Warning: In order to understand this article fully, you would need to read the whole piece. It is about intellectual revolution!
I have no doubt in my mind just like most Nigerians that we need a revolution in order to get out of this anarchic state that has swallowed up our great nation. I also agreed with many who were calling for our own Jerry John Rawlings to come out from obscurity to slaughter all our ‘public enemies’ and rid the nation of the undesirable looters that are evidently all over the place pretending to be leaders but unlike most people and unknown to all, because I knew I could really change the world if I care enough, I even volunteered to be our own J. J. Rawlings with a set date in my mind to start the onslaught.
The Ghanaian full blown bloody revolution led by Jerry Rawlings’ Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) on 4 June1979 led to the ousting of the Supreme Military Council from office and the executions of some former military dictators. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong, Akwasi Afrifa, and Fred Akuffo were killed. Five other generals - Joy Amedume, Yaw Boakye, Roger Felli, Kotei, and Utuka - were also put to death. And without the involvement of the both Rawlings and AFRC, some Supreme Court Justices Kwadjo Agyei Agyepong, Frederick Sarkodie, and Cecilia Koranteng Addo, as well as two other military officers, Major Sam Acquah, and Major Dasana Nantogmah were also executed in a vengeful killing. The perpetrators were later apprehended and executed by firing squad. Rawlings also later carried out a much wider "house-cleaning exercise" aimed at purging the armed forces and society at large of corruption and graft as well as restoring a sense of moral responsibility and accountability in public life. In all less than 40 people directly or indirectly became the victims of Ghanaian bloody revolution.
As the day drew nigh, I began to plan my strategies, compiling the list of those to be eliminated and the list kept growing overwhelmingly for a lone ranger like me. I have already got over 2000 names of serving and former office holders at the federal level that I deemed in my opinion to be corrupt. This list included present and past Commander In Chief – substantial and interim, their Deputies and First Ladies; Federal Ministers, Special/Senior Advisers, - Special/Senior Assistant, Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals, Directors, Chairmen of Parastatals, Federal Contractors and members of the National Assembly. I have also compiled over 30,000 names of equivalent officers at the State level, 40,000 at the local government level. Since I was vey serious about the cleansing of the society and I didn’t want to leave any room for chance, I wondered what I should do to the over 50 million corrupt Nigerian adults especially those in the urban areas who give, demand and receive bribes, who make living through corrupt and illegitimate practices and who do not live by the rule of ethics. “They all have to go!” I said to myself.
After considering the enormity of the task ahead, not only will it take eternity for me to exterminate these unwanted citizens but I also found my name on the list, then, I knew I have to change my stratagem. Shedding of the blood of a few may have worked in Ghana but can never work in our own nation owing to the profundity and extent of corruption in the system that has caused Nigeria to be inducted by Transparent International (TI) into the Corruption Hall of Fame (CHF).
In the quest for a change of strategy, I have pondered so deeply in the last few days to diagnose the real problem with the Nigerian politics and politicians. I began to wonder why we are where we are today, what is it that others do right and we do wrongly, why are the politicians so heartless and careless about the plight of the people and why can’t they change for better with the world? Why do we hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office? Why have we forgotten that a free society that cannot help the many who are poor can never save the few who are rich?
After a very long careful and deep reflection, I found out that our politicians are ok, they are rational, they are doing what the people expect them to do. The filching leaders are not the problems of Nigeria, the corrupt politicians are not to blame for the sorry state of the nation. Those siphoning the national treasures and pilfering the commonwealth are not the problems of Nigeria. The government is not the problem, the governed are. Everyone thinks of changing the people in government, but no one thinks of changing oneself. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” Barack Obama
We are the change that will change the status quo. We are the change that will change the political class because we are the ones failing in our capacity to use the constitutional power bestowed on us. As soon as we do, they public servants will cease to be public bosses. We have given up the right to challenge and demand accountability from the leaders who are there to serve us. We have failed to realise that we are the employer and until we stand to our responsibility, things will continue to get worse. If only we pay attention and act, we will get good government and good leadership that we desperately desire. An average Nigerian does not care to be free. He simply wants to be safe. Even to those who think they are free, I’d like to quote Goethe “none are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.”
We have failed to understand this democracy. Historically, having been subjected for too long to the authoritarian monarchs and dictatorial military rule, we have forgotten that we are under a new dispensation. First we have had the monarchs – Obas, Igwes, Emirs etc - who were lords. The owned the land, owned everything and everyone in the land. They could do and undo. A king could take over your wife or any other possession from you at will. You were not allowed to question the legality or the authority of the king and if you did, the penalty could be as severe as a death sentence. We were also under the military regime for most part of our national life as a an independent nation. Under the military, the rulers had absolute power and we seem to have been accustomed to being under authoritarian rule.
In 1999, the same old military dictators only changed their military regalia for civilian ‘kaftan and agbada’ pretending to be democratic leaders. It is natural of them to make believe not to understand democracy and democratic values in the real sense, it unnatural of us to allow and watch them take away our inalienable rights unchallenged. ‘A right is not what someone gives you; it's what no one can take from you.’ Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. We are to let them know that a democracy that cannot serve the electorate can never save the elected.
“No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to flee and fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams” Rev. Jesse Jackson
I still believe in revolution but no more bloody but intellectual. I will no longer be the lone ranger, 140 million Jerry Rawlings will be involved. Our weapons will no longer be arms but from our intellectual arsenal. It is called education. Our revolution shall be called EDUCATIONAL REVOLUTION. We shall educate the people of their rights and educate the office holders of their limits. When people know their rights, no one can easy take them away. Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change Nigeria and with it, we can overthrow the status quo.
“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the sound of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.” Jawaharlal Nehru
Democracy is certainly alien to us but having lived about 20 years in a functioning democracy, I think I will be able to be a Rawlings. I shall be making a follow up to this piece with a series called DEMOCRACY 101 where every practical thing we need to know about democracy will be exhaustively discussed. Watch out every Wednesday!
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
23 June 2009
A Dream For My Fatherland
Nigeria is what it is today because we want it so, we can change it if we choose. Change requires action and it starts with changing oneself. We can change the whole world, if we all change ourselves. We need to change from being indifferent. According to Albert Einstein, “the world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” When good men do nothing, evil shall surely prevail.
In order to achieve a desired change, we need to move from talking to acting. A talk cannot move an object, only an action can do. An action is a finished product of a dream. We need to dream dreams, we need to plan, we need to believe and we need to act in order to have a ‘change we can believe’. There can be no plan without a dream as there can never be a successful action without believing.
A dream gives a clear vision of the future. As yesterday was the birthplace of today, a dream is the birthplace of the future and a dream is the mother of an action. Benjamin Disraeli asserted that “action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
In about three months, Nigeria will 49 years old as an independent nation. Many years with very little to show economically, politically and otherwise. In these years, the landscape of our history has been dominated mostly by challenging stories like corruption, civil war, wasted resources, military coup, ethnic violence, leadership failure, lack of infrastructure, brain drain, 419, Niger Delta palaver, indolent leaders etc.
Our potential remains only a potential. Our challenges endure but fail to paralyse us, they're supposed to help us discover who we are. According to Harriet Beecher “when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn,”
Through it all, we have kept our sanity, we see life the way it should be and not the way it is. In our defeat, we dream victory. In our despair, we chose hope which make every good thing possible. Our God-given inner strength gives us courage to carry on and continue to be hopeful. Our dream is fast becoming a reality, we can see it at the corner, we can smell her fragrance, we can hear the elegant steps of her feet in quiet and we are nostalgic of the arrival. Even when all seemed bleak, we chose to overcome fear, overcome uncertainty, overcome peril, overcome injustice, overcome threat while continuing to avow to ourselves that life with all its troubles can be good hence ‘suffering and smiling’ that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always a bright tomorrow to cover the sad yesterday.
In the midst of these negativities, I still have positive dream for fatherland. I have a dream that my fellow countrymen will rise to defend the country of their fathers to give reasons for hope to their children as Nigeria shall stand tall, rise and be reckoned with in the comity of great nations.
I have a dream that my people shall coexist harmoniously; communal rivalry, religious intolerance and clash shall belong to the past, Niger Delta shall see peace and prosperity again and the Hausas, Ibos, Yorubas, Ijaws and all other tribes shall be one another’s keepers.
I have a dream that my country shall no longer depend on what is under the feet of her people but what is up in their heads. Natural resources shall no longer be the mainstay but agriculture, industrial production and services.
I have a dream that our sons and daughters will leave the countries of their birth in Europe and America and ask after the country of their ancestors which they shall be proud to call theirs.
I have a dream that every vote of the electorate shall count; from the half-naked woman protesting in Ekiti, to the covered Purdah in Sokoto, from the powerful in Abuja to the ordinary man in Zaria, from the market man in Aba to the businessman in Yola, from the student in Ibadan to the professor in Nsukka and from the urban man in Lagos to the ‘natural woman’ in Koma.
I have a dream that our Moses shall lead us out of the wilderness of poverty and from the Red Sea of corruption, our David shall slain Goliath who is feeding fat on the nation’s commonwealth, our Elijah will command fire on all the prophets of Baal holding the nation down and our Samson shall cause havoc in the camp of those squandering and pilfering our resources and the marauders we see today, we shall see them no more.
I have a dream that Nigeria will be ruled by men of noble character who are prepared to take us to the promised land and no more animals in human skin (apology to Fela Anikulapo Kuti), no more by the dumbest, no more by the weakest, no more by the sick and no more by the reluctant presidents. The days of the indecisive government are numbered.
I have a dream that our democracy will be democratic, our constitution will be constitutional and our Aso Rock Presidential Villa shall cease to be Ass hol* Rock Villa.
I have a dream that our leaders shall know that leadership is a call to service and not a call to be bosses, our executive will no longer be executhief, they will not only wield power but also generate power such that everyone of us can turn to the corner of our rooms and say let there be light and there shall be light.
I have a dream that the legislature shall make laws for the benefit and protection of the all and not only to increase their own salaries and allowances. The shall know the difference between constituency allowance and personal allowance.
I have a dream that the judiciary shall be judicious and no more pervert the law, they shall look unto the constitution and laws of the land to judge cases and not towards Aso Rock Villa and they shall prosecute and not persecute.
I have a dream that INEC will be truly independent of the executive, The Police shall not be agent of the oppressor but friend of the people. They shall gracefully perform their duties without asking for ‘egunje.’The military shall defend and not invade our fatherland, the civil and public servants shall serve their fatherland wholeheartedly without filching the public funds and Attorney General shall no more assault the constitution.
I have a dream that the poor masses shall no more be guilty until proven innocent, they shall join the high-ranking to be innocent until proven guilty. The prisons shall no more be filled with petty offenders while the major thieves are power brokers who dine and wine in the seats of the government.
This is my dream for fatherland, it is your dream and our dream for motherland. If it is our dream, then we must sustain it to reality. This change’s real! Dreaming may be easy, action may be difficult but putting a dream into an action is the most complicated thing in the world but with God on our side, our dream shall come to be.
Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime. W.E.B. Du Bois
The time to act is no other but now. We do not need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. If we fail, our dream shall be dream and our vision shall be vision and our world shall remain the same. Certainly, the cost of our action shall be huge but the cost of inaction shall even be more. There can never be any gain without pain.
Those who profess to favour freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. Frederick Douglass
As charity starts from home, our action shall start with the people closest to us. Let us educate the people in our families, neighbourhood and grassroots of their inalienable rights. No one shall sell his voting right for a bowl of porridge.
We shall encourage and support the good people among us especially the youth to go into politics and for elective positions, if they fail, the bad ones whose affinity for power is inexhaustible will continue to dominate the political climate. Voting and being voted for; are not only our civil duties but also our constitutional rights.
"The ball is now in your court...Election is still two years away...What is wrong in identifying now your candidates and beginning to mobilise support for them...Why can't you invade your homeland...Use your mobile telephones now to mobilise the people and guard democracy... the way Barrack Obama used the Internet technology to mobilise the youths to strengthen democracy... Mobilise the youths to guard the ballot boxes from start to finish...Defend the vote, nobody is going to do it for you..." Prof. Wole Soyinka.
We shall foster the unity of all progressive groups and protect our destiny against the ‘do or die’ policy of the incumbent, organise mass action against any breach of our collective will. No passive people can expect a change. We have talked, we have praised, we have criticized, we have waited but we haven’t acted. We must act and now is the time.
This is a call on all good people of this great Nation! A thousand words are not as effective as one action. A thousand good intentions are not as good as one action. In recent time, the power in mass action or protest has been more revolutionary than any bloody guerrilla. No government can stand against the power of the masses. Demonstrations by the nationalist group in 2006 caused the ousting of the corrupt prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests resulted in the opening up of China though much is still left to be desired especially in the area of human rights. A mass protest that started from a remote village led to the end of the repressive communist leader Nikolai Ceausescu of Romania and after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, a political opponent and a tainted presidential election The People Power Revolution in February 1986 removed the authoritarian Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines. The recent event in Madagascar and the current protest in Iran are other testimonies to the power of the people. All these shall amount to nothing compared to what shall happen in motherland.
Our dream will take us on a journey for which we do not know the end but certainly, we shall not return to the starting point. Our action shall take us to war with the enemy but our weapons shall not be guns and matchets but all from our intellectual arsenal. Our action shall be like a road in the countryside where there was never a road but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. A change has come!
If you share the dream, spread it.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
This article is also published on the following links
http://pointblanknews.com/artopn1457.html
In order to achieve a desired change, we need to move from talking to acting. A talk cannot move an object, only an action can do. An action is a finished product of a dream. We need to dream dreams, we need to plan, we need to believe and we need to act in order to have a ‘change we can believe’. There can be no plan without a dream as there can never be a successful action without believing.
A dream gives a clear vision of the future. As yesterday was the birthplace of today, a dream is the birthplace of the future and a dream is the mother of an action. Benjamin Disraeli asserted that “action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
In about three months, Nigeria will 49 years old as an independent nation. Many years with very little to show economically, politically and otherwise. In these years, the landscape of our history has been dominated mostly by challenging stories like corruption, civil war, wasted resources, military coup, ethnic violence, leadership failure, lack of infrastructure, brain drain, 419, Niger Delta palaver, indolent leaders etc.
Our potential remains only a potential. Our challenges endure but fail to paralyse us, they're supposed to help us discover who we are. According to Harriet Beecher “when you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn,”
Through it all, we have kept our sanity, we see life the way it should be and not the way it is. In our defeat, we dream victory. In our despair, we chose hope which make every good thing possible. Our God-given inner strength gives us courage to carry on and continue to be hopeful. Our dream is fast becoming a reality, we can see it at the corner, we can smell her fragrance, we can hear the elegant steps of her feet in quiet and we are nostalgic of the arrival. Even when all seemed bleak, we chose to overcome fear, overcome uncertainty, overcome peril, overcome injustice, overcome threat while continuing to avow to ourselves that life with all its troubles can be good hence ‘suffering and smiling’ that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always a bright tomorrow to cover the sad yesterday.
In the midst of these negativities, I still have positive dream for fatherland. I have a dream that my fellow countrymen will rise to defend the country of their fathers to give reasons for hope to their children as Nigeria shall stand tall, rise and be reckoned with in the comity of great nations.
I have a dream that my people shall coexist harmoniously; communal rivalry, religious intolerance and clash shall belong to the past, Niger Delta shall see peace and prosperity again and the Hausas, Ibos, Yorubas, Ijaws and all other tribes shall be one another’s keepers.
I have a dream that my country shall no longer depend on what is under the feet of her people but what is up in their heads. Natural resources shall no longer be the mainstay but agriculture, industrial production and services.
I have a dream that our sons and daughters will leave the countries of their birth in Europe and America and ask after the country of their ancestors which they shall be proud to call theirs.
I have a dream that every vote of the electorate shall count; from the half-naked woman protesting in Ekiti, to the covered Purdah in Sokoto, from the powerful in Abuja to the ordinary man in Zaria, from the market man in Aba to the businessman in Yola, from the student in Ibadan to the professor in Nsukka and from the urban man in Lagos to the ‘natural woman’ in Koma.
I have a dream that our Moses shall lead us out of the wilderness of poverty and from the Red Sea of corruption, our David shall slain Goliath who is feeding fat on the nation’s commonwealth, our Elijah will command fire on all the prophets of Baal holding the nation down and our Samson shall cause havoc in the camp of those squandering and pilfering our resources and the marauders we see today, we shall see them no more.
I have a dream that Nigeria will be ruled by men of noble character who are prepared to take us to the promised land and no more animals in human skin (apology to Fela Anikulapo Kuti), no more by the dumbest, no more by the weakest, no more by the sick and no more by the reluctant presidents. The days of the indecisive government are numbered.
I have a dream that our democracy will be democratic, our constitution will be constitutional and our Aso Rock Presidential Villa shall cease to be Ass hol* Rock Villa.
I have a dream that our leaders shall know that leadership is a call to service and not a call to be bosses, our executive will no longer be executhief, they will not only wield power but also generate power such that everyone of us can turn to the corner of our rooms and say let there be light and there shall be light.
I have a dream that the legislature shall make laws for the benefit and protection of the all and not only to increase their own salaries and allowances. The shall know the difference between constituency allowance and personal allowance.
I have a dream that the judiciary shall be judicious and no more pervert the law, they shall look unto the constitution and laws of the land to judge cases and not towards Aso Rock Villa and they shall prosecute and not persecute.
I have a dream that INEC will be truly independent of the executive, The Police shall not be agent of the oppressor but friend of the people. They shall gracefully perform their duties without asking for ‘egunje.’The military shall defend and not invade our fatherland, the civil and public servants shall serve their fatherland wholeheartedly without filching the public funds and Attorney General shall no more assault the constitution.
I have a dream that the poor masses shall no more be guilty until proven innocent, they shall join the high-ranking to be innocent until proven guilty. The prisons shall no more be filled with petty offenders while the major thieves are power brokers who dine and wine in the seats of the government.
This is my dream for fatherland, it is your dream and our dream for motherland. If it is our dream, then we must sustain it to reality. This change’s real! Dreaming may be easy, action may be difficult but putting a dream into an action is the most complicated thing in the world but with God on our side, our dream shall come to be.
Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime. W.E.B. Du Bois
The time to act is no other but now. We do not need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. If we fail, our dream shall be dream and our vision shall be vision and our world shall remain the same. Certainly, the cost of our action shall be huge but the cost of inaction shall even be more. There can never be any gain without pain.
Those who profess to favour freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. Frederick Douglass
As charity starts from home, our action shall start with the people closest to us. Let us educate the people in our families, neighbourhood and grassroots of their inalienable rights. No one shall sell his voting right for a bowl of porridge.
We shall encourage and support the good people among us especially the youth to go into politics and for elective positions, if they fail, the bad ones whose affinity for power is inexhaustible will continue to dominate the political climate. Voting and being voted for; are not only our civil duties but also our constitutional rights.
"The ball is now in your court...Election is still two years away...What is wrong in identifying now your candidates and beginning to mobilise support for them...Why can't you invade your homeland...Use your mobile telephones now to mobilise the people and guard democracy... the way Barrack Obama used the Internet technology to mobilise the youths to strengthen democracy... Mobilise the youths to guard the ballot boxes from start to finish...Defend the vote, nobody is going to do it for you..." Prof. Wole Soyinka.
We shall foster the unity of all progressive groups and protect our destiny against the ‘do or die’ policy of the incumbent, organise mass action against any breach of our collective will. No passive people can expect a change. We have talked, we have praised, we have criticized, we have waited but we haven’t acted. We must act and now is the time.
This is a call on all good people of this great Nation! A thousand words are not as effective as one action. A thousand good intentions are not as good as one action. In recent time, the power in mass action or protest has been more revolutionary than any bloody guerrilla. No government can stand against the power of the masses. Demonstrations by the nationalist group in 2006 caused the ousting of the corrupt prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand. The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests resulted in the opening up of China though much is still left to be desired especially in the area of human rights. A mass protest that started from a remote village led to the end of the repressive communist leader Nikolai Ceausescu of Romania and after the assassination of Benigno Aquino, a political opponent and a tainted presidential election The People Power Revolution in February 1986 removed the authoritarian Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines. The recent event in Madagascar and the current protest in Iran are other testimonies to the power of the people. All these shall amount to nothing compared to what shall happen in motherland.
Our dream will take us on a journey for which we do not know the end but certainly, we shall not return to the starting point. Our action shall take us to war with the enemy but our weapons shall not be guns and matchets but all from our intellectual arsenal. Our action shall be like a road in the countryside where there was never a road but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. A change has come!
If you share the dream, spread it.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
This article is also published on the following links
http://pointblanknews.com/artopn1457.html
12 June 2009
Nigerians And The Title Craze; Proud To Be Called Mr.
Scene1 (Outside the office)
Oteniyark: Good morning Mr. Nwachukwu
Nwachukwu: Point of correction please! I’m Chief Engineer Nwachukwu.
Oteniyark: Can’t an engineer be addressed as a Mister?
Nwachukwu: I don’t know but as far as I am concerned, as the Chief Engineer of our company where you also work, the members of staff must call me Chief Engineer Nwachukwu otherwise I will ignore their calls.
Scene 2 (On the telephone)
Oteniyark: Hello good afternoon, could you allow me speak with Mr. A. Bello?
Yakubu: You mean my dad, Ambassador A. Bello?
Oteniyark: No, Mr. Bello is a pensioner.
Yakubu: Yes, It’s my dad, he was a Nigerian ambassador 18 years ago.
Scene 3 (At a public function)
Oteniyark: It is my pleasure to introduce the guest speaker Mr. Tony Bamgbose who was a member of the State House of Assembly.
Tony: Beg your pardon! I am honourable Bamgbose.
Oteniyark: I also have the privilege of inviting to the high table, the wife of the state governor, Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka.
An aid of the governor’s wife hurriedly jumped to the podium
Governor’s wife’s aid (whispering): Madam is First Lady and must be addressed as Her Excellency, the First Lady, Alhaja Chief Dr. Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka LL.D. Please quickly make the correction!
The above scenes are a demonstration of the title craze that is endemic in Nigeria. Everywhere you turn your face in the society, this craziness is conspicuous and cuts across all segments of the society. It is evident in the workplace and business environment as well as political and religious circles.
We may not be the best in many things but not in inventing titles. If we can bring a bit of the ingenuity with which we invent or combine titles to other positive areas of lives, Nigeria will certainly be a better place and will surely rank among the best places in terms of positive development. Nigerians generate new titles almost with the same frequency Microsoft comes up with security updates for the Vista operating system. I have seen people adding to their names, strange titles like ‘Akobi’ a Yoruba word meaning first born and ‘Aremo’ another Yoruba word meaning next in line for a king’s throne.
Some good people of this great nation seem to extremely abhor being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. It may be out of sheer ignorance of thinking that the titles are for people of little importance and scarce achievement in the society or out of the ever increasing zeal to flamboyantly exhibit all the achievements and identities at any given opportunity or to cover some deficiencies. Mister may not after all be as insignificant as our dear people think and in fact it is the mother of all titles which can be applicable to any highly regarded man. Mister (Mr.) is a conventional title of respect for a man, prefixed to his name and to certain official designations or positions e.g. Mr. Chairman. Likewise, Mrs. or Ms is a title of honour for a woman. Regardless of other titles somebody possesses, the person can still be addressed as Mr. or Mrs without any disparaging feeling. In a place like America, the president is officially regarded as Mr. President but you dare not add the Mr. to the title of our President in order to save yourself of the Abuja wrath, the president must be introduced as His Excellency President Whoever.
A title, according to the American heritage dictionary of the English language, is a formal designation attached to the name of a person or family by virtue of office, rank, hereditary privilege, noble birth, or attainment or used as a mark of respect. A title can be a prefix or a suffix or in some cases embedded in between the names. Prefix titles are pre-nominal letters which are placed before the name of a person as distinct from a suffix titles which are post-nominal placed after the name. A prefix is used in direct address as in Mr., Dr., Chief, Alhaji, Barrister, etc while a suffix is used more in descriptive form and placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, award or honour. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. The order in which these are listed after a name is based on the order of precedence and category of the order. Examples include CEO, SAN, CFR, PhD, MBA, ACCA, retired General, former Senator, Editor in Chief, Commander in Chief, MP etc.
A title can be permanent or temporary. Funny enough most temporary titles have been made permanent in Nigeria. A former senator wants to be eternally addressed as senator. A former legislator will never give up the title of honourable and all of retired generals still bear their formal titles. A permanent title can be relevant throughout one’s lifetime after attaining it while a temporary title may be relevant only for a certain period of time.
A permanent title is a title attained by virtue of one’s gender as in Mr. or Mrs., hereditary privilege or noble birth as in Chief, Prince or Princess, Eze, King, Emir, Obi, Oba or a permanently attainment such as in Pastor, Imam or Alhaji (which is a term of respect used to address a Muslim who has completed one of the Five Pillars of Islam by going on the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca). A woman who has completed the pilgrimage is addressed as Alhaja. Whoever has any of these titles is very unlikely to lose the title rather may acquire further titles. A prince may eventually become a king. Titles resulting from academic and professional qualifications are other forms of permanent title as in Eng, Arch, Barrister and Dr. which is usually used in calling a medical doctors or somebody who has doctorate degree in any other field.
Save for Dr, almost all other professional titles are regarded as workplace titles which are officially applicable in the workplace and related environment. Such titles like Engineer, Justice, Architect and Barrister are used in addressing people at the workplace. Outside the workplace, they are more commonly used in describing people. As demonstrated in Scene 1 of the conversation above, at the place of work, somebody can be called Eng. Nwachukwu while outside the workplace, he is called Mr. Nwachukwu, an engineer but an average Nigerian wants to be addressed everywhere he/she goes with the professional title especially those in the professions regarded as noble. No wonder one hears people addressed as Banker Jide, Accountant Emeka, Surveyor Ahmed, Manager Bala, Pharmacist James, Journalist Segun and other inconceivable Nigerian made titles. The earned degrees and qualification and other awarded titles that suffixed a name can also be permanent. Titles like BSc, MSc, MBA, AMNIM, ACA, FCCA, SAN, LL.D, MON, CFR, GCON, RIP etc. These titles always come behind a name. They may or may not be written after a name. In the Western world, these titles are written only when necessary.
On the other hand, temporary titles are earned by virtue of one’s official position, rank, appointment or election and as soon as somebody seizes to be in the position, the titles should seize to exist. It can only exist in a descriptive way referring to the fact that the person once occupied the position. Titles like President, Governor, Senator, Chairman, Honourable, Professor, Bishop, General Overseer, Chief Imam, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Chief Engineer, Chief Accountant, Attorney General, Minister, Commissioner, General, Brigadier, Colonel, Major, and IG are in this category. Once the title stops to be relevant, all salutation and protocols associated with the position and titles should automatically end. As seen in scene 2, Mr. A. Bello shouldn’t have been addressed as Ambassador A. Bello. It would have been right to say Mr. A. Bello, a former Ambassador. Because we are a people who would not let go of old titles, we believe once a senator is always a senator and most be addressed forever as one, once a general is always a general. Little wonder some governors and ministers are still addressed with the title of senator even after many years of being absent from the Senate. Hilary Clinton will never again be called Sen. Clinton unless she goes back to the Senate rather she can be addressed as Mrs. Clinton, a former senator. All our retired generals still clutch the title like General (rtd) Bala instead of Mr. Bala, a retired General as people like Mr. Collin Powell, a retired US Army General does.
Our desire for titles knows no bound as our people keep the endless invention growing and turning out ‘combined honours’ even when the combinations are senseless. I used to think that this craze about titles are a way of making up for some deficiencies of the protagonist until I found that those who have really achieved in life and who should know much about this are also into it. It is a rat race thing and we know that whoever wins in a rat race still remains a rat. How do you explain the official title of most company heads being referred to as CEO/MD? Is Chief Executive Officer not the same thing as Managing Director? Is this not a tautology? This combination is only meaningful in a company with subsidiaries like the consolidated banks where an individual is the Managing Director of the parent company as well as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the consolidated group which is directly the same as CEO. Virtually all our banks consciously duplicate their helmsmen’s title as CEO/GMD which makes no sense.
The yearning propensity for titles other than Mr. has created a surge in the number of people going on yearly pilgrimage to the holy lands. While most people do out of genuine desire to fulfil the requirement of the tenets of their faith, some are motivated by the new attributable title and status or class. As the Moslem become Alhaji and Alhaja, some Christians who would not want to be outdone also suffixed their names with JP meaning Jerusalem Pilgrim. Funny as it may be, I have read the profile of somebody being referred to as 3 times Alhaji to show he has gone to Mecca 3 times. The quest for titles has created a boom business for our traditional rulers who are flooded with the request of people seeking honorary chieftaincy title. The honorary title used to be offered by the rulers as rewards to well meaning and deserving indigenes who have or are expected to contribute positively to the community but it is now being commercialized. Once you have the price, you will take the prize. The very smart ones don’t even wait to be awarded the titles by any ruler, they fabricate titles and award them to themselves. I have an uncle who became a chief overnight. These titles are being bastardized as some many ‘unchiefly’ people of questionable personality are becoming chiefs by the day. The same thing can be said of honorary doctorate degree where money plays a major role especially in the private universities. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can now buy such titles in the country and also with a few thousands of dollars same can be obtained from a private university in the US or India.
The way people want to outdo one another with titles reminds me of 3 popular Yoruba Fuji musicians in the 70’s and 80’s when the started the title competition. When one became an Alhaji, the others went to Mecca to equal him, when one added Chief, others also went for chieftaincy titles, then one called himself Brigadier General, another called himself full General and the third called himself Marshall meaning Field Marshal and then one went for honorary doctorate to add Dr. to his already vast collection, then another added Professor to his already overblown collection and it went on like that until one of them became a king without a territory.
After acquiring these titles, you’ll see my fellow countrymen displaying their stuff. A single man can combine about 4 or 5 or more titles. A typical Nigerian will be elated to be introduced, addressed or write his own title profile as Honourable Alhaji Chief Dr. Musa Taiwo PhD, AMNIM, MON & CEO/MD. It sounds incredible but take your time to see business cards of some of your friends to understand what I’m writing. Some are not done with common titles anymore and the invent theirs. It is not uncommon to hear titles like High Chief, Otunba, Ozo, Eze, Eze Ego, King (without Kingdom), Yeye meaning mother, Balogun, Iyalode, Akobi, Special Adviser, Consultant, Diplomat, Chief Press Officer, Commissioner etc.
This title wave has not spared the religious circles. It has blown into the Churches and Mosque to the extent that some clergies take offences if their full titles are not precisely mentioned in introducing them to the podium to deliver God's message. The title of Pastor is not even trendy to many anymore. Titles like Reverend, Apostle, Bishop, General Overseer - GO, President etc are more preferred and mostly pastors have the unofficial title of Daddy and their wives are usually Mummy. In some extreme cases, the daddy is qualified such as Big Daddy to differentiate the office and the anointing or sometimes combined with the official title as in Daddy GO. This goes for other officers who want accurate appellation as in Deacon(ess), Elder, Choirmaster etc. The story is the same in the Islamic circle as Chief Imam will never settle for Imam and all titles must be completely spelt out.
In the political circle, the more dishonourable the Legislators become, the more they crave to be called Honourable, the more mediocre the Executives are, the more they lust for His Excellency, the more unchiefly they become, the more they long to be called Chiefs. The title must be extended to their family members as well. The Governor’s wife become the First Lady of the State (as seen in scene 3 of the conversation above) while the local government Chairman’s wife is the First Lady at the local government level as Councillor’s wife is FL at the council level. All States’ First ladies have offices in the State government secretariat with full staff and official protocols notwithstanding that our Constitution recognizes only the national First Lady. All first lady offices at the state level are illegal and an abuse of office by government supporting the office.
Even with this title craze, I am still proud to be Mr. R.K. Oteniya.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
Oteniyark: Good morning Mr. Nwachukwu
Nwachukwu: Point of correction please! I’m Chief Engineer Nwachukwu.
Oteniyark: Can’t an engineer be addressed as a Mister?
Nwachukwu: I don’t know but as far as I am concerned, as the Chief Engineer of our company where you also work, the members of staff must call me Chief Engineer Nwachukwu otherwise I will ignore their calls.
Scene 2 (On the telephone)
Oteniyark: Hello good afternoon, could you allow me speak with Mr. A. Bello?
Yakubu: You mean my dad, Ambassador A. Bello?
Oteniyark: No, Mr. Bello is a pensioner.
Yakubu: Yes, It’s my dad, he was a Nigerian ambassador 18 years ago.
Scene 3 (At a public function)
Oteniyark: It is my pleasure to introduce the guest speaker Mr. Tony Bamgbose who was a member of the State House of Assembly.
Tony: Beg your pardon! I am honourable Bamgbose.
Oteniyark: I also have the privilege of inviting to the high table, the wife of the state governor, Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka.
An aid of the governor’s wife hurriedly jumped to the podium
Governor’s wife’s aid (whispering): Madam is First Lady and must be addressed as Her Excellency, the First Lady, Alhaja Chief Dr. Mrs. T. A. Agbabiaka LL.D. Please quickly make the correction!
The above scenes are a demonstration of the title craze that is endemic in Nigeria. Everywhere you turn your face in the society, this craziness is conspicuous and cuts across all segments of the society. It is evident in the workplace and business environment as well as political and religious circles.
We may not be the best in many things but not in inventing titles. If we can bring a bit of the ingenuity with which we invent or combine titles to other positive areas of lives, Nigeria will certainly be a better place and will surely rank among the best places in terms of positive development. Nigerians generate new titles almost with the same frequency Microsoft comes up with security updates for the Vista operating system. I have seen people adding to their names, strange titles like ‘Akobi’ a Yoruba word meaning first born and ‘Aremo’ another Yoruba word meaning next in line for a king’s throne.
Some good people of this great nation seem to extremely abhor being addressed as Mr. or Mrs. It may be out of sheer ignorance of thinking that the titles are for people of little importance and scarce achievement in the society or out of the ever increasing zeal to flamboyantly exhibit all the achievements and identities at any given opportunity or to cover some deficiencies. Mister may not after all be as insignificant as our dear people think and in fact it is the mother of all titles which can be applicable to any highly regarded man. Mister (Mr.) is a conventional title of respect for a man, prefixed to his name and to certain official designations or positions e.g. Mr. Chairman. Likewise, Mrs. or Ms is a title of honour for a woman. Regardless of other titles somebody possesses, the person can still be addressed as Mr. or Mrs without any disparaging feeling. In a place like America, the president is officially regarded as Mr. President but you dare not add the Mr. to the title of our President in order to save yourself of the Abuja wrath, the president must be introduced as His Excellency President Whoever.
A title, according to the American heritage dictionary of the English language, is a formal designation attached to the name of a person or family by virtue of office, rank, hereditary privilege, noble birth, or attainment or used as a mark of respect. A title can be a prefix or a suffix or in some cases embedded in between the names. Prefix titles are pre-nominal letters which are placed before the name of a person as distinct from a suffix titles which are post-nominal placed after the name. A prefix is used in direct address as in Mr., Dr., Chief, Alhaji, Barrister, etc while a suffix is used more in descriptive form and placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, award or honour. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. The order in which these are listed after a name is based on the order of precedence and category of the order. Examples include CEO, SAN, CFR, PhD, MBA, ACCA, retired General, former Senator, Editor in Chief, Commander in Chief, MP etc.
A title can be permanent or temporary. Funny enough most temporary titles have been made permanent in Nigeria. A former senator wants to be eternally addressed as senator. A former legislator will never give up the title of honourable and all of retired generals still bear their formal titles. A permanent title can be relevant throughout one’s lifetime after attaining it while a temporary title may be relevant only for a certain period of time.
A permanent title is a title attained by virtue of one’s gender as in Mr. or Mrs., hereditary privilege or noble birth as in Chief, Prince or Princess, Eze, King, Emir, Obi, Oba or a permanently attainment such as in Pastor, Imam or Alhaji (which is a term of respect used to address a Muslim who has completed one of the Five Pillars of Islam by going on the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage to Mecca). A woman who has completed the pilgrimage is addressed as Alhaja. Whoever has any of these titles is very unlikely to lose the title rather may acquire further titles. A prince may eventually become a king. Titles resulting from academic and professional qualifications are other forms of permanent title as in Eng, Arch, Barrister and Dr. which is usually used in calling a medical doctors or somebody who has doctorate degree in any other field.
Save for Dr, almost all other professional titles are regarded as workplace titles which are officially applicable in the workplace and related environment. Such titles like Engineer, Justice, Architect and Barrister are used in addressing people at the workplace. Outside the workplace, they are more commonly used in describing people. As demonstrated in Scene 1 of the conversation above, at the place of work, somebody can be called Eng. Nwachukwu while outside the workplace, he is called Mr. Nwachukwu, an engineer but an average Nigerian wants to be addressed everywhere he/she goes with the professional title especially those in the professions regarded as noble. No wonder one hears people addressed as Banker Jide, Accountant Emeka, Surveyor Ahmed, Manager Bala, Pharmacist James, Journalist Segun and other inconceivable Nigerian made titles. The earned degrees and qualification and other awarded titles that suffixed a name can also be permanent. Titles like BSc, MSc, MBA, AMNIM, ACA, FCCA, SAN, LL.D, MON, CFR, GCON, RIP etc. These titles always come behind a name. They may or may not be written after a name. In the Western world, these titles are written only when necessary.
On the other hand, temporary titles are earned by virtue of one’s official position, rank, appointment or election and as soon as somebody seizes to be in the position, the titles should seize to exist. It can only exist in a descriptive way referring to the fact that the person once occupied the position. Titles like President, Governor, Senator, Chairman, Honourable, Professor, Bishop, General Overseer, Chief Imam, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Chief Engineer, Chief Accountant, Attorney General, Minister, Commissioner, General, Brigadier, Colonel, Major, and IG are in this category. Once the title stops to be relevant, all salutation and protocols associated with the position and titles should automatically end. As seen in scene 2, Mr. A. Bello shouldn’t have been addressed as Ambassador A. Bello. It would have been right to say Mr. A. Bello, a former Ambassador. Because we are a people who would not let go of old titles, we believe once a senator is always a senator and most be addressed forever as one, once a general is always a general. Little wonder some governors and ministers are still addressed with the title of senator even after many years of being absent from the Senate. Hilary Clinton will never again be called Sen. Clinton unless she goes back to the Senate rather she can be addressed as Mrs. Clinton, a former senator. All our retired generals still clutch the title like General (rtd) Bala instead of Mr. Bala, a retired General as people like Mr. Collin Powell, a retired US Army General does.
Our desire for titles knows no bound as our people keep the endless invention growing and turning out ‘combined honours’ even when the combinations are senseless. I used to think that this craze about titles are a way of making up for some deficiencies of the protagonist until I found that those who have really achieved in life and who should know much about this are also into it. It is a rat race thing and we know that whoever wins in a rat race still remains a rat. How do you explain the official title of most company heads being referred to as CEO/MD? Is Chief Executive Officer not the same thing as Managing Director? Is this not a tautology? This combination is only meaningful in a company with subsidiaries like the consolidated banks where an individual is the Managing Director of the parent company as well as the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the consolidated group which is directly the same as CEO. Virtually all our banks consciously duplicate their helmsmen’s title as CEO/GMD which makes no sense.
The yearning propensity for titles other than Mr. has created a surge in the number of people going on yearly pilgrimage to the holy lands. While most people do out of genuine desire to fulfil the requirement of the tenets of their faith, some are motivated by the new attributable title and status or class. As the Moslem become Alhaji and Alhaja, some Christians who would not want to be outdone also suffixed their names with JP meaning Jerusalem Pilgrim. Funny as it may be, I have read the profile of somebody being referred to as 3 times Alhaji to show he has gone to Mecca 3 times. The quest for titles has created a boom business for our traditional rulers who are flooded with the request of people seeking honorary chieftaincy title. The honorary title used to be offered by the rulers as rewards to well meaning and deserving indigenes who have or are expected to contribute positively to the community but it is now being commercialized. Once you have the price, you will take the prize. The very smart ones don’t even wait to be awarded the titles by any ruler, they fabricate titles and award them to themselves. I have an uncle who became a chief overnight. These titles are being bastardized as some many ‘unchiefly’ people of questionable personality are becoming chiefs by the day. The same thing can be said of honorary doctorate degree where money plays a major role especially in the private universities. Every Tom, Dick and Harry can now buy such titles in the country and also with a few thousands of dollars same can be obtained from a private university in the US or India.
The way people want to outdo one another with titles reminds me of 3 popular Yoruba Fuji musicians in the 70’s and 80’s when the started the title competition. When one became an Alhaji, the others went to Mecca to equal him, when one added Chief, others also went for chieftaincy titles, then one called himself Brigadier General, another called himself full General and the third called himself Marshall meaning Field Marshal and then one went for honorary doctorate to add Dr. to his already vast collection, then another added Professor to his already overblown collection and it went on like that until one of them became a king without a territory.
After acquiring these titles, you’ll see my fellow countrymen displaying their stuff. A single man can combine about 4 or 5 or more titles. A typical Nigerian will be elated to be introduced, addressed or write his own title profile as Honourable Alhaji Chief Dr. Musa Taiwo PhD, AMNIM, MON & CEO/MD. It sounds incredible but take your time to see business cards of some of your friends to understand what I’m writing. Some are not done with common titles anymore and the invent theirs. It is not uncommon to hear titles like High Chief, Otunba, Ozo, Eze, Eze Ego, King (without Kingdom), Yeye meaning mother, Balogun, Iyalode, Akobi, Special Adviser, Consultant, Diplomat, Chief Press Officer, Commissioner etc.
This title wave has not spared the religious circles. It has blown into the Churches and Mosque to the extent that some clergies take offences if their full titles are not precisely mentioned in introducing them to the podium to deliver God's message. The title of Pastor is not even trendy to many anymore. Titles like Reverend, Apostle, Bishop, General Overseer - GO, President etc are more preferred and mostly pastors have the unofficial title of Daddy and their wives are usually Mummy. In some extreme cases, the daddy is qualified such as Big Daddy to differentiate the office and the anointing or sometimes combined with the official title as in Daddy GO. This goes for other officers who want accurate appellation as in Deacon(ess), Elder, Choirmaster etc. The story is the same in the Islamic circle as Chief Imam will never settle for Imam and all titles must be completely spelt out.
In the political circle, the more dishonourable the Legislators become, the more they crave to be called Honourable, the more mediocre the Executives are, the more they lust for His Excellency, the more unchiefly they become, the more they long to be called Chiefs. The title must be extended to their family members as well. The Governor’s wife become the First Lady of the State (as seen in scene 3 of the conversation above) while the local government Chairman’s wife is the First Lady at the local government level as Councillor’s wife is FL at the council level. All States’ First ladies have offices in the State government secretariat with full staff and official protocols notwithstanding that our Constitution recognizes only the national First Lady. All first lady offices at the state level are illegal and an abuse of office by government supporting the office.
Even with this title craze, I am still proud to be Mr. R.K. Oteniya.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
24 May 2009
Beat Them! If You Cannot Join Them, A Tribute To A Hero
This is a tribute to a hero. A true hero in a land where they are scarce like essential commodities especially among the ruling class. True heroes are rare and hard to find. They are very few and very many among the very few slip daily from ‘hero to zero’ succumbing the lust of power, the lure of materialism, the tempting of ‘Ghana must go’ and bandwagon syndrome. Some yield to the forces of power to act against the dictates of their God-given conscience in killing the hero or heroine in them. Yesterday, they were worthy of hosanna but today, they are worthless in character. Whenever we find a hero, we cannot but celebrate him in live or even in death.
A hero is a man of distinguished courage and ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. He is a model. A hero wants to leave this world a better place than he met it. He wants to leave his good marks to be judged by posterity.
A hero lives, eats, drinks, meets and talk with the corrupt but he is not corrupted. His sincerity sets him far apart and makes him stand tall among his mates. He associate with the power drunk but remain sober. He is unshakeably principled. He does not care to belong to the popular side as long as he is on the right side. He does not join them if he can not beat them rather he beats them if he can not join them.
We have lost another hero. He left us to meet his Creator in a journey he knew long ago was inevitable and for which he had spent his whole life here planning. He left behind his wife of 42 years who would later join him in the journey only after 30 days, two weeks short of her 69th birthday. Even death could not separate them for too long. What a love! What a bond!! What a re-union!!! He left behind what he understood as his ‘chain of businesses’. His Children were the only business he had, no wonder he invested heavily in them giving the best in formal and informal education. He had seven of them.
Our hero left us at a ripe age of 75 with very little money can buy because he had a very few of them. He was not very rich in material but in character. He was abundantly affluent in integrity and his words were his bond. His name was his biggest asset. He left a house, the only one he had. He left no car because that was the many he had but he left us a reason not to give up on this project called Nigerian and a reason to be hopeful that heroes and indeed real heroes do exist among us contrary to the popular opinion that they are an endangered specie entirely up for extinction. They live with us and the heroes are right inside of us. Everyone has a hero inside of him. Mariah Carey said it all that ‘the hero lies in you’.
Our hero was an uncompromisingly honest man. His transparency and frankness in a land that distastes truth brought him fewer friend than enemies. Known and avoided by many of his colleagues in the Army for his incorruptibility and zero intolerance towards all ‘unheroic’ men whose shameless love of money knows no bound. He led a crusade against corruption in his time. Sometimes a lone ranger on the right side of truth.
His profile may fool one to believe he was a common man, he was not. His material possessions and legacies may suggest he was an everyday Nigerian, No! He still wasn’t. He belonged to the ruling class. He tasted power without yielding to be arrested by it. He handled money but remembered quite well that the love of it is the beginning of all evil. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Brigadier General (Rtd) Harris Otadafewera Diodemese Eghagha (1934 - 2009) knew long ago the difference between a private and a public fund. Private fund was his to live-on legitimately and the public fund was for the good of the populace, it was meant to carry out public projects and not personal aggrandisement. His belief was anchored on the scripture that says “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul?”
Late General H.O.D Eghagha has gone to sleep in the Lord his Creator. Gone also was his wife, late Mrs Florence Eghagha (1941 - 2009). He would be remembered as a public officer who served the nation selflessly and meritoriously in the wartime and the time of peace without any stain against his personality, conduct and character. His life and record of service to the nation is worthy of emulation.
He was one of Nigeria’s finest second generation military officers. As a career military man, he occupied many important positions within and outside the military. He once served as the Quarter Master General of the army i.e. the chief procurement and supply officer, a position many consider a goldmine in our military service. He was also the Corps commander of Engineers where he inspired many young officers in the force through his demonstration of leadership qualities and professionalism.
As the first Military Administrator of Ogun state and before he handed over to the first civilian governor of the state, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo in 1979, he did his best by contributing valiantly with patriotism (not withstanding that he was not an indigene) to the building of the foundation of the modern Ogun State. His milestone achievements include the establishment of the College of Education in 1978 by then, the first tertiary institution in the state. He built the legislative quarters and a road network in Abeokuta, the state capital.
He was also at different times of his career, the acting governor of Kwara and Sokoto states. And he retired from the force in 1985 while serving as the Nigerian Ambassador to Ghana.
After retirement, while most of his colleagues started their second careers as politicians, power brokers, government contractors and oil and gas dealers in order to support their insatiable opulent lifestyle , he chose the more serene life of retirement spending more time with his family and dedicate the remaining time to community service especially at the grassroots which he did till the end.
Knowing Trevor (the first son of the deceased) about 10 years ago, then a chemical engineer who was a budding IT guru whose twin brother, Lester, also an engineer was then an officer in the Nigeria Custom, I couldn’t but marvel that this former governor’s son had to work hard to pay his bills just like me, a son of the governed and sometimes had to ‘western union’ his parents just like me. Most other governors’ children that I know live in houses they would never pay the mortgage and draw from accounts they never made deposits. Lester later left the Custom for an obvious reason, the reason that has adhered many to the Custom. The Custom is ‘too corrupt for Comfort!’
I couldn’t help tears rolling down my eyes when I read the testimony of our hero about the hardship faced by pensioners in our nation. According to him, save for the efforts of some good meaning Nigerians like Otunba (Dr.) Michael Adenuga Jnr. and Governor Gbenga Daniels who do come to his aid sometimes, life would have been very unbearable.
His life is an indication that public service does not necessary have to turn somebody into an overnight millionaire or billionaire. We have seen it happen in other places. After years as Attorney-general of Arkansas state, 12 years as governor of the same state and 8 years as the President of the richest and the most powerful country in the world, Bill Clinton took a mortgage in the year 2000 to buy his only house then. After many years as a MP regardless of the recent scandal in the UK parliament and 10 years as the Prime Minister of this wealthy and powerful nation, Tony Blair took up paid consultancy job with an American bank in order to sustain his living. How many of our civil servant and politicians have legitimate income to substantiate what they control in material assets? How do you explain a middle class civil servant sponsoring two children in colleges simultaneously in the UK?
There is nothing wrong in getting rich legitimately, I also pray and aspire to be as I am leaving no stone unturned in succeeding even financially. I do know some rich Nigerians who conscientiously served the nation yet made their money without joining the bandwagon in diverting public funds. I am very proud of them. Nigeria is proud of them and Nigerians are proud of them.
May the Lord grant the Eghagha’s family the fortitude to bear the double loss of both the patriarch and matriarch of the family.
And to our hero, as you continue the journey with your wife , I wish you a peaceful rest in the Lord. "The beauty of life is that it goes on even after it had ended. For a great many though, it has ended even while it goes on" May your soul rest in perfect peace. Amen
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
A hero is a man of distinguished courage and ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. He is a model. A hero wants to leave this world a better place than he met it. He wants to leave his good marks to be judged by posterity.
A hero lives, eats, drinks, meets and talk with the corrupt but he is not corrupted. His sincerity sets him far apart and makes him stand tall among his mates. He associate with the power drunk but remain sober. He is unshakeably principled. He does not care to belong to the popular side as long as he is on the right side. He does not join them if he can not beat them rather he beats them if he can not join them.
We have lost another hero. He left us to meet his Creator in a journey he knew long ago was inevitable and for which he had spent his whole life here planning. He left behind his wife of 42 years who would later join him in the journey only after 30 days, two weeks short of her 69th birthday. Even death could not separate them for too long. What a love! What a bond!! What a re-union!!! He left behind what he understood as his ‘chain of businesses’. His Children were the only business he had, no wonder he invested heavily in them giving the best in formal and informal education. He had seven of them.
Our hero left us at a ripe age of 75 with very little money can buy because he had a very few of them. He was not very rich in material but in character. He was abundantly affluent in integrity and his words were his bond. His name was his biggest asset. He left a house, the only one he had. He left no car because that was the many he had but he left us a reason not to give up on this project called Nigerian and a reason to be hopeful that heroes and indeed real heroes do exist among us contrary to the popular opinion that they are an endangered specie entirely up for extinction. They live with us and the heroes are right inside of us. Everyone has a hero inside of him. Mariah Carey said it all that ‘the hero lies in you’.
Our hero was an uncompromisingly honest man. His transparency and frankness in a land that distastes truth brought him fewer friend than enemies. Known and avoided by many of his colleagues in the Army for his incorruptibility and zero intolerance towards all ‘unheroic’ men whose shameless love of money knows no bound. He led a crusade against corruption in his time. Sometimes a lone ranger on the right side of truth.
His profile may fool one to believe he was a common man, he was not. His material possessions and legacies may suggest he was an everyday Nigerian, No! He still wasn’t. He belonged to the ruling class. He tasted power without yielding to be arrested by it. He handled money but remembered quite well that the love of it is the beginning of all evil. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Brigadier General (Rtd) Harris Otadafewera Diodemese Eghagha (1934 - 2009) knew long ago the difference between a private and a public fund. Private fund was his to live-on legitimately and the public fund was for the good of the populace, it was meant to carry out public projects and not personal aggrandisement. His belief was anchored on the scripture that says “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his soul?”
Late General H.O.D Eghagha has gone to sleep in the Lord his Creator. Gone also was his wife, late Mrs Florence Eghagha (1941 - 2009). He would be remembered as a public officer who served the nation selflessly and meritoriously in the wartime and the time of peace without any stain against his personality, conduct and character. His life and record of service to the nation is worthy of emulation.
He was one of Nigeria’s finest second generation military officers. As a career military man, he occupied many important positions within and outside the military. He once served as the Quarter Master General of the army i.e. the chief procurement and supply officer, a position many consider a goldmine in our military service. He was also the Corps commander of Engineers where he inspired many young officers in the force through his demonstration of leadership qualities and professionalism.
As the first Military Administrator of Ogun state and before he handed over to the first civilian governor of the state, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo in 1979, he did his best by contributing valiantly with patriotism (not withstanding that he was not an indigene) to the building of the foundation of the modern Ogun State. His milestone achievements include the establishment of the College of Education in 1978 by then, the first tertiary institution in the state. He built the legislative quarters and a road network in Abeokuta, the state capital.
He was also at different times of his career, the acting governor of Kwara and Sokoto states. And he retired from the force in 1985 while serving as the Nigerian Ambassador to Ghana.
After retirement, while most of his colleagues started their second careers as politicians, power brokers, government contractors and oil and gas dealers in order to support their insatiable opulent lifestyle , he chose the more serene life of retirement spending more time with his family and dedicate the remaining time to community service especially at the grassroots which he did till the end.
Knowing Trevor (the first son of the deceased) about 10 years ago, then a chemical engineer who was a budding IT guru whose twin brother, Lester, also an engineer was then an officer in the Nigeria Custom, I couldn’t but marvel that this former governor’s son had to work hard to pay his bills just like me, a son of the governed and sometimes had to ‘western union’ his parents just like me. Most other governors’ children that I know live in houses they would never pay the mortgage and draw from accounts they never made deposits. Lester later left the Custom for an obvious reason, the reason that has adhered many to the Custom. The Custom is ‘too corrupt for Comfort!’
I couldn’t help tears rolling down my eyes when I read the testimony of our hero about the hardship faced by pensioners in our nation. According to him, save for the efforts of some good meaning Nigerians like Otunba (Dr.) Michael Adenuga Jnr. and Governor Gbenga Daniels who do come to his aid sometimes, life would have been very unbearable.
His life is an indication that public service does not necessary have to turn somebody into an overnight millionaire or billionaire. We have seen it happen in other places. After years as Attorney-general of Arkansas state, 12 years as governor of the same state and 8 years as the President of the richest and the most powerful country in the world, Bill Clinton took a mortgage in the year 2000 to buy his only house then. After many years as a MP regardless of the recent scandal in the UK parliament and 10 years as the Prime Minister of this wealthy and powerful nation, Tony Blair took up paid consultancy job with an American bank in order to sustain his living. How many of our civil servant and politicians have legitimate income to substantiate what they control in material assets? How do you explain a middle class civil servant sponsoring two children in colleges simultaneously in the UK?
There is nothing wrong in getting rich legitimately, I also pray and aspire to be as I am leaving no stone unturned in succeeding even financially. I do know some rich Nigerians who conscientiously served the nation yet made their money without joining the bandwagon in diverting public funds. I am very proud of them. Nigeria is proud of them and Nigerians are proud of them.
May the Lord grant the Eghagha’s family the fortitude to bear the double loss of both the patriarch and matriarch of the family.
And to our hero, as you continue the journey with your wife , I wish you a peaceful rest in the Lord. "The beauty of life is that it goes on even after it had ended. For a great many though, it has ended even while it goes on" May your soul rest in perfect peace. Amen
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is the founder and the administrator of Nigeria Think Tank a Facebook discussion forum created to confront problems confronting us as a people.
04 May 2009
Corruption: How did we get this low? And which way out? – An open letter to a great Nation
My dear fellow countrymen,
This is the first of what I hope will be a series of regular letters to the 140 million Good People of this Great Nation. Being my first letter, I would like to deal with an issue of utmost concern to all, something that touches every life in the nation. Corruption is a menace that is posing a great challenge to our development, a torn in the flesh of our national conscience compromising the rule of law and becoming an undesirable way of life and governance that is undermining our democratic values. I would spend much energy and time addressing what I think should be lasting solutions to this somewhat incurable disease that is more dangerous than the notorious Swine flu.
Many have talked passionately and elaborately about this problem with only a few suggesting the ways out. Lamentation will not effect any change unless we get to the root cause, cure it and remove all the signs and symptoms. I would be using this space to do exactly that. We have to come together to end this problem even though we did not create it but we have all contributed to project it to the current level.
Very often, when we talk about corruption, we all tend to look at the other side, it something others do. Someone else is corrupt. It’s what the politicians do, it’s what the bosses do in Aso Rock and all the federal, state and local government houses; and the parliaments. Yes they do but if they are the only corrupt beings, then only an insignificant fraction of our society is corrupt. We are all quick to judge as corrupt, the NNPC and all organizations that have N stuck in them such as PHCN, NERC, NPA, NA, NN, NAF, NPF, NI, NC, NFA, FAAN, CBN, NDIC, NDCC, INEC…. Yes! You are right. They are all corrupt but corruption is not limited to them. If corruption is only limited to what we see in Ibori, Aondoakaa, the hairdresser Etteh, Lucky, Tafa, Alam, Edem, Alaibe, Dariye, Odili, Turaki, Atiku, Yar’Adua, Obasanjo, Abacha, Babangida, Abdulsalam, Siemens, Willbros, Halliburton and African Petroleum, I would be the first to thrown stone at them in the open. No! It is far beyond this.
So what is corruption? Nice question! Who is corrupt? Still a good question!! How did we get there? A better question!!! And how do we get out of this mess? Wow! You’ve just ask the best question!!!! My letter will deal with all these questions.
According to Oxford English dictionary, corruption is dishonest or illegal behaviour or the willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. If I have to expand this and bring it home, then corruption is a dysfunctional system or institution in which government officials, political officials and private employers or employees seek illegitimate personal gains through actions such as bribery, extortion, nepotism, graft, embezzlement and abuse of corporate power by managers against the shareholders or consumers. Corruption usually facilitate organized crime and criminal activities such as money laundering, fraud or 419, drug trafficking and all other forms of trafficking.
A government is susceptible to political corruption where access to politics is organized with limited transparency, limited competition and directed towards promoting narrow interests featuring stuffs like kleptocracy – rule by thieves inflating contracts and electoral process manipulation and rigging.
Who is corrupt?
This is a practical question that I would like to answer practically. In answering this question, I would like to ask you a few personal questions based on your past experiences. You’ll need to do some personal appraisal. If you answer YES to any of the questions, it can not be said that your are totally immune to corruption. If you answer is NO to all the question, I may have to bring a lie-detector to run the test on you by myself and if you still get a perfect NO, be sure that I’d recommend you to Transparency International (TI) in Berlin, Germany for a special anti-corruption award.
· Have you ever embezzled i.e. wrongfully taken, stolen or misappropriated a fund or office entrusted in your care. This include sending an official employee e.g. your official driver on a private errand? YES/NO
· Have you ever favoured or received favour from relatives, friends and associates in employment, judgement, award of contract or admission? YES/NO
· Have you ever made an illegitimate gain in employing someone or given a contract to a person other than the most competent candidate? YES/NO
· Have you ever been ‘settled’, taken a graft or a kickback i.e. a share of misappropriated funds from overpriced purchases or allocated from an organization involved in inflated contract? YES/NO
· Have you ever rigged an election or accepted an elected office through a fraudulent election? YES/NO
· Have you ever inflated the price of an item purchased in your official capacity or inflated the price of a contract?
· Have you ever used your official power illegitimately as means to an end, to punish or promote a person or to trump-up charges against enemies? YES/NO
If your answer is outright NO, congratulation! You have not contributed to corruption in the country but wait! Before you start uncorking the Champagne or giving testimony in your local church of your incorruptibility, let me ask you the last question.
· Have you ever given any form of bribe to any one or taken one. YES/NO
The answer to this may require a real soul-searching. Think of the popular N100 at the checkpoint substituting vehicle documents, N1000 at the airport for easy passage, N10,000 to the Immigration officer for quick passport, N100,000 at Idi-Iroko and Seme border to make the Custom men blind, N1,000,000 at Tin-Can to have a reduced tariff or duty, N10,000,000 to the Senate Committee, N100,000,000 to INEC to change the will of the people, N1,000,000,000 to the Presidency for the Oil block……………. Wow! Everything has a price.
Really, corruption can be graded. Some are more harmful than the others but every bit of it is detrimental to our system. We are where we are today as a result of all the forms of corruption at all level and we are all have to take responsibility and flush it out of our national life.
How did we get this low?
No nation is perfect. No country is 100% protected from corruption. In all great nations, corruption is not visible and acceptable. It goes on underground and perpetrated by only an infinitesimal fraction of the society and who are brought to book whenever they are caught. Nigeria was like this until the mid ‘60 when we had our first shot at electoral corruption.
In 1965 elections, the Action Group (AG), a party led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was outmanoeuvred for control of Nigeria's Western Region by the Nigerian National Democratic Party, an amalgamation of conservative Yoruba elements backed heavily by the Federal Government amid dubious electoral circumstances. This perceived corruption of the electoral and political process as well as other forms of corruption were cited as the factors leading in 1966 to back-to-back military coups.
Ever since the mid ‘60s, corruption has been dwelling with us and all successive governments made the fight against corruption a core point of their policies. We never really had a large scale corruption until the civilian regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a grade 2 teacher turned president. The Shagari government was viewed as very corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. Are teachers incompetent to put their teaching experiences and skills to ruling a nation? Yar’Adua is a former teacher.
Under Shagari’s government between 1979 to 1983, politicians like Alhaji Umaru Dikko, the then minister of transport was said to be corruptly making up to a million naira (then a naira was more than a dollar) daily from importation of rice and other commodities; and import duties fraud. The government was also re-elected through a massively fraudulent election that caused a lot of unrest in some south west states.
Most of the Shagari era’s deep corrupt practices were reversed by Mohammadu Buhari/Idi-Agbon’s government through the War Against Indiscipline programme (WAI). It was the only government on record apart from the short-lived Murtala Mohammed’s government that showed seriousness in fighting corruption. Other governments played only lip service. This high-handed government that came in January 1984 was overthrown in 1985 by Ibrahim Babangida to the relieve of many.
Most people believe that the Babangida’s government should be credited with institutionalizing corruption in our system. Babangida himself was the architect of the present miserable state of the nation and some call him the author and the finisher of corruption in the country. It can be correctly said that “the seed of corruption was planted by Babangida, watered by Abacha, nurtured to maturity by Abdulsalam, consolidated by Obasanjo and harvested by Yar’Adua”. The successive governments keep building on the brawny foundation of corruption Babangida laid and this explains why the situation progressively get worse. The zenith of this government’s corrupt practices was Babangida’s annulment of June 12, 1993 election which was adjudged by most people as the most free and fair election in the history of Nigeria and presumably won by Alhaji Moshood Abiola a philanthropic business mogul and government contractor.
So how do we get out of this mess called corruption?
Whatever has a beginning must definitely have an end. Life always present us with choices. We have two choices in ending this endemic vice that has apparently caused us to live a discounted life with an ever diminishing standard of living. It has eroded our national pride and sense of belongingness leaving us with nothing other than a collapsed system with brain drain and unemployment as main features and now threatening to completely mortgage our future.
Much sooner than later, we will be left with a violent change is we fail to make a peaceful change now! Abuja should know that those who make peaceful changes impossible, make violent changes inevitable.
Most Nigerians hope and pray to live in a country that will be free from corruption and many of us believe that a cause worth living for is worth dying for. We will be left with no alternative than this bloody revolution if we fail to act on a peaceful resolution.
The peace resolution will require a collective effort by all and sundry to be spearheaded by the government. Needless to say that with this depth of corruption, no single person or organisation has the moral ability and capability to fight it because when you do a background check, you will find out that those empowered by law to fight corruption are more deeply involved in corruption than those they want to check. The government has to provide an enabling environment by making zero tolerant policies (that must be strictly adhered to) against corruption and by leading through example that will flow down the ladder.
President Yar’Adua must show that he is serious about fighting this corruption and if he succeeds in just only this, posterity will place him on the right side of history.
Everyone has to give up all corrupt practices or be brought to book and whenever we see something, we have to say something as demanded by EFCC.
Nigeria also need to get back all the stolen money and looted treasures especially considering the present economic situation. We thereby need to set up a recovery commission using the South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) in order to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start.
TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa.
A recovery commission will enable people to come out voluntary and return back their loots in exchange for amnesty and only those who refuse to cooperate will be brought to justice.
If we fail to act now, the good people of this great nation are becoming impatient and the forceful change is imminent. A word is enough for the wise and the fact remains that “The future will have no pity for those men who have the exceptional privilege of speaking the word of truth to their own oppressors but who have taken attitude of passivity, mute indifference and sometimes of cold complicity”. Frantz Fannon
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Yours Sincerely,
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social affairs commentator.
This is the first of what I hope will be a series of regular letters to the 140 million Good People of this Great Nation. Being my first letter, I would like to deal with an issue of utmost concern to all, something that touches every life in the nation. Corruption is a menace that is posing a great challenge to our development, a torn in the flesh of our national conscience compromising the rule of law and becoming an undesirable way of life and governance that is undermining our democratic values. I would spend much energy and time addressing what I think should be lasting solutions to this somewhat incurable disease that is more dangerous than the notorious Swine flu.
Many have talked passionately and elaborately about this problem with only a few suggesting the ways out. Lamentation will not effect any change unless we get to the root cause, cure it and remove all the signs and symptoms. I would be using this space to do exactly that. We have to come together to end this problem even though we did not create it but we have all contributed to project it to the current level.
Very often, when we talk about corruption, we all tend to look at the other side, it something others do. Someone else is corrupt. It’s what the politicians do, it’s what the bosses do in Aso Rock and all the federal, state and local government houses; and the parliaments. Yes they do but if they are the only corrupt beings, then only an insignificant fraction of our society is corrupt. We are all quick to judge as corrupt, the NNPC and all organizations that have N stuck in them such as PHCN, NERC, NPA, NA, NN, NAF, NPF, NI, NC, NFA, FAAN, CBN, NDIC, NDCC, INEC…. Yes! You are right. They are all corrupt but corruption is not limited to them. If corruption is only limited to what we see in Ibori, Aondoakaa, the hairdresser Etteh, Lucky, Tafa, Alam, Edem, Alaibe, Dariye, Odili, Turaki, Atiku, Yar’Adua, Obasanjo, Abacha, Babangida, Abdulsalam, Siemens, Willbros, Halliburton and African Petroleum, I would be the first to thrown stone at them in the open. No! It is far beyond this.
So what is corruption? Nice question! Who is corrupt? Still a good question!! How did we get there? A better question!!! And how do we get out of this mess? Wow! You’ve just ask the best question!!!! My letter will deal with all these questions.
According to Oxford English dictionary, corruption is dishonest or illegal behaviour or the willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. If I have to expand this and bring it home, then corruption is a dysfunctional system or institution in which government officials, political officials and private employers or employees seek illegitimate personal gains through actions such as bribery, extortion, nepotism, graft, embezzlement and abuse of corporate power by managers against the shareholders or consumers. Corruption usually facilitate organized crime and criminal activities such as money laundering, fraud or 419, drug trafficking and all other forms of trafficking.
A government is susceptible to political corruption where access to politics is organized with limited transparency, limited competition and directed towards promoting narrow interests featuring stuffs like kleptocracy – rule by thieves inflating contracts and electoral process manipulation and rigging.
Who is corrupt?
This is a practical question that I would like to answer practically. In answering this question, I would like to ask you a few personal questions based on your past experiences. You’ll need to do some personal appraisal. If you answer YES to any of the questions, it can not be said that your are totally immune to corruption. If you answer is NO to all the question, I may have to bring a lie-detector to run the test on you by myself and if you still get a perfect NO, be sure that I’d recommend you to Transparency International (TI) in Berlin, Germany for a special anti-corruption award.
· Have you ever embezzled i.e. wrongfully taken, stolen or misappropriated a fund or office entrusted in your care. This include sending an official employee e.g. your official driver on a private errand? YES/NO
· Have you ever favoured or received favour from relatives, friends and associates in employment, judgement, award of contract or admission? YES/NO
· Have you ever made an illegitimate gain in employing someone or given a contract to a person other than the most competent candidate? YES/NO
· Have you ever been ‘settled’, taken a graft or a kickback i.e. a share of misappropriated funds from overpriced purchases or allocated from an organization involved in inflated contract? YES/NO
· Have you ever rigged an election or accepted an elected office through a fraudulent election? YES/NO
· Have you ever inflated the price of an item purchased in your official capacity or inflated the price of a contract?
· Have you ever used your official power illegitimately as means to an end, to punish or promote a person or to trump-up charges against enemies? YES/NO
If your answer is outright NO, congratulation! You have not contributed to corruption in the country but wait! Before you start uncorking the Champagne or giving testimony in your local church of your incorruptibility, let me ask you the last question.
· Have you ever given any form of bribe to any one or taken one. YES/NO
The answer to this may require a real soul-searching. Think of the popular N100 at the checkpoint substituting vehicle documents, N1000 at the airport for easy passage, N10,000 to the Immigration officer for quick passport, N100,000 at Idi-Iroko and Seme border to make the Custom men blind, N1,000,000 at Tin-Can to have a reduced tariff or duty, N10,000,000 to the Senate Committee, N100,000,000 to INEC to change the will of the people, N1,000,000,000 to the Presidency for the Oil block……………. Wow! Everything has a price.
Really, corruption can be graded. Some are more harmful than the others but every bit of it is detrimental to our system. We are where we are today as a result of all the forms of corruption at all level and we are all have to take responsibility and flush it out of our national life.
How did we get this low?
No nation is perfect. No country is 100% protected from corruption. In all great nations, corruption is not visible and acceptable. It goes on underground and perpetrated by only an infinitesimal fraction of the society and who are brought to book whenever they are caught. Nigeria was like this until the mid ‘60 when we had our first shot at electoral corruption.
In 1965 elections, the Action Group (AG), a party led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was outmanoeuvred for control of Nigeria's Western Region by the Nigerian National Democratic Party, an amalgamation of conservative Yoruba elements backed heavily by the Federal Government amid dubious electoral circumstances. This perceived corruption of the electoral and political process as well as other forms of corruption were cited as the factors leading in 1966 to back-to-back military coups.
Ever since the mid ‘60s, corruption has been dwelling with us and all successive governments made the fight against corruption a core point of their policies. We never really had a large scale corruption until the civilian regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a grade 2 teacher turned president. The Shagari government was viewed as very corrupt and incompetent by virtually all sectors of Nigerian society. Are teachers incompetent to put their teaching experiences and skills to ruling a nation? Yar’Adua is a former teacher.
Under Shagari’s government between 1979 to 1983, politicians like Alhaji Umaru Dikko, the then minister of transport was said to be corruptly making up to a million naira (then a naira was more than a dollar) daily from importation of rice and other commodities; and import duties fraud. The government was also re-elected through a massively fraudulent election that caused a lot of unrest in some south west states.
Most of the Shagari era’s deep corrupt practices were reversed by Mohammadu Buhari/Idi-Agbon’s government through the War Against Indiscipline programme (WAI). It was the only government on record apart from the short-lived Murtala Mohammed’s government that showed seriousness in fighting corruption. Other governments played only lip service. This high-handed government that came in January 1984 was overthrown in 1985 by Ibrahim Babangida to the relieve of many.
Most people believe that the Babangida’s government should be credited with institutionalizing corruption in our system. Babangida himself was the architect of the present miserable state of the nation and some call him the author and the finisher of corruption in the country. It can be correctly said that “the seed of corruption was planted by Babangida, watered by Abacha, nurtured to maturity by Abdulsalam, consolidated by Obasanjo and harvested by Yar’Adua”. The successive governments keep building on the brawny foundation of corruption Babangida laid and this explains why the situation progressively get worse. The zenith of this government’s corrupt practices was Babangida’s annulment of June 12, 1993 election which was adjudged by most people as the most free and fair election in the history of Nigeria and presumably won by Alhaji Moshood Abiola a philanthropic business mogul and government contractor.
So how do we get out of this mess called corruption?
Whatever has a beginning must definitely have an end. Life always present us with choices. We have two choices in ending this endemic vice that has apparently caused us to live a discounted life with an ever diminishing standard of living. It has eroded our national pride and sense of belongingness leaving us with nothing other than a collapsed system with brain drain and unemployment as main features and now threatening to completely mortgage our future.
Much sooner than later, we will be left with a violent change is we fail to make a peaceful change now! Abuja should know that those who make peaceful changes impossible, make violent changes inevitable.
Most Nigerians hope and pray to live in a country that will be free from corruption and many of us believe that a cause worth living for is worth dying for. We will be left with no alternative than this bloody revolution if we fail to act on a peaceful resolution.
The peace resolution will require a collective effort by all and sundry to be spearheaded by the government. Needless to say that with this depth of corruption, no single person or organisation has the moral ability and capability to fight it because when you do a background check, you will find out that those empowered by law to fight corruption are more deeply involved in corruption than those they want to check. The government has to provide an enabling environment by making zero tolerant policies (that must be strictly adhered to) against corruption and by leading through example that will flow down the ladder.
President Yar’Adua must show that he is serious about fighting this corruption and if he succeeds in just only this, posterity will place him on the right side of history.
Everyone has to give up all corrupt practices or be brought to book and whenever we see something, we have to say something as demanded by EFCC.
Nigeria also need to get back all the stolen money and looted treasures especially considering the present economic situation. We thereby need to set up a recovery commission using the South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) in order to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start.
TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa.
A recovery commission will enable people to come out voluntary and return back their loots in exchange for amnesty and only those who refuse to cooperate will be brought to justice.
If we fail to act now, the good people of this great nation are becoming impatient and the forceful change is imminent. A word is enough for the wise and the fact remains that “The future will have no pity for those men who have the exceptional privilege of speaking the word of truth to their own oppressors but who have taken attitude of passivity, mute indifference and sometimes of cold complicity”. Frantz Fannon
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Yours Sincerely,
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social affairs commentator.
Is the western brand of democracy suitable for African countries
It unavoidable that different people must meet and interact at one point or the other. It also inevitable that due to this interaction, there will be a sharing and exchange of ideas and practices (culture) between and among groups. The circumstances that led to the first contact is a major determinant of level at which one party view the other and consequently the extent to which the lifestyle and ideal of one influence or dominate the other in subsequent relationship. Technological advantage made it possible for the Europeans be the first to cross the atlantic to African shores. This was quickly followed by slavery and then colonialism. It is clear from the history of our first interaction with the European explorers that African communities are at disadvantage in term of technological knowhow and because we need to learn from them the follow up has been that of teacher/student relationship. Apology to the blessed memory of Fela Kuti. (Teacher don't teach me nonsense). There is no doubt that this technological influence on African communities has great improvement on how we produce our food, build our shelter and in some part of Africa, they learn to cover themselves with textile instead of leaves. However there are limitating factors to the extent to which a group emulate the other or in a particular aspect of life. One of them is the existence of a similar and functioning ideals. Another and most importantly is the compatibility of a foreign value with the culture, tradition and sentiments of the host communities.Broadly speaking, there are three major aspect of peoples' life, vis- economic, social and political. But for the purpose of this discussion I will based my point on the political aspect, hence governance and democracy. Unlike the better tools for farming, the more reliable building materials, and more decent clothing, all of which are almost new to us and have a positive and direct impact on Africans living standard. African communities were not in a state of anarchy before the coming of the Europeans, and governance is not new to African.As a political historian none of the present/popular (democracy) and the past but now not so popular (socialism) borrowed political ideas were at one time or other been practiced in various pre-colonial African communities. For example, a carefull study of the political system of Old Oyo Empire will show that the system of government have all the basic element of modern democracy. The relationship between the Queen of England and the British parliament is not in any way different from the relationship between the Alafin of Oyo and his chiefs. While the Alaafin of Oyo (the chief executive) has the power to agree or disagree(veto-power) with the Oyo high chiefs (the legislative council), the chiefs also have the collective power to remove a king that tend to abuse his power. Although there was nothing like a direct election in the Old Oyo Empire, but it is clear that whoever is chosen by the kingmakers to take the throne must enjoy the majority support of the chiefs who directly or indirectly retain there position as titled chiefs by there popularity in their local communities. This is indirect representation and that is also the sense behind electoral college as a mean of choosing an American president. Now the question is if democracy and civil governance is not new in Africa, then why is it that any democratic process in African countries is still being riddled with sorrow, tears and blood? In my opinion, the major problem with the African democracy is that it failed to recognize and make provision for our traditional values and sentiments. An example of such sentiment is Age. Consciously or unconsciously, an average African still regard age as a vital criteria for wisdom and leadership. This is why it will be difficult to have somebody under the age of fifty to be 'democratically' elected as president in Africa. In an average African family, important decisions are made by the head of the family who most probably is regarded as the head by virtue of age and not by election. Yet he made binding decision over the rest of the extended family. I can see Barrack Obama's daughter engaging in "fair debate" with his father. However, such scenario between Y'aradua (the president of Nigeria) or Mugabe (the president of Zimbabwe) will have to be a one way affair else the child will be considered to be rude. If charity truely begins from home, how then do you expect such president to respect the opinion and views of a 'young' but intelligent senator.In African traditional political system, leadership is considered to a life affair expect when the ruler abuses power, and then the ruler would not be voted out but removed by banishment or death! But this is not allowed in modern democracy. African leaders are by tradition not comfortable with leaving the front until they are disgraced out of office, dead or killed. However none of them will admit this because America and the West will be angry. Hence, what we have been having and which we will continue to be content with will be annulment of election, power sharing, political assassination and countless constitution ammedment. My submission is that the western version of democracy is in conflict with core African values and sentiment. I don't believe that we are likely to evolve into true and lasting democracy in Africa until this sentiment are address and given place in our version of democracy, The British did not do away with their traditional values and sentiment in the name of democracy, instead they find a means of making them work together. hence the phrase 'Queen in Parliament'.
Kolawole Ogunyinka
Kolawole Ogunyinka
“NIGERIA” - YOU ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION
I HEAR THE TEARS OF YOUR HEART. I LISTEN TO THE STILL VOICE OF FRUSTRATIONS WHICH LIES AT THE BOTTOMLESS PART OF YOUR INNER SOUL. I FEEL THE SENSE OF YOUR HANGER TOWARDS NIGERIA. YES, I DO! THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT OUR BLAME AND FINGER POINTING CULTURE WILL NOT BRING AN END TO THE CHALLENGES WE FACE TODAY. THE SOLUTIONS TO OUR PROBLEMS LIE IN OUR HANDS. WE MUST ALL AS CITIZENS OF THE GREAT NATION OF NIGERIA; COME TOGETHER WITH 1 COMMON SENSE OF PURPOSE AND BEGIN TOUCHING ORDINARY LIVES FROM THE BOTTOM. THAT IS THE BEGINNING OF A REAL CHANGE IN NIGERIA” Daniel OlusanyaI often hear people talk about the challenges facing the great nation of Nigeria today. I hear citizens complain and mourn about the lack of infrastructure and the insensitivity of the government. We blame our leaders for everything. Folks say that Nigeria is the most corrupt nation in the world. My question to you today is; WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?Even though I agree with your concerns for Nigeria; are we then going to continue dwelling on the present state that Nigeria is in today or are we as great citizens look forward to what Nigeria could become. The government cannot do it alone, they need your help and support to make Nigeria a great nation again; not just for your generation, but for generations to come. After all, the problems we face today are as a result of the mistakes and failures of our past generations. We all fail at times and we do make mistakes as well. Now, what does it profit us to keep pointing fingers and remain in the same state of affairs?The Challenges that we face today cannot be solved by our criticism of the government (leaders) or by so called revolution. Our challenges can only be solved by the shared sense of Purpose, Faith and Hope among us.I have faith and believe that Nigeria has a destiny that we the people must see come to pass. We are the generation that can and will bring real change to Nigeria.The time is now to think; what can you do for Nigeria and not what Nigeria can do for you."THE SENSE OF A COMMON PURPOSE WHICH BINDS US TOGETHER IS GREATER THAN THE SPIRIT OF COMPLAINTS THAT BREAKS US APART" Daniel Olusanya "REAL CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU"Written by Daniel Olusanya (18 April 2009)Founder, THE PURPOSE SOCIETY (REAL CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU)PLEASE HELP PASS THIS NOTE AROUND BY POSTING IT ON YOUR WALL USING THIS LINK: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=81962107591 Please watch my new video message to all Nigerians here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=81962107591#/video/video.php?v=1134096107968 Join the group: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=81962107591#/group.php?gid=25060162852&ref=tsSHOULD YOU WISH TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN PRINT AND ANY OTHER MEDIA FORMATS, PLEASE DO HAVE THE COURTESY TO ASK FOR MY PERMISSION. THE FULL CONTENT OF THE ATTICLE; INCLUDING TITLE, NAME OF AUTHOR, ETC, MUST REMAIN INTACT AT ALL TIMES. Thank you.
Daniel Sync Olusanya
Daniel Sync Olusanya
Sustainable Development in Nigeria: Lagos as a case study(A)
Today, Lagos is fast becoming a wonder to itself and the same set of inhabitants who have lived here for years. The roads are being transformed from market extensions and death traps to perform their real functions – smooth transportation of people, goods and services, the night view of green lawns coupled with solar-powered lighting are admirable, waste management is improving daily (the new recycling system is a plus), the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system has started on a good note, the waterways are becoming alternatives for transportation, emphasis on overall development is so obvious – even the blind can see that. This rapid development in about two years is not just a miracle. I believe in miracles, however, they cannot be confused with results from conscious and well calculated input of time, energy, money and human resources coupled with discipline, sincerity and a strong passion for change. Even God has respect for work.How then can this ongoing development be sustained? As I ask this question, I think of the next twenty years. How will Lagos look like again when successive administrations have passed by? We must not forget how hard it is for change to be effected in a people who are used to a different lifestyle. We must not forget that there are people who hate change, people Harold Wilson referred to as architects of decay who will be happy just to reverse the ongoing reformation in this state and of course in other states were such development in on-going. These, I believe will not discourage us. Instead, they stand as challenges we must overcome if the future of our children will be secured.The popular saying: you can’t teach old dog new tricks, reminds me of the importance of correct training when it is most effective: when the dog is young. Have we ever thought for once, that the same children we tend to overlook will become the youths of tomorrow and grow into the elders and decision makers in the future? Just in 20 years, a baby becomes an adult, a youth becomes a fatherAs a conscious optimist, I hate to talk about the problems but lasting solutions will never be a reality without identifying today’s problems and the challenges they pose to a sustained development.I strongly believe that any form of development, meant to last, must start from bottom up. Today, we lament at the rate of innocent killings by some irresponsible members of the Nigerian Police. Our learning institutions, the foundation of any true development drop on the world rankings daily – they have become business empires for uncaring, short-sighted and ultimately wicked people. Thugs and drug addicts hang around everywhere causing pain to responsible citizens, our youths pride in immediate but never-lasting gratification. Cheating is encouraged from birth through primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, no thanks to inordinate ambitions of parents and craze for money and fake recognition by proprietors (I read with utmost dismay and a sad humor, the WAEC rankings of secondary schools based on students’ performance. I only wish they knew how their supervisors supervise excellent meals and leave with mouth-watering cash prizes leaving proprietors and students of some of these schools to cheat endlessly. I do not suppose that all these schools do not deserve to be on top of the rankings. However I know (by personal experience) that many do not deserve to be there. If only the rankings could be done with more diligence, taking into cognizance the results of products of these same schools after four years in tertiary institutions (some never get there, many are drop-outs). Corporate institutions don’t help matters. Instead of meaningful and developmental collaborations with educational institutions, what we have is series of shows and carnivals. I’m not opposed to musical shows (though I’ve never been interested in one) but I think a balance should be created. Corporate gambling (disguised as marketing strategy) is on the increase! Send 123 to 08000000456 and you could win a treasure? What insult on our intelligence!Do we realize that as we shout and make noise about change; we only pay lip service to it. Or do we expect a messiah from heaven? We are in the same circle regardless of the highest form of infrastructural development. I do not undermine the efforts of the government in this area, but to be candid, if we have a set of negative-minded children and youths today, we only build for today. The future of this state and our nation in general is questionable.In stating our present problems and challenges, I have focused strongly on young people and our learning institutions, the home and the schools; because I believe that any lasting development must strong roots these places. What then is the solution?I await your well-thought comments on this issue. Your comment could be the solution we need! Remember its a collective vision.Yes to the Nigerian Dream.
Jinadu Adekunle
Jinadu Adekunle
Zacchaeus The Tallest Teacher
This piece is not a religious bigotry, it is about a moral issue that concerns Nigerians across the board.
Zacchaeus was one of the first bible character I knew. Even before I knew his whole story, I had known him as a man of little build. Back then in the 70’s, in my elementary school – Government demonstration School, Onitolo Street, Surulere, Lagos, there was a non academic staff member we used to sarcastically call Zacchaeus. We all knew it was derogatory, so we would hide or simply call him behind. Children can be mischievous! In a nutshell the name was synonymous to small height. Then every short man was a Zacchaeus.
Even after knowing his story, very often, we focus on his small stature without giving any thought to the tall aspect of him. We focus on the physical traits as if it is only the physique that makes a man. The story is incomplete and meaningless when you think only about his height. It was a story of a small man with huge endowment, a petite man with a great accomplishment, a tiny man with a giant dream, an undersized man with a great initiative, a small man with an enormous divine favour. A diminutive man with a large heart who was ready to re-write his sad past for a bright future. Even in the present day, many of the greatest men in the world are small-statured. President Arroyo of Philippines, Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy (who also doubled as the country richest man) and many not ‘very tall’ Nigerians have contributed greatly to the development of the society.
For this piece to be understood, it is important to read the 10 verses dedicated to Zacchaeus in the Holy Book.
Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."
Reading through the passage, there is no doubt about Zacchaeus’ stature. He was such a short man. He wanted to see Jesus but he couldn't see over the people in front of him. He didn't just give up and go home. No way, he looked for a way out to solve his problem. He had an idea. He would run ahead of the crowd and climb up the sycamore tree that was beside the path where Jesus would walk. What an excellent place! We could say he had a "front row seat".
As short as he was physically, he was tall and very tall in some areas of life. He was tall in riches, deeply tall indeed. He was tall in position and social class. He was a chief tax collector that can be likened to a Comptroller in the Nigeria Custom. He was tall in initiative. He knew what he needed to do to make up for his miniature size to beat the crowd. He was tall in his humility towards Christ because regardless of his elevated social status, he humbled himself to climb a tree just to see Jesus. And after climbing the tree, he was apparently taller than anyone. And most of all, he was tall in his lesson for Nigerians and probably the tallest teacher that has ever lived in this lesson for fellow countrymen.
As a chief tax collector, he was a wealthy man who was hated because he had cheated people by collecting more than he should. He would give part of the money to the government and keep the rest for himself just like a typical Nigerian.
Zacchaeus made so much money but apparently realized that life is not all about money. There is much more to life than money. Money is not everything. Money has power but also has limit. Money can bring people around but cannot buy love nor true friends, it can buy a house but not a home, it can bring smile but cannot buy joy nor happiness, it can buy the best medical care but cannot buy good health nor sanity, it can solve some problems but cannot buy peace, it can pay children fees in the best schools but cannot buy good children and above all it cannot buy life nor eternity. Materialism is all vanity.
After meeting with Jesus, Zacchaeus was so excited. The people who knew him to be a wicked and oppressive man began to murmur about His association with a sinner but Zacchaeus was sorry for the bad things he had done. As people began to criticize Jesus, Zacchaeus repented. He told the Lord that he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he had cheated anybody out of anything, he would give back four times that amount. Jesus was pleased with his excellent attitude of heart. He said, "Today salvation has come to this house."
There are two great lessons for us here. The first is that Zacchaeus promised to give half of his possessions to the poor. Having realized that accumulating material wealth is all vanity, he decided to do something more profitable and more fulfilling with his wealth. His action can be likened to that of the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, Warren Buffett who in 2006, in one swoop gave $31 billion (60% of his net worth) to the Gates Foundation in supporting their philanthropic work. In my last article (http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=58221486905&topic=8517) , I wrote so much about giving back.
The second lesson from Zacchaeus is his act of restitution. ‘and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much’. From his words, we gather that
he had been guilty of defrauding people,
he was remorseful over his past actions, and
he was committed to making restitution.
He was sincere and had an immediate desire to make restitution. Here was a man who was penitent and contrite, and was ready to prove his conversion by his resolve to atone, as much as possible, for past sins. He desired to re-write his past and right his wrongs. Genuine repentance leads to a desire to redress wrongs. When someone is repentant, he will have a desire born of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restoration whenever possible.
Let us bring this home. Statistics show that Nigeria has earned the equivalent in today’s terms of nearly $1.2 trillion from oil production over the past four decades. This sort of money has enabled oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Bahrain, Qatar and even Libya to transform their economies. We do not have much to show for ours. Most of the earnings ended up in private pockets of individual and according to Mr. Memedu Andrew of ACTIONAID, in 48 years of Nigeria’s existence, more than 64 trillion naira (about Nigeria’s Federal Budget for 20 years) has disappeared into thin air.
There is no doubt that Nigeria is plagued by corruption in the high and low places. From the President to the Porter, from the Minister to the Messenger, from the Chief of staff to the least of staff, from the Inspector General to Constable, from General to Private, from CEO to the Gateman and from the General Overseer and Chief Imam to the Clerk.
Nuru Ribadu, the former EFCC boss claimed that about $2 billion had been recovered from Abacha’s family and cronies as at Dec. 2006. Was Abacha the only corrupt past President? How much such money is with Babangida? Are his hands so clean that he has no case to answer even up till today. What about Abdulsalam, a saint? And of course, Obasanjo and even Yar’Adua? What about the past and present Vice presidents, governors and other public office holders. The Legislators, the Civil Servants and the government contractors, the military men, Custom officers, Policemen, Immigration officials, Judiciary, CBN, all officials of government parastatals, local government officials, foreign mission, foreign contractors like Siemens, Halliburton etc. and even the private sector. Corruption has eaten deep into the system such that no sector is spared – not even the religious organizations.
With this depth of corruption, even a serious government that is serious about fighting it may not find it practicable to bring all culprits to book. The cost of prosecution will be too enormous and the time will be too overwhelming. Why can’t we learn from Zacchaeus and start returning the loots back to the system to please our creator even if not in four folds like he did? And why can’t the government use South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start.
TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa.
In Nigeria, we can have a Restitution Commission where all who have stolen and defrauded the nation will remorsefully come and make restitution in exchange for amnesty. Only those who fail to cooperate will be prosecuted.
Most Nigerians professed Christianity and Islam. These two faiths require the practitioners to live in clear conscience. Why can’t we just live to the tenets of our faith and stop being hypocrites. Why do we fill the Mosques and the Churches on weekends as saints only to return to our posts on Monday as looters.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social affairs commentator.
Zacchaeus was one of the first bible character I knew. Even before I knew his whole story, I had known him as a man of little build. Back then in the 70’s, in my elementary school – Government demonstration School, Onitolo Street, Surulere, Lagos, there was a non academic staff member we used to sarcastically call Zacchaeus. We all knew it was derogatory, so we would hide or simply call him behind. Children can be mischievous! In a nutshell the name was synonymous to small height. Then every short man was a Zacchaeus.
Even after knowing his story, very often, we focus on his small stature without giving any thought to the tall aspect of him. We focus on the physical traits as if it is only the physique that makes a man. The story is incomplete and meaningless when you think only about his height. It was a story of a small man with huge endowment, a petite man with a great accomplishment, a tiny man with a giant dream, an undersized man with a great initiative, a small man with an enormous divine favour. A diminutive man with a large heart who was ready to re-write his sad past for a bright future. Even in the present day, many of the greatest men in the world are small-statured. President Arroyo of Philippines, Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy (who also doubled as the country richest man) and many not ‘very tall’ Nigerians have contributed greatly to the development of the society.
For this piece to be understood, it is important to read the 10 verses dedicated to Zacchaeus in the Holy Book.
Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."
Reading through the passage, there is no doubt about Zacchaeus’ stature. He was such a short man. He wanted to see Jesus but he couldn't see over the people in front of him. He didn't just give up and go home. No way, he looked for a way out to solve his problem. He had an idea. He would run ahead of the crowd and climb up the sycamore tree that was beside the path where Jesus would walk. What an excellent place! We could say he had a "front row seat".
As short as he was physically, he was tall and very tall in some areas of life. He was tall in riches, deeply tall indeed. He was tall in position and social class. He was a chief tax collector that can be likened to a Comptroller in the Nigeria Custom. He was tall in initiative. He knew what he needed to do to make up for his miniature size to beat the crowd. He was tall in his humility towards Christ because regardless of his elevated social status, he humbled himself to climb a tree just to see Jesus. And after climbing the tree, he was apparently taller than anyone. And most of all, he was tall in his lesson for Nigerians and probably the tallest teacher that has ever lived in this lesson for fellow countrymen.
As a chief tax collector, he was a wealthy man who was hated because he had cheated people by collecting more than he should. He would give part of the money to the government and keep the rest for himself just like a typical Nigerian.
Zacchaeus made so much money but apparently realized that life is not all about money. There is much more to life than money. Money is not everything. Money has power but also has limit. Money can bring people around but cannot buy love nor true friends, it can buy a house but not a home, it can bring smile but cannot buy joy nor happiness, it can buy the best medical care but cannot buy good health nor sanity, it can solve some problems but cannot buy peace, it can pay children fees in the best schools but cannot buy good children and above all it cannot buy life nor eternity. Materialism is all vanity.
After meeting with Jesus, Zacchaeus was so excited. The people who knew him to be a wicked and oppressive man began to murmur about His association with a sinner but Zacchaeus was sorry for the bad things he had done. As people began to criticize Jesus, Zacchaeus repented. He told the Lord that he would give half of his possessions to the poor, and if he had cheated anybody out of anything, he would give back four times that amount. Jesus was pleased with his excellent attitude of heart. He said, "Today salvation has come to this house."
There are two great lessons for us here. The first is that Zacchaeus promised to give half of his possessions to the poor. Having realized that accumulating material wealth is all vanity, he decided to do something more profitable and more fulfilling with his wealth. His action can be likened to that of the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, Warren Buffett who in 2006, in one swoop gave $31 billion (60% of his net worth) to the Gates Foundation in supporting their philanthropic work. In my last article (http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=58221486905&topic=8517) , I wrote so much about giving back.
The second lesson from Zacchaeus is his act of restitution. ‘and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much’. From his words, we gather that
he had been guilty of defrauding people,
he was remorseful over his past actions, and
he was committed to making restitution.
He was sincere and had an immediate desire to make restitution. Here was a man who was penitent and contrite, and was ready to prove his conversion by his resolve to atone, as much as possible, for past sins. He desired to re-write his past and right his wrongs. Genuine repentance leads to a desire to redress wrongs. When someone is repentant, he will have a desire born of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restoration whenever possible.
Let us bring this home. Statistics show that Nigeria has earned the equivalent in today’s terms of nearly $1.2 trillion from oil production over the past four decades. This sort of money has enabled oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Bahrain, Qatar and even Libya to transform their economies. We do not have much to show for ours. Most of the earnings ended up in private pockets of individual and according to Mr. Memedu Andrew of ACTIONAID, in 48 years of Nigeria’s existence, more than 64 trillion naira (about Nigeria’s Federal Budget for 20 years) has disappeared into thin air.
There is no doubt that Nigeria is plagued by corruption in the high and low places. From the President to the Porter, from the Minister to the Messenger, from the Chief of staff to the least of staff, from the Inspector General to Constable, from General to Private, from CEO to the Gateman and from the General Overseer and Chief Imam to the Clerk.
Nuru Ribadu, the former EFCC boss claimed that about $2 billion had been recovered from Abacha’s family and cronies as at Dec. 2006. Was Abacha the only corrupt past President? How much such money is with Babangida? Are his hands so clean that he has no case to answer even up till today. What about Abdulsalam, a saint? And of course, Obasanjo and even Yar’Adua? What about the past and present Vice presidents, governors and other public office holders. The Legislators, the Civil Servants and the government contractors, the military men, Custom officers, Policemen, Immigration officials, Judiciary, CBN, all officials of government parastatals, local government officials, foreign mission, foreign contractors like Siemens, Halliburton etc. and even the private sector. Corruption has eaten deep into the system such that no sector is spared – not even the religious organizations.
With this depth of corruption, even a serious government that is serious about fighting it may not find it practicable to bring all culprits to book. The cost of prosecution will be too enormous and the time will be too overwhelming. Why can’t we learn from Zacchaeus and start returning the loots back to the system to please our creator even if not in four folds like he did? And why can’t the government use South African model of Truth and Reconciliatory Commission (TRC) to get the loots back so that we can have a fresh start.
TRC was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Anyone who felt that he or she was a victim of its violence was invited to come forward and be heard. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from prosecution. Despite some flaws, it is generally thought to have been successful. It was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa.
In Nigeria, we can have a Restitution Commission where all who have stolen and defrauded the nation will remorsefully come and make restitution in exchange for amnesty. Only those who fail to cooperate will be prosecuted.
Most Nigerians professed Christianity and Islam. These two faiths require the practitioners to live in clear conscience. Why can’t we just live to the tenets of our faith and stop being hypocrites. Why do we fill the Mosques and the Churches on weekends as saints only to return to our posts on Monday as looters.
God Bless Nigeria!
Nigeria Go Better!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social affairs commentator.
She Wants You, She Needs You, She can’t Do Without You
She Wants You, She Needs You, She can’t Do Without You.
There is no time to waste, she’s on a life-support machine and she definitely needs help. If unaided, this may be the last phase of her challenging life.
I would like to warn that this not a usual romantic tale as you may have thought or as suggested by the title nor a thriller full of escapades, it is a story dedicated to finding possible solutions to some of the problems confronting us as a people. If you are still interested in reading further, here we go.
Many years ago, she was diagnosed of a rare form of cancer that was detected at such an early stage that would have made it curable. Contrary to expectation, chemotherapy and radiation were ineffective in her case and the only option would have been surgically removing the affected tissues or organ from her system just like her sister once did when she had a similar problem. The tumour has now ravaged some of her organs. It has weaken her kidney and she needs a transplant. She also needs bone marrow transplant to ensure her survival. Compatible donor are needed immediately. The donors are you and I, the patient is Nigeria and the cancer is corruption. It is unfortunate that corruption has become an integral part of the nation. A way of life and a way of governance.
While Nigeria lives with corruption and allows the corrupt officials to flaunt the proceeds of corruption to assail our collective intelligence, J.J. Rawlings knew long ago that it would neither serve his country nor his people any good to let the corrupt leaders be. He removed the malignant cells from their system and this makes the difference in these two countries today. As much as this is not the main focus of this write up and coupled with the fact that I would not like to support a bloody revolution yet in this country, I think we need to start discussing how to rescue our dear nation from this marauders who are only out to filch the nation to death.
As an optimist, I tried most possible not to sound a pessimist or an alarmist but the situations on ground prove me otherwise. The problems are visible everywhere you turn your face. Needless to start listing them. We need to speedily intervene in bringing back life into this system whose collapse is imminent. The good people of this great nation want you. The unfortunate lot who have been at the receiving end of the misrule of these heartless successive corrupt governments need you and the most fragile part of the society - the poor, particularly widows and orphans, and the sick and disabled need you. They need your aid. At the very least, everyone needs to do at least one thing every year to help these people. We all know that at best, the government has no welfare programme for struggling people save for the little window dressing the first ladies do in the eye of television cameras to deceive the world that they care. They cannot deceive God.
Under the present global financial conditions where unemployment are at an all-time high, Nigeria needs you much more than ever and we can not afford to fail. Her survival depends on what we give back to her in this crucial time. A nation is built on what individuals give back and not what they take it from it. We surely know that to whom much is given, much is expected but in this time of emergency, even though little or nothing was ever given, we still cannot close our eyes to the suffering of the populace.
We are a people who pride ourselves in our communal living ensuring the welfare of people who are connected to us as in the saying "Charity begins at home". We have our peculiar and informal way of giving back. We generously support our extended families and friends. We take good care of our parents and grandparents. We sponsor our nephew and nieces as if they are our children. We even pay school fees and hospital bills of our distant relations. Truly, charity begins at home but it does not end there. Normally, charity denotes giving to those not related to one. In giving back, we need to look beyond our family lines. We need to institutionalize our giving such as to ensure continuity and allow it transcend our time and bloodline.
Even though the notion of giving back is universal, the institutional form is more established and more popular in the developed world. As the governments provide the best social services and welfare programmes to the disadvantaged, the voluntary efforts of the private sector is imperative in complementing those of the various governments as a way of showing appreciation to the system that has given the opportunity to be in the position of helping others.
In giving back, corporate and religious organizations and well meaning members of the society engage in charitable and philanthropic work by donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support socially beneficial causes, with defined objectives and with no financial or material reward to the donor. In a more general sense, philanthropy may encompass any unselfish activity intended to promote good or improve human quality of life.
During the past few years, some high profile examples of philanthropy include Irish rock singer Bono's campaign to cancel Third World debt to developed nations; the Gates Foundation's massive resources and ambitions, such as its campaigns to eradicate malaria, polio and river blindness; and billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett's donation in 2006 of $31 billion to the Gates Foundation. Although philanthropists are often rich, people may also perform philanthropic acts without possessing great wealth.
As against philanthropists, charitable workers are non-wealthy persons who have dedicated and donated some of their time, effort and wealth to charitable causes. They pull up their small resources together to do great work that would have been otherwise impossible to do alone. I have had to support some great charitable causes with as little as €1.00 (One Euro) that was deducted from my mobile phone credit.
Recently, as L’Aquila, Italy was devastated by earthquake, more than 10,000 (ten thousand) people volunteered to work night and day with the government agencies in the rescue and relief efforts. My son’s football club is coached by a team of three young men who dedicate 9 hours every week to ensure the boys play good football. It is also not an uncommon scene to see a young volunteer driving an ambulance donated by a local bank alongside those provided by the local health authority. We can do all these and even more.
We can develop institutions and charities to carry out the labour of assisting the poor. These include orphanages, food banks and feeding centres, hospitals, organizations that visit the imprisoned, support groups and religious orders dedicated to care for the poor. Jesus did not only provide for the spiritual needs of the people, he also cared for their welfare. He fed those who came to listen to Him. In the same vein, Islam is about sharing and caring for the less privileged.
In giving back, we can be involved in the area of education giving grants, scholarship, counselling and supporting both parents and students in one cause or the other. We need to come together as old students’ association members to support our alma meters. Virtually, all the schools are shadows of their past. In the health sector, we can come together to build and run primary health centres, donate tools and materials to government hospitals, donate working hours at different levels, organising counselling and enlightenment campaign and running ambulance services. In the social/welfare/youth sector, we can run rehabilitation centres for the street guys, recreational and sporting centres to develop sporting ability and leadership in the youth. ‘The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own’. We can also operate feeding centres where dinners are served ensuring no one dies of starvation and hand out centres where people can collect new and used materials like clothes, shoes, books, baby food, toys etc. We can also give special assistance to the disabled.
When we institutionalise our charitable work, it will be easier to get philanthropists and cooperate sponsors to lend their weight. Save for a few, many of our organisations and the super rich only give out rams during Sallah break or over-publicised hand out at Christmas whereas they can replicate what Bill Gate is doing internationally at our local level. The other areas that charity can effectively operate in Nigeria are:
relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged,
advancement of education,
erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works,
construction of bore-hole to communities
defence of human and civil rights secured by law, and
legal defence of the defenceless
combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
protecting and preserving the beautiful and fragile natural habitats within and surrounding our centre,
waste recycling – especially paper, card and pure water plastic and nylon,
the advancement of citizenship or community development
the advancement of human rights conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity
the advancement of environmental protection or improvement
the relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
When look back to the activities and performances of our successive governments, most of us may not have any reason to give back but when we look at the suffering of the populace as a result of the neglect by the government, we have a moral obligation to give back. The system has not actually given us so much but in most instances, it has forced many of us to where we are today enjoying the best facilities in the world
Nigeria Go Better!
God Bless Nigeria!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social commentator.
There is no time to waste, she’s on a life-support machine and she definitely needs help. If unaided, this may be the last phase of her challenging life.
I would like to warn that this not a usual romantic tale as you may have thought or as suggested by the title nor a thriller full of escapades, it is a story dedicated to finding possible solutions to some of the problems confronting us as a people. If you are still interested in reading further, here we go.
Many years ago, she was diagnosed of a rare form of cancer that was detected at such an early stage that would have made it curable. Contrary to expectation, chemotherapy and radiation were ineffective in her case and the only option would have been surgically removing the affected tissues or organ from her system just like her sister once did when she had a similar problem. The tumour has now ravaged some of her organs. It has weaken her kidney and she needs a transplant. She also needs bone marrow transplant to ensure her survival. Compatible donor are needed immediately. The donors are you and I, the patient is Nigeria and the cancer is corruption. It is unfortunate that corruption has become an integral part of the nation. A way of life and a way of governance.
While Nigeria lives with corruption and allows the corrupt officials to flaunt the proceeds of corruption to assail our collective intelligence, J.J. Rawlings knew long ago that it would neither serve his country nor his people any good to let the corrupt leaders be. He removed the malignant cells from their system and this makes the difference in these two countries today. As much as this is not the main focus of this write up and coupled with the fact that I would not like to support a bloody revolution yet in this country, I think we need to start discussing how to rescue our dear nation from this marauders who are only out to filch the nation to death.
As an optimist, I tried most possible not to sound a pessimist or an alarmist but the situations on ground prove me otherwise. The problems are visible everywhere you turn your face. Needless to start listing them. We need to speedily intervene in bringing back life into this system whose collapse is imminent. The good people of this great nation want you. The unfortunate lot who have been at the receiving end of the misrule of these heartless successive corrupt governments need you and the most fragile part of the society - the poor, particularly widows and orphans, and the sick and disabled need you. They need your aid. At the very least, everyone needs to do at least one thing every year to help these people. We all know that at best, the government has no welfare programme for struggling people save for the little window dressing the first ladies do in the eye of television cameras to deceive the world that they care. They cannot deceive God.
Under the present global financial conditions where unemployment are at an all-time high, Nigeria needs you much more than ever and we can not afford to fail. Her survival depends on what we give back to her in this crucial time. A nation is built on what individuals give back and not what they take it from it. We surely know that to whom much is given, much is expected but in this time of emergency, even though little or nothing was ever given, we still cannot close our eyes to the suffering of the populace.
We are a people who pride ourselves in our communal living ensuring the welfare of people who are connected to us as in the saying "Charity begins at home". We have our peculiar and informal way of giving back. We generously support our extended families and friends. We take good care of our parents and grandparents. We sponsor our nephew and nieces as if they are our children. We even pay school fees and hospital bills of our distant relations. Truly, charity begins at home but it does not end there. Normally, charity denotes giving to those not related to one. In giving back, we need to look beyond our family lines. We need to institutionalize our giving such as to ensure continuity and allow it transcend our time and bloodline.
Even though the notion of giving back is universal, the institutional form is more established and more popular in the developed world. As the governments provide the best social services and welfare programmes to the disadvantaged, the voluntary efforts of the private sector is imperative in complementing those of the various governments as a way of showing appreciation to the system that has given the opportunity to be in the position of helping others.
In giving back, corporate and religious organizations and well meaning members of the society engage in charitable and philanthropic work by donating money, goods, services, time and/or effort to support socially beneficial causes, with defined objectives and with no financial or material reward to the donor. In a more general sense, philanthropy may encompass any unselfish activity intended to promote good or improve human quality of life.
During the past few years, some high profile examples of philanthropy include Irish rock singer Bono's campaign to cancel Third World debt to developed nations; the Gates Foundation's massive resources and ambitions, such as its campaigns to eradicate malaria, polio and river blindness; and billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett's donation in 2006 of $31 billion to the Gates Foundation. Although philanthropists are often rich, people may also perform philanthropic acts without possessing great wealth.
As against philanthropists, charitable workers are non-wealthy persons who have dedicated and donated some of their time, effort and wealth to charitable causes. They pull up their small resources together to do great work that would have been otherwise impossible to do alone. I have had to support some great charitable causes with as little as €1.00 (One Euro) that was deducted from my mobile phone credit.
Recently, as L’Aquila, Italy was devastated by earthquake, more than 10,000 (ten thousand) people volunteered to work night and day with the government agencies in the rescue and relief efforts. My son’s football club is coached by a team of three young men who dedicate 9 hours every week to ensure the boys play good football. It is also not an uncommon scene to see a young volunteer driving an ambulance donated by a local bank alongside those provided by the local health authority. We can do all these and even more.
We can develop institutions and charities to carry out the labour of assisting the poor. These include orphanages, food banks and feeding centres, hospitals, organizations that visit the imprisoned, support groups and religious orders dedicated to care for the poor. Jesus did not only provide for the spiritual needs of the people, he also cared for their welfare. He fed those who came to listen to Him. In the same vein, Islam is about sharing and caring for the less privileged.
In giving back, we can be involved in the area of education giving grants, scholarship, counselling and supporting both parents and students in one cause or the other. We need to come together as old students’ association members to support our alma meters. Virtually, all the schools are shadows of their past. In the health sector, we can come together to build and run primary health centres, donate tools and materials to government hospitals, donate working hours at different levels, organising counselling and enlightenment campaign and running ambulance services. In the social/welfare/youth sector, we can run rehabilitation centres for the street guys, recreational and sporting centres to develop sporting ability and leadership in the youth. ‘The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own’. We can also operate feeding centres where dinners are served ensuring no one dies of starvation and hand out centres where people can collect new and used materials like clothes, shoes, books, baby food, toys etc. We can also give special assistance to the disabled.
When we institutionalise our charitable work, it will be easier to get philanthropists and cooperate sponsors to lend their weight. Save for a few, many of our organisations and the super rich only give out rams during Sallah break or over-publicised hand out at Christmas whereas they can replicate what Bill Gate is doing internationally at our local level. The other areas that charity can effectively operate in Nigeria are:
relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged,
advancement of education,
erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works,
construction of bore-hole to communities
defence of human and civil rights secured by law, and
legal defence of the defenceless
combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
protecting and preserving the beautiful and fragile natural habitats within and surrounding our centre,
waste recycling – especially paper, card and pure water plastic and nylon,
the advancement of citizenship or community development
the advancement of human rights conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity
the advancement of environmental protection or improvement
the relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
When look back to the activities and performances of our successive governments, most of us may not have any reason to give back but when we look at the suffering of the populace as a result of the neglect by the government, we have a moral obligation to give back. The system has not actually given us so much but in most instances, it has forced many of us to where we are today enjoying the best facilities in the world
Nigeria Go Better!
God Bless Nigeria!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social commentator.
Yar’Adua’s Electoral Reforms and Iwu
Nigeria is undoubtedly blessed with many leaders who know what to do to advance the nation but she’s blessed with only a few who would actually do what it takes to move her forward. Much has been done about the electoral reforms and even much more has been said. Can we believe President Yar’Adua is sincere in the reform? And with Prof. Maurice Iwu at helm of INEC, can Nigeria be guaranteed a free and fair election?Nigeria’s electoral laws just like the constitution itself indubitably need to be reformed to correct some apparent anomalies that have made it impossible to have a credible election. And the question still remains whether President Yar’Adua as a beneficiary of the flawed process is ready and courageous enough to effect the necessary changes.The president started well by recognizing that there were errors in the electoral process that brought him to the office as he set up a National Electoral Reform Committee led by Justice Muhammadu Uwais (a former Chief Justice of Nigeria) and promised the nation that he would stop at nothing to make the required reforms. This is a path of honor expected of a president who has made ‘rule of law’ a chorus. After a thorough work of the eminent members of the committee, a white paper was submitted to the presidency. Expectedly, in the Nigerian way, the president of Nigeria – a nation where the leaders make promises and break promises with the least consideration for integrity – hastily set up two different committees (one after the other) to doctor the report to suite his cause and thereby removing the most salient recommendation of the report that would have made INEC to be truly independent as the name suggests. The white paper committee on the Uwais report headed by Defense Minister Shettima Mustapha was set up by the president and due to their failure to read the body language of Mr. President, they came up with an unsatisfactory endorsement of Uwais report and this prompted the President to set up yet another review committee now headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa to get the deed done by ensuring that the power to appoint the INEC Chairman is retained by the President as against the recommendation that it should be transferred to the Judicial Commission.
Accepting the recommendation of the committee to cede the power to select the INEC chairman would have genuinely proved the sincerity of the President in breaking with the status quo and making up a little bit for the illegitimacy of his government rather he is bent on appointing a judge that would judge his case. This may not really be a big problem in some societies especially where the law rules but because of the peculiarity of our polities where nothing goes for nothing, it is a dangerous place to be. I pretty much have difficulties believing the sincerity of the government in this reform. Regarding Prof. Maurice Iwu’s continuing stay at the helm of INEC, I personally subscribe to the fact that he has to go for us to have a credible election taking into account the reasons stated below:It is time for Nigeria to join the league civilized nations where offices are held in trust with responsibility and accountability. Whenever an officer fails in any of these, the ideal thing is to resign and apologize for the failure. It is not an uncommon thing. Company executives stand down whenever something goes wrong in their companies even with this ubiquitous financial crisis, many company executives have already quitted. Club administrators and coaches step down whenever their teams fail to perform and even public office holder and government officials resign whenever anything goes wrong in their departments. Recently the Interior minister of Greece resigned because two prisoners broke out of a jail. The local prison director also resigned as well as the national director of prisons. It is always a path of honor to tread. Having this in mind, let us look at Iwu’s case critically.Considering responsibility, Prof Iwu was appointed as the chairman of INEC saddled with the responsibilities (among others) of registering voters for the elections and conducting free and fair elections. The voters registration processes was messed up showing that INEC was grossly ill-prepared and the whole process was marred with so many irregularities like inadequate equipments and stealing of data capturing machines found in the houses of some political party chiefs. Regarding the elections, Iwu conducted what is adjudged by Nigerians and international observers as the worst election ever conducted since the history of election as the whole processes were flawed with all (in)conceivable irregularities.When you consider accountability, as a public officer, Prof. Iwu has failed to transparently report his discharge of duty and responsibility and also fail to account for the huge public resources entrusted in his care. As bad as the 2007 elections were, Iwu is about the only one (and perhaps Senator Adeleke and a few of his colleagues) who believed the elections were credible. He even swanked that Ghana and the USA have so much to learn from Nigeria in conducting elections. If he did not see anything wrong in 2007, how can he change in 2011? He must be living in his own world.
He also made the whole country to believe that the voting materials were printed in South Africa and brought into the country the days preceding the election days only to retract this many months later that they were actually printed in Nigeria. How can a man be so deceitful even in official matters. Another instance was cooking up stories of hijacked materials without being specific. He only said this to justify the stuffed ballot boxes that would ensue later.Looking at the finance of INEC, with the tons of billions of naira budgeted, allocated and expended by INEC, there was no reason on earth for INEC not to have adequate number of machines and enough hands during the registration process and the elections. If not for the Nigerian factor, the Professor supposed to have resigned long before the 2007 elections because there was the celebrated case of financial misappropriation in INEC that involved the late financial director – one Pastor Timothy Olufemi Akanni who died in a Bellview Airlines plane crash on October 22, 2005. After his death and due to a family wrangle, it was discovered that he had embezzled more than 6 billion naira from INEC. Where on earth would a subordinate part with such a huge sum without his boss knowing about it. Even if he did not know, it was a sufficient reason to resign and apologize for failing in his duty of supervising his subordinate. In Nigeria that I know, it would be the strangest thing on this planet if the financial director had acted alone. Professor Iwu joined INEC after the 2003 election as a national commissioner and was sworn in by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on June 13, 2005 as the chairman. Based on the reasons stated above, I would like to join the well meaning Nigerians and organizations like the NLC and NBA in calling for the exit of the Professor. Nigeria is bigger than an individual.Nigeria Go Better!
God Bless Nigeria!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social commentator.
Accepting the recommendation of the committee to cede the power to select the INEC chairman would have genuinely proved the sincerity of the President in breaking with the status quo and making up a little bit for the illegitimacy of his government rather he is bent on appointing a judge that would judge his case. This may not really be a big problem in some societies especially where the law rules but because of the peculiarity of our polities where nothing goes for nothing, it is a dangerous place to be. I pretty much have difficulties believing the sincerity of the government in this reform. Regarding Prof. Maurice Iwu’s continuing stay at the helm of INEC, I personally subscribe to the fact that he has to go for us to have a credible election taking into account the reasons stated below:It is time for Nigeria to join the league civilized nations where offices are held in trust with responsibility and accountability. Whenever an officer fails in any of these, the ideal thing is to resign and apologize for the failure. It is not an uncommon thing. Company executives stand down whenever something goes wrong in their companies even with this ubiquitous financial crisis, many company executives have already quitted. Club administrators and coaches step down whenever their teams fail to perform and even public office holder and government officials resign whenever anything goes wrong in their departments. Recently the Interior minister of Greece resigned because two prisoners broke out of a jail. The local prison director also resigned as well as the national director of prisons. It is always a path of honor to tread. Having this in mind, let us look at Iwu’s case critically.Considering responsibility, Prof Iwu was appointed as the chairman of INEC saddled with the responsibilities (among others) of registering voters for the elections and conducting free and fair elections. The voters registration processes was messed up showing that INEC was grossly ill-prepared and the whole process was marred with so many irregularities like inadequate equipments and stealing of data capturing machines found in the houses of some political party chiefs. Regarding the elections, Iwu conducted what is adjudged by Nigerians and international observers as the worst election ever conducted since the history of election as the whole processes were flawed with all (in)conceivable irregularities.When you consider accountability, as a public officer, Prof. Iwu has failed to transparently report his discharge of duty and responsibility and also fail to account for the huge public resources entrusted in his care. As bad as the 2007 elections were, Iwu is about the only one (and perhaps Senator Adeleke and a few of his colleagues) who believed the elections were credible. He even swanked that Ghana and the USA have so much to learn from Nigeria in conducting elections. If he did not see anything wrong in 2007, how can he change in 2011? He must be living in his own world.
He also made the whole country to believe that the voting materials were printed in South Africa and brought into the country the days preceding the election days only to retract this many months later that they were actually printed in Nigeria. How can a man be so deceitful even in official matters. Another instance was cooking up stories of hijacked materials without being specific. He only said this to justify the stuffed ballot boxes that would ensue later.Looking at the finance of INEC, with the tons of billions of naira budgeted, allocated and expended by INEC, there was no reason on earth for INEC not to have adequate number of machines and enough hands during the registration process and the elections. If not for the Nigerian factor, the Professor supposed to have resigned long before the 2007 elections because there was the celebrated case of financial misappropriation in INEC that involved the late financial director – one Pastor Timothy Olufemi Akanni who died in a Bellview Airlines plane crash on October 22, 2005. After his death and due to a family wrangle, it was discovered that he had embezzled more than 6 billion naira from INEC. Where on earth would a subordinate part with such a huge sum without his boss knowing about it. Even if he did not know, it was a sufficient reason to resign and apologize for failing in his duty of supervising his subordinate. In Nigeria that I know, it would be the strangest thing on this planet if the financial director had acted alone. Professor Iwu joined INEC after the 2003 election as a national commissioner and was sworn in by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on June 13, 2005 as the chairman. Based on the reasons stated above, I would like to join the well meaning Nigerians and organizations like the NLC and NBA in calling for the exit of the Professor. Nigeria is bigger than an individual.Nigeria Go Better!
God Bless Nigeria!
Rufus Kayode Oteniya (oteniyark@hotmail.com) is a Milan, Italy based businessman and social commentator.
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