The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tribute

  • Fidelis Uchenna Okoro: Immortalised in Art

    Fidelis Uchenna Okoro: Immortalised in Art

    The Nsukka School of Nigerian Literature that has paraded world renowned writers like Christopher Okigbo and Chinua Achebe lost one of its most versatile writers recently. Fidelis Uchenna Okoro, popularly known as Fidoko, after his theatre company name, was a rising star, full of light, energy and creativity, with great prowess across the genres of literature. His sudden death sent a shock wave through the University of Nigeria community and the Nigerian literary scene. Endless tributes, eulogies and ‘songs of sorrow’ have continued to pour in from all corners since his demise. His colleagues, students and former students have been in grief and have flooded social media with palpable anguish of his departure still hanging over the entire university community.

    A statement issued by the Head of Department of English at Nsukka, Professor Sam Onuigbo, entitled: Fidelis Okoro: A Man among Men, described Fidoko as “a man of many parts, a poet, music artist, literary artist and the University orator of his time”. Professor Onuigbo further stated that,”Fidelis Uchenna Okoro was a man among men, a lecturer among lecturers. The University will not forget him in a hurry; the Faculty will not forget his contributions and the Department will always remember Fide who turned his lectures into music to leave a permanent impact in the students’ hearts. Unfortunately, that egg is broken, never to be recovered and we must accept the shattered reality”. Also, one of Fidoko’s foremost students, Dr. Kingsley Oruchukwu Ugwuanyi in his condolence message stated that “his early death, not least the circumstances of his death shattered us all his students”. He described Fidoko as a lover of justice. “He’d do all he could to ensure no person was treated unfairly around him. He left such indelible memories in his students’ lives that it’s impossible to recount one’s life journey without interspersing it with Okoro’s influence. On a personal note, Okoro took it upon himself to ensure I graduated in 2008 when I  had a health challenge in my final year-he was a man with a HEART! You’re sorely missed, Fidoko-lover of arts, lover of creativity and lover of humanity! Lado!”Onyedikachi Okodo, one time President of English Students Association at Nsukka posited that Fidelis Uchenna Okoro was one of those who has transmuted into immortality. His tribute read in part: “Jack Ton said that those who we love never truly leave us and there are things that death cannot touch about those ones. There are people who never truly leave the world, because they have things death cannot touch and Okoro is one of such persons. His plethora of literary work across all genres of literature and his humanitarian assistance attest to that.” Okodo further wrote that “many will remember Fidoko more for his intelligence and humane disposition, but I will remember him for his integrity. He was a goal getter and pathfinder. You can say this of Okoro, quoting the last two lines of Shakespeare’s sonnet, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day; “so long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee”

    Fidoko had some striking similarities with the inimitable poet, Christopher Okigbo as Chinua Achebe ascribed in a preface to the memorial poetry anthology Don’t Let Him Die, that “he could not enter or leave a room unremarked, yet he was not extravagant in manner or appearance. There was something about him not easy to define, a certain inevitability of drama and event. His vibrancy and heightened sense of life touched everyone he came into contact with.” It could be said that although Fidoko “turned his hands to many things in his short life, he never did anything badly or half-heartedly. He carried into all his performance a certain inborn finesse and a sense of elegance” In his dramatic and eventful life, Fidoko published two novels, five plays and two poetry collections. His first poetry collection, When the Bleeding Heart Breaks, was the Runner-up ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize, 2006.His plays are Wisdom of the Ostrich, Joys of War, Prof.Zemzi’s Last Rehearsal, Preamble to Apocalypse and Quagmire, which was Runner-up ANA/JP Clark Drama Prize 2010.His novels are The Rape of Regina and Cracking the Shell, which was the Runner-up ANA/Jacaranda Prose Prize, 2009. His theatre, Fidoko Theatre Company traversed many Nigerian cities presenting plays.

    It is noteworthy that Fidoko was not only a literary star but also a popular musician and movie maker. He was a pioneer voice in using Nsukka dialect in music. His two trailblazing albums One More Mile and Call on Me were all-time airwave sensations due to their charm and uniqueness. The track entitled Kabeleka broke new grounds. Before then, it was fashionable for singers to sing in central Igbo but Fidoko made inroads into Nsukka dialect in music making, just the same period Niga Raw and Phyno were beginning to rap in Igbo language. Today numerous hip pop artists have toed his steps in this regard. He turned every piece of cultural material in his hands into beautiful art.

    He was simply married to his art that not even death could put asunder! As a general practitioner, he also produced and directed four major movies; Saved by Sin, Peace of the Graveyard, Uzumagada and Paradisico. What could be described as ‘a millennial prophecy’ in Paradisico, is where Sam Loco Efe, the lead actor talks about a coming pandemic and warns that “a stitch in time will not only safe nine but nineteen”, sharply contrasting with the ravaging COVID-19,many years before the global outbreak started, that has brought the whole world to almost a halt. In the same vein, during the build-up to the burial of the world renowned novelist, Chinua Achebe in 2013, Fidoko in his characteristic explosive manner penned one of the most outstanding tributes in the condolence register opened in the Faculty of Arts at Nsukka, “Achebe came into the literary world with a roar (Things Fall Apart) and he left with a thunder (There was a Country).We will always be grateful for the steps in the sands of literature” Through his role as the Editorial Adviser to The Muse, University of Nigeria’s student journal, spanning decades, he ran a personalized kind of creative writing course through his voluntary mentoring of promising writers, who upon his demise wish he could “come back even as a shadow, even as a dream.”

    Fidoko lived an eventful life of impact and pursued excellence in all his engagements and will forever be remembered for his forthrightness and his dramatic way of teaching, his compassion and dedication to duty. People like Fidelis Uchenna Okoro might be considered social deviants or avant-garde, who questioned inherited traditional values through his art and personal convictions about societal assumptions. He thought far ahead of his age and space by always espousing moral flooring for human actions. Not one who will bend the rule for any reason whatsoever. As his work becomes better and more widely known in the world, he will also be recognized as one of the most remarkable anywhere in our time. He lives on and speaks and strays among us the living. It is very painful and regrettable why men of great talent and endowment die very young when they are so full of the elements? The German physicist and writer Georg Lichtenberg said, “I am always grieved when a man of real talent dies. The world needs such men more than Heaven does” Fidoko was a doyen of contemporary Nigerian writing, worthy scholar, cultural activist, music aficionado, an eclectic actor and productive film maker, many talents rolled into one breathing restless genius!  A man carved in the engravings of immortality.

    His remains were laid to rest at Obukpa in Nsukka on August 7th 2021. As Fidoko returns to his maker amid music and dance, poetry and drama, his high sense of empathy and altruism towards his fellow human being will be greatly missed by all. In our sadness we will continue to cherish the everlasting memories. When a man has done his best, we should let him rest. As Fidoko moves on, the melodies of his art live on.

  • Tunji Bello @ 60: Testimonial to charisma in unionism, journalism, activism

    Tunji Bello @ 60: Testimonial to charisma in unionism, journalism, activism

    By Lanre Arogundade

     

    Robust framed, fine-skinned and afro-haired while oozing handsomeness in his parliamentary gown, he somewhat stood out among the students’ union leaders that had thronged Great Ife campus on that occasion in the 1982/83 session.

    Back at the students’ union office soon after the event, a group of us whispered and joked that the guy from the University of Ibadan (UI), must be an ‘e dey happen chap’ – the other moniker in those days for those categorised as ‘ome aje butter’ – students or young guys whose mien pointed at privileged background.

    The guy was Tunji Bello. He was the students’ union leader – the Vice President – who had come to represent the University of Ibadan students’ union at the second memorial anniversary for four students from the University of Ife who were cut down in their prime by the Police during a funeral procession in Ile-Ife town on June 7, 1981. The irony was that the march was to protest the beheading of another student – Bukola Arogundade.

    The brutal killing of Bukola Ojewoye, Fatimah Adebimpe, Paul Alonge, and Wemimo Akinbolu after the Police had fired live ammunition and tear gas at thousands of students lined up behind the then students’ union president, Femi Kuku, in front of Mayfair Hotel in the Lagere area of the town shook the campus to its foundation. It shocked a Nation to whom humanity then mattered.

    Indeed, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), under the leadership of Dr. Biodun Jeyifous had to set up an administrative panel of inquiry comprising Chief Gani Fawehinmi (the head) and Labanji Bolaji, veteran journalist and member, to unravel the mystery behind the death of the students. It was the panel that found conclusively that their death was a direct outcome of the police assault on the peacefully marching students.

    The Fajemifo Christopher executive on which I served as the Secretary-General came into office two sessions after the massacre and one of our early resolutions was to organise a befitting commemorative activity including the erection of a June 7 statue in front of the students’ union building, to serve as a permanent memorial for the June 7 four.

    It was thus the unveiling of the statue, the memorial march by students’ union leaders from Ife and nearby campuses and other related activities that marked the first crossing of paths with Tunji Bello.

    Beyond the specific symbolism of immortalising the June 7 four, the commemorative events organised by our Exco were reflective of the ideology driven, purposeful and focussed nature of students unionism in that era. The elements of the mission that shaped unionism included defence of independent students’ unionism; protection of students welfare; promotion of a culture of enlightened and robust debate of national and international issues; holding the civilian governments accountable for their deeds or misdeeds; and doing same to the military governments that succeeded them in the aftermath of the military putsch of 1983, which marked the demise of the second republic.

    The early to mid-80s was also a period when the privileges being enjoyed by the students such as subsidised feeding system, subsidised accommodation and affordable tuition fees were already being threatened. At first, the attack on the educational system was a product of the profligacy of the Shehu Shagari led National Party of Nigeria’s (NPN) Federal Government. It was that corruption ridden government that started the establishment of more universities for political considerations without giving deep thought to how they would be funded. Later, the attack became bye-products of the shift in the direction of neo-liberalism by the military governments.

    By the late 80s, it had become clear that the attempt to commercialise education was in part fulfilment of the conditionalities imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to which the country had turned for loans. The most notorious of the initiative in this direction was the Ibrahim Babangida military junta’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which he claimed had no alternative but which was duly resisted by students, youths and Nigerians in what became famously known as the anti-SAP riots of 1989.

    Tunji Bello deserves to be acknowledged as a player and leader in the student movement of that era, which to a significant number of Nigerians constitutes a golden generation.

    Sections of that generation believe their radical and or revolutionary vision of Nigeria should not die with campus activism but should be taken into the arena of their professional callings and the larger society. This was especially so with those who had been active as campus journalists, students’ unionists and leaders; and members of socialist, black nationalist, anti-apartheid, etc, movements, some of whom would later become professional journalists.

    One of the earliest indications of that commitment was the convergence of a group of erstwhile campus activists and unionists now working as journalists in Lagos at the then secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Yaba, Lagos, to form the Progressives Journalists Associations (PJA) in the period between 1988 and 1989. Adopting the ideology of socialism, the main aim of PJA was to use the instrumentality of journalism to transform Nigeria through the pursuit of journalism with social relevance. In the course of time the platform expanded to accommodate like-minded elements especially those who didn’t have campus activism background and it got transformed into the New Trend movement of the NUJ.

    As I attested in my recent tribute to another active participant in that movement, Femi Ojudu, who also recently turned 60, Tunji Bello was a prominent player in that movement and would emerge from the forum to be one of the leaders of the NUJ in Lagos State. I wrote: “The New Trend platform took the Lagos Council of NUJ by storm when in 1989 it elected the dynamic leadership of Ladi Lawal, Tunji Bello, Richard Akinnola, Kayode Komolafe, Bong Ita, Niyi Bankole, Dagogo Jack etc. It later extended its foray to the national level with the subsequent election of Sani Zoro as the National President of NUJ”.

    Tunji Bello was the Treasurer in that famous Ladi Lawal executive, which embarked on educational and welfare empowerment of journalists. The exco put up a robust defence of press freedom for which it established the Press Freedom Defence Committee and was active in decrying human rights abuses that was characteristic of the military government of that era so much so that by the time of the June 12 crisis of 1993 following the annulment of the presidential mandate freely given by Nigerians to Bashorun MKO Abiola, the council teamed up with other pro-democracy forces to be part of the Joint Action Committee on Nigeria (JACON) led by late Gani Fawehinmi.

    On the above account, Tunji Bello, also deserves to be acknowledged and commended as a key player and leader in that radicalisation of the NUJ via the new trend platform.

    History, as far as my relationship with Tunji Bello is concerned, ran full cycle when I joined the National Concord where he was already established on the features and political desks, and would soon become the Political Editor. Though I also became the Features Editor we related more as former student unionists and NUJ combatants than as line editors. We became friends and on occasions embarked on joint rendezvous the full details of which can only be preserved as unwritten memoirs.

    Well read, well connected, urbane, focussed, amiable and intellectually endowed, it was not hard to guess that Tunji would rapidly climb the journalism professional ladder and one the earliest indications was when he was offered the Alfred Friendly fellowship in the United States. The development so much excited Bashorun MKO Abiola that he organised a farewell reception for Tunji at his Ikeja residence with some of us present to devour the meals and savour the banters of the occasion. I was the one that dropped Tunji off at the airport for his departure and was equally on hand to pick and drop him at home upon his return.

    With such other cerebral journalists like Victor Ifijeh, Sam Omatseye, etc, forming part of his formidable team, it could not have been otherwise that the political desk would be part of the success story of the National Concord in the 1990s. And here again, the contribution of Tunji to media professionalism and development as someone who transverse the vast field of political reporting should be duly acknowledged.

    Tunji’s charismatic attributes, the journalism front at which he operated and close relationship with MKO obviously recommended him for the inner circle role he played in the National Concord Publisher’s bid for the presidency on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993. The annulment and the nationwide anger it provoked also meant that he would become a core participant in the struggle for the restoration of the June 12 mandate for which MKO ultimately paid the supreme price. Tunji, in my reckoning, is one of the top ten Nigerians who could write authoritatively on the intrigues, the backstabbing, the horse trading, the betrayals, the somersaults and the sharp twists and turns of the June 12 struggle. He owes present and future generation the historical obligation of telling his June story. While we wait for the epic, we have to equally acknowledge the sense of commitment to a Nigeria free from the shackles of military oppression with which he participated in the pro-democracy movement despite the obvious risks.

    My conclusion therefore is simple. On this special occasion of his 60th birthday, Tunji should be saluted as a hero of purposeful journalism and a hero of Nigeria’s democracy. Especially encouraging is the fact that Tunji has remained Tunji – humble, level headed, compassionate and humane – his long sojourn on the corridors of government and power notwithstanding. For he is a jolly good fellow? You can say that again and again.

    Being my contribution to the book: ‘In Pursuit of Public Purpose – Essays In Honour of Tunji Bello at 60’ published to mark his birthday today, July 1st, 2021.1

    • Arogundade is chairman of International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos

     

  • Ajimobi… a year like yesterday

    Ajimobi… a year like yesterday

    By Bolaji Tunji

    How time flies. Today, Friday, June 25, 2021 makes it exactly a year that my boss, the first and only two term governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi passed on to eternity.  It is still strange, it still seems like a bad dream. But the reality has dawned. These past 12 months have poignantly brought it home to family, friends, associates and his numerous political mentees that they had all lost an irreplaceable icon. Every day, the impact of his passage is felt. The vacuum has left a deep crater for his immediate family, his political family in Oyo State and at the National level.

    In the State, the lack of a rallying point is poignantly felt in spite of all efforts to knit the different groups together. It has been difficult. But the effort continues. Peace is returning gradually, the reconciliation started before his transition has continued, thanks to his partner of almost 40 years, Dr (Mrs) Florence Ajimobi, who felt since that was his last wish, she owed him the duty of ensuring that wish came to pass. Within the year, the Unity Group with leadership made up of former Minister of Communication, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, Senator Femi Lanlehin, Senator Ayo Adeseun, Prof Adeolu Akande have all returned to the fold. They took it further with a visit to his widow.

    Unknown to many, Senator Ajimobi had paid personal visits to many of the aggrieved people and had resolved the differences with most before his death. As he was fond of saying, if he had offended anyone they should forgive him and for all those who offended him, he had also forgiven them.

    Though, his death came unexpectedly -death hardly announced its coming- he had premonitions. He had put his affairs in order before he passed on. He had tried to prepare his immediate family for his passage. On a particular occasion , just before his death, he had taken his wife on a dinner date on the high seas, it was the first time ever in their 40-year old marriage he would ever do that, unknown to her that he was giving her a lasting memory.

    His last few days were conducted in service to the people closest to him. The day he left Ibadan for Lagos and eventually Abuja, he had gathered his children and grandchildren for dinner, he had served each and every one at the table. He was giving a lesson in humility and service. He had spoken to those not available. In the night, he had taught his companion of several years how to put on the television in their room, admonishing her that she should learn the task as he would not always be there to do it for her. He had also admonished her to ensure she put off the air conditioner in their room anytime she was going out instead of leaving it for him to do. All very insignificant but quite symbolic because he knew he would not be there forever. But none knew that the parting of ways would be that soon.

    A few weeks before his demise, specifically on May 5, 2020, he had gathered his personal staff and associates in the office together, he raised the issue of death and the thereafter.  He wanted everyone to say what they knew, about that subject. Everyone offered different opinions on what they knew and have heard about death and the thereafter.   The former Commissioner for Education, Professor Niyi Olowofela who is presently the representative of Oyo State at the Federal Character Commission had gone to research the subject and recommended a publication entitled— After Lives: A Guide to heaven, hell and Purgatory by John Casey which he said should be given to him.

    Indeed, his life had been an impactful one, he was a sage whose worth is gradually being recognised after death. He was fond of saying that God created a binary world. A world of good and of evil, a world of light and darkness, the good people, the bad people. His words were didactic and his anecdotes were to emphasize his teachings. His last few days were devoted to teaching. He would sit in the office and engage everyone on different issues or the other. And he would conclude, ‘you may not realise it, but you are picking things from me’.

    In Oyo State, he made tremendous impact, his strides were gigantic and filling the shoes he left behind becomes harder every day. In the State, today especially with the growing insecurity, the refrain is; ‘this would never have happened in the time of Ajimobi’. ‘Oyo State is gradually returning to the pre-2011 era of do not ply Iwo road or Molete’, all being pointers to the brigandage, arson and wanton disregard for lives and property that characterised the era. In his eight years tenure, no single case of bank robbery was recorded in Oyo State. Civil disobedience were never allowed to thrive. His was a hands-on leadership. He was well prepared for governance and he had a blue print and template of development for 25 years. He would not pamper miscreants and he would not suffer fools gladly. He had informed some top leadership of the Road transport union that he would lock up anyone who caused problem in the State, in the presence of this writer. To ensure adequate security across the State, he established, the popular Operation Burst, a joint Security Task Force with zonal commands of operations in Oyo, Iseyin, Kishi, Ogbomoso, Saki and Eruwa with headquarters in Ibadan. The Ajimobi administration also established a Security Trust Fund, the first in the history of the State which assisted with the funding of security operations and services across Oyo State. The Oyo State Safe City initiative also came on  stream leading  to the establishment of CCTV cameras in strategic locations. Most importantly, Senator Ajimobi established the Oyo State Inter Religious/Inter ethnic committee (SIREC) which helped to entrench religious, inter-ethnic and communal harmony across the State. The effect of this was to ensure a peaceful State, reduction in criminality, a decrease in robbery incidents. What happened was that as a result in 2018, Oyo State earned the honour of being the fifth most peaceful State in the country according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Under Senator Ajimobi as governor, business thrived with an increase in Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) to the State. Sadly, last year, Oyo State was among the States in the country without any direct foreign investment. There was a renaissance of nighttime economy, hotels, events centres, cinemas, nightclubs increased by 147 percent. Radio Stations were just six in number by the time Ajimobi took over governance in 2011, by the time he left, the State had about 40 radio stations. He also created the Oyo State anthem, among other achievements.

    An area where his impact was surely felt was in social and infrastructural renewal. He ensured the dualisation of entry roads into major cities in the State, construction of 183 roads and seven bridges, rehabilitation and maintenance of 850 kilometres of roads. Ibadan, the State capital got a new look with the construction of modern roads. In areas of Housing, the administration was able to establish several housing estates while education got a major boost with strategic policies such as the School Governing Board Policy (SGB) which led to the active participation of all major stakeholders in the administration of public Secondary schools. A few States in the country sent representatives to Oyo State to come and understudy the model. The Ajimobi administration also established a technical university, the first of its kind in Nigeria to provide technical manpower for the society.

    In all these, one can thus clearly state that Senator Abiola Ajimobi came and influenced his society as captured in his evergreen words: “A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better”. May his soul continue to rest in peace.

     

     

     

  • Sanwo-Olu…so long a journey to 56

    Sanwo-Olu…so long a journey to 56

    By Olusegun Fafore

    “Guys, who is Baba Ijesha, please?” was your question to the Communication Team during the week of the misdirected social media activism against your alleged attempt to release the popular Nollywood actor, who reportedly raped or sexually assaulted a minor.

    The team was startled because the frequency at which celebrities, especially of the Yoruba plank of the movie industry, were mentioning your name in their bickering, no one would expect that you would need the guidance of ‘Demola Olaniran, the Senior Special Assistant (Media/Photography), to show you the comical actor’s photograph.

    As Demola offered his phone, after trawling through the internet, you said: “So, this is the guy” after a casual look at the image. That response and the discussion that followed showed that you didn’t know him, or have an idea of any actor known by the name Baba Ijesha until the explosion of the internet war in which your name became an ammo in the arsenal of the feuding parties, who were more interested in the theatrics to rev-up their sluggish social media profiles than justice.

    The look on your face did not do enough to hide your astonishment that your name was on the lips of the battling parties, but it did excellently in revealing that you only manage the constant vilification for every thought, or imagination running through people’s minds.

    Well, I guess that is not too much of a price to pay for holding a public office. Leaders get the kick for every unimaginable thing; even a drunkard who falls into the gutter now blames Sanwo-Olu for his debauchery in our Lagos. Chai!

    You chuckled, and played an Ewi series dedicated to the brawl, obviously forwarded to you by somebody. Your name was mentioned as an interested party in the case. The lyrics of the Ewi series rode on the expertise of the Chanter to propagate falsehood; just the way some celebrities in our clime leverage their fame to misinform the people.

    Our meeting progressed, but my mind could not move on from the thoughts kindled by the visible disbelief I noticed on you face. You murmured after the Ewi series had finished playing –  “Everything is Sanwo-Olu when people cannot find explanation for a situation, or understand it. We should actually do better than we are doing as a people. We are all responsible for this State. The Governor is just one person, a representative of the people”.

    “Shouldn’t our people know that this is simply a police matter?” you asked rhetorically – and with barely disguised bemusement. I understood why you felt that way. The Ewi series, like other activities of the parties-in-war, had made the situation appear like you were an interested party. Unfortunately, that was just one of your daily headaches… dealing with conjectures.

    You asked that we continue with the presentation. Just for the meeting to progress, while you took the underserved blames laid at your feet for being the Governor of the State with equanimity. “It is the price you pay for service and for putting yourself out there”, you always say each time a situation like this arises. Gbenga Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy tried to calm you down. “Everything will be fine, Mr. Governor”,

    However, your demeanour on this occasion solved a major riddle about your humanity. It revealed that our superman is human, with blood running through his veins.  I saw it…blood droplets from the hurt caused by the thorny crown on your head as the Governor of Lagos State. Your response to Omotoso: “I Know. These things happen” was one of your usual ways of downplaying the unpleasant situations so that you can remain yourself – positive and bright.

    I realised that leaders are humans and need empathy, especially a dedicated, people-centred and visionary leader like you. As an easy-going and effortlessly humble leader, you take each day as it comes and serve kindness to the people. You actually say it every time, “I owe Lagos unprecedented service and I will surpass myself to deliver it. Every citizen of the State, rich or poor, will feel the impact of my leadership”.

    Even when the situation is tough, you are calm, always void of the belligerence and brusqueness often associated with politicians when in power. We see them growl at their citizens, but watch you, with the composure of a family doctor, paint scenarios in a compassionate manner. From Covid-19 to #EndSARS, you demonstrated candour and charity the people of Lagos will remember for a very long time.

    That the vitriols of work-hands on internet-fertilised plantation of falsehood did not change your accessibility and interaction with the people is an evidence of the generosity of your spirit. Since October 2020, attempts have been made to dress a hero in the cloak of a villain.

    Malicious narratives, knitted in lies, were orchestrated to dim your glow, but acknowledgement of your good work by the real people and the impact of your government on their lives out-loud the whispers of mischief-makers, who only live behind the keyboards.

    Sadly, here is a demography you love so much, but herd mentality fuelled by ignorance sustained their animosity against the vast opportunities available for them in your admiration of their talents and abilities. Rather than feeling betrayed, you continued to reach-out, engage and connect because of your conviction about their role and place in the future of Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole.

    Lies have short legs and fate has ways of vindicating people from machinations. So, forging ahead with your resolve to making Lagos greater is the only way to achieve your utmost goal of inclusiveness and social mobility.

    You have handled the situation properly, and reacted impressively well. With your demonstrated maturity, it will be fitting to say that you actually hit the wisdom of age 56 in October 2020, even though that was barely fourteen weeks after your 55th birthday. Your coming-of-age was validated by the uncommon sagacity and objectivity you exhibited in moments of emotional agony and despair.

    The open field at the State House was your land of reflection when anguish was thick in the air.  ”Why did people think that I can order that anyone be killed?”, you asked aloud as you walked across the field. The night of October 20, 2020 was mixture of everything. You stood up and sat down at the same time because everything was more than misery for you.

    Neither was the morning after better. You had gone, against every security advice, to Lekki Tollgate (the protest ground) and hospitals within the vicinity to unravel the misery of the massacre that people did not believe was a ruse. You showed greater courage and took unmitigated risks visiting when emotions had displaced reasoning in the State, but your conviction that presented account of event was inaccurate and grossly exaggerated emboldened you to put your life on the line.

    Governor Sanwo-Olu, your family name will not spoil. It is truly distressing that as the first grandson in your family …. Babajide, the glory without the gory would have just been fine. Attempts to soil your reputation will not succeed because the radiance of your good deeds will continue to illuminate your path. The gloom of October 21, when you had to explain what happened at Lekki Tollgate to the State was a hard ground to till because the force of propaganda had swept many off the sofa of logic.

    The doubt was strong. You wondered if people actually believed that getting into government turned you into a monster. Before going live, after instances of emotional breakdown, “is that how the people see me?” was the question that troubled your so much.

    “A few days earlier, I was applauded for identifying with the cause and bearing its messages to the highest authority in the land. There will never be a massacre under my watch” you screamed. “That is not what I am about”, then the transmission began, but all through you struggled with public cynicism and despondency of false accusation.  The atmosphere was reminiscent of Judea, the province of persecution of our Lord Jesus Christ. It felt like the characteristic pensiveness and sobriety of the Passion Week was with us in the State House.

    Some people had formed an opinion based on internet images. Emotions had run high, and no one was even stepping back to take a critical look at the entire event. Things took an ugly turn and you became a victim in a matter you wanted to resolve purposefully in favour of the citizens. You paid the painful price of being the target of devious misinformation when you lost your grandfather’s house in Lagos Island and mother’s house in Surulere to the violence. Your uncle was almost killed by a mob incited by propaganda and outright falsehood.

    Indeed, ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’ is not just an expression, but a fact of life, which proximity to you has proven. You are an uncommon leader, with a very accommodating spirit. How you reconcile issues is quite peculiar because you hardly get offended. Sanwo-Olu bears no grudge. He is a Governor for all, and for the advancement of Lagos State.

    ”This destruction is monumental and a major setback for the State, but the context of occurrence will not make anyone an enemy of the State at this time” was your response to calls for prosecution of #EndSARS protesters because of the wanton destruction witnessed across the State. That is your temperament and person, our Governor.

    When you responded that “I am Governor for everybody – for those who supported the #EndSARS protest and those against the protest. We need to come together and heal together. We must take Lagos forward and make it greater” at one of our strategy meetings after the protest, Jaiye, Gboyega and myself concluded that “Oga may not understand the ramifications of what is on ground, or he has his own plans”.

    As the months rolled by, we realised that you understood the ramifications of what had happened much better than anyone of us, but the broadness of your mind and pragmatism had inclined you towards an inclusive approach to rebuilding the State. This disposition explains why you are great party man and democrat.

    It is your birthday today. You deserve every accolade for your selfless leadership and commitment to the service of the people of Lagos State. You have been a model for public service efficiency and responsible governance. With the glimpse of A Greater Lagos shared on the second anniversary of your administration, we are convinced that you will successfully take Lagos to her rightful place in the comity of leading cities in the world.

    Happy birthday, Mr. Governor!

     

    Fafore is the Executive Assistant to Lagos State Governor on New Media and Public Relations.

  • Tinubu and the imperatives of leadership in Nigeria

    Tinubu and the imperatives of leadership in Nigeria

    By Tunji Olaopa

    I am starting this piece on leadership with a hypothesis. And my hypothesis is founded not just on my perception of leadership over time, but specifically on how my understanding of Yoruba culture and philosophy has affected what I think about the nature, dynamics, and responsibility of leading a country like Nigeria. Leadership is a critical subject matter that brings political philosophers, political scientists and political theorists together, since it is the concept around which we try to understand how to facilitate human flourishing in a social and political space. And it is even more crucial for Nigerians since independence because that is the key to the transformation of the Nigerian state. And hence, this explains my ongoing curiosity, as a political theorist and public commentator, about how we can keep orienting and expanding our understanding of what leadership means. The 69th birthday celebration of the ubiquitous Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu provides me with yet another opportunity to test my ideas.

    Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu has become a curiosity in the Nigerian political firmament before the commencement of the democratic experiment in 1999. He has become a significant gladiator in the agitation concerning the future of the Nigerian state. His views, opinions and even silences have been subjected to heated debates that explore the boundaries of personal, political and cultural understanding of an average Nigerian politician. But Asiwaju is not an ordinary Nigerian politician. However, beyond any analysis of who they are and what possible understanding we can have of their motives, politicians should be studied in ways that enlighten us about leadership and its dynamics. And this is even more so in the case of Tinubu. I doubt that there is any “popular” leader in the sense of someone who enjoys consensual support across the many spectrums of political opinions and interests. Leadership popularity is even all the scarcer in Nigeria because of the acute nature of what is demanded from anyone wishing to lead in such a politically inflammable context.

    Yet, Tinubu keeps resurfacing in almost all the discussion about Nigeria’s present and future. And all the more also because he is Yoruba. Even more critical: he is the fourth in the line of critical Yoruba politicians that had defined the Nigerian state—Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief MKO Abiola. By some kind of an unfathomable good fortune for my political understanding, I have had more than casual encounters with the four, though with MKO to a limited extent and therefore will not be focused in this reflection. My encounters and engagements with them have been in the service of my ongoing attempt to facilitate an institutional reform philosophy that could backstops Nigeria’s inherent possibilities as a state. Thus, it began to dawn on me to reflect on how these Yoruba national leaders have engaged with the Nigerian state from the perspective of their ethnic nationality. In other words, what is it about being a Yoruba that instigate the kind of notoriety each one of them symbolizes? To varying degrees, each of these political gladiators represents similar achievements. My observation reveals (a) an abiding respect for intellectual capital and the authority of knowledge and meritocracy in governance; and (b) a commitment to Nigeria and her possibilities, within their individual understanding of their responsibilities to the commonwealth. However, each of them had been embroiled in a dilemma that pitted their political principles against a rampaging populism that often sieve these principles through the prism of what the people think and expect from their leaders. But part of their enigmatic character has been due to their resilience in holding on to their belief about Nigeria, even in the face of the most scurrilous public opinion and political shenanigans.

    The name “Asiwaju”—Tinubu’s popular title—is a Yoruba appellation that carries the burden of Yoruba ethical principles. It means “the one who leads.” Fundamentally, leadership is a moral responsibility which the Yoruba attach to being an omolúwàbí. As a moral imperative, being an omolúwàbí is an ontological and ethical idea. Omolúwàbí denotes a mode of being that lies behind the Yoruba understanding of iwa (character) and ewa (beauty). To be an ordinary Yoruba person demands being an omolúwàbí, a moral exemplar. But being a leader demands more. The beauty that iwa confers on a person’s existence is expected to manifest in how one relates with others in the human society. A leader is commendable when her actions contribute to the well-being of the collective. A leader that has ewa or beauty further signals such a leaders’ capacity for relational and social goodness.

    From Awolowo to Asiwaju, we have Yoruba leaders that we have attempted to cast in the mold of an omolúwàbí. Awolowo was represented as the reincarnation of Oduduwa, the eponymous leader of the Yoruba. One of the most significant achievements of Awolowo is the unification of the Yoruba as one solid ethnonational group within Nigeria. That unification became significant within the context of the positioning for significance within the Nigerian national space. Awolowo became almost mythic in terms of his sociocultural force and political vision. He needed to unite the disparate Yoruba tribes as a critical issue in Nigeria’s national integration challenge. Awolowo’s deep philosophical intuition recognized that the Yoruba had to achieve self-respect as a precondition for a strategic place in the unity of Nigeria. Unfortunately, Awolowo failed to prevent the Yoruba factor which consumes its own force of being. Alaafin Aole was alleged, by Samuel Johnson’s reading of history, to not only have suffered the fate of being betrayed by his lieutenants, but he also allegedly left a curse that subjects the Yoruba race to persistent self-inflicted treachery. And it would seem that, in retrospect, the Yoruba nation has been left rudderless in its attempt at remaining a strong force for unity in Nigeria.

    With Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, there was no antecedent mythic relationship with Oduduwa that Awolowo enjoyed. Indeed, his Yorubaness was questioned within the intrigues of politicking that characterized the Nigerian political class, as well as the political calculation that brought Obasanjo to power. There is no doubt that Obasanjo has a deep sense of Yoruba history and culture, yet he struggled with the imperative of a cultural capital that could have been a strong base for his governance performance. However, it had not been easy to balance a sense of national unity and an imperative of ethnic loyalty. This has always been the challenge of nation-building in any plural state. But Wale Adebanwi has argued before that the Yoruba vision of egalitarianism and social justice, especially within an ethnically divided Nigeria, is adoptable by other ethnic groups because of the humanistic basis of that vision. The problem is now that of first selling the vision to the Yoruba elite who have not necessarily bought into the selfless philosophy of unity and national integration. In other words, the general populace sometimes reacts to the whirls of what elite actions throw up, which are not often all that clear. A politician therefore has to face the often vicious recriminations of those who perceive their political principles differently.

    Obasanjo has definitely regained his acerbic directness after he got out of the chokehold of Nigerian power politics. On the contrary, Asiwaju Tinubu is still caught in the grip of that excruciating context of power tussle and national dynamics of building a united Nigeria. And he is struggling to hard to live up to the responsibilities of his appellation as one who leads. But one must understand the demand of leadership as often an attempt to mediate between often contradictory principles and demands. Asiwaju has often been caught in between the demand to stand with his Yoruba credentials which requires that he pushes an agenda that he might be reading differently; and the need to attend to the imperatives of nation-building which has a civic prism through which all ethnic visions must be filtered. Well, we must also not forget the realm of personal ambition, and the aspiration to become anything anyone wants to become. If Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu wants to be the president of Nigeria, that should be seen as a legitimate aspiration for one who has invested so much into the Nigerian project. But all ethnic, national and personal agenda are constrained by the urgency of transiting to a pan-Nigerian political unity that everyone can accept and work with.

    Every leader with an aspiration must thread what we can call the landmines of leadership. But then what character is required to traverse the landmines of politics in a place like Nigeria? The Yoruba culture demands relentlessly that such a leader must be an omolúwàbí, and the goodness generated by the beauty of that character must form the basis of governance. Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, has a curious leadership advice: “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” There is an element of enigmatic quietness in this advice that seems to speak to Asiwaju’s reticence sometimes when there are issues demanding his voice. But there is equally in Lao Tzu’s advice the expectation of governance performance that must satisfy the yearning to unravel the enigmatic leader and his political prowess.

    Democracy is such a beautiful thing. It enables the citizens to vote in a potential leader based on the mechanics of possibilities that such a candidate portend. Whatever the political aspiration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he is an embodiment of democratic possibilities, like every other person with similar aspirations. And in his travails as a political leader, we already learn how difficult it is to be a leader in a context where leadership is sorely needed.

    • Olaopa is a tetired Federal Permanent Secretary & Professor of Public Administration/Policy, National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, tolaopa2003@gmail.com
  • Wike gives the creative industry a boost

    Wike gives the creative industry a boost

    By Paulinus Nsirim

    History was made on Saturday, March 27, 2021, Damini Ogulu (Burna Boy), from Ahoada West Local Government Area, Rivers State, winner of the prestigious Grammy in the category of Best Global Music Album Award, with his album “Twice as Tall”, at the 63rd Annual Grammy Award ceremony, in New York City, was confered with one of the highest honours in the State, the ‘‘Distinguished Service Star of Rivers State, DSSRS, by Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

    This is the second highest distinction in Rivers State Order of Merit Awards and is conferred on individuals in recognition of their exceptional service/performance in any field of human endeavour. This conferment on Burna Boy was in recognition of his historic feat as the first Nigerian and Rivers indigene to win the Grammy Award, regarded globally as the most prestigious music and entertainment award in the world.

    The DSSRS honours was confered on Burna Boy during the grand reception organized by the State Government for him in Port Harcourt, which had been preceded with a  courtesy call by the Grammy winner, to Governor Nyesom Wike in Government House, Port Harcourt.

    Receiving Burna Boy in Government House, Governor Wike told the global music award winner that Rivers State was proud of him for the rare distinction of becoming a winner of the Grammy award.

    “You’ve done us proud and we owe you a duty to show you love. Wherever you are, your people appreciate you. There is no Rivers person that will say he or she is not happy with the kind of pride you’ve brought to us. I am very happy and I can tell you, whatever you think we can do to promote you, we will continue to do it,” Governor Wike assured.

    Thus, in addition to the honnour of DSSRS, Burna Boy was also allocated a choice piece of land in the Old GRA in Port Harcourt and funds with which to erect a beffiting structure of his choice.

    At that moment, many who were in the EUI Event Centre remembered with nostalgia, the 1980 Green Eagles squad that won the African Cup of Nations Football Tourney for the first time and how they were rewarded with National Honnours and given landed properties.

    However, the real icing on the cake was that Governor Wike did not just recognize Burna Boy alone, as is usually the practice or what obtains in many of such appreciation events, but also extended a very generous hand of goodwill, by giving the sum of N10million each, to all the Rivers and Niger Delta Artistes, who performed during the grand reception.

    By this singular act, Governor Wike  impressively embraced the success and global recognition, which Burna Boy had not only brought to Rivers State and Nigeria, but indeed to all home based Nigerian Artistes, for whom he has now become an excellent epitome of inspiration.

    A visibly elated Governor Wike explained that the home coming grand reception ceremony was one of the happiest days of his life and assured that his administration will not relent in promoting indigenes of the State like Burna Boy and others who make the State proud in any field of human endeavour.

    “We are happy with you (Burna Boy). We are happy with your parents for what they have done. I will do what is required as a governor to encourage you and your parents. Our artistes should know that the time has come when they must look inwards; when they must come home.  Home is home. Who would have believed in this world that an Ahoada man will win Grammy? So, you should know that this is God’s own state.”

    Understandably, the Governor’s gift to the Artistes has attracted mixed reactions from different quartes, but those who know Governor Wike well, will confirm that he is not a leader given to unnecessary generousity or extravagance, just to play to the gallery.

    Every single act of support or assistance he has offered, has been properly thought out. Many will realize, on dispassionate analysis, that he is driven by a greater, more holistic altruism aimed achieving far reaching extensive impact for both the immediate community and the broader hemisphere.

    Those who followed the Burna Boy reception will recall that Governor Wike specially mentioned Timaya and Duncan Mighty not only for the wonderful creativity and joy they have given to millions with their music, but indeed for always celebrating Rivers State and the Niger Delta in their songs.

    These two renowned Artistes have of course achieved national fame and recognition before Burna Boy, but the fact that they willingly decided to perform in the celebration of the Grammy Award winner, speaks volumes for the encouragement and brotherliness which must have contributed considerably in spurring Burna Boy to Grammy glory.

    Nigerian music has no doubt achieved continental and global acceptance and this has been made possible by the tremendous creative input of the likes of Timaya, Duncan Mighty and the hardworking artists from Rivers State and the Niger Delta, whose consistency and tenacity opened up the entertainment space to be accessible to the international community.

    Governor Wike’s goodwill to those Artistes who joined in the happy celebration of our global music icon, is not only a wonderful boost and appreciation to the Artistes and the entire creative industry, it is indeed a long over due expression of respect and appreciation to the creative impulse and impetus of our youths, especially those in the music industry.

    It is a very loud and clear message to all and sundry that, those musicians and creative Artistes we invite to perform only during political campaign rallies and official government functions are potential world beaters and future Grammy  winners.

    Rivers State Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Tonye Oniyide, voiced Governor Wike’s intentions succinctly when she spoke at the grand reception. She noted that in the entertainment sector, a nomination to any honours platform, is an indication that the artist has provided value through hard work.

    “This victory on the world stage, underscores the ability of raw talents in our State, it underlines our ability to focus on our goal. To our celebrant, I urge you to always remember that Rivers State is your own. Always find time to identify with the development here. Come home to join in the task of grooming young talents in the industry. Port Harcourt needs your music academy from where we can raise the Burna Boys of tomorrow,” she said.

    Burna Boy himself, overwhelmed with ecstasy at the outpouring of love and warmth being showered on him by his own Rivers people, was to capture the exhilarating satisfaction, the deeper implications and the much more inspirational and rewarding propensities of the State reception organized for him by Governor Nyesom Wike.

    There were also the beautiful addendums that added colour, happiness, fanfare and an enduring sense of identity beffiting a home coming reception for a global award winner and his brothers and sisters who turned out in overwhelming numbers to share and partake in the joy and happiness which his victory has given to Nigeria.

    He said: “I really appreciate being here. This is probably the biggest honour that will be bestowed on me since I was born. It is one thing to win the Grammy and to be applauded everywhere else in the world and another thing to be loved in your own home and that to me is worth more than anything I can get. So I appreciate you my Governor for taking your time out to do this.

    “I am deeply grateful and incredibly humbled by the reception and honour conferred on me by the Government of Rivers State. I have collected honours everywhere in the world, but it feels different when you get it from home. This is my most humblest (sic) moment and I thank each and everyone of you. I thank the best Governor I have ever experienced.

    “I don’t like politics and politicians but this my Governor has shown me that there is hope for the youths and there is hope for us. This award is not only for me but for all of you and the future Burna Boys. I love you Port Harcourt. Everywhere I go, I carry you with me,” he said.

    • Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State

     

  • A breath of new life at OOUTH

    A breath of new life at OOUTH

    By Femi Ezekiel

    A week after he took over the mantle of leadership as the fifth democratically elected Governor of Ogun State and paid an unscheduled visit to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Prince Dapo Abiodun had expressed shock at what he described as “the deplorable condition” of the state-owned health institution. As it were then, when the current administration came on board on May 29, 2019, the institution seemed to have become a shadow of its old self and almost a death trap. The sorry state of the decrepit structures, obsolete and non-functional equipment, and offensive odour emitting from the mortuary, due to lack of maintenance, spoke volumes of the glacial insensitivity, resulting from several years of neglect. Lack of funding, inadequate training and poor remunerations for the medical personnel also accounted largely for the sharp decline. The unsavoury development, to a large extent, adversely affected the morale boosting of the personnel who had relapsed into a slough of despondency, culminating in brain-drain of capable hands abroad in search of greener pastures. Apart from the poor pay, the quality of life of the medical workers and their family members were nothing to write home about. The bulk of the blame could be laid on the doorstep of previous administration which had paid lip service on the welfare of the staff and also, when it couldn’t fill the vacant positions, on account of increasing wage bill and absence of subventions. Though staff wages were paid regularly, it was regrettable that the poor funding of the institution was identified as the major problem, because the capital budget that should have been released to upgrade the facilities were not forthcoming. The entire rot was a systemic failure. While taking cognizance of the dream of the founding fathers of the institution towards providing excellent healthcare to the people, with a strong emphasis on emergency services with modern equipment, Abiodun, when he visited the OOUTH, Sagamu, on Sunday, June 9, 2019, had expressed disappointment and displeasure over the deplorable state, saying, “the hospital was unfit to churn out qualified and competent medical personnel, considering the institution’s poor condition which required urgent attention. This new administration attaches a high importance to the health sector and we cannot fold our arms, while the only teaching hospital in the state continues to degenerate.

    “I don’t see how this place can produce good doctors; we shall go back to the drawing board.

    “This place is sub-standard. This hospital is in a depressing state. We shall improve the facilities and work on the personnel.

    “I am putting up a team that will swing into action as soon as I get the final report from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the institution and we shall restore the lost glory of this hospital”, said Abiodun.

    During the inauguration of the committee, the Governor charged members to assess the operational modalities of the hospital and to suggest ways on how to improve the standard, in line with acceptable universal standard for medical training, research and tertiary healthcare services. Also, he charged the committee to determine the state of facilities of the various units and departments and make recommendations to the state on the steps necessary to ensure sustainable operations in the institution and determine quick wins and palliative actions to stem further degeneration of the institution and facilities.

    Other terms include reviewing all Third Party arrangements in the institution, including the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) agreement and other services, providing arrangements and determine their level of compliance at the time of that engagement and with the efficacy, but more especially suitability for the intent of the state government; reviewing and recommending programmes and strategies to ensure that the operations of the hospital is self-sustaining and financially independent; as well as reviews that will be critical to the long-term sustainability of the image and productivity of the institution.

    Thus, it could be recalled that his visit to the 35-year-old institution was informed by his earlier meeting with the health management authority, following a report that he got about the deplorable condition of the hospital, being the only teaching hospital owned by the state government.

    However, the rest is now history as the hospital has worn a new look.

    The initial Administrative nine-man committee chaired by Dr Yemi Onabowale, Chief Medical Director (CMD), Reddington Hospital, Lagos, to look into both the remote and immediate causes of the challenges facing the hospital and in line with its interim recommendations had submitted its report. And without delay, the Governor had swiftly approved the immediate recruitment of well over 220 medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, nutritionists/dieticians among others, to fill in all the manpower shortage.

    Unlike the rot at the institution under the previous administration, and during a visit to ascertain the level of decay of the facilities, especially at the entrance of the Daniel Akintonde Modular Theatre which was inaugurated on September 15, 1995, the wall had caved in and almost giving ways for reptiles. The brain CT scan, echo cardiography machine, MRI, mobile x-ray machines, peak flow meter, spirometry, dialysis machines, C-arm for orthopaedic cases, operating tables, among others were all dysfunctional.

    By and large, in the last one year, the current administration has changed the face of the hitherto sorry site of the institution. With the full implementation of the recommendations of the Onabowale’s committee, it was gathered that, between September and December 2020, the management of the institution got an approval of the state government, through a newspaper advertisement, for the recruitment of 80 medical doctors, 50 nurses, 50 health attendants, 12 consultants, 10 laboratory scientists, 2 physiotherapists, 2 dietitians/nutritionists, a score of clerical officers, accountants, messengers and other Administrative officers to breathe life into the newly refurbished and equipped hospital. Similarly, the management is empowered to fill in vacant positions in the event that any of the medical staff leaves or resigns his or her appointment in order to bridge the gap.

    Aside a donated Eye centre and a stand-alone prostrate cancer care centre being constructed by a business mogul, Chief Adebutu Kensington and Rotary Club District 911, respectively, the government has not shirked from its responsibilities in the provision of structural projects to enhance an efficient and effective healthcare service delivery. The first project undertaken was the exterior painting of the hospital walls in a bid to give the institution a facelift. The isolation ward has also received a boost, now rebuilt to a modern standard from a four-bed room to 18-bed room, including two-bedded Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Four private rooms, six-bedded rooms for the male and another six-bedded rooms for the female wards have been built to add up to the existing ones. It is no longer news that two ventilators, four anaesthesia machines, a mobile x-ray, a dialysis machine and 28 modern-bed paediatrics have been procured for an effective and efficient service delivery.

    The Ogun State Ministry of Health, on its part, is also not left out in the assigned task. It has embarked on the renovation of the dialysis units, the repair and servicing of the refrigerators and the expansion of the theatre rooms.

    Notwithstanding, the recent approval for the commencement of the refurbishment of the institution is a good step in a right direction. The expected turnaround of the hospital would include the refurbishing and renovation of the accident and emergency wards and replacement of beds and as well, the painting of the in-and-out patient wards.

    While receiving the Chairman of the Governing Board of the institution, Dr Kunle Hassan, in his Okemosan, Abeokuta office, a fortnight ago, Abiodun noted that the administration is committed towards digitizing the hospital’s records, so as to ensure that data capturing and management is made easy.

    He further charged the Governing Board to ensure that their report translates into a visible difference that can be segmented into immediate term objectives, visible immediate and visible medium term goals.

    According to him, “I have reassured the Board members, that they have the full support of this administration, so that they can achieve their set objectives. I can see that the board is determined to become more efficient and effective. It means that they would endure that the hospital derives value from every job spent in that hospital”, the governor said.

    • Ezekiel wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun state capital
  • Keynesian bouquet for ‘Starboy’ @ 64

    Keynesian bouquet for ‘Starboy’ @ 64

    By Louis Odion, FNGE

     

    Sobriety – if not austere aloofness – would ordinarily appear the chief trait that defines a varsity professor. This probably explains why far less public attention is paid to his other proficiency: master of spontaneous humor.

    Answering a question during a campaign town-hall meeting in Benin City in 2015 ahead of the March 28 presidential elections, petite vice presidential candidate Yemi Osinbajo literally brought down the roof by describing himself and gangling General Muhammadu Buhari as “the long and short of the matter”.

    Such witty facility was again very much on display years later during a gala night hosted in Port Harcourt by the Rivers State Government in honour of visiting Vice President.

    During the event, which has since been entered as part of Nigeria’s social media’s folklore, popular comedian, Klint Da Drunk, had sought to blackmail the guest after handing him N5,000 by quoting the Bible that “When you give, you’ll receive back, full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

    Well, the solicitous comedian didn’t have to wait for too long to confirm his lottery. The Vice President soon replied him thus: “Everything has been going well until Klint Da Drunk gave me an expensive N5000. I’ve kept it close to His Excellency, the Governor (Nyesom Wike), in case he asks for it back because he can say that ‘I was drunk when I gave you the money’. I must remind him that the scripture that he referred to which suggests that if you give, you’ll be given more, is when you give to God and not to an Ijebu man.”

    The hall erupted in rapturous laughter.

    Of course, in Yoruba-speak, parsimony is thought to be cultural to the Ijebu.

    No less memorable was Professor Osinbajo’s masterclass at the state banquet held to mark the nation’s 58th independence anniversary in 2018. That night, guests were held spellbound as the Vice President gave a command performance in stand-up comedy on “Nigerian Swag” with the virtuosity only a few among even professional comedians could have mustered. For several minutes, the high-ceilinged banquet hall at Aso Rock literally quaked with delirious laughter, passed on to several millions of viewers at home through the live telecast of the event.

    It was a chronicle of the dancing skills of some of Nigeria’s political and business leaders, backed with videos.

    “No one dances like us,” he started by teasing sarcastically. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re the distinguished senator representing Kogi West or the distinguished senator representing Osun west.”

    What began as knowing giggles across the gallery soon exploded into a big laughter when the giant screen on cue showed Dino Melaye and Ademola Adeleke gyrating giddily, as usual, in flowing Agbada to Sunny Ade’s music. Followed by Aliko Dangote’s own swing in business suit. We also saw a clip of President Buhari’s rare public dance – a shy shuffle – in response to some praise-singing at a campaign rally. Followed by ex President Olusegun Obasanjo’s wild z-zag that appeared completely out of tune with the drumbeats.

    Indeed, Prof’s capacity to give is evenly matched by the ability to receive. When, for instance, Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna named him as the “President of Short Peoples Association  of Nigeria” and Adams Oshiomhoke as PRO at a public event, the television camera caught him laughing heartily.

    But joking is only a pastime. Only when the Vice President steps onto the lectern in the lecture circuits or chairs a typical executive meeting are folks reminded of the profundity of his thoughts. Just above that facade of geniality and conviviality surely towers a prodigious mind equally at ease with the most complex ideas and turgid concepts.

    Such duality of gifts – being free without being loose, to be simple yet profound – is what ultimately defines the enigma of Professor Yemi Osinbajo and distinguishes him as arguably one of the few most engaging leaders in the nation’s history. Which partly explains why he is widely hailed as “Starboy” today. Through him, we learn elegance in simplicity; and that ideas, while being easily accessible, can still be profound with

    out being pedestrian.

    Rigor is simply second nature to him. As close aides will attest, no one is ever sure of the final draft until Oga had finished speaking. Even while the event has started, he often continues to wrestle quietly with the speech on his I-pad, sometimes updating and clarifying the copy in light of matters arising, until invited by the master of ceremonies to speak.

    Such is the intensity of his sense of spontaneity and clinical attention to details.

    At he turns 64, Prof surely means different things to different folks. To the immediate past Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi (Sarkin Kano), he “has remained humble, caring, forgiving, honest and loyal”.  Scholar and gifted international orator, Professor P.L.O Lumumba, had this to say on the occasion of his 63th birthday: “Men invariably rhapsodize fellow men in death and vilify them while alive. I choose to lionize you for your contribution to Nigeria and the world.”

    According to Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman of First Bank: “An excellent child of God, an excellent leader in character, integrity of purpose and diligence in his assignment and so much more.”

    Hear Dr. Ola Brown, CEO of Flying Doctors: “I’ll like to really thank him for inspiring every young person in Nigeria.”

    Varied as perceptions of Prof might be, there is however one point almost everyone is agreed: he brings scholarly anchor and clarity to bear in policy formulation and execution by the administration.

    Indeed, long after the Abuja bureaucrats had closed for the day, the No. 2 citizen will often be found dissecting files in late hours in the halo of reading lights in the office, pince-nez balanced precariously on his nose’s tip. Those who, therefore, measure the stress of office by how rapidly his hair has turned grey may not be too far off the mark.

    Nowhere is that brilliance and diligence more poignant than in his leading the team that fashioned the economic blueprint that bailed the nation out of a crushing recession, far earlier than projected by financial experts. Frighteningly enough, the 2020 recession descended barely two years after the nation limped out of an “economic pestilence” inflicted by the steep crash in global commodity prices in 2014/15, described as the “worst since 1982”.

    The committee set up by President Buhari following the outbreak of Covid-19 last year had proposed a N2.3trillion stimulus programme named Economic Sustainability Programme (ESP).

    In conception and execution, ESP followed the Keynesian model propounded by British economist, John Maynard Keynes, following the Great Depression of the 1930s. In short, ESP set out to reflate the economy aggressively by putting money in people’s pocket through a variety of measures ranging from cash handouts to the most vulnerable to soft loans to small and big businesses.

    It is a measure of the efficacy of its prescription and a great tribute to the leadership provided the economic team by the Vice President that Nigeria’s economy recorded a marginal recovery of .11 percent growth for the last quarter of 2020, having suffered negative growth in the two preceding quarters consecutively.

    Indeed, miracles don’t happen in economics; the trophies are earned. Clear-thinking must be backed up with scrupulous execution and diligent follow-up.

    Why Nigeria’s recovery is particularly significant is that it came when almost all the big economies around the world (except China) are still in severe dire straits caused by C-19 pandemic, with many thinking their earliest possible date of recovery will be next year.

    In a way, ESP’s relative success must be bad news to Prof’s traducers who had interpreted the setting up of the presidential economic advisory council in October 2019 as a diminution of his powers as the statutory head of the national economic council, blissfully ignorant of the uncommon chemistry between the President and his deputy. Rather than be distracted, the Vice President simply kept his eyes on the ball, thus demonstrating practically that nothing could come between him and his boss as far as achieving the administration’s objectives is concerned.

    On a final note, a character sketch of Prof will be incomplete without due reference to his instinctive compassion. While visiting blighted communities in insurgency-ravaged Borno early in the life of the administration, he was sufficiently moved enough to personally undertake the mobilisation of funds thereafter from friends to set up a charity body devoted entirely to taking care of orphans.

    The initiative is called North-East Children Trust (NECT) and has been involved with establishing learning centres providing comprehensive support to children between ages of five and eighteen years made vulnerable by the conflict in the North-East.

    When in March 2020 the outrider of his motorcade, Inspector Ali Gomina, died in a fatal accident on the road to the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, the distraught Vice President instantly cancelled the trip and personally visited the deceased’s home to console the family he left behind. Six months later, he fulfilled his promise by handing over the keys to a brand-new bungalow he built for the grieving family in their community, Gui, in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory. The community also received a gift of six blocks of classrooms.

    Happy birthday!, Prof.

     

    • Mr. Odion is the Senior Technical Assistant on Media to the President.
  • Oyinlola: An officer and politician @ 70

    Oyinlola: An officer and politician @ 70

    By Sina Ogunbambo.

     

     

    Apart from his scholarly activities at Odo – Otin Grammar School, Okuku, in the 60’s, the young Prince Olagunsoye Adedapo  Oyinlola was more of a hunter. Usually in the midst of friends on a hunting expedition, he will aim at a bird on a tree and hit the target with just a single shot from his catapult. The confidence in his shooting prowess and his love for military uniform gingered him to join the Nigerian Army in 1969 rather than accept his admission  to Ahmadu Bello University as an undergraduate after successfully completing his West African School Certificate examination in 1968.

    His eagerness and admiration for this disciplined profession further propeled him to join as a Private, rather than as  an officer, as he posess the requisite qualification. Once pencilled down as a batman for Brigadier General Raji Rasaki rtd. due to his usual appearance in well starched and properly ironed khaki uniform, this legal practitioner who became an orphan at the age of nine, through a dint of hardwork, determination, brilliance and good luck, rose to become a Brigadier General rtd.in Nigerian Army and the Governor of Lagos and Osun States. His last political office was National Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .

    Born on February 3, 1951 to Oba Moses Oyewole Oyinlola ( the famous Olokuku of Okuku and a menber of defunct Western Region House of Chiefs in the Parliament) and Olori Comfort Ololade Oyinlola, the charming Prince had his elementary and secondary education at Okuku, proceeded to Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Command and Staff College, Jaji,  University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife) for a Diploma in International Relations in 1979, University of Madras India for  M.Sc degree in 1988, Buckingham University in United Kingdom in 2003 for LL.B degree in 2003 and Nigerian Law School,  Abuja for BL 2012 post degree qualification and call to bar.

    Oyinlola’s professionalism in the army was brought to the fore between December 1992 and September 1993 as the Contigent Commander and the Commanding Officer of the 245 Reconnaissance (RECCE) batallion made up of 39 officers and 621 soldiers. This was a United Nations Operation Restore Hope (UNiSOM) in Somalia, when the nation broke out in a destructive flame of an ethnic war. The Mogadishu airport was then a smouldering asphaltic wasteland of decomposing bodies strewn, unspent cartridges, bombed – out vehicles and a thousand shards of innumerable items. Col Oyinlola (as he then was) had a dangerous mission of cleansing the airport and salvaging it from wandering tribes of outlaws. In the face of guerilla warfare, anonymous enemy and cannonades being hurled from everywhere, he accomplished the mission with almost negligble casualty. In the words of Col Tony Nyiam rtd. ” Oyinlola’s led Nigerian troops achieved what the Americans troops could not”.

    As the Military Administrator of Lagos State from December 10, 1993 to August 22, 1996, he did a lot of trouble shooting to bring peace to the state as this was the peak of antagonism by the civilians towards General Sani Abacha’s regime after the annulment of June 12, 1992 Presidential election that Basorun Moshood Abiola Abiola won. Despite this tense atmosphere, Oyinlola built several schools , general hospitals and housing estate in Lagos State. The Opebi link bridge and road,  with Lagos House Governor’s Lodge at Abuja were some of the legacies he left behind. He also introduced the security outfit ” Operation Sweep” to combat armed robbery.

    As democraticaly elected Governor, he was in charge of Osun State from 29th May, 2003 to 26th November 2010. His accomplishments this time around deserves a tome for publication. However, the highlights are building of Osun State University, establishing Government-owned mining company – Livingspring Mining Corporation (with 11 mining sites in Nigeria) , commencement of Livingspring Free trade zone to diversify the economy and building of Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding. There was also industrial harmony and prompt payment of workers salaries throughout his tenure.

    Blessed with a very good wife, Omolola and four lovely children and grandchildren, Oyinlola is a study in human relations. He is ever humble and well cultured. His sense of humour is superb and former Nigerian  Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida rtd. once told this writer at an interview  session that it was the humouur and then brilliance of Oyinlola that brought them close.

    Oyinlola’s compassion and accommodation (especially for the masses) was what brought him to politics and the study of law. He is determined to render more of free services to the underpriviledged and oppressed through the rule of law. His life is that of meritorious service to God and humanity.

    As the bubbling “young man” who also has passion for golf game joins the septuagenarian club on Wednesday February 3, 2016, i wish this refined officer, gentleman and accomplished statesman, a happy birthday. Many happy returns.

     

    • Ogunbambo, a journalist and public affairs analyst was Oyinlola’s Chief Press Secretary in Lagos State
  • Remembering Isiaka Adeleke at 66 posthumous birthday

    Remembering Isiaka Adeleke at 66 posthumous birthday

    By Olumide Lawal

    The first Executive Governor of Osun State, Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, never throughout his political life; used coercive force to realize his desires among his followers. Rather, he refined power and made it pleasant and motivational. His priority was collective goal achievement, instead of appropriating success in his various political offices to himself.

    Senator Adeleke made power user-friendly and absorsive.

    The late Asiwaju of Edeland applied resources meaningfully and impactful for the benefit of a greater number of people, thereby spreading joy around those he held power in trust for.

    Today marks his 66th posthumous birthday anniversary. Even death, Adeleke remains a political jewel of inestimable value and a golden fish with no hiding place.

    His political adventure was a departure from what obtains today among power-wielders, who are obsessed with it for their personal selfish interest. In his 63 years sojourn on earth, he expanded the coast of visionary leadership that enabled his political influence felt in Osun State and beyond. His political structure is enduring and superbly intact.

    In death, he remains a man of peace and an apostle of politics without bitterness.

    A lover of the grassroots people, a stylish, consummate and accomplished statesman of no mean order, Adeleke taught his followers that they should abhor malice, grudge and hatred in their minds toward fellow men.

    He never saw politics as dirty because he was a man with good, large, forgiving heart and beautiful soul. All these attributes he applied very admirably to his practice of partisan politics. He gave politics the required courtesy and correct social application. Not for him political acrimony.

    Above all, he was a firm believer in the supremacy of God Almighty as the Author and Finisher of our faiths. He held firmly to his Creator throughout this lifetime.

    Since Senator Adeleke transited to glory about four years ago, the Adeleke dynasty continues to hold high the political and philanthropic flags.

    His biography being put together by the Adeleke University in Ede should not be abandoned. The former governor would be happy in his grave with copies of the biography in various homes, offices and schools across the globe. He was a man of high intellectual calling who made pursuance of education by the young people his cardinal objective.

    A very organised man with the gift of native intelligence, which he used maximally to greater advantage of greater number of people.

    There are more mileage to be covered to immortalize this man. There is the need to commence processes toward the establishment of the Isiaka Adeleke political museum through a veritable curator. The museum should serve as a centre of excellence for his political activities/career and positive contributions to humanity. His various personal items relating to his larger-than-life stature should be ably displayed at the museum for preservation for generations yet unborn.

    As worshippers gather at the Isiaka Adeleke Memorial Mosque,today for his 66th posthumous birthday, may all the prayers offered serve as forgiveness of his sins and Aljanat Fridaus.

    As you send sweet fragrance from your grave as a sign of your love for us, we also love you more.

    • Lawal was Special Adviser to the late Senator Adeleke