Category: Columnists

Fearfully ahead lies the future . . .

The strange evils of these times leave me pondering each daybreak as I try unsuccessfully to understand what might probably be the motivation for the heartlessness of the new man in this new age. The new ways of man are smeared with evil as his taste and appetite for wrongdoing has become so insatiable that even the society seems to perceive the new evils as norm. Worse and more sad is the fact that even the good people are beginning to resign to this new evil lifestyle.

The innocence of children in this new age has long been sacrificed on the alter of modernization. It’s no news that the social media is always tagged as the biggest culprit in the trending unacceptable practices and deeds. I continue to refer to the evils of the world as strange but truth be told, what we see in the social media spaces and platforms today is the truth of what man has become. This also reinforces the saying that the media is a reflection, a mirror of the society. The social media is nothing but the creation of man. . . And in as much as this creation was actually a necessity in the face of the growing need to improve speed and facilitate efficiency in businesses by enhancing the chains of production, the negative sides of use of some of its applications has long surpassed the positives of time saving, fast track, efficient production. Social media has become the harmful opium in which the world indulges daily while its contents systematically kill the young, the old, teens and even children. No one is spared from this global infection of the negative effects of social media, unless they intentionally make the efforts of consciously staying out of the hook of some of this deadly contents on the social media, targeted at wrecking minds, defiling the human sanity and making same almost globally acceptable.

Have you ever wondered why people in the futuristic movies are so cold? If you haven’t, here is the thing! Most of the contents we consume daily via our eyes through social media is absolutely harmful, poisonoius to our mentality. We watch without flinching how fellow human persons are being slaughtered like goats or cows. . . We also watch how human rituals are being conducted, human beings hacked in parts and wasted as though it’s something unimportant. The respect for the human life has been defied and the sacredness of life trivialised. As if that is not enough, we share and circulate such gory scenes and videos like wild fire and gradually, the fear of killing or taking a human life is fading as the mind is now deprived of compassion and commissioned with the coldness that can enable such gruesome crimes and perpetrations.

Secondly, love which used to be the basis of the human soft side and goodness is gradually getting exinct from amongst us. The menace we have created in our world is slowly but surely dominating the little values that seem to still maintain man’s sanity and orderliness. Love is now overtly overrated as the love of money, fame and every other thing supersedes it. The attributes of great friendship is unquestionably being traded on the platform of networking values which screams, no benefits, no friendship. Compassion, empathy, sympathy and concern which used to be the normal characteristics of an average human person have now been replaced by envy, hate, cold heartedness and other evil collusions. To make matters worse, the new generation don’t have to go to school to learn these dangerous evils because they are very well schooled right in their mothers’ wombs. Did I hear you say how? Oh yes! Science has proven that the child can be tutored while in the womb. . . The problem now is that while expectant mothers are busy consuming the evils most times available on the social media spaces, the child in her womb is busy dousing on same and coming out fully prepared to continue in the practice of what you have successfully exposed them to during pregnancy. Have you not wondered why a year old baby can confidently operate a mobile phone? They navigate through the functionalities of the phone as though they created it. . . It is because they have learnt already too much while they were still incubating in the womb.

The final straw that seems to be breaking the carmel’s back is the evil which hardship and man’s greed has created! Parents no longer give children enough time to know them or even time to teach them the requirements of humanity. Children now come from maternity wards to creche where they spend their entire day with total strangers only to be taken home tired and it becomes a routine almost their entire life because the only time they see mom or dad is when they are being dropped off or picked up; that’s for those of them that are lucky enough to be picked by their parents, else it is mostly the duty of the driver to pick up and drop them at school and after school. . . Painfully, this circle continues down to boarding schools and university and all that. . . Before you know it, we have invented a mechine instead of a human being. They become cold, independent, unfriendly, unlovable. How can they even love when they haven’t experienced self love? How can they love when their growing up has been so devoid of parental love? How can they love when they have never felt loved enough? How can they give love when they do not have it in them?
I do not blame parents for choosing the option of the new ways, of course, they have bills to foot and ends to meet but at the end of the day, it is our world that suffers… and fearfully ahead lies a future that might just be too cold!!!

Your mental freedom is your power. . .

There are people whose purpose each single day is to secure food for the day and for every other daybreak they will ever experience. There are others whose focus is to find safety in the face of continuous wars and insecurities around them. There are some others whose daily desire is to rundown others as though their existence depends on it. Everyone’s got a reason to look forward to the breaking of a new day, hoping that they find the solution to every nagging situation or reality that threatens their core.

Every side of this life has its own realities. Never allow yourself to be miserable because you think you are alone or that others’ situation is or may be better than yours… Most mental slavery making rounds these days are the ones we allow ourselves into . . . No one has the power to bind or burden your mind with whatsoever burden except you give them the power to do so by convincing yourself to accept the burden of the slavery projected at you. This life is a mystery and everyone is struggling with their issues daily.

Living this life without wisdom is a complete burden because you tend to go through untold sufferings and avoidable situations should only a little sense be applied! It’s normal to struggle with understanding life but it’s stupid when you keep allowing yourself to be tormented by the same issues all the time. “Once beaten, twice shy” they say so wisdom is indeed profitable to direct! Be strong, firm but open minded… Avoid taking in everything hook line and sinker else you will remain a slave to the modern form of slavery; mind games are the new weapons of destruction. Protect your mind from the dangers of these times by choosing carefully what you see, read or listen to. The mind is definitely a place where strength and even weakness reside but whichever of these two sides you feed, is what you attract.

Life is beautiful only if you are ready to see the good in people and situations. Remember, frustrations are life long accessories but living in it daily is the real frustration anyone can ever suffer. Relive and inspire yourself with the best moments you have ever lived and hope to live even better. It is your right to determine how you want or desire to be seen or treated no matter what the situation might be. Do not negotiate or compromise on your dignity as a human person. You essence is in your mind and the sanity of your mental freedom is your power!

Today’s society is faced with issues of false indoctrination, brainwashing, mental torture and several kinds of mental manipulation among others, enabled by our inability to be in charge of our minds. This is also the very reason moral standards, values and norms are being broken daily. . .
The mind is like a powerful hub upon which a lifetime database is anchored. Controlling the hub will mean controlling the entire system with a lot of information that may be used correctly or wrongly depending on the one to whom access is granted. Take charge of your mind and obviously take charge of your life. Rid your mental space of every emotional gabbage, bitterness, grudge and anything that constitutes any form of bondage to your mind if you must move forward!

Convert your pain to gain, make good out of an annoying situation, stay true even when lying would or should be the easier option . . . Things have a way of coming back when you do not handle or treat them right. Short cut is always the longest cut! Nothing in life is permanent… Every situation is just moments away from its solution. Truth will always remain the basis and foundation for mental freedom which is every human’s power.

By Godknows B. Igali

The date April 15, 2022 passed almost solemnly, obscured by the celebrations of the Christians’ holy day of Good Friday which, interestingly coincided with the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover. Beyond these esoterics, is the fact that one of Nigeria’s most outstanding citizens, Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed attained the age of 70 years. Typical of the accomplished retired civil servant, accustomed to “being seen but not heard”, he allowed the date to slip by with virtually no bashing revelry.

For one who has contributed so much to the building of the Nigerian state and handled several critical responsibilities, many would have thought that Ahmed was slightly of a higher age; although his personal physique and build appear at least 10 years younger.

BUREAUCRATIC ASCENSION

At different times, he had risen to become Permanent Secretary both at his home state, Bauchi in North East Nigeria and later on at the Federal level. Thereafter, he rose to serve as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and then Secretary to Government of the Federation and ultimately, Minister of Defence. Till date, no other Nigerian has matched that straddling service record.
Apart from holding notable high offices, wherever he had been vested with such responsibilities, he was part of far-reaching reforms of structural nature. Actually, at the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he served as Permanent Secretary from 1994 and stayed for four (4) years, which in most countries is regarded as the mother of all other agencies, he was saddled with overseeing such critical issues as public security, civic registration, supervision of local governments nationwide, immigration, etc. A great amount of his work also touched on maintenance of law and order and even the administration of justice since such entities as immigration service, fire service, correctional service (prison), civil defence, population census, all fell under his purview. In the UK where this office is known as the Home Department, thsupervision even include the supervision of the national police.

While at Interior, Ahmed chaired a number of the Committees that dealt with Civil Service Reforms during the General Ibrahim Babangida military administration years. This laid the foundation for subsequent reviews of Public Service Rules under President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005 and at the time of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency in 2014.
When democracy returned to the country in 1999, Obasanjo who became elected as the first civilian leader after a long period of military rule, appointed Ahmed as Head of Civil Service of the Federation of the whole country.

It needs mention, that the Nigerian Civil Service has actually been in existence since colonial rule became formal with the Amalgamation of 1914. Forty years later, with the enactment of the Lyttleton Constitution, and the “Nigeria Order in Council of April 1954”, a Federal Public Commission was established, with Dr. Samuel Manuwa as a Commissioner a British Head. It also allowed for the then three regions (Eastern, Northern and Western) to have their own Civil Services. With the attainment of independence on October 1, 1960, S.O. Wey was appointed as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Head of Service.

Ahmed took office as “Mr. Civil Service” as he was now called under an activist, President Obasanjo who was bent on purging and re-tooling the service from its years under military rule, particularly taking advantage of the various reform recommendations which had been made over the years. These include Morgan Commission of 1961, the Adebo Commission of 1971, the Udoji Commission of 1972-74, the Dotun Philips Panel of 1985 and the Allison Ayida Panel of 1994. Of concern, however, the Civil Service had become redundant, inefficient and unproductive. This was a major thrust that Ahmed had to tackle along with his boss, Obasanjo, leading to such major initiatives as Right-Sizing and Monetisation Policies.

THE CALL TO POLITICS AND POWER

At the twilight of the Obasanjo administration in 2006, ahead of the 2007 elections, Yayale came under severe pressure to take over the mantle of leadership as Governor in his own state. However, cleverly, he seemed to have counted his teeth with his tongue and realised that his background in civil service may not make it easy to plunge into and wrestle with the class of political elite in Bauchi State. He wriggled out of partisan politics but was soon called back to service by the new President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to take political office as the Minister of Defence.

Again, the Minister of Defence of Nigeria, as in other countries, has one of the most far-reaching portfolios as he oversees the entire security and defence architecture of the country. The entire Army, the Navy, Air Force and Special Forces such as Joint Task forces, Multinational Joint Task Force, International Peace Keeping, etc., all report to him.

Before Ahmed, Nigeria had 11 other Ministers of Defence starting from Mohammed Ribadu, Inuwa Wada, Prof. Iya Abubakar, Akanbi Oniyangi during years of democratic governance. Under military regimes, there had been persons as Generals Iliya Bissala, Domkat Bali, and Generals Yakubu Gowon, Obasanjo and Sani Abacha who also doubled as Heads of State. With the advent of the 4th Republic, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma and former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso also held the office before him.

So, Ahmed assumed that position under the shadow of some of the greatest Nigerian public servants. Although he was one of the few who did not have any military experience whatsoever, it remains to his credit that the Nigerian military attained some of its most-recorded achievements during his brief tenure.

It was however not too long as President Yar’Adua brought him back to his own turf by making him Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), replacing Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, a former career diplomat and Permanent Secretary, but turned politician. Indeed, Kingibe was former Vice-Presidential candidate to Moshood Abiola, reputed to have won the 1993 presidential elections. This prestigious but tasking position of SGF is the ultimate pinnacle of the core public service in the federation.
The SGF has, traditionally, been vested with the role of being the engine room of the government as its functions cover the General Administration of the country, its Political Affairs, Cabinet Secretariat of the Federal Executive Council, Special Duties and Special Services offices. Nowadays, it also oversees a number of other institutions such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), North East Development Commission (NEDC), the Ecological Fund Office (EFO), etc.
Interestingly enough, each of these sections of the SGF’s office is manned by a civil servant of senior Permanent Secretary rank.

From independence, the office of SGF had up till 2011, been exclusively occupied, for good reasons, by retired Federal Permanent Secretaries. These included S.O. Wey who was the pioneer till the outbreak of the 1966 military coup. During the war years, M.A. Ejueyitche held sway. Thereafter, came the Igbira-born A.A. Attah whose stint was from 1970-1972, followed by S.O. Lawson from 1972-1975 and then came the super Permanent Secretary, Allison Ayida, whose tenure was from 1975-1977.

Up till the handover of power to civilians in 1979, came Ali Ciroma while during the entire period of the Second Republic led by President Shehu Shagari from 1979-83, Shehu Musa was in place and thereafter another super Permanent Secretary, Gray Longe whose tenure covered the military regime of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. This was followed by the long tenure of President Babangida which had four senior Permanent Secretaries, Olu Falae, Aliyu Mohammed and the brief tenure of Mustapha Umar, and Aminu Saleh whose service years ended in 1995.

Towards the end of military rule, the last SGF, Gidado Idris worked with Gen. Abacha from 1995-99 while Chief Ufot Ekaette, opened the 4th Republic as SGF from 1999 to 2007. This was followed by Ambassador. Kingibe before the entrance of Ahmed. Somehow, he became the last core civil servant to hold the office, as subsequent Presidents, in exercise of powers under Section 172 (2) of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, have continued to appoint other Nigerians outside the civil service.

Ahmed stayed in that position from 2008 until the death of President Yar’Adua in 2011. For several reasons which included the inclement health of the president under whom he served, the Office of the SGF became inundated with great powers and technically ran the entire business of Government in the country. The death of President Yar’Adua sent Ahmed technically to an early retirement from public limelight at the age of 58 years.

During the period as SGF, one of his greatest achievements was his role in bringing peace to the Niger Delta as his office was the nucleus of the negotiations toward peaceful resolution of the crisis which rocked that region at the time.

Prior to Yar’Adua’s election as President, his predecessor, Obasanjo had in 2005 created an Office of Honorary Advisor on the Niger Delta headed by Ambassador Godknows Igali, a career diplomat. This office was subsequently dissolved and replaced with what was known as Niger Delta Peace Committee which was co-chaired by the SGF on the one hand and what came to be known as “Oporoza House” headed by Niger Delta activist, Chief T.K. Ogoriba on the other.

This process of engagement and the rest of the activities culminated in the Declaration of Amnesty for Niger Delta agitators in June 2009.

LATER SILENT ACTIVISM

In the quiet of his seeming retirement, Yayale has proved his mettle as a silent operator as he has remained one of the key actors in various back-channel discussions on the current state of affairs and future of Nigeria. Being a trusted source for well-vetted private communications, he has continued to work towards consensus-building. This he has done, taking advantage of his influence as one of the most respected bureaucrats from the north of Nigeria.

Besides, he is from no less a respected place as Katagum, in Bauchi State, a place which boasts as one of the core traditional emirates in the north. Yayale has indeed, followed the cosmopolitan legacy of First Republic politician, Dr. Sule Katagum, the first indigenous and longest-serving Chairman of the Federal Civil Commission.

In addition to these, he also works as one of the traditional title holders (Ajia Katagum) with the current Emir of Katagum Alhaji Umar Kaber Umar who himself was a Federal Permanent Secretary until he assumed office after the death of his father, Alhaji Dr. Kabir Umar, the 11th Emir of Katagum. He also boasts of other traditional honours from several parts of Nigeria.

Closeness to his Northern, Fulani aristocracy, had tended to expose him to lack of regard in some quarters at a time when inter-etnic distrust seems balloon anew. No, his urbane nature and network around the country continues to glide him into the centre of the stage behind the closed doors.

Tracking back, after his birth on 15th April, 1952, much of his upbringing has been in his home town, Azare, Katagum, where he went to Primary School and later Secondary School during the war years, 1967-71. Thereon, he proceeded to Ahmadu Bello University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 1976 and later a Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 1981.

In the course of his service, he had variously been honoured with doctoral degrees from Bayero University, University of Benin and University of Abuja. Of equal note is his earned fellowship from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) and the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS).
He was also decorated with the high national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, CFR which comes next only to the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, and the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic in terms of respect and prestige in Nigeria.

SIGNING-OFF WORDS

For a country the size of Nigeria, many great people have continued to toil to build the nation to what it is today. Since his graduation from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Ahmed has continued to leave great strides in the service of Nigeria.

He has obviously kept faith with those harkened words of contemporary influencer, Idowu Koyenikan, “Your pride for your country should not come after your country becomes great; your country should become great because of your pride in it.” In silence and relative anonymity, he toils without pause as was well envisioned in his unspoken contribution to peace in the Niger Delta to make Nigeria a better place. Till date, he holds sway as boss of the high-level think-tank, Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORPS) in Abuja, the Federal Capital.

At just 70, Yayale Ahmed is at a good age for more work, so it remains to be seen if the hand of destiny and chance will still propel him to higher national service.

Happy birthday, sir.

Igali is a former Ambassador and retired Federal Permanent Secretary

By Olalekan A. Babatunde

Recent history indicates that China abhors war or violence of any kind. Since its brief war against Vietnam in 1979 and border dispute with India for the first time in more than four decades, China has not been at a full-scale war with anyone. Instead, China builds and not bombs. It is building bridges across the multipolar and multicultural world. It is not that China was not tempted or provoked into war, but it is committed to development and building friendship across borders. In deed, it has evolved multilateralism as a central element of its foreign policy by seeking consensus through consultation and dialogue, while managing common affairs including trade through cooperation for shared benefits and win-win-results. 

Accordingly, when Russia launched what it called “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24th, the Chinese government insists it had no prior knowledge of the attack. “Assertions that China knew about, acquiesced to, or tacitly supported this war are pure disinformation,” wrote Qin Gang, China’s ambassador to the United States in the Washington Post. He added, “Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it.”

When the UN General Assembly voted to denounce the attack on Ukraine by Russia on February 26 2022, China was among the 35 countries that abstained. The abstention shows China seeks to be neutral and impartial on the conflict, and has been calling for a peaceful resolution, and likewise urging nations to support efforts to reach a resolution to the conflict, while resisting pressure from the west to condemn Russia. China’s President Xi Jinping described the situation in Ukraine as “deeply worrying” and called for “maximum restraint” as the conflict escalates. He said Beijing is “pained to see the flames of war reignited in Europe”. 

According to the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu, while commenting on the Ukraine crisis, said that Beijing was “committed to promoting peace talks”. Amid the conflict, the China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who has spoken with Ukrainian counterpart Dymtro Kuleba, announced in March that it would provide millions of Yuan (renminbi) of humanitarian aid to Ukraine through the Chinese Red Cross “as soon as possible” while praising his country’s friendship with Russia as “rock solid”.  Understanding China’s stance on the 53-day old conflict is important from an African point of view within the western countries’ predominance in the global systems.

To begin with, China has a pride with a distinct civilization and special mission in the world. It is bound to protect its history, values, power, geopolitics and multilateralism in the world. On its abstention during the UNGA’s vote, it is in China’s best interest to promote peaceful coexistence with its Russian neighbour. China and Russia share contiguous borders of 4,209.3 kilometres long, which is the world’s sixth-longest international border. Both countries are trading partners especially in oil, gas, coal and arms. China’s friendship with Russia strengthened in February when President Vladimir Putin attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the same day that the countries declared a “no limits” strategic partnership. 

So on Ukraine, as far as China is concerned, the causes of the “Ukraine situation” were “complex”, and had not happened overnight. Wang noted, using a traditional Chinese expression that “three feet of ice does not form in a single day”. According to the foreign minister, “solving complex problems requires calmness and rationality, rather than adding fuel to the fire and intensifying contradictions”.  China has done and is doing “some work” to promote talks and has all along been in contact with all sides. In fact, President Xi has said the priority should be preventing the war from escalating or “spinning out of control”. He called on France and Germany to make efforts to reduce negative effects of the crisis, and expressed concern about the impact of sanctions on the stability of global finance, energy supplies, transportation and supply chains.

In the last few days, calls have been mounted on China to pressure Russia to end Ukraine war. For example, the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on China to pressure Russia to end its military offensive in Ukraine, saying Beijing risked losing its standing in the world if it does not help end the “heinous war”. She added, “China would make something positive out of its “special relationship” with Russia”. This kind of call reinforces the special position of China and what it is capable of doing in dialogue and mediation. 

Also, just last weekend, a team of US lawmakers paid “a solidarity visit” to Taiwan where China was warned of paying bigger price for bullying Taiwan. One of the team, Senator Lindsey Graham, threatened of repercussion if China supports President Vladimir Putin’s offensive of Ukraine. He said, “The support for Putin must come with a price”. I think the threat was uncalled for given the promise of China’s neutrality in the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Again, China has said the two-Ukraine and Taiwan issues are not the same. China is fully aware that whatever it does on the Ukraine conflict at this moment will have worldwide implications for years to come. Already there have been food and energy crises for millions of people around the world over the Ukraine war. The concern for the risk of chemical and nuclear weapons in the conflict is also high.

China also has repeatedly criticized what it calls “illegal and unilateral Western sanctions”. The White House has expressed its “deep concerns” about providing assistance to Russia. The Chinese have gone through a lot of devastating wars, oppression, exploitation and abject poverty. So based on high moral ground, cognition and experience, China’s view of Ukraine war can be described as an apolitical stance or a pacifist. This position has encouraged China to be one of the largest contributors of UN Peacekeeping operations even in African countries.

Equally, if we look at the statements coming from the Chinese official channels since the war started, it’s not so much as pro-Russia or anti-Ukraine. It’s more resolutely critical of the US, NATO and the West. Just like the rest of us, I think the stiff resistance Ukraine showed to a superpower too surprises China. Many genuinely believe that the war was primarily caused by the NATO expansion and Russia was forced to defend its legitimate interests. Based on this thought, one could say China is genuinely sympathetic to the Russian cause. After Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two countries built formal diplomatic relations in 1992, and declared a strategic partnership in 2011. China has an embassy in Kyiv and a Consulate-General in Odessa. Ukraine has an embassy in Beijing and a Consulate-General in Shanghai.

In geopolitical context, China’s position on the Ukraine crisis has also been linked to its aspiration of having the self-ruled Taiwan reunified to the mainland. According to western commentators, China is keenly watching how the situations in Ukraine will play out in terms of the military goal and the lessons it offers. But China has repeatedly refuted this view, saying the scenarios in Ukraine are not the same with Taiwan. China aims to pursue peaceful reunification with Taiwan. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, asked in early March about Taiwan, pledged to “advance the peaceful growth of … relations and the reunification of China.”

But more intently, and far beyond the non-combative or non-belligerent nature of China, if there is any country that is watching the Ukraine conflict very closely, it is China. If Russia were defeated, then that would embolden the western countries to apply the same kinds of pressure on China if there is a future confrontation between it and the west. But China has a lot of economic interests to protect than to be dragged by the Ukraine-Russia conflict into a confrontation with the west at this moment. I think China is walking a fine line here for being neutral. Nevertheless, the way the war drags on will be an interesting development for China.

In summary, no matter how the Ukraine war goes, China would continue to react according to its perceived national interests. From my engagements with and observations of China, it does not like troubles. Though this does not mean China cannot fight if confronted, but only being restrained. It boasts of modernized army and hi-tech military equipment and nuclear capabilities. Nonetheless, it prefers to use soft power to resolve conflict. According to Wang on Ukraine, “China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in pushing for peace and promoting talks, and is willing to work with the international community to carry out necessary mediation when needed”. 

As the most important nation of the 21st century, China’s national interests are the guiding of its strategies and policies toward the Ukraine crisis and are watching the war with keen interest, as everyone is learning from the war in Ukraine, even the US Army. Though non-belligerent, China will prefer to maintain its strategic partnership with Russia regardless of what happens. But generally, the Ukraine war has shown that China is not a warmonger going by its neutrality and in its pacification initiatives of all parties involved in this conflagration. So far, China has projected its image as a responsible power. Other responsible governments should join China in providing a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

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IT’S TRULY PATHETIC. . .

Life has increasingly become difficult, so much that no single day passes without any news of death or the rumours of same all over the world. Life has become scariest in the face of no humanity, no compassion, no empathy… The struggles for survival has made man lose his very essence, the human kindness that we grew up to know has become like smoke in the air.

Seemingly unconsciously but gradually, we are approaching a time where life holds no value. The core of our existence has been seriously basterdised, the pursuit for good life is now the excuse upon which many evils are perpetrated daily right before our eyes. In as much as hard work used to be considered the only source through which wealth and fame can be built, the new world we have successfully created has proffered far more yielding ways to achieve same only within certain terms and conditions.

Pathetically, many have fallen victim to these abominable ways and activities of the get rich quick syndrome, which is why the killings have been unending and unabating everywhere you go in Nigeria. The problem of human trafficking, kidnapping, human parts harvesting and selling, banditry, armed robbery, thuggery, arm proliferation, bigotry, cyberspace fraud and many more has become the new lottery. Frustrations everywhere streaming from an unworkable economy generated through bad governance over the years…

Just a while ago and even now, most parents deny themselves good life in struggling to make sure that they get their children or wards trained in the best schools around the world. Attaining education was basically like the answer to escaping poverty and making the most of the best of life according to what our colonial masters sold to us or rather made us believe … white collar jobs were typically the answer to a beautiful rewarding life back in those days. Being the only way we knew how, parents never held back from empowering their children with good education, even to the extent of going hungry in the process, but today, not only is going to school not completely a guarantee for a good job or good life but it’s also not an automatic insurance to vanquish poverty. If that were so, I believe the First Class holders, Ph.D holders, Bachelors degrees, Master’s and other related degree holders in our midst or even the world over would have been the richest people indeed. While the white man sold us the idea of going to school and attaining all these different degrees and certifications, they where busy carting away our precious human, material and natural resources.

The truth is that the world has always been business oriented. To build wealth and make money was basically a practical process which does not imply the formal education as a criteria. At this point, my quarrell is not and has never been with education aquired but with how the false impression about the white collar jobs being probably the only way forward to a better life and economy has failed us. This false impression is indeed one of the cardinal reasons our economy is still struggling in the arms of diversification… our society is packed with hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates all over the place most times with no sense of direction… If we probably did not put all our eggs in one basket, this would or may not have been our story.
I wish the emphasis wasn’t so much on aquiring University degrees. I wish they also told us in good time that wealth could be created through informal education which traditionally comes most often in different skill acquisitions and that such skills could be exported the same way the Chinese and a few others are all over the place making money through rendering of services via their skilIs.

I believe many of our youths who as a result of unemployment frustrations have gone into the arms of deadly vices like kidnapping, banditry, money rituals and a host of other terrible evils constituting the list of insecurities in the land, would have long devoted their time in learning a skill or two to keep themselves gainfully employed and in due process become employers and even exporters of labour as well instead of lying waste and becoming agents of havoc and mass destruction in their own fatherland. Note worthily, I’m not trying to excuse crime or bad behaviour of any form, only emphasising the factors that could be responsible. We were made to believe that better life, good job and wealth making is completely dependent upon university degrees and qualifications only. Now, many are done with school with no jobs available. Sadly, what most can now aquire without applications or continous disappointing quest, is terrorism and its related members.

By Adaora Onyechere

Many Nigerians are mad as hell at our political leaders at both those in the APC and those in PDP and are giving voice to their anger through the SOCIAL
MEDIA AND IN REAL TIME.
At the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, The anger is understandable. The federal government is paralyzed, unable to tackle any of the major problems facing our country or even accomplish basic functions such as enacting annual budgets for federal departments and agencies, Halting the devastating insecurity across the country that has claimed and is still claiming millions of lives, The death of the Naira, the absurdity of our ineffective economic policies and food insecurity, The Brevity at Nepotism and the closed chapter of our federal character system amongst many.
This anger derives equally from governmental ineptitude, arrogance and corruption, and self-serving politicians more concerned with getting reelected or installing their cronies than with the nation’s future.

The next president will face major domestic problems, as well as the challenges posed by Crisis from polarized border relations, unemployment, Russia-Ukraine crisis , terrorism and a Middle East in turmoil. What kind of qualities should we be looking for in a new Commander-In Chief? Based on my experience as a Social innovation, Policy and Development expert and having sampled various interest groups and citizens of this great country, here is my take:
●We need a president who understands the system of government bequeathed to us by the Founders — and grasps the reality that with power divided among four branches of government, building coalitions and making compromises are the only ways anything lasting can get done. Primal screaming may be good therapy, but it is a poor substitute for practical politics. Arch-conservatives like the APC may want little government and arch-liberals like the PDP may want a lot, but many functions of government are critical to our well-being, and they can be carried out effectively only if the parliament and the president work together for the interest of Nigerians and Nigeria alone and not their self preservative interests. Those who believe that compromise is synonymous with selling out or giving up one’s principles need to retake sixth-grade Nigerian history. The next president needs to have a core philosophy and set of principles, but he or she also needs to be a pragmatic and skilled political leader like Olusegun Obasanjo.

●Our next leader needs to speak truthfully to the Nigerian people. “Spinning” has been a part of the political process since ancient Greece, but as mistrustful as most Nigerians are today of political leaders, the new president must speak candidly and honestly to the people. One reason so many Nigerians like people Nyesom Wike just as so many liked Peter Obi when he was governor or Rotimi Amaechi is that these aspirants are seen as telling it like it is especially Nyesom Wike.

People love brutal candor, but that candor is too often detached from reality and responsibility which is the ease that comes with Osibanjo’s aspiration and Atiku’s Self-assured disposition ; too many aspirants demagogically use divisive rhetoric and make grandiose promises that would be impossible to fulfill.
Their rhetoric appeals because so many established politicians are viewed as speaking in platitudes and euphemisms, if not being deceptive or even lying. Yet too many aspirants are being just as deceptive and dishonest. We have a lot of problems, and the next president has to be honest with Nigerians about their seriousness and complexity — and how to tackle them effectively.

●The next president must be resolute. He or she must be very cautious about drawing red lines in foreign policy, but other leaders must know that crossing a red line drawn by the president of the Nigerian President will have serious — even fatal — consequences. The public, members of Congress and foreign leaders alike must know that the president’s word is his or her bond, and that promises and commitments will be kept and threats will be carried out. The next president must hold people in government accountable, when programs or initiatives are bungled, senior leaders should be fired. He or she needs to have the courage to act in defiance of public opinion and polls when the national interest requires it.

●Our new leader must be a problem-solver. Recently, we have elected presidents with a self-serving agenda, conservative or a liberal agenda. This election, how about we look for one whose agenda is just making things work? I realize this is a tall order at a time when most of the aspirants are highly ideological, on both the left and the right. But the paralysis within parliament and between parliament and the Aso Rock under the past two presidents has been harming the country and putting our future at risk. No wonder so many Nigerians are pessimistic about the direction of the country. We desperately need a president who will strive tirelessly to identify and work with members of both parties in Parliament interested in finding practical solutions to our manifold problems. We need a president who understands that those problems are so complex and so big that overcoming them will require bipartisan support through multiple parliaments and presidencies.

●We need a president who is restrained. Restrained to respect the prerogatives of the other branches of government. Restrained in rhetoric, avoiding unrealistic promises, exaggerated claims of success and dire consequences if his or her initiatives are not adopted exactly as proposed. Restrained in expanding government when so much of what we have works so poorly. Restrained from foreign adventures and from using military force as a first option rather than a last resort.
Restrained from questioning the motives of those who disagree and treating them as enemies with no redeeming qualities.

Finally, the most important quality for our next leader at this juncture in our history? The new president must be a true unifier of Nigerians. The nation is divided over how to deal with challenges such as Insecurity, Public service, the quality of public education, economic inequality, Gender Bias and Inequality, our role abroad and more. Too many presidential aspirants of all stripes are working overtime to deepen our divisions, to turn us against one another, to play to our fears. They are prepared to place all that holds us together as one people, as Nigerians, at risk for their own ambitions.

The next president must lead in restoring civility to our political process. We must hope that the president we elect next year will again and again remind all Nigerians of our common destiny, and that our fate as a nation and as a people is bound up with one another. Our new leader should appeal, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, to “the better angels of our nature.”

Adaora Onyechere
is a Contributing writer and a Broadcast Journalist writing from Abuja.
adaoraonyechere1@gmail.com

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BE CAREFUL THE POWER YOU GIVE. . .

The sacredness of the human person is a mystery so great and mighty, therefore, no human person should allow themselves to be ripped or stripped of their dignity in any relationship, no matter the situation.

The dignity of any human being lies in their mind. Take that away and they become a shadow of themselves. Even more, they lose their self-worth and the confidence of being human and even being alive. The consequences could go from depression to death.
Like the human person, every human society thrives amidst its different issues and situations. . .sometimes relative and other times universal. But one thing that has remained a constant theme no matter where in the world, is the human life and the violation of the human being or their dignity as a human person. It is humanly, morally, socially, fundamentally and even religiously unacceptable. However, almost every society is infested with some toxic and abusive individuals all round, especially in marriages and other relationships.

Over the years, some men and women have lost their essence to toxic and abusive relationships, what sincerely baffles me, is how far these individuals are willing sometimes to go because of what the society, culture and even religion might say or not say, but that same society remains, when they are eventually killed or maimed. Today, the whole media space is saturated with different kinds of opinions on what should or shouldn’t have been done while yet another victim of such ungodly practices of abusive and toxic relationship lies frozen in the mortuary waiting for the same society that watched them tortured and abused to come and bury them hmmm… what an irony!

The death of the popular gospel singer Mrs. Osinachi Nwachuwku has sparked a wave of reactions and absolute and outright condemnations in the direction of abusive partners and their victims as well. It is so sad how any human person, man or woman should give in to violence no matter who is involved. My daughter once said to me, the power anyone has over you is the one you have given them. Do not give anyone so much power that they determine when you live or die!

Abusive relationships are unhealthy relationships that most times ends only in the death of the abused while the abuser walks often free, especially, when the victim has probably, out of shame and constant threat to life may never have mentioned to anyone their ordeal. . The annoying thing is that most victims of these kinds of situations do not have the will power to get up and leave their marriage or whatever type of relationship that might be, bearing in mind how our culture, religion and the society at large frowns at divorce and other related matters. . They spend the time they do not have in seeking the validation of those they view as stakeholders in their lives or family. These indiviuals can sometimes be close family members or friends, hoping to borrow from them the courage to enable them stand up for their life or escape from such doomed partnerships. Unfortunately, most of the time, it is even the people they confide in that take away their chance to life and freedom because they blackmail them using sentiments like; “you know there are children involved in this union. If you leave, they will suffer, they will this, they will that…” But at the end, those children will still be alive while their mother or father continues to suffer voicelessly onto death.

As a human person, you should be able to know when it’s enough to walk away, you should know when it’s time to choose life over whatever is at stake. As it is popularly said, only he or she who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. If you fear what people might think or say about you as an individual, then you will live a very sad, miserable and unfulfilled life. No one needs anyone’s validation to take their chance with life.

Our society is filled with these kind of toxic individuals not only because they grew up in such toxic environments or relationships but because their formative years have been dominated with scenes of these kinds of situations. Remember, the family is one agent of socialisation and as the core on the top of this list, it has the unreserved power to influence the child’s formative years conveniently.

The big question now is: “as a person or an individual faced with this kind of unhealthy relationships, what should you do?” My next question goes to immediate family members of the victim (that’s if the person is not an orphan or someone within that neighbourhood of no existing family relations) “what should they do?” And as a friend or friends of such an individual, “what will you do as well?” Lastly, as the church or those religious platforms upon which such marriages or relationships came into existence, “what will you do?”

It’s true that marriage is not a bed of roses as it is often said, but anything beyond the usual struggles of making good and healthy companionship, winning bread, making bread, taking care of the home, rearing children, complimenting each other and so on, no one whether man or woman should endure abusive marriage or relationships because you will never know the day death might turn up in such unspeakable episodes.

Our life is our responsibility, being alive even a much bigger responsibility. Do not keep quiet while your neighbour, friend or relative suffers the evils of an abusive relationship. . . Remember it is said “evil only triumphs when good people do nothing”.

THE GOD FACTOR IN THE AFFAIRS OF OUR NATION
By Peter N. Peters

We are still smarting from the embarrassing defeat suffered by our own dear senior national team – the Super Eagles before our own eyes here in Abuja, in the hands of the senior national team of Ghana – the Black Stars. What is more hurting is that it puts paid to Nigeria’s dream of participating in the forthcoming highest international football tournament, the World Cup slated for Qatar next year.
Early in the year, Nigeria was also unceremoniously booted out of the African Nations’ Cup by lowly rated Tunisia.

The embarrassing loss to Tunisia at the Round of 16 of the tournament was quite telling because Nigeria, with her brand new indigenous coaching crew led by Coach Austin Eguavoen, started so well contrary to everybody’s expectation, by beating all the three other teams in its group including Egypt, raking in all the 9 points available and topping the group table.

Quickly, pundits began to give it to Nigeria, as one of the best and most favoured to lift the trophy at the end of the tournament. Then boom! The team crashed out at the Round of 16. Wow, what a crash! What went wrong? How come they were so easily overrun by Tunisia that only managed to scrap through to the Round of 16 by the whiskers? Questions, questions and no answers! But the deed was done.

Our darling team quietly sneaked back into Abuja at the middle of the night with virtually no body of note at the airport to bid them welcome. Failure is always an orphan. So one can only imagine the degree of embarrassment and disappointment in the hearts of football loving Nigerians who had thronged the MKO Abiola International Stadium, Abuja on the fateful day of the Ghana/ Nigeria match looking up to the Super Eagles to redeem their image with this all important visa of a match to the World Cup, only to watch them crumble under the tactical superiority of the Ghanaian team.

As expected, nearly everyone was calling for the heads of Coach Eguavoen and the entire team to be served on a platter. No one at this point dared to remember how well the team played in her first three matches at the African Nations’ Cup under this same interim Technical Adviser and his team who took over from a floundering Garnet Rohr barely few weeks before that tournament.

As I write Austin Eguavoen and his coaching crew have taking the fall as they have been relieved of their appointments. This is completely wrong. They do not deserve this harsh treatment. If there be anybody that deserves to be sacked, it’s our wicked leaders who have by their deeds attracted God’s anger upon the land.
No one has stopped to ponder over the ‘God factor’ in all of these.

Why did a team that gave such a good account of themselves under these new sweat merchants only few months ago suddenly started underperforming? What did they get right at the first three matches at the African Nations’ Cup that they could not get right anymore? No one has spared a thought about the toxicity of the environment that these lads are operating in and discovered that you hardly can win under a highly toxic and polluted environment such as the case in Nigeria today.

Some victories, though desirable could be undeserving and capable of sending out the wrong messages. God is fair and just and would not allow some victories, if He sees that it may not help the prevailing situation. Imagine what would have happened if we had won in that epoch making match.

The sheer noise and euphoria from our leaders would have drowned out the agony, pain and sorrow of our brothers and sisters in Kaduna and other parts of the North where mindless bloodletting by terrorists were going on simultaneously and had become the order of the day.

Just look at it, as the tournament was going on terrorists were on rampage in Southern Kaduna killing, stealing and destroying lives and properties, with no one coming to the rescue of the hapless citizens. And this has become a recurring decimal on the defenseless citizens in that part of the country. As that was going on, another set of terrorists struck blowing up the rail tracks thereby forcing the moving train commuting passengers from Abuja to Kaduna to stop and literally hijacking it and robbing and killing some of the passengers.

As I write the railway authorities and the security agencies are yet not sure how many persons lost their lives in the ensuing mayhem as many are still missing. Few days earlier, the Kaduna airport was attacked by the same terrorists.

This was happening in the midst of other life threatening issues of grave concern like the lingering power collapse resulting in nationwide blackout, lingering fuel scarcity, striking university teachers and none teaching staff, famine and hardship occasioned by ever rising cost of food items, etc.

Simply put, Satan is on rampage in Nigeria this period. Tell me how you will feel with your victory in football tournament under this very toxic and highly volatile atmosphere?

Those who swore to protect lives and properties of citizens and are in charge of taking steps to alleviate the sufferings of the people and they are doing next to nothing about them, would have cashed in on the so called victory of the Super Eagles to raise their egotistic shoulders and walk with obscene swagger and arrogance in their failures, while the country keep receding uncontrollably down the path to perfidy.

The situation in the country today is utterly hopeless. There is unprecedented gloom across the land. God is not mocked! He is not interested in massaging the over-bloated ego of our leaders with an undeserved victory in a football tournament more than He is in the mindless wastage of human lives going on all around us. He would not permit them reaping from where they did not sow.

Hear me, those lads and the local coaching crew assembled recently are among the very best anywhere in the world. Given a very healthy environment the coaching crew is capable of delivering excellent results with those young and enterprising football stars that make up the present squad of the Super Eagles.

Not even they (the footballers) can adequately explain what came over them in the field of play. You think they stepped into the MKO Abiola stadium that evening not very sure in their hearts of victory? They wanted by all means to win. It was of utmost benefit to them to win the tournament, because of all that should have accrued to them monetarily and in career upliftment going forward.

Those blaming the lads and the entire coaching crew are missing the point. It’s not their fault at all. On a very good day the present squad of Super Eagles parades more quality players than what Ghana had on offer.

The most sensible thing to do would have been to forgive the new coaches and encourage them to go on and tinker with the team and their tactics. Let them keep dismantling and recoupling for the next three to four years.

They will eventually come up with world beaters out of this present crop of Super Eagles players in a couple of years and everybody will be the happier for it. Under the present atmosphere in Nigeria, you won’t get a better result even if you bring the best coach in the world. Mark this!

This case study of the Super Eagles and the coaching crew is just a microcosm of the state of affairs in Nigeria today. The entire nation is almost grinding to a halt with nothing in the horizon to assure anybody of any respite soon. While things are receding from bad to worse God is watching and assuredly not happy with our leaders both in the political and religious circles.

How do I know this? The scripture says so in Psalm 7: 11, “….God is angry with the wicked every day.” God has endowed this nation with everything it requires for a nation to attain the highest level of greatness. But our leaders are ever so busy squandering the riches of the nation as though there is no God to account to.

It is said that a nation deserves the kind of leadership it gets. It’s also correct to say that only God bestows leadership on a people. However, let it be known also that God bestows both good and bad leadership depending on the purpose He intends to achieve with each leadership. President Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency is certainly God’s idea. However what most of the citizens have failed to examine is for what purpose did God bring him at a time like this?

From biblical history, each time God wanted to call the attention of His straying people back to Himself, He puts them under an oppressive leader. It is such that when they begin to see suffering like never before, they are forced to seek Him once again. The Pharaohs, the Herods, the Nebuchadnezzars, etc. of biblical history were all instruments in God’s hands at one point or another to call His people Israel back from their invidious parts of sinfulness.

Why do you think a rag-tag army in the name of Boko Haram (later joined by ISWAP) rose from nowhere and has held the country hostage for so long, with Nigerian army and all their sophistication, not able to tame them? Nigeria has over the years strayed so far away from the part of Godliness unto unbridled self-destruction, contrary to God’s plan for this very strategic nation. Yes, Nigeria is strategic because it is the headquarters of the black race.

Nigeria is meant to be to the black race what United States of America is to the white race. And all the hardship and suffering we are facing are all God’s design to call us back to Himself. And He is ever ready and waiting to welcome us back. But are we listening?

No country in recent history that will see the degree of plunder, corruption and criminality that Nigeria has been experiencing right from her independence till date and still stay together. It’s because God is completely in charge; and will not relent until He has completely executed His plan for this nation. And this is why I’m completely sure that those clamouring for breakup of the nation will not succeed. Our nation, though a careless contraption by our colonial masters, Great Britain has God’s endorsement.

The best that should happen is for us to continue to survey the best ways to manage our diversities with a view to building a just and egalitarian nation and live together in peace, unity and prosperity.

The 2023 elections are critical to begin putting the building blocks together to achieve the new Nigeria of our dream. What we lack and are in desperate need to have is good, accountable, visionary and god fearing leadership. It lies with the electorates to make this happen with their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) in 2023.

One of the best legacies that President Buhari has bequeathed to Nigeria and her flawed leadership recruitment process is the 2022 Electoral Act which he signed recently. Managed religiously and carefully by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), it is a game changer. Some of its provisions are keys to a reformed electoral process.

The electronic voting system, the electronic transfer of results to collation centres, the use of the BVAS to determine the number of accredited voters, etc., are all very revolutionary. And if properly managed across the length and breadth of Nigeria, shall ensure that people’s votes determine who comes to power to preside over their affairs.

It will go a long way in returning faith and credibility in the leadership recruitment process of our nation. That way those who have mindlessly plundered our nation (and we know them) shall be shown the exit door. That way only the right caliber of leaders will be allowed to retain their offices and serve the people creditably.

That way the huge resources (both human and material) that our nation is blessed with, shall now be adequately harnessed for the greatest good of the greatest number. And that way Nigeria shall be rebuilt; she shall rise again and be counted among the greatest nations of the world. And that is exactly how a new Nigeria shall be born. So help us God!

*Peters is Abuja based Media Practitioner and Executive Secretary of CoEViN (Concern for Ethics & Values in Nigeria). Feedbacks can be sent to: pnpeters22@gmail.com or SMS only to 0703 833 2221

By Peter N. Peters

For too long we have continued to put up with this narrative that religion must not mix with politics. And I continue to ask, whose idea is this? Is it from God or from man? A dictionary definition of religion I like to quote says: “Religion is the outward act or form by which men indicate their RECOGNITION OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD or gods having power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service and honour are due; the FEELING OR EXPRESSION OF HUMAN LOVE, FEAR, OR AWE OF SOME SUPERHUMAN AND OVERRULING POWER, whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites and ceremonies, or by the conduct of a life; a system of faith and worship; a manifestation of piety; as ethical religions; monotheistic religions; natural religion; revealed religion; the religion of the Jews; the religion of the idol worshippers.”

In our case here in Nigeria, there are two major religions: Christianity and Islam. Each of them is anchored on the “recognition of the existence of the one and only Almighty God in heaven, having power over our destiny, to which obedience, service and honour are due.” More than 90% of the people in politics in Nigeria are either Christians or Moslems. So then, if we are genuine adherents of either of these two religions, how then is it possible for us to separate what we believe in as Christians or Moslems from what we practice as politicians? Put differently, is it really practicable not to mix religion with politics?

This is why we must interrogate again the constitutional provision that says Nigeria is a secular state. This means that Nigeria rejects or does not recognize religion and religious considerations in her national affairs. How true is this in reality? It’s been a long standing tradition in this country that in every national event, including the recently concluded national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the governing party in Nigeria, opening prayers is said in the two major religions of Christianity and Islam. There is always religious consideration in appointing people into political offices, especially at the national level. Both the federal and state governments vote huge sums of money in their yearly budgets sponsoring the citizens to religious pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina. It is deceitful to be doing all these and more and yet claim that Nigeria is a secular state! No, Nigeria is a country with two major religions, Christianity and Islam. This should be so reflected by the National Assembly in the ongoing constitutional review exercise.

What is politics? J.W. Burton in his book, International Relations: A General Theory, defines politics as “a struggle for power to govern the people in a democratic way.” It is therefore given that those who should be called ‘to govern people in a democratic way,’ are people who have been tried, tasted and confirmed to be strong in morals, in character and in capacity. It takes religion to shape people’s morals and character. What has gone wrong with us in our politics is not the mixing of religion with politics, but our misunderstanding of what religion is and our misapplication of religion in our political activities.

A renowned writer, human rights activist and social media influencer, Reno Omokri, said in one of his writings, and I quote: “A good relationship with God breeds good mental health.” If there be anything the politicians need to have in order to do well in their ‘career’, it is nurturing a good relationship with God which breeds good mental and spiritual health and which only religion, practiced the right way, can engender.

However, the problem with religious practices has been there right from creation of man. As a Christian, I realize that the major reason Christ came to live with us here on earth was to correct the misapplication of religion in the hands of the rulers of the time in oppressing the people; while demonstrating to us in words, practice and teachings the true meaning of religion. And He said in Matthew 5: 17: “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And in coming to ‘fulfill the law,’ He had the leaders of the church – the High Priests, the Scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees to contend with. They gave Him the most trouble. In their religious practices, they oppressed the poor, they created dichotomies – Jews and Gentiles, they promoted all kinds of vices in the guise of ‘upholding the law’ – hypocrisy, hatred, jealousy, envy, deceit, etc. (Matthew 23: 13-39). Eventually they conspired, arrested, sentenced and crucified Christ, even without finding any fault in Him.

In the same way, religion in our time has become a weapon in the hands of those that rule us in both religious and political circles. In the name of religion we destroy lives and properties and create destitute. In the name of religion we forcefully drive away people from their ancestral lands and occupy them forcefully. We create divisions, we oppress the poor, we discriminate, we extort, we steal, we divide and rule, we even wage war, etc. all in the name of religion. On account of all these vices which we have deliberately created for political convenience, we say religion and politics should not mix.

As a student of the Bible, I realize that God’s intention for providing us guides through the Holy Books is that it serves as a vehicle to produce leaders who fear God and who will have the love of the people at heart while presiding over their affairs. And in doing so He charges in Matthew 5: 14 -16: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden….let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Political positions offer the best opportunity for leaders to impact the lives of the citizens positively. It offers the opportunity to harness the good of the land and distribute them equitably for the greatest good of the greatest number. Therefore the Holy Books emphasise on such virtues as love, compassion, selflessness, knowledge, wisdom, self-discipline, etc. These are virtues for righteous leadership and the bedrocks of Christ’s teaching on leadership while here on earth.

Some of the Disciples of Christ were curious about His ‘strange ways’ of handling issues of leadership and they asked him, “Master, which commandment is the most important of all?” He answered and said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10: 27). Even when the other Holy Books like the Quran may not have it so expressly stated, yet the teachings point to what we call the ‘golden rule,’ which is also a universal rule: “Do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you.” To succeed in politics, this rule must apply.

Unfortunately, in our clime this rule is observed in its complete breach. Rather than love we hate. We demonstrate the highest level of greed, deceit, hypocrisy, lies, segregation, division, etc. just like the ‘religious leaders’ of old. It would appear that the message of Christ that centres on love, compassion, forgiveness of sins, etc. bears no meaning or relevance to us. Therefore the solution is ‘don’t mix religion with politics.’

The truth however is that there’s a place for religion in politics. In fact politicians can never get it right without recognizing the place of God in their affairs. The real leader is a servant of the people and not their oppressor. The one who loves people enough to use his/her office to cater for their welfare and alleviate their sufferings is the true leader. God endorses this as the right model of leadership when He said in the book of Proverbs 29: 2,”When the righteous is on the throne, the people rejoice.” This type of leaders abound in our two major religions. But they will never be interested in politics as long as it is perceived as a ‘dirty game’. And it will remain a dirty game for as long as the politicians continue with the mindset that ‘politics is not a morality contest.’ Wow, so then what is it, immorality contest? No, if politics is the only acceptable platform to select leaders who shall be custodians of our patrimony, then we had better do a rethink. It cannot continue to be left in the hands of people without scruples and principles; people with plenty of blemishes and queries in both their public and private lives. And they go on fouling up the political atmosphere with all kinds of evil practices. Politics should be an arena occupied only by people without blots or blemishes; people with excellent track records of service to humanity. Only those with genuine love for fatherland, and genuine compassion for the people they have been elected or appointed to lead should be admitted into that arena.

What we must do is to insist on practicing our religion in accordance with God’s prescriptions. The religious leaders (priests and imams) owe the nation a duty to go back to the drawing board and clean up; see where they got it wrong over these years and begin to make amends. Rather than attempting to remove religion from politics, we should rather begin to consider these following ways one can complement the other:

The Churches and Mosques must strive to return to what it was originally meant to be: a breeding ground for leaders with excellent curriculum vitae both in character and in service that could be elected into public offices.
The political class should consider and accommodate the religious bodies as grooming ground for the recruitment of the best hands to be elected into political offices.
The religious bodies must remain non-partisan in her affairs, while acting as watch-dogs over the people they have groomed and handed to the nation to occupy elective offices. She should not hesitate to sanction any of her members found wanting in his/her activities in political office.
The political class must cooperate with the religious centres in censoring the activities of their political office holders with a view to reporting any infraction to the religious bodies for necessary sanction.
To achieve this, the Churches and Mosques must rid themselves of every vestige of mammonism and other immoral practices now prevalent in her midst. In other words, these religious centres must not continue to be safe havens for persons with questionable wealth or character

The Churches and Mosques must recognize that the rising level of crimes and criminality in Nigeria today are manifestations of failures in her duties in serving as the moral compass and conscience of the nation. There is a great deal of work to be done by the religious centres if we must ever recover from the deep hole of corruption and immorality that Nigeria has sank deep into. And the time to begin is now.

*Peters is Abuja based Media Practitioner and Executive Secretary of CoEViN (Concern for Ethics & Values in Nigeria). Feedbacks can be sent to: pnpeters22@gmail.com or SMS only to 0703 833 2221

By Peter N. Peters

For parents, labour pain is always a bitter-sweet experience. Bitter because it is an agonisingly painful time for the pregnant mother who is about to be delivered of a baby and also for the father who is the ‘general overseer’. It is also at the same time sweet because if successful, the little tender human being which she has brought forth into the world is a ‘bundle of joy’ that more than compensates for the labour pain.

Such is the state of Nigeria at the moment. Our country is passing through an agonising labour pain preparatory to the birthing of a New Nigeria. Oh, how I desire to live to see that day come! As it is within the period of labour, strange things, unprecedented in the history of this country are happening. It is a delicate time that could make or break Nigeria. The time we are in requires that Nigeria is attended to by experienced, tried and tested midwives to ensure a safe-delivery of the ‘new baby.’ But where are the ‘midwives’ and how well equipped are they in all respects to take delivery of the new baby so as to avert any incidence of miscarriage or even a still birth?

These pains have been long with us for the greater part of the history of this nation. But the recent ones we can easily trace became more pronounced at the outset of this administration. No sooner the administration of Major General Muhammadu Buhari was sworn into office in May 29, 2015, than his ‘body language’ began to suggest that he had scores to settle with some parts of the country. And the President confirmed this with his affirmed 97%/5% unusual mathematical formula, which obviously appears to be his guarding principle over this seven years in the distribution of political offices and patronage to regions that voted and didn’t vote for him.

From this point agitation for self-determination from regions that feel cheated or maginalised which had already been brewing long before now gained momentum. Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu became more vociferous in the South East and parts of South South in her agitation for a separate Biafran nation. It was not long before a hitherto unknown Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) joined the fray and mobilized the Yoruba youths to agitate for an independent “Oduduwa Republic.” And the armed forces of Nigeria, already stretched with their battle against insurgency, banditry and kidnap in the Northern part of Nigeria, became all the more over-stretched in trying to contain the threats posed by these ‘freedom fighters’ to national unity.

Then came the #EndSARS, a well-organized and properly coordinated peaceful protest by the youths across the country in October 2021. It was a protest against long years of police brutality against innocent citizens. But it was also a metaphor for long years of bottled-up anger against the ruling class for their perennial misrule, impunity and neglect of the masses of this country.

Suddenly this peaceful and well-coordinated protest was hijacked by sponsored thugs and hoodlums, then heavens broke loose. There was massive looting and destruction of both public and private properties across the nation. Even the police that were invited to quell the riots seized the opportunity of the mayhem and joined the looting spree. Why not! They are not insulated from the pain their country men and women are passing through after all. Some lives were reportedly lost in its wake. The Armed Forces and Police were completely overwhelmed resulting in their application of maximum force that resulted in the now famous Lekki Toll Gate shootings in October 20, 2021 in Lagos that is still a subject of investigation by a Special Panel to date.

Most recently, it became the turn of the women to occupy the National Assembly gate for days starting from Monday March 7, 2022, in protest of perceived injustice done to them by the national legislators. Some of the women were in uniforms representing the various interest groups and CSOs campaigning against perceived injustices against women. And they vowed to remain there until their grievances were addressed by the NASS. What were the issues? The 9th National Assembly law makers of both chambers, in the course of the ongoing constitutional amendment, unanimously rejected all the gender based bills sponsored by the women to create some level playing field for women to have more representation and to participate more actively in the political processes of their country. There were quite a number of these agenda based bill that were out rightly thrown out by the law makers. They included:

1. Bill to provide special seats for women at National Assembly.
2. Bill for Affirmative Action for women in political party administration.
3. Bill to grant citizenship to foreign-born husbands of Nigerian women. Already, a Nigerian man’s foreign-born wife is automatically a Nigerian citizen.
4. Bill to allocate 35% of political positions based on appointments to women and creation of additional 111 seats in National Assembly and the states assemblies.
5. Bill for inclusion of at least ten percent affirmative action in favour of women in ministerial appointments.

What was not factored in all this is that the stage for this frosty relationship between the government and Nigerian women was set in faraway Germany by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, (rtd) himself, at the outset of this administration, when in answer to a question by a foreign journalist regarding the place of his wife in his government, he answered rather sarcastically and said that her place was “in the other room.” While the President’s apologists in APC hailed and clapped, the rest of us Nigerians made jokes out of it to the extent that it has become a buzz word till date. What we did not realize was that the President, perhaps without meaning it, had defined for the ‘governing party’ the place of the women in his government. It wasn’t surprising therefore that the issues about women would be so shabbily treated at the NASS.

As if all of these were enough headaches for the nation, the union of university teachers codenamed ‘ASUU’ called out her members on a nationwide warning strike, thereby shutting down academic activities in the government owned universities. They were protesting the long years of government’s refusal to implement agreements reached at previous negotiations. This was happening at the same time that the nation’s activities were virtually grounded by another round of fuel scarcity resulting in long queues of vehicles at the fuel stations across the nation. Initially the authorities of NNPC informed a bewildered nation of ‘their discovery’ that the batch of fuel recently imported and distributed across the nation were overloaded with methanol, which had already damaged the engines of some vehicles of those who had fed this fuel into their tanks. And on account of this the entire supply was withdrawn from the market and returned to the suppliers resulting in the fuel scarcity that the nation was experiencing. However, about seven weeks after, the scarcity has persisted given rise to speculations that the government was not telling the citizens all the truth. The aviation sector is also badly hit by the scarcity of aviation fuel resulting in about 100% hike in airfares. There is the palpable fear in the aviation industry that in a couple of days, the airlines may be grounded due to the shortage of aviation fuel.

The power sector is also suffering from system collapse, which had resulted in a nationwide blackout. The operators have been offering all kinds of explanations ranging from low water level in the dams for the hydro power stations to vandalisation and/or breakdown of equipment as well as shortage of gas to power the thermal stations. Bottom-line is that power generation across the country had fallen to as low as 1,000 megawatts from the national grid. Wait for this one! The Nigerian Police has also served a warning of their plan to embark on a nationwide strike. Yes, you heard me right! Police of all sectors are gearing up to protest long years of neglect and very poor condition of service.

According to Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, a presidential aspirant under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria is presently at her very worst state of national development since independence in 1960. Her challenges are multi-faceted ranging from high level of insecurity, highest rate of inflation at 15% resulting in high cost of living, to collapse in education, power, health, transport and aviation sectors. In fact no sector of the economy is spared. Amidst all these the President stayed away in United Kingdom on medical tourism for weeks without a care. Those left behind to run the nation are bugged down with power tussle for the soul of the ‘governing’ party, (All Progressive Congress) as they prepare to hold a national convention that had suffered many postponements in recent years. So there is little or no governance in place and therefore no hope of any respite from the myriad of issues troubling the nation.

However, something that looked like a ray of hope happened on Friday February 25, 2022. The President eventually signed into law the Electoral Act Amendment Bill after several delays and rejections by him. The signing of this electoral amendment bill into law, in spite of all the delays, might count for the President, as one of his strongest legacies bequeathed to Nigeria’s democratic journey.

Side by side, with the Electoral Act 2022, were some new bills passed by the National Assembly (NASS) in their effort to tinker with some aspects of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution as amended, to address some of the grievances of the agitators.

Not all sections of the Nigerian nation are however impressed with the bills passed by the NASS. Prominent among them is the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum (SMBLF). This is a forum holding together some of the major ethnic nationalities which include: Afanifere in the South West, Oha-na-Eze Ndi Igbo in the South East, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) for the South South states of the Niger Delta and Middle Belt Forum for some of the North Central states.

In a communiqué that was released to the press after one of their most recent meetings held in Abuja on Thursday, March 10, 2022, they demanded “the harmonisation and immediate implementation of the reports of the 2014 National Conference and the 2018 APC Committee on true federalism rather than the current cosmetic constitutional amendment, which serves as a drain on the resources of the country and do not address fundamental issues including fiscal federalism.”

“The group noted that the existing constitution and structure of Nigeria are grossly flawed and therefore, insisted on the fundamental restructuring of the country, to reflect true federalism, and enthrone equity, fairness and justice, before the 2023 general elections. It argued in particular that local government affairs are state matters and that the listing of local governments in the constitution is inconsistent with the principle of federalism. It tagged the legislations of the National Assembly granting local government “autonomy” superfluous and exercise in futility.”

This was against the backdrop of some of the bills which the federal legislators passed that did not address the core issues of resource control, true and/or fiscal federalism that are at the core of the raging agitations. Some of these bills passed which, according to this forum, merely scratched the issues of true federalism and devolution of powers from the centre to the states among others include:

1. Financial autonomy for local governments
2. Administrative autonomy for local governments
3. Financial Independence for State Houses of Assembly and State Judiciary
4. Bill to compel persons to obey or comply with legislative summons
5. Devolution of Power: to move airports from Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List
6. Devolution of Power: to delete prisons in the Exclusive Legislative List and re-designate it as Correctional Services in the Concurrent Legislative List
7. Devolution of Power: to move Railway from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List.
8. Devolution of Power: to allow states to generate, transmit and distribute electricity in areas covered by the national grid.

It is instructive that in the thinking of this forum, the 2018 APC Committee on True Federalism chaired by Mallam Ahmed El-rufai, the Kaduna State Governor, captured to a very large extent, the yearnings of this forum. It was therefore expected that the ongoing constitutional amendment should reflect the recommendations of this historic committee. And the ‘governing party’ (APC), which also enjoys a comfortable majority in both arms of the National Assembly should have no problems being guided largely by the recommendations of this committee, in their constitution amendment efforts. However, that was not the case. Rather they tended to have dissipated energy legislating on mundane issues that did little or nothing in addressing the core issues that should give rise to the birthing of a New Nigeria.

To every discerning and knowledgeable citizen, the reason for this prevarication on the part of the federal legislators is not far-fetched. The constitution, which has been variously, criticized as not truly a product of ‘we the people of Nigeria’ as was reflected in the preamble, is grossly skewed to the advantage of a section of the country who are holding so tenaciously to the levers of power that they are not a hurry to relinquish their hold. They constitute the bulk of the ‘midwives’ that are meant to superintend over the birthing of the much expected new Nigeria. And as long as they are in charge, ‘miscarriage’ or even ‘still birth’ of this much expected new Nigeria is imminent.

This is where the recently signed Electoral Act 2022 becomes a game changer. Some of the provisions of this new electoral law, if properly implemented by the electoral umpires – the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC), shall return power back to the electorates. Some of the provisions of the new electoral laws include:

a. Section 47 of the Act legalises the use of a smart card reader and other technological devices that are deployed by the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC).
b. Section 50 of the Act allows INEC to determine the procedure for voting at an election as well as the transmission of results; either electronically or manually.
c. Section 51(2) of the Act empowers the Presiding Officer at a polling unit to cancel the results of the election in the polling unit where the number of vote casts surpasses the number of accredited voters in the polling units.
d. Section 64(9) of the Act criminalises any act of false collation and announcement of results by a returning or collation officer. If a returning or collation officer intentionally collates and announces a false result, such a person commits an offence which is liable on conviction to a fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of at least 3 years or both.
e. In instances where INEC determines that such act (declaration of result) was not done voluntarily (i.e. under duress) or made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations, guidelines, and manuals for the election, Section 65 gives INEC the power to review such results.

The much expected birthing of a new Nigeria may not happen with the forthcoming general elections in 2023, but the stage will most likely be set if INEC is diligent and conscientious in the implementation of the new electoral laws in conducting this very historic elections in 2023. Some of the things that may happen which shall constitute the building blocks for a new Nigeria may include:

a. Section 47 of the Act shall ensure that only the electronic card readers or the BVAS are used for the accreditation of voters. That way, incidences of manual accreditation of voters which gives room for the inflation of the number of accredited voters shall be checked and curtailed.
b. Section 50 of the Act shall empower INEC to transmit the votes cast electronically to the collation centres, thereby eliminating the possibility of changing the figures while writing manually the number of votes cast. The incidences of ghost or multiple voting shall also be reduced to the barest minimum.
c. Section 51(2) of the Act empowers the Presiding Officer at a polling unit to cancel the results of the election in the polling unit where the number of vote casts surpasses the number of accredited voters in the polling units.
d. With all of these in place there is a strong chance that the election results as shall be computed and announced by the electoral officers shall to a great extent reflect the wishes of the electorates.
e. It shall also assist to give a fairer and more transparent picture of the voting strength of the various regions of the country, and expose the lies that some sections of the country have heavier voting strength than the others.
f. The elections shall become more credible, more transparent and will restore the faith of the electorates in the use of the ballot boxes to punish those who will occupy elective office but not for the good of the electorates. This way only the right caliber of leaders will be allowed to stay in office and serve the people. That way also the huge resources both human and material that our nation is endowed with, shall now be adequately harnessed for the greatest good of the greatest number. That way Nigeria shall be rebuilt; she shall rise again and be counted among the greatest nations of the world. And that is exactly how a new Nigeria shall be born. So help us God!

*Peters is Abuja based Media Practitioner and the Executive Secretary of CoEViN (Concern for Ethics & Values in Nigeria). Feedbacks can be sent to: pnpeters22@gmail.com or SMS only to 0905 435 5959