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Tag: politics

  • Plot and plotlessness in the “Buhari script” of politics and history: reflections (1)

    Let’s get the formal elements of dramatic theory and cultural criticism out of the way of easy, enthralling comprehension of the reflections and observations in this essay. Only in conventional or “classical” dramas is plot a clearly discernible feature of a play. In more daring or more experimental plays, there are usually no discernible plots, so much so that such plays are said to be plotless. Plays with plots are easier to write and understand than plays without plots. That’s because plots make it easy for the playwright to divide the action of the drama into acts and scenes whose unfolding or development readers and audiences can easily follow. In contrast, scripts or plays that are plotless pose significant challenges of understanding and emotional connection for readers and audiences because they show no pattern of logic and plausibility to readers, audiences and sometimes even the actors performing the plotless script. All the same, plotless plays have one great philosophical advantage over plays with plots: they seem closer to life as it is lived and experienced by individuals and collectivities. This is because until the day a woman or man dies, the “plot” of his or her experience is known to nobody, least of all to herself or himself.

    One day, someone will write a play or a novel about the life and times of Muhammadu Buhari. Or a historical novel. Or a work of biographical non-fiction. In all probability, this will take place after all of us of the present living generation are gone. But it is also possible that this may happen sooner than usual, perhaps a few years from now in the script of a Nollywood film. All the ingredients for such a script are there aplenty: a charismatic professional warrior and politician with acts, declarations and controversies to fill the plot of a play, a novel or a non-fictional work full to the brim; membership of a very small group of men (no women; they are all men) who rose to dominant, hegemonic positions as both military and civilian rulers; dedicated, passionate followers and supporters ready to die for him and equally passionate enemies and opponents who think that his rule now and in the past presented our country with some of its most frightening crises; a personality as inscrutable and enigmatic as it is also as easy to confront and perhaps understand as a book written for children in a kindergarten class. Yes, Muhammadu Buhari is a fascinating subject for a play, a novel, a non-fictional biography. Indeed, already such a work has been written, but since it was written and published before the “second coming” of the president, it leaves out a lot that will undoubtedly great influence a future “Buhari script of history and politics”.

    In this column this week and next week, I provide an outline of plot and plotlessness in this imagined “Buhari script” of the future. On the basis of the explanation that I have given above on scripts with plots and those without plots, the outline that I provide herein will have a strong plot, together with its constitutive acts and scenes. All the same, I will not entirely leave out plotless forces and tendencies, if only because such aspects seem to constantly emerge from nowhere to complicate the drama of Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria. Please note that the observations and reflections I provide in this column this week and next week around this “Buhari script” are carefully selected parts or segments of a whole, a totality that is simply impossible to ever effectively cover in any work of drama, fiction, or non-fictional biography. In other words, since both literally and philosophically we can never fully or exhaustively apprehend or represent the fullness and the totality of one life, all one can do is be extremely careful and felicitous in what one selects and/or leaves out in the totality that is life. With this caveat in mind then, here is an outline of the “Buhari script” broken down into its components: one prologue, three acts and one epilogue.

    Prologue: December 1983 – August 1985: the Rise and Fall of an Enigma

    For about twenty months, Buhari is absolutist military dictator unlike no other dictator in Nigeria up to that time and since then, to go by the distinctive acts and expressions of his rule. These include but are not limited to an announced intention to abolish usurious capitalism in Nigeria through the institution of “Islamic banking” principles as the normative center of the financial services industry; rejection of tutelage under the IMF and the World Bank, primarily through a disciplined and rapid repayment of the country’s foreign debt; declaration of war against indiscipline and corruption in public life, governmental and non-governmental; Decrees No 2 and 4, unequalled as the most draconian military decrees in the country’s legal and political history, one decree dismissing “truth” as a factor in any published account or report of the activities of the regime that shows it in a bad light and the other decree backdating prosecution and punishment for a crime that was not a crime when it was committed.

    There is great stuff for drama and irony here: Buhari is immensely popular; Buhari is immensely unpopular and always. Forever unsmiling in his public appearances, he gives the impression that he does not care whether he is popular and/or unpopular. In all probability, in time his unpopularity would have far overshadowed his popularity; but we will never know for sure because he was deposed before any of his decisive “Buharist” ideas and principles could become dominant or even regulative. Outstanding scandal: the 53 suitcases smuggling embarrassment that involved Buhari’s personal ADC and for which no one was punished, disciplined or held accountable.

    Act One: I985 – 2015: Decades in the Wilderness and the Origins of the Buhari Myth

    Without any precedent before him, Buhari stands as a candidate in nationwide presidential elections three times, losing badly in each of these elections. With each loss, his bitterness increases, his threat of Armageddon escalates. A distinct regional and religious colouration marks this threat, reaching a climax in the infamous “baboon and the dog will be soaked in blood” speech of April 2015. These are dog days for the former military dictator, days in the wilderness in which only his most ardent supporters and followers remain with him in a political party – the CPC – that was quite easily the most parochial and unimaginative of the country’s ruling class political parties. But precisely because of these very factors, Buhari’s political profile becomes somewhat legendary, if not mythical: he comes to signify and embody an untested anti-establishment populism, and he stands out as the one military ruler who cut a completely different figure from the seeming normative decadence, emptiness and imposture of the other former military rulers and leaders.

    Meanwhile, the enigma in our Prologue continues: Who really is Buhari? Would the country have been in much better circumstances if his military rule had not been cut short by the pro-IMF, pro-World Bank, barawo regime of Babangida and the forgettable reigns of Abacha and Abdulsalami? Have the years and decades mellowed him, or is he still the absolutist hegemon for whom even the truth shall not set his opponents and his critics free?

    Act Two: May 2015 – October 2017 – The Second Coming and the Destruction of a Myth

    Buhari returns to power as civilian ruler on the wave of a massive popularity that seems to be built on his almost mythical renown for incorruptibility, steadfastness and willfulness. On top of these qualities, his popularity becomes solidified nationwide, far beyond his enduring, restrictive location in parochialism and regionalism. His circle of ardent admirers, supporters and followers grows immensely and there arises an almost beatific hope that in Buhari the country has at last found the messiah for whom it had been looking for so long. The romance, the euphoria lasts for about eighteen months.

    In this 18-month period the plot thickens, as the popular saying puts it. The “plot” extends to the international community that massively buys into the Buhari legend, promising him all the help he would need to fight corruption to a bitter end. Politically and electorally, the replacement of the CPC with the winning mega-party, the APC, brings Buhari into an institutional setting that he had never cared to really understand, let alone master: coalition building and disciplined, effective party-formation. And also, for the first time ever, his war against indiscipline and corruption is put to the test as it had never been when he was a military dictator and a voice crying in the wilderness. Corruption fights back tenaciously, primarily in the law courts but also in the arena of the country’s national and state legislatures. Buhari and his Attorney General seem grievously unprepared and unskilled in comparison with the bastions of corruption in the judiciary and the legislature. As cases of breathtaking stealing and looting are revealed, so do the dozens of cases of stealing and looting that defy Buhari, his AGF and the anti-graft agencies multiply. But worse was still to come.

    The coup de grace, so to say, came when it began to be apparent that Buhari’s war against corruption was directed primarily, if not exclusively, at past misdeeds by opposition politicians and that corruption in his own party and administration was not only tolerated but openly condoned in some cases. The effective date of demystification when the Buhari myth or legend suffered its fatal blow was October 2017 in the “Mainagate” scandal. Before or simultaneously with Mainagate, there were the cases of the former SGF, Babachir David Lawal and the former Director General of the National Security Administration, Ayodele Oke. And others known, rumoured and unknown.

    Is Buhari’s capitulation to the “superior” power of corruption – as symbolized in the Maina, Lawal and Oke cases – only a setback or is it a more fundamental symptom that his 20-month military rule didn’t and couldn’t have revealed? My own honest and frank answer is: it is not a mere setback, it is a constitutive, defining aspect of his rule. I admit that this is not so much a statement of fact as it is an interpretation of history, my interpretation of history. I wish I was wrong or that time and events will prove me wrong; but deep down, my instincts tell me that only now are we, at last, beginning to see the real as opposed to the legendary or mythical Buhari.

    Act Three: November 2017 -: Back to the Future – the Party, the Polity, the Economy

    Right on the heels of the Mainagate scandal, the third act in the unfolding drama of the Buhari script of history and politics started with the spate of massacres of farmers and their communities by well-armed herdsmen toward the end of last year into the first few days and weeks of the new year. Fortuitously, it so happened that this development almost exactly coincided with both open and surreptitious launching of the reelection campaign of Buhari for the presidential elections of 2019. The slowness, the unpreparedness and the clumsiness with which Buhari himself, his administration and the security agencies responded to these killings have left most Nigerians stunned and fearful of the forebodings thrown up by these spectral massacres. Either Buhari does not know Nigeria or Nigeria does not know Buhari. Is this the man we elected with a massive mandate in 2015? Has he changed? Or has he always been the same man hidden behind the encrustation of larger-than-life myth and legend?

    Famously, in the very first remark that he made upon assuming office in May 2015 Buhari uttered the then enigmatic words that constitute the second epigraph to this piece: “I belong to everybody; I belong to nobody”. You belong to everybody, Mr. President? To big cattle ranchers and to itinerant cattle rearers? To farmers and herdsmen? To those who voted for you in 2015 and those who did not vote for you? To the North and the South? To unitarists and federalists? To those who want devolution of power and those who don’t?

    Really? You belong to both farmers and herdsmen, Mr. President? To the cabal and the nation and its millions of talakawa?

    • To be continued.

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

     

  • Join politics and stop complaining, Jega advises youths

    former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, has told the youth to stop complaining about bad leadership if they cannot take part in political process. He said young people needed to take active part in governance and electoral process by volunteering and standing for elective positions.

    He said incompetent people with impracticable ideas would remain in public offices if young people continue to be indifferent towards electoral system.

    The former INEC boss spoke while delivering a keynote lecture at an event organised in honour of former Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Rahmon Bello, and former Bursar, Lateef Ojekunle, at the Julius Berger Hall of the university.

    The lecture titled: Volunteers in the Nigerian electoral process: Challenges and prospects, was organised by the UNILAG Muslim Community (UMC) in collaboration with the Muslim Ummah of South Western Nigeria (MUSWEN).

    Jega said INEC needed to develop mechanisms to help young people maximise their experience in participating in elections. He said there was need for contribution of youth-led civil society groups to promote volunteering.

    He said: “People who have goodwill, passion and commitment make sacrifices to make immense impact on the society. The youths are imperative in contributing to the integrity of our electoral process.”

    Noting that the United Kingdom (UK) model has the highest number of youths volunteering for elections, Jega said Nigeria needed a strong volunteering devoid of partisan tendencies.

    He said there must be screening and assessment of volunteers in order to achieve integrity in national elections.

    “Credibility of civil societies to participate in electoral activities should be encouraged on a large scale.

    Integrity of election depends on the integrity of the people coming in to volunteer in making the process free and fair,” he said.

    He urged members of the academia to assist the system of elections in the country through studies of empirical objectivity and credibility. He said social scientists needed to advance studies that would aid planning of elections.

    He said: “Our professors and dons need to work assiduously to bridge the gap in knowledge, complaints, suggestions and recommendations on how elections can step forward. Research is fundamental in achieving this, as well as policy advocating in electoral reforms.”

    He extolled what he described as “apparent evidence of commitment” to elections by civil society groups through volunteering in the 2015 general elections.

     

     

  • Politics of resource control

    Politics of resource control

    The Committee on Restructuring set up by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has submitted its report. One of the landmark recommendations is that states should control resources in their domain. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implication of the party’s proposal on the democratic process. 

    Resource control is a contentious issue that has not been addressed-over the years. The agitation for resource control by the oil producing states in the Niger-Delta is one of the major challenges confronting the country. The controversial issue resurfaced during the National Conference held  in 2014. The delegates from the oil-producing states demanded for between 25.5 to 50 per cent derivation funding which was not approved by the conference delegates. The report on Derivation and Resource Control was stepped down because the controversy could not be resolved. Instead the conference advised President Goodluck Jonathan to set up a technical committee to handle the matter.

    But the All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken the bull by the horns. The party has accepted its committee’s report on restructuring that states should be allowed to control resources within their jurisdiction. The Committee had recommended that oil and other mineral resources should be left to the control of the states where they are located while offshore resources should be owned by the Federal Government.

    The panel in its report stated that there was wide spread support and consensus in favour of “State Control of Resources and pay tax to the Federal Government.” According to the panel, other recommended views with strong national support spread and consensus include: upward revision of derivation and making derivation applicable to solid minerals and hydro power generation.

    The oil-rich Niger-Delta region has been in the fore front for the return to status quo, to give the federating units the control of their economic activities and finances. Expert in political economy, Dr Frank Ezimora noted that the contentious issue had been settled by the 1960 Independence and 1963 Constitutions. He recalled that it was the law of Nigeria before and after independence that the federating units, the regions controlled their economic and finances, keeping 50 per cent of all revenues to the Federation Account, out of which 30 per cent was shared among the regions, leaving 20 per cent to the Federal Government.

    He said the law was changed in 1969 by the General Yakubu Gowon military administration when the crude oil from the Niger-Delta became the mainstay of the economy in order to get more funds to prosecute the civil war. The change was done without consultation with or mandate from the people, he said.

    According to him, the Niger-Delta people are simply asking for a return to the post-independence practice after more than five decades. “The resource control adopted in the First Republic was responsible for accelerated development recorded by the three regions. The West produced Cocoa; the North groundnut and cotton and the East rubber and palm oil. Each region provided incentives to farmers to boost the production of cash crops in their domain. The regional governments set up Marketing Boards that buy from farmers and export them for  foreign exchange. What they did was to keep 50 per cent of the earnings from export and the remaining 50 per cent to the Federal Government to be shared among regions and the central governments. With this regional governments had sufficient funds to develop their regions. They didn’t rely on federal allocation to pay salaries and execute projects.

    “For instance, resource control was responsible for the unprecedented development recorded by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the old Western Region. He used the revenue accrued from cocoa to fund free primary education in the region in 1955. It was first of its kind in the country. That programme enabled children of indigent parents to acquire western education, which had placed the region ahead of others in the country till today. Besides, the first television station, Cocoa House, University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and the first stadium were built when he was was Premier of Western Region”.

    Analysts believe a return to resource control is the much needed panacea to Nigeria’s present state of arrested development that would at the same time offer relief to the impoverished and degraded peoples of the oil producing communities. It was in line with this thought that the APC committee in its report states inter alia: “To promote the unity of the country and ensure that states are more financially empowered to deliver services to their residents, as well as ensure no one feels disadvantaged, the committee recommends that the federal government should expeditiously review current derivation formula to reflect  areas of national consensus which are adoption of state control of resources and pay tax to Federal Government; upward review of the current formula in favour of states and adoption of similar derivation formula in favour of solid minerals and power generation. The committee, in response to popular opinion, recommended an upward review of the current derivation formula and the adoption of the said formula in favour of solid minerals and hydro power.”

    Civil rights activist Comrade Mashood Erubami has commended the APC for coming up with far reaching recommendations on issues that border on national question. He said the party’s recommendations had answered the centrality of the issues agitating the minds of the people of Nigeria in terms of how many states will bring harmony to the country, what percentage of federal collectable resources should be given back to their sources and also recommended some items on the exclusive legislative list that should be transferred to the recurrent list to enable states have direct responsibility.

    Erubami noted that before the reports of the panel came out, nobody gave it to the APC that it could come out with anything meaningful suspecting that its northern leadership will be against the practice of true federalism especially as it relates to principle of derivation, devolution of power, federating units and state creation.

    He said: “This has not only confirmed that APC is a listening party but a passionate political movement that believes in true federalism and unity of the country through constitutional and deliberative democracy imbued with equitable sense of justice and fair play as evident in the aims and objectives in Article 7 of the party’s Constitution  which commits the party “to firstly, promote and foster the unity, political stability and national consciousness of the people of Nigeria and secondly, to promote true federalism in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    The activist said one notable recommendations made by the APC panel is resource control which has been the most contentious that has not been resolved over the years. In his view, resource control is about whether the states, regions or zones should be allowed to exclusively or partially own, exploit, and tap the resources in their domain and just pay taxes to the Federal Government. This is where the change mantra of the APC has visibly manifested as it came out to douse all agitations from both the West which has been in the forefront of just and equitable  control of resources, and the South-South , especially the South East which lately dumped their secession agitation to accept restructuring.

    “The fact that a recommendation on derivation principle could be proposed to be increased from 13 per cent as currently contained in the constitution to favour the states, notwithstanding its technicality and complexity, shows that the party is out to bring about a new Nigeria. With that what accrues to the Federal Government 56 per cent will reduce and the percentages accruing to states  24 per cent will increase to be able to pay pension arrears, regular monthly pensions, payment of monthly salaries to workers as at when due include being able to carry out development works for sustainable good living.

    “The acceptance by the APC to implement true Federalism in Nigeria as against the open lies provided in the 1999 Constitution which is undoubtedly unitary but which they fraudulently referred to as formulated by the people of Nigeria when it is clear that it was mid-wife by the military and pretentiously called a Federal Constitution. The lid had been removed from the eyes of Nigerians and nobody or party can come in future to start to campaign for what they could not do when they are in power or deny APC of the victory of its courageous demonstration of the strong political will to bring Nigeria to its destined land through re-setting her old structure  through a new order that underscore the need for fiscal federalism, revenue allocation, form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy, power sharing and rotation and resource control.”

    A lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Uyo, Dr Samuel Asua, observed that the central control of oil resources and the utilisation of the revenue derived there from to fast- track the development of the nation tends to favour the major ethnic groups rather than the minority from which the oil is exploited. He said the conflicts over the distribution of state resources and its control within communal territories exacerbated the difficulties of political accommodation in Nigeria’s federation.

    Asua argues that agitation for resource control in Nigeria is, due largely, to lopsidedness in the practice of true federalism. “The main problem of Nigeria is application of federalism. True federalism is a situation whereby the centre and the sub-units are economically autonomous and administratively responsible for most of their activities i.e. a situation whereby there is devolution of constitutional responsibilities of power between the centre and region/sub units. In other words, the state, regions and centre share sovereignty. An ideal federal system should have independent revenue control mechanism or rather opportunity for the state/region to control/manage the resources from their areas. In practice, Nigeria’s federalism is a mere gimmick as it ends at the pronouncement of the word federation.

    “Unfortunately, states or regions have no control of the resources. In fact the Land Use Decree of 1976 allocates the land and its resources to the federal government in addition, all mineral resources that are six feet deep or beyond belongs to the federal government. These laws were made so as to strip the Nigerian people off of asking for their inalienable rights to the resource from their areas. The central government controls every major activities of the nation, thereby making Nigerian Federation a federalism only by name as the branches (states) have little or no power or influence in major economic/social issues such as mineral resources, revenue allocation/ distribution and off course the armed forces.

    “In a true federalism, the component states constitutionally control the resources, which are found within their geographical spread, and pay a certain percentage of revenue derived from such resources to the federal government. Practically, therefore, resource control rests on the component states of the federation. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case, where the Federal Government controls the resources. Thus, the violent conflict experienced in some parts of the country, particularly the Niger Delta is as a result of the structure of the Nigerian federal state and the nature of the control of natural resources.”

    The university don noted that though the politics of resource control in Nigeria has been a ding-dong affair for a very long time, the issue got exacerbated by the discovery, exploration, sale and management of oil revenue. According to him, the politics of oil revenue has really made Nigeria a polarised state. “In fact with the discovery of oil, Nigeria drifted from being an agro-based nation to oil based nation. Most of the goods, being exported like groundnut and cotton from the north, palm produce from the east, while cocoa and rubber from the west were de-emphasised and in fact they were almost stopped. Hides and skins which used to be the pride of the north were no longer remembered. The government attention was over focused on oil because it became the bench mark for the federal government budget.”

    However, Erubami observed that the recommendation on resource control was not obviously decisive and total. He said it could only be acceptable to agitators in the states and the geo-political zones depending on where they found themselves in the resource control narratives. According to him, it rendered the Southwest years of agitation for the convocation of Sovereign National Conference futile and meaningless, in the context of National Movement for fairness and just relation within a federal state.

    For those who want unconstrained resource control, the activist said it was not a happy outing because of the recommendation that ‘it will still be expedient that ownership and control of resources in the continental shelf and territorial waters should remain with the Federal Government.  But Erubami believes that the elaborate amendments offered as excuse against total control will not make it unworkable as amendment of the constitution cannot be a strong obstacle to complete resource control.

    Notwithstanding, he said, “agreeing for the first time that the states should exercise control over natural resources on the lands within their domain, is an acceptable innovation, more so when the Land Use Act vest powers over land in the states territories leaving the states to pay taxes or royalties there from the Federal Government.”

    To a youth activist, Malam Musa Abdullahi, the APC has proved its detractors wrong particularly the opposition groups who thought the ruling party was against restructuring. The APC panel was able to come up with recommendation on resource control which the National Conference set up by the Goodluck Jonathan could not tackle. For good four months, the motley assembly could not agree on the issue of resource control.

    While commending the APC for taking decisive position on national issues threatening the peace of the country, Abdullahi advised the party to follow up the recommendations by sending a bill to the National Assembly for necessary amendments in the Constitution so that the recommendations would be incorporated into the constitution.

    Asua suggested that the principle of federalism should be fully applied. “Federalism as being practiced in developed countries such as the United States will enhance unified, peaceful, political and socio-economic development. It will encourage the states to look inward and develop economic independence. The issue of resource control and dependence on revenue allocation from the federation account and other federal sources of revenue, such as revenues from excess crude oil, income from excise duties etc would be de-emphasised. Rather, the whole system should be constituted in such a way that high taxes be paid to the federal government n revenue generated from such mineral resources that yield high income, provided such resources are left for the people to control their resources by themselves.”

     

  • ‘Nigeria should return to ideological politics’

    ‘Nigeria should return to ideological politics’

    Ayo Afolabi, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is 70 today. He spoke with ADEBISI OLADELE on his foray into politics and vision for a better society.

    How do you feel at 70?

    I tend to dispute it even with myself that I have attained the age of 70. I feel very young, I feel agile, I feel I have to keep going on. I cannot see myself being referred to as septuagenarian. An incident that happened between the late Chief Bola Ige and I makes me remember the way I feel at 70 now. When Uncle Bola clocked the age of 70, we were planning how to celebrate him on that epoch birthday and I said Uncle, you will be 70, we will no longer refer to you as uncle again. We will start calling you Pa Bola Ige. But Uncle said: “Ayo, you can’t be serious, you’d better stopped it if it is a joke; and I’m going to quarrel with you, if you dare it call me Pa once. So, when I look back, I guess I want to react the same way uncle Bola reacted at that time. I think age is a thing of the mind. It depends on how you view yourself, how you relate with people. I don’t feel 70, I feel I could be in the class of the forties, fifties, or even younger people.

    As a 70-year old, you’ve obviously been around for some time; you’ve seen a lot of political developments of Nigeria. Can you reflect on the Nigerian political development, from the time you grew up till today?

    I have seen a lot like you’ve rightly observed and I have been involved in a lot. By the time I was in the secondary school, in 1964, that was the boiling time of the West, the Wild, Wild West as they refered to it at that time. The NNDP and the Action Group were the main parties. The NNDP metamorphosed from “Egbe Olomo Kulumbu” in those days. When they were coming, it was like I wasn’t too much involved, but an incident pushed me into the centre of politics. My father was a non-partisan man, a peasant farmer but who in the mind, actually was a progressive. Those days, the NNDP stalwarts, who also included my late maternal uncle, Chief Ekemode in Ode-Omu, Alhaji Noah Ijakan and a few others, were vehement on forcing people to totally belong to the NNDP. So, my father was invited to an NNDP meeting, to swear an oath with the lives of his children that if he voted for any other party, he should lose his children. My father rejected the offer, stressing that his children were a different ball game. “If you ask me to swear by my own life, I could do it but not with the lives of my children because they are a different thing entirely.” He told them. So, my father refused to swear and that he was not a politician. On a rainy day in 1965, our small kitchen behind our house, which was more like a tent, fell.  If you are passing by it you will see people inside the kitchen but it had a roofing sheet but the wall wasn’t closed. When it rained, the kitchen felled, the wall on the side fell. So, the following morning, my father, on coming to the farm, decided to rebuild the kitchen, When he was doing that, they came to arrest him for building without authorization or the town planning approval. Even the building was a mud house, you know. He was arraigned in the local customary court which was chaired by the people I mentioned earlier. He was advised to plead guilty, arguing that’s the only way they could save him. So, my father pleaded guilty and they sentenced him to 10 months jail term with an option of £10 fine. Ten pounds fine at that time was like paying N10 million naira today. So, my father had to let out some of his farms to be able to pay some of the fine and because it affected the payment of my school fees, I became a little radicalized. So, I hated anything that had to do with NNDP. So, by October, 1965, I was on my way from Ode-Omu to Origbo Grammar School where I was schooling. Our exams were some way off and then they were carrying out a meeting of the UPGA of which Action Group first started in Chief C. I. F. Olaniyan’s house. Out of curiosity, I branched there to find out what they were doing. At that moment, they were looking for somebody who could go to Tonkere to go as the party agent and somebody asked me if I could do it. I was just in form two and I said: “Yes I can do it.” So, I became a party agent for UPGA in Tonkere.

    I was sent to Tonkere the following morning with a bicycle. The election was the following day. I went to Tonkere, from Ipetu to Edun Abon and to Tonkere. Tonkere is between Edun Abon and Ede from that axis and with Ife on another axis. So, I got to Tonkere, to the polling booth and everything was going on very well. But about three to four hours after the election had started, the NNDP people heard information that election wasn’t favoring them. There was a major stalwart and financier of NNDP whom they use to call Try and See. The man came out of his house with dane gun and drove everybody off. When I was going to Tonkere, I was given a bicycle from Chief Olaniyan’s house to ride to Tonkere, in the melee, I forgot about the bicycle and ran away into the cocoa plantation and from there returned to Ode-Omu. I didn’t even go back to the party to tell them what happened. It had no meaning, it was like an adventure and I forgot about it until sometime towards our exams, when the owner of the bicycle went to the Olaniyans and they traced me and they went and met my parents and explained to them that I took a bicycle for this and that. Of course, the bicycle could no longer be traced and so my parents were forced to hire out one of our cocoa farms to be able to pay for the cost of the bicycle. That also radicalized me.

    Due to my deep social life, I didn’t fail but I wasn’t doing very well in my academics. Then, my uncle came home. He had already moved to Ijaye Ojutaye. He was now the Revd Pastor for Iseyin Baptist Church Koso. So, my uncle came and took me away again but this time instead of staying with him at Iseyin, he took me to Saki Baptist Boys High School under Mr Akinokun and that was where I completed my secondary school. I spent three years there and that meant my baptism of bias in politics and after that I virtually forgot about politics. I didn’t have anything to do with politics. But then by the 1993 election, I was always interested in what they were doing, I was always voting and always supporting anything that had to do with the progressives and Awolowo politics. That was me.

    Was that because of the original resentment for NNDP?

    Yes. I was always like that but by 1992/1993, when Abacha nullified M.K.O Abiola presidential election, the country went down on so many fronts and people of my age and ilk, a lot of us had no jobs again. I was already in private practice, in advertising and public relations, but quite a number of my colleagues didn’t have anything to do. Some had been retired prematurely in employment places. So, there was one friend of mine, we were in the Jaycees together, Akin Akinbola. The father was having his 70th birthday and we all went there to celebrate with our own friend and everybody was complaining about the situation of the country and I told all of them: “You people are stupid. How can all of us these young men be sitting down and be complaining?” We were in our thirties and forties. I then suggested that we get together to start building blocks for Yoruba nation and start fighting the stakes. The result was the formation of the Agenda Group. The Agenda Group was the one that actually mobilized people in Ibadan against the Abacha reign, actually first against Babaginda. We formed the Agenda Group and we started organizing and meeting people and that was my way into politics without being conscious of it. I was seeing it as a kind of good for the people and I was doing my job in advertising and public relations. Among those who were with me then were Architect Tunji Bolu, Pastor Muyiwa Gbamgbose, who was the chairman of the Agenda Group. We had Towo Aderemi, who was the secretary of the Agenda Group. I was the ideologue. I used to tell them this is what you should be working at and Towo was very prolific in writing. Muyiwa Gbamgbose was out of this world when it comes to coming up with ideas. He is very creative. He is a genius. Others include Gbenga Adebusuyi and Lanre Oyedutan who came to join later and we were circulating what the government would regard as seditious leaflets. So, it was during that period too when we were fighting government that Alhaji Arisekola was the chief mover for the protection of the Abacha government. That was the time I was shot at so many times but thank God I escaped being killed maybe because of my ‘Abiku’ background. (laughed)

    So, how did you get into party politics?

    Then we were looking for how to link up with the main arm of NADECO and the lot fell on me that I had to meet Chief Bola Ige on a journey between Lagos and Ibadan. Just On that journey, I saw Chief Bola overtook my car, so, I sped after him and I was trying to stop him, so by the time he got to toll gate, I stopped him and I said: “We want to meet you. I introduced what we had been doing. Apparently, he still knew some of our publications and he gave me an appointment. So I went with a number of people to see him. Some of us had dropped out, Muyiwa had said that the game was becoming dangerous dir him as a pastor. He opted out. Tunji Bolu had dropped out. Towo Aderemi said he could not be involved. So, some of us had gone underground but later Gbenga Adebusuyi was picked behind me because he was next in hierarchy to me. After a while, he was picked and detained in jail as the number one bomb thrower. He was together with other accused persons. But after all these had gone and politics came back in 1999, without knowing it, we had got so close to Uncle Bola that we could not afford to let him lose and some of us had to protect him for Yoruba land and that was what got us into party politics.

    Can you reflect on your activities in partisan politics since you joined in 1999?

    You see, Chief Bola Ige brought us in without us thinking about it. He had always encouraged us to pick nomination forms to contest and we said we didn’t need it. We were not even interested in the political positions.

    You saw yourselves as crusaders for social justice or so?

    That’s all, we were not interested but when Chief Akande was forming his government in Osun. I was recommended to be in his government by Bola Ige. He said you must put him in government, he is one of those who can take over from us. The same for Gbenga Adebusuyi. Layi Oyeduntan was already interested in being in government. So, the three of us were taken to Osun and that trapped us.

    You were trapped? Kindly reflect on your life in politics since you became trapped.

    Well, it has being a life of challenges but most essentially a lot of lost hopes and aspirations.

    Lost hopes for you or Nigerians?

    For me. What we were hoping is not what we are getting. We thought we could reenact the Awolowo days and the aspirations of those days. But instead of getting there, we are moving away from it. That’s it.

    Does that summarise the lost hopes?

    That summarized it because when I was growing up, even in the secondary school, I was seeing myself not having money but being able to live an average comfortable life, live in a decent environment and nothing more. I can’t see myself as millionaire, it is not possible because my father never made millions and maybe that affected my attitude up till today because I don’t crave for huge money. That has been part and parcel of me.

    What are the challenges?

    This is a difficult question to answer but the reality is that things are no longer the same. There is huge population that caught up with us without developing along the lines of planning that was done in the Pre-Awo and Awo periods.

    I will give you an example. When Awolowo started the free formal education, they already envisaged that the product of the free primary school will come out and something has to be able to absorb them. In that direction, they created modern schools. While envisaging that a lot of people will come out of modern schools, they quickly created trade centers, Grade Three teacher training colleges and secondary schools to take some from the primary schools and take others from the modern schools. Along the line, it is not the same population that were growing. Yes, the population might be coming from there, but it will thin out along the line. So, by the time you go to a training center, a lot of people have started going into careers, bricklaying, mechanics, engineering and things like that. Those who will go to the grammar school had the option of studying further and going to the university. Some will have the option of going to the technical colleges. Then the colleges of education  were introduced. There were two throughout the Western Region then: Olunloyo College of Education and one other. And then beyond the secondary schools, you have the HSCs developing.So, in a way, those things absorbed people who might be thrown into the open labour market prematurely and so you keep sharpening your skills as you progress in your education. You are sharpening your capability to be able to get relevant to the society, which is no longer available these days.

    There was also a lot of job creation. Factories were coming up. By the time I finished my secondary school, I started working with the Nigerian Port Authority. It took late because I wasn’t too proficient. That’s it. You will have something to do. But all those had died off. The modern school are no longer there, the trading schools are no longer there, the colleges of education are producing what I will regard as graduates who have no technology in them and so on and so forth.

    Then the population started increasing, corruption crept in with the military and then the exchange of culture and because culture is dynamic, we started importing cultures that are foreign to Yoruba land. That created problems. Yorubas never allowed their aged to be beggars in public, they have sanctions for all that and if you are lame in Yoruba land, they have your own kind of trade that you could engage in. It could be tailoring where you do embroideries for agbada. If you apply, they have your own kind of trade. So, they don’t see anybody as not being useful to the society. But we’ve lost all that and so Yoruba land has also become part of the Almajiri culture.

    You’ve been talking about the Yoruba politics and everything. What kind of politics will say you practice as an individual?

    I would rather see myself more in the trend of the politics of the Late Chief Awolowo, as blossomed by the likes of Bola Ige, Lateef Jakande, Bisi Onabanjo and so on, and as represented with Chief Bisi Akande whom I worked with and whom I tend to emulate in quite a number of areas.

    Some people call themselves progressives, they call some other conservatives. Which class do you belong to?

    It is progressive in nature because you care about the welfare of the people.  It is welfarism. You care about the welfare of the ordinary man. Yes, you want to lift yourself to a level but not to lift yourself to the sky above the people around you. You are supposed to be within the same range and everybody will be trained in mind to aspire to get to that level. The more we are there, the better for all of us.

    We are looking at the totality of the society and that is why in our days the average age of mine, there’s no house you get to that you don’t have a graduate. You must all study because that is the only thing we knew. It is like suddenly everything turned and we all became people who like to run after our own comfort and individual upliftment, caring less about what happens to the society. The military, particularly the Babaginda regime, brought that aspect where we lost it. I think the advent is more in the introduction of newbreed politicians where he banned all the old politicians who should have mentored the junior ones. New breedism brought what we have here today and that is the frustration for some of us.

    Do you feel frustrated as a politician?

    In a way, yes, because we are not achieving what we should be achieving. We are not.

    If we look at politics as it is in Nigeria today, can we still say a particular party belongs or practices progressive politics while the others can be branded as the conservatives?

    The line of demarcations is blurred. It is

  • We must shun ‘do or die’ politics, warns Jega

    We must shun ‘do or die’ politics, warns Jega

    The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has urged politicians to desist from the “do or die” mentality.

    This, he said, has characterised the political process in the country for a long time.

    Admitted that conduct of elections in the country is a difficult task, Jega advised them to always abide by the rules guiding the conduct of elections.

    He praised the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) over the last July 22 Local Government elections.

    Noting that there are no perfect elections, the former INEC boss said the best of the commission was good enough.

    Jega spoke yesterday during a visit to the Yaba LASIEC headquarters.

    Accompanied by a former INEC Commissioner, Prof Lai Olurode, he stressed the importance of voters’ education by Election Management Bodies to make the electoral process more inclusive.

    He, however, added that funding civic and voters’ education programmes requires a lot of finances, which many electoral commissions might not have the capacity to undertake.

    He urged Electoral Management Bodies to partner donor agencies for assistance, adding that everybody should be concerned about the integrity of the electoral process.

    LASIEC Chairman Justice Ayotunde Phillips (retd) hailed Jega for introducing the Card Reader for the conduct of elections.

    The commission, she said, is planning to use it in the future election.

    This, she said, will enhance the transparency and credibility of the electoral process.

    According to her, the commission would have acquired the necessary technological infrastructure and expertise which would be deployed to modernise the electoral process in the state.

  • Only court can bar Fayemi from politics, Ekiti APC tells Fayose

    Only court can bar Fayemi from politics, Ekiti APC tells Fayose

    The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the state government’s White Paper, which indicted former Governor Kayode Fayemi is “a demonstration of executive recklessness by Governor Ayo Fayose”.

    The Fayose administration, on Monday, released the report of a commission of enquiry it set up to probe the Fayemi administration and barred the former governor as well as some of his aides from participating in politics for 10 years.

    APC said neither Fayose nor his government has any power to bar Fayemi or any other individual from holding public office.

    Fayose set up the panel to probe how Fayemi allegedly embezzled N852 million State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) loan said to have been obtained from Access Bank Plc.

    Fayemi filed a suit against the composition of the panel, citing partisanship of its members for allegedly being PDP members and civil servants who served under Fayose’s authority.

    The former governor said he would not get justice from the panel, adding that it was set up to do Fayose’s bidding.

    Access Bank appeared before the panel, saying Fayemi never stole any money.

    The bank said it returned the loan to its vault when the state government failed to firm up the agreement on repayment.

    Yet, the panel turned in its verdict, holding Fayemi culpable.

    Fayose raised another panel to issue a White Paper, which banned Fayemi and his Commissioner of Finance, Dapo Kolawole, from holding public offices for 10 years.

    In a reaction by its State Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party described the panel and the White Paper as a kangaroo stunt to nail Fayemi.

    APC said the verdict would not stand because of what it called the illegality that went into the exercise.

    The party argued that the Supreme Court had settled it in law that only courts of law can stop any aspirant/candidate from running for any political office and not any administrative or judicial panel of enquiry.

    It said: “All Nigerians know that Fayose is recklessly lawless and cannot survive in societies where the law works. His so-called White Paper is not only laughable but also a disgrace to all Ekiti people – home and abroad – with the way Fayose has taken ignorance, vendetta and debauchery to a ridiculous level. We knew all along that this is what Fayose wanted to do.

    “We had expected his Attorney General, if he knows his onions, to have advised him that only a competent court of law can bar Nigerians from holding public office under the Nigerian Constitution.

    “A situation where Fayose assembled PDP members and pliable civil servants as a panel with a strict directive to indict Fayemi at all costs and thereafter issued a White Paper banning him from holding public office, cannot hold water in a society where the law works.

    “With the way he is conducting himself desperately to stop Fayemi from holding public office, we are convinced that Fayose is seriously going through a political haemorrhage and, therefore, his resorting to political desperation and unconstitutional means to nail our leader and a serving minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by any means possible.

    “Neither Fayose nor the Ekiti State government has the power to bar or prevent Dr Fayemi or any other citizen from holding public office but a competent court of law. Such wishful thinking cannot stand judicial scrutiny. We advise Fayose and his pitiable undertakers to read the Supreme Court judgment and Atiku Abubakar in a similar matter.”

    APC noted that by his “so-called White Paper that cannot over-rule the Supreme Court judgment as a precedent, Fayose has demonstrated recklessness, lawlessness and display of executive rascality arising from his ignorance of the law, constitution and total disregard for the rule of law”.

    It added: “It is now glaring that despite Fayose’s empty boasts daily that Dr. Fayemi is a paperweight politician who is not popular at home, the governor’s latest action has proved that the reverse is the case. This barbaric action to halt the political career of a shining Ekiti star has shown that Fayemi is in league of nightmare Fayose has to contend with.

    “It is an irony that Fayose, who is supposed to be banned from holding public office because of the plethora of criminal and financial misappropriation cases hanging on his neck, is the one unilaterally banning somebody, who held public office as governor without any blemish and is currently holding that of a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has performed excellently well, as shown by the ‘Award of Public Excellence’ trophy bestowed on him by credible corporate organisations.

    “We expect someone occupying such an exalted position of a governor, like Fayose, to be properly briefed and educated on the limitations of his powers as the head of the executive arm of government, primarily to formulate policy and implement laws, rather than interpret the law and, worst still, assume the position of a judge in a matter involving him as a party.

    “We are not going to lose any sleep over a biased political report by a panel of PDP members set up by a PDP governor for the purpose of framing up our leader as a way of settling political scores.

    “This is executive recklessness and political rascality taken too far by Fayose and his kangaroo panel. We wonder where he got the power to bar a leading member of the opposition in a democracy.

    “We wish to assure our party members and the good people of Ekiti State that the so-called White Paper recommendation by Fayose’s kangaroo panel is not worth more than the paper on which it is written; this shall be challenged in a court of law. We are confident that this shall be quashed because there is no legal precedent or basis for it in the history of our country.

    “We also plead with Nigerians to bear with Ekiti people in this moment of our governor’s lawlessness, which has negative implication for the integrity of Ekiti people in choosing their leader.

    “We also wish to remind Fayose that his immunity will expire in October and must be prepared to resume trials on his many criminal cases, including those pending in various courts.”

    Also, Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has said Fayose’s ban of his predecessor from holding public office cannot stand any legal test.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos, he said: “In the case of Atiku Abubakar v Attorney-General of the Federation, the Supreme Court held that only a court of law has the power to disqualify and ban a Nigerian citizen from holding public office in Nigeria. So, the apex court set aside his disqualification from holding public office via a White Paper, which was endorsed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    “A similar ban placed on Malam Nasiru El-Rufai by the House of Representatives was also quashed by the court. To that extent, the decision of the Ekiti State government to ban Dr. Kayode Fayemi from politics cannot stand the test of constitutional validity. If Dr. Fayemi challenges the ban in court, he is likely to have it quashed and set aside.

    “However, as a serving minister in an administration that is fighting corruption, Dr. Fayemi has a duty to respond to his indictment by the judicial commission of enquiry, which probed the finances of Ekiti State under his watch. Alternatively, he may pray the court to annul the report. But he cannot afford to ignore the findings of the panel.

    “Since Dr. Fayemi chose not to appear before the judicial panel, he has to explain his own side of the story to Ekiti people. This is in line with the principle of public accountability enshrined in the Freedom of Information Law and Fiscal Responsibility Law enacted by the Fayemi administration.”

  • BURATAI WARNS ARMY OFFICERS TO STEER CLEAR OF POLITICS

    BURATAI WARNS ARMY OFFICERS TO STEER CLEAR OF POLITICS

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, yesterday warned officers and soldiers of the Army to steer clear of politics.

    Represented by the Commander, Infantry Corps, Maj.-Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, Buratai said his men should “leave politics to the politicians and concentrate on your chosen career.”

    The warning came  at the graduation ceremony of officers who underwent a Regimentation and Leadership training of the 64 RC and SSC 44 course at the 20 Infantry Battalion, Serti in  Taraba State.

    He charged the graduating officers to use the knowledge and experience acquired during their training to help in tackling the current security challenges in the country.

    The COAS said the relevance of the just concluded course in their career as commissioned officers cannot be over-emphasised.

    “It is pertinent to state that the recent gains of the Nigeria Army in the North-East and other internal security operations all over the country is expected to present the challenges of a growing rank of criminal elements and criminal activities,” he said.

    “Such challenges are characterized by kidnapping, assassination, sabotage, armed robbery and other acts of terrorism,” he noted while urging them to lead by example.

     

  • Participate actively in politics, clergy advises Christians

    The General Superin-tendent and Supreme Head, Sacred C&S Church Nig. & Overseas and  (Olori) C & S Unification Church Worldwide, His Most Eminence, Prophet (Dr.) Solomon Adegboyega Alao, The Baba Alakoso Imole 1, has urged all Christians in Nigeria to be actively involved in politics to ward off corrupt and unpatriotic elements from the polity.

    The cleric made this statement at a pre-conference press briefing to commemorate the 88th Annual General Conference of the Sacred Cherubim & Seraphim Church which took place at The Sacred C&S Church The Holy Mount of Salvation Model Parish, Surulere at the weekend. “Be registered and get your PVC and vote wisely to influence polity, stop saying politics is dirty, go there and cleanse the polity, those not in partisan politics should vote right,” he admonished.

    Speaking about the clamour for restructuring, the cleric urged the federal government to be sincere enough to restructure the constitutional framework. “The only panacea to future disaster relies on restructuring of constitution, restructure the structure, devolution of power from the centre to the states, going back to constitutional federalism. I believe in the interest of both the led and the leadership, the only viable option is restructuring the structures by transferring a lot of powers to the states.

     

    “Various challenges facing our country seem to be multiplying and not abating. We still have the Boko Haram insurgency on killing mission virtually on daily basis. Kidnapping, never heard of in Africa, has joined the bandwagon of our problems. Religious killings and persecutions, especially seemingly of Christian faith is gradually getting out of control. As if the foregoing are not enough, the Fulani herdsmen are now on the rampage,” he lamented.

     

     

  • Akinmade: From newsroom to politics

    Akinmade: From newsroom to politics

    In this piece, ISMAILA UBA extols the virtues of former Ondo State Commissioner for Information and a House of Representatives aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Idanre/Ifedore Constituency, Kayode Akinmade, who clocks 51 today.

    This is the day that the Lord has made and we shall rejoice in it. Kayode Akinmade, quintessential journalist, information manager and technocrat, turns 51, and the drums are being rolled out in willing numbers.The man Kayode Akinmade means different thing to different people. To many,Akinmade is a former Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy and to others he is just an accomplished journalist and PR guru. But to us in the National Assembly and in particular, Office of the Hon. Speaker, he is someone more than just a boss. In the few years when he served as the Special Adviser to Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole, he left indelible landmarks. He is a father figure and mentor who has left indelible marks in the media Department and indeed the House of Representatives.

    I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Akinmade during his stint in the office of the then Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole between 2007 and 2010. I was then the Principal Information officer in the Speaker’s Office, representing the bureaucratic wing of NASS in the media Department. Though he spent barely three years in the office, the effect he had, indeed the structure he laid, has since been adopted and continually implemented by the Media Teams of successive Honourable Speakers.

    Within just three months of his arrival to the Media Unit of the office of the Honourable Speaker, Akinmade had put in place strategies that positively boosted the image of the Honourable Speaker, and by extension, the House of Representatives. He was able to galvanise each and every member of the Media Unit to be productive and excel through personal contact and practical motivation. And this is not forgetting some of us were core civil servants with a predictable mentality and attitude to duty we deemed overbearing.

    He was the first S. A. Media to involve students on Industrial Attachment, N.Y.S.C members, as well as other career or political aides within the unit in developing articles, opinions and write-ups on several House resolutions and actions which in turn helped in boosting the image of the Honourable Speaker and that of the 6th House of Representatives. Indeed, he led from the front.

    I still recall that Akinmade came in at a very difficult period when the House of Representatives was struggling to maintain a good and credible public image, as it was just arising from the Hon. Patricia Eteh leadership saga. But as an experienced journalist and reputable political editor, he quickly settled down for business, came up with a comprehensive blueprint and sure-footed measures and mixed them up with his journalistic acumen to rebuild a positive image and restore the integrity of the House.

    When Speaker Bankole came up with the “Follow the Money” and Input-output-outcome mantras, it was Akinmade’s dexterity and strategy that helped to transform these mantras into popular mechanisms of efficient oversight at the Committee level in the House of Representatives through ceaseless articles and features. Needless to say it was adequately hyped by the Special Adviser, Media. The drive eventually led to the recovery of huge unutilised and ideal government funds. At a point in time, the then President Umaru Musa Yar’adua had to personally call Speaker Bankole to acknowledge and commend the Speaker’s Media team for doing what the late President described as a commendable and patriotic job.

    A leader extraordinaire, Akinmade always knew how to bring out the best in all members of his team, no matter the level or cadre of the individual. And to all, he accorded the necessary level of  respect, even though he was in charge. His humility didn’t just speak, it screamed! I learnt and still continue to learn a lot form this great boss, big brother and friend of mine, my mentor in so many ways.

    Akinmade came to the Office of the Honourable Speaker and made instant friends and comrades within the entire Units in the Office of the Speaker. And even after many Regimes have come and gone, those who knew him, and those who didn’t get to meet him all alike are still a washed with the positive testimony due to the legacy and touch he left behind. He is a man who never portrayed pride of accomplishment. Indeed his sense of humility was a thing of legend.

    Born on January 9, 1967, Akinmade attended Christ Nursery and Primary School, Ado-Ekiti in present-day Ekiti State from 1972 to 1977. Between 1977  and 1983, he attended Oluorogbo Grammar School, Akure, Ondo State, where  he earned his West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE). For his  tertiary education, he attended the Federal School of Arts and Science, Ondo,  between 1985 and 1987, proceeding to earn a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English Language at the Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti (OSUA), now  Ekiti State University (EKSU), in 1992. Not one to rest  one his oars, Akinmade proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism,  where he earned a post-graduate diploma in Journalism.

    Next, he headed to the University of Lagos where, between 2003 and 2004, he studied for his Master of Arts degree in Public and International Affairs. His  academic and leadership skills were further sharpened at the Wharton  Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA, where he earned a  Certificate in Crisis and Conflict Management. Throughout his educationalcareer, Akinmade has been driven by the quest to make his immediate  environment a better place, firmly believing that a cardinal goal of the quest for knowledge is problem-solving.

     

  • Nigerian youths and politics

    SIR: Following the victories of Emmanuel Macron in the French election and  Sebastian Kurz in Austria, youths around the world – especially in Africa – have suddenly realized that it is possible for young people to lead nations.

    With electioneering set to begin soon and the recent realization by many youths that they need to take power because it won’t be handed to them on a platter – 2018 is set to be an interesting year for the political observers and players alike.

    Having been a part of a couple of youth groups and watched some youths run for chairmanship positions during the Lagos State local government elections, I would have to say – although I hate to – that the youths are acting like they have nothing to offer. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that the youths, like the oldies, are not riding on any particular ideology which will give us a framework of what to expect. It has become apparent that the youths just want to ride on the sentiments of Nigerians. All they have to say is that we are youths.

    Being a youth, I am myself disappointed by the body language of the privileged youths out there running for offices – they are very unrealistic and think running a country is like playing a video game – say, SimCity for instance. They are quick to condemn the current administration’s every action without ever coming out with an option or a better way to do things (they seem very much like an opposition party already). Ask any youth today – what do you find wrong with the current administration and you get nothing. It is appalling that the youths who are supposed to strategize a way forward, advise the government and volunteer to help make the nation great are joining the oldies in fault-finding and name-calling.

    The youths have failed to firstly understand why Emmanuel Macron and Sebastian Kurz both won their elections. They have chosen to ignore the reason to have a purpose for service.  The People’s Party in Austria kept the issue of immigration at the front and centre throughout the election and they won. While Macron was pro-EU, his opponent was not and both sides argued for the benefits their stands will bring to the people. But what do the Nigerian youths have for the people – apart from the fact that they are youths?

    The year has only begun; there is still a lot to see in the political sphere. But one thing the youths should always remember is that one of the currencies of politics is time and it should be spent when it still has value.

    • Ola Fash,

    Yabatech, Lagos.