Jos, The Struggle for Meaning, And the Hypocrisy of Northern Nigerian Political Elites

The crisis

By writing this piece, I will not have endeared myself to some elements within Northern Nigeria. Let me be also clear that I do not seek gratuitous advances from my Non – Muslim friends. I wrote this piece because I do not want to end up like Germans under the Third Reich, men who knew the truth but failed to speak up when it was most necessary against Hitler’s Germany.

By any means, I am not comparing today’s Northern Nigeria with Nazi Germany. Despite its many trouble, Northern Nigeria is a region of diverse peoples with a great heritage. The only comparison stems from the deafening silence of its elites, who have time and again, failed to make a stand against tyranny in their backyard let alone greater Nigeria, It is not enough that you were not involved, evil must be condemned wherever it is found.

Why Northern Nigerian political elites? Unless you are living under a rock, it is evident that Northern Nigerian political elites not only wield political power within the region but in greater Nigeria as well; it is for this reason that their silence in the face of what is clearly crimes against humanity (committed from both sides of the divide) is unacceptable.

It is even more appalling to read otherwise intelligent commentators like Adamu Adamu; hiding under the toga of intellectualism, propagating hate and inciting people to violence. Dr. Abubakar Siddique Mohammed, the Director of the centre for democratic development research and training in Zaria, perhaps one of the finest intellectuals of Northern extraction has warned us against the evil within and why it is necessary for us to proactively nip this in the bud.

There are three narratives going around in Nigeria about the recent Jos debacle. It does not matter as to the genesis of the crisis, what is important though is the response of the political elite. The ones that have spoken, have only done so from an ethnic or religious line.This latest crisis while it started in Jos does not in any way originate from there. The seed of the present crisis was sown many years ago in Jama’a LGA, Minna, Kaduna, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Kano etc.

The Suspicion of The Other

This is a traumatic period to be an African. Africa, that great continent raped by ancient Europeans has equally been repeatedly raped by her own. Hiding under ethnicity and borrowed religion, Africans have inflicted some of the most invidious pain and destruction on themselves.

Two events have shaped my understanding of the persistent conflict in Northern Nigeria. The first of such events occurred in Bauchi sometime in 1993. Christian High School students walked about 20 or so kilometers to the city of Bauchi from Kangere village where my Alma Mata – Government College Bauchi - was located, according to the Christian students upon their return the following day, they were running from an alleged Muslim student’s attack against them. Now, it is important for readers to know that Muslim students on their part did not sleep till the following day believing that the Christian students were planning an attack against them. Apparently, except for Muslim students, the campus was devoid of many final year Christian students that night. I could not remember the role played by the school authorities in all of these but I remember vividly the lack of leadership that was displayed then and continued to be displayed even today. This is a tragic story; Christian students walking 20 or more kilometers in the middle of the night, Muslim students denying themselves of sleep because they were afraid of being attacked. All of this happened because of a mere rumour!

The second event happened in the year 2000 while undergoing the mandatory NYSC in Jos, Plateau state. I had chartered a cab driver to take me to the residence of the late Dr. Muhammadu Zaidu in Bukuru. On our way, the driver engaged me in small talk; he asked me if I was aware that the Beroms were planning an attack against Muslims. I said no, I was not aware of any such thing. In detail, he went ahead and told me how large caches of weapons were discovered in Jos and allegedly they belonged to the Beroms. I told him that I pray the suspects were identified and remanded in prison. During this period, one could also hear from Christian corps members that they heard Muslims were planning an attack against Christians. Again, just like the events in Bauchi seven years earlier, I was afraid that rumour was being peddled on both sides.

Unlike the Government College Bauchi incident which did not result in violence, Jos erupted in 2001 in an orgy of violence unseen before in Plateau state. Sadly, Muslims like Dr. Muhammadu Zaidu paid the ultimate price because of elitist inaction. He was a man that committed himself to service to his community both in Jos and Lafia, there were Christian relatives of his that lived with him in his expansive Bukuru compound and the atmosphere was one of love and respect. In the end, Christians and Muslims alike lost their lives on the Plateau because our political elites were tinkering while Northern Nigeria and greater Nigeria continues to burn. His blood and the blood of other innocent Nigerians, Muslim or Christian will continue to hunt our elected and unelected “leaders” that have benefitted from the present chaos and have refused blatantly to do anything about it.

Given my experience with this issue, I have come to believe that at the core of our problems in Northern Nigeria is what I call - the insidious suspicion of the other – the whole idea that if somebody does not belong to your ethnic or religious group he is actively pursuing your destruction.This idea cuts across both the Muslim and Christian divide.

This ideology festered under the regime of the former despot Ibrahim Babangida; especially as it relates to the way he handled the Jama’a chieftaincy issue back then. This clearly runs contrary to what the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello worked and gave his life for. To Sir Ahmadu Bello, the North is one indivisible region joined by a shared destiny. The beneficiaries of Sir Ahmadu Bello’s forward looking policies did not return the favour; they fragmented the region they inherited along religious and ethnic lines. It is not uncommon today to hear people from some parts of the North reject the fact that they are Northerners, no thanks to the retrogressive policies of recent Northern Nigerian political leadership. In Sardauna’s time, to be a Northerner is not necessarily to be a Hausa or a Fulani Muslim, to him, the geographical space called Northern Nigeria is a collection of diverse peoples with varied religious beliefs that are joined together in brotherhood. That is why a Sunday Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa could have a place in Sardauna’s Northern Nigeria, same as Chief Adesoye of Okin Biscuits who got his start for being part of the old geographical North, same as Joseph Wayas, the former senate president during the second republic, there are countless others who are neither Hausa nor Fulani Muslims.

The Hypocrisy of Northern Nigerian Political Elites

I have mainly focused on northern Nigerian elites because of their political power within the region and Nigeria; they are uniquely positioned to push for meaningful reforms that will stem the tide of these kinds of crisis. In this day and age, why are we still talking about indigene and non indigene (a term that I personally find offensive)? Why don’t we have state and local government police yet? Why are we operating a powerful central government when it is apparent that strong states and local government institutions is what we need? And yet on many of the issues facing the Nigerian state and Northern Nigeria in particular, our alleged leaders have not responded with the kind of alacrity and knowledge that is demanded of them. Sometimes they have been criminally silent.

Recommendations

1. Constitutional reforms that will address the issue of indigene and non indigene should be pursued – it is my hope that it will be decided on the side of residency. The term indigene and non – indigene hopefully will be banned from our political lexicon.

2. The current police structure should be deployed to bring the perpetrators to justice. For as long as the perpetrators are shielded, we leave open the chance of a future occurrence. Anyone, no matter how highly placed, Muslim or Christian should be brought to justice.

3. A truth and reconciliation committee should be commissioned. Northern Nigerians of impeccable characters such as General Muhammadu Buhari and Rev. Fr. Mathew Hassan Kukah should be contacted to lead such a commission.

The author can be reached at abdulajia@yahoo.com

The Trifecta That Will Take Nigeria Back

The Trifecta That Will Take Nigeria Back

Recently, yours truly and two other colleagues with whom I had done some pro democracy work in the past came together to start work on a project on how to reclaim Nigeria back to its rightful owners. Amongst us, you will find a local businessman, an IT administrator and an attorney. What binds us together is not just our resumes but our passion for Nigeria. But this piece is not about us, it is more about the men and women who make up the Trifecta of those who will eventually take Nigeria back. The civil society, the military and paramilitary society and the traditional institutions.

The civil society has being for the most part in the vanguard of promoting democracy in Nigeria. For as long as we can remember, the civil society has being very engaged but it is my opinion that the civil society has been equally unforgiving of those it deemed to have gone astray of its unspoken principles and ideals. It is the intention of this essay to address that malaise and to point out that there is a need to reconcile the different ideologies out there in order to reclaim Nigeria.

For the past several decades, there has been a theory out there that entrenched Nigeria elites are working in concert with one another to keep ordinary Nigerians in perpetual poverty and that in order to reclaim Nigeria, a violent revolution is necessary. Today, I declare that assertion as idle talk! After a careful study of those who have being in government for the last ten years since the return of civil rule in Nigeria, I realized sadly that rather than a team of entrenched powerful elites working together to keep Nigeria in perpetual poverty and bondage, what we have in Nigeria today is a disparate group of people joined together by the need to protect their class interests. Most of the time, their interests are not in sync with one another but they are joined together in greed and insatiable tendencies. Among this group you will find your old friend and school mate who has gone on to become the house of representative member in Abuja, the old ideological sparring partner who has gone on to become the Minister of the Republic or a senior advisor in government. To label all these people as unpatriotic or corrupt is simplifying an otherwise complex issue. To discard them from civil discourse is even more counter productive. What we need is further engagement, those who left the civil society to join government should be engaged and given the opportunity to explain their opinions. We should make them feel comfortable to express their opinions within the civil space. We should accept that while we may differ, we couch our differences in civility. I will give an example; do I think Segun Adeniyi is wasting his time with the Yar’ Adua government? Yes. Do I think he is an enemy of the civil society? No. The fundamental difference in our approach will be engagement versus endless and sometimes needless antagonisms.

Now, the military and the Para military establishment. Long the butt of joke amongst Nigerian civil society. Ironically, today’s Nigerian military and Para military are changing and I must say changing for the better. The emerging leadership within these groups is your former school mate and your former childhood friend, we need to engage them. The civil society alone can not save Nigeria from its present malaise. It took all three (civil, military and traditional) to get Nigeria to where we are today, it will take all three to dig Nigeria out of this hole. But this can only happen if we are working together. There will be some that will question my faith in the new Nigerian military. And they will be right; they can point to the incident last year of an admiral brutalizing a young Nigerian woman. But I insist that, that kind of behavior is not emblematic of the new Nigerian military leadership. I have spoken to several emerging leaders within the military and Para military establishments, there is a re occurring theme that runs through our conversations, these group of men and women cares about Nigeria as deeply as I do, they are passionate about change as I am, the only problem is how do we harness all of our passions together? While recognizing our differences, we ought to be able to work together to bring about the change we seek.

Our traditional institutions; they are the custodian of our traditions, norms, culture and customs. To disparage them in the belief that we are ideologically superior is to continue to be in political wilderness as we presently are. We need to court people who represent the symbols of our traditional institutions, we need to respectfully disagree with them if we find ourselves at different sides of a debate. More importantly because of their position and sometimes their age, we should seek their counsel. Trust me, the custodians of our traditions are also pained to see Nigeria the way it is. But just like the military establishment, they will be ready to partner with the civil society if we present our argument in an inclusive manner.

Now, I want to address the issue of the entrenched elites working in concert to keep Nigeria in perpetual poverty. As I have mentioned earlier, if we agree that most times these supposed entrenched elites are former friends, colleagues or may be even family, perhaps also people who have in the past expressed their dissatisfaction with the way things were in Nigeria prior to joining government, then we should agree that they are not working in concert, that beyond any parochial interests, what binds them together is their continued manipulation of the Nigerian system. Sometimes these manipulations are backed by Nigerian law itself! Tell me, what kind of law allows a security vote? The security vote is a large chunk of money that governors and the Nigerian president has at their disposal to use in cases of emergencies. However, most times, these funds are used to dispense political favours and the governors are not accountable to anyone on how these funds are dispensed. So while most Nigerian governors are making less than 2 million Naira annually, they get security votes in excess of 200 million Naira monthly! So who is fooling who? Then we have the most outrageous of all, the immunity clause, why would any sane democracy have this kind of law in its book? Why would a governor or a President after committing a criminal act, especially if the said crime is visible for everyone to see continue to serve his/her term? These are the fundamental issues that are at stake in reclaiming Nigeria. It would not make any difference if today’s agitators are given power, as long as they retain the same system, there will be little change in the lives of average Nigerians. What we need to do is to come together, agree on the fundamental issues and change the system when the opportunity arrives to do so.

This change, I believe will come from the ballot box. Nigerians have demonstrated time and again that they get it. If a persuasive argument is made on their behalf, they would not mind staying in line for hours and they will protect their votes. They have shown this in Bauchi, Kano, Lagos, Ondo and Edo states. It is up to us to honour Nigerians back if they eventually believe in our cause. What most Nigerians dislike and rightfully so is the hypocrisy of the Isa Yugudas of this world.

The folks at the Nigerian Development Movement, the Nigerian Liberty Forum led by Kayode Ogundamisi and the restoration group have begun the work that is necessary to claim Nigeria back to its rightful owners. I must warn us however, that in order to be successful, ideas have to be meshed, membership have to be inclusive and the dialogue have to be respectful despite our differences. It should also not be an avenue for politicians who have lost out in the power struggle to vent their anger, while they are most certainly welcome, their participation should be more of re appraising their past involvement in government and not just how to win power back for themselves but how to make the system work better for every Nigerian.

Back to yours truly and my two ideological brothers, in the weeks and months ahead, we will be unveiling our contribution to the task of taking Nigeria back to the public, I can assure you, we started on the premise that we do not have all the answers, that is why I encourage you to write me and tell me what we need to be doing even as we are in what I call our infant period.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever does” - Margaret Mead


Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia writes from Indianapolis, Indiana
abdulajia@yahoo.com

Dr. Akunyili, Drop The Rebrand Meme, Adopt National Reorientation Instead

Dr. Akunyili, Drop The Rebrand Meme, Adopt National Reorientation Instead

On this page two weeks ago, I had advocated the 36 state strategy. In it I suggested to the Minister to forget about this Rebrand Nigeria thing, adopt a national reorientation posture and make the rounds through the state capitals.

I am glad to see that her advisers are steering her in the right direction. The next phase is to drop the Rebrand meme altogether. Rebrand as a term is not applicable when you are trying to change the actions and attitudes of your own people. National reorientation is more appropriate. Because words matter, lets examine the meaning of both terms; Rebrand according to the Webster’s new millennium dictionary of the English language means “to take an improved product, rename it and market it as new”. Reorientation on the other hand means; a fresh orientation, a changed set of attitudes and beliefs, it could also be said to be an act of changing the direction in which something is oriented”. Thankfully, there are agencies in Nigeria’s past and present history that could serve as a launching pad. MAMSER and NOA readily comes to mind.

In order to reorientate Nigerians, the minister has her work cut out for her. I would advise as a first step an aggressive campaign against jumping the line, the first sign of any reorientation should be to make sure that Nigerians are able to queue up in line for service. Second, a war should be waged against indiscriminate refuse disposal. In this regard, the Minister should work with the state and local governments. A PR campaign aimed at the general public should emphasize what a clean society means for us all. A reduction in malaria, the savings in Naira and Kobo as a result of this reduction, increased productivity (less sick days) which leads to an improved GDP. Link cleanliness to economics, explain how the people are involved in the process, seek their buy in and what a change in their attitude means to the nation.

This new approach at reorientation should not however be exclusively targeted at the Nigerian public only. I reiterate that for any agenda of the Minister to be effective, she has to have a one on one with the President. While most change is often bottom up, in Nigeria change should start from top to bottom. See, Nigeria’s President and his communication Minister will not be taken seriously as long as James Ibori is seen strutting the corridors of power. As long as Michael Aondaaka is seen to be using his office as an extension of the ruling party, this President and his agendas will not be taken seriously. She should make it clear that for Nigeria to be taken seriously both at home and abroad, Nigeria needs to start playing by global rules. Bernie Madoff, prior to his conviction would not be seen parleying around with Barack Obama or George Bush before him.

And as part of the new reorientation program, the compensation package (which includes entitlements and allowances) for political office holders should be reviewed, set at reasonable limits and should be a small percentage of government revenue. While the executive and the legislature are enjoying something akin to a loot, their constituents are not that fortunate!

I still don’t understand why we have to pay so much for bureaucracy when the critical sectors are still in dire shape. The logo great people, great nation is very apt. Nigerians are indeed a great people, no other nation has been traumatized as much as Nigerians have been. The great nation part of the phrase I disagree with. I believe Nigeria is a country with a great potential, particularly in the African continent. And to a larger extent within the black Diaspora. I also believe that no legitimate black issue can be resolved without seeking Nigeria’s input. Having said all that, what is holding Nigeria back is a failure of leadership. The failure of which lies at the door step of those in government. To underscore this point, the just concluded G20 meeting proved that while Nigeria is a potential great power, she can be conveniently ignored till she gets her acts together. If Nigeria would not take her rightful place within the global community, nations such as South Africa and Ghana will fill the vacuum. This is the sad reality of today’s Nigeria.

She should state the obvious to her principal; Nigeria can not and should not continue on this path. The old ways should give way to a new era of responsibility. If she is not able to get the President’s buy in, she may as well kiss the worthy project bye – bye.

Despite all the foreseen obstacles on her path, I wish the Minister the best of luck.

How the Big Lenders Crashed the Stock Exchange and were Enabled by Dr. Soludo

Jason kew and Michael Patterson over at bloomberg.com recently did a story on the Nigerian stock exchange and how bank losses have had a profound impact on the exchange.

According to the duo, bankers (otherwise known as lenders) may be holding as much as $10 billion in toxic assets which is estimated to be almost equal to half of the entire capital of the exchange.

Now if you take into account that the lenders make up about two thirds of the Nigerian stock market, you will agree with me that as a regulator, Professor Soludo has not done a good job overseeing the banks and ensuring financial discipline. The state of the Nigerian bank is very precarious because of it.

Before I go into the disaster that is going on within the banking sector, let us first take a look at some of the reasons why the Nigerian stock exchange has moved from one of the best performing market to one of the world’s worst barely less than a decade! Perhaps, there are many reasons that led to the collapse of the exchange, I will focus on five critical areas.

Speculation: I know, most markets are speculative in nature but what was going on in Nigeria prior to 2008 was of the worst kind. A friend of mine who works in middle management for one of the so called big banks confessed to me sometime in 2007 that the insider joke is that the Nigerian stock exchange has broken all rules. What he wasn’t saying was that while this speculation was going on, the major lenders were not creating any real value within the economy which can ultimately boost the Naira and save the exchange from itself. This was a period, when the big lenders were just floating ridiculous IPOs, give it massive publicity and have unsuspecting Nigerians buy into their voodoo companies. Barely ten years ago, most of these new big banks were not even in existence. Today, they are unraveling. Posting bogus profits and fuzzy book keeping. Now lets examine the next reason why the exchange floundered terribly as it did.

Insider trading: the trading of a stock or other securities by individuals with potential access to non public information about the company. This is not only going on, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not been alive to its responsibilities. It has also been suggested that SEC employees may be conniving with some of these traders while the public bears the pains of the loss in value. Most of these insiders have continued to dump their stocks using non public information at their disposal.

Bogus balance sheets: here you will find the legally backed margin loans that allowed banks to delay booking losses. This lack of full disclosure has left investors unable to identify potential losses. In some cases, there have been rumours of outright falsified balance sheets to deceive the public. The Nigerian media have been (with the exception of a few outlets) enablers, they publish these false reports and do not engage in any investigative follow up to ascertain the health of these institutions. To round it up, these lenders are into free wheeling and shaky securities. All of these activities have put investor’s funds at risk. The last time I read, the pension fund is threatened. This is perhaps, the only retirement instrument most Nigerian civil servants have. How do you explain to a 65 year old man or woman that you have gambled away their fortune?

Now let us take a look at the disease within the Nigerian banking sector. And while we are at it, let’s examine the activities of the bureau de change.

Sometime in March, specifically March 21, Soludo arbitrarily curbed the lending rate at 22% and the deposit rate at 15% respectively. But you and I know that this is not going to happen. What will eventually happen will be a form of shadow banking, sadly it is already being practiced in Nigeria and this will only exacerbate it.

Presently, Nigeria has a law that requires the banks to notify some security agency or the other if a cash lump sum is being deposited at once. What the banks actually does is to have the customer deposit all the amounts in bits, in order to evade this legal provision.

This arbitrary lending and deposit cap will only give rise to one thing, back room dealing between the customer and the bank. You think that our banks are in a bad shape right now, that will push them to the precipice.

Then you have the bureau de change. I still don’t understand why the CBN has its own exchange rate and then you have the real market, where 80% of the foreign exchange transactions occur and the price is sharply different. Presently, there is about a N20 difference in the rate between the CBN and the parallel market. If you think N20 is insignificant, wait until you buy 1 million dollars @ N144 to a dollar from the CBN and take a walk down the street to the bureau de change and sell in the parallel market for N165 to a dollar. Tell me, what kind of business will give you so much instant return and at a very high percentage profit? So this is what is at stake. Why wouldn’t Soludo abolish the official rate and allow the banks to sell foreign exchange to anyone (with identification) at the market rate? The CBN should also be able to sell to the banks at the prevailing market rate minus one Naira (leaving a margin for profit). Soludo has refused to tow this line. Why? Because the status quo is beneficial to all of them (players within the Nigerian financial industry) you buy cheap from the CBN, you cross the street and sell high and you go to the bank smiling. In the process, you haven’t really created any value to the economy. While these financial tricksters line their pockets, the Nigerian economy and the general public bears the brunt of their nefarious ways.

And we also have cases, where lenders have written out huge loans without any significant collateral. It is risky behaviour and ultimately we are witnessing the unraveling albeit in a sad way. These kinds of behaviours have put genuine investor’s life savings in a toilet.

I am not going to even dabble into the activities of the illegal micro finance institutions that mushroomed between 2006 and 2007. Where was Soludo when all these illegal activities were going on? Nigerians lost millions of Naira to this fraud, the CBN responded a little too late.

This kind of behaviour is emblematic of the kind of leadership that Soludo has provided at his perch as Nigeria’s treasury chief. You can not be a regulator and at the same time parleying around with the same people you are supposed to regulate. Rather than consider him for a reappointment, Soludo should be allowed to go back into the ivory tower to finesse his economic theory (I would suggest to him to decide whether he wants to be a free trader or not), perhaps some day in the not too distant future, he can become the conscience of the nation like prize wining economist and Nobel Laurent Paul Krugman.

And while we are shopping for a new treasury chief, one name stands shoulder above the rest; Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. The talk of Isa Yuguda is not only petty but absurd.

Post Script: I am aware that Professor Soludo is not the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, however it is instructive to note that because of weak treasury regulation, the banks are the worst offenders in the exchange. The lenders are supposed to be under Dr. Soludo’s supervision and if they had acted ethically at the exchange we could have been spared this ugly scenario. And yes, while the failure of the exchange will be laid at the door step of the SEC chairman, the banks attitude is as a result of a weak central bank regulation.

Wishing away African and Nigerian problems will not make them go away

Wishing away African and Nigerian problems will not make them go away

We are in silly season again in Nigeria. The heart of Africa project has presumably run its course. It is no longer useful, time to replace it with another elephant project. And talking about the heart of Africa project, the infomercial was so badly executed, the feature with Obasanjo was colorless and drab. But again, even if it was successful in changing a few minds, it would not have changed the reality in Nigeria.

The good people, good country public relations project launched by the information minister is another wasteful venture in an on going saga of a dearth of ideas within Nigeria’s ruling elite. And I have always wondered why Nigeria needs an information minister, why would any serious government need a minister for propaganda? It would have been more appropriate for Mrs. Akunyili to use her other portfolio as the minister of communication to start making meaningful changes within the beleaguered ministry. Reposition it for 21st century challenges and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs to inject FDIs into the sector, this will create well paying jobs and further healthy competition within the industry. If these acts are reciprocated amongst her peers (cabinet ministers) Nigeria would spend less money on wasteful ventures such as this rebrand Nigeria thing.

In order for Nigeria to be taken seriously as a key player in global affairs, we have to start playing by the rules. Right now, in good old Nigeria, billions of Naira was spent on a national identity card project, the cards were issued after a long delay but guess what? There is no national policy that requires its use in many formal settings i.e. Banking, Insurance, Education and government agencies! The result as you can imagine is another colossal waste and a drain on meager government resources. This brings me to a nagging question? Why do we always have to reinvent the wheel? What is true of the botched I.D card scheme is true of this new initiative. Why do we need a national identification programme? Why are the states not using their own departments of motor vehicle to collect resident’s personal information that can be easily accessible to the police, banks, insurance companies etc. why are we embarking on another jamboree instead of putting our house together first?

A Nigeria that works would sell itself. Some have suggested that we can not wait till we solve all our problems before telling our own good stories, the sad truth is that right now, we have not done the necessary homework to make that phrase applicable to our present situation.

We have a nation that has not answered some of the most fundamental questions that are pertinent to its existence as a nation. Which is; what kind of citizenship is available in Nigeria? By this I mean, why are we still struggling about the issue of indigenes and non indigenes? Why have we not done justice to the issue of the Niger delta? Why do we have a police system that feels it is a protector of whoever is in power not of the Nigerian people. And why do we have attorney generals that think they are in office to protect their political lords not the Nigerian people? There is a ton of questions that needs to be asked about the state of the Nigerian nation, at present most are not even considered. Those that wields political power in Nigeria profits from the chaos and confusion that we have at the moment. Let me give you an example, why would a high ranking Nigerian official that is involved in money laundering ever pray for Nigeria to have a standardized database such as the one I proposed about the states effectively using their own DMV? He is not going to be disposed to such an idea because with these kinds of information, illicit funds can be easily traced.

Before the minister goes on spending funds that are hardly available, she should have a rethink, Nigeria’s problem is home grown and we have to start applying ourselves to the work that is necessary to dig Nigeria out of this hole. This is not impossible, but as a first step I suggest we go back to the basics, as one of my friends suggested last week, lets redefine citizenship in Nigeria. Nigerian citizens should have a feeling that this is their country too! Right now most are disillusioned and hopeless. The task before the minister is to begin to change the minds and attitudes of her peers and her immediate boss, Nigeria’s president Umaru Musa Yar adua. She needs to tell him that in order to be taken seriously he can not be seen to be frolicking with the likes of James Ibori and other questionable characters. She should also made it known to Yar adua that the work that Nigeria needs done requires 24hrs 7 days a week 365 days a year attention not a 9-5, 5days a week work mentality that we are witnessing under this administration. Then she should start making the rounds to the state capitals, meeting with governors, the leaders of the state houses of assembly and local government heads to discuss and align the federal government goals for all the states of the federation, the states that are making significant progress in equal opportunity for all citizens (not indigenes), protecting lives and properties should be singled out for commendation, the ones that are lacking behind should be encouraged to emulate their peers. If Mrs. Akunyili would ask President Yar adua to drop the information part from her portfolio (that is what Segun Adeniyi, Special assistant on media should be doing) and give her the national orientation portfolio as an add on, this will be a better route to take rather than this jamboree repackaged in a new form. Nigerians and the international community have seen this before, unfortunately it has not brought in any new FDI or a change in attitude amongst Nigerians.

I hope from her high perch the minister would eat an humble pie and together with her peers they can begin the actual work that Nigeria needs done. The rebrand Nigeria project is certainly not one of those.

Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia

In 2011, The Nigerian Blogosphere Should Match WOrds with Action

Over 3 years ago, I wrote the article "When talk alone is cheap" the issues that I espoused have not changed significantly since then, what has changed though is the growth of the Nigerian blogosphere, from Saharareporters to the nigeriavillagesquare.com, you will agree with me that the power brokers are paying some attention to what Nigerians have to say, sadly, that is where it ends, except for a few charitable acts here and there, the British Airways boycot etc, the Nigerian blogosphere in my opinion has not effectively utilized its medium to demand for and get the change it desires. With hundreds and possibly thousands of active, well informed bloggers, the Nigerian blogosphere ought to retool and harness its human capital in the fight to take Nigeria back.
It is refreshing to read Pius Adesanmi's narrative on his attempt to take Nigeria back one village at a time, this is a good start but we all need to join in this effort. We can start from our wards, villages and states.
While on the subject of taking Nigeria back, I want to call our attention to an assumption that I have noticed within the Nigerian blogosphere, its what I call an acute distrust of anyone or any ideal that does not come to our self proclaimed idea of political puritanism. In this case, you will find the most vicious critic of Nuhu Ribadu, Bola Tinubu, Pat Utomi, Nasir El Rufai, Donald Duke, Ngozi Iweala and a host of other promising progressive Nigerians. While I am not suggesting that criticism is not appropriate, infact it is necessary, I do however believe that our criticism should be couched in political reality. These group of men and women may not have lived up to our best ideals all the time but they are certainly and I say this without any equivocation, they are a far cry from what Nigeria has lived through within the last three decades.
What is needed here is a collaborative effort between the Nigerian blogosphere and those who are on the ground in Nigeria, the ones that are showing signs of promise, we need to encourage them, correct them constructively when we think they are wrong and work in partnership with them to usher in the Nigeria of our dreams. I have reposted "When talk alone is cheap" in its entirety. I believe it is as poignant then as it is now.

When talk alone is cheap



First published by http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com, 22 January 2006

Am not going to bore you all with the same over flogged rhetoric, that Nigeria doesn't have reliable energy, that most of our infrastructures are in dilapidated states, that our healthcare delivery is in shambles, our security agencies ram shackled, that even though our constitution calls for a federal system of government, we are in fact a unitary state and that with the rest of the woes facing this nation, the Nigerian people have been greatly traumatized in the process.
The issue now is, since we have identified most of the ills facing our nation and in most cases also offered solutions, what do we do next? Are we just going to be armchair commentators or soldiers in the battlefield of freedom?
I declare that talk is cheap when it is not backed by action, Nigerians in the Diaspora have a great opportunity to live and work in an environment where their labor is rewarded handsomely, they should use whatever leverage they have to press home to the Nigerian government that good living ought not to be a preserve of the rich and mighty in Nigeria alone but that the government’s primary responsibility is in creating an enabling environment for prosperity to thrive for all.
We have to note that there has been a pattern amongst past and present Nigerian leadership. More often than not, they are anti people, morbidly corrupt, oppressive and utterly totalitarian. The result has been the continued deterioration of every facet of life of the Nigerian people. As you read this, the average life span of a Nigerian is at 44 years! How pathetic!!
Because of this kind of leadership, we as a people have been tuned to forever criticize and compare one bad government to another. Now it is my humble opinion that we need to do more. The Wole Soyinkas, Anthony Enahoros et al have done their part, the torch should pass on to younger Nigerians both in the Diaspora and in the motherland, all hands must be on deck to wrestle Nigeria out of the hands of the thieving class that has become its albatross. The following are ways that I think we can do this:

The formation of a strong multi ethnic coalition with card carrying members both in the Diaspora and in the motherland
They should have a constitution that would not be ambiguous and one that will be ratified by all founding members.
A standing committee with clearly defined tenure that will carry out the day to day activity of the organizations should be put in place.
Their agendas should be clearly spelt out, its primary goal should be to promote good governance in Nigeria using legitimate channels to achieve this.
In the Diaspora, these organizations will be saddled with carrying out seminars, workshops etc and protest marches whenever any high ranking government official is visiting. Its standing committees will provide the logistics for these.
The standing committees will also be responsible for lobbying members of the United States congress and other European parliaments.
Besides the annual stipends that will be contributed by card-carrying members, the committees will also have the mandate to seek for funds from individuals, foreign governments and multi national corporations.
All affairs of these organizations must be transparent and democratic in order for it to be credible.
With well coordinated efforts, these organizations will have favorable legislation passed on its behalf demanding good government accountability from Nigeria.
They can also participate in the Nigerian national assembly by sending forth pro-growth bills to the body, the issue of our federalism and the workability or otherwise of the present constitution should take front and center.
Finally, after careful consultation within its members and with some financial stability, these organizations can metamorphose into a political party and continue to set agenda for the nation.
I submit that if we as a people can fight for what rightfully belongs to us instead of just talking about it, we can indeed move a long way towards the free and prosperous Nigeria that we dream of. If you agree that yesterday was too late a day to have started this, then lets get it started now.

My take on the Mimiko Verdict

While I rejoice with the majority of Nigerian progressives on this important victory, we must also insist on urgent electoral reforms that will forestall this kind of occurence in the future. Its been almost two years since the election was conducted and till date there are still pending litigations scattered across the nation. This is not healthy for the country, if it bears repeating, all electoral litigations ought to be dispensed with before a substantive public official is sworn into office.

This is not just plain common sense, it makes for good economics too. The current practice of unending litigation will continue to encourage corruption, a dearth of ideas from public officials who are embroiled in trying to keep their seats and the real victims are the Nigerian electorate who will have to suffer the consequences of elite conflicts.

As we celebrate yet another judicial victory and an affirmation of the independence of our courts, we must hasten to make sure that the Nigerian National Assembly pass the appropriate electoral laws, one that will save us from this non stop national embarrassment.

And of course, one that will deliver democracy dividends to the Nigerian people in a timely fashion.