Nigeria

Administrator Nigeria: FG-NASU Face-Off – Time For Truce Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Communication, in the words of Grunig and Hunt (1984), is the biggest tool mankind has as a potential way of overcoming difficulties. But in most cases, we have abandoned it and embrace traveling the circumference of chaos before coming to access this powerful instrument.

A fitting example of the above is the current/protracted industrial action embarked on by the Non-Academic Staff Union of the Nigerian universities (NASU) to press home their demand for ‘Earned Allowance’, an exercise that has lasted over three months with the Group staging a peaceful protest on Thursday 8th March, 2018 in Abuja.

Mundane and inoffensive as the demand may appear, it has become a worrying development that strikes action in our educational turf, having become not just incessant but a regular trademark to the extent that before the dust raised by the ASUU strike will go down, that of the NASU is up.

Also revealing is the fact that this current strike action has since morphed from a conventional action to an emblematic pulpit that sermonizes on two cardinal messages; first, that the Federal Government (FG) has become a self-declared enemy of education in Nigeria with neglect and underfunding as a formidable tool. While NASU on its part has resolved via its rigid posturing to suffer the children they were hired to protect, discrete the originally respected citadel of knowledge as well as ensure the sustained downward ‘progress’ of our educational sector.

These fears as expressed cannot be regarded as unfounded, as the FG has barefacedly disregarded the Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] recently entered with NASU. The Joint Action Committee (JAC), the umbrella body of the non-academic staff unions on the other hand has been brazenly unable to articulate, and comprehensively communicate their demands before taking to industrial action. Their recent statement bears eloquent testimony to this fact.

Adding context, said statement by JAC among other things stated that ‘the Earned Allowance, they received from the federal government was too meager compared to what ASUU received,’ while calling for the FG to explain the rationale behind the disparity.

Arguably a well-chiseled remark, but, it has again necessitated the question as to what exactly NASU is fighting for; merited allowance or a fight propelled by envy that ASUU got the lion share of the earned allowance?

Regrettably, the ultimate result of what the Federal Government and NASU are doing currently is in the womb of the future. An occurrence that the result may not be palatable if the trend is allowed to complete its gestation without something dramatic done to have it aborted.

According to what the people are saying, no matter how reasonable the decision of the government or that of NASU may be, they need to urgently get the fears of the masses allayed, as a visit to these universities will present that they share but a common denominator; pain.

While the returning students now wear a forlorn courage, the new intakes have frustration/despair painted all over. Their parents are not left out in this mood, as they bemoan the present fate of their children; in their sorrows and hardship.

If you are in doubt of the magnitude of this harsh impact, then, check out a development where academic activities have since resumed without the usual support of the non-teaching staff. New students that ought to be adequately guided are now allowed to wallow in cluelessness even as some schools are conducting examination without the supervisory assistance of the non-academic staff.

As if that’s not was not enough, most of the fresh students that paid their hostel fees without hostel accommodation allocated to them have gone to town to rent alternative accommodation. And now have to attend lectures from far distances, a development that adds to the financial burden of their parents. Aside from the financial burden, Nigerians are saying that the whole arrangement appears discomforting to the fresh students who may just be new in the environment.

Again, what becomes of the hostel fees paid since many are writing their first semester examinations without the hostel accommodation they paid for? Is the part of the money paid going to be refunded to them?

However noble the demands of NASU may be, the global watchers feel that their action is likened to the decision of a father refusing to send his son to school simply because his own father failed to train him. What these students are suffering at the hands of NASU is, but a transferred aggression orchestrated by the FG inability to meet their demands.

No doubt, this sorry story has understandably raised series of worry among the students, their parents, as well as irked the sensibility of the critical stakeholders; with many wondering what the future holds for our educational sector while others now query why the government cannot take its policies on education seriously?

But against all speculation, the policy inconsistency may not be the only problem standing against tertiary education’s smooth sail in Nigeria as a further peep into the nation’s educational horizon will further reveal that achieving a smooth operation of the academic calendar is usually bedeviled by inadequate funding occasioned by our nation’s inability to heed to the United Nation Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] budgetary recommendation which states that any nation desirous of achieving a hypermodern development must allocate at least 26% of its annual budget to the educational sector.

When you juxtapose this recommendation with the nation’s 2018 budgetary allocation on education, which hovers around 7%, it will further provide more insight to situating why our entire educational sector is on its knees.

This problem of poor funding is again compounded by the federal government obvious reluctant respect for education as the FG is known to be a dispenser of goodness by proxy when it concerns education, but gets directly involved in other social cum political activities.

Although, it’s not as if the government is not making any effort to have the problem solved as recent development has shown, the rigid posturing of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) is further fuelling this crisis while subjecting innocent students to severe hardship.

Therefore, to catalyze a truce in the interim, the FG and NASU must remember that a decision to rest when one is not supposed to be called laziness. Hence, the situation at hand calls for hard work via a ceaseless dialogue until an understanding is reached.

Nigerians will equally appreciate the government looking into the age-long underfunding challenge of our educational sector which has kept the entire sector in a sordid state. NASU, on their path, among other things should learn to have the interest of these students at heart when considering industrial action and unlearn the rigid posturing in negotiation as recently demonstrated.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% Nigeria: FG-NASU Face-Off – Time For Truce Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator I will vote Mr. Buhari because… Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

“I am not upset, I am not upset!” Yet a grown man swears angrily six times because of last night’s pounded yam.

Cassandra in Greek legend, I recall, was condemned to know the future but to be disbelieved when she foretold it. Hence the agony of foreknowledge combined with the impotence to do anything about it. So the pain that we know our problems but seem condemned to an existence of being incapable of solving them seems our curse.

Some persons have criticized me of repeating the same story over again, that may be true but certainly I have no apologies because the truth is that if we were what we ought to be then I probably would have resorted to doing something else. We refuse to listen, so I repeat the message, I change the tempo, I change the direction, I vary the stand but the message remains largely the same; that we have a problem and we need to solve our problems but we seem impotent at solving it.

Fresh killings in Kogi state mean that the numbers of state, that has seen one form of pastoralists/herdsmen related butchering, stand at almost 27 states of the federation and to date nothing has been done in concrete terms to address the issue. How this particular sad phase in our history keeps defying solution remains strange.

So with plenty of solutions flying everywhere one cannot but wonder what is the problem, and what then is the solution…I dare say the solution is, there is no problem, or that all the solutions remain problematic.

How can a Nigeria where Nigerians don’t task their leaders, one in which we don’t request accountability from our leaders be changed? It remains a nation where the likes of Abdulrasheed Maina defy logic with all sorts of mythical tales; don’t change this Nigeria please.

If we change this Nigeria it would be self sufficient, with a strong social security system, security of lives and property would be premium for all irrespective of class and status.

A changed Nigeria would see portable water, a good roads network, adequate supply network for food distribution, fantastic health delivery, and quality education almost free of charge.

However for a nation of knowing fools, to know is not to be wise, so we won’t and have refused to change.

Many men and women in Nigerian leadership today know a great deal, and are we not all the greater fools for it? There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. Because to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom and this is what our leadership lacks, and citizenry are no better in this regard. So we won’t change much.

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit but we have no limits, every single hour we endure a life that is best described as foolish, no fuel, we keep quiet, no food and we keep a deceitful smile. Our silence cannot be understood and there is a misunderstanding about the words we utter, we remain at war with ourselves.

So we ask for change but really we don’t want to change by our actions. We are not upset, yet we swear angrily several times because of last night’s pounded yam.

Like you cannot stop the sea from returning to the shore. How do you change when corrupt cases are lined up in media glitz and glittering glamour. The courts free all publicly accused big thieves. When they are not freed, they get a slap on the wrist; aided by weak penal and criminal codes or weak prosecution.

What has changed, is it the scandals that has rocked the NNPC consistently, from ghost approvals and signed contracts? Did we not dance that REMITA and TSA rock and roll commission blues and nothing changed. When budgets were not missing they were simply padded. No one was punished.

How about all the stage production of MTN’s fine and the bribe allegation against a top aide of the president and the grass-cutting cutter? How about the empty Aso Rock clinic with money voted for but empty? Do we want to change a Nigeria that gave us the movie ‘Ikoyigate’?

They don’t want Nigeria to change and neither have you or myself shown enough reason to demand change.

Who wants to change a nation, where you steal as much as you can; get some dramatic arrests; routinely attend court sessions; and then go home with a clean judgment of no-offence or no case?

So really I intend to vote Mr. Buhari because of all the stealing in Ministries, parastatals, agencies, at federal, state and local level, that has continued unabated. Despite EFCC, ICPC, and the various small 419 departments with duplicate functions in the Police.

I will vote for him because one can still ‘legitimately’ get away with stealing millions and billions and be celebrated, be given a chieftaincy title and several ‘thieftaincy’ rewards and awards of honorary degrees in any field of my choice and if I fall out with the powers that be, I have enough to get the best lawyers and injunctions when I am chased.

The camera lights of news stations and front pages of newspapers and early morning radio news are still full of the faces of those responsible for our current predicament.

Today the bitter truth is that corruption begets corruption, and we are breeding it. This Nigeria is benefiting a few, and many don’t want it changed, whether it stands or not is not about how much we swear, but real desire matched with action for change, and as it stands with this kind of changeless change, I am with Buhari, unless we show guts; when—Only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

Currently Prince Charles, is based out of Jos, Plateau State, and conducts field research and investigations in the Middle Belt Region of Nigeria with an extensive reach out to the entire North and other parts. Prince Charles worked on projects for UN Women, Search for Common Ground, and International Crisis Group, among others. He is an alumnus of the University of Jos and the prestigious Humanitarian Academy at Harvard and Knight Center For Journalism, University of Texas at Austin. A doctoral candidate of Georgetown University

Born in Lagos State (South West Nigeria), Prince Charles is proud of his Nigerian roots. He is a Henry Luce Fellow, Ford Foundation grantee and is proficient in English, French, Yoruba Ibo and Hausa. Married with two boys, and a few dogs and birds.

%%AUTHORLINK% I will vote Mr. Buhari because… Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Nigerian Security forces failed to act on warnings about Boko Haram attack before abduction of schoolgirls Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Amnesty International

Nigerian security forces failed to act on advance warnings that a convoy of Boko Haram fighters was heading towards a town where they abducted 110 schoolgirls last month, an investigation by human rights NGO Amnesty International has revealed.

The military failed to respond while Boko Haram conducted an armed raid on the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe state, on 19 February in an assault with chilling echoes of the infamous Chibok girls’ abduction of 2014.

Osai Ojigho, Amnesty’s Nigeria Director, said:

“The Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed this abduction to take place without any tangible attempt to prevent it.

“As an even greater priority, the government must use all lawful means at its disposal to ensure that these girls are rescued.

“The authorities appear to have learned nothing from the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014 and failed to ensure protection for civilians in north-east Nigeria, specifically girls’ schools.”

In response to the Chibok abduction, the Safe Schools Initiative – which is currently coordinated by the Presidential Committee on the North-East Initiative – was launched to improve security around schools. However, no framework seems to be in place to prevent further abductions and it appears that the Nigerian military is unable to protect schools from attack.

Osai Ojigho said:

“Evidence available to Amnesty suggests that there are insufficient troops deployed in the area, and that an absence of patrols and the failure to respond to warnings and engage with Boko Haram contributed to this tragedy.

“The Nigerian authorities have failed in their duty to protect civilians, just as they did in Chibok four years ago. Despite being repeatedly told that Boko Haram fighters were heading to Dapchi, it appears that the police and military did nothing to avert the abduction.”

Repeated warnings

Amnesty gathered testimonies from multiple credible sources showing that the Nigerian army and police received multiple calls up to four hours before the raid on Dapchi, but did not take effective measures to either stop the abduction or rescue the girls after they were taken by Boko Haram fighters.

The military withdrew troops from the area in January, meaning the closest personnel were based one hour’s drive from Dapchi. Between 2pm and 6.30pm on 19 February, security forces received at least five calls warning them that the armed group was on the way to Dapchi.

The first call was made to the army command in Geidam, 35 miles from Dapchi, informing them that Boko Haram fighters had been seen at Futchimiram heading to Gumsa, a village about 20 miles from Dapchi. However, the evidence documented by Amnesty shows that the military did nothing to engage with Boko Haram and ensure the protection of civilians.

The sighting of an armed convoy at Futchimiram immediately sparked several phone calls to alert authorities. Sources who informed the military commander in Geidam at 2pm report that he responded to them by saying he was aware of the situation and was monitoring it.

At around 3pm, the convoy arrived in Gumsa, where they remained till 5pm. Gumsa residents called villagers to warn them that Boko Haram fighters were on their way. One villager who received such a call said he informed a police sergeant who promised to notify the Dapchi Division Police Officer.

At around 6.30pm, when residents were heading to the mosque for evening prayers, Boko Haram members entered Dapchi. Witnesses said Boko Haram fighters asked for directions to the military post, the local government office and the girls’ school.

A police source in Dapchi told Amnesty that officers fled because they feared the Boko Haram fighters would overpower them.

Government must investigate root causes of failure to respond

A source based in north-east Nigeria told Amnesty: “All the military needed to do was send troops towards Gumsa from Geidam or Babban Gida, while telling its troops in Damasak, Kareto, Gubio and Magumeri to be on the lookout or on patrol.”

A review of the Nigerian army’s actions by Amnesty’s crisis advisor for military operations also concluded that the military’s response was woefully inadequate. The review took into consideration the locations of the soldiers and the time it would take to get to Dapchi, as well as the route taken by Boko Haram.

During the attack, army officials in both Geidam and Damaturu were again alerted. The military only arrived in Dapchi shortly after Boko Haram left. Villagers in Dapchi and Gumsa said a military jet arrived about one hour after Boko Haram left Dapchi.

Six days after the abduction, on 25 February, a security meeting was held at the governor’s office in the state capital Damaturu, attended by state and federal government officials, security chiefs, the military officials operating in the area and representatives from the school and parents. The authorities were aware that the military was notified at least four hours before the attack that suspected Boko Haram fighters were heading to Gumsa. No one appears to have asked why the military did not respond adequately or why there were not enough troops.

President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently ordered an investigation into the response to the abduction.

Osai Ojigho said: “The government’s failure in this incident must be investigated and the findings made public – and it is absolutely crucial that any investigation focusses on the root causes.

“Why were insufficient troops available? Why was it decided to withdraw troops? What measures has the government taken to protect schools in northeast Nigeria? And what procedures are supposed to be followed in response to an attempted abduction?”

Families of abducted girls left without any information

The abduction was followed by confusion. Initially, the authorities denied any girls were abducted, then the Yobe state authorities stated that the military had rescued the girls. But the girls did not return home and, on 22 February, the state government confirmed the abductions.

One parent told Amnesty: “That night we heard their voices when they were being taken, but there was nothing we could do. Everyone was scared. Boko Haram did not stay in the town for more than one hour.”

Another parent described how the girls’ relatives were not given any information until the following day, and that they had to wait outside the school to find out if their loved ones were safe.

He said: “Many parents were hopeful that their daughters were inside. We stood there from morning till around 5pm in the evening, when they let the students out. It was at that point it dawned on me that my daughter was among those abducted.”

No lessons learned from 2014 Chibok abduction

The response to this abduction has chilling similarities to the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno state, in April 2014. On that occasion, the military also had four hours’ advance warning but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, with most military personnel withdrawn shortly before the abduction.

Similarly, the abduction was followed by a climate of confusion, which appeared to slow down the Nigerian authorities’ efforts to locate and free the abducted girls.

After the Chibok abduction, the military initially said that almost all the abducted girls had been rescued, but later had to retract that statement. The authorities under President Goodluck Jonathan originally investigated Boko Haram’s responsibility for the Chibok abductions but never made the report public. In January 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered another investigation into the government’s response to the Chibok abduction. This report was also never made public.

Osai Ojigho said:

“Regrettably, no lessons appear to have been learned from the terrible events at Chibok four years ago. What happened in Dapchi is almost a carbon copy of what happened in Chibok, with the security forces failing to respond to warnings – and the same result for another hundred girls and their families.

“All authorities must now work together to ensure the girls are brought home safely and this never happens again. This abduction is a war crime and those responsible must be brought to justice.

“As a first step, the two reports into the Chibok abductions should be made public.”

Amnesty is calling on Boko Haram to immediately release the girls and all others in its captivity.

Background

A team of Amnesty researchers visited Dapchi and interviewed 23 people, including girls who escaped, parents of the abducted girls, local officials and eyewitnesses, to document this abduction. They also interviewed three security officials.

The sources independently verified a list of Nigerian security officials who were alerted on 19 February, before and during the raid on the Government Girls Science and Technical College. They have been kept anonymous for their safety.

The sources and eyewitnesses in Dapchi confirmed that approximately 50 Boko Haram fighters arrived in Dapchi in a convoy of nine vehicles with Arabic inscriptions on them, seven Landcruiser trucks, one Hilux and a Canter truck.

Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights with over 7 million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organisation is “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.”

%%AUTHORLINK% Nigerian Security forces failed to act on warnings about Boko Haram attack before abduction of schoolgirls Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator 2019 Nigerian Election: INEC, Voters and Reluctant Optimism Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

AFP photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

As the nation races toward the 2019 general election, many strange things are happening daily in our political space; some heartening and others undesirable. Particularly echoing on this wavelength is the demand for a robust political partisanship, a move aimed at terminating the dearth of leadership that has bedeviled our nation for too long a time.

Essentially welcoming is the call for good governance sermonized daily. But beyond this call is an uninspiring preparation characterized by gaps between what we profess and our political actions; a case of more speech with less action by all parties (state actors/citizens) alike. This has become a growing source of concern prompting keen political watchers to ask whether Winston Churchill had us (Nigerians) in mind when he defined a fanatic as ‘he, that can neither change his mind nor change the topic.’

Undeniably, the need for electing the right leaders has become inevitable and eminently desirable. And Nigerians have within this period expressively preached leadership change but visibly shown ineptitude in strategy and commitment that will bring this position to fruition. Beyond doubt, we are more styled than substance in this 2019 project.

Going by what is happening currently, analysts are however worried that what the masses have so far exhibited is, but, a reluctant optimism which could only lead the nation scoring the usual electoral result as speeches alone cannot win an election.

Another deep-seated source of worry is the telling evidence that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has recently become a body that is good at expressing regrets for their misdeeds without a promise of repentance or apology; the under age voters’ registration saga comes flooding.

But the most damaging of all these scenarios is the current spate of insecurity in the country; an occurrence that points to the fact that the federal government may not be promising a firm security for the exercise, particularly now that disobedience of order has become a familiar music-hall act.

These looming signs of woe have again necessitated discerning minds to conclude that if the nation eventually elects the right people in 2019, such victory shall be viewed as an unmerited success. And if we fail, such will again be considered as an accident the nation could have avoided since we saw it coming.

Against this backdrop, it will be gratifying that these unspoken fears are urgently and sprightly addressed as doing so shall translate to a force of stability and a small beginning that will bring about an important breakthrough. But having them disregarded may come at a heavy political and socio-economic cost for our nation.

Aside from the above, it also appears that our inability to coexist is another indication that we are not doing so well to establish a democracy and leadership that is enduring. History bears eloquent testimonies that true democracy can only work in a ‘peaceful environment, where the people have the culture of accommodation and tolerance which makes a minority accept a majority’s right to have its way until the next election, and wait patiently and peacefully for its turn to become the government by persuading more voters to support its views.’ I doubt if our nation as currently postured can fit into this description.

Our inability to coexist in my view may not be the only hurdle against the 2019 general election as the age-long underage registration/voting challenge mooted above raised its ugly head in a recent but still trending video captured during a registration exercise and a local council poll in some states. Nigerians are not particularly happy that the Independent National Electoral Commission has not been able to give an impressive explanation of what happened as expected.

As if that was not enough misery for our democracy, the damaging state of illiteracy and attempt to regulate freedom of speech as we have recently witnessed with the attempted introduction of the hate speech bill, has become but another stumbling block standing in the way of achieving a people-purposed leadership.

Going by what is happening at the global stage, there is again a telling proof that ‘for democracy to succeed, a relative level of literacy, a growing middle class, and political institutions that support free speech and human rights is desirable. It needs a civic society resting on shared values that make people with different and conflicting views willing to corporate with each other.’ In contrast, Nigerians are going about this 2019 electoral project divided while a greater percentage of the electorates still wallow in ignorance.

Illustrating the above, most of the people leading this electoral discourse have neither registered for nor collected their Permanent Voters Card (PVC). Again, a gross apathy on the part of the youths has become another significant source of worry.

A story was told of how in Anambra state, some youths in their resolve to stop a particular candidate from winning the recent gubernatorial contest, decided not to participate in the electoral exercise. Such a decision in my view was born out of political ignorance and further portrays the democracy we practice as ‘democracy turned upside down’.

However, despite these negative developments, it is my firm belief that these monsters can be caged and the anticipated 2019 election result achieved if the FG allays these fears as expressed by the masses.

To get started, such steps may include but not be limited to our realization as a people that democracy can only guarantee good governance when it is mixed with the appropriate ingredients. Such ingredient is our ability and resolve to vote the right people that will uphold probity as well as build institutions. Therefore, as we commence yet another ‘political ultimate search’ come 2019, voting based on pecuniary inducement or ‘stomach infrastructure’ should be discouraged.

It is imperative that the INEC as a public institution run with the approval, and from the funds of the public perform its responsibility of facilitating/regulating the electoral process responsibly as failure may lead to losing public/peoples’ support and by extension, its existence.

To further disabuse the minds of Nigerians who may have doubts about the forthcoming election, the FG should take pragmatic steps to address the nation security challenge as well as tackle in a holistic manner other issues raised that may blur the 2019 general election outcome.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% 2019 Nigerian Election: INEC, Voters and Reluctant Optimism Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Like Wakanda, Nigeria needs a Black Panther Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

C&D photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

It is easier to wake a man sleeping than a man pretending to be asleep…the words of our elders though these days they do not count that much.

After the death of his father, T’Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king — and as Black Panther — gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people. BLACK PANTHER.

So I closed my eyes and it was Nigeria and I saw a vision of an experienced President, the man I saw had seen the good and also the bad, a man with both experiences that would have been able to guard the Nation against itself. Such that we would be on the course of building a new political edifice, one that would be truly Nigerian. A system that works and is suited to our needs; and also capable of improvement based on our experience.

In that dream we had a political arrangement that was tight enough to contain stress and strains, but at the same time eradicate the ready vehicle for personal dictatorship and despotism that could emerge. The dream scene showed that with a terrible past, our leaders would use past political experience as a rational digest to start all over, the right way with an ideology that would be a business of open-mindedness to change, thereby allowing our political edifice to grow and develop with a strong virile opposition. But how can, for most of us who were awake while I pretended to be sleeping my dream was a mere mirage at best a photocopy of what should have been the original.

An enviable Arewa, Afenifere, Biafra, Niger Delta, in a strong and stable, united Nigeria devoid of the thieves we have today, but oh, how cruel life can be, all that I said was in a dream. In that dream I saw us as a secular Federal Republic of National Independence, without all these Paris, London and Beijing or Moscow lending crooks breathing on our back, controlling our President like my little cousin does with the remote to the television and the sister does to their guard dog ironically named “Opposition”.

In that dream we had a homemade political system not the crooks in APC, PDP and the confusionists in other clubs called political parties. I saw a nation of that had a self-activating economy, I did not recall sighting a woman in any form who was busy speaking English with the UK accent. The dream was that in which the political system was a two-party system, where both parties were people’s parties securely insulated from the cash-power of both domestic and foreign business…I saw a nation that had better leadership to offer. I never saw APC/PDP as such sights would only be seen in a nightmare. The national ideology that appeared in my dream is national patriotism, a nation built on a solid foundation (unfortunately Nigeria is not).

This foundation was literally, planned from the people, by the people, for the people. The Nigeria we live in is unfortunately an accident of passion. Lady and Lord Lugard while having foreplay thought up Nigeria for administrative ease. In my dream an Ibo man was distinctively Ibo, same applied to my kith and kin that remained proudly Hausas, Fulanis, Beroms, Tivs, Urhobos, the Yoruba man remained such whether he be Ijebu, Egba, Ara oke or Ara isale.

And that one was Ibo did not necessarily mean that the Hausa or Yoruba was his enemy. Sadly this was a dream because in reality Nigeria was established with the diverse ethnic build as a tool for disability rather than strength, and the mistake we call leadership has continued to exploit it to and for their selfish and ‘sellmeat’ as long as the greed, power, money are proportionately equal to their mad ego.

In my dream the land called Nigeria belong not to Nigerians rather to the different ethnic entities that make up the nation and all lived in an appreciable level of peace and harmony. In that dream no one was forced to be Nigerian, no one lost his/her identity, like today everyone wants to wipe off their identity and just be called a Nigerian, badly this is not possible because the word Nigerian has no meaning even when it had or the little meaning it had, Obasanjo has spoilt, PDP has disgraced through the calibre of morally deranged and insane men in their ranks, and APC is preparing the funeral rites.

That dream had a Yoruba Nigerian, Hausa Nigerian, an Ijaw Nigerian, Isoko Nigerian, Ibo Nigerian, and all sorts of Nigerian all living happily there, here and after like in the lion and sheep in those colorful Jehovah witness’ awake magazines.

It was simply a beauty to behold, a people’s patriotism, not a presidential dictatorship and a party’s despotism and colonialism of its own people.

My dream saw a citizen oriented armed forces and police politically monolithic in term of the national ideology, not the type that fought themselves and left crime on the prowl. Not the type that went on strike, borrowed arm robbers their uniforms to perpetuate crime and harassed innocent conductors and kabukabu drivers and motorcycle riders for 20 Naira.

A moral code, covering private, public life, and entrenched in the constitution, the code which is animated by the national ideology, and distilled out of traditional Nigerians mores, Sharia code and Christian ethics. But na dream, you do not build castles in the air, so I woke up to find we are not in Wakanda

We are in Nigeria where governors bought heaven on earth in the name of mansions at least hence they know hell is their destination they might as well enjoy what earth has to offer. Governor who bleached with their wives and slept with their Commissioners’ wives and ordered the assassination of the cats belonging to their political rivals. Politicians who observed due process in the golf course with a can of Heineken beer and their daughter’s classmate playing with their chest hairs and they smiled away destinies of future generation.

The more I slept I realized that there was a great difference between illusions and realities, I knew I was only pretending to be asleep, because how could I be asleep when PHCN or is it NEPA or DISCO, had taken electricity power for the third day counting and fuel to run the generator was like asking for spring water in the desert. I felt saddened by the illusions of our leaders and the realities which they refuse to face and tackle…

I end thus.

As youngsters, we neighborhood kids would play street football. The minute we got home from school, we’d drop the books and hit the pavement. The kid across the street had a dad with a great arm and a strong addiction to football. As soon as he’d pull in the driveway from work we’d start yelling for him to come and play ball. He couldn’t resist. Out of fairness he’d always ask, “Which team is losing?” Then he would join that team, which often seemed to be mine.

His appearance in the huddle changed the whole ball game. He was confident, strong, and most of all, he had a plan. We’d circle around him, and he’d look at us and say, “Okay boys, here is what we are going to do.” The other side was groaning before we left the huddle. You see, we not only had a new plan, we had a new leader.

This is the leadership Nigeria needs; yet it is the same leadership that we lack! For how long—Only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

%%AUTHORLINK% Like Wakanda, Nigeria needs a Black Panther Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Osinbajo, the Fight Against Corruption and Public Opinion Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

It is a deep-seated teaching within religious circles that for a man to exist, comprehend, exercise and act; he must depend on a supernatural gift called grace. Such ‘grace’ for political decisiveness seems to have been recently released upon our nation’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as he against all permutations conceded that corruption still exists in President Buhari’s administration.

Adding context, the Vice President, while speaking at the 7^th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum for Private Sector Stakeholders in Aso Rock Villa, among other things stated as follows; ‘that there is grand corruption in the Nigeria public finance space, that Nigerian Business environment is burdened with corruption, that corruption under this administration has not been completely dealt with; no, certainly not.’ He also added that about three million dollars, approximately one-tenth of our foreign reserves, was fleeced through a strategic alliance programme in recent times.

Certainly well crafted, with telling good intentions aimed at promoting openness and probity in our political space, the remark, in Nigeria’s history has presented Professor Osinbajo as a desirable member of the league of very few Nigerian leaders who conceded that something may actually not be completely right with their administration.

Against this backdrop, the VP, going by what the masses are saying, has made himself the symbolic ‘pulpit’ that expressed the silent fears of Nigerians who in recent times lampooned the purported corruption fight as more of a well said than a well-done affair.

But, the above scenario notwithstanding, knocks have however continued to greet said remark as Nigerians have spotted a gorge of discrepancy between the VP’s remark against what the administration is currently doing. For instance, while the VP views the corruption fight as work in progress, the vast majority of Nigerians believe that there is no such fight in the first place. To some, the FG through its actions remains the major propeller of corruption while others are of the opinion that the supposed fight only exists in the frames.

Indeed, it appears that the fundamental factor responsible for the dust so raised by the remark is that Nigerians are not particularly happy with this administration that promised to stamp out corruption but instead has unprecedentedly allowed it to thrive.

To discerning minds therefore, informing Nigerians that the same monster the administration promised to erase still exist three years after, is synonymous with opening the paradox; a development that has further portrayed the government as a reality Nigerians should worry about.

The situation is made even worse by the inability of the FG to deliver the nation from the throes of economic hardship; prompting many to ask what the administration can point as their achievements if they cannot fulfill the two cardinal promises of stamping out corruption and getting the nation’s economy revamped.

In recent weeks also there have been strong voices raised against the lackluster strategy in the corruption fight in Nigeria with the most formidable coming from Transparency International. The Group had in strong terms cautioned that corruption in Nigeria is on the increase and may slide from bad to worse if something dramatic is not done to get the situation arrested. That report was described in government quarters as out of tune and therefore discarded with a wave of hands. But with this comment by the number two citizen, Transparency International and other critical minds have been vindicated.

To succeed in this job, what Nigerians are saying is that the strategy so far employed in the corruption fight is faulty and the government is lacking in political will. What the concerned citizens are therefore demanding is the reinvigoration of the political will and review of the strategy so far used as no matter how beautiful a strategy may appear, there is a need for its periodic review.

From their current standpoint, what the masses expect from the VP in my view is not the announcement, but a template in place for ensuring ‘that every dollar/naira in revenue would be properly accounted for and would reach the beneficiaries at the grassroots, as one dollar, without being siphoned off along the way; block the areas where discretionary powers had been exploited for personal gains and sharpened the instruments that could prevent, detect or deter such practices’.

Very instructive also is the need for this administration to end this act of pointing to the former administration as the architect of their predicament which has become not just a familiar music hall firm but a trademark. Such reasons generated daily can no longer be sustained as the people are of the opinion that the continuous search for lost things remains the easiest way to waste both time and resources.

Going forward, the presidency should learn to depart this vicious circle of excuses as it is turning the entire administrative episode to an excruciating burden on the masses and may by implication inform as well as shape the 2019 electoral outing.

Aside from the above, efforts should be made to prime and position the EFCC, the ICPC and the Nigeria Police Force to fight this monster. This time is auspicious for us as a people to learn from the nations that have passed through this part as the masses are expecting from this administration not just stamping out corruption but a total creation of a sustainable socio-economic prosperity.

In making this call, I am well aware that there is nothing more difficult to handle, more doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating such changes as the innovator will make more enemies of all those who prospered under the old order. But, any leader that does, comes out powerful, secure, respected and happy.

As the debate on the corruption fight rages, Nigerians are inching for victory; a disposition that has further made winning not just compelling but inevitable.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% Osinbajo, the Fight Against Corruption and Public Opinion Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Remember That Libratory Tool Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Kristian Buus photo

By

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

The standard of education, which is arguably the bedrock of every country’s development and which is measured by the knowledge and the skills students acquired at a particular period of time mostly at primary and secondary levels from which other levels develop, is gradually experiencing a slow death in Nigeria. I wonder if education will today recognize itself in “the magic mirror” (from Stories to Grow). This may not be unrelated to the lack of commitment by the entire stakeholders toward this power house.

There are many arguments of who is responsible for this dwindling standard of education that is threatening almost every sector in the country. I have the opportunity of interviewing many educationists, teachers and government officials respectively. While some educationists are accusing the government of being insincere towards the educational sector considering the sickly unreasonable amount government injects into the sector every year and inadequate qualified teachers it employed to man the schools, some government officials claim that the government has taken great strides in educational development over the past few years and blame teachers’ lack of commitment in the discharge of their duties. To them teachers lack the right attitude to work and for this most of them cannot work with love.

Many teachers have argued that in most cases their ambitions of discharging their duties sufficiently is hampered by poor working condition, low salary and insufficient teaching as well as learning materials that always greet them. Others talk of students’ minds being carried away by games and social media.

However, many people from the lower rug of the social ladder have been pointing accusing fingers at the crude capitalist system that has created a yawning gap between the rich and the poor as the main reason behind the demise of the standard of education in the country. To them when the sons and daughters of the affluent have access to education, their children have but limited educational opportunity because they cannot afford the exorbitant fees private schools demand and the government has refused to adequately fund the sector.

I was so surprised when I first read about an unusual comparison between Grade II and B.A in Achebe’s second novel, A Man of the People. What is the basis? Although the book was written some fifty-eight years ago. Since my first reading I had been searching for an answer to this so bizarre a likening whose answer should be found much later: why should B.A which I am so much proud of be compared with grade II? Has failure of standard of education reached up to this level? Is it true that a grade ll holder of those days can give a graduate of B.A bloody nose in educational arena? Have mercy on us, Oh Lord!

Sometime last year during my NYSC days, I met an elderly woman in glasses hurrying back home perhaps from work. Then I was sitting on a boulder some inches from the ground and I was reading Peter Abraham’s Tell Freedom as part of an NCE syllabus, being a course tutor. Seeing what was in my hand, the woman flashed her captivating smile and I smiled back. She drew nearer and asked from where I got the copy. I told her that was my third reading and I was teaching NCE students. She later told me of how their teachers would prevent anyone who failed to read a prescribed text from getting into class in 1973. I looked at her with awe. We later discussed many literary works. Although I was bewildered at how secondary school students would read what I struggled with in my undergraduate days, I later concluded that Achebe was absolutely right.

This was proved right much later when I came to mark NCE one students’ scripts. Although I had pre-knowledge of their inability to read let alone understand or excavate the text, the sight was extremely filthy. This failure of the standard of education comes with the students and/or teachers’ refusal to read or make further researches. Most of the schools we know have become business centers where huge amount of money is made. Perhaps parents send their children to schools to ease the tensions and the noises their children cause and make while around; and some teachers are teaching because they could not find better jobs.

A critical look at the arguments above will surely lead one to a major cause these days. As it is true that the government and the teachers should share the blame, so also social media; the hours the lucky generation spent perusing their books, doing assignments or winding their brains are replaced by cyber space these days. A larger percentage of students has no taste for reading at nearly every level.

The dwindling interest in reading culture or reading habit among the youth is deplorable. Social media has taken over the hours students are expected to spend studying, doing assignment or reading story books that can boost their academic status. Due to excessive chatting on Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype, etc, by the students, many teachers especially of English complain that the students’ ability to spell words correctly is no longer there.

To sum it up, the government should declare a state of emergency on education; it should hire educationists to prescribe cure to this dying sector. Congestion of all the levels of education in the ministry of education should be decentralized. Government should re-establish teachers colleges all over the country for the production of competent not half-baked teachers. Teachers’ welfare should be improved at least to be at par with that of other government officials’ remuneration. Facilities for learning should be provided and thereafter adequate teaching and learning materials should be supplied. Communities should imbibe the do-it-yourself mentality that will give way to community schools. And lastly parents should closely monitor their children’s relationship with their books and social media.

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid, Kano based, is graduate of B.A English from Bayero University, Kano. He is a budding writer, social analyst, freelancer at Sunrise Language Practitioner (SLP) and regular contributor to Nigerian dailies.
His writings have appeared in The Communicator, a magazine published by Kano State Polytechnic and in Dailytrust, The Triumph and The cable newspapers. He has a strong interest in literary theory.

%%AUTHORLINK% Remember That Libratory Tool Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Remembering 2015: Mr. Buhari…and promises broken, hope dashed? Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

It was after a tense weekend, every Nigerian and partly the world held her breath…Nigerians watched with berthed breath…there were an array of countless actors, stars, and villains, and after all was said and done, the General Elections of 2015 in Nigeria delivered it all.

Below is the first Official statement by then President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari after the announcement of the results of the presidential election:

At exactly 5:15pm this evening President Jonathan called to congratulate me on my victory. For this I want all Nigerians to join me in congratulating and appreciating Mr. President for his statesmanship.

President Jonathan engaged in a spirited campaign and was a worthy opponent. I extend my hand of fellowship to him. I look forward to meeting him soon as we plan the transition from one administration to another. He will receive nothing but understanding, cooperation and respect from my team and me.

The good people of Nigeria answered the call of history. When the account of this fine moment is written, it will be said that it was the people themselves who led this nation to democracy.

You stood in line patiently for hours in the sun, rain and then in the dark to cast your ballots. Even when the vote was extended to Sunday in some places, you still performed your civic duty. You did so peacefully. You voted with your heart. Your vote affirms that you believe Nigeria’s future can be better than what it is today.

You voted for change and now change has come.

INEC has released the official results of the Presidential election. INEC has declared that I gained the most votes with the required spread and thus won this election. In a more profound way, it is you, Nigerians that have won. The people have shown their love for our nation and their belief in democracy.

The declaration of INEC accurately reflects the will of the people. While there might have been some logistical obstacles and irregularities associated with the exercise, the result shall stand as what the people want.

I thank all Nigerians who have made this day possible. Our country has now joined the community of nations that have used the ballot box to peacefully change an incumbent President in a free and fair election. To me this is indeed historic.

Most people will welcome the result because it is the one they voted for. Others will naturally be disappointed. I ask that we all be circumspect, respectful and peaceful in these times.

This was a hard- fought contest. Emotions are high. We must not allow them to get the better of us. This is not the time for confrontation. This is a moment that we must begin to heal the wounds and work toward a better future. We do this first by extending a hand of friendship and conciliation across the political divide. We hope and pray our friends in other parties reciprocate.

I thank all the members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for their commitment and their hard work through the formation of the party, the campaigns and the Presidential elections. Let me equally extend my appreciation to the MEDIA, Civil Society and the Security agencies for their selfless service.

The International press and our friends abroad deserve special commendation for their support throughout the process. We promise a robust and dynamic engagement with your countries in matters of mutual interest to nations.

In the interim, I call on all Nigerians to be law abiding and peaceful. The eyes of the world were focused on us to see if we could vote in a peaceful way and carry out a representative election in an orderly manner. You have proven to the world that we are a people who have embraced democracy and a people who seek of government by, for and of the people.

We have put one party state behind us. You have voted for a party and president that will serve and govern but never rule over you. Change has come. A new day and a new Nigeria are upon us. The victory is yours and the glory is that of our nation – Nigeria.

One Sunday morning, a wealthy man sat in his balcony enjoying sunshine and his coffee when a little ant caught his eye; going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size.

The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many impediments during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards its destination.

At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analyzed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey.

The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant, one of God’s tiniest creatures.

The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of Creation. It showed the greatness of the Creator.

In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature of God, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyze, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome.

Along with all these capabilities, the man also noticed that this tiny creature shared some human shortcomings.

The man saw about an hour later the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor, which was entrance to its underground dwelling.

At this point the ant’s shortcoming that it shared with man was revealed.

How could the ant carry the large leaf it carefully managed to its destination into the tiny hole? It simply couldn’t!

So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.

The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it. The creature had no option, but to leave it behind to reach its destination.

The man learned a great lesson that day. Isn’t that the truth about our lives?

For me and I hope a sizable number of Nigerians, I remain a cautious optimistic on the Nigerian project if there is any, I have dreams, but not necessarily a Nigerian Dream, because I do not know of any in its real beneficial term.

So, with all the pain, many believed that there was hope, with all its inherent failure, the card reader, and the advent of the PVC, all the shortcomings and successes. We navigated those elections in 2015.

However we remain far away from really winning as good governance has remained a mirage, all the hype and excitement has not rewarded citizenry with a responsive government and leaders that feel the pulse of the governed.

We are really no different from the ant, having done the great, by change we stuck at the same place—APC won, but has it done things differently from the ANT, and PDP has it provided credible opposition pushing APC to its limits for the people’s advantage, and all the naysayers, letter writers, counsels, and self defense experts, are we not behaving like the ANT and hoping the APC and Mr. Buhari fizzle out.

The winner of the 2015 General Elections should really have been the Nigerian people and nation; sadly we have behaved like the ANT…

Not only behaved like the ANT but also have not harnessed the positives of that poll, our tribe and tongue continue to tear us apart, there is currently no nation for us to proudly serve, and the much desired peace continues to elude us…if we have made a better choice—only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

%%AUTHORLINK% Remembering 2015: Mr. Buhari…and promises broken, hope dashed? Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Until we disgrace corruption, the macabre journey continues Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Lars Plougmann photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

Mr. Tortoise was going on a journey, his wife asked him when he would come back; he replied he would not come back until he has been disgraced.

So shamelessly all through last week, both ruling party and the opposition traded lists on who stole what, who stole most, who stole when, and where the thieves are currently; at least I can assure you that not one of the thieves are serving some serious jail term. And I could not help but wonder #who-really-did-this-to-us?

As I reflected, I stumbled on the Reuters’ reports of a South Korean court jailing former President Park Geun-hye for 24 years Friday over a scandal that exposed webs of corruption between political leaders and the country’s conglomerates.

Park became South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be forced from office last year when the Constitutional Court ordered her out over a scandal that landed the heads of two conglomerates in jail.

The court also fined Park, the daughter of a former military dictator, 18 billion won ($16.9 million) after finding her guilty of charges including bribery, abuse of power and coercion.

“The defendant abused her presidential power entrusted by the people, and as a result, brought massive chaos to the order of state affairs and led to the impeachment of the president, which was unprecedented,” judge Kim Se-yoon said as he handed down the sentence.

Up to 1,000 Park supporters gathered outside the court, holding national flags and signs calling for an end to “political revenge” against her.

The court found Park guilty of colluding with her old friend, Choi Soon-sil, to receive about 7 billion won ($6.56 million) each from Lotte Group, a retail giant, and Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and semiconductors, while demanding 8.9 billion won from SK, an energy conglomerate.

Most of the money was intended to bankroll non-profit foundations run by Choi’s family and confidants, and to fund the education of Choi’s horse-riding daughter, the court said.

Prosecutors sought a 30-year sentence and a 118.5 billion won ($112 million) fine for Park.

Park, 66, who has been in jail since March 31 last year, has denied wrongdoing and was not present in court.

The judge said Park had shown “no sign of repentance” but had instead tried to shift the blame to Choi and her secretaries.

“We cannot help but sternly hold her accountable,” Kim said.

‘HEARTBREAKING’

Park apologized while in office for seeking help from Choi, who had no policy or political experience, but that was as close as she came to admitting any guilt.

Kang Chul-koo, one of Park’s state-appointed lawyers, said he would discuss with her the possibility of an appeal.

“We tried our utmost but regret the result turned out very bad,” Kang told reporters at the court.

Park is the latest former leader of South Korea to run afoul of the law. Two predecessors, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, were convicted in 1996 of mutiny, treason and corruption and sentenced to long prison terms but both received presidential pardons and were freed after a couple of years. But Moon took office pledging to end the practice of pardoning public and corporate officials convicted of corruption.

“The ruling will be a lesson for many companies,” said Choi Woon-youl, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party.

“They have to boost transparency and sever the ties of collusion with government. If you have nothing to hide, whether about management or succession, you don’t have to be bullied by the government.”

Despite all the drama, and noise surrounding the fight on corruption and corruption fighting back and all that blame game, and release of lists by two of Nigeria’s most corrupt parties, the kind of events in South Korea are not likely to occur here.

It’s in this nation that you have a president so embarrassed, when it is not a fake award, it is a grass cutting scandal, or a list full of dead men walking and wanting to work. No heads roll, so it will happen in the future.

Nothing threatens our social order, for stealing billions, bail is set at few millions, and when conviction takes place, which rarely happens, it’s more of a pat in the back.

From the gateman at the state secretariat to the corporal at the police desk, everyone wants something. Everyone is ‘prayerfully’ waiting for that promotion that will take one to the next level where one can demonstrate that inherent skill at greasing and lining our pockets.

Admission is sold, employment is sold, political office sold, awards are bought, from government, churches, traditional institutions, so naturally we are at the receiving end, the system (already dilapidated) pays for it. Our guiding philosophy: continuous to be what is in it for me.

Does is it mean that Nigeria is the most corrupt nation, no, does it mean that there are no honest Nigerians, no too, there are many but never or hardly do they get the opportunity or are swallowed by the corrupt ones.

Corruption is everywhere in the world, however in Nigeria it is not only endemic but killing, all the days in this clime is for the thief, none for the owner.

Transparency is only a political lexicon, so like I have asked in the past, again I ask… can the EFCC, ICPC provide amounts of recovered funds and dates and accounts where the deposits were made including dates of deposits and deposit receipts and from whom these funds were recovered from, rather all the media blitz and village headmaster soap. Those arrested, at some point or the other can Nigerians know the status of the cases in court, from Dariye to Nnamani, Jolly Nyame to Abdullahi Adamu, Orji Kalu, Bankole to Danjuma…The list is endless…these men are still the clowns chanting change or changing the change.

The truth is that the loot is being re-looted. Nigerian corruption and corrupt practices permeates religion, tribe and class. Like headache and Panadol, while we agree that there is this problem, and there is a need to administer a drug to this systemic cancer, we cannot seem to agree how, when and where.

The millions and billions that disappear into private pockets meant for the generality of Nigerians is responsible for those bad roads, those ill-equipped hospitals, poor educational system, dysfunctional utilities system…Like the Tortoise on a journey, until he has been disgraced, there is no coming back. Nigeria and Nigerians, if we do not retrace our steps and start to treat thieves above with public opprobrium and ridicule, with sordid disgrace we only will be wasting grooving in the dark, and for how long—Only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

%%AUTHORLINK% Until we disgrace corruption, the macabre journey continues Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Nigerian Media, LGBT and Unfair Reportage Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Awesu Olaniyi Williams

Stereotyping and ethnic profiling are some of the banes undermining the growth of media in Nigeria ever since the emergence of the ‘new’ media (especially blogging).

I have often argued that the media plays a significant role in the peace and stability of any country, Nigeria notwithstanding.

In the case of domestic violence, rather than address the issue regarding an increase in domestic violence, most Nigerian news media will exploit an ethnic angle from which the following headlines can be read:

“Cheating Yoruba Assaulted By Husband” or “Yoruba pastor nabbed with two fresh human heads.”

Little wonder then that there is a festering mistrust amongst various ethnic groups making up the country.

Today, one of Nigeria’s most widely circulated newspapers has taken this stereotype a little further by absurdly reporting a fight in Lagos with an insulting headline disparaging the Nigerian LGBT community.

The Punch newspaper, which often describes itself as “The most widely read newspaper in Nigeria” made an uncharitable reportage:

“Homosexuals fight in Lagos after contracting HIV.”

The report began with the following condescending opening:

“There was chaos in Egbe, in the Ikotun area of Lagos State , when some homosexuals allegedly fought one another after contracting the Human Immunodefeciency Virus.”

To start with:

Sexual preference is a private inclination of consenting adults. Therefore stringing sexual orientation to a public order offence like fighting is a rather unfair media attack on sexual minorities and not only that, “Punch” through her reportage, has spotted the secluded LGBT community with a negative connotation about the scourge of HIV, thereby, unknowingly mitigating against various people from coming out to get tested for the virus. Fearing being positive they might end up being stereotyped for being homosexual whether or not that is ‘incorrect’.

While the LGBT community are still struggling for visibility, acceptance and safe place in a rather strongly conservative country like Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, Punch newspaper’s publication of 9th April, 2018 has invariably cast aspersions (which might be unintended) on the humanity of LGBT community members.

In that light, I would like to strongly say that the Nigerian media must learn to make an effort in recognising her important as the 4th, a most important estate of the realm, in shaping public views and opinions. Thereby, such frivolous reportage goes a long way in harming the little gains made thus far by the Nigerian community in finding a public face and voice.

Awesu Olaniyi Williams

Awesu Olaniyi is a 24 year old, second best graduating student of Political science education from Lagos State University where he won various regional and national awards for public speaking and environmental advocacy. He is currently a freelance writer, LGBT discussant and aspiring M.sc student of political science. He can be reached via awesuolaniyi@gmail.com.

%%AUTHORLINK% Nigerian Media, LGBT and Unfair Reportage Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Unorthodox Governance – The APC Way Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Scandal in the words of Paul Glenn is a needless word or deed which does harm to those who hear or observe them, it is the word or deed that occasions sin in another; it is a bad example. Very instructive also is the fact that to the person scandalized, the scandal is passive while in the person doing or saying the scandalous thing, it is active.

Ruminating about the recent political developments in Nigeria with reference to the ill-advised release of the alleged treasury looters’ identities, this administration comes flooding as a fitting example of a ‘scandal’ as defined above while the nation Nigeria seamlessly represents a scandalized lamb.

Apart from the asymmetrical posturing of the list which excluded its associates that were hitherto members of the opposition charged with the same offence, what is most frightening is that with this feat, the FG has amalgamated the Executive and Judiciary arms of government by assuming the positions of the investigator, the prosecutor, and the judge. What is more, no hope for the future?

Against this backdrop, Nigerians now nurse a deep-seated fear that history has a way of repeating itself, with many wondering why everything about the APC as a party and its government unorthodox. A state of affairs that compelled critical minds to question what is in that name, All Progressive Congress (APC) that throws any nation they assume the mantle of leadership into confusion; not just In Nigeria but in Africa as a continent. If you are in doubt of the above claim, wait till you cast a glance at this documented account.

In 1985, the All Progressive Congress (APC) took over the mantle of leadership in Sierra Leone with Joseph Momoh at the helm of affairs, just immediately, the nation came to a halt; the civil servants salaries stopped, the road fell to pieces, the schools disintegrated, the National Television stopped in 1987 when the transmitter was sold by the minister of information. And in 1989, a radio tower that relayed radio signals outside Free Town fell down, ending transmission outside the capital, with weapons pouring over the border as government disappeared.

The economy finally collapsed and Sierra Leone kissed calamity. Looking at this account in relation to what is currently happening on our shores, it will necessitate the question as to whether Nigeria is headed for Sierra Leone.

Even if an answer is provided to the above, it will not at any significant level erase the common knowledge that this government lacks the solution to the hydra-headed socioeconomic challenge facing the nation; a feeling that has in turn corroded the goodwill the party enjoyed in 2015.

Again, Nigerians are also shell-shocked that such illegality of tagging some of her citizen’s looters without going through the conventional judicial process is coming from a government that promised the nation’s rejuvenation of the economy and hypermodern society is in my views, a pragmatic demonstration of not the rule of law but the will of man.

To the vast majority of Nigerians, this development is unbecoming and uncharacteristic of a responsible and responsive government as section 36(5) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) clearly states that ‘every person who is charged with a criminal offense shall be presumed innocent until he is proved guilty’.

If this is the position of the constitution, why is the FG resorting to self-help by coming out with such names that are not yet convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction?

This and many other sordid reasons may have informed the former Nigeria President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo clarion call to president Buhari not to contest the 2019 election as he has performed below expectation.

In line with the above, it could also be recalled that President Buhari according to reports had in March 2015 among other things described Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as a courageous patriot and statesman who tells the truth to the power when he is convinced that leaders are going wrong. It is my prayer that PMB will heed this truth that is now coming from that same courageous patriot.

Regrettably, the ultimate result of what the Federal Government is doing currently is in the womb of the future. An occurrence that the result may not be palatable if the trend is allowed to complete its gestation without something dramatic done to have it aborted.

Again, apart from this ripple reaction that trailed the FG’s lopsided action, there is also an accompanying connotation by the critics of the government that the deliberate exclusion of APC members from the list of which majority of them were PDP members during that inglorious moment was synonymous with the Christian holy book, the Bible quote; ‘when I see the blood, I will Passover you’; a development that stands for selective judgment and by extension, aiding and abating of wrongdoing.

In the same token, the FG’s inability to keep to the promise made in 2015 that the administration will create a climate of opinion in the country that will look upon corruption in public offices as a threat to the society was another reason that drew the irk of Nigerians as the administration has instead, plundered and plummeted the country into more corruption while leaving our economy to walk in the valley of the shadow of death.

Also, looking at the current performance index, the FG has eloquently proved to be pleasant talkers but inept in political will to implement any policy. They have within this period, promoted corruption and made the entire brouhaha about corruption fight superficial that only exists in the frame, with the vision neither sharp nor the goal clear.

To this end, Nigerians must therefore, not allow themselves to be confused by the current happenings but should look towards building the future that is free of suspicion, and a nation that will be viewed at the world stage as the zone of peace and prosperity come 2019.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% Unorthodox Governance – The APC Way Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Between the Representatives and Represented Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

It is universally acknowledged that, especially in developing countries where there is a nerve-shattering drought of democrats, policymaking process, which the constitution bestows upon the legislature, is marginal at best; one can even claim the legislators to be “inexperienced and unaccustomed to their roles and responsibilities”. The same can be applied to other arms of government when one decides to speak of the power and authority particularly the executive, which Sebastian M. Saiegh opined “are often weak or not clearly defined.” Perhaps due to the intricate nature of that bundle of laws called constitution.

To pass judgment on whether the legislators are conscious of their responsibilities or not, we have to consider the “cross-legislature factors”: the extent of their power, the capacity of the legislative structure, amount of political space, the goals of the members and leadership of the legislature itself. Are the political space, capacity, power and goals of the members favourable to Nigerians?

In this political theatre staged by Nigeria’s democracy, other African countries too, both the electorates and the legislature, especially, are pursuing different goals and each camp with its own karma lay in wait for it. While the former are victims of bad governance resulting in the disconnection between legislators and their constituents, the latter, so to speak, are an embodiment of misrepresentation.

The noble Chambers – that should have been preoccupied with good representation: authoring motions on the fragile security situation in this country, supporting policies that will, undoubtedly, better the living condition of the citizens and quench the hunger and thirst that prevent Nigerians from both physical and mental growth – the true meaning of representation is bastardized and replaced with self-serving motives – consider the different trials awaiting some principal officers of the both Chambers and how this dominates most of the discussions and motions the legislators are always there to defend.

From the Senate President, Bukola Saraki’s 13-count corruption charge posed by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, to his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, – who has allegedly failed to declare his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau leading to the discovery of some unaccounted for properties, from Dino Malaye’s certificate saga and arms case that has led to arrest of three suspects and their sudden escape; and their re-arrest to the rejection of Kaduna State’s $35 million loan by the Senate based on the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts and supported by three senators from the state – not in the interest of good citizens of Kaduna State, but for this same self-serving motives, or worse, because they bear some political grudges against the governor of the state, Malam Nasir El-Rufai – one has clear examples of such an impolitic feeling that “We are the people, the only persons the citizens have entrusted with their lives and properties. Therefore we speak for them and in the process we speak for ourselves too”.

The legislators have either gone against the three primary roles the USAID’s handbook identifies as their functions, namely, representation (is there mutual understanding between the two?), lawmaking (for most of the laws they make are against their employers), and oversight (for they monitor only, one may suspect, their gain or a loop in law to escape the anti-graft commission) or they are not aware of them either.

For another, the electorates, the largest percentage of them, are not aware of their responsibilities. They hardly differentiate between, squarely, the branches of government; neither do they know what will fetch them good governance. Their karma is the ladder they make of their backs for the crook politicians to ride on to power. This can be seen in the subsequent administrations Nigerians have witnessed and the enormity of the sufferings they have been afflicted with. There are many causalities to this:

Money politics which the masses glorify is the bane of good governance. Politicians in most cases bribe the masses for good manifestoes and the integrity of the candidates vying for political offices are, often, not good enough. Both governmental instability and bad policy implementation are direct result of this outright vote-buying. Although vote-buying may have different connotations in different contexts, it has been practiced in Nigeria several times. I do not want to drag Senator Ibrahim Mantu’s recent confession into this discussion. This has persisted, perhaps, because the citizens are looking forward to the dividends of democracy, as O. O. Lucky put it, to transform their present pitiful condition.

One of the principle upon which democracy is built is active not passive participation. Although democracy is believed to be the best form of government today and the debate on its success which depends on the relationship between the led and the leaders, political apathy slows the wheel, if not throwing a spanner in the wheel, of service delivery. This comes before responsiveness and free and fair election; but today the citizens cannot make sense of the value of participation in politics. Why? Because of some dubious reasons: the use of security forces before, during or after election, to intimidate the voters, lack of service delivery and human right abuses.

Despite all these, political decisions, with participation in the process or not, affect many changes in the lives of the masses and it should not be encouraged at all; for this determines the prices of goods and services in the market, the hospital bills and improvement in education, and offer or deny the right to life, etc.

Way forward? The agreed ways to bring solution to the divide that leads to bad governance are: (i) unapologetic participation in socio-political life. (ii) Electoral disconnection should be done away with to make the citizens more participative in the democratic process. This way the legislators may have sufficient time to meet with constituents, hence the end of bad governance. Ultimately, the final solution is to be God-fearing and emphatic in our disposition.

It may seem easier said than done; but at least I possess no authority to override the executive’s veto.

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

%%AUTHORLINK% Between the Representatives and Represented Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Four years after Chibok Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

All idiots are morons, but not all morons are idiots.

Over the last four years I have done a sizable amount of work on not just Boko Haram but also the Chibok girls, killings, abductions and Nigeria’s conflict torn Northwest region.

For the purpose of this admonition let me quickly share what I would like to call some quick facts of the matter as it is. I do not expect it to go down well with many, but truth be told, what’s the essence of an opinion if it is made so that it goes down with everyone?

Some of those quick facts include, but are not limited to, the following: That girls were indeed abducted from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, and that the figures are conflicting, it is even safe to conclude that no one knows the exact number of girls abducted not even the government, even Boko Haram has lost count of their damage.

Before Chibok, Boko Haram had established a tradition of abducting girls and women, for countless reasons, the authorities were quiet, the media reported a few it could, and let me tell us many parents equally kept quiet and took it all in their stride.

This writer had interviewed several girls and women who were victims; they escaped one way or the other.

I equally know that for a fact many believe that Mr. Buhari and the ‘North’ however defined was and is Boko Haram, and that with Buhari now as president, the girls would be found. And many still don’t understand the whole Dapchi episode and Leah who was left behind.

Others are also firm that the whole Boko Haram thing was PDP, a political arrangement, after all it was the late Abacha who propounded that theory of “if killings go on for so, so and so time, the government knows about it, or are behind it.”

Did the late Gen. Azazi not even help by stating it was PDP and he was “killed”?

Okay, another fact I know is that some are equally certain it is an Islamic quest, or conquest and jihad. The same as those who believe it was Jonathan and his Christians bent on killing all Muslims in the North.

The cruel fact is that several hundreds of girls, who are victims of this terrible group, have paid the ultimate price. A few have escaped with almost irreparable damage, others have become part of them, and we have not done much.

It is equally a fact that one of the many reasons Boko Haram may continue for a while is because many still do not know what the group is all about; does it have an ideology, what is it really about…a CIA conspiracy or a thing about poverty?

I also know that based on what is out there, many experts on the subject matter are foreigners and one wonders.

The questions are many, but as we continue to run commentary on the #bringbackourgirls advocacy, reminding us of the Chibok girls, I cannot but feel for the real parents, how many are now making money out of them. How a part and not all of the campaign has become like many a CSO thing–a source of income, with the Nigerian factor at work.

I also pray knowing for a fact that there are those space and security won’t allow me to mention their names because they have remain dedicated to the cause–like Bukky, Oby, Rotimi, Dayo Aiyetan of ICIR, true men and women of our security forces.

I do not always believe former Olusegun Obasanjo, but I agree with him when he asserts, “many, most, half of these girls will never come back…” That is a fact! A sizable number have passed on, sadly so.

You and I know that after drama such as that of the one time Defence Chief’s statement that the girls’ location was now known but as usual, bla, bla, bla and bla.

And the drama of what I call the international week of Boko Haram—the week where the United States, UK, France, China, Togo, were all willing to help, and how the drones were droning. Nothing happened!

As it hits four years, I recall the dramatic negotiation and Chadian ballet between Modu Sheriff, Idriss Deby and Jonathan, for a fact it simply occurred to me that we are not really a serious people on matters that we should be serious. The fact is, one simple answer, many of our tales of nationhood look like that of morons and idiots…

Its four years now; the Chibok parents continue grieving and mourning, but it is really more of bewilderment and pain as they do not exactly know the situation of their wards.

In four years we have lost men and officers, more villagers have been killed and loads of propaganda, half-truths, misinformation and sheer falsehoods, fights between the now opposition PDP, and governing APC; even the air force has accused the army of taking their shine. The army has had a mutinous situation, local media vs. foreign media, and Christians/Muslims. But the fact is that we do not have the Chibok girls.

In the last four years, until recently, the daredevil Boko Haram group seems to have had the edge sadly, making all sorts of demands, releasing videos and creating more confusion.

Meetings were held in Paris; committees were set up, ‘dia was god’, Obama spoke, Michelle added her voice, so many stars, celebrities and a few nobodies like me but as we mark the four year anniversary, the fact is that some girls just disappeared.

They were abducted because our institutions are not working the way it should. The girls will/may not be found because we are not sincere people, and because many of them are dead, and because we are largely, and easily divided by our selfish motives.

We all engage in blame games, but let us remember that the longer we are on this Chibok saga we only portray ourselves as morons and idiots. Will we be talking about Chibok by December 2018, or will we hear the real story, the true story—only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

%%AUTHORLINK% Four years after Chibok Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator The Niger Delta and the 2030 Sustainable Agenda Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

For the 2030 sustainable agenda to succeed, says the United Nations, partnership and collaboration must be given a disciplined attention. This world body further stated that the scale and ambition of this agenda calls for smart partnerships, collaborations, ecosystem thinking, co-creation and alignment of various intervention efforts by the public and private sectors and civil society.

While this ideology which is targeted at ending poverty and promoting peace and justice is implicitly canvassed at the global stage, the part to having it achieved here in Nigeria remains windy and riddled with obstacles as the current happenings at the oil-rich Niger Delta signposts a perfect opposite of this global demand.

The daily demonstration of disinterest in going beyond the customary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or assist in bridging the infrastructural gap in the region by the operators of the nation’s up, mid and downstream of the Nigeria oil sector underscores this assertion.

Going extra miles in their view is antithetical to the corporate existence spirit; a disposition that has in turn made their relationship with the various host communities hot and cold.

This is even made worse by the weak regulatory/monitoring ability of the state actors/agencies. A state of affairs that supports the established belief by the Niger Deltans and civil society groups that the Niger Delta in the estimation of the oil companies is an endangered species marked for extinction.

Nevertheless, it is, however, not as if the federal government is making any effort in getting the problems of the region solved; as events that unfolded in recent weeks have pointed to the fact that some powerful Niger Delta indigenes may actually be the real enemies of the region.

The unsatisfactory coordination of the federal government Amnesty Programme by appointed Niger Deltans bear eloquent testimony to this fact; as it has hitherto been viewed not as an opportunity for the public good but as an avenue for private gain.

Conversely, the beneficiaries have since breathed a sigh of relief following this FG’s prompt intervention in removing, and subsequent replacement of the handlers whom critical stakeholders perceived as a reality the beneficiaries worried about.

This development notwithstanding, if the FG should think that the appointment of Professor Charles Dokubo as the new amnesty coordinator would solve the multifaceted Niger Delta challenge can only but meet with a mirage as the stakeholders have since pointed out that the region’s challenge goes beyond the amnesty programme.

From the stakeholders’ posturing, it is possible to discern two kinds of development/worries with the most fundamental being the unwillingness of the Oil companies to exhibit the attributes of good corporate citizens/neighborliness to the people of the region.

An observation that is mirrored in the ‘reluctant respect’ for the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) the oil companies so entered with the various host communities. Apart from a few that stakeholders praised for their community engagement templates; other operators seem to enjoy a frosty relationship, a moral burden rather than goodwill from their various host communities.

Another challenge that may at a significant level derail the much anticipated peace/development in the region is the lip service and lackluster approach in monitoring/enforcement by the Federal Government and its regulatory agencies as a recent report on the Niger Delta affairs discovered thus; ‘Abdication of regulatory responsibilities by government agencies and departments charged with protecting the environment through standard setting and enforcement’.

In the same breadth, critics of the government have also expressed deep worries that the government by this action is but perpetuating poverty and promoting powerlessness in the region.

But looking at commentaries, the FG’s recent appointment of Dokubo as the new Boss of the Amnesty Programme is prized as a right step taken in the right direction looking at his pedigree, and experience. But, just before we over celebrate, it is germane to point out other accompanying challenges facing the region which of course may thwart the Amnesty outcome.

Chief among these fears is the Oil Major’s troubling penchant for litigation against their host community using their financial muscles and non-compliance with the international best practice. From Ogoni to Erovie community in Ozoro, Odimodu/Forcadus to Ogulaha communities are but some victims of such high-handedness.

Regrettably, the points often overlooked by these operators when doing these unwholesome activities is that it fuels youths restiveness, high unemployment rate, with insecurity as a resultant effect.

Explicitly, for amnesty’s programme to succeed and peace restored in the region, we must be holistic in approach. The government and the corporate organizations operating in the region must show more commitment in the area of youth employment/absorbing of the trained amnesty beneficiaries.

More important than other political moves made in recent times is the need for the Presidency to get directly involved in the development of the region as the vast majority of Nigerians do not see the rationale behind the establishment of neither the Niger Delta Ministry nor the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), bodies bogged down by bureaucracy and other factors you can think of.

Again, critical stakeholders have argued from the standpoint that since Lagos and Abuja did not require any ministry for their development back in the day, why Niger Delta?

To avoid any unpleasantness denting the agenda, it is in my view imperative that the region is developed in order to meet up with the 2030 sustainable deadline, as a failure of Nigeria translates to Africa’s failure which will in turn have a direct impact on the entire sustainable agenda.

Catalyzing this process, stakeholders are calling for the implementation of the 16 Point agenda as submitted by the Pan Niger Delta Development Forum (PANDEF). Others are of the opinion that the FG adopts and implements the Chevron Nigeria community engagement template in infrastructural development by dealing directly with host communities.

In all, one thing stands out; Niger Deltans are desirous of development. A feat only government (FG/states) and the Multinationals can in partnership achieve as the people patiently wait.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% The Niger Delta and the 2030 Sustainable Agenda Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Poetry Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Surian Soosay photo

By

John Chizoba Vincent

The Day Nigeria Died

Down here,

is an abysmally dead world!

The sun shines at night while the moon

Illuminates the busy day

Planes run on railway tracks and let the

Trains fly up there in the sky

Ships have taken over the road and allow the vehicles to sail on oceans.

Our soldiers returned home joyfully and sent their wives to the war front,

While they breast feed the babies at home.

People die of hunger seated before a banquet

A flower planted by the riverside dies of drought.

Out there,

you do not dodge potholes, you only choose the one to enter.

Down here, water sticks between our teeth,

Fishes run helter skelter into the forest,

The mountain minted into water as the streams flow into the deserts in horror;

And rivers rise above the skies for safety.

Stars descend to the grassland for cow’s milk

The heavens are rented by the wild beasts of underground.

To see a man of reputation here is like looking for a virgin lady in a brothel.

On this land

Mother taught us how to smile sitting beside a corpse,

How to cry when we see a man succeeding;

How to giggle watching the hell fall on us fiercely.

Watching here like a dry tongue

Looking like shadows from old men,

Looking like a garage filled by slippers.

This land died yesterday

This land never gave us shards of new beginning,

She died leaving a quatrain walked out of its body,

It died owning wounds in our heart…

The day Nigeria died was the day we littered the skies with accusatory fingers blaming the government of every fly that crossed our path.

She made our joy dissolve into shreds of sorrow. Lack. Pains. Calamities!

When you see a child sing in the fireplace,

He either sings of his lost mother or father or his only palm fruit.

Nigeria died in our hands and knees

Spelling this spit of fire from my sister’s lip, the beneficent knowledge of dead shows how illusion killed many of us.

The day Nigeria died, she died in our palms crying of her lost prestige.

Oh!

A country of glee!

Oh mother land! Oh father land!

We’ll sing no more dirge at your grave

Those flowers shall we gather home

We’ve failed you and killed you looking at each others eyes to find the culprits.

Go well till we make you better by 2019.

Who’s Killing Nigeria?

Has your grandma told you how

she queued to collect a cup of rice

at the campaign ground?

Has your father narrated to you how he was paid to steal the ballot papers?

Have you been told how your mother shot a man down for a politician?

and now, you are a thug for them!

You’re suffering from the same greed rust that peeled your heels like a yam tubers that got menacely tear.

Your uncle told us a snake swallowed the money meant for his office & we

all rubbed our stomach & left him alone.

We never chased the snake in the street.

Your auntie told a tale of how a monkey carted away with her money & we smiled at her tale without asking how! Can she still spill sparky sperm in billion?

Do not sit by the door post and weep!

Do not say anything to the abandoned firewood that told of our foregone lives.

Weep not, son, for the gods have

woken from the laps of a prostitute.

Those who cried under the rain we’ve seen their tears dangling on their chin.

Political slavery is not skin deep than us,

We made it rise from that creeping serpent that crawled unseen to bite.

Do not ask of my name as a poet cos

I am as ageless as the lonely cloud,

Just know what I have scribbled now.

You and I killed Nigeria before time.

Our history was never baked in our school, it was baked by whitemen creed,

They dragged us to the mud to believe what they told us was right, not left.

Weep not, daughter, your mother was

One of the cause of this tolls of death.

We are the fading sigh of everything

we long for & the echoes of our beings.

Our leaders are made from one cloth,

Same blood crossed path and they killed

Brutally in the mind of beloved mother.

My greed, our greed, your grandma’s,

Your father’s, your Uncle’s and yours;

Killed our mother before the universe.

There is an empty music in our voices,

You drum to your left, Obi, to his right;

You wagged your tail, Obi waved his

Hand & we never gets to a vocal point.

I am burning my body as a poet to stay alive for you and for this land, for my

Eyes is a mirror to revolution of thought.

We’re killing Nigeria ourselves in a ditch

of greed and corruption.

Fugitive

I am learning how to leave

how to hug many lonely roads

walk through the roads in pain

how to mourn those lost brothers

without feeling guilty-wandering

this is what life has taught me:

how to pack my bag and walk,

walk to the river bank and stay

I’ve been forgotten in between

fingers, two unequal fingers

i know I am a street shattered,

littered with filth agonies.

finding home in a graveyard

finding solace in the bosom of

emptiness and foliage of vacant

lonesomeness taught me this:

how to name the street a home

how to hold death in my pocket

how to talk to the wind as a friend

building sadness and excitement

when a dice of stupidity is thrown

fools like me look for gold of sanity

these broken poems in my head

hurt, wish I could split them like

Igbos’ hearts, like Edo and Delta!

the history created has made me

learn more on how to lose home

in every moon, in every star

but am afraid of what the streets

talk about me in their closet.

Ghetto Poet

the street taught me how to name myself,

how to make life miserable to people with arms and weapons around my neck and hands.

how to call a knife a spade and

a spade; a hoe without feeling guilty.

how to lay wait for girls and make

them scream out loud in dark places

where men fall in and come out

happily satisfied.

the street taught me how to pronounce these words: Bread and water.

I was born without nipple to my mouth,

my mother became religionist making temples her home.

My father, whose shadows I fell under reek of bottles of beers and found satisfaction from the twisted public holes of skimpy sluts.

The street made me, I am part of the street; a ghetto poet, ghettoising.

life pushed me into the den of wildness

there was time I visited hope and hope failed me yet the end didn’t come.

I whimpered, but life must go on.

You know these words are broken,

I lost my soul scribbling them on slates

I picked every word I say from the ghetto.

I won’t stop this game, forgive me like

I forgave myself when I sliced a knife

into a Bishop’s throat,

like when I shot a wealthy man at Nnewi

like when I set the church ablaze for treating me like a Lepal at restitution.

like when I slaughtered an Imam for a false doctrine.

Just forgive me ’cause of this ghetto sermon playing in my head.

I was made the black sheep by broken marriage

I do not know when the world begin to trade a boy like me for bloody adventures!

they made beast from baby like me,

when was it signed into our constitutions to overlook dregs of the society- children in the street?

how do you hold your bodies together

knowing you’ve held a future in your tongue, your arms and weapons?

begone! There is no point being who I am…

Don’t leave me to perish! I need a shoulder to lean on!

Nobody’s Business

I am a poet describing nature

none of your business if I have

mansion or live in a teary hut

curse me or spit on the sand I

step on, i chose the life I live now

Destiny choose me for this dream

It’s nobody’s business what I do.

I have known girls from the hood

I have dated girls from the hood

many I have made a public hole

change their profile side-down-up

and they’re called unprintable names

it’s nobody’s business whom I choose

to marry now and tomorrow.

I have been to school and dropped out

I studied medicine and no result

I have always wanted to go to the sky

crack it bodies and return home

happy but mother rechannelled my

legs, now, I have no route in life

it’s nobody’s business the life I live.

I have no children to give me water

My house is littered by lizards and

Wallgecko describing dire poverty

even if I feed from hand to mouth

Leave me to my fate and eel destiny

Life is but a dotted scars in hearts

It’s nobody’s business to tell my tale.

My father reek of bottles of beers

He found home in gutters always

My mother is a furnace religionist

She found grace in arms of Bishops

Don’t mind what their children

will be tomorrow or today, It’s

nobody’s business to tell of their lives.

Christians are ambitious catholic

than Pope Francis of Roman catholic

why wag your mouth here and there?

why point your finger here and there?

what is your business with their lives?

Pull down the sun today if you like

You have no business with their lives.

I’ll keep wandering and get lost in the

Darkness, don’t look for me like your lost country; it’s none of your business

Remove those things in your eyes

before mine, I have no business with your businesses morning and night.

I choose the life I will lead for today.

I have no business with your

businesses, no, I don’t have any!

Marry as many wives as you like

Plenty your hair with fish hook

Paint part of your moustache grey not

my cup of tea to drink and get drunk

I have my own headache to think of.

Everybody’s Business

Open the book of history chapter 19

Allow your shadow to roam on its surface, turn to verses twenty and

wait. trace your finger forward, keep going; then Stop! Do you see that word corruption marked In red complexions?

That was who they made us to be

after the amalgamation of our thought

through their thought to find home.

You bottled up yourself and elected sickle cell patient in office to rule

While the youths lazied at home.

Last time was a woman and his wife,

a man; and you cracked yourself up,

Break every bones of your marrow biopsy complaining and singing how

Womanly he was to lead you home.

Now, what is the scores for Chelsea?

open the constitution of your land,

Flip towards section 111 of the book.

Where was it written an eye for eye?

Was there a mouth for jungle justices?

I know is not your cup of tea to see a

Brother beaten black and blue alone.

He pleaded not guilty but they killed him, has he sinned more than the

cocktail Politicians that stole money?

I broke my silence and spelled pains

and tears and sorrowful agony

To those that killed themselves in themselves before the end comes.

I agreed with my fears when I saw no

PVC among my people but naijabet papers. I made my doubt fixed my broken legs to shave off angered tears.

You need yourself cos here is chaos.

When we cry to be free and clear,

Our grandmothers collect cups of rice

On the campaign ground for all of us.

Don’t you know to be poor is a way of life and to be rich is a way of death?

When a fly passes by you rant and call

Government who has sent them to you.

I agreed with my fears that government will place that morsel into your mouth!

2019 is everybody’s business to handle

We can couple together those broken

Laughter left on our humble fine faces.

Dusting of every road in the state is everybody’s business to talk about.

Those colourful children in the street are everybody’s business to care for.

Not my cup of tea if you fail in your business of patriotic service to the land

Now, close the book in your thought

Let me tell you a broken tattered tale:

Our ancestral politicians are the disguise herdsmen in the greener street of our home. Don’t mention my name to any ear finding truth in this lie I just told.

I am going home now, my mother seek my face for an errand I have to run.

We are all reeked flag and coat of arms.

John Chizoba Vincent

John Chizoba Vincent is a poet, actor, Novelist and D.O.P. He is the Author Of Hard times, Good Mama and letter from Home.

%%AUTHORLINK% Poetry Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator The Imperative of Leadership Restructuring in Nigeria Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Each time I ponder over the marriage of two unwilling brides who had no say in their forceful union – amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates on 14th February 1914, a day set aside to celebrate love all over the world, by Sir Lord Luggard – as well as the pre and post-independence political structure of Nigeria, one leadership lesson comes flooding to mind; that great leaders encourage their followers to do what they don’t like in order to get what they want.

Like the human body, Nigeria, via amalgamation, became a political entity that is symbolically constituted and necessarily located in the body not to function independently but planned to be turned into grist for a symbiotic existence.

Certainly, the British colonial overlords probably intended the protectorates to compete, corporate and operate in a symmetrical manner with no part of the amalgams claiming superiority over the other. And at independence in 1960, Nigeria became a federation, resting firmly on a tripod of three federating regions – Northern, Eastern and Western. Each of the regions as envisaged was economically and politically viable to steer its own ship and the results were evidently visible.

This unity in diversity continued until the arrival of the ‘will-of-man’ on our political domain; just immediately, the spirit of corporation and sameness transcended to the teaching of regional specificity and tribal particularity.

While this re-schooling was ongoing, the ‘soul’ of the triadic relationship departed the political space, mutual suspicion becoming the sum-total and denominator of our nationhood. And as a consequence, despondency and a drooping spirit descended on the nation once referred to as the giant of Africa and it stopped matching forward, instead groping and stumbling; the people divided and confused while their moral values and confidence sank. This marked the beginning of our leadership challenge as a nation.

Not minding what others may say, the problem that led to the current polarized posturing of the nation’s political space is more of manmade than natural, more of leadership gaps than socioeconomic challenges and compounded by a misguided view of amalgamation by some segments of Nigerians as more of a historicized occurrence without any barefaced or hidden advantage to the nation; a mindset that further promoted deliberate demonstration of impunity, as well as superiority by one group or region against the other.

But in dramatizing this superiority, the point the people did forget is that never should one ‘be so foolish to believe that you are stirring admiration by flaunting the qualities that raised you above others. By making them aware of their inferior positions, you are only stirring unhappy admiration or envy that will gnaw at them until they undermine you in ways that you may not foresee’. It is only the fools that dare the god of envy by flaunting his victory’.

The sad news, however, is that this avoidable situation was allowed to complete its gestation and finally gave birth to what is now known and addressed in our political domain as ‘call for restructuring’ or agitation for resources control.

But at a more significant level is the leadership performance deficit which has plundered the socio-economic affairs of the nation to a sorry state; an occurrence that stems from an unknown leadership style described by analysts as neither ‘system nor method based’; without anything exemplary or impressive. While this appalling situation daily unfolds on our political space, the global leadership stage is littered with telling evidence about leaders that have demonstrated leadership sagacity and professional ingenuity that our leaders have refused to replicate their resourcefulness on our shores.

For instance, in 1932, Franklin D Roosevelt, the Democratic Party candidate, United States of America, was elected president in the midst of the great depression. At the time of inauguration in 1933, one-quarter of the labour force was out of a job, with many thrown into poverty. Industrial production had fallen and investments had collapsed.

But two years into his administration he revived the economy and moved to the next stage of his agenda. He signed the social security act which introduced the modern welfare state into the united state pension at retirement, unemployment benefits and some public health care and disability benefits. When asked how? he responded thus; ”extraordinary conditions call for extraordinary remedies” This to my mind is leadership accomplishment worthy of emulation.

Regrettably, our leadership challenge is given a boost by the ground propensity and penchant for corrupt, nepotistic practices of our ‘leaders’ since independence, a development that is gradually becoming a norm; a state of affairs vast majority of Nigerians claims was responsible for the inability of the nation’s successive leaders to alleviate the real condition of the poor, the deprived, the lonely, the oppressed or get into their lives and participate in their struggle.

Looking at commentaries, one can, therefore, discern that the above is largely responsible for the youth’s restiveness and tribal aggressions as the masses continue to fight in order to register their grievance against state-sponsored socioeconomic deprivations or one tribe against the other.

It is also of considerable significance to this discourse to note that this leadership challenge has visited Nigerians with not just poverty but what analysts described as ‘island poverty’ or poverty in the midst of plenty; which has in turn promoted both hopelessness and powerlessness among innocent Nigerians.

But in all, one thing seems to stand out, our leadership challenge or bad governance was implanted by our leaders, encouraged by our unquestioning obedience to the ‘authorities. This situation can only be reduced or erased by Nigerians.

Having discovered the challenge threatening the continued existence of our country, it, therefore, becomes imperative that whatever measure the nation may want to use in tackling this challenge can only succeed if it probably puts in place steps that will guarantee leadership restructuring.

Part of that effort will entail recognizing that the solution to our leadership challenge may afterward not be based on argument or debate but by the quality of the people in charge. This will be followed by frantic effort to create a ‘civil society that will help sort out the irresponsible from the response in leadership. Another inoculation that will cure this leadership challenge will demand development of mindset for details and history necessary for today’s leadership.

To succeed in this job, therefore, it will also be of paramount value if the nation can think of generational change in leadership by placing their existential faith in the youths who had integrity, intellect, energy to build an enduring nation without minding the recent remark on the youth by our president.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% The Imperative of Leadership Restructuring in Nigeria Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Kayode Fayemi: A Formidable Political leader Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

By

Durodola Tosin

Altering the dynamics of power in the South-West, devoid of a god-father

The question on whether Kayode Fayemi would contest or not was laid to rest when he publicly declared his intention to contest the 2018 gubernatorial election in front of an overwhelming crowd comprising artisans, workers, teachers, youths and students who converged at the APC Secretariat in Ado Ekiti. His declaration speech heaved the hopes and aspirations of the masses that have been deprived of a good living and working conditions by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the last three years in Ekiti State.

As Fayemi drew the microphone closer to his mouth, the sun brightened in awe and tens of thousands of supporters who had marched across the capital in solidarity for his ambition roared his name in a dazzling manner. Fayemi’s public declaration to enter the race for the 2018 Governorship seat was a long awaited decision by the multitude of workers and artisans who had missed the sustainable human and working conditions they enjoyed during his first term in office. It was a statement of hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless – the masses who have been plunged into poverty and suffering by the present administration.

Fayemi’s declaration speech was reminiscent of Winston Churchill’s first speech in front of the House of Commons on May 13, 1940, “….what we have before us is an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many months of toil and struggle. You ask, what is my policy? I will say, it is to resist with all our might, with all the strength that God can give us, to wrestle against the monstrous tyranny never supported in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. You ask, what is my aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival.”

Ekiti State is presently experiencing what can unfortunately be described as the darkest period in its history. The constant and continuous deception, lack of transparency, irresponsibility and irresponsiveness to the welfare of the people by the Fayose administration have resulted in a surge in the level of poverty, unemployment, economic decline and low human development in the state. The living and working conditions of the people have deteriorated drastically as many entrepreneurs and professionals have fled the state in search of better opportunities in neighbouring states.

Despite the present administration receiving a total of N186 Billion for Ecological fund, CBN Small Scale Entrepreneur loan, First and Second Bailout, First and Second Paris Club refund, CBN loan for Capital Project, Federal Road project refund, Budget Support fund, Federal Allocation at the rate of 2.5Billion monthly and Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) averaging N600 million monthly, the state government has failed to live up to its constitutional obligations which is to improve its citizenry access to social amenities, job opportunities, free and accessible education, free health care services, social security scheme, fiscal transparency, rural-urban farming, tourism development and regular payment of workers’ salaries and allowances.

In the last three years, Ekiti debt profile has soared from N18 billion to N74 billion. According to Debt Management Office (DMO), Fayose has borrowed a total sum of N56 billion since coming to power on October 16, 2014. In DMO’s latest bulletin, it disclosed that the Fayose’s administration still had a fresh application of N25 billion in 2017 awaiting consideration. With the huge amount of money borrowed and the billions of refunds received from the Federal government and multilateral corporations, one will expect that the workers and teachers’ welfare in the state would have improved significantly. However, the reverse is the case. Fayose’s administration has refused to pay the salaries of state civil and public servants for 6 months, local government workers for 7 months, pensioners for 14 months and Ekiti State University subventions for 6 months.

For some months, Ekiti which is popularly regarded as the Fountain of Knowledge has suffered a massive decline in the aspect of free and accessible education. The decision of the present government to stop the payment of West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) registrations for secondary school students and scholarships and bursaries has not only denied many students’ access to free education but also, forced large number of teenagers and students to the streets. While Chief Awolowo’s free education legacy has been quashed within the three years of Fayose’s assumption of office, the dreams and ambitions of the young ones is presently in jeopardy.

As a youth with so many aspirations, I write this article in great pain and agony, for this is no longer the state of my dreams. There was once a time when I could say the future was bright. A time when Ekiti State was definitely the most promising state in Nigeria. A period when my state could boast of structures and schemes like EKSTMA, free health and social security, youth commercial agriculture, volunteers’ scheme, Peace Corps, free and accessible primary and secondary education, high workers’ welfare package, tourism development which placed Ekiti State on the path of socio-economic and human development. That period was between 2010 and 2014 under the leadership of Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

Fayemi’s doggedness, exposure, selflessness, transparency, and clarity of vision set him apart from his predecessors and successor. At his inauguration on October 16, 2010, he promised the people of Ekiti State to “democratize governance, modernize agriculture, improve on infrastructure, promote free and qualitative education towards the development of functional human capital, provide free health and social security to the disadvantaged sectors of the state, ensure industrial development, promote tourism and sustainable development and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment”. His 8-point agenda comprehensively addressed the issue of poverty, unemployment, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, gender equality, quality education, and workers’ welfare during his first term in office. This 8-point agenda forms the basis of my assessment of his administration as the best period in the history of Ekiti State.

On the democratization of governance, three things stood out during Kayode Fayemi’s regime. One, his partnership with Ekiti State senators pool their constituency project funds, N200 million each, to fund specific projects in the senatorial districts of the state. This partnership for four years guaranteed the execution of projects in tourism, agriculture and water provision, one of which was the provision of 1,700 hectares of irrigated land in conjunction with UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). There was no state in Nigeria at that time that embarked on such. Also, local governments diligently embraced Kayode Fayemi’s directive of constructing of at least 15km of local roads in each of the 16 local governments in Ekiti State. Lastly, Fayemi initiated annual rural-urban tour which was popularly known as “Annual town hall meeting/Rural-urban citizenry engagement”. This was an avenue for his administration to meet directly with local government delegates to know the developmental needs of each town and include them in the yearly budgets.

On the modernization of agriculture, Fayemi embarked on a mission to revive cocoa plantations to make Ekiti again a world leader in cocoa production and make agriculture contribute 50% of internally generated revenue. Over 250 Youths were trained and employed in mechanized agriculture under the Youth Commercial Agriculture Development (YCAD) programme to cultivate over 860,000 cocoa seedlings across the state. Agriculture equipment worth N57 million were distributed to rice farmers and tractors were purchased to facilitate mechanized farming in the state. The provision of micro-credit facilities to over 200 farmers were part of the agricultural initiatives that was executed by Kayode Fayemi government.

On improvement of infrastructure, 902 federal, state and local government roads were rehabilitated, each local government constructed 5km of road every year for four years, and the state government constructed about 1200km of roads between 2010 and 2014. I should add that Ekiti State had arguably the best road network in Nigeria while there was massive construction of bridges in different parts of the state which replaced the narrow and dangerous ones inherited by the Fayemi’s administration. Also, 100 transformers were distributed to communities and N600 million were given to 176 communities to execute different projects. Fayemi’s tenure witnessed an increase in the state’s IGR by more than 400%, from N140 million in 2011 to N600 million in 2014.

On the promotion of free and qualitative education towards the development of functional human capital, Dr. Kayode Fayemi had the best educational policy which played an important role in the development of students and teachers in Ekiti State. Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s administration ensured free education for primary and secondary school students while he paid West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) registration for secondary students in the state. He renovated all the 183 secondary schools in Ekiti State and distributed over 30,000 Samsung solar laptops to students and 18,000 to teachers of senior secondary schools in the state.

Also, Ekiti had the best pay package for teachers in public service in Nigeria during his tenure while those in the rural area got 20% of the basic salary more. Bursary funds for students of higher institutions of the state was increased from N5,000 to N10,000. To set the record straight, Fayemi’s administration never conducted “Competency Test” to sack teachers as alleged by mischief makers and regressive elements but rather “Need Assessment” which was to assist the Government to understand the teaching areas which needed strong attention as part of her process to organise training sessions and classes for the development of teachers techniques in the state.

Fayemi’s administration never owed workers salaries but rather increased the salary of workers from N5,000 to N7,000 and from N7,000 to N13,000 and later to N19,800. Over 40, 000 persons were employed into the workforce. His administration employed 600 persons to the Peace Corps and 10,000 volunteers were paid N10,000 monthly.

On the provision of free health and social security, he built new general hospital in Ado-Ekiti, the Cancer Diagnosis Centre built in honour of Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, the late former Deputy Governor of the State and also refurbish the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital. About N100 million was spent on medical assistance to needy patients, and another N38 million on indigent patients and physically challenged people. Over 25,000 elderly persons benefitted from the social security scheme monthly.

On tourism and industrial development, the vision and firmness of Kayode Fayemi was evident in turning what was basically “a bush” into one of the most glamorous holiday places in Nigeria at a cost of N1.5 billion. However, that is not the case anymore. The once revered tourist centre as turned into a laughing stock due to the lack of commitment and clarity of vision under this present administration. It is however unsurprising because the same tourist centre was ransacked by the Peoples Democratic Party between 2003 and 2010.

On the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, it is invigorating to make out that under Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State made strict laws against domestic abuse and violence against women, the state had halfway houses, a family court and other support systems for victims of rape and other forms of abuse, while the rights of widows and the girl child were protected. Ekiti State was also the first state in Nigeria to maintain a register for sex offenders.

These were some of the remarkable achievements by Fayemi’s administration that set Ekiti State on course for socio-economic prosperity and sustainable human development between 2010 and 2014. However, I know you must marvel at why the state is currently suffering a lot of setbacks in addressing the issue of poverty, unemployment, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, gender equality, quality education, workers’ welfare and lack of opportunities. This is because the schemes initiated by the previous government were either cancelled or disbanded or neglected by Fayose’s administration as a result of an undying personal feud with Dr. Kayode Fayemi and to score political goals against the All Progressive Congress (APC) at the expense of the progress and development of the citizens.

You ask, what kind of government enjoys deceit and turns a blind eye while its people continue to wallow in poverty and suffering? What kind of a government place personal interest above the development of the state. Like Dr. Kayode Fayemi rightly said in his letter to the leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on his intention to contest in the July 14 Gubernatorial election, “Public office is too serious to be left to charlatans and when men and women of good conscience that are committed to the ideals of social justice and the common good turn away from politics, we pave way for unprincipled opportunists to take power….”

As difficult as this time may be for Ekiti people, it is not too late to correct these mistakes. Election is at the corner and we must ensure that we put an end to this tragic situation by showing this present administration a ‘red card’ with our PVCs. Ekiti has been taken hundred steps backward by this Fayose’s administration and it is our duty as progressives to embark on a collective rescue mission. Ekiti people need Kayode Fayemi to lead this rescue mission to reclaim our land and restore our values. Fayemi’s popular 8-point agenda cemented him as a formidable leader whose unprecedented achievements as a Governor currently strike fear into the camps of the opposition. Ekiti needs the man that led the longest walk to freedom of Ekiti from the shackles of impunity, recklessness and rigging between 2007 and 2010. The man that withstood and wrestled against all odds, oppositions, threats, conspiracies, betrayals and federal powers from Otta to reclaim his mandate in October 2010.

The 2014 governorship election still remains a scar in the minds of the people. The day the Federal Government under the leadership of an Ijaw man from Otuoke massively deployed soldiers to unlawfully arrest and intimidate supporters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ekiti State. That day the voice of the masses was suppressed and through intimidation and victimization by some members of the army, the election result was manipulated. This is not a conjured statement but a fact that became known to the world when the tape of the months of conversations and planning by Fayose, Obanikoro and others was leaked by one of the soldiers used for this unholy act. While the soldiers involved in this act have been sacked, Dansuki is currently faces charges of diversion and corruption in court, and the EFCC has recently secured a court order to freeze billions of naira that was diverted from the National Security’s account to fund the 2014 Ekiti Gubernatorial election. But like they say, the rest is history.

However, be assured that the time of impunity is over as President Muhammadu Buhari has shown a commitment to ensuring free and fair elections in the country which is evident in the elections in Edo, Ondo and Anambra. This is the perfect time for Ekiti people to show lots of resilience and tenacity to stand with Fayemi in his bid to secure the governorship seat on July 14, 2018. Dr. Kayode Fayemi has shown so much grit and sheer determination in the past few years. He has learnt a lot and grown to understand so much in politics, positive and negative. The way he fought back from the events of 2014 to conduct the Presidential primary election that led to the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari without hitch and his uncompromising resolve to back Rotimi Akeredolu’s candidacy during the 2016 Ondo election against the wish of the god-fathers that once were, have changed the paradigm of power in South-west. These events have heightened tension and fear in the minds of cabals and god-fathers that once were, while the opposition, in awe of his exploits are bent on stopping him through unholy methods that exists from contesting in the July 2018 election.

When you hear about the ‘White Paper’ produced by a Judicial panel of inquiry comprising PDP members and its sympathisers with a strict directive from Fayose to indict Fayemi at all costs and thereafter issue a white paper banning him from holding public office, ignore it because it is dead on arrival. Fayose’s white paper is a Kangaroo stunt to nail Fayemi; an Ofutete. It can best be described as a tissue paper that belongs to the toilet. It cannot survive in a society where the law works nor do anything to stop Fayemi’s ambition. It is nothing but a ruse. I would have expected his Attorney General, if he knows his onions, to have advised him on the rulings of the Supreme Court on two high profile cases – Atiku vs Obasanjo and Kwankwaso vs Shekarau, that only a competent court of law can bar Nigerians from holding public office under the Nigerian Constitution. Neither Fayose nor Ekiti State Government has the power to bar or prevent Fayemi or any other citizen from holding public office but a competent court of law. The ‘White Paper’ is a biased political report that cannot stand judicial scrutiny. It is product of the fear of defeat in the July polls as Dr. Fayemi is actually the major political threat Fayose has to contend with.

Moreover, Fayose understands what is at stake. He knows that the only man that can beat him or his candidate at the moment is Dr. Kayode Fayemi. He knows that the man from Otuoke is no longer in power to send the army to intimidate oppositions and manipulate results nor a “Dansuki” to divert money meant for fighting insurgency in the northeast to fund this election. He can feel the heat and it is unsurprising that he has concerted so many efforts to stop Fayemi’s ambition. Fayose should understand that either by proxy or by whatever means, Fayemi cannot be stopped from contesting and winning the July 14 election. Whatever plans or strategies that he has up his sleeves, he should be ready for hundreds of counter measures by Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

There is an increasing fear in the minds of oppositions that a new and formidable political leader capable of altering the dynamics of power in the south-west devoid a god-father is about to emerge. To them, a victory for Dr. Kayode Fayemi at the polls in July 14 will cement his status as the most influential politician in the South-west and perhaps the person calling the shots in the region in 2019. Of course, I would be afraid if I were in their shoes. However, Fayemi’s ambition is matured than that. It is about service and selflessness before politics. In his words, “My convictions about how much more is possible in Ekiti stem not from any sense of entitlement but from a sense of service, of obligation and from my belief that posterity has positioned us for such a time as this. There is much that we have to repair and redress in Ekiti before we can go forward.” The John Kayode Fayemi (JKF) movement is growing rapidly. The minds of Ekiti people have been awoken by the declaration of Fayemi on April 14.

Like Winston Churchill once said, “…we understand that the journey before us is a long one. We understand that we have to resist with all our might, with all the strength that God can give us, to wrestle against the monstrous tyranny that has taken us aback…..” We are not terrified or discouraged because we will definitely triumph. No amount of intimidation, threats, blackmail, betrayal, hate speeches, assassination of character, propaganda, lies and deceit will make us shiver. We have developed a thick skin and that is why we are still breathing. The mission is simple and clear. We are on the march again to reclaim our land and restore our values.

Like the old, JUST KEEP FAITH!

Durodola Tosin

Tosin Durodola is the Editor-in-Chief of Core Magazine Africa and LJCMA.

He is the Convener of Kayode Fayemi Youth Support Movement (KAFYSM). He is a former Broadcast Journalist at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Bloomshire Media Nigeria. He has written and published over 20 research papers on history, politics, foreign policy and international relations in National and International periodicals. He is currently writing a book on “Nigeria and the UN Security Council: A Critical Analysis of the Challenges in her Quest for Permanent seat”.

He holds a Bachelors degree in History and International Studies from Bowen University. He is a Masters candidate of Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Ibadan.

Contact: tosin.durodola@thecoremagazine.org

%%AUTHORLINK% Kayode Fayemi: A Formidable Political leader Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Social Change, Youth and Political Leadership Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

A month ago I, alongside a friend with whom I share almost everything in common, had about an hour-long educative discussion with a Kano-born Hausa musician Aminu Ala in his office on the rise and sudden decline of many Hausa musicians. He raised this argument citing many examples with live and dead musicians who could not cope with the turbulent waves of social change and at last lost their voices. He argued that many of those musicians could not fashion out some ways, either by changing their theme or adopting foreign musical instruments, in order to adapt to changing circumstances.

“For example”, he said, “many of those artists had held tight to the past forgetting innovation and the merciless sword of radically unstable time had to cut them off the pages of stardom. A month ago I had to blend an Indian musical tune and Hausa’s kalangu to produce a song. I used this as a boat to float safely on the tides of social change.”

We unanimously agreed on this point and a friend of mine cited an example of Craig David and Stevie Wonder who, after releasing some captivating best-selling albums, withdrew to the gutter of forgetfulness, to support Ala’s claim.

At once I referred them to a philosophical assertion Ibn Khaldun set forth in his masterpiece, Muqaddama (Prolegomena), a timeless book that analyses the social organizations, their rise, growth and sudden decline; and in the words of Albert Guarani, a book “Full of reminders of the fragility of human effort”.

Sometimes thereafter I often ask myself many philosophical questions on social change, the way civilizations are “Visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish…when they had reached the limit of their duration. It lessened their power and curtailed their influence,” in the words of that great historian. Should this give both our youth and political leadership a clue about the reality of life? Must people chance in accordance with a convulsive movement of time, weather and the universe? How will Kano, Nigeria, perhaps the world at large look like in the next one hundred years when we are long gone?

Although many anthropologists have argued that change is natural and inevitably ever-present in every aspect of life, why do we look at alteration in individuals rather than social structures, institutions and social relationships that are the leading agents of such changes?

By applying the theories of social change to the Nigerian context, one can argue that we are somehow caught in the stagnant webs of the past. In more than sixteen years of democracy only two agendas have pathetically materialized out of tens of others: lazy unproductive youth struggling with a cargo of negative mentality and irresponsible leaders that have built structures upon structures on quicksand.

Changes in our population both in number and composition have far reaching effects on our social co-existence. It affects our economic well-being especially when the authorities fail to invest in its population to make them an asset rather than a liability to themselves, their immediate family members and the larger society. This is, perhaps, because subsequent governments have failed to chart some sustainable ways to resuscitate the economy. An increase in the population, since political leadership has failed us, results in an increase in unemployment, crime rate, poverty and inadequate facilities.

“The establishment of systems where democratic principles abound and are upheld,” argued Strashbourg, “requires a civil society where the youths are predominantly the catalyst of a socio- political and economic culture attuned to democracy, liberty and freedom.” This reminds me of the Not Too Young to Run bill passed recently by the National Assembly.

Indulge me to say the future of this country, though bleak, pardon my calling it bleak, lies in the hands of our youth; but because of the quality of their education, unpreparedness and cargo-mentality, they lack the prerequisite skills to run a political office effectively. Until our youth wake up from their daydreaming, shake off that extravagant, wishful thinking and take up responsibilities with changing circumstances, the country will continue to languish. Not my hope!

There is a clear indication that an increase in population, if not empowered by a committed leadership, results in high rate of unemployment, poverty and crimes to mention just a few. All this is because, perhaps, subsequent governments have no plan for the future which is fast approaching with its sharp projectiles.

Political leadership is a “permission to govern according to declared policies, regarded as officially granted by an electorate…upon the decisive outcome of an election” (Chambers dictionary, 1993). But unfortunately, the law that should have been an effective instrument of socio-economic and political changes and protector of the interest of the weaker section of the society has ended up a subject of mockery. Take for example the recent happenings in parliament. A serving senator flanked by some hoodlums, so they called them – perhaps taking it after the former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who used it as a weapon against his perceived enemies in 2013 – allegedly invaded the parliament and carted away the mace, which is the symbol of authority. Wonders, it is not about the structure which is made of mahogany, rather what it symbolizes, the context and the people involved.

“A leader”, argued John C Maxwell, “is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way”. Gosh! Most of our leaders have undying contempt of the law. They, many analysts have suspected, arrogate all the powers to themselves, forgetting that the masses are the real power. How on earth an occupant of an established political position called a leader that should have imbibed moral principles and set up a good model for the followers to copy from exemplifies the opposite? But when a responsibility-laden character chooses to misbehave one has nothing to say but as Thomas Carly claimed that, “Modern democracy has produced many fools who vote leaders into the parliament to palaver”.

Political behaviour as a theory has never made any attempts at admitting such misdemeanors into its fold. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong,” as an individual affected directly by the misdeeds of such leadership I will flag them down by giving them a very low mark.

Perhaps this is what makes Bigger Thomas say, when tired of mulling over his feelings, “God, I wish I had a flag and country of my own”; but at least here as there the mood will soon vanish, too, and everyone goes his own way.

Abdulyassar Abdulhamid

%%AUTHORLINK% Social Change, Youth and Political Leadership Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Nigeria: Perpetually playing with fire Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Louis Kreusel photo

By

Prince Charles Dickson

One who believes that the earth is chasing him, where did he put his feet while running?

I recall those pente-rascal god of men or is it men of god they are called who would in their charismatic branded flyers tell you it’s a “September to Remember”. Well the outgoing month has been an April for Preys in my beloved Nigeria; you would be forgiven to think that most of what has happened would fall for an April Fools’ month.

Dino

Who really does not know the 47-year-old rascal, radical, activist, and did I add senator of the federal republic, hate him or like him. He, like Sani Shehu, Ben Bruce, the Legislator from Kazaure are the few that have had that comic effect on the polity whether you agree with them or not.

Now this is the real issue, was all that drama between Mr. Dino and the Nigerian Police really necessary, and what is the effect on us as a people and polity. How about the failed recall process? Why do we take pride in playing with fire?

Benue, Zamfara et al

Let me explain Benue state in this manner, a few years ago I was driving back from Gombe, and on the highway was this public/commercial Opel car carrying 5 Nigerians. It was on ‘high’ speed, I overtook the car, blocked them in commando style and came down.

I asked the driver, “do you want to kill these passengers, is your speed check not working…” as I turned to the passengers to scold them for not warning the driver.

Before I could finish, they descended on me, “Oga how e concern you, (what’s your business), get out of our way, bla bla and bla.”

I left them, jumped into my car and drove off, thirty minutes later in front of me was a ghastly motor accident, 2 dead, others with various degree of injuries.

The driver survived, the car, totally damaged. Don’t ask me how I felt, and what I told the survivors.

So what do we tell the scores of orphans that are being created by the senseless killings, in what now can be best described as a killing field. From Worshippers to Villagers, when government narrative is not armed militia, it is then the boys trained by Gaddafi, or the most recent; politically motivated killings.

Countless lives lost and no one will EVER be held liable; and in the midst of all these there is this carriage by citizenry of nothing dey happen when indeed we are playing with fire.

The Gas Station

I was at the gas station to buy PMS, and for the umpteenth time I noticed that only two of the machines were working. And that cost me an extra five minutes in the short queue (and yes I must say ‘short’) and Nigerians know what I mean.

The two machines that where working had only two pumps with attendants, instead of four. So, do the math if the four machines were working, that would be eight attendants, and yet we complain of a lack of jobs.

We may blame the government for all we can, but really is there an enabling environment for job creation and are we creating jobs at the rate at which we are churning out grads-half baked, unbaked or badly cooked? The statistics for a nation that cares les about figures is frightening; a case of playing with fire.

My neighborhood

If you have lived in the North, we call it ‘angwa’. In my hood, my street, my angwa, there’s no water, the roads are bad, and the security is best described as ‘hmmmm’. Interestingly the water board pipes pass through empty.

The two PHCN transformers are often vandalized, local crooks break into houses when you leave the house without a living being or at least a dog, they pick items and the trauma of coming home to a vandalized home is better imagined than experience.

I was mugged some few weeks back, and it was traumatizing, new methods of daylight robbery both armed and unarmed are evolving.

We blame the National Assembly, at the local newspaper shop we argue about who is at fault, the last PDP goons or the current crooks, even as the problems of the angwa increases.

We are simply blind to the problems under our noses, as we continue to play with fire.

Finally whose business?

In the case of the driver, the road was not exactly bad. But he just would not obey the speed limits, he lost control, two lives were lost, he was reckless, it really was not the government. It was our business, not the government. Not Nigeria but us. In Benue, Zamfara and others, what are we doing?

Maybe the Road Safety’s presence on the highway could have helped; maybe available/functional speed cameras would have saved those two lives and the carnage.

Just like the truth on the killings could be half way round to the solution. But the truth is, if the passengers valued their lives and been responsible, a collective caution from the five passengers could have done it. Are we ready to cation a system that has developed a hobby out of playing with fire?

For all the blame we put on the government, we are the government. The enterprise called Nigeria is our business, not some folks in Abuja or state governors (both those that stay in their states, and those Abuja and foreign investor nation based governors).

We can’t change if we are not the change we want. There can’t be change if banks can’t treat customers’ right. When gas stations cheat by a litre, by two/three naira. When banks charge some phony verve enhancement fee amongst many mysterious charges.

We can’t complain about the government in Abuja when we don’t know who our ward councillor is, when we have never confronted local government leaders.

When governors are alleged to be corrupt, we keep mute because they are our kinsmen, and when they are confirmed looters we say leave them because we are of the same faith.

How many times have we boarded a vehicle and the driver insisted on two in front instead of the mandated one. Did we complain, and insist the right thing be done?

Have you contributed towards your local security by calling locales to enforce certain simple rules? We are government, so Nigeria should be our business.

We pray to a Christian God at the beginning of a function, and close the same with a prayer to a Muslim AIlah and then in the same function discuss how to steal because really it’s nobody’s business how anything is run.

It’s not just leadership problems that worry Nigeria. No, it’s the problem of you, me and us. The ‘you’ that becomes a Minister and suddenly you need a bulletproof car, and you get two, the man who protests against you has several. Others say it’s turn by turn.

We are plagued by our lack of simple ethics. We are willing to offer a bribe even when not asked, because more often than not we are guilty until presumed innocent. So we blame our ineptitude on every other person but us.

Until we start to treat Nigeria as our business, and not some prodigal orphan, we may be just going round in circles. The fire will continue to burn us all, as we are just a people with some personal interests, for now, is there a Nigeria, and whose business she is, remains a question that—Only time will tell.

Prince Charles Dickson

%%AUTHORLINK% Nigeria: Perpetually playing with fire Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Administrator Still on President Buhari’s remark about Nigerian Youths Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine

Reuters photo

By

Jerome-Mario Utomi

In the book titled, Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas stated that judgment may be considered lawful if the judge meets these conditions; follows justice, has authority, and does his duty prudently.

According to him, if a judgment fails of justice, it is an unjust or perverted judgment. If it comes from one unauthorized to hand it down, it is a judgment by usurpation. And if it comes from imprudence –by reason of dubious evidence, improper motive, etc –it is called suspicion or rash judgment.

Despite these universally adopted/domesticated guidelines against the unjust and rash judgment, Nigerian youths were, however, for the first time in the history of their existence recently received from President Muhammadu Buhari an unpalatable judgment that fell short of the above conditions.

Mr. President, while attending an international function, stated among other things that; ‘a lot of them (Nigerian youths) haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil-producing country, therefore they should sit and do nothing and get housing, health care and education,’ a remark that Nigerian youths and the vast majority of other Nigerians received with disbelief, grief, and rage.

Though inoffensive and good intentioned in the estimation of our dear president and his aides, but to the Nigerian youths and of course, the vast majority of Nigerians, what is baffling about this remark is Mr. President’s choice of such a day, time and venue to pass such a comment on the youths despite their unquestioning obedience to his personality and administration since 2015.

Aside from the above, the biggest flaw associated with Mr. President’s table of ideology, in my view, is accentuated in the mirroring of Nigerian youths as irresponsible and visionless in the estimation of the right-thinking global audience; a state of affairs that has further confirmed the deep-seated fears among the youths that the Federal Government may afterwards not be feeling the pinch the ordinary Nigerians are made to stoically endure.

For discerning minds, the remark was further marred, as it was reputedly targeted at defending the government’s inability to provide employment to the teeming youths, thus, resorting to attack as the best form of defense.

Certainly, the statement as part of its ills has propelled many down the highway of doubt as to the government’s sincerity in providing a creative leadership while amplifying the worries nursed by others that the FG is allergic to accepting its past political mistakes and is not disposed to having its political future discussed; a posturing which many described as a bad morale and uncharacteristic of a responsive and responsible leadership.

To further put things in perspective, it may, however, not be impossible that Mr. President, contrary to his handlers’ claim, may afterward be unaware of the present realities of the youths under his care as the majority of leaders in Africa are ‘insulated by protocol’.

If not, Mr. President should have known that Nigerian youths as currently postured the world over represent a generation that is well able, well informed, and of the good company despite that created by our poor educational sector and mismanaged economy; they have become successful even to the admiration of the global audience.

Still, on the sunny side of our youths, we have in recent times witnessed Nigerian youths in the corporate world and development organizations demonstrate an intimidating degree of self-confidence, competence, industriousness, and are well read and well briefed on every side; functioning as great representatives of this great nation.

But, regrettably, this information gap demonstrated by Mr. President via the comment, has again brought to the fore and understandably raised credence to the speculation among the youths that their leaders have only paid but lip service to alleviating the real condition of the poor, the deprived, or get into their lives and participate in their struggles.

To the youths and majority of Nigerians, this particular remark and other sordid outings have made the masses view the presidency as a reality that Nigerians should worry about.

Viewed differently, this turn of events in my view did not occur by accident as occupying a political position in Nigeria and Africa translates to privileges, and privileges translates to perks for the family, relatives, and friends. If this is the prevailing condition around Mr. President, how would he know what other youths go through daily, occasioned by mal-administration?

Comparatively, whatever the true intention of Mr. President may be, it will not in any form erase the universal belief that like a slum, illiteracy in any nation is propelled by the government’s failure to do the right thing.

Essentially, to such comments, adequate replies are inevitable as critical minds have since viewed it as a position riddled with incongruence and likened with the proverbial opening of a paradox box; as Nigerian youths should be the ones levelling criticism over the government’s unfulfilled ‘change’ promise.

As an illustration, a view of the nation’s educational sector will reveal a sector that has suffered a great deal of ‘reluctant respect’ from the successive administration, which has turned the sector unattractive and moribund.

This and other sordid reasons bothering on not-too-healthy economy explained why most graduates of Nigerian universities seem unemployable despite their willingness to work.

PMB by the statement has markedly admitted the position as conversed by Bill Gates during his visit to the country where he called on our leaders to deepen their commitment to human capital development in the country; a call that was roundly criticized and subsequently rebuffed.

However, despite the shortcomings associated with the remark/administration, it is my firm belief that providing a people-purposed leadership that will acknowledge the true situation without being competitive or aggressive is possible.

To redress the situation therefore, I submit that the FG should first learn to take responsibility for actions and results. Be accountable where previous administrations were not, and tell the truth about their failures; to enable them to transform defeats into progress.

Jerome-Mario Utomi

Jerome-Mario is a Social Entrepreneur and an alumnus, School of media and communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria.

%%AUTHORLINK% Still on President Buhari’s remark about Nigerian Youths Tuck Magazine Tuck Magazine - Online political, human rights and arts magazine