Category: Opinion

Mixed Metaphors: Destroy This Temple, By Sonala Olumhense

Posted on by The Elites

According to Oxfam International’s ‘Inequality In Nigeria, Exploring the Drivers,’ a report published last week, the combined wealth of Nigeria’s five richest citizens, nearly $30 billion, can end extreme poverty in the country.

Exploring the vast and deepening chasm between the country’s rich and her poor, the report said the benefits of the nation’s economic growth has been seized by a minors liver of the nation’s population, to the detriment of the ordinary Nigerians.

But in a country in which over 112 million (67% of the population, according to the latest poverty report of Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics) live in poverty, exactly how rich isthe richest?

According to Oxfam, Nigeria’s richest man earns 8,000 times more in one day than a poor Nigerian spends on basic needs in an entire year. And if he acquired not one penny more, he would need all of 42 years to exhaust his fortune if he spent as much as $1m per day.

Oxfam is right, and wrong.

It is not wrong in its analyses; it is conservative even in its numbers. For instance, Nigeria’s wealthiest five are worth closer to $40bn than to $30bn. Not only is our “wealth”structured differently than Forbes can understand, those numbers relate largely to Nigerians who have investments.

But the message is clear.

Among others, Oxfam attributes the instability in the Northeastern part of the country to this economic inequality. Public office holders, it said, stole an astonishing $20trillion from the public purse between 1960 and 2005.

That means the kleptocrats ripped the Nigerian people off by over $444bn per year during that period, just before the inauguration of the stealing-is-not-corruption era.

Oxfam is wrong because its argument does not go far enough. The ordinary Nigerian is not poor simply because of public officers who have looted the commonwealth for nearly two generations. There are other countries that have suffered corruption, but which still advanced economically.

The Nigeria case is different because the public officer believes the ordinary Nigerian is stupid and does not deserve the same life as he does. He thinks of governance as a favour to the public for which he should serve himself. Not ‘serve himself first,’ but serve himself, period. Nobody hates the Nigerian poor more than the Nigerian public officer.

A good example is the National Assembly, where legislators who do not even have constituency offices pay themselves the most infamous salaries and allowances on earth.

In the executive branch, including the civil service, public funds and property are routinely cornered by well-placed officers who wind up owning tomes of real estate, automobiles and businesses. Hundreds of government cars are cleverly converted into personal possessions.

Think about it: there are about five of Nigeria’s diplomatic community properties in dispute in the Washington, DC area alone: why? In New York, nobody lives in the United Nations ambassador’s residence as do other Permanent Representatives. Ours somehow buy new ones as they please; one of those, a $10m waterfront residence in Harrison, was quietly sold off for only $750,000 about 10 years ago.

Our public servant is a public master. He believes his office is to be used as he pleases, and is offended to hear such words and phrases as accountability, transparency, human rights, or social justice.

In the main, they are self-centred, grabby, grasping kleptocrats who have taken so much they do not know how much they own, and do not know how to stop. “Money-sharing”-of government funds not only by privileged officials but by private sector speculators as well – has become a national sport.

It is in this connection that the Oxfam report says that Nigeria’s poor have failed to benefit from Nigeria’s wealth, citing the excessive influence of big business and some wealthy elite in government and policy making.

In a related report published last week in Abuja, Transparency International Defence And Security underscored how Nigeria’s political elites have exploited the country’s military for many years to steal billions of dollars, taking advantage of the excessive secrecy of the country’s defence budget.

All of which explains why, as the “wealthy” buy private jets as well as mansions in a dozen cities around the world every year, we have no funds left to build infrastructure, to give the Nigerian mother safe delivery of her baby, or to guarantee potable water.

And, of course, such services as education and health are given pittance. We barely have classrooms, and nobody speaks of libraries. The police live in an unholy alliance with kidnappers and armed robbers, leaving unemployment and insecurity to roam our streets.

Speaking of private jets, the Oxfam report arrived in the same week that wealthy Nigerians stormed Minna for the wedding of a daughter of former Nigeria leader Ibrahim Babangida. Reporters said they arrived in about 30 jets, some others in police and Air Force equipment.

It is worth recalling that upon taking office, President Muhammadu Buhari repeatedly lambasted the preceding government, which he accused of spending billions in a widely-abused process. Speaking at the House of Representatives in December 2015, for instance, he pledged to re-organize, retrain and re-equip the military. Well, part of that glittering new equipment is apparently now being used to attend private weddings.

But in a country where the same people have ensured we have no roads, it is the only way the “wealthy,” most of whom produce nothing, can travel. The government maintains the airports for them.

But also last week, Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun took the microphone at a public event to speak about why Nigeria must borrow to fund the budget, and not rely on recovered loot.

“It takes a long time to recover this looted money,” she explained. “Take a look at the Abacha loot, it has been with the Swiss government for 20 years and yet we still don’t have it back.”

As I have documented several times, this is nonsense. While there is still a lot of money out there for which the government must fight, billions of dollars have been returned to us by some countries, especially Switzerland. The real question is: where is that money? A federal court has ordered Mrs. Adeosun’s government to publish a full record, an order it continues to ignore, thereby protecting the corrupt.

This tendency, to ignore the demand of transparency to which the Buhari government pledged itself, is far worse than the $20trn lost to corruption in those 45 years.

It is the ultimate betrayal of Nigeria’s poor, and evidence that the cure has become worse than the disease. People who should be in jail are making the law. The patients are running the pharmacy.

It is interesting that the $30b argument Oxfam makes parallels the $30b over three years that the Buhari government wants to borrow. The difference is that there is no evidence the current government is different from the one it replaced, and that it will not simply multiply the volume of uncompleted projects that litter the Nigeria landscape.

In other words, what we need is not the wealth of the five richest, but the heart of a true patriot and leader. If Nigeria had the true commitment of her leadership, she will be one of the world’s top five economies in five years.

·sonala.olumhense@gmail.com <mailto:sonala.olumhense@gmail.com>

· Twitter: @SonalaOlumhense <https://twitter.com/SonalaOlumhense>

Nollywood: Pathway To Deathwood, By Azuka Jebose

Posted on by The Elites

The New York Times rated Nigeria’s movies industry, for unexplained reasons, named NOLLYWOOD, as the third largest movies industry in the world. It listed India’s Bollywood as first and America’s organized “movietainment”, Hollywood, as the second largest. Nollywood netted $15Billion, in 2015. That was few years ago. And known actors, those that made Nollywood profitable had died and would continue to die from preventable diseases and sadly, wretchedly.

Watch Nigeria’s major actors and actresses with their scenes and characters: These scenes are mostly affluent, with exotic vehicles and homes, luxury lifestyles and sexy images as characters. The acts and scenes are enticing to see. American babes that love Naija movies are awed by the homes and affluence they see in our movies. They don’t realize that the actors and actresses are in “location fabus”…But as soon as these deceitful scenes, character portrayals start playing in our VCDs, iroko teevee, Netflix, the real life actors return to hard life and hardest living. Most of these actors and actresses that play affluent charming characters can’t hail Okada or maruwa. And when they are faced with health challenges, are unable to care for themselves: Why?; the Nigerian movies industry, just like its music industry is disruptive and careless. There is no structure to protect the actor and his/her intellectual property. No talents and professionals to manage the actors/actresses creative investment that wld secure a lifetime remuneration. Actors and actresses are their own talent agent/manager and most times they accept pittance just to be in a mega movie. And most have this mindset of just being famous, recognized and idolized by their people. Fame, to them, is gate pass to popularity. Ignorance buruku.They get paid nonsense with no residuals or royalties. Its only in Nigeria’s movies business that you would find a movie being sold to an Alaba Market pirate for peanuts: License to use and abuse an actor or actress’s intellectual property. One time pay off (buy off) fee. In Nigeria, actors hustle and pay for their pictures to be the CD cover jackets of their movies and other promotional materials. And you have the Nigerian Movie Guild of craps. Actors and actresses live large on screens but are near destitute in real life: when una go stop?. Existing Associations to front the welfare of Nollywood practitioners are factionalized; burdened with unnecessary internal fights and squabbles while they continue to lose great talents because those with pathetic health challenges are not able to afford treatment. By the time crowd funding is activated, they are eternally expired. Na wa for my Kontiri’s movies industry o.

Like Oluigbo, Like Trump!, By Odolaye Aremu

Posted on by The Elites

…in your lifetime, just as I’ve richly experienced it Wakilu! You shall run headlong into one, or few of those ‘wonderful’ humans the Lord made on one of those tiring days! He never could complete work on them in just a day, so he had to comeback the day after, to sign off on them.
He seems to have made them purposely to either challenge our collective patience; or to disturb our sense of sanity and that of common sense; and perhaps He thought it wouldn’t be too bad for us to come face to face with some of our worst agent provocatuers as they act out their destinies in their prevailing, individual communities!
They are so easy to masterfully read though; as they have the tenacity to descend low from the most enviable heights, to compete for space with those 5yr-olds over there manning hard that rusty Jangirofa equipment if that weird gesture would impress anyone, or if it’ll help them prove the most idiotic point!
Petulant still if you look beyond that kitschy throne, and of course far from the prestige of that tempestous Presidency! A bunch of men-child still they are, if you know just the right nursery rhymes to sing to wind them up, or the perfect sleep-inducing lullabies to sing them into stuporous slumber! Wealthy as they, still sad to declare their moral impoverishment!
The overdecorated King has started his usual self-commissioned ‘Tales By Moonlight’ yet again! His primordial craving for public attention seems like a chronic affliction, as his sick werewolf is back howling crazily at the full moon! And the undeserving President has rubbished his fake mandate. He has rented to unrecoverable pieces, the colorfully-designed, the rich, the beautifully vast tapestry; symbolizing the unquantifiable prestige of his office. He brainlessly jerked off hard in the Oval Office, he ejaculated equally hard and spray that space with tiny sprinkles of his odious semen. He’s now left a nasty trail of horrible DNA in the damn place! It is the short tale of two men-child: like Oluigbo, like Donald Trump!
*A Note To Waki*

Scarcity! Ooni Ogunwusi, Scarcity, By Ganzallo BraGerian Victor

Posted on by The Elites

IMG_6869I am certain the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ojaja II must have heard of the book, 48 Laws of Power, if he doesn’t already own one. Kabiyesi needs to read or listen to the audio version of that very deep book and take a few lesson from it, the one I will recommend to the Oonirisa is the act of scarcity.

According to Robert Greene, the author of the book, Law 16 states ‘USE ABSENCE TO INCREASE RESPECT AND HONOR’… It further says ‘too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear’. Kabiyesi really needn’t be at all those parties, events and visiting celebrities, the stool of the Ooni is one of the most revered in Africa, you are neither a musician, politician or socialite sir, you are the Ooni sir, please be a little scarce.

Condemning Yari from OBJ’s Glass House. By Pius Adesanmi.

Posted on by The Elites

If you are a Nigerian and you can be on social media, you have two immediate attributes:
1) You own at least one device
2) You are literate (at least to some extent)
This means that you are not exactly hoi polloi. Recession permitting, you belong in a critical mass that can afford leisure and pleasure. Going to the beach or to a beer parlour to unwind and watch Arsenal struggle for their annual high achievement of number 4 is not beyond you. You can afford at least one nkwobi and one Gulder. You belong in the demographic which sustains the hospitality industry in Nigeria.
If you are in Abeokuta and you belong in this demographic, chances are you have been by the poolside drinking arena at the Green Legacy Resort, drinking pepper soup and Gulder, monitoring social media, and lobbing missiles in the direction of Abdulaziz Yari, the illiterate criminal Governor of Zamfara state who, it has been revealed, stole $3 million for an ongoing hotel project in Lagos.
Perhaps you are not in Abeokuta. You are chilling in one of the bars at Oriental Hotel in Lekki. And you are lobbing missiles at Yari.
Your umbrage is in order. But you would be doing it without realizing the tragic irony of your situation. And you would, once again, be underestimating the awesome power you have as a demographic.
Green Legacy Resort is a fantastic hotel in Abeokuta. It is owned by His Excellency General Chief Olusegun Aremu Okikiolakan Obasanjo. I am sure you know what happened to your electricty funds on his watch and supervision. And that is just a tip of the iceberg. So you understand that Green Legacy Resort is the proceed of crime and corruption.
And the rotten source of the hotels of Smart Adeyemi in Ilorin.
And the rotten source of the hotels of former and serving state governors scattered all over Lagos, Abuja, and the state capitals.
It is said that Oriental Hotel in Lagos is owned by His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Quatermaster-General of the combined treasuries of the southwest states before Fayose took control of his own treasury for ponmo and sundry stomach infrastructure usage.
Abdulaziz Yari is joining a very long list of current and former office holders investing in posh hotels.
These people can no longer take their stolen funds abroad easily. Things are getting tighter so they invest domestically in hotels and “international” schools.
These businesses are sustained to a great extent by the demographic I am writing about here because they underestimate their own power.
There is nothing you can do realistically about Yari. He has immunity. And you understand that NASS is not about to revisit the immunity clause. So, the only thing you can really do about Yari, for now, is to wield your awesome power as a demographic to ensure the failure of his business.
Mass boycott of a business, of a product, is one of the most effective weapons used by the masses in civilized climes. Businesses have collapsed or come to ruins. Voting with your pocket against your oppressor is the greatest thing democracy invented.
Your demographic is huge enough in Nigeria to make the owners of Green Lagacy Resort and Oriental Hotel understand that stealing does not pay; that if Nigeria rewards their impunity by doing nothing about stealing, you, the people, have other ways of punishing them.
Yari is building a hotel in Lagos because he is banking on the generous fornication output in the city and he is also hoping that the Sharia-compliant alcohol he will sell there will push your demographic to more and more fornication that will make him smile to the bank.
Unless you are ready to punish him with your pocket, he will not get the message. To punish people stealing from you to build hotels, you will first have to change your mentality. Green Legacy Resort, Oriental Hotel, etc: this is where you go to take selfies you wish to post on social media as evidence that you frequent “nice and posh places”.
If you want to impress, don’t worry. Take BRT from Oshodi or Agege and go and pose in the mall in Ikeja. Do not go and pose in the lobby of Oriental. If you do, after posing, you may have enough change to buy one Gulder and one nkwobi. That way, you would have supported a business built on your back before taking the bus back to Oshodi.
You have to start boycotting these businesses. Make Yari’s hotel dead on arrival. Vote against Yari with your wallet.
Ever since I wrote some articles about Senator Smart Adeyemi and his own hotels, he has been reporting me to people in Okun. I wager he will pee in his pants and start reporting me again once this essay goes around. If articles can make this powerful owner of hotels built with looted funds so jittery because he understands the danger they pose to his business and brand, how much more the power of your wallet?
There is power in your wallet as a mass demographic. Use it against Yari and people like him.

I Stand With Muhammad Sanusi II, By Bala Mohammed

Posted on by The Elites

STORM IN TINY TEACUP: As is usual with him, our Amir, Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II, is in the eye of another storm; in fact, it seems as if it is the storm that is in his eye. But it is a storm in a teacup, and the teacup is a ‘finjali’ – that tiny little miniscule cup the content of which one can swallow in one gulp, or gulp in one swallow. So calm down Storm. Or else know that this Amir, this Emir, has friends in high and low and middle places. And friends stand by their friends and pray for them. We stand by and pray for Muhammad Sanusi II, our Amir, our King. He may have his shortcomings, he may have his weaknesses, but so do all of us. And in fact Storm may have more follies and foibles than its intended target. As for me, in sha Allah, through this and other storms, #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

FRIEND BROTHER AND COLLEAGUE: Sarki Sanusi and I come a long way. Way back perhaps forty years. It used to be as recruits of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN). Then we were brothers, brazas, as in ‘Yan Braza’. And at that time we would wonder what’s wrong with this Sanusi who wants to join us and overthrow the “system” like every radical! We then ‘graduated’ into (and still belong to, I suppose) the Jamaátu Tajdidil Islam (JTI), the Sunni Faction of the Islamic Movement (the smaller rump of which turned a corner and went left to become the Shiá of today). So we are still brothers, brazas, and friends. And he was, and still is, a colleague writer, commentator and analyst. And his writing has gotten him into many troubles. As his speech. But did he write or speak a lie? No. He was speaking and writing futuristically. Ahead of his time. Which is not understood. Or appreciated. Despite that, #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

QADIRI TIJJANI AND IZALI: Our Amir fits every cap. And cup. Including teacup. Big and small. He has been linked to the weirdest of beliefs. Our great-great parents, from the time of the Jihad, were known to be Qadiris, followers of the Sufi Tariqa of Shaikh AbdulQadir Jilani, whose second ‘home’ should be Kano. Had Sanusi’s great-grandfather not taken to Tijjaniyya, Qadiriyya would have been the Royal Sect. All the same, town-criers have always reminded us what Kano is: “Yekuwa Jamaár Qadirawa! Sarki ya gaishe ku!” Qadiriyya House, which stands prominently by the Palace, still offers the Royal Tafsir, but he is a BaTijjane seen to be closer to Izala than Sufism. In fact, he has even been accused of Shiá tendencies – as many of us have been. Reason? Understanding and analysing global politics without prejudice. So we all are all, like him, SalaSufis! Therefore #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

LAGOS BOY KANO KING: He went to King’s College. Yes, he did. So when he says “I’m a Lagos Boy”, we laugh. For indeed he is a Kano Boy. Molded as it were by Kaduna, Lagos, Zaria and lately Abuja. Yes, he speaks like a Lagos Boy, but he is not such as “Loud in Lagos.” A sage once said “The fish has to jump into the air to know the water.” So he jumped, as a fish, up into St. Anne’s and down into King’s College. To know the water. And made friends from all sides. Which we all need. And now he knows the water. And lo and behold! The water is Kano. And Kano will continue to claim him, warts and all, controversial or not. So, all, allow us to ‘correct’ our boy, Kano boy, Lagos boy. And to think he went to jail for being a ‘fundamentalist!’ Kai! #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

A LITTLE TOO MUCH: Some of our colleagues and friends tell us, “That your Emir is a little too much!” Of course he is! And so is Kano! As if it needs repeating – Kano is a little too much! Imagine – a little too many adaidaitasahu tricycles clogging our roads; a little many pure water bags clogging our drainages; a little too many drugs addicts; a little too many rapes of minors; a little too many almajiris; a little too much and a little too many. Hey! We had an Aminu Kano, a Rimi, a Sabo Bakinzuwo, a Kwankwaso, a Shekarau, even a Kalarawi – each one a little too much in his own way. Yes, Kano can accommodate a little too much, it is in our nature. We love our ‘A Little Too Much’ King! And so #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

THE TRADITIONAL VERSUS POLITICAL: Any day, any time, any moment I would rather this outspoken ‘little too much’ Traditional Ruler than the hypocritical, thieving and good-for-nothing so-called leaders who rigged themselves into office and who don’t understand what I need, and don’t care, and don’t ask me about it, and don’t know what to do about nothing. A little too much? I would rather my whole year’s national budget is with this Tradition rather than with those Moderns. Yes, he will Roll a Royce, but that’s OK, some have already got private jets. After all, aren’t those moderns rolling all over us, pompously. Leaving poverty in their wake! If they will roll anything good, let them roll a rice, some bags of it. Towards us. Ramadan is nigh! No matter! #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

SOKOTO KANO TO BORNO: Not for nothing did the Good Lord situate Kano almost exactly between Sokoto and Borno, about 600 kilometres each way. You say my Amir is flamboyant? Of course! Don’t we look East to Borno for our wardrobe – towards “Na Shehu Larabawan…”? Be reminded many centuries ago we, Kano, were under Borno Colonial Rule and the Gidan Shettima (the Colonial Resident’s Residence) is still here to remind us. As well as our Fulata-Borno heritage, the King and I and many others. And then we look West to Sokoto for spirituality. Simplicity. Piety. And we have all. In sha Allah. Or do you want to tell me my Amir is not also simple? And humble? Then you don’t know him. Wallahi. Simplicity and humility do not necessarily approximate tattered-ness. Someone must look the part of the Centre of Commerce. Meanwhile, #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

WE AGREE SOMETIMES DISAGREE: I have had cause to disagree with this Amir of mine – as Braza to Braza, and as Writer to Writer. It is in his nature to be what is natural of him to be. Let me tell you what Zik once said about Mallam Aminu Kano so long ago: “Aminu, you are so protestant that were you to be elected president you would one day come out in protest against your own government until we tell you that you are the president!” Such is the nature of some people – to agitate and protest and wail and lament even against their own selves. If you have not read psychoanalysis to understand these people, now is the time to do so. They rave and rant and rattle – but they will come back to reality. Yes, they are a little too much, yet #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII.

YES, ENOUGH SAID SIRE: All said and done and written, Sire, do as you have done with opinion writing when you lifted your pen off from those controversial articles which pitted you against many (and robbed some banks of massive deposits). Now is the time to lift up further that Amawali. You are not understood, and you will not be in the near and middle future. Tarry a while while they catch up. Do your Black Rhino and bring all those juicy developments to Kano and Nigeria. Silently. We need them. We need you. With your Amawali pim! So, ‘MATA KU DAU TURAME’ for another purpose! As for me, #IStandWithMuhammadSanusiII!

Dear Governor Fayose: Please Shut Up!, By Azuka Jebose

Posted on by The Elites

Your Excellency: I greet you. First, this disclosure: I am neither a PDP nor APC member. I do not belong to any political party in Nigeria. I am a passionate patriot of our great nation. However, I am also an unapologetic supporter of our President, Muhammad Buhari. I admire his blunt, bold simplicity, sincerity, sense of purpose, commitment, unconditional care for Nigeria’s everyday people and patriotism, especially since he transitioned from a brutal Military dictator to a born-again democrat. I believed almost 20Million Nigerians that voted for him in the last election saw the same qualities as I did.

Sir, I write in response to some of your vicious attacks on our President. I cannot go back to years of continued hostility from you, to our President. It seemed you continue with this exercise because no one within his media relations has responded aggressively to some of your juvenile comments with regards to the President’s health, policies, wife, and his family. Your Excellency, when is enough, enough?.

You smack the president with a silly smirk on your face: you have reduced the office of the Presidency to a playhouse program. Where is your dignity and respect for your elders? Yoruba culture is rich and endowed with profound respect for our elders. You are Yoruba. Sir, respect that sacred and unique culture of your tribe. One of the fundamental elements of democracy is right to free speech. It’s within your rights to criticize the President, but with respect, maturity and dignity your office beholds.

Few days ago, 82 Chibok girls were released by the terror group Boko Haram, the deal was still fresh when you accused the President of manipulating information. Sir, you alleged that the release of these girl captives was diverting attention from the sick President’s true state of health; you further, carelessly stated that the Chibok girls were not missing. ”What is not missing cannot be found”… But sir, where were you when Goodluck Jonathan made a surprise three-hour visit to Nigerian soldiers stationed in Sambisa Forest on January 14th, 2015? Are you so stressed thinking about your next media frenzy showmanship, to forget, so soon, that your political party, PDP, was in power when the Chibok girls were kidnapped?

I am really concerned with your state of mind, your mental health, because of your careless statements. You are the Chief Executive of one of Nigeria’s young states. Ekiti State is just 21 years old. You are not an outlaw or the leader of an unorganized turbulent brood of intimidators or mob boss. You are a Governor. Chief Executive! Respect that institution by behaving decently. Stop embarrassing the good citizens of Ekiti State.

Early March, you challenged the President to speak to you from his London sick bed, as proof to Nigerians that he was not dead. Who the hell are you?… Who made you a spokesperson for the Nigerian people? You are a State Governor, not an arrogant Federal employee. So, why did you think that Nigerians trusted or considered you credible source of information with regards to their President? Sir, with the greatest respect, are you hallucinating? You are not the Voice of Nigeria….

Your Excellency, you charged our President’s wife, Alhaja Aishat, of playing games with the release of the Chibok girls. Last year, you accused her of being wanted in the United States for Halliburton alleged corruption. These were your musings during her publicized visit, as First Lady, to the United States. Do you really reason about the consequences of your statements before you open your mouth? During our severe recession in December, you indicted President Buhari for using the recession to punish Nigerians. You denied that the country was in a recession. Why would an elected head of his people punish his nation with a recession? What is the purpose or desired goals of punishing Nigerians with the recession?

You are an elected leader. In life, time is the judge and history, the jury. You are 57 years old, these times. You are 21 years apart from 78, perhaps one day; you would attempt political office at past prime of your life. How would you feel, if, at 78, a 48 yr old lavishes insults at your office and person, mischaracterizes your aspirations for our country and declared you dead while you are recuperating from illness? We are not omnipotent; no one is immune from health challenges… Health conditions come at any time of our lives. A man who disrespects an old man with lies and callously wishes him death, his father’s age mate, is indirectly expressing his years of built up emotions, rage, and anger toward his father.

Your Excellency, personal attacks on a sick honest old man will not give you closure to past relationships with your father. Only therapy would reconcile you and your dad. You seemed an emotionally troubled Governor. You are erratic, hysterical, bullish, and insecure, an embarrassment to the office you occupy.

Sir, I remind you that Buhari’s administration is yours too. Historians would remember you as the Governor of Ekiti State, during President Muhammad Buhari’s administration, as a democratically elected President. Buhari’s successes and failures are part of your governorship history. You may think your freestyle outbursts against President Buhari identify you as a “straight shooter” or unafraid anti-establishment. No sir. Your antics show a disconnection between your present and your past: your tirades, frequently directed at a disciplined servant of the people, suggests you are struggling with your low self-esteem, past emotional trauma, always wishing to be the attention of the moment. My dear Governor, something is wrong with you. You are neither the law nor above it as Chief Executive of Ekiti State. “Ekitians” shall remember you as a lawless loudmouthed attention seeker willing and able to say stupid things. A man that reacts on impulse. You make headline news as a clown, as President Buhari’s attack machine, than actually addressing the economic and social challenges of the great Ekiti people: healthcare, jobs, crime, education, security, good road, and infrastructure. Pay civil workers their past salaries and find creative ways to make their salaries regular, focus on programs to help millions of unemployed youths and graduates with no jobs. Give every child the opportunity to better healthcare and education. Reduce crime by encouraging local law enforcements with regular salaries and for teachers, too. Build affordable hospitals, clinics to help ageing Ekiti population, not run to the local markets to price “ponmo” or walk into a popular “Buka” and eat just to show you are a regular “homeboy” Governor connected with everyday Ekitians. Sir, how would Ekiti people remember your administration, twenty years from now? Under your three year administration, what programs have impacted the ordinary person in Ekiti. You were elected as Governor in 2014. You perfectly used Buhari’s illness to distract citizens from auditing your lame duck administration. Your Excellency, it is absolutely possible to fool few people, sometimes, but it is impossible to fool all the people, all the time.

Thank you for the privilege to write you.

Sincerely,

Azuka Jebose

Pendulum: Do Our Youths Really know What They Want?, By Dele Momodu

Posted on by The Elites

IMG_6424Fellow Nigerians, I’m very sorry if I’m starting my weekly epistle with what may seem a rhetorical question today. Columnists are ordinarily expected to throw up certain questions from time to time and proffer answers. Let me confess right away that I may not be able to do so in this piece. My pessimism comes from the fact that my generation of youths complained against these same leaders and although some of us have managed to gain some ascendancy the truth is the older generation I am talking about still seem to call the shots!

A sobering and telling indication of this is the recent picture of three of our previous leaders, Generals Abdulsalam Abubakar, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo, along with Otunba Fasawe, meeting in Minna to decide on the fate of the present leadership of our dear country.

One would wonder why these geriatrics, the last of whom was in power 10 years ago should think that they have any role to play in determining the future course of the country and its restive youths when they are collectively mainly responsible for the dire situation that we find ourselves today.

The challenges of the 20th century are so diverse and distinct from those of the 21st century and these leaders are simply relics to be placed firmly in the realms of history and not that they should be part of our future. That they deign to have any semblance of influence to determine that future demonstrates the depths we have plumbed as a nation. Given this sorry state of affairs, my mission is only to establish a dialogue or start a debate on what our youths really want and hope that this would help us find a workable solution to the many challenges confronting our youths today.

It is not uncommon to see, hear or feel our youths grumbling and lamenting and groaning about how they have been short-changed by the older generation. I recently wrote about how most of those controlling Nigeria today started holding leadership positions in their twenties and thirties. That is no longer news. Some have been in, out and around power for the past 50 years or more. And they are not about to quit no matter the loudness of moans and grunts coming from our desperate or disillusioned young ones.

I truly wish I could understand the problem and its solution but it is so tough and confusing that I sincerely doubt if there is any clear-cut answer. The inspiration for this piece came all the way from Durban, South Africa, at the World Economic Forum, where the former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, received thunderous and resounding ovation for his contributions during several of the sessions he participated in.

One of the most important sessions he attended and addressed was the one on youth inclusion in power and politics. The conclusion is that there are too many things our youths want and it is practically impossible to have them all. The one they complain the most about is the most difficult to achieve. It is how to seize or wrest power from a generation they believe has become overbearing, overpowering and ancient. This is the crux of the mattre is no doubt that the youths want political power by all means but it is not so simple to attain. They must participate as contestants and as voters and remain focused and passionate all the way. If you don’t join a political movement you may never appreciate the process and procedure of becoming a leader.

Our youths cannot sit down at home arms, akimbo and expect power to drop on their laps, just like that. It takes time to build one’s profile and brand. It takes loads of money to fund campaigns. There is no short-cut to power. How many of our youths are willing to contribute or commit the little they have or can afford the harsh realities of political life and the drudgery and scrounging that goes with it. The youths in other countries make donations to political parties and the political process and become stakeholders in the political milieu. As veritable investors, they would always have a say in how they are governed.

When potentially good leaders stand up as candidates, the young ones are the first to shoot him down. I can confidently use myself as an example. Not many youths believed I was serious and determined to win the Presidential election in 2011. Everyone was qualified except an experienced and versatile journalist who was also a publisher. My roadmap was simple. I believed that on my own accord, and with God’s guidance and help, I had built a successful brand. I was not tainted or tarnished by being part of the failed political class like most of my opponents who had achieved nothing but failure from the governmental experience that they trumpeted.

My view was that since we perennially complained about the abysmal failures and corruption in our body polity, let us jettison our major political parties and start or develop new ones. I strongly believed our salvation belonged in forming new parties or rebuilding a few reasonable ones. I made substantial contributions to Labour Party, National Conscience Party and even KOWA. Till today, I have never been a member of KOWA Party. The reason I supported KOWA was because I saw people of like minds I genuinely admire in it, especially my big brother, Alhaji Fola Adeola. This is how it should be. How I had wished we had many young ones willing and ready to make similar sacrifice for the sake of our country.

In 2011, I was greatly inspired by the emergence of Barack Obama in America, as the first black President. It was a miracle that I thought could be replicated in Africa. But I was told by my peers that I was a day dreamer. The same people who clamoured for youth participation in politics were the ones who treated us with disdain. I chose a 26 year old man, Ohimai Godwin Amaize, as my National Campaign Coordinator but many could still not see the statement I was trying to make. We had a parade of some accomplished Nigerians at the time but many preferred to maintain the status quo. I was almost certain that one of us, or a combination of us, Nasir El-Rufai, Donald Duke, Nuhu Ribadu, Usman Malami, Yunusa Tanko, Fola Adeola, Awwal Tukur, Oby Ezekwesili, Pat Utomi, or Dele Momodu would be massively supported in order to correct the faulty Nigerian trajectory but I was very wrong. I interacted with all but we were not able to make appreciable progress.

I went all the way, even if only as a symbolic gesture. Those who should applaud my guts for trying at all were more interested in dissing me and my family. One reporter wrote nonsense about my wife not voting for me despite the fact that it was in broad day light that we voted in different polling booths. But that is the tragedy of our generation. We prefer to trivialise serious issues and amplify mundane topics. Just imagine where Nigeria would have been if we had assembled some of our best eleven in 2011.

What Nigeria needs is a sort of bloodless ethical revolution. The youths would have to do it now or we will all remain in this terrible quagmire. We talk and sermonise about almost anything and everything but do nothing about the terrible conditions we face. Those who are serious about doing something are often told to get lost. We prefer our oppressors to our liberators. It pains me to the marrow that at a time the world was savouring the euphoria of an Obama, we did not seize the initiative.

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Anyone who tried to replicate the same Obama magic at home was rebuffed and treated with disdain. They would tell him he can’t do it. They would discourage and disparage him. Some would prefer to queue behind the same people they alleged stole their money. They would do this for money that would barely buy them a meal handed over from the filthy lucre that they incessantly complain about. They would defend the old as experienced people who can be trusted and entrusted with power. But if their experience was that good and useful, how come we have found ourselves in this “peculiar mess” in Nigeria with no solution in sight? We have continued to move from frying pan to fire.

Let’s examine what else the youths want so desperately apart from power. The youths want good jobs but these jobs are not readily available. And where and when available many of the applicants are not employable. What President Mahama did in Ghana was to tilt Ghanaian education in the direction of vocational studies. The reason was simple. Why do we keep mass-producing graduates like popcorns when the ones before them and the generation beyond would never be able to get the jobs of their dream? Many go to school to read courses that may not bear fruits.

The jobs that are readily available hardly find enough hands on ground. More often than not, nations are in dire need of capable artisans and innovators. Every country, whether developed or developing requires its youths to be a mix of artisans, technicians, scientists and IT personnel and computer whiz kids. A good example of the youth employment conundrum in Nigeria is the case of students that are rushing to read irrelevant courses and yet expect to find jobs in other disciplines pronto.

There are no easy roads to getting jobs whether good or bad. It is only a man who has one job in hand who can complain and then proceed to seek another. A man who has none would have to manage the one that he can land in hand, especially if he or she is from my kind of background, the proletariat. It takes time to create jobs and spread opportunities. But the youths need the jobs like yesterday.

Mahama thought he had a perfect solution by investing heavily in infrastructure development but this would become his albatross. The youths said they were hungry and needed food before anything else. The same seems to be the case of the youths in Nigeria who would seem to prefer to be fed rather that acquire the skills of how to feed people.

Any continent with the type of infrastructure deficit that we suffer in Africa is already in big trouble. It is always a Catch-22 situation. There can be no jobs without adequate preparation for facilities. The facilities cost an arm and a leg. Mahama built or revamped many hospitals, schools, new roads, airports, and so on hoping to secure the future of the youths but he ended up eating his pounded yam as boiled yam. The youths kicked vehemently and got him out of power. It is one of the ironies of life that doing great work is no longer enough.

You have to balance it with stomach infrastructure. It is a major lesson for leaders out there that the youths are not interested in long tales, all they want is instant results with talismanic effects. Unfortunately, if they are to better their lot the youths must first learn patience and understanding. They must appreciate that ‘panda’ can never be gold no matter how much it is burnished

It is obvious that the problems we confront in the world today are grave. As 2019 approaches in Nigeria, this question would have to be asked and adequately addressed by our youths. What do they want for themselves? Self-governance or handouts and hand-me-downs? May God make our youths see clearly on how to set themselves free from the bondage of the aged and the past. No one can do it better and faster than our younger generation. The time for them to act and claim what is their right is now!

UBA Revolutionises Mobile Payments with *919# Magic Banking

Posted on by The Elites

IMG_6392In line with its determination to dominate Africa’s mobile banking space with the introduction of cutting edge technology-driven products and services, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group, leading African financial institution, has introduced a full-fledged banking platform, tagged UBA Magic Banking and enabled by dialling *919# within Nigeria.

The USSD code *919# enables customers to do a multitude of tasks such as: open UBA accounts, transfer funds to UBA and other banks, buy airtime, pay bills and access a mini statement.

Speaking about the product, the Bank’s Group Head, Consumer and Digital Banking, Dr. Adeyinka Adedeji stated: “Not only does this code work on all phone types, it is fast and convenient and does not require data on the phone to send money. It also allows a higher transaction limit of up to N1m per day with the UBA Secure Pass (formerly token)”

Dwelling on the specifics, Adedeji noted that to send money to a UBA account for example, the user should dial *919*3# from their phone number registered with UBA and follow the simple steps prompted by the phone. Also, by dialing *919*32#, the customer can send money to a UBA Prepaid Card and to other banks by dialing *919*4#. You can top up your airtime by dialing *919*Amount# and third party top-up can be done with *919*Phone number*Amount#. For a full range of services, a customer will dial *919#

The Group Managing Director, UBA Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka also noted that the introduction of the new products is in line with the Bank’s policy of democratising banking on the continent by reaching out to the unbanked through technology driven platforms that are simple, efficient and user friendly. “We are committed to innovating through products and services in the financial technology space that will ensure our customers have the best banking experience with all our service channels, and we have committed huge financial investments towards achieving this”

Off-side! The Theft of Adeniyi’s Intellectual Property, By Muhammad Al-Ghazali

Posted on by The Elites

Like most Nigerians, I was excited in the days leading to the formal launch of the book “Against the run of play: How an incumbent President was defeated in Nigeria” last Friday. The mouthwatering previews published on most media platforms guaranteed that. I was excited that on the eve of the launch I called the author, Olusegun Adeniyi, to book 20 autographed copies of the book for selected members of my Wattapps forum of technocrats, intellectuals and captains of industry. You can therefore imagine my shock and consternation when, within three days of its launch in Lagos, I received several PDF copies of the same book from numerous contacts through the same Wattapps platform!

I was instantly saddened and horrified that someone could spend years to produce a masterpiece of a book from which our society could draw useful lessons, only for some lazy crooks crouched over laptops in dinghy rooms to steal his intellectual property for undeserved profit with such effortless ease. It was yet another portent reminder that technology, like law, has also become an ass in our information age. It does the biddings of decent members of societies and criminals in equal measure. That cannot be right. Like the goal scored from an illegal position in a contentious soccer match, it was offside!

It was a serious crime. And like I noted at the time, from the illicit funds recovered at Sabon Tasha, Osborne Towers, and remote septic tanks and graveyards, to the relentless theft of intellectual property of which Adeniyi is only the latest victim and certainly not the last, Nigeria is now effectively a massive crime scene, in case we did not know it already.

The development is certainly a massive blow to wannabe authors and those involved in the creative arts. For as long as I can remember, the nation’s film and music industry have been serial victims of the brazen piracy of their products by local crooks and others linked to south-Asian decades. For as long as I can also remember, our local laws have failed woefully to deal with the problem. What happened to Adeniyi is therefore certain to reoccur again with all its devastating consequences.

In his online reaction to the development the author believed as much. “Though sad, it is a familiar story for me. In the case of my earlier book, ‘Power, Politics and Death’, it actually went viral on the day of presentation. So, that I enjoyed three days of grace this time is a bonus.” He added: “While I feel pained losing the revenue that could have accrued to me from online sales, I wrote the book because I believe it is an important story that should be documented and widely read. I have a feeling this book will be widely read, though at my expense and that of my publishers. But I am comforted by the fact that we are succeeding in dispelling the myth that Nigerians do not read. Nigerians do read. It is our task to write on what will interest them and present and package such in ways they will find appealing.”

The bigger challenge, of course, remains how to solve the problem altogether. Like a member of my forum pointed out, the law enforcement agencies have got their work cut out for them. While NASS have a duty to make laws, it is theirs to enforce the laws. Hence, it is imperative for them to wake up to their responsibilities. I agreed that while the case involving Adeniyi may attract all the media attention, the issue must be dealt with holistically. Numerous other uncelebrated victims abound. The poor artists who labour in vain to produce music and drama, only to suffer the ignominy of watching their works being sold in open markets across the streets of Nigeria equally deserve our sympathy.

My brother told me that about a decade ago, the famous American artist DMX visited Abuja and proceeded to the Wuse Market where he proceeded to destroy hundreds of pirated CDs being sold in the open. He succeeded because he was accompanied by armed Nigerian policemen. He succeeded because he enjoyed VIP treatment at the time. If we could do that for a foreign artist, why not out own?