This book was presented yesterday as part of the ceremonies for the 80th birthday of John Cardinal Onaiyekan. I am an Ahmadu Bello University brought up which meant in my earlier years, I spent a lot of time reading the collected works of Marx, Engels and Lenin for their commitment to creating the public good. Now in my twilight years, I find myself reading a lot of the collected works of Onaiyekan which I find educative, inspiring and useful pointers to the pathway to achieving the collective good. As we wait for the next volume, the current one composed of 15 chapters is his collected works between retirement in 2020 and 2023.
Browsing: Column
Nigeria is a country of one week, one issue; but insecurity, spreading over the nation like a cancer in a diseased body, remains constant. However, in some ways, a nation’s behaviour tends to reflect that of its leader’s character.
In 2001, during my postgraduate program in Montpellier, South France, one of the most observable features of banks in France was the sparse population in banking halls. You can hardly see ten people in the banking halls, comprising bank workers and customers. The only reason for a customer to be in the banking hall is to open a new account or negotiate a loan, not to withdraw cash or make a deposit. ATMs perfectly serve these functions. Even when you need a bank statement, a printing machine is poised at the gate for the customer’s self-service. Then, banking operations in France were about 70% digital. I am happy today in Nigeria; we are almost reaching where developed countries like France were over twenty years ago in banking operations. The advent of ICT has globalized all developmental sectors and made banking services effective, efficient, and timely. Nigeria has the potential and wherewithal to be on par with any nation in ICT and innovative technologies for the nation’s development. However, we still face poor infrastructure, human resistance against change, sabotage by the beneficiaries of the old order, and other mundane and archaic reasons to slow down progress. The plan to relocate the Central Bank of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos can be viewed within this context.
Nigeria has not been policed for decades and the evidence to prove it is everywhere. Rural Nigeria and increasingly, urban Nigeria, are mot governed spaces but are continuously rampaged by terrorists, criminals, bandits, kidnappers, secessionists and insurrectionists. No one in this country is safe as even a presidential convoy has been attacked on the road under President Buhari. The one good thing happening currently is that these criminals are encircling and moving into the Nation’s capital, Abuja, and members of the ruling class are beginning to notice that they too are no longer safe. We thank God for his mercies.
As reporters and analysts, we must inform, based on trends, and where possible, raise the alarm, hoping that those in authority will heed. In 2018, six years ago, that was what I did. And so, this is just a rehash of my article “Insecurity, the North under siege” written on this page on 24 December 2018.
Forty-three years ago, on the 15th of January 1966 to be precise, a certain Major Chukwuma Nzeagwu addressed Nigerians through Radio Kaduna announcing martial law and the takeover of power by the Supreme Council of the Revolution. Their aim, he said, was to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation free of corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is purely military”. By the end of the day, a significant part of the political class in the North and the West had been wiped out and the military had taken over the political system. In his column in Daily Times (3/2/1966), the late Tai Solarin blasted the civilian political class for destroying Nigerian politics through their twin evil practices of corruption and election rigging. He confidently boasted that Now we have been saved and we want to stay saved. Today, we are all wiser and almost nobody believes the military can save any country.
Professor Gbolagade Ayoola is an obscure personality among the downtrodden Nigerians, the category of people he has doggedly fought for all his life. If Nigeria is a country that recognizes and celebrates heroes and fighters of human rights, Ayoola would have been the Mahatma Gandhi of Nigeria; his portraits and objects immortalizing him would have littered every nook and cranny of Nigeria. Today, we are grateful for Ayoola’s success in drafting the Food Right Act, which allows Nigerians to hold their elected officials accountable and even take them to court if they go hungry. The government is not required to provide food for the people free of charge. However, the government has a constitutional responsibility to formulate and implement policies to ensure all Nigerians’ Right to food and food security. Failure of government policies to guarantee people access to qualitative food empowers the people to take the government into account. It means the government of Nigeria bears legally enforceable obligations to respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the Right to food for citizens based on treaty obligations and existing laws. The Right to food is in tandem with the Right to life, as access to food is necessary for human survival. It is also part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to end hunger in all its forms worldwide before the year 2030. Prof. Ayoola resigned from his teaching job at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, when he realized the enormity of the fight to draft the Right to Food Bill and transform it into an Act.
On Monday, January 8, I lost my mother. She died at the age of 85. Despite the age being ripe, it was still a shock. It is normal for a child to see his parents as immortal despite an ingrained knowledge that every soul shall taste the inevitable – death.
Yesterday, friends, relations and colleagues of Salihu Bappa met at the Pavilion in Abuja in remembrance of his contributions to society, his commitment to progress and in recognition of the role he played as an anchor of networking across generations, disciplines and numerous associations. The memorial event was chaired by his friend and school mate Ahmadu Muazu, former governor of Bauchi State who emphasized Bappa’s role as a bridge builder across communities and networks since their childhood days in Gindiri where they grew up in a very mixed convivial Plateau State.
For instance, in October 2019, a tanker laden with petroleum products fell into a ditch in Onitsha, aspilled its contents and exploded. The subsequent inferno razed shops and other structures on Upper Iweka Road and at Ochanja market in the commercial city. As Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouk went to Onitsha, visited the site, sympathised with those affected and ensured the provision of relief.