The Nation Newspaper

Tag: change

  • Jonathan’s N10 change

    When the Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, announced the reduction of the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) from N97 per litre to N87 per litre effective from Sunday midnight, it seemed that our N10 billion investment in her globetrotting had not vanished into thin air after all. The incumbent President of OPEC gave us the vaguely validating feeling that we also belonged to the global village.

    All over the world, pump price of crude had been in free fall, as a result of the battle of wits between OPEC and the Unites States over fracking. Oil price has more than halved in the past months, tumbling from $100 to less than $50. This was our invitation to the party.

    Now the return of N10 on a N10 billion investment is a woeful loss. N10 can buy no more than a sachet of pure water or a HB pencil or a match box – even though a pickpocket caught in Onitsha, the land of the authentic Azikiwe, would be lucky to escape being lynched for filching N10!.

    She mandated the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the Directorate of Petroleum Resources, to ensure compliance nationwide from the stroke of midnight forward. She closed by saying that she hoped that “everybody will benefit” from the reduction.

    The reduction should naturally translate to a potential saving of hundreds of naira. Nigerians buy many litres of petrol daily for their cars and their generators. But Madueke made a grave assumption.

    She assumed that the official pump price regime obtained across the country. But majority of the population buy at higher rates in practically all the states. People are forced to buy at whatever rate they are offered, notwithstanding the difference between it and the official pump price. In the city where I live, a litre of petrol could spike to N160. It’s sold at N97 only in NNPC filling stations. So in a way, the official fuel pump price applies to a few.

    The twin agencies responsible for petroleum price monitoring coexist with a plethora of parallel price regimes. They could not ensure that fuel is dispensed at N97 per litre. They would certainly not to be able to make the N10 reduction a common experience at the present level of their activeness.

    More to the point, the context of the announcement says a few things about the motivation of the heralds.

    Alison-Madueke made the declaration after dinner time on a Sunday. No, nothing in the book casts a certain time for such pronouncements. Yet, there was something tangibly awkward about the scheduling. It had to be enacted on a weekend and past dinnertime, when the largest audience possible would be hooked on the news. The court astrologers marked it down to the most apt minute!

    Then the venue. She published her tidings from the grounds of the State House. Nigeria’s seat of power has not always been the launching pad for a new fuel price regime. The choice and use of the President’s official address for this purpose indicates a clear intention to associate authorship of the reduction with the President. (HINT: What I offer you is not quite the result of the slump of crude price in the global market: It originated from the bosom of the man in residence. This is a gift from the President, an early Valentine gift from a presidential candidate standing for re-election to his people.)

    Credit to whom it is due, the President’s camp got the stagecraft right. The reduction would have had little impact if the minister had broken the news in her office, as is in a normal press conference. But this was an extraordinary press conference. And who could fail to imagine the quantity of ballots that may be given as payback to the President if the public is led to believe that the good news sprung from the sheer magnanimity of Goodluck Jonathan!

    The results of Jonathan’s transformational leadership often escape his faculty of recall, which is why he is often seen on live TV begging a rally to vote for him because he suspects that his main challenger cannot memorize a phone number.  With this development, Jonathan, the one whose aides once claimed brought Facebook to Nigeria, may now begin to add that he is the leader who gave us the law of gravity.

    People often joke that what goes up never gets to come down in Nigeria.  The price of goods rise and keep rising. But has he not performed the unprecedented feat of pulling down the price of petrol from a higher altitude?

    He and his team will put this N10 change under a magnifying glass and describe it exaggeratedly. They will have this branded as a product of never-before-heard alchemy.

    But the more discerning know nobody did us any favor. We were entitled to the reduction. And that reduction should have happened as matter of cause and effect. In reality, we should have started buying a litre of fuel with less money at about the same time other humans elsewhere began to enjoy cheaper fuel.

    And that brings us to question of why we were made to lag behind the rest of humanity in this lower fuel price season. Did our President think that we didn’t deserve to share in this global behind?  Was he so reluctant that he was left alone, the only leader who would not approve a decrease?

    Even when President Jonathan came around to “doing it”, he grudged to exercise himself in not-my-will tokenism.  He approved only N10 reduction. By his own measure of proportion, even the theft of a sum of money that could have purchased a Peugeot car doesn’t make a thief. So he settled for the most contemptible amount that appealed to him.

    On a personal level, the announcement caused me grievous embarrassment.  At first, the impression I got was that the government was just out to mock. How could you purport to be responding to the global price and serve the people such deplorable trifle?

    For one, the margin of reduction does not bear close resemblance to the degree of the fall of crude price. Ten naira does not, in any way, represent the remotest approximation of the percentage that should have been shaved off the fuel pump price if the price adjustment was truly meant to reflect the prevailing market trend.

    The gesture presents itself as a patronizing appeasement, a concession granted to force silence. It is a callous and conceited reply to the query: Why are Nigerians barred from tasting cheaper fuel even when other people have begun to take it for granted?

    It was a pacifier shoved into the mouth of a protesting child.

    You asked for a decrease in fuel pump price: here is it. Will you now keep quiet or research another reason to keep blackmailing the Presidency?

    The other time, the Jonathan administration ambushed us with a fuel price hike on the dawn of a new year. And the whole country erupted into spontaneous anger. The timing and the scale of the increment melted the divisive identities of the people and united them as clusters of families across the states of the federation. The very air that hung over Nigeria became so agitated with fury and voices.

    The matter was subsequently resolved in the interest of public peace and motion. The whole country had ground to a halt.

    But the resolution did not touch the fundamental issues. Three years after, our refineries still run below capacity. We still import finished petroleum products. The fuel subsidy cabal still thrives.

  • Nigeria’s sins: Time for atonement, deliverance, restitution and change

    Nigeria’s sins: Time for atonement, deliverance, restitution and change

    For the last three years, I have written so many papers on the wickedness of the federal government for their criminal attitude of delays and non-payment of pensions, gratuities and arrears to retired workers known as senior citizens. This has now been extended to non-retired workers. The sins committed by the present Nigerian government are legion: corruption, indiscipline, impunity, selfishness, greed, avarice, lies, ungodliness, wickedness, insecurity and all other evils of different descriptions. The foundation of all these evils is the twin evils of indiscipline and corruption. In truth, the father of corruption is indiscipline by which corruption is watered, while corruption breeds all the other evils in our society. A nation harbouring all these evils in a fell-swoop is a nation full of sins, many of which are unpardonable even in the eyes of God. As of today, Nigeria suffers from her many sins.

    The Jonathan government has committed many unpardonable sins, all of them associated with indiscipline, corruption and impunity. The consequence has led Nigeria, an oil rich nation, to a beggar nation, and a nation where God’s given wealth has been squandered through serial stealings of public funds diverted into private pockets by horrible people in government. Nigeria is a nation where people shamefully complain about non-electricity supply in the 21st century! In this article, we shall deal with official corruption as it affects Nigeria as a nation and the welfare of the good people of Nigeria, and especially the welfare of workers – the creators of the wealth of the nation. Our write-up focuses on atrocities committed by the federal government on the issues of delay or non-payment of workers’ salaries as well as gratuities and pensions of retired workers as at when due, and, of course, the corruption of the federal government that has led to the impoverishment of States and their citizens.

    It is known that the present government has made more money from oil, from 1999 to 2013 than any previous government. At one point, the price of oil reached as high as $147 per barrel. Now the price of oil has gone down to $45 per barrel which is likely to nosedive in a few weeks. The problem is compounded by the refusal of the federal government to build refineries for its 16 years in the saddle. Consequently, Nigeria exports oil only to import petroleum products which led to an unprecedented sleaze in the petroleum sector. When the going was good, and with a lot of money earned from crude oil, our government stole our fantastic earnings from crude oil through the Petroleum Ministry and the NNPC under the supervision of the darling of the presidency, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke where theft of oil was reported to have risen from 250,000 to 400,000 pb between 2011 and 2012. Things were so bad that nobody, except the Petrol Minister and Mr. President and, perhaps other few members of the cabal in the petroleum industry, know precisely how many barrels of crude oil are sold in a day and how much money accrues to the Federation Account until the missing $20bn was discovered, while ¦ 5 trillion was reported to have disappeared under the watch of the president and his petroleum minister, without explanation till today (The Nation, January 15, 2015, p5).

    People would like to believe that the discovery of the huge amounts of money was only a tip of the iceberg, as it must have been going on for years. This, of course, includes the phantom oil subsidy and various avenues of stealing in the petroleum ministry. The amount of money stolen was actually meant for the Federation Account from which all the states would have benefitted immensely through monthly allocations. We now know from Obasanjo that Nigerian foreign reserves has been depleted by more than 50%, from $67bn in 2007 to $30bn in 2014, as a result of official corruption in the oil sector. The federal government’s unprecedented profligacy has led to the tragic devaluation of the naira to ¦ 195 in January 2015, a sure scenario that would greatly hurt President Jonathan in this year’s election.

    The stealing of revenue from oil became so great that throughout last year, allocations to states that were needed to develop as well pay salaries of workers were cut by 40%. This had impacted negatively on the lives and standard of living of Nigerian citizens, workers, market women, artisans, relatives and dependants. Thus, the criminal reduction of Federal Allocation to states became a terrible blow to innocent Nigerians where God’s given wealth had been squandered by greedy, wicked and extremely corrupt people in government. Things are so bad that we now read such screaming headlines like “mass sacking looms in private sector” (Punch, January 4, 2015, pp 2 & 6). Nigerian workers and pensioners are perhaps the hardest hit. There was a disturbing headline “FG owes 70,000 workers three months salaries” (Punch, Dec. 30, 2014, p1-2) where the paper had painted a vivid picture of the way the federal government treats its workers, even at Christmas, in 2014. Note that the delay or non-payment of salaries in the States is caused by corruption, indiscipline, impunity and bad governance at the centre where state allocations are squandered and stolen, shared and some for the purpose of 2015 general elections. On this matter, one cannot but agree with Festus Eriye, editor of Sunday Nation, that “squandermania mixed withmanagerial incompetence has brought Nigeria to her current sorry pass” (January 11, 2015, p.18). On the waste of public funds the Punch’s damaging editorial (January 15, p.26) wrote about the “rampant waste of public funds, the plunder of the oil Excess Crude Oil Account and other fiscal buffers”, and then asks a most pertinent question: “where has all the oil money earned since the fourth oil boom (2003 – 2014) gone? This is most certainly a sin against Nigeria and Nigerians, and humanity at large.

    The Bible says that every labourer is entitled to his/her wages. This code is respected everywhere, but not in Nigeria where sins and evil triumph. Nigeria is a nation where workers are owed salaries in arrears of up to 6 months. Of course, the sinners in the Federal government have stolen so much money of the people that they have little left for States to pay workers’ salaries. The tragic situation was well reported in The Punch’s editorial, January 4, 2015, p.26, captioned “Celebrating New Year without salary”, part of which reads “today, many civil servants will greet the New year with despair rather than hope”. This is because of the scandalous failure of “federal government and many governors to pay salaries of workers for several months”. But the Federal government and not the state governments are responsible for this atrocious crime. The federal government had squandered the normal allocation to the states that now receive only about 50% of their entitlements. That is how bad it is. And that is where the prodigal administration of President Jonathan has led Nigeria, a nation full of milk and honey and where citizens have no reason to be poor, or workers not receiving their salaries and pensions regularly and as at when due. No wonder some people are now saying in a paradoxical fashion, that Goodluck Jonathan is BADLUCK for Nigeria, perhaps, the worst president Nigeria has ever had and which must not be allowed to continue beyond May 29, 2015.

    Rather than make atonement for the sins committed against pensioners in this country, the federal government continue to compound their woes, even at Christmas and New Year. The situation was so bad last December that Nigerian Pensioners cried out “We had a bleak Christmas and New year” (Punch, January 5, 2015, p44). According to the newspaper report, “there seems to be no end in sight yet to the problems confronting retirees of the federal government… most Nigerians enjoyed the Christmas and New Year holidays with their families and friends but there was no celebration for many federal retirees who have not been paid their pension stipends”. And the report continued “Some of the complaints coming from the Pensioners are non-payment of pensions, omission of pensioner’s names from the payroll, under-payment of pensions, delayed pensions and non-payment of arrears and gratuity”. They expressed sadness, as they have always done, about so many of their colleagues who had died without collecting their delayed gratuities and pensions. All this is happening even as more than ¦ 300bn was stolen from pension funds by one man in the pension house of horror This is a sin from which several curses rained on the present government may be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. To be a pensioner in Nigeria is like being sentenced to death by hanging!

    I have said that the curses of pensioners, dead and alive, are troubling Nigeria, especially the curses of several thousands who had died without receiving their gratuities and pensions. Now, if it takes from 20 to 40 years to reverse a curse, how many years would it take to reverse thousands of curses by dead and living pensioners? From the look of things, I had suggested that instead of prayers about which Nigeria is well known, she should first do the following as a nation of incurable sinners (1) acknowledge her sins as committed by people in government (2) confess these sins (3) repent and (4) ask for forgiveness before we embark on any prayers, like the “Nigeria prays” by Gowon, or those by clerics the Adeboyes, Oyedepos, Kumuyis, Wale Okes, Olukoyas, Areoguns and the likes, before our prayers could be answered (see my write-up entitled “Okonjo-Iweala and Pensioners, in the Nation, June 29, 2014, p18”). Afterall, we are often told that we cannot live in sins and expect the blessings of God to multiply. For this reason, I wrote that Nigeria should ask for forgiveness first before embarking on any aggressive prayers and night vigils for a country whose sins are probably more serious than those of Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Forgiveness: Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation

    When I sent my write-up to a young pastor, friend of mine, Pastor Kayode Ojo of the Word of Faith Ministries, Mayfair, Ile-Ife, he sent me an appropriate and useful document which confirmed my call for Nigerian leaders to ask for forgiveness before going into aggressive prayers and night vigils for which we are hypocritically known. The document is contained in a book titled, Shaping History Through Prayers and Fasting, authored by Derek Prince and published by Whitaker House, New Kensington, USA, 1973, pp 333-335. The document consists of a proclamation by the famous former president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln. This document consists of “Three Fasts Proclaimed by Lincoln”. During his presidency, Lincoln “proclaimed three days of national humiliation, prayer, and fasting. His first proclamation (out of three) was requested by a joint committee of both houses and congress, and the day set apart was the last Thursday in September 1861.

    The following is only a part of the first  proclamation:”Whereas it is fit and becoming on all people, at all times, to acknowledge and reverse the Supreme Government of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray, with all fervency and contrition, for the pardon of their past offences, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action…” And it continues:

    “Therefore I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States do appoint the last Thursday of September next as a day of Humiliation, Prayer and Fasting, for all the people of the nation. And I do earnestly recommend to all the people, and especially to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all denominations, and to all heads of families, to observe and keep that day, according to their several creeds and modes of worship, in all humility, and with all religious solemnity, to the end that the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the Throne of Grace, and bring down plentiful blessings upon our country”. Note that the inscription on the US dollar is “In God we trust”.

    Nigeria needs atonement, forgiveness and restitution to clear the sins of massive corruption, impunity, unemployment, deaths of innocent people through official killings, abduction of 220 innocent children by the uncontrollable Boko Haram, deaths from extreme poverty, hunger and delay or non-payment of pensioners’ and workers’ salaries as at when due; deaths from lack of potable water, electricity supply (many people have died from generator fumes as a result of power outage) good health care and other evils that have triumphed under the watch of president Jonathan’s government. For this reason, I suggest that General Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo should, in the first instance and before election, declare a day for all lovers of APC to ask for God’s forgiveness for the atrocities committed by the present federal government in order to clear the way for a new APC government by sweeping away, with their anointed symbolic brooms, the atrocities committed, in the eyes of God and Nigerians, by the present administration. This is necessary for Buhari and Osinbajo in order to off-load or cancel the many sins committed by the present government so that they (Buhari/Osinbajo) could begin their own era under a clean slate. Fortunately, Gen. Buhari and Prof. Osinbajo are deeply religious people, godly, honest, disciplined and incorruptible and so would be the kind of people in which God is well pleased. Shortly after their assumption of duty as President and Vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, they should make a proclamation to Nigerians, in the manner of Abraham Lincoln, by asking for forgiveness of offences of past leaders, and for God’s blessings upon their reign as well as blessings upon Nigeria and Nigerians. That is the only way our prayers could be answered and the Gordian knot untied. Perhaps, then, God would touch the heart of President Obama to visit Nigeria, the gigantic dwarf of Africa. This could only happen as a result of the CHANGE (including JUSTICE) which the APC stands for, and which would bring an already battered Nigeria to greatness and the dawn of a shining light.

     

    •Prof.  Makinde, FNAL

    is DG/CEO, Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance

    Osogbo, the State of Osun.

     

     

  • A vote for change

    SIR: As Nigeria goes to the polls next month to elect a new government, a new era seems to have begun in the nation’s electoral process, driven by demographic changes and the emergence of a politically-aware middle-class. The upcoming election could create fresh opportunities for Nigeria, and reshape the rules for access to a vibrant market and a better society for all.

    Since 1999, when Nigeria started its liberalization process, the Nigerian economy has grown at approximately 6.5% annually, overtaking most Asia countries to become among the world’s most promising economy by purchasing power parity in 2006. Since then, however, Nigeria has slowed significantly. The 2012-14 financial years saw the GDP growth rate fall below 3.8% – the lowest in a decade; the fiscal deficit widened and the naira plummeted for much of the second half of 2014. Foreign investments were down to a trickle, inflation had spiraled and major infrastructure projects had been put on hold. Companies, like Shell, scaled down their Nigeria investments, while others like Total and Julius Berger are also having a second thought about the Nigerian economy; everything seems pretty bad for now. The only remedy to our sinking economy is a block vote for change, which the opposition represents.

    During this period, there were also various reports of corporate scams in the oil and gas sector. All this exacerbated the general sense of disenchantment among Nigerians, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lead government, in its fourth term at the helm, faced mass protests against corruption.

    The entire country is now looking forward to the February elections to usher in a new government that would boost economic revival, create new jobs, improve the healthcare and education sectors and address the large infrastructural gaps.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there are approximately five million ‘first-time voters. That’s 12 per cent of the total electorate! These voters are young people in urban and rural Nigeria born in the post-liberalized era. They are educated; relatively more exposed to global trends, and have their own set ideas on what they want from the political system. This group is expected to play a large role in influencing this year’s election results.

    Social media engagement is expected to have a direct influence on up to 30 per cent of the seats in the legislature. These seats are mostly in urban areas where constituents are a mix of youth and professionals. All major parties have set up dedicated social media teams, and are using Facebook and Twitter as key channels of influence.

    The past year has seen the emergence of a new brand of politics. Unlike traditional parties, which formed largely out of regional sentiment, religion and language, the All Progressive Congress (APC) grew out of the desire for a better Nigeria, the coming together of the opposition for the first time in the history of Nigeria was also symbolic, as everybody seems tired of a government that harbor and promote corruption. Within a year of its formation, the All Progressive Congress (APC) rose to power in 14 states. The APC also parade a presidential hopeful in person of General Muhammadu Buhari, who on its own has the capacity of winning a free and fair election even as an independent candidate.

    The 2015 election will be a vote for change. Irrespective of the alliances formed to build the next government, jump starting economic growth will be top priority. In this environment, corporations need to keep an ear to the ground and closely monitor the developments and their implications on business-related policy. The new progressive entrants into Nigerian politics should be observed closely, to evaluate how this will contribute to the new agenda.

    As a new government takes charge, communication and engagement strategies might need to be re-evaluated, and there will be a clear need for organizations to have a greater focus on fundamentals and longer term commitment, while being sensitive to the country’s demands.

     

    • Comrade Ahmed Omeiza Lukman,

    Kiev, Ukraine.

  • The funny thing about Change…

    ‘Change will not come if we wait for some other person’

    This morning, I obtained my PVC. I know, I know, some of us might be thinking I was rather tardy about it, while others might be thinking that they might be so lucky. As they say in teenland, ‘whatever.’ Prior to getting it, I was a little worried that if I didn’t I could get into some kind of trouble. What if the government woke up one day and decided you could not send your children or wards to school, or enter a government building, or get buried, or God forbid, even vote without your PVC? So, you can imagine my relief when I got it. I immediately thought, now, the government has no right to prevent me from being buried, should I be so thoughtless as to die.

         As I held the card, it occurred to me that the picture on it was not quite to my taste. It was a reflection of me alright, but I thought I looked a little hazy and unsure of what the whole process was about, just like a woman suffering from dementia being woken up early in the morning to go and give a lecture on astrophysics. I however consoled myself with the fact that the candidates would hardly be after my beauty (they don’t want that), brains (they don’t need that) or brawn (ho, ho, they have enough thugs, thanks). Perhaps, I had that confused look because of the presidential candidates and what people are saying about them.

          I understand that there are about twenty-six registered political parties, out of which only about eleven or so have fielded presidential candidates. Yet, only two of them are said to be in strong contention. Wonderful, said I, we are having a personality-based election where you choose between one set of tribal marks over another; rather than a party-based one where you choose one ice cream flavour over another. In other words, this election is saying there is no difference between the parties: they are all about eating ice cream.

           You can therefore empathise with me I’m sure as I’m in a dither over which of the candidates to choose, or whether I am even going to vote at all. Right now, there are two gimmicks being peddled. The one is about continuing the process of transforming the old order while the other is about changing the old order. The one is about the old order transmuting while the other thinks the old order needs transmigrating. Here’s my objective take.

            My Encarta says transforming is changing things dramatically, and to change is to transform or make something appear different. So, clearly, both candidates are peddling words centred on how they would wave their magic wand and the old order would transmute in Nigeria. As of now, the programmes are not yet clear, but I guess as they become clearer to the participants, they would let us know. For now, it is enough for us to know, according to a TV ad., that Dr. Jonathan is comparable to Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama… I wonder, did the list include Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Mother Theresa…? I don’t know; maybe I missed those parts. Anyway, that ad parades the list of world figures who have given their brains, blood or even life to make a difference while gaining little or nothing, as a premise for us to understand how to view the achievements of our current president.

          Hmmm! Thing is, the copywriters of that TV add forgot one major truth: the people mentioned were made world figures by history not by ads or people. In other words, history judged them, they were weighed in the balance, and they were not found wanting. Sadly or happily, that same history awaits us all. So, I would prefer that we wait for history to add our dear president to that exclusive league of extraordinary gentlemen or… It is too early to decide whether the country has been transformed or not.

          For now, we will do well to remember that in most parts of this country, there is no electricity for more than three quarters of the day (if and when), pipe borne water is absent, many major highways are practically impassable, people are still being abducted as we speak, others sleep with one eye open, possibly waiting… One major culprit in all these is what many of us have pointed out, and that is corruption. Yet, the president has stated that if he would be given a second coming, he would not send anyone to jail for it (perhaps because of the first stone and all) but would rather study the phenomenon and decide on the best procedure, perhaps strengthen institutions.

          Anyway, on account of all the billions of the nation’s funds flying left, right and centre but ending up untraceable, the people are now clamouring for change in the nation’s body politic. In response, the other candidate has also been peddling the slogan of change at the end of a long hook for the people to bite. And are they biting! Now, everywhere you turn on the internet, the month of February has been turned to … Go and find out yourself; I am not the man’s campaign manager.

           Still, on my part, I am hesitant. For one thing, we have a presidential candidate, Rtd. Gen. Buhari, who has been a soldier all his life (I suspect even from the womb) suddenly transmuting into a politician. Something is not sitting well. Remember how angry he got when the nation did not vote him into power in 2011? That was a real, soldierly anger, forgetting that it was quite possible that people really did vote in Dr. Jonathan, in all their innocence. Can that righteous anger change? True, a few things are changing. For one thing, I think the candidate is realising that neither an insular north, nor south west, nor south east, can Nigeria make. A part, in this instance, can never make a whole; so to be wholly accepted in one part is not the same as being accepted in the whole part. For quite another, have you noticed his dressing lately?

             Anyways, people clamouring for change need to do some sitting up. I checked the internet for quotations on change and I found a site that registered 2,536 of them! And what’s more, many of them agreed that change is not an external thing; it is an internal thing. Listen to these: ‘be the change you want to see’ (M. Ghandi); ‘everybody thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself’ (L. Tolstoy); ‘never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has’ (M. Mead). I like this one: ‘change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek’ (B. Obama); ‘and that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time’ (L. Bray). ‘We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – but never yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted change you’re the one who has got to change’ (K. Hepburn); ‘I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples’ (Mother Theresa).

           I suspect that the Nigerians clamouring for change expect someone to come and change other Nigerians so they can continue to cheat and fleece them. Few Nigerians are ready to forsake the illegal perks they are receiving from their offices: misuse of office properties, funds, personnel, and misapplication of office rules and etiquettes, etc. People are not ready to give up their own corruption; but they expect someone to come and make every other Nigerian give up their rights to be corrupt. How realistic is that? So, I look at my PVC in my hands, and wonder what it is worth: promise of transmutation, or change that I’m expecting? I can’t decide, so I pocket it.

  • The change we want, by students

    The change we want, by students

    2014 was challenging for students. Teachers’strikes and protests in many higher institutions kept students more at home than in school. It was not also a rosy year for students in the Northeast, where Boko Haram insurgency led to the closure of many schools. As 2015 begins today, students have two major demands: improved security and a strike-free year, writes OLUWAFEMI OGUNJOBI (NYSC, Makurdi).

    THE year 2014 was full of trials and tribulations for students.  Schools were shut for more than 10 months, following an indefinite strike by universities’, polytechnics’ and colleges of education teachers.

    It was a period of agony, pain and sorrow that many don’t want to remember. Some died before the strike was called off; others tell stories of incidents, which not have occurred if there was no strike.

    After the teachers’ strikes, some institutions were faced with their own internal crises. For instance, students shut down the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, over fee hike.

    The students’ action led to the stranding of commutters on the Ife-Ibadan Expressway. Their Lagos State University (LASU) counterparts engaged the government over the same issue.

    In the North, students’ worry was insecurity. Boko Haram waged war against schools, forcing many students to flee.

    At the time of this report, the Federal Polytechnic in Mubi (MUBI POLY), Adamawa State, had yet to open after it was overrun by Boko Haram militants in October. Although the town has been recaptured by the military, students still fear to return.

    “I will never return to school,” said Michael Obong, a National Diploma II student of MUBI POLY, who managed to escape during the Boko Haram invasion. He said: “I am not going back to Mubi again. Returning to school would be suicidal for me after all I encountered when Boko Haram insurgents came to the school. I have had enough of Boko Haram. Government cannot guarantee my safety. I have decided to secure my own life by myself.”

    Students of Umar Ibrahim El-Kanemi College of Education in Bama, Borno State, are not ready to return to school even after  troops recaptured the town from insurgents. Hassana Abubakar, a student of the school, said: “The college has not had it so good since  Boko Haram struck in Bama. It has lost its essence. Nobody is eager to return to Bama again even though the military has taken over the place. We have witnessed too many horrors, that it was almost becoming part of daily routine. It has made education unattractive. Education has simply lost its grip on us.”

    With the dawn of a new year, what are the students’ expectations?

    For Taiwo Isola, a 400-Level Human Anatomy student of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), strengthening security in the Northeast is his utmost request from the government. People, he said, can only make progress where their is peace.

    He said: “I hope 2015 would mark the beginning of economic prosperity and democracy. But, this can only be achieved when there is peace. I want the government to step up efforts to address the insecurity facing our nation. As a youth, my hope is to live in a free country and I believe the action of our leaders this year would determine whether there will be changes or not.

    “I wish there would be no strike this year. I wish the government would be proactive in handling our challenges and make 2015 a productive year. “

    Aderemi Ojekunle, a Corps member in Ondo State, wants students to change their attitude towards education, saying it is only through good values that the nation can experience change.

    He said: “The change we want in 2015 may not come from the political leadership. We must start by changing our attitude and the values we uphold. If we espouse good values, this will in turn pave the way for the social, economic and political development of this nation. If we really want change, then that change will start from us as citizens of this nation. When we change, the society adapts to it and we move on.”

    Adebayo Caleb, a 500-Level Law student of OAU, said: “We should hope to see a nation where people will vote freely in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. I want to see naira regaining its value in the market. I want to see progress and improvement in key sectors of our economy. I want to see more funds being channelled into the education and health sectors. Most importantly, I don’t want ASUU strike this year. We have had enough and our lecturers must devise a means to channel their grievances.”

    2015 is an election year. Already, politicians are getting ready for the elections coming up next month. How can students participate in the process?

    Hammed Hamzat, a 400-Level Educational Management student of the University of Ibadan (UI), said students must engage the leaders on issues and responsive governance. He said: “As students, we can use our population to clamour for a government that will improve security of lives and property and one that will make our welfare its priority. We should engage our leaders on issues affecting our wellbeing rather than being used as thugs to foment crisis.”

    Zainab Sanni, a Political Science student of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), wants the end to Boko Haram insurgency. She said: “We have been terrified with the spate of killings by the Boko Haram. Our colleagues in the North cannot go to school because of this problem. The only thing I want is for government to stop these bloodthirsty criminals and stop the killing of our fellow citizens in the Northeast.”

  • Change, old warriors and the challenge of history

    THE primaries of the ruling and major opposition parties in Nigeria held this week have thrown up again the candidates who contested the last presidential elections in 2011. These are incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan for the ruling PDP and retired General Muhamadu Buhari for the APC. To an outsider it may seem Nigerians are a very conservative and predictable lot, very averse to change, and in way that could be right. Except that this time it is not just so in spite of a recurring decimal of presidential candidates. The route to the emergence of the two candidates was quite circum locutus and mazy, but the circumstances, issues and challenges leading to the emergence of the same two candidates for 2015 presidential elections were quite different from their last tussle won by the incumbent president.

    Even though the two candidates sounded very moved by their elections the need for a different way of doing things and governing Nigeria was very much the mood at the two primaries. Even the incumbent promised to do things differently while not acknowledging responsibility for being in charge of the dismal situation that has made his rival look and sound very much like a breadth of fresh air or what Shakespeare would have called ‘A Daniel Come To Judgement‘ as in the celebrated play Merchant of Venice. Definitely the two candidates are poised for a gargantuan battle for the salvation and soul of the Nigerian state and people. But Nigerians are not only befuddled that the battle is between familiar candidates, figures and faces but are non plussed at how this came to be right before their eyes and with them in possession of their cognitive and thinking faculties. Never the less there is a pervading sense of hope and expectation that some thing has to give in this 2015 election if Nigeria is not to plunge down an abyss of insecurity, poverty, joblessness and lack of safety of life and property which have been the distinguishing hallmarks of the present government and administration in Abuja . Indeed one can borrow an expression from former US Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson who on losing that nomination bid, consoled himself by saying that he was confident that God was not finished with him yet. For Nigerians a la Jesse Jackson, a change of government in 2015 at the presidential elections will show that God is not really finished with Nigeria and vice versa.

    Which throws the ball firmly in the court of the APC‘s brand new presidential candidate former Genera Muhammadu Buhari as the beacon of hope for Nigerians for a better and more secure future given our present political equation emerging from the presidential primaries. I say this without sarcasm and certainly without bitterness as some text from readers have advised, given the fact that I was rooting for the Man From Kano, Governor Rabiu Musa who came second and for whom one can certainly say God is not finished with, as work in progress in the future governance of our nation. Today I examine the prospects of a Buhari Presidency and the challenges of hope inherent in it against a backdrop of the General’s military background and the shared experience of leaders like him who have seen and taken power in and out of uniform culminating in the very edifying spectacle of the taciturn military general from Daura basking in the glory and pomp of democratic acclamation at the stadium in Surulere this week. It was a celebration of peoples democracy that even Plato or Arisrotle never foresaw for this part of the world. It was a scene that would have made Abraham Lincoln green with envy and he defined democracy as government of the people by the people and for the people. Which really was what the well organised APC presidential primary was all about. Anyway, before General Buhari takes on the ruling party’s strangle hold on the Nigeria polity as the credibIe alternative before the Nigerian electorate, l want to draw his attention to the experiences of former military leaders globally like him who tried to rescue their nations from the sort of plight Nigerians are facing in the build up to the 2015 elections which many Nigerians are praying he will win, to bring the required respite from our present sea of problems, calamities and insecurity.

    The leaders are from two nations in Asia and Africa namely Pakistan and Egypt both Muslim nations facing Islamic militancy similar to that of our present plight with the blood thirsty Boko Haram pillaging and murdering Nigerians with impunity in the vast North East of our nation. The leaders are former General and President Pavez Musharaf of Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif that nation’s present PM who is trying to get Musharaf tried and jailed for treason over offences he purportedly committed while in office as Pakistan’s military ruler. From Egypt I bring in the example of former President Housni Mubarak and Egypt’s new President and former Military boss Al Fatah Sissy who also is trying the former elected president of Egypt Mohammed Morsi for treason for offences committed during his brief democratic tenure. Again the morale here is to show the newly elected APC presidential candidate that Nigerians believe he has the capacity and boldness to contest this election and see it through just as these foreign leaders took bold steps at one time or the other to maintain stability and order in their nations, sometimes at great personal risk to their lives and property.

    Take the famous Musharaf – Nawaz Sharif contemporary tango for starters. Very briefly Musharaf deposed Sharif as PM in a military coup in 1999 then wanted to become a civilian president in uniform and the Pakitani Supreme Court ruled against that. Musharaf had to resign to contest while lawyers demonstrated against him all over Pakistan. Musharaf was Pakistan’s 10th president from 2001 to 2008. He allowed politicians in exile especially Benazir Bhutto to return and contest. Bhutto was later assassinated but Nawaz Sharif came to Pakistan to contest at great risk to his life but his plane was diverted to Medina by the Musharaf regime. When Nawaz Sharif’s party won control of Parliament and formed the government the former General Musharaf was in self imposed exile in the US. He nevertheless came home to form a political party and his erstwhile enemy Nawaz Sharif seized the occasion to put him on trial for treason. The issue here is that both gentlemen don’t see eye to eye on the concept of justice and ways and manner of governance. Yet they are united in fighting the Taliban anywhere in their nation of Pakistan from where the girl activist Malala came to collect the Nobel Prize that the Taliban has already condemned even as the two leaders are united against the terror of the Taliban. It is such patriotism that I know that their Nigerian counterpart and flag bearer of the APC in the 2015 has in abundance that makes their example worthy of emulation as we approach 2015 presidential elections in Nigeria.

    Again let me dilate on the example of Egypt and the lessons to be learnt from the fate of Housni Mubarak, Mohammed Morsi and Al Fatah Sissy, the present president of Egypt. Housni Mubarak must be rated politically as a rare Egyptian cat with the legendary nine lives. When the street riots started in 2011 just as we were preparing for our presidential elections in Nigeria then, Mubarak knew his time was up. He could have mowed down the demonstrators at Tahrir Square in Cairo but obviously the Americans, French and English flashed the diplomatic red card and democracy won and Mubarak was being brought to his trial in a cage while Mohammed Morsi was elected President of Egypt. Today a court has freed Mubarak of charges that he wanted to kill demonstrators in 2011, and Mohammed Morsi, formerly elected on the platform of the Muslim Brotherhood as Egypt’s president is on trial for treason, while the Muslim Brotherhood has been banned as a terrorist organisation in Egypt. The former army chief Al Fatah Sissy became so popular in the way he resisted the new Islamic Militancy of Egypt under Morsi, that he Sissy won the next presidential election in Egypt and Egypt has been fighting the Brotherhood and other Islamic Militia in the Sinai and anywhere ever since. Nowadays Egyptians feel safer and more secure because their government is protecting them from terrorists and anarchists who hijacked the street demonstrations of 2011 in Egypt.

    That really is what Nigerians expect of the new APC candidate when he wins power as he should as his opponent has not been able to guarantee the territorial integrity of Nigeria in the North East and now in Jos this week and Kano. As the Archbishop of Jos reportedly lamented after 30 people were blown up in that city, Government must protect the lives of poor Nigerians because they have nothing to protect themselves. That is the Buhari Challenge because he brings in impeccable credentials as a champion of the masses of this nation . It is a well deserved challenge because he comes well prepared for it and we wish him success. As for his opponent , we recall the Yoruba adage that says – we say we want to offer our daughter to a man with a strong back, a hunchback offers himself. That is not the sort of back we meant. Really, enough is enough. Ride on General.

  • Buhari and fear of change

    SIR: Of the chunk of problems facing Nigeria today, corruption and bad leadership, save the security crisis, stand out. In a sane society, and I believe Nigeria is one, solutions will be sought and men of strong and incorruptible characters drafted to champion the fight against economic and moral indiscipline.

    It has become clear that the little or staged attempts to tackle corruption have failed woefully and that there is the need for a shining example of a disciplined and incorruptible figure in the most coveted office of the presidency. If there is a general agreement among Nigerians, it is that General Muhammadu Buhari stands for discipline and principle. Of all the adjectives used to describe him, incorruptible and disciplined always stick to him.

    This should be easy then, isn’t it? The voters should simply troop out and try to change the nation’s fortunes by voting for a corrupt free Nigeria. But that has failed to happen, on three occasions. The status quo was maintained and now we are here.

    The reason for the failure of the retired general to secure the electorate’s mandate, is that we (most of us at least) are afraid of change. Change would mean that corrupt leaders will be apprehended and monies will be recovered. Change would mean that oil theft and bunkering would be frowned upon. Change would also mean a whole lot of other things that a lot of Nigerians are used to, and seemed normal, but would have to drop.

    One other reason why the mass sympathy for General Buhari and the yearning for change have failed to convert into votes is that we are afraid of what would become of our lives if this change materializes.

     

    • Sulaiman Aliyu

    Gwagwalada, Abuja

  • Change of baton at Lions Club

    Change of baton at Lions Club

    The Okota Lions Club has installed Funke Faderera Adekoya as its 21st president at the Century Hotel, Okota, Lagos. AMIDU ARIJE and BASIRAT BRAIMAH were there.

    It was a twin celebration; the investiture of Lion Funke Faderera Adekoya as the 21st president of the Okota Lions Club and her 50th birthday thanksgiving.

    The fittings in the hall were beautiful. Members, guests and their family members were excited. They all appeared in gorgeous attires.

    With badges on their chests, members of the club could easily be identified. Most women dressed in corporate wears while men wore the popular Atiku attire with caps. They exchanged pleasantries.

    As they waited for the commencement of the investiture, a disk jockey (DJ) dished out music to the delight of all; some stood to dance while many shook their heads to the rhythms of the music.

    The ceremony started with a prayer. The Lion anthem followed.

    Guests were invited to the high table. The occasion was chaired by Mrs Funmi Sanusi.

    When the celebrator, Adekoya, was invited to the high table, she was led in by  members who danced to Michael Jackson’s song “We are the one”.

    Lion International Club District 404B-1 Governor Lion Abiola Odeyemi was the chief host.

    The Matron, Vocational Training Institute, Oshodi, Dr Victoria Aregbe, was the guest lecturer. She spoke on: “Our sight, our light”. She emphasised the importance of sight as she urged all to take care of it.  She shed more light on how to prevent blindness.

    In her valedictory speech, the outgoing president of the club, Lion Folashade Joseph, thanked God and members for their support and cooperation during her tenure. She highlighted some of her achievements which included best club award; best president award; best 10 clubs award and a letter of appreciation from the International President of the club, Barry Palmer, among others.

    “Another year has passed with great achievements in the history of our club. We had a very busy and eventful year, focusing on youth and children empowerment, aiding the blind and the visually impaired, widows’ empowerment, and reading action programmes among others. All these earned us awards at the International  and District levels,” she said.

    Joseph urged her fellow Lions to stay off criticisms and support incoming president Faderera Adekoya.

    In appreciation of their  support, Lion Joseph presented awards to some members of the club and non members for their contributions to the success of her administration.

    Lion Odeyemi conducted the investiture. Before the installation of Lion Adekoya, Lion Odeyemi sought the permission of her husband and children for the job, after  which Lion Adekoya was installed.

    All cheered and applauded the new president. Odeyemi took her round the tables to officially present her to guests and members of the club.  She acknowledged cheers from guests.

    Lion Odeyemi, who dressed in a suit congratulated the new president and members, urging them to uphold the club’s code of ethics at all time. He said his theme for the year is: “Service is caring, strengthen the pride”. With smiles, he wished the members a successful service year.

    In her acceptance speech, Lion Adekoya described the position as another learning stage in her life and accepted to be the president with deepest humility and a true feeling for selfless service.

    “Right from inception, I have always loved to reach out to people. My core project is on prevention of sight, I don’t believe in jam-packing things but if I can with God’s help give five to 10 patients back their sight, then I will say am fulfilled,” she said.

    The celebrator’s husband, Superior Evangelist Sesan Adekoya, described her as a hardworking woman who seeks to promote human welfare. He said it gladdens his heart knowing a number of her dreams are being fulfilled.

    She cut her one-layer gold and white cake with her family, club members and other guests amidst clicking cameras.

    Some giggled at private jokes while others ate silently as the ceremony lasted.

    After the vote of thanks, people joined the celebrator on the dance floor where they were till light faded.

  • ‘I would like to change the way govt works’

    ‘I would like to change the way govt works’

    Prominent businessmen Alhaji Jani Ibrahim is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Kwara State.  He spoke with reporters on his ambition and agenda for the state. ADEKUNLE JIMOH met him.

    In the Kwara State PDP governor-ship primaries?

    We have consulted widely and I can tell you that there is a ground swell of support for our cause. I am under no illusion that the desired political change in Kwara will be an easy process. Everyone knows the battle will be hard because no one relinquishes power voluntarily. But, the PDP will certainly reclaim Kwara come 2015 because the people are tired of the present government. Make no mistake about that. The signposts are there and the change cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another 4 years.

    Who is your godfather in Kwara politics?

    I do not have a godfather because I do not believe I need one. I believe that godfatherism is nepotism, it robs a people of opportunity to identify and elect the best amongst them.

    Because the leaders that emerge are appointed by the godfather and not through the popular choice of the people, they owe their obligation to the godfather and not to the people. They are answerable to the godfather; they do not feel accountable to the people because they were not put there by them. They serve the bidding and interest of the godfather, and are not touched by or accept blame for the poor living conditions of our people.

    We have ceased to anoint candidates in the Kwara PDP and I can assure you that every candidate will have a level playing field as we have no godfather problem in the party.

    The people of Kwara will become my godfathers and godmothers if I am elected into office. That way I will be responsible to them and use the assets of the State, its resources, fertile lands and natural resources in the most efficient ways possible for the common good of all our people.

     One of the PDP aspirants was quoted recently as saying that the Saraki Dynasty is dead and that Kwara people are rooting for political freedom. Do you totally agree with his submission?

    Kwarans are not unmindful of the contributions that Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, the Wazirin Ilorin, and former the Senate Leader, who was widely regarded by most Nigerians as the ‘Strongman’ of Kwara politics, has made in the lives of Kwarans, both economically and politically.  However, Kwara State is not an empire or private dynasty of the Sarakis. So, the argument about whether their Saraki Dynasty is alive or dead in the state is not an issue.

    Kwara State is part of Nigeria, owned by the people and governed by whosoever receives the mandate of Kwarans and not by any particular family or any dynasty. And secondly, we do not have a caste system where the aristocrats lord over the common class.

    A lot of people are therefore wondering why you decided to join the murky political terrain rather than focus on your diverse businesses?

    When I survey the state with the eyes of a business person, see opportunities all around, but the reality on ground today is widespread poverty. Going by the goals we have been able to accomplish in Lubcon with our very modest means, well-wishers of the State have over the years and at various instances been urging me to come in and make a difference. As a true patriot who could no longer sit by and watch things fall apart before our very eyes, I have responded to their call.

    The sordid state of infrastructure in Kwara is very disheartening. Everywhere I look, there is work to be done in Kwara; there is an urgent need to rapidly create jobs for our unemployed youths; improve and revitalize the health care delivery systems; improve education to enable our children compete in the  information age that demand skills, learning and flexibility. The level of poverty in Kwara is alarming and the government is doing little, and seems to be at loss as to what to do to correct it.

    The electorate are no longer satisfied with candidates that spend their time in office politicking; surveys around the world show that the prime consideration of the electorate is the economy and how the economic policies being espoused by a candidate will affect them. With that been the case, candidates with like myself with a sound grasp of economics are what the times demand.

    Many Kwarans see you as part of the old order. They in fact point out that you are a Director in Heritage bank (former Societe General Bank) believed to be owned by Saraki to buttress your alleged closeness to the family?

    It’`s funny the types of stories that people come up with. You cannot but marvel at how they make up all sorts of tales. My relationship with Senator Bukola Saraki dates back to our secondary school days at Kings College, Lagos where he was my junior, and being from the same state, he naturally came under my wings. We have political differences, stemming from the different views we hold on the role of government, the manner in which it carries out its mandate and its overall relationship with the people. This has however not affected our relationship as friends.

    I believe that the present government, which he installed, has not delivered the expected democracy dividends to our people. Kwara needs a new course for the economic, political and social revival of her hard working people. We want a new leadership in Government House, Ilorin, that understands that there’s nothing empty and unreasonable about the call for job creation, investing in education, providing good roads, potable water, harnessing our natural resources, supporting farmers to provide food security, reducing infant mortality and teaching new skills to uneducated youths.

    In all of Senator Bukola Saraki’s eight years as governor, I was not  given any position in his cabinet, was never nominated for any federal appointment, so it baffles me when people say I am fronting for him. I run a business that is about the second largest employer of labour in the state, I have been privileged to head the alumni association of the most prestigious institution in the country. My question to them is “what do they think I would be offered to make me front for someone and take orders from the person on how I run my government? Is it position, is it money or what?

    I would also like to point out that I am an Independent Director in Heritage Bank, my appointment was approved by the Central Bank to ensure adherence to best practices and to help reposition the Bank and enhance its smooth take-off. And Independent Directors do not own shares in the bank as per CBN guidelines.

    What should Kwarans expect, if you become the governor in 2015?

    Apart from some of the key areas I have already highlighted, I would very importantly like to change the way government works by making it less bureaucratic and more accessible to the people. Transparency and accountability will be our watch word; we will make our budgets public, hold town hall meetings and publish regular accounts to ensure that the governed have access to what their leaders are doing. We will give every Kwara child a stake in the promise and future of our dear State. We will agree high learning outcomes for our schools and ensure that qualified teachers are engaged to deliver on them. We will put enabling infrastructures in place, provide entrepreneurial and vocational training for our young people so the State becomes a beehive of sprouting businesses that will provide gainful employment opportunities for our people.

  • Nigeria needs a change of guard

    Sir: For the past 15 years or thereabout, Nigeria has been under the rule of a particular set of people who have been doing their best  to develop the country yet our woes as a Third World country subsist. Our leaders have made tremendous efforts and taken steps to move the nation forward but evidently things have not worked out the way we expected.

    We have seen the best this leadership can do especially in the political sphere, in the economic sector and in the area of security, health, education, basic infrastructure. We have seen how our leaders continue to feed fat and live ostentatiously on our commonwealth; amidst the abundance of human capital and mineral resources, majority still wallow in poverty while countries with lesser endowments thrive better than us.

    This is where the leadership has led us. One would say, Nigeria is a largely a heterogeneous country with many tongues, ideas and interests, and this makes the country literally ungovernable. Well, who is to blame for that?

    There are questions about follower-ship too. It is often said that a society gets the kind of leadership it deserves? Does that mean we are doomed forever as follower-ship has its flaws too?

    But whether the future is bright or not, we really need a re-orientation, a renaissance. We need to change our direction, our reasoning, our ways, our understanding, our drive, our perception and the like. We need a change of guard. We have been under a particular line of thought for a while now, let’s try another hand, we might just be in for a change we yearn for.

    In plain terms, a political party has led us since our return to Democracy 15 years ago; it is obvious continuity is not what we need now. While all parties and politicians are pretty much the same old wine in new bottles, we should try out another ideology, another political party and see where that leads us in the next few years as we further look for ways to remove Nigeria from the throes of underdevelopment and oppression.

     

    •Farotimi  Dolapo

    University of Ibadan.