The Nation Newspaper

Tag: legacies

  • Amosun’s legacies and their lies

    Sir: Humanity must be saddened and to say the least of the good people of Ogun State, for the circus of politics destiny has thrust on them in the past weeks and months.

    In the past weeks, the social media was awash with some jaundiced story of how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invaded the residence of a sitting governor. Those who planted the story knew that it is fake and to further help them put an end to their delusion, the EFCC has spoken: “Governor Amosun was neither under surveillance nor was any of his residence raided by operatives of the EFCC. Consequently, members of the public are enjoined to disregard the false report.”

    It is important to state that the Ogun State government does not need an EFCC rebuttal to put a lie to that allegation, the good people of Ogun State know the truth, they remain Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s pillar of support. In 2011, when he was first given the mandate to govern Ogun State, it was the triumph of truth over lies. That feat was repeated in 2015, an endorsement of his sprawling legacies spread across the three senatorial districts of the state.

    You cannot deny the existence of the six lane Ogun standard roads/flyovers, linking NNPC with Iyana-Mortuary at one end and the Brewery-Lafenwa-Itoku-Sapon-Idiaba.  Sagamu Benin Express-Oba Erinwo seven kilometres road wears the Amosun signature. Also completed are flyover bridges at Lagos Garage and Mabolufon junction, both in Ijebu-Ode. The road from Illishan connecting Ago-Iwoye is over eighty percent completed.

    Ota got a total facelift with six lane road network crisscrossing the entire township, a departure from the once-upon-a-time failed Ilo-Awela/Ota roads. Also very critical to the administration is the ongoing construction of the 32 kilometres Sango-Ijoko-Ojodu-Abiodun six lane Ogun standard road and flyover bridges. Amosun has successfully changed the narratives with the provision of five bridges along that stretch, flying over densely populated and flood prone areas. Imagine the value of linking Sango-Ota-Idiroko road with the Lagos-Ibadan express road at Berger and connecting an international road corridor at Idiroko.

    These are the testimonials of the “mission to rebuild Ogun State”.

    For those who specialize in concocting baseless lies, thinking they can hoodwink the people and market a blemished product, they have failed because our people are intelligent and politically astute.

     

    • Eshomomoh Imoudu,

    Abeokuta, Ogun State.

  • Imo 2019: Okorocha’s legacies and APC’s chances

    Imo 2019: Okorocha’s legacies and APC’s chances

    As political forces re-align ahead of the 2019 election, Imo is one of the states where the opposition, in a bid to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), have been loud and critical. But Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports that Governor Rochas Okorocha, who just celebrated his 55th birthday, and the APC believe the party will retain the state because of his performance and populist style.

    BY 2019, when the next governorship election will hold in Imo State, Governor RochasOkorocha would have completed his second term in office and as such would not contest for the office. But given the stunning transformational projects he has executedin the South-East state within the last seven years andhis sheer dynamism as a politician, he has become one governor Ndi-Imo will never forget in a hurry.

    Besides his achievements in area of infrastructural development,Okorocha would also be remembered as a governor who has never been spared by his opponents. As a result, he has contended with so many controversies and allegations that listeners, who have not visited the state in the last three years to see things themselves, may not believe it when they read of his astounding legacies.

    In fact, whenever Okorocha, in his usual jocular manner, says he has done over 1000 projects in Imo State, an outsider, who has heard the many critical views of the governor’s opponents, is most likely to dismiss the claim as a blatant lie of a colourful politician, trying to deceive people with his uncommon aura and oratory.

    So, deliberately or coincidentally, the Imo State governor has emerged as one of the most misunderstood and criticized governors of his time.

    Perhaps to correct the impression once and for all,Okorocha opened up during his 55th birthday anniversary and made a display of some of the projects he has executed. He told The Nation that one of his faults may be his refusal so far in commissioning or celebrating his projects.

    It would be recalled that amidst criticisms earlier in 2016, the governor had said he was focused and could not be distracted.  Between then and now, Okorocha, who was accused of having numerous uncompleted projects, have made unbelievable efforts to further shame his critics. Amongst the over 1000major projects he is proud to bequeath include“the construction of Ochiedike Dialysis Centre, provision of free education from primary to tertiary education, reduction of poverty rate in the state, construction of Imo International Conference Centre (IICC), construction of Heroes Square, the IkembaOjukwu Centre, a brand new Government House, completion of former Ahiajoku Convention Centre, now Imo Trade and Investment Centre and construction of many flyover bridges in Owerri, etc.” Besides these, The Nation observed that Okorocha has embarked on an ambitious and breathtaking beautification of New Owerri Metropolis.

    Explaining the likely impact of his legacy projects after his tenure, he said: “you cannot come to Imo State now and say you want to abolish free education from primary to university, they will not accept. I have spoilt Imo people, believe me.

    “You cannot come to Imo State and say you want to give them a single lane road when they are now used to eight lane road in the city, they won’t accept it. You cannot come here and tell the children to go to schools where the floors are not tiled, they will not accept because all the schools have been rebuilt.

    “You can no longer take them to those ramshackle hospitals, those shanties they called hospitals because I have built 27 to 200 bed general hospitals. You can no longer tell them those stories. All the infrastructures are there.

    “And you can no longer tell our workers to dress shabbily; they will not, they will want to dress in their suits and tie and white shirts. So, Imo has changed, believe me.”

    Criticisms and allegations

    The physical, human and aesthetic changes notwithstanding, Okorochahas been target of ceaseless criticisms and allegations, the latest of which include the demolition of the popular Ekeukwu market, the killing of young Somtochukwu during the demolition exercise and his open opposition of IPOB long before the other South-Eastgovernors outlawed the organisation in the zone. Okorocha, who initially kept quiet overthe allegations, chose his recent birthday anniversary to set the records straight. His explanations:

    On Ekeukwu market demolition controversy

    “Ekeukwu has been one of the oldest markets from when Owerri was a village. That place was a motor park belonging to the government of Imo State. The structure in question there was a structure put up by the municipal government of Imo State. So, what government has broken down there is its property. But some people have misunderstood the whole exercise.

    When I came in as governor, the first thing I told the people was the need to move Ekeukwu because it constituted the biggest problem in this city. The worst crimes in Imo State took place in Ekeukwu; you couldn’t pass Ekeukwu without having any of your property stolen on an hourly basis. Not only that, Ekeukwu produces the unhealthiest atmosphere with waste within that small enclave and it was no longer good for the city. In fact, the law that no market should be four kilometres close to Government House was also in place. That also affected Ekeukwu.

    So, everybody knew Ekeukwu was going to move. I have had over 20 town hall meetings with the people on Ekeukwu, but they never believed that any governor would have the political will to move Ekeukwu. In Ekeukwu, we had cases of kidnapping. Behind one of the houses, in the process of the demolition exercise, we discovered a house belonging to Professor Adiele’s uncle; there were six cells. That property is yet to be destroyed.

    So, Ekeukwu constituted a major problem, the demolition was a necessity and very important, but nobody believed that any governor could move it. I have done that, and it is in the interest of the people, and I have no personal benefit from this. The place is cleaned up now. The next market I am moving is the Hausa community, and the people are happy.

    We have plans for the place; we want the city to breathe.”

    On the killing of young Somtochukwu in Ekeukwu

    Before we moved in to clear the place, we made it clear that there should be no shoot out. I gave a clear instruction, the Commissioner of Police and Inspector General Police also gave clear instructions. What the police went there with was tear gas in case there was need to use it. Now, when the demolition commenced, we started hearing gun shots.

    The cult members, engaged by some of the indigenes, thinking that was the way to fight the last battle, started shooting. But whatever it is, the fact that the boy died during that event, whatever I say here is no excuse but to mourn him and compensate the parents properly. At the heat of the event, the story was that it was government that ordered the police to shoot him.

    The people started to mourn. Politicians and leaders turned it to politics and went to the graveyard, with women wearing black. I felt that was over dramatization, so we kept quiet. But now, I have made a public statement that every project around there shall be called Somtochukwu project; even the name, Douglas road will be changed to Somto road. The young man deserved it outside other things we have to do. We have to do that to honour that boy because that is the greatest sacrifice anybody can make for Ekeukwu.”

    On his opposition of IPOB’s style

    “On the issue of IPOB, whether we want to believe it or not, IPOB is not good for the South-East and it is not the best way for us to complain about marginalisation to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There are better ways; the IPOB way is too primitive. If IPOB must do a thing like that, it should have changed the name and fought the way Ijaw youths fought, Arewa youths fought, and they would have made more impact.

    Reacting, Dr. Chukwuemeka Uzoukwu, an APC member in Okigwe, told The Nation, “the governor’s opponents have refused to see anything good in his transformational efforts just because they are interested in taking over Douglas House in 2019, but as you can see, the OwelleOkorocha-led APC government in Imo here has provided so much infrastructural development that only an ingrate will deny them re-election in 2019.”

    APC’s chances in 2019

    As the various political parties prepare for the next elections in 2019, the opposition parties in the state are poised for a grand battle. “The controversies surrounding Okorocha’s APC government, including the reported disagreement in the party over zoning and over Okorocha’s successor,” according to Chief Uzodinma Ihemere, an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) member,“will work against APC in 2019.” He said “Okorocha may have embarked on some physical development we can’t deny, but good governance goes beyond that.”

    But The Nation gathered that APCwill anchor its campaign for the 2019 elections on the performance of Okorocha’s government. “Our party is proud to say that Okorocha’s visible achievements are reasons enough to ask the people to elect another APC candidate to continue the good work. Every other thing critics are saying today is mere politics. Imo has never seen it this way since the days of Chief SamuelOnunakaMbakwe. Also, no mother or father, who is enjoying free education of his or her children, will risk voting for another party now. So, we are confident,” said Chief Nkemdinma Nwulu in Owerri.

  • IBB’s baleful legacies

    Babangida’s last week 75th birthday celebration was low- keyed. Apart from his immediate family members and Shiek Isah Fari, the Chief Imam of Minna, only a handful of people including Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of Niger State and his executive council members plus General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State were in attendance. Conspicuously missing were the hordes of professional well-wishers

    This was the same Babangida who, at the height of his power, held more chieftaincy titles than any Nigerian leader living or dead. “He is Opu-Omatu; Alabo (chief warlord of Rivers; Oka Ome – a man of his words of Enugu; the Ukporo Uwana of Cross Rivers, the comforter” –  (Oluwajuyitan, Nigerian under the Generals, pp. 58-62).

    Back then, honours were endlessly bestowed and fellowship awards freely conferred by not only comedians, musician associations, and public relations practionners, universities were also chasing Babangida and his wife around with honorary degrees. The Nigerian Medical Association and the West African College of Physicians were not left out; they also donated their fellowships. To round up the festival of awards and fellowships, Nigerian Economic Society (NES), the most authoritative body of Nigerian scholars on Nigerian economy bequeathed its own fellowship awards claiming “Babangida has distinguished himself in the management of our economy”. It did not matter that it was coming shortly after Financial Times of London had  reported the mismanagement  of $5b Gulf oil windfall and  the IMF, the World Bank and the Paris Club had jointly described Babangida’s  generous donations to all types of courses, as ‘fiscal indiscipline and recklessness’.

    But I think for Babangida, the absence of professional well-wishers during his 75th birthday celebrations was a blessing in disguise. It was a somber period and a unique opportunity to reflect on the limit of power, the worth of opportunism and the cost of betrayal of a nation that has been forced to go through a purgatory of 30 years and with no light at the end of the tunnel.

    Driven by blind ambition and share opportunism, Babangida had exploited a military junta’s joint resolutions which had an historic opportunity to set Nigeria on the path of sustainable development.  The junta had rightly and roundly rejected IMF’s bitter liberalization pill and chose to look inwards through issuance of import license to ensure we eat what we produce or as Nehru once told his Indian compatriots, go naked until we can make our own dresses.

    Although President Buhari recently told us Babangida, Abacha and Gusau carried out a palace coup in order to avoid inquisition over corruption, Babangida back then insisted his own vision through Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was the only way to take Nigeria out of economic quagmire that the nation was thrown into by Shagari and Akinloye’s NPN.

    Babangida, Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu and their Aso Villa professors were sworn to “change the course of history by making all essential commodities available and preventing the squandering of our scarce foreign exchange on primary products that were once the mainstay of foreign exchange earnings for the country”. They avowed: “Nigeria will never again be regarded and treated as a bankrupt nation incapable of meetings its international obligations; to remove the agony of Nigerian industrialists through the elimination of import licensing and promotion of non-oil exports in order to increase our non-oil earnings”.  And finally, “to prevent those who would squander our investments from attaining power through nurturing of new breed leaders that will detest the culture of deceit, election  as well as culture of violence and fraud”.

    They all turned out to be false promises and a forlorn hope.  The first set of ‘new breed’ graduates from Babangida’s school of democracy viz Ikimi and Kingibe, took after Babangida by celebrating opportunism. The next set was worse. They became shameless members of Abacha’s “five fingers of a leprous hand”. The next set was a tragedy. They, in the name of privatization sold to themselves the nation’s investment of over $100b for a paltry $1.6b. Besides padding of budget and shortchanging the country through unimplemented constituency projects, they have also engaged in outright stealing through fuel subsidy, import duty waivers and rural electrification scams.

    Babangida equally failed woefully on other scores. By the time Buhari came in 2015, our country had become a dumping ground for all manners of fake and substandard products from other parts of the world. Industrialists Babangida promised to protect had moved out of the country. Buhari had to start rationing scarce foreign exchange to the few left behind. And of course, before 2015, elections, contrary to Babangida’s pledge, had become war or “a do or die’ affair as ex-President Obasanjo put it.

    Babangida who has betrayed a nation that gave him so much opportunities is today at 75 a witness to his own baleful legacies. Unfortunately, having missed it 30 years ago, the task of nation-building has become more arduous. First, Buhari who picked up from where he left 30 years earlier is buffeted by old age and ill-health. And as he recently confessed, he is handicapped by the slow democratic process which he refers to as ‘due process’.

    More tragically, the military rule or outright dictatorship the world was prepared to live with 30 years ago have become an aberration. Yet there is no nation in history that has ever broken the underdevelopment yoke through democratic process for the simple reason that democracy which is just a method for attaining power does not guarantee economic development or good governance. History has shown that nations that have overcome crisis of underdevelopment have always done so through the intervention of a military junta, the owner of society or through dictatorship with a vision.

    Chairman Mao of China that is today contesting the world leadership looked inwards to resolve China’s crisis of underdevelopment.  It is on record that he at a period locked up his country and declared state of emergency in the health sector. He went on to decree three years training period for medical doctors who were thereafter deployed as ‘bared-foot doctors’ to the rural areas. Today, with millions denied of access to medical care, the West that once criticized Chairman Mao are sending their experts to understudy the Chinese health policies.

    Similar purpose could have been achieved by Buhari’s unorthodox economic approach widely criticized by the West in 1984. We unfortunately missed it with Babangida’s option of going to loan Kalu Idika Kalu from the World Bank the same way Obasanjo and Jonathan  fetched Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from World Bank whose agenda is to complicate our social problems  as part of strategy to solve their own social problems,

    Worse still, 1985 options are no more viable in 2017. The prospect of establishing new  industries in an age of globalization, the new god and cultural imperialism  have been foreclosed with cheaper manufactured goods or even farm products within reach in a matter of days through the internet.

    Our nightmare is likely going to be prolonged with the hijacking of the state and its resources by Babangida’s ‘new breed Abuja ruffians. But it is a victory for a nation betrayed that Babangida at 75 is alive along with Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu, his rain doctors, to take responsibility for the pains they inflicted on our nation with their fraudulent claim that there was no alternative to SAP despite the late Professor Aluko’s warning that there was alternative to even death which he said was life.

  • Ambode promises to build on Lagos founding fathers’ legacies

    Ambode promises to build on Lagos founding fathers’ legacies

    •Governor opens 50th anniversary celebration  

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the weekend  opened activities lined up to mark the state’s golden jubilee anniversary, hailing the founding fathers and all his predecessors for their great vision.

    He pledged that his administration would leave no stone unturned to build on their good legacies to deliver a new Lagos that will be the pride of every African man.

    The governor said concerted efforts would be put in place to utilise the golden jubilee celebration to lay a solid foundation for another glorious 50 years for Lagos State.

    Ambode, who spoke at the premiere of ‘Wakaa The Musical’, at the new Terra Kulture Arena at Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, said as the fifth largest economy in Africa, his administration would explore all other areas of possibilities for growth.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, said the 50 years anniversary presented a unique opportunity to celebrate the achievements of its founding fathers in the last 50 years and also to showcase to the world its rich cultural heritage and immense potentials waiting to be tapped by people with ideas and great vision.

    Ambode promised to pay greater attention to the growth of young entrepreneurs.

    He vowed to back up his pledge with an enabling environment and friendly policies that would enhance success of their business initiatives.

    He added that the future of Lagos State would be premised on mutual love, peaceful coexistence, greater economic prosperity, tourism, urban renewal and infrastructure projects that will complement its megacity status.

    “On our part, we are determined and committed to fully explore all the possibilities presented by this moment to lay a solid foundation to another glorious and prosperous 50 years. This golden jubilee, therefore, presents a unique opportunity for us not only to celebrate our achievements, but also showcase to the entire world the immense potentials waiting to be tapped in our dear state,’’ he said.

    He said the government was more than committed to further boost the state’s economy by building capacities of young entrepreneurs, especially in the areas of arts, culture, tourism, hospitality and other  businesses.

    Ambode urged the youths, especially young graduates, to take advantage of hospitality and friendly business environment to explore other areas of possibilities and  develop their entrepreneurial skills that would place them at vantage position in the on-going economic reforms of his administration.

    The governor also lauded the Director/Executive Producer of Wakaa the Musical, who is also the founder of the Terra Kulture, Mrs. Bolanle Austen–Peters, for her initiative, focus and business ingenuity.

    He noted that the actualisation of the beautiful edifice, which, according to him, was the first privately owned ultra-modern theatre in the country, was a reward for her selflessness, vision, courage, determination and belief in her abilities.

    Mrs. Austen-Peters said Wakaa The Musical was a compelling story of the travails young people go through after graduation in a bid to achieve their dreams.

    The collection of plays, according to her, explored the challenges and obstacles young graduates faced after leaving their colleges and the assurance for victory and success when they show commitment, brevity and tenacity in the face adversity.

    “Wakaa celebrates patriotism, honesty, diligence and the eventual success of excellence over mediocrity, greed and selfishness’’, she said.

    The celebrations will feature series of interesting activities and will climax on Saturday May 27 to commemorate the May 27, 1967 date of the creation of Lagos State.

  • Obasanjo’s legacies at 80

    For both  admirers and political foes of Obasanjo, the presence of former United States’ Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Andrew Young, former Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Mr. Kofi Annan, and about fourteen serving and former African Presidents  and who is who in Nigeria politics at the inauguration of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) to mark his 80th birthday in Abeokuta two weeks back, was but a confirmation of his status as a “global statesman,” a pride of Africa and a gift to Nigeria.

    Many have attributed Obasanjo’s rise from a “barefooted village-school boy” to fame and fortune to destiny. But I think fate has very little to do with Obasanjo’s larger-than -life achievements.  He “set out early at dawn”to haunt for fame and fortune and pursued his goals with great tenacity without, in the words of Andrew Young, “caring about who he made mad.” He does not share the prejudices of his Yoruba people. Other people’s laws are never his laws. He publicly admitted “nothing embarrasses him.” He routinely cuts deals with enemies of his political foes as long as the end justifies the means.

    Yes, Obasanjo, as Sunday Mbang has said, built a church in Aso Villa, attended morning devotions with his family; but Obasanjo has never been a miracle-seeker. Knowing fate without hard work is dead (James 214-16); he worked hard during his first coming to build a solid economic base for Nigeria.  He set up a number of refineries connected by about, 4,500 kilometres of pipeline across the country. He reorganised Nigeria Airways, leaving it with about 33 aircraft by the time he left office in 1979. He established vehicle assembly plants in Lagos, Kaduna and Enugu and decreed government must use assembled-in-Nigeria Peugeot cars. To guarantee we feed ourselves, he launched Operation Feed the Nation and followed up with a land use decree to make land available to state governments and private investors.  He built up a huge external reserve and our naira was as strong as the pound sterling, and much stronger than the dollar. Obasanjo, as Sunday Mbang has said, remains the best Nigerian president to date.

    Obasanjo  also moved beyond Murtala Mohammed’s rhetoric of “Africa has come of age,” by working  with others to strengthen the Africa Union, establish the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), designed to promote democracy and good governance. He has also “served as chairman of the Group of 77, chairman of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and chairman of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee.” He was very active in the international mediation efforts in Angola, Burundi, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa. Obasanjo undoubtedly remains the face of Africa in the international community. For the former US Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Andrew Young, “without Obasanjo, Africa might have still been in a desperate position.”

    But as chroniclers of history, we must also search for how Obasanjo broke out of his lowly background and in the words of Vice President Osinbajo became ”a world statesman and a gift to humanity.”Let us examine the flowing explanations from military scholars and Vice President Osinbajo.

    But first, the sociological explanation from Ahmadu Bello who in his autobiography, My Life, told us it was the disadvantaged in society that were first recruited into the colonial army. President Muhammadu Buhari was humble enough to admit that but for Ahmadu Bello who picked him up from his Daura village to join the military he would have remained a Fulani herdsman Most of those who joined the military, therefore, did so in order to climb the social ladder.

    This historical fact seems to get further support from the late Professor Takena Tamuno’s “status coup” thesis  which finds expression in the least endowed  even within the military (a Sergeant Doe in Liberia, Mobutu, a cook in Congo, Ironsi and Abacha in Nigeria)taking over political power. Obasanjo was to write in his My Command that he achieved on a platter what Awo, his superior, could not achieve through a lifelong struggle.  They killed merit. Their values became the values of society.

    Vice President Osinbajo presented another intellectual explanation for how Obasanjo, literally “climbed the palm tree from the top.” As a beneficiary of Tamuno’s “status coup,” theory, Obasanjo became one of the few men in history known to “make history and write history in his own words.” Consequently, when Obasanjo, a leader who believes heavens help those who help themselves, had an opportunity to make history, he made investments with high dividends in view.

    That the same northern military and political elite that rejected the leadership of Brigadier Ogundipe ten years earlier (1966)  endorsed him as Head of State in 1976, was  a reward for his pro-north and pro-Nigeria stand during the civil war ((1967-1970).  His movement from prison to the presidential palace in 1999 by the same northern military and political elite that rejected MKO Abiola and his pan-Nigeria 1993 mandate was a payback  for foisting  incompetent Shehu Shagari instead of competent Awo, who according to Odumegwu Ojukwu, was the “best President Nigeria never had,” on Nigeria in 1979. And from hindsight, his foisting of ailing Yar Adua and incompetent Goodluck Jonathan on Nigeria was self-serving.

    And precisely because Obasanjo is writing the history, he conveniently ignores Robin Luckman’s observation that his generation “plunged the nation into a civil war.” Instead, he and his generation chose to hold the nation hostage in the name of war of unity; or as Babangida fraudulently puts it, “sacrificing their present for our future.”

    And finally, Brigadier General Alabi Isama who described Obasanjo as an “Incredible opportunist” in his Tragedy of Victory presented Obasanjo and his generation’s baleful legacies. Our unity, he says, is more tenuous today than it was in 1966; that the two million lives lost (out of which the Igbo accounted for 1.5 million) were lost in vain and that while those killed on the allegation of corruption left no estates behind, Obasanjo’s generation seized all the estates including those inherited from the colonial masters.

    We can also add that they destroyed the best bureaucracy in Africa, traded the best universities that produced the Wole Soyinkas, Chinua Achebes, and Awojobis for their own high fee-paying private universities and left us with carcasses of once thriving industries they forcefully seized through an ill- implemented privatisation programme. And perhaps more tragically, they destroyed a party system and abridged a political socialisation process dating back to 1923; and in their place, they foisted on the nation a PDP, run with military mentality of sharing spoils of war from conquered territories.

  • Cleric to Akeredolu; build legacies

    Cleric to Akeredolu; build legacies

    Coordinator of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) Oke Erio, Ekiti State and founder of CAC Grace of Mercy Prayer Mountain (GMPM), Prophet Sam Olu Alo, has advised Ondo State Governor-elect Rotimi Akeredolu to build good legacies.

    He urged him to emulate the late Western Region Premier Obafemi Awolowo and former Governor Adekunle Ajasin.

    The cleric spoke during the three years thanksgiving anniversary of CAC GMPM Adamimogo Outreach in Akure, the Ondo State capital, which ended its nine-day open air crusade at the GMPM grounds.

    Olu Alo urged Nigerians to embrace God and President Muhammadu Buhari and the 36 governors to execute people-oriented projects that would outlive them.

  • Obama’s dark legacies in Africa

    As Barack Obama, America’s first President of African-American extraction, prepares to leave office not many days from now, a retrospective glance at and brief assessment of his impact in Africa are quite apposite. This is necessary as his successor, the obnoxious, vulgar and racist Donald Trump, has sworn to overturn all his achievements and erase his legacies, including in the foreign policy arena, within the first 100 days in office. He will begin on his first day, January 20! I’m not shedding any tears for Obama.

    A completely detached and objective assessment of the legacies of Obama’s eight-year rule is impossible in a single newspaper article. That would take tomes by several scholars and analysts. Even at that, total objectivity will still be near impossible. The Obama era is like the proverbial elephant; each writer can nibble at parts of it but none can describe it wholly, comprehensively, objectively and completely! Let me state upfront that as an African I make no pretence to objectivity in this piece – my views are more critical than balanced. Yes, it is true every coin has two sides, but it just happens that the more prominent side is the negative one. Concerning Africa, the negative outweighs the positive. Without being uncharitable, I am persuaded that the consequences of his negative actions are infinitely more real and have much longer lasting effects, while the positive ones are largely symbolic, if not merely cosmetic. His tenure in the White House never benefited Africa in any special way, more than under Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush or Bill Clinton.

    His 2008 electoral victory, without question a shattering of the proverbial glass ceiling, was accompanied by continent-wide euphoria and jubilation here in Africa. I was also jubilant and exultant, although more for racial pride than for any expectation that he would change America’s policies towards Africa in any substantive direction. I had advised my compatriots, with justification, against any bloated expectations that his reign would necessarily bring any goodies to Africa. First, he is an American, not an African, and was elected by Americans for the welfare and well-being of Americans only! Second, I argued that US presidents are generally not nearly as powerful, in real terms, as their French or Russian counterparts, and definitely far less so than African rulers with vast unchecked powers. They are circumscribed by labyrinthine political, constitutional, institutional and bureaucratic hurdles which inexorably combine to limit their freedom of choice and action.

    Third, I argued that Obama would even operate under much stricter constraints because he is Black; that white Americans would judge him by standards much higher than were ever used for any of his predecessors, assess and profile him more harshly than others, all on account of the colour of his skin; that every mistake or policy mis-step would be amplified beyond normal and the gavel of condemnation would come down much harder on him and his overall competence; that arrogant Generals and self-important Admirals (war veterans in their own rights) might even seek to look down on his ability as Commander-in-Chief for his lack of military experience. Above all, I submitted that he himself would be so cautious about his affections for and dealings with Africa and its peoples; that he would be extremely careful not to be seen to favour Africa, a continent which past US presidents considered of little value to their country’s overall global calculations. All things considered, I had felt that the deck was stacked against him more than most jubilant Africans realized.

    I noted in a previous article in this newspaper that the United States of America is the greatest military power in the world with an indisputably unmatched global reach, and that its main preoccupation since the end of WWII is global political, economic, military and technological supremacy. This “America first above all else” mentality is the basic driving force of US foreign policy no matter who occupies the White House. Translation: if sacrificing Africa’s interests would keep America above, so be it, Obama or not! Africa is only significant for America’s global imperialist outreach, check out AFRICOM’s activities since 2007 and you will be amazed.

    In eight years, Obama visited the continent thrice – first was Egypt in 2009, where he eulogized the now deposed Egyptian strongman, Hosni Mubarak, as America’s major and most reliable ally in the Middle East and North Africa, capped with a mere perfunctory stop-over in Ghana where all he did was talk down to Africans about strong institutions as opposed to strong leaders. His second was a hop through Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania in 2013; while the third and final one in 2015 was also at best a whistle-stop in Kenya and Ethiopia, more symbolic and cosmetic than substantive. In his trademark stirring speeches he again pompously sermonized about democratic governance and insulted our cultural sensibilities by seeking to impose such decadent Western values as gay and lesbian rights on Africans. The Kenyans wisely told him to, as Americans themselves are fond of saying, stuff a sock in it!

    Under Obama’s Executive Orders, America and its NATO allies diabolically executed the gruesome assassination of Muammar Gaddafi and the massive bombings that have left Libya in ruins. Because of Obama, that once prosperous and flourishing North African country is today a basket case, a veritable enclave of warlords, bandits, terrorists, human traffickers and sundry criminals. In Egypt, Obama was privy to the clinical destruction of democracy by America’s friend, Field Marshal Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, who has since civilianized himself, contested and ‘won’ a presidential election and has instituted by far the most draconic and ruthless dictatorship, vanquishing the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and putting Mohammed Morsi who he overthrew securely locked up in a dungeon. This modern-day Pharaonic incarnation, a strongman par excellence, is Obama’s bequeath to Egypt and the Africa.

    But by far the most sinister is the gradual but surreptitious militarization of the African continent through expansion of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM). Under Obama, a fat chunk of America’s aid to Africa has been concentrated in the so-called security sector – in the training of so-called anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency forces in West Africa, drone-basing in Burkina Faso, logistics and training for the Multinational Joint Task Force troops fighting Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria and the affected neighbouring countries; secret military locations in Somalia, expansion of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, and countless other secretive military activities  and bases in countries such as Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger Republic, Chad, Somalia, South Sudan, Seychelles, and Uganda. African rulers have found it difficult to oppose these intrusions and subversion of their sovereignty, knowing the CIA’s predilection and capacity for orchestrating regime change at any place of their choosing. More than at any other time in its history, Africa is under a comprehensive US military lockdown, all thanks to President Barack Obama. In eight years, Obama successfully presided over the destruction of Libya, de-democratization in Egypt, and a virtual re-colonization of Africa through secretive militarization – a truly dark legacy!

    To be fair to him, I commend his commitment to African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA), a policy thrust begun by Bill Clinton, and his leadership in curbing Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and a few other beneficial programmes. But it is difficult to forget America’s blunt refusal to sell Nigeria the weapons required to combat the Boko Haram insurgency, and how it also orchestrated blockage of the Jonathan government’s attempt to purchase weapons from Israel and South Africa.

    So long, Barack Hussein Obama, have a good life in retirement. I can’t wait to see how you will capture all these in your memoirs.

    • Prof Fawole is of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
  • I’ll build on Agagu’s legacies, says Oke

    I’ll build on Agagu’s legacies, says Oke

    The Alliance for Democracy (AD) governorship candidate in Ondo State, Olusola Oke, has assured the people of Ilaje Local Government Area that he will build on the legacies of the late former Governor Olusegun Agagu.

    Oke said he would continue where the Agagu administration stopped by completing all the projects abandoned by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    The AD candidate spoke at Mahintedo, Igboegunrin, Aboto and Ode Mahin at the weekend during his campaign tour of the area.

    Oke said it was unfortunate that the present administration did not extend the roads built by Agagu to other parts of the area, promising to build more roads.

    He listed the projects which his administration would prioritise in the area to include the Olokola and Deep Seaport Projects.

    These, the AD candidate, said would be made catalyst for the development of the area.

    “We shall build electricity projects and connect the area to the National Grid.

    “We shall provide potable wate, healthcare facilities  and schools.

    “We shall create wealth, provide security and promote the people’s confidence as imperatives for sustainable development.

    “We shall work on youth development and women empowerment, leveraging on various windows of entrepreneurial opportunities, trainings and private initiative will be pursued vigorously.”

  • Legacies, accountability and learning leaders

    The  US 2016  Presidential  Elections provide  the fulcrum for  today’s analysis and discussion. My  research  has  narrowed  down to one opinion on performance  legacy and two different opinions on the qualities  and expectations  of  the two US  presidential  candidates. I  intend to  use my  musings and conclusions  on these  issues  to  look  at  the things that world  leaders generally  and Nigerian  leaders  in particular  can  learn from  the concepts  of  legacies,  accountability and  learning  on  the job  by  leaders,  that  I  will  unravel   today.

    It  was  widely  reported  this week  that US  President  Barak  Obama told  a high  powered  caucus  of Black  US  leaders  that  he  will  feel personally  insulted  if  blacks  do  not  go out   to  vote in the November 2016  US  presidential elections  and allow  Donald  Trump  to succeed  him  as president. That  throws  up  the issue of  legacy, which  really  is the Obama  legacy  which  is the main platform  of the campaign of  Hillary  Clinton, the Democratic  Party’s  candidate in the  presidential  elections. On  this I will  illustrate  with an  opinion article  in the CNN online   titled  –  Clinton  Needs to Stop  Taking a Knife  to  a Gunfight.

    The  issues  of  accountability  and  leaders  learning  on  the  job emanated  from  another opinion published  by two  retired  US generals  who believe  very  much  in  Donald  Trump  and have written  a well  publicized  essay  titled  – Donald Trump,   the  Man  Who  will  take us forward. The  kernel  of their  argument  in the essay is  that   Donald  Trump  has  been branded  as lacking in leadership  experience  and  will  have to  learn  on  the job and  they  see  nothing wrong in that. In addition the generals  defended Donald  Trump’s last  minute change of his  campaign  managers on  the ground  that he  like  some  former  great US  presidents   holds  those  who  work  for  him  accountable  and can  change  them  if  they  do  not live up to expectations.

    Let  me now  go  back  to the issue of  the  personal  insult  that  President Obama would  rather avoid which is the election of Donald  Trump  to  succeed  him  as the  next  US president. I  really  think  that Obama  has  personalized  the  issue  unnecessarily  and  has  taken  the black  community for  granted as  his terrain or  backyard  in  which  he  has  absolute loyalty .But  certainly  the  recent , rampant  shootings  of blacks   by  the Police  and the attendant  deafening protests and  indignation of black  Americans, during   and towards   the end  of    his  presidency   should  be a loud and resonant  personal  insult  that  he should  have sorted out  in the eight  years  he  has served  as the first   black  US  president. To  now ask  blacks  to  vote  for  his  legacy on their    insecurity,  and lack  of safety of their  lives  and  property  is a tall order  which  needs  to  face   the reality   of  the racial  taunt  of  Donald  Trump  repeated  this week  again  that  blacks  have never  ever  had it  so bad  as  in the outgoing  Obama Administration. Which  then  is the greater  insult for  blacks – voting for  Hillary  and the Obama legacy  and continue  to  be sheep  being led to the altar  of  more  Police  bullets  and killings or trying  an  unknown  even  if  more  dangerous approach  that  holds  out  the promise  of  a new life?   Certainly  no  matter  how  beholden  blacks  may  be to  the Obama legacy there  must  be  some doubts  as to the  efficacy  of  that loyalty  in terms  of their  security  of  life  and  property  and  human  dignity. This  resentment  is  well  articulated in  the  statement  of  the black  sportsman  who  recently  said  that he  will  not  stand up with  pride  to  salute the flag  of a country which kills  blacks  and people  of  colour. Definitely  the insult  to  the flag  here and now is far  greater  than  the personal insult  that  Obama  wants to avoid.  Yet they  are  both  sides of  the same  coin  and  he  can  not  disown  that coin  either.

    Rather  than  going blindfolded to battle  with the Obama legacy, Hillary Clinton  is well advised to  heed  the advice inherent in the essay  titled ‘Clinton  Needs  To  Stop Taking  A Knife To A Gun fight ‘ The  title  of  the essay speaks  for itself in terms of the need  for a more pragmatic strategy   by the Clinton campaign  strategists . The  essay was written  by John  Macteman, a former  speech  writer  to  Tony Blair and Australian  PM, Julia  Gillard.  Macteman  referred Clinton  to  the success of Brexit in the  UK where  the Remain  Campaign  that he followed  lost  to the  Brexit call. He said  facts  didn’t  matter   in  the  UK  EU  referendum  as  emotions  trumped reason  and that the same would  be replicated  against  Hillary  by  Donald  Trump  if  the  Democratic  Party does  not  counter  the polemics  and  eccentricities  of the Donald Trump  campaign which  is being  viewed  as normal  by a largely estranged  and anti  establishment  electorate  similar  to the Brexit  success  in the UK EU  referendum.

    With  regard  to the  Trump  Presidential  campaign,  retired  Lt –General  Keith  Kellog, NSA  for  Donald  Trump  who  served in Vietnam  and  Europe  and Michel  T Flynn  who is  Special  Adviser to  Trump  and former  Chairman  of  the US Military  Intelligence  Board,  wrote  that the  US needs  a change of  leadership  from  those that have led it since  1975  and that  Donald  Trump  is the answer. They  contend that  global insecurity, Islamic  Militancy,   and  the scale  of  migration  to the west  by   Muslims were created  by the  sort of establishment  that  Clinton  represents  and  to  which  Trump is an  outsider. They  insist  that leaders  have learnt  on the job  like  JFK  and  that Presidents  like Abraham  Lincoln  who  won the  Civil War  have had  to change their  generals  on  the eve of great  battles  because  they  believe in making those serving them  in  being  accountable  for  their  actions. They  believe  that Donald  Trump  can  learn  fast  on the job and is quite capable  of  making his team  accountable. Something  they  believe  Hillary  is  incapable  of.

    In  effect  then no  matter on whose  side  you  are   on this US  Presidential election  certain  issues  cannot  be wished  away  by  the two  candidates  and  their  campaign  teams. In  addition  the  rest  of us  outside  the US  have  a lot  to  learn.  The  North  Korean  leader  of today  is  a  good  example of  a leader  who  inherited  a legacy  of  dictatorship and is not  accountable  to  anybody while his government  officials are absolutely  accountable  to  him. The  new  Filipino  leader  and president  had  a legacy  of  killing drug  traffickers  and  extra judicial  killing  in the town  where  he served  as Mayor.  Yet  the good people  of  Phillippines  elected  him  as  president  and  he is continuing  his legacy  nationally  while  the West  groans  in  agony  at  blatant  violation  of  human  rights.

    Benjamin  Netanyahu,  Israels’  PM boasted  to  an  empty  hall  in  the UN  on  Israel’s  cutting edge  legacy   of   superiority  on military  intelligence,  human  capital  and  information  technology  which  he said are  being  largely  used  and patronized  by  those  who  left  the General  Assembly  of the UN  this  week  when  it was Israel’s  turn  to  speak.  He said  that  in  a desperately  thirsty  world Israel  has recycled  its  water  waste  for  human  consumption  and  cannot  be isolated  by  even its  adversaries who  need  such  technology in their  hostile  environments.

    Even here in Nigeria, the legacy of the Jonathan  Administration  is in tatters  even as  the Buhari  government  tries  to  create  its  own  legacy   and is navigating  the  tricky  and dangerous straits  of  recession  while Nigerians are running  out  of patience  as  to when their  lot  will   start  to  improve  so  that they can  enjoy  the dividends  of democracy. Our  own  Presidential system  of democracy is under  great  stress  because  there is  no  love lost  between the executive  and  the  legislature.  But  the presidency has  a better  legacy  based  on the  integrity  of the  president. The  legislative leadership  lacks  this due  to  internal  institutional  strife   and  mutual  distrust  in the lower  house and corruption charges  against the leadership of  the Upper House. There  may  be no elections till  2019 but  the whiff  of  change which  has  not  materialized  after  the 2015  elections is  drifting dangerously  towards a reenactment   in the next  elections.   Unless  of   course,   the  dividends  of  the last  promise  manifest  as  quickly   as promised.  Once  again, long  live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Ohanaeze urges Igbo corps members to leave lasting legacies

    The leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo state, have urged Youth Corps members of Igbo extraction to leave behind a legacy after their service in the state.

    Some of the leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo who spoke at a gathering of Igbo leaders in Ibadan, included the Head of Igbo Community in the state, Dr Alex Anozie and the President of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo state, Chief Emma Ndidi Nzeakor.

    The event was a reception organised for the Youth Corps members of Igbo extraction posted to  the state.

    They were at the Ibadan office of the Head of Igbo Community, who hosted them yesterday .

    Dr Anozie who also had other executives of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Oyo state in audience implored the Youth Corps members to always be exemplary in their conduct.