The Nation Newspaper

Tag: leaders’

  • Nigerian leaders need to listen

    Nigerian youths are speaking – and speaking emphatically, incessantly and increasingly trenchantly essentially the same things. We their elders need to heed what they are saying.

    In totality, Nigerian youths from separate areas of Nigeria are saying profound and fundamental things. I don’t have to agree with them before I try to understand what they are saying. My profession as a historian conditions my mind to peruse what people communicate, what people say or write or do, and to seek to discern meanings and trends in them.

    Various groups and associations of Nigerian youths are questioning the validity, the value, and the existence of Nigeria as a country. The rest of us need to stop, listen and ponder.  In particular, those whom God has elevated to the position of prominent citizens, leaders and rulers among us must stop, listen and ponder – and then try to respond appropriately and with the best intention to produce the best results therefrom.  We are taking grave risks by ignoring or trivializing the noises emanating from the ranks of our youths.  If we laugh off these noises in the belief that they will peter off and vanish, we may be making mistakes that could prove to be of cataclysmic consequences.  No, we cannot afford to miss the message in these noises. They do not look as if they will go away. I repeat: we need to listen.

    For years now, various youth groups among the Igbo nation, one of the largest of our nations, have been clamouring for the separation of the Igbo nation from Nigeria in order to create a new sovereign country of Biafra. Some have come as Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, others as Biafra Zionist Movement, and yet others as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Their ways of doing things may differ, but their messages are the same – separation of the Igbo nation into a new country of Biafra. And today, that message has caught on considerably among the Igbo nation. In Igbo city after Igbo city, we are seeing countless thousands of Igbo youths (and older citizens) come out to the streets to hear and cheer the youth who leads IPOB.

    Historically older than the noises of Biafra, the noise among the youths of the Delta has been going on virtually from the moment of Nigeria’s independence in 1960. Started soon after independence by no bigger a person than a university student, it has been sustained in waves after waves since then. Today, in the hands of considerably larger crowds of educated youths, the noise for a separate sovereign country of the Ijaw nation (our fourth largest nation) has grown wider into a call for a sovereign Delta country. And these youths of the many nations of the Delta have found very effective ways to make their noise loud – by inflicting repeated damages on the oil production facilities on which the Nigerian economy depends.

    Among the large Yoruba nation of the Nigerian South-west, our second largest nation (after the Hausa-Fulani nation), and our most successful nation in socio-economic development and modernization, youth noises for separation and for a sovereign Odua Republic have grown gradually through several “self-determination” groups. Those noises have now become very loud indeed. A few days ago, many of the “self-determination” groups came together, jointly proclaimed the formation of a Yoruba Liberation Command, and issued a very masterful statement inaugurating what they claimed to be the beginning of the final struggle for the sovereign republic of Odua. In ways characteristic of their Yoruba nation, they stretched out a hand of fellowship to the Biafra struggle among the Igbo, the sovereignty struggle among the Delta youths, and even the sovereignty demands of the youths of the Hausa-Fulani nation (otherwise known as Arewa North), and urged all for future cooperation among the separate countries that are now seeking to be born.

    I am sure that many of my readers today would be surprised to read here that there are sovereignty demands among the youths of Arewa North too. Yes, there are. In 2014, an Arewa Youth Development Front, led by highly educated youths, organized various demonstrations in Arewa cities, visited highly placed Arewa citizens, demanded that southerners resident in the North should relocate back to the south within two weeks, that northerners resident in the south should return to the North, and that, without delay, the “failed experiment of Nigeria should be terminated”. Then, some weeks ago, a large combination of Arewa youth groups issued a very major statement to Nigeria and the world, giving an ultimatum to the Igbo people resident in the north to quit the north not later than October 1, advising northerners resident in the south to start returning to the north, and – yes – demanding the dissolution of Nigeria. Not only did they say that they did not want to have Igbo people living in their Arewa homeland any longer; they also added that they did not want their nation to continue to live in the same country with the Igbo nation, and urged the United Nations to help organize a referendum that would enable the Igbo people to vote to go away from Nigeria and become the sovereign country of Biafra which Igbo youths have been clamouring for – in short, that Nigeria as we know it be broken up.

    Thus, we have masses of the youths of our four largest nations – Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo and Delta – demanding the separation of their nations from Nigeria and the dissolution of Nigeria. And, the fact that these crowds are “youths” must not mislead us into under-assessing their strength. The four nations they represent amount to about 165 million out of Nigeria’s total population of about 200 million. In each of these four nations, these youths constitute the majority of the population. They also constitute, far and away, the most educated generation, the most literate, the most skilled in modern things, and the most exposed worldwide. Whatever these people say about our country is enormously important – far too important to be taken lightly.

    Therefore, we need to make great efforts to understand why various large groups in this very important generation are seeking separation of their nations from Nigeria and the breaking up of Nigeria, and why their messages are growing popular in their nations. Those reasons are, for the most part, not difficult to see. The major one is that the generation above these youths, the generation that controls the commanding positions in Nigeria’s political and economic life, have senselessly appropriated to themselves all the benefits of Nigeria’s existence. They have put iron-clad holds on Nigeria’s common heritage, excluded the youths that are coming up from behind them, and seek seriously to provide virtually nothing for succeeding generations.

    The youths, highly educated, highly informed and world-wise, can only look from their conditions of deprivation at their elders who have established a system that enables them (the elders) to engross and steal all the resources of the country – money, urban land and estates, shares in public establishments, etc. They can see the children of this small older generation being thrust into all the best jobs and business opportunities, while the overwhelming majority of youths walk the streets jobless for years after graduation, unable to settle down and organize their lives. The youths are aware that the controllers of power in their country have slashed far down the provisions for education, that the quality of education in Nigeria has declined and is declining, and that Nigerian youth’s competitiveness in the world is declining. Most of these youths would flee abroad if they could. Countless thousands of them are lined up in front of foreign embassies daily. Each knows friends and former classmates who have, in desperation, joined other youths audaciously trying to reach Europe through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, and who have perished thereby. Many know bright girl classmates who have ended up in enforced prostitution or sex slavery abroad. The overwhelming majority of our youths are surrounded by horrible realities and memories.

    In different ways, they all blame Nigeria. Universally, they dream that in smaller and ethnically compact separate countries of their own ethnic nations, there will be a good chance for new socio-economic orders, and more empathic governance. To them, Nigeria has become a monster that must be disbanded. All their separatist statements rant against Nigeria – and against Nigeria’s ruling class. Even the Arewa youths who are hitting at the Igbo are also hitting at the Arewa ruling class. If nothing changes, this intrinsically powerful generation will soon break up Nigeria.

  • Emulate Imoudu, labour leaders urged

    Labour leaders have been urged to emulate the  leadership style of the late Michael Imoudu and shun pecuniary gains.

    Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Legacy Insurance Brokers, Mr. Tunde Thomas, gave the advice at the inauguration of Pa Imoudu’s gallery at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    He said the commitment and integrity of labour leaders would attract followership rather than quest for money.

    “Nigerian workers and leaders should emulate spirit of selflessness of the late labour leader. With commitment and integrity but certainly not money, people would follow our idea. When you have integrity, followership is easy.

    ” Michael Imoudu was a great leader, and that is why he was able to get that followership. Labour leaders of today should put money aside. Let’s serve selflessly and with passion, then xyz of money would follow.

    “Let’s have the mind of the people at heart. Do we want our people to have a well meaning life, good education for our children, what about welfare of our people, good healthcare system? That’s what labour leader should be fighting for. Its not increasing salary. If you increase salary today, by tomorrow there will be corresponding inflation if not more than before. So, for me it should be about quality and passionate leadership,” he said.

    Thomas, a labour activist, said  the partnership between his outfit and MINILS was to develop the  institute to facilitate better training programme.

    “For one to change mindset, you need education. Also, we want to create a situation whereby the labour institute would generate enough revenue and not relying on government and expand training capacity of the institute by expanding number of students in diploma programme partnering with MINILS.

    “We should build human capital development at this point in our national growth. If we should achieve that in this country, then we can go to sleep. Then the system would be automated and run on its own. With good and sound training, Nigerian workers would perform optimally. We want productivity and not activity in Nigeria” he said.

    He said that his outfit discovered during visits to the MINILS in Ilorin that there are various programmes to unveil in MINILS considering impacts of late Michael Imoudu in labour struggle, “leading over 500,000 comrades to bring down strength of the British empire .

    “We saw that where his property was kept is not good enough. So we decided to intervene and contribute to the MINILS community and the man Michael Imoudu.’’

  • ‘ANN ‘ll build new generation of leaders’

    ‘ANN ‘ll build new generation of leaders’

    Dr. Jay Osi Samuels is the Interim National Chairman of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), an association seeking registration as a political party. In this interview with LEKE SALAUDEEN, he speaks on the vision of the group and issues that can foster national unity.

    What is your assessment of the political leaders in the country?

    I have come to the conclusion that our crop of leaders does not care about us. All what they care about is themselves, selfish interest because if they care about us, some of these things that we have that are causing problem would not have arisen in the first place. A situation where people go into politics service for pecuniary gains, instead of serving you and I; the fact that they spend so much money to get that political office and they come during election time to distribute money for people to vote for them tells you they don’t want to be held accountable because they can easily tell us that they have paid us. You can see from whatever they are doing. You can imagine recently that somebody in the National Assembly moved a motion to grant amnesty to treasury looters. Among the problems we have in the country, is that a bill that someone should be sponsoring in the National Assembly? We have been hearing about plea bargain. This is a back door way to legalise corruption; this is not fighting corruption because if they have passed that bill into law, that would have made things worse for the country. We are actually entering a dangerous zone where we should be fighting corruption from the roots we should not be encouraging it.

    What do you mean by fighting corruption from the roots?

    Corruption is not alien to Nigeria, even in mature democracies, in civilised world or developed countries, corruption is everywhere. What differentiates them from us is that their systems fight corruption and prevent it, but here we don’t have strong institutions that fight or prevent corruption and that brings us to the method of creating amnesty.

    How many people have really been tried and convicted for corruption? How many years of imprisonment and other penalties? Now we can make corruption unattractive and the first way is making people well paid and making sure your take home can actually take you home.  That also takes us back to the issue of health insurance and mortgage. That is what the government should do and not just building roads and borehole and all that stuffs. When people are well paid you can take care of your basic needs- housing, health and the rest. If government can make the housing and mortgage affordable, the average Nigerian will not be thinking about corruption as a way to make ends meet.  Even it is the minimum wage of N18, 000 you might be able to live quality life because you are not spending on health or home. If government makes houses available by mortgage, and many other things, the average Nigerian will not be looking at corruption as a way to make ends meet. I was born here and I grew up in this country, my dad was a civil servant, he did not have any business and he trained us with his salary, because it was enough.  But now how many civil servants can live on their salary, even non- government workers? And that is even if they get paid at all.  Some people could be owed 18 months’ salary. Let’s make corruption unattractive.

    At what level do you want to serve?

    I will be upfront.  When we started Alliance for New Nigeria, it was not borne out of personal ambition. It was borne out of love and service for the country. Before we start to talk about political ambition, we thought about having a platform that is entirely new where the average Nigerian can see a hope for tomorrow platform. I happen to be one of the faces of one of such vehicles – Alliance for New Nigeria. We started as a group of like-minded Nigerians, most of us are   professionals, technocrats and experts in our own areas. We can’t afford to continue to grumble and complain in our homes and offices something definite needs to be done and the current generation of leaders has failed us. They’ve been recycling and recycling themselves; they keep on telling us what they’ve been telling us for many years now that we are the leaders of tomorrow. Most of us are in our 40s now and some are reaching 50. So when will tomorrow come?

    So, we observe that they lack the idea to really move the country forward but they are not ready to relinquish that chance to us. We came forward to actually push them out. But mind you when we started we didn’t start with elections, especially 2019 elections in our calculations. We are forming a party built on ideology because we didn’t like what we’ve been seeing in Nigeria where there’s no difference other than name in. APC or PDP. You can be PDP today and jump back to APC tomorrow. It’s a shame that our fathers don’t have scruples, no shame at all. That also shows that they don’t have regards for us because they do not put us in their political calculation. But we are coming forward to say that enough is enough, because what has been keeping them going is that a whole lot of us have been too busy with our businesses, secular job, etc to worry about politics.

    In what capacity do you want to serve?

    For me, I am ready to serve in any capacity am called upon, I’m ready to serve, but right now my focus is having a true national party. Alliance for New Nigeria that is represented in all looks and crannies of Nigeria, and devoid of all the negatives and baggage of the current major political parties. We want to make sure that we do things differently and make sure that we be vehicle for getting rid of the current pack of leaders and engendering a new Nigeria, the Nigeria of our dream.  So right now we have members all over the country because our membership is open as long as you identify with our ideals. On our website, we have a registration portal, where people can register and we have members all across. Beyond that we have also invested in technological infrastructure to do massive recruitment of members in every local government in Nigeria.

     What is your appraisal of the health care system in Nigeria?

    The health care system in Nigeria needs to be worked on greatly. I don’t even know whether we have what we can call health care system again, because every aspect we look at seems not to be working. A system where you have people paying out of pocket for medical services is obsolete.  Let me say something, Nigeria has one of the best sets of brains,  in terms of clinical skills, but the environment to use that is not there.  The hospitals are not working as they should be working and the major thing is that out of pocket payment that we see in this country because a people cannot afford a service, it makes it difficult for the doctors to even give the best kind of care. For instance, when somebody comes to you, for you to properly treat the person you have to carry out some diagnosis. Looking at the patient alone, you know that he will not be able to afford the bill. So you won’t want to go the whole HUG of ordering what you should order.

    Then the infrastructural decay is another thing, but with my own experience working with the health system in the Nigeria, there is a whole plethora of problems which cut across the infrastructure, human resource capacity and policies or lack of it, but by far worse is the management mentality. Nigerians are used to a kind of managing pattern where they just chose to accept that ‘things can never get better; lets manage.’ So even when you see a situation where they want to do things better, people are still used of doing things the old way. So it is one thing that we deal with a lot and sometimes it leads to what we call ascorbic capacity.

    Let me give example.  A state government builds a road and made it wider, either three or four lanes, better than what it was. Now you see people turning one of those lanes to market stores.  At the end of the day, the one lane road that was expanded to ease traffic will become congested because of the way people are using it. Nigerians need a lot of re-orientation and is because of this continuous discrimination, continuous mental abuse that we have been used to by our leaders that just make us to do things in disorderly manner. But we have to put a lot of efforts into changing all these things and that will start with changing the current crop of leaders that we have.

    But, can you imagine in Nigeria where an officer is in charge of a budget like that? You can be sure that it won’t be released, But to come out of pocket money, people don’t pay medical bills out of their pocket rather health insurance takes care of that. The effect of a situation where just one section of a hospital is having a budget of that amount, the manufacturer of that equipment will be in business; people are employed and it goes round and round, the money goes on and on.  So we need to look at our insurance system, if we can address that, I am not an expert in health insurance, but with the little I know, it is not rocket science, we just need health insurance to discourage out of pocket payment of medical bills.

  • Ex-militant leaders hail NDDC’s project director Adjogbe

    Ex-militant leaders hail NDDC’s project director Adjogbe

    Some ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, under the aegis of National Assembly of Niger Delta Ex-militants, (NANDE), have hailed the commitment and professionalism of the Nsima Ekere-led management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    NANDE’s National Coordinator Edwin Ekpekumemu  spoke for the ex-agitators after a meeting of its leaders and youths in Benin City, Edo State capital.

    Expressing confidence in the management, NANDE lauded the All Progressives Congress-(APC)-led Federal Government for assembling thoroughbred professionals, who place high premium on integrity and best global practice.

    Specifically, it noted that the Executive Director, Project (EDP), Sam Adjogbe, has championed the mantra of due diligence in NDDC, with his zero tolerance for sharp practice.

    NANDE said the tradition of extortion and underhand dealings by youths and other individuals have given way to equity and good conscience as a driving force pioneered by the Urhobo-born engineer.

    Ekpekumemu noted that besides, contracts now go through painstaking professional examination on the basis of merit under the most transparent process.

    Giving kudos once again to President Muhammadu Buhari for giving Niger Deltans hope through this appointment and others, NANDE urged the Federal Government to empower the management to deliver on its mandate.

    Since coming on board, the Ekere-led team has instilled decency in the process of contract award and execution, with Adjogbe as arrowhead.

    But this due process has drawn flak from those who still crave the old order in NDDC.

    NANDE warns disgruntled ex-militants and others, especially Eshanekpe Israel, against distracting the management for their selfish interest and demands.

    “We know the self-acclaimed ex-agitators, whose hallmark is extortion and blackmailing our leaders in the region to do their bidding. This, the EDP is resisting as a man of good conscience, and we implore him to de-emphasise questionable characters, who have no place in this new dispensation of value rebirth in the commission.’’

  • Badoo: ‘Church leaders must reject suspicious money’

    Lagos cleric, Prophet Lai Bamidele, has said most church leaders in the country “suffer integrity deficit.”

    Bamidele, who is General Overseer of Glorious End-Time Evangelical Ministries, a church with headquarters in Oko-Oba, Lagos, said if the churches had been playing their roles effectively, criminal activities would have abated.

    Bamidele said the recent Badoo ritual killing syndicate in Ikorodu, was clear evidence that most men of God often looked the other way when rich, ritual killers give huge sums of money to church without defined jobs.

    He said: “While many other factors contribute to crime, I am of the belief that many men of God in this country are liable in the way they encourage people of shady character to bring money, without bothering to find who such persons are. Integrity is the hallmark of success in life. The leader we are having in this country today lack integrity.

    “It has also entered into churches. Pastors don’t preach righteousness again; they do not speak holiness again. Pastors only preach prosperity. When they bring money, you don’t ask them where they got the money from. You will say ‘God has blessed the church’ and that is why the church is polluted today.

    “There is no more truth in the church; even if it is blood money, as long as it is fat, you will collect it. Until the church of God starts saying the truth, we are going nowhere as a nation.”

  • A nation without leaders

    A nation without leaders

    To Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, no leader gives what he does not have. The fiery cleric believes Nigeria needs a visionary leadership to steer its ship to the Promised Land. In this article, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos says the country is in dire need of quality leadership as an executive and a legislature locked in a recurrence of unprincipled and sterile conflict cannot in any way fix the country. 

    When a nation is in turmoil, those who have faith in God must pray. Given clear indices that Nigeria is in turmoil, we pray: Gracious God, grant that our leaders become wise, and the wise become our leaders. But it would be irresponsible fideism to simply pray and fold our arms. Those who pray must think, and, having sought and obtained answers to right questions, they must act intelligently.

    As Nigeria passes from one turbulent season to another, it has become inescapable to inquire: what is the quality of leaders – of the men and women at the helm of affairs – in our beloved Nigeria?  Can it be said that those at the helm of affairs – at federal, state, and local levels of government – are sufficiently competent to navigate the ship of state? Do our leaders fit the bill?

     

    Some indices

    The high level of insecurity in our land; the abysmally low quality of life of the average Nigerian, in scandalously sharp contrast with the opulence in which past and political office holders live; the self-serving and malevolent demagoguery that accompanies unitarist, secessionist, and xenophobic agitations in our country; the propagation of the stubborn myth that one’s ethnic community is marginalised by all other ethnic communities, when in fact, every ethnic community is marginalised by the incompetence of our leaders; the acceptance of this myth by young, discontented but gullible Nigerians:  these and many other indices offer little or no hope to even the most incurable optimist in the land.

     

    Our kind of leaders

    Instead of devoting their mental and physical capacities to governance, our leaders are seeking their own interests. Nigerians bear the excruciating burden of being ruled by politicians who simply care less about Nigerians. The burden is increased when they have to listen to religious leaders who whip up emotions and deceive by using the name of God, claiming visions and miracles.  We do not care about our legacy, we care only about the power we wield, the wealth – often ill-gotten – we display, and above all, the pleasure and affluence we seek.

    What do we make of a country where an individual owns a fleet of private jets while an overwhelming percentage of its citizens cannot afford a bus ride to the market? What do we make of a country where the wealth of the land, wealth that belongs to the people and not to government, is used to provide security for government officials, while there is no security for the average man or woman in the street?

    We have the police and the military; we have assorted security agencies with exotic names.  Yet, Nigerians are robbed and murdered in their homes, abducted on the streets, at the mercy of gangsters, ritualists and cultists in their neighbourhood, while the police are helpless to the point of non-existence. The only sign that there is policing is when policemen and women extort money from Nigerians, often at gun point.

    Our security agencies need to get the sequence of their steps right. Thorough investigation must precede an arrest and diligent prosecution with evidence must come before conviction in a lawfully constituted court. That is what obtains in other climes. But, in our own Nigeria, media trial is fashionable. Suspects are paraded on prime-time television, guns and bullets are displayed in front of them, the police spokesman presents them to Nigerians and pronounces them guilty in front of television cameras. Case closed.  Nigerians are not asking for any follow-up. They hear of no trial, no conviction, no sentencing. What has happened to numerous suspects paraded on television in this country?

    While we seek answers, to that question, we note that, from time to time, Amnesty International (AI) raises alarm about extra-judicial killings in Nigeria. Are Nigerians satisfied with the response of the police? Why is it that once suspects are paraded and presented as guilty – and the legal and moral propriety of the parade is another bone of contention – we very rarely see them in court?  Is there no law that says a suspect must be charged to court within 48 hours? Why then are suspects kept for days and weeks and months without trial?

    It is in the same vein that we must ask: what has happened to so many public office holders pronounced guilty by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Commission) and DSS (Department of State Services) in the media before they were even charged to court? We know that some of them were set free by the law courts. We also know that government reacts with a familiar refrain: “corruption is fighting back”. But is there no correlation between the quality of investigation and prosecution on the one hand, and the verdict given by our judges on the other hand?

    A thief is a thief. If you apprehend him red-handed but fail to provide evidence in court to lead to his conviction, do not camouflage the incompetence of your team of investigators and prosecutors by blaming the unfavourable outcome of the case on corrupt judges. We are not to hold brief for any judge. But we must bear this in mind: The onus of proof is on the accuser, not on the accused. That is why the accused is innocent until proven guilty. Whether he is accused of kidnapping the citizen or of kidnapping public funds, as is the case with those who have stolen the wealth of this country, thorough investigation must precede diligent prosecution. To violate this principle is to bid farewell to security of life, property and reputation. It is to receive a resounding defeat in the much-publicised war against corruption. It is to live in a country where die-hard criminals get away with murder while the innocent gets convicted. He is convicted, not because he has been found guilty, but because – thanks to media trial – he has been demonised and made to look guilty. It is to give the dog a bad name and hang him.

    But when criminals are properly investigated we would be in a position to prevent crime. Where we do not prevent crime, life and property are not safe. Where life and property are not safe, investments are not safe.  Investors take to their heels and vote with their capital.  Where there are no investments, the quality of life of citizens takes a plunge; their abject poverty breeds discontent and anger, insecurity, secessionist and xenophobic tendencies.

     

    Finally

    Precisely for these reasons, this country is in very urgent need of quality leadership. Our situation cannot be addressed by an executive and a legislature locked in a recurrence of unprincipled and sterile conflicts. In more concrete terms, neither an ailing and absentee President nor an acting President can lead Nigeria out of the present situation. Nigerian leaders must wake up lest the ship of state sink. They must stop fiddling while the country is burning.

    So, we pray: Grant, O Lord, that our leaders become wise, and that the wise become our leaders. Amen.

  • Quit order: Southern leaders seek sanctions against Arewa youths

    Some southern leaders yesterday urged the Federal Government to address the quit order issued by some Arewa youth groups to the Igbo to vacate the North.

    They spoke after a meeting at Chief Ayo Adebanjo’s house in Lagos. It was attended by leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by its President Nnia Nwodo, Gen Alani Akinrinade, Chief Albert Horsefall and former Chief of General Staff Commodore Ebitu Ikiweý (rtd).

    The leaders said the ultimatum was been handled with levity, adding that it was a threat to Southern Nigeria.

    The communique of the meeting read by Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said: “We the people of Southern Nigeria, comprising Southeast, Southwest and Southsouth of Nigeria, decided to come together to forge a common and formidable front and sustenance of sound principles of national development ,equity, fairness, social justice and political emancipation.

    “The meeting held against the backdrop of the ultimatum given by the Arewa youths to the people of Southeast and by extension to all southerners to vacate the North by October 1, 2017 and the refusal of the Nigerian state to activate the law against any of them, giving us the impression that these youths are not acting on their own, but with the backing of their establishment.

    “We consider the need to avert the impending danger arising from the ultimatum given by the Arewa youths.

    “We agreed that there is a growing demand by our people and other Nigerians to form a stronger federation in which principles and practice of true federalism are upheld. We observe that the cry for self-determination will continue unabated and become much more stringent unless the Federal Government sincerely address the issues of restructuring of Nigeria.

    “We, therefore, resolve that we reject the attempt to, reduce the current crisis in Nigeria, flowing from the unresolved nationality question to an Igbo and North affair. The meeting, therefore, insists that any further discussion on this crisis should be between the entire South and the North of Nigeria. The Southeast is advised to consider any further meeting where the Southwest and Southsouth are not involved as southern Nigeria because the issues involved affects all of us.

    “We also demand that Arewa youths and their sponsors must withdraw the quit notice given to the people of the Southeast as failure to do so, will be taken as an ultimatum given to the entire Southern Nigeria to quit their region and any attack against anybody from the South, will be considered an attack against the Southern Nigeria.

    “We advise the Federal Government to take seriously and live up to the primary responsibility of any government, which is to protect the lives and property of every citizen of Nigeria wherever they may reside.”

    The leaders said the consistent attack by Fulani herdsmen on communities in the Southwest was heating the polity, noting that government must stem the tide.

    “Now, we also resolved on the need for the restructuring of Nigeria and to uphold the principles of true federalism as agreed by the founding fathers of Nigeria and practiced effectively in the years before the first military coup in Nigeria.

    “Now we also resolved on the need for the restructuring of Nigeria and to uphold the principles of true federalism as agreed by the founding fathers of Nigeria and practised effectively in the years before the military took over power in Nigeria.

    “We affirm and resolve in the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference aimed at complete transformation and restructuring of our country and to build and confederate Nigeria unity through peaceful and harmonious unity, progress and genuine development.”

  • Building leaders

    Building leaders

    The first half of this year has been actionpacked and quite eventful in Lagos. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who clocked 54 this Wednesday, is lucky to be the Chief Helmsman of the Centre of Excellence at a time when Lagos is commemorating the 50th year of her creation. It is surely a historic moment to be the man in the arena. We have witnessed memorable events celebrating the undeniable rise to prominence of Lagos as Africa’s emergent model megacity. Yet it is so easy to forget that just 18 years ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo derisively referred to Lagos as no better than a jungle and he was certainly right. It was a city of chaos, groaning under the weight of refuse, paralyzed by traffic gridlock and crater-ridden roads, often submerged by destructive floods, crippled by crime, barely able to generate sufficient funds to pay its workers and roiling in ethnic bloodbath, religious tension and communal clashes. Men, women and children could be seen all over the city carrying assorted containers in search of water. Scores of children carried their chairs and desks on their heads to and from school daily. School walls routinely collapsed wounding and sometimes killing children.

    But that was another age, a time far faded in memory. Lagos had a visionary pathfinder in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who revolutionized the finances of the state and laid the foundation for her economic and infrastructural resuscitation between 1999 and 2007. She had a hardworking and astute technician in Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) who accelerated the pace of the state’s transformation between 2007 and 2015. And in the current governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the quality of governance and pace of performance has been elevated to even greater heights. What is unique about Ambode is that he makes governance appear so easy. His leadership style is impactful without being obtrusive. His information management team does not engage in propaganda. Yet, throughout the length and breadth of the state, the presence and effectiveness of governance is palpable.

    Leadership is Nigeria’s direst need of the hour. It is critical to taming the monster of corruption beyond rhetoric. Broadminded, urbane and cosmopolitan leadership is needed to stem the current dangerous fractiousness and begin to rebuild cohesive nationhood. Nigeria desperately requires a leadership that is intellectually confident enough to attract the country’s best and brightest brains into government without feeling inferior or intimidated. The once self-styled giant of Africa is in need of leaders who possess the audacity of courage to think the unthinkable and steer the country in previously uncharted terrains of innovation, creativity and resourcefulness. Of course, these leaders will not drop from the sky. They will be bred and nurtured right here among us. Indeed, many of them are already in our midst and it is our challenge and responsibility to give them the opportunity to unfurl their potentials for our collective good.

    On Mr. Ambode’s birthday, I decided to reread his 118-page inspirational biography, ‘The Art of Selfless Service’, masterfully penned by the Solicitor and Advocate, Marina Osoba and published in 2014. It is a veritable manual on how to inspire and produce great leaders. Governor Ambode is the product of institutions and innovations that were created locally and once worked effectively but which we sadly allowed to decay and degenerate over time. These are structures that we must resuscitate and improve upon so that they can once again begin to help socialize and mould our youths into ethically conscious, purposeful, self-driven and achievement oriented individuals. For instance, his sojourn at the Federal Government College, Warri, played a tremendous role in shaping Ambode into the kind of man and leader he has become.

    The seven years he spent at the institution obtaining his O’ and A’ Levels certificates in flying colours totally transformed the young Ambode. He was exposed to great teachers such as the legendary Mr. Phillip Howard Davis who immensely influenced his personality and outlook on life. Apart from the rigorous academic calendar, FGC Warri was run in such a way that it fostered the emotional, cultural, spiritual, social and physical development of the students. The school even had a Students Representative Council (SRC) made up of students who represented their colleagues at school administrative meeting. This was to nurture training in leadership responsibility and participatory democracy.

    There was the rich ethno-cultural mix of the student population, which helped to forge a strong pan-Nigerian consciousness among the young men and women. As Marina Osoba writes, “As expected, he made lots of new friends from all over Nigeria at Warri, all of who have remained close friends to date. Warri was a great melting pot; all tribes, religions, social groups, cultures and traditions, all in the sanctity of the hallowed walls of Federal Government College, Warri, under the tutelage of some of the best teachers in the country and most of all, under the able administration of Phillip Howard Davis. This was a match made in heaven”.

    To build great leaders, we must re-invent and radically modernize not just our unity schools but all our public primary and secondary schools across the country. They provide the foundation for leadership development. We must once more nurture great and dedicated teachers who see the profession not just as another job but a calling. Incidentally, even after leaving FGC, Warri, Mr. Ambode retained keen interest in the affairs of the school and continued to contribute to its development. He not only headed the Lagos State chapter of the school’s old boys association for several years, he encouraged the establishment of chapters across the country as well as in foreign countries including The U.K. and U.S.

    Beyond his alma mater, Ambode in January, 2006, inspired the formation and registration of the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) comprising all alumni of 100 unity Schools in Nigeria with the aim of providing “a national platform through which alumni can focus on rekindling and sustaining the vision of the founders of the Unity School concept as centres of academic excellence, integration, leadership and unity as well as influencing policy changes in the way and manner these schools are administered”.

    Apart from his experience as a student of Accountancy at the cosmopolitan environment of the University of Lagos, Mr. Ambode’s participation in the compulsory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in 1984 helped to deepen the national consciousness he had developed at FGC Warri. According to the author, “Sokoto was a blessing in disguise; it afforded Akin the opportunity to reconnect with former friends of his Warri days which made the whole experience invaluable. When orientation camp was over, he found himself posted to serve at the state branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria. This opened up a whole new horizon as he not only learnt about Accountancy, but also discovered the intricacies of working in the Public Service”.

    Today, the NYSC has become a shadow of itself. Most parents are understandably unwilling to allow their children to serve in parts of the country prone to violence and crime. Yet, the NYSC can be a very effective vehicle for building patriotic, broadminded and detribalized leaders. This is another institution that has to be re-imagined, reinvented and radically modernized to continue to play its nation-enhancing role within a vastly changed context.

    A third major factor in Ambode’s development as a leader was his participation in August 1998, in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Scholarship Programme at Boston University, Massachussets. This programme funded through the United States Department of State seeks to transform the mindset of the participant making him a team player rather than an isolationist, transform the man into an individual impassioned by the drive for excellence and integrity, empower the participant to help transform the workplace from which he came and also equip the participant to contribute towards transforming the society to which he will return. “To accomplish these objectives, programmes are designed to include various combinations of course work, independent projects, internships, consultations with U.S. faculty experts, field trips and special seminars. Under the guidance of a designated faculty advisor or ‘coordinator’, Fellows and scholars plan programmes that best suit their individual career development needs. However to reiterate, selfless service to society, being a major goal is one area that is not ignored”, the author writes.

    Continuing, Marina Osoba notes that “Akin’s Boston experience did all these and more. The period made him resolve to take service to a higher level than before; it re-engineered his entire educational experience, the exposure to the American way of doing things transformed his former ways and expanded the ‘can-do’ attitude he had. It solidified his belief that there was nothing unattainable when one serves selflessly and from the heart”. I am not aware that there is any equivalent of this kind of leadership development programme in Nigeria. Surely, the country has enough public spirited philanthropists who have the capacity to make such an opportunity for conscious, life-transforming leadership training and development available for promising potential leaders.

  • Cleric tasks religious leaders on love

    The former Chaplain of Christ The Light Chapel Alausa Lagos, Rt. Rev Ali Buba-Lamido, has called on religious leaders to promote the virtues of love and avoid exploiting religious difference for personal gains.

    He spoke at an outreach tagged Taking All Men Brother (TAMEB), which attracted Christian, Muslim and traditional clerics.

    Buba-Lamido said: “We have to look at a way to solve our problems and not to escalate them. We all have to embrace ourselves in love and not to apportion blame on others.

    “We are strong when we live together in love, patience and perseverance. We must constantly work at achieving peace among ourselves.”

    He said that it is wicked and inhuman for religious leaders to fan the embers of war and division.

    He pointed out that many religions preach peace and forgiveness, which should be embraced and promoted by their leaders.

    Chairperson of TAMEB, Iyabo Ogundiran, said the body is all about bringing “tolerance, acceptability and love regardless of differences in practices and ways and is about turning our diversity into beauty and a uniting factor.”

    She stressed that lack of proper understanding of religion makes followers vulnerable and turn into fanatics by greedy clerics.

  • APC to Southeast leaders: rein in your separatist agitators

    APC to Southeast leaders: rein in your separatist agitators

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday called on Southeast  leaders to rein in the separatist agitators in their midst to stem provocative rhetorics.

    In a statement by its national spokesman Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC said: “We hereby call on political leaders in the South East to emulate their northern counterparts by reining in separatist agitators in the region and arresting the spate of provocative and inciting declarations and actions.

    “This is the leadership responsibility imposed on them by the positions they occupy. We are disappointed to see that non-state actors could effectively subvert civil order in the face of duly constituted political authorities.

    “Certainly, this unfortunate situation cannot be allowed to repeat itself.”

    The party commended “the proactive and decisive action taken by northern governors and political leaders on the recent ultimatum and declaration by a so-called Arewa Youth Consultative Forum.

    “We are delighted to see that the pressures mounted by the various leaders have forced the group to reverse its misguided ultimatum and threats.

    “However, our party remains disturbed by the increasing spate of separatist agitations by individuals and groups in the country. While we affirm the inalienable rights of citizens and groups to agitate for legitimate causes as a key ingredient of participatory democracy, we believe that such agitations should be guided by the extant laws of the country and established democratic norms. They must be peaceful and demonstrate respect for the constitutional rights of other citizens who may not share in their separatist aspirations.

    “We observe that the nature and content of recent agitations clearly transcends the boundaries of the law and exceeds the limits of freedom of speech. They are therefore, patently inimical to national cohesion and the sustenance of our hard-earned democracy.

    “The National Assembly, the courts and several lawful avenues are available to citizens, groups and sundry interests to make change, seek redress and advance legitimate causes. Therefore, we call on agitators to either join a political party which shares their ideology or form a new party to push their cause.

    “For emphasis, the APC strongly condemns any utterance, ultimatum or actions that threaten the corporate existence of our country.

    “The Party is hopeful that various security agencies will investigate and prosecute promoters and sponsors of these provocative, divisive, inciting and undemocratic declarations and actions.

    “We express our firm belief that despite our challenges, our strength as a country lies in the diversity of our peoples. This we must use to our advantage in our quest to lift the country to its deserved heights.”