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

Things You Never Knew About Mike Adenuga, Nigeria’s Second Richest Man

If you mention Adenuga, and the next thing that comes to mind is Globacom (Global Communications). But is this well-fed African all about Glo? Worth a head-spinning $4.3 billion, Otunba (Dr.) Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga (Jnr) is the 2nd richest man in Nigeria, according to Forbes. That makes him the richest Yoruba on earth (I once wrote a piece on Deinde Fernandez but he has refused to disclose his assets).

This reclusive billionaire has one rule that no one can change: he will only get across to you when there is the need for it, but you cannot get across to him. And when he wants to get across to you, he does everything possible to track you down. Nobody in his office gets letters or invitation cards without earlier notice irrespective of where they originated from. You just can’t reach him, and if you work for a courier company, it is nearly-impossible for you to deliver a package to his office. You feel the swagger? That was just an intro, let’s roll!

-Although his roots are in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, he was born in Ibadan, Oyo State on 29thApril, 1953. The Bull will turn 60 in about two months when his 682-paged biography Mike Adenuga: African Business Guru (written by award-winning Mike Awoyinfa & Dimgba Igwe) will be launched. Mike Adenuga was so big at birth that he was called John Bull in the hospital.

-His parents: Chief Michael Agbolade Adenuga Snr. was a school teacher while his mum Chief (Mrs.) Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (nee Onashile of Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo) was a businesswoman. She got married at the age of 17, learnt sewing and succeeded greatly as a dressmaker. Well-educated, she was made the Iya Alaje of Ijebu-Igbo and the Yeye Oba of Ijebuland.

-He studied at the Ibadan Grammar School (IGS) before jetting out to the US to read Business Administration with a focus on Marketing. While at Ibadan, he was very impressed with the Cocoa House (then the tallest building in Africa) built by the Awolowo government. He dreamt of having such an edifice of his own one day, and today, we all know Mike Adenuga Towers. Located on Adeola Odeku Street, the 13-storey edifice which took him 13 years to erect dazzles with gold-on-granite finishing. You just can’t miss it! The first time I saw his building, I was mesmerized. It has a landing pad for a helicopter and was opened in 2004 by Atiku Abubakar. Now, don’t ask me if I want to build one too…lol! He also has a mansion in Ibadan and he named it ‘The Gold Digger’s Place’.

-The billionaire is a descendant of Pariola, a very wealthy and influential female trader born in the mid-19th century. Apart from being the ancestor of the Adenugas, Pariola would also produce the Adetonas, the family of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona.

-Upon his birth, his father was so overjoyed at having another son that he named him after himself. His elder brother, Demola explained that he was not given the name because as at the time of his birth, the fad was to bear purely Nigerian names. Otunba was the last child so his father took the opportunity to name him after himself. He would later die in 1993 in a car accident and his son did a superlative re-burial for him in 2005 with one of the most expensive coffins on earth.

-While at IGS, he and his brother (Demola) were nicknamed ‘Ad Belly’ for their huge stature and protruding bellies. Both used to cross the Ogunpa River (which they called River Jordan) whenever they felt like sneaking out of school. They took the huge frame after their parents. Demola was more of his dad while Mike took everything, including his business skills, from his mum. As a child, and under the supervision of his mum, he hawked goat feed, and picked up the street wisdom that came with it.

-Although Mike was more fashionable and even introduced his elder brother to the latest wears and perfumes, he still had to seek his help when it came to academic matters.

-His mother had always been quite cautious about the adventurous and somewhat rascally nature of Mike. She really did not want him to go abroad to study & wanted him to join his brother who was studying biochemistry at the University of Ibadan. She reported him to a commissioner of police in Oyo State then but he encouraged Madam Juliana to let him go, perhaps, that was God’s plan for him. Worefa, his mind was made up. He was leaving Nigeria. And he left. When he also wanted to dabble into the very risky oil and gas sector and do what no other Nigerian had done before (drill oil), she made her fears known again thinking it was a senseless gamble. He calmed her down, and he would later announce to her excitedly: ‘Mama, we found oil!’ Today, his Conoil PLC is the largest indigenous oil production company in Nigeria operating six producing oil blocks in addition to owning ¼ of the Nigeria/Sao Tome Joint Development Zone Block 4, which has been proven to have almost one billion barrels of crude oil and about one trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Some people, like Dele Momodu, his mentee, believe Adenuga is actually the richest man in Africa. I must chip in here that in November 2011, 500 pensioners of Conoil engaged Adenuga in a tussle over unpaid pensions. #AneyeToto!

-There is something about Adenuga that caught my attention: he would never disobey his mother. The late matriarch had enormous influence over her son, and the only time he went against her directive was the oil business issue. Friends say that whenever there was any disagreement, just mention his mother’s name, and he would mellow down. Such was the degree of tremendous respect he has for his mother. #Iyaniwura.

-While studying in the 1970s, he had to survive and raise his school fees by working as a security man and a taxi driver, an extremely dangerous job for a blackman in the crime-ridden boroughs of New York -Staten Island, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. His curiosity in Nigeria where a little Mike tugged the steering wheel with drivers amused them, and they taught him how to drive. This, he made use of as a means of survival. If you are thinking he drove those shiny yellow New York cabs, you are wrong. He drove an unregistered jalopy and had to ply areas where the police would not harass him. It was as a taxi driver that he met a man named Dele Giwa, who was also surviving as a cab driver. Giwa would later be blown out of existence in 1986 by Nigeria’s first parcel bomb. As a student in America, Adenuga suffered and laboured for months as he was not getting a kobo from home. He knew the consequences, faced the challenges and triumphed. He might not have finished schooling without his extra efforts. Did I tell you that he also worked as a waiter and a mortuary attendant in the US? Yes, he did. And by the time he came back to Nigeria then, he was with a bushy beard. #HustlingThins #IgboroORerin!

-As a student in North Western Oklahoma State University, the school slogan was ‘Ride With Pride’, and he would later transform it to become ‘Glo With Pride’, when he launched Globacom.

-After graduating, he headed straight for Naija, and without wasting any time, started utilizing all he learnt. He did not seek any paid employment but took the risky road of entrepreneurship. He took over the management of the family’s small sawmill in Ogun State and was also selling removable car stereos at the same time as he had noticed the problem caused by the rampant theft of car stereos. Civil servants awash with the Udoji Commission salary raise were buying cars but thieves would do away with the car stereos. With Adenuga’s stereos, people could then park their cars, detach the stereos and go to bed. Simple. And he made cool cash. If you want to make money too, look around you, find a pressing problem and create a much-needed solution.

-By the age of 22, he had delved into the business of commodities, general merchandise, construction, importation (of mainly sawmill equipment, tomato paste, wines, beer and textile materials (especially lace) made in Austria). Why is my mischievous mind thinking that good fabrics and chilled beer are integral components of an Ijebu owambe parry? Anyways, just saying…lol!

-Believe it or not, there was a time when Adenuga was so reclusive that it was nearly impossible for you to see even his picture in the newspapers. He even hired consultants to blank him out of the media and the general public. His daughter, Bella, corroborates this: “My dad has always been a kind of quiet person. It was Globacom that shot him into the limelight.”

-In one of his very rare interviews, he narrates how he met an Austrian businessman to Newswatch: “I went on a trip to New York and when I was coming back, I missed my flight, being on British Airways, so I had to fly Swiss Air and I sat next to the owner of one of the biggest lace manufacturing factories in Austria. So, we were talking and he got me interested in importing laces, and all sorts of things.” Okay, you know why Iyaniwura had to point that out to you? Learn to identify and utilize opportunities! Adenuga later reveals: “The secret of my success is hard work, God’s blessings and luck.”

-By 26, Michael ‘Aneye Toto’ Ishola was already a millionaire. Now, chill. At this point, some critics will take him up saying that he became fabulously wealthy by benefiting from the close and cosy links he had with Nigerian military dictators. Well, that’s not a rumour. Babangida’s oil minister, Professor Jubril Aminu came up with a policy to grant licenses to individuals and encourage private sector participation in oil exploration and exploitation. Otunba was one of the first beneficiaries of the Petroleum Act (MKO Abiola of Summit Oil was another). Upon getting his oil bloc prospecting license (OPL 113), Adenuga went straight to work in the South Western Niger Delta Region and in less than a year on 24th December, 1991, he struck oil in the shallow (offshore) waters of Ondo State in his first oil well (named Bella-1) becoming the first indigenous oil firm to do so. Other Nigerians could not take the risk, and had sold off their licences to expatriates. An incorrigible risk taker, he had hired an oil rig for $5 million BUT he recruited only Nigerian oil specialists to do the job (he has always been a patriotic man). Since then, he has never looked back. The first seed money that he used to start business was given to him by his late mum. It was a modest sum but he used it judiciously. #Iyaniwura.

-At a point, he acted as a private middleman who got term-based oil contracts from the Nigerian government in the name of Tradoil & Crownway Enterprises while the UK-based Arcadia would handle the fuel cargoes. He also built military barracks (and the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna with Lt. General Ipoola Alani Akinrinade’s younger brother, Femi. Akinrinade, a former Chief of Army Staff, was the General Officer Commanding, I Infantry Division, 1975-1979 at the time), supplied the armed forces and the police with weapons while also working as a distributor for Coca Cola, Nigerian Breweries, Cadbury, Guinness and Continental Breweries. He was also a dealer for Peugeot Automobile of France. For him, it was to ‘go into anything that gives me profit.’

-With time, his fortune grew so amazingly that he was buoyant enough to sink over $100 million into his own oil prospecting and drilling company, the Consolidated Oil Company. This company, founded in 1990, is the very first indigenous Nigerian company to discover, drill and produce oil. And you know na, we are not talking of palm oil here….lol! Thus, his fortunes are based on a tripod: telecommunications, oil & gas and banking. He is also into real estate, food manufacturing & processing (b*tter, cocoa cake and vegetable oil), domestic & international market activities and aviation (not many know he is the owner of Southern Airlines).

-Under the General Sani Abacha regime, his Communication Investment Limited (CIL) was given a conditional licence and frequencies to operate. The licence has earlier been given to the Chagouris of Lebanon. Obasanjo would later cancel all the approvals given to him by previous governments. But a relentless fighter that he is, he told his men: “Let’s go into this thing. Let us forget going to court and all that. Let’s go under the new system and fight for the licence. We must fight with everything we have to get the licence.” When he made a second deposit of $20 million for Globacom licence, many scoffed at him and he was told to stop chasing shadows. His brother, Demola says of those dark days: “Mike lost $20 million, but he never lost hope. He never gave up hope. He kept hope alive; that is one thing about my brother: he is an eternal optimist. Something kept propelling him not to give up on the matter. He pursued it and he eventually got the licence.”

-For those who believe he is a proxy for IBB, sorry to burst your bubble. They’ve been friends since the 1980s and have remained so till date. Here is what the top-of-the-hill-residing, gap-toothed General has to say about the widespread rumour: “We meet, we talk, like the good friends that we are. But I also have one policy that governs my relationship with friends that are very close to me. Whether it was M.K.O Abiola, whether it is Mike Adenuga, and probably five or so others, I don’t get involved in their businesses. You can go and ask them.” The General went ahead to describe Mike Adenuga as a very loyal and reliable friend, and one who never forgets favours, unlike many who abandoned him when he left power in August 1993. He states: “When I left office, a few of my friends honestly stood by me and I remain eternally grateful to them. Mike is one of them. Another man who doesn’t want his name mentioned any time I speak on this issue is one of them. What I like about them is this: they appreciate whatever little effort you did for them and so, they don’t abandon you. Some people will tell you, ‘ah, when I was in the office, a lot of people used to come to me, now I left office, you don’t find anybody.’ This is the Nigerian factor for you. But these characters remain close and I honestly remain grateful.”

-When his mother died, he gave her a most befitting burial in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State on 13th September, 2005. A carnival-like ceremony, it was stormed by former President Obasanjo who buzzed in in a helicopter (that man and effizy sha…lol!) and when he entered the church, no one else was allowed to come in except Titi Atiku Abubakar (wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and WOTCLEF Founder). Other guests: Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. Governors of Lagos, Ogun, Taraba, Bauchi, Niger, Kaduna and Imo also gave a new definition to the Yoruba parlance of olowonshoreolowo (the wealthy always mingle with one another). Even IBB showed up at the wake-keeping. But the Awujale of Ijebuland, who is the Paramount Ruler of Ijebus was not able to attend because it is against the tradition for the Kabiyesi to lay his eyes on a corpse. His staff of office was placed on her hearse. Encased in a casket made of gold, Mama Adenuga was laid to rest in a marble grave.

-He faced a lot of troubles in the hands of fellow Ogun dude and former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. In his efforts aimed at procuring a telecommunications licence, he was thoroughly humiliated by Baba Iyabo (some felt he was being persecuted because of his ally, Atiku Abubakar who was then slugging it out with OBJ). The following scenario occurred in Aso Rock Presidential Villa when Obasanjo still held sway: “Okay, I would show you that I am playing God and kuku (ultimately) destroy you once and for all” said Obasanjo; a threat to which the frightened and weather-beaten Adenuga replied with his knees crawling on the floors in Aso Rock and his palms stretched full length in the charged, steamy atmosphere: “Sir, I am your son. Please don’t be angry with me.” Obasanjo: “I shouldn’t be angry? Why shouldn’t I be angry? See you now. You would come and prostrate and when you leave here, tomorrow, you would go and be publishing your adverts, abusing me. No be so (Is that not true)?” Adenuga lost $20 million (N3.2 billion) when he was denied the license not even after he had donated a multi-million naira library to Obasanjo’s Bells University of Technology in Ota. But he didn’t give up. He applied again. He would send people to beg OBJ and on occasions, he would prostrate to the Ebora of Owu as a Yorubaman but the former president would stare into his eyes and thunder: ‘I would not give you my licence!’ He would then mutter some curses. But Adenuga was undettered. He was always full of hope and optimism (that is important, I tell you). At another point, IBB tried to intervene on the issue of Adenuga’s licence with Obasanjo. The Commander-in-Chief was enraged, and accused IBB of using Adenuga as a screen to protect his vested interests. IBB denied the allegations and told Obasanjo that the so-called security report on the issue was a figment of the imagination of his EFCC boys. Obasanjo practically ordered IBB out of Aso Rock, and shouted at him as he left ‘‘Get out, just go!’ ‘. Still in his yet to be released biography, he talks of how Obasanjo demanded a sum of £ 1 million donation (N250 million) from him for his Presidential Library Project. Adenuga had no choice but to drop a quarter of a billion naira as the Chief Launcher. In the book, the scenario was described thus: “Adenuga had gone to Abeokuta with Dr. Yemi Ogunbuyi for the occasion and the duo had decided to go to greet Baba first. But they were intercepted by a man in a white Kaftan robe who turned out to be Obasanjo’s cousin. The cousin politely said Baba wanted to know how much Adenuga was going to donate. Incidentally, Adenuga had raised this question with Ogunbiyi on their way coming. ‘How much do you think I should donate to this thing?’
‘I don’t really know may be N100 million,’ Ogunbiyi suggested.
‘That’s exactly how much I have in mind,’ declared Adenuga.
“Now the question from Obasanjo’s emissary was curious and unusual, he thought, but nevertheless, he had no choice but to inform the man that he planned to donate N100 million, thinking the man would be very impressed. Wrong. Obasanjo’s cousin brought out a piece of paper and handed it to Adenuga. ‘Sorry sir, but Baba says you can’t donate less than that amount,’ the man had written.
“Inside the piece of paper was the sum of N250 million scribbled in Obasanjo’s handwriting with a red pen. ‘No problem,’ Adenuga told the emissary, wondering if others were subjected to the same experience, but also knowing he dared not ask anybody, lest he be betrayed. He later showed Ogunbiyi the piece of paper. ‘I’ll give anything he wants,’ he told Ogunbiyi. ‘I’m afraid of that man o. N250 million is about the price of an oil well,’ Adenuga added.”

-Never far from the corridors of power, he was arrested in July 2006 by operatives of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mobile policemen and security agents numbering about 70 were mobilized to arrest the titanic mogul. In a commando style reminiscent of the US Navy Seals, they stormed his Lagos residence, pulled down his gate with hammers, generators, welding equipment and other heavy machinery, and flew him to Abuja. He was questioned for some hours before he was released, then he visited the Aso Villa. What actually transpired that day, only Chineke knows but he was so traumatized and when reports were coming that he may be rearrested and prosecuted, he left for London and did not come back until a new government was in place. He has had his brushes with the law, and at a time, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) sealed up his oil companies for allegedly evading taxes of about N89 billion. Some believe he, alongside other tycoons are stifling Nigeria’s development while some people sharply disagree highlighting his contributions to the economy. What do you think?

-At this juncture, it is worthy of mention that Otunba Adenuga is one of the most heavily-guarded billionaires in Nigeria. Some reports indicate that he is actually the most heavily-guarded. You will never miss his retinue of fierce-looking bodyguards. He has been described as extremely paranoid about his personal security but you will know one reason for this later on. A man who guards his privacy jealously, his Victoria Island office is underground and he was very rarely seen in public until recently. His biographers say of him: “Yes, Mike Adenuga is more of a spirit. A spirit who is hardly seen in public, who hardly grants media interviews, who jealously and zealously guards his privacy, who shuns publicity of any type and who even in the past, paid PR and media consultants full-time to ensure that stories about him and his pictures didn’t appear in the media at all… For Mike Adenuga, elusiveness is the word. He is the “Invisible Man” of fiction turned real. A man who’s always playing hard to get. Now you see him, now you don’t. The fact is you don’t even see him at all…”

Still on his elusiveness, Soyinka narrates his experience, calling him a magician: “I can’t remember when last I saw him or spoke to him. Adenuga has a vanishing habit. He would just disappear.” At a time, there was supposed to be a meeting with the Bull in London but WS never saw him and he left in anger. Soyinka continues: “All I know is that I see Globacom advertisement everywhere. I also know that Adenuga supports sports, especially football. I wish he could do more for the arts. I have sat him down once. I told him: ‘Listen, you have the money and the enthusiasm, but we have the ideas. Let’s sit down and work together and let us do more for the arts. He would agree, but I said, he would then disappear. He has this vanishing habit. My wish for Globacom is that they would do more for the arts. I feel envious about the amount Globacom is committing to sports. I wish I could get his attention sufficiently to do even half for the arts. If Adenuga is reading this, he should stop running away. He should come and sit down with me so that we can do something for the arts.” Otunba later apologized (sweet-mouth..lol) and they made up.

-Stanley Ebochukwu, Editor-in-Chief of BusinessDay (I like that paper die! ) says: Adenuga is somebody one would call an enigma. You can’t see him, if you want to see him. If you call him, he can’t take your calls. But if he wants to see you, he would see you. And if he wants you to see him, you would see him. Most businessmen tend to behave that way, because of the fear of people.

-But if you think that is all about his disappearing acts, listen to what his fellow billionaire and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has to say about him: “I haven’t seen Mike for a very long time. I don’t have his number. I don’t know where to reach him. Even if you put a gun on my head and you ask me to lead you to Mike, I will never be able to. He is just nowhere to be found. Mike is a mystery to me.” The most surprising thing about this is that both of them have their residences on the same lane in Victoria Island. Amazing!

-The Evil Genius and Nigeria’s only military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida had this to say about the suave and debonair Ijebu billionaire: ‘One thing stands out uniquely about it (Globacom). It is the brain of a Nigerian. He is really trying to make it the leading telecommunication outfit, not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa. Adenuga is a very serious businessman. And he is not a flamboyant who goes to sleep, folds his arms, saying business is doing well. No, he works very hard. I think he is worthy of emulation.’ #Gbam! Una don hear am with your ears. Nobel Laureate and also fellow Ogunite (abi how I go call am na…lol!), Wole Akinwande Soyinka also gave his full support: ‘He is a young entrepreneur I have come to admire. I like his drive. He sought me out when he was to begin his Globacom business. I thereafter made enquiries about him. I was actually told by somebody whose judgment I respect that Mike Adenuga is somebody with enormous drive and ideas. And he said I should give him as much help as I could. I checked him out and I discovered that he likes challenges. He has the drive to deliver.’
His elder brother, Otunba Demola Adenuga says of him:
“Mike is the star of the family. Not just our family but the whole of Nigeria. I see him as my benefactor. I should not be ashamed to say that. He has helped me in all facets of life.”

-In another piece written by Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe (I say the finest authorities on him), they narrate the words of one of Adenuga’s closest associates, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo: “He takes risks and he is ready to stick it to the end. He never gives up. Is there anything he touches that doesn’t turn into gold? He is such a determined person. He is always charging like a bull. When he wakes up in the morning, he thinks about his business and nothing but his business. He is not a socialite. You can never catch him attending parties. He works Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday…He goes on and on like that facing his business.” Reminds me of another billionaire in Nigeria who works for 18 hours a day. Yes, you guessed right.

-Well, just like a raging bull after a doomed matador, he didn’t stop his entrepreneurial triumph in the oil industry. In February 1990, he made a bold entry into the banking industry. He floated Equatorial Trust Bank (ETB). And later on, he launched his biggest and most ambitious project ever, Globacom which drastically crashed the rates of phone calls (I still find it very hard to forgive MTN for calling at N60 per minute!).

-His calm mien belies an underlying aggressiveness and relentless determination of a tycoon. He can also be very ruthless with lazy and incompetent workers (if na you too nko?). According to Mohammed Jameel, Glo’s Chief Operating Officer (COO): ‘Two, three days after joining Globacom, he called me to his office. The first day I met him, he was very quiet. And I didn’t want to say anything. I just watched him. Of course, a lot of my colleagues were there. I was very impressed with him. He was planning to launch the brand Globacom. I saw in him a lot of passion. I saw in him a lot of commitment. I saw in him a lot of vision. He wanted the brand to succeed. And the kind of figures he was talking about in terms of subscribers and putting in infrastructure did really surprise me. Jameel continues: ‘He is a very successful entrepreneur who can turn any venture into good. He is a very, very aggressive manager. He is a very target-oriented manager. He is a manager who has a huge vision. He always thinks big. If you are hearing him for the first time, you would think this man is just joking. But he is not joking. Whatever he says, he is determined to achieve it. He is very passionate about whatever you do with the business you do for the brand. Even things like branding the street, he gets into the details to get things right. And he doesn’t take instant or spontaneous decisions. He has to think it across. He doesn’t take decisions on his own. He respects the views of others. (something a lot of people have to learn, especially those with coins and small small change who at the slightest opportunity, insult others who disagree with them. I added that ajasa myself!). He calls all of us and gives us the opportunity to air our own views, share our thoughts, share our ideas. He also makes his own input and we end up coming up with a collective decision. He lends his ears and mind to whatever is being talked about; irrespective of whether it is the COO or the person employed in the customer service.” #Gbam! Una don hear am again. Shey e ring abi make I redial am? #Lmao!

-He actually saved the National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company (NOLCHEM) from the jaws of death. He bought it and transformed it into what many of us now know as Conoil Nigeria place, one of the most profitable entities in Nigeria. NOLCHEM was the first indigenous petroleum products marketing company, and the current Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi was a Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, he joined in 1979.

-He is divorced from Fola, his first wife and the court awarded him the custody of the children and even the pregnancy Fola was carrying at that time. She was immensely pained by the court’s judgment. Today, he is married to the delectable Joyce Titilola Adenuga (nee Adewale) (see pictures on our website). Okay, there is an interesting story here. She had come for a job at Devcom Merchant Bank owned by Otunba when he was enchanted by her natural beauty and endowments. According to Adenuga’s early friend, associate and fellow IBB boy, Orji Uzor Kalu, he and Otunba had a slang for heavily-endowed women: ‘Burkina Faso’, with Burkina standing for the heavy ‘fronts’ and the ‘Faso’ for the superloaded ‘rears’. #StopRollingYaEyes,AreYouALearner? LOL! Adenuga did not prefer women with Burkina but remained ‘Fasoless’ (chai! Burkina Faso don suffer…lol! #AFCON). Baba prefers the complete package. Otunba was titillated by Miss Titi, and today, the rest is history.

-The Apesin (He Whom They Gather To Worship) of Ijebuland is father of eight children (see pictures on our website):

1. Ms. Adetutu Oyindamola Emilia (first child & daughter, sociology-graduate, Yoruba-movie addict, former executive board member (Conoil), concierge shopping expert, & Atlanta, Georgia-based fashion retailer. One of her most memorable days was when she met Christian Louboutin, the French luxury shoe and bag designer who autographed her emerald shoes in New York. She was so overjoyed she found it hard to wear them. She loves cooking and a quiet life). Her website http://www.imaginativeusa.com/home.html Her blog: http://imaginativeshopping.blogspot.com/

2. Prince Michael ‘Bobo ‘Babajide (his first son and executive director, Conoil). Hear him: “I have a lot of respect for my Dad, but I’ve always been very ambitious, I’ve always had my own dreams and aspirations in different ventures. For instance, when I was in the university, I took classes in Filmmaking because I have plans to go into film production in future. But for now, that is not in line with the family business. However, that’s something I want to do later in life as a person. So, in addition to what the old man has been able to put on ground, I also have these goals I want to achieve and I believe that one must give them a try.” On how he manages to combine his dad’s and his own private business, he says: “It’s very possible; it can be done. Don’t forget I’m still a director in Conoil; I just want to take some time out to launch the business. When you bring a business and people accept it, all you do is to create more awareness and ensure that it gets to the consumers through adverts and promotional campaigns. Once that is done, you have little work to do. Meanwhile, we can still tie everything into the family business, but this time around, I want to get the business running first.”

3. Tunde ‘Paddy’Abolade. A car freak, he is the Group Executive Director, Globacom. He sure cherishes the limelight. While cruising out of Awolowo Boat Club in his black Porsche Carrera, he once gave out a sum of N5,000 to a physically-challenged beggar.

4. Abimbola Beenu,

5. Belinda ‘Bella’ Olubunmi Ajoke (got married to Jameel Adetokunboh Disu in a fairytale wedding in April 2010. The first time they met, she introduced herself as ‘Bunmi Marquis’, and did not reveal her identity as Otunba’s gal), she is also the Group Executive Director, and one of his buildings, Bella Place on Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island Extension was named after her. He did name a lot of things after her. Once obese (runs in the family), she said she was able to shed the excess fat because of the tenacity she learnt from her dad who used to call her Benbe (chubby). She says he doesn’t joke with his exercises, and hits the gym by 1.am everyday, he used to play squash a lot but stopped after an accident. She entered university at the age of 14.

6. Eniola ‘EnnyBoy’,

7. Folashade ‘ShadyGirl’,

8. Adeniyi ‘NiyiBoy’.
But there is one thing he does not do to his children: over-indulge them. He taught them to be hardworking and trained them to use their brains and not rely on anyone. His daughter, Bella, very much attests to this. And with all his towering wealth, his friends describe him as a shy and humble personality, and would bow down to most people while greeting.

-With Orji Uzor Kalu, former Abia State Governor, they handled government contracts, did general merchandise and were into arms deals & oil trading. Now you understand Kalu’s outbursts against Obasanjo. Connect the dots.

-Adenuga abhors politics but he is willing to support any government of the day. He likes minding his business but over time, he has been hounded by some politicians who feel he could use his enormous wealth to their disadvantage. A classic example has been given above.

-Orji Uzor Kalu (also a Taurus) says of him: “We have been friends from a long time. I became Aliko’s friend right in the early ‘80s when I was a student at the University of Maiduguri. With Mike, our friendship started when he was living close to me on 6A Adeleke Adedoyin Street in Victoria Island, Lagos. This is where all of us came to become friends. Dangote and Mike were not close, but I was close to both of them. I was a kind of bridge between two of them.” Kalu was later rusticated from UNIMAID and had to sell palm oil on the streets of Maiduguri but that is another story for another day. For now, Iyaniwura is focusing on The Bull.

-In December 1982, armed robbers attacked him in his residence and he sustained some bullet wounds. In a confused and tense atmosphere, an argument broke out among the robbers, with Adenuga still groaning on the floor and moaning in the pool of his own blood. A defiant robber said: “Let’s finish the job. We have to finish this job. We must kill him. We must kill him.” Then he pulled the trigger. What happened after is divulged in his biography. That experience left a lasting impact on him.

-He has many nicknames and descriptions. He is called the Bull. The Guru. Another is ‘Agbowokariowona’ which roughly translates to mean ‘the one who piles up money only to distribute without any stress’. Erinfolawolu: The elephant which strides into the town with all majesty and candour. -Agbelesona bi Oyinbo: He who resides at home while spinning wonders like the whites. -Apesinola of Ijebuland. He is also known as Aneye Toto (Fine Boy), a nickname that was known only to his closes friends and relatives until KSA released the song in his honour. That reminds me, Foli Peperempe also waxed a nice one for him.
Source: http://www.iyaniwura.com
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