The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Anger

  • Taming your anger, frustration and aggression (1)

    The article was culled from my book: Relationship: What You Should Know and Do. It is being published with some minimal editing.

     

    In the last few weeks we had dealt with issue of abuse in its various forms. In many circumstances, at the underbelly of abusive behaviour of an individual lies frustration and anger which if unresoved peacefully may result into aggresive and abusive behavior against other persons. In this article, we will take a look at anger in general and in subsequent weeks, we will examine anger and frustrations in more detail.

    You only need to look around our neighbourhoods, drive on our roads, use public transports, get engaged buying and purchasing a good in a market from a woman or man or live with other fellow human beings to gauge the depth of deep-seated anger in individuals on one hand and the larger society on the other. Everyone is angry over one thing or the other. However, as the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. There is no anger without frustration and there is no aggression without anger.

    While there are various and manifold reasons that generate anger and frustrations, there is no denying the fact that anger, frustration and aggressive behaviours are a common sight in our society: in schools, in religious places of worship, in healthcare settings, in the farm, in polity, on the road and indeed everywhere. Young people and old, women and men seem to be getting angry and aggressive on what may look like innocent issue.

    There is a relationship side to anger occurring. No matter what, the relationship may be short, or it may be long. The association may be near or in far flung distance from the person who is being annoyed. Interestingly, you may also be angry against a non-living object. One may be angry against one’s car if the car let the owner down.

    I have been asked if anger is in itself a crime. No, anger on its own is not a crime. Controlled anger, like all intentions without actions, is not a crime. It’s the action from being angry that may be a crime. Such actions may endanger the life and property of others.

    Much has been made, especially in modern times, of anger and its management. Many books have been written about it. There are also complicated attempts to explain the foundation of fury in biological terms. Celebrities of various shades colours, sizes and geographic locations, in both platonic, employment and/or intimate relationships, have been convicted in courts of law in the everywhere in the world because of destructive consequences of anger. They have been reprimanded for consequences of their anger and as such have been sent for anger management or in some cases given severe punishment, including community service as well as imprisonment.

    Those are the lucky ones. Has the reader not heard of rage at home leading to murders, rage leading to the public destruction of property, or anger leading to wars? For your information, there is no deliberate war, no intentional destruction of humans and property, no deliberate killing, no premeditated harm that ever occurs without anger underlying it.  Anger is the root of all non-purposeful destruction.

    Anger can be demonstrably verbal (words), or by physical acts, or by, can you believe it, silence. Anger can be subdued. In such a case,  it is very hard to immediately know the true feelings of individuals who, apparently without you realising it, are annoyed with you.

    Anger occurs in the low and the high, to the rich and the poor, to the old and the young.

    If you are angry, it means you want something that, in some way, may satisfy your desire. Otherwise, if you have anger with another person whom you cannot reach nor be influenced by, then it is futile to be angry. Imagine being angry with the country’s President while he is not even aware of it as you reside in a little village house in one remote part of the country.

    You may just be able to ruminate while you cannot do anything concrete about it.  To be able to influence someone for good or ill means you have to be in a relationship with the person, or be about to have a relationship with the person, no matter how short that relationship is. The person must be receptive to your views, questions and opinions, or at least be willing to learn about the cause of your anger. This is as true in intimate relationships as it is in platonic ones. It is a matter of fact in business associations or in mere friendships.

    Yet, at the core of all relationships which come to an end, there is either an unresolved anger which is pretentiously subdued, or anger may be acted out as in domestic violence (DV).

  • How to manage anger

    DEAR Harriet, Please, I need your counsel on how to manage my temper because it is affecting me in so many ways, especially in my relationship. Help me.

    Miss Naomi, Benue State.

     

    Thanks for sharing your problem with us.  When it comes to the issue of anger management, it is very important we have a clear picture of what anger is all about because some times as human being we get upset which is natural.

    Everybody gets angry at one time or another, depending on the circumstances at hand. As a result, anger is regarded  as a natural response to perceived threats or response to certain feelings like sadness, loneliness, grief, rudeness, tiredness, hunger, pain, physical or mental illness, failure, disappointment and so no.

    Anger is actually a warning bell that tells you when something is wrong. However, anger becomes a problem only when you don’t manage it in a healthy way. Anger is a common and necessary emotion and in itself is not a problem as long as it is controlled.

    The problem comes when the anger starts controlling the person rather than the person controlling the anger. So in your case, the question we should ask is what’s the cause of your anger?  This is very important because without knowing the cause of your anger, which is regarded as your trigger, solving it will be very difficult and to be able to understand this you must know your personality type. Why? We are created differently so what I as a person can deal with might be difficult for another.

    Moving on, now what gets you angry and at what point do you lose total control of your emotions. It is important for you to analyze the reasons for your anger and deal with it for many reasons. Angry outbursts have been the cause of the break up of many otherwise happy relationships, and it is extremely bad for your health.

    When you get angry, your blood pressure rises and can lead to coronary heart trouble and other health problems. Therefore, anger is one of those emotions that can be destructive and lead to various problems, if it goes unnoticed. Some people have it but find it difficult to understand that it is an issue that must be treated.

    It can be tough sometimes, especially with various types of anger around:  Behavioural Anger: This type of anger usually describes someone who is aggressive towards whatever triggers his anger.  This can be another person. Sometimes the outcome is always physical abuse or attacks against others.

    Passive and repressive anger: This occurs in people who use sarcasm or mockery as a way to hide their feelings. They typically express this form of anger. Such people tend to avoid confrontations with people or situations.

    We have other types as verbal anger, constructive anger, judgmental anger, volatile anger, paranoid anger, deliberate anger and so on. Recognizing when anger first occurs is a key factor in determining what to do when it shows up again.

    Here are some healthy tips on how to control your anger before it controls you. Avoid everything, place, person, conversations that can be seen as your trigger.  Dealing with anger, you are in the best position to help yourself because you know what, when and how situations can put you in the state that will make you angry. In order not to get to that point, try to avoid it.

    Self-control: Develop ways to control yourself in every situation, especially in matters of anger. People have different ways of controlling themselves in situation like this. Some might decide to leave the environment before matters get out of hand. Some start counting from one to ten or even more. Some maintain absolute silence just to mention a few, so you will have to find out which one might be suitable for you to adapt.

    Furthermore, writing down feelings as you get angry can also be of help in dealing with anger. Divert attention is also a way to control your anger. In a simple language, move away from that angry state to something that you enjoy doing. It could be the gym, walk, jog, dance, cooking, any sport or any activity that makes you happy.

    Another way to deal with anger is to separate yourself from the conflict. Other ways are channel your energy somewhere, talk about it to the person not at that point because you might lose control, but later when you feel better, talk with a friend but must know the kind of friend you have, a friend who you know will tell you the truth no matter the situation.

    On the other hand, who says you cannot talk to yourself? Go to your room and talk to yourself.  Cry if you have to. Crying is a therapy on its own, besides it will make you feel better. Avoid hunger and dehydration. Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat healthy meal because hunger and dehydration before you’re aware can provoke aggressiveness and exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress. Like the saying goes, “a hungry man is an angry man”.

    Relaxation is also a good factor to tackle anger, provided it is not the harmful type. Plan something rewarding after a hard day’s work, give yourself a treat or relax with a good book. Get some fresh air. No wonder, older people lay emphasis on the healing power of natural fresh air. A few minutes outside can be rejuvenating.  Above all, take it to God in prayer as you work towards a change and new you. If you find it difficult to work on your own, don’t hesitate to see a professional counsellor to help you. Take care of yourself and each other.

     

    Harriet Ogbobine is a counsellor and a motivational speaker. Send your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com or text message only 08054682598. You can also follow her on twitter: @bineharrietj, blog: liwh.com.ng

  • Anger over three friends’ murder in Delta

    Last Tuesday, March 1, three friends, Odafe Kevwe Iwhiwhi (29), Kennedy Ogodo (33) and Otamedaye Onojighofia (26), left their homes in Ughelli, headquarters of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta in search of fun. They went to a usual place on Ekrejebo Road, where they usually played games.

    Few hours later, the remains of the trio were paraded by the police as criminal suspects killed during a ‘fierce gun battle with criminals”.

    A senior police officer at the A Division, Ughelli, said they were killed when policemen from the station responded to a distress call. He affirmed that they got three of the boys during exchange of fire.

    They were buried on the evening of the incident. But if the police thought the matter was buried, they were mistaken as family members and friends of the boys raised the alarm over the incident.

    Some of their siblings and friends who witnessed the incident told Niger Delta Report, that the police’s allegation is incredulous, stressing that they were being economical with the truth.

    It was gathered that 29-year-old Iwhiwhi was preparing for the ongoing Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination and would have written the examination three days after he was killed. His centre, our reporter gathered, was at the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University, Agbarha-Otor. His examination number was given as C12113158.

    His uncle, Hon. Victor Okpowho, said: “He was supposed to have sat for JAMB last Saturday before he was killed. When l heard they were killed, l rushed to the police station on that Tuesday evening, at about 8pm. I was told they were killed in broad day light and I saw their dead bodies on the ground at the police station.

    “I asked the police what happened and he said they were armed robbers. I told him no, there is nothing like that. On Wednesday, l went to the street where the incident happened at Ekredjebo road to find out. I was told that they were playing cards with their friends. There were no stories of robbery or breaking and entry in the area.

    “I even took my time to start making inquiry if anybody had raised alarm or reported that he or she was robbed but there was no such incident; the picture of the house they were playing the cards and the shoes which one of them was wearing before they were killed was still there and the pictures are with me,” Okpowho added,

    One of the friends with whom the deceased were playing the game of card, who also witnessed the incident, told our reporter on condition of anonymity that they were neither fighting nor engaging anybody in a physical combat when the police stormed the scene and fatally shot the trio.

    “We were playing cards when the vigilante group came and started chasing them. The police came and killed three of them with allegations of robbery.”

    Chief Michael Ogodo, Kennedy’s father, lamented the tag of criminal being placed on the neck of his son and his ‘murdered’ friends.

    “It is very unfortunate thing for the police to have pronounced that my son is an armed robber. There is nothing like that. My son is 33 years old and from birth till when he was killed he had never stolen from anybody. Complaint never came to me from anybody about him.

    “I was not around when the incident happened, it was about 6pm that I was told that my son was killed on allegations of robbery. If my son could be murdered in such a manner and putting on him allegation that he is a robber, then the police or the vigilante should equally tell me who he robbed or who had complained to the police that had led the killing of three innocent children.”

    Reports that could not be independently verified indicated that the Ughelli Police Division was making spirited effort to settle the matter amicably. It was gathered that the remains of the trio has already been exhumed and deposited in a morgue.

    “As I am speaking with you, there was an effort by the police authority to meet with the Ovie of Ughelli. But I don’t think the king was in the mood to see them because of the killing of his subjects. They were told that the monarch was not available,” a source privy to the matter added.

    Meanwhile, the aggrieved grieving family has petitioned the AIG in charge of Zone 5, Benin City, the Senator representing Delta Central and other lawmakers, as they begin a quest for justice for the deceased.

    The petition was authored by the law firm of Roland A. Ekpe & Co Chambers, which said the trio were brutally murdered in cold blood by the police and vigilance group.

    It reads:  “At about 12noon on the 1st day of March, 2016, Messers Odafe Iwhiwhi, Kennedy Ogodo and Otamedaye Onojighofia and some of their friends were in a partially completed building situate along Ekrejebo road, Ughelli playing a game of cards (WHOT) when the vigilante members and their cohorts crept in and shouted a command thus: ‘If you move, we will shoot’. The deceased persons and other persons present took to their heels in order to save their lives.

    “The suspects ran after them and first shot at Odafe Iwhiwhi who fell down and identified himself as a student of the Marine School in Ogoni, Olomu in Ughelli South local government area. The vigilante members then searched him, saw the identity card, discarded it and shot him dead. The vigilante members also succeeded in getting hold of Kennedy Ogodo and Otamedaye Onojighofia who they arrested and took to their waiting pickup van together with the corpse Odafe Iwhiwhi and drove away. They subsequently murdered Kennedy Ogodo and Otamedaye Onojighofia in a cold blood and were later deposited in the Nigeria Police Station “A” Division, Ughelli.

    “Some of the friends of the deceased persons who were present at the scene luckily escaped and are willing to tell the true story of what has happened over the broad daylight killing perpetrated by their killers and their cohorts whom some officers of the A Division, Surveillance Squad are apparently and inexplicable covering up. The friends of the deceased emphatically assert that there was no robbery incident along Ekrejebo road on that faithful day,” it added.

    Attempts by our reporter to speak with the leader of the team at A Division, Mr Macaulay Imuni and Police Public Relations in the state, DSP Celestina Kalu, were unsuccessful. But sources had initially said that the police acted on a distress call, adding that when they got to the scene, they found the suspects “absconding”.

    “This resulted in a gun exchange during which three of the suspects were felled by superior gunfire from the police.”

    However, Mr Festus Onojighofia, older brother of Otamedaye, also debunked police’ position, insisting that the “family is prepared to get to the root of the matter.”

    The killing is generating tension between the law enforcement agents and community leaders in the area. It was learnt that the incident, which wasn’t the first, has also pitched some traditional title holders against the police.

    It was gathered that earlier in the year, a local vigilante team had also shot dead a local tricycle operator at Oveto Street in the town. Although the suspect was arrested by troops of 222 Battalion of the Nigerian Army Agbarha-Otor, nothing much has been heard of the incident afterwards.

    The three suspects who were handed over to the Ughelli ‘B’ Division police station the following day were identified as Peter Oghenechuko of the Ughelli Vigilante Council, UVC, Sunny Oyovwire and Fidelis Onwah with two single barrel guns, 4 live cartridges and a cutlass recovered from.

    A female passenger of the diseased (name withheld) who witnessed the incident, said the diseased was shot at the back of his head by one of the vigilante members who had accosted them along Oveto street, following an argument between the Okada rider and the vigilante members.

    The person who allegedly pulled the trigger, said it was not deliberate, adding: “I wanted to shoot into the air to scare him while he (Okada rider) tried to ram into me with his motorcycle when the gun exploded and hit him at the head.”

  • Public mood, expectations and anger

    The  revelations of blatant misuse of public funds by the EFCC at the trial of former  Chief of Defence Alex  Badeh was  the most provocative and nauseating one, in the orgy of looting  of  public funds  that has been let loose on the Nigerian public in recent times. The details are  suffocating and will  not be repeated here,   but suffice it say  it has dented the image of not only the Nigerian air force,  as I told a friend who happened to be  a retired AVM   a  few  days ago  but  that of the entire  Nigerian  military. My  military friend’s defence was   a feeble retort   after  which  he kept  thunderously    quiet    and  ponderous  in my company.  His   reply  was that politicians too are corrupt to which I told him that that was well known and that was why Nigerians welcomed the military in the several coups  that have truncated our fragile  democracy.  I  told   him  bluntly   that today the military’s  image or capability  for such welcome intervention has become an  abomination and a thing of the past given the way top Airforce  bosses  have used  money  meant   for ammunition and fighter jets,  to buy properties  and  had kept such  money with  their  wives  who  are now returning the loot to  in millions  of naira and  dollars  to  the   emptied  treasuries  of  a  raped nation. That  reply or  rebuke  of the military  is  the mood I am  in as I  tackle  the topic of  the day.

    Public  mood is a human  phenomenon that  moves with the times, with no apologies to those unleashing it or those  at its receiving end. It  is like a fashion  or  fad, here today, gone tomorrow. That is the context in which  I want to  look at the issues and personalities  I want to deal with on this page today.

    The  first  is  the meteoric rise  of the Donald  Trump presidential candidacy  for the Republican party in the US and  the concern of that party leadership  and hierarchy,   with   the  disturbing prospect  of the possibility  of not only a Trump Republican  presidential  candidacy  but the prospect  of a Trump victory and presidency in the November presidential  elections  in the US .

    The  second was  the news  that the Brazilian Police have raided the home  of former President Lula  da  Silva as  part of the Inquiry into  corruption  at  Petrobas the Brazilian oil giant  and equivalent of our own  NNPC. The  inquiry code  named – Operation  Car  Wash-is following trails that Lula  bought  houses  for his son like  our Badeh  who also renovated the house with 60m naira of looted funds.  In addition the Police  in Brazil are working on the intelligence that Lula’s  famous ranch had been built from bribes from  contractors handling Petrobas sprawling and lucrative oil  business.

    Let  me  now  go back  to the greedy  use  of public funds  by the  former Airforce Chief and Defence boss  Alex  Badeh. I  go  into the archives  to recall some utterances of this military  leader in order  to reconcile them with the exposures by the EFCC.  First  it was under this man that some Nigerian military officers  and other ranks were put on court  martial for cowardice  and refusing to fight because they  complained of lack of equipment or supply  of poor and inferior  ammunition. Badeh  insisted then on the trial and but for people like Femi  Falana  some of these people would  have been summarily executed.

    Yet at Badeh’s military retirement pull out ceremony he revealed that he fought the  Boko  Haram insurgency   during his tenure without adequate arms and ammunition. If  you look  back at the court  martial and the admission  of inadequate equipment by  this Air  Marshal  and compare that with the acquisitions  he made with money meant for arms to fight Boko  Haram, you see such inconsistencies, greed and unbridled acquisitive tendencies  that propels you  to want  to register his name in the Guinness Book  of Records for acute mendacity and  you can imagine the public  mood of rage  and fury over the   sordid  and  ongoing   revelations  at his trial.

    Next  is the Donald  Trump prospect  for US presidency which has  sent  jitters around the US  and indeed the  entire  world  including Nigeria.  My friend Eric Teniola an ace and veteran journalist himself sent me a text early one morning this week ,which said – It  looks as if America will  not accept a possible  Donald  Trump presidency. I  replied Eric who I fondly call Erico – Nobody  can stop an idea or a man whose  time  has come.  That  really is my view on Donald  Trump  and his present  robust  foray into presidential politics in the US . I have written  this way before and  I stand by it even now that Mitt  Romney the last  presidential candidate of the Republican party has   come  out to condemn Trump  as  a ‘fraud‘ and as phony.  I will explain.

    The  fact  that Mitt  Romney  has used such  words on Trump showed  that Trump is important in the presidential  race  for  people like Romney to want him abused and disgraced out of the way. Unfortunately Romney has used language that Trump had  been condemned for and that makes them birds  of the same feather.  So  if Romney could contest for the Republican Party why  cant Trump who  is richer than him in a party of the rich and wealthy and who also  has the gift of the garb which Romney obviously lacked against  Obama when they contested for  the presidency last  time around in 2012, when Trump endorsed  Romney?

    More  importantly,  the public mood in the US is for a  change  from the usual  politics of business as usual,  as well  as  the   dynastic politics of the Kennedys, the Bushes and the  Clintons. That  explains why Hillary  Clinton  is finding it tough suppressing Bart  Sanders in the Democratic Party Presidential  candidacy race  as  widely anticipated  before. This is because  Sanders is presenting himself as an outsider like Trump and both are campaigning on the rhetoric  of failure of leadership  by the present political establishment of the two major parties in the US. That  coincidence of strategy, the politics of the outsider in both parties , is the dominant and resonant theme in this 2016  US presidential  elections and the reason is not far  fetched.

    It  is  simply a reaction  to the performance of the Obama Administration in the last 8 years. The  record  is there for all to see. Poor performance of the US economy, the  global  rise of Islamic  State and  Boko  Haram, global  hatred and  mistrust of Americans and feeling of insecurity  by Americans in their home land. That  is the Obama legacy which Hillary is sworn  to continue if elected president. That to me alone is enough to make Donald  Trump the sweet  bride of the majority of the US  electorate especially as he was  bold to call  a sitting US president a security risk  and he got even more popular for saying that . Surely  Donald  Trump  may be a very  crude  maverick yet it seems that the time and tide are made for his brand of politics and rhetoric and that would be difficult for anyone to change or stop at the 2016 presidential campaigns  and elections in November.

    Lastly we  come to  Lula da  Silva my favorite  Brazilian President till  now.  Lula  was a trade unionist and working class person but he made it to become president of his nation. He  was much  loved  for his common and simple background. The  nearest  thing to Lula in terms of  oratory and defence of workers  rights in Nigeria is Adams  Oshiomole, the fiery  governor  of Edo  state and  I wish him  the same  trajectory   as  Lula, minus the present unfortunate Petrobas  debacle.

    Lula  was a president after my heart for  bringing the 2014  World  Cup  and the 2016  Olympics  to Brazil. He  canvassed  personally  for the two bids and defeated bids from the US and  Britain even when US President  Barak  Obama  and   Britain’s  Prince of Wales, Prince  Charles  were present at such  bids. He  also  had the leadership  foresight to pick his successor Dilmar  Rusself who is the present president of Brazil in her second term. Dilmar  was Lula’s  Chief of staff  when Lula  was president of  Brazil. Now  things have turned sour over corruption charges  against  Lula in a Dilmar presidency and that is politics. The  Brazilian public mood  has  changed as in Nigeria and there is anger against corruption in high places no matter  whose  ox is gored.

    For  Brazil the misfortune started with the 2014  World Cup  when Brazilians  who normally love  football  took to the streets to protest the inflated and exorbitant prices of construction of stadia for the World  Cup as well as the corrupt and expensive life styles of Brazilian soccer  officials. That disrupted the soccer fiesta and earned Brazil a bad name in terms  of organizing successful sporting events. The  worst  part was that  Brazil, the host nation confident of lifting the World Cup built a fragile  team around an even more fragile  and much inexperienced Neymar and  got knocked out in disgrace  by Germany who  beat them by 7 goals  to  one.  Now  the government of Dilmar is probing  her  former  boss in what they have called Operation  Car  Wash  which  is the equivqlent  of our Dasuki gate.  Except  of course  for  the fact  that  we  are yet  to  muster  the courage to question  the  man on whose  table  the buck  stopped while  the  NSA reportedly gave out funds  meant  for arms for  campaigns  during his tenure as Dilmar  has done on her predecessor.  Again  long live the Federal  Republic  of Nigeria.

  • The anger, incoherence and impotence of a “concern citizen”: the raw underbelly of the war on corruption

    The anger, incoherence and impotence of a “concern citizen”: the raw underbelly of the war on corruption

    Absolutely unedited and uncensored, here is the text of one reader’s response to my reflections on the need to bring the rule of law into a fruitful union with justice in last week’s piece in this column. The only thing I have done to the text as received is to bracket it from the brief comment that I shall make on it by placing it in italics in its entirety. Here it goes:

    Prof as we used to call you guys with too much english knowledge in my days at 9ja Uni ive been reading with rapt attentions 4 some weeks now your dialogue about president buhari’s method in Fighting the anti graft war .Haba! Prof yoruba adage says ina esusu kijoni lemeji meaning once bitten ttwice shy why can’t you these grammar people 4 once consider that itvis you this so call elite that are destroying and using your so call classroom and pen knowledge to continously making this God blessed nation called Nigeria becoming a laughing stock to comity of nations . Why on earth are you ppl always talk of rule of law and human right in defence of those that need not to be prosecuted but stone to death haba! Prof you ppl hv now rven gone yo the extend of quoting the word of God lopsidedly in other to buttress your so call heartless heart please permit me as i really don’t want to personalise this write up but i cry for my beloved Nigeria whenever i read most of you people write ups sir where was the rule of law when God killed all the stiffnecked israelites and refused to let them get to the promised land bcos of their bresking God’s law where wss rule of law when God removed and eventually destroyed the first king of israel Saul when he broke God’s commandments have yiu all forgotten what happenrd to the guy that try to right the ark of God when King David was taking it from obededium house and were been instructed by God yhat nobody should torch it under any circumstances ive million and one example sir in the same bible you people started quoting arbitrarily to support those heartless animals called looters  to me they aren’t looters but murderers . Haba prof! Some people in a country that has no light no pipeborne water no hospital no no jobs for the semi demi illetrates that our so call glorified nursery schools called university are year in year out graduating with their only paper certificate shared 2.1 billion dollars among less than 100 people and you people are still talking and debatinga about whether their fundamental human right  or rule of law was or wssn’t follow. Sir with all respect in that America yiu are sir have you not hear of guetsmala bay prison in cuba? Thank Godvive lived there fir several years , in England am here right now have yiu not read about our MP some 2 or 3 years ago that went to jail for ordinary misapproptiating less thsn 5000 pounds? Not stealing o just may be claiming some ridicuolous 2000pounds over yheir imprest or for their mortgage thats agsinst the law of the land. Sir for all my years hrre in uk i never saw one article written to support them for being a good crook is only in Nigeria you see all sort of educated misnormals wasting english language if i may borrow from one of my olden days proffessor here in england he always wonder why we nigeria always waste english by speaking or writting in big grammar i remember then jokingly i usedvto tell him that people used such big english to defend  themself after embezzling public funds but today i think am right.Sir with all respect you peoplecshould remember that thats hiw you started condeming the same buhari in 1984 as head of state until you playrd into the hands of the real sabotouers and never allow yhr man to lay us a good foundation in Nigeria all is now history brother but unfortunately 33years after you people have started again with your big english and rule of law snd humam unright orvwhatever yiu call it but to before warn is to be fore harm  .God bless . Pst Dele  from London

    The anger, the rage of the writer of the text is all too palpable. The text was set to ME by email and I am addressed by my professional title, “Prof”, but the real addressee is a plural group identified as “yiu ppl” (you people). To the writer, we are all heartless people defending looters who are not “ppl” but animals that should be “stone to death”. Now anyone with even minimal literacy skills that read my pieces on the looters would have immediately understood that I was far from defending them, but this is of absolutely no importance to our raving interlocutor; I am guilty, I am one of the “heartless” “ppl” only because the term “rule of law” appeared in my robustly anti-looters pieces. The writer also finds me guilty of defending the looters for using “big enlish” but this a lesser charge or even a merely additional crime to the unconscionable evil of using the term “rule of law” in my writings on this matter, a matter that is of life and death importance for our absolutely irate compatriot. I ask Palladium especially but everyone else reading these words to please take note: the fury of the person who sent this text to me is so deep that it is almost elemental; moreover, it is shared by tens of millions of Nigerians at home and abroad.

    But beyond the anger, there are the incoherence and, above all else, the impotence. These are the things that I wish to reflect upon in this short commentary. The incoherence is of course at its most obvious in the complete absence of punctuation in the text; but it is not this technical register of incoherence itself that I wish to draw the reader’s attention to. Rather, it is the emotional and mental incoherence that the ‘punctuational’ incoherence produces that worries me. I call this order of emotional and mental incoherence strategic and tactical: merely by spotting the term, “rule of law” in ANY writing whatsoever, the writer of the irate text lost the ability to distinguish between “opponents” and “defenders” of looters, an inability, in other words, of the capacity to distinguish between potential allies and actual powerful backers of the looters, especially in the judiciary. I confess that this not only worries me tremendously, but it also frightens me, so much so that I have had to dig deep into my intuitions regarding what we can learn from experiences from all over the world in periods of volatile social ferment such as the one Nigeria now faces in this war on corruption and looters. This observation leads me to the last issue that I wish to reflect upon in this piece. I wish to express this as carefully as I can since it is at the core of all my reflections in this piece.

    In all parts of the world in periods when extremely volatile mass resentment against deep and wide social injustice is rampant, the strategic incoherence that makes it impossible for the millions of the aggrieved to distinguish between their potential allies and their real enemies reflects a deep sense of powerlessness, a political impotence in which raving incoherently against the prevailing order of things replaces the necessity for individual and mass action against the prevailing (dis)order, injustice and misrule. I suggest that this is the source of the kind of emotional and mental incoherence of the writer of the raging diatribe against anyone talking of the rule of law when, to him or her, the looters should all be “stone to death”. Let me be very clear about this point: to the writer of the irate text, Buhari and his administration will do the work that is necessary to bring the looters to justice; anyone and everyone seeming to question Buhari’s war, his tactics or lack of tactics, is an enemy. And so from the UK or from Kontangora, the cries go up: leave Buhari alone to do what must be done for us, for Nigeria! But when has it ever happened in the history of revolutionary periods that without the intervention of the masses themselves acting through their own organizations and as individuals, when has it ever happened that badly needed change and reforms come exclusively from the ruler(s)?

    In conclusion, let me say that this point about the necessity of mass action to bring the looters to justice and recover the loot from them is a point, a declaration that I have made again and again in this column in the last few months. I shall keep making it as long as the delusion remains that Buhari alone will deliver justice. Thus this is a call for action, a peaceful but determined intervention of our peoples for justice and restitution. One would have thought that as a ruling party that places so much propaganda value on “change” the APC itself would have called for this mass intervention in support of its intentions – if they are genuine. I end with a call to the writer of the diatribe against “yiu ppl” using “big english” to forget us and march, protest, and demonstrate for restitution of the stolen loot and punitive justice against the looters. If and when he or she does that, some of us using “big english” will join him or her. And we will prevail, Insha Allah!

     

    Biodun Jeyifo                                                                                                                 

    jeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

  • Anger, shock as bus hits car

    Anger, shock as bus hits car

    A Commercial bus marked LND84DK, yesterday, collided with a Nissan car with number plate LSD451XN along Shibiri road in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos.

    The accident happened around 9.45am in front of a bakery.

    The Nation learnt that the bus driver, identified as Friday, was arguing with his conductor when he lost control.

    A passenger, Edet Umoh, said the conductor pleaded with the driver to pay him for job done, but the driver allegedly refused.

    “The conductor held the driver from behind to disrupt him. The driver, who was angered by his actions, punched the conductor which resulted into an accident. I am so happy none of us was injured. Passengers warned them but they didn’t listen. It was after the accident that they kept quiet,” he said.

    Another passenger, Abiodun Alaka, said immediately he boarded the bus the conductor started lamenting, adding: “I thought the conductor had issue with a passenger but later I got to know it was with his driver. I heard him tell the driver he needed the N2,000 to take home, saying it was urgent. It was the driver’s reaction that led to the fight.”

    The owner of the Nissan car said he just drove out of his compound when the accident happened.

    “I just drove out of my compound and before I could think of anything, they crashed my car. I thank God I am still alive because I promised my family we were going to see later. It is still a shock. I can’t even recognise my car from the front view,” he said.

    An eye witness, Rashidat, explained that the conductor was requesting for N2,000 from the driver, adding: “The vehicle owner was really pissed off. Immediately he reported to a police station and vowed he was going to take them to prison. I think they should be taught a lesson. They really risked our lives. What if the man’s car wasn’t affected, it could have hit a passerby. See how the bus just went to one side of the road, I was shocked and scared.”

  • Anger as telcos bar customers from using mobile phones

    Anger as telcos bar customers from using mobile phones

    Many telephone subscribers were thrown into confusion yesterday as their telephone lines were barred from either making or receiving calls by their mobile network operators (MNOs).

    This is sequel to the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum handed down to the telcos by the regulator of the telecoms industry, the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) to deactivate subscriber identity modules (SIMs) registered irregularly by the operators.

    Its Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, in a statement had explained that the directive was the fallout of a meeting between Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Department of State Service (DSS), MNOs and the NCC. The meeting which took place at the NCC boardroom in Abuja, took into cognisance crimes committed against members of the public either by kidnappers, terrorists, robbers and threats to lives, through the use of unregistered SIM cards across all the networks

    A young lady who simply identified herself as Bola said she was shocked when someone called her on her alternate line and said her operator told her that her number had been barred from receiving calls. She complained bitterly because, according to her, she was not given earlier notification about the development and had been using the line for more than one year.

    “I was shocked to discover that I could neither make nor receive calls on my phone number. I feel my MNO was not polite enough on this matter because I am supposed to have been advised accordingly if they had discovered anything irregular in the biometric data I supplied during the process of registering my SIM card. Now I am confused because I don’t know what to do because when I visited the office of my service provider this morning, it was filled to capacity,” she said, adding that she was advised to do another registration with the agents along the road for which she paid N100 and have since not been reactivated.

    A young man who gave his name simply as Chukwudi who sells motor spare parts in Ladipo Market, Lagos said his wife travelled to the Aba yesterday and was monitoring her movement on phone till she got to Asaba, adding that her number was snapped out of the network.

    “In a country where there are no good roads and insecurity is all time high, especially armed robbery on the highway and kidnapping, the mobile phone has become the only tool through which one could get monitor one’s family members on transit. So, it is very disheartening that my wife was removed from the network abruptly without any notification. It is bad and demonstrated lack of respect for the customer,” he said.

    He was particularly bitter that if the MNOs wanted to sell their services, they will call their customers or send unsolicited text messages to harass them, adding that when it came to the issue of irregular SIM registration, they just went ahead to rudely cut them off the network.

    Bola and Chukwudi are but few examples of many customers that may have been cut off the network unnotified contrary to the directive of the NCC.

    Director, Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Airtel Nigeria, Emeka Oparah said the telco is complying with the directive of the NCC, insisting that it issued a press statement to that effect in the newspapers on Monday. He added that SIM registration has been on wondering why customers should wait this long.

  • Anger, confusion in Bayelsa local govts over arrears of unpaid salaries

    All is not well between local government workers in Bayelsa State and their chairmen. The workers are angry that about four months of their salaries have not been paid by the council bosses.

    Confronted with economic hardship, the local council employees are not buying their chairmen excuses that the dwindling revenue allocation from the Federal Government has affected their wages.

    There are eight local government areas in Bayelsa, the least in all the states in the country. The workers are of the opinion that with the oil-producing status of the state and the reduced number of local councils, the chairmen should not have problem paying salaries despite the economic crunch.

    Besides, they argued that the Chairman of Brass Local Government Area, paid his workers up to May salaries. Why then are the chairmen of Sagabama, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw, Nembe, Ekeremor and Kolokuma-Opokuma unable to pay their bills? They queried.

    The Secretary, Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWU), Mr. Lartan Bany and the Chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) said the governor had no hand in their travails. Bany said the local government chairmen admitted that the governor never interfered in their revenue allocations from the Federal Government.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Esueme Kikile, said the government had intervened to ensure that the outstanding salaries of the workers were paid.

    He said: “The present administration in the state has demonstrated its commitment to local government autonomy and has the policy of zero deductions from local government allocations”.

    But the Bayelsa Democratic Watch Forum (BDWF) blamed the salary crisis on the inefficient management of finances by the chairmen. The group in a statement signed by its Chairman, Mr. Binaebi Femo and Secretary, Mr. Tari Oki, thanked the MHWU and the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) for calling off their strike.

    While NULGE and the MHWU are leaking their wounds and raining curses on their chairmen, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) are heaping praises on the state governor for promptly paying their monthly salaries.

    A statement by the State council chairmen of NLC, Ebipere Ndiomu and his TUC counterpart, Dounana Tari, said that their members were appreciative of the governor’s gesture which would keep the workers committed to duty and raise productivity.

    They said that they were aware of the personal sacrifices the governor had made to ensure that salaries were paid regularly despite the shortfall in revenue from the federation account.

     

  • Anger over unsolicited text messages

    Anger over unsolicited text messages

    Unsolicited text messages have become one of the many challenges subscribers have to contend with. While the messages could so often be provocative, customers are forced to pay for them, largely because they are either ignorant of what to do is complacent. But the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says aggrieved subscribers should stop suffering in silence, reports LUCAS AJANAKU.

    She had left her business for the day to be part of one of the sessions of the monthly Telecoms Consumer Parliament (TCP) convened at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). She had reasons to do so. For three years, she has been carrying the burden of receiving no fewer than 40 unsolicited text messages on her phone daily.

    She gave her name as Hajia Binta Maina, dealer in Dangote products. A woman in her late 50s, she sprang up from her seat, clutched her mobile phone and beckoned on officials of the NCC to come and see what she had been passing through with agonies all these years. According to her, the text messages were imposed on her by fraudulent value added service (VAS) providers riding on the infrastructure of Globacom, her mobile network operator (MNO). Bitter, she lamented that she had consistently loaded air time which so very often gradually gets depleted.

    She said: “I have been living with this problem over the past three years. I receive about 40 text messages daily from my service provider. If I were not advanced in age, some of the messages were capable of breaking my marriage. Imagine my husband opening my phone and reading a message such as; ‘I love you’. I have visited three offices of Glo and had even taken my case to the head office of the company in Victoria Island where an Indian man attended to me and assured me that the text messages and loss of money will stop. They said there is a code I could use to opt out. I used it but the more I used the code, the more the messages come in.

    “As I speak with you, it has not stopped. So when I heard that this meeting is taking place today, I decided to sacrifice everything I have to do today to bring my problem to the world.”

    Another subscriber, Madam Joy Adeniran, a window  living in Itele, a suburb of Sango Ota, Ogun State, had been promised by one of her customers that she was going to make payment into her bank account so that she could go to the market the following day to stock her shop. She waited all day long to receive transaction alert from her bank but nothing came. Frustrated, she called the customer that promised to pay money into her bank account at about 10pm to find out what the problem was.

    She was assured of the payment and encouraged to wait for the transaction alert because that will form the basis of her going to Idumota, Lagos to buy goods for her shop.

    “It was like a vigil for me. I must get confirmation before setting out from Itele to Lagos latest by 5am the following morning. So, I kept waiting for the alert. When my text message alert tone rang at about 12.30 midnight, I sprang up from my bed, reached for the phone. When I opened the message box, it was one useless message sent at that ungodly hour by my MNO. I was so pissed off and felt like smashing the device on the concrete wall,” she lamented.

    Hajia Maina and Mrs Adeniran are just a few of the over 140 million active subscribers that daily go through the pains of unsolicited text messages on their mobile phones. The messages come in torrents, sometimes blocking genuine messages from being received. “I have to delete these messages to allow important messages to be delivered because if I don’t do that, the icon showing that a message is waiting will keep popping up. It is very sad,” Alvin Afadama, an intern, lamented.

     

    NCC’s position

     

    Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Tony Ojobo, said the Commission has issued a lot of directives aimed at minimising as much as possible, the burden of unsolicited text messages to all the operators, adding that the regulator had even sanctioned the operators for not playing by the rules.

    He said the regulator has consistently urged the MNOs to install powerful firewalls to prevent unbridled influx of unsolicited text messages to their customers.

    He said: “We have made our position known on this matter. We have warned against sending messages to subscribers at night on their networks. The Commission is putting its foot down against the operators and monitoring their activities and giving them various regulations to ensure that this does not happen. We encourage subscribers to go to the operators, walk to their customer care centers; call customer call centers to lodge their complaints and give them detailed explanations about the content of the text message, the time you got them and from which number.

    “Agreed, most of these things come from VAS providers. They are not actually coming from the network service providers; some of them may come from them but most are from VAS providers with the knowledge of the service providers anyway. These things are like pipes for them to transmit their services and sometimes they get services through the system without them being able to detect it. It happens all over the world but we are insisting that they should be able to provide various types of systems that should be able to detect these unsolicited text messages especially those that are not wanted. The customers have a right to stop them. Send stop to the number that sent the message and it will stop and if it doesn’t stop; walk to our Lagos office at Bankole Oki Street, Ikoyi and complain. We take such complaints seriously because they infringe on the rights of the customers.

    “If you fail to get redress, you can also call us on our toll-free number on 622. Additionally I would like to say that this is a global problem it does not happen only in Nigeria alone.”

    Its Zonal Controller, Lagos, Okechukwu Aniweke, however said there are also positive sides to the unsolicited messages. According to him, unexpected bank alerts, warning about impending disasters, outbreak of epidemic disease, outbreak of fatal disease such as the Ebola and warnings about how to avoid contacting them, alert about fire disasters and even armed robbery attack. He said some ‘unsolicited’ text message have been so useful to the customers as they have helped to save lives, adding however that this is not to say the MNOs and VAS providers should not respect the right of their customers to have peaceful rest in their homes.

     

    Operators react

     

    Head, Network Operations, Globacom, Aremu Olajide, said most of the messages that customers complain about are not sent by the MNOs, arguing that VAS providers licensed by the NCC send the messages but using the MNOs.

    Customer Care Executive at MTN, Akinwale Goodluck agrees  with Olajide. According to him, a huge percentage of the unsolicited messages on the network are actually generated on the internet. He said with the rise of the internet, it was possible for somebody to be in Asia and send mass messages to millions of subscribers in the country. He said though there are subsisting contractual agreements with bulk SMS providers, the telco is however strict with its terms of engagement.

     

    VAS providers speak

     

    The umbrella body of VAS providers in the country, the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), has absolved itself of any blame. The group blamed the raft of unsolicited messages on what it described as “rogue VAS providers.”

    Its National Coordinating Consultant, Simon Aderinlola, who described WASPAN as a self-regulatory body of firms licensed by the NCC that have at least connection with one MNO in Nigeria providing VAS.

    He said: “In answering that other aspect of your question about messages getting to people may be at night, they are rogue VAS services. By rogue VAS services, the Commission has tried immensely, to halt their operation. There is a framework for licensing but it is gathering momentum. There are some who actually open business to do wrong things.

    “The more the right regulation is put in place such that you are not killing innovation, but ensuring that the customer is protected and the rules are clear and transparent, the better for all of us.

    He commended the regulator for creating a forum for the MNOs, VAS providers and other stakeholders to come together to tackle the problem of unsolicited messages.

    “I must say this is the first of its kind forum of this nature where you have the operators, the VAS providers and the NCC all giving their own ideas on how things can work and I am sure the more we have session of this nature, the more we will be able to drive things forward,” he said.

  • Pain, anger in Calabar as 21-yr-old boy dies in police custody

    •PPRO: it was a case of ill-health

    For the family of Mr Stanley Etim, a 21-year-old boy who until recently was working at a very popular supermarket in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, Sparkz Shop, these are grieving times.

    The family is accusing the police in the state of allegedly brutalising him to death and refusing to let them even see his body.

    It was gathered that on Thursday, 5th of February 2015, two policemen from the D 5 unit of the Cross River State Police headquarters, Diamond Hill, allegedly barged into the shop, located opposite the University of Calabar mini gate along Etta Agbo Road.

    The policemen simply identified by their first names, Uche and Peter, it was gathered, went to the shop to arrest Stanley, an attendant at the shop who the previous day reportedly had a misunderstanding with his friend, a girl called Chidinma at the Flour Mills Junction in Calabar.

    Eyewitnesses said the policemen claimed they were arresting him for armed robbery.

    But the family of the boy alleged that the misunderstanding led to a fight between him and the girl, after which the girl allegedly got in touch with another of her friend Uche, who was a policeman to deal with Stanley.

    The President of Sparkz Shop, Mr Stephen Peters, with whom Stanley lived until his demise tearfully narrated to The Nation: “I called you because of what has happened between us and the police and in our helpless state, we had no option than to present the matter to the world through you what we are facing.

    “On Thursday at about 3.30 pm, some policemen came here and informed me that one of my boys is involved in a robbery case. Obviously I know my employees here and none of them can do that kind of thing. They went ahead and arrested him. Two minutes after, I saw them driving one of my boys who happens to be living with me in my house, and who has never slept out since he started living with me over three years ago. They manhandled the boy the way they manhandle criminals. But the boy does not have the strength to take that kind of beating, as he was not a criminal. They beat the boy terribly. They lifted him and threw in the air and he fell to the ground. I had somewhere to go but when I saw that, I had to follow them.

    ‘’The way manhandled him right from here got me startled, so I had to drive behind them to the police station, as they threw him into their Hilux Van. We arrived sometime after them and while I was greeting some people, I saw the head of the D5 at the state CID who came out with the boy handcuffed and this time, he was badly brutalised. I could not recognise his face.

    “As the man was coming, he was saying the boy had confessed to the crime, so before I could ask anything, they said they were taking him to go and bring other gang members. I went there with the store manager and another policeman came out and as soon as he sighted the store manager, Itoro, he said he was the one who obstructed them while trying to arrest Stanley and they immediately arrested him.

    ‘’Immediately, they collected his shirt and he was squeezed inside the cell. They took Stanley to Etim Edem Motor Park, where we normally receive some of our stock, according to them, to identify other gang members. Again they brutally dealt with him at the motor park and then brought him back.

    “Since they said it was a robbery case, we could not bail him that day. So the next morning, being Friday, I went there. Before then, I had asked the store manager to go and arrange food for him, but he said the policemen said they had taken him to a chemist for treatment. At about 11am, I went there and I saw the head of the D5 and followed him to his office and told him I was there for the boy. He told me that at night, the boy developed complications and was taken to the hospital. I asked which hospital but he did not give me any definite answer. I said I had to see the boy. I followed him downstairs and suddenly, he disappeared and I didn’t see him again.

    ‘’So I went the General Hospital and Teaching Hospital, but did not see the boy there. So someone suggested we should check the police clinic. And then I when I went there and asked if the patient was there, the nurse asked me the name and when I mentioned the name, they brought out a folder and then informed me that that doctor said when people came for this particular patient they should inform her. At that point, I wanted to meet the doctor but was told she was having a little meeting inside and then after then, I pressurised, the doctor came out and I asked them I was looking for Stanley Etim and in anger, thinking I was one of the policemen, she said the boy had been certified dead.

    “I was really devastated at that point. I was so devastated because I never thought and never believed that a healthy young man who had left my house to the shop that morning died in that way. When we came out and were crying, there was a van parked there and the dead boy was in there in the van. So when they saw us crying, they immediately drove the boy away. I don’t know where they went. The truth of the matter is that, up till now, we have not been given access to the body of the boy.

    “After that I immediately called the lawyer and said this is what had happened and he told me to go to the commissioner. So we went to the police station. As soon as we drove inside, when they saw it was us, they drove the corpse out again. We saw the commissioner and he asked what happened. I related this story to him. As I was relating, he said I should stop and then asked one of the policemen to go and call the assistant commissioner. When I wanted to continue, he said he was told that morning that an armed robber was shot at a crime scene at Flour Mill. We waited for the ACP and when he came, the commissioner asked me to repeat the story before the ACP, which I did and the ACP was also sad to hear that.

    “The commissioner asked him to set up a panel immediately and they should report to him at 7 o’clock. At seven, we went and they told us the report was not conclusive because some policemen involved could not be reached and so we should come back the next day. The next day, we went, they told us that one of the policemen had written the report and that a certain girl was involved and he had to see the girl physically. So we came back the next day.

    “They said they wanted to take a statement from the store manager so they can give an official report. The store manager wanted to write his statement, but we were terribly shocked when he wanted to write and the chairman of a panel set up by the assistant commissioner told the store manager that for this matter, they had to write the statement and read it for him and then he would sign.

    “At that point, we really felt something was wrong and they were out to cover up something. At that time, we started talking to news people. Up till now, we have not seen the corpse.”

    The Store Manager, Mr Itoro Okon, who said he was working with the late Stanley when the policemen arrived, narrated: “I was with the boy in the shop and then just stepped out and when I came back, I saw two guys on each side of the boy dragging him. I asked them what the problem was and that they should leave the guy. Other people around asked the same thing. And one of them said they were policemen. They brought out their handcuffs and cuffed him. They beat him up mercilessly. They threw him in the air and allowed him to crash to the floor.

    “When they got to the Hilux, the one known as Uche said if I really wanted to know who they are that I should enter the Hilux with them, but I did not. So we followed them to the station and they told their OC that I was the one that stopped their arrest.”

    A petition by the twin brother of the deceased, Kingsley, through his legal paractioners, Bassey, Opar and Co, addressed to the DIC, Investigation Force, CID Complex Abuja, accused the men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force attached to D5, SCID, Calabar, Cross River State, of the gruesome killing of Mr Stanley Etim.

    The petition sought the ordering of an independent and unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Stanley Etim with a view to prosecuting same.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Hogan Bassey, reacting to the development, however said: “There was a case of robbery reported by one ChiChi and the police investigated the case. In the course of investigating it, that Stanley was implicated and identified as one of those who took part in the robbery and was arrested.

    ‘’He made useful statements to us and was detained. In the course of the detention, he complained of ill-health and he was taken to the police clinic. It became serious and he was taken to the Teaching Hospital where he gave up the ghost.”