El-Rufai, a liar – Obasanjo, Atiku

•Say book is ‘full of half-truths, exaggeration’
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el- Rufai, yesterday launched his much-publicised book in Abuja. El-Rufai, a former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), allocated some portions of the book to comments on ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and his former deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who was also chairman of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), the council that supervises the BPE.
The ex-minister’s bombshell on his two former bosses (Obasanjo and Atiku) attracted condemnation from them. Obasanjo’s aides may have declared war on el-Rufai over his comments against the ex-president. In fact, Obasanjo and Atiku’s camps in unison, condemned the former minister, calling him a liar. Obasanjo and Atiku’s aides boycotted the launch of the book entitled: ‘The Accidental Public Servant,’ in protest. The book was reviewed by the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Anselm Odinkalu, who said in the book that el-Rufai made a transition from being a politician to a political activist.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Obasanjo’s inner caucus said that the former President was not only angry, but enraged against el-Rufai over the contents of his book and that was why all aides of the former President, in spite of the fact that they served together under him, boycotted the launch.
The only exception was Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, former Education Minister, who attended the event because of her closeness to the author. Former Minister of Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who also graced the occasion, was never part of the inner caucus of Obasanjo’s administration.
According to the source, el-Rufai, with the contents of the book, several portions of which he described as fiction concocted to embarrass the former President should also brace up to face the truth about his activities in government during Obasanjo’s tenure. “El-Rufai is a joker, it is difficult to understand his motive except probably the book has been generating a lot of controversy since its serialization commenced in the media.
The source said that Obasanjo’s aides’ absence at the event was a direct reflection of the mood and attitude of Obasanjo about certain contents of the book considered not only offensive but designed to embarrass him. “To polish his ( el-Rufai’s) battered image over his handling of the FCT affairs.
These brazen lies will not help him and he knows. “Here is a man who is already indicted before a competent court of the land. He cannot deceive the public with his book by attempting to present himself as angel to the people.
He should be ashamed of himself,” the source said. Also reacting, Atiku’s Media Office through a statement, dismissed el-Rufai’s book as a collection of fiction, half truths, exaggeration and and reflection of selective memory.
The Media Office was particularly piqued by the claim of el-Rufai that he had almost resigned as the former BPE Director-General because of alleged persistent pressure and interference by Atiku who was the NCP chairman. It expressed disbelief that the former FCT minister forgot soon what he said at the Senate Public Hearing on BPE between August 8 and, 2011.
The Ad-hoc committee was headed by Senator Ahmed Lawan. “It recalled el-Rufai as saying that he had special relationship with former President Obasanjo, which gave him direct access and the discretion to bypass the NCP headed by Atiku in order to get the approval of the President.” The Media Office wondered how el-Rufai could reconcile his threat of resignation with the accounts he told the Senate about the latitude of freedom he enjoyed at BPE because of his closeness to Obasanjo.
On the claim by el-Rufai that Obasanjo went down on his knees before Atiku to seek his co-operation for second term bid in 2003, the office dismissed the claim as a figment of el-Rufai’s wild imagination. It said such claim “lacked any credibility because Atiku and Obasanjo were alone together behind closed doors and that they alone knew what actually transpired between them.”
The Media Office wondered whether el-Rufai was a fly on the wall to discuss the details of a private meeting between the two leaders. “Rather than el-Rufai feeding the public with such fabrications, the statement said the former minister should have provided or quoted the authority for such claim since he was not at the private meeting between Obasanjo and Atiku.”
The statement also noted that for a man like el-Rufai who had alleged reputation for disparaging religions and their icons, including lately Jesus Christ, the attack on Atiku was the least surprising. It noted that “if he could go to such irreverent extent to disparage religious icons, who is an ordinary mortal like Atiku Abubakar?” Speaking at the public presentation of the book, former Head of State, who was also presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), gave reasons why the CPC, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) are in a merger.
Buhari also lamented the destruction of institutions by past leaders, even as he eulogised the colonial masters for the legacy they bequeathed to the nation. Buhari revealed that the essence of the merger, is to secure and manage Nigeria. “I think that the bottom-line is that we want to mobilize Nigerians toward 2015, to secure and manage Nigeria,” Buhari said.
On the merger, the former Head of State said to be fair to those committees for the parties participating, they have given them terms of reference and should be allowed to carry out their assignment. “I think we should allow them to formally tell us what they have done before we start giving it to the press. Otherwise, we are undermining the authority we have given them,” Buhari added.
Buhari praised the British for what they passed on to Nigerian leaders, saying they established great institutions for us. “The police, the judiciary, the military, the civil service. And even compared with other countries, you will have some respect for the British.
“From the end of World War (1), to World War (11), and the Civil War, every life of the Italian government about nine months, and if you look at their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, it went up like that.
What made it possible was strong institutions. “In Nigeria here, those who thought they were strong, they destroyed the institutions. Now, we have our problems. Paradoxically, to get strong people to come back, to revive those institutions; otherwise, we are really going to be in trouble,” Buhari noted. Reviewing the book, Odinkalu said: “El-Rufai cares about Nigeria and says it the way it is.”
The occasion also had in attendance Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola (Lagos), Umaru Tanko al-Makura ( Nasarawa), Kayode Fayemi ( Ekiti), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Ibrahim Dankwambo ( Gombe) and ACN’s spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who represented former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, amongst others.
Tinubu described the author as good accident in the public service. “Many talk about their accidents in life, be it in public or in private, but only a few dare document it and share it in such a bold, blunt and daring manner like Nasir has done in the pages of his book. “In the pages of his book we learn wisdom, we glean brilliance and we are exposed to the follies, fooleries and vainness of power. We see exposed as mere mortals even those invested with enormous powers to lead Nigeria and direct our lives,” he said.
TheSun

2015: PDP jittery over APC emergence

by: Yusuf Alli 

Few days after four parties combined to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), there are indications that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is jittery that it may lose control of some states in the North-East, North-West, North-Central, South-East and South-South.
The party had since 2011 poll lost its control of the South-West and the row between the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and sacked National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, seems to have foreclosed the chances of the party in the region in 2015.
Also, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said the four parties ought to hold separate national conventions to ratify their decision to merge before any merger application could be considered.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that contrary to the posturing of Tukur, which dismissed the APC as no threat, the PDP fears that the new merger party could spring a surprise.
Findings revealed that the PDP leadership is worried that it might lose total control of states in the North-East, where Tukur hails from, to APC.
It was learnt that the sectarian violence in the North-East and the failure of the PDP administration to restore peace had caused political leaders to seek an alternative platform.
In spite of the fact that Vice-President Namadi Sambo went on an appeasement mission to Borno State last week, the people of the state may pitch their tent with the progressives in APC.
Also, the long-drawn battle between Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State has made the loss of the state a fait accompli if the matter is not addressed.
Other strategic states in the North-West and North-Central where the PDP sits on a tight rope are Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, and Kaduna.
While the PDP may lose one or two states in the South-South, the South-East is likely to be a battle ground for all the parties.
According to investigation, PDP leaders had been analysing the political situation since APC made its debut.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The party has really been quirking since the four parties formalised their merger with the emergence of APC. With the present internal crisis in the party, the leaders fear that the new party might benefit from it unless the situation is remedied.
“What the APC has done to the PDP is to force it to go back to the drawing board and re-strategise for 2015. Tukur may be pretending that APC is no threat, but even within his own National Working Committee (NWC), all is not well.
“Tukur cannot boast that it enjoys the confidence of PDP members in any state in the North-East. The Boko Haram crisis and conflict with Nyako have worsened the leverage of PDP in the zone.
“And the North-West, where a former CPC Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, commands large following is an uphill task for Vice-President Namadi Sambo to tackle.
“The agitation for power shift to the North in 2015 is also more pronounced in the North-West than any part of the North.”
A chieftain of the party said: “It is difficult for PDP to dismiss APC with a wave of the hand. Our leaders have agreed that we have a challenge at hand and we are working out appropriate strategies to curtail this political menace.
“We have agreed that we must put our house in order as fast as possible or else we may lose out in 2015.
“Even the presidency is not underrating the forces behind APC.”
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said the four parties could only transform into APC after fulfilling all the conditions in Section 84 of the Electoral Act.
A top official of the commission said: “Merger process is not a one-off thing or a day’s process. All the four parties need to comply with Section 84 of the Electoral Act, including holding separate national conventions to ratify their decision to merge.
“As far as INEC is concerned, we have only noted the new aspiration of the four parties. We have not received any letter on the merger.
“The parties know what is involved in a merger. That is why they are yet to communicate INEC.
“One thing is clear, the Electoral Act gives room for merger of parties after all procedures have been complied with. It is left to the parties to take advantage of the law. So, the question of illegality does no arise yet.
“The final decision to approve the merger or not is solely that of INEC.”
Section 84 of the Electoral Act says: “Any two or more registered political parties may merge on approval by the commission following a formal request presented to the commission by the political parties for that purpose.
“Political parties intending to merge shall each give to the commission 90 days notice of their intention to do so before a general election.
“The written request for merger shall be sent to the Chairman of the commission and shall be signed jointly by the National Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer for the time being of the different political parties proposing the merger and shall be accompanied by
(a) a special resolution passed by the national convention of each of the political parties proposing to merge, approving the merger.
(b) The proposed full name and acronym, constitution, manifesto, symbol or logo of the party together with the addresses of the national office of the party resulting from the merger; and
(c) Evidence of payment of administrative costs of N100, 000 or as may be fixed from time to time by an Act of the National Assembly.
“On receipt of the request for merger of political parties, the commission shall consider the request and, if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the Constitution and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of 30 days from the date of the receipt of the formal request-
Provided that if the commission fails to communicate its decision within 30 days the merger shall be deemed to be effective.
“Where the request for the proposed merger is approved, the commission shall withdraw and cancel the certificates of registration of all the political parties opting for the merger and substitute a single certificate of registration in the name of the party resulting from the merger.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, no merger of political parties received by the commission less than 90 days before any general election in the country shall not be considered by the commission.”
TheNation

Chude Jideonwo: The lessons we can learn from Obiageli Ezekwesili and Dora Akunyili [New Leadership Series]

By Chude Jideonwo

I remember the first time I watched her on television in 2001 – it was Morning Ride on NTA 2 Channels 5. There was this woman with the wide eyes of insanity, a certain craze for the new job she just secured.
But there was something remarkable about her, and it wasn’t just the bulging eyes, or the raised voice, the effortless reeling out of data about her sector or the magnetism of this authentically Nigerian woman. It all came togetherin what I could hear her saying: that she didn’t know anything about this job when she was employed, that she knelt down and prayed to the Virgin Mother for help, and that she would give her life fighting the battle that she had just chosen to fight.
Her name was Dr. Dora Akunyili (she would later become a Professor). She had just been appointed by then President Olusegun Obasanjo as the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, and she was fighting a battle that no one else had been able to win – counterfeit drugs, that were taking the lives of so many Nigerians on a daily basis.
These days when we think about Dora Akunyili, the images that go through our heads are not altogether pleasant. We remember the woman who left public office looking like a power monger; who lost an election that took away the last shred of her public dignity when she refused to lose gracefully.
We remember the loquaciousness of her task as the government’s information minister – the Rebrand Nigeria Project that was a failure even before it kicked off, her battle against the way the national anthem was song, and the ridiculous war against young Nigerians emotionally engaging with their country through the empowering word ‘Naija’.
But there was a Dora Akunyili before higher office unravelled her – one defined by her relentless humility in doing the job she was assigned, not just to the best of her ability but effectively.
According to a report, she became angry because “so many of (her) countrymen and women (were) fighting killer diseases like malaria and tuberculosis with little more than sugar syrup and chalk tablets, cynically packaged to look like the real thing.”
So she set a new standard for public office; she took a problem and decided she wasn’t going to stop until it was solved – even if her life was at risk, and even though those she was fighting were very quick to fight back. She was tireless – as an educator, as an advocate, as a campaigner, as a woman dedicated to a calling bigger than herself, and as a reformer.
By the time she was done,Akunyili had completely transformed the way Nigerian consume food and drugs, she left us with with an incredible legacy – the ubiquitous NAFDAC number.
There was another woman in the same government whose game was different, but whose outcome had the same distinctive quality, if you would ask some. Her name is ObiageliEzekwesili.
The concept of a reformer in government is alien to our culture – but Ezekwesilitook that concept and made it a beautiful thing. She was an activist in government, working hard to change it from the inside, with the same disdain and anger that one would expect from an activist.
It began when she set the tone for the Obasanjo government and set up the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit – cleaning up the morass that characterised public procurement and the entire system of contacts in the government.
During almost seven years in government, she continued her fight to dramatically change the way government works in Nigeria through the Bureau for Public Procurement legislation, laws governing solid minerals through the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and setting a new standard in accountability and transparency in the oil and gas sector. Within a short period of nine months, she also became the nation’s most remarkable education minister to date.
By the time she left the government she had left another incredible legacy – the acute understandingthat “Due Process”is indispensable to good governance.

When I remember these two women, both of whom I have been lucky to meet; one of whom I am lucky to know, sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.
They couldn’t be more different – underlying the fact that Nigeria doesn’t need a certain kind of person – it needs a certain kind of principle. One that does its job, one that solves problems, one that stays committed to the task of nation-building.
Of course, at the end of the day, the two followed different paths – one appeared to lose her bearings and ended up frittering the goodwill and moral authority that she had earned and deserved through an unending search for power, and more power.
The other, went from grace to grace – resisting the temptation of slothful wealth, irredeemable power and the colour blindness that follows many who taste government. She has now become an international symbol of public accountability and good governance.
The two women could not be more different. One was the product of the local system and the University of Nigeria Nsukka, one swooped in after her incubation at Harvard and with Jeffrey Sachs.
One was loud and stereotypical as a Nigerian can be complete with a love for the cameras, a loud fashion sense, aso-ebi at events and globe-trotting from one awards ceremony to the other. The other had a more simple style –the dressing was simple, jewely absent; the events she spent her time with were church, she refused to hug the cameras; and she cut the perfect picture of an intellectual.
But it didn’t matter – the same things drove them: passion, knowledge, competence, disdain for what is wrong, fearlessness. Above all – an irrevocable belief that Nigerian can work if there are enough of us, maybe even just one of us, doing the right thing in whatever our hands find to do.
I use these two examples because they are presently out of government, are shining, controversy-free examples of the principles I speak of, and are presently answering to no corruption allegations. Of course, there have been many more like them.
For those who keep making excuses that it is impossible to work in the Nigerian government and actually make a difference. For those who go in there and give in to the rot and are unrecognisable by those who once knew them, for those whose true characters were revealed as they reveled in the trappings of office.
For those that make it sound like there is something about us as Nigerians that makes it impossible for us to do our jobs and save our country through government, Akunyili and Ezekwesili, in two distinct ways, stand as a rebuke to that white flag.
For a new generation seeking models of effectiveness and positivity, we have a lot, very plenty, to learn from them.
DailyPost

FG to begin concessioning of Onitsha Ports in two weeks

By Robert Obi

FOUR months after commissioning the project, the Federal Government, through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), is to begin the process of concessioning the Onitsha River Port to a private individual in the next two weeks.
The N2.7billion Inland River Port in Oguta, Imo State will also be completed by March 2014.
The project, which was awarded to Scott Amede Engineering and Power Supply Ltd in partnership with Zhunhai Minghong Group Company Ltd in 2009, was originally scheduled for completion in March this year.
It was gathered at the weekend that, of the N2.7 billion value of the contract, the sum of N1.8bilion had been paid to the contractor.
Speaking when the National Good Governance Tour Team visited the port Complex in Onitsha, General Manager of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mr. Mike Dike, said contract for the rehabilitation of the port and supply/installation of Cargo handling equipment was awarded to Inter-Bau Construction Ltd in 2009 at the cost of N4.7billion, adding that the project was completed in March 2012 and commissioned by the President in September.
He observed that the President gave a directive that the port be concessioned. According to him, the concessioning process is in line with a “business study” that was sponsored by the World Bank. He noted that the satisfactory study was completed and submitted last month, saying that advertisement for the concessioning process would be due in two weeks time.
In his response, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the first attempt to open up the nation’s waterways started in 1953 but was implemented under the late President Umar Yar’adua in 2009 with the dredging of the
Lower Niger, which has been completed.
The Minister noted that government has awarded the contract for consultancy services for the dredging of River Benue and is awaiting the report.
He observed that construction of the ports would open up economic activities in host communities as well as reduce pressure on the roads.
…To Revamp Lower Anambra Irrigation Project To Boost Rice Production
The Federal Government is to complete the rehabilitation of the deteriorated Lower Anambra irrigation project, which was established in 1981.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who stated this at the weekend when he led the National Good Governance Team on a visit to the project site in Omor, Ayamelum Local Government Area of the State, said it had become necessary for government to revamp the project and hand it over to the private sector.
Maku observed that the Federal Government had created synergy with the private sector to achieve self sufficiency in rice production by 2015, which gave rise to the renewed momentum to harness the full potential of the Lower Anambra Irrigation Project.

He said, “”What the government is doing now is to prepare this project site for investment. I am sure that Anambra State alone can give Nigeria sufficient rice for domestic consumption and export,” he stated.
The Minister sadly noted that the irrigation project, which was established in 1981, was run down due to lack of maintenance, a situation he attributed to government’s characteristic inefficiency in handling such projects. According to him, under the new Agriculture policy, the private sector would take the lead in production to guarantee food security. He noted that the project, if handled by government agencies, would not achieve its desired goals.
“If we revive this agricultural project now and hand it over to the government to run, I can be very sure that, in another five years, we would come back and find the same problem,” he said.
He admitted that successive governments were unable to deliver on agriculture because they were based on the ideology that government should run agriculture to produce rice and sell in the market, the same reason many government agencies failed.
“If it was private farmers that had this opportunity, I am sure that the project would never have failed. It has not failed in other countries, but it failed here because of our attitude, in the public service particularly. This is the same reason the railway system failed, NITEL failed, Nigeria Airways and several other agencies… because government and public service was unable to run them…,” he said.
Managing Director of the project, Mr. Onu Eletuk, said that the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Water Resources in 2005 commenced the rehabilitation of the project, but that work has not been completed due to inadequate release of funds.
According to him, the irrigation project, which was taking 20 cubic metres of water per minute from the Anambra River, suffered setback due to lack of maintenance from successive governments. This led to total collapse of the project.
“From the time it was established to the later 1990’s, a lot of facilities had broken down and production of rice from the project had reduced drastically.”
BusinessNews

APC Alliance Will Not Succeed - Lamido

Gov. Sule Lamido of Jigawa on Thursday said that the alliance between the major opposition political parties in the country would not succeed.

Lamido, who said this in Dutse when he spoke at the Jigawa chapter of the PDP stakeholders meeting, also dismissed the alliance as “political jamboree perfected to deceive the electorate”.
He added that the alliance posed no potential threat to the PDP.  ANPP, APGA and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), formed an alliance they christened “All Progressive Change’’ (APC).
Lamido observed that the opposition parties had divergent interests, ideologies and manifestoes, which could jeopardise their effort to work as a single political entity.
“The alliance is not going to work because of their differences. There will be serious leadership tussle in the alliance,’’ he said.
The governor, who said that the architects of the alliance were former PDP members, explained that the development would promote PDP and make it more relevant in the country.
According to him, the electorate will not be disillusioned by the merger in view of the effective leadership put up by PDP.
Lamido called on the people to support the PDP-led administration in its drive toward transforming the society for the overall development of the citizenry.
The state’s PDP Chairman, Alhaji Salisu Mamuda, said that the meeting was designed to appraise the party’s performance and fashion out ways to move it forward.
Mamuda said the party had conducted congresses, elected new officials to run its affairs in the state and concluded plans to construct a permanent office complex in the area.
He urged the members to remain discipline and avoid acts capable of promoting disaffection among them.
Naij

‘Kuku Not Involved In Boyloaf’s Arrest’

The Presidential Amnesty Office has denied that its chairman had a hand in last Sunday’s arrest and detention of one of the leaders of former Niger Delta militants, Ebikabowei Victor-Ben (aka Boyloaf) and one other person over an incident at the arrival lounge of the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.
In a statement in Abuja on Thursday by Head, Media and Communications, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, the Amnesty Office said the incident that led to their arrest was misrepresented in some reports, which purported that the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Kingsley Kuku, was involved in an altercation with Boyloaf at the Lagos airport.
The statement read, “The fact is that Kuku was nowhere near the airport at the time his Special Assistant (Special Duties), Mr. Henry Ugbolue, was attacked by Boyloaf and two others, which led to their arrest and detention by the police.
“For purposes of clarity, the unprovoked assault on Mr. Ugbolue had nothing to do with Mr. Kuku or the amnesty programme. The facts about the incident have been documented by men of the Nigeria Police at the Lagos State Command, Ikeja, where Boyloaf signed an undertaking before he was released on Sunday.”
He added that anyone claiming that he was using the police or the Inspector-General of Police to “derail the amnesty programme” had no reason to be afraid if they do not breach the laws of the country.
Kuku added, “Nobody can hide under a presumed protection of amnesty to commit crime and expect to be shielded. The amnesty programme is about rehabilitating and reintegrating an approved number of persons into normal society and not to shield them when they decide to commit crime. I’m a stickler to discipline and one who believes that the law must always take its course.”
Naij

Prof Eghosa Osaghae: The Journal-Analyst As A Journalist

There is a genre of writing that Nigerians have learnt over the years to take seriously. It is one that can be described as public-minded – some would add populist – analyses in newspapers and magazines. Public-minded analyses are typically found in regular columns and features that bear the imprint of their authors after whom, it is now the fashion to say, they are branded. Such analyses often combine elements of responsibility, enlightenment, activism, entertainment and sophistication, with some demonstrating the logic and systemization usually associated with academic journal writing. They are also quite capable of simplifying the most difficult subjects in readable, digestible and light-hearted ways, which is a major factor in their ever-growing popularity.
The effects of these writings are self-evidently tremendous, and have ranged from thought and debate provocation, to public agenda setting and devoted followership and discipleship. They also include the extensive use of the articles by scholars, researchers and students as veritable references. However, although public-minded writings have grown in importance and have been buoyed by the regularity of essays in the branded columns, the writings have fleeting memories and a tendency to disappear into the recesses of forgetfulness as issues analyzed change from week to week. Only those who create archives of newspaper cuttings can manage to extend the relevance of the articles beyond the week, but even the archivists themselves would acknowledge the difficulty in keeping up with this. And yet, as social commentaries, weekly and regular essays have common threads, continuities and timeless relevance that unfortunately get diminished in scattered collections that terminate with every passing week.
This is where the book under review, Nigeria Yesterday Today: An Anthology of Social Commentaries, by Professor Godwin Sogolo, marks a new and welcome chapter in the annals of public-minded writing. It is a collection of 203 articles written by Sogolo and published in The Guardian, the flagship of the (liberal) press in Nigeria, between 28^th July 1986 and 9^th September 1991. In possible anticipation of how to evaluate the impact of the articles in the manner of feedback and effects discussed earlier, the book also has a very thoughtful section on selected rejoinders and letters elicited by Sogolo’s articles. The content of the twenty-four articles in this section and the caliber of their authors bear eloquent testimony to the seriousness with which his articles were taken by the attentive public. While some, like Professor Godwin Emerole who corrected his postulation that garri, palm wine and groundnut were cancer-causing agents disagreed strongly with his views, most applauded his courage, insightfulness and prescriptions, though I find it remarkable that for all critical and non-sparing analysis of politics, governance and the economy, and even of the persons of the military president, governors, ministers, traditional rulers and other high ups, there were no official rejoinders, disclaimers and dismissals. Perhaps the author has chosen to hide these from the public, thereby depriving us of a good measure of the impact of public writing on governance and politics, but if not, could it be taken as a suggestion or indication that those in government either do not read these essays or if they do, that they really do not care what they say? This is an interesting point to ponder given that the country was governed by the military in the period covered by the essays.
The 203 articles in this book address virtually all the important and controversial issues that Nigeria and Nigerians had to grapple with between 1986 and 1991, including articles that reviewed the state of the nation in October celebrations of independence and in December/January reviews of the passing year and prognoses of the New Year. The issues tackled ranged from those of the economy (remember these were the years of SAP), religion, rising violence, education, corruption, police, football (the national opium), military professionalism and rule and labour, to campus cultism, road safety, national cohesion, leadership, peacekeeping, political transition, women’s issues (including the paradigm of Margaret Thatcher), smoking, ethics and values, development, environmental remediation, and judicial integrity. In between, and as they evolved, Sogolo also analyzed a few global issues that had bearings on Africa’s state and future development, including South Africa’s transition and the Mandela magic and Samuel Doe’s fall in Liberia.

The topicality and appropriateness of the issues are indicative of the presence of mind and acute sense of responsibility that Professor Sogolo had as a social commentator and public-minded analyst. But it was more the lucidity and self-consciousness on display in the articles that defined the Sogolo phenomenon as a Guardian writer. They reflected the quintessential philosopher, teacher and academic analyst in Sogolo, working hard successfully to credible objectivity and general understanding amongst readers of different ilk. Unlike some social commentators who turn their fault-finding lights only on “others”, Sogolo’s incisive – and pungent attacks – did not spare his own primary constituency of the academia, as in the interrogation of non-professing professors, the crack in UNIBEN, the vice of a chancellor, and the critique of WAZOBIA balancing acts in the institution of the national merit award. Another remarkable element in the various articles is the profound general knowledge displayed in various subjects, but most notably political economy and economics, as attested to by discussions of SAP economics, including SFEM, privatization and poverty reduction, as well as the data deficits and gaps in budgeting and economic planning.
It must truly be that philosophy is an all-encompassing discipline, which is probably why one of the rejoinders makes a case for the philosopher-king in Nigeria, never mind that Aristotle considered politics and not philosophy to be the master science! The third characteristic of the articles in this book is that although they address disparate issues, they have points of convergence and mutual reinforcement that make them a readable whole. A major factor here is the emphasis on a few recurring or ‘frameworking’ issues, notably, police, religion, violence, education, university sector, military governance and political transition, corruption, in several articles. The other factor is that Sogolo’s thoughts were consistent, well-rounded and interconnected, something that the arrangement of the articles in chronological order does not quite articulate. Perhaps an arrangement of the articles into sections of related articles would have brought this aspect of the book into bolder relief, but that is an editorial matter for another day.
The final attribute of the articles, which shows its great scholarly value, is the contemporariness and timelessness of (the analyses in) the different articles. Social commentaries almost by definition are time-bound and soon become dated, but this is not the case with most of the articles in this collection. Although written over 22-26 years ago, they are as relevant and topical today as they were then, a point made by Professor Sogolo himself in the narration of the making of this book. Indeed, not only have the issues analyzed remained relevant, they seem to have come full cycle, unraveling in magnitudes that were unimaginable in the 1980s. Take the issue of terrorism and religious violence for example. In his analysis of the Maitatsine riots in 1986, Sogolo postulated that religious mobilization even in its most extreme form was not likely to reach the levels of violence and terrorism in Pakistan, India and Northern Ireland, but was sure that except proactive measures were taken, the blessing that Nigeria enjoyed at the time could not be guaranteed. Similarly, at the rate the military was militarizing civil society in the late 1980s, Sogolo was sure that violence was going to become more endemic in the country’s sociopolitical landscape. How true these have turned out to be! In sum, it can be said, the continuing relevance of Sogolo’s analyses is largely to be attributed to the analytical prowess that led to valid conclusions and predictions rather than the fact that the more things have changed in Nigeria, the more they have remained the same!!
In closing, let me return to the importance of this book that I only hinted at in my introduction. It is that those who enjoyed the lucid analysis of Sogolo’s Guardian writings now have the opportunity to refresh their readings in one single volume. This is particularly crucial for today’s leaders in the executive and legislature especially, who need to have the background to many of the problems that now set our country apart and behind. Similarly, scholars, researchers, politicians and public intellectuals now have a reference volume that liberates them from the burden of newspaper cuttings. I congratulate Professor Sogolo and the publishers for this great contribution to the consolidation of the genre of public-minded writing (I expect others to follow suit) and highly recommend it to the reading and attentive publics.
Professor Eghosa E. Osaghae, the Vice Chancellor, Igbinedion University Okada, spoke to this text as the Book Reviewer of Professor Godwin Sogolo’s 726 page Nigeria Yesterday Today: An Anthology of Social Commentaries published by the Ibadan based Safari Books and publicly presented at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja last Thursday. It takes the page today because of the conceptual locale of the column in relation to the journal-analyst and journalism in contemporary Nigeria
DailyPost