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Tag: great

  • Great expectations in 2024

    Great expectations in 2024

    On December 31, 2023, I went to Accra Ghana for a family occasion. I had not been to Ghana since the coming to power of the incumbent president, the very articulate President Nana Akufo-Addo.  Akufo-Addo was not my preferred candidate in his contest with his predecessor John Dramani Mahama who is a friend of Nigeria and a literary artist.  The current president of Ghana on coming to office gave a critical lecture at Oxford University, his Alma mater in which he cynically lambasted Nigeria for foolishly wasting its oil money. Even if this was true, I do not believe it is proper for an African president to ridicule another African country in a foreign land.  Permit me the digression.

    My visit to Ghana lasted a full week during which I experienced many things which I had not experienced in my several visits  to Ghana, first as a  secondary school student, then as an  undergraduate, then as an academic and now as a person with family ties because my youngest child is married to a Ghanaian. My father had lived in the then Gold Coast colony working in the Manganese mines around Nsutta in Central Gold Coast. This was before I was born. He made some money which he brought home to build a rambling house for himself and his two uterine brothers in Okemesi our hometown. I have always wondered why the Gold Coast was where my people went in search of the “Golden Fleece”.

    In my youth, sections of my town were inhabited by people who spoke as their second language Fanti which they picked up in the then Gold Coast. This is the second language spoken by most people in Ghana after Twi. The largest number of Yoruba people in Ghana in colonial times were Ogbomosho people and there were also people from such towns as Oyo, Ejigbo and Ede. The only explanation for this migration was probably scarcity of arable land. This was certainly the case in my home town being sandwiched in a valley surrounded by hills and where as a result of history of migration and our wars of liberation, we paid less concern for agriculture than for security. It is a long history which needs not bother us. I don’t know the reason for Ogbomosho people going in droves to the Gold Coast. But it is the same search for trade and profit that drove them to northern Nigeria as well.

    Back to my story. I flew to Ghana on new year Eve 2023 on an AIR PEACE plane, manufactured by EMBRAER. S.A of Brazil. Apart from Boeing and Euro Aerospace, this Brazilian company is the third commercial planes manufacturer in the world. This position may change soon when the Chinese commercial airline planes bulldoze their way into the world market, the usual massive Chinese way.

    My flight to Ghana was uneventful. In spite of the dusty Harmattan haze, the flight landed as scheduled. The flight was fully booked with a substantial number of the passengers made up of black Americans and Nigerian-Americans and their spouses who came “home” to Africa for Christmas and new year. I learnt it has become fashionable for these compatriots to celebrate Christmas in Lagos or Abuja and then fly to Accra for for elaborate new year celebrations. Tourism is big business in Ghana not just in Accra but in the country as a whole but particularly in the south. Hotels in Accra are absolutely exquisite. The beaches are primed for accommodation in beach hotels. The most remarkable thing is that electricity is regularly available every hour. Even though Accra strangely enough, is hotter than Lagos but air conditioning appears to be effectively available because of the regularity of electricity. Service in the hotels is friendly and efficient and the people are trained to be friendly. Ghanaians are on the whole much more friendly than our people. I am surprised about this because this was not always like this in the Ghana of my youth. At that time Ghanaians were very arrogant and proud. They had reasons to be like that. They beat every country in black Africa apart from the Sudan in the race to political independence. They also used to thrash everyone on the soccer field. Their voice was loudest in the struggle for pan African independence and unity and their president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah – the “ Osagyefo” or “saviour “ was the most well-known African leader and the youth of Africa including most young Nigerians admired him compared with our chaotic political leadership.

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    Of course things changed with our petroleum wealth which apparently went to our head and we mismanaged the opportunity. But even up till today, the evidence of our conspicuous consumption is evident in the luxurious cars on our dilapidated roads compared with the small cars on Accra roads.

    When I arrived in Accra I noticed the difference. I wanted very badly to ease myself in a toilet. I was under severe pressure and I couldn’t wait for normal immigration or customs procedures so I dashed to a lady in uniform. I told her I urgently needed the use of a toilet. She did not start by directing me to a toilet she actually took me to one! I felt so good as an 81-year old whose bladder was about to explode would feel. When I finally got to the immigration desk and my pictures were to be taken, I was asked to remove my cap and glasses. For comic relief I asked the Ghanaian officer whether a chief’s head can be exposed just like that in Ghana. He apologised and we both laughed. Then the next port of call was the customs department. The officer insisted that I open my box. I asked him why? This time I was serious because he seemed for some strange reasons to have picked me out of the crowd. When he saw I was serious, he backed down and let me go.

    What would have been the experience of a Ghanaian if the roles had been reversed? When I returned to Lagos I discovered that touts had infested the new extension of the Murtala Muhammad airport. One of them tried to rip me off pretending he was helping to clear my luggage but I stood my ground. What was most impressive was the airline that was expertly run and the brand new plane safely flown to and fro showing the possibility of a new Nigerian business owner and run by young Nigerians of mixed ethnic background. I saw this with my own eyes in AIR PEACE!

    The Murtala Muhammad airport’s new extension shows what is possible. It is newly built and mercifully the air conditioning is working. The seats were clean and so were the toilets. If this can be maintained, then our airports would not be known for their ugliness and filth. How I wish the entire airport in Lagos can be as well maintained as the new extension. All things are possible. We just have to work at it. Small things are important. We cannot be talking about foreign investment if ordinary things like airports are in shambles. There are also too many desks one has to check at presumably because of security, drug trafficking, immigration, customs and so on and these things give room for the usual Nigerian malady of corruption. We just have to be determined to build our country because this is the only country we have.

  • Great Lagos

    The veteran legal luminary, political and community leader, and national elder, Chief Femi Okunnu, intervened during the past week in the sometimes puzzling debate on the origins, history and status of Lagos. He was reported to have said that Lagos is a Yoruba city, and that no amount of mouthing of history can change that fact. Of course, that fact is fact; but, in the circumstances of these days, it helps that a Lagosian of Chief Okunnu’s caliber affirms it with such authority.

    Personally, the foremost thing that I keep saying about Lagos is that Lagos is a phenomenally great city – a city meant by God to be great. I like our youths calling it the “megalopolis”. It is the greatest city on the African continent, one of the greatest cities in the world, and as it is growing today, a city with limitless promise.

    In a mood of intense admiration for Lagos many years ago, I sat down one morning in a faraway country and wrote a short poem for Lagos – a poem with lines such as “Africa’s jewel of the coasts”, “School of life and wisdom”, “Drinks full of small lagoon and large ocean”, “Equips to cope with the shifting sands”, “Springhouse of fashion”, “Wiggles her waist like none else can do”, “Merchant queen of all”, “Bestrides the continents and seas”, “Gathers great wealth from far and near”, “Bestows rich fortunes with her gilded hand”.

    Much of the roots of the perpetually growing greatness of Lagos is its gorgeous cosmopolitanism. Lagos is home to large numbers of folks from all the countless Yoruba subgroups with their countless dialects of the Yoruba language. Lagos is also home to people from virtually all the nations of Nigeria, almost all the nations of the West African sub-continent, and people from more of the nations of Africa than one would find in any other city on the African continent. Lagos is also home to folks from all continents of the earth.

    Lagos simply loves to welcome and include more and more people, more and more cultures, more and more variety. From what our historians tell us about the history of this wonderful city, the love of welcoming and including people from all directions was in its character from its very beginning. It is a character trait that it shares from the Yoruba ethnic nation to which it belongs. European colonialism hid the true characters of Black Africa’s ethnic nations from the world; but the world is now discovering that a Black African nation called the Yoruba are one of the most welcoming, one of the most hospitable, one of the best places to come and prosper, in the world. Of the hundreds of Yoruba cities and towns, there is not a single one that does not boast of significant families, lineages or chieftaincy holders with origins traceable to other parts of Yorubaland, or other nations of Nigeria, or even other nations of Africa. Some trace even their kings likewise.

    The earliest ancestors of the Yoruba people somehow discovered the truth that a land that is open and hospitable to all comers attracts prosperity towards itself. In the ancient compendium of Yoruba knowledge and wisdom, the long corpus known as Odu-Ifa, rendered in 400,000 poetic verses, this truth is stated emphatically in one of the verses. The verse says, “A stranger or foreigner is coming. There are benefits coming with the stranger or foreigner. Receive and take good care of the stranger or foreigner, lest the benefits be missed and lost”. An obvious corollary to this fundamental philosophy of Yoruba community and national life is that, if one’s ancestry happens to contain some foreign strand, one must wisely harmonize it with the whole community and nation in ways that beautify and glorify the whole; one loses much by seeking to cause offence with it. In my understanding, that is what Chief Okunnu was saying this past week.

    Chief Okunnu is also supported by the history. Here is some outline on the history. Among the videos in my archives, there is a recent one in which the narrator makes the statement that “Lagos was founded in the 16th century by the Edo”. It is obvious right away that this statement was made with little or no knowledge or thinking behind it. What does this narrator mean by “founded”? Does he mean founded as a human settlement, or founded as a kingdom?

    We know definitively (thanks to studies by archaeologists, scholars of historical linguistics, and historians) that Lagos was one of the early primitive settlements created by the Yoruba people in very ancient times. The evolution of agriculture in about 10,000 BC in the Middle Niger territory made it possible for humans to cease wandering for food and begin to live as settlers. Settling resulted in the gradual evolution of groups with languages and ethnic cultures – such as the Nupe, Yoruba, Igala, Igbo, Edo, Gbagyi, etc.

    The Yoruba started off as a group with many subgroup dialects, and spread roughly westwards and southwards. Between 2000 BC and 1000 BC, their southernmost thrust had reached the Atlantic coast, with their Awori subgroup in the forests and islands which are now Lagos, Iseri, Otta, etc; the coastal Ijebu further to the east; the Ilaje further still to the east; and the Isekiri in the easternmost coastal reaches. The Edo group (a non-Yoruba group) settled in the forests to the east of Yorubaland, the Igbo group east of the Lower Niger, etc.

    Millennia later, in about 900 AD, a very major change began in the political life of the Yoruba people. It began when the small settlements in the Ife forest area in central Yorubaland, after many years of conflicts among them, finally coalesced together to become a single town, Ile-Ife, under one single crowned head known as an Oba. (The idea of a crowned ruler known as an Oba was simply adopted from the political practices which the old small settlements had evolved). In the six centuries following that event, having kingdoms like the Ife kingdom and towns like Ile-Ife became somehow very popular among Yoruba people. A brave and adventurous prince from Ife would go into the Yoruba forests, find a clump of different settlements in a location, and proceed to make them coalesce and become one town like Ile-Ife, with himself as the Oba. From some of the kingdoms founded like that, adventurers went out in later years and founded kingdoms too. The Yoruba thus became a people living much in large towns – an urbanized people, indeed the most urbanized people in all of Black Africa. According to some Edo and Yoruba traditions, a warrior prince went from Ife in the same era and helped the Edo to create a kingdom of their own in the Edo forests. In the Awori forest, an adventurer said to be from Ife came to Otta and founded the Otta kingdom; and another came soon after to Iseri on the Ogun River and founded the Iseri kingdom.

    Centuries later, in about the 1470s, European explorers came to the coast of West Africa. Trade between Europeans and Africans developed along the coasts. On the Awori coast, the islands slowly became important in the trade with the Europeans. To share in the trade, the rulers of the Iseri kingdom moved the centre of their kingdom nearer to the coast – first to Ebute Meta, then to Ido Island, and finally to Lagos Island, welcomed by the pre-existing Awori settlers. A kingdom of the Awori thus emerged here. Over time, it became known as Eko among some traders, and as Lagos among the European traders.

    By about 1600, both the Lagos kingdom and the Edo kingdom of Benin had become very important centres of trade with the Europeans. The Benin kingdom had become rich and powerful.  Lagos was also rich and regularly flooded by Ijebu, Benin, Ilaje, Ijaw and Adja traders trading with the Europeans and with one another.

    In a political development whose details still remain unclear, the Edo became involved in conflicts in the politics of the Lagos kingdom in about 1602. Some traditions seem to indicate that this was probably a succession dispute between Awori princes, a dispute in which one of the parties won the support of the Edo trading community. In any case, part of the outcome seems to be a Lagos king with some Edo blood – or with Edo endorsement and support. This happened in about 1602 – based partly on Edo and Lagos traditions, and partly on what a German trader in Lagos wrote in 1603. In the 1800s, Lagos was blessed with streams of returnees from Sierra Leone and the Americas.

    Yes, Lagos is part of the Yoruba nation – as ethnic subgroup, early settlement, kingdom. And yes, Lagos encapsulates the world. Both ways, Lagos is a great beauty in our lives – a great beauty deserving responsible conduct by all concerned. Lots of thanks again to Chief Okunnu.

  • Turkey President great Buhari

    Turkey President great Buhari

    Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday greeted President  Muhammadu Buhari on his recovery from illness.

    The Turkish leader, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, also exchanged Eid greetings with President Buhari.

    “Both leaders wished each other good health and success in their endeavours and extended their greetings and good wishes to the citizens of their friendly countries,” Shehu said.

    The two leaders also discussed at length, the forthcoming 9th Summit of D8, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation at the end of October in Istanbul.

    Mr Erdogan also extended an invitation to President Buhari for his participation.

    President Buhari, the statement said, expressed his gratitude for the good wishes.

  • Nigeria ‘ll be great again, says Amosun, other

    Nigeria ‘ll be great again, says Amosun, other

    Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed confidence that Nigeria would be great again in spite of the myriad of challenges confronting her.

    In his message to the Muslim faithful as they marked the Eid-el-Fitr yesterday, Amosun urged Nigerians to continue to work for peace and unity in order to ensure genuine and steady development in the country.

    The governor spoke shortly after he joined other Muslim faithful to observe the Eid-el-Kabir prayer at Oke-Yidi, Lantoro, Abeokuta, to mark this year’s Sallah celebration.

    He said the nation’s economy would “bounce and pick up again” with the return of President Muhammadu Buhari from medical vacation in London.

    According to him, Buhari has stepped up his onslaught against corruption and insecurity as well as showing commitment towards the country’s economic development.

    He urged Nigerians to continually give their support to the President in his determination to put Nigeria on the path of greatness.

    “Clearly, things are getting better. And with the return of Mr President, things will get even better. Of course, we have noticed that all the three key areas of Mr President’s administration are being reinvigorated.

    “From security, you will see what Mr President is doing, and everybody is working round the clock to make sure that the entire nation is secured.

    “Look at corruption, for instance, of course you know Mr President’s stance. He is still fighting corruption and he will continue to fight it.

    “He had said that we have to kill corruption before corruption kills us. Even as we speak, corruption is already killing us. Thank God for his administration that is now fighting corruption.

    “One thing that I know that is very dear to Mr President’s heart is to make our economy rebound, that our economy picks up and that we create wealth for our people.

    “And we cannot do that without diversification. In these key areas, we are walking our talk. I know with the support of the good people of Nigeria, Nigeria will be great again.

    “Anybody that knows God must know that peace is very synonymous with God. Such person will not preach violence, hatred and insurgency.

    “So, I want to admonish us in Ogun State and indeed Nigeria, that once we love one another, once we are united, once we are peaceful, Nigeria will be great again.”

    Earlier in his sermon, the Chief Imam of Egbaland, Alhaji Liadi Orunsolu, urged the people to be faithful to God and man.

    Orunsolu, who prayed for the wellbeing of President Buhari and his administration, also asked Nigerians, particularly Muslims, to have patience and be willing to sacrifice for the progress of the country.

    “Although, things are hard, I believe that if we can have patience and are willing to sacrifice, things will be normal again,” he said.

  • ‘DICON can make Nigeria great’

    The Chairman, Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, Air Commodore Joseph Adeleke, has described the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) as having the inherent potential of leading the country out of the woods.

    This, according to him, is based on the calibre of equipment in the corporation’s ordnance factory.

    Commodore Adeleke, who was on facility tour of DICON’s Ordnance Factory, said he visited DICON before now but what he saw on ground in his recent visit is worthy of commendation.

    He added that the Director-General, Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Ogunkale, who he described as a trailblazer, was making the country proud with the success stories emanating from the corporation.

    According to him, the committee picked DICON to play a key role in its effort to contain the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, especially in marking them for easy control and destruction.

    He added that destruction of surrendered or confiscated weapons had been a very sensitive issue because members of the committee could be easily accused of double standard, stressing that they would always ensure there was adequate media coverage at the collection point and during destruction.

    Gen. Ogunkale lauded the committee for its services to the country. He said DICON is ready to partner the committee to ease effective service delivery, both for the committee and the corporation, adding that the country will be better for it.

  • Making St Mary’s ‘great again’

    Making St Mary’s ‘great again’

    FOR old students of St. Mary’s Grammar School, Eme-Ora in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, it was to be a time for celebration as the school hit 50. But it turned out to be a time for sober reflection on the school’s decrepit condition.

    At a forum, where they held  the  golden jubillee, they spoke with nostalgia of their school’s glorious days; and how it helped their formative years. They recalled how they fetched water from the village stream, read with lantern and carried blocks to help build more classrooms.They praised the mission teachers that taught them moral values.

    Founded in 1967 with over 1000 pounds support from the Eme-Ora Progressive Union to the Roman Catholic Mission, the girls only school was initially christened St. Mary’s Girls Grammar School. It kicked off with 25 classrooms and six dormitories, including staff quarters.

    The old students lamented what has become of their school. Except for the two blocks of 12 classrooms built by the immediate past administration under its red roof revolution, others, they claimed, were an eyesore.

    Buildings that once served as dormitories have been overgrown with weeds, they said. Although there are 12 classrooms being used by pupils of the junior and senior secondary schools, the perimeter fencing had long given way and the premises is now being used by herdsmen for cattle grazing.

    At the Senior Secondary School (SSS) section, only three teachers are government employees. Others are fresh graduates deployed there for their mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and those on the community and the Parent-Teacher Association payroll.

    Equally dilapidated are the school’s library, administrative block, science laboratory and examination hall.

    Teachers used old desks and chairs; while there are no toilets for staff and pupils.

    Despite these challenges, management believes the school is still keeping its head above water.

    Principal of the SSS Mrs Grace Ajayi said some individuals, including herdsmen, were encroaching on the school premises.

    “I was transferred here in 2010. The school, then, was in a very bad condition. We had dilapidated buildings with no teachers for many subjects. The two blocks of 12 classrooms were renovated by the state government. We have over 300 students in the senior secondary school.

    “We need perimeter fencing. People trespass here and herdsmen disturb us a lot with their cattle. The laboratory science block is in tatters. Our chemicals in the lab have expired. We don’t have staff. We have only three teachers from the government, while others are employed by the community and PTA.”

    In his address, the Odion-Uhonmo of Eme, Chief Edward Orhewere, said the challenge was how to restore the school’s glory.

    Pioneer principal of the school, Reverend Anneth Sullivan, who resumed in 1967, recalled how she grew the school from nothing to something with concerted efforts by the community and pupils.

    “I came to Nigeria 50 years ago precisely in 1967, but I didn’t come straight to the school. I operated from Uzairue. I used to drive down here. With the help of students and staff, we were able to do things. We were few but the staff were dedicated. Everybody worked as a family,” the octogenarian educationist recalled.

    “Social amenities were not available, so our focus was on the school. I was not bothered about the lack of electricity at that time because it was not the most important thing in life. Your good health, your God and relationship with the people are much more important. It is difficult to manage without water but you can manage without electricity. When I came 25 years ago, the school was in a mess, but I had hopes that it would grow to that height we dreamed of.”

    In her welcome address, a pioneer pupils and National President of St. Mary’s Grammar School Old Students Association, Onosele Ovbiagele-Ndekwu, urged the government and well-meaning individuals from the community to rescue the school.

    “I am a pioneer student of this school and the first set to graduate in 1972. When I gained entrance to this school, we had students from Ibadan, Lagos, and other cities. It was an all-girls school. We were having about 25 blocks of classrooms and six dormitories.

    “Today, the school has lost its popularity and is abandoned. We are trying to see how we can come in and assist. The old students want to make the school great again; so, we have decided to renovate the administrative block.

    “We can see many classes are not in use. We are appealing to everybody to do little things to make the school great again.

    The National Secretary, Mrs. Patricia Oisamojie spoke on the same vein.

    “The school has given us a list of what they need. You see their hall is protected by planks.”

    Another pioneer pupil, Dr. Fidelia Okoh, Founder/Rector of Palms City Polytechnic in Uromi awarded scholarship to the pupil who won the debate to mark the school’s Jubilee.

  • Why this ‘great’ budget may fail

    Of Growth and recession: one small question first: who is it that christens our budgets? Must we go through that ritual of naming our budget every year? For instance, this outgoing year 2016, we named it “Budget of change.” But as we all have witnessed, not much changed for good. Instead we soon lapsed into the worst kind of recession ever witnessed in our history.

    And we wonder if it is the same fellow who christened the 2016 budget who has also announced so gleefully that this one would be “Budget of Recovery and growth?” Pray what are the bases of his optimism? If he failed so woefully in envisaging the current crushing economic condition that has roiled Nigerians in the last three quarters (and still rages without let), how can we now trust his judgment that the next one year will usher in recovery and growth?

    What this suggests is that ab initio, the requisite rigour has not gone into this budget yet again. Yes the figures look nice and the content reads well, but many basic assumptions are poorly thought out and terribly flawed. To assume that Nigeria and her economy will move from the current pits of recessional mire into recovery and growth in the next 12 months is preposterous.

    Further indications of a lack of rigour and hard-headed analysis of prevailing economic trends are inherent in the indices applied in the budget projections. First, when was the last time anyone bought dollars in the open market at N305, which this budget is predicated upon? The current budget was premised onN197/$, which was a near-fatal error. Funding the wide (indeed wild) margin between the artificial budget rate and the real thing was enough to torpedo the entire budget.

    We have made the same mistake again this time. Has anyone bought dollars in the open market for less than N400/$ in the last six months? In an economy that thrives almost 90 per cent on imports, the difference between N305 and N400 will damage any budget projections. Why don’t we keep it real, why not benchmark the budget at 405/$ and we brace ourselves and take the punch on the chin?

    Similarly, what is the basis for using crude oil production estimate of 2.2 m barrels per day? When was the last time Nigeria hit the two million barrel mark? With the uprising in the Niger Delta not abating soon and so many shut-ins already recorded, what magic are we going to apply to produce this quantity of crude oil in 2017? With our refineries still not amenable to repairs, massive importation of numerous petroleum products will continue in 2017. Power outage, which is at the lowest ebb now, is likely to persist since solution is tied to pacifying the militants of the Niger Delta.

    It is a tough new year ahead in which we think the government will continue to be bogged down by a shortage of foreign exchange. Importation of common staple food, such as rice, poultry products and vegetable oil, fish and sea food will keep pressure on lean forex.

    Then again, the management of the little resources available to the government is starkly inefficient. The treasury still leaks like a bad basket in spite of the much-vaunted fight against corruption. Civil servants, politicians and their collaborators have rewired the system and are back to their sordid business.

    If the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, can be so accused of massive fraud by the Senate and at that level, what is going on down below can only be imagined. The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed to drastically re-jig the critical institutions to have them ‘fight’ corruption. Instead, Mr. Ibrahim Magu has been a one-man riot squad chasing corruption in all directions and achieving little. Where, for instance, is the crucial Auditor-General’s Office in this fight against corruption?

    There persists a leadership void; PMB appears weary if not worn out. There is no high mind with a bird’s eye view of the economy to lead it. Everyone seems to run in different directions and the Finance Minister, who came with no clouts, has been further hamstrung and circumscribed so much she may be no better than a cashier now. The cabinet is a largely uninspired bunch, weak and seemingly alienated from ‘number one’. It appears a narrow-minded cabal is currently running the affairs of the state.

    But as noted in the title above, this budget has the potential of being a great budget in ordinary times when all the elements are well mixed. For once, both recurrent and capital expenditures are almost 50-50. This must be the first time we have this parity in over a decade. It had always been in the region of 70-30 in favour of recurrent expenditure. This meant that we had been ‘eating’ our resources instead of building our economy.

    Finally, deciding a huge pay out to local contractors; paying up official debts owed power distribution companies and making it a state policy to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods are policies that will go a long way in boosting the economy if pursued to logical conclusions.

    It must be stated that much of the bottleneck lies with the president and the presidency. He must empower his cabinet to deliver and he must quickly axe the incapable hands. He must tweak his narrow mindset to be more accommodating and do everything necessary to reconcile the polity.

     

    Frazzled Fashola

    It was not the smartest move in the first place to make a combo of three large, crucial ministries including all the departments and agencies in their fold and put them all under one man. Yes, former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, is known to have a prodigious capacity for work, but making one portfolio of the ministries of Power, Works and Housing is perhaps the dumbest move of the PMB administration.

    As it stands, it is obvious that the former governor of example is frazzled and seemingly drained both emotionally and physically. It is not that he could not have given the three-in-one task a good shot, but the times are tough and the environment treacherous. Power situation in the country is a laugh now and Fashola the laughing stock. The roads are deteriorating faster than anyone can fix them even if you have all the funds… but there are no funds.

    Solution: the earlier this ungainly combo is unbundled, the better for everyone. At least one person close to me would stop teasing me daily and asking: my friend where on earth is your friend Power Mike, okunrin metala?

  • Nigeria will be ‘fantastically great’

    There was a ‘fantastically corrupt’ nation to the extent that we did not spare ourselves the self-criticism of a near indelible image foisted on our sovereign nation by those who lost the track of our founding fathers’ vision for the would-be great country in the history of the world, yes!

    But to agree with the British Prime Minister David Cameron over his recent comments describing Nigeria as a ‘fantastically corrupt’ nation over a cocktail is the highest level of unpatriotic disposition any Nigerian can exercise against his own country.

    “Are we not corrupt?”; “Is David Cameron wrong after all?”; “Yes he was right indeed” are some of the reprehensibly disturbing comments uttered by second class-minded Nigerians who tend to absorb wholly whatever filth is thrown at us by those who will defend their own territorial integrity to the last, even while treading on a faulty policy or moral deficiency at a time.

    “If you are angry against your country, do not tear the national flag” is what I often tell Nigerians who get uncontrollably angry with their nation at the slightest provocations. We have responsibility to uphold our territorial symbol and defend our cause even at a time when things are in bad shape for our nation.

    Whenever I hold our national currency, I cannot but reflect on the labours of our heroes past who saw a nation that would thrive in the robe of greatness. The images of our heroes past are reflections equal to the ‘Statue of Liberty’ for America or the ‘Great Wall’ for China. Before we accidentally got to a stage where we were led by political small-chops and the weak whereby stealing was excused as no art of corruption, we had strong leaders who would die defending the future of our own nation. To the glory of God, President Muhammadu Buhari is restoring the hope we clinched on, believing that Nigeria will rise to its desirable status in the manner that has been foretold.

    As a collaborator is also culpable, Mr. President is right to have told David Cameron that doing the needful against corruption by ensuring no Nigerian is allowed to safe-keep stolen money in Britain is more charitable than his apology. The bottom line is while agreeing that Nigeria had lost so much credibility to financial corruption, yet the word ‘corruption’ is vague and cannot be used to describe Nigeria as a “fantastically corrupt nation” in its entirety. It is also outrageous for any world leader to continue to sink Nigeria in the abyss of very derogatory expressions such as the ones uttered by David Cameron in spite of the ongoing efforts by the current government to put the nation back on track.

    Recently in Britain, David Cameron’s family’s tax affairs came under public scrutiny in an allegation against the British Prime Minister’s tax offences relating to tax evasion after details of his father’s Bahamas business interests are leaked in the Panama Papers saga; and not quite long, the controversial British Prime Minister was confronted in parliament over criminal investigation into alleged electoral fraud by Conservative MPs in last year’s general election. As a matter of fact, Mr. Cameron came under severe attack from Angus Robertson who is SNP leader as lacking moral justification to lecture other countries on corruption and probity in the said anti-corruption summit, as published in the Independent of Wednesday, May 10, 2016.

    “Seeing as the Prime Minister is prepared to lecture other countries on corruption and probity, could he explain why seven police forces in the UK have launched criminal investigations into Conservative MPs over potential electoral fraud,” he asked at Prime Minister’s Questions.

    It is in the habit of Britain to demean its former colonies, a habit France does not exhibit against its assimilated former colonies. But who cares? As Cuba defended its territorial integrity against the United States until America came calling lately, Nigerians should stand against perpetual label with bad names and identities; so shall we!

    Globally, we should not forget that Nigerians are doing great. In all walks of life, Nigeria has produced very outstanding and reputable persons who have contributed immensely to world growth and development.

    That the richest man in Africa is from Nigeria with most of his investments localised is a pointer to the fact that our economy remains one of the most prominent on the continent. Professor Wole Soyinka, a respected Nobel Laureate, is a proud Nigerian; five lawmakers with Nigerian backgrounds are currently in the British Parliament; we are proud of Olympic Champions, best medical hands and exceptional talents too numerous to mention.

    Nigerians have run successful businesses in most difficult terrains and every corner around the world with conglomerates of business empires and investments. Among every five black persons in the world is a Nigerian, indicating our spread, dynamism and enterprise.

    The economic potential of Lagos State alone is more than some three African countries put together. The dynamism with which Lagos is being managed is commendable, considering its mega status and complexity; no one is therefore taken by surprise with the appointment of the governor as the Vice President of Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), an interest group established to promote trade and investment by facilitating engagement between Government and the private sector throughout the Commonwealth. This came shortly after he delivered historic keynote at the London School of Economics on Africa’s potentials for sustainable growth.

    While talking about leadership as major challenge confronting Africa as a whole, we must acknowledge that the role of citizenship is pertinent at ensuring all-round development. After all, a good citizen at the lower ebb will definitely make a good leader; all leaders we see today were once followers and who are not left out in the circle.

    Promoting what is ours and defending our territorial integrity at all cost is an integral part of loyalty and patriotism to our fatherland. Nigeria is coming out of this situation and will become a country to beat. If there is any reason why the masses are not protesting against the ongoing deregulation of the oil sector leading to increase in pump price of petroleum products, it is because of the seriousness of the current government. Together, we can make Nigeria great again by first realising that the journey to a new Nigeria has started. Let’s join the train so we can prove to the world that Nigeria can truly become fantastically great!

     

    • Olulade is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Epe Constituency II

     

  • ‘How youths can become great’

    Youths have been challenged to avoid social vices to safeguard their glorious future.

    This was the consensus at the Eagles’ Youth conference organised by Believer’s House of Freedom (BHF) and Star Diamond Group in Lagos last week.

    The theme of the conference that attracted hundreds of youths was discover the greatness in you.

    The convener, Pastor David Elo, said only youths that embrace zero tolerance to vices such as cultism, drug abuse and sexual immorality can be sure of a better future.

    The Senior Minister of Believer’s House of Freedom lamented that many youths were moving towards negative directions.

    Elo urged the government to pay more attention to youth development as well as creating platforms, programmes and opportunities for them to unleash their potentials, which will in turn be beneficial to the nation at large.

    “We don’t just want leaders but good leaders who can be a role model to the youth and whose life can be of emulation,” he said.

    He also lamented the increase in cult activities in the country and charged youths to flee from the act.

    On how youths can maximize the potentials, he advised: “Monitor your friends because negative influence has a way of affecting one’s destiny. Make up your mind that you want to succeed and look out for the talents that God has deposited in you. Discover it and work towards it.”

    The CEO of Star Diamond Group, Dr John Kome, called for youth development schemes to safeguard the future of the nation.

    He urged the current administration to ensure the adequate participation of youths in socio-economic development to redirect their focus from sexual immorality, cultism, drug abuse and addictions.

    Kome said: “If the government thinks Nigeria can move forward without the youths, it is a lie. Everyone wants to travel out of the country because they believe their best will show forth out there.

    “Our youths must abstain from sexual immorality and other bad acts; serve God and remain in Him. These are the secrets behind my wealth.”

  • YAYA BOASTS: Iheanacho will be great

    •‘It’s a proud day for Iwobi’s family’

    Former African Footballer of the Year and Manchester City of England’s midfield star, Yaya Toure has tipped teammate and Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheanacho to be a top star on the field in no distance future.

    The Ivorian star disclosed this to Sporting Life in Abuja shortly after he was dethroned by Gabonese and Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the new 2015 African Footballer of the Year at the International Conference Centre Abuja last Thursday.

    He praised the quality of the Nigerian as a football player and has already tipped him to be a top football star in the world very soon. He also disclosed that he has been a big brother to Iheanacho and has been mentoring him for a while now.

    “Yes I am very close to Kelechi (Iheanacho) and he sees me as his mentor. I see him closely and I trust him and I have been trying to push him up. I know what I have done to encourage him to continue to believe in his talent. I see him as one of my younger brothers coming through one day. I hope that Kelechi can be one of the top players on the field in the future”,  Toure had said during his visit to Nigeria on Thursday.