When a group of people with diverse cultures, visions, aspirations, objectives and goals are brought together either by nature or by man; there would be one form of disagreement or another. They may, out of this disagreement not display open hostilities thereby maintaining graveyard peace but deep down feel so embittered that it is just a matter of time for the bubble to burst. The checks and methods devised to managing conflicts that arise out of these human relations will determine the level of peace that could be enjoyed at a particular period
Peace has been generally taken to mean absence of hostilities. Peace to me is not a mere absence of hostilities, but a relative state, in which a group of people are able to manifest tolerance, understanding and respect for each other’s views; to preserve or achieve a common goal, objective or purpose for the good of all.
In the socio-political and economic front, most people in communist countries do not like the system of governance, yet they live with the repression that laws impose on their inner peace by the State. Though the state of things may seem peaceful, the people may not necessarily be at peace, yet no open hostilities. It will be wrong to say that such a system offers the kind of peace one looks up to.
In the economic front, things are getting more scary and awry. On January 27th 2009, Ervin Antonio Lupoe and his wife, Ana who both lost their jobs at Kaiser Permanente, West Los Angeles Medical Center; found no other ways to cope with the harsh realities of life. Haven reached their wits end, also had their lives and that of their 5 children terminated. The folk that pulled the trigger wrote and implicated work-related issues. Though the State may be witnessing some level of peace, the people are witnessing hell unleashed on their inner peace.
In Gainesville, Ga; Gregg and Brittiny Peters were luckier as they got their inner peace restored by Donnia and Keith Blair of Texas who bidded $20,000 for their properties except their house that were put on sale on the eBay. The Peters wanted to sell all they had in order to start life all over again. They wanted to be able to give life a meaning to their medically challenged 2-year-old son Noah who was said to have been diagnosed with autism and with sensory and gastrointestinal disorders, their 7-year-old daughter Ayla said to have been diagnosed with juvenile arthritis and an innocent 1-year-old son, Eli.
Even the rich are not insulated from the meltdown. They are bleeding to death. In Great Britain, mail online reported that Kirk Stephenson a very successful business and family man unable to cope with the pressures of the credit crunch took a dive from a moving train to end the unfolding bad business drama. In Germany, the BusinessWeek in a moving report says “German industrial mogul Adolf Merckle, 74, committed suicide on Monday after his group of companies got into trouble as a result of the financial crisis, his family said on Tuesday”. This is even gorier considering his age and he was said to have been run over by a train. In the United States of America the ABC news had reported on December 23rd 2008 “Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, a well-respected French investment fund manager appears to have committed suicide”
As recounted above, the economic meltdown is now taking huge tolls on the people across the globe. It has taken some lives like that of the Lupoes, Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, Adolf Merckle and Kirk Stephenson. Surprisingly, the woes and the repercussions are boundariless. For the Blairs, it would have also taken away the hard earned properties of the Peters. The sad occurrences might have been forestalled but for the recklessness of discretionary powers, lack of effective and efficient leadership in business transactions and the questionable unbriddled freedom of the capitalist market system.
There may not have been open hostilities during the economic meltdown period, but everybody knows that at no time since the late 1920s has there been any economic violence against man as we currently witness. Even then, experts are warning that it may get worse. So, who is the next victim?
Though there are no wars, there are massive human sufferings mounting in dizzying paces that one cannot truly say that there is peace in the world. Except something is done and urgently too, the revolution of the belly may soon take nations down the road of physical revolution.
The threat to peace in any environment is caused by perceived inequalities and insecurity by part of a group. The “I have a dream” speech of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr; was borne out of political, gender, racial, economic and social inequalities unleashed on blacks in their own country. These inequalities led to series of campaigns, agitations and actions embarked upon by activists to call the nation’s leaders to order. Just as predicted by King 46 years ago, all forms of inequalities are today pushing people to the brink. It is becoming a game of the jungle rule that supports only the fittest.
Compounding the woes of mankind are the preventable and senseless wars leaders of nations are taking their people through. Looking at the world today and the level of hostilities across the globe, one is constrained to pause a while to ask some questions on why there are genocides and ethnic cleansing in modern day civilization. Why would brothers rise against brothers as witnessed in the Congo in the 90s and now, the Darfur region of western Sudan, the Sierra-Leonean war of 1991-2002, the Liberian wars of 1989–1996 and 1999-2003, the Nigerian Civil war, 1967-1970, the Rwanda genocide in 1994 and the Chechnya in 1999? Why would a nation wake up one morning to destroy or aim to destroy other nations as in the cases of recurring Israel/Palestine wars, the current Iraq/allies war that has killed thousands of people, made several widows, widowers and orphans; invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990, Iraq/Iran war of 1980-1988, Russian/Georgia in 2008 and the increased destruction of lives and properties in the name of religion by fundamentalists?.
Several reasons have been adduced for these preventable wars which have wasted several millions of life and pushed trillions of dollars down the drain. These reasons include ethnic, race, religious and class rivalries. Apart from these reasons, one major cause of these wars have been the West’s manipulation of the political and socio-economic order to suit its ever increasing appetite for domination of the world. The other reason is the greed, selfish and the inordinate personal ambition of majority of the leaders over national interests. This has been proven by the numbers of ethnic and national leaders jailed by the International Court of Justice in recent years.
Unfortunately, innocent youths who are not in the know of the main reasons behind these senseless wars are drafted to actualize the dreams of the West and these selfish leaders. This is even very true of terrorists groups whose leaders run manipiulative media propanganda to convince the common man on the need to lace themselves with explosives to blow up others in the name of God.
In almost all the circumstances, most of the children of these leaders are abroad studying or in the comfort of their parents’ homes without being drafted to fight alongside the masses nor are they used as suicide bombers. So, by implication, their own children must not die in order to lord it over others when the wars are over.
In reviewing the reasons for most of these wars, one can conclude that if the leaders involved had tarried a little while, to listen to the voice of reason, allow effective mediatory efforts, shack the garb of greed, pride and self-centeredness, the world would have been a better place to live. There is nothing to show that the reasons people take to terrorism cannot be addressed on the dialogue table. It is a matter of people being hasty in their judgements.
Conflicts arising from inter relationships can be managed to such a level that all the stakeholders will be free to carry out lawful activities that will fetch them food, housing and other social benefits without hindrance from any quarters. Many wars are preventable if we uphold the tenets of social justice, rule of law and the state provides welfare services for the good of the people.
It is my view that it is possible to live together in one accord no matter our racial divide and religious differences. If the leaders do what is just and fair, the followers will follow as directed. It is my dream to have world’s peace that transcends all barriers. In this dream, peace will have no consideration for colours, race, boundaries, nations or religion. I believe that there is enough for everybody to make life meaningful if only human beings can exercise restraints in greed and self-serving ventures.
When everybody learns to respect the views, culture, norms, religion of others we can achieve the level of our desired peace. When we are our brothers’ keeper just like the Blairs have been, we shall have no reason to steal from our commonwealth when in position of authourity, aggrandize what belongs to the commonwealth for our personal gains or convert what is for the commonwealth to our use. When we have mutual respect for each other, we shall be in a position to truly see other people as human beings worthy of existence and entitled to all good things of life. In this lays the panacea for peace in our environment and by extension beyond our shores.
The West should please, reconsider its manipulation of world’s political and socio-economic order, which to a large extent led to most of the wars mentioned earlier. Leaders of countries should see themselves as servants of the people rather than ride to the crest of power only to foist disorderliness, angst, poverty and hunger on the people. I sincerely believe that peace without boundaries is possible if only we truly care and love our neighbours as ourselves. Let us all join hands to preach the peace that will give our future generation a peaceful start now.
It is with great pleasure and gratitude to God that I stand before youths that by God’s grace represent the future of our great country to deliver a paper on our vision for this great country.
The topic for today’s discussion “our dream for a greater Nigeria” cannot come at a better time. It is very apt at a time like this when the ashes of war between the masses and the government over petroleum pump price increase and the sales of three out of the four nation’s refineries is just settling. We are currently witnessing gloom, apathy, and despair especially in the Niger Delta region as typified by increase restiveness, agitations, kidnapping, hostage taking, killings and pipelines vandalism. These are times when fuel queues have become the rule rather than the exception because of societal dysfunction and the recklessness with which our crude lines are destroyed. These are times when the masses of this nation helplessly watch their political highway turn into a bloody landscape littered with reckless drivers. Times when parents could determine the entry of their wards into the university but unsure of when they will graduate. Times characterized by heightened insecurity, extreme poverty, hunger and hopelessness. We are witnessing times when energy that is sine qua non for development is a tall wish. These are times when social safety nets do not exist in the dictum of governance. Times when unemployment has turned the future of our youths to a nightmare and times when the life span of people of other nations is getting elongated and ours are shortening and indeed times when child and maternal mortality rates are so high. In midst of all these, we need to redefine our focus and vision in order to shake off the shackles of the aforementioned and perceived state of hopelessness and move towards the achievement of our dream for a greater Nigeria
DEFINITION OF A DREAM
Longman’s active Dictionary defines a dream as, “a series of thoughts, images and experiences that come into your mind when you are asleep. They are thoughts, i.e.; something you think of, remember or realize”. While it defines vision as, “the knowledge and imagination that are needed in planning for the future with a clear purpose” From the above definitions, our greatness would be determined by the type of thoughts our inner minds evoke about what and where we want to be and our preparedness to seek the necessary knowledge to back our thought processes towards the height we want to attain.
As a people, we have had very good dreams of where we want to be. This can be attested to by the reforms embarked upon by successive governments especially the last Obasanjo administration. We have however not been able to attain the expected level of successes because we have had those plans without God. We finish the plans only to pray God into the plans and unless the Lord builds a city, the builder builds in vain. Our policy implementers have carried on with arrogance of power and complete disconnect with the people. Policies that would have positively changed the entire course of the country have been a complete disaster; counter productive, completely anti-people and a massive failure. This has been worsened and compounded by self centered, selfish and bad leaders on one side; and poor and complacent followers on the other side.
On August 22, 2004; during former President Obasanjo’s monthly media chat, he alluded to the fact that implementation of policies is our major problem, not the dearth of good policies. Two examples are the failures in the power sector and the bad state of our roads despite the trillions of Naira sunk into the projects by the government. Therefore, we could summarily conclude that good policy wrongly implemented is as good as a bad policy.
WHERE WE ARE.
We are endowed with so much material resources yet so poor. Some of those who served the country meritoriously have died on the queue in the process of verifying their pension claims. This could be likened to the proverbial woman who sells palm oil but has non for her children to eat yam in her own home. We have so much crude oil and mineral resources yet suffer perennial petroleum scarcities. This is a country where we have green vegetation all year round but yet hungry. Fertilizers for farmers are aggrandized by elites at the expense of the rural farmers who need it to grow their crops. We virtually import every atom of white products and luxury items. We are so blessed with abundant human resources but so much in want of effective leaders.
The poverty index rating has shown that we, and especially the youths are socially alienated, un-empowered and economically disenfranchised. The 2006 Human Development index (HDI) reports using 2004 benchmarks that Nigeria was ranked 76 out of 102 countries on the poverty scale. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Per Capita ranked 154 out of 172 countries. In the same report, children underweight for age (0-5); Nigeria was ranked 113 out of 134. We have so much water surrounding us yet thirsty. Nigeria was ranked 116 out of 125 countries that have no access to improved source of water. On life’s expectancy index, our ranking is hitting an all time low of 43.4 years and 116 out of 177 countries. Maternal and infant mortality is still frightening. Infant mortality rate is put at 100/1000 live births and maternal mortality rate stands at 550/100,000. Schools are closed for more than half of the session in a year. Nigeria ranks 140 out of 172 countries in combined primary, secondary and tertiary institutions gross enrollment.
The spate of assassinations and killings in the country is alarming, the incidences of armed robbery across the nation puts one’s heart in the mouth as one walks the street. Port-Harcourt for instance has been under siege for sometime now. Our security agencies seem not to have answers to the petroleum products’ vandalism and unravelling the misery of these killings. Nigeria is the only country in the world where we erect more solid fences around our buildings than any known maximum security prison, thereby making us perpetual prisoners in our own environment.
As a child of the living God, irrespective of the disillusionment expressed by the majority of our people, I believe in the words of James Allen, which is the reason we are gathered here today, “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”
Therefore, our gathering today is to synergize and proffer solutions to those fears, woes, frustrations, poverty and uncertainties of our people and navigate through this ocean of negativism into our promised land of positivism.
OUR DREAMS about!!!!
(a) Security.
(i) Food security.
(ii) Social security
(iii) Security of lives and properties.
(iv) Employment and income security.
(v) Security of energy and power.
(b) Equality.
(i) Equal opportunities to decent jobs.
(ii) Equality in appointments.
(iii) Equality in respect for the girl child.
(iv) Equality in access to education.
(c) Patriotism.
(d) Poverty.
(e) Health.
(i) Maternal mortality.
(ii) Infant mortality.
(iii) Access to health care for all the citizens where Nigerians would no longer need to seek medical treatment abroad.
(f) Role of the Church.
(g) Transparency.
(h) Stability.
(i) Love.
Food security:
We dream about the NigerianState where every citizen could afford three square meals. Since most government reforms are tailored towards what happens in the advanced world, our government must also take a queue from them by ensuring that every Nigerian has access to three square meals a day. This is the lowest want of man that would make Nigerians healthy and available for work and at the end contribute their quota to the goods and services’ basket for the good of Nigeria. In America, one thing everybody has access to is food. In that country and in almost all parts of Europe, which our government uses as bench mark for every reform, a family without means of subsistence has access to food stamps to enable them eat, remain healthy and keep tomorrow’s hope alive. This is the starting bloc of a virile and responsible government.
Social security:
It is our dream that the Government should have a social security system in place, which would guarantee that our youths go to school without tears and evolve an educational system that will ensure that our students attend lecture all year round, run a qualitative educational system that would compete favourably with a modern system. It should provide a system that would make it predictable on when our generation and beyond shall begin primary education and end at the tertiary level, etc. We dream of a system that will ensure that every Nigerian child has the opportunity to go to school irrespective of the social strata. It is imperative to ensure that poverty does not pose a hindrance to the actualization of a child’s dream.
I listened to former President Obasanjo’s fair well media chat on NTA on May 20, 2007. He was asked about the ASUU’s strike. The then President said he did not know why the lecturers were on strike and went on to sing aloud that there are private universities abound in Nigeria. What he forgot is that 80% of Nigerians cannot afford to take their children to those schools. This was a clear message that the masses of this nation are “on their own”
In addition, in Europe and in several oil producing nations, children have access to free and qualitative education. Where school fees are paid, the system ensures that students have unhindered access to grants, scholarships, loans, bursaries, etc. We dream of a Nigeria where teachers shall take their pride of place in the society, stop the commercialization of hand outs and students would work with dignity to pass their exams without examination mal-practices.
We dream of a Nigeria where majority of the people can wake up under their own roofs using mortgage facilities. This would safeguard us against the whims of exploitation by the capitalist system. We should be able to commute from place to place with less strain and be able to live decently at old age. Our system should guarantee quality life in retirement. We do not want to end up like those who have meritoriously served this nation in various capacities but walk the streets as beggars without any hope for a better tomorrow or like those who died on the queue as they awaited accreditation for their hard earned pension benefits. While government must put programmes in place to assure our tomorrow after service, our senior citizens who decided in their working lives not to steal government’s money to amass ill gotten wealth for a better tomorrow, should have access to government welfare packages that would give them their daily bred and adequate health care now and until they take a final bow.
Security of lives and properties:
We dream of a secured country where we can go to sleep with our two eyes closed. Government owes us a duty of care and should ensure that we are able to sleep without the fear of armed robbers, burglars, rapists and assassins. We should not be held captive in our own land. We should be free to walk the streets in any part of Nigeria at any time of the day without molestation of hoodlums. We dream of a system, which would ensure that when we are in distress and we call our police, they would respond appropriately without complaints of lack of petrol, spare tire or in even no vehicle. In several parts of Europe, which government use as role model a distress call to the police takes some few minutes to come to the aid of the caller. We dream of a tomorrow where hostage taking, armed robbery and assassinations are greatly minimized so that investors are encouraged to come into Nigeria and set up businesses, which would employ our youths.
We dream of a day when we would travel by road to any part of the country without harassment by policemen that are supposed to be our friends. Many road users lose about two hours to road checks on our highways. For instance, Ibadan-Lagos which normally takes one hour could take a whole day. Benin-Ore express way has become a nightmare to passengers. Apart from the threat to lives, these breaks lead to economic losses to the nation is enormous.
Employment and income security:
We dream of a tomorrow when the unemployment of majority of our youths would be a thing of the past. Government should make concerted and conscious efforts to ensure that our youths are gainfully employed. Where they are not, this country can pay some stipends to the unemployed as a security check. In a shrinking economy driven by the concepts of globalization, selfishness and greed, our young graduates should be introduced to different vocations during their youth service years to empower them to be self-employed and be able to become employers of labour. Concerted efforts must be made to create decent jobs and not the umbrella under the sun or rain jobs that litter the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. This is the only way we can break the circuit of poverty and hunger.
Security of energy and power:
It is our dream that in not too distant time, uninterrupted power and energy supply would be made available. It is the spindle in which the wheels of technological development revolve. This must be considered and addressed as such. For instance in the Nigeria of today, taking the path of self employment is like taking a suicidal plunge because the investment would not be supported by the infrastructures that make such work in other parts of the world. The cyber café operators, barbing and hair salon operators, welders, beauticians, industrialists, etc; depend on regular power supply to meet their business objectives.
Unfortunately, these operators are down most of the time. Others have collapsed because even when money is available to purchase a generator, the cost of petroleum products to drive the process eats deep into the capital. Most of the enterprises rely on electrical generating sets as their sources of power and PHCN as a back-up instead of the other way round. The costs of the use of generators by the companies have a negative multiplier effects on prices of goods and services. The damage to the environment in terms of pollution is huge and alarming. This trend must be reversed. We want to see our refineries attain maximum capacity utilization that would meet the needs of our people today and tomorrow. We dream of a Nigeria that shall be a net exporter of finished products instead of a net exporter of raw materials and a net importer of petroleum products. Herein lays the panacea to job creation and development.</p>
Equality:
We dream of a Nigeria, where every Nigerian has equal opportunities to qualitative education and decent jobs. We yearn for a country where appointments are made based on merit, level of patriotism, commitment, and loyalty to the country, rather than on race, religion, godfatherism, parochial interests, tribal sentiments and a federal character with character. We dream of a Nigeria that would treat the male and the female child equally; where they would both have equal opportunities to qualitative education; and a country where the wife would not be accused of being everything evil when the husband dies and widows treated with respect, dignity and honour instead of being dehumanized and losing everything they both worked for to the relations of the husband after the burial ceremonies. We dream of a system where the euphemism of geo-political zone shall have nothing to do with the ascendancy of every Nigerian to a position of honour.
Patriotism:
Our dream for a greater Nigeria is to see our youths motivated to a point where they shall be ready to lay down their lives for Nigeria and be hungry to seek ways of making Nigeria a greater country rather than what benefits they would get from Nigeria. We look forward to a country where there shall be total removal of racial, tribal and religious colorations in which a Nigerian can become a governor of any state of the Federation without necessarily being an indigene of that state and a Nigerian where the President and the Vice could come from any part of the country and even of same religion as long they are eminently qualified without protests.
We are yearning for a country where our youths would not be agents of the cabals that vandalize our national assets like bridge railings, petroleum products’ pipelines, PHCN transformers, electrical and communication cables/equipment to boost their own wealth at the detriment of the larger society. Our dream is to see our best brains stay in this country to develop our economy. Our kiths and kins doing less decent jobs abroad should return home to do what they do outside this shore with pride, honour and dignity. We look forward to a future when we shall jointly rise against the godfathers of evil who use the youths to assassinate their political and economic opponents and subvert our election processes in order to continuously enslave the rest of us economically, socially and politically. We want Nigeria where youths would say no to being armed for obnoxious and selfish aspirations of these godfathers.
Poverty:
We dream of a Nigeria that shall be the center point of the world and a country that would have the world in her pocket in the next decade. We look forward to a day when the youths of this nation shall rise in one accord and demand accountability from the few cabals that aggrandized to themselves our common wealth. We see a Nigeria that shall feed the world with our agricultural products and a Nigeria where every family shall own its own house and have the basic needs of life. We dream of a Nigeria that would empower the Nigerian man or woman to live on more than three hundred naira per day and above all overcome the poverty of the mind and intellect in order to ride into our new world of riches and abundance.
Role of the Church:
Our dream is to see the church stand up for the truth and the masses by ensuring that those that steal the money meant for the society would have no hiding place. Those who stole people’s mandate and money only to use the church as a platform to showcase their affluence in the guise of thanksgiving must be rebuffed because it might be a curse to all those who partake in their activities (Mat 23. 1-39; Mark 12. 38-40; Luke 20. 45-47. Never again must we give special chairs to questionable characters to congregate with the children of God because in their woes we might share (God forbid) on the judgment day. A country can only develop when we are morally upright. The church must ask questions about the sources of the wealth of church members because the church is the platform for building the nation on kingdom values and life style.
Corruption:
One of the things that have set our country back is corruption. Corruption has so many facets viz: financial, moral, etc. Our dream is to see to the emergence of a corruption free society in our time. Our dream is to see the youths at the fore front in the fight against this canker worm that has destroyed the fabrics of our national psyche and societal ethos. We dream of a time when our society would not eulogize money nor worship heroes of questionable character. It is note worthy that this process has started with the emergence of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI). We pray that these bodies would be used to pursue a genuine national agenda for the benefit of all.
Health:
Our dream for Nigeria is to have a health system that will ensure that every child born survives and lives beyond the biblical three scores and ten instead of the estimated 43 years, a land where Doctors are motivated to remain in Nigeria for the benefits of Nigerians, where our mothers would not be scared of child birth nor die from delivery related ailments, where our leaders shall be proud to treat themselves and their families in our hospitals and where every Nigerian would have access to medical treatment without tears.
Leadership:
We dream of a Nigeria where every citizen shall have equal opportunity to reach the pinnacle of leadership socially, economically and politically. We dream of the emergence of our leaders through the process of hard work and merit and indeed leaders should be transparent in whatever assignments they have to carry out on behalf of society. We wish to see a government that is responsible, that would act as a servant-leader and accountable to the people and not the other way round as we have witnessed in our political system in time past. It is our dream to wake up one day and see our leaders think of the masses first before themselves and re-inventing the General Murtala’s era where those in power would willingly give back to society their loot from public coffers for the development of the society.
Respect for human dignity:
We dream of a society where people can freely express themselves without molestation by law enforcement agents. We dream of a day when peaceful protesters would be allowed to air their views with the police providing protection as done in other civil societies without using hot leads on harmless people. It is absurd to see peaceful protesters tear gassed and sent to untimely death just because of speaking out against the misdeeds of government. We look unto the day where widows shall be treated fairly, justly and with dignity of womanhood and single parents are assisted to raise their children for the good of society.
Center-point of the world:
Our dream is to see to the emergence of Nigeria that is the true giant of Africa and indeed the potpourri of the world in commerce and governance. We dream of a country where the rest of the world would want to be, where hostage taking, kidnappings and undue militancy would have no place because of our civility and using the tools of dialogue to win our battles therefore creating a conducive environment for investment and development.
HAS GOVERNMENT DONE ANYTHING TO ACHIEVE NIGERIA’S DREAMS?
In trying to actualize the dreams, aspirations of the Nigerian people, the government took an in-depth analysis of its past and came out with the National Economic Empowerment and development strategies (NEEDS). This is a policy document aimed at re-orienting values, reducing poverty, creating wealth and generating employment. The document, which supplied the blue print for Nigerian Reform agenda, was released in 2004 by the National planning Commission. This was based on the Constitution, the Kuru declaration; past initiatives such as VISION 2010 and widespread consultations and participation throughout Nigeria.
2001 Kuru declaration embodies the Nigerian vision viz: to build a truly great African country, politically united, integrated and stable, economically prosperous, socially organized, with equal opportunity for all, responsibility from all, to become the catalyst of the African Renaissance, and making adequate all-embracing contributions, sub-regionally, regionally and globally. The goal of the NEEDS document is to mobilize the resources of Nigeria to make a fundamental break with the failures of the past and bequeath united and prosperous nation to generations to come” this is in line with the Millennium Development goals, which set out to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a Global Partnership for Development.
Again, the NEEDS document, which has its equivalent at the state level as SEEDS (States’ Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies) could be said to have achieved some level of successes such as banking recapitalization reform, withdrawal of public funds previously deposited at low interest rates and erasing of distressed bank syndrome, independent auditing of oil and gas operations by the HART Group engaged by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), dealing with 419ers by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the investigation of corrupt public officers, growth of GDP that has been stable at 5% since 1992 reached 7% in 2006 and projected to reach 10% in 2007, due process saved about 130billion Naira in 2005 from inflated contracts, reduced interests rates, stable exchange rate, more than $40Billion in foreign reserve.
Laudable as the above are, from what we have read, heard and seen especially with the last elections, our socio-economic systems and the statistics above; one can safely say that the aims, objectives of the MDG and that of NEEDS, which encapsulate re-orienting of values, reducing poverty, creating wealth and generating employment have not met the benchmarks.
WAY FORWARD.
1.The security of the nation is a multi-dimensional thing. We as citizens of this great nation must help government by reporting suspicious elements in our environment. The criminals live in our midst and as Christians we can not turn our eyes to the other side when we identify people who do not wish society well.
2. Be a carrier of the banner of God in all you do. Remember you are an ambassador of God and the country wherever you are. Obeying the commandments of God would assist us in living right. Our value system must change. We must re-invent the brothers’ keeper concept and the communal life known to every African society.
3. Paradigm shift. The disillusionment must give way to hope, hard work and not seeking the get rich quick using foul means.
4. Confessing positively about the Nigerian project: Often times I hear people confess that Nigeria is a dead country, crazy country, etc. We as Christians should know that the tongue is a powerful organ that could set in motion very negative outcomes. Let us begin to confess and profess positively on the Nigerian project.
5. Elimination of examination malpractices: Parents must ensure that education starts at the mothers’ knees. Parents must let children know that failure is an aspect of life, which can be corrected with the right tools, hard work, prayers and determination. Children must be brought up to know that there is dignity in working hard.
6. Love and respect for every human being: We must say no to illicit acts. Many of us might have found ourselves on the wrong side of history and morals. We have done things that we cannot be proud of. We must use such experiences to guide the on-coming generation unto the positive side of history.
7. We must walk the talk.
8. Helping the less privileged.
9. Consider Nigeria first in all things we do. Think of things you can do to uplift the image of Nigeria. Youths must refuse to be used for assassinations, election fraud and cultism because the youths are the beneficiaries of the whirlwind sowed by such acts.
10. Organize community based projects.
11. Organize frequent seminars to remind ourselves of the ideals of living right.
12. Dream big; “Big thinking precedes great achievement.” Wilfred Peterson.
13. Abhor injustice and speak out against it. Let us be bold to demand accountability of our government. Those saddled with the responsibilities of overseeing the affairs of this nation must uphold the constitution they have sworn to protect.
14. Use the church as a platform for social change.
15. Act as volunteers in all spheres of need.
16. Attend leadership programmes. Deepen your leadership orientation by attending training programmes on leadership.
17. Let us join or form organizations that would muster the courage to ask our political leaders what they do with federal, state, and local Government allocations.
18. Networking.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.
“Dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision-Anonymous.
Let me end this lecture by quoting some excerpts sent to my email during the preparation of this lecture by Pastor Maxwell Ogaga. Let us all get together with a dream for a New Nigeria and build a greater nation where:
1. Peace, Justice and Equity will reign.
2. You are not judged by your tribe but by your character and values.
3. Her citizenry are committed to the nation and are productive individually.
4. Role model servant leaders are produced for the world to emulate.
5. The labour of our heroes past shall not be in vain.
6. We shall all be safe and live symbiotically irrespective of race or religion.
7. Corruption and violence will be the thing of the past.
Reference:
Human Development Report 2006- Country Fact Sheets-Nigeria
At the twilight of late General Abacha’s rule, former President Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) and others were condemned to death for plotting to overthrow his government. By divine providence, OBJ was rescued from the valley of the shadow of death. When it was time to source for the man that could help to knit the political fabrics of Nigeria together, ex-military men and the powerful political class routed for Obasanjo in 1999. Several things perhaps informed their decision. These include:
Obasanjo’s capacity to de-militarize the polity.
To assuage the feelings of the South West on the annulment of June 12, 1993 elections.
Having gone to prison and saved by God from being killed, people thought that Obasanjo would rule with the fear of God.
As a man who criticized Babangida’s Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) as lacking human face in its implementation, those who lobbied for his enthronement thought he would use the human face theory to reform the economy.
Many saw him as a man who would be bold enough to tackle the issues of corruption and poverty.
First Military Head of State to voluntarily hand over power to a civilian administration.
This was how Obasanjo rode to the towering heights of Aso Rock as an elected Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on a platter of gold. He started his second missionary journey on a cautious note. He told those that invested in his enthronement to see it as a sacrifice for the country rather than as a means of getting richer. Nigerians applauded this bold step. It was a signal that he would rid the political terrain of the country’s economic suckers, who make more money through the sponsoring of politicians for political offices. The various panels beaming the searchlight on the activities of governance under him proved that people got richer doing the wrong things.
As a person, I am convinced that at the inception of his administration in 1999, he had a great vision for Nigeria and her unity. Unfortunately, he got drowned in the field of politics and misdirected the powers conferred on him by the paraphernalia of executive presidency. Irrespective of the arrogance and gross abuse of office by some of the members of his economic team, the team worked hard to bring respect to Nigeria in the economic front. OBJ was doing relatively well until he mounted the pulpit as an anointed man of God, which he was not. In some instances, he played God at the expense of the reason he came into the presidential villa. He saw himself as the Solomon of our time and refused to listen to those who genuinely meant well for Nigeria. At other times, he equated himself with the State. All these led to the distractions that swayed him from a well articulated agenda, which would have brought succour to the masses. To make matters worse the sycophants and praise singers made him believe that without him, Nigeria will crumble. This led him to the mother of all mistakes in the name of the third term project, which was to elongate his tenure and the man lost his dignity and respect.
Going through the pages of newspapers in recent times, one can discern the anger and frustration in Nigerians against the legacy he left behind especially in the energy sector. If he had continued to fix the problems associated with power generation, creation of quality jobs and staying steadfastly to his initial vision, he would have been one of the greatest Presidents of our time. Unfortunately, he allowed a few cabal to hold him hostage. He deviated too sharply to negativity due to selfish interest and greed as typified by the third term agenda that fatally diminished his rule. By the time he left office in 2007, the followings were some of the negative appraisals of the Obasanjo administration:
Decay in the infrastructural facilities in the educational and health sectors. Tertiary institutions were shut for more days than they were opened for studies during his era.
Worsening states of the roads across the country despite the billions of naira sunk into the sector.
Almost all national assets were sold to government acolytes in very questionable manner.
The energy sector was left worse than he met it in spite of the huge investments in the sector. Nigeria has become a dumping ground for generators.
He came into office and left with shortages in petroleum products. He was unable to fully deal with the structural reforms needed to galvanize the sector to enviable heights.
Heightened insecurity across the nation.
Increase in petroleum pipelines vandalism and its attendant negative effects.
The manufacturing sector was less than 25% capacity utilization before he left office.
Job losses from 1999-2007 were the worse ever in Nigerian history.
Brazen abuse of judicial processes.
Increase in unresolved assassinations and murders of high profile Nigerians.
Formation of militias across the country, which was a sign of total loss of confidence in the central government.
Youths’ restiveness and militancy reached its crescendo in the last days of his administration.
Vessels implicated in illegal bunkering under protective custody disappeared like exposed spirit.
The politics of do-or-die perpetrated led to electoral fraud of unimaginable proportion.
The Local Government councils were turned into mere clearing houses for sharing of monthly allocations.
Political thuggery and amala politics became the rule rather than the exception in some parts of the country.
Manipulation of the constitutional review to perpetuate his tenure extension.
Lack of respect for elders and constituted authorities by himself and some of his appointees.
Turning the National Assembly to an extension of Aso Rock. This was partially reversed when the third term project died.
Niger Delta disaster.
The above led to the calls for the probe of his administration, which is indirectly going on through various probe panels currently probing several sectors of the economy.
I have watched, read and listened to the tongue lashing of OBJ both in the media and social circles. It cuts across all ethnic groups, ages and gender. For a man who left power in a little than a year ago, one would have thought that OBJ will still wield so much power to counter any attack from any quarters. Even IBB who left power long ago has die hard loyalists who are daily defending him and wanting to make us believe that the general is a democrat in spite of the June 12 disaster. But for OBJ, it’s a different stroke.
Less than a year after leaving office, almost all his policies have been reversed. His party men have enterered the ring, sparring to give him a technical knockout to strip him of his Board Of Trustees (BOT) championship belt he won through the manipulation of the constitution of PDP. It is just a matter of time for this to happen because the National Exective Council of Peoples’ democratic Party (PDP) has reversed the clauses that made him the only qualified candidate for the BOT position. The happenings around him have not made things easier. Soon after his exit from Aso Villa, he was accused of having inappropriate relationship with his son’s wife. Soon afterwards, his beloved daughter was in EFCC’s net. Who would have believed that Iyabo, the apple of Baba’s eyes could not attend senate sittings for the fear of arrest by EFCC? Many of the governors he unilaterally imposed on the party turned against him to choose someone outside his candidate for PDP’s chairmanship position. The Speaker he foisted on his party men in the person of Madam Speaker Etteh was removed without qualms. In such a short period, the almighty OBJ became so ordinary.
The only analogy that could be drawn here is the Marcus Antonius speech to the gathering of people around the corpse of Julius Caesar; “Oh mighty Caesar! Doth thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.” Marcus did not imagine that the almighty Caesar could lie so low and unable to move any part of his body while everyone stood over his corpse nor was he able to command his army to destroy those that betrayed his trust in death. The EFCC that arrested IBB’s son during his rule came for OBJ’s daughter too. This aptly agrees with the words of Marcus Antonius that “ The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar………………..Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend and just to me”.
In Obasanjo’s case, the sordid silence of his acolytes and the 1999-2007 billionaires that he made during his service years baffles me. I thought I would find in Obasanjo loyalists, a Wada Nas, a Marcus Antonius or an Afegbua. Wada Nas was the diehard friend of the Abachas just like Marcus was to Julius Caesar and Afegbua to Babangida. Even in death Marcus and Nas stood in the gap for their friends. For Afegbua, he has been very constant in defending Babangida even when every other person was castigating him over the June 12 1993 election issue. These are courageous men who stood for what they believed in. I have been wondering what has happened to the arrays of special advisers and the egg heads like Nweke Jnr, el-Rufai, Chief Femi Fani Kayode who virtually insulted everybody that dared criticized Obasanjo’s policies in the past.
During his years in office, OBJ did the direct opposite of his purposed ideals and sermons. The examples are legion. Before he became the President, he advised IBB during the latter’s rule as Head of State to show human face in the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) because Nigerians were going through harrowing times. When he started with his own reforms the human face theory disappeared. He treated Nigerians with so much disrespect and disdain.
Obasanjo once appealed to Generals Babangida, Abdusalam Abubakar, Buhari and others to appear before Oputa Panel for the sake of their names and that of their families. Yet, the same Obasanjo refused to honor the invitation of the National Assembly to clear his name over the non-adherence to due process in the award of several contracts in the power sector. When OBJ was invited to the House of Representatives to defend his role in the power probe, he sent in a written brief. In that letter, he fell short of calling the honourable members dishonourable as he noted that the way he was invited was disrespectful to elders. He reminded the honourable members that they have forgotten so soon that he symbolized the grower and nourisher of democracy.
If a democrat as expressed, when IBB annulled June 12 1993 elections which was acclaimed as the best elections ever organized in Nigeria’s political history, he would have teamed up with the progressives to actualize the dream of true democrats in the restoration of the June 12 mandate. What was his reaction? He said that Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, his own kin’s man was not the messiah Nigerians were looking for and thus justified the annulment of June 12, 1993. He rather supported putting in place an Interim National Government as a way of easing IBB out of office. He forgot that June 12 was not about Abiola. It was about the dashed hope of a people who voted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, a people that refused the tribal coloration during the elections; it was about subversion of the constitution and the will of the people, it was about a process mismanaged and it was a betrayal of the trust of the same people that General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida swore to defend.
One of the key attributes of a democrat is tolerance of the opposition but OBJ as a civilian President was very intolerant of the opposition. He cunningly and deceitfully destroyed AD in the south west. I have attended conferences where OBJ told people to shut up. He openly commanded his aides to take microphones from those not singing his tunes. He called labour leaders who were criticizing his policies of deregulation and privatization programs dissidents and saboteurs. One of his ministers, Mallam el-Rufai told labour leaders to go and form their political parties if they must have a say on policy issues. He also reminded the entire senate that silence was the best answer for a fool. Obasanjo did not condemn this act of insolence to a constituted authority.
In that same response to the National Assembly, he admonished the members that as Africans, they must respect, elders, age and authority. He forgot that he never respected elders or men in authority when he was the President. He once told Nigerians about the senility of a world class economist, Prof Sam Aluko. The climax of these misguided missiles was when he also referred to Reverend Yakubu Pam, the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Plateau State as “a big fool and Reverend my foot” His aides followed his footsteps by routinely abusing former Heads of State and elder statesmen at the slightest opportunity. Not even Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, General Yakubu Gowon and Senator Ken Nnamani, who are old enough to parent them or at the worst senior uncles were spared in the circus of abuses and debasement that characterized their years of service.
He went further to lecture the House members on the qualities of a good leader, which includes transparency, accountability and due process through adherence to the rule of law. Please, spare me your Excellency! Under him, his aides turned the privatization exercises to the spoils of war that should be shared among associates and loyalists. The power sector probes showed disrespect for due process. The Minister of FCT took a land allocated to Universal basic Education, a public concern and gave it to Big Boss Man. Still under him, houses and lands were taken from people in the name of sitting on sewage lines and had them reallocated to themselves or their associates. The panel probing the allocation of land and houses in FCDA has been awash with sad tales of hypocrisy, tribalism and share wickedness. The Abuja demolition exercises never followed due process or honour the human face theory. The committee that was supposed to be in place to review cases of illegal structures was circumvented and never constituted. Revelations of the panel of FCT revealed how lands confiscated were either bought by the same officers or given to their friends. The same Minister handled the PENTASCOPE deals in which Nigeria lost billions of Naira.
From the above and looking back at what he was worth before 1999, and the stupendous wealth that he amassed in the last eight years, would OBJ still see himself as a democrat, a respecter of elders and authority, a transparent and accountable leader?.
However, despite the above minuses, his administration has certain pluses that cannot be wished away. Some of the things that would remain on his political balance sheet, which this administration must build on include:
Removing Nigeria from the list of highly indebted nations.
Nigeria was gradually brought back into the main stream of world politics.
The establishment of EFCC to combat money laundering and related economic crimes. Never mind the cry of selectivity in its operations. Those hounded should prove their innocence in courts of law. Like I said before, once Obasanjo left office, EFCC will come after him and his people. We have seen this happen. By the time Yar’Adua leaves office, it will also do its house cleaning job and Nigeria remains the beneficiary at the end of the day.
The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) that has reduced fake drugs to less than 17%.
The consolidation of banks, which has made it possible for people to walk into banks to transact businesses with much ease. The operations could however be made more efficient because interest rates are still at double digit level.
Access to mortgage facilities.
The capital market came to an all time high.
The refurbishing of the refineries between 2004 and 2005 for the first time in more than a decade. Unfortunately, the mismanagement of the Niger Delta crises thwarted the efforts of the optimization of the refineries.
Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has brought respect to the country as Nigeria has been acknowledged to be genuinely and positively fighting the drug war as against the use of the organization against those opposed to the military junta during the military era.
The Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) reforms.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve stood at well over $42 billion as at the time he left office.
Establishment of Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which has since conducted the financial, physical and process audits of the oil and gas sector.
The turnaround in communication and aviation industry.
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) exploits in the prosecution of corrupt public officers.
One big lesson that resonates from all the above is that leaders in positions of authority must rule with the fear of God and ensure that the mandate of the people is not betrayed. Do those things that are right, just and fair. Only the good deeds will speak in their favour long after they have left the scene. Just like life, governace is a stage for show casing skills of leadership and service. OBJ has played his own part, the audience are appraising him and nothing can be done to turn the hand of the clock back in his favour if he did not do things right in some areas. It is just a matter of time for us to read the verdict of history on him and his administration.
Meanwhile, the focus is on the present administration under Yar’Adua. He should be mindful of the flaws of the last administration, avoid them and build on the positive areas of the foundation so that at the end, he would have made a difference by ensuring that the people are dignified in labour.
In October 2008, I opined in my blog at www.louisbrownogbeifun.com in the economic meltdown: lessons from America: “To the Americans, this is the time to tell each other that they deserve the best candidate in the White House irrespective of race, sex, creed, colour or religion. They should tell the world that the White House was not built to symbolize the white race. The founding fathers who designed the white house could not have inferred that it would be occupied by whites only”.
With the last American elections, Americans from all diverse backgrounds told themselves the truth, spoke with one loud voice without bias, voted to change the entire historical landscape of America’s political history and to my delight; concurred with the above assertions.
By this singular act, America proved to the rest of the world that she is indeed a land of opportunities for those who are rational, bold, courageous, confident, smart, honest and hardworking. In addition, it was proven that those who behave, act, and reason beyond the ordinary; irrespective of colour, race, sex or religion have a special place in American history.
A new ray of hope and expectations wrapped in the pouch of change has ushered the world into a new dawn. This dawn was philosophically predicted by the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior in his popular “I have a dream”. The new dawn, which was incubated and has been kept alive since August 28th 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC; shall be formally delivered on January 20th, 2009 when Barack Obama, shall be sworn in as the first black president to rule the United States of America and the world’s largest democracy.
The successful climb from the political valley to the mountain top by Obama started with the crushing defeat of high profile American Democrats including tough and intelligent Hillary Rodham Clinton, now the Secretary of State. It did not happen by an accident of history. It happened because providence beckoned and smiled at Obama to come forward at this time, to redeem the sagging image of America worldwide, help to reposition America back to the path of economic greatness and restore people’s confidence in the financial institutions in America. To outwit his opponents and destroy the DC syndrome, Obama evolved a lot of radical change management tactics.
First, his opponent settled for federal grant to prosecute his campaigns, Obama sourced for funds through all legal means by sticking with the masses that donated various sums from a dollar upward.
Secondly, he was in touch with the citizenry through the internet. This afforded the less privileged Americans of having direct relationship with their future leader.
Thirdly, he dissociated himself from the Washington group and their politics. He appealed to the psyche of Americans with his mantra of “change”. This made him more popular among the youths, the middle class and the workers who were at the receiving ends of the theory and practice of George Bush’s socio-political-economics.
Fourthly, he remained very humble and respectful to his opponents even when they portrayed him as small fry and a not-ready-to-rule president. He was battered from all sides. His Christian character was questioned in some instances diminished. The statements of his pastors were used to portray him as a non-believer in the ideals of the real America. Sentiments about his association with childhood friends and acquaintances who are religious fanatics were whipped up.
Indeed, both Clinton and McCain saw Obama as a non-starter. Though not pronounced, they fell short of telling Americans that this young black man “of Kenyan roots” cannot just walk from the Kilimanjaro with his bogus ambition of wanting to lead America. I am sure some folks are still in doubt whether this is a huge joke or not.
All his opponents from the primaries to the main election saw in him embarking on a failed mission, but Obama saw in himself, the only gold medallist in the 2008 American presidential elections. Clinton’s camp saw in him a candidate good enough for the Vice Presidency but he saw in himself a President elect. Today, he has reversed the role the Clinton camp wanted him to play.
Rather than succumb to blackmail and be intimidated by the rhetoric of the Washington playmakers, he was calm, focused and he refused to be distracted. Obama was severely underrated by the political class, but before they woke from their slumber, he breasted the tape and the umpire presented him with the seal of the overall best candidate in the 2008 presidential elections. Accordingly, he shall rule America for the next four years from January 20, 2009. Such is the power of focus and faith in ones capability to see success where others see failure.
Back home in Nigeria, another underdog; the former President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Adams Oshiomole was declared the governor of EdoState in Nigeria on 11th November 2008 by the Appeal Court, in Benin.Oshiomole contested under the platform of Action Congress (AC).
The election tribunal headed by Justice Umeadi, upheld the decision of the lower Court, which declared Oshiomole as the winner of the 2007 gubernatorial election in Edo State, Nigeria. In that election, the political godfathers in concert with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) manipulated the process and awarded victory to Professor O. Osunbor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
However, just like the proverbial dog that will not hear the hunter’s whistle when death is near, Osunbor fell out of favour with the major bloc that enthroned him. This led to two camps in the EdoState’s PDP; which made it impossible for them to work as a team in order to re-enact the abracadabra of the 2007 elections in favour of the ruling party. Oshiomole became the beneficiary of the fight of the titans and Osunbor ended up being the grass that suffered as a result of the fight between two warring elephants struggling to control the soul of the PDP in EdoState.
To the common man in EdoState, this is an uncommon feat achieved due to providence and divine intervention. Divine intervention because, never in the history of Nigeria has the political godfathers/class been made to look so ordinary. Oshiomole like Obama was harassed, mocked and blackmailed, but he remained dogged. He was offered mouth watering sums to back down in the pursuit of his case, but he refused to compromise or ditch his electoral victory for a pot of pottage.
So, with doggedness, belief in the support of their constituents, their abilities and capabilities; wearing the armour of positivity and working smart towards the realization of their goals; these enigmas (Obama and Oshiomole) surmounted all forms of complexities, injustice and the political behemoths to take the mantle of rulership in their domains.
However, both of them have daunting challenges ahaed of them and their future after the first tenure will be squarely dependent on the people’s harvest of the dividends of democracy. EdoState is grossly underdeveloped with a lot of decayed infrastructure, poverty and hunger. America is at her worst socio-economic era since the great depression of the late 1920s, 1930s and early forties.
Ruling at this time for these leaders is not a tea party because the people are expecting so much from them. We know that the path to the economic recovery of America and the reinvention of Edo State within four years looks a rough, tough and tall order. In EdoState, the masses want to see the real “Heart Beat of the nation” take the centre stage of activities in the country again. Edo line, the foremost transport company in Nigeria must be on the road as the leading transport company in Nigeria. Bendel Insurance football club should make a gradual come back as the leader in our local league. Everything possible should be done to reclaim our first position in sports in general. Good roads should sprout in every nooks and crannies of the state so that the road networks, which were the attraction of so many travellers to the State of old, can be revived. There should be good infrastructures in education and health for the good of the people. Jobs should be created to take care of our teeming unemployed youths. Open technical and vocation centres to teach our youths different skills; so that our youths especially the female folks, who are daily migrating to other parts of the world can be meaningfully engaged.
The Americans wants to see the end of foreclosures that have rendered hundreds of thousands of Americans homeless. Americans want to return to their jobs so that their children can have food on their tables and their children able to go to school. They want to see more of their sons and daughters preserved from the carnage of wars that are raging in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. They want to see the return of Clinton’s magic that gave America a buoyant economy and peace during the eight years of his rule. The Americans would love to be able to travel to all parts of the world without the hatred planted in the minds of other nationals against them in the last eight years.
Irrespective of the damages done to the economy and the fabric of Edo State and America by the immediate past regimes; lamentations and excuses will not exonerate President Obama and Governor Oshiomole from inability to turn things around for the good of the masses in the next four years. Perform, they must and yes, they can!
The great lesson for the masses who still fear to step out of their shelves and cocoons because of the phobia of failure is that something white can come from a black pot. The circumstances that threw Obama and Oshiomole up say to you today; No man can turn you away from your destiny except you agree to turn yourself away from it.No matter the challenges, let no man intimidate you to abandon your set goals and pursuits. Let no man make you believe that you are an inferior being to the other and let no man convince you that you are only meant for the valley.
Though a popular belief that the mountain top is meant for the brave, the courageous and the witty, Obama and Oshiomole have shown that the race is not just for the swift nor for the strong alone, but also for those that can tactfully and smartly follow the course of nature with perseverance, fearlessness, methodical patience, resilience, good character and honesty. Good luck brothers.
When we were growing up, life might not have presented us with beds of roses but the regions strived to provide the basic things of life that will ensure that those at the lower rung of the economic ladder survived the harsh realities of life. Today, from the north to the south and from the east to the west; there are palpable exhibition of physical and mental poverty, hunger, disease and hopelessness.
In the sixties, the regions formulated and implemented their programmes from the resources largely derived from agriculture. Today, Nigeria, taunted as the 7th largest producer of oil and the giant of Africa is a paradox of what an ideal oil producing nation should be. Looking at our political landscape, the immediate pre and post independence era, the politicians worked to progress the course of their regions. They had a vision of what Nigeria should be though they were unable to see through their vision of transformation into tangible realities. They started well, but when they decided wittingly or unwittingly; to take us through the divisive highway of tribalism, parochialism, greed and selfishness they faltered and painfully paved the way for the military takeover in 1966.
The military on their part did not fare better. They that accused the civilians of corruption and tribalism ended up accentuating and legalizing corruption, assassinations, social and economic injustice, criminal wealth, tribalism and indiscipline. Every year spent by the military in power took Nigeria ten years backwards. I say this because all the good things they would have had to their credit were ran aground before they departed.
For instance, they inherited one refinery and built three but before they departed non of those refineries had a Turn around Maintenance for a decade preceeding their departure from governance. Obasanjo’s government was welcomed with queues for gas months unend. Others like Nigeria Ariways, electricity and other infrastructures were in a state of stupor.
The military took us through the path of a civil war and endless transitions and refused to give democracy back to the people until the military image seriously sagged. They swam in stupendous oil boom riches but had no idea of what to do to invest for the future. They had the opportunity to lay a very solid foundation for a better Nigeria; but failed woefully to take the country to the path of social, economic and political transformation. By the time they matched back to their barracks in 1999, they left on their trail, a totally devastated economy, massive poverty, illiteracy, corruption, psychologically traumatized populace, hunger, disease, hopelessness, sorrow, tears and blood.
Though we have experienced about nine and half years of democracy, the eight years of Obasanjo’s rule was an extension of the military regime and his style of leadership aligned with this thought. Therefore, the real transition to an ideal democracy has just begun with the coming of President Yar’Adua. In one of my previous articles “Was Obasanjo all evil?” I did opine that though several things were not done right by the Obasanjo administration and that the state of our infrastructures were unacceptably dilapidated, there are some gains of the Obasanjo administration that should not be wished away.
If I were President Yar’Adua, I will build on those successes and use the failures to re-steer the vessel of the NigerianState back to the waters of prosperity. Some of the areas of consolidation will include:
Strong foreign reserve.
Maintaining the steady improvement of Nigeria on the Transparency International chart.
Continue with the second phase of the banking sector reforms.
Strengthen the capital market.
The continuous fight against drugs.
The Oil and Gas Implementation Committee reforms.
Strengthening the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The turnaround in communication and aviation industry.
Strengthening the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to enable them sustain the fight against corruption.
Strong regulation for our oil and gas sector and the financial institutions
Constitution Review/Electoral Reforms
If President Yar’Adua must put his name in gold, there are three critical areas that should be reviewed in the 1999 constitution. He can collaborate with the National Assembly to see them through. These are:
1. Making Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a truly independent body and the appointment of INEC officials, the funding of the body should be removed from the ambit of the President and made the responsibility of the National Assembly. The INEC officials should also not be cards carrying party members of any political party.
2. The upward review of the derivation formula from the 13% to a minimum of 25% out of which 50% of this should be utilized for the chore oil producing communities in a manner to be determined by all the stakeholders in that state. This fund should be subject to very tight oversight by the national Assembly.
3. Sharing of the excess crude revenue the way it is currently done should be discontinued. All oil producing nations do not share their excess crude revenue the way we share it as Christmas cake in Nigeria. Other countries are massively investing in tourism, hospitality businesses outside their shores, oil and gas businesses outside their countries and industrialization to provide jobs for their citizens. Aside this, they are also saving for the rainy day because after a boom comes a period of glut and recession. On our part we are eating up our tomorrow today. This is a serious concern that should be tackled with everything it requires.
The Niger Delta Issue
Now that there is momentary peace in the Niger Delta region, the President who has started very well by taking steps to do things differently from what his predecessors did by creating the Ministry of Niger Delta and a Technical Committee to advise him on the way forward in the Niger Delta, should take a step further to visit the creeks and see for himself the real state of the region.
He should let all the community leaders into his dream for the region and give a definite time for the actualization of the quick wins. For instance, it does not take an entire generation to find low cost houses dotting the creeks, setting the grand design to kick starting industrialization of the region, which will create employment opportunities to the teeming unemployed youths and graduates, provision of portable pipe borne water and electrification etc.
Having done this, all the community leaders must pledge to ensure that their communities will collaborate with the government to prevent criminal activities in their domain especially in the prevention of products’ pipelines vandalism, oil theft, hostage taking and smuggling.
Failure to fulfil their own obligation shall lead to sanctions. However, if the community leaders cannot give such a guarantee, anybody caught perpetrating any act(s) of sabotage like illegal bunkering, smuggling of crude and other petroleum products will be heavily dealt with by the combined forces and the community leaders should keep their peace at such times.
The warning from the Chief of defence staff to the armed forces on the active connivance of force men in this economic sabotage should be further reinforced by letting the top echelon of the military know that any commander whose officer is found culpable in the act of oil theft will also be sanctioned. This has become necessary because in the past, ships under protective custody have disappeared without qualms.
Government should separate the genuine agitators for the betterment of Niger Delta region from those involved in criminality to enable it deploy the machinery of government to deal with them as appropriate. After concluding this engagement process at home, the President should take a step further to make his case before the international bodies like the European Union (EU), United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) etc. These bodies should be told to appeal to their businessmen and women to stay clear of Nigeria’s stolen crude and finished petroleum products. It is hypocrisy to preach transparency and good governance in any part of the world while aiding and abetting oil theft in another country.
If there are no receptacles and buyers for stolen crude and petroleum products, there will be no sellers and the incidence of pipelines’ vandalism and oil theft in Nigeria will greatly reduce. Failure to heed this warning will mean a case of aggression against the good people of Nigeria by those countries fingered in this dastardly act. It also would be taken as waging economic war against this country and they should be ready to face the consequences. We should not wait until they illegally run us bankrupt before we act. In time past, these same countries were used as illegal vaults for stolen money by our past leaders.
The Niger Delta region has become our own social Gustuv, Katrina and Ike. In the Niger Delta region, oil theft, vandalism of petroleum pipelines, traumatizing act of hostage taking and kidnapping of children, women and the aged for ransom reigns supreme. This is condemnable, unacceptable and must be tackled through a multi level engagement process.
The Energy Sector
We are endowed with overwhelming hydrocarbons, solar and hydro energies yet so poor in energy. It is estimated that we need about 10,000 Mega Watts (MW) to meet our basic energy needs but the country currently has less than 2,000 MW available for consumption. In this type of environment, no magic can stimulate technological and manufacturing growth because energy is the conveyor belt that drives technological and manufacturing activities.
Companies are now perpetually running on diesel driven generators. This leads to increase overhead costs, collapse of many manufacturing outfits with a spiralling effect on job losses and increased costs of goods and services.
While the energy available is insufficient, the wasteful attitude of consumers is not helping matters. A visit to any part of the country will reveal that almost all the security lights are on in the day time. The electricity usage in the home is even worse. The bulbs are perpetually on during the day. Also, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) does not have effective tariff collection systems and therefore not able to recover enough funds for its operations. Some of its workers also connive with the consumers to tamper with the meters to make them run slowly with less charges to the consumers at the detriment of the organization. To make matters worse, vandals are not relenting in the vandalism of PHCN cables and transformers.
In the oil and gas sector, the situation is not better. We have so much crude and gas reserves yet the people suffer chronic perennial fuel shortages due to acts of vandalism, smuggling, uncoordinated policies, and sabotage to the chagrin of the international community. So much has been said on these issues locally and internationally that everybody knows what the challenges are.
The panacea to these challenges will include:
Effective tariff collection system like the pre-paid meter system should be aggressively driven. Pending when this shall be fully operational, it should use designated banks for the collection of its tariffs and stop any form of cash collection at any of its offices in the urban centres.
Stiffer sanctions for vandalism of PHCN cables and those caught should be treated as economic saboteurs.
Maintenance and upgrade of PHCN facilities.
Reinvigorating of the construction of the Nigerian Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).
Citizens should help PHCN by switching off light points that are not in use at all times.
Payment of tariffs as at when due.
Stimulate the floodgate of processed oil and gas products by building more refineries in partnership with the private sector.
Fast tracking the completion of the various gas pipelines’ projects including the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
Conservation and effective utilization of gas through the faithful implementation of the gas flair out directive.
Genuinely addressing the Niger Delta crises.
Consideration of the use of solar and wind energy sources.
Aggressive research and development activities.
Building more refineries
THE ECONOMY
Our economy has been largely monolithic without any appreciable effort tending towards any meaningful diversification. While one agrees that there has been some level of stability in the areas of the country’s macroeconomic aggregates, it is to me a calmness of the cemetery that has a conglomeration of souls resting in peace and some others crying for justice because of the way they exited the world.
Our macroeconomic indicators have revealed some level of improvement and stability. Foremost among them are the single digit inflation rates, the growth in the non-oil sector and stable exchange rate. These may seem impressive to the students of macroeconomic but the relativity of these to the welfare and comfort of the average Nigerian is negatively wide apart. The vast majority of Nigerians are engaged in subsistent activities ranging from the road side sellers, under the umbrella recharge card sellers and the traditional farmers that toil to feed the nation through the tilling of the ground using hoes and cutlasses.
The total aggregate of this huge workforce contributes less than 6% to the GDP. Whereas in other economies with less fertile land and resources, these group of workers could contribute as high as 15% to 36% to the GDP.
The current state of the economy in the United States brings to bare the need to tighten regulations, control and increase the oversight functions on banks and the capital market.They got to where they are today because government in its extreme form of capitalism wanted market forces to regulate market activities. This has vindicated my assertion that a market left to run in a crazy manner without restrictions will ultimately be the albatross of the stakeholders in a free market driven economy. Even our fundamental human rights are not absolute, so market forces cannot be allowed to run in absolute terms. If the financial markets in the United States of America have been brought to their knees begging for bail-out despite the level of sophistry in their checks and balances, technology, social values and economy then our government planners cannot afford to sleep for a moment for now.
Our Government must seek ways to urgently:
Assist the traditional farmers with modern day implements to improve their efficiency.
Shift focus from oil to other minerals, which are abound in the country
Investment in tourism
Re-introduction of the back-to-land programme (mechanized farming) in agriculture where majority of our Youth Corpers will be deployed to get them familiarised with mechanised farming thereby reducing their focus on paid employment.
Embark on genuine liberalization policy of the oil and gas sector with a very strong regulatory body.
Fast track the implementation of the OGIC recommendations.
Address the issue of high interest rate, which has made lending an economic suicide.
Tighten the regulations and controls on financial markets and other related issues.
Political Reforms
All the parties as presently constituted in Nigeria cannot be said to have efficient and effective internal democracy. This is the bane of our political system. Our party democracy should go back to the communal level of representation. The party primaries as we have today in our political structure are a charade. In the last elections, many candidates who did not contest party primaries had their names presented to INEC at the expense of the candidates that spent time and money for campaigns. For such a person who found himself or herself in a position of authority through the backdoor, the allegiance is to the godfathers and godmothers that made them and not the citizens or the party. Nothing good can come from such arrangements. With such a faulty foundation from the unit level, nobody should expect anything worthwhile from such a system.
There should be no room for the do-or-die politics of the last administration. The Amala politics, which stresses selection of candidates by the godfather and in turn gets a monthly monetary returns from government coffers as appreciation for the selection should have no place in our next election. The voting right of the citizen must be protected and respected. Failure to do this will lead to the Kano and Bauchi treatments in which voters voted and protected their votes until the votes were counted and the results released. Once election results are out, the Judiciary should ensure that all the petitions at both the election tribunal and the appeal tribunals are resolved within the year of election. A situation where we have cases relating to the elections of 2007 eighteen months after the election, makes mockery of our judicial system and should be discouraged.
From the foregoing, the best election so far witnessed in this country was that carried out under Babangida though he refuted this by saying that the election was flawed with a lot of anomalies and went ahead to annul the elections. there is the need to seriously reform the INEC and that INEC should take another look at option A4 in the best interest of the Nigerian people.
Be that as it may, the return of option A4 will be a welcome development. As it is today, there is a total disconnect between the parties and their leaders on one hand and the citizens on the other.To strengthen the political parties, the government must stop the funding of political parties. This will allow for only objective and serious minded people to come together for the formation of ideological based parties.
Social Justice
Ethnic militias
Social injustice has led to the formation of several regional bodies seeking to promote their regional, religious agenda and identity. The proliferation of these bodies is traceable to total loss of confidence in the way government managed the affairs of state since the military era. The bodies are countless but foremost among these are Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) Egbesu Boys of Africa (EBA), Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), the Chicoco Movement, the Ijaw Youths Congress, Arewa People’s Congress (APC), etc. It is common knowledge that MASSOB formed in 1999, commands a lot of respect from the Igbo race and sympathisers of the creation of the Biafran state; both locally and internationally. Generally, the actors believe that some day, the realization of the Republic of Biafra is inevitable. MOSOP has succeeded in crippling oil exploitation, exploration and production in the Ogoni region. Other militias of other ethnic nationalities are watching for a slip by the Federal government. Except the government works through the engagement process and fast enough, in not too far a time, some of the organizations will bring down the economy of their entire regions when they shall appeal to the entire citizenry to sit at home for some days until otherwise directed.
Transport Sector
Never in the history of this nation has the transport sector been so comatose and in such a state of disrepair. Virtually all the intracity and intercity roads are not motorable. Most of the roads are death traps. On May 22nd 2008, 43 gallant Nigerian soldiers were killed on our road near Potiskum in north-eastern Yobe state when one of their vehicles collided with an oncoming petroleum carrying tanker. Very many others were also injured. These heroes of war did not die in the battle field. They successfully served their father land in far away Darfur only to be roasted alive because of the callousness of some our leaders who mismanaged our resources for their own selfish ends. The money meant for infrastructures such as roads ends up in the vaults of banks outside this country. The rail system successfully worked using coal until our policy makers brought diesel engines, which we were not prepared for in terms of infrastructure. This is a project that must be resuscitated because of the massive haulage system. It will greatly remove the pressure on our roads. This is also the case of our river transport system
Portable drinking water
The country must be provided with potable pipe borne water. This is not a privilege but a necessity. If addressed, it will assist with the eradication of reducing water borne diseases and money spent on pure water by our poor stricken brothers and sisters.
Judiciary
The judiciary has done well from the later part of President Obasanjo’s administration till now. However, the delay associated with the determination of the electoral petitions is condemnable. It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. The worst aspect of this saga is that governors who now win their appeals rule for more than four years. So, it pays them to use instruments of delays and all other forms of antics to keep the cases in the tribunal. This should be speedily addressed.
Insecurity
The government owes every Nigeria a duty of care and the right to be protected against harassment and dispossession of one’s properties. The level of insecurity in this country especially in the Niger Delta region is so high that investors’ confidence is waning by the day. Not until this is meaningfully addressed, no government in power can lay claim to fulfilling the obligations of giving the people the dividends of democracy.
Life expectancy
The hazards and the socio-economic challenges that we face on daily basis is so high that life expectancy in Nigeria is in the neighbourhood of 46.8 for men. In Ghana it is 54.2 and in Japan, 77.6. It means that those of us who are already above fifty years are running on overtime. This is sad commentary of a people that should be having the best of life because of the natural endowment available in Nigeria. This is at variance with the abundant resources available in the country and therefore, totally unacceptable. Our health care system should be revitalized to cater for the health of the masses. It is a shame to see our political office holders scamper abroad for treatment at the slightest deviation from the normal physiological or psychological body function. Efforts must be geared towards making food available for the populace. Food is not an essential commodity for the masses in modern societies at it is here. A healthy work force is a virile and strong nation positioned for optimum productivity.
Nigeria’s OPEC quota is about 2.092 million barrels per day (mbpd) and current production capacity is estimated at 3.0 mbpd. This accounts for over 90% of the country’s total revenue, 83% of government revenue and places the country as the world’s eighth largest exporter of crude oil with an estimated 184 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves respectively. We have an all year round arable land in all the geoploitical zones, which are grossly underutilized.
From the above, one can see that Nigeria is well endowed with natural and human resources capable of making her one of the largest functional economies in the world. Unfortunately, lack of effective leadership has robbed us of the benefits of belonging to the elite club of oil and gas producers that have transformed their societies into modern states. It is paradoxical that at 48, that a supposedly rich oil and gas nation is being counted as one of the poorest nations in the world.
However, with a new beginning, I have a very strong hope that if we can positively redirect our focus, improve our level of patriotism and optimism, thinking first of what we shall give to Nigeria instead of what Nigeria shall give to us, those in position of authourity administering with the fear of God and enthroning merit as a basis for appointments, all of us jointly making the necessary sacrifice and positively fighting corruption in all facets of our national life and in our areas of influence; massive investment in capacity building of our youths and the government having the political will to address the above problems; we may boldly say that our race towards the actualization of vision 20/20:20 has begun. Anything short of these is just making the benchmarks of our national development mere wishes. The time to start the real walk towards the envisioned Nigeria is now. Long Live the FederalRepublic of Nigeria.
Once again, the process of trying to resolve the Niger issue has kicked off with the swearing in of a forty five member NDTC by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. The Committee is a body set up by the Federal Government to collate, review and distil all previous reports, suggestions and recommendations on the Niger Delta, and come up with plausible recommendations on how best to resolve the Niger Delta crisis. The implication of this is that most of the members are supposed to be knowledgeable enough about the challenges facing the region. They would therefore rely on past experiences and recommendations from previous works right from Wilkins’ Commission of 1958 to the Ogomudia report of 2005 to arriving at their recommendations, which will assist the Government to holistically deal with the Niger delta issue.
Inaugurating the Committee yesterday at Abuja , Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said that the work of the Committee would not accommodate any jamboree in form of endless field trips and it has ten days to submit its report. Niger Deltans unanimously rejected the jettisoned Niger Delta Summit and demanded that a technical committee be put in place to synthesize previous reports for implementation. This is exactly what the Government has done. All stakeholders should give peace a chance and subsume personal ego for the overall interest of Niger Delta.
Several youths’ organizations and the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) have argued that the NDTC was not representative enough of the Niger Delta extraction, especially the youths who are the full bearers of the crunch of the economic banditry foisted on the region by successive governments, militancy, unemployment, and the social and environmental degradation of the region from oil exploration activities over the years. This is a genuine concern for all those who feel aleniated from the composition because of the previous experience of marginalization and non implementation of committee recommendations.
The youths should not feel left out because they are virtually in control of the rein of governance in the Niger Delta. If they are united and speak with one voice, the youths have the capacity to turn things round in the Niger delta. One can safely posit that this is the era of youths in governance in the Niger Delta. For the avoidance of doubts, all the Niger Delta Governors, majority of their Commissioners and members of the Niger Delta Houses of Assembly could be said to be youths.
Several other groups have also expressed pessimism about the genuineness of this initiative because of the lack of trust and confidence in previous efforts. This again is germain because of the ways the previous governments have treated the issues of the Niger Delta. Several Committees and Commissions have sat over this same topic. Yet nothing tangible has been achieved. I am sure that this Committee will be confronted with trailers’ load of reports on the Niger Delta crises. So, the problem is not the dearth of recommendations but lack of the political will in the past to implement the recommendations of the various committees. We have spent almost half a century unravelling, collating analysing and making series of recommendations on how to resolve the Niger Delta issue. Yet, with the huge sums said to have been expended, no appreciable development has taken place in the region. This does not show sincerity of purpose and every rational human would feel frustrated.
Howbeit, there is no substitute for dialogue. I have the belief that President Yar’Adua by his actions is genuine and also supports the fight for the emancipation of Niger Deltans from the claws of deprivation, hunger and disease that pervade the entire landscape. Please, give him a chance even if it means giving him time lines to bring to fruition the blue print planned for the region.
From the outset, the choice of Ledum Mitee as the Chairman of that Committee is a radical departure from the past. Ledum Mitee is a Niger Deltan and a product of the struggle for the emancipation of the Ogoni people. He has been deprived, incarcerated and harassed by the agents of the State. So, he knows the colour of poverty, deprivation and suffering. For such a man, all anyone owes him is to give him maximum support to succeed in this onerous task. In the NDTC; there is Tonye Princewill, a focused, well articulated and respectable personality. He has been in the forefront of the agitation for the good of the Niger delta people. In this train also is Tony Uranta, who is also an avowed loyalist in the genuine struggle of the Niger delta people. If we cannot trust these people who are fighters for the emancipation of the Niger Delta people from misgovernance, who then should we trust?, Ledum cannot afford to disappoint all those who genuinely strive for the good of the Niger delta people. Let us not by our actions or pronouncements send wrong signals that will make the enemies of the region believe that indeed the struggle has been turned into a bread and butter platform for personal aggrandizement. It will amount to cutting our nostrils to spite our faces.
I want to believe that this distillation process will give rise to a larger stakeholders’ forum where all the ethnic nationalities will be represented. Therefore, the aggrieved should come forward with inputs that will assist the NDTC to deliver on their terms of reference. Ten days is just around the corner.
In the foregoing, the happenings in the region today calls to question the sincerity of those who kill, maim and extort money from the people in the name of freedom fighting. In whose name or interest are they carrying out these kidnappings, and hostage taking? Is it irrational to be kidnapping Niger Deltans, toddlers, innocent workers who had no hand in what is happening in the Niger Delta and subject them to dehumanizing conditions? How can we rationalize that hostage taking for ransoms is part of the strategies to actualize the dreams of the Niger Delta people? We cannot be canvassing for the development of the Niger Delta region and in the same breath be acting as blockers to the dreams of the region. The few developmental projects going on have been stalled because of the harassment and hostage taking of the multinationals. There is no environment that can develop in this atmosphere of anarchy and lawlessness.
The modus operandi of the hostage takers and kidnappers demean and diminish the genuine struggle of the Niger Delta people who are undergoing the worst form of dehumanization in the history of world’s oil rich regions. The people of the Niger Delta region from where the oil wealth is gotten live in abject poverty and mosquito infested creeks, they have no access to drinking water, they drink from the same river that serves as their loo, electricity is a luxury and out of their reach, the youths are largely unemployed and uneducated. Yet, some persons are turning this regrettable and preventable misfortune to a money spinning venture that serves only their own selfish agenda. This must be discouraged. All the interest groups should condemn these acts because the happenings in the Niger Delta region is a man made social Gustav that will consume all of us except we play active roles in putting down this insurgency and selfish agenda. The genuine agitators for a better Niger Delta should continue with the systematized steps that would win the region the sympathy of the international community and all well meaning people. An environment that will allow those handling various projects owners to deliver on their targets should be created for the good of the people.
To the NDTC; this Committee cannot afford to fail. One thing the NDTC must do is to clearly spell out the quick wins like housing units built from oil money in the creeks of Niger Delta instead of the wooden structures on top of water, motorable inter and intra city roads in the entire region, bridges, livelihood empowerment programmes for both male and female folks, functional schools and hospitals etc.These are tangible and confidence building things that will make people buy-in to this renewed peace path.
To the government, this process must not fail. It must yield the desired fruits. It must be seasoned with trust and transparency. It must be laced with tangible dividends that will enable stakeholders buy into this process that has started and other future interventions. Any attempt to treat this process like any other political window dressing as done in the past will be disastrous. The Niger Delta issue is an accident waiting to happen. If allowed to happen, it will be a Tsunami of sorts and the impact will be catastrophic. Tangible and long lasting developmental processes must come alive with this process. Money appropriated for the development of the area must be released in full and judiciously committed for the good of all. All hands must be on deck to ensure that the resolution of the Niger delta crises puts all the actors on the positive side of history. The time to talk and walk the talk is now.
A lot have been said about the need to address the issues of poverty, insecurity, underdevelopment, militancy, youth restiveness, marginalization, the criminality of the genuine struggle of the Niger Delta people and the economic banditry perpetrated by successive governments in the Niger Delta region. Several peace resolution committees, probe panels and commissions, have been set up in the past with all the reports cooling off in the dustbins of the administrations that set them up. We do not need soothsayers to tell us what the problems are or whether the problems are real.
Earlier in the year, the Senators visited the creeks and they did not believe that the Niger Delta where the source of our economic survival comes from can be in such a state of neglect. The House of Representatives also held a retreat in one of the States and were unhappy with the state of things in the Niger Delta. The basic things for the survival of man as propounded by Maslow are lacking in the region.
When I visited my late grandmother at Sakpoba Road in the 60s and early 70s there was a public tap at Asoro junction for the masses. Today, if one cannot sink a borehole the person treks kilometers to source for drinking water. It is worse in the riverine areas because the water is heavily polluted by spills from oil related activities and human wastes. So, the people do not have clean water to drink. They have no farm land for farming. There are no industries to absorb the unemployed youths. Gas flaring is destroying the eco system with unprecedented acid rains. They live in ghettoes in mosquito infested environment. To protest the wrong done to them, they started peaceful agitations. What did government do? It confronted them with tear gas canisters and guns. This led to violent struggle, which has been hijacked by a few people and now we are having kidnappings, hostage taking and all sorts of activities that negates the genuine struggle of the Niger Delta people. This however, does not mean that the genuine agitators have been diminished.
The genuine agitators have randomly condemned these acts of criminality and are seeking solutions to the issues through the dialogue option. For instance, Ledum Mittee led the Ogoni struggles for so long without guns. All we need is a sincere dialogue process, which in all intent and purposes has been lacking.
Brief Historical Excursion
Several peace resolution committees, probe panels and commissions, have been set up in the past with all the reports cooling off in the dustbins of the administrations that set them up. The Wilkins Commission of 1958, the 1992 Rio-De Janeiro 1st earth Summit, series of dialogue between 1991 and 1998 when the Ijaw National Congress (INC) lack of trust in the government’s engagement process and perceived insincerity on the part of other actors. All these finally ended with the Kaiama declaration in 1998. There have been heaps of committees’ recommendations both to the government and the multinational companies. These include Chief Gamaliel Onosode’s Committee report done for Shell petroleum development Corporation (SPDC), the Popoola and Ogomudia’s reports for the Federal Government and recently the town hall meetings of former President Obasanjo. All these were done to seeking long lasting solutions to Niger Delta problems. Yet nothing could be said to have concretely come out of these engagements. What other evidence or recommendations does government need to act decisevely? Rather than solve the problems, the various processes created some billionaires at the expense of the real people for whose sake the committees were set. This is the major reason the Niger Delta people are against any more summit that won’t add value to their lives.
From the above, it is vivid that the Niger Delta region is not in want of panaceas to the socio-economic problems besetting the region. What is lacking is the political will of each successive government to implement the recommendations of the various committees. I say this because several agencies have emerged in the past to act as platforms for bringing development to the region. The precursor of the Niger Delta development Commission (NDDC) was OMPADEC. The end of Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) did not justify the means.
The past agencies failed because of some of the following reasons:
Deliberate under funding of the agencies. We saw billions of Naira returned to the coffers of the Federal government in 2007 as unspent allocations; yet NDDC was denied its full allocation that year.
The platforms acted as conduits for siphoning money by the political actors at the States/Federal government levels.
Gave out contracts as patronage for the supporters of those in power
Weak infrastructures to monitor performance.
Corruption.
Complacency on the part of the civil populace. We would have jointly risen to demand accountability from our leaders.
Running the agencies as personal Estates.
Weak infrastructures for appraising the heads of such institutions after each administration. Thanks to the rejuvenated ICPC and the establishment of the EFCC.
The current face off
The Niger Delta Summit proposed by President Yar’Adua has generated a lot of hues, cries and resentment. It shows that the Niger Delta people have lost total confidence in the ability of government to address their problems because they have been deceived in the past. An old woman used to say “if you are deceived once, you are a fool, if you allow that same person to deceive you twice, then you are a bloody fool”.
This is the situation in the Niger Delta region. Irrespective of the need to move the process forward, this government needs to be very cautious in handling the Niger Delta issue and it stands to reason to listen to the voice of the people. The choice of Gambari who was accused of calling the likes of Ledum Mittee and late Ken Saro Wiwa common criminals at a United Nations forum compounded the issue for Yar’Adua. Gambari should been seen here as a Mediator in-Chief in this matter. In this regards, all the parties must accept to work with him without which the process is doomed to fail. Government must listen and should begin to consider other options. The competence of Gambari, a very high and respected international conflict resolver is not in doubt but he cannot perform where he is not welcomed.
From the antecedents of President Yar’Adua, I want to believe that he is very sincere about addressing the the Niger Delta problems. For him to propose the Niger Summit also underscores his non-belief in previous efforts. The past leaders have used previous summits and committees as smoke screens. It is in this light I urge all the stakeholders in this business to give him a chance to use an approach he believes in. Dialogue is a tortuous process and can never be too much even when the process hurts us, we must never give up. This is necessary because the dividends of an open, transparent and sincere dialogue process would usually stand the test of time.
Way forward:
Pending when an agreement is reached on how best to go about the dialogue process, let there be discernable and tangible development of the Niger Delta region. It is a matter of dusting previous reports and implementing the recommendations in a faithful manner.
Development cannot take place where anarchy reigns supreme. It is in this light I call on the genuine freedom fighters to lay down their arms and embrace the dialogue process. The heightened level of insecurity in the Niger Delta will make the people poorer. Industrialists who will normally invest in the oil rich region to give employment to the people cannot be guaranteed return on their investments and so will shy away from the region.
Those perpetrating criminality as in kidnapping of children, men and women for ransom, hostage taking, pipelines vandalism and illegal oil bunkering which is undermining the genuine struggle of the Niger Delta people must be fished out and made to face the music. The genuine fighters must also see this as their own war.
Upward review of the derivation formula.
The Governors of the Niger Delta region must shift their paradigm from that of their successors who aggrandized what belonged to the people for their own selfish ends. Let us begin to see the dividends of democracy in terms of the provision of the basic things of life like drinking water, shelter for the poor etc.
Release of Federal government allocations to the Federal agencies saddled with policy implementation on Niger development plans as at when due. The funds must be fully disbursed as appropriated.
Deliberate attempts to urbanize the creeks.
Deliberate attempt by the Federal government to kick start employment generation in the region.
Extensive consultations of all the relevant stakeholders in the Niger Delta.
What we are toying with in the Niger Delta is an accident waiting to happen. We have so many threats to the corporate existence of Nigeria that we all need to urgently seek solutions through the dialogue option. Except all stakeholders beat a retreat from their entrenched positions, we might jolly well be heading for a full scale war, which would not benefit the majority of Nigerians. The armed group must essentially disarm for dialogue to take place.
On the other hand, the government must make firm commitment on how to engage the militants meaningfully so that they can have a means of livelihood once they are out of the bush. Let us begin to see reclamation of land in the creeks for housing and industrialization. One thing is clear, whether the summit holds now or in the future, it is doomed to fail unless all the actors embrace a sincere process of reconciliation. This is time to walk the talk.
My heart almost jumped out of my temple when I heard of the death of Benazir Bhutto, a harmless woman killed in a horrendous manner in Pakistan. It has been difficult coming to terms with why a man would be so heartless to gun down a woman when even in war situation; both sides are forbidden from killing women and children. Next was the nightmare of the burning to death of more than 50 persons including women and children that sought refuge in a house of worship in Kenya. Then on January 1st 2008, some rampaging militants in Rivers’ State of Nigeria burnt down police stations, killed some policemen and other innocent citizens in a hotel.
Though some newspapers reported that the police claimed some militants were also killed in the process, events seem to be proving otherwise as Nigerian Port Workers Union have claimed that two of those found dead were their members. The grandmother of one of those killed said he was returning from a vigil when he met his untimely death. Therefore, one could safely say that others killed alongside the policemen were innocent citizens. Whichever way one looks at it, none of those killed deserves to die. Moreso, that none of the killers can re-create the slain human beings hewed down in their prime. Storming police stations and mowing them down is exposing the entire citizenry to more fears and apprehension. Though policemen are agents of the State, they are our brothers who in bid to ensure they earn a living found employment security in the police force. So, why must people wake up and slaughter them like chickens? For any Nigerian killed, the State is denied his/her services, a reason for which he/she was created.
I grieve because blood letting only compounds the problems of those who believe in killing as a way of revenge on an ill done to them. Someday, the law of cause and effect will take its course.
My heart goes to the families of those who lost their loved ones in these and many other similar incidents that occurred all over the world during this period.
I had heaved a sigh of relief when the curfew in some parts of Rivers’ State was lifted. Since the beginning of the war of attrition by some self serving militant groups in the Niger Delta, the social and economic life of the Garden City has hit an all time low. Self serving because, they have turned militancy to a money spinning venture and have veered off the course of their founding fathers who wanted a better life for Niger Deltans whose land more than 80% of our economy derives its driving force.
This wanton destruction of lives and properties started as a mere agitation against poverty and marginalization. It progressed to peaceful protests and seizures of platforms and staying put for days until the authorities listened to their plight. It graduated to violent protests. It progressed to hostage taking, a platform for money making and bargaining. Recently, it has a taken a new dimension in the form of extreme militancy. I have written on the reasons given by the various groups in my previous write ups on youths’ restiveness, vandalism etc; at www.louisbrowwnogbeifun.com.
Nigerians believe that the Niger Delta deserves an improvement in their socio-economic life. The international community and civil society organizations have also spoken in the same vain. I do not know of anyone today in Nigeria who feels that Niger Delta has been fairly treated by successive administrations. Recently, a retreat by the Senators at Port-Harcourt and the eventual on the spot assessment of State by them brought to bare the helplessness, level of ecological devastation and degradation and poverty besetting a people. Be that as it may, those of us who saw sense in the agitations and protests against marginalization and poverty of the region and have advocated same can no longer justify the modus operandi of some of these groups involved in snuffing life out of innocent oil workers, Nigerians and foreigners.
How can a group rationalize the kidnapping of toddlers, old men and women who are not part of the grand design that pauperized Niger Delta through extreme economic banditry by past leaders? Whereas, those who are the real looters of our treasury, those who took money from the multinationals and donor agencies on our behalf live in posh homes built from defrauding the region, ride hummer and bullet proof jeeps in our vicinity, send their children and grand children to the best schools in Europe, use the same militants to terrorize society in the ascendancy to economic and political heights in the guise of freedom fighting and yet walk the streets as free men. I wish these militants that were used and abandoned by their godfathers would do well to turn their guns against these individuals, former chairmen of councils, chiefs, former governors and former leaders identified to have aggrandized the peoples’ collective assets to themselves. Then would they have justified their actions.
The situation is becoming too frightening and all the actors in this gory act must start dwelling on the real things that can radically turn things around for the better. As at today, we still rely on the black gold from this region to sustain the entire country and nothing can be too much a sacrifice to buy the much needed peace.
Government on its part must do more than talking in seeking lasting solutions to the daunting challenges of the Niger Delta. Now is time to walk the talk. When majority of Niger Deltans can practice their trades which has been in abeyance because of severe destruction of their environment through oil prospecting, exploration, exploitation, production, criminal activities by economic saboteurs who vandalize pipelines and throws more products into their farmlands and water, have roof over their heads instead of living in the creeks without shelter, when they are relieved of hunger, when they have portable drinking water, when they no more live degraded lives in midst of the flamboyancy of political office holders, when majority of the people remain employed and engaged and therefore out of poverty which is the hallmark of the region that feeds the entire country, when they can train their children in schools, when they have access to health care, when our leaders learn to see the citizens first and those saddled with the responsibilities of providing the people with infrastructures get it right, when corruption is removed from the dictum of governance, when bridges open up the creeks to the mainland and housing estates adorn the hitherto slums etc; then would the majority of the people see the minority (militants) reeking havoc on the majority as enemies.
This I think is what the Niger delta blue print will do to the people of the area but time is of essence. The junketing around the globe and dissipating so much energy discussing Niger Delta in Europe instead of making things happen in Buguma, Ogoni land and other areas of Niger delta tend to make the people feel that no lessons have been learned. They see these orchestration as a waste of money that would have been used for something better. Time has come for these brain storming sessions to give way to concrete structural development that people can see and feel. Things should be done that will make majority of the people attest to the effectiveness of the engagement process and become the real mouth piece of government. Development of the region to the level that will make the people take the gauntlet and fight the militants is the way out of this doldrums.
It is at this stage the Nigerian state would have deliberately laid a platform for making hostage taking and militancy unattractive. When majority of the people begin to feel part of the larger Nigeria they would turn to government’s advocate and tag the militants their number one enemy. The result would be deliberately turning the table against the militants. It would become an aberration and old fashioned just like the military rule to engage in such acts. At this point the militants shall have no option than join the progressive train, abandon their self serving rendition of blood letting and swamp life for a new and better life.
One perceives what is happening in Niger Delta region today (hostage taking for ransom, unleashing terror on the people they purport to be fighting for) as mere criminality, selfish and personal agenda to make money for themselves therefore perpetrating the same evil that left Niger Delta where it is today. Continuing in this act is trivializing the real and genuine struggle of Niger Deltans. This is condemnable and must be discouraged.
Time has come to talk peace in Niger Delta especially in Rivers’ State. The Governor of Rivers’ State, Rt. Honourable Rotimi Amaechi is a member of the Nigerian Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and has consistently canvassed transparent attitudes in governance. As a man who got to his position through the rule of law and by the grace of God, Nigerians expect of him transparency and accountability in running the affairs of Rivers’ State. As a man marginalized and dumped by political allies and trusted friends after the Party primaries, he knows the colour of marginalization, hurt, pains of disappointment and oppression. Therefore, he cannot afford to do anything that is anti-people during his four years tenure as a governor. Anything short of masses oriented programmes will be paying the people back in counterfeit coins. However, good governance cannot thrive in an atmosphere of chaos and dysfunction. So, he needs a conducive environment to serve the people.
This is why the militants should exercise restraints in their activities for peace to reign. Time has come to lay down their arms. Without peace there can be no meaningful development. Without meaningful development, the masses suffer. When the masses suffer, we all lose because the agitation from “hungry bellies” will cause everybody in the society sleepless nights. These militants have brothers, sisters, parents, cousins and friends. They should help in talking to their wards to lay down their arms to make room for peace.
For those genuinely agitating for a better living condition for Niger Deltans through the use of arms, they should also sheath their swords and join the likes of Asari Dokubo on the negotiation table. The war against apartheid in the South African region as a whole ended when people sat together after many decades of war to agree on the way forward. Any solution reached in the use of arms is adversarial and lasts for a season. A win-win agreement reached through dialogue lasts longer, more likely to be implemented by all the parties and preserves relationships. Killing and maiming of innocent Nigerians cannot solve the problems at hand. The families of those killed might one day seek revenge and the vicious cycle continues. This had led to ethnic cleansing or civil wars in some parts of the world. We should do everything humanly possible to avoid it. Let historical facts guide our thoughts and processes. I say to all my brothers in the Niger Delta region especially in Rivers’ State that we have had enough of blood shed. Rivers’ State and indeed the Niger Delta region deserve quiet and peace and it is a task that must be accomplished in 2008.
Success may be defined as the attainment of a status, which is measurable against a particular beginning. The journey to success takes quite a while. It spans a period of time. The yardstick of what constitutes success differs from one person to another. It comes with planning, sacrifice, self motivation, hard work, working smart, putting in some scheduled time and consciously working towards the attainment of set goals and objectives. When these goals and objectives are met, a new status emerges. Achieving this new status is one, managing it is another.
In the field of sports; the aim of all the participants is to win the overall championship medals. This does not come easy. It comes with a lot of pains and sacrifice. As a soccer player, who combined reading with playing of soccer to survive, I know what it is to sacrifice. I know what it is to train early in the morning when people are still in bed. I know what it is to go on endurance training during the cold harmattan season; to be put on track, under the rain and under the scorching heat of the sun in order to be conditioned for a particular weather. I know what it feels to train with aching muscles, empty stomach and tears. I know what it is to be an orphan when the team loses and I know how it feels to be great with several parents on winning a match.
This is why I rejoice with those who make it to the top in their chosen sporting events and idolize them in the inside of me even when we do not know each other. When renowned sportsmen and women also fall from grace to kiss the canvass of a grassy turf, my heart weeps for them knowing fully well that the success going down the valley is an unquantifiable loss not only to them but to humanity.
The memory lane of outstanding sports men that ascended the ladder of success but unable to hold on to the mace of success is legion. For this discuss, I shall use a few who saw money, fame, and success at a very early age but were unable to hold on to the top because of attitudinal challenges.
Etim Esin the “Nigerian Maradona” was a very skillful Nigerian player who represented the country in FIFA organized matches between 1987 and the 90s. He was one of the few footballers who at 21 were driving brand new 505 Peugeot cars to the training pitch when some of us trekked kilometers to reach our training venues. He rose through the ladder of hard work to the pinnacle of success. He played for Nigeria and represented the country in FIFA organized competitions. He was one of the footballers that found their ways to Europe for professional football early in their career and later played in Belgium.
Unfortunately, his life style was a reflection of that of the super brats and he soon got himself into trouble. While in Belgium, he was charged for rape and he had to hurry out of Belgium back to Nigeria. That was the beginning of the end for his outstanding football career. He has been in obscurity until he became a football analyst with a cable network hitv signed him on as a football analyst.
“Iron Mike” Tyson was just twenty years old when he won the World boxing Heavyweight Champion. Just like the Esin, he was unable to manage the strings of successes that smiled on him early in life. He was involved in several inappropriate behaviours including the raping of Miss Desiree Washington, a Miss Black American Beauty pageant in a hotel room in Indianapolis. He was committed to prison for six years. He came out of prison deflated, traumatized and knocked out. He was unable to stage a comeback. Despite his more than $300 million earnings during his career, he filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Michael Vick is also in his twenties, very successful and an outstanding United States of America’s top football star. He was said to be one of the 10 richest athletes in the United States before his life took a dive for the valley. He also got himself involved in dog fighting operations, which led to the death of several dogs. This was a matter of youthful indiscretion. It landed him in 23 months imprisonment and three years probation. If Tyson’s experience is anything to go by, it means that leaving the four walls of the prison to stardom will take extraordinary dream, strength, sacrifice and work. One can only wish him well.
O. J. Simpson”the Juice”, a retired American football player, sports analyst and actor; also had the blessing of being successful in his twenties. At 26, he had recorded a string of successes as the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in 1973 season. From 1995 to 1997, he was embroiled in the celebrated case of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Simpson. He was later acquitted of the charges. However, on 16th September 2007, he was arrested in Las Vegas for robbery, burglary with firearm, assault etc. This time his sins found him out and had no place to hide. He was found guilty, convicted and now cooling his heels in the prison.
Paul Gascoigne, a retired English soccer legend rose to stardom quite early in life too. He was said to have captained the Newcastle’s youth to an FA Youth Cup in the 1984-85 season. He later played for top clubs in Britain and represented his country. On the field of play, he had put up unbecoming behaviourial attitudes, which that earned him about twenty thousand pounds. He had brushes with the law, attempted suicide a couple of times, feels largely insecure, an alcoholic who has been in and out of rehabilitation centres a couple of times.
These were great and self made men that would have been role models to the youths of our time and those who had the singular misfortune of being born into poverty. They would have been the source of hope to the hopeless. They would have been a source of inspiration to those who thought life is meaningless and unfair. But they screwed up!
One common denominator in the lives of the above athletes is that they were in their teens or twenties when they hit the limelight and stardom. Unfortunately they were unable to manage their successes that would have made people believe in them. In addition, their attitudes to life, misdemeanor and indiscipline led them to their journey towards the great fall.
At 19, Michael Phelps, another outstanding American swimmer won 6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Shortly afterwards he was charged and convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol. This legend at 22, also won eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Early in the year, this young man was caught inhaling from a marijuana pipe albeit in public. He has been suspended by the national sports body for three months without financial support while he stands to lose several millions of signature rights.
After these two incidents, now is the time for Michael Phelps to get fitted in the clothes and shoes of right mental attitude. According to Ziege in Maxwell,”Nothing on earth can help the person with a wrong mental attitude”. This young man will need the help of good natured coaches and mentors to remain on top and retire a happy man so that he does not end up in the boats of Esin, Simpson, Gascoigne and Vick.
Some of the things that bring people down from the citadel of success to the valley of failure include: Wrong mental attitude.v Complacency.v Dwindling inner drive.v Increased socialization at the detriment of more work.v Squander mania.v Lack of respect for constituted authourities.v Arrogance and ego trip.v Refusal to follow up on the path of sacrifice.v Indulgence ivn hard drugs and inappropriate behaviours. Mixing with people of easy virtues.v Underrating opponents or competitors.v
Therefore, if you are on top and wants to remain on top, you require doing some of the following tips: Give up vices that can destroy your concentration.v Sacrifice more in order to stay up.v Work extra smart and hard to remain on top.v Invest in value addition activities.v Smoking and excessive drinking of alcohol put extra burden on thev lungs and liver, which play very vital roles in the life of a sportsman or woman, so desist from smoking and drink in moderation. Stay on track and don’t be too rich or too good to ignore the counsel and instructions of your coaches and mentors.v Avoid stressful situations as sports itself is enough stress.v Do not invest your hard earned money in gambling and non-money yielding ventures.v Get adequate rest rather than stay long hours in “joints” (beerv parlors, brothels, disco rooms etc.). The calamities that have ruined good athletes started from the joints. Invest in reading and mental challenging activities.v Eat according to the advice of your nutritionist.v Ensure you up and maintain your training schedules.v Introspect and change all attitudes that are retrogressive.v Do first things first.v Do not allow the level of your success to puff you up.v Buy only those things that are necessary.v Be moderate in taste.v Find time for quiet (meditation).v
From my own perspective, I believe that it easier to manage and live with poverty and surely anybody can manage poverty. Failure can be managed with faith hinged on a better tomorrow; but managing success is the most difficult of the three phenomena that one may encounter during the journey through life. When you get to the top, it takes extra efforts to remain on top. At the top, several persons are competing for what you have but nobody is proud to compete with a failure or a poverty stricken person. So you are like a bait in the river infested with crocodile.
As a successful person, you no longer have a personal life. You are in the full glare of the public. Whereas failure is an orphan, success has several parents, admirers and well wishers. Hidden among these admirers are those that are working hard on “bring- him-down syndrome”. Therefore, it takes real commitment, sacrifice, work and more work to remain on top.
To all successful sportsmen and women and those on the road to stardom; they should decide quick enough to remain good, consciously removing the landmines that can bring about wrong mental attitudes and aptitudes that would hinder their success drive. They should not let their indiscretion ruin the chances of holding on to their hard earned money and; the top of the ladder of fame and success. They should maintain the right attitude that would secure their future because a time comes, when the limbs can no longer bring into the vineyard the fruits, harvests and the fortunes of old.
“You can be whatever you want to be if you are strong willed, prayerful, hardworking, if you dream right, have faith in God and your abilities, possess uncommon courage and resilience and your ways are acceptable to the Lord”.
Louis Brown Ogbeifun
PREAMBLE
I start this blogging journey to encourage millions of the oppressed, the poor and the hopeless that we can make our lives count if we develop right kingdom attitudes. If I can rise beyond poverty level, I am sure anybody can.
I grew up in a home where, mother, father, an uncle, an auntie, a cousin and about five children (my brothers and sisters) lived in one room and in the best of times two rooms in a barrack. When my father resigned his job as a police constable after about eighteen years in service in 1970, we lost our means of livelihood. Life became meaningless. There were times we went on for days without food. We virtually lived on “water leaf” which is the reason I do not eat that beautiful and rich green vegetable today. Since father’s gratuity was late in coming, I was sent home from school because there was nobody to pay my school fees. I only returned to write my school certificate examination in November 1971 without any form of preparation. I started teaching just a little above sixteen years. I had a brother and a sister living with me at that age. I later went into the nursing school because it afforded me the opportunities of earning some money to enable me continue with the care of my younger ones. I also played football on part-time basis and rose to become the Captain that led defunct NNPC team into national division one league.
I went through a life of working full time and reading on part-time basis until I had my Master’s degree from the University of Benin in 2002. This tortuous background only strengthened my resolve to do better than my father. To that extent I have fulfilled that dream with gratitude to God.
I have virtually been a leader wherever I have served. I was a pioneer Students’ Union President in my nursing school; I became the State President and the National treasurer of the National Association of student nurses and Midwives, a football captain, a one time President of the white collar workers in the entire Petroleum industry (PENGASSAN) in Nigeria, First Deputy President General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria and awardee of several academic prizes and leadership awards.
If God can do this for me, I believe that every person here and nay those of you that have a good shepherd in the person of Pastor David Ogaga should have no reason to fail. Your background has nothing to do with who and where you are. It is in making your life count that you free yourself from the shackles of poverty. The following tips are to remind you of some of the things you can do to make your life count.
LIVING ACCORDING TO KINGDOM ETHOS:
God would reveal to us his will for our life’s architectural design and purpose if we can imbibe the kingdom ethos. 1 Thessalonian 5:17; Matt 6.6Luke: 18: 13-14, Ephesians 6:18, James 1:6; 1 John 5: 14-16; Matt 24:14 (ministering unto your needs and the needs of others;). Praying ceaselessly, asking in faith, asking in humility and total submission, ask according to his will, praying right, praying and preaching for the redemption and help for others, practicing the art of meditation and maintain intimate relationship with God
EXAMINE YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES.
God has deposited in you what would enable you conquer poverty and live in abundance. Analyse your strength and weaknesses in an objective manner and you will be surprised how much you can achieve with the endowment at your disposal. Build on your strength. It is in relating with him that he directs us to these areas of strength. The rod was the strength of Moses. He used it to liberate his people. The sling was the strength of David. He used it to his favour as a shepherd against the lion and Goliath at the battle field. Poverty or stature was not a hindrance to their rising to stardom. Both characters were from humble backgrounds. Meditate on his words and your innate abilities. Remove the sloth and flow with the living water. Genesis 1: 29; 12: 2; Exodus. 4: 2-6; Jeremiah: 1: 5.
BE OBEDIENT AND STAY ON TRACK.
When the train derails, it ends its journey. So it is with life’s journey. Remain obedient to the will of God. You were created for a purpose. John the Baptist was not a performer of miracles. He knew his calling was to witness to the coming of Christ. With all seriousness and candour, he did not waiver; he was persistent in preaching the coming of a mightier person, he was obedient to his calling and concentrated on building a new church for Jesus’ arrival. He became one of the outstanding and respected characters in the bible till date. When Saul preferred to be a priest to offer sacrifices instead of obeying God as a king sent to destroy his enemies, he ended his reign; 1SAM 13:1-14. When Jonah headed for his own chosen destination (Tarshish) instead of Nineveh, he ended in the belly of the fish (Jonah 1: 1-17). Everyone has a calling. Stay on track and you will be fulfilled. Nicodemus, a Sanhedrin, scholar, senator and a business man visited Jesus by night to learn more on the concept of being born again. He addressed Jesus as “Rabbi” meaning a teacher. He stooped to conquer the world around him.
UNCOMMON RESILIENCE, BEATING THAT HANDICAP AND KEEPING YOUR FOCUS.
The woman with the issue of blood showed uncommon courage, faith and resilience in seeking her desired healing. She refused to feel the stain in her life and peoples’ perception about her situation because of her chronic bleeding state. She was oblivious of those mocking her “dirty state”. She was focused and not distracted.She moved into the crowd to touch the garment of Jesus to receive her healing Matt: 9: 19-22. As a short person, Zacheus could not have seen Jesus if he allowed the crowd always milling around Jesus to swallow and intimidate him. Though a very wealthy man, he had to climb to the tree top to see Jesus. He was not bothered by his stature which would have made him un-noticeable in the crowd nor was he bothered about his status in the society . He devised a means to overcome his handicap by climbing the tree top where Jesus located him. He cared less about what society would think about his action. He kept focus. Luke 19: 2-10.
FORGIVENESS.
Forgive others each time they offend you. Do not carry the hurt of yesterday into today so that you are not slowed down as you rise from the valley unto the mountain top. You must also learn to forgive yourself because carrying the baggage of guilt strapped to your back poses a heavy burden which will slow you down perpetually.
OTHERS FIRST
Jesus always worked for the comfort of others, healing and restoring hope to people. Act 10:38. Mother Theresa worked to bring succour and hope to the hopeless. She subordinated her comfort to that of the less privileged. She was a laureate and died a world acclaimed leader. Though she is gone, she lives in the hearts of people. Successful Corporate organizations make their customers the king. In your junk mails, there are several surveys by companies asking your views about their products. This is a way of helping them seek ways of improving their services to their customers. This improves quality services, attracts more customers and makes more profit at the end of the day. I was reading “our daily manna”, a beautiful devotional book by Liberty publishing house. It referenced a little boy who went to buy ice cream and even with the little at his disposal, he left a cent at the bottom of the tray for the waiter. What a lesson!
BE A PERSON OF CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY.
“And she said unto her husband, behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth by us continually” 2Kings 4:9. You are an ambassador of Christ Ephesians 4:24. Wherever you are, you must carry his banner as a kingdomite in all your actions, life style and behaviour, because you might be the only bible others may read to make their own lives count; 2 kings 4:9; 1 kings 18:24.
RESPECT FOR OTHERS.
If you do not see the good in others, others will not see the good in you. If you do not appreciate the worth of others, others will not appreciate your worth. Respect obeys the law of reciprocity. Do unto others what you want them to do unto you. This is a law of preservation and reward
HUMILITY.
Though the Jesus’ washing of the feet of his disciples was a symbolic gesture; it is a way of teaching us to minister unto the needs of those who are under our care and be a servant-master. Numbers 12:3; John 13: 14
LISTENING
Develop the art of listening and talking less. It is in listening we hear others and the silent voice of God ministering unto us.
LEARNING.
Learn from your own failures and mistakes, and that of others. Micah 7:8. Philippians 3:17-21.
DOING GOOD.
At Zarephath, Elijah appealed to a certain widow to give him a morsel of bread. Incidentally the woman was gathering sticks to make the last meal she was having for her son and herself after which they were to await death since there was no more food to sustain them. The widow obeyed and had so much for herself and her household thereafter (1 Kings 17: 8-15). The case of the Shunammite woman that made Elisha comfortable with food and accommodation and got blessed with a child should be a lesson to us as a way of administering to the needs of others and the immense benefits that might follow such good deeds. 2 Kings 4: 8-10.When Dorcas died, the widows wept because she touched their lives in so many ways (Acts 9: 36-40). Make your life count by letting people locate you by your deeds and not by your status. The hand of the giver is always on top.Many of us have countless number of shoes and clothes we have not worn for years when there are scores of people in want of what to wear. We have boxes full of trinkets when there are millions of hungry people all over the world. Let it sink that we are but birds of passage in this world. What the world will remember us for, which shall be our testimonial and a memorial after us, is how many lives we positively touched and not the number of mansions, clothes, shoes and other worldly things we acquired when we lived.
BE HOPEFUL AND POSITIVE.
The son of the Shunammite woman had died and when she was on her way to seek help, her husband reminded her that it was neither new moon, nor Sabbath in which she might be able to locate the man of God; she replied “It shall be well”. She displayed an uncommon faith in her reaction even as her son laid dead. 2 Kings 4:23.Your expectation paves the way and sets the tone for your experience. Seek what is good and rewarding because you can only possess what you seek
SEE ONLY OPPORTUNITIES.
I attended a programme sometimes ago and the facilitator in trying to make us see opportunities and not failures in all we do, the beliefs in our abilities and seeing only opportunities gave us the example of three stone cutters.The first one was said to have answered “I am earning a living” (that fellow believes he is just a labourer and perhaps doing that job because he has no other option. He is just working to earn a wage). The second stone cutter answered “I am cutting the best stone” (to this fellow he is only working to earn a living as a labourer. When he finishes with that, he looks to other directions for a living. To him, he is cutting a stone). The third stone cutter answered, “I am building a cathedral” (this fellow apart from earning a living, sees beyond an ordinary stone. He sees himself as a manager who sees the end from the beginning. He prides himself as part of a huge success story–building a cathedral where great things would be made manifest). See opportunities in what you are doing and make the best of your endeavour.
BE THANKFUL AND JOYFUL.
The Bible says in everything, we must be thankful to God. It did not admonish us to do this only when we are blessed, happy or celebrating. Being alive on a daily basis is an immeasurable favour because it is in living we have another opportunity to set our lives on course. Express the abounding grace of God by being cheerful, radiant, and joyful through praises and expression of laughter often. Nehemiah 8:10; Ephesians 5:19; Psalm 126:2; Col 3:16; James 5:13 John 11:41; Ephesians 5:20; Col 3:17; Heb 13: 15
SUMMARY.
After reading the book, “My Life” an auto biography of President Bill Clinton, I concluded that one can be whatever he or she wants to be if one is focused, willing to become a tool in helping others, putting others first, belief in God, never afraid of failures and seeing only opportunities in every situation. It is not only in becoming very rich or prominent in society that you can make your life count. You can be happy where you are. The decision is yours. Your background is not the issue. It is working out your plans with physical, mental and spiritual candour that you hit the top. So, brothers and sisters, it is in your hands to make your life worth living. Beat those obstacles. Rise above those socio-economic road-blocks, strictures, mountains and make your life count.
References:
Kwakpovwe, C.E (2006); “Our daily Manna, a devotional Booklet for Champions”, Liberty Publishing House, Lagos.
Lynette Schaefer: Making your Life Count, 2005 rapture Alert.Com
The Holy Bible King James Version (2004), Jet Move Publishing, Belarus.