The Nation Newspaper

Tag: country

  • There was a country. How did we get here?

    There was a country. How did we get here?

    I still remember growing up  in  Ekiti, my own part of Nigeria when we did not have crude petroleum but had cocoa, palm oil, rubber and lots of hardwood timber which our regional government exported and the proceeds were spent on running the administration while a big part of it was saved against a rainy day. Some of the savings was used to support producer prices whenever the prices fell in the so-called world market as a result of over production.  Stability of producer price was necessary to encourage the farmers who produced the export produce. The marketing board that managed these savings was insulated as much as possible from political interference. It was the British colonial government that set this marketing board up and by the time we had party and responsible government in 1951, millions of pounds Sterling had accumulated as savings which the Awolowo government in the Western Region had access to from 1951 to 1959. Marketing boards were also set up for the eastern and northern regions of Nigeria but because those regions produced palm oil and palm kernel in the case of the East and groundnuts, cotton and hides and skins in the case of the North, they did not have the kind of money which cocoa brought into the coffers of the western Nigerian treasury.

    The year 1955 begins the period I am talking about when I was in my final year in primary school during the first year of the Action Group’s government’s free and compulsory primary school education scheme. My set moved from standard four to join with those in standard five to transit to primary six and the number of years spent in primary school was shortened from 10 years to eight years. There was fear that standards will be lowered but nothing of such happened and my set took entrance examinations to various secondary schools in the Western Region preparatory to starting in form one in January 1956.

    Most of us only took entrance examinations to schools in the Western Region. Certainly not to Lagos! None of our teachers encouraged us to do so because of what was said to be the corrupting influence of the coastal city. And our parents would not hear of us going to Benin and Warri provinces, part of Western Region for fear of the distance and differences in languages. There were a few intrepid ones who braved going there.

    It was the best of times.  We were all enjoying heavenly paradise here in Ekiti and the Western Region generally and in the country as a whole. One could travel to anywhere without molestation by the police or armed robbers and Fulani herders minded their own business as we did ours. Everything was good. We were not rich neither were we poor.  During our holidays, we joined our parents on the farms and those whose parents were traders hawked their wares on the street.

    Read Also: INEC delineation: Uproar as Itsekiris shutdown 28,000 bpd facility in Delta

    Running family economies was a joint program of parents, children, cousins and all kinds of relations with everybody making a contribution. The family unit was highly valued and our parents made sure they kept a tight hold on everyone and made sure they knew what was going on in everybody’s life. They also drummed into our ears about the importance of having a good name. A good name is better than diamonds and gold, they would say. Honour was more important than wealth. 

    My father didn’t mind if I fought in school as long as I won. You were not permitted to come home crying that a classmate of about the same age as yourself beat you up. We only had new clothes at Christmas and new year. If you were reasonably well-off, you got a pair of shoes as a bargain. This puritanical life style was embraced by everybody that I knew.  Our bigger and older brothers were in high schools and some were even in universities at home and abroad and our parents made us realise if we too worked hard and read our books, we too will go to high schools and reach the top. There was little career counselling; all we were told is read your books. Even when we were in secondary school, there was little or no career counselling apart from going to university to earn degrees in English, History, Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Mathematics and become teachers. It was grand being teachers in those days especially graduate teachers owning cars. Those who studied Medicine were guided into it by the “Hands of God“. It was not until later that we learnt that one could study Law, Accountancy, Engineering, Insurance and Finance. Going into the military or police was a no go area.

    In spite of the limitations of our rural environment, we did well. Our peasant upbringing endowed us with all that was honest and honourable. We never stole; we never embezzled or envied any one. We were satisfied with whatever it pleased the Almighty God to put in our hands in terms of shelter and ability to send our children to school like our parents did. We did not know anyone who became rich by being a civil servant.

    Politics when it entered our part of Nigeria was a call to serve not to eat. The only rich people we knew were contractors and cocoa merchants. We thought our country, or shall I say our region, will regenerate itself and our children will have the opportunity we had to live in a peaceful environment. But we were wrong.

    Our self-sustaining region was in 1957 made a self-governing part of Nigeria. We still retained control over our lives and contributed financially to the central treasury which relied largely on import and excise duties as well as charges on currency, posts and telegraphs, railways and shipping, and aviation. The regions continued to run their affairs as autonomous entities within the federation of Nigeria and enjoying common services of police and defence. The regions ran their own affairs competitively and cooperatively. Crude petroleum was discovered in Oloibiri (Bayelsa State) in the East but this did not make huge impact on the East which remained the Cinderella of the Nigerian family relations.

    As we progressed towards independence, the fierce competition for control of the centre began. The northern hegemony epitomized by the NPC in the centre was then aided by the Eastern subservience of the NCNC.  Then began the race to fill the posts being vacated by the British and to pack the ministries and parastatals with the ethnic cohorts of largely Easterners. Obafemi Awolowo who in all his political life had favoured strong regions appeared to have abandoned his position when he decided to challenge the NPC / NCNC chokehold on the centre by resigning as premier of the Western Region to go to the centre. With historical hindsight, he should have stayed in the West like his political enemy Ahmadu Bello stayed on in the North and sent his lieutenant, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to the centre as lame duck prime minister which he would have remained if Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello had maintained their federal principled posture as they did in the Lancaster pre-Independence conference of 1959. This wrong tactical move sealed the fate of the carefully negotiated agreement for the disparate regions to remain together. These were territories big enough to be separate countries. They entered into what has turned out into an unhappy marriage which the military forced unitary system of 1966 has worsened.

    Nevertheless, the free-for-all looting and the  crazy feeding frenzy on national treasury which  began in 1970 after the  civil war ended, has gotten worse; electricity power  distribution has been sold to people who knew nothing about how to generate and distribute electricity.

    How does one explain the fact that the sale of gas and crude oil, the main source of the country’s wealth goes unaudited for years? The various parastatals in the oil industry are run not with the aim to earn income and augment national income, but to consume whatever comes in from sales of crude oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Yet we complain that the country has no roads, no railways, no modern ports and airports. We have no hydro or any sort of efficient electric power.

    We have written and written that the dollar-guzzling petroleum refineries and petrochemical industries should be sold. We said it to Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and we said it to Buhari and we say it again to Tinubu if he will listen. The money we are queuing up in various capitals of the world to borrow would have been unnecessary if we ran our oil industry profitably.

    Unfortunately, this will continue until the crude oil in our hands becomes unprofitable and unsaleable. Those running our oil industry should just compare ourselves with the following countries in OPEC namely UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuela. Even with the American sabotage of Iran and Venezuela and war in Iraq, they still have superior infrastructure than Nigeria. The roads we used to travel on have all been washed away because of poor construction arising from corruption and kickbacks from those who constructed them.

    Nemesis has now caught up with us. The poor have left the villages to waylay us on the highways and rob and attack us in the cities. The poor are now demanding their own share of our common patrimony which a few have appropriated. The rich can no longer sleep because the poor are hungry, awake and angry.

    Before it is too late, we must go back to the negotiated constitutional agreement that led us to independence to avoid current and future head butting. I appeal to those who can make things happen for the better to support the current Tinubu government to make positive changes!

  • This country is all we have

    This country is all we have

    • By Zayd Ibn Isah

    Nigeria recently welcomed 103 of her deported citizens back from Turkey and into her warm embrace, much like a mother welcoming her prodigal children with care and affection.

    According to the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), the commission expected 110 deportees but received 103, all of them being males. “Some of them have been in the deportation camp for several months, and now that they are here, we are hoping to follow up on all the allegations gathered in their profiling,” said Ambassador Catherine Udida, representing the commissioner.

    Expectedly, the deportees are not too happy to be back home. Watching the posted video on social media, the faces one saw at the airport were masks of melancholy, like clouds pregnant with unshed rain. It is not that difficult to relate emotionally with the deportees. After all, they were forced to return home after having left in search of greener pastures. And we all know that returning in such an unsavoury manner can negatively affect one’s outlook on life.

    What is even sadder is the fact that some of these deportees will attempt migrating again in the near future to accomplish their initial missions. In fact, it is possible that some of them considered plans to return even while on board the plane bringing them back to Nigeria. Each new plan would be better than the previous one, with careful calculations to elude familiar obstacles, prepare for contingencies and learn from old mistakes. It is hard to judge any of the deportees for having this relentless mind-set: Nigerians famously possess dogged determination.

    In fact, not even the potential horrors of drowning while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, or dying of thirst while trudging through the Sahara Desert, are enough to dissuade many Nigerians from believing that “the abroad” holds innumerable possibilities of hope for them and their families. As such, they completely disregard thoughts of remaining in Nigeria, because for them, their country offers nothing positive at all. Consequently, japa narratives continue to dominate social media discourse, so much so that many youths begin to feel the undue pressure to leave the shores of Nigeria.

    Read Also: No country will admit law offender – Ka3na tells VeryDarkMan

    According to the Nigerian Immigration Service report of 2023, over 3.6 million Nigerians migrated in two years to other countries in search of better opportunities. This report was published in a 2023 article by ThisDay newspaper. This does not include those who left the country through the Mediterranean Sea and other illegal routes.

    Additionally, as more Nigerians migrate abroad, either legally or illegally, the tendency for host countries to deport them increases. According to a Saturday Punch report of 2023, no fewer than 170 Nigerians were deported from Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and other countries in the first nine months of 2023. In 2021, a Daily Trust investigative report revealed that a total of 13,235 Nigerians had been deported from at least 10 countries in four years. It isn’t too far-fetched to imagine that in the three years since that report was published, the number has increased significantly. In all of this, we can begin to identify a worrisome trend, especially as it often uncovers further challenges faced by Nigerians who undertake risky journeys abroad to seek better prospects.

    The challenges that our compatriots face abroad are numerous, and should be expected. Settling in a foreign land is no child’s play, especially as a black African. Apart from blatant racism, discrimination and subtle profiling, immigrants (legal or not) also face the realities of exclusion and outright hostility, as well as the possibility of unemployment, homelessness and poverty in a foreign country. Thousands of Nigerians are stranded in terrible states all over the globe, with most of them unable to accept defeat or deportation, and even more afraid of returning home with nothing much to show for the resources and energies expended in search of a better life.

    Sadly, not many of them are able to come to terms with the fact that this country, even with all of its failings, is all we have. But alas, when push eventually comes to shove, our brothers and sisters virtually have nowhere else to return for refuge than Nigeria. There’s a Punjabi phrase that says something to the effect that – wherever you go, your true comfort lies in the place where you find all your comforts, your home.

    Results and findings of a poll published by NOIPolls, a research institute based in Abuja, in August, 2023, revealed that 63 percent of Nigerian youths are willing to migrate abroad. Reasons for wanting to migrate ranged from searching for greener pastures and quality education, to security and career goals. At this point, it is important to point out that poll results such as this one are often reflections of societal undercurrents such as the prevailing japa discourse that has overtaken social media platforms in Nigeria. The same poll revealed that only 32 percent of Nigerian youths had no desire to migrate.

    It is important that we work together as a nation to increase that percentage. We cannot afford to keep losing our brightest minds and vital energies to Europe and America. As it has been humorously asked on social media, “If everyone leaves the country, who will now be left behind to deal with the mess everyone is running away from?”

    While I don’t fault any Nigerian citizen for seeking greener pastures abroad, as citizens of the countries we migrate to also migrate for better opportunities, we must refrain from actions that could destabilize our nation, actions that could further tarnish its reputation. Together, we can rebuild this country and make it a better place for every citizen, young or old. Many Nigerians are too poor to afford the costs of migration, and even for those who are wealthy enough, such japa expenses would be better off being channelled to better our state as a collective society. The only problem is that no one believes that their tiny contributions can be enough to positively make any difference.

    One good thing about the aforementioned poll is the fact that it enabled the surveyed youths to suggest what could be done to stem the rate at which their counterparts migrate overseas. These youths asked for the creation of job opportunities, stable security, provision of basic amenities, reduction of inflation and better living conditions for the underprivileged in society. Frankly, I have little to add to these suggestions apart from asking the Nigerian government to re-establish links with the youths, and to begin taking proactive steps to assure them that staying back to be a part of Nigeria’s reclamation of her glory would not cause them regrets.

    No single country has ever gotten better solely because a majority of its citizens migrated. The national development and progress we all desire cannot be transferred to us from the Diaspora. Nigeria can only rise from within, and by God, it will. These are trying times, definitely, but phases like the one we are currently in often serve as pivotal moments in the sense that they can propel us to re-strategize and grow. Now, more than ever, Nigeria needs her children to join hands and heads in helping her get back up on her feet. We’re down, not defeated. And to those who have lost hope here and only see light elsewhere, it’s important to know that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, but would definitely be green where it is watered and tended to.

    Nigeria is all we have as a people, but it is all we need to become who we are really meant to be, as a nation and people.

    • Isah can be reached at lawcadet1@gmail.com
  • A brutal jab at a country

    A brutal jab at a country

    SIR: It isn’t just hearts that are broken in Kaduna State. It isn’t just the serenity of many families that has been shattered by uncertainty. The loss of face for a state that hosts Nigeria’s premier military institutions might be irreversible. But that is only one theme in a country of tear-streaked themes.

    On March 7, about 287 pupils and some staff members of LEA Primary School, Kuriga 1, Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State were hustled into an unimaginable fate by armed criminals. The abductions, shocking in its number and audacity, has ferried an entire country into a hasty return to the past, prompting difficult questions about the direction of the country. What is especially disconcerting for many Nigerians is that they thought they had tucked away those questions somewhere in the past.

    When Boko Haram rejigged and expanded its operations in 2009, western education was a pronounced target. In more than a decade of murderous, traitorous and treacherous campaigns, many schools were torn down and the education of numberless children put into irreparable jeopardy. Even when Boko Haram’s audacious terrorism began to embolden and inspire others terrorist groups and new forms of terrorism, education remained a key target.

    Read Also: Kaks Projects hosts Squash Rumble at Lagos Country Club

    What is the attack on education in Nigeria about? What is the end-goal of the faceless criminals whom desperate Nigerians continue to fund by shelling out millions of Naira to facilitate the release of their abducted children?

    Even before Boko Haram turned its ire towards education in Nigeria in the last decade, education was already on a free-fall in the country. Years of underinvestment in education had led to poor funding, and crumbling educational infrastructure. This had in turn bred disillusionment, indifference, and disinterest in many school pupils and students, but especially in their parents who would rather their children did something else. Poverty has also made education a rather expendable luxury for many parents and their children.

    The effects of this recent school attack will be felt for years to come. Just when Nigerians were tempted to think that the country under a new administration was finally on its way away from the path of such attacks, this attack is a brutal jab at a country just when it was beginning to pick up its pieces. It indicts Nigeria’s security architecture that many schools sprawled across the country are vulnerable to attacks by non-state actors.

    Education is the great equalizer. It is why everything possible should be done to rein in the criminals who are bent on taking away this most vital of resources from the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerian children.

    • Ike Willie-Nwobu, Ikewilly9@gmail.com
  • ‘I can’t understand why Nigerians are fleeing their country’

    ‘I can’t understand why Nigerians are fleeing their country’

    • Says: Nigeria is beautiful; I want to be Nigerian so bad
    • Why I’m facilitating hospital from Mount Sinai New York

    Trinidad and Tobago by birth, American by migration and ‘Nigerian’ by marriage, Chief Helen Ajetumobi Oyesanya would actually pass for a Nigerian in any crowd, especially with her dressing. In this interview with Gboyega Alaka, she talks about her marriage to her Nigerian babalawo husband, her love for Nigeria and why she is facilitating a world class hospital to Nigeria.

    You’re American married to a Nigerian, a Yoruba; and you’ve also shown so much love for Nigeria. Tell us about your plan to bring a world class health facility to Nigeria.

    My name is Olori Helen Ajetumobi Oyesanya. I am an American married to a Nigerian, Fakunle Oyesanya PhD. I live in New York. I am also Yeye Atayese of Ojokoro land, because by virtue of my marriage, I also visit Nigeria regularly and I contribute to my community.

    Tell us about this whole idea of bringing a health facility to Nigeria.

    When I first came to Nigeria, I realised, because I work in the medical sector, that the healthcare system is very poor. And I’m saying to myself, if something happen to me in Nigeria, what kind of assistance am I going to get medically? So I spoke to my husband and I said, since I work in a hospital in New York and I have access to doctors and all these different things because of my position as a midwife/administrator; I have 350 doctors working under me and I’m the one who certifies them to work in the hospital. So being that I have that clout and the ability to get to the CEO of Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, where I have worked for over 38 years; I’ve actually been with them for like 45 years, but I’ve worked for them for 38 years as a midwife; so I thought I should be able to do something. Coming to Nigeria – I love Nigeria; let me interject that; I have decided that what we have in the United States, we can also have here. So I told my husband that when I go back to the United States, I am going to summon the head doctors and tell them, this is the state of the medical facilities in Nigeria and this is what I think we should do to help them.

    So I had meetings with them and they were kind of taken aback. For them, it’s an opportunity to get to do something for Nigeria. As Americans, they always like to be on top, to show people what they can do and how they can go about doing things better. But I know that once you train my Nigerian people, we can do it better too. All we need is the push.

    So now, it is the doctors back in New York who have started calling me, asking ‘Helen, are you still going to do this thing? And I keep telling them, ‘ Yes, we’re going to do it, we’re going to build the hospital in Nigeria, and that when I go back this time, I am going to see how we can get the land to build the hospital. Probably get investors; or get the medical authorities in Nigeria to help us facilitate the project. So right now, 2024, they are waiting on me to get back to feed them back on who I spoke with and what has transpired. So, I am so happy that we eventually met with the permanent secretary for the Commissioner of Health, for us to move forward in this regard. I really want to situate this medical centre in Nigeria, so that instead of people trying to go abroad to access treatment, even have babies; we have the best facilities here, such that they don’t have to spend the kind of huge amount of money they spend. Instead of going to America, Canada, UK, we can do it right here.

    This hospital, what form is it going to take; what sections or departments are we looking at?

    The hospital is going to consist of a gynaecology department, paediatrics’ departments; you Gynaecology is very important. As a midwife, I take that very seriously, because when you’re pregnant, you have one foot in the door and another foot out. So I want to make sure that all mothers live and all babies live.

    You also hinted on having hostel facilities.

    Our intention is to have a hostel for doctors and other health personnel who will be coming from outside the country- because we in Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, facilitate doctors from all over the world. They come to our hospital for training, because we have school – ICAHN School of Medicine. So most people come from around the world to attend our school because it is very prestigious. We want to do the same thing here and have some of our doctors do tours and train the Nigerian doctors and nurses that pass out.  They can also come into our hospital in New York do a tour. This is to open up the way for all Nigerian doctors and nurses to have a part in this hospital and in this medical system. Because it is the best!

    Are you talking of training the Nigerian doctors in the facilities here or in New York?

    We can do both. They can probably do like a skit in New York for like a year. But I don’t think it makes much sense for them to go over to New York, when we’re going to have doctors coming from New York, Germany, UK, India, China… ; they will all rotate and come here. That’s why we need a hostel for them to stay because they’d be staying no more than six months. And we want to work with the health care system of Nigeria that already exists. We can help do the upgrading in that system, because I understand that the system now is collapsing. It’s broken, and we don’t want it broken. We want to help fix it; we want to work together as partners. We don’t want to do anything private and separate.

    You’ve spoken repeatedly about your love for Nigeria; what fuels it?

    You know, I always wanted to come to Africa; I always wanted to know what Africa is all about; I always wanted to know about the motherland; because me, my background is the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago; and we have lots of Yoruba and Igbo people living there as migrants. Don’t forget we are children of slaves. I’m really happy to come back home

    So it’s about coming back to your roots?

    Yes, coming back to my roots. When I came to Nigeria and I saw what they do and how the place is set up, I was like this is just like back home in Trinidad and Tobago. The tradition, the respect that we have for each other, that we have for elders…  I know the Yoruba is in us; the Igbo is in us; any which way. The lineage and lifestyle of the Yoruba people is very pronounced in our life. Everything they do, from the Orisha, we have it rampant in the Caribbean. They love us, they embrace us, we embrace them too. I like their food. I love the ewedu; that’s my favourite; I love jollof rice; there is another one that I love to cook, egusi.

    You know how to make it?

    Yes. I learnt it from my husband. He’s a good cook. Everywhere I go and see people cooking on the three stones and the charcoal, I want to be part of it. They bring the best taste in food out. I don’t want to cook with gas. I also like village life. I’m not the city person. I love to be able to leave my door open. So that neighbours can come over and we can sit down together and have a conversation. I love the farming…That’s all I want. And I will like to invite the president of Nigeria to my home; I will personally cook for him and his wife, ewedu, egusi; whatever he wants. I want to be Nigerian so bad.

    Did you live that kind of life back in Trinidad and Tobago?

    I grew up in both the village and city in Trinidad and Tobago, and then I migrated to the United States of America. We have lots of villages like Toco, Cedros, Debe, San Fernando, Moruga; we also have cities like Port au Spain, Curene, Tuna Puna, Barataria and so on and so forth. The villages are where you have the Yoruba people deep south of Trinidad and Tobago.

    Do you still have some Yoruba vocabulary as part of your language?

    I think so. Trinidad is a melting port; a lot of people came to Trinidad and changed the language, creating a mixture. Remember, we have Venezuela just five miles away, and then we have Grenada 15 minutes away, and Barbados. One day I found myself going to Barbados for breakfast, having lunch in Grenada and coming back to Trinidad for supper in just one day. These are islands and you can go by boat or by plane.

    Trinidad and Tobago is a pot pourri of culture. You had Spanish people come from Venezuela, from Spain; my grandmother is from Spain, Barcelona; my grandfather’s relatives come from Germany; they come down to France and to China. My mother side is Indian. So I also have the Hindu culture.

    Interestingly, Nigerians condemn their country and have lots of bad commentary about her; but here you are extolling the same country.

    Nigerians are the happiest people I know. But they don’t know. Everybody wants to come to the United States, but, no. This is the place you’re supposed to be and develop. If you do come to the United States for education, you must come back home to develop your country. My husband is a Nigerian and he’s going to get his PhD probably by the end of the month; and I’ve told him that when he gets his certificate, he has to come back home and service the people of Nigeria.

    Are you saying Nigerian’s going abroad to live is misplaced?

    I think so. I think they should develop this beautiful country. Teach the youths because the youths are our tomorrow; we have to train them, we have to teach them. And I know they are willing to learn, we just have to open the doors for them. And I’m here to do that. I see people leave Nigeria as qualified medical doctors and end up working as domestics in America. And I wonder, ‘how can you be a good doctor in Nigeria and you’re baby-sitting in the United States, walking the dog and wiping do noses? If I’m a doctor in my country and I have to relocate, then I’m going to be a doctor wherever I’m relocating to. Something is wrong there. There is a disconnection. And I’m so happy that President Tinubu is in, because he’s a grassroots person, and I know he’s going to have two terms, and he is going to change the face of Nigeria. We just need to give him a chance.

    Read Also: Why Ondo businessman reportedly killed wife, committed suicide

    I will also like the president to invite me the next time I come to Nigeria in May; I will like to have a conversation with him on enhancing tourism in Nigeria; how to bring people from all parts of the world to Nigeria and let them see how beautiful Nigeria is – because Nigeria is beautiful.

    How did you meet your husband?

    We’ve been together probably twelve years; and we’ve been married for ten years.

    What was the attraction?

    (Laughs heartily) I met him through some friends; he’s very quiet. Up till this moment, he doesn’t talk much. I was married and divorced; and I hadn’t seen anybody for 17 years until I met him.

    Really? That’s hardly believable.

    True.  I didn’t really want a relationship or anything like that but we just got drawn to each other and stuff. I’m a person for education; and being that he’s from Nigeria, I asked him: ‘how far have you gone with your education?’ And when he told me that he went to Yabatech and stuffs like that, I asked what he wanted to do in America to better himself? And he said he’d like to go back to school but that funds were very low. I asked if he had children and if they were in school, and when he said they were not in school and that he hoped to make enough money to send them to school. I told him, why don’t you look for a school and I’d will fund it? So I funded his schooling until he reached his PhD level. I came to Nigeria and I met his children, and I made provision for them to go to school, from primary to university.

    All this while, had you started a relationship or you were still friends?

    Not yet. Because I really wasn’t looking out for a relationship, just friendship; and then we started getting closer; because you know you can’t just see somebody and just get into a relationship. But he showed me the kind of person he was and I thought probably I should try a relationship. And it’s something I’m not sorry about till this day. He’s the best husband anybody can have.

    Who made the move?

    I think I did, because he was kind of quiet and shy, whereas I’m an outgoing and outspoken. We went for lunch; I would never forget it because it was a Good Friday. I took him out, we came back to my house and he never left (laughs).

    Could we say part of the reasons you fell in love with him was the pull of Africa?

    No, I love him for him. But when he brought me to Africa, I love him more and I love my people in Africa, because I feel like I’m home now. I’m satisfied. I’ve built houses here as well. I have two houses in Ikorodu, Lagos; I just bought a farm in Ijebu, Iperu Remo.

    How do you interact with your neighbours? Don’t they give you some distance, seeing that you are ‘oyinbo’?

    Well, they love oyinbo in my neighbourhood. They love me because I relate with them very well. I try to do things in my community… The last time I came, we got a tractor and widened the road; we took off all the garbage; I have my crew, the guys, the youths…

    How do you feel about your title, Yeye Atayese?

    I am Yeye Atayese of Ojokoro. I was given the title by the Oba of Ojokoro, Oba Oluwalanbe. I think they gave me this title because I love to beautify things; I like to make things happen, I’m a community person, I like to bring people together. People should think more of what they can do for the government, not what the government can do for them.

  • A country’s faltering commitment to the elderly

    A country’s faltering commitment to the elderly

    • By Ike Willie-Nwobu

    Sir: A country, any country, starved of the elderly, and the irreplaceable presence and wisdom they bring is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Nigeria’s risks this terrifying possibility.

    Nigeria’s population remains somewhat depressingly on an upward trajectory. Having hit 217 million people in November 2022, Nigeria expects to approach 250 million people by 2050.

    Nigeria’s surging population growth amidst soaring poverty risks leaving entire generations behind. It is a frightening prospect.

    One of such generation is the elderly, who are having a particularly tough time in Nigeria.

    For those aged 65 years and above, it is increasingly appearing that to be aged in Nigeria is to be accursed. In the midst of crumbling healthcare, dilapidated infrastructure and non-existent social security, to be aged, to risk the challenges that come with old age, is to risk everything.

    Nigeria is used to leaving people behind. Whether it is out-of-school children, or women and girls, or people living with disability, or the poorest of the poor among them, Nigeria has refined the dark art of leaving people behind.

    This state of things, which invariably seems cold and even callous, means that the disparate parts of the Nigerian society have hardly been able to gel together, leaving a society that is deeply fractured, and broken.

    Life expectancy in Nigeria is low, with wide gaps open in the quality of life people live and just how long they expect to live. It is through these intergenerational gaps that people are now experiencing what it really means to be old and worried in Nigeria.

    It should not be the case that those who age in Nigeria also have to feel caged by the failures of the country to carry everyone along. Likewise, it certainly does not bode well, especially in a country that needs everyone to be on the same page, so it can meet its multifaceted challenges head on.

    Read Also: Tinubu’s meets Scholz for investment in power, rail

    To give the elderly space and a voice in Nigeria, legislation is important as is the political will to bring the core aspects of legislation to fruition.

    Nigeria is not lacking in legislation that protects the interests of the elderly. What has been sorely lacking is the political will to bring legislation to fruition.

    It is also sad to know that Nigeria has not followed the universal blueprint of establishing homes for the elderly. There’s also no serious commitment to rein in those who abuse the elderly.

    There is also the constant and cutting cloud of superstition hanging over the elderly in Nigeria. In many communities, instances of horrific abuse against the elderly have been documented by those who freely but erroneously associate old age with witchcraft. This too must end.

    The key to creating a safe space for the elderly is to recognize what they bring to the table. Wisdom comes with age and is not something that can be picked up like groceries from a superstore.

    In a country where a gripping intergenerational clash and crisis is leaving many people cut off, there are lessons to be learned from Nigeria’s elderly.

    It is easy to dictate the intergenerational tension that holds fast and firm. It exists in the way the elderly lament that the country has no future with the current crop of young people, and the way young people lament that the country was irredeemably lost under the watch of the older generation.

    Maybe, if Nigeria begins to properly take care of its old, the country would finally begin to find the critical connect between the old and new that is crucial to any holistic development.

    The elderly deserve maximum protection so that it will become clear to all once and for all that old age is a blessing.

    •Ike Willie-Nwobu,

    Ikewilly9@gmail.com

  • Nigeria fourth cheapest country to live, says report

    Nigeria fourth cheapest country to live, says report

    A recent report has ranked Nigeria as the fourth cheapest country to live in the world.

    Pakistan was ranked number one while Egypt and India came second and third respectively.

    The cost of living is the money needed to sustain a certain comfort level. The cost of living covers basics like housing, groceries, taxes, and healthcare.

    Some countries have a very high cost of living, particularly in areas surrounding large cities. For example, in the United States, cities like New York and San Francisco have a very high cost of living, while areas such as rural Mississippi, Kansas, or Oklahoma may be notably more affordable.

    Read Also: Nigeria ranks 36th in global military firework strength

    Some nations have a very low cost of living, which can make them attractive destinations for ex-pats, retirees, and others interested in reducing their expenses.

    Here is a list of cheapest countries to live in the world:

    1. Pakistan

    2. Egypt

    3. India

    4. Nigeria

    5. Libya

    6. Syria 

    7. Nepal

    8. Bangladesh

    9. Uzbekistan

    10. Turkey

    11. Colombia

    12. Iran

    13. Kenya

    14. Kyrgyzstan

    15. Argentina

    16. Azerbaijan

    17. Ukraine

    18. Indonesia

    19. Russia

    20. Sri Lanka

    21. South Africa

    22. China

    23. Brazil

    24. Thailand

    25. Venezuela

    26. Mexico

    27. Poland

    28. Portugal

    29. Spain

    30. Saudi Arabia

    40. Japan

    41. UAE

    42. Sweden

    43. Italy

    44. UK

    43. Germany

    44. Netherlands

    45. Canada

    46. Austria

    47. Finland

    48. France

    49. South Korea

    50. Israel

    51. USA

    52. Australia

    53. Denmark

    54. Norway

    55. Singapore

    56. Switzerland 

  • 323 held for electoral offences, says IG

    THREE hundred and twenty-three persons are being held by the Police for sundry electoral offences across the country, Acting Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu said yesterday.

    The suspects were arrested on February 23 during the Presidential and National Assembly election. They are to be the Special Electoral Offences Team.

    According to IG Adamu, the police lost two of its personnel during the election. Several others were attacked and assaulted.

    He noted that the Special Electoral Offences Team of the Force will liaise with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prosecute electoral offenders.

    The police spoke in Abuja at the Force Headquarters during the post-Presidential and National Assembly elections evaluation meeting with Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGs), Commissioners of Police (CPs) and other senior police officers.

    On the number of those arrested, he said: “The updated statistics resulting from Presidential and National Assembly elections, shows that a total of 323 offenders have so far been arrested for various electoral offences and sundry crimes across the country.

    “Two officers also paid the supreme price, while some others were assaulted and injured.

    “For those arrested for various electoral infractions, I have directed the Special Electoral Offences Team of the Force to undertake detailed and conclusive investigations into all the cases with a view to liaising with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in ensuring their prosecution.

    “The Election Investigation Team, headed by CP Legal, has compiled all the cases and they are already on ground moving from one state to other to gather more evidence in collaboration with INEC and prosecution will be done by INEC.”

    Stating the readiness of the Force to ensure a smooth process in the forthcoming governorship and state assembly election, the IG warned politicians and others who may want to disrupt the process to desist or face the full weight of the law.

    He also said that officers that will be deployed to polling units will not carry arms in order not to scare voters from exercising their franchise.

    IG Adamu said: “As we perfect our plans for the Governorship and State Assembly election, I also want to reassure the nation and the international community of the unwavering commitment of the police to work closely with INEC and sister security agencies towards guaranteeing a peaceful and secure space for Nigerians to exercise their electoral franchise.

    “l must, however, re-emphasise that just as in the recently concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections, the Nigeria Police shall remain civil, firm, optimally professional and apolitical in the discharge of our duties in the 9th March, 2019 elections.

    “We shall, nonetheless, deploy all lawful assets and assert our statutory powers to deal decisively, firmly, and promptly with any person or groups that may attempt to disrupt the process.

    “Therefore, all political actors who might be preparing to threaten the peaceful conduct of the exercise are hereby firmly warned to play the game of politics by the rules as stipulated in the Electoral Act and to appreciate that national interest overrides their personal ambitions.  Doing otherwise shall attract the full and appropriate response from the Police and other security agencies.”

    On whether there would be armed policemen in the polling units to reduce cases of disruption and other electoral offences, he said: “There will be no armed men in the polling units because the electoral law does not allow armed policemen or any other security agency that is armed to be in the polling unit.

    “However, armed men will be within the vicinity of the unit for patrol in order to prevent touts and others from disrupting the electoral process because if we send armed policemen to the polling units, the electorates may be afraid to go close to the polling units to cast their votes and that is not encouraged. In fact, internationally, it is not encouraged. So, there will be no armed personnel within the units.”

    He commiserated with the families of the officers who lost their lives and sympathized with those who were injured, assuring the families of the affected that the perpetrators will be fished out.

    “I wish to send my heartfelt condolences to the families of officers and men who lost their lives during the exercise and I also sympathize with those who were injured or assaulted. I assure them that the perpetrators of these acts will be fished out and brought to deserved justice no matter their socio-political status”, the IG said.

    He also commended the personnel across all ranks for their sacrifice and exceptional professionalism which was demonstrated during the February 28 poll, assuring that that no officer would be deployed for special duty without payment.

    Adamu said: “Under my watch, any officer sent on special duty must be paid and election duty undertaken is part of it. Allowances were paid fully and we will continue to pay all allowances for special duties before they go. If we don’t have the money to pay, we will not send them on special duty.”

  • It’s yet another toast to THE BEER!

    It is time to thank you once again, dear reader, for patiently wading through these write-ups each week. To celebrate, I will reproduce a few reactions to last week’s thoughts on the matter of the political terrain of the country. As usual, I have applied the hammer, spanner and chisel to the constructions. All the same, the sense comes out clear and bright in each of them.

    National Assembly members ‘… decide to know only dancing or singing…’ to quote your column. Are they not better than the clueless, clannish clowns in government who are ‘so silent over so many killings in the land…’ to the extent that ‘the victims have been blamed for (so-called) excessive retaliation by both the government and the killers…’? S. A. 08032159249.

    Your article on Sunday on… what we need is a mass movement of the people! No individual can do this for us! Unless this present set of politicians are sent packing no meaningful success will be achieved in this country! It is now or never. 08034423949.

    Re yours 29th July. You are correct. NASS members earn so much that they do not have sense again. They have run MAD ooo. We must do something now before it is too late. They took us for fools ooo. They will run away any time law and order breaks down!!!. Well done. A. I. 08033519702.

     

    Folks, there are the thoughts and passions of your average man on the street towards the happenings in the land. Let’s take the first response.

    Neither divide in that response bests the other. Our purported political leaders should earn our respect by their seriousness and the way they apply themselves to the task they agreed to take up on behalf of the citizenry. So, I think that the approach of both sides to governance is not acceptable.

    As to the second response, I would say that a mass movement has to be led by people who are knowledgeable about leadership. It is not enough to just call the people out. I think it is a lot more important to help the people to first appreciate the ideals of democracy or governance. As someone pointed out, the tragedy of this country is that the very victims of this bad political leadership are the ones hailing and supporting their oppressors. They are the ones who agree to carry the guns that kill opponents, mow down all those who seek to liberate them, and who come out in large numbers to close down streets, walking long distances or riding dangerously on the sides of rickety vehicles, when their oppressors are passing by from their London or American residences. These victims are the ones who tacitly uphold the dictum, ‘some animals are more equal than others’. We need mass education first.

    Yes, to my third responder, there is no doubt that our politicians are all poised for flight at the first sign of trouble. That has been the pattern from the start. The problem, however, is that the country empowered them to be ready for flight at the first sign of trouble by tacitly endorsing their unrealistic wages. If this nation had banded together like beer drinkers against the extremely high wages of NASS members as we did against fuel price increase during the time of President Jonathan, we would today have had something to toast.

    True, we cannot raise our glasses to toast anything in this country right now. Indeed, I believe the mood among the right thinking ones among us now is to cast out some individuals we believe are ruining this nation. And, after that, we should even expunge all their names from our memories through surgery. In the face of our inability to do that, I think we should spend our waiting time to celebrate with those who are celebrating, and hopefully, they will also celebrate with us when the country is liberated. Reader, spare a thought for beer, the toaster’s favourite. Today, we celebrate THE BEER.

    Have you noticed that beer drinkers always band together something tighter than blood brothers? You couldn’t get the edge of a razor blade to slide down between two blood brothers, nor beer drinkers. They stick together through thick and thin, sick and sin, sip and piss, even to the last behaviour pattern. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the contents of beer. Take the following story, and I’m quoting.

    ‘Recently, scientists revealed that beer contains small traces of female hormones. To prove their theory, the scientists fed 100 men twelve bottles of beer each. The scientists observed that 100% of the male test group gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became emotional, and couldn’t drive. No further testing is planned.’ Now, isn’t that giving female hormones a bad name? But, we must not pick a fight in a bar seeing that the 100 men may still be under the influence…

    Anyway, you will agree with me that there’s just something about beer that makes people behave somehow… Take another story. ‘An angry wife was complaining about her husband spending too much time at the bar, so one night, he took her along. ‘What’ll you have?’ ‘Oh, I don’t know. The same as you’, she replied. So he ordered a couple of beers and he drank his own in one gulp. His wife took a sip from her glass and spit it out. ‘Yuck, that’s poison!’ she spluttered. ‘I don’t know how you can drink this stuff!’ ‘Well, there you go,’ cried the husband. ‘And you think I’m out enjoying myself every night!’

    Anyway, the first politician to toast beer was said to have been F. D. Roosevelt of the U.S.A. After signing the document that ended the prohibition era, as I understand the story, the man was said to have declared, ‘I think this would be a good time for a beer’. I imagine that, as he said that, he raised his glass.

    Like that wife, I cannot take beer, not even a sip. I will reach instead for my waterlou, THE ALTERNATIVE. Ah ha, wouldn’t you like to know about that! Before I raise my waterlou glass, however, I would like beer drinkers to tell me what mystery lies in beer that makes people behave the way they do. Take the story of a man who had so much to drink at a party that he felt he had had enough and sneaked out to go home. After a while, his friends called him and asked him where he was. In a taxi, he said; he was going home. But, said his friends, the party was taking place in his house! It was his birthday party. Now, howzat, sir?!

    There are yet thousands more of such stories. Take the man who ran around the neighbourhood screaming one morning after the night before, when he had been going at it something bad at a party, that his car had been stolen! It was not in the garage where he normally parked it. His wife let him sweat a bit before asking him to look behind the house. He found his car sitting quietly where he had managed to bring it, as we said, the night before the morning after.

    Right, we’re not bashing beer drinkers today, just toasting THE BEER, and wondering what goes into it that changes people: removing inhibitions, suppressing memories, affecting reasoning, changing intellect and generally making comedians out of drinkers. To THE BEER then! Now, I wonder just what can change our politicians, considering that they are already comedians…

     

  • If you want to cure your headache, you need to become a car!

    Let’s have a little bit of fun this week, shall we? Let’s not think about this careless country or the comedic antics and pronouncements of the ‘jewels’ we elected who sometimes double, in their spare time, as our so-called leaders. Sometimes, one just cannot guess where their places of primary assignment are: the country or the spas. You know what spas are, don’t you? They are those places you go to when you’re feeling a little weighed down by all the anxieties you accumulated panting over why your money is stubbornly staying at a meagre N200b and refusing to climb to that much needed N300b so that you can at least qualify for a sniff of a mention (even if for nomination only) in the ‘Fortunes Hundred Thousand.’ The spas are those resorts where the obscenely rich go to for a large slice of ‘life’. So, ho to the spas, people!

    At the spas, you, as the rich one, are pampered out of your senses with so many options to make you feel your money’s worth. You can choose to immerse yourself in a hot steaming bath as big as a swimming pool where you can watch your beer and pepper-soup pouch melt off into the water at least for a while. Don’t worry, it will still follow you home as your sign of good living. The wonder of that bath is that it also melts many other things away: headache, gout, annoying irritations from wives and girl-friends and children, etc.

    You may also get treated to the massage of your life. Listen, there is nothing as good as a massage. You will be laid out on a table like a plucked chicken, every mountainous bit of you, while the masseuse picks out your erring, recalcitrant muscles and beats the life out of them. By the time she is through, I guarantee you there will not be any life left in either you or the muscles. Someone once described how he saw a massage table in a rich man’s house. That table, he said, wide-eyed, can take one straight to heaven. No, I’ve never had a massage for the simple reason that I have never felt that any muscle in my body has deserved to be put on a table and be pummelled and pulled and pampered into a cuddle. I have preferred to put those lazy things to work instead. You, I tell them each morning, take me to work, after which we go to the market to shop and then we go to the kitchen to cook and if you’re good all the way, I may take you to the tracks tomorrow for some good ol’ jogging. That usually puts them right. Massage? Pugh!

    Apart from your steam bath and your table massage, you may get treated to other benefits of the watering house that cannot be mentioned on this page for the sake of my readers who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Yes, you can get treated to full canisters of pure oxygen to reinvigorate and rejuvenate your entire system so you never grow old. (Oh, you! What did you think I was talking about? I guess you can get some of that too though).

    The sad thing is that the poor also have their troubles. One would think that the Good Lord would use the principles of mathematics to separate the haves and the have-nots: more riches, more troubles; less riches, less troubles. But not so: as headaches fall on the rich, so they fall on the poor. Once, I had a raging headache, and to get rid of it, I had to resort to some desperate measures. I watched TV where I saw adverts that told me ‘When headaches strike, strike back with …’ That left me wondering. If I strike my dog for some sundry offence, it yelps; if I strike my headache because it first attacked me, obviously, I will yelp. So, to avoid that, I had to listen to the wise counsels of the sages who had better ideas.

    The first consult said I should dip my head in cold water. That sounded simple enough. So, when the headache struck again, straight into a bucket went my head. But then, I began to have some problems. First, in the upturned position, the water not only went into my head, so to speak, it also went into my nose, eyes and other parts not necessarily in trouble. No, said someone, use the shower. The shower went down my head but refused to stay there. Obviously, I needed another consult.

    My new consult asked what my diet was like. I said it was like any other normal Nigerian’s: sparse, no food. It’s in the diet, he insisted stubbornly. All right, I thought, beginning from then on to eye the contents of my diet: too much water, too little water; too much salt, too little salt. I mention those because they are the only things in abundance. I know it cannot be too much beef, chicken or fish because I don’t know how many of us Nigerians can afford the United Nations daily ration of those proteins. So, in exasperation, I consulted a homeopath. Think positive, sayeth he. Positive! Yes, he said; think no evil of anyone, let good thoughts flow from you to them. What if they have bad thoughts towards me, I asked? Never mind that, concentrate on yourself. Keep your mind in the neutral gear as much as possible, he said. Now, because of a headache, I have turned into a car.

    To cut a long story short, I practiced this emotional neutrality for a while, and would you believe it, I have felt less tension towards our leaders who, I’ve heard, over-pay themselves in salaries that can finance another country’s national budget; or that I’ve heard that oil subsidies being paid out have now increased by more than a thousand fold since Obasanjo left. I hear these things, but I do not let them leave any impression on me whatsoever; so now, no headache.

    Then I began to understand the source of my headache: it is the fact that Nigerians would prefer to go and enjoy themselves instead of working to fix our country. It then occurred to me that the first pang actually occurred when I read of how government officials no longer keep their good selves in the country. I remembered then how they all, national, state and local government officials inclusive, seemed to suddenly develop a penchant for flying out of the country under every excuse most notably to go and learn the ropes of democracy. And I always thought, what is there to learn in democracy? I then came to the conclusion that we Nigerians appear unable to stop exhibiting our very primitive impulses to show our neighbours how we have arrived; neighbours being the world now. That was where my groans started.

    So, dear reader, we have had some fun with our national, large-sized headache, the source of which no one quite knows: whether from the leaders or from we the people. It is however the reason that the country has been in the neutral gear since 1960. Now, on that account, nearly every Nigerian in any position of authority thinks he has the divine right to oppress those he is required to serve. So, you finally understand why I needed a consult to begin with. Do note though that not all headaches can be laughed off. If you have a headache, please consult your doctor who will tell you whether to be afraid or to put your mind in the … you know where.

     

  • PDP ’Il savage the country

    There you have it in bold striking headline. Just as the PDP is trying to redeem itself, ancient and ancestral curses get in the way. It does appear as if the powers and principalities that hold sway in Nigeria might have determined that the former ruling party is yet to make full restitution to Nigerians for its abysmal behaviour in power.  Napoleon famously dismissed Talleyrand as a piece of dung in silk stocking. Deodorized dung also smells.

    If this were to be an oriental country with a culture of shame and zero tolerance for impunity, one would have recommended the South Korean treatment for the surviving PDP grandees. The Koreans are adept at naming and shaming their errant leaders. It is called the ritual of public parade. In the eighties and before the country finally found peace with itself, all its devious and delinquent former military rulers were paraded half-naked in public with the former warlords quietly sobbing in grief and remorse.

    Since the advent of the modern press and the arrival of the printer’s devil, no printer’s devil could have been more devilish than the above headline. It was during the early morning press review on  the AIT channel a few weeks back. Yours sincerely had to rub his eyes to make sure that it was not an optical illusion. But there it was. The confused lady reviewer made a hash of stuttering over the headline before yanking it off.

    Since the headline was a recasting of a speech purportedly made by a surviving PDP chieftain, one does not know what to make of this. But not since Sigismund Freud himself came around has a Freudian slip provoked such mirth and laughter. Has the accursed PDP not savaged the country enough? With so much gore and blood around, you would have thought that the PDP thirst had sated by now.

    It was at this point that Okon barged in, confusion writ large on his face.

    “Oga no vex o jare. He get one English vocab dey confuse me. No be when mad dog dey bite everybody fiam, fiam dem dey call am savage? So dem PDP don become mad dog? I think say na only paper dem Olisa Metuh dey bite?” the crazy boy demanded. Snooper chuckled and ignored the mad boy. It was at this point that Baba Lekki shambled in reeking of cheap alcohol as usual.

    “Baba, he get one Yoruba man for Igbosere dem they call savage, but I never see am bite anybody. But each time I see am I been dey pick race”.

    “Okon that is my friend. His father was a famous magistrate”, Baba Lekki slobbered even as he eyed snooper with a look full of contempt and malice. “Okon, they never charge this one for hate speech?” the old crook asked with a sinister frown.

    “Ha baba, oga never make eight speak oo. Na only six he don make. Na only for him sleep he dey talk”, Okon crowed with juvenile malice.

    “Na yeye man. I think say he don tire. Make him go back to dem village. You no see how him dey look like dem hungry dog? Okon, by the way what is the difference between misprint and misprision?” the old contrarian growled like a mad dog.

    “Ha baba, you wan trick me with dem grammar? Na only comprehension dey finish me for GCE, no be grammar. You see, misprint be when editor overshoot dem runaway like dem Port Harcourt plane and him mouth come land am for Kirikiri. As for dem misprision, no be when corrupt judge dey padi-padi with dem corrupt politician and politician come miss prison?”, the crazy boy concluded with a triumphal flourish.

    “God punish your oga and your mother”, Baba Lekki screamed and stormed out.