The Nation Newspaper

Tag: thought

  • A thought for Moses

    A thought for Moses

    The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) award for African players in Europe is one prize big African players strive to win every year. Winners emerge from an exhaustive voting system, which cannot be faulted. I tried voting several times for Victor Moses, but the feedback kept reminding me that I had voted. I marvel at the efficacy of the voting system.

    What stands the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year Award out is that players are assessed based on their performance in one calendar year – January to December each year. So, it is easy to compare what the winner has achieved based on what others earned, when controversies, such as the Moses issue, crop up. Moses could have lost ground this year due to an injury which ruled him out of action for close to seven weeks, during which Salah was scoring goals for Liverpool and Egypt with aplomb.

    Salah, who is the English Premier League’s top scorer with 13 goals, is on the right path with a specially outstanding year for both club and country. He was the central figure for Egypt as they finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations early this year. Salah was the architect of the seven goals, with which the Pharaohs qualified for the Russia 2018 World Cup. He scored five goals, provided two assists, which led to goals, as the Egyptians finally ended one of African football’s biggest mysteries.

    But will Salah’s BBC feat shut out Moses from winning the Africa Footballer of the Year award in Ghana in  January? Not likely. we have instances in the past where BBC winners lost the Africa Footballer of the award. Besides, the period September 2016 to June 2017 showed clearly that Moses was the best African player in Europe for both club and country.

    Nigerians have an apathy for online voting. It has cost us dearly, if one recalls how Austin Okocha lost to the pony-tail haired Moroccan Mustapha Hadji in the Africa Footballer of the year award in 1998, despite Okocha’s mercurial performance at the France’98 World Cup. The decision shook the world because Okocha was clearly Africa’s best. He did so well that he became the highest paid player in the French league playing for Paris Saint Germain (PSG) FC of France. Morocco was at the Mundial, making many to wonder what informed Hadji’s choice over Okocha. Need I ask anyone to do a comparison of Okocha and Hadji? No contest, yet Okocha lost because the Francophone region sees anyone from their abode as theirs. This explains why most of the past winners are from the Francophone areas.

    Moses may have lost because of the pedigree of his English side, Chelsea put against Liverpool among the Europeans. Many who are ardent followers of the game will easily vote for Salah, who has been Liver pool FC’s best player. Indeed, Liverpool’s global fan base is awesome, especially when the team is doing well. Besides, the Arab world will vote en masse for Salah, an edge Moses won’t even enjoy among Nigerians. Egyptians literally worship Salah. He practically guided Egypt to the Russia 2018 World Cup, like Moses did for Nigeria.

    Salah  has scored 18 goals for Liverpool this season (13 EPL, 5 UCL). He scored 17 goals for Roma FC of Italy last season (15 goals in the Serie A and two goals in Europa). These figures show that Salah did well for his European side, Roma in the Serie A, although the team didn’t win the Italian League diadem. Moses with Chelsea, won the prestigious English Premier League. Perhaps, playing at the Europa League where he scored two goals gave Salah the edge. On the contrary, Chelsea didn’t play in Europe, so its feats could be localised even if the EPL is the world’s acclaimed best.

    Moses played 40 games for Chelsea last season, scoring four goals. He became the Nigerian player with the most English Premier League appearances for a title winning team. On 27 May 2017, he played in the 2017 FA Cup Final against Arsenal which Chelsea lost 2-1. After being booked for a foul on Danny Welbeck, Moses got another booking. This resulted in a red card, after diving in the penalty area. He became the fifth player to be sent off in an FA Cup final.

    Moses’ loss should be our wake-up call for online voting when one of the contestants is a Nigerian. With a population of 200 million. Winning such awards for deserving Nigerian should be a right. Moses is our brightest for any football award today. If he doesn’t win the 2016 Africa Footballer of the Year award in January, it will take another Nigerian close to five years to make the final three cut. With the way Salah is playing, he is mostly likely to win this year’s edition. He may not leave Liverpool in June, next year, no matter what Real Madrid or the other big spenders offer him.

    It appears Salah and Moses will reenact the Messi/Ronaldo scenario in Africa. On Tuesday night, Moses joined the league of Nigerians who have played 200 matches in the English Premier League (EPL). Same night, Salah was crowned the best player in Liverpool for November. As we wait for Confederation of African Football (CAF’s) decision, pundits only hope that the best player emerges.

    We will celebrate Moses, if he nicks it for Nigeria after over 18 years wait. Some people are fasting for Chelsea to triumph in the tough opposition they will be facing in the two-legged ties against FC Barcelona in one of the Round of 16 matches. A loss by Chelsea (God forbid) will count less for Moses, if Salah is still playing at the UEFA Champions League after the round of 16. This isn’t to say that Liverpool’s two-legged ties against Porto in the round of 16 will be a stroll in the park. In football, anything is possible.

    My worry for Moses at the continental level for the Africa Footballer of the Year Award is Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Borrussia Dortumd in the Bundesliga. Aubameyang finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 31 goals last season.

     

    Eagles need a psychologist

    NFF President Amaju Pinnick has done the right thing by taking responsibility for the mistake which led to the point deduction by FIFA, even though it didn’t affect Nigeria’s qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup.

    The mistake would have been costlier if we needed the draw against Algeria to qualify. thank god it isn’t the case. However, it is good to see that the NFF has constituted a four-man committee to take appropriate action against the offenders. I don’t know the committee’s mandate but I expect they must introduce a body, which will document all our international matches’ details, not just Super Eagles’.

    Those to be punished must be given fair hearing. No one should be made the fall guy for some ”untouchables”. Dead woods should be removed from NFF’s operations, given its history with such administrative lapses. Nigerians should be patient with the committee to enable it do a thorough job. There should be no media trial.

    What happened with the point deduction should inform the need for the operations of the team to be run professionally. This idea of doing Gernot Rohr’s biddings has backfired. Rohr picked the team. He should have asked questions on players’ eligibility for the game before sending out information.

    NFF chiefs should appoint a psychologist for the Eagles. This idea of Rohr doubling as coach and psychologist is unacceptable. The shame from the point deduction is the NFF’s not Rohr’s, but he too should take the flak and apologise like Pinnick did.

    The other 31 teams going to the Mundial next year have psychologist(s) distinct from the manager, who is the technical head of the squad. Nigeria shouldn’t be exception to the rule. If the composition of national teams includes having a psychologist, the NFF must hire one now. Rohr can walk away tomorrow but we must be seen to have done the needful.

  • ‘Spare a thought for the poor’

    Rich Nigerians have been advised to spare a thought for the poor instead of throwing lavish party to celebrate their birthdays. The General Overseer of The Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN) Prophet Temitope Joshua gave the advice during a homily to celebrate his 54th birthday at the church premises, Ikotun in Alimosho area of Lagos State.

    Prophet Joshua said while they are in such excited mood, they should seize the moment to remember the less-privileged persons in the society. The cleric noted that such gesture would go a long way in making them favourably disposed to God and building a home for themselves in the hereafter.

    A statement signed by Prophet Joshua and made available to Southwest Report, stated that the event was a low-key during which he admonished the congregation not to present to him gifts or money, He urged them to rather distribute such gifts to orphanage or motherless babies’ homes in their neighbourhoods.

    “I will always remember the teaching in the Holy Bible that emphasises on giving to the poor,” he said.

    Continuing, he stated: “I have told my members that I am not going to be having a lavish birthday party; but I want them to identify poor people in their neighbourhoods and celebrate my birthday with them by sharing with them what they would have brought to me as gifts.

    “I also wish to seize this opportunity to admonish those whom God has blessed and who are fond of spending such fortune on their birthdays every year to have a rethink.

  • Food for thought

    Food for thought

    It was for the good of the people. A cottage hospital, equipped, furnished and ready for use. It should call for celebration. But some persons had a different view of the facility at Eteo community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State. They fell in love with it. They loved it so much that they stripped it of everything good: the roofing sheets, windows, railings, water closets and all. The impression one is likely to have is that the love they have for it is to see it naked and dejected.

    Let’s leave Eteo alone. Please accompany me to the 3.65-kilometre Okrika-Borokiri Road with three bridges at Kolabi, Abotoru and Okpoka creeks in Okrika Local Government Area. The project, a Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) project, like the cottage hospital, is to connect the islands in Okrika to Borokiri in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The site is dormant, with no concrete reason from the contractor.   There are even no tools on site to show that the contractor has any plan to resume work anytime soon.

    So, this project meant to ease traffic on the East-West Road and connect several communities in two local government areas has become a victim of man’s nonchalant attitude to things that are important. Now, the dream of taking traffic off Aba Road and getting people living in Okrika, Akpajo, Eleme, Gokana and Khana commuting to Port Harcourt through the road has to wait longer before becoming reality. Those working in the Port Harcourt Refining Company also have to wait longer to see that day when they can drive to Port Harcourt in 10 minutes.

    The NDDC team, which inspected these projects last week, was disappointed by these projects. I was too on reading the report. My disappointment made me drop a tale I started last week.

    Rivers is also home to another vital project, which for the past twelve years, is yet to be completed. This project, the Bodo/Bonny road, has the capacity to open up these two communities and link them with Port Harcourt. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration started the project but it was stalled for all the years that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was in power. His excuse was that there were major lapses in the first procurement of the Bodo/ Bonny road, such as lack of proper design, lack of proper costing and so on. He never fixed the lapses before leaving office.

    The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, with its base in Finima, Bonny Island, has offered to pay 50 per cent (N60b) of the cost of completing the road. This is on the condition that the Federal Government will drop its counterpart funding of the project so that it will not end up being abandoned for lack of fund. The offer made February3, last year is yet to be accepted by the government and the project remains abandoned and the people the worst for it. The road will change the fortune of the people living in Ogoni, Okrika, Eleme, Andoni and environs.

    Bonny is also home to some other abandoned federal projects. Roll call: Federal Housing Estate, Bonny Ring road and the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, which is 90 per cent completed but wasting away. Of what good will a polytechnic be for a community only accessible by water? Chances are that only indigenes will attend.

    Pardon me if I am taking you on too many trips; once more accompany me to Okerenkoko, Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State. There is a cottage hospital in this community, which used to serve even people from Edo and Ondo states. It was built by the NDDC in 2008 and handed over to the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC). For some reasons, DESOPADEC, with all the resources at its disposal, could not run it. Tompolo Foundation took it over but its fortune dwindled when a military raid on the town led to its destruction. Now, it is wasting.  Delta State Commissioner for Health Dr. Nicholas Azinge said this would soon become a thing of the past, as the state government would take it over. He must walk the talk.

    Let’s get back on the road. This time around we are cruising around Delta, a land littered with abandoned projects. Some of them abandoned since two decades. Billions of Naira are just wasting away in the form of white elephant projects ranging from hospital complexes, roads, industrial parks, markets, stadia and  airports.

    During a mid-term ministerial project status overview in 2013, ex-Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan revealed how his predecessor ex-Governor James Ibori abandoned 418 road projects valued at N133 billion. The projects, said Uduaghan, include 1,372 kilometre of roads and 744 kilometre of drains.

    Top on the list of abandoned project in this state is the N35.2 billion Delta Independent Power Project in Oghara, Ibori’s home town. The last House of Assembly constituted a five-member committee led by its majority leader Tim Owhefere to investigate the IPP project. The level of rot in Oghara amazed the lawmakers but they abandoned the probe midway over alleged undue influence from powerful politicians. They were said to have found nothing to justify the amount expended on the project. Over N19 billion had gone into the project, according to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

    Now, Deltans cannot see the 128 megawatts of electricity that it was meant to generate and their N19 billion seems to have gone down the drain.

    Effurun is also mourning another project, which was initially abandoned but has now been dismantled: the N6 billion Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Lane Project. Its take-off point was Effurun Roundabout, Uwvie Local Government Area and termination point was at the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), Warri South. Okowa has since dismantled the project. It is not clear if the state is still pursuing its effort to recover its funds from the contractor. Painfully, additional funds were spent to dismantle the failed project.

    There is another sore thumb called Warri Industrial Park at Edjeba, Warri South Local Government Area. It sits on approximately 329 hectares. It was conceptualised to boost the commercial activities in the oil city. As at 2011, over N9 billion had been sunk on the project. More money is suspected to have also been pumped in. But waste it lies in its splendor. It shares its infamy with the Asaba Airport, which despite billions expended on it, is considered by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as unsafe because the government failed to fix key infrastructure, such as perimeter fencing and drainages.

    Please you need to go with me to the much-hyped $250m Delta Leisure and Theme Park, Oleri in Udu Local Government Area. The project is abandoned and overrun by weeds. The dream of having a water park, cultural centre, amusement rides, hotels and retail outlets in it is dead, and I am afraid, buried.  Yet, N800m was spent on the construction and beautification of the median of the Delta Steel Company (DSC) expressway leading from Osubi airport to Oleri, the project’s site.

    My final take: Rivers and Delta are not the only ones with elephant or abandoned projects. They are everywhere in the Niger Delta and elsewhere in the country. These are just the ones that got me thinking about the culture of waste in our clime. We need to change our ways if this country is to go anywhere. Continuing like this means our tomorrow is dead on arrival.

  • A thought for retired Lagos primary school teachers

    A thought for retired Lagos primary school teachers

    Sir, I am forced to use the medium to newspapers to appeal to His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode , to please pay the gratuities and arrears of monthly pensions of retired Primary School Teachers under the purview Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). I had in the last eight months written two personal letters to the Governor on this issue but no actions have so far been taken to end the suffering of these teachers who retired before the New Contributory Pension Scheme took off in the state or had less than 3 years to go in service. They were therefore not covered by PENCOM.

    It is hard to believe that Lagos State, the most viable state in Nigeria in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), is owing gratuities and arrears of monthly pensions dating back to 2008, but this is the true situation as at the time of this letter.

    This category of Primary School Teachers served Lagos State in their prime but are now in their late sixties. Was it a crime that these teachers laid the foundation of sound education at the Primary School level? Is the State Government waiting until the demise of these teachers so as to subject their next-of-kin to endless verification exercise as these teachers are currently subjected to year in, year out without payment of their legitimate entitlements? Teachers’ rewards are no longer in Heaven but here on earth please.

    Although the plight of this category of teachers predated the assumption in office of His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, governance is a continuum. The Governor should please pay these teachers do that they can enjoy the fruits of their labour while still alive. No next-of-kin derives joy in collecting other people’s entitlements.

     

    • Barrister Ayo Olalere,

    Apete, Ibadan

  • A thought for prison inmates

    SIR: Naturally, we have sufficient number of Nigerians speaking out on the poor state of infrastructure, unemployment, inflation, corruption among others. Few are concerned about the state of our prison and welfare of prison inmates in the country. Prison is an institution created by the law to provide rehabilitation and correctional facility for those who violated the law as a punitive measure. Considering this, one is compelled to ask how the society perceive prison experience and how ex-convicts are integrated  back into the society?

    There have been instances where ex-convicts came out to become better citizens, while majority of others further consolidate on criminal acts that previously sent them into prison.  In many instances, society seems to further compound the plight of ex-convicts by their stigmatization. Hardly will anyone want to associate with them after release, thus making their re-integration a mirage. It is bad enough that society avoids them like plague, but worse still that their immediate and extended families become laughting stocks in their immediate environment.

    In terms of rehabilitation, Nigeria’s prison looks like a bad solution. Over the years, the welfare of prison inmates in Nigeria have deteriorated as many such prisons do not meet the minimum standard of treatment that should be given to prisoners.  Other rights violated include absence of minimum feeding, allocation of accommodation, medical facility and other needed provisions or logistics.  Until Lagos State among few other states of the federation donated brand new Toyota Coaster buses to convey prison inmates awaiting trial, oven or heat entrapped Black maria lorries were fashionable means of moving inmates around.

    Many prisons are seen to be over-congested with attendant facility decay, thus jeorpadising the life of inmates. In recent time, many incidents of jail break have been traced to the poor minimum welfare conditions of inmates. In Gombe State, it was reported that about 669 inmates are to be treated for scabies – a disease associated with over-crowdiness.

    Against the goal of the Nigeria prison services which is the reformation and safety of legally sentenced inmate, the prison has added responsibility to train inmates in trades or vocations for their benefits and that of society during confinement. Many of the prisons that are supposed to accommodate about 300 inmates have about 750 occupants. In present day Nigeria where latrines are being phased out, it is disgusting that bucket latrines which constitute serious health hazard are in use in some of Nigeria prisons, while little or no medical facilities are on ground for inmates. Funds and welfare packages also meant for inmates are often allegedly diverted for other purposes. Thus, inmates are often malnourished without bedding spaces for most of them.

    In as much as the prison should not be a palace for inmates, it should equally not be a place where inmates should experience hell on earth. It is, therefore, important that the prison institution in Nigeria is urgently reformed. In this regards, there is need for authorities concerned to make available educational/vocational facilities and other such that could readily support the needs of inmates. The earlier this is done, the better for the society.

     

    • Bolaji Odumade,

    Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Not well-thought-out

    •INEC’s suspension of action on additional polling units suggests defective structure

    As suddenly as it announced the decision to create additional polling units in all parts of the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has opted to suspend the decision. The commission, while not ruling out revisiting and giving effect to the matter, said the units would be warehoused until the next general elections would have been conducted.

    The very controversial creation of the units provoked national outcry. While some Nigerians were suspicious of the motive behind the decision, others kicked over alleged lopsidedness of the distribution of the units. The loudest protest came from the South East that got only about 1,167 units to the 1,200 allocated to the sparsely populated Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The North West was allocated almost 7,906 units while 8,414 were allotted to the three zones of the South.

    The North, including the FCT got 20,715 new polling units. The commission explained that it took the action to make units more manageable in the forthcoming elections; claiming also that apart from the number on roll, distance played a major factor in distributing the new units. But, disbelieving voters in the South have argued that the distribution was designed to favour a region and reinforced a supposedly false assumption that the North is more populous than the South, arguing that Nigeria is the only country where the savannah region is deemed more populous than the rain forest region.

    Beyond claiming that the creation of the units was purely based on scientific parameters, the electoral commission has failed to satisfactorily respond to the queries about the distribution. Officials responsible for interfacing with the public on INEC’s activities were sorry sights when put through grilling questions on that matter by journalists, thus suggesting that they were either as ignorant of the underlying rationale or as unconvinced as the general public.

    News filtering out of the commission and published by the media were not helpful either. There were reports that its internal decision-making mechanism had become defective, fractured along North-South lines. This is bad news for a country that has desperately looked forward to the conduct of credible general elections that meet up international standards.

    We call on the commission to quickly put its house in order if it is to engender the confidence of all Nigerians. The idea of announcing such a major decision and then reversing it based on public outcry is an indication that INEC lacked conviction and was not sufficiently rigorous in considering the pros and cons of the matter. The commission, headed by a professor of political science and comprising experienced public servants ought to have subjected the matter to extensive debate before the final decision was taken and announced.

    The commission and other sensitive public bodies also need to incorporate consultation with critical stakeholders into the processing of such national issues. Bowing to public pressure after running into a storm is the consequence of putting the cart before the horse. In a democracy, it is trite that the will of the people is supreme, and in electoral matters, the national interest should drown all others.

    How INEC would upturn the suspicion generated by the poorly handled exercise remains to be seen. The commission has a duty to assist in pulling down strongholds that have held down Nigeria over the years. It has a responsibility to help in dissolving age-long distrusts, rivalries and unhealthy competitions that have largely accounted for the disharmony in the country’s public life. In the run-up to the next general elections, the commission has a duty to allay fears that it has been ‘captured’ to pursue narrow rather than the general interest.

  • A thought for our women

    A thought for our women

    LET’S just move away from it all for a while. The killings and kidnappings. Clashes and crashes; bombings and bumbling -the telltale signs of a huge asylum (never mind the hyperbole).

    It’s true we can’t just feign ignorance of the calamities that have shaken our claim to civilisation. But, amid the bedlam of bombs and bullets, it is fit to spare a thought for our women, their pains and gains, particularly in the last few days.

    My heart goes out to the Youth Corps girl who claimed to have been raped by a certain Oba Adebukola Alli, the Alowa of Ilowa-Ijesa in Osun State. The court said the 23-year old girl did not prove her case beyond reasonable doubt. The bed sheet was not produced. There was no medical report that the “victim” was forced and her underwear was not tendered. This being a family newspaper, dear reader, I will spare you further details of the verdict, including the fact that the victim did not show her private part to prove that she suffered injuries in the process of being raped.

    The beastly act of rape is hard to prove in court. The victims end up crying, nursing their physical and psychological injuries in secret. Many carry the pains for life and the accused gloat over their savagery. Dominique Strauss-Khan, the disgraced former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief accused of raping a New York hotel maid, has since moved on, becoming an economic adviser to the Serbian government.

    I am surprised that our women activists are yet to speak on the Osun court judgment, which has the potential of fuelling such reckless abuses against women by many champions of the jungle posing as human beings. Imagine the humiliation of being put in the dock, underpants and a doctor’s report held aloft, to answer questions on the invasion of one’s privacy in such a gory manner. Will His Lordship believe in just any doctor’s report? Can’t any of the other garments be evidence of the violence the victim may have suffered? Must the bruises be only on her private part? The law is the law, but isn’t it so protective of the accused to the disadvantage of the victim? But then, are all victims genuine? Complexities.

    Justice Oyejide Falola scolded Oba Alli, who claimed that Miss Helen Okpara had been his sexual partner long before the allegation, for sleeping with a Youth Corps member posted to his community. Wrong, my Lord; such acts of concupiscence have no respect for age or status. Take away the crowns, the beads and the horsetails, how are monarchs different from the rest of us? In fact, how many remember in their lasciviousness that even in the bedroom, there are rules of engagement?

    If women’s rights activists are not marching, swearing and cursing over the verdict, which is not just Ms Okpara’s personal loss but a collective assault on their psyche and wellbeing, not so with Ms Stella Oduah, the tempestuous Minister of Aviation. As the nation mourned the loss of lives in the Associated Aviation plane crash in Lagos, wondering why somebody couldn’t just ensure that aircraft are fit to fly our tempestuous airspace, Oduah was seized by a strange fit of anger. She launched into a rage that saw her calling critics of the aviation sector “drunk” and “drug addicts” who are ignorant of how the system works.

    Hold it, madam. Some decorum, please. A ministerial platform should never be a pulpit for infelicities and such motor park fulmination. No. Those who have questioned the propriety of spending billions on knocking down airport terminals that are taking years to rebuild are right. Aviation is not all about sparkling terminals and taxes. Then, when an accident occurs, we are told accidents are inevitable – in such a fatalistic manner that yields no space to skills and competence. Haba!

    Do we have all the safety equipment that we require? How dutiful are those who certify aircraft to fly? How foolproof are our preventive measures? How strong is our airports’ security? These are some of the questions that should be addressed in a sober manner; not with diatribes that portray the government as an intolerant headmaster whose actions must never be questioned.

    In Lagos, a driver’s wife has been delivered of a set of quadruplets. At first, her doctor told her she had fibroids, she said, adding that she was surprised to discover later that she was carrying four babies. “When I first learnt that I was carrying four babies, I became sad but my husband said we can’t question God,” the poor woman said at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

    Mrs Grace Tijani was thought to have had an In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). “I didn’t even know what IVF was, until I got to the hospital,” she said. Now, the Tijanis are worried; they do not know how they will cope with nursing the babies. The couple, who live in a one-room apartment in Ajangbadi on the outskirts of Lagos, had three kids. And now these. The wonders of nature in a world where many, rich and powerful, will give their all to have just one. Strange, indeed, are the ways of nature.

    And talking about strange pregnancies and such related matters; a probe is on in the prisons. This time, it is not about poor rations or indecent sanitary conditions. Nor are warders grumbling over their pay and the exertion of reining in VIP inmates who insist on having special diets and using mobile phones. Besides, there is no jail break; isn’t that becoming a routine? The Prisons Service is probing the rising incidence of pregnancy among inmates, according to a newspaper report.

    NPS spokesman Ope Fatinikun has denied that warders are putting women in the family way, saying male officials do not have access to the women section of the prisons. Besides, he explains that a pregnancy test is compulsory for new inmates within 24 hours of being admitted into a prison and cites some cases of women being delivered of babies. He says the women had been pregnant before coming into the prison in Owerri, Imo State. Interesting.

    Are more expectant mothers committing crime? Should expectant women be admitted into prisons, irrespective of the age of their pregnancies? When a woman is delivered of a baby in the prison, is the child to be raised there in confinement? What future for a kid raised in prison?

    When Joy Emordi lost her job as presidential adviser on National Assembly Matters, it was in circumstances that were hazy but surely unpleasant. She was said to have contributed to the failure of intelligence that culminated in the Kawu Baraje faction of the troubled ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), visiting the Assembly to address lawmakers – an action that infuriated the Presidency as if it had been stung by a swarm of bees. Another report said Mrs Emordi was asked to reach out–Sorry, prize for guessing what that means, dear reader–to the lawmakers in the PDP’s special way to prevent the high risk visit that could complicate the mess into which the largest party in Africa has plunged itself.

    The matter is neither here nor there. But where were the vocal backers of the affirmative action? I hope the lady will someday tell her story, which will surely be a prized companion of anybody willing to take up such risky jobs.

    It was not, however, all pains for our women. Mrs Folorunsho Alakija was named Africa’s wealthiest woman by Ventures Africa and African Business. The oil tycoon is said to be worth $7.3billion. Talk about beauty, brain and cash – all rolled into one.

    Even in far away South Korea, fortune smiled on our women – courtesy of the First Lady, Dame Patience Fakabelemi Jonathan. She won – sorry, a little mistake there – she was awarded a honorary doctorate degree in Social Welfare and Administration by Hansel University, Seoul. The recognition dazed her critics who have been so close, yet so undiscerning of her talents. A case of the prophetess not being without honour except in her own town? The other day when Her Excellency was awarded a permanent secretaryship in Bayelsa State, those arm-chair critics, the dem say dem say people against whom a law has been enacted in that state, scorned her for days on end. What will they say now?

  • My wife Abiodun in my thought

    It has been 10 years since the cold hands of death took my beloved wife away and there is no way life can be the same. Marriages are made in heaven; this from my experience is the truth. I met the young lady who later became my wife in a multitude of people at Apapa Port when I and other members of my family went to welcome one of my brothers who was returning from the United Kingdom in 1963. As soon as I saw Abiodun something told me she was going to be my wife. I was a very shy person when I was young and in my generation boys and girls were educated apart unlike what operates today. Most of us boys were indoctrinated to feel that it was unethical and a waste of precious time that should be devoted to our academic work for young boys in secondary school to begin to fantasise about girls. So young people in my generation were rather shy and uncomfortable with girls. Unless it was absolutely necessary we did not relate with people of the opposite sex and when we did, it was most of the time adversarial. We also felt that only bad boys had girlfriends at least at secondary school level and somehow most of my classmates in Christ’s School Ado-Ekiti who had girlfriends did not do well either because they wasted precious time writing love letters instead of studying or they were just not smart enough.

    So even as a university student and at 21, we were still quite shy and uncomfortable in the company of ladies. So when I met the young lady who was to be my wife, I had to summon up courage to approach her. Her initial response was to say no and to put obstacles in the way of the relationship but I knew she was going to be my wife and the Almighty approved and six years later I married her. She brought a lot of joy to my life and also gave me four children, three girls and a boy all doing well in the profession of Medicine, Engineering, Psychology and Banking.

    The purpose of marriage from my own experience is three fold namely for procreation, and without sex there can be no procreation and thirdly for companionship in that order. When one is old the children will go away and have their own families, the desire for sex will wane and what would be left is companionship. This is the divine order because when God created Eve, he told Adam that he was giving him a helpmate. A helpmate is also probably the same thing as a companion. Someone who complements another person is a helpmate. The bible also says that a man shall leave his family and shall be joined to his wife and both of them shall become one. When a man loses his wife or when a woman loses her husband, half of the person is gone and the one that is left is like an eagle that is flying with one wing. It will certainly not be able to fly high and it may not be able to feed itself; what it will be able to do is continue to soldier on. This is the nature of things. No couple no matter how much they love each other will pray that they should die together. But it is usually easier for the woman to survive the man than the other way round. Who can query God? God in His omnipotence does whatever He wants to do and His decision is final.

    It is very hard to live alone especially when you have lived with someone for over 30 years and it does not make sense to me to want to start all over again with another person. Somehow one gets used to loneliness and being alone. What has helped me all these years since my wife’s transition is to bury myself in my work. But then no one can work for 24 hours, one still has to go to bed and sleep at night and then it hits you when it seems you are holding somebody but then you wake up and there is nobody and it is just in your mind. There is immortality of the soul no doubt and one knows even if one is not a Christian that the soul never perishes. But as a Christian, I believe my wife is in another realm and that all the pains of this life can no longer touch her but she will always continue to live in her children and grandchildren and in the love that I had for her and I still have for her.

    Diamonds are forever and love is imperishable. There is a sobering thought in all these that all men and all women have their appointed time. My wife was only 54 years old when she passed on. The consolation is that she had accomplished her mission. She was an ordained Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and had founded two parishes one in Europe and one in Nigeria and she has been engaged in the labour of love for God and man and God never forgets and my prayer is that she will have her just reward before God Almighty.

    Life for me has been full of ups and downs since her demise, more downs than ups but I have kept on in spite of the vicissitude of life because I have faith that my mission on earth will be accomplished. This piece is written to solicit prayers by all those who read it and to give comfort to all those who may be in the same position with me that all will be well. If Biodun had lived, she would have been growing old gracefully along her grey headed husband sharing with me my ups and downs. Finding someone to share your inner feelings, fears and hopes of the future and your children and children’s future is the big absence in my life. But the memories of what we shared, the laughter and the joys of husband and wife would linger in my mind until the end and until the heavenly divide separating me and my wife is eventually lifted as it is the lot of all humanity. It is well.

  • ‘I never thought I’ll be seventy’

    ‘I never thought I’ll be seventy’

    To say Chief Ebenezer Babatope, former Director of Organisation of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), former Minister of Transport under General Sani Abacha, Afenifere chieftain and former University of Lagos administrator has packed a lot into his seven decades on earth is an understatement. Ask the fiery political activist and he will tell you he has paid his dues. Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, spoke with the Osun State-born politician on his life and times as he celebrates a landmark 70th birthday.

    Sir, you turned seventy just yesterday, what does it feel like being seventy years old?

    Well, I feel very happy and grateful to God almighty for preserving my life up till now. I must confess to you, given what I’ve passed through in my early life, I never for once thought I will live to be seventy. I became hypertensive at twenty-three. But here I am today. God has never allowed me to suffer any major health reverse. I thank God greatly and that is one of the reasons I am celebrating my seventieth year.

    Will you now say you are fulfilled?

    I am a fulfilled man. I thank God for my life so far. Let me tell you this. Papa (Obafemi) Awolowo brought me out of obscurity into national prominence. Then we had people better than me around but it will remain my honour to have had the opportunity to serve a great African leader like Awolowo. I was right beside him for five years and three months as the national director of organization. Nothing can be better than that.

    Apart from that, I became a minister. That was an act of God. So, I feel fulfilled. I know that I am not a perfect person but I say God has raised me to a level that I have to be grateful to him always.

    Growing up sir, was this how you envisioned Nigeria to be by the time you turn seventy?

    That is a different matter altogether. We want Nigeria to be better, but we should thank God that Nigeria of today is politically is much better than what we had in the first and second republics.

    Let me tell you the reason. At a time in this country, there was a cabal that believed that Nigeria was simply an extension of their private family compounds. And this feudal cabal never believed that any person from the southern part of the country could rule. They believed that the rulers of Nigeria must always come from the north. But today, times have changed. You find people who are not from the north ruling. That is why we must give kudos to all Nigerian people from the north and the east and the west for ensuring that we have seen people who are not from the north ruling.

    We must salute the maturity of northern elders and praise the courage and determination of the southern people for getting to this stage. I’m not saying we have reached the Eldorado of our dream, but I am saying things are going to get better.

    You were closely associated with Chief Obafemi Awolowo. What major thing did you take away from those years of close association with the late sage?

    I learnt a lot. I am eternally grateful to Papa Awolowo and I thank God always for making me come in contact with him. He taught us almost all the basic principles anybody whom wished to serve the public must have. I have said many times that Papa taught us his disciples that if you are in public office, don’t enjoy what you cannot provide for yourself in your private life. If you know you cannot afford Coca-Cola in your private life, don’t go into government drinking it.

    He also taught us not to take gratification from anyone so that the next morning, you will not be able to look at the person’s face. Thirdly, Papa said don’t collude with civil servants to rob government because if you do, you have bastardised the position you are holding and rubbished your own image.

    So these three principles, if applied by public officials will help curb the tide of corruption in the country. Apart from these, there is also the disciplined life the old man lived. You can be sure that when Papa woke up in the morning, he would have programmed himself for the whole day. In the morning he would take breakfast, not too much but light breakfast. He hardly takes any lunch. And in the evening by five p.m, Papa was on the table for dinner. And the average number of hours Papa spent taking dinner would be three hours. All this kind of routine life Papa led had effect on all of us.

    And that is why I say today, that those of us who are Papa Awolowo associates, while I am not saying we are perfect, I want to believe that there is no person that can come out and say that when we were holding public offices this is the amount of money we got as kickbacks or whatever.

    The late Chief Awolowo was seen by many as strong-willed and firm. Can you recollect any weakness he had?

    There is only one weakness I knew Papa had. Papa was too trusting. If you go to Papa and say we saw Babatope talking against you somewhere, Papa will not believe you. If you go to him to say such thing, Papa will ask you if you are ready to repeat what you are saying in the presence of that very person. If you are not ready to do that, he will simply ask you to keep quiet. That was the only weakness I noticed and I think that is the only weakness Papa had till he went to the world beyond.

    But why was Papa Awolowo unable to win elections in places like the conservative North and core East in spite of his wide acceptance as a leader?

    It was simply because like I told you, a feudal cabal believed nobody can rule Nigeria except someone from their side. This was the major reason. If you talk in terms of the minority in the North, many of them supported Awo. Even in the old Gongola State which is now Adamawa, we produced three senators. The Speaker of the then Gongola House of Assembly was an Awo supporter in the UPN. I’m told he is dead now but we produced the Speaker. Then if you go to Plateau, go to Benue you find Awo people there. Solomon Lar was in the Action Group before he pulled out. So Papa lost elections because of that credible hold on power by the cabal. And of course the power was given to them by the colonialists. Elections were manipulated. I don’t want to talk about that now.

    While he was alive, in spite of these electoral losses, was Papa optimistic that the cabal will one day lose out in the power game?

    Awo was sure in his mind. He was always saying that eventually Nigerians will see through the situation and then things will change. In 1983, Papa went to campaign in Bonny and he made a prediction at that rally. He said all of you in Ijaw area, you don’t vote for me now but one day an Ijaw man will become the President of Nigeria. It is then you will realize all the points I have been making. And it has happened. Jonathan is from Ijaw and he is the President of the country.

    You served under General Sani Abacha. Do you have any regrets working with the late dictator?

    I have no regrets whatsoever working with Abacha or with anybody for that matter. I do not do things that I will regret later. In any case, I have a book about my years under the Abacha regime. It came out in 1995 and it was well publicized all over the country. It was produced by a publisher in London. So I have no regrets.

    When (Gen) Dipo Diya, who was then the number two in the government, extended invitation to my political leaders in the Awolowo political family, it was decided that myself, Papa Jakande, Olu Onagoruwa and Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo should go and serve government. Later, they said we should pull out. My memoirs will soon be out towards the end of this year and you will see reasons why I refused to pull out. If I pulled out then, I’m telling you, you will not be talking to a living Babatope now.

    How do you reply those who still criticize you for serving in that government?

    What do I want to reply them for? I believe that reality will come out and they will know what happened. We didn’t go to the government to steal. The records of our performances are there that on the June 12 issue, we never deviated. Solomon Lar, Jerry Gana, Onagoruwa, Jakande, myself and co. We maintained very good records all through. Eventually these records will be out and those who are criticizing us, some for selfish reasons and some for other reasons, will change their minds.

    Even before the Abacha years, you were deeply involved in the politics that led to the June 12 crisis. From your own reading of events, would you say Abiola was really committed to the fight for his mandate?

    Well, I was not all that close to Abiola and this was for obvious reasons. But we were together in the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and I fought ruthlessly to ensure that Abiola kept his mandate. But it was a major heroic display on the part of the Nigerian people that they voted for Abiola and Kingibe, a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Having said that I cannot answer the question for Abiola. One thing that cannot be challenged by anybody is the fact that Abiola died a martyr for democracy.

    Personally now, would you say you are where you hoped to be when you are seventy politically?

    What do I want to be again? I told you of how I was privileged to serve under one of Africa’s greatest leaders. Number two; I’ve been minister, no matter what people say about that era. Again I have passed through some stages in my life that I can say with due respect to Nigerians, I have paid my dues. I don’t have pension up till now because a military minister felt that since I was anti-government, nothing of such should happen.

    I have been to jail three times of my life. I have been arrested by police several times. I have a daughter that is paraplegic because of my political involvement. I thank God for what I have been. I thank him for what I am and I do not aspire for something which is not approved by him. I wanted to be a senator in 1993. General Ibrahim Babangida disqualified me. I kept my peace but a year and three months later, I was appointed to be a minister. I just want to go to my grave contented that I have done my best for my people.

    Are you not in any way missing your former colleagues within the progressive folds now that you are a member of the ruling conservative PDP?

    I am not missing anybody. There is no party in Nigeria today that is ideological. That is the truth. There is none that can call itself a progressive party. When party politics started in 1998, Uncle Bola Ige virtually wrote the manifestoes of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Peoples Party (APP). Take the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) today, which has the highest number of progressives in its rank, there are also some conservatives with them. You find National Peoples Party (NPN) people there among them. Then take the PDP and you will find some Awolowo militants among us here. Nobody can say I am not an Awolowo militant. Professor Tunde Adeniran, Jubril Martins Kuye, Omilani, Dayo Abatan, etc. These are all Awolowo people and they are in the PDP. All I know is that no party can lay claim to being progressive in Nigeria.

    I’ve never regretted being in PDP. My friends are still my friends. Lam Adesina was my friend till he died. Segun Osoba is still my friend. Bola Tinubu is still my friend and younger brother. When I got married he contributed at that time. These are my personal persons and we still relate as such. Why must they hate me or I hate them because we don’t belong to the same political party? But of course, I have developed a kind of political maturity given me by Awolowo that when I see a good person, I must support that person irrespective of the party he represents. That explains my support for Dr Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo State even though my party had a candidate in the race. Babatunde Fashola in his first term was doing well. And when Tinubu was there, I supported him. I told a gathering of PDP leaders once that if I were to vote in Lagos, I will vote for Bola Tinubu because he was performing. It was at the wedding of Jubril Martins Kuye’s daughter that I said that. So they don’t miss me, I don’t miss them because we are all Nigerians. When my friend Chief Bisi Akande was celebrating his 70th birthday, I wrote a whole column on him. When Lam Adesina died, I also wrote a column on him. So we are friends and I want to believe that politics should not affect our friendship. Let me give you an example, I was seventy yesterday. If you see what Ogeni Rauf Aregbesola did, you will be surprised. We don’t belong to the same party. He wrote me a letter which was read at the ceremony. So that is how politics should be.

    Talking about your activities during the last governorship election in Ondo, one wonders why you are yet to be accused of anti-party activities by your party?

    Let me give you the reason. Apart from the fact that I appreciated Mimiko for his performance, when we were having the last presidential election, I was the chairman of PDP’s inter party relations committee. Mimiko and the governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, came all out to say they were supporting President Goodluck Jonathan. I am very proud of that because I related with them. So I said one good turn deserves another. Why must this person support us and we turn against him? So nobody can really say it was anti party activities. I have interest in Abiola Ajimobi and Ibikunle Amosun because they are performing. It is not about party for me anymore. Politically, I am too matured to be streamlined by party affiliation only. Look at Aregbesola, a man who respects elders. I cannot be blurred by political affiliation to the extent of not recognizing his good deeds.

    The opposition is now talking about a mega party that will dislodge PDP in 2015. What is your take on the planned merger of leading opposition parties?

    If they (the parties) are able to form an alliance or a merger, it is good for the country. It is good for democracy. But they cannot make it. These are already issues. A section of the alliance talks has said they will make sure Buhari contests the next election. By the time they sit to discuss, contradiction will tear them apart.

    Don’t you think the crises within PDP will give the opposition a chance to dislodge it in the next election?

    There is no single party without a conflict. Conflicts are meant to be resolved by those who are political practitioners. Every party has its own crisis. For example, look at Ajimobi in Oyo State. I have been following the papers. Some people have endorsed him for a second term already while some people within his party are saying nobody has endorsed him. So it is natural to have crisis. In the PDP the removal of the secretary is not really a major setback for the party. All the party did is to avoid being dragged into litigation over the activities of its secretary who has been removed by the court of law. It is also to give him all the opportunity to go and contest the decision up to the Supreme Court. And when he finishes he will be reinstated. It is not a conflict at all. And when you talk about the BoT issue, it is also no issue at all.

    Coming to the Southwest, do you think the PDP can really stage the much talked-about comeback in the region?

    The PDP can stage a successful comeback in the Southwest in 2015 if it puts its house in order. We lost the region because we were completely divided. And if we continue in that state of division the ACN will rout us again. To make any impact in the Southwest, the PDP must unite. There is no magic to it other than sincere reconciliation and unity.