RE: Starving Nigerian Journalists and Blood Stained Proprietors. By Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi

My attention has just been drawn to the above mentioned article.i totally disagree with you about the outstanding salaries owed staff.although i am not involved in the day to day running of the organisation,i can tell you that nobody is owed ten months.i can tell you that all the SBU-strategic bussiness units are uptodate in their salary obligations except news.even at that the backlog is about three to four months.There are about about 1000 persons in the employment of the organisation and only about 20% are in News Department.I advise you to please cross check your facts.kindest regards.Yours Sincerely, High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi Ph.D, OFR DAAR Communications Plc DAAR Communication Centre, AIT Drive, Kpaduma Hills Off Gen.T.Y.Danjuma Street Asokoro,Abuja www.daargroup.com http://kayodeogundamisi.blogspot.com/2010/05/starving-nigerian-journalists-and-blood.html The owner of AIT is another study in the complexity called the traditional media in Nigeria, and the unbelievable findings are not limited to the proprietors. Some editors have become merchants, with reporters expected to “report returns” from beats through ‘brown envelopes’. The recent exposé in Punch leading to the resignation of two senior journalists seems to indicate that most editors and heads of Political Beats are either on the pay roll of top public office holders or have the flow of ink in their pens stifled by corruption. The Nigerian media has come a long way. Over the years it still remains the most vibrant segment of the society - being resilient in the face of all the challenges that come with a developing country. Under various military dictatorships in our chequered history, the more repressive the government has been, the more dynamic the media becomes - ranging from clampdowns, closure of media houses, politically motivated arrests to the outright extra judicial murder of journalists. The media appear to have come out on top, rejuvenated and standing firm – well, in a sense. The killing of Dele Giwa through a letter bomb highlighted the danger journalists face in the course of their duty, and since Dele’s death, it has been an endless list of murders, torture and in some cases journalists forced into exile. Such was the case of Isioma Daniels who was forced to leave Nigeria after a death sentence was passed on her by religious fanatics over her article during a Miss World event in Nigeria. The true Nigerian journalist is surely endangered specie and it is becoming apparent that hunger is becoming a weapon of mass destruction in stifling the traditional media. The most curious beat of all is the silence of the Nigerian Union of Journalists.........

And my aunty “killed me” with “Love”. Written by Kayode Ogundamisi.

And my aunty “killed me” with “Love”. Written by Kayode Ogundamisi.

I was born in the United Kingdom but it never really mattered to me as my parents left the United Kingdom for my dad’s country of birth Nigeria in the early seventies. My mom was originally from the Caribbean. You see, back then, it was not uncommon for Nigerians to return home after studying in the United Kingdom. My dad was no exception.

I do not recollect my childhood days in London. I was brought home to Nigeria at the age of 2. All that fills my memory is the exotic city of Lagos and our first home in Surulere. The Surulere of my young years was a residential area - boisterous, exotic, and beautiful.

My dad was a medical practitioner at the University of Lagos Teaching hospital. I loved our 3 bedroom home, provided for us by my dad’s employers. I loved to see my dads friends come in and go, and my mother loved to cook. Most of my parents’ friends were those who studied with them in the United Kingdom. I heard them speak about Hyde Park, Finsbury Park, Peckham, Liverpool street market and all. Those places sounded like fairy land to me. All I knew was my home landLagos - Surulere, Aunty Ayo girls’ high school, my trip to Kings College, the glitter of the smartly dressed Kings College boys and then returning home to compare the boy that caught my attention to the Raphael Cameron poster stapled on my bedroom door. (For those who don’t know him, he was a dashing American singer whose baggy trousers and neatly cut afro hair was the standard I chose for any potential boyfriend of my dream.)

We lived a good life - Nigeria was good, and Surulere was still a residential enclave, not the commercial spot as it is known now. I did not have any British memories until one day when my mum told me about my childhood friend visiting from the United Kingdom. ‘My Childhood friend’, I repeated incredulously. ‘Yes’, mum replied. ‘You were born on the same day at the Withington hospital in North London. Her parents chose to remain in England as they took advantage of Margaret Thatcher’s offer to council flat occupiers and bought a council flat.’

On the day I set eyes on my childhood friend, she spoke English with a weird sounding accent – it sounded like she was speaking through her nose; I only heard that kind of English on the T.V drama on NTA channel 10 called ‘Love Thy Neighbours’. I was shy, too embarrassed to speak English with her - and to think I was told I spoke very good English in school. My mum had to pull me aside and said to me never to feel timid. ‘You are as British as she is and you have the right to live in or visit the United Kingdom if you so wish,’ she stated.

It never mattered to me. I loved Nigeria to bits. The uncertainties in Nigeria made life more interesting. I had not known any different. I saw myself as a Nigerian child.

Roll on many years later, I lost my dad in a tragic motor accident – well, so the local police say, but his colleagues believed he was murdered. It did not matter. He was a loving dad who did his best for me. I was his only child, and his death changed it all. Suddenly, we were alone. My mum was put under pressure by his family. The expectation was that an English trained medical practitioner would have a lot of money. My dad had none, and they wouldn’t believe us. Things turned from bad to worse.

We became homeless with my mum resorting to having to put up with friends. She started a small restaurant by the roadside. The profit was just good enough for us to feed. Then God sent an angel - my father’s younger sister. I call her aunty Queen. We moved into her place and she took care of our needs. She also had a child same age as me. We were very close.

Aunty Queen did a lot of travelling. She called my mum one day and said she would have my cousin bear my name. That was the strength of love, she continued - we did wear the same clothing and were inseparable. My aunty had also made sure we attended the same school. I remember she had a distinguishing birthmark on her upper lip we called ‘God’s mark’. I used to use my aunt’s eyebrow pencil to try and make a replica of the mark on my face because I so much wanted to look like her. Everyone thought it was sweet and made fun of me.

At the time we were ready to go to university, I lost my mum. To make matters worse, my aunty announced that my cousin would be travelling to Ghana to meet her long lost dad. I cried my eyes out and my world seemed to have come to an end.

I weathered on - went on to study sociology at the University of Lagos, got myself the most loving husband any woman could ever dream of and made sure I took care of my beloved aunty. Each time I asked to get in touch with my cousin, my aunty would tell me they had lost touch, but because I missed her so much, I was relentless. As I became more persistent, she broke the bad news - my cousin had died in Ghana. Everybody I loved seemed to die.

My life’s journey soon after was similar to a roller coaster ride and Nigeria became really difficult. My husband lost his job, and my job as a teacher in a private school could not meet our needs.

One day I received an e-mail from the same childhood friend who visited us years back. She suggested I relocate to the United Kingdom. I requested a letter of invitation and she told me I did not need one, ‘…as you were born in the UK, you are entitled to a British Passport’, she reminded me. It had not crossed my mind! I therefore got all my documents together, and went straight to the British High Commission. To my dismay, my application was rejected because they did not believe I was who I said I was.

I decided to give it a second try. I applied for a visitor’s visa, travelled to the UK and whilst in the United Kingdom, applied again for a British Passport.

I was called in for an interview at the Home Office in Croydon. Three officials came in and they having gone through all my documents - my birth certificate, mother’s passport, baby photographs and every other document I could lay my hand on, gave me the shocking news “You applied for a British passport some years back...but we think we know what has happened”, as they gave each other looks and said almost simultaneously. They had brought in with them a photocopy of the said British Passport and asked ‘Do you know this person?’ I was too shocked to open my mouth at first. I subsequently let out a scream, and shivering and sobbing, pointed at the photograph and said ‘Yes, that looks like my cousin’. On closer inspection, I decided it was indeed my cousin – I could not miss ‘God’s mark’ on her upper lip.

You guessed right - the same cousin that was meant to have gone to meet her missing dad in Ghana. The same one my aunty told me was dead. She had used my documents, stolen my identity and established herself in Britain. To further compound matters, she had bought houses, racked up a whole lot of debt and gone to jail for drug offences, all in my name. All the authorities in the United Kingdom could do was to “revoke her passport”; the process of reclaiming my name was mine. It would cost thousands of pounds, but above all it broke my heart - my angel aunty was later discovered to be the devil behind the whole plot. All the while she took us in; it was for the sole purpose of stealing my identity and all for nothing because after all, the Britain I have come to meet is not any better than the Nigeria I left behind.

As if there were enough complications already, I found out that my cousin was married to a Nigerian man, who had been granted permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a spouse of a British Citizen and now also naturalised. They have a child almost the same age as mine and now thanks to my ‘angel’ aunty and my ‘beloved’ cousin, I have to live with the guilt of disrupting the lives of her husband and child. The trauma is so much it is affecting my relationship with my husband and child, and my ability to trust again.

My childhood friend has been my lifeline. She surrounds herself and me by default with positive people. My story is being told, so you can tell others, and also have others tell other people.

I have forgiven my cousin. Indeed, I was involved in her resettlement process and she is now also finally settled in the United Kingdom. I firmly believe there are others like me, who may still be back at home in Nigeria and may have been turned down by the British High Commission, deprived of their rights. It may just be that the root of the problem lies close to home.

Author’s note:

The story you have just read is based on a true story. I met the protagonist late 2008, in the course of my service as a member of the Independent Monitoring Board in the United Kingdom. I have protected the name of the characters and deliberate use of factitious style of writing at the request of the main protagonist.

Kayode Ogundamisi

Starving Nigerian Journalists and Blood Stained Proprietors. Kayode Ogundamisi

Starving Nigerian journalists and blood stained proprietors. Written by Kayode Ogundamisi
All over the world, journalists do not have it easy - much like every other person in each society. We live in difficult times.

In recent past, there has been an advent in the use of the internet and the emergence of new media and citizen reporters - the most recent ‘threat’ to falsehood and propaganda. Gone are the days when citizens had to rely on traditional media for information dissemination and daily news updates. The tide is turning with the introduction of affordable mobile technology. It is the other way round now. Major international media such as CNN, FOX News, and Guardian Newspapers, to name a few, have had to rely on citizen media for information about recent happenings.

In Nigeria, the greatest threat to traditional media seems to come from online bloggers who are more often than not, based outside the country. It is interesting to note that a greater percentage of news about Nigeria is being broken by online citizen media and citizens themselves through text and blackberry messaging, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and other interactive means. It should therefore not come as a surprise that the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan recently stated he was planning to join the social networking site Facebook to enable him pass his message across to the most vibrant segment of the Nigerian society - the youths.

Journalists in Nigeria are also going through the worst of times. They practice under poor conditions - corruption, poverty, fear, desperation and are at the mercy of the proprietors, super editors, and public officials. Sadly, the most principled journalists with good intentions are forced to choose between survival in a fast depreciating field and holding onto basic principles of good journalistic practice.

I will give examples.

My sources claim that at ThisDay Newspaper, (one of the leading media houses in Nigeria, which boasts of bringing in internationally acclaimed entertainers and world leaders for jamborees, conferences, and talk shops), senior management are paid monthly salaries and allowances ranging from between N750 thousand to N1.5 million, whilst the news hounds and reporters receive only about N60 thousand.
In all fairness to Thisday, your salary could be increased to N150 thousand, all depending on your performance or importance to the newspaper. The down side to this is that you may not be paid for several months as has been the case for a lot of the journalists at present, being owed almost 8 months salary. It is not reasonable to expect the average journalist, who has been without his income for months on end, to be corrupt free.

Thisday is not alone. Daily Independent Newspaper is owing its staff and journalists up to 7 months salaries. Leadership, another media house cannot remember the last time it paid journalists and staff, however the proprietor’s new choice of estates - the “banana republic” in Abuja is a spectacle to be ogled at.

Minaj, a top broadcasting outfit owed its workers for over one and a half years until it packed up. Journalists owed could not claim any money. Shortly after, the proprietor went on to build estates in Abuja. In the case of DBN, journalists go to work to mark time and make ends meet.

The African Independent Television, AIT is a classic study bordering on absurdity. The last time anyone was paid a salary is reported to be over 10 months and those in the media house have resorted to cutting corners to make ends meet. Thus, flagship programmes expect guests to “drop something”. If you are to appear on any show, that you must grease the palm of the producer, presenter, cameraman and all is a cliché. Would you blame the staff? I called a leading presenter and his reply to my query came in a sharp tone. “How do you expect us to pay school fees, feed the family or survive if we don’t find a means of survival within the system?” Well when next you listen to “the news” on your national Television, you might as well take it with a pinch of salt, that news may just be “fabricated paid news” and your network won’t put a rider stating. “The news is advertorial”.

What is ludicrous is the lifestyle of the proprietors of these media platforms. The flamboyant lifestyles of the proprietors do not reflect the austere conditions of the staff they employ.

Nduka Obaigbena of Thisday is a good example, he his not known to be a moderate spender, with a private jet, latest choice of cars, able to spend millions of dollars on international stars and lavishing money on everything except Thisday staff.

The owner of AIT is another study in the complexity called the traditional media in Nigeria, and the unbelievable findings are not limited to the proprietors. Some editors have become merchants, with reporters expected to “report returns” from beats through ‘brown envelopes’. The recent exposé in Punch leading to the resignation of two senior journalists seems to indicate that most editors and heads of Political Beats are either on the pay roll of top public office holders or have the flow of ink in their pens stifled by corruption.

The Nigerian media has come a long way. Over the years it still remains the most vibrant segment of the society - being resilient in the face of all the challenges that come with a developing country. Under various military dictatorships in our chequered history, the more repressive the government has been, the more dynamic the media becomes - ranging from clampdowns, closure of media houses, politically motivated arrests to the outright extra judicial murder of journalists. The media appear to have come out on top, rejuvenated and standing firm – well, in a sense.

The killing of Dele Giwa through a letter bomb highlighted the danger journalists face in the course of their duty, and since Dele’s death, it has been an endless list of murders, torture and in some cases journalists forced into exile. Such was the case of Isioma Daniels who was forced to leave Nigeria after a death sentence was passed on her by religious fanatics over her article during a Miss World event in Nigeria.

The true Nigerian journalist is surely endangered specie and it is becoming apparent that hunger is becoming a weapon of mass destruction in stifling the traditional media.

The most curious beat of all is the silence of the Nigerian Union of Journalists.

Canary! BB News Alert! BB® Pin 21659292

Canary! BB News Alert! We can beat the gag! Just add BB® Pin 21659292 to your BlackBerry and pass same pin to friends! Host. Kayode Ogundamisi

Kayode Ogundamisi Off Face-Book?

Dear Reader,

My Face book page seems to be malfunctioning. Many friends and readers can not access the page. I have reported the problem to face book and await feedback.

What to do? Please search Kayode Ogundamisi (You are likely to see the public page) Click on "Like" that way we can make do with an alternative platform pending when the initial fault on the private page is resolved.

You could also send a BB message to BB pin 21659292.

Many thanks for your patience.

Kayode Ogundamisi

Sunday 16th May 2010.

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"EVERY ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF OPINION AND EXPRESSION; THIS RIGHT INCLUDES FREEDOM TO HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE AND SEEK, RECEIVE AND IMPART INFORMATION AND IDEAS THROUGH ANY MEDIA AND REGARDLESS OF FRONTIERS." article 19. United Nations.

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Murtala Mohammed International Airport As A Death Trap!

Murtala Mohammed International Airport As A Death Trap!

“Hello - Passengers for flight 9ja001 for London, with stops in Ota and Minna! The departure gate has been changed to Aso Rock. Please proceed to departure gate immediately. Unfortunately, there will be a long departure delay due to slight hiccups at our electricity supplier (PHCN) as a Python has been found in Kanji Dam Hydro Station. The ground Crew has invoked our business continuity plan which entails setting up candles and Tiger! Tiger! Generator please do not be anxious it is Air-Cooled Gasoline/Diesel (0.45-6KVA) compliant, all to ensure that our preparation for departure goes as smoothly as possible. We currently have too many passengers for seats available, and in line with practice, we are offering complimentary round-trip tickets to a few passengers willing to take Ekene Dili Chukwu. We should be boarding when Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) gets diesel for the airport generator. We have been unable to make contact with the contractor responsible for that aspect of the business continuity plan. (They seem to have put the same phone number as that of Mrs. Fidelia Njeze the aviation Minister of the Federal Republic down as their contact details.) We thank you for your continued patience”

The narration above is a fictitious announcement (with slight modifications) was put together to depict the daily comedy we witness in Nigerian airports. The statement in part may appear exaggerated but it is not that far from reality.

Tee A and Ali Baba, two well-known Nigerian comedians need not research for comedy materials - a visit to the nation’s number one hub Murtala Mohammed International Airport should give them more than enough material!It is very sad but we are currently witnessing unprecedented rot at Nigeria’s main international airport. Late Dr Shola Omoshola, the American trained Aviation Security specialist, when he was alive asserted that the Nigerian government ran our airports like a corner shop in a Lagos side street. Several years after Omoshola was killed, now in the year 2010, the situation seems to have gone from bad to worse.

The aviation ministry sees our airports as a milking pot. As soon as ministers are appointed, Nigerians get promises that very quickly turn out to be hot air.The only positive point is the privately run Lagos Airport MMA 11 but even that flourishing spot is not immune to the larger rot in the aviation industry.On Sunday 9th May 2009, Nigerian media reported that hundreds of passengers were left stranded at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos as a result of power failure. Some sections of the media reported that the outage lasted between 4 to 6 hours. If this particular outage had been a one off, it would not have been of any serious concern to citizens, but outages in MMA is fast becoming the norm and Nigerian passengers are beginning to get used to it.

It may be said that the airport is part of the larger Nigerian society, and so power outages are nothing unusual. We should however remember that an Airport running on epileptic power supply is putting lives of hundreds of passengers at risk. Any organisation incapable of providing adequate back up power supply is failing abysmally. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is charged with the running, maintenance and day to day administration of our airports and the authority’s spokesperson in reaction to the discomforting event of Sunday May 9Th is reported to have admitted that poor power supply is affecting service delivery at the airport. He was however quick to add that the authority rectified the outage of Sunday May 9th (reported as lasting 4-6 hours) in good time.

Whilst Mr Olukunle as an employee of FAAN may not be able to voice out the true state of affairs (which is most likely to be dire), it is important that Nigerians should urge the authority and the Nigerian government to take steps to ensure that no major disaster befalls innocent passengers as a result of the increasingly deteriorating service levels at the airport. We must admit it now that the MMA is not only a death trap, but a disaster waiting to happen. Power outages may be the most glaring problem to members of the public but the FAAN authorities should immediately take their case to the federal government and ask for intervention from not just the aviation minister but the best brains in the aviation industry.

All hands must be on deck to save the country from impending disaster.FAAN should also take a look at the perimeter fencing adjacent to the neighbouring “Sasa Village”. Those areas are anything but a protective fence. A terrorist could easily position at the landing area which is close to the run way, armed with a rocket launcher and bring down any landing aircraft.

It is amazing that FAAN has not given that area top priority as a weakness in our airport security. The outer part of the fence should be cleared so aviation security personal can implement external patrols which are at the moment limited to the inner side of the fence.I believe it is sheer luck that Al Qaeda or other fringe terrorist groups have not taken advantage of the porous state of our airports’ security.

Staff members are overworked, underpaid compared to the large revenue the organisation receive from airport users, and the airlines, and thus prone to corruption. It is only a matter of time before a terrorist induces an airport worker to wreak havoc. We are yet to introduce counter terrorist units to work closely with our aviation security administrators in an age where Nigeria is fast becoming attractive to Al-Qaeda. A standard vetting system needs to be put in place and facilities such as Toilets, Car Parks, Eateries upgraded to meet basic health and safety standards.We are failing to meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) mandate that airports must operate with sufficient number of trained and well equipped personnel to be able to perform at high standards.

FAAN officials may spin some accreditation from the American Civil Aviation Authorities as a testimony of FAANS efficiency but don’t we all now know with the Farouk Abdulmutallab incident that we can not place our standards just on the Americans but on the basic principles that lives of airport users in Nigeria must be protected and provided with the best of services.To the Credit of staffs in the airport, it is a miracle that they have been able to deliver current service levels in spite of the poor conditions they are forced to work under. We can not continue to count on luck. Government must seriously and urgently intervene to save us from a tragedy waiting to happen.

One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion Naira Loan, Photocopy Government and a lost Battle!

One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion Naira Loan, Photocopy Government and a lost Battle! Written By Kayode Ogundamisi

I'm getting really convinced that the greatest mistake we make as a people is that we invest our energies poorly. For so many reasons, we may like to think that we are people who go all the way and are careful to finish what we started. It would not be wrong to say however that we are no long distance runners. No way! Running long distance race is not a Nigerian past time. We love our “short cuts”. They serve the purpose, don’t they? We start a fight but we are not ready to do all it takes to win the battle. As soon as our opponent shows some sign of weakness or pretends to be weak we roll out the drums and throw a big carnival to celebrate that ‘victory’. It is in the context of never wanting to do all that is necessary to win the big battle that the long awaited Nigerian revolution remains that - long awaited.

Please hear me out. We started with resisting the military. We did not have the luxury of modern day technology, internet, mobile phones, 24 hour television station and private radio, but we could still mobilise nation-wide against the all powerful dictators in government. As a people we had that idea that the military was an aberration to our national life. As soon as the military class sensed our preference for short cuts rather than an everlasting victory, they (the military class) invited their civilian collaborators and we got a photocopy of democracy, and like every photocopy it remains what it is - a badly copied reflection of the original.

Let us break it down; the civilian government of General Olusegun Obasanjo was a photocopy of the General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida government. We rolled out the drums, celebrated an easy victory and then went back to catnap. In the middle of our slumber, we accepted the imposition of Musa Umoru Yar’Adua. Alas, the Yar’adua government was a photocopy of the Obasanjo government and like every photocopy, the more you reproduce, the more the copy looks a far cry from the original content, however in this case we still view the same features of incompetence, corruption, lack of vision, deceit, and all other characteristic of previous Nigerian governments.

Well, we drew that battle line again; regrouped and resisted the attempt by the now infamous “cabal” to pull the wool over our eyes. We started the fight as usual, and we planned for the fight (but not the battle) and now the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan government is almost becoming a photocopy of the initial Yar’Adua government - a slow start, stall, jump start, seeming stability and then gbam!

The stand up comedian is invited to speak for 30 minutes at an event to “honour” the governor’s wife for “her good work”. He is paid a ridiculous 6 million naira for a 30 minute show and then the governor’s wife thanks him with another “personal donation” of 3 million naira for attending. Then on his facebook blog he complains about corruption in high places. He does not smell the stench from his behind.

The Finance Minister the one on loan from Goldman Sachs yes the same international investment institution now under investigation in the United States of America for fraud is informing us of Goodluck Jonathan’s government’s intention to take a N138 billion from the World Bank. One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion? Did I hear him right? Was that part of the game plan? I thought we had a government with less than one year to conduct a free and fair election? I would think the priority would be reduced to electoral reform and recover the stolen loot from the Acting President’s political colleagues, and public officials. We would not need to borrow a dime from the World Bank. But then, what do you expect of a photocopy - it is after all a photocopied government. The vicious circle continues.

Often, we bask too much and too long in praises we get for being able to smell a rat. And once we smell it, we talk about it until our tongues literally bleed as we dissect, analyse, preview and review the smell. It is easy to get bored in such a talk shop where the main attraction - action, affirmative action - is missing. Thus we naturally stroll out and eagerly pop into the next talk-shop. We never do all it takes to locate the rat and get rid of it.

The bad smell confronting us now is corruption in high and low places, not another borrowing. It is not just the corruption of the leaders but corruption perpetuated by the follower - a young lady of 19 supplies “toilet paper” and “disposable materials” to a government ministry and she is suddenly swimming in unspeakable wealth. We organise a save Nigeria protest and she is first on the line, and unfortunately does not smell the foul stench of corruption emanating from her side. The stand up comedian is invited to speak for 30 minutes at an event to “honour” the governor’s wife for “her good work”. He is paid a ridiculous 6 million naira for a 30 minute show and then the governor’s wife thanks him with another “personal donation” of 3 million naira for attending. Then on his facebook blog he complains about corruption in high places. He does not smell the stench from his behind.

Segun Aganga Finance Minister. (Nigeria)

The Finance Minister the one on loan from Goldman Sachs yes the same international investment institution now under investigation in the United States of America for fraud is informing us of Goodluck Jonathan’s government’s intention to take a N138 billion from the World Bank. One Hundred and Thirty Eight Billion? Did I hear him right? Was that part of the game plan?

Issues of national interest are not hard to find. We are always in the middle of some nerve-racking inciting drama; never mind how it begins or ends. It is now obvious that we have prolific script writers who dutifully ensure that we never leave the playhouse and get down to other serious activities. Their task is to keep us performing. And so we are always in the middle of one either developing the script to suit our bias, or setting our sentiments on a collision course with the sensibilities of others. Now our standards are so high that we have developed a new concept - the concept of “workchoptocracy” o yes, “workchoptocracy”. You will not find it in the English dictionary. It is a new concept in Nigeria . It is when a man elected to serve the people is given a blank cheque to loot the treasury of the state so long as he his doing some “good work”. Thus the philosophy worked in Cross Rivers State under a certain Donald Duke. He did some good work, ’chop’ small and so could not be probed. And so it was under the regime of a certain Buba Marwa as governor of Lagos state; he did some “good work” ‘chop’ plenty and so could also not be probed; and now in the same Lagos State we have a governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, he is doing “great work” it is rumoured he “chopped plenty” and that his God father also “chopped small” but no one wants him probed. If unlike his colleagues he is doing “great work” why should we bother to make him accountable.

We are a real study in the world of absurd people. It would make a sane person throw up, but then we don’t live in a sane society. We live in Nigeria and anything goes.

When are we going to start purposefully dealing with the harsh realities that challenge our will to survive and exist as a united prosperous nation without fear or discrimination? Just when will we get to the point where we can match our words with action? We should be fed-up with just talking. We can brave it and act. We won the fight for June 12 but lost the battle for a Sovereign National Conference. We won the fight to stop Obasanjo from perpetuating his third term agenda but we lost the battle to stop him from getting his third term trough the back door. We started the fight to Save Nigeria but just one pronouncement by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, is successfully diverting us from the real battle of electoral reform, making our votes count, and bringing all the corrupt ones irrespective of tribe, religion and creed to justice.

It is either we know how to fight but not how to win an enduring battle or that the Nigerian ruling elite and the larger cabal are the smartest in the world. Or could it be that we are not just ready for that Nigerian revolution? Could it be that we get satisfied with little victories and then lose focus and start bickering over the spoils of war when the final battle has not been won? It is high time we re-strategise, form alliances and get down to the business of an all Nigerian liberation battle plan or we just raise the white flag and surrender to the ‘superiority’ of our opponents - the few who hold us all to ransom. We have the choice of either cutting the chains or asking the oppressor to adjust the tight chain so we can have temporary relief. The choice is ours.

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UN-EDITED LETTER FROM PRESIDENCY

ACTIING PRESIDENT,
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

SH/Ag.P/SEC/147

Distinguished Senator David Mark. GCON President of the Senate.

National Assembly Complex.

Three Arms Zone,
Abuja.


754

No. 84

Thursday, 22nd April, 2010

Your Excellency.

SUMMARY OF 2010 EXTERNAL BORROWING PLAN OF GOVERNMENT

I hereby forward to Your Excellency. the Summary of the 2010 External Borrowing Plan of Government as a major component of the 2010 Appropriation.

Pleas, recall our discussion during our interaction on the 2010 Budget of the Federal Government held on 20th April. 2010 to formally transmit the 2010 External Borrowing Plan of the Federal Government to you for consideration and approval. You may also further recall that the Senate Committee on Finance had on several occasions invited the Executive to present the 2010 Borrowing Plan and explain its content including sustainability and impact on the economy. This is in compliance with the due process. The Borrowing Plan for 2010 is hereby presented for your kind consideration and approval.

You may wish to note that Nigeriais in dire need to fund the huge infrastructure deficit critical

to rapid development and the highly concessionary credit facilities offered by Multilateral Agencies to which Nigeria belongs and commits substantial resources as affiliation fees, has been identified as an inevitable source to compliment the budgetary allocations as appropriate.

The World Bank Portfolio of the facilities totaling $915 million out of which $179 million would be drawn in fiscal 2010. is of particular essence as it would be deployed to Urban Water and Transport. Human Capacity Development and Power infrastructure projects across the country.

In view of the above. Your Excellency may wish to consider the Borrowing Plan for 2010 in order to facilitate immediate legislative consideration.

Please accept. Your Excellency. the assurances of my esteemed regards.

Yours sincerely.



Signed:
Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan. GCON