The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Obafemi Awolowo

  • To salvage Nigeria’s a task that must be done

    To salvage Nigeria’s a task that must be done

    SIR: In 1982, the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo wrote a letter to President Shehu Shagari to warn him about the precarious state of the Nigerian economy unless the President as the anchor man rose up to save the situation. However, those who never liked the face of the sage called him different names. The rest is now history. The letter from former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan could be likened to Awo’s letter mentioned above.

    One thing that is certain is that the nation is at a crossroad, and just like Awo pointed out then, there is need for our sailors to wake up to save the situation. Therefore, the rescue mission embarked upon by the leadership of the All Progressive Congress is a right step in a right direction. It is obvious that Nigeria is not at war at present; however, she is at the crossroad.

    Fifty three years after flag independence, 14 years after the dawn of a democratic dispensation, it is not yet Uhuru for this nation. With the enormous human and material resources this nation is endowed with, she is supposed to be the power house of Africa and indeed the developing nations of the world.

    The story of this nation is a story of lost opportunities. Economically, our economic experts are telling us that our economy is growing at six percent or more annually, which may seem encouraging by international standards but in reality the impact is not felt by the common man on the street.

    Local industries have been crippled due to competition from inferior but cheap foreign goods. Agriculture which was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity has been neglected.

    There is endemic corruption at all tiers of government. Political power is sought by leaders for the sake of power and not to better the lots of the nation and its people. Governments at all tiers of government have alienated government from the governed. The effect is that the needs of the people are not always considered in the execution of government programmes but the parochial interest of the ruling class. That is why poverty is so endemic and living has become a hell for most people.

    Politics, being the major means of production has become a zero sum game. Elections as witnessed recently in Delta and Anambra states have become bloody battle with INEC which supposed to be impartial umpire becoming accomplice in the brazen rigging that characterized those elections. As a matter of fact, if morning determines the day, the abracadabra that the gubernatorial election held recently in Anambra State was, portends grave danger for this nation in 2015. This is because people are fed up with inept and wicked leadership who feed fat on people’s ignorance and cowardice and ready to do away with them.

    In view of the above, it is glaring that the country needs to be saved from the stranglehold of the cabal bent on keeping her perpetually under developed. This is why the rescue mission embarked upon by the All Progressive Congress leaders in Nigeria and the rainbow coalition in readiness for epic 2015 elections are welcome development. It is heart warming that not all elders in Nigeria are blindfolded to the reality of the abyss the country is at present. Therefore, it is time for other stakeholders to join hands in rescuing this nation from its present predicament.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.

  • Of high , discrepancies in varsities’ fees

    SIR: The federal government owned tertiary institutions, despite their irregularities and shortcomings remain the hope of many Nigerians in acquiring tertiary education. This is as a result of their low fee charges. These institutions are comparatively cheaper than their state and private counterparts, in terms of fees charged.

    The Federal Government has always subsidized these fees to the benefit of the average masses, which many of our today’s leaders and public officials benefited from. However, this practice of low fee charges is ebbing away, giving room to such practices one can hardly imagine.

    How can one understand or explain the situation where the federal universities have wide differences amongst them in the fees charged? How can one understand or explain the case where the rates of these differences are as high as 50%, 100% and above? In the 2012/2013 session, a fresh student was required to pay N45, 000 in Obafemi Awolowo University; N70, 000 in University of Lagos; N91, 000 in University of Benin; N70, 000 in University of Port Harcourt; N86,000 in Nnamdi Azikiwe University during registration.

    The mind boggling questions are: what are the causes for the non-harmonized charges in these institutions? What are really the bases for the great margin of differences in fees amongst federal schools?

    It is not only the disparities in fees charged that have to be called to question, but also the high amount; caused by the incessant increments by some of these schools. Many of the federal universities have become places where fees are hiked indiscriminately without considering the plight of the students some of who barely survive on campus.

    In the University of Port Harcourt, school fees have been on regular increase. In 2010/2011 session, the fee in the faculty of Management Sciences was N53, 300 for fresh students. In 2012/2013 session, it was increased to N69, 850. In the 2013/2014 session yet to commence, the system was totally changed with another increment. The school usually has all fees (except the accommodation fee) captured in the school fees payment receipt, including the acceptance fee. Now, in this new session, the acceptance fee of N30, 000 has to be paid, first, before access to the online registration. It was really alarming to discover that the acceptance fee was not captured in the school fees nalysis; which, now, amount to N77,000. Going by the information on the webpage of the institution, it is clear that anyone given admission by the school this 2013/2014 session would have to pay whooping amount of N107, 000, aside accommodation fee (N19,500). Isn’t this outrageous?It is

    high time the federal government, through its relevant agencies, looked into these excesses. Government, through its agencies, must be all out in monitoring the management processes of our institutions to rid them of corruption at all levels. Also a platform that would enable students make necessary complaints of the unjust practices by school authorities without fear should be provided by the government as this will promote accountability.

    It will amount to defeating the objectives of revamping our tertiary education if many people are denied access to them through unscrupulously high and increasing fees.

    • Simon Tochi

    University of PortHarcourt

    Rivers State

  • ‘Nigerian educational system is world-class’

    ‘Nigerian educational system is world-class’

    The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has said that a world-class training can be acquired in the Nigerian educational system.

    He said that the system is unique because it teaches its products hard work, diligence, persistence and the ability to make something out of nothing.

    Adesina made this remark when he received the award of the Grand Commander of the Obafemi Awolowo University in Abuja at the award night/ NUGA fund raising dinner of the institution’s Alumni Association.

    He said, “What I learnt from my education in Ife basically is to make something out of nothing, which I think is very unique about our educational system. That is why I will always remain humble being a product of Great Ife.

    “In OAU, you learn to be very persistent in everything you do. They taught us to work very hard and be very persistent.”

    President, Great Ife Alumni Association, Deola Shokobi, explained that the event was prompted by the need to recognise members who have made their marks in the society and raised money for the Nigerian University Games Association (NUGA) games which will be hosted by the institution.

  • OLUMIDE OYEDEJI- My wife is four in one!

    OLUMIDE OYEDEJI- My wife is four in one!

    THE common saying is that of holy trinity but Olumide Oyedeji, former NBA star has categorically stated that his adorable, black-ebony wife is foursome!

    Oyedeji, current captain of Nigeria National Basketball team said his wife has essentially fulfilled four dutiful roles as a father, mother, sister and brother in his life saying she is indeed an awesome other half.

    Olumide, one of Nigeria’s most-travelled basketballer having played as a professional basketball player in Africa, Europe, America, Asia was flamboyant in his praise for his wife and was definitely in the realm of late legendary politician Chief Obafemi Awolowo who described his wife as ‘my jewel of inestimable value.’

    In 2007, Oyedeji dragged former Miss Adejoke Fajemisin to the altar in an elaborate ceremony held at the Holy Trinity African Church, Ibadan and the romance between the two love birds remain solid as a rock.

    “I didn’t just marry a woman but I married somebody who is my father, mother, brother and sister,” Olumide told The Nation’s Sport & Style correspondent, Segun Jegede of London-based Utmost Sports Management. “I give God for giving me that kind of person because she is caring, loving and simply unbelievable.

    He added: “She is God-fearing and she has all the qualities you want in a woman.”

    Oyedeji, who hosted a charity Basketball clinic for kids in London tagged ‘Shoot a ball not a Gun and Pick a book not a Knife’ in November at the Damilola Taylor Centre in Pecham, said his foray into clinics and camps has to do with the fact that the B&B game is educational based.

    “The clinic in London is done as a means of discouraging youths in United Kingdom from crime,” said the lad who made name on the local courts with Ebun Comets on his way to professional career abroad. “ From statistics, more than 65 percent gun and knife crime committed in the United Kingdom are by blacks and if you narrow it down, about 40 or 45 percent of the crime is by African descendants.

    “So we are trying to use basketball and education to stem the tide of violence and crime in the United Kingdom amongst African descendants especially.

    “We want to drum it to them that they can make it in life through basketball and education. I did the same kind of program when I was in the USA but the focus of my clinic is different in Nigeria. It has always been part of my plans to always conduct clinics for youths wherever I go.

    Born May 11, 1981, Oyedeji featured in an online autobiography, played at the 1999 and 2000 Nike Hoop Summits. He was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics, in the 2nd round (42nd overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft. He played a total of 93 games during three seasons in the NBA, and had career averages of 1.4 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 0.1 assists per game, and 0.2 steals per game. He also played in the Spanish League with Granada.

    He also played with Shanxi Zhongyu in the Chinese Basketball Association as well as with Changwon LG Sakers of the Korean Basketball League in 2011.

    An influential member of the senior men’s Nigerian national basketball team, he won the bronze medal at the 2005 FIBA Africa Championship. He also played at the 2007 FIBA Africa Championship. He won the bronze medal at the 2011 FIBA Africa Championship and he reckoned that his momentous occasion was playing at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. Excerpts…

    What are your memorable moments with both clubs and country?

    Without any doubt, my highest moment was when we qualified Nigeria (D’Tigers) for the Olympics for the first time at London 2012. Olympics are the pinnacle of sport and it is the highest thing any athlete can aim at because this is greater than the Basketball World Cup for instance. At the World Cup, you have just about 32 teams while at the Olympics you only have the 12 best teams in attendance. Like the World Cup, there are no restrictions in terms of age; you just bring all your best players for the competition which makes it very exciting because you know what you have are the best players of your national teams from respective countries at these competitions. That was a great feeling because I had already done everything that was needed to be done in my career-playing at the World Cup, NBA, playing in the European and Asian Leagues in China, South Korea and Japan. Any league you can talk about, I have played there but I’d never been to the Olympics until London 2012. It is a great feeling to just be tagged as an Olympian and this always gives me great feelings.

    You spent about three years in the NBA and you were the face of Nigeria, what did that mean to you?

    It was really a great honour to be at that position at that particular time but my prayer now is for the younger generation to go higher than I did. It was really a great fun in such position; and it was really a fantastic feeling for me.

    Having played in three continents, how much do you enjoy moving from one place to another?

    It is really a great fun moving from one place to another more so; I enjoy what I’m doing. Had there interesting years in the NBA from where I moved to Greece. I needed to move at that point because I’m the type that needed to use my energy and I couldn’t afford to see myself on the bench. I was tired of sitting down on the bench. So I needed to move because I was tired of sitting on the bench. I love to do what I enjoy because I like to play basketball. I enjoy being on the floor and I like to see people clapping for me and not the other way round. How would I be a small fish in a river than be a big fish in a small pond?

    You are from Nigeria where football was the dominant sport, how and why did you choose basketball?

    Actually, I grew up playing soccer but suddenly I grew taller than my mates and that was why I opted for basketball. Good enough, basketball is really growing in Nigeria today and I think it’s the second sport behind football now in Nigeria. What we are doing is to encourage more grassroots especially basketball in school because it’s an educational sport. That is why I have been doing my basketball camp in Nigeria in the last 13 years. Today, I have over 300 kids discovered from my camps and this gives me the opportunity to do something positive for the country.

    From Ebun Comets, you have conquered the world; that really inspired you?

    I think the inspiration was from God and it God that I can really put it down to. I thought of so many things to do and I actually had the intention to be a journalist when I was growing up in school. At a point I was asking myself ‘what can I do’ until I found myself in basketball. When I came into basketball, I was determined that I wanna make it and I had to be disciplined and focussed because I had to really make it big. I was determined and with the help of God, everything has gone well for me. I can but continue to give glory to God for everything.

    Great, tell us about your family and is there the likelihood that your kids would follow on your footsteps to play basketball?

    My son plays basketball but I doubt if he would eventually play as a professional. All the same, you can never say never in life. I have two teenage sons’ one of them loves soccer and the other loves basketball. One of my girls loves basketball and the other one loves volleyball. Of course, my children play a lot of basketball at home but it would be great to see them on the court outside; I would love to see them play basketball.

    Tell us your preferred styles about wears, cars and gadgets?

    I love hi-tech and I love to be on top of my gadgets. Cars? I love German cars preferably BMWs, Audis, Mercedes. Those are my favourites I’m not a Porsche kind of person because those are only good for car racing. While should I spend so much amount of money to buy an expensive speed cars and I can only do 70 to 80 miles per hour. BMWs, Audis and Mercedes are luxurious and conservatives…for me it’s not about quantity or flashy things you put together but it’s all about quality.

    Tell us something fresh about your wife?

    She is caring, loving and she’s simply unbelievable. She is God-fearing and she has all the qualities you want in a woman. I didn’t just marry a woman but I married somebody who is my mother, father, brother and sister. I give God for giving me that kind of person.

    What other things would you like to share with Nigerians?

    I’m like an open book and I don’t think there is nothing Nigerians don’t know about me. The only thing I would like to say is that let us all work to make Nigeria better and great. The future of the country belongs to us, so let us work to make it greater. We should stay together and look forward to a better future.

    Are you still looking forward to taking part at the next Olympics in Rio in 2016?

    Let’s wait and see; but if I’m going to retire, I would call a press conference and you will be the first to know.

  • I was deflowered by a rapist—Nollywood actress,—Foluke Daramola-Salako

    I was deflowered by a rapist—Nollywood actress,—Foluke Daramola-Salako

    Big, beautiful and bold are the words that aptly describe Foluke Daramola-Salako, a crossover actress in the nation’s movie industry. She is ever frank, particularly when the issue borders on her love life. In this no-holds-barred interview with MERCY MICHAEL, she talks about all you have been dying to know about her past and present marriages and why she seldom acts nowadays, among other issues.

    IT was once reported that you wanted to start a talk show called ‘Fulfilling Desires’, but what is really holding you back?

    Yes, you are right. That was before I went back to school for my Master’s degree. Personally, I have two passions in life: I am passionate about humanity and I will do anything to acquire knowledge. When I got admission into the University of Lagos, Akoka, I couldn’t combine it with the talk show, so I had to go for my Master’s degree. But I’m still coming back to it. When I got admission into the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, I had the option of sticking to entertainment and continuing with acting or going to school. But I told myself that showbiz will always be there, so I went to school. I came out and continued with my acting career. When the opportunity came for me to do my Master’s degree, it was at the time I wanted to do my talk show, so I weighed the two and went for my Masters. I have finished my programme and I’m walking on my talk show now. I’m a perfectionist, so I don’t believe I should rush anything.

    So, what is Fulfilling Desires about?

    It’s about womanhood, the pains women go through, what we feel and how we feel. I intend to talk about things that people just take for granted: for instance, a frigid woman in a marriage or a frigid lady that has been raped. I have been a victim of that, so I understand what it feels like.

    You mean you have been a victim of rape?

    Yes, my first introduction to sex was rape. I talk about it when I have to. I was deflowered by a rapist. These are things people don’t talk about. In my first marriage, I was frigid because of my experience, aside other things. So, Fulfilling Desire is about things that are realistic, but which people just sweep under the carpet.

    I know you to be an assertive person, so I can’t imagine the fact that you went into your first marriage without your thinking cap on.

    You see, there is something called peer pressure. Yes, I am an assertive person, but I like to do what my friends are doing. All my friends were getting married, so I also wanted to get married. When you were younger, you had some fantasies about your marriage without being realistic. There is a difference between wedding and marriage. A lot of people are ready for wedding and not marriage. The first time, I went into a wedding; but this time around, I knew I was going into a marriage, so the wedding was not such any big deal to me. The first time, I was about 26 and I felt I had to be married. I went into it with both eyes closed because I had butterflies in my tummy. I was in love and everything. I wouldn’t say it was lust, but I wasn’t prepared. I had my own faults and he had his as well, and we both learnt from it. I wouldn’t call the marriage a mistake because I have two issues there. So, I don’t have any bitterness towards my first marriage. I just see my ex as one of my brothers that we just had ideological misunderstanding and we just could not come to terms with that.

    I didn’t know I could even get married again because I was resolute about some things. I don’t want to repeat what I faced there. But I guess God was just preparing the best for me. This is because the kind of person I have now is my friend. Someone that understands that Foluke is just like that; that Foluke wants to assert herself and that she’s thorough. He is someone that just accepts me the way I am and I can’t thank God enough for that. Sometimes, you can’t appreciate a good marriage, if you haven’t been through a failed one before.

    You said the first time you got married, you were in love; so, does it mean it is not love this time around?

    You see, before two people can decide that they want to get married, there has to be something deep between them. Love is not as strong as understanding. Don’t try to change your partner. When I was dating my present husband, we had that issue and we both sat down and said, ‘Look, you can’t change me and I can’t change you; let’s just enjoy the best of it. This is because you find out that it is what you enjoy most in your partner that causes the problem. If your partner is a quite person, then, that is the point of attraction. But when you are eventually in it, it will be the cause of the problem. If your girlfriend is domineering, that will be the attraction, but that will also be a problem later. When you start having issues, you now close your eyes to all the positive sides and you look at the negative ones only. But one thing I don’t subscribe to and I tell my present husband is domestic violence. I tell him that if he does anything physical on me, I will leave. I had been through it before and it had a terrible psychological effect on me. I didn’t have any form of self-esteem; I was just flat and out. I will never compromise that. In fact, I will tell whoever wants to marry my daughter that he dare not, in any circumstance, touch my daughter because the damage on her will be worse dying. When your self-esteem is flat and out, you are also dead; so, I do not compromise it. I can deal with infidelity, but I can’t deal with physical abuse. I’ve been there before, but I don’t want to talk about it because of the children involved.

    Some women would tell you that they can endure physical abuse, but not a flirtatious husband.

    For me, I can’t.

    Why?

    My pastor, Pastor Sam Adeyemi, says you have to be complete in yourself. A man or a woman is only there to complement you and every one of us is after one thing: Happiness. No matter how poor or rich you are, the only thing we are all after is joy, happiness. So, if I see you look happy, I will like to relate with you because I will want to share part of that happiness. Before I got married to my husband, he saw me as a complete person who was happy. I was a single mother and was enjoying my status. I was enjoying my time with my kids.

    Before then, I had to go to a psychiatrist to deal with myself; and then, I went to church to deal with myself spiritually because I’m a spiritual being. Pastor Sam thought me that if you are not complete as a woman or a man, nobody else can complete you. So, at the end of the day, I know that if my husband decides to play around, there can never be another Foluke Daramola. There can only be me and my husband will always come back home to me because that thing that he has found in me cannot be found in any other person.

    You see, if God says the man you are getting married to is going to have 15 wives, there is nothing you can do about it. The only thing that can make me lose my marriage is domestic violence. Apart from this, I can’t leave my marriage for any other reason. It’s not worth it. That happiness that I’m deriving from you at that point in time is all I want.

    You said you can deal with infidelity, but how do you deal with the fact that your husband is sharing his love for you with another woman?

    When I left my first marriage, I didn’t expect that I was going to get married. Again, I told myself that I just wanted a relationship and marriage. I wanted someone that would be there for me as a companion and nothing more because, at that time, I liked to be by myself most of the time. Besides, I told myself that I didn’t want my children to bear different surnames. I told myself I could just have a relationship without getting married. The white woman can have a relationship for 15 or 20 years without getting married; it doesn’t have to be marriage.

    It’s a mindset; if I believe that out of the whole day, my partner gives me two quality hours, whatever he does with the remaining 22 hours shouldn’t be my problem because he’s an individual. For instance, if I go to a location for days and he doesn’t get worked up and he till talks to me, then, I should be able to understand whatever he does with his time. What if you are the only ‘one’ in that home and he has a girlfriend he’s spending 16 hours with, how would you know? It’s just a psychological thing; once you know that there is another person outside, you start to feel that your love is being divided.

    For me, I can’t have high blood pressure because I won’t stress myself unnecessarily. When my husband tells me he loves me, I believe him sincerely. When I was in my past marriage, people would come and tell me that they saw my husband with someone, but I never gave them audience because I was not interested. So, now, when he returns home, he is mine; and when he’s out there, whatever he does doesn’t bother me because he doesn’t bother himself with whatever I do. My present husband, Kayode, will never pick my phone and look through my phone. He is someone that is liberally- minded, so why will I now be giving myself hassles. So, sometimes, when they say a man is getting married to another woman and the woman starts agitating, I feel it is laziness.

    One lady that I have so much respect for, though I am not so close to her, is Annie Macaulay. She’s one person that has settled in her mind that she wants to be happy with this man and she’s working on that. How many women can be like that? She’s complete in herself. She understands that whatever Tuface feels for her can only be felt for her and her alone. As far as I am concerned, I know that there can only be one me.

    Infidelity, for me, can never break my home. I will only deal with it maturely in a way that you will be shocked. It’s the best thing a woman can discover. Once you have that thing inside of you, your man will even be afraid of you because he wouldn’t know why you are so at peace. You will turn out more beautiful. But once you start getting yourself worked up emotionally, you are bad and the man will even be running even farther away from you because that person outside is making herself beautiful and fine for him. So, the earlier we women understand that and deal with that, the better for us. We can chose to shy away from it, but even the Bible says that, in the end time, you will have seven women, not even two, to one man. So, which part of the Bible are we not reading? Is it not already coming to pass? So, you have to be realistic with yourself.

    You said you didn’t plan to remarry after your first marriage crashed; so, why did you take that stand?

    My conviction was based on the fact that Kayode is my very good friend. We shared everything and anything. We started out as friends and colleagues because he’s an activist and I’m an activist too. We were always talking and unconsciously, we were building a very strong bond.

    Before I met him, he was already having issues with his past marriage. I knew he was not happy about it and his partner also knew. They had an understanding within themselves and when he felt that he needed to move on, he moved on. He shouldn’t be crucified for moving on. Some people would not move on, but they will say they want to have another wife. If it’s okay by me, I would marry. It doesn’t mean I would stay in the same house with my husband and the first woman. I would be on my own and the first woman too will be on her own. But in their own case, they both decided that they needed to move on. And when they moved on because of the pressure and the noise, I decided I was travelling out. Then, my husband called me and said, ‘Look, why would you abandon me at this time I need you most?’ And I was like, ‘I thought you would need time to sort your marriage out.’ But he said, ‘It is not working.’ So, I came back and we took a step and we don’t regret it now. We have our challenges, but I can’t wish for anything more. I’m not a billionaire or millionaire, but I am happy. Happiness is a precious gift I will never sell for all the million dollars in the world.

    What was the involvement of Pastor Sam Adeyemi in all that happened?

    Hmm! I’m not close to Pastor Adeyemi. I went for Advanced Day Star Leadership programme because I’m one person that has about 10 role models. I might not have personal contact with them, but I just look at their ways of life and their preaching. For instance, I am impressed with the motivational speeches of Fela Durotoye. My husband and I listen to Pastor Sam Adeyemi’s CD’s and we learn from it. I don’t have to be close him. More importantly, I don’t listen to what people say, but I listen to my conviction. You see, if I die today, I will go to heaven because of the fact that my Bible teaches me just two things: Love your neighbour as yourself and love God with all your soul. That is the all encompassing thing about the 10 Commandments. But in Nigeria, we have turned the whole thing upside down. Our commandments are over 50. Yes, Pastor Adeyemi is one of my role models.

    I love him so much, but I don’t use his standard as a yardstick; I use God’s standard as a yardstick. That is it. I said it on the Internet and people were just ‘yapping’ me. I didn’t care anyway. It’s just the price you have to pay for being a celebrity. I said how many of God’s favourites in the Bible were monogamists? We are using the English standard for the Bible standard, but they are two things entirely. The English standard is different from the Bible. Abraham, David and Solomon were all God’s favourites. But tell me, how many were monogamists among them? It just goes to show that at the end of the day, you can’t use marriage as a standard to make heaven.

    Talking about being fair to all concerned, do the children from the past marriage have a relationship with their father?

    It is left to the man to be able to know how he juggles his time. For my husband, he’s one person that creates time for his children. And he has a perfect relationship with his ex and his children as well. That makes him the man.

    Movie- wise what has been happening to you?

    It’s been a while; I just found it boring. If I get the right script, I will do it. But lately, I haven’t been seeing the right scripts.

  • Retrace your steps, Fasanmi urges Bamidele

    Retrace your steps, Fasanmi urges Bamidele

    Second Republic Senator Ayo Fasanmi yesterday lamented the crack in the Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC), warning the House of Representatives member, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, to retrace his steps to the party.

    Bamidele, who represents Irepodun/Ifelodun Constituency in the House, recently defected to the Labour Party (LP), where he hopes to contest for the governorship next year. He was one of the leaders of the party in the state before his defection.

    Fasanmi, who reflected on history, advised the federal legislator to ponder on the fate of prominent politicians, who left their political families for other camps, based on temporary political challenges.

    He also advised him to learn from the political career of the famous Ekiti son, the late Chief Akinwole Omoboriowo, who deserted his leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in a bid to dislodge former Ondo State Governor Adekunle Ajasin from power. Fasanmi recalled that Omoboriowo, despite his popularity, never bounced back into reckoning after he left the proscribed Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

    The elder statesman said that past experience should instruct ambitious young men and women to think deeply and peep into the future before taking far-reaching decisions that have implications for their political future, their political groups, and the welfare of the state they hope to govern.

    Fasanmi, who spoke with our correspondent on phone, said: “The defection of Bamidele from the APC is most unfortunate. It is an unfortunate incident. He is a boy I know very well. Well, he is a man now. I first saw him in 1994, when I was a member of the Constitutional Conference Commission set up by the late military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. I have followed his career since then.

    “I am disappointed. This is an unfortunate situation. As an elder statesman, I will advice Fayemi (Governor Kayode) not to be diverted. The APC is on a sound footing. Fayemi is doing well as the governor of Ekiti State. The APC is on course in Ekiti”.

    Fasanmi recalled that the parting of ways between Awolowo and Omoboriowo was painful to many Ekiti patriots, who equally loved the former deputy governor. He said that history is merely repeating itself as Bamidele will be seen to be parting ways with his leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    He added: “There were Awolowo and Akintola. There were Ajasin and Omoboriowo. Now, there are Fayemi and Bamidele. But this should not be so in Yorubaland. We should learn from the past”.

    The veteran politician noted that Bamidele’s career in the progressive fold under the Tinubu’s tutelage has been impressive, adding that he had climbed the ladders of leadership and fame as a key functionary of government in Lagos State.

    He said that it is risky for a promising politician like Bamidele to desert the party he had jointly nurtured with compatriots and seek refuge in another, where some people may perceive him as a stranger. Recalling Awo’s advice to his disciples, he said: “It is better to discuss and disagree in your party and fight for your interest there, but if it appears that you can’t have your way, you should jettison your personal interest and subscribe to the collective interest, where accommodation would be found for your interest. In the progressive camp, where service to the people is the watchword, you cannot be a loser”.

    Fasanmi, who described the LP chieftain as a competent and vibrant person, warned that a progressive politician may lose relevance outside his original political family.

    He added: “The question people are asking is: what does Bamidele want? I understand that he has served as a party officer, special adviser, commissioner for two terms. Now, he is in the House of Representatives. He who the god will destroy will first make mad. This should not happen to Bamidele. That is why I want him to retrace his steps. His grievances can still be addressed within the progressives family. I like him so much. So, I want him to learn from history”.

  • ‘More professionals will join APC’

    ‘More professionals will join APC’

    The former Rector of the Lagos State Polytechnic, Mr. Olawumi Gasper, has said that more professionals are joining the main opposition party because it has revived ideological politics.

    He said: “The polity now set for a titanic struggle between the progressives and forces of conservatism. Nigerians have a choose between a party that has produced failed governments for 14 years and a party of promise with antecedents of good governance in the APC states.2015 is the year of national liberation by the APC”.

    Gasper, who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos, enjoined the APC leaders to sustain the tempo and woo more like-minded politicians still cohabiting within the PDP.

    He explained that Nigerians have yearned for the alternative route to progress and prosperity, adding that the merger has become the solution.

    Gasper said: ‘The prophecy of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo has come to fulfillment. He had said that the best among the contending forces would come together one day to rescue the country. The onus is now on the APC leaders to forge ahead in the national interest”.

  • Prestige Assurance promotes AGM, others

    Prestige Assurance promotes AGM, others

    Prestige Assurance Plc, has promoted some of its top management staff.

    Among those promoted were, Mrs. Jibrin-Yaro to Assistant General Manager (AGM)II from Senior Manager. She is a product of Obafemi Awolowo University and Lagos State University where she obtained Diploma in Business Administration and MBA Marketing. She is also a Chartered Insurer of both London and Nigeria (ACII).

    Also promoted is Mrs. Eunice Olufunmilayo Aina, who was moved from Senior Manager to Assistant General Manager (AGM)II. She is a 1992 graduate of Accounting from the Polytechnic, Ibadan, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, (ICAN), a certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certificate Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria. She joined the firm in 2001 as Internal Auditor.

    Other elevated staff were those from Assistant Manager to Manager, Staff from Senior Superintendent to Assistant Manager, staff from Superintendent to Senior Superintendent, staff from Assistant Superintendent to Superintendent.

     

    In total, eight are in the category of Senior Staff while 11 are in the category of junior staff.

  • Segun Awolowo not slowing down

    Segun Awolowo not slowing down

    SEGUN Awolowo Jnr, first grandchild of late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is not slowing down on socials despite clocking the golden age.

    The son of fashion matriarch, Abbah Folawiyo, who clocked 50 unannounced last month, was spotted among guests who graced the glamorous launch of the premium wellness centre, Bodyline Fitness & Gym at Ikoyi, Lagos last weekend. Segun, the former presidential special assistant, with the way he rocks, may be telling those who care to listen that age is just a number.

  • Ekiti ronu

    Ekiti ronu

    If Ekiti ronu [Ekiti think] echoes Yoruba ronu, iconic caution as mass protest music by late dramatist, Hubert Ogunde, during the 1st Republic’s political storm, it is simply because a storm of similar magnitude is hovering over Ekiti.

    Should this storm dawn and thunder break, as the pan-Yoruba one did in the 1st Republic Western Region, Ekiti people would be the grand victims in the present South West.

    Indeed, in Ekiti, the third generation of Obafemi Awolowo’s developmental politics are about to fall upon themselves, ironically as the paterfamilias and his policy greats did; making hideous political killing fields of the same Western vista in which they had showcased startling policy wonders; and birthing the first generation of Yoruba political sinners and saints!

    Now what is this: history inevitably repeating itself or plain hubris, pushing towards avoidable ruin?

    Enter Samuel Ladoke Akintola and his fallen angels, among the brightest and best in the old Action Group (AG), the first generation of Yoruba political sinners versus Awo and faithful disciples, the first generation of Yoruba saints; then Akin Omoboriowo and pals, among the brightest and best in the 2nd Republic Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), second generation of Yoruba sinners versus Michael Adekunle Ajasin and brood, second generation of Yoruba saints.

    Now, is the black-or-white, famously unforgiving and notoriously ancestral-feuding Yoruba political clime ripe for a third generation of sinners and saints, in the looming Ekiti toss-up between Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) and John Kayode Fayemi (JKF)?

    Both lead feuding blocs of the All Progressives Congress (APC), present South West political lords of the manor, and closest articulators of Awo’s development politics, among the varied groups laying claim to the Awo legacy.

    Indeed, Awo political descendants are no united phalanx. From the very genesis, even with Awo in charge, the ranks had always fissured. So, it is with the present generation.

    For starters, a bloc insists it is Awo natural franchisers, to be disputed by no one. This class comprises the living Awolowos, the Afenifere grandees, Awo-era battle-hardened but ageing veterans and other Awo ideology coterie and family friends, in the clergy and other fields.

    This group considers itself the Areopagus, apex chamber of wise elders in ancient Athens, from which the Awo franchise must be cleared. But aside from holding this virtual “spiritual brief”, to use legal-speak, they have done pretty little to concretise the Awo developmental essence.

    Indeed, it is not illegitimate to charge this bloc with illicit doctrinaire trade-offs, for immediate but eventually ruinous political gains (as the Afenifere grandees did with Ogun’s former governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, OGD, and his Ogun Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; and currently with Olusegun Mimiko and his Labour Party in Ondo), when faced with political pressures from rival claimants to the Awo legacy.

    Then there is the Bola Tinubu group, from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the start of this 4th Republic, to Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now All Progressives Congress (APC). Though the Afenifere bloc regards Asiwaju Tinubu and his younger Turks as a breed of upstarts (and on both sides, the contempt is mutual), the Tinubu bloc has done more than any other to actualise Awo’s developmental vision.

    Indeed, what the AD class of 1999-2003 miserably flunked, the Tinubu current brood in the South West is doing with panache: in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti states, with the South West boasting robust development makeovers, reminiscent of the golden Awo days, in stark contrast to the abject developmental puddle of the Olusegun Obasanjo mainstream era.

    But aside from the Afenifere and Tinubu blocs, there are the Awo ideological fair weather friends, exemplified by the Mimikos and OGDs, who nibble the Awo rhetoric for political sustenance, but are political Machiavellis, sworn to the end justifying the means – or “meanness” to parody Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    Since every Tinubu gain necessarily translates into an Afenifere loss (and probably vice-versa), the Mimikos and OGDs are in booming business, entering sweetheart partnerships with Afenifere, as the unending battle flares, to control of the soul of the South West.

    It is to this vicious vista, therefore, that the looming MOB-JKF battle royale for the capture of Ekiti is opening. But that is not the only danger. Lurking in the wings, and waiting for carrion, are the federal political vultures of Goodluck Jonathan, a presidential camp desperately craving a second term (after making a hash of the first), and for whom a fissured Ekiti APC would be virtual gift from the gods!

    If all these would not jolt into sense the Ekiti gladiators, behaving as children without a sense of history, then it is plain hubris, the good old Yoruba eedi, at play!

    MOB, rumoured to be lining up joining forces with Labour Party (LP) would probably destroy himself. That is trite, but if only conventional wisdom holds right.

    So, after Akintola and Omoboriowo, is MOB bracing up to lead the latest generation of progressives-turned-demons in Yoruba politics? But what if conventional wisdom turns grand folly and MOB turns the table? Or worse: the federal reactionaries cook up the vote and bolt with the prize, while MOB and JKF, in progressive feuding, mutually self-destroy?

    But why would a man take such a perilous path? Why would MOB eye possible glory but probable doom, and yet develop a Samson’s complex to stake it all? That is what is not trite!

    That would suggest an intolerable political situation in his APC, that makes coexistence mutually unbeneficial. So, if a man cannot legitimately actualise his dreams in a union, why should he invest his time and loyalty in it? Vaulting ambition? Maybe. But ambition is no crime, and “vaulting” is only an adjective!

    That takes the discourse to the Fayemi side, now posing as saints in the divide. They are not. MOB and his coalition of the aggrieved accuse the governor of bad faith and of use-and-dump tactics.

    These allegations could be right or wrong. But the reality is that one side is incensed enough to torpedo the whole house. That cannot be good for a sitting governor that even the aggrieved admit – even if in private – has done enough to earn re-election.

    MOB must, therefore, beware of the Coriolanus syndrome. Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, in a fit of fatal anger, joined the Volscians against his native Corioli. He lost his life in the gambit.

    But JKF too must be wary of the hubris of gubernatorial conceit to crush a comrade turned foe. And those bent on media demonization of MOB are tragically mistaken. He who is down need fear no fall!

    Whatever it takes, the APC leadership must tweak the ears of both combatant camps, and bring both to reason – whatever it takes! On the basis of equal opportunity membership, they must hand each side mutual, cast-iron guarantees to build confidence and fend off the looming disaster.

    Each time the South West advances, reactionary forces gather to scuttle the efforts, using feuding progressives themselves as fuel.

    Should such happen again in Ekiti, MOB and JKF would take the flak. So, they had better both jerk awake before earning themselves a harsh verdict of history.

    Ekiti ronu!