Nigeria

Nigeria Remains A Scalar Quantity at 49

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Nigeria Remains A Scalar Quantity at 49
By Adeola Aderounmu
There is almost nothing to celebrate nationally as Nigeria clocks 49 on 1st of October 2009. As a nation Nigeria has failed her citizenry. There was abundance when we took over the reign of governance from the British in 1960. It didn’t take long before greed, selfishness and lack of political will took the better of Nigerians. After the civil war, the politics of hate and the evil desire to acquire questionable wealth became aggravated. Gradually we led ourselves away from abundance and we chose austerity in its place.

We grounded all our agricultural exports and a few people who captured the country from time to time lavished away the gains of our oil exports. Rather than refining locally, we opted for exportation of our crude oil and importation of the finished products. That is a think-tank for the race-intelligence debate. In the process we created the “oil mafia” who alongside with the cabal continued to enslave the rest of us until this day.

In 1993 we abandoned hope and chose fear. In 1999 we opted for the evil of the past rather that sought fresh minds and new concepts. In 2007 we didn’t ask: where are our votes? In 2009 we confined ourselves to the doldrums and we confirmed our place as a laughing stock among the comity of nations. While the rest of the world is moving ahead we are content with the Pre-Industrial Age existence that has been foisted on us by a few greedy and corrupt men and women now led by a very incapable person called Yar Adua.

Since 1960 till date Nigeria continues to exist as a scalar quantity. We have size but definitely no direction. Nigerians apparently do not want to acknowledge that there has been a vacuum in governance since 2007. Even before then it was possible to see the rising similarities between Nigeria and Somalia. Somalia has not been governed for over a decade. In my personal opinion there is no president in Nigeria and that vacuum must be filled as soon as possible before we begin to address the options that could help change things for the better.

Nevertheless we must continue to remind ourselves of the appropriate things that we need to do to get this failing country back on track. The biggest stumbling block to our collective progress is the manner of our politics. Politics in Nigeria is seen as the biggest income earner and the shortest legitimate cut out of a life of poverty and despair. Invariably these mentalities have brought all kinds of people into politics and public life. Commonly, corrupt and very bad people are in charge of Nigerian politics. It is extremely hard to find a genuine public office holder in Nigeria.

It is also difficult to define a starting point for the way forward for Nigeria. This is because it has taken 49 years to destroy almost every aspects of our national life. The final onslaught is now on education and sports. Everything has fallen apart completely! Which of our problems can be the enviable starting block for the much needed national revamping?

What is going to work for Nigeria? Do we still have any hope? Is it possible for Nigerians to experience the bliss of the 1960s say 40 years from now? Let us forget about the 419 vision 2020. It is a calculated attempt by fraudulent minds to loot and steal. Nothing good can ever emerge from the present order of things in Nigeria! Not with the rogues in power.

I wrote about 2 years ago that to continue to wish that Nigeria will be a better place in the absence of conventional norms is complete fantasy. That there cannot be an escape from our entrapment if we do not have normal democracy; one in which the power rest absolutely on the people. One in which the people can decide what they want and how they want it-a democracy of participation instead of siddon-look.

Nigeria needs a democracy that will empower the people to struggle and win against oppression and dictatorship. Until such a time that real leaders will emerge in Nigeria through the ballots that have been declared free and fair, campaigns like the fight against corruption and the useless ongoing rebranding managed by corrupt people as we have it in present day Nigeria are simply hopeless adventures.

Though many of them got to the National Assembly through fraudulent means, the present crops of lawmakers in Nigeria have a chance to write their names in gold. They should ensure that they promulgate the electoral reforms that will ensure that the forthcoming elections are better than the 1993 elections. The process should start today with proper voters’ registration exercise. The goal should be a non-violent culmination where all votes are counted with minimal setbacks or hiccups in 2011 and beyond.

Nigeria needs men and women with sound minds who can institute and defend the pillars of democracy and the correct rule of law. I am sorry that Yar Adua is seriously ill and that he needs regular medical attention. But I am not sorry that he is living in denial and that he didn’t even use the 8 years he had as a governor to alleviate his medical travails. Even the 2 years he had spent as an illegal president have come to represent the worst 2 years by any Nigerian ruler. I am still very angry that he is pulling down more than 140m people. How hopeless can it get for Nigerians?

Indeed Nigeria is a very complex country in dire need of strong institutions and sound minds because the likes of Yar Adua and his present gang are enemies of progress. A mind as feeble as Umaru’s, pursuing a 7-point deadly agenda is the last thing that a failing nation like Nigeria requires at this crucial moment of our history. It is unthinkable we will endure another 2 years with a stolen cum failed presidency. It is disheartening that 2 years from now we may have reached an irredeemable status.

Nigeria is now 49 years. Where do we go from here? We want credible elections. We want accountable leaders. We want to restore our glory in education and sports. We want to bring food back to our tables. We want good roads. We want constant electric supply. We want employment opportunities to improve. We want to have petroleum products at our gas stations. We want water to drink. We want the value of our currency to rise. We want to have good health care system. We want insurance and security for our lives and property. In short we want a proper standard of living that will take us away from being the dwarf of Africa.

A new and fresh round of elections that will bring hope in place of fear and accountability in place of corruption remains the single most important step forward for Nigeria. It is arguable that if we don’t conduct a successful election in Nigeria, then we will not be able to do other things in the right way especially the true fight against corruption.

It is high time we put the right foot forward. The task of building this nation and making it ready for our children and children’s children must start now. A new national re-orientation that will bring out the best in us as individuals and as a nation is essential. Dignity in labour and the elevation of merit above nepotism will be essential ingredients.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Racism In Arts And Two Good Hearts

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September 11 2009 is a day that Belgium-based Nigerian artist Godfrey Williams-Okorodus will not forget in a hurry. Godfrey has been championing a campaign against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) using art as the tool of his campaign. In respect of this campaign, Godfrey’s work has been shown in the British Parliament, Harvard Faculty Club, Cornell University and several other venues in Europe. On September 11 2009 the art works were displayed in a small town called Ypres in Belgium. Godfrey had an exhibition of his own works along with those of other artists.

The organizers of the exhibition completely ignored the presence of our own Godfrey Williams-Okorodus while the officials of the city and organizers of the event made speeches and keynote addresses. As the originator of the campaign, Godfrey was left in shock. He was not even mentioned or acknowledge in the program. According to him, “I have never in my entire professional career felt so low. Of course I would rather die than allow such injustice and I raised a serious fuss and I was allowed to say something. The question I want answered is: can this same treatment be meted out to a Belgian artist?”

The second case was another incident that involved Godfrey and his friend Bode Owa who is a very well known black actor in Belgium. Bode was billed to perform at the exhibition mentioned above but when they got to Ypres they had to stop to get directions to the venue. In the process Bode spotted a wallet in the middle of the road. He picked it up and walked across to some youths to ask them if the wallet belonged to any of them but they answered in the negative.

So Bode opened the wallet and discovered that it belonged to a British man. Together Bode and Godfrey guessed it must belong to one of the tourists who have probably come to visit the graves of British soldiers killed during the World Wars. They decided to try to give the wallet to the owner rather than the police because Bode had a very nasty experience in the past where he took a wallet he found to the police and they detained and questioned him. The police even accused him of taking money from the wallet.

Anyway this time around Bode and Godfrey called the UK numbers on the complimentary cards that they found in the wallet and left messages saying that they found a wallet and they would like to return it to the owner. These 2 Nigerians even went to a pub in Ypres in an attempt to locate the owner of the wallet. They had seen a receipt from the pub inside the wallet.

After the nasty experience at the exhibition a call came through from the owner of the wallet and an arrangement was made to meet up at the exact spot where the wallet was found. The couple that came to retrieve the wallet actually stood in front of Godfrey and Bode but it was beyond their thoughts that these are the guys who have found their wallet.

It was rather comical as Bode was calling on the phone and Godfrey was looking at the whole scene. Bode had his back to the couple as he spoke to them on the phone on this tiny bridge where it should have been possible to see anyone who was talking on the phone.

Godfrey had to call the attention of the couple saying hey! We are the ones with the wallet. The first word that the man uttered in amazement was, YOU!!! That simple word spoke volumes as the man could not believe in his wildest dreams that he would lose a wallet and have it returned by two black men, one of them in dreadlocks. His jaw dropped and he was speechless for a few seconds. The couple did not know how to show their appreciation, the man was so grateful he refused to check the wallet to see if everything was intact in it.

The man told them that he trusted them so that he still refused to check the wallet even when Godfrey insisted that he should. The man didn’t need any proof of honesty for the case at hand. His wife was almost in tears with gratitude. The couples had planned to leave for Spain the next day but when they lost the wallet they cancelled the trip to Spain. But now they can continue their holidays by still taking the trip to Spain.

They offered money, meals, drinks but Bode and Godfrey turned down all. In Godfrey’s words: “their happiness was enough thanks for us”. Bode and Godfrey formed a common opinion that the next time the couple listens to someone saying how much blacks and other races are dishonest they can at least narrate this experience in Ypres.

Godfrey would like all black people to be like him, walk erect with their heads held high. He sent these words “I have been to a lot of places and I have seen countless injustices. That is why I am using my talent to let the world know that as long as I have breath in my body I will not let any form of injustice and victimization pass by me without protesting loudly and constantly be it wars, hunger, brutality etc. Even after I die my works will still be there to fight on. My parents told me as a child, do good and good will come to you”

With contributions from Godfrey Williams-Okorodus, Belgium
Email: okorodus_art@yahoo.co.uk

R.I.P Gani Fawehinmi

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Gani Fawehinmi is dead. He was aged 71.

Gani Fawehinmi

Gani Fawehinmi

Gani fought a good fight and his name will never be forgotten. Gani fought for the good of all and he wanted justice and prosperity to reign in Nigeria.

Unfortunately he did not seem to get his way through his activism. Even when he joined politics there was no way for his likes in the useless political space that prevails in Nigeria.

His death is a great lose to Nigeria and Africa as this Dark Continent continues to seek for true heroes and genuine leaders.

Now that Gani is gone, maybe the stupid politicians in Nigeria can begin to reflect on some of his arguments, dreams and aspirations. But I seriously doubt that an illegitimate government has time to reflect.

Chief Gani Fawehinmi was the voice of the voiceless, the advocate of the masses and part of the conscience of the nation.

Now the history books will be revisited and updated. The rest of the year will be used to detail the life and times of this humble man who dedicated his life, time and energy to the cause of the common man.

Again it is a tragedy that the things that he fought for, went to prison for and invariably died for, are still the same or probably worse. Nigeria was not a failed state when Chief Gani blasted the warning signals. But Nigeria is now a failed state at the time of his death.

And things are getting worse. The man who stood alone fighting for the masses is dead. What are the masses going to do now? Seriously speaking the Nigerian people need no reminder that the death of Chief Fawehinmi should serve as a rallying point to now rise up and take back this country from the fools in power.

First is the issue of electoral reform and secondly is the ultimate search for our votes. In 2011, hopefully the electoral reforms will be done by then, Nigerians should ask “where is my vote” if it becomes necessary. In honour of Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerians must demand for proper elections in 2011, pursuits of accountability in public life and the attainment of good life for all and sundry.

These were some of the dreams of the good man who walked by for 71 years. If we continue to abstain from our civil obligations then peace and prosperity will continue to elude us. Rest in Peace Gani Fawehinmi

A letter from Dublin to Sanusi Lamido

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Written By Akeem Adebayo (Published in the Nigerian Guardian 26th August 2009)

SIR: There was no crisis in the Nigerian banking industry before Friday, August 14, 2009, as none of the banks had failed to meet its obligations to its depositors. This crisis was imposed on it.

What we are witnessing is a campaign of propaganda by the Central Bank with the intention to forcefully change the ownership structure of Nigerian banks.

Please note the following points:

Why hurry to wield the axe, when the audit has not been conducted in all Nigerian banks to enable Sanusi gain a comprehensive picture of the situation in the industry? The weakest bank in Nigeria, Unity Bank, has not even been audited. Soludo’s CBN granted N70 billion to Unity last year without sacking its CEO or management.

The debtors’ list has proved to be sheer propaganda as the loans are mostly actually performing.

Why did Sanusi not publish debts owed by government ministries, agencies and parastatals? They are actually the biggest and most notorious debtors – either directly or through contractors who handle public project. For example, Transcorp is owing Union Bank N41 billion, but the government is yet to refund the purchase price of NITEL to the company after the Federal Government reversed the privatisation of the telecom company this year. Another important group of bank debtors are the importers of petroleum products. They say the government is owing them nearly N100 billion in subsidy reimbursement. So, this means that if the government that wants to rescue the banks fulfills its responsibility to those it is owing, the problems of the banks will be much lighter.

Why did Sanusi not invite the boards of the audited banks to show them the results of the so-called audit and them how they think they could solve the identified problems; for example, giving them a deadline to recapitalise? The practice all over the world is to fist demand that the existing shareholders meet the capital adequacy requirement. It is only where they are not able to raise the required capital that forced intervention by the regulators takes place.

Imagine that Sanusi is already saying he would like to sell the banks! After only one week of taking them over? That would be a world record in Central Bank intervention.
I advise Nigerians to learn a thing or two about Mr. Lamido Sanusi by reading the articles he wrote in the recent past. Please check. Then you will know where this man is coming from.

The CBN’s powers of intervention are to enable the government protect depositors and creditors of banks. The laws are not meant to enable the government do what it is presently doing: confiscating the legitimate properties of citizens. The schemers at play want to confiscate these banks from their rightful owners and award them to members of their ethnic group, the Fulani. Curiously, the EFCC is now going after the banks’ chiefs. This is a strategy to intimidate them into submission. What has the EFCC got to do with bank loans? Loan default is not a criminal offence in any legal system. This is all propaganda.

10 Reasons Why Yar’ Adua Should Resign..!

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Yar’ Adua continues to receive treatment for his ailments overseas. No excuse will be enough to justify why a man who ruled a state for 8 years and a wealthy country like Nigeria for 2 years cannot build a state of the art hospital in Katsina or Abuja so that he can have direct access to medical treatment.

It is not impossible that the frequent treatment that Yar Adua is receiving overseas might be gulping millions of naira each time. Tax payers’ money so recklessly spent is inhuman and wicked. If the ruler of a country travels abroad to receive treatment, what is the fate of the helpless poor masses? What is the fate of Nigerian children, pregnant women and the elderly? This shame is unbearable for the normal people in Nigeria, Umaru should resign!

It must be repeated as often as necessary that Yar’ Adua was not elected. That he admitted it is not enough. He has a moral obligation to let go of what he got illegally and against the wish of the Nigerian people. If Yar’ Adua is a normal human being or an educated graduate that we are told he is, then he should know that acquisition of power by falsehood is a depiction of daftness. The knowledge of books or letters does not translate to intellectualism. Only thieves claim things by falsehood, lying and stealing.

One of the rare moments when Yar’ Adua made good a promise was when he set up the panel that examined the electoral process in Nigeria. But like the dictators before him, he has decided not to abide by all the recommendations of the Electoral Committee. Political analysts asserted that the National Assembly can actually adopt the entire recommendations. Those lazy crooks! However the struggle for the actualisation of those recommendations has been sustained by Pro-Democratic groups and the NLC. Causing Nigerians these unnecessary pains and agonies is enough for the clueless idle dude in Aso Rock to return to his village.

Yar’ Adua and his gang have refused and failed to grant all Nigerians a fair chance to attain their fullest potential. The Nigerian Education system today is a complete disaster. The entire blame is not on this lazy government but the fact that after 2 wasteful and destructive years in power they never came up with reasonable steps or attempts to prevent the deterioration in the sector. Most of the unscrupulous politicians and government officials have given their own children the best of education in Nigerian private schools and also at colleges and universities abroad. This is unfair and the man who oversees a failed system should give way, immediately.

In a previous article, I have discussed the scam called vision 20-2020 and the fake 7-point agenda. Yar’ Adua is a liar. What can he point to after 2 years that shows that Nigeria will be a strong economy in 2020? If he decides to go all the way to 2011 Yar’ Adua has a limited time left to show what bravery is all about. Let him try to round off all his former colleagues who stole from the coffers of government when they served as state governors. He should bring them and other crooks in government to justice as a genuine first step towards 20-2020. In the absence of such a sincere commitment, Yar’ Adua should immediately stop the 419, 7p agenda/vision 20-2020 and return to Katsina.

Yar Adua has intimidated and bullied some jelly-hearted governors into the PDP fold. That is Yar Adua’s way of deepening Nigeria’s democracy. Bringing everyone into PDP with a promise for automatic selection in 2011 is Yar Adua’s way of restructuring government’s staff. Seriously the inefficiency and sourness of this illegal administration are extremely disgusting. Yar Adua should return to his village before Nigeria tops the list of failed states. We are getting there too quickly.

Yar’Adua has failed woefully in the area of infrastructure. Where is the mass transportation that he promised 2 years ago? Where are the railroads? Where are the jobs? Yar’Adua promised a dramatic development in power generation, transmission and distribution. Indeed the development has been more than dramatic? Who would have thought that Nigeria will be envelope in total eclipse of darkness by 6pm each day? There is nothing wrong if the man under whose notorious command electricity became a relic in Nigeria is also shown the way out by people power. Are Nigerians not tired of Yar’ Adua?

Yar’Adua committed genocide in the Niger Delta because he had no single clue on how the lingering crisis can be resolved. Out of shame and in one of the most fascinating ironies of modern history he declared amnesty to the winning party. Peace in the Niger Delta demands a holistic approach. The starting point will be the trial of Obasanjo and Yar Adua for acts of genocides. The continuation will be the prosecution of all the past and present looters who called themselves Niger Delta Governors or South-South Governors.

The sincerity of a legitimate government working hand-in-hand with disciplined oil industries in the Delta will bring a permanent solution to the Niger Delta through the application of justice and fairness in all dealings. Pertinent issues relating to environmental degradation, general pollution, health care, employment opportunities and provision of social amenities/infrastructure cannot be compromised, not even by a fake amnesty. It’s simple logic: no justice, no peace!

By way of repetition Yar’ Adua lied when he said that he will intensify the war against corruption. Mrs. Clinton was blunt when she said that in the last 2 years the anticorruption agency is dead in Nigeria. This is the handiwork of Yar’Adua. He succumbed to pressure to appoint a stooge for the corrupt governors who worked under Obasanjo. By so doing Yar’Adua totally killed the anticorruption war in Nigeria. Farida Waziri is product of maladministration and evil connivance. By refusing to fight corruption from the top Yar’Adua accelerated the spread of poverty in Nigeria. No meaningful impact will be felt on the economy by witch-hunting or titbit war on corruption by using certain out-of-favour persons as victims. The missing word in the fight against corruption is TOTAL.

The failed PDP government said Mrs. Clinton was misinformed when she declared that Nigeria has a leadership problem. PDP also said that Hilary’s comments about the EFCC are out of place. For making this type of foolish comments, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP Rufai Ahmed Alkali is one of the greatest enemies of Nigeria and should be avoided like a plague. As a Nigerian, I want to state categorically that I don’t need a Mrs. Clinton to know that Nigeria has no leaders. Nigeria has a very big leadership problem.

Nigeria’s self appointed leaders are the biggest obstacle to the development of Nigeria. The story goes on and EFCC is a failed institution because all the corrupt politicians in Nigeria under the previous and present dispensations are all free people. PDP as it is today is the most evil organisation on the surface of Africa because of the impact of the attitudes and actions displayed under the PDP banner and the effects on the lives of over 140m black Africans 75% of whom are completely hopeless. Does R.A Alkali not know this before Clinton visited Abuja?

Yar’ Adua promised to be a worthy personal example. Has he done this by travelling overseas every now and then for treatments? Has he been a good example by travelling to Brazil when Nigeria was boiling courtesy of failure of governance which resulted to the rise of Boko Haram? What type of example has Umaru provided by eliminating a whole community in Bayelsa State using the Obasanjo Odi Approach (OOA)? What type of example would make a man stupidly coerce other people into the PDP because of the promise of automatic election victories in 2011? Is that how democracy can develop in Nigeria?

When Yar Adua visited Imo State everything was closed down for his sake, school children were forced to wear uniforms on a Saturday and markets were closed down. These are the hallmarks of dictatorship. Yar’ Adua and individuals of like-traits have no businesses in our quest to build a nation which by 2100 should by among the league of developed countries in the world, if we start the process of change today. To make our dreams come true when our grandchildren start arriving Yar’ Adua should give way now. Delay is dangerous!