NigeriaPlus

2011 Presidential Poll: An Open Letter to Mr. President: by Mohammed Ajah

NigeriaPlus — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:21:24 +0000

Your Excellency, Sir,

Before I proceed with this heart-warming, heart-cleansing and heart-inspiriting missive to you -the greatest man now on the surface of Nigeria, I make the following prayers:

May the good Lord continue to guide, protect, uplift and grant you more good luck to see the best for yourself and Nigeria. Amen.

I also pray that you be in the highest spirit of Godliness and humanity, in good health and in your natural beauty as this message reaches you. Amen.

Lastly, I implore you to receive these words with the highest spirit of patriotism, with broadmindedness, with extra-ordinary care and with love for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Mr. President, Sir,

You have been a very good luck to Nigeria since you assumed the leadership of the country, first as the Vice President, then as Acting President and now as the President. You have done well and your profile as a national figure is most profound and glaringly captivating.

Since you were brought to life in 1957 in Otueke in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa state, God has blessed you so much and has used you to effect great changes in the lives of the citizenry. You started to labour for Nigerians in your local government area and you did well by always considering the general interest of the people. And God saw you through and elevated you to greater heights.

You graduated from the local to the state limelight as the deputy governor of Bayelsa state where you showed difference as a true leader until God saw that you were the man to govern the state. As the governor of Bayelsa state between December 9, 2005 and May 28, 2007, millions of Nigerians identified with your good leadership because you laboured in accordance with the wish of God and more humanly by putting the general interest first.

God elevated you by His favour and your earnest and fruitful works earned you the position of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2007 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That is a position you enjoyed by the grace of God for nearly three years till God approved you to assume the leadership of the nation as Acting President.

You laboured for the nation and earned the love of Nigerians and on 6th May, 2010, God elevated you to the highest position in Nigeria and you were overwhelmingly accepted and sworn-in as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That is because you put the interest of the people first. And for doing that, God has been on your side and has continued to shower His mercy on you. You have been a good man in yourself. You deserve what is good because you have preserved the goodness in the country till this crucial moment.

Between 6th May, 2010 and 29th May, 2011, you would have stayed at the helm of affairs of the nation for 488 days. That will be one and half years. You would have been the president of Nigeria for one and half years. And as you have been in the past, you will be celebrated as one who came, saw and conquered within the shortest time. And moreover, Nigerians will remember you because you put their interest first.

With all these rising political profile and achievements, I think you are the most blessed politician in Nigeria of today. This is because in the list of the past presidents of Nigeria, none has been a former local government chairman, former deputy governor of a state or former full-tenured governor. Arch. Namadi Sambo was just of recent elevated to deputize you when his tenure has not yet elapsed as a governor. And former vice President Atiku Abubakar could not stabilize as governor before he was picked by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his vice.

From all these carefully knitted ordinations by God for you, you are unique in the history of Nigeria. And I am sure many Nigerians understand this. That is why many are praying that you continue to put the interest of Nigeria first. And the really wise do wish that you summon the courage and obey God first and then yield to the yearnings of Nigerians, in the second place, by being the constitution defender.

However, the tempting side of this position you occupy has some implications. But the greatest challenge is the featuring of the clamour for continuity. From your yesteryears, you have been on the corridor of power. You have enjoyed and utilized it to the best advantage. According to the Nigerian constitution, a president has a tenure of four years which can be renewed for another four years.

And according to your political party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the tenure you enjoy now is a leftover of the joint tenure given to you and your late boss, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua. This implies that the joint tenure, if PDP continue to retain power, will end in 2015. This can be buttressed with the fact that if your former boss was alive, very sure he would have sought reelection and PDP would have given him a carry-go backing. By this calculation, you have till 2015 to complete the joint slot.

After that, PDP must work harder to ensure that it retains power for as much as you continue to put Nigeria first, it will give you your own tenure of four years from 2015 to 2019, then from 2019 to 2023. With that, you would have been the greatest serving president of Nigeria. By then again, a lot of problems associated with the country would have been solved and probably the nation would have joined the second world.

But then, it may not stop there. Before the end of 2023, a lot of Nigerians must have been convinced that Nigeria really met good luck unlike before and they will clamour for a life president. Some will even clamour for the amendment of the constitution to allow for a five-year one tenure. And PDP, still being able to retain power, will influence it. If it works that way, you will have another one fixed tenure of five years. And so on. This could be imaginable. But it is equally practicable in Nigeria because you would have condescended to be the most powerful leader in Nigeria, so long you put the interest of Nigerians first.

If all these interest Mr. President, then I, representing millions of Nigerians, do beseech you to do these: One, as a matter of urgency, choose a day you may deem suitable to dedicate the night for worship. Sit before God in the midnight and free your mind from any distraction. Open up to God and ask Him what is best for Nigeria and what you should do in the best interest of the nation. Secondly, consult your own conscience and then consider, as you have always done from the past, the interest of the nation. It is well known that you have been a man of strong desire for positivity.

If at the end of this unstained consultation between God and your own conscience, you decide to decline, upon all the illusions and allusions, from running for the president in the 2011 elections, then do these:

One, on the day you will hand over to a democratically-elected president heralding the first democratic transition through a free and fair election, go to your worship place and offer prayers and thanks to the Almighty for having achieved what no Nigerian leader before has achieved. Call friends and lovers, including this writer, to rejoice with you that God has seen you through the most tempestuous period of your life. And you will give testimony that God loved you and guided you to take a decision that meant well for yourself and the nation.

Two, you would surely be regarded as the real defender of the Nigerian democracy for being able to conduct a free and fair election and for successfully handing over to a democratically-elected president.

Three, you would become an elderly statesman in your young age. And you will be ranked among the likes of Azikiwe, Awolowo, Belewa and Ahmad Bello who did put Nigeria first as you have been doing. They had challenging times like the one you face. And they were guided by their consciences, not merely by the clamourings of friends and fiends.

Four, you will have to come back one day and seek the position and every Nigerian who lived on the 29th May, 2011 when you will hand over by your own choice, will give you the support you deserve for being a real democrat. And by then, the decisive and divisive clamour for rotation or sharing of power would have become unattractive.

And lastly, you would have technically and practically displayed good luck to Nigeria. Good luck, Your Excellency Mr. President.

Muhammad Ajah is a writer, author, advocate of humanity and good governance based in Abuja.

EFCC: The ‘Onslaught’ Against Ten Governors: by Reuben Abati

NigeriaPlus — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:22:49 +0000

EFCC Chair Farida Waziri

The EFCC onslaught against some allegedly corrupt state Governors (ten of them) and their officials has in the last week been met with spirited protests by the concerned parties who are insisting that this is a clear case of political witch-hunt and intimidation closely tied to the 2011 general elections.

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi whose Commissioners for Finance and Local Government Affairs have been arrested along with three local council chairmen in the state- those of Port Harcourt, Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre has accused the EFCC of “being used as a political tool to truncate his bid to seek re-election.” He said: “What is the EFCC doing here? They never came all this while. Today they are here. Why are they here? Let’s say EFCC is doing their job. They have a responsibility to go after those who are corrupt. But there is a judgment of a Federal High Court, which says EFCC cannot come to Rivers State. Is EFCC above the law… Today EFCC has become a political tool.”

The Governor boasted: “we will mobilise people against the commission.” He is not alone. The EFCC is also targeting nine other states: Imo, Kwara, Bauchi, Zamfara, Jigawa, Gombe, Kebbi, Katsina, and Sokoto.

By Thursday, September 2, its men had already struck in five states: Rivers, Kebbi, Kwara, Imo, Jigawa. “The Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF),” or the “G15”, has risen in defence of the Northern Governors. It “urges President Goodluck Jonathan to enthrone a regime of tolerance of political opposition and to desist from the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intimidate and harass governors and political leaders who are opposed to his ill-advised attempt to subvert the agreed zoning formula by seizing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket in next year’s general elections.”

The group insists that this is a throwback to the Obasanjo era. In its response, the EFCC denies being used to witchhunt the Governors and has asked anyone who has a case to answer to be prepared to do so. A number of questions, arising from all of this, deserve close interrogation. The Governors can clearly sustain their objections as there are clear grounds for suspicions of mischief; they should nonetheless be prepared to respond to the EFCC allegations; their mere protest about a witch-hunt is no defence, it is their proof of innocence that can strengthen their objections. Is there any link between the EFCC’s latest action and the 2011 elections? It is surprising that the EFCC would deny this.

About a week ago, the EFCC Chair, Mrs Farida Waziri pointedly announced that the agency is prepared to stop corrupt politicians from participating in the 2011 elections. She specifically stated that the EFCC will stop some people who are trying to “come back”, because allowing them to do so will be “a mockery” of the political system. The use of the phrase “come back” refers to re-election, and so those state Governors who claim that this is an attempt to stop them from being re-elected for a second term may have a point. Eight of the ten Governors under scrutiny fall under the category of those who want to “come back.”

The extant law says, inter alia, that anyone who has been indicted for “embezzlement or fraud” shall be disqualified from contesting public office (section 137(1)(i)); Section 182 (1)(i))… Although the Supreme Court has addressed this in the Atiku case, there is no guarantee that those who seek to be mischievous cannot under the same provision contrive an indictment for any politician and put him under pressure. The rule as established in Action Congress vs INEC (2007, 12 NWLR (pt. 1048), 222 is that Section 137(1) of the 1999 Constitution does not confer powers on either INEC or the security agencies to disqualify an electoral candidate, that power belongs to a High Court. The EFCC has laid itself open to allegations that its action is politically motivated by its own express announcement that it can exercise powers that it does not possess.

Why is the EFCC’s motive being suspected? First is the timing and the nature of the EFCC’s new-found aggressiveness. Since her assumption of office, Mrs Farida Waziri, the EFCC Chair has been accused of lowering the pace of EFCC activism. She has been compared endlessly to her predecessor, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu with notable differences in style, approach and substance. Under Ribadu, much progress was made with the anti-corruption campaign. Under Waziri, the EFCC seemed to have allowed the politicians some breathing space.

In her memoirs, if she ever writes one, Mrs Waziri may tell us that she could not move faster than her bosses wanted. The late president Yar’Adua who appointed her to the position did not move fast on anything, and certainly not on the subject of the anti-corruption war. When President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office, the EFCC suddenly woke up, going after former Governor James Ibori. The character of the incumbent President as a determinant of EFCC’s quality of response is not a good excuse; if that excuse is offered, it would only further confirm the alleged politicization of the anti-corruption agency.

Institutions need not be at the mercy of individuals. Waziri’s EFCC inherited many outstanding cases of abuse of public office by state Governors, notably those cases relating to the mismanagement of public funds. Many of the Governors who were so indicted are walking free today. Not much has been done about their cases almost four years after they lost constitutional immunity. Some of them have since resurfaced as political Godfathers; a few are threatening to seek election as President in 2011!

This is the effect of EFCC’s ineffectiveness and lack of diligence. Take the Ibori case. They bungled it. They were busy grandstanding until Ibori stole out of the country. The EFCC chair would later explain that she didn’t know Ibori will run to Dubai, oh, he should have gone to China! So, Amaechi could ask: “What is the EFCC doing here? They never came all this while. Today they are here. Why are they here?” The Northern Political Leaders Forum is asking similar questions. It is the EFCC’s lack of transparency that makes those questions inevitable.

Are the targeted Governors all pro-zoning? Yes, in addition to other issues. The Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi is generally regarded to be pro-zoning and this has been cited as one of the reasons why he is not an Aso Villa favourite. A week before the EFCC assault on his state, he had a widely reported disagreement with the President’s wife on the question of land in Okrika. With the way Mrs Patience Jonathan impatiently stormed out of the state, Amaechi had committed the additional social crime of offending the big man’s wife. Is he being taught a lesson in power politics?

Even if not, sending the EFCC after him almost immediately after a disagreement with the First Lady looks untidy. Imo state’s Ikedi Ohakim has been one of the fiercely independent-minded and outspoken Governors in the PDP. There are speculations that he is planning to defect to another political party. Is this an attempt to whip him into line?

The Northern Governors: At a meeting of the 19 Northern Governors on the zoning principle and the 2011 Presidential election in July, 10 of the Governors reportedly supported the position that the presidency should remain in the North in 2011, seven supported the idea of leaving it open, two Governors abstained. Is the EFCC clampdown meant to harass the ten pro-zoning Northern Governors? Let us check the evidence.

In July, the pro-zoning Governors who declared their stand were: Alhaji Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Alhaji Mahmud Shinkafi (Zamfara); Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Alhaji Usman Dakingari (Kebbi); Alhaji Mohammed Goje (Gombe); Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Dr. Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Dr. Bukola Saraki (Kwara); Alhaji Modu Sheriff (Borno); and Alhaji Ibrahim Shakarau (Kano). Seven of the eight Northern Governors now being probed by the EFCC are on this pro-zoning and as it were, anti-Jonathan for 2011 list!

The Bauchi Governor, Isa Yuguda, who is the eighth Northern Governor on the EFCC list did not attend the July meeting because it coincided with the burial of the late Emir of Bauchi, but he is also predictably pro-North and pro-zoning, he being a son-in-law of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. In March 2009, Isa Yuguda married Nafisa Yar’Adua as wife number 4. Why is there no pro-Jonathan Governor on the list? And why are all the Governors from the PDP? Is the EFCC saying it concluded investigations in the ten states at the same time, and that a few weeks to the PDP Presidential primaries is the best time to go after all the Governors?

The EFCC insists that these are the Governors against whom the largest number of petitions has been submitted. If petitions are so important to the EFCC, why has it not acted on all the petitions and the concluded investigations regarding over 26 Governors whom Nuhu Ribadu assured Nigerians should be on their way to jail after their loss of immunity in 2007? In its defence, the EFCC has raised two pertinent questions? “Is there any law barring EFCC from investigating fraud allegations before, during or after elections?” No. “Should election time be taken as a holiday period when law enforcement agents would have to close their eyes to the looting of public treasury?” Certainly not. The EFCC should do its job but it must be careful about the kind of signals it sends to the public in order not to raise questions of credibility about its operations. The wrong signal in the present instance is that the ten Governors currently being investigated by it are targets of a political witch-hunt.

But is this a throw-back to the Obasanjo era? This question is informed by suspicion and a sense of history and the timing of the EFCC action. The Obasanjo government had a far more robust anti-corruption campaign, owing largely to the dynamism of the EFCC chair at the time. But it was also accused of being used as a tool of political victimization, especially in Ekiti, Plateau and Bayelsa states. What no one could controvert then, however, was that the targeted politicians themselves had a case to answer. The weight of public sympathy was therefore not on their side.

In the present case, the EFCC has raised too many doubts about its motives. For those who believe in coincidences, the coincidences are just too many: Amaechi disagrees with the President’s wife, the following week, the EFCC descends on him and his commissioners. Ohakim acts as if he is defecting, he gets the EFCC knocking on his door. Mrs Waziri says some Governors will not be allowed to come back; eight of the Governors being investigated are actually trying to “come back.” Eleven Northern Governors insist that the Presidency should remain in the North, eight of them are under the EFCC searchlight. By the way, did the remaining three recant?

The EFCC could have been a lot smarter in its handling of the present situation both in terms of timing and the selection of the Governors in what we believe should be the first round of the exercise. This notwithstanding, the affected Governors should be prepared to stand up to scrutiny. Alleging that they are being victimized would not help; it doesn’t really help to keep insisting that the strategy of intimidation is familiar. If public funds have been stolen, misapplied, misappropriated, diverted and so on in any of the affected states, the people would like to know and see the culprits brought to book ultimately. This is the larger point.

The perception that the EFCC can be used to promote political ambitions is the biggest albatross that the institution faces. And yet, there are strong reasons for it to be pro-active and to help raise the country’s integrity profile, rather than be reduced to a scare-mongering mechanism in the political arena. With ten Governors out of the PDP’s total of 29, now being chased around for corrupt practices and with many more likely to join, we are being told that the PDP is a party of corrupt politicians! It should be possible to separate the investigations from the politics of PDP presidential primaries. It is in the EFCC’s interest to demonstrate this clearly and to serve notice that it means business.

Photo: Stolen Malaria Drugs

NigeriaPlus — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:23:48 +0000

A store tender displays a box of Coartem malaria medication, packaged for the commercial market, at a pharmacy in Lagos, Nigeria. Millions of free malaria drugs are sent to Africa every year by international donors. New research is now providing evidence for what health workers have long suspected: some of the donated medication, readily identifiable by its different packaging, is being stolen and resold on commercial markets

Photo: Okada in Lagos

NigeriaPlus — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:03:33 +0000

Drivers and passengers of motorcycle taxis, popularly known as “okada,” wait at a traffic light in Lagos. Beginning on September 1, entire swathes of the city will be out of bounds for motorcycles, and that has raised questions about how anyone will get anywhere even nearly on time due to the maddening traffic. Photo AFP

Photo:GEJ launches power sector privatisation policy framework

NigeriaPlus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:50:34 +0000

Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan launches the policy framework for the privatisation of the power sector during a stakeholder conference in Lagos in August 26, 2010. Nigeria plans to privatise 18 power distribution and generation firms by the end of May and has received bids from six financial consultants interested in handling the process, the privatisation agency said on August 31, 2010

Awolowo, Gowon and Buhari: Rethinking leadership imperatives in Nigeria:by Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

NigeriaPlus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:19:10 +0000

History has shown that nations need a combination of factors in order to develop and grow. These include, but are not limited to a measure of natural resources, an educated and healthy workforce, a culture of saving and innovation, an enlightened middle and upper class, viable and evolving public institutions, a national culture and a governing system that is enriching. Just having a sea of natural resources is not enough.

Some nations have an enviable amount of resources, yet, are unable to transform their societies. This is the case with some African countries, including Nigeria, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are other societies with fewer human and natural resources but with advanced political and economic system. This is the case with countries like Japan, Singapore and Switzerland. Within the African continent, one can point to countries like Botswana and Cape Verdes as countries on the upward swing.

Whether a country is rich or poor in terms of natural resources — more so if it is rich — it needs visionary and purposeful men and women in leadership positions to help put it all together. In other words, a nation without first rate leadership is bound to fail woefully. Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia were some of the countries on the brink of collapse in the 1950s though the mid-1980 until concerted and prolonged efforts at purposeful leadership helped turn their economies and political systems around.

Such leadership imperative is also true in many other parts of the world, including Brazil, Ghana, China and India. And even in the case of South Africa, if Nelson Mandela had not provided essential leadership, it is possible that post-Apartheid South Africa would have collapsed. Therefore, one cannot overestimate the importance of leadership (which is what Nigeria has been lacking).

Nigeria has not had a good leader since the days of General Muhammadu Buhari (December 31, 1983 – August 27, 1985). Buhari’s mantra was simple: Nation First! He was about performance and accountability. Since his forced departure from office, lesser men have been at the helm of our national affairs. At the time Buhari and his lieutenant (General Tunde Idiagbon: September 14 1942 – March 24, 1999) came to power, Nigeria was already swimming in political and economic cesspool. It was a grim, desperate and depressing time with a cloud of hopelessness enveloping our country.

True, a few of his administrative actions and pronouncements were costly; in totality however, he gave the country a taste of civility, hard work, accountability and good governance. We — we the people — remember the spark of hope and possibilities. His actions and pronouncements revealed a man who cared deeply about the soul of our nation. He cared about our collective destiny. He delivered what he promised. These — all these — you cannot say about his successors. And of course, long before General Buhari, there was General Yakubu Gowon (August 1 1966 – July 29, 1975).

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Gowon was not a braggart, a brute, or bloodguilt. He spoke and acted like a gentleman. But of course he was! In another time or place, he would have been a monk or a priest safely ensconced in a monastery. But instead he became a soldier. And what a fine soldier he was. This was a man who successfully prosecuted a civil war without bankrupting or undoing the nation. Millions of Nigerians owe their lives and their prosperity to Gowon. One truly gets to appreciate the man if one considers Nigeria’s level of development during his stay in office: human needs were not as scarce as they are today; personal security was not as bad as it is today; and basic infrastructure were not as browned as they are today.

Gowon gave us hope. He gave us meaning. He gave us purpose. More than three decades after his exit from power, Nigeria still functions on some of his ideas and provisions. A sizeable number of the best colleges and universities Nigeria has had was build under his watch. Same can be said of roads and bridges and hospitals and various research centers. That some of the policies and infrastructure he provided are still with us today is a positive testament to his vision and character. I told you earlier that he was a fine soldier and a wonderful human being. Right? But you see: Gowon was not a thief!

Unlike most of his successors who became millionaires while in office — and multimillionaires once out of office — he was an honest man who lived within his means.

Taken in totality, General Yakubu Gowon was not what most African head of governments were: corrupt and dangerous. On the hand, he was what most of them could never be: decent and humane. I am not sure if this towering figure ever wrote a book espousing his ideas and leadership philosophy. If he didn’t, he should, as a matter of national urgency, do so. And if he has, I and generations of Nigerians would love to read and imbibe his teachings. What a man, what a soldier! And then there was Awolowo.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo (March 6, 1909- May 9, 1987) was an intellectual and political colossal. Awolowo didn’t get to be the President of Nigeria; but he was the Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria from October 1, 1954 until December 15, 1959. However, his accomplishments dwarf the combined achievements of all head of government since General Ibrahim Babangida. From now until eternity, his contribution to Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political life will be remembered and appreciated by discerning minds. As a federal minister under General Yakubu Gowon from June 12, 1967 to June 30 1971, he helped save Nigeria from self immolation.

General Buhari was not in office long enough to categorically infer what history would have said about him. In the case of Gowon and Awolowo, the records are there for all to see. History and posterity, I am sure, will affirm again and again and again that Gowon — as military head of state — had no equal. A few people may of course argue that Awolowo had equals. If he did, then, he was Primus inter pares: first among his peers. In his time, he was Nigeria’s leading figure. Even in death, he continues to inspire and tower above many.

Charles Caleb Colton it was who said that “In life, we shall find many men that are great, and some men that are good, but very few men that are both great and good.” Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Generals Gowon and Buhari, in my estimation, were such men: good, great and extraordinary in very many ways. Their legacies will endure.

If Gowon and Buhari didn’t pen books, Awolowo did. He read a lot and wrote volumes. Amongst his many books are Path to Nigerian Greatness, and the essential trilogy: Voice of Reason, Voice of Courage and Voice of Wisdom. The thing about Awo was that if he was an American or a European, the world would have placed him in the same league as Abraham Lincoln, Churchill, Roosevelt, Charles de Gaulle and many others. His books would have been a must-read in our colleges and universities; and his other writings and essays would have been classified as modern philosophy.

In just a few weeks Nigeria will celebrate its fiftieth year as an independent nation. There does not seem to be any cause for celebration. Slavery, colonization, the Cold War, globalization, the insidious interference of many endogenous and exogenous groups aside, Nigeria should have been a radically different country. But it is not! Our biggest problem is not the absence of resources, but as Professor Achebe and others has said, the “absence of real leadership.” And so, we ought to rethink the imperatives of first-rate leadership: look to men and women in the mold of Awolowo, Gowon and Buhari.

• Sabella Abidde can be reached at Sabidde@yahoo.com and also on Facebook

Politics in a Season of Cholera: by Reuben Abati

NigeriaPlus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:28:14 +0000

“You know I have this meeting somewhere in the North, but I am afraid to go.”

“Afraid?”

“With all these reports about cholera epidemic in that part of the country, I don’t want to take chances. I am a very precious statistic you know?”

“Tell me.”

“Can you imagine someone like me suffering from cholera? Onigbameji. Stooling and vomiting at the same time. Mouth and em em disease. Grrrr…. shrrrrrr….Hei… ishi. ”

“Go and sit down my friend, and stop twisting like a worm. You are a human being. If you drink contaminated water or eat contaminated food…”

“Or I shake the hands of a transporter of the cholera bacteria…I think it is better to stay where I am until further notice.”

“But you miss the point. Cholera is not a Northern thing. It is a Nigerian problem, that is why when I read the reports and there is a deliberate emphasis on the fact that the 19 Northern states are recording serious casualties, I shudder. We shouldn’t play politics with everything. The cholera outbreak is a symptom of the public health crisis in this country.

The current crisis started in Cameroon, it crossed the border into Nigeria, it is on its way down South. Instead of trying to label it a Northern or Southern affliction and seeking to play politics with it, we should be talking about the failure of the public health system. A decent country would have embarked on an enlightenment campaign and pre-emptive treatment and advice dominating the public communications channels – including OBEY’S song – Mo na’wo mi soke – ki Cholera ma ma mumi.”

“I will say the failure of governance. This is 2010. 50 years after independence. It is tragic that many Nigerians lack access to potable water. It is terrible that in 2010 we are still worrying about cholera. Too bad.”

“Water is life.”

“I know. The water crisis is global, but how do other countries; Brazil, India, Pakistan, the United States manage the cholera crisis? Come to think of it, we should blame the Northern Governors specifically. What are they doing about access to water for their people? They can’t build good schools. You mean they also cannot provide drinkable water? I understand many of the victims drank water from polluted sources.”

“There is an efficient public water supply system in Gombe state.”

“Mention another state.”

“Look, I think all our leaders are guilty. It is just as bad in other parts of the country where the poor are forced to drink sachet water.”

“Pure water please, with NAFDAC number!”

“You know when the North East wind of cholera gets to the South, this country will be in serious trouble. All of you relying on pure water sachets may just discover what has been done to you when you start vomiting and stooling.”

“I don’t drink pure water.”

“But I am sure you have people around you who do. The rich in this country always think they are safe, that is the problem, but they are so vulnerable. You won’t know when your driver will contact cholera and he will help you open a drink and give you your own share, or it may be your cook, or your children’s nanny. In due course, foreign embassies will require Nigerians to take the cholera test before they can be allowed to visit their home countries.”

“You like to dream up tragedies.”

“The Nigeria Medical Association is blaming state and local governments for the cholera outbreak. And I share their view. It’s been eight weeks since this crisis began, and there has been no evidence that government has been able to contain the spread or the casualties. Over 10, 000 cases recorded so far, with over 300 dead.”

“They are all busy trying to win the next elections.”

“They want to rule a country of cholera.”

“Cholera is a comment on our capacity to handle emergencies.”

“Sometimes I feel like weeping. Too many people die in this country for no reason other than that the country is failing. I read the pathetic story of the woman who gave birth to premature twins in Abuja and the babies needed to be put in incubators. She went from one hospital to another carrying the babies, from Garki to Asokoro to Wuse to Gwagwalada, but she couldn’t find a hospital that had an incubator. Then when she finally succeeded, she was required to pay N100, 000 as deposit.”

“The poor are in trouble in this country. One of these days, there will be a revolution. We are getting close to it.”

“Let me finish my story. The hospital is now claiming that they only asked for N1, 500 registration fee. But whatever it was, the woman could not pay. She then went to another hospital where the babies were rejected on the ground that they were brought from elsewhere. By the time the woman took them back to the hospital where she gave birth, the twins gave up on the way.”

“I know. It is a daily occurrence. Some people even die because they can’t buy N500 worth of drugs. But the question you ask is: why are Nigerian medical workers always so cruel?”

“They are Nigerians. They need money. They also don’t trust the system. Nigeria is a dangerous place to act the Good Samaritan.”

“So is that why doctors are on strike across the country at a time when there is a cholera epidemic?”

“I understand they are planning to call off the strike because of the cholera crisis.”

“To do the autopsy of the dead?”

“You can’t blame them. They want good pay. CONMESS they call it and for more than two years, all they have been getting is empty promises. Why should they be the ones to save the country when your lawmakers and other public officials are carting away lorry loads of cash for doing nothing?”

“No, you are wrong. They are doing something.”

“What?”

“They are playing politics.”

“And getting rich doing so, and doing next to nothing for the people.”

“Well, I understand the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory has declared war on prostitutes in the city. He says his administration does not want prostitutes or their patrons anywhere near Abuja. If you are caught with a prostitute, you will be arrested and detained.”

“Stop saying you, you. I don’t patronize prostitutes. And I don’t know why you are bringing this up. You should declare your interest in the matter.”

“I am just concerned about human rights and whether this is not a violation of people’s rights. Besides, who is a prostitute? The FCT Special Task Force on the Environment has allegedly arrested 97 prostitutes as at this week, including two pregnant women. Is it possible for a pregnant woman to also be a prostitute?”

“The answer is yes. Oh yes.”

“You seem to be very knowledgeable about this subject. I am listening.”

“Which subject. Craze dey worry you.”

“But you understand where I am coming from. This looks like a case of gender discrimination. There are male prostitutes in Abuja, the dan daudu, why are they not being harassed? If care is not taken, any woman at all around Abuja can be arrested and labelled a prostitute, particularly where some men are convinced that every woman is a prostitute, if she wears eyelashes, make up, and looks independent with a show of nice cleavage.”

“Mind your language. It is that kind of reasoning that has been responsible for the widespread discrimination against women in Nigerian politics. It is why the office on Millenium Development Goals and the Ministry of Women Affairs are now working together to set aside a special fund for women politicians to encourage more women to seek elective offices in 2011. By the way, the NFF elected all its officials without a woman – even for the women’s league. ”

“I understand there is also a plan to give widows special gifts during the Nigeria at 50 celebrations. There is a group, the Network of Caring Women (NCW) which is claiming that this should be a national priority as the country celebrates its golden jubilee.”

“I don’t mind as long as the money is not going to come from the public treasury, otherwise you’d find every woman becoming a widow and a politician. How can anyone determine who is a widow and who is not? I understand we have up to 7 million widows. What is the source of that figure in a country where most marriages are unrecorded.”

“But we must support women, including female prostitutes.”

“You know me. I am gender-friendly, although I felt disappointed that only women between the ages of 50 and 80 felt politically committed enough to parade naked in Cross River state recently over the arrest of some young people during the Biase local government council election. Where were the women in the 20s, 30s and early 40s? They should be the ones to lead such a protest not old women.”

“I know your problem.”

“What is my problem? They say for example that the Federal Government cannot fund INEC for the 2011 general elections because the country is broke. I hope that is not true. I really hope so, because that will be the real cholera.”

“Woman wrapper.”

When Silence Serves Jonathan’s Interests: by Levi Obijiofor

NigeriaPlus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:50:22 +0000

A Worried President. In Conflict with Himself

President Goodluck Jonathan is a worried man. He is in conflict with himself and everybody. At a personal level, he doesn’t know what to do with his party’s zoning arrangement, which has become an albatross on his neck and a threat to his presidential ambition. His mood has been affected lately. Forget about the artificial grin which Jonathan wears like moustache on his face all the time. His body language shows he wants to contest the presidential election in 2011 but he continues to pretend that he is not interested.

At the party level, Jonathan is worried about how deep his decision to contest the presidential election would offend the defenders of the north or the tag team of Atiku Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida. This is why Jonathan’s opponents refer to him as a confused man. He should make up his mind and be man enough to convey his decision to the nation.

Beneath Jonathan’s self-effacing appearance lies a deeper ambition to retain his residency at Aso Rock. The only way he could achieve that dream goal is to contest next year’s presidential election. Jonathan is applying an old but familiar political trick which was adopted successfully by his predecessors. Here is how the technique worked in the past.

The longer an incumbent president remains silent about his verdict to participate in, or withdraw from, a presidential election, the more likely it is that he would be surrounded by a platoon of supporters urging him to contest. Silence therefore serves as a powerful weapon with which to con a nation. It was a strategy that military tyrant Sani Abacha used effectively to deceive the nation.

During the time that Abacha fiddled with his so-called political transition programme in the late 1990s, all the political parties pleaded with Abacha to be their presidential candidate. It was an odd situation because Abacha, who was not particularly endowed with good looks, became an instant beauty queen in Nigeria’s political sphere. Abacha enjoyed the atmosphere but remained mute about his intentions because everything went according to his self-serving script. While Abacha maintained his silence waiting for the right moment to unfurl the contents of his bag of tricks, fate outsmarted him. The rest is history.

When political party leaders idolise an incompetent but ambitious military head of state or an elected president, stupidity is always going to be the product of their errant ways. Olusegun Obasanjo watched Abacha’s schemes from his prison yard and nodded quietly. As soon as he was sworn in as president in May 1999, Obasanjo knew that one term would never be enough for his ego. Closer to the end of his first term, Obasanjo delayed his decision about whether he would seek re-election in the 2003 election. Every time journalists confronted him with the question, Obasanjo’s signature-style response was that he was waiting for his guardian angels to advise him which direction to take.

As the 2003 election date drew nearer and Obasanjo continued to play games, Abuja witnessed a deluge of delegations of traditional rulers, building contractors, religious leaders, and all manner of influence peddlers who trooped to Aso Rock to persuade Obasanjo to contest the 2003 presidential election because, they told him, the nation couldn’t do without him. Obasanjo repeated the same trick ahead of the 2007 election which would have seen him change the constitution in order to qualify to contest the election for a third term in office.

In 2010, Jonathan has adopted the wily ways of his political mentors. Every day that Jonathan withholds his decision about his political intentions, the tempo of activities in Abuja picks up a notch higher as visitors continue to visit the tacit president. The man whom many politicians in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have been wooing to contest the 2011 presidential election has kept quiet on the question of his interest in the 2011 presidential election. Jonathan’s silence is intentional and strategic. He is a tested student of his political godfather – Obasanjo.

Unfortunately, the longer that Jonathan keeps mum over his presidential ambition, the more valid ground he yields to the media to speculate about his future. Some of the recent speculations have been unkind and Jonathan has taken offence. A president is entitled, like every other person, to correct inaccurate media reports that seek to smear his integrity. However, the manner of such presidential response and the frequency of Jonathan’s irritation over media reports mark him out as an irritable president. Four days ago, Jonathan’s special adviser on media and publicity (Ima Niboro) issued a statement in which he expressed the president’s anger over consistent newspaper speculations about his presidential ambition.

Each time Jonathan whimpers over hypothetical press statements about his presidential ambition, in particular the numerous nocturnal meetings between Jonathan and old breed clueless former leaders such as Babangida and company, you get the impression that Jonathan lacks the capacity to endure press criticisms and conjectures. Jonathan should focus on the challenges that confront his government, not devote valuable time picking out every word or sentence in every media report that he considers to be inaccurate or offensive.

When Jonathan dives on every speculation in the press, he conveys the impression that he is idle. The man must take full responsibility for providing the framework for media speculations about his political future. While he sees no contradiction in the way his assistants have been invading the political arena with subdued campaign slogans designed to pave the way for his nomination as presidential candidate of the PDP, he is quick to notice mischief in the inferences that media make about his political ambition.

If Jonathan wants to end media presumptions about his future, he should clarify his position in regard to the 2011 presidential election. The more he delays his decision, the more political uncertainty he bequeaths on the nation. Rumour thrives when official sources of information are impeded, especially when people in authority withhold vital information that should help ordinary citizens to make informed decisions about their political leaders.

Nigerians are entitled to speculate on Jonathan’s political future, whether he would contest or refuse to run in next year’s presidential election. The press and the citizens are at liberty to ask questions about Jonathan, his character, his achievements and failures, whether he is a good or bad role model for other politicians, and whether he is an unpredictable or reliable president. Journalists in particular have every right to raise these issues as an agenda for public discussion.

It is useless for the president’s special adviser on media and publicity to go about combing daily and weekly newspapers in search of real and imagined enemies. There are valid reasons why the press must not only report the news but also interpret the news about the president. In his capacity as president, Jonathan is a public figure. As a public figure, Jonathan is a good material for press and public scrutiny. Everything the president does or refuses to do, including his public speeches, constitute fodder for sustained analysis in the press.

Why are Nigerian presidents and former military dictators so sensitive to press criticisms? For sure, Jonathan is not the first president to express his antagonism against the press. When Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was subjected to regular rounds of biting media commentary on his poor health, the Presidency stepped in to attack media organisations. The Presidency went a step further by administering secrecy oaths on public servants who worked at the presidency, including Yar’Adua’s personal assistants and advisers. As if that was not enough, Yar’Adua threatened and actually instituted legal action against the Leadership newspaper. Leadership newspaper admitted some of its editorial blunders owing to a failure to verify the accuracy of its report. The paper later offered an apology which Yar’Adua promptly rejected on the basis that the newspaper report had cast aspersions on his ability to govern.

While I acknowledge that the right to publish does not include the right to defame or injure the character of anybody, I would also argue that a president who enjoys legal protection under our constitution should not attempt to harass the press unnecessarily. As for the president’s special adviser, I have a word of advice. Media inaccuracies should be refuted, not denied. You refute media reports with facts and figures, not with spurious statements. Denial is not the same thing as refutation.

2011: Declaration and understanding modern Nigeria: by Muhammad Ajah

NigeriaPlus — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:30:20 +0000

There is a clear indication that we are close to our desired greatness

One thing is clear in Nigeria of today. The mere fact that a large chunk of Nigerians are more politically-conscious, talking about politics, reflecting on the past, criticizing our political blocs and gangsterism, and identifying banes of our development is a clear indication that we are close to our desired greatness.

This topic has been chosen because of declarations of interest in the race to the presidency in 2011. Many are declaring. Many are waiting and yet to declare. But to me, only one powerful contender has clearly shown up. Those who have shown interest for the race are just very few in number as compared to the past. What it really portrays is that our democracy is still under siege. There are still indices that our democracy and those who are supposed to be democratic frontiers in the country have not been liberal.

In the list of those who have publicly announced interest to be the number one citizen, at least between 2010 and 2015, are former Military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Gen. Buhari has toiled so much since 2003 to return to the leadership of Nigeria as a democratically elected president. A survey of this man shows him to be a good man, loved by many Nigerians. Yet, there are many forces against his interest. His party is new and seems to have the followers predominantly from the north.

Another aspirant is the sitting governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He made his intention open few weeks and it is believed that his performance as a governor may be added advantage for him. But has the ANPP, the party under which General Buhari ran twice for the president in 2003 and 2007, germinated to withstand the political tornado sweeping across the country? Again, has he all what it takes to be an independent national president?

In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), two people have declared. Former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is still battling for reintegration into the PDP, is on the move. We can recall that he founded and funded the Action Congress (AC), a party that is in power in Lagos and Edo states. But why he prefers to abandon his pet party and return, ceremoniously or unceremoniously, to PDP is still unclear. It cannot be easily forgotten the political forces the party created in the 2007 general elections, despite the fact that it was then a young party.

Also in PDP, Dr. Sarah Nnadzwa Jibril is in the contest for the president come 2011. She is the only female presidential aspirant and candidate on the Nigerian electoral platform.

This is the fifth time Dr. Jubril is in the race for the presidency. She was an aspirant under the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993. In 1998, under the umbrella of the PDP, she aspired and lost to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2003, she contested for presidency on the platform of the Progressive Action Congress (PAC). She contested for PDP presidential ticket in 2007 and lost at the convention which was won by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In her declaration, she made some interesting claims. She proposes to be a parenting president that will attend to the problems of Nigeria. She attributes the crises in the nation to the absence of character in most of the people occupying public offices and pledges to address quality citizenship and underdevelopment of the system: in the family, communities, professions, economy, governance, infrastructure and diplomacy.

She calls herself a neutralizer candidate who wishes to practically resolve the argument over north/south political dichotomy. She has even called for the zoning of the presidency to women. Other qualities she feels for herself are comforter, nurturer, rescuer and motivator. Hear her boast, “Yes, I am in the race for the fifth time. But I stand as a motivator. This is a battle between good or evil, of mediocrity or excellence, of criminality or discipline. This is an issue of consistency and endurance.”

Dr. Jibril seems to forget that in Nigeria, politics transcends mere abstract nurturing and provision of rescuer-leadership. No liberal citizen can undermine her ability to deliver. But many regard her to be a mere joker because our political history has pictured her to only show up when elections are near the corner. Some critics have tagged her as an opportunist who awaits a buyer that can pay her to step down. Is PDP, the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa, a soft party for soft politicians? Can PDP allow her to nurture Nigerians as a mother? Can the first lady cajole her husband not contest for a woman?

However, a critical observation reveals that no aspirant from the Southern part of the country has openly announced interest in the race. No South West or South East politician wants to be president this time!? Does is mean they are backing zoning? Does the South West believe that former President Obasanjo has taken their turn from 1999 to 2007? Are the South East people awaiting their turn in future or what?

The only person from the South South so much taunted to declare for the presidency is the sitting president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Although as many as over 1000 different groups, most of which are gatherings of hangers-on, are feasting on the ambition of the president, it is irritating that the politics is being tensed-up with the president’s silence. Even if it is becoming clear that silence depicts approval in this case, it is not gold because there are reservations that otherwise may occur.

Recently, there was news that the president has declined to run. But this was swiftly dismissed by his aide on media. A lot of Nigerians, especially the political bigwigs have been thrown into darkness and suspension because of this delay. Most are very careful not to be ensnared by the follies of those who would tell the president what his heart may desire to hear all times.

Many of these groups feasting on the president’s silence are busy attempting to discredit other genuine politicians from making their ways for the realization of their dreams. Those are the Any Government In-Power (AGIP) types who fade away immediately after the battle is fought and lost. Billions of Naira, which should have been used to develop our human and infrastructural capacities between now and the election proper, are being channeled into the basket pockets of the ever wanton political prostitutes in the name of campaign and mobilization.

Also making ways to the Aso Rock Villa is former Military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida popularly called IBB. Just like President Jonathan, IBB has not formally declared. But unlike Jonathan who has not even informally said yes or no, IBB has been affirmative in his pursuit to occupy the President’s seat as a democratically elected leader. He is the man so much talked about and admired outside the government of the day. Without mincing words, he is the aspirant to beat in the PDP primaries and presidential election.

What is important for Nigerians is not mere pronouncement of words. It should be the understanding of Nigeria as a cosmopolitan entity, not as a region or a parochial amalgam. The understanding of the components, the thinking, the way of life and aspirations of Nigeria and Nigerians is paramount to choosing who leads us.

In one of his interviews with newsmen in Minna, IBB pricked the veins and arteries of millions of Nigerians. I say this because I have come across many people discussing it. The nation has suffered so much backwardness because of injustice, inequity and the aftermath of the civil war. Straight to the fact, the civil war brought into the people a great loss of trust among the citizens and the Igbo tribe, one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, has been the worst hit by this sad development.

Even against common belief that one third is less than two third: that is the Hausa/Yoruba minus Igbo, the nation has refused to grow because the lack of agreement among these three groups has remained unresolved. The Igbo have been denied. They were relegated to second class citizenship and were made socio-economically and politically irrelevant. It was a political caging and congee. But they are the wisest and most creative in this country.

The negative effects of the civil war would have continued to bite harder on the Igbo till now owing to the pseudo mistrust against them. But to them, they have to comprehend the full implication of the byword, bitten once twice shy. They cannot afford to be mere political allies at all times. They can equally be the president of Nigeria and they have to look to the near future.

Since 1970 when the civil war ended, the Igbo (Dr. Alex Ekweme) have only succeeded in being the second citizen. For forty years now, the presidential slot has been between the North and South West, more to the first under the military and more to the later under democracy. And surprisingly, since the return of Nigeria to democratic governance in 1999, all the States of the South East have been with the ruling PDP where they only lead the party to do the dirty job for others.

It should not continue. The South East must open up to demand for equity in the power sharing. And I strongly believe that when that is done, the nation will grow stronger in unity and development. Who among those clamouring for the presidency have really traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria? Who among them knows a place called Ehugbo in Nigeria?

Muhammad Ajah is a writer, author, advocate of humanity and good governance based in Abuja.

WE do not matter at all: by Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu

NigeriaPlus — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:55:42 +0000

Vox Populi, Vox Dei???

Somehow, something tells me that we do not matter. And I do not think that whatever gives me the impression is absolutely wrong. When I look at what those who have been selected to lead us, as a nation, do to us, I come back to the same realization that we, even our opinions and voices, mean nothing. I am yet to see government, and its operatives, take our views serious. To my mind, we simply dissipate energy each time we point out the wrong things government had done, and is continually doing to us. So, somehow, both the present and past governments simply sit back and ignore us and whatever opinion we hold. It is not because our government is deaf. I think that they rather prefer to ignore us.

To government, we do not matter. Our views and opinions do not count. And so long as we played no role in their being empowered to public office, we do not count. So, I am worried that our government, and its operatives, takes criticisms made by foreigners much more serious than they take those made by Nigerians living and soldiering on in Nigeria. Too bad.

Let me take you back to August 4, 2010. On that day, our Foreign Affairs minister, Henry Odein Ajumogobia, sat on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in the United States. He was guest to the Council at an interview session moderated by former US ambassador to Nigeria, Princeton N. Lyman. Also present at the event was Nigeria’s ambassador to the US, Adebowale Adefuye. Ajumogobia is the second Nigerian to be answer questions on the CFR after Goodluck Jonathan.

My pain is not that Ajumogobia sought to bolster Nigeria’s image with that opportunity. I am worried however that the minister took an opinion expressed in a book by a certain writer, Richard Dowden, much serious than he ever took reports in the Nigerian media about the state of our country fifty years after independence. Ajomogobia took a copy of the Dowden’s book titled “Africa: Altered State, Ordinary Miracles” to the CFR and read a portion of it. The following is what he read to the audience as insulting of his country.

“Nigeria has a terrible reputation. Tell someone that you’re going to Nigeria, and if they haven’t been there themselves, they offer sympathy. Tell anyone who has been to Nigeria, and they laugh. And then they offer sympathy. No tourists go there. Only companies rich enough to keep their staff removed from the realities of Nigerian life do business there.”

He goes on: “And big companies rarely mention Nigeria in their annual reports, for fear of what it will do to their share price. Journalists treat it like a war zone. Diplomats regard it as a punishment posting. Everyone has a story from beyond normal bounds of credibility. Some are terrifying; most are funny. Nigerian politicians try to pretend that its bad image is some Western conspiracy against Nigeria and Africa.”

He read further: “It’s not just white visitors who fear it. I told a Ghanaian cab driver in London that I was going to Nigeria. He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, ‘I lived in Lagos once. Give me a million — a billion dollars — I won’t go back there. Never. It’s the most terrible place in the world’.”

What left butterflies in Ajumogobia’s stomach was Dowden’s description of Lagos which with which he classically summarized Nigeria. He wrote, and Ajumogobia read that “”Lagos survives, it pulsates, it grows, and it works. So does Nigeria.”

Of course, these left his audience tumbling in laughter. To my mind, the laughter was simply a way of telling Ajumogobia how pitiable he looked trying to counter a truth that people everywhere in the world knew long ago about Nigeria. Dowden, was only re-telling the story of Nigeria as told by Nigerians themselves over the decades. So, why get angry? Interestingly, Dowden is not a ‘foreigner” to Nigerian and African issues. A search on him showed he “is director of the Royal African Society. He first went to Uganda as a teacher in 1971, and then as a journalist in 1983, working for The Times. In 1986, he became Africa Editor of the Independent, and in 1995 took up the post of Africa Editor for the Economist. He has also made three television documentaries on Africa, for the BBC and Channel 4. He also accompanied Prof. Chinua Achebe to Nigeria on his most recent visit.

I am pissed off that Ajumogobia would go to waste tax payers’ money to defend a truth well known and well told, not just by reporters in Nigeria, but by the actions and inaction of government and its officials, who act more like brand eroders. No one, foreigner or local, needs to be preached to about the good deeds of a government that abhors decency in public spending and manipulation of due process. Even the audience at the CFR knew, perhaps, more than Ajumogobia, that Nigeria regales in corruption. Most of those who sat there listening to Ajumogobia pontificate on Nigeria’s prowess in peace keeping, rule of law, due process, accountability, electoral freedom and transparency, probably knew more about Halliburton, Wilbros, Siemens, N300b road intervention fund of 2003, N900 billion Power sector intervention fund also of 2003. Did Ajumogobia forget that even this administration had said $10 billion was lost in power sector reform?

Most of them probably have better information, than Ajumogobia does; about the fact the Nigeria remains the only oil producing country with no functional railway system. No national carrier in both air and marine transport. In telecom parlance, Nigeria is the probably the only country with no fixed line telephony. Those who sat and laughed as Ajumogobia read those excerpts from Dowden’s book have internet access and can browse whatever information they want about Nigeria online. And come to think of it, the information they get online about Nigeria is not uploaded by Americans, but Nigerians who are daily reporting developments in their country as they happen.

People all over the world now perceive Nigeria as a country where money is plucked off the streets of Abuja. This perception is created by the same government Ajumogobia is marketing through its grandiose show of profligacy. Progressively, we have worked our way into making money loose its value when pronounced. For us as a nation, spending in millions is a sign of unseriousness. We have to spend in billions to be taken serious.

It is indeed a pity that we have a system which responds to criticisms only when they are made from abroad. If any of our patriots speak from home, he is considered as ranting. If he speaks from the UK or US, then government shivers. We read Chinua Achebe’s “The problem with Nigeria.” To government, the book made no sense. Prince Tony Momoh got tired of writing “Letter to my countrymen.” Wole Soyinka has written and even dramatized the Nigerian situation in several books. Countless Nigerian authors, journalists and columnists had written and are still writing critical essays about the Nigerian situation. Nollywood is daily retelling the Nigerian story to Nigerians and the world. Yet, government looks the other way. But Ajumogobia frets after reading a section of a book, by Dowden, which documents his experiences in 13 African countries.

I think that what Ajumogobia has actively told Nigerians is that it is better to critics this country, its rulers and process from abroad. Somehow, you get an ear when you talk to government as a Diasporan Nigerian or a foreigner.

The fact however is that those foreigners, who write about Nigeria and its decay, have not manufactured any new story about us. They only rehash the same old stories we knew long ago. Ajumogobia, as foreign minister, would rather that the world looks away from the authority stealing, public theft, unconscionable looting of treasury, usurping of electoral will of the people by government, award of billion of naira in unexecutable contracts, the total lack of accountability even in the sale of our oil, and then concentrate on Nigeria at 50 or the promise by Goodjo to conduct a free and fair election, even when he had allegedly told Gov. TA Orji of Abia state that whoever contests against him in 2011 will fail. Let’s discuss something else, please!