The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian

  • Nigerian equities soar by N905b in post-election optimism

    Nigerian equities soar by N905b in post-election optimism

    As President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) collected the certificate authenticating his victory as Nigerian president at the March 28 poll, Nigerian equities recorded its strongest rally this year yesterday as investors continued to scramble for Nigerian equities.

    With the flood of buy orders in the market dominated by foreign investors, market capitalization of Nigerian equities gained N904.5 billion to close at N11.620 trillion as against its opening value of N10.717 trillion. The benchmark index for the stock market, the All Share Index (ASI), indicated a day-on-day gain of 8.3 per cent as it surged by three steps to close at 34,380.14 points compared with its opening index of 31,744.82 points.

    The strong momentum raised optimism on the outlook for the Nigerian equities as the average year-to-date return, which has sustained double-digit negative return all through the year, nearly turned positive yesterday. Average year-to-date return closed at -0.8 per cent.

    Investors staked more than N10.9 billion on 881.58 million shares in 4,611 deals.

    Market pundits attributed the strong bullish performance to the success of the national election, the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as president and the statesmanship displayed by President Goodluck Jonathan in his concession.

    “The Nigerian stock market stretched its winning streak today on the heels of peaceful conduct of presidential elections. The subsequent announcement of Muhammadu Buhari as winner, with the incumbent conceding defeat also gave the market the needed strong impetus,” analysts at Sterling Capital Markets said.

    According to analysts, the current positive momentum may likely continue as market anticipates peaceful transition devoid of violence. The release of impressive score cards and dividend benefits may also act as catalyst to spur positive sentiments.

    “We expect the positive sentiment to continue as investors’ confidence returns to the market, even as the uncertainties in the polity appear doused,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    Analysts at GTI Securities said the recently concluded presidential election has restored confidence in the Nigerian capital market as investors hurry to take position of cheap stocks.

    Analysts at Exotix, a global investment firm, are placing buy sign on Nigerian stocks, noting that the political transition has enhanced the potential of Nigerian equities among the frontier markets.

    “We have advocated for some time a shift in favour of Nigeria for frontier portfolios, arguing that the litany of concerns are in such plain view that the capacity for negative surprise is low and that these concerns are arguably largely reflected in a trailing price to book multiple towards the low end of its five-year range,” Exotix stated in a review yesterday.

    There were only three losers against 65 gainers yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Nestle Nigeria topped the gainers’ list with a gain of N47 to close at N892 per share.

     

  • Nigerian leads global panel of health experts

    Nigerian leads global panel of health experts

    Laolu Osanyin, Nigerian, lawyer, has been appointed as the lead of the Global Panel of Health Law Experts by the American College of Legal Medicine.

    Osanyin’s appointment into the prestigious group was at the 55th Annual Conference of the American College of Legal Medicine at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas United States of America recently.

    Also appointed into the Global Panel of Health Law Experts was Prof Kate Diesfeld from New Zealand and Dr. Santosh kakade from India.

    Speaking as a guest speaker at the conference with the presentation of a paper titled: ‘The Development of Health Law in Nigeria- The Open Season of Malpractice Suits’, Osanyin opined that there is a new medicolegal environment in Nigeria, evidenced by the steady and consistent increase in petitions and litigations against Nigerian doctors.

    Some of the reasons alluded to this increase in patients awareness are the increase in literacy level amongst Nigerian patients and their families, medical tourism which allows patients to compare standards of treatment given in Nigeria with those rendered in other countries, the effectiveness of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, amongst other reasons.

    Mr. La-olu Osanyin is the Course Director of the Medicolegal Department of Medical Tutors Ltd which is accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria as a Continuous Professional Development Provider.  He also serves on the Editorial Board of Medical Malpractice Law Report published under the authority of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

  • The Yoruba and the impending Nigerian situation

    Nigeria’s presidential election campaigns of 2015 have developed into unprecedented confrontations. People holding extreme positions insist that their positions are irreconcilable, whip up the language of war, brutalize one another on the campaign trail, and accumulate sophisticated weapons for a final showdown. In the history of mankind, the accumulation of weapons has an almost irresistible logic and finale of its own: those who accumulate weapons almost always end up having to use them.

    Nigeria seems now to be about to reach the absolute bottom of the filthy slope that she has been descending determinedly and uncaringly since independence. Countless Nigerians at home and abroad, and countless citizens of a world that is increasingly worried about the impending disaster in Nigeria, have spoken, counseled, entreated and begged. But the captains who guide Nigeria have defiantly insisted on more concentration of power, and more concentration of resource-control and management – all in a country of heterogeneous nationalities. They are hurrying to construct more and more structures that are designed to minister to, and that do excite, the greed and other ignoble passions of man; they are designing more and more interference in, and pollution of, the basic processes of governance. For Nigeria, the hens are now about to come home to roost.

    I fear that those who are now beating the drums of war in Nigeria will soon stand condemned before the court of history for the rivers of blood they will soon cause to flow, for the families they will cause to lose loved ones, and for the mothers they will cause to weep for the loss of their children.

    As the feared storm gathers, Nigerian peoples will be hit in different ways. I have seen, and I have been part of the struggle through, many of Nigeria’s self- brewed storms since 1960, but I have never been as fearful as I am today for my Yoruba nation. By providence, history and culture, we Yoruba are a large and strong nation. By the time we were forced into Nigeria in 1914, we had had an enviable 1000 years of urban civilization, with a rich and sophisticated economy, and eminently well-structured, enabling and stable governance. We have therefore had, as a nation in a Nigeria of many nations, a lot to impart towards orderly, stable and successful governance. And in fairness, we can proudly say that we have done quite a lot – to persuade Nigeria to tread the path of orderliness, sustainable federal structure, modernization, and focused dedication of rulers to the improvement of the quality of Nigerians’ lives. In my younger years in Nigerian politics and government, my kinsmen and I used to serve with untainted pride, motivated by the realization that we had, as a nation, the duty to help our multi-nation country to walk in the path of decent governance. None of that has really worked – and Nigeria goes its own way towards its own destiny.

    But, at this critical juncture, I seem to perceive that my strong Yoruba nation is caving in to the deleterious afflictions of Nigeria, and appears to be becoming incapable of even holding itself together and defending its own. The sheep has kept the company of the dog too long. In all directions in our nation, weakness whimpers pathetically. The once glorious guides and guards of the 1000-year excellence of Yoruba political culture, disregarded and neglected by their own people of today, have abandoned the parapets. Service to the self reigns – with the result that the rich now say “I am poor”, and the strong say, “I am weak”, all because they all are unwilling to give towards the strength and dignity of their Yoruba nation. Little groups mushroom to march out, but nearly every one quickly degenerates into a self-serving cabal, builds a meaningless wall around itself, and then masquerades as too sanctified to touch, or to work with, any other group.

    Lone rangers dictate the tune of our national political life, and by their excessive and un-Yoruba presumptuousness, they provoke the emergence of detractors that become bent on fighting them to the death. In every political party, many influential Yoruba say, “We seek power, influence and wealth in Nigeria now; we will think of our Yoruba nation later”. The eagle that was fashioned to soar the heights now waddles in the mud ponds. The up-and-coming generation of bright youths is offered no vision or noble direction to hold on to.

    This is our day of weakness. But, it is the way of nature and of human society to experience times of weakness. What is more important, and what we need to grab, is the certainty that our inherent strength, nurtured over a thousand years, is alive and intact, that out there, everywhere, the men and women imbued with that strength are countless, and that the immediate need of the moment is to prod those elements of our culture and fundamental philosophies that can waken and accentuate their strength.  Coincidentally, I hear that a large conference of Yoruba leaders is meeting in Ibadan this day, and I hope that they will regard this column today as a message addressed to them.

    First and foremost, we need to reawaken our common consciousness as one people – one people with a common national character and a common destiny – no matter what becomes of Nigeria. No matter what political party or group any of us may belong to, our membership of it is chosen by us, and is evanescent and changeable – whereas our membership of the Yoruba nation is God-ordained, unchangeable, and passes automatically to our offspring. And, thankfully, our Yoruba nation is an enormously proud possession.

    Secondly, in the shifting sands of Nigerian politics, our only sensible and sustainable option is to revive and reemphasize our national ways and philosophies. From wisdom gathered for over a thousand years in our well-ordered communities, we know that it is not sensible or realistic that all of us should belong to one persuasion, either religiously or politically. The recognition of the right to choose is deeply ingrained in our culture; no Yoruba person disrespects the other because of difference of choice; and no Yoruba person, no matter how high, should claim that his partisan choice is the choice of all Yoruba.  Even if (or rather, when) we come to have our own sovereign Odua country, we will have different political parties with members across our land.

    Very importantly, neither of the two leading presidential candidates has ever been formally given the Yoruba agenda for Nigeria. We should appoint a delegation of leaders to put it in the hands of the two candidates now – and demand formal responses without fail. Then, we should urge all parties and candidates to respect the non-partisanship of our Obas, and to relate to our Obas with utmost respect.

    Finally, we must explore all means to ensure that if, as is widely feared, violence happens to cap the coming elections, no part of Yorubaland, and no Yoruba person, will be involved or hurt in it. On the contrary, we must close ranks, turn such a situation around, and make it the dawn of our day of strength.

  • mama’embarrassed when people ask me if I’m a Nigerian

    mama’embarrassed when people ask me if I’m a Nigerian

    The Director-General of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, is no doubt a woman of many parts. With over three decades experience working in the boardrooms of various blue chip organisations, she is presently faced with the task of developing the nation’s tourism industry, a task she admits is tough. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE, Assistant Editor, Mama, as she is fondly called, speaks on the challenges of promoting tourism in Nigeria, her love for painting and many other sundry issues. Excerpts:

    How fashionable are you? I used to be very fashionable when I was much younger.

    What happened?

    You know, fashion is comfort. You need to be comfortable, and I won’t wear a mini-skirt and be walking around if I am not comfortable, and be disrespected by people when they look at me. I like respect, so I dress in a way that people will respect me. I want people around me to always take me seriously. I don’t want people to see me from my gender perspective.

    Do you go to parties at all?

    No, I don’t go to parties.

    You are also an artist. Do you still have the time to paint?

    Like I told you, I don’t party, I don’t have friends and I value my time a lot. I have been painting for over 30 years now. Some of my best paintings were done in the 80s when I was in school and had no responsibilities. But with age, the subject matter has changed. I now do a lot more of abstract paintings. Arts keep you out of trouble. When some people have problems, they go drinking or smoking. But as an artist, all you need to do is get engrossed in your work.

    What inspires you?

    My state of mind inspires me a lot. I use my art to glorify God for His blessings. I want to build a school in Lagos for the less-privileged. It would be a vocation and skill-acquisition school. I have spent about 30 years of my life in the west, so it is my own way of saying thank you to the people. It gives me lots of satisfaction. We are already talking with Lagos State to get a land.

    Are you ever bored?

    Never, I am never bored.

    I observed that people around you call you Mama. Why is this so?

    Everybody calls me Mama. I think it is because I have a mothering tendency. Even older people call me Mama because they know I have a big heart. I will always forgive people, no matter what you do to me. And over the years, people realise this.

    Are you close to your mum in any way?

    I am close to my mum; I have many mothers here in Nigeria, and I am very close to all of them.

    In what way has this affected your adult life?

    I am very family-oriented. And another thing is my family, the Nwuche family, it is a fantastic family. My husband’s family, the Mbanefo, came twice to my family to take wives. My family is very cosmopolitan.

    You grew up with your paternal grandma. How much of her do you think is you?

    A lot of her is in me. 29, 30, 31,44 CELEB WORLD 14-3-2015.She was always saying her rosary in the car whenever we went out. I never forget that she was a very devout Catholic. I grew up in a convent, living with Reverend Sisters.

    Maybe you would have been a Reverend Sister too?

    Two of my aunties are Reverend Sisters.

    Why did you leave the convent?

    I went abroad to continue my education.

    What are the main challenges of promoting Nigerian tourism?

    The major challenge we face is awareness. You’ll be surprised that people are not even aware that we are well-endowed when it comes to tourism assets. So, making the people to be aware of this is a big challenge. After that, the people need to appreciate the richness of these tourism sites that we have. We have these sites all across the country, and all it needs is just a little touch here and there to have them in perfect states, though some are not all that developed. So the main challenge that flows from that is that I would want the private sector to be an active participant in taking ownership in the development of these tourism sites.

    For instance, we have a company in Lagos, owned by Singaporeans, Indomie, we were able to convince them last year to join hands with us and they said okay, they would like to develop any tourism site in Lagos State. And of course, Badagry was the first to come to my mind. So that is one success story that I can talk about. Yes, it has been difficult to make the people even appreciate that we have these things, but with the help of everybody, because we at the NDDC cannot do it alone, we can together develop our tourism sites and make them destination points for tourists from all over the world. We need to make the world know that our country is not all about Ebola or Boko Haram, that there are several good sides to us as a people.

    What is the role of culture in all of this?

    Apart from the tourism sites, we have another thing going for us, the culture. The culture has been organically developed on its own. We have to know that it is the story of our history. I go round attending these beautiful festivals – the Sango festival, Osun Osogbo festival, New yam festival, Argungu festival. Even in Taraba State, they have this big fish festival, and all of these festivals are beautiful heritage that we can promote to drive our tourism industry. But unless you go to these paces, you may never get to hear about them.

    But we are doing our best to make sure that we create enough awareness around these festivals and make them very attractive for tourists. These are some of the challenges, but we are already making headway. And one of the successful stories is that the diplomatic community has pledged to help us market our tourism to their nationals. What better way to market us to a foreigner. It is better than me going to London to spend billions of naira to do an exhibition where only a few people would attend. This is an indirect international marketing for us. So we have a success story there. It is also important for everybody to know that these festivals are there. And you cannot blame security, because it is everybody’ challenge.

    You talk about getting foreign tourists to come to Nigeria. How do you feel when you hear foreign countries warning their citizens not to come to Nigeria because of security issues?

    That was exactly what I was trying to talk about. But whenever I hear such talk, I am always disappointed and saddened. As the chief promoter of our tourism, it is a clog in the wheel of progress of what I am trying to do. I tell you one thing, terrorism is a global problem. Despite the sophistication of the security network of the US and Europe, they still have terrorism problems. For instance, Israel has been dealing with terrorism since 1946, but that has not in any way stopped them from building on their tourism industry.

    Today, when you talk of spiritual tourism, Israel is one of the largest in the world. Look at the recent terrorists attacks in France. So, for me I think it is unfair for anybody to make such statement about Nigeria. I travel all the time. I just hope we can get the tourism police in place by next year. They will be in the position to issue tour guides to the people, so that they will know that the fact that there is fighting in the North East of the country does not mean there is fighting in the whole country. What I am saying is that terrorism is not peculiar to Nigeria and it should not deter people from coming into the country.

    And of course, the Nigerian government is not folding its arm, it is doing something about it. You are aware that the government is going all out against the insurgents and it has also reached out to other countries in the fight. We have 36 states, so while the government is trying to restore normalcy to the area affected by terrorism, tourists can still go to other parts that are peaceful. That is my job, and that is what I have been doing as the chief tourism officer. For instance, I feel safer when I am in Lagos, not when I am in New York or Johannesburg. So all these things are relative.

    And when you talk of success stories, we scored more than 200 per cent with our handing of the Ebola virus, compared to America. Nigerians all over the world must work with a positive feeling about Nigeria. My children, for instance, each time they go to the UK, they are always proud to say to anybody that they are Nigerians. That is the kind of spirit I want all of us to approach Nigeria.

    So, your kids also help you in marketing Nigeria abroad?

    Exactly, we are all proud to be Nigerians. They are all ambassadors of Nigeria.

    You talked about private sector participation to drive tourism. Aside from Indomie, which other company have you been able to convince?

    For now, they are the only one. But I am talking to Aliko Dangote. We need to talk to people who are opinion leaders in the industry. I am sure if we get three MOUs, others will rush to participate. The oil sector is not moving very well presently. They believe they are doing something, but I know they can do better. Look at Olibiri. Why has any oil firm not made our first oil well a tourism centre? There is nothing to show that Olibiri is the first oil well in the country. That’s why I say the oil industry should take the lead. At the moment, the banks are reluctant because they are not making much money as they used to make.

    But with the fall of the price of oil, I hope people will look at tourism. Then the telecom industry, I have been talking with Hakeem Bello-Osagie. And with people like these, we can drive tourism to create jobs in the country. We want to be the major contributor. I hope that by next year, we would have tourism on the con-current list and make it relevant.

    As the chief marketer of the nation’s tourism industry, how do you feel whenever you travel to Europe and you see Nigerians who don’t know much about their country?

    I am sad when I see them because I feel as if they are lost. Someone like me, for instance, I have been here for more than 30 years since I came back to do my university. And the truth is, I have worked for 28 years as a corporate professional, and I have no regret. I can assure that none of my contemporaries who lives abroad would have risen to the level that I have risen. Those people need to embrace Nigeria. And you see, when you have a heart-to-heart discussion with them they would tell you they miss home. We are a melting pot of varieties in Nigeria, and that is the beauty in us. Nobody tells you because you are light or dark, that you are not a Nigerian. We have a beautiful weather and fantastic people, Nigeria is no doubt one of the best places on earth.  I really wish these people would realign their minds and come back home. And the way the government is going, it wants to attract our people to come back home.

    As the face of the nation’s tourism industry, what informs what you wear?

    The weather of course, this is very important. You know in Europe, when you are getting an apartment, the window is very important. But here, it is not a big deal, because the sun is always shinning. I hope we can have a train ride from Lagos to Makurdi or Calabar for a beautiful scenic ride round the country. There is a tourism site we are trying to launch in Makurdi, and I am looking forward to the day we would have our railway to take you to these places. That is what the government is doing with the new rail system.

    Some of the clothes you wear for photo-shoot depict you as a lover of culture. Is this just a show for the pubic or is it the real you?

    That is the real me. That is how I feel about Nigeria. That is my identity, what I stand for and what I want to project. I think it is important that when you are out there, you need to have an identity. For someone like me, sometimes people think I am a foreigner. But I want to make it clear to everybody that I am very proud to be a Nigerian. Yes, we may have a fault, but if you compare the fault we have to those of other people, you’ll know we are doing well. Look at our women, you see them in top places like MDs of banks. How many women MDs of banks do you see in Europe?  If you think of all that we have, you will be proud to be a Nigerian. I could have sat at my banking job. I was competing to be an MD of a bank, I was already an executive director for 10 years before this job. So, I must have been an executive director for up to 15 years. I was very comfortable.

    There is no iota of discomfort in private business, especially in the banking sector. Your pockets are filled with money. Though you work very hard, but you enjoy your money. It is the desire to add value, the desire to be part of decision-making and after I go home every day, I say to myself that I have contributed my own quota to the development of our nation. I have made money and I know what it is all about, but the truth is that life is not all about money.

    So you gave up all the comfort to take up this job. Why?

    I just told you that money does not drive me. Sure, if it was money, there was no way I would be here. Most times, I’ve had to reach into my savings to keep going, but I am very happy to contribute something to the development of my country. I am happy to have been seen to have something that can move the country forward.

    What is your dream for Nigerian tourism?

    My dream is to see a tourism industry that is private sector-driven.

    In your travels round the country, have you had any particular experience whereby somebody would ask to know if you are indeed a Nigerian?

    They ask me that a lot. And that is part of the inspiration to dress the way I do.

    What does it make you feel when you are asked such a question?

    I feel bad. I know they are looking at my colour. In such cases, I try to speak the few Yoruba or Hausa words that I know. And if it is in the east, I speak my Igbo language to them.

    You speak Igbo. How did you learn this?

    When I was brought back to Nigeria, my parents were going through a divorce at the time, so I was sent to the village to live. The reason for this was that I looked very much like a white girl. The people said this one looked too much like oyinbo. As a matter of fact, my name on my birth certificate was Oyinbo. I was very white, with my hair and everything.

    So, my people wanted to make me a Nigerian. At that time, I didn’t know the value of being made to speak my language. But now, I am convinced that the ground for this job was laid back then. My people believe that language is the deepest thing you can give to your children, so they sent me to the village to learn it.

    But where were you born?

    I was born in England. My mum is Italian-Swiss, but she immigrated to London to study at the London School of Economics. And that was where my parents met.

    You’ve worked with many corporate organisations. How would you describe yourself?

    I am a woman of many parts. I am an artist, a policewoman, I am into oil and gas. And now I am into tourism. But one thing is that in all of these, I made success of all of them. I don’t have any regret in my life. I don’t look back, and as a matter of fact, it is such a strong thing in me that if I forget something at home, I won’t turn back, I would ask the driver to go on. I am always forward looking.

    Was this something you picked up or a training?

    I think it was a kind of training from my years in banking. Banking makes you rugged, visible and a machine. I entered the banking industry straight from the Law School. From the Accounts Department, I moved to operations and 12 years later, I became Company Secretary.

    Which bank was this?

    My first bank job was with Abacus Bank. I did my youth corps with them. From there, I moved to IMB, where I spent 15 whole years, and I moved to a director level. From there I moved to Lafarge. You see, IMB was a training ground for me. IMB was actually First National Bank of Chicago. We were all young girls and were trained by the Chicago team. Lafarge was fabulous for me. It was the first time I would be working outside the’ bank.

    I was head-hunted by Lafarge. They advertised internationally, and I was a local candidate. But I blew them away because they had a lot of crisis. I had just saved the bank from collapse and took them to the market, so that’s a huge advantage for me. Lafarge had similar challenges. They had problem with the staff, they had problem with the shareholders and many more. They were trying to restructure, and that was where I came in. So, the challenge was to restructure the place. I was constantly at Sagamu and Ewekoro because they were always fighting us there. I was successful in handling the problem between the plant at Ewekoro and the management, and I got a title from the king of the place. I was named the Iya Oge of Ewekoro. My movement from IMB to Lafarge was like a lateral move. I came from a big organisation to another big organisation. I got to love the people of the South West, and they gave me a name. I was the first woman to get to an executive position there.

    And just as I was breathing and saying we have made it, Coca-cola came for me. The position was left vacant for three years before I took it up. I was the Director of Public Affairs and Communication (PAC).

    Don’t you think you’ve been lucky?

    I am blessed. God has really blessed me.

    How much of these experiences have you brought to bear on tourism?

    I can say I have not been able to use my full potential. In the private sector, money was always available. But we have to prioritise in government. If you observe, you’ll realise that I have had to slow down on our travels. I will not travel abroad unless there is value to be added to what we are doing. We want the hotels to come and participate in this drive to promote our tourism.

    The potential of domestic tourism is about $40 billion. Imagine, if 20 million Nigerians spend their $2,000 per capital income to travel round the country to enjoy themselves, that gives you $4 billion. The market for our tourism is huge. Tourism must be taken seriously, not only by government, but also by the private sector.

    How true was the story that your staff threatened to embark on a strike?

    There is peace and harmony in the office. And we have always had this, but sometimes, external forces who have self-interest can capitalise to cause trouble, but we nipped it in the bud.

    So, it has been resolved…?

    Yes, my people are at work. There is no problem at all.

  • Election cold feet: the dying gasp of a ruling party or of the Nigerian predators’ republic?

    Election cold feet: the dying gasp of a ruling party or of the Nigerian predators’ republic?

    Cold feet: (1) apprehension or doubt strong enough to prevent a planned course of action. (2) to have ‘cold feet’ is to be fearful to undertake or complete an action.
    Dictionary.com (online)

    One of the most interesting revelations made by the INEC Chairman, Professor Atahiru Jega, during his appearance at the Senate on February 18, 2015 was the fact that for the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections in June 2014, only about a third of the Permanent Voters’ Cards produced for the election was collected by registered voters. This, in effect, means that les than 35% of PVC’s produced were collected. Although this revelation is interesting for many reasons, I will mention only three of such reasons.

    First, it shows a depressing level of voter apathy in EkKiti state, an apathy so vast that it more or less constitutes a danger to the survival of democracy in that particular state, if not indeed in the whole of our country. Secondly, it shows that in Ekiti State as in many other states of Nigeria and many other countries of the world, voter apathy provides no justification for the postponement or cancellation of elections. It is not an inspiring thing to say, but voter apathy is an aspect of electoral politics in the world, including even the most stable bourgeois democracies on the planet. The antidote for it is not postponement or cancellation of scheduled elections; rather, it is the institution of policies and actions that expand popular participation of all segments of the population in democratic governance, most especially in economic and social affairs. If the benefits of democracy reach the most marginalized, if the gap between the haves and the have-nots are significantly decreased, if people across the board feel satisfied that they have rulers who listen to them, voter apathy substantially decreases. The third and perhaps the most important reason why Jega’s revelation about the low collection rate of PVC’s in the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections of June 2014 is of great interest today is the fact that the PDP at that time was quite satisfied to go ahead with the elections despite the extremely low rate of PVC collection. Today, the story is very different and that is the thing that I wish to reflect upon in this piece.

    Of all the registered parties in the country, the PDP is the only party at the present time making noises about the collection of PVC’s. Two weeks before the formerly scheduled date of February 14 for the presidential elections, collection of PVC’s had already reached 65%, a figure more than twice the figure for the June 2014 Ekiti State governorship elections. At the present time and as revealed during Jega’s appearance before the Senate on February 18, collection of PVC’s countrywide has reached 75.9%. And yet, the PDP is shouting to the high heavens that presumably unless collection of PVC’s reaches 100%, the elections cannot and must not be held. If, dear reader, you wish to know why it was okay with the PDP to go ahead with the Ekiti State elections in June 2014 with less than 35% of PVC’s collected and why it is not okay now for the same party to go ahead with elections with 75.9% PVC collection rate, look no further than what in the title of this piece I am calling “election cold feet”. Permit me to give a few other indications beside PVC collection rate of this malaise of “election cold feet’ that, in our own symbolic Ides of March, has suddenly stricken the ruling party.

    The most dramatic dates in the etiology of this malaise that now afflicts the ruling party are February 2 and 5, 2015. As I have previously written in this column, on February 2 in Abuja and before a world press conference, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh, the Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu all affirmed that the Nigerian armed forces were in a state of complete readiness for February 14, the scheduled date for the 2015 presidential election. They made this assertion in response to then growing rumours that the elections were going to be postponed. However, three days later, on February 5, these same men, together with the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, completely reversed themselves and wrote the infamous letter to Jega saying that the armed forces were not ready for the scheduled February 14 date and needed six weeks in which to bring the Boko Haram insurgency to the minimum level of containment that could free the armed forces to assure countrywide security during the elections. To date, these Service Chiefs have given no reason, no justification whatsoever for why they reversed themselves. The reason for this is not difficult to discern for in what language, in what rational codes of military strategy and tactics can they explain the “election cold feet” of their Commander-in-Chief, Goodluck Jonathan. For this is what explains the gap between those fateful dates, February 2 and 5, 2015: about slightly more than a week to February 14, the President realized that the collection rate of PVC’s was not enough as an excuse to postpone or scuttle the elections and assuage his growing election cold feet; something more “weighty” and more inscrutable was needed. And for that the Service Chiefs willingly reversed the assurances they had given on February 2.

    I may be wrong, but I don’t think we have ever encountered “election cold feet” in the history of electoral politics in our country. Massive, messy and violent rigging of elections, yes. Election returns in which the figure recorded for actual voters is higher than the figure of registered voters, yes. Elections in which a declared or eventual victor happened not to have been on the ballot, yes. But never, never “election cold feet”. Thus, as the new or postponed dates of March 28 and April 11 draw nearer, the “cold feet” of the PDP, as a unique and special kind of electoral malaise, has risen to the level of a raging, feverish inferno of total unwillingness to have elections or to have elections only on terms completely controlled by the ruling party. Thus, this very week, Ayo Fayose, the Ekiti State Governor, the antihero of Ekiti-Gate, a man for whom the level of impunity in obscenity and bad faith is bottomless, Ayo Fayose has this week been screaming “sack Atahiru Jega and the skies will not fall!”

    For obvious reasons, for most people in our country and among interested forces in the larger international community, “election cold feet” is all too transparent as the disease of a ruling party that is so terrified of a resounding electoral defeat that it will do everything possible not to face the electorate. For this reason, there have been speculations as to just what it is that makes the PDP so terrified of going before the Nigerian electorate. Some talk of a power lust that is fueled by the money lust of an administration that has overtaken all previous records in the looting and mismanagement of the nation’s wealth and the public purse. Others talk of the terror of what a new administration will do to the kingpins of the PDP, the revelations, the exposures with which, for months and years, we will be inundated after May 29, 2015, the inauguration date for the new administration. Others talk of the fear, the certitude even of the bosses of the PDP that once the party loses its hold on federal or central power in Abuja, it will simply wither away as a national party since it has never forged any organic or viable links to hold it together as a party beyond the sharing of loot, the spoils of office and the actual and symbolic uses of power. All this is true and especially of characters like the Ekiti State Governor, Fayose. Where in the world can he run to after May 29, 2015?

    I suggest that we need to look well beyond the anxieties and fears of the ruling party as we ponder the ramifications of the PDP’s election cold feet. There are many reasons for this. In the first place, in the intensity of the current fierce struggles to defeat the PDP’s desperate efforts to scuttle the elections, many people are beginning to slide ever so slightly into a terribly complacent presupposition that because we are all determined to have the elections against the PDP’s calculations, we are all APC diehards. I speak for myself but I hope that I speak for many others in asserting most vigorously that my total commitment against the PDP’s efforts to deprive the Nigerian electorate of the civic and constitutional right to exercise their choice directly through the ballot box and not at the behest of the Service Chiefs is a value in itself and is not attached to the electoral fortunes of the APC or any other party. Let me express this idea in a more concrete form: I wish, oh how I wish that the PDP’s election fever is the last, dying gasp, not just of the ruling party, the PDP, but of the entire Nigerian predators’ republic that has been at the helm of affairs in our country at the center in Abuja and in the states since 1999. But I know that this is not the case. The road to that will be long and hard. This brings to my mind the Chinese adage which states that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Defeating the PDP’s election cold feet is, in the light of this Chinese adage, the first step in a long, long journey. Let that first step commence, firmly and resolutely.

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Redefining Nigerian HIP- HOP

    Redefining Nigerian HIP- HOP

     It came as a fad but slowly, hip-hop rooted itself into the consciousness of the Nigerian music space, showing little signs of fading away, writes Jjroe Agbro 

    IT was a forum to discuss the history of popular music in Nigeria. Organised by Music in Africa as part of events to commemorate the social media week in February, a former record label owner, a DJ, a music journalist with about 50 years’ experience including radio jockeying and artiste management and a digital music manager, were seated, to discuss 90 years of popular Nigerian music.

    Hardly had the sessions at the Goethe Institut, Lagos started before it reared its head. In fact, the first speaker, revered music journalist, Benson Idonije, in his opening sentences, set the tone for a session that rarely veered far from what has become a global music genre  hip-hop.

    “The hip-hop culture is the most popular music genre in Nigeria today, almost putting all the others to the background” Idonije began, as he spoke on Nigerian popular music from the 1930s through the 1960s. According to him, hip-hop borrowed from earlier genres such as highlife and especially Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s Afrobeats’ which he dubbed as “the gateway to contemporary hip hop” make up what is played on Nigerian airwaves.

    A global product

    THAT music is universal is not new. However, that hip-hop, an American musical invention, has encroached the Nigerian musical space within the last three decades, is a realisation that has generated mixed reactions. But hate it or love it, hip-hop is indeed taking over.

    “It is a global phenomenon,” said Idonije, who is also grandfather to music sensation Burna Boy, elite of Nigeria’s hip-hop generation.

    Obi Asika, whose Storm Records discovered Junior and Pretty, arguably one of the early pioneers of Nigerian hip-hop music, in 1991, was also a speaker at the Music in Africa event. To the music buff, hip-hop is somewhat an alternative lifestyle.

    “Hip-hop is all about disruption,” said Asika, who is presently Senior Special Assistant to the president on Social Media. “If we want something, we don’t wait for you to give it to us. We take it.” And this disruption has resulted in positive yields for Nigerian hip-hop artistes, both far and wide.

    “I was in taxi coming from the airport in Nairobi and song after song, it was Flavour that was being played by the taxi driver,” said Asika, recalling a visit to Kenya.

    “I got to my hotel room and there was a political rally in a remote area in Kenya. I increased the volume and guess what? It was music Flavour’s music being played at the political rally.”

    However, Flavour is not the only Nigerian artiste enjoying such fame. Be it PSquare, DBanj, or Wizkid, Davido, Yemi Alade, or Tiwa Savage, many places, especially across Africa; have come to accept Nigerian hip-hop. Aside the authentic music stars; there is also a plethora of up and coming artistes, eager for their share of the global klieg lights. And the direction many of them are heading is towards hip-hop. The reason for such influx is understandable.

    With fair record sales, sponsored shows, and endorsements by corporate bodies, Nigerian hip hop artistes found fame and fortune on gargantuan scales. And stars like Tuface, P-Square, Wiz-Kid, Chidinmma, Olamide and Flavour became popular in many African countries as well in the Asia and the Western countries. Undoubtedly, music as Nigeria’s export is predominantly hip-hop music.

    Humble beginnings

    IN Nigeria, hip-hop as a music form generated from its precursor, pop music, with the likes of Chris Okotie and Dizzy K Falola blazing the scene in the 1980s. By the 1990s, the pop music started becoming infused with rap and groups like Emphasis and Junior and Pretty began to add local flavour to the brand of music being referred to as hip-hop. With tracks like Bolanle and Monica, Junior and Pretty became a smashing hit on the Nigerian hip-hop scene. This move by the musicians, aimed at connecting with majority of Nigerians, by employing the use of local languages as well as pidgin English in their music.

    “We never thought it would be this large,” said Pretty Okafor, who is presently the president of Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN). “It is overwhelming to know that a couple of years ago, we had just few followers. And to think that that same brand of music has blown out of proportion.”

    “About 75% of Nigerian music is being played abroad,” said Okafor. “While there are no statistics to prove, hip-hop likely accounts for a large chunk (of the music). Here in Nigeria, we play 100% of our music. We don’t even know when these other boys release their music in America. It is this brand of music (hip-hop) that pushed our music industry to be number four in the world. After US, India, China, it is Nigeria.”

    According to Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Manager, Public Affairs, Google Nigeria, the group were pioneers of Afro hip hop movement in the country.

    “Writing our musical history without these guys will be a crime,” he said.

    But while Junior and Pretty blazed a trail, their music is somewhat forgotten in the annals of Nigerian hip-hop history. Attention is focused on the present success.

    However, despite the success which Nigerian hip-hop artistes have attained over other artistes in other genres, hip-hop continues to take a bashing despite its popularity and glaring appeal.  A recently published book, Hip Hop is for Children, by Onyeka Nwelue, lashes out at the genre with a title that aims to conscript hip-hop to puerile fantasies.

    However, should that be a reason to conscript hip-hop to the backwaters?

    Hip-hop was birthed in the 1970s by African Americans in New York. It derived influences from a range of American musical genres such as soul, blues, salsa, jazz, funk, rock and roll and rhythm and blues. However, the strict boundary between hip hop and other genres of music is thinning.

    Disruptions and fusions

    ACCORDING to Ade Bantu of the Bantu Crew, hip hop has come to stay. “Hip hop has been around for around 40 years,” said Ade Bantu, who plays Afro-music. “And it is a continuation of the Trans-Atlantic black experience. Hip hop is all about inventiveness  to create music, sample music that you grew up on or anything that is available. It is all about re-inventing yourself constantly.”

    Hip-hop in that aspect, is huge, and it has generated even ancillary sectors. For example, specialised magazines such as Hip-hop World founded by Ayo Animashaun have evolved from publishing foreign materials to publishing local materials  largely because the local scene is now flooded with hip-hop acts.

    Over the years, there’s been a fusion of hip-hop with different kinds of genres.  Nowadays, collaborations among hip-hop artistes and artistes of other genres such as Fuji, Highlife, Afrobeat has ensured a distinct fusion of cultures.

    “You cannot discard the fact that it (hip hop) is popular culture’” Bantu said. “I think it’s a very vibrant culture and a couple of people have taken it to another level because it is a fusion of all kinds of experiences and sounds. And I think that’s what makes it very vibrant because it is constantly re-inventing itself.”

    However, Bantu thinks some Nigerian musicians are slow about re-inventing hip hop.

    “A lot of young artistes are not proficient enough in terms of their culture to infuse it to create another kind of music,” he said. “There are few people that have done that like Olamide for example, and Phyno. But you could also infuse Yoruba or Igbo instrumentation into the music.”

    Bantu places part of the problem on inability of artistes to be proficient in their musical cultures.

    “I think we’re dealing with a generation of cultural illiterates,” he said. “And if you’re not proficient in your culture, it cannot reflect in what you’re doing musically. If you don’t know Haruna Ishola, Wasiu Ayinde, Victor Uwaifo, Oriental Brothers  that you’re proficient in that musical language, then you can’t incorporate it into your music.”

    This, he said, is unlike what happens in America. “A lot of these young rappers and producers,  people like Kanye West  are proficient in African American soul music and in funk culture. And then you have other people that grew up with jazz music and they would sample it because they understand it.”

    In lieu of the cultural understanding, Ade Bantu feels many artistes are playing safe, negating the disruptive component of the hip-hop culture.

    “You just have to go out as an explorer and try whatever strikes your fancy,” he said. “But all in all, I think hip-hop artistes in Nigeria could be a bit more daring. Hip hop culture is about defying the laws of tradition  it is about reinventing yourself. And I think that is missing here.

    “I will be expecting Olamide to be playing with a Sakara group by now. Or I would have expected him to be experimenting with Highlife or Phyno to be experimenting with Highlife. But that is not happening. So, it just gets all boring.”

    Will it ever get boring? Just like the mythical Phoenix, industry watchers expect that hip-hop musicians will transform themselves again. This belief makes the PMAN President see hip-hop as being around for longer. “Hip-hop is not what you can scrap,” he said. “It earns about 80% income for the country right now. I remember when Afrobeat was a lifestyle, when Highlife was a lifestyle. Now, Afro Hip-hop is a lifestyle that has come to stay.”

    Today’s hip-hop music scene is more frenetic, evolving at terrifying speeds such that many music stars in that genre fizzle out faster than others. However, if hip-hop is all about disruption, then more disruption should be expected, with the digital age where computers and the internet has created a level playing ground for artistes.

    “There is no excuse again for not getting your music out there,” said Mark Redguard, entertainment lawyer and CEO of 960 Music Group. He advises artistes to maximise the enormous offers available on the internet. “Utilise your social media sites, music sharing sites and other online platform. They are free.”

    Apart from the hustling of Alaba boys (pirates) to include their songs in bootlegs CD compilations, dropping of their songs to radio and television stations and club DJs, many Nigerian musicians are now utilising online tools to promote their brand. On nearly a daily basis, websites such facebook.com, google.com, jaguda.com notjustok.com, naijaloaded.com, reverbnation.com are utilised by artistes and artiste managers and promoters to push and share their music.

    And with more people and organisations world embracing the computer and the internet for more engagement, there is perhaps one sure prognosis: hip-hop is going to be around for a little while longer.

  • Nigerian coaches condemn attack on Ogunbote

    Nigerian coaches condemn attack on Ogunbote

    •Want NFF to fish out perpetrators

    The Nigeria Football Coaches’ Association has condemned the fans’ attack on one of their members, Gbenga Ogunbote and has charged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to properly investigate the matter and bring the culprits to book.

    Ogunbote, who is the head coach of Sharks of Port Harcourt, had it rough in the hands of some fans of the club who beat him black and blue over allegations that he dropped most of the indigenes in the team for those from other parts of the country.

    The former Sunshine Stars’ coach is still in the hospital recuperating from the injury sustained in last Wednesday’s attack.

    The Secretary-General of the association, Solomon Ogbeide told SportingLife that the body is almost through with its strongly-worded letter to the NFF wherein its position will be to demand that the perpetrators are fished out and banned from all football activities after they might have faced the full wrath of the law.

    “We the (members of the) coaches’ association are not happy about what happened to coach Gbenga Ogunbote. We reject it in all entirety and we are writing a broadside to the NFF so that they will be alive to their responsibilities and strive to get the doer of such heinous act.

    “We are going to write our own letter to the NFF so that investigation of the matter will be immediate and thorough, so that the person(s) responsible for the action will not go unpunished,” Ogbeide told SportingLife.

    The Bayelsa United head coach urged the NFF and states’ governments to make the security of sportsmen and women their watchword, adding that what happened to Ogunbote should be handled properly so that it doesn’t become the norm in the country.

  • Nigerian ‘defiles’ two-year-old girl

    The police have arrested a 30-year old Nigerien, Garuba AbdulRaman, for allegedly defiling a two-year-old girl.

    The incident occurred last Saturday at 11am on Ogunmola Street in Shomolu, Lagos where he works as a security man.

    Abdulraman was said to have conveyed the girl’s mother on his motorcycle to where he planned to sell her firewood.

    While the mother and the girl’s elder sister were packing the firewood, he reportedly disappeared with her.

    He was reported found with the child naked after having carnal knowledge of her in an uncompleted building.

    The infant was weeping with injuries on her private parts when they were found.

    Medical report showed that she was defiled.

    AbdulRaman was said to have threatened to harm the mother, Alimat Muazu, if she reported the matter to the police.

    He has been arraigned in an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court on a four-count charge of assault, abduction and unlawful sexual intercourse.

    The charge reads: “That you Garuba Abdulraman on the 21st day of February 2015 at about 1130hrs at Ogunmola Street Lagos in Shomolu magisterial district did abduct a two-year-old-girl with intent to have sexual intercourse with her and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 267 of the Criminal laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

    “That you Garuba Abdulraman on the same date, time and place in the aforementioned magisterial district did threaten to injure one Alimat Muazu with a cutlass and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 56(1) of the Criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011”.

    Abdulraman pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting police Inspector, Richard Odigie, told the court that the defendant committed an offence punishable under Sections 267, 137, 170 and 56 of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

    The defence counsel, F.C Osorei, applied for his client’s bail in the most liberal terms.

    Magistrate O.I Adelaja granted Abdulraman N30,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum. She adjourned the case till April 8.

  • Nigerian leaders need prayers

    SIR: Nigerians need to always pray for their leaders and the nation.  Prayer remains the only key to bring together citizens to live harmoniously in pursuit of a common goal.

    Religious organizations owe leaders prayers for divine guidance to lead the nation out of the present socio-economic and political problems. Though many would argue that there had been so many prayer conventions and programmes which are yet to make impact in people’s lives; yet we should not stop praying. Prayer is holding Nigeria and even the world together, because a prayerless world is a powerless world. Although, many Nigerians are living in poverty, God can redirect the nation and make it a more viable country that would take its rightful position among the comity of nations.

    Most of the things happening at the moment are signs of the end-time and no man can stem the tide, but God, through His infinite mercy sometimes uses the trials in our lives to test and grow our faith.

    Nigerian leaders need to eschew bitterness and look for ways out of the present socio-economic logjam the country is trapped in. There are great dangers in holding on to bitterness as it has the tendency of retarding the growth of a country.

    Nigerians should brace up for the challenges of the global economic development by looking up to God, as the author and finisher of their faith because their salvation lies in no other man.

     

    • Prophet Oladipupo Funmilade-Joel , Lagos.
  • Second leg of Nigerian Idol 5 underway

    Second leg of Nigerian Idol 5 underway

    THE much expected fifth season of popular music show, Nigerian Idol, is sailing towards momentum, with the completion of regional auditions in Lagos, last weekend.

    Franchise owners of Nigerian Idol, Optima Media Group (OMG) have announced the conclusion of the nationwide auditions for the leading TV music reality show which commenced a month ago in Benin City, Edo State.

    A remarkable highlight of the auditions was the award of flight ticket by the celebrity judges; DedeMabiaku, Yinka Davies and Dare ‘Art’ Alade, to Ameh Igiri, a contestant at the Abuja auditions. The 24-year-old Ediba native, in Cross River State had failed to scale the first screening hurdle at the Port Harcourt auditions a week earlier. Spurred on by some quiet confidence and sheer resilience, she travelled from her residence in Enugu State to the Abuja auditions courtesy of a friend who picked up the bill.

    Ame was also the first contestant at the Abuja auditions to be awarded a Golden Ticket by the judges, thus making her one of the top 100 contestants for the top 12 slots. The Golden Ticket is usually awarded to any exceptional talent identified by the judges in a unanimous decision. There were about 30 golden tickets won from the five auditions centres.

    The auditions presented windows of opportunities for first-hand assessment of the thousands of youths with music talents who had thronged the respective venues to compete for places in the next phase of the competition. A total of 100 most outstanding contestants will be pooled from the auditions. After series of group performances to be hosted in Lagos, this number will further be pruned down towards arriving at the last final 12.

    “It was not a surprise to see the hundreds and thousands of immensely talented youngsters that turned up at the centres. We are glad to have created for them a global platform to showcase their music potentials,” said Ugochi Pedro, Executive Director, OMG.

    The show focuses on discovering Nigerian youths with talent in music and giving them a unique platform to take shots at stardom. The eventual winner goes home with N7.5 million cash reward, a brand new car, a recording deal worth N7.5 million and some high-end devices.