The Nation Newspaper

Tag: elders

  • Where are the elders?

    Where are the elders?

    I won’t join the maddening crowd seeking to apportion blame on either Victor Osimhen or Finidi George, depending on the side of the divide they want to protect, leaving Nigeria’s 2026 World Cup qualifier ticket on the cliff hanger. The social media is bursting at its seams with all manner of vulgar words poured on Osimhen, with a few others insisting on jabbing Finidi as if they didn’t know that the NFF chiefs served Finidi the World Cup wine inside a poisoned chalice. If Nigeria had 10 points from the possible 12 points from the four matches so far played, it would have been celebrations everywhere. Pray, the loser is an orphan.

    I feel the pains hidden underneath Finidi’s heart because this would be the second time his loyalty towards the growth of the beautiful game in Nigeria is being questioned. As I reflected in my mind’s eye, I discovered Finidi literally walking naked in front of a mammoth crowd, my heart skipped. It went back to the horrific manner in which Finidi’s younger brother Igeniwari George was brutally killed by what today still remains a stray bullet shot by an unknown person around the premises of the Lekan Salami  Stadium with Igeniwari sitting inside Enugu Rangers FC’s bus. It was a dastardly fallout of a Challenge Cup quarter-final game between the Rangers FC (Flying Antelopes) and the vociferous Stationary Stores FC (Adebajo Babes) of Lagos.

    George died of gunshot wounds after a Challenge Cup game between Enugu Rangers and Stationary Stores at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan on September 9, 1995. That was the year his elder brother Finidi won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax.

    Read Also: Tinubu laying foundation for prosperous, sustainable Nigeria, says NPC DG 

    The late Igeniwari George could not be saved after he was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan where it was alleged that the hospital had a water shortage to carry out a surgery operation. He was part of the Golden Eaglets squad to the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Ecuador. He featured in four games for the Eaglets. His killer remains unknown to date.

    Except for Coca-Cola’s management in one of their Challenge Cup series which they bankrolled, and remembered the late Igeniwari, all other Challenge Cup finals have been played oblivious of the heart-wrenching incident.

    The puzzle around who killed Igeniwari Gorge years ago still finds consonance with the many questions around the Finidi versus Osimhen saga leaving me with a painful question: “Why always Finidi George?” When Igeniwari was killed, many had thought that Finidi would never play for Nigeria. But he didn’t shun Nigeria as he continued to give his very best in all the matches thereafter, preferring to sulk and bear the pains of the irreparable loss. Perhaps, believing firmly that God knows best.

    Finidi must be pondering over another question akin to the unanswered question (who killed Igeniwari George) with his brother’s death. This time the question would be who leaked the fake news that brought out the bestial tendencies in Osimhen? Sadly, the root cause of Osimhen’s vulgar rants has remained mute and unapologetic while Nigerians take their turns in making Osimhen look like a villain.

    My plea to the elders of the game in Nigeria is that Finidi shouldn’t be left in the cold again like they did to him when his younger brother was killed. I marvel at the way many ex-internationals have joined the crowd in pillorying Osimhen, with many of them suggesting an outright ban for the SSC Napoli striker. Not one of them has suggested the need for their parent body which addresses the problems of players – the Nigeria Players Union – to speak with both the coach and Osimhen, who is livid. In fact, Osimhen in his rage revealed that he offered to come to the camp to motivate his teammates which the coach politely rejected. Is there any truth in this revelation, dear Finidi? What harm would Osimhen’s presence in the camp have brought to the camp, we may need to ask Finidi, if indeed, he rejected that request.

    Even the union’s leaders have offered suggestions of how to take the matter out of social media and find a way of getting Osimhen to shake off his angst as captured in his many videos before walking up to Finidi to apologise. Pictures of that gesture with the players’ union members seated would soothe the pains suffered by Finidi. The Players Union’s hierarchy is only interested in being members of the NFF and other affiliate football bodies. Members have failed in this Finidi/Osimhen saga. It is not too late to redeem themselves by calling a truce and letting all the parties shake their hands for the good of the game.

    Osimhen doesn’t look like someone who thinks that he is indispensable. Not with the way he plays for his club and country as if his life depends on it. Osimhen has erred no doubt. Yet, he needs to be given a second chance. Hounding him before giving him a chance to recant isn’t the best. Osimhen must be ashamed of himself now that it is clear that Finidi didn’t belittle him before his employers. Come on Osimhen, apologise to Finidi who is the quintessential gentleman.

    The elders of the game who have been getting traction on the internet with their posts calling for Osimhen’s ban instead of preaching for peace must be ashamed of themselves with NFF’s statement to the contrary of their devious campaigns. Osimhen needs Nigeria badly for his career growth just as Nigeria needs him and all talented players to boost her ranking with FIFA and CAF, especially now that Nigeria dropped eight places to 38 position in FIFA ranking for June 2024. Osimhen is the current Africa Footballer of the Year. It gladdens Nigerians that Ademola Lookman is poised to replace Osimhen as the next winner if he sustains his current form for both his European club and Nigeria. That is what is called growth. Time was when Nigerians dominated the Africa Footballer of the Year awards. It is good to be back.

    NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi expressed amazement at the reports, saying the Federation has neither instructed a process nor has a process been concluded to ban the player from the National Team.

    “The NFF hereby implores the media to join hands with the body to positively resolve issues and then focus on the big picture all the time, rather than needlessly escalate certain matters. There was no official communication from the NFF, yet some persons have gone to town to talk about a ban on Osimhen from the National Team. This is not good at all.

    “Our focus presently is to resolve all matters around the Super Eagles and be able to look ahead with confidence to the 2025 AFCON qualifiers and the remaining six matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification series.

    “This is not the time to spread falsehood and foul the public space the most,” Well said, Sanusi. Kudos NFF.

    Who leaked the story to journalists? Pray, there were six people with the minister, Senator John Enoh. The six people include Ibrahim Gusau (NFF President), Felix Anyansi-Agwu (Vice President), Mohammed Sanusi (Secretary General), Dayo Enebi Achor (Director of Competitions), Austin Eguavoen (Technical Director) and Finidi George. It’s not Finidi or the Sports Minister. Then who was the culprit? What was the motive? Why did he feel the need to feed Osimhen with a piece of false information that would make him pour vituperations on Finidi?

  • Re: What kind of elders?

    I write in reply to Sam Omatseye’s article in The Nation of Monday, April 15, captioned What kind of elders? in  which  he  made  scathing  and  false  allegations  against  the National  Christian  Elders  Forum  (NCEF)  with  particular  focus  on  General  Danjuma  and myself. Suffice to say that Omatseye added a new libelous narrative that General Danjuma was the one who led soldiers to Western Region to effect Aguiyi Ironsi’s trajectory to death. This is a false narrative of the events of July 1966.  It is dangerous to rely on hearsay evidence of events which took place when Sam was a boy of about five years.

    Our  displeasure  with  President Muhammadu Buhari  stems  from  the  fact  that  we  all  have  (including  Buhari),  six decades  of  service  to  our  country  and  some  members  of  the  NCEF  were  his  subordinates while  Generals  Danjuma  and  Dogonyaro  were  his  superiors.

    In  Omatseye’s article,  he  wrote “According  to  Asemota,  we  ought  to  wait  for  the  courts  before  doing  that (congratulations). This is hypocrisy. They should have been more subtle if they wanted to hide their love for Atiku and the PDP….”

    NCEF was in fact opposed to the Muslim/Muslim, Fulani/Fulani candidacy of the two parties, as NCEF regarded the two parties APC and PDP as two branches of one “party” promoted and controlled by one tribe and one religion.

    The  way  our  country  Nigeria  is  administered  today,  including  the  fact  that  Omatseye himself admitted when he wrote that  he “decry  the  incompetence  with  which  the  Buhari government  has  handled  security  in  the  country” thus confirming the sordid state of our country. He continued “these days it is even worse, as though he has no idea the nation is bowing ever so tragically to slaughter and dark forces”, (this, no doubt, is stealth jihad) at play; yet he still preferred Buhari to Atiku.

    Atiku does not pretend to be a saint, he  has  not  committed  treason  and has promised  to  re-structure  Nigeria  in  the  spirit  of amalgamation not “annexation” . The so-called anti-corruption crusade is mere  Taqiyya. The  preference  of  the NCEF  was  and  still  is  for  the Third Force of  a  party not Buhari or  Atiku –  two  branches  of one Islamic party. This fact, we made public before the elections of 2019 with reasons.

    Omatseye also asked the valid question if he (Danjuma) did not make his career in the military by pitching his tent with those he now sees as northern hegemonies?”  His  write-up suggests,  in  my  view that  he was  trying  to  make  his  career  as  a  journalist  by  pitching his tent with the Fulani Islamist jihadists. The ideological difference between Democracy and  Sharia  show stone-wall  incompatibility, which  makes it  very  easy  to  appreciate  why Nigeria has been in perpetual war “jihad” since amalgamation (annexation to NCEF).

    The combination of the two ideologies in Nigeria since independence has produced a class of  citizens (Mukharabat) that  are  neither  good  Christians  nor  good Muslims but agents waiting for the right prize to be paid so that they can do the biddings of  the  Islamists in  Nigeria. These Mukharabat are  in  millions,  selected  from some retired members  of  the  three  arms  of  government since  1960,  the  private  sector  and  a  good number from failed Christians and Muslims who pretend to prefer good to evil.

    With  respect  to  CAN  leaders  visit  to  Aso  Villa  is  the  question  of  legitimacy.  The NCEF chose the better option –wait until the legitimacy of Buhari’s election has been established by  the  courts. When  Buhari  was  congratulated  in  2015  after  the  elections by  President Jonathan,  there  was  legitimacy  for  such  congratulation. In  2019,  the  committee  that  CAN set up was divided as to the credibility and validity of the presidential election for which a majority  was  of  the  view  that  it  was  not free,  fair  or  legitimate.

    There is a saying that what an old man sees sitting down, a young person atop a tree may not. It  is  in  the  interest  of  young  people  indeed,  the nation  at  large,  to  listen  to  elders especially in a country where the influence of the legislative and judicial arms have failed in  their attempts to reduce the power of Buhari’s executive. He has refused to  develop  a commitment to obeying legal and constitutional due process, judgments and is in the habit of attacking the institutions and their leadership.

    How I wish that in Omatseye’s article, he demonstrated a dynamic perception of the future, like the  youth  in  other  parts  of  Africa –Sudan,  Algeria,  etc, provide  a  policy  for the  course  of event rather than as a “hatchet-man”, some would say, for politicians as exhibited in his article,  especially  his  attack  on  General  Danjuma  and  myself  who  are in  our 80s.

    Omatseye needs  to  help  modern  Nigeria  to  prepare  for  the (digital) future  on  the  basis  of  his education. The activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria are intended to return Nigeria to pre-1914 days and  some  educated  Nigerians  seem  to  be  trapped  in  self-adulation  than  the common good. We must learn from history otherwise history will repeat itself.

     

    • Elder Asemota, SAN is chairman, National Christian Elders Forum.

  • Message to elders of Imo state – speak out!

    The macabre dance started in the early part of July 2011, soon after Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha became the governor of our beloved state: It was unfortunate! I say “unfortunate” because of the strange circumstances and the coalition of social forces that threw him up as the number one citizen of Imo State. To deceive the people with fake humility and open identification with the labouring poor in the state, Okorocha craftily and ingeniously arranged for press photographers to capture him eating ‘Akara’ (bean ball) on the streets of Owerri, our state capital. The photographs were deliberately and widely used in the media; the restless Owerri tabloids even used them on their front pages, in an attempt to depict the new governor as humble, pro-people and could be accessed easily by the ordinary man in the state. It was all photo trick, calculated to showcase Okorocha as “the man of the people”. And the unwary bought into the trick.

    When he finally settled down to governance proper, the real Rochas Okorocha began to emerge. His style, lack of decency and open disdain for bureaucratic procedures completely took over, along the line. Imo State became the new governor’s huge laboratory for all kinds of political experiments. And these experiments ranged from his collapsed Community Government Council, his three-day-a-week work formula that allows Imo civil servants to work on their farms for the remaining two work-days to what Okorocha called “Direct Labour in Contract Execution”. All kinds of experiments were introduced and mindlessly deployed to make Okorocha’s government look different, super, answerable and in tune with the popular wishes of the people. It was tragic, and before long, our governor was already running his government on flat tyres. Nothing was working, the notable legacies of his predecessors – Sam Mbakwe, Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim – were either dumped, ill-maintained or totally neglected to create the impression that he was his own man and pursuing his own vision. There was nothing specifically wrong with carving out his own niche, except that the overall impact was negative. The ordinary people, even the elite, began to grumble, complain and regret the day that Okorocha became our governor.

    Some of us began to write, grant interviews and spoke at seminars and workshops on what our state was rapidly becoming and we expected our elders, experienced and tested hands in administration, academia and political offices, to speak out and remind the young man now occupying Douglas House, the seat of government, to apply the brakes and re-organise his governance style and listen to genuine and sincere advice. Even the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Diocese whose regrettable support for Okorocha helped him to win the controversial governorship elections in March 2011, may have been embarrassed by the new and awkward direction that Okorocha was driving the state. The prominent political elders whose voices carried weight and authority saw what was happening, but chose to be silent because of stomach infrastructure, political considerations or primordial sentiments. Yes, they refused to shout out or speak up. Men of God who command so much influence in the state and who have absolutely nothing to lose, preferred silence and refused to come out boldly to warn against consequences. Nothing like that happened and Rochas Okorocha continued to drive our dear state on flat tyres.

    Then came the year 2015: Those who knew that Imo State was headed in the wrong direction and needed to be pulled back from the brink thought that sincere-minded politicians would easily form a political coalition or partnership that would rescue the state from the grip of one man. Before this time, Okorocha had effortlessly removed his Deputy, Jude Agbaso, whom he accused of all sorts of crimes, not minding that Jude was donated to the Okorocha ticket by Jude’s elder brother, Martin Agbaso, whose political shortsightedness and miscalculation often prevent him from getting his political permutations right. Having humiliated his Deputy, Jude, out of office and ensured that the coast was now clear for him to do as he liked, Okorocha began to consolidate his grip on a state that he inherited a few years before from Ikedi Ohakim that had a vibrant and resilient economy, energy-filled civil service, good infrastructure of maintained roads, clean and green environment, running taps in, at least, the state capital, and an Imo State that recorded low crime rates as a result of deliberate security networking put in place by the Ohakim administration.

    The failure of the political elite in Imo State to construct a viable partnership that ensures that Okorocha was defeated in 2015 gave room for more amazing excesses that now characterise the administration. Yet, no strong words have come from our elders to advise on consequences or to collectively mobilise the people to stop him. Not too long after his re-election, his penchant for turning the state into a family business grew, and he continued to engage one accelerator gear after the other, and was gaining terrific speed. His two sisters were given sensitive appointments where state revenues are streaming from, then the appointment of his younger sister as our Commissioner for Happiness, a new ministry that distinguishes our state from others. He re-appointed his other sister as Chairperson of government organs in-charge of revenue from all markets in the state, then allocated three government ministries to his wife to  supervise; shifted more duties, and therefore more powers, to his son-in-law in Government House. But when he recklessly started positioning the young man to be his successor as his second term began to thin down, Ndi-Imo began to resist. While these excesses and greed were going on, plus Okorocha’s poor governance style and known disdain for procedures and processes, all having their toll on the once peaceful and vibrant state, our elders who should have spoken out and call our governor to order again preferred to keep quiet as the state sank deeper and deeper into something infinitely more difficult to describe. The Okorocha administration began to be called, openly, by Ndi-Imo as “Familiacracy” – a government of a family, by a family and for a family.

    Nor did any of our prominent traditional rulers, to my knowledge, speak out against the direction our governor was taking the state to. If our respectable chiefs and clergymen had protested the way the state was being governed, we would not have found Imo State at this awkward trajectory. And I remind myself that no strong voice in the state protested the abandonment of the popular Imo Equity Formula which our more dedicated second generation elders/leaders (after our first set of Mbakwes, Okparas, Mbadiwes, Njokus, etc) carefully put together at Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu’s Glass House office in Owerri in 1999. If Okigwe zone had not been denied the space to complete its full eight years, the spirit of the Imo Charter of Equity, otherwise called Imo Equity Formula, would not have been so grossly violated or seriously offended. That violation has brought us where the state has found itself today.

    It is still not too late to correct the mistakes that have been made and chart a new direction. Our elders need to urgently – even today – admit that a serious error has occurred in our political arrangement and recognise the need to put things right. The elders must realise that their silence has not been too golden and that the injustices of today may haunt us tomorrow. They now need to help put Imo State on the track. And this election period, and with the governorship election some few days away, is perhaps the appropriate time to pass information around, as a first step, directing and instructing our people on the critical issues at stake, and what must be done to reconstruct our society and chart a new way forward, usher in a new era of trust, better understanding and respect for the feelings and fears of our people in the three senatorial zones of the state. And finally, our people need to know that because of what Imo State has passed through these past difficult years, our next governor should, and must, be someone who possesses the experience, the vision for a totally raped state, and who can hit the ground running from Day One. Let’s re-start the re-construction of Imo State whose development and cohesion was interrupted by social forces who do not fully understand and appreciate out values and collective worth.

    • Esinulo was a Senior Media Aide to General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu in exile in The Ivory Coast

     

  • 2019: Elders back Southern Borno for governorship

    COMMUNITY leaders in the Borno North are rooting for Southern Borno to produce the governor of the state in next year’s election.

    They have already purchased the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Nomination and Expression of Interest forms for Alhaji Mamman Idris, a governorship aspirant from Southern Borno.

    The forms were presented to Idris by the leader of the Northern Elders Forum, Senator Umar Lawan.

    Lawan said opinion and political leaders from Northern Borno agreed on the need to advocate   and support an all-inclusive government from the South in the next dispensation.

    He said Southern Borno has not produced governor since 1999, and as justice dictates that that part of the state be  given an  opportunity to rule.

    He said: “Southern and Northern senatorial districts of Borno State buried their political differences.

    “Our people have contributed and they want to deepen the process of democracy. We have bought form and we are presenting it to Idris Mamman.

    “There have been lots of complaints that the people of Southern Borno are marginalised.

    “But that is not true, nobody is marginalized. This is because no one from the South has come out to say he wants to contest for governorship till today

    “So it is a matter of reaching to the people. Power is never served a la carte. You have to look for it, you have to earn it.

    “Now that the intention has been shown, we felt duty-bound to support their aspiration for the betterment of our State”.

    Receiving the form on behalf of the aspirant, the Chairman, Movement of Southern Borno Rotation of Power, Engr. Ibrahim Usman said the gesture from the Northern elders was a dream come true for the people of Southern Borno.

    “We are extremely grateful. By the time we get Idris Mamman into office, everybody is going to say there is a big change in Borno. He will carry everybody along.”

  • Elders warn against abandonment of projects

    The Ekiti Council of Elders has warned against abandonment of ongoing projects by the new government that will be installed after the July 14 governorship poll.

    The council at a meeting yesterday stressed that abandonment of projects by any administration that takes over is now a criminal offence and that the state has very limited resources which should not be wasted on new projects when the existing ones are yet to be completed.

    The Council presented its Manifesto of Development to governorship candidates at the parley held in Ado-Ekiti, urging them to adopt part of the blueprint in their policies for rapid development of the State.

    The President of the Council, Prof. Joseph Oluwasanmi, suggested that the next governor should adopt the blueprint as a guide to govern the state.

  • Katsina elders to reply Obasanjo, says Masari

    Katsina elders to reply Obasanjo, says Masari

    The Katsina State Elders Forum will soon reply former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s statement asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to seek re-election in 2019, Governor Aminu Masari said yesterday in Daura.

    “The elders forum will consider the possibility of replying the recent letter (statement) by President Olusegun Obasanjo to Buhari.

    “We intend to place an advertorial in the national dailies to respond to the issues he raised,” Masari told reporters, shortly after he led the elders on a condolence visit to President Buhari in Daura.

    Masari said that the forum had studied the letter and would respond to its contents.

    “The response will not be long in coming; it will be very soon,” he said.

    Masari said that the elders were in Daura to condole with the President over the death of his two sisters – Hajiya Aisha Mamman and Hajiya Halima Dauda – and described their demise as “very saddening”.

    Among the elders who condoled with the President were Justice Mamman Nasir (rtd), Brig-Gen Ahmed Daku (rtd), Justice Sadiq Mahuta, Emir of Daura, Alhaji Farouk Umar and Alhaji Dahiru Mangal.

    Also yesterday, Emir of Maradun in Zamfara, Alhaji Garba Tambari, said some traditional rulers across the country had resolved to ensure the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

    Tambari told reporters: All citizens who wish Nigeria well must support the re-election of the President “if he finally decides to seek renewal of his electoral mandate in 2019

    “Anybody who wishes this country good, who wishes this country well, will want Mr President to continue after 2019. So, we wish he will continue by the grace of God,’’ he said.

    The Emir stated that the re-election of the President in 2019 would ensure continuity in governance as the Buhari administration had recorded remarkable successes in the areas of security and fighting corruption and revitalisation of the economy.

    Tambari, who said he was in Daura on a solidarity visit to the President, lauded him for his selfless service to the country.

    He said the President had assured to tackling the problem of insecurity in some parts of Zamfara.

  • Elders: Give the youths a chance

    I am writing in response to what our highly esteemed elder-statesman and former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR), and lately, Nobel Prize Novelist – Professor Wole Soyinka.  Both are advocating what majority of Nigerians both at home and abroad have been saying regarding governance in Nigeria.

    Governing a country is a tedious task.  However, governing a country like Nigeria – the most populous nation in Africa, supposed to be the richest but poor due to the unscrupulous leaders that have held the country to a response for decades is even more so.  It is such a big shame that these two octogenarians are telling us what millions of us know.  At times, I wonder if by publicly making a statement appealing to the younger generation is a tacit approach to inform their age mates to bow out whilst the ovation is loudest.  In recent years, we have seen the elderly who appear sickly attending conferences only for them to snooze off halfway through important deliberations.  Some have been known to meet their maker during their deep sleep whilst others are so physically incapacitated that they attend meetings in wheelchairs and or look heavily sedated.  Why must people believe they have to hang on to power onto their last breath?

    Whatever happened to growing old gracefully and playing with their grand or great grandchildren? What happened to sitting down in a rocking chair with a good novel or being around their loved ones and admiring nature – thanking the Good Lord for giving them longevity and of course, having led a good life? Being in a position of power does not give anyone the right to be in the same position forever.  It is not hereditary that has to be passed down generations or to purposefully seek re-election, particularly if the person is incompetent or incapacitated. What is wrong being a mentor or kingmaker to the young ones who are considering going to politics?

    I have a couple of elders who were top professionals (not politicians) and retired meritoriously, who are my mentors.  They are happy to give advice relating to their discipline but would never trade their dignity for money or put themselves in a position where people young enough to be their children will disgrace them.  They live up to the adage – “a good name is better than all the gold and silver”.  I am always reminded that we came with nothing into this world and shall leave with nothing.  The only way we will be reminded is having established a good legacy.  However, if someone has been known to embezzle money, what legacy can that ever be?  Generations to come will forever be remembered of their ancestors’ legacy, whether positive or negative.

    Unfortunately, in this current dispensation in Nigeria, no one seems to think about any legacy other than to continue with bad governance, poor leadership and so many other multifactorial unproductive attributes to the masses.  Everyone wants part of the national cake.  The younger generations have positive ideas that will advance the nation of Nigeria, yet they are not given the opportunity.  Professor Soyinka said in a recent article entitled – ‘Where did we go wrong?’  Sir, we did not go wrong other than the fact that too much respect has been given to the elderly that they do not know that they have indeed crossed the boundaries!

    The youths have always been ‘awake’ but for our culture of respect wherein we cannot be seen to insult the elders by publicly shaming them.

    Now Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, one of the most charismatic, relevant and well respected African leaders who is globally recognised, also had to remind the Nigerians in the Diaspora that their country needs them and to return home, with particular focus on the youths to wrestle power from the ‘old guards’. How can they return home  to a country where  there is no respect for rule of law, amongst other maladies – after they have been used to a comfortable life in the western world?  It is true to say that not everyone is living the life they expected abroad but at least they can enjoy the benefits of  developed nations where leaders are held accountable for their actions.  They are competent leaders who are elected on merit.  They know that they are public servants and must ensure they listen to the electorate.  They are NOT above the law.  They OBEY the rule of law and know that if they are found guilty of any charge, even before they are asked to resign, they do so HONOURABLY.  If after resignation, they are found guilty, they will be incarcerated.  Crime is being contained; there is no jungle justice and certainly nothing like electricity power failure.

    Unfortunately, Nigeria is struggling to exit from a period of recession but one should wonder what led us into it in the first instance. It is due to the malpractices of the past that have come to haunt us all.  So many Nigerians have left the shores of Nigeria for greener pastures.  These are nation-builders like medical professionals, engineers, accountants, lawyers, etc. who unfortunately have been forced into the ‘Brain Gain of the Western world at the expense of Brain Drain of Nigeria’.

    The politicians in Nigeria travel abroad all the time for vacations medical attention or to give keynote addresses at various conferences.  I tend to wonder if they never for once think that what they have experienced abroad should be replicated in Nigeria.  Does it occur to these  so-called leaders that we do not have our own national carrier – no aeroplane with the inscription – Nigeria – but we are very quick to pay any amount to travel by foreign airlines.  What a shame!  No wonder we are being treated like animals on some airlines.  Are we really living up against being called ‘shit holes?’   Do we know how much the foreign airlines will lose if all Nigerians boycott them for even one week?

    We conduct too many talk shows but never walk the talk.  Nigeria has been blessed with so many natural resources and highly intelligent and competent people.  Some of the western countries we run to experience natural disasters but in Nigeria, our disasters are man made!!! Nigeria does not have state-of-the-art hospitals not even one to be proud of but we have thousands of qualified medical professionals roaming around the streets of Nigeria with no jobs and those who manage to ‘escape’ to western world vow not to return because they believe Nigeria has lost its direction.  The same can be said of engineers, architects but who have not been given opportunity to put their varied expertise to good use.  Rather sad that a politician will leave Nigeria when in poor health because he or she does not have faith in the medical facilities.  On getting to the western world, they look for the best professionals to treat them only to find their own kind – yes, a fellow Nigerian in either top German, British, American, etc. hospitals.  Has it occurred to the legislators that we abandon what we must do in our own backyard, which would have given thousands of Nigerians the opportunity to contribute to the GDP of Nigeria instead of bleeding the country blind?  Where is the future in Nigeria?  Where is the future for the youths?  The youths have been robbed of their birth rights!  We are ALL STAKEHOLDERS in Nigeria – irrespective of social status, ethnic minority, gender, etc.  This is why we must all get involved in rebuilding Nigeria, at least take it back to its former glorious years.

    Giving the youths the opportunity to lead or at least be properly mentored to lead will bring a breath of fresh air and ideas, which will develop the nation and help, reclaim our title as the ‘Giant of Africa’.  Recently, we have witnessed young people elected as leaders of their nations such as the 47-year old Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron of France; amongst others. A more recent and close to home for us is the former footballer, George Weah  who became the President of Liberia.

    It also goes without saying that some of our youths are too scared to fight for their rights because in a country like Nigeria, for them to be relevant, there might have to be a revolution.  They are not as tough-skinned as the people who fought for our freedom.  Unfortunately, those who think they are tough turn to crime – kidnappers, ritualists, robbers and I am afraid, one has to include those who have callously drained the coffers of the government.

     

    • Fatusin is a Freelance Writer, Inspirational Speaker, Compere, Social Commentator based in the United Kingdom.

     

     

  • Ikoyi Club fetes ‘Elders’ for 2018

    Ikoyi Club fetes ‘Elders’ for 2018

    As part of its year activities, Ikoyi Club 1938 on Friday, held its Elders Day, to celebrate senior citizens of the club.

    The event which held on the club’s lawn attracted had the elders unwinding, backslapping and having fun like teenagers. They enjoyed the mellow afternoon on the club’s lawn with fine dining and wining, coupled melodious live music from Mr Tunde Shoolanke and The Eagles Band. The elders also got a souvenir of wax print fabrics.

    “The Elders day is for elders,” said Mr Babatunde Akinleye, the Chairman, Ikoyi Club 1938 while delivering his speech.

    “It is to spoil you, to entertain you, to look after you and to reward you for the many years that you have been members of this club. That is why we don’t have high table for committee members or anybody here today.

    “I just want to say that we wish you a very happy new year and that’s on behalf of the trustees, the general committee and the members of Ikoyi Club 1938. We pray in the year 2018, it will be a better year for you and for all of us.”

     

  • Let elders bow out

    It is amazing that some people started working when they were 25yrs of age & now they are in their 60-75yrs of age & still continue, despite their diminishing contribution to the economic transformation of the nation.

    It is high time the govt should set up age limit for politicians seeking elective office in order to make way for the younger generation.

    Some of these politicians started as a local govt councillors to local govt chairman. From local govt chairman, to state house of Assembly; from State House of Assembly to House of Representatives and from House of Representatives to be elected as Governor & after serving as a state governor moves again to the Senate. Is this not too much for an individual Nigerian? That is why majority in the National Assembly members are earning multiple pensions or severance package. They earn pension or severance package as former local govt chairman, earn pension as Honourable member of the House of Assembly, also as ex- member of House of Representatives, earn pension as ex-governor & later as ex-senator.

    Those of them who joined politics from military or paramilitary service, their pensions in the army or the police are still ongoing while they will be entitled to another pension or severance package either as honourable member of representatives or Senate. In all these, how can Nigeria have enough money or resources for capital projects to create employment for the teeming masses of the youth of Nigeria?

    The politicians are blaming Nigerian youth for looking for greener pastures across the Sahara, while they refused to create enabling opportunity for youth employment in the country. These old people refuse to leave the stage because they have ample opportunities either as honourable or members of House of Representatives or the Senate to fix their children and family members in any parastatals or even paramilitary agencies from the few existing vacancies. Seventy percent of govt earnings goes for recurrent expenditures that is why Nigerian youth seem to have no future because the money set aside for capital expenditure is nothing to write home about.

    Therefore, I am calling on Nigerian youth to take their destiny in their hands by sending a bill to the National Assembly to make a law that will restrict anybody above the age of 65yrs to seek elective office in Nigeria as from 2019 in order to create an enabling environment for the youth to play their own part in the running of Nigeria our beloved country. “Our mumu don do”, says Charly Boy. It is now time for action. After all the constitution make it mandatory for civil servant to retire at the age of 65,the same constitution should make it imperative for politicians to retire at the age of 65, after all politicians steal more money than the civil servants, so that they will have enough time to enjoy their loot.

    • Israel Oyegbile, Kaduna

     

  • Elders celebrate international day

    The Lagos State government yesterday marked the International Old Peoples Day, with a promise to provide better living condition for older persons.

    Speaking at the event held at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, represented by his deputy, Dr Idiat Adebule, said his administration would cater for the elderly.

    He said: ‘’Our administration place priority on the well-being of older persons. No society will flourish where the wisdom and participation of older persons are neglected.

    “The government is doing everything possible to provide welfare for older persons, such as free health care, prompt payment of pension, home for the elderly, among others. Arrangement has also been concluded for the establishment of modern community daycare centres for the elderly in the three senatorial districts, for which land has been allocated in Epe, Badagry and Alimosho.”

    The governor urged families to give the best to older persons, “who had laboured to bring the best out of them.”

    Commissioner for Youth and Social Development Mrs Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, said the elderly deserved to be celebrated because of their roles  in the society.

    She said: “Older persons play critical roles in our society. As we face multiple challenges, one factor remains constant; the timeless importance of the elderly and their invaluable contributions in raising the next generation of leaders is commendable.”