The Nation Newspaper

Tag: problematic

  • Southeast’s problematic approach to 2019

    Despite Governor Rochas Okorocha’s warnings and fears, the Igbo leaders from the five Southeast states who met in Enugu on Wednesday had the right and justification to endorse the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential ticket of Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, and Peter Obi, a former Anambra State governor. What is controversial, however, is whether that right and that justification amounted, in combination, to wisdom. Almost immediately, Mr Okorocha, the Imo State governor and founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), responded to the Southeast leaders’ endorsements by suggesting to them that they were both incautious and indiscriminate in their endorsements. He argued further that the leaders appeared to be putting all their eggs in one basket as they did in 2015. But had they endorsed the APC presidential ticket of Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo, nothing suggests that the Imo governor would have chafed at the move.

    The Southeast leaders who met in Enugu to discuss the place and future of the Igbo in Nigeria constituted a broad spectrum of Igbo elders and statesmen, of course minus their wary and often fearfully cautious governors. Egged on by the impassioned plea of elder statesman and eminent law professor, Ben Nwabueze, 86, who asked the elders to honour his age by working for the success of the Atiku-Obi ticket, the gathering seemed to believe that this time, unlike 2015, they could pull off the impossible. Speaker after speaker whooped enthusiastically for the ticket, suggesting that its success might bring the alienation of the Igbo to an end. In general terms, they expect without saying so that the Igbo should take advice from the resolutions of what they described as their non-partisan meeting in Enugu. Even Mr Okorocha knows that the meeting was probably more representative of the Igbo than his own camp of tentative ideologues.

    However, the Enugu resolution is more revelatory of the problem with the Igbo political logic than indicative of either their common purpose or their overall objective. Consider the following excerpt from the communiqué: “…The summit deliberated on the state of Ndigbo in Nigeria today, especially after years of exclusion from the centre.  This country has never been so divided as it is today. We Igbos have always yearned for a level playing field with justice, equity and fairness. The summit recognised the nomination of His Excellency Mr. Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, as the vice presidential candidate of the PDP and fully endorses this nomination. It was acknowledged that this nomination puts Ndigbo back in the centre of governance.  It is, therefore, important that Ndigbo should rally behind the Atiku/Obi ticket. We identify with the Atiku/Peter Obi ticket on the restructuring agenda as has been reiterated by four zones of the country, namely: South-South, Southwest, North Central and Southeast. We believe that as long as the federating units remain weak the centre will continue to be weak. We equally move to appreciate the position of the Atiku/Obi ticket in promoting national unity. In conclusion, the summit reiterated that the time is now for Ndigbo to mobilise and organise effectively to realise the Atiku/Obi ticket. We are not campaigning against anybody, we are simply campaigning for our very survival. Igbo votes must count wherever Ndigbo live in Nigeria.”

    On the surface, the main trigger for the Igbo disaffection is their alienation. That alienation is real and cannot be disputed. Even Mr Okorocha knows this as well. It is indeed doubtful whether any Nigerian but the most rabidly sectionalist will dispute that under the Buhari presidency in particular, the Igbo have been marginalised and alienated. So, no concrete steps have been taken to lessen the alienation, nor to heal the deep wounds of the 1967-1970 civil war, not to talk of finding ways and formulae to integrate the Southeast seamlessly, continuously and permanently into the system. The divisions have been accentuated, have become more noticeable in the past three years, and there does not seem to be any hope that soon the fractiousness and chaotic approach to socio-economic and political integration would be straightened out.

    Furthermore, the Enugu meeting also correctly identified the urgent need for restructuring, given the political imbalance and disarticulation an untenable structure has horribly engendered. That the Atiku-Obi ticket promised to address the restructuring agitation undoubtedly and unavoidably holds some appeal to the Southeast. In the face of APC dithering over the question of restructuring, not to talk of the implacable opposition of the president to anything that would as much as give a hint of even tinkering with the country’s wobbly structure, it is only natural that the Southeast would gravitate towards the Atiku-Obi ticket, regardless of Mr Okorocha’s hysterical denunciations. In addition, whether the APC likes it or not, or whether the PDP is able to grab the chance to do something about the controversy or not, the restructuring controversy will only die when something concrete has been done to exorcise the ghost of imbalance from the body politic. The Enugu meeting was, therefore, not opportunistic, self-serving or irrational in putting the interests of the Igbo or their region ahead of any other consideration.

    But the Enugu resolutions were also revelatory in a disturbing and unflattering way. In their communiqué, the Southeast leaders painted a picture of an alienated region that must single-mindedly look out for number one. They hoped to advance that interest by promoting the candidature of Mr Obi, over which they exulted. Why they equate the promotion of their regional interests with the promotion of the political career of a politician from the region is hard to say or defend. It is uncertain that such equalisation or conflation even makes sense. The effort falls dismally into the same trap that has held Nigeria captive for the past five decades or more, wherein regardless of the incompetence of the president, his failings are excused by his tribesmen. Could the Southeast, which has produced some of Nigeria’s notable statesmen and intellectuals not find — and verbally promote — refuge in a ticket that appears competent, ideological, and patriotic, whether Igbo or not?

    There is of course nothing to indicate that the Buhari-Osinbajo is more competent or ideological than the Atiku-Obi ticket. What is dangerously amiss is the grounds upon which the Southeast leaders base their infatuations. Whether it is obvious to them or not, they seem to be promoting the same insularity and clannishness the Buhari presidency has found so natural and comfortable to exhibit and adulate. If the Southeast wishes to replace the ruling party because of the latter’s dangerous failings, it must take care to promote that noble objective in ways that elevate their region and the nation as a whole. The Buhari-Osinbajo ticket is not even a tad ideological, and does not possess the nobility of purpose a driven nation must promote as its lodestar, but neither the Southeast nor the Atiku-Obi ticket has proven that it is inspired by a greater sense of nobility and purpose than those of the party they seek to replace.

    It is perhaps too late to persuade the Southeast to vote APC in the next presidential election. Nothing Mr Okorocha does or says will deliver the Igbo votes to the ruling party. As a matter of fact, almost from the beginning, the Buhari presidency had seemed to write off the Southeast as a factor in their quest for a second term. Having been consigned willy-nilly to the opposition, the Southeast has taken the natural and most plausible course of embracing the Atiku-Obi ticket to actualise its ambitions and yearnings. Nigerians had hoped that those ambitions and yearnings would be undergirded by principles and values that are hard to impeach, let alone gainsay: values that bring out the best in the Igbo, principles that do justice to their huge contributions to the nation and the continent, and logic that do not give dark hints to other nationalities that the Igbo votes outside the Southeast  could be used conspiratorially and disingenuously to affect outcomes in ways that irritate and provoke host communities. The Southeast is far better and more endowed than the politics it is playing.

  • Why budget is problematic

    SIR: THE 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, makes general election a quadrennial event similar to that of the United States of America. It specifically pegs inauguration of governments on May 29 every four years too. Incidentally, it pre-arranged appropriation bill or budget after the civil year calendar; reckoned from January 1 to December 31 according to Gregorian calendar. By this conflicting arrangement, the federal and state governments present budgets to their respective legislative bodies at the end of every year for passage. By synchronizing the civil year pattern rather than the nation’s or respective democratic calendar, most incoming administrations continuously encounter crisis in the first year in office with usual laments of empty-treasury against outgoing administrations as witnessed over times, on account of continuum in government. This notion imperatively accounts for the strict reliance on independent financial-year calendar by financial and other corporate bodies for operations distinctive from civil year merely observed for record purposes.

    Emphatically, any government that is scheduled to round off its tenure in May 29 has no business with appropriation bill for the residual periods of the year. A well-structured government should logically, correspondingly run its calendar alongside year’s budget from inauguration date and not necessarily adopting a civil calendar except if fittingly inaugurated in January. Apparently, this is a mismatch which over the years has frustrated new governments from starting strong after inauguration. The endless wailings by newly-inaugurated governments over empty-treasuries and consequently, patching up till the passage of another year’s budget, patriotically calls for sober reflection.

    At the moment, the only state expediently albeit uncalculatingly designed to possibly escape the constitutional abnormally is Anambra State on account that by its present democratic template, perhaps providentially, a new administration or democratic calendar begins in February. Thus, a new governor controls the budget from day one unlike many others alongside the federal government where outgoing incumbents get a full year appropriation bill despite few months left to sign out. Then, where the incumbent too ran but lost out, the rest will be history. The weird blow has always produced unchanged consequence; squandermania. Possibly, this accounted for President Muhammadu Buhari’s dirge on assumption of office over empty-treasury and couldn’t appoint ministers till end of that year. Ditto some state governors.

    The remedy is simple. Appropriation bill should synchronically run as financial year based on respective inauguration dates as a substitute to civil year calendar. With the variation, no elected leader could trespass to allocation earmarked for incoming administration, be it at state or federal level. As long as May 29 remains the nation’s democratic calendar whilst appropriation bill runs in a civil year, it will continuously lead to catastrophe. The gaffe has depressingly affected both incoming governments from opposition and ruling parties but usually covered-up under ‘party-affairs’ especially where outgoing government contributed to the election victory of the incoming one. Incidentally, the helpless society at large suffers it in the long run.

    Undeniably, any scenario where an administration secures a year’s appropriation bill but plunders it in its remaining five months, incidentally the fifth month of the whole year will certainly not augur well but put the incoming government in a tight corner in the remaining months except, to bank on supplementary budgets, that’s if the treasury is not in red. The political system should provide a template with realistic protective mechanism to public funds. As the legal regime is characterized by sundry lacunas and inconsistencies that make prosecution of corruption cases cumbersome, preventive mechanisms remain the pragmatic options in checkmating the shortfalls.

    • Carl Umegboro,

    Lagos.

  • Making a change in your problematic children

    Dear Reader,

    You are welcome to Family Forum, a column for your marriage fulfilment. I shall be teaching on Making a Change in Your Problematic Children throughout this month. Today, I shall begin with The Root Causes of the Problems of Children.

    I want you to know that children, like most adults, are often products of their environment. Also, problem children are products of a problem-filled environment, which the enemy is very quick to take advantage of.

     

    Causes Of Problematic Children:

    Parents’ Reactions To The Way They Were Brought Up

    Some parents, in reacting to the way they were brought up under strict discipline, tend to be lenient and inconsistent in disciplining their own children. On the other hand, those reacting to their parent’s leniency tend to be strict and inconsistent in disciplining their own children. It is an unending cycle, from one generation to another that causes deep resentment on the part of the children. The Word of God says: Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged (Colossians 3:21).

    These parental reactions tend to build walls between them and their children. It could cause a lack of respect, inability to confide in parents, bitterness whenever there is an attempt to discipline the child even when the child is clearly wrong, and not be able to receive counsel from them. In most cases, the child’s reaction to this inconsistency in discipline is what leads them to cultivate unwise friendship outside the home, secretiveness and in extreme cases, rebellion.

    Homes Where There Is No Peace and Harmony

    Children are products of what they see much more than what they are told. Being exposed to violence, irrational behaviour, and inconsistency in their parent’s relationship makes them unbearable to harsh realities without the maturity to handle them. Some parents are so consumed with their own problems that they do not pay adequate attention to their children; thereby, leaving them to their own devices. This lack of attention and affection from parents causes the children to become violent, take laws into their hands and become hardened.

    Some children take advantage of the disunity between their parents to manipulate situations to their advantage. When they find out that it works at home, they will try it outside; thus, inevitably becoming schemers.

     

    The Problem of Rejection

    Instability in a child’s personality is also often caused by wounds of rejection. Some children are rejected even before they are born, on the grounds of: a child comes too soon after the last one, when there are already many children in the family; the wrong sex preference, or when they have some physical defects. Children also feel rejected by parents, who verbally, physically or sexually abuse them. They also react to peer rejection. Such rejections could be on the grounds of being affluent or snobbish, poor and badly dressed, insecure, domineering, or when one has some exaggerated physical features such as big ears, nose, mouth or the like.

    Some rejections are also as a result of negative comments from school teachers, such as being told that they will never make it or succeed in life. Others are church-related hurts from Sunday school teachers. Lack of love, especially from parents is probably the hardest blow.

    It is important for you to know that these rejections lead to various reactions from the child. He or she might easily be lured into the arms of someone who promises love, but who ends up taking advantage of him or her lustfully. This is more rampant among the girls. A child, in seeking a sense of self-worth, would try all manner of attention-getting devices. Many spend their lifetime trying to be somebody else as a result of this rejection. In most cases, this leads to their being double-minded, unstable and having dual personalities (saint at home and beasts outside).

    Rejection also causes paranoia in some children. This is a mental illness in which someone believes that other people are trying to harm him or that he is much more important than he really is. This might cause children to want to attack before they are attacked; make them suspicious of the intentions of others and often become either full of pride or hatred. Rejection as a result of physical defects or dullness at school, might lead to a hatred of self, inferiority complex and insecurity, which might lead to rebellion, resentment, self-pity or cause deep-rooted depression and escapism.

    Other reactions to rejection include: reading (where the child projects himself into one of the principal characters in the story), watching television soap operas (in an attempt to forget hurtful pasts), going to sleep and not wanting to get up in the morning, resorting to drinking alcohol and/or drugs. Others are self-blame or accusation, fear, death wishes, becoming judgmental or always finding faults (a child who is criticized will become judgmental), distrust and disrespect, hardness (he feels that this way nobody will hurt him again), promiscuity and possessiveness (not wanting to lose a good friend and eventually end up being rejected for being over-possessive).

    It takes your accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour to be able to handle your children. That is what being born again is all about. If you want to be born again, say this prayer: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. Deliver me from sin and Satan to serve the living God. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.”

    If you prayed this simple prayer, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

    Congratulations! You are now born again! All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through contact@faithoyedepo.org; OR 07026385437 and 08141320204.

    For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

  • Obasanjo’s problematic age

    With the benefit of hindsight, the eyewitness account of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s visit to Rivers State to inaugurate some of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s projects on February 17 and 18 should prompt reflections. According to a report by Bisi Olaniyi of The Nation, “At the commissioning of the Ambassador Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, Ebubu-Eleme-Ogoni, Obasanjo staged a high drama that sent the audience reeling in laughter and amusement. The state-owned school was built on 21 hectares of land and managed by an Indian firm, named after Nne Furo, the first female Permanent Secretary in Rivers State and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, who was present at the commissioning.”

    He continued, “Both Governor Amaechi and Kurubo had used the steps to and from their seats to present their speeches, but when it was Obaanjo’s turn, instead of using the steps, he just lifted himself up and jumped up into the 4 to 5-feet podium to the thorough amazement of the audience! The funning ex-President, wearing a smirk, told Amaechi that he jumped into the podium to prove that even though he was older, he (Obasanjo) was stronger. He added that he decided not to inform his security team because they would have dissuaded him against it.”

    Furthermore, the report highlighted Obasanjo’s display during “the commissioning of the Buguma Mega Fish Farm in Asari-Toru LGA in the old Port Harcourt Township, popularly called Town Guguma Fish Farm.” According to Olaniyi: “At a point, a member of the cultural troupe broke out and danced towards him (Obasanjo). And quite unexpectedly, the ex-President stood up and danced towards the dancer, obviously impressed by her dancing prowess. However, in the process, Obasanjo himself demonstrated a dancing agility belying a man of his age and status. He engaged the dancer in what looked like a dancing competition. The crowd yelled in ecstasy and awe. Shouts of Baba! Baba! rent the atmosphere. The thoroughly amused guests and hosts laughed to their fill!”

    This background proved useful in the context of Obasanjo’s “77th birthday” on March 5. It would appear that his earlier theatrics in Rivers State was a conscious statement on his vitality, particularly for the benefit of those who perhaps underrated his fitness. In other words, his exhibitionism, for that is what it amounted to, had the objective of projecting a sound body.

    Obasanjo’s apparent demonstration of vigour was significant, given the fact that his biological age is a subject of debate and the possibility that he could be much older than his publicised age. It is noteworthy that he admits that he does not know his true date of birth, a position he reiterated at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the latest celebration of his “birthday,” saying that he would make it known “sooner or later.”

    His words on the occasion: “There are some people, including me, who do not know their exact birthday. My mother told me that I was born on Ifo market day. According to her, in our village, she had prepared to go to Ifo market and Ifo market is every five days. She said as she was preparing, she fell into labour and before those who went to Ifo market returned, I was born. Don’t ask me what month or what year. Whether I know the exact date or not, I think God has made my path to be glorious.”

    Nevertheless, there is the inevitable question: Since there is no record of his birthday, how did he arrive at “March 5, 1938”? Interestingly, the issue was complicated by the contradictory assertion of the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu, who described Obasanjo as his “close friend.” He reportedly declared at the event that the former president knew his actual date of birth, adding that a small circle of his friends also had the information. However, it was disappointing that there was no disclosure.

    Without doubt, Obasanjo has understandable reasons to express gratitude to the Almighty. Despite his disadvantageous beginning, the retired Nigerian Army general unprecedentedly became the country’s head of state twice. He was a military ruler from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979, and a democratically elected two-term president from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007.

    What is regrettable about his good fortune is the fact that his track record as a leader is not particularly complimentary. Indeed, he continues to battle the charge of “wasted years” which, sadly, may follow him to the grave. The truth is that he largely failed to demonstrate sufficient sensitivity to what Jeremy Bentham calls “the greatest happiness of the greatest number”, which is tragically ironic against the background of his own unremarkable, not to say impoverished, early years.

    In this connection, President Goodluck Jonathan’s story unavoidably comes up. His tale of initial poverty, which he made public, drips with touching emotion, particularly his claim that he was “shoeless”. However, again, as in Obasanjo’s case, it would appear that the experience of hardship brought little or no enlightenment on the overriding importance of people-focused service in the context of governance.

    Remarkably, Obasanjo’s official birthday had what can be considered a moment of illumination, when he said, “I have been very lucky for many things. On one occasion, I said God had never disappointed me and a journalist who thinks that he knows too much asked if I had disappointed God. I said ‘of course’. As long as I am living in flesh and blood, I am liable to be unworthy in what I have striven to meet the standard of what God expects of me.”

    He needs to be told that mere philosophising cannot be exculpatory. Being human, which is trite, is no excuse for lowering the standard of good governance. It is disturbing that, despite this admission of inadequacy, he does not extend it to his years in power. If there was any fog concerning his psychological condition, it was cleared by his remarks at the Fourth Annual Ibadan Sustainable Development Summit organised last year by the Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Ibadan, in collaboration with African Sustainable Development Network. He seized the platform for self-glorification, and by the time he was done, it was unmistakable that he desperately desired worship. His keynote address at the forum on “Leadership in Africa’s Quest for Sustainable Development” turned out to be an enthusiastic exercise in embroidering his over-dressed conceit. He projected the impossible image of a flawless hero, whereas quite a few would question the basis of his self-perceived greatness.

    Obasanjo argued baselessly that the “younger generation” was to blame for leadership failure in the country and, by extension, on the African continent. It is noteworthy that he was quoted as saying, “We had some people who were under 50 years in leadership.” Age, again! For a man who appears to be ignorant of his real age, his problematisation of age should not be surprising.