politics

Blog, Monishots

How To Trounce Tribalism.

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Equality is not the empirical claim that all groups of humans are interchangeable; it is the moral principle that individuals should not be judged or constrained by the average properties of their group. ~ Steven Pinker I’ve been conditioning my mind and body for the upcoming 21-day challenge. When I wake up, I just pick up my phone to read ODB and then leave it in the room while I work away in my attic. So I didn’t plan to write this piece. Actually, I didn’t intend to write at all this morning. My writing aim for the day was to do a paragraph or two during my break later in the afternoon. Nor did I plan to be distracted by Twitter this morning. But here we are, so let’s start with the tweets below. I could have simply labelled the first two authors but on second thought, I decided to put pen to paper and make some sense with my experience. When I moved to Lagos in 2006, I settled for Northern Foreshore, a newly built estate in the Chevron area of Lekki. My agent Charles eventually got a nice bungalow for me to view. I loved the place. It was built to standard with quality ceramics and durable fittings Charles scheduled a meeting with the landlord for some sort of formal introduction. When we got there, he rang the man to confirm he was coming. But something strange happened. His countenance changed after the call. I noticed this and asked if everything was okay. Charles being a jolly good and progressive fella replied that all was well but the man would be delayed. He suggested that we should drive to the waterfront so I could better appreciate the beauty of the estate. We did and when I asked him to call the landlord again he had no choice but to confess that the man wouldn’t be joining us. I was curious to know why. He told me the man was already on his way when he overheard me speaking in Igbo. He immediately told Charles that he would not rent his property to me. I was stunned! Of course, I’ve heard similar tales countless times but never imagined it could happen to me. My perplexity trumped my anger really because Yorubas are arguably the most liberal people I know. Some of the best professionals I’ve dealt with in the petroleum industry were Yorubas. Before that incident, I’ve only had what I’ll call minor, even negligible experiences with tribalism. As Uniport jambites, my friend and I had an altercation with the chief security officer which resulted in our detention for hours. The man’s reference to our tribe hardened my resolve to make him eat his words. When my dad got the report he called my aunt who was the deputy registrar and she immediately sent her secretary to get us released. As we left the security post I mockingly told the man that after all the gragra he took orders from an Igbo woman..with emphasis on woman. It stung and I loved it. In another incident, while driving down to the east from Lagos, a police officer accosted me at Sagamu. During a heated exchange, he retorted “who be Igbo man for this country?” Well, I had to show him. I rang my uncle who was an assistant commissioner of police and in an hour he sent his men to bundle them down his station while I continued my journey. Overseas I witnessed what may pass as racism in Kassel, Germany while I was on my honeymoon. An elderly cashier with a contemptuous countenance repeatedly slid the note I gave her through a counterfeit detector, pinched it, scratched it and almost x-rayed it before finally deciding it was fake. My protest that the note was from the same bundle I had been shopping with right from Frankfurt airport was to no avail as she insisted on calling the cops. The cops came and after what seemed like an eternity of screening, my note was certified as authentic while the counterfeit detector was deemed faulty. Furious and implacable, I dumped the clothes including a fine bargain Hilfiger denim shirt on her counter and demanded a refund. Not even an apology extracted by the cops could change my mind. She said it in German by the way so how was I to know if she didn’t rattle on? I still ask forgiveness for the invectives I rained on that poor old lady. Back to my Lagos story. The action of that ethnically challenged landlord amplified my determination to live in that estate. And I made sure I communicated that resolve to the man with a stinker. A few weeks later, I secured a better house for a cheaper rent. The crib was even closer to the waterfront and my landlady had planted a garden so exquisite that she could pass for a florist. She tastefully fitted the house too. And guess what? She was a Yoruba woman! My point is that discrimination will always happen so long as nomenclature is part of human nature. As Paulo Coelho said, the world is full of idiots distributed strategically so you can meet at least one per day. So it is how you deal with the situation that matters more. Some may not have the ability to punish such idiots, but I would say do what you can to shame them for your own good and the larger society. Or at least ensure that you are not deterred from achieving your objective. Yet, being widely travelled and having lived among different Nigerian tribes I know discrimination isn’t peculiar to a particular people. The idiots are also strategically distributed among different tribes, races and groups. But you can choose to focus on the positives because there are definitely more good people out there. The best boss I had in the petroleum industry was a Yoruba man. During one of the usual fuel crises in Nigeria, I was almost bankrupt when I

Blog, Diaspora Diary.

Diaspora Diary: Why You Should Emigrate.

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We are not going to make progress. We are not going to develop. We will not be secure. We will remain poor. These are not curses. They are the most highly probable consequences of our social paradigms. Almost mathematically certain. No amount of prayers will stop this. ~Ayo Sogunro Before I write the 2nd instalment of American Wonder please permit me to do this important piece cum pitch. I know I shouldn’t be writing about politics in our Diaspora Diary, but let’s conveniently categorise this as a sociopolitical topic. The above quote from Dr Ayo Sogunro was part of his reaction to the debate over Tinubu’s certificate scandal, and you can read his entire tweet here. This story was specifically captioned to catch your attention, but I hope it will also persuade you to reflect and act. There are countless reasons why Nigeria will not make progress, but here is a poignant one, so read on. I recently met a wise guy in Vegas who aligned with the Sogunro’s position and illustrated it by analysing his experience in Nigeria before migrating to God’s own country. Here goes! The 62-year-old man holds a degree in Business Administration and worked as a banker for 22 years in Nigeria after about a decade of job hunting. He finally decided to check out like Andrew at 49 when he visited America in 2010. During that vacation, his interaction with old mates revealed that these guys were making steady progress while the reverse was his case back home. How you may ask. Here is the thing. Rising through promotions and salary increments in the bank, he attained a managerial position by 2004 and thought he had arrived. Who wouldn’t think so? A bank manager is an enviable achievement anywhere in the world. Well to the less ambitious folks, not necessarily our guy. While in the US, he discovered that his mates were able to set targets and meet them because they had stability in their chosen vocations. Consequently, they achieved more in terms of wealth, academics, and self-development. Particularly the last for this simple reason; Self-development doesn’t depend on money but if you attain a certain level of financial stability, you are more likely to start thinking about developing yourself and others. It was then that a stark realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. As he progressed in rank and salary, he was actually getting poorer in real terms because the combination of inflation and incessant devaluation of the naira continuously eroded his purchasing power. His situation was akin to the classic Fela hit ODOO ( Overtake Don Overtake Overtake) where the Afrobeat legend sang about a man who was saving to buy a fan. Go and look up the lyrics. Our guy told me that when he landed in God’s own country, he started as a gas station cashier in Atlanta while his wife did some courses and joined the healthcare sector. Having saved up some funds after 2 years, they moved to Vegas where he partnered with a friend to start valeting. Today, he owns a valeting agency and a vehicle salvage business. He said that in less than 10 years, he achieved more in America than he did in over 2 decades as a banker back home. When he finished his story he concluded thus; “Nigeria go survive is a soundtrack we started singing since childhood. Check am bro. The 70s was better than the 80s and the 80s was better than the 90s, it just keeps getting worse. Nigeria will not develop as it is PRESENTLY STRUCTURED. Anyone who tells you otherwise is deceiving you. It is better to go where you will make progress because you have only one life to live.” There and then I was reminded of another wise man, my good friend Tony Alika Igwebuike who told me in 2016 that the real value of the naira would be around N1000 to a dollar. That’s a story for another day but of course, he has been vindicated. Now it’s not as if there aren’t successful people in Nigeria, after all, Dangote, Otedola, Elumelu et al made it so why can’t you? The devil’s in the details if you ask me. But I can bet those three would have more than tripled their wealth if they put in the same effort and leveraged similar patronage in saner climes. The food for thought, however, is why the tech gurus who develop innovative solutions for real-life problems are now richer than merchants and bankers in the Western world. For my friends who will mockingly ask why I suddenly realised this after supporting Buhari. Well, some of us hoped that Buhari would at least start reducing the cost of governance, curb the insecurity, and improve our infrastructure. Those areas are supposedly his forte, or so they claimed. His record did not include economic prosperity. Unfortunately, he failed woefully in all areas. And yes including infrastructural development viz a viz the borrowing/implementation indices. Again I’m sorry to disappoint my other friends with an unpopular fact: If you give Peter Obi 16years he will not perform magic. The best he can achieve is some prudence in Aso Villa. I believe that the Peter I know will not sign off billions for Aso Rock kitchen and that’s actually a good start considering the rot in our system. But that’s about where it ends. He can’t possibly sanitise the entire executive controlled by a monumentally corrupt civil service. Then of course he wouldn’t dare the legislators because more than anyone he knows that would definitely end in his impeachment. You all know I’ve been an optimistic promoter of Nigeria. But who would have known that after 8 years of living abroad on earnings in naira, yours truly will need a job to sustain himself? Is €=N1056 a joke to you? My dear friend, I’m now satisfied to contribute my quota to the development of our country from the diaspora. I’m neither optimistic nor pessimistic rather I remain hopeful. If any administration delivers any form of progress in the future, I will rejoice

Blog, Opinion Articles, Writers

Notes On Nigeria by Victor Oladejo

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“The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character…” Chinua Achebe ( The trouble with Nigeria). Writing about Nigeria is a duty if not a burden for Nigerian writers, we do this at a point in our lives, at times with articles, discussions with friends at meetings, with our social media handles ( for netizens like me), whatever way we choose to tell the story of a land filled with honey yet plagued with unending mysteries called Nigeria, we are contributing to her stories, a map for patriots to seek out whenever they try to get a grip on their beloved country. This essay is my little contribution and I would try not to mix it with my sentiments as best as possible. Whenever the question: what is wrong with Nigeria comes up in my discussion with people, I love to pitch my tent with Achebe, hence the quote at the entrance of this essay. The leaders are the problems of the country, why? This question can only be answered by the archives of history. In 1914, the southern and northern protectorates formed Nigeria, this decision was taken by the then-British lords and a few native people, on behalf of a people from different backgrounds, religions, and ancestry. The question at this juncture is: was the regional system of government practiced before on a good course for the people? Yes, the evidence is there to serve as answers, the exponential growth of each region on their resources and pace. However, as I said earlier, the leaders of this land in their “wisdom” decided to create a new path, a journey filled with potholes and a marriage that shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Nigeria became Independent from British Colonial rule in 1960, the country became the envy of the world. Predictions poured in from all corners and a dream of a greater country formed in the minds of Nigerians. These dreams however became a nightmare when the military coup of January 15, 1966, took place. This coup however was interpreted differently by the citizens, the greater part of the populace agreed that it ended the corrupt leaders of the country, while the other parts believed it had another agenda which was tribe related. There is no doubt it was tagged an Igbo coup. Either way, it gave birth to other coups which eventually led to the civil war. The Nigerian civil war which lasted from 1967 to 1970 was a scene of casualties by military machinery and manpower, targeted destruction of properties, and the weaponized starvation of the Igbo people of the then Biafra. The war in its wake, became a dark spot on the already soiled dress of the relationship between the major tribes: Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. This spot would spread into the fabric of Nigeria and mould the trajectory of governance in the country. We would agree that the leadership system of Nigeria would learn from her dark past and seek out a new path of governance for her people, but the reverse was the case. Many will argue that Gowon tried to rebuild burnt bridges but how true is that claim? The payment of 20 euros to a part of the Igbo population who had just left the ruins of war is a great example of his failure, this in no measure slowed down the progress of these people as they struggled to start all over again. The Gowon government recorded a rise in corruption among the military officers which in many ways contributed to the emergence of Muritala Mohammed in a bloodless coup. The Murtala regime however was short-lived, and from here, there were changes from military to civilian rule as Nigeria strived to find a balance. I won’t dwell much on these changes because I prefer to discuss civilian governments that are relevant to where we are in Nigeria today. President Obasanjo was the first democratically elected president in 1999, the government based on projects and policies is said to be one of the most successful governments in Nigeria, however, there were flaws in this government, one of which is the response to the crisis of attacks by militants in the Niger Delta on oil installations. The Obasanjo in 2006 declared a state of emergency in the region and military actions that affected the civilians and the hunted militants continued until late 2009 when amnesty was introduced. The effect of the mismanagement of the crisis aside from crippling the economy to an extent contributed to a rise in militancy in the region which Umar Yaradua inherited in his government. The political climate during Umar Musa Yar’adua was a peaceful one save for the management of the militancy in the Niger Delta region admits other issues, the continuation of the amnesty program is a commendable part of his policies, the Freedom of Information Act also created a sense of transparency in his government, however, his reign was short-lived and we were ushered into a very dark rollercoaster. After the death of President Yar’ adua, his vice: Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took over, but his government was plagued with different roadblocks some of which were a fall in oil revenue, poverty, and corruption at its peak. It is this government that we witnessed the infamous Diezeni Allison-Madueke, the minister of petroleum who embezzled over $ 20 billion dollars based on missing funds from the oil sector, inflated contracts, and kickbacks from oil companies. This government’s weight on the Nigerians’ necks led to their call for a messiah party, which APC ( All Progressive Congress) tried to fill by contesting in the 2015 general elections. President Mohammed Buhari’s government lasted for eight years, which was characterised by a rise in poverty, insecurity, insurgency and corruption at its peak. The call for a savior arose once again and at this point, I participated for the first time in a significant political decision of this country.

Blog, Opinion Articles, Writers

The Blame Game Analysis by Solomon Ekoja

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Before independence from Great Britain, the majority of the blame regarding the turbulence of the country was directed at our Colonial masters. It’s been over sixty years since they left but our turbulence as a nation has continued unabated. Who then should be blamed for the turbulent journey of Nigeria? Bad weather, the citizens or the leaders. As a mathematician, I would like to approach this discussion by appropriating percentages in order to properly highlight the contribution of the players. Leadership In my analysis, forty-five per cent of the blame goes to the leadership cadre of the country. A leader is supposed to be a person who leads a group of people to achieve a common goal but unfortunately, this can’t be said about the crop of leaders in Nigeria. After our independence in 1960, the mantle of leadership was handed over to our founding fathers. Many countries envied our envisaged predicted progress but in a jiffy, the military staged a coup that dislodged the country. The coup happened because of corruption by officials, the Western Nigeria crisis, the intention to install Awolowo as the Head of State, the domino effect from coups outside Nigeria and the personal ambition of the coup plotters. One begins to imagine how corruption found its way into the system to the extent that the army had to conduct a series of massacres to oust their government. This stunted us because sanctions from the Western world limited our progress. When the military assumed office, many thought they would be saints capable of transforming the nation. Unfortunately, they were not. Seven months after the Aguyi Ironsi was installed, northern officers who labelled the previous coup as an Igbo coup coupled with the fear that “the Igbos were getting too big for their boots” staged a counter-coup. General Yakubu Gowon being in power stirred the affairs of the country during a crude oil boom. During this period, Nigeria made a lot of money to the extent the leaders did not know how to spend it. If the leadership was visionary, it should have taken steps to plan for the future like the Arab nations. Agitations from the Eastern region soon resulted in a civil war that claimed millions of lives and properties. This brought the country to a standstill and caused a great setback to our development. Gowon had promised to hand over power to civilian rule but started playing games with the handover. This prompted General Murtala Muhamed who felt cheated for masterminding the counter-coup to stage a bloodless coup. Immediately he took over power, he was regarded as but some power-drunk soldiers who also wanted to taste power, unfortunately, killed the reformer. General Obasanjo took over power and after conducting an election, Alhaji Shehu Shagari became the first democratically elected president of the country. During his tenure, he made agriculture, industry, housing and transportation the major economic goals of his administration. His “green revolution” increased nationwide agricultural productivity but due to staggering corruption, insecurity and indiscipline as claimed by Major General Buhari, his government was toppled. This move truncated the flow of democracy and landed us with sanctions. The military government of Buhari truly reduced the cost of governance, instilled discipline and fought corruption but it was marred by human rights abuses that negatively affected our development trajectory. This contributed to his overthrow by General Babaginda who conducted an annulled election that has continued to haunt the nation. When power was given to the interim government of Ernest Shonekon, General Abacha forcefully received power. His government was characterized by massive corruption, state-sponsored murder and assassinations. Historical records also reveal that there were full-blown cases of corruption during the reign of the military. This implies that only the khaki differentiated them from politicians in Agbada. After our return to democratic rule in government, the country has continued to enjoy trickles of progress accompanied by a windfall of corruption. Money meant for the upkeep of the public continued to be laundered by a select few occupying the corridors of leadership. The leaders who should have been servants have turned the table around to be served. No wonder, billions of naira are spent to cater for the National Assembly while ordinary citizens grapple to feed. When a country borrows money for development, they use the funds judiciously but in our case, our leaders borrow money for laundering purposes that keep generations unborn in perpetual debt. Citizens On the part of the citizens, I wish to apportion thirty per cent of the blame to them. Although these groups of people don’t occupy leadership positions where they can make impactful decisions, their daily activities have continued to hamper the progress of our dear nation. During election periods when credible leaders are supposed to be elected, many citizens join forces with greedy leaders to frustrate the electoral process. Thugs for instance who steal ballot boxes and cause mayhem during elections are from the citizen pool. Their activities continue to deny the country from electing trustworthy leaders with the capacity to stir the country in the right direction. Closely related to this is the issue of corruption among citizens. Many Nigerians engage in corrupt practices daily to the detriment of the country. Citizens for personal gain at the detriment of the nation, illegally mine natural resources like petroleum, gold and coal. This short change reduces our revenue and makes us resort to borrowing. As one flips through the international news headlines, it is not uncommon to hear about Nigerian citizens being arrested for crimes like smuggling, trafficking and cyber-crimes. All these activities give the nation a bad name and often discourage the foreign community from investing in Nigeria. During the last administration, there were reports about the vandalization of rail tracks in order to get peanuts to the detriment of the smooth running of the transport industry. In spite of the security architecture of the country, insecurity has continued to thrive because of the involvement of the citizens. Banditry and Boko

Blog, Opinion Articles, Writers

Nigeria’s Turbulent Journey: Who is to Blame? by Chukwuemeka Oluka

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This journey traces a trajectory from ‘Yesterday,’ through ‘Today,’ with a sneak peek into a destination, ‘Tomorrow.’ It is a journey of the most populous black nation on earth with over 200 million people comprising ethnically diverse nationalities trying to define their existence. This work presents an inflective introspection, appraisal and interrogation of Nigeria’s journey from 1960 since it gained independence. What have been the milestones, the failures, and the lessons learnt? Is there any hope for a better tomorrow? These remain the burning questions the writer seeks to answer. Going down memory lane, Nigeria was formed in 1914 when Lord Frederick Lugard amalgamated the Northern and Southern protectorates. This merger brought together over 250 ethnic divides and tribes into a British colony, and the name, ‘Nigeria’ was birthed. In 1960, Nigeria gained independence from British colonization and in 1966, the country experienced military coups that inadvertently overthrew a democratic government. This led to a civil war between the years 1967 to 1970. The death of over a million people during the Biafran — Nigerian civil war would remain a scar on the country’s history. As we capture this event dotting our memory lane, Nigeria is still battling to maintain its unity, with various ethnic groups. While some seek secession, others call for the restructuring of the country. Another dark side of our history was the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential elections and the takeover of power by General Sanni Abacha’s military junta. Afterwards, advocacies and the national feeling and empathy at the time was for the Yoruba tribe to produce the next president in order to assuage them or smoothen already ruffled feathers for the woes that befell their kinsman, M.K.O Abiola. So, the herald of democracy in 1999 brought on board President Olusegun Obasanjo. Deservedly, the return to civilian rule during Obasanjo’s second tenure brought a noticeable transformation to the economy of Nigeria. There were debt cancellations, the massive transformation of the telecommunications industry and also the banking sector. As a result, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country stood head and shoulders above the rest in Africa and some analysts attributed the economic successes to the favourable international (crude) oil market at the time. The same economic mileages were recorded during the late President Umar Yar’adua and his successor, Goodluck Jonathan. However, a myriad of problems which include, bad leadership, dwindling oil revenues, extreme poverty, pervasive corruption, insecurity, divisive politics, ethnic strife and feuds continue to threaten our collective journey as a country. Political observers believe there remain North-South tensions foisted from the British colonial era and backed by the allegations of colonial favouritism towards Northern Nigeria. To these observers, the North’s numerical strength and massive landmass advantage mean other regions would continue to cry and wail about marginalization. There is no denying that at no time has the nation been so divided along ethnic and religious lines than today. Economic, ethnic, cultural and religious tensions which were the precursor of the three-year bloodshed during the civil war still stare us in the face. Yet, it appears we are in a hurry not to pick lessons from the war. President Muhammadu Buhari during his inauguration speech following the 2015 presidential election had said, ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.’ This statement suggested a disposition to foster an inclusive government. The expectation was for Buhari to further unite the country, but to the chagrin of many, the reverse became the case. It’s alleged that since independence, no president has mismanaged Nigeria’s rich ethnic and religious diversity like Buhari. From visible lopsided appointments, which seemingly favoured a particular section of the country, to the treatment of the Fulani herdsmen crisis with kid’s gloves, one cannot but conclude that President Buhari’s government smacked of strong parochial sentiments. Tellingly, there has never been any time the call for a break-up and self-determination has been this rife. While the Yoruba separatist leader, Sunday Igboho champions the course for a Yoruba nation, Nnamdi Kanu the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has refused to back down on the demand for a Biafra state. Similar agitations can also be identified within the Ijaw Nation down South. Under Buhari’s regime and having risen to power on the campaign to fight endemic corruption and insecurity in Nigeria, this double-edged sword of a problem kept defying the odds and threatening our journey. From the Boko-Haram insurgency in the North-East, to rural banditry in the North-West; from unknown gun-men attacks in the South-East to militancy in the Niger-Delta to herdsmen attacks in the North-Central and South-West regions, the story remains unabated. Security sector corruption has inadvertently led to the rising insecurity facing the country; brought about by the secrecy, bribery and corruption shrouding most Arms deals. How about elections in Nigeria? They are rarely free, fair and credible. This is why there are a lot of post-election litigations to challenge electoral rascalities or to retrieve stolen mandates. One may ask; Are the courts rising to the occasion in this direction? The Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal that just delivered a ruling on Wednesday 6th September, 2023 readily comes to mind. Our democracy is seemingly threatened if the Judiciary wittingly or unwillingly allows themselves to be used by desperate politicians to legitimise their positions. The processes from which our leaders emerge have therefore become fundamentally flawed. Voters complain of intimidation and suppression, and these are stoked by ethnic tensions. These were the hallmarks of what characterized the 2023 general elections. Against the odds, however, sixty-two (62) years of this turbulent journey means Nigeria can still lay claim to over two (2) decades of uninterrupted democracy from 1999 till date. An opportunity presents itself for the country to go back to the drawing board with a view to forge the future our founding fathers envisaged. The greater responsibility lies with the present government to work towards an inclusive government and participation. The task before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (if he conquers finally in the

Blog, Creative Essays, Essays, Writers

Thug by Victor Oladejo

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Spirits are citizens of this earth too, they leave among us, watch us, and see through us. They love this realm, the physical realm. They long to breathe, laugh, play, love, indulge in mischief, and be a part of all vanities within our reach as humans, but they can’t, because it is against the law. Only the living exist here. So when a spirit decides to appear in our realm, he possesses a body. It was on a Saturday when a spirit passed my brother, Bamidele. * It was raining when my father returned from his party meeting. His body was soaked, and his print shirt, like a sleeping slug, glued itself to his body and you could see the hairs on his chest pushing against it. My sister, Wumi came out of her room almost immediately with a towel as though she knew he would arrive that minute. “ Ekaabo sir”, I greeted and collected the small polythene nylon he was holding. “ Bawo ni Jimi?”, he asked and sat on a cushioned chair, wiping his body slowly with the towel, starting from his head. “ Fine sir, “ I replied. “ How was school, when did you return?” “ Two hours ago sir” I replied and pulled at the collar of my shirt, the cold air was nudging at my neck and giving me crazy chills. My sister left the parlour and returned with a tray of food. She set it slowly on the center table and left. “ Has Bamidele returned? “, my father asked and dropped the towel on the arm of the cushioned chair. “ No sir, “ I replied and hugged myself. “ We left the secretariat together, what could that boy be doing out there by this time ehen? Jimi do you have card ehen? Jo bami pe Bamidele”, he said and pulled the center table with his left hand and his right holding the tray firmly till it was close enough for him to eat comfortably. There was a knock on the door, I rose to check who it was. My father signaled at the window. I walked to it and pushed the blinds to see who it was. I smiled, it was Bamidele. Big bro! I rushed to the door and opened it. I opened my arms and hugged him. His body was rigid, drained of excitement and I could smell alcohol on his breath. Strange. I released him from my grip and he laughed. “ You are back, see my kid bro o, how school?” he asked. His breath smelt of rotten eggs now. He pulled at my cheek, then entered the house, shaking like a pawpaw tree in the wind as he went. I wiped my cheek and closed the door after him. Now the rain had stopped and the gutter at the front of the house was making slurping sounds as milk tins from the canteen at the other end of the street rolled through it. “ Where have you been ehen, don’t kill me o, I did not kill my parents. Check the time now and you know the election is here already.” He said and dropped a morsel in his soup. My brother stood still as though he were taking the words in, then he smiled and staggered down the hallway. My body shuddered. what had come to lose in my brothers’ head? I waited for my father to run after him and give him a sound beating. But he did not, instead, he shook his head and picked up the morsel drowning in his soup. I left for three months, now it felt like I had left for eternity. This wasn’t the father I knew. This wasn’t the man that locked me in the store, a dimly lit room with fat rats the size of a fist playing hide and seek among the sacks for one hour because I came home with a broken lip from a fight at school. I watched my father eat his food in silence till my mother came in with a bright hurricane lantern for the night prayers. Her prayer was short but filled with arrows that must kill her enemies in the neighborhood and the unseen forces trying to destroy the name of our family. After my mother and sister had left for their rooms, my father switched off the light and called me to his room. My father was seated on a chair close to the only window when I came, the room was sliced in half by the yellow rays of his touch, leaving the area close to his chair and the ancient bed close by in a wash of yellow while the rest of the room was swallowed in darkness. “ Come and sit here “, He said and patted the edge of his bed. After I had made myself comfortable on the bed, he cleared his throat. “ You might be wondering why I called you to my room at this hour after your long journey from Lagos, but you see, our elders say that the matter that has to be discussed at night, you don’t leave it till the morning” He cleared his throat again and dropped his torch on the ground, then slowly he brought his hands together in a heavy clap ending the buzz of a mosquito. “ I was in my room discussing with your mother when Bamidele came in. I asked if his oga released him from work because it was three in the afternoon. He said he was sent away from the shop by his Oga! Mr. Ola sent your brother from his shop! And on top of it, he accused him of selling twelve ozen of tiles behind his back. “ My body shuddered and my knees became weak. Oga Olu was a family friend and his son, Remi, was my best friend before I gained Admission to the University of Lagos. He paid my acceptance fee

Blog, Essays, Opinion Articles, Writers

The Igbo — Yoruba Mistrust by Chukwuemeka Oluka

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There is no way one can write on the Igbo — Yoruba mistrust without opening some healed wounds. Sadly, this is what the essay will do. In the end, however, the writer provides enough collagen to help the wounds heal and then help to avoid the sustenance of more wounds. Highlighted in this essay is the role of principal actors (between the Igbo and Yoruba) in the civil war, and how previous working agreements and the attempts to have a ‘handshake’ between the two tribes collapsed. The essay also explores how ethnicity was used in the 2023 general elections in Lagos to widen the growing mistrust between the Igbo and Yoruba. There is always a complicated blame game between the Igbo and Yoruba, and one that is as old as pre-independence. History witnessed the intrigues and drama. This blame game has inadvertently led to a level of mistrust that has continued to alienate the Igbo and Yoruba, making the prospect of any beautiful political marriage a mirage. The fallout of Biafra — Nigeria civil war meant that the Igbos are always in a hurry to describe their southern brothers, the Yoruba as betrayers. There is the allegation that the Yoruba failed to secede from Nigeria as purportedly agreed during a meeting between Obafemi Awolowo and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. These two arguably were the symbolism of the Yoruba tribe and the Igbo tribe. That allegation held that instead, Awolowo joined forces with General Yakubu Gowon the then Head of state to fight Biafra, as he (Awolowo) was the brain behind the use of starvation as a weapon to destroy Ndigbo during the war that occurred from 1967 to 1970. This is one side of the coin. Another side of the coin maintained that during the meeting between Awolowo and Ojukwu, what the premier of the Western region said was that “if the Igbo were ‘driven’ out of Nigeria, the Yoruba would take it seriously and reassess their own position.” With this, the Yoruba would absolve themselves of any accusation of betrayal. Yet, what is certain was that Awolowo came to Enugu, after which Ojukwu declared Biafra, which later led to the civil war. The Yoruba would also turn around and accuse the Igbo of first betraying them, laying pointers to the 1965 elections of the first republic. In that election, the Yoruba alleged that the West and the East had agreed to boycott the election. While the Yoruba kept to their side of the bargain, the Igbo went ahead to vote. However, some political observers say that the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) which were in power at the time in the East faced a dilemma, which was either to boycott the election — (that saw the Federal Government-powered Nigerian National Democratic Party NNDP of Akintola which was opposed to the then mainstream Action Group AG) — and lose power or to play along and stay in power. The observers said the Igbo looked at political reality and then chose to hold on to power. This, according to the observers should cut the Igbo some form of slack in the blame game. In another twist of blame, the Yoruba have accused the Igbo of never trusting them. They say the South-East always preferred to form an alliance with the North, even when the Yoruba extended their hands. The Yoruba would site an instance where a joint government between Zik’s NCNC and Awolowo’s AG, offered by Awolowo was jettisoned by Zik. In that arrangement, Awolowo conceded for Zik to be the Prime Minister while he would become the finance minister. Recall also that the Sardauna (Sir Ahmadu Bello) had also offered an alliance to Zik. This deal eventually saw (Tafawa) Balewa become the Prime Minister while Zik became the President. In the defence of Zik’s decision, it is opined that he had more of a Nationalist inclination and disposition in his decision, in that he felt that an alliance with Awolowo would be judged as a Southern alliance. Another defence was that Zik sensed some form of double play by the Yoruba because at the time Awolowo, who was the Premier of the Western Region offered the alliance to Zik, a principal actor in the West (AG) Ayo Rosiji, was also patronizing sir Ahmadu Bello in the North (NPC). Some would wonder, why would an alliance even work when in the 1951 Western House of Assembly election, Zik aspired to be the premier but some Yoruba allies in the NCNC dramatically cross-carpeted and teamed up with Awolowo’s AG leading to him becoming the Premier. These interplays of accusations and allegations meant that the two tribes would continue to demonize each other and the consequences of the hate-filled exchanges continue to haunt the two tribes. Just in the recently concluded 2023 general elections witnessed in Lagos, we all saw how ethnicity was deployed as a weapon to execute the elections. Hurtful and hateful words became catchphrases used by miscreants on the streets of Lagos and the ‘vawulence’ streets of Twitter. The zenith of it all was during the 2023 governorship election. Lagos became the centre of attention for its attempts at vilifying Ndigbo for holding contrary political positions. Social miscreants known as ‘Area Boys’ allegedly instigated by certain political heavyweights, attacked Igbo-dominated areas of Lagos. It was alleged that their grouse against the Igbo was their inability to vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Recall that Tinubu, the godfather of Lagos politics lost at ‘home’ to Mr Peter Obi the candidate of the Labour Party (LP) during the February 25th, 2023 Presidential elections. It was unheard of because many didn’t imagine that such a feat could be reached by Obi. After Tinubu lost to Obi in Lagos, barely five days before the gubernatorial election, nine governorship candidates stepped down and declared support for the incumbent Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC. Political analysts say the Labour Party may have instilled some level of fear into the ruling APC. Somehow, Mr

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TAMING tHE Thug!  by Becky Peleowo

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Mama Kokwe said the blood that flowed in Agbero’s blood was a potpourri of cannabis, tramadol and tobacco and the scent that emanates from his armpits was worse than the stench of a cesspool. Agbero was not a bad guy but he was unfortunate to have met me. Perchance, Agbero would have been some “Jamal”, “Richard” or even “Bankioluwa”, if his quick-to-impress mother had not abandoned her sales of ‘Bebe-okwu’, “Skirt’’, “Opa Eyin” and the other liquor she sold, to become Beske’s fourth Baby-Mama. Beske, a notorious lout was infamous for everything thuggery until his rugged life was cut short by an Army raid at Ojuwoye market. He died by the merciless rifles of a military troop who came to calm the unrest in the area. The meagre asset he left behind would sustain his large family of 15 people, living in a single-bedroom apartment for a month or two. Hard-ass Agbero learnt to survive amidst his large family and the ghetto area of his birth. “Your mixture is ready.” Iya Dongoyaro called out to Agbero as she extended her overly bleached right hand towards the towering street urchin with a pot belly. “How many shots of Jedi dey there?” Agbero’s distorted lips were raised in doubtful interrogation. Iya Dongoyaro had the habit of selling less than she was asked to, in a bid to make more money. “I no fit lie for you. Wallahi, it’s two shots!” She placed the tip of her index finger on her tongue and raised it to the sky, an act common among the locals to show that one is not lying. “Na so you go dey call God name dey lie. I no dey pay for this one!” Agbero retorted and in a flash, he gulped the hot liquid down his throat. “Ehn, kojo!” Iya Dongoyaro grabbed Agbero’s faded T-shirt in defiance as she demanded for her pay. His belly popped up and down as she waggled him and rained abuses on his ancestors. The spirit of his ancestors must have shrieked at her high croaky voice. Agbero’s friends and a few by-standers made an attempt to loosen Iya Dongoyaro’s grip on him but she was adamant. The sun smiled wickedly at the fighters as it was past noon. Agbero’s gold-tinted hair was dripping sweat and Iya Dongoyaro cared less that the stinking drops fell on her blushed skin. “Wham!” The resounding slap that landed on her face afterwards knocked Iya Dongoyaro out. There was pandemonium! Igboro, the driver of the bus that Agbero was its conductor, rushed to a close by vulcanizer and scooped a bowl of contaminated water to sprinkle on the older woman’s face. Iya Dongoyaro spent days at the public health centre; days that preceded the news that she had breast cancer. To her well-wishers, Agbero was the cause of her ailment and Agbero has taken up her after care since then. I grew up eating from the same bowl of flies with Agbero. When our mothers dropped our enormous bowls of Garri with sugar and countable groundnuts on the burial ground of Alhaja Kubura, they never minded that we crunched a few houseflies with the local cereal. All they needed to see was our protruded belly and then comes the question, “se o ti yo?”; their own way of ascertaining if we were filled. But who will argue that we were not when our protruded belly was saying otherwise? After having our fill, Agbero and I would run to Mummy Chidera’s compound where her daughters were breaking ekuro, and we will join them in the tedious task as we throw some of the hard nuts in our mouths. I was not cut out for the ghetto life as I always ended up with a cough after chewing the nuts but Agbero never felt sick. No one ever saw him cry. Mama Kokwe had once told my mum when she came to have her nails painted that Agbero did not cry when his mother birthed him. It was said that when he refused to make a sound, his father landed a slap on his flappy buttocks and exclaimed in Yoruba to his mother, “Did you birth an Agbero?” In such a manner, his father named him even before his Sunna. The Islamic Cleric named him Suleiman but to avoid being called Sule, ( a name that had become an insult), he adopted Agbero and that was what everyone called him. The Junior Secondary Certificate Examination was a few days before we got the news that Beske had been shot to death. Agbero did not blink an eye when he heard of his father’s death and even when he was the smartest boy in class, his father’s death ended his formal education. My mother wanted me to leave ghetto life behind so, anytime she attached artificial nails for her rich customers, she would put my career forward, in a bid to find a sponsor. That way my education was secure and I even got admitted into a polytechnic to study Secretarial Studies. Luckily I was able to get a job at the State Secretariat in Alausa. Agbero on the other hand, completed his apprenticeship as a mechanic but ended up as a bus conductor. I came back to the slum as a politician and I had only one mission; to pick Agbero from the gutters and to introduce him to the elite world. “Omokomo! Ehn, is this you?” Agbero greeted me cheerfully, throwing his greased stained body over my white flowing agbada. One of my bodyguards moved to shove him aside and Agbero started displaying his punches, prancing like a gazelle and eulogizing himself. I smiled as I recalled our childhood. He was the audacious one and would take up a difficult task or face a serious punishment while we were wetting our panties in fear. I recall Mr. Keshinro, the Introductory Science teacher in JS three. He always gave challenging and demanding projects that required creativity and spending

Blog, Opinion Articles, Writers

Exploring Political Thuggery by Solomon Ekoja

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Introduction As one examines the peaceful way elections are conducted in the West, one is tempted to question why the case of Nigeria seems different. This is basically because of the activities of thugs who are engaged by corrupt politicians to disrupt the electioneering process in their favor. In view of this, the scope of this research essay lies in defining some terms, examining a case study, discussing the causes of thuggery, highlighting its implications, and proffering solutions that will help in curbing the menace. Definition of terms Political thuggery is a form of political violence that poses a threat and scares politicians, thereby unduly influencing the outcome of the political process and gaining an undue advantage, particularly in elections, against certain politicians, especially those in the minority or those touted to create an upset at the polls. Political thugs are an organized set of criminals who engage in acts such as intimidation and violence to undermine a perceived or real political opponent to enable their sponsors to achieve their selfish political objective or interest. Case study Thuggery has been a serious menace in the political architecture of our dear country for decades now. During the build-up for the 2023 general election, for instance, it discouraged many youths from actively participating as INEC Adhoc staff. Even those who managed to participate came back with bitter testimonies about how they escaped lynching from thugs for refusing to dance to their bidding. Prior to the presidential election, INEC, security agencies, religious organizations, and civil societies tried their best to sensitize the public from engaging in thuggery. This indeed paid off to some degree as people moved freely to fulfil their civic duties. However, during the governorship election, things took a new turn maybe because of the localization of the offices being contested for. As early as 8:00 am, I went to my polling unit to cast my vote for my desired candidate before heading back home. I then tuned in my radio to the gubernatorial situation room to catch the latest update in other parts of the country. To my dismay, the presenter announced the killing of a political thug in Gboko for attempting to snatch a ballot box and disrupt the election. As I struggled to digest the news, the internet space was already littered with pictures of other political thugs killed in other parts of the country. The week following, I resumed back to work to be told by a colleague that one of the thugs killed was his in-law. According to his report, the boy was a graduate, and due to hardship, he was lured into the act with the sum of 10,000 naira. When he arrived at the polling unit, he neglected the presence of the female soldier on the ground to commence his evil mission. As he scattered the election materials and was about to leave, the soldier fired a shot which led to his death. As many heard about the news of what happened, the question on the lip of many Nigerians was, “Why will someone that is suffering because of poor leadership choose to die for politicians whose children are enjoying the comfort of Europe”? Another colleague of mine who summoned the courage to serve as a presiding officer also shared his experience with me. He said after accrediting about 89 voters using the Bvas, some thugs asked him to inflate the figures to about 200 in favor of a leading political party to which he initially objected. When he sensed his life was at stake, he heeded their bidding by changing the figures on a temporary sheet. He, however, discarded the fake result and reported the authentic result to the INEC officials at the collation center where there was safety. He even told me that a serving senator set aside his security aides so they don’t interfere with his mission and recruited some local thugs during his movement from one polling unit to the other. History of political thuggery in Nigeria During the colonial era, the political climate of the country was peaceful because key decision-making was done by our colonial masters. Things however changed after we got our independence in 1960. By 1962, thuggery began to manifest when the political crisis that rocked Action Group (a dominant political party in Western Nigeria) was publicized. The rift which was actually between Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Akintola made many members of the party pitch tents against each other. As the situation aggravated, Akintola left the party to form a new regional party called NNDP. This move led to the wanton destruction of lives and properties by the warring factions till the Federal government declared a state of emergency. After the conduction of the 1964 Federal elections and the 1965 regional elections, the Akintolas party was accused of rigging. This motivated thugs to take advantage of the protest and cause pandemonium in the region. While this was going on, a group of political thugs in the North known as yan akusa was being used by the Northern people’s congress to check the winning streak of the Northern Elements Progressive Union. Since then, the act has continued to gain ground with each passing republic cycle because of the decision of the political class to prioritize it for election manipulation. During the 2011 elections, crises also erupted in Northern Nigeria when thugs took advantage of the protest against the presidential election to cause a commotion. Causes of political thuggery *Poor value system: The value system of society is gradually being eroded because of the overemphasis on money. People no longer care about the source of one’s wealth but are concerned if such an individual has money. This attitude stimulates youths to engage in thuggery to amass wealth from politicians. *Poverty: The record shows that the majority of the people who engage in political thuggery come from poor backgrounds. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, about 82.9 million Nigerians lived on less than a dollar daily in

Essays, Opinion Articles, Writers

Political Apathy Among The Youths by Esther Ojetunde.

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  “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by inferiors”- Plato Youths, most especially in a country like Nigeria, do not like to involve themselves in anything political. They prefer to spend such time or effort on things that are more social, like social events, social media and other things. Why does this happen? Did the old generation send the wrong message of what politics is to us? What effects does this cause on our nation? What can we do to salvage this situation? We will be looking at this in the course of this article. Now let us define some terms. What is Political Discourse? Political discourse “refers to the discourse practices engaged in by all actors – from politicians and organizations to citizens – in a political process.”[1] What is Social Discourse? “Social discourse is speech or text communication that involves a social element.”[2] Who is a Youth? “Youth is the time of life when one is young, and often means the time between childhood and adulthood (maturity). It is also defined as the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc., characteristic of one who is young”[3] Reasons why Youth Participate in Social Discourse. Parents and guardians of young people have not been able to understand why young people love to be more socially inclined than their generation. Taking social media for example, a parent can not rap their head around why young are constantly chatting, taking pictures, involving in challenge and checking the number of followers they have.These are some of the reasons for this; “1.Develop better social skills 2.Feel less isolated 3.Learn about new cultural and societal ideas and issues 4.Bond with their friends 5.Have fun 6.Be creative and share their own ideas with friends 7.Be better equipped to be active citizens in society 8.Develop real world skills to help them become more independent 9.Learn about world events and current affairs outside of their immediate environment”.[4] Reasons why Youth do not Participate in Political Discourse The change they want cannot be achieved in politics Lack of trust in the system. Lack of information Godfatherism 5.Absence of Security at voting centers. Other reasons why young people do not want to involve in politics or anything political are “6.The use of thugs, cultists, criminals and militants to intimidate political opponents. Hyper-critical negative media: Negative political news coverage and political criticisms, which in most cases are not always constructive, create cynicism in many Nigerians. Thus, voters are at times over-fed with falsehood and frightening images of the political environment. Illiteracy and poverty: Illiteracy and poverty are two powerful forces which militate against political participation in Nigeria. Victims of these forces have little or no interest in political activities. Failure of elected political office holders to honor electioneering promises and the imposition of candidates on voters by political parties. “[5] The change they want cannot be achieved In the world, young people are the majority. Being young is characterized by passion, energy and positive thinking. Young people believe solely in change, most live on the mantra of change being the only constant thing. Throughout time in history, young people have been seen causing great transitions, inventions and scientific discoveries. They also want to see good governance and security. They want to see a new nation, but these things are like mirages. They are dreams that are not tangible. This just discourages young people, and they just fold their ends to watch how it unfolds. Even when young people participate, it still lands in the hands of old people. It is just a cyclical system.[6] Lack of Trust in the System Trust is defined as, “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.”from Oxford Dictionary. A cycle of bad governance, with people having hope today and the hope getting dashed tomorrow. It becomes tough for young people to keep hope and trust in the government. The trust gets diminished, and young people get distracted in other things totally different from politics. Lack of Information Availability of information is one of the most vital keys to good governance. Making an avenue for young people to have access to public documents serves as a critical tool to shuning corruption, enabling them to participate fully in public life, making the governments more efficient, encouraging participation and investment, and then helping people exert their fundamental rights. [7] Godfatherism Godfatherism is “A form of political corruption in which an influential individual handpicks another, often less influential candidate, to attain leadership in order to exert authority or influence. This may be due to the unpopularity of one candidate, or to work around incumbency term limits”, according to Wiktionary. Godfatherism is like a cankerworm to the fabric of good governance. Where the godson has to dance to the tune of the Godfather. He listens to the will of the Godfather more than he listens to people. The God father gives him the platform to get to a position and in turn he returns the favor like a return on investment. Young people are lost not wanting to have a Godfather. You cannot beat them, you join them. The passion that comes is sipped out of them, and then they lose interest. What are the Consequences of Young People not Participating in Politics? It breeds bad leadership. It causes an economic meltdown. It reduces what democracy stands for you. Tyrant leadership There is corruption It breeds bad leadership Leadership is service. A good leader for a cause is a faithful servant to that cause. A leader that gets into office to satisfy his or her own needs would not bother about the needs of the people. In tough situations, he is not able to empathize with the people cause he has no connection to them. He sees himself like someone that just directs and not someone to emulate. A person who is not moved by insecurity once his family is safe or not concerned with the

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The Imperatives Of Restructuring by Bola Tinubu

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The national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress and former Lagos state governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, penned this incisive piece on “Restructuring”. Read on… In one way or another, we all have felt the sting of man’s capacity to wrong his fellow man. But we are also endowed with the God-given spirit to overcome adversity and to make of old enemies, new allies, and even brothers. We must clearly articulate our objectives. That which we cannot think clearly, will not be attained despite the magnitude of our exertions and expenditure to achieve it. One cannot be assured that an architect’s fine design will result in a fine building. Much can go awry during the process of transforming an idea into brick and mortar. However, we can be certain that a masterful building is never the result of flawed design. In this vein, I dabble not so much in the search for a new Nigeria. I am equally not enthused about the flaws of old Nigeria. What I seek is a better Nigeria. I care not whether something is old or new but whether it shall make us better. Not all change is good. Not every new thing shall be kind to us. Yes, Nigeria must change but some of the changes we need cannot be bought at the store of the new. Many things we need are shelved in the warehouse of the old. Just as we must learn new things, on one hand, we must remember vital old wisdom on the other. The trend today is to believe progress and improvement are basically functions of technology and science. That politics and governance matter little and change almost nothing. That talk of political reform spills out of the leaking chalice of dreamers.  Or is but an intoxicant used by cynical political operators to delude the public. Skepticism abounds. The only strong belief is to disbelieve. Not enough people seek to improve society. They are told that only the foolish look out for his neighbour and respects his adversary. They are taught the only thing to do is to look out for one’s self. If thy neighbour stumbles, reach down not to pick him up but to take those things he dropped while falling. Self-profit is the only commandment.  All else is make-believe, things heard in the church and mosque but to be left there and not pursued in the course of everyday life. The very dynamics of the current political economy is to separate people from one another. Such mean isolation was never part of us but it has crept into our culture. Of this brand of newness, I want no part. The world has entered a period where progressive, humane reform is not fashionable. We are told to be practical, to accept the way things are. There is no struggle over competing ideals; we are told the current political economy is immutable. The only thing that matters is whether you master its dynamics to succeed or you sink and fail. To attempt to change things is as futile as trying to change the sky and clouds themselves. This is a blatant lie. Change is possible and change, we must. There is no such thing as having no ideology. Every political and economic institution is founded on one thought system or another. To accept the false premise that there is no alternative to how things are is to acquiesce in the unfair ideology that has brought us to our current predicament. In the hard sciences such as physics, chemistry or mathematics, one can speak of immutable principles and objective formula. In the affairs of men, most things are subjective. Virtue and vice, good and bad, what is optimal and what is not have any fixed meaning. Definitions change with the ideological and moral perspective of each person. In the face of recession, one man fires most of his employees in order to maintain his own income level. Another man accepts to receive less income so that he may retain his workers. Two men faced with the same circumstance. Each made a decision of equal soundness with regard to the rational or intellectual quality of the thinking processes that led to the decisions. However, the decisions call forth two divergent value systems that suggest two vastly different visions of how the political economy should function whether in or out of a crisis. As in almost all social interactions, there are few acts devoid of subjective ideological coloration. The decisions we make are determined by how we would like the world to be – our very actions are determined by what we value so as to keep and what we are willing to discard when the ship of state is tossed either by storm or errant navigation. Since there is no one objective optimal standard by which to construct a political economy, it would seem prudent for a nation to dedicate a healthy amount of time discussing this fundamental matter. For such is the surest path to reaching consensus on what economic development and good governance mean in our particular context. Sadly, the obverse is true. We talk little about this core issue. Instead, we spend inordinate time bickering over the symptoms of our failure to discuss the core issue. We are like the bewildered couple who have gotten their marriage licence after a lavish wedding, yet neither of them really understands the meaning of marriage or their roles as husband and wife in it. Legally, they are married but functionally, their union is a crippled one. This couple will be at loggerheads until somehow, someway they forge an agreement on what type of home they want and what are their respective duties in making that home come into existence. It is a rather curious lapse that a nation with such diversity as ours has not taken the time to give our legal marriage it’s proper functional underpinning. In other words, we all lined up to call ourselves Nigerian

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The politics of insecurity and possible solutions.

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Every government must consider the security of the country. That is just part of the responsibilities of any government. But true security can only come out of unity within a country where there are so many ethnic nationalities. ~Aung San Suu Kyi I had purposely refrained from writing on the RUGA madness that recently engulfed the polity for two reasons. Firstly, nobody has ever apprehended the cattle left behind by the killer Fulani herdsmen because it’s hard to believe that they disappear into the thin air with the herd. Two, I suspected the whole idea to be a ruse, a smokescreen to distract Nigerians from the impending petroleum subsidy removal by the government — and yes political distraction is a strategy in governance — Allow me to quickly digress with a brief background before we proceed. As a student at the University of Maiduguri, I observed that the Igbo building material traders in collaboration with their host community had a security outfit. My own hometown has a Hausa community with a polling unit. They have a security outfit which cooperates with our local vigilante and the police. I have employed more than ten guards from them over the years. And after the infamous 2016 Nimbo attacks, a friend from Nimbo whom I called to get a better picture of what actually transpired revealed that the Fulani community in there owned a large settlement and had been engaged in economic activities in the area dating back to the colonial era. The above examples of teamwork were ostensibly for crime prevention and peaceful coexistence. Fast forward to 2019 and the Fulani tribe has been so stereotyped that almost everything wrong with Nigeria now is associated with the Hausa-Fulani hegemony. It got so bad that the 2017 massacre inside a Catholic church in Anambra state was initially reported on social media as an attack by Fulani terrorists. So one can rightly say that Nigeria has completely lost any semblance of innocence that existed. With our common fault lines amplified, mistrust, suspicion and resentment have become malignant. and the government is aware of this. It is, therefore, conceivable that it deliberately introduced RUGA into the national space to elicit wearying outrage before a planned subsidy removal. Now let’s discuss the present issue. With the election behind us, the insecurity is mounting as predicted. Across the nation, we have escalating cases of banditry, kidnapping, violent Shiite protests and of course the most popular ‘Fulani herdsmen’ attacks, which have resulted in an incalculable loss of lives. And this assessment is only going by the reports that make it to the news. Nigerians are slaughtered on an hourly basis by criminals including those in uniform who are supposed to protect them. Vice President Osinbajo recently came under severe criticism for suggesting that the reports of kidnapping across the land were often exaggerated especially on social media. Of course, he spoke the truth. The proliferation of cheap communication tools has aided this magnification. Ignorant Nigerians who cannot perform a simple google search are hired to broadcast fallacies concocted by politicians and their agents. Afterall there was no WhatsApp when kidnappers were paid tithes in Aba and luxury buses travelled with police escorts. But was that the right thing for the nation’s number two man to say at a period we are daily bombarded with live videos of kidnapping and other forms of violence? The answer is an emphatic NO! Perception is crucial in governance. You may not be doing the right things, but saying the right things will often get you by. Our soldiers are constantly on the receiving end of deadly attacks. In early February the town of Rann in the Borno state lost 60 lives to Boko Haram terrorists and in the same month, a band of yet to be identified gunmen invaded a community in Kaduna state killing 130 people. Nobody is safe anymore except perhaps the politicians themselves surrounded by a retinue of security operatives. But their relatives are not spared, they feel the torment like other Nigerians. In the past week, gunmen murdered Fasoranti’s daughter as she travelled to Lagos from Akure, gunned down an uncle of the infamous Senator Abbo and abducted his stepmother. Not even President Buhari’s family has been spared as his inlaw was only rescued last week after two months in captivity. These are perilous times and must not be allowed to fester. So Osinbajo and indeed the government as a whole are expected to proffer solutions, solutions and solutions only. Will the recent killing of Mrs Funke Olakunrin prove to be the tipping point? Time will tell as events unfold. However, the poignant issue in this orgy of violence and also a stimulus for the strong opposition against this government is that the perpetrators literally get away with it — even when it may not be so — except when a prominent person is involved. Again, this has to do with my earlier point on perception. Already, the tempo of the rhetoric is increasing. Obasanjo who personally directed and defended the decimation of Odi and Zakibiam has already inked another letter calling for an end to the killing by ‘herdsmen’. Odumakin the disgruntled Buhari gofer is screaming Islamisation while Femi Fani Kayode who could be Yoruba, Biafran or Fulani depending on who is oiling his flute at the time is shouting ‘Fulanisation’ and calling on the Aare Ona Kakanfo to start beating the war drums. It is only the amnesiac that will take this trio seriously in their macabre but banal dance. But since Nigerians are often impressionable it would be proper for the authorities to check these outbursts before we are plunged into a spiral of reprisal attacks, because as Nyerere once noted: “the people who are politically and intellectually bankrupt normally seek refuge in ethnicity and religion as a major factor of mobilisation”. The government must be wary not to treat this potent factor with levity. The pertinent questions our security agents should tackle after apprehending the culprits are; How Yinka Odumakin who

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