The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mandates

  • Elections, mandates and business

    It is a tautology to say that elections give politicians or competing contestants power when they win and such victories are the source of political mandates. Indeed such mandates are the precursor of management styles and the challenge of governance.

    This is because the business of politics begins once a leader is given electoral mandate and that may even well be before he is sworn in as both the de facto and de jure winner of such elections and mandates. However the execution of electoral mandates reveal leadership styles as well as the personality and priorities of elected leaders in any environment which we shall assume will be a peaceful one as elections cannot be conducted in an atmosphere of war and violence.

    An aberration occurred in this regard in Syria when the Syrian President Bashar Assad was elected or returned as President but that is not the type of election we are talking about as the carnage in Aleppo and the bombings and failed evacuations of civilians still show that Syria is a nation needing serious humanitarian aid and help rather than elections or mandates for its leader.

    Even as far back as in Ancient Athens the mother of democracy, Herodotus, the father of History was credited with saying that it is in the interest of nations and leaders to seek peace because during peace sons bury their fathers but during wars fathers bury their sons.

    The world has since survived several historical wars including two World Wars and the scourge of 9/11 in 2001 culminating in the present war on terrorism and the bloody emergence of ISIS, Islamic militancy leading to the biggest migration in history of migrants fleeing wars desperately in Syria, Afghanistan on the Mediterranean Sea, en route to safety in Europe.

    The existence of the Gold Star Families in the US, the sight of the Turkish boy thrown dead ashore, and the little stunned bloodied boy in Aleppo shown world wide illustrate vividly demonstrate the old Athenian wisdom that during wars fathers bury their sons.

    This was rampant during the Obama tenure now starkly replaced by a Trump victory that was won because it roundly condemned the apathy and inaction of the Obama Administration on global security and peace. Indeed world trade and globalization as we know it today was predicated on the sound premise that when nations trade with each other then they are not likely to go to war.

    That also is the logic of our discussions of today’s topic as we look at events and happenings in the US, Russsia, Japan and our own Nigeria as well as the leadership styles and mandates of the leaders of these nations. In the US, President elect Donald Trump has nominated the CEO of Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson as the next US Secretary of State in his administration once he is sworn in on January 20, 2017.

    The leaders of Russia and Japan also met this week to sign trade and business deals between their two nations. In Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly lamented that army officers in his time had no time for improving their education but were more interested in coups and their careers. Just as the Nigerian Senate called on his Secretary to the Government of the Federation to resign over conflict of interest in managing the funds for the rehabilitation of the North East, recently destroyed by Boko Haram insurgency.

    Indeed the appointment of an oil boss as the next chief diplomat of the US fits the bill in connection with our earlier proposition that trade promotes peace and not war. This is because the Exxon Mobil boss is said to be chummy with the Russian strongman and president, Vladmir Putin. In fact he was shown on global TV this week at the time he received a Russian National Award from the Russian president.

    Again it was revealed that the Exxon Mobil boss was against the sanctions against Russia by the UN led by the US over Russia’s invasion of the Crimea in Ukraine recently.

    If you recall that Putin accused the US government of Barak Obama of trying to overthrow his government with the sanctions and the Russian government had become totally anti US in the Obama tenure of office, thereby threatening world peace with super power hostility, you can really see the prospect for global amity and diplomatic tranquility when the Russian president receives his friend and well known acquaintance Rex Tillerson as the next US Secretary of State .

    Certainly that would be a far cry from the frosty relations and repulsive receptions that Hillary Clinton and her boss received from Moscow during Hillary’s tenure as American Secretary of State. Again American oil business will be in big business as Russia is the largest exporter of oil and recently built the longest oil pipeline in the world to China at the height of its mistrust of the Obama Administration foreign policy. Certainly the US and Russia are about to show the world that peace thrives when leaders have respect and admiration for each other and this is surely good for global peace, trade and development.

    The Russian President was also in Nagato, the home town of Japan’s leader Shinzo Abe in Japan to find a way of putting the hostile effects of the last two world wars behind the two nations . Russia and Japan have a running bitter dispute over the ownership of four Islands called the Akril Islands in the Pacific and President Putin has recently promised to put the dispute he called an anachronism behind them. It is envisaged that this will cede some control of the Islands to Japan in the interest of peace while Putin will also attend trade confabs with the Japanese and other Asian nations to cement and promote business deals between the nations attending.

    A great day also for peace and trade between these world leaders as they consummate their election mandates for the progress of their nations. Let us round up with Nigeria where the political terrain is not only different but uniquely difficult. While there are known mafia groups in Russia and Japan they are famed for crime in the pursuit of business and profits and they are known as criminal political networks but they know their limits and do not subvert the state.

    In Nigeria the situation is different. Elected and appointed politicians and public servants have looted the state and the Nigerian nation to a state of economic stupor such that our popularly elected president confessed he wanted to bolt from office once he saw first hand the level of corruption facing his office and nation. Luckily he realized that nature abhors a political vacuum and that in a presidential system we have created for ourselves, the buck stops on his table .Unfortunately however, it would seem the hangover of that first scare to bolt has not entirely disappeared.

    This is because the government has been focusing mainly on the war on corruption such that the Senate is taking the initiative in challenging the government on non performance as the Senate President did when the Senate President told the President who came to present his budget that there is hardship in the land. According to reports the Senate President told the President – ‘the feedback we get from our visits to our constituencies is that there is hardship in the land. We can see it. We can feel it ‘.

    Coming from a senate whose members earn several millions to service their constituencies which they hardly see or visit, this is a vintage example of shedding crocodile tears on behalf of Nigerian suffering masses. Yet it is still a welcome antidote or stimulant if it can and should make Mr President to recover from that initial impulse to flee from power and go into real action to take this famed and notorious recession that has brought our nation’s democracy and government to a stand still.

    The Nigerian president can do this by acting first on the accusation against the SGF on being involved with one of the companies handling war relief supplies in the North East of the nation. While one must admit that there is no love lost between the Senate and the Executive arm of government there must be an investigation of the allegations against the SGF in the interest of fair play and accountability, if only to show that there is no sacred cow in the war against corruption the arrowhead of governmental achievement of this Administration so far. Once again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Mandates, credibility and duty

    At  long   last  the  Nigerian  Senate  had  its  way  when  the  Attorney  General  of the  Federation   and the Secretary  to the Government  finally  showed  up as demanded  by  the lawmakers to answer questions on the court cases of the Senate  President as well  as well  as some comments of the SGF on  some  expenditure  in the 2016  budget. Before  that the Senators  had  threatened  to  impeach the  President  himself  if  his  officials  failed  to  come to the Senate.

    In  the UK  where  a second  lady  Prime  Minister,   Theresa  May  emerged- after the Iron Lady  Margaret  Thatcher-the   First  Secretary  of    Scotland,  which  just  in  2014 voted in  a  referendum  to  stay in Britain said  the new British  PM  did  not  have  the mandate  of  Scotland to  implement Brexit  as she promised on coming to  office  as the new  UK, PM  this  week.  And  in  Dallas  at a memorial for 5  Police  officers killed  by a black  man who  reportedly  was  looking for  white police  officers because he believed they were killing blacks with  impunity, US  President  Barak  Obama   made  a speech  on race  relations that  should  earn  him a Nobel  Prize  on Peace,  and  mark his presidency  for  posterity,  if  he  had  not  been  hastily    given  that prestigious  award  in  undue  haste  at  the  start  of  his  presidency by  the wise  men  of  Oslo.

    These  three  events  then  form  the nucleus  of  our  discussion today. They  revolve  around  political  mandates  and the use  or  misuse  of  them. They  reek  of  leadership  traits in  actions  that  define the  quality  of  leadership and credibility  in  the  line  of  duty.  And  certainly  there  are  home  truths, and  hard  words  on display  aplenty  for  any  electorate  or  democracy  to  learn  from.  At  least      in   order    to   see or  avert  future  pitfalls  and unnecessary  threats to  the much  needed political  stability  and   tranquility  that  our  political systems  need   nowadays.   Especially    with regard   to  the realization  of  our  societal  goals  of  creating  progress, peace  and  prosperity  for  the global  community in  the many  nations  that  make up  our present  comity  of  nations.

    Starting  with the  visit  of  the  two  high  government  officials  to  the Senate one  does  not  know  whether  to  clap  for  the  Senators or weep  for  them on the kind  of  home truths  the two officials  told  them  on the matters on  discussion during the visit.  The  Attorney  General  told  the lawmakers that  he  could  not  comment  on  a case  in court  because  that  would  be subjudice     and  unethical  as he is the prosecutor  and the case files    are  before  the court. The  SGF  told  the legislators  that government  revenue  has  dwindled  by  50%  because  of falling  oil  prices and  government  will  have  to  scrutinize  and reexamine projects  to  fund  or  execute  in the approved  budget including  the  constituency  projects  of  the senators. This  is like  saying that  government  will  have  to cut its  coat according  to  its  cloth  and  present revenue.   Which  actually  is  just  plain  common  or  political  pragmatism.

    Actually  one should    be  bothered  that  it  required  the presence of these  two  officers  to tell  the  Senators  these  obvious  home truths. Anyway,  it  does  not  need  a political  scientist  or  these  two  key  government  officials  to  see  what  is  making  the senators  blind  to  what  is lost  in  plain  sight  to  them.  This    is because   Senate  is    said  to  be contemplating  constitutional  immunity    for   the   office  of  the Senate  President  even  as  the incumbent  is  facing  two  cases  being  prosecuted  by the  Attorney  General. Definitely  this senate  has exposed itself  to  charges of intimidation in  summoning the key    legal   officer  of  the nation prosecuting  the incumbent  of the office  of  Senate  President . Also  the senate  is tampering with  the rule  of law  and the  separation  of  powers  that  guide  and protect  our  democracy  and that was what  the AGF   told  them  so  bravely and  so  eloquently on his  visit . Really  it  was in  bad  taste  to  have  summoned  these    two  officials  on the issues  at  hand  and the senate  has  cut  a   rather  sorry  figure in  the public  domain  given  the hard  and incontrovertible  facts of governance, law  and order  that the two  officials  reeled  out  to    the   red  chamber  which   actually  received   tutorials  on  the occasions.

    To  a large  extent   then,  the issue  of  the execution  of a mandate  of  Brexit   by   the   new  British    PM   falls   into  a similar  excursion  into  the realms  of  hard  facts   and  home  truths. Very  similar  to  what the  two  high  government  officials  dropped  like  bombs  on our  senate. Scotland  on record in the referendum that  gave rise  to Brexit,  voted  to  remain  in the EU . Just as it  voted in 2014  to  remain  in  the UK.  Also  the new  PM was  for Remain  although  it is mandatory   and imperative   for  her to pursue Brexit  because  that  was  the wish  of the British  people  on  the relationship  with the EU. But  then two former  PMs  namely  Tony  Blair and John  Major  had  predicted  that Brexit  would divide  the UK because  Scotland  would  break  away.  That   really  is the  implication of the Scotland’s     First  Secretary  challenge  that  Scotland  did  not  give  the new PM the  mandate for  Brexit  as  she  has  claimed in terms  of execution  of the Brexit  victory  in  the  EU referendum.  In  effect then Scotland is asking  the new  PM who supported  Scotland’s Remain  vote not  to  be more  catholic  than  the  Pope  in  the implementation  of    Brexit.  The    alternative    therefore  is  to  allow Scotland  to  review  is  membership  of  the UK by  calling for  another referendum  so  soon after  the last  one in 2014. Which  really  is a  tall  order indeed in  terms    of  the  unity of  Great Britain.

    Meanwhile  there is no  denying  that a victim and culprit  of  the Brexit vote  is the new Foreign  Minister  Boris  Johnson  who was the arrow  head of  the Brexit  clamour which claimed  the referendum.  It  was  widely  thought  he  would be PM if  Brexit  won  but  the situation  has changed  such  that the acrimony that  greeted  the Brexit    result  meant  that  he had  to take  cover  and was indeed  lucky  to have  been  given  a cabinet  position.  Even  that  has not  gone well  in  European diplomatic  circles  as  both the French  and  German Foreign  Ministers  have  gone out of their way to  call  the new UK  Foreign  Minister  a serial   liar   given  his  vocal  and active role  in  the Brexit  campaign. It  will  be interesting  therefore    to see   how  the subsequent  and inevitable  diplomatic  meetings   between  the three  nations will  go   and  how  that  will  affect  EU  and  UK  relations  post  Brexit.

    Finally  we  shall  look  at the Obama speech  at  the Dallas  memorial  for the five slain policemen  killed  ostensibly by a black  man who said  he killed them  because  they  were  white  and white  policemen  had  been  killing  blacks. R  eally  President  Barak  Obama deserved  kudos  for  the home truths  he  drove  home on  the incident. He  asked  Americans to  open  their minds to  each  other  and change  the  hearts of stone fanning  racial  hatred  .  He  said  he  knows  what  is  happening  and he  sounded credible  and more  believable than  anyone  I have   heard   speak  on  racism . He  said  it  was a fact  of  life in the US  that  blacks  are  being  killed  more  than  any  other  race  but that is no excuse  for  killing  policemen  because  the police  is the  emblem  of  the rule of  law in any  democracy including  the US. He praised  the  Dallas Police  Department  and  the City  Mayor  but  he  also  weighed  in that something  needs  to  be done urgently  on  gun  control  which  has  become a major  campaign  issue  in the on  going  presidential  campaign  in  the  US.

    To  me  the  Dallas  Memorial   speech  should   define  the  Obama  presidency  as well  as his legacy. Rather  than  the gay  rights issue  which  he called  the major  achievement  of  his   administration. Although  his record  on  the international  scene  is  dismal  as  he  has served  as a president with  no  stomach  for  confrontation  and  the use  of  force  to resolve international   issues. Opting  most  times  for dialogue  and  diplomacy   But  it  was  clear  that on  race  issues   that   he was a very  competent  high  priest  of tolerance and  respect  for  human  dignity in racial  relations. That  is a good  legacy  for Hillary  Clinton  to  campaign  on  if  she wants  to  succeed  him  as the next  president  of  the US.  Not  a foreign  policy  that spawned Islamic  State and made  Russia  take over  Syria from  where  the  largest  migration of people fleeing  war  in  history  was  created.

    Let  me end  by dedicating this  piece to  the  15th  of  July  which  was my  birthday. Once  again  long  live the  Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Stolen mandates

    Stolen mandates

    Moseyn Ekiw is all smiles. He is in his tastefully-furnished sitting room. A bottle of Louis XIII wine, which costs at least £5,000 or some ?1,500,000, stands majestically on a side stool. A portion of it is in a golden tumbler in his left hand. He sips from it from time to time and each time he does that, his eyes light up in a manner suggesting: this is the life!

    It is 6am. The crowd will soon start trooping in. Since his status changed to governor-elect of Waters State, the crowd in and outside his compound has increased. They troop in as early as 7am. He knows that many of them are with him because of what they can get and not because they love him.

    His gold edition of Thuraya phone soon starts beeping. The man on the other end is Modu Leunamme, the governor-elect of Abasi Ibom State. Ekiw picks the call and screams: “My brother.”

    “Good morning, bros,” Leunamme, a former bank top executive drafted into politics by the outgoing governor of Abasi Ibom State, replies.

    “Hope all is well? This one that you are calling me this early…”

    “I am calling so that we can discuss how things will be well.”

    “Okay, what is the problem?”

    “You know we share a common fate. We are both governors-elect and we know more than anybody else that we did not get the status on merit. It was through fraud. The elections that we claimed to have won, as international and local observers have observed, were sham. They were a rape of democracy. I can admit that before you, but outside I will defend it and hide my shame…”

    Ekiw cuts in: “ I agree with you my brother, but it is not strange in our region. We had always written the results of elections in private homes. VIPs’ guest houses have always served us as collation centres and if we had done anything contrary, these men sweeping everywhere in the country with broom would have taken over our states. That is the only weapon we have and we must guard it jealously…”

    “My point exactly. These change people will not take it lightly with us. They sure will go to court and challenge the results of the elections that brought you and me to power. We need to think fast. Assemble a team of lawyers— senior advocates— and get them to tell us what we need to do to keep these mandates that we stole…”

    “You know each time I hear senior advocates, my heat skips. Those guys can drain you all in the name of defending you and when they know you are desperate like us, they are more daring. I will use them but I will also use another strategy…”

    “And what will that be?” Leunamme asks.

    “All the ex-militants in this state are in my hand. I used them during the elections and I will use them in the struggle to keep this seat.  I will not give up without a fight and even if I will be sent away one day, I will make sure I find a way to drag this thing for at least one year. If the tribunal rules in their favour, I will appeal. If the appeal rules in their favour, I will approach the Supreme Court and why I am doing that, I will be scaring them with the militants…”

    “ How will you use the militants effectively when by that time the change people would have taken over at the centre? You know we were able to use the security agents at the state level because we still control the centre. All that stops on May 29 and I know that these change people will go all out to equip the security to effectively cow your militants.”

    There is silence for some seconds.

    “ My brother, you know I really did not think very well about what you just pointed out. But we will cross the bridge when we get there. I will not leave without putting up a fight. I will fight till the last and also see how to rally the people around me. I know it will not be easy, especially with the stupid reports from those foreign observers. Those people are stupid. Why can’t they just mind their business? This is our region’s brand of democracy and we have always done it like this. Even Timiro got his second term through a similar manner. You know the Supreme Court gave him his first term without election.”

    “ I will like you to come to Uyo on Sunday. I want to have a thanksgiving service…”

    “ I can’t make it. I am also having a second thanksgiving on Sunday and aside that I plan to visit some big churches here to plead with the people to accept the outcome of the poll…”

    “But you had one thanksgiving the day you were declared?”

    “My brother, one thanksgiving service is not enough in this special circumstance…”

    “I was just shaking my head when I heard you making promises about not prosecuting anybody and saying people should believe you because you were talking before men of God…”

    “Why were you shaking your head?”

    “Because I know you were only making a political statement and dragging men of God into it. You the ruthless one. God sure is gentle. If He were a man, He would have struck you dead right there.”

    The duo burst into laughter.

    “ We need to keep comparing notes from time to time,” says Ekiw,” the people who helped us to steal these mandates would be out of power by May 29. So, we will be on our own. There will be little they can do for us at that stage. We have to be our own men.”

    “ I agree with you.”

    “Thanks for calling my brother,” Ekiw says as he drops the phone.

    The time is now 6.45am. The crowd will soon start building up. His first comes down and sits by him.

    “Good morning darling,” she says.

    “Morning honey,” he replies

    “Goodluck charm has brought us this far. How further can it take us? I am afraid of disgrace after a few months in power…”

    “ Don’t worry, I will work out how we will keep the mandate…”

    “ The way the mandate was stolen was too brazen and with the foreign observers saying what they are saying, I am afraid. The people we are up against will be in control at the centre then. There will be no Goodluck charm again.”

    Ekiw’s phone gives a signal that a text message just comes in. He reads it: “Congrats your Excellency, I will be willing to serve in your cabinet. Prof Nelson Ipadibo.”

    He shows it to his wife and she hisses.

    “ Dear, we have come a long way. At a point, I told people it would be wrong of me to want to be governor because I am from the same ethnic stock with the outgoing governor. At a point, I was drafted into the race. At another point, I was almost dropped because of the sentiment that the People on Water should take the next shot. Then I thought of taking a UNICEF job in Paris and relocating. Then the Goodluck charm was promised me again after some political moves on my path. I had to fight men within Umbrella Peoples Party (UPP) to get the ticket. Thanks to the Goodluck charm. Even you did not believe the Goodluck charm was capable of making me governor. You said so to me a couple of times.  Even traditional rulers ganged up against me, but Goodluck charm proved potent. Now, I am governor-elect and on May 29, I will be sworn-in as governor. You can see I have gone too far to give up just anyhow. I will fight to keep this mandate. Let them call it stolen or not, I don’t give a damn. Mandates have always been stolen in our geo-political zone.”

    He hugs his wife and they both cling to each other for some time. As far as he is concerned, an era has ended and a new one is beginning. He vows to take it one step at a time.

     

  • Mandates, strikes and negotiations

    THE Federal government’s threat to sack striking members of ASUU and the digging in , of members of the union , in distributing food stuffs to its members in anticipation of government sack, are two sides of the same coin to me. Both are extreme actions just as alarming as the Boko Haram invasion of Maiduguri that had the Governor of the state wailing that no matter what, Boko Haram will not succeed in driving the people of Borno out of their land. It is my candid opinion that both the Federal government and ASUU want Nigerians to lament like the Borno state governor, before they realise that they are not at war, but are expected to oversee and manage university education in Nigeria, no matter the odds in their way in making a success of that assignment. The FGN and ASUU have no mandate to close down the University system in Nigeria for what ever reason .It follows therefore that Government’s insistence that it had deposited 200bn naira for ASUU in the CBN and ASUU’s food distribution to its members as if in anticipation of a long drought in Nigeria cannot hold water. Why I think along this line is what I intend to say here today, no matter whose horse is gored. I start with a conceptual analysis of mandates , strikes and negotiations with regard to both government and ASUU and proceed to draw conclusions in the light of the performance of both in the Nigerian context. Let me state that I have assumed that both antagonists have lost sight of the clear and ordinary meaning of these terms, or else they would not have reached the present unbelievable impasse and socially debilitating imbroglio. This is inspite of the ivory tower erudition, knowledge and expertise available to ASUU on one side, and the huge resources and experience in terms of helicopter view and huge responsibility expected of government in ensuring that the future of Nigerian youths and education are not derailed by any group of people in Nigeria. On mandates , the responsibilities of both parties are clear. The Federal government has the political mandate to rule Nigeria according to its rules and regulations, as stated in the Nigerian constitution. It is the FGN’s mandate to maintain stability and law and order and to prepare an enabling environment for all institutions to thrive and achieve the objectives for which they were set up. It is the contention of ASUU that the FGN has failed in its mandate to provide the enabling environment for members of ASUU to teach in the universities. But then what is the mandate of ASUU? The mandate of ASUU, as with that of any industrial union , is to look after the interests and welfare of its members . The union went on strike because it accused the FGN of not living up to its mandate of providing infrastructure for the lecturers to teach in a conducive environment in the universities. But then a conducive environment is relative and while certain provisions and conditions are basic, the enabling environment depends on the resources available to government as expected of any employer. No where in the world will employees dictate the type and quality of facilities the employer must provide for them to perform their functions. Similarly if employees see that their employer has the means to provide the wherewithal for them to function optimally, but is indulgent on wasteful spending on other non productive ventures, they can proceed to call the employer to order through a strike as ASUU has done to the FGN. Yet a strike is an instrument of negotiation to call employers to order within a given period. When a strike is ad infinitum then it becomes a weapon of war of attrition, as it is being used by ASUU for now. In European history it was Attila the Hun on invading the ancient Roman Empire who famously said that – ‘ there where I have passed, the grass will not grow again’. I hope this is not the motto of ASUU on university education in Nigeria given their fight to finish approach to their demands on the Federal government and the insistence to be paid arrears before resuming. Similarly I hope the FGN is not being advised by modern Attilas who do not give a dime about university education in Nigeria as they got their appointments in Nigeria because they went to the best universities overseas. Such government advisers should be reminded that ASUU has better qualified products in its ranks who went to ivy league universities overseas and there was no need for the apparent contempt and arrogance with which these government officials have handled negotiations with ASUU on the present impasse. It is my candid opinion that both government and ASUU should always leave opportunities for negotiations open and unending. This is to allow for new ways at looking at issues and reolving them instead of issuing deadlines and ultimatums which lead to confrontations , and recriminations. This is especially necessary as ASUU is fighting for the future of our youths which is entwined in such youths getting the best education in our universities here in Nigeria rather than overseas. The FGN too has to be seen as living up to its mandate and willing to fund education. A nation whose legislators are about the highest paid in the world becomes a laughing stock of the international community when its universities are shut for years, because those teaching there are on strike because they dont have facilities to teach their students. That really is a massive shame on all Nigerians and not only the FGN. Perhaps a story on an ancient feud can still move either the government and ASUU to resume negotiations and open the universities for teaching of students as expected. It is the story of Sultan Saladin the Muslim ruler of the Middle East during the Middle Ages who resisted European Christian warriors and Kings sent by the Pope during the Crusades to capture the Holy sites in the bible in the area . Richard the Lion Heart was a prominent English king who had several battles with Saladin and both grew to respect each other’s fighting skills and prowess. According to the story, Richard had an illness peculiar to the area and could not lead his men against Saladin who asked captured soldiers of Richard where their leader was. On being told he was sick Saladin sent medicine to his foe who took it in good faith, in spite of the forebodings of his aides, and was healed and the two leaders continued their gallant battles, now the legend of history . Both government and ASUU leaders have a lesson to learn from this story in terms of trust and mutual respect. These are the basic basis of negotiations both ancient and modern . In addition, the leaders of Boko Haram should be reminded of the gallantry and heroism of Saladin who cured a Christian king with whom he was at war. Boko Haram’s burning of churches and mosques and the slaughtering of human beings is against every thing, especially the peace that Islam stands for, and should be condemned by all right thinking people all over the world. More importantly it is necessary to remind actors on the industrial relations divide of this ASUU strike that no nation enjoys stability while it youths are idle and unemployed because of crisis in its teaching or education sector. The US, UK and Western Europe from where our present crop of leaders got their glittering array of degrees that have landed them their plomb jobs placed a premium on education and devoted a massive chunk of their state financial resources to develop their universities. That is why we have today the high technologies and communications facilities that have improved the lot of mankind globally today. These nations did not cut corners to give edication to their youths and they never had the sort of money Nigerian leaders are managing and mismanaging today at the expense of the larger Nigerian society especially our youths who are willy nilly the future of this great nation. Without mincing words the way out is for the FGN to review the sack order in the interest of the Nigerian students and undergraduates. For ASUU it should pull back from the brink and ask its members to resume work while it negotiates the payment of arrears. Industrial relations is always work in progress and gains should be gradual and beneficial to all parties and not treated like a once and for all bounty of war. Anything short of this is like saying like the French– apres moi la deluge –which is, after me, destruction- to which I say – God forbid As this piece was ending the news of the death of the great Nelson Mandela broke and old as he was at 95 the news broke the heart of millions all over the world and not only in S.Africa. We mourn Mandela but we shall find time later to pay homage to the global symbol of freedom, dignity and accomodation. For now we urge the FGN and ASUU to pay tribute to Mandela’s memory and Nigeria’s immense contribution against apartheid which led to Mandela’s freedom from Robben Island after 27 years of incarceration. Mandela suffered in prison but came out of it unembitterd. He drew his enemies to himself in reconciliation and did not keep his friends far behind. His life and leadership was a lesson in perpetual negotiation and accommodation that created the beautiful rainbow nation that has survived him. ASUU and the FGN can raise their act to a higher positive level by borrowing a leaf from the book of the departed icon of human dignity and accommodation. It is not too much of an act to follow. Even in Nigeria. Amen