The Nation Newspaper

Tag: time

  • Val’s time management- between the rock and a hard place

    Welcome to the ‘Adventures of Professor Val’. For some weeks now, we have been learning from the experience of Professor Val at an international conference where he displeased the audience by using the time allotted to him. Ironic, isn’t it? He got into trouble for doing the ‘right thing’! So, we have been trying to find out what went wrong. Last week, we examined how Val tried to load his audience with too much information. As Bolade, one of the dear readers of this column put it in his message, Val wanted to make a ‘professor’ out of the audience. We identified that he obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must earn the right to speak to his/her audience by being knowledgeable”. He was, however, ignorant of the exception to the rule, which says, “You cannot teach people in a moment what you learnt in a lifetime”.

    Today, we shall examine another critical element of public speaking that worked against Professor Val. This element is time management. If you have been following the story, you will recall that Val was invited to deliver a one-hour presentation and he did just that. How can we then accuse him of time mismanagement?

    So far in this column, we have presented our dear Professor as the villain of the story but this time, I want us to see him as the victim. Put yourself in his shoes. What would you do if you signed a contract to speak for one hour and have been paid, yet the audience got tired after 35 minutes? Would you hastily conclude your presentation to please the audience and face possible refund, or would you bore the audience to sleep to justify the money? Professor Val was definitely between a rock and a hard place?

    As it has become our tradition in this series, we shall state the rule Professor Val obeyed, after which we shall discuss the exception to that rule. Professor Val obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must be mindful of time and limit his/her presentation to the time allotted”. Since we have already established last week that Val had too much to say with too little time to say it, we applause him for managing to keep to the one hour. Nevertheless, he neglected the exception to the rule which says, “A speaker must finish speaking before the audience has finished listening”.

    We cannot overemphasize the fact that a speaker’s success or failure is determined by the audience. If you have the most important information to pass across and the audience isn’t interested in listening, what do you do? A speaker must always keep in mind that audience satisfaction is paramount. In the case of Val, here are a few things we should learn:

    • No organiser likes a sleep audience: Val may have merited his contract-fee by completing his one hour, but guess what will happen when next the organizer is shopping for a speaker? He would definitely be bypassed because he failed to connect with the audience. This fact makes it easy for us to see that completing our allotted time is not as important as communicating with our audience. We shouldn’t get carried away with time; we must focus on our audience.
    • Learn relative importance: relative importance generally means measuring the significance of something in relation to something else. A speaker must learn to measure the significance of his/her presentation in relation to the time given. If you are given one hour to discuss an activity you carried out for five years, then you know that you have to select only the important aspects of it. If you have just five minutes to contribute to a discourse, you must leave out history and procedures. Begin with the most important aspect, and if there is some time left, highlight the procedure.
    • If they don’t feel you, draw them out: when Professor Val realised that he wasn’t communicating with his audience, he should have used a lot of illustrations to make his point. Illustrations always simplify seemingly complex issues. Also, he should have engaged them by turning the rest of his time to a discussion session. He could have asked questions and let them respond, and also allow them to ask him questions.

    Time management is not only when we don’t exceed the time we are given; it is more importantly our ability to know the right time to stop. We still have a lot to learn from Professor Val. Please join me again next week, by the grace of God, as we explore further. I look forward to hearing from you.

  • Val’s time management- between the rock and a hard place

    Welcome to the ‘Adventures of Professor Val’. For some weeks now, we have been learning from the experience of Professor Val at an international conference where he displeased the audience by using the time allotted to him. Ironic, isn’t it? He got into trouble for doing the ‘right thing’! So, we have been trying to find out what went wrong. Last week, we examined how Val tried to load his audience with too much information. As Bolade, one of the dear readers of this column put it in his message, Val wanted to make a ‘professor’ out of the audience. We identified that he obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must earn the right to speak to his/her audience by being knowledgeable”. He was, however, ignorant of the exception to the rule, which says, “You cannot teach people in a moment what you learnt in a lifetime”.

    Today, we shall examine another critical element of public speaking that worked against Professor Val. This element is time management. If you have been following the story, you will recall that Val was invited to deliver a one-hour presentation and he did just that. How can we then accuse him of time mismanagement?

    So far in this column, we have presented our dear Professor as the villain of the story but this time, I want us to see him as the victim. Put yourself in his shoes. What would you do if you signed a contract to speak for one hour and have been paid, yet the audience got tired after 35 minutes? Would you hastily conclude your presentation to please the audience and face possible refund, or would you bore the audience to sleep to justify the money? Professor Val was definitely between a rock and a hard place?

    As it has become our tradition in this series, we shall state the rule Professor Val obeyed, after which we shall discuss the exception to that rule. Professor Val obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must be mindful of time and limit his/her presentation to the time allotted”. Since we have already established last week that Val had too much to say with too little time to say it, we applause him for managing to keep to the one hour. Nevertheless, he neglected the exception to the rule which says, “A speaker must finish speaking before the audience has finished listening”.

    We cannot overemphasize the fact that a speaker’s success or failure is determined by the audience. If you have the most important information to pass across and the audience isn’t interested in listening, what do you do? A speaker must always keep in mind that audience satisfaction is paramount. In the case of Val, here are a few things we should learn:

    • No organiser likes a sleep audience: Val may have merited his contract-fee by completing his one hour, but guess what will happen when next the organizer is shopping for a speaker? He would definitely be bypassed because he failed to connect with the audience. This fact makes it easy for us to see that completing our allotted time is not as important as communicating with our audience. We shouldn’t get carried away with time; we must focus on our audience.
    • Learn relative importance: relative importance generally means measuring the significance of something in relation to something else. A speaker must learn to measure the significance of his/her presentation in relation to the time given. If you are given one hour to discuss an activity you carried out for five years, then you know that you have to select only the important aspects of it. If you have just five minutes to contribute to a discourse, you must leave out history and procedures. Begin with the most important aspect, and if there is some time left, highlight the procedure.
    • If they don’t feel you, draw them out: when Professor Val realised that he wasn’t communicating with his audience, he should have used a lot of illustrations to make his point. Illustrations always simplify seemingly complex issues. Also, he should have engaged them by turning the rest of his time to a discussion session. He could have asked questions and let them respond, and also allow them to ask him questions.

    Time management is not only when we don’t exceed the time we are given; it is more importantly our ability to know the right time to stop. We still have a lot to learn from Professor Val. Please join me again next week, by the grace of God, as we explore further. I look forward to hearing from you.

  • Time for prudence

    • States must be compelled to spend CBN grants wisely

    Finally, it is hoped that the economic meltdown afflicting more than two-thirds of the states in our country, and resulting in arrears of salaries and pensions for several months, has come to an end. The cheery news follows the release of grants promised by the Federal Government to the affected states. Following the sudden dip in the accruals from the Federation Account, arising partly from the mismanagement of the oil industry, especially by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, and the crash in international oil prices, many states fell behind in the payment of salaries and pensions.

    Now, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has fulfilled the second part of his intervention policy, made in the overall interest of the general welfare of the people, and we commend it for this. By this policy, the Federal Government has authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay about N338billion as long term loans to the affected states, to help them offset the huge debts owed to banks and as arrears of salaries to workers. While the propriety of the grant had raised a lot of debate, we consider it ennobling that the Federal Government has weighed in to save the deprived workers and pensioners. After all, the welfare of the people is a primary reason for government.

    Expectedly, the grants are rightly loans, to be paid back from the states’ allocations over a long period. We hope the Federal Government has put strict measures in place to ensure timely repayments. Also, states should realise that by the grants, their future generations are constrained to pay the salaries and pensions of the present generation. While that is worrisome enough, it will be a double tragedy if the states are allowed to mismanage the grants. Indeed, if there is a way for the Federal Government to ensure that the money is strictly used for the purpose it was granted, the better for the workers.

    We know that some states may argue against a direct disbursement of the loans to the workers by the Federal Government, on the grounds of federal principles, and they are right. But, such states also need to be reminded that by allowing their states to go near-bankrupt, and now lying at the mercy of the federal behemoth; they have also compromised the principle of federalism. For a lasting solution, we urge the states to demand for restructuring of the national economy in such a way that states become viable economic entities, instead of hangers-on, perennially in economic quagmire.

    To achieve such objective, our country must move away from an oil-dependent mono economy; and seek diversification of its wealth base. The current practice cannot also sustain the over- loated bureaucracy, both at the federal and state levels. As is common knowledge, the Federal Government is also in grave financial difficulty, even when it takes the lion’s share from the federation account. So, what is needed for a healthier federation is to embrace efficiency, accountability and diversification, in place of the recent opacity, criminal mismanagement, and over-centralised economy.

    The states must also brace up. No doubt, many of the governors have been complicit in the challenges facing their states. Many of them get involved in white elephant projects; some are also corrupt and reckless in the use of the state resources. Indeed, some of the governors run their states as fiefdoms, with over-bloated security votes and other self-serving expenditures. In the overall interest of the country, states must become economically more independent and prudent in the management of their resources.

  • Val’s time management- between the rock and a hard Place

    Welcome to the ‘Adventures of Professor Val’. For some weeks now, we have been learning from the experience of Professor Val at an international conference where he displeased the audience by using the time allotted to him. Ironic, isn’t it? He got into trouble for doing the ‘right thing’! So, we have been trying to find out what went wrong. Last week, we examined how Val tried to load his audience with too much information. As Bolade, one of the dear readers of this column put it in his message, Val wanted to make a ‘professor’ out of the audience. We identified that he obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must earn the right to speak to his/her audience by being knowledgeable”. He was, however, ignorant of the exception to the rule, which says, “You cannot teach people in a moment what you learnt in a lifetime”.

    Today, we shall examine another critical element of public speaking that worked against Professor Val. This element is time management. If you have been following the story, you will recall that Val was invited to deliver a one-hour presentation and he did just that. How can we then accuse him of time mismanagement?

    So far in this column, we have presented our dear Professor as the villain of the story but this time, I want us to see him as the victim. Put yourself in his shoes. What would you do if you signed a contract to speak for one hour and have been paid, yet the audience got tired after 35 minutes? Would you hastily conclude your presentation to please the audience and face possible refund, or would you bore the audience to sleep to justify the money? Professor Val was definitely between a rock and a hard place?

    As it has become our tradition in this series, we shall state the rule Professor Val obeyed, after which we shall discuss the exception to that rule. Professor Val obeyed the rule which says, “A speaker must be mindful of time and limit his/her presentation to the time allotted”. Since we have already established last week that Val had too much to say with too little time to say it, we applause him for managing to keep to the one hour. Nevertheless, he neglected the exception to the rule which says, “A speaker must finish speaking before the audience has finished listening”.

    We cannot overemphasize the fact that a speaker’s success or failure is determined by the audience. If you have the most important information to pass across and the audience isn’t interested in listening, what do you do? A speaker must always keep in mind that audience satisfaction is paramount. In the case of Val, here are a few things we should learn:

    • No organiser likes a sleep audience: Val may have merited his contract-fee by completing his one hour, but guess what will happen when next the organizer is shopping for a speaker? He would definitely be bypassed because he failed to connect with the audience. This fact makes it easy for us to see that completing our allotted time is not as important as communicating with our audience. We shouldn’t get carried away with time; we must focus on our audience.
    • Learn relative importance: relative importance generally means measuring the significance of something in relation to something else. A speaker must learn to measure the significance of his/her presentation in relation to the time given. If you are given one hour to discuss an activity you carried out for five years, then you know that you have to select only the important aspects of it. If you have just five minutes to contribute to a discourse, you must leave out history and procedures. Begin with the most important aspect, and if there is some time left, highlight the procedure.
    • If they don’t feel you, draw them out: when Professor Val realised that he wasn’t communicating with his audience, he should have used a lot of illustrations to make his point. Illustrations always simplify seemingly complex issues. Also, he should have engaged them by turning the rest of his time to a discussion session. He could have asked questions and let them respond, and also allow them to ask him questions.

    Time management is not only when we don’t exceed the time we are given; it is more importantly our ability to know the right time to stop. We still have a lot to learn from Professor Val. Please join me again next week, by the grace of God, as we explore further. I look forward to hearing from you.

  • Not yet time to boast

    •Military chiefs should stop giving the impression that the Boko Haram war is won already

    The boosted morale and commitment of the Nigerian Army with regards to the Boko Haram terrorist group is evident in the string of successes being recorded on the battle front. This must have informed the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Borate’s pledge to dislodge and demobilise the militants before the expiration of the three-month target set by President Muhammadu Buhari. The army chief who has been moving round the battle grounds in the North East to encourage the troops said, contrary to the assessment of the general public, the war would be won as the military authorities are committed to ensuring that Nigeria is rid of the evil effects of the group’s activities.

    We have noticed the incapacitation of the sect in many of the cities and towns of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states where they had earlier seized territories. It is obvious that the commitment of President Buhari to restore peace in all parts of the country is paying off. Since he assumed office on May 29, he has embarked on shuttle diplomatic missions to the United States of America, member countries of the Lake Chad Basin and the headquarters of the African Union. At each stop, he tried to mobilise support for the fight against terrorism. As a result, he has restored confidence in the capacity of the Nigerian military to win the war. The American president, said to have refused to sell needed military equipment to prosecute the war has resumed normal cooperation with the Nigerian military, and Nigeria’s contribution to the multinational force set up by the Lake Chad Basin Countries has been paid.

    While frontal attacks on towns and troops have reduced drastically in the past two months, suicide bombers have remained on the prowl. Young girls and boys have continued to deploy Improvised Explosive Devices at strategic points, leading to the death of innocent Nigerians. Displaced people are still unable to return to their homes and the image of Nigeria as an unsafe country is still rife abroad.

    The military chiefs should speak more through action on the battle front than the media. There is no doubt that the equipment required are still in short supply. This much was admitted by the former Commander of the Army Corp of Engineers, Major-General Sardauna Davies at Bonny Camp, Lagos, last week. Describing the militants as a bunch of wanderers and bandits, he admitted that the army was still suffering from a dearth of equipment. This confirms that a lot still has to be done. It is not yet time to boast or celebrate.

    We commend the new team of military chiefs for efforts at collaboration, rather than the competition and rancour that defined relations during the Jonathan era. They should continue along the new line. We also note the role good intelligence gathering has to play in prosecuting the war. In this case, the Chief of Military Intelligence has his role well cut out for him. The Department of State Services should also be accorded a pride of place.

    The war against terrorism is not for the fighting forces alone. The Civilian Task Force deserves commendation for the role it has played so far and as we have pointed out in previous editorials, the military should seize the opportunity to improve on civilian-military relations.

    While appreciable gains have been recorded, it is not time to rest on our oars or become complacent. Nigeria’s pride is at stake. So, all hands must be on deck to ensure that this task is done efficiently and effectively.

  • North Korea’s new time zone to break from ‘imperialism’

    North Korea has decided  to switch to a new time zone to mark its liberation from the Japanese at the end of World War Two, according to  state media.

    North Korea is currently in the same time zone as South Korea and Japan, which are nine hours ahead of GMT.

    But the Pyongyang Time will see the clocks put back by 30 minutes on 15 August.

    State news agency, KCNA, said “wicked Japanese imperialists” had “deprived Korea of even its standard time” by changing the clocks during occupation.

    The entire Korean peninsula – then one country – was 8.5 hours ahead of GMT until Japan colonised it in 1910.

    KCNA quoted officials as saying the decision to adopt the Pyongyang Time reflected “the unshakeable faith and will of the service personnel and people on the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation”.

    South Korea said the move could cause some short-term inconvenience at the Kaesong industrial plant in North Korea, jointly run by the two Koreas.

    “And in the longer term, there may be some fallout for efforts to unify standards and reduce differences between the two sides,” Unification Ministry official Jeong Joon-Hee said.

    There is no international body that approves a country’s change of time zone as countries decide for themselves.

    In 2011, Samoa changed its time zone to the other side of the international dateline, losing one day, so as to make communication easier with neighbours, Australia and New Zealand.

    And North Korea is not the only country that has created its own unique time zone.

    In 2007, Venezuela decided to turn its clocks back by half an hour as President Hugo Chavez wanted to have a “more fair distribution of the sunrise” to residents.

    Venezuela is now the only country with a time zone 4.5 hours behind GMT.

  • DREAM TEAM VS RED DEVILS: It’s time for revenge, Etebo roars

    DREAM TEAM VS RED DEVILS: It’s time for revenge, Etebo roars

    Nigeria’s Under-23s will be gunning for a big win against Congo in today’s 2016 Olympic men’s football qualifying game.

    To successfully accomplish that task, Samson Siasia will be banking on forwards Taiwo Awoniyi, Junior Ayaji and Oghenekaro Etebo.

    Etebo sat down with supersport.com to discuss the challenge of putting Congo to the sword as well as the more unconventional things about his life.

     

    What are Nigeria’s chances of racking up a big win against Congo?

    It will be a good game and for me, I have a personal score to settle. The club I play for, Warri Wolves, were knocked out of the CAF Confederaion Cup by a Congolese club (AC Leopard). So, this is a chance for revenge.

     

    What is your favourite food?

    Rice, beans, plantain and chicken.

     

    Your happiest memory in football?

     That would be my first league game with Warri Wolves at home. It was against El-Kanemi Warriors and I scored a hat-trick.

     

    And the worst?

    Losing the Federation Cup final to Enyimba with Warri Wolves on penalties in 2013 made me cry like a baby.

     

    Who is your best friend in football?

    That will be my teammate at Wolves, Michael Uremu Egbeta. We have been friends even before we both joined the club and it has continued till this moment.

     

    Who is your best-dressed teammate?

    Daniel Akpeyi, our goalkeeper. He’s a very trendy guy.

     

    And the worst?

    Freedom Omoforman. He will kill me for this (chuckles).

     

    Who is the best coach you have ever worked with?

    Solomon Ogbeide. He’s the coach who spotted me when I didn’t even believe in myself.

     

    Tell us about the best goal you ever scored.

     That was a goal I scored against Sunshine Stars at the Warri City Stadium. I received a lofted pass from midfield and smashed it home with my left foot. It was a truly great goal.

     

     Who is the most difficult opponent you have ever faced?

    Enugu Rangers’ Senegalese defender Pierre Coly. He’s as hard as nails.

     

    What would you do if you received a gift of a million dollars?

    That’s a great question. I will invest a large chunk of that money but I will also help the poor and needy in society.

     

    Your favourite football club?

    In Nigeria Warri Wolves and in Europe FC Barcelona.

     

    Who is that one female celebrity you would want to date?

    If I say my girlfriend will kill me (laughs).

     

    Your favourite colour?

    White.

     

    Your favourite car?

    I don’t really have one, but it has to be black.

  • Buhari, NA and race against time

    To the conscientious analyst, neither Tambuwal nor Ekweremadu holds any appeal.

    Tambuwalisation,  which romped Aminu Tambuwal to the speakership, despite the ire of his ruling party, suited fine the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hegemony.

    Yet, it has come back, in the new order, to plague the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC); with the loss of the Senate deputy presidency to the opposition PDP.

    Many would, of course, enter the softener: the Tambuwal-led House of Representatives proved much more people-centred; than the reactionary House expected under Mulikat Adeola-Akande, the PDP choice for Speaker.

    Yes — and the polity would appear not ungrateful.  But even that noble accident hardly vitiates the vile principle of rebellion against party.

    Now to Ekweremadu-isation, which has fired PDP’s Ike Ekweremadu to retain the senate deputy presidency, despite his PDP losing power.

    Indeed, it’s a real laugh seeing Godswill Akpabio, former Akwa Ibom governor and now a senator, wax lyrical on cant.  He claimed Ekweremadu was a product of some gobbledygook bi-partisan entente, involving public-spirited APC and PDP senators.  Nice attempt at deodorisation of a clear and brazen parliamentary coup — with even Akpabio hardly convincing himself!

    Of course, it was nothing of the sort.

    Rather, it was two blocs of colluding legislators — a minority, from the APC side, for strictly personal gains, stabbing their own party in the back; and a majority, from the PDP, attempting an obstructionist vanguard, to stall a clear mandate for change, hoping therefrom, to reap some future group political salvation.

    But as everything karma-like, and not unlike the eye-for-an-eye Mosaic law that soon leaves everybody blind, the Ekweremadu phase of this bad politics is even worse than the Tambuwal original.

    For all his rebellion, Speaker Tambuwal conceded the House Leader to Ms Adeola-Akande, his party’s original Speaker-designate.  But Ekweremadu is living example that Bukola Saraki, senate president, will make no such concession!  If he did, the deal would be off.  If Ekweremadu is in peril, the deal would be in danger.  That puts Saraki too in peril!

    Again, while the Tambuwal concession did not nullify the original rebellion, the Saraki intransigence portends a worse parliamentary plague next time.

    So long for a political class that thrives on expediency, and hardly on principle!

    But ethical or ruthless, life goes on.  President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) demanded and got a mandate for change.  So, he is condemned to delivering on that mandate.

    The snag, though, is: even if his party has a healthy parliamentary majority, the Saraki-brewed Ekweremadu-isation tends to have vaporised all that.

    Right now the National Assembly appears fractured into three camps: the majority APC, who appear loyal to their party and the PMB agenda; the minority PDP, poised to play the opposition, by hook or by crook; and the penumbra of two minorities: the bulk PDP and APC rebel elements that cooked Saraki’s senate presidency, which could band together to eclipse the PMB plan, particularly if the group perceives it a threat to its own agenda — and political survival.

    Yet, fast-tracking such initiatives appears the badly needed redemption for a fast decaying polity.

    But bad news for PMB: when the chips are down, these two minorities could forge an illicit majority, filibustering against, if not terminally blocking legislative support for popular initiatives.  That simply means PMB may face more difficulties than anticipated, to garner legislative support for his programmes.

    That, indeed, would be very bad news for everyone.  This is because to put things right for Nigeria is a desperate race against time, where even a second’s delay could be serious, if not outright fatal.

    From the 2015 election, the partisan winners were from the North (North East, North Central and North West) and South West, where APC swept the polls.  The losers were from the South East and South-South, where PDP won.

    So, virtual partisan political warfare, at least in the next four years, would be between the North/South West (to further press their electoral hegemony) and the South-East/South-South (to defend their turf).

    But overall, all of the geo-political zones were losers on the developmental turf, according to findings from a new poverty study on Nigeria from Oxford University (mentioned on this page last week), known as the Oxford poverty and human development initiative (OPHI), and formally cited as OPHI 2015, with the latest stats from as late as June 2015.

    OPHI does not measure poverty as just “no money”; but more rigorously as conditions precedent: either to reinforce poverty; or break that yoke to deliver development.

    So, by its 10-point indicators, broken down into three major planks, a state might be flush with cash, yet work to deepen poverty by its low infrastructure (social and physical); or be low on cash, but high on infrastructure, to dislodge poverty.

    Trite: presidential mandates are national.  But if all politics is local, PMB has extra motivation to push pro-people, anti-poverty initiatives, needing urgent legislative support.

    From the OPHI data, the 10 poorest states, with corresponding destitution, are from the president’s home region: Yobe, Zamfara, Jigawa, Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Taraba, Gombe and Kano — in that order.

    On this list is Katsina, PMB’s home state, Kano, the North’s commercial dynamo and Sokoto, the North West’s spiritual headquarters.  So, if he desires his presidency to be impactful, PMB must, against poverty, race against time.

    The top 10 states least affected by poverty and destitution are a mishmash: Lagos, Osun, Anambra, Ekiti, Edo, Imo, Abia, Rivers, Kwara and Akwa Ibom — in that order.

    Still, that four states, Lagos, Osun, Ekiti and Edo, dominate the top five tends to underscore the development bent of the states ruled, or once ruled, by the defunct ACN.  It also appears in the presidential camp, in the intra-APC parliamentary showdown.  More: the group should be zealous PMB partners, in a fierce anti-poverty war  — lest their areas slip back into the poverty mash, in this period of national economic angst.

    South East did far better than the South-South on the OPHI scale, despite SS’s relative bigger share of the central cake. On the other hand, Kwara, at spot 9, sits at the apex of all the northern states.

    Given the balance of the power in the National Assembly, and balance of fortune on the OPHI scale, could Saraki’s rebel APC legislators then team up with PDP-dominated SE and SS to block PMB and legislatively frustrate his initiatives?

    Sans bad politics, there is no sense in that, since no state or geo-political zone is immune from poverty.  But bad politics makes it a possibility, especially if collective good threatens to turn individual ruin.

    That is why, to succeed, PMB must marshal a strong coalition in parliament — with enough grassroots developmental carrots as drivers, to build a bi-partisan progressive vanguard.

    But if this commonsense viewpoint falters?  Then, he must build a media-people coalition outside parliament to enforce parliamentary common sense that, in Jeremy Bentham-speak, pushes the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

    That is the only way the change mandate of March 28 won’t end yet another grand betrayal.

    ‘If he desires his presidency to be impactful, PMB must, against poverty, race against time’

  • The sands of time

    Shortly after former President Goodluck Jonathan stepped into office in 2010, following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua, his most pressing challenge was appointing an electoral umpire. With the nation’s experience in the hands of Prof Maurice Iwu, Nigerians were praying that Jonathan should not make a wrong choice. They wanted an electoral umpire with integrity and sagacity. Riding on the crest of public goodwill, Jonathan, at every opportunity, promised to give us a man of honour; a man who will not sell his conscience for a mess of porridge.

    When he finally named Prof Attahiru Jega as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman in June 2010, many agreed that he made a right choice.  But will Jega do the right thing? Or will he follow the footsteps of many of his predecessors, who saw their position as an opportunity to enrich themselves? These were some of the worries of the public, who reasoned that our electoral fortunes lie in the hands of the INEC chief.

    For a free and fair election, the INEC chief must, like Caesar’s wife, be above board. Where the umpire is of questionable character, the electoral process is at risk. He will destroy a process, which, by virtue of his position, he is expected to protect.  In the discharge of his duty, the INEC chairman must be purpose driven; he must be ready to make sacrifices and to step on toes.

    It goes without saying that he must be uncompromising. Herein lies the enormous responsibility thrust upon the INEC chief and this is why many are against the appointment of such a person by the sitting president. But no matter how we all feel about the issue, it is a constitutional duty, which only the president can discharge. They prefer that the INEC chief be appointed by persons that will not contest election to ensure transparency of the process. Their fear is that where the president, who is the appointing authority stands for election,  the INEC chief may be favourably disposed to him.  Simply put, he may rig for the president?

    Such fears are not unfounded. We run a system where he who pays the piper calls the tune. We have seen how in the past electoral umpires openly showed bias for the government in power because of the belief that they owe allegiance to the administration whose head appointed them and not the country. The way Iwu conducted the 2007 general elections remain a reference point. Those were no elections. Iwu did everything to ensure that the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) returned to power all because he was appointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo whose body language indicated that he wanted the late President Yar’Adua to succeed him.

    What Iwu did not know is that he did not have to kowtow to the government of the day in the discharge of his duty. The INEC chair is constitutionally protected as long as he does his job conscientiously.

    Where an electoral umpire is open and transparent the people will know; where he is corrupt and inept they will also know. The people are no fools; they can see what is happening, no matter what the INEC chair or those in power may say. The INEC job is delicate; it is also a thankless job and a grave yard of reputations.

    Many have gone in there and come out with their reputations rubbished. This is why those lucky to get the job must do it honourably. Jega, Iwu’s successor, has shown that one can hold that delicate job and still come out with his head held high. We cannot call Jega a saint because saints do not walk the face of the earth, but he proved that you can be an electoral umpire without bringing opprobrium unto yourself. He acquitted himself well  in the two elections he conducted in 2011 and a few months ago.

    His conduct of the last general elections is especially commendable. It was his calmness in the face of extreme provocation on March 31 that saved a smooth electoral process from being truncated by forces of darkness led by  a so-called Elder Godsday Orubebe. Jega navigated the landmines planted by Orubebe and his comrade-in-arm Col Bello Fadile and ensured the successful conclusion of the March 28 presidential election. If those landmines had exploded, we would have had another June 12 on our hands and another long, dark night. Thank God for Jega and his superb handling of the situation.

    No good thing lasts forever. Last Tuesday, Jega bowed out after a successful five-year tenure. He has left a worthy legacy, which his successor must not only build on, but also strive to surpass.

    Black Friday

    As they sat inside the bus, their minds would have travelled far. They would have thought of the things they would do once they get home. After a tedious first semester, they needed time to cool off and prepare for the second semester. Their first semester examination would have occupied their minds and their discussions during the trip. In their subconscious minds, they would have reflected on how they answered some questions and attempted to award themselves marks. That is the way of students. After examinations, they sit back and assess their performance and play the examiner by grading themselves. You could imagine the fun the students were having as the 18-seater bus left the garage for Lagos. It is a journey usually done under one hour, if the traffic permits. But on this day, the trip ended even before it began.

    Inside the bus were nine students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ago Iwoye, Ogun State. There were three other passengers with them, including the driver. The journey had started well until they got to Ilishan. Since the bus was Lagos bound, the driver never expected that any vehicle going towards the Benin end of the expressway would share the same lane with him. So, before he knew what was happening a container-laden truck driving against traffic had run into him. The unlatched container fell on the bus, killing eight of the nine students and the remaining passengers. It was a monumental tragedy in which some promising young Nigerians were killed in their prime. How can we console the bereaved families? What do we say to the parents of these students? It is sad to have lost these students in such a way. My heart goes out to their parents.

    May the late students – Eunice Odubanjo Oluwadamilola (200-Level Political Science), Mariam Omolade Ogunnoiki (100-Level Education), Yetunde Aribiola Elizabeth (100-Level Biochemistry), Suliat Adams Oluwatobi (100-Level Accounting), Funmilayo Pampam Latifat (100-Level Chemical Science), Christiana Asade Ibukun (200-Level Law), Ayoola Sheriff Gbolahan (100-Level Agricultural Engineering) and Olatunji Dairo Michael (400-Level Physics) rest in the bosom of the Lord. We wish the accident’s lone survivor, Akinbo Laughter Ibukunoluwa (300-Level Chemical Science), speedy recovery. May this ginger the government to move against these killer truck drivers. They have done enough havoc on our roads.

  • It’ll take time to clear Jonathan’s mess, says Presidency

    It’ll take time to clear Jonathan’s mess, says Presidency

    •PDP urges Nigerians to pray for govt

    The Presidency said last night that it will take time to clear the mess created by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, contrary to the call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Nigerians need to pray for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    PDP National Publicity Secretary Olisah Metuh made the call in his 30-day appraisal of the Buhari administration.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, said Nigerians were already on the side of the administration, which he noted was on course.

    “It requires scrupulous and painstaking planning to clean the PDP’s Augean Stable,” Adesina said, adding:

    “It is amusing to read what the National Publicity Secretary of the defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, considers a 30 days appraisal of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “He wants Nigerians to join hands in prayers for the government, so that things would begin to move. What he does not know is that Nigerians had long formed such coalition. They are hands in hands, and that was what gave victory to President Buhari in the March 28, 2015 poll.

    “They had teamed up to uproot an administration that had brought the country to her knees, and was about to tip her off the precipice. And Nigerians have resolved that never would they allow any government to divide them along regional, religious and ethnic fault lines again.

    “The Buhari administration is naturally contemplative because there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to the way PDP ran the country, particularly in the immediate past dispensation. That is why the Augean Stable is being cleaned now, and it requires scrupulous and painstaking planning.”

    Stressing that national life was devalued across all sectors under PDP, Adesina said: “And it takes meticulousness and sure-footedness to repair all the breaches. This, the Buhari administration will deliver.

    “Metuh talks of people around the President conniving with bureaucrats to syphon money from the treasury. This must be deja vu, as it was the pastime of the immediate past administration, and the enormity of the sleaze will be evident when stolen money, to the tune of billions of dollars, is recovered, and returned to the national treasury soon.”

    He said that only time will offer Nigerians the opportunity to compare the current administration with the past in order to know which one has come to serve the people.

    He said: “In the process of time, after all that is being planned by the current administration has matured, and bearing fruits, Nigerians will be able to determine who is serving them acceptably, and who has taken them for a ride. It is just a matter of time.

    “Meanwhile, Metuh and his masters can only rue the missed opportunities to make salutary impact on the lives of Nigerians. They have a long road of regrets to travel.”

    A statement yesterday by Metuh noted that the enormity of the confusion surrounding the government and the ruling party in the last one month had made it imperative for Nigerians to pray as the success or failure of the Buhari administration would not only affect the President and his party but also the entire nation.

    The statement said: “We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the centre.

    ”We are deeply worried that the President, who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments, such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff and advisers in key sectors of the economy.

    ”This is more so as the delay has brought government business in ministries, departments and agencies to a dangerous standstill with coordination of important policies vested on ministers and the SGF now in tatters while the system drifts.

    “This situation also creates loopholes through which overzealous persons around the President can connive with unscrupulous elements in the bureaucracy to syphon public resources in addition to possibly misleading the President to violate due process by spending beyond and outside his statutory limits.

    “The situation is taking its toll on the economy sector, which has in the 30 days witnessed unprecedented decline with a terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments, including activities in the money and capital market sectors. Under President Buhari, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the All-Share Index fell by 849.87 basis points as at June 19.

    ”In security, apart from the directive to relocate the counter terrorism command centre to Borno State and seeking assistance from foreigners, no other concrete step has been taken in the fight against insurgency which the President in his April 22, 2015 CNN interview promised to end within his two months in office.

    “Instead, the anti-terrorism effort has completely lost steam in the last 30 days, with insurgents, who had already been pushed to the verge of surrender in the Sambisa forest by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country.

    “We also urge for adequate respect for all organs of internal security, such as the Directorate of State Security (DSS), which is answerable to the Nigerian state and as such should not be publicly ridiculed by an aide of the President.”