ADDITIONAL DRAIN IN NIGERIAN HUMAN CAPITAL

Folklore has it that there was once a chicken that was struck on the head by a piece of some solid material.  The chicken developed the impression that it was the sky that landed on its head and went about town announcing that the sky was coming down.  On and on it went until a more enlightened animal showed it the item that had landed on its head. I can imagine how that chicken felt when confronted with the truth; that is exactly how I felt a few days ago.  In the cause of my daily activities, as early at 9.00am, my colleagues and I came upon some very young boys by the railway line on Agege Motor Road at the junction of Fatai Atere Way, opposite Coca Cola depot in Lagos.  There was a police post just at the median of the road and this did not seem to make any difference to anyone. What was odd about the gathering is that they were all busy wrapping and smoking weed.  The boys ranged from eight to fourteen years and it was not like they were stunted in growth or overweight; their physical appearance portrayed their true age.

I quickly went for my camera and took two shots before I realized that one of them had come up from behind our car and was shouting and raving about me taking photographs of them. I tried to pacify the boy and I called him to come closer to me but he was adamant and I guess he too was afraid of what could happen because of my appearance. Thankfully, the traffic light cleared us to move and we sped away from the spot. In my flight, I lost the photographs taken.

I was disturbed as I took to discussing my experience with different people; the outcome of my report was that many people in Lagos are aware of this situation. Many people are aware that this area is related to Mushin area of Lagos which is known for its high population of hoodlums.  It was new to me but it was nothing to many other people.  It was particularly disturbing that law enforcement agents were nearby and the boys went about what they were doing without fear or concern. I was informed of a similar colony in Maryland, Lagos where Nigerian youth idle and waste away. 

Who will take responsibility for this sad development? Children who should be in school or training  in view of their future are found smoking weed and idling their lives away as early as eight years of age. What will happen when they become adults and family men? How do they sustain their living now and how will they sustain their lives then? Why do people not see the danger in what is happening under our nostrils. What this amounts to is a waste of the lives of these children and children who have been nurtured and prepared for the future; nobody is safe having people like this around them. People should not look at them and look away because what they are doing today will come round and hunt all of us some day in the future.

The next administration that claims to have the interest of the people at heart must make this a matter of priority of government. Evangelists who go about preaching the good news should make effort to work with social workers and any NGOs that are interested in ridding our society of people wasting their lives.

GOD bless Nigeria.

WHAT ABOUT US? 3

Issues arise and while we react and respond, we must be guided by the fact that to every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.  Accounts must balance as there is no room for vacuum; we take from somewhere and the gap must be occupied.  When we receive pittance from politicians who no longer make it a secret that they are making attempts to purchase the votes of the people, someone must be at the receiving end.  The politician will not expose himself to the inconvenience of having to accept responsibility for squandering the resources of the land; he would have taken adequate precaution to protect himself from disappointment.

Much as knowledgeable people tried to convince the people to desist from what is now popularly tagged “stomach infrastructure” in Nigeria, the politicians simply raised the game and squandered much more. In the cause of campaigning for the upcoming elections, politicians have used the joint resources of the nation to campaign for their personal ambitions. The lives of a few Nigerians have been turned around because of the largesse extended to them by politicians.

The Nigerian youth ordinarily would have been in the position to further drive home the message of discouraging politicians from insulting the sensibility of the polity; they have also been adequately provided for.  The next group would have been our religious leaders; without any shame they have also been catered for. When Gov. Rotimi Amaechi raised alarm over the settlement of pastors by the ruling party, there were heated denials from different quarters within the Christian group. To our greatest embarrassment, many more church leaders or owners who may not have received their own share of the loot have been making frightful predictions in the media and calling for special prayers for the presidency, PDP and the incumbent.  Then the witch showed up claiming to be a white witch and generally promoting his business while at the same time claiming to be in possession of information that will see to the conclusive end of insurgency in Nigeria.

Sadly, on a daily basis, we read of fresh endorsements for the incumbent leader and knowing Nigerians, the endorsements would have cost Nigeria a fortune. All manner of groups have arisen to pledge their support for the administration of Dr. Jonathan. The age or profession is not necessarily prerequisite for qualifying to endorse the incumbent.

The question now is why don’t we realize that funds that could have been expended on different community projects for the good of the whole have been mischannelled for the selfish motives of politicians; we shall be made to bear the brunt of this manner of mismanagement of government funds. We must not loose sight of the fact that after all said and down, there will remain the entity Nigeria and her people.

GOD bless Nigeria.

Shoplifting On Allen Avenue Ikeja Lagos part 2

WHAT ABOUT US 2

The amount of noise from Asari Dokubo’s quarters has continually been a cause for worry to decent people; sadly his kinsmen see nothing wrong in his inflammatory utterances. Asari Dokubo’s cause is not in the interest of Nigerians or his people. His utterances are expressions of his selfish interest in propagating the ambition of the incumbent.

This is not about us at all and people must understand his position as that of a man running on his own. The good people of the Niger Delta will do well to dissociate themselves from this campaign of violence and further needless bloodletting. All battles eventually end in dialogue and not in perpetual threats of war. It is utterly selfish for this man to continue to have a retinue of Nigerians running around the wheel of violence with him. If truly he has the interest of Nigerians at heart, he would not be beating drums of war where trained warriors are clamoring for calm and peace.

Asari Dokubo’s campaign will not in any way benefit the good people of the Niger Delta. His physical appearance alone goes a long way to confirm this line of thought. If the incumbent does not see that Asari Dokubo is embarrassing him, then the good people of the Niger Delta who know better should dissociate themselves from his cause at the earliest.

The proper thing to do is to call him to order but where that fails; he should be made to face the wrath of the laws of the land. Alas! His kinsman does not see the need to because he would want to give the lame excuse that Asari Dokubo is an adult Nigerian who is entitled to his own opinions and free to do as he pleases. There are laws in the land and this man is violating them under the watch of his kinsman.

I reiterate this is not about us; it is not in our interest for this man to continue to incite the polity.

GOD bless Nigeria.

Letter To President Jonathan By Niyi Osundare | Sahara Reporters

Letter To President Jonathan By Niyi Osundare | Sahara Reporters

WHAT ABOUT US?

NIGERIAN ELECTIONS

With the reality show moving from one episode to the next, we see many more cases of accusations, counter accusations; allegations, blackmail, threats, violence, etc in a bid to gain the upper hand.

I have seen many election seasons in Nigeria; all of them with the attendant election issues that arise but I have never seen one as charged as this one. There are about sixty candidates vying for the office of the president of Nigeria. The main titans however are the incumbent, president Goodluck Jonathan and the former military head of state, retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. Issues concerning these two gentlemen are splattered all over any literary channel on a daily basis, making it look like the other contestant are simply waiting for the next president to be announced and inaugurated.

It is quite interesting to note that the team of the incumbent are displaying some level of fear and this has led them to take to the style of hostile attacks on the personality of the opposition leader. Nigerians who are at the fore of these attacks are Chief Femi Fani Kayode, a lawyer who is also the presidential campaign director of PDP and Mr. Ayo Fayose, the governor of Ekiti State. These are gentlemen who have cases to answer in Nigeria and with the promise by Buhari to send all corrupt Nigerians to jail looming over their heads, it is to be expected that they would use every possible tactic to scuttle the presidential ambition of Buhari.

Nigerians express their opinions through various forms of expression especially on social media and atmosphere appears to be very charged. Past rulers as well as religious bodies are not spared from it all. It is either they support Jonathan or they support Buhari and the opinions are inclined towards outright hostility and hate.

One and only one president will come out of it all despite threats of violence and lawlessness. Nigerians however must not forget about their own wellbeing. Nigerians must still live their life after the election no matter how long it takes for the dust to settle and they must have to continue to live with each other whether peacefully or otherwise. People are so engrossed in the election campaigns and all the antecedents that come along with such activities that one wonders how they can still maintain focus on the pressing issues that have been made to take the back burner.


Among these pressing issues are Boko Haram, reduction in price of PMS (petrol), pending cases of corruption that have not been effectively addressed, mismanagement of pension funds, the Chibok girls, mismanagement of oil revenue, mismanagement of oil reserves and a host of others.

These issues affect the masses directly as they feel the impact directly. We must not loose focus of these pending issues while we vigourously participate in the election campaigns, mudslinging and violence. Thinking of these issues should give reason for people to be calm and rational in their decisions of who the next leader should be.

GOD bless Nigeria.

WHEREVER THE DOUGH IS HEADED

Which way is the dough headed? The dough is headed in the direction of the entertainment industry; that’s where the dough is at.  This is the consciousness that most young Nigerians should imbibe quickly. Nigerians have proven established their presence in the entertainment industry and without any doubt, the returns are visible enough. As a digression, names of the cars that most of these goons use are so complicated to pronounce, like one has to return to school to learn a new language in order to get the name right.

Nigerians are proud of the effort and the results of young Nigerians are producing; like everything else that is shrouded in the dark in Nigeria, one cannot put a finger on their financial worth or earnings but snippets from here and there indicate that they earn well enough to  run their own business empires.  It makes one cringe to imagine what these young Nigerians would have been doing for a living if not for their determination to cease the entertainment business by the jugular and master the industry.  As elections parole heat up again in Nigeria, there is an increasing number of cases of election related violence and acts of malpractice being sponsored by political money bags with young Nigerians as their tools of havoc. It is however heart warming to observe that many young Nigerians like 9ice, Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, KWAM=1, etc are pulling their weight in their party primaries.

I feel very proud of the success recorded by young Nigerians in the entertainment industry and I look forward to many more of them following this path to politics and governance as another route to chasing out the old brigade of politicians. Stakes have been raised so high that securing the application form or the ticket of the party cannot be achieved with a little bit of assistance from one godfather or the other.  The assistance turns out to be so costly that it appears like the office holder would  have to compromise his authority to the godfather who sponsored his/her success at the polls.

Thankfully, with the revolution in the entertainment industry, funds will be raised through sources other than corrupt enrichment that had hitherto been the norm. Nigerians also expect that this being the case, the electee will have some freedom to carry out his responsibility in the interest of the whole rather than in the interest of the party or the godfather. As a true and faithful citizen, one expects that these young people will be able to free themselves from the warpped mentality of the old brigade and perform their elected duties with Nigeria first and last on their agenda.

GOD bless Nigeria.