The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Still

  • Still, in defence of lasting value

    Still, in defence of lasting value Eminent poet Prof. Niyi Osundare, who delivered the Kayode Fayemi inauguration lecture yesterday, reflected on the transience of power and the imperative of lasting legacies, which could make an elected leader to remain a reference point in good governance.

    Let us begin by deliberating on the choice and import of the word “still” in the above title. A temporal, somewhat contrastive adverb, the word carries connotations of the relationship between time past and time present, with possible implications for time future. It purveys significations of an idea, an act, a condition, a circumstance, a plague, a pleasure that once was but has refused to go away, or has been prevented from doing so. In my personal deployment of that word in this lecture, I have imbued it with a dose of stubborn insistence, a heady never-say-die spirit, a somewhat inexplicable tenacity, a delicate optimism borne of a visionary impulse. It is emboldened by what is (or used to be, alas,!),  a globally recognized Ekiti Ideal (More on that later).

    For, the title of my lecture today has been with me for almost two decades, and its spirit had lived in my consciousness  long before that. “In Defence of Lasting Values”: that was the title of my acceptance speech at the 2001 Amoye Grammar School Alumni Award ceremony. Almost one decade and half later, I had to update that address for publication in a special magazine by the same school. And curiously enough, while racking my brain for a fitting subject for today’s momentous event, that title popped up again, and I began to feel something akin to the urge to complete – no, continue – an unfinished business which will never stop agitating my mind until the task has been done. For, a frightful lot has happened to Ekitiland since 2001 when my first Values lecture engaged the attention of my fellow Amoye Grammar School alumni. Our state has see-sawed from light to darkness, darkness to light, and back to darkness again, as we fumbled from gubernatorial tenures marked by civility and visionary idealism to others characterized by primitive despotism and medieval barbarism. We became the only state in  Nigeria clamped down under a state of emergency and humiliated with the imposition of a unilaterally appointed sole administrator, even in a civilian dispensation. In spite of all this, where then did I get that audacity to prelude my “Defence of Lasting Values” with that word ‘Still’ with its obstinately recurrent import?. What “values” am I talking about, and what is responsible for their much touted resilience?

    Values are that body of beliefs, principles, norms, and mores which undergird custom and convention, and are the major determinants of a people’s way of being, thinking, doing, behaving; their perception of themselves and others, their recognition of their place in the world. They are the building blocks of major societal institutions such as religion  law,  politics, and the econmy.. In many ways, the relationship among these institutions and the value system could be seen as symbiotic,  mutually referential, and mutually reinforcing. Value consciousness, or what I am inclined to call value literacy, plays a vital role in the determination of what society categorizes as acceptable practices and protocols of behavior, much as it shapes what gets ostracized to the territory of abominations and taboos. This is why the aa kii; an in in Ekiti dialect (we do not…..; it is not done) principle in Youruba proverbs and other wise sayings is so potent, at times  to the point of legal prohibition. In the thinking of many elders, the flagrant flouting of the aa kii principle is largely responsible for the social anomy and cultural degeneration that pervade Yoruba society today. It is also the cause of the rampart, ostensibly uncontrollable corruption that is the bane of our social health and economic sanity.    The value system provides  the determining  tool  for judgong greatness and its opposite, for heroism is determined by the aggregate of those achievements and salient aspects of behavior considered highly treasured by all, but achievable by only a few. The hero is the instantiation and practical demonstration of these ideals, their exemplum and enviable champion.

    Our value options define us even as we define those options. “Show me the value system of a society, and I will tell you what kind of people it contains”. A society given to materialism will measure people’s self-worth and importance by their possession of hefty bank accounts and/or the size and number of their cash-loaded Ghana-must-go’s, the palatial superfluity of the family mansion, the exclusive location of their residence, the trendy, foppish extravagance of the wardrobe, the number of automobiles in the family garage and driveway and their ‘awesome’, exotic make/class, , the model, size, of the family private jet, and, these days, the pedigree and jaw-dropping price of their mobile phone/handset. And, of course, these material acquisitions never come without their socio-economic, political, and ethical correlatives. For, a well oiled, satanically orchestrated regimen of sleaze and corruption is required to keep the personal wealth going – and increasing – and ensure that the control of political power remains in the hands of those  that are certain to maintain the hemorrhaging of the commonweal in order to guarantee the in-flow of public wealth into private pockets . Afterall, the money invested in the installation of lackeys through the rigging of a civil election, or change of government by means of coup de tat has one principal goal: the maintenance and sustenance of that evil nexus of economic power and political dominance to the benefit of the powerful actors and the eternal detriment of the citizenry.

    Differential values. Differential goals. Differential accomplishments. Differential valuations. Contrary to the scenario laid out above, a society which places its priority is on knowledge, the wisdom which brings it into being, its generation, dissemination, and purposive command, is most likely to be made of a sober breed. While the money man flaunts his wealth, beats his chest, swears by the sheer superabundance of his possessions even as he sways and swaggers across his empire, the knowledge-seeker is priest in a different temple. The Book and other purveyors of knowledge are his prime possession, the library his mansion, his study his altar, the universe his canvas, Justice his abiding brief, Humanity his infinite charge. Ideas do not only rule the world. The world was invented by them and they have never ceased re-inventing it. For ideas are mercurial, potent, uncontainable, unkillable. They make the past present; they make the future look like the past. Inalienable offspring of the Imagination, they are the compost-bed of the most wondrous germinations, the fertile mother of all inventions, the forever intriguing cohabitation of fact and fancy. Very much like the architect, they live in houses before they are built.

    Here, then, these two houses: the one built with cash and concrete, stone and steel, the other with dream and fancy; the one ruled by the netherworld of appropriations and appetites, the other by the invisible but eternally nourishing manna of the mind; the one hanging from the tinsel top of a golden rack, the other tremulous like that chord that strums the universal harmony; the one brash and brittle, the other made of supple clay; the one loud and rude, the other solemn and soberly reflective.

    Differential values, differential adulations. The ideals you extol reveal the kind of person you are and your grammar of values.  Once upon a time, Ekiti weighed these contending options and had no problem in knowing which to choose and where to go. That was when the world knew us as Alagidi Ekiti (Stubborn Ekiti people); when the happy synonyms of ‘alagidi’ included words such as ‘proud’, ‘tough-minded’, ‘principled’, ‘dependable’, ‘tenacious’, a people who knew their rights and how to defend them without trampling on the rights of others. That was when our heads stood straight on our upright necks; for we knew, without being told, the difference between wrong and right; between fake and true, between the dissembling demagogue and the genuine leader. That was when we knew the difference between night and day. That was when an abomination called stomach infrastructure had not replaced our brain with our innards.

    I never saw people starve and die in the Ekiti of my youthful days. Whoever had a little  more shared the surplus with the needy and hungry. Hard work and honest labour were highly valued, and the length of your ogba usu (yam barn) at harvest time in December and/or the impressive expanse of your cocoa farm were the toast of the town, which brought honour to you and your family, and might even win you a new wife. Wealth, honestly earned, was respected; wealth from dubious sources was disdained and ridiculed in traditional songs and snide remarks. That was the time people asked: Ibi se ti reo re? (Where did he get his money from/What is the source of his wealth?). Humanity was at the very centre of our universe. One of my mother’s relations was named Eotomo (The human being surpasses money), a name I got to know before Nigeria’s 2nd Republic politics made Omoboriowo a household name. This idea also found expression in an aphoristic saying I heard quite often in those days: Eo fun ruru, e t’oniyan (Money looks so flashy, but it is not as beautiful as the human being). The electoral activities in those days had their own venal blight too, but it is surely nothing to compare with the dibo ko se’be, (cast your vote and earn money for a pot of soup), dibo ko ra’le (cast your vote and earn money to buy a plot of land) racketeering of today. I remember with aching nostalgia that Ikere man who was reported to have told his wife to return to sender the portion of salt given to her to secure her vote for a particular political party, his reasoning being Me yo j’e io (I don’t want to commit an abomination). Yes, indeed, that was when moral infrastructure sustained the strength of our house of values.

    Ever before the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, made that dramatic answer popular, if you asked Ekiti  people in those days three items that occupied topmost place in their list of priorities, the sure chorus would be ‘Education, Education, Education’. Upcountry people with no powerful political pedigree and handed-down wealth, Ekiti wrote those lines with their belief and action before the prodigiously talented Odunjo put them down on paper:

    Ise l’oogun ise

    Igunpa niyekan

    Ti a ko ba r’eni fehinti

    Bi ole la nri

    Ti a ko ba r’eni gbeke le

    A tera mo ise eni

    The heroes of my youth were educated people – or, more exactly, people who heightened our aspirations with the sheer enthusiasm and uncommon acumen with which they acquired Western education. Our aspirational anthem was composed of names such as Ojo Ugbole, Ogundare, Ajayi Ikole, Longe Odina Ukere,  Aluko Ode, Akintoye, Babatola, Afe Babalola Ado, Osuntokun Okemesi, Ajayi Ugbara Odo,  Olaofe Are, Okeya Emure, Ogundipe Ijes-Usu, Olubunmo Orin, Esan  (of Esin Atiroja fame) Ikoro….. Infinitely fascinating is the nomenclatural peculiarity of these designations: the first being the surname of the subjects, the second the names of their towns of origin. In a true Yoruba oriki tradition, these figures bore their towns’s names as if they were their surnames. They shone the light of their achievements on those towns, gave them a place in the sun, and brought them to fame and reckoning. For a long, long time, I thought Ugbole was Ojo’s father’s name.

    • To be continued

  • Still, IE steals

    Despite a nationwide public uproar over “crazy bills” by the unmetered but over-milked segment of the power Distribution Companies’ (DisCos) market, Ikeja Electric (IE), as other DisCos, continues to systematically steal from its customers.

    The sure-footed heist so gores that something might soon give, except the authorities call these thieving DisCos to order.

    Just imagine this extortionist fiat, a one-way text from Ikeja Electric, and marvel at its martial finality:

    “Dear acct no 0100967162, Your consumption for MAY 2018 is 510.00Kwh, current charge is N11, 406. 15. Arrears is N-4.35. Pls pay to avoid service disruption. For enquiries call 017000250.”

    What galls is not exactly the so-called bill but the voodoo parameters of its calculation. How can a consumer run up more than N11, 000 in electricity bill, when the best IE supplied all through the month was, at peak, 10 to 11 hours a day, spread over two hours in the mid-morning, two hours in the afternoon, fours hours from 7pm to 11 pm and the remaining three hours from 3am to 6 am?

    But note, that was at the best of times, which was seldom. Some days in May, power dipped to a bare three hours a day, particularly shortly after a truck brought down some high-tension cables, at the popular Cele traffic-passengers hub, off the Oshodi-Mile 2 expressway. The quoted text message emanated from the Okota Undertaking of IE.

    Most times too, the segmented supply of electricity comes at the whims and caprices of IE engineers. Nothing is sacrosanct, except IE’s satanic bills that brooks no argument!

    This month, for instance, there has been a widely reported nationwide drop in power feed, due to gas supply complications. During that period, which lasted about one week or even a few days more, power was three hours maximum a day. There was a particular day or two, when the light did not even blink! But Hardball is sure IE’s magical bill meters are already recording hundreds of kwh consumed for enduring darkness, instead of enjoying electricity.

    And the so-called arrears! Most times, they are carry-overs from past voodoo billing, especially from that magical October of 2016, when electricity supply plumbed to record low but billing for darkness flared to record high. IE’s latest monster-child, the “crazy bill” was born.

    IE and other DISCOs are baiting communities, stealing from them with impunity and provoking them with disconnection gangs, who IE sends out to enforce its satanic decree, to corral money for service not rendered. As the Yoruba say, everyday is for the thief but only one day — one severe day — for the owner.

    The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), industry regulators and even the Federal Power ministry must ensure that lone, severe day, for the owner never comes. Since these DisCos can’t be trusted to honestly bill consumers, via estimated billing, without putting their hands in the cookie jar, they must be made to meter this segment, with metering treated as an emergency.

    If that day of the owner comes, and the communities vent their spleen on DisCos and their agents, DisCos will lose more than gulping easy revenue from supplying darkness. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.

  • Still a wink in the dark

    Still a wink in the dark

    The transportation sector performed below average in 2016 despite high public expectations, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    How did the transportation sector fare this year? Whereas for many Nigerians, the verdict is a grim below par performance, experts, however, say the sector had an average showing.

    The expectation of a speedy transformation had not been misplaced. The change mantra upon which the administration rode to power had promised unprecedented transformation and the merging of the Ministry of Aviation with the Transportation Ministry had promised a regime of “business unusual”.

    That was why they felt that with N202 billion out of a total allocation of N215, 797 billion in this year’s budget devoted to capital expenditure, the transportation sector is set for a rejigging.

    For almost half the year, the sector was in the eye of the storm, caught in a feud between the executive and the legislature over allegations of “budget padding” and the questionable removal of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal railway project, a cardinal programme of the government from the 2016 budget.

     

    A rusty past

     

    A country with 108,000 km of surfaced roads as at 1990, Nigeria with the largest road network in West Africa and the second largest, south of the Sahara, the narrative remained at best that of decaying infrastructure. The roads which are the main means of transportation since independence are poorly maintained and are often the cause of the country’s high rate of fatal accidents, which has continued to attract global concern.

    A CIA World Factbook (1999), citing a 1998 estimate, put the total kilometres of paved federal roads at 60,068 km (including 1,194 km of expressways), out of 194,394 km, leaving a total of 134,326 km of unpaved roads.

    In 2004, the government began a massive patching of the 32,000-kilometre federal road network through the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

    Between then and now however, most of the paved roads especially in the heavy rainfall belt of the south have become impassable as they have lost their asphalt surface and have reverted to gravel roads.

    Same is the story of the four strategic trans-African Highway network that is meant to connect the country with her neighbours via road system. These are the Trans-Saharan highway from Kano to Algeria, which completion is being hampered by border security issues, the Trans-Sahelian highway to Dakar, which is substantially completed, the Trans-West African Caostal highway which connects seven Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) westwards to Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, with feeder link to Burkina Faso and Mali, Liberia and Sierra Leone and the Lagos-Mombasa highway which would provide highway link to Cameroon, but its continuation across DR Congo to East Africa is substantially lacking as are other highways from Cameroon to Central and Southern Africa.

    However, while the trans-African highways are a long shot, the goal post of which may continue to be shifted, the question is how has the government fared in rehabilitating the nation’s road network, the mainstay of the nation’s transportation?

    A road transportation expert Dr Tajudeen Kayode Bawa-Allah conceded that the rate of work on all federal roads had been abysmal in recent past. However, the story, he said, have changed with unprecedented work going on simultaneously in the six geo-political zones of the country. Bawa-Allah, a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Chairman of the Academy’s Road and Transportation Work Group said the government is right in embarking on the massive investment on road development at a time of recession as doing such remained the best option.

    He said: “Motorists would be delightfully happy with the state of our roads in 2017 as the government has done so much in rehabilitating so many of those roads.”

    He said the renewed synergy between the Ministry of Transportation and that of Power, Works and Housing would bequeath to Nigeria world class infrastructure that would support the sector in the years ahead.

    Scoring the budget performance Bawa-Allah said, the sector achieved about 50 percent this year, and by 2017, will move to about 70 percent and if the pace continues, move to about 90 percent by 2019.

     

    Rail Modernisation

     

    A critical segment of the transformation agenda of the government in land transportation is the reactivation and modernisation strategies of the railway.

    To ensure that it bequeath to the country a modern railway system, the government is trying to privatise the Nigerian Railway Corporation. Similarly, the government is granting concessions to private port operators as part of its partial port privatisation strategy to return the port to the era of profitability to improve the quality of port facilities and operations.

    In the year, the government invested a lot of time ensuring the paper work for the privatisation of the railway system (which further consolidates the abrogation and amendment of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Act 1954). During the year, the government perfected plans to cede the two narrow gauges owned by the NRC to General Electric (GE), while the new standard gauges being proposed for the country would be concessioned to CCECC.

    The envisaged rail system modernisation, informed the allocation of N213.14 bn of the N262 bn earmarked for the Transportation Ministry in 2017 as counterpart funding for the Lagos-Kano, Calabar-Lagos, Ajaokuta-Itakpe-Warri, and the Kaduna-Abuja railway projects.

    “I must admit the transformation we all envisaged took longer than expected, but I am optimistic that these projects will commence in 2017 for all to see,” said President Muhammadu Buhari during the budget presentation.

    Founder of Safety Without Borders Mr Patrick Adenusi said the railway remained the catalyst for the nation’s economic development. He said while the government must be supported in its drive to encourage private investor’s participation, efforts must be put in place to ensure that only investors with proven track record are partnered with to modernise the sector.

    The railway being a major sub-sect of land transportation must be carefully handled. The passenger as well as cargo trains are very viable and Nigeria has the population to ensure the profitability of the sector on a sustainable basis.

    “A cargo train which can pull as much as 300 units of 40 feet containers means that 300 trailers could be taken off the roads at once. These not only decongest the roads, it prolongs its lifespan, reduces carbon emission, improves the life of the vehicles and assures the safety of the cargoes.”

    He said the privatisation should engender the creation of more train routes in order to decongest the roads. “Let government establish more passenger train networks. There should be Lagos-Benin, Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Onitsha, Enugu-Calabar. People can live in Benin and work in Lagos, if they can make the distance in two-and-half hours and save themselves the agony of spending same hours in Lagos traffic snarl before they get home.”

    Bawa ‘Allah and Adenusi agreed that while the land transportation sector had witnessed some growth, same cannot be said of aviation, where most operators are facing the most challenging times.

    Most foreign operators have left Nigeria for neighbouring countries due to a combination of a stringent foreign exchange policy, scarcity of aviation fuel and a massive drop in passenger traffic. These experts said are compounded by deteriorating facilities at many of the airports across the country, while some of the local operators have continued to operate as if they are above the law.

    On the maritime sector, the government has continued to play major roles in regulating the maritime transportation sector and ensuring that the waterways are secured and dredged to make it more navigable by local and international operators.

    The government, experts however, concurred need to make the sector more attractive to operators in the coming year.

    Overall, Adenusi gave the sector a 45 percent performance in the outgoing year, projecting a marginal growth to 75 percent by next year if government sustains its policies and stimulates the involvement of private sector in all the modes of transportation.

     

    The gains

     

    Experts opined that never in the history of the country has the transportation sector recorded such attention it got from the government as it got in the outgoing year.

    From sustaining the gains of its predecessor on the railway transformation agenda, the government moved towards consolidating the modernisation agenda by reinvigorating the 25 year railway development policy. This policy not only sustains the rehabilitation of the narrow gauge, but embarks on modernisation of the rail system by standard gauge.

    On June 15, this year, the Senate passed the new NRC Bill, setting the pace for the abrogation of the draconian NRC Act and opening the window of opportunity for Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) in the railway sector.

    Also in the year, GE announced its readiness to invest about $2 billion in the railway sector, while the Minister of Transportation Mr Rotimi Amaechi disclosed that government had concessioned the nation’s narrow gauge rail networks to GE.

    The government also took delivery of the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge in July, and concessioned the modern network as well as 16 others, including the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail line to a Chinese consortium- CCECC.

    Amaechi said the government desirous of making the railway the primary mass transit option for the nation, adding that government’s strategies is to fully integrate multi-modal transit system in the country.

    The Senate recently held a public hearing on the National Transportation Commission (NTC), to pave way for the establishment of a sector regulator, which pundits say is badly needed in the sector.

    When it is fully realised, the NTC would regulate, direct and formulate uniform transportation policies across the country that must be complied with by all arms of the government – federal, states or the 774 local government areas of the country. The Bill is expected to be passed by the Senate by the first quarter of 2017.

    The Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail line is expected to be the jewel on the cap of the sector for 2017.

    If this, along with other initiatives, strategies and policies of the government are adhered to the transportation sector may well be on its way to regaining its place as the main driver of the economy.

     

    Conclusion

     

    For Adenusi, to get it right next year, the government need to revisit the previous policies and check what is right and give it a new touch.

    “We need to press the reset button, look back at the 60 and 70s when Nigeria was well run and take what was functioning in our system at that time and give it a 21st century life. This is the way to go if we want to get out of this cyclical move that yields no result and give the transport sector the best we can offer,” Adenusi said.

  • Mikel could still stay at Chelsea

    Mikel could still stay at Chelsea

    John Mikel Obi’s chances of staying at Chelsea received a huge boost when Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho dropped a hint that Peter Cech might be moved on by eulogising Mark Schwarzer as a capable deputy goalkeeper and praised Thibaut Courtois as the best young goalkeeper in Europe.

    Mourinho admitted he has a tough decision to make as English Premier league  and UEFA Champions league clubs can only name 17 foreign players over the age of 21 in their official 25-man squads and Chelsea have 18 overseas stars at the moment meaning one player must be off loaded.

    Mikel, who has over 200 appearances for Chelsea since Mourinho signed him in 2006 from Lyn Oslo in Norway alongside Petr Cech and Fernanado Torres, are the three names listed as the likely departures from Stamford Bridge to help beat the EPL rule on foreign players over the age of 21.

    Two days ago Mourinho ruled out any potential sale of Fernando Torres despite bringing back Didier Drogba and signing of Diego Costa from Athletico Madrid.

    However speaking to London Evening Standard Mourinho hinted that long standing Chelsea number one goalkeeper Petr Cech might be the one to leave with Paris Saint Germain (PSG) reportedly interested in the 31-year -old.

    “Petr is ready to fight for his position but Thibaut is the best young goalkeeper in the world, no doubts about that. They will fight and for me it’s a good problem to have to make a decision.

    “We are a club that wants to be strong and wants to have a real possibility of competing for trophies and we want competition for places.”

    “But I know that Mark Schwarzer is a very good keeper, very stable and a good man, completely ready to be our second goalkeeper like he was last season and to give positive performances if we need him to play.”

    Thibaut Courtois recently returned from his three-year loan spell at Atletico Madrid where he won the La-Liga, Europa League and played in the Champions League final against Real Madrid last season and he has already indicated his willingness to challenge for the number one spot at Chelsea.

  • Nembe City still confident

    Nembe City still confident

    Nembe City coach, John Aranka is confident his side will avoid relegation at the close of the 2013/14 Glo Premier League season.

    The Nembe-based side sit at the base of the 20-team elite league log on 16 points from a possible 57 at the close of first stanza hostilities.

    The side are expected to restart the second stanza campaign against Sunshine Stars on Sunday in Akure.

    Aranka said the task of pulling the side out of the woods looks insurmountable but with the new additions to the squad the seemingly tough hurdle will be subdued.

    “The toughest task facing us right now is how to permanently get the side out of the relegation zone.

    “That’s the task before us as we get ready for the commencement of the second stanza of the season on Sunday.

    “The task looks insurmountable but to us it is achievable with the quality of players in our fold.

    “We’ve pencilled down few experienced players to boost the squad and once we’re done with their clearance they’re sure to bring added value to our survival campaign.

    “I’m confident Nembe City will maintain its status in the Premier League next season,” said Aranka to supersport.com.

    Aranka assured his side will not comeback empty-handed from their trip to Akure on Sunday.

    “Our plan is to pick, at least, a point at Sunshine Stars. Avoiding defeat will boost our morale going into the next matches.

    “The players have promised to give their very best in the game so we’re hopeful to start the second term on a good note more so now we’ve no business with the Federation Cup,” Aranka said.

  • SUPER EAGLES JOB: Keshi still in limbo

    SUPER EAGLES JOB: Keshi still in limbo

    • Ready to serve Nigeria
    • Mum on Bafana, Bafana post

    Nigeria head coach, Stephen Keshi, has told supersport.com that he has not been contacted by the country’s football federation, the NFF, on staying in his role. Keshi stated that he had never shut down on remaining the Nigeria head coach job.

    “No one has spoken to me about any contract or invited me to discussion. I am always ready to serve my country to the best of my ability. But we must do things properly,” Keshi responded to supersport.com when asked if he is in talks with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to remain as Super Eagles head coach.

    The 52-year-old Nigerian coach, however, played down reports of him being in the frame to take charge of South Africa’s Bafana Bafana. He also expressed excitement at being linked to the role of the South Africa head coach.

    “They [the South Africa Football Association] have not named their coach. Or have they? I’m happy I’m being considered worthy to handle the team of such a big country but they’ve not named me or any other person as their coach, so I can’t start talking in that capacity,” said Keshi.

    The future of Keshi as Nigeria’s head coach was expected to be among the discussion between the country’s sports Minister, Dr Tammy Danagogo and the NFF on Tuesday in Abuja but the meeting did not hold.

    Under Keshi as head coach, Nigeria won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and also reached the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup for the first time in 16 years.

  • The world stands still for Mandela

    The world stands still for Mandela

    South African President Jacob Zuma, who visited former President Nelson Mandela in hospital yesterday, said he was “encouraged” by his progress.

    South Africans have been urged to mark Mandela’s 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.

    “When I visited him today… I was able to say ‘happy birthday’ and he was able to smile,” Mr Zuma said in a statement.

    “Mandela’s struggle for freedom and justice in our country and his values of promoting a fair, just and equitable world continues to inspire and motivate us,” he told a visiting European Union (EU) delegation.

    At an event in New York City, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was among the speakers to pay a heartfelt tribute to Mandela and his achievements.

    Clinton, whose presidency coincided with Mandela’s, recalled how they developed a personal friendship over the course of two decades after first meeting before Clinton’s election to the White House.

    He paid tribute to Mandela’s life of service, saying the world could learn from his example, as an anti-apartheid campaigner, as South Africa’s president and after leaving office.

    Mandela’s commitment to helping those with HIV/AIDS helped millions of people in the developing world gain access to medication, he said.

    Clinton also recalled how Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls, had cited Mandela as an influence in her own address to the United Nations last week.

    “Though he is old and frail and fighting for his life … what is in his heart still glows in his smile and lights up the room,” Clinton said, adding that Mandela had demonstrated that “none of us has to be in public office to be of public service.”

    Andrew Mlangeni, 87, who was imprisoned with Mandela, hailed his friend as “a modern day global icon, an embodiment of the values of justice, peace, selflessness and consideration.”

    The world’s celebration of Mandela’s birthday is also a celebration of the human values that the former leader represents, he said.

    He said Mandela was “making very good progress “ and appealed to those gathered to continue to pray for him.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the U.S. civil rights leader, praised Mandela’s commitment to healing and equality and urged people to honour his courage.

    The world “will never forget the living witness of Nelson Mandela,” he said, describing him as a “giant of men.”

    ‘Path to justice’

    U.S. President Barack Obama, who visited with Mandela’s family in South Africa last month, also sent birthday wishes.

    “People everywhere have the opportunity to honour Madiba through individual and collective acts of service,” he said in a prepared statement. “Through our own lives, by heeding his example, we can honour the man who showed his own people — and the world — the path to justice, equality and freedom.”

    The frail icon has not appeared in public for years, but he retains his popularity as the father of democracy and emblem of his nation’s fight against apartheid.

    His defiance of white minority rule focused the world’s attention on apartheid, the legalised racial segregation enforced by the South African government until 1994.

    His hospitalisation has given his birthday a sentimental touch. The South African Embassy in the United States said it will be the biggest celebration since his birthday in 1990, the year he was freed from prison.

    The festivities are not limited to South Africa. In the United States, the embassy said 18 cities, including the nation’s capital, held various events to celebrate his birthday.

     

    Family feud

     

    Mandela’s family has faced an anxious few weeks while the former president has been hospitalised.

    His daughter, Zindzi Mandela-Motlhajwa, told the South African Press Association yesterday that her father was making “remarkable progress” and that she looks forward to seeing him back home soon.

    A public family feud over where three of Mandela’s deceased children should be buried has added to their stress.

    Last month, family members sued Mandela’s grandson to return the remains to Qunu, the former president’s childhood home.

    The grandson, Mandla Mandela, exhumed the remains from Qunu two years ago, then reburied them in Mvezo, where he’s built a visitor center. They were returned to Qunu this month after a court order.

    The matter was back in court yesterday, said Freddie Pilusa, a spokesman for the grandson.

    “Mandla does not want the graves repatriated, but he wants the decision forcing him to move them rescinded because it was based on incorrect information,” he said.

    Mandela, a Nobel peace laureate, spent 27 years in prison for fighting against oppression of minorities in South Africa. He became the nation’s first black president in 1994, four years after he was freed from prison.

    Children waved South African flags at the Milton Mbekela school in the village of Qunu, Mr Mandela’s boyhood home.

    Outside the hospital in Pretoria where the former president is being treated, well-wishers reached for balloons bearing his image.

    Mr Mandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and members of his family greeted the crowds outside the hospital in Pretoria.

    There was even birthday cake for those gathered outside the hospital.

    South Africans have been urged to mark Mr Mandela’s 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts. These women did so by taking part in a human food chain in Johannesburg.

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who campaigned alongside Mr Mandela for an end to white-minority rule, celebrated his old friend’s birthday at a primary school in Cape Town.

    Mandela’s daughter, Zindzi, said he was making “remarkable progress”, adding that she had found him watching television with headphones on and communicating with his eyes and hands when she visited him this week.

    “We look forward to having him back at home soon,” the South African Press Association quoted her as saying.

    Mr Mandela’s birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, a day declared by the UN as a way to recognise the Nobel Prize winner’s contribution to reconciliation.

    The former statesman is revered across the world for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa. He went on to become the first black president in the country’s first multi-racial elections in 1994.

    The governing African National Congress (ANC) said that on this Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of “life well-lived”, dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.

    Events are also taking place internationally, with an image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York’s Times Square.

    British entrepreneur Richard Branson, speaking in a recorded message, has pledged 67 minutes of community service to “make the world a better place, one small step at a time”.

    Meanwhile, concerts are planned later this week in the Australian city of Melbourne, featuring local and African artists.

     

    ‘Less anxious’

     

    Mr Mandela’s ill-health gives extra poignancy to this year’s Mandela Day, correspondents say.

    For South Africans, the best birthday present for Mandela would be for him to recover and be among the people who love him most, says the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.

    Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told a local radio station her former husband’s 95th birthday was “a gift not only to the family… but to the nation”.

    She rejected the “prophets of doom” who have warned of chaos in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies.

    “The country will solidify and come together,” she told Radio 702.

    Mandela’s third wife, Graca Machel, said last Friday that she was “less anxious” about his health than before, adding that he was continuing to respond well to treatment.

    Yesterday was also the 15th anniversary of the couple’s marriage.

    Before the anniversary, Mandela’s close friend and lawyer George Bizos described them as “a loving couple”, the AFP news agency reports.

  • Still on the phones for farmers

    Still on the phones for farmers

    Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture obviously still don’t appreciate just how bad their phones-for-farmers policy is. Rather than back down and take criticisms in good faith, they have sought to modify the policy and resell it to a wary public dissatisfied with government insensitivity and profligacy. Originally, according to the ministry’s permanent secretary, Mrs Ibukun Odusote, some 10 million phones costing between N40bn and N60bn were to be procured and distributed to farmers in order to integrate them into modernised agricultural management. The firestorm that greeted the plan forced the minister himself, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, to wade into the controversy in an attempt to set records straight. There was no N60bn set aside anywhere, he said, and no one, not least himself, was interested in lining anyone’s pocket with filthy lucre. Apparently, he believed that those who denounced the plan suspected ministry officials were eager to embezzle government funds.

    But Adesina did not stop at reiterating his bona fides. First he flaunted his credentials, in particular how he contributed to the agricultural revolution in Malawi and Kenya; and then second he gave details of why the phones were important in integrating farmers into the government’s agricultural plans and programmes. Said he: “The government will provide a subsidy to the farmer through the voucher to buy the phone. The farmer takes the voucher to the local mobile phone operator and pays the balance, which is the difference between the value of the voucher and the cost of the phone. Once a farmer buys a phone and a SIM card, his new phone number will be updated on the e-wallet database and he will be able to receive his e-wallet voucher, which will entitle him to purchase fertiliser and seeds at subsidised rates.” The minister still misses the point. Whether subsidised or not, critics are saying farmers are able to buy their own phones, and the government need not be involved through any subsidy programme.

    Not satisfied with simply debunking public perceptions of the issues surrounding the phone project, the minister unwisely followed up with a delicately wrought faux pas. Said he: “I will not be distracted. We will rebuild the broken walls of Nigeria’s agriculture and unlock wealth and opportunities for our farmers. For those calling for my crucifixion, let me say that when Jesus was before Pilate, they had accused him falsely. Pilate, after listening to his case, found no cause for condemning him. Nonetheless, should anyone still want me crucified, let me say this, along my faith: ‘I am crucified with Christ already. Nevertheless, I live, and the life that I live, I live by the grace of the son of God who died for me.’” Nobody doubts his religious credentials. Though the rather emotive minister seems inclined to equate himself with the phone project, what is actually being crucified is not him but his phone policy. And it certainly does not seem there is any biblical or literary quotation he might fling at his critics that can mitigate their desire to kill the superfluous project.

    The Agriculture minister is apparently a man of wide experience and great learning, a fact that is obviously not lost on the president who appointed him, and on the president’s spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, who enthuses about his stellar performance. Critics also respect his judgement and give him the benefit of the doubt concerning his motives in putting together the phone project. But his moralisations, apart from being fulsome, again miss the point. Hear him: “I have stolen no man’s silver, nor demanded any man’s gold, and will continue to drive bold innovation and reforms to fully modernise and transform the agricultural sector. That is my remit from the president and that is exactly what we will do, as I continue to serve my nation with the highest level of vision, passion, personal integrity and dedication.” Let Adesina keep his virtues. But the remit he will get from the public is that while his bold reforms are desirable, the ministry has no business spending a kobo, directly or indirectly, on phones for farmers.

    It is a sad commentary on modern Nigeria that the Goodluck Jonathan cabinet is brimming with experimenters, such as the highly fecund Aviation minister with her considerable and convoluted boondoggles. Worse, it is a government that has cruelly and consistently refused to heed public dissatisfaction with and reservations about government programmes. If Adesina is as brilliant as Abati lets out with perfect conviction, he will appreciate the public’s reluctance to endorse his new project on phones for farmers, and quietly and sensibly shelve it.

  • FIFA rankings: Nigeria still 52nd

    FIFA rankings: Nigeria still 52nd

    Despite their pre-Nations Cup friendly match victory over Catalonia in December 2012, (though not FIFA rated match,) Nigeria maintained their 52nd spot in the world ranking for the month of January released on Thursday.

    With less than three days to the Eagles’ first African Cup of Nations Group C game against the Stallions of Burkina Faso at the Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, SportingLife findings revealed that despite Nigeria retaining the 52nd and 9th spot in the world and Africa respectively, the Eagles’ cumulative points dropped from 581 to 573 points, meaning their AFCON showing in South Africa could determine if the country’s ranking will rise or fall in the month of February.

    Meanwhile, Nigeria’s opponents in the January 21 tie, Burkina Faso have dropped three steps from 89th to 92nd.

    Defending champions Zambia’s Chipolopolo who host Eagles four days later in their second game are still Africa’s fifth best team and also remain 39th in the FIFA rankings while Ethiopia, Group C underdogs, are on 110th spot.

    However, Ivory Coast remain Africa’s top team in 14th place worldwide followed by Algeria (22nd), Mali (25th), Ghana (26th). Zambia (39th), Libya (47th), Gabon (49th), Central African Republic (51st), Nigeria (52nd) and Tunisia (53rd) make up the African top 10 list.

  • Onoja: I’m still in Action Congress of Nigeria

    Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Benue South in the 2011 senatorial election, has said he is still in the party/

    The clarification followed rumours that he had defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Gen. Onoja was the major challenger to Senate President David Mark in the 2011 election.

    He contested on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for the Benue South seat.

    There were reports that the former Katsina State Military Administrator had defection to the PDP.

    A report, however, said some PDP members in his Idekpa Ward, Ohimini Local Government, opposed Gen. Onoja’s alleged plan to return.

    They have reportedly petitioned the National Chairman of the PDP on the matter.

    But in a telephone interview with The Nation, Gen. Onoja confirmed that the National Chairman of the PDP and the Presidency had urged him to return to the ruling party because he is a founding member.

    Besides the National Chairman and the Presidency, which made overtures to him, the retired General said his people in Ohimnini Local Government also appealed to him to return to the PDP.

    Gen. Onoja said PDP members who wrote the party’s national secretariat opposing his return are political jobbers doing the bidding of their Abuja masters ahead of 2015.

    He said: “I’m still a member of the ACN. You may have heard rumours that there is pressure on Gen. Onoja. This was discussed with the Presidency and the PDP national secretariat. Someone became jittery and wrote a petition. Those doing so are political jobbers doing the bidding of their Abuja masters who had held the people of Benue South into political and economic slavery.”