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bookish99   bookish99 Ademola Adesola's TIGblog
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EKITI REC: The Rash of Needless Accolades
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


Nigeria, a country that has doubly and exhaustively negated what it means to be a country and that has joyously accumulated all known trappings of a failed state owing to its being ruled by men and women with everything but the modicum comprehension of what it means to provide leadership for a country sorely in need of progress and development, is now a study in political and socio-economic retrogression. Nay, post-colonial Nigeria has now become a modern version of the gnawing and better forgotten Palaeolithic phase in the evolution of mankind!
So challenged and clueless are the base bipeds that hoodwink themselves by posturing as messiahs that they have optimally become oblivious of the widely acknowledged fact that the primal basis of government existence is to cater to the welfare of the people from whom it derives its being. Thus, through poorly formulated policies and total dearth of vision, they callously sequester the already beleaguered mass of the people to a scourging quotidian existence ably defined by telling and unabated impoverishment, both mentally and materially.
Consequently, a mass of deprived and purloined citizens daily befriending acute cynicism and whose mind is a seething cauldron of disillusionment and repulsion emerges. This reality, as those who are conscious, informed and sensitive would attest, is amply captured and reflected in the country’s implacable media industry; the legendary Fourth Estate of the Realm. In other words, the leitmotif of the daily outputs of the print and electronic media, are the tiresome and tiring tales of woes and unbecoming acts of inhumanity that have become the man-made lots of the hapless denizens of the post-colonial waning giant of Africa. Unarguably, therefore, as we see in Nigeria’s case, bad leadership is a noxious liquid sure to seep through the pores of healthy bodies and in the end lay them waste. It is the balm of revealing, moderately mordant and unpatronising editorial opinions and investigative reporting that have kept the country from totally disintegrating or negotiate irreversible obscurity. Nigerian journalists, without forgetting the heroic involvement of civil organisations, it must be conceded, have thus far held the fort. They have battled all ruthless dictators and their dissolute cohorts in civilian togas – they cut them to size and placed them where they belong. Burton’s words, beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword, proved practically logical and putative in the noble and commendable undertakings of Nigerian journalists.
Alas! Here we are today; there is a perturbing snag. Some Nigerian journalists (especially a few of those who write columns), in a rash of superfluous praise-singing of some government functionaries, have started to drift away from the historical role for which the men and women of the profession are distinguished and revered. It now seems as if some section of the Nigerian media is redefining the sacred function of the profession through a mind-wrecking praise of public figures they think are doing well.
But is excessive praise of government functionaries doing their constitutional duties justifiable? Are the encomiums showered on those few performing DGs, Commissioners, Ministers, Chairmen, etc., meant as an indirect way of spiting or ridiculing the big guns (say the President, Governors, or members of the nationally House of Assembly) who have not made any sensible or soul-lifting efforts to justify their being elected as the leaders or representatives of the people? In a country where official sleaze subsists; where hospitals are mortuaries due to the excruciating want of requisite facilities, qualified and well remunerated doctors; where roads are death traps endangering and terminating citizens’ lives’; where a legion of struggling people inhabits galling darkness; where the conduct of free and fair election is almost a mirage; where the priests, priestesses and the imams at the altar of heavily diluted religion stand on the abomasums of godliness and righteousness; and where institutions of learning are fast becoming ignorance-trading cocoons, should the practice of journalism in such a place be cheaply reduced to praise-singing, boot-licking and the kind of petty begging associated with inexperienced mendicants?
While one concedes that the apt praise of people who have impacted on humanity through altruistic deeds can serve as ambrosia that will encourage further engagement in that direction, one hastens to point out, in cahoots with a columnist, that the urge to praise has always dwarfed the spirit to assess. Moreover, the section of the Nigerian media given to praise-singing of fleeting and inconsequential feats of some government officials makes no sense of the chorus in Sophocles’ engaging play, Oedipus Rex, which enjoins that no man should be called successful until you have seen his end. As such, we have the likes of Nuhu Ribadu; the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Prof. Dora Akunyili; the former Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) now the Minister for Information and Communications, who because they showed some nebulous signs of people with different spirits and attitudes in directing the affairs of the nation in their given designations, ab initio, got a heap load of praises and accolades for what in other climes would not elicit the kind of pavlovian rash of praises they fortuitously got away with.
It is needless stating here that the extraneous praises these fellows got did not translate to anything more praise worthy or entirely noble. For instance, in the case of Ribadu, we got a man who was so intoxicated by the cheap and hasty praises he attracted that he threw caution into the wind and became a devastating tool in the hands of a man who consciously traded his flummoxed and vain soul to the devil. Ribadu’s undertakings, his easily impressed followers in the media spectacularly failed to detect, were, in the words of a Shakespearean character, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing. In similar vain, Madam Dora’s truck-load of encomiums did no more than placed her in a position where she has assumed the direct opposite of the very little that got her the gratuitous praises. Totally contented with being the mouthpiece of a government whose riling stock in trade is specially packaged fibs and ignominious sales of defective product, Dora has now become a squeaky clean preacher pontificating on the need for patriotism on the part of the large army of the decapitated citizenry who are not as guilty as their pretentious rulers and foes.
And once there is a rash of praises for people who do not deserve them, what we will see is a gradual erosion of the remaining values that require addition and improvement.
No event other than the one the Ekiti rerun fiasco threw up aptly limned this sobering reality. Hardly had the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Ayoka Olusola Adebayo, caterwauled and wailed about the presence of some disgruntled elements that wanted her to do violent injury to her conscience, when some columnists hastily put pens to paper to authoritatively conclud that Ayoka was a heroine and as such deserved to be sheltered in Valhalla. Few took time to question her resignation. Few went the extra mile to ask her to name the people she alleged were on her neck to do the wrong thing. But a large number of commentators almost exhaust all available head-swelling epithets on her. They didn’t even question her antecedent, knowing full well that she was a part of the INEC that consciously cast mud on our nascent democracy.
I remember I wrote to some of these writers, asking that; Is it not proper to wait and see how she finishes the job she initially tried to abandon under the claim that some people she has kept silent on their identities tried to war against her conscience, before we awash her with accolades? What if Madam Adebayo’s action was an oblique way of doing the kill-joy wish of the most undisciplined party (PDP) on earth? To another I advised; We should all, the media especially, wait till it is all over before we can garland her shoulders or throw eggs in her face. And yet to another I maintained; I am cautious in festooning Ayoka Adebayo with the habiliments only fitting for a true heroine. I will wait till it all ends.
My submissions were based on the conviction that the nature of things in Nigeria does not call for the heaping of praises on public figures who are paid to do the right thing; that cynicism still remains one of the essential instruments of journalism. But there we were; journalists accepting the words of a Nigerian public officer at their face value without any scintilla of dubitation.
The results of that shaming rerun are out. The winner has since assumed office as envisaged. The noise made by the 74-year old Ayoka did not rock any boat. The contentious Ido-Osi election availed for a party suspected to have invited the REC for an image-tarnishing ball. But Madam Ayoka is now a heroine all the same. She has shown, thou in a warped manner, that she is more righteous than the Pope and the rest of us. Who made her such? The hasty section of her motherland of course! Have the undue robes of praises she was decked in kept her conscience clean and encouraged her to up-lift the vexed souls of the Ekiti peasants? Did it make her walk the region angels dread to traverse?
My appeal to journalists, especially those who relish impulsive praise and are easily impressed, is to man the gate very carefully. Ours is not a country that is where it should be. Our leaders are cagey about information. Our system is heavily threatened. Journalists cannot afford to substitute their very important role for singing the praises of people who wittingly work in line with anything that encourages repression and underdevelopment. Nigerian journalists owe the Nigerian masses the duty of fighting their cause. We will do well to be sparing in praising people. On the whole, the quality of the profession must not be diluted or compromised through a rash of gratuitous praises and beggarly mind-set.





May 12, 2009 | 11:14 AM Comments  {num} comments

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bookish99   bookish99 Ademola Adesola's TIGblog
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A Failing Nation and Subversive Euphemisms
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


AS ALWAYS THE BLACK PEOPLE LOOKED AT EVIL STONY-EYED
AND LET IT RUN…IN THEIR WORLD ABERRATIONS WERE
AS MUCH A PART OF NATURE AS GRACE. IT WAS NOT FOR
THEM TO EXPEL OR ANNIHILATE IT. - TONI MORRISON

Ever read or heard of a country that has been described and painted in the most caustic and uncharitable words in the comity of nations owing to the awe-inducing scripts being relentlessly and assiduously acted by those that should necessarily do everything humanly feasible to make it a successful state that can command raw envy and in the final analysis become a cynosure of all eyes? Have you, perchance, been privy to the bile-giving goings-on in a country in which you discover that it has outmatched its great endowments, both in human and material, in serious negativities? Do you know any sovereign state that is effortlessly and progressively moving from a failing one to a failed one? May be you even know of a country where nothing in the most practical terms is done to cater for its army of fledging “future leaders”?
In such a country (which I am convinced you know very well like the back of your hand), Martha Gellhorn exhorts us that, “it is shaming to be citizens” because such will be ruled by “a squalid crook from the gutter”. In the opinion of one legendary sage called Obafemi Awolowo, such a country is nothing but “a mere geographical expression”. In such a country, the enfant terrible Abami Eda – Fela -- says all of the world’s problems will be present there in varying degrees! Ask Dele Giwa and he would tell you that citizens of such an absurd country would always regard themselves “as passing sojourners on the geographical amalgam called…” Kunle Ajibade will hasten in his newly published book to say it is “a primitive arena of absolute terror”. And what would Beko Ransome-Kuti say? Simple: this is what you would get – what a country! (Incidentally this is the title of Ajibade’s new book). Meet a former high ranking officer in the army and you would hear “a country of anything goes”.
You need Niyi Osundare’s view? You have it: “a country ruled by unconscionable politicians. No prescription can cure such a country because nobody loves it”. Kongi (i.e. Wole Soyinka) too has something to say about such a country. In such an enclave, “the culture of impunity is spreading fast, constituting a livid stain across the national visage”. For Tatalo Alamu, the story of such a misfortune-stricken country will be “the story of how the blessing of nature would turn into societal curse”. The wonderful dreams of the younger generation are always “sacrificed at the shrine of a post colonial state gone berserk”. For the Ghanaian-born critical realist novelist, in such a hell, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born ! And in another writer’s opinion, the best lugubrious appellation is; This House Is Falling. Idowu Akinlotan (Palladium) explicates that the fortune of such a coven dwindled as such because of “incompetence, and incompetence worsened by ignorance and irresponsibility”! Such a country, we are educated, is a land of nightmares and plain madness.
When thinking of such a country, we are very much likely to remember the then human consuming apartheid South Africa where, according to the bard cum freedom fighter – Dennis Brutus – what in saner climes is whispered is declared “with snarling guns” by it. In that kind of a country, you will find it easy to understand T. S. Eliot’s Wasteland. Someone who took time to situate Eliot’s Wasteland within the happenings in that country that I surmise you already know opines that, “the country has become a wasteland, a big barren emptiness whose aspirations coalesce around religions extremism, crime and anarchy”. It has been stated that such a country “has men gifted in taking power: but does not have men astute in using it”. In there, you learn ignorance, earn fraudulently and yearn for the chilling hands of you know what. One other thing you possibly cannot miss in such a horror-friendly country is the illogical redefinitions of virtually all known concepts.
For instance, patriotism is no longer the love of your country and willingness to defend it. The inhabitants of such a country, having been intoxicated by the noxious fumes of hypocritical self righteousness and the fulsome rhetoric of misbegotten patriotism, now understand it (patriotism) to be one’s readiness to adroitly and craftily frit away the nation’s collective resources. The better you are able to do it, the greater your image towers. That is why most of its thieving former this and former that are given a slap on the wrist for crimes that should see them cooling their heels in calaboose but are showered with high praises. For the citizens, such plunderers are not armed robbers but takers and sharers of the NATIONAL CAKE.
All the reprehensible acts of the Palaeolithic age have been decked in the robes of one subversive euphemism or another. There, the criminal exercise of cleverly dispossessing another of their means of exchange is nothing but yahoo-yahoo, thereby making it easy for the practitioners to continue. Such damnable blokes are not called thieves or armed robbers. They are just yahoo guys. In the opinion of some other people in such a country, those guys are only taking back what the white world took away from the black world. Only a few with conscience called it internet scam or fraud.
Again, the euphemism for student prostitutes is aristo. Nobody calls them hobos or whores. They even go far to make explanations for them – they are using what they have to get what they want. And before you know it, the ladies involved get encouraged. To them, this is a modern world: the problems of the modern world, they are wont to exhort, are solved through the aide of exceptionally prettified thighs. It is in such a country that optimal nudity is tagged fashion. The whirligig of fashion has assumed a dangerous dimension. Young ladies are daily seductively innovating and dangerously experimenting with their cleavages and rash infested chests. To this country, this does not threaten its moral fabric. It is development. Pity!
In the worship industries of such a country I assume you now know well, outright exploitation has its euphemism – SEED OFFERING. The shepherds, at the roiling detriment of the flocks, become, with the speed of lightening, fatten calves. For them, “God’s work” requires that they become the Orwellian pig – Napoleon. The biblical notion of equality is now easily summarised thus: all animals are equal, but … Immorality of the highest echelon, practised with great sophistication, is regarded as holy alliance, or combined service.
Strange is the way of the people of such a country. The more they distance themselves from bad practices, the more they reconnect with them through subversive euphemisms. Even the National Pledge of such a country has been mischievously rehashed to reflect the parlous state the country is in. You get something like this: I pledge to … my country/To be unfaithful, rebellious and dishonest/To betray my country with all my strength/To threaten her unity/And uphold her dishonour and lack of glory/For if God cannot help, so help me devil. When next you find students or even appointed ministers who cannot recite the original National Pledge offhand, you should know that the version they know well is the one above. It is just that they are too timorous and petrified to croon it. Yes, that is the gospel truth. Almost every acronym in such a country has a separate meaning given by the citizens of such a country. NEPA – Never Expect Power Always. PHCN – Please Hold Candle Now. NANS – National Association of Non-thinking Students. Et cetera.
That country has many intelligent people, yet none has ever led it. It is stupendously rich, yet 80% of its denizens are in what looks like inseverable romance with abject poverty. It is blessed with crude oil, yet most of its car owners buy the refined form at cut-throat prices. It has swathes of land good for farming, yet it leads the cry of food scarcity. Most of its locally needed products are freely exported. It can give electric power to adjoining states, but its vast numbers of citizens are joyously groping in thick darkness. For the human vampires that lead it, all these aberrations are euphemistically preened as staggering signs of gradual progress. Just how? You know what; the misfortunes of a large number of its youths seeking higher education are what make many of its top ranking civil servants hidden in some dilapidating and fading ivory towers smile to the equally capitalist banks in perfect incestuous relationship with despoilers. A million of them may be struggling for twenty thousand vacancies; the state does not care a hoot. It half-baked posse of graduates with seasonally formatted brains may boast of unrivalled job searching experience, the state does not care.
Today, it is now well propagated that that country has the happiest creatures on planet earth. What a subversive euphemism for a graphic political failure occasioned by dearth of sense of sense and ideational fecundity. What shall be done to a country where all the comrades are now come-and-raid? Who will help the country? Excuse me; is there any hope for a positive turn around? Will the country ever change track? Dear reader, please, for whatever God you worship sake, apprise me of what you think.
aao_enimasses@yahoo.com
July, 2008

May 7, 2009 | 3:13 PM Comments  {num} comments

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bookish99   bookish99 Ademola Adesola's TIGblog
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The Wrong Horse
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

It is an incontestable fact that Prof. Dora Akunyili in the last eight years has creditably and lovingly acquitted herself in the highly hazardous duty of ridding the country of the pernicious presence of fake drug peddlers and their equally despicable cohorts while she was in the saddle as the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Given the brilliant performance and moral rectitude that rightly defined her personality at that duty post, not a few Nigerians concurred that this feisty Amazon of good drug and problem-free food was surely on the right horse. They reasoned that she found it tractable to deliver and as such save the nation from many horrendous, surreptitious wiles of unconscionable fake drug barons because she was in her natural habitat.

But, quite saddening, her recent appointment as the Minister of Information and Communications has unhorsed her from the agile horse on which she has bettered the lot of her father’s land. The deluge of reactions from many a conscious Nigerian points to the sole truth that our forthright and diligent Dora is now on the wrong horse. Like these people, I should like to asseverate that Prof. Dora’s current assignment is, to say the least, a pure case of a square peg in a round hole! Put differently, this indefatigable princess of no mean feats is now delicately placed on a horse with wonky legs. How do I mean?

Without any doubt, one of the major requirements of Prof. Dora’s former place of appointment was the need to come clean at all times. Her position as the DG of NAFDAC required that she told the truth to the people of the country about the drugs and the edible items they were to take off the shelves in Supermarkets and all other places where they were sold. She knew too well that the well being of her fellow countrymen and women, including that of their offsprings, health wise, depended largely on how she was able to feed them with the clear truth concerning the items her organization was to oversee. On that score, she proved herself efficient and competent. With the hammer of truth, she dismantled the very many edifices of fibs that those who for a long time had been making huge profits from the sudden deaths of many Nigerians erected. Not once was she known to have compromised this rare standard. In all, with her affecting honesty, she took the light off the faces of the foes of humanity and banished them into anonymous obscurity.

However, now that she is in the Ministry of Information, which is the hub of the nation’s information dissemination, one would have expressed satisfaction with the development taking into cognizance the fact that the office equally requires its occupant to furnish the mass of the people with the truth about how they are being governed. But the immanent reality of that office, especially in the Nigerian context, is such that does not bring joy to the heart of anybody except those of the demi-gods in charge. The Nigerian Ministry of Information works directly opposite what is required of it. A Minister in that office is expected to religiously follow the unwritten rule that, using the words of Winston Churchill, truth is so precious that they should be attended by a body guard of lies. In other words, it is the duty of the Minister to play chess with the intelligence of over 140 million people by straight-facedly telling them that the black object they see is nothing but white. One recent example out of oodles of such was the show of shame that the former occupant of that office, Mr. John Odey, enacted -- that was during the “lesser hajj” President Yar’Adua observed in a hospital in Saudi Arabia . Mr. John, in an asinine manner, tried endlessly and fruitlessly too to battle Nigerians with the sword of lies over the obvious ill health of the President.

If I am still thinking well, I want to believe that Prof. Dora is, by her joyous acceptance of that infelicitous appointment, saying that she is willing to exchange her robe of integrity with that of falsehood. Otherwise, she should know that it would be pretty intractable for her to remain as squeaky clean as she assumed that office at the end of it all. While I do not begrudge her of her unalloyed faith in the God of chosen religion, I like to point out to her that the government she has elected to work with is annoyingly soulless and damnably godless. Madam Dora might have made up her mind not to lie for the government; she should still have it laden within her mind that her superiors have gladly sworn to always hoist the banner of shoddily packaged lies in the name of governance. If this were not so, why did the President, a self-professed adherent of Islamic injunctions, go to court to defend his retention of the mandate he openly acknowledged was stolen at gun point? No matter how hard our princess tries to avoid the temple of crippling lies, her employer will do all in their power to tutor her on how to enter the place without rocking the boat of governance, all to the disadvantages of the people.

Against this backdrop, I call on Prof. Dora to hold a rapid dialogue with her legs. She is on the wrong horse; she is likely to come unstuck and therefore unable to expand her base of worthy accolades. I call on her to drop the appointment. Personally, I don’t see how she can perform well in that office. She may believe in her God, but I exhort her to face reality and retrace her step.

On the whole, Prof. Dora’s inelegant appointment has shown once again that Mr. President is still clueless when it comes to producing a team that will make governance beneficial to the people.





May 4, 2009 | 2:26 PM Comments  {num} comments

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bookish99   bookish99 Ademola Adesola's TIGblog
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OSUN: The Meaning of the Appeal Court Verdict
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

That the results of the election conducted about two years ago are still matters of grave legal exertions speaks eloquently of the egregious dysfunctionality that patently characterise the political history of post-colonial Nigeria. More shaming is the concrete fact that some of the countries, within and outside Africa, that had their elections much after the day-light robbery that the enemies of good society hoodwink themselves to regard as election in 2007 are today squarely, seriously and sincerely addressing the most fundamental issues of governance, especially the distressing down-turn in their economic concerns, and have not been viciously suffocated by the noxious fumes of the befuddling shenanigans that often ooze out of brazen and demonic subversion of the people’s will.
Across the 36 states of the Nigerian federation, the callous illegality and unconscionable act of vote stealing that transpired in Osun State stands out. With the active connivance of the serpentine Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and some other foes of anything becoming of democracy and progress, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, rallied his troops and mindlessly conquered the unanimous will of the already impoverished people of the state. The near anarchy that trailed the returning of Oyinlola as the winner of that April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election aptly foregrounded the irrefrangible position of the people. And since the Action Congress candidate, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola, was doubly sure that the people voted massively to give him their mandate, he swallowed the bitter pile of the theft and headed for the last hope of the hapless mass of the people, a development that showed the man as an incurable believer in the fact that inciting the people to confront the maelstrom that is Oyinlola’s dissolute PDP in an attempt to reclaim their stolen mandate freely given to him is not a viable way of dueling the dacoits into total irrelevance.
But the Osun State Election Tribunal headed by Justice Thomas Naron was soon to be unreservedly contaminated and highly desecrated by the irritating machinery of Oyinlola in what was an illicit relationship between the compromised and spineless Tribunal and the intellectually indolent counsel of the roundly detested czar. Regarding the cry against its exposed untoward courtship with a party to the case before it as vacuous clangour of desperate politicians, the Naron-led Tribunal went ahead to validate the open plundering of the people’s will by Oyinlola.
However, the edifice of theft built with the spittle of fib was soon to be demolished, almost effortlessly, by the dew of ineluctable truth that the five-man panel headed by Justice Victor Omage sprinkled on it. In that unanimous judgement by the Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan on the 30th March, 2009, it was established that the lower court clearly miscarried justice due to its money-induced (not the actual word of Omage, please) incapacitation to admit two indispensable documents that are instrumental to the delivery of enduring and soothing justice. Against this backdrop, it directed, quite correctly, that a retrial of the petition in the Osun State government should be done!
A few meanings can be gleaned from this refreshing but saddening verdict. One, by the unambiguous position of the court, it is clear that the Naron-led Tribunal’s judgement was totally defective. This gives us a convincing impression that if the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) does a thorough investigation, it will confirm, indisputably, that Oyinlola and his counsel, Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), illicitly fraternised with the base Naron Tribunal. The Tribunal stood judicial discipline on its head. Its judgement was politically motivated. Instead of bounding with impartiality in order to refresh the minds of the people of the state with sound justice, it ridiculously traded its soul and was criminally biased. This is the meaning of Omage’s verdict.
Two, the Appeal Court decision, as against what some people think, also means that Aregbesola cannot be declared winner of an election that a Tribunal called upon to adjudicate and certify the true winner has made almost ambiguous. The retrial directive, I dare say, places the AC candidate in a good position. He must be declared a winner in a circumstance that does not have the colouration of the types that retained Yar’Adua, Akala, Idris, and Nyako. Aregbesola, given his commendable and exhaustive legal battle against the tsunami of the PDP, cannot be proclaimed winner in a questionable manner. Therefore, the meaning of that judgement is that Aregbesola, with the unassailable evidences of his opponent’s electoral debaucheries at his disposal, should go back to court to get a neat victory. By this, the face-saving sing-song of the rudderless PDP of its non-existing moral rectitude will be further exposed for what it is and the wider world will once again see the stuff the biggest but ideationally vacant group of the thoroughly animalised species is made of.
Third, and much more important, that Monday’s judgement means that those whom the gods will destroy they first make mad. Almost all of Oyinlola’s Stalin-like actions in that economically, socially and politically backward state that he has successfully made a modern GESTAPO have been dutifully analysed by many social commentators. His Stone-Age style of governance presents to us a mind that is seriously afflicted by unmitigated mental derangement. Oyinlola, as his six years reign of insufferable terror show, is a socio-path and a man totally out of touch with democratic principles. So, that judgement that somehow guarantees him the opportunity to still remain in office, howbeit for a limited time, in my own reflection, is meant to allow Oyinlola to fully run the whole gamut of insanity before he finally self-destructs. After all, insanity, as we are told, is nothing but doing the same thing exactly the same way and expecting different result. If Oyinlola is the same person we know, nothing that we know about him tells us that the verdict will sober his haughty and infantile mind and make him govern the state differently from the way he has been doing it. He will not do this; he is naturally incapable!
Yours sincerely is cock sure that this will be the lot of Oyinlola because his iniquitous acts against the people he professes love to cannot go unpunished. The gods want us to see the full self-pulverisation of Oyinlola and his hangers-on, hence the additional time credited to them, obliquely by the Appeal Court.
It is in view of the meanings of that verdict that I should like to enjoin all the progressives, the longsuffering people of Osun State and all lovers of people’s government to be more patient. They should draw solace from the thoughtful words of Aregbesola himself; ‘the dawn of freedom is almost here.’ The triumph of evil over good can only be temporary, so posited the cerebral Dele Giwa. Aregbesola himself should not despair. The struggle is worth the efforts so far deployed and the energy soon to be dispensed.
In another vein, one thing the new Tribunal should be encouraged to do is to speed up its hearing of the petition. And this is where our listless and worn President, Mallam Yar’Adua, need to reconsider his annoying stance over the recommended six months within which election matters should be rounded off. The President should employ his magic wand here –reversing his decisions as an after thought.



April 29, 2009 | 3:44 PM Comments  {num} comments

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plato123   plato123 Owulezi's TIGblog
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Black Monday: Robbers kill over 30 in Anambra
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Hell was literally let loose in Anambra State on Monday as armed robbers shot and killed over 30 people. The victims who included policemen, commuters and a soldier were felled during a shoot out that lasted for about two hours.
According to eyewitnesses, the armed robbers who operated with one Toyota Hilux, Hiace Commuter and one jeep were on the trail of a bullion van that took off from Onitsha to Nnewi through Oba old road. They were said to have launched an attack on the van within Oba area in Idemili South Local Government Area, Anambra State.
During the shoot out with the police joint patrol team, Daily Sun gathered, passengers in buses and other vehicles that were trapped in the scene fell victim as some of them including three pregnant women were shot dead while others were seriously wounded. Our source said that the hoodlums blocked the expressway by Oba junction new and old roads to avoid disruption before they began the operation.
The bandits were said to have set the bullion van ablaze along with two other vehicles but as at the time of filing this report it was not certain whether they succeeded in breaking the bullion van or not before burning it.
Like demons from hell, Daily Sun was told that the armed robbers ran amock ran wild as stormed Nnobi road towards Oraukwu and Adani shooting indiscriminately at commuters as they made for escape. Our source said that a tipper lorry driver was shot dead in the rampage.
Some of the corpses were deposited at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) while others were taken to nearby hospitals as (NAUTH) mortuary was already congested, according to an official of the hospital.
A doctor at NAUTH casualty ward who pleaded anonymity said there were over 15 victims with serious bullet wounds receiving medical attention at the ward.
One commercial bus driver, Mr Ifeanyi whose bus was also attacked near Oraukwu junction said two men and a woman were shot dead in his bus by the armed robbers.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Fidelis Agbo (CSP) confirmed the incident. According to Mr Agbo three police officers, one soldier and four commuters were feared dead.
He said that the police have spread their dragnet to apprehend the dare-devils as none of the armed robbers was killed during the gun battle.
Meanwhile, two suspected armed robbers were killed and two others seriously wounded in a shoot out with the police along Ogoja Road Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital on Monday bringing to 11 killed in two separate attacks within one week in the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Chris Anyanwu said the hoodlums operating with two motorcycles marked QB 780 ZLL and WF 189 ENU had trailed their victim, one Mr. Simon Iseh from a bank to his petrol station and robbed him of the sum of over N1.2 million at gun point.
He said that the hoodlums, after snatching the money were intercepted at Nwokpo junction along Ogoja road while trying to escape with their loot.
He stated that items recovered from the bandits include two locally made pistols, four GSM handset, and some objects suspected to be charms.
Anyanwu gave the names of the suspected armed gang as Ogbonna Sunday from Agbaja Umuhu in Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State and Orji Calistus from Amaorji Nenwe in Agwu local government area of Enugu State while the two that died at the spot were identified as Jude and Ernest.
The robbery victim, Hon Simon Iseh, pioneer Minority Leader of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, said that he left his house early in the morning to the bank to make some withdrawals but was delayed for some time at the bank.
“I came out of the bank and never suspected anything. I entered my car and drove off not knowing I was being followed.”
“On getting down at the petrol station four boys jumped down from two motorcycles,’ at gun point they asked me to hand over my car keys which I immediately did. Having collected my car keys, they also commanded me to hand over the money I withdrew from the bank. I realized that if I had refused to hand over the money they would possibly shoot me, so I handed over the money to them and immediately, they drove away in the opposite direction heading towards rice mill.”
He said that it was his salesgirls who, perhaps, observed what happened that raised alarm. “Fortunately for me, the Scorpion team of the Ebonyi State police command were driving towards the direction the hoodlum went and we had to alert them of the robbery attack. On sighting the police patrol van they opened fire and the police retaliated leading to the killing of two of the robbers while two others received gun shot wounds.”
The former House of Assembly member said that of the over N1.2 million snatched from him only N795,000 was recovered while the balanced could not be traced as at press time
ASP Anyanwu attributed the recent successes of the state police command to the determination of the force to curb crime in the state, adding that the command would continue to ensure that the state is safe for habitation.



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Easing Cuban Restrictions: Good or Bad?
Related to country: Cuba
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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CBNNews.com
April 17, 2009


Watch Low Band CBNNews.com - The Obama administration has announced plans to loosen restrictions on how Americans can visit and do business with Cuba.

The changes mean that Cuban Americans can visit family on the island anytime they want. And they can send as much money as they wish to relatives there.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro says the U.S.should go further and lift what he calls the cruel trade embargo.

But on the same day the U.S. made its announcement, Cuba denied visas to members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The group had planned a trip to the country to evaluate the state of religious freedom in the island nation.

The commission says it will continue to apply for visas.

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/579832.aspx

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S’South Govs Tell Militants: Enough is Enough
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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Governors of the six states in the South-South region have declared that the region is fed up with the spate of violence and criminality rocking the area.

In a welcome address at the opening of the First South-South Regional Economic Summit on Thursday at the Tinapa Business Resort, Calabar, the chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum and Governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, said the region needs a conducive atmosphere for development and called on the people to shun all acts of violence and criminality.
The governors’ position is expected to be given fillip today as former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, Bertie Ahern, enriches discussions on two fronts – sharing his experience of rapid economic development and job creation under his watch in Ireland as well as the peace process he negotiated along with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to bring about lasting solution to the Northern Ireland political crisis.

Ahern, whose lunch time conversation will be moderated by the Chairman/Editor- in-Chief of THISDAY, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, was Irish PM from 1997 to 2008.
He arrived Calabar yesterday.

Yesterday, Imoke told the summit that without peace and security efforts at developing the region and optimising the potentials of the area would be a waste.

According to Imoke, “We will continue to look up to the Federal Government to provide us with the wherewithal to make life more meaningful for our people. But, we must admit, that without peace and security, we will only be chasing shadows.

“How can we give our children the best education which they need to survive in a world that would gladly leave behind all those who choose to remain standing on the same spot, if we cannot allow a conducive atmosphere for learning to prevail; how can we reach new heights of development if we cannot even allow those who are willing to help us develop, to do so in peace.

“Let us therefore resolve here and now by telling ourselves:- Enough is now enough. We collectively say no to violence and criminality in this region”.

Imoke noted that the region is blessed with natural and human resources and said that was why it was necessary to seek solutions to “the menace of ‘militancy’, kidnapping and other natural and man-made scourges which can make life in the entire South-South Region of the Niger Delta, uncomfortable for both ourselves and foreign investors”.
He also noted that the region had not been able to optimise its potentials with regard to the strength which partnering with each other is capable of evincing.

“We have a multi-Trillion naira economy that if well harnessed will create wealth for our people and transform them. yet, as it is often said, greater strength lies in unity and commonness of purpose, particularly as we can achieve even more by exploring our various areas of comparative advantage for our common good. This, my colleagues and I are committed to. We have the political will, we are committed and we are united,” he said.
The Governor said the Summit marks a turning point in the history of the zone, adding that the region can begin to surge forward by harnessing the energies of the component units towards providing common solutions to its everyday problems.

Imoke disclosed that the visions of the governors include the trans-regional railway project running from Calabar through Benin, the coastal road network linking various states in the region to serve as a catalyst for inter-state trade, commerce and economic development, and also developing agriculture and allied sector where the zone has comparative advantage.

Others include developing tourism and manufacturing sector, and the provision of employment opportunities and quality jobs for the people

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DR Congo: Children Burned to Death by Rwandan Hutu Militia
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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DR Congo: Children Burned to Death by Rwandan Hutu Militia
Photos and witness accounts of attacks at Luofo and Kasiki villages, eastern Congo
April 23, 2009

On the night of April 17, 2009, Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked Luofu and Kasiki villages in the southern Lubero territory of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killing at least seven civilians, including five young children who burned to death in their homes. At least seven other civilians were injured and 300 houses were burned to the ground. The following photos and eyewitness accounts were gathered by Human Rights Watch researchers who were in Luofo village the day after the attacks.

Congolese army soldiers positioned in both Luofu and Kasiki reportedly put up little or no resistance and fled, along with the local residents and thousands of displaced persons who had sought refugee in the two villages from previous waves of violence in the past two months.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, MONUC, had a temporary operating base in Luofu but it was removed on April 12. On the night of the attack, a MONUC patrol arrived in Luofo two hours after the attack from its nearest base in Kanyabayonga, 22 kilometers south-east, after the FDLR had already fled. No MONUC patrol made it to Kasiki, where at least 45 houses were burned to the ground and one man was shot to death by the FDLR.

The FDLR had sent a warning earlier on April 17 that Luofu would be attacked. No precautionary measures were taken by government soldiers or MONUC to protect civilians in case the threat was carried out. While fleeing Luofo, many residents heard further threats from the FDLR that the towns of Kayna and Kirumba, seven kilometers east of Luofo, would be next.

The FDLR attacks on Luofo and Kasiki appeared to be deliberate reprisals against the population. A few days earlier, the Congolese army and MONUC launched Operation Kimia II, a joint military operation to defeat the FDLR rebels. Similar reprisal killings have been documented by Human Rights Watch in other areas of North Kivu.

As operations against the FDLR move forward, MONUC and the Congolese army should take urgent measures to ensure that all key population centers close to the frontline, including those harboring large numbers of displaced people such as Kirumba and Kayna, are protected from reprisal attacks by FDLR forces.

Accounts from victims and witnesses, Luofo and Kasiki villages:

Father of three young boys (ages 3, 4, and 6) burned to death in their home:

The FDLR came and circled my house. When we tried to leave, they said, "You can't leave or we'll kill you." I was able to move out a bit and get some distance from the house, but my three young boys were still inside, sleeping on a single bed. Then I saw the FDLR combatants light a fire directly on my house and my three boys burned to death.

Father of a 2-year-old girl burned to death in their home:

The FDLR circled our house and told us to leave. My wife, three of my children, and I rushed to get out, but our two-year-old daughter did not make it out in time. They set fire to the house immediately, and my daughter and all our belongings were burned to the ground.

Man in Luofu whose house was burned:

The FDLR came to my house and started to beat me badly. They took my phone and everything I had on me. Then they set fire to my house and I quickly ran away. But now my house and all my belongings are gone. I'm left with nothing and don't know where to go.

Displaced person from Lushoa who had sought safety in Luofu:

I was in my house when the FDLR arrived. They told us to leave, so we ran into the bush and our house was burned as we fled. I returned at 5a.m. this morning. I was forced to leave my home village of Lushoa and after soldiers burnt down our houses earlier this year. I was then displaced to Bwavinyo where I stayed for three weeks. After Congolese army soldiers killed three people in Bwavinyo during a looting operation, I fled to Luofu. And now my house here has been burned.

Witness from Kasiki village, also burned by the FDLR:

The FDLR bandits came to our village at 8 p.m. last night and burned about 50 houses. One man was shot to death. The government soldiers were there but they all fled. MONUC never came. We fled to the bush and came back one or two hours later. The FDLR had left by then, and the village was in flames.

Woman from Luofu:

I was inside my house when I heard the first gunshots. I heard people destroying the stores and boutiques. Then I heard people shouting, "Wake up! Wake up!" I looked outside and saw the Interhamwe [FDLR] burning the house behind mine. Then [they] tore off the cloth which I had wrapped around my body and I was left naked. They set fire to my house and told me to run. I grabbed my child and ran, still naked. The gunshots continued. There were lots of people hiding in the bush, and we were bit by mosquitoes all night long.

www.hrw.org
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/23/children-burned-death-rwandan-hutu-militia


April 23, 2009 | 12:51 PM Comments  {num} comments

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Igando/Ikotun LCDA seeks sporting support from Fashola
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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An appeal has been made through the Honourable Commissioner for sports and youth’s development, Hon. Ademola Adeniji Adele to the Governor of Lagos State, Gov. Babatunde Fashola to assist the Igando/ Ikotun LCDA in establishing modern – day sporting facilities and recreation centers as this would help boost sporting activities in the constituency.
This call was made by the Chairman of the Local Council, Hon. Monsuru Ashamu Ola at Igando/Ikotun maiden edition of the chairman’s cup football competition tagged MAO cup 2009 recently.
According to the Chairman, Hon. Ashamu, the competition was organised with the sole aim of harnessing as well as harmonising the potentials of the youths in the LCDA, thus reducing crime rate and restiveness among the youths in the country. And to facilitate more of such program he made it clear that this would only be possible if Babatunde Fashola come to their aid.
In his words, Ashamu thanked the Governor for all his efforts so far, particularly for the giant strides he has taken in the development of social facilities across the state.
To grace the occasion were chairman of local governments in Lagos State, a representative of Osun State AC governorship Candidate, Engr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, Hon. Lateef Adirogba, Chairman House committee on Finance Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, AC State youth leader Igando – Ikotun part leader, Alhaji Abdullahi Enilobo, special adviser on establishment and training, Mr. Femi Adebanjo amongst others.

April 23, 2009 | 7:12 AM Comments  {num} comments

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“I was a leader of a secret cult while in school but Jesus saves me”- Pastor Mazino
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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Pastor Mazino is the senior pastor of Christ City church, Maryland, Lagos who is also a qualified Civil Engineer but today, he has a passion to inspire people to achieve whatever they want to achieve in life regardless of the trials, tribulations and oppression they might be going through. He speaks with Adenike Ashogbon and Tosin Makinde on his passion and dreams which he feels he can execute through various means.

Why do you establish the Christ City Church?

Christ City Church is aimed at getting people back to the time of David. According to Jude 1 vs. 3 the faith given by Jesus has be contaminated. We want to be the Voice in this generation by using different platform that will serve as foundation to let them know there is hope, we don’t want people to give up on life as we believe there is dignity in hard work.

What do you want to achieve with the TV programe Inspire me?

To inspire people through the right direction, unfold vision. For a very long time Auditorium, ministry of encouragement.

What was your academic background like?

I had a degree in Civil Engineering from the United State International University, also a degree in Architecture. I have been pastoring since 1992 when I was ordained, I became the Senior Pastor of Christ City in 2002. I am a father of three, two boys and a girl and hails from Delta state, Isoko LGA Emedela town to be precise.

How many stations are you planning to partner with?

For now HITV has shown great interest in partnering with us, also plans to syndicate with local stations we have started talking to them and my goal is to make it an international standard, through partnership with both local and international stations.

Are we going to be seeing more of popular personalities who have risen above their limitations?

Not at all, we intend to showcase any story no matter how little the story may be we will use it. We are not only looking at the physically challenge but also those that have achieve a lot in their various endevaours despite great odds against them.

What will you say has been your greatest inspiration?

Of course that is Jesus. Jesus is the inspiration. I was a leader of a secret cult while in school, involve in drug syndicate and was very worldly. When my whole world was turning apart Jesus save me. Jesus is so real. I pray but I think very well.

The Challenging aspect of the whole project?

The challenges we are facing do not really matter but we believe taking the first step is more important. I pray a lot and I also think very well.

Where do we see your programme “inspire me” in the next 5years?

To be a programme people will look forward to. To be a spiritual, emotional, and mentor tonic to the listeners and viewers to want to achieve their destinies. To be watched in different continents all over the world.

What advice do you have to youth that wants to make it in life but just feels they can’t?

You must know what you want from life; any road will lead you to no where. A lot of people are influenced by peer pressure but make up your mind, anything that will take you there fight for it. One of my biggest mistake back then is allowing people to move me anywhere and one of the things Jesus did for me was to give me a sense of life. I would just say that they should be focus, don’t get carried away and let people know where you stand.

April 23, 2009 | 7:09 AM Comments  {num} comments

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HCC celebrates 13th Convention ceremony
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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It was a spirit filled atmosphere full of thanksgiving and appreciation to God at the Holy Ghost Christian Centre (HCC) 13th convention ceremony which was held at its headquarters at Fatai Atere way, Matori Lagos last Sunday.
The 6-day programme with the themed “blessing with measure” was wrapped up last Sunday with a special thanksgiving service by the General overseer, Pastor Amos Fenwa and his wife Esther Fenwa alongside Bishop Bernard.
Ministers of God present during the anniversary days include; Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the National President of Pentecostal fellowship in Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, the President and founder of Sword of the Spirit Ministers, Rev. Sam Adeyemi, Senior Pastor of Daystar Christian Centre, Pastor Anu Ojo, the Minister in charge of Christ Apostolic Church, Vineyard of Mercy, Bishop Bernard Asare, founder and President of Zion Praise chapel international, Takoradi, Ghana and many others.
According to the church magazine “the annual convents of HCC is now being branded for a more effective and enriching experience for all members of the church worldwide”. From 2009, the annual convention would be refereed to as the IMPACT year convention as it would carry a theme that is related to the theme of the year.
The purpose of the convention was to serve as a time of specific interaction according to spiritual and professional interaction between ministerial delegates for cross selling of ideas, ministerial integration, empowerment, fulfilment, rededication, impartation, education and information”.
Moreso, the convention system is designed to strengthen the local church and at the same time create a special time for strengthening selected members of branches and all affiliate churches spiritually and directly such that they can carry on the work of the ministry in there branches to a higher and newer level.
Speaking at the thanksgiving service was the Chairman of Mushin local government, Hon. Babatunde Adepitan who used the avenue to thank the General Overseer and every member of HCC for their active partnership with the local government to adopt the New City primary school, Mushin, its repair and renovation and the micro finance loan given to some people of the local council area.
“What the church is doing to the government is so marvellous and very hard for me to believe and because of this, I am assuring you through the abundant grace of God that my government would be able to reciprocate the kind of love that have been shown to us when the church demands for it” Adepitan said.
According to the progress report of HCC for year 2008, the church has recorded notable progress during the year this include repackaging of home cells to care for members and develop them spiritually, presently they have 18 cell centres, provision of 15 seater gospel bus, work on youth development centre which is under construction and started in August 2008, and a medical aid team formed towards the end of 2008 to give members first and treatment thus educating them on how to improve on there health among others.

April 21, 2009 | 3:34 PM Comments  {num} comments

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Democracy in danger - Gowon
Related to country: Nigeria
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Democracy in danger - Gowon
From OLUWOLE AKINBOYEWA, Abuja

Friday, April 17, 2009 Elder statesman and Nigeria’s former military head of state, Dr. Yakubu Gowon, has predicted that high profile corruption and long neglect of the masses’ welfare since 1960, may soon make the preferred civilian administration lose its valued place to options
Gowon, who gave the warning at the launch of a 24-member national working committee on the establishment of a functional social security policy, headed by him, in Abuja on Thursday, said the continued presence of corruption, its attendant unemployment and poverty; social insecurity and uncoordinated governments’ policies and programmes, over the decades, would make government by the people lose its appeal.
He explained that though, the citizenry had faithfully been expressing their choice through the ballot box in the last few years, they may abandon the system, when their struggle for survival had left them with little strength to defend that system, owing to hunger, poverty, weak or non-existent basic infrastructure, social injustice and physical insecurity.

“Nigerians have continued to be traumatized by poverty that they are left with little or no time to defend democratic ideas and ethos. While democracy remains the _expression of the people’s choice through the ballot, the struggle for survival has continued to take away the little strength left in our people to stand and defend that choice.

“Unfortunately, democracy may not take firm roots in an environment of debilitating and excruciating hunger and poverty, compounded by weak or non-existent basic infrastructure, social injustice and physical insecurity. Democracy may soon lose its appeal, unless Nigeria comes up with policies, which are designed to save the poor from getting poorer…,” he stressed.

The Nigerian civil war hero queried the unpopular social, economic and political policies of successive administrations in 49 years of sovereignty, which at best, continued to identify national problems without impact, as witnessed by the “gradual but steady decline in the people’s standard of living, unpredictable crude oil market prices, rising unemployment, inclement business environment, widening income inequality, rising cost of goods and services and above all, the current financial and economic meltdown.”

Gen. Gowon called for the establishment of functional people-oriented policies, aimed at saving the poor from getting poorer and redressing the tempo of over 50 per cent of the population from falling below the poverty line, through a suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate food, reasonable national minimum wage, old age care and pensions, employment, sick benefits and the disabled welfare to all Nigerians.

He expressed dismay that despite many social programmes championed by organs of governments and substantial funding by international organizations over the years, there had been no substantial positive effect of poverty reduction in the country.

Launching the committee, the Labour and Productivity Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, declared that the 2004 Pension Reform Scheme had not succeeded beyond the establishment level because there was no empowering Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), providing the needed fund to implement the policy.

Kayode, who also lamented the failure of two existing laws empowering the scheme, blamed the various ministries, departments and agencies, tasked to providing some social parameters for the scheme of engaging in uncoordinated programmes not helpful to reaping the expected social benefits.

The minister referred to some constitutional provisions and international conventions supporting the national social security policy, promising that Nigeria would this have a functional and lasting social security policy once and for all.

He highlighted the committee’s terms of reference, which included recommending a policy serving the benefits of the formal and informal sectors including the poor and rich, the urban, rural and informal dwellers, a robust and sustainable financing of the scheme, and an administrative implementation structure.

Kayode commended the Federal Government for its commitment to the success of the seven-point agenda, as a measure of saving the masses from untold hardship amidst plenty.



April 18, 2009 | 11:27 AM Comments  {num} comments

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AFTER THE BAIL...
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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When the Yar’Adua administration started in May 2007, the Nigerian and International public were inundated with report of many staggering revelations of how highly placed public officers looted the tax payers money for their own personal use. This achievement indeed created a good image for this administration as most people were quick to conclude that this is a no-nonsense regime and one that wants to uphold the rule of law.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in performing its duties initiated the arrest of these people, charge them to court and also revealed all their atrocities to the public, this in turn earned the commission commendable applause from the public to the extent that critics praise the commission for its performance.

Despite this achievement one issue that has to some extent dented it is the unending state of virtually all the court cases brought against these corrupt leaders by the EFCC to the court. After they are charge to court, their lawyers will apply for a bail which in most cases is granted by the judge with a large sum of money and highly placed individuals standing as sureties. After this, the accused is released on bail and then little or nothing is heard about such cases again.

What usually follows these bails are jubilation by the supporters of the accused. To their friends and colleagues, to be released on bail mean freedom for him or her. The accused keep parading the streets and appearing at public functions as if they have been vindicated and acquitted of all charges level against them, some have even try to contest for elections. The court on its part is not doing much in this regard as they handle these cases at a snail speed which will eventually be forgotten by the public and won’t attract their interest anymore.

During this period when the judiciary is been praised for upholding our young democracy through some of the election cases it has upturn it obvious foot dragging to court cases against corrupt public officers, is absolutely uncalled for and could start breeding public distrust against the judiciary.

One other reason attributed to this phenomenon is the huge amount of money that the accused usually paid to get the bail and the calibre of people require who are always individual of high net worth. Take for example the N100 million require from one of the former governor arrested by EFCC for his bail and the calibre of personalities required before he was released.

This actions look more or less like a business transaction-get arrested, pay some amount of money (which they can always afford) for bail and you are free! This seems to be the scenario that is always played out when the news about their arrest appear on the front page of our newspapers.
The effect of this action is making this cases uninteresting day by day to the public, they seems to be fed up with the way the cases are been handled and are already accusing this government of paying lip service to the upholding of rule of law. In fact to the people all government officials in high places are probable whether the EFCC arrest them or not that is now their belief.

Nigerians would like to know what goes on after the bail; the court should be fast with these cases and judgement delivered on time bail or no bail. We should not forget that judgment delayed is judgment denied.

April 6, 2009 | 8:04 AM Comments  {num} comments

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The Lagos Metamorphosis
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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For the first time in over a year, I left Ife for Lagos – a distance of about 200km. I have read a lot about the transformation of the State by the new Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola but never have I witnessed the transformation. The much talked-about clearance of the notorious Oshodi filth, the beautification of the sideways of major expressways, the luxurious overhead pedestrian bridges, the BRT and of course the chasing away of street urchins popularly known as area boys who extort money from innocent motorists and commercial bike operators.
As I turtled towards the ‘centre of excellence’, many things raced through my mind about the smallest but the most populous, most congested state in the world’s most populous black nation. It was as if I have been out the state for more than a decade. I have lived in the state for twenty-five years but nothing had changed in terms of lawlessness, environmental degradation, filthiness and the perennial traffic jam. Reading in the papers that in less than two years of my absence from the state things have taken a new turn excites me and I was eager to witness it all. I particularly did not have any assignment in Lagos except taking time off to visit some friends and acquaintances.
I got to Julius Berger, the border town between Lagos and Ogun state after close to two hours of measured driving. From there I began to feel the Fashola touch. For the first time in a civilian administration, I saw motorists respect traffic rules. I saw Bus conductors take a seat among the passengers rather than their traditional hanging. I saw people queue to board commercial buses. I saw law enforcement agents perform their duty with all seriousness. I saw well landscaped green and luxuriant grasses where traditionally, were toilets and homes to miscreants.
Then I asked myself, is this the same Lagos I lived for twenty-five years? Is this the same Lagos where I nearly lost my windscreen to social miscreants a few years back? Is this the same Lagos where I normally spent hours getting home from office? If this is that same Lagos, then there are leaders in this country who can correct so many wrongs about Nigeria.
Biodun Uthman.

April 2, 2009 | 10:10 AM Comments  {num} comments

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WAR AND CORUPTION, WITHOUT THE LOVE FOR ONE'S NATION
Related to country: Nigeria
About this category: Peace & Conflict

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In Africa and the world we have never seen peace, everyday one hundred and fourth seven die at least, talk about the Nigerian civil war with an army of 250, 000, .The biggest in Africa, expect in Egypt's and with black Africa's biggest navy and air force, then come the Biafra war coming from the grassroots in the north is the local crisis in Kaduna, Jos, Bauchi, and to the south we have militants at Niger-Delta and you can keep naming.
Why do people go to war, and who and who will survive after the war? As a saying says men go to war for the women to watch. I have my own meaning war as a disagreement between two parties which leads into heavy destruction of goods and valuables. But I see it it is cause of war after war. From the first, second and third war to the genocide in ruwander then you as the struggle for money power and respect by force. This act of stigma has made many nations and counties loose valuable properties and investment, and then you have to start all over again. For example in Nigeria, the crisis at Jos(Plateau State) in 200i , where the biggest market in West Africa was set ablaze by the same statesmen. Leaving families with a question of, how can we ever survive? Most individuals would have on option than to go begging while others can't withstand the shame, but to endure themselves in criminal activities such as, robbery, prostitution, Political assassins etc.
Secondly corruption, this also does not only exit in Nigeria or Africa but in the world at large. But in Nigeria is corruption before any other thing, the struggle for money and power. Accumulation of wealth which is worthless in kingdom to come. For instance let's take Nigeria National Assembly, given a huge amount of money to execute a project for constant electricity supply to in the country. Now the set up a twenty six men committee in which they are been given thirty one billion Nair to start the project. The members of this committee decide to share the money among them, starting for the chair with five billion Nair to the flour members with three, three billion each. After these the committee is left with about nine billion Naira in other to briery the judges at court.
This group of individuals is one the most highly played by the government and the still take from the community what belongs to them. Accumulating houses and cars that use at the same time, vanity upon vanity is vanity. Nigerian's are none patriotic.
We need love for our Nation (Africa), for Nigeria and for the people. If everyone shows love to each other and show patriotism, think we would not only be rebranding Nigeria but also achieving the millennium development goal. Provided we belong to different we can and most unite as "one Nigeria", let our watch -ward be love the advancement of mankind and the enhancement of the cause of peace, property and progress through mutual respect and co-operation between nations. We can do it, a one Nigeria, one Africa and one World, let's do it!
I thank TIG for given me opportunity to say it who it is and who it should be done.

March 22, 2009 | 2:59 PM Comments  {num} comments

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