He dropped his phone on the floor and picked up the other pair and was greeted with the same thick brown soil. His face was twisted in an emotion of fear and confusion. He held them both and his mind became a sprinter in a race of thoughts for who had worn his shoes.
Natasha Akpoti who is the founder of Builders Hub Impact Investment Program courageously exposed the gross ineptitude and brazen cronyism by those entrusted with power as exemplified by the moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company in this presentation at the Federal House of Representatives on the 1st March 2018. Watch below…
“It’s real. I’m not going to say I’m completely comfortable with it but it is what it is. You have to deal with it. If it means you have to work 10 times harder than your male counterparts, don’t complain about it, do what you have to do. We all celebrate people like Oprah and Mo Abudu and we don’t actually realise what they had to do to get to that point. They probably had to do 20 times than their male counterparts. Once you get there, you don’t complain about how you get there. So, whatever it is you have to do as a female, you just have to get it done. I know I’ll (ruffle) a few feathers but I also don’t think men and women are equal, I don’t think that’s how God created us that way…especially in the household anyway. So I think as females when we realise that yeah we can be strong in our career, but when we are home we have to realise that the man is the head of the house” ~ Tiwa Savage Why is she receiving flak from some ladies for this statement???
Let me begin by extending my deep sense of gratitude to the Royal Institute of International Affairs, for inviting me to participate in this current series of discussions on, Next Generation Nigeria: Accountability and National Cohesion. The involvement of this reputable British Institute in discussing and proffering suggestions for extant Nigeria’s problems is not only commendable, but I believe most relieving for the British establishment, who must understandably feel a deep sense of vicarious responsibility for putting together a country confronted with such grim future. Nigeria became a united British colony by the amalgamation of its Northern and Southern Protectorates in 1914. In 1960 it attained independence, fashioned a federal Constitution which had three and subsequently four regions as its federating units. The pre-1960 and the 1963 constitutions of Nigeria were fashioned by the people of Nigeria as represented by the leaders of their ethnic nationalities. The coup of January 1966 and the counter-coup of the same year occasioned by ethnic tensions and disagreements within the military-led our country to disastrous consequences. Our first Prime Minister, Rt. Hon Tafawa Balewa and the then premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, as well as the then Minister for Finance Festus Okotie-Eboh, were murdered. A massive pogrom was unleashed on South Eastern Nigerians living in the Northern Nigeria. A sitting Head of State from the South East, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi and a governor from the South West Col. Adekunle Fajuyi were murdered. The military suspended our 1963 constitution and adopted a unitary system of government to fit their command and control structures. Opposition to this move by Southern Nigeria led to constitutional talks in Aburi, Ghana. The agreements reached Aburi were jettisoned. War broke out and claimed more than three and a half million lives mostly from the South East. After the war, the military-authored two more constitutions, one in 1979 and another in 1998/99. The two military constitutions were finally approved by the Supreme Military Council. Under military rule, this organ was the highest legislative organ for the country. It was made up of senior military officers, a majority of whom were from Northern Nigeria. The last constitution of 1998/99 which the military approved was the legal instrument that governed Nigeria’s transition to democracy. It is still in use in Nigeria today. It was not subjected to a national referendum. It created 19 states out of the old Northern Region, 6 states out of the Western Region, 2 states out of the old Midwestern Region and 9 states out of the old Eastern Region. An agreement by a constitutional conference convened by General Abacha divided the country into six geopolitical zones. This agreement was never incorporated into a legislation even though it continues to be adopted for administrative purposes by Government and the political parties. The creation of states and local governments in these six geographical areas did not respect any equitable parameter. Our present constitution is not autochthonous. It was not written by the people of Nigeria. It was not approved in a National referendum. In jurisprudence, its effectiveness will score a very low grade on account of its unacceptability. Regrettably, it continues to hold sway and begins with a false proclamation, “We the People of Nigeria….” Our present constitution was written at a time of unprecedented increase in National revenue following the massive discovery of oil in Nigeria and its global reliance as a source of fuel for mechanical machines. It had as its centrepiece, the distribution of national revenue and national offices using states and local governments as units for division. It constructed a federation in name but a unitary government in practice following the pattern enunciated in 1966 from the inception of military administration in Nigeria. Competition and drive for production by the federating units was destroyed. Each state and local government waited every month for proceeds from oil generated revenue to be divided out to them. The Federal Government became enormously powerful taking over mining rights, construction of interstate highways, major educational establishments, rail and water transportation, power and several infrastructural responsibilities previously undertaken by the regions. Competition for control of the Federal Government became intense and corrupted our electoral system. Corruption became perverse as the Federal Government became too big to be effectively policed by auditing and administrative regulations. As I speak to you today, Nigeria has a grim economic outlook. Nigeria’s external debt has grown from $10.3 billion in 2015 to $15 billion in 2017. Her domestic debt has also grown from 8.8 trillion Naira in 2015, to 14 trillion Naira in 2017. Domestic debt component for the 36 states rose from 1.69 trillion Naira in 2015 to 2.9 trillion Naira in June 2017. The Federal government has on two occasions released bailout funds to enable states to meet their recurrent expenditure requirements. Only about eight states in Nigeria namely Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Edo, Delta, Abia, Rivers, and Kwara have their internally generated revenue sufficient enough to cover their interest repayments on their debts without depending on allocations from Federally collected revenue. For the Federal Government close to 40% of its annual revenue was spent on servicing of interest repayments on debts and according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), this percentage is expected to increase further. According to Fitch ratings, Nigeria’s Government gross debts is 320% of its annual revenue!! – one of the highest in the world. In the face of this economic reality, the Population Reference Bureau predicts that Nigeria will in 2050 become the world’s fourth-largest population with a population of 397 million coming after China, India and the United States of America. This is only 33 years away. In 2011, five Colonels in the United States Centre for Strategy and Technology, Air War College did a case study on Nigeria and the global consequences of its implosion and came out with a conclusion that, “despite its best efforts, Nigeria has a long-term struggle ahead to remain a viable state, much less a top-20 economy”. Faced with this grim
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks ~ Samuel Adams This evergreen statement by the erudite philosopher and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States will continue to resonate among the greater proportion of conscionable men who want and strive for a better society. Ever since a bill to control and regulate the activities of NGOs was introduced to the House of Representatives in July 2016 there has been widespread criticism and condemnation of the move. The Bill which is sponsored by Hon. Umar Buba Jibril (Deputy Leader, PDP: Kogi), proposes among other things to establish a Regulatory Commission for NGOs. This body will be headed by an Executive Secretary for a five-year tenure, a Governing Board comprising of 18 members and a Chairman, all of whom shall also be appointed by the President. The Board will have powers to reject and approve the application for a license from NGOs. Having read the bill I can say without any fear of contradiction that it is aimed at cajoling and intimidating a sector that has contributed greatly to our incipient democracy. Ostensibly what this bill proposes in simple language is for our constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and association to be curbed. Surely nothing can be more draconian, what do these lawmakers take us for? The fact that an opposition lawmaker spent time and resources to come up with this preposterous bill in this modern age clearly portrays the manner of rustic sycophancy peculiar to most of our public officials. There is no civilized nation where the government seeks to suppress the activities of civil society organizations. They are rather seen as partners in progress for the good of the larger society, sadly it remains to be seen if our so-called honorable members in Abuja appreciate the positives of such malleability. We can agree that in a country like ours the proliferation of numerous organizations claiming to be non-profits has many cons. There have been cases of fraudulent operations, corrupt enrichment, and even security threat, the truth, however, is that the pros far outweigh these cons. More often than not, especially during conflicts, while the Intergovernmental organizations like the AU and UN are rambling about the strategy or consequence of moving into trouble spots, these NGOs are often the first to deploy. The innumerable benefits of NGOs simply cannot be sacrificed on the pretext of safeguarding national security by lawmakers who have a legendary reputation for servile flattery. Expectedly the Nigeria Network of NGOs led by its Executive Director Seyi Oyebisi fired the first salvo. In a letter to Hon Jibril and the relevant House Committee the network shredded the vacuous and inscrutable summations of the proposed bill in 3 areas, namely; security, lack of legal framework and regulating the funding of the sector. The letter queried the evidence to back up the growing narrative of NGOs being funding channels for terrorism even when available statistics show that less than 5% of them receive foreign funds. It also reminded the lawmakers that the CAC, NPC, and FIRS already have several existing legal frameworks guiding the activities of NGOs especially in the area of funding. Subsequently, several leaders of thought from across the civil society, media and the academia have spoken out to warn our lawmakers and sensitize Nigerians on the perils of any attempt to emasculate our already endangered freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly. In a press statement signed by 54 persons, including Agbakoba, Falana and Adeniyi they argued that the lawmakers “desire to bring back to life all the intolerance and high-handedness of military rule, by clamping down on voluntary organisations” at a time Nigerians were suffering from the worst economic crisis in decades and thereby urged well-meaning Nigerians to “lend their voices in condemning this bill and encourage the National Assembly to withdraw it from consideration” In one of its editorials, Thisday newspapers pummeled the bill and concluded that it will not only stifle our freedom but will also lynch “the incredible network of voluntary organizations holding the nation together” and called on the “stakeholders in the national democratic project to work collectively to ensure that this bill does not see the light of day”. So even though the House of Reps just released a statement to explain and defend its intent on passing the bill there is little doubt that the successes of our NGOs far out-mark their deficiencies. They are more accountable than our government agencies. They have in the past exposed corruption and promoted transparency in government. So while we concede that the extant laws should be amended to accommodate some of the present-day realities we should definitely not support a bill that will hand over much of our freedom to a few selected government officials. One of the frontrunners of this campaign to enlighten the average Nigerian on the dangers of the toxic bill Prof Chidi Odinkalu Chairman, Governing Council, Section on Public Interest & Development Law (SPIDEL), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has summarised the flaws of the bill in a 5-minute video. Prof. Chidi Odinkalu Please share and enlighten fellow Nigerians to #SayNoToTheAntiNGObill Thank you.
“We believed in the shelter of America, and the compassion of America, and the opportunity of America. We came, and we became Americans.” ~ Enda Kenny Talk about Irish mojo and the Taoiseach Enda Kenny comes to mind. The Irish Prime Minister who was a guest at the White House in line with a long held tradition on St. Patricks day seized the opportunity to give a rousing speech in which he reminded everyone including US President Donal Trump about the beauty of immigration. In the speech which has since gone viral with close to 35m views as at press time, Mr Kenny said that St Patrick whose day was being celebrated around the world was an immigrant and was, in many ways, the patron saint of immigrants along with being the patron saint of Ireland. He said, “Ireland came to America because we were deprived of liberty, deprived of opportunity, of safety, of even food itself, the Irish believed, and four decades before Lady Liberty lifted her lamp – we were the wretched refuse on the teeming shore”. “We believed in the shelter of America, in the compassion of America, in the opportunity of America. “We came, and we became Americans. We lived the words of John F. Kennedy long before he uttered them. We asked not what America could do for us, but what we could do for America – and we still do.” he added. It was indeed a short but powerful speech. Coming a day after Trump’s new immigration ban was halted by a federal court many opinion leaders applauded the message. Some sections of the US and UK media have gone further to extrapolate that it was an indirect criticism of the American President’s controversial immigration policies. Occupy Democrats posted the video on their Facebook page captioned “Irish PM SCHOOLS Trump: ‘St. Patrick Was An Immigrant’ Right to Trump’s face!” Opinions will vary on this one but I can tell you it felt proud to be Irish watching the Taoiseach courageously saying what the British PM who rushed to visit the White House first couldn’t say. You can watch a video of the full speech here.
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