The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Redefining

  • Redefining independence in Africa

    As is the custom every year, Nigeria marked her independence on Monday, October 1.  For 58 years, we have been an internationally recognized state, and it is a feat worthy of celebration. As we celebrate, however, there ought to be room for candid discussion about our true status in the global order. Like many of our African neighbours, we have been forced to grow under heavy reliance on the ‘help’ and direction of other countries, including those that colonized us.

    On May 24, 1963, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana stood before a gathering of 32 African Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to urge his counterparts from other African countries not to rest on the success of the political and administrative independence that the countries present had then attained, but to focus on conquering the economic dependence that was sure to remain for years to come if Africa did not stand with one voice.

    The Organisation of African Unity, OAU, was formed after that gathering in Ethiopia in 1963, but it was a looser union than Nkrumah, and some other African leaders present, would have liked. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s prime minister at the time, was, interestingly, opposed to an ‘African bloc’ in international relations, thereby signaling his support for a looser union of African states. Irrespective of the various positions in 1963, the African Union that has emerged is closer than was the case in the early years but still relatively loose in comparison to the European Union, for example.

    With the benefit of hindsight, it now seems that the idea of African unity was approached in the wrong manner by our leaders back then. Having just emerged from the politically suppressive bounds of colonialism, African states were more focused on their political emancipation and the strengthening of political power on the continent and beyond, when, in fact, a long sighted approach to their economic health should have been of paramount importance going forward.

    Nigeria and Africa should have studied the early structure and nature of European cooperation, which was essentially economic. The European Union, EU, of today began as the European Coal and Steel Community in the 1950s, before metamorphosing into the EU. Even now, the EU is still mainly focused on market integration and promoting European markets before any other political motive. In contrast, while the OAU did manage some influence in certain matters, like in the fight against apartheid, it lacked real power, politically and economically, as the sum of its influence was subsumed in that of a few individual African states, like Nigeria.

    Africa’s attempt at economic cooperation was at sub-continental levels, with the likes of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, which was conceived as early as 1964, but has failed to become a credible economic force, even as it detracts from the African Union. The lack of economic integration between African countries has contributed to the continued economic dependency of Africa and led to African markets and economies being exploited and undermined by outside forces.

    Last September, 53 African Heads of State gathered in Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, FOCAC. At the forum, China pledged an additional $60 billion to Africa, matching its pledge at the same gathering three years ago.  One of the implications of FOCAC is that African countries have finally began to move in the same direction in their trade and economic interactions with the outside world. However, African leaders still have not learnt the hard lessons of history, as they went hats in hand to China, seeking aid, disguised as economic partnership.

    President Xi Jinping of China has always said that the intention of China’s cooperation with Africa is to create a win-win relationship of equal partners, by providing much needed infrastructure to the continent, based on trade and market concessions only. What he failed to mention was that Chinese policy on Africa is a direct challenge to American and European influence in the continent. This is evident in the unveiling of a strategic Chinese military base in Djibouti, which is also the location of America’s only military base in Africa.

    As Patrick Lumumba, the renowned Kenyan lawyer noted at the Rwanda National Security Symposium in May, the “new colonial project” requires that Africa must remain within the sphere of influence of the self-appointed superiors and masters of the continent. China is now feeding into this philosophy having come into its own on the world stage. China’s policy on Africa is a bad commentary on how Africa is perceived in the outside world as an instrument to be exploited and used in the propagation of dominance on the global stage.

    African countries are now playing a game of favourites with world powers in mortgaging their critical resources and infrastructure, instead of leveraging those resources to become a real force in the international community. The continent has been thrust into chaos by our own ineptitude and the subtle but present influence of outside forces that are more concerned with their own prosperity than the economic welfare or awakening of the people of Africa.

    The Europeans and the Americans have now issued warnings to African countries about the dangers of aggressive Chinese investments in Africa and the likelihood of it being a debt trap for dependence; but then such would be expected of rivals who are unhappy about the arrival of a new player in their systematic control of Africa’s resources. There is nothing the Chinese are doing today in Africa that the Americans and Europeans have not done here.

    China and our usual exploiters have all been able to perpetuate their colonial influence on this continent because we have not figured out how to attain economic independence. As Lumumba says, success in this regard must begin with personal conquest.  We must conquer our own aid-seeking mentality to be able to start taking our fate in our own hands. We must conquer our own inferiority complex which was left as a parting gift when the colonialists reluctantly returned to their countries.

    There is outrage at the Chinese because Djibouti may have granted exclusive rights to the Chinese over docks in its Chinese built harbour; Zambia may have entered into uncomfortable agreements for its Chinese-built power infrastructure; and Kenya has given exclusive rights to a Chinese firm for mapping surveys of mines in the country. In truth, things like these have happened in Nigeria and wider Africa for decades, with Shell, Chevron, Total, ENI, Haliburton, Julius Berger etc. being the conduits for harvesting Africa’s wealth by their home countries.

    As Nigeria marks her 58th independence, there is plenty to ponder on, especially if we are serious to provide the leadership we so desperately want to provide for the whole of Africa. Our independence will never be complete without economic independence, and the strategy for that can only be an African strategy, as Nkrumah noted many years ago. Right now, there are no indications that any African country is successfully resisting the economic influence of the neo-colonialists at our gates, simply because many are too weak on their own.

    Straight aid from these colonialists has not been helpful in advancing our cause for economic emancipation, and poorly negotiated infrastructure deals (which also exist in Nigeria) will prove to be no better. There should be well thought out guidelines for infrastructure agreements in African countries, one that can stand the neo-colonial test and still give value to the host countries. Until we stop mortgaging our economy, we cannot rightly celebrate.

    Complacency about what we achieved in 1960 is what led to the unwanted results we have had in almost 60 years. China is said to have been able to pull about 800 million of its people out of poverty in 30 odd years. Coincidentally, its trade relations with Africa increased by 700 per cent in the 1990s, and today it is Africa’s biggest trade partner. Our resources helped make China what it is today. It is time to open our eyes and liberate our people from inexplicable poverty.

  • Redefining Nigeria’s identity

    “Man is history after his demise. Therefore, endeavour to be a pleasant history for others to read after you might have left the stage”. 

    Arab poet

    PREAMBLE

    Man is both a product and a producer of history. He lives by history and leaves history behind as his legacy at the time of his departure from this ephemeral world. This confirms the fact that man and history are like Siamese twins. The one cannot do without the other. History makes man just as man makes history. The synergy between the two makes them look like a pair of scissors in which one blade cannot effectively function without the other.

    This is a period in Nigeria when recalling history is a necessity. How did Nigeria come into being as a country and as a name? Is this name fitting and appropriate for the country that bears it? Can the name be changed and can changing it make any reasonable difference? These are some of the questions that ‘The Message’ seeks to answer today.

    Accident of history

    On January 8, 1897, an article appeared in Financial Times which suggested a name for the vast land around river Niger which had then been colonized by the Royal Niger Company on behalf of the British Empire. The suggested name was Nigeria and the author of the article was one Miss Flora Shaw, a 45-year-old journalist. She was then the colonial editor of Financial Times as well as the writer of a weekly column named ‘The Colony’ in that newspaper.

    In coining the name Nigeria, Flora Shaw logically took many facts into consideration. One: the area in question had no specific name by which it could be called other than a protectorate of the ‘Royal Niger Company’. Two: She considered an earlier suggested name ‘Central Sudan’ as an aberration since that name already belonged to an area around the Nile River occupied by a population of Black Africans now called Sudan. She equally considered the name ‘Slave Coast’ which the colonialists had attempted to give to this area as derogatory and finally settled for ‘Nigeria’, which she coined from ‘Niger Area’.

    Flora Shaw’s profile

    Born at 2, Dundas Terrace, Woolwich, England on December 19, 1852, Miss Louisa Shaw (fourth of her parent’s fourteen children) was a novelist and frontline, versatile female journalist who gained fame through her pungent analyses of African colonial economy. She was later to become ‘The Honourable Dame Flora Lugard, the wife of Frederick John Deatry Lugard of Abinger who colonised Nigeria and amalgamated its southern and northern parts in 1914.

    Flora was six years older than Frederick who was born in India on January 22, 1858. The two historic personalities married in 1902 and lived together without children for the rest of their lives.

    Historical facts

    Four historical facts are manifest here. First: the name Nigeria had come into existence far away from England and long before the country that now bears that name became a country.

    Second: the name was coined five years before Flora Shaw married Frederick Lugard. Therefore, contrary to the general erroneous belief that it was Mrs. Lugard who named our country Nigeria, Flora was Miss Shaw and not Mrs. Lugard when she coined the name.

    Third: it can be said that Nigeria came into existence through the efforts of a bachelor and a spinster who later became a couple.

    Fourth: by sheer coincidence, Nigeria’s second First Lady, Flora Azikiwe, the wife of Nigeria’s first President, shared the same first name with the wife of Lugard: FLORA.

    Lord Fredrick Lugard’s profile

    Baron Frederick Lugard was a military adventurer and an ardent administrator who played a major part in Britain’s colonial history between 1888 and 1945, serving in East Africa, West Africa, and Hong Kong. His name is particularly associated with Nigeria, where he served as High Commissioner (1900-06) as well as Governor and Governor-General (1912-19). He was knighted in 1901 and raised to the peerage in 1928.

    As at the time of Lugard’s incursion, most of the vast region of over 300,000 square miles (800,000 square km) was still unoccupied and even unexplored by Europeans. In the southern areas were mostly animists and in the northern areas was predominantly a Muslim population with big towns and large walled cities.

    Lugard’s intention

    Lugard’s intention was to merge these two areas and people of diverse cultures and spiritual inclinations together and manage them as a single people in a single nation. Within three years of his expedition, he had established a British control over the large territory by diplomacy or by swift use of his meager force.

    Although in hastening to take the major states of Kano and Sokoto, he engaged the hands of his more cautious home government, only two serious local revolts marred the widespread acceptance and cooperation that he later enjoyed. His policy was to support the existing native states and chiefdoms with their laws and their courts but at the same time forbid slave raiding and severe punishments for minor offences as well as to exercise control of central authority using the native rulers as agents. Thus, to achieve his objective, he merged the Southern part of what later became known as Nigeria with the Northern part with a tacit approval for the Christian religionists to mobilise their evangelical machinery – the Christianisation of the animist Southern part of the new colony.

    Historic marriage

    After Lugard’s historic marriage to Flora Shaw in 1902 and the latter could not stand the Nigerian climate, Lugard felt obliged to leave Africa and accept a junior position of the governorship of Hong Kong which he held from 1907 to 1912. That was like stepping down as president to accept the post of a governor which no African Head of State has ever tried even if to display statesmanship.

    And on arrival in Asia, this daring British adventurer from continued his surprising degree of success to such extent that most historians of his time became nonplused. He founded the University of Hong Kong and ensured its standardisation as well as its sustainability. Today, that University is one of the best in the Commonwealth of Nations.

    A Centenary hoax

    Ever since the exit of the British colonialists in 1960, Nigeria has remained a country without focus, despite the enormous resources at her disposal. In less than half a decade after independence, the crude hands of African inexperience had begun to show conspicuously in governance as ethnic and religious flavours started to reflect vividly in a republican ethos. Then, an insuperable mountain of corruption crept in with overwhelming tenacity on the citizenry and turned all hopes into a forlorn even till today.

    Now, after 100 years of the indigestible absurdity called merger, why does Nigeria continue to wallow hopelessly in a paroxysm of despair as the last 17 years of the so-called fourth republic has shown an unprecedented history of relentless corruption with unbridled impunity?

    As if in a nightmare, we suddenly found ourselves in a situation where figure 16 politically became higher than figure 19 and open theft was officially defined and treated as being outside the framework corruption. Billions of dollars were growing wings and flying away from our national and state treasuries through the artful pens of our so-called leaders. Thus, our foreign reserves were daily being depleted even as Legislators, Judges, Ministers and other governmental cronies began to compete with one another in living like princes and princesses under a clueless ‘Emperor’.

    A Democratic tenure

    Four years is a long period in a democratic tenure of a nation. It is long enough to lay a solid foundation for a nation. It is long enough to build a formidable edifice that can be inherited from generation to generation. If 17 years of a democratic dispensation cannot do any of these in Nigeria of today how can one be sure that a whole century will do? If a journey of one year cannot take a traveller off the spot of embarkation who says 10 years may be able to take him to his destination?

    As an OPEC country, we have abundant oil wealth but we must import refined fuel for domestic consumption from individual Nigerian refineries built outside Nigeria from which we are compelled to import and theft is not considered as part of corruption. We have a massive army of unemployed youths and we cannot provide electricity to enable them be self-employed. Yet, we are insisting that we must continue like this even as billions of dollars are being stolen daily. Where are we going from here?

    Government’s failure

    Perhaps no one in the recent past has analyzed the problem of Nigeria more succinctly than Mrs. Hillary Clinton. When she visited Nigeria in 2010  as America’s Secretary of State, she took time to speak directly with ordinary Nigerians in a ‘Town Hall’ forum. At that forum she said among other things that: “….Nigeria, Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalisation that needs to be addressed. And describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped to foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”.

    Poverty knows no tribe, religion, gender or age. It cuts across all strata of human life with no exception. That was the belief that spurred one time Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, in the 1960s, to transform China into a formidable nation of today. Any country that cannot feed her people will have no moral right to urge such people to think of a solution to any problem. A hungry person is an unreasonable person.

    Obama’s advice

    In his own direct presidential address to Nigerian populace on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, the American President Barrack Obama said of tomorrow’s elections and the subsequent ones as follows: “Hello.  Today, I want to speak directly to you – the people of Nigeria.

    Nigeria is a great nation and you can be proud of the progress you’ve made.  Together, you won your independence, emerged from military rule, and strengthened democratic institutions.  You’ve strived to overcome division and to turn Nigeria’s diversity into a source of strength.  You’ve worked hard to improve the lives of your families and to build the largest economy in Africa.

    “Now you have a historic opportunity to help write the next chapter of Nigeria’s chapter of history by voting for progress or further retrogress in the upcoming elections.  For elections to be credible, they must be free, fair and peaceful.  All Nigerians must be able to cast their votes without intimidation or fear.

    “So I call on all leaders and candidates to make it clear to their supporters that violence has no place in democratic elections and that they will not incite, support or engage in any kind of violence-before, during, or after the votes are counted.

    Against violence

    “I call on all Nigerians to peacefully express your views and to reject the voices of those who call for violence.  And when elections are free and fair, it is the responsibility of all citizens to help keep the peace, no matter who wins. Successful elections and democratic progress will help Nigeria meet the urgent challenges you face today.  Boko Haram – a brutal terrorist group that kills innocent men, women and children-must be stopped.

    “Hundreds of kidnapped children deserve to be returned to their families. Nigerians who have been forced to flee (their habitats) deserve to return to their homes.  Boko Haram wants to destroy Nigeria and all that you have worked to build.  By casting your ballot (correctly), you can help secure your nation’s progress.

    “I’m told that there is a saying in your country: ‘to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’. Today, I urge all Nigerians – from all religions, all ethnic groups, and all regions – to come together and keep Nigeria one.  And in this task of advancing the security, prosperity, and human rights of all Nigerians, you will continue to have a friend and partner in the United States of America”.

    The columnist’s comment

    Ordinarily, such a cross-Atlantic presidential speech would have been unnecessary if we had learnt from the examples of great African leaders such as Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Sam Njoma of Namibia, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Ahmadu Ahidjo of Cameroon. With the political change guards in 2015, most people assumed that the woes of Nigerians were over. It was hardly remembered that it is not enough to plant a crop to be qualified as a farmer. The real farmer is the one who imbibes the patience with which to wait and harvest the crop at the right time of fruition. The time of harvesting is almost here. With or without the presidential sermon of an American Obama, the reality on ground requires only a little more patience to end Nigeria’s woes of hunger. It took a long time of greed and avarice to build up the wall of hunger. It must take a reasonable time of patience to demolish it. Whatever name we now give Nigeria, positive or negative, we should not relent in saying: God save Nigeria! And we shall eventually surmount the problem of the moment.

  • Aregbesola: Redefining development

    in a paper presented at a colloquium to mark his six years in office as governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola reiterated his administration’s commitment to laying a solid foundation for the state in every area such that tampering with its progress in the future would be difficult, if not impossible. While describing “rising expenditure, especially wage bill, within the contrast of falling revenue” as the  biggest challenge  facing  his  government, Aregbesola promised that his administration would do all within its powers to ensure that no one was left behind in the distribution of  the  dividends of democracy  to the  good  people  of  Osun. “We are grappling with the challenge of finance and we are doing all within our power to complete all the projects we started. We are not going to leave any project uncompleted”, the governor stated.

    Democracy hath no fury than a people abandoned! So, what is Raufnomics? In my considered opinion, the promoter has given a clue:    it is about “getting as much from little and using the resources of the state to maximally benefit the people”.  It is about “strategic planning and intervention in society; making governance mass-based and people-centric”; and “guaranteeing the maximum good for the maximum number of people.” With a special reference to Osun,  Raufnomics has proved to be a popular solution  to   the  state’s socio-economic problems created as a result of years of Nigeria’s  sole  dependence on proceeds from crude oil. It has helped sustain the state even as it continues to encourage innovative interventions within the framework of the administration’s Six Point Integral Action Plan in such a way as to help put the economy of the state back on track.

    In addition to some of this administration’s laudable achievements which  have  already  been  captured in Aregbesola’s speech at the event, the establishment of Osun Job Centre, designed principally  to serve as an interface between  jobseekers and employers of labour;  the  procurement of no fewer than 125 Patrol Vans, 20 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and one helicopter which has  helped   in drastically reducing incidences of crime in the state;   and  the creation and successful take-off of 61 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), three Area Offices and two Administrative Offices from the former 31 Local Government Areas  are also some of the ways this government  has positively affected the rule of the game.

    A strong advocate of regional integration, he was a major force in the establishment of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, an institutional and programmed body saddled with the responsibility of midwifing the regional integration agenda of the Southwest states.  And, with the creation of Osun Education Quality Assurance and Morality Enforcement Agency, I doubt if any misguided pupil or student will ever attempt to task the tolerance of the good people of Osun or insult their collective intelligence again.

    Aregbesola’s approval of the immediate commencement of a unified Public Service in the state is worth mentioning here. Apart from repositioning “the State Public Service for efficient and effective service delivery at all levels of governance”, the step is also aimed at removing “all restrictions to seamless movement of personnel from one spectrum of the Public Service to the other”. Needless to repeat that it is in a bid to ensure transparency in the state’s financial dealings that he recently inaugurated the Hassan Sunmonu-led committee on allocation of revenues to “oversee allocation of state’s revenue to prompt payment of salaries as well as adequate running of government.”

    The price of fame, it is often said, goes beyond brooding or bargaining around the frustration of some mischievous parallelisms! But when will Nigeria’s vine overcome the antics of her “foxes, the little foxes” and who will raise the hands of her Moses as an assurance of permanent victory? Coming closer home, if we have an avatar at the helm of affairs in Osun, how come the state is such in dire straits that it now seems as if delayed salaries have come to stay with us? Assuming without conceding that we are in this pass because of the level of our debt and its management, as a result of which dear state has allegedly become slave to Irrevocable Payment Standing Orders (IPSOs) and other debt recovery instruments, how do we situate the fate of richer and resource-endowed states like Ondo and Bayelsa which are also behind schedule in terms of salary obligations to their workers?

    Well, the tragedy of our Nigerianness is that we deceive ourselves a lot and that has been our greatest undoing! Here, we play politics like an interest-driven game, unrepentantly   notorious for its art of the impossible and personal manipulations. That is why, despite  efforts by this dogged fighter at positively impacting lives   through his numerous programmes, policies and schemes, there still exists some unrefined, less-informed  detractors who derisively consider it fit and proper to constitute themselves into an opposition of the government of the day, however well-meaning and good-intentioned. Because of the way they  are fated,  they  always allow their personal and selfish desire for certain specialities to run wild thereby straying away from unprejudiced realities. They lust for what they do not have and that which is of no use to them and, despite the fact that they do not get that which they do not have and that which they neither need nor deserve, they delude themselves with it to spoil that which they are supposed to have but unfortunately they do not have.

    In their world, there is neither economic focus nor political direction that is practically aimed at alleviating the people’s poverty and pains. Instead, they revel in the virulence of insouciant leaders and the proliferation of unprincipled politicians. For no just cause, these individualists and spoilers culpably hate leaders for doing good, categorize a government which runs a most transparent allocation of scarce resources to tackle underdevelopment as ‘reckless’; and  tag  one which strives to  confront problems engendered by socio-political transformation as  ‘insensitive’! Since they are experts at spreading beliefs that reject persuasion, they tar every developmental stride with the mark of corruption. In their myopic view, Opon Imo is a scam; O-YES, money-sapping; O-MEALS,  unnecessary; and policies and programmes aimed  at  shoring up the state’s revenue generation capacity are ‘too draconian and unfriendly’.

    In any case, “minds differ as rivers differ”, says Baron Thomas Macaulay.  While some might liken Aregbesola to a “controversial politician who doesn’t listen to advice, however novel or useful”, to others, he’s one astute administrator who would not “want to enrich himself at the expense of the poor masses”. While some might unfairly consider his style of governance as one “built only on propaganda”, others see it – and, rightly, too – as “a source of hope in the face of the weak and bleak future that the Yoruba race and Nigeria face.” In all  of  these  however;  and  political persuasions notwithstanding,  what critics of Raufnomics  cannot deny is  Aregbesola’s  gentleness, straightforwardness and uncanny sense of direction which he has dispassionately deployed in  transforming the state into  an emerging market with a lot of potentials. Unlike others whose portion is in making promises at the drop of a hat with no real intention of keeping them, it is unRauf to allow people who delight in whirling by their dark clouds to be the limit of his success.

    Need I say more on why Osun has continued to wax stronger, in spite of  the  biting economic slowdown currently troubling Nigeria’s Israel?

    • Komolafe writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
  • ‘We’re redefining hospitality business’

    ‘We’re redefining hospitality business’

    The tourism/hospitality sector is a potential goldmine and can contribute immensely to the present administration’s on-going economic diversification programme. But the Federal Government will have to tap into it and build first class hospitality businesses close to tourist sites and also address the challenges facing operators, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of i-MAX Guest House & Suits, Prince Madugba Raphael Chiadikobi, has said.

    He spoke to reporters in Lagos during the week at the opening of i-MAX Guest House & Suits, a 33-room five star hotel located in the serene, highbrow Apapa GRA area of Lagos.

    Chiadikobi, who is an industrialist and ex-banker, said the result of a feasibility study by a firm commissioned by his company showed that tourism/hospitality business in Lagos alone can rake in over $3 billion annually, if government can fix the energy sector and address the security challenge in the country.

    He said, for instance, that unlike other sectors, the hospitality industry is the most adversely affected by the crisis in the energy sector. “It (energy crisis) affects us more than any other sector. In the banking sector, their generators will be on from probably 7 o’clock till 10 o’clock and they power down.

    “The Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) operate with solar. But the hospitality business is 24/7. You don’t power down. Even if it is one guest you have, he expects you to put on the light for him and he is right, because you have already told him that you have 24-hour electricity supply,” he stated.

    Chiadikobi also pointed out that insecurity posed a major challenge for operators. While noting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is making progress in the area of security. He said: “There is no business that can thrive when there is crisis. The moment you are able to completely sort out the issue of security, more people will have the confidence to invest.”

    He said despite the challenges, the new hotel, which is a division of International Maximum Resources & Chemical Industries Limited, has come to redefine hospitality business through quality, cost-effective service delivery.

    Conducting newsmen round the expansive facility, he said the hotel is categorised into Royal Apartments, Executive Rooms, Standard Rooms and Presidential Suites, all tastefully furnished and tailored the meet the needs of different categories of clients.

    “Our rooms are very fantastic, expansive and affordable; we did not economise space. Our neighbours here our standard room is their big room; they charge N15, 000 per night while we charge an introductory price of N7, 000 for the same room size. The one they take between N15, 000 and N20, 000 we take N10, 000,” he said.

    The hotelier added that apart from nine metres-deep swimming pool to add to customers’ comfort, the hotel also offers special local delicacies on weekends. He said these have ensured a steady stream of customers since February 14 this year when the hotel started a test run of its facilities.

    He said the hotel, with its unique propositions, is poised to drive hospitality busniess especially in Lagos where the opportunities are huge.

    The hotelier said, for instance, that as big as Apapa is, the only five star hotel there is Rockview. “As I talk with you, after Rockview we are next to them. This is not our own assessment, but of people who who have been dealing with them that came here within two months of our test run,” he said.

    Chiadikobi added that because of the positive response the hotel has been getting, it plans to build an additional hotel in Lagos in the next five years. “The business is here,” he declared.

  • Redefining infrastructure development in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State, created barely over 17 years ago on October 1st 1996 by the military junta of the late General Sani Abacha is a state with all the potentials of greatness.

    Being a product of years of struggle, the state is seen by vast majority of the people as a fulfillment of the long sought dreams and aspirations of the Ijaw people to have a hamogenous state.

    This underscores the reason that, to many Ijaw people Bayelsa represents the capital of the Ijaw nation just as Jerusalem is to the Jews.

    A walk through the streets of Yenagoa, the state capital, one could feel the air of the Ijaw identity, togetherness and the pride of a hardworking people.

    The governor of Bayelsa State Hon. H. S. Dickson, who happens to be a one-time National Legal Adviser of the Ijaw National Congress could not hide his sense of Ijaw nationalism when he delightfully stated during his inauguration as governor of the state on February 14th 2012, that, “As a product of the Ijaw movement, I am aware that I was not just a candidate of Bayelsa State but of the entire Ijaw nation… To all Ijaws wherever they may reside, let me reaffirm that Bayelsa will continue to be your Jerusalem and I will be your governor too.”

    Buoyed by this spirit of Ijaw patriotism, laced with obvious sense of mission to restore what many believed the eroding pride and glory of the Ijaw man.

    The general worry was the magic wand he would device to confront the plethora of seemingly overwhelming challenges and meet the general aspirations of Bayelsans.

    These challenges range from the comatose state of infrastructure, a parlous treasury, mind-boggling wage bill to that of the state of insecurity characterised by cult activities.

    Typical of the Ijaw man known for its rare courage and determination to confronting the obvious, governor Dickson made it very clear to those who care to listen that; “We shall undertake fundamental reforms of governance culture to emphasize the transparency, accountability, due process and value – re-orientation.”

    Governor Dickson further stated without mincing words that, “The days of enrichment without labour and funding the greed and avarice of a few at the expense of the development of our people are over. I will work hard to plug all leakages and sources of corruption which have been the bane of development. I will rather use our common wealth to fund the construction of good roads, education, promote tourism, generate wealth and develop agriculture than fund corruption and greed.”

    Governor Seriake Dickson, who is popularly called “countryman governor” by his teeming admirers, an appellation which represents a man of the people, stated unequivocally that he would not play politics with the development of the state and charged the people of the state to judge him by his performance index.

    One of the first positive steps he took was value re-orientation through the creation of a ministry dedicated to revive the rich culture and pride of the Ijaw people that had long been related to the background.

    Already, a quiet cultural renaissance is going on. For instance, apart from encouraging the documentation and celebration of Ijaw heroes heroins across the length and breathe of Ijaw speaking states in the Niger Delta, it has become mandatory for workers in the state to wear the traditional Ijaw attires on every Friday of the week.

    Another policy that has endeared the country man governor to the people of the state is the enthroning of a regime of fiscal discipline.

    For example, the holding of a monthly transparency briefing to give account of how the state revenue are being spent for the overall benefit of the state is seen as a very novel culture of accountability in the history of a state whose revenue expenditure profile are shrouded in secrecy.

    As a matter of fact, the governor who sounded a note of warning to politicians on a mission to feed fat on the scarce resources of the state to steer clear of his administration as he would not condone the ostentatious lifestyles which Bayelsa politicians were known for over the years. In other words, the days of singing the corruptive song, “PDP share the money” are over and it is time for serious business of governance.

    One of the Aids of the governor on Research and Social media and an unrepentant critic of successive administrations in the state, Dr. John Idumange expressed optimism that “the governor will take the state to the promise land if he would not be distracted by those on a mission to milk the state, stressing that Bayelsans must take their destiny in its hand and make personal sacrifices to take the state to the next level.”

    The increasing wage bill of the state was another critical area that received the searchlight of Governor Seriake Dickson. It was a thing of worry that a state with a population of less than two million people had a wage bill equivalent to Lagos State with a population of over ten million.

    Of course, as a responsible government, this was declared unacceptable. The government embarked on an aggressive biometric exercise, with an eagle-eye screening process that has largely weeded out to its barest minimum the syndrome of ghost workers.

    In fact, the monthly wage bill has been reduced from N5-5 billion to N4.1 billion out of which a paltry sum of N400 million only goes for elected and appointed political office holders.

    These efforts are no doubt yielding fruits as wasted fund are being ploughed into projects that would place Bayelsa state on the world map of development.

    Among these projects are the construction of network of roads across the state. In the state capital, Yenagoa, there is what is called the outer ring road project under construction. This outer ring road is partnered after  the Nnamdi Azikiwe ring road in Abuja, capital of Nigeria.

    The outer ring road is further linked by what is being described as “six-side profiled road” which are also dualised. This is essentially to avert traffic congestion coupled with the population upsurge associated with emerging cities like Yenagoa.

    Apart from the completion of several internal roads in the state capital, a very unique feature to watch is the dualisation of virtually all roads, to the extent that  Bayelsans are beginning to marvel at a concept they thought could happen only in foreign countries and is right at their door steps. Among these ring roads are the Okaka road, AIT to Bayelsa Palm and the one linking Igbogene to AIT.

    The Honourable commissioner for works and infrastructure, Mr. Lawrence Ewujujakpo who spoke to Vanguard Newspaper on December 22, 2013 emphasized that;

    “What we are doing in Yenagoa is that all internal roads have dual carriage ways. We have taken note of all the single lane roads in the capital and we are going to expand them because some of them (constructed by past administrations) are less than six metres. All we want to do is to construct standard eight metres roads across the capital, so that we can have standard driveways, walkways, flowers, street lights and drainage”.

    This is in addition to two major flyovers under construction in which compensation of about N1.2 billion has been worked out to pay those affected by the construction. According to the works and infrastructure commissioner. “So far, about N4 billion has been paid as compensation for people affected by the construction of one protect or the other.

    A further glimpse into development in the coastal areas of the state indicate that it is receiving a fair attention particularly a state that is 75 percent marine with the concomitant effects of high cost of development occasioned by terrain challenges.

    Inspite of these challenges, the governor is in a hurry to fulfill his electoral promises. Already, works are in earnest to complete the three senatorial roads leading to major towns and communities, which until now were accessible by only River crafts. These are the Oporoma road in Bayelsa central senatorial district leading to the riverine areas of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, with high cost of the construction of several bridges. The second one is that of Ogbia Nembe road in Bayelsa East senatorial district. This is a federal project, yet the state government magnanimously intervened with the whooping sum of N3m to ensure early completion of the project. The third one is the Toru-Orua – Ekeremor – Agge road in Bayelsa West senatorial district.

    These road projects which have been in the drawing board for over forty years will open up the hinterland for investors to explore the economic and tourism potentials that abound in these areas especially in the area of sea food and agro-allied products.

    Another road worthy of mention is the road linking Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area to Torogbene in Sagbama Local Government Area with bridges under construction by construction giants like Julius Berger, Okmas and China companies.

    This is being complemented by an airport and a deep seaport under constructions at Amassoma and Agge.

    Apart from the three housing estates and Golf estates under construction, the Seriake Dickson administration has signed a contract with IPP America for the generation of additional 120 megawatts for the take off of industrialization in the state.

    It is a heartwarming news that the state government has embarked on economic diversification by investing in home grown economy, so as to avoid all the trappings of a mono – cultural economy. Hence, government has established a starch production plant farm, aqua culture farm for production and export and the reviving of the state-owned palm estates.

    In the area of security, government considered it as one of its cardinal concerns. The state of insecurity which heralded the Dickson administration was a source of worry, as cult related activities became the order of the day such that night life was like a scarce commodity.

    The government adopted the carrot and stick approach by rolling out rehabilitation programme for cultists who renounce their membership and enforce the law on those who appeared to be recalcitrant.

    The state government also put in place a crime response squad known as Doo Akpoor. This respond squad is not only equipped with the state-of-the-Art equipment for combating crime but also strategically place them in the nooks and crannies of the state.

    Only few weeks ago, the resident pastor of Living Faith Church, a.k.a. winners chapel Yenagoa, pastor Stephen Abraham described Bayelsa as the most peaceful state in the country under the administration of Governor Dickson. No doubt, this is a shining testimony flowing from the alter of God by God’s own servant.

    It is against this background the common opinion across the state is that, the governor, Honourable Henry Seriake Dickson has given development a new meaning anchored on the principle of goal setting and releasing the political will to achieve the set targets.

    The common phrase on the lips of the ordinary people of the state is that “Bayelsa will soon become the Dubai of Africa” which is in line with the vision of the governor. Happily, the economic indicators are all pointing to the fact that Bayelsa state is fast becoming the investment and tourism destination and indeed the fastest growing economy in the South-South.

    Inspite of all these laudable performance index, one grey area that needs government attention is the  internal security that have to do with sea piracy that has reared its ugly heads in the riverine areas. Government really need to double effort to nip it in the bud.

    In the area of agriculture, one can appreciate the modest effort of government to revive the lost glory of agriculture which was once the mainstay of our economy. To this end, government need to do more than ever before by encouraging Aggressive Agrarian Agricultural Revolution (AAAR).  With the rice farm at Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, if properly harnessed has the potential to feed the entire West African sub-region, not to talk of the continental shelve that has a capacity to provide the take off of sea food and agro-allied industries.

    What the situation demands is for all the people of Bayelsa state, regardless of the political divide, to come together to drive the development process to a very safe anchor.

    • Fente wrote from Yenagoa.

     

     

     

     

  • At 40, I’m redefining myself —Julius Agwu

    At 40, I’m redefining myself —Julius Agwu

    At 40, many would agree that actor, comedian and singer Julius Agwu has made his mark in the Nigerian entertainment scene. Marking two scores today, the multitalented artiste spoke with VICTOR AKANDE, Entertainment Editor, on life at 40, his book titled Jokes Apart, How Did I Get Here? and sundry issues.

     

    WHAT are the plans you have for your 40th birthday?

    Well, the truth is I am turning 40, and it is the grace of God that has brought me this far. And it calls for celebration, because I do not want to be someone who is not grateful to God for everything. I am not celebrating because I am rich; I am celebrating because I am wealthy; wealthy in the sense that I have made an impact in my society. It is my belief that that as a human being, you have not achieved anything if you have not made an impact on people around you and the society in general. I also wrote a book that will be launched as part of the celebration. It is another way of saying thanks to God and to all those who have supported the brand.

    What is the book about?

    It is titled Jokes Apart, How Did I Get Here? It is actually my life journey as I get to the old age of my youth. It is basically about my family and growing up; the challenges, cries, joy, and all I had to pass through in this journey. This marks the bus-stop, 40 is a bus-stop, because the journey continues. It is just like a train station, it continues. You come down and hop on another. What I know is, for me, this is a new beginning. Forty is a new beginning, I am asking God to renew that grace by reinventing, restarting, and replenishing me.

    Obviously, you don’t want to fall victim of the cliché of ‘a fool at 40…’

    My brother, these days, a fool at 30 should go to prison. Because a lot of things have changed, people need to realise that you need to be more focused, disciplined, determined and work hard.

    For a society that does not give room to look back, you need to always look forward.

    The only way to do that is to work hard. Once in a while you look back, so that you know where you are coming from, so that you know what propels you and what drives you. Anyway, I am already shielding and stopping some of those things that people consider foolish. Because I do not want to be a fool at 40, that is what it means.

    What is the volume of the book and when did it occur to you that you should write?

    I have always wanted to write a book when I clock 40. I wanted to chronicle my life like an autobiography. By God’s grace I plan to get to 80. I just wanted to take a bold step because I procrastinate a lot. I have a TV show that should have started a long time ago and I have so many projects that I am supposed to be working on. So I just said at 40, I need to start redefining my life. And the book is under print now, with pictures taken with friends and colleagues it will just make an interesting read.

    As a musician/comedian, are we going to see some of your works on display on the D-day?

    It is just an evening for me to sit down with my family. Some people are telling me that there might be a host. I have some colleagues that might want to yap me. It is all an evening of celebration. The high point of the event will be the trailer of my new TV show coming up.

    How prepared are you for the TV show?

    We are finally ready to go, because it’s been four years now working on the template. The TV show is called Jokes Apart with Julius Agwu. That used to be my stage name when I was in school. Jokes Apart was my stage name until I thought to myself, My father no do me anything, let me try and project the family. We are ready for it and a lot of people have been waiting for it. Also, I have two singles that I just released as part of my 40th anniversary celebrations. The first is Rejuvenate, which is what I am asking God for and what I have come to do. So Nigerians, Africans, and the world should wait for the rejuvenated Julius. And the second is titled Mama Soup.

    How has the journey been so far?

    It has not been a bed of roses. There have been challenges, obstacles and impediments. It all started in Rivers State, Port-Harcourt, to be precise, where I grew up. It started from secondary school; I had already started showing signs of being an entertainer. People thought entertainers were tramps of the society, dropouts and unserious people. Saying this was what I wanted to do, my parents kicked against it. All those details are in the book. After my first movie, Rattle Snake, my mum started thinking that I could make some money out of it. They kicked against it because my father wanted me to be a lawyer for his selfish reasons. As an Ikwere man, he probably didn’t want to be paying for lawyers’ services for land disputes. My mum on the other hand wanted me to be a carpenter for her selfish reasons as well; for not being able to afford chairs in the kitchen. And here is Julius today.

    But today…

    The business has brought me this far, the business is taking care of my family. I am married to Ibiere Agwu and we have a beautiful daughter called Zahra. God has been nice and I have enjoyed uncommon favour.

    How would you say your programme Crack Ya Ribs has fared?

    If you remember vividly, I started Crack Ya Ribs in 2001, after my first album which was released in the year 2000. And it was like the first major show by a comedian, and entertainer and it has been sustained. When I started out, people knew Julius as an actor, someone who started from acting and tailed into comedy, from comedy to music-comedy. So, all my fans were yelling to see me in all these tentacles. That was what gave birth to Crack Ya Ribs. And several years down the line, it is celebrated all over the continent. We have also taken the show to America and different locations; we have been to the UK, which is a tradition for us, especially at the annual Notting Hill Carnival. We have also taken the show to different states in Nigeria. This year, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State has promised to host the show. That is my joy and it has created a platform for so many upcoming acts to showcase their talents. A number of them are big in different ways now. Apart from Crack Ya Ribs, we have another brand called Laugh for Christ’s Sake, an evening of gospel rhythm and jokes, which is the gospel comedy. It has also been a major platform for many big acts today.

    How much support have you gotten from your colleagues and corporate bodies?

    From our colleagues, we get a lot of support because they are always ready to support. But musicians are the ones giving us tough times. It is actually difficult to get musicians to support comedy shows, but they support their colleagues. They do not understand how far the relationship can go. As for corporate organisations, it is no longer as it used to be. It is sad that most of them do not realise the essence of Corporate Social Responsibility. Even when they do, they think it is about cutting grass. We deal with human beings; you have been to our shows and have seen the capacity of the audience. Why can’t the government realise that they can use these to launder the image of the country? Why can’t they realise that entertainment is veritable tool towards changing the bad image of Nigeria? The world has grown well; entertainment is part of what has grown the American economy.

    To what extent should a comedian throw banters at people in term of jokes?

    The truth about comedy is that whatever way you want to get the laugh out of people, do it. That is why it is comedy and that is the reason you should have it at the back of your head that it is a joke. It is just that in Nigeria, we have not learnt how to laugh at ourselves. When the joke is not on you, you laugh. When it is on you, you get serious.

    Have you received any form of threat or aggression through any of your jokes that someone didn’t feel good about?

    There had been such, but not really a serious one.

    What is the rationale behind setting up the Julius Agwu Foundation for Youths?

    Even me as an individual, I know the essence of giving back. That is the reason I started Julius Agwu Foundation for Youths (JAFY). It is under the foundation that I have what we call Festival of Love. It was a show I started based on the tradition I have kept for the past eight years of spending outstanding valentine with the less-privileged, every 7th April and valentine. It is also under JAFY that I started a football talent hunt show that I do in my local community in Rivers State called Akpor Football Talent Hunt competition. We have done two editions now. This year is another, just to give these young footballers hope and showcase them. Last year, I went to Kanu Nwakwo and Peter Rufai. That is what I tell my colleagues, that we should try to give back to the society.

    Are you planning to go into politics?

    I am not planning to go into politics. I am contented, but if I get a political appointment, I will go ahead. But with the way politics is going in Nigeria, very soon we fit dey carry gun or cutlass.

    Some people after doing the same thing for several years get bored. Do you sometimes get tired of what you are doing?

    I have not even thought of it, but there were times when I really got frustrated. There were times when I faced serious challenges and obstacles and I would say, ‘God, if this is my talent, let this pass over.’ Everybody passes through tough times and they have had their fair share.

    What are some of those things you would have loved to achieve at 40?

    This show I’m talking about, I would have started it before 40. But God has a purpose for everything. There are those who make it at 60. There are those who make their first N1m at 70. There are those who God bless at the age of 20, 30 and they might not have really appreciated that blessing then. At 40, as I said earlier, I’m going to restart my career. It’s a new beginning.

    Is there such a thing like comedian’s block just like you have writer’s block?

    Yes, but the thing that I know that God has given me is the power of spontaneity. I’m very spontaneous. But to answer your question, let me state it as it is. There are times when I’m building a joke, it comes to a point the punch line doesn’t quite come. You will be wondering how you should take it. Nigerians are very intelligent, especially with this era of social media; everybody is a comedian, an Akpos. Nigeria is not a place where one-liners work. You have to bring out the humour and show to people. One-liners can work in America and Europe. Here, you are on your own, government self dey suffer. So na God we dey look up to. You know in Europe, most of the young people don’t go to church. It’s only when they are old, they want to die, that’s when they want to seek succour. But here, na God!

    You have won several awards as an artiste…

    The best award I get is the one I get along the road by handshake or somebody that wants to take a picture with me. The fact that people watch me, get happy and laugh are what give me satisfaction.

  • Merger: Redefining the territory

    Merger: Redefining the territory

    THE merger of parties standing in opposition to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, while still awaiting consummation, is already creating ripples in the right places. The PDP that has consistently boasted that it would rule the country for a minimum of 60 years is gradually accepting that there could be an earthquake that could cause an unprecedented change on the political scene.

    Our political history bears eloquent testimony to the fact that alliances, mergers and coalitions have not worked, despite a demonstration that it is the way to go and clear indication that it is the wish of the people that there should be two broad political tendencies to allow for choice, previous attempts at combination of forces have always ended in grief. The closest to success was at the inception of the current dispensation when the All Peoples Party and the Alliance for Democracy, having watched the electoral trend, decided strategically to combine efforts by producing a joint presidential ticket.

    The parties decided to field Chief Olu Falae of AD on the platform of the APP. His running mate was a powerful voice in the caliphate and security circles, the Marafan Sokoto, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi of the APP. They ran a good race but missed the mark mainly because the leaders had to adopt an emergency approach. They sought to change the rules while the game had commenced. The PDP had already been seen by the electorate as the only party capable of winning the election. It is not even clear if victory for the APP would have served the purpose of stability and development.

    The All Progressives Congress initiative is certainly welcome. The leaders appear to have taken some lessons from previous experiments. First, it is gratifying that the moves are being made very early, at a time that the next general elections are still about two years away. Second, they have opted for a merger, rather than a quick-fix coalition that more often than not confuses the people. A merger appears organic. It reassures the electorate that the promoters are ready to do business and take risks.

    Besides, the estranged elements in the ruling party are duly served notice about an alternative route to power. It is obvious that the only glue holding the PDP together today is the patronage power. The slogan “Share the Loot” is fitting for the conduct of its leaders. In almost 14 years, the party has provided rudderless leadership and beneficiaries of the pernicious arrangement foisted on the country by the military are held together by the greed for largesse of office. The other route has remained unattractive as the outcomes of the presidential election, year after year, were known before the votes were cast.

    The APC, from what I have seen so far in these early days, could break the jinx. The leaders have to watch out especially for spooks that have been planted, at a price, by a ruling party that realises that a change is about being forced. Leaders of the {DP are not so dumb as to miss the frustration in the system. The youths are particularly restive and could go to any length to secure their future. They have realised that poverty and squalor speak a universal language.

    The name APC brought vividly to my memory years of childhood when the APC tablet, along with Phensic, codeine and iodine were always in the family first aid box. Any child who gave indication of body pains would get a dose of codeine; phensic was the first choice to attack an early hint at fever. When phensic proved inadequate in tackling the crisis, the APC is called to action. Would this APC be as effective as the APC tablet of those days?

    There is also the military hardware, Armoured Personnel Carrier. Until the National Party of Nigeria bought a number of those ferocious machines for the Police in the Second Republic, I had no knowledge they existed. To protect the rogue party in power, the APC were ordered to confront the opposition. But, the resolve of the people could not be so effectively checkmated. The voters who know the quality of governance they had got from the NPN over four years rose against the attempt to subvert their common will. The APCs could not save the Shagari regime.

    In recent years, the APC has been called to action by state governors to combat the menace of armed robbery, especially in the South West. It has been largely successful

    So, to what action is the new APC being called: to work for or against the people? There are, indeed, many obstacles to scale. The legal, as we had pointed out in the earlier piece on this subject, is easier to surmount. The political hurdle requires much more tact, perseverance, partnership with the people and adept tackling of the ruling party. The bottom line is how the APC leaders go about coupling the party together. Do they have a story to tell? Can they manage to convince the people that they mean well and have a programme to sell? Have they done their homework in terms of what to do to jump start the economy? Can they manage to win the support of the youths all over the country? These are daunting tasks. The next six months would give us opportunity to see what this modern version of APC is? Would it be as ubiquitous and effective as the tablet? We can only keep vigil at our posts?

  • Redefining safety

    Redefining safety

    • The President must be living in another planet to claim that Nigeria is safe

     

    From the villages to the cities, Nigerians lament bitterly the insecurity of lives and properties in Nigeria. Even those outside the country are afraid to come to Nigeria, with the British and American governments routinely warning their citizens about where not to go in the country. There is hardly a day that is free of shootings. Despite all these, President Goodluck Jonathan believes Nigeria is a safe place to live in.

    Just imagine the horrible experiences Nigerians have been through since the Boko Haram terrorism that has led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Nigerians. Serial bombings had ocurred in many places of worship, market places, the UN building, police stations, Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) offices, Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) facility (of all places) in Abuja, and many other audacious attacks that give the impression that Nigeria is in a state of anarchy where there are no rulers or, if there are, they have totally lost control of the situation.

    Despite the escalation of these terrorist activities, the government has the audacity to “assure” Nigerians and the international community that the country is safe. Of course many Nigerians have responded that the government should “tell that to the marines”. It is even the height of arrogance for somebody like Doyin Okupe, a “Senior Special Adviser” to the President on Public Affairs, to dare the angry public as well as the international community with transparent lies. Hear him: “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan wishes to assure Nigerians that in spite of this situation, the country is still largely safe and secure. President Jonathan wishes to state categorically of his unwavering commitment and determination to fight insecurity wherever they are found in Nigeria”.

    This is the usual way President Jonathan reacts to such sensitive issues; indeed, the president has always boasted that the security challenges are under control. But he has always appeared helpless and groping in the dark under the ghost of Boko Haram and other criminals that have turned Nigeria into hell on earth.

    How many Nigerians are now able to sleep with their eyes closed? How many of them can walk in the streets, or travel, in the night? Our homes are not safe, our roads are not safe, our banks are not safe, our churches are not safe, our schools and other institutions are not safe. When we sleep and wake up the following day we thank God for the miracle of sleeping and waking, but do not know what would happen before nightfall or even in the next moment!

    Apparently the president thinks Nigeria is safe because he is completely alienated from the people he is supposed to govern, serve and protect. Unlike some other leaders, our president lives in an impregnable fortress where no ordinary Nigerian can enter. He moves around in the air space where there is no traffic jam. When he moves on the land, God save the Nigerian who dares drive his vehicle near him or his wife. Because the president and those around him are very safe, he goes about telling other Nigerians and the outside world, who actually know better, that Nigeria, is very safe. And this is the same president who had to celebrate the last independent anniversary in the very safe confines of Aso Rock instead of jubilating with the rest of Nigerians openly at the Eagle Square, Abuja, apparently due to security concerns.

    Security is a very serious issue that must not be politicised. And if the president sincerely believes that the country is safe, which most certainly is not, then that explains why he has not taken the issue seriously as an emergency requiring all the attention it deserves.