Your generation needs to know these things” – Full text of Pres. Obasanjo’s interview with Y! Magazine

by Adebola Williams

Who said former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo has mellowed down? As usual, he doesn’t mince his words in this conversation at his Otta Farms residence with ADEBOLA WILLIAMS

Pullquote: By now, Na’aba or whatever you call that character who took a lorry to Abuja from Kano, became Speaker and was riding in strings of cars would have been know for impeaching me after many threats. And I said, if this impeachment will come let it come and I will go back to my farm but what I will not accept, I will not accept.

Sir, Let’s start with a deliberately general question – what are your thoughts on the state of Nigeria as we speak?

We are in a situation in this country now, or if you like, in a state of insecurity. It’s a toxic situation. It does not matter how much blame on the leadership is unfair or unwarranted, the public won’t support the leader. It’s like when a country is at war. Everything in the country must be dear to us in the war. After you have done the war, you can now start apportioning blame because there are many things going wrong in our country. There will be something wrong with our country or any country at any point. The question is how serious and what we are doing about it – and in this case it is serious.

You speak of leadership – casting our minds back to your tenure in office, what are those elements of your leadership you would say you’re most proud of?

One, that I protected Nigeria from breaking up. When I became elected president, many Nigerians did not think that Nigeria would survive – something many people seem to have forgotten now. For instance, there was still grief and a feeling of alienation by the Igbos although the war had long ended; they had not felt that they had fully reaped the benefits of the end of the war. Two, the Yorubas generally were feeling bad about the situation of Abiola and the June 12 election. Three, the Niger Delta essentially were feeling bad about being rich and yet remaining very poor. Four, the North were being accused of monopolising power and each of these group were looking at themselves and thinking, if the worst comes to the worst, they would go it alone. Each of them was getting its own militants in one form or the other; the OPC (O’odua People’s Congress) in the West, Egbesu in the Niger Delta, and the Arewa People’s Congress (in the North). That was the situation and that’s what made people to believe that after me, as president, there would be no other president again; that Nigeria will disintegrate on my head. But that wasn’t the case, and you cannot quantify what a huge achievement that was. The second thing is democracy itself. People believed that Nigeria is incapable of really establishing and sustaining democracy beyond one’s time in government. Until my time, we had never had democracy where there is a regime change. Now we have established democracy, not one regime change but two or three regime changes successfully. Even beyond that, some people believed that only majority tribes would ever rule Nigeria. Democratically, (the) Hausa/Fulani then at best, maybe Igbos and Yorubas. Now we have a minority as president. So to me by this we have not only laid the foundation of democracy, we have started the process of strengthening the pace and putting the edifice of democracy up.

Thirdly, Nigeria was a pariah nation; a country that no one wanted to touch. I made Nigeria a country that everybody wanted to do business with. Now, these are things you cannot even quantify but they are the things that make a difference in Nigeria for generations to come.

If I may also add the fourth, I believe I took action that may have put coups out permanently by asking those 93 officers who had held political offices as a result of previous coups to step down. They now know that if you have taken part in a coup, no matter how long ago it was, you can still be visited. Your sins either of carrying out coup or being a beneficiary from it while still in service can still be visited on you.

So, years after leaving office, do you still think the way Nigeria is presently structured is the best?

It’s not structure. It doesn’t matter what the structure is; it’s the people operating the structure. Take the federal (government) for instance; we are running in this federal system, facilities and paraphernalia for four heads of state: the facilities of the president is one, the facilities and paraphernalia of the vice president is like that of the president, the facilities and paraphernalia of the senate president is more than that of a president in some other country. The facilities and paraphernalia of the speaker is more than that. It isn’t meant to be like that. So now because we have made it that way, then you don’t complain. It’s the people that operate it. Somebody was telling me you go to the other states and it is more or less repeated. It doesn’t have to be that way. I don’t know, when we started, the ministers had cars; their escort cars and their own cars. I don’t know how many they have now. You find out from other countries and ask what do they do? How do they do it? Ours is just abnormal; so if you have parliament, you will have a prime minister, deputy prime minister, you will have a speaker, a deputy speaker and if you still go the same way, it will be equally bad. I do know that some circumstances have changed.

When I was military head of state, the number of cars that were maintained for me, you can count on your fingertips and when I was military head of state, we did not have treated cars until after the death of Muritala (Mohammed). In fact, laughing now I remember that at that time, on the list of people to be assassinated, number one was Muritala (Mohammed), number two was Yakubu Danjuma, and I was number three and jokingly after we had dealt with the issue of the coup I said, “Look, I take strong objection to this list. Why should I be number 2 in government and be number three on the list of the people to be assassinated?” I had been relegated. I should have been number two! (Laughter) It was after that that the idea of treated cars ever came to Nigeria and even when we had it, it was not for everyday use. We had three that time for when the need arose and if we had a visiting head of state that we were hosting. Now today, this country is flooded with treated cars. That is also part of what has changed; the security.

The security situation has drastically changed from what it was in the 70s when I was the head of state; and you can blame it on whatever you want to blame it on. The people talk and say it is the parliamentary system. No, it is the people who operate the system. It doesn’t matter what the system is. It is the parliamentary system that made the national assembly so opaque in what they pay themselves. Why can’t their budget be debated and seen like everybody else? If you are going to be a watchdog, you must also start with yourself. When I said, for most of them, they are stinkingly corrupt, they went up in arms. There are four ways they are corrupt: one is the one you’ve seen recently. The other one is the way they even carry out the budgeting. The other one is what they call the oversight responsibilities. The other one is the way they even carry out their own activities, budget their own things and what they give themselves. So, maybe in future we would get to the stage of looking closely at how the National Assembly operates.

But, sir, you had the opportunity to curtail this…

You can see, if you want to look at it, go and see what the budget of the NASS in 2000 was and what is now. Their total budget and 10 years later is much bigger that the budget of NASS in 2011. You will see the difference and their number has not changed. And the NASS is not an executive arm of government. They have no right to be awarding contracts and doing supplies. No, that is the responsibility of the executive. Even buying things for them is the responsibility of the executive.

So how do you feel about all of this?

I feel – I dey laugh o.

But you owe it to our generation not to laugh.

That is why your own generation should know these things. And then your generation should be determined to change it. You should change it. You should not be chorusing those things some people are chorusing.  There’s nothing wrong in the structure; that’s chorusing what people who either deliberately diverting attention say. What is wrong is the people, and the leadership.

Will that explain why the people who were the stars of your tenure these days are there but things have changed drastically?

There are certain things those out of my administration would not have said. There are also people who served under my administration who have compromised themselves. And some who will shout something and do something else. There are certain things you cannot, you must not accept. Let them remove you but you are doing what is right for the country. And I made it clear. How many times did they threaten to impeach me? By now, Na’aba or whatever you call that character who took a lorry to Abuja from Kano, became Speaker and was riding in strings of cars would have been know for impeaching me after many threats. And I said, if this impeachment will come let it come and I will go back to my farm but what I will not accept, I will not accept.

We barely hear government officials show such defiance, some have said it’s because they have no livelihoods outside of government?

I think that. You know I always say that anybody who wants to do politics cleanly and successfully in Nigeria must have what I can call second address and the second address is where you can go to. Most of what is happening to Nigerian politics is that politics has become a profession that you don’t have to be trained for. Then you go there and people come to me to say, “I have no job, can you get me into a board?” So, being on a board is now a job? Being on a board is not a full time job. Maybe you meet at best once a month, maybe once a quarter, but because they are jobless, when they go to these board (meetings), they cause the CEO to what he should not do. Y!

I Can’t Wait For The ‘Fresh Air’ Promised By The President This Year–By Segun Dada

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In what seemed like forever, 366 days just breezed past and we have heralded a new year, 2013. Finally, 2013 is here. We waited, endured and prayed. Thank heavens it is here now.
What is special about 2013? As promised by President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2013, we will start enjoying the fresh air from his clichéd transformation agenda. In 2013, our President has promised that he would be known as “the world’s most praised president.” Our president has promised to shut the mouths of people like me who take delight in criticizing his government. Just like always, “Our President Has Promised.”
Here’s an excerpt from a piece I wrote last year and which still guides my expectations concerning this administration:
Contrary to popular opinion, I can’t wait to start praising President GEJ. When bombs no longer ravage the homes of my brothers and sisters in Yobe and Borno states and blood no longer flows in our land like ‘sapele water’, I will praise the president. When we are no longer in pitch darkness, I will praise GEJ to high heavens. When our hospitals are no longer mortuaries in disguise and patients need not run about to look for prescribed drugs from private pharmacies, I will sing the president’s praises.
When our roads are no longer catalysts for sending hundreds of lives to the great beyond daily, I will roll on the ground with praise of the president on my lips. When the foul-smelling and suffocating odour of corruption is cleansed from our nation, with the known criminals in the president’s cabinet going to jail and refunding their loots, I will not only praise the president, I will kill a white ‘he-goat’ in his honour. When we get the fresh air we were promised during his elections, I will get a tattoo inscribed with the words: “I love my President Jonathan” on my dark glistening forehead.
Mr President must understand that like him, we also looked forward to the year 2013. We look forward to whatever magic he has in store to make all of our problems go away. For 2012 must never repeat itself in our history. And I mean, NEVER!
Using this medium to wish my Readers a Happy and prosperous new year. If there is no you, there won’t be me. Have a wonderful 2013.
Follow me on twitter @Dolusegun

Many Are The Afflictions Of State Governors–

Many Are The Afflictions Of State Governors–By Theophilus Ilevbare

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Since the inception of the fourth republic in 1999, Governors have been the subject of intense speculation and debate whenever they disappear from official and otherpublic functions. As the new year unfolds, a serious cause for concern is the plight of some state governorswho have been missing in action in the past few months.
Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua spent most of his tenure governing Katsina state from various hospital beds in Europe, unknown to people of Katsina, till he was foisted on Nigerians by Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007 as President. He lost his battle with his health in 2010. Crisis was averted when Goodluck Jonathan was eventually sworn in as acting and much later, substantive President. Two term governor of Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion also had his own share of health challenges, which he tacitly managed and kept away from public knowledge.
Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada
Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, on friday December 28, was involved in an auto crash with his convoy when his Lexus SUV tyre burst, causing it to somersault three times into an uncompleted building by the road side. Multiple crashes ensued as other vehicles were in his motorcade.
His driver, however, escaped unhurt but the governor’s Aide-de-Camp, ASP Idris Mohammed, died instantly, while others in his motorcade sustained varying degrees of injury.
Wada was quickly evacuated by his officials to Kogi Specialist Hospital in Lokoja from where he was transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja for further treatment.
The governor was returning from the annual Igala Education Summit which he declared open at the Kogi State University in Anyigba when his convoy was involved in the crash on Lokoja-Ajaokuta Road.
Gov Sullivan Chime of Enugu State
The speculation surrounding the health of the Enugu state governor has become intense in recent weeks as officials of the state continue to vehemently refute rumours of his absence, refusing to disclose his whereabouts or state of health. News of his ailment has been misconstrued as death in some parts of the state. Former minister of state for foreign affairs Dubem Onyia had to calm frayed nerves by stating the governor is alive and kicking.
Sullivan’s last public appearance was at the meeting of South-East Governors Forum on September 9, 2012 in Enugu. since then he has been conspicuously missing in public functions. A punch investigation revealed that the governor made only 17 public appearances from a possible 111 in 2012. To underscore his frail heath, he collapsed in Nsukka in 2011, and relapsed twice in Enugu, in 2008 and 2009.”
However, an aide of the governor, who regrets the entire saga, recently told some journalists that Chime was in “a bad shape before he left the country for London. We noticed it.”
The aide explained further “for some time now, we noticed that the governor has not been his usual bubbling self. You may not easily know this because he carries himself well and hardly talks, but some of us knew that the man was down. From what we heard, he is no longer in London; he was flown to India last week because his health condition wasn’t getting better. As I speak to you right now, he is in a hospital in India.”
Concern, apprehension and anxiety can best describe the mood in Enugu, particularly Udi where Governor Chime hails from.
Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke
In November, former Federal Minister of Power and Steel, now Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke had announced that he was taking time off to attend to his medical condition without disclosing the problem he had with his health.
He however wrote a letter to the state House of Assembly that he had handed over to his deputy, Efiok Cobham, so as to enable him proceed on an accumulated leave.
Reports say the governor’s health condition has to do with his kidney. Government house sources said Liyel is on life support and undergoing regular dialyses.
Similar to other ailing governors, aides and protocol men are having a busy time deflating rumours of the governor’s deteriorating health. The pace of development has been reduced to snail’s pace as the Deputy Governor, Efiok Cobham like his counterpart in Enugu state, Sunday Onyebuchi, cannot approve more than N500, 000 for any project regardless of how pressing it is, rather attention has now been channelled to hoodwink the people of the state.
Governor Patrick Yakowa, Kaduna State
The Governor met his untimely death on his way to Port Harcourt from Bayelsa after he attended the funeral of late Mr Tamunoobebara Douglas, the father of the Presidential adviser on Research,Documentation and Strategy, Mr Oronto Douglas when the Nigerian Navy Augusta 109 helicopter conveying himself, the erstwhile National Security Adviser, General Owoye Azazi and four others, burst into flames and crashed at Okoroba village in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
They were said to have been badly burnt and only identified by the shreds of their clothes.
Yakowa has since been buried and Kaduna state has moved on with the swearing in of his deputy Mukhtar Yero as the new governor and former Peoples Democratic Party chairman in the state, Mr. Nuhu Bajoga, his deputy.
Dambaba Danfulani Suntai, Taraba State Governor
Very little has been heard of Governor Dambaba Suntai since the self-inflicted head injuries he sustained after his Cessna 208 private jet piloted by him in company of five of his aides, crashed on October 25 in Yola, capital of Adamawa State.
He initially received treatment at the Abuja National Hospital before he was eventually flown to Germany for “proper medical attention”.
A presidential delegation led by Senate President David Mark embarked on a clandestine journey to see the governor on his sick bed in Germany en route their official destination of the Vatican City to witness the consecration of Archbishop John Onaiyekan as Cardinal of the Catholic Church, disclosed that apart from the fact that he is bedridden, he could not recognize members of the delegation.
The silence on Governor Suntai’s health status is considered by many as a scheme to delay the swearing in of the deputy governor as the substantive governor despite prove beyond reasonable doubt that Suntai might not be able to fully recover from the crash to govern Taraba again.
In similar manner to the propaganda by other state governors on ‘vacation,’ the deceit and lies by media aides to the governor continued unabated without recourse to his prolonged absence from the country, This has stalled governance in Taraba as there was no official handover to his deputy to take charge of day-to-day administration of the state.
The polity of the affected states have being heated unnecessarily as a result of prolonged absence of these governors fuelled by persistent denials by their aides who are not bothered that the people they govern deserve to know the whereabouts and medical condition of their Governors.
It would be safe to conclude that a lot of them were aware of their fragile health conditions before aspiring for political office which they thereafter shielded and employed state resources to keep going. These Governors, like every other human being, can succumb to illness but it is the secrecy that it is shrouded in, the leadership vacuum created and the attendant dislocation in the workings of government when they periodically break down that is a source of worry.
theophilus@ilevbare.com
blog: http://ilevbare.com
Twitter: @tilevbare.

Financial expert,. Reviews the Nigerian Economy in 2012

Financial Expert, John Okoronkwo, Reviews The Nigerian Economy In 2012

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This short piece is primarily intended to review the performance of the Nigerian economy in 2012. This discourse will try to examine government economic policies and its impact on the lives of the ordinary Nigerians. The inflationary rate and its impact on the economy, the budget, unemployment, monetary policies, fiscal dominance, foreign economic linkages, infrastructure and local economic stimulus will be among other subjects under review.
Our economy in 2012 could be seen as stable as no major economic incident was witnessed in comparison with the year before. Growth has continued to be largely nominal with little or no impact on development indices. Government’s economic policies have again failed to drive the needed growth in the real sector as access to funds has been fraught with unfavourably high interest rates and cost of production witnessed an upward trend. The CBN MPR has been maintained within the bandwidth of 12% in line with the government’s policy on liquidity tightening. The CBN within the year tilted towards inflationary control at the expense of lowering cost of funds for real sector development.
The banking sub-sector within the year did not grow their loan assets to such a level that will provide the much needed lifeline to the real sector. This was not unexpected as banks were still recovering from the tumultuous loan losses and write-offs from previous years. Bank’s profits are gradually picking up again after the clean up of ‘loan dirts’ by AMCON. Last year also witnessed further consolidation of the Nigerian banking sector through record-breaking business combinations and acquisition by different banks which led to severe job losses. Licenses of some banks were also withdrawn and bridge banks created to replace them. It is a well known fact that the banking sector has continued to be one of the largest employers of labour in Nigeria. However, the employment rate within these financial institutions have witnessed a sharp drop when compared to the pre-financial crisis era. The cost of borrowing within the year averaged at about 20%.
Fiscal dominance within the year continued to increase as the large size of government posed a serious risk to the economy as huge funds which should have been funnelled into the real economy were rather expended in running the government. This huge government expenses is bleeding this economy. The business of government seems to be the only viable sector everyone is struggling to play in. The burden of government needs to be lifted off this economy if we are to make meaningful progress in 2013. Another critical area in 2012 was fiscal deficit financing. Funding of government’s deficit last year caused a slight crowding-out effect in the market. Increased government borrowing heated up the cost of funds in the market.
The oil sector within the year continued its dominance of the economy as last year’s budget was largely hinged on inflow of petro-dollars. Nigeria supplies 2.7% of the world oil needs. The subsidy $8 billion scam was a burning issue within the polity this year. Government has been accused of conspiracy and complications bordering on management of the oil subsidy in the country. The increase of local petrol price to NGN97/litre also affected the economy as several labour unions participated in a week long strike which shut down the economy for this period and increased the inflationary pressure slightly. The CBN was able to control inflationary pressure from going viral as the year ended at 12.3% though a single digit rate is anticipated as government continues its monetary tightening policies.
Job generation within the economy was not as impressive as earlier anticipated which could be largely linked to non- vibrancy of the real sector. Job additions were impaired also due to the widespread insecurity posed by the dreaded Boko Haram sect especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. Poverty within this geographical zone of Nigeria seems to have worsened as many businesses have been forced out of business due to the carnage witnessed within the period under review. 2013 could see the North completely being shut out if concerted efforts are not intensified by government.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) suffered a major setback within the year due to widespread insecurity and somewhat inconsistencies in government policy decisions. Foreign investors have been discouraged to invest despite the green potentials of our economy. The telecommunication giants have suffered sustained attacks on their critical infrastructure up North. However, there has been a slight inflow of foreign investment in the money market due to the attractiveness of government debt instruments.
The economy growth last year hovered around 5 to 6 percent. This growth many Economists have argued, was nominal without being inclusive to improve the living conditions of the ordinary Nigerians. From my observation, growth this year has happened within the top echelon of the society and we saw the shutting out of the middle class and the lower class. The rich seem to be growing even richer and the poor, poorer. Banning of motorcycle transport by most State governments within the year 2012 further worsened the situation.
We expect government to take very clear and deliberate steps in re-directing policies towards improving the lives of the real Nigerians -those below the middle-class.
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John Okoronkwo
Twitter Handle: @okoronkwoo
John Okoronkwo
Mobile: +234-806-896-2067
Email: john.okoronkwo2@yahoo.com

The courage to be reasonable

The courage to be reasonable (#NewLeadership Series by Chude Jideonwo)

There is something that has happened over the past few years, and it shouldn’t be a surprise.

To many unfortunately, especially those in government, the concept seems too simple that they cannot wrap their minds around it – Nigerians are angry.

That is one fact. There is another fact: that anger did not begin yesterday, or under President Jonathan’s government, though it has certainly fanned the flames with its lack of direction.

Let me explain: Democracy is loud and lavish, and in its atmosphere of relatively unrestrained freedom, it is difficult for any such ‘lucky’ society to even imagine the darkness and misery that defined our lives before Abdulsalami Abubakar handed power over. But those times existed, and Nigerians learnt then that nothing good comes from government. Worse than that, Nigerians concluded that the military governments that had brought this hopelessness upon us would never leave – and so we settled in, and got used to it.

Fortunately, democracy arrived – popular governance came, and people allowed themselves to hope again. And Nigerians began to expect much from their democracy.

To cut a long lament short, it is more than 10 years since then, and those hopes have been dashed – again and again, and again.

The result is what we have now: a citizenry that thrives on the fertilizer of despondency. From the Benin-Ore Expressway to the oil subsidy removal shadiness, Nigerians look at democracy as an atmosphere, if you will, that has provided the fertile ground for the corrupt and the selfish to thrive unfettered, milking the nation and its people till they have nothing else to give.

Hence, the young people are angry. People are angry on reflex. The nation now hosts a thriving industry of anger.

Every single move made by anyone of note or any news item about our country these days riles up the anger. We get angry when we discover that the richest black woman in the world is a Nigerian, we get angry when we discover that the Federal Government has decided to appoint Nuhu Ribadu to help unravel the rot in the oil industry and he accepted to serve, we get angry because Aliko Dangote opened a new cement factory, we get angry because he seeks to provide gainful employment to Nigerian graduates by way of a driver’s academy, we get angry because a pastor invested in quality education, we get angry when we hear Olusegun Obasanjo is an election monitor in Ghana, we get enraged when we hear that a musician earns an honest income by accepting a booking to perform at a government event!

The Nigerian civic space is at present defined by an atmosphere of distrust, cynicism, and visceral frustration, unbridled rage.

This industry of rage is amplified in an age of social media – where everyone with the capacity for ‘noise’ and a Twitter handle is able to simulate enough anger and get enough Nigerians to join him/her in crying ‘burn them’.

Many Nigerian youth have now officially given up on their own country; believing that no one cares for it, and so they shouldn’t; resigned to watching Nigeria as a series of unfortunate events.

This industry of anger produced the rejoicing on the news that a Navy Helicopter carrying former national security advisor, General Patrick Azazi and governor of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa had exploded and then crashed in the creeks of the Niger Delta. This industry has produced a lack of sympathy for an 82-year-old woman in retirement who was kidnapped from her home because her daughter is the country’s minister of finance, and people who react with a snort when President Jonathan reveals that his mother, in a heartbreaking case of infant mortality, lost eight of her children.

The debate has coarsened. Nigerians no longer have a conversation. The unintelligent and unreasonable have taken over the debate, forcefully driving the terms and eventually everybody along with it into an abyss.

As I have said, this is understandable – unfortunately, it can also be useless.

As history has taught us, even recent history everywhere from the ongoing Egyptian democratic experiment to the endless Democratic-Republican wars in the United States of America, anger is a trigger, but it is not a builder. After all is said and done, after wars are fought and lost, buildings attacked and burnt, people maimed and killed, societies are built (and rebuilt) on the basis of reason.

The Christian Bible speaks of anger that leads to sin and the more I think of it, the more I understand. Anger can’t be an end in itself, it shouldn’t even be a means to an end; it should be only the start of a process towards an end.

Even worse, because we have enough people willing to exploit this anger for no reason but personal aggrandizement, people whose anger can be false, and whose passions can be bogus, it becomes important, even crucial, as my friend the singer Omawumi will say, that as we dey cry, make we dey see road.

The task ahead now, especially for a new generation that wants to achieve results different from those achieved by the Biafra generation or the June 12 generation, is to learn to channel anger into results, the same way a man must channel his sweat into output.

The most important step in doing this is to revamp the way we engage; and the way we define the ongoing national conversation.

It is, for instance, a tragedy that former legislators and ministers who left office under a cloud of questions (and disgrace) find it easy to rehabilitate their images simply by displaying enough public anger at the government of the day – until they get back in.

This is because the best way to be seen as principled and “progressive” in our society now – again understandably given our history of government failure – comes from denouncing everything, everybody, everywhere. Every flag towards reason or balance in our new environment is seen as “selling out”, a broad unproductive term that stifles discourse, delegitimises dissent, and strangles common-sense.

It requires boldness in the Nigeria we now live in to move against this terrible tide, but we have to.

We have to resist those who refuse to be reasonable and constructive, or who are satisfied with the pulpit to grandstand, to say enough is enough to those amongst us who wish to limit our capacity to influence and to construct.

A new generation of young leaders everywhere from the private sector to civil society must find the boldness to resist this fruitless trend. This will involve dis-incentivising loud chest-thumping and meaningless battles. It will also mean standing the risk of staying away from what is popular.

As we have learnt, what is popular has not been able to help our country. If it did, we would not be here.

So we have to be pro-active. If someone says something outlandish, we should confront that person and the issues. We stand a real danger of allowing our values, our issues, and our collective voice be defined by those who want to burn down the world. Yes, the present cadre of representatives in government are not the ideal, but neither is the apposite that we find at present.

We must not run from the frying pan, and into the fire.

There has to be a third way. It is entirely possible to have a conversation about issues in a constructive fashion. It is not immediately rewarding, and not instantly gratifying – but as anyone who has created anything knows, building takes time. It requires grit, it requires direction, and it demands commitment.

That is the next stage of our engagement with the only country we have. Because it will also not be enough to withstand the tide of the destructive, but we will also need to evolve a plan to be constructive, as I will outline over the next few weeks.

As the calm and competent Hillary Clinton sagely said, to the loud and angry John Edwards at the Democratic debate in Iowa in 2008: “You don’t get change by demanding it, you don’t get change by hoping for it; you get change by working towards it.”

Another friend, Aziza Uko has told me, “Young Nigeria will end up staring into the abyss and all the abyss can do is stare back,” and this should worry any thinking Nigeria.

A new generation of young leaders who are terribly worried about our country and feel a burden to actually make a difference away from empty clichés and patriotism have an urgent duty: we will have to differentiate between those who want to build and those who want to burn down. We will have to join the builders.

*Jideonwo is editor-in-chief of Y!, including Y! Magazine, Y! TV & YNaija.com. NewLeadership is a twice-weekly, 12-week project to inspire action from a new generation of leaders – it ends on March 31.

What nigerans want from jonathan in 2013

OPINION: What Nigerians want from Jonathan in 2013
Dear Mr. President,
I wish you and your family, fellow Nigerians, and my readers at home and abroad a Happy New Year.
It is heartening to note that you have reflected on public perception of your administration in the last 18 months. But if “slow” speed is all you thought the public perceived, it is either you did not fully understand the people or you did not listen hard enough. Your administration’s public scorecard during the period also included uncomplimentary descriptors, such as “inept”, “corrupt”, and “fail”, to name a few.
Your explanation for slow speed is also deemed unsatisfactory. “We need to think through things properly”, you said, “if we are to make lasting impact.” What about “short-term” impact, such as fixing bad roads, equipping and staffing schools, and fixing numerous vexing problems with Murtala Muhammed International Airport? If the last 18 months were spent on thinking through the much publicised “transformation agenda”, what stops the conclusion that the agenda was not properly conceived in the first place?
The citizens are also concerned that you have wasted the time, energy, and brains of many well-meaning Nigerians who assisted you in “thinking”, by serving on various committees and probes whose recommendations you have sidelined or totally ignored. As a result, many high profile culprits named in the reports have yet to be apprehended.
There are resources for improvement at your disposal. However, time is running out. Looking down the calendar through May 29, 2015, it would appear that 2013 is about the only year left for you to make things happen. Much of 2014 and the first half of 2015 will be taken over by presidential electoral politics, which would make you a lame duck president. Your focus on governance would be further diminished if you decide to run for a second term, but that’s a matter for another day. President Barack Obama of the United States realised this dilemma quite early. That’s why most of his major first-term achievements, including health care reform, were accomplished within the first 18 months, the same amount of time your administration has spent “thinking”.
In order to move Nigeria forward, an important message is being delivered to you today on behalf of fellow Nigerians. It is a two-part message, containing a list of complaints during the past year and a list of the remedies for 2013.
As their messenger, I am struck by their desperation, especially those among them who have no voice. They are genuinely concerned about their own well-being and about Nigeria’s future. Some of them have no jobs. Some have no place to sleep. Some have no food to eat. Some are sick and have no idea how they could receive or afford appropriate medical treatment. Some lost their breadwinners to accidents on bad highways or unregulated air traffic; some to floods or pipeline explosions; and others to armed robbers or terrorists. Even those who could afford a roof on their head and food on the table often have neither water nor power supply. Many of them have stagnated for years because of rising food, housing, and fuel costs and prohibitive bank loan interests.
If everyone in the country were in their situation, they probably would have resigned to their fate. But they see the top one per cent live in sumptuous luxury, while about 70 per cent live in squalour. The erstwhile middle class between the have-too-much and the have-nots has become the shrinking “struggling” class. Most of its members ride tokunbo cars, make do with low-voltage generators to power their appliances, and struggle to give their children the best education they can afford. They live from pay check to pay check, while members of the top one per cent, which largely feed fat on the state, jet from one country to another for holiday, birthday celebrations, weddings, medical treatment, or to visit their children in various schools abroad.
The complaints by fellow Nigerians, echoed in various columns and editorials in 2012, fall into seven categories, namely, national, personal, and property insecurity; food insecurity; poor infrastructure; inadequate schools and hospitals; mass youth unemployment; escalating corruption; and poor governance owing to weak leadership. It is not the case that your administration has not made advances in some of these areas. However, such advances are still dwarfed by the deficits that remain.
These deficits are not peculiar to Nigeria. What is peculiar is their increasing intensity and co-presence under your administration. Yet, more than many other nations, Nigeria has enough natural and human resources to avoid these problems in the first place, or to at least overcome them. That’s why poor leadership and escalating corruption top the list of citizens’ complaints, because they are viewed as the root of the other deficits. Nigerians are worried that the convergence of weak leadership and corruption in your administration will make it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve meaningful change.
Nevertheless, change is not impossible. There are many leaders like you who inherited worse situations and still made a significant impact. However, there is a noticeable distance in political will and passion for positive change between you and such leaders. They also do not indulge in the extravagant waste of public funds that has come to characterise your administration. They do not condone corruption and they are quick to combat threats to national security and stability. They often act decisively and they do not say what they don’t mean.
Nigerians are not mumu. They know when they are being deceived. They know you have made far more promises than you could possibly keep. However, they cannot understand why you have not kept any of them satisfactorily. That’s why they don’t want you to make further promises.
Instead, they want you to fulfil at least four of the numerous promises you have made. First, curb corruption, especially in high places. Start with the reduction of aircraft in the presidential fleet from 10 to five. Do not build a new banqueting hall or a new VP lodge. Make all culprits of the fuel subsidy, pension scheme, and the Security Exchange scams return all ill-gotten funds. And then tell the nation how much extra money we made from all the crude oil we sold above the budgeted barrel price in 2012 and how it has been, or will be, spent.
Second, provide adequate power supply in order to save money on generators, which could then be spent on other sectors of the economy. It will also help manufacturing industries, small businesses, hotels, and other investors to thrive. These are the institutions that create private sector jobs, not the government.
Third, improve on infrastructural facilities. Building roads and bridges, rail lines, airports, and parks do not only ease transport and leisure; they also create jobs. At the height of the economic recession in the United States in 2008, such projects formed the core of Obama’s Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
Finally, ensure food security by investing in sustainable agricultural projects rather than one-off cosmetic programmes, such as fertiliser supply. There are lessons to learn from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Malaysia in this area.
It will help to reshuffle your cabinet to include appropriate professionals and technocrats who can help you in these areas. The time to act is now. Happy New Year!
- by Niyi Akinnaso
Read original article via Punch

The cost of collateral damages

OPINION: The Cost of Collateral Damages - Tobby Adebiyi@ralph_d001

As the year rolls to an end, its time to take stock of what 2012 have offered us as individuals and as a nation. For Nigeria, the loss far outweighs the gains as it is almost impossible to point out any tangible accomplishment of the Jonathan administration in the last 12 months.

Top on the list of losses would be the innocent souls that was lost to the menace of Boko Haram. The chief of army staff Lt Gen AZUBIUKE IHERIRIKA Puts the number of people lost to the Boko Haram menace at 3000. 3000 destiny destroyed, 3000 families put into sorrow , 3000 lives wasted as a result circumstances that they are not actors in. They were just casualties.They were collateral damages.

Collateral damage is damage to things that are incidental to the intended target.

One of the oldest case of collateral damages was recorded in the bible and it was the story of job. Job as recorded in the bible was a man that was perfect and upright, feared God and eschew evil and he was the wealthiest man in the east until the heavenly politics between God and Satan set in to upturn his life. Job lost all his possessions including his sons, daughters and servants. Job’s household was the collateral damages in his travails

The Nigerian civil war recorded approximately 3million people dead because Gowon and Ojukwu could not get there acts together. 3 million people died because of the aspiration of a few. These are the casualties of war, the pawns in the game of life.

The rift between former president Olusegun Obasanjo and Senator Jim Nwobodo which lead to the closure of savannah bank is a good example to illustrate the proverb ‘when two elephant fights, its the grass that suffers”. Staffers of the then savannah bank left work Friday only to be told that their source of livelihood has been terminated on Monday. The hardship most of the staffers family experienced can only be imagined.

The politics of the high and mighty do affect the lives of the poor and lowly and the rod of the wicked most times do rest upon the lot of the righteous.

My late mom used to say a prayer in her native yoruba language ” eniti ibi ma kan to ma kan wa, ti olorun ma je ki ibi kan” for those that dont understand yoruba, it simply means ” whosoever evil will befall and we would be affected may God not allow such evil befall them. The assassination of juvenal Habyarimana and cyprien Ntaryamira presidents of Rwanda and Burundi respectively on april 6 1994 served as the catalyst for the rwanda genocide which lead to the murder of over 500,000 tutsi in 100 days. so we should not stop praying for our leaders because their actions or inactions will definitely affect us the followers lest we become casualties in their game for rulership.

Prayer alone isn’t enough, we must demand accountability, good ethical practices, efficiency, performance and good governance from our leaders.

My prayer as we enter the new year is, may we not be collateral damages in the politics played by the high and mighty.

- Tobby Adebiyi

Follow on twitter @ralph_d00