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Tag: question

  • I Have a Question!

    Hannah raised her hand and the professor acknowledged her. She said, “I have a question”. Muffled sounds could be heard across the room and the professor smiled knowingly. It was the sixth time Hannah was asking a question in a two-hour class. Her classmates seemed to be frustrated every time she asked a question. Some felt the answers were obvious; some felt she could have gone to read up on the subject after the class; and some others were just too much in a hurry to conclude the class and move on to other “important” things. No matter what, they all had something in common- aversion for Hannah’s curiosity habit.

    After entertaining the question, the professor turned to the rest of the class and said, “I noticed your displeasure when Hannah asked her question. What is your concern?” “She is too inquisitive” Thelma offered and the others agreed. “She asks stupid questions” said Peter. “She’s not the only one in the class” threw in Josh, “Is she trying to be smart or something?” “I think she’s just seeking attention” said Sharron, “She does it in every class”. The entire class seemed to agree with every point made by their friends. By now, Hannah was so embarrassed that she made a silent promise to herself never to ask another question even if it would kill her.

    The professor smiled and said, “Ok, let’s find out if you are right. I need you to sincerely respond to my questions by a show of hands. How many of you already knew the answers to Hannah’s questions before I gave them?” Three students indicated out of a class of 25. “Hmm, ok. How many of you learnt from my responses to the questions?” More than half of the class indicated. “How many of you had the same questions but you chose not to ask?” Nine students indicated. “How many of you are aware that Hannah’s grades are the best in this class?” Twenty-four students reluctantly indicated. By now, Hannah wasn’t embarrassed anymore! The Professor continued, “Obviously, majority of you have benefited from Hannah’s questions than you earlier imagined. I think you owe her an apology for being mean and you owe her thanks for helping you to learn.” He looked at their sober faces and said, “Never pretend to know when you don’t. Never be silent when you ought to speak. Never rush ahead of your opportunity to learn.”

    It’s interesting how a lot of us are like Hannah’s classmates. We don’t realise the value of questions. According to Thomas Berger,”The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge”. How can we acquire knowledge if we don’t seek, and how can we seek without asking questions? OgMandino said, “Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new”. Our society today tends to focus on providing answers but Voltaire insightfully said,”Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers”. An answer is a demonstration of what you know but a question is a demonstration of what you want to know. What you know is why you are where you are and what you want to know is why you will be where you want to be.

    A “questionless” state is a dangerous state. Sometime, “no question” is not a sign of understanding/comprehension but a sign of lack of imagination. For as long as there are questions, there will be the motivation to advance. Show me a person who has no question and I will show you a person who is at risk of complacency.

    Thanks for reading my article today. I would really love to hear from you. So, do share your views with me by sending SMS to 07034737394, visiting www.olanreamodu.com and following me on twitter @lanreamodu. Remember, you are currently nothing compared to what you can become. Don’t lock your potentials in; let them breathe!

  • APC and the tenure question

    APC and the tenure question

    Briefing newsmen after Tuesday’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the often effervescent Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said the party’s NEC, in accordance with its constitutional powers, had decided to extend the tenure of its Chief Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) as well as the party’s state executives by one year. Governor Bello was obviously referring to Article 13.3 (ii) of the party’s constitution, which empowers the NEC to “Discharge all functions of the National Convention as constituted in between elections”. Expatiating on the reasons for the NEC’s decision, Bello said, “Considering the time left for the party to conduct all the congresses and conventions and considering that our leader, Senator Tinubu, has been charged with the responsibility of reconciling all aggrieved members of our party, we cannot afford to approach the general elections with more dispute and crises. Let me tell you that this will not stop the convention of the party. But to go into elective Congresses is what we are trying to avoid, relying on the constitution of our party.”

    Clarifying Bello’s statement on Tuesday night, however, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, situated the NEC’s decision in its appropriate legal and constitutional context. He stressed that the desire of the NEC to extend the tenure of the party executives’ was still only an expression of interest until necessary constitutional amendments to that effect had been undertaken in accordance with the constitution of the party. In Governor Yari’s words, “What was done today is only an expression of a desire to extend the tenure of Chief Oyegun-led National Executives. The power of the Convention to extend tenure is exercised only by way of a constitutional amendment. The power of the National Executive Committee of our party cannot go beyond doing so by way of constitution amendment”.

    Governor Yari defended his position by reference to Article 30 (i) of the APC constitution, which states that “This Constitution and Schedules hereto can be amended only   by the National Convention of the Party”. Yari’s point is, in my view, succinct and surgical. Article 13.3(ii) empowers the NEC to “discharge all functions of the National Convention as constituted in between conventions”. One of the functions (powers) of the National Convention is to extend the tenure of party executives if it so desires. But the National Convention, itself, cannot exercise this power without constitutional amendment. And constitutional amendment, according to Article 30 (i), can be effected only by the National Convention. This is why an Extraordinary National Convention of the party had to be convened on October 29, 2014, for the sole purpose of effecting necessary amendments designed to align the party’s constitution with the Electoral Act.

    But why is amendment of the party’s constitution a necessary condition for any extension of tenure for party executives to be legal and valid? This is simply because Article 17 (i) of the party’s constitution states that “Except as otherwise provided by in this constitution, all officers of the Party elected or appointed into the party’s organs shall serve in such organs for a period of four (4) years and shall be eligible for re-election or re-appointment for another period of four years only…”. Even more importantly, according to legal experts, Section 223 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides not only for “the periodical election on a democratic basis of the principal officers and members of the executive committee or other governing body of the political party…” but in sub-section 2a of that section specifically states that “the election of the officers or members of the executive committee of a political party shall be deemed to be periodical only if it is made at regular intervals not exceeding four years…” The NWC’s tenure ends in June.  If it is not careful, therefore, the APC’s NEC stands the risk of violating not just its own constitution but the constitution of the country.

    Does time constraint provide a plausible excuse for the APC not holding elective congresses and conventions as insinuated by Bello? This certainly should not be so. After all, the party held three successful National Conventions within a period of seven months in 2014. It is all a function of the efficiency and efficacy of the elected and appointed party executives as well as the party bureaucracy they preside over. Again, how do we explain the seemingly morbid fear expressed by Yahya Bello, and echoed by Chief Oyegun, that elective congresses and conventions will necessarily result in crises that will negatively affect the party in the 2019 elections?

    Again, this was certainly not the case in the keenly contested National Convention through which President Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the party’s candidate in 2014. The important thing is that the primaries were widely perceived to be unquestionably credible, free, fair and transparent thus making the results generally acceptable to all aspirants. The impression must not be created that party members are politically immature and unable to accept the outcome of results of intra-party contests that they do not win. Elective party congresses and conventions must not be portrayed as negative activities that disrupt and destabilize parties. In reality, these activities constitute the equivalent of organizational muscles and sinews of political parties. Just like the muscles of the human body are strengthened through regular exercise, the organizational muscles of political parties are strengthened through regular, constitutionally stipulated intra-party electoral competitive exercises.

    On the other hand, parties gradually atrophy and ossify into inertia and apathy when intra-party elective congresses and conventions are stifled or cynically and illegally manipulated in violation of the will of the majority of party members. Just as ultimately happened with the PDP leading to its monumental electoral loss in 2015, parties that stifle internal electoral competition purportedly to avoid crises gradually lose their organizational agility and capacity to compete effectively against opposition parties in general elections. Elective congresses and conventions ahead of the 2019 can only strengthen rather than weaken the APC. They will invigourate and energize the party at all levels. They will provide opportunities for thousands of party members who legitimately desire to occupy party offices to exercise their right to vie for those positions. This can only reduce the level of frustration and possibly indifference and apathy among the large number of talented party members who are made to feel that their aspirations are stifled by lack of opportunities for intra-party contests.

    A political party must not allow itself to be held hostage by those who will accept nothing but victory in intra-party contests and resort to seeking to plunge the party into crises if they lose. That can be no valid excuse for not holding elective congresses and conventions as stipulated in a party’s constitution. In any case, there is no way in my view that the APC can constitutionally avoid holding elective congresses at ward, Local Government and State levels of the party. This is because the ward, local government and state executive committees of the party do not have similar powers of exercising the functions of congress in between congresses as the NEC has.

    The fears that holding elective congresses and conventions will hurt the party’s chances particularly in the presidential elections are self-serving and exaggerated. True, the APC government may not have met the high expectations it had raised before its assumption of power. But it has performed modestly well and I am sure that a significant number of the electorate will still prefer the party to the return of the PDP. Besides, whatever may be his lapses, President Buhari’s personal integrity still remains a huge asset for the APC. In any case, the PDP, although it is reforming gradually under Prince Uche Secondus, cannot realistically expect to bounce back to power in 2019. It has suffered too much moral, structural and psychological damage. President Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement is evidently dead on arrival. Why, then, should the APC fear to hold elective congresses and conventions? It is unjustifiable.

    Apparently and perhaps understandably, Chief Oyegun, has strongly defended the proposal to extend his NWC’s tenure claiming that elective congresses at this time will be disruptive and counter- productive. One would have thought he should be eager to submit himself to the will of party members in an elective National Convention if indeed he is confident that he has performed creditably as party Chairman. As a former outstanding Permanent Secretary, former State governor, NADECO activist and experienced politician, his election as National Chairman raised high hopes that he would help lead the hurriedly formed party towards greater structural cohesiveness and ideological clarity after its 2015 victory. Instead, under Oyegun, the party has been plagued with a multiplicity of crises that could either have been nipped in the bud or promptly resolved with a more creative, firm and proactive leadership. The APC should confront its internal demons now by holding elective congresses and conventions and jettisoning the idea of tenure extension for national and state party executives. If not, if it wins re-election in 2019, the first year of the new APC administration will be squandered on the politics of intra-party elections. To avoid that, the party may again have to further extend the tenure of incumbent elected and appointed party executives to its own detriment and that of Nigeria’s democracy.

  • PMB’s audio message and national language question

    SIR: Since the release of President Muhammadu Buhari’s audio message in which he addressed Nigerians in Hausa, there have been angry reactions from every nook and cranny of the society. Understandably, the people were provoked with the address in Hausa language.

    In a nation where ethnic sentiments and bigotries have beclouded intellectual judgment, it is no surprise that his message was more likely to generate controversies and provoke reactions. These angry reactions and condemnations should as a matter of exigency, necessitate a call to revisit the national language question.

    One of the problems we are having as a nation is the lack of true identity. Otherwise, the message should not have generated controversies. Indeed, the wild criticism of the audio message in his mother tongue is an evidence of a nation that lacks true identity. Ethnic colouration had been added to his message even though the President may have made it out of innocence and good intentions to Nigerians.

    This wild condemnation brings forth these questions:  Is English language the true identity of Nigeria as a nation? What then is the pride of our nation if we elevate English which is our second language above indigenous languages in the country?

    We should know that Nigeria is not the only heterogeneous country in the world and therefore must not hide under the guise of linguistic diversity to promote English language at the expense of indigenous languages. Presently, English language is acting in the capacity of our national language because, for ethno-sentimental reasons, we have failed to reach a compromise to select indigenous languages as our national language(s).

    Switzerland today is one of the most developed countries in the world, yet they have four official languages. They made three of their four national languages official languages. Nigeria should follow in that step by making Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo official languages in Nigeria alongside English language.

     

    • Temitope Ogundeji,

    Akure, Ondo State.

  • May 29 and national question

    As has been the practice since 1999 when Obasanjo and the military institutionalised May 29, as ‘democracy day’, a move many Nigerians believe is a subterfuge to wish away the crisis of nationhood they had heightened with their misadventure into politics in January 1966, the celebration came up once again on Monday. The periodic hollow ritual which unfortunately has no bearing with the nation’s struggle for participatory democratic process has also been dismissed by many Nigerians including civil society groups as a   a celebration of the perfidy and tragic consequences of 33 years of military misadventure that destroyed our multi-party system, our political socialization process  and our social organization leaving behind an unworkable unitary superstructure and a new breed of politicians that breed nothing but corruption

    Speaking at the interdenominational church service to mark the day at the National Christian Centre in Abuja four days ago, acting President Yemi Osinbajo urged Nigerians to make sacrifices for Nigeria’s greatness drawing a parallel between the Biblical story of the good Samaritan and our self-serving  politicians.  Apostle Popoola, the presiding apostle of the Word Communication Ministries and founder of Christ Family Assembly Churches, who ministered during the service however struck the nail on its head by reminding us that 100 years after the amalgamation of the North and the South, the country could not continue to blame the imperialists for our crisis of nationhood. His advice to government, which like its predecessors has continued to play the ostrich despite making resolution of the national question a campaign issue during the election campaigns, is a revisit of the 2014 National Conference report which made some attempts at addressing our crisis of nationhood.

    The Acting President must be reminded that our crisis of nationhood has nothing to do with the people.  President Buhari, his principal affirmed this much during last year’s celebration of the hollow ritual when he declared “Despite the many years of hardship and disappointment the people of this nation have proved inherently good, industrious tolerant, patient and generous”. It similarly has nothing to do with the economy, one of the major pursuits of the Buhari’s government. Our major problem is politics. We cannot win the economic battle without first winning the political battle. An attempt to put the cart before the horse by our successive hypocritical governments since 1964 has only provided additional incentive for those benefitting from our nightmare to continue to hold the nation hostage.

    The successive military regimes in particular have since 1966 done everything including plunging the nation into an avoidable civil war that led to the loss of about two million lives except address the core issue of crisis of nationhood- which is about how our multiethnic, multi-cultural and multi religious society can live together in harmony and develop at their own pace without interference from the federating units.

    People and nationalities are products of their environments. The military and its apologists forget that Britain with hostile environment where life was once ‘nasty brutish and short’ thrives in the exploitation of weaker cultures using her wits, Germany on the culture of industry of her people, and France on her liberalism and celebration of the infinite goodness of man.  Run Britain, Germany, France, Turkey and Afghanistan with our own type of military imposed unitary constitution, with Turks and Afghans performing the role of local policing in Germany, France and Britain, what they will be confronted with is the same type of social dislocations currently afflicting our own multi-ethnic society. They will also have the equivalents of our self-serving warlords in Abuja who, answerable to none but to themselves came up with privatization and monetization; policies that allowed their members and their families to confiscate national assets built through the sweat and blood of the poor. There will be Afghan and Turks herdsmen who like our own Fulani herdsmen that justify killing, maiming and confiscation of farmer’s territories across Nigeria on the basis of a military-doctored constitution, will roam freely from Istanbul to Paris, tending their flock. Of course there will also be street hawkers turned millionaires to contest the ownership of the Queen’s royal palaces.

    However, to forestall culture clash, and prevent the chaos that have come to define our own co-existence since the deliberate sabotage of our independence constitution in 1962, Europe had after two devastating world wars resolved their crisis of nationhood by embracing federalism- a social philosophy which strives to liberate individuals and groups from the tyranny of the state and democracy, a governmental process or a method that guarantee self-actualisation of people within a community.

    President Buhari and the APC, if they wish to be remembered by history, still have two years to address the national question. All that is required is the political will. As a democratically elected President, Buhari remains a sovereign for the next two years. As a democratic sovereign in control of awesome apparatus of state power, he has a limitless power to implement his campaign promises He is unstoppable by political foes.

    Since democracy is nothing but a method that gives the sovereign a free hand to either deploy constitutional means, liberal strategies or even absolute power to effect changes in society, President Buhari and APC are not being asked to invent the wheel. They have examples of nations such as Malaysia, China, Russia, India and even the USA where reigning democratic sovereigns at different periods in their history adopted any or a combination of the above democratic methods they deemed appropriate for fulfilling their contractual electoral obligations to those who voted them into power. Such electoral promises include but not limited to liberating their people from poverty as we had in Malaysia, India, China or promoting political elite greed as we had under Bush that threw America into two avoidable wars  in order to create jobs by utilizing arms piled up in American warehouses; and Donald Trump whose chief economist, Gary Cohn told reporters after signing an unprecedented arms deal with Saudi Arabia that  ‘the goal of the $350b arms deal, is ‘to invest a lot of money in the US and have a lot of US companies invest and build thing over here”. It counts for little that the development will prolong the nightmare of people in the Arab world.

    The challenge of Buhari and APC in implementing their contractual promise to Nigerian electorate is not time. It is whether they have the political will.  The beauty of democracy is that Buhari as a democratically elected sovereign is invincible until he is replaced by another democratically elected sovereign.  It is only his successor who, if he has the support of the people, that can attempt to undo whatever Buhari decides to do within the next two years the same way Donald Trump is today trying to undo Obama policies such as ‘Obamacare’, Obama immigration policies, and his Middle-East as well as his NATO and climate change  policies, all within his first 150 days in office.

  • Uniform question

    It isn’t trivial that the controversial Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), continues to trivialise the uniform of the agency by his unyielding refusal to wear it.  From the look of things, Ali is unlikely to wear the relevant uniform during his time as Customs chief. He enjoys the status, but it would appear that he is contemptuous of the uniform that reflects the status.

    Ali seems to have come to the job with a superiority complex, thinking and believing that his background as a retired army officer means it is beneath him to wear the uniform of an organisation he rates as inferior to the Army, even if he happens to be the boss.  Of course, there is a uniform that goes with the office and rank of Customs CG, and that uniform is supposed to project the agency, and its boss, who may be said to be the face of the organisation.

    Ali showed his mindset during a February 2 interaction with the Senate Committee on Customs and Excise concerning a proposed bill to restructure the NCS. A report said: “A member of the committee, Senator Obinna Ogba, demanded to know why Col Ali as Customs CG still appears in and wears mufti close to two years after his appointment. The Ebonyi Central Senator noted that the continuous appearance of Col Ali in mufti several months after his appointment appears to be ‘highly demoralising to officers and men of the front-line revenue generating agency.’ Ali fired back, saying that as a former military officer, tradition does not permit him to wear any other uniform.”

    When another member of the committee, Senator Dino Melaye, recalled that Halidu Hananiya, a retired Army General, wore the uniform of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) as its Corps Marshall, Ali reportedly “told the committee that Gen. Hananiya made a fundamental mistake by wearing FRSC uniform.” It is food for thought that a retired Colonel suggested that he was more professionally conscious than a retired General.

    It is interesting that Ali’s position provoked Senator Ogba to the point that he “angrily walked out of the session.”  The report said: “While walking out of the hearing room, Ogba retorted “this is how you people keep on deceiving Nigerians on wrong action and still defend it.”

    Ali’s stance is indefensible. It exposed his complex; it also complexified   the uncomplicated.  If Ali thinks he is too big to wear the uniform of Customs CG, but does not think he is too big to be Customs CG, then he needs to be encouraged to rethink.  Hopefully, he won’t think he is too big to have a rethink.

    Whether Ali can be compelled to wear the Customs uniform is not the issue.  So, the dramatic divergence between the Senate and Ali on the matter, which has attracted public attention and has been compounded by other matters, is a drama of distraction.

    It is interesting that activist lawyer Femi Falana entered the fray with the argument that Ali “can’t be compelled to appear in uniform.” Falana said in a statement: “The Senate engaged in another illegality when it exceeded its powers by asking the CGC to appear before it in customs uniform. Neither the Constitution, nor the Rules of Procedure of the Senate has conferred on it the power to compel the CGC to wear customs uniform when he is not a serving customs officer. Indeed, the directive is a reckless usurpation of the powers of the Board which is the only competent body to decide on the wearing of uniform by customs officers. In many countries, including South Africa, customs officers do not wear uniforms. It is on record that the first four heads of the Customs department in Nigeria never wore uniforms.”

    Falana continued his argument:”With respect to the customs service, its officers are required to wear uniforms in accordance with Section 8 of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service Regulations which provides that “clothing and equipment shall be of such pattern and worn in such manner as the Board shall determine.” The suit challenging the legal validity of Col. Hameed Ali’s appointment has been dismissed on the ground that the President has the power to appoint a non-customs officer to head the customs service. Since a competent court has held that he is not a customs officer, Col. Ali cannot be made to wear any uniform by the Senate. If I am said to be wrong, I challenge the Senate to refer to any law that supports the wearing of uniform by the head of the customs service who is not a serving customs officer.”

    The question is not whether Falana is right or wrong. This issue is beyond what the law says; it is about brand logic.  If the Customs is seen as a brand, it follows that its head should be seen to be projecting and promoting the brand.  If Ali is the face of the organisation, not wearing the organisation’s uniform, or more specifically, trivialising what represents the organisation’s brand identity, amounts to doing a disservice to the brand.

    Ali does not need to be compelled to wear the uniform of the organisation he heads, or pressured into embracing the brand by wearing the uniform that defines it.  Wearing the Customs uniform should be a matter of duty for Ali; it is a commonsensical approach to organisation governance.

    Beyond the sound and fury that have characterised the public debate over Ali’s refusal to wear the Customs uniform, the heart of the matter is that Ali, by his stance, continues to exhibit a narrow understanding of organisation governance and the logic of organisation cohesion.

    The question may be asked: What will it cost Ali to wear the Customs uniform? To put it another way: What has Ali got to lose by wearing the Customs uniform?  He may indeed have more to gain because it would show that he is a thinking man who can rethink things, which may make him a right-thinking man.

  • PMB: 43 days on, plus one Igbo question

    It’s 43 days today since President Muhammadu Buhari hurriedly left his domain for a 10-day leave. The leave became tarrying a while for test results; further time to rest and now, a full blown and indefinite medical vacation. If nothing else, we have been availed the joy of new executive terminologies, as concerns vacations.

    While we do not know how much longer our President will be away, the drama of this presidential ‘virtual’ infirmity brings unexpected twists and themes.

    Now this one is for the laughs. Let us consider quickly, the little matter of the Igbo question and the eternal whimpers of marginalisation. Those who feared that PMB had always nursed a personal animus against Ndigbo may just have another straw to grab at. Here is it: for the entire 43 days Nigeria’s president has been ominously absent, no Igbo man (or woman) can affirm or confirm his well-being or actual state of health. This is because none has been allowed to venture near his now hallowed presence.

    Here is a list of those who have been afforded that most privileged information of vouching on PMB’s status: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Chief John Oyegun, Senator Bola Saraki, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Hon. Yusuf Lasun, Malam Abba Kyari and of course, the redoubtable Mamman Daura. And on telephone from London, the President has spoken with the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the governor of Yobe State and most recently, Mr. Femi Adesina reported his telephone conversation with his boss.

    It is likely that in private capacity and at work related levels, some Igbo may have spoken or even had contact with our new London House power locus. But the politics and power equation lie on who is found around the President at this time; who is consorting and consulting with PMB right now. Of course, every call, every photo opportunity comes with a strategic undertone.

    That is power relations 101. And no Igbo man is near the centrifugal arena; he is not in the picture; he is an outsider, he is the man on the other side of the fence, in the cold waiting for second level directive or even reading the lips and studying the body language of close aides.

    It is the same logic and mindset that denied Igbo nation a seat in the National Security Council (NSC) and in the entire superstructure of the military, security, intelligence and paramilitary hub in Nigeria. If this London episode is not yet another proof of Igbo marginalisation then what is?

    Well never mind that small digression there. The issue of the day is that 43 days have raced by and we are still counting, since our President left our shores in a most unclear and indeed hazy circumstance. And certain crucial issues won’t quit tugging at our consciousness.

    First, what really is the problem with our President, what is this health issue that has kept him away for so long – incommunicado and indefinitely.

    We, the citizens who voted him to office deserve to know the exact health status of our President. It is our inalienable constitutional right. In fact, we ought to just click a button and find all the details of our President’s health records. That is today’s standard of transparency in governance. The Fidel Castro example continues to be the touchstone. Pictures of him on his sickbed was there on the cyberspace for the world to see.

    Beyond the issue of transparency and integrity, apologists would say so along as PMB handed over to the Vice-President, nothing is amiss and government is running unhindered. But this is a fallacy, a mere placebo to make us feel well. When President Umaru Yar’Adua was in the same situation – ensconced in Saudi Arabia – some party wags insisted the President could rule from anywhere in the world.

    But we must not allow stalwarts, beneficiaries and a cabal of usurpers to lead the narrative. They say the Veep (Acting President) is in charge, yet only yesterday we were told that he consults PMB on important issues. And there lies the problem. What are important matters? Is there any matter of State that is not of specific importance and significance? And if for any reason the Veep cannot reach the President, such ‘important’ matter remains in abeyance? How long would the Acting President wait on instruction from London to act?

    And by Jove, do we know who really is issuing instructions from the London end on behalf of PMB – a cousin, a personal assistant or chief of staff? APC bigwigs are right now sulking that some fellow speaking on behalf of the president in London would not let them come see their prez. Such is our national dilemma.

    If the Veep is truly in charge, can he elect to rejig the cabinet tomorrow to make for a more effective team or to suit his style? Can he reshuffle the service chiefs, and the security and intelligence brass in order to have people of his own character and temperament? In other words, is he the Commander-In-Chief when the commanders recently pledged loyalty to PMB? We wait… indefinitely!

    Again, are the President’s personal aides who are in some cases untouchables and larger-than-life answerable to the Veep? Let’s not kid ourselves, many of these are the fabled members of the cabal who manage the President and run the presidency. Make no mistake, they still hold the levers of power and they pull the strings still. By the way, these strings are located in the office of the president which is still live and alive. Our dear Veep is at best, a marionette; as long as this episode lasts, he is only re-enacting a semblance of motion and movement. No man can be number one while seated in the office of number two…

    This is the rude fact of our current situation. Thus, while many will want to pretend that all is well, we are actually in a most precarious situation right now. The country is actually in abeyance. An Igbo proverb admonishes that a man who is truly healed must discard the crutches. But here we are, dangling on double-handed stumps and we insist all is well.

    Apart from the other issue of exposing our President to all sorts of security risks out there (a desperate cabal can actually contrive to keep him there for as long as they can swing it, while they milk the treasury), we cannot continue like this. No country excels that lies to itself or lives an extended lie. Most of us are afraid to confront the truth, the crude truths of our national life today. We are loyal to our presidents instead of to our country. We revere our president at the detriment of our country. This is why our service chiefs will tell us to our face that they are loyal to Buhari and not the government or country.

    . The other day in the House of Representatives, it was ribaldry raised to an art as they quarrelled over whether the president is sick abroad or on medical vacation. But unbeknown to us, we seem to gaily commit collective regicide; this is self-immolation. If we are a thinking people, if we have a legislature, the current crisis ought to be grist for fresh laws that would peg upper age limits for presidential candidates; laws to insist on full disclosure of a candidate’s health records. This is how a nation makes progress.

     

     

    What’s the MTN-Arsenal deal worth?

    My heart breaks each time I see big corporate bodies in Nigeria dole out huge sums to English Premier League (EPL) clubs in the guise of seeking marketing buy-ins. MTN is the latest in this thing I like to call flight of fancy. Many big companies in Nigeria are shovelling millions of pounds to clubs in England and Spain while football in Nigeria suffers acute kwashiorkor.

    Here is a roll call – MTN, Glo, Nigeria Breweries, Chi Limited, Sterling Bank, to name a few. In the last few years, managers of the Nigeria Professional Football League have done a damn good job in spite of odds, to lift our football.

    They need huge corporate support; our clubs could use revenues from jersey and stadium branding among other marketing and promotional buy-ins.

    It aches the heart when one sees the profit from the beer we drink here or recharge card I buy, being shipped to Arsenal or Manchester City. You don’t carry water to the river, do you?

     

  • Trump and the Middle East question

    SIR: Just when the people of the Middle East thought things couldn’t get any worse, Donald J. Trump is elected president of the United States. Now, their apprehension about the president-elect dwarfs their disappointment with President Obama.

    It could be a blessing in disguise.

    America, in one magic moment, revealed how it has changed, for the worse. Poor America, they feel so insecure, vulnerable and fragile. Like the rest of us.

    So, instead of reaching for its famed “can-do” spirit, lifting itself up by the bootstraps, it turned to a strident, bellicose type of nationalism. The kind usually associated with strutting generalissimos of Third World nations with their chests covered with made-up, self-awarded medals.

    Maybe the people of the Middle East will look and realize that America is no longer the great democracy to emulate. That its modern style of empire and role as keeper of the world order for the world’s own good are stumbling and failing, even in its own eyes; and that those in the Middle East should not be turning to it for rescue.

    America voted to reduce its liberties. To narrow the range of people entitled to justice and equality before the law. To live in a place where the police should not be criticized; where fighting political correctness is more important than fighting racism; where Muslims are suspected and people who appear Hispanic can be rounded up if they’re not carrying their papers.

    Whereas America’s imperial outreach allowed her to experience other cultures, but now they have chosen to shrink their outlook, with the expectation that the world will continue to revolve around them. It won’t.

    Like the rest of us, the country is now divided between those who want to make their nation great again alone and those who want to make it great together.

    Mr. Donald Trump said he would bring back torture and ban Muslims from entering America, and he compared the threat of “radical Islam” to Soviet Communism. He wants less engagement in the region, and fewer “free riders” like the Saudis who don’t pay enough for American protection. And he wants the United States to abandon the costly nation-building in the Middle East.

    What nation-building? In Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Somalia, civil wars continue unabated. The Arab and the Muslim worlds only hope that the United States stops contributing to the destruction. Trump does not exactly seem concerned for the wishes of Middle Easterners and their right to live in peace. It sounds more like what he really wants to do is pal around with other strutting, authoritarian types. Expect him to cosy up to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and join him in supporting Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad.

    Expect America’s new president to work closely with Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump has embraced Netanyahu’s positions on Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and on abandoning the two-state solution. Instead of Americanizing the Middle East, Trump seems set on “Israelizing” America, stirring fear of Muslims and trying to wall out “the other.”

     

    • Ibrahim Muhammed Sani Hadejia,

    NOUN Gusau Study Centre, Zamfara State.

  • Question and Answer

    Dear Aunty Rita,
    Why do some girls have pimples on their face when they enter secondary school? I am in primary 6 and I am afraid of having pimples on my face.
    Ese T ( 10 years old)
    Staff School, Warri

    It’s good for you to be very observant, did you notice that it’s not only girls that develop pimples, but even some boys do too. It is noticeable among children who are just entering secondary school, because, they are mostly around the age of puberty.

    The age of puberty is the age (often from 9 or 10 years) that girls and boys develop more rapidly. At this age, parts of a girl’s body that was not obvious before begins to develop and show, like breasts, hair under the armpit and in their private part. While boys voice grow deeper and atimes they grow hair on their face, their armpits and private parts also. Girls also start seeing a monthly flow of blood called period.

    Girls, look in a mirror one morning and notice they are taller — and rounder.

    You  start noticing hair in places they never had hair before. You feel ultraconfident, and then super sensitive — all in the same day. What in the world is going on? Welcome to puberty.

    Technically speaking, puberty is nature’s way of transforming a child into an adult, all for the sake of reproduction. While both girls and boys go through puberty, girls reach puberty and sexual maturity at earlier ages than boys do.

    So what’s causing all of these changes? Hormones! Actually, the female hormone estrogen is the main one that’s triggering all the changes in your body. It also make you develop pimples on your face .Let’s look at some of the changes girls can expect at puberty.

    Your limbs grow first, then your trunk. Most girls grow fastest about six months before they start their first period (menarche).

    You’ll probably gain weight in puberty — most girls do. You may notice more body fat along the upper arms, thighs, and upper back. Your hips will grow rounder and wider; your waist will become narrower.

    Breast development is an early sign of puberty in girls. This can happen before age 9 in some girls, but later in others.

    If you are self-conscious, you might want to start wearing a “training bra,” which is a soft bra with no real support.

    Talk to your mom, older sister, or an aunt about buying a training bra. They can help you to make sure you get one that is comfortable and that lets you feel confident in your clothes.

    Ask your mum to tell you more about puberty, so that you will well prepared for it.

    Hope to hear from you, when you actually enter puberty.

    Yours truly,

    Aunty Rita

  • National question/state of the nation

    SIR: Lately, the polity has been heated up by the echoes of restructuring which has become a catchword across the geopolitical divide.   No one is certain what the proponents of restructuring actually means, whether by restructuring they mean negotiation for break up, true or loose federalism or regional autonomy.

    Restructuring, whatever be the intendment would be an issue that goes to the root of our nationhood and touches on the constitution. Therefore, it is a question that can only be decided by the Nigerian people through a referendum or conference of a sort; sovereign or otherwise.   To this end, there must be a legal framework to cloth it with character and content of enforcement.  The proponents of restructuring in their wisdom feel that when the restructuring of Nigeria is defined one way or the other, our problems would be solved while every other thing would fall in place.  To me, this assumption is rather too simplistic and pedestrian as the demographic demarcation of Nigeria has never in itself posed a problem.

    The fundamental problem with Nigeria I dare say is not the issue of structure but leadership.  We have never had national leaders from time; all we have always had are regional leaders and ethnic jingoists.  We have ruling elites who appropriate power for self-aggrandizement and oppression of the ordinary citizens in their acts and life style.

    The defining feature of the nation today is fear, insecurity, ethnic tension and religious intolerance.  There is hunger and poverty as never before and some people literarily feed from the dustbin; not just the scavengers we used to know picking metal and plastic bags for recycling.   There is a palpable fear that the country is heading dangerously on a precipice and the government appears helplessly overwhelmed and preoccupied with trading blames on the failures of the past regimes.  All these have nothing at all to do with the structure of the nation; you have Hausa-Fulani, Ibo, Yoruba and the ethnic minorities all part and parcel of running the government.  That the previous government was engaged in primitive acquisition is a common knowledge which of course led to their waterloo and the aftermath is the current probe going on by the anti-graft agencies.

    Nigeria is bleeding; infrastructures have become decrepit and nearing collapse.  A travel by road to any part of the country is more than a nightmare; more like a journey on the road to Golgotha.  You are lucky if you make it: that is if you escape from kidnappers, armed robbers and the numerous police and other security toll collecting points harassing citizens and commuters.  This is not to talk about the state of the roads that have collapsed completely at different points without diversions.

    Whatever the argument, the issue with Nigeria has gone beyond whether our nationhood was a product of historical accident or design by the British colonialists.  It certainly is beyond whether we are a mere geographical expression to the extent that we have always consciously operated and lived under a unified form of government in whatever nomenclature, unitary or federal but with subconscious commitment to our ethno-religious divide.  Nigeria may have been a product and conscious effort of the British imperialists to bring the amalgam of tribal men and ethnic diversities to live as one with the sole aim of exploiting the rich resources of the various regions for the benefit of the industrial machines of the metropolis.  Again, it would be mental indolence to continue to blame our woes on colonialism.  The United States of America was once colonized; so are countries like India, Pakistan etc.  It is even more infantile to blame our woes on military intervention in politics whereas the military has left power over 16 years. The Nigerian ruling elite have promoted ethnicity and religion above every other consideration in order to continue to remain relevant.

    The issue of restructuring is a huge distraction like the former President Jonathan’s National Conference. Agreed there is nothing immutable or sacrosanct about any geographical expression whose boundary remains forever and never shifts when the conditions are created.  As it is often said, “empires rise and fall”.  Boundaries of great countries and empires have been redrawn before our very eyes especially those that were wielded together and skewed to marginalise some of the ethnic groups; minority or otherwise.   Whatever shape Nigeria takes in the face of sustained leadership failure would not solve the problem of poverty, unemployment, deficit in infrastructure, insecurity, etc.   If we tackle the problem of leadership, we are on our way to solving the Nigerian problems.  It is not at all in the structure because giving the same type of leadership, Nigeria would continue on a drift to a collapse.

     

    • Mike Kebonkwu Esq

    Abuja.

  • A question of image

    IRONICALLY, the more evidence that the power of PR will not always work for power, the more the powerful seem to depend on it to work wonders. Interestingly, the testimony of a publicity specialist on January 28 during the trial of the beleaguered spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, gave further insight into how PR can be made powerless.

    Metuh has questions to answer in court on alleged fraud concerning  N400 million that he received from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014; and on alleged money laundering involving $2 million.

    The Managing Director of a Lagos-based public relations company – CMC Connect – Mr. Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, who was a prosecution witness, said he got a publicity job from Metuh. Badejo-Okusanya told the court that his firm was engaged to develop and execute a media campaign to promote ex-President Goodluck Jonathan who was at the time pursuing a second-term dream. The witness said he was paid N77.5 million through Metuh’s firm, Destra Investments Limited, in December 2014, and that he began work towards the end of the month.

     ”The first part of the work was to get Nigerians to appreciate the roles of the military in the fight against Boko Haram, in general, insurgency,” Badejo-Okusanya said. He continued: “This was leading up to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day and we had insertions in newspapers, such as This Day, The Guardian, Punch, Vanguard, Daily Trust, Leadership and Sun…Thereafter, this was leading up to the Christmas season, so we had a campaign on TV stations wishing Nigerians Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We had it on Channels, AIT, Silverbird and NTA.”

    In addition, he said: “We also wrote materials, which we titled: ‘FACTS Speak’. The essence of this was to draw attention to some achievements of the PDP. We also did a series of other materials which ran into January, 2015.”

    At the time these promotional activities were being carried out, many Nigerians wondered about the wonders they were supposed to achieve for an administration that was a wonderful failure.

     How did Badejo-Okunsanya get this job? He attributed it to his expertise in “image positioning management” and his relationship with the PDP. He said: “The President asked me a couple of questions and I remember telling him that there was a disconnect between his government and the people. He seemed to take everything in good faith…” The question is: Did the communication consultant honestly think he could communicate success, and successfully contradict the demonstrable reality of failure?

    When there is a cosmic disconnect between the people and the government of the day, how much success can PR achieve in connecting the disconnected? Of course, this is not necessarily the same thing as reconnection, especially when there was never any connection.

    There is no doubt that the Jonathan presidency was out of touch with the public pulse and paid for it. The administration learned the hard way that image laundering is not the same thing as image management.

    Badejo-Okusanya’s account in a way replayed the 2014 controversy about the Jonathan administration’s contract with an American communications firm to cosmeticise its performance. At the time, Levick Strategic Communications was hired to employ its public relations expertise to make the Jonathan government smell like roses.  For the initial one-year deal, Levick was to be paid $100,000 monthly (almost N16 million at the time) as professional fees.

    On the scale of absurdity, the public relations goal of earning public respect for the Jonathan administration was extremely ridiculous.    For the avoidance of doubt, truth-based PR cannot deny actualities, or erase them; and the actuality of Jonathan’s governmental failure was undeniable and unerasable.

     There is an elementary lesson provided by bestselling authors and PR strategists Al and Laura Ries in their insightful 2002 book, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, which is instructive in appreciating the fundamental flaw in Jonathan’s media campaigns. Central to successful PR, the experts argue, is the idea that “publicity possibilities” should be fully exploited. In Jonathan’s case, where were the “publicity possibilities” that the administration could effectively take advantage of?

    Relevant to Jonathan’s image are two celebratory international awards given to him recently, when the recipient is not considered award-worthy at home.  He was decorated as 2015 International Person of the Year by African Sun Times. After receiving the award, Jonathan said: “In 2015, despite challenges, we held violence-free elections that transferred power from one political party to another and from an incumbent to the opposition, without rancour, bitterness or strife.”  Correction: But there was so much rancour, bitterness and strife; it was a huge relief to many that the country didn’t explode.

    Jonathan continued: “In the process, we proved that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian or any national of any country for that matter. That, to me, is a most worthy testimonial of the character of the Nigeria nation and the resilience of our people, which is why I dedicate the honour to them.” The majority of Nigerians would most probably dissociate themselves from Jonathan’s so-called honour simply because it is dishonourable.

    Then Jonathan was adorned with the President’s Award by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an African-American civil rights organisation based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Interestingly, Jonathan was recognised for his leadership in human rights, social justice and the universal fight for freedom.

    Jonathan’s response: “I thank Dr. Charles Steele Jr, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and the executive of the SCLC for honouring me…It was also a pleasure to meet Naomi King, the sister of the late American Civil Rights leader and founder of the SCLC, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who was kind enough to attend the event and identify with the goals and aspirations of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation. By this award, I am further inspired to continue to work for the advancement of democracy, peace and progress in Nigeria and Africa.”

      Jonathan’s track record as president contradicts the suggestion that he worked for the advancement of democracy, peace and progress. It takes more than self-preservation projected as self-sacrifice to be worthy of such credit.  So he cannot talk about continuance.

    If considering Jonathan worthy of awards and giving him awards can be interpreted as a continuation of the image laundering project, the public should perhaps expect more of such stunts.

    Now that the public has witnessed how poorly PR can work for a change-resistant government that didn’t work, President Muhammadu Buhari’s change-based administration will need to show how well PR can work when the government is working.