Category: Opinion

For Rasheed Gbadamosi, Bouquet of Arts For The Lagos Dream, By Steve Ayorinde

Posted on by The Elites
Steve Ayorinde, Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State
Steve Ayorinde, Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State

In the far country where he now resides, in company with his Creator and ancestors, Rasheed Gbadamosi will be a happy soul.

Since his departure into ancestry last November, Lagos State government has been kind to the name and legacy of this illustrious Lagosian who served Nigeria and his state of origin with his time, talent and resources, thanks to the large heart and understanding of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who shares the similar passion with the late Ikorodu Chief in the areas of business and economy as well as in the appreciation for the arts.
A telling testimony of how Gbadamosi’s name has been immortalized is the recent talk-of-the-town Eko Art Expo, which held at the main expo hall of Eko hotel between January 27th and 29th. Governor Ambode, who is fast assuming the title of the Arty Governor in the Class of 2015 – 2019, did not mince words in giving the main reason for the expo.
“This exposition shall immortalize the name of Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, an illustrious Lagos man, who served the state till the very end with his talent and passion for the arts and with his time and resources. There can be no better way to honour such a rare breed than to institute an annual arts fiesta in his memory.”
In discussing Chief Gbadamosi, I must confess a bias.
I shared a close relationship with him beyond an abiding love for and devotion to things of the arts. It was a close relationship that has left me stunned since his demise, wondering how he could have succumbed to the pangs of death right in the middle of an assignment that he cherished with his entire being.
As the co-Chairman of the Lagos@50 Planning Committee, Chief Gbadamosi was undeterred by his failing health. He was not going to succumb easily to the stroke that had already struck his left limbs. The golden jubilee of his state was an important assignment that needed his cerebral attention much more than his physical contribution and he was not going to relent in making the year-long celebration a success.
I had met him in the early 1990s as a reporter covering the arts, particularly classical music, for The Guardian. He was at that time the Secretary of the influential Board of the Musical Society of Nigeria, and later Chairman. We forged a deep father-and-son relationship immediately.
He would later serve as the Chairman at my wedding ceremony and had never missed any of my book presentations, particularly the last one in June 2016 even when his health had become a thing of concern. He ignored my plea that he should not bother to come to the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, the venue of the presentation where Cascade of Change: A Decade of Liberal Thoughts provided an intellectual platform to appraise Governor Ambode’s sterling first year performance.
In one of such tete-a-tete with him in late 2015, he had a piece of advice for me, and I believe for every young and vibrant professional who is privileged to be invited to serve in the public sector. Be guided by the theory of ‘Four by Four’ he said. From experience, he did explain, political appointments would rarely allow one to go on long vacations, and official trips abroad are hardly the same thing as ideal holidays where body and soul can be regurgitated.
Four days in every quarter, therefore, was his recommendation to every senior public servant or top corporate players who often get consumed by the demands of their assignments and tend to forget short get-aways or a shut-down for a few days to recalibrate for the good of self.
“I gave all my energy to serving my fatherland and others through my businesses…” he once recollected. “We must never be too busy for our health, friends and family,” he added.
For a man who started early in the public sector as a Commissioner in his mid twenties in Lagos State and would later serve as the Minister for Economic Planning under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and later as Chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, Chief Gbadamosi had more than a fair idea of what serving in government meant.
Yet, he was successful in his myriad of businesses as an entrepreneur and industrialist; as a playwright and a notable art collector.
But like the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, once admonished about dividing every day into three equal eight hours – one for work, the other for leisure and the last for sleep, how many professionals or senior public servants have been guided by that recommendation that seeks to balance work load with family life? How many will be guided still by Chief Gbadamosi’s Four by Four formula?
His transition may be debilitating, but the kind words of Prof. Wole Soyinka, the Chairman of Lagos@50 Planning Committee, in the catalogue for the Eko Art Expo should suffice in putting the exemplary dedication of Chief Gbadamosi in proper perspective while also advocating for its emulation.
“The pioneer collectors (of art works), prominent among them Rasheed Gbadamosi, are responsible for (this) increasing dedication to aesthetic accumulation, rather than wealth accumulation,” Soyinka said, adding that “Gbadamosi also did more than collect; he opened his home to the producers of the artistic commodity.”
To the viewers who thronged the expo in their hundreds, the Nobel Laureate was succinct in his advice: “as you walk among these products of observation, imagination and execution, do remember our departed colleague who straddled the business and artistic worlds with ease, and say a silent prayer that his affluent colleagues be inspired by his example”.
Yet, to the creative ones, Soyinka said, “Our vibrant, young generation of artists can always do with even a mere token of his (Gbadamosi) altruistic commitment, and his generous spirit.”
With the success of the Eko Art Expo, which was thoughtfully named after Gbadamosi, the visual arts community has a reason to be joyful. One, the exhibition will be an annual fair of the arts. Secondly, it answers all enquiries about the place of visual arts in Governor Ambode’s vaunted commitment to matters of culture.
In the Governor’s own words: “Many people have acknowledged and celebrated our modest support to the musical art as well as the motion picture industry, particularly through our yearly One Lagos Fiesta. But others have wondered if our intervention in the creative sector excludes the visual arts. This exhibition is our response to such well-meaning enquiries. Our administration will leave no artist or any art genre behind in our quest to make Lagos work for all.”
So impressed was the governor that he spent five good hours at the exhibition and was moved to announce that the first Rasheed Gbadamosi Eko Art Expo has now formally marked the beginning of an enduring relationship between his government and the creative sector, including the arts intelligentsia that makes this sector “such an important partner in the development of our state as Africa’s largest, busiest and perhaps most lucrative creative hub.”
In due course, the Governor reminded the large gathering that witnessed the opening ceremony of the expo, “You will begin to see that our interest as well as our engagement with the art community started a while ago and is just about to bear good fruits. We have commissioned several artists to decorate various parts of our state with landmark installations, which are in addition to the six art theatres we shall build across the five divisions of our state before the end of this year.”
In a matter of months when this will become evident, and with opportunities such as today’s event becoming an annual creative festivity, the governor was apt in saying it would neither be long nor difficult “to agree with us in pronouncing loudly that Lagos is indeed a megacity with a vibrant artistic soul.”
As the undeniable commercial and entertainment capital of Nigeria and West-Africa as well as being the hub of creative expressions in Africa, the aim of Lagos State government is to open up the state for the visual and performing arts to continue to thrive.
To Governor Ambode, no nation or state can achieve its full potential without adequate attention to matters of heritage and culture or without due encouragement for the teeming youthful population that sees and seeks opportunities in the creative industries. They are the ones, all local artists, commissioned for the art installation and under-bridge regeneration projects going on simultaneously. They will be the prime beneficiaries of the six new theaters that will spring up in all the five divisions of the state later this year, thanks to a state that values socio-economic capital of a vibrant arts sector.
Under Ambode, the clear picture that is gradually emerging is an annual calendar of ‘artyvities’ that starts the year with Eko Arts Expo, spicing different months with activities like the Jazz Appreciation Month / International Jazz Day in April; a dose of comedy in the first Sunday in May to coincide with the World Laughter Day; find a space for boat regatta and culinary art of the state along the way and dedicate a week for theatre and dance before closing the year with The Lagos Street Party and One Lagos Fiesta.
The reason for this is simple, when visitors come, from abroad or other states, they do not just wish to stay in our hotels and watch television. They want great live content too…all year round.
It must be the full appreciation for all that Lagos State is doing with the arts that inspired Prince Yemisi Shyllon, a lawyer reputed to be Africa’s greatest art collector, to enthuse that Governor Ambode has somewhat started a movement that is bound to enliven the culture landscape and then transform Lagos into a profitable hub of arts, entertainment and tourism in Africa.
Without a doubt, this is the picture of Lagos that Chief Gbadamosi must have has taken to his Maker, the greatest artist of all. It is indeed a picturesque gleaming viewpoint that confirms that this megacity of 21 million people is a centre of excellence with an artistic soul.

***Ayorinde is the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State.

Akinwunmi Ambode: Ambo Ti De, Pata Pata! By Emeka Oparah

Posted on by The Elites

IMG_5419If you have ever found yourself returning from Abeokuta to Lagos on the first or last Friday of any month, you have two options to travel. One option is to face Lagos live and direct from the Sagamu interchange and probably “die” in the traffic snarl usually caused by the Business Centres, nay Churches, on that stretch. I never take this option. The second option is to take Abeokuta-Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode-Ikenne-Epe-Lagos. I have always preferred this option, even if it resembles the Biblical log-winding, bumpy road to heaven. There’s a third option: spending the night in Abeokuta! A fairly sleepy town where a bottle of Hennessy VSOP is N18k compared to N15k in Lagos is not an option at all.
So, during my last trip back from Abeokuta, I took my usual preferred route and as soon as we hit Lagos State, I was pleasantly confronted with a world class macadamized thoroughfare! Wow, I screamed, and Prince, my Pilot, was like “Boss, didn’t you know that Ambode has transformed this area?” Listen, man, I had to stop and take photos. I actually caught myself saying a prayer for Akinwunmi Ambode, for God to continue to give him the wisdom, vision and good health to continue to take Lagos closer and closer to its aspiration of becoming a MEGACITY.
So, you can imagine my excitement upon receiving a message from Uchenna Achunine, the COO of Prof. Pat Utomi’s Centre for Values and Leadership (CVL) that I would read His Excellency’s citation at today’s 14th Annual CVL Lecture. The Lecture is usually part of Prof. Utomi’s birthday activities. He turned 61 today.
IMG_5418Anyway, one can safely say Good, Better, Best for Tinubu, Fashola and Ambode in that order-just as they came. His excellent performance, a surprise to many, in just two years, makes him truly His Excellency, as the Deputy Governor of Edo State quite remarkably said today. Ambode embodies the leadership attributes Nigeria truly needs in her quest to overcome the challenges of underdevelopment and poor leadership. I was absolutely enthralled when he said one of the things he used to say he would do if he became Governor of Lagos State was that he would solve the Oworonshoki traffic wahala at the end of Third Mainland Bridge. And it is to his credit that he solved it almost immediately he assumed duties.
It is obvious Lagos is working based on a plan, and Ambode is most definitely going to be the Poster Boy of that well-thought out strategy to make Lagos more than just one of the most RESILIENT cities in the world, according to the Rockefeller Foundation, but indeed a MEGA-CITY and a truly great place to live.
With leaders like Ambode, and with examples like Lagos, Nigeria will not fail, but rise like a Phoenix to become a great country. I’m excited. I’m hopeful.

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Oparah is Director of Corporate Communications, Airtel

 

Walking In Nigeria’s Richest Ghetto, By Bamidele Ademola-Olateju

Posted on by The Elites

I have always felt Lekki is one huge farce. The pennisula is under threat from rising sea levels, yet no coherent building code and certainly no planning. There is no regard for the environment here. The affluent are usually eco-conscious, since the affluence here is not by honest income, the accompanying attitudes of the truly rich is ABSENT. The people here are thoroughly conceited and pedantic. They fancy themselves as being rich whereas their lifestyle and taste is totally down market. They are projectors; they drive expensive cars, live in big houses, their furniture has gold accents but they betray the class they struggle to belong in when they serve you food in chipped and cheap uncoordinated plates given at parties and spoons that can cut the tongue off. One sees refridgerator, chest freezer and aquarium where it shouldn’t be. Everywhere has television and crowded furnishing. You will never see bookshelves! Where is the taste? Where is the class?
Lekki grew on cheap and stolen money for the most parts and its inhabitants are unusually pretentious and condescending. I could write a tome on Lekki. In the last one week I have taken to walking in the morning, I have seen what a huge infrastructural deficit gorge we are in. Lekki is an urban sprawl, a huge construction site without greenery. Only a few houses have character. Lekki and the adjoining areas called New Lagos are textbook examples of failure in urban planning. An example of how a people should not live. The open sewers do not lead anywhere and they are filled with stagnant, smelly water, sand and plastics. There are no recreational areas. It is one huge concrete jungle without a care, it is almost impossible to see a landscaped house here. There are no walkways, no kerbs and no provisions for pedestrians. One would think whoever lives here should have some decorum, nope! Only a few will yield to pedestrians. The drivers look down on people who are walking by while the Ogas being driven pretend to be busy at the back. Most often, to see an $80,000 car being driven on the kerb. Immediately you can make inferences about the kind of person or persons in the car. Some houses and construction sites have gun wielding mobile police. What for?
Being a pedestrian in Nigeria is a problem. You are at the mercy of drivers, Okada riders and the elements. Now I know why ost Nigerians have a permanent scowl on their faces. It is hard to stay cool when you are constantly under threat. This morning, one commercial bus faced oncoming traffic because he wanted to beat the traffic. I was aghast! While making the trek, I noticed the sellers of Shepe. People were drinking these psychotropic mixes as early as 7:00am on empty stomach. While making my way, I walked through one service lane where a lot of local food sellers were; the place reeked of Marijuana. I walked briskly past.
The last one week has been a journey through urban roots. I saw true affluence, pseudo affluence and mushrooming poverty living side by side. The number of young men sitting by, chatting away at 8:00am struck me too. We are a nation adrift. Everyone is looking for money but one thing is very clear. No more free money…many houses are empty. Free money is never coming back. Too many for sale and for lease signs. One thing is very clear to me, we will get a brain reset whether we like it or not.

The Exit of Awo’s Driver, By Ebenezer Babatope

Posted on by The Elites

I wish to humbly pay tributes to three Nigerians (all Awolowo’s men) who died within the last two months. They are the driver of Papa Obafemi Awolowo, “Egbon” Simeon Taiwo Adewodu, Funlola Olorunninsola (Press Secretary to the late Ooni of Ife (Oba Okunade Sijuwade) and a friend of mine in Ijesaland, ‘Laolu Fafiyebi. They all had connections (direct or indirect) with the late Papa Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of leaders.

On December 30, 2016, Chief Adewodu died at his Ilisan Remo residence. He was aged 90 years. Chief Simeon Adewodu was the last driver of Papa Obafemi on earth. We all called him SENIOR. I used to call him “Egbon SENIOR”. He was a very nice man. He gave excellent service to our leader and mentor Papa Obafemi Awolowo.

With him (Adewodu) on the steering, no one ever expressed any anxiety about Papa Awolowo’s safety. He was a driver who combined excellence and maturity with his driving. We never doubted his sense of precaution while driving Papa Awiolowo. He never for a second lost touch with his humanity. He loved Papa Awolowo. He loved his job. He was loyal, dependable and honest.
It was he who drove Papa Obafemi Awolowo throughout the length and breath of Nigeria during the second republic campaigns. Papa in his campaigns during the second republic used the helicopter, the planes and his car for the campaign. If Papa Awolowo used either helicopter or planes, it was “Egbon” Simeon’s lot to drive to the relevant airport or centre to pick Papa up for the campaigns. Papa loved “Egbon” Senior. While driving Papa Awo, Senior ensured that all the things Awo needed were inside his car. He was never on the loud side. He never lost his temper with anyone. I say it with pride today that we all loved him. As the driver of a great leader like Awo, “Senior” never disclosed secrets of whatever he might have heard from his experience as driving one of the most experienced leaders of the Nigerian people.
I never knew that Chief Adewodu had died until the second week of January 2017 when a youngman, Soga from Ikenne, sent me a text message. It was there he had sent me the news of the death of Senior. Soga had written “Papa Awo’s Driver, SENIOR died two weeks ago. We will love a tribute to him. His names are Simeon Taiwo Adewodu J.P.”

Papa Obafemi Awolowo ensured that all his staff were well taken care off on their duty posts. Awo ensured that the children of his staff were well educated. All essentials that could make their lives better were given to them. In other words, Papa Awolowo’s conditions of service for his staff were humane and encouraging. Papa Awolowo’s staff were drawn from many non-Yoruba states.

I remember today, Roberts who was Papa Obafemi Awolowo’s Chief Cook. I think he was from Delta State. His other cooks and domestic staff were either from Cross River or Akwa Ibom States.

“Egbon” Senior never displayed any ostentatious living throughout his life with Awo.

A great man has died. We will all remember him. He will be buried at Ilisan on 12th February.

Beyoncé Is Pregnant With Twins…How She Revealed the Huge News

Posted on by The Elites

IMG_5287Beyoncé is pregnant with twins! No, this is not a drill.

Bey announced the exciting news on Instagram on Wednesday, February 1. She posted a photo of herself rubbing her baby bump while wearing a veil and two-piece lingerie outfit like the Queen Bey she is. “We would like to share our love and happiness,” Bey wrote in the caption of the post. “We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. ”

Yes, you read that properly: Two. Times. Over. This means Blue Ivy isn’t getting just one new sibling, but two! Are you on the floor?

IMG_5288We obviously have a lot of questions now: What will she name them? Will she have two girls? Two boys? A boy and a girl? But we’ll have to wait for answers.

Until then, see the amazing photo for yourself in the Instagram post below:

Preventing A Trump-induced Armageddon

Posted on by The Elites

By Tunde Asaju

I am unlike other people who want to take away the rights of independent nations to conduct their diplomacy as they deem fit or those closing their eyes to the Trumpnami that’s sweeping through our world. The Donald did not hide his unconventionality when it comes to the way he intended to conduct the affairs of America state even as an unlikely Republican aspirant. Majority of American voters were scared to their wits listening to the Trump rhetoric that they kept their fingerprints far from the star-spangled elephant symbol of the Republican Party. But the American constitution does not give full power to the electorate; it vests more determining clout on the Electoral College and those who hold that power consciously gave it to Trump. They knew what it means to make America great again and were unfazed about what the rest of the globe thought. As President Jones would’ve put it, they didn’t give a damn.

Trump did his homework, making political capital of Obama’s filling of the Supreme Court slot. He didn’t want a judicial coup to torpedo his executive orders. Executive orders would look like something that the framers of the constitution inserted for periods of emergencies but if you look at America through Trumpnoculars, this is a period of emergency.

It’s just one week and at no time since Adolf Hitler has the world’s extreme rights been united against every rationale opposition. You could cut the tension in the air and that is good for the arms race and don’t deceive yourself, it’s all about the arms dollars. Trump is a maverick businessman with eyes on the big bucks. He has said that he turned down a $2billion contract from an influential friend in Bahrain and unlike other conscientious presidents before him; Trump has refused to put his shares in a blind trust. Although not a constitutional requirement, it is a moral issue because absolute political power and business acumen should not be constituted in the hands of one demagogue. Well, if Obama thought that withdrawing troops and unsuccessfully trying to close down Guatanamo Bay and end wars was good for global peace, Trump thinks that the arms race is good for business and what a better way to spark off the embers of global disintegration than start a religious war?

Trump is good at masking his real intentions. The ban on seven ‘Islamic nations’ is a good one. After all, goes the argument, some Islamic countries already ban Christians from their countries and block entry to those who are either friendly with Israel or have ties with that nation. The Islamic world is already seething with rage. With radical ideologists already troubling the world, Trump is on his way to achieving his aim.

As it were Trump fired the most significant shot to start a religious war, he wants to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The status of Jerusalem as capital of either of the two-states contending states of Palestine and Israel is at the head of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or if you like, the Arab-Israeli imbroglio. Most countries, including developed ones have shied away from giving recognition either way knowing how volatile that could be. Past American governments including war-mongering regimes of the republican establishments have done this, perhaps conscious that it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. To see the world’s greatest superpower lead the onslaught without even the prodding of the Israeli government is to say the least vexatious.

Why this moment? In the past, even mundane issues such as cartoons or pageants have incised so-called Mujahideens to take up arms and fight for God. Those doing these were usually not the liberal or closet zealots that Trump’s new entry visa policy targets from his new republic, they are the hoi-polloi, abandoned by rogue and quasi-legitimate states whose daily survival depends on miracles. These people are bolstered by the literal translation of religious tenets that offer the pie-in-the sky of being ‘martyred’ on earth in order to inherit the rosy hereafter.

The Trump regime, and it’s extreme right allies mushrooming across the globe would be buoyed into action in ways that would jeopardize the fragile peace that engenders the minimum peace needed for progress and peaceful human co-existence. By placing a blanket ban on Muslims and Muslim states with the exclusion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Trump is not only endangering global safety for all, he is setting the globe up for a global arms race and war that could only benefit himself and investors in the arms business. His mission is killing peace for corporate greed.

Already, the Saudis are unpopular with extremists groups such as al Qaeda, the Taliban and members of al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State, and by extension the Shia-dominated Iran. Average extremists would not see beyond the ephemeral. Trump’s policy thrusts may make America Trump-great but it sure puts Americans outside America in a permanent state of paranoia. What more, it puts citizens of secular states in serious jeopardy.

A global religious war puts Christians in jeopardy everywhere they are in minority; sets up Muslims in line for extermination anywhere they are in minority; it endangers Jews and other minorities everywhere.

This rabid dog that America has unleashed on the world should be put back on leash or it’s bye-bye to civilization, peace and progress as we know it. In the meantime, all men and women of goodwill should plant the seed of peace in the gardens of their hearts and water it daily with the dew of prayers and entente cordiale. The future looks very bleak indeed, but maybe something would nudge what is left in the conscience of the American checks and balances to look beyond the dollars and cents and help preserve what is left of humanity.

 

Suspected Hoodlums Beats Ibadan Traditional Chief To Stupor

Posted on by The Elites

Suspected hoodlums has beaten the embattled traditional chief (Baale) Of Olode, Chief Lukman Ilufemiloye Alao to stupor for challenging his unlawful removal from office.

He was said to have been attacked by suspected thugs of the newly appointed Baale.

Trouble started for Alao when he went to the ancient town to deposit an injunction he got from the court to inform the members of the community of the impending suit challenging his removal when thugs suspected to be working for the incumbent pounced on him

Alao who was in company of his wife, Rashidat Alao and younger brother were mercilessly beaten and his Lexus jeep (Rx 330) vandalized.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of his assailants to reporters at Adeoyo Medical hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan on Saturday, the embattled Baale said the thugs which were too many for him to count ran after him from the community immediately they saw his car close to the market, giving him a hot chase with motorcycles but that he was eventually caught when his car suddenly stopped working as a result of the roughness of the road couple with the haste he drove.

Aside from his car that was badly damaged with stone, the Baale said N150, 000 cash was stolen from him couple with his other material belongings such as gold necklace, wristwatch, gold ring and his shoes, all valued at hundreds of thousand

Alao, who noted that his removal couldn’t have been less illegal maintained that he was neither informed, called or even showed any evidence or petition written against him before the news of his removal filtered around town

Noting that he would be willing to abide by whatever decision or judgment the court rules on the matter, Alao said the reason he decided to challenge his removal in the court is to prove that if indeed the Olubadan has evidence of wrong doings against him, he would have been summoned to the palace, strip of the titles and his certificate of title conferment withdrawn from him

“I had gone to the community, where I reside to paste a court injunction I got challenging my illegal removal as Baale when thugs suspected to be working with Dauda Odeyemi (Ejo) started chasing my car.

“They started the chase from Fatusi but my car broke down and the thugs with about 70 motorcycles carrying at least 3 thugs pounced on me, my wife and younger brother who were with me in the car.

“We were beaten but because I was the target, I was heavily beaten. My car was damaged, the N150,000 cash in my pocket was stolen. My gold necklace, ring and wristwatch were also stolen.

“I was thereafter rushed to the Olubadan palace to show the king what they had done to me before I was eventually taken to the hospital.

“My removal was illegal because I was never informed, called or even showed any evidence or petition written against me before the news filtered around town.

“Although, I would be willing to abide by whatever decision or judgment of the court, but I have decided to challenge my removal in the court to prove that if indeed there are evidences of wrong doings against me, I would have been summoned to the palace, stripped of me title and my certificate of title conferment withdrawn from me, but that was not to be.

Meanwhile, two of the suspected thugs that attacked the deposed Baale were yesterday granted bail after the arraignment, Thursday.
The case which was between the commissioner of Police (claimant) versus Odeyemi Abdul wasiu, 47 and Musibau Lawal, 47 (claimants) held at Court 5, Magistrate Court, Iyaganku, Ibadan.

The charge sheet marked MC/43C/2017 accused the duo on a-four-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony to wit; assault occasioning harm.

“That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu ‘m’, Musibau Lawal ‘m’ and others now at large on the 11th day of January, 2017 at about 4pm at Olode town, Ibadan in the Ibadan Magisterial District, did conspire together to commit felony to wit; assault occasioning harm and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

“That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu ‘m’, Musibau Lawal ‘m’ and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Chief Lukman Alao ‘m’ as a result he sustained injuries all over his body and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

“That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu ‘m’, Musibau Lawal ‘m’ and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Rasidat Alao ‘f’ as a result she sustained injury on her face and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

“That you, Odeyemi Abdulwasiu ‘m’, Musibau Lawal ‘m’ and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully damage the following vehicles wind screen (1) Lexus 330 Jeep with Reg. No Baale Olode and (2) Nissan Altima Car with registration number OLORI Olode value yet unknown property of Chief Lukman Alao ‘m’ and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.”, the charge sheet reads.

 

Life After Jim Obaze, By Azubuike Ishiekwene

Posted on by The Elites

Last week could have been named the Jim Obaze week. It was, really. How a relatively obscure public servant was thrust on the headlines with shards of his alleged misdemeanour strewn across the pages and powerful forces calling for his head is not the kind of drama seen often.

Well, they finally hanged him by the ropes of his own alleged sins, ranging from allegations of insubordination to vindictiveness and arrogance. I can’t seem to get my head around how Obaze, a relatively unknown public servant and executive secretary of the Financial Reporting Council, became such a dreadful monster. I’m curious and partly intrigued by how his actions could have threatened established ecclesiastical order and unleashed pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to pull the trigger.

Buhari is not famous for the sort of quick action we have seen in the Obazee case. So, what happened? Is Obaze the clear and present danger that he has been portrayed to be? Or was he an unfortunate victim of politics? Of all that I have read on this matter so far, an article by Dr. Oladimeji Alo, former CEO of the Financial Institutions Training Centre, appears to provide a fairly balanced view.  It’s important to reproduce the article substantially:

“For many years, Jim Obaze was the head of the Technical Department of the Nigerian Accounting Standards Board (NASB), the predecessor organisation of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). He is arguably one of the most knowledgeable Nigerians alive in the special area of accounting standards.

“One of the conditions given to Nigeria, if it were interested in attracting foreign investments and improving its ranking in international community, was the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards. The NASB was naturally central in midwifing the new laws. It ultimately transformed into the Financial Reporting Standards (FRS).

“As it often happens when legislations are driven from outside the countries (by international agencies and foreign missions) the FRC Bill did not attract sufficient attention and scrutiny of several stakeholders in Nigeria until it was passed into law. That was the situation when bodies, like ICAN, woke up only to find that FRC had eroded some of their own mandates and privileges. FRC became a monster overnight!

“Obaze was very active in processing the Bill. He was also appointed as the executive secretary of FRC on merit. The only challenge was that the law gave his office so much power that it would take a saint not to abuse them in the absence of the checks and balances which a functioning Board of Governors (or Directors) should provide.

“Given the wide-ranging powers of FRC, Obaze came to be described as the ‘Super Regulator’. He loved that title. Witness his epic battle with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, and with Atedo Peterside and Stanbic IBTC Bank.

“Some three or four years ago, FRC, under Obaze, embarked on a project to harmonise the multiple codes of corporate governance we have in Nigeria. This was a commendable move. He set up a technical committee under the leadership of Mr Victor Odiase, a member of the Centre Table of Island Club.

“The Committee did very good and extensive work. Where the whole thing went awry was the point when the Committee and its sponsor, the FRC, became ‘emotional’ and ‘defensive’ in the processing of the draft codes. The usual practice is to expose the draft codes to stakeholders and harvest the inputs of these stakeholders to improve the draft. That did not happen. The Technical Committee and the FRC ignored several of the comments of those who attended the public hearings or submitted written review comments.

“I personally spoke extensively at one of the public hearings. I followed up my contribution with a five-page review comment on the draft code. Neither the Technical Committee nor the FRC as much as acknowledged my contribution, much less reflect any of the points in their final codes. I even gave Mr. Odiase a personal copy of my written comments as a demonstration of my commitment to the project. The same fate attended the contributions of several professionals and interest groups.

“When the final code was released, it was widely criticized by all and sundry. The FRC thereby lost a golden opportunity to make a difference in corporate governance.There were three codes in the project. (a) a code of corporate governance for all listed companies and public interest entities.
(b) a code for incorporated entities limited by guarantee. These include charities, churches, mosques, clubs and such entities.
(c) a code for public entities. These include parastatals and other government bodies.

“When the final codes were released by FRC, the supervising minister was inundated by petitions from several groups whose contributions were shut out by FRC in the development of the Codes. Also, the FRC had no Governing Board at the time and could not have finalised such an important regulation without the input of the Board.

“The Minister of Investment and Trade ordered that the code be suspended until he had had an opportunity to review it. Obaze and his team adopted subtle media campaign to challenge the authority of the minister. It was therefore a matter of time that Obaze would be sacked.”

Alo’s intervention is very useful but still leaves a number of questions unanswered. How did the minister convey his “order,” especially since Obaze maintained, throughout, that the “order” was not written? Also, since no one has so far accused Obaze of implementing the new, suspended regulations, was Obaze fired for implementing Section 9 of the existing regulations passed several years ago?

There are three main reasons why the public is justifiably interested in what is going on in faith-based organisations and not-for-profits: one, they are registered under the country’s laws; two, they manage considerable amounts of funds and assets pooled by members of the public; and three, they request tax exemptions, thereby denying the public revenue which would have accrued to government.

The least that is required under the circumstances is a greater degree of transparency. Without the UK charity commission, how would the public have known that the KICC invested $5million of church funds in a ponzi scheme?

Of course there are provisions in the FRC’s governance code – on age ceiling and tenure limits, for example – which I could not find equivalents for anywhere else (not in the UK, the US, Canada or South Africa, at least). Growing financial complexity requires sensible regulatory oversight.

It’s not enough for Buhari to sack Obaze, obviously out of panic to appease influential faith leaders, and announce that the controversial code has been suspended.

He’s kicking the can down the road. There is need for clarity about why Obaze was suspended and exactly what the government wants to do about the controversial aspects of the new, revised code, which, interestingly, is not even being implemented.

Ishiekwene is the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview and member of the Board of the Paris-based Global Editors Network.

Twisted Values, By Pius Adesanmi

Posted on by The Elites

Yesterday, President Obama gave one of the most significant speeches of his life – his farewell speech. Sasha Obama, his youngest daughter, was missing in action. Naturally, the Americans needed and wanted to know the whereabouts of the young lady.The answer was swift in coming. In a democracy, a Presidency does not have the luxury of joking with the time and emotions of its employers – the people. When they want to know something, you provide information.

Sasha Obama has an exam this morning. She needed to remain in Washington and study for it. In other words, some teacher in a secondary school in Washington fixed an exam which conflicted with the schedule of the Presidential family and the President’s schedule had to take a back seat. An SS1 exam fa.

We need to draw weighty lessons and conclusions from this scenario. This has happened in America at a time when someone enforced the extant laws of Nigeria and was fired and the law suspended altogether because it affected an extremely powerful one percenter.

The Nigerian secondary school teacher who sets an inconveniently-timed exam for the child of a Local Government Chairman, and the principal who allows it, would have been taught the difference between khaki and leather. Let alone setting an inconvenient exam for a Governor’s child, a Senator’s child, a Minister’s child, the President’s child. Let alone setting an inconvenient exam for the child of any sufficiently powerful private Nigerian citizen (and that is where these kids are even in the Nigerian school system at all o. Chances are they are in Europe, Canada or America).

Going by how we recently suspended a valid law on account of one powerful Nigerian, I wager that the basic education board, the secondary education board, the state and federal ministries of education would have been suspended.

However, beyond all of this, the chief lesson to be noted from Sasha Obama’s absence from her father’s speech is the quality of parenting she has and the values of her parents. We are talking about the American President and his wife who were at the mercy of a secondary school teacher.

No interference. No cutting corners for their daughter. No wielding of influence. No pressurizing the teacher to change the exam date. No teaching the daughter that it is okay to wield influence to arrange things for her.

Last year, I had a run in with the irresponsible Governor of Ogun state who goes about blocking the view of progress with his fila peteesi. Such is his level of disrespect for and unhealthy interference in education that he vetted a secondary school exam question, did not like it because the students were asked to write an essay on the quality of education under his oversight, and promptly fired the teacher, harassed the school principal, the state chapter of NUT and the ministry of education.

The teachers’ union had to go and beg him and promise that no exams would ever be set in Ogun schools again that did not flatter his fragile ego. They also thanked him for paying their salaries!

I went after him in a series of op-eds. He unleashed his aides on me in sponsored attacks. They even reported me to some prominent Nigerians. I hope the Governor of Ogun state and his aides can learn a thing or two from this humbling encounter between the Obamas and education.

President Buhari is so alienated from sentient reach by anybody with wise counsel that it is perhaps a wasted effort to try and draw his attention to the lesson in symbolism that President Obama has taught all of us. No Nigerian President has ever understood the power of symbolism. One’s hope was that President Buhari would understand it but he is just as blind to it, as obtuse as his predecessors.

By symbolically submitting himself to the supremacy of his country’s education sector, President Obama has done something for education that no amount of funding, budgeting, and infrastructural development can achieve.

We have been saying it for a very long time that the collapse of the Nigerian education sector is not all about rotten infrastructure and the absence of funds and resources.

Beyond these material and physical issues lies the complete absence of symbolic valuation of education in Nigerian life. It starts from the top of Nigerian society and seeps through – all the way to the very bottom. The collapse of education is a function of a collective national plebiscite to destroy it. From the President to the pure water seller, every Nigerian is armed with an axe, hacking down the education sector bit by bit.

That axe is represented by our twisted values. Parents write exams for their kids – when not buying exam papers for them. They harass teachers and cut every cuttable corner for their kids in the education sector.

President Obama says education is supreme. He says education comes first. He says education is sacrosanct. He says that very loudly by telling Sasha Obama: “no, young lady, you are not coming with us to Chicago. You have an exam on Wednesday. Stay at home and study.”

Let me add this little detail for the axe wielders destroying education in Nigeria. Just because Sasha Obama is the President’s daughter does not guarantee her a passing grade in the exam she will write today. She may get a B or a C. Nothing will happen to the teacher.

Beyond President Buhari’s absence of symbolism and arrogant Governors wielding negative and destructive influence on education in Nigeria, we need a concerted national effort to re-invent our values. All our formative institutions have a role to play: the family, the church, the mosque, etc. We are here talking about what one family has done.

I said that the Church has a role to play. However, I feel one kain about the ability of Nigerian Christendom to play a restorative role in the struggle to re-invent our values.

When the laws of the land are suspended because they are inconvenient for a Christian leader and you have Christians hailing such a brazen assault on decency, then you know that Nigerian Christendom is finished.

One last lesson for the 99%. When a notoriously slow-to-act President Buhari moves with lightning speed to discipline a government appointee – he is yet to discipline those who padded his first budget – and to suspend a valid law of the land on account of a powerful member of the 1%, you should know that it is time to stop tearing at each other on account of faith and in support of your favorite politician.

In the 1% there are no Muslims and there are no Christians. There is only group and class interest. Greater love hath no Muslim one percenter than this, that he lay down his country’s life for a Christian one percenter…

Nigerian, borrow yasef brain…

Awujale versus Obasanjo, By Idowu Akinlotan

Posted on by The Elites

IT has taken almost six years for the autobiographical book of the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, to attract the attention it richly deserves. No one is prepared to say how the new publicity happened, but sometime last week, someone sent an excerpt of the book to media houses containing an unflattering description of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo as a venal, vainglorious and grasping leader. The excerpt has caused an uproar. Chief Obasanjo is predictably peeved, but no one is coming to his defence. He apparently does not need one, for he himself is a one-man wrecking crew. Satisfied that the excerpt has received rapturous attention, the shadowy figures behind the first excerpt, or perhaps someone else altogether, has decided to draw public attention to other scathing parts of the book. Where the first excerpt deals with a duplicitous Chief Obasanjo, the second focuses on the political malfeasance of the equally grasping and venomous ex-military head of state, Ibrahim Babangida.

Oba Adetona’s recollections are detailed and riveting. Perhaps the evasive and epigram-loving Gen Babangida will respond sometime soon. However, the impatient and unreflective Chief Obasanjo could not wait. His response indeed evoked a mystery. For a book that is so well written and elegantly produced, it is a mystery that it has taken so long to foment a fitting buzz around it. While media professionals have proved to be consistently lazy in doing justice to good books, it is intriguing that Chief Obasanjo, who is so mercilessly skewered in the book, has not had the time to peruse the book, indeed study it. And when his attention was drawn to the said excerpt, as he put it condescendingly, it is shocking that he rushed to publish a response without getting a copy of the book to enable him pen a comprehensive and reflective response. It is vintage Obasanjo.

The book is undoubtedly frank and revealing. The now widely advertised famous excerpt in particular shows Chief Obasanjo as a dishonest, unfeeling and unprincipled opportunist. Neither his public service (1976-79; 1999-2007) nor his private image, both as a father and as an individual, disproves the conclusion so poignantly reached by the Awujale. It is, therefore, surprising that there are indications that some Yoruba elders might wish to intervene in what they describe improbably as a quarrel between the ex-president and the Ijebu monarch. There can be no reconciliation between the two, nor should there be, for both gentlemen are the products of very dissimilar backgrounds: one is principled and noble in his carriage and words; and the other has since his military days remained a rake and rambling man. What is there to reconcile? Indeed, how do you reconcile fire and water?

The Awujale autobiography reveals many things about many people. But for the purpose of this short essay, the excerpt in reference should suffice to address the topic of today. It is clear the Awujale is not a fan of Chief Obasanjo, that great and self-righteous narcissist. But whether the excerpt sets out to paint a realistic picture of the duplicitous and unprincipled former president contrary to the one he continues to project falsely, or it simply sheds light on the contrived misunderstanding between the business mogul, Mike Adenuga, and Chief Obasanjo and his Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is not immediately clear. What is clear, however, is that the picture painted of the Obasanjo persona is a terrible deconstruction of a man so morally perverse that it is a miracle he ruled for eight years, not to talk of finding his way out of the presidency in 2007.

The summary of the Awujale thesis is that Chief Obasanjo unreasonably harassed Mr Adenuga in order to get at the then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, with whom he was at daggers drawn, and that, as a condition to stop the witch-hunt, the ex-president opportunistically coaxed the donation of a massive library building out of the business mogul. The uncompleted building is stil on the university campus as evidence. Oba Adetona did not mince word. His account is detailed, restrained, elegant and convincing, complete with instances, locations and sometimes eyewitnesses. Chief Obasanjo was on the contrary truculent, abusive and, for effect, diversionary and deliberately insinuative. It would require a leap of faith to believe the ex-president’s account. There was no conviction behind his response, only chutzpah, and it was obvious he had been cornered. First, he said it was beneath him as president to sit down with Mr Adenuga before the press, suggesting that he had no reason to meet with the business mogul, not to talk of cajoling him to contribute a building block to the Bells University of Technology. Then, most fallaciously, he passed the buck for that cajolery to the genial Professor Julius Okogie, who was at the time the vice chancellor. Of course, no one would doubt that the letter asking for that humongous donation would be signed by the vice chancellor. But to suggest, no matter how remotely, that Chief Obasanjo did not know about the letter to Mr Adenuga and other generous contributors would be stretching credulity to its elastic limit.

It did not require the exposition of the Awujale to tell the public just how deceptive and intimidatory Chief Obasanjo is. But it helps that, using definite examples and mentioning names and instances in his autobiography, the Awujale has done the public the great service of disrobing the masquerade. It would be interesting to find out how the list of donors was drawn up, or whether it could have been done outside the inspiration and connivance of Chief Obasanjo as a bullying president. It requires someone of such quaint and contradictory moral perspective like Chief Obasanjo not to see the contradiction of receiving, assuming he did not solicit, help or donation from a businessman under investigation, if not persecution, by the EFCC. The fact underscored by the Awujale in the short excerpt is that Chief Obasanjo has never been loyal to anything or person, not to talk of loftier and more esoteric matters of ideas and ideology. Furthermore, suggests the excerpt, Chief Obasanjo broke every rule known to the Nigerian constitution, and every moral compass known to man. He got away with nihilism because he was so indecent as to be prepared to deploy every force and evil imagination known to law or even outside the law.

The case made against Chief Obasanjo in the Awujale autobiography is so revealing that it is not surprising the former president immediately opted for ancillary matters and other digressions alien to the book. But the ex-president’s response missed the mark so badly that he began to accuse the Awujale of having stakes in Mr Adenuga’s and Aliko Dangote’s business empires. He forgot that he became the subject of many allegations because he was president and faced accusation of conflict of interest when he asked for donations, directly or indirectly, and covetously established connections with other people’s businesses. Oba Adetona is right never to have trusted Chief Obasanjo, and even more principled by refusing to at first back the retired general for the presidency in 1999. The oba does not give the impression in the excerpt that his view of Chief Obasanjo has changed. Indeed, he is not disappointed.

Chief Obasanjo has done spectacularly well for himself. He is not known to wait until he has left office before feathering his nest, as a former super permanent secretary once recounted in a newspaper article of the moment a former military head of state, Murtala Mohammed, wanted to replace Chief Obasanjo as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. And as his first wife, Mama Iyabo, also corroborated, the ex-president is not guided by any moral restraint despite his sham and fulsome display of religiosity. Even some of his children, one of whom he betrayed spectacularly, are aghast at the monstrosities he seems so effortlessly capable of. Nuhu Ribadu, former boss of the EFCC may deny all he wants, but the facts available suggest that the ex-president manoeuvred EFCC to less than salutary duties. The impeachment of Governors Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State, Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State prove how disreputably Chief Obasanjo bastardised the constitution and tore to shreds the moral and political fabrics of the republic.

Such a man, so burdened by the cumulative moral baggage mentioned in the Awujale excerpt, cannot find the conviction and logic to fault the poignant allegations against himself. Indeed, it is fitting that he made only half-hearted attempt to dispute the Awujale’s account of his serial betrayals. From all indications, Chief Obasanjo will go back and read the entire book in the hope he can find more materials to deploy as a tool of vilification against the Ijebu monarch. But the true hope is that having spent nearly all his adult years faking a moral credential he is not capable of sustaining, and having vilified and undermined his betters with a severity that is truly fanatical and farcical, at last, someone like Oba Adetona and books like that salient autobiography will finally put paid to the former general’s pretensions. History, it is clear, will judge him very badly. But the real catharsis for a long-suffering people, including some members of his family, forced to swallow his atrocities for the past few decades, will be when his self-confessed thick skin is breached and he is exposed and demystified.