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Tag: questions

  • If you don’t ask questions, you are at risk!

    Information is always general until it is customised by a question. Les Brown says, “Information does not change people or everyone who can download from the Internet would be successful”. Information has no value on its own unless it is applied. But you cannot apply information that does not directly relate to you, so you must ask questions. It is in the process of asking questions that you will discover how that information can be adapted to suit your peculiarity.

    I interacted with a few people who attended an entrepreneurship training but felt dissatisfied because the training did not “deliver” on the promises. After a few minutes of discussion, I discovered that what they expected was to replicate the experiences of the trainer, which was absolutely impossible. There were several factors that differedeg, exposure, personality, experiences, opportunities, etc. While the general principles of the training held true, the application must be adapted to the peculiar circumstances of the trainee. If, for instance, the trainer developed a business around his medicine background, someone else should be able to apply the same principle to Law. It is not realistic for a Lawyer to attempt a business in medicine based on the experience of the trainer. Asking questions is what bring a body of knowledge to your own level of understanding. Here are a few dangers of not asking questions:

    • Learning diminishes: a question is usually an inquiry into what you don’t know; hence, the more questions you ask, the more you learn. On the other hand, the fewer questions you ask, the lesser you learn. In a world of rapid knowledge advancement,how can you stay competitive without asking what’s new and what’s next?
    • No clarification: clarification is an essential part of our daily lives. We constantly require more clarity on issues we encounter. According to Lemony Snicket, “Assumptions are dangerous things to make… Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble”. Abraham H. Maslow also said, “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” This means that assumption limits you to the little you know or have, and then you try to fit everything else into your perspective. Imagine the danger of assumption in the workplace or in a relationship.
    • It reveals your attitude: if asking questions is associated with willingness to learn, then not asking questions may imply contentment with the current level of knowledge. This is not a good attitude to life. We must keep an open mind to learn what we can from others.
    • You miss access to people’s minds or secrets: it is amazing how much you can learn from people if only you listen intently and ask the right questions. Imagine you are granted 5 minutes with the most successful person in the world or an icon you have always wanted to meet? What will you do with the 5 minutes? Will you only take a selfie to post on social media, or will you ask crucial question that can make you replicate the success. Now imagine if you choose not to ask any question! You miss the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to discover what really makes the person a winner.

    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!

  • Questions my countrymen must ask

    Good morning Nigeria, my fatherland, a land of intrigue and the powerful. The country of the few powerful, controlled by the rich where poverty is a sin.

    Every Nigerian deserves to be rich based on the natural resources accruing to the land by nature, yet we have 5% of the rich and 95% of the poor, this is traceable to the act of corruption perpetuated by our leaders, whose interest is to enrich themselves and amass more for their children.

    A wonderful land of political promises where a policy of government could be interpreted anti clockwise, policies proclaimed are not to be implemented but to convince Nigerians that the government is on it’s toes. I mean the previous administrations where  stealing is not corruption.

    Indeed, commentators around the world have come to realise the position of the Nigerian government, especially the Buhari’s administration whose pedigree is centered on anti corruption. We have lost almost everything as a nation simply because we do not ask questions, who, how, when and where. Tracing the multi billion Naira pension funds mainly contributed through the contributing pension of public servants, saved during their active service, some powerful Nigerians have devised means of taking out of these funds without any regard to the supposed beneficiaries.

    While these few get richer daily, the pensioners get poorer, and most have died as a result of various verification exercise without reclaiming their pension benefits. Oh my God, this is a wicked act by our leaders whose conscience is dead.

    In the word of a religious fellow, God answered the prayers of the poor pensioners when the former President, Goodluck Jonathan constituted the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, PRTT. The presidential committee has the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC,  Department of State Security,DSS, National Intelligent Agency NIA, The Accountant General of The Federation, the Auditor General of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, and the ministry of finance among others while the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation has Abdulrasheed Maina who is the chairman. The mandate of this committee is to recover stolen pension funds and block loopholes where the money is being siphoned, restructure the entire pension arrangement.

    According to its midterm report submitted to the former President in 2012, the committee had recovered 282 billion Naira for the federal government. Wow! 5% of it is a large sum approved for the committee which boosted her morale towards recovery of more funds. The PRTT is said to would have recovered 1.6 trillion Naira both in cash and in asset for the government according to pensioner magazine. Where is these monies and the assets? Who is in custody of the cash and asset? In the wisdom of the few rich, the poor must not know before some question maybe asked. The Nigeria Senate is a very powerful institution constitutionally, it soon exercised its powers and initiated a probe Pannel into the pension recovery funds. The Senate probe committee was alleged to would have demanded bribe from the PRTT through it chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina.

    The claims by Mr Maina that there is no money available to the committee but in the federation account angered the Senate which indicted him and recommended his sack. The Nigeria Senate activities during the pension probe is a full topic of discussion on its own. N1.6 trillion is a large sum that must not be swept under the carpet, where is the cash and asset? The most ridiculous issue at the moment is, the committee which recovered N1.6 trillion is being accused of misappropriating N2.1 billion and its chairman is singled out instead of the entire members of the committee.

    Nigerians are not asking of the whereabouts of the N1.6 trillion  not because they could not ask, but the few powerful rich have diverted their attention. It is also disturbing that the PRTT which spent N2.1 billion for biometric exercise was disbanded and the the government introduced Pension Transition Administration Department, PTAD which is currently headed by the director of finance of the disbanded PRTT led by Mr Maina. The PTAD has spent N8 billion for the same biometric which was done for N2.1 billion earlier. Is it possible for the chairman of the committee to have stolen N2.1 billion  without the director of finance? What about the EFCC led by Ibrahim Lamorde which was also a member? Lamorde is currently the head of Police Special Fraud unit, in Lagos. Why is Mr Maina’s case different? The same man who recovered money in hundreds of billion is now being persecuted. A close friend said, when the government of Jonathan said go and recover looted pension stolen funds, what he meant was, do not stop the loopholes. This is a policy summersault or anti clockwise of government policy implementation. Where is the 1.6 trillion Naira Mr Maina recovered? Maina, a saint now termed a thief.

     

    Ibrahim, a social activist, contributed this piece from Minna, Niger State.

  • Nigeria @ 57: Frequently Asked Questions

    One frequently asked question at independence anniversary is – what is there to celebrate years after the Union Jack was lowered, replaced with Nigerian flag of Green, White and Green in 1960? Our parents and grandparents lived under the drudgery of centuries-long trans-Atlantic slavery, colonial occupation and exploitation. They couldn’t therefore have imagined why their inheritors could question the desirability of freedom, even if it meant freedom to misrule to themselves as we are regrettably doing today. Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s 1000 historic word-speech in 1960 indicated that Nigerians were “impatience” (his words) to seize liberty from the British, in the knowledge they would turn underdevelopment to development! In Balewa’s account, since 1958, “every Nigerian has been eagerly looking forward” to independence. Words according to him “… cannot adequately express my joy and pride at being the Nigerian citizen privileged to accept from Her Royal Highness these constitutional instruments which are the symbols of Nigeria’s independence”.

    It is commendable that the Federal Ministry of Education has re-introduced History into primary and secondary schools’ curricula. Simplified editions of Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972) and Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom must be made compulsory readings to capture them young and put an end to unhelpful frequently asked question.

    So far it is a mixed bag. Some progress but more in deficit! There are many challenges (in surplus!) with monumental corruption to match!  But I still nonetheless agree with Walter Rodney that the balance sheet of colonialism carried no ‘credits’ at all. Colonialism, Rodney wrote, had only one hand – ‘It was a one armed bandit’. Colonialist Lord Lugard built railway line from Lagos in 1896 to Kano in 1911, (a total of 711 miles within 15 years!) but with brutalized African slave labour. The objective was to foster the goal of exploitation of raw materials. Lord Lugard’s police force in 1949 Enugu massacred 22 coal miners for daring to demand for wage arrears, a tragic historic event which led to series of national protests that laid the basis for the struggle for independence. One hundred years of colonial campaign de-industrialized Nigeria, but five years of regional self-rule started the process of industrialization which made, in record time, Nigeria the third largest manufacturing of textile in 1980. There is no doubt whatsoever: we must celebrate independence and nationhood. The challenge is how to reinvent Nigeria and fulfil the promise of independence which is development.

    Which then raises another puzzle: who are the founding fathers of modern Nigeria? Better put who and who fought for independent Nigeria? Notable nationalists like Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Aminu Kano Herbert legitimately captured imagination. And almost 60 years after, there is still some nostalgia for them. But so also there are almost forgotten millions of non-state patriotic actors who gallantly fought for independence and served Nigeria. Yes Nigeria and Ghana travelled a relatively peaceful road to independence compared to bloody armed struggles in countries like Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, and Namibia!  However, Nigeria’s independence in 1960 was preceded by mass resistance, strikes and protests with enormous sacrifices, by first generation of Nigerian work force, Nigerian women (Aba women resistance of 1929!), trade unionists and labour movement in general.

    High point of labour’s resistance was in 1941. Nigeria’s railway proletariat in National Union of Railwaymen, (NUR) led by Michael Imoudu, President and the union’s secretary, Mr Adenekan marched for over eight kilometres through the streets of Lagos to see the then governor, Sir Bernard Bourdillion. The protest over hourly pay instead of monthly pay led to major victories for the workers. Labour agitations included the 44 day strikes of 1945 led by the very labour Number One Michael Imoudu. These agitations linked the demand for better working conditions in particular with the demand for independence in general. Nationalists increased the noise level of the demands of the trade unions for independence, but the likes of Imoudu, Mrs  Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti and many anonymous others should not wait until 100 years of Nigeria to be honoured.

    It’s time Nigerian leaders resumed duties to mark Independence Day as in India, Pakistan, China or Ghana. Presidents and governors and legislators who literally declare holidays for weddings for their children must observe important national/ development days like October 1. Nigerians should reject the low key mentality of self-serving leaders and take the challenges of national development into their hands. Notwithstanding the current challenges, Nigeria and Nigerians have made some considerable progress in nation building especially in the areas of national unity and democratization! There are millions of stateless citizens in the world on account of failed states and collapsed nations. Following the brutal deposition of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya which got independence on December 24, 1951 had since disintegrated into some terror cells. Somalia got independence July 1, 1960; it has since become a failed state in spite of common faith, language and culture. Sudan got independence from both Egypt, and Britain on January 1, 1956, four years before Nigeria but after serial wars, broke into two. The new country, South Sudan, (54th independent country in Africa) with population of just 12,340,000 is a lamentable theatre of wars of attrition between same brothers, namely President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, over who would be the President.

    I agree with President Buhari that the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is sacrosanct and settled in our constitution.  Unity of the federation is mentioned 31 times in 1999 constitution.  Chief Obafemi Awolowo had his frustrations with imperfect elections. But he kept faith to the end in the Nigerian project. He had thoughts about Nigerian constitution not “regional” constitutions. The burden is on President Muhammadu Buhari and other elected officials. The federal government must revisit the conclusions of 2014 conference as well as engage all aggrieved Nigerians with a view of rekindling collective commitment to national progress and bringing them from the red lines. Two decades and half after the June 12, 1993 annulment, many political lessons have been internalized.  One lesson learned is that regardless of their imperfections, elections must produce results. With five conclusive (some controversial!) presidential elections (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015), Nigeria has commendably dammed the culture of impunity and annulment. Democracy is not about enthronement of a sinner or a saint. On the contrary, democracy offers opportunity for voters to freely choose out of candidates on offer. Voters can indeed foolishly make wrong choices, but same democratic process makes the voters to correct their folly and hopefully get it right. Nigeria like Ghana goes down as a country in which an incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan was democratically retrenched by voters last year after a term in office. Sadly with 45 political parties, the difference is not clear in terms of ideologies and programmes.  After being twice beaten to it by medically challenged presidential candidates elected as presidents, namely Musa Yar’Adua and Muhammadu Buhari, the hope is that Nigerians as voters would be rigorous in their assessment of the wellness of whoever volunteers to  govern them.

    With uninterrupted democratic process lasting 16 years, Nigeria and Nigerians have also made the point that there can be no regime change except through the ballot box.

    But again democracy must be “democratic” and allow for choices. The recent riots in several towns of Togo demanding term-limits to put an end to President Faure Gnassingbé’s 12 year rule shows that democracy is democratic only with new faces. President Gnassingbe in 2005 took over from his father Gnassingbe Eyadema who himself seized power in bloodless coup in 1967. Nigerian voters must not make kings out of their elected leaders. Nigeria almost by a spell has almost become a divisive polity with imaginary labels to legitimize national wealth sharing among the political elite. June 12, 1993 offers a lesson in inclusiveness and pan Nigerianism. We should improve on this and add pan Africanism and rescue our politics from insular “regional” and “religious” corrupt chieftains.

    Happy Independence Day to fellow compatriots.

     

    • Aremu mni, is Member National Institute, Kuru, Jos.

  • Strange Occurrences, Curious Questions

    I have two important questions to ask on two events that happened concerning Taraba State during the week. One is on the visit to Taraba State by Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau and the other, on the controversial front page editorial comment of Daily Trust newspaper of Monday July 3. Both of them aroused a lot of curiosity during the week. But first, let’s honour the two illustrious sons of the state, Danbaba Suntai, former governor, and Sylvanus Yakubu Giwa, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, who died.

    Giwa was buried on Saturday, July 1, in Takum, his home town. It was a befitting funeral ceremony attended by Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, his wife, Anna and virtually all members of the State Executive Council and many political stalwarts from across the state.

    Giwa’s professional colleagues from various parts of the country were also there to honour him. In a speech at the burial church service in Takum, Governor Ishaku described Giwa as very hard working and somebody who was always eager to learn from his mistakes on the job when pointed out to him. He urged the family accept Giwa’s untimely passage with fortitude and asked Tarabans to pray for the repose of the souls of the two eminent personalities. Burial arrangements for Suntai has already commenced in earnest. A burial committee is working with his family to ensure a successful state burial promised by the government.

    In the midst of all these, Governor Ishaku found time to attend to other matters that are of paramount interest to the state. On Friday June 30, Governor Ishaku received in audience a Federal Government delegation led by General Abdulrahman Danbazau, minister of Interior, which came into the state in connection with the recent communal crisis in Mambilla, in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state.

    The minister’s visit was a big question mark on the sincerity and impartiality of the Dambazau’s Ministry of Interior. Why, for example, did similar crisis in the state and elsewhere in which the Fulani attackers had the upper hand against their targeted communities not attract such visitation from Dambazau? Why this one?

    Governor Ishaku, in his remarks said the events in Mambilla were unfortunate but noted with happiness that the crisis had been contained and that government’s efforts to sustain peace achieved there had been successful. “I’m happy that Mambilla is now calm. What remains is the healing process which has already started”, Ishaku said. He said there had been eight of similar communal crisis in two years but none attracted similar federal delegation and intervention

    on how similar crisis could be aaverted in future. He expressed happiness at the coming of the minister to the state in connection

    with the crisis and advised Nigerian leaders to endeavour to live up to the expectations of the people. He noted that the situation in

    which all money at the disposal of the state government is drained by the control of crises was unacceptable and urged the people to embrace peace.

    Ishaku called for extra effort on the part of leaders to achieve unity through national integration. He said the quest for national unity was part of the reason the National Youth Service Corps was introduced and suggested the extension of corps members’ service period from one to two years with the introduction of participants to military training.

    On Monday July 3, an important milestone was reached in the state with the flag-off of the Save One Million Lives Project. The project is in furtherance of the state government’s determination to extend healthcare services to a lot more people. The flag-off featured the distribution of medical equipment and consumables and drugs to primary healthcare institutions in the state. It is the first time in the history of the state that such items were procured on such a large scale and distributed. The items included assorted drugs, mosquito nets, delivery kits, cool boxes, generators, solar refrigerators, Android Phones, Hilux 4WD vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles and more.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Ishaku said the achievement recorded so far by his administration in two years have left nobody in doubt that the health sector occupies a prominent place on his rescue agenda and this will remain so. “I wish to reiterate here that so long as I remain the captain of the rescue mission in the state, health remains on the priority list and will continue to enjoy priority attention because without good health life becomes meaningless for the people.”

    The Governor later handed out the items to officers representing various health institutions in the state. Dr Innocent Vakkai, Commissioner for Health praised Governor Ishaku for his passion for the health sector in the state which has translated into regular and massive support for projects in the sector. “Our Governor is passionate about the health and well being of the people. This has manifested in the series of flag-offs including the renovation of hospitals, supply of drugs, recruitment of health officers and many of the  other requirements of the sector,” he said.

    During the week also, Government House reacted to the front page editorial comment of Daily Trust newspaper of Monday July 3, 2017 which sought to portray the recent communal crisis in Mambilla as a case of genocide and ethnic cleansing. In the editorial, titled “Genocide in Mambilla”, the paper took a biased position in favour of the Fulani side of the crisis by using inflated casualty figures provided by the Fulani leaders in the crisis as basis for its analysis and conclusions.  A Government House press statement issued on Tuesday rejected what it described as the” deliberate and callous attempt by unpatriotic elements to tag the Mambilla crisis as genocide” noting emphatically that “the recorded casualty figures of 18 human lives as announced by the police and other security agencies that brought the fighting to an end obviously do not support that evil name-tag.”

    The government urged Nigerians to ignore the biased and misleading position canvassed in the editorial and wondered why Daily Trust failed to label as genocide and ethnic cleansing the massacre by Fulani of the people in Southern Kaduna a few months ago. “The newspaper’s curious silence and failure to label the massacre a few months ago of indigenes of Southern Kaduna by the Fulani as a case of genocide and ethnic cleansing has apparently exposed the partisan direction of Daily Trust’s editorial standpoint on issues in which the interest of its pay masters are involved.” an obvious case of genocide perpetrated against the people of Southern Kaduna

  • MTN $13b saga: Questions over Senate’s postponement

    MTN $13b saga: Questions over Senate’s postponement

    It was the Senate ad hoc committee on the Humanitarian Crisis in the North East, headed by Senator Shehu Sani that unearthed the contract scam involving the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal in October 2016. Unlike many investigative panels before it, the Sani committee did a thorough job. Some of its findings was the over N200 million contract for the removal of invasive weeds (otherwise known as grass cutting contract) in Yobe State. The committee discovered that Rholavision Nigeria Limited, the company that got what turned out to be a phony contact, was registered by Babachir Lawal. The Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE) which awarded the contract, was placed under the watch of the same Lawal. The committee’s findings were able to establish that it was Babachir Lawal of PINE that awarded the contract to Babachir Lawal of Rholavision. When the scandal broke, the double faced Lawal applied several bullying methods to dismiss the report. But the Senate, particularly Shehu Sani refused to be silenced by Lawal’s sinister antics. In response, the Presidency referred the matter to a committee headed by Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. And through some executive magic, Lawal was cleared of wrongdoing and a report clearing the now suspended SGF was flashed in the face of a benumbed Nigerian public. This forced the often rationally stubborn Sani to draw the conclusion that the Presidency had chosen to apply insecticide against its foes in the fight against corruption, only to spray sweet-scented deodorant on its friends and cronies. That was what the Malami report on Babarchirgate truly did. This was followed by a flurry of activities in the partisan sphere, as prominent chieftains in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) saw the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as save haven to cover their iniquities of the past which were being put under the searchlight of the anti-graft agencies. A number of them that were under investigation or facing prosecution hurriedly defected to the APC overnight. The defection galore spread across geopolitical zones as chieftain after chieftain assembled the media to announce their defection from PDP to APC. And just when Nigerians thought the matter had been effectively swept under the carpet through an executive fiat, the Presidency, apparently out of penitence, decided to change from deodorant to insecticide in treating Babachirgate. The flit came in the same pack with the infamous National Intelligence Agency (NIA) saga. In his wisdom, or the lack of it, Abiodun Oke, the Director General of the NIA came out to lay claim to billions of cash in local and foreign currencies discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a private apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos. According to him, the hidden cash, running to about N13 billion, was meant for “covert operations” and had to be stuffed in safe cabinets in a private apartment under the control of his beloved wife. Just like Babachir Lawal, Abiodun Oke too has been given a kick in the rump. The two gentlemen will be giving their narratives before a presidential panel in the days ahead.

    But while the Shehu Sani committee effectively applied insecticide in attacking Babachirgate, another committee of the Senate chose the soft option by spraying deodorant on individuals and corporate bodies it accused of wrongdoings. In October 2016, the Senate standing committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions screamed to the high heavens, accusing some firms and local banks of assisting a telecom giant, MTN Nigeria to illegally repatriate about $13 billion out of Nigeria. That Senate committee, chaired by Senator Rafiu Ibrahim (Kwara South), issued summons to top officials of the MTN, the Central Bank of Nigeria and a number of commercial banks alleged to have aided what the committee described as capital flight. Chief executives of some private firms alleged to have played a role in the said illegal financial dealings were also summoned. The present Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enalemah, was also summoned to give explanations regarding the role his firm played in the matter. The vast hearing Senate room was packed to the brim with the various invitees and journalists hoping to get sizzling scoop from the hearing. The hall was tense as the senators took turns to lament what they described as economic injury inflicted on the nation by the invited individuals and corporate bodies. At opening session of the public hearing, Senator Ibrahim threatened to invoke the relevant punitive rule in the Senate’s book against Minister Enalemah who appeared for the hearing but had sneaked out before the exercise began. The boisterous Senator Dino Melaye went throaty, stealing the show in his trademark fashion. He bawled, he yelled and barked at the invitees as he hinged his effusive outbursts on patriotic zeal oozing out of his agitated soul. Most of the invited individuals and corporate bodies were visibly rattled by the senators’ verbal quakes. Prying questions were hurled at the “errant” invitees and many of them became fidgety. They were cornered. The horde of journalists sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for the slam. Unconvincing explanations were offered by some of the representatives of the firms and officials of the CBN. The atmosphere became charged and reporters were ready to go for the kill. Then suddenly, the chairman of the investigating Senate committee, Rafiu Ibrahim, halted the music. He announced in his native Ilorin English, that the hearing had been postponed indefinitely. Ibrahim gave no reasons for the termination of the hearing on the very first day. And since then, members of the Nigerian public have been left to guess what transpired. Case closed. So Senator Shehu Sani cannot be said to be totally right on the insecticide and deodorant theory wherein he accused the executive arm of selective application of the two contrasting aerosols. The Senate also, is a culprit. Ask Senator Rafiu Ibrahim.

  • Many questions on Imo Air

    Sir: On January 24, the Nigerian media space was agog with the news of the launch of Imo Air by the Okorocha administration and photographs of a plane branded Imo Air and Dana Air which Governor Rochas Okorocha claimed was one out of five acquired by the state government to provide airline services to indigenes of the state.

    Okorocha admitted that the Imo Air was yet to get an operational licence hence the partnership with Dana Air which would last for 10 years for the management of the airline and boasted that Imo Air would become a full blown airline by 2018.

    The launch of Imo Air has been dismissed by many as a publicity stunt and the Okorocha administration has not made available any other information beyond the governor’s speech at the launch.

    Imo State like other states has been severely hit by the recession despite denials by Okorocha to the contrary and therefore all avenues to raise revenue is being explored, but like they say in Nigerian parlance, setting up and running an airline business is no beans.

    What is the state’s equity contribution in the deal and can the Imo public be availed a copy of the agreements signed with Dana Air? Dana Air operates an airline which will fly the same route as Imo Air, so what then is the role of Dana Air in the whole arrangement? Are they just technical partners or managers of an airline which would be in competition with them?

    Why even the choice of Dana Air? Nigeria has made 10 attempts to float its national carrier without success due to low capitalization and lack of required expertise for an airline launch. The airports are littered with relics of dead airlines so what is Dana Air’s operational profile in the industry to be trusted with such a huge financial venture?

    Who are the members of the board of Imo Air and how much control does the state exercise over the board?

    The Imo State government should come clean on these questions as Imo people deserve to know how their collective patrimony is being utilized as they will bear the consequence of a bad investment. Except the launch of Imo Air is the mere wishful thinking and publicity stunt of the Okorocha’s regime, the Imo public deserves to know.

     

    • Maduka Onwukeme,

    Lagos.

  • Unanswered questions

    •Other than investigate the culprits, we must scale obstacles to funding highways

    Against the background of the deplorable condition of most federal highways across the country, it is to say the least shocking that the Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has reportedly defaulted in the remittance of over N711 billion, which should have been statutorily paid to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), specifically for the purpose of keeping the roads in safe and durable condition.

    The astounding revelation was made in Abuja at a public hearing by the joint committees of the Senate and House of Representatives on works, on two road-related bills. Senator Kabiru Gaya, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works disclosed on the occasion that the PPPRA’s dereliction of its responsibility in this regard was in violation of the law setting up FERMA, which states that the agency be paid five per cent of mandatory deductions from the pump price of petroleum products to be dedicated to road maintenance.

    Senator Gaya revealed that the N711 billion in question comprises accruals of five per cent deduction from the sale of Premium Motor Spirit amounting to N536 billion in 2015 and a deduction from the pump price, which came to N175 billion for the same period. Reports of the public hearings indicate that the PPPRA had never made the requisite payments to FERMA since its establishment, thus implying that much sums of indebtedness may most likely be involved. This is a matter that can certainly not be treated with levity given what Senator Gaya rightly describes as both the diminishing annual budgetary allocations for roads and the consequent funding challenge for this critical infrastructure. How then could legal provisions made to fund such a vital sector needing every kobo it could get be violated with such seeming impunity?

    What we, however, find curious is that rather than take the PPPRA to task for its alleged lawlessness, the two joint legislative committees appear to have opted for a solution that is nothing but a complete evasion of the problem. The committees want two new bills passed, first for an Act to establish the National Roads and Maintenance of National Roads and other matters connected with and the second, for an Act to establish a fund known as the Federal Road Fund and other matters connected therewith. According to the legislators, the new laws are meant to find alternative funding sources for roads. The proposed bills make provision for a five percent user’s charge on the pump price of diesel and petrol. They will also provide for axle load and other charges to be used for rehabilitation, maintenance and reconstruction of roads.

    Of course, it is difficult to fault the rationalisation for the proposed bills. As much as N2 trillion is now required to maintain the country’s roads compared to N500 billion five years ago. It is obvious that funding of our major highways can no longer depend on government alone. The new model must be in the direction of Public-Private Partnership preferred in most jurisdictions. And more importantly, FERMA and the Federal Ministry of Works will be better funded through these laws to fulfill their institutional obligations.

    However, the million dollar question is, how are we sure the proposed road funding alternatives will also not be rendered as redundant and ineffectual as that provided for in the PPPRA law but only observed in the breach? If the PPPRA breached its own laws so blatantly, should it not be part of the legislature’s oversight responsibilities to find out what went wrong, who violated the laws and why, so that those culpable can be brought to book? That, we believe, is a necessary condition for any future laws on funding of roads to be adhered to.

  • Questions for Nigerians to answer @ 56

    “I came to appreciate that the right question is usually more important than the right answer to the wrong question.”
    —Alvin Toffler

    Tomorrow, we celebrate our nation’s 56th Independence Anniversary. And we are still hoping and waiting for the GREAT NEW NIGERIA of our dreams. Just maybe we have been asking the wrong set of questions as a nation Nigeria and getting the right answers to the wrong questions. We need to ask a new set of questions that will provoke thought, action and new direction that will takes us to the promised land of greatness where we desire to be. Please kindly read the new set of questions we should be asking ourselves.

    Who are we? What do we stand for? What is Nigeria’s purpose? What does Nigeria exist for? Why does Nigeria exist? Why are we Nigerians? Who is responsible for where we are? What do we want and how are we going to get it? Where are we going? How are we going to get there?

    Where do we want to be – 5, 10, 20, 30, 40…100 years from now – and how can we get there? What lessons have we learnt from the past? What lesson have we not learnt from the past? What is it that we want to achieve and how are we going to achieve it? Will we be committed and determined to achieve whatever goals we may set for ourselves? What is our fundamental reason for being? What guides and inspires us as a people and as a nation? What are our values?

    What are our guiding principles? What should Nigeria’s fundamental goal be? What should Nigeria’s other goals be? What makes a nation great?

    What will make Nigeria great? How can we build a great new Nigeria?

    How can we create a compelling vision that every Nigerian can

    buy into? How can we paint a clear picture of the new Nigeria of our

    dreams? What is great about the Nigerian problem? As a Nigerian citizen, what am I willing to do to make Nigeria the way I want it to be? What am I ready to stop doing to make Nigeria the way I want it to be? How can I enjoy the process of nation-building while I do what is necessary to get Nigeria to the Promised Land of greatness?

    What do we, as Nigerians, want? What do the Tivs want? How about the Jukuns, the Efiks, the Hausas, the Igbos, the Yorubas, etc.? What do we need? What do we value?  What do we expect? What are our interests as Nigerian citizens? What is the Nigerian’s frame of reference? What are our beliefs as Nigerians?  What is our national ideology? What is our vision? What are our hopes, dreams and desires? What do we want to create? What is important to us as Nigerian citizens? What price are we willing to pay to make our nation great? What do we believe in? What contributions do we want to make in the global village community? What legacy do we want to leave behind that future generations will benefit from?

    What do we want Nigeria to stand for? What do we want our nation to be? What do we want to achieve? What will guide our decisions so that we can achieve what we want? What can motivate us into greatness? If all the things we desire are possible, what should we be doing right now to ensure our nation becomes great? What is the Nigerian way vis-à-vis the American way or the British way or the Japanese way? How can the various ethnic nationalities live together in peace and harmony? How can we evolve a government to which all of us will be committed? How can we evolve a government that will guarantee every Nigerian equity and justice? How can we communicate our new vision both to fellow Nigerians and to the international community?

    How can we change the strategy for prosperity from natural resources to human capital?

    How can the private sector get more involved in nation building? How can all Nigerians get involved in nation-building? Name some of Nigeria’s many problems. What are the possible solutions to those problems? What are the little things that cause great problems in our society? And what are the other little things that will ensure positive change? Out of all our problems, which one should we solve first? Which one of our problems do you think could cause the disintegration of Nigeria? What can we do to prevent it? Which one of our problems is the most volatile? How can we turn this volatile problem around and use it to our advantage by getting Nigerians to stand in unity? Who are those that hold Nigeria – and therefore Nigerians – in contempt both inside and outside the country?

    Who are the scorners in Nigeria? Who are those that cause division, strife and contention? Who would you say are the power brokers? Who are the people that will influence our society? Why in the world should we stay together as a nation? Give reasons why Nigeria should not disintegrate. Also, give reasons why Nigeria should remain one nation. What are the things that bring Nigerians together in unity and agreement regardless of age, sex, ethnic bias, religion and political affiliation? What things can we use to foster greater unity?

    What are the things about Nigeria that make you beam with pride? What distinctions can Nigeria make about herself? What are Nigeria’s strengths as a nation? What are Nigeria’s weaknesses as a nation? What are Nigeria’s assets? What are her liabilities? What are Nigeria’s opportunities? What are our possibilities for change? What can be done to turn things around? What are the things we can do to sell Nigeria to Nigerians? What is the mind-set of the average Nigerian? How can we create a positive mind-set in Nigerians? What are we known for (good or bad) nationally and internationally? How can Nigeria position herself in the evolving global village economy? How can Nigeria distinguish herself in the comity of nations?

    Can globalisation benefit us? How can we make globalisation benefit Nigeria? How can we take advantage of globalisation? How can we make Nigeria a force to be reckoned with in the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry? How are we going to find Nigeria’s positive side with all the bad image and bad publicity we have acquired over the years? Is it possible for us to make the name Nigeria conjure up positive things in people’s minds in spite of the worldwide negative perception?

    As a Nigerian, how would I like Nigeria to be? If the future of Nigeria as a nation depended on me, what would I do? What can I do on a daily basis to get Nigeria to the Promised Land of greatness and abundance? What can I do to create a positive change in my immediate environment? How can we produce a REVOLUTION OF THE MIND in Nigerians? How can we start a campaign for a GREAT NEW NIGERIA?

    What do we need to do to crack the code called N – I – G – E – R – I – A?

    If we can answer all these questions and take immediate action, our actions will quicken our arrival into Promised Land of GREATNESS!

    Happy question-filled Independence Day anniversary Nigerians!

  • Easter and many unresolved questions of faith

    Last week-end was another Easter week-end, a speed breaker of sorts from bread and butter life and another of those few golden opportunities to think and talk of something more sublime. That something more sublime in this case is the Divine Mission of the Lord Jesus, Son of God, to this part of Creation called the earth. Last Friday, it reminded Christians of a black spot in that Mission which man now calls Good Friday to hide his guilt. The guilt is what we now know as the Crucifixion of Jesus on the Cross but which, actually, is a dastardly murder. The sun protested the killing by hiding its face behind the clouds. Suddenly, we are told, a sunny afternoon turned dark, like night. The earth, too, angrily quaked. And wind rushed, perhaps with the ferocity of a hurricane. To cap the anger, Mother Nature abrogated the covenant which the Jews, as the “Chosen” or master race, said they had with the Almighty Creator. If the crucifixion was a part of the Divine Mission of Jesus, why would this covenant be abrogated? It is reported that unseen hands tore to shreds the curtain which shielded the Ark of the Covenant, kept in the Holy of Holies, the most sacred area of the Temple. The fact that the Ark of Covenant was now visible to every Dick and Harry was enough proof that the covenant no longer existed. There is no big deal about a “chosen” race or people. To be chosen means to be the most spiritually mature to receive and anchor the highest message being borne down from the Heights. At the time of the Lord Jesus, the Jews were, unarguably, the “chosen” race. They failed in the Mission to which they were a “called” race. The Germans replaced them. Before the Germans, there were the people of Isra, and the people of Ismanem.  Who, today, are the chosen people?

    Sunday reminds us of the Resurrection of Jesus. This event is still shrouded in mystery like many other aspects of His Life and Work on earth. His Disciples said His physical body rose from the dead. But the apostle Paul would have us belief the body of Jesus he encountered was not the mortal, physical body. Even the two Disciples Jesus appeared onto on the way to Emaus did not recognise the Master they knew two or three days earlier. If we believe the Christian Catechism that the risen Jesus “descended into Hell”, for whatever reason, with what body would He have done so? Physical or spiritual body?  And what business Had He in Hell, anyway. From the observation of Nature, we know that substances of the same consistency cannot penetrate one another. Thus, my physical body cannot penetrate yours. If I try to hit you and my hand passes through you as though you were empty space, it means either of us is of a different consistency or make-up from the other, one finer, the other coarser or more physical. Radio waves or electromagnetic waves which bring telephone data and voice messages to our homes can penetrate the Walls to do so only because they are of a finer material consistency than the walls they penetrate. In like manner, if the Lord Jesus penetrated the walls of the Upper Chamber to re-unite with His Disciples after His Resurrection, was it the slain physical body which performed this feat orthe soul (finer) body?

    There are indications that the Disciples did not understand their Master on many counts, especially in respect of His to promise to “destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days” Thus, there are accounts that they feared He may not physically resurrect and, to hide their shame, they took the body into hiding. I often wonder about how much more interesting and illuminating these matters would have been if only we pay more than a passing interest to many teachings of Jesus, in particular for this instance, the teaching that He had not come to obstruct the law but to fulfil it. The law is not the earthly law which He thought was wrong in so far as it did not accord with the will of His father, which is the law. That law is the order in which the Almighty creator wants Creation to run or to operate. Like the Laws, God was perfect from the beginning of Time and like Him, the Law which issued from Him will remain so from eternity to eternity. A part of this law is that “dust will return to dust” and the soul which inhabited the earthly dust while on earthwould return to it maker. The earth is the home of the dust. The core of man, that is Spirit, belongs to the Spiritual world, which is paradise. Jesus is not man. His Divine core return to his source, the Father. That was why he would say, “Where I go, ye cannot come. But I will prepare a place for you….”

    Monday, 40 days after the Resurrection, reminds us of Pentecost which is riddled with confusion in the mind of man, for many people believe it was a one-off event. Yet, from knowledge on the face of the earth today, it is known among a small circle of believers in it that Pentecost occurs once a year in the early Calendar. The peak is May 29. Thus the closet semblance to this event is the human heart beat. The human heart beats about 72 times in one minute to pump blood round the body, the blood takes nutrients, exceeding oxygen, to all the 100 trillion or so cells in the adult human body and takes away for excretion all their wasteproducts and poisons. We have learned from Nature that what happens below is a microscopic image of an archetype or prototype “Above” thus, what we may liken to the archetype of the heart beats is what actually happens during Pentecost. Pentecost is when the Creator renews His power in creation for the maintenance of this gigantic work in which the human spirit is permitted the opportunity to grow, mature and exist consciously.

    Many Christians are familiar with the revelation of a Temple in the Divine World, that is the world of archangels and Angles, which lies far, far above the world of human Spirits, Paradise. This is the Temple in which 24 Elders sing Holy, Holy, Holy, God Almighty from eternity into eternity.

    Below this Temple, in the uppermost section of Paradise, is the Spiritual Semblance. In this temple, a Dove appears regularly in the equivalent of one earth year. It is the spiritually visible form of the Holy Spirit. Its presence in this Temple in Paradise informs these knights and guardians of the Temple of the renewal of this Power for Creation.

    Through tidings of these events borne down the Heights to humans who were spiritually mature enough to receive and hold them, some artist and even religious organisations may have come to recognitions of the Holy Dove. It took the loosening of his body from his soul on his dead bed for Joseph, earthly father of Jesus, to recognise Him as the coming One. Suddenly, according to the reports, the inner or ethereal eyes of Joseph opened and he beheld the Dove above Jesus and the equal-armed Cross before Him. These are Divine signs that He is the Son of God. Beside Him, only the Son of Man would bear these insignia. Among those Christians who are alive, who meticulously examine, (not just read through) Revelation 1:4-6, may those who are privileged to make the distinction between them. Irrespective of the confusion in some Biblical transmissions of the Son of Man and His Mission, Jesus gave His Disciples some hints when He said sins against Him as the Son of God and sins against His Father would be forgiven, but not those committed against the Holy Spirit. Jesus would later advise us of the coming of the comforter, the Spirit of Truth who would reprieve the world of sin and proclaim the judgment. After the departure of Jesus, the Revelation spoke of He “who was, who is and who is to come” as Jesus had proclaimed. The comforter, as I take it from these verses, is not this power which came upon the Disciples on the Day of Pentecost. That power, as already discussed, came from the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth or the Holy Spirit, for the renewal of Creation. Without this Power, Creation would be like the physical human body without the heart beat or without blood circulation. It would become devitalized, diseased, shrived or wither and pass away!

    We should now see that, just as the human heart beats is not a one-off affair or occurrence, Pentecost, too, cannot be. A small circle of human beings on earth today recognise this and still observe Pentecost every year. As stated earlier, the peak is recognised to be May 29. The power of Pentecost support regeneration on earth. For example, Nigerian, the rains come, and the greens come alive. All sort of food crops emerge again for the nurture of human body. The orange is becoming more juicy right now. Avocados pear has made its yearly appearance. Corn or maize is back in season.

    In the law of the cycle by which everything in motion in exorably returns to its stanting point to conclude its cycle, the power sent forth for the renewal of Creation must return to its starting points. It is this return of the currents of power to their starting points which give accounts of the spiritual well-being of earth-man. As reported in the Bible, so darkly had the earth become that, for the sake of a few souls beseeching God for help, the words rang out: “who will go for us, who shall we send”.And, as also reported, a voice answered”here am I. send me” because Pentecost predated the coming of Jesus to the earth, having been taking place since the beginning of Creation, He knew of the time of its occurrence and advised His Disciples to gather in the Upper Chamber. He would later ascend Homewards on the crest of the waves of this power about 40 days after His Resurrection. It is amazing how some Nigeria leaders were guided to choose May 29 as the date for the transfer of power from one government to another. The power of Pentecost can still be observed it was as in the days of Disciples, consciously or otherwise. It drives to a head the nature of every-one, good or evil, so that, in that heating up, everyone comes to judgment through his or her nature.

    Thus, the worst riots in Nigeria have happened around this time. So have the most noble deeds. As the knowledge on the face of the earth today explains it, everything that slumbers in every-one, be it love or hate, is awakened to grow from strength to strength. Watch the world this season. The findings cannot be otherwise.

    JAB-ADU

    During the observation of Pentecost with my small group of acquaintances this year, one Person I will miss is Mr. Jab Adu who was known as Basey Okon in the village headmaster of the 1970s. The Village Headmaster was a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Programme which depicted rustic life in the village. Easily it was one the popular television programme and ranked along with the likes of BAR BEACH SHOW under presenter Art ALADE. I was a University student then, and hardly thought of meeting Mr. Adu one day. As his obituary revealed last month, he was almost 20 years older than I am. Our part were to meet in the course of each person independently seeking deeper meanings to serious questions of life.

    In this quest, he became inwardly advised to vacate that stage role and, together with his wife, develop programmes with new thrusts of messages in consonance with his changing and improving understanding of life. On one occasion, he got involved with a millennium project which was to pull by the ear or the shirt collar, so to say, in alert or sleeping souls. The message was to be that the Trumpets of the world judgment which the book of revelations speaks about are not going to be musical instruments. The images of them which many Christians carry in their heads and hearts are mere allegorical renditions. In reality, these trumpets are the multiplicity, intensity and rapidity with which these events occur. Nothing is new on earth no doubt. Even the flood of all floods in the days of Noah wasn’t new when it began to build up. It is the sheer quantum, rapidity and impact which suggest that something unusual may be on the way. Mr. Jab Adu titled his projects FOOTPRINTS IN THE SANDS OF TIME. These are markers that indicate a build up to a crescendo. They may be air crashes in particular months, number of deaths from a strife at a specific period in the year or something like these. We may argue back and forth that air crashes today are more than thewere ten years ago, we can say more people are dying in them today because they are more planes and more people flying. But do we even stop to think that air travel technology has in that period so grown in such leaps and bounds that, today, fewer air crashes, if any, than occurred in the dark age of aviation safety should be occurring today? The slot Mr. Adu gave me to fill in opened my soul more to world events. By world events I do not mean events of this earth but sign post or beacon-type events in the spiritual history of humanity. That history began with the of expulsion of the human spirit kernel from Paradise,  is journey through the World of Matter, bellow Paradise, for their sojourn and maturing, the expulsion from paradise and the role of Lucifer, a beautiful Archangel, in helping them through the principle of Supporting Love to achieve this, how Lucifer fell out of the grace of God by introducing thePrinciple of Temptation instead, how Jafdah, first incarnation of John the Baptist Loving guided the first humans on earth, how Lucifer and His minions menaced humanity, how it became expedient for Jesus to come before the final judgment for earth dwellers, how after the ascension of Jesus another divine Mission was prepared (Revelation 12) that would put Lucifer in bonds and set the stage for the much talked about Millennium, how, through Lucifer, all efforts to help mankind have  been riddled with confusion, how simple concepts are no longer understood because of their distortions, how, irrespective of thesedistortions the world events move on towards their inexorable conclusion in the  World Judgment, how the Trumpets are sounding loud and clear but no one  seems to hear, listen or care about them.

    Mr. Jab Adu has done his bit to pull us by the ear or the shirt collar, and gone his way. May he awaken to joyful life on the other Side. While he was here, it was a delight for me to have a handshake from him. His shake was firm and warm, did not betrayed age, or signs that he may soon leave the flesh With thoughts such as these engaging the minds, Easter season is no time for those feast and revelry which are founded on the wrong concept that the death of Jesus was willed by God to wash all the sins of humanity away, so we can eat, drink and be merry for being covered by His Blood. Anyone who has a faint idea of what STIGMATISM and STIGMATAS are will never pray to be covered by the Blood of Jesus thus, at Easter and Christmas, I break away from bread and butter to reflect on questions of existence, improve on my understanding of them and, with the new concept define or deepened, bring about new changes in my conduct and life. May Easter afford us all the opportunities to become really BORN AGAIN………..AMEN.

  • Corruption: Questions for President Buhari

    When President Buhari started the war against corruption, he started a worthy struggle, a direction that our country desperately needs. His prosecution of that war is still commendable as far as it goes. But there are already potent indications that this war may soon plunge into some sort of confusion.

    Already, from some of our eminent voices, as well as from the mostly unheard voices of the masses of our people, troubling questions are being asked about the agenda. Some days ago, one of our country’s most respected Christian leaders proposed that the war against corruption should end simply with the recovery of stolen public money. He suggested that once the thief has surrendered his loot, our government and law enforcement agencies should do nothing further against him – indeed that he should be left alone. The implication of this is that recovery of stolen public money is the end purpose of the whole war. But very many citizens are wondering whether this is right.  What about our laws? Are we now maneuvering ourselves into a new culture – one more destructive than the culture of corruption, a culture in which our country’s laws will become negotiable. If a Nigerian be accused of a crime, will it become sufficient for him to send influential relatives and friends to beg the rulers of the land or make some retribution which the rulers arbitrarily deem acceptable? Is this the future we are striving towards? A sort of primitive ‘pre-law’ society?

    A few days ago also, another eminent Nigerian, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, proposed in the course of a public discourse that President Buhari should start the war on corruption from the highest level – that is from the presidency itself. Apparently, he was not thinking of asking anything other than that the probes should start from Buhari’s own presidency. It would appear also that he did not think that his question could have wider ramifications. To his surprise, someone in the audience asked him whether he meant that the probes should extend all the way back to the Obasanjo presidency. The former president sidestepped the question in his response and preferred only to remind his audience that it was he who had created the legal instruments that are now being used by President Buhari to fight corruption. In that, he is right; but most Nigerians would still want to ask him if it would be right to limit the probes only to the present.

    Nigerians know that the era of unrestrained public corruption in our country started in 1966, or at the latest, 1979. The big question is this: Can we really destroy the culture of corruption if we deal with the thieves of the past six years only and leave those of earlier years to luxuriate in their loot? Moreover, is this a war against federal level corruption only or will it also take on functionaries of state and local governments also? And then there is an overarching question: Can we really be said to be killing corruption if we are doing it only amongst the highest public officials only? What about the deep roots that corruption has dug into other levels of our society? Afterall, no nook or cranny appears to have escaped the scourge! Are we going to do something about senior civil servants who regularly take bribes from folks seeking civil service jobs? Or those who dream up phantom contracts, award them to phantom contractors and pay the contractors for the phantom completion of the jobs? How about university officials who take bribes to manipulate university admissions, or those lecturers who coerce their students to buy shoddy handouts or give various types of gifts as a condition of passing the examinations? What shall we do about the rampant passing of bribes at all levels of public service, customs service, immigration service, passport office, driver licensing offices, land administration offices, etcetera? How about the rampant practice of bank employees stealing from their employers and customers? Or the general fear of Nigerian employers about the tendency of Nigerian employees to cheat and steal? For that matter, will we do anything about the perpetual rumour that church officials also steal from church coffers? The list is endless!

    In short, how far do we, as represented by the Buhari presidency, intend to go with this war on corruption? These questions are now emerging because not much is being told us Nigerian citizens by our government. All we hear is a constant stream of stories of mind-boggling amounts of loot that has been detected and sometimes huge amounts that have been returned by the thieves. The president has started the most important war in our country’s history – a war for which he deserves our commendation. But he is not talking to us as he should about it. Perhaps it is his military background that predisposes him to believe that his government can fight this overwhelming war alone. He needs to consider that he may be wrong. This is a war that all Nigerians are mightily interested in. We want it to be won. We have all had enough. We therefore want to understand what is happening in this great war. We want to be able to help in whatever small or large way we can. We know there are powerful forces hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to wage a counter-offensive. We perceive the rumblings of corruption’s fight back already. President Buhari will need us, the masses of common Nigerians, to resist that counter-offensive. He needs to prepare us accordingly. He must begin to do that now. He must leverage all the authority of the presidency to do so. This is a war for all Nigerians who love their country and want her to become prosperous and respectable. We are in a fight for the very soul of our nation. Those who seek to keep corruption alive and well are akin to vampires who care nothing for their victims but seek only to suck the very lifeblood out of her. President Buhari has begun the rescue of Nigeria from those predators who would bleed her dry and indeed have been doing so for decades. Many hands they say, make light work. Not that this work could ever be light. But it can be made lighter by the participation of millions of willing Nigerians. President Buhari must harness their involvement. Ultimately, this great war will only be won when most of us citizens accept the mantle of ‘corruption fighter’. When love for country supersedes desire for convenience. When we return to the days when dishonesty carried a stigma and thieves were shunned by decent, upright citizens. Then and only then, will we win this war on corruption.