The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ‘Nigerian leaders

  • Nigerian leaders urged on developmental legacy

    Nigerian leaders, both political and religious, have been urged to use their esteemed positions in the community to bequeathe a legacy that would aid the development of the society during and after their life time.

    Throwing the challenge was an Islamic scholar and Chief Imam of Afanta Central Mosque, Oshogbo, Sheikh Abdul-Wahab Banni while delivering a lecture at this year’s grand finale of the Mouludi Nabiyyi of the Shababul Faydatul Ibrahimiyyah Society of Nigeria at Igbaye, Odo-Otin Local Government, Osun State.

    According to the cleric, the attitudes, behaviour and body languages of leaders must be the type that lead to positive attitudinal change.

    That, he said, would make the society better than they met it.

    “Posterity would only be kind to the political and religious leaders whose preaching and behaviours guarantee progress and development of the society,” Sheikh Banni said.

    Founder and Spiritual Leader of the organisation, Sheikh Muhammadu Mudathiru Sulayman Ciesse, said the theme of this year’s 35th anniversary event, tagged: “Igbaye 2019” was positive behavioural change for the progress of the community.

    According to him, if the leaders, who are to serve as role models, mentors and mirrors to the society lead with the fear of God, the society would graduate from good to better and best rather than moving from bad to worst.

    The event was attended by dignitaries from South Africa, United Kingdom, United State, Senegal, The Republic of Benin among other nations of the world.

  • Kaduna community protests incessant kidnapping

    Residents of ‎Nariya Community, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis on Sunday came out in large number to protest against the kidnapping of two pregnant women, three others in the area.

    The protesters blocked the busy Nnamdi Azikwe Express Way (Western Bypass) Sunday morning to demonstrate their anger.

    The protesters said kidnapping has now become a daily routine in the community as kidnappers operate with impunity in the area.

    The Nation gathered that, the protest was prompted as two pregnant women and three men were abducted in their respective houses around 2:00am on Sunday.

    Read also: Gunmen kill female foreign tourist, three others in Kaduna

    One of the protesters who does not want his name in the print said, he saw the kidnappers with guns.

    “I saw them with guns because they attacked my neighbours house and took away two pregnant women, other women from another house and a man. We are tired of kidnappers operating freely in the community.

    “We are only blocking the road to drew the attention of the government on our plight. We want the governor to come to our aid” he said.

    The road has however been cleared as the protesters were dispersed by men of the Nigeria Police.

  • Nigerian leaders should emulate Ayade, says Turaki

    PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant Tanimu Turaki has said leaders should emulate Cross River State Governor Ben Ayade for his sustainable peace, agricultural revolution, industrialisation and good leadership style.

    Turaki spoke when he led his campaign team to the Government House, Calabar, on Monday as part of his consultation with delegates and stakeholders.

    The aspirant, who noted that Cross River is his 26th state to visit: “I am very proud of you and we are very proud of what you are doing in Cross River. Today, you are the pride of PDP in Nigeria and what you are doing shows that there can never be a substitute for knowledge and education.”

    He assured Ayade that “we will continue to take a lot of inspiration in your kind of leadership because it has worked for Cross River and there is no reason why it can not work for Nigeria,” adding that “we will pray for God to strengthen you with wisdom, strength and humility, even as we impress on other PDP leaders to emulate you and do what you have continued to do in Cross River.”

    Turaki who explained that agriculture has been revolutionised in Cross River, which is the only state practising  precision agriculture, remarked: “It’s been knowledge-driven, you plant at the commencement of the planning, you know what amount of fertiliser you need, the type of fertiliser, amount of water and sunshine that you need in a manner to get a bountiful harvest, that is what Ayade has brought here.”

    Turaki, who argued that there is peace in Cross River because the rule of law work, hinted that “we need a person that has the intelligence, credibility, knowledge, exposure, peaceful, a bridge builder and healthy like you (Ayade) and that is why you have been working 26 hours a day. I don’t know where you get the additional two hours. It is because you are young and dynamic, that is why you have been able to bring dynamism in Cross River.”

    On his blueprint if he wins the Presidency, Turaki said he would implement the presidential committee report on dialogue, rejig the economy, rebuild decayed and decaying infrastructure as well as create jobs.

    Ayade stressed the need for the aspirant to focus on the 13 per cent derivation, which is denied the state, the spill over of 14,000 Cameroonians in Cross River threatening security, the devastating effect of the state economy due to loss of oil wells, and dwindling federal allocation, if he becomes the president.

    clinch the office.

    The governor who prayed for the unity of the nation to remain critical in his administration said: “The subject of restructuring along the different philosophies that exist remains critical as Nigeria moves forward,” pointing out that, “it creates opportunity for people to turn round and look at what they have got. It also allows the states to explore to the best of their abilities all their resources within the dictates of federal law and to explore their resources particularly those that are time sensitive and may soon be old-fashioned.”

     

     

     

  • We are greater together than being apart, says Osinbajo

    We are greater together than being apart, says Osinbajo

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said that Nigeria as a nation is greater together than being apart.

    He made the statement in Abuja at the colloquium on “Biafra: 50 years after’’ organized by the Yar’ Adua Foundation at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja.

    Osinbajo also harped on the need for Nigerian leaders to give the younger generation the vision on a pathway to unity in diversity.

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said “As we reflect on this event today, we must ask ourselves the same question that many who have fought or been victims in civil wars, wars between brothers and sisters ask in moments of reflection….“what if we had spent all the resources, time and sacrifice we put into the war, into trying to forge unity? What if we had decided not to seek to avenge a wrong done to us? What if we had chosen to overcome evil with good?’’

    “The truth is that the spilling of blood in dispute is hardly ever worth the losses. Of the fallouts of bitter wars is the anger that can so easily be rekindled by those who for good or ill want to resuscitate the fire. Today some are suggesting that we must go back to the ethnic nationalities from which Nigeria was formed. They say that secession is the answer to the charges of marginalization.

    “They argue that separation from the Nigerian State will ultimately result in successful smaller States. They argue eloquently, I might add that Nigeria is a colonial contraption that cannot endure.

    “This is also the sum and substance of the agitation for Biafra. The campaign is often bitter and vitriolic, and has sometimes degenerated to fatal violence. Brothers and sisters permit me to differ and to suggest that we’re greater together than apart.

    “No country is perfect; around the world we have seen and continue to see expressions of intra-national discontent. Indeed, not many Nigerians seem to know that the oft-quoted line about Nigeria being a “mere geographical expression” originally applied to Italy.

    “It was the German statesman Klemens von Metternich who dismissively summed up Italy as a mere geographical expression exactly a century before Nigeria came into being as a country. From Spain to Belgium to the United Kingdom and even the United States of America, you will find many today who will venture to make similar arguments about their countries. But they have remained together.

    “The truth is that many, if not most nations of the world are made up of different peoples and cultures and beliefs and religions, who find themselves thrown together by circumstance. Nations are indeed made up of many nations. The most successful of the nations of the world are those who do not fall into the lure of secession. But who through thick and thin forge unity in diversity.

    “Nigeria is no different; we are, not three, but more like three hundred or so ethnic groups within the same geographical space, presented with a great opportunity to combine all our strengths into a nation that is truly, to borrow an expression, more than the sum of its parts.” he said

    According to him, research has shown that groups that score high on diversity turn out to be more innovative than less diverse ones.

    He added “There’s also research showing that companies that place a premium on creating diverse workplaces do better financially than those who do not. This applies to countries just as much as it does to companies.

    “The United States is a great example, bringing together an impressively diverse cast of people together to consistently accomplish world-conquering economic, military and scientific feats.

    “It is possible in Nigeria as well. Instead of trying to flee into the lazy comfort of homogeneity every time we’re faced with the frustrations of living together as countrymen and women, the more beneficial way for us individually and collectively is actually to apply the effort and the patience to understand one another and to progressively aspire to create one nation bound in freedom, in peace and in unity.

    “That, in a sense, should be the Nigerian Dream – the enthusiasm to create a country that provides reasons for its citizens to believe in it, a country that does not discriminate, or marginalize in any way.

    “We are not there yet, but I believe we have a strong chance to advance in that direction. But that will not happen if we allow our frustrations and grievances to transmute into hatred. It will not happen if we see the media – television and radio and print and especially social media – as platforms for the propagation of hateful and divisive rhetoric. No one stands to benefit from a stance like that; we will all emerge as losers.”

    He stressed that Nigeria’s strength is in her diversity.

    “That we are greater together than apart. Imagine for a moment that an enterprising young man from Aba had to apply for a visa to travel to Kano to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams, or that a young woman from Abeokuta had to fill immigration forms and await a verdict in order to attend her best friend’s wedding in Umuahia.

    “Nigeria would be a much less colourful, much less interesting space, were that the case. Our frustrations with some who speak a different dialect or belong to a different religion must not drive us to forget many of the same tribe and faith of our adversaries who have shown true affection for us.

    “My God-son is Somkele Awakalu, his father Awa Kalu, SAN, and I taught at the University of Lagos. My first book was dedicated to Somkele and my two other God-children. Chief Emmanuel Dimike is almost 80, he was my father’s friend and business associate in his sawmills in Lagos. Chief has been like a father. I see him most Sundays; he worships with me at the chapel.

    “The individual affections and friendships we forge some even deeper than family ties, must remind us that unity is possible, that brotherhood across tribes and faiths is possible.

    “Let me make it clear that I fully believe that Nigerians should exercise to the fullest extent the right to discuss or debate the terms of our existence. Debate and disagreement are fundamental aspects of democracy. We recognize and acknowledge that necessity.

    “And today’s event is along those lines – an opportunity not merely to commemorate the past, but also to dissect and debate it. Let’s ask ourselves tough questions about the path that has led us here, and how we might transform yesterday’s actions into tomorrow’s wisdom.

    “Indeed our argument is not and will never be that we should ‘forget the past’, or ‘let bygones be bygones’, as some have suggested. Chinua Achebe repeatedly reminded us of the Igbo saying that a man who cannot tell where the rain began to beat him cannot know where he dried his body. If we lose the past, we will inevitably lose the opportunity to make the best of the present and the future.

    “In an interview years ago, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, explaining why he didn’t think a second Biafran War should happen, said: “We should have learnt from that first one, otherwise the deaths would have been to no avail; it would all have been in vain.”

    “We should also be careful that we do not focus exclusively on the narratives of division, at the expense of the uplifting and inspiring ones. The same social media that has come under much censure for its propensity to propagate division has also allowed multitudes of young Nigerians to see more of the sights and sounds of their country than ever before.

    “And for every young Nigerian who sees the Internet as an avenue for spewing ethnic hatred, there is another young Nigerian who is falling in love or doing business across ethnic and cultural lines; a young Nigerian who looks back on his or her NYSC year in unfamiliar territory as one of the valued highlights of their lifetime. These stories need to be told as well. They are the stories that remind us that the journey to nationhood is not an event but a process, filled as with life itself with experiences some bitter, some sweet. The most remarkable attribute of that process is that a succeeding generation does not need to bear the prejudices and failures of the past.

    “Every new generation can take a different and more ennobling route than its predecessors. But the greatest responsibility today lies on the leadership of our country. Especially but not only political leadership.

    “The promise of our constitution which we have sworn to uphold is that we would ensure a secure, and safe environment for our people to live, and work in peace, that we would provide just and fair institutions of justice. That we would not permit or encourage discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, beliefs or other parochial considerations. That we would build a nation where no one is oppressed and none is left behind.

    “These are the standards to which we must hold our leadership. We must not permit our leaders the easy but dangerous rhetoric of blaming our social and economic conditions on our coming together. It is their duty to give us a vision a pathway to make our unity in diversity even more perfect,” he stated.

     

  • Executive/Legislature face-off: Cardinal Okogie slams Nigerian leaders

    Worried by the current face-off between the Executive and the Legislative arms of Federal Government, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, has urged the country’s leaders to put the interest of the citizenry above personal interests.

    Okogie said the executive and legislative arms should come together and work for the development of the nation.

    According to the cardinal, the leaders must assume the responsibility of governance by securing the land from those he called armed robbers, kidnappers and herdsmen.

    “Our politicians are busy fighting one another, exchanging blows in the hallowed chambers of legislation, resorting to character assassination.

    “Our law enforcement institutions have been turned into their arsenal in this battle of the sanctimonious; the executive accuses the legislature of corruption and vice versa.

    “Both parties in the conflict pretend to be fighting for us, they are fighting to guard the “trophy” they won at the last election while preparing to retain the same trophy in the next election.

    “They are so busy fighting that they have no time to work for our security. Their sterile conflict is, in fact, prejudicial to our security.

    “Their negligence of duty, their tantrums, their failure to be transparent and accountable with very few exceptions, point to the fact that they are part of the equation of insecurity in our country,’’ Okogie said in a statement.

    Okogie called on political leaders to provide infrastructure and adequate security for the citizens.

    He noted:“Our leaders are well protected, but we the citizens are not. Political leaders who cannot provide security are a total failure.

    “Almost six decades after independence, almost 70 years after the establishment of Nigeria’s premier University of Ibadan, we still have to rely on medical tourism.

    “But how many poor Nigerians can afford to spend one day in a hospital overseas. How many can afford to be away from their work for three months.

    “But Nigerians have the capacity to run good hospitals. All we just need is a leadership that enables, not one that disables.

    “They receive the perks of office in a land where workers have gone unpaid for months, government does not serve Nigerians and the public servant does not serve the public.”

    Okogie called on Nigerians to be responsible in the business of protecting and safeguarding their own lives and property.

    “Does the life of the Nigerians have any value. If it does, can it be truly said that Nigerians appreciate the value of life. The questions are meant for all of us.

    “We all have to take responsibility for the protection of lives and property of the citizens in this country. We live in clear and present danger.

    “We are not safe when we are at home, neither are we safe away from home.

    “Life runs the risk of being cut short by armed robbers, kidnappers, dangerous drivers driving on dangerous roads, driving cars that are dangerous for transportation.

    “When we thought we were gaining the upper hand in the battle with Boko Haram, violent herdsmen stare at our helpless faces,”  said the retired catholic archbishop.

    While reminding leaders that one day they would give account of their stewardship to God, who made them leaders, Okogie pointed out: “One thing is clear: almost all our political leaders are either Christian or Muslim. The two religions teach that we shall one day account for our earthly stewardship.

    “Every leader will stand before the “Just Judge” (God) and account for the way he or she got into positions of authority and used the authority.

    “Propaganda in the print and electronic media will be of no assistance, lies told to get elected and falsehood peddled to remain in office will be of no value.”

  • What manner of men are Nigerian leaders?

    If military governments, dominated mostly by Northerners couldn’t make it happen, what abracadabra would these civilians use to inflict a fulsome Sharia over all Nigerians, Christians and animists alike?

    In thinking about how unlucky Nigeria has been with regards to its leadership, political and otherwise, I am easily reminded of her jealous British conquerors who, close to reluctantly granting her a flag independence, were reported to have sent a delegation to God to complain about how unfair He was to have so richly blessed the country with, not only abundant mineral resources, even in its very arid parts, but for also ensuring it has a near total absence of natural disasters. They were  further reported to have pointed God’s attention to places like the Philippines which, with only some gold and copper, lose thousands of her citizens annually to typhoons and other natural disasters while Nigeria boasts of all kinds of minerals, amongst them, crude oil, though that was long before it turned to oil doom.To further convince God of their charge, they observed that He did not even spare the United States of America, which  by the way, Americans themselves named after Him as ‘God’s own country’, with its  plethora of disasters; an example being Hurricane Matthew, that dangerous and destructive Category 4 storm which recently devastated large swathes of Florida and the Carolinas after killing not less than 280 in poor Haiti. On, and on they were reportedly going until God smiled broadly at them and asked them to wait a minute. Declared the Almighty, according to the story: “but can’t you see the type of leaders I gave them”? On hearing this, and after doing a quick recap of the Nigerian story, the Brits were said to have apologised and departed heaven.

    Apocryphal as it may sound, only a story like the above can rationally explain what Nigerians have been going through in the hands of its so-called leaders – both military and civilians, elected and rigged-in. They are now so giddy, after so rapaciously looting the entire Nigerian enterprise that as the following short stories will show, they could, very soon, calmly incinerate it in a major ethno-religious conflagration.

    CURRENT ATTEMPTS TO EXPAND CRIMINAL ASPECTS OF THE SHARIA NATIONWIDE

    Following the grotesque  machinations  of our ‘leaders’ in the House of Representatives – forget meanwhile about Hon Jibrin – the following Whatsapp message, heavily précis-ed for space  purposes, is what is trending in respect of the above topic:

    “Coverage of live proceedings of the House of Representatives as covered by NTA2 on 27th October,2016 revealed that the bill  for the extension of  the criminal aspects of Islamic Sharia law to be applied  throughout the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT passed the second reading  today, and though there are many Christians in the House, the Speaker inclusive, not a single one  of them raised an objection. According to the Speaker, the bill will now move to committee level where it will be discussed before the House would take a final decision. Though the 9 pm NTA Network News reported other proceedings of the House for that day, this one, like the Grazing Reserve bill before it, was completely blocked.

    What this means is that the bill to amend the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to make provision for the full implementation of Sharia Criminal law in both the Federal and states’ legal system has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives and no one is telling Nigerians anything about it. It is a no brainer to say that with the number of Northern members in the House, passing the bill is already a fait accompli. It also shows that Speaker Dogara’s May, 2016 claim that the report was the handiwork of people suffering from a ‘crass ignorance’ of the legislative process, is pure bunkum. Indeed, Bishop Matthew Kukah warned against this subterranean move only this past week.

    I need not do a rehash of all the efforts by the North to have this accomplished since the second Republic resulting, in the end, to the commonsensical agreement to have only the Sharia Personal Law allowed but certainly not the criminal aspects in the country’s constitution How, in seeking to make it applicable all over Nigeria, are these people different from Boko Haram elements whose chief motivating factor is to be ruled completely on the basis of the Sharia? Are these people, by any means, aware of countries like Lebanon, even Sudan which for decades have known no peace? If military governments, dominated mostly by Northerners couldn’t make it happen, what abracadabra would these civilians use to inflict a fulsome Sharia over all Nigerians, Christians and animists alike?

     I sincerely hope that President Muhammadu Buhari, a patriot of no mean order, will quickly move in to rein in those in the House of Representatives who will think nothing of incinerating Nigeria. I need not repeat that we presently have more than enough problems on our hands with Boko Haram and those down in the creeks, avenging electoral defeat, both of which have aggravated our economic problems.

    BISHOP MATTHEW KUKAH AND MAIKARFI PDP CHIEFTAINS VISIT EFCC DETAINEES

     Not many Nigerians would be surprised that the topmost echelon of the beleaguered Senator Makarfi wing of a rudderless PDP, intent on drawing attention away from their self-inflicted problem in Ondo State – they are the ones who, originally, went to beg Senator Modu Sheriff to come to Macedonia to help them – this past week went visiting the latest batch of their members detained in the EFCC cell in Abuja. Were these people self -respecting, they should have waited till those they claim are being  maliciously detained have  proved their innocence before going to celebrate them, even  if they had to wear Aso ebi  like their Lagos cousins did a while ago for one of their prized assets in the Southwest. But if one can pardon their gaffe, being Nigerian politicians, how do you begin to rationally explain the visit of Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, to those being held on charges of partaking in the squandering of huge sums of money; funds specifically appropriated for equipping the Nigerian armed forces involved in a duel to the death with a Boko Haram army that was armed with highly sophisticated arms smuggled in from Libya and other Maghreb countries? Had the Bishop sought advice, his attention would most probably have been drawn to the tens of thousands of soldiers, women and children who lost their lives as a consequence of that heinous misapplication not to mention the over two million Internally Displaced Persons some of who are being casually sexually abused on top of many other difficulties they experience on a daily basis.

    What he said on the occasion drew one of the best comments I have ever seen on contemporary political events. Writing on the Ekitipanupo web portal on the visit, a member recently commented: “Bishop Mathew Kukah may be right to assert that the incarceration of the trio of Rueben Abati, Femi Fani Kayode and Obanikoro is divinely ordained. Did the scriptures not say “behold I come quickly and my reward is with me; to recompense every man in accordance to his work”? Did the holy book not instruct us on the ways of the wicked and that “the way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble”. Do we therefore need further proof that their captivity is divine?

    Apart from the above can we ask why Bishop Kukah chose to visit the trio? Are they the only people being detained? The answer, of course, is NO.  Then, why these three? “God is patient, indeed, otherwise, there are some ‘men of God’ that God ought to have dealt with publicly and miraculously if only to serve as a warning to those that use His Holy Name profanely”

    I can, however, surmise the reasons for the visit: given Bishop Kukah’s love for President Jonathan and the government he ran, one  in which stealing was no corruption, not many Nigerians would be surprised that the bishop visited to solidarise with top guns of the ancien regime with whom he must have socialised during his trips to the Villa then. And by the way, what better method to cast in stone, that balderdash of the Buhari government’s anti-corruption war being a selective endeavour targeted at the opposition, than for a high profile clergy to visit some ‘selectively’ detained members of the opposition?

  • Govern with fear of God, Adeboye, Olaiya urge Nigerian leaders

    Govern with fear of God, Adeboye, Olaiya urge Nigerian leaders

    General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye and his Living Faith Foundation (LFF) counterpart, Reverend Joseph Adeolu Olaiya, Monday urged the Nigerian leaders to lead with fear of God.

    They were of the view that any leader that is ready to trail the path of God will not only lead successfully, but will imbue in followers, especially the younger generation, the courage to continue the good job wherever they stop.

    Pastor Adeboye, who was in Kaduna on one day visit to Rev’d Olaiya and members or his ministry, had earlier took his time to pray God to instill His divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding in the mind of Nigerian leaders in their varying capacities.

    In an interview shortly after the prayer, the host, Rev’d Olaiya, gave instance that all Kings that have ever ruled successfully, were those who rule with fear of God, hence the need for people in leadership to learn from good history.

    According to him, “what I will just advice our leaders is to work in the fear of God. Everyone knows what it is to fear God and good to understand that God is almighty. No matter how strong you think you are as a leader, God is stronger and powerful than you are and that is why if you want to succeed as a leader, fear God in all you do.”

    He further warned against oppressing the poor, “as leader, don’t oppress the downtrodden and the weak because you will be judged by him. His fear will restrain you so rule in the fear of God. The kings that rule successfully are the kings that rule in the fear of God.

    “Don’t take another man’s property because you are in position of authority.

    “Those of us who follow leadership should not follow them blindly. Let obey the authority. Let honour them except when they want to lead us to wrong path. For example when the US wanted us to sign a law approving homosexuality which is against the will of God, we were able to stood our ground because we have our conscience.

    “So, if a leader is walking in the right path, follow him. Sometimes as followers, we push our leaders to do something they don’t want to do. As a leader for example, I have seen pressure from followers. Sometimes, I just have to deny myself. You may not give me what I need, but I have to follow my conscience,” he stressed.

     

  • Nigerian leaders: A commitment to sharing

    This democracy has been a godfather-based one because in most states, the godfathers have been having their says and their ways while the people have been watching history being assaulted

    Clearly, there are many students of the Nigerian democratic project who have come to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with this country’s democratic experiment that removing her leadership will not fix. This is really pitiful when you consider that those leaders are actually supposed to drive the democracy project. But, honestly, what can one make of the sudden pronouncement by the president of the Federal (and democratic) Republic of Nigeria that his party’s governors could all have a second term, gratis? Seriously? I call it the largesse of good luck. Actually, if the president had been anything like the Ekiti state governor, I would have said, ‘hmm, there goes the bar-room talk’.

    Instead, I just thought, has the president forgotten that this is a democracy and it is not for him to make such decisions by word of mouth? Rather, it should be the group of nitwit, half-wit, impoverished and neglected ‘we the people’ who get to decide who goes for a second term and who is bombed by word of the election box. Indeed, he himself may even be bombed in that box. Nitwits do have their day, I tell you.

    Perhaps, the president did not really forget; perhaps he was just acting in the spirit of things. In the spirit of things in Nigeria, it is possible for the president to anoint anyone for anything. Perhaps, he anointed his governors because he was well pleased with them; perhaps he needed something from them; perhaps he was hoping they would anoint him in return, who knows? It is obvious though that these clever, cunning and extremely intelligent Nigerians called politicians have taken the ancient, time-honoured and world-renowned democratic process and twisted it inside out, turned it upside down and wrung its very soul out to bring forth what is called home-grown democracy. I hate the sound of that; it is when we want to be dubious that we talk of home-grown anything. You and I know that what we have been witnessing since 1999 cannot by any stretch of my feeble imagination be called democracy. It looks more like something brewed in hell’s kitchen by Satan and implemented by his faithful ones.

    My question then is this: if we knew from the beginning that we were going to run a home-grown democracy, why did we bother to send our nation’s lawmen across the seas to the Americas to go and learn how they do it there soooooooo many times? This is something that every state and even the central government did. One poverty-ridden state somewhere in the north or centre of this country was said to have sent its lawmen on nothing less than 74 trips! Why did we waste such a colossal amount of money making monkeys of ourselves around the world, parading our behinds for the world to see, all the while thinking we were learning about the ways of men? Oh, what meritorious goons we have been!

    I think we all agree, people, there has been very little resembling people-based democracy in what we have been doing since this experiment began again. Take a look. Have we not been witnessing the law being transformed from the people’s last defence to the people’s nothing? Have we not seen this dispensation blatantly disobey orders issuing forth from our collective common sense in several matters? Well, have we not? Don’t let me name names.

    Problem is, those we have sent to the centre (of states, of the nation, of the universe) to speak for us are largely silent because they are speechless, wordless and voiceless. Reason is simple. We have been having houses of parliament filled with officers who (s)elected (i.e. rigged) themselves or were (s)elected by their godfathers. We have also been having state governors installed by their (you guessed it) godfathers who have hovered over them more closely than their guardian angels. This democracy has been a godfather-based one because in most states, the godfathers have been having their says and their ways while the people have been watching history being assaulted left, right and centre.

    This is why it is possible for the president of this country to forget the people’s will in the matter of who wins or does not win a governorship or senatorial seat election. I hear reps and senators from that party are also demanding that the largesse of automatic second term be extended to them. That means no election on earth, no people’s will on earth, can replace them. Hurray!  Frankly, I think we should by-pass these assemblymen and vote in the godfathers. They are more knowing. And while we are on the matter, I would like to also obtain the president’s permission to go for a second term as the chief controller of my dog. He is somewhat heady and I am not too popular with him right now mainly because I have not been too kind to him. If he were to choose his controller through an election …

    There are results from all these disharmonious and freakish assaults to history. First, there is a strong tendency for ‘We the people,’ the ordinary Nigerians, to come to truly believe that this is democracy. This is so far from democracy that I cannot begin to measure the distance. We do not know exactly what is prompting Nigerian democracy to go the awkward way it is going. Some have put it down to money. They say things like there is so much money in the country and no one is asking anyone to give account of anything. Maybe. Some have put it down to power. They say things like someone has to decide who is called to ‘come and eat’ out of that money. Maybe.  Some have even put it down to destiny. They say things like Nigeria is not meant to survive because it is actually no man’s land. Honestly, I don’t know.

    What I do know is that someone, somewhere, is misdirecting this democracy for reasons best known to him/her and the people are acquiescing. Too many people are too glad to be invited to come and eat. Heck, half of Nigeria is waiting to be invited. Just look at the list of presidential and governors’ aides – simply endless; all doing ridiculous things and all earning ridiculous pays! This is the reason many claim that democracy is working. Again, I don’t know.

    Truth is, since the dawn of the country, there has been no leadership group that has not approached, with great gusto, the bungling of things and the deliberate sliding down of the country towards destruction. Truly, it appears clear to me that if the nation’s succession of leaders had purposely set out to derail the country, they could not have done it differently.

    One consequence of this kind of anointing is that Nigeria’s leaders are not committed to leadership for the developmental progress of the country. Allegiance to The One who anoints is thus of far more importance than allegiance to the people’s progress. After all, the people’s progress cannot put food on the table, send one’s children overseas or install one’s wife/husband in a comfortable flat or house in London.

    People, this is not the way to give this democracy a chance. This is the way to kill it using all known methods such as violent stabbing, strangulation, murder and poisoning. Oh yes, we are already doing all four. As it is now, our leaders are more committed to sharing posts, money, spoils of office, bank accounts, girlfriends, boyfriends, each other, etc., than in moving this country forward. I think we need to go back to the dictionary.

  • Nigerian leaders must change their ways

    SIR: the ongoing face-off between the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, over the budget and the state of the economy, is another repulsive scenario. The Committee had asked the Minister to furnish it with answers to a set of fifty questions which the minister obliged it (the committee). At the weekend, however, the Committee, through its Chairman, Honourable Abdulmumini Jibrin, rejected the minister’s response, insisting that “some questions were either not answered, partially answered, ignored or completely misunderstood”. Consequent upon this, the minister has been sent another set of fifty questions and mandated to appear before the committee for further questioning.

    This latest drama of the absurd is the ongoing fiasco involving the All Progressives Congress and the Federal Government in which the former justifiably directed its members in the National Assembly to filibuster on debate regarding the 2014 Appropriation Bill. These two scenarios are intimately related – half-truth is being presented to the public as the truth. Anyone who is familiar with the way members of the National Assembly, especially those of the lower house, have been conducting their affairs – particularly in regard to issues of finance – cannot fail to note that the ostensible purpose of the so-called fifty questions is for Nigeria to have a more robust economy but the real goal, one can make bold to say, is self-service. In a House where some of the members have, at various times in the past, been incriminated of ignoble financial crimes (remember Faruk Lawal?) and certificate forgery (remember Salisu Buhari?), and where there has never been probity and accountability in financial matters, what else does one expect but the present scenarios.

    There is something not quite right in the present face-off. In one’s considered opinion, rather than the honourable minister, it is actually members of the House of Representative Committee on Finance that have questions to answer. If these so-called Honourable men are people with their honours intact indeed, they need to demonstrate to Nigerians first why they have to be taken seriously, and this has to start with them telling us what they wish to achieve with these fifty questions. Yes, they have stated the purpose of these questions, but we know too that these questions raise issues that they themselves are also implicated in. He who comes to justice must come with clean hands, and he who leaves in glass house should throw no stones.

    While it is true that the minister is the coordinator of the economy, it is also true that she is not alone in ensuring that the economy does not go to the dogs. The House of Representatives, through its Committee on Finance, ought to realize that Nigerians are not fools and cannot be hoodwinked into shifting blames for the parlous state of the economy to the Finance Minister alone.

    How accountable are these men? How have they been expending the monies allocated to them for constituency projects and oversight functions? What can they say about the humongous amount being paid out to them every month in salaries and other emoluments, the bulk of which forms part of our recurrent expenditure? Can these men, in all honesty, wash themselves clean of the hushed allegation making the round that they routinely collect bribe in order to approve ministry budgets and other spending?

    More crucial than the above is the question of morality. Here is an assembly with a shameful record of infamy. We cannot forget too soon the case of Honourable Farouk Lawan. We cannot forget too soon that this is a House where members have been routinely implicated in sundry cases of bribery leading to aborted investigation into corruption charges. How, pray, can this House consider itself morally upright enough to ask the minister the so-called fifty questions. It is all too glaring that these so-called fifty questions and other matters arising therein are related to the current impasse in the House over the Appropriation Bill, and this is rather unfortunate considering the self-serving overtone of the whole affair.

    No nation can expect to be great if the leaders will always think that they can always pull the wool over the eyes of the citizenry. For sooner than later, it would be revealed that no matter for how long falsehood may have been travelling, it will take only a moment for the truth to catch up with it. A note of warning: Nigerians are watching. We are gearing up for a purge, and anyone caught in the vortex of our collective action will have only himself or herself to blame!

     

    • Issachar Odion, a Post-graduate student lives in Abuja.

  • ‘Nigerian leaders are corrupt’

    The Chief of Staff to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kayode Oladele, has said Nigeria is corrupt because the nation’s leaders convert the money for the people’s progress to personal use.

    The EFCC official noted that until the nation tackles corruption, the country would remain undeveloped and the basic amenities, which enhance good living, would remain elusive.

    Oladele spoke in Mushin, Lagos, at a summit organised by a voluntary politically-oriented organisation, the Egbe Alatunto.

    The Legal Adviser to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Muiz Banire, said Nigeria would become corruption-free when everyone sacrifices time, money and other actions for the nation’s freedom.