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Pendulum: Are Nigerian Youths Truly Ready to Run or Just Ranting?

Published

6 years ago

September 7, 2018

Eric

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, let me start on a personal note today by repeating a story you are probably familiar with. Anyone who has followed my trajectory a bit would have heard this story for the umpteenth time. I moved to Lagos from the ancient city of Ile-Ife in 1988 at the age of 28. I had spent most of my adult life in the historic township but suddenly reached a dead end when I could not even find a job of a teacher, with a Master’s degree in Literature-in-English. All my friends had something to do except me. It wasn’t that I was dull or lazy, but there was embargo on appointments and promotions in higher institutions at the time.

Let’s now fast forward. I started writing articles at the behest of my best friend, Prince Adedamola Aderemi, who was teaching Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University and my pieces soon ignited fire in the Sunday Tribune and The Guardian and I became known here and there. Due to joblessness, I was advised to try my luck elsewhere in Ibadan or Lagos. My preference was to work at The Guardian newspapers, but I couldn’t secure a job at Rutam House. I was then introduced by my late friend, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo to the Editor of African Concord magazine, Lewis Obi, who agreed to employ me instantly. But this is not the main story. The meat of it is that I was reluctant to work at Concord Group, which was owned by Chief Moshood Abiola. And my grouse was based totally on unsubstantiated stereotyping and false stories that ignited raw sentiment and foolish emotion in me.

Chief Abiola had been demonised by several powerful forces. His major offence was his opposition to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Presidential ambition in 1979, and the role played by the Concord media conglomerate in not supporting a man who was practically deified in Yorubaland. Abiola was thus seen to have committed heresy and had to be nailed to the cross. But by far the most potent and lethal attack came from the one and only irrepressible Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who produced and released a monster hit, International Thief Thief, in which he called Chief Abiola all manner of unprintable names. I still don’t have details of what led to their skirmishes. Of course, as a Fela devotee, we never saw anything good in Abiola thereafter, and we blocked our minds to ever liking a man who we were told was an oppressor, a religious fanatic and a looter of Nigeria’s wealth. We never bothered to crosscheck the facts or fiction but we believed everything hook, line and sinker. Truth was I secretly admired the man and wished I could be like him but hearsay made us dislike him. It was hunger that saved me from hating a man I did not know.

The first lesson I learnt was that hunger does not discriminate. There is a Yoruba saying that “when you are hungry enough, you will accept food from your enemy.” I was too hungry for a job to have a choice, so I accepted the Concord offer most reluctantly but with automatic alacrity. The second lesson came after I resumed work at Concord. Contrary to the rumour that Chief Abiola was a religious bigot, I discovered that he was too liberal to force his faith on anyone or group. He was totally detribalised and gave everyone his due. The closer I got to him, the more I gained insight into one of the greatest Nigerians that ever lived. I became a fan, and later his adopted son. I decided to join hands with others to rescue his battered reputation which were actually firmly rooted on the altar of politics and personal squabbles. It was such an uphill task because negative perception is often most difficult to change. But I thank God for the uncommon opportunity to come close to Chief Abiola, a rare privilege that made it possible for me to purge my mind and soul of acquired and accumulated bile.

Since then, I have remained on the side of caution and tolerance. Journalism has also taught me to mellow down my temperament in dealing with people. I have imbibed the legal aphorisms that you must always listen to the other side and that a man is innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, I have been able to differentiate between my routine job and my personal opinion. I realised that many journalists have failed, and still failing spectacularly, because they could not distinguish between the business of journalism and their personal sentiments. For example, journalists are seen and expected to be the lamb of God who take away the sins of the world while all other professions and careers are at liberty to do business with everyone, including saints and sinners. The fact that Thisday or Punch newspapers report government activities daily or transact business with different governments does not mean they can’t write opinions and editorials against the same government they had promoted or projected, if and when the government is misbehaving. It is the height of illiteracy, and hypocrisy, to treat the people you criticise as enemies and vice versa. The very essence of freedom of speech and democracy is to speak to power as a corrective measure and not as vendetta. Thereafter, you must let the music play on.

My major baptism of fire came after Ovation International agreed to cover the weddings of General Sani Abacha’s daughters, Zainab and Gumsu, in Kano. Many people queried why I would attend the event of a family that nearly ruined my family and many others. I was expected to remain eternally bitter and vengeful and not many realised that I had a job to do, dispassionately, and that vengeance belonged to God. On a lighter and positive note, the Abacha government did me a favour by forcing me out of Nigeria. Ovation would never have been born if I was not in exile. Such is life. Yet someone said Ovation must die for committing such hara-kiri by attending the wedding that was covered by virtually all media organisations in Nigeria. I have great news for you. Despite the blistering attacks, Ovation did not just survive, we sold out completely. Both friends and enemies of the Abacha family wanted to see the content of that special edition that warranted and attracted such fatwa. The ways of God are not the ways of Man.

Later as I came across several books and articles on the life of The Madiba, Nelson Mandela, I could not imagine how a man who spent 27 years in prison could come out of jail, become President and yet display such unprecedented magnanimity by eschewing every act of vindictiveness and vengeance. I was so touched and realised the true worth of a Christian life is that he must forgive his enemies seventy times seven times, according to the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ. The main lesson I wish to draw our attention to is that being bitter, oftentimes, is a waste of time and energy. Many things can be achieved through passive resistance and gentle persuasion.

The aggression and anger I see all around today is the main reason for this epistle and sermon. Many of our youths have lost it. The only form of expression they love and enjoy is to hide behind computers and smartphones to launch unbelievable attacks on people they see as their enemies. It does not matter if they lack any iota of proof or evidence, everyone, every politician, every successful man, even if he has never served in government or received contract awards, every journalist who cannot practise kill-and-go type of journalism is their enemy. Every interview or report on someone they don’t like, and don’t want to read about, attracts verbal and written assaults. Logic has been thrown to the dogs. Too many incoherent analyses have taken over. Many are experts in every topic or subject. Suddenly, the elders know nothing, but the kids know everything. This development should be worrisome to all right-thinking people. Cyber-thuggery has virtually and finally taken over.

The new trend is that politicians no longer campaign with facts about their performance. Their efficacious strategy is to set the proletariat against the privilegentsia, by telling the poor that the rich is the reason they are impoverished. People have been so brainwashed that many have stopped aspiring to greatness because of this glamorisation of poverty. Gone are the days when leaders promoted prosperity and downplayed penury but today politicians gloat about how they have succeeded in killing the businesses of corrupt people with the attendant collateral damages to millions of dependants and the nation. In branding, whatever you emphasise about yourself repeatedly is what would be remembered about you subsequently. Yet government is not able to provide alternative means of livelihood to those multitude of paupers roaming the streets. Government may win elections using this crude methodology but the country will ultimately lose the battle to terrorism and self-immolating violence.The young men and women who assist government in perpetuating this parody are merely doing themselves a great disservice. The jobs, and the good life they desperately crave will never come when the economy ultimately collapses on all due to unguarded utterances. I’m yet to see any country that deliberately de-markets, and unrepentantly scandalises, itself like Nigeria.

Our youths who have been moaning that they are “not too young to rule” would rather dissipate energy and resources on wars of attrition instead of working hard on how to take power from the ancient leaders they’ve always grumbled about. The enemies of the youths are the youths themselves. The old people have mastered how to keep them manacled and enslaved perpetually. The youths would never support any of their own. When you aspire to the highest office, the same youths would say you are too young and inexperienced. If you plead for donations, they would ask why you want to contest when you have no money of yours or even ask you to pay for their support. If you ask the youths to step down for one of their strongest aspirants, they would refuse even if they already signed a memo of understanding to agree on a consensus candidate. If you ask them to follow a young man who has sufficient experience and exposure to modern ways of running a democratic government, they will tell you he is a rogue and looter (the most abused word in the Nigerian lexicon) and cannot be trusted with power, as if nations are governed by saints and not by performers. When you lose election, the same youths will tease you endlessly about how many votes you got, as if that would improve their lives. There is nothing you can do or try that would please the generality of our youths. It is like we have been completely hypnotised and mesmerised and sentenced to eternal servitude. Or could it be a curse?

Nigeria parades some of the most brilliant youths on earth but we have not been able to propel one to the highest office like America did for a first generation American, who was in his early forties, Barack Obama. From what I foresee, in the near future, Nigerian youths are neither ready nor prepared to grab the mantle of leadership from the geriatric generation they claim to loathe but obviously love and support, blindly or inadvertently.

Really tragic.

AT HOME WITH THE GOVERNOR OF NAIROBI MIKE SONKO

I was honoured to be invited to the country home of the Governor of Nairobi, Hon. Mike Sonko. The occasion was the third memorial service for his beloved dad, Mr Gideon Kioko Kivanguli (1949-2015). I was privileged to lay the wreath at a special mausoleum constructed for the great man.

I’ve been in Kenya countless times and have met several politicians, including the Vice President, Mr William Ruto (born December 21, 1966). I’m yet to meet the the two term President, Mr Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, a businessman, and son of Kenya’s first President, Pa Jomo Kenyatta, who was born on October 26, 1961. I’m older than both of them. No matter my experience or exposure and personal success in my chosen career, it would be difficult, if not near impossible, to attain such spectacular feats in my dear country Nigeria. Kenyans did not vote for them, twice, because they thought they were saints from heaven. Kenyans voted because they represent the future they envisage for their country. As a matter of fact, both leaders attracted so much controversies before attaining power, but they managed to weather the storm. You must salute their wisdom in reaching out to the Opposition and healing their divided nation.

As for the Governor of Nairobi, he was born on February 27, 1975, a year before I wrote my WAEC examination. He was also a businessman before he ventured into politics. He controls the Kenya’s largest city, a megacity like Lagos State in Nigeria. His popularity is unbelievable. He loves Nigeria very dearly and hopes to tap into the boundless energy and the never-say-die spirit of Nigerians. I was touched by his respect and kind and generous words for Nigeria, and Lagos city in particular. He told me he has heard so much about the ongoing beautification in Lagos and he looks forward to linking up with his counterpart, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in the near future.

I met several other young politicians in the course of my visit this week, and it was such an eye opener. I’m hoping that our own youths would end their complacency and take the bull by the horns.

It is not impossible…

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Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Prioritize Existing Unfinished Projects, Peter Obi Tells FG

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

Eric

Mr. Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has advised the federal government to prioritize existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.

The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.

Obi therefore, advised that the government prioritize the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.

“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.

So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?

“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.

“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritization of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.

“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.

Back in March, the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.

Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had earlier described the project as a fraud.

“Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit,” Atiku said.

Headline

2027 Presidential Race: Opposition Parties Under Attack

Published

4 days ago

April 21, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

While it is still a whole three years before the next general election in 2027, The Boss has learnt that opposition parties in the countries are being muffled to pave the way for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to, and retain power.

From the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the Labour Party (LP), and down to the New Nigerian Peoples Paty (NNPP), crises have engulfed the rank and files, in what a source told this paper was the attempt and making of the ruling party, APC, to decimate, destabilize and make redundant the machineries of the opposition parties.

It is believed that by 2027, the apparatuses holding together the various opposition parties would have weakened irredeemably to the extent the country would seemingly nosedive into the inglorious one party state that every civil right advocate and democrats abhor.

It is alleged that all the crises in all the opposition parties are being engineered by the President Bola Tinubu-led ruling APC, with the hope of getting the fibres of their system weakened, thereby luring the members of the crisis-ridden parties into the APC.

Slightly one year after the last presidential election, the two major opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have separately been embroiled in a crisis of confidence which has diminished their capacity to provide viable opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The crises in both opposition parties got to a head. The Labour Party led by its national chairman Julius Abure held its much-opposed national convention which was boycotted by its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi; its only governor, Alex Otti of Abia State; federal and state lawmakers elected on its platform, and the organised Labour.

In the Labour Labour, members have been embroiled in endless battle of supremacy with a faction led by Mr. Apapa steadily contesting the leadership of Julius Abure.

Consequently, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections, Mr. Peter Obi, reverence as a leader in the fold, noting that whatever the party faces presently, that Nigeria’s problems are far bigger than the crises in his party.

The LP has been embroiled in crises — ranging from allegations of misappropriation of funds, and leadership tussle, to calls for the resignation of the party’s national chairman.

TheCable reported that “On March 27, the LP conducted a national convention in Anambra state where Julius Abure was re-elected as its national chairman.

Obi did not attend the convention, fuelling speculations that he may be mulling over ditching the LP for another platform.

Speaking during an appearance on HaveYourSay247, an interactive online session hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo over the weekend, Obi said he is confident that the crises rocking the LP will soon be resolved amicably.

“Whatever is happening in the Labour Party is so minute compared to what is happening in the country,” Obi said.

“So, for me, it is something we will resolve amicably, and it is not anything to worry about. Let us worry about the country.

“Let us worry about how the average Nigerian would be able to have a means of livelihood to be able to eat, that should be our worry.”

Obi said he has no interest in being the party’s leader but only to make sure things are done properly.

“I don’t see what I do in politics as being the leader of any place or not. My position is that just like I always say, I am not desperate to be president of Nigeria, I am desperate to see Nigeria work because I know it can work,” he added.

“We have a more desperate situation. Parties are just a means to be able to contest elections. What is important is that being a leader of a party does not reduce the price of food.

In the PDP, the shenanigans of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike, has practically kept the party in constant crisis with many observers concluding that the now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is working for the APC, and is just a mole in the PDP. Wike has denied the allegation, however,

But news filtered in last week as that the immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NEC meeting on Thursday was not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

While political stakeholders concluded that the outcome of the Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan; every page of what finally transpired at the meeting pointed to the fact.

The much touted removal of the party chairman, who is believed to be a crony of the Abuja minister, Damagum, retained his seat, with his executives.

“It is very clear to everyone that a lot of money politics is being played to cajole many loyal members of the party, forcing them into frustration, and eventually it of the party. The option afterwards, will be the APC. This, will for all intent and purpose actualize the intended one party state as an APC agenda.

The Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso-led NNPP is not faring better either. The only governor under their ticket, Abba Kabir Yusuf, just had the confidence of their party on him withdrawn. He was fighting for his political life until suddenly it was announced the the APC in Kano has collapsed its structure into the NNPP.

“This is just another APC strategy to actualize their hidden intentions. Time will reveal the very sinister agenda they harboring,” an analyst said.

Much as 2027 is still three years away, but intrigues are in play to render Nigeria a one party state, and perpetuate the APC in power. The three other opposition parties are basically under attack to bring to pass this unpopular agenda.

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Akwa Ibom Government, Governor Umo Eno Receive Top Honors at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos

Published

4 days ago

April 21, 2024

Admin

The Akwa Ibom State Government and Governor Pastor Umo Eno were recognized with Travellers Awards at the 10th Wonders of the World Expo in Lagos for their sustained enhancement of infrastructure, support for local talent, and dedication to investment in the tourism sector. The ceremony took place at the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos.

While Akwa Ibom won the Most Active Tourism State of the Year, Governor Eno was adjudged the most Tourism-Friendly Governor of the Year at the event that had Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade John in attendance.

According to Amb. Ikechi Uko, Founder/Publisher of ATQ Magazine, the organizers of the event which is in its tenth edition, Akwa Ibom State won the top prize “in recognition of its valiant and resourceful efforts to drive and sustain domestic tourism by promoting the industry.

‘In 2023, Akwa Ibom was one of the states that hosted World Tourism Day (WTD ) events. The state also organized the famous Christmas Unplugged, which featured music, food, and cultures from all 31 LGAs as well as ensured friendly policies.”

While hoping that the Travellers Awards would spur Akwa Ibom to do more to dominate the domestic tourism industry, the organizers hoped that the state would gradually evolve into one of Nigeria’s top international tourism destinations.

That was not all, the state Commissioner of Culture and Tourism, Sir Charles Udoh was also recognized as one of the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria for demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation in the travel and tourism industry, while other Akwa Ibom indigenes and entity were also celebrated: Mrs. Ime Udo, Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor( Tourism) won Tourism Promoter of the Year, Favour Udo won Tourism Photographer of the Year, Loretta Effiong and Prince Uduak Sunday (Qua Tours) were listed among the Tourism Personalities of the Year and Ibom Air won Airline of the Year International.

In his remarks, Sir Charles Udoh, who represented the Governor at the event, thanked the organizers for the awards and noted that Akwa Ibom is certainly enjoying the golden era when it comes to tourism development. He stated that Governor Umo Eno is very keen on making Akwa Ibom a leading tourism destination with his programmes and policies.

He revealed that with the new Victor Attah International Airport nearing completion, the purchase of a ferry for the Oron-Calabar route, new developments along its coastline and the restoration work that will be done at all its major tourism sites, Akwa Ibom is well on the way to becoming the number one destination for all domestic and foreign tourists.

In her speech, Tourism Minister, Mrs. Ade John hailed the organizers for hosting the Expo, where practitioners were lectured by top experts while also rewarding those who have excelled in the past year.

She affirmed that her ministry is open to partnership with public and private sector operators, adding that tourism development can only be successful through collaborative efforts.

The event, which attracted leading and budding tourism professionals, also featured interactive and entertainment sessions.

Apart from Sir Charles Udoh and Mrs. Ime Udo, the Akwa Ibom State delegation, also included: Mr. Michael Effiong James, Senior Special Assistant (Lagos Liaison) to Governor, Mrs. Eme Bassey, Special Assistant to Governor (Lagos Liaison) and Akparawa John Offiong, Deputy Director ( Culture) Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

More photos below: