The Nation Newspaper

Tag: theory

  • Baba Lekki refines his theory: Defection is shifting cultivation

    And whilst we are still on the subject of defection, it is meet to report that Baba Lekki has had to revise his theory of political migration. As the tsunami of political infidelity and associational treachery threaten to overwhelm the weak ideological foundation of the Fourth Republic, Baba Lekki has been forced to revise his theory in the light of rowdy reality. On Friday morning, the old contrarian shambled in clutching a file containing frayed sheets of paper.

    “Baba no let dis yeye kontri kill you ooo. Dis one day you dey look like person whose head don defect patapata”, the mad boy crowed as he eyed the old man with cynical glee. The old man ignored him and went straight to business.

    “Okon, sit down. In Agricultural Science, political migration is known as shifting cultivation. When you farm a piece of land to infertility and barrenness, you leave it for nature to reverse the ecological damage”, the old man began.

    “Kai baba, dis your brain na Agama..” Okon began drooling but Baba Lekki cut him short.

    “But you see, in political migration there is a difference between sedentary defection and nomadic defection. In sedentary defection, the defectors come back after the land has regained its vitality and resources, but in nomadic defection, the defectors never come back after destroying the cultivation and the culture. They are permanently seeking greener pasture leaving in their wake destruction and great chaos.”

    “Baba, no be dis dem pastor Dele dey call parable?”.

    “ Nonsense. Okon, this is not a parable. This is science”, Baba Lekki shouted as he stormed out.

  • Africa and theory of cosmos balance

    Labelled as ‘’Dark Continent’’ by the West many decades ago, Africa is still playing out this name considering the slow state of its development.

    What is Africa’s problem? Why are things not working? Why are people living in abject poverty eating below the breadline standard?

    Recently, a 15-year old boy died because his parents were unable to afford hospital bills. After five days under oxygen of N17,000 per day, he was withdrawn from hospital because there was no money to pay. Nothing kills in Africa like poverty!

    Now, how many young boys died daily in Nigeria due to imbalanced diet or lack of good medical attention? Yet, in this same Nigeria, some children have private doctors attending to them whether they are sick or not.

    Today, many young people are jobless where jobs are waiting for some. Was there a secret sin committed by those jobless? Young people are drifting about without hope? They are ‘perishing’ without vision for living. Darkness has become visible in Africa!

    Yet, after many years of self-rule, others still consider Africa as “Dark Continent?” Look at the disparities between the rich and the poor; look at the oppression by the few meted to the many; is it not so disturbing to see a high population of lowborn been sentenced into a life of perpetual enslavement? Is it not extremely worrisome to see some children being ‘born to rule’ while many others are being sentenced to serve as slaves.

    I got to a highpoint of angst and confusion about the disparities between the haves and the have-nots before Franz Fanon opened my eyes to see the deliberate attempt of the oppressors to destroy the oppressed in his book “Pedagogy of the oppressed”. Eric Blair made me to know that some animals are more equal than the others in his book “Animal Farm” and, through his book “The Prince’’, Nicolo Machiavelli, gave me insight into the perspective of the dictators that if leaders want to rule a people perpetually, they must not be educated.

    From books I understood the world is being structured to favour some people and disfavour some others. But, who did the structuring? Was it God or man? I got answer to this question few years ago when I learnt about ‘Cosmos Balance’. This subject stemmed out of a discussion concerning the said discrepancies between the Whites and the Blacks. I might not have been to Europe, America and Asia, but I learnt they have good roads, good hospitals and good schools. Nigerian roads are death-traps, the hospitals are mortuaries and the public schools look like poultries.

    ‘Cosmos Balance’ said the discrepancies between the White and the Black was God’s wisdom to create a balance in the world. Africa is rich in everything except in wisdom. Europe and other continents are rich in wisdom but are not as rich as Africa in other resources.

    Could one believe the theory of ‘Cosmos Balance’? With all the opulence in Africa – the fertile land, plenty mineral resources, rich vegetation, malleable climate, energetic population – ‘Cosmos Balance’ is saying: if Africa still possesses management cum leadership wisdom, the world would queue behind her. This theory sounds logical and convincing, if we support it with some other positions.

    Firstly, one old myth said the Whiteman covered his face with fingers without closing his eyes while the Blackman closed his eyes when God asked them to close their eyes at creation. This myth supports why the White seems to be wiser than the Black which is all what ‘Cosmos Balance’ is saying.

    But, it is not logical to say that God who loves obedience has favoured the disobedient White and disfavoured the obedient Black?

    Secondly, the Bible interpretation that traced the origin of the black race to ‘Ham’, the son Noah cursed for exposing his nakedness could be responsible for the trouble of the Blacks. If this was true, can we say God was racist? Considering the potential blessing of Africa vis-a-vis its backwardness, won’t one draw a conclusion that Africa is under a curse?

    But, God is not partial, neither is He a racist! The God of the White is the same God of the Black. What always happens is that God has respect for man’s choices. If Africa chooses to be backward there is nothing God can do about it.

    Truly speaking, Africa is blessed with all things except wisdom. But, wisdom is not a gift, it is an acquisition. May be, because of her surplus, Africa has not considered wisdom as ‘the principal thing’. Crisis is a precursor of wisdom. Pain is mother of gain! Suffering is the womb of success! Necessity is the mother of invention. Upon these principles, the White man began to seek for wisdom at all costs. Bad weather, volcanic eruption, land-shifting, sudden snow, hurricane, tornadoes and other natural catastrophic occurrences, etc. were the ‘necessities’ that forced the White to move out in search of solutions to their problems. They found that solution in slave trade and colonialism!

    But, instead for Africa to learn from slavery and colonialism, she has learnt nothing. Hence, it remains backward, still being addressed as the ‘Dark Continent’. Is it not appalling to remember that civilisation began from Africa, yet Africa remains in the dark? Africa ‘has been at ease’ for a long time. She has settled on her ‘lees’ or ‘dregs’, and ‘has not been emptied from vessel to vessel; nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore, ‘her taste remained in her; and her scent has not changed’.

    Africa wakes and sleeps with potentials, but has become so complacent. Africa doesn’t harness her resources to create wealth for her people. The solution to Africa’s problems will begin when she believes in herself and harness her God-given resources for the benefits of all her citizenry.

    Until we ‘kill’ corruption in Africa, life will continue to be hard for our people!

     

    • Adewoyin, a company executive writes from Lagos.

  • The Jonathan theory

    Poor Dr Goodluck Jonathan. I pity our former president; he is ill at ease because of what is happening to some of his aides, especially Colonel Sambo DasukI, who has been answering questions from detectives over the $2.2 billion arms cash. As National Security Adviser (NSA) under Jonathan, Dasuki was the be-all and end-all on security matters. Whatever he said was final. Everybody in government kowtowed to him. The ministers, the special advisers and military chiefs et al were at his beck and call.

    Dasuki was larger than life. Who wouldn’t if he had the sort of money the former NSA had to play with. The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which he headed was an exchequer of sorts; it was the war chest of the Jonathan administration. The office funded everything – from the buying of stationery, rams, rice, campaign tools to payment of school fees, hospital bills, salaries and furnishing of offices.

    His office was a clearing-house. Top government officials walked in there, picked their own share of the cash and left. This was the practice for the three years he held office. Trust public officials, they swarmed his office like bees because of the free money. Was he generous? Because it was not his, he dished out money as if it was going out of fashion. Dasuki became a tin god overnight. Those who wanted favour from him deified him. But nothing lasts forever.

    Jonathan lost the April 28, 2015 presidential election and the cookie crumbled. Then came the day of reckoning. Dasuki was pulled in to give an account of the money allocated to his office. $2.2 billion was earmarked for the purchase of arms, ammunition, vehicles, aircraft, vessels and other weapons of war in the fight against Boko Haram. Up till today, he has not given his interrogators an accurate account of what he did with the money. He has since said that whatever he might have done he did with Jonathan’s authority. In effect, he is saying that he gave out the cash to all the ministers, advisers, defence and service chiefs who came to his office with Jonathan’s approval.

    Did the former president okay those disbursements? This is the question Jonathan must answer sincerely. In the past, he dodged answering the question probably because he knew that there is no way he could do so truthfully. But, last week in London, he finally stopped hiding behind a finger. Delivering a lecture on Youth Entrepreneurship at the Oxford Union, Jonathan absolved Dasuki of stealing the $2.2 billion. Then what did he do with the money? Hear Jonathan : “They said the National Security Adviser (Sambo Dasuki) stole $2.2 billion. I don’t believe somebody can just steal $2.2 billion. We bought warships, we bought aircraft, we bought lots of weapons for the army and so on and so forth and you are still saying 2.2 billion; so where did we get the money to buy all those things?”

    That is precisely the issue – “all those things that were bought” – where are they? By now, Dasuki, who has been in detention for months should have shown his interrogators where the equipment are. He cannot do so because nothing was bought. There is proof to that effect. Many officers and soldiers refused to go and fight Boko Haram because they were not given arms and ammunition. Their superiors wanted them to confront the insurgents with bare hands, but they declined and were court martialled by those who are today being interrogated for mismanaging the $2.2 billion. Since Jonathan knows more about this matter as he was then the president, he should be invited to shed more light on it.

    He has joined the fray with his comment, which shows that he was aware of what was going on. His intervention is, therefore, critical in the resolution of this matter so that the innocent are not punished. Who knows, those we thought might have stolen the money may not have done nothing after all by the time we hear from Jonathan. Dasuki might have been carrying out instructions for all we know. Let us hear from Jonathan again : “Yes, there were some issues. Yes, there are still corruption issues but some of them were overblown. I’d say exaggerated and they give a very bad impression about our nation. You cannot say the national security adviser stole $2.2 billion. It is not just possible”.

    Where then is the money that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is looking for? Or what did the Jonathan administration do with the money since the former president’s claim that it bought warships, aircraft and lots of weapons with the cash has been debunked by military sources? According to the sources, the weapons bought by the Jonathan administration were “unserviceable” and “useless”. They stated that the administration bought three fairly used (Tokunbo) Alpha Jets and two helicopters  for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), adding that the jets were “not worth anything because they were not weaponised and the helicopters were cannibalised”.

    It will be interesting to see Jonathan testify in court for Dasuki. But will his evidence stand in the face of the rebuttal of his claims by military sources?

     

    Pound of flesh

    At last, the National Assembly had its way. It has amended the Code of Conduct Bureau/Tribunal Act,  investing itself with powers hitherto belonging to the President. Many believe that it took the action because of its Chairman, Dr Bukola Saraki’s case before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). Saraki is being tried for alleged assets falsification at the tribunal. Since the case began, he has put up an attitude, which watchers see as unbecoming. They say the Senate President portrays himself as if he is above the law. Saraki’s trial has been dragging because of his numerous applications before the tribunal. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court and back, yet the substantive case is yet to be settled. The lawmakers are not happy with the CCB/CCT Act because they believe it gives too much powers to the President. What powers are we talking about? These are powers which they believe make the President use the law to oppress them. But is that possible? Having had its way, can the Senate stop the trial of any of its members caught under the law? The truth is it cannot. The best thing for any public officer is to avoid acts which can bring him in collision with the law. Anything short of that will be begging the issue. As Senator Yahaya Abdullahi said : “To remove a whole President, who has equally been elected by the country is wrong. You cannot approbate and reprobate; this substitution of the President with the National Assembly is wrong…” Need we say more?

  • Baba Lekki propounds a Neo-Biafran theory

    As the entire length and breadth of the Eastern part of the country is convulsed by agitations for a new state of Biafra, tongues are beginning to wag about the real motives( and motivation) of the protesters. Not a few people are worried that should things get out of hand, there may soon be a bloody confrontation between the agitators and a determined military authority that has vowed to crush all threats to national security with maximum force.

    Originally thought to be a fringe group looking for attention and led by a metropolitan smart aleck and out of work con-man called Nnamdi Kanu, it has gathered tremendous strength and momentum in the past few weeks as the nation sinks deeper into an economic quagmire. The dire economic straits that the nation has found itself has proved a fertile recruiting ground for unemployed urchins and many disaffected nationals who see a forcible dissolution of the Nigerian union as the only route to self-determination.  IPOB has supplanted MASSOB for now.

    It was a worried Okon that went in search of Baba Lekki who had relocated to Papa Ajao. The old man was in fine fettle and gamey mischief.

    “Kukuruku boy. You can see that I am moving in the right direction, towards the airport in case yanponyanrin come burst for obodo”, the old man crowed with savage delight.

    “Ha baba, dis one no be laughing matter. Dem useless Kanu boy don come again. The last time for one-million march I supply am with container full of dem Ibo people and him no pay”, Okon opened.

    “Okon, you are a fool, no be dat Kanu and dis one no be one million march na twenty three million. Katakata don dey come small small.”

    “Baba, wetin dem want dis time abi na so so fight?”

    “Na dem Yoruba fit explain dat one. Dem say name be destiny. As dem boy dey bear Kanu the problem be say Ko kanu. In Yoruba, he mean say food dey but he no dey enough. Appetite don whet pass saliva”, the old man sneered.

    “Baba, wetin go happen if dem Buhari general come hammer dem people?” Okon demanded.

    “Okon na dem name go explain dat one again. Na dat one dem Yoruba people dey call Kanuko, or shut your mouth. Na mechonu for Ibo “.  With that, the old man dismissed the poor boy.

  • Bridging theory and practice gap in geology

    Bridging theory and practice gap in geology

    Teachers in the Department of Geology of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) have urged their students to use technology to hone their skills. OLADELE OGE reports.

    For graduates of Geology to be relevant in 21st century, they must be conversant with the latest industry techniques and technology.

    This was the kernel of discussion at a public lecture organised by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in conjunction with the Department of Geology of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).

    Speakers agreed that efforts must be made to ensure graduating students  undergo compulsory practical training before leaving the school.

    The lecture with the theme: Unconventional petroleum and other emerging challenges for Nigerian oil and gas industry, was held at the Princess Alexandra Hall. It was designed to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

    The keynote speaker, Prof Kalu Mosto Onuoha of the UNN Geology Department, noted that majority of geology students always showed interest in oil and gas exploration, stressing that there were other aspects of the discipline requiring expertise. He advised students to drop the habit of choosing area of specialisation without adequate information on the requirements and expertise.

    He said geologists in the United States had conducted researches in the development and production of shale gas in the country in the past few years. This development, he said, has raised the possibility that shale gas deposits in other countries could be commercially viable.

    Onuoha advised education policymakers to introduce curriculum that would harness students’ innovative skills and encourage the use of latest technology to replace theoretical instructions students receive.

    He emphasised that the acceptability and development of unconventional petroleum exploration would have far-reaching implications for energy markets across the world, particularly for members of the

    Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), such as Nigeria, which depends only on its oil export.

    He said shale gas would reduce demand for oil from the OPEC members. The low production, he said, would reduce OPEC members’ revenues from crude oil exports.

    Noting that pipeline vandalism and oil theft have affected economy negatively, Onuoha said people were  unhappy with security agencies  for their lack of will to arrest and prosecute the criminals.

    He said: “If Nigerians have been patiently waiting to see the development of oil sector, the government must be fair enough to ensure the country’s resources are managed the way they should be. If vandals and oil thieves had been prosecuted by the security agencies, there was probability that we would not experience the high-level poverty we are seeing now.”

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Benjamin Ozumba, pledged support for research initiated by SEPLAT Petroleum Company and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) for staff and students of the Geology department. The work would be overseen by the PTDF.

    Avuru, the Chief Executive Officer of SEPLAT, thanked the vice-chancellor for supporting the project, noting that the oil firms were ready to invest in knowledge-based research by students of the department.

    He implored the students to be productive in their academic pursuit, saying the initiative by SEPLAT would be used to combat unemployment.

    To appreciate the gesture, students of the Fine Arts Department sketched large portraits of Avuru and the representatives of SPDC, Olufemi Ajayi, presented to them.

  • The theory of a great

    The 19th century historian, Thomas Carlyle was a promoter of the Great man theory, the philosophical concept that the history of the world was primarily shaped by the individual decisions and orders of great men and personalities. His viewpoint was based on the premise that every event in history stems from the choices made and the acts done by influential individuals who used power in a manner that produced an important historical impression. While the majority of modern day philosophers diverge from this Great man theory with the idea that several world events emerge from a series of separate developments, it goes without saying that those separate developments must have been created by the decisions of individuals. Proponents of this chain of thought tend to attribute a character of inspirational personal attributes and almost a heroism to those individuals that may have shaped history. Among the men who shaped history, it is those that exhibit a sense of decency and struggle for the betterment of the majority that time will inevitably judge as heroes.

    One man of such greatness was the late great Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi, who died four year ago on the 5th of September 2009 at age 71. Only a handful of times in recent history was Nigeria thrust into the throws of great grief and mourning than with the passing of this great and wonderful beacon of truth. As we mark the four year anniversary of his passing, Nigerians are still united in despair and desire to pay utmost respect to this ordinary, yet extraordinary man who soared above his peers and dedicated his life to altruism and candour. Like very few in this country, Chief Fawehinmi stood as a brilliant, bright shinning light in a land literally and morally steeped in darkness. He was the very essence of duty, of compassion, of justice and selfless humanity. He represented hope to a people sinking deep in despondency and became the role model of what a good leader and a good Nigerian should be.

    For much of his adult life, Chief Fawehinmi stood his ground on all that he believed in. He stood tall and confident against a decayed institution because he was one of the very few Nigerians who actually ‘came to equity with clean hands’. Oh and how solid the ground Chief Fawehinmi stood on was! His ground was his ethics, his knowledge was his power. And he used that power to do good, alot of good, to shun evil and take individual responsibility for his actions. Up till the time he faced death, he never abandoned any of the qualities that made him so great or the elements that were to become the basis of his life and legacy. In many respects, Chief Fawehinmi belonged to an exceptional, almost extinct few, such as Herbert Maculey, Aminu Kano and Micheal Imodu, whom had the creed and represented the remnant of an old specie of true nationalists that stood up for the marginalised and fought for the heart and soul of Nigeria.

    There is an old saying that goes; ‘a person never misses the water till the well runs dry”. Whereas this may be the case in most situations where people do not appreciate what they have until it is gone, this wasn’t the case with Chief Fawehinmi. Through his work, from his struggles, due to his sacrifices, we have always known the gem we had in this precious Nigerian son. From the time he took up his first case in 1965, it was evident that he was aware of the need for social justice and he used the rule of law to advance this cause. He was an unrepentant democrat and an advocate of a better Nigeria for the greatest majority of the people. His whole life was given over to helping the poor, the needy, the downtrodden and standing for the truth.

    Not only was he largely responsible for the mass registration of political parties in our system by taking INEC to court for failing to register smaller parties, he made giant strides in the legal practice, that was his mainstay in life. The greatest contribution arguably to have been made to Nigerian legal practice is the establishment of the Nigerian Weekly Law Reports, which he researched and developed for the enhancement of the jurisprudence of the practice. But for Chief Fawehinmi’s contribution in this respect, Nigerian court practice would still have been left at the mercy of foreign law reports, which he has always asserted as being not relevant or helpful to the development of our autochthonous case law. Without doubt, Chief Fawehinmi did spectacular things, wonderful things. One wonders what the story of Nigerian legal practice and sincere human rights development will eventually be now that he is gone and one hopes that his contributions to the practice of law and human rights will continue to endure.

    This grand commander and defender of human rights did much to advance the cause of Nigerian students throughout his career; even having a rule in his chambers that no student would be charged fees when they came for help. Whenever a student was unjustly expelled for challenging certain policies in our universities, Chief Fawehinmi was always ready to face the institution and enforce the student’s right through the court of law. From the University of Nigeria, NSUKKA, to the the University of Lagos, to the University of Maiduguri, Chief Fawehinmi provided students in distress with the legal, financial and ethical support they needed, and even at a time he converted his chambers into the headquarters of the of National Union of Nigerian Students.

    Of all the ironies about the life of Chief Fawehinmi, maybe the greatest was the fact that at the time he died those who disagreed with him ideologically and in principal were the first to position themselves as chief mourners. One can only imagine how Chief Fawehinmi would have felt at the flood of foes and friends that trooped to his residence to pay homage to his memory and eulogize him, especially those that were responisble for his incarceration, persecution and maltreatment while he was in the flesh.

    Despite the fact that in his lifetime, he had on one occasion disagreed with the Nigerian Bar Association, he was a staunch and dedicated member of the goals of which the association was established for. The Nigerian Bar Association owes Chief Gani Fawehinmi a compelling obligation to ensure that all the good work he did in his lifetime would not become otiose. The history development and struggle of student unionism cannot be complete without mentioning his unrelenting and unflinching support for them. The leader and lone voice of opposition in Nigeria is well and truely gone! It is our hope that the community of the present day nationalists will not be dismembered due to the exit of this great humanist.

    One of the greatest legacies left by Chief Fawehinmi was the path of truth, honesty, nobility, selflessness, patriotism and integrity that he laid for us; that he showed us.

    Late chief Gani Fawehinmi belonged to the largest human family, his immediate biological family, the student unions, the Nigerian workers, the courageous voices of the genuine opposition in the political spectrum and the international human rights community that recognised him for his unaloid pursuits of the rights of every human being. As we mark the anniversary of his passing, we thank God for the life of this great Nigerian and it is our hope and prayer another Gani-like personality will continue his legacy. May his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in perfect peace.

    “Chief Gani Fawehinmi, only now that you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without. The strength of the message you gave us through your struggles compels us to be grateful that you came along. Without your God-given sense of passion for your beliefs, Nigerians would likely be wrapped up in ignorance and unmitigated deception. Continue to rest in peace, Chief Gani Fawehinmi. You truely did the best you could. Those of us you touched will never forget you. May your friends and family continue to feel God’s peace on them and may your legacy help Nigerians change their destiny. We give thanks for your life”.

    The critics of Carlyle’s Great Man theory were staunch in their belief that reducing history to the decisions of individuals is utterly primitive reasoning because every man in history was a product of their social environment and before a man can remake his society, his society must make him. Perhaps this is a more likely notion, especially when one considers other aspects of life such as economic, societal and enviromental influences which are just as or more significant to historical change. However, despite one’s view as to what determines history, it is without question that once every so often humanity is blessed with the highest specimen of man. Without more reasoning Chief Gani was truely one of those men. While we don’t have to wait for history to tell us his effect on this country or the legacy he left us with, the general theory is most likely be that, “Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi will simply always be one of the greatest men Nigeria has ever seen!”

  • Dokubo-Asari’s ‘bullet’ theory

    Dokubo-Asari’s ‘bullet’ theory

    Founder of Niger Delta People Volunteer Front, NPDVF, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, introduced another dimension into the 2015 debate last Saturday when he said that he was ready, bullet for bullet, for those who want to stop President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.

    “We have to demand for what belongs to us. 2015 is not about Jonathan, but about our destiny. If you allow them, they will crush us when they come. I am ready for them, bullet for bullet,” Asari said.

    The debate is currently on amongst analysts on whether the ex-militant should be ignored or taken serious on what has become his incessant war songs.

    But two questions keep begging for answers each time Dokubo-Asari blows hot: who exactly is the ex-militant planning to fight in 2015 and why has it been so difficult for him to be called to order? Still hoping the answers will come soon.