Nigeria Is A Terrorist State – Gen Idada

General Don Idada Ikponwen is the former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army and one of the leaders of the South South region. Apart from being a military lawyer, he is one of the leaders of the Niger Delta that made the amnesty granted to the militants in the region by the Federal Government successful.

As a security expert, he told in this interview that the committee set up by the Federal Government to look into the possibilities of granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect was the right step in the right direction.

He however raised alarm that the nation may cease to exist if the insecurity and corruption in the polity is not sincerely tackled. He also spoke on other national issues.

Excerpts:

What is your view on the recent committee set up by the Federal Government to look at the Boko Haram issue?

First and foremost, let me say pointedly that it is no longer an issue for argument whether Nigeria has turned a terrorist state or not. There was a time we used to have that argument about whether Nigeria is a terrorist state or not. Nigerian government does not promote terrorism as a policy but Nigeria has become a terrorist enclave, where terrorists operate either on their own or in conjunction with terrorists outside the region.

The truth therefore is that Nigeria has become a terrorist state and we are losing lives, we are losing unquantifiable properties, we are losing self esteem, we are losing our past glory to this perilous state of thriving terrorism in Nigeria. If therefore we are to move forward to this state of insecurity, government and leadership at all levels must be seen to make concerted effort to create an environment where crime and terrorism will be unattractive.

Terrorism whether they are from the North or the East is terrorism. It is the use of violence to attempt to overwhelm the legitimate government to prove that a legitimate government is bad and inefficient to win the heart of the people. Terrorism is based on deep-rooted anger and disaffection.

Therefore, it is very important that we find a solution rather than analyzing the differences between one form of terrorism in one area and another form of terrorism in another area. In the early days of this terrorist direction, some of us who saw it coming right from the time of Vision 2020 in 2009 laid bare as members of the security thematic group the modalities and the approach to reducing insecurity in this country.

The primary purpose of government is to provide security and guarantee the welfare of the people. If therefore government is perceived to be incapable of providing the security and guaranteeing the welfare of the people, the inevitable conclusion is that government is inefficient. St Augustine, a renowned philosopher and jurisprudence of his days, said there can be no government unless it is just.

The word just in that sense has a wild meaning. Let me put it more succinctly: there is no government unless that government is efficient. With the events that are happening in this country, the killings, robbery, murder, assassinations, kidnappings that  flood this land, many of which the culprits are not traced or brought to book; with the way that stealing has become the order of the day, especially among highly placed individuals in government, when these people are not brought to book, when nothing serious is being done even to act as deterrence; the way that people are amassing wealth and nobody is asking questions; the way that materialism has become the essence of life; the way that we have so much vacuum in our system; the way that people find solutions to problems and nobody takes them seriously; the way that we create establishments and bring unserious people to run them; the way that we make government look as if it is there to serve the interest of those who are always friends of government, people who Nigerians call friends of any government in power; we as a nation has become a laughing stock, not only among Africans but the world at large.

I believe that we cannot continue this way. The morale of well meaning Nigerians is at its lowest. Recently a friend told me that nothing will bring his children abroad back even when he dies. So on the issue of the measure the government must take, I must say that one must applaud President Jonathan for the courage he has summoned, not only to express by implication, the readiness of his government to grant amnesty but also to start putting together a panel that will give the amnesty.

But let us put things in proper perspectives. In the Niger Delta when the government of Yar’Adua was considering amnesty for Niger Delta militants, amnesty was embraced by government before Niger Delta leaders. Government officials including my humble self went around the creeks to make physical contact with the militant leaders.  South South leaders led by Chief EK Clark went around softening the minds of the boys, telling them that government was sincere, but the important thing was that amnesty was accepted by government and agreed upon before leaders moved in to talk to the militants. But the impression that appears to be given to the President is that there must be agreement among the terrorists; they must come out before you consider amnesty for them.

That idea was unthinkable because no terrorist will come out and walk straight into the trap of government. They must have high level of assurance from government. And those who continue to say that government cannot discuss with ghosts, that is another area that baffles me. Where are the ghosts? Are they not in Nigeria? The same government has told us before that they know that Boko Haram has infiltrated everywhere. If the same government is saying that it cannot identify these ghosts, that it is waiting for some individuals to bring these ghosts out, then that is mark of unseriousness.

And one must tell this amiable President that he must not allow himself to be deceived because at the end of the day, the bulk ends on his table. He is the one that has the mandate and so, the question of no bad leaders but bad advisers would hardly arise.

The President must summon more courage than ever before to declare this amnesty and convince everybody that government needs to negotiate to identify the causes of this disaffection that made these guys unleash terror on Nigerians. We must not look at it from the point of religion, we must look beyond that. When the terrorists attacked the Emir of Kano, it is not that they did not know that the Emir of Kano is not a Christian. It is also obvious that even there in the North, you have the greatest number of people who have ruled this country but poverty looms largest in the North.

The poverty level in the North is such that makes the situation there pitiable. Boko Haram, like Niger Delta militancy is a national security problem and ought to be addressed squarely by the Federal Government and the earlier, the better because the picture at the moment is dangerous. Nigeria at the moment stands on the precipice. I am praying that God gives President Jonathan the courage to embrace the truth; the courage to know that evil is evil and evil must be punished. Those who are causing Nigeria to look like an unserious country must be brought to book.

Those who mean well and are known to mean well rather than being regarded as undue radicals must be listened to so that Nigeria can really be a strong nation, the leading voice in Africa and among the leading voices in the world. If we must sustain these our natural resources, we must have efficient government, we must have visionary leaders and we must have leaders who will call a spade a spade. I believe that there must be no distraction on this path of peace. Whether we like it or not, Boko Haram is one factor today that is giving Nigeria a very bad image. This problem must be resolved soonest with courage.

But do you not think that granting amnesty to murderers will send wrong signal to other ethnic militias who may also decide to take up arms and fight for a cause?

Don’t go there at all. When Niger Delta militants were granted amnesty, some people also queried the granting amnesty to criminals and kidnappers. Behind every terrorist movement, there is a deep rooted anger and deep rooted sense of cheating. Terrorism is the same everywhere.What are these deep rooted form of anger? Government has a duty to identify them and know whether the dissidents and the terrorists have any point. If you don’t identify them and discuss with them, how will you now know what their grouses are?

I have always said that even when countries are at war, they don’t foreclose the avenues for negotiation. Battle goes on, diplomacy goes on side by side. It is no longer news that even in the Niger Delta, the first group that emerged as militants were funded and armed by politicians who used them for elections.  Democracy has become a global norm which no body should depart from. So if things are not working the way they should, the society suffers psychologically and materially.

Even among the few that are enjoying the situation, there are those who feel bitter and who are bound to feel that to get out of this situation is worth any sacrifice. That is why you have suicide bombers. By the time a man becomes a suicide bomber, you will know that by virtue of desperation and frustration he has lost his normal thinking faculty and no longer values life. There are deep rooted anger and grudges in so many Nigerians because of the way things are and against this back ground, we should call a spade a spade and find solutions to the problems. Let this oil not be a thing for the few.

Nigeria is rich enough for everybody to live a comfortable life. When a good number of Nigerians cannot be convinced that our wealth is being managed in a manner that some few rogues controls the wealth, then there is a problem and our President knows that there is a problem. Even those speaking from the two sides of their mouth, they want to be seen working, so truth is abandoned and with rhetorics.

The world has become a global village. Rhetorics take nobody nowhere any more. Corruption is the apex of our problem. How can you have an efficient system when the polity has embraced corruption like a doctrine? How can there be efficiency?

But are you not surprised that despite the killings perpetrated by these terrorists in Nigeria, the Federal Government has consistently kicked against tagging Nigeria a terrorist state by the Americans and European nations?

I don’t think it is still an issue to argue whether Nigeria is a terrorist country or not. We are a terrorist country because terrorism strives here. Those who said Nigeria is not a terrorist country, that foreigners should not come to our aid are making big mistakes. The days of non interference principle which was a cardinal issue in UN Charter has gone. Today, the world strives on corporation and mutual support in the area of economy and security. Why did we send troops to Mali, Liberia and other places? Were those things not interventions? If intervention is for good purpose, let there be intervention.

The question of state independence in strict terms are no more. Countries now go out to seek areas of corporation. In Europe, they are all working for common currency. The whole world has accepted that democracy is a concept which everybody must embrace. Nigeria is party to many of these treaties of mutual support and cooperation, so what are we talking about sovereignty? If sovereignty cannot bring bread and b*tter, why are you talking about sovereignty?

Why will people complain when America helps Nigeria to track down murderers when this is one of our major concern? Anybody who is kicking against America’s interference is supporting terrorism or thuggery. If Nigerian government don’t care about the welfare of their people, other countries do.  Do we not still go to America to train?

Tell me any senior Nigeria officer who has not trained in India, Pakistan or Britain. Please for God’s sake, let us as a people begin to think constructively what can bring good. Let’s not hesitate to seek cooperation of support where we need them.

Over militarilization of the society

We are a country under the rule of law. And we are governed by a constitution. And the constitution laid down how the country should be governed. From the constitutional view point the military is not for routine law and enforcement duties. We are taking after America. In America from 1878, they have had what they call a Pose Communicatus Act, it means that you do not use troops for any duty that is supposed to be civil in nature. In America you bring in Federal troops only when the crisis situation has reached a state of domestic war. And it looks like that is the purpose of our own constitution, the military is carved out for defense duties, fight aggression from outside.

The meaning is that the military has no business outside unless there is a situation of aggression. So if we are saying that the situation in Nigeria has reached a level that the police cannot deal with them, and we are saying that that applies to everywhere in Nigeria, yet we have not declared a meaningful emergency, then something is wrong. How will you say we are practicing democracy yet you see the military everywhere, is that compatible with democratic governance? We have not been able to create other agencies that can deal with emerging situations.

We have porous bothers both land and sea yet we don’t have an agency that is specifically tasked to sanitize our bothers. Funny enough we still have the navy being tasked to patrol our territorial waters and that is police work not military work. I think these inconsistencies must be resolved in our laws. It takes a thorough leadership to address these problems.

We cannot have an amorphous job where the job of one organ is not clearly defined and to cause confusion and rivalry.  It is sad the Natinal Assembly areas they are supposed to make laws to ensure good governance, efficiency of government they are they doing something else. So I think patriotism is one asset a country is supposed to brag about. But in Nigeria you cannot find the patra (Fatherland).

Let me conclude by saying that the problem Nigeria has cannot be solved by one person. The problems are many but we can solve them if we all work together. There should be no passing the bulk, everybody must accept blames and realize that Nigeria is greater than anybody and we all have a duty to leave lasting legacy. For sure this country cannot continue that way it is, something must give. We either going to become a better governed country, better motivated people or we all will take the consequence to embrace the fact that we are gearing towards a failed nation.

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Can APC cure Nigeria’s headache? (2), By Chido Onumah

Chido Onumah

I have no illusions about the challenges (some of which are beginning to manifest) and limitations of the new mega party being proposed by the country’s main opposition parties.

The reality is that the All Progressives Congress (APC) can only go so far in the quest to lift our people from poverty, disease, unemployment and other problems associated with a neo-colonial capitalist economy like ours. The reasons are quite clear.

However, it is important to state that in the midst of the general chaos that has enveloped the country and the rudderless leadership of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which threatens the very survival of the country, there are very few options open for us to push back the country from the brink.

In general, there are three likely scenarios that could play out in the next two years. None of the scenarios is capable of addressing the urgent crisis confronting the country. What are these scenarios? One, the opposition abdicates the political space and allows the current charade to run its full course. Two things are possible here: first, the implosion of the PDP which seems quite imminent could prove even costlier for the nation. Second, President Jonathan is “reelected” in 2015. By 2019, he, like his predecessors, hands over to a governor of his choice and the cycle continues while we groan and complain ad nauseam.

The second scenario is the military option. This option looks menacingly real and tantalizing for some. Many of the people who would lampoon the effort to confront the PDP and its despicable rule are salivating at the prospect of a military coup. They are readying themselves, like their forebears, in the spirit of “service to the nation” to be part of the process. It does not matter to them that such action will take us a one step forward and twenty years backward.

The third scenario which looms large is anarchy or civil war. The mindless bloodletting and general insecurity in the country could get out of control and precipitate anarchy or civil war; and like Somalia, the country could become the poster child of failed states. These are scenarios that should not be viewed lightly.

So what is the way forward? In this regard, two scenarios appear feasible. One, the prospect of a social revolution or what Edwin Madunagu, “The Hugo Chavez Revolution”, The Guardian (March 28, 2013) describes as “a fundamental, non-sectarian and mass-engineered rupture in the structure and content of the Nigerian state”. Even though the objective conditions are present and the fact that in most cases such “mass-engineered rupture” do not “give notice”, Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, a chieftain of the PDP, in his wisdom, has ruled out this option because according to him, “Our elasticity (for suffering) has no limit”.

The last option would be a popular and broad-based coalition to unseat the PDP in 2015. This is where the APC comes in. Of course, the APC is not necessarily the only option here. The Labour Party/ National Conscience Party coalition, as a friend suggested, is another. However, if the opposition is really serious about unseating a behemoth like the PDP, it will do well to close ranks.

These are the only viable options. Every Nigerian would have to decide where they fit in. There is no room for vacillation or “siddon look”. How then do we get out of the current cul-de-sac? Which of the preceding options is meaningful and achievable (before things get out of hand) within the context of the current bourgeoisie “democratic” order? I would say the last option.

I understand the “fierce urgency of now” in relation to ending the suffering and deprivation of citizens. At the same time, we need to save and secure the country before we can move forward. Unfortunately, the PDP which has been in power since 1999 has foreclosed any meaningful debate about the future of the country and the possibility of change. For us to start any real discussion about the future of the country, we need to get rid of the PDP which has elevated misgovernance to a religion.

The PDP is in the throes of death and it looks like it wants to drag the rest of the country with it. With the PDP, we are dealing with a collection of megalomaniacs. Currently, we can identify three centres of powers within the party: The Presidency, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and the Northern Governors’ Forum. The ambition of the men who control these centres of power, President Goodluck Jonathan, Gov. Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, and Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, as well as that of other tangential gladiators will, undoubtedly, sink the party.

The question is: do we want to sink with the PDP? Now is the time to confront the arrogance and egregious folly of the PDP. When former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and national chairman, Bamanga Tukur, say the PDP will rule for 100 years, we should not see it as mere political-speak. The PDP cares for this country, to paraphrase American political journalist, DeWayne Wickham, in much the same way that pimps care for their whores: just what they can get out of them.

How do we defeat President Jonathan and the PDP in 2015? There is no other way than for the opposition to come together and show that it is capable of this urgent task of national reclamation. If the APC succeeds, and I hope and pray it does, it will be “a marginal improvement over where we are coming from”. If the country can once in its history have a leader elected by popular will — not installed by the incumbent or the military — it is a step forward.

I shall end this piece by going back to Edwin Madunagu who noted in his piece “Reflections on Party Combinations”, The Guardian, March 7 & 14, 2013, “Someone has referred to the newly-formed APC as the “new” SDP. Yes, there are a couple of elements in common. But there is at least one more requirement for the APC: It has to show that not only is the status-quo totally bankrupt (which is the case), but also that the APC is a historically progressive way forward at this moment, and that it is the only one”.

This is the battle progressives in the APC have to wage in the weeks and months ahead.

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The tribalization of Nigeria’s politics, By Richard Chilee

map of Nigeria

 The author says “we must begin to identify ourselves as Nigerians first, before identifying our ethnic groups”.

When I asked the young man whom I met in Port Harcourt to tell me what he feels about the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, and how the President’s policies affects his life personally; he looked at me quizzically and explained as courteous as he was proud, that he wasn’t hugely satisfied with President Jonathan’s administration so far, but he was not complaining. He is happy because, at least, for once, his brother, a South-Southerner from Bayelsa State is occupying the revered office of the President. And soon “our share will come to us, after all he is our son.”

As intrusive as the question posed to my Bayelsa friend was, it was also important. If you live in Nigeria, and are concerned about Nigeria’s future, you will agree with me that we have countless problems impeding our growth and development as a country. Among these problems, tribalism is one which seems to be the ugliest case after corruption; it blights every sphere of the Nigerian economy and it is one whose success or failure in curbing, would either constructively define, strategically position, or would continuously be used to plummet the political landscape of our country. It is also clear that you cannot discuss or sanitize our political terrain without understanding and grasping the deep influence of tribal hucksters.

Tribalism, like corruption, has eaten deep into the fabrics of the Nigerian society. Many Nigerians say they disapprove of corruption, but we always tend to forgive or even support the perpetrator if she/he is of our own tribe. Most of us see nothing wrong with stealing state funds especially if they were used to benefit not only us but members of our community. Some of us expect the ‘ogas at the top’ to use their powers to help us and keep us connected with jobs, contracts, and promotions at the expense of merits and competence, because we are kith and kin. A glimpse into the Nigerian public and private service will reveal the stinking and deep trenches of unabashed tribalism, no wonder we are still stagnated.

Today, tribalism has taken a step further; it has become an avenue, a springboard, for ethnic conflicts. Why is this so? The simple answer lies in the fact that it has been politicised in Nigeria. In pre-colonial times, tribal conflicts do exist, tribes fought over such things as territory and water, but their battles were usually short-lived, restricted and not especially bloody. But today, because it has been politicized, tribal animosity has escalated into full scale bloodbaths inflamed by unscrupulous political leaders, total control of the country is now the biggest prize which many jingoists are willing to die for in the struggle.

It is imperative to understand that it is not tribal feelings themselves that cause trouble, there is nothing wrong in feeling a special love for your tribe, it is their politicization. And most of the ethnic troubles have its roots in the manipulation of ethnic loyalties by politicians who tend to stir up, rather than soothe, ethnic passions to suit their selfish purposes which are, but not limited to, winning elections. These politicians understand that when voters assume that politics is a struggle between tribal groups, they tend to vote along ethnic lines. The more these politicians win power, the more tribal politics become.

It is a truth that more Nigerians feel deep loyalty to their tribes than to the country of which they hold their citizenship. People tend to identify themselves through their region before they identify themselves as Nigerians, so corrupt politicians, who lack every concept of political morality, are using this loyalty to their advantage. They often stir up conflicts between tribes as a means of staying in power. This happens because the cords of tribal loyalty are so strong that they are, often, very difficult to break.

History is replete with dire consequences of tribalization in Africa. If you look closely, you’ll find that beneath the problem of the Boko Haram bloodbath presently plaguing Nigeria, there are traces of corrupt politicians who incite this menace to their own advantage. This menace is also likened, as an extreme example, to the Hutu and Tutsi bloodshed in Rwanda and Burundi. It must be pointed that this problem had a source; it is not a primordial and irretrievable fact of nature. Hutu and Tutsi have only thrown themselves at each other since their political leaders started urging them to do so; the genocide was carefully planned by a small clique of criminal politicians to maintain their grip on power.

To arrive at a peaceful and healthy Nigeria, tribalism must stop. Tanzania has dozens of tribes with different and perplexing cultures but the politicians have stayed away from advancing tribal differences as a way of winning elections, and as a result, the country has been almost peaceful since independence. This too can be done in Nigeria.

How do we curb this problem?

What Nigeria needs is a Nigerian president, not a northern, southern, eastern or western president. A government is supposed to represent the entire population of the country they rule, to favour one tribe over the other immediately defies that principle. One strategic solution is the separation of tribe and state, government must not discriminate or favour on grounds of ethnicity. One way to adhere to this strategy is the abolishment of ‘state of origin’ and, if possible, ‘religion’ on any kind of application form, this are the easiest ways to discriminate.

We must begin to identify ourselves as Nigerians first, before identifying our ethnic groups and national interest, not ethnic interest, should be given supreme importance. A deep understanding of the principles of citizenship must be shown by Nigerians. Power must also be decentralized rather than be concentrated in the hands of an unproductive and clustered centre, headed by the president. If regions are self financing and self governing, they will have themselves, instead of other regions, to blame if things eventually go wrong. These will help in curbing the high spate of tribalization in our political atmosphere.
This is my opinion.

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HARD VIEW: Footprints Of A Baroness By Hannatu Musawa

Hannatu Musawa

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Of those people, some we may personally know and some we may just see on our television screens, read about in books, or hear about them through tales. Of those people, some will leave footprints on our hearts and minds which may change us and we are never, ever the same.
Along with Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, General T.Y Danjuma, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi, Queen Elizabeth II, Wangari Maathai, Oprah Winfrey, Gambo Sawaba, Chief Moshood Abiola, Jerry Rawlings, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Mamman Shatta, Bishop Matthew Hassan-Kukah, Michael Jackson, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Obi Ezekwesili, Mother Teresa, and Mohammed Ali, Margaret Thatcher was one of the public figures in my lifetime who have left, and continue to leave footprints on my heart and mind and whose teachings, character and example has had a big impact in my life. With the news of her passing Monday evening (8th April, 2013), I and millions of people across the world who admired her lost a great role model. She had fought a long battle with dementia and a series of strokes and eventually succumbed to a massive stroke. She will be greatly missed although it’s somewhat a relief knowing that she no longer suffers. Additionally, I have an immense amount of positive lessons that I was able to learn, that will continue to serve me through the balance of my life from this profound figure I watched at the time I was growing up.
Though I was very young when I went to Britain in 1979, Margaret Thatcher, as the first British female prime minister, was very much present in my everyday life. Coming from a society and country where women did not traditionally assume the kind of leadership role that Margaret Thatcher did, I immediately became fascinated with her. Growing into my consciousness through the 1980’s I observed with intrigue how she commanded her position with such direction and conviction.
I remember as a small girl seeing her on television and wondering how she had the guts to speak so convincingly and decisively in a room filled with males. Even to my young and inexperienced eyes and ears, I understood that she was a very passionate lady who was changing the world and the role of women. I found her enthusiasm very infectious and a lot of the time she got me interested enough to ask questions about governance.
Although I always knew that I admired and looked up to Margaret Thatcher, it was only very much later in my life that I realized the significance and magnitude of the impact she had on me. Being the Chancellor of The University of Buckingham at the time I was a student there, I had the good fortune of meeting her on two occasions. As I stood face to face with the woman that I had looked up to and admired for so long, I was certainly not disappointed but I was most definitely star-struck.
Baroness Thatcher was a legend in her own life time. There are very few people of whom this can be said. One of the most intriguing and wonderful things about this woman was her dedication to her principle and conviction. Never was there a leader who was so prepared to stand by their convictions for good or bad like Margaret Thatcher. She always stayed true to her core values and her unyielding stance never to compromise them stood as her greatest strength and, at the same time, probably her greatest weakness.
Apart from her just ‘being’, there were many other aspects of Margaret Thatcher and many things she had done that have combined to make the many footprints on my heart and mind. She was a great example of the importance of dedicating oneself to hard work and a commitment to excellence. She was not a woman to suffer fools gladly and she had a healthy understanding of how to give as good as she got and absorb disapproval; as long as she believed in what she stood for and her principles, she really couldn’t care less about criticisms or distractions. A key lesson I learned from her. Her confidence and security in being different has always inspired me not to be afraid to be different, independent and to make my own decisions. She cared for her people and her country almost to a fault and she believed in the purpose of everything she did for Great Britain. As one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century, she defined her country and had a profound effect on the politics of Britain and the world.
She was feisty, determined, focussed and brilliant. She was a remarkable, courageous and special woman. And it wasn’t solely because she was a woman who achieved what she did at the time she did, it is because only a handful of politicians ever in history have exercised such dominance during their term in office and attracted such strength of feeling, both for and against. Agree with her policies or not, there is no doubt that an era ended with her passing.
Her legacy has had a deep effect upon the policies of all her successors even though her radical and sometimes confrontational approach defined her 11-year period as prime minister. It was an innate stubbornness she had which led to her refusal to engage in consensus politics that made her a divisive figure. That, together with an opposition to her policies and her style of government led eventually to rebellion inside her party. Whilst not everyone will have agreed with her more controversial actions and policies such as the response to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands and introduction of the poll tax, the integrity and determination with which she pursued them was truly intriguing. She had many faults as a leader, but the positive impact she had on her country far, far outweighed the negative.
The people who knew her best speak of her very dissimilar persona when she was in her personal capacity than the towering public figure that the world was presented with. As a public figure, Margaret Thatcher was viewed as an uncompromising and overbearing iron lady with an obdurate allegiance to her country at the detriment of others. As a private person, she was said to have had a great sense of humour, been kind natured and had an unassuming ability to make all those around her feel special and loved.
In the last decade, as I watched Margaret Thatcher negotiate the last stage of her life, the quality that first endeared me to her was what continued to strike me most about her; that characteristic of a person with strong convictions, who never gave up her dreams and never lost her zeal to speak up for what she believed in. She took advantage of the blessings life gave her and she aged with a grace that one would hope to emulate.
Though she had to curtail her activities as a result of deteriorating health, she continued to appear in public and lend her voice to support the courses she stood for, whenever she felt the need to. The tragic loss of her best-friend and husband, Dennis, whom she had described as her "rock" in 2003, and her good friend and political partner, Ronald Reagan only a year later, may have been big blows to her but it failed to completely take the wind from her sail.
The life and works of other people often influence us to be great in what we do. For so many of the achievements she accomplished, for so much of what she represented, Margaret Thatcher was truly what role models are made of. And her life and work will no doubt serve to influence generations yet to come. From the manner in which she operated as a leader, to her steadfast nature, to her commitment for her course, I doubt that anyone can ever write the history of world politics without mentioning Margaret Thatcher, who is much more than a footnote in the example of patriotism, conviction and determination.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher came a long way from the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire where she was born on the 13th October 1925. Being the daughter of a local councillor must have had an enormous impact on the direction of her life, her love for governance and the political policies she would eventually adopt. Becoming only the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association at the time she studied Chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford and latter qualifying as a Barrister, more than qualified her for the role that would come to define a historical way of governance.
Margaret Thatcher was a lady and a heroine. She was ‘my’ heroine, someone who taught, encouraged and helped this Nigerian woman on a journey without ever knowing she did. There are so many things I learned as a professional and a strong, independent woman from the example that Margaret Thatcher so unapologetically set. Excellence, integrity, personal sacrifice, virtues, resilience, patriotism, a deeper understanding of my greatest potential as a lawyer, a politician, a woman, a wife and a mother are just some of the teachings I strive to pick from her. I will value her example for the rest of my life.
Like so many others, I will never forget Margaret Thatcher and I feel privileged to have lived through a period that saw her strength of leadership and even more privileged to have had the good fortune of meeting a woman that I will forever look up to. I grieve at her passing and send my prayers and condolences to her children, Mark and Carole.
“Rest well Baroness, you will be sorely missed. While your footprints remain in the hearts and minds of millions of us, your legacy will never, ever be forgotten….”

Saharareporters

My oga at the top syndrome (2)

Mr Shem Obafaiye’s my oga at the top outing on Channels Television is of interest to people for various reasons. Some view it as a welcome comic relief. Others see it as a grievous blunder for which Obafaiye should be sacked for crass incompetence.

Just look at it: He is a Commandant of the National Security and Defence Corps, NSCDC, one of the contenders for the topmost post of Commandant General; posted to the nation’s economic capital and the most populous metropolis, the nation’s foremost gateway to the world. Such an official cannot communicate effectively in the official language on worldwide television?

It says a lot for the man, the organisation in which he has grown to such enviable height and the nation at large. The comedy makes me laugh to bursting point but the sad story it tells about the Nigeria of our times gives cause for serious sobre reflection.

In the first part of this serial I promised to show you a letter. It was sent to me by a fellow whose identity I must withhold, on January 23, 2013 via text message. Here goes (as he exactly wrote it): “Sir, help me out to the Minister of Employment. Sir my name is ….. I a graduate of Accountant I have been a bike rider for the past 10 year. I now have five children. What do ido. I am using these text to reached out with the F.G.N. to help one job. Idont have any godfather that we help me. I we work in any given place. Sir help for me not to died live my family thank you sir”.

If this man had a “godfather” and was enrolled in the Navy (where he attempted to fix himself according to further text messages he plied me with) he would carry the above quality of education into his career and rise one day to appear on television to talk to you and me! Even if I had the capacity to find him a job, would I do it? Certainly not, even if he is my relation. Mind you, I am not ridiculing him. I am only pointing out the fact that our system now produces people often described as “unemployable”.

Go to the human resources department of any organisation and you will be shocked at the pains they go through trying to get suitably qualified graduates to employ. Even some young people touting “First Class” degree certificates are often unable to justify that laurel when put to practical test. What do you do with a graduate who cannot write in English? What manner of job do you give him?

Poor human resource development has become a big syndrome in Nigeria. The collapse of the public educational system is chiefly responsible for that. Anyone who wants his children to escape the scourge must cough out enormous amounts of money to look for a private school. Even the private schools are no longer sure bets because many of them exist primarily as money making ventures. We are left with very few elite private schools and only the very rich and treasury looters in the public services can foot their shylock charges. The rest of them simply send their children abroad (“abroad” sometimes including Ghana, Benin Republic, Togo and others!).

Our educational system came to this sorry pass despite a bright beginning. As the march to independence intensified in the 1950s the three former regions of the country were determined to dominate the others or at least escape the spectre of playing the second fiddle. The Western Region sought to extend its educational advantage by offering free education as part of its welfare package. It was the wealthiest region, with its booming cocoa exports and could afford to do so.

The East was the poorest but its leaders opted for “qualitative education” which parents paid for. While the West “mass produced”, the East’s products had cutting edge advantages which showed immediately after independence. The North sought to overcome its educational disadvantage by sponsoring its bright youth wholesale, providing generous bursaries and pampering them with luxuries that were the envy of students from the South.

As the North gained political ascendancy after independence, it started pursuing its policy of “catching up” with the South educationally. With the Igbos out of the equation due to the secession attempt, the North through its military rulers snatched control of education from (mainly Christian) missionaries, voluntary private agencies and communities. Government took over schools, and very soon the enactment of obnoxious policies such as “quota system”, “federal character”, “catchment area” (all instruments of forcing educational parity between North and South) triggered the beginning of the end of Nigeria as a provider of sound education for its citizens.

After about 40 years of this foolery, it became clear that government is unable to run schools effectively. That forced governments in the former Eastern and Western Regions to gradually return mission schools to their original owners, but from the look of things, the damage seems irreparable. Ethnic, religious and regional hatred and evil rivalry led to the situation we find ourselves in.

The future is even bleaker unless something drastic is done. Children educated in expensive private schools with stolen public funds are coming out in flying colours and being given preferential employment in top corporate institutions, ministries, departments and agencies. Those educated abroad mostly refuse to come back to their country because the system is not working. Those who do come back also get preferential employment because they are well educated.

The danger is that the masses of poorly educated children of the poor, who suffer from “my oga at the top syndrome” because they are unemployable, will in future see the few children of the rich ruling them as their class enemy. This is what makes violent social revolutions.

Nigeria has created conditions for a violent revolution. The misguided Boko Haram insurgency is a tip-off of things to come in the no distant future.

VANGUARD NIGERIA

Amaechi’s Error, Jonathan’s Ineptitude, And Talk Of Revolution By Malcolm Fabiyi

Dr. Malcolm Fabiyi, Ph.D

Rotimi Amaechi, the Governor of Rivers state has been in the news a lot lately, mainly for his very public spats with Jonathan’s government. Last week, in his usual blunt style, he suggested that Nigeria could never witness a revolution in the mold of the Arab Spring revolts because Nigerians lack the courage to stand firm for change. Their “elasticity” as he put it, “has no limit”.
A revolution by definition is a sudden and cataclysmic shift in social and political structures in a nation. Its occurrence is therefore not predictable. Amaechi and the others who think they understand Nigeria and Nigerians should spend time reading history. Like earthquakes that can only be discerned once they have occurred, so too are revolutions.
Before a group of American patriots set off the fire at Boston Harbor in December 1773 that ultimately led to the American War for independence, the British had imposed all kinds of unfair taxes and levies on their American colony.  The singular action that finally broke the camel’s back and triggered the American Revolution was precipitated by anger over the British government’s grants of all tea importation rights to the American colony to the East India Company. One act, tipped the scale.
When Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Joe Slovo, Arthur Goldreich and others launched UmKontho we Sizwe (the Spear of the Nation), the militant wing of the African National Conference (ANC) in 1961, no one thought the oppressed blacks of South Africa had the audacity to raise arms against their oppressors. There had been no precedent for their actions in South Africa. Up to that point, anti-apartheid struggles had consisted only of protest marches and strike actions. Yet, against all odds, Mandela and his compatriots were able to build a revolutionary army that struck fearlessly at the heart of Apartheid, and was partly responsible for the demise of that monstrous system.
There would probably have been no Arab revolt, but for the actions of Mohamed Bouazizi. He was a street vendor in Tunisia, who was subjected to harassment and intimidation by local authorities. There was nothing radically different about the inhumane treatment that was meted to Bouazizi on Dec 17 2010. The only difference was that Bouazizi had reached his elastic limit. But no one knew this. He was not bent to one side, by the weight of his troubles. His head was not letting off steam, to alert his tormentors to the fact that he was nearing a tipping point. He looked the way he always did, like one whose “elasticity had no limits.” So they harassed him as they always did. In protest, he set himself on fire. The small fire that he ignited in the small town of Sidi Bouzid, became a flame that consumed governments from Tunisia, to Egypt, Algeria and Yemen.
There are lessons to be learned from Nigeria itself. “Was your widowed mother counted?!” With those defiant words, spoken in November 1929, Nwanyereuwa of Oloko set in motion a series of events that culminated in what is now known as the “Aba Women’s Riot.”  A representative of the warrant chief had appeared at Nwa’s home asking her to count the livestock that had belonged to her dead daughter in-law, for taxation purposes. Nwanyereuwa refused to comply and was assaulted. Word of her ordeal spread and the women mobilized to fight the new unjust tax laws. At the height of the uprising that ensued, tens of thousands of women across Eastern and Southern Nigeria had joined their sisters at Oloko, upturning the false tranquility of colonial Nigeria. Their revolution led to the sack of dozens of native courts and forced the resignations of numerous warrant chiefs. Their protest was met with a heavy hand. When the dust settled and the guns fell silent, the painful price the courageous women paid was clear: 32 were killed killed at Opobo, 3 at Abak, and 17 at Utu-Etim-Ekpo – all of them murdered by the British Constabulary.
The Agbekoya peasant revolt in Western Nigeria in 1968-69 and Adaka Boro’s 12 day war are further examples of the capacity of the Nigerian people to take principled action whenever it becomes necessary. Amaechi’s sweeping generalization dishonors the memory of Akintunde Ojo, Kunle Adepeju and other student patriots who have faced down guns and bullets in their quest for a better nation.
Amaechi mistakes revolutions for popular, mass action. All of the 20th century’s most famous revolutionaries led movements that had only a few people. Rawlings staged a revolution in Ghana, yet he never had more than 1,000 men involved in his plot at any time. Fidel Castro began his march on Havana from the mountains of the Sierra Maestra with only 82 men. And the most storied revolution of all, the war for American Independence, began with a few hundred disenchanted Bostonians, burning barrels of tea at Boston Harbor.
Because of Goodluck Jonathan’s ineptitude, Nigerians are being stretched to their elastic limit faster than anyone could have predicted possible. The economy continues to work only for a privileged few. Corruption is now not only tolerated, it is celebrated. The middle and upper classes that have long been insulated from the tumult of the Nigerian system, have now been drawn into the cauldron of fire. Their tall fences, private schools, and exclusive hang outs have been breached by the rising tide of insecurity. This should give Amaechi and co-leaders reason to worry. Revolutions come more quickly when the privileged bourgeois class – the middle and upper classes – join the proletariat (masses) class in their discontent. The bourgeois bring their resources - their organizing skills, their tweets and facebook pages, their access to printing presses, their ability to fire off bulk text messages and engage extensive networks - to the battle for the soul of a nation.
In the South, the privileged live in daily fear that their children and spouses will be kidnapped for ransom. Their nights are lived in terror, and every noise brings with it the dread that marauders have struck. In the North, Boko Haram has crippled enterprise, and has broken the myth of invincibility that surrounded the traditional institutions of power. Northern power elite like the Emir of Kano have been attacked. The Sultan, long revered as the Sarkin Musulmi, finds his authority being usurped by a terror group that claims to speak for Nigerian muslims. Daily, the body count of innocents consumed in the senseless power play mounts. And Jonathan fiddles while Nigeria burns. He is busy granting amnesty to thieves and rogues, and maneuvering for a second and a half term, while his nation burns.
Revolutions are ultimately fueled by fear as much as they are by hope. At no time has fear been as pervasive in the Nigerian polity as it is now.  When the Nigerian revolution comes, it may not be a mass movement driven by hope. It will likely be triggered by a small isolated incident, inspired by fear.
Saharareporters

Season Of The Ignoble Heroes By Gbenro Olajuyigbe

For a  people that have been persistently and consistently ; violently raped for years, a slap on their faces will be considered by them  an act of generosity. To such people, an overhead bridge in Uyo, five star hotels that has no service value to the ordinary persons on the streets of Uyo, elitist ventures like an airport  and forty kilometer roads across Ikot- Ekpene are features of ‘uncommon transformation’. To them, it does not matter whether Ikot- Abasi and over 70% of the landmass and people in Akwa Ibom have no access to good water, motor able roads, good health care and other basic services.

As long as there  Senators, People in the ‘Chop – our- money, we –don’t care’ government of the prodigal Governor Akpabio can fly in and out of the Uyo Airport; even, when their kinsmen  back  home can barely access services. It is Godwill for Akpabio to use government money to buy Prado Jeep for Tuface Idibia but not Godwill for him to pay the outstanding 16 months salary of Akwa Ibom Football Club. Godwill to donate Akwa Ibom money to feed PDP delegates to the ill-fated reconciliation in Rivers State; not Godwill to productively engage the multitude of  unemployed Akwa Ibom youth who daily go to bed without food in their stomach. Although, the National Working Committee of PDP through Olisa Mentu has defended this as ‘ Akpabio’s act of generosity. So, like party, like Governor!
Nigerians always lose sense of history. Years back, Chmaroke Nnamani, former governor of Enugu nearly deceived even the very innocent with his EBE A NO, ---TO GOD BE THE GLORY  transformation mantra, employing the media as the tool for the grand deception. Akpabio’s ‘uncommon transformation’ is the Akwa Ibom version of EBE A NO! Even this shall fade away and Akwa Ibomites shall discover the wool pulled over their eyes! Agents of true transformation don’t behave the way ‘Akpabio and his Federal Comrades’ are squandering public funds; converting public trust to private licence for reckless adventure.
Just recently, the rash and harsh response of the Federal Government to the allegation made by Oby Ezekwesili that the YAR’ADUA/JONATHAN’S Government fettered away 62 billion dollars left behind by Obasanjo’s government revealed a government that has sunk into infamy of non-accountability. A government that needed to be reminded of its obligation for accountability to the Nigerian people. Without Oby’s allegation would the Jonathan administration ever told Nigerians that Obasanjo left behind the 45 billion dollars it later admitted? The most obviously upsetting and nauseating  force of this bravado is the arrogance of  the Mid-Night economists like MR. Labaran Maku and DR. Doyin Okupe who rose to insult the personality of a Nigerian who has the right of holding her government accountable, building on the knowledge she had both in government and outside it.
These Good-lucks, who at best are power pirates,  have snatched away Nigeria from her citizens.
The Economic Voodooists  have become the Nigeria’s Star-gazers; who have become  exclusive necromancers, the only persons who have  the magic capacity to  diagnose and talk about our  dying or  dead economy, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan. They are the President’s Prophets! The gods and goddesses that have made the President in their own images, yet wise enough to hypnotized  him to feel he is in charge. In their fiefdom, they are the beginning and end of knowledge. They are the treacherous teachers in school where all other Nigerians are dull and unintelligent pupils! In their own proud estimation, they are the never wrong and ever right jury of Nigeria’s destiny; the Good-lucks who are fast becoming Nigeria’s crudest and cruellest undertakers!
If Oby, a former Minister, a former World Bank’s Vice- President is considered by the Jonathan’s presidency as Obasanjo’s robot, as adduced by the lackeys, then you can imagine how  not- helpable  the President has become. What is certain is that Nigeria can not afford keeping a government that is governing  with a victim – mentality. This mentality of Jonathan’s Presidency is worrisome. When a government becomes fixated to a level where any opinion contrary to its own is recklessly regarded as hand work  of opposition, that government has lost its capacity to recover from the abyss. The  relentless insults and assaults on critics of  incongruent policies and practises of Jonathan’s Government  by these voodooists has catapulted  mediocrity in governance  to national infamy. Nevertheless, this can   be understood in the context of leadership that has gone out of control in a nation where deceits, lies and the suppression of truth have become tools for governance.
 We are indeed paying for the venality and corruption of the people in government who have subverted structure, manipulated processes and perverted policies to accommodate their passionate hedonism. How does one also  place the contraction that a legislator who, by law and preparation of the Revenue Mobilisation Commission  is to earn between 754,000 and 957,000 Naira per month now  criminally rakes home between 20 million and 30 million Naira every month ? It is this strange behaviour and inconsiderate attitude of the political class that has imposed on Nigeria unnecessary economic burden. Nigerians fought and some died for democracy because they saw in democracy opportunity to actualize the benefits that are embedded in just, good and democratic governance.
They saw in it, governance for the people and they never envisaged that it will turn to another imperialism whereby  the people become servants and government officials, the new gods who must be served and worshiped. Nigerians anticipated a democratic and just governance that becomes the machinery to drive the cause of civilization, where people occupy the centre- stage of issues. Where their welfare, safety, security and happiness become the primary purpose of government as in civilized democracies, not a government run by cads whose bellies are their gods and greed, their prophets! Over the years,  our budgets have  not been  serving the people. They are operated to fund legislators’  tastes and lawlessness, and executives  recklessness. A nation where people continue to grope in darkness because of power failure, where schools have become centres for cruel crime and where unemployment and crime are growing in geometric progression despite ritual budgetary allocations to combat the orgies can not be said to be running governance. The guinea coefficient of Nigeria today presents  the worst gap between the rich and the poor in the world. We are not ready for state formation. Our concept of governance and democracy if not reviewed to align with that of honest and civilized people will turn us to  colony of beasts, where  people become  prey and their governors,  the vicious predators!
Gbenro Olajuyigbe`
Human Security  Manager,
ActionAid Nigeria,
ABUJA, NIGERIA.
Saharareporters