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Tag: people

  • EXPRESSO People – 2016

    EXPRESSO People – 2016

    It is time again to cast a glance at the outgoing year and situate it in the annals of events. For this column, it is time to present to you the people who have impacted on this column most positively.

    EXPRESSO People are those rare and select men and women – preferably Nigerians living here – who have brought hope, gladness and much cheers to the lives of Nigerians. By their actions and utterances, they have inculcated in the rest of us, sustained belief and hope that our fatherland may yet find that compass to navigate out of troubled waters.

    Our people for 2016 are, (in the order mentioned) – Peter Obi, Akinwunmi Ambode/Atiku Bagudu, Genot Rohr, Shehu Dikko and Mark Zuckerberg.

    Peter  Obi: Shifting

    leadership paradigms

    If this former governor of Anambra State were in a better ordered society, he would stand behind pristine rostrums almost every other week, picking up awards, presenting lectures, being appointed to academic positions and generally chairing different forums that push the frontiers of knowledge in organisational and administrative leadership.

    For eight years of leading a troubled and dishevelled state, he displayed rare and outstanding qualities that are uncommon among governors in these parts.

    This column had always followed his trajectory over these years and would unabashedly raise his banner. But Nigeria, and indeed the world seem to have come to a sudden realisation of Mr. Obi’s especial prowess last October when he gave an independence lecture at Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos. The world cottoned to what this column had described as The Peter Paradigm. The media – traditional and new – was agog, astounded at Obi’s phenomenal exploits.

    Obi’s is a long story that is yet to achieve denouement; it is a refreshing oasis in a parched, unforgiving desert that will require a tome to properly articulate. Suffice to present here in bullet points, a few markers that made up the story.

    • Obi believes that the bane of Nigeria today is official wastefulness and licentious breach of public treasury.
    • During his tenure, he contained and indeed abolished the illegal Office of the First Lady, which remains a huge drainpipe in most states to date.
    • Apart from drastically cutting the pervasive wastes and expansive frivolities that have permeated Nigeria’s governments across board, he ensured accountability in public procurements, eschewed the self-aggrandisement associated with the so-called security votes and Government House overheads and curbed the excessive and wanton revelry of the executive office.
    • While almost all governors bequeathed huge debts and unpaid salaries and pensions to their successors, Obi did not only refuse to borrow a dime in eight years, he made mandatory savings every month he was in office.
    • As if he foresaw the 2014 crash in crude oil prices and attendant recession, by the time he left office that year, he had accumulated savings amounting to billions in naira and foreign currencies, fixed in various financial instruments both local and international. This was unprecedented as

    other governors were hankering after securing huge foreign loans.

    • His state Anambra was no less developed than any other state. Indeed, he outperformed his contemporaries in integrated provision of social amenities, in ensuring he built the best network of tarred roads; making Anambra’s candidates tops in most national entrance examinations in his time, among other feats.

    As has been noted above, the Peter Paradigm is a book in the making, which could redefine governance in Nigeria and the developing world.

    Ambode/Bagudu: 

    forging a phenomenal tie

    It is not certain whose idea it was, but that will not matter now. The outcome is even more phenomenal that the two men have become folk heroes not only in their states, but to Nigeria.

    We speak of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and his Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu. Both leaders have risen as one and created a beneficial synergy not known in Nigeria. Kebbi in Northwest of Nigeria is a major rice grower, while Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria in the Southwest, is perhaps the biggest market for rice in Africa. It is said to consume about N135 billion worth of rice per annum.

    It is thus a commercial marriage made in heaven. While Kebbi invested in inputs and farmers, Lagos invested in modern mills. And what difference just one year of two planting seasons can make. This novel wedlock has produced LAKE (Lagos/Kebbi) rice and it is poised to become the major brand in Lagos soon by its bold entrée this season. Here are some points to note concerning the grand initiative of these two honorees:

    • This is probably the first time Nigeria is witnessing this manner of interstate business alliance and across two tribes. To think that most of such regional collaborations have failed.
    • This is a practical and working example of the much touted diversification.
    • While we commend Governor Ambode for seeing an opportunity hundreds of kilometres away and reaching for it, we also applaud Governor Bagudu for his open-minded embrace of the programme. They both have lifted our spirit.

    These two men are on to something grand and noble and we urge them to work harder at it. We expect them to keep fine-tuning the value chains so that by the second and third year, LAKE Rice would have flooded the huge Nigerian market preparatory to taking on the world.

    Gernot Rohr:

    A roaring magic

    This self-effacing Franco-German football tactician has brought sunshine to our faces once again. Before he literally sneaked in to handle Nigeria’s senior national team a few months ago, the team was nearing disaster. Regardless of boasting of competent professional footballers playing across the world, Nigeria’s team, the Super Eagles, seemed perpetually stumped and struggled with even the worst teams in Africa.

    Today, Nigeria’s senior national team under him is a roaring success so far. Three matches in the World Cup qualifiers and he has already achieved what can be termed a roaring success, opening a near-unassailable lead even in a ‘group of death’.

    More remarkable, the Super Eagles play today with the sure-footedness of a true giant of Africa as well as displaying an exciting pattern of play long forgotten. And he is so unobtrusive and so good natured about his work and his initial successes. With Rohr, we can say bring it on once again!

    Shehu Dikko:

    Thumbs up to the LMC!

    Even though Nigeria’s football house may seem to be in perpetual twirl, the League Management Company (LMC) seems to be grinding out commendable results.

    Chairman Shehu Dikko and his team at the LMC have in the past few years been managing Nigeria’s local league and they have increasingly been making a good job of it. Recently, it presented its financial report – a rarity here -and it declared surplus, an even rarer rarity.

    Take a bow Dikko and the LMC crew, you make this column proud, keep working at it.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg: 

    The coming of the Mac!

    Zuckerberg, the god of Facebook fits in here because of his celebrated visit to Nigeria this year. At a time when the US and British governments were issuing safety warnings about Nigeria, Mark’s coming was tonic.

    More notable, he worked the street of Nigeria ‘un-garrisoned’, partook in Nigerian delicacies and donated seed money to some emerging digital hubs run by Nigerian youths.

    Expresso is wowed indeed by Zuckerberg and the entire EXPRESSO PEOPLE

     

  • Gambia: The people vs. Jammeh

    SIR: Anxiety prevails in the Gambia as the people await what becomes of their country come January 19, 2017. Will this country tow the path of peace or anarchy? Will Gambians have a new president? Will the incumbent remain in power? On this day of destiny, current president, Yahya Jammeh is expected to relinquish power and the President-elect, Adama Barrow resume as the country’s president. This day is expected to be special because it will be the first time that this West Africa nation is peacefully transferring power since Independence.

    For now, it is uncertain if this historic occasion will come to pass as expected because the incumbent president had backtracked after conceding defeat in a recent presidential election. Calls and appeals from ECOWAS, the AU, the UN and other local and international bodies to Jammeh to respect the outcome of December 1 presidential contest had fallen on deaf ears. In fact there are reports that troops from the sub-region are on a standby to intervene and use military force to oust Jammeh if he refused to relinquish power.

    Interestingly, Jammeh once told journalists that he would rule Gambia for a billion years if Allah so willed. Apparently, he was determined to cling to power as long as he would. However with the outcome of the presidential election and with what appears to be a political impasse in the country, Jammeh’s will seems to be on a collision course with that of Allah.

    But think about it, Allah has really been so magnanimous to Jammeh by allowing him to rule the country for 22 years despite his dismal human rights records and bad governance. During this period, this erratic leader acquired numerous titles that made his official introduction, ‘His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa’ a laborious exercise. He claimed to have the cure for HIV/AIDS. Jammeh withdrew Gambia from the Commonwealth, which he described as a neo-colonial institution. He stated that Gambia would never be a party to any institution that represented an extension of colonialism. Jammeh declared the country an Islamic republic in an attempt to distance Gambia from its colonial past. In addition he threatened to kill anyone who indulged in homosexual act.

    He ruled with iron fists, conducted sham elections and clamped down on the opposition and freedom of expression in the country. It seemed that at the presidential election in December, this bond was broken.

    So as the world counts down to January 19, 2017, Gambia finds itself in a political deadlock with two opposing wills – the will of President Jammeh and the will of the Gambian people as invested in the president elect, Adama Barrow. Which will triumphs at the end of the day?

    • Leo Igwe,

    nskepticleo@yahoo.com

  • ‘People like to cut corners’

    ‘People like to cut corners’

    Nigerian Institution of Surveyors President Mr. Akinleye Oyegbola, in this interview with Muyiwa Lucas, says cutting corners is a challenge that must be eliminated in the real estate sector. 

    What are the challenges facing surveying and how do you wish to tackle them?

    From the fall-out of the profession not promoting itself, you have to talk a lot and the society loses. The Geographic Informatics System (GIS) gives us the opportunity to manage our information for the benefit of the society. But, it is a tool. You have companies peddling the GIS. Because of the level of enlightenment of leaders, they try to think of what they can gain and not the problems. When problems arise, they will now call in the surveyor to clear the mess. The state governors want to know the amount of money to be made. It is the surveyor they will now call to solve the problems. Leaders should have surveyors as consultants. The Survey Departments in federal and state governments should ensure that this is adhered to.

    In the area of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), I do not blame the governors for giving out the C of Os. But they should not do it to the detriment of the surveying profession. The surveyor has toiled to render services. Chief executives of states should realise this. The government of a state cannot employ auditors to audit firms. The government’s quantity surveyors cannot do everything. You must have both the private and public. They should ensure that all sides are happy and we will still achieve the assured goal. Most of the work we do involve the lands. That is why we have problems. If you want to construct a tunnel, you could construct the tunnel by digging from both ends and you meet somewhere. The quacks are there and are digging from both ends without proper direction and they make mistakes as they cannot meet. Then you call in the surveyor to correct the mistakes. You should have brought in the surveyor from the start so that you get your direction from the beginning. When you make mistakes, you spend more time and money to correct them. A lot is meant for the surveyors in the developing countries, even in dam construction. The surveyor plans maps for navigation for the aircraft ans the ships. But people do not know.

    To what extent are the federal and state governments patronising local surveyors?

    I have visited states’ chief executives, deputy governors and commissioners. I used the opportunity to hammer on the issues we are facing. At every state I get into, I talk to them on how we can come in to help in their drive for revenue generation. The success has been very tremendous and wonderful. We are also talking to sectoral groups. We belong to the Environmental group of the APBN and we use the platform to tackle some of our challenges.

    Could you explain how the trend of collapsed structures or buildings in cities and road failures be tackled?

    The issue of collapses of structures is what President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to tackle, which is corruption. Nigerians are not short of ideas. We are enlightened. But, it is the will to maintain propriety. There is no building that is being put in place that you do not have the list of professionals involved in the job. But, they do not use them. People like to cut corners. Even public officers are part of it. We have robust structures we do not use. We have agencies which concentrate in making money instead of ensuring that something is done properly. Corruption is in several ways.

  • ‘I dumped PDP in the interest of my people’

    ‘I dumped PDP in the interest of my people’

    Senator Yele Omogunwa represents Ondo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly. Few days to the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC). He spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, on his relationship with Governor Olusegun Mimiko and how the state can surmount its economic challanges. LEKE AKEREDOLU was there. 

    Why did you kick against the emergence of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede as the candidate of the PDP?

    I take my time before I take decisions. The idea of picking the party’s candidate from Akure was wrong. Akure and Ondo are in the same central senatorial district, where the outgoing Governor Olusegun Mimiko hails from. That is tenure elongation or third term for Mimiko. Akure people are nice, but the timing was wrong. More so, the number of votes they were able to muster is because of the name of Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). If it is the name of these people in authority, they will not get 50,000 votes. Jegede is a complete gentleman. He came to my house and I told him that he was drafted into the race forcefully. He was not one of us. Before aspiring to govern the state, he should have asked himself how many governors he has voted for in this state? We started with Bamidele Olumilua; we were holding the meetings together when Ondo and Ekiti was brken into two states. So, I understand the terrain.  I voted for the late Adekunle Ajasin, not as an active politician then. I have worked for a governorship aspirant, Prof. D.O Oke who did not make it. Mention anywhere in Ondo State, I will tell you I have two or more friends there. So, you must be on ground. To become a governor; it’s not about an appointment.

    Did you inform Mimiko about it?

    Look, Mimiko and I met five times on this matter and I told him the idea will not fly. He knew I don’t come to their meetings. The only meeting I attended was at Ore in Odigbo Local Government. After he informed me that he had settled for Jegede as the party’s flagbearer, I said let me go and tell my people. I was not fighting for the South, but I was saying that for equity sake, it should either be South or the North. I thank God it has gone to the North. We have seasoned politicians in all the senatorial districts and I told him it has to go round. I told him, zoning itself is not constitutional, but an arrangement of convenience.

    Despite your explanation, the governor insisted on Jegede, why?

    The idea was that since the candidate is coming from Central, particularly Akure, which is the state capital the party will have a chunk of the votes from the Central and whatever votes it gets from the other two districts will give the party victory. I told Mr. Governor that he was wrong. I told him that Akure people do not vote. I told him to remember that Akure is a cosmopolitan city and that more than half of its residents are from the other 17 local governments. So, if an Akoko man emerges as a candidate of another party, do you want to tell me that the Akokos who reside in Akure will not come out on the election day and vote for their kinsman?

    It was rumoured that you left the PDP because of the way Mimiko treated you during your days in Labour Party…

    At this age of my life, what I think I am left with is to face my God, pray for my children, my grandchildren and live the rest of my life happily without any vendetta. I am not the kind of person that would want to avenge. He did that one to justify his position at that time. Though, I angrily left the party and the government, but at the end of the day, he came to me and we settled. So, that is politics for you; if it didn’t go down well for you today, definitely, it will be your turn tomorrow. I remained steadfast praying to God. In fact, one of my wives said I should not quit politics, because I have put in more than 25 years and should not allow somebody to frustrate me to quit. I consider Mimiko a friend. I have told him on several occasions that he is not a true friend. A political friend is not a friend. We didn’t grow up in the same place, we didn’t carry girls together. We have not been in the same club. The only thing we did together is politics. We both graduated from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), but not at the same time. If you know how I became senator, you will marvel and praise God.

    Why did you dump the PDP?

    You will recall that from the LP, we moved into the PDP in the wake of last year’s presidential and National Assembly elections. The main attraction then was to reconnect with the Federal Government along party lines, so as to attract more democracy dividends to the good people of Ondo State. For me, I found it a worthy adventure, on the grounds that virtually all the strategic projects that could transform the lives of the people of Ondo South senatorial district can only be successfully executed with the full cooperation and inputs of the Federal Government. You can then imagine how disappointed I was when the PDP was voted out of power. Despite the sad and frustrating development, as it were, some of us who found ourselves in that situation were ready to cope with it; at least in the interest of the party. But suddenly crisis erupted and the party became fractionalised. At this point, the success of the party at the governorship election was threatened. At this juncture, I considered the implication of being in the opposition in my home state and at the federal level.

    Are you saying that as someone in opposition there is no way you can bring dividends of democracy to your constituency?

    In terms of development, when you are in National Assembly you can talk as much as possible and whatever you say may not get the desired result, except you hook up with the right party. When we are talking about opposition, we are talking about the minority. Under normal circumstances, the opposition does not see anything good in whatever the majority does. But it is more than that, you can leverage on the good will of majority to get whatever you can get, depending on your relationship and acceptability.

    There was uproar on the day you officially defected on the floor of the Senate. Can you explain what really occurred?

    The action was spontaneous. Many of them did not know that I have decamped until that day. So, it shocked them that they are losing another person. So, when it was officially announced at the Red Chamber, they never knew I have written the Senate President and when the President read it, they were not so happy. You know in the chamber, the majority and the minority sit separately and when it was announced, I started moving from the minority seat to the majority and they felt sad and they did not allow the Senate President to end the letter; they started shouting. The senators in the majority were celebrating my defection and the PDP senators were not happy.

    Now that you are in the ruling party, what should be the expectation of your people?

    I want to be in the majority, so I can attend caucus meetings. You will know some minister; you don’t have to go through the President before you talk to the ministers representing Nigeria and then you can explain your point to them. I have seen one or two since I defected and we have been discussing on development. When it may happen, I will not know, but we will continue to discuss. You know governance; it might not be a job. My desire is that development will come and definitely it will, depending on the economic muscle of the Federal Government. We are talking of a sea port in Ondo southern senatorial district and if this is put in place over there, it will impact positively on the economy, especially in the Southwest. Our bitumen is yet to be tapped. You know I am from Irele and in my father’s village, there is bitumen. You will remember former President Olusegun Obasanjo was at the place to commission the takeoff of the project, but it never saw the light of day. We can continue to push this in our own way, without shouting or making noise.

    How do you think the incoming government can survive with the huge debt and non-payment of workers’ salaries that it may likely inherit?

    When we were debating the budget at the National Assembly last year, I raised two issues; that we must be courageous and optimistic that the economy will improve and that Nigeria should go for heavy loan. No government can survive without loan. In Ondo State, no matter the huge debt that will be inherited, Akeredolu will still perform. Everybody is aware that this government owes six to seven months salaries and I also understand the debt is close to N200 billion, but if I am the governor, I know he will draw a line and plan how to pay; even if it requires borrowing. No matter the huge amount of debt, I believe the governor-elect will still perform.

  • Why people are yearning for SDP, by Agunloye

    Why people are yearning for SDP, by Agunloye

    The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Olu Agunloye, has described the support enjoyed by the party as a sign of people’s yearning for good governance.

    He said the popular support from the people was encouraging and impressive.

    Agunloye enjoined the people to translate the love they have for the party into votes, as the SDP was ahead of others still struggling to put their houses and structures in order.

    Speaking to supporters at the Agunloye Campaign Organisation Office in Akure, the SDP candidate said the party demonstrated the value of leadership, internal democracy, tolerance, human management and political maturity with the peace that permeate its campaign and political action daily.

    According to him, SDP is forging ahead in its grassroots mobilisation.

    Agunloye encouraged the people to pray fervently to achieve the task ahead and transform the state’s economy.

    He reminded the people that their vote is the power to reject poor governance and ineffective leadership, which brought along abject poverty to the people.

    The SDP candidate promised that the people’s vote will count and warned against accepting any inducement.

    He advised the supporters to remain active and vote for SDP on November 26.

    Agunloye’s running mate Erelu Modupe Akindele Martins thanked the people for their support and determination to vote for SDP.

    Erelu Martins said women empowerment and prompt payment of workers would be prioritised when SDP is voted into power.

  • Cleric seeks people-friendly policies

    The General Overseer of Imole Ayo Spiritual Church of Christ, Ketu-Lagos, Bishop Samuel Olamide Adebanjo has advised the Federal Government to review some of its policies that have placed Nigeria’s economy in recession, saying the promises of change has not yielded any good result, but hardship.

    Adebanjo, who gave the advice during his church’s community evangelism outreach, said his advice was predicated on his perception that policies and programmes evolved by the President Buhari-led administration should have humane face so much so that the masses would not suffer. Bishop Adebanjo alleged that the President is surrounded by enemies who claimed to be loyal party members.

    “You have no friend in your government, but foes. The popular slogan of change has failed Nigerians,” the cleric who urged the President take steps to reduce the hardship prevailing in the land said. He, however, said the number of the poor in Nigeria is on the increase.

    “Nigerians voted for change; believing that hunger in the land will end, but the reverse is the case currently,” he said.

     

     

  • ‘Over 100,000 people need IVF’

    The pioneer of Invitro Fertilisation (IVF) at the National Hospital Abuja (NHA), Dr Ibrahim Wada, has said there are over 100,000 women in need of IVF in the country.

    He spoke at the 10th anniversary of IVF at the hospital.

    Wada stressed that infertility was a national and not an individual problem. This, he said, explained why the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should adopt IVF as one of its coverage area, adding that it is a human right.

    His worfs: “There are more than 100,000 women needing IVF in the country, and this will increase over the next few years.

    “We all must come together to tackle this large demand. It is not going to be the public or private alone. It is going to be a collaboration, and the National Hospital could mentor private hospitals and lead them in meeting the national demand for IVF.

    “That these 100,000 women will be  smiling home at the end of the day,  fulfilled at reproducing as service to the nation. If you are not there, how can you render service to the nation?

    “So, people should not take it as an individual problem, it is a national problem and it needs more Nigerians with brains to take us into the industrial world and get the work done. So, why can’t we come  together to make it right.”

    NHA Chief Medical Director Dr. Jafaru Momoh warned against stigmatisation of IVF patients.

    NHA, Momoh said, in the last 10 years, has aided the birth of 350 children.

    Momoh said: “There should be no stigma; rather, people should be proud that the technology given to human and which is through the knowledge given by God has helped us to have a child.

    “So, they should be able to tell others and encourage them so they can get help and become a mother.”

    Disclosing that IVF has enabled 500 pregnancies in 10 years, Momoh said 350 babies have also been delivered through the process.

    “We have recorded over 500 pregnancies and 350 deliveries in the hospital from the IVF programme,’’ he said, adding that IVF children are wrongly referred to as test-tube babies.

    He explained: “IVF babies are not test-tube babies. People should not mistake it that we grow babies in the test-tube. It is the natural process of giving birth that has been replicated from the laboratory at the very early stage, and the baby is transferred within 48 hours immediately it fertilises into the mother’s womb.’’

    On accessibility to IVF, Momoh said the National Hospital charges are very cheap.

    He said: “The bottom line of access in Nigeria is affordability, that is cost. That is why, we are advising the public to come to the National Hospital for IVF.’’

    He said IVF was highly subsidised by the Federal Government, which, he said, was why the programme has been sustained for the over 10 years.

  • The most corrupt people in Nigeria

    The most corrupt people in Nigeria?

    Men in their 50s – especially the civil servants.

    At that age, men have lost their idealism, the stark reality of the Nigerian state stares them right in the face.  I had often wondered why,and have always felt embarrassed when, in the past, I pass through immigration at Lagos Airport and I’m asked for ‘something’ by the grown men who manned those desks.  But now that I get to spend a lot more time in Nigeria, I know why.

    Men in their 50s begin to think seriously about retirement.  In Nigeria when you retire, you are on your own and everything is in the air.  You live in a state of perpetual uncertainty.  You are never sure if you will get your regular entitlements or whether some civil servant thief will make off with it or stick it in his personal account for a few years to accrue obscene interest as that civil servant (ironically) prepares for his own retirement.

    But before all that, men in their 40s and 50s in Nigeria face awesome challenges.  For all intents and purposes, they are their own local government: They provide their own electricity, their own water, their own security and provide for their own healthcare. Often times they maintain their local roads, they pay heavily for the education of their kids and some relatives, mobile phone charges are astronomical, and girlfriends to married men don’t come cheap at all.

    An average civil servant in one of the big cities, say, Abuja or Lagos, could earn N1,200,000 per year.  Rent alone is about N600,000.  Abuja is particularly bad in that regard.  Please completely discount public or government schools; these died a slow painful death several years ago.  So three kids in private schools might cost N300,000 per term.  There are three terms in a school year.  We haven’t even talked about food, fuel, NEPA, clothes, weekend Gulder, church money, or money for aged parents yet.

    And then nothing happens in Nigeria but marriages and funerals.  These cost a grip as well.  Where is the civil servant going to get the money for all of that?  The Nigerian terrain is very unforgiving and very unsupportive.  Government does not provide any social security support or cushion.  In fact, government through its many agencies constitutes itself into a huge drain on people’s resources.  There are many, many agencies, particularly on the roads, asking for money for one thing or the other.

    In 2014, I was in a company vehicle in Ogun State when I was stopped by some chaps in garish uniform.  They demanded that I produce an “Ogun State Driver’s Badge.”  I thought they were kidding but they weren’t.  I explained that I was only visiting but they advised that I give them a little something or go to their office.  I elected to go to their office.  Their boss was in the same colourful uniform, but he had on cowboy boots and a farmer’s hat.  Long story short; today, I am a proud owner of “Ogun State Driver’s Badge, 2014.” It costs N5,000.  You don’t need me to tell you that I haven’t smelled Ogun State since then.

    But this is what workers go through every day.  On top of that, they see elected politicians and other government officials making off like bandits unchallenged.  Plus, people like mechanics and plumbers are just itching to cheat you.    The strain of simply living shows; frayed nerves and high blood pressure are never too far behind.

    So what does the civil servant or worker do?  They become contract gate keepers.  They’ve set up a system whereby every competitive government bid goes through them.  You don’t get a look-in unless you agree to split the money 70:30 with the worker.  They would even prefer for you not to execute the job so that they can repeat the whole process the following year and ensure that their kids’ school fees are paid.  This is why, despite heavy government investment, some infrastructures remain in perpetual poor state.

    For those workers who are not in a position to influence contracts, they find other ingenious ways to fleece the public to augment their finances.  So the lecturer will deliberately fail his students, whether they passed or not, until the lecturer is settled.  The Police or Custom official continues to harass fellow citizens for money.  They see your non-cooperation as injurious to their existence.  They think you understand but that you are deliberately undermining them and short-changing their family.  This is why some of them often turn ugly.

    And with retirement looming, the worker becomes more desperate, more dogged and more corrupt as he prepares for that great uncertainty.  He has to build a home for himself, buy another car or two, perhaps support graduate kids who don’t have jobs, etc, etc.

    The corruption is insidious and, at the moment, the situation seems intractable.  Paradoxically, this situation has made every worker – particularly civil servants – ‘yes men.’  They are forever eager to parrot and excuse every government misdeed.  They cannot afford to lose their jobs so they become cheerleaders and further abet their own long term struggle.  An unfortunate vicious circle.

    Change will have to come from the top and it will require a lot of determined hard work and visionary, strategic leadership.  But in the meantime, the worker has to cope with the vicissitudes of today and prepare for the uncertainty of tomorrow…

     

    • Egbejumi-David writes from Lagos

  • Ondo poll: I want to serve my people, says Akeredolu

    A Governorship aspirant on the platform of Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has said his drive to contest the governorship seat is borne out of his passion to serve his people.

    Akeredolu noted that he has always wanted to serve the masses and bring succour to the state.

    The legal icon spoke with reporters, at weekend, at his 60th birthday celebration in Owo, his home town.

    The event was well-attended by the party’s leaders,  delegates, members of the bench and other dignitaries.

    They include Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Chief Judge of Ondo State Sehinde Kumuyi, Chief Pius Akinyelure, Minister of State for Niger Delta Prof. Claudius Daramola, Ondo APC Chairman Isaac Kekemeke, Dipo Opeseyi SAN, Senator Ajayi Boroffice, Olusola Oke, Rotimi Ibidapo and Senator Titus Olupitan.

    Others were Chief Akinolu Olujimi, SAN; Oyo State Attorney General Seun Akinbola; Adebayo Ojo, SAN; Folakemi Solanke, SAN; Yemi Adaramodu, Engr. Adetimehin; Yemi Olowolabi; Gboyega Adefarati; Wale Akinterinwa; Ifedayo Abegunde; Femi Adekanmbi Bola Ilori and others.

    Akeredolu said the state needed a man, who can render a selfless service to turn around its economy.

    According to him, “only someone who is prepared for governance and determines to take the Sunshine State to a glorious height is needed at this time.”

    He said: “Having reached the pinnacle of every situation in my life, I have been President of the Bar and I have been many things. So, it is not the position that is attractive.

    “But it is a personal push for me to want to serve the people of Ondo State and I want to deliver on good governance  and leave a legacy that the people of Ondo State will be proud of, “ Akeredolu said .

    He urged the people of the state to keep hope alive, promising that a better government will be enthroned in February, 2017.

  • Gov. Ibikunle Amosun, the people are still not smiling

    •(A reminder to a bungling governor)

    gun State still looms like a gothic platitude of pain and death from its transit townships but the “Gateway State” remains Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s bower of bliss. There, in his stately Eden, Amosun  lives immune and insensate to the ravages of ill-will and pent-up fury tearing the natives apart from inside out. Governor Amosun must be having a blast inside the Government House at Oke Mosan. He does not have to rise and retire to his bed everyday wondering if he would die along the deadly stretch of Lagos-Abeokuta highway, particularly at the spots where innocent children, mothers, fathers – dependants and breadwinners – die like stray fowls, accidentally or by installments, in his administrative landmine.

    Governor Amosun’s loved ones are extremely lucky; unlike the mother who left home with her three children only for them to be brought back as mangled corpses from an accident, caused by bad road, to the deceased’s husband. Amosun is certainly favoured by the ‘gods,’ unlike the bereaved families who sent their wards to school only to receive news that they had been crushed to death by a steel container in a gory accident along the Sagamu-Benin expressway. Is Governor Amosun neglecting that death trap because it is a ‘federal road?’ If that is the case, is Governor Amosun solely remunerated from revenue he makes from Ogun State or from the ‘federal purse?’

    Governor Amosun is one lucky dude as he does not have to live up to the promise he made to the poor, hopeless pupils of the Community Primary School, off Agoro road, Owode-Titun, Ota, Ogun State. One year and six months after they lost their classrooms to a violent rain squall, most of the 740 pupils have been learning with tears, under a crooked shed held together by wooden poles and corrugated iron sheets. The school’s Parents Teachers Association (PTA) constructed the shed last year when it was clear that the state government will not come to the children’s rescue. Although Governor Amosun promised to rebuild the school when his campaign train visited the area to seek re-election, he has since forgotten his promise and the area.

    Thus through scorching sun blaze and violent rain squalls, the pupils huddle together helplessly, in futile lunges for comfort and cover from the ravages of nature, tearing at their fragile frames. For the only public primary school in the community, the descent into decay started in May last year, when a rainstorm blew off the roof of the block of six classrooms and the staff room. The storm also tore off the entire side of the building. Yet Governor Amosun conveniently forgets the sad fate of the poor pupils of Community Primary School in Owode-Titun, Ota.

    Some cratered meters from the school, the stars are still a backdrop for the inhuman condition at Owode junction, just before you get to Ifo. Is Governor Amosun waiting for that expedient moment of disaster or road mishap of immense magnitude to occur before he swoops in with a bereaved mien and overzealous aides, to misappropriate anguish where he feels none?

    The natives of Ijoko, Agoro, Ijako, Iyana-Ilogbo, Ilepa, Ijoko, Alade, Oju Ore, Ilo-Awela, Elekunmefa, Imise, Onihale, Singer, Lusada, Ewekoro, Atan-Ota and Igbesa to mention a few, are still dying slowly and accidentally, from the perils of plying their muddy and badly cratered roads and there is still ugliness in Lafenwa, Aiyetoro, Olugbode and various communities along Itele road.

    From a distance, the piercing and indiscriminate glare of sunlight and moonshine desecrate these townships like tombs slipshodly carved along the graying highway that leads to Abeokuta, Ogun State’s capital city. Closer, the people and houses in the communities take shape like a stream of accidental shadows, their hard noises striking one’s face and making the senses numb with jarring clarity. It is their noiseless undertones that however, evoke intense feelings of awe and curiosity. Sad desperate glances of the natives inspire a thirst for buried narratives that they miserably learn to endure as unreal jests made by death.

    Guess his Excellency in Ogun State, has learnt to glance without flinching at the straggle of human suffering emblematic of the pale ghost of his “Gateway State.” Wonder if he is unaware of the deaths and squalor across the townships; wonder if he knows that there are schools with better structures, histories, progressive and ideological foundations that deserve as much attention and support as he is currently giving his model schools’ phantasm; wonder if he simply chooses to ignore the descent of the tourist tracts where decay and death spit venom at the hapless citizenry, like Siamese cobras every day.

    Governor Amosun is probably unmoved to affect heart-felt responses to the malaise. Perhaps he is making spirited gestures even as you read to extend citizenry-centred governance cum democratic dividends to the disillusioned natives of the state. Perhaps he just doesn’t know how to go about it.

    Ignorance is not an excuse for denying the citizenry good governance and their fundamental human rights. It is no longer tenable to hoodwink the citizenry by chants of ‘Change’ and platitudinous avowal to abolish squalor and foster general prosperity; time has revealed what section of the citizenry such ideological ‘life boat’ solutions are meant to deceive. It shall no longer be “politically expedient” to neglect a class of the governed just because, by will or circumstance, they inhabit parts of state the ruling class would rather not lose sleep over; except at the time of election or re-election.

    Governor Amosun is spending his second term in office which makes it even more dangerous for the APC to maintain dominance in Ogun State if he fails. When the party eventually presents its candidates for public offices in 2019, what glowing achievements will it point to as Amosun’s legacy and reasons why it should be given the people’s mandate again? The oft over-hyped and derided bridges and roads in Abeokuta? Or the equally contentious model school projects? These familiar arguments have gotten too old now and they are infinitely strange to the poor citizenry braving the perils of the state’s townships every day.

    Life in Ogun State’s townships is in grave decline. Together, these neglected tracts constitute an ambiguous ‘sick rose’ accentuating Ogun State’s descent into a food for worms even as you read. Though a sick rose, Ogun State is manouvered to mimic a growth cycle in the hands of Amosun and amid the rabid PR blitz launched and managed by Camp Amosun.

    That is why the state government will do nothing even if foreign investors  cum fortune hunters like cement giant, LafargeWAPCO Plc, subjects its host communities to terminal death, by its dangerous production activities, in desperate pursuit of profit. (It is instructive to note that LafargeWAPCO perpetrates in Ogun State, atrocities it wouldn’t dare commit in France and other European nations but that is a discussion for another day.)

    Ogun State’s manifestation as a sick rose satirizes Governor Amosun’s preferred portraits of it as a bower of bliss. It reveals an inner hostility; the governor’s flirtatious art of concealment necessitates that truth’s approach must take the form of a rape. If not, the people of Ogun State will continue to die by the onslaught of the conqueror maggots of hypocrisy, neglect, arrant betrayal and underdevelopment afflicting the state.

    Does Governor Amosun, like too many of his peers, consider truth as he hates to see it, as a perverse fetish? Does he believe that any critique or contradiction of his gospel of ‘Change’ is a swerve from goodwill and fruitfulness? If so, his much celebrated ‘Change’ project is diametrically opposed to the APC’s gospel of ‘Change.’