol worshipping, and heretics of the Christian faith, hence he was denounced to the government, arrested, and tried on account of his faith. Failing to renounce his faith, Polycarp was sentenced to death by burning. Because his captors were not done with him, history has it that Polycarp was also stabbed even as his body roasts to the great beyond. Today, it is told of Polycarp, on account of his death, that he became the first martyr of the post-new testament era in Smyrna. Polycarp, till date, is admired as a significant church leader and his death celebrated every February 23 especially by the Eastern Orthodox Christians.

    To borrow the words of Napoleon (1769-1821), what makes one a martyr is not the death but the cause. The Cambridge, and Oxford Advanced Leaner’s, Dictionary, defines ‘martyr’ as someone who suffers much or is killed because of his/her religious or political beliefs, and is often admired because of it. While, historically, martyrs appear to be synonymous with religious faithful, today it is no longer an expression that is restricted to the religious parlance. The word, in actual sense, can be used to describe a wide range of people from all walks of life including the military. The distinctive attributes of a martyr, which include personal denial, selfless sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to a noble cause, even in the face of danger or death, are all found in the profession of arms. So, like Polycarp, there are many martyrs among the men and women of our Armed Forces, whose demise and unquantifiable contributions to our nation building are worth celebrating. Each year, the Armed Forces Remembrance Day (AFRD) provides such opportunity to remember these gallant men and women who, as members of our Armed Forces, died serving our fatherland. For us in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), today’s remembrance celebration reechoes the sweet memories of our fallen heroes in blue uniforms who, at the expense of their lives, have paid the huge cost of preserving our sovereignty as a nation as well as the freedom and security of the rest of us.

    The NAF, in recent past, has lost a number of gallant officers and men to the counter insurgency and counter terrorist operation in the North East, as well as to other internal security operations across the country. The very first NAF casualty of the Boko Haram insurgency was Sergeant Umar Abubakar slaughtered by the insurgents on 25 July 2013 in Maiduguri. This heart wrecking incident was followed by the death of Flight Lieutenant Akweke Junior Nwakile who died in a helicopter crash on 21 July 2014 while on a training mission south of Bama, Borno State. The missing Alpha Jet (NAF/466), involving Group Captain Abdulrasheed Bamidele Braimoh and Wing Commander Chinda Hedima, is also a case to remember on this special occasion. The aircraft went down on 12 September 2014 at Kauri while undertaking an air interdiction mission against the Boko Haram Terrorists. Whereas the death of Wing Commander Hedima has been confirmed by own soldier who witnessed his killing by the terrorists, the fate of his co-pilot, Group Captain Braimoh, is yet uncertain for now as nothing definite points to his demise. While earnestly pray and hope for his return, the air of uncertainty about his whereabouts necessitated the current stance by the NAF that he is still missing in action.

    The NAF again recorded the unfortunate loss of Group Captain Ubong Akpan and Master Warrant Officer Hosea Zabesan in another helicopter crash on 13 November 2014. The duo had embarked on an operational flight against the insurgents but went down near Yola, Adamawa State. The painful death of Flying Officer Duke Toryem on 21 May 2015 is another case to remember. The young officer was on patrol when his vehicle stepped on landmine planted by the Boko Haram Terrorists. Furthermore, one cannot but appreciate the role of Flight Lieutenant Ebitimi Owei in the collective effort to restore peace to the North East. Late Owei, an F-7Ni pilot, crashed due to bad weather in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State while returning to base after successfully undertaking an interdiction mission against the insurgents on 28 August 2015. The victims of the ill-fated Dornier 228 aircraft that crashed in Kaduna is another death too many to remember at a time like this. The crew, along with passengers onboard, had gone down in the line of duty on 28 August 2015 while on flight from Kaduna to Abuja. These heroes include Squadron Leader Adekunle Suara, Flying Officer Kehinde Olaniran, Warrant Officer Akpan Etim and ACW Naomi Abegunde.

    While we can only pray as colleagues that God will grant repose to the souls of these departed great Nigerians, it is hoped that their deaths will not be in vain as fellow Nigerians continue to appreciate their sacrifice while the government remains committed to cater for the welfare needs of the families they left behind. In this regard, it is gratifying to note that the NAF is doing a lot to immortalize its fallen heroes. The NAF, under the leadership of Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar as Chief of the Air Staff, has undertaken a number of developmental projects, some of which are named after the fallen heroes. The NAF has also continued to provide befitting houses to the families to live in, in addition to prompt and timely payment of full benefits. The NAF, of recent, has also introduced skill acquisition programmes for widows and orphans of deceased personnel in order to empower them for self-reliance. These gestures are no doubt commendable as they are pointers to the fact that the Armed Forces Remembrance Day is much more that wreath laying or mere ceremony to offer respect to the departed. While, in addition, it reminds us of our collective responsibility towards the families of those who have paid the supreme price in their service to our nation, and it is indeed another avenue for boosting the morale of those still serving.

    * Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa is the Director of Public Relations & Information for the Nigerian Air Force

  • When judgment comes upon the hangman

    The cobwebs should have cleared from the eyes of anyone previously in doubt about the shady dealings of online hitman and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoleye Sowore, who was this week arrested over an alleged threat to life and blackmail of a London-based journalist, Lekan Fatodun. For those unfamiliar with Sowore’s activities, he is that chap that has been severally accused of desecrating the sanctity of the journalistic profession with his practice of cash for publication and blackmail.
    He had remained beyond the reach of the law, criminal or civil, by strategically registering his operations in the United States where the victim of his blackmail and extortion racket find it difficult, if not impossible to bring lawsuits against him. The second layer of protection Sowore enjoys in peddling his tainted merchandise is the exploitation of the reader’s innocence that made him and his site, Sahara Reporters, appear like entities that are committed to exposing corruption. At such whenever the issue of his criminality is raised there is a horde on the ready to pour further abuses on his victims who are often accused of attempting to stifle freedom of expression by gagging the news site that exposes corruption.
    However, this cannot be further from the truth. If Sowore’s Sahara Reporters is a whistleblowing anti-corruption platform then ISIS and Al-Qaeda are working for world peace. There have been several instances, discussed only in hushed tones since the victims are often themselves without blames, when stories are published after public office holders tried calling Sowore’s bluff.
    There have also been allegations of damaging materials hitting the cyberspace even after the target of the smear campaign had previously “settled” but subsequently fails to outbid his political adversaries who paid more to have the material published. All these toxic stuff are lapped up by undiscerning readers, whose bitterness against the system does not allow them the reasoning capacity to ask probing questions about the veracity of what they read.
    State institutions are not insulated in this high level blackmail network.
    The much needed journalistic role of beaming the searchlight on public entities is perverted and converted into an extortion racket such that the Chief Executives that refuse to “cooperate” are demonized while the credibility of their institutions are destroyed. It was a matter of time before the “boys” wised up and running online news sites became a money spinning machine – like Sahara Reporters, foreign saboteurs are either financing the sites to undermine Nigeria or the publishers threaten people with the publication of documents if specific ransoms are not paid. That is definitely not a legacy to bequeath a nation’s new media space.
    This party would have gone on without interruption had Sowore known to leave well alone. Dogs should not eat dogs but someone emboldened by successively blackmailing politically exposed persons can scarcely resist the temptation of trying to shake down a fellow ‘publisher’ in the hope of making further windfall from the famed armsgate money. He consequently made a false call on Lekan Fatodu who is the publisher of Checkout International Magazine.
    Fatodu wrote on his Facebook wall, ”I just got Sowore Omoyele of Saharareporters arrested for criminal defamation and blackmail and threat to my life and career. Sowore lied against me that I was used as a front to receive N1.7 billion of the National Security Adviser’s funds. My refusal to agree to Sowore’s demands and cut from the fictitious money made him to viciously attack my personality on his website. And imagine this is someone I’ve known and I’ve been assisting for almost 20 years. We are still at the police station, and hopefully we be going to the court tomorrow.”
    For the sake of fairness, which Sowore’s many victims never enjoyed, one must acknowledge that the Sahara Reporters’ publisher claimed that “After the police “intervened” soon as I was attacked by Lekan Fatodu and his friends in Lagos, we were taken to the (Commissioner of Police) CP’s office. It turned out that the CP was in on this, he pulled out a supposed petition written by Lekan from his hat after that he became very hostile towards me and ordered that we be driven to State CID, at Panti. It is obvious that this was planned between Lekan Fatodu and the police. ’’
    A few things have been confirmed from the two accounts. One, Fatodu’s revelation has proven what has always been said about that scum publication. It exists only to arm twist politicians into parting with money. If Fatodu truly laundered the armsgate money for politicians and Sowore has the facts one would expect that he should hit the headlines with it or turn in the information to the EFCC.
    Secondly, as some writers had claimed before, the New York address for both Sowore and Sahara Reporters is a scam. He allegedly sneaks into Nigeria, on a fortnightly basis sometimes, on a collection round since the blackmail money received in dollars has to be physically retrieved so that there would be no trail to trigger the interest of US law enforcement agencies.
    Thirdly, it has now emerged that anyone that calls Sowore’s bluff faces more than the risk of having damaging contents published about them. They could also become targets of assassination as the complaint of threat to life that was lodged with the police has proven.
    Additionally, familiarity or close relations with Sowore offers no protection when it is time for him to unleash blackmail. Not even 20 years of being kindred spirits can insulate one from his greed and if breaking the law would make his victim pay up so be it.
    Furthermore, Sowore’s account of event has proven that whatever content the unfortunate readers of his site have consumed in the past years consist more of lies than truth. Whatever facts are included are intended to serve the kind of functions that colouring, sweetener and flavourings serve in junk food – to disguise the poor quality ingredients that make up the bulk of the sweet poison.
    He simply went on to continue the aggression he has pursued against the Nigerian Police as an institution and even told a lie as ridiculous as “he (Commissioner of Police) pulled out a supposed petition written by Lekan from his hat”. Except Sowore wants to claim this was intended figuratively, what law enforcement officer will keep a petition on threat to life in his hat?
    He accused the police of colluding with Fatodu. This was to be expected. Fortunately, there are positives. Fatodu is not a public official or the headline would have been that the government has clamped down on freedom of the press. His accuser is of the same ethnic extraction and possibly of the same faith so the other parochial excuses will not fly.
    This hangman and professional character assassin has personally walked himself to judgment and the police must escort him to the dock. Some of his followers have sought to make light of the situation by bandying the phrase “civil case” around. Blackmail and threat to life are criminal matters not civil cases that should me subjected to mediation. The police will thus do well to resist the temptation of succumbing to pressure to order a mutual settlement between Fatodu and Sowore, whose countless victims should by this development gain the boldness to come forward and confidentially furnish information about how they were blackmailed in the past.
    The time to act is now and giving this character a chance to explore his second strike capabilities would be disastrous not just for the media but for those he has threatened with any form of violence. It is time to retire this hangman. Owners of other sites that operate on his model should take this as notice of their retirement. He is a demon.
    For Sowore, the noose he is in the habit of putting around his victims’ necks now tightens around him. That aura of invisibility has been dissipated and the true identity of the human behind the masquerade unveiled. Even if Sowore talks himself out of this Syrian bind of a mess the point has been proven that Sahara Reporters is not a ghost site and like every media outfit the organisation and the goons behind it are accountable for their deeds before law enforcement, in court and here on earth.
    Philip Agbese writes from Abuja.
  • How not to discipline your child

    How not to discipline your child

    She comes back from work tired and fagged out from the hustling and bustling of Lagos. There was no light as usual and the heat was unbearable, she was sweating profusely as she enters her house so irritated and frustrated with how the day had panned out. As she stepped into her house, she hears the chattering of plates.

    “Who broke that plate!!!!” she shouted her face red with anger.

    “I said who broke that plate or are you all deaf!” she howled like a lion that has been deprived food for days.

    Her 9 year old daughter crept out visibly scared and shaken. She hated seeing her mother in that mood and knew what lay ahead. ‘’mummy ugomma was chasing me and I mistakenly pushed down the plate on the table she said quietly, her eyes filled with fear.

    “Ugomma was what?” Her mother shouted, how many times have I told you children to stop behaving like animals eh! How many times?” she yelled! Not waiting for answers to her questions she landed resounding slaps on the cheek of the 9year old. The girl screamed out of pain, she gripped her face and wailed loudly.

    Have you done your home work she asked her eyes glowing with so much anger?

    The daughter continued crying, still clutching her cheeks
    Oh! so you have not done your home work? wait for me!, she goes inside her room and comes out with a fat cane, dragging her daughter viciously by the hand she started flogging her.

    The little girl wailed and wailed but that did not deter the viciously angered mother, she kept flogging her, tearing her tender skin with each stroke. I will deal with you today, stubborn children, every day I will be talking about your homework, it’s only to play that you know how to do, nonsense!

    When she was done with her first child, she dragged the second child and started whipping her as well, the house girl stood by the side her eyes filled with tears, she could not do anything to stop her madam’s madness, she herself receives beating at the slightest provocation and she knew what would happen to her if she dares to interfere.

    After pouring her frustration on the children in the name of discipline, she storms inside her room, leaving her children in pain and not caring what happened to them. It was the house help that consoled them and cleaned up their torn skin.

    She later found out the next day that the beating had gone too far, the child’s sense of hearing have been damaged. She started panicking and took her to the hospital, the girl went through series of treatment, yet she didn’t fully regain her sense of hearing. Her hearing impairment constantly reminds her of the pain she inflicted on her child. It was not a pleasant feeling.

    Sadly many children in Nigeria go through this kind of traumatic experience from their parents or wards all in the name of discipline, most parents rely on the scriptural admonition,” spare the rod and spoil the child” to abuse their children. It is very important to note a clear difference between discipline and child abuse. Discipline is spanking a child lightly with your hand on the bottom without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm, whereas physical abuse is a corporal punishment which is extreme and is intended to cause harm.

    Each physical abuse meted on a child will not only leave visible physical scars but it can also potentially damage a child’s mental and emotional well being. The physical pain from whipping, slapping, cuts etc will heal but the emotional pain will still remain even after the visible wounds have healed. Physical abuse is number one cause of low self esteem in children and abused children are usually aggressive and tend to bully others. Parents who try to change their children’s behaviour through inflicting pain will raise children who will do the same to others, when they want to influence other people’s actions.

    There are so many ways to discipline a child without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm. Parents should use alternative method of discipline that yields the most positive results for the child. A child should be made to know the rules in the house and also the consequences for breaking the rules and there should be appropriate discipline for each broken rule. For example if a child spills water in the process of playing, that child must be made to clean it up, if a child fights, he can be denied watching TV for a day or two depending on the extent you wish to withdraw such privilege.

    Parents must learn to control their anger and frustration. Physical abuse tends to occur when the parent grows impatient with the child, when this happens parents should try to relieve stress by breathing deeply or counting backwards from ten to zero. This works for me when my children start to act up.

    A country that is committed to child welfare should have an agency that investigates reports of abuse and when it is ascertained that the child is going through physical abuse and neglect, there should be an alternate plan as quickly as possible. Nigerian Government as a matter of urgency needs to set up child protective services, whose responsibility would be to intervene in the family of children at risk of abuse.

    I must commend Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who has gone tough on child abuse by ratification of the first ever executive order establishing a safeguarding and child protection policy in the state. Governor Ambode pointed out that it was developed to prescribe management systems in place to create and maintain a safe environment for children, the policy in clear terms also articulates procedures to be adopted when disclosures of abuse were made. This is commendable, I hope the government would implement the policy and go really hard on defaulters of the law, as this would deter other people from abusing children.

    Njideka Obi, lawyer and a child safety advocate.
    08060424282. safersmarterchildren@gmail.com

  • Understanding Shekarau’s sense of governance

    Understanding Shekarau’s sense of governance

    Criticisms are undeniably the tonic of democratic governance anywhere in the world. But in Nigeria, criticisms hardly ascribe to anything sensible because the invectives are contrived out of spite and malice, than a selfless inspiration. And most times, it is designed to re-stamp a fading relevance on the political turf.
    Immediate past minister of education under the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau has been so restless with his soul about the administration of President Muhammadu  Buhari (PMB). Not long ago, Shekarau bemused himself by mouthing claims of insensitivity of Buhari to the plight of Nigerians. And yesterday, he again mounted his consolatory lane by bluffing about President Buhari’s failure to fulfill his campaign promises to Nigerians.
    At the Islamic Vacation Course (IVC) ceremony in Gombe, Shekarau said during an interview with reporters that; “The government has made a number of promises, particularly Mr. President (Buhari) himself and we have not seen things on the ground. There is hardly any concrete thing on the ground that you can see.”
    Since his boss, former President Goodluck Jonathan miserably lost the 2015 presidential election in 2015, it is understandable that Shekarau is still smarting from the pains of defeat. He imposed a near solitary confinement on himself. However, the realization of his political blight has suddenly woken him up from slumber, but on the wrong side.
    What else for a man, who fatally lost a presidential ambition in 2011 on the eve of his departure from Government House Kano,  simultaneously with his anointed successor and governorship candidate on the banner of  ANPP in 2011,  Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai.  He has repeatedly and fruitlessly tried to plant Takai as governor of the state, the last attempt in 2015; but each trial is resisted by Kano people. His failed electoral escapades since 2011 are symbolic expressions of his rejection by Nigerians and Kano people.
    A politician who suffers such serial electoral misfortunes needs political asylum for rehabilitation. It’s imperative because he becomes vulnerable to blurred sights and artificial senility to the extent of failure to even notice how much his environment has transformed.
    It is the yoke of Shekarau now and it’s been hellish for a man whose last name invokes the same phonological sound with the name “Shekau,” the surname of factional leader of defeated Boko Haram terrorists,  Abubakar Shekau. So, Nigerians mistake him for a political terrorist each time he saunters on the political theatre in the years of turmoil in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents.
    To make Nigerians rehearse and get familiar with his name, Shekarau speaks before thinking or utters any irrationality that comes to his mind, no matter how absurd, just to get noticed.   Again, stoking the fire, Shekarau decided to pour vituperations on the administration of President Buhari which Nigerians hold in high esteem. Whatever Shekarau says about the failure of Buhari to stick to his campaign promises is innately barren of the slightest truth to inspire the conviction of any Nigerian, including his adherents.
    Even unrepentant critics of the administration, including Shekarau’s party- the PDP have turned a new leaf at the dawn of the New Year by decorating the Buhari government with accolades for his final defeat of terrorism in Nigeria. Shekarau can also ask former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who recently recanted his earlier criticisms and confessed to Buhari’s indomitable leadership in the defeat of terrorists in the country.
    So, no one needs Shekarau’s encyclopedia to feel the impact the Buhari administration has docked in Nigeria these past 19 months.
    Nigerians hate to be reminded of the memories of characters like Shekarau because of his striking resemblance with devils like Boko Haram’s Shekau.  When Boko Haram terrorists held sway, each time they strike Nigerians with bombs, arson and abductions, they would celebrate the feast of human blood in the open and in their conclaves.
    The former Kano state governor also behaves in like manner. For instance, when he dumped the opposition APC in 2014 for the then ruling PDP, Shekarau, a Nigerian with a supposed nationalist flavor and outreach, who  in 2011 sought to rule  the country  as President danced on the blood and sorrow of Nigerians who were mourning an Abuja suburb car bomb blast, which murdered  nearly 200 Nigerians.
    The incident had the solemnity of a national tragedy. But quite awfully, a day after the incident, Shekarau irresponsibly organized his elaborate defection ceremony in Kano, which was given fillip by his political soul mate, former President Jonathan. At the show, they danced on the blood of these Nigerians hacked to death and mocked the mournful mood of the bereaved.
    If Shekarau had preferred not to mourn the dead, but he would have at least, sympathized with the bereaved by quietly postponing his decamping jamboree. So, what moral justification would a man who shares the same cruel, inhuman and beastly instincts with leaders of Boko Haram terrorists claim over a focused and messiac leader like Buhari?
    It is not strange for a man with such mindset to turn a blind eye to reality and claim Buhari has achieved nothing in his leadership of Nigeria. Even the administration’s frontal and timely tackling of insecurity loudly proclaimed in the manifest defeat of Boko Haram terrorists, with the capture of the Sambisa forest, for which Nigeria has earned international fame are not enough to unveil his eyes.
    Nigeria is cursed with plenty of awkward leaders like Shekarau, who have enjoyed years of unrestricted pillaging of national wealth. They would naturally resist leaders like Buhari who would not fawn to such manipulations in the interest of the Nigerian masses.
     It is this singular reason the likes of Shekarau would forever mortgage reasonableness or logic in their perception of the Buhari administration. It is the same Shekarau who admitted at various fora in the past that the preceding government led by his party- the PDP ruined Nigeria for 16 years until Buhari was saddled with responsibility of righting the wrongs.
    Of course, Shekarau is aware that the PDP squandered every shilling in Nigeria’s foreign reserves; he knows the prices of crude oil in the international market have kept plummeting steadily and militancy in the Niger Delta would not even allow the country meet its daily crude oil production quota.
    Furthermore, Shekarau has forgotten that the departing PDP government also piled debts for the incoming administration of President Buhari. As a key player in the disreputable Jonathan Presidency nay the PDP misrule of 16 years, he is sufficiently aware  of the severity of the problems, further amplified by a sickening economic crunch.
     Yet, he dreams, Buhari should have solved all of them in mere 19 months because he made promises. Maybe, Shekarau would import  marabouts from India and Saudi Arabia like some of  his cohorts who collected illicit money from the arms procurement fund did in 2015 to perform the magic. But Buhari will not be part of his headache.
    Although bereft of conscience, Shekarau denied collecting N25million  out of  the alleged N950million 2015  campaign  slush funds allegedly diverted from the arms procurement fund diverted  to prosecute the Jonathan 2015 re-election campaigns for which he became a client of the EFCC. However, what he could not deny was availing his private house in Kano as the most secured sanctuary of sharing looted public funds to PDP party stalwarts for electoral purposes.
    While it is needless to remind Kano people of his wasted years as Kano state governor, Shekarau’s stint as education minister advertises his worse incompetence. The most prevailing problem of his time was FGN’s failure to fulfill the re-negotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement for the repositioning of the university system in the country. To say, Shekarau ever sighted the ASUU file to identify with his colleagues, much more act is to award him automatic credit, for at least, indicating concern.
    But he came into office in 2014 to meet this subsisting issue and since ASUU suspended its months of national strike in 2013, only N200 billion for that year out of the bulk of agreed N1.3 trillion intervention fund was paid to universities. It has remained one of the haunting nightmares of the Buhari Presidency.
     These are the many enormous problems Shekarau and his buddies in government created when they held power. But he wants Buhari to rectify them in a jiffy. They deliberately grounded all aspects of governance when it became clear the PDP was to be ousted, in order to cripple the successor from performing. Now that Buhari has disarmed them with his performance, a politician of the old ilk, like Shekarau is constrained and veiled permanently never to see  the laudable efforts a leader like President Buhari is making to redeem Nigeria. It’s a pity!
    Bukar Raheem, a public affairs commentator contributed this piece  from Kaduna State.
  • Exploring Buhari’s 2016 as antidote for 2017

    Exploring Buhari’s 2016 as antidote for 2017

    In spite of daunting challenges and difficulties, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) gracefully and indubitably bade goodbye to the year 2016.  He is excitedly ushering Nigerians into 2017 with heightened hopes and pessimism of a better country on a greater momentum.
    When one listens to Buhari’s  public speeches to Nigerians at any major forum these past months, the note of finality is always the plea to Nigerians for patience; professing knowledge of their predicaments, afflictions and resilience.
    But the economic hardships experienced by the government and Nigerians notwithstanding, Buhari was able to rewardingly navigate the year 2016 to a successful anchor on the shores of 2017 for prosperity.  Based on prudent management of sinewy resources, the Buhari -led APC government has nonetheless, deposited relics of development and progress in several areas, which the President believes are the antidotes for a leap forward in 2017.
    With the hardships of 2016 foretold, Nigerians are prodded to remember the respite the Buhari presidency has brought in their lives in several ways. The defeat of Boko Haram terrorism and the suppression of insurrections in parts of the country like secession agitations in the Southeast, militancy in the Niger Delta and armed banditry and cattle rustling in the Northwest are some of the modest milestones of government.
    The Nigerian Army’s final onslaught against Boko Haram terrorists with the final dismantling of Sambisa forest, the terrorists’ haven and its new anointment as a military garrison is the President’s  2016 most overtly ambitious statement about his commitment to the safety of lives and property of Nigerians. And in spite of the enormous financial burden of prosecuting terrorism war anywhere, Buhari accomplished it even as Nigeria swam in economic recession in the last 19 months, from the zero penny treasury he inherited.
    And with terrorists completely dislodged in the Northeast, some who were fortunate enough to escape have disguised and fused into peaceful Nigerian mega cities. The security agents’ arrest of BHTs commander a few days ago, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos state, who confessed fleeing from soldiers’ final onslaught on Sambisa forest bear testimony.
     And the Lagos incident was simultaneously followed by a similar arrest in Abuja of another fleeing Sambisa forest terrorist suspect, who identified himself as Usman. He was arrested by the AMAC Marshal Security agency at the Utako market. Utako district in Abuja, particularly the village settlement area has been a protective hideout for terrorists.
    Terror suspect Usman has confessed the presence of his soul mates lurking in dark corners around the FCT, Abuja, which calls for more vigilance. It was at the same spot, another suspected terrorist’ gang leader, Aminu Sadiq, allegedly hid his squad and  bombs for days, before exporting them to  set Nyanya bus station in conflagration in 2014, depositing of tears and blood.
    But Buhari is ready to consolidate on the gains made on terrorism by the Nigerian Army under COAS, Gen. Buratai. It explains his special placement of defence and internal affairs ministries under a special package of critical public service provider-institutions in the 2017 proposed bill.
    Buhari handled terrorism and other insecurity threats with seriousness in 2016. It accounts for the first time in several years, why Nigerians have celebrated major Muslim and Christian festivities in the year without echoes of bomb blasts or sorrows disclouring the mood of the celebrations.
    Again, the President’s preachment on diversification of the economy pumped billions of naira to the agricultural sector as soft loans to farmers. This was anchored through the CBN and subsidiary institutions. And the genuine farmers who accessed these loans did not only record bumper harvests in the year 2016, but had value for their agric produce in Nigerian markets. Today, the IMF lists Nigeria as a country on the path of diversification.
    Observant Nigerians would concede that local rice, which is the staple food for the Christmas and the impending New Year festivities, was patronized more than refined imported rice. For a long time in the nation’s history, this was glaringly impossibility. Nigeria at the moment faces no threat of food insecurity and the need to import stable food items to further strain scarce FOREX  on account of these conscious efforts.
    And Buhari intends to expand the window in 2017 so that more farmers across the nation cannot only cultivate what Nigerians consume. It is expected that this would encourage export of refined agric and agro-allied products to earn cash for farmers and foreign reserve for the country.
    When PMB increased the pump price of petroleum to N145 per litre, many Nigerians grumbled. But since the increment, the country has not witnessed fuel scarcity. And even the celebration of major festivities like Sallah  as well as Xmas and the coming New Year, there is no sign that the commodity would be scarce.
    It  is rather in abundant supply, with some fuel marketers adjusting their pump prices slightly lower than official price. The liberalization of the oil retailing sector, has broken monopoly and installed healthy competition among marketers. Government plans to maintain this tempo of 2016 next year and at best, reduce the cost of refined fuel in the year 2017, when modular refineries’ come on stream and the refining capacity of the major refineries’ in Nigeria surges.
    The pains Nigerians have shouldered these past months by paying   N145 per PMS has robbed  dozens of fuel subsidy thieves of the trillions of naira  they dubiously  rape Nigeria annually  into their private pockets. Instead, the removal of fuel subsidy and the excess cash from it has created and is funding   the N-Power Jobs empowerment scheme of the FGN.
    Even with just the 200, 000 applicants so far clarified and engaged, out of the 500, 000 targeted for 2016 in a depressed economy, the ovations from the beneficiaries  and their families are enough to move a leader like President Buhari to even sacrifice his soul to make more Nigerian unemployed youths  happier. The balance of 300,000 applicants in 2016 would soon be engaged.  This scheme has been retained with the same sumptuous budgetary provision in the 2016 budget estimates.
    Additionally, over 10,000 Nigerian youths have been recruited into the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). Like the N-Power jobs, engagement of applicants was based on merit, which adhered to the best practices in the world.
     So, children of poor families, with no political godfathers or influences of any kind, suddenly had jobs they never paid a dime either as application fee or bribes to conducting officials. It was properly organized and no stampede and deaths reminiscent of the Immigration recruitment ever occurred. Buhari does not intend to deviate from this path of equity and fairness to all Nigerians.
    The enforcement of the Treasury Single Account has blocked leakages in FGN revenue. It has brought sanity into the financial system as public officials have no more access to free money collected as revenue under their desks to squander.
    Hardly do Buhari’s public appointees attend social functions and spray money on the floor in millions of naira or thousands of hard currency or donate same to projects of personal friends. They are still reaching out to associates, but within permissible limits of the law and legitimate income. The trend of un-receipted levies, arbitrary charged students is also gradually receding in public universities; hence it would no longer be slush funds for heads of such institutions’.
    But the big bang in 2016 was vibrated by a recent report of the IMF, which rated Nigeria as the 22nd largest economy in the world.  The global monetary body drew its conclusions in news published on its  website, somewhat expressing surprise that  despite  drastic drop in global prices of crude oil,  Nigeria weathered the storm of negative growth rate, the affliction of  several crude-producing countries in her dilemma
    Interestingly, from IMF’s list of 30 countries, only Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa made the list, which pegged 24th and 30th respectively after Nigeria, enjoying   GDP growth rates of 5.2% and 2.4% accordingly. Nigeria has a GDP rate of Nigeria: $1.105 trillion; Egypt: $996 billion and South Africa pegs last in Africa with $724 billion.
     Under PMB, the IMF says the country has continued to diversify and likely to net its goal of climbing the ladder of the world’s top 20 economies by 2020.
    It explicit affirmation by the respected world financial body that President Buhari has been  on track in getting his policies on economic recovery  and  the administration’s  management of resources from the period it took over the reins of government in 2016 very effectively, even with crude oil prices dropping as low as far below $40 dollars per barrel.
    Nigeria has demonstrated enough leadership promise in Buhari and if such grandeur achievements can be recorded in 2016, despite the economic crunch, it is deducible that  with the determination of PMB to better the lot of the masses of Nigeria, the country can harvest more goodies in 2017 with the sustained,  unflinching support of all  Nigerians.
    For Buhari, the year 2017 is a more dependable era of governance. It is reason for his excitement that the implementation of his programmes and projects “…will move to centre-stage as we proceed with the process of re-balancing our economy, exiting recession.”
    Kenneth Kauda Adamu writes from Lokongoma Phase II, Lokoja, Kogi State.
  • ‘We must use beauty for positive change’

    ‘We must use beauty for positive change’

    Cynthia Olajumoke Sapara, 24, is a multitasking young lady. Tall, slender and soft-spoken, she combines a tough resume of a BTech Engineer, Chemistry graduate, beauty pageant, model, ex-beauty queen and currently adding charitable deeds to her career profile. She speaks with JOKE KUJENYA on her fundraising venture on the platform of her not-for-profit organisation, Cynthia Sapara Foundation (CSF), based in Canada, to alleviate the sufferings and supplement the efforts of several others towards making life a little better for the IDPs scattered across Nigeria.

    Tell us about Cynthia Adesuwa Sapara

    I’ll probably call myself a renaissance woman, well at least, people regularly call me that nowadays. I have a Bsc in Chemistry & Mathematics from the University of Alberta in Canada and a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering (BTech Eng) from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Canada. I still intend on going to medical school in a few years.
    I am also a model and an ex-beauty queen. I am a professional model in Canada and I have done a couple of pageants. Currently one of the runners up for Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. I have represented Nigeria for Top Model of the World in 2013 when I became the first runner up for Miss Global Nigeria.
    Aside from that, I just started my clothing line, called Garnet, which would be launched during summer of 2017 in Canada. It will comprise ready to wear pieces as well as couture. Nowadays, any cloth you probably see me wear is from my clothing line. My intention is to create beautiful pieces using very skin friendly materials that would make my clients stand out amongst others, very chic and elegant.
    I am very meticulous and could sometimes come off as a perfectionist. I try not to be though because being a perfectionist could be very overwhelming. However, some personalities and traits are in-built, and so, could be very hard to tame. This innate trait also makes me very observant, so I am sort of an introvert. People that find that an irony, especially because I am into modelling and fashion. But, that is where a lot of people misunderstand the whole purpose of my involvement in those areas. I do like fashion and apparently so take good pictures and have the physique and face for a model. So I just decided to use that for something that would make an impact in the world. That is the main reason I contested for Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Winning the pageant would have given me an opportunity to represent Nigeria in the Miss World contest competing with about a-hundred of other beautiful girls to win and work with an organization bent on making the word beautiful purposely.

    From beauty pageant to charity work; what changed?
    Undoubtedly, we have both the good and bad side. We were created that way. But I believe in the ability to contain one’s bad attribute. If God has given me a physical beauty that I am able to compete in international pageant and other pageants, I could easily let that get into my head, believing I am way too beautiful. However, that is not the reality. The reality is that beauty is meant to be used to empower a cause, leading to a positive change. For example, I believe in the ability to end poverty and oppression, with the act of being selfless. Like I said, we have the ability to contain our bad attributes that affects others. I visit Nigeria at least once every year ever since I left at age 11. The contrast between Western and Africa democracy is massive. In the aspect of Nigeria, there is indeed a promising future for her. We all just individually have to understand that the democracy here is different especially because globalization plays a huge role in this. This is why we can’t live in isolation in the modern world. We need a global view on issues, especially when it comes to healthcare, education, and poverty. We have the government trying to understand the problem as well as trying to find a solution. Then we are left with the majority of the populace, whose social responsibility should be to help find a solution. That is the way I think. However, I do get some of my fellow Nigerians who would respond to that saying that there aren’t incentives by the Nigerian government to encourage them in doing this and I totally understand that. But personally, I have always wanted to help the most vulnerable Nigerians in any way I could. You know not everyone has a humanitarian attribute. That is why people who do, have to create awareness and the capability to convince others. I have honestly used my beauty pageant platform to acknowledge my beauty, knowledge and humanitarian attribute.

    When precisely did you go into charity activities?
    I have always treasured the core value of humanity, which includes but not limited to equality, justice, human health, love, peace and freedom. Right from high school, I was always involved in charity work, mostly volunteering in charity organizations. In my high school in the United Kingdom. I volunteered with Oxfam several times on their projects and even in their stores. I also helped out in the children hospital and the Manchester Stroke Rehabilitation Ward, amongst others.
    When I moved to Canada for my university educations, I became part of Habitat for Humanity as a volunteer. They help build homes for low income people and the homeless to eradicate homelessness. It’s a huge international non-profit organization. After my MBGN pageant last year, I basically wanted to help out in many different causes. It can be quite over-reaching, but I am taking baby steps and the more help I can get, the better.
    Already, I officially registered my own not-for-profit organization, ‘Cynthia Sapara Foundation’ (CSF). When I return to Canada, I would organise more fundraising event specifically focusing on the Internally Displaces People (IDPs) in Nigeria affected by Boko Haram, mainly to raise money to provide them with the resources they need as well as to create awareness about this issue in Canada. A lot of people over there don’t know so much about Boko Haram and the affect effect it has had on the victims. Even a number of Nigerians over there don’t know that the victims are residing in various camps across the country, especially in the north, requiring help because of the limited resources they have.

    Why are you raising funds for the IDPs in particular when there are others in similar needs?
    You will agree with me that their case is more pathetic. They are in a situation that is not informed by the decisions they make. They are suffering just because they reside in a particular region. I know it is not so extreme, but their case is only slightly different from what is going on in some parts of Syria and people are displace. I particularly choose to organize a fundraiser this year in Canada during summer in June under the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR), rather than working under my own NGO because it is my first fundraiser. It was paramount I did this in partnership with an organization that is more recognized over there; particularly to create trust and build relationship between myself and the amazing donors. With the help of my cousin Temi Tayo and other close friends, we worked as a team on the theme “Fashion for Purpose” and we had amazing sponsors who gave out their time and products towards the cause.
    I choose to raise funds for IDPs in Nigeria mainly because it is an issue on every Nigerian’s lips and not just a northern problem. To me, caring for one another is a core value of humanity.

    When do you hope to retrieve the fundraiser money currently with the UNHCR Int’l for onward transfer to their Nigeria office for its actual use?
    Yes, the money is with the UNHCR Int’l in Canada to be transferred to the UNHCR Nigeria as that was the agreement between us. I specifically wanted to work directly with the UNHCR Nigeria so that the funds can be rightly channelled to the IDPS. I also felt that would help for proper monitoring of what the funds were used for in the camps so that I would be able to know what more would be needed because every project needs to be analysed before embarking on it. Failure to this this would lead to project failure. Unfortunately, the one-way communication between myself and the UNHCR Nigeria has put some level of constrain in the execution of the project. This is a fundraiser event. I must be accountable to my donors. However, the communication chain with the UNHCR Nigeria has not consistent. I experienced dropped calls, no replies of emails, frequent interruptions of the phone signal and concurrent communication between both parties deterred the flow of conversation. Yet, I have to return to Canada.

    As you know, all IDPs have been relocated up-north; when will you visit Nigeria again for the task of giving them what you have for them?
    I will visit Nigeria hopefully in the spring time between April and June. By that time, the UNHCR Canada should have transferred the funds I sent to them, and which they acknowledged, either to the UNHCR Nigeria or we make alternative arrangement. I need to be given the contact number of the exact person to relate with so that I can access the funds with the UNHCR Nigeria so we can directly work together henceforth. From my research, different camps have different resources. For example, I realise that the WASH project is focused on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project in Yobe State. I was given access to this data by the UNHCR and from the analyses, Kukareta Camp is composed of the largest amount of IDPs and the sanitation in that camp is extremely appalling. The demands of shower and hand-wash facilities compared to the amount of what is being provided is not realistic. I observed that a number of crude latrine, that is open defecation is being practiced, which limits the promotion of good sanitation and hygiene, encouraging the spread of diseases and bad health. So basically, I intend to directly work with a project coordinator specially allocated to the issue of IDPs in Nigeria.

    Is any of these tasks, clashing with your educational pursuits?
    It cannot clash with my educational pursuit even when I go to medical school. It will only extend my scope of operations. How can you get tired of helping the vulnerable? Having a career that requires me to help people in whatever way I can is what I strive to achieve. Helping people with my career is more of a blessing to me than having the career myself.

    So, you are returning to Canada on December 30th, what are your plans to raise more funds for the IDPs or other aspects of charity activities?
    The next fundraiser in 2017 would be under my charity organization specially for a health-related cause. It is important to understand the problem just as much as finding the solution. Health issues have no border. There are health issues in Canada just as much as in Nigeria. I would have to understand to the health care system here in Nigeria in order for me to pick a particular health care issue I would want to focus on.

  • Army’s cattle ranch initiative as masterstroke

    Army’s cattle ranch initiative as masterstroke

    News that the Nigerian Army has sent soldiers to Argentina to learn cattle ranching was met with derision from some professional commentators who neither took the time to understand the concept or research how it tallies with the overall objective of the military.
    Details of the excursion were first made known at the Commissioning of Mogadishu Cantonment New Mammy Market in Abuja where the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen TY Buratai was represented by the Chief of Army Logistics, Major General Patrick Akem.
    Further revelation from the speech at that event was that the Army under the thorough leadership of Buratai has created the Barrack Investment Initiative under which Army family members are operating fishing ponds, vegetable gardens, fruits, livestock, chicken and eggs production.
    As with many other things, this initiative, which should be lauded even without digging into the details have become fodder for armchair analysts that are questioning if learning ranching is the most pressing matter for the Army to expend resources in sending soldiers to Argentina to learn.
    Without holding their barrels, the uninformed needless attack on the programme is symptomatic of one of the greatest challenges the nation faces – grandstanding. Many of the self styled critics of government programmes have scant idea about what they are saying including those that carry the label of ‘experts’. Issues are therefore analysed from longstanding ethnic, religious, geographical and political biases that could also be tainted by economic ideology.  This has made a mockery of the fabric of the nation where we are supposed to be celebrating genuine efforts that are made to redeem the country from incoherent practices that were deliberately created and institutionalized by the past administrations headed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Without any fear of contradiction, it is those same characters that messed up the system in exchange for patronage that are today posing as vanguards of national rejuvenation.
    In the previous instances, they savagely overlooked and unconscionably turned blind eyes to the fact that the traditional role of a country’s army have mutated significantly to reflect changes that have taken place in the world. As Robert Gates, a former U.S. secretary of defense once said: “One of the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the people, training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic communications, and more—these, along with security, are essential ingredients for long-term success.”
    Along this line, sending soldiers to learn about ranching would positon troops involved in the programme to contribute to food security, which is as important as securing the nation from terrorists attacks. Once the trainees are back in the country, it is not conceivable that only the Army will benefit from their acquired skills, which they will be able to teach to populations in areas that are suited for livestock breeding.
    As a matter of fact, this would be an army that is not just providing food security but also providing job security for those that would be able to join the industry. This means the army is now looking and operating beyond the tips of their nose. This is selflessly done to add value to life of the ordinary man and create meaningful impact on the lives of those who have been trapped in the jaws of struggle for basic survival and sustainable livelihood.
    Additionally, the idea of family members of soldiers being part of the economic programme means that families are not completely left without breadwinners should the head of the family die in the line of duty. This is a well thought-out idea.
    Secondly, several persons, including the ECOWAS Parliament had identified ranching as a possible solution to addressing the perennial problems associated with transhumance – the action or practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle – which is in part responsible for the farmers/herders’ clashes that has left hundreds of persons dead, displaced and valuable property destroyed as well as eroded basic livelihoods. Not a few people have urged caution while warning against a sledge hammer approach in curbing killer herdsmen.
    As attractive as ranching is as a solution to the problem, no one seems to have a grasp as to how to proceed. Where anyone has the sense of what to do, the finances required for commercial scale ranching is one that has not had any serious uptake in spite of the articulation around how it is a solution – no one is certain it will succeed.
    Shouldn’t we then be pleased that the army is undertaking a kind of pilot scheme and one that it is not going into blindly by sending its personnel to a country that currently provides beef and beef products to 400 million persons?
    If itinerant herdsmen can be made to see the economic benefits of ranching would it not provide a basis for culturally re-orientate them to reassess their nomadic way of life that pitches them against farmers? Would the farmers themselves not consider embarking on small scale ranching that will make their states take firmer stance on cattle grazing since the threat of losing their protein source would have been removed?
    When does this patriotic gesture become an audacious avenue for some undesirable elements to cast aspersions on the overall plan that is backed with a mission which has a vision attached to?
    Where ranching is demonstrated to be a success and herdsmen resist adopting it is a matter of time before the succulent beef from ranches would put the tough and sinewy cuts from the transit cattle out of the market and the nomads would be forced to admit an end to their era, which would also end the orgy of killings that has unfortunately left the nation traumatized.
    Furthermore, at a time the country is resolute on exploring new revenue sources towards diversification from being a mono-economy that was vertically and horizontally built on the  structures of oil, developing skills in ranching and actually setting up ranches across the country as being implemented presently has the potential for making Nigeria to join the league of nations that exploit livestock products.
    We must also face the reality that with the capture of Boko Haram camp in Sambisa forest, it is a matter of time before we begin to start having a peacetime army. Some nations have their army engineering corps building their roads and public infrastructure, others deploy their military for disaster response; we must accept the reality. Our gallant and internationally recognised have taken it upon themselves not only to be engrossed in the task of security our territorial unit also to secure livelihoods. This is a commendable gesture that must be given a standing ovation and not some sort of illicit condemnation. We have to deploy our troops to provide food security for the nation.  The lame argument canvassed by some commentators that no other country has committed its army to this kind of role is not acceptable since it implies a resignation to playing catch up on all matters. There is nothing to be lost in Nigeria blazing the trail in having an army that impacts life by providing abundant food.
    Even as some uninformed critics have gone to town poking fun at this laudable initiative, one can only hope that it succeeds on a scale that is replicable and adopted by commercial livestock farmers. What is today the butt of jokes would turn out to be the masterstroke needed to nudge us towards self sufficiency in food production. When that time comes we as a people of goodwill or conscience and such infamous critics should be humble enough to acknowledge the timely necessity of the revolutionary thinking championed by General Buratai.
    Gabriel Onoja is Executive Direction, Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism and contributed this piece from Jos.
  • Child safety: Policy against Tradition

    Child safety: Policy against Tradition

    Like many Nigerians, I believe our challenge as a nation is not the lack of requisite laws, regulations or policies. But most of these laws fail at the point of implementation.  One of the reasons I believe this happens is the poor knowledge of the law by the implementing arm of government.

    Have you ever wondered why the national assembly would refuse to openly disclose its spending? Sounds like a complex irony. It was the same national assembly that passed the freedom of information bill, yet they would not comply with the provision of a law they enacted. My focus is not the national assembly; I only wanted to buttress the fact that as a nation we are weak implementers of law.

    The case in point is the child rights Acts.  If you test this Act for instance with the Nigerian Police who are supposed to enforce the law, you will meet a brick wall.  The average police desk officer sometimes ignorantly argues against the law. Again my focus is not the Police; my opinion is that the government must enforce a minimum degree qualification for entry into the police, because you cannot enforce a law you do not have the intellectual capacity to comprehend.

    Now let’s hit home with the point.  I was elated when the Ministry of Women affairs recently announced its readiness to work with development agencies to end child marriage. I felt happy as one who works with children across the country to empower themselves against sexual abuses, but sniffing through all the challenges that may confront that decision, I began to wonder how the ministry will confront and challenge all intractable traditions and cultural systems that may challenge that decision.

    Child marriage is a very disturbing trend.  It happens around us, we see it almost everywhere, it even resides in the national assembly.  One lawmaker married a 13 year old Egyptian girl.  When asked, he points to the privilege of his religion.  So child marriage is real with us, it lives with us and so the ministry would have to do more than rhetoric to end it.

    This is the 13th year of the enforcement of the Child Right Acts; there has really not been an enforcement of the law. Only 23 states have domesticated the law, none have tested the law, no arrest have been made, although there are glaring evidence of defaulters.

    Section 21 defines a child as a person below the age of 18 and frowns at early marriage. This Acts goes further to provide for punishment in section 24 of the Act for violators of section 22 and 23.  These questions the potency of our laws. Are laws just made and not implemented?, what is the use of the law anyway when it cannot be enforced? This where the ministry of women affairs must first address in the case of the child rights Acts.

    The Acts provides too that there should be institutions created for children living in difficult conditions.  I have not seen one institution addressing the needs of children living under difficult conditions. A few weeks ago, a United Nations agency raised a disturbing alarm over the devastation malnutrition is causing in the North-East, according to the report more than 270, 000 children could die of malnutrition.

    Where the child rights Acts is enforced, there will be response from institutions created to address difficult conditions of children as provided by the acts itself, but this was not addressed at the level of enforcing the content of the child rights Acts. It’s up to you to judge if our laws are truly potent.

    If the ministry pushes for the implementation of the full content of the child rights act, it must be ready to whip traditions aside.  I do not know what strategies or actions the ministry of women affairs would implore, but am glad anyway for the courage to dive into the trouble water. I think there should be some seminar of sort to discuss how tradition affects temporary legislation and find a common ground. There are still a lot of traditions and culture that cuts at variance with existing laws. These traditions sometimes even affects health and well being.

    For instance, female genital mutilation and the obstetric fistula, a condition caused by early marriage, these are traditions that society must review against its attendant damage to the health of children. Traditions like laws cannot be dogmatic; they have to be reviewed under prevailing advancement in knowledge.

    As much as it is laudable for the ministry of women affairs to want to end child’s marriage, we must view this action beyond trying to score political points; it must thoroughly engage the traditional institutions in a bid to reviewing traditional or cultural knots that will make a rubbish of the lofty goal to end child marriage.

    I think the minister should review her strategies.  It is my opinion that she should call for a high stakeholders delegate to first discuss a plan of action for complete compliance of the child rights acts.  At full compliance with the act, there will be no need to end child marriage, the act already took care of that in details.

    Njideka Obi, lawyer and a child safety advocate.

    1. safersmarterchildren@gmail.com
  • Learn about humans to succeed 2017.

    Learn about humans to succeed 2017.

    I once had a friend who worked with a Telecoms firm.  She was well paid with good perks, and unfortunately she was always in and out of squabbles with her boss. She was a HR manager’s nightmare. For some reason she would or could not do her job, and would not let anyone else do it. I can’t count the number of times I helped draft response to queries, and counsel/coach her on managing her boss.

    Then it dawned on me. You see my friend is a super extrovert, and she was hired to do a super introvert’s job. She loved meeting and talking to people, yet her job gave her no avenue to do that, her only contact at work was her computer, talk about a square peg in a round hole. She was intensely dissatisfied with the job until she was asked to leave during a downsizing, and she has gone into other things.

     The year is about ending, with all the good and bad, challenges and victories. In another couple of weeks people will have made their new year resolutions and have all their pistons firing, ready to go. However, one tool we all need is the ability to study ourselves and other people so that we can be the best we can be, and help others succeed. Something called Emotional Intelligence.

    So what is emotional Intelligence? It is the ability of individuals to recognize their own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour. Coined by Daniel Goleman Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include 3 skills:

    1. Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others;
    2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problems solving;
    3. The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.

    Arthur Miller, lifelong trainer and consultant has stated that one in two people in the U.S are in the wrong job. This increases job related conflicts and stress both in the workplace and in the employees home or family life.  Furthermore, of the several reasons for underperformance in the workplace, poor fit of the individual to the job (being in the wrong job) and, interpersonal problems/ bickering in the workplace, are a result of temperament differences.

    How? You might want to ask.

  • Buhari at 74: Echoes of a day in Africa’s leadership renaissance

    Buhari at 74: Echoes of a day in Africa’s leadership renaissance

    When news of President Muhammadu Buhari’s three decades, a score and a half birthday assailed me a few days ago, I was caught off guard. As a Nigerian and now her president, Buhari has stolen a special space in my heart, occupying it permanently.

    What else, Buhari is still the upright, straightforward, hardworking, stern, disciplined and incorruptible man he was over three decades ago. Admirable virtues no doubt, but these are qualities which crave for attention in Nigeria or Africa, where men of his breed are scarce. The sophistication of Buhari’s life at 74 has left me pondering all day, about Nigerians and Africans.

    But as thoughts about Africa’s years of leadership void, flashed through me in rivulets, my heart nearly melted. Why not? A continent, the land of my birth, so richly blessed in human and material resources,  did not only submit itself to the rape by colonial imperial powers, but has refused to rediscover herself,  decades after the dissipation of shadows of colonialism.

    Nearly in the whole wild world, it is only in Africa that poverty, hunger and disease mindlessly ravage its populations. It’s only in Africa that one can find sit-tight leaders either democratic or military.  Africa bubbles with pervasive and reverting corruption. It is yet a continent which clearly has no focus or development agenda even on the dawn of the 21stcentury. Its development indices rank lowest in the world.  Its peoples depend on foreign aid on virtually everything, including the crops, we are endowed to cultivate on our fertile lands.

    In Africa, like painfully reflected in the creativity of the Ghanaian playwright, Ama Aidoo in the collection, “No Sweetness Here,” most leaders are half saints and half devils even when they stand on the pulpit, in the   harrowed presence of God.

    But it’s just today! Yesterday was different. Great Africa patriots and nationalists like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Zik of Africa, among others held the strew so positively strong for Africa. But the treasures are all lost in the fading shadows of the continent, which advances more in fantasies than reality.

    Yet, this is the same continent, the Senegalese poet, David Diop painted endearingly in his poem, “Africa, My Africa,” much as his other intellectual contemporaries in literary works. But today, we are still on the apron strings of Western powers or the North, the East and the Asian continents.  We have ignored the counsel of Late Captain Thomas Sankera of Burkina Faso who admonished us that “We must learn to live the African way. It is the only way to live in freedom and dignity.”

    It is for this singular reason I hold Buhari’s appearance on Nigeria cum Africa’s political scene in high esteem. Nigeria, Buhari’s country of birth has gone through excruciating pains.  It is a country that has experienced leadership failure since independence. It is a nation heavily afflicted by corruption since the first republic. It is a country that ignores her enviable human and natural resources to cringe before foreign nations for all manner of aids. Nigerian indeed, suffers the most awful internal hemorrhage of poverty, misery and suffering.

    Apart from the short-lived first republic and Buhari’s equally short hibernation with power from 1983 to 1985, Nigeria grovels before every phase of its existence as a nation raped and deprived.  But Buhari feels the country ought not to be this afflicted.

    Thus, when Nigerians decided in 2015 to once again allow Buhari the chance of leading them, it was a challenge one could say, he hated and loved at the same time. And in the last 19 months, Buhari has proven to be both a leader of Nigeria and Africa with desperate songs of rejuvenation.

    A political analyst once said, Buhari has always leeched on Nigeria’s political scene in her worse moments. In 1984, much as in 2015, every Nigerian or African knew Nigeria was not only in chaos, but on the brink of total collapse. While accepting the challenge to lead Nigeria, Buhari was optimistic that the country can salvage itself despite the enormous damage.

    Like his media adviser, Femi Adesina wrote, Buhari has come; “To serve humanity, serve his country, and make a huge difference. He was sent here to show that it is possible to be squeaky clean, play according to the rules, and live for others, not for primitive accumulation.”

    But as Nigeria how ls under his therapeutic surgeries, Buhari has shown that he is truly an African statesman.  He thinks more about Africa like his home country, Nigeria. So, when the Gambia exuded signs of a political implosion recently,  with incumbent, but ousted President, Yahya Jammeh’s belated decision to contest the outcome of the election, after conceding defeat to President-elect,  Adama Barrow, Buhari was on the team of ECOWAS mission led by its chairperson and Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to assuage frayed nerves.

    Alongside,  Presidents John Mahama and Ernest Bai Koroma,  accompanied by Dr. Mohamed Chambas, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to West Africa and the Sahel, Buhari’s first and last  concern was to lay the template in Banjui that would ensure the will of majority of  Gambian people as expressed through the ballot is  not violated by power monks.

    It explains why the coalition of seven political parties that backed Adama Barrow beckoned on Buhari when it became obvious ousted President Jammeh plots to rock the boat. “He also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of hope,” the coalition optimistically opined.

    Much as Buhari is concerned about cutting the cost of governance in Nigeria, he feels African nations deserve such cost-saving measures more than anything elsewhere. It was this spirit that informed his call to ECOWAS for a reduction in the cost of governance by African nations.

    While addressing the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York recently, Buhari never concealed his passion for the development of Africa.  He raised a voice in favour of reforms and the under representation of Africa in the United Nations Security Council, insisting on “equitable and fair representation and greater transparency, legitimacy and inclusiveness in its decision making.”

    I dare say Africa has been haunted by decades of despotic leaders in civilian and military garments. From Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire; Omar Bashir of Sudan; Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Paul Biya of Cameroun to Blaise Campaore of Burkina Faso and a lot more,  who  have pilloried their people and their countries while in leadership.

    But Buhari feels African nations and their peoples deserve a better deal. He feels Africa is a great continent that should be in the avant garde of progress and development. The sort of progress exemplified by a few great African leaders, who inspire hope,  such as Nelson Mandela of South Africa or the late Captain Thomas Sankera of Burkina Faso.

    Therefore, poised to lead the crusade for Africa’s leadership renaissance at the dawn of the 21st century, Buhari has begun his symbolic emancipation mission in Nigeria, a country he leads.  He believes Africa has no business to piteously depend on Western nations for survival, as it could harness its numerous resources to place itself in a conspicuous position on the world map.

    It explains his passionate attachment to things that essentially define the African spirit and endowments. He schemes endlessly to ensure the continent utilizes its own resources for survival. He has sufficiently reflected this inclination in his second coming as leader of Nigeria to a rousing applause by a depressed people.

    Therefore, when former British Prime Minister, David Cameron described Nigeria as “fantastically corrupt”, Buhari was deeply touched even though he knows it as the endemic problem of his country. So, he is determined to change the situation and leap Nigeria on the path of accelerated development, as attested by his current campaign on self-sustenance through the consumption and exportation of locally made goods to earn foreign exchange.

    So, when Buhari declared in his 2017 budget speech that, “I will stand my ground and maintain my position that under my watch, that old Nigeria is slowly,  but surely disappearing and a new era is rising in which we grow what we eat and consume what we make. We will CHANGE our habits and we will CHANGE Nigeria,” it was his unambiguous expression of leadership rebirth in Nigeria and Africa generally. Happy birthday, my President, Muhammedu  Buhari and at 74, may Almighty God grant you the grace to wax stronger in these ideals of leadership.

    Uche Made is based in Badagry, Lagos