LR: Director, Models Against Malaria, Jessica Okeke, BMW Club of Nigeria, Mathew Adinnu, Publisher, Checkout Magazine, Lekan Fatodu, Prisoners’ Right Advocacy Initiative (PRAI) Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem, and Director, Human Rectitude, Yusuf Aweda during Nigeria’s 57th independent anniversary organised yesterday in Lagos by NaijaDay Foundation.
Following wave of agitations for secession and restructuring of Nigeria’s governance architecture which brought mild unrest in some regions, youths have urged individuals, ethnic groups and others behind the moves to eschew violence and limit their demands within confines of law.
They argued that demands could be achieved through dialogue, rather than through violence which often leads to lose of lives and property in the country.
At a gathering organized by a youth based group, NaijaDay Foundation, yesterday in Lagos, with theme ‘Significant of peace and unity in Nigeria’, put in place to commemorate Nigeria’s 57th independent anniversary, the youths also urged government at all levels to keep their quota of responsibilities, so as to ensure adherence of peace and unity among citizens, especially youths.
Addressing congregation at the event, the Director, Prisoners Right Advocacy Initiative (PRAI) and 2017 Mandela-Washington Fellow, Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem, warned agitators to desist from uttering hate speeches while demanding for their rights in the country, just as he caution against overheating polity with various hate moves.
He implored Nigerians not to share every post on social media because a lot of them were written to cause discord amongst Nigerians, stressing that every Nigerian need to be armed with correct information and shun gullibility.
“We all possess innate weapons to fight intolerance and hate, let’s use it. Most of the people sponsoring and leading the clamour for war will jet out of the country if it happens and the common man who has blindly followed them would be made to suffer,” Adetola-Kazeem added.
He emphasized that whenever war occur in a country, the nation would metamorphosed negatively and may not regain its potentials several years after the crisis might have ended.
“The rich will become poor, children became orphans, wives transformed to widows, landlords of palatial homes became refugees who will queue for food. Lawyers, doctors, judges, businessmen, may not be left out. And millions could be sent to their early grave.
“Rather than fighting ourselves we must fight that peace may reign. It is impossible for all of us to agree on the same thing but it is possible for us to be tolerant of one another’s views,”
For Publisher, Checkout Magazine, and a United Kingdom (UK) based journalist, Lekan Fatodu, pocket of violence within the country, which was due to agitations from the regions for secessions, restructuring and others, indicated that it was time to make peace a national mantra.
He said: “It’s high time we made peace a national mantra in Nigeria given the current agitations for secession, devolution of power, resource control, restructuring and other concepts that are clearly threatening the unity, stability and peace of the nation.” Fatodu opined that after making peace the new mantra, the Federal, state and local governments must embark on strategy that would gradually inculcate in every citizen the need to embrace good behaviours and harmonious relationship.
“And the government must adopt the all important strategy of gradually changing opinions, quietly eroding primordial thinking and slowly instilling new ideas that are based on socio-economic and political justice, trust, hope and gains for all Nigerians regardless of tribes, tongues, backgrounds and political affiliations.
“Citizens, through the viable and brilliant platform like NaijaDay, also need to rededicate themselves to the cause of one and better Nigeria and should continually galvanise thoughts and influences that will help in delivering the Nigeria of our dreams,” he added.
To achieve peaceful co-existence in Nigeria, the Director, Center for human rectitude, Yusuf Aweda, appealed that clerics in the country should use religious teachings to ensure protection of humanity, regardless of tribes, religion and ethnicity.
Aweda added that religious leaders should also use alters in protecting lineage and encourage members to marry one another with morality to worship the supreme creator of all.
“Protection of lineage leads to good home, good homes beget adorable communities, good communities make good states. good states make good Nation,” he said.
The director however warned that religion should not be used as a mechanism to promote corruption, steal public funds or frustrate government efforts in eradicating corruption, saying, a nation that has its common wealth not protected could turn a barren nation and may never grow productively to influence the society with great values.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday led dignitaries to attend a special Juma’at service in commemoration of the nation’s 57th Independence Anniversary.
The service was held inside a mosque near the President’s office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari was joined at the prayer session by the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and former Vice-President Namadi Sambo among others.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadique; Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris; and Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, also attended the service.
Others in attendance were the Minister of the Interior, Abdurahman Danbazzau; Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu; Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and some other senior presidency officials
Saraki later told State House correspondents that the nation had achieved a lot in the 57 years of its independence.
He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the country.
“A lot of people would say what are we congratulating ourselves about, we have achieved a lot. We have been able to maintain our peace despite our diversity.”
Renowned media practitioner,Tunde Fagbenle recently hosted friends and the public to a reading from his most recent publication, And That’s Saying It the Way It Isat the Quintessence Gallery in Ikoyi.The third in a series that includes the titles, Nigeria: This Is My Country, Damn It! and Nigeria: A Thousand Laughs,A Thousand Cries, the book is a collection of the author’s columns in Nigerian newspapers between 2010 and 2016.
Fondly called TF by his friends and associates, Tunde Fagbenle was born on October 4, 1947 in Zaria and raised in Minna, Niger State even though he is originally from Igbajo in Osun State. He was educated at Kiriji Memorial College, Igbajo where he thrived as an actor and a sportsman. After his secondary education, he proceeded to the University of London and later, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The reading session was organised by JahmanAnikulapo, a culture curator and Ilemakin Soyinka, the Executive Director of the I-Represent International Documentary Film Festival, while it was moderated by the Executive Editor of The News Magazine and PM News, Kunle Ajibade. Friends such as Femi Esho, Chairman of Evergreen Music; Dotun Fagbenle, the Logunde of Igbajoland; veteran broadcaster, Dele Adetiba; thespian, TunjiSotimirin; health practitioner, Dr. Femi Olugbile and football icon, Segun Odegbami, were in attendance, to pay homage to the media practitioner.
The author’s son, Kunle kicked off the tributes by reading a letter he had written to thank his father when he was called to the Nigerian bar. He thanked his father for his relentless efforts to attend his call-to-bar ceremony and that his presence athad made the day extra-special.
Next was Dotun Fagbenle, the Logunde of Igbajoland, who described the author as a kind-hearted and open-minded man who had always handled responsibility from a young age. He reminisced about the author’s unconventional wedding to his wife at the Bar Beach and his influence and intervention at various points in his life, including when the author gave him an amount to pay his rent “when he thought his wife would be joining him in Lagos”.
Meanwhile, thespian Tunji Shotimirin, wondered why Mr Fagbenle embraced creative writing in spite of his talent for acting. The author replied that he was a shy man who preferred the anonymity of writing to speaking. He also mentioned that writing was a better form of self-expression unlike acting which involved role playing.
According to the Chairman of Evergreen Musical Company Limited, Femi Esho(who doubles as the author’s in-law, and whose son, Tokunbo, published the collection) his first encounter with the author occurred when the latter stumbled on a tryst involving Mr Esho and his younger sister, Bolanle. Regardless of the awkwardness of their first meeting, Mr Esho explained that both men have remained inseparable and have since “done some very bad things together”.
Also speaking at the event, advertising veteran Dele Adetiba, described Mr. Fagbenle as a writer who had found a way of presenting public discourse “in a way you would appreciate and relate to”.
Mr Fagbenle emphasised the importance of research and added that it had been made much easier by access to the Internet and social media. He concluded that only a lazy writer would neglect to use such channels. This was in response to a question by Ayotunde Olowofoyeku, a representative of Senator Iyiola Omisore, on how he was able to reproduce factual accounts of past events.
Before the evening of banter, readings, recollections and tributes was brought to a close by Ilemakin Soyinka, who thanked everyone for taking the time to celebrate Mr Fagbenle, the author sharedanecdotes about his experiences as a writer, political prisoner and activist as well as his dalliance with competitive politics. The following are excerpts from the narratives that form the thrust of his newest collection of articles.
On the pleasures and pains of writing his column over the years
It has been such a journey, and in between that, I must say that I have had the temptation to stop writing. While I wasn’t a staff writer, I was freelancing, alongside running my own business and getting on with my life. But writing, obviously, took on a life of its own. I had ventured into the media, running a magazine and even starting a newspaper in England,so I’ll call myself a media entrepreneur. However, taking up the pen and writing is what I consider a natural thing.
The pleasurable part is being recognised everywhere you go, getting pointed at, with people coming to you. It has its own dangers. For example, one piece I wrote about a great boy called Faruq, whom I met at the hospital. He was a lame boy whom I had promised that I would pay a visit. He was a secondary school student, but one of my ardent readers. I promised him that I was going to visit him because it was surprising that a secondary school boy in Nigeria read my column and was bold enough to approach me to say so.
I asked where he stayed, and he said Shomolu. But the sad part was that I kept procrastinating, because each time I wanted to go toShomolu, it was either I did not have enough money or I was in a hurry. Finally, my driver and I went to Shomolu. Unfortunately, we were told that Faruq had passed away. Many of my readers wondered how I could delay my visit to the little boy and were scathing in their reproach of my procrastination.
On his release from detention by the Abacha regime, and his constant presence wherever there was picketing and protest against the regime
Leadership had become like a game of musical chairs where the military and the elite kept passing the baton. That really ticked me off and I wondered how a country could turn into a ball in the hands of such people. It was quite clear that Abacha was going to remain in power if we didn’t kick him out.
I formed the Movement for Democracy and Human Rights which was part of the effort of NADECO abroad. When Professor [Bolaji] Akinyemi came to England, my group had a demonstration at Trafalgar Square which is near the Nigerian High Commission. I think John Major was Prime Minister then. The demonstration was quite impactful because we had members of parliament and also Ben Okri– an old friend of mine – at the rally. We had hundreds of people clamouring for democracy and a free Nigeria.I knew that the Nigerian High Commission was monitoring us as we marched all the way to Downing Street.
Months later I needed to return to Nigeria, and was strangely allowed into the country. I arrived and continued writing. When I was about to leave, I was at the airport, at the final immigration check point, my luggage had already gone on the plane, but I arrested by security operatives, detainedat the airport, and later taken to their office, stripped of my clothes and kept in solitary confinement in a basement. I was quite lucky because I had friends and some family connections and it wasn’t long before I was able to get a message across to my wife. My experience in solitary confinement provoked the constant protests against Abacha’s regime.
On his failed attempt to become a senatorand his campaign for ethical reorientation
It is necessary for all those interested in nation building to get involved at a practical level, and that was what contributed to my quest to run for political office as a senator in 2003.
The Nigerian Constitution did not accommodate independent candidature, which I would have really loved to explore. However, I joined Dr GaniFawehinmi’s National Conscience Party because it was as good as running on your own. There was no structure and you were responsible for your campaign. I went to every village in my senatorial district. My Yoruba became so clear and I even became fluent in the local dialect. I would get home and look at myself in the mirror and wonder if I was the one who did all that.
I gotto go round, and encountered 8 to 9 year olds who asked for bribes and I would go back to ask their parents if the heard their children demanding bribes. It was a great experience because you get to meet all sorts of people and get involved.
How that experience influenced his commitment to radical change
I thought deeply about what ailed society and I reached the conclusion that it was a fundamental problem with our values and maybe we should start inculcating the right values in the youth and our children over time. It’s not going to be a radical transformation, but until we begin to get our values right, we won’t develop as a nation.
There are various core values that can be shared amongst different ethnic groups. At my daughters’ school in the US, students would be expelled if they were caught doing two things – tardiness and lying. I think Americans have successfully reduced the totality of all values to those two bad things. If you think deeply, you can reduce the problem with our country to those two things: politicians keep us waiting for hours and show up without apologising.
A sense of time is essential, if we are to achieve our goals as a nation. Preaching the right values and encouraging the youth to practise them is a cause very close to my heart.
On how his childhood in Minna helped to nurture his cosmopolitan outlook
There’s no running away from one’s upbringing and associations particularly from childhood;that and also boarding school. The Nigeria I grew up in did not see one tribe above the other – Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa were considered equal. I have observed this trend amongst my peers, but I am not sure I can say the same for those who came after us. You can’t spend four years in boarding school and take lying lightly, with the kind of friendships we made in those days…
Nigeria has reached a sad point, now, where no matter how brilliant or successful you are, you will see friends or followers responding to friends about people from an ethnic group, thosewho unite to threaten members of another ethnic group or those who are putting one ethnic group above the other.
I know that being born in the North, growing up in the North and living amongst different people (in different countries) for most of my adult life has played a very big part in forming my outlook.
On his hitherto unrevealed efforts to contribute to Professor Chinua Achebe’s medical expenses…
Professor Achebe was not flown out immediately after his accident, everything was hushed and nobody knew where he was. MKOAbiola got wind of the campaign and called me to his house. Those were the type of things that got MKO concerned because he was such a kind-hearted human being.
He put some money in an envelope and instructed me to find out where he had been taken to and hand it over. I was able to locate his wife and I handed over the money to her. Such gestures were part of MKO’s contributions to humanity.
Tunde Fagbenle’s And That’s Saying It the Way It Is, is published by Laminated Calendars Limited
By Charles Kumolu National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and former governor of Lagos State, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday broke his silence on the restructuring debate as he warned of the consequences of not engaging a restructuring of the political economy of the Nigerian nation.
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Tinubu also explained that there were immense benefits to in the event of a restructuring that would create the correct balance. “It would be better”, he stressed, “to restructure things to attain the correct balance between our collective purpose on one hand and our separate grassroots realities on the other.” The former governor counselled the champions of hate and disintegration to desist saying “separating the nation into small pieces resolves nothing and creates additional problems”, making it clear that his “quest is for a better Nigeria”. He then added: “While nations more powerful and developed than us seek to pool their wealth and might, some of us seek to whittle this nation into smaller pieces”. Tinubu, who was Principal Guest of Honour/Keynote Speaker at the 2017 Annual Dinner of the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) at King’s College, Lagos, was represented at the event by former Lagos State commissioner for Finance, Dr. Wale Edun. His speech was titled, A NEW NIGERIA OR A BETTER ONE:THE FITTING TOOLS OF A GREAT REPAIR. “In one way or another, we all have felt the sting of man’s capacity to wrong his fellow man. But we are also endowed with the God-given spirit to overcome adversity and to make of old enemies, new allies and even brothers. I stand before you as a faithful believer in sentiments such as these”, the former governor of Lagos started his address to the King’s College Old Boys. He continued: “Collectively and individually you have contributed mightily to this nation. If there were more people imbued with the values of King’s College, Nigeria would be a better place. We must clearly articulate our objectives. That which we cannot think clearly, will not be attained despite the magnitude of our exertions and expenditure to achieve it. One cannot be assured that an architect’s fine design will result in a fine building. Much can go awry during the process of transforming idea into brick and mortar. “However, we can be certain that a masterful building is never the result of flawed design. In this vein, I dabble not so much in the search for a new Nigeria. I am equally not enthused about the flaws of old Nigeria. What I seek is a better Nigeria. “I care not whether something is old or new but whether it shall make us better. Not all change is good. Not every new thing shall be kind to us”. Saying Nigeria must change but some of the changes we need cannot be bought at the store of the new, Tinubu said, “Many things we need are shelved in the warehouse of the old. Just as we must learn new things on one hand, we must remember vital old wisdom on the other. This is where associations such as this are so valuable. You represent an inventory of vast knowledge. “This should be used not to stifle change but to guide it toward its best purpose”. The APC leader went on: “The trend today is to believe progress and improvement are basically functions of technology and science. That politics and governance matter little and change almost nothing. That talk of political reform spills out of the leaking chalice of dreamers. Or is but an intoxicant used by cynical political operators to delude the public. “Skepticism abounds. The only strong belief is to disbelief. Not enough people seek to improve society. They are told that only the foolish looks out for his neighbor and respects his adversary. “They are taught the only thing to do is to look out for one’s self. If thy neighbor stumbles, reach down not to pick him up but to take those things he dropped while falling. Self-profit is the only commandment. All else is make-believe, things heard in the church and mosque but to be left there and not pursued in the course of everyday life. Change is possible “The very dynamics of the current political economy is to separate people from each other. Such mean isolation was never part of us but it has crept into our culture. Of this brand of newness, I want no part. The world has entered a period where progressive, humane reform are not fashionable. We are told to be practical, to accept the way things are. There is no struggle over competing ideals; we are told the current political economy is immutable. The only thing that matters is whether you master its dynamics to succeed or you sink and fail. To attempt to change things is as futile as trying to change the sky and clouds themselves. “This is a blatant lie. Change is possible and change we must. There is no such thing as having no ideology. Every political and economic institutions are founded on one thought system or another. To accept the false premise that there is no alternative to how things are is to acquiesce in the unfair ideology that has brought us to our current predicament. “In the hard sciences such as physics, chemistry or mathematics, one can speak of immutable principles and objective formula. In the affairs of men, most things are subjective. Virtue and vice, good and bad, what is optimal and what is not have no fixed meaning. Definitions change with the ideological and moral perspective of each person. “In the face of recession, one man fires most of his employees in order to maintain his own income level. Another man accepts to receive less income so that he may retain his workers. Two men faced with the same circumstance. Each made a decision of equal soundness with regard to the rational or intellectual quality of the thinking processes that led to the decisions. However, the decisions call forth two divergent value systems that suggest two vastly different visions of how the political economy should function whether in or out of crisis. “As in almost all social interactions, there are few acts devoid of subjective ideological coloration. The decisions we make are determined by how we would like the world to be – our very actions are determined by what we value so as to keep and what we are willing to discard when the ship of state is tossed either by storm or errant navigation. “Since there is no one objective optimal standard by which to construct a political economy, it would seem prudent for a nation to dedicate a healthy amount of time discussing this fundamental matter. For such is the surest path to reaching consensus on what economic development and good governance mean in our particular context. “Sadly, the obverse is true. We talk little about this core issue. Instead, we spend inordinate time bickering over the symptoms of our failure to discuss the core issue. We are like the bewildered couple who has gotten their marriage license after a lavish wedding; yet neither of them really understands the meaning of marriage or their roles as husband and wife in it. “Legally, they are married but functionally, their union is a crippled one. This couple will be at loggerheads until somehow, some way they forge an agreement on what type of home they want and what are their respective duties in making that home come into existence. Legal marriage “It is a rather curious lapse that a nation with such diversity as ours has not taken the time to give our legal marriage its proper functional underpinning. In other words, we all lined up to call ourselves Nigerian without gathering to discuss what it meant. Thus, we inhabit a nation that has not sufficiently defined its governance. “We may be defined by political borders and boundaries but we have not glued ourselves to collective purpose and vision. Too many of us are born in Nigeria but not of it. Thus, our society is not a collective enterprise as important to each of us as our own personal endeavor. It is but a platform, an arena, to claim whatever one can by whatever means available. In too many ways we resemble a wrestling match instead of the nation we were meant to become. “Thus, we argue over matters that long ago should have been settled. The longer such fundamental questions fester, the more extreme become the proposed answers. “Thus, we have people clamoring for secession in one part of the country and the murmur of such a course grows stronger in other sections. “These other areas resent that some have advocated secession. Blame and recrimination become the political currency. Statesmanship falls in short supply. The dominant urge is to confront instead of reconcile. “It would be wrong to mistake this for a tempest in a teapot. If not careful, we may be tossed about like a teapot in a tempest. “We must listen to what is being said so that we can determine what is really meant. Political power “Let us be frank. Many who cry separation do so because their personal ambitions will be better served by such a thing. They believe they will have greater chance at political power under a different arrangement. Yet the cry for separation has gained traction among average people; this is due to the chronic failure of government to meet basic aspirations. “If over the years, government had delivered on the promise of growth, prosperity, and justice, those calling for such extreme remedies would be but a small fringe of little consequence. Our task is not to condemn but to listen and understand. I care not at all for this proposed solution. But I dare not discount the concerns and problems that have led many people into advocating such a thing. Firm believer in Nigeria “Here, I want to plainly state my position. I am a firm believer in Nigeria. I believe this land will become a great nation and a leader among other African nations. We can resolve our dysfunctions in a manner that will make this nation rise as a standard of decency, justice and prosperity for all Nigerians. “So many excellent people have devoted themselves, even given their very lives, to give life to this nation. I dare not cast aside their hardy and brave work as if it were nothing. Many things we now enjoy and see as good are due to these people. We have benefited from their labor and sacrifice. Many of you have likewise sacrificed because selfless values and working for something noble and larger than your own advancement are the precious lessons King’s College taught you. Morality and my understanding of our history will not allow me to discard such contributions to our humanity and common welfare. “Being more pragmatic, separating the nation into small pieces resolves nothing and creates additional problems. The world marches toward integration. Europe, America, Asia seek trade and commercial pacts that will make them more integrated markets. Notwithstanding Brexit, the EU grows more integrated in the functions of governance by the day. Thus, while nations more powerful and developed than us seek to pool their wealth and might, some of us seek to whittle this nation into smaller pieces. “Such a thing would make us more vulnerable to outside influences. We would forfeit our rightful place on the world stage and as a leader of this continent. “Moreover, not every split solves a problem. The political mentality, either good or bad, that defined a group before the split will remain after the divide. If one is imbued with factionalism, that perspective will remain even when the immediate problem is surmounted. Division will manifest differently, but manifest it will. “A new factional bigotry will arise to replace the old. The cycle of tension and unrest will take its inexorable toll. Just ask the people of South Sudan if their woes ended when they left Sudan. “When your heart is geared toward division, you will seek it within a single tribe, even a single family. The gossamer of ethnic unity will be ripped apart by sub-ethnic squabble. An angry man outside his home remains angry inside it as well and a thief steals from both stranger and friend. “Driven by such a mentality, even someone you once called your brother becomes a nuisance, then a burden, and ultimately your enemy in short order. “Thus, I oppose talk of break-up and all other exotic political arrangements tantamount to it. That I am a foe of disunity does not mean I have blinded myself to the truth that our nation is in need of great repair. “We all see the nation for what it is. Some look further to see the nation for what it is not and they rush to condemn it. “I choose to see the nation for what it can be and thus seek to nurture and cultivate it so that this Nigeria may bring forth the fullest blossoming of its riches, resources and ingenuity of its diverse people. Better Nigeria “We need a better Nigeria and we must move toward it with speed. Once an ally, time no longer is on our side. “To achieve this better place means some old things must change. But it also means that we must revive some practices we have tried to forget. “I will offer you a thematic overview for laying the foundation of a better nation. I pretend not to give all the answers. What I give is my humble initial contribution to the overdue discourse on how to mould and shape our political economy. “Our current national economic model is but an old, crumbling house. Repairing this edifice is the greatest challenge confronting us. “We allowed a once vibrant, diverse economy to atrophy into something overly dependent on oil revenue and on the rent-seeking behavior such revenues encourage. Even at the best of times and with the highest of oil prices, the economy was characterized by imbalance and inefficiency. Widespread poverty, gross inequality and massive unemployment described our condition. “We survived but did not flourish. But bothered not to change because we thought oil would always be able to pay for everything. “Because of this, we left millions upon millions of our people in the clutch of destitution. Poverty became their abundance and joblessness their vocation, despair their faith. “The secular decline in oil prices revealed our extant economic model for the travesty it is. Should we continue along its sad path, history will write of us that we chose self-destruction over progress for no reasons other than inertia and arrogance. Future generations will utter “there went the best chance of Nigeria.” This is not a verdict I want attached to my name and our generation. “We must refuse to be bondsmen to failure. “Here are some ideas that may aid this vital economic repair. “We are among the world’s most populous nations. We must realize that no populous nation has ever attained broadly- shared prosperity without first creating an industrial capacity that employs large numbers of people and manufactures a significant quantity of goods for domestic consumption or export. “In one form or another, England, America and China implemented policies to protect key industries, promote employment and encourage exports. “These three nations represent the past, present and immediate future of national economic achievement. A strong common thread is their policies of buffering strategic industries in ways that allows for the expansion and growth of the overall economy. National industrial policy “We must press forward with a national industrial policy fostering development of strategic industries that create jobs as well as spur further economic growth. Whether we decide to focus attention on steel, textiles, cars, machinery components, or other items, we must focus on manufacturing things that Nigerians and the rest of the world value and want to buy. “We must partially reshape the market place to accomplish this. The federal government should institute a policy of tax credits, subsidies and insulate critical sectors from the negative impact of imports. “We need a national infrastructure plan. Roads, ports, bridges and railways need enhancing and new ones need to be built, the goal must be a coherently-planned and integrated infrastructural grid. A national economy cannot grow beyond the capacity of the infrastructure that serves it. Good infrastructure yields a prospering economy. Weak infrastructure relegates the economy to the poorhouse. Government must take the lead. “The focus on infrastructure has important corollary benefit. Federal expenditure for needed infrastructural spending has empirically proven in every place and in every era to boost recessionary economies and provide employment when sorely needed. Deficit spending in our own currency to advance this mission is neither a luxury nor a mistake. It is a fulcrum of and balanced and shared prosperity. “We must overcome the economic, political and bureaucratic bottlenecks preventing us from achieving reliable electrical power. “This is perhaps the single greatest impediment to economic advancement. The lack of power inflates costs, undercuts productivity, causing havoc to overall economic activity and job creation. Our economic situation is literally and figuratively in the dark. The hurdles we face are not technical in nature. “We must convince those political and economic factors currently impeding our quest for reliable power to step aside that we may obtain this critical ingredient to economic vitality. “Modern economies are based on credit. However, credit for business investment is too costly in Nigeria. “The long-term economic strength of the nation is dependent on how we deploy now idle men, material and machines into productive endeavor. And this is highly dependent on the interest rate. “The CBN must cure its affection for high interest rates. Lower rates are required so our industrialists may borrow without fear that excessive costs of borrowing will consign them to irredeemable debt. The normal profit rates in most business sectors cannot support the burden imposed by current interest rates. “If our industrialists do not invest in more plant, equipment and jobs, the economy will stagnate. The banking system would have achieved its goal of low interest rates at the greater costs of economic growth. This is as misguided as trying to save a branch by chopping down the tree. “Consumer credit must be more accessible to the average person. The prevailing norm is for a person to purchase high -priced items such as a car in one lump sum. This is oppressive. It defeats the average person and constrains transactions in real estate, vehicles and appliances that could vitalize the economy. “The government-backed home mortgage system must be re-engineered. Mortgage loan agencies must be better funded, and liberalize their eligibility requirements so that more people qualify. They need to provide longer-term mortgages with manageable interest rates. Government should provide the supporting guarantees to make such financing a reality. “By sparking the effective demand for housing, the overall economy is enhanced. The construction sector and the industries allied to it will surge. “Moreover, to the extent that a man has a house he calls his own, that man is content; his contentment and innate common sense will act as brakes against instability and reckless political conduct. “Also, a workable credit system lessens corruption. The current lump-sum payment requirement tempts people toward misconduct. They see no other way to secure such large sums. Their wages will not suffice. Thus, they either must steal the money, beg for it or forego the purchase. Having an accessible credit system that provides for periodic installment payments places a purchase within the reach of a person’s wages. They no longer have to equate being honest with doing without. Backbone “Agriculture remains the backbone of the nation. We must help the common farmer by improving rural output and incomes. This is best done via ensuring minimum prices for crops strategic to food security. Here, we must revive an old practice and policy that served us well. Though effective, this policy was shunned because it conflicted with the free market totems that we were asked to erect against our own interests. “We must return to commodity exchange boards which will allow farmers to secure good prices and hedge against loss. An agricultural mortgage loan corporation should be inaugurated to further promote these goals. Balancing “The proposals stated above are largely within the province of the federal government. Focusing on these and other such things will keep the federal government sufficiently busy. Sadly, the federal government is now doing things the states can perform with equal dexterity and which detract the federal government from the key missions only it can perform. “This imbalance between the roles of the federal and state governments lies at the root of our difficulties. “To achieve better levels of overall governance, we need to re-balance the duties of the federal and state governments. The legacy of undemocratic rule has arrogated too much power and resources to the federal at the expense of state governments. The quest to correct the imbalance is the essence of federalism I have advocated for so many years. “Due to our particular political history and its military legacy, the quality of our federalism and the quality of our democracy are intertwined. The more we repair federalism, is the more we improve democracy. “In my mind, federalism denotes a division of labor between the federal and state governments that functions to maximize the benefits of governance to the people. True federalism is that brand which provides that the federal government should focus on those few but essential things only it can provide such as foreign policy, defense, and national economic policy. Additionally, in those matters where uniform standards and requirements are appropriate, the federal government must take the lead. “All other matters should be left to the states. If there is doubt over a particular issue, the presumption should be that the states, not the federal government, should take the lead. “Here, I say to those so eager to dispense with federalism in favor of more rash and impractical remedies, let us first truly practice federalism before we deem it a failure. If given but a fair chance, we just might perfect federalism by making it work for the benefit of all of us. “Constitutionally, we are a federation of 36 states. However, the vestiges of past military rule continue to haunt the democratic road we hew. We function like a unitary state in many ways. “We cannot become a better Nigeria with an undue concentration of power at the federal level. “Competition for federal office will be too intense, akin to a winner-take-all duel. Those who lose, will bristle at the lack of power in the periphery they occupy. They will scheme to pester and undermine the strong executive because that is where they want to be. The executive will become so engaged in deflecting their antics, that it will not devote its great powers to the issues of progressive governance for which such powers were bestowed. Things will be in a constant state of disequilibrium and irritation. Such a situation augurs toward the maintenance of an unsatisfactory status quo in the political economy. It augurs against reform. “It would be better to restructure things to attain the correct balance between our collective purpose on one hand and our separate grassroots realities on the other. “Many of the 68 items on the Exclusive Federal List should be transferred to the Residual List. This would be in harmony with the 1963 Constitution, again an instance of reaching back to revive something old yet more likely to give us a better Nigeria. “That prior constitution granted vast powers to the regions enabling them to carry out their immense responsibilities as they saw fit. “By virtue of the clear fact that regional governments were closer to the people, they had a better feel for the material and intangible priorities of their populations. We must return to this ideal. “Some items which should be left for the states to handle such as police, prisons, stamp duties, regulation of tourist traffic, registration of business names, incorporation of companies, traffic on federal truck roads passing through states, trade, commerce and census are now on the Exclusive List for the federal government. Electrical power “Regarding the all important electrical power, while the federal government takes the lead, there is no logical reason to limit states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity only to areas not covered by the national grid. “The states should be allowed to augment power generation so long as they do not undermine federal operations. For instance, a state may wish to develop an industrial park or housing estate either of which will require a boost in power generation. However, if the national government does not agree, the state will be foreclosed from projects that provide jobs and better living conditions to its people. “This is not in keeping with the spirit of federalism. It is consonant with an undemocratic tradition that keeps us from approaching a better Nigeria. Revenue formula “As an adjunct, we should also seek to re-calibrate the revenue sharing formula in order to bring more funds to the state and local levels so they can answer their enlarged responsibilities. “In this regard, the residual effect of the old unitary system has made harsh of the Paris Club refunds owed the various state governments. Money that is owed the states, belongs to the states. We all support propriety of expenditure. The sentiment behind the withholding is understandable if not laudable. But the federal government has no right to withhold funds that constitutionally belong to the states. The fear of possible misuse of funds is no reason to violate the constitution. Provide the funds to the states as legally required. Committed and fine governors will use the funds wisely. And the people will be better off. As to those who squander the money, there are appropriate ways to expose and sanction them. This is where the federal government can appropriately step in. However, to withhold the funds, no matter how well intended, is to undermine federalism and the rule of law. It will have adverse long-time consequences; as such, it is too high a price to pay. One Nigeria “When we unite and not untie, we build on an existing maxim of ONE NIGERIA by describing that ONENESS as the fabric of a larger society S.E.W.N. (South East West North) together. “We exist in an era where progressive reform and compassion in governance are not oft spoken. It is a dark period the world has entered, where the lesson is the powerful do as they will and the weak suffer as they must. “Yes, we resist this trend; it holds nothing good for Nigeria. We must adhere to the values and policies that suggest tomorrow can be made a better place than today. “I refuse to believe we have become such an untoward lot that the longer we live together, the more estranged we become. “Just as we have gathered here today, we must gather about the national table to repair our political discourse. In this way, we begin the process leading to policies that bring – civic kindness, generosity of spirit, sustainable growth, equality and peace to every Nigerian who seeks these good things. These are the pillars of a better Nigeria.” In conclusion, Tinubu said “by the grace and mercy of our common Creator, we shall build such pillars so that we and succeeding generations may come to build even greater things upon them.
The Governor said that the restructuring would help his administration to curb crimes and improve security network in the state.
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Tuesday said he would soon meet President Muhammadu Buhari on the need to restructure the Edo Police Command to strengthen the state’s security situation.
Obaseki, while responding to questions from journalists in Benin, said that the restructuring would help his administration to curb crimes and improve security network in the state.
He spoke on the killing of three police officers and the kidnap of Mr Andy Ehanire, the Chief Executive Officer, Ogba Zoological Garden and Natures Park, on Sept. 24 in Benin.
The governor, while describing the incident as unfortunate, said that the state has not had such situation for a long time.
“As we move toward the end of the year, this kind of occurrence is not unusual, but we have taken necessary steps to stop such,” Obaseki said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had on Monday condemned the kidnapping that happened at Ogba Zoological and Nature Park in Benin.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the government’s position known, described it as “saddening, condemnable and most unfortunate.
Mohammed said, in a statement on Monday that the attack on one of the country’s foremost tourist destinations was a big blow to ongoing efforts to lift the tourism sector in the country.
He said, “The success or failure of a tourism destination depends largely on a safe and secure environment.
“Incidences such as the attack on the Ogba Zoo and Nature Park, therefore, negate the concept of tourism as well as government’s determination to develop our tourism industry as a tool for socio-economic development.”Source:Pocket News
Monday, 25 September 2017
President Buhari returns from London as promised by Femi Adesina Author: Eromosele Ebhomele UPDATED: 3 HOURS AGO VIEWS: 90866 Category: Local news SHARE ON FACEBOOK SEND VIA EMAIL SEND ON WHATSAPP SHARE ON FACEBOOK SEND VIA EMAIL SEND ON WHATSAPP President Muhammadu Buhari has finally returned to the country from London where he had travelled to after taking part in the United Nations General Assembly for 2017. The president landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport late on Monday, September 23 after four days in London. President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, September 21, departed New York for London as announced by Femi Adesina.
Before leaving London, Buhari met with the Nigerian officials in the country. Credit: Femi Adesina Adesina confirmed his return with photographs showing President Buhari with Nigerian foreign officials in United Kingdom shortly before his departure for Abuja and when he was welcomed by Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, David Umahi of Ebonyi and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, who is also the chairman of Governor's Forum as he arrived Nigeria. READ ALSO: Another top politician dumps APC for PDP, claims Atiku will soon do same NAIJ.com had also reported that the presidency released pictures showing the moment President Muhammadu Buhari departed New York for London in what some have described as another scheduled medical appointment with his doctors. The president is expected to return to Nigeria after his transit to London. However, the presidency has declined to state if Buhari's trip is medically related. President Buhari was received in Nigeria by three governors including Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Dave Umari of Ebonyi and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara. Credit: Femi Adesina Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said he cannot confirm if the president was going to see his doctors in London. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 new app ‘’I cannot confirm to you. I am in Abuja right now I cannot speak on what I don’t know, nobody has communicated with me,” he reportedly told Premium Times on Thursday, September 21, in a telephone conversation.
President Buhari was also welcomed by the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris and the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu. Credit: Femi Adesina Watch this video and hear what some Nigerians think about Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the United Nations to mount all necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts on North Korea to dissuade the nation from continuing in its nuclear weapon development.
Buhari, who addressed the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday said the most pressing threat to international peace and security today was the accelerated nuclear weapons development programme by North Korea.
“Since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, we have never come so close to the threat of nuclear war as we have now.
“All necessary pressure and diplomatic efforts must be brought to bear on North Korea to accept peaceful resolution of the crisis. As Hiroshima and Nagasaki painfully remind us, if we fail, the catastrophic and devastating human loss and environmental degradation cannot be imagined.
“Nigeria proposes a strong UN delegation to urgently engage the North Korean Leader. The delegation, led by the Security Council, should include members from all the regions. The crisis in the Korean peninsula underscores the urgency for all member states, guided by the spirit of enthroning a safer and more peaceful world, to ratify without delay the Treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, which will be open for signature here tomorrow,” he said.
Buhari also told the Assembly that Nigeria’s faith in democracy remained firm and unshaken, saying that “Our regional organisation ECOWAS came together to uphold democratic principles in The Gambia – as we had done previously in Cote D’Ivoire.
“Through our individual national efforts, state institutions are being strengthened to promote accountability, and to combat corruption and asset recovery. These can only be achieved through the international community cooperating and providing critical assistance and material support. We shall also cooperate in addressing the growing transnational crimes such as forced labour, modern day slavery, human trafficking and cybercrime.
“These cooperative efforts should be sustained. We must collectively devise strategies and mobilise the required responses to stop fleeing ISIS fighters from mutating and infiltrating into the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, where there are insufficient resources and response capacity is weak.”
According to Buhari, “This will require strong UN cooperation with regional organisations, such as the African Union, in conflict prevention and management. The UN should continue to take primary leadership of the maintenance of international peace and security by providing, in a predictable and sustainable manner, adequate funding and other enablers to regional initiatives and peacekeeping operations authorized by the Security Council.”
Following the May 30th declaration by Biafra agitators as sit-at-home Day in commemoration of the Biafra Independence Day, some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra ( IPOB ) claimed to be based in Malaysia but travelled home for the planned Biafra Day have allegedly donated a live cow allegedly named “Buhari” to their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, to be killed on Biafra Day.
The story seen on an online news medium, The Breaking Times, said that Mr. Kanu “who has received hundreds of important visitors including high-placed politicians since he was released on bail by an Abuja High Court in April, accepted the gift warmly.”
The reports also claimed that the members named the cow before donating it to their leader.
In the photo, two of the claimed IPOB members who donated the cow are seen standing with Nnamdi Kanu while another picture shows them standing beside the said cow.
Recall that Fifty years ago, the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria seceded, declaring an independent Republic of Biafra and sparking a brutal civil war that left about one million people dead.
– Coups and secession –
On May 30, 1967, the military head of Nigeria‘s eastern region, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared “the independent Republic of BiaNe..
His move comes two days after the head of Nigeria‘s military government, General Yakubu Gowon, divided the federation into 12 states, including three in the east.
Biafra, accounting for less than 10 percent of Nigerian territory, at the time had a population of 14 million out of 55 million nationwide.
Its mainly Christian population was two-thirds Igbo.
Since independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria had managed to stay a single entity despite historic enmity between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian south.
But the Igbos felt discriminated against by the two other main ethnic groupings, the northern Hausa-Fulani and the Yoruba in the southwest.
In January 1966, Nigeria suffered its first military coup, led by the Igbo General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi. A counter-coup launched in the north in July kills Ironsi and many of his senior Igbo officers.
Thousands of Igbo civilians are killed in reprisals, especially in the north, and millions of survivors flee back to the southeast.
The government rejects the secession of the southeast, which is rich in agricultural and mineral resources, especially oil.
– Bombardments and blockade –
Gowon announces a general mobilisation and denounces the independence declaration as “an act of rebellion”, saying it will be “crushed”. The military imposes a blockade on eastern Nigeria.
On July 6 the army unleashes a general offensive with its first air bombardments.
In October federal troops take Biafra’s capital, Enugu, then the port of Calabar. Onitsha and Port Harcourt are recaptured in the first months of 1968.
Britain, the Soviet Union and the Organisation of African Unity (the forerunner to the African Union) side with the federal government.
Only a few African countries and France back Biafra.
– Humanitarian drama –
On July 3, 1968 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that eight to 12 million people are affected by the conflict and that 200 people a day are dying of starvation in Biafra.
“One would think we were seeing ghosts marching past, thin and silent, wrapped in grey rags,” an AFP special correspondent reports in August.
“Nearly all are women of all ages and old people… there are no longer many children in Biafra.
“The refugees travel, their stomachs empty, fleeing the noise of federal cannon. The noose is tightening.”
In late August he writes of a million new refugees in 15 days as the army advances.
“One person dies every 15 minutes… refugees are dying from starvation and exhaustion,” he reports.
The Biafra famine caused by the blockade makes headlines around the world, with heartrending photographs of children, stomachs bloated by malnutrition, their legs bent with rickets.
A handful of French doctors working for the ICRC, including the future French government minister Bernard Kouchner, brush aside convention and political borders to launch an aid effort.
In 1971, they go on to found Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).
– ‘No victor, no vanquished’ –
From August to September 1968 the army retakes several towns after a major offensive.
In March-April 1969, the new Biafran capital, Umuahia, falls.
After raids by secessionists on oil wells, Nigerian troops reinforce their blockade, and in June start preventing international Red Cross aid flights.VanguardNgr reports
Only Christian churches and the French Red Cross continue their aid flights in ever more dangerous conditions.
In early January 1970 the army begins its final assault, and on January 15, Biafra ceases to exist.
Ojukwu flees on January 11 to Ivory Coast, leaving his deputy, Philip Effiong, to officially surrender to Gowon in Lagos, the federal government’s capital at the time. The east resumes its place in a united Nigeria.
Gowon vows “No victor, no vanquished”, and pledges to work for national reconciliation.
But resentment lingers and deepens over the decades, as the Igbo complain of a lack of investment in the southeast, which many view as a punishment for Biafra.
The war invests considerable power in the army, with military coups becoming a feature of Nigerian political life for decades.
