Big Rewards For Political Prostitution In Nigeria

July 13, 2014August 18, 2014 / Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

The wave of swapping political allegiance in Nigeria is out of this world. There is no need to assign a Guinness book of world record to it. It is super unique and there are just no other countries as contestants.

Last year five governors (s)elected on the platform of the PDP in Nigeria left their party and joined the APC. What would have been more honourable and sensible was to denounce the mandate they stole through the PDP. They kept their mandates while seeking desperate means of self-preservations. It’s purely unethical and somehow also a criminal act. People who rob Peter to pay Paul will always be diabolical.

Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers has been leading the pack of aggrieved governors and he is still at loggerhead with Mr. and Mrs Jonathan on several River state and national issues. When you read or hear about some of his ordeals, they are like in the movies. It is either he narrates the “police-and-thief episodes” or the “cowboys-on-the-mountains” version. But the series are endless and this makes Amaechi a good real life actor. One day Hollywood may come knocking for him because Nollywood will not be able to afford him.

But seriously, governors like Amaechi (and other swingers cum politicians) who have been swinging or running helter-skelter, changing political parties like their underwear would have done humanity a big favour by delivering services to their people and bringing them out of poverty and extreme hopelessness. Rather than serve with their whole hearts, they keep oppressing the poor and selling propaganda across Nigeria and even paying corrupt bloggers and social commentators to kiss their asses. Politics should be about service to the people, not ego or blandishment of persons.

But trust naija where looting remains the shortest criminal way to wealth, the name of the game is survival, not service. The other PDP governors that defected to the APC with stolen mandates are Alhaji Ahmed Abdulfatah (Kwara), Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto). Nyako was given the shakings of his life penultimate week. He knows who not to blame while his sweat is un-dry.

Just a few days ago one Fayose was returned to Ekiti state house riding on the back of unlimited funds looted by the presidency in Abuja. He had been bundled out of the PDP, went to the APC and then returned to the PDP. In all of Ekiti, there is no one leader to stand tall among the people. There are generally no leaders in Nigeria but rulers abound. No one could stop the return of a looter to the same treasury he once looted. What has become of the children of Oduduwa? Orunmila must be shaking his head in disbelief.

It’s typical Nigerian syndrome, that those who steal more money have greater opportunity to own the government houses across Nigeria. As it is for the PDP, so it is for the APC, they just loot the treasury away while doing very little or sometimes nothing.

Does anyone remember Atiku Abubakar? He probably holds the title of the “chief prostitute” amongst Nigerian politicians. Between 1980 and 2014 he had been a founder or member of PFN, PDM, PDP, AC, PDP and APC. There is no doubt that this behaviour exemplifies lack of seriousness. It shows an unrepentant strong desire of a political prostitute to serve self rather than humanity.

Examples of Political prostitutes in Nigeria

Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) is among this category of Nigerian political prostitutes. During the reign of Obasanjo he became a minister, first of culture and tourism, then of aviation. Under Yar Adua, he was investigated and arrested by the EFCC. Like many uncountable political-criminal cases, his trials relating to corruption and money laundry will drag until eternity. Then, they’ll fade away too and he’ll continue to claim innocence. In Nigeria, with the useless nature of the Nigerian judiciary, a James Ibori will always be innocent.

Mr. Fani-Kayode is now back in the PDP claiming that the APC is full of dictators. Thanks to Mr. Fani Kayode, we now know that the APC is also pursuing a jihadist agenda. Are we supposed to thank the moron of a corrupt general who cancelled the June 12 1993 elections? Perhaps the PDP is also no longer a nest of killers; it’s safe for some people to return.

Since the renewed romance with Aso Rock, Mr. Fani-Kayode will now have to disown all his “rubbishing” of Jonathan’s government including referring to it as the worst in corruption in the history of Nigeria. He will need Abati’s lesson notes. Nigerian politicians are too shameless.

You also have to wonder what the presidency and the Nigerian military are doing about Boko Haram and APC with all the intelligence and secrets at the disposal of FFK. Obviously FFK has also told us about the man without balls before he went back to his camp. Can Femi help Jonathan get his groove back? Can he help him to regain his balls?

But we know that the balls won’t matter once 2015 is secured by the PDP, for then FFK will likely become a minister again, under the same government (if PDP wins) he labelled as the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history. The toothless EFCC and the corruption-prone judiciary can suck it up in advance if they like.

One of the additions to the ranks of political prostitutes is the former governor of Kano State Ibrahim Shekarau. He’s done the full cycle in his prostitution journey moving from ANPP, to APC and now to PDP. Obviously his political experience can make him useful as a serving minister but it carries a previous taint of allegations of links to Boko Haram.

The ranks of people with alleged links to Boko Haram in the Jonathan government are increasing daily. What is FFK going to do about PDP and the Boko Haram appeasement tactics? Another mischievous angle to Shekarau’s appointment is that it is one of the several nonsensical political gimmicks in Nigeria. His impulsive appointment as a minister without a portfolio is coming on the heels of fundamental changes connected to the emirate in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

The journeys along the line of political prostitution can never be justifiable. It confirms the age-long fear that the major political parties in Nigeria are the fingers on a leprous hand. Some, like Atiku have done the cycle uncountable times. If you have sound principles and a convincing political ideology that are based on honesty, service to humanity and selflessness, there would be no need to change your political party like you change your underwear.

Again, the goal is clear in Naija’s peculiar but rotten politics: always put yourself in the best position to make political gains that will lead you to the treasury you can loot with impunity. The justice system will look away or help you get away if trials come.

It’s impossible to highlight all the unprincipled men ruining Nigeria but Femi Pedro the former deputy governor of Lagos State has been around too. From AD to Labour Party to PDP and now back to APC. I actually wrote about Femi Pedro here in the village square (see Nov 3 2007).

Someone responded then that he had dug his political grave when he left Tinubu’s party. That person saw the future. You wonder if Nigerian politicians are the hungry people actually. Their insatiable lust for wealth, power and ego is either evil or a special brand of psycho-egocentrism.

Olagunsoye Oyinlola must be really feeling princely. Even Jonathan is begging him to serve the PDP. Of course like the rest of the poli-thieves, the guy will keep serving his stomach. How can Olagunsoye missed the fact that Mr. Fayose got unlimited funds stolen in Abuja and his dreams came true in Ekiti in grand style?

I have no doubt that almost all Nigerian politicians are “dead on arrival” on money matters. They’ll kill for it. The forthcoming Osun state governorship election is already a box office thriller everyone is waiting for. Tax-payers money is about to go to the drain again!

Even common aides are shifting bases. Wonders will never end in Bongo! I can’t dwell on the two ordinary aides of Adams Oshiomole who are now political prostitutes in the PDP. But I can emphasise again that as long as the government treasury remains the shortest cut to sudden wealth in Nigeria, and in the face of non-existent honest mentorship manifesto in any of the political party, then the master-and-discipleship relationship or the governor-and-aide concept can rest in pieces.

What has been the saving grace for all categories of political prostitutes is simply the total failure of the Nigerian judiciary system. For we know that under normal circumstances many of these criminal-minded politicians would have been successfully prosecuted and many would have spent time at various prisons.

If punishments for political crimes and other crimes related to abuse of public offices had been in place before and after 1960, Nigeria would have been a paradise and probably the best place to live on earth. Currently, and sadly too, as an outcome of the sum of the activities of all these politicians and their military-junta counterparts/accomplices, Nigeria is ranked amongst the worst places to live in the world. It is still probably the worst place you want to have children!

Ironically, sometimes one wishes that the people can listen to these rulers and crooks very carefully. Just like Reuben Abati suggested in one of his many write-ups before tasting the forbidden fruits that revealed the real Abati, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has also been quoted more recently as saying that Nigerians need to start stoning the politicians because of their corrupt practices.

Imagine if the Nigerian people start to stone all the crazy politicians looting the treasury at the local, state and federal levels. Maybe that will put Nigeria on the right path again if they are not replaced by similar crooks! There is also a problem of new set of crooks taking over from expired crooks.

Every 1 kobo that is stolen from any treasury in Nigeria contributes to the systemic poverty and these crooks can even steal 12 or 20 billion dollars in one swoop. It’s amazing the magnitude of corruption and impunity in Nigeria that allows the criminals to live large and rise above the law system. I cannot over emphasize this treasury-rape syndrome.

Nigerians are letting the politicians get away. Nigerians are allowing themselves to be fooled by the political parties and all the criminals that saturate these parties. The people are totally subdued mentally and even physically despite their numerical advantage. They act not in the face of obvious oppressions because their friends, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and other family members are involved in the crime or are waiting to benefit from the insane system.

The political parties in Nigeria and their imaginary manifestos have never been significant especially after the second republic which saw to the demise of parties like the UPN popular in western Nigeria. Even the days of SDP and NRC provided Nigerians with distinct options.

Nowadays, the common people are happy to mortgage their future and that of their children for a 5kg bag of rice and peanuts as proven again (recently) in Ekiti state. The handicapped police are totally inefficient and the judiciary is absolutely corrupt dispensing justice on a cash and carry basis. In essence the institutions are grounded. This combination produces a dilemma of the highest order in Nigeria.

Come 2015, it won’t matter the prostitutes or group of prostitutes that seize Nigeria when the institutions are not working and at a time when the people are already deflated and defeated by both politicians and terrorists. Even if we turn on the fight for regional governments, it won’t matter if we allow the political prostitutes cum rapists to return to their different regions to continue the rampage and rape locally.

For Nigerians, the roads to freedom within Nigeria or in the different nations that may emerge remain a very long one. Nigerians have one more walk to do. It will be the longest walk of their lives. Freedom from political and mental slavery will never be given on a platter of gold. It must be earned.

Such freedom will not come from the “dead on arrival idea” of a useless rotational presidency coming from the secluded and retired minds caged in a carnival-like arena in Abuja.

Nigeria’s longest walk to freedom which will rid the country of sycophants and low-grade mediocres and hopefully re-establish the institutions that will serve humanity and posterity will come from a united, purposeful and well orchestrated revolution of sound minds and committed citizenry.

aderounmu@gmail.com

My Random Reflections @ 42

July 12, 2014July 11, 2020 / Adeola / Leave a comment

My Random Reflections @ 42

(Published originally in Nigeria Village Square on July 12, 2014)

This is the 7th edition of my random reflections on my birthday. It started in 2008 when I turned 36. One of my favourite Swedish expressions is livet går aldrig i repris. It means you cannot go back to live through life again. You may disagree if you believe in reincarnation.

Another one is tiden går fort. Time goes fast. That might be relative though depending on how you measure or spend your time and how fun or interesting your days and months are. Time goes fast especially when you are having fun or if you’re always on a busy schedule and still have to figure out the entry for a weekly column. Time can’t go fast for you if you are in jail or under oppression by government or other forces.

I thought about many things but these are some of my reflections @ 42.

In the last 12 months I have maintained my dedications to family, work, environment, exercise, friends, Yoruba Union in Stockholm, keeping a tab on Nigeria and daily acquisition of knowledge about things and global events in general.

During this period in review, I have also found out more about Oduduwa, Orunmila and Ifa than my previous 41 years on earth. It’s not the best of situation that we were shielded from the knowledge of our customs, traditions and indigenous religions as we grew up in Nigeria.

Children born in the cities almost exclusively are deprived of this fundamental right and knowledge by their parents and the society. They paint Ifa (the Yoruba religion) as evil and embraced Islam and Christianity on our behalves. Then they forced one or both of the foreign faiths down our throats!

All over the world Christianity and Islam have failed to erase or erode indigenous religions and beliefs. Many of those who brought Christianity to Nigeria have abandoned the faith. They are now free thinkers. Even those who brought Islam are trying to find true freedom. It’s cheerful news to see that some believers have made efforts to sustain and propagate the Yoruba traditional religions even in places like Lagos state.

I am happy about my present personal research on Yoruba traditional belief and understanding of it. It is better late than never I would add. It has been quite an experience to know more about Olodumare, Oduduwa and Orunmila. Orunmila gave to mankind the Ifa institution which deals with everything about life.

During the past few months I have delivered 2 lectures relating to Ancient Yoruba Arts and Ile-Ife as the ancestral home of the Yorubas. I did them on behalf of the Yoruba Union in Stockholm and in my capacity as the president of the union.

In the autumn of 2014 I will be speaking about Ifa and to ensure that my audience is carried along I have agreed to do the lecture in Swedish language, here in Stockholm city. I found great happiness rediscovering the traditions and belief of our forefathers in Yorubaland and I want to tell others about it.

In western Nigeria we must find ways to integrate the knowledge about Olodumare and the Ifa institution back into the curriculum. That much we owe our children and posterity.

My random reflections will be incomplete if some of the pressing issues in Nigeria are not included.

I am worried about the declining status of public education in Nigeria. I am sad that doctors went on strike when the public health system was already collapsed anyway. There is political instability in Nigeria and that is no news too. Terrorism is full blown and anyone can be bombed away at anytime, anywhere in Nigeria.

Education in Nigeria is now in the hands of very wrong people. The Nigerian government is ready to sell its birthright and those of the populace for a pot of porridge. How the education department went from a late Aliu Babs-Fafunwa leadership to one Ibrahim Shekarau-the book burner-leadership remain shocking.

According to the gangsters now ruling Nigeria, intellectualism can rest in pieces! This appointment in the education department is a wild slap on the faces of intellectuals who would be answerable to the man who hates western novels at the time that Boko Haram’s ideology was on the rise in Northern Nigeria showing conformity on the part of Ibrahim Shekarau at that time. There is no shame in Nigeria, only political strategies built on greediness and psycho-egocentrism.

The plights of Nigerian students attending public schools are sorrowful and regrettable. Who can forget what the UPN did in Western Nigeria in terms of providing free and qualitative education? Only those for forget the lessons of history and social development will forget.

The declining or worsening conditions of education in Nigeria is a major topic that many scholars need to address. I know that my friend here in Stockholm Charles Adagbon is really upset about the LASU imbroglio and he’s working on an essay.

By my count, 1695 students were admitted as new intakes for 2013 /2014 academic year at the Lagos State University. On another list there are 41336 students on full time and sandwich programs.

The average school fees expected from a fresher is N250 000. Arts and Education students are at the lower end of the ladder with N193 750 and the College Of Medicine students on the other end with N308 750. In my world this is simply insane!

In a country where the minimum wage is N18 000, where does Mr. Fashola expect poor parents to extract N250 000 from? Many people are even out of jobs having no means of livelihood.

Meanwhile Akpabio’s fraudulent pension in Akwa Ibom was an eye opener into the already existing pension laws of Lagos state and other states where tax payers money are now looted in the name of fraud called pensions.

The fraudulent pension that the Lagos state government is paying to Bola Tinubu is enough to cover the school fees of all LASU’s 100 level students probably 3 times over. By implication, one man’s unnecessary pension in Lagos state can send 1695 students to LASU for 3 years, or more. What manner of greedy people are running Western Nigeria these days? Is the situation the same at the remaining state universities across Nigeria?

In my recent essay (Rewards for political prostitution) I mentioned the failure of the judiciary in Nigeria as one of the principal factors in the endless story of corruption among nearly all Nigerian politicians. By implication the judiciary in Nigeria has ridiculed itself and rendered itself almost useless in the presence of the law system it was meant to tend and defend.

How the judiciary allowed the military and the executive arm of government under “democratic” dispensation to destroy the law system is unforgivable. The useless protective immunity clause does not cover crooks when they are out of office. How come the law failed to catch up with political criminals in Nigeria? Are they accomplices?

The urge to steal and loot would have been minimised or even zeroed if the culprits have been sent to the appropriate rooms in Kirikiri maximum prisons and other self-contained rooms meant for prisoners across Nigeria since 1960.

The smallest act of corruption adds to the misery of the common man. The tiniest of looting makes education expensive and unaffordable. 20 billion dollars is not missing but 927 million dollars is unaccounted for. That was the Nigerian sena-thieves and their outcome on one of the several complains of corruption rocking the scandal-full government of Nigeria. Birds of same feather, what do they do?

In 2013 more than 10 million children in Nigeria have no access to education. It will not be an exaggeration to state that the probable number today may be well over 15 million. The factors that may have led to the increase are: the continuous looting of the Nigerian treasury by Nigerian politicians clearly spearheaded by the corrupt presidency, the complete neglect of duty to humanity and country, the closure of hundreds of schools across Northern Nigeria due to terrorism, the burning down and destruction of hundreds of schools by Boko Haram, the continued rise in the cost of education in public schools and the non-affordability of private schools by children from poor and middle class homes.

My point on the LASU issue is that if Lagos state is prudent enough, the indigenes of Lagos State can receive free education at all levels. I think this is what Charles is trying to address in his unpublished essay. If Lagos State claims it has no money then they should stop the fraudulent pension of ex-governors and deputies gulping over a billion naira annually.

The amount lost to the pension loot is enough to cater for the education of the 1695 newly admitted students at LASU for 3 years. Invariably if other loopholes are blocked, more poor people can also get some education to prepare them for the challenges of the future.

The pension that former governors are allocating to themselves in Nigeria is executive recklessness and a breach of public confidence. It is open robbery of tax payers’ money. It does not matter that it was signed into law. It is still looting which is the specialisation of Nigerian politicians.

Across Nigeria, if corruption is terminated and punished, everybody should have access to free education, free health care, clean water and other basic infrastructure that make life worth living. Everybody can have a good life in Nigeria or in the different regions of Nigeria!

Unfortunately, Nigerians remain oppressed from all angles. Everyday the court of laws and the prosecution arm of the federal government like the EFCC continue to tell us that known criminals in politics are free of corruption charges? What are the consequences of social injustices? The implications are obvious for more than 90m Nigerians living from hand to mouth and in serious doubt about the next meal.

In the face of all the difficulties that Nigerians encounter daily, it is sad that the priorities of the rulers and politicians are different from the needs of the people. For example, Goodluck Jonathan would rather lay red rugs on muddy road to get to the forest where he can lay the foundations for a private university for his fair-weather friend Mr Oritsejafor rather can confront the complicated problems facing public education.

Mr. Jonathan is also now issuing out ministerial positions like a lottery pamphlet to various persons based essentially on patronage and ass kissing of the PDP. There are several Nigerian professors at home and abroad versed in educational policy and up to date research knowledge on how to move education forward. Look what the Nigerian ruler settled for! It shows his mindset and cognitive impairment.

But nature will always find a way to balance its own equations. If the roof of a house collapses, the greater casualties may likely happen to the people at the top floor. It’s all relative anyway. In Nigeria the poor and downtrodden have always outlived tyranny. The future looks set for the same pattern based on the sequences of parallel events that typically show the neglect of governance and the elevation of ego and tyranny.

There is a lot to be fixed in Nigeria, not least a functional system of governance that will remove the patronage at Abuja, the citadel of corruption. 2015 will redefine Nigeria in many ways. For the umpteenth time in 53 years of post independent Nigeria I see a people presented with similar options at each crossroad of their history.

Oh well, I have just opened my birthday present and it seems I’m going to get a new bicycle and be ready for work after the summer holidays. This evening, I’ll grill some lamb meat for my immediate family and we’ll share together like we always do. Birthday lunch, mainly grilled chicken is almost ready.

My hope and dreams for Nigerians remain alive. I wish that one day they’ll start on that road that leads to true emancipation and everlasting freedom. I hope that all Nigerians will come to realise the true meaning of life, while appreciating the transiency of it.

I hope that people will come to realise that the system can work again if everybody is doing the right thing in their own little ways. These are what great societies and the developed countries are built upon among other virtues: contentment, trust and civil dedication. They are not built on massive corruption, political instability, selfishness, greediness, religion and prayers of the wicked.

aderounmu@gmail.com

US Army, Nigerian Army and Boko Haram Playing Hide and Seek In Sambissa Forest?

July 6, 2014July 6, 2014 / Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

I don’t know who is having a laugh or a rough time now among these 3 gangs. I mean the US promised intelligence and provided it. At what cost I don’t know and I’m sure many people do not care the cost as long as the “Chibok girls” are found and Boko Haram esterminated from the surface of the earth.

But many people have been disappointed and they are like: you mean the girls have not been found! You mean the US in Nigeria is not doing the magic? wao!

Well, sources have it that the US provided images on the movement of Boko Haram to the Nigerian Army. But what is the Nigerian Army doing? The Nigerian Army is avoiding the locations where Boko Haram operates. So rather than use the information from the US assistance to curb Boko Haram, it turned out that the Nigerian Army is using the information to actually avoid Boko Haram. This is very serious but laughable.

The Nigerian Army over the years have sold many of its weapons and ammunition to Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a big threat to the Nigerian Army that is full of treacherous fellows. We knew that before the US came, but now we have a confirmation that they are not only treacherous but also fearful.

This is the same army that stopped the war in Liberia, Sierra Leone and made impacts in Congo. At home the Nigerian army is a failure. But this is not a sudden occurence, it was a systematic breakdown coming from the failure of governance and the roles of the Northern elites.

The Northern elites remain pleased with Boko Haram if that is what we bring them back to the presidency in Nigeria in 2015.

The way this whole mess is playing out and with the murder and massacre of Nigerians in Northern Nigerian and Abuja, the Northern elites will wake up soon to realise that they have been chopping off the fingers that feed them knowingly or unknowingly.

Governance in Nigeria is a huge joke anyway with the ruler Mr. Goodluck apparently not feeling safe outisde the Aso rock and bursting off any visit around troubled areas. He is so scared of the Nigerian army he feels like one of them can sniff his life away. This is the state of loyalty of the Nigerian army to the Nigerian nation.

Goodluck Jonathan is a coward, but playing smart in a small confine. He should have rounded up all the former and serving generals and civilians who promoted, supported and financed Boko Haram. He was so slow things got out of hand. He may have been part of a terror cell himself which will seem logical too. I agree it is more complicated than that but doing nothing at all because of selfish interest and political power is costing Nigerians innocent life. Add to the injustice and madness of corruption in Nigeria, this is hopelessness for the common people.

So, no the girls are probably gone a long time ago. Boko Haram had all the time in the world to diaply arrogance and “freedom”. The hide and seek game is very insultive to the collective inteligence of informed Nigerians.

I don’t know how Nigerians can co-exist in 2015, it will be one of the greatest miracles of all time if Northern Nigeria (now harbouring PDP “settled political prostitutes”) goes along with a Jonathan presidency in 2015. How are they going to conduct elections around Nigeria with bombs dropping daily? If elections are held only in certain parts of Nigeria, will that count as national elections? How far will Boko Haram take this war as the Nigerian Army plays the handicapp? The thriller will be another box office hit.

FAAN Or NAHCO: Who Employed The Criminals Pilfering At MMA?

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

The theft of valuable and cherished personal belongings from the baggage of passengers arriving at the Murtala International Airport is a big deal.

It is time to call out the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the directors and management at Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc to answer questions on why travellers’ items continue to grow wings on a daily basis when they arrive at the International Airport, Ikeja.

Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos

One anonymous Mr. Lagbaja spoke on behalf of NAHCO when Premium Times made enquiries about the pilfering of baggage at Lagos airport. His comment was typical: no passenger had come forward to report the matter to NAHCO!

OK! We are doing so now. I am making a report on behalf of thousands of people who have complained about these criminal activities over the past decade.

The truth of the matter is that there are criminals working at the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA) and they are responsible for the theft of items from travellers’ bags daily.

Arik airlines spokesman Ola Adebanji said that missing items from aircraft was commonplace worldwide citing instances from the US. I think it would have been better for this man to keep quiet rather than exposing his ignorance on public relation management.

Then the NAHCO employee continued, our Mr. Lagbaja said that if such incident occurred, the passenger had the right to report the matter to the airline he or she used for the trip. “We advise the victim to formally report the incident either to the airline or the Consumer Protection Unit of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority at the airport”.

Why don’t people report the theft of their personal belongings that occurred before the baggage hits the conveyor belt? The answer is too simple. People don’t believe that reporting the thefts will bring back their belongings. Almost every traveller knows that it is no-brainer to tackle FAAN or NAHCO workers at the Airport on missing items.

The question and answer sessions that will go along with the reporting which may include making a police report can cause a fragile traveller to develop a heart attack. So, indeed nobody will be willing to make any report. No one has the time to drag issues with airport authority on missing items. It is different when the suitcases or baggage do not arrive. Then it’s normal to take up such cases with the concerned airline.

FAAN

Somebody or some people at MMA, FAAN or NAHCO should be getting sacked if the seriousness of the matter is to be handled appropriately. The undeniable fact is that criminals open the baggage of travellers and they pick out items that now include hand-held computer tablets. These disgraceful acts take place usually between landing and when the bags hit the conveyor belts.

Some of my friends who visited Nigeria recently (this year 2014) had tales of woes to tell about the items that were stolen from their baggage. I am not talking about one person only; I am talking about a group of people whose items were ransacked between landing and the conveyor belts. Gifts bought for friends, family and even children went missing.

This week, I read how several passengers are also lamenting about their missing shoes, bags, gift items and other accessories that they thought should be saved in their travelling bags. The report was in the Premium Times of June 16 2014. How did criminals get on the employment services at such a sensitive place as the International Airport?

There are so many investigations that need to be done regarding these persistent criminal activities. For example, what is the connection between the length of time it takes for the baggage to hit the conveyor belt and the numbers of items/ goods stolen?

Are the long delays in delivering the baggage to the conveyor belts connected to the fact that these men and women who are off loading the aeroplane need so much time to open and pilfer travellers’ baggage?

NAHCO

Is it part of the employment contract that you must be sticky-or light-fingered to work at that department at the airport? Who takes away all the stolen items? Are the stolen items delivered or remitted to the bosses and directors and shared among all the “criminal” workers?

What is going on at MMA? What is going on at FAAN? What is going on at NAHCO? Who are we going to hold responsible for the missing items? The workers? The Directors? The Board?

When some of us complain about these things, we always hear some people say “noo o!!” that was before! Nobody is stealing again at the airports! We have heard similar stories before at the sea-port; we hear…noo o! No more port rats! Then importers started welding their cars and vehicles like armoured tanks before they hit the international waterways heading to Nigeria!

But the denials on the part of Nigerian airport authority or NAHCO are the usual lies! There are definitely still criminals working at MMA, just the same way the sea-port rats never left.

It is not acceptable when airline or airport officials state that these criminal activities are common around the world. There is a difference between lost and found items or forgotten items and the items that are deliberately removed from travellers’ bags by airport workers. The act of pilfering is not common around the world. In any case there can never be a good reason why criminals should be employed and allowed to remove things from our bags at MMA.

Are there cameras at the terminals to follow the arrival of aeroplanes at the terminals? Are there cameras to follow the progress of baggage until they hit the conveyor belts? At what point exactly do these “airport rats” have the courage to open bags and suitcases and remove items? Who is the head of this organised crime at the airport? Is it something that is approved by the directors of FAAN and NAHCO?

Someone heads the human resources department where these criminals were approved for employment. That person’s integrity is also at stake here. So also are the managers or directors in charge of landing and transportation of baggage from the aircrafts to the arrival hall.

Again, many people are too busy and do not have the time to bring about their cases to the appropriate authorities. This is because once the items are gone, there are no means to trace or find them. People are tired of the way things work in Nigeria. They don’t trust the system and they just “conform” and move on with their lives.

The severity of this painful experience of pilfering cannot be over emphasized. My friends lost so many valuables that they were almost crying when they narrated their stories. This cannot continue and this essay should not be treated as a rant. There is a need for action and I hope that the directors or board members who are tagged in this essay will find a reason to call an emergency meeting to address the embarrassment that the staffs of MMA/FAAN/NAHCO are causing them and their reputations.

Some of us have great difficulties to work out the functions of the various uniform people at the airport. We get totally confused by the several people doing the job meant for one computer or a simple machine!

We need answers (and not denials) from the management of both FAAN and NAHCO.

FAAN is a service organization statutorily charged to manage all commercial airports in Nigeria and to provide service to both passengers and airlines. Its managing director and chief executive at the corporate headquarters in Ikeja Engr Saleh Dunoma must ensure that stealing from passengers’ baggage ends immediately. He cannot claim to be new on the job.

Mr. Wendell Emeka Ogunedo is FAAN’s director of security services. Dear Mr. Ogunedo, how secured are our baggage when they arrived at the airport in Ikeja?

Hajia Salamatu Umar-Eluma is in charge of FAAN’s human resources. Ma, does your office run a background check on those people moving our baggage at the airport in Ikeja? Is it NAHCO’s fault that our things are stolen?

Barrister Ikechi Uko is the director of administration. Can he tell us how security measures will be administered to stop this mess? FAAN must work together with the other agencies at MMA to ensure that they put an immediate end to pilfering at MMA.

NAHCO’s mission is to be the leading service provider in the African market. Unfortunately all the core values of NAHCO are questionable with this permanent trend of stealing from passenger’s baggage. There is no integrity when bags are opened and things stolen from them. There is no respect for individuals when NAHCO workers steal from passengers.

The chairman of NAHCO Mr. Suleiman Yahyah must call his workers to order. Nigerians need to be sure that the stolen items are not ending up on his desks!

The vice-chairman is NAHCO is Mr. Denis Hasdenteufel. How is he working together with the chairman to ensure that criminals are not working for NAHCO AVIANCE?

Altogether there are about 12 directors at NAHCO. Their areas of responsibilities and job descriptions are other areas that would be of interest when some of us look for information on NAHCO’s website. It is clear however that NAHCO is responsible for aircraft handling, amongst other services that it provides at the airport.

An average traveller does not really know the interrelationship between FAAN and NAHCO or their terms of agreement. People just want to be sure that when they travel to Nigeria that their bags are not tampered with. As a people heading to Nigeria we don’t want to develop any panic or heart attack just because some thieves working for NAHCO or FAAN are going to steal our personal belongings or the gift items in our baggage.

Those who manage the Lagos Airport must stop living in denial. They should wake up; smell the coffee and live up to their responsibilities. What is important is for them to educate their workers. NAHCO for example must ensure that its core values do not exist only on papers, but in actions. By all or any means, those whom we entrust with our baggage must stop stealing our personal belongings.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Disgraceful Election Set To Hold In Ekiti State, Nigeria

June 17, 2014June 17, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Governorship Election will hold in Ekiti State Nigeria on Saturday June 21 2014.

So many things have happened that simply makes this election a shame or a disaster waiting to happen.

During his campaign the ruler of Nigeria Mr. Jonathan promised to develop Ekiti if the PDP candidate Mr. Fayose wins the election. This is such a stupid comment and it is difficult to ascertain the mental state of Mr. Jonathan is what it takes to develop Ekiti is for the PDP candidate to win.

Mr. Fayose and Mr. Fayemi have been alleged to be distributing raw and cooked rice to woo voters. There are so many pictures flying around on the internet and especially on social network that shows how rice has been used as one of the campaign instruments.

A lot of monies that will not be accounted for have been spent by both the PDP and the ACP, the two main parties hoping to “seize” power in Ekiti.

Now, the latest in the series of the disgraceful countdown is that the Nigerian Police is now storming Ekiti with guns, ammunition and dogs. When “armed forces” and dogs are unleashed for the purpose of election, you can tell how the mentality of the average Nigerian works.

Elections in Nigeria are do or die processes because the next governor of Ekiti as in the case at hand is going to be the custodian of the state treasury. This battle has very little to do with public service but a lot to do with ego and personality. It has a lot to do with the potential looters of public funds in Ekiti State.