Akintokunbo A Adejumo
akinadejum@aol.com

Adjective
1. not within proper or reasonable limits; immoderate; excessive: He drank an inordinate amount of wine.
2. unrestrained in conduct, feelings, etc.: an inordinate admirer of beauty.
3. disorderly; uncontrolled.
4. not regulated; irregular: inordinate hours. Greed and inordinate ambition lead to great human tragedy

“He that seeks to be great by all means seeks the path of self-destruction”

It is no longer news that inordinate ambition, narrow-mindedness and greed have been the causes of insecurity, mindless corruption, poor or bad governance, all culminating in poverty, mediocrity, underdevelopment and conflicts in many African countries.

Logically speaking, human beings carry within them the desire to be great in life. Everybody would like to pursue happiness and fulfilment in life. Both natural and divine laws, however, set the limit to which a person may seek to actualize his ambition. While it is no crime to seek to be great, it becomes a criminal act and a sin against God and Man when we seek greatness by destroying others or doing things that will jeopardize the opportunities and liberty that others have. This latter category is what abounds in Nigeria, and indeed, in most African countries.

There is danger in blindly pursuing power, position and prominence at the detriment of our spiritual well-being and at the expense of other people’s lives. But do our rulers in Nigeria and Africa care?

Inordinate ambition captures the lust for power and status as is evidenced in the type of democratic and political system that we run in Nigeria. It includes ruthless competition and self-advancement. While such ambitions often results in material wealth, the person with the sin of inordinate ambition may regard money as secondary or even irrelevant. Money is useful only as it buys more opportunities.

Unfortunately, and inevitably, in all cases of inordinate ambition, national interests and selfless service to the people are often sacrificed and completely relegated to the background. Again, we see these every day in our daily lives in this country. The recent “Oga at the Top” tragi-comedy is a very good example of mediocrity brought on as a result of inordinate ambition.

As the race for political offices in 2015 begins to be perceived as an elephant meat that every Tom, Dick, or Harry, including those that are unfit for purpose – fraudsters, murderers, thieves, convicts, etc. – want to slice off a piece for their personal consumption, all kinds of people are coming out to vie for the higher elective offices – Presidency, Governorship, Legislative and even Local Government Chair-persons – in 2015.

The kinds of people who appear to be crawling out of the woodwork in recent times confirm our long-held suspicion that these previously revered positions are still not being accorded the dignity they deserve. The latest names for Presidency being bandied about include the current Speaker of the House of Representative, Ibrahim Tambuwal. The same Tambuwal was the gentleman implicated in the former Speaker Dimeji Bankole’s N10bn quarterly running cost freebie scam. Of course, he survived the scandal and was made the Speaker. Have we put that behind us now? We now know where they intend part of the loot to be used, don’t we? It is easy to sweep billions of Naira under the carpet in our country. We can only hope that political rivals opposed to his presidential ambition will bring that up at the appropriate time.

The problem has always been with our people, as I have always posited in many previous writings. If we do not exercise sound judgement at this most crucial moment of our political destiny, and we end up (again and again) with people like the Speaker or Rivers State Governor or even the Senate President as president, the country will be even moving further from the hope we are nursing that things might get better in 2015.

Most, if not all, of these men are corrupt and inept. They are corrupt politicians and rulers (I refuse to call them leaders) who pretend to be concerned about the future of the country but are men who will further erode the fine traditions of multi-party democracy, further entrench corruption, negate socio-political development, entrench backwardness and promote disrespect for fundamental human rights that we so desperately crave. One only needs to examine the records of these men when they rigged themselves into governance to conclude that they lack the moral fibre and fitness to be in their current political offices and positions, to even condemn others, let alone contest for the Presidency.

A former member of the House of Representatives Hon. Mohammed Kumalia says inordinate ambition and ego are the causes of Nigeria’s political crises. Kumalia stated this when he spoke on the topic ‘Peace and Conflict Resolution’ in Abuja Monday at a peace seminar organised by the Rotary Club of Wuse Central and the Rotary Club of Abuja City (provisional) on 4th February 2013.

According to him, “Nigeria’s polity is ravaged by politicians who want to dominate the political space for life. Political leaders fail to distinguish between their offices and their personal egos, and have side-lined the led.”

Even, President Jonathan who spoke at the end of the convention of the PDP in March 2013 in Abuja told the members “to resist the temptation of allowing inordinate ambition and what appears to be a growing obsession with the politics of succession in 2015 to cause disaffection within the ranks of the party”.

Look around us. Already, serving ministers (who did not contest for elections or failed at elections and were subsequently recompensed and appointed ministers) and federal legislators having stolen enough money are now trying to force themselves into contention to be governors in their home states. Some serving governors succeeded through this route. Some senior civil servants, nearing retirement are also considering this route.

At the states level, similar scenarios exist. Deputy Governors, of course, and erroneously, expect that it is a natural career or political progression for them to become the next governor of the state. Inordinate ambition, again. Commissioners have abandoned their service and are scheming and campaigning to be governors. They are also joined by state legislators (members of the House of Assemblies) and local government chair-persons and even some ambitious councillors.

Some state legislators also want to take further advancement to becoming federal legislators.

Again, because I don’t want people to get me wrong, I am not against people being ambitious in life. In fact it is a natural trait for humankind. In fact a man or woman that has no ambition in life in nothing. And this is why I repeat what I wrote earlier that human beings carry within them the desire to be great in life. Everybody would like to pursue happiness and fulfilment in life. Both natural and divine laws, however, set the limit to which a person may seek to actualize his ambition. While it is no crime to seek to be great, it becomes a criminal act when we seek greatness by destroying others or doing things that will jeopardize the opportunities and liberty that others have. This is inordinate ambition. We all have our own ambitions, but a wise person will know his/her limitations in whatever they embark upon, and approach such ambitions and future with some caution and humility and then try to adapt or overcome those weaknesses.

Inordinate ambition also applies when a person is striving for position or power that is actually beyond their capabilities, intelligence or abilities. Some recognise their own lack of these virtues, but still want to obfuscate and cheat their way around; others don’t and think they do. Examples abound in our political, and actually in our way of life. An instance of this is the dishonesty of our politicians when it comes to their educational attainment or achievement. Certainly, they are, or such people feel inferior because they have low levels of education, even though they have the minimum requirement as stipulated by legislation, sometimes, none at all, so they resort to forgery. How do you expect a forger to perform in governance? How do you expect a forger to provide the right services to the people? A forger of educational certificate is definitely in the political system to steal and exploit the system.

These ilk of politicians have inordinate ambition not commensurate with their natural or acquired abilities, honesty and sincerity of purpose, capabilities and intelligence. That is why we find that many of our legislators, federal or states can spend an entire four years in the hallowed chambers and never contribute a word and idea to any issues on the floor of the house. Go and look at the records.

The surge in the aspiration of Nigerians to contest political office is breeding mayhem in the country. In the First Republic, the desire for people to contest elective positions was not so strong. For example, local government councillors only received sitting and transport allowance but in this unrestrained 1999-political dispensation and era, the huge salary, un-merited allowances and other huge sums of money being paid to political aides, constituency offices, domestic, utility allowances, which legislators converted to their pockets as part of their take-home pay every month, has made elective legislative positions a do-or-die affair.

Furthermore, in the First and Second Republics, there was no constituency project allowances awarded to legislators or their appointees, but now that constituency projects and the accompanying allowance have been instituted into the Constitution; this has led many Nigerians to start seeking political office. For governorship, the allure of the multibillion naira “security vote”, which they do not have to account for, is attracting all kinds of parasites and thieves to the state houses.

We have seen, since our foray into democracy, or even maybe even as far back as a sovereign nation, that out of selfishness or desperation to occupy a position, our rulers, past and present have decided the only way they understand how to rule their people is to be corrupt and inept. But they forget nemesis will always catch up on them no matter how long.

Above all, Nigeria and all its resources and wealth belong to all one hundred and fifty million or so of us and any attempt by some tiny cabal out of inordinate ambition, greed, selfishness and insincerity to satisfy their desire at the expense of Nigeria and the Nigerian people will definitely attract God’s punishment, as well as punishment from Man.

It is indeed very sad, and actually very alarming that men and women with such inordinate ambition are the ones ruling us today and are preparing to come forward to worm, steal, murder and fake their way to power again in 2015. Already some governors who will not be eligible for another term, having served two terms, come 2015 are planning to continue their mediocrity and thievery in the Senate, where many of their predecessors, most of them still having corruption cases to answer (and which the government and/or the EFCC have seemingly conveniently forgotten) are still paradoxically sitting and sleeping their way through house sessions and making laws for us.

It is no wonder we are in big trouble with people like these; people of inordinate ambition and of low intelligence and mediocrity, at the helm of affairs of a country as complex, full of potentials and wealthy as ours. They just can’t handle it. They do not have the intelligence, the vision, the focus, the sensibilities, the conscience, the commitment, the selflessness, the wherewithal, the capabilities, the moral ground and character to lead people. It is impossible for a stupid goat to lead a pack of dogs. They are frittering away our common wealth and opportunities.

Please, compatriots, let’s make it impossible for these opportunists, parasites and people of inordinate ambition in 2015!

Akintokunbo A Adejumo
akinadejum@aol.com

Apotheosis (from Greek, apotheoun “to deify”; in Latin deificatio “making divine”; also called divinization and deification) is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre (Wikipaedia).

In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature. In art, the term refers to the treatment of any subject (a figure, group, locale, motif, convention or melody) in a particularly grand or exalted manner.

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and, at times god-like public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is established by mass media and propaganda.

Throughout history, monarchs and heads of state were almost always held in enormous reverence. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Imperial China, ancient Egypt, Japan, Britain, the royals, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet, Thailand, and the Roman Empire are especially noted for redefining monarchs as god-kings. In pre-colonial Africa and Nigeria, the same applies with most of the monarchs, e.g. in Yoruba land, the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife used to be deified until somehow, they lost their reverence.

The spread of democratic and secular ideas in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries made it increasingly difficult for monarchs to preserve this aura. However, the subsequent development of photography, sound recording, film, and mass production, as well as public education and techniques used in commercial advertising, enabled political leaders to project a positive image like never before. It was from these circumstances in the 20th century that the best-known personality cults arose. Often these cults are a form of political religion (Wikipaedia)

Service is the best reason for being a leader. There are many examples of true service; Jesus Christ is one of them. A true leader asks people to follow his/her example. This is what has made democracy work and sustainable in Western democracies and societies – leaders serve and ask their people to follow, and the people follow.

I really do not have a problem with leaders who are performing or are seen to be performing their duties and responsibilities, if ONLY selflessly. (This is very rare anyway) Once in a while we see such leaders, but usually and mostly in the horizon.

My problem is Praise-singing and Hero-worshipping of our leaders (ironically, these people are not even anywhere near being heroes, not to talk of worthy of praise), and that’s the reason we are having problems with them and they take advantage of us. I never indulge in such trivial pursuits. I am not a sycophant. Most of the time, I don’t see what these leaders are doing that is unexpected or extraordinary. After all, look around you; the country is still as backward as ever, despite very strong infrastructural and civil legacies left by the colonialists, so what are they really doing?

Recently one Governor described his own people (we, Nigerians) as TIMID. It was then I saw the irony and the insult, albeit true. It is because we are timid, or they feel we are timid, that the corrupt, evil and clueless political elite take undue advantage of us, stealing, looting, raping, killing and generally mismanaging our resources, our common wealth. They bank and rely on the fact that they are lording it over a very TIMID people. That is what they have been relying on and banking on for the past 5 decades, with a toxic combination of intimidation, divide and rule, outright dishonesty, deceit and mediocrity.

When would we, as a people, realise that in a democracy, those elected into political positions as well as civil servants, are expected and must do what we elected or appointed them to do and are paid to do and that they are NOT doing us any favour whatsoever by building roads, bridges, hospitals, schools or providing employment? This is their damned job! And after all, the money they are using to execute all these projects are not theirs but ours. Or have you ever heard of a Nigerian politician using his/her own money to build roads or even to contest elections? It is our money they waste to sponsor the weddings of their children, and in a recent instance, the wedding in Dubai of a famous singer.

When you hear or read of our devious and callous political leaders, saying they are empowering people by distributing bicycles, generators, bags of rice, umbrellas, sewing machines and 10 thousand Naira to the people of their constituencies, accompanied by loud media coverage, and projecting to the people as if they are spending their own personal wealth (the hypocrisy of it!), then you know we are indeed in trouble. It is not their money; and they can do much better than this, can’t they?; the money is the Constituency Project allowances they are supposed to use in the first place but which most of them convert to their own use.

THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE BEING PAID TO DO! We can only recognise and commend them for doing their job if they are actually doing it selflessly, but NOT praise them to high heavens as if they are the Messiah, demi-gods or Super-humans.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am only against apotheosis, praise-singing and hero-worshipping. I will recognise, commend, celebrate, reward honour and sing to high heavens any good work that is being done selflessly, sincerely, timely, considerately, compassionately, holistically and appropriately by any leader in my country.

We are getting a very raw deal from these people we now regard as demi-gods and untouchables by law. But we are more powerful than them. We can vote them out. We should vote them out. We must not allow then to sniff or get anywhere near the seats of power. We must not allow them to rig elections or manipulate votes and voting equipment. We must not allow them to intimidate us.

Nigerians and Africans should stop treating politicians as gods; treat them as a normal people on the street. As a matter of fact, our politicians should be treated with some measure of disdain and perhaps, held in contempt, because politics is not a career, it is a symbiotic way of life, in any society – they depend on the society to thrive and the society expects something in return for sucking us for their livelihood. We pay their salaries and they are supposed to look after and deliver our expectations. So don’t treat them like gods.

Some of us treat our Nigerian Legis-looters, Execu-thieves, Poli-trickcians, Sin-ators, like God’s gift to the world; these are the cronies, boot-lickers, political jobbers, impostors, mediocre whose only way of survival is cuddling up to anybody in power. This ilk of people do not have any capacity or intelligence to making a living, so they infect and infest the politician, who is him/herself ready to be infected and infested. It is mutually convenient and beneficial to both parties.

On a recent lecture I delivered in Lagos on a similar topic, the reactions that arose are in bold, in response to my position:

• Nigerians should treat their political leaders as a normal people on the street: Impossible! Every time there’s a politicians coming to certain place, there is always a big community event to welcomed or celebrate them. See the convoys and the jamboree of hangers-on that follow them.

• We pay their salaries and they are supposed to look after and deliver our expectations: They will only look after their lackeys, their flatterers and those who aid them in their misrule and lootings.

• They control the media, what do you expect?

• So don’t treat them like gods – It is a cultural thing, Africans hold people with age, wealth, authority and power in awe so much, they regard those who hold such as almost gods, and when regarded as such, these irresponsible parasites will do anything and everything possible to stay in power, and that includes killing.

I agree 100% with this last bit. It is a cultural malaise. This is why a lot is amiss with our combination of leadership, democracy and system of governance, and should be changed. A very good instance is the appointment of people into positions such as Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Assistants, Board Members, etc. These sets of people fail miserably in the performance of what are expected of them as public servants, not only because they are mostly pedestrian and quacks anyway, but because they do not owe their allegiance, appointments or responsibilities to the service of the people, but to their Almighty Leaders (President, Governors, etc) who appointed them.

The result is that when a Cabinet re-shuffle is imminent; these lackeys start panicking and start running around like headless chicken, scared and lobbying to stay in their jobs. When they do not perform, they will not resign. That is the affairs of state in Nigeria; no moral will to admit mistakes, non-performance and inefficiency, hence the massive level of corruption that has brought the country almost on its knees while saner and more sincere minds look on helplessly whilst middling and men and women of low intelligence take over running – ruining- the lives of 150 million people.

We should learn from the Japanese:

The Best Leader

The best leaders, the people do not notice.
The next best, the people honour and praise.
The next, the people fear;
And the next, the people hate.

If you have no faith,
People will have no faith in you,
And you must resort to oaths (lies).

When the best leader’s work is done
The people say: “We did it ourselves!

It’s actually from the Chinese poet Lao Tzu, but this is what Japanese people think of Politicians.

I can’t stand sycophancy and obsequiousness. I can’t stand timidity and reticence either.

It was reported thus: “a bill for an act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 by providing immunity for members of the legislature in respect of the words spoken or written at the plenary session or at committee proceedings, to guarantee that freedom of speech, debates and proceedings in Legislative Houses are not impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament and for related matters” and a “bill for an Act to alter the provisions of the constitution to guarantee freedom of speech and legislative actions of members of the National Assembly,”

On the face of it, I have nothing against Legislative Immunity, which is a legal doctrine that prevents legislators from being sued for actions performed and decisions made in the course of serving in government. This doctrine does not protect legislators from criminal prosecution, nor does it relieve them from responsibility for actions outside the scope of their office.

Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself. This reduces the possibility of pressing a member of the parliament to change his vote by fear of prosecution.

Legislative speech and debate immunity grew out of centuries of struggle between the English parliament and throne. During the 16th and 17th centuries, some English monarchs sought to intimidate legislators–especially those not sympathetic to the Crown’s viewpoints–through legal action. The adoption of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 sharply limited this practice by granting immunity to members against civil or criminal action stemming from the performance of their legislative duties. It provided that “the Freedom of Speech, and Debates or Proceedings in Parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parliament.”
In America, the constitutions of 43 states provide legislators with a fundamental protection of free speech and debate. This immunity protects legislators from punitive executive or judicial action. The intent is to allow lawmakers to work independently and unimpeded by the threat of intervention from the other branches of government in the discharge of their legislative duties.

Legislative immunity was in the news in Arizona some years ago when a newspaper reported that Gov. Jan Brewer was briefly detained — and handcuffed — by state police after a freeway accident in 1988 when she was a legislator. Officers thought Brewer was under the influence of alcohol, but they decided that legislative immunity prohibited an arrest. Brewer denied being under the influence the night of the accident. She didn’t invoke the privilege but an officer determined she was a senator by noticing an identification placard on the floor of her car, a police report said.

An Arkansas sheriff’s deputy last year mistakenly thought legislative immunity meant he couldn’t arrest a speeding legislator who led officers on a high-speed chase through two counties. The lawmaker was let go with a scolding but later charged and convicted of fleeing, careless driving and improper passing. He appealed it.

The problem with such immunity in Nigeria is based on the fact that we are a country, or a people notorious for flagrant violation norms, ethics and of the Rights of Man. Every strata of the society violates the law; we disregard the Constitution, laws, rules and regulations, standards of behaviours, the environment. The Governments disobey or completely ignore court orders, the Judiciary is corrupt, decadent and untrustworthy; law enforcement and security agencies are the very epitome of corruption, misinterpretation of the law and fragrant abuse of authority and powers; politicians do not know, nor bother to know what the Constitution of the country is about; our bloated and inept Civil Service are the bedrock of corruption despite their holier-than-thou hypocrisy; the Military are undisciplined and flout the law every time. The Press are about as clean as a child trying to eat melted chocolate with his hands. The business community and so-called business moguls and captains of industry consider themselves above the law because they are wealthy. The Academics are not exempt from this complicity. The society, the ordinary people are even worse. We do not respect any law. In fact, Nigerians believe that when a law is made, it is meant to be broken. Hence the reason why leaders produced in such a society are no different, and are even worse than the society that begat them. A Catch-22 situation for us, really! The society has to change before its leaders can change, except somehow we manage to find a leader who is not a direct beneficiary of the evil that our society is spewing out on a daily basis.

Any wonder why our society is in this quagmire of corruption, abuse of power and authority, poverty and permanent state of regression and underdevelopment.

Look around you, on a daily basis. There are abuses of power, authority, perquisites, and the environment. There are abuses of children and women, government and personal properties, abuses of trust, abuses of religion and ethnicity, of culture and tradition and technology, of energy generation and usage, even of wealth, of education, even of food (e.g. wastage), all you can think of.

Give a Nigerian an inch, and they will take a foot; give them a foot and they will take a yard….that is us. Your mechanic will always try to take advantage you, as would your carpenter, tailor, painter, bus-driver, taxi driver, vulcaniser, bricklayer and plumber, butcher, petrol attendant, not to talk of the market-woman. Even your lecturer in the university.

No! We cannot be trusted to uphold any law in this artificially distorted, confounding and exciting country. I don’t even know why people are panicking about the Petroleum Industry Bill, so called PIB, when we all know it will be only as good and effective as the paper it is written on. What happened to the Freedom of Information Act? Is anybody, for example, the Press and Media, benefiting from it?

That is why if a Parliamentary Immunity, much as it is a decent and integral part of a civilised and democratic society, is granted Nigerian legislature, the level of abuse, as unregulated as it will be by the same people – legislators – who passed the bill and act into law, will be colossal.

Judging by the behaviour of our legislators, ever since Independence, I have no doubt that such immunity conferred on them will be further used to intimidate the citizenry and their political opponents. Most importantly, it is virtually a licence to loot the treasury, if indeed, we have one.

Scenario: Lawan Farouk, the federal legislator accused of receiving a bribe from business man, Femi Otedola, could easily say that the bribe was received while he was in parliament and therefore during the course of his legislative duties and whilst serving the country. He might therefore invoke parliamentary or legislative immunity easily. And that will be the end of it. What with a corrupt judiciary and an avid crew of lawyers.

The attempt to pass such a bill has enraged Nigerians again, and we no wonder our so-called law-makers have now been labelled SIN-ATORS and LEGIS-LOOTERS. Our leaders are crooked and criminally smart and I see this as an attempt to exclude any form of prosecution against them whilst in office. Soon, such dubious immunity will be extended to the State Houses of Assemblies, and before you know it, Local Government Chairmen and Councillors. And then Civil servants will have Immunity too! I wonder what type of Immunity we will call that, but trust Nigerians to come up with something. Never a dearth of ideas; but a dearth of implementation.

Nigeria is not your average normal, civilised or democratic country, in all their different ramifications. We are still basically a primordial people still trying to evolve. Apologies to Pan-Africanists, but events and history of the last 50 years in most African countries have not been encouraging. Blame the colonialists and Europeans, Americans all you can; Africans are the architect of their own future.
Our “honourable and hard-working” legislator are very quick to pass bills which will be selfishly beneficial to them, but when it comes to bills that will be of use and beneficial to the development of the country or the upliftment of the people at large, they dilly dally. A bill to establish a National Food Safety Policy and Commission has been with them since 2009, and has only been read twice, while a bill on corruption has been stagnant and considered as not deserving attention.

All in all, I am opposed to this bill only because I do not trust our legislators, our politicians and governments not to turn it upside down. As it is, even without this Immunity Act covering them, we see they are already untouchable, and this is illegal and unconstitutional; so one can imagine if they are backed by law and the Constitution. It is practically a Licence to be corrupt; licence to steal, to kill, to lie, to be disrespectful to the electorate, to disregard the law.

They will ride roughshod over the people. And being naturally arrogant, they will now have the licence and constitutional backing to deal with the electorate and the judiciary with disdain. They will also be prone to manipulating and interpreting this particular Act as they please or deem fit. And they will not be short of our legal luminaries, our lawyers and SANs who will see easy money to be made by obfuscating and grandstanding us, the poor condemned.

They are indeed the players and we are the spectators.

It is not going to be a pretty sight. And this is why possibly, most Nigerians are aghast at this suggestion that our legislators should be “immunised” (so to speak) because of their notoriety for crass and obtuse irresponsibility, corruption, selfishness, self-service, bare-faced lying and duplicitousness, obstinacy and tyrannical tendencies, ignorance and charlatanism.

Unfortunately, do we hear any protest from our labour leaders and human right activists? No, they are mute in the meantime, watching how the game goes and when the Act is passed into law, they will raise a little bit of dust and noise, and will start accusing the courts and waste a bit more of the workers’ money.

I must confess I have not seen or read the suggested Bill, but I will assume that it is intended to protect legislators from punitive executive or judicial action, with the intent to allow them to work independently and unimpeded by the threat of intervention from the other branches of government in the discharge of their legislative duties. This is a noble attribute of democracy, if practiced right.

Questions remain, however. While legislators will be protected from certain liabilities, will they also be protected from having to testify about their legislative actions? Will they also be protected from criminal prosecution if they commit crimes such as stealing, corrupt practices, murder, perjury, bribery, and even traffic offences? Will legislative documents be protected from judicial inquiry? These are just some of the questions that may not be fully resolved by the Act.

In most civilised and democratic countries, appending the title of “Honourable”, means to have behaved honourably and be behaving honourably at all times. But in Nigeria, people who steal or connive to steal ballot boxes; people who can behead human beings without feeling any guilt, are those that are honoured and respected as “Honourable”. The title has been much abused, and hence you can see where I am coming from; sure as hell, any Immunity for our irresponsible lawmakers will surely be abused.

The Truth must be said always.

This article is dedicated to the memory of my dear brother-in-law, Mr Dele Odegbami, (senior brother to Segun and Wole Odegbami, and to my wife, Toyin and her 2 sisters) whose untimely death took place in the floods of Lagos on the night of Monday, 4th March, 2013 at the age of 66. He is survived by wife and children and grandchildren. ONE LIFE! Rest in Peace.

President Jose Mujica of Uraguay

By Akintokunbo A. Adejumo | Ibadan, Nigeria | Dec. 14, 2012 - I have been reading the story of President Jose Mujica — the leader of Uruguay (please note the word “LEADER”) and I find it to be a singular example of humility,
sacrifice and an uncommon disdain for all worldly material and other
acquisition. In my opinion, this is a leader who may be worthy of emulation by
our so-called leaders in Nigeria, and indeed, in Africa.

However, please let us recognise that being “poor” has not necessarily made Mr
Mujica a successful or good leader (Uruguay is hardly the best country
economically or politically in the world); but it is a testimony that a man truly
leads his country and his people, not for his personal or family aggrandisement
and benefit, but for service to his people, acquiring nothing personally, but
giving back to the people, his people, that he sincerely loves and care for.

It is intriguing to consider how this powerful president draws on his humble
roots, his experience as a former leftist guerrilla, and his reputation as a
man of the people, to govern.

“His charitable donations – which benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs – mean
his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of  [$770] a month.” In
2010, his annual personal wealth declaration – mandatory for officials in
Uruguay – was [$2,860], the value of his 1987 Volkswagen Beetle.

This year, he added half of his wife’s assets – land, tractors and a house -
reaching [$215,000].”

This characteristic alone is singularly worthy of emulation by other leaders,
especially in Third World countries, including our very own Nigeria. It also
follows God’s or Nature’s aphorism that no matter what wealth or power we
acquire in this world (and six feet under the earth is the end of it all, and
we don’t even know when or how death will come), we are most happy and
successful in this world only when it is used for the benefit of others less
privileged, and to whom their well-being is entrusted.

It is gratifying to the humanity that President Mujica is not greedy, selfish,
corrupt or self-serving. Unlike our leaders in Nigeria and indeed Africa, who
believe naïvely that they have not lived in this world until all the wealth,
power, possession and properties of this world is appropriated to them and is
concentrated in their hands and their families only. They see success in the
number of houses, cars and swollen bank accounts acquired as a result of their
greed and corruption, never having a thought for the consequences of their
actions (and inactions) on the lives of their own people whose welfare and
betterment have been entrusted in their care, whether by force, constitutionally
or by the simple laws of Man.

Our political leaders are quick and never think twice to betray the trust of the
people who either voted or appointed them – this is for civil servants -  into power (and in the case of the Military,
people they are sworn to protect)

There is really nothing wrong with democracy, politics, religion, ethnicity, quest
for power or wealth; the problem is the way Nigerian leaders manage to turn
these values upside down, in cahoots and collaboration with their followers (and
you might say, sometimes, foreign collaborators).

Do you have to be poor or be frugal to be a good leader? The answer is obviously
No! Being poor is not a prerequisite to being a successful, good, kind, fair,
competent, compassionate and incorruptible leader. In the history of the world,
poor people hardly have the chance to get to be leaders; however, a rich man
who becomes a leader may become poor as a result of giving up all his possession
to make the lives of those he leads better. That is the nugget.

It is even likely, as often happens in Nigeria that a poor man, or let’s say a man
who arose from a poor background, eventually has the chance to become a leader
of his people; but then what happens? Such fortunate people become corrupted by
power and wealth and easily forget his roots, or his past, or how it was for
him before he had the God-given opportunity of making it to power and all its
trappings.

Humanity has always had a problem with governments – no government in history has ever
been perfect, and this is unlikely to change till the end of time – the reason
being that it is fallible mortals that operate governments.

Power is government and government means power; power often attracts the corruptible,
so anyone who seeks power must be suspected of being corrupt until proven
otherwise. Again, “It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power
corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who
are subject to it.” – Aung San
Suu Kyi, “Freedom from Fear”.

“Experience
has shown that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with
power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” ― Thomas
Jefferson

Mr. Mujica is poor, so what? Are members of his government poor? He must have a
cabinet of Ministers and Advisers; are these people, who carry out his wishes
and orders poor? Do they share or agree with Mr Mujica’s modest and meagre
lifestyle? The answers are not known. Uruguay is not an exceptionally country,
neither can we classify it as a poor country; but one thing for sure, it is
better than Nigeria and indeed, many African countries.

The beauty of the Uruguayan situation is that with a modest and focused President,
the resources of that country are managed well; corruption reduced to the
minimum, bureaucrats do what they are supposed to do and the government loves
and really try to take care of its people. This is governance. I don’t even
care if it is not democratic like America or the United Kingdom.

So do the Uruguayans love their poor President? They apparently do, not because he
is poor, but because he looks out for them; he does what they want him to do
for them; he or his government are not corrupt and unaccountable to them; he is
open and fair to them; he does not tolerate excesses and corruption; and
neither does he tolerate mismanagement and inefficiency. His military obey him,
his Ministers do what he wants them to do for the people and generally oversees
a good government that his people can call their own.

I will admit I do not know much of the history of Uruguay, probably because I
have not bothered to do a lot of research, but the little I know suffices to
write this article. Uruguay is home to 3.3 million people of whom 1.8 million
live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88% of
the population is of European descent. With an area of approximately 176,000
square kilometres (68,000 sq. mi), Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in
South America by area, after Suriname.

Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle
amongst Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil. It is a democratic
constitutional republic, with a president who is both head of state and head of
government.

So here we have it. Nothing really in common with Nigeria except that it was once
a colony of a European country and is today operating under a democracy after
long periods of military rule. This is enough for me. The size of the country
is immaterial as is the constitution, or demography of the country.

Our leaders, and indeed the followers, do not have any need to re-invent the wheel.
Neither is governance rocket science. The quest and avarice for illegal wealth,
unrequited and misplaced power and priority is our problem. On the humane side,
we can also add selfishness and appropriation bordering on the ugly side of our
cultural and traditional values. Apt also is the way charlatans and the
mediocre force themselves into power for the sole purpose of acquiring wealth.

Georgia, a former state of the defunct Soviet Union, which a few years ago, was one of
the most corrupt nation in the world, has now got its act together and now
boast of the least corrupt police force in the world. After an intensive drive
to purge the country of petty and official corruption, many ordinary Georgians
say they actually welcome the sight of police.

“Everything has really improved,” says Shalva, an elderly car owner in
the capital, Tbilisi. “There is no way the patrol officers
are taking bribes. They even changed my flat tire for free so that I could keep
on driving. What could be better than this?”

“There is no other country at the moment where more people see a decrease in
corruption in their country, and where more people say the government is
effective in fighting corruption,” says Mathias Huter,
a senior analyst with Transparency International’s Georgia office. “I
think this is an indication that the Georgian government’s efforts to fight corruption
have been very successful.”

How I wish we could say the same of my country, Nigeria, where it is even now more
apparent that the Government itself is the main inhibitor and stumbling block
to riding the country of the bane of corruption? In fact, one suspects that the
government is actively aiding the stupendous growth and sustenance of
corruption. As written earlier in an article, the various government apparatus
in Nigeria thrives on corruption – it may even be that it is corruption that is
keeping the country’s economy, entity and sovereignty from collapse.

Can we, nay, can our illegally-rich (in other words, thieving) leaders learn
anything from Mr Mujica of Uruguay? Yes, but only in terms of morality and
humanity. I am not sure of Mr Mujica’s governmental competence and
effectiveness, but if the fact that he is poor and humble have anything to go
by, yes, surely, our arrogant and corrupt leaders need to learn a lesson in
humility, fear of God and Man, civility, love and intense care for one’s
fellowman and woman and selflessness in the discharge of one’s duty to his/her
people.

I see undeserving idiots, mediocre, charlatans and thieves being lauded and
acclaimed everyday by the government, the society, religious segments and even
the academics with the conferment of dubious honours, awards and accolades, chieftaincy
and religious titles and I say to myself, “Are we a degenerate and depraved
people who have unfortunately become used to suffering and battering from the
hands of an unworthy few?”.

The
Truth always.

By Akintokunbo A. Adejumo | Ibadan, Nigeria | Nov. 4, 2012 | “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of – for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear

In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet speaks to herself and says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet” (act 2, scene 2, lines 43–44).

Awareness of our ancestors, cultures and traditions and appreciation for their names that we bear can give direction to our lives. In our familial lines may be individuals whose actions we would not or should not imitate. We do, however, have the action to conduct our lives at present so that they will reflect civility for our posterity. The questions can be asked: What are we doing to ensure that the virtuous legacies we have received will be passed on to our descendants? What are we doing with our names?

In the Holy Bible, Proverbs 22:1 reads, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” and in Ecclesiastes7:1, it says, “A good name is better than precious ointment”

Our names represent who we are and we become known by our name to all who associate with us throughout our short lives in the world, with our reputation or the opinion generally held of us always inextricably linked to our name. Yes, our name and reputation are always together.

A few months ago in London, I met a lady who had been invited to join a group of Nigerian professionals that I belong to, aiming to export our skills, experience and expertise back to Nigeria. Before then, I had never met this lady, but apparently she was discussing the idea with her cousin, a professor in a university in far-away Canada. The professor advised her to be wary of dealing with Nigerians and during the course of their phone conversation; she mentioned my name as a member of the group. She told me that as soon as she mentioned my name, the professor told her “Akintokunbo? If it is the same Akintokunbo that I know, please go ahead and join them. There is no problem”.

The professor, though older than me, happened to be a friend and colleague when I was doing my postgraduate degree in Canada in the early 80s. In fact I was the MC at his wedding in 1983 and he knew me very well. He is from Abia State while I am from Oyo State.

To tell you I was moved by this long-distance recommendation will be putting it mildly. I was proud of myself. I was proud of my name, my reputation for being recognised and recommended as a honest man; a sincere Nigerian that everyone he meets would like to be associated without any doubt about his reputation and integrity; that even after 30 years, people still remember me for my personal qualities and professional abilities. What more could I pray for than to be acknowledged for a positive image like this in a country where we do not trust each other and our morals have descended to the lowest fathom of societal values?
To me, my good name and reputation are priceless and non-negotiable. In Othello, act 3, scene 3, lines 163–65, Shakespeare said: “He that filches [or steals] from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed”.  We build our reputation each and every day by our thoughts, actions, choices, and associations. We are all representatives of our own families, and the reputation of a family is established through the actions of each member of that family. Also, we are representatives of our community, religion, ethnicity and nation, in this case, Nigeria. As we conduct our lives now, even the smallest actions reflect upon them and their names.

I am always grateful to God and my parents for the good name given to me; to my friends and acquaintances, even those I have never met, spread across the world, who see something in me that that they trust and can confide in.

My good name matters to me very much. Does it to you? Does it to our rulers, our politicians, our civil servants, our bankers, our captains of industry, the people we entrust our lives, security and well-being to?

Poem sent by Zainab Hannafi Anthonio

NAME: You got it from your father; it was all he had to give.
Therefore, it is yours to use and cherish, for as long as you shall live.

If you lose the watch your father gave you, material things are replaceable.

However, a black mark on your name will never be erased.

It was clean the day you took it, and a worthy name to bear.

When he got it from his father, there was no dishonour there.

So make sure you guard it wisely, for the day will come that

You will be glad the name is spotless, when you pass the name to your children.

- Zainab Han

By New Nigerian Politics

New Nigerian Politics categorically and unreservedly condemns the unprovoked brutalization of one of its columnists, Mr. Akintokunbo Adejumo, on July 22, 2012 in Ibadan, Oyo State by six miscreants of the Nigerian army attached to the PHCN building on Ring Road. This uncivilized, cowardly and sordid act visited on an innocent Nigerian who has contributed enormously towards the entrenchment of democracy, accountability and the betterment of the Nigerian humanity must not go unpunished.

For those who may not be aware, Mr. Adejumo, a prolific and respected writer and columnist on Nigerian/African affairs recently returned to Nigeria after spending many productive years in the UK as a professional in local government, business development and management consultancy. Amply motivated by his love for Nigeria, Mr. Adejumo, upon his return did not rest on his laurels but rather continued his fine work to deepen democracy and public accountability as the Global Coordinator of his international organization called Champions for Nigeria www.championsfornigeria.com, an organization that is registered in the UK and Nigeria with members spanning four continents.

Mr. Adejumo has done nothing to deserve such unsavory humiliation emanating from members of the Nigerian Army that ought to be the vanguard of democracy, law and order. We hereby call on the army authorities, the federal government, particularly the presidency, to put a stop to such unprovoked acts of violence on innocent Nigerians by those constitutionally mandated to protect them. The Federal Government must ensure that the errant soldiers are identified, tried and punished for the flagrant violation of Mr. Adejumo’s human rights. The army has a duty to protect its image as a disciplined fighting force and must seize this moment to hold its officers fully accountable.

For more information read  – http://newnigerianpolitics.com/2012/07/29/nnp-contributor-brutalized-by-errant-soldiers-in-ibadan/

Mr. Akintokunbo Adejumo

What looked like a normal day in Ibadan, Oyo State, turned out to be a nightmare in the early hours of 22^nd of July 2012 at around 2.30am when about six soldiers of the Nigeria Army in uniform attached to the PHCN Capital Building at Ring Road Ibadan went berserk on an unprovoked savage brutalisation of Mr Akintokunbo Adejumo, a community leader in Ibadan and Southwark Borough in London and the respected Global Coordinator of Champions for Nigeria (Champions for Growth of Nigeria Initiative) www.championsfornigeria.com , a registered Organisation in the UK and Nigeria,  with members all over Nigeria, continental Africa, Europe, Asia and America. Mr Adejumo recently returned to live in his home town of Ibadan after an illustrious career in Local Government, Business, Community Development and Management Consultancy in the United Kingdom.

The attack happened in the full glare of members of the public when a strange fire outbreak occurred within the premises of the PHCN and engulfed a neighbouring building, damaging irreparably properties worth millions of Naira affecting the ex-Barcelona and Nigerian International footballer, Gbenga Okunowo’s private home. In the midst of the pandemonium that greeted the fire incident, there were concerns about the role played by the soldiers who were attached to guard the property. Their attitude and behaviour was remotely detached from the collective efforts of ordinary citizens who frantically tried to call for the fire services and do whatever they could to minimise the damage.

Mr Adejumo, a resident and landlord in the estate, was there, with other residents, championing the fire rescue effort, in kindred spirit, and tried to mobilise all around to salvage the situation. Unfortunately, the soldiers’ mood was not in tune with the anxiety of the local community about the potential large scale destruction of lives and property and it raised a lot of questions about the origin of the fire outbreak. In an action that appeared to be akin to an illicit drug induced violent behaviour, the soldiers pounced on him, for allegedly making comment about their laxity and negligence, and savagely attacked Mr Adejumo, who was defenceless, surprised and frightened for his dear life. He was kicked to the floor, wantonly booted on the head, body and dragged on the floor without any confrontation or exchange of words. His plea for mercy and patience went on deaf ears, the more he tried to catch the attention of the soldiers to show restraints, and the more he was pounced on like a rag doll as if they were on a mission to kill in the war front.

The crowd were so helpless because of fear for the life of this man and theirs, making them to reflect on the unenviable reputation of Nigerian Army men in uniform. The behaviour of these soldiers on the night was so dastardly heinous and conceived with a purposeful intention of maiming or doing serious damage to the person and body of Mr Adejumo who, luckily managed to be rescued from the senseless torture and grievous harm he was subjected to by these careless soldiers by fellow landlords and residents. He was left in profound pain and agony so much that he needed to be hospitalised for treatment.

The soldiers acted as if the fire incident was a war zone disaster and the brutality meted to Mr Adejumo was a legally binding behaviour that attracts no disciplinary consequences. When a Nigerian soldier began to batter his own citizen in peace time and cause bodily carnage and aggravated harm to defenceless ordinary citizens, should question not be asked whether, infact there is any insight amongst the military class that, engagement in brutal force with civilians amounts to gross indiscipline and necessitate thorough investigation and court martial proceedings.

The Nigeria Army pride itself in professionalism and sacred discipline, but when the oath of disciplinary testament is violated without any fear of consequences, then it begs the question whether our democracy is lacking in its meaning. The Military ordinarily is an institution of highly disciplined professionals, majority of whom are, but the behaviour and actions of recruits like these cast a massive shadow on the tenet of discipline within the force and bring into public disrepute the hard work of the men and officers who are working loyally and patriotically to uphold the code of discipline and professionalism within the Military

The brutal and savage attack on Mr Adejumo, who is known for promoting peace, dialogue and selfless service to one and many, an attribute he portrayed for many years living in the inner city of London, mentoring the young and driving probity and altruistic endeavours and raising champions for community and mankind , should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet unattended to without the Commanding Officer looking at the ABC of the event and dispensing disciplinary measures to those soldiers for their crude and unenviable behaviour in Army uniform.

We call on the Governor of Oyo State to show leadership in bringing his official might to bear on this incident and ensure that, all citizens of the state is protected by the civil law and their liberty and safety is not violated by soldiers who are posted to the state. Mr Adejumo is not an ordinary Ibadan citizen, he is a community leader, a patriotic Nigeria and a selfless individual who would not trespass or trample on the jurisdiction of anyone to do his work in helping others and protecting lives and limbs of fellow citizens.

We are petitioning the GOC Ibadan division and the Commanding officer for these errant soldiers and also petitioning the Oyo State Government to give meaningful attention to this incident. In a responsive society, this will immediately attract military and civil proceeding for violation of human right to safety and breach of military code of engagement with the civilian public.

Get the Soldiers out! Name and shame them!! Investigate the incident!!! And put a stop to such crude behaviour by our men in uniform.

Act Now!

By Dr Olayiwola Ajileye – Birmingham (drajileye@hotmail.com)

By Akintokunbo A. Adejumo | London, UK | June 13, 2012

”After three days of mourning. What’s next?
After three minutes of crying. What’s next?
After three hours of begging and pleading. What’s next?
After three months of investigation. What’s next?
The self generated disaster continues and those that are affected remains hopeless and helpless. The fear of the unknown!”  - Olatokunbo Akinsanya, Atlanta, GA on Facebook

Greek mythology tells the story of Icarus, the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned. The myth shares thematic similarities with that of Phaëton — both are usually taken as tragic examples of hubris or failed ambition and seen as the mythical pioneer in Man’s attempt to conquer the skies.

Man is not designed to fly like birds and a few flying mammals. But God has given Man the power, the intellect to conquer or at least adapt his environment to suit himself. So Man invented the wheel, and thus started the age of communication, transportation, etc from Point A to B and since then, Man has never looked back in his desire to make himself comfortable in his environment. The wheel is the basis for almost all other inventions.

To ensure that he gets from one point to the other as quickly as he can, Man continued to experiment and finally aligned the wheel with animal transportation, and every means of transportation we now know. Of course, there are some costs to pay – loss of lives. But trust Man, to always be inventive and adaptive. The losses of lives are inevitable and will not deter Man in his quest to better his life.

I have always been fascinated with the aeroplane. I always go to the airports and go to the viewing areas just to see planes land and take off. It is exhilarating for me and makes me appreciate technology. Unfortunately, it is not an invention of the black man. I have always wondered at the brains that came up with the idea of throwing such a huge metallic weight into the air, with people and goods inside, and staying afloat in the air, travelling at great speed and defying the laws of gravity. It is one of the greatest feats of Man, or perhaps, the white man.

But such complicated, sophisticated and dangerous way of commuting needs to be diligently monitored, regulated, maintained and serviced. In the Western World, we have these checks in place, as a result of the combination of more responsible people in government, little or no corruption, a definite duty of care and responsibility for their people (and in fact any people), concern for the health and safety of humanity and a respect for human life in general. These are generally and undoubtedly alien virtues in our country, and of course, our notorious and abject maintenance culture, or its lack thereof.

Let’s be realistic here; forget about air travel for now. The fact is we in Africa do not have respect for both human lives and the environment. That is why you see dead bodies on our streets and nobody cares to move them or find out how they got there. That is why you see destitute people and mentally-ill people parading the streets and we just pass by them and governments do not care either.

So here we go again, in Nigeria, at least. Another airplane disaster, two, actually, including the Nigerian cargo plane that killed 10 people in Ghana, the same weekend, which many, including this writer, thought are avoidable, or at least, preventable. The unfortunate (but avoidable) Dana Airline plane crash will continue to expose many ‘hidden facts’ in the Aviation industry in Nigeria, but then haven’t we been here before? Sosoliso, Bellview, ADC air crashes all within the space of 6 months or so in 2005/2006. Then, as now, there were lots of anguish, finger-pointing, investigations, censures, and most importantly, government promises, which were never kept.

In fairness to us – I mean Nigerians as a whole – Nigeria has managed to avoid fatal air crashes since the ADC crash in October 2006, but this is not as a result of diligent and sincere regulations and enforcement by the authorities or the government, just mere luck. (Nigerians will always ascribe that to the love of God for the country, as if they are the only people in the world that God created and loves). Ironically, it is this seeming lull in fatalities that led to complacency, and trust us, complacency is ours anytime, especially when things seem to be going on smoothly, everybody relaxes, and it is business (of corruption) as usual.

Personally, I had given up travelling by air within Nigeria, albeit not because of the dangers or lack of confidence in the air-worthiness of the planes, but due to cost. I simply cannot afford to travel by air in Nigeria due to the high fares, especially following the increase in the petroleum products in January 2012.  Underpinning that reason is the fact that ever since 2006; I had a morbid fear of flying in Nigerian-operated aircrafts.

But you see, our individualist and selfish attitude and approach to most of our problem is eventually haunting us and are mainly responsible for our failure to progress as a nation or people.  In other word, Nigerians are prone to solving collective problems individually and selfishly; for example, take the epileptic electricity nationwide; those who can afford it simply buy generators, and even some who are richer and more influential simply bribe PHCN officials and have personal transformers dedicated to them only installed near their grand mansions.

Another example: our various governments have failed to ensure supply of potable water to their citizens. What do Nigerians do? The rich ones simply construct boreholes to supply their personal water needs. The whole country is littered with millions of boreholes. But we will not collectively call on the governments to do something they are supposed to do; things we elect them and pay them to do.

The same streak of selfishness goes for security, transportation, education, etc. What our bad leaders and governments have failed to provide for their people, their people simply ignore them (and we mostly curse them too)  and try and solve their problems individually and not collectively, like calling for the heads of these corrupt government officials, or rejecting them at the ballot. We, the downtrodden masses of Nigeria, even, often, deliberately and despicably, aid and abet these crimes against ourselves.

How many lives have we lost due to plane crashes over the last 20 years? And add those thousands of lives lost on our bad roads, compounded by dangerous, illiterate, untrained and often drug-crazed drivers. The railway system was deliberately made moribund by haulage cabals whose trailers cause havoc and deaths on the roads, not to talk of the economic and social losses suffered as a result.

In the past 10 years of plane crashes in Nigeria, investigations were conducted (or at least the authorities say they will conduct investigations) but how many people know the result of the investigations? What information or learning were gleaned from the investigations into these crashes?

The depressing truth is that nobody does anything; the responsible airspace authority, e.g. Nigerian Airspace Management Authority, NAMA, is a corruption and nepotism-ridden agency, like most government arms anyway. There are also several other agencies responsible for ensuring planes being flown in this country are regularly and consistently serviced and maintained to be safe.

The fact is air travel in Nigeria is unsafe. The roads are even worse and unsafe, and maritime travel is almost non-existent. And rail transport has been deliberately made inadequate and ineffective. Water or marine transportation is largely ignored.  The safest means of transport seems to be by walking from Lagos to Kano.

But what do our leaders do? They spend their time chasing shadows, busy with their perfected art of corruption and mismanagement; politicking instead of governing; instead of taking decisive action about a probe that shows the intensity of oil corruption that places a nation of over 150 million in stagnant poverty; waking up one morning and unnecessarily renaming universities without consulting the legislators or referring to history (University of Lagos was established by an Act of Parliament); the Presidency taking his time to reinstate a judicial officer who has been exonerated and which he only took hours to suspend after recommendation from the same body that has now recommended his recall.

But unfortunately, we all have to share the blame, not only the inaptly named Mr Goodluck and his cohorts of mediocre and political jobbers. We are allowing a lot of things to be brushed under the carpet. Our greatest sins are allowing such brutish, corrupt, selfish, invidious, insidious, sinister charlatan, mediocre and murderous opportunists to rule us and then when they are exposed for what they are, we still celebrate them.

How long can a people continue to allow ineptness, inefficiency, mediocrity and corruption to rule and control their future? It is time for a stronger show from the people of this confounding country to their pseudo-leaders that their misdemeanour and folly will no longer be tolerated. All of us are accountable for the bloodbath Nigeria has become because some of us stay silent, some of us benefit directly and indirectly (I laugh when these people call themselves “stakeholders”) from the corruption, and some of us are just no longer interested.

So the government will conduct a probe or two; suspend a few people on full pay; or maybe even fire a few idiots; suspend an airline licence or two; and perhaps even offer a few meagre sums to the families of the victims?

Already some fallout is happening: The government has already ordered the indefinite withdrawal of Dana Airline’s Operating Licence; also a Mr John I. Nnorom, former Executive Director for Finance at Air Nigeria, has warned Nigerians to stop flying the airline until they are sure that its planes are being properly maintained. In a blistering public petition, Mr. Nnorom, who resigned his appointment with the airline recently, blamed the situation on Jimoh Ibrahim, the chairman of Air Nigeria, whom he accused of being uninterested in the maintenance of company aircraft.

The Senate also has passed a resolution on the issue called for officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority led by its Director- General, Harold Demuren to step aside and allow for investigations into the incident.

As such, while I hope to be surprised with a positive outcome from this gloom, I hesitate to hold my breath. Confounding Nigeria, will likely brush this incident under the carpet, say it’s God’s doing and you cant fight God, and continue to live their lives, until the next major disaster – Boko Haram massacre, collapsed building, horrific road accident,  a severe ethnic clash, etc.

And our politicians continue to dine, wine and laugh, oblivious of the effect of their corruption and ineptitude, and in the words of Stevie Wonder (Village Ghetto Land) “Politicians laugh and drink – drunk to all demands ……Now some folks say that we should be, Glad for what we have, Tell me would you be happy in Village Ghetto Land.”

When shall our so-called leaders wake up to the fact that corruption is killing Nigerians by the thousands everyday, in every sphere of our lives; that the comfort of the tree branch translates to comfort for the chicken that perches on it; that if you throw stones in the market, the person it will hit will be a family member?

Corruption does not really pay anybody; the victim or the perpetrator. We are all suffering the effects.

By Akintokunbo A. Adejemo | London, UK | May 7, 2012 |

It is quite possible that my star, Libra, has something to do with being fair on and with other people, but there we have it.

I am not a member of the ruling PDP (God forbid bad thing) and incidentally, I only recently decided to be sympathetic towards the main opposition political party, ACN, and to be frank, it is really because they seem to offer an alternative, and of course, there are certain of my respected friends and family who are members. Up till now, I am yet to see or fathom out their ideology as a political party (but we will get there sometime, I hope)

So what is this thing about a church in the little hamlet of Etuoke, which just happens to be the President’s hamlet in the creeks of Bayelsa State?

To underline the hypocrisy of the media and the opposition, I have seen several different spellings of the name of the village in the newspapers. Nobody even seems to know how to spell the name of this Nigerian hamlet – Otuoke, Etuoke, Utuoke, Otukpe, etc. I will confess I don’t know how the name of the village is spelt, probably because I have not been able to locate the name or the village itself on any Nigerian map, at least for now, until the hullaballoo has put the name on the lips of many Nigerians, if at all, who were until the furore, quite blissfully oblivious of such a hamlet in the creeks.

Well, that is the least of my problems for now. The hypocrisy and one-sidedness of the whole affair is further highlighted by the detail that we totally ignored the fact that the dubious culture, and corrupt too, of contractors building edifices and giving various gifts (for now, don’t let’s call them bribes) to government officials and politicians took root a very long time ago in this country. In fact, the whole landscape is littered with such dubious gifts to presidents, heads of states, governors and even their lowly deputies and local government chairpersons, as well as military governors in their heydays, not to talk of influential federal and state legislators who head committees. And you want to see such gifts for senior civil servants?

So what are we talking about here? During a recent former president’s eight year tenure, the issue of free gifts from government contractors, individuals and political job seekers was quite rife and common.  And nobody ever exposed it in the press, not to talk of castigating him. It is said that if the former president wants to approve a contract, for example, he will subtly tell the contractors, in front of everybody, that he likes the product or service and he surely won’t mind one on his farm. His farm, not even his town!

Of course the contractors will take the hint and next thing you know, a sample, if I may refer to it that way, will soon be replicated on the man’s various farms. Of course, he has not even demanded a bribe.

I hate pettiness and hypocrisy in the same vein and intensity. How many structures – libraries, mosques, churches, villas and house – have been built for Nigerian leaders by construction firms and contractors over the decades? I have been all over the places in Abuja and Lagos and other cities, where the residents point out to me that Julius Berger (or any other construction company with contracts from the various governments) built this for so so and so. From Minna, to Abuja, to Lagos, to Ibadan, to Benin, to Port Harcourt, to Ilorin, to Yola, to Makurdi, the Nigerian landscape is littered with such dubious donations, mostly testaments to corrupt (sometimes they call it gratifications) or underhand practices by our so-called leaders.
Yet for all these mansions and other structures built and donated to individuals, I have never read in the dailies, for the past 40 years of any exposure of such donations or the individuals donated to. And now, even a supposed national political party, regarded as the main opposition, feels very robustly that a donation of a Church building to a hamlet should constitute enough ground to impeach the President! It just smacks of hypocrisy and I feel very much let down that I support this same party. Such frivolity!

Mind you, I am not saying the practice of donating mansions and what not to serving politicians and other government officials is not corruption (it is corruption as we know it), my beef is that the media was used to hype it up (in their very own short sighted and lopsided manner), maybe innocuously just to sell their papers, or most probably, being spurred and eventually succumbing to mischief brought about by brown envelopes stuffed with high denomination Naira notes, or better still, in Ghana-Must-Go bags.

Whatever it is, it is poor, lazy and partisan journalism on their part. So I went to my parish church, and it was there I learnt that everybody got it wrong.

Even the people defending the President failed to point out – and probably they did not know – the crucial fact of the issue, thereby not justifying whatever they are being paid, to defend the president from slander and ridicule.

If the Nigerian Press had just put in some extra investigative efforts, and the opposition party had also done the same, and apply a little caution in their haste to impeach Mr Goodluck Jonathan, or at best, to embarrass him, they would have found out that under the Anglican Communion of Nigeria (and in fact, most of the other Christian denominations like the Catholics, Baptist Convention, the Methodists, etc) an individual cannot own a church. All churches built, whether by the community or a rich individual in the community or, as in this case, by a construction company, belong to the Anglican Diocese  in that part of the country, and by association, to the Anglican Communion of the country. No person can own a church under the Anglican and Catholic Dioceses in any part of the world. A church may be built and named after the donor, and that is by very rare approval by the Bishop, but that church reverts to the Communion or Diocese.

In the case of the beleaguered Mr Jonathan and the church built in his hamlet in the creeks of the Niger Delta, neither he nor the people of his hamlet own the church. (Sorry Sir, until you become St Goodluck of Etuoke, you probably cannot own a church, and this has saved your bacon). Even the massive church built by an ex-Governor of Ogun State in Sagamu, in memory of his father, belongs to the Communion. If he insists it belongs to him, he will have to start his own Christian ministry, which is of course easy to do these days.

Having said this, I will not say that the intent of the Italian construction company is not suspect even in its attempt to satisfy some vague corporate social responsibility. It could be, as they claim, but if this is so, the building of a church for a poor community is hardly what the people of that community need. If they had built or renovated a maternity centre or a block of classrooms in Etuoke (I still don’t know the correct spelling) I suppose the furore would never have reared its hypocritical head, and of course, they would have gained more positive publicity mileage than what they have got now.

Even the president would have been basking in some sort of glory and can even come out and thump his chest and shout from the rooftops of Aso Rock that he facilitated the building of a hospital or school for his community, and on the way, scoring political, social and civil points and shutting up the mouths of both his detractors in his own party and the opposition.

Oh, for us to have wise leaders, a responsible and non-partisan press and ideologically-focused political parties!