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Tag: change

  • The change we need

    Revolutions can open new chapters in the history of a people. But sometimes these chapters could be far more horrid than the events which instigated them. It could inspire a fresh hope in a nation’s quest for freedom. But it could equally plunge a society into the nadir of despair. Consider this. In 2011, the world woke up to the uprising that swept across the Maghreb. Optimism trumped faith and the moment bore the halo of the 1989 anti-communist revolution that sprang up in Eastern Europe. But the emergence of Arab Winter barely four years after these demonstrations reveals the narrow ducts of evolutions; just how a people’s quest for freedom turns out as their own undoing.

    Now, check Muhammed Morsi’s botch in Egypt. Consider the democratic recession in Tunisia and the tribal war that roils in Libya. Contemplate Syrian civil turmoil and the gripping crunch in Yemen. It leaves one with a single conclusion: society just doesn’t change except the preluding values give way for new, bold ideals. And real change itself is never a stand-alone; it requires a granite slab to sustain its grip on society. It is one that requires unusual sacrifice to turn an ugly page; to shine the light in a world badgered by the claws of darkness.

    As political campaigns soak the atmosphere, the All Progressives Congress (APC) pledges change. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chants the transformation mantra. Both parties feed us with promises of a brighter future; one flowing with milk and honey. The APC woos us with their socialist agenda. The PDP predictably feeds us with facts and figures of how they have transformed Nigeria in the past six years. But as G.K. Chesterton noted in his classic Appetite of tyranny, facts are not the whole truth. And it would be hard to imagine if what has transpired in Nigeria these years can be assuredly referred to as transformation. So we would require a new sort of change; one that banishes our quotidian darkness, one we can believe in.

    We need a change that has the nerve to dismantle what Lebanese scholar, Gilbert Achcar, described as the “deep state” personified by chronic corruption and misrule; two unfortunate legacies successive governments usually hand over to the next generation. This task calls for the audacity to bring the hammer down on anyone who soils his palms with the grease of graft; be it friend or foe, powerful or weak. Nations like Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and Finland have shown us just how to quash the embers of sleaze and re-adjust the clock for society to blossom. We too can.

    We need a change that would not tolerate the barefaced abuse of people’s freedoms; their right to life, their right to dream, their freedom to tap the wealth in caves and oceans’ depths.  We do not imagine a change that indulges in vain revelry while hundreds of our girls are left to gnash their teeth for a crime they know nothing about. We do not need a change that barks without the brawn to bite. Or the sort of transformation that tones down the gravity of human plunder and carnage perpetrated by a senseless sect. We require change with empathy for those fellows teetering at the mercy of these foul extremists. “To see and listen to the wicked,” warned Confucius, “is already the beginning of wickedness.”

    We need a change that would proffer bold solutions to the ordeal of power in the country. South Africa, Angola and Ethiopia’s bold strides have doused the cynicism of anyone who sees power generation as rocket science. We can tap our space, our coals, our oceans and the wind to light up a gloomy nation. If we do that, the real sector bubbles. And economic evolution takes full swing. We could take a cue from the miracle of Chile and Lee Kuan Yew’s sheer magic in Singapore. We too can rewrite our own history, not in the flowery tang of campaign promises but in duteous execution of our social contract with the Nigerian people.

    We need a change that would deepen our understanding of faith; one that teaches tolerance, empathy and the separation of church from the state. For centuries, Europe’s political machinery was married to the church and government policies were only sputum spewed out of the mouths of prelates. That is why Martin Luther articulated the doctrine of two kingdoms and 18th century Enlightenment philosophers like Voltaire and Montesquieu lampooned the curious union of the church and state. In Nigeria, we have seen spells of undue incursion by clerics whose intent and actions clearly put a damper on the veracity of their gospel. We need change that would build a Nigeria for all; for those who worship the oceans as well as those who trail the direction of the sun.

    As Nigerians decide in the most divided election in the nation’s history on Saturday, we will have to choose between freedom and servitude; between waste and fiscal discipline, between change and a stoic acceptance of the ugly pages of our lives. “Stepping into a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation,” crooned poetry goddess, Maya Angelou. The ballot can create or ruin a nation’s future. Let it create ours.

     

    Gilbert, a blogger and youth entrepreneur, writes from Lagos

     

  • ‘Why Nigerians should vote for change’

    ‘Why Nigerians should vote for change’

    A social critic, Peter Kolade, reflects on the general elections and adduces reasons for the quest for change at the centre.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that it is the biggest political party in Africa and that it will rule Nigeria for 50 years. Other leaders boasted 100 years. Why not? From the first general election in this democratic dispensation in 1999 to the last one in 2011, PDP won all the presidential elections, won most governorship seats, has been controlling the two arms of the National Assembly and has held sway in many House of Assembly than any other political party. However, the on-going climate of change has begun to alter the political landscape. So those statistics may be rooted on shaky grounds now.

    The ruling party owes itsawesome strength to its dominance of the political arena while fragments of the opposition were speaking in discordant notes. The All  People’sParty, APP that fielded Buhariin the 2003 presidential election, the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP that chose him as its presidential candidate in the 2007 election and the Congress for Progressives Change, CPC that made him its presidential flag bearer in 2011 were all parties that did not control enough spread to pose serious challenge to PDP. And so OlusegunObasanjo, UmaruYar’Adua and now Goodluck Jonathan just left Buhari in the lurch and won the presidential races in quick succession. Even the Alliance for Democracy, AD, later known as ACN and the rest could only scratch the surface and left PDP in virtual absolute control of machinery of Federal government and many state governments.

    So, under such circumstances, why should anyone except PDP to be modest when its handlers were engaged in perpetual dance at the seats of political power in Nigeria. As someone crudely puts it “If na you nko?” meaning if you had found yourself in such a position, what would you have done?

    The problem with that kind of overconfidence is that the PDP became complacent. Its slogan, PDP! POWER!! became so resonant that nobody knew if the other parties had a slogan to match that one. It is even worse that while the likes of Obasanjowho was brisk but sometimes brash and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who appeared to be trustworthy and even declared his assets publicly, created a semblance of governance, Goodluck Jonathan fell in love with the paraphernalia of the office of President. He has been evasive while his wife Dame Patience was vocal and quite visible sometimes to the extent of being the alternate president of Nigeria but for the constitution that did not really assign her any role in government. For the duo, power has been ‘sweet’ and they have spent the last six years or so just enjoying it.

    There has been public outrage about pandemic corruption in government with culprits of corruption walking around with so much air of freedom. Monumental contracts were awarded for infrastructural development all over the country. Only the President can tell the nation how often he visited the sites of those projects and whether or not he is satisfied with the progress of work. Certainly official briefs prepared for him on the contracts would always belly the facts while his ministers would like to tell him what he wants to hear.

    Like Babatunde Fashola, the governor of Lagos State recently asked: “Where are the 25,000 kilometres of roads that President Goodluck Jonathan said that his government had constructed across the country?”Honestly, if such achievement has been recorded, it is doubtful if the major highways in the country would still have ordinary potholes.

    Impunity reigned and the confidence of the people in their government waned The many attrocities of PDP’s domination of governance in Nigeria will fill volumes of books.

    However, there came a time when many of the opposition parties decided to fuse under a single banner. Incidentally BamangaTukur was the Chairman of PDP at that time. He dismissed the fusion of ANPP, CPC, APGA, ACN and others as “ordinary gang up that won’t affect the electoral fortunes of PDP.” Many political soothsayers, fortune tellers, practising marabouts and analysts of Nigeria’s political scene found a common tent to gather and dismiss the All Progressives Alliance, APC as a none starter. It was jocularity predicted that the alliance would crumble as early as it was formed.

    For nearly two years, a group that called itself Transformation Agent of Nigeria reeled out scripts dressed with audio visuals and told Nigerians that Goodluck  Jonathan was transforming Nigeria. While the propaganda went on in a frenzy APC spent time consolidating itself. As the saying goes, nobody can delay the sunset. So time was ticking away until the 2015 general election stared everyone in the face.

    All the predictions about the disintegration of the opposition have not come to pass. The achievements that Jonathan said he had recorded cannot justify the amount of resources that had been ‘poured’ on them. Many projects have not left the drawing board; yet a good number have been abandoned and what is more the ones going on are at best work in slow progress. No wonder the glib presentations that the President gives to explain his non-really-enviable scorecards whenever he engages the media!

    The other day, a group of people was watching the news on one of the TV channels and the President came on air to say that the nation was winning the war against terror. The chorus that greeted his remarks was: “We have heard that before.”

    It is the lacklustre image of the President and his inability to deliver on the promises he made to the electorate in 2011 that have become his nemesis. That is what has also tossed up APC as a viable alternative now and General MuhammaduBuhari, the man with the pedigree that can turn the nation back from the cliff hanger which is where the country is now. In addition, PDP is going into this election as a weakened imperial army.A good number of its ‘generals’ are now in APC and there are others who are still in the party but working against the party. Add that to a despondent electorate and you will know why the clamour for change is being echoed everywhere now.

    It is hoped that PDP that is ill-prepared for defeat will allow the will of the people to determine the outcome of the election and the party should take solace in the fact that 16 years in power is a period long in enough for one party to reign supreme. If change is inevitable now, so be it. Parties come, parties go, Nigeria should remain intact. That will lend credence to our democracy!

  • Hope, as change beckons

    SIR: To begin with, not even my NOKIA charger seems to be working under this administration. Nigerian polity has always been a subject of ridicule within and beyond. Nigeria is a country where the plight of the masses are downplayed for partisan and sectional interests: It is a country where the divide between the rich and poor is immeasurable: Our dear Nigeria is one where President Goodluck Jonathan views internal problems as trash while external problem becomes his focal agenda. Indeed, nothing seems to count for now but our mandate surely would, come March 28.

    Nigerians have a way of addressing issues that leaves me wondering and pondering if I’m a citizen of this country. There is a beginning and end to everything and as such, the end of this trait has surfaced and should be laid to rest with urgency. We all have a duty to our fatherland and it is not by being regional, partisan or hiding under the pretext of religious and cultural unity that should abet us. Such would not but our collective unity of purpose. It is about time we understood that the office of the president is imperative and greater than its occupant.

    The average Nigerian man cannot go about his business without giving thoughts to security threats. The educational system is in shambles while the power sector is wide off the mark. Our roads are but accident traps and the hospitals appear to be sicker than sick patients. The list just goes on and on. Nigeria is on a fast lane to total collapse under this administration. Virtually every sector with little exception fidgets, due to mismanagement, like a helpless titanic ship.

    Nothing seems to work. Our beloved president continue to sing the melodious story of his poor upbringing to a point one would actually begin to wonder if he ever wore shoes during his university days.

    As if matters were not worst, the president has the effrontery of stepping into Maiduguri in pursuit of his bid for re-election despite having massively failed parents whose children remain in the company of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.

    One striking quality about Jonathan is the perfection of lip service. He talks as if the task before him is close to completion when the blueprint has not actually been drawn. This is not the kind of leader we desire. If 2011 was a year to vote for someone young with a seemingly bright future to steer the country towards development, indeed we had made a collective mistake. This is the chance to correct it by voting this president out of power.

    I therefore call on all Nigerians to display sagacity in their choice for the next president. We should remember the fact that even though our existence as citizens does not count to the incumbent administration, we have been endowed with the opportunity to send them parking. Our mandate surely counts albeit in a free and fair election. We are tired of endless kaput promises. We are tired of an administration that gives thumbs up to criminals and offer them official protection. Come March 28, we shall march to install the right man at the helm of affairs, as it would mark the beginning of a new dawn. We are massively motivated by the need to build a society enriched with bright hope for the future generation and devoid of endorsed social vices by the people currently at the helm of affairs. Change we must seek for.

     

    • Yahaya Ibrahim

    Minna

  • Why change is inevitable

    SIR: If you have been following recent happenings in our polity objectively as it concerns the general elections in the past three months, you will understand it is now clear to the discerning, obvious to the dissenting and acceptable to the pragmatic that change has become inevitable in our polity.

    Rewind back to 2011 presidential election, we were so carried away by the circumstances surrounding President Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence that we ignored many things and forgot to ask necessary questions. He gathered all the sympathy, popularity and attention through his “I had no shoes while growing up” quote. Thinking he’s the Moses of our time, people defied ethnic and religious affiliations to vote and ensure he emerged president.

    Fast forward to 2015 presidential election; every thing has changed. The once trusted and popular Jonathan had become the rejected stone. It is an irony that same process that ensured the emergence of a younger president in 2011 is same process that has kept him on the verge of losing the 2015 presidential election.

    President Jonathan has shown little willingness to tackle corruption. He identifies with the corrupt and presides over a government that embezzle public funds with reckless abandon. After much criticism of his government, the president in an attempt to demystify corruption made a political gaffe: “What is being referred to as corruption is common stealing”.

    Right now our nation is hemorraging from all sides, the bleeding is imminent and inevitable, with the daily decline in our economy, there hardly seem to be anyone who is not feeling the economic hardship this government has reduced us to.

    Many unfulfilled campaign promises of the ruling government have contributed to this inevitable change. The fact that Nigeria is yet to generate more than 4000 mega watts of electricity after expending billions of dollars in four years in the power sector is beyond comprehension.

    Until recently, security is near zero with insecurity and insurgency taking a lead in wanton killings and destruction of lives and properties in the North East.

    With its little and infinitesimal performance, the attack dogs of the ruling government have been obfuscating in defence that President Jonathan in the last six years has performed more than all our past rulers.

    They pretend not to know that under President Jonathan, Nigeria has generated more funds per annum from the sale of crude oil alone in the past six years than we have made in the past years.

    It is saddening that nations of equal promise have left Nigeria in its elementary level while at different levels of advanced development, hence the need for a change of government.

    The opposition APC may have its flaws but as the Economist aptly puts it, “Sometimes there are no good options… a former dictator is a better choice than a failed president”.

    Nigerians will make change possible come March 28 and we will be happy again. The words of U.S President Barack Obama comes to mind here: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek”.

    • Joe Onwukeme,

     Enugu

  • When Ekiti joined the change chorus

    When Ekiti joined the change chorus

    The campaign train of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, rolled into Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, where the standard bearer unfolded his plan for the people. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA writes on what transpired before, during and after the rally.

    It was a rally that shook Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, to its foundation. The crowd was unprecedented. The young, the old and the aged were there. The organisation was excellent and the rally itself exhilarating. Few days after it was held, it was still being talked about as one of the best political rallies ever held in the state.

    This was the setting last Saturday, when the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign rally was held. The rally provided the opportunity for the party’s presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to canvass for votes.

    Incidentally, it was Buhari who commissioned the venue of the rally, the Ekiti Parapo Square, one of the legacy projects of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi administration in October shortly before the administration’s tenure expired.

    The excitement generated by the rally could be felt as early as 7.00 am when vehicles conveying broom-waving party enthusiasts were seen moving in the direction of the venue.

    The rally was the talk-of-the-town at various junctions and news stands in Ado and nearby Ikere, as residents engaged themselves in analysis of how the event would go.

    But, there were apprehensions in some quarters few days before the rally following attacks on APC targets by those suspected to be agents of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The state secretariat of the APC was attacked Wednesday preceding the rally. The homes of some leading lights of the party were also attacked.

    Fears were further heightened by alleged plan of Governor Ayo Fayose to hold a rally at Fajuyi Park, which is a major artery to Secretariat Road that leads to Ekiti Parapo Square where the APC rally was scheduled to hold the same day.

    APC members are yet to stop celebrating the success of the rally, despite alleged moves by the powers that be to frustrate it.

    The Nation learnt that it was the intervention of the highest echelon of security agencies that saved the state from being thrown into chaos, as they were said to have prevailed on the governor to shelve his planned counter-rally and leave the state to allow the opposition enjoy their day.

    The APC presidential campaign rally was to have been held on January 14, a day after that of the PDP was held at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, but was postponed to Saturday, January 24 to allow for better planning and organisation.

    The rally lived up to its billing. Ado-Ekiti was shut down for several hours, as residents gave Gen. Buhari and his team a rousing welcome.

    In every part of the city, the people were chanting “Sai Buhari! Sai Baba!” as they marched to the rally.

    Road shows were organised by APC members who thronged Ado-Ekiti from all the 16 local government areas. They looked resplendent in the ‘aso ebi’ emblazoned with their party’s logo and various T-shirts and fez caps  bearing the party’s logo and the candidates going for various elective positions.

    Law enforcement officers were at their best. The police, the Directorate of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and traffic wardens did a yeoman’s job to make the rally a success.

    Commissioner of Police Taiwo Lakanu personally supervised the security for the day. He was busy working on his phone and walkie-talkie, passing instructions and getting feedbacks on the situation of things.

    Vehicles and motorcycles were not allowed beyond a point, which was about 400 meters to the venue. Commercial vehicles, buses and bikes that brought people to the rally were not allowed beyond the point as a security measure.

    Adjoining streets such as Secretariat Road, otherwise known as Bank Road, NTA Road, New Iyin Road, Saliu Adeoti Road and Awedele Road, were lined with vehicles of those who came to the rally.

    The arena —- Ekiti Parapo Square —- was well-decorated for the event. It had been filled to capacity by noon. Singing, dancing, drumming and other razzmatazz were going on and party members and other spectators savoured the huge carnival.

    APC candidates for various elective positions mobilised their supporters from their constituencies to the rally. Such supporters clutched posters pasted on plank slates and danced behind their principals.

    Hawkers and sellers of various items made brisk business, selling caps, T-shirts, hats, calendars, bottled water, ice cream, soft drinks, confectionaries among others.

    The highpoint of the rally was the appearance of the Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the last governorship election, House of Representatives member Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele.

    Bamidele’s entry threw the arena into raptures, as he moved round acknowledging cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. He received a deafening ovation.

    Bamidele’s political family, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition, has agreed to work for the victory of Buhari and the APC in the presidential poll.

    Popular Fuji musician Saheed Osupa was on the band stand. Youths swarmed round Osupa’s band stand, dancing.

    Major television and radio stations, which gave the rally live coverage, positioned their Outside Broadcast (OB) Vans at strategic locations within the arena.

    Also, some PDP chieftains defected to the APC at the rally. They were all received by the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. They included former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Sola Ajigbolamu; former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Otitoju; former House of Assembly member, Mr. Amogunniyi Fadare.

    The crowd surged forward when the luxury bus conveying Buhari, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Odigie-Oyegun and other national leaders entered the arena at about 1.50 pm.

    Other APC leaders at the rally include, the National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; the Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Segun Oni; former Interim National Chairman  Chief Bisi Akande; former Governor, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo; Deputy Chairman of the party’s National Convention Committee, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje; Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume; Deputy Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora.

    Aregbesola and Fayemi caused a stir when they sat on the top of the bus which conveyed them to the venue and waved brooms, the symbol of the party, to the cheering crowd.

    APC women also stole the show with their dance steps and footwork. Wife of the former governors, Mrs. Kemi Oni, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi and former Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu entered the arena together and moved round to acknowledge cheers from the crowd.

    The rally commenced at 2.05 pm, with Mrs. Ronke Okusanya saying the Christian prayer and Alhaji Afolabi Ogunlayi offering prayer in the Muslim way.

    Fayemi in his welcome address thanked the people of the state for proving to the whole world that Ekiti belongs to the progressive camp.

    Fayemi who was overwhelmed by the mammoth crowd said the turnout was a sign that Ekiti people have not deserted the APC. He stressed that “the mystery of June 21 shall not stand on the day of the presidential poll”.

    The former governor commended the people for trooping out in their thousands, defying the threats of the PDP-led government.

    Fayemi said: “I want to thank you for showing where Ekiti people are; for showing that Ekiti people have not deserted the progressive party.

    “You are determined to prove that the mystery of June 21 shall not stand. We thank God for what we are seeing today; you did not allow the brigands to disrupt this great occasion; you have stood like soldiers despite their threats.”

    Speaking in his capacity as the APC Southwest Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign, Governor Aregbesola urged the people to “change President Goodluck Jonathan with their votes” and replace him with Buhari.

    Aregbesola who spoke in Yoruba said Buhari represents the light that would drive the PDP darkness away. He accused the umbrella party of inflicting the Nigerian people with misery, hunger and poverty.

    He said: “The Yoruba race will not embark on unprofitable venture and the Yoruba cannot follow these evil people. We must liberate ourselves from this bad government and we must be part of the good government to be led by Buhari.

    “The accursed one has been threatening that we will not come to Ekiti, who owns Ekiti? We own Ekiti; the APC owns Ekiti.

    “When we take over government, my friend that is here will be sent out. He is dancing the dance of shame all around; tell him that the game is up for him.”

    Aregbesola promised that Buhari will give Ekiti an airport, good jobs for the youths and reduce poverty, if elected.

    The womenfolk were not left out in the speech-making ritual. The APC Southwest Presidential Campaign Women Coordinator, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, urged Ekiti people not to vote for the PDP-led government under whose watch over 200 girls were abducted.

    Former Ekiti First Lady, Mrs. Fayemi, urged voters to elect Buhari whom he said would protect the interest of women. She noted that women constitute the largest chunk of voters.

    Former Deputy Governor, Prof. Adelabu charged Ekiti electorate to cast their votes for Buhari because he has the pedigree to bring about the much-needed change in the lives of Nigerians, if elected.

    National Leader Asiwaju Tinubu said Buhari’s election as president would change the future of the people from poverty, hunger, unemployment to a glorious one.

    He said the Jonathan-led administration has no plan for the youths. He said under his watch, unemployment has become a nightmare and has indeed reached a level of notoriety with the deaths of scores of applicants during the immigration recruitment tragedy.

    Tinubu said a Buhari-led administration would liberate the youths. He stressed that “the Nigerian youths cannot afford to continue with this government of fake policies and fake ideas.”

    The former Lagos governor condemned the controversial death-wish advert placed by Governor Fayose against Buhari in selected national newspapers, saying Nigeria presently needs the wisdom of the aged to manage the affairs of the country.

    Tinubu recalled that when economic recession hit the United States, the country turned to the wisdom and experience of Ronald Reagan who ruled the country in his 70s. He equally paid tributes to the 19 APC members of the Ekiti House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Dr. Adewale Omirin, for standing firm against the alleged impunity of the Fayose administration.

    The APC leader deplored a situation in which seven PDP lawmakers passed the 2015 Appropriation Bill into Law in Ekiti Assembly and urged the people to reject the rascality being witnessed in the state.

    Tinubu also explained that Buhari has come to rescue Nigeria from the abyss of economic recession, insecurity and political instability President Jonathan has failed to address.

    He stressed that a Buhari administration would help revive the cocoa wealth the Southwest was renowned for, create jobs, ensure security of lives and property, put an end to insurgency and ensure that the kidnapped Chibok girls are rescued.

    Tinubu said: “They (PDP) have no wisdom to lead Nigeria; this is common sense revolution, jobs, education and empowerment. Go and pick your voter cards and don’t sell your tomorrow.”

    Tinubu also used the occasion to welcome Bamidele, saying: “We have forgiven Opeyemi Bamidele; he is now back home. He is no longer in the party of labourers.”

    Mamora, who represented the APC Presidential Campaign Director-General, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, said Nigerians are going to enthrone righteousness on the ticket that will give them restoration.

    Vice presidential candidate Prof. Yemi Osinbajo declared that the time of change has come.

    Osinbajo who urged Ekiti voters not to allow any “electoral magic” to repeat itself in the state promised that Buhari would stop corruption.

    His words: “Gen. Buhari will stop corruption and that is why they are afraid of him. It’s time for change in Nigeria, on election day, take your cards and go to voting centres and stay there until your votes are counted.”

    Odigie-Oyegun also deplored Fayose’s controversial advert suggesting that Buhari would not last in office, saying it is God that has power over the lifespan of man and not anybody.

    Buhari in his speech said corruption, insecurity and unemployment are the problems he would tackle headlong. He urged the electorate to assist in realising the dream by collecting their voter’s cards.

    The presidential flag bearer urged Nigerians to go to the polls on election day and vote the APC to make the change possible.

    “It is time to send the PDP packing; we will make sure that unemployment is tackled; we will take care of our youths, who are mostly unemployed.

    “Insecurity and corruption will receive our attention; we will reposition the education sector by employing qualified teachers, as well as prioritizing mining and agriculture to generate more employment for our people,” the APC standard bearer said.

    Buhari charged his supporters nationwide to ensure that they collect and utilise their permanent voter’s card, if they truly believe in his candidature.

    He told the crowd that he had understudied Nigeria and formulated a blueprint capable of accelerating rapid growth of the country.

    The rally came to an end at about 3.15 pm, but singing and dancing by the party faithful continued.

    The APC presidential candidate had earlier paid a courtesy call to the palace of Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe where he promised to give the traditional institution its  pride of place in the scheme of things, if elected.

    There was a massive traffic snarl after the rally in all parts of the city, as residents lined the streets to cheer the APC leaders who headed for Akure, the Ondo State capital, for the continuation of the campaign.

    Vehicles spent hours inside hold-ups in many parts of Ado-Ekiti after the rally, while some party members who could not endure the traffic congestion were seen trekking to other places that were less congested.

    Residents of Ado-Ekiti heaved a sigh of relief after the APC rally had ended, as no incident of violence was recorded.

    The rally has given hope to APC leaders and members that the party is still a force to be reckoned with in the state, despite losing the governorship seat to the PDP in the June 21, 2014 election.

    A member of the party from Ijero, Sola Ogunmodede, said the APC has proved with the rally that it is the most acceptable party to Ekiti people, judging by the mammoth crowd that welcomed Buhari to the state for the rally.

    Ogunmodede said: “In fact, we are all happy with what happened today and today is my happiest day. See this big crowd that attended our rally; we all came from our wards and local government areas.

    “What makes me happy most is that this is despite the fact that our party is no longer in power. If we can still pull a big crowd like this, it shows that Ekiti people’s eyes are now opened and they can no longer be deceived by the PDP again.”

    Femi Oso, a party member from Omuo, was of the view that Ekiti people have compared the APC-led government of Fayemi and the PDP led government of Fayose and they have seen the difference. He expressed hope that this will rub off positively for the APC at the general elections.

    Oso said: “The people of Ekiti have seen the difference between Fayemi’s government and Fayose’s government and they know that APC has a better programme and manifesto. The good things enjoyed under Fayemi like monthly stipends for aged people, monthly stipends for the youths and good welfare package for teachers and civil servants have been stopped by Fayose.

    “Next month’s general elections would offer them the opportunity to make a statement with their votes and I know that they will vote for the APC because they are fed up with the deceit of the PDP”.

    As the two major parties had conducted their presidential rallies, voters in Ekiti are eagerly waiting for March 28 when the first ballot will be cast at the presidential election.

     

  • The change we need

    SIR: I have been following the electioneering campaigns of all the major political parties with keen interest and expectedly, they have been feeding us with promises to win our votes. In as much as no single party /candidate will come out to tell us what we do not want to hear at this critical period, there is need for Nigerians to peruse all these sugar coated talks and decipher the realistic ones from mere rhetoric. From whichever angle we look or interpret these numerous promises vis-à-vis the situation on ground in the country, one thing is very certain and, that is the need for change.

    I will want to draw the attention of Nigerians to the basic changes that we are expecting from the administration that will come on board from May 29.

    Foremost, we want a government that can guarantee the security of lives and properties of the people. We need a government that will make the environment conducive for citizens and residents to be able to move freely at all times without fear of intimidations or attacks, a government that will make the country attractive to foreign investors and tourists. We want a government that will protect the lives of our children in boarding schools as well as those on the streets.

    Secondly, we want a government that will revive the collapsed manufacturing industries. We want a government that will encourage the growth of the agricultural and other sectors of the economy to be self sustaining, a government that can make the naira to be very strong and competitive again.

    Thirdly, we want a government that will be prudent in using our resources to better the lots of Nigerians. We want a government that will make our roads to be motorable again and not the death traps we have presently. We want a government that will make our refineries to work, a government that will make our electricity to be stable.

    Fourthly, we want a government that will make education and health care services relatively cheap and affordable for all Nigerians. We want a government that will bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, a government that will make our teachers/lecturers get their rewards on earth and also cater for the welfare of our pensioners.

    Fifthly, we want a government that will tackle unemployment and give the youths hope for the future. A government that will make Nigerians proud everywhere they found themselves (that is a government that will make the Westerners/foreigners treat our people with respect and dignity).

    Sixthly, we want a government that can fight corruption and eradicate the menace from our system; where public office holders would be made accountable. We want a government that will put measures in place to ensure free and fair elections at all times, where every vote will count.

    We want a government that will put measures in place to discourage other countries from turning country to dumping ground of all worthless and inferior commodities. We want a government that will bring back discipline and order to the ways we do things in the country.

     

    •Raymond Oise-Oghaede,

    Lagos

  • Fayemi: Celebrating change agent at 50

    Fayemi: Celebrating change agent at 50

    Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi is 50 today. His Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, pays tribute to a simple boss.

    it was a warm afternoon at the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa, sometime in March 2013. Dr Kayode Fayemi and I were returning to Lagos after receiving the Samsung Award for Best State Government in ICT Education at an impressive ceremony in Cape Town. Mr Governor, as he is fondly called, had sought to spend some time at the business class lounge of the South African Airline, and because we were engrossed in a discussion, together with another official of the administration, Muyiwa Ogunmilade, he had urged me to come along.

    After going through my boarding pass and discovering that I was billed to fly the economy class, the female SAA official politely stopped me from entering the lounge.   JKF’s attempt to convince her to allow me in order for us to conclude our discussion was met with a straight face by the official. The waitress however said I could be allowed in if the Governor and Ogunmilade could present their gold cards. Pronto, they both brought out their gold cards. Having confirmed the cards the official was about giving another condition when the activist in JKF came out. He politely asked that his card be returned to him and told the officials that he would rather take a walk around the airport with me rather than being denied my company at the lounge. I made a futile protest against his decision to abandon the lounge because of me, knowing he needed to catch some rest. Alas, it was too late. “No, Yinka, it isn’t worth it. What is the big deal about the lounge? Don’t worry, let’s just take a walk around before boarding time:” Thus we left the lounge and spent about  half an hour buying books at a particular books store at the airport and the remaining time was spent strolling around before boarding time.

    That South African experience was, for me, perhaps the most humbling experience I have had as an adult. It was a lesson in simplicity and leadership taught in the simplest manner imaginable. It also typifies the experiences of many who have come in contact with Dr Fayemi whether in the classroom, newsroom, lecture room, political rallies, in the trenches or in the hallowed chambers of the Ekiti State Executive Council where he presided over the affairs of the state, together with his carefully selected team for four impactful years.

    Fayemi in and out of office believes in two things- service and justice. He believes life is worthless without service- service to mankind.  On justice, Fayemi is a firm believer in that timeless Latin legal phrase: Fiat justitia ruat caelum  (Let justice be done though the heavens fall). He remains today one of the few  Nigerian politicians that have really  tested the country’s legal system in the bid to determine some knotty issues. It is no longer news how he fought from one court to another for three and a half years to retrieve his mandate which he eventually got via the declaration of the Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin on October 15, 2010. It is also on record that his administration lost some cases in the state courts and that put paid to some actions of the government including the conduct of the local government election which the Peoples Democratic Party stopped through an injunction from the state high court in January 2012.

    JKF believes that political participation as well as seeking elective office should be motivated by service. He believes that commitment to service and its delivery remains the vital tonic that energises and motivates a public office holder to forge ahead and remain focused even in the midst of competing and conflicting interests. He believes that service does not end with the completion of one’s tenure in office. To him, service continues for as long as one still has his breath. He was recently asked how he has been coping with life after service during a lecture he delivered at the Afenifere Renewal Group annual lecture in Abeokuta,Ogun State  last month. His response: “I am still in service. My idea of service does not end with occupying an executive position. Even attending party meetings, executing some assignments on behalf of my party,  or town’s union amount to service.”

    Many believe that JKF’s headship of the hugely successful national convention and presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December last year and his current assignment as the head of Policy, Research and Strategy Directorate of the party’s presidential campaign have kept him even busier than his former assignment as governor of Ekiti State. Perhaps what they do not know is that such excellent organisational touch he brought to bear on the APC convention- regarded as the best organised in the country’s history- is simply the JKF signature that distinguishes his four year tenure in Ekiti and makes it a reference point in developmental circle. He believes that when a leader provides the right leadership, the followers would embrace excellence and make it an habit.

    For those who have followed his trajectory right from his students activism days through pro democracy agitation and the current political participation, JKF is guided by the social democratic principle of lifting the weak and vulnerable in the society. His four years stint as governor of Ekiti State witnessed a sincere and consistent effort at banishing poverty and sickness. This was because he knows too well that a poor society is a sick and sickly one. His genuine concern  include how  transactional politics can be replaced with transformational leadership. How institutions of state can be strengthened in order to ensure effective service delivery. Whereas  his critics would readily fault these ideas, describing them as lacking in immediate political gains. Yet, JKF earns their respect for his commitment to these ideals.

    His penchant for development and insatiable desire to get the government to provide for the weak and vulnerable in the society led to some policies including the social security scheme which pays 5,000 monthly stipends to elderly indigent citizens above 65 years; free and compulsory primary and secondary education; computer per child initiative in the public secondary schools; comprehensive renovation of all public schools and hospitals; free health for the physically challenged, children under five, pregnant women and elderly citizens among others. The need to spread development across the nooks and crannies of the state also led to the introduction of five kilometres road project implemented yearly in all the council areas. And when you add this to the structured empowerment programmes for the youths and women, you have a government that had something for everybody under the JKF administration.

    As Fayemi attains the golden age today, it is obvious that the energy and wisdom to run even a more impactful race in the second half of the century are bubbling in him like an hyper-active volcano.

    Born on February 9, 1965 into the family of the late Chief and Mrs. Francis Falade Fayemi. A native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area, he had his elementary education in Ibadan before attending Christ’s School, Ado- Ekiti for his secondary education between 1975 and 1980.

    John Kayode Fayemi received his first degree in History from the University of Lagos in 1985, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in 1987 and a doctorate in War Studies from the King’s College, University of London, England in 1993, specializing in civilian-military relations and defence planning.

    Prior to joining partisan politics, Dr Fayemi  was the pioneer Director  Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD). He was a Georgetown University Leadership Fellow in 2000 and a Senior Visiting Fellow in African Studies, North Western University, Evanston, USA in 2004. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan and was on the Adjunct Faculty of the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, USA, between 2001 and 2005.  He was a member of the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, New York and African Security Sector Network.

    Fayemi has written and lectured extensively on governance and democratization.  He is also a recipient of several awards, fellowships and grants including the Ford Foundation grant on  Special Initiative on Africa and the Macarthur Foundation research grant. His tenure as Governor of Ekiti State witnessed many reforms and earned the state a number of first positions in the areas of   education, agriculture, health, rural development and social empowerment. This was attested to by local and international organisations leading to special recognitions including: Leadership Newspaper’s Governor of the year award, 2012; the Zik’s Prize in Leadership (Good Governance) Award in 2013; Champion Newspapers Governor of the Year award in 2014.

    Even with what some might consider as his foibles, there is no doubt that in JKF the researcher, the teacher, the activist, administrator and strategist come together with all the ideas that can help us change the way we think and act about leadership, scholarship, political tolerance, social justice and human capital development.

    From the four corners of the country and beyond come fifty gbosas for this innovator,  democrat and change agent- above all, an Omoluabi – as he joins the golden club today.

  • Change undeterred by media diatribes

    SIR: As we inch closer to the February 14 poll, the media is being inundated with intense campaigns of calumny from desperate quarters working to suppress the storm of change sweeping across Nigeria’s political landscape! The obvious objective of the uncensored media offensives is to discredit the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and lower his estimation before right-thinking members of the society.

    Perhaps the most meretricious of these media contraptions is the television advertorial labeled “The Real Buhari”; which has been airing recurrently on major television stations recently, sponsored by a faceless group of political traducers! The masterminds of the pejorative advert intended to leverage on the Direct Effects Model (a media theory which assumes that audiences passively accepted media messages and would exhibit predictable reactions) to hoodwink the electorate into perceiving the retired general and dogged icon of anti-corruption as the devil’s incarnate; especially the younger generation of Nigerians who may not be conversant with Buhari’s antecedents when he served as Head of State from December 31st 1983 to 27th August, 1985.

    They however seem unaware that the Direct Effects Model has a flipside- the Active-Audience Theory (which emphasizes the assertive power of the audience)! Therefore I was not surprised when “the real Buhari” advert fell grossly short of hitting its intended mark. The enlightened citizenry read between the tissues of lies in that montage and rather than impair their perception of Buhari, became irritated at the level of desperation of the sources of the hogwash.

    The diversionary intent of the advert, to distract Nigerians from core developmental issues, is one of the usual chicaneries of the PDP and the incumbent PDP-led government. Emphasis over the last four years has been more on politics; or ‘politricks’, than on governance! So when they churn out their tales of Transformation, they tend to make us feel like aliens in our own land!

    Think about it, do we really need the minister of agriculture to expend taxpayers’ money in order to inform us via sponsored adverts, of the giant strides in the sector? I believe we are in a position to testify to agricultural transformation when we observe the relative availability of foodstuff across the country, a boost in farmers’ income and commendable reduction in food prices. The Jonathan administration and its multifarious mouthpieces are vocal about power sector transformation, but after over four years, our bulbs are getting dimmer and our communities darker! Industries and small businesses are rapidly closing shop due to epileptic power supply!

    So it appears that the arrowheads of the incumbent government and their supporters are living in utopia, completely isolated from current dystopian Nigerian state! A state of ravaging insecurity; where an estimated 50% of employable youths haplessly roam the streets or fend from the salaries or pensions of their parents, pensions which are not regularly forthcoming due to sharp practices at the pension offices. Ingrained corruption and wanton mismanagement has brought Nigeria to the verge of a bottomless pit!

    Graduates are currently exposed to the most debilitating conditions in their quests for employment! And just when we thought that employment racketeering was restricted to dubious private sector operators, the public sector gave us a rude shock with the shoddy Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise of March 2014, in which about 18 graduates lost their lives, with scores more injured! Let’s remember that the jobless graduates paid N1,000 each for the recruitment exercise! But till date, not one graduate has been recruited from that slapdash exercise! Not a penny has been refunded to any of the over 600,000 graduates that allegedly applied for the vacancies meant for only about 4,000; yet not a single public official has been sacked, or has voluntarily resigned following the ignominious incident!

    Therefore if cleansing the Augean stables qualifies Buhari to be described as a monster, then Nigerians need him now more than ever, to unleash his monstrosity and salvage the nation from the brinks of cataclysm!

     

    • Joshua Otene,

    Asokoro, District, Abuja.

  • Attitudinal change’ll reduce unemployment, says FMBN chief

    The Chairman, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Chief Bisi Ogunjobi, has said attitudinal change of the citizens towards entrepreneurship skills, as well as enhancement of the implementation performance of government programmes are necessary for employment generation in the country.

    Speaking on Paradigm shift thinking: Technical and business skills acquisition as panacea for unemployment in Nigeria, at the Oluyole Club Annual Dinner and Scholarship Award, he stressed the need for vocational and technical training for artisans to reduce the growing preference for artisans and labourers from the neighbouring West African countries.

    He lamented that the high rate of unemployment in the country has resulted in a relatively slow growth in labour demand, which is combined with a rapidly growing labour supply, especially due to high population growth, massive rural-urban migration and significant improvementin access to general education since independence.

    Employment of expatriate workers, Ogunjobi lamented, has resulted in the problem of continuous import. For instance, he said in an estate development project, apart from the sand and water, nearly everything else ranging from doors, roofing materials, furniture and interior decoration, are imported.

    Ogunjobi identified the challenge of poor curriculum implementation and absence of standard text-books and other useful learning materials on entrepreneurship education, as reasons why there has been little effect of the new educational system on employment generation; while the available text-books are said to be deficientas they fail to address the peculiar Nigerian business environment.

    He noted that the business of trade and skilled labour is better impacted through industrial tours, professional talks from successful business owners and real execution of business projects while in school, rather than the erroneous perception by undergraduates that entrepreneurship education as an elective or general course is forced on them to increase their academic workloads.

  • Bamidele: I want to be part of change

    Bamidele: I want to be part of change

    A member of the House of Representatives, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said he will work for the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking with reporters after the APC presidential campaign rally in Ado-Ekiti, Bamidele said his support for Buhari was borne out of the need to rescue Nigeria from the political, social and economic problems afflicting it.

    Bamidele received a deafening ovation from the crowd at the Ekiti Parapo Square, venue of the rally, as he was presented by the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    He said he wanted to be part of the emerging change that would herald a new Nigeria, which would give hope, fulfillment and prosperity.

    Bamidele, who was the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the June 14 governorship election, said members of his political family, Ekiti Bibiire Coalition, subscribed to the quest for change of government at the centre.

    He noted that Buhari is a symbol of integrity, transparency and positive change in leadership, hence the need to support him to win the February 14 election.

    When pressed to give details on when he would formally join the APC, Bamidele said steps on his return to the party would be taken after the election.

    Bamidele said: “It’s about Nigeria and it’s not about me or any individual. I want to be part of the change that is coming.

    “We will begin detailed discussions after the election because as far as I am concerned, I am still part of two parties in Ekiti State.”

    Members of the Ekiti Bibiire Coalition in North America and Canada have thrown their weight behind Bamidele’s decision.