It is a thought-provoking irony that the anniversary of an incident of extreme ugliness was exploited for the promotion of beauty. On April 14, the second anniversary of the outrageous seizure of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram extremists, First Lady Aisha Buhari launched her  book, “The Essentials of Beauty Therapy: […]

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How many of those seeking positions in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) are driven by passion for policing, and how many of them are simply following their existential passion? This question, which may be difficult to answer categorically, is critical to the success of the ongoing effort to fill 10,000 vacancies in the country’s police […]

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Evidently, writing a book about patriotism doesn’t make the author a patriot. So Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu’s book, Who will love my country: Ideas for building the Nigeria of our dream, launched in Abuja on April 27, doesn’t make him a patriot. The event was a stunt that showed a stunted actor. It was […]

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Seventy years ago, on May 7, 1946, Herbert Macaulay, the acclaimed nationalist widely acknowledged as the ‘Father of Nigerian Nationalism’, made his exit at age 81. He was born in Lagos on November 14, 1864. His father, Rev Thomas Babington Macaulay, was the founder and first principal of the CMS Grammar School, Lagos, established in […]

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There is no question that Senate President Bukola Saraki is rich. But there are certainly questions arising from his prosperity-status. When an individual is stinking rich, the wealth may well be stinking. Or, put differently, when an individual is filthy rich, the wealth may well be filthy.

 Saraki’s lawyer, Paul Erokoro (SAN), reportedly described him as “extremely rich”. Erokoro made Saraki’s riches public during his ongoing trial for alleged false assets declaration before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Abuja. Saraki didn’t need to become Kwara State governor in 2003 to make mega money, his lawyer argued. He was already rolling in money by the time he became a governor, his legal representative stressed.

 It is thought-provoking that Erokoro, based on the asset declaration form Saraki submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2003, reportedly “said he needed to point out that his client was very rich before he became Kwara State governor to erase the wrong impression created by the prosecution that, he could not have acquired the property he claimed to have, without obtaining loans from banks”.

A report said: “He said he had $22 million US dollars, about 12 million pounds, 2.6m Euro and about N4 billion in cash in his various accounts.” Apart from “the liquid asset,” the report stated: “Saraki said he also possessed landed property estimated at N2 billion and 15 vehicles valued at about N263.4m”.

The report continued: “He gave details of the vehicles he acquired as at 2003 to include: Mercedes X320, valued at N16m; Mercedes X500 worth N20m; Mercedes G500, valued at N6m; Mercedes V220 worth 2m and Ferrari456GT, valued at N25m.”

It also said: “Others are:  Navigator, N15m, MN240 worth N8.5m; Peugeot 406, valued at N2.9m; Mercedes CLK 320 worth N9m; Mercedes E320 valued at N11m; Mercedes G500 bullet proof, worth N45m; Mercedes X500; Lexus jeep bullet proof, valued at N30m and Lincoln Navigator bullet proof worth N25m.”

Indeed, this is a rich collection of vehicles, and the logical question should be how Saraki acquired the vehicles, or how he acquired the capacity to acquire the vehicles.

The report added: “The lawyer was however silent on the source of his client’s wealth and how he came about all the property and cash he claimed to have possessed before he became governor in 2003.” Silence will not answer the loud questions Saraki needs to answer to clarify his claims: How did Saraki come to be so rich?  What super explanations can explain Saraki’s super wealth?

It is noteworthy that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said its findings “showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state”. The anti-graft agency also said: “The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor of Kwara State”.

Consequently, Saraki is facing charges “ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in forms” he had filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara State. Saraki was also “accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and accused of operating foreign accounts while being a public officer”.

It is important to note that the EFCC said: ”Asset declaration form is not just any document. The person declaring his assets is expected to go before a high court judge to swear an oath. They swear to affidavit, so it is believed that all he swore to, and appended his signature to is the truth.” If so, it may well be that Saraki is yet to tell the whole truth, meaning that he would need to say how he made so much which enabled him to acquire so much.

It is relevant to consider Saraki’s trajectory before his trial. His profile said: ”Abubakar Bukola Saraki was born on 19 December 1962 to the family of Olusola Saraki, a senator (1979 – 1983) and a one- time Senate Leader of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his mother Florence Morenike Saraki. He attended King’s College, Lagos from 1973 to 1978, and Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, London, from 1979 to 1981 for his High School Certificate. He then studied at the London Hospital Medical College of the University of London, from 1982 to 1987, when he obtained his M.B.B.S (London). He worked as a medical officer at Rush Green Hospital, Essex, from 1988 to 1989. He was a director of Societe Generale Bank (Nig) Ltd   from 1990 to 2000.”

The biographical account also said: “In 2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Saraki as Special Assistant to the President on Budget…In 2003, he ran for the office of governor of Kwara State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and won. He was sworn into office in May 2003. He ran again for re-election in 2007 and won his second term. He was first elected to the Senate in April 2011, representing the Kwara Central senatorial district, and re-elected in the March 2015 elections… After his re-election in the 2015 general elections, Saraki was on 9 June 2015 elected unopposed as President of the Senate by an across the party alliance comprising PDP and APC Senators.”

This background gives no clue as to how Saraki could have made what he claims to have made before he became a governor.   Perhaps more important than how much an individual has, the question of how such an individual came to have so much should be beyond a shadow of a doubt.  The clarification of the sources of personal wealth is so crucial that it must not be a subject of speculation.

Saraki currently belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC) which he joined from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but his Senate presidency is seriously imperiled, following an understandable backlash occasioned by his opportunistic subversion of his party’s calculations for the federal legislature. He may yet learn that party supremacy is supreme.

In the final analysis, an individual’s fantastic wealth cannot be left to the public imagination for explanation. This is the reality Saraki must face.

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Interestingly, there are people who think the publicised May 17  rescue of one of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists may well be a stunt to credit the President Muhammadu Buhari administration with an important achievement ahead of its first anniversary on May 29. These doubters provide a significant sign of the government’s public rating close to a year after the wind of change that blew the Goodluck Jonathan administration out of power.

This thinking that the Buhari government may have stage-managed the report of teenager Amina Ali’s return amounts to not only a discredit to the government’s credibility, but also a dishonour to Buhari’s advertised integrity. It is food for thought that things have come to such a pass, considering the high public optimism that greeted Buhari’s ascendancy.

It is clarifying that news of Amina’s rescue was corroborated by Chibok Girls Parents Association Chairman Yakubu Nkeki, and the spokesperson of the #BringBackOurGirls (#BBOG) advocacy group, Sesugh Akume.

It is enlightening that Presidential Villa watcher Olalekan Adetayo in a report captured what he called “A presidential treatment for a rescued captive”: “A presidential jet was sent to Borno State to bring her. She came with her mother, her brother and her baby. She arrived the Villa in a convoy of vehicles under tight security. She was driven straight to the forecourt of the President’s office through the Service Chiefs’ Gate. Only privileged few persons are driven through the gate that is reserved for the high and mighty.”

Adetayo also reported: “Amina… was accompanied by the Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima; the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali; the National Security Adviser, Babangana Monguno; and the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonishakin, among other top government officials.”

Buhari perhaps needed the photo opportunity more than Amina. Pictures of the President carrying Safiya, Amina’s baby girl, helped to project a powerful message about state capacity. It is noteworthy that the latest official information indicated that the military had recaptured 20 villages from the Islamist terrorists in 22 days under Operation Crackdown, and had rescued 150 civilians, including Amina.

Although Buhari spoke with reassuring optimism on the possibility of bringing back the schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, over two years ago, there is no question that it will take more than positive thinking and expression of hope to get the girls back. “Amina’s rescue gives us new hope and offers a unique opportunity to vital information,” Buhari said.  Borno State Governor Shettima sang the same tune, saying, “… 218 girls are not accounted for, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, the recovery of Amina Ali, is a sign of greater things to come…”

Apart from Amina’s case, the question concerning the fate of the victims of the outrageous kidnap of April 14, 2014, remains tragically unanswered. Out of the 276 seized students of the Girls Senior Secondary School, Chibok, 57 managed to escape. It is a cause for concern that only Amina has been rescued out of the remaining 219 girls, despite an international campaign that resonated across the world, involving United States First Lady Michelle Obama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.

Lamentably, the strident demand for action, particularly political action by the political authorities, which was formulated as #BringBackOurGirls, has not yielded any significant progress in locating and returning the girls. This amounts to governmental failure.

Indeed, the unresolved kidnappings call for political will and fresh creative approaches.  As things stand, there is a seeming paralysis that hinders the desired action to get the girls back. In this matter, the government of the day must demonstrate that it is conscious of its institutional and moral responsibilities.

Notwithstanding initial footdragging by the Jonathan administration that was in power when the terrorists struck in Chibok, and the associated complications, President Buhari must rise to the challenge.

It is heart-warming that Buhari said: “Although we cannot do anything to reverse the horrors of her past, the Federal Government can and will do everything possible to ensure that the rest of her life takes a completely different course. Amina will get the best care that the Nigerian government can afford. We will ensure that she gets the best medical, emotional and whatever care that she requires to get full recovery and be integrated into the society.” This is a promise that must be kept.

Importantly, the occasion also yielded what may be considered as a policy position on girl-child education. It was positive that Buhari made a fundamental assertion: “The continuation of Amina’s education so abruptly disrupted will definitely be a priority of the Federal Government. Amina must be able to go back to school. Nobody in Nigeria should be put through the brutality of forced marriage. Every girl has a right to education and their choice of life.” Buhari should take a further step on this issue by officially intensifying the promotion of girl-child education and discouraging forced marriage across the country.

This is where Mohammed Hayatu comes in. He is the suspected Boko Haram terrorist who was found with Amina and who claimed to be her husband. Lagos activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) was helpful in defining Hayatu’s status. Falana argued: “The captured terrorist who was arrested with Amina is not her husband but an abductor and a rapist. The media should therefore desist from further referring to the criminal suspect as the husband of the girl…The Attorney-General of Borno State should proceed to charge the terrorist with abduction and slavery, torture and rape without any further delay.”

It is a thought-provoking irony that Baby Safiya bears a name that is contradicted by the circumstances of her birth. Safiya is a Muslim name meaning “pure”. The terrorism that resulted in Amina’s abduction and her subsequent violation by an alleged member of a violent group was not a reflection of purity. It is equally important to protect this baby from possible stigma, and help her to rise above the unfortunate context of her birth.

The celebration of Amina’s rescue and return is not inappropriate. But the other Chibok girls still missing deserve to be brought back too.

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Obviously, saying something is not the same thing as doing something. Also, it may well be easier to say something than to do something. These realities mean that a power-seeker may well be a talker and not a doer, and may well demonstrate inaction in power.

In October 2014, a power-seeker who is today in power formally expressed his desire to govern Lagos State. He projected his political vision through an inventive acronym, LAGOS, which was notable for the inclusion of service.   Akinwunmi Ambode declared at a well-attended event at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos: “Our message is LAGOS. LAGOS is Leadership, LAGOS is Accountability, LAGOS is Good Governance, LAGOS is Opportunities and LAGOS is Service. This is what I stand for.” It was striking that his organising principles were put in a capsule named after the state he sought to govern.

As Ambode marks a year as Governor of Lagos State, his performance in office shows that he is a man who can walk the talk.  It is useful to reflect on how he moved from words to deeds. What’s in a biography? Plenty, if it’s about Ambode.  The Art of Selfless Service by Marian Osoba, which was launched in Lagos ahead of Ambode’s political ascendancy, stands out as a must-read for anyone who wants a picture of him.

Two quotes from the biography deserve contemplation, considering the familiar tendency for personal aggrandisement in the country’s corridors of power.   Ambode was quoted as saying: “A true leader sees his work as selfless service towards a higher purpose. A true leader should be judged by what he has not – ego, arrogance and self interest.” He also said: “We must, wherever we find ourselves, create an atmosphere of selfless service.”  Ambode’s emphasis on selfless service is a defining plus because a leader without a correct sense of service is ultimately negative.

Interestingly, the biography provides a thought-provoking response to the view in certain quarters that Ambode is a puppet of certain political kingmakers. Ambode said:”At different points in our lives, we have had relationships; a teacher, a boss, an employer, a friend, a parent who has greatly changed the way we looked at life and the world. Someone who inspired us and motivated us, someone who taught us to set goals and instilled the confidence and spirit to achieve them, someone who had high standards and truly stood for something; such a person is the real mentor we all need to find. I have found true leaders through such observations in the course of my career…they help you build your art of selfless service, but it is important too that you carve out for yourself an identity authentically your own, that you don’t monkey another person’s life so slavishly as to lose your own.” Against this background, it may be observed that Ambode has been guided by his understanding of brand identity. In a year in office, he has communicated his own unique personal brand.

Before he became a governor, Ambode in May 2014 published a piece in celebration of Lagos State’s 47th anniversary.  Ambode said in the piece titled “Happy Anniversary, Lagos State”: “As Lagos turns fifty in the next three years, therefore, the future beckons on whoever would take over the baton in the relay of enduring people-friendly policies to solidify and build on these worthy legacies.” His reference to legacies was a tribute to the governmental accomplishments of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who governed the state from 1999 to 2007, and Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, who succeeded Tinubu. The state’s 50th anniversary will be celebrated next year, and the Ambode administration is preparing for a mega celebration.

It stands to reason that a megacity needs mega governance. The status of Lagos as a megacity is a reason for mega governance. Nigeria’s megacity in 2015 was listed 12th among the world’s largest 35 cities, and credited with an unofficial population figure of “approximately 21 million”. Of course, a mega city has to grapple with mega challenges. Megacity challenges include slums, crime, homelessness, traffic congestion and environmental pollution.

“If we take the concept of resource generation, allocation and distribution into cognisance and apply the principles of good governance, we will achieve economic growth and development,” Ambode said while presenting a paper titled “Public Finance: Probity and Accountability” at a workshop organised in August 2014 by the Lagos State Government and the Lagos Business School. Also, in a newspaper interview he shed light on his understanding of good governance, which is an essential aspect of his vision:”In essence, the elected government is like a caretaker for the rest of the people, overseeing their resources on their behalf. The citizens remain the landlord while the elected officials are only caretakers. Arising from this, good government can only thrive where the resources of the people are judiciously distributed to various sectors/needs in the society in a just and equitable manner that makes life easier for every person.”

It is noteworthy that when in November 2015 the Ambode administration donated modern security equipment worth over N4bn to the Nigeria Police Force, President Muhammadu Buhari described the donation as a “remarkable feat”. Buhari urged other state governments to “emulate Lagos State by supporting security agencies that are trying to keep us safe”.  Ambode’s exemplary donation was of national significance because security is significant.

Food is significant too. Food is a hierarch in the hierarchy of needs. When in March the Ambode administration signed a record-setting agriculture-related Memorandum of Understanding with Kebbi State’s Atiku Bagudu administration, it was an exemplary move towards a much-needed agricultural revolution in the country. “This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that two states are collaborating to develop their agricultural potential,” Ambode declared. The logic of this agricultural partnership and how it will enable national food sufficiency and food security, apart from its employment-generation possibilities, is compelling and commendable.

These two instances will suffice to illustrate and underline Ambode’s national relevance and remarkableness, beyond his undeniable gubernatorial value.  By effectively moving from words to deeds, he has shown what is possible when a leader takes his own words seriously.

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It should be clear that a question of religion is not the same thing as a question of secularity. The June 3 ruling by a High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, in favour of religion-related veil-wearing by female Muslim students in public primary and secondary schools in the state, is food for thought.

A report said: “The court, presided by Justice Jide Falola, in a 51-page judgment…held that any act of molestation, harassment, torture and humiliation against female Muslim students using Hijab constitutes a clear infringement on their fundamental rights. Folala cited Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) to rest his ruling.”  It continued: “Osun State Muslim Community on Feb. 14, 2013, dragged the State Government to the court. They sought an order of the court to allow female Muslim students to enjoy their fundamental rights by granting them order to use veil in public schools.”

My mind went back to April 2014 when the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) and The State Government of Osun organised an All-Comers Colloquium on Fundamental Imperatives of Cohabitation: Faith and Secularism at the centre’s Auditorium, Abere, Osogbo.

Have you heard? This was the question many people in the hall asked others following the news that Boko Haram terrorists had bombed the Nyanya Motor Park in Abuja with at least 75 people dead and 164 injured. It was the opening ceremony of the colloquium. A moment of silence was observed for victims of the bombing.

This coincidence was striking and mirrored the timeliness of the event, which the conveners said was “organised against the background of perceived religious war by Boko Haram and tension in some states, for example Osun, where religious differences are being exploited to cause trouble.” CBCIU Chairman, Professor Wole Soyinka, stressed that the colloquium should not be seen as just a direct reaction to the Boko Haram terror campaign which has escalated in the northeastern part of the country since 2009. He said: “The conference has been conceived in many minds for decades in the face of rising problems.”

Fundamentally, Soyinka meant that Boko Haram is not simply an identifiable physical group of religious extremists, but also a metaphorical signification, referring to all manifestations of extremism based on faith. Soyinka described the Boko Haram insurgency as “a war situation, which is a strictly security situation.”

On Day Two of the colloquium, Soyinka was proved right as the Islamist terror champions on April 14 kidnapped 276 students at the Girls Senior Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. The extremely scandalous incident continues to trigger emotionally charged responses worldwide, particularly as 218 abducted Chibok schoolgirls are still missing.

In his opening-day speech, Soyinka had pointed out that “we cannot underestimate the religious inspiration”, suggesting that religious adherents could go to unimaginable lengths to further their cause.

It is precisely this lack of limit, especially in the context of secular society, that the colloquium was organised to address.

Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who is a Muslim occupying a secular office, expressed his standpoint at the forum. He said: “My position is that religion should not be a source of rancour, misery and cheap death as we have in Nigeria today. Accommodation of one another should transcend the context of faith.”

Soyinka, a master playwright, imaginatively and dramatically captured the need to separate faith and secularism, and the necessity for harmonious cohabitation in the country’s multi-religious situation. The Nobelist said: “I admit that I’m not a particularly religious person, but I believe in the spiritual quest; every human has a portion of himself which seeks transcendence.  Sometimes I wish religionists would leave us to develop the earth, and go to paradise or wherever; they can take a spaceship to another planet where they can live by faith.”

The three-day conference, with four plenary sessions and 18 papers, was marked by open and frank discussions, and participants explored the essence of the concept of secularism as it applied to the country in particular. The papers included Primordial Spirituality as Agent of Development by Prof Dawud Noibi; Religion and Development by Mr. Modupe Oduyoye; Equilibrium that Adjusts the World by Dr. Abiodun Agboola; Pluralism and Accommodation in a Democratic Society by Pastor (Dr.) Michael Adekunle; Quest for Peace by Mr. Mustapha Adebayo Bello and Personified and Objectified Persons by Dr. Olujide Gbadegesin.

Others were: From Violent Crises to Insurgency by Dr. Bimbo Adesoji; Theocracy and Secular Mind by Dr. Kamil Koyejo Oloso; Reinventing the Wheel of our Life by Ogbeni Funmi Odusolu; Secularism and Pluralism Nexus: The Nigerian and Sudanese Experience by Comrade Jide Olutobi; When Faith Makes Sense: Religion as Catalyst of Progress and Development by Engr. Moses Oludele Idowu and You Must Find Your Own Way by Mr. Femi Macaulay.

Additional papers were: Mythologies and the Test of Humanity by Ms. Folakemi Odoaje; Where the Rain Began to Beat Us? by Engr. Moses Oludele Idowu; From Mysticism to Technology by Dr. Tunde Adegbola; Rational Religion by Araba Ifayemi Elebuibon and What Shall We Teach Our Children? by Abdul-Hakeem Ajilola.

There was a perceptible tension between advocates of “strict secularity”, which implies a “relegation of religion in public affairs”, and proponents of “quasi-secularism”, which suggests “minimum religious penetration of state affairs”.   However, it was generally agreed that there is a need for cohabitation in the context of “secularism that respects and appreciates the reality of diverse faiths without promoting any religion at the expense of others.” Aregbesola said: “We need an organised intervention in this area.”

A central issue in the various perspectives was the observed religionisation of politics by the country’s leaders, which continues to complicate the fundamentals of secularity. Concerning those who misuse religion for non-religious purposes, Soyinka noted: “The mind is where it started and ultimately the mind is where this disease will be cured.”

Collective recommendations emerged towards attaining inter-faith harmony in the pursuit of peace for social progress. The proposed path was specific:  Constitution review to reflect religious diversity; tightening legislation to address religious violence; non-politicisation of religion; value reorientation; programme of compulsory education for social enlightenment and establishment of a national centre for inter-faith studies.

In the final analysis, the legal endorsement of hijab in public schools in Osun State further highlights ambiguous secularity.

The post Secularity needs clarity appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

President of the Senate and Chairman of National Assembly Olusola Saraki should be congratulated on his first anniversary in the powerful positions. It has been a stormy year in office for him, and it promises to be stormier. He has been unable to still the storm, despite his desperate efforts to do so. Ironically, he triggered the turbulence himself, perhaps underestimating its force and overestimating his own capacity to manage it.

Saraki’s statement marking the thought-provoking anniversary, titled “8th Senate: The journey so far”, was an ego trip. This is how he started his statement: “One year ago today, the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was inaugurated. That inauguration marks a further consolidation of our democracy and opens a new chapter in the practice of government by representation in our country.  Let me congratulate all my colleagues not only for the time we have spent in the legislature, but also for all that we have achieved together and all that we have planned to achieve for our peoples and our country as the highest legislative body in the land.”

It is a misinterpretation and misrepresentation of demonstrable reality to suggest that the 8th Senate is built on a democratic foundation. The country certainly doesn’t deserve a legislative commander that emerged in a morally controversial manner, and whose emergence was coloured by a colourless subversion of his party’s position.

Only a dysfunctional decoding of the concept of party supremacy could have encouraged the circumstances that brought him to the helm of affairs at the Senate, an ascendancy he actualised through an unapologetic defiance of his party’s desire and decision.

It is noteworthy that the same warped twist resulted in a queer combination and cohabitation at the helm of the Senate. With Saraki of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party elected to power on the premise of progressivism, and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu of the unprogressive Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 8th Senate has a leadership that is ambiguous and confusing.   Saraki made matters worse by rubbishing his party’s list for Senate leadership posts. It is, of course, worth mentioning that Ekweremadu is alleged to have attained his position based on a forged Senate standing order.

To compound the complications, Saraki became the first Senate President to face trial on corruption-related charges, and the ongoing trial may well be a journey for him. It remains to be seen where the trial would take Saraki.

A report said: “The Code of Conduct Bureau cited a 13-count charge of corruption against Mr. Saraki. In charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11, 2015 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki is accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in forms Saraki had filed with the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara state. He was also accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor, acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings, and accused of operating foreign accounts while being a public officer.”

The report continued: “An official of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Peter Danladi, stated in a court affidavit that the investigation of the various petitions of corruption, theft, money laundering, among others, against Saraki in 2010, was conducted jointly by the officials of the EFCC, CCB and the DSS. “The EFCC conducted its investigation on the various petitions and made findings which showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office, while he was the governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state. The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank, and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London, while he was the governor of Kwara State.”

This is the man at the head of the country’s federal legislature. This is the man who apparently continues to enjoy the support of the country’s federal legislators. This is how Saraki ended his first-anniversary statement: “Once again, I want to thank you for the unalloyed support I have and continue to receive from my colleagues in the last one year. This has been unprecedented and I don’t take it lightly. This unique support has been steady, bipartisan, and unconditional. Their support has been the bulwark on which my belief in the emergence of a greater Nigeria rests.”

He added: “The support has meant everything to me and I am more than ever determined to play my role as a leader to see to the emergence of a more virile National Assembly playing its constitutional role without fear or favour. I congratulate all Senators for all that we have achieved in the last one year. I am confident that when the history of this era is written, all of us would be amply remembered as the generation that played its part and did its best to make Nigeria a better place.”

Why does Saraki think he would last the distance? He has three years of his four-year term left. He is involved in a conflict that is nothing short of a domestic war of sorts. It is not for the faint-hearted. On Saraki’s side in particular, he will need a tremendous capacity to endure a war of attrition. Saraki must understand that in attrition warfare, the fundamental strategy is “to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses”.

He should understand what he is facing, or perhaps more aptly, the force of the forces ranged against him. How much can he take as his opponents pursue a strategy of attrition?  How far can his backers go with him, considering that he is fighting what looks like a losing battle?

The significance of Saraki’s first-anniversary statement may well be its insignificance. It is lamentable that the position of Senate President, a public office of great democratic significance, has been reduced to insignificance in Saraki’s first year in the saddle.

The post Anniversary of insignificance appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

As could be expected, the June 3 ruling by a High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, in favour of religion-related veil-wearing by female Muslim students in public primary and secondary schools in the state, has resulted in absurdities.

A background report: “The court, presided by Justice Jide Falola, in a 51-page judgment…held that any act of molestation, harassment, torture and humiliation against female Muslim students using Hijab constitutes a clear infringement on their fundamental rights. Folala cited Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) to rest his ruling.” It continued: “Osun State Muslim Community on Feb. 14, 2013, dragged the State Government to the court. They sought an order of the court to allow female Muslim students to enjoy their fundamental rights by granting them order to use veil in public schools.”

Following Justice Falola’s decision, a secondary school in Iwo on June 14 became a theatre of comicalities. A report said: “Students of Baptist High School, Iwo, who wore vestments, caused a stir in the school as other students who were in uniform hailed them. Some female Muslim students who also appeared in hijab equally gained access to the school without restriction. Also, some male students donned white robes around 8:30am before other students joined in donning white and purple choir robes…Also, some students dressed in white Celestial Sutana were hailed by their classmates…”

Considering that things have reached this theatrical stage, it remains to be seen how far the comedy of errors and horrors can go. The errors are based on an erroneous understanding of secularity; the horrors are based on a horrifying picture of what is possible when the question of secularity is not definitively answered.

In the final analysis, the legal endorsement of hijab in public schools in Osun State further highlighted the reality of ambiguous secularity. In this case, it is unclear why the judge could not distinguish between the uniform of religion and the uniform of secular education, and why he could not appreciate the incongruity of a combination of the two in public schools.

The students who wore church garments to school in Iwo “were allegedly children of some Christian clerics… in line with the directive of the Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)”. The Christian body had protested, and had also called for a protest against the court judgement that endorsed hijab-wearing in public schools during school hours.

A report quoted the head of the Catholic bloc of CAN in Iwo, Cathechist Paul Olagoke, who said its members were in the school to ensure that no student was chased out. He reportedly said: “We are here to defend the rights of our children. Since female Muslim students are free to wear hijab, our children are also free to wear anything they want, too.”

The plot thickens. Secularity needs to be clarified, so that clarity can put an end to unclear ideas about the limits and limitations of religion in a secular society pursuing social progress.

It is clear that the dramatic news pictures of some students who attended school in church garments cannot change the existing court decision validating hijab in public schools in the state. Clearly, the authoritative intervention of the highest structures of justice would be necessary for the needed clarity.

Ultimately, the path to take is the straight and narrow pathway of the law, particularly because the issue has not been settled by the final court, and the current decision can be still be challenged at higher levels of the justice system. The Christians cannot expect to change the current court judgment by their forms of protest outside the courts, and they should understand that and be guided by that reality.

Interestingly, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) responded to the adoption of unhelpful self-help by the Christians. It observed that some Christian students of the Salvation Army Middle School, Iwo, also attended school in church garments, apart from those that did the same thing at Baptist High School. The group advised the protesters in a statement: “If CAN is genuinely interested in protecting Christian interest, they should go on appeal, otherwise no matter their current protest (which will fade away with time like every other protest but only make the current CAN leaders get TV and newspaper popularity), the current judgement will remain the valid law of the land…the law will stand if Osun CAN doesn’t immediately go on appeal.” This is a developing story and Osun CAN should help it to develop further towards a definitive clarification.

It is said that History repeats itself. It remains to be seen whether the Osun Islamic scarf controversy would follow the course of the Islamic scarf controversy that arose in France in 1989 concerning the wearing of hijab in French public schools. For over a decade, the French controversy cried for clarity until President Jaques Chirac in 2003 “decided that a law should explicitly forbid any visible sign of religious affiliation in public schools, in the spirit of secularism”. A report said: “The law, sometimes referred to as “the veil law” was voted in by the French parliament in March 2004. It forbids the wearing of any “ostentatious” religious articles, including the Islamic veil, the Jewish kippa, and large Christian crosses. The law permits discreet signs of faith, such as small crosses, Stars of David, and hands of Fatima.”

What followed this important clarification of secularity? The report said: “In 2004, a year after the law was voted in, one organisation opposed to it, called the “Committee of the 15th of March and Liberty,” published a report on the law’s effects. The report cites the files of 806 students affected by the law. Of the 806 students, 533 have accepted the law and no longer wear their veils in class. The report also gives an assessment of students who have left the French school system because of this issue. Among them, 67 have pursued their studies abroad. Another 73 of those 806 suspended or expelled from schools over the veil have chosen to take government-run CNED correspondence courses in order to finish their studies. The number of those who have chosen to study via other, non-government forms of correspondence schools is unknown.” It added: “The opening of the 2005 school year passed largely without incident, and opposition to the law seems to have given way to broader public opinion. However, the actual number of those who no longer attend French junior high and high schools over their veils is unknown.”

There is no doubt that the French example is clearly secularist, and leaves no grey area that could be manipulated by those without a conceptual understanding necessary for a correct interpretation of the idea of secularity.

The secularity test in Osun State is useful. Hopefully, it would eventually help to further clarify the concept and practice of secularity for the benefit of the other states of the federation, and for the benefit of the state of the federation.

The post Uniform of religion appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

It is eye-opening news that Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State, described as “a privately owned Islamic faith-based university”, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) towards research in the Osun Osogbo Grove, a significant ritual ground of Yoruba indigenous religion.

A report said: “The MoU which was signed at the grove was to enable the university to conduct researches to establish some of the medicinal benefits that can be derived from certain plants and organisms that have been preserved in the sacred grove over the years.”  It quoted the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Bashir Ademola Raji, as saying that a researcher from the university, Dr Afolabi Nusra Balogun, had made certain discoveries in the Osun Osogbo water and some plants in the grove which would contribute to health care delivery when fully developed.

It is noteworthy that last year the Osun Osogbo Grove’s 10th anniversary as a World Heritage Site made the headlines.  The grove is the site of the Osun Osogbo Festival, a star tourist attraction that draws a high number of domestic and international visitors. Recognised for natural and cultural reasons, the Osun Osogbo Grove is the second of two UNESCO-branded sites in Nigeria, coming after the Sukur Cultural Landscape in Adamawa State, which attained the distinction in 1999.

Describing the grove, UNESCO World Heritage Centre said: “The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove, on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, is one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods, the landscape of the grove and its meandering river is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and art works in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities. The Grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last sacred grove in Yoruba culture.”

Interestingly, last year’s celebration coincided with the 100th birth anniversary of a central figure connected with the preservation of the grove. It was the centenary of the late Austrian artist and Yoruba-culture champion, Susanne Wenger, who died in Osogbo in January 2009 at age 93.

The “Susanne Wenger’s Sacred Colloquium 2015? held at the King’s palace in Osogbo featured a paper presented by Yusuf Abdallahi Usman, Director General of NCMM, to mark the two anniversaries. Usman’s paper was titled “Late Madam Susanne Wenger and National Commission for Museums and Monuments as Springboards to the Development of Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove and Enlistment as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Usman described Wenger as “a phenomenal woman of different interpretations.” He added: “She was a great artist, culturalist, spiritualist and naturalist, intellectual, researcher, philosopher and philanthropist who devoted her life to serving nature, culture and people. She championed the beautification, preservation, adoration, conservation and unification of nature and culture in the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove.”

Preserving the pristine naturalness of the Osun grove was a passionate mission for Wenger.  She regarded the grove as “endangered life” in dire need of protection.  “At the time of my arrival and initial efforts, a contract was ready to be signed giving over to a sawmill the rights to cut down the giant trees of the groves and river-altars,” she recalled. Wenger was “against utilization other than ritual.” She said: “Every tree standing is another witness to our devoted struggle against ruthless destruction.”

For Wenger, the “holy groves” stood for “a space of devotion to life.” She reportedly once spent a few nights in the grove “to experience nature”. But her various opponents didn’t understand her seeming fuss about what she called the “sacredness of Nature”

“Oshogbo’s Muslim fanatics’ fire electronically amplified abuses at her more than at all other representatives of the traditional cults,” observed European photojournalist Gert Chesi, who co-authored a book with Wenger, A life with the gods in their Yoruba homeland. Chesi said: “They don’t simply rain curses on the gods, but on the chief fighter in their cause.  Those who seek profits from the groves’ valuable land form the other main group of adversaries. The groves are a battlefield of conflicting interests. She averted schemes to run a roadway through them, and to break-up sacred rocks for house-building material.  When one of her shrines was blown apart five minutes after she left it, she laconically remarked: ‘It was evidently not good enough for orisha, so let’s build a better one’.  Some money came in from somewhere and she did exactly that.  She saved her first Oshogbo shrine by sitting down between a bulldozer and Shoponno’s most ancient, reconstructed altar.”

Wenger herself spoke about some of the challenges she faced. At one time, she said, “Orisa warned us in an actual way that the Muslims were about to lay the foundation stone for an Islamic cemetery here within four days”. Hunters shot at Wenger in the grove on several occasions, and a gun-wielding fisherman who was violating the sanctity of the river once threatened her.

The casualties of the battle were often Wenger’s sculptures in the forest, destroyed either by the weather or by vandals.  “Muslim fanatics ganged up with the hunters and those who wanted to build houses here, and they mutilated the images by striking off their arms and sexual organs,” she lamented.

What did Wenger want?  Well, she defined her cause by stressing what she didn’t want.  “One thing will never happen,” she vowed, “that I will submit to the transformation of the holy groves into an ‘Oshogbo Pleasure Garden’.” At one of the shrines in the grove, according to her, “we actually once discovered a secretly erected notice board to that effect.”

This background makes it even more fascinating that Fountain University is fascinated by the grove’s resources. The university was established by the Nasrul-Lahi-li Fatih Society of Nigeria (NAFSAT) in 2008, and it is located in Oke Osun, after the Osun Osogbo sacred grove.  Ahead of the university’s convocation two years ago, its Vice Chancellor told reporters: “We are exploring the United Nations Heritage Site, the Osun grove, as a potential source of novel pharmaceutical compounds in Nigeria.” It is constructive that the faith-based university appreciates the possible hidden treasures of the place of worship of a different faith, which is reinforced by the recent MOU with the NCMM.

It is a testimony to Wenger’s work that the forest is “a protected area”, a national monument established by Decree 77 of 1979, and a World Heritage Site. It is thought-provoking that she was initially demonised, especially by those who belonged to religions different from the one she chose. She remained an unapologetic devotee of Yoruba indigenous faith till the end. Her struggle and the still-unfolding positive results demonstrate the importance of religious freedom and religious tolerance.

The post A leap of faith appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Alarming news from the country’s theatre of terrorism further raised the alarm about the dimensions of torment triggered by the agents of terror. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that nearly 250,000 children were suffering from “severe acute malnutrition” in Borno State as a result of Boko Haram’s terroristic activities.

UNICEF Nigeria representative Jean Gough was quoted as saying: “We estimate that there will be almost a quarter of a million children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Borno this year. Unless we reach these children with treatment, one in five of them will die. We cannot allow that to happen.” The agency put the required intervention funds at $204 million.

It is appropriate that the Federal Government has declared a nutrition emergency in Borno State following an emergency meeting with the Borno State government on the malnutrition crisis. Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewale said: “We are declaring a nutritional emergency in Borno. We try to put a rapid response team in place following Mr. President’s directive. We had an emergency meeting with the Borno State emergency response team, because more children might die if we don’t do something quickly.”

The question is: How quickly can the Federal Government do something? According to acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Munir Safieldin, “While the Nigerian Government and humanitarian organisations have stepped up relief assistance, the situation in these areas requires a much faster and wider response.”

The conflict in the country’s north-eastern region is said to have displaced 2.4 million people and has stretched food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels. Over half a million people require immediate food assistance, and the majority of them are either displaced by the conflict or members of the communities hosting the displaced.

It is expected that by October, the number of those needing assistance will increase. There is no doubt that additional donor funding will be needed for continued humanitarian response in the region.

This is why the example of Aliko Dangote deserves emulation. When on May 9 the President of Dangote Group made a donation of N2 billion to internally displaced persons (IDPs), he also made a powerful statement by his example. Apart from being the single largest donation by an individual, what Dangote gave reflected his appreciation of the enormity of the humanitarian crisis caused by terrorism.

It was a humanitarian gesture that helped to highlight the needs of the people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State as well as the need to help them. It was particularly remarkable because the support came from private pockets and not from the public purse.

This exemplary humanitarian response was reinforced by Dangote’s presence. It was a demonstration of empathy that communicated the humanity of Nigeria’s and Africa’s richest man. He was touring IDP camps in Dalori and Bakassi in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, when he announced his relief package which he said would be delivered through the Dangote Foundation.

Dangote said: “This is not the first time I am coming here and it will not be the last. So far, we have expended about N1.2 billion in efforts to alleviate the suffering of IDPs across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. The first major challenge is the physiological needs of these people, and food, nutrition rank right on top of that ladder. So we will first make serious effort to ensure that hunger is eliminated from the IDP camps and thereafter, we will begin to make effort to create jobs and boost entrepreneurship.”

This is a welcome expression of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and it should be emulated by the country’s big private-sector players. Dangote’s action should galvanise others into action, especially considering the picture of inaction painted by no less a person than the Chairman of Northern Traditional Rulers Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, who had observed that funds raised for the sake of the IDP’s had not reached them.

At the opening of the Council’s second General Assembly in Kaduna in November last year, the Sultan said: “When we go into closed session, we will discuss that thorny issue of displaced persons, mostly in the Northeast. It is a very sad situation; people are suffering. Billions and billions of naira have been collected or put aside for their welfare… It is important that this money be disbursed immediately via the governors.”

The Sultan added: “We want the governors to take the issue more seriously; take it up with Mr. President and ensure the release of the funds because I was part of the team when this money was collected for the IDPs during the last government. They should find out where that money is and disburse it immediately.”

What happened to the money? Considering the ongoing revelations of corruption in high places during the tenure of the previous government, it may well be that the funds raised to help the IDPs ended up in corrupt pockets.

This background helps to further underline the value of Dangote’s charity. The innocent people, who are not only displaced, but also distressed, deserve help. Ultimately, giving back to society, which is the essence of CSR, is a desirable social action. Dangote’s example should serve as a wake-up call.

In a thought-provoking drama, IDPs in Abuja on July 1 asked for direct donations when members of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) visited the New Kuchingoro Camp on a relief mission. Their Chairman, Mr. Philemon Emmanuel was quoted as saying: “We have been here since 2014; we are 1467 persons from Borno State Kozar Local Government Area and 56 from Adamawa. And we have been surviving because of the help of some churches, organisations, mosques and private individuals. We hear many times that people have donated items to assist IDPs in Abuja but don’t get to see the donations. Recently, we heard that Dangote donated items worth millions of Naira to IDPs in Abuja but we are yet to receive the items. We however want to appeal that if some people want to help, they should come through the IDPs camp so we can get the assistance directly. ”

Of course, it is easy to express concern about the plight of the IDPs who are products of acts of terrorism by the Islamist terror group Boko Haram, which has tormented the country since 2009. It is easy to say something about how these victims of terrorism need help but do nothing to help them. There is such a thing as putting one’s money where one’s mouth is.

It is lamentable that the country’s terrorism-related internal refugees are hungry and dying while those who can give assistance internally remain onlookers.

The post Camps of hunger appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

It may well be that schemers are at work, or at play, in the unfolding drama in which a high-profile university in the country has been turned into a theatre of theatricalities. The ongoing show at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, is certainly anti-intellectual, which is an intriguing irony in a space where the intellect should be king.

Trying to understand what is happening at the university is trying to understand what is happening to the rule of law. At the centre of the confusion is the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for OAU, which ought to be guided by well-defined and unambiguous guidelines.

It is thought-provoking that members of OAU’s Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non- Academic Staff Union (NASU) protested against the selection procedure that produced Professor Ayobami Taofeek Salami. Their disruptive protest attracted the attention of the Federal Government, which also acted disruptively and arbitrarily by dissolving the university’s Governing Council.

A report said the protesters “took over the University Senate building singing and dancing”, following the puzzling intervention by the authorities. The report continued: “This is a victory for all and one that is well-deserved,” the Chairman of SSANU, Ademola Oketunde, told the workers. “We have seen that President Buhari has a listening ear and we will continue to appreciate him for dissolving the Governing Council. However, we have not won totally as we will stay here till we have an Acting VC who will steer the affairs of the university.”

This is the crux of the matter. In a reaction to the development, a statement by Concerned Obafemi Awolowo University Community Members said: “The truth is that currently there is neither vacancy in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor nor is there any ongoing process for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor in OAU. That process has been completed as far back as June 6, 2016, when the Governing Council at its special meeting considered the report of the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board for the appointment of a new helmsman for the university and decided to appoint Professor Ayobami Taofeek Salami as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of OAU for a term of five years with effect from June 24, 2016.”

Interestingly, the statement titled “Federal Government’s orders on OAU are wrong”, also said: “To validate the appointment, the Federal Character Commission under the Presidency on June 20 issued a ‘Certificate of Compliance’ to the Registrar of OAU authorising him to ‘issue a letter of appointment to Professor Ayobami Taofeek Salami as the substantive Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University’. And on June 24, a day after Prof. Bamitale Omole’s five-year tenure ended, Prof. Salami assumed office as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the university. His address on assumption of office to the university community can be accessed by anybody on the Internet. Prof. Salami’s assumption of office was even widely reported in the media. How the Ministry of Education and the Visitor who were duly notified of the completed process that produced Prof. Salami ignored both that and the media reports on it is perturbing and incredible! Just what makes them think there is an ongoing process for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor in OAU when in reality that process has been effectively completed?”

This background suggests that the Federal Government acted in bad faith by dissolving the university’s Governing Council without any legal basis. The law-based concept of university autonomy is not cosmetic, and should not be treated with contempt.

It is noteworthy that, in a statement, Ademola Oketunde and Wole Odewumi – chairmen of OAU’s SSANU and NASU – replied the opposing group with what they called “the following few facts, lawful and superior arguments on the matter”. They said: “At its meeting of March 8 to 10, 2016, the dissolved council unlawfully developed criteria and used them to score, rank and shortlist applicants for the VC’s post (scoring Prof. A. T. Salami 100%), rather than basing the short listing on whether or not the applicants met the advertised eligibility criteria. The Joint Council and Senate Selection Board (JCSSB) is the only statutory and lawful body empowered to interview, score, and rank VC applicants; and subsequently recommend three “suitable candidate” to Council, with full report of its activities. By this unlawful act, the dissolved Council usurped and hijacked the responsibility of JCSSB and rendered its purposes and functions irrelevant and outright useless.”

This makes the matter curiouser and curiouser. Where lies the truth?  Indeed, the Federal Government should have been curious enough to get to the bottom of the matter through a thorough investigation before taking a decisive step.  It is unclear how the administration arrived at the decision to dissolve the university’s Governing Council, and why it seeks to invalidate the selection of Prof. Salami as VC. But it is clear that the administration needs clarity on the issue.

The situation means that the institution is doubly challenged without a Governing Council and a VC, although the administration cannot unlawfully dissolve OAU’s Governing Council, which has the responsibility for lawfully selecting the university’s VC.  Furthermore, the idea of an Acting VC, as conceived by SSANU and NASU, cannot be lawfully concretised by the administration, given the extant legal framework of university autonomy.

Relevant to the possibility of an Acting VC is a paper on “Appointment and Removal of a Vice Chancellor under Nigerian Law” by Prof. Ehi Oshio.  The Professor of Law argued: “The President/Visitor has no power under the Universities Autonomy Act to appoint even an Acting Vice-Chancellor as a matter of pure law. This is because the Act empowers only the Governing Council to appoint an Acting Vice-Chancellor on the recommendation of the Senate. Section 3(13) & (14) of the Principal Act as amended provides “In any case of a vacancy in the office of the Vice-Chancellor, the Council shall appoint an Acting Vice-Chancellor on recommendation of the Senate” “An Acting Vice-Chancellor in all circumstances shall not be in office for more than 6 months”.

In other words, where there is no Governing Council, there must be a Governing Council. The Federal Government would do well to immediately reconstitute a Governing Council for OAU, “for the effective functioning of the University”, if it is too far gone to reverse the flawed dissolution.

When all is said and done, the rule of law should not be the rule of lawlessness.  It is a point to ponder that SSANU and NASU had taken the matter to court, hoping to get a ruling restraining the VC’s selection process, but they have also taken the law into their own hands by forcing a shutdown at the university while the court case is still unresolved. Surely, the Governing Council could not have been expected to restrain itself in the absence of a valid injunction.

In the final analysis, it would appear that the so-called OAU crisis is a contrivance by internal forces and may well be inspired by ulterior motives. As things stand, the ultimate casualty is the rule of law, and that is tragic indeed.

The post A contrived crisis appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

There was a play to be staged. The producer, who was also the playwright, needed a director to put the play on stage. Someone who should know recommended a director who knows his stuff. I was invited to a preliminary meeting between the producer/playwright and the preferred director. That is how I met Wole Oguntokun.

It was around mid-year in 2014. We met one afternoon in the office of Sam Omatseye at the headquarters of The Nation in Matori, Lagos. Omatseye, Chairman of the newspaper’s Editorial Board, had just published a play titled The Siege, which he planned to stage to celebrate the milestone 80th birthday of literary luminary and Nobelist Wole Soyinka in July that year. Oguntokun came to the meeting with two members of his organisation called Renegade Theatre.

It was a stimulating interaction. I got to know that Oguntokun was a lawyer and had an advanced degree in Law. I also found out that he was deeply into drama. Questions and answers about Omatseye’s play, and about the planned production, turned the office into a theatre of ideation and ideas. By the time the session ended, there was no doubt about Oguntokun’s passion and professionalism.

This is how Oguntokun captured the play: “Charles Gordon was a British Army General, who was in charge of Sudan, Khartoum in the 19th century. He was asked to leave Sudan by his government, which felt they couldn’t hold Khartoum anymore but he thought he could hold it for his country. So, he refused to leave. Unfortunately, he met a man who was as zealous and strong as him in the person of the Mahdi, who fought to hold his country back from the British. The play is about the siege laid on Khartoum with Gordon unwilling to give up the city. It led to the death of Gordon during the face-off between Gordon and Mahdi’s men. The play is about people who hold and believe in their own ideologies; the two men fundamentally believed in the cause they were fighting. It’s based on a true-life story.” The drama doesn’t end with Gordon’s defeat and includes the British reprisal attack spearheaded by Lord Kitchener.

The play is opposed to philosophies of exclusion and self-promoting ideologies that deny the relevance of diversity. Oguntokun treated its decidedly international colour with striking fidelity. To achieve a compelling interpretation, the director had four UK-based British actors in the cast, Sam Quinn, Angus Scott-Miller, John Glynn and Paul Garayo. I interacted with these foreign actors during another lively session in Omatseye’s office. The director had brought them to the producer/playwright.

Ahead of the production at MUSON Centre, Lagos, on July 24, 2014, Oguntokun said: “It’s challenging because it deals with another culture, and we have to be careful that we stay true to the Sudanese culture in terms of dresses, music and mindset that existed at the time.” On stage, the serious issues were spiced with spectacle, producing what Oguntokun called “a fusion of play and dance.”

My mind replayed this background when I heard the news of Oguntokun’s latest theatre project, which he described as “The birth of a theatre republic.” On September 11, he lifted the curtain on his Theatre Republic at Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. The place was formally opened by Soyinka who “attended the Ideas Cafe at the Theatre Republic to share lessons on his artistic journey of more than five decades.” Soyinka’s presence and participation testified to Oguntokun’s respectable professional rating.

It is nearly two decades since Oguntokun in 1998 “emerged as a player on the Nigerian Theatre landscape.” His own artistic trajectory has seen him become Artistic Director of Renegade Theatre, and now President of the Theatre Republic, described as “a performing arts hub which provides production and rehearsal space for theatre and dance companies, musicians and visual artists.”

“Everything is self-funded,” Oguntokun reportedly told Omatseye in a phone conversation that the columnist referred to in his column. This is where the picture becomes clearer, showing Oguntokun’s clarity of vision. As a playwright, stage and film director, and theatre administrator, Oguntokun has demonstrated a remarkable professional consistency. A report published last year quoted him as saying: “The stage is what it is; a place of beauty; a place where magic happens. It cannot be replicated in any other arena. It’s where I’m the happiest, where I feel complete the most.”

Surely, with the Theatre Republic within Lagos, the megalopolis is in the realm of rarefied reinvention. Oguntokun said in the report, which was published while the republic was being built: “At present, there is no single venue in Nigeria with daily programming dedicated solely to the performing arts. It is our desire to create a self-sustaining performing arts organisation that will encourage copycat establishments around the country, which in turn, would help artistes realise their own artistic visions and thus create the ability in them to effect positive change in their individual communities.”

A megacity deserves thriving artistic centres, and this artistic republic deserves an environment where it can flourish. The show has started. The Waiting Room, a play written and directed by Oguntokun, was staged at the republic from September 15 – 18. It will also run from October 27 – 30.

The beauty of Oguntokun’s spatial presence is the promise of stability. It is his republic. It is also his empire. There is no contradiction, only a clarification of status and signification. But, obviously, stability is not the same thing as sustainability. The republic deserves decent support for its cultural services. The place is a fertile ground for corporate giants to sow seeds of social responsibility.

Theatre is alive and alert, despite the potent antagonism of various anti-theatre forces. Oguntokun is proof that the thespian world is willing; but the outside world may be weak. It is food for thought that the report mentioned earlier quoted Oguntokun as saying: “The obstacles facing the presenter/producer from Nigeria are many and they range from unfriendly government agencies to non-supportive state policies.” But enemies of the performing arts and foes of cultural production are not to be found only within the structures of power. Philistinism is also alive and alert, regrettably.

The post Applause for Theatre Republic appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

It began in the mind as a stinking thought before its outward manifestation as a stinking action. The happening mirrored a dangerous and disturbing religious intolerance which did not start today but which should not be allowed to taint tomorrow.

This is how the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, presented the event that made the headlines on September 25: “The Command got the report at its Division in Ayetoro that one Evangelist Wale Fagbire went to Ketu to destroy traditional worshippers’ shrines. After the destruction, the man became unconscious, motionless and could not talk. When the policemen visited the place, the traditionalists claimed that the subject cannot be taken away until some spiritual exercise was performed.”

Oyeyemi continued: “The Alaye of Ayetoro, Oba AbdulAzeez Adelakun, waded into the matter which led to the release of the man. The victim has been revived and handed over to his family. The Police’s next step would be determined by the traditionalists. If they complain to the Police about the destruction of their shrine, the victim would be charged for sacrilege and malicious damage. Everybody has a right to worship anything he so desires.”

On September 30, five days after the report that quoted the police spokesman, the story changed. A fresh report said Fagbire of Christ Apostolic Church, Ona-Iye, Ayetoro in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, told reporters: “About what happened at Ayetoro, it was from God and direction from the Holy Spirit for the deliverance of Ayetoro from darkness. God told me I should go to the shrine to bring out those things for the liberation of Ayetoro. When I started what God told me, he told me to do three things in the shrine. That is, I should evacuate the items, step aside and watch the film. I should not say anything when people come out to see me. So, I did as instructed by God on September 20.”

Fagbire added: “When I was taken to the palace, I told them all my actions were directed by God. Although they beat me with charms, none was effective on me. I am healthy and sound. When we got to the palace, I expressed my mind about it; nobody treated me.” The pastor at the centre of the story served his own version at a briefing organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State chapter, in Abeokuta.

The reconstructed narrative was reinforced by the Regional Coordinator of Yewa/Awori, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Apostle Lola Dada, who said: “He was handed over to the police and the police charged the case to court. The idol worshippers withdrew the case from the court, saying they cannot take the son of their late Oba to court and the case was withdrawn the same day.”

Dada also said: “The idol worshippers went to Jesus Triumphant Army Church at Ayetoro, which is headed by Pastor Wale Olojede. The church, which had hosted Prince Fagbire, is close to the shrine. The worshippers said it was the church that encouraged him to do what he did. So, the idol worshippers’ transferred their aggression to the church. They went there and barricaded the church with sacrifice and palm fronds, but the Christian youths removed them. They demanded for things they want to use for sacrifice and asked the pastor’s family to pay N300,000, while CAN should bring N200,000, making it N500,000, for the sacrifice to appease their gods. But no money was given to them and peace has returned to the town.”

This is, of course, a simplistic definition of peace. By his action, Fagbire has fed a monster that may become uncontrollable. He was quoted as saying that his father, the late Alaye of Ayetoro, Oba Taiwo Fagbire, who died in 1981, used to take him to the shrine. Having found his way to Christianity shouldn’t give him a feeling of spiritual superiority over those who continue to stick to their indigenous religion which works for them. To refer pejoratively to traditionalists as “idol worshippers,” as members of his camp do, is a reflection of unhelpful narrow-mindedness.

My mind goes back to July 2013 when I experienced the 10th Orisa World Congress that was held at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State. It was an eye-opener on the place of Yoruba religion, also known as the Orisa tradition, in a global village of multiple faiths. It was an appropriate setting for a focus on the challenges facing the Orisa way of life, especially in the context of contending faiths, some of which have the advantage of apparent numerical dominance. The variegated gathering, which included participants from the U.S., Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela and Mexico, demonstrated the appeal of the religion beyond its local provenance and brought instructive international perspectives.

There is no doubt about the international status of Yoruba religion, which is reinforced by the reality that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2005 added the Ifa Divination system to its list of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” A multitude of gods or orisa makes up the Yoruba pantheon, with Ifa as the oracular mouthpiece of Olodumare, the Almighty in Yoruba religion.

Who would have thought the Orisa tradition could be seen as a redemptive factor in the Boston Marathon bombings in the U.S. on April 15, 2013, when two pressure cooker bombs exploded, killing three people and injuring 264 others? A 47-year-old woman who lived in Boston, Clemencia Lee, an American of Columbian origin initiated into the religion 10 years earlier, said that being a devotee of Yoruba gods saved her and members of her family from the bombings. She said to me: “It was definitely the Orisa that watched over us to not be there and right where the bomb was.” She attended the congress with her husband, Tony Van Der Meer, an American academic of Suriname-Dutch origin and Orisa devotee, and their second daughter who was also an initiate with a Yoruba name, Adetutu. This illustrates the complexity of faith.

The Ketu incident highlights the inferiority of those who credit themselves with a superior knowledge of divinity. This thought-provoking episode exemplifies what could happen when there is a lack of enlightenment about the reality that the human quest for spiritual truth is essentially personal.

In the final analysis, the attack against the shrine in Ketu community was unprovoked and provocative. It was an anti-social violation of the right of others to choose their spiritual path, and only succeeded in giving Christianity a bad name.

The post A fever of faith appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

When a biographer gets a biography wrong, it may ultimately require an autobiography to correct what is incorrect.  The complication is that the biography in question, which is being questioned, has been described as an “authorised biography,” which suggests that it should have the essence of an autobiography. In other words, it may well be described as autobiographical because, by definition, “An authorised biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation of a subject or a subject’s heirs.”

The greatest casualty of an embellished biography, of course, is History. What is presented as actuality is simply reverse reality.  But where was the man at the centre of the narrative when the biographer was led astray and coloured it with an inventive interpolation of significant magnitude?

Not surprisingly, a critical inaccuracy in a new book on President Muhammadu Buhari has drawn criticisms from critical observers, and the biography’s fictional flavour makes the biographer look like a fabulist. By extension, since it is an authorised biography, this makes the biographical subject appear as tainted as the biographer.

The book, entitled Muhammadu Buhari – The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria, was presented with ceremonial elaborateness at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on October 3, but it has turned out that an important aspect of the biography is nothing more than an elaborate concoction. Interestingly, the biographer, Prof. John Paden, said of his effort: “This book seeks to answer the questions: who’s President Buhari and how he’s grappling with the many challenges of Nigeria. My initial motivation was to introduce President Buhari to the international audience on the assumptions that Nigerians already knew their president. But increasingly, I came to feel that, perhaps, Nigerians might find it useful to review. I also wanted to address the issue of leadership.”

He added: “In the past, one such period was the civil war; another was the time of influx of petroleum dollars. The book follows Buhari through his challenges in and out of the office, his military training in the UK and elsewhere, his roles in military regime, including his time as military head of state for 20 months, his detention, his reemergence as a civil society leader and his eventual engagement in politics in the Fourth Republic since 1999.”

It is intriguing that what is considered as the book’s major historical howler escaped the reviewers at the event. How did that happen?  Even the figure perhaps most injured by the fabrication failed to highlight it and hit it in his review of the book. The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who was on the receiving end of the damaging falsehood, said at the book launch:   “The formation of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is an important event that the book addresses. The merger was the result of teamwork, belief in the democratic will of the people and a commitment to national purpose…So many people made contributions that made the historic merger possible. It would be impossible to give each person the accolades they deserve in a concise work such as this one. However, it is an account that we must begin to chronicle fully, and with care, for it is the story of when reform came to the land.”

This story of reform was reformed by the biographer whose claim that Tinubu was sidelined by Buhari in the search for a running mate ahead of the country’s 2015 presidential election has been rubbished by those who were in the picture. It is worth noting that Tinubu’s version in his review contradicted the biographical account but he curiously failed to counter the biographer.

Tinubu said: “After the successful merger and the birth of APC, it was time to pick a flag bearer. At the Lagos convention, President Buhari emerged as the new party’s choice in a transparently-honest process. His speech to the convention was greeted with ovation, even by those who had opposed him. This set the tone for the campaign to come. But first, there was the sticky issue of selecting a running mate. After careful study and discussion, it was agreed that we should field a religiously-balanced ticket given the sensitivities of the moment.” He continued: “Based on this conclusion, the name of Yemi Osinbajo, renowned law professor and former Lagos State Attorney-General during my tenure as governor, was proposed as an excellent running mate. Osinbajo was also a pastor in the largest church in the entire country, and this would answer those who wrongfully tried to paint Buhari as intolerant.”

The big question is: Why did the biographer misrepresent the facts?  The bigger question is: Why did the subject of the biography allow the misrepresentation? A report quoted a source as saying: “The president gave him unfettered access and has had long interviews. He really encouraged him by giving him audience.” So, why blame the biographer when the subject of the biography has not blamed him?

For obvious reasons, an authorised biography is less likely to be critical of its subject, but this cannot be an excuse for uncritical historiography. The American biographer, a Professor of International Studies, has succeeded in encouraging the view that, apart from the Tinubu twist,  there may well be other aspects of the book that are no more than distortions. The permanence of the printed word means that this discredited biography will continue to be credited with information that is actually misinformation.

It is noteworthy that a few days before the biography was released, on September 29 another new book on Buhari which was launched at the Presidential Villa made the headlines. It was a pictorial book entitled Buhari: A New Beginning, by his personal photographer, Bayo Omoboriowo.  The book presentation also had its own share of negatives. Presidential Villa watcher Olalekan Adetayo reported: “The reviewer became very blunt at a point. In listing the sources of some of the photographs in the book that were not taken by Omoboriowo himself, he had said the author got some of the pictures from a former photographer in the Ministry of Information who he called Baba Shettima. He then alleged that the man left government service with the negatives of all national photographs he took from a particular period till the nation’s capital was relocated from Lagos to Abuja. This, he said, forced the author to buy some of the photographs from Shettima.  “Baba Shettima should be made to return the negatives of all those photographs,” he said apparently to Buhari who he knows hates such behaviour.”

Well, so much for Buhari and his new books.

The post Why blame the biographer? appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

A curious two-day conference will be held in Abuja on October 18 and 19. It is curiously called “National Conference on the role of the legislature in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.” More curiously, it is organised by the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption and the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC) in collaboration with the European Union, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and the Africa Development Studies Center (ADSC).

Among the curious high-profile participants expected at the conference are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara. Others are the Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Chukwuka  Utazi, the Chairman, House Committee on Anti-Corruption, Babajide Akinloye, and the PACAC Chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay.

It is unclear whether the forum is intended to school the country’s federal legislators in the fundamentals of anti-corruption. It is worth noting that the Director General, Kenya School of Law, Prof. P. L.O. Lumumba, is expected to shed some light on the subject.

Without doubt, it is one thing to be taught and another thing to be teachable. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the targets of this training programme of sorts is not their learning capacity but their capacity for unlearning and relearning.  It has been observed that knowledge is incomplete without values, and the lawmakers have continued to demonstrate to the public that they may indeed be irredeemably challenged in that critical department.

To give a striking illustration, consider the loud and clear voice of the beleaguered former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, who has been singing about the alleged rot and stench in the House of Representatives. Who is listening to Jibrin?

In an interview published on October 9, Jibrin declared: “The corruption in the House of Representatives is massive. I have not exposed more than 10 per cent of the corruption going on in the House of Representatives. It is that bad.”

Jibrin continued: “I have said a whistleblower is not necessarily a saint. But people often support him (a whistleblower) because what he reveals is usually beneficial to all. This issue is beyond Jibrin. If someone has any issue against Jibrin, he should write a petition and take it to the anti-corruption agencies. I will go to the agencies and respond to the petition. Nobody among the 359 members of the House has written a petition against me to the anti-graft agencies. I had written a petition against the Speaker and three other principal officers in the House. I am talking about people who committed budget fraud of N40bn, another budget fraud worth about N20bn and there is another budget fraud with a cumulative sum of N284bn. I am talking about a person who diverted Federal Government projects to his farm; short-changed members in the N10bn Sustainable Development Goal projects of 2015; used subterranean means to create a new House rule that is the subject of litigation; and a man who collects rent from multiple sources. I have also exposed the fact that members are collecting votes for running costs. I am not saying money should not be voted for lawmakers’ running costs. The point is that this money is (sometimes) diverted to private pockets.”

Is anyone listening to Jibrin?  It is food for thought that those on the receiving end of his accusations are likely to be at the planned anti-corruption conference in the capital city this week. The accused have done little or nothing to prove that Jibrin does not know what he is talking about. Those who should investigate Jibrin’s weighty allegations have done little or nothing to disprove his scandalous claims. With the move by the House of Representatives to tame Jibrin through a controversial long-term suspension, it would appear that the battle has been lost and won, even though the hurly-burly is not over.

Jibrin’s response to his 180-day suspension: “The constitution is clear: you can only get a member out of the House through recall and the constitution is supreme. The Legislative Privileges Act only allows the House to suspend a member for one sitting day. The House rules stipulate that you can only suspend a member for only 14 days. Therefore, legally, there is no way this can stand. They only suspended me because they wanted to save face. I raised allegations, but they have not responded.”

Evidently, the anti-corruption fight cannot be fought by fighters who are themselves pro-corruption. On the question of the incompleteness of knowledge without values, another striking picture reinforces the failure of values in the federal legislature.

A September 19 report on cheating by members of the National Assembly said: “NAN gathered that some of the lawmakers, especially principal officers, have more than the statutorily approved number of aides in their employ, who also draw their salary from the assembly’s funds…It was also revealed that many legislators draw the emolument of their aides from the assembly’s funds but pay them fractions. Some of the lawmakers employed only one or two aides but are collecting the full salary for the five they are entitled to.”

The report continued: “This act was discovered to be perpetrated more by the members through their constituency offices, which they are mandatorily expected to have in their areas, but deliberately failed to do so. They submit names of non-existent staff in the constituency office to the national assembly service commission and collect their entitlements directly.”

It is noteworthy that these are the characters expected to play a positive role in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. What will they learn at the coming conference? What can they learn? How will the results of the teaching be measured and monitored?

In the end, this publicised conference may be no more than another stunt to create the impression that corruption is unwelcome in the National Assembly when there are enough signs that corruption enjoys a warm welcome in that supposedly honourable  space. Indeed, it is not far-fetched to observe that corruption usually gets the red-carpet treatment from members of the National Assembly. What the fight against corruption needs is not a conference but conscience.

The post Corruption needs no conference appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Music is the weapon of the future.” Who said this? Where and when? Afrobeat phenomenon Fela Anikulapo Kuti made this definitional declaration when I interviewed him in December 1996, seven months before his death at the age of 58 on August 2, 1997. It was perhaps Fela’s last major interview, and I rank my interaction with the music legend among the high points of my journalism career.

How did I get to interview the great one? I was Features Editor, Today’s News Today (TNT), an ambitious Lagos-based evening newspaper, and the organisers of a series of Fela renaissance concerts tagged Fela Don Come O had chosen the medium for publicity purposes ahead of a planned show on Boxing Day at Lekki, Lagos. The first show at Water Parks, Ikeja, Lagos, was inadequately publicised, the organisers had reasoned. So they came to TNT’s Oregun office to arrange an exclusive interview with Fela that would run for two days as a publicity stunt to draw a crowd.

Naturally, I was over the moon about the job. I had a partner for the interview in the person of Akintunde Ojo, now deceased, who was the paper’s entertainment expert at the time. For several days before the interview, we prepared and kept reviewing our preparation. On the eve of the date, we had to consult one of Fela’s aides for some guidance on the kind of questions that would hold his interest.

We watched Fela’s pulsating performance at his club, the Afrika Shrine, on Pepple Street, Ikeja, till the show ended just before dawn; and then the maestro sat down with us for an interview that lasted about three hours. If there were signs that he was battling with symptoms of a grave illness, we didn’t notice. He had stopped playing the saxophone on account of some challenges, but he boasted to us that he would one day start playing the instrument again. He made us laugh, he made us think, he made us wonder, and he made us feel we were capable of great things.

After the session, he left the club in a waiting taxi, which was a thought-provoking statement about his diminished financial resources despite his undiminished stardom. The interviewers went away inspired by the magical meeting and the unforgettable encounter.

There is no doubt that Fela’s AIDS-related death meant that a critical progressive voice had been silenced. He was not just a musician but a musical icon with a sense of mission. It is a point to ponder how he would have reacted to Nigeria’s renewed democratic experience that began in 1999, about two years after his death. His unapologetic activism on the side of the people was daring and defiant; and he was willing to pay the price for his anti-establishment campaign. Music was indeed a weapon for him, and he used it against the enemies of progress with all the potency of a visionary iconoclast.

My reflections on Fela were prompted by Felabration 2016.  The yearly celebration of Fela’s legacy is applaudable. It is interesting that this year’s concert, the 19th edition, was tagged ‘Everybody say yeah yeah’, a catchphrase popularised by Fela. From October 6 to 16, Fela came alive again in more ways than one. Although his remains lie in an inventive tomb on the grounds of his former residence on Gbemisola Street, Ikeja, which is now Kalakuta Museum, Fela’s spirit soars beyond the restriction of the grave.

Fela’s enduring relevance is reinforced by the country’s current unhealthy condition. The country’s sickness did not begin today, and Fela sang several songs about the deterioration.  I remember his song titled Authority Stealing. Fela sang: “Authority stealing pass armed robbery.”

An October 21 report justified Fela’s insightful lyrics. This alarming report based on information released by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) said: “In its report of activities from August 2015 to July 2016 presented to civil society organisations (CSOs) by its Executive Secretary Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye during an interactive session in Abuja yesterday, PACAC said corruption brought Nigeria to its knees under Jonathan. The report says: “His (Jonathan’s) tolerance of corruption was reflected in the sunset of activities of anti-corruption agencies under his watch and exponential increase of other vices no doubt fuelled by corruption.”

PACAC continued: “For example, it is widely believed that insecurity escalated because of the massive embezzlement of $2 billion through the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki, who allegedly diverted the money appropriated to fight insurgency. The problems in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry reached the zenith with multi-billion dollars subsidy scams while President Jonathan looked the other way. At the same time, other vices spread like cancer – kidnapping, import duty waivers, financial recklessness, a profligate legislature, corrupt judiciary, etc. There was no single high-profile conviction under his watch, yet there were allegations of high-profile corruption within his cabinet. Jonathan’s legendary comment that stealing is not corruption underscored his perspective on corruption and remains a watershed in the history of anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria. Under his watch, corruption brought Nigeria to its knees.”

Now,  the most chilling aspect of the report, which highlights the scale of stealing by people in power and the  consequences of ‘Authority Stealing’:  “PACAC said using World Bank rates, one-third of the N1.3trillion allegedly stolen by only 55 people in seven years could have provided 635.18 kilometres of roads, built 36 ultra-modern hospitals in each state, built and furnished 183 schools, educated 3,974 people from primary to tertiary level (at N25.2 million per child) and built 20,062 units of two-bedroom houses.”

This picture makes it so easy to see why Fela sang that political corruption is more terrible and more terrorising than armed robbery. This is why Fela remains relevant. His lyrics are undying in a country dying from corruption.

The post Felabration as cerebration appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

It is said that a good name is better than silver and gold. But it must also be said that a bad name is not made any better by silver and gold. Talking of names, a particular hotel’s name is in dire need of rehabilitation following negative publicity arising from its owner’s pursuit of political power and the accompanying financial empowerment expected by most Nigerian politicians.

It is food for thought that the hotel’s name came up again while a former Minister of State (Defence) was being questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with the distribution of over N4billion taken from the Office of the National Security Adviser. The former Minister, Musiliu Obanikoro, and a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, are in the soup; and those stained by the soup include Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose and a former Osun State gubernatorial candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

Obanikoro was quoted as saying: “Out of N4.685billon transferred to Sylva McNamara Limited, N3.880billion was transferred to both Ayodele Fayose and Senator Omisore through cash and bank transfers. The dollars contents were handed over to Fayose personally by me in the presence of some party leaders and he collected it and took it to the room next to where we were all seated.”

Then Obanokoro interestingly introduced the name of a hotel reportedly owned by Fayose: “The location where I gave the dollars to him is called Spotless Hotel, Ado-Ekiti. One of the party leaders that were present is Dr. Tope Aluko, who was then the secretary of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

He continued: “I transferred N1.7 billion to Omisore. The money was paid into his account and companies nominated by him. He gave the list of companies for the transfer of the N1.7billion that was released by the NSA to him. The funds were therefore transferred as prescribed by Omisore in full. That is to the account of the companies he provided. Details can be obtained from the bank that transferred the money. I, Musiliu Obanikoro, did not buy or sell any landed property from Sen. Omisore. The National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd) did not disclose to me what the funds were meant for and neither did I ask or I did not know the source of the funds.”

The funds allegedly given to Fayose are believed to be part of the war chest used in fighting for votes and fighting for victory at all costs in the 2014 election that brought him to office. Fayose’s reported reaction: “Let me believe that Obanikoro did not say all these because whatever you say, you would have to prove it in court. It is not enough to just say it. If he’s saying all these to get out of trouble, it is just a drama of the moment. I know he is looking for ways out of the quagmire as his house was seized, his bank accounts were frozen and all that.”

While the story is developing, it is noteworthy that the hotel named by Obanikoro had been named earlier by another participant in another context equally connected with corruption. In February 2015, revelations by a Nigerian Army Captain, Sagir Koli, rocked the country. In a statement titled “How Nigerian Army personnel were used to rig Ekiti and Osun States Gubernatorial Elections 2014,” Koli gave first-hand details of corrupt activities involving his commanding officer, two ministers and some politicians towards election rigging in Ekiti State, and also mentioned a plot to corruptly achieve electoral success in Osun State. Audio evidence leaked by Koli implicated some top officials of the then Federal Government and the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Captain Koli said in his statement: “I was officially deployed as the 32, Artillery Brigade Intelligence Officer to provide credible Intelligence to the success of Ekiti State governorship election. At about 2030 hours on June 2014, a day to the election proper, the commander, Brigadier General A.A. Momoh told me to escort him to a place where the State Minister for Defence wanted to see him. Reaching the place (Spotless Hotel in Ado- Ekiti), which serves as coordinating campaign office for the PDP candidate Mr. Ayodele Fayose, we met the Minister himself, Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Fayose, Mr. Iyiola Omisore, one Honoruable Abdulkareem and host of other top PDP  chieftains.” He added: “The outcome of what was discussed…gave the party victory during the election.”

Against the background of these significant instances of moral impurity, it is apt to ponder the appropriateness of the name of the hotel concerned. It is unclear why the hotel was given the name it is called, but the place has been clearly unworthy of its name. Obviously, there are sufficient spots on the structure to crush its claim to spotlessness.

From the look of things, Spotless Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, has secured a sure place in the expanse of infamy. It has a bad name, no doubt. The country’s political history, especially that aspect of it relating to political corruption and politically corrupt actors, cannot be complete without a mention of this hotel and its unsightly spots. Additionally, the hotel’s defining marks of dishonour are tough stains that would require more than an ocean to wipe off.

It is worth considering whether those who use the hotel’s space are conscious of its story and its place in the narrative of negativity. It would be interesting to know what goes on in the hotel during its normal business hours. Does the hotel’s history and historical stains mean anything to its regular patrons?  Does it indeed matter whether events of such negative national impact ever happened there?

Perhaps the hotel’s name is no more than a statement of aspiration, in which case it does not necessarily mean a declaration by its owner to live up to the hotel’s billing. In other words, it is just hype; no more, no less.

But the hotel’s name has its uses as a metaphor for the desirable. The country certainly needs politicians that are spotless, which is a hyperbolic way of calling for a culture of anti-corruption.

The post Spots on Spotless Hotel appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

This is certainly one anniversary that deserves contemplation. It re-enacts aspects of a corruption related drama that is still on the stage. It is interesting that a major character in the drama, by highlighting the anniversary, showed an awareness of time and timing that attracts attention.

The significance of this particular anniversary is its expansion of the expanse of corruption related activities in the House of Representatives. No less a person than the beleaguered former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin, who has been singing about the alleged rot and stench in the House of Representatives, introduced new lyrics.

In an interview to commemorate 100 days since he dropped a devastating bomb about alleged corruption involving the leadership of the House of Representatives, Jibrin dropped another bomb. Jibrin was quoted as saying: “With what I have seen happening, the whole process of forming a small group, inviting the Minister of Budget and Minister of Finance has started and that is where the whole problem on the process of appropriation starts. You form a small team, you agree on certain fundamentals; then you come back and try to impose it on the Chairman of Appropriations or Chairman of Finance. When he declines, he becomes an enemy and you start blackmailing him.”

Jibrin continued: “I have heard that the Minister of Finance has been invited to brief one leadership; Minister of Budget and National Planning has been invited to brief another leadership. That is where the whole budget fraud and padding issue is negotiated. When they go there, there is nothing that is being discussed apart from personal interests. Oh, I have this contractor; I want you to pay him his money. Oh, put my project in the budget. They go there and commit the House at such meetings and when they commit the House, they come back, they try to impose it on the Chairman of Appropriations who has to now take the whole load on his head   and his colleagues are not aware that this is what is going on. With what I have seen so far, I don’t think that the National Assembly has learnt its lessons. That is the pattern that Dogara has adopted.”

Again, the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has been mentioned in connection with allegations of corruption in the federal legislature. It is a new song about an old dance.  In an earlier interview published on October 9, Jibrin had declared: “The corruption in the House of Representatives is massive. I have not exposed more than 10 per cent of the corruption going on in the House of Representatives. It is that bad.”

Jibrin had added: “I have said a whistleblower is not necessarily a saint. But people often support him (a whistleblower) because what he reveals is usually beneficial to all. This issue is beyond Jibrin. If someone has any issue against Jibrin, he should write a petition and take it to the anti-corruption agencies. I will go to the agencies and respond to the petition. Nobody among the 359 members of the House has written a petition against me to the anti-graft agencies. I had written a petition against the Speaker and three other principal officers in the House. I am talking about people who committed budget fraud of N40bn, another budget fraud worth about N20bn and there is another budget fraud with a cumulative sum of N284bn. I am talking about a person who diverted Federal Government projects to his farm; short-changed members in the N10bn Sustainable Development Goal projects of 2015; used subterranean means to create a new House rule that is the subject of litigation; and a man who collects rent from multiple sources. I have also exposed the fact that members are collecting votes for running costs. I am not saying money should not be voted for lawmakers’ running costs. The point is that this money is (sometimes) diverted to private pockets.”

When progressive action is countered by reactionary reaction, it is a sure sign of a clash of values and a collision of conscience. When an urgent need to combat and crush political corruption is downplayed by political inaction, the result is political absurdity.

Jibrin correctly painted a picture of striking absurdity in the interview that marked 100 days of his own astounding allegations and the astonishing aloofness of the House of Representatives. He said: “I never thought that some members of the House would choose to act in a very reckless manner. I have never seen such impunity in my life because while I was dishing out the allegations, I had thought my colleagues would do the right thing which was to insist that the House should investigate the allegations and collaborate with the anti- graft agencies, the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Security (DSS) which had already commenced their investigation into the matter.”

What followed Jibrin’s allegations showed that he was wrong to think that his fellow legislators would do what he thought was “the right thing” to do. In the view of his colleagues, Jibrin had just earned himself a punishment for his posture, and he got a controversial 180-day suspension.

It is food for thought that Jibrin is still on the path of probity and still pursuing a probe of the accused.  There must be something that makes him unrepentant and unapologetic. Listen to him: “I have had a lot of assurances that we will get to the point where every Nigerian wants to see – where of course, Speaker Dogara and the remaining crooks in the House of Representatives will be arrested and prosecuted. I have no element of doubt that, at the end of this, Speaker Dogara will go to jail.”

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the public will see any new development in this developing story of alleged political corruption in the supposedly honourable legislative institution. By the time another 100 days have passed by, what will be the situation concerning Jibrin’s explosive exposé?

The post One hundred days of inaction appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.