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Tag: people

‘Let our people’s votes count’

The Abia State government has called on the National Judicial Council of Nigeria (NJCN) to ensure that voters are not denied their fundamental right of deciding who governs them.

The government reiterated that it would be an act of injustice to disenfranchise the about 300,000 registered voters in Obingwa, Osisioma and Isiala Ngwa councils where elections were cancelled.

In its December 31, 2015 ruling, the five-member Appeal Court panel cancelled the results of Obingwa, Osisioma and Isiala Ngwa councils and declared Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) winner of the April 11, 2015 election.

But Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Godwin Adindu said the judgment was replete with fundamental flaws that never before existed in Nigeria.

His words: “This is the first time a governor is being disenfranchised together with his siblings, cousins, relatives, village and community. He’s being denied the vote of his state and federal constituencies, even when his opponent did not field any candidate in these areas.

“This is the first time a governorship candidate, who never raised a state constituency candidate will turn around to ambush the results from the area for cancellation. APGA did not field candidates for the House of Assembly in Obingwa East and West, yet it ambushed the governorship election results for total cancellation.

“This is the first time somebody who never raised a candidate for a federal constituency will ambush the results from that constituency for annulment. APGA did not field a candidate for Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo federal constituency, yet it ambushed the governorship election results. Solomon Adaelu of the PDP, representing Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo federal constituency, did not have any APGA rival in the contest.”

Adindu urged the NJC, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to monitor the situation as Mr. Otti had boasted that he would get victory at the Supreme Court.

January 18, 2016
Let the people have their say

So, at my own social media, i.e., when we go to queue for fuel for three or four days to buy five hundred Naira fuel, we complain about the Nigerian system that allows its senate to complain about the social media.

Really, many things are conspiring to make me sad in this country. The Kogi State problem is still there and appears to be daily gathering much dross about it, what with the contestants crying foul and refusing to back down. I have since been questioning the viability of these states, but that’s a topic for another day. Then there are the bombings still going on by the boko haram as if that body wants to tell us they are still around. To them, I have gone grrr!, while shaking my fist. Then there are the revelations concerning the ‘fake’ arms deals which masqueraded for the ‘mind boggling’ Billion-Naira-sharing scheme that went on during the Jonathan years as one report put it. That really put me off, but again, that’s for another day. Then, take the fact that I am no longer qualified to wear the tight-fitting jeans the young ones wear now that looks like their second skin. No, it’s not because I am too old; it’s because I cannot afford both the jeans and the lungs. Now, the senate is adding its own drama to my saga of sadness by stating its intention to, wait for it, go after the social media! Seriously?! Seriously?!

Honestly, if I wasn’t so sad, I would be tempted to cry. I know, I know, sadness and crying live right next door to each other; so, one way or the other, my face must either remain long or wear trails of tears like some desert road bearing the footprints of cowboys long since gone. When I read that piece of news about the senate deciding to take on the social media, I thought, come, what the deuce is going on?

First, I listened to the senate’s peeve. The senate says it now has zero tolerance for ‘frivolous petitions’ without affidavits. If you ask me, I do not know what that means. Can it refer to news items? Can it even refer to news commentaries? Wait, wait, might it refer to commentaries like this one that you are reading right now, dear, esteemed reader? Can it even refer to the little bits of reactions and comments that accompany news pieces on the net? I don’t know the senate’s peeve. Do you?

The more I ruminated on it, goat style, the more I thought that this might be diversionary. I think that the senate might have sat down to work out how best to divert the attention of the good citizens of this country away from the litany of bad news threatening daily to drown us in their slosh. So, they came up with this beautiful plan to take on what they think is an insignificant component of the Nigerian population.

But wait. Who is this social media and what do they want? From my research, it appears that the social media has no register of persons. It is made up of anyone deft enough on the computer but altruistically minded enough to comment on social happenings. Where do they live? Search me, but I think that they might be in any corner of the universe, considering that the moon is now being cleared, vacuumed and carpeted for human existence. And God forbid that our standards should go down. Anyway, it is this mighty army that is scattered over the face of the earth, made up of varying degrees of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, and is armed with nothing but their ‘pens’, that the senate has decided to take on.

As to what they want, let me go back to my research notes. Yes, mostly, most of them take to the forum to make their minds known on specific issues of interest to them. For many of them lacking access to the government or their representatives or jurisdiction, the social media is their last bastion of hope to air their grievances. So, the medium performs the double duty of being a wall to write on and a psychiatrist’s chair to purge out unholy emotions occasioned by unpopular governmental policies. For them, it’s an avenue to struggle against injustice, power drunkenness and wickedness in high places.

To rid the people who use the social media of this avenue is to strip them down to the bones. It’s a little like the story of a beggar who kept his goods in a corner of the corridor of an abandoned public building; only to come back from begging one day and find that he had been robbed. Just imagine, our leaders have not governed us well but have rather pilfered all the money put in their trust for the people. Unfortunately, the reports of these pilfering are still being brought in even as we speak. And now, even what is left to the people is about to be pilfered.

How then can we talk of unsubstantiated petition writing on the social media? I honestly don’t know since I really don’t know much about it. I guess there is a site labelled ‘Petition Writing’ but I am not subscribed to it. I am subscribed to another forum.

I am subscribed to that forum which perpetually feels the effects of bad governance. For many months now, my house has enjoyed only about three hours of electricity from the public distribution company in every twenty-four hours. In the remaining hours, I am at the mercy of the generator sellers and the petrol stations. So, at my own social media, i.e., where we go to queue for fuel for three or four days to buy five hundred Naira fuel, we complain about the Nigerian system that allows its senate to complain about the social media.

As many people have pointed out, there are many legal means of seeking redress open to all aggrieved persons. The laws of libel and defamation of character can be invoked. To go on with this inquisition is tantamount to the senate declaring war on the people after it has been elected by the people. It’s like a story I read sometime about an apprentice doctor who tried to deliver a woman made of papier marche of her papier marche baby and clumsily threw both mother and child over his shoulder after pushing too hard. Well, said his supervisor, kill the father with the forceps and you have killed the family. The people do not have their way; the senate has that, and now their say is being thrown out over the senate’s shoulder.

In the matter of the ‘Senate versus the Social Media’, I think that our esteemed senators should listen less to their wards. Those ones are so adept at manipulating the computer they can get anyone lost inside the internet and the World Wide Web. The senate should not go with them or it will find itself in some very murky waters. The senate should listen more to the people they have consented to represent crying of hunger and deprivation.

When a silence is forced on the people for any reason, it amounts to asking them to bottle up their feelings. We all know what happens to bottled up feelings: they gather steam. It also gathers moss; both of which can make for one catastrophic conflagration. All you need is one little spark.

If I were the senate, I would definitely leave the social media alone. I would rather focus on those things that can dilute the concentration of anger in those petitions we are so afraid of, such as reducing hunger on the streets, and providing electricity, water and housing. Trying to control the people’s mind, when the stomach is still roaming free on an empty tank, amounts to waking up a sleeping dog. Better to let sleeping dogs lie.

December 6, 2015
Making people change their behaviour

Behavioural change practitioners from different parts of the country came together recently at a conference tagged “Building a sustainable practice in Nigeria.” The forum was a dialogue with practitioners, prospective practitioners and members of the public. The deliberations focused on how to bring practitioners in the industry together to be able to chart a course as well as set up a framework and working structure for those involved in change work.

The team of experienced speakers included Lanre Olushola, an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Dr Tylor Ilori, Innocent Usar, Praise Fowewe and Dr Maymunah Kadiri. Kadiri’s knowledge in the field of psychiatry and psychology provides her a sound foundation and has helped her develop a strong practice in the area of stress management and employee performance problems, conflict resolution, team building issues and other inter personal or behavioural areas that have negative impact on productivity.

For the convener of the programme, Samuel Obafemi, a Computer Science graduate of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, “We believe that everybody ordinarily likes to do change work. This is inclusive of HR managers, counsellors, therapists, coaches and psychologists. Apart from medical practice, it involves religious leaders in schools doing guidance and counselling. We are all interested in making people to change their behaviour.”

The life coach and author adds that there is a lot of unregulated practice and profit is not clear. “Even those who have problems are abused because there is no structure. What we are doing is to bring practitioners together to see a harmonisation of our practice.”

Obafemi became a certified life coach in January 2011 through the Nigerian franchise of the UK licence (NCFE). “This was at Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy. The initial challenges were the Nigerian misconception of what coaching is meant to be. Also, the proliferation of coaches where everyone is suddenly a coach. This makes the market largely disrespected and undervalued. But as time went by, clients became more aware of what coaching entails and which coaches are top value. This has reduced the resistance and misconceptions.”

Being creative and dynamic is very important in the sector because of the proliferation of coaches. “Getting coaching clients requires a lot of creativity because what we sell is not tangible. Clients must see the link between their problems and your solutions. Most of my clients have been via referrals and also via social media followers who have encountered my content and depth.”

Happily, he goes down memory lane to recount how he worked in places like Valuecard and MTN before he opted to be on his own. “As an employee, I guess I became impatient with the regimental rudiments of doing daily systemic tasks. I loved my job alright but my spontaneous competences and capacity to evolve my own solutions were not finding expression so the impatience became a limitation of its own. I had to step out to explore my own risks.”

Next, Obafemi talks about the possibilities and life as a coach with specialisation in anger management, emotional intelligence, stress management and peak performance, “When I started out, I had a singular vision: to be the most effective therapist on earth in my time. Every other goals or ambitions were secondary. This has been a very arduous ambition thus far, especially because most people who have been close to me were more pessimistic about the opportunities in that category of business than the potential.”

Now, that he has created his own market and niche, you want to know how new comers can make a success in the area. “First, be conscious that coaching is a life passion. You must be a living version of people’s solutions; irrespective of the niche you want to follow. Then you need to be certified. It is a short-sighted ambition to be a coach by ‘doing’ coaching without learning the tools via procedural classes.”

November 29, 2015
Between Ugwuanyi and the people’s verdict
One of the acid tests for political leaders is measured in the credibility people attach to their words. This quality, if it were to be a commodity, is very scarce indeed, especially in political arenas. But for Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, prominent Nigerians have given a firm verdict that he has so far been working his talks.

It was a verdict delivered in reaffirmation from Tuesday and Thursday last week through last Sunday as the governor flagged off construction works on many roads across locations in the three senatorial districts in the state, and received an overwhelming welcome by his kinsmen of Nsukka cultural zone also last Sunday. These assessments have come from Nigerians whose opinions could be said to be respected by discerning citizens.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, fired one of the salvos at Nsukka, a university town and the second largest urban town in Enugu State during a civic reception for Governor Ugwuanyi. He was one of the guests on that occasion kicked off with a high mass celebrated by the highly oratorical Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Most Rev. (Prof.) Godfrey Onah, and ended with a civic reception at the Government Field in the town.

Apparently following the reports of the governor’s towering popularity in the face of his numerous people-oriented policies and programmes, Dogara told the large crowd at the Government Field that Ugwuanyi would deliver all expected dividends of democracy to the people of the state, especially judging from his strides so far in spite of the present economic difficulties facing his state like the rest of the states in the federation.

Before last Sunday, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives gave that verdict as an impartial arbiter, the fiery Enugu-based charismatic Catholic Priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, had also recently assessed the governor very positively during a high mass. The church service was at the instance of the state judiciary, and the priest with a very large followership, told the judicial officers and the huge congregation during his homily that “Governor Ugwuanyi is a prayer answered for the people of Enugu State” who had been yearning for a God-fearing, humble and people-oriented leadership in the past decades. Certainly, a favourable verdict by Fr. Mbaka for a political leader is one etched in gold and credibility in view of the cleric’s reputation for severe criticism of bad political leadership in the country.

Former Aviation Minister, Ambassador Fidelia Njeze, had during the flag-off of roads construction in the West Senatorial District, specifically at the knotty Ninth Mile corner, Ngwo, last week, led the people of the area in affirming that, indeed, “Governor Ugwuanyi is working his talks”. Yet, as the roads flag-off train moved to the university town of Nsukka on Thursday last week, former Information Minister, Chief Nnia Nwodo as well as Bishop Onah, led the people of the Enugu North Senatorial Zone to declare that Ugwuanyi’s emergence is a divine act of wiping away the tears off the grieving eyes of the people of the district.

The high-rating of the governor from across notable political and religious voices afore-mentioned has been clearly based on his ambitious programmes and policies and the unfolding aggression with which he has begun to execute them. He had anchored his administration’s programme of action on a four- point agenda, one of which is rural development that seems close to his heart.

It is a reason his administration is moving fast to tackle the bad road networks, especially in the rural areas of the state, a situation that poses some challenges in the movement of agricultural products from the hinterlands to urban areas. Consequently, the governor has awarded eight roads for construction. And he has performed flag-off exercises for the construction of these roads. They include: Abakpa Nike and Nike Lake Roads, Opi-Nsukka dual carriage way, Amankwo-Ameke-Amah brewing junction, 9th Mile by-pass, Ohom Oba junction-Imilike Ani-Ezimo Agu- Imilike- Ogbodu Aba- Obollo Etiti- Amalla-Obollo -Afor- Udenu Ring Roads.

Others are Enugu Road-Nsukka- Junction Umuezebi Road, Post Office -Roundabout- Odenigbo Roundabout, Ogurugu Road-Ikenga Hotels Junction and Obechara Road Junction-Umuakashi- Mechanic Village-Ikenga Hotels Junction. As the ceremonies came underway last week, the visibly anxious people of the state came out in their numbers to welcome and cheer up the governor. Remarkably, their kind words humbled the amiable and humble governor who in turn vowed not to let the people down.

At the Abakpa-Nike and Nike Lake Roads at Nike, Ugwuanyi stated that his administration would address all issues militating against the development of the state by, for instance, taking necessary steps to ease up the traffic difficulties encountered on the Nike Road now billed for construction. And it was a joyful moment for the people of the area as the flag-off exercise went underway and the governor said it was in order to create fresh economic activities for the people of the area and to reduce road traffic pressure on Enugu metropolis.

“The project will offer our people the long desired relief from encroaching traffic congestion and other setbacks occasioned by the deplorable states of the roads; this will assist us in our rural-urban agricultural development as well as enhance businesses and commercial activities in these areas and beyond for the benefit of our people.” He pointed it out to the people that projects are taking off in spite of the prevailing economic difficulties, adding that “this is also to demonstrate my determination to continue to do so despite the prevailing economic situation in the state, and let me use this opportunity to say that we have not received any money in the name of bailout or anything from the federal government”.

During the roads construction flag-off exercises, the Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Edward Ubosi, expressed support for the governor’s giant strides: “the Nike Road will create job opportunities for Nike people and environs, alleviate poverty, reduce the stress of travelling through pot holes, especially while going to Opi and other towns within the Nsukka Senatorial District through this road.” And delivered the message of the state legislature and that of his state constituency to the governor thus: “Your Excellency, both the living and the dead are celebrating you for this kind gesture to Enugu East Constituency.”

At the moment, there are clear indications across Enugu State that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is, indeed, the man that walks his talks as his all-inclusive administrative style continues to bring smiles on the faces of the people of the state. The enthusiasm of the people keep growing and Ugwuanyi himself has been leading all members of his administration into a body language that promotes work and more work in view of the people’s expectations.
- Odu, a social commentator, wrote in from Enugu
November 22, 2015
Abia North: Between media hype and people’s will

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia upheld the election of Senator Mao Ohuabunwa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), representing Abia North senatorial district in the National Assembly. The Abia North case was perhaps the most keenly observed across the country because of the caliber of people involved. The election of Ohuabunwa was challenged by two other eminent personalities, a former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzo Kalu and a business mogul, Chief Bourdex Onuoha.

Apart from the three contestants being high profile personalities, what heightened the anxiety over the case was the fact that one of the petitioners, Kalu, characteristically gave it so much hype in the media, taking advantage of his proprietorship of one of the most widely read dailies of the country. Although Kalu came a distant third from Ohuabunwa, majority of Nigerians thought the matter was just between the two.

For example, a few weeks before the final ruling of the Justice Adeniyi Onibanjo-led tribunal, Kalu had obtained a favourable ruling from the Court of Appeal, sitting in Owerri, nullifying an earlier ruling by the tribunal barring the admission of a list of accredited voters in Abia North as evidence. That ruling was celebrated by a section of the media that had sympathy for Kalu and as a result of which many thought that the tide was going to turn in his favour.

Besides sheer legal technicalities, the involvement of the former governor also had further implications in the politics of Abia State, for the simple reason that the Abia North case represented Kalu’s final battle to remain politically relevant in the state.

Prior to the 2015 general election, Kalu had issues with the mainstream political establishment in the state, of which Senator Ohuabunwa was a key factor. After a futile attempt to return to the PDP which was controlled in the state by the political tendency which had Ohuabunwa in the forefront, Kalu belatedly launched a bid to contest the Abia North Senatorial seat on the platform of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) which he leads.

Although many keen watchers of Abia politics knew he had little or no chance, especially facing a formidable contender like Ohuabunwa, a two-time member of the House of Representatives and former majority leader in the House, Kalu threw everything he had into the contest.

On March 28 2015, the senatorial election in Abia North (made up of five local government areas: (Arochukwu, Bende, Isiakwuato, Ohafia and Umunneochi) was essentially between the PPA (Kalu), Ohuabunwa (PDP) and APGA (Onuoha). After some days of delay, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Mao, as he is simply referred to by his people, as the winner of the election.

Although Kalu came third, he cried out, alleging that massive rigging, intimidation and manipulation attended the election. The APGA candidate, Onuoha, also protested vehemently and in a subsequent petition to the National and House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, he asked it to declare him winner instead.

On the witness box on July 8, 2015, Onuoha among other things claimed that “I scored 37,115 lawful votes while the respondent who was declared winner scored 28,800 votes”. Onuoha had also alleged that Ohuabunwa inflated his scores while deflating those of APGA. The tribunal, however, consolidated the two petitions – by the APGA and PPA candidates – to streamline adjudication but majority of observers had their eyes on that of the APGA candidate.

Delivering judgment on Tuesday October 13, 2015, Justice Onibanjo said that the allegation by the APGA candidate, Onuoha, that there were irregularities was not enough to cancel the election, as demanded by the APGA and PPA candidates.

The tribunal did the most practical thing. It did a simple arithmetic of adding and subtracting figures which the APGA candidate had alleged to be in dispute before every eye at the tribunal venue. It deducted the votes which Onuoha had claimed were added to that of Ohuabunwa and added it back to that of Onuoha.

After the arithmetic, the final figures stood at 43,739 for Ohuabunwa and 28,210 for Onuoha. Orji Uzor Kalu remained where he was at 20,000 votes which was the earlier figure announced for him by INEC, even as the tribunal dismissed his (Kalu’s) petition as incompetent.

Not unexpectedly Onuoha and his party rejected the ruling and have declared their intention to challenge it at a superior court. But not a few in the state believe that will be an exercise in futility. In the view of keen watchers of the Abia political terrain, election disputes in the state will be difficult to go against the PDP which they say has an undisputed stronghold in the state.

In the view of analysts, it is not for nothing that the PDP not only won all the elections in the state but it’s also won all the litigation against its candidates. Only last week, the Governorship Election Tribunal upheld the election of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu after a sustained dispute from the APGA governorship candidate, Dr. Alex Otti. Earlier, the National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal had upheld the election of the immediate past governor of the state, Chief T.A Orji, as senator for Abia Central. Although it had ordered a rerun in Abia South where Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe had earlier been declared winner, it had upheld the elections of seven House of Representatives members which were being contested mostly by APGA.

The build up to the 2015 senatorial election in Abia North was full of anxieties and debates. The people of the area had expressed concern over a likely candidacy of the then incumbent senator, the late Uche Chukwumereije. Chukwumereije was on his third consecutive term in the senate and the prospects of his running again created anxieties among the people who felt the senatorial seat should move to another local government area in the zone.

Chukwumereije was from Umunneoche. Initially, however, some skeptics, especially those who were not in the camp of the then governor, now Senator T.A Orji, felt that the campaign to stop Chukwuwereije from returning to the senate for a fourth term was a ploy by the governor to impose a candidate on the zone. But the groundswell persisted, prompting many, who felt that the PDP had perfected plans to move the seat away from Umonneoche, to leave the party.

Their next port of call was APGA which was becoming quite strong following the entry of personalities like Alex Otti who was a governorship aspirant and later candidate of the party. Soon, it became clear that the fight was going to be between the PDP and APGA. However, from nowhere, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu joined the fray.

Preparatory to the initial alignment and re-alignment of forces, Kalu had made a public declaration through his newspaper that he was back to the PDP, while completely denouncing membership of the PPA. This was even as the leaders and the faithful of the PDP in the state almost in unison rejected his return to the party.

But a few weeks after that declaration, one of Kalu’s aides went to the headquarters of the PPA to purchase a form for the senatorial election on his (Kalu’s) behalf. Kalu promptly denied authorizing his aide to purchase the form on his behalf, and demanding a public apology from him. But many people were not impressed because they had become quite familiar with the antics of the former governor. Indeed, Nigerians, not just Abians, were hardly surprised when eventually Kalu became the candidate of the PPA for the Abia North senatorial election.

Senator Ohuabunwa who had his election upheld by the tribunal is from Arochukwu local government area and a frontline politician from the state. Apart from the fact that Abia is a stronghold of the PDP, the widely-held belief is that Mao is one politician who commands enough following that would see him victorious in any election in the state.

In Abia state, the consensus of opinion is that the two-time representative of Arochukwu/Ohafia federal constituency defeated his opponents, who are no mean personalities, because he has a better pedigree. In fact, some take the position that Mao may have succeeded in finally retiring the former governor from politics.

November 22, 2015
People with disability seek welfare package

Disabled persons under the aegis of The Niger Delta Coalition of Persons with Disability (NIDECOP) have lamented gross marginalisation by the governments and their agencies in the region, and called for inclusion in all governments’ welfare packages for the citizenry, including oversea scholarships.

In a statement by their President/National Coordinator, David Enogho, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ celebration December 3, they demanded automatic employment for their graduate and qualified members and vocational training for others.

They said this would assist in bringing their plights to the front burner. The PLWDs noted that poor infrastructural development of the region worsens their condition as the poor state of roads and the designs restricts them from having access to most public places.

The statement reads: ”The Niger Delta region provides the resources that sustain the economy of our great country, Nigeria. However, it is sad to note that a very large proportion of the population of the region are living in extreme poverty, no good shelter, no employment and good roads.

“The underdevelopment of the region has compounded the challenges faced by us as persons with Disabilities. We are forced to live in inappropriate conditions. We experience hell while on earth as a result of the unwillingness and neglect by those in positions of authority to evolve functional and sustainable mechanism to address both the human and infrastructural development of the people of the Niger Delta.

“Existing facilities are not accessible to us and government at all levels is yet to develop a blueprint that will adequately correct these human imposed barriers to our development.

“We are constrained to ask if we are budgeted for by any government. The society which ordinarily ought to care for us has placed us in a very handicapped and disadvantaged position.

“It is a known fact that several interventionist agencies formed with the sole aim of developing the region, have in turn failed us, none has done any meaningful thing to improve on our welfare and well-being as persons with disability living in a peculiar terrain.”

November 20, 2015
People making secessionist threat should shut up, says Kwankwaso

•Senator seeks education for Fulani herdsmen

Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has asked Yoruba leaders threatning to secede over the kidnap of former Secretary to the Government of Federation Chief Olu Falae to “shut up”.

Kwankwaso, who is a senator, said at the weekend that the call was misguided and politically motivated.

He stressed that no zone could be an island, adding that what the Fulani herdsmen that were being asked to leave Yoruba land needed was education on how to go about their cattle-rearing business.

He spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital at the weekend as a special guest at the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the set of 1965-1971 of Government College, Ibadan. The event witnessed the inauguration of two sets of pre-fabricated staff buildings donated by Vitafoam Nigeria Plc to the institution.

The former governor said: “The issue of conflict between the farmers and Fulani herdsmen is not common to the Southwest alone. It is not even common to Nigeria. It is all over the sub-region.

“On the issue that we are talking about, education is very important. If all Fulani are given opportunity to go to school, I don’t think they will risk their lives and their animals going into the bush, where there are reptiles. I think the key thing is education. The Fulani should be educated.

“I am a Fulani. My parents settled down many years ago. My father went to school and I have been to school. My children have gone to school. Now, I don’t think I will get cattle and go into a forest; that is education for you.

“The key thing is, whether in the North or Africa, Fulani are all over. They call themselves Fulani in this part of the world. But in other places, they call them different names. So, education is key. They should be educated. They should be settled. Of course, by that, they will develop the modern way of keeping livestock.”

He added: “If you go to developed countries, you don’t see animals running about. It has to do with underdevelopment. If you go to Niger, Chad, Cameroon and all these places, they get Fulani roaming about, endangering their lives, endangering their own animals and it is not good for anybody, the economy and the security. But that is for the future.

“But for today, I think it is important for government to provide facilities because we require their services. Facilities like grazing areas for the cattle and other facilities to make sure that we manage the situation.

“In the North, we used to have all these grazing areas. We used to have cattle ranch, where they go from place to place without going into the farm. Probably because of the population now and other issues, all these places are being taking by farmers. Therefore, it becomes very difficult for any cattle to roam or go to places without going into farms.

“So, it is not only peculiar to the Southwest. We just have to have a lot of understanding of the situation. Some of the issues being raised by the people, especially politicians, do not help anybody. If you sack the Fulani from here or you fight them, maybe it is because you are here. If you are a Yoruba man based in Kano, I don’t think you can contemplate sacking the Fulani.

“I am from Kano, but right now I am in Ibadan. Where you are is your home. Today, Ibadan is my home. God forbids; if something bad happens here, it will affect me. If it happens in my village, I am not there. They won’t see me. But for today, I think it is important for government to provide ranching facilities such as grazing sites, because we require their services.

“It now calls for understanding among Nigerians. To that extent, therefore, politicians should stop over-blowing the issue.

“All Fulani should be given opportunity to go to school. These Fulani should be educated. I am one of them. I am Fulani. Had I not been educated, imagine what I would have been today; I probably would have been in the forest.”

He canvassed a quick return of boarding facilities to all public schools in the country as well as compulsory education for the Fulani.

“This will go a long way in reawakening confidence in the national polity,” he said.

Dignitaries at the event included Oyo state Governor Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi, represented by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education Mrs. O. A. Makanjuola; Group Managing Director of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc. Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi; National President of GCI Old Boys Association Chief Abiodun Jolaoso; Principal of GCI, Rev. Oladele Olusola; Chairman, Sunshine Oil and Chemical Industries Limited Basorun Rotimi Obeisun; Chief Executive of Jogor Centre Femi Babalola, among others.

October 26, 2015
Why some people get angry easily (2)

HERE are a few of the most common types of anger and see if you recognize any of them as yours because to treat the issue of temper, you must know the category you belong.

Behavioural anger: This type of anger usually describes someone who is aggressive towards whatever triggered their anger- this can be another person. This can be someone who always seems to act out, or is troublesome. Sometimes the outcome is physical abuse or attacks against others.

Passive anger: People who use sarcasm or mockery as a way to hide their feelings typically express this form of anger. They tend to avoid confrontations with people or situations.

Verbal anger: Anger that’s expressed mostly through words and not actions. Verbal abuse is used to criticize and insult people (put them down) and complain.

Constructive anger: This type of anger is a key factor in driving people to want to join movements and groups. It’s the feeling of being fed up with how things are going and the need to make a positive change.

Self-inflicted anger: Anger that translates in causing harm to one’s own body. People who use this type of anger are acting out by punishing themselves for something they’ve done wrong. Some examples include starvation, cutting and overeating/comfort eating.

Volatile or erratic anger: This form of anger occurs in varying degrees-it comes and goes. It can just appear out of nowhere, or build into something bigger. It can either explode or go unnoticed. It could even be expressed verbally or physically.

Chronic anger: Ever come across someone that’s seemingly angry for no reason, or mad all the time? More than likely, they were exhibiting this type of anger. People with chronic anger are just mad in general.

Judgmental anger: Putting other people down and making them feel bad about themselves or abilities is a form of judgmental anger. This person expresses their feelings by making those around them feel worthless.

Overwhelmed anger: This person relieves stress by shouting and flying off the handle when they can’t take situations and things that are happening around them anymore when things are just too overwhelming which is why it’s called “overwhelmed anger”.

Retaliatory anger: This is probably one of the most common of the bunch. Retaliatory anger usually occurs as a direct response to someone else lashing out at you. Has that happened to you once or twice?

Paranoid anger: This anger comes about when someone feels jealousy towards others because they feel other people have or want to take what’s rightfully theirs. Or they may act out because they feel intimidated by others.

Deliberate anger: A person expressing this form of anger may not start out angry, but will get angry when something does not turn out the way they wanted or someone doesn’t see eye to eye with something they planned.

These are the most common types of anger. Although there are more types of anger, no anger should go uncontrolled for too long. There are four anger types that can become harmful. Here’s a list of the four kinds of anger that can be, in my opinion, the most dangerous to your health and those around you.

Self-inflicted anger: Self-inflicted anger is what it sounds like. It is a form of anger that is expressed when someone is punishing themselves for something they may have done wrong. Over-eating, starving themselves and inflicting wounds by cutting themselves are examples of this kind of anger.

It goes without saying, how dangerous this can be if it goes on for too long.

Behavioural anger:

Behavioural anger is the type of anger consisting of aggressive and cruel actions.

It leans mostly on the physical side. It usually starts as an attack towards someone or something that caused the anger in the first place.

Those who normally get labelled as troublemakers, start fights and are defiant fall under this umbrella and sometimes, rightfully so. In the end, someone almost always gets hurt.

There’s no harm in expressing anger. It’s human when it can be controlled.

Judgmental anger: Judgmental anger is closely related to verbal anger which is another type of anger. This type of anger makes everyone involved feel uneasy or causes self-esteem issues for the victims. A person exhibiting this form of anger puts other people down and makes other people feel worthless as a person.

There are many adults walking around who still have self-worth issues as a result of a parent using judgmental anger towards them when they were growing up.

Volatile or erratic anger: Unpredictable is the word that comes to mind when I think of volatile anger.

In so many words, this type of anger comes and goes. One minute someone can be calm and collected, and the next minute, be in full n rage. It can grow into something bigger or go unnoticed.

I like to think that people who exhibit this anger tend to hold a large amount of things in.. Rather than expressing what may be bothering them in healthy ways, if a person suppresses something long enough, eventually it will be expressed in ugly ways.

Sometimes, it can be expressed verbally and physically at other times. Volatile anger reminds me of a volcano before it erupts. You don’t know when or what is going to set it off, or how big the eruption will be, but when it blows, watch out.

These are the four types of anger that can cause the most harm to anyone expressing them on a regular basis. If you see yourself in one or more of these kinds of anger, all I can do is to suggest that you seek help immediately. It goes without saying that anger is one of those emotions that can be destructive and lead to various problems, if it goes unnoticed. Although it can be tough sometimes with the various types of anger around, recognizing when anger first occurs is a key factor in determining what to do when it rears its ugly head.

However, avoiding everything, place, person, conversation that can get you angry is major remedy for anger. Self- control is also a solution; being able to control your emotion through different ways can help. Could be the count to ten method, absolute silence and writing down your feelings or doing what you enjoy, for example, exercising. If you feel you cannot handle the situation on your own, it is advised you seek the help of a trained counsellor.

Harriet Ogbobine is a counsellor and a motivational speaker. Send your questions and suggestions to her on bineharriet@gmail.com or txt message only 08054682598. You can also follow her on twitter: @bineharrietj

August 22, 2015
Between Sagay and Falana: the law, the people and the social cannibalism of corruption (1)

The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers. Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2

Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too.
Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist

On Saturday, July 13, 2013, I gave a public lecture at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) under the auspices of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism. The lecture was titled “The Freedom of Information Act and the Dictatorship of Corruption and Mediocrity”. In the extensive research that I conducted before writing and delivering the lecture, I came across many facts, figures and statistics that both depressed and enraged me to no end. Of these, no item among my discoveries was as depressing and infuriating as my finding that a Sub-Committee of the House of Representatives had issued a comprehensive report on the oil subsidy mega-scam of 2011 in which the names of all those who had wrongfully and illegally benefitted from the scam had been published, together with the astronomical sums that each of these Nigerians had looted. I swear that before conducting that research for my lecture, I had been completely unaware that the names of the mega-scam looters were known, that they were not shadowy figures who had forever disappeared into the night of personal anonymity and legalistic oblivion. But together with my astonishment that these men and women were known and indeed meticulously identified, there was also my greater frustration that they had all without exception tied up the cases pertaining to their prosecution in the law courts by all manner of so-called “interlocutory injunctions” and “stay of execution” writs. That was in the year 2013. Two years later, the cases are still tied up in the law courts and not a single one of the men and women indicted in that oil subsidy mega-scam has either paid a kobo back or gone to jail. Their lawyers and the judges before whom their cases are being tried have seen to that; they have provided what seems to be a permanent and impregnable juridical cover and protection for these men and women whose looting of our national coffers has caused untold suffering and hardship to millions of Nigerians. In this context, the law may be said to be the last refuge, the last redoubt of the looters who, as human vampires, are sucking the blood from the economic arteries of our national commonweal.

If the language I am using here seems too emotive, too sensationalistic, I plead guilty to the charge. Even more, I plead guilty to the charge of deliberately clothing myself in a long tradition of savage linguistic and literary critique of lawyers and the law as moral cesspits wherein some of the most unscrupulous and cynical professionals can be found. This is the context that makes the extraordinarily ferocious attack on lawyers in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part Two, that supplied the first of the two epigraphs to this piece seem not too harsh, not too extreme: “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers”. This was said by a character in that play against the background of a looming uprising of the people against centuries of oppression by their social superiors in which lawyers had played a significant role in maintaining the legal infrastructures and practices of a dog-eat-dog social order. I quote the words here in the hope, the wish that the lawyers and the judges who have for long prevented the men and women bleeding our country and its resources dry may perhaps get a glimpse of the sentiments that some of the world’s greatest literary minds have expressed about them and their kind.

The second epigraph from the great Russian dramatist, Anton Chekhov, seems a tad gentler in its critique of lawyers and the legal profession on the same count of being always prone to acting as accessories to cynical, merciless robbery: “Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too”. However, if we juxtapose this ludic and playful Chekhovian quote with the one from Shakespeare’s play, we can see that lawyers, like incompetent and conscienceless doctors, kill too. They “kill”, not directly and interpersonally but by the indirect and epiphenomenal effects and consequences of the legalistic protection and cover that they give their clients, the looters who, it seems, can never be successfully prosecuted in the law courts of the land.

If all this talk about “killing” seems unwarranted in its application to lawyers and judges that are, after all, merely practicing their lawful profession (no pun intended), please consider the N2.53 trillion naira that was looted in the oil subsidy mega-scam; consider too, the fact that thanks to lawyers and judges, not a kobo of that loot may ever be recovered; and finally, consider the number of lives that could have been saved or made richer and more fulfilled if a fraction of that N2.53 trillion naira had been productively spent to create jobs, build roads, improve hospitals and clinics and raise the quality of teaching in our primary and secondary schools. And indeed, there are no literal cannibals anymore, if ever they existed as a distinct social or “tribal” group; what we have now and have aplenty, thanks to many of our best trained lawyers and judges, are social cannibals who have not the slightest inkling that they are “killing” hundreds of thousands, millions through the sense of total protection that they feel when they loot, and loot, and loot yet again.

At this stage, it is perhaps time in this discussion to bring into our conversation two lawyers who indeed recently have had much to say on these issues. Moreover, they are eminent, progressive and patriotic lawyers. These are none other than Professor Itse Sagay and Mr. Femi Falana, SAN. In an article published in The Nation on Sunday, July 19, 2015, titled “Politics, Public Service, Morality and Integrity in Nigeria”, Sagay more or less admitted that the law and the manner in which it is applied in our law courts at the present time make it near impossible to recover stolen loot and put an end to rampant corruption. Indeed, so sanguine was Sagay on this point that he was quite willing to go as far as to suspend the protection of the individual rights (of looters), if any headway is to be made in the struggle to recover stolen loot and curb corruption in our society. Perhaps it is best to hear directly from the Professor himself on this point:

“There will a need to amend our laws to strengthen the state at the expense of individual liberty at least for a short while, if we are to get to redemption point. All legal provisions permitting preliminary objections to prosecutions for corruption must be repealed from our laws. The power of any court to issue an order of injunction against a trial for a crime, particularly corruption, should be repealed. Interlocutory applications, in cases concerning corruption, should be banned.

You cannot read such words from the pen of a lawyer who is also a teacher of lawyers and still repeat, like a robot, the savage indictment from Shakespeare, “the first thing we do is kill all the lawyers”! For in the struggles against the social cannibalism that is at the root of the corruption that has penetrated so deep into the political, economic and juridical order in our country, some of the most eloquent voices have, in fact, been that of lawyers. As everyone knows, Sagay and Falana have been frontline professional and intellectual activists in those struggles.

And indeed, the main point of my bringing Sagay and Falana together in this piece is precisely to try to reconcile what seems to me to be a tension, a contradiction between recent pronouncements of both men on this issue of the seemingly immovable obstacle that the law and its operations in our country pose to the fight against corruption by the new administration of President Buhari. On the one hand, Sagay says laws must be repealed and that we may even have to suspend protection of individual liberty, at least for a while. But on the other hand, Falana says that the enabling acts have now been enacted by the National Assembly and that all that is required now is for the bills to be forwarded to Buhari for them to be signed and made into effective laws. How did I come by this information? Well, Falana himself through an email forwarded to me a speech that he recently gave that contained these claims. The speech was a keynote address that he gave at the 7th Annual Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (Lagos Chapter) on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. The lecture bore the title, “Involvement of the Nigerian people in the anti-corruption war”. Here’s a relevant quotation from the lecture:

“While the decision of the Federation (sic) Government not to interfere in the work of the anti-graft agencies is a welcome development, the National Assembly should forward to President Buhari for his assent the Witness Protection Bill and the Whistle Blowers’ Bill. The National Assembly deserves commendation for enacting both laws together with the Administration of Justice, 2015.

Under the new Act, the granting of stay of proceedings and other delay tactics have been banned in the trial of criminal cases. Accordingly, a criminal trial shall be concluded within 6 months unless there are exceptional circumstances which may prolong any trial beyond that period. Indeed, the elevation of trial judges to the Court of Appeal will no longer lead to fresh trial before other judges as judges will be given the fiat to conclude part heard matters.”

Have the issues raised in Sagay’s article been resolved by the revelation of the passing of new laws by the National Assembly in Falana’s lecture? And is this a matter to be settled only by and among lawyers? These will be our starting points in next week’s concluding piece.

Biodun Jeyifo

bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

August 2, 2015
‘Why many people say I’m radical’

Popular contemporary gospel act, Gbenga Adenuga, is a likeable and lively personality. He spoke with Sunday Oguntola on his life, music, restless moves and values. Excerpts:

How did music find you?
Well I will say that music has been a part of my live from growing up. I give big credits to my parents. We grew up having family devotions and singing was a core. We are a family of 5 boys and we used to go to the farm. My dad’s hubby was farming. Most times, it was a long walk from the car park to the farm so we used to sing on our way.
Also we would all sing along as we worked on the farm. So a small family choir evolved. Moreso I always had a role to play every year at the Christmas concert in my primary school. I always would be one of the three wise men to sing”we three kings…”
So singing was a strong part of my growing up. After secondary school, I became born-again and then the most active part of Christianity in my community was singing. Every Christian song, I sang! I grew up in the Obafemi Awolowo University. We all sang. From there I started my concerts series, “songs of Solomon” in the university and turned professional.
Many gospel music lovers consider you radical and eccentric. Is that a right perception of your personality?
The truth here is that I consider that a compliment. The issue is really that I do not do what people expect. I am used to always looking for better ways of doing things and most time it comes out to people as not normal.
I really would not have apologies for that. Christianity is a way of life not a system! You do not expect all children of God to respond to issues the same way. We are not idiots. We have brains and the Holy Spirit. So when I choose to do things the way that seem right I am called radical.
I can write a book on this issue so please let me stop here. One thing I will like to say to people is that we first need to have a personal relationship with Jesus; we need to engage Jesus personally.
Let’s allow Him open our eyes to personal truths that will set us free and then let us all develop ourselves and our minds. Then, we will begin to see that we really cannot be “stooges” and our expression extends beyond human expectations.
Why can’t you do gospel music full time?
I believe in hard work. I believe that there is no labor without profit. Now I want money, so I must be creative and hard working. So I am busy. I love ministry yeah but ministry is very expensive to run. I hate being a pest. I believe I can run my ministry with a lot of dignity. I do not want to be a beggar.
So, the best way to get on this right path is to get busy and work. The kind of money we need to do the work we have to do is not in the church. Also I see myself as a role model so I have to set the right mindset. I need the young ones looking up to me to be hard working and not looking for free gifts.
It’s not going to get us anywhere. I definitely know that I cannot earn all I need but then “value responds to value”. More people will give to me because they already see value. So I must do other things that are legitimate.
Beyond the fact that I need to get funds for my family and ministry, I really think at this time in my life I can make more impact if I do more than music. I can talk, I can inspire, I can render logistics solutions services and the list goes on…. Music is just a small part of me. I need to express myself. You know we are not here on this earth forever.
Many believe your album Awimayehun remains the best. Which is the favorite for you?
There you go again. Perception! You said many. That’s where you are seeing from. On You tube, my song that has the highest hits is “I see you in me” and 90 percent of the hits are from non- Nigerians outside Nigeria.
The song has been used severally in schools in Brazil, Germany, USA and Canada by school children. I got letters from school children from around the world thanking me for the song. But you said Awimayehun. That’s your opinion my brother. I am sure you belong to the very conventional Church family in Nigeria.
But mind you I deliberately chose not to have a favorite. Which father has a favorite child and declares it in the open? Even if he does he will not say it out.
Has music been rewarding?
I can boldly say YES! It’s my entry point in all I do and I still do so indirectly and directly YES. I am not sure I will be me today without music. So I am completely grateful.
You are way different from your brother, Pastor Wale Adenuga. Why are you who you are?
Why won’t I be different? His name is Wale while I am Gbenga. Even twins are different. Is it a crime to be different? You know I get that a lot. People say “why are you different from you brother?”
And I am honestly worried at such remarks. God himself made us different. Can’t you see his height and mine? Our parents made us different by giving us different names. We are meant to be different. I think it should be more worrisome if we look alike and behave the same way!
Now even the church made us different! He is Christened “PASTOR” and I am christened “RADICAL” Gbagaun! Yeah we grew up together but I believe that there are different expressions. And that is the beauty of life. I can tell you, my brother and I share similar dreams but we just have different personalities and that affects expression but not focus.
If you have all the money in the world, how many albums can you come up with every year?
If I had all the money? I am not likely going to record an album self. I will rather put it into live shows and TV production. My biggest desire is to create alternative shows on TV for the younger generation.
Our TV is gone. Even the cartoon characters now have curves and are getting sensually involved. I am sure soon that will be gays! So we need to work on alternatives. We cannot keep talking and not be doing.
Your concert, WWGA, is building momentum. What is the vision behind it?
The vision behind #WWGA is huge. First, I want to create a platform that is not denominational, a platform for families to engage God.
Secondly, a strong element of WWGA is the growing concern for children. We have a dream to have concerts for kids. Write songs for them and engage them periodically. Just them praising God! Things are changing. Music is changing. Even church music and we need to know. So we have to start to provide for the younger generation.
Third, I really want to just express myself and enjoy my life! I have one and this is one way to do it for me. So why not?
Not much is known about your family. Is that deliberate or an innocent omission?
Family is private business. I keep it as that. But then I need to say here that I have the best family in the world; my opinion and I am entitled to it. I have got the best children and the most reasonable wife. They are never going to compete with God in me.
On three, even four occasions, I have given my wife’s car out as a gift and she did not fight me! She is a wonder. She knows that I am still coming up. When I land, she will hear! Now that is enough about family. I am the musician not them. If you want to know more, visit us. We are always in Abuja for now. Next year, we might be living in Afghanistan.
You were in South Africa for sometimes. What took you away for so long?
Really South Africa was a getaway. I needed a break. I am a very restless person. I got really overwhelmed with life in Nigeria and the easiest getaway was South Africa. So I moved my family and we left.
I thought I would be there for a longer period though. But it turned out to be just fifteen months. I kept coming back to Nigeria. I used to come to Abuja as many as three times a month. So, I realised I really should be here.
I am not too proud to retrace my steps. I can make mistakes a million times. I will bow my head in repentance but never in shame, say sorry when I have to and move on. So I came back home and of course people were like “you this guy’ you are back again”. Yes, obviously I am!
Some said, “why are you moving your kids around?” I smiled…In the last 6 years, I have moved around four cities of the world and to people I am not serious. That’s really up to them. What I have learnt and seen is my plus. I keep moving

July 19, 2015