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.

THIS LAGOS!

Things people will not venture to do in their home-states/towns, etc., but they would boldly attempt (and perform) it in Lagos; maybe because of the anonymity Lagos seems to provide.

Under normal circumstances, people will not dare harvest the crops on a farmland they did not sow even if the land belongs to them; rather they will wait for the planter to harvest his crops and clear away from their property. It is not the same in Lagos as people are fond of saying that anything goes in Lagos.

People will not dare to defecate on another man's farm because of the dire consequences such irresponsible behavior will attract but it is not the same in Lagos. People see nothing wrong in defecating in public; in broad-daylight and in this modern age.

When I was on assignment in Abuja some years back, I was alarmed when I got to know that the then governor of Nassarawa State was disturbed enough to leave the opulence of his office to confirm reports and personally supervise the removal of a corpse that was found by the road side at Mararaba. My alarm stemmed from the fact that it was not a big deal to see corpses by the roadside in Lagos metropolis; however, for the last couple of years it has become like an aberration to see corpses by the roadside in Lagos.  Nevertheless, the strange trend resurfaced with the sighting of several decomposing and decapitated corpses between 'the long bridge' and Ojota ends of Ikorodu Road  

 

Is it a way of saying the people of Lagos have no regard for their neighbours?

Does it mean that with money, everything is allowed in Lagos?

Whose responsibility is it to protect the environment and the culture of the people of Lagos? 

 

With a mentality like this, how does one begin the onerous task of educating the people with a view to make them change their perception towards one another and towards the environment? At this point, we will need to give a clear definition to the terms, 'people of Lagos' as against 'Lagosians.' We must be able to identify the people who the custodians of the welfare of Lagos and those who are committed to the growth and development of Lagos as against those who came to Lagos in search of the 'Golden Fleece.'

 

What punitive measures exist for cases where offenders are caught? If there are presently none, is it possible for lawmakers to consider instituting some?

 

GOD bless Nigeria.  

WAITING THEIR TURN

 

The name Ruben Abati stirs passion that is completely opposite to what it did in the past.  The ease with which the man Ruben Abati switched positions from a highly revered political opinion columnist to an appointee of the present political leadership is a source of worry to many who looked forward to his articles as a yardstick for taking a position and for sound knowledge. The ease with which he justifies political blunders that he would ordinarily have castigated and condemned to the high heavens in the past leaves much to be desired.  The columnists of today are made to look like wolves waiting their turn to have a bite of the lion’s kill.  It makes one wonder if they will find it easy to switch positions just the way Abati did.

The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi was able to resist offers of government appointment all through his life; many Nigerians who had the privilege of being mentored by Gani are of the same mind and would never compromise their position in defense of Nigeria and her people; what could it be that prevents other Nigerians who lay claim to honour and integrity to do the same? In many cases it is not even the quest for wealth as such that prevents these people from declining the offer because at the end of the tenure they are no better than they went in.  Most of these people are dismissed from office with ignominy because they assume office under obscure circumstances in the first place and the excuse they regularly put forward which is the need for them to contribute their bit to making Nigeria a better place is always forgotten as soon as they start work.

The question of state pardon granted Mr. Alamieyeseigha (Alams) came upon Nigerians with the characteristic shock that this government has over time perfected how to land.  While processing the rude shock of the announcement, Ruben Abati took to the media in fruitless attempts to rationalize and justify the actions of the present government.  Abati very conveniently forgot the article he wrote in October 2005 titled ‘Alamieyeseigha should resign.’  The article was written by a Nigerian who was thought to be very much in touch with happenings in Nigeria and it would have stirred up much passion in any Nigerian who read the article.  A few years down the line, Abati hits the media intent upon making the people believe that the decision to grant Alams state pardon is ok.  Thankfully, he was quickly reminded of his position which he made no secret of in the article he wrote on the same subject a little earlier.

Sometime last year, it was believed that Abati had been relieved of his official duties by the presidency after the appointment of Dr. Doyin Okupe but he survived it.   Well he will surely return to the street at some point in his life and he being a writer and a political commentator will not be able to resist the lure to comment on political affairs of Nigeria.  One wonders what position he will take again once he is out of office.  Does Abati care what the future holds or does he believe that the Nigerian society is still at that level where having money makes everything alright?  If that were the case, Alams would not have any issues being raised over the state pardon granted him; he could be made the next Minister for Petroleum or the head of the Senate and no eyebrows would be raised but Nigerians have gone beyond that point.  Nigeria is the focus of many African and western countries and issues will be raised over any unreasonable suggestion of embarrassing Nigeria by the leadership that appears to have been compromised.

Nigerians have become more discriminatory than that; Nigerians recognize the difference between a coup plotter and a criminal minded office holder who had no respect for his personal dignity or for the office he held. Nigerians die daily in the hands of known terrorists and other negative minded people who have gained prominence during the tenure of this administration but there will be many Nigerians alive and waiting to see the position Mr. Ruben Abati will take when he is out of government.

GOD bless Nigeria.

 

RENAISSANCE OF AMAZONS?

 

Greek mythology records the existence of a tribe of female warriors known as Amazons; Turkey also has stories that show that they recognized this force of women who thrived for a long time in the history of Greece and Turkey.  The Amazons were dreaded and to a large extent avoided by the few men who had knowledge of their existence.  The Amazons were women who trained in hunting, agriculture and the art of war.  Amazon warriors regularly slaughtered men they had no use for; however for the continuity of their tribe, they carefully and strategically selected the males they considered worthy of mating with strictly for the purpose of procreation. They nurtured and groomed their female offspring to be warriors like them but for their male children, they were either sent to their fathers or they were left in the forests to fight for their lives or perish.

African mythology has time and again represented the fact that man is greatly feared and distrusted by all animals; even where women and children would be welcomed, animals would steer clear of men because of the purported wickedness of men.  The Christian scripture makes it abundantly clear that the heart of man is wicked and also desperately wicked.

Nigerian history features the immense contributions of women who were bold, brave, and strong and determined to secure their kingdoms and their people. Among these women were Amina of Zazau, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Queen Iden of Benin, and so many others. Records show that these women were not of the Greek or Turkish Amazon packs but their lifestyles were predominantly Amazonic.

The few modern women who show any interests in tougher exploits are branded ‘feminists.’ Women are made to believe that they are not created complete and until they are acquired by a husband, they have not started to live their lives.  By wit, cunning, manipulation of the word of GOD and the power of the law, man has tamed the Amazonic spirit in women. The woman has become so tame that she is made to believe that she is the weaker vessel and quite embarrassingly, women actively clamour for reduced standards and concessions for women because they are ‘weak.’ Women are made to walk beside men on high heeled shoes which further expose their vulnerability and lack of balance; they are convinced to focus on keeping the home and reproduction. In essence a lot of women have put themselves at the level of well-loved pets to men; the slight difference between women and these well – loved pets is that the women share the beds of their men  and whenever he is inclined to, he takes her out to display to his friends and relatives.

What obtains in this day and age is a generation of men who feel zero tolerance for women.  it is easier for men to show respect to an infant male than to a grown and independent woman.  Some men claim to love their mothers to pieces but they passionately hate other women.  For the slightest offence, men would raise their hands against women and dehumanize them to extents that leave one wondering if the women had been run over by a large truck or they had encountered a grizzly.  In the end women are left with scars that will never heal if they are lucky to escape with their lives.

Every suggestion that women acquire self-defense skills are rebuffed by women who are spurred on by men who are yet to show their true colours.  Taking training in martial arts as a form of defense is something that goes without saying among Asians.  Many women of African origin are fortified by their families with psychic and magical powers like voodoo and witchcraft which are fundamentally intended as means of protection from physical and psychic assault.  Adopting the western religion has made many families put away such practices and many men now see it as the perfect opportunity to treat women the same way they would treat their dogs.

The number of incidence of violence against women (VAW) has increased so much that it now appears like a competition of whose attack would be deemed the most dastardly.  It makes one wonder if the victim was drugged prior to the attack as there is no evidence of self-defense in many reported cases. No race or nation is spared of this scourge; even the USA, Britain, etc are not spared.  Up till recently, one could boast that Nigerian males are not rape inclined but reports keep revealing that cases of VAW are becoming a fast growing delight among them.

Repeated appeals that parents take time to train their boys to be gentlemen seem not to have much impact; the implication is that parents are satisfied with the freedom their sons have and they must be willing endure the consequences of the son’s actions bring upon him and the family.  There are rumours of pockets of vigilante activities master-minded by ex-military men, ex-sportsmen, etc in some western countries and a few of them have been mentioned in Nigeria.  While not supporting irresponsible behavior in taking the law into one’s hands, the idea of a vigilante arrangement does have some appeal in that it begins to look like the only way of guarding against VAW.  Furthermore, there is money to be earned by people who are contracted to give intercessory services to women who may not be in a position to ward off attacks of psychos who look like brutes.

GOD bless Nigeria

NIGERIANS MUST KEEP TALKING

 

 

 

The passage of the FOI bill by the Nigerian legislature is a bonus to democracy as it paves the way for information gathering and dissemination and general access to information.  Without the passage of the bill, the Nigerian society will still adjust to the changes that social media has allowed to the way information is handled in the modern world.  The response of Nigerians to social media has turned out to be in favour of the people as a means of negotiating with the government.  every attempt by the government to discredit social media and discourage members of the public from subscribing to social media for information has met with stiff opposition from members of the public.  Nigerians of all ages and stations in life subscribe to using social media and as insignificant as the result may appear, there are records of positive changes in the society.

People do not have to wait till the next morning for updates on news anymore.  Many platforms update their news items almost per minute and some of the most relevant news can be found on social media networks. The key factor is the fact that people give real time response to issues as they impact their lives.  For as long as people are responding, it shows that they are still alive and able to speak up.  In the course of speaking up, they speak to defend themselves; they speak to negotiate issues to secure advantage.  For people who are able to speak, there is a limit to how much people will take them for granted or take advantage of them.

In moments of discouragement, one wonders what can be achieved from mere talking.  We have come to realize that a lot can be achieved by talking. It does not matter that people are using the 26 letters of the alphabets to form words that turn out as essays on the same points of focus.  The essence is that many people are responding by speaking up or by writing something.

For the government that is known to take unilateral decisions and spring surprises on members of the public, the more the people talking, the better because such behavior is symptomatic of a leader who assumes office with a mind-set. It shows a leader who has a chip on his shoulder.  The cure for such tactless and undiplomatic manner of leadership is continuous protest by writing and speaking.

Many actions that this government would have taken under the misguided notion that the people can be taken for granted have been suspended or frozen altogether because of the public outcry.  There is strength in numbers and many groups that seem to have taken key positions in decision-making in the USA have succeeded because of their number, because of their consistency in stressing their positions and of course their determination to achieve what they have resolve to achieve.

The outrage of citizens contributed largely to the apprehension and conviction of the 2 Ohio rapists; the same goes for the Indian men who raped and mutilated a female medical student which resulted in her death as well as the rape of a Swiss female cyclist was camping in a village in India in the company of her husband.

Nigerians must be spurred on by the records of achievement in common protest cases like the sudden removal of petroleum subsidy and the sudden name change of the University of Lagos.

It is a shame that this government sees nothing wrong in the state pardon said to have been granted by this government to Mr. Diepriye Alamieyeseigha (Alams) but Nigerians must keep talking.

Under the watch of this government, Mr. John Yusufu who admitted to stealing pensioners’ funds to the tune of N23.3bn was sentenced to 2years in jail with an option of payment of N750,000. Despite the public outrage which saw his re-arrest and detention at Kuje prison, he has been granted bail at N10m.  the people must never get tired of talking.

One wonders what would be the lot of Nigerians if a country like Mali chose to wage war against Nigeria; maybe Nigeria will be wiped out.  A relatively small band of terrorists started operating in Nigeria today, almost three years since they started out, the band has gradually grown to be an army that Nigerians in the north must live or die with.  The combined armed forces of the republic of Nigeria have thus far failed to come up with a logical suggestion of how to stamp out the activities of terrorists in Nigeria. 60 plus have so far been confirmed dead by the terrorist attack which rocked Kano yesterday 18^th March, 2013. 

Nigerians may not be achieving much from their protests but the attitude of speaking up must never again be compromised.  It is hoped that this government will listen to the voice of the people in the case of Alams and search for another ‘worthy’ Ijaw individual to elevate instead of a man who is so notorious that members of the international community know of his atrocities better than most Nigerians.

GOD bless Nigeria

 

SOUTH AFRICA ON THE SPOT

The rainbow nation, the ubuntu nation, etc are endearing names by which South Africa is also known today.  Years past when the white supremacist leadership of the settlers vide apartheid and racial segregation throve in South Africa; violence and bloodshed did not attract much alarm in South Africa because they were the norm. Militancy and violent insurgence reared their heads and grew in all corners of South Africa. The original South Africans from as far back as the time of the great Shaka of the Zulu were fierce warrior tribes; peace was a very rare and uncommon commodity among the South African tribes.

The apartheid government relinquished the hold on power due to pressure from the international community and extensive struggles of South African freedom fighters over several years. Nelson Mandela who had been imprisoned for a period of over 27 years was eventually released from incarceration and the democratic election conducted immediately after his release from detention was won by landslide.

FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela were co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their contributions towards the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. While Mandela lives and preaches peace, many South Africans see the need for application of violence in driving home their points.

Conditions of the termination of the apartheid regime and human rights activism have effectively made room for the white settlers to retain their lands and other property in South Africa and there have been reports of continued violence involving the white racists and many of such reports have gone without being charged to court. The issue of racism in South Africa is clearly still paramount to the people; this makes Robert Mugabe appear saintly in his drive to re-claim the land of the people of Zimbabwe from the white farmers.

Another sad aspect of the South African society is the battered psyche and warped mentality of the black South Africans.  A people who had been stripped of every dignity and power to the point that they were not allowed the right to vote in their own country; a group of people who were made to feel like outcasts in their land and people who knew no language save for violent struggles and intense hatred.  It is surprising that as soon as Nelson Mandela took office as the democratically elected president of the nation, many people thought, believed and expected that the racist mentality of South Africans would dissolve or come to an end.

Many musicians like Miriam Makeba and Sunny Okosun centered their message on the freedom of South Africa and Nelson Mandela and as soon as Mandela became president, it was like there was no more need for these revolutionary messages.  This is a great oversight in that after such injurious circumstances as what South Africans endured, what should have followed was intense rehabilitation and re-orientation of the minds of the people.  Many domestic and international organizations contributed their own quota towards this course but what is evident in modern day South Africa reveals that apartheid did not go anywhere and the subjective mentality of the black South Africans remains so strong like they are still under the burden of slavery.

Over the years, reports of activities of sick minds continue to increase; infants, the aged as well as the infirm are raped on the run.  Young and upcoming people have had their lives cut short because some crazy kid wants their wallet, miners are shot dead in broad day light, blacks kill whites and vice versa and visitors are also brutalized and murdered in South Africa.  One cannot undermine the achievements of South Africa or else it could easily be said that South Africa is becoming an embarrassment to Africa.

When the Arab Springs started to take the centre point of affairs in the political terrain in Africa, we still boasted that no one could attempt any uprising in Libya because of Ghadaffi’s firm grip on the people.  Today, Ghadaffi is history. South Africa is on the spot and it will do Africa a lot of good to beam more light on the activities going down in South Africa because recent events reveal that too much dirt is being swept under the carpet there.

All of this go to point at the fact that Nigerians must celebrate our past heroes like Oba Ovonranmwen who as much as possible resisted the British, the earliest political leaders of Nigeria and all those who made sacrifices that Nigeria may be a truly liberated and self-governed state free of every suggestion of colonialism and racism. Racism is a scourge which must be resisted at all costs and as many NGOs that have cases of violation of human rights or racial abuse before them should spare no costs in exposing the culprits for proper sanctioning.  And we must not forget what our past heroes have sacrificed to secure our freedom; it is only reasonable that we retain that freedom with the last drop of blood in us.

 GOD bless Nigeria.