I am on break this week to publish the views of some of you, my esteemed readers on the various issues in this Column. Some of the views are edited for clarity, space limitation, and conformity with my style of writing. Happy Reading.
Author: Editor
“Mata adon gari” is a phrase I and a thousand other northern Nigerian ladies have grown to become attuned to. When loosely interpreted, this phrase translates to “women are the beauty of society”.
I have always held the notion that I wasn’t a people person. I hated socializing as much as I loved solitude.
It is exactly three decades today that Nigerians went to the polls to exercise their inalienable right to elect a President of their choice to lead the transition from military dictatorship to a representative government of the people.
June 12 holds a profound significance in Nigeria’s socio-political development as it symbolises the struggle for democracy and the need for citizen participation. On June 12, 1993, Nigerians across ethnoreligious and sociocultural divides trooped out to exercise their civic duty of electing the president of their country. Although the election was later annulled in the most controversial of circumstances, it goes down in the annals of Nigerian history as the freest and fairest conducted in the nation’s quest for stable democracy. The election has also continued to serve as a reference point in organising credible elections under challenging circumstances. In a symbolic gesture, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration on June 6, 2018, declared June 12 as the new Democracy Day, replacing May 29.
O Godwin, with your cheap green tie, fading suit and wry smile you poked your greedy, grubby little fingers into Nigeria’s eye
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.” This is what the Bible says in Proverbs 22:29 (New king James Version) concerning men or women who are excellent planners, who produce excellent work, who push through obstacles, who are self-motivated and who show persistent and hardworking effort in doing something. The King James Version uses the word diligence in that chapter. Read it: “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” The word diligence, aptly regarded as a combination of both hard work and patience, equally, perfectly approximates the major character trait of Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, the pacesetting Group Chairman of Odu’a Investment Company Limited (OICL).
This was published on 14th November last year when the issues of salary increase and naira redesign were mooted. But it was first written on the 7th of May 2018 and republished on October 1st same year. The first time it was captioned “Salary Increase: Before the harm is done” and the second time, with a little tinkering, it was captioned “Salary Increase: The Implication and Labour’s Role.”
It was a legal, traditional and solemn community affair on Saturday at Tukur-Tukur, Zaria when lawyers, the intelligentsia, community leaders, students as well as the business community and every significant member of Zazzau society converged to celebrate the turbanning of Barrister Saifullah I. U. Bello as the Ciroman Tukur-Tukur.
It was Sir Hubert Henderson, the British economist and Liberal Party politician that said, there is a merit in being unimportant, which he paraphrased in a book under the caption, “The Importance of Being Unimportant.” Sir Henderson expressed the idea that, under the right conditions, it is desirable to be a very small part of something big. One needs not be an expert in English language to understand that Sir Henderson was talking about the goodness or distinction of modesty, particularly with respect to the righteousness of rectitude and the enviable quality of being moderate in behaviour. And precisely that is the quality that I think is missing in the displayed attitude of the now suspended Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, Chief, Godwin Emefiele.