The Nation Newspaper

Tag: lessons

  • Macron’s victory and lessons for Africa

    SIR: Emmanuel Macron is the man of the moment. The man is making rounds on the social media not just because he is the president of one of the most popular countries in the world, but also because at 39, he is the youngest to be so.

    However, he is popular not just because of the dynamics of his position and age. His personal life is intriguing. Macron is married to 63-year-old Brigitte (24-year-older) whose second child was Macron’s mate in high school. What is even more intriguing is that his sweetheart was his French and drama teacher in school and at 15, he professed his love for her and promised to marry her when he gets older. Macron’s parents frowned at this with a condition – that he reaches 18 first. Of course, the young man was not one to break his promises. He whisked his sweetheart off to marriage in 2007.

    If the emergence of this “mysterious” man to the highest office in France is jaw-dropping to the world, it would leave the jaws of Africans hanging lower. We Africans are acutely dogmatic. We revere tradition, uphold it with all sacredness. We fear to even think about change. The unfamiliar path, we let it be as though we are always sure of disasters along those untoured paths. In Africa, individualism and liberalism are flipped down to the exposure of collectivism and traditionalism. Indeed this is our culture and we have to respect it. But if culture is made by humans and for humans, it is apt to deliberate alternatives.

    Collectivism propagates the suppression of self-expression. If there is just one reason why the world is not filled up with clones; there is a good reason why self-expression such be maximally permitted. The society is made of a group of people. But this group of people are made up of individuals – you and I – each with his/her own uniqueness and abilities. The society is a microcosm of the human body – a perfectly made system in which every part has its functions and yet all contribute to the functionality of the whole. As the human system is, so also is the society, made up of individuals with different talents, careers, occupations, etc all relying on one another for continuity and progress. So by the moment we suppress individual expression, we are suppressing the functionality of the whole system. Thus, as long as it doesn’t go as far as causing harm, individuals should be allowed self-expression.

    Liberalism and individual self-expression are lessons Africa has to learn from France’s presidential elections. France penetrated the lenses of their new president’s marital decisions to allow for sight of the quality of his personality. They were tolerant enough to accommodate his “weird” marital decisions. By electing him in spite of this and his age, France has not just given Africa lessons on individualism but on priorities also.

     

    • Clifford Msughter Ortese,

    cliffortese@gmail.com

     

  • MMA2 at 10: Lessons for private investors

    The 16th American President, Abraham Lincoln, once said, “It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.” This month, Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Lagos, which is a product of the courage to dare to do right, will be 10 years old.

    This is significant in a way because what started in a modest way in May 2007 has now become a benchmark for measuring how an airport terminal should run. No doubt, the edifice, the first successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the country, has changed the face of the aviation industry in this part of the world. MMA2 has positively affected the psyche of all aviation industry stakeholders with the doggedness, perseverance and the zeal to overcome challenges by its manager. The terminal has disabused the minds of the stakeholders of the usually etched graphics of derelict airport terminals scattered all over the land with dilapidated facilities, often overheated and cloaked in darkness.

    The good thing is that 10 years down the line, MMA2, with its Multi-Storey Car Park (MSCP) and the facilities therein, still glitters in the aviation landscape as if it was built yesterday. Despite all the dream killer challenges, engineered by those who wanted to kill the MMA2 dream from inception, its operator, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), has since taken the odds as the tonic needed to “still do it”. According to the words of Elon Musk, “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” That the terminal is still standing today like a solid rock in the midst of an earthquake-pummelled environment is a big plus to its operator, which toils day and night to “still do it”.

    One decade on, the success story of MMA2 is in tandem with the words of the British orator, author and two-time Prime Minister (1940–45) and (1951–55), Winston Churchill, who said, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Therefore, the courage and the resilience to make MMA2 work in the face of stiff opposition from vested interests is what counts to BASL and this is a lesson for private investors. BASL’s attitude is perhaps constantly inspired by the saying of the great inspirational speaker, Will Rogers that, “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.”

    Ten aviation ministers have superintended over MMA2 in 10 years. While a few of them respected the concession agreement the ministry signed with BASL, majority of them did everything to strangulate the business: another big lesson for private investors.

    Going down memory lane, Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe (2001-2003) as Aviation Minister signed the MMA2 concession agreement between BASL and the Federal Government and did everything to ensure that the project got off the ground; Mallam Isa Yuguda (May 2003-June 2005) under whose tenure the structure of MMA2 took shape, was instrumental to the invitation of KPMG, an international consulting firm that recommended a concession period of 36 years; Prof. Babalola Borishade (now late) (July 2005-November 2006), through the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) offered BASL 36 years as the concession period, which the company accepted; and Femi Fani-Kayode (November 2006-May 2007) was Aviation Minister when MMA2 was inaugurated by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 2007.

    Other ministers were: Felix Hyatt (June 2007-October 2008), appointed a Minister of State (Aviation) by the late former President Umar Yar’Adua, who could really not do much because the aviation unions and other interest groups overwhelmed him in a bid to ensure the death of MMA2. And under Hyatt, FAAN began breaching the concession agreement, while some airlines ordered to move their operations to MMA2 from the International Wing refused to do so; Babatunde Omotoba (December 2007-March 2010), who was advised by the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Kaase Andoakaa (SAN), to hand over the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to Bi-Courtney as part of the Concession Agreement, which Omotoba failed to do; Mrs. Fidelia Akuabata Njeze (April 2010 – May 2011), who was urged by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to allow regional flight operations take place at MMA2, as part of the Concession Agreement, and who never yielded; Stella Oduah (July 2011-February 2014), who led the greatest assault on the enterprise called MMA2 and the Concession Agreement. Oduah was vehement in her opposition to anything MMA2 and did everything to cripple the terminal and take over its operations, but failed. She was succeeded by the suave Chief Osita Chidoka (July 2014 – May 2015), who on the other hand did everything within his powers to ensure that the provisions of the concession agreement were obeyed to the letter. Chidoka also declared MMA2 the Best Terminal in Nigeria, which unsettled so many vested interests, inaugurated MMA2’s Common User Passenger Processing System (CUPPS) and most importantly, approved the take-off of regional flight operations for the terminal, which agencies in the aviation industry, especially FAAN, did everything to scuttle; and the incumbent, Senator Hadi Sirika (November 2015-to date), who has, so far been unsupportive of the MMA2 Concession Agreement.

    All the ministers have, nonetheless, contributed either positively or negatively to what makes MMA2 stand solid today. But the endurance of the operator for the past one decade is what further makes the terminal tick.

    The ministers’ various contributions and those of FAAN were a reflection of what it takes to do business with the government, even when the administration under which they served had good intentions. Other private investors and prospective ones need to learn a lesson or two from this experience. Besides BASL’s experiences in the hands of these officials, the bitter experiences of politician and businessman, Chief Harry Akande and the Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Group, Sir Richard Branson, among others, who were shoved  aside after investing their billions of naira, come in handy here. They are still licking their wounds till date.

    Indeed, an angry Branson had this to say of his experience in the hands of government officials: “We fought a daily battle against government agents who wanted to make fortune from us, politicians who saw the government’s 49 per cent as a meal (ticket) to seek all kinds of favour, watchdogs (regulatory bodies) that didn’t know what to do and were persistently asking for bribes at any point. Nigerian people are generally nice but the politicians are very insane. That may be an irony because the people make up the politicians.

    “But those politicians are selfish. We did make N3billion for the Federal Government of Nigeria during the joint venture, realising that the government didn’t bring (anything) to the table/partnership except dubious debts by the previous carrier, Nigeria Airways. The joint venture should have been the biggest African carrier by now if the partnership was allowed to grow, but the politicians killed it. Nigeria is a country we shall never consider to doing business again.”

    Despite all this, “MMA2”, according to the chairman of BASL, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN) “represents considerable cerebral input into very modest resources.” Some food for thought and lessons, lessons all the way.

     

    • Omolale is Head, Corporate Communications, BASL.
  • Lessons from Taraba Council polls

    Lessons from Taraba Council polls

    ‘It was the people’s way of saying thank you for the marvelous job he has done on the roads, at the Jalingo Airport, in the provision of water to the state capital and other towns and communities, in repositioning educational institutions and in
    renovating hospitals and equipping them with drugs to improve the quality of healthcare delivery’

    Those who say that Nigerian politicians are poor students of history cannot be faulted. They are perfectly right. Nigerian politicians are, indeed, an excellent example of this brand. They forget the past very easily and often recourse to those things that they had condemned and consigned to the dustbins of history as inimical to the survival, growth and maturity of democracy in our country. They insist, when it is convenient for them to do so, that elections must be free and fair and that nothing should be done to impede that expressway that leads to the dreamland of electoral freeness and fairness. But when the tide of the political cyclone turns against them, the drumming will change and so will the dance steps too. The rest of their actions, thereafter, can only be better left to the imagination. They will turn hitherto cherished principles of electoral perfection on their heads and unashamedly insist that it is the right way to go.

    The most recent example of this contradiction was experienced in Taraba State where local council elections were held Saturday February 25, Ibi Council Area in particular. Chairmen and councillors were being elected into the 16 local government councils to succeed caretaker committees that have been running their affairs for some time now. The elections were meant to enrich the nation’s new culture of representative governance whereby only those that the people have freely chosen through the instrumentality of the ballot box will occupy elective positions. And the Government of Governor Darius Ishaku, determined to make the elections a positive contribution towards strengthening the country’s incipient culture of democracy, took all steps necessary for this goal to be achieved.

    But there were those who did not want this to happen. They were the All Progressives Congress, APC, leaders in Ibi, one of the 16 local government council areas in Taraba State, and the only council area where the recent council elections did not hold on the scheduled date. They came out on their evil mission to stop the elections in the local government and they succeeded but only because Governor Ishaku declined the option of using the machinery of law and order to disperse them from where they had laid ambush for electoral materials meant for that day’s election.

    Before the day of the elections, electoral materials were moved by the State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC, to police stations in all council headquarters for safe keeping, Ibi inclusive. That had been the practice, even in the case of national elections. It always worked out well. Even in this case, everything looked perfectly right until what became a contest between the good and the bad took the centre state in Ibi in the early hours of the polling day. A group of politicians and their supporters belonging to the All Progressives Congress, APC, thought the best thing to do was to prevent the elections from taking place since they were sure that their candidate was unpopular and would ultimately lose if the election were allowed to hold. They devised a trick to achieve that. They arrived early at the gates leading into the police station in Ibi where electoral materials were being kept and blocked it, insisting that the materials wouldnot be moved out to polling venues. And so, the elections did not take place there.

    When they were certain that it had become too late in the day to hold the elections, they vacated the entrance to the police station. At that point, the only option feasible was the postponement of the elections and the return of the materials to Jalingo. And that was what SIEC did. The incident which was condemned by many well-meaning Nigerians in and outside Taraba State, is a sad reminder of the stiff and unaccommodating attitude of our politicians to elections. That attitude is that all elections must end in their favour, otherwise, the process is demonised and truncated. That was what played out in Ibi on February 25. In case those who were behind those unfortunate events in Ibi haven’t realised yet, they need be told that they only succeeded in drawing back the hand of the clock and this will affect their council area in a negative way for a long time to come. Today, Ibi is the only council area still being administered by a care-taker committee.

    But besides that incident, the council elections were peaceful, adjudged as very free and fair by electoral observers and other independent groups that witnessed it. Governor Ishaku was commended by the monitoring teams(and there were many of them on duty that period) for creating the atmosphere that enabled the success of polling. The National Orientation Agency, NOA, in Taraba State even wrote a commendation letter which was addressed to Governor Ishaku. In the letter, the Agency’s Taraba State director, Dr. Robert Gulkawi, said the governor demonstrated through the elections a rare “spirit of sportsmanship.” Dr Dulkawi said NOA officers who covered the elections submitted reports to the effect that the process was “incontestably transparent.” This, Gulkawi said stood out the elections as hugely credible, unstoppably convincing and widely acceptable.”

    The contest was, no doubt, fierce with about ten registered political parties in the race. At the end of it all the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, won in all the 15 local government council areas where the elections were held. It was a well-deserved victory for the party. The victories were seen in many quarters as evidence of Ishaku’s ever rising popularity rating in the political firmament of the state. It was the people’s way of saying “Thank You” for the marvelous job he has done on the roads, at the Jalingo Airport, in the provision of water to the state capital and other towns and communities, in repositioning educational institutions and in renovating hospitals and equipping them with drugs to improve the quality of healthcare delivery and in stabilising electricity power supply in some areas of the state. The party’s victory was also a way of acknowledging the regular payment of workers’ salaries by the Ishaku administration and many other things that the government has achieved in less than two years in office.

    Those elected have already taken their seats in the various council areas. At their inauguration on Monday February 27, 2017, in Jalingo, Governor Ishaku urged the new council helmsmen to discharge their duties with humility and to ensure prudent application of resources. The event was witnessed by a cross section of PDP chieftains from all the council areas in the state. It was a happy ending to an exercise that people had feared would lead to unending crisis. Those fears failed to manifest. Rather, it further united the people behind the resolve to maintain peace. Some people, particularly, youths came out in their thousands in a solidarity rally with the Governor and the efforts he is making to put the state on the path of development.

  • Lessons from Taraba Council polls

    belonging to the All Progressives Congress, APC, thought the best thing to do was to prevent the elections from taking place since they were sure that their candidate was unpopular and would ultimately lose if the election were allowed to hold. They devised a trick to achieve that. They arrived early at the gates leading into the police station in Ibi where electoral materials were being kept and blocked it, insisting that the materials wouldnot be moved out to polling venues. And so, the elections did not take place there.

    When they were certain that it had become too late in the day to hold the elections, they vacated the entrance to the police station. At that point, the only option feasible was the postponement of the elections and the return of the materials to Jalingo. And that was what SIEC did. The incident which was condemned by many well-meaning Nigerians in and outside Taraba State, is a sad reminder of the stiff and unaccommodating attitude of our politicians to elections. That attitude is that all elections must end in their favour, otherwise, the process is demonised and truncated. That was what played out in Ibi on February 25. In case those who were behind those unfortunate events in Ibi haven’t realised yet, they need be told that they only succeeded in drawing back the hand of the clock and this will affect their council area in a negative way for a long time to come. Today, Ibi is the only council area still being administered by a care-taker committee.

    But besides that incident, the council elections were peaceful, adjudged as very free and fair by electoral observers and other independent groups that witnessed it. Governor Ishaku was commended by the monitoring teams(and there were many of them on duty that period) for creating the atmosphere that enabled the success of polling. The National Orientation Agency, NOA, in Taraba State even wrote a commendation letter which was addressed to Governor Ishaku. In the letter, the Agency’s Taraba State director, Dr. Robert Gulkawi, said the governor demonstrated through the elections a rare “spirit of sportsmanship.” Dr Dulkawi said NOA officers who covered the elections submitted reports to the effect that the process was “incontestably transparent.” This, Gulkawi said stood out the elections as hugely credible, unstoppably convincing and widely acceptable.”

    The contest was, no doubt, fierce with about ten registered political parties in the race. At the end of it all the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, won in all the 15 local government council areas where the elections were held. It was a well-deserved victory for the party. The victories were seen in many quarters as evidence of Ishaku’s ever rising popularity rating in the political firmament of the state. It was the people’s way of saying “Thank You” for the marvelous job he has done on the roads, at the Jalingo Airport, in the provision of water to the state capital and other towns and communities, in repositioning educational institutions and in renovating hospitals and equipping them with drugs to improve the quality of healthcare delivery and in stabilising electricity power supply in some areas of the state. The party’s victory was also a way of acknowledging the regular payment of workers’ salaries by the Ishaku administration and many other things that the government has achieved in less than two years in office.

    Those elected have already taken their seats in the various council areas. At their inauguration on Monday February 27, 2017, in Jalingo, Governor Ishaku urged the new council helmsmen to discharge their duties with humility and to ensure prudent application of resources. The event was witnessed by a cross section of PDP chieftains from all the council areas in the state. It was a happy ending to an exercise that people had feared would lead to unending crisis. Those fears failed to manifest. Rather, it further united the people behind the resolve to maintain peace. Some people, particularly, youths came out in their thousands in a solidarity rally with the Governor and the efforts he is making to put the state on the path of development.

  • Lessons from Abuja Airport runway repairs

    Lessons from Abuja Airport runway repairs

    In December, 2016 alone the facility handled about 5000 domestic flights justifying its rating as the second busiest airport in the country after the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos. Completed in 2000 and officially opened for operations in 2002, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recorded a growth in passenger movement at the facility from 2, 126, 645 in 2005 to 4, 341, 637 in 2015. Yet, this critical facility’s runway, designed and built to last for 20 years had, before the advent of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, functioned for 35 years without undergoing the requisite periodic, comprehensive maintenance. It was thus inevitable that critical portions of the runway had completely failed constituting a danger to flight and passenger safety and necessitating its closure for six weeks from March 8 this year to enable far reaching repairs and upgrade.

    Of course, it would have been easier and more convenient to assume that since no major air mishap had ever occurred at the airport, luck would continue to smile on the facility and all would always be well. Unfortunately, as several air crashes in the nation’s aviation history has shown, once an ordinarily avoidable air fatality is allowed to occur through complacency, neglect or carelessness, the consequences are eternally irreversible. It would also have been perhaps more preferable and popular with the flying public if the airport had been allowed to continue to function normally while necessary repairs were carried out piecemeal possibly at night. The federal aviation authorities however deserve commendation for firmly standing by the decision to completely shut down the airport for the stipulated period while preparing the Kaduna Airport as an effective although admittedly inconvenient alternation for the duration of the Abuja airport repairs.

    As the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, rightly said at the time in reaction to popular opposition to the closure of the airport, “The total architecture of the runway failed touching on the safety component of our operations which we cannot negotiate. So we better stay safe than do something stupid. We decided to close down the airport and make a total rehabilitation of the runway itself in the interest of safety”. Apart from the distance of about 200km between Kaduna and Abuja and the rampant incidence of criminality on the road, most people were pessimistic as regards the possibility of the six-week deadline being met for the reopening of the Abuja facility. This was a reflection of a chronic and largely justifiable lack of confidence in the ability of public authorities in Nigeria to meet set objectives within specified timelines.

    To the surprise of all, however, work on the Abuja airport was completed ahead of schedule and the facility was opened for use a day before it was formally expected to resume operations on April 18. The new Abuja airport runway was reconstructed using new technology such as glass glide for the first time in the country to reinforce its durability and prevent surface cracks. Apart from the runway, other facilities have either being newly provided or upgraded at the facility to meet the global protocol on standard and best practices set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Lift and escalators for the aged and physically challenged persons have been provided at the departure hall of Terminal B. A new terminal, the D wing, which had long been abandoned has been rehabilitated, equipped and put in use complete with its own fingers for flight boarding. The local B wing and the international C wing have been given a comprehensive face-lift including the overhauling of their air conditioning systems and provision of new toilets, VIP lounges and other ancillary facilities.

    However, the cost of allowing the Abuja airport runway to deteriorate over the years due to lack of maintenance was the expenditure of another N3.2 billion on the preparation of the Kaduna Airport to serve as an alternative. But this has luckily not been a waste after all. For, the Kaduna Airport has now been substantially upgraded and now enjoys an expanded and improved runway, enhanced fire cover, more efficient instrument landing system, improved air space services and weather reports, the repair of its Voice Omni-directional Radio Range (VOR) and other navigational aids and the completion of a previously abandoned passenger terminal.

    In order to ensure that the Kaduna Airport does not lapse into disuse thus frittering away these gains, it would certainly be wise for the aviation authorities to commit additional funds to further modernization of the facility. The experience of the last six weeks has shown that Kaduna can be a viable aviation route if the necessary facilities and conditions are made available. The new Kaduna-Abuja train line, started by the preceding Jonathan administration and completed by this government, improvement on the road between the two cities, provision of free shuttle bus service and the maintenance of tight security facilitated the smooth and safe movement of arrivals at Kaduna Airport to Abuja.

    The cooperation and harmonious operations of the Ministries of Transport; Power, Works and Housing; the Kaduna State government and Julius Berger Plc, which made the completion and reopening of the project ahead of schedule possible is laudable. Surely, the more we have of this kind of inter-governmental and inter-agency rapport rather than the needless conflict, rivalry and turf wars that has been a huge distraction to the Buhari administration,  the more effective and productive use will be made of what remains of its tenure.

    President Buhari has expressed his appreciation to the Ethiopian government for that country’s extraordinary cooperation with Nigeria during the period that the Abuja airport was closed. Unlike most other International carriers that refused to fly to Kaduna, Ethiopian Airlines was reportedly the first to land an aircraft at the Kaduna airport on the very day the Abuja airport was closed and consistently maintained its operation on the route for the stipulated six weeks. The Airline’s Airbus A350 was also the first to land at the repaired Abuja runway on the very day it reopened. This is certainly an inspiring indication of the immense possibilities of inter-African cooperation if the political will and commitment can be mustered.

    Given the over N400 billion reportedly expended by the Dr Goodluck Jonathan administration on the expansion and modernization of 17 domestic and five international airports across the country, including a $1 billion Chinese loan for the same purpose, it is amazing that most of our airports are in the state they are today. Yet, rather than continue to whine and moan over the mess inherited, the aviation authorities simply went ahead to do what they had to do to enhance the operational safety of the Abuja airport. This is the kind of spirit Nigerians expect to see from the Buhari administration in the days ahead.

     

    Federal University, Oye Ekiti shows the light

    As a young member of the Editorial Board of the defunct Daily Times in the mid eighties, I benefitted enormously from the presence of the then Dr. Kayode Soremekun as a visiting member of the Board.

    The political scientist, international relations expert and specialist in the national and global politics of oil was then on sabbatical from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). His contributions on the board were radical, enlightening, uncompromising, irreverent and penetrating. One of the articles I remember him writing for the Daily Times was titled ‘Nigeria and the Pertamina affair’ in which he likened the opacity and corruption that characterized the management of Nigeria’s oil sector under the Babangida regime to that of Indonesia’s graft ridden state owned Pertermina oil corporation. In another piece, titled ‘Bitter Life’, he descended heavily on the then flamboyant First Lady, the late Mrs Maryam Babangida’s  Better Life for Rural Women pet project describing it as of little relevance to the lives of millions of poverty stricken Nigerian women. It certainly took great courage to write such articles under military rule and on the platform of a paper like the Daily Times.

    At the inception of the Buhari administration, Professor Kayode Soremekun was appointed Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE). I am not surprised at the choice of three eminent Nigerians who will on Saturday, 29th of this month be conferred with honorary degrees by the university. They are a centenarian and retired principal of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti, Chief Adepoju Akomolafe; 89-year-old retired principal of Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, Chief Francis Daramola and the first indigenous principal of Queen’s College, Lagos, Efunjoke Coker. They will be conferred with honorary Doctor of Educational Administration in recognition of their contributions to education, scholarship and manpower development in Nigeria. Justifying the decision at a pre-convocation briefing, Professor Soremekun submitted that honorary degrees should not be reserved exclusively for politicians and moneybags arguing that “The gesture is to remember these great Nigerians, who contributed to scholarship. It is sad that we are all suffering from amnesia which makes us forget people so easily. With this, we will be setting a new moral standard for society”. Surely, FUOYE is commendably showing the light for others to find the way.

  • Lessons from Julius Nwalimu Nyerere

    Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, Nigeria’s most captivating  columnist of the 1970s who rewrote history as editor of Sunday Times of that era, once returned from Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania and thrilled his compatriots with an account of the stoic exploits of this illustrious African leader. Just like his staid gait, Ogunsanwo said, Nyerere had no airs about him to suggest he was the president of Tanzania.

    This picture of an abstemious statesman sharply contradicted the Nigerian paradigm. Here, our leaders, even at the local government scene, would loot the public till to build personal empires, to satisfy their palatial palate. The predilection of our leaders for financial rape has always been there and Ogunsanwo was among a small circle of ethical journalists who railed against this evil. So the Tanzania experience had to excite this colourful columnist. Through his celebrated style of writing that nettled bad leaders and won applause from the public, Ogunsanwo said that if he placed the lifestyle of Nyerere side-by-side with what we had in Nigeria, the weight of the East African leader wouldn’t surpass the wealth of a level 9 officer in the Nigerian Civil Service. A shocked Ogunsanwo said something to the effect that the home of Nyerere had uninspiring furniture compared to what a middle level civil servant in Nigeria might offer. Nyerere’s was a study in Spartan decor.

    Years later in 1999 when the beloved Tanzania leader died at 77, New York Times correspondent Michael Kaufman wrote what has gone into the books as a most charitable essay by a Western reporter on an African president who mercilessly chided capitalism as a curse on humanity, thus confirming Ogunsanwo’s point. He admitted Nyerere’s “habits of modesty and ethics.”

    Kaufman wrote in the influential New York Times on October 15, 1999: “He (Nyerere) never received more than 8,000 dollars (about 8,000 naira then) a year as president. He appeared both abroad and at home wearing a grey or black safari shirt over his trousers and a white crocheted skull cap… In contrast to many African leaders who often raced their capitals in motorcades with phalanxes of motorcycle outriders, he moved around Dar es Salam (the old capital of Tanzania) in an old car with just his driver, who stopped for red lights… When he stepped down as president… he was only the third modern African leader to relinquish power voluntarily… He went neither to jail nor to exile but to a farm in Butiama, his home village near the shore of Lake Victoria.”

    Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in a settlement in the hills of  southeast of Lake Victoria. His father was 61 when he married his mother at 15. He went to Uganda’s famous Makerere University and the UK’s Edinburgh University where he earned the Master’s degree in History and Economics. He went into politics after a teaching tenure on his return from Scotland. He led Tanzania into independence from Britain in 1961, becoming the youngest of a group of Africa’s “triumphant” nationalists among them the legendary Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah whose country Ghana attained sovereignty in 1957.

    Tanzanians called Nyerere Nwalimu (Teacher), for he led a paternalistic life, an exemplary one that taught them to disavow the corrupting influence of cloying opulence and capitalism. Why should a leader not identify with the sufferings of his compatriots? Why would a leader be seen only through the prism of affluence and not through sacrificial service that should leave him no time to amass wealth or go into so-called business? Why would public office be a showroom of pomp, pageantry and perquisites? Why would you be richer after holding public office than before? A true leader ought to be poorer (lighter) after shedding weight, giving away part of you in order to serve!

    These considerations led Nyerere inexorably to the conclusion that Africa did not need the deadly grab-it-all spirit of capitalism and exploitation of man by fellow man. He came up with Ujamma (familyhood) socialism, which emphasized what he called “cooperative brotherhood”. Then came, in 1967, Arusha Declaration, named after a northern town where Nyerere unveiled the new deal to party leaders and faithful. The programme, a follow up to Ujamma “called for a commitment to self-reliance while establishing the leadership code, which obligated government and party officials to give up all sources of income for their salaries.”

    The enforcement of this law started right in the president’s household. His wife, Maria, was the head of a woman’s organisation running a poultry business. She abandoned it immediately, to give moral armament to this campaign against corruption and rabid love of power and money. He lived by this declaration he made in Ujamma : “In acquisitive societies, wealth tends to corrupt those who possess it. It tends to breed in them a desire to live more comfortably than their fellows, to dress better and in every way to outdo them.”

    On public buildings in Tanzania, Nyerere had these slogans inscribed in his war against ostentation, greed and corruption: Work is the foundation of progress. A poor country cannot rule itself if it relies on foreign help. We must run while others walk.

    He invested heavily in the education of his people such that under his rule literacy “rose phenomenally and 83 percent of Tanzania were able to read and write.” It was also in Nyerere’s time that Swahili became a recognized national language. He took an unbending stand on the struggle against apartheid rule in South Africa and on the fight for independence in Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. It earned him much global respect.

    So what is Nwalimu teaching us as we mark his posthumous 95th birthday today? First, African leaders, as a result of their insatiable greed for power, money and office, are responsible for their citizens’ poverty, misery and death. Secondly, Africa wouldn’t need foreign aid if its leaders and elite don’t corner our wealth to feed their sickening sacerdotal taste. In addition, we should stop blaming Europe for Africa’s underdevelopment: it is African leaders and the elites who are under-developing the continent!

    Finally, change in the society does not begin with the citizen; it begins with my leader.

     

    • Ojewale is a journalist and writer in Ota, Ogun State.

  • America’s ‘corrupt’ era, lessons for PMB

    Simon Cameron was a godfather during the civil war American politics. He was the lord, so to speak, of his home state Pennsylvania. His political machine held the state spellbound for decades making him both the king and kingmaker in state and federal politics.

    As a testimony to his dominance of his territory, he was a three-time senator over a cumulative 18 years; making him probably longest-serving senator in his days. In fact, he left the seat only when he had made sure that his son would succeed him.

    Orphaned early in life and with little education, he moved to Washington where he was self-trained, working as a printer, newspaperman, editor and publisher; buying and running the Republican at only 25. He later veered into business, building railroads and owning a bank in his early 30s. Having made much wealth, he joined politics, moved to Pennsylvania and began a public life that was at once remarkable and infamous.

    Cameron was notable for being corrupt and he made no bones about it. His famous quote is; ‘An honest politician is one who when bought, remains bought.’ He started out as a Democrat but soon crossed over to a smaller party from which he joined the Republican Party in 1856.

    When President Abraham Lincoln was to make him Secretary of War as part of a political deal, there was public outcry considering  Cameron’s corrupt ways. This had elicited the famous quote from Thaddeus Stevens, a Pennsylvania congressman, who in counselling Lincoln about Cameron had said; ‘’I don’t think that he would steal a red hot stove.’’

    To buttress Cameron’s odious public image he had sought a retraction from Stevens who then made the famous retort to the president, ‘’I believe I told you he would not steal a red hot stove. I will now take that back.’’

    However, because of his overwhelming influence in his state, Cameron got the job anyway but he lasted barely one year.

    He got other appointments but none lasted because his public persona was quite suffocating even in that era. Notwithstanding, he remained the kingpin of Penns politics till the end of his life.

    The original title of this piece was to be ‘’Salvaging the Buhari presidency.’’ But the above illustration from the American environment of the Lincolnian era – 1861-1865 — is to illustrate that the Nigerian situation of today may not be unlike USA of 1800. There was a civil war and institutions were still at formative stages. It would thus appear like a jungle setting in which only the fittest survived.

    It is not unlike Nigeria of today and our situation seems to deteriorate rapidly with successive governments. Then Muhammadu Buhari came along.

    Many of us had sworn by the Buhari presidency. Some of us were so sure that if this was not the ‘messiah’, it must be something quite close. We had been starved of honest, principled leadership for so long that we would have pledged our manhood to have one. One more tenure of a rudderless presidency was unthinkable.

    The Buhari presidency and his party’s change chant was refreshing to anyone who had an ounce of love for this land. However, about three to six months after inauguration, it became apparent that we had made a mistake once again in the quest to find a capable captain for our wind-tossed ship.

    It wasn’t that PMB had become less principled and honest overnight or that the fabled ghouls of Aso Rock had seized the soul of the president upon his stepping across that rarefied threshold of power. We simply found out that we were victims of our own zeal – the blind desire to install a president according to our own image.

    Most of us thought that stellar personal character, honesty of purpose and stoic lifestyle were the touchstones for successful national leadership, but alas, how mistaken, if not foolish we have turned out to be. We all must accept responsibility and indeed culpability for this debacle. We have proved to lack discernment, insight and the requisite ingredients for critical leadership selection.

    Character may indeed be key, but other variables, such as political pragmatism, efficiency, sense of urgency and a single-minded focus on results all must combine to deliver that wholesome broth of leadership needed to build a nation. PMB has been all about character in the last 20 months and his presidency has floundered, seeming to fail irretrievably if he continues on the current trajectory.

    To safe the Buhari presidency; it is bad enough that PMB is assailed by ill health but he should simply delegate and indeed devolve power as he did in his first coming. He has a vice president who can do much of the leg work and even work from the shop floor. He must retreat a little to the background and allow his cabinet run.

    Two; he must reshuffle his team quick. Apart from a couple of them like the minister of power, works and housing, most other appointees look like they still can’t find their way around the sprawling federal secretariat. There is an urgent need to press brighter minds and nimbler feet to work.

    Three; we must immediately change tactics in the current anti-graft war. Enough of Ibrahim Magu’s cops-and-robbers approach to solving a grave national malaise. It is not working and it never will work. It has indeed become counter-productive. For the umpteenth time let us re-work the system to make stealing from the treasury become nigh impossible.

    Four; some of the critical factors for driving change in the economy are still not being activated. Agriculture sector remains tepid and we still import major food and staple, such as rice, wheat, poultry, fish, milk, cooking oils and tomato paste. We must drastically cut the importation of these essential items by all means. That task force on price ought to be a task force to produce, preserve and package food.

    Five; the economy and the oil and gas sector need fresh pep. The management of our currency has been less than plucky. Oil and gas remains in the doldrums with no fresh ideas or projects in two years.

    But more debilitating is that the mindset of the rump of administration is warped. Not delivering much about two years after but continues to escape into yesterday, blaming the past government for its inability to think through the woes of the populace today.

     

    Babachir and the pro-Buhari crowd

    The other day, some compatriots led by music star, Tuface Idibia, who sought to protest the excruciating hardship that has become pervasive in the country were harangued and denied. But Tuesday, a pro-Muhammadu Buhari rally nearly marched straight into the Exco chamber until someone remembered how ridiculous an act it was.

    It was bad enough that they were allowed near the precincts of the Presidential Villa, the remarks by the SGF Babachir Lawal was most troubling.

    He said: ‘’Baba Buhari did not anticipate the problem that we are in. I am sure you all are aware. The people who caused this problem are the ones challenging the government… I tell you they will fail… in fact they have failed.

    ‘’You are aware of the economy that the president inherited, the economy in which revenues have virtually collapsed. The infrastructure is nowhere to be seen. The roads were dilapidated. The schools were dilapidated. Hospitals were abandoned…

    On and on, the same banal excuse is what we have harvested in two years but alas, even the articulation of these are vastly depreciated if not dilapidated as can be gleaned from the quote above. We must raise the game.

  • Fayemi’s lessons

    In a few months’ time, it would be five years since faith trusts the writing of this column at me. Painful as the circumstance was – and will always be – I’m so glad today that the central goal of late Ngozi (the beautiful lady who birthed the dream) is being realised. Her desire of having the opportunity and platform to positively impact a generation of Nigerian youth through the infusion of key values and knowledge skills that would enable them take their destinies in their hands was met. Today, some are award winning entrepreneurs and job creators breaking down barriers and boundaries. They will tell their inspiring stories someday.

    It is against this background that I found the lessons encapsulated in the 2017 University of Lagos (UNILAG) Convocation lecture delivered by Dr. Kayode Fayemi – Minister of Mines and Steel Development- quite instructive and in sync with we do and practice here. Of course, it would be difficult to firmly capture the entire thoughts in a short piece like this, but I’ll give it my best shot.

    “The Successor-Generation: Reflections on Values and Knowledge in Nation Building” couldn’t have come at a better time; in it, Fayemi provided insights that would benefit our successor-generation – both within and outside the walls of UNILAG. An alumnus of UNILAG, his thesis is anchored on his belief that “knowledge alone is not enough; neither is character by itself sufficient. A fit and proper UNILAG graduate is one that has successfully straddled the obligations of being found worthy in both ‘Character and Learning.’”

    In all, I find Fayemi’s “six key lessons and life skills …” relevant, especially to graduates who are entering an uncertain world which in some instances has been disrupted beyond recognition. The message should be clear; it’s a tough world out there like it has never been. Tough as it may be, those with the right set skills and character would certainly navigate the labyrinth and make positive headway. That should be a message of hope.

    The university offers the opportunity for serious minded young people to acquire knowledge, our lecturer noted; in essence “Knowledge is Power.” The centrality of academics to university life is anchored on the ability of students’ to prove that they have learnt what they ought to, in accordance with the curriculum, the singular criterion for progression from level to level. However, the danger in this is that some people mistake passing exams for acquiring knowledge – they are two different things.

    This has been the bane of our education – reading to pass examination only! Fayemi’s first lesson to “learn how to learn” should be crystal clear. Students should meditate on new information and study more deeply and widely, allowing what they read and discover to truly illuminate their mind. “Sometimes, new information dislodges dated ones in your mind, at other times; it reinforces what you already know, and gives you greater depth of perspective – one thing it never does is to leave you the same. As futurist and philosopher Alvin Toffler once wrote: ‘the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”‘ Thought provoking!

    The centrality of the next lesson: “Discipline – Master Yourself” cannot be discountenanced. He reminded us that without discipline, knowledge is useless. In the world today, with the advancements in civil liberties, democratisation and freedom of speech, we operate in a freer world with increasingly less constraints placed on individual conduct. Now, anyone can do almost anything, at anytime. The impetus is therefore on discerning individuals to self-regulate and be disciplined enough to do what is right, and at the right time, if they want to be successful.

    We’re further reminded that the university offers the opportunity to learn self-discipline which is very important for productive living. The academic environment promotes the development of crucial work ethics needed later in life. “In the university, you have set targets that you must deliver in defined formats and before strict deadlines. Nobody would babysit you to know how you would deliver, nor would anybody celebrate your efforts or listen to your excuses, you are simply required to deliver results.”

    Dovetail to the next lesson “Adaptability – Be Flexible and Dynamic,” then you understand the essence of interaction. “The university environment is a universe of itself. It offers the unique opportunity to interact with different people from different parts of the world – people of different cultures, faiths, political persuasions and material circumstances. University students are not only expected to learn with others, but also learn from them.”

    A great mistake any student can make, Fayemi pointed out, is to become so hermitic in the pursuit of excellent grades that he/she fails to robustly interact with other students and learn from them. The reason for this is that we never know what life would bring our way, and we always have to be in a position to adapt to whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. In the world today, our adaptability quotient is just as important as our intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence. Some people are just so stuck in their ways, and cannot see beyond the restrictive boundaries of their academic disciplines and socio-cultural backgrounds.

    Citing a 2016 World Economic Forum article which pointed out that some of the most profitable and employment creating jobs today did not exist 10 years ago, Fayemi charged the students’ to “Follow Your Passion” in the fourth lesson. Jobs like App developer, social media manager, cloud computing specialist, drone operator, sustainability manager, millennial generational expert, big data analyst/data scientist, etc didn’t exist 10 years ago. It further reports that estimates suggest “65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that aren’t on our radar yet. That is however not to say studying the traditional professions of Medicine, Law, Accounting, Architecture, Engineering and the Humanities is bad, it is just important that students’ to find their passion and follow it.

    “Take Andela for example, the start-up recruits young talented technologists from across Africa and trains them to become world-class developers through a four-year technical leadership program. The enterprise has accepted over 200 young engineers since it was founded about two years ago, out of a pool of more than 40,000 applicants. Andela which was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, a 26 year old Nigerian, recently attracted $24 million dollars in funding from a consortium led by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.”

    The good news is that technology hubs like Andela and Co-Creation Hub are on the increase in Nigeria, despite low internet penetration and limited infrastructure. They are creating the future because they have dared to find their passion and pursue it. The testimonials of the founders of many of these start-ups indicate that they faced uphill tasks convincing their parents of the paths they had chosen in life.

    “Seize the Moment – and Just Do It!” the fifth lesson bemoans one of the failings of our society which do not give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities and make mistakes early. Equally as bad is the fact that young people don’t optimally take advantage of these opportunities where they exist. Universities as a microcosm of the larger society ought to be the grounds for students to explore and make mistakes in a protected environment. A person in his youth will have only one rival, that is his own potentialities; and he will have only one failure, that is, failing to live up to his own possibilities.

    The final lesson “Quit Whining – No One Owes You Anything,” is as direct as they come. “The last lesson I want to talk about is the debilitating entitlement mentality that is commonplace among young people today. The earlier we realize that no one owes us anything, the better for us, and the more prepared we would be to face life’s challenges.”

    Fayemi challenged the new graduates to be prepared for surprises and disappointments because life is bound to hand out a couple. “The only guarantees you have in this life is what you do for yourself with the grace God has bestowed on us all.”

  • Aregbesola: recession to teach us lessons

    Aregbesola: recession to teach us lessons

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said the recession occurred to teach Nigerians some lessons and make the nation great and economically viable.

    He spoke at the New Year special prayer session organised by  traditional religious worshippers in collaboration with the government in Abere, Osogbo, the state capital.

    Represented by Deputy Governor Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, the governor said there were indications that the recession was easing out, urging residents to look inward and be active.

    Aregbesola appealed to people, especially youths, to combine education with vocational skills to become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers.

    The governor warned pupils bringing charms to schools to desist, saying anybody caught will be expelled.

    The Araba Awo of Osogbo, High Chief Ifayemi Elebuibon, enjoined residents to boost the nation’s economy by patronising locally made goods.

  • Pillars have learnt a lot of lessons, says Rabiu Ali

    Pillars have learnt a lot of lessons, says Rabiu Ali

    Rabiu Ali is optimistic that Kano Pillars can do a clean sweep of available trophies next season.

    “Last season is gone and we learnt a whole lot. Though I won’t admit that 2016 was a disappointing season for us because we  competed well but we lost concentration at the crucial stage of the season where we needed to pull through,” Ali told Goal.

    “However, lessons have been learnt and antidote has been offered. An experienced coach in Kadiri Ikhana is in charge and a couple of signings have been done. The team is looking good and preseason activities is going on fine.”

    Kano Pillars finished seventh on the NPFL 2015/16 season table, nine points adrift champions, Enugu Rangers.