The Nation Newspaper

Tag: tragedy

  • Mubi tragedy and PDP Abuja’s mockery of democracy

    President Jonathan, unlike PDP hawks and ethnic irredentists that have captured him is on the surface a complete gentleman whose words will be his honour. And unlike a politician, a man of many words to whom the end justifies the means, he cuts the picture of a pastor. He is patient, a rub-off virtue from his virtuous wife, Dame Patience Jonathan. He seduces everyone with the coy smiles of an innocent shoeless school boy. It is precisely for these reasons PDP needs him more than he needs PDP. And it is for this reason most people think he is unlikely to survive the wiles of PDP, the nemesis of his better gifted godfather, ex-President Obasanjo who realised too late after his third term fiasco the evil influence of sycophants and appropriately admonished his godson to stay clear of them. But tragically for the nation, President Jonathan has been captured by the same forces that destroyed his predecessors who were first persuaded to believe that without them, there would be no Nigeria. He now truly believes he is the best that has ever happened to Nigeria, ‘the embodiment of the combined virtues of our founding fathers’, as Ebenezer Babatope recently claimed. Like Babangida, Abacha and Obasanjo, he now believes Nigeria will disintegrate without him. He has been conditioned by PDP to see anyone that tries to wake him up from this illusion as enemy envious of his achievements and set to derail his 2015 ambition. Elevated to a status of an oligarch, he like all oligarchs even in democracy now believes he is wiser than any other person in the nation. Worse still, even as the insurgents are perfecting strategies to dismember Nigeria, he believes he has fought it into a standstill and that grateful Nigerians are begging him to continue with the good work…He now sees what he wants to see-his own invincibility

    This much is what one can draw from the mockery of democracy which best described the president’s act of picking up of PDP’s only available nomination form in Abuja last week. After picking up the only available application form, the president thanked Nigerians and PDP for the confidence reposed in him by giving him the right of first refusal. He promised to achieve greater things for the country. He went on to ‘thank PDP Governors Forum for providing the N2 million for the procurement of the expression of interest form and the N20 million for the procurement of the nomination form. He was silent on the fact that the generous PDP governors also secured the right of first refusal. He concluded by thanking ‘TAN for providing N22 million for the nomination form, as well as  youths groups, women groups and students for their contribution for the procurement of the form’

    The farce was captured by The Guardian on page three of its October 31, edition by a resourceful production editor who juxtaposed the celebration of the president victory with the gory story of anguish, of sorrow and of pain; of destruction of homes, of families who cannot find their loved ones, of bodies strewn around the streets ,of helpless men and children lying helpless without help in the bush; of soldiers allegedly escaping to Cameroon leaving the residents of the city to face the wrath of Boko Haram brutes.(Cameroon has already admitted having in their protective custody about 300 soldiers).

    But first, the president’s victory.  The path to his victory like that of Boko Haram in Mubi last week was strewn with carcasses of vanquished political enemies. Prominent among them is Obasanjo, his estranged godfather. His hollow cry that it was the turn of the north to produce the president going by PDP constitution to which both he and Jonathan were beneficiaries, was ignored. The price for telling Nigerians his own side of the story was his substitution as South-west PDP rallying point with the president’s trusted friends- Buruji Kashamu, Segun Mimiko and Gbenga Daniel who recently crawled back to PDP from Labour Party after four years of EFCC harassment and of course Ayo Fayose who has threatened to expel Obasanjo from PDP if he fails to desist from his criticism of the party.

    Also listed among his vanquished political enemies was the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), whose leadership had in July issued October deadline to Jonathan to bring back the abducted Chibok girls and put a stop to Boko Haram and other violent killings or forget about 2015. Jonathan had dismissed the threat insisting ‘he needed no ultimatum from anybody to live up to his responsibilities to the Nigerian people.’  Similarly ignored is the body’s insistence that “it is the turn of the north to produce the president.

    Another loser is the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). The body’s allegation  that “most of the crisis plaguing the North is a deliberate ploy to weaken the region economically and politically’  has  been controverted by another body from the north- The Transformation Agenda Solidarity Forum, (TASOF) led by a former chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Alhaji Muhhamadu Gwaska. According to him, “TSAOF has noted with revulsion the unguarded utterances of some mischief makers who masquerade as northern elders and pretend to speak for the entire North regarding the political future of this country.”

    But then a critical look at the crusaders behind the president’s victory. Leading the crusade is Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) which claims its objective is ‘to celebrate Jonathan’s sterling human qualities, democratic credentials and landmark accomplishments that are currently under marketed and under advertised’.  It defines itself as a non-governmental organization made up of “individuals of impeccable character”. A leading member of the amorphous group as speculated by the media is Patrick Ifeanyi Uba whose Capital Oil and Gas firm was recently taken over by AMCON following a debt of about N65billion. That was after his running battle with EFCC and Cosmas Maduka’s Choscharis over business deals that went sour.

    Others known members include billionaire oil magnate and PDP chieftain, Arthur Eze, who declared during a meeting of the Elders’ Advisory Council of Goodluck Support Group in Abuja last week that ‘President Jonathan reelection is not negotiable’. On the list also is Innocent Chukwuma, a businessman and owner of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited, who donated 24 vehicles to Goodluck Support Group during the same ceremony.

    Now let us return to The Guardian’s record of events for history. According to the paper, as at 2pm Thursday October 30, when, the president and PDP were celebrating the farce in Abuja, Mubi had been under Boko Haram siege for two days. The paper reported over 200 killed, the torching of Mubi central market, 19 police stations, banks and the Mubi central prison where over 400 prisoners were liberated. It reported that the bridge linking the emir’s palace with Cameroon was blown off.

    In a globalised world where millions saw the video recording of how Obama and his cabinet members monitored from the White House the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Afghanistan,  the only plausible explanation for the October 30 mockery of democracy could only be that the president was shielded by PDP from October 29-30  Mubi tragedy.  Even if the president does not know what is in his own interest, how about those paid by the taxpayers to shield him by protecting him from himself?

    We can recall it is the same PDP enemies of our country and enemy of the president who once goaded him on to commandeer three aircrafts bought and fuelled by the nation’s taxpayers to ferry PDP members to Ilorin, Sokoto and Kano to welcome defecting politicians shortly after Abuja Inyanya  bus terminus bombing that killed scores of Nigerians. It is the same self-serving PDP men who appeared on television blaming everyone else except government for the abduction of 300 girls from their dormitory and driven over a distance of 200 kilometres within a state under emergency laws. These are the men who persuaded the president to deploy 12,000 security personnel to intimidate and brutalise the opponent of the PDP candidate during the recent Osun governorship election. These men serve neither Jonathan nor Nigeria.

    I don’t think it is too late for men of good will to save our nation from the impending doom. Credible members of the Council of State like Gowon can for a moment take a break from endless prayers bearing in mind God’s admonition that we will all reap what we sow. He can mobilize other credible leaders like Emeka Anyaoku, Theophilus Danjuma,  Maitama Sule, Shettima Ali Mongono and  Ayo Adebanjo, to talk truth to power and see how we can reclaim our nation back from those who have no state in Nigeria. And time is running out. With Boko Haram controlling nine local councils area in Borno State, we should not wait until the fall of Maiduguri from where Boko Haram can launch aerial attack on any part of the country.

  • The tragedy of the Nigerian youth (I)

    In 1989, I was inside a cab with three other students on our way to the main campus of the University of Jos when we encountered a large group of protesters, mainly youths and fellow undergraduates. Our cab was forced to stop because we couldn’t proceed beyond the Jos main market. Hours later, we learnt that the protest we encountered happened nationwide.

    It was later dubbed the “anti-Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) protests.” Nigerians trooped out in their millions to vent their displeasures and anger on General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime for the adverse effect SAP was having on them. It was spontaneous and did not have a clear cut leader or organisers’. Nigerians were simply angry and they made the government realise this.

    Being the smart and cunning ruler he was, Babangida immediately carried out remedial and palliative measures that ended up giving SAP “a human face” different from the earlier “face of a demagogue.” This new “face” calmed frayed nerves and he was able to remain in the saddle of power until events of the post 1993 election forced him to step down a day earlier than necessary. This was the power of protest in its finest.

    Fast forward to 2011; Time magazine, an international news magazine of repute often take its time when it comes to nominating its “Person of the Year,” and whenever it does, few doubt its choice. In 2011, the magazine made the “Protester,” its “Person of the Year.” The October 20th issue of the Magazine was titled: “The Face of Protest.” The reason for this was not farfetched.

    On 17 December 2010, a young Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation that he reported was inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides.

    His rare act became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider “Arab Spring,” inciting demonstrations and riots throughout Tunisia in protest of social and political issues in the country. The public’s anger and violence intensified following Bouazizi’s death, leading then-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.

    The protest did not end in Tunisia as Libya’s long standing ruler and the boisterous Muammar Gadhafi as well as Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. Bashar Al Assad of Syria is still battling his own demons, an act that has probably set back a century back, according to some analysts. Few doubt that the season was indeed the season of the protester.

    The domino effect of these were also felt in Nigeria with the emergence of the “Occupy Nigeria” group which eventually fizzled out after government invaded their meeting point after an ill-advised break.

    The lesson for us is that there will always come a time that people feel they’ve had enough and will insist on change. Only a week ago we saw how the people of Burkina Faso took to the streets and burnt down their parliament building following reports that Blaise Campaore, their ruler of 27 years, was bent on tampering with the constitution yet again to extend his rule. He resigned three days later. Again the protesters won.

    While the youths of other countries take their destinies in their hands and call for authentic change, it is disheartening to see our own youth’s busy giving award after award to dubious and questionable characters in the name of “progress.” They are also at the forefront of “endorsement” of one candidate or the other as 2015 inches closer. Student bodies that ought to know better – to me – seem to be the worst culprit.

    Why are our youth no longer angry at certain situations? What future do we really have? Let me make it clear before I proceed that my intention is not to call for violent protests or revolution, but peaceful protests that would compel those in authority to listen, and by listening we can begin to put our heads together to find solutions for the plethora of problems confronting us. There are critical issues that demand the attention of our youths because the future really belongs to us.

    I am seriously concerned about the growing insecurity in the country, by this I mean the Boko Haram (BH) insurgency and the spate of kidnapping for ransom. And why am I concerned? Development and economic progress can never take place in an insecure entity. Investors simply love peaceful places where their investments are secure. The United Arab Emirates created their paradise because of peace and security, and today, their cities are the toast of the capitalist world and the playground of corrupt African officials. They put their house in order first.

    Who are the foot soldiers of BH? Mainly the youths, in essence it is a Youth war. So, why would sane Nigerian youths not feel a sense of revulsion given that it is their collective future that is apparently going up in flames? The sad fact is that most of our youth feel BH is a “Northern problem,” rather than a Nigerian problem. While there are cries of conspiracy theories and the activities of fifth columnists’, it is high time we confront this monster before it consumes us all.

    By now, I was hoping to see massive peaceful youth protests against the excesses of BH which has the potentials of destroying the seeds of our collective future. Sadly, comedy, Nollywood and music have sucked and seduced our youth into a false sense of security and prosperity. There is an urgent need to channel youth frustration into a more productive means of engaging government across the board.

    Most of our past leaders assumed leadership positions in their early 30s, some even younger. But today, some youth of that age still depend on their parents or family members for support; such is the tragedy of the Nigerian youth which the insurgency is further aggravating. This is the main reason they shouldn’t see BH as other people’s problem.

    Another reason for my concern is that we are gradually building a generation of crises prone youths. As a historian, I am familiar with studies of post conflict societies where children who have been through war in such places as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Somalia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Bosnia or Syria have a tendency to express themselves in war metaphors. They draw guns, bombs, and armoured tanks as a past time. They take pleasures in these weapons of mass destruction rather than their books.

    Today’s youth, rather than being obsessed with just making money and craving for champagnes, fast cars and luxurious apartments, must begin to critically ask how today’s bitterness will affect his tomorrow. A time will come when entertainment and music will make no meaning.

    I’m concerned about this critical constituency because they are the once that effect change elsewhere. For instance, the American youths were angry about Vietnam. They took to the streets in revolt when thousands of their fellow citizens were being killed in a senseless war. The youth in China were angry about the lack of openness in their society and they took over Tiananmen Square.

    Do we still remember the picture of the young man facing the armored tanks in Tiananmen Square or the Burkinabe facing AK 47 wielding soldiers only last week in Burkina Faso ? Also, in 1976, youths in Soweto were angry about being asked to learn Afrikaans by force even though their teachers did not know the language and it was the language of domination. They revolted. Today, the iconic picture of the dead body of Hector Pieterson remains in public memory worldwide.

    Perhaps I should continue? Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban on her way back from school is today, at 17, an iconic young girl. She has gone down in history as the youngest person to receive a Nobel Prize. Understandably, the award has elicited controversial reactions, but that is not the issue. She now has a Malala day marked on the international calendar to remember her heroic achievement.

    Did you, by chance, listen to her recent speech at the United Nations?  This young lady said she drew inspiration from Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Buddha, Gandhi, Mohammed, among others, despite being a little Muslim girl. As far as I’m concerned this is clear evidence of a young mind that had opened up and escaped the bondage of prejudice and hate.

     

     

     

     

  • Uprooted by tragedy

    Uprooted by tragedy

    We are yet to give the internally displaced persons in Nigeria the desired attention

    Shockingly, what many internally displaced persons (IDPs) have gone through, especially victims of the actions of the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, came to light via a statement by the Director of Information, The Catholic Church Diocese of Maiduguri, Rev. Fr. Gideon Obasogie. He said: “A good number of those trapped around the Cameroonian borders are gradually finding their way into Maiduguri. Recounting their ordeals, some will tell you how they fed on grass and insects. A group from Pulka community alone buried over 80 children, who took ill in the bush and died.”  Over 90, 000 Catholics have been uprooted by the developing tragedy, Obasogie noted, adding that the church has spent over N3 million on internal refugees at different locations in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    Relevant to this appalling picture is the information by the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Sani Sidi, at the opening of its annual consultative meeting with the heads of States Emergency Management Agencies. Sidi said about 734,062 persons were internally displaced by conflicts and disasters in various parts of the country; 676, 975 of them were displaced by conflicts and 66,087 by natural disasters. It is noteworthy that he pointed out: “Disaster occurrences and the number of affected people have risen significantly in recent years.”

    It is not clear how NEMA arrived at these figures, and it is worth mentioning that they are a far cry from the statistics publicised by 2014 Report of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council, which indicate that out of 33 million internal refugees across the world, about 3.3 million Nigerians are internally displaced because of the Boko Haram insurgency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.  The yawning gap between the positions of the two bodies concerning the number of dislodged victims of the five-year-old violent campaign by Islamist terrorists in the affected areas is not only thought-provoking but also a cause for concern because it suggests that the scale of the problem may not have been fully captured and may indeed be beyond the range of the available figures.

    However, whatever might be the actual extent of the problem of internal displacement, the approach to remedial measures, not only to arrest the controllable causes but also to assuage the impact on victims, certainly deserves to be re-evaluated and reimagined, given the experiences highlighted by Obasogie. It is significant that Sidi said: “The challenges faced by displaced persons call for serious commitment.”  Unfortunately, this comment can be interpreted as an admission of a lack of “serious commitment”, which may well be the case.

    Such disturbing possibility, not to call it an alarming reality, is perhaps perceivable from the apparent inactivity and ineffectiveness of a related committee set up by the Federal Government in July. Considering the in-your-face actuality of the crisis, it amounts to a grave trivialisation that not much has been heard about the work of the Committee on Victims Support Fund headed by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd) since its composition was announced by the presidency. It should be stressed that the committee’s stated responsibility, which is “to mobilise resources and administer appropriate support to victims of insurgency and Boko Haram terror activities across the country”, cannot be realised by mere talk. This committee needs to get its act together.

    Clearly, helping the internally displaced by perfecting relief structures and strategies must be given greater attention in the wider context of disaster management in the country. Ultimately, addressing the reality calls for a deep demonstration of what it means to have a caring and humane society.

  • Synagogue tragedy: Families can’t get bodies yet

    Synagogue tragedy: Families can’t get bodies yet

    South Africa yesterday told families of the victims of the collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) building in Lagos that it is likely to take “a considerable amount of time” before the bodies of the dead South Africans  are taken home.

    Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said in Pretoria that the latest report was that only 18 post-mortems had been completed on the victims of the disaster.

    “In terms of the last report, they have only completed 18 post-mortems (out of 115) so far. But as soon as the process is completed, we’ll be able to repatriate.”

    Radebe said government understood the frustration and anguish of families waiting for the return of the bodies of their loved ones.

    Around 115 people, among them 84 South Africans, were killed and dozens trapped when a multi-storey guest house attached to the Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos on September 12.

    Radebe said that of the 84 South Africans killed, the number of bodies identified to date remained 62, the same figure announced last Wednesday.

    He said going by the Nigerian law, the South African experts who flew to Lagos to assist could not perform post-mortems on the victims, but only act as observers.

    “A post-mortem has to be performed on all deceased persons, and death certificates have to be issued, before the mortal remains can be repatriated back to South Africa,” said Radebe.

    “Regrettably, this process is bound to take a considerable amount of time due to the large number of people who perished in this incident.”

    Families had to prepare themselves for “a process that might go on a while longer than we would have wished”.

    Radebe also warned on the condition of the remains.

    “Due to the scale of the disaster, the passage of time, and the climatic conditions in Nigeria, most of the mortal remains are not in a good state.

    “Out of concern for secondary trauma to the families, as well as public health considerations, government discourages family members from viewing the mortal remains.”

    He said the remains would be brought to South Africa “on a single flight, properly equipped for this task”.

    On arrival, they would be taken to a special facility where they could be collected by family members.

    But we’ll know by the end of the week, when are we going to be repatriating South Africans.”

    Radebe said the process of fingerprinting victims had been completed.

    “We have reached a critical milestone in the identification of the mortal remains. The capturing of fingerprints on the deceased persons has, where possible, been completed.”

  • Osun: The tragedy of victory

    Firebrand activist, the only socialist governor in Nigeria, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola defeated his bitter rival, Mr. Iyiola Omisore on August 9, 2014.  I was deeply involved in the Ekiti and Osun campaigns. I saw the thick and thin.  Aregbesola and Fayemi invested wits, energy, brain and vigour.

    Victory is sweet, but the investment in it tastes like a bile. Before the elections, I met the two. I saw exhaustion. On one occasion, I met Aregbesola around 11 pm.  He had not eaten anything since morning. There was simply no time to eat; pale but resolute. On another occasion, I met him around 4.34 am on a Monday. I had waited since 8am the previous Sunday. He was attending to endless sea of visitors. By the time I left around 5am on Monday, scores of people were still waiting to see him. Aregbesola visited all the 332 wards, unlike Mr. Iyiola Omisore. He met with all the traditional institutions in the over 300 towns and hamlets. He spent about 3,000 hours in the past six months preparing for the election. On the contrary, the most formidable slogans of Mr. Ayodele Fayose and Mr. Omisore were “I shall be declared. I shall win. I will be the Governor.”

    On Tuesday when he raised up the Certificate of Return in Abuja, Aregbesola was lean, emaciated but nevertheless, his face as strong as granite.  The same exhaustion of the flesh, in the build up to the campaign, was not noticeable in his main contender, whose most noticeable trademarks were roasted corns which he munched all through, and the armed masked men that usually encircled him.  I have searched in vain for Mr. Omisore’s manifesto, his plans for Osun people, but could not find one. Yet, this man polled 292,747 votes.

    For me, that is a tragedy in this victory. It reflects the heartbreak of a crestfallen nation, a country in perpetual turmoil largely due to the institutionalisation of corruption. More than anything else, Osun has further exposed the catastrophe that has befallen the Yoruba nation and Nigeria as a whole. Aregbesola had 394,684 compared with Omisore’s 292,747. The difference is 101,937 votes. This raises fundamental issues. First, the PDP could have had many elected people if the election was into the state or national assemblies.

    Two, how did a man with so huge a moral burden, following the death of Chief Bola Ige, of which he was a key suspect, manage to record such a high figure in the home state of Chief Ige? Again, the PDP has, no doubt, brought Nigeria unto her knees. The economy is in tatters. Hunger and deprivation rule the land. Deceit, a tradition of treachery and sham are the standards of the PDP. The definition of the party as a ‘nest of killers’ has not changed. The party has also compounded the woes of Nigeria by dragging her into the red light district of global affairs. Yet, this rickety machine has a huge population of people hanging on it, according to election outcome. Here lays the misfortune.

    While Aregbesola campaigned on the basis of a social-economic agenda, like his counterpart in Ekiti, the PDP had no inspiring action plan. What then was responsible for the ‘victory’ of the PDP in Ekiti and the high votes recorded in Osun?  The PDP’s strength is the criminalisation of the electorate through the cultivation of a cult of voters driven by perks and immediate gains. Apart from loads of rice and goodies distributed to voters openly and covertly, the PDP has set up a phantom financial institution code named “Omo Ilu Foundation,” at least in the South West. This group gives out forms to thousands of people. Agents sent by the APC indicated that beneficiaries were asked to take an oath of allegiance. Also the PDP has been attacking reform programmes of the APC, offering in its place, euphoric material gains for the electorate. This, in itself, constitutes a grave danger to the future of political and economic transformation of Nigeria. For a society exposed to long years of deprivation, perks are likely to be seen as more crucial than superstructure. The PDP is giving institutional backing to this backwater axiom. There is the militarisation of the electoral process backed up with denial of human freedom and brute force repression of the opposition.

    After the fiercely contested Osun poll for instance, like the rhythmical movement of a chain of millipedes in the farmstead, a long, orderly crowd of broom-waving supporters snaked through the Osogbo highways. As the crowd milled with glee and unending spasms of joy, a PDP official in a convoy of tainted cars tore through the crowd. Armed masked men that perched like bats on vehicles in the raging convoy released a volley of sporadic gun shots. I remember. We were at a restaurant after an all-night meeting before the election. Five hungry-looking armed men in military fatigue came. Unkempt and in filthy uniforms. They wore beards and slippers, unusual of military men. The ‘soldiers’ had no name tags. One of them had red tattoos on his left cheek. One had the shape of a 12th century wrestler. The other stood like a small bulldozer. Their AK-47s hung loosely on their shoulders.   In military and police tradition, guns, when not in use, should be kept nozzle down. These men kept their guns with nozzles pointed at onlookers. One breast feeding woman had to quit her seat. She quietly walked away into the descending evening cloud. There was naked show of brute force.  After they had finished their dinner-we were all held captive-two of them took strategic positions on the adjacent highway and fired consistently into the sky, hands fidgeting like amateurs. They later left in an unmarked car. People have chilling stories to tell. In the night of Thursday preceding the election, one APC top shot who was my host received a text message that masked armed men were abducting people from their homes in the thickest of night. At the last count, the Commissioner for Regional Integration, Mr. Bashiru Ajibola, said over 200 were arrested in the night preceding the election. In Ekiti, 459 APC leaders were abducted, never to return until after the election. The ‘soldiers’ did not only arrest; they visited homes and collected money meant for mobilisation. Mr. Charles Fasubaa, the General Manager of the Ekiti State Traffic Management Authority, (EKSTMA) was picked from his bedroom and his cash snatched. One leader of APC in Osun was detained all night from Friday until after the election. I was informed that N5million meant for some wards were collected by force from another APC leader in Osun. This apart, I strongly believe PDP rigged the elections in Ekiti and Osun. In the two states, PDP stalwarts were arrested with ballot papers. Where are the ballot papers seized in Ekiti and Osun? Did PDP minimise its rigging tactics in Osun to create a credibility booster? If this heinous plot continues, the other South West states should not expect elections but brutal “war” as warned earlier by the PDP. Therefore, the APC needs real strategic and tactical realignment to deal with a monstrous opponent that has no respect for the rules.  It is infamy that this happened under the nose of Prof Attahiru Jega’s INEC. It is bizarre that INEC consistently describes the elections as free and fair in a malicious rivalry, where in a boxing ring, the umpire watches, as one hand of a contender is tied to the stake. This is my personal submission: gloom is taking its full circle. There needs to be a revolution in Nigeria before we can talk of democracy.

     

    Adeoye, a CNN African Journalist of the Year winner, writes from Lagos.

  • Tragedy of a community

    Tragedy of a community

    Book review

    Title: Alekwu Night Dance

    Author: Friday John Abba

    Reviewer: Usho Smith Adawa

    Publishers: Wright Words Consulting

    Pagination: 114

    Alekwu Night Dance is an addition to the corpus of contemporary Nigerian literature by the long awaited literary “optimist”, Friday John Abba.

    The play started with, and sustained a tight engrossing wave of suspense, from the beginning till the end. The play is an archetypical “revenge tragedy”. The propelling force behind the plot string is a singular intention of obtaining revenge.

    From the unfolding events, we can see the vivid elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean drama laced in the motif of the characters and their thirst for bloody deeds, intrigue and high melodrama.

    Although the play is contextualised against the backdrop of the Idoma-speaking community of Ol’ano, a fictitious locale, however, reference to the real Idoma community such as Ugbokolo gives the play an element of cultural verisimilitude.

    One thing that is common among most African cultures is communalism; in this play we are introduced to how a single action of a member of community triggered doom in the entire community. The intrigue of Ochai, turns out to be a tragedy of the whole community, typical of classical drama. Of particular note in the play is the centrality of a deity—Alekwu, who akin to the Greek or Yoruba cosmology serves as an instrument of checking and balancing the affairs of the mortals.

    As the tragic effect of the play evolves, wit and bathos becomes the norm, while proverbs and clowning are deployed to provide comic relief. Even when the play seems to be populated with a lot of characters, only about seventeen characters where obviously visible in the main throe of the play; a conscious attempt to fuse the classical and African theatrical aesthetics.

    Another fascinating feature of the play is its attempt to locate the tragedy of the Idoma-speaking communication within the ambit of the universal tragic tradition. The play can well pass for a nationalistic play, in that, it uphold certain Idoma ethnic values thereby, projecting them as core values for all mankind.

    In spite of the inherent but negligible flaws in the typesetting of the play and a few stage directorial excesses, the play could be understood against its reconstructive tendency of modelling a society grounded on fairness and justice. Alekwu Night Dance holds the promise of redefining the concept of classical tragedy from a modernist perspective.

  • Avoiding tragedy

    Avoiding tragedy

    Last year, I caught a glimpse of one of Nigeria’s familiar tragedies. It was at the Adeniji Adele part of Lagos Island. By instalment, the residents were parting with their homes and lifestyles. Most tragically, they were going to part with their lives.

    They knew this and they did not know this. They, like people in other parts of the city and the country, abided in buildings and blocks of flats with all the shadows of extinction. Surrounded by soft earth, marshes and fragile foundations, the homes threatened to either sink like a shipwreck or collapse like an Iroko tree. In whatever direction, apocalypse peered,

    That day, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State met with the residents. It was part of a plan to relocate them before tragedy did it for them. If he relocated them, it would be to a home on earth and in the safe precincts of Lagos. But if tragedy relocated them, it would come like a thief in the night, and they might be in heaven or hell, or whithersoever they believed – my words! The response to the governor of example, who used tamer, conciliating register, reflected the quiet desperation of the inhabitants. The unanimity to his plans underpinned not just their plights but also those of other Nigerians whose homes sprang up into blocks of flats built without an eye to standards and the future. Down in their psyche, they knew they perched narrowly between life and death.

    That is why Nigerians should not take slightly the gratuitous debate about the standards of cement in Nigeria. Cement was always a part of the vocabulary at home when I was growing up because my father, Moses, was a sales manager in a major cement company in the country. I cannot forget his perorations on the value of cement in installing the civilised world. Cement is modern home, modern office, modern infrastructure, modern joy and fear. So its abuse vouchsafes us to cataclysm.

    So if the Standards Organisation of Nigeria is calling for a standard cement grade to be world class at 42.5 and some manufacturers are sticking to 32.5, we should worry. The SON has said that 32.5 is for pasting, and 42.5 for blocks. Yet, some of the cement makers are saying we have used 32.5 for 54 years. That is 54 years of tears. The sort that we have seen cause tragedies around the country. It is not just a matter of housing for me. It is a matter of standards.

    We have always lived, especially in the past 15 years, with the substandard. It pervades our whole life. We live with fake drugs, fake furniture, fake food, fake water, fake lovers, fake priests, fake politicians, fake elections. Because of that, we have Nigerians, rich or poor, who now crave makeshift in place of quality and longevity. So when those in the board rooms are counting their humongous profits, they should realise that real lives are involved.

    It is the real horror in homes. It is not for nothing that true horror movies happen in homes. Some of the homes are posh and luxurious. Others are derelict, hollow and abandoned. Whether it is the animal-sponsored fear with crocodiles or dogs, or the child-inspired trepidation, the tragedy of the house is the greatest tragedy. It is the shattering of intimacy, the loss of the basic unit of society, the implosion of the cell of civilisation.

    I visited last year The University of Toronto, the first time since I left in 1992. I was in the graduate residence known as Massey College. It was as though I left the place six months ago. Everywhere remained as intact as in 1992. One of the officials who accompanied me to the suite I lived in as a student said that was the plan of the founders: to maintain the quality.

    In western societies, standards are not up for compromise. The My pikin scandal that rocked the medical world in Nigeria is the same as the crisis of poor elections. Our education system has lived with what former president George W. Bush called the soft bigotry of low expectation. Just as Aliko Dangote has insisted, unlike others, that his cement is 42.5, others should follow suit. We need homes that do not fall. We want homes of laughter, not disaster; of faith, not fear; of solid walls not waiting for wailing.

    While some Nigerians are gung-ho about celebrating our centenary, they should realise that some countries have passed an age of bellyaching over standards. They take it for granted. Rather, they are itching to reinvent the world. The United States is now working on a new technology known as quantum computer, which will disrupt the world as we know it, from aging, to robotics to health care. It ramps up the current digital world of ones and zeroes by collapsing them into one unit. The CIA, NASA and Lockheed Martin are now investing in it. Rather than go up, we are grappling with the false version of what the world wants to leave behind.

    One thing that characterises this ominous addiction is the China syndrome. Now Nigerians go to China to make the counterfeit versions of world-class, blue-chip goods from electronics to fabrics to footwear. They have flooded the market, with the consequence of not only suffocating local initiative but also endangering our lives and currency.

    A new survey shows that while we gape for China goods, Chinese citizens pooh-pooh even the top brands like Gucci or Chanel in their country and prefer to buy them in the United States and Europe, buoying those markets.

    So if the world standard for cement is 42.5 as SON and Dangote have insisted is 42.5, then it is high time we criminalised any firm or group that insists on anything lower. It is not about the figure. It is about quality and safety of lives. I still recall the clear-eyed curiosity of the Adeniji Adele residents as they returned to their homes of quivering safety, and I still shudder.

     

  • The convoy tragedy

    Just when we thought ASUU was on the verge of discussing the latest offer from the Federal Government after a crucial meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan aimed, perhaps at ending the almost five month old strike action tragedy struck. The government had offered the union N220 billion as against the N400 billion originally outlined in the 2009 agreement. The National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to discuss the offer would have held last week in Kano, Kano State.

    But Festus Iyayi, a University of Benin professor of Business Administration and onetime ASUU president and frontline member of the union was killed in a road accident involving the convoy of the Kogi State Governor Captain Idris Wada. Two other leaders of the union were, according to reports, critically injured and receiving treatment at the hospital. Prof. Iyayi alongside others was on his way to attend the meeting.

    I asked the same question I asked when the late activist, Chuma Ubani died in an accident a few years ago: Why do those that often fight for social justice and equity in society sometimes die terrible deaths? As is often the case, how can a mere mortal like me proffer answer to a question that only God can answer?

    That the late Iyayi died on his way to ASUU NEC is a testimony to his life-long commitment to the struggle for a better public university education system in Nigeria. Even after his two year stint as president of ASUU, he remained a vocal critic of government anti-poor education and economic policies; it was therefore little surprise that he was a prominent member of ASUU’s team negotiating with government the need to honour the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.

    I never had the privilege of meeting the late erudite professor, but I met him through his numerous writings and followed his trajectory right from my days in the secondary school. I have read two of his three novels; Violence, The Contract, and Heroes, as well as some of his collection of short stories. One of them, Awaiting Court Martial, exposes the abject penury and disenfranchisement that constitute the social reality of the majority of Nigerians.

    The novel, Violence is, in some ways, an elucidation of the thoughts of Frantz Fanon in the ‘Wretched of the Earth’ in the manner that Ola Rotimi’s ‘The Gods Are Not To Blame’ explained ‘Oedipus Rex’, an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. It is the story of a young man’s brave efforts to overcome unemployment and liberate his family from the clutches of poverty. It is also the story of his unwillingness to compromise his integrity in the face of daunting challenges in the form of sleaze and corruption characterising his society.

    In language that is often vitriolic and stinging, Iyayi’s protagonists potently display his contempt for the rampant corruption that strangles contemporary Nigeria. Business persons, politicians, generals, top civil servants and other officials hoard the country’s wealth and power at the expense of the working class. Through his writings, he frowns at this base depravity of the ruling class.

    The facts of the tragic accident make it clear that Iyayi was a direct victim of the recklessness, irresponsibility and impunity that characterise the exercise of power at every level of our government, this impunity is at an all-time high in this democratic dispensation. Most road users must have witnessed the thuggish behaviour of drivers in government convoys and many have indeed been killed or maimed by their reckless driving. Often, the ‘urgent matter of state’ for which the convoys break every traffic rule and brutalise citizens who happen to be on the road at the same time with them, is to convey their “Excellency’s” to a social function or on some personal errand.

    What is really the essence of leadership? Is it not service? But here, we have – like every other thing – turned the concept on its head thereby making it lose its meaning. Isn’t it high time we demand an end to official convoys that flout with delight every traffic regulation and civilized behaviour on the roads built with our taxes and commonwealth?

    Given the immediate circumstances of this tragic event, there have been calls in certain quarters – which I also support – for the Kogi State Attorney-General to bring charges against the offending driver for manslaughter. We are talking about a precious human life here and if done it will send a clear message to the federal and state governments and to all of the public functionaries who delight in the violent, often bloody, spectacle of official convoys. I spoke to a lawyer friend and he enjoined the Iyayi family to institute a civil action, in which one of the remedies would be punitive damages.

    Agreed, this would not bring him back, but the sooner we start to take our sanity back by conducting ourselves in civilized manner with a high sense of decorum, the better things would be for us as a nation.

    More importantly, Iyayi would not have been on that road were it not for the ASUU strike. Had the Federal Government understood its duty towards our public universities, and failing that, kept its commitment to ASUU in numerous agreements, then Iyayi, and his travelling colleagues lucky to have survived the accident – but now scarred for life by their close shave with death – would not have traveled for the purpose of deliberating on the Federal Government’s needlessly delayed offer to end the strike.

    People who believe in the prophetic power of writers may thus find cause to, in retrospection, attach more importance to one of the popular statements from Iyayi’s novel, Heroes “… those who carry the cross for society always get crucified in the end …”

    Prof. Iyayi saw life as a struggle. He believed that those who struggle must stand for the cause they believe in. This was part of what defined his relationship with ASUU. Whether he lost his job or jailed for the cause of ASUU, he stood by the union all through. A few weeks ago, he wore academic gown and demonstrated with his colleagues in Benin.

    At least one thing stands out clearly from the struggles of Iyayi and his colleagues: the Federal Government now understands that the academics are not pushovers and will not just accept anything shoved down their throats, they have sent a clear signal that things should be done the right way. The Federal Government had an agreement with the union on implementing certain financial commitments to better the educational system for everybody, but instead of looking straight at the matter and dealing with it, they resorted to pandering and sentiments. I believe if things go the way ASUU wants; it would not just be a victory for them in this matter, but for the entire system.

    I don’t share the emotions of the Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam that the strike was politicised. Far from it, we will miss the point if we fail to understand that the issue here is the signing and adherence to an agreement; every other thing derives from this. No doubt, this has made the government to realise that tertiary institutions have been neglected for so long and that is why the President himself had to join the negotiation with ASUU at the last resort and increase the funds earlier released.

    Though at some point, ignorant people who do not fully understand the issues at stake lambasted the union for the prolonged action, but I’m glad with the late Iyayi and his colleagues for making their point which forced the government to meet some of their demands. At least, close to 80 per cent of ASUU demands have been met by the government. I need to however add that no meaningful negotiation is achieved if the parties stuck to their guns; the game is called give and take. That’s why it is called negotiation.

    This notwithstanding, the question in almost everyone’s lip now is would this be the last ASUU strike? Only time and the commitment of the government can answer this question. The scholar of repute would have died in vain if this strike should continue beyond this moment or happens again in the near future over the same issue of funding of our university system.

     

  • Okorocha slams APGA for comments on tragedy

    Okorocha slams APGA for comments on tragedy

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday berated the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for playing politics with the tragedy that claimed 25 lives.

    He expressed shock at the death caused by a stampede in Anambra State on Saturday.

    The governor, who prayed for the repose of the deceased’s souls and speedy recovery for the injured, condemned APGA’s use of the tragedy as a political tool to gain cheap sympathy.

    He said: “Scripturally, such death is not a good omen for the APGA candidate.”

    Governor Okorocha said it was regrettable that “while the indigenes of Anambra State are mourning, APGA is busy apportioning blames and has failed to take responsibility.

    “This is not a time to play politics over the unfortunate incident. We should respect the pains and sorrows these families are going through and not divert attention from the real issue.”

    He said a thorough investigation should be carried out to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the incident to avoid a recurrence.

     

     

     

  • ‘How Christmas Eve tragedy killed my joy’

    I doubt if what the biblical Job went through in his bad days was anywhere near what I’m undergoing. Somebody must come to my aid in time,” 27-year-old Mathias Uzochukwu pleaded as he broke down in tears.

    The Imo State-born Uzochukwu was making a living from his auto-mechanic business until December 24, 2011, when he had an accident.

    The accident occurred on Ring Road in Ibadan, Oyo State capital. Though he survived, his hip joint was damaged.

    He told The Nation that he was rushed to the Metropolitan Specialist Hospital and Maternity Home, Ibadan, unconscious. He was admitted, treated and discharged after seven days.

    However, his relief was short-lived. After eight months, severe pains took him back to the hospital for another x-ray. Then, it was discovered that the dislocated hip had not returned to its proper place.

    In December last year, the hospital referred Uzochukwu to Dr O.Agboola of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, for surgery.

    The projected cost of initial treatment issued to Uzochukwu by the UCH in January 2 was N302,500 without which the treatment would not begin.

    The amount, according to the patient, would cover the cost of operation, anesthesia, recovery room, blood, laboratory investigation, x-ray, physiotherapy, medical consumables, service charge, feeding and accommodation among others.

    The hospital, according to Uzochukwu, however, told him that the projected cost was subject to change with time and course of treatment. This means that he now has to pay more to be fully treated since the cost estimate was issued over eight months ago.

    Mathias said he and his family spent over N600,000 apart from the cost of drugs for the initial treatment at the Metropolitan Specialist Hospital, lamenting that to raise the amount needed to treat him now is a “huge problem.”

    “The way things are now, I want my hard-working state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Nigerians and organisations to have mercy on me by coming to my aid. I can no longer walk well let alone carry out any form of work to earn a living,” he said.

    He said he suffers shock and sharp pains around his waist each time he tries to walk, fearing that he might not be able to have a family unless he receives the much-needed succour.

    He said the UCH gave him the projected cost since January and he was expected back for the treatment in February but failed to go since then because his family could not raise the money, adding: “Nigerians should please help me so that I can walk and work to earn a living. I want to be useful to Nigeria.”

    He gave his account details as: Mathias Joseph Uzochukwu; Access Bank, with number: 0042097554. He also gave his mobile phone number as: 07052122376.