The Nation Newspaper

Tag: breaking

  • Politics, politics: breaking the age barrier

    Last week, the news of the signing into law of the “Not Too Young To Run Bill” by President Muhammadu Buhari caused mild ripples in the political landscape of Nigeria. The passage of the Act was hailed as a victory for young people all over the country and the beginning of a new era in Nigerian politics. However, while there are positives to take from the development, the Act has not managed to shake the table of Nigerian politics in any substantial way.

    Apart from the obvious technical issue regarding the appropriate procedure for amending provisions of a written constitution, there are many other far more practical concerns emerging from the passage of the Bill. There are unexplained omissions from the original Bill in the final Act signed by President Buhari which betrays a lack of commitment to the true spirit of the Bill by lawmakers.

    The Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives by Tony Nwulu, the House of Representatives member representing Oshodi-Isolo Federal Constituency. The Bill sought to alter sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 constitution. The aim was to reduce the age qualification for the office of the President, Governor, members of the Senate, House of Representatives and the State Houses of Assembly. The creation of the right to independent candidacy in elections was another major aim of the Bill.

    The document that was passed into law by President Buhari on May 31, 2018 altered the age of qualification for President from 40 to 30, members of House of Representatives from 30 to 25 and state House of Assembly members from 30 to 25. The age qualifications for Governors and Senators remain at the original 35 years.

    While one can spend hours ruminating on the intention of the lawmakers in keeping the age qualification of governors and senators higher than that of the president and others, there is likely to be no better insight into this discrepancy than the baffling propensity for one-upmanship and the exaggerated sense of importance of the senators. Again, in their little way, the senators seem to have played their hand in an endless battle for supremacy over the federal executive. However, what takes the cake in the public charade that the Act has become is the disregard of the provision that sought independent candidacy in elections. The omission of that provision in the final Act has watered down, to an unacceptable level, the purported rights created for truly young people to participate in elections through their candidacy.

    As the political terrain is set-up right now, political parties have immense power in determining the future of the country. Their choices influence the political mindset of the electorate and limit the choices of the people in determining their own fate. The new Act may have been passed in its limited way, but it is left to the political parties to decide whether young people are good enough for leadership. In an essentially two-party system run on massive funds and accumulated political capital, young people stand little chance of influencing politics in the way the Act intends.

    Whether or not there is an underlying mistrust of youth in the decision of the lawmakers, history does have lessons to share on the matter of young people in great leadership positions. Going as far back as the period before the common era (356-323 BCE), Alexander the great had conquered an empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan by the age of 32, after little over a decade as King of Macedon. In the late 18th century, a young Napoleon Bonaparte took the world by storm after the French revolution. He became a general at the age of 24, went on his first major military campaign at age 26, got himself elected as First Consul of France at age 30 and became Emperor at 35, all while conquering a large part of Europe and beyond. In more recent and familiar history, a 33 year old Odumegwu Ojukwu began a war in 1967 that he held for three years against a British backed federal government led by 32 year old Yakubu Gowon.

    These examples in history at once show how far the determination of youth can go and at the same time the limits to youthful over-ambition. Nonetheless, those individuals left lasting legacies in their time that resounds throughout history till this present day. Youthful vigour has its advantages and many disadvantages, but denying the youths the chance to shape the future is a much more damning cost to progress than the price of their over-ambition. Sometimes the courage and determination to take the leap of faith is lacking in the aged, and the uncertain progress of the Nigerian state in these many years may portray this problem more vividly than most realize.

    Perhaps, what we need is not a “Not Too Young To Run Bill” but a “Too Old To Run Bill”. Past leaders have hung on to the reins of power for far too long and the spirit of adventurism of youth may be the missing ingredient in solving Nigeria’s problems. It is true that the young are taking more time to reach self-actualisation in today’s world, especially in Nigeria where the average person only finds financial independence after the age of 30. The aim is not to empower partially-formed adults, but to encourage well rounded individuals with enough youthful vigour to carry Nigeria past the line of development. Nine of the past United States presidents, including Barrack Obama, were below the age of 50 at the time they were elected. This list includes Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. Donald Trump is the oldest US President at 70 and he may yet prove to be the worst.

    Since its passage at the National Assembly in 2017, the “Not Too Young To Run” Bill has been adopted by 25 state assemblies in Nigeria. This may seem like an encouraging sign, but the true potency of the Bill will not be felt in the near future, not with the obvious limitations highlighted above. In more realistic terms, the original age qualifications for the elective positions may be more practical, but the Bill at least sends a message to the old hands of Nigerian politics that the country is tiring of spent forces that take us around in circles.

    In the run in to 2019, with all that has been said, it is surprising that the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, seems to be more forward looking in terms of age than the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Only recently, 31 year old Adebo Ogundoyin of the PDP won the by-election of Ibarapa East State constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly. This is even as the PDP is toying with names like Ibrahim Dakwambo that seems like a sprightly, youthful option compared to the likely candidature of Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general elections. The opportunism of the PDP in this regard may reap benefits that the APC is unprepared for.

    While there is audible clamour for younger candidates, elected officials like Yahaya Bello, the youngest serving Governor and Dino Melaye, one of the youngest senators, both elected under the flag of the APC, have proven to be bad examples with their indecorous conduct and personal and official excesses. They are proof that there are no guarantees either way, but the cynicism of age and the present politics of accumulated interests tips younger, untainted candidates ahead of the rotten pack of old timers.

    The one takeaway from the emergence of the Act is that relatively young Nigerians under the banner of the Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, YIAGA, with support of the Vice President, were able to conceive the Bill and push it through the works to a conclusive end. It is a sign of better things to come. The movement should however know, in the midst of the celebration, that it is not yet Uhuru for inclusive politics. At this time, the passage of the Act is an empty victory.

  • ‘Ogun breaking new grounds in housing’

    The Ogun State Housing Corporation (OGSHC) has begun the re-development of a 3,130 square metre (sqm) site on Ibara GRA-Onikolobo link road in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    Its General Manager and Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing Development, Olajumoke Akinwunmi, spoke yesterday in Abeokuta.

    Akinwunmi said the project is among initiatives of the Ibikunle Amosun administration to provide affordable housing and ensure urban renewal.

    He said the re-development of the site at Ibara, which was proposed to have 12 premium units of four-bedroom townhouses, had been designed and was being built to meet best standards by using concrete finished polystyrene walls to achieve durability, sound and heat proof.

    In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Shakirudeen Bashir, the general manager noted that the project is intended to give value to home owners by harnessing the benefits of communal living, with each house having its access gate.

    Akinwunmi said: “When finished, each unit will have three large en suite bedrooms and a maid’s room attached to the rear. They will be delivered with good specifications – internally and externally. The project has generated a lot of interest and elicited purchase offers.”

    The general manager said that the project was being executed by a partnership between government and Deluxe and Partners.

    The Chief Executive of Deluxe and Partners, Oladele Olaleye, assured residents that the project will be delivered early next year.

  • Breaking the barrier to urbanisation

    Breaking the barrier to urbanisation

    For 25 years, the Lagos State Government has been planning to construct a second access road to link Oworonshoki with other parts of the megacity. Last week, it took its first step towards the realisation of the dream, with the demolition of a storey building to make way for the road. Stakeholders are upbeat about the economic buoyancy coming with this effort, MUYIWA LUCAS reports.

    All hope seemed lost! For over 25 years, Oworonshoki community in Lagos was cut off from any meaningful economic exercise: it watched helplessly as businesses either shunned moving into the area or closed because of poor patronage. The real estate market in the area also suffered greatly as realtors and investors did not consider the ancient town for investments.

    But things are about to change as fresh hopes beckon. The community is the beneficiary of one of the 114 access roads to be constructed by Lagos State. When completed, the road will bring the community into reckoning and rekindle its economic relevance. This, it is believed, is the mission of Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

    However, for such development to take place, some people will have to make sacrifices.  So, at 10 a.m last Monday, a storey building, with approved plan number DCB/2687/45A granted on February 14, 1978, gave way for what would be the new face of Oworonshoki. The building, belonging to Chief Afolabi Yusuf, was brought down after being identified as an encumbrance on the right of way for the road; while 11 walls, 16 shops, and four other buildings would be affected minimally.

    Although the landlord was not available to comment on whether compensation was paid to him or not, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Anofi Elegushi, said compensation had been paid.

    “As an administration, which cares for its citizens, we have met with those involved with a view to compensating them. In the case of the house that was demolished, compensation has been paid. Those with minimal demolition will also be compensated by way of replacement of fence walls, among other things,” Elegushi said.

    The new access road is designed as a single carriage way of 7.3 meters with drainage on both sides; three bus stops, and one large culvert. It will be the second road in and out of Oworonshoki, and on Oduduwa Road, running parallel to the Third Mainland Bridge from Olopomeji end of the express. It will have an inlet, passing through Car Wash to Ifako Junction, before exiting into the expressway.

    The Project Director, Fountain Construction Company (FCC), Thomas Cunning, said the project was targeted at reducing the buses that stop on the expressway.

    “Therefore, it becomes imperative that the building is demolished. The building is being removed to make way for another bus path in Iyana Oworo. Of course, it provides good infrastructure and development to the local environment. The duration is three months and Oworonshoki will be opened up,” he assured.

    Kosofe Local Government Sole Administrator, Mrs. Adejumoke Animawun, said for over three decades, the Oworonshoki community had waited to be opened up, especially after being cut off by the Third Mainland Bridge.

    Mrs Animawun thanked Ambode for coming to wipe away the tears of the community.

    “We have wanted this for over three decades. It will bring a lot of development to this community and local government. It is sad that we have had only one road for over 30 years, because even for security reasons, it is not good to have one road in a community,” she said.

    The Group Managing Director, St. Daniels’ Hospital, Oworonshoki, Dr Joseph Tijani, hailed the government for “this developmental phase that is coming to Oworonshoki”. Hitherto, Tijani said, the Oworonshoki community was a garrison – one way entrance and exit. Although his hospital fence, measuring about 1.6 metres, will be affected by the construction, he said there was no ill feeling because it is for developmental purpose.

    “You have to lose something to gain something. In principle, government has promised to compensate us after the demolition of our fence, but we are yet to get anything. However, I am sure that the compensation is in the offing. This road will make my business more accessible,” he explained.

     

    A joyous community

    While the demolition lasted, one thing was very clear – the community was joyous – a sharp contrast to what usually obtains when government pulls down any building. The Youth President of Oworonshoki, Mr. Akinyemi Somorin, said there was no way the community would be up in arms against the contractor or government over the project because, since 1990, their community has been agitating for a second access road, after the completion of the Third Mainland Bridge, which cut off the community completely.

    The Council of Oworonshoki Youth Forum (COYF) General Secretary, Mr. Kabiawu Babajide, explained joyous mood of the people to be a reflection of their understanding of of the attendant benefits of the project. For instance, he said, opening up the second access road would mean that more business would flood the community, and open it up to more development.

    “People in Oworonshoki are no more living in the dark age; our eyes have been opened, so we know what is good for us and that is why when it comes to development, we always embrace it. We have been praying for this for over 25 years, so we are happy that it is now happening. It is not the building that matters, but the development coming to this community, because it will create more jobs for everybody,” Babajide said, adding that the demolished building had been a major constraint to opening up the community.

    Youth leader Abayomi Ogunrinde said the people were jubilant because the second access road, when completed in three months, would not only open up the community, but also turn the area to “another London.”

    “If this road is not done, Oworonshoki will still remain a village. This place is at sea level and we pray not to have any disaster in this area because there will not be an escape route if this road is not built. With this road, Oworo will enjoy the influx of big time firms, different banks, police station, etc. We can now boldly say that we are now in the real Lagos State with the commencement of work on this road,” Ogunrinde said.

    The Bashorun of Oworonshoki Land, Chief Aremu Jelili Lawal, said it was painful that Oworonshoki community, which he claimed has a population of about four million, had only one access road.

    Economic improvement

    The Community Development Committee (CDC) Vice Chairman, Kosofe Local Government, Rasheed Awofeso, was convinced that once the road is completed it would improve the economic base of Oworonshoki and its environs.

    Presently, according to him, the area is backward in terms of economic development. For instance, he revealed that it was just last year that a filling station was established in the community. “Businesses will come here based on infrastructural development available. Surely, development will also come with pains and gains. We are happy to be part of this process,” he said.

    Lawal told The Nation that many companies had wanted to come to the community to establish businesses but  changed their mind, with complaints about the area being a one road community. Therefore, he reasoned, demolishing the building for a second access road is a good development for the community. He revealed that the community has been discussing with the owners of the building for over 20 years.

    “Several businesses will come in. Look at First Bank Plc over there; they have completed their office building over three years ago, but it has not commenced operation because of lack of a second road. I am sure once this road is done, the bank will start operation and this will reduce the problem of its customers in this community, who always go to Ifako to transact their businesses. More companies will also come in,” he said.

    The General Secretary, CDC Kosofe Local Government, Mr. Segun Babatunde, shared the views of both Lawal and Awofeso, maintaining that the second access road, on completion, will ensure that business activities pick up, while investors will come in, and the community will boom economically.

     

    Employment

    At the moment, the community seems happy with the contractor handling  the project, FCC. No fewer than 50 youths in the community have been employed for the various aspect of the project. Besides, an earlier project, the Iyana-Oworo layback, constructed by the firm at Berger Bus stop within the community, appears to have endeared the community to the firm.

    “FCC has employed some of our youths for this job. FCC has done marvellously well, it has built a good road at Berger. We believe that the company will also do a quality job like it did at Berger bus stop. It has been doing a lot within this community, the lay-back it built at Berger bus stop is fantastic, which has eased the tension along third mainland bridge. Over 15 youths are working with them presently and we are satisfied with what it has done so far. We believe more youths will join the firm,” Babajide said.

    Cunniang explained that any community where his firm works always provides 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce. “Everywhere FCC works we bring along indigenous workers to work along with our own skilled personnel,” he said.

     

    More requests

    Like an Oliver Twist, the Oworonshoki community has not failed to ask for more. Babatunde, who spoke on behalf of the people, appealed to the government to enhance the effectiveness of the road by building another road to pass beneath the bridge to serve as a U-turn for access to either side of the road. This, they said, would also ensure  that commuters do not have to drive all the way to Ogudu to turn in or out of Oworonshoki.

    Babatunde further said the community is also eagerly awaiting the commencement of the construction of a jetty, which he noted, has been approved by the governor. “When this is done, Oworonshoki will become a peninsula and people will be able to commute by sea. So, Oworonshoki has been opened to the world and investors will definitely come here,” he said.

  • Breaking another jinx

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week Monday broke another jinx especially in the fourth Nigerian Republic starting from the period when democratic rule was restored in the country in 1999.

    As part of marking the first 12 months of his democratic administration, Buhari hosted State House correspondents to a Presidential Lunch at the seat of power.

    That was novel as the previous administrations never saw the need to bring the media as the fourth estate of the realm closer in such gathering.

    Last week Monday was also the second time President Buhari was formally meeting the State House correspondents in such a gathering within one year. No past President or Head of State of Nigeria did that.

    Those past leaders were always shielded from journalists and most often made to believe that it was a taboo to meet with the group.

    To them, journalists were just in the Villa to cover and report any open public function in the State House.

    But President Buhari as a true democrat saw journalists as partners in progress and felt the need to engage them beyond their official reportage of activities and events in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, despite the group being the watchdog of the society.

    He sat for about two hours through the Presidential Lunch to dine with the journalists after brief speeches by himself and the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu.

    A member of the State House Press Corps, 84 years old photojournalist, Ladan Abubakar, popularly called Baba Ladan, was specially presented to the President during the lunch.

    Baba Ladan, who has put in about 42 years as photojournalist with the Triumph newspaper, has been combining his career with tailoring.

    His joy knew no bounds as he was called out to pose for snapshots with the President along with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, and Kehinde Amodu.

    It was the first time Ladan was called out for such recognition since he started covering the seat of power from the regime of Late General Sani Abachi in 1994.

    A Director and Head of Department of Media and Publicity at the State House, Mr. Justin Abuah, who has served 8 Presidents and Heads of State since 1986 was also specially presented to the President by Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as the Master of Ceremony at the event.

    Abuah is often seen as a technocrat needed to make the engine room of the media office operate effectively from one government to the other.

    He has not only been a dependable hand in the concise and timely press statements the administrations have churned out, but he ensured members of the State House Press Corps, who needed to work on the statements, get them.

    To get the work done, Abuah has also severally followed some late night press statements with telephone calls to members of the Press Corps.

    The gathering was also the first time Abuah was being recognized by a sitting President at such a forum.

    At the end of the Presidential Lunch, President Buhari also stood to shake hand and posed for photographs with each of the 88 members of the Press Corps that attended the dinner. About 20 accredited State House correspondents did not attend the lunch.

    Many members of the State House correspondents present were elated by the President’s novel gesture and will not forget the experience in a hurry.

    Like stated above, the Presidential Lunch was the second jinx President Buhari was breaking as far as State House correspondents were concerned. The Lunch also broke a third record being the first time a sitting President will meet the Press Corps twice within a year.

    The first one he broke was his first meeting with State House correspondents on his first working day in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on 22nd of June last year after operating from the Defence House for about three weeks.

    Journalists were not just stunned by President Buhari’s sharp memory about each publisher or owner of any media organization introduced to him at that first meeting, but they could not help but compare him with the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, who did not find time to really fraternize with the group throughout his six years sojourn at the seat of power.

    Like Oliver Twist, majority of the journalists still want President Buhari to find time from his tight schedules to take the new gesture to the next level.

    They are looking forward to a regular interactive session like those held by the President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama with correspondents covering the White House.

    As such meetings, Obama not only fielded questions from the journalists but also expressed a good knowledge of the journalists by calling the journalists by their names and organizations.

    With time, we will definitely get there.

     

    Envy or Rivalry

     

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps last week Monday also had what can be referred to as its bad side.

    It brought to the fore a sort of rivalry or envy from some other workers in the Presidential Villa.

    To digress a bit, some of the other categories of workers at the seat of power apart from the media include protocol staff, security personnel, cooks and stewards, and drivers.

    Some of those workers who were envious of the journalists could not understand what made them special to enjoy such Presidential Lunch when they have not had such privilege.

    Apart from their sadness clearly showing on some of their faces, some of the workers made some unpleasant remarks in low tunes as they served journalists on their tables during the Presidential Lunch.

    Before last week Monday, they were used to having journalists stand or hang around to cover open public functions, but never at the centre of the President’s focus.

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps however ended on a good note that afternoon.

    But some of the envious workers became alarmed when they saw journalists again arriving to attend the Presidential Dinner for National Assembly members on that same Monday night.

    At the dinner, speeches were made by President Buhari and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from which many newspapers published stories the following day. It is important for those workers to know that above every other consideration, journalists’ main role at such function is to get the news for the public.

    Many other happenings even under past administrations have shown the need for a kind of training or workshop to enlighten every category of staff on the roles being played by the various workers in the Villa.

    This, no doubt, will ensure harmony among workers in the Villa and also prevent any kind of rivalry or envy.

    Apart from journalists being the fourth estate of the realm, there is nothing wrong in dedicating and reserving some tables and seats, as the case may be, for journalists covering an open public functions, especially at the big old Banquet Hall of the State House.

    The era where non-journalists take the front seats while journalists stand during press conferences or other media events in any part of the country should be a thing of the past. Journalists should be accorded their deserved respect.

     

  • Govt must bend to stop Nigeria from breaking

    Govt must bend to stop Nigeria from breaking

    Veteran journalist Akogun Tola Adeniyi, in this piece, urges President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the national question to prevent chaos and disintegration

    These are very bad times for Nigeria; food scarcity, empty treasury, mass unemployment, terrible insecurity, and mass discontent and disillusionment.

    But, this is no longer time for blame game or helpless lamentations.

    Buhari inherited a ruined state, but the situation was not particularly different from the US which Obama inherited; a dilapidated US left by the blundering, bungling, brutish and brainless Bush.

    But, Obama quickly set to straighten the economy by pumping money into vital areas of the economy including massive printing of currency [US is notorious for printing her currency to meet shortfalls in critical periods.] Within two years the US economy picked up and hundreds of thousands of jobs were created and consumer confidence was restored.

    Unfortunately for Nigeria, other more dangerous challenges sprang up in droves.

    We are in dire straits: Boko Haram is still very much alive with its murderous guerrilla war fare, the AK47 wielding herdsmen are in murderous rampage across the country, the Delta Avengers are up in arms to destroy whatever is left of the tottering economy, and MASSOB militants are desperate to create a country out of the country at all costs. This is not the time for conventional approach to governance.

    Something serious is happening and something more serious and calamitous is about to happen if serious care is not taken.

    Nigerians should not continue to live in denial and pretend not to know that the house is about to collapse on their heads. It is not time for meaningless and half hearted prayers. If Nigerians want to know, God, or whatever they choose to call the Supreme Essence is tired of Nigeria. The Deity they are all calling upon is fed up with a people who are not appreciative of the enormous blessings thrown at their doorstep.

    Every Nigerian is quick to blame the country’s woes on failure of leadership forgetting to realise and admit that each and every one of us is the leader we are pointing accusing finger at. In our homes, our schools, our neighbourhoods, in our places of work, we are all leaders in varying degrees. And all of us without exceptions have failed woefully to discharge our responsibilities in the little corners where leadership has been thrust upon us. This is perhaps a conversation to be reserved for another day.

    For now, let our President, El-Hadj Muhammadu Buhari, accept the fact that whatever happens to this country in the weeks and months ahead will be what his legacy will be judged by. An immediate solution must be found to the myriad of problems choking this country to near death.

    For this writer, it is the credible possibility of war, bloody war, which will consume this country, tear it into pieces and scatter Nigerians over the whole of Africa and beyond that must be tackled and prevented. The herdsmen terrorising the whole country are enough to provoke a war. The Delta Avengers and their secessionist threats can snowball into a war more devastating than the gruesome Biafra massacre. The MASSOB is already at war except we fail to decipher the signals.

    Can Nigeria afford war at this time? Do we have money, resources and other logistics to prosecute a war? Do we have the stomach for another war having not really completely healed the wounds of the Biafra ghost?

    These are bitter facts we must face even if the Federal Government and Intelligence agencies are living in self denial. Do we have a federal Military like we had pre-1966? Is the Nigerian military not seriously fragmented, factionalised and demoralised? Have the notorious Nigerian politicians not politicised and demystified our military?

    I am not afraid to declare that any multiethnic, multi religious, multi cultural country can be broken into pieces within three weeks by trained strategists. This is a fact borne out by history and experience! Must Nigeria allow that kind of tragedy to befall her?

    I love the size of this country. I wish it can actualise her destiny and remain big and strong. But can it survive under the crushing weight of injustice, inequity, double standards and inequalities? Must and can the over 300 ethnic nationalities remain in a marriage where deficiencies cry to high heavens?

    The federal government must bend to prevent Nigeria from breaking into pieces.

    And what are the steps to take? All the present agitators have one complaint or the other. What are these complaints? Can the complaints be looked into? Or should we continue to sweep the complaints under the carpet? All the agitators have elders in their communities. They have religious leaders and they have their traditional rulers and leaders of thought. Can the federal government as a matter of crucial and critical urgency engage all these traditional institutions in dialogue?

    If people are demanding community policing and state police, is it too difficult to bend a little to accommodate such a demand? If people feel neglected and marginalised, can’t there be immediate steps to take to give some assurance to the agitators? If some agitators genuinely believe that their God-given resources are being stolen and recklessly misappropriated by outsiders, is there nothing the government can do immediately to rectify such ills? If the flaws in the Constitution must be removed, can they not be removed? If fiscal federalism or outright confederation will solve all these nagging problems can’t we set the machinery of implementation in motion?

    A leader is not assessed by what he or she achieves in peace time. True test of leadership is the accomplishment in very difficult times.

    President Buhari should assemble leaders of thought across the country immediately and commence strategic dialogue at dousing the fire about to engulf this country. Call a meeting of traditional rulers. Call a meeting of professionals and the academia. Invite business and industrial moguls who can be turned into refugees at the twinkle of an eye to a round table in Abuja. What can save this country currently on the precipice is not gun fire but calculated diplomacy and appeasement.

    If anybody thinks that fire for fire will stop those who are not afraid to die, such a person does not wish this country well. Any war entered into today may drag for longer than 5 years with its all embracing calamities.

    Nigeria of today is quite different from Nigeria of 1966. The world has changed. Technology and telecommunications have redefined the world. Whoever believes that the method of 1966 is the method required to solve the problems of this computer age must be living in a fool’s paradise.

     

     

    Nigerians may appear too preoccupied with their unpaid salaries and too hungry to worry about tomorrow but the greater calamity that war would bring on their heads should be a more serious concern for worry.

     

  • Breaking the yoke

    In this era of change, Nigerians are only interested in seeing things work. They are not ready to listen to excuses on why things cannot work.

    What the people desire is a Nigeria where things are done accordingly. A Nigeria where public utilities work. They want to turn their taps and see water gushing; they want to press the switch and see the light come on; they want to get to the bank and be able to withdraw money from their domiciliary accounts and they want to get to the filling stations and get fuel to buy with ease.

    These are a given in other countries; so they wonder why things cannot work here as they do over there.

    Greatness does not come cheap; it entails hard work and a sense of urgency, especially for a country like ours, where things have gone bad for years.  In this era of change, we must shed the toga of defeatism and reach out for the skies.

    Who says we cannot achieve round-the-clock power supply? Who says our hospitals cannot compare with the best in the world? Who says we cannot have all-year-round fuel supply? Until now, fuel supply was a perennial problem. Motorists drove round town in search of petrol, while husbands, wives and children heaved jerrycans about town looking for petrol, diesel or kerosine. It was a stressful and distressing thing. A land so blessed with oil, yet its citizens cannot get fuel to buy.

    The story has started to change. Motorists can now drive in and out of filling stations to buy petrol within seconds. It is not an easy task, but with determination and zeal, Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, Managing Director of Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), has been quietly working to ensure that fuel is available in every filling station across the country. Nnamdi-Ogbue assumed office some five months ago in the heat of marketers’ demand for payment of fuel subsidy.

    For long, marketers have held the nation to ransom with their demand for subsidy payment without anything to show that they actually imported fuel. This is why many believe that subsidy is a huge fraud. The major marketers allowed themselves to be so tarred because they believe more in making subsidy claims than ensuring availability of petroleum products.

    If not for PPMC, the nation would have been grounded by marketers during the Yuletide. They refused to import fuel, insisting on the payment of their outstanding subsidy claims. Even after the payment of the over N500 billion subsidy, they still refused to import fuel. It was the ‘’marketer of last resort’’, to borrow Nnamdi-Ogbue’s word, that moved in to save the day. Nnamdi-Ogbue has proved that she is equal to the task, but she should not rest on her oars. She has to sustain what we are enjoying now – availability of fuel.

    And much more than that she has to also consider how to make  the ‘poor man’ specific product, kerosine,  available to the masses,  and at affordable price too. As a nation, we cannot leave the whole business to marketers otherwise the poor will continue to suffer. Not too long ago, some marketers were thumping their chests for selling kerosine for N50 per litre. Of course, their outlets were jampacked by longsuffering Nigerians eager to get the product at that cheap price. It was all political noise. Today, these outlets are selling kerosine for over N100 per litre, which is higher than the pump price of petrol.

    Nnamdi-Ogbue knows that she heads a government agency from which the people will always expect succour anytime they feel shortchanged by major and independent marketers. Within a short time in office, she has identified where the major problem lies – pipeline vandalism. With a N50billion loss to vandals in nine months last year, she knows that they must be stopped before they cripple her company.

    Stating the importance of pipelines to PPMC’s job, Nnamdi-Ogbue was reported as saying : ‘’We don’t have to converge on Apapa, we can now go to Kaduna, Kano and Makurdi. We will now have different depots from where we can easily truck out and the more efficient way is to go to the nearest depots, to states that you are supposed to service…The Makurdi-Yola pipeline has not worked in the last 10 years due to vandalism. And those are the pipelines that must be reactivated because with their reactivation, it reduces the challenges of distribution as it becomes more efficient for us in the distribution of products. We are not putting up our hands in the air and saying that there is nothing we can do because we are doing everything within our powers to make sure that these issues are sorted out and that started with the Mosimi-Atlas Cove satellite and then we have moved towards Ibadan’’.

    The public must help her to win the anti-vandalism war. If we refuse to discharge our responsibilities as citizens, how then do we expect PPMC to fulfil its obligation to us? What the PPMC chief said about vandals’ activities is instructive here. ‘’We have had the joint task force to monitor the pipelines, but they have not been as efficient as we expected and so what we have done is to get private persons and called in contractors to secure the pipelines for us and that has yielded results.

    ‘’I remember that on the first Saturday that we got private contractors on the Mosimi System 2B, that same night vandals were caught for the first time in a long time. We are also working very intensely on the Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu line’’, she said.

    Will she break the yoke of perennial fuel scarcity? Nigerians cannot wait for her to do just that.

     

     

  • Breaking the Muslim chord of unity

    Breaking the Muslim chord of unity

    When a matter of trust is kept in the custody of an untrustworthy person, expect the end of time”.

    Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

     

    Preamble

    If anything is called Satan, and that diabolical entity truly lives in the midst of humans, Nigeria must be his abode. As a mysterious entity, Satan may not be physically perceived but his shadow is evidently vivid in the evil machination generally called politics. And the elements in the society often called politicians are his undeniable agents.

    Politics is like infectious leprosy. Any contact it makes with human fingers will surely render those fingers ineffective with contagious implication. The evil of politics in any given society is like the slough of a snake which has no life of its own but scares the people around with its empty appearance.

    Since her independence in 1960, Nigeria has hardly experienced any calamity that did not emanated from politics. Thus, like the Island of Ithaca of yore in Greek mythology, Nigeria harbours a sphinx today that poses unanswerable question to her citizens. And any individual or group that fails to answer the question correctly may be instantly devoured by the mythological sphinx.

     

    Paradoxical Odyssey

    Today, Nigeria has become a paradoxical odyssey on which the only ferrying vessel is politics. And the driving engine of that vessel is money which seems to be the main determinant of individuals’ Hell or Heaven on earth. We are now in an era when the source of money no longer matters as much as money itself. What really matters today is not how decent you are as a person but how rich no matter the source.

    In a nutshell, a rich rogue is by far more relevant and more important in Nigerian society than a poor gentleman. As a matter of fact, there is no gentlemanliness without money. The size of your purse determines the status by which you are recognised in the society. And that is the new definition of pedigree.

    It is not surprising therefore that men and women of letters as well as high caliber professionals are now struggling to become servants to mere nonentities who by hook or crook have stuck the opportunity to occupy public positions in a clueless government and thereby control a treasury. The world has changed so much that the same money which used to serve man in the past is now the master that man serves with relish. In the face of money, conscience has become a lost paradise that no one seeks again. And with its disappearance, human dignity has also become an old wife’s tale. Whither Nigeria’s tomorrow in this?

    In the wilderness of avarice and aggrandisement imposed by money, Nigerians of today have lost the culture of dignity highly cherished by Nigerians of yesterday and there is no sense of nostalgia for it.

    In solo and chorus, the song of this era is ‘STOMACH INFRASTRUCTURE’.

    When a hopeful country finds itself in this kind of situation she quickly resorts to the last bastion for solution. The last bastion in the case of Nigeria is religion which is supposed to be the first estate of the realm. But can there be religion without clerics? Where are the clerics in Nigeria? That is the indication that Nigeria, as of now, is a hopeless country.

     

    Sailors without compass

    The so-called clerics in both Islam and Christianity in Nigeria today are like sailors on a strenuous voyage who have lost the compass that guides  them through the waves of water while their congregational passengers continue to pray fervently for safety on a turbulent ocean.

    To them (the clerics) religion is no longer the path to salvation but a means to material wealth even as they have relegated morality to the background.

    Here is a country where clerics do not only preach material prosperity but also live in stupendous affluence in the midst of their wretched congregations. Here is a country in which clerics are either known for trafficking in drugs or gun running or patronage contract for supply of ammunition to the government as in the notorious episode of a recent South Africa mission that ended up in a fiasco or even for taking bribe from the government as in the case of alleged N7 billion that caused wild brouhaha in Nigeria recently. Here is a country where neither conscience nor morality has a role to play in religion any more as the so-called clerics have banished both and thus become not just accomplices of political rogues but also their dogs.

     

    Meetings without agenda

    As a result of self-denigration by these clerics, the government has turned them into a willing tool in the game of political machinations to the benefit of the political gladiators. And in their desperate search for votes in recent times, the politicians have consistently chased the clerics around with money knowing very well that nothing remains of religion these days in Nigeria beyond money for which the so-called clerics will fall anybody.

    Just this week, a stone was deliberately thrown into the serene brook of Nigeria’s Southwest Muslims by politicians with the intention of causing implacable ripples in that brook. A clandestine meeting of the League of Imams and Alfas was initiated by the presidency and scheduled to take place in Akure, Ondo State last Monday. The agenda of the meeting was not disclosed but its timeliness and manner of mobilisation clearly suggested its undisclosed purpose.

    A similar clandestine meeting had earlier been arranged for Lagos penultimate week by the same Presidency which was botched by the region’s Muslim leadership for fear of being politically blackmailed.

    Yet another clandestine meeting was initiated also by the Presidency this time with the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) which was scheduled for the Presidential Villa in Abuja. This is yet to take place as the arrow head and chief mobiliser for the meeting is finding a brick wall on the assignment. The Nigerian media has widely reported these clandestine moves by the government with the headline that read thus: ‘Meeting: Yoruba Muslims Snub Presidency Again’.

     

    Media report

    Here is how the media reported the incident: “Yoruba Muslim clerical leaders under the aegis of the League of Imams and Alfas have snubbed the Presidency over an invitation to them for a meeting that was apparently meant to lure them into endorsing the joint ticket of a particular party (Jonathan/Sambo ticket) in the forthcoming presidential election.

    The meeting in which Vice-President Muhammad Namadi Sambo was to represent his boss was earlier scheduled for last Monday in Akure, Ondo State but had to be shifted to last Wednesday in the same state for lack of adequate mobilisation.

    Learning from the experience of their Christian counterparts who were recently enmeshed in a controversial N7 billion scandal that has caused a crack among Nigerian Christians, the leadership of the League of Imams and Alfas in the six Southwest states plus Edo and Delta decided not to be involved in an embarrassing meeting that could cause a crack in the rank of the Muslim Ummah.

    A similar meeting earlier arranged with Yoruba Muslim leaders and fixed for Lagos by the Presidency recently was equally aborted for the same reason cited by the League of Imams and Alfas just a day before it was to come up.

    Our reporter’s investigation revealed that the leaders of the League contacted one another and resolved not to be part of any meeting with any political group or individuals at this time to maintain their neutrality as worthy clerics.

    The Akure meeting said to be coordinated by the Chief Imam of Owo, Sheikh Ahmad Aladesawe, who incidentally, is the current Secretary-General of the league. He (Aladesawe) was said to be passionately involved in mobilising his colleagues in the league might for the meeting which ended up in a fiasco.

    Besides Imam Aladesawe, some other Imams who flouted the decision of the League and attended the meeting for a seeming personal gain were the Chief Imam of Osogbo, Alhaji Rabiu Animasaun and the Chief Imam of Ekiti, Alhaji Bello Keulere. The few others who claimed to have attended the meeting as Imams were quite peripheral and not prominent at all in the league.

    From Ibadan, Lagos, Markaz, Agege, Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode, Osogbo, Ilaro, Ado Ekiti, and Auchi as well as other major cities of the region, the common question on the lips of the Imams was “why now?

    Following the failure of the Lagos meeting, the Presidency, in a bid to break the ranks of the Yoruba Muslim Ummah, embarked on an alternative meeting with the League of Imams and Alfas and another with the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN).

    The President of MSSN, Alhaji Sirajudeen Abdul Azeez, who volunteered to mobilise the leaders of the group for the meeting with the Presidency, despite a resolution at a recent leadership meeting in Akure, Ondo State, not to attend any such controversial meeting could be said to be acting on his own.

    Reflecting on the repercussion of such controversial action, the leadership of MSSN resolved to disown any such meeting at this politically volatile period and warned that nobody should use the name of the group for any selfish political gain.

    No particular date has been fixed for the Presidency’s purported meeting with the leadership of MSSN but inside information suggested that is supposed meeting would come up at the Presidential Villa in Abuja before the Presidential election on March 28, 2015″.

     

    MUSWEN’s Communiqué

    Meanwhile, the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN) has called on the Muslims in the region to once again pray congregationally for peace in Nigeria as the 2015 general elections approach.

    The apex body of all Muslim organisations in the region made the call in a communiqué issued at the end of a three- day retreat that was held between 13th and 15th of March, 2015 at the Wale Babalakin Estate in Gbongan, Osun State. The communiqué was signed by its executive secretary, Prof. Dawud Noibi.

    MUSWEN specifically slated Sunday, March 22, 2015 for the prescribed prayers that are expected to hold at the Eid praying grounds or local Mosques in every town within the region.

    Quoting the Prophetic Hadith that classifies prayers is the weapon of the Muslims the Organisation implored the Muslims not to relent in offering prayers especially at this precarious time of the nation’s history.

    MUSWEN however decried the lukewarm attitude of the Southwest Muslims to the institution of Zakah, saying the consequences of such attitude are very detrimental to the propagation and progress of Islam in the region.

    Leaders of prominent Muslim Organisations from Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Osun states, who participated in the retreat said the necessity for prayers by Muslims was most apt this given the prevailing cloudy political atmosphere in the horizon.

    The Apex Islamic body in the Southwest also stressed the need for unity of Muslims in line with the mission and vision of the Organisation stressing that without unity there could be no progress.

    In another vein, the Organisation frowned at the lopsidedness in the federal appointments to political offices from the Zone, saying such appointments clearly put the Southwest Muslims at a great disadvantage and paved the way for unnecessary suspicion.

    It therefore called for equity, fairness and justice by the Federal government in its treatment for the people of the zone irrespective of their religious inclinations.

    Prominent among the Muslim personalities who attended the retreat were Alhaji Najeem Awodele, Professor Is-haq  Oloyede, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Justice Abdul Fatah Adeyinka, a retired Chief Judge of Lagos State, Alhaja Latifah Okunnu, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sekinat Adekola, the Iya Adini of Yorubaland and Dr. Jubril Oyekan.

    Delegates at the retreat also paid a courtesy call on Justice Bola Babalakin (Rtd), the former acting President of MUSWEN in his Gbongan country home.

    Members also prayed for the repose of some of its late founders such as Prof. Aliu Fafunwa, (Pioneer President), Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola- Alao, Dr AbduLateef Adegbite and Sheikh Sadrudeen Biobaku.

    The theme of the retreat was ‘MUSWEN: SUSTAINING THE MOMENTUM’.

  • Dickson: Breaking Bayelsa’s  re- election jinx

    Dickson: Breaking Bayelsa’s  re- election jinx

    Bayelsa, a state with about two million populations, equivalent to countries like Botswana and Mali does not need introduction. It occupies a very strategic spot in the geo-political equation in the Nigerian configuration. Those who may underestimate the state or take its tiny population for granted may receive a shocker, given the relics of its historical struggle, right from the days of the early resistance movement against colonial incursion to the days of twelve days Isaac Adaka Boro, down to the recent activities of militancy have remained an interesting feature of the people.

    So the question of expressing surprise at the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as president of Nigeria and the longest democracy in Africa should not arise.

    Despite the sophisticated and republican nature of its politics, one thing you cannot take away from them is the unity of purpose they have displayed over their son’s administration, President Jonathan.

    They would not need the biblical Balm of Gilead to heal its differences, once a common interest is placed on the table.

    So you don’t need to be told by a spiritual surgeon or wear a military binocular to view the corporate unity the Ijaw people have weaved around President Jonathan.

    However, back to the Local Politics of the state, it is a tale of intrigues, not different from the Nigeria politics of who takes over and who gets what and where.

    One common feature about the state is the politics of re-election of governor of the state. It is always characterized by high-wire intrigues and blackmail erected against the incumbent.

    Interestingly, opposition parties are not the real problem of re-election, rather the problem always lie within the rank and file of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party that have been in the saddle of governance since the restoration of democracy in 1999.

    Contrary to what is obtainable in advanced democracies where the incumbent enjoys the benefit of first in the line up, in Bayelsa State re-election of any incumbent within the ruling party is like a Carmel passing through the eye of a needle.

    For instance, when the first democratically elected governor of the state Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha sought for re-election in 2003, he was almost over ran by the powers that be.

    If Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha will be frank about what he went through, one will doubt if he would allow an incumbent governor who will later become his colleague in the league of former governors to be subjected to what he passed through in the very hand of his own political party.

    When Chief Alamieyeseigha was eventually re-elected, he was impeached two years into his second tenure in 2005.

    Given the huge resources wasted on lobbying party officials during the re-election bid and the attempt to ward-off political foes and detractors, it becomes a nightmare that one will not allow it to visit the worst enemy.

    When Dr. Goodluck Jonathan eventually took over the baton of governance following the impeachment and exit of Chief Alamieyeseigha, the then governor Jonathan, now president was faced with the reality of seeking elective position of governor in 2006 and 2007.

    Though he got the ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party the harrowing experience he had will remain evergreen in his memory. To the glory of God, Dr. Jonathan was nominated and elevated as vice presidential candidate to the late Musa President Yar’ Adua.

    Only recent, former governor Timipre Sylva who was seeking re-election could not realize it. He has his own story to tell.

    Vast majority of the people of the state are wondering whether it is a spell on the state.

    The common denominator that everyone seems to point at is poor performance on the part of the governors and politics of mischief and greed on the part of the citizens.

    From which ever side of the coins you view the problem, one indisputable fact steering at the faces of Bayelsans is that resources which would have been used for the general uplift of the people are being wasted on frivolities and politics of vendetta and that of re-election.

    Certainly, you do not need a professor of mathematics to compute the huge resources wasted on re-election bid.

    The question that is begging for answer is why can’t the people of Bayelsa state, for once avoid this worn out path, come together and give the incumbent governor the benefit of doubt to continue particularly when there are concrete indices of performance.

    Why can’t we break this jinx which has become more or less a spell as some people may assume?

    The answer is simple. We cannot afford the luxury to waste our scarce resources in fighting ourselves.

    This is where the people of Bayelsa State must view any attempt by governor Henry Seriake Dickson to seek re-election as a golden opportunity to break the jinx associated with re-election.

    It is a sad commentary that huge resources that could have fixed several critical sectors in the state have been wasted on electoral matters of re-election.

    The Peoples Democratic Party should as a matter of fact take stock of the transformation taking place under the administration of governor Dickson.

    If performance index is a yard stick to measure re-election; then a peep into the performance profile of governor Dickson does not require any further debate in the state.

    For example, in the area of education, when governor Dickson came on board, the education sector was in a state of comatose. The indices in terms of enrolment in schools and performance in the WAEC (NECO/JAMB was not a cheering news and in fact a serious concern.

    Infrastructure in schools were in a state of dilapidation, lack of sitting desks, ill motivated and poorly trained teachers.

    It was so embarrassing that in some schools in the rural areas; only one teacher served as headmaster and same time the teacher.

    Moreover, the governor was not comfortable in placement of the state in the bracket of educationally less developed state, a tag that we have been hearing over 17 years ago when the state was created.

    It was against this background, when the governor Dickson declared a state of emergency in the area of education, it was greeted with general applause.

    Governor Dickson, who is popularly described by many in the state as “Talk na do governor which literarily means “Action Governor”, swung into action.

    This is what Dennis Alemu surmised, as “The sturdy political will to entrench functional education delivery in Bayelsa state has become an article of faith in the restoration project”.

    The government commenced the building and equipping of schools, engaging qualified teachers backed by training and retraining of the teachers, provision of educational inputs such as laboratories, libraries, ICT halls, among others to enhance learning.

    Apart from sending thousands of Bayelsa State students to pursue foreign programmes in undergraduates and graduate studies, the government has set aside N7 billion naira for this purpose.

    So far, 400 schools have either being built or comprehensively renovated. Model boarding schools have been built in all the three senatorial districts of the state.

    Also, within a short period he took over as governor, several courses at the state owned Niger Delta University that were unaccredited have been accredited by the national university commission based on the life-line the governor provided for the school.

    In the few years to come, Bayelsa state will come top in terms of human capital development.

    In other areas of infrastructural development the governor has endeared himself to the people through people oriented projects like the first ever flyover built in the state. In the health sector there is massive rehabilitation of hospitals across the state. In the business hospitality, government is doing everything possible to make Bayelsa state a tourism destination by accelerating the construction and completion of the only five star hotel in the Yenagoa metropolis.

    A visitor to the state who expressed delight at the unprecedented spate of development said, “Bayelsa is wearing a look indeed, an evidence of a serious government at work”

    With these starling performance for just barely over two years deserve the commendation of all the good people of Bayelsa state not minding the political divide.

    This uncommon government of restoration is a pride to the ruling PDP and indeed a beautiful bride to market at any election.

    Therefore, any right thinking Bayelsa man or woman who has the development of the state at heart should rally round the governor and shun negative and despicable acts that would draw back the hand of development that had already been set on the desk.

    Any body acting contrary to this should be treated as enemy number one of the state, a state that had suffered several development set backs as a result of politics of bitterness.

    The governor on its part should not rest on its oars and resist the temptations of praise singers and concentrate on taking the state to the promise land.

  • Klose focused on final after breaking record

    Veteran striker Miroslav Klose refused to dwell on his record-breaking feat after Germany advanced to the FIFA World Cup final.

    Klose became the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history as Germany stormed into the tournament decider courtesy of a stunning 7-1 rout of Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday – the host nation’s first loss on home soil since 1975.

    Five of Germany’s seven goals came during the opening half-hour and Klose found himself on the scoresheet in that period, converting his own rebound in the 23rd minute to take his tally to 16 goals – surpassing Brazil’s Ronaldo, who had held the previous record of 15 since 2006.

    While the 36-year-old German dedicated the achievement to his family in a post-game interview with Sky Sports Italia, he was quick to turn his attention to Sunday’s final in Rio de Janeiro, with Germany aiming to win a fourth World Cup.

    “To whom I dedicate my goal? For my children, my family,” he said.

    “I’m happy for this record, for having exceeded Ronaldo, but for me it is increasingly important to the team.

    “Now we want to win the final. Holland or Argentina? I have no preference. They’re good.”