REUBEN'S VIEWS
Ordinarily, the postponement by a week of Nigeria’s 2019 general election should not have generated as much outrage as it has done, but the protest that the postponement has attracted is positive proof of the fact that the Nigerian electorate do not trust the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In 2011, the country’s elections were postponed even after voting had started. In 2015, the elections were postponed for six weeks on security grounds. The explanation that has now been given in 2019 about “logistical problems” should have been sufficient, but Nigerians are unimpressed because they have learnt not to trust the present INEC or the ruling government, hence the default response has been a series of speculative, yet unverifiable theories about what may be the actual story behind the postponement. Speaking for myself, I am willing to give INEC the benefit of the doubt, but what I find curious is the timing of the postponement, the management of the fall-outs, and the too many unanswered questions still hanging in the air. INEC needs to make more disclosures.
The election was postponed Nicodemously in the middle of the night, while most Nigerians were asleep. The people had gone to bed hoping to troop out in the morning to use their voters’ cards to determine the future of Nigeria in the next four years, only to wake up in the morning to be told that their dream had been stolen while they slept. That certainly is suspicious. Legitimate questions have been raised and INEC has not yet offered satisfactory answers: At what point did it occur to INEC and its leadership that there were challenges of logistics? At 8 pm on February 15? At 1 am on February 16? Was there a meeting to determine the best course of action and at what time did that meeting take place after Nigerians had gone to bed? Was there at any point a meeting of all relevant stakeholders before the decision to postpone the election was taken? Who took the decision on behalf of Nigerians and all stakeholders?
Or was it a unilateral decision? If so, should only one person take such a weighty decision which has economic, social, and political implications not to talk of implications for the country’s image? INEC has since the postponement met with party leaders and election monitors and observers. We can label this without prejudice as an insulting afterthought! Who will defray the additional cost that is now being incurred by international monitors and observers? Who will compensate political parties and candidates for the cost of preparation for election day? How about the people who travelled from one part of the country to the other to vote? How about the intending brides and bridegrooms who had fixed their weddings for February 23 and March 9, but who would now have to shift the dates and print new invitation cards?
In the explanation offered by INEC, there was some reference to the “weather”. When I got to that line, I was afraid that the author of the press release would soon end up blaming God for the postponement, but well, INEC didn’t – at least not yet! But the explanations are obviously unsatisfactory, given how INEC had consistently assured the Nigerian people and the international community that it was ready and prepared. If the postponement was inevitable, it would have certainly been foreseeable, and it could have been announced a few days earlier. Indeed, a few days to February 16, Professor Yakubu was still on television swearing that the dates for the election were sacrosanct. Was he deliberately lying to Nigerians when he said that? The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has for record purposes, pointedly accused the INEC Chairman of lying about the weather. NAMA insists that there was no disruption in air traffic services as claimed by Professor Yakubu.
What I see is that the postponement has achieved only four things and you can interpret each item positively or negatively depending on your inclination. One: it has deepened the Nigerian electorate’s suspicion, mistrust, angst and disappointment regarding what they consider to be the lack of independence of both INEC and other institutions involved in the management of the current electoral process. The people are convinced that there is something fishy about the postponement. INEC under Professor Mahmud Yakubu’s watch may have conducted over 1,000 elections, but the verdict out there is that the present INEC has not advertised enough capacity, hence the people have been talking about the “Osun Template” and a certain unproven intervention by the United States and other countries of the world, or a local plan to derail the elections and a scheme to put in place an Interim National Government. What we hear is that the ruling APC actually wanted a staggered election or a series of inconclusive elections to enable it control the outcome of the 2019 polls, or at best remain in power by all means..
Two: Before February 16, there was so much tension in the air, passion as well, and what looked like very serious determination on the part of the voting population to participate in the 2019 general election. This reading may be contradicted by the number of voters cards that remain uncollected, but what I have seen is that those who had their cards and who were ready to vote were ready to troop out on election day. The last time I witnessed such passion was during Nigeria’s 1993 general elections. The people wanted to vote out the military and its agents, and they meant business. The postponement of the scheduled February 16 election has brought down the level of tension in the country. It has poured cold water on the people’s passion. It is too early to confirm whether or not this will affect the turn-out nationwide on Saturday, February 23, but what we hear on the streets is that the people are insisting that no kind of manouevre will prevent them from having a say with their votes.
Three: by that token, INEC may have inadvertently set the people against the government of the day. What was meant to be a normal process has been turned, more or less into a referendum on the Buhari government. The people are not blaming Professor Mahmoud Yakubu. They don’t even know him: he has not yet attained that level of importance. The man they blame is President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC. Which is why I think the APC has played very clever politics by immediately distancing itself from INEC and the postponement. The witches in APC have mastered the game of not allowing their mouths to be publicly smeared with blood. They have chosen the best strategy in the circumstance, and I applaud them for that.
Four: the postponement has further deepened the suspicion of the international community. It has put Nigeria on the spot. No one should be surprised that the international media is already analyzing and over-analyzing what is going on in Nigeria. And who is going to help the present government manage the perception problem that has arisen, especially when President Buhari tells CNN: “Nobody will unseat me!” Is he or the APC, in a position to pre-determine the outcome of this election?
The sum of it is that INEC is at the crossroads. Nowhere is the job of an electoral umpire easy. It is more challenging in Nigeria because you have to serve man and God, especially as the enabling factors do not stop with the right of the people to vote and choose but a panoply of other factors including religion, ethnicity, money, violence, incumbency, traditional institutions, the occult, and political mischief. Nonetheless, not much rigorous thinking went into the postponement of the scheduled February 16 election. INEC could have told us for example that it wanted to use the opportunity to bring more people into the voting bracket by declaring 3 more days for the collection of voters cards, or some other kind of sop. Instead, INEC placed its credibility on the line. It confirmed earlier suspicions that there was an original plan to postpone the election. It played into the hands of the skeptics.
The challenge before Nigeria’s INEC as I see it, is how to now project itself as a credible and reliable electoral umpire. It can do that by disappointing all doubting Thomases and run a free, fair and credible election on February 23 and March 9. It is expected that INEC would use the one-week postponement to address all issues of logistics, and ensure that nothing goes wrong. I mentioned Professor Mahmud Yakubu earlier. He certainly should not allow himself to end up as a fall guy. He must do what is right. He and his team must make sure that no election anywhere in Nigeria is declared inconclusive! Yakubu’s INEC has unfortunately acquired a reputation for declaring elections “inconclusive.” Nigerians are tired of such declarations. It is one word nobody wants to hear. The general public opinion is that when any election is declared inconclusive, it is a ploy to rig and manipulate the result. The time available is short, emotions are strong, the Nigerian public is politically divided, INEC has an urgent task to reassure Nigerians that it is sincere and that there is no hidden agenda. Any attempt to stagger the elections or postpone the elections further, will amount to a violation of the will of the people.
Politics matters. Yes. It is probably the most important factor that defines our lives. But the country matters more. As Nigeria goes to the polls, the country must come first – every one seeking a job in government must realize that it is only when there is a country that they can get the job they seek. Letters of application are already before the people of Nigeria: the people in whom resides the sovereignty of Nigeria must be allowed to decide. INEC must be ready to address all issues arising from the postponement of the 2019 general election. It needs be reminded, as I close this piece that all of this began with its mismanagement of previous elections, particularly in Osun and Ekiti states, and its predilection to declare elections “inconclusive.” The controversy over the presence of an alleged relative of President Buhari in one of the most strategic positions in INEC has also not helped matters. The burning of INEC offices along geo-political lines in areas of strength of the opposition only further worsened things. And is it true that a major supplier of election materials is also a candidate in this election? Could it also be true that elections were actually held in some parts of the country on February 16 because INEC could not reach all its officials and units before the scheduled commencement of elections?
And finally, is the postponement in conformity with Section 26 of the Electoral Act and Section 105 of the 1999 Constitution? If truly it is not, then we are yet to get to the end of this postponement cinema in the light of both Section 105(2) of the Constitution and Section 26(5) of the Electoral Act. And did I hear right as I penned the last paragraphs of this commentary that President Buhari at an APC caucus meeting in Abuja announced that the security agencies have been instructed to ensure that anyone who snatches a ballot box on election day does so “at the expense of his life.” Where is the law in Nigeria that allows the President of the country to so publicly endorse extra-judicial killing and official violence? One last thing: The international community is watching. Other world leaders expect President Muhammadu Buhari to provide the leadership that is urgently required at this critical moment in Nigeria.
Whoever came up with the wise saying that Nigerian politics is dirty deserves an award for perspicacity. I have just returned from that dirtied, muddled up, confused, uncertain, unpredictable zone of Nigerian life and society with truck loads of stories in my head and enough impressions in my mind to last me another life-time. As you may be aware, I was Deputy Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded 2019 general elections in Ogun State. It was quite an experience.
Before now, I had followed President Goodluck Jonathan to every nook and cranny of Nigeria during the 2015 Presidential campaign. I also served previously as a member of the Governing Council of Olabisi Onabanjo University (2003- 2007), member of the Board of Lagos State Security Trust Fund (2007 – 2011), and Official Presidential Spokesperson (2011 -2015). But I can tell you that the major lesson I have learnt in the last few months is that there is a serious difference between theory and practice in Nigerian politics. The reality of Nigerian politics puts a lie to what they teach us in Grad school, in all those seminars we attend across the world and what we experience as political appointees. Nigerian politics does not follow the rule book, the theories or what the book-makers say. This thing we call democracy, which Nigeria returned to in 1999, after mass protest and frustration with military rule, is not exactly the same democracy that they have in either the United Kingdom or the United States. Professional scholars of the subject may need to embark on a closer interrogation of a special sub-set called Nigerian democracy. Its features, post-1999, are unique.
I have before now written about the violence that we encountered. In one piece, I reported how we narrowly escaped death and killing in Sagamu and how our campaign vehicles were vandalized. We later took the matter to the police and the Magistrate Court. We are still in court. On another occasion, in Abeokuta, after visiting the Hausa community in Abeokuta North, some of our vehicles were again vandalized. I didn’t even bother to report the incident. By then, violence had become the new normal not just in Ogun State but across the country. With reports of persons being killed in Rivers sate, gunshots in Lagos and mayhem in some other parts of the country, it would have been foolhardy to whine about broken vehicle windscreens.
But we eventually had our real taste of violence when we visited Itori in Ewekoro Local Government just two days before the election. We went to see the Olu of Itori and his chiefs and the people of Itori to solicit for support. It was like going to the Lion’s Den. We had a good meeting; everyone was civil. Indeed, everything went well until area boys took over the streets and started attacking the Oba’s palace with stones and other weapons. We were told to ignore them and the meeting went on, but as time passed and dusk descended, the same people who had told us not to bother, started advising us to hurry up and leave the community. We learnt that Itori and the entire Ewekoro Local Government is Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s stronghold. The previous day, we were told, members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were not even allowed to campaign in the community. They were chased away with a volley of bullets.
This time, we were better prepared. Our security men went after the Itori hoodlums. They chased them into streets and disarmed them. They also launched a rainfall of gunshots. The Itori boys ran when they faced superior fire power unleashed by a combination of policemen, Civil Defence forces, vigilante groups and the OPC. The Vigilante men were valiant. They dared the hoodlums. They overpowered them and seized their weapons. Axes and guns. One look at the kind of axes that had been arrayed against us, a decent person is likely to faint! We left that community surrounded by a combined team of courageous men who led us to safety. I thought I was somewhere in Syria. When I got home, I could not sleep. My feet were hurting as if someone had set them on fire. I had body ache. My heart was palpitating. It was as if someone was playing a rhythm of gunshots in my head. I had to ask Wale and Egunje to go and help me buy Lexotan tablets. When they got to the pharmacy, they were told that Lexotan is a prescription drug and that a doctor’s prescription would be required. I don’t know how they managed the situation, but they brought a tablet which helped to calm my nerves and I slept. At that point, I lost interest in the campaign. I kept seeing images of a shining axe. It was the kind of axe that would break any bone.
Decent and serious-minded persons would continue to avoid Nigerian politics if we do not curb the menace of violence. Should decent persons summon the courage to go into politics, they too may help to deepen the culture of violence in an attempt to protect themselves. The first thing a Nigerian politician considers is how to come out of the process alive. In this last elections, persons were killed in Rivers. Oyo State became a hotbed of reprisal killing. Properties were destroyed in Kano… Yakubu Mahmood, the Chairman of INEC is not in a position to say that he did a good job. On March 9, the people were so scared and disappointed, they didn’t even bother to turn out in large numbers. The international community is relieved that in spite of everything, Nigeria, West Africa’s most strategic country, did not implode. I get the impression that Nigerians themselves are calm because the worst that they expected did not happen. They are glad to still have a country.
I have also learnt that Nigerian politics is all about money. You can talk about poverty index on television and in writing and quote those figures from the usual sources, but when you go onto the field of politics, you are bound to confront the reality of the poverty that has turned the Nigerian electorate into an endless community of beggars and cynics. The tragedy of Nigeria is the impoverishment of the people and the total collapse of values and dignity. Everywhere I went, people begged for money. They were not interested in policy documents, or campaign leaflets or gift items. They just wanted cash, raw cash. I ran into hordes of young men who earn a living by belonging to neighbourhood gangs and cults. They are not interested in any talk about development and progress, many of them are college graduates by the way, they just want money to buy “drink and smoke.”
The Nigerian political elite, the professional wing that is, has over the years destroyed this country. The political field is peopled by hypocrites who exploit the people’s poverty. The people themselves have become dangerously cynical. When we campaigned on the streets and gave exercise books to mothers and their children, we were told: “Ko si owo, ko si ibo” - “no money, no vote.” Nobody was interested in exercise books! If people said as much as hello, they wanted you to pay for it. There were endless requests for mobilization fees, transformers, vehicles and all kinds of things. Two days to the election, the situation became almost unmanageable. I was asked to pick up bills at drinking joints. People stopped by and asked for money to “enjoy the rest of the evening”. Others came with requests for money to pay hospital fees, to take care of a newly born baby, to bury a relative, or to make a girlfriend happy. One political associate told me that every request was valid because as far as the Nigerian people are concerned, only a thief goes into politics and it is better to “take their own share” before the election.
The real problem with Nigerian democracy must be the people themselves. I don’t yet have the the full picture in other parts of the country, other than Oyo State where the people seem to have voted according to their conscience. They taught Governor Abiola Ajimobi a lesson. They made it clear to him that careless talk is not a virtue in politics and that arrogance has serious consequences. But in some other parts of the country, like Ogun and Lagos states, money played a major role. The people collected money. They voted according to the size of their greed. If you don’t have money to throw away and close your eyes while doing so, may be you should never venture into Nigerian politics as it is today. I get the impression that the people do not trust their political leaders and the politicians. There may be slight differences here and there in terms of this affective and cognitive immersion in the Nigerian political process, but for the most part, the people believe that all politicians are the same. I was shocked by the level and size of cynicism that I saw.
Going forward, Nigeria must address the crisis of campaign funding and finance. One Governor went on radio to boast that he will spend N7 billion to impose his candidate of choice on a state. The monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state in question is N7 billion. Nobody has taken up the issue. Similar acts of brazen silliness have been reported across the country. Going forward, we also need to worry more about the leadership recruitment process. It must be possible for Nigerian democracy to accommodate and promote the best, those who are willing to serve, and who believe in Nigeria and higher causes.
I also learnt many lessons about the psychology of Nigerian politics. I re-discovered our people and environment. I got a first-hand exposure to Nigerian politics, not as an observer-analyst but as a direct participant. I am better prepared for the future, and I have more than enough stories to tell. I want to thank Senator Buruji Kashamu for giving me the opportunity of this field experience and for his down-to-earth-ness, his sincerity, wisdom and the leadership that he provided. We fought hard in the courts to keep the ticket and we prevailed in the end. The PDP betrayed us up till the last minute but we are comforted that we stood for the truth and for justice. Senator Buruji Kashamu has since congratulated Prince Dapo Abiodun, the Ogun State Governor-elect. He has also visited him at home in Iperu-Remo. Dapo Abiodun has a duty and a responsibility to run an inclusive government that will address the interest of all the people of Ogun State. He should resist the temptation to be an Ijebu or APC Governor. I want to thank all the friends, family members and associates who supported me and stood by me. I am grateful to every member of our political family who devoted their time, energy and resources to the campaign. I also want to thank all the people who did their best to discourage me, and the professional trolls, haters and grumblers who have sent messages to mock me. I don’t feel discouraged. I believe Nigerian politics can be upgraded and rescued if we all summon the courage to get involved in it. We did not lose. We won in losing. That is the paradox of this experience and of the future that is to come.
If I felt any sense of loss at all, the morning after, it was in fact, the shocking report of the death of Pius Adesanmi, Professor of English and African Studies at Carleton University, Canada, in the ill-fated Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft that crashed a few minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Pius was a member of our community, and he was one of the best and the brightest. He wielded a sparkling, lyrical and polemical pen which he deployed with the ease and confidence of a well-cultured intellectual. I was his fan. I enjoyed reading him because it was not difficult to see that his talent was original and that his intellect was solid and that the respect and admiration that he enjoyed was well deserved. He criticized me on many occasions but he was that kind of critic that left enough room for your dignity. I read many of his comments on my choices and interventions without feeling diminished. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do flowers wither? Why Claude Ake? Why Pius Adesanmi? Ethiopian Airline has the best and the largest fleet in Africa. And now this… But who are we to question the Master Builder, the Great Architect Of The Universe who in one breath creates and in another breath, astounds us with the unexpected? Pius Adesanmi made his mark. If he were here, he would have had a lot more to say about the just concluded Nigerian elections. He was a significant public affairs commentator and a credible voice on all platforms. He was right: Nigeria remains, as he put it, “a nation in progress.” His death is a sad loss to the intellectual community.
Here is yet another account of what I saw in the politics of Ogun State and Nigeria. One of my early teachable moments was the realization that you are required to dress like the people whose votes you are looking for, and operate at that level, be like them, connect with them. When the 2019 political struggle began, I used to attend meetings wearing suits. Party members looked at me suspiciously. I couldn’t miss the glances, the whispers, the murmurs but I couldn’t quite figure out what was amiss until one Sunday afternoon, I arrived at a scheduled meeting all suited up. As soon as I stepped in, I thought I overheard someone saying quietly: “Even on Sunday evening!” I didn’t think that comment was meant for me. Whoever said that was probably talking to someone else. The pieces soon fell in place when one of our apex leaders accosted me:
“Deputy, e ma de ku asiko yi o. E ku igbiyanju. Oro kan ma ni mo ma fe ba yin so.”
“Go ahead sir.”
“N se ni mo kan de ti e n wo kini na. O dabi e ni pe, you don’t like to dress like us. I see you don’t wear Sokoto and Buba, or any traditional attires. You just like these white man’s suits”
“Of course, I have caftans. But I prefer to wear suits for work and formal meetings,” I responded.
I also tried to explain that I was just coming from a television programme.
‘Ha ha. Okay. But e joor sir., for this our campaign, you have to take it easy with these your suits oh. In politics, you must always look like the people you want to lead and speak like them. That is the only way they can feel comfortable with you. E joor sir oh. Si so okun mo orun ni igba gbobo yi fe po ju. Please do something about it. In this part of the country, a politician cannot go about wearing ties. Lai kii se aja!”
Of course, my wardrobe went through a quick transformation. I no longer heard any complaints or whispers, or murmurs. I had adjusted. I made friends very quickly. But that was not all. Our principal, Senator Buruji Kashamu operated mostly during the campaigns, from his Lagos office and his office in Ijebu Igbo. The latter is the Omo Ilu Foundation headquarters, a sprawling multi-purpose complex, sitting on about three acres, complete with a hall large enough for over 5, 000 persons, in addition to an open pavilion, offices and a row of chalets with about 20 rooms. Omo Ilu Foundation, founded in 2010, is Senator Kashamu’s philanthropic organization and political structure through which he provides help for orphans, widows and the indigent. We either met in Lagos or in Ijebu-Igbo, and given my position as his running mate, I was constantly present at meetings and activities. It didn’t take a while before the Senator noticed that I always came alone. I didn’t travel in a convoy. I didn’t have a retinue of hangers-on. One day, he called me aside and told me:
“Dokita, why are you always walking alone? A politician does not walk alone. In politics, you must have your own team. You must have your own followers. You must have your own structure. I am going to help you set up your own structure and you can recruit your own followers over time. That is how to play politics. You can’t be going about alone. Politics is about people, strategy, hardwork.”
In no time, I had my own team and till the campaign ended, I never walked alone. Bouncers, security men, campaign vehicles, a team of drivers and assistants, party associates, advisers, supporters, family friends, consultants etc. My house became a beehive of activities. In Nigeria, a politician is not expected to close his doors. Men, women trooped in. People I had not seen in the last three years showed up. They sat in the compound, some came into the house and took over the sitting rooms. The house of a politician must have a ready supply of food and drinks. The house was soon flooded with cartons of assorted drinks. Dry gin. Schnapps, Brandy. Beer. Whatever. Some politicians insist that politics is better when it is fueled with the engine oil of alcohol. I had an inner crowd of regulars, male and female. At certain times of the day, someone will raise his hand and say: “De-pu-ty, e fun wa ni amala! Maa-anu n –fa-gi.” Time to eat! I never got a chance to meet this ever-hungry Maaa-nu, the apocryphal carpenter of the stomach!
These are experienced politicians who have been here and there. Some of them have participated in virtually every major political party since the return to civilian rule in 1999. They know every key political figure in the State. If you want to know your great grandmother’s biography, she may have died in the 15thcentury, you just join politics, you will hear stories about your ancestors who you never knew ever lived. Interacting with those veterans, I received much education about local politics. They know everyone and their habits. There was never a short supply of anecdotes about the public and private habits of prominent Ogun State politicians, their wives and concubines, children and the underground network that seems to be a strong and dominant factor in Nigerian politics. People came in and out, sometimes staying till 12 mid-night. Even if I slept off, they would stay on and have their own conversations. It was a diverse, motley crowd. They argued oftentimes, over this or that, but I admired their dedication, knowledge, experience, their energy and commitment. They have all become part of an emerging political ecosystem around my space. Only a few days away from Abeokuta, I miss them already: the women and their creativity with songs and ideas, the men and their knowledge of the terrain.
I got a rude shock however, in December, when one of my new friends started pestering me to give him money to buy a ram.
“Ram? Se iyawo yin sese bi mo, e fe se ikomo ni?,” Has your wife just put to bed and you need support for the naming ceremony?, I asked.
“No. Rah – rah o, deputy, a fe fi se etutu ni. We want to use the ram to make sacrifice of protection for you. You need some protection.”
What sacrifice? I couldn’t figure out what the man was driving at. But he was persistent.
“It won’t cost you a lot of money. Just the money for the ram and something on top. You are our own Governor in Ogun Central as far as we are concerned. Many people have seen you. They are talking about you. We also have enemies within the party. There are cases in court. The party people in Abuja don’t like us. As your own people, we have to protect you. Nothing must happen to you. You can be sure the Ijebus will also protect their own son.”
I waved it all off. December is a delicate month. That is when people use all kinds of trick to get money for the festive season. January is even worse: school fees have to be paid in January. I told the man I was not interested in any ritual sacrifice. The blood of Jesus is sufficient for all Believers! He didn’t argue. He left quietly. But he came back two days later, imploring me to give “Unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”. He said I should realize that Nigerian politics is like a Dinner with the Devil and that I would need to acquire a long spoon of my own if I was serious about getting a seat at the table. Before his return, another person, who described himself as a Good Samaritan, had also called to say he was bringing to me a charmed waistband which I should tie around my waist any time we were going out for campaigns. I rejected the offer. I told the man I had no plans to become a shamanist because of politics. Our conversation ended in the shape of an argument with him telling me that I didn’t know what I had put myself into.
“Do you know what all those other people you sit down with have under their clothes? Deputy, Oju lasan ko se politics ni Nigeria yi oh. You must fortify yourself. You need ayeta (local bullet-proof charm), okigbe (protection against machete cuts) gbetugbetu (all-purpose Yoruba charm), awise afogbohun,, ma-y-e-hun (charms for commanding persons), eyonu, atewogba (charms for popularity and acceptance)…after the waist-band, we still have a lot to do. Agan ni kini yi, ko se da gbe! A jo ma gbe ni. We are in this thing together. Anybody whose friend is disgraced is the one who has been disgraced.”
I was not scared, but I was worried that 21stcentury Nigerian politics was beginning to sound like a return to the inter-tribal wars of the 14thCentury.
I wasn’t going to part with a penny for any amulet or sacrifice. I was left alone for a while. We organized political activities: visited key stakeholders, communities, arranged consultation meetings, we stormed the town and other parts of our Constituency. The women and my wife had their own group. They focused on markets and house-to-house campaigns. The only thing that worried me was that each time we went to some places, some members of the opposition will later call me to complain that they heard I was spending money and giving people gifts. I would deny of course but they would then proceed to mention the exact place, the person visited and what exactly happened. I became worried. I concluded that there was need to be very watchful. On more than one occasion, persons came to me to show me lists of voters, numbers of Permanent Voters Cards and the phone numbers of their owners. They claimed the voters were under their direct control and they could deliver entire wards and local governments. They needed money to mobilize the owners of the voters’ cards. It sounded strange to me. I didn’t play ball.
Before long, one of my self-appointed protectors came and said he would like me to go to a church somewhere in Abeokuta. According to him, every politician had already visited the church and whatever the man of God pronounced would come to pass. I refused. If the man of God had already promised every Gubernatorial candidate, victory, why bother?
The battle for the protection of my soul and life in politics later reached a peak when one of the initial protectors returned to say that even if we did not do anything, we needed to send Eshu on errand, and he had identified the Eshu in the Igbein quarters of Abeokuta as the most potent agent that will ensure our victory in the 2019 Gubernatorial polls. I tried to fence him off by showing off my knowledge of the Yoriuba belief system and traditions. I even chanted the panegyric of Eshu, the trickster-god, the two faced, Janus member of the Yoruba pantheon. “Eshu Laalu, onile orita, ogirimoko okunrin, a ba ni wa oran bi a ri da, elekun n sun ekun, Laaroye n sun eje…” Eshu is usually regarded as the equivalent of the Devil, but Yoruba Traditional Thought identifies him as an oxymoronic agent for both good and evil, an attribute translated as drama, form, antonym, and performance in Femi Osofisan’sEshu and the Vagabond Minstrels. The man was not interested in my anthropological, hermeneutic analysis. I even told him that in actual fact, the most potent Eshu in Egbaland is in Imo, not Igbein and I told him… I was trying to pass a message across. The man flared up.
“Eshu Igbein is very strong. If you give it what it wants. It will stand up and go out and deal with our enemies. It will bring us all the votes in Ogun State! It will go to every polling unit and vote.”
“Is it Eshu that will vote or the people of Ogun State? Is he a human being? Does he have a voter’s card?”, I inquired.
“Deputy, you don’t know this Eshu. After sending him on errand, you can’t come home straight. Otherwise, it will follow you. You must have a special, spiritual bath. Even then, three days later, it will still come to this house to give you a sign to show that he is already working.”
“I don’t want Eshu to come here,” I said emphatically.
“After he has worked for us, once you give him what he wants in return, he will go back. He is our best bet.”
Olawale Folorunso and Bode Sowunmi who were with me and who had been listening to the argument over the proposed recruitment of Eshu as a polling agent eventually intervened. Bode Sowunmi wanted to know if the Eshu could survive in a compound with interlocking tiles and air conditioners and whether he would occupy one of our rooms. Wale thought the whole proposal was bizarre. Bode asked:
“Okay, Egbon, if you believe so much in this Eshu, why don’t you go and do the ritual and send Eshu on errand on behalf of Dr Abati and Senator Kashamu. You are a politician yourself and you are all in this campaign together. Dr says he doesn’t want Eshu in this matter.”
“I am not the one running for Governor. I can’t spend my own money. Anybody that wants to be Governor must be ready to give Eshu his due,” the man insisted.
I refused.
The most discussed subject in Nigeria today is what is called “restructuring” and indeed so popular is this subject that it has attracted the attention of roadside commentators, the bright, the not-so-bright, the mischievous and the outrightly unintelligent all united by the singular claim that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we all have a right to determine its future.
The last person who brought up this subject with me is a mechanic in Abeokuta! He had heard about Biafra, the Arewa youths, the President’s absence, Professor Osinbajo, Nnamdi Kanu, what Igbo leaders, Northern leaders and Yoruba leaders have said about restructuring and he wanted a conversation. That’s how democracy works, not so? The inclusiveness is actually very good for us…
But the point I have always made stands proven: that Nigeria remains an unanswered question, more than a century after the amalgamation of 1914. Before and after independence, virtually every government has had to deal with this same question, viz, the national question.
Brought together in an unwieldy, unequal and uneven union by the British, Nigeria’s about 400 ethnic nationalities have been unable to transform into one nation, one union, a community of people and communities driven by a common purpose - to create a united, progressive nation, under the umbrella of patriotism and the common good.
We have fought each other since 1950 to date, we did not even all agree on independence, and since that happened, we have been at each other’s throats. We ended up fighting a civil war, and from all indications we are at this moment, seemingly preparing for another one.
The laziest excuse is that the British caused all our problems, but more than 50 years after independence it should be clear enough that we are the source of our collective agony.
Other countries that were at the same level with us in 1960 have since moved on and developed into better nations despite their own internal contradictions. Nigerian leaders have perpetually lived in denial. Every step forward has resulted in our country taking two steps backwards.
A combination of the big-man-syndrome, the too-know syndrome, the us-before-others-mentality, ethnic politics, sectarian politics, greed, cronyism and a terrible leadership recruitment process has turned our process of nationhood into an unending struggle. Today, fewer Nigerians believe in the idea of Nigeria.
In 1977/78, the Constituent Assembly whose deliberations resulted in the 1979 Constitution almost ended with fisticuffs. The 2005 National Political Reforms Conference did not fare better either, as the Niger Delta conferees staged a walk-out and the politics of Third Term or no Third Term sabotaged the entire process. In 2014, the outcomes of yet another National Conference could not be followed through because a succeeding administration declared it would not even look at the report.
At every stage when it looks as if this country is faced with an opportunity to address the national question, certain interest groups erect the roadblocks of denial and wishful thinking. No country can live perpetually in denial. This is the message of former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union and their disintegration. As for the military, they merely worsened Nigerian politics.
Fifty years after the outbreak of the civil war, we now have a man called Nnamdi Kanu. He may well end up as Nigeria’s nemesis. He is the most frightening product of our many years and acts of denial and he may well throw the country into a nightmare worse than Boko Haram, if care is not taken. He started out as the leader of a group called the Indigenous People of Biafra and as director of Radio Biafra.
He and those who bought into his rhetoric of secession and the renewal of the Biafra dream organized protests across the world, and they looked, from afar, like a group of disgruntled Nigerians in diaspora.
In the foreign lands where most of the members lived, they looked like persons over-enjoying the freedom of speech from a safe distance. They didn’t appear to have the force of MASSOB, which is locally based and seemingly more malleable.
The renewed struggle for Biafra that Kanu and his crowd talked about could have been nothing more than an internet and television revolution. But everything went wrong the moment Nnamdi Kanu chose to visit home and he was arrested, detained and taken through a court trial.
Whoever ordered Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and prosecution did this country a bad turn. Kanu is a character that could have been better ignored. His trial and travails have turned him into a hero and a living martyr among Igbos. And the young man so far, understands the game. Since he was released on bail, he has been taunting the Nigerian state and government.
Daily, he dares those who granted him bail and he laughs at the conditions they gave him. He associates with more than 10 persons. He moves about Igboland freely, like a spirit. He addresses rallies and grants interviews. He has been busy issuing statements. On May 30, he ordered a shut-down of the entire South Eastern region and that order was obeyed not only in the South East but also in parts of the South-South, and Abuja.
Nnamdi Kanu who probably barely struggled to survive as a black man in Europe, has been turned by the Nigerian Government into a credible apostle of a resurgent Biafran revolution. The other day when he held a meeting in Umuahia, over 5,000 persons trooped to his compound.
Kanu is a master of symbolism. He is exploiting the Jewish symbol: to signal to the world that Igbos are being persecuted.
He visits symbolic sites of the civil war to prick the injured part of the Igbo consciousness and mobilise the people. His pre-eminence is a comment on the quality of the state and its strategic intelligence system. If he succeeds with his threats, we should know those to blame.
A few days ago, someone on social media further compared him to Jesus Christ and described him as the true saviour. Every revolutionary in history graduates from ordinariness to being messianic, propelled by opiumized endorsement.
Nnamdi Kanu is certainly capable of doing more damage to the system than the MASSOB, OPC, and such other groups, and should he push things further, he could ignite a crisis worse than Boko Haram.
My gut feeling is that some people in certain places are beginning to realize this and that is why Nnamdi Kanu out of detention appears untouchable; it is the reason he is able to dare the state, and ridicule his bail conditions.
The lesson here is obvious enough: the brazen use of force and intimidation to deal with certain situations could create really bad unintended consequences.
The Federal Government under Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has been holding meetings with key stakeholders within the Federation.
The consultations are in order, but the Acting President is yet to talk to the right people. He is talking to people who carry their international passports in their pockets because they don’t know what tomorrow promises in Nigeria. He is consulting persons whose family members are mostly one-leg-in-one-leg-out Nigerians; many of them in fact have dual nationality. Nigeria is their trading post, the place where they make the money they and their children spend in Dubai, UK and wherever.
The people the Federal Government should be talking to are the angry Igbo youths who now kneel down to greet Nnamdi Kanu and call him their god, the Arewa youths who have told the Igbos to get out of Nigeria and get away, and who have called the Yoruba names while further insisting that they are not afraid of the Nigerian government arresting them.
The people to talk to are the leaders of the various other groups who are taking sides. Leaders of the Middle Belt and the South South are holding talks; some Yorubas are planning to hold theirs this week in Ibadan.
Draw the map of the emerging rhetoric in Nigeria today; what you have is a divided country. The scenario is so painfully reminiscent of the early 60s. Every Nigerian leader since the civil war has boasted that he would not preside over the dismemberment of Nigeria.
Some of those leaders have suddenly started saying restructuring is the answer, how nice!- the same restructuring they never wanted and that they didn’t want as at 2015.
Crisis management is an important part of nation-building. We have failed to manage most of the crises that have befallen our nation, on a sustainable basis, and that is why every proverbial snake that is killed suddenly resurrects. It is the reason we have produced a country where the population of the aggrieved appears to be growing daily.
It is the reason Nnamdi Kanu and his followers have become the fish-bone in the throat of government. As things stand, there is no stronger voice in Igboland today than that of Nnamdi Kanu. The Igbo elites and the self-styled political leaders of the East know that Kanu is more influential than all of them put together. How many among them can command a willing crowd of 5, 000 to their doorsteps? The politicians hire crowds, but the crowds go to Kanu and obey him.
With the kind of influence he wields, Kanu is in a position to dictate the political future of the South East. The same political leaders who posed for photographs at the Aso Villa will go to him at night and beg him to support their candidates if future elections hold in that region. They will condemn Kanu during the day, but lick his boots at night.
The ancillary challenge however is the worsening trend of ethnic polarization with regards to the control of power at the centre. I describe this as the conflict between the na-my-brother-dey-there syndrome and the no-be-my-brother reactive tendency. It used to be the case in this country up till the time President Olusegun Obasanjo left in 2007, that whoever held power in Abuja was openly and strongly supported by other Nigerians, regardless of ethnicity or religion.
Obasanjo got more support from outside Yorubaland, and probably felt more reassured by persons from outside his own ethnic group and religion.
With the death of President Yar’Adua in office, ethnicity, a long-standing threat to Nigerian unity became more potent. The Boko Haram, with its base in the Northern part of the country gave the succeeding Jonathan administration hell. With the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the same Boko Haram suddenly became tame. Curiously, the militants of the South East and the South South, who had been significantly quiet during the Jonathan years, also became more vocal and calls for secession became more strident the moment their kinsman and in-law left office.
By the same token, the conflict between pastoralists and farmers, an old problem, became worse, with the former asserting themselves more arrogantly for no reason other than that they are sure of better protection under a central government controlled by the North. Our point: Nigeria’s stability should not be so dependent on the whims and caprices of ethnic gladiators. No Nigerian President should be at the mercy of ethnic or religious politics, now or in the future.
The debate about restructuring and renegotiations is therefore useful and most relevant. It is indeed urgent if we must take the wind out of the sail of the secessionists and nihilists.
Those who have always blocked or hijacked the people’s conference must by now realize that we are close to “the point of no return” on a review and rephrasing of the Nigerian question, in order to make every Nigerian feel a part of the Nigerian project. The alternative in all possible shapes appears ominous.
The President of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has emerged the winner of the prestigious World Food Prize, 2017 award.
The award was announced Monday in Washington D.C. by the World Food Prize Foundation in recognition of Adesina’s achievements in the agriculture sector and for driving change in African agriculture for over 25 years and improving food security for millions across the continent.
The foundation said in a statement that Adesina stood out in efforts to make food available to Africans.
It said: “Awarded by the World Food Prize Foundation, the $250,000 prize honors Nigerian Dr. Adesina for his leading role over the past two decades in: significantly expanding food production in Nigeria; introducing initiatives to exponentially increase the availability of credit for smallholder farmers across the African continent; and galvanising the political will to transform African agriculture.
“The selection of President Akinwumi Adesina as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate reflects both his breakthrough achievements as Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria and his critical role in the development of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
“It also gives further impetus to his profound vision for enhancing nutrition, uplifting smallholder farmers, and inspiring the next generation of Africans as they confront the challenges of the 21st century.”
President of the World Food Prize Foundation, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, added that in making public Adesina’s name, the foundation took cognisance of the AFDB president’s role with the Rockefeller Foundation, which organised the 2006 Africa Fertiliser Summit; led a major expansion of commercial bank lending to farmers as Vice-President of AGRA; and, as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria, introduced the E-Wallet system, which broke the back of corrupt elements that had controlled the fertiliser distribution system for 40 years.
“His policies expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 million metric tonnes, and the country attracted $5.6 billion in private sector investments in agriculture – earning him the reputation as the ‘farmer’s minister’,” Quinn stated.
Commenting on the prestigious award in an interview with THISDAY Monday, Adesina said it was a privilege to have been recognised by the World Food Prize Foundation.
“It is a great honour for Nigeria where I come from; a great honour for Africa as well. But I think to me the most important part of it is what it really means for the future because I feel greatly inspired, I feel greatly motivated to go out and do even more in terms of making sure that for me I will not rest until Africa breaks out of hunger and can feed itself and also to see to the end of global hunger.
“For those two things I have actually dedicated my life, so I feel it’s for the greater end to accomplish those things,” the former minister added.
He expressed optimism about the future of Africa, saying sometimes the narrative on Africa was often in the wrong direction.
According to Adesina, “People think Africa is sinking, I don’t think Africa is sinking at all. I think Africa is making great progress; it’s just that it is difficult to end hunger.
“If you take for example the case on economic growth, Africa today is growing at roughly a projection of 3.4 per cent, which is above the 2.2 per cent from last year and next year we project that Africa’s GDP growth rate will be 4.3 per cent.
“Bear in mind that those growth rates are much higher than the global growth rate so Africa is doing well.
“It’s just that Africa needs to grow much faster than it is growing and I think obviously nobody eats GDP, so GDP is not professionally what really matters. However, growth is required if one is going to drive down poverty.”
Since 1987, the World Food Prize has been awarded annually to recognise contributions in any field involved in the world food supply: food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership, and the social sciences.
Conceived by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Norman Borlaug, the prize comes with a cash reward of $250,000 and emphasises the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply for all people.
Borlaug saw the prize as a means of establishing role models who would inspire others.
ThisDay
“Baba just fall my hand! Ha, wetin.”
“Which Baba?”
“Baba Bubu, the President of all Nigeria.”
“In the spirit of this season, may Almighty Allah (SAW) grant him good health and quick recovery. It is part of our duty to pray for our leaders. Only infidels pray for evil.”
“My friend, the fasting season has ended. Stop fasting after Ramadan. I am saying something serious. Was it right for the President of Nigeria to address the Nigerian people in Hausa? “
“Hausa? Me no hear am oh. Have they changed the country’s official language?”
“Yes. Hausa.”
“Baba just enter radio begin speak Hausa to over 400 Nigerian ethnic nationalities”
“In the spirit of this season, my brother, we must thank God for everything”
“You have started.”
“Do you know if there is a medical reason? Suppose Baba’s diagnosis is that he can only speak Hausa from now on, what if something has happened to his English language? Impairment of the ability to speak English.”
“Are you okay? Some yeye people said Baba was suffering from speech impairment and that he would no longer be able to speak. They didn’t say anything affected his ability to speak English.”
“So, they organized a national broadcast in Hausa to convince us that the President of Nigeria can still speak. But by making him speak Hausa, they simply confirmed the speech impairment. They have just told us that the President can no longer speak the country’s official language.”
“So?”
“No. Well, I don’t think so. Hausa is actually an official language of Nigeria.”
“You have started. I say you have started. Even one of their aides said the whole thing could have been handled better.”
“I don’t believe that”
“That’s what I heard”
“He didn’t know his boss was going to speak Hausa?”
“Dey there.”
“But no problem. Section 55 of the Nigerian Constitution actually says when the business of Nigeria cannot be conducted in English, you can speak three other languages: Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.”
“The Constitution of Nigeria says that? I don’t believe that.”
“Yes, you don’t ever believe anything.”
“Does it also say that when a President is on medical vacation abroad, he can choose to address Nigerians in his mother tongue?”
“The thing is you never know. Some illnesses manifest in certain ways. There is a way you will feel sick, and the best way out is to speak in vernacular. We as Nigerians should show some understanding. Some people will fall sick now and they will do strange and unique things. That is the way I see it.”
“I hope the day will never come when a Nigerian President will speak Igbo on my television set. I swear, I will carry that TV set and smash it on the ground.”
“You see your problem? Are you saying Igbo is not a constitutionally recognized Nigerian language? You are an Igbo-hater, you this guy. One of those people Nnamdi Kanu refers to as idiots. So, if tomorrow a Nigerian leader decides to speak Fulfulde, what will you do? You will hang yourself? ”
“I have said my own.”
“You have not said anything. If language is your problem, then ask your ngbati brother in the Villa, to also start speaking Yoruba at Federal Executive meetings and other state functions. If he likes, let him speak Ijebu-Remo dialect. It is, I keep telling you, constitutional.”
“What are we running then? Some kind of linguistic zoo where anyone that gets to Aso Rock can speak in tongues?”
“Not in tongues. Three languages. Hausa, Yoruba and Hausa. And for your information, someone that I know once said that there is a spiritual side to that seat of power. You can’t ever predict how the spirit moves people in that place. We should just thank God for everything. We are talking about change. When you vote for change, you don’t know how God will change things. Our God works in mysterious ways. He speaks all languages, and he can do his miracles in any language he chooses.”
“But I don’t speak Hausa.”
“There is actually a transcript of the Presidential message. It is nothing harmful in any way.”
“After almost 50 days of absence?”
“Medical vacation. Try and be humane, this man.”
“Hausa language? At a time Hausa youths are telling Igbos to get lost and get out of Nigeria.”
“Don’t worry. We should just keep praying to God.”
“This is not about God. This is about us. Why will my President speak to me in a language that I don’t understand?”
“Everything is about God. Go and sit down and stop forming. Is English your language? Do you understand English? You are better off learning Hausa, if I may say so. See as you are losing sweat over the President speaking a constitutionally recognized Nigerian language”
“What of my own language, my own mother tongue? Is it also in the Nigerian constitution? This is about my identity, my Nigerian-ness, my sense of belonging. You don’t get it.”
“I get it. I say stop forming. If your language is not there, then your local government must be there. That is what you need, afterall, it is not everybody in your clan that speaks English”
“We don’t speak Hausa either, and I am sure that I have the right to ask that I should be addressed in a language that I understand as a bona-fide Nigerian citizen.”
“It’s okay. This is not a big deal. I’ll get you a transcript of what the President said.”
“In my local Ejagham language, with a broadcast in my people’s voice.”
“This man, what is your problem? It is people like you who want to break up Nigeria. How many of you are in that your Ejagham village sef, that you are making wahala like this?”
“Why must the President speak sef? The acting President has been speaking English to various groups in Nigeria. I was in fact hoping that he will get round to some of us and invite us to Aso Villa, and now from nowhere, the President releases a message that makes nonsense of the Acting President’s efforts at promoting unity in the country.”
“The Acting President is what Yoruba people call Adele, get it right, he cannot be the Baale, the village head, when the village head is alive. Adele is Adele. Baale is Baale.”
“We don’t have such a stupid saying in my village. Good for you Yoruba people who speak from all sides of the mouth. You will see the truth korokoro like this, you will start speaking from all sides of the mouth.”
“Why korokoro?”
“ I speak small Yoruba.”
“I will ask Senator Musiliu Obanikoro then to sue you for using that phrase koro koro. This one that everybody is likely to start speaking in mother tongue, you better watch what you say. Stick to your own mother tongue.”
“Isn’t that what some people want in any case? They want to turn our country into a Tower of Babel. Let everybody speak his or her mother tongue.”
“Your interpretation. Whatever language the President speaks, should not be a problem.”
“Fine. Donald Trump should also start speaking German then since his ancestors are from Germany, and the Windsors in England should start speaking French.”
“It is not the same thing. We are dealing with a peculiar situation here. What if the President is going through a special kind of therapy? New things are being discovered in the field of medicine everyday. This may be one of those cutting edge things. In the spirit of the season, you and other Nigerians should just chill.”
“You are just talking. I think at some point, we just have to restructure this country and get certain things right. There is something called protocol in governance.”
“I am not against restructuring, but restructuring for me is not about secession, break up or hate speech. Restructuring means making this country work for all of us, a country of great potentials where the aggregate of our country, resources, people, talents and diversity can put us on the world map. We are a blessed country. We just have to get things right, yes.”
“We do well as individuals, take Evans, the kidnapper, but not as a country because we are not yet a nation.”
“You can’t say some people are doing well like Evans. We can’t define our country with negativity. Evans is a kidnapper who made millions of dollars from making other people unhappy. We are a country in search of good role models and standards. By the way, Evans’ father says he needs to be taken to a spiritual home for deliverance, but I think he should have his day in court.”
“The truth is that we are actually a country of kidnappers. Right now, I feel as if I have been kidnapped in this country of my birth. They told me change begins with me, but I actually feel as if I have been kidnapped.”
“My friend, stop that drama. Don’t be a drama king. Be a positive citizen. Your mates are winning international prizes and doing well on the international stage, promoting Nigeria and Africa, you are here whining about village issues, my friend, you got to wake up. This is what we mean when we say change begins with you.”
“Which of my mates has won international prize?”
“Akinwumi Adesina, President of the Africa Development Bank, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture. Something big. Really big. The Nobel Prize of Agriculture.”
“Nobel Prize?”
“It is called the World Food Prize. It is the biggest thing in Agriculture.”
“Adesina. He did it as Minister of Agriculture. He has done it again globally. Up school!”
“Hel--looo. What is that?”
“Up school! Great of the greatest Ife! Ife gbogbo! Ife gbagba! Gre-at Ife!”
“You see yourself? You just must reduce everything to the level of the village and yet you complain about someone else speaking a local language.”
“Adesina is a product of the University of Ife, Obafemi Awolowo University.”
“Sorry, the World Food Prize is not about the university that you and Adesina attended, it is something bigger, it is about his accomplishments in promoting food security and by extension global security, his life-long distinction in the field of agriculture.”
“What I am saying is that this is Great Ife’s achievement.”
“It’s an achievement for Nigeria, for Africa, for the world. The security of the world is tied to the security of food. The point is clear: if the people of the world are hungry, the world cannot be safe.”
“Correct point, there. When I am hungry, I cannot guarantee that I will be a good person.”
“I hope you have eaten today.”
“It has been a very dry Sallah, my brother. I visited a friend of mine who usually slaughters a cow at a season like this. The man, this year had only fish, chicken and turkey. For a moment, I thought it was Christmas.”
“May be you are mixing up things. Muslims don’t usually slaughter rams after Ramadan. They do so during the main Sallah, the eid-el-kabir.”
“My own Muslim friends slaughter rams and cows all the time, but I see that this year, things are different, very very different. Recession palaver, I think.”
“You too should learn to give your friends rams and cows, instead of going from house to house to eat free meat, so stop complaining my friend.”
“Am I a Muslim? When it is Christmas, you can come to my house to eat turkey and chicken”
“We are all children of God, indivisible under the umbrella of God, that is all that matters.”
“I hope some people know that in the spirit of the season. I wish they knew.”
I attended a meeting recently at the headquarters of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board in Bwari, Abuja: the post-2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination review meeting chaired by the JAMB registrar, Professor Ish-aq Oloyede. Participants included Professor Oloyede and his technical team, field officers and other staff, all the Chief External Examiners who supervised the 2017 UTME, across Nigeria, mostly Vice-Chancellors of universities, and provosts/rectors of polytechnics and colleges of education, in addition to major stakeholders from civil society.
The JAMB Registrar presented a detailed report on the conduct of the 2017 UTME, matters arising were identified and the meeting took certain decisions about the way forward, the details of which have since been published. The 2017 UTME was conducted throughout Nigeria between Saturday 13th and Saturday 20th May 2017, at 140 examination centres, 642 Computer-Based Test Centres, with 7,000 invigilators and monitors and 1, 722, 236 candidates.
It was the first examination to be conducted under Professor Oloyede’s watch as JAMB Registrar. He was full of appreciation for the efforts and contributions of everyone, including the civil society and security agencies who helped to ensure the success of the examination. The meeting noted that Oloyede and his team had also done an excellent job in organizing a commendable Computer-Based Examination across the country.
In recent years, JAMB has insisted on computerizing its examinations, and under Oloyede, there has been not only an emphasis on this but also on the integrity and credibility of the examination. The Report presented by the JAMB Registrar was comprehensive, confident and informative.
In 2017, JAMB examined the highest number of candidates in its forty years of existence: 1.7million, with the highest number of participating external officials and monitors. The first point the meeting noted however, was that the figure of 1.7 m does not actually reflect the true number of candidates who sat for the examination.
More than 300, 000 of the candidates engaged in double or triple registration, and where it could be established that any candidate sat for the examination more than once, such a candidate was automatically disqualified. A total of 666 cases were reported in this regard.
For planning purposes, the figure of 1.7 m was misleading, a fact that was worsened by the fact that more than 50% of the candidates do not even have the pre-requisite qualifications, and in reality, more than 70% of all candidates applied for courses in the Arts and Social Sciences, whereas for national manpower development purposes, the expectation is that the Sciences should produce up to 70%.
The message here is clear: higher education admission processes ought to reflect the country’s manpower needs, and there is no doubting the fact that at the moment, there is a mismatch between our country’s manpower production processes and the job market, and this is perhaps in a way responsible for the country’s unemployment crisis. As it were, Nigeria’s higher education system produces graduates that do not fit into the demands of the job market.
Oloyede was more agitated about matters of integrity, credibility, accountability and transparency. He asked the meeting to take a close look at cases of examination irregularities and malpractice and take a decision. We were informed that a total of 1, 386 candidates all properly identified and documented were guilty of the following offences: impersonation, possession of prepared answer scripts, smuggling of foreign materials into the examination venue, possession of electronic gadgets including telephone, copying and spying from foreign materials, unruly behaviour, violent conduct, collusion, multiple registration and examinations.
We were all shocked when Oloyede asked his staff to present to the meeting, concrete evidence of examination malpractice. We were shown shirts, with presumed answers written out in the inner lining, slippers, belts, handkerchiefs, and all kinds of strange devices that candidates across the country smuggled into examination centres.
It turned out that a criminal gang had developed around the UTME, involving persons who deceived candidates into believing that they had access to examination questions. Such questions with prepared answers were sold to candidates ahead of the examination. But according to JAMB, this was meaningless, because the examination questions were sent electronically to the centres only on the day of the examination, and JAMB did not use the same set of questions, at any time, either in the morning or the afternoon.
The bigger problem came from the operators of the Computer-Based Test Centres, who colluded with candidates and parents to compromise the examination. Many of these CBT centres collected gate fees, ranging from N2, 000 to N20, 000 and higher, they recruited thugs, they deliberately created technical problems to assist candidates to cheat (in some cases, the CCTVs installed by JAMB were either switched off or covered up); some centres also ran parallel communication cables to secret rooms where ghost candidates who had done what is called 8 x 2 fingerprinting, involving a candidate and a substitute, ghost-wrote the examination.
Oloyede reported that JAMB did its best to track down all the fraudulent centres, across the country, 25 centres were involved in centre-induced malpractice, with 57, 646 candidates. Some other centres had technical issues, and in total, JAMB proposed that 72 centres in 18 states of the Federation should either be delisted or suspended.
We considered the report on every affected centre on a case-by-case basis, with each Chief Examiner responding to further enquiries, and at the end, the meeting resolved that 48 centres involved in extortion and malpratices should be delisted, while 24 centres should be suspended for a year.
The statistics on 2017 UTME malpractice is noteworthy. Most of the affected states are from the South East and South South as follows: Abia (381 cases), Imo (193), Anambra (152), Enugu (114), Cross River (78), Ebonyi (48), Akwa Ibom (44) while the states with the lowest number of cases are from the North viz: Kebbi (1), Kaduna (16), Kano (29), Katsina (2), Kogi (7) Sokoto (25), Taraba (4), Zamfara (1). Yobe and Jigawa states had no reported case of examination malpractice, only 2 cases of multiple registration from the latter.
Could it be then that students and CBT operators in the North are more honest than their Southern counterparts, or perhaps less computer savvy? Does the 2017 UTME say anything about national character?
Our deliberations did not cover this particular detail, but the meeting became more exciting when the involvement of parents, particularly mothers, was reported. In one centre, a mother was said to have approached the Chief Examiner to ask him to assist her daughter to pass the examination.
The Chief Examiner reportedly told her to leave the examination venue, but she insisted that if the Chief Examiner was ready to help, as requested, she was prepared to pay in kind. The alarmed Professor and Examiner told her it was not part of his function to do what she wanted. The UTME, he said is a merit-based examination.
The woman, not giving up, asked for the hotel where the Professor was staying. She offered to join him in the hotel later in the day! In another state, an invigilator lured a young lady to the control room with the promise that if she would co-operate with him, he would help her to pass the UTME. Other invigilators caught the two of them and promptly reported the matter.
When the young lady’s mother was informed about what had happened, her response was most unusual. She was not willing to press charges, or talk about the scandal. She was in fact not bothered at all. She would rather talk about something else. What did she want? She wanted JAMB to compensate her daughter with additional 10 marks or more, to make up for the sexual harassment. We were all alarmed. Strange things really happen.
Someone then remarked that JAMB should take a decision and ban mothers from following their children to examination centres and all husbands should be advised to keep an eye on wives who will go to any length to mislead their children. Again, the meeting did not concentrate on this delicate subject.
But someone made a point: “You see this thing called corruption. It starts from the home. Many parents are setting very bad examples for their children. There is too much desperation in our country. The anti-corruption campaign should start with parents.”
Nonetheless, the meeting resolved that JAMB should introduce the use of electronic jammers at examination centres as part of measures to discourage centre-induced malpractice, the results of 1,386 candidates found guilty of examination malpractice should be cancelled, 57,646 centre-induced malpractice results should also be cancelled, while a supplementary examination should be held on July 1, for candidates who lost time due to the malfunctioning of servers, technical and log out issues, Biometric Verification related issues, late registration due to no fault of theirs, incomplete results and candidates of centres with mass malpractice but who are deemed innocent.
The JAMB Registrar further informed us that the examination body was ready to go to court where necessary to prosecute persons involved in examination malpractice, and that should any manager of a CBT centre find it necessary to challenge JAMB in court, he and his team would be glad to meet such persons in court. I like Oloyede’s spirit and the enthusiasm of his freshly energized team.
The larger question is why examination, something considered a serious routine in other countries, is such a nightmare in Nigeria. Students cheat, parents collude with agents to help their children to cheat, examination consultants are worse, the kind of reports we receive daily about examinations in Nigeria sound fictional but they are worrisome because they are real. It is tragic that our public examinations are no better than Nigerian elections!
Just before the meeting ended, the representative from Akwa Ibom stood up and said he had a letter for the JAMB Registrar - one of the JAMB officials who served as a Proctor in Akwa Ibom state would need to assist the police with investigations into a case of examination malpractice and give evidence in court.
“I heard about that case. I have directed that the lady should leave for Akwa Ibom and stay there until you are through with the investigations. Who is her direct supervisor?’, Oloyede asked.
One of the directors raised his hand.
“Ha. Doctor. That lady is excused from work until further notice. She should relocate to Akwa Ibom and assist with investigations. We will pay her DTA and provide whatever support she needs. Wherever there is any reported case, we must follow it up to prove that we will not tolerate any form of corruption or malpractice where our examinations are involved. The examiner from Akwa Ibom, you can keep her for as long as you want until you get to the root of the matter. Mee-ting! Approved?”
“App-ro-ved!”, we all chorused.
Fifty years after the civil war ended, Igbos do not yet feel a sense of belonging, acceptance or safety in the Federation called Nigeria. The sad part is that this belief is shared not just by the generation that witnessed the war and its deadly consequences, but Igbos across all generations, including the millennials who have been socialized into believing that there is a gap between their people and other Nigerians.
Let us not deceive ourselves about certain plain truths. The civil war is perhaps the most remarkable incident in Igbo history in the last century. The pain, the loss, all about it, is deeply imprinted in the Igbo consciousness. Whereas the Igbo nation has shown great resourcefulness since the war, and its people have proven to be enterprising and determined to hold their own in every sphere of life, including outstanding contributions to the making of the Nigerian state, there are Nigerians who still regard and treat the Igbo suspiciously.
Anti-Igbo sentiment may not be so openly expressed, but it is usually something beneath the surface. There are landlords in many parts of Nigeria, for example, who will never rent out their property to an Igbo man. The Igbo tenant is easily stigmatized. I have heard people complain that Igbo tenants are too stubborn or that when you rent a room to an Igbo man, he will end up sub-letting that one room to all kinds of persons from his village, putting pressure on the property’s limited facilities.
Some landlords insist that an Igbo tenant could even start eyeing the property, to buy it off the landlord, or if it is a shop, the Igbo trader would end up renting the entire street, and could turn the street into an Igbo neigbourhood. This stigma has been a source of agony for many Igbos seeking accommodation, particularly in Lagos, but it is of course completely baseless stereotyping. There are good and bad persons from virtually every Nigerian ethnic group.
The stereotyping of the Igbo person can also be found in the political arena. It is assumed by some persons, and such statements have been made to my hearing, that the only reason an Igbo man cannot be President of Nigeria is because every Igbo man sees himself as a potential President, and should the Presidency be zoned to the South East, the struggle for the ticket could result in inter-community strife in Igboland. The name of the group is Igbo, but when other Nigerians want to be mischievous, or perhaps out of ignorance, they refer to Igbos as Ibo, and when you try to correct them, they may insist you don’t seem to understand. It is I-Before-Others (IBO).
Igbos have also been held responsible for all sorts of things, kidnapping, drug trafficking, child trafficking, armed robbery – even when there are criminals from virtually every community in Nigeria. Meanwhile, they are one of the most vertically educated ethnic groups in Nigeria, and the most enterprising in all fields. A friend once said that if you enter any community in Nigeria and you don’t have an Igbo man running a small shop there, or engaged in some other kind of business, then you have no business staying in that community. Igbos are also obviously the most integrated ethnic group in Nigeria, which is why it is ironic that they are also the most vilified.
I wrote what I considered a harmless piece recently in which I referred to the declaration of Biafra in 1967 and quoted excerpts from the Ahiara Declaration. I got a phone call from a friend who declared that I should stop encouraging these “Biafrans”. Nothing I said made sense to him.
“You don’t know those people”, he declared.
“I know people from all parts of Nigeria,” I said.
“You don’t know Igbos. Has there been any problem in this country that you know in which Igbos have not been involved? They have started again, heating up the polity with threats of secession.”
“It is a sign that all is not well with Nigeria,” I retorted.
“Don’t mind them. I don’t think anybody wants to secede. If Igbos really want to secede, you think it is Nnamdi Kanu that will be speaking for them?”
“It takes just one illuminated soul to start a revolution.”
“Don’t bring that line. Everything is not textbook, this man. Just tell those Igbos not to include my people in whatever they are looking for. We are their neighbours. They dragged us into the civil war. This time around, they’ve gone to draw a map, including my people. Biafra does not extend to the South-South. We are just looking at them.”
“Biafra is an idea.”
“I don’t want to hear all these textbook things, I have told you. Which idea? See, most Nigerians do not support Biafra. They think Igbos are just playing games. I’ll send you some other articles written by other Nigerians and you’d see what I am talking about. People are angry that anybody will be talking about secession in 2017! Nigerians are fed up with Igbos and their games. President Jonathan gave them everything but on election day, many of them stayed at home and refused to vote. Now, they are talking secession.”
“But Yorubas are also talking about Oduduwa Republic.”
“The Yoruba are not going anywhere. What they want is restructuring, fiscal federalism. Which Oduduwa Republic?”
“The people of the Middle Belt are also aggrieved.”
“Anybody can be aggrieved. You can’t please Nigerians. And some of these things are political. Obasanjo became President, Niger Delta carried arms; Jonathan got there, Boko Haram kidnapped children, Buhari is there now, and all the ghosts of Biafra are frightening everybody. But these Igbos, tell them they are not going anywhere.”
“I am surprised you are talking like this.”
“What is the matter with those people? They are all over Nigeria. They are even selling land in Lagos. But no outsider is allowed to buy half a plot of land in Igboland. You carry Igbo girl sef, na problem. Go and check your email. I will send you other perspectives on this matter.”
Before long, I received a mail indeed. The fellow had put together a collection of anti-Biafra, anti-Igbo articles which he urged me to read, with the rider that I should pay particular attention to the fact that some of those articles were written by Igbos. I ignored the rider. Some of those articles could have been ghost written. What is clear, however, is that all is not well with Nigeria. We are a country that needs to be rescued from the centripetal forces tearing us apart, and the leading forces today would include, as was the case before now, ethnicity, religion, the politics of hate, and citizen alienation.
If my review of the stereotyping of Igbos in Nigeria and the reported conversation with an Igbo-hater does not fully convey the seriousness of this situation, then the June 6 ultimatum issued to all Igbos living in Northern Nigeria by a coalition of Northern Arewa youth groups should.
A group called the Northern Emancipation Network, comprising 16 Arewa youth groups, has asked all Igbos living anywhere in Northern Nigeria to pack their bags and baggage and be out of the Northern region by October 1, 2017. When the 19 Northern Governors met and dismissed the threat as misguided, the young Arewa Igbo-haters issued a riposte and more or less asked the Governors to shut up. Their message is that since Igbos no longer want to be part of Nigeria, they should get out, because they, Arewa youths, do not want belong to the same political union with Igbos. They are angry that on May 30, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous Peoples Organization of Biafra (IPOB) succeeded in shutting down a part of Nigeria to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of Biafra.
The arrogance of the Northern youths is insufferable. It speaks to virtually everything that other Nigerians are uncomfortable with about the Fulani North: a born-to-rule, hegemonic tendency. It is an assault on the Nigerian Constitution, to the extent that the Constitution does not grant any individual or group, the right or the power to determine where any Nigerian may live or work or die or acquire property. All Nigerians are equal before the law. The Northern youths, who do not think so, held a meeting, a press conference, and issued statements. The Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai asked the Nigeria Police to arrest them for promoting ethnic hatred. The only response we have had from the Police Headquarters so far, is from one Jimoh Moshood, described as Police Spokesman telling Nigerians that the Arewa youths “are not sitting in the market waiting to be picked up.”
Moshood, if you actually said that, then you should be relieved of your position forthwith. If you are a spokesperson and you have nothing intelligent to say, the best option is to remain silent, otherwise whatever you say will be used against you in the court of public opinion. So, the Nigeria police only arrest people when they go to the market and wait to be arrested? Is that the new police that we now have? The Northern Emancipation Network called Igbos all kinds of names – “unruly, reckless, insatiable, uncultured, confrontational, ungrateful” - and since they issued their ultimatum, the polity has been heated up, ethnic hate has been promoted, the Igbos of Nigeria have been further alienated.
This was how the civil war of 1967-70 started. Nigeria cannot afford another civil war. No country survives two civil wars. Already, Igbos in the North are reportedly relocating back to the South East or elsewhere in Nigeria. Young Nigerians from the North, the East and the South started the civil war. The politics of ethnicity and the rhetoric of hate ignited the fire that consumed the nation for three years. The scars have not healed because 50 years later, the youths of the North and the East are again lighting up the fire of hate. On June 6, the Northern Emancipation Network also asked Northerners in the East, I hope this includes the peripatetic herdsmen, to return to the North!
The Nigerian Government must take this on-going febrile conversation between the North and the East more seriously than it appears to be doing. The security agencies do not have to go to the markets to look for what is not there. When there is a threat to the state, it is their duty to identify the threat and act on it. All persons who are working hard and making provocative statements to cause a national crisis should be monitored and checkmated. With all the difficult challenges facing this country, at this moment, our security alert system should be pushed a notch higher.
If the security agencies fail to act, particularly on the matter of the coalition of Northern youths promoting Igbo hatred, the Federal Government would have committed a grievous sin, likely to be interpreted as aiding and abetting. And there would be persons who will legitimately ask: are we confronted with a hand of Jacob and voice of Esau situation? Who is sponsoring the Arewa youths? Who granted them the permission to use the platform of Arewa House to spew anti-Igbo hate speech? Who is blocking their arrest by the security agencies? What those boys have done is even worse than the threat of secession by Nnamdi Kanu and his supporters.
But the message is clear: Nigeria is not yet a nation. A country where any group or association can threaten to expel another group is not yet a nation. The common enemy is not the secessionists. The common enemies are the political leaders, the tribal demagogues, the political opportunists, the religious bigots, the paid shamanists, who continue to manipulate Nigeria’s destiny to suit their own purposes. There can be no country except the people love the nation and the state.
“How is it going my brother?"
“We just dey look. Two years and we thank God.”
“How was your May 29?”
“There was no celebration. We just siddon dey look.”
“But the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo addressed the nation.”
“I know. I know. But there was no programme in place for celebrating two years of the Buhari government. In the past, we used to have a week-long programme, with military parades, prayers here and there and then a national broadcast to remind the people of how democratic rule has been so fruitful and kind.”
“There was a national broadcast."
“I saw that. The Acting President spoke about optimism, building confidence, and reassuring the people. It was as if the country was mourning.”
“How do you expect them to celebrate when the Commander-in-Chief is out of the country?”
“But there is an Acting Commander-in-Chief”
“Are you sure Professor Osinbajo is actually an Acting Commander-in-Chief or a co-ordinator? There can only be one Commander-in-Chief at a time. There were two flags behind the Acting President, instead of four. His ADC is a policeman not a soldier. When he conducts council meetings, he doesn’t use the Commander-in-Chief’s seat.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“But what is your assessment? The cloud has settled, we can now think more clearly.”
“What I hear is that the position of the Federal Government is that it is too early to assess the Buhari government. Femi, our friend and brother says it would not be fair to assess an administration that has a four-year tenure after two years.”
“He is probably right. May be it is better to assess the administration in 10 years time.”
“What are you saying?”
“History has a way of offering better views. Nigerians are always impatient. They don’t appreciate the good vision that history offers.”
“History. History. When the administration reached 100 days, they said we could not assess it. They said it was too early. When they got to six months, they told us to wait. One-year anniversary, we were again told to exercise patience. It is now two years, and we are told any kind of assessment will be premature. How many years does it take to prepare the grounds for madness?"
“By madness, I suppose you mean performance.”
“I assume you are educated.”
“Don’t insult me. I am not in government.”
“Then don’t sound like you are dumb, my friend.”
“I am not dumb. I am smart. After all, am I the person that said President Buhari does not owe Nigerians anything?”
“Someone said that?”
“Yes. One Presidential aide insisted that Nigerians should stop expecting this and that, because it is not the business of government.”
“I see. I see.”
“You keep saying I see, I see. Are you sure you don’t need to change your eye-glasses?”
“I have just remembered a story I read in which a group called SBM Intelligence reported that the Buhari administration has only achieved after 2 years, 4 per cent of its campaign promises since it assumed power.”
“SBM Intelligence. You better find out who owns it and who is behind it. What if SBM Intelligence is owned by the PDP or some marabouts who have upgraded their game?”
“They sounded professional to me.”
”I don’t know about that.”
“But what about Richard Quest, the CNN Correspondent who visited Nigeria recently? He also had something to say about our democracy.”
“What about him? “
“He reported that since the CNN visited Nigeria for the Presidential inauguration two years ago, the only achievement by the Nigerian government has been the repair of the Abuja airport runway.”
“He said that?”
“Yes”
“Well, what does Richard Quest actually know about Nigeria. He came here to eat jollof rice with Alhaji Lai Mohammed. Jollof rice has a way of inducing you to get carried away and when you get carried away, you say all kinds of things.”
“But can you really blame him?”
“No. I blame jollof rice. Why would he reduce everything to Abuja airport runway? This government in two years has reduced Boko Haram to nothing. This is the government that seized the very essence of Boko Haram and Ibrahim Shekau.”
“The very essence of Boko Haram? I am not aware that the Federal Government captured Shekau’s wife.”
“This government captured the Boko Haram flag and Shekau’s Quoran. That is a monumental achievement. What is Shekau without his flag and his Quoran? Richard Quest is talking. Not even his own country America can claim to have captured the ISIS flag. When Nigeria does something, let us say so. I beg.”
“I just hope they are not keeping that flag and the Quoran in the Villa.”
“They can keep them wherever they like. Once Shekau’s essence was captured, the girls were bound to come out. Over 100 of them did.”
“I know.”
“What I even want to suggest is that Sambisa Forest should be turned into a legacy site. Something like the establishment of the University of Sambisa Forest, for girls only, to help us remember the battle that was fought in that forest.”
“Sambisa is about 60, 000 sq. kms covering six states.”
“I don’t see how that is a problem. Sambisa can be converted from a theatre of agony into a major educational theatre, given the nature of its story.”
“I don’t get it.”
“We need to prove that Boko is not Haram.”
“You think that is why it is too early to assess, and that change begins with us, or that they owe us nothing?”
“Of course they owe us something. Whoever said they don’t is either high on something or stupid.”
“They owe us electricity, for example?”
“Yes”
“But the Senate says the government can’t give us electricity. That is a major problem for the economy.”
“Clearly, the Senate doesn’t fully understand how the economy has worked in the past two years.”
“How?”
“The economy has been diversified, I can tell you that for a fact.”
“I have been hearing that, government to government, over the years.”
“But there is something different, this time.”
“Hear. Hear.”
“For the first time in Nigerian history, we have just been reminded of how lucrative grass cutting can be. You can become an instant multi-millionaire by cutting grass.”
“Grass-cutting!”
“Yes. You can also become stupendously rich by rearing snakes."
“Snakes?”
“Yes. Persons in this government have shown us how to diversify sources of revenue, so it is not just diversification of the economy, the new model is about the diversification of revenue.”
“But they say government can’t pay salaries and that they intend to borrow?”
“Don’t worry. It’s because the new model is yet to take root. In ten years’ time when you review the administration, you’d understand better.”
“Ten years.”
“Yes. Nigerians should learn to be patient. That is how change begins with you.”
“This change is beginning to look strange.”
“If it is, then by now, you’d be dead. You have to be grateful.”
“How?”
“Many jobs are being created. In Benue state for example, the Governor has distributed wheel-barrows as dividends of democracy and as a means of alleviating poverty.”
“Wheel-barrows? The Governor wants to turn his people into pushers of wheel-barrows in the 21st Century?”
“My brother, he even put his name on the wheel barrows.”
“I don’t see how that is okay. David Mark complained that Samuel Ortom should not reduce Benue state to a state of wheel barrow pushers."
“David Mark is just being jealous. We are talking economic transformation. A Federal Minister has also said that Nigeria will soon be self-sufficient in the production of pencils and toothpicks.”
“Pencils and toothpicks?”
“By 2019, of course. Something big."
“And if not, I guess that particular Minister will also resign like his other colleague in the Petroleum Ministry who says if we do not have enough petrol supply by 2019, he will just resign.”
“Don’t worry. Nobody resigns in Nigeria. You’d resign and miss the opportunity for grass-cutters? Commot-mouth-for-matter! I know at least one Minister who is already delivering ahead of schedule, though”
“And who may that be?”
“The Minister of Information. He said government was going to create many jobs through the promotion of masks and masquerades.”
“Masquerades”
“He delivered. During the Eyo Festival to mark the 50th Anniversary of Lagos State, many masquerades took over the streets. Solid diversification.”
“You have not heard of the violence that erupted, the rains that fell and the clash with the police.”
“There will always be occupational hazards. Think in terms of the jobs that were created.”
“You have also not heard of how the police shot and killed some masquerades in other parts of Nigeria. If masquerading is a state policy, then masquerades should be better protected.”
“But it is all part of the economy. Masquerade as business metaphor.”
“What business?”
“Okay, this government in two years has made music very popular. The biggest achievement by the National Assembly for example is that special song: Ajekun iya ni o je, ajekun iya ni o je…. I won’t be surprised if Beyonce, or R.Kelly or any of our superstars - Whizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Banky W turn it into a major remix, with some Senators appearing in the video. In fact, Ajekun iya was a major presentation during the Lagos at 50 celebrations."
“Recession is almost entering third quarter. Nigeria is going a-borrowing. Businesses are closing shop. More workers than ever have been retrenched.”
“That’s because some people emptied the treasury. That has nothing to do with the last two years. Some people emptied the treasury.”
“Your family members obviously.”
“No. This is not about my own family, but your chop-and clean-mouth family. The day your truth will come out, hen.”
“I beg.”
“But you are aware SMB Intelligence says the cost of governance has gone up and that nothing has changed?”
“What do those ones know about the economy? You can’t assess a whole administration by administering corner-side questionnaires. I can bet they gave those forms to PDP members.”
“Is it also the PDP that is responsible for Baba’s health travels to the UK?”
“God is in control. Baba will return hale and hearty and all of you will be put to shame. I thank God Mummy has said Baba is recovering fast and that he will be back home very soon.”
“Al hamdulillahi”
“We thank God for everything. And we thank God for the Nigerian drugs that Baba has been using in the UK.”
“But wait a moment. Did you just say Mummy?”
“Yes. Mummy of the nation, mummy Aisha.”
“Ha. Oh my. Look at me."
“What is it?”
“I know your type. You-are-a-sycophant! You have joined them to call the President’s wife, your Mummy? Haba.”
“She is our Mummy."
“Don’t worry. I understand.”
“You actually don’t have to worry, because I also think Osinbajo is doing well. And I see you people, the Oduduwa people are just so excited that your brother is now the one in charge. Una do well.”
“I am not excited. I am worried about the Acting President’s safety.”
“Why? How? Nobody is disturbing him."
“Have you not heard that some people are now saying he has surrounded himself with Yoruba people?”
“That is not true? Most of his staff are Northerners and Muslims.”
“They have started playing him sha. Obviously, some people don’t appreciate the fact that it is a good thing for this government that Baba formally handed over to his deputy. It is the best demonstration of good faith so far.”
“The people who are criticizing the Acting President, did they not read his speech on Biafra?"
“They don’t read.”
“He reached out to the Biafrans. He said we belong together, not apart. He then visited Cross River state.”
”Cross River state is not part of Biafra."
“It is in the map.”
“Which map? The map drawn up by IPOB and MASSOB?”
“I saw Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Akwa Ibom states in the map.”
“I have also seen comments by people from those states saying they are not part of Biafra and that they have no intention to leave Nigeria, and nobody should conscript them.”
“Are you sure?"
Look. Let’s leave that matter. Have you seen anybody from outside Igboland supporting secession?”
“Yes”
“And who is that?”
“Their in-law, FFK”
“A very good in-law.”
“It’s always good to support our wives.”
“My friend, can we talk about something else? FFK is an intellectual. Don’t insult him, my friend.”
“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”
“I didn’t like the way the Acting President was hugging and shaking hands with people when he visited Calabar. That is too dangerous. Anything could have happened to him. His security details should be queried. The man even collected vegetables from a market woman. His security was compromised.”
“The Acting President is covered by the blood of Jesus, and God of Adeboye. He will not be kidnapped in Jesus Mighty name.”
“Oh, you are part of that crowd?”
“Blood of Calvary. God of Ayo Babalola. The I am that I am…”
“Hellooo….”
It is sad that many Nigerians today talk glibly about the possibility of a coup or of military intervention in politics. They make it seem as if this democracy is something we can exchange for something else. We need to be reminded, as we celebrate democracy day 2017, how we got to this very moment, and how precious democracy is to us as a sovereign people. From 1966 to 1999 (with the short break of civilian rule from 1979 – 1983) the military dominated the political landscape in Nigeria. It was eighteen years ago yesterday when our country returned to civilian rule.
The military practically overstayed their welcome. The first military coup in Nigeria was in January 1966, followed by the counter-coup of July 1966, and then the civil war of 1967-70 which turned Nigeria into a military theatre more or less as the Federal forces engaged the Biafran secessionists in a fratricidal war that resulted in the loss of more than a million lives, starvation and the tearing apart of the Nigerian fabric. The military would remain in charge of Nigeria and its affairs for more than 30 years in total, and it is worth remembering that virtually every successful coup was welcome by the people. It was thought particularly in the 70s that the military had a role to play in many developing countries in Africa to ensure stability and national discipline. The civilians who took over from the colonialists in Nigeria and Ghana, to cite two close examples, proved worse than their predecessors, and hence the usual argument for military intervention was corruption, and the need to keep the country together, and check the excesses of the civilian rulers. Military rule was perhaps closer to what the people had known traditionally and also under the colonialists. Kings or feudalists who did not tolerate any form of opposition, or free expression governed the traditional communities and likewise, the colonial masters were dictators. The military continued in that tradition. In-fighting among the emergent military elite and the competition for power eroded discipline, and resulted over the years in more coups.
To be fair, military intervention in Nigerian politics yielded some positive dividends, and created a leadership cadre, and indeed till date, the influence of the military in Nigerian politics, as seen in the transmutation of many military officers into professional politicians, remains a strong factor in the making and unmaking of Nigeria. But by 1990, with the global wave of democratization, glasnost and perestroika, the collapse of the Berlin wall, and the greater emphasis on human rights, and the rise of civil society, the Nigerian public began to subject the military to greater scrutiny than was hitherto the case.
After a fashion, every military government presented itself as a corrective regime, with the promise to hand over power in a short while to civilians. By 1986, the Babangida administration after a year in office had launched a political transition programme, beginning with the establishment of a 17-man Political Bureau. In 1989, the ban on political activities was lifted. The military junta would later ban these existing political parties and create its own parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention.
This seemingly endless transition programme and increased civil society activism merely drew more attention to the military and its record in the public sphere. The people began to demand an inevitable return to civilian rule. They complained about the human rights abuses of the military, the apparent domination of power by the Northern elite, the marginalization of other groups in Nigeria, and the spread of injustice and inequities.
When a Presidential election was held on June 12, 1993, and the SDP candidate, Chief MKO Abiola won the election- an election that was adjudged to be free and fair, Nigerians felt that the hour of their liberation from military rule had come. But the Babangida administration refused to announce the final results and subsequently, it annulled the election. It was a disastrous moment for the Nigerian military and the administration. It also marked the beginning of a national crisis that dragged on for six years. The Nigerian people were inconsolable. In the course of the crisis, General Ibrahim Babangida had to “step aside”, handing over power to an Interim national Government (ING), which was soon shoved aside by General Abacha. Between 1993 and 1999, Nigeria had three different leaders: Chief Ernest Shonekan, General Sani Abacha and General Abdusalami Abubakar.
The ensuing struggle for democracy was long and momentous. Progressive Nigerians and the civil society turned against the military. The South West declared that it had been robbed. MKO Abiola fought for his mandate. The international community ostracized the Abacha government. Nigeria became a pariah nation. The media was in the forefront of the struggle, and many journalists were jailed, hounded into exile, publishing houses were set ablaze. Anyone who criticized the soldiers was framed for one offence or the other and thrown behind bars.
The progressive forces insisted that the military must go. “Never Again”, the people chorused. There had been no other moment like that in contemporary Nigeria. The martyrs of that people’s revolution were the ones that died, including Chief MKO Abiola who died in Abacha’s detention camp, the many innocent persons who were shot by the military, and every one who suffered one major loss or the other. The heroes were the valiant men and women who stood up for democracy and justice and opposed military tyranny. The villains were the soldiers who trampled upon the people’s rights, and their opportunistic agents in civil society. On May 29, 1999, Nigeria returned to civilian rule. It was the day of our country’s second liberation, liberation from the “years that the locusts ate.”
In the month of June, there would be another historic date for Nigerians, that is June 12, a definite milestone in Nigerian democracy even if the Federal Government has been largely in denial since 1999. MKO Abiola deserves to be honoured post-humously not just selectively by states in the South-West but by the Nigerian Government as a kind of restitution, and by this, I mean a formal declaration, for record purposes, that he was indeed the winner of that June 12, 1993 election.This brief excursion to the recent past is important because it is so easy to forget. I have met young Nigerians who have never heard of Chief MKO Abiola. In a country where history is no longer taught in schools, that should not be surprising. The Nigerians who were born in 1993 are today out of university, and many of them may never have experienced military rule. They were still children when their parents fought for this democracy. Whoever makes the mistake of even remotely suggesting any form of return to military rule is an enemy of the Nigerian people. Such persons would be taking this country back to 18 years ago and beyond.
Whatever may be the shortcomings of our democracy, this system of government has served the Nigerian people well. We may worry about the form or the shape, or the character of our democracy, the opportunism and imperfections of the professional political class, or the weakness of certain institutions but all told, this is a much better country. The best place for the military is to function under a constitutional order and to discharge its duties as the protector of national sovereignty. Any soldier who is interested in politics should resign his commission, and join a political party, politics being an open field for all categories of persons, including ex-convicts, prostitutes and armed robbers. I find the auto-suggestion of military intervention gross and odious. It is regrettable that those whose duty should never in any shape include scare-mongering were the ones who started that nonsensical discussion in the first place.
For the benefit of those who do not know or who may have forgotten, we once lived in a certain country called Nigeria, ruled by the military, where the rights of citizens meant nothing. The soldiers were our rulers. They were above the laws of the land. The people were their subordinates. They called us “bloody civilians.” The media was not free. Your insistence on free speech could land you in jail. Under the guise of enforcing discipline, the military treated the people as if they were slaves. Everything was done “with immediate effect!”, including the suspension of human rights.
Today, democracy has given the Nigerian people, voice. There is a greater consciousness of the power of the people, as well as the need to hold persons in power accountable. The electoral process is still imperfect, but the people are now supremely confident of their right to choose. But not all our problems have been solved. For example, exactly 50 years ago today, the late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, hero of the Biafran Revolution, led the people of the Bight of Biafra on a secession move out of Nigeria.
He said: “…you, the people of Eastern Nigeria, Conscious of the Supreme Authority of Almighty God over all mankind, of your duty to yourselves and prosperity; Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria/Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights which can best be protected by yourselves. Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or economic nature… Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, by virtue of the authority and pursuant to the principles recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her Continental Shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of The Republic of Biafra…”
In other words, the people of Eastern Nigeria no longer felt free or protected or respected inside Nigeria. They opted out. In the Ahiara Declaration of 1969, Ojukwu summed it all up as follows: “When the Nigerians violated our basic human rights and liberties, we decided reluctantly but bravely to found our own state, to exercise our inalienable right to self-determination as our only remaining hope for survival as a people.”
The civil war ended on January 12, 1970 but 50 years since the declaration of secession by the people of Eastern Nigeria, Igbos are still protesting about their relationship with the rest of Nigeria. But significantly, they are not the only ones complaining. Farmers are complaining about pastoralists, indigenes about settlers, Christians about Muslims and vice versa, women about men, men about women, youths about the older generation, the people of Southern Kaduna are unhappy, other Northern minorities too, the people of the Niger Delta have been unhappy since the Willink Commission of 1957/58, the other over 400 ethnic nationalities that are not recognized in Section 55 of the 1999 Constitution are also wondering whether they are truly part of this union…Basic human rights and liberties are still being violated.
Nigeria remains a yet unanswered question. Democratic rule may have opened up the space, but our country still suffers from a kind of hang-over. The people are free, but they are today everywhere in chains: politically, economically and ethnically. This is the sad part of our democracy, but the best part are the many lessons that the people are learning about the meaning, the nature and the cost of the choices that they make or that they have made.
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“Have you read Lauretta Onochie’s latest post?”
“Lauretta. Lauretta. Who is she?”
“She is a social media assistant at the Presidency. She shoots straight and direct. She defends President Muhammadu Buhari with the passion of someone the President treats like a daughter.”
“Not a son, this time, a daughter! Interesting. Of power, fathers, wives, sons and daughters….”
“She spits fire, particularly if the person involved is in any way related to either the People’s Democratic Party or former President Goodluck Jonathan.”
“I see…”
“I try to pay attention to the many battles of the spin community in Nigerian politics.”
“Well, I have tried to tune off for a while. Now that the social media is dominated by all kinds of ghosts and malcontents, I just don’t always take everything that I read there seriously. I should pay attention to this your Lauretta though. She is likely to provide a lot of comic relief.”
“You call it comic relief?”
“You never know. What is she saying?”
“I have just read a piece she wrote saying some politicians are now hiring marabouts, pastors and Bishops to pray for President Buhari’s death.”
“Pastors? Praying for someone to die? Contrary to the miracle of Lazarus and the fact of Resurrection?”
“Yes, some pastors are shamanists. Fact.”
“Some journalists are pastors”
“So?”
“Wrong syllogism. Not all pastors are shamanists.”
“I said some…”
“You sounded as if…”
“We are not talking logic. It is not everything that happens in society or in the corridors of power that is logical. If Lauretta says politicians are hiring marabouts and pastors to pray for the President’s death, she must know what she is talking about. Have you not seen how the Buhari Media Centre has been very busy raining curses on anybody who wishes the President dead? They have even chosen a song: Baba oh Baba oh, Baba o, oluwa da Baba si fun wa.”
“I see there is a singing competition in Abuja now between the Senate and the Villa. It is good to sing.”
“She says certain politicians are attacking President Buhari because he is still alive, despite their prayers. She insists they just don’t want him in power. They robbed him of victory in three past elections, and now that he has won, and is in charge, they are recruiting marabouts and soothsayers to pray for his death.”
“Hmm, these demons and principalities…”
“She even pointed out that those who wish the President dead travel to Niger and as far as India to recruit evil spiritualists.”
“She should name the persons involved so they can be charged immediately for high treason, or at worst attempted murder, or spiritual assault with intent to kill.”
“How do you prove spiritual assault?”
“The security agencies can start with the investigation of anybody who has travelled to Niger and India in the last six months to determine if such persons had any contact with a marabout, a pastor or a bishop in those countries.”
“You think this is a joke? I know these things. The only thing I don’t understand is why Niger and India. There are more marabouts, pastors and bishops in Nigeria.”
“I think the President’s enemies travel abroad because walls have ears. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should summon the ambassadors of Niger and India and any other country that may be identified to shed light on the relationship between the Nigerian political elite and the marabouts in their countries. This is a matter for the Foreign Affairs Ministry.”
“But under what law will the Federal Government try the marabouts and their clients? Or prove that they are praying for the President’s death?”
“They’d create one. That is easy. And they can start with social media. There is a website for example that announced what did not happen. Then there is a British politician who is already sending condolence messages, and writing opinions about what does not concern him.”
“Are there marabouts on social media?”
“Ha. Plenty”
“And that Oyinbo man, is he a marabout too, hired by Nigerian politicians? You see, then, Lauretta knows what she is talking about. Too many things in this country are remote-controlled by remote forces and marabouts. The most dangerous ones are the marabouts who call themselves clerics, with big titles.”
“But I really don’t know why anyone would wish the President dead. That is wicked. It is a much better business to pray for the President to get well soon. We can organize prayer rallies and receive sponsorship from the private sector, government at all levels and their contractors. I am even surprised that holidays have not yet been declared for prayers yet.”
“You are right. Government can neutralize the wickedness of the marabouts by recruiting prayer warriors. Pastors and Bishops who can preserve, protect and promote with the sacred power of the Word. Imams who can talk directly to God and make things happen.”
“And the people who pray will smile and receive praise.”
“Candidly, I would love to recommend some Pastors and Bishops who will counter the marabouts and the other pastors with prayers that will destroy demons and principalities, fire-for-fire, back to sender!”
“We can even do a book, you know?. Powers, Demons and Principalities: A History of Nigerian Politics.”
“Where will you find the empirical evidence for that? Sounds somehow.”
“Don’t worry. Someone once got a Ph.D with a dissertation titled “A History of the Penis.”
“What? Strange things happen in this world.”
“Like what happened in Ibadan yesterday. That’s what I wanted to discuss with you before you brought up this matter about marabouts.”
“What happened?”
“First, let me ask you, how is that your Made-in-Oyo-state cousin? Where is she? She stands the chance of making a fortune before next week”
“How? She is fine. She is in Lagos.”
“Very good. I think she should just start going to Ibadan right now and get ready for a beauty pageant. I know her. She is beautiful and I am sure she will win the top prize.”
“I am lost. Free me.”
“The Oyo State Government is organizing a beauty pageant for ladies with tribal marks to celebrate the 2017 World Culture Day and to promote cultural tourism. The lady with the most beautiful tribal marks will go home with good prizes. In fact the state government declared that on Monday, May 22, civil servants and other persons in the state should wear traditional attires to work, play traditional games and eat traditional food.”
“Amala and gbegiri day.”
“You should ask why the pageant is only for beautiful ladies with tribal marks. Where are the men?”
“My cousin is over 40. She can’t go for a beauty pageant.”
“There is no age barrier. And your cousin is hot. She has the best tribal marks I have seen although I don’t understand why your Uncle, who is educated, should subject her to such violence.”
“Identity. Tribal marks indicate your place of origin. It was used in the age of slave trade and inter-tribal wars to properly identify persons who were sold into captivity or captured as prisoners of war. With their tribal marks, they could easily trace their way back home.”
“And that is what Oyo state is promoting in the name of cultural tourism in 2017? Nonsense. Who needs tribal marks in the age of the millennials? There are modern means of identification: your passport, driver’s license, national identity card, even your fingerprint and iris. So, what is Oyo state planning to celebrate - that tribal marks are good?”
“I just hope they will not insist on female genital mutilation or leviration as part of culture.”
“Certain aspects of our culture have been overtaken by modernity, science and technology. You can promote local fashion, but tribal marks? Made-in-Oyo state? Oh no. I hope they don’t end up at that beauty pageant with fake tribal marks, straight from Nollywood. Make-up artists are so good these days, they can inflict fake tribal marks on a face, the person wins and she walks away.”
“I hope that happens. As for my cousin, no, I am not even sure she is proud of the bold scars on her face. Not even the United Nations which declared a World Culture Day will be happy.”
“Tell them in Ibadan. If they want to promote culture, they owe the people good governance. That’s all. Culture is about the way we live, and the way we see the world as a people, community, group, society and government. It is a broad, dynamic, living organism. The Constituted Authority in charge of Oyo State should know that.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes oh. I was surprised though to see that they also have culture in Saudi Arabia.”
“There is culture everywhere.”
“Apart from Islam, I mean. I was surprised to see dancing, drumming and sword-waving at the reception for US President Donald Trump. The Americans seemed happy with Arabian culture.”
“You really believe that? I don’t think President Trump and his team give a damn about Saudi Arabian culture. The Secretary of Commerce danced, the President swayed awkwardly, and bowed to the king because the Americans were able to secure good business deals. Natural resources, construction contracts and sale of military equipment to Saudi Arabia worth $110 billion which Trump described as tremendous investments. The State Department celebrated how this could create tens of thousands of new jobs in the US.”
“I get your point. I saw Trump’s son-in-law high-fiving the National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster.”
“And did you hear Trump talk about radical Islamic terrorism, human rights, or openly disparage Muslims the way he did during the campaigns? He didn’t. ”
“He mentioned something about radicalization and fanatical violence but he was obviously careful with words, and he played the politics of the region in a pragmatic manner.”
“You get it. Business is far more important than ideology or campaign rhetoric. In fact, Trump was practically sucking up to the Saudi Sunnis. That is a man who came to power condemning Muslims. That was sheer hypocrisy and opportunism at work. He played the same politics in Israel.”
“It is a fake world we live in. Fake Trump. Fake speech. It is sad though. While other countries are going round the world, looking for investments, Nigerian leaders are travelling here and there looking for marabouts and beautiful ladies with tribal marks!”
“And to think the social media is used to promote the fakery?”
“Social media?”
“Yes. It is a positive vehicle for democracy.”
“It is also a veritable vehicle for fake news. I am uncomfortable for example with the rise of twitter ghosts and masquerades.”
“I know what you mean. But there are remedies when people overdo things and violate other people’s rights. Twitter just sacked one twitter account called @SubDeliveryMan. The account has been used we are told, to invade people’s privacy, malign them and expose them to ridicule and yet the person behind the handle is totally anonymous.”
“Social media anonymity does not enhance democracy or free speech, it promotes mischief and the politics of hate. I am glad Twitter is doing something about it.”
“You know sometimes when I read what some people post on twitter. I wonder about their upbringing. I cringe. They just set out to hurt other people’s feelings.”
“Twitter has a responsibility to ensure that its platform is not abused by persons who have indecent motives.”
“The next account they should delete is @PObahiagbon. It is a fake account and Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon himself has said so. Identity theft is a crime.”
“You are sure it is not a parody account?”
“No. I also don’t like the idea of a parody account. It is easily abused. Free speech must be backed by a sense of decency and responsibility”
“The whole thing sounds like this marabout matter.”
“I think the real marabout matter in Nigeria is the on-going fake, auto-suggestive coup talk.”
“It shall be well with Nigeria.”
“A-a-a-a-men”.
The Daily Trust newspaper has published an interesting feature story (May 15), on the sudden surge in the number of First Class degrees being churned out by Nigerian universities. Daily Trust reports that its investigation reveals that in the last five years, 16 Nigerian universities have produced a total of 3, 499 first class graduates. Between 2011 and 2016, 12 of these universities produced 2, 822 First Class graduates, and it seems this First Class galore is a growing fashion particularly among the private universities.
This trend should ordinarily be a good thing: if Nigeria can manage to produce more First Class intellects, this should reflect on the long run on the country’s business, social, economic and cultural life. We would have more Ph.Ds hopefully, and so produce more qualified, research academics, especially now that close to 60% of Nigerian university lecturers do not have a Ph.D. The more brilliant persons a country’s education system is able to produce, the better, such persons can indeed make a significant difference and drive the leadership process on all fronts.
The only problem is that this growing trend needs to be interrogated. Previously, a First Class degree, the equivalent of a Distinction, was something quite rare, awarded by Departments after very careful consideration. I am not too sure that the entire Faculty of Arts of the University of Ibadan would have awarded up to 3,000 First Class degrees in the entire history of that Faculty. University departments talked about a First Class as if it was a comet. When students got a 2:1, they were the real lords of the Department, and even then a 2:1 was never given out in bus-loads.
I recall the story of a former colleague at the University of Calabar who was denied a First Class in those days, because he slapped a young lecturer, who had just been recruited and who did not know that this particular student was the star of the department and his Faculty. It was our final exam. He was summoned to appear before a disciplinary panel and told matter-of-factly that university degrees were awarded on the basis of character and learning. Check: it was always character before learning.
He made the First Class grade, but they gave him a 2:1. He was later appointed a Graduate Assistant though. He was also recommended for a Commonwealth Scholarship and sent to Cambridge for graduate studies. He would later prove to be a true First Class Brain. It was also the practice in those days for lecturers to remind brilliant students of the achievements of those who had obtained First Class degrees. Because they were not too many, a First Class graduate served for many years as a role model for succeeding generations.
It was also the case that there were more First Class graduates in the Sciences, Engineering and the Applied Sciences. The Humanities produced fewer First Class graduates. Some of our lecturers used to ask: “What do you want to write that will earn you a First Class? You must be really exceptional to know all the answers in literature, history or philosophy?” Those were the days when a Professor would start a class and frighten you with the information that the last student who scored an A grade in the course was a certain Professor so and so who ‘sat in this same class 30 years ago!’ If you must get an A, you’d have to prove to me that you are smarter than him”.
University authorities created such big myths around a First Class degree that many students just didn’t want to kill themselves trying to get one, only to be disappointed at the end of the day. The students who tried were not necessarily popular. They were labeled “Triangular Students”, “Bookworm”, “Effiko”, or “Akukwo”. Students in the 2:1 category felt more relaxed, many of them could even be as good as the First Class students, but just didn’t bother to apply themselves hard enough. The 2:2 students were easily the most popular. They would proudly tell you “they wanted to pass through the university and also allow the university to pass through them.” Maybe they were right.
In later life, many 2:2 graduates still ended up with Ph.Ds and even became Professors, or captains of industry. We also had those students in the Third Class and Pass categories: we referred to them jokingly as the “let my people go, no-future-ambition crowd”. If you ended up with a First Class, your colleagues congratulated and admired you, but they didn’t feel like they had failed in any way. The Nigerian education system in those days was so good every graduate left the campus confident that he or she had been well-equipped. First Class graduates by the way did not enjoy any special privileges. There were employment opportunities in the country. Companies came to the schools and the youth corps camps to recruit prospective staff, and many “let my people go” graduates also got jobs and opportunities as soon as they graduated!
So much has changed. It looks like there is now a greater emphasis on people getting better paper grades, and with the way our universities are churning out the First Class grades, very soon, there will be a First Class graduate on every street corner. One justification given for this is that the population of students in Nigerian universities and the number of courses, have increased. With 153 universities, we should logically, so the argument goes, expect more First Class graduates. It is also possible that university students in Nigeria today are smarter than the ones before them.
Except that the quality of their grades is at variance with the quality of their skills or the environment that is producing them. No one will argue that the quality of our universities, both private and public, is poor, for instance. Where are the outstanding scholars in our universities who are breeding First Class graduates? Where are the First Class universities churning out high grades?
Within the same period that Nigerian universities produced more than 3, 000 First Class graduates, only one Nigerian university –the University of Ibadan- was ranked among the world’s top 800 universities, number 601 as at September 2015. In the older Nigerian system that I described, Nigerian universities boasted of world-class intellectuals, with some of them ranking among the very best in their fields. There were top research libraries and laboratories in our universities and the environment was conducive for intellectual pursuit.
Obafemi Awolowo University, known then as the University of Ife, was considered the most beautiful campus in Africa! Tourists visited our universities to visit either the zoos or take pictures. The animals in the zoos have been sold or eaten, the libraries are old, with a few now digitalized, the laboratories are either non-existent or they lack equipment. The university authorities complain of poor funding; the lecturers do not always get their salaries and research grants.
The idea of the university is in trouble. These days, Nigerian academics become Professors with “scholarly, research essays” published in departmental journals or in journals published by their friends in other departments and printed in Somolu or Dubai. There are Professors who have never published an article in a leading international journal or conducted any significant research. A National Universities Commission official quoted by the Daily Trust tried to justify the First Class galore in Nigerian universities by saying NUC is not aware of anybody buying First Class degrees and that “our system is one of the best.” I hope that is not the mind-set of the NUC.
Could it be that the examinations have become too easy or that the teachers have become less rigorous in setting standards? It is sad to hear for example, that students in the Humanities, and Management and Social Sciences in some universities now sit only for multiple-choice examinations at the end of the semester, because they are so many and the lecturers can’t mark exam papers?
Our education system is far behind the rest of the world. Are we dealing with a problem of grade inflation? Any degree at all, is useless without the skills and competence to justify it. Private universities in Nigeria are reportedly more notorious for giving out high grades as a marketing strategy to attract rich parents to patronize them. A First Class or 2:1 degree may get you a job, and provide you an advantage in the face of the unemployment crisis in the country, but what will keep you on the job is something far more than the paper you hold: talent, skills, competence, creativity, people and communication skills and the ability to work with a team to achieve results. Many employers of labour in Nigeria, have had to retrain new recruits because they are often confronted with graduates with good grades, who can neither write nor think, or who may have learnt whatever they know through simulation or alternative methods. This is the real, worrisome trend, and it only gets worse: the evidence can be seen, increasingly, in the low quality of public debate, the public and private sectors and our cultural life.
Many professional associations try to raise the bar by setting rigorous standards for membership qualification, but of what use is a university system that may have adopted the tactics of GSM companies, offering bonus top ups, to gain market share?
The New President in France
Emmanuel Macron, the 39-year old who was sworn in on Sunday, May 14 as the new President of France has become a reference model for persons who would also like to see young Nigerians occupy high positions of responsibility, including the Presidency. There is a Not-Too-Young-To-Run-Campaign already being promoted, with plans to seek relevant constitutional amendments. The Macron Miracle may still take a long time to come in Nigeria’s democracy. A young Nigerian seeking to be President of Nigeria, under circumstances similar to Macron’s would find it difficult.
They don’t have a sit-tight syndrome in France. President Francois Hollande who handed over power to Macron had only done one term in office, and was eligible to run for a second term. But seeing that his ratings were low, he just didn’t bother. In Nigeria, Hollande’s supporters, ethnic, political and religious, would have threatened to kill anyone that stood in his way. Hollande himself would have insisted that it is his right to have a second term by every means possible.
Macron would have been accused of trying to bite the fingers that fed him. He would have been told to go and sit down and that he knows nothing about politics. Five years ago, Macron was unknown. He got his first major job in 2012, and was appointed in 2014 as Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs, both by President Hollande. He has never run for any elective office. To become President he had to start his own movement, “En Marche!” He doesn’t belong to any of the existing political groups, right or left. In Nigeria, even if he is the best thing since toothpaste, he would need Godfathers, and he would need to spend money, to bribe voters and the “kingmakers”.
Macron is President of France, the youngest since Napoleon, on the strength of sheer luck, ideas, vision and the people’s choice. In Nigeria, the voter would have placed little premium on his ideas. He is married to his former drama teacher. She is 64. He is 39. Her first son is Macron’s age-mate. She is now the First Lady of France. The French public is laughing at the cradle-snatching incongruity of their professed love.
Nigerians would have laughed even more, but this would probably not have been an issue for some Nigerians if Macron was 70 and his wife, 17.
When Macron holds his first France-Africa summit, he will be hosting African leaders who would be mostly of his grandfather’s age. Cameroon’s 84-year old President, Paul Biya, became President in 1982, when Emmanuel Macron was just 4 years old. That is where the real joke lies.
Immediately after he was sworn in, Macron visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital.
Yesterday, he travelled to Berlin for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel. He hit the ground running and named Edouard Philippe, 46, his Prime Minister. To have the kind of change we admire in other democracies, we must begin with a reform of the processes, culture and tone of Nigerian politics.
“E ku amojuba awon 82 Chibok girls, o”
“What is that supposed to mean in plain English? You better watch your tongue. It will be politically incorrect and suicidal to start making a joke out of something that serious.”
“Where is the joke?”
“In your tone. I know you when you want to start your mischief.”
“I am a born-again Christian”
“I know. Like Stephanie Otobo telling Apostle Suleiman that she is born-again after maligning the man’s reputation. Don’t just say anything until you have confessed your sins. Confess. Confess, now.”
“I am not a politician. I am neutral. And I won’t reach conclusions based on circumstantial evidence.”
“It’s me you are talking to. Try another mischief.”
“But I say, e ku amojuba”
“Thank you. Politics 101: anybody that says anything other than to commend the Federal Government for rescuing the 82 Chibok girls should be condemned. Don’t forget that the Red Cross is part of this, and UNICEF is also offering help. Everything should not be partisan.”
“I am not saying anything anti-government. As a father myself, whatever the game is, if there is any, whatever political marketing is involved, I actually believe that those young ladies need support, and this may well be their opportunity in life. They have been showcased. I may have my reservations.”
“You see? What reservations?”
“I am just surprised that the whole drama appears to be professionally stage-managed. The girls even looked as if some of them were wearing costumes, I mean aso ebi.”
“Only the enemies of progress will look for things like that.”
“The girls looked as if they were actresses in a script they did not understand.”
“But they are back. So? What are you actually complaining about? The rescue, or the management of the optics?”
“Some people are saying that by 2019, just before the elections, the last batch of the Chibok girls will emerge from wherever they are.”
“Obviously, some people are weaving a conspiracy theory. I think the next time government wants to swap the girls for terrorists they should just swap supporters of the Jonathan government for the Chibok girls. That will settle this matter once and for all.”
“Why Jonathan’s people? I think they should swap Nigerian Senators who have refused to pass the 2017 budget.”
“What? Saraki’s Senators? Whoever tries that, ajekun iya ni o je, ajekun iya ni o je….”
“You dey craze. People, and these are Nigerians, are saying they have a feeling the girls have become pawns in a grand political strategy and game.”
“Can you prove that?”
“I don’t need to prove anything. In politics and political science, there is something called game theory and it is real.”
“Billy Dudley. I remember what Professor Dudley said, but you can’t reduce everything to textbook thinking. Get real. We should join government to thank God.”
“Whatever it is, whatever the truth is, and whatever the post-truth is, I want the best for those girls. And it is not a job for government alone. Take the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for example. When the girls were first abducted, CAN and the Western world did not allow us to rest. They packaged the Chibok girls’ abduction as an assault on Christianity. They maligned Moslems.”
“I remember that”
“We Christians often theatricalize our religion, posturing that we epitomize what Christ lived and died for. For me there is a metaphorical correlation between the situation of these girls, “dead” as it were for three years, resurrecting now, shortly after Easter. We love to take swipes at the other religion. Now that we have some of the girls back, what plans do the money-spinning, faith-based universities have for them?”
“How? This is not about religion.”
“These churches run educational institutions from crèche to the university. Go and look at the full list of the rescued Chibok girls. They are mostly Christians. Instead of blaming Moslems, can Covenant, Babcock, Redeemed, Salem, Benson Idahosa, Joseph Ayo Babalola, Caritas and similar institutions adopt these ladies, support government, and begin the process of healing the wounds of the past three years?”
“I am confused. I don’t really know where you stand. You talk this way. You talk that way. Can we talk about something else?”
“My stand is clear. What else, if I may ask?”
“Like #BAAD 2017. Banky W getting engaged to Adesua Etomi, and how the best way to get a wife in this digital age is to slide into DMs. Very soon, churches will start organizing seminars on the value of the DM on twitter as a tool for defeating the demon of being single. I am sure there are Bible passages that will illuminate that.”
“Congratulations to Banky W and Adesua, then. They may just have started a revolution in the marriage theatre.”
“Or we can talk about Davido and the baby shower with his Baby Mama in Atlanta.”
“How is that an important subject when we are talking about game theory and Nigerian politics?”
“It is a very hot subject among the Nigerian youth”
“Really? Okay, then, let us discuss it when Davido beats Tu Baba’s record, or when he finally decides to move from friend zone to husband zone.”
“Agba ya ni wo egbon yin ke. Wetin? Je ki awon boys je aye ori won. Okay let’s talk about the Demuren baby bump.”
“No. Can we go back and talk about Nigeria? How for example, Nigeria can produce its own Emmanuel Macron in 2019? And in case you don’t know, Macron is the 39-year old young man who has just won the Presidential election in France, the youngest since Napoleon.”
“We can do the same thing here. How old was Gowon when he became Head of State? It is nothing new. All those people who laid the foundation for modern Nigeria were all young men in their 20s and 30s. In recent times, we have also had young men becoming Speakers of Nigerian legislatures at different levels or even Governors.”
“And what happened? Did the young men perform? What happened to the foundation and the building?”
“The law does not allow anyone below 40 to aspire to become President of Nigeria, but some people have started a Not-Too-Young-To-Run-Movement. We should be optimistic.”
“When you look at the on-going game in the country, do you see the possibility of any age-based revolution in Nigerian politics?”
“Yes. Macron started a movement of his own and the entire country bought into it.”
“So, what are you waiting for? You too can start a movement here as an independent candidate and tell Nigerians to queue up behind you.”
“I am thinking about it, why not?”
“My friend, wake up! Macron is 39. He is married to a woman who is 64 years old, his mother’s age mate. You think Nigerians will accept that? He didn’t have to share money to be accepted. He has no known Godfather. Even his opponent, Marine Le Pen does not have a Godfather. Her own father actually gave a pass mark to Macron after their last debate when he said Macron sounded more serious and more assertive.”
“Those are Oyinbo things”
“Say that to those who are saying Macron has won in France. Tell them, they can also have a French Revolution in Nigeria. But tell them to note the cultural differences, and how politics is a game in one country and how it is about the people and their future in another country. When will politics ever be about the people in Nigeria?”
“We can do it.”
“Don’t just mouth slogans. This is how you people always get Nigeria into trouble. Tell me what you intend to do about the dinosaurs who are the game makers in Nigerian politics. Nobody made an issue out of Macron’s ethnicity, religion, or age. It was all about issues. In those countries that we like to use as reference points, democracy has become a science, a social science, but in Africa - democracy is witchcraft. The more you see, the less you understand.”
“What I know is that Nigeria has a Macron out there”
“And a sick Donald Trump out there too, who will get to power because of all the games we play in this country”
“Haba!”
“Don’t get worked up. You know for me, the most beautiful thing about the French Presidential election is that after the battle was won and lost, Marine Le Pen conceded to Macron and she went to a club to dance. A few hours after losing, she was in a club singing Hip and Hop Karaoke: “I Love Rock N Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and she spinned around to YMCA by the Village People. She just lost an election. For her, France is more important. Her life does not depend on political office. When we get to that level, we can start comparing our democracy with others.”
“Hmm”
“When people lose election in Nigeria, it is a kind of bereavement. Now that suicide is a popular response in Nigeria, don’t also be surprised if our politicians start committing suicide after elections.”
“I am an optimist. We will get there.”
“I am a pragmatist. In Nigeria, when something goes up, it never goes down. Take Uber taxi charges. Uber has tried to reduce its charges all over the world due to competition with its key rival, Taxify. It is only in Nigeria that Uber drivers have organized protests. They say they don’t want the 40% reduction in tariffs. They want Uber to reduce its own returns. That is Nigeria for you. The Buhari government promised to fight corruption, but Professor Tam David-West, a die-hard Buharist is now suddenly a whistle-blower. He is now lamenting that President Buhari is surrounded by corrupt persons. Aso Villa demons at work, certainly, I think.”
“God will intervene”
“Yes. God. We end up leaving everything to God and prayers...”
AIG Taiwo Lakanu: Friend, officer and gentleman
I am not a fan of police officers. Over the past 32 years, I have done enough character sketches, caricatures and acerbic commentaries about the Nigeria Police to fill a whole book. But in the process, I have also come in contact with and made friends with many police officers who have proven to be true professionals. Taiwo Lakanu, who has just been promoted from his post as Commissioner of Police in Imo State to Assistant Inspector General of Police in Abuja is one of such.
Lakanu is essentially an operations man. From DPO to anti-armed robbery squad, to IGP aide, to commissioner of police, and now AIG, he has managed over the years, to build a network of contacts at all levels of the Nigerian society. He is the archetypal police as your friend, he reaches out to the community, he has a forever listening ear and he is fiercely loyal to his bosses. When it comes to his job, he is extremely stubborn and unyielding. A lawyer and a trained officer, he does not joke with his job.
He once told me the story of how a certain notorious herbalist-armed robber taken into custody became a chief informant to the station, and who helped the Special Anti-Armed Robbery Squad in Lagos to nail many armed robbers. When the fellow suddenly died as he had himself predicted, Lakanu said he wept. The man had become an asset to the Nigerian state. When Lakanu told me other stories of face-to-face encounters with hoodlums during operations, I often wondered how he has managed to survive. Police work is tough work.
Lakanu’s elevation is certainly a reward for hardwork, diligence and professionalism. I congratulate him on his achievement. He has not served as Police PRO but he is probably the most influential police officer of his grade among Nigerian journalists.
I am not surprised that he recently excelled as CP, Imo State where he proved to be an asset to all and sundry by ridding the communities of established crime. Upon his departure, dances were organized to celebrate him.
The Governor named a street in his honour. He was also offered a plot of land which he was told he could choose as his retirement base in the future, in addition to a sum of N5 million as “fuel money.” He may have rejected the land and the fuel money, but in truth, it is not always that Nigerian police officers are so honoured. Oftentimes, they are chased away by the same people they are asked to protect. Lakanu’s example is instructive. The Akogun of Lagos, thank you for living true to your traditional title. Hearty congratulations.
On March 24, one Ms Taiwo Titilayo Momoh, attempted suicide at the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos. Both the police and concerned citizens rescued her from killing herself. The said Ms Momoh was arraigned on April 21, at the Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate Court on a one-count charge to wit: “That you, Titilayo Momoh on the 24th day of March 2017 at about 10.00 hours at the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos did attempt to commit suicide by jumping into the river and thereby committed an offence under Section 235 C.17, Vol. 3 of the Criminal law of Lagos State 2015.” The accused person has since been granted bail in the sum of N500, 000, with two sureties in like sum. She is also required to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Her case has been adjourned till June 2017.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State is hereby invited to take special notice of this case and to enter a nolle prosequi to ensure its discontinuance. The exercise of the power of nolle prosequi as spelled out in Sections 174(1) and 211 of the 1999 Constitution has been a subject of much debate. This is in spite of the Supreme Court’s position in The State vs Ilori, due to the tendency of some AGs to abuse such powers. But there is not a scintilla of doubt in my mind that by discontinuing the Titilayo Momoh case, the AG Lagos would have acted “in the public interest, the interests of justice and the need to prevent the abuse of legal process.” I state this with due regard to the right of the court to be seized of the matter in question, attempted suicide being an offence in the statutes. The key issue, nonetheless, is that there are related matters of public interest, beyond legalism.
Section 235 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State under which Ms Titilayo Momoh has been charged for non-fatal suicidal behaviour is in pari materia with Section 326 and 327 of the Penal Code and Criminal Codes respectively. The Criminal Code states expressly: “Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for one year.” Thus in letter and spirit, the extant law on pari-suicide in Nigeria criminalizes the act. The only problem is that the law sounds like the law that is applied to the act of coup making.
If you plot a coup and you succeed, you get away with it, but if you make the mistake of failing, you find yourself in very serious trouble. The extant law on suicide deals with you if you fail, but the same law is helpless if you succeed. The only difference is that whereas a coup is an act of treason against the state, suicide is a coup against the self. Government exists because there is a society composed of people, living people who are happy to be alive and contribute their own quota to society. When people begin to kill themselves at will, and at the slightest provocation, the responsibility of government should be to inquire into the causes of such demolition of the right to life, and therefore make amends - so the cause of being-ness and the welfare of the people can be better addressed.
For this reason, the Nigerian legislature, including the State Houses of Assembly, should take a second look at the extant law on attempted suicide. In truth, the law has been rarely applied, the last publicized application being the case instituted against certain persons by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) in 2013, persons who had formed the habit of travelling on the rooftop of trains, instead of buying tickets and taking proper seats. The NRC took some of those persons to court for attempting suicide. They ended up getting a slap on the wrist, they were asked to pay fines. It must have been obvious to the court that these were not suicidal cases, but persons who just wanted a free ride on the train, and could only do so from the roof.
The arraignment of Titilayo Momoh is however a serious matter. If she goes to trial, she could in fact be convicted, since hers is a clearly straightforward case. She had confessed with her own mouth that she wanted to die because she had too many financial debts to pay, a Bureau de Change also swindled her, she sought help from everywhere, including her church but nobody was willing to help her, and so, she decided to end it all. When she was rescued from jumping into the Lagoon, everyone sympathized with her. She suddenly got the help that society had previously denied her. She returned to her textile shop, and was beginning to pick up the pieces of her life again, only for the police to invoke the law and take her to court.
Her arraignment exposes the problems with the law. She now probably wishes she had actually committed suicide. The legal matter she is now battling with, could throw her into even greater debt: paying lawyers, sorting out logistics, and as the wheel of law still grinds slowly, she could experience worse depression. The same travails that drove her to the edge of the cliff have not been made any lighter. The other thing to note is that the relevant statutes in gender terms refer to “himself”. Can we possibly interpret the law strictly and literally and insist that the law on suicide only has the male gender in mind? So why is Titilayo, “herself”, being charged when the law says “himself”? I know what the canons of the rule of interpretation say, and how gender-insensitive the phrasing of the law is, so, may be I need not stretch this further. But another reasonable response by a common man to the Titilayo Momoh case would be to ask why she is the only one being targeted.
In the first quarter of 2017 alone, there were more attempted suicide and suicide cases than there were in the whole of 2016, and the figures keep increasing. Ms Momoh was rescued the same week alongside one Abigail Ogunyinka, who actually jumped into the Lagoon and was fished out by divers. In Mazamaza another woman, Emerald, was also rescued after she had jumped. Much earlier, Tiwa Savage’s husband, Tee Billz, was dissuaded by friends and concerned persons from jumping into the Lagoon. There have also been persons who succeeded in their suicide efforts and can no longer be reached by the long arms of the arm. There was Dr Allwell Oji, and reported cases from Ogun state (25), Ebonyi (10), Delta (4), Oyo (4), Kano (6), the latest case being that of a University of Lagos young undergraduate who killed herself after she was accused of stealing make up kit worth N2,000 (the current equivalent of $5 or $6!).
The court of law is not under any strict obligation to embark on a hunting expedition for cases by itself and it is no defence in law to play the victim by asking why the neighbor who committed the same offence has not been charged to court: the court deals only with what is duly brought before it. But even if there is a case to answer, Ms Momoh, the accused in the present case is likely to wonder why she is the only special target for litigation. Research on para-suicide informs us that persons who failed in the first attempt are at a high risk of a second attempt. By seeking to put failed suicide attempters to trial, is government encouraging all such persons to succeed by all means? The shaming and trial of such persons may even drive them underground, away from public places where the attempt may be noticed and stopped.
It is partly for this and other reasons, principally the recognition that persons who attempt suicide need help rather than vilification, and that prevention is better than cure, that many countries of the world have de-criminalized suicide attempts. The latest country to do so is India. In 1961, the British who offered us the common law origin of our own law on suicide attempts de-criminalized non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Other countries where suicide attempt is no longer a crime include Egypt, Botswana, Cameroon, Angola, South Africa, Eritrea, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The World Health Organization recognizes depression as the leading cause of suicide in the world. Globally, more than 300 million people are suffering from depression and related disability. The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has also disclosed that 90% of reported suicide cases in Nigeria are traceable to depression. At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, 10% of all referrals are attempted suicides. This year, WHO chose as the theme for the World Health Day on April 7: “Depression, let’s talk”. Persons suffering from depression are advised and encouraged to talk about their problems within the community and seek help from existing institutions and from professional counselors including psychologists, psychiatrists, mental hospitals and sociologists. Depression is a form of mental psychosis, attributed to such existential issues as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sadness, low self-esteem, poverty, marital crisis, indebtedness, loss of a loved one, and so on.
In Nigeria and other African countries where mental ill-health is regarded as lunacy simpliciter, most persons who are depressed find it difficult to talk about it. Any form of mental ill-health in Nigeria is still covered by the colonial law, called the Lunacy Act, 1958. That law dehumanizes anybody that requires mental healthcare. A Mental Health Policy 1991 has tried to state the basic principles in line with international conventions, but the Act of 1958 remains the enabling law. Since 2003, three attempts have been made to introduce a Mental Health Bill, but each time it was tabled, the National Assembly did not consider it important enough.
Further, there are just about eight mental health hospitals in Nigeria, some psychiatric units in major hospitals, and less than 150 professional psychiatrists to a population of nearly 200 million. Similarly there are no enough psychiatric nurses or professional counselors. Out of the few psychiatrists we have in the country, some have since left the profession to go into politics. The hospitals are poorly staffed, poorly equipped and poorly referenced in popular culture and conversation. And at the few mental hospitals that we even have, those who are expected to help other people are busy fighting among themselves - the internal politics at the Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Uselu, Benin City for example is worse than the politics of Nigeria! As it were, anybody who is depressed in Nigeria is at the risk of suicide. “Lunacy” is a taboo subject, and yet the people face more problems daily that require mental health counseling.
The sudden increase in attempted suicide cases in our country should provide the needed impetus for review and introspection, not the vilification of persons who are already society’s victims. It is even surprising that The Lagos State Police Command will choose to scapegoat Titilayo Momoh and take her to court. In 2016, Ms Dolapo Badmos, the Lagos State Police PRO (as she then was) had announced that the police was not interested in taking any person who attempted suicide to court out of the recognition that such persons needed help. In line with this, the Lagos Police Command set up a special unit to patrol the bridges in Lagos, to prevent people from jumping into the rivers.
The Lagos State Government also set up an Aquatic Rescue Unit, and it is this unit that helped in rescuing at least two reported cases between January and March 2017. Two hotlines have also since been announced to assist persons in need of urgent help (08062106493, 08092106493). Is it likely that the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the police, and civil society groups has taken these preventive and emergency rescue steps in order to capture persons who attempt suicide so the courts can have cases to handle? If true, it is ill-advised because this will neither reduce cases of suicide, nor prevent people from committing suicide. Governments at all levels should “talk about depression” and help the people - through good governance - to reduce the number of people seeking to die at the slightest emotional provocation.
Titilayo Momoh’s place is not in the court-room. She should be set free and assisted. The extant laws on attempted suicide should be revised. Para-suicide should be de-criminalized and de-penalized. I do not include in this appeal however, all such attempted suicides related to terrorism or incidental to other expressly criminal activities.