God and Our Politicians
Listen to a Nigerian speak and you are more likely going to hear him or her say in every conversation ‘Thank God’, ‘as God would have it’, ‘leave it in the hands of God’, ‘God’s will.’ Nigerians are very spiritual people; their culture, language, names , songs romanticize about an intense spirituality. For example, among the Yoruba, names like ‘Olurun’, ‘Oluwa’ signify God; similarly names like ‘Ogunnike’, ‘Modupe’ speak about spirituality. A household song comes to mind, ‘Baba O Modupe’. Similarly among the Igbo, names speak of a distant spirituality with great emphasis on ‘Chukwu’ and ‘Chi’ both meaning God. It is probably accurate to say that every Igbo name has ‘Chi’ or ‘Chukwu’ whether silently or overtly suffixed or prefixed to it. I once inquired from an Edo workmate what the name ‘Osa’ meant and she told me God. I had asked against the backdrop of numerous names prefixed with ‘Osa’ stretching back years. One particular funny ‘Osa’ I studied with rammed the name into my memory. His name was ‘Osaye’.I never got to see his name written but the spelling follows the phonological pattern. Our past indicates a great investment in spirituality, the belief that there is an unseen guidance.
Today whether you are in Kaduna, Abuja, Lagos, Portharcourt you would experience a thick air of religion: whether its Penticostalism,catholism or Islamism etc.You may be approached by people handing Church leaflets and accosted by preachers.Obasanjo once famously said: ‘God is a Nigerian.’ Speeches by our politicians more likely end with ‘God bless Nigeria.’ Jonathan Power a longtime friend of Obasanjo once asked him who gave Nigeria oil and he replied, ‘God, but the devil is manipulating it!’
Yet I strongly suspect that this thick air of religiosity has sponsored a weak humanity in Nigerians; Nigerians seem to have followed a docile spirituality. Nigerians seem to have failed to harness spirituality for good. Nigerians are wont to surrender even in the face of despoliation and murder with the pacifism ‘God’s will.’ Our politicians use the name of God in ways that boggle the mind. Governor Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, of Nasarawa State while receiving journalists in his Keffi residence as reported by Champion today, urged aggrieved parties of the just concluded elections to fall back on God in words that describe acquiescence .You could almost see the typical acceptance of anything that goes on in life as the will of God when he says, "those who accept the act of God don’t get aggrieved and those who are of God never get aggrieved”. Are the just concluded election results the act of God? Would God normally want people like Yar’Udua and other Governors to be in power? Must every leadership be accepted as God-ordained? If there is any sincerity in the constant reference to God why don’t politicians shun divisive politics and restructure the country?
I had gone to a lecture with a friend of mine when out curiosity I picked up a sheet of paper lying idle and to my amazement, it was a survey of people who professed to be followers of the Christian faith worldwide and Nigeria featured first. Nigerians not only profess faith in God but they export their religion to the world.
Even with the injury dealt by the just concluded polls, you would have thought that weak religious cries urging acceptance would be considerate but we are, as usual, treated to similar doses of retreat. Acceptance imposes years of servile leadership. Until spirituality helps Nigerians, politicians would continue hiding their impotence under the facade of religion. Until Nigerians rise and demand justice, any claim to spirituality would rightly be rebuffed.
Monday 7 May 2007
Thursday 26 April 2007
International implications of a Yar’Adua Presidency
It was an election that had the soul of the nation and with good reason. Obasanjo was due for an electoral replacement. Nigerians by and large looked upon the elections enthusiastically with the belief that a culture of democratic – though imperfect -continuity would blossom and the much needed constitutional amendment towards achieving an inclusive society would emerge – even those ruthlessly pessimist, those neck-in separatists or secessionists mustered a flurry of hope . The elections inspired a sense of commaradie among a vast swathe of Nigerians. Nigerians at home and abroad, took the electoral preparation at heart and suggested faults or potential hazards to INEC, but it was deliberately thrown away. Unbeknown to them, the saliva of Maurice Iwu, Obasanjo’s organ grinder’s monkey, had them in, like an unfortunate insect battling to stay alive in liquid.
Obasanjo found in Iwu, a man who combined the mental craftiness of an advanced fee fraudster and the pugilism of a motor park tout, who could institute his shenanigans to the full tilt. He saw a man who possessed a rich well of lying water and the slickly turn of lime. Voices rose up and demanded Iwu’s sack but they deliberately and strategically fell on deaf ears.
By consenting to a Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua presidency, Nigerians accept the inevitability of a pariah status - in a country already reeling from widespread electoral notoriety . Yar’ Adua was the first governor to introduce Sharia in his home state - Katsina – in a multi-religious society. How could a man of his pedigree preside over Nigeria? How would a Sharia Yar’Adua presidency seat with a relationship with Israel and America? I urge the American government and every other government to hold off any oil dealings with Nigeria. Nigeria is America’s fifth largest oil supplier and it is achieved in conditions perhaps on par or less than what obtains in Sudan where a greedy government deprives its southern tribes of their natural resources constitutionally. Perhaps the only difference between the Jangaweed and the Nigerian state is that they are forthright in their determination to extirpate the southern tribes of Sudan while the Nigerian government sponsors a quite policy of opposition elimination and apartheid. It only makes sense to me that the source of revenue is cut off.
Recently - in the Nigerian media - Yar’Adua while receiving members of the Northern Union implored that a power rotation culture between the North and South be entrenched and urged members of the NU to employ the same gusto they did in campaigning for a northern presidency towards a south presidency ‘when the time comes’. Every time he speaks, he confirms his dissonance with sanity. I watched him speak shortly after he was declared president-elect and I bled within me and this is the man many urge our acceptance? His recent statements are no surprise to me - very few things surprise about the Nigerian society; I have always seen Nigeria as a mystical nation, where unusual things happen.
Those who beg our forbearance in the face of monumental evisceration need to provide an answer to this question: when is the right time to act? In 1999 we were told the same thing, in 2003 we were told the same thing and now we are being told the same thing!
I do not blame our leaders because I believe they capture the collective schizophrenia that is Nigeria, I blame Nigerians. Our deep-seated divisions handicap us at this crucial juncture in our history to any concerted front. The rivers of tribalism flow from the kinky hair of Nigeria and empties at its foot .I cannot give an assessment of the 1966 January coup because I lack any subjective understanding of the flag they wove as they spilled blood ruthlessly but sometimes I wonder if any type of leader should be accepted. A wicked leadership can permit the deaths of people. Through the wicked policies of a leadership the majority can be held in prison.
Around the country, it is tales of woe, anger and frustration around .The gored child weeps inconsolably in his mother’s arms. Nigeria is crying.
Obasanjo’s decision to rig was a defeatist confirmation of his unpopularity among the Nigerian public - a realization of the utopian atmosphere he constructed around him .
True, the Nigerian polity is largely unfavorable to any kind of peaceful election considering the ruling and opposition party thugs at their beck and call, armed to the teeth; but all these were made known or known to him before the elections.
What happened on the 14 and 20 of April was an open rape of decency and common sense. Nigeria witnessed the worst rigging in its history. This year’s elections mark the climax of election rigging in Nigeria's voting history – no time in our history has there been so much death, so much violence in a rascal bid to loot and plunder.
It was an election that had the soul of the nation and with good reason. Obasanjo was due for an electoral replacement. Nigerians by and large looked upon the elections enthusiastically with the belief that a culture of democratic – though imperfect -continuity would blossom and the much needed constitutional amendment towards achieving an inclusive society would emerge – even those ruthlessly pessimist, those neck-in separatists or secessionists mustered a flurry of hope . The elections inspired a sense of commaradie among a vast swathe of Nigerians. Nigerians at home and abroad, took the electoral preparation at heart and suggested faults or potential hazards to INEC, but it was deliberately thrown away. Unbeknown to them, the saliva of Maurice Iwu, Obasanjo’s organ grinder’s monkey, had them in, like an unfortunate insect battling to stay alive in liquid.
Obasanjo found in Iwu, a man who combined the mental craftiness of an advanced fee fraudster and the pugilism of a motor park tout, who could institute his shenanigans to the full tilt. He saw a man who possessed a rich well of lying water and the slickly turn of lime. Voices rose up and demanded Iwu’s sack but they deliberately and strategically fell on deaf ears.
By consenting to a Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua presidency, Nigerians accept the inevitability of a pariah status - in a country already reeling from widespread electoral notoriety . Yar’ Adua was the first governor to introduce Sharia in his home state - Katsina – in a multi-religious society. How could a man of his pedigree preside over Nigeria? How would a Sharia Yar’Adua presidency seat with a relationship with Israel and America? I urge the American government and every other government to hold off any oil dealings with Nigeria. Nigeria is America’s fifth largest oil supplier and it is achieved in conditions perhaps on par or less than what obtains in Sudan where a greedy government deprives its southern tribes of their natural resources constitutionally. Perhaps the only difference between the Jangaweed and the Nigerian state is that they are forthright in their determination to extirpate the southern tribes of Sudan while the Nigerian government sponsors a quite policy of opposition elimination and apartheid. It only makes sense to me that the source of revenue is cut off.
Recently - in the Nigerian media - Yar’Adua while receiving members of the Northern Union implored that a power rotation culture between the North and South be entrenched and urged members of the NU to employ the same gusto they did in campaigning for a northern presidency towards a south presidency ‘when the time comes’. Every time he speaks, he confirms his dissonance with sanity. I watched him speak shortly after he was declared president-elect and I bled within me and this is the man many urge our acceptance? His recent statements are no surprise to me - very few things surprise about the Nigerian society; I have always seen Nigeria as a mystical nation, where unusual things happen.
Those who beg our forbearance in the face of monumental evisceration need to provide an answer to this question: when is the right time to act? In 1999 we were told the same thing, in 2003 we were told the same thing and now we are being told the same thing!
I do not blame our leaders because I believe they capture the collective schizophrenia that is Nigeria, I blame Nigerians. Our deep-seated divisions handicap us at this crucial juncture in our history to any concerted front. The rivers of tribalism flow from the kinky hair of Nigeria and empties at its foot .I cannot give an assessment of the 1966 January coup because I lack any subjective understanding of the flag they wove as they spilled blood ruthlessly but sometimes I wonder if any type of leader should be accepted. A wicked leadership can permit the deaths of people. Through the wicked policies of a leadership the majority can be held in prison.
Around the country, it is tales of woe, anger and frustration around .The gored child weeps inconsolably in his mother’s arms. Nigeria is crying.
Obasanjo’s decision to rig was a defeatist confirmation of his unpopularity among the Nigerian public - a realization of the utopian atmosphere he constructed around him .
True, the Nigerian polity is largely unfavorable to any kind of peaceful election considering the ruling and opposition party thugs at their beck and call, armed to the teeth; but all these were made known or known to him before the elections.
What happened on the 14 and 20 of April was an open rape of decency and common sense. Nigeria witnessed the worst rigging in its history. This year’s elections mark the climax of election rigging in Nigeria's voting history – no time in our history has there been so much death, so much violence in a rascal bid to loot and plunder.
Friday 13 April 2007
Welcome the Duke of Calabar!
You see, there is something fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian state. No matter what you do in Nigeria, it won’t stick because of murky backgrounds, stretching back to pre-independence days. There has to be a structural adjustment; a review of the ethnic and resource control issues in Nigeria. I have no doubt in my mind that, there are some that have put in their best in this outgoing administration, but the environment they operate in renders their efforts void because certain oppressive underpinnings are in place - that take way any effort.
Take for instance the drug and food situation in Nigeria. For years hospitals and traders wrecked havoc on Nigerians, sending many to an early grave but the corrupt authorities turned a blind eye preferring the little dole they received - in turn many died: seaports and airports were turned into graveyard transits: that is why I am firmly committed against the perpetrators and beneficiaries of corruption. In my university, I met a governor’s child who paid most probably more fees than the father will earn in three months, not to talk of accommodation, feeding etc. Yet Google the state the father presides over, and you’ll be amazed at the strength of corruption in the state.
Thanks to the internet everyone can now voice their opinion or events as they truly are without the punitive reach of the Nigerian state, much to their utter disappointment. Even this newly found freedom has come under severe strains but still, Nigerians in blogs and newspapers like http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/ where people are free to voice their views on Nigeria, reveal a country at tenterhooks and present a spectacular scenery for those of us in the diaspora intent on knowing the happenings in our homeland. Though one must point out these forums host libelous people who roll out out-of-sync views but nevertheless a picture of instability and massive discontent and simmering uprisings like the type envisaged by some in the Muslim world against their governments, perceived to be at loggerheads with Islam.
In this present dispensation we have had to endure mass death in the Niger delta and the Middle belt, incompetence, misused oil funds, raped hopes but nevertheless there has been few flash points from individuals who I believe point the way Nigeria must go.Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State, the good-looking, impressionable young man, has thrown in a new dynamism in Nigeria with his groundbreaking projects.
Cross River State, home to the Efiks, has produced personalities like Professor Eyo Ita, Etuborn Oyo Orok Oyo and Magaret Ekpo. Calabar the capital of the state was the first capital - from 1893 to 1906 - of the British Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Marry Slessor arrived Calabar in 1878 from the United Free Church of Scotland.It was here that Nigeria’s first president Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe attended the historic Hope Waddel Training Institute.
To understand the history of Calabar is to understand Nigeria’s history. The history of old Calabar enlightens us about the obsession of our ancestors with the mythical, the superstitious and practices that seemed in keeping with their religious proclivities - and our slave trading past.Calabar has always been a factor in Nigeria’s history.
It is not surprising that the people of Cross River will indulge in throwing off the garb of oil dependence and launching into a non-oil dependent dispensation. Ghana recently posted huge returns in tourism, bolstered by American migrant inflows. Recently in a conversation with Mauritians they revealed that their little island off South Africa, gets its money from ‘tourism, tea and sugar!’Duke has had his own fair share of criticisms, but nevertheless he is a pointer to the direction many long after.
Nigerians to my mind are not dull people. There are people in Nigeria who produce things. I even hear that mobiles phones are now being cloned. I have met Nigerians in my sojourn abroad who commanded responsibilities.The Dukian concept is an outspill of years of compression and repression. It is a recognition of the malady inflicting Nigeria and a deliberate attempt to stray away.
The Dukian concept contends with the reductionist concept that revels in the maintenance of the status quo; Dukianism urges a conscientious movement towards a sustainable ideology.
‘Tinapa is conceptualized to be a world-class integrated business resort. It is to be implemented under the Private Public Partnership (PPP). Located by Calabar River, and contiguous to the Calabar Free Trade Zone, it is the realization of an exciting dream - the first integrated business and leisure in resort in Nigeria.Calabar, with her natural potential for tourism, through the unique vision of Tinapa, will be transformed into a global trading hub reminiscent of great international free zones like Hong Kong and Dubai.The complex will provide international standard wholesale emporiums, integrated shopping complexes and product distribution elements supported business tourism and entertainment facilities. The locations of these, in close proximity to Free Port on the east-west trading routes, provide exciting opportunities for Tinapa to serve…,’ says the Cross River State government’s website.
The Tinapa dream captures a dynamic, complex ingenuity that will rebound into the future of Nigeria and serves as the single most pivotal highlight of this present civilian administration.
Just today, while at the Leadership newspaper website, I came across corruption allegations against the Kogi state governor. I constantly come across corruption allegations against Nigerian heads, not to talk about the unresolved Petroleum Trust Funds, but there are people who have put in their best into a system begging for continuity and development and this to me is the single most daunting challenge that should occupy the thoughts of anyone aspiring for presidency.
We have seen people in authority come and go and some of us are not deceived. No matter what anyone does it would never equal the efforts put in by Duke and some others in revamping the system and so the game must be raised below par. Right now I see a murderous rat race to the presidency to lay hold on oil wealth. In secondary school economics I was taught the theories of supply and demand: too much demand , price increases; less demand, price decreases.
In Nigeria the demand for presidency is incompetently high - requested by people who have rarely distinguished themselves in any field. Too much demand competing for a commodity: demand outstripping supply. Nigeria is terribly uncultured politically – we have still not shed ourselves of the violence in the first republic. Nigeria is a country where power is sought with gung-ho fanaticism, where blood inevitably flows for selfish reasons. I came across a fellow I knew recently, who vanished during the primaries. Upon my inquiries about his whereabouts during the period, he confided, he returned to contest in the primaries in his region. Unable to carry on, the winner of the battle deposited money to him to ‘assuage any injury’. ‘Everyone must be killed for there to be development; everyone is corrupt,’ he sounded apocalyptic.
These president wannabes, in a bid to gain relevance have joined the opposition and caught many gullibles in their fake pieties. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone: before President Olusegun Obasanjo, came on stage the second time he ‘lamented the worrying state of Nigeria.’ We now know better. When he leaves he will do the same: a vicious hypocritical cycle bind. Somehow a sense of caution is missing. Their mission though written in cryptic ink bears an unmistaken quest to protect sectional interests.
The Vanguard newspaper in its editorial today says: ‘Nigerians have endured unnecessary hardship since 1999 because their Governors with the connivance of the powers in Abuja elected backwardness, and at best a blurred future, for the country.Many of the charlatans who have presented themselves for these offices are definitely deficient and grossly incompetent to steer Nigeria to the future its people desire and deserve.The ravaging poverty in the land has reduced the people to a state of the helplessness never before seen in these parts, at a time of unprecedented revenue from oil and gas. Yet the obscene opulence of the campaigns, is another reminder to voters to be careful in choosing who manages the country from May 29.How sad it is that prudence, accountability, selflessness and the interest of the public are no longer worthy attributes for office. What happened to the trillions of Naira that the States got from the federation account in the last eight years? Is it enough to prance about on campaign podium and make new promises when the ones made eight years ago have not been fulfilled?It is more disheartening that with the poor performance of the last eight years, candidate after candidate pledges continuity of the programmes of the departing administrations. What future is there then for the country?’
To the Duke of Calabar: you have towered above those in Nigeria, who among the festering rot have sought whether genuinely or not, to bring some sanity, showing Nigerians can, if they desire, unravel detrimental infrastructures. Your print on our sand will reverberate.
You see, there is something fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian state. No matter what you do in Nigeria, it won’t stick because of murky backgrounds, stretching back to pre-independence days. There has to be a structural adjustment; a review of the ethnic and resource control issues in Nigeria. I have no doubt in my mind that, there are some that have put in their best in this outgoing administration, but the environment they operate in renders their efforts void because certain oppressive underpinnings are in place - that take way any effort.
Take for instance the drug and food situation in Nigeria. For years hospitals and traders wrecked havoc on Nigerians, sending many to an early grave but the corrupt authorities turned a blind eye preferring the little dole they received - in turn many died: seaports and airports were turned into graveyard transits: that is why I am firmly committed against the perpetrators and beneficiaries of corruption. In my university, I met a governor’s child who paid most probably more fees than the father will earn in three months, not to talk of accommodation, feeding etc. Yet Google the state the father presides over, and you’ll be amazed at the strength of corruption in the state.
Thanks to the internet everyone can now voice their opinion or events as they truly are without the punitive reach of the Nigerian state, much to their utter disappointment. Even this newly found freedom has come under severe strains but still, Nigerians in blogs and newspapers like http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/ where people are free to voice their views on Nigeria, reveal a country at tenterhooks and present a spectacular scenery for those of us in the diaspora intent on knowing the happenings in our homeland. Though one must point out these forums host libelous people who roll out out-of-sync views but nevertheless a picture of instability and massive discontent and simmering uprisings like the type envisaged by some in the Muslim world against their governments, perceived to be at loggerheads with Islam.
In this present dispensation we have had to endure mass death in the Niger delta and the Middle belt, incompetence, misused oil funds, raped hopes but nevertheless there has been few flash points from individuals who I believe point the way Nigeria must go.Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State, the good-looking, impressionable young man, has thrown in a new dynamism in Nigeria with his groundbreaking projects.
Cross River State, home to the Efiks, has produced personalities like Professor Eyo Ita, Etuborn Oyo Orok Oyo and Magaret Ekpo. Calabar the capital of the state was the first capital - from 1893 to 1906 - of the British Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. Marry Slessor arrived Calabar in 1878 from the United Free Church of Scotland.It was here that Nigeria’s first president Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe attended the historic Hope Waddel Training Institute.
To understand the history of Calabar is to understand Nigeria’s history. The history of old Calabar enlightens us about the obsession of our ancestors with the mythical, the superstitious and practices that seemed in keeping with their religious proclivities - and our slave trading past.Calabar has always been a factor in Nigeria’s history.
It is not surprising that the people of Cross River will indulge in throwing off the garb of oil dependence and launching into a non-oil dependent dispensation. Ghana recently posted huge returns in tourism, bolstered by American migrant inflows. Recently in a conversation with Mauritians they revealed that their little island off South Africa, gets its money from ‘tourism, tea and sugar!’Duke has had his own fair share of criticisms, but nevertheless he is a pointer to the direction many long after.
Nigerians to my mind are not dull people. There are people in Nigeria who produce things. I even hear that mobiles phones are now being cloned. I have met Nigerians in my sojourn abroad who commanded responsibilities.The Dukian concept is an outspill of years of compression and repression. It is a recognition of the malady inflicting Nigeria and a deliberate attempt to stray away.
The Dukian concept contends with the reductionist concept that revels in the maintenance of the status quo; Dukianism urges a conscientious movement towards a sustainable ideology.
‘Tinapa is conceptualized to be a world-class integrated business resort. It is to be implemented under the Private Public Partnership (PPP). Located by Calabar River, and contiguous to the Calabar Free Trade Zone, it is the realization of an exciting dream - the first integrated business and leisure in resort in Nigeria.Calabar, with her natural potential for tourism, through the unique vision of Tinapa, will be transformed into a global trading hub reminiscent of great international free zones like Hong Kong and Dubai.The complex will provide international standard wholesale emporiums, integrated shopping complexes and product distribution elements supported business tourism and entertainment facilities. The locations of these, in close proximity to Free Port on the east-west trading routes, provide exciting opportunities for Tinapa to serve…,’ says the Cross River State government’s website.
The Tinapa dream captures a dynamic, complex ingenuity that will rebound into the future of Nigeria and serves as the single most pivotal highlight of this present civilian administration.
Just today, while at the Leadership newspaper website, I came across corruption allegations against the Kogi state governor. I constantly come across corruption allegations against Nigerian heads, not to talk about the unresolved Petroleum Trust Funds, but there are people who have put in their best into a system begging for continuity and development and this to me is the single most daunting challenge that should occupy the thoughts of anyone aspiring for presidency.
We have seen people in authority come and go and some of us are not deceived. No matter what anyone does it would never equal the efforts put in by Duke and some others in revamping the system and so the game must be raised below par. Right now I see a murderous rat race to the presidency to lay hold on oil wealth. In secondary school economics I was taught the theories of supply and demand: too much demand , price increases; less demand, price decreases.
In Nigeria the demand for presidency is incompetently high - requested by people who have rarely distinguished themselves in any field. Too much demand competing for a commodity: demand outstripping supply. Nigeria is terribly uncultured politically – we have still not shed ourselves of the violence in the first republic. Nigeria is a country where power is sought with gung-ho fanaticism, where blood inevitably flows for selfish reasons. I came across a fellow I knew recently, who vanished during the primaries. Upon my inquiries about his whereabouts during the period, he confided, he returned to contest in the primaries in his region. Unable to carry on, the winner of the battle deposited money to him to ‘assuage any injury’. ‘Everyone must be killed for there to be development; everyone is corrupt,’ he sounded apocalyptic.
These president wannabes, in a bid to gain relevance have joined the opposition and caught many gullibles in their fake pieties. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone: before President Olusegun Obasanjo, came on stage the second time he ‘lamented the worrying state of Nigeria.’ We now know better. When he leaves he will do the same: a vicious hypocritical cycle bind. Somehow a sense of caution is missing. Their mission though written in cryptic ink bears an unmistaken quest to protect sectional interests.
The Vanguard newspaper in its editorial today says: ‘Nigerians have endured unnecessary hardship since 1999 because their Governors with the connivance of the powers in Abuja elected backwardness, and at best a blurred future, for the country.Many of the charlatans who have presented themselves for these offices are definitely deficient and grossly incompetent to steer Nigeria to the future its people desire and deserve.The ravaging poverty in the land has reduced the people to a state of the helplessness never before seen in these parts, at a time of unprecedented revenue from oil and gas. Yet the obscene opulence of the campaigns, is another reminder to voters to be careful in choosing who manages the country from May 29.How sad it is that prudence, accountability, selflessness and the interest of the public are no longer worthy attributes for office. What happened to the trillions of Naira that the States got from the federation account in the last eight years? Is it enough to prance about on campaign podium and make new promises when the ones made eight years ago have not been fulfilled?It is more disheartening that with the poor performance of the last eight years, candidate after candidate pledges continuity of the programmes of the departing administrations. What future is there then for the country?’
To the Duke of Calabar: you have towered above those in Nigeria, who among the festering rot have sought whether genuinely or not, to bring some sanity, showing Nigerians can, if they desire, unravel detrimental infrastructures. Your print on our sand will reverberate.
Thursday 12 April 2007
America assures Nigeria of cooperation during April Elections
America has assured Nigeria of cooperation in the forthcoming elections scheduled to hold on April 14 and 20 and urged all parties involved to ensure their success.
‘The United States is a committed partner in assisting Nigeria with its preparations for credible elections that are acceptable to the Nigerian people.’ The U.S State department said in a press statement today.
‘The election poses a unique opportunity for that country's democratic development. This transition, along with the sustained fight against corruption, and the emergence of an institutional balance of power among the three branches of government is a vital element in the growth and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.’ The report said.
America highlighted the financial and manpower support it has provided Nigeria for the April
elections.
'The United States has provided almost $15 million over the past three years to train political parties, electoral commission staff, and civil society in facilitating preparation of these polls. The United States is supporting nearly 200 observers accredited to the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria.’ Sean McCormack, a Spokesman said.
America urged the electoral authorities and the government to ensure the total success of the election and urged all parties involved to eschew violence.
The press release said: ‘We encourage the electoral authorities and government to take all possible measures to enhance public confidence in the elections. These steps should include the immediate granting of full and transparent access for domestic and international electoral observers, as well as posting and publishing results at each polling station.
‘We urge all parties to refrain from violence, and to exercise their liberties responsibly and according to the rule of law.’
If the elections go smoothly, it would be the first time Africa’s most populous country embarks on a civilian to civilian transition since it achieved independence in 1960.
Many Nigerians are dissatisfied with the current administration. They say the fight against corruption is selective and that the government failed to institute a viable constitution and improve infrastructures, significantly power supply despite unprecedented rise in oil revenues.
America has assured Nigeria of cooperation in the forthcoming elections scheduled to hold on April 14 and 20 and urged all parties involved to ensure their success.
‘The United States is a committed partner in assisting Nigeria with its preparations for credible elections that are acceptable to the Nigerian people.’ The U.S State department said in a press statement today.
‘The election poses a unique opportunity for that country's democratic development. This transition, along with the sustained fight against corruption, and the emergence of an institutional balance of power among the three branches of government is a vital element in the growth and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria.’ The report said.
America highlighted the financial and manpower support it has provided Nigeria for the April
elections.
'The United States has provided almost $15 million over the past three years to train political parties, electoral commission staff, and civil society in facilitating preparation of these polls. The United States is supporting nearly 200 observers accredited to the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria.’ Sean McCormack, a Spokesman said.
America urged the electoral authorities and the government to ensure the total success of the election and urged all parties involved to eschew violence.
The press release said: ‘We encourage the electoral authorities and government to take all possible measures to enhance public confidence in the elections. These steps should include the immediate granting of full and transparent access for domestic and international electoral observers, as well as posting and publishing results at each polling station.
‘We urge all parties to refrain from violence, and to exercise their liberties responsibly and according to the rule of law.’
If the elections go smoothly, it would be the first time Africa’s most populous country embarks on a civilian to civilian transition since it achieved independence in 1960.
Many Nigerians are dissatisfied with the current administration. They say the fight against corruption is selective and that the government failed to institute a viable constitution and improve infrastructures, significantly power supply despite unprecedented rise in oil revenues.
Friday 6 April 2007
Dr. Dora Akunyili: Tribute to a Woman Warrior
Before the advent of award-wining, fifty-three year-old Dr. Dora Nkem Akunyili, Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and control (NAFDAC), most Nigerians did not know that a body vested with the responsibility of ensuring standard drugs and food existed, but now the campaign has reached a crescendo worldwide.
On Thursday, N6.5 billion worth of substandard drugs from over 3000 drug shops, were destroyed in Onitsha. The drug market was closed on March 6. In place, Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market was constituted with a warning not to indulge in selling fake drugs.
The closure of the Onitsha drug market is a long overdue but welcome step. To think that those slimballs have fed on the blood of many is terribly inexplicable rationally and further highlights a worrying social rot. For years they got away bribing corrupt authorities in Nigeria, who shared the same passion for money above life, but now the death knell tolls on their activities. Attempt has been made on Professor Akunyili’s life but she escaped.
The story of Akunyili of Nanka, Anambra State is a story of unrelenting gusto in the face of dare-devils without any care for life and the stench of corruption that allowed the growth of fake drugs . The story of Nigeria cannot be written without mention of her name. Her story evinces an unusual fortitude in the face of life-threatening realities around the path to sanitizing the country from a multi-billion monstrous drug monolith that has caused the death of many including Vivian, Akunyili’s sister.
Since she left her role as a Senior lecturer and Consultant Pharmacologist in Medicine ,University of Nigeria Nsukka (U.N.N.), Enugu Campus, she has led a trail of success in fighting the menace of substandard food and drugs.
Before Akunyili took over her post in 2001, 80% of drugs in circulation were substandard: some were outright poison; powdered chalk; some expired.
There are people who want Nigeria to remain backward and a land of anything-goes, so they can profit. Nigeria without regulations sweetens their gory appetites but this time around they have had it in their faces. At the heart of this crusade is a tireless woman who braved a society greatly prejudiced against females. Even Obasanjo confessed to narrowly missing her. She is a shadow of merit in the right position. She vindicates my position that authority must be held by the qualified – there’s no apology for being good that is why the English league travels around the world to get players, despite homegrown football players. Merit must outpace sectionalism in every form.
Dora is a beautiful advertisement for the Nigerian woman long held down by societal misconceptions. Nigeria women occupy a very strategic position in the Nigerian society. It is not unusual to find women almost single-handedly feeding, clothing etc their families – in the traditional Nigerian family, divorce is rare, so efforts are put in to ensure the success of marriage against all odds, often times with the woman at the receiving end.
Since her emergence on the national stage there has been a lot of debate about the place of women in Nigeria.
Olakunle Fredrick Sorinmade, the Lagos West senatorial candidate of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP) has cashed in on Akunyili’s rising profile in his proposal to create laws strengthening women (Daily Champion,2007).
Professor Akunyili stands tall. She may have foibles, but no matter how it is cut, she shows that Nigerians can have a will to dismantle the various evil structures in place if they desire. She has strenuously fought her corner. Hardly a week goes by – anytime I read the news – without mention of progress towards stemming the tide of illicit drug related activities made. Recently 800 cartons of banned vegetable oil valued at N10 million were impounded by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (Daily Champion). Whenever I think about her I see the picture of lost Nigeria; a Nigeria that can be found.
In recognition of her service, the European Parliament has invited her as a guest speaker to the forth-coming Public Hearing on Counterfeiting Medicine on April 10, 2007, where she is expected to pour insights into the global fight against drug counterfeiting.
Prof.Akunyili was born in Makurdi, Benue state on the 14th of July 1954 to Chief & Mrs. Paul Young Edemobi.A devout catholic, mother of six children – having a grand child - married to Dr.J.C. Akunyili a Medical Practitioner, she has more than 20 awards under her belt .
She got her B.Pharm (Hons) in 1978 and P.hD in 1985 from the University of Nigeria Nssuka (UNN).
On resuming office she restricted pharmaceutical imports to two airports and two seaports, each staffed by NAFDAC officials and blacklisted foreign companies thought to be involved in manufacturing fake drugs.
"It is in Onitsha that all the fake drug dealers in all Nigerian markets are trained. They move from Onitsha to other markets. They distribute from Onitsha to other places. They have so much money. It is by the grace of God that anybody can resist their money. They often claim that they are millionaires in all currencies (ThisDay, 2007)." She said.
The war against substandard food and drugs is just a tissue in the morass of decadent activities plaguing Nigeria.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), Nigerian fraudsters raked in N70 billion from advance fee fraud (419) in the past 10 years.
The Federal Government recently released N1.2 billion to the newly-created Directorate for Cyber security (DFC) to respond to security issues on the internet.
References
Lemonick.D.M and Costa D.G.(2005).Drug Warrior (Times magazine)
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1124289,00.html
nafdacnigeria.org
Before the advent of award-wining, fifty-three year-old Dr. Dora Nkem Akunyili, Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and control (NAFDAC), most Nigerians did not know that a body vested with the responsibility of ensuring standard drugs and food existed, but now the campaign has reached a crescendo worldwide.
On Thursday, N6.5 billion worth of substandard drugs from over 3000 drug shops, were destroyed in Onitsha. The drug market was closed on March 6. In place, Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market was constituted with a warning not to indulge in selling fake drugs.
The closure of the Onitsha drug market is a long overdue but welcome step. To think that those slimballs have fed on the blood of many is terribly inexplicable rationally and further highlights a worrying social rot. For years they got away bribing corrupt authorities in Nigeria, who shared the same passion for money above life, but now the death knell tolls on their activities. Attempt has been made on Professor Akunyili’s life but she escaped.
The story of Akunyili of Nanka, Anambra State is a story of unrelenting gusto in the face of dare-devils without any care for life and the stench of corruption that allowed the growth of fake drugs . The story of Nigeria cannot be written without mention of her name. Her story evinces an unusual fortitude in the face of life-threatening realities around the path to sanitizing the country from a multi-billion monstrous drug monolith that has caused the death of many including Vivian, Akunyili’s sister.
Since she left her role as a Senior lecturer and Consultant Pharmacologist in Medicine ,University of Nigeria Nsukka (U.N.N.), Enugu Campus, she has led a trail of success in fighting the menace of substandard food and drugs.
Before Akunyili took over her post in 2001, 80% of drugs in circulation were substandard: some were outright poison; powdered chalk; some expired.
Nigeria gained a reputation for being a country where harmful drugs were sold and used without scrutiny. Merchants of death plied their wares with shameless abandon; rejected drugs found a ready market in Nigeria. Tales of corroboration with authorities abounded – it was pathetic. Nigerians have been known from South Africa to Thailand for being involved in illicit drug peddling. I remember being told by a smiling chunky dud in Nigeria: ‘I like to be involved in drug trading.’ People turned their eyes as these death sellers indulged in their nefarious activities.
In 1990 more than 100 Nigerian children died from a painkiller that had been made with a toxic substance.There are people who want Nigeria to remain backward and a land of anything-goes, so they can profit. Nigeria without regulations sweetens their gory appetites but this time around they have had it in their faces. At the heart of this crusade is a tireless woman who braved a society greatly prejudiced against females. Even Obasanjo confessed to narrowly missing her. She is a shadow of merit in the right position. She vindicates my position that authority must be held by the qualified – there’s no apology for being good that is why the English league travels around the world to get players, despite homegrown football players. Merit must outpace sectionalism in every form.
Dora is a beautiful advertisement for the Nigerian woman long held down by societal misconceptions. Nigeria women occupy a very strategic position in the Nigerian society. It is not unusual to find women almost single-handedly feeding, clothing etc their families – in the traditional Nigerian family, divorce is rare, so efforts are put in to ensure the success of marriage against all odds, often times with the woman at the receiving end.
Since her emergence on the national stage there has been a lot of debate about the place of women in Nigeria.
Olakunle Fredrick Sorinmade, the Lagos West senatorial candidate of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP) has cashed in on Akunyili’s rising profile in his proposal to create laws strengthening women (Daily Champion,2007).
Professor Akunyili stands tall. She may have foibles, but no matter how it is cut, she shows that Nigerians can have a will to dismantle the various evil structures in place if they desire. She has strenuously fought her corner. Hardly a week goes by – anytime I read the news – without mention of progress towards stemming the tide of illicit drug related activities made. Recently 800 cartons of banned vegetable oil valued at N10 million were impounded by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (Daily Champion). Whenever I think about her I see the picture of lost Nigeria; a Nigeria that can be found.
In recognition of her service, the European Parliament has invited her as a guest speaker to the forth-coming Public Hearing on Counterfeiting Medicine on April 10, 2007, where she is expected to pour insights into the global fight against drug counterfeiting.
Prof.Akunyili was born in Makurdi, Benue state on the 14th of July 1954 to Chief & Mrs. Paul Young Edemobi.A devout catholic, mother of six children – having a grand child - married to Dr.J.C. Akunyili a Medical Practitioner, she has more than 20 awards under her belt .
She got her B.Pharm (Hons) in 1978 and P.hD in 1985 from the University of Nigeria Nssuka (UNN).
On resuming office she restricted pharmaceutical imports to two airports and two seaports, each staffed by NAFDAC officials and blacklisted foreign companies thought to be involved in manufacturing fake drugs.
"It is in Onitsha that all the fake drug dealers in all Nigerian markets are trained. They move from Onitsha to other markets. They distribute from Onitsha to other places. They have so much money. It is by the grace of God that anybody can resist their money. They often claim that they are millionaires in all currencies (ThisDay, 2007)." She said.
The war against substandard food and drugs is just a tissue in the morass of decadent activities plaguing Nigeria.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), Nigerian fraudsters raked in N70 billion from advance fee fraud (419) in the past 10 years.
The Federal Government recently released N1.2 billion to the newly-created Directorate for Cyber security (DFC) to respond to security issues on the internet.
References
Lemonick.D.M and Costa D.G.(2005).Drug Warrior (Times magazine)
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1124289,00.html
nafdacnigeria.org
Sunday 1 April 2007
What if Biafra had won?
‘IF Biafra had succeeded it would have created an imbalance in the African continent,’ a Ghanaian who I was discussing with said, ‘it would have been the most powerful and richest African country, thereby endangering Africa unity’. I come across people who have more than a passing interest in Nigerian history but this assertion was simply mind-blowing. The Biafran war reverberated around the shores of the world – I have read excerpts from people who confessed to hearing the name Nigeria for the first time when poverty-stricken Biafran children surfaced in their television sets, with pleas for aid, the thrust. Great faith was placed in Nigeria at independence but no sooner had it achieve nationhood than it plunged into a bloody war that claimed more than one million people and ensured the utter destruction of infrastructures in its three year duration (1967 – 1970) and solidified a country perennially divided along the basic fault-lines of ethnicity and religion.
I have read and heard participant versions of the civil war but I have still not come to my own conclusion: whether the war was a right step or was just a gratuitous gamble. But no matter how it is looked at, the Biafra war was indeed a shaping point in Nigeria’s history.
Some Igbo people rhapsodize about what a Biafra country would have been like given the many stories of technological creations - documented. A Biafran – during the war- is credited with the first attempt to seek nuclear materials in Nigeria’s nuclear history. It was a war whose passionate personality was in no doubt, whose human investment in blood was powered perhaps with hope of greater returns.
Whether the Eastern Region's military governor, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu left his Oxford degree, a life that appeared promising outside the shores of combat and largesse from his wealthy dad and plunged into servitude for the former Eastern region, was done with altruism is beyond my scope at this stage. I am still a lava waiting to develop enough conviction to state my position in this field. Yet 40 years on, Nigeria is haunted with the same dynamisms .The Nigerian country is a piece of oppression in the West African plate, a waste of space, a place where talent is unforgivingly punished and banished to pittance and mediocrity absorbed into the ever waiting wings of a relentless socialism with a pathological emphasis on mono-economy, wheeled by oil, accessed in the most deplorable condition. The Nigerian society is a fraud that must die and give birth to babies, able to wean into a generation outside the prejudices and failings of their progenies. By death, I mean reproduction into a just state even if it necessitates the literal death of the Nigerian nation.
The Biafra war stretches like a long bloodline in the Nigerian society. The first time I really came across the Biafra civil war was when a friend I had known for a very long time - as a matter of fact, we had grown up together - tried jokingly or seriously to make fun of Ojukwu’s Abidjan exit at the tale end of war. Looking back now I can only surmise that it was made known to him by his parents or his environment as his sudden transformation stunned me. He exit was relayed to me as a cowardly spectacle and a ‘comical crash of his vaunted empire’.
I was with someone I had known for sometime when he said with his head shaking, that Nigeria would never make it. At that stage I couldn’t understand his pessimism for the nation but issues like ethnically and religious motivated killings really spell red our country’s name. The Niger delta exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called democracy we practice. They have borne the brunt of the evils of incompetence. Put it quite simply: Nigerian democracy is a sham. A Hypocrisy designed to incubate impotents who lack any plan for advancement. I have had to come to the brutal realization of the Nigerian nation following deep research and interview. If you put a 10 year child in the seat of governor he may produce far better results than most governors in Nigeria. After all there are children who win chess competitions at very young ages. A world champion won the world chess championship 16 or under. Everybody knows that you have to build roads, supply water and power etcetera. There is no rocket science in them. It is breaching the threshold of fundamentals and transcending into the realm of harnessing potentials in a nation that makes a difference. There are societies that have little or no natural resources but have turned themselves into tourist hotspots, service hubs etc.
Biafra to me is certainly not the answer to Nigeria’s problem. Saying so is simplifying the problems on the ground. If anything Biafra would localize the national problems we have, but it does remind us of the fragility of our country.
Until justice rules, until leadership is reserved for the capable, then and only then - in any setting or country - can true transformation take hold.
If you meet a Nigerian for a job he is most likely going to ask for your paper qualifications. Because that is only what counts, your experience doesn’t. The government can suck you in and pay you salaries and pensions till you give in to the grave. But in industrialized societies you are asked for experience. I have read company reports criticizing poor ‘performance of students and a preference for other nationalities of better performance’.
They operate on a private plain and they recognize the import of experience. I have experienced it many times in my search for jobs. They were not so much interested in my papers as they were in my actual experiences .That is why you can find corporate managers who have little or no formal education but have under their command vast responsibilities: experience is gold. To understand why societies like these bred the Sir Isaac Newtons - here is the rub. This is how it might typically take shape: somewhere along the line a brother, a friend or a relative takes you on a tutorial in a field and thereafter you acquire the requisite knowledge required and work your way up the ladder.
The sole reliance on oil welcomes mountainous debris of laziness, an apathy to surge high and pitiable admission of impotence. Perhaps there can be no better way of self–expressing a nucleic paralysis.
Add this to perennial infightings and you get a mad house. When I meet a Nigerian I always have fun. They tag along with me thinking I am not Nigerian - something I find rather surprising - and when they do find out that I’m Nigerian the question turns to: ‘which part of Nigeria are you from?’ I have in the past seen this as just an innocent inquiry but after studying the Nigerian society I have learnt it is a quiet invitation to prejudice. I have recently begun revising my automatic replies to one of caution: my revelation would be extremely limited. Since they find it hard to make out my nationality then I guess I would let them hold it that way.
The story of the Nigerian war ignores the whole human firmament involved in the war occasioned by the ethnically induced strands Nigeria rests on. The war had a holistic effect on the Nigerian nation- it involved everyone in the former eastern region as well as the entire nation.
‘Broken brothers,’ a Chinese workmate of mine said in reply to a question I asked about the relationship between the China and Japan. The Nigerian society might just be a case of broken brothers, where the concept of brother’s keeper mashes under the weight of tribalism. Where downright stupidity and incompetence are rationalized on ethnic and sub-ethnic grounds. That’s why I hate any claim to ethnic leadership in whatever form, anywhere, at state, local and federal levels. Trouble in any part is seen as the problem of locality as opposed to universality. People turn a blind eye to the Niger delta because they imagine it has nothing to do with them as has every epoch in our history(tainted with ethnic summations): Civil war, June 12, Jan coup 1966,July coup,1966,1999-2007 etc.
This year marks 40 years since the civil war ended but secessionist pangs still run deep among Nigerians. The challenge is to construct an edifice foundationed on justice. Anytime we grant amnesty to the Nigerian state we are reminded of the paucity of our claim to territoriality. Ms Oluwatoyin Olusesan needless death at the hands of raving underage fanatics questions our national existence and confronts a continuous helplessness to this ruinous routine.
‘IF Biafra had succeeded it would have created an imbalance in the African continent,’ a Ghanaian who I was discussing with said, ‘it would have been the most powerful and richest African country, thereby endangering Africa unity’. I come across people who have more than a passing interest in Nigerian history but this assertion was simply mind-blowing. The Biafran war reverberated around the shores of the world – I have read excerpts from people who confessed to hearing the name Nigeria for the first time when poverty-stricken Biafran children surfaced in their television sets, with pleas for aid, the thrust. Great faith was placed in Nigeria at independence but no sooner had it achieve nationhood than it plunged into a bloody war that claimed more than one million people and ensured the utter destruction of infrastructures in its three year duration (1967 – 1970) and solidified a country perennially divided along the basic fault-lines of ethnicity and religion.
I have read and heard participant versions of the civil war but I have still not come to my own conclusion: whether the war was a right step or was just a gratuitous gamble. But no matter how it is looked at, the Biafra war was indeed a shaping point in Nigeria’s history.
Some Igbo people rhapsodize about what a Biafra country would have been like given the many stories of technological creations - documented. A Biafran – during the war- is credited with the first attempt to seek nuclear materials in Nigeria’s nuclear history. It was a war whose passionate personality was in no doubt, whose human investment in blood was powered perhaps with hope of greater returns.
Whether the Eastern Region's military governor, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu left his Oxford degree, a life that appeared promising outside the shores of combat and largesse from his wealthy dad and plunged into servitude for the former Eastern region, was done with altruism is beyond my scope at this stage. I am still a lava waiting to develop enough conviction to state my position in this field. Yet 40 years on, Nigeria is haunted with the same dynamisms .The Nigerian country is a piece of oppression in the West African plate, a waste of space, a place where talent is unforgivingly punished and banished to pittance and mediocrity absorbed into the ever waiting wings of a relentless socialism with a pathological emphasis on mono-economy, wheeled by oil, accessed in the most deplorable condition. The Nigerian society is a fraud that must die and give birth to babies, able to wean into a generation outside the prejudices and failings of their progenies. By death, I mean reproduction into a just state even if it necessitates the literal death of the Nigerian nation.
The Biafra war stretches like a long bloodline in the Nigerian society. The first time I really came across the Biafra civil war was when a friend I had known for a very long time - as a matter of fact, we had grown up together - tried jokingly or seriously to make fun of Ojukwu’s Abidjan exit at the tale end of war. Looking back now I can only surmise that it was made known to him by his parents or his environment as his sudden transformation stunned me. He exit was relayed to me as a cowardly spectacle and a ‘comical crash of his vaunted empire’.
I was with someone I had known for sometime when he said with his head shaking, that Nigeria would never make it. At that stage I couldn’t understand his pessimism for the nation but issues like ethnically and religious motivated killings really spell red our country’s name. The Niger delta exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called democracy we practice. They have borne the brunt of the evils of incompetence. Put it quite simply: Nigerian democracy is a sham. A Hypocrisy designed to incubate impotents who lack any plan for advancement. I have had to come to the brutal realization of the Nigerian nation following deep research and interview. If you put a 10 year child in the seat of governor he may produce far better results than most governors in Nigeria. After all there are children who win chess competitions at very young ages. A world champion won the world chess championship 16 or under. Everybody knows that you have to build roads, supply water and power etcetera. There is no rocket science in them. It is breaching the threshold of fundamentals and transcending into the realm of harnessing potentials in a nation that makes a difference. There are societies that have little or no natural resources but have turned themselves into tourist hotspots, service hubs etc.
Biafra to me is certainly not the answer to Nigeria’s problem. Saying so is simplifying the problems on the ground. If anything Biafra would localize the national problems we have, but it does remind us of the fragility of our country.
Until justice rules, until leadership is reserved for the capable, then and only then - in any setting or country - can true transformation take hold.
If you meet a Nigerian for a job he is most likely going to ask for your paper qualifications. Because that is only what counts, your experience doesn’t. The government can suck you in and pay you salaries and pensions till you give in to the grave. But in industrialized societies you are asked for experience. I have read company reports criticizing poor ‘performance of students and a preference for other nationalities of better performance’.
They operate on a private plain and they recognize the import of experience. I have experienced it many times in my search for jobs. They were not so much interested in my papers as they were in my actual experiences .That is why you can find corporate managers who have little or no formal education but have under their command vast responsibilities: experience is gold. To understand why societies like these bred the Sir Isaac Newtons - here is the rub. This is how it might typically take shape: somewhere along the line a brother, a friend or a relative takes you on a tutorial in a field and thereafter you acquire the requisite knowledge required and work your way up the ladder.
The sole reliance on oil welcomes mountainous debris of laziness, an apathy to surge high and pitiable admission of impotence. Perhaps there can be no better way of self–expressing a nucleic paralysis.
Add this to perennial infightings and you get a mad house. When I meet a Nigerian I always have fun. They tag along with me thinking I am not Nigerian - something I find rather surprising - and when they do find out that I’m Nigerian the question turns to: ‘which part of Nigeria are you from?’ I have in the past seen this as just an innocent inquiry but after studying the Nigerian society I have learnt it is a quiet invitation to prejudice. I have recently begun revising my automatic replies to one of caution: my revelation would be extremely limited. Since they find it hard to make out my nationality then I guess I would let them hold it that way.
The story of the Nigerian war ignores the whole human firmament involved in the war occasioned by the ethnically induced strands Nigeria rests on. The war had a holistic effect on the Nigerian nation- it involved everyone in the former eastern region as well as the entire nation.
‘Broken brothers,’ a Chinese workmate of mine said in reply to a question I asked about the relationship between the China and Japan. The Nigerian society might just be a case of broken brothers, where the concept of brother’s keeper mashes under the weight of tribalism. Where downright stupidity and incompetence are rationalized on ethnic and sub-ethnic grounds. That’s why I hate any claim to ethnic leadership in whatever form, anywhere, at state, local and federal levels. Trouble in any part is seen as the problem of locality as opposed to universality. People turn a blind eye to the Niger delta because they imagine it has nothing to do with them as has every epoch in our history(tainted with ethnic summations): Civil war, June 12, Jan coup 1966,July coup,1966,1999-2007 etc.
This year marks 40 years since the civil war ended but secessionist pangs still run deep among Nigerians. The challenge is to construct an edifice foundationed on justice. Anytime we grant amnesty to the Nigerian state we are reminded of the paucity of our claim to territoriality. Ms Oluwatoyin Olusesan needless death at the hands of raving underage fanatics questions our national existence and confronts a continuous helplessness to this ruinous routine.
Sunday 18 March 2007
Nigeria Would Explode
Nigeria is founded on lies, deceit, laziness, retrogression, oppression and the sooner it dies and gives way to a just entity the better - either as a compact whole with federating units or separate countries. Until resource control is enthroned, Nigeria must die, die, die, die, die, and die! Nigeria is built on quick sand, on an uncharacteristic clay soil of perfidy, where slugabeds revel in bacchanalia, where myths gambol as reality.Commonsense is a strange substance in this land. Far from the barberry people eulogize, Nigeria is a pond of absurdity.
States rely on the Niger delta for oil with little or no initiative to generate wealth. Not one person has thought it fit to stray or vociferously pursue a bill to kill this monthly-allocation malady like the legal spearhead against slavery in Britain, William Wilberforce who pursued the cause with might and main until slave trade was delegalized in 1807.On March 25 Britain would remember him for being a strong voice against the dark, barbarous trade in humans.
People sulk at easy oil doles from Abuja and pride themselves with achievements derived therein without a sense of shame and contradiction. They’ve never thought it fit to devise more constructive ways from limited resources to exponential heights using their own land resources and leaving others absolutely to theirs.The afectless idiosyncrasy of the affecting plight of oil-producing communities would, I have no doubt, dynamite Nigeria to shreds unless a hands-on, immediate corrective policy is instituted.
Creativity is a strange man with four legs in Nigeria .There is little or no interest in diversification. I am looking for a governor, a minister, local chairman who would refuse oil allocations and come up with something creative to live on. I search for that government martyr willing to receive the sack over refusal to be another governor receiving oil doles monthly.I get irritated when a hear: ‘This non-Niger Delta governor gets a fifth of what Niger Deltans get and yet he is able to do much’? Why can’t that governor use his ‘prudence’ and find a way to earn money other than oil? It could mean exploring solid minerals in his land, taxing people and other abundance waiting for judicious use. Instead we swell the head of people averse to performance whose only faculty recognizes oil and pontificate therein.
If I ever get to any position of authority as governor/minister et al I would break ranks!I would rather be thrown out and let the message beam that a cause was advanced: to free Nigeria from the shackles of mediocrity and enthrone commonsense, talent, development. Not a Nigeria where all component parts prey on the largely weak ethnic groups of the delta but a Nigeria where everyone utilizes the resources within their borders and generates clean income for use in running government and society.
Nigeria is a vicious cycle of the same defeating occurrences, only with increased tempo at every turn. One government replaces the other in mediocrity, rhetoric, corruption, backwardness, and oil-dependence. Here we are now with the same drumbeats of: ‘Yar Adua would present good leadership. He is a meek man.’ Yet he had almost eight years to prove his mettle, instead he introduced Sharia and fought the Niger Delta over their oil resources. He is a bantamweight of no relevance and we must be spared further irritation by further promotion of his name. His recent predicament should teach him a lesson of the effect of poor leadership he helped nurture while his eyes were abroad.
The same lukewarm praises were said of this present government, the one before it and the one before. Litanies of sycophantic outpourings stream out on every turn. Few bother to check facts before speaking. Sometimes you wonder whether it is a pathological defect in reasoning. For goodness sake, how would a man of miserable performance discharge a greater calling? Shouldn’t the little legacy presage the future? But no this is Nigeria. The Odilis, Atikus, Buharis, Ameachis, Ubas et al still factor in people’s consideration for leadership. Under Odili’s governorship poverty worsened, hardship increased in heat. Yet these precedents do not sound an alarm.
Today there are people crying because Atiku was removed from the presidential list, a list I shudder with pity at the caliber of people therein, yet this is a man who under his joint trust $20 billion disappeared. This amount may never be discovered, it will be another historical theatre of accusations, denials as Babaginda’s regime. He has no scruples because the money wasn’t derived from his earth. Fire and heat never blazed in his hometown to acquire the money. There was no oil spill, no pollution to acquire the money.Yet we have to endure this clutched mediocrity as he runs around like a headless chicken around our courts.He should plunge his head into the dustbin of history.
He has won himself a name like many others - a name in ignominy, but of course he shoots on. Nigerian leaders do not understand the concept of falling on the sword. They stay because they never had an ideology that emphases vision. That is why we have had a president, vice president, governors, and local chairmen for almost eight years. They lacked the internal framework to throw in the towel after six months in government. They allowed us - and still do - feel the full force of the injection.This is never a time to feel pity for anyone. Time has far been spent on worthlessness, now our language and action must be plain.
Aside from the fact that the terrain of Niger Delta demands great funds for road construction and other efforts compared to the hinterland they deserve to enjoy the full flow of their environment. Those with gold, coal and other mineral resources can also join the South Africans, the Namibians, and the Ghanaians in reaping from precious earth. If not I implore them to tie themselves in explosion. The explosion of the Roman Empire and other empires or entities that have dwindled in world influence serve as lessons to those who can read the handwriting on the wall.
Those who revel in obfuscation and sophistries can only continue deceiving themselves until the sledge hammer of history that visited the Soviet Union, Apartheid South Africa, the Balkans, and Segregation etc smashes them into smithereens.Justice to my understanding contends that a deal under a ratio of 13:100 with component parts contributing nothing certainly is a bad contract and therefore an equitable remedy only right.
Perhaps no where does the fraud that is Nigeria find expression than the solid mineral department.Solid minerals held great future in the thrust for diversification and achieving a federating status as almost all if not all states have solid minerals of economic worth in their domain but the forces of uncertainty have hijacked the initiative. Since the Mining Act - designed to ensure exploration - was signed into law there has been a painful haze of confusion over the viability of the law.
The Tide newspaper reported on February 27, 2007 that forty-two (42) new mineral deposits were found in Nigeria. Until, parasitic, cave-dwelling Nigerians shed themselves of their inabilities Nigeria, I have no doubt heads towards extinction. History is a wonderful brother because it reveals great implosions certain for any unjust country.
Nigeria is founded on lies, deceit, laziness, retrogression, oppression and the sooner it dies and gives way to a just entity the better - either as a compact whole with federating units or separate countries. Until resource control is enthroned, Nigeria must die, die, die, die, die, and die! Nigeria is built on quick sand, on an uncharacteristic clay soil of perfidy, where slugabeds revel in bacchanalia, where myths gambol as reality.Commonsense is a strange substance in this land. Far from the barberry people eulogize, Nigeria is a pond of absurdity.
States rely on the Niger delta for oil with little or no initiative to generate wealth. Not one person has thought it fit to stray or vociferously pursue a bill to kill this monthly-allocation malady like the legal spearhead against slavery in Britain, William Wilberforce who pursued the cause with might and main until slave trade was delegalized in 1807.On March 25 Britain would remember him for being a strong voice against the dark, barbarous trade in humans.
People sulk at easy oil doles from Abuja and pride themselves with achievements derived therein without a sense of shame and contradiction. They’ve never thought it fit to devise more constructive ways from limited resources to exponential heights using their own land resources and leaving others absolutely to theirs.The afectless idiosyncrasy of the affecting plight of oil-producing communities would, I have no doubt, dynamite Nigeria to shreds unless a hands-on, immediate corrective policy is instituted.
Creativity is a strange man with four legs in Nigeria .There is little or no interest in diversification. I am looking for a governor, a minister, local chairman who would refuse oil allocations and come up with something creative to live on. I search for that government martyr willing to receive the sack over refusal to be another governor receiving oil doles monthly.I get irritated when a hear: ‘This non-Niger Delta governor gets a fifth of what Niger Deltans get and yet he is able to do much’? Why can’t that governor use his ‘prudence’ and find a way to earn money other than oil? It could mean exploring solid minerals in his land, taxing people and other abundance waiting for judicious use. Instead we swell the head of people averse to performance whose only faculty recognizes oil and pontificate therein.
If I ever get to any position of authority as governor/minister et al I would break ranks!I would rather be thrown out and let the message beam that a cause was advanced: to free Nigeria from the shackles of mediocrity and enthrone commonsense, talent, development. Not a Nigeria where all component parts prey on the largely weak ethnic groups of the delta but a Nigeria where everyone utilizes the resources within their borders and generates clean income for use in running government and society.
Nigeria is a vicious cycle of the same defeating occurrences, only with increased tempo at every turn. One government replaces the other in mediocrity, rhetoric, corruption, backwardness, and oil-dependence. Here we are now with the same drumbeats of: ‘Yar Adua would present good leadership. He is a meek man.’ Yet he had almost eight years to prove his mettle, instead he introduced Sharia and fought the Niger Delta over their oil resources. He is a bantamweight of no relevance and we must be spared further irritation by further promotion of his name. His recent predicament should teach him a lesson of the effect of poor leadership he helped nurture while his eyes were abroad.
The same lukewarm praises were said of this present government, the one before it and the one before. Litanies of sycophantic outpourings stream out on every turn. Few bother to check facts before speaking. Sometimes you wonder whether it is a pathological defect in reasoning. For goodness sake, how would a man of miserable performance discharge a greater calling? Shouldn’t the little legacy presage the future? But no this is Nigeria. The Odilis, Atikus, Buharis, Ameachis, Ubas et al still factor in people’s consideration for leadership. Under Odili’s governorship poverty worsened, hardship increased in heat. Yet these precedents do not sound an alarm.
Today there are people crying because Atiku was removed from the presidential list, a list I shudder with pity at the caliber of people therein, yet this is a man who under his joint trust $20 billion disappeared. This amount may never be discovered, it will be another historical theatre of accusations, denials as Babaginda’s regime. He has no scruples because the money wasn’t derived from his earth. Fire and heat never blazed in his hometown to acquire the money. There was no oil spill, no pollution to acquire the money.Yet we have to endure this clutched mediocrity as he runs around like a headless chicken around our courts.He should plunge his head into the dustbin of history.
He has won himself a name like many others - a name in ignominy, but of course he shoots on. Nigerian leaders do not understand the concept of falling on the sword. They stay because they never had an ideology that emphases vision. That is why we have had a president, vice president, governors, and local chairmen for almost eight years. They lacked the internal framework to throw in the towel after six months in government. They allowed us - and still do - feel the full force of the injection.This is never a time to feel pity for anyone. Time has far been spent on worthlessness, now our language and action must be plain.
Aside from the fact that the terrain of Niger Delta demands great funds for road construction and other efforts compared to the hinterland they deserve to enjoy the full flow of their environment. Those with gold, coal and other mineral resources can also join the South Africans, the Namibians, and the Ghanaians in reaping from precious earth. If not I implore them to tie themselves in explosion. The explosion of the Roman Empire and other empires or entities that have dwindled in world influence serve as lessons to those who can read the handwriting on the wall.
Those who revel in obfuscation and sophistries can only continue deceiving themselves until the sledge hammer of history that visited the Soviet Union, Apartheid South Africa, the Balkans, and Segregation etc smashes them into smithereens.Justice to my understanding contends that a deal under a ratio of 13:100 with component parts contributing nothing certainly is a bad contract and therefore an equitable remedy only right.
Perhaps no where does the fraud that is Nigeria find expression than the solid mineral department.Solid minerals held great future in the thrust for diversification and achieving a federating status as almost all if not all states have solid minerals of economic worth in their domain but the forces of uncertainty have hijacked the initiative. Since the Mining Act - designed to ensure exploration - was signed into law there has been a painful haze of confusion over the viability of the law.
The Tide newspaper reported on February 27, 2007 that forty-two (42) new mineral deposits were found in Nigeria. Until, parasitic, cave-dwelling Nigerians shed themselves of their inabilities Nigeria, I have no doubt heads towards extinction. History is a wonderful brother because it reveals great implosions certain for any unjust country.
Why I hate the rule of law
FOR Obasanjo to be impeached the rule of law must be observed. Rule of law enables the Rotimi Ameachis, Atiku Abubakars challenge various ‘infringements of their rights.’ Can’t there be any flexibity in throwing all these people out without resorting to the rule of law? Rule of law is time wasting and arduous. There may be little revolution in the people vested with authority to throw out erring members. This is my grouse with the rule of law. It provides a shield to rogues, serial under-performers, and treasury rapists. Under the rule of law criminals appeal for ‘rights.’ Rule of law says we have to provide enough evidence for prosecution: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Is rule of law all that modern ‘civilization’ has for a crime-free society?
A.V.Dicey’s famous pronouncement on the rule of law greeted my entry into government studies in secondary school. ‘No one is above the law, everyone is subject to law,’ so I was taught in Senior Secondary School (SSS).Rule of law, we were taught, requires basic submission to law. We were taught the importance of due process, separation of powers between the three arms of government, the various checks and balances and the insubordination of everyone including those in the top notches of authority to law. At the time Nigeria was under a dictatorship where violence was rife so the rule of law made sense to me but embryonic to conclude on its validity. Human life was worth less than a loaf of bread. Life was abused of any dignity by people ballooned with quick powers of violation.
At a very young age I was instructed by a relative many times to read newspapers. Not once, not twice would I be told so. The newspapers/magazines I would read ranged from Punch, Guardian, Tell, and Newswatch etc.The relative was himself a journalist who wrote with fire and brimstone in his time. He told me during his heydays as a journalist he was approached by some people who had come to apprehend him for writing so poignantly against their deeds.
I remember when Abacha came on stage. The whole stage was quiet. His appearance seemed to have been done very stealthy. The atmosphere I lived in was largely indifferent to politics. People cared about their immediate well-being. Market women, traders, teachers etc occupied themselves with activities that would ensure their existence. There was no one to look up to in government; the hoi polloi were left to their own elements.
The Nigerian newspapers as far as I was concerned offered me nothing. They appeared to be procrastinators unable to report progress because there were genuinely none. They never reported any tangible progress – it was always going to happen. This futuristic deception offended my straight-shooting inclination. I quit reading Nigerian newspaper because they were town criers with no audience. There was nothing good on the ground they could report, just vain rhetoric of corrupt sectional rulers. The newspapers had to survive so they kept their pages going with these empty, worthless renderings.
Years on I am confronted with the same decision: should I stop reading Nigerian newspapers? They offer nothing because nothing is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria is not working. Government has been reduced to a vast business empire where the most shrewd and influential takes home as much as secrecy and greed would allow. After eight years there is nothing visible to show on the ground.Nigeriaworld.com was perhaps the first Nigerian news site I was given. I would go there from time to time, read Nigerian news as well as articles and feature articles. I found it all an interesting adjunct to the conventional media outlets because more voices prevailed in national discourse but still a sense of national unfulfillment trailed me.
Here we go again: the rule of law would enable Gov. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu, Muhammadu Buhari etc contest the forthcoming presidential elections.Atiku is now in court contesting his absence from the presidential list. He might eventually be reinstated. Why I hate the rule of law.
FOR Obasanjo to be impeached the rule of law must be observed. Rule of law enables the Rotimi Ameachis, Atiku Abubakars challenge various ‘infringements of their rights.’ Can’t there be any flexibity in throwing all these people out without resorting to the rule of law? Rule of law is time wasting and arduous. There may be little revolution in the people vested with authority to throw out erring members. This is my grouse with the rule of law. It provides a shield to rogues, serial under-performers, and treasury rapists. Under the rule of law criminals appeal for ‘rights.’ Rule of law says we have to provide enough evidence for prosecution: ‘Beyond reasonable doubt.’ Is rule of law all that modern ‘civilization’ has for a crime-free society?
A.V.Dicey’s famous pronouncement on the rule of law greeted my entry into government studies in secondary school. ‘No one is above the law, everyone is subject to law,’ so I was taught in Senior Secondary School (SSS).Rule of law, we were taught, requires basic submission to law. We were taught the importance of due process, separation of powers between the three arms of government, the various checks and balances and the insubordination of everyone including those in the top notches of authority to law. At the time Nigeria was under a dictatorship where violence was rife so the rule of law made sense to me but embryonic to conclude on its validity. Human life was worth less than a loaf of bread. Life was abused of any dignity by people ballooned with quick powers of violation.
At a very young age I was instructed by a relative many times to read newspapers. Not once, not twice would I be told so. The newspapers/magazines I would read ranged from Punch, Guardian, Tell, and Newswatch etc.The relative was himself a journalist who wrote with fire and brimstone in his time. He told me during his heydays as a journalist he was approached by some people who had come to apprehend him for writing so poignantly against their deeds.
I remember when Abacha came on stage. The whole stage was quiet. His appearance seemed to have been done very stealthy. The atmosphere I lived in was largely indifferent to politics. People cared about their immediate well-being. Market women, traders, teachers etc occupied themselves with activities that would ensure their existence. There was no one to look up to in government; the hoi polloi were left to their own elements.
The Nigerian newspapers as far as I was concerned offered me nothing. They appeared to be procrastinators unable to report progress because there were genuinely none. They never reported any tangible progress – it was always going to happen. This futuristic deception offended my straight-shooting inclination. I quit reading Nigerian newspaper because they were town criers with no audience. There was nothing good on the ground they could report, just vain rhetoric of corrupt sectional rulers. The newspapers had to survive so they kept their pages going with these empty, worthless renderings.
Years on I am confronted with the same decision: should I stop reading Nigerian newspapers? They offer nothing because nothing is happening in Nigeria. Nigeria is not working. Government has been reduced to a vast business empire where the most shrewd and influential takes home as much as secrecy and greed would allow. After eight years there is nothing visible to show on the ground.Nigeriaworld.com was perhaps the first Nigerian news site I was given. I would go there from time to time, read Nigerian news as well as articles and feature articles. I found it all an interesting adjunct to the conventional media outlets because more voices prevailed in national discourse but still a sense of national unfulfillment trailed me.
Here we go again: the rule of law would enable Gov. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu, Muhammadu Buhari etc contest the forthcoming presidential elections.Atiku is now in court contesting his absence from the presidential list. He might eventually be reinstated. Why I hate the rule of law.
Slave Trade Abolition:Britain braces up for Bicentenary Anniversary
Story was told about a Jamaican who while in an underground tube was approached by a ticket inspector seeking his fare ticket, to which he retorted with a passionate outburst: ‘My ancestors built this country.’
March 25, marks the bicentenary of the African slave-trade abolition by the Slave Trade Act 1807. Many remember the brutal legacies the dark trade left in its awake.
The Slavery Abolition passed on August 23, 1833, outlawed slavery. On August 1, 1834 all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a defining moment in human history. Scores of able-bodied men and women in West and Central Africa were taken captive to oppressive servitude in the Caribbean, North and South America. It is thought that up to 12 million Africans were loaded into deplorable slave ships – many died.
Olaudah Equiano, in his book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano wrote: ‘The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us,’
In the famous 1783 Zong case, 131 Africans were thrown overboard providing fire for the abolition movement.
Before the discovery of the New World in 1492, slaves were used in parts of Europe.
In 1441 Portuguese captains captured 12 slaves from Africa and took them to Portugal as slaves signaling the start of slave trading in Africa.
In 1562 Sir Hawkins led the first English slaving exhibition and in 1672 Royal Africa Company was granted charter to carry Africans to the Americas.
Slave trade was a very lucrative trade. The trade reportedly powered the industrial revolution. It spawned an era of wealth and industry.
Southwark Bishop Thomas Butler, at the Anglican Church's General Synod stated, ‘The profits from the slave trade were part of the bedrock of our country's industrial development.’
Tony Blair wrote in an article in the New Nation newspaper: ‘Britain's rise to global pre-eminence was partially dependent on a system of colonial slave labour and, as we recall its abolition, we should also recall our place in its practice.’
He continued: ‘It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time. Personally I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever happened, that it ever could have happened and to rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.’
So great was the trade that a campaign of lies was embarked on to stifle any opposition to its abolition.
People who featured in the slave trading abolition movement include William Wilberforce, and Ignatius Sancho.
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) led the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. His first bill in April 1791 was defeated by 163 to 88. On May 1789, he made his first major speech on the subject of abolition in the House of Commons in which he condemned the practice. In 1805, a bill for the abolition passed in Commons but was rejected in the House of Lords.
In 1787, Society for the abolition of slave trade was founded.
To counter the historical notion that African people were not normal human beings abolitionists worked tirelessly to present their plight in ships and the cruel treatment of slaves in plantations and other areas of slavery. They showed African artifacts to show that Africans were capable of sophistication.
The Anglican Church has apologized for their role in the slave trade. A descendant of John Hawkins, the English slave-trading trail blazer stunned a congregation last year when he lapsed in remorse in front of them over the deeds of his ancestor.
Different slave revolts occurred, including the ‘The Baptist War’ in Jamaica led by Baptist preacher Sam Sharpe but was suppressed, the slave rising in Demerara, leading to the death of 250 slaves and death sentence on Rev John Smith of the London Missionary Society.
In the largest Jamaican uprising in 1865, 17 Europeans killed and 32 were wounded.
The famed Underground Railroad enabled slaves escape to freedom in the Southern states of America.
Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886 and 1888 in Brazil.
A 1778 case Knight vs Wedderburn in Edinburgh ruled that slave trade was incompatible with Scottish law.
A report released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated: ‘Although today everyone recognizes that it was morally reprehensible, politicians, businessmen, scientists and even churches justified the legitimacy of slavery at the time. British subjects were involved in the trade as shipping owners, makers of chains and other instruments of control, goods manufacturers and as plantation and slave owners.’
The report said: ‘It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality, and complex cultural legacies. It is felt that these legacies continue to echo today in streets, workplaces and homes in this country.’
Government is encouraging the participation of different groups in the bicentenary anniversary.
Parliament would mark the bicentenary with a free exhibition in Westminster Hall from 23 May to 23 September 2007.
Today there are concerns of human trafficking across the world. People are thrown into sex slavery and other inhumane treatments.
References
1.http://www.brycchancarey.com/
2.http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Wilberforce
3.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859
4. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future: The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire (http://www.direct.gov.uk/)
5.http://www.reference.com/ – search Slave Trade
Story was told about a Jamaican who while in an underground tube was approached by a ticket inspector seeking his fare ticket, to which he retorted with a passionate outburst: ‘My ancestors built this country.’
March 25, marks the bicentenary of the African slave-trade abolition by the Slave Trade Act 1807. Many remember the brutal legacies the dark trade left in its awake.
The Slavery Abolition passed on August 23, 1833, outlawed slavery. On August 1, 1834 all slaves in the British Empire were emancipated, but still indentured to their former owners in an apprenticeship system which was finally abolished in 1838.
The trans-Atlantic slave trade was a defining moment in human history. Scores of able-bodied men and women in West and Central Africa were taken captive to oppressive servitude in the Caribbean, North and South America. It is thought that up to 12 million Africans were loaded into deplorable slave ships – many died.
Olaudah Equiano, in his book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano wrote: ‘The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the whole ship’s cargo were confined together, it became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us,’
In the famous 1783 Zong case, 131 Africans were thrown overboard providing fire for the abolition movement.
Before the discovery of the New World in 1492, slaves were used in parts of Europe.
In 1441 Portuguese captains captured 12 slaves from Africa and took them to Portugal as slaves signaling the start of slave trading in Africa.
In 1562 Sir Hawkins led the first English slaving exhibition and in 1672 Royal Africa Company was granted charter to carry Africans to the Americas.
Slave trade was a very lucrative trade. The trade reportedly powered the industrial revolution. It spawned an era of wealth and industry.
Southwark Bishop Thomas Butler, at the Anglican Church's General Synod stated, ‘The profits from the slave trade were part of the bedrock of our country's industrial development.’
Tony Blair wrote in an article in the New Nation newspaper: ‘Britain's rise to global pre-eminence was partially dependent on a system of colonial slave labour and, as we recall its abolition, we should also recall our place in its practice.’
He continued: ‘It is hard to believe that what would now be a crime against humanity was legal at the time. Personally I believe the bicentenary offers us a chance not just to say how profoundly shameful the slave trade was - how we condemn its existence utterly and praise those who fought for its abolition, but also to express our deep sorrow that it ever happened, that it ever could have happened and to rejoice at the different and better times we live in today.’
So great was the trade that a campaign of lies was embarked on to stifle any opposition to its abolition.
People who featured in the slave trading abolition movement include William Wilberforce, and Ignatius Sancho.
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) led the parliamentary campaign against the slave trade. His first bill in April 1791 was defeated by 163 to 88. On May 1789, he made his first major speech on the subject of abolition in the House of Commons in which he condemned the practice. In 1805, a bill for the abolition passed in Commons but was rejected in the House of Lords.
In 1787, Society for the abolition of slave trade was founded.
To counter the historical notion that African people were not normal human beings abolitionists worked tirelessly to present their plight in ships and the cruel treatment of slaves in plantations and other areas of slavery. They showed African artifacts to show that Africans were capable of sophistication.
The Anglican Church has apologized for their role in the slave trade. A descendant of John Hawkins, the English slave-trading trail blazer stunned a congregation last year when he lapsed in remorse in front of them over the deeds of his ancestor.
Different slave revolts occurred, including the ‘The Baptist War’ in Jamaica led by Baptist preacher Sam Sharpe but was suppressed, the slave rising in Demerara, leading to the death of 250 slaves and death sentence on Rev John Smith of the London Missionary Society.
In the largest Jamaican uprising in 1865, 17 Europeans killed and 32 were wounded.
The famed Underground Railroad enabled slaves escape to freedom in the Southern states of America.
Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886 and 1888 in Brazil.
A 1778 case Knight vs Wedderburn in Edinburgh ruled that slave trade was incompatible with Scottish law.
A report released by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport stated: ‘Although today everyone recognizes that it was morally reprehensible, politicians, businessmen, scientists and even churches justified the legitimacy of slavery at the time. British subjects were involved in the trade as shipping owners, makers of chains and other instruments of control, goods manufacturers and as plantation and slave owners.’
The report said: ‘It is argued that some of those after-effects include racism, poverty and conflict in Africa and conflict in Africa and the Caribbean, inequality, and complex cultural legacies. It is felt that these legacies continue to echo today in streets, workplaces and homes in this country.’
Government is encouraging the participation of different groups in the bicentenary anniversary.
Parliament would mark the bicentenary with a free exhibition in Westminster Hall from 23 May to 23 September 2007.
Today there are concerns of human trafficking across the world. People are thrown into sex slavery and other inhumane treatments.
References
1.http://www.brycchancarey.com/
2.http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Wilberforce
3.http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/slavery/DG_065859
4. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Reflecting on the past and looking to the future: The 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the British Empire (http://www.direct.gov.uk/)
5.http://www.reference.com/ – search Slave Trade
Friday 2 March 2007
Soludo’s Stupidity
I was speaking with an Indian workmate of mine when she said, she had to learn the English language upon migrating from India. Astonished, I pressed for more enlightenment, given her fluency in the language and the status of the English language in the Indian society. Whereupon, she told me, she studied in the Hindu language up to Masters level due to financial constraints. Academical institutions run in the English language in India, she said, are more expensive than those run in Hindu. The one aspect that impressed me was the fact that she studied in the Hindu language up to post-graduate level. To her, the language was a living organism. A sad contrast is found in Nigeria. Nigerians are largely a people infested by a diffident linguistical constitution. Language shapes the sublunary existence of a people.
I have often fantasized about the idea of establishing a university in Nigeria run in local languages. The idea would run through series of mental oppositions. To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged. The demeaning attitude towards our languages must cease. Everyone has a stake in it. People grow out of their homes with a poor view of their languages, unfortunately, instilled in them by their parents .Constitutionally, only three languages are allowed for communication in our National Assembly which is sad.
Central Bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo missed a golden opportunity to reaffirm the equality of all Nigerians . By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up pent up emotions. This act calls, absolutely for our deprecation. While the country puts on a wooden overcoat, while the susurrus of divisions creep up our alley, this decision comes like an inexperienced prey grazing in the full glare of predators. A tenebrous future hangs in the air.
Embracing our language is a way of founding an identity.
History would record this decision as a most insensitive decision - one that did not take into recognition the ethnic plurality of the nation. This decision may be hailed as finally enshrining national languages into our system but not at the expense of other ethnicities. This was a wonderful opportunity to incorporate justice and show that Nigeria is capable of fair-play but o la la the same narrow injections were foisted on us.
In the wake of the 2006 census, I watched a man on a television show ask, with subtle hints of sarcasm ‘why can’t we do anything properly?’ against the background of lack of census materials and ill-trained census officials.
I grew up in an atmosphere where the Hausa language was spoken with great pride. The Hausa language is a creole language. A Kafanchan, friend - who spoke Hausa and English - of mine once told me she couldn’t speak her native Kaduna language. Across the region the story is the same. People surrender their linguistical sovereignty to the Hausa language. The Hausa language is seen as a lingua franca , perhaps because of the perceived access to leadership by the speakers and the imagined advantages that come with speaking the language .There are more than five extinct languages in Nigeria. Economic consideration might be the driving factor to language relinquishment but all languages convey a message.
Children are taught at an early age that English is the only language to self-determination – others should be avoided. People , therefore inherently view their languages with great scorn. Until we underscore the importance of languages in our polity, a sense of nationhood would be a forlorn dream. Language is part and parcel of human make-up. That’s why slaves were made to relinquish their languages. I have curiously asked Jamaicans without success if they at least retain an atom of African languages.
To found a sense of nationhood a linguistical cohesion must be built. We must consolidate our knowledge of the English language which has a worldwide appeal and the Hausa language which enjoys a considerable generality.
This act of government must immediately be revoked in the interest of justice. Language may be dismissed as an inconsequential trivia but one needs to look at the debate the Arabic inscriptions on our notes stirred - the emotions .The non-Muslims might find English more appealing to them than a Muslim inclined to the Arabic language. CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet ( Source:Britain Nigeria Business Council, news reports, February 2007). People are anxious to beam an accurate picture to outside world. They fear the Arabic inscriptions portray Nigeria, as an Islamic country.
I wrote an article sometime ago titled Ethnic Minorities, Justice and Languages; in the article, I exhorted the need to embrace all languages. I argued that people might be drawn to armed struggle if their languages are not recognized, because stripping people of their language steals a part of their humanity. Limping can never qualify as walking, so every component of a man must be recognized.
When I was a kid, I used hear people extol the virtues of accommodation around me. It was said that a house is where peace is found against the turbulent tides of the outside world - so decorum must always be maintained within. The troubles of the outside world cease on entering your house. Soludo should have known the role houses and land play in Igbo cosmology. He must have known the average Igbo man’s desire to own a house because it confers a sense of fulfillment in the Igbo understanding. In the average Igbo man’s psyche ownership of house instills a sense of sanity and fulfillment. A man is not a man until he builds or buys a house. He can have all the money in the world but if he doesn’t own a house he calls home, he is disrespected . He could ride the best cars in the world; he would still be treated with scorn. Land is a very important asset to the Igbo – it could be seen in Nigerian movies. Any attempt to strip an Igbo man of his land naturally registers vengeance because you accuse him of impotence. The thinking behind this belief is that property ownership ensures the fulfillment of humanhood. It gives a soothing completion to existence. Hence every Igbo man retires home from work to the raving reception of his wife and children.
He has chosen to deny or be a party to denying people that sense of belonging and homecoming. That sense of ownership pride. Pity…
I was speaking with an Indian workmate of mine when she said, she had to learn the English language upon migrating from India. Astonished, I pressed for more enlightenment, given her fluency in the language and the status of the English language in the Indian society. Whereupon, she told me, she studied in the Hindu language up to Masters level due to financial constraints. Academical institutions run in the English language in India, she said, are more expensive than those run in Hindu. The one aspect that impressed me was the fact that she studied in the Hindu language up to post-graduate level. To her, the language was a living organism. A sad contrast is found in Nigeria. Nigerians are largely a people infested by a diffident linguistical constitution. Language shapes the sublunary existence of a people.
I have often fantasized about the idea of establishing a university in Nigeria run in local languages. The idea would run through series of mental oppositions. To many a Nigerian, the use of local languages is anathema - consigned to primitivism. Our languages should be encouraged. The demeaning attitude towards our languages must cease. Everyone has a stake in it. People grow out of their homes with a poor view of their languages, unfortunately, instilled in them by their parents .Constitutionally, only three languages are allowed for communication in our National Assembly which is sad.
Central Bank governor, Professor Charles Soludo missed a golden opportunity to reaffirm the equality of all Nigerians . By limiting the language inscriptions on the new Naira notes to the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages, he stoked up pent up emotions. This act calls, absolutely for our deprecation. While the country puts on a wooden overcoat, while the susurrus of divisions creep up our alley, this decision comes like an inexperienced prey grazing in the full glare of predators. A tenebrous future hangs in the air.
Embracing our language is a way of founding an identity.
History would record this decision as a most insensitive decision - one that did not take into recognition the ethnic plurality of the nation. This decision may be hailed as finally enshrining national languages into our system but not at the expense of other ethnicities. This was a wonderful opportunity to incorporate justice and show that Nigeria is capable of fair-play but o la la the same narrow injections were foisted on us.
In the wake of the 2006 census, I watched a man on a television show ask, with subtle hints of sarcasm ‘why can’t we do anything properly?’ against the background of lack of census materials and ill-trained census officials.
I grew up in an atmosphere where the Hausa language was spoken with great pride. The Hausa language is a creole language. A Kafanchan, friend - who spoke Hausa and English - of mine once told me she couldn’t speak her native Kaduna language. Across the region the story is the same. People surrender their linguistical sovereignty to the Hausa language. The Hausa language is seen as a lingua franca , perhaps because of the perceived access to leadership by the speakers and the imagined advantages that come with speaking the language .There are more than five extinct languages in Nigeria. Economic consideration might be the driving factor to language relinquishment but all languages convey a message.
Children are taught at an early age that English is the only language to self-determination – others should be avoided. People , therefore inherently view their languages with great scorn. Until we underscore the importance of languages in our polity, a sense of nationhood would be a forlorn dream. Language is part and parcel of human make-up. That’s why slaves were made to relinquish their languages. I have curiously asked Jamaicans without success if they at least retain an atom of African languages.
To found a sense of nationhood a linguistical cohesion must be built. We must consolidate our knowledge of the English language which has a worldwide appeal and the Hausa language which enjoys a considerable generality.
This act of government must immediately be revoked in the interest of justice. Language may be dismissed as an inconsequential trivia but one needs to look at the debate the Arabic inscriptions on our notes stirred - the emotions .The non-Muslims might find English more appealing to them than a Muslim inclined to the Arabic language. CBN’s Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Dr Obadiah Mailafia said the Arabic inscription had been introduced in the colonial era to describe currencies in the Hausa language because people then could not understand the Roman alphabet ( Source:Britain Nigeria Business Council, news reports, February 2007). People are anxious to beam an accurate picture to outside world. They fear the Arabic inscriptions portray Nigeria, as an Islamic country.
I wrote an article sometime ago titled Ethnic Minorities, Justice and Languages; in the article, I exhorted the need to embrace all languages. I argued that people might be drawn to armed struggle if their languages are not recognized, because stripping people of their language steals a part of their humanity. Limping can never qualify as walking, so every component of a man must be recognized.
When I was a kid, I used hear people extol the virtues of accommodation around me. It was said that a house is where peace is found against the turbulent tides of the outside world - so decorum must always be maintained within. The troubles of the outside world cease on entering your house. Soludo should have known the role houses and land play in Igbo cosmology. He must have known the average Igbo man’s desire to own a house because it confers a sense of fulfillment in the Igbo understanding. In the average Igbo man’s psyche ownership of house instills a sense of sanity and fulfillment. A man is not a man until he builds or buys a house. He can have all the money in the world but if he doesn’t own a house he calls home, he is disrespected . He could ride the best cars in the world; he would still be treated with scorn. Land is a very important asset to the Igbo – it could be seen in Nigerian movies. Any attempt to strip an Igbo man of his land naturally registers vengeance because you accuse him of impotence. The thinking behind this belief is that property ownership ensures the fulfillment of humanhood. It gives a soothing completion to existence. Hence every Igbo man retires home from work to the raving reception of his wife and children.
He has chosen to deny or be a party to denying people that sense of belonging and homecoming. That sense of ownership pride. Pity…
Saturday 24 February 2007
CNN,The Nigerian Government and The Niger Delta
On Friday the 23rd of February, a new phase in the Niger Delta struggle emerged. A Lebanese engineer was killed in circumstances described as deliberate. His death marks a shift from the pacifist nature, Niger Delta militants treat foreign workers. The sudden departure from the soft-handling approach isn’t unexpected as many believed that time would come, when death would become normal, faced with a government unwilling to accede to militant demands. This year marks the forty seventh year, Nigeria’s bloody civil war ended. Three years of war claimed the lives of more than one million Nigerians.
When Uche Nworah, a journalist based in the United Kingdom announced in an article he wrote in a Nigerian website -Nigeriavillagesquare.com - that his views pertaining to the Niger Delta were going to be aired on the Cable News Network (CNN), I felt terribly unhappy because I wasn’t going to be around to hear them.I was anxious to know how he would cease the opportunity to present a case for the Niger Delta.I must say that I was terribly disappointed when I watched the video clip today. He posted it on a real-player type format on the same website. It was an opportunity lost.
The Jeff Kionange report exposed the criminality of the Nigerian State.His report called into question the future of Africa’s most populous nation.His report was brutal and indicted the various government apparatuses in Nigeria.My heart surged with excitement when he declared that if asked to go back to the Niger Delta he would do so ‘in a minute.’ Jeff Kionage is one of the most visible faces I see when I tune to CNN.His casual style of news reporting drew me to him.
The rebuttal of the Nigerian government reflects an inherent intolerance for any negativity of supposed reforms. His report may have been driven by the desire to portray CNN in global light but it was frank and soul-piercing, one that got the Nigerian government expectedly cringing and spewing fire and brimstone. In the face of stiff competition by new entrant Al Jazeera - the English version - it may be appealing to see this sword-sharp journalism as an astute ‘angle find’ but below lurks a blatant emasculation of a people who bear the brunt of the failed Nigerian State - Africa’s colossal waste.
Reports after reports indict the Nigerian government of poor relationship with the Nigerian media.The Reporters Without Borders(RWB), an advocate media body, based in France, in its 2007 annual report revealed series of repressive attitudes towards the Nigerian media at State and national levels. This is indeed worrying. The role of the media in any setting cannot be underestimated. Media can serve as an irenic and expository force against wrongs .Frank Nweke’s - Nigeria’s Minister of Information- rebuttal is nothing short of the demagogue he his. It is high time everyone who has a true stake in Nigeria came together and ironed out a plan, a gateaway for an strong nation.
The Niger Delta must always be at the front burner of our consciousness because it is through the region, Nigeria earns most all its revenues and achieves a semblance of reputation.
I mustn’t fail to write this.The internet has afforded me an immense opportunity to know about Nigeria.I have lived outside Nigeria for years and any news report that exposes the nation in true light is always welcoming to me.Before discovering the internet media I was bereft of the true state of Nigeria.
Anybody who aspires to be the president of Nigeria must be probed about his plans for the Niger Delta.
The Nigerian government’s response by cancelling its advertorial contract with CNN over the February 8 news report, mirrors a dictatorial tendency hell-bent on having its way all the time.The government’s response reminds me of a statement a child of a Niger Deltan Governor made while we were talking: ‘It is nice there, things have improved.’ Yet articles written from the horses’ mouth indicating daily horror, stream out with uncomfortable ease and speed. They live in good houses while the teeming masses are left out to grass and watch their land despoiled. The Nigerian government thought that by shouting CNN down they would back down in the Nigerian impotent fashion.They are so used to bribing their way, coercing people to do their dirty ,repugnant jobs and with that mentality, supposed that a world media like CNN would cow at the prospect of withdrawing their bloodstained money.This act of government is a projection of societal decadence.
Till today, nothing has been said about the billions of petroleum trust funds stolen. Accusations and counteraccusations have been leveled by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against each other, but it appears they are gone.
Gone also is the dream I and many Nigerians had at the birth of this democracy. Abacha’s death blossomed hope, clothed hope with a rich sense of esteem.We became hopeful that change would occur, that for once a Nigeria founded on justice, equity, amiability would emerge but alas it was a steamy dream .The realities of rampant crimes, road and air accidents, religious fanaticism have tightened their grip on Nigeria than ever before in its troubled history.Nigeria at no time, has had it so bad.The talk about debt relief and reforms are what they are:talk.They are all a snowball of a depraved conspiracy aimed at salvaging an image mired in helpless incompetence and corruption.
Frank Nweke said on CNN: ‘ We have evidence that some of these people were paid to put up a show, they were counseled on what to do…and we thought that this ran against the grain of every practice of responsible and objective news-reporting everywhere in the world.’
Frank Nweke like every historical mouthpiece of oppression must do the bidding of a repressive establishment to survive. I have since consoled myself to the fact that every evil in this world has apologists. I ran into a small book in a library detailing the involvement of banks in financing Apartheid South Africa against the majority black Africans who paid with their blood and time and the general lopsidedness of the system. There would always be people who profit from evil, who would do everything within their reach to stymie every breath of protest or liberty. It could also be an anticipatory desire of jumping on to the wagon of filthy gain.
The Niger Delta is too valuable a region to be rebuffed with useless words. Jeff’s exposition adds to a growing mountain of information on the Niger Delta and should be taken for its brutality.On many occasions I have been cautioned from publishing articles by advice. The quest to achieve ‘objectivity’ shouldn’t deflect pressing realities. I like writers who are too brutal to a fault, who would stick out their neck in the line of fire.
The effect of every government would always be felt by the citizenry, whether negatively or positively. After eight years of presiding over the highest increase in oil-wealth, this forty-six year old West African country has experienced - the verdict of leadership returns abysmal failure at all levels. People should begin thinking of developing their own land and quit expecting easy oil remittances. A thorough federal arrangement of resource control should be put in place.
Asked if he would go back to the Niger Delta region by Becky Anderson, the news broadcaster, Jeff Kionage, CNN correspondent said: ‘In a minute and I wouldn’t change a thing. The fact that we did expose those facts.The fact that we ran into these hostages, twenty-four philipino hostages that had been held for the better part of a month…I feared for those men when I saw them and all those masked men dancing around them…you just don’t know what is going to happen next. The good thing is this story ended well and they were released unharmed.’
On Friday the 23rd of February, a new phase in the Niger Delta struggle emerged. A Lebanese engineer was killed in circumstances described as deliberate. His death marks a shift from the pacifist nature, Niger Delta militants treat foreign workers. The sudden departure from the soft-handling approach isn’t unexpected as many believed that time would come, when death would become normal, faced with a government unwilling to accede to militant demands. This year marks the forty seventh year, Nigeria’s bloody civil war ended. Three years of war claimed the lives of more than one million Nigerians.
When Uche Nworah, a journalist based in the United Kingdom announced in an article he wrote in a Nigerian website -Nigeriavillagesquare.com - that his views pertaining to the Niger Delta were going to be aired on the Cable News Network (CNN), I felt terribly unhappy because I wasn’t going to be around to hear them.I was anxious to know how he would cease the opportunity to present a case for the Niger Delta.I must say that I was terribly disappointed when I watched the video clip today. He posted it on a real-player type format on the same website. It was an opportunity lost.
The Jeff Kionange report exposed the criminality of the Nigerian State.His report called into question the future of Africa’s most populous nation.His report was brutal and indicted the various government apparatuses in Nigeria.My heart surged with excitement when he declared that if asked to go back to the Niger Delta he would do so ‘in a minute.’ Jeff Kionage is one of the most visible faces I see when I tune to CNN.His casual style of news reporting drew me to him.
The rebuttal of the Nigerian government reflects an inherent intolerance for any negativity of supposed reforms. His report may have been driven by the desire to portray CNN in global light but it was frank and soul-piercing, one that got the Nigerian government expectedly cringing and spewing fire and brimstone. In the face of stiff competition by new entrant Al Jazeera - the English version - it may be appealing to see this sword-sharp journalism as an astute ‘angle find’ but below lurks a blatant emasculation of a people who bear the brunt of the failed Nigerian State - Africa’s colossal waste.
Reports after reports indict the Nigerian government of poor relationship with the Nigerian media.The Reporters Without Borders(RWB), an advocate media body, based in France, in its 2007 annual report revealed series of repressive attitudes towards the Nigerian media at State and national levels. This is indeed worrying. The role of the media in any setting cannot be underestimated. Media can serve as an irenic and expository force against wrongs .Frank Nweke’s - Nigeria’s Minister of Information- rebuttal is nothing short of the demagogue he his. It is high time everyone who has a true stake in Nigeria came together and ironed out a plan, a gateaway for an strong nation.
The Niger Delta must always be at the front burner of our consciousness because it is through the region, Nigeria earns most all its revenues and achieves a semblance of reputation.
I mustn’t fail to write this.The internet has afforded me an immense opportunity to know about Nigeria.I have lived outside Nigeria for years and any news report that exposes the nation in true light is always welcoming to me.Before discovering the internet media I was bereft of the true state of Nigeria.
Anybody who aspires to be the president of Nigeria must be probed about his plans for the Niger Delta.
The Nigerian government’s response by cancelling its advertorial contract with CNN over the February 8 news report, mirrors a dictatorial tendency hell-bent on having its way all the time.The government’s response reminds me of a statement a child of a Niger Deltan Governor made while we were talking: ‘It is nice there, things have improved.’ Yet articles written from the horses’ mouth indicating daily horror, stream out with uncomfortable ease and speed. They live in good houses while the teeming masses are left out to grass and watch their land despoiled. The Nigerian government thought that by shouting CNN down they would back down in the Nigerian impotent fashion.They are so used to bribing their way, coercing people to do their dirty ,repugnant jobs and with that mentality, supposed that a world media like CNN would cow at the prospect of withdrawing their bloodstained money.This act of government is a projection of societal decadence.
Till today, nothing has been said about the billions of petroleum trust funds stolen. Accusations and counteraccusations have been leveled by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against each other, but it appears they are gone.
Gone also is the dream I and many Nigerians had at the birth of this democracy. Abacha’s death blossomed hope, clothed hope with a rich sense of esteem.We became hopeful that change would occur, that for once a Nigeria founded on justice, equity, amiability would emerge but alas it was a steamy dream .The realities of rampant crimes, road and air accidents, religious fanaticism have tightened their grip on Nigeria than ever before in its troubled history.Nigeria at no time, has had it so bad.The talk about debt relief and reforms are what they are:talk.They are all a snowball of a depraved conspiracy aimed at salvaging an image mired in helpless incompetence and corruption.
Frank Nweke said on CNN: ‘ We have evidence that some of these people were paid to put up a show, they were counseled on what to do…and we thought that this ran against the grain of every practice of responsible and objective news-reporting everywhere in the world.’
Frank Nweke like every historical mouthpiece of oppression must do the bidding of a repressive establishment to survive. I have since consoled myself to the fact that every evil in this world has apologists. I ran into a small book in a library detailing the involvement of banks in financing Apartheid South Africa against the majority black Africans who paid with their blood and time and the general lopsidedness of the system. There would always be people who profit from evil, who would do everything within their reach to stymie every breath of protest or liberty. It could also be an anticipatory desire of jumping on to the wagon of filthy gain.
The Niger Delta is too valuable a region to be rebuffed with useless words. Jeff’s exposition adds to a growing mountain of information on the Niger Delta and should be taken for its brutality.On many occasions I have been cautioned from publishing articles by advice. The quest to achieve ‘objectivity’ shouldn’t deflect pressing realities. I like writers who are too brutal to a fault, who would stick out their neck in the line of fire.
The effect of every government would always be felt by the citizenry, whether negatively or positively. After eight years of presiding over the highest increase in oil-wealth, this forty-six year old West African country has experienced - the verdict of leadership returns abysmal failure at all levels. People should begin thinking of developing their own land and quit expecting easy oil remittances. A thorough federal arrangement of resource control should be put in place.
Asked if he would go back to the Niger Delta region by Becky Anderson, the news broadcaster, Jeff Kionage, CNN correspondent said: ‘In a minute and I wouldn’t change a thing. The fact that we did expose those facts.The fact that we ran into these hostages, twenty-four philipino hostages that had been held for the better part of a month…I feared for those men when I saw them and all those masked men dancing around them…you just don’t know what is going to happen next. The good thing is this story ended well and they were released unharmed.’
Sunday 18 February 2007
Media Watchdog decries Death and Violence against Nigerian Journalists
Nigerian journalists are gripped by an unceasing cocktail of beatings, arrests, abusive trials, endemic corruption, public violence, according to a leading media body.
The Reporters Without Borders (RWB), in its 2007 annual report on Nigeria, lamented the repressive influence military figures, governors, ministers and businessmen have on the Nigerian media, who they say ‘enjoy complete impunity and have no respect for the right to news and information.’
‘Nigerian journalists yet again lived through an appalling year in 2006. They have had to face police brutality, arrests in certain cases for the least article that annoyed local authorities and corruption in the military, among politicians and businessmen,’ the France-based body said. ‘In a country in which power struggles are generally carried out against a backdrop of violence and corruption, journalists are the targets of choice.’
The fact-finding body cited the incident involving the detention of two Ebonyi-based journalists.
Imo Eze and Oluwole Elenyinmile of Ebonyi Voice, spent more than two months in prison from 14 June to 25 August, after carrying an article on 16 April, headlined, ‘Is Ebonyi A Failed State?’. They were charged by a court in Abakiliki, capital of Ebonyi state ‘with “conspiracy”, “sedition” and “defamation” of the governor, Sam Ominyi Egwu.’
The European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought winner, alleged that government used judicial procedures when journalists challenged President Olusegun Obasanjo.It cited the detention of Mike Gbenga Aruleba, presenter of a political TV programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Rotimi Durojaiye, a Daily Independent reporter, both of whom spent two days in prison.
The body alleged that on 14 May, SSS agents burst into its offices and took the tape of a documentary about failed attempts by previous Nigerian leaders to cling on to power.
The body wrote: ‘African Independent Television (AIT), the country’s oldest private channel, had been in the authorities’ sights since it broadcast national assembly debates live on the controversial issue of an amendment to the 1999 constitution, presented by supporters of President Obasanjo, which would have allowed, among other things, the president and the federal state governors to remain in power for four further years.’
It chronicled the death of Godwin Agbroko, chairman of the editorial board of ThisDay, who was found dead at the wheel of his car on 22 December, by a roadside in the Isolo district , just after he had left his office and Omololu Falobi, a former journalist.
A quote from Tobor Agbroko - Agbroko’s son, was given - who told the Nigerian press that : “He [Agbroko] had a telephone which was worth several thousand Nairas, which was left untouched. His cash, wrist watch and other things were also not touched.”
‘Godwin Agbroko, was a well-known journalist, who regularly had by-lined articles in ThisDay. A former editor of several newspapers under the military dictatorship (1993-1999), he continued to provide an ironic and uncompromising take on political life,’ Reporters Without Borders wrote.
Last year Omololu Falobi, a former journalist on the privately-owned daily The Punch, founder and executive director of Journalists Against AIDS(JAAIDS) was killed on 5 October around 10 pm, when he had just left the headquarters of the association, in the Ogba district of Lagos. He was rammed with several bullets at the wheel of his car.
The Reporters Without Borders have researchers who handle every continent. It was founded in 1985.It is registered in France as a non-profit organization.
Nigeria’s current media state, some say, is not far from Abacha’s media repression.
According to mediarightsagenda.org, on December 2 1997, a Benue State correspondent of TheNews magazine, Sunday Orinya, was arrested at the Benue Hotel, Makurdi, where he had gone for assignment, and taken to the Government House in Makurdi, Benue State, where he was stripped naked and severely beaten with a horse-whip and dumped in a hotel for hours. This ordeal was allegedly ordered by the State administration that was offended by a story he wrote. The guardian newspaper was shut down as well.
However critics say much has improved since 1999, when Nigeria embraced democracy.
Nigerian journalists are gripped by an unceasing cocktail of beatings, arrests, abusive trials, endemic corruption, public violence, according to a leading media body.
The Reporters Without Borders (RWB), in its 2007 annual report on Nigeria, lamented the repressive influence military figures, governors, ministers and businessmen have on the Nigerian media, who they say ‘enjoy complete impunity and have no respect for the right to news and information.’
‘Nigerian journalists yet again lived through an appalling year in 2006. They have had to face police brutality, arrests in certain cases for the least article that annoyed local authorities and corruption in the military, among politicians and businessmen,’ the France-based body said. ‘In a country in which power struggles are generally carried out against a backdrop of violence and corruption, journalists are the targets of choice.’
The fact-finding body cited the incident involving the detention of two Ebonyi-based journalists.
Imo Eze and Oluwole Elenyinmile of Ebonyi Voice, spent more than two months in prison from 14 June to 25 August, after carrying an article on 16 April, headlined, ‘Is Ebonyi A Failed State?’. They were charged by a court in Abakiliki, capital of Ebonyi state ‘with “conspiracy”, “sedition” and “defamation” of the governor, Sam Ominyi Egwu.’
The European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought winner, alleged that government used judicial procedures when journalists challenged President Olusegun Obasanjo.It cited the detention of Mike Gbenga Aruleba, presenter of a political TV programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Rotimi Durojaiye, a Daily Independent reporter, both of whom spent two days in prison.
The body alleged that on 14 May, SSS agents burst into its offices and took the tape of a documentary about failed attempts by previous Nigerian leaders to cling on to power.
The body wrote: ‘African Independent Television (AIT), the country’s oldest private channel, had been in the authorities’ sights since it broadcast national assembly debates live on the controversial issue of an amendment to the 1999 constitution, presented by supporters of President Obasanjo, which would have allowed, among other things, the president and the federal state governors to remain in power for four further years.’
It chronicled the death of Godwin Agbroko, chairman of the editorial board of ThisDay, who was found dead at the wheel of his car on 22 December, by a roadside in the Isolo district , just after he had left his office and Omololu Falobi, a former journalist.
A quote from Tobor Agbroko - Agbroko’s son, was given - who told the Nigerian press that : “He [Agbroko] had a telephone which was worth several thousand Nairas, which was left untouched. His cash, wrist watch and other things were also not touched.”
‘Godwin Agbroko, was a well-known journalist, who regularly had by-lined articles in ThisDay. A former editor of several newspapers under the military dictatorship (1993-1999), he continued to provide an ironic and uncompromising take on political life,’ Reporters Without Borders wrote.
Last year Omololu Falobi, a former journalist on the privately-owned daily The Punch, founder and executive director of Journalists Against AIDS(JAAIDS) was killed on 5 October around 10 pm, when he had just left the headquarters of the association, in the Ogba district of Lagos. He was rammed with several bullets at the wheel of his car.
The Reporters Without Borders have researchers who handle every continent. It was founded in 1985.It is registered in France as a non-profit organization.
Nigeria’s current media state, some say, is not far from Abacha’s media repression.
According to mediarightsagenda.org, on December 2 1997, a Benue State correspondent of TheNews magazine, Sunday Orinya, was arrested at the Benue Hotel, Makurdi, where he had gone for assignment, and taken to the Government House in Makurdi, Benue State, where he was stripped naked and severely beaten with a horse-whip and dumped in a hotel for hours. This ordeal was allegedly ordered by the State administration that was offended by a story he wrote. The guardian newspaper was shut down as well.
However critics say much has improved since 1999, when Nigeria embraced democracy.
Tuesday 6 February 2007
‘Oyo State indigenes live in constant fear and anxiety’
*Atmosphere very tense - source
*Akala inflated contracts during 11-month stint in power - source
RESIDENTS of Oyo State live in perpetual fear and anxiety, according to a source who is an Oyo State indigene.
‘Oyo State is the most troublesome State in Nigeria, people wake up with fear and uncertainty,’ the source said. ‘We are witnessing the rape of a State by a godfather, Adedibu . The State assembly is divided into two factions.’
‘Nuhu Ribadu,EFFC Chairman, delivered a speech here at the University of Ibadan ,where he chided Adedibu for his shenanigans’ he said.
Oyo State has witnessed political turmoil .The Governor of the State, Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja, who is popular among the citizens of the State, was impeached by 18 members of the Oyo State House of Assembly last year, allegedly, at the instigation of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, the godfather of the State.
Ladoja’s recent reinstatement has been met with joy by many Oyo State indigenes who see him as a man with ears to their needs. ‘Ladoja is popular with the people, civil servants,’ the source said. ‘He was impeached over cooked-up reasons because he didn’t cooperate with Adedibu.’
‘The cancer of godfatherism is ravaging the State,’ he said.
A recent clash by supporters of Alhaji Rasheed Ladoja and Deputy Governor and gubernatorial flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala, led to the death of three people and at least twenty injured five days ago.
Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines were found in Adedibu’s residence, sparking fears of election rigging.
Akala’s 11-month stint in power is riddled with accusations of corruption. ‘He inflated contracts deliberately,’ the source revealed. ‘The NAPO hall contract – a hall of historical importance – was blown to N200 million.’
Since the advent of democracy in Africa’s largest and one of the world’s largest democracies, four State Governors have been impeached – Joshua Dariye of Plateau , D.S.P.Alamiesigha of Bayelsa, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti , and Peter Obi of Anambra – but of all of them, only two initiated and withstood court challenges and emerged victorious.
Four State Chief Judges responsible for unconstitutional impeachments were suspended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) - Justice Chuka Jideofor Okoli (Anambra), Justice Ya’u Dakwang (Plateau), Justice Kayode Bamishile (Ekiti), and Justice Jubril Aladejana – for the roles they played in the impeachments.
In may 2004, President Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a state of emergency in Jos and last October , Ekiti State.
There are fears that a PDP controlled State House, will impeach Ladoja again, led by Adedibu, the godfather of the State, who controls Akala, the Deputy Governor and a number of Legislators in the State.
The Governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna, might soon be impeached.
President Obasanjo has been criticized for his uncritical stance in the Oyo State crises and other States’ impeachments.
Jide Ayobolu writes: ‘What is noticeable is the fact that, the president is using the EFCC to undermine the governors by instigating the state legislators to impeach the state governors even through unconstitutional means, so that, he can continue to hang on to political power even beyond the time that is stipulated by the constitution.’
featurediarist@yahoo.com
Friday 2 February 2007
Nassarrawa State: Our Collective Indictment
Nestled away from the madding crowd is a one of Nigeria’s most endowed state – Nassarrawa State. My early recollection of this idyllic state is one of great profundity .The beautiful landscape, the budding trading activities, the hardworking drive of the inhabitants, dug deep into me, a wonderful experience. Nassarrawa to me, was a virgin land next to Abuja, laying the foundations of an economically vibrant State – migrants flocked in from different parts of the country to take advantage of the professional and manual labors the emerging State created.
I went there a couple of times to see a funny friend of mine. I still remember the life, the passion to live, I saw in the eyes of the inhabitants. The people there prided themselves in the earth. The soil was endearing, rich, pleasing. It beckoned with pulsating ease and friendship to the visitor. I remember the day I went there with a vague description of the chubby fella ; I found someone instantly who directed me to his house.
I had known the environs of Nyaya and Karu very well – as sister towns to Maraba (a place in Nassarrawa State) that experienced great growth in commercial activities and estate constructions: virtually everything you needed for sustenance was found in great abundance, especially in Nyaya. Nyaya and Karu are places in Abuja. Nassarrawa shared with Jigawa State, a quality that appealed to me. There was a great sense of commaradie among the people. The quiet, gentle demeanor of the people was possessive .There was only one secret that eluded me: underneath the Nassarawan earth lied – and still does - tremendous wealth of solid minerals and raw materials.
The State is a haven of solid minerals, - Beryl (Emerald, Aquamarine and Heliodor), Sapphire, Tourmaline, Quartz, Amethyst Garnet Topaz, Zircon, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Columbite etc – all used variously to make human needs i.e. steel production and manufacturing space crafts.
Nassarrawa state has 13 local governments, rich in minerals and raw materials and is among the States created by the Abacha government on October 1 1996.The Governor is Abdullahi Adamu. Nassarrawa state is spread across 27,116.8 square kilometers and borders Abuja to the North-West, Plateau State to the North-East, Kaduna to the North, Benue ,South, Kogi State, South-West, Taraba, South East.It lies in the guinea Savannah and enjoys a moderate rainfall, making it an agricultural hub.
Nigeria sits on a volcanic spread of agro raw materials, metallic, non-industrial, fuel and gemstone minerals. Upon my findings of the rich intensity of natural resources in Nigeria, I rolled in painful astonishment.
In many ways, Nassarrawa State encapsulates our collective laziness, shame, weakness, impotence; pathological inability to transcend the basic stage of resources; our inability to diversify our source of income; attend to the pressing needs of oil-producing communities who have lidded years of frustration of oil exploration. Why can we not speed up exploring solid minerals in Nassarrawa and other equally ebullient States to broaden our revenue base? You would have thought production of these resources would be stretched to full tilt. We are too complacent to bulge, to kick off governments happy to retain a mono-economy. We allow rich earth lie idle.
Not quite long ago, I read that gold was found in five states in Nigeria, but I am yet to read anything pertaining to their development. While writing this article, I thought about ringing up government ministries to prospect their plans for solid mineral diversity, but I was restrained. If after almost eight years in government, oil accounts for most of our wealth, I have no confidence any initiative worth knowing, would emanate from their lips, at this stage.
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development recently released a six page report stating that government would allow 100% foreign ownership for coal development as well as profit repatriation as part of efforts to revive the coal mining industry. The report states that the Anambra Basin has the largest and most economically viable coal deposit of over 1.5 million hectares. This is coming after almost eight years!
We know that countries like South Africa and Ghana derive a big chunk from their revenue from Gold.The answer is simple: we are lazy. I was speaking with a Niger Deltan, when he bared his heart on the frustration of Niger Deltans. The Nigerian constitution allocates only 13% derivation to oil-producing areas of the country. If I had my druthers, I would mandate 100% State resource control with a remission to the center. I enjoy hardwork; sweat makes eating great.
Within me lies a thought, perhaps fatalism, perhaps reality, that in the absence of oil, many would renege their commitment to nation building, that is why I am reluctant sometimes to indulge in any engagement. Nigerians sing sectional praises, leaders are judged on the basis of their ethnicity. Everything is ethicized - politics, religion, crime, you name it. I have seen people make statements that shocked the wits out of me. If a Governor appoints someone who is not from his ethnic group, he is praised ethnically. Why can’t we just rise above this and move on. Why? Why? I am sick to the back of my teeth!
In one of our national newspapers recently, some Governors spoke against the paltry 13% revenue accruing to oil-producing people! This shows the depth of disdain and it could also be a tactical move to checkmate any future agitation for revenue control.
South African gold makes up 50% of its export income - diamond also contributes. Namibia is a major producer of diamonds and Uranium.
Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears. Nigerians be honest with me. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips. A fate worse than death lurks in the corner if urgency is not kissed, if this funny farm is not cured. How many of you would be Nigerians if there was no oil?
Sources
Nassarawastate.org
rmrdc.gov.ng
Nestled away from the madding crowd is a one of Nigeria’s most endowed state – Nassarrawa State. My early recollection of this idyllic state is one of great profundity .The beautiful landscape, the budding trading activities, the hardworking drive of the inhabitants, dug deep into me, a wonderful experience. Nassarrawa to me, was a virgin land next to Abuja, laying the foundations of an economically vibrant State – migrants flocked in from different parts of the country to take advantage of the professional and manual labors the emerging State created.
I went there a couple of times to see a funny friend of mine. I still remember the life, the passion to live, I saw in the eyes of the inhabitants. The people there prided themselves in the earth. The soil was endearing, rich, pleasing. It beckoned with pulsating ease and friendship to the visitor. I remember the day I went there with a vague description of the chubby fella ; I found someone instantly who directed me to his house.
I had known the environs of Nyaya and Karu very well – as sister towns to Maraba (a place in Nassarrawa State) that experienced great growth in commercial activities and estate constructions: virtually everything you needed for sustenance was found in great abundance, especially in Nyaya. Nyaya and Karu are places in Abuja. Nassarrawa shared with Jigawa State, a quality that appealed to me. There was a great sense of commaradie among the people. The quiet, gentle demeanor of the people was possessive .There was only one secret that eluded me: underneath the Nassarawan earth lied – and still does - tremendous wealth of solid minerals and raw materials.
The State is a haven of solid minerals, - Beryl (Emerald, Aquamarine and Heliodor), Sapphire, Tourmaline, Quartz, Amethyst Garnet Topaz, Zircon, Tantalite, Cassiterite, Columbite etc – all used variously to make human needs i.e. steel production and manufacturing space crafts.
Nassarrawa state has 13 local governments, rich in minerals and raw materials and is among the States created by the Abacha government on October 1 1996.The Governor is Abdullahi Adamu. Nassarrawa state is spread across 27,116.8 square kilometers and borders Abuja to the North-West, Plateau State to the North-East, Kaduna to the North, Benue ,South, Kogi State, South-West, Taraba, South East.It lies in the guinea Savannah and enjoys a moderate rainfall, making it an agricultural hub.
Nigeria sits on a volcanic spread of agro raw materials, metallic, non-industrial, fuel and gemstone minerals. Upon my findings of the rich intensity of natural resources in Nigeria, I rolled in painful astonishment.
In many ways, Nassarrawa State encapsulates our collective laziness, shame, weakness, impotence; pathological inability to transcend the basic stage of resources; our inability to diversify our source of income; attend to the pressing needs of oil-producing communities who have lidded years of frustration of oil exploration. Why can we not speed up exploring solid minerals in Nassarrawa and other equally ebullient States to broaden our revenue base? You would have thought production of these resources would be stretched to full tilt. We are too complacent to bulge, to kick off governments happy to retain a mono-economy. We allow rich earth lie idle.
Not quite long ago, I read that gold was found in five states in Nigeria, but I am yet to read anything pertaining to their development. While writing this article, I thought about ringing up government ministries to prospect their plans for solid mineral diversity, but I was restrained. If after almost eight years in government, oil accounts for most of our wealth, I have no confidence any initiative worth knowing, would emanate from their lips, at this stage.
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development recently released a six page report stating that government would allow 100% foreign ownership for coal development as well as profit repatriation as part of efforts to revive the coal mining industry. The report states that the Anambra Basin has the largest and most economically viable coal deposit of over 1.5 million hectares. This is coming after almost eight years!
We know that countries like South Africa and Ghana derive a big chunk from their revenue from Gold.The answer is simple: we are lazy. I was speaking with a Niger Deltan, when he bared his heart on the frustration of Niger Deltans. The Nigerian constitution allocates only 13% derivation to oil-producing areas of the country. If I had my druthers, I would mandate 100% State resource control with a remission to the center. I enjoy hardwork; sweat makes eating great.
Within me lies a thought, perhaps fatalism, perhaps reality, that in the absence of oil, many would renege their commitment to nation building, that is why I am reluctant sometimes to indulge in any engagement. Nigerians sing sectional praises, leaders are judged on the basis of their ethnicity. Everything is ethicized - politics, religion, crime, you name it. I have seen people make statements that shocked the wits out of me. If a Governor appoints someone who is not from his ethnic group, he is praised ethnically. Why can’t we just rise above this and move on. Why? Why? I am sick to the back of my teeth!
In one of our national newspapers recently, some Governors spoke against the paltry 13% revenue accruing to oil-producing people! This shows the depth of disdain and it could also be a tactical move to checkmate any future agitation for revenue control.
South African gold makes up 50% of its export income - diamond also contributes. Namibia is a major producer of diamonds and Uranium.
Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears. Nigerians be honest with me. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips. A fate worse than death lurks in the corner if urgency is not kissed, if this funny farm is not cured. How many of you would be Nigerians if there was no oil?
Sources
Nassarawastate.org
rmrdc.gov.ng
Monday 29 January 2007
‘Rotimi Ameachi would win the Rivers State Governorship election’
- Alabo Graham-Douglas, accused of pandering to ethnic sentiments for cheap relevance
- Source discloses that Ameachi is popular with the youth of Rivers State
Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, would win the Rivers State Governorship election, according to a well-placed source in Rivers State. The source said that Rotimi Ameachi is in the catbird seat. It comes on the heels of demands for power shift from the Riverine area of the State who insist that it is their turn to hold the highest post.
The source said that the House Speaker is popular with youths in the State and is on course to a landslide victory in the April 2007 , Rivers State Governorship election. The Upland and Riverine dichotomy - the clear blue water of Rivers State’s politics - threatens to shake Nigeria’s largest oil-producing State, accounting for 40% of Nigeria’s oil revenues.
Rivers State has experienced great militant activities. ‘People are disillusioned; graduates do not have jobs, there is no medical service and good roads. People pick up guns out frustration,’ the source said.
Many see Ameachi as Peter Odili’s yes man. Both of them are embroiled in a corruption stew of N200 billion. Since 1999, River State has received more than N500 billion as well as more than N200 billion in internally generated revenues but the State Governor, Speaker and Local Councillors have been accused of siphoning State funds meant for development.
Governor Odili has been accused of wasting away almost eight years in Government; - he is the longest serving civilian Governor since the State was created in 1967 - he allegedly gave loads of money to titled traditional heads in 24 states. EFFC - a body instituted to fight corruption and other vices - reported that Odili spent millions in renting hotel rooms in Abuja during the primaries that saw Rotimi Ameachi emerge as the PDP flag-bearer for the Rivers State Governorship election.
According to the source, the decimal Upland and Riverine dichotomy would not in any stand in the way of the young Governorship aspirant who enjoys a groundswell support from youths in the oil-producing state. ‘Ameachi’s ethnic group, the Ikwerres, are the single most largest group in Rivers and they would provide him enough votes to cruise to victory.’
Rotimi Ameachi hails from the prolific oil-producing Ikwerre ethnic group who are native to Port Harcourt. Opponents of his candidacy say he hails from the Upland, therefore unfit to be Governor. They say that since Peter Odili comes from the Upland, it would be inappropriate to concede leadership to another ‘Uplander’.
The source played down speculation that the State would descend into a dog breakfast if there is no power shift. People from the Kalabari ethnic group have stressed strongly that it the turn of the Riverine area to produce a governor.
‘Because they have guns they feel they can be threatening,’ the source said.
The Odili Government has said in the past that it has put to death the rancorous Upland and Riverine dichotomy.
‘Everywhere in Rivers State is Riverine, there is no where, you do not find water, so this Upland-Riverine issue is nonsense,’ the source said. ‘Besides, Peter Odili comes from the same area as the Kalabaris… in the West.’
The source said that people hampering for power on the basis of ethnicity or region are mischievous. He said that Douglas was a political failure, - irrelevant in the scheme of things in the State and avoided by progressives - in the State, whose only tool for relevance is pandering to ethnicity, despite his political exposure. The source that Douglas was using it to manipulate the people.
‘I would have thought, he would be moderate but he has chosen to introduce the divisive the issue of Upland and River Dichotomy. In 1999, people from all ethnic groups came out enmasse to vote for Odili, there was no talk of ethnicity nor region. He is injecting this lethal substance to the State.’
Ijaws in Rivers State have alleged marginalisation in the State. ‘All the ministers who have served in Abuja have been Riverine’ the source said. ‘Ijaws have had two Governors, since the State was created and they have produced lots of ministers.’
In the last Rivers State primaries six Governorship aspirants: Senator Martins Yellowe, Chief Parowiso Samuel-Horsfall, Chief David Briggs, Chief Chris Oriyi, Mr. Kio Bestman, Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs and Mr. Isaac Nwowu walked out of the election citing irregularities.
One January 15, 2006, leaders of the Rivers State Consultative Assembly, wrote a letter to the President asking him to grant the Ijaw ethnic group the Governorship slot. Members of the Assembly include former Minister of Aviation, Alabo Graham-Douglas, Alabo T. J. Sekibo, Chief D. E. Tobin-West, Dr. M. P. Okonny, Chief Ombo Isokrari, Prof Dagogo Fubara, and Chief E. E. Ogodo,
Bonkoo Tombari Tobby writes: ‘…Finally, if the governor and the speaker are not made to be accountable for all the billions garnished away, they will unleash uncouth vituperations and compound absurdities that may send the hard-earned fragile peace down the abyss of oblivion.’
Nigerian Newspapers Divide over Freedom of Expression in Nigeria
Almost eight years since the advent of democracy in Nigeria, Nigerian journalists and media stakeholders express mixed feelings over freedom of expression in Africa’s largest democracy and one of the world’s largest democracies. Journalists have been killed, beaten and arrested on flimsy grounds since 1999 and the Government hasn’t pushed a bill into law that would guarantee freedom of expression, in addition to a weak and largely ineffective judiciary, mostly inaccessible to the ordinary Nigerian.
With the largest population in Africa and ninth in the world, more than sixty percent literate population, a religious and ethnically diverse populace, as well as more than thirty newspapers, several State-run television channels , private radio stations and television channels, oil-rich Nigeria has the most active and broad media in Africa and one of the most robust in world.
Nigerian newspapers like Guardian,Punch,PM News ,Vanguard as well as other publications written in local languages circulate thousands of copies everyday.
As Nigeria straddles to elections April this year, the public watches the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body responsible for conducting elections and other presidential hopefuls and expect the media to probe them. The Nigerian media is expected to provide information on corrupt politicians in Nigeria and national developments.
Sunday Omeleye, the Production Editor of The Nations Newspaper, a national newspaper said: ‘Barring one or two incidents of persecution, the Nigerian media is largely safe. If you go after the President without genuine reason then you have good reason to be apprehensive of arrest.’
The Lagos-based journalist said that the Nigerian media enjoys a great deal of freedom in carrying out its daily functions but stressed that there is no carte blanche for unchecked publication: ‘If the Nigerian Media wasn’t safe, then we wouldn’t be having more than thirty newspapers in Nigeria. Half of them would have closed down. Every profession has perils, journalism is not an exception.’
The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Port Harcourt Telegraph, Ogbonna Nwuke said: ‘Nigerian journalists face a great deal of difficulty. The Nigerian government is deaf to their protection. They have not passed a law that would guarantee media freedom.’
A spokesman for ThisDay, a newspaper that recently lost its Editorial chairman, Godwin Agbroko, who was fell by gunmen believed to be assassins and whose headquarters in Lagos was partly razed by fire on the morning of January 6, 2007, expressed confidence about the media in Nigeria: ‘Since 1999, it has been very good practicing journalism in Nigeria. It has been so different from the years of military rule. Now there is a great deal of freedom in Nigeria. It is safe practicing journalism in Nigeria.’
‘This administration has made journalism conducive,’ he said. Asked about the recent incident involving the detention of two journalists over sedition charges he said: ‘The sedition laws were based on colonial law. The trial judge made it clear that it no more applies.’
He said: ‘Some people in Government feel uncomfortable with news reports but by and large it is safe.’
Joseph, a journalist with the national newspaper Nigerian Tribune said: ‘As long as you report news factually, you would have no problems.’
Observers fear that Nigeria hasn’t moved away from the blood-minded days of military rule where journalists were imprisoned, killed and subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatments. The Nigerian media has been praised for standing for justice in those days of iron-fist clampdown on freedom of expression. They went underground and launched an unrelenting campaign against the numerous barbarities of military rule. During Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, Nigeria’s former military ruler, many Nigerians were killed, exiled, tortured or murdered.
Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth in 1994, under Abacha’s government, following the death of environmental minority right activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, leader of MOSOP, a group that campaigns against environmental degradation and eight others, alleged, for their role in murdering four people. His death was believed to be a vicious campaign against his vociferous stance against the pollution and lack of compensation for oil exploration in the Niger Delta.
Close observers of the Nigerian media fear the canteen days of military dictatorships are still here.Dele Giwa, a journalist was allegedly murdered on the 26 of October 1986 by the former military dictator Ibrahim Babaginda - following damning publications - who is rooting to come back to power . There are fears that Nigeria may be a long way from a genuine environment of freedom of expression. Two former military rulers are in the front burner of presidential campaigns scheduled to hold in April this year.
Gbenga Aruleba and Rotimi Durojaiye of African Independent television were arrested under sedition charges last year.
The general manager of the Leadership newspaper, Abraham Nda-Isaiah and the Editor Mr.Bashir Bello, were arrested recently for allegedly reporting an offensive news report.
Mr.Danladi Ndayebo, the writer of the news report alleged that Arik Air, a Lagos-based airline, is jointly owned by Obasanjo and Peter Odili, the Governor of Rivers State.Ndayebo was held by the Nigerian State Security service(SSS).
The Nigerian media have been in the forefront of reporting Government activities.
Recently, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe and Omoyele Sowore of Nanka.org and Saharareporters.com respectively, alleged that Anambra State Governorship aspirant, Andy Uba and the Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Maurice Iwu falsified their academical qualifications.
The Nigerian media have remained faithful in publishing the corruption scandal rocking the Presidency. The President and Vice President Atiku Abubakar have accused each other of siphoning money from the nation’s treasury.
In the last election in 2003, the Nigerian media recorded lots of irregularities in the election. They provided a base for people who were rigged out to seek judiciary redress. Peter Obi, the Anambra State Governorship candidate was able to claim the State executive seat after heated court struggles. He took over the mantle of leadership from Dr.Chris Nwabueze Ngige, the erstwhile governor of the State.
The Nigerian media, true to type have played a vital role in ensuring that all public officials are held accountable. From Local Counsellors to the President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, they have reported cases of fraud, diversion of funds and flouting of court orders.
Former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari was shamed out of office for lying about his academical qualification. He said that he studied at a university in Canada, but the university had no record of him doing so.Sani Kabir, a founding member of the The News Journal led the exposition. It was also ascertained that he lied about his age. His actual age was lower than what constitution requires.
The impeachment of Senator Evan Enwerem who lied about his age, the impeachment of Dr.Chuba Okadigbo former Senate President over allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds and the near-impeachment of Governor Bola Tnubu over falsification are largely attributable to the vociferous nature of the Nigerian media.
The US Ambassador, Mr.John Campbell recently urged the mass media in the country to take up the cudgel in ensuring democracy and credible electioneering campaigns take hold. Nigeria is America fifth largest oil supplier.
In the past Nigeria has come under the radar of the international community. The Nigerian media launched a campaign to reverse the death penalty imposed on Amina Lawal ,39, by an Islamic Sharia court for bearing a child out of wedlock.
ThisDay’s Isioma Daniel went on a self-imposed exile after making sensual statements linking Muhammad and the 2002 Miss World pageant. A fatwa was issued by Mullahs in Nigeria on her, but was declared null and void by religious authorities in Saudi Arabia.
A media Watch Dog , the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) reported on the January 24, 2007, that media attacks in West African media outlets increased last year more than any other year. It recorded 168 press freedom violations in West Africa compared to 148 cases in 2005.Out of fifteen West African countries surveyed, Nigeria led with 32 cases of media violations followed by The Gambia and Ghana.
A 2006 annual report on press freedom in Nigeria by Journalists Without Borders (JWB) a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press noted : ‘Nigerian journalists, accustomed to cruel military juntas and police raids, have good reason to be disappointed. The restitution of power to a civilian government, in 1999, under former military figure President Olusegun Obasanjo, has not protected them from political persecution or abuses by the infamous State Security Service (SSS). Around 20 journalists suffered physical attacks in 2005, around a score spent time in prison. The hospital or the police stations are often a forced part of a Nigerian journalist’s rounds.’
The report poured encomium on the private-owned media in Nigeria: ‘The privately-owned press is robust, pluralist and populist. It does not mince its words about the powerful. Its outspokenness, won through years of “guerrilla journalism”, secret meetings and under-the-counter distribution, is general.’
In 2006, it ranked Nigerian 120th out of 168 countries, ahead of Turkmenistan and North Korea.
The Nigerian media faces its greatest challenge in the coming months as Nigeria approaches a landmark period in its history - the April Presidential, Governorship, State Houses, House of Representatives and National Assembly elections - after eight years of democracy. Observers see Nigeria’s stability crucial for peace in the West African sub-region and Africa, a continent that has known and still knows bloodshed.
Almost eight years since the advent of democracy in Nigeria, Nigerian journalists and media stakeholders express mixed feelings over freedom of expression in Africa’s largest democracy and one of the world’s largest democracies. Journalists have been killed, beaten and arrested on flimsy grounds since 1999 and the Government hasn’t pushed a bill into law that would guarantee freedom of expression, in addition to a weak and largely ineffective judiciary, mostly inaccessible to the ordinary Nigerian.
With the largest population in Africa and ninth in the world, more than sixty percent literate population, a religious and ethnically diverse populace, as well as more than thirty newspapers, several State-run television channels , private radio stations and television channels, oil-rich Nigeria has the most active and broad media in Africa and one of the most robust in world.
Nigerian newspapers like Guardian,Punch,PM News ,Vanguard as well as other publications written in local languages circulate thousands of copies everyday.
As Nigeria straddles to elections April this year, the public watches the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body responsible for conducting elections and other presidential hopefuls and expect the media to probe them. The Nigerian media is expected to provide information on corrupt politicians in Nigeria and national developments.
Sunday Omeleye, the Production Editor of The Nations Newspaper, a national newspaper said: ‘Barring one or two incidents of persecution, the Nigerian media is largely safe. If you go after the President without genuine reason then you have good reason to be apprehensive of arrest.’
The Lagos-based journalist said that the Nigerian media enjoys a great deal of freedom in carrying out its daily functions but stressed that there is no carte blanche for unchecked publication: ‘If the Nigerian Media wasn’t safe, then we wouldn’t be having more than thirty newspapers in Nigeria. Half of them would have closed down. Every profession has perils, journalism is not an exception.’
The Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Port Harcourt Telegraph, Ogbonna Nwuke said: ‘Nigerian journalists face a great deal of difficulty. The Nigerian government is deaf to their protection. They have not passed a law that would guarantee media freedom.’
A spokesman for ThisDay, a newspaper that recently lost its Editorial chairman, Godwin Agbroko, who was fell by gunmen believed to be assassins and whose headquarters in Lagos was partly razed by fire on the morning of January 6, 2007, expressed confidence about the media in Nigeria: ‘Since 1999, it has been very good practicing journalism in Nigeria. It has been so different from the years of military rule. Now there is a great deal of freedom in Nigeria. It is safe practicing journalism in Nigeria.’
‘This administration has made journalism conducive,’ he said. Asked about the recent incident involving the detention of two journalists over sedition charges he said: ‘The sedition laws were based on colonial law. The trial judge made it clear that it no more applies.’
He said: ‘Some people in Government feel uncomfortable with news reports but by and large it is safe.’
Joseph, a journalist with the national newspaper Nigerian Tribune said: ‘As long as you report news factually, you would have no problems.’
Observers fear that Nigeria hasn’t moved away from the blood-minded days of military rule where journalists were imprisoned, killed and subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatments. The Nigerian media has been praised for standing for justice in those days of iron-fist clampdown on freedom of expression. They went underground and launched an unrelenting campaign against the numerous barbarities of military rule. During Sani Abacha’s dictatorship, Nigeria’s former military ruler, many Nigerians were killed, exiled, tortured or murdered.
Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth in 1994, under Abacha’s government, following the death of environmental minority right activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, leader of MOSOP, a group that campaigns against environmental degradation and eight others, alleged, for their role in murdering four people. His death was believed to be a vicious campaign against his vociferous stance against the pollution and lack of compensation for oil exploration in the Niger Delta.
Close observers of the Nigerian media fear the canteen days of military dictatorships are still here.Dele Giwa, a journalist was allegedly murdered on the 26 of October 1986 by the former military dictator Ibrahim Babaginda - following damning publications - who is rooting to come back to power . There are fears that Nigeria may be a long way from a genuine environment of freedom of expression. Two former military rulers are in the front burner of presidential campaigns scheduled to hold in April this year.
Gbenga Aruleba and Rotimi Durojaiye of African Independent television were arrested under sedition charges last year.
The general manager of the Leadership newspaper, Abraham Nda-Isaiah and the Editor Mr.Bashir Bello, were arrested recently for allegedly reporting an offensive news report.
Mr.Danladi Ndayebo, the writer of the news report alleged that Arik Air, a Lagos-based airline, is jointly owned by Obasanjo and Peter Odili, the Governor of Rivers State.Ndayebo was held by the Nigerian State Security service(SSS).
The Nigerian media have been in the forefront of reporting Government activities.
Recently, Ikenna Ellis-Ezenekwe and Omoyele Sowore of Nanka.org and Saharareporters.com respectively, alleged that Anambra State Governorship aspirant, Andy Uba and the Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Maurice Iwu falsified their academical qualifications.
The Nigerian media have remained faithful in publishing the corruption scandal rocking the Presidency. The President and Vice President Atiku Abubakar have accused each other of siphoning money from the nation’s treasury.
In the last election in 2003, the Nigerian media recorded lots of irregularities in the election. They provided a base for people who were rigged out to seek judiciary redress. Peter Obi, the Anambra State Governorship candidate was able to claim the State executive seat after heated court struggles. He took over the mantle of leadership from Dr.Chris Nwabueze Ngige, the erstwhile governor of the State.
The Nigerian media, true to type have played a vital role in ensuring that all public officials are held accountable. From Local Counsellors to the President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, they have reported cases of fraud, diversion of funds and flouting of court orders.
Former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari was shamed out of office for lying about his academical qualification. He said that he studied at a university in Canada, but the university had no record of him doing so.Sani Kabir, a founding member of the The News Journal led the exposition. It was also ascertained that he lied about his age. His actual age was lower than what constitution requires.
The impeachment of Senator Evan Enwerem who lied about his age, the impeachment of Dr.Chuba Okadigbo former Senate President over allegations of corruption and misappropriation of funds and the near-impeachment of Governor Bola Tnubu over falsification are largely attributable to the vociferous nature of the Nigerian media.
The US Ambassador, Mr.John Campbell recently urged the mass media in the country to take up the cudgel in ensuring democracy and credible electioneering campaigns take hold. Nigeria is America fifth largest oil supplier.
In the past Nigeria has come under the radar of the international community. The Nigerian media launched a campaign to reverse the death penalty imposed on Amina Lawal ,39, by an Islamic Sharia court for bearing a child out of wedlock.
ThisDay’s Isioma Daniel went on a self-imposed exile after making sensual statements linking Muhammad and the 2002 Miss World pageant. A fatwa was issued by Mullahs in Nigeria on her, but was declared null and void by religious authorities in Saudi Arabia.
A media Watch Dog , the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) reported on the January 24, 2007, that media attacks in West African media outlets increased last year more than any other year. It recorded 168 press freedom violations in West Africa compared to 148 cases in 2005.Out of fifteen West African countries surveyed, Nigeria led with 32 cases of media violations followed by The Gambia and Ghana.
A 2006 annual report on press freedom in Nigeria by Journalists Without Borders (JWB) a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press noted : ‘Nigerian journalists, accustomed to cruel military juntas and police raids, have good reason to be disappointed. The restitution of power to a civilian government, in 1999, under former military figure President Olusegun Obasanjo, has not protected them from political persecution or abuses by the infamous State Security Service (SSS). Around 20 journalists suffered physical attacks in 2005, around a score spent time in prison. The hospital or the police stations are often a forced part of a Nigerian journalist’s rounds.’
The report poured encomium on the private-owned media in Nigeria: ‘The privately-owned press is robust, pluralist and populist. It does not mince its words about the powerful. Its outspokenness, won through years of “guerrilla journalism”, secret meetings and under-the-counter distribution, is general.’
In 2006, it ranked Nigerian 120th out of 168 countries, ahead of Turkmenistan and North Korea.
The Nigerian media faces its greatest challenge in the coming months as Nigeria approaches a landmark period in its history - the April Presidential, Governorship, State Houses, House of Representatives and National Assembly elections - after eight years of democracy. Observers see Nigeria’s stability crucial for peace in the West African sub-region and Africa, a continent that has known and still knows bloodshed.
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