Nigeria is a funny place. “One incident” in 2014 cost the Government in power, who was called clueless and non-performing president, his seat.He was much criticized as having failed.Now Amnesty International is documenting the list of abductions and Nigerians are telling us that the Government is on top of the situation.?
More than six reoccurrences,with more devastating numbers,all we hear is the President is doing great. What a funny country.!
I wish I had the number of those kidnapped, that would have put this illustration in a better perspective.
Chibok abduction 2014–North
Dapchi abduction 2018–North
Kankara abduction 2020–North
Kagara abduction 2021–North
Jangebe abduction 2021–North
Kaduna abduction 2021–North
BirninGwari abduction 2021–North.
Maybe we are still expecting more abductions on the way.
The Chibok School girls abduction was used to destabilize the Government at the time, “just one”what has happened to us.
Don’t we think that those who had a hand in the 2014 abduction are still the same ones abducting till date.? The difference now is the power equation.
If the masterminds of the abductions are moving around with seals and customized plate numbers and guarded by heavy securities,are we not a funny country?
I am convinced that the list is going to get longer.We are still within the first months of the year 2021.
When shall we be free from the shackles of oppression and poor gorvernance, mental and psychological poverty?
Are we not a funny nation with all sorts of absurdities?A nation where those who own cows are respected and rewarded,and those who own Crude oil and Gas are humiliated?
A nation where citizens don’t know what they are doing again except they are looking for something and discussing “tribalism” because of terrible misgovernance?
The law moving quite fast against the one-way driver.A traffic offender.Within 24 hours is charged for all the crimes you can think of to the letter of the law, showing that the law can work ,when the system needs it for some people.Is it not a funny nation?.
Are we not a funny nation,if it is only when a law abiding citizen mistakenly commit an offense, that is when you see the power of the law and imprisonment?
I know that so many people have psychologically signed off from this funny country,but what can I do?.
It is very surprising that many Nigerians have not realized that politics in Nigeria is entirely big business, private business and in such businesses profit must be made at all cost.
When politicians spend millions and billions of Naira to be elected, you think that as business men ,the moment they find themselves in office, they will not try to acquire or steal as much as possible to recoup such expenses.
Have you ever seen a nation where state Governors, supported by State Assemblies make laws to remain pensionable .
Recently ,N12 million was provided for a former Governor’s wife as annual medical allowance.
Both the ex- Governor and ex-first lady will also receive free medical services till death.Yet Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world.
Maybe the free medical is for malaria and headache ,while the N12million is for the cancer and kidney failure they expect to have in the nearest future, that,they may hardly survive from and have to budget for.
What kind of job can you do for just 8 years and have that kind of pension? Even when you did a terrible job in service.
So after using the money to marry their children to money and political power during their tenure, to the extent that their children who are not yet ripe for marriage are getting married immediately they come to power for obvious social and political advantages.They still keep such kinds of pension.?
We are not poor,we all know where the money is going into.Our entitlements are stolen from us to even fund dubious legalized pensions.
I think it is too late for those that voted for this Government to repent of their choice or regret voting for the President.
Those who voted for the present Government should not tell us that they have had enough or would soon have enough of them.He has two terms.
Didn’t you know that the same crop of leaders were just changing parties?
That they were using the President’s assumed integrity and incorruptibility as a bait?
That they will continue to have great retinue and multitude of special advisers, senior special advisers with various preferment too.?Were you just hearing their names?
That they were going to keep a great table with a great budget as usual?
That they shall have guards and garrisons of security personnel without considering or bothering about your own security?
That they were going to have great favorites based on their historical or ethnic or tribal antecedents?
That they were going to enrich their cronies out of our inheritance.?
That from the national revenue ,they shall have personal revenues to maintain their grandeur and power?
As we were warning in 2014 and earlier as they were crosscarpetting, to make up the number in order to “GRAB” power,many were saying that it didn’t matter , that whatever it costs us as a nation,and whatever inconvenience we bring upon ourselves should not matter, even if it affects our posterity.The leopard can never skin.
Those who voted for them were totally deaf to reason and blind to their narrow political and economic interests and sentiments.
Whatever calamities that have attended the setting up of this Government would have been prevented,if they had listened . Even though the outgoing alternative was not the best.Between the devil and the deep blue sea you may say.
Fellow Nigerians,the money stolen so far is too much including these brazenly document pensions.
Well, they should continue because Nigerians don’t seem to be ready for true change.
Only when we realize the power of “NUMBER”,then,will the oppressors become the oppressed.Until then, let us continue the suffering and smiling together, according to late Afrobeat musician, Fela Ransom-Kuti in his album “Suffering and Smiling”.
Please remember that even whistle blowers are arrested, dehumanized because of blowing the whistle against the wrong persons.Bail is not freeoooo.
There comes a time when politicians will fail the masses and the people shall rise to elect a leader of their choice. That should be in 2023.
In the meantime,please make the best of your President.
Egypt used to have one of the worst road networks in the world and occupied the 118th position in the world in 2014.Which is almost about the time this present Government came into power .
Today Egypt has the best road network in Africa and the 28th best in the world. Egypt’s Ministry of transport aims to be among the top 10 in the world by 2030. Please help me locate my country Nigeria,my eyes are paining me and my glasses are bad.
Roads quality – Country rankings
Quality of roads, 1(low) – 7(high), 2019 .
Country rankings:
The average for 2019 based on 141 countries was 4.07 points.
The highest value was in Singapore: 6.5 points and the lowest value was in Chad: 1.9 points.
The indicator is available from 2006 to 2019.
Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.
Measure: points; Source: World Economic Forum.
Take part in our survey: rate your country and see what others think.
Singapore Netherlands Switzerland Hong Kong Japan Austria Portugal UA Emirates South Korea Oman Spain Croatia Denmark Taiwan Luxembourg Qatar USA France Finland Germany Malaysia Namibia Sweden Azerbaijan Bahrain Chile Saudi Arabia Cyprus Egypt Brunei Canada Turkey Australia Ecuador Israel Slovenia UK Lithuania Rwanda Domin. Rep. Estonia Mauritius Morocco China Greece India Mexico New Zealand Norway Panama South Africa Tajikistan Belgium Ireland Italy Thailand Poland El Salvador Indonesia Jordan Nicaragua Honduras Iceland Kenya Senegal Tanzania Algeria Cape Verde Eswatini Hungary Pakistan Seychelles Slovakia Albania Burundi Czechia Iran Jamaica Montenegro Sri Lanka Botswana Georgia Gambia Guinea Kuwait Laos Philippines Tr.&Tobago Uganda Uruguay Argentina Armenia Cambodia Ivory Coast Kazakhstan Latvia Tunisia Bolivia Russia Serbia Bulgaria Colombia North Macedonia Vietnam Zambia Malta Bangladesh Barbados Benin Mali Peru Kyrgyzstan Mongolia Brazil Costa Rica Ethiopia Ghana Romania Ukraine Nepal Bosnia & Herz. Burkina Faso Malawi Zimbabwe Lesotho Lebanon Moldova Paraguay Venezuela Gabon Nigeria Cameroon Guatemala Mozambique Angola DR Congo Haiti Yemen Madagascar Mauritania Chad
Definition: The Road quality indicator is one of the components of the Global Competitiveness Index published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It represents an assessment of the quality of roads in a given country based on data from the WEF Executive Opinion Survey, a long-running and extensive survey tapping the opinions of over 14,000 business leaders in 144 countries.
The road quality indicator score is based on only one question. The respondents are asked to rate the roads in their country of operation on a scale from 1 (underdeveloped) to 7 (extensive and efficient by international standards). The individual responses are aggregated to produce a country score. Roads quality in Europe Roads quality in Asia Roads quality in Africa Roads quality in North America Roads quality in South America Roads quality in Australia Roads quality in the European union Roads quality in Sub Sahara Africa Roads quality in MENA Roads quality in South East Asia Roads quality in Latin America
El Sisi may have a bad human rights record but in the area of infrastructure,he pulled it off.At least his people have something to celebrate.Talk about leaders that take the nation’s growth as priority and not the growth of their pockets.Egypt has a very high development infrastructure program by the example we are seeing.
This was what many Nigerians expected from this Government in 2015 based on their promises.They rather created more problem that they are looking for solution as we speak.
Before 2030, Egypt will be one of the top destinations for investment in the world.In as much as I am not a supporter of those who changed their uniforms from khaki to agbada like the President of Egypt,yet I can’t deny the economic development in that country in the last few years.
Especially when it comes to roads and infrastructure.Egypt and China were the only 2 economies to make positive growth in 2020.
The question you should be asking yourself is: Didn’t our President remove his own uniform from khaki to Agbada? The difference is what is in the head.
Secondly, what kind of democratic Government where the state governments don’t own all the roads in their state? What do we mean by Federal roads inside the heart of States?
Well ,we have been told that very soon the trains shall run through our backyards ,who knows?. Meanwhile Government officials and civil servants are busy stealing billions of dollars and Naira meant for infrastructural developments. Woe unto them.
Until I see one train in my backyard,then I can believe that we have trains.But before that,let us have good roads at least sir.
Atimes I am tempted to believe that Nigeria will not work in our lifetime, but occasionally,I take my mind back to when we were told that poor people cannot have mobile phone and only few had 090 by coup plotters.
The Nigerian movie industry was not even an option but making waves in the world today.It was Hollywood and Bollywood.
But my temptation becomes very strong and shocking,when,I listen to a crop of youths ,who are still asslicking their oppressors,looters and destiny short changers who have refused to make Nigeria work.
Ask them their choice for 2023 and you will be shocked by the kind of names they are calling like their grandpa’s,T…..bu, A….ku.
Maybe I am having Ceasar’s optimism and courage,more like rashness that got him killed.”the ides of March” in the month of March.
For instance, and recently,the NBTE was to do accreditation for a new poly in one of the states in the North East,the only hotel was fully booked,it was like a carnival.
When the NBTE staffs were asked, why so many staffs even with COVID19, everyone ,young or old said “we wanted a piece of the cake ,a piece of the pie”. That is the state of the union.The center can no longer hold.Everybody’s interest has become nobody’s in present Nigeria.
People keep talking about Restructuring,but I want to tell them that Restructuring is not Renovation.
We must first of all, and foremost collapse this old or present edifice or system entirely, and begin anew on a plain sheet or clean slate.
It will no longer be “NIGERIA” but. “NIGERIANS”. A country for all.United under one new sincere structure and visionary leadership.
Let there be a national conversation. Nigerians have the power and the power is in our collective voices. You and I.
Everybody should count and be counted . We can achieve what many think is impossible,if we work together.The key to our liberation is “unity” against all political jobbers.Nobody should tell me that it is not possible.
God knew why he brought the Northern and Southern Protectorate together.Unless we think that God made a mistake.
Even the children of Israel had it rough anytime they were outside the will of God.
We must discuss our future together. By so doing we can build a country that should work for “ALL”.We must build a country of laws and institutions and not a country of “MEN”.
If other nations did it ,we can do it.We can build a country of strong institutions and not strong Men or strong POLITICIANS.
When that is done, we will begin to see parameters ,that can assure us that certainly , things shall be better for our children , though we are presently lagging behind in various areas of development. But with time we will overcome.The power of life and death is in our tongues and also in our doing.Our destiny is our hands.
Sadly, sadly, sadly ,if we fail to do our bit now,some of us would have died before that “Sweet Nigeria” serenades in the air.Or may be too old to enjoy the jolly ride.
Please don’t blame me,the national Anthem that always come to my mind is “Nigeria we hale thee ,our own the native land”, because, that was what I sang in 1960 as a primary school boy.
I am always forgetting the new one ,may be because it is not working.
My temptation about the future of Nigeria is becoming more serious than ever.The time for us all to wake up is “NOW”.
THEY WANT THE PEOPLE IN THE DIASPORA TO FUND THEIR HABIT.
Listen to the LAMENTATION OF A YOUNG NIGERIAN,THOUGH A BENEFICIARY, AND THE QUESTION OF CORRUPTION.
A Nigerian student told a friend that he came to the realization that his parents were either liars or thieves based on their salaries as compared to assets and expenditure.
That his parents worked with government but could send all 3 kids, himself and his siblings to school abroad with ”savings”. That they also owned houses.
He said that all didn’t add up.He decided to ask them and discovered much more to the fact that government corruption is not just stealing from contracts but finding a way as government officials to take away foreign exchange from estacodes and store it elsewhere at good investment rates.
“My parents normally travel a lot for the slightest reason as civil servants exploiting such opportunities at the detriment of the government and national development.
They are paid volumes of foreign exchange as estacodes ,or foreign currency allowances.
Such allowances thy were accumulating and investing over the years to make us comfortable.
They bought houses in UK very early which has now appreciated.
They also had scholarships abroad whole (hundred percent ) of their salaries were still being paid, which they took all abroad as foreign exchange for investment.
Though I was not happy and satisfied with my parents explanations but what can I do.?
They took every opportunity they had in government to buy cheap government assets with loans.Their houses were paid for with an FHA mortgage and the land was almost free.As it is true of my parents ,it is also true , and the same thing with other civil servants ,my friend confirmed same for his father.
The discussion with my friend made me to realize a couple of things.
1.The civil service will always only serve civil servants unless overhauled.
2.It is a cult for personal benefits and not national benefits.
3.It is also contributing to our need of foreign exchange and the inability to control foreign exchange supply and exchange rates.
4.The old advantages and certain privileges granted are not gone,but many are refusing to accept that.
5.Nigeria as a nation shall continue to maintain those privileges without the corresponding productive outcome that is causing most of our tension and misgovernance.
Free time is not over.
My father was given a Maitama plot for N30,000 then as a civil servant, which he sold for N50,000 and was very happy.
Some of my friends,their parents had more foresight than others and didn’t sell off such lands and have become billionaires.
Now in my own time,I have been to a good number of public offices to know very well that corruption is deeply rooted in the civil service.That it actually where it starts.
I trained some NNPC staff in Nigeria when I started work at GICN and they saw it as punishment to do basic computer courses in Nigeria.
The company paid a lot and many didn’t show up. I later discovered another course “ten times” the cost of ours was preferred. It wasn’t the cost of the course that mattered ,it was the foreign exchange benefits to the participants that was the reason.
I tried to sell some big IT solution to a ministry, some of the techies in the ministry told me to make sure we include their “abroad” training as estacode ,because that is their only means of making it,or else they would actively kill the proposal.
During my internship at NNPC,half the time, I spent processing foreign trip estacodes for my boss.
This foreign exchange racket is still ongoing till today and part of the reason our Naira is under so much pressure.
You can hardly get some Government officials to sign off on oil industry projects,if the design review meetings are not held abroad.
Yet, you get abroad for the meetings,they don’t show up until the last day because they are busy shopping for electronics.
They now want the Diaspora to fund this habit.I would not be surprised if the Government will soon come out with fanciful statistics on how their N5 per dollar incentive has led to an increase in repatriation of diaspora funds.
Dear Diasporians don’t fall for it ,they need your money more than ever.Majority of the masses in Nigeria have become spectators.
CIVIL SERVANTS !!THERE IS GODooooooo.
If you are a Christian in this racket ,there is what is called restitution.You can ask a holy man of God,he will put you through.Don’t say that you used to pay tithes.
For Moslems you can discuss the same issue with your chief Imam.
Were Segun Awolowo to be alive today, he would have celebrated his 82nd birthday on January 20. He would have likely become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria or a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He might have become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He could also have been the Governor of Ogun State of Nigeria. Or may be a Senator of the Federal Republic.
Olusegun Awolowo was born on January 20, 1939. For anyone familiar with the history of Obafemi Awolowo, the years preceding 1939 were one of the most tempestuous of his life. Awolowo, as a fledging but ethical businessman, became a victim of the economic downturn of the 1930s.
Awolowo lost his investment. His house was auctioned. His prized car, a Chevrolet, was sold as part of the auction. Not only that, his clothes and other properties were also auctioned. And his marriage was less than two years old. It was during this tumultuous period that Segun was born. Oluwasegun – Almighty God gives me victory – is therefore an affirmation of Awolowo’s abiding confidence and faith in God’s power to make him victorious. Olusegun! A child of promise!
Awolowo regarded the birth of Olusegun, two months before his own birthday, as the positive turning point. He picked his pen and wrote:
“After rain comes sunshine;After darkness comes the glorious dawn;There is no sorrow without its alloys of joy;There is no joy without its admixture of sorrow;Behind the ugly, terrible mask of fortune,Lies the beautiful soothing countenance of Prosperity;So, tear the mask!”
Segun was a son any parent would be proud of! He inherited Papa Awo’s brilliance. His mates and teachers at Agbeni Methodist School, Ibadan, where he was a pupil between 1943 and 1951 testified to his uncommon intelligence. At a relatively young age, he became the protector of his younger siblings.
In 1952, Segun became a student of Igbobi College, Lagos. He also distinguished himself academically and he passed his West African School Certificate Examination in Grade One.
Upon completion of his secondary education, Segun found himself at a junction. He had a career choice to make. Mama HID wanted some of her children to take to business. Papa wanted some of them to read Law. But Papa Awo would never force his view on his children. Young Segun was allowed to decide on his career path. He chose Law.
In 1957, eighteen year old Segun left for London to study at the University of Cambridge. As a student, Segun lived life to the fullest. He was described as an all-round young man. He excelled academically and he was also sociable. Dr. Kunle Olasope, a childhood friend, recalled that Segun was a ladies’ man and wasted no time with the girls which made his friends to give him a nickname “Quicky, Lucky, Lucky.”
On January 20, 1960, Segun came of age when he turned 21. As you already know, 21 was then the age of majority in the United Kingdom. Social Segun naturally threw a party to mark the special occasion. The party which held at 15A Kensington Palace Gardens was attended by his friends and classmates at Cambridge. His sister, Tola Awolowo; Degbola Ademola and his sister, Nike Adegbola as well as Kayode Oyediran were some of the youngsters who attended the birthday party.
Following the successful completion of his Law Degree in Cambridge, he was called to the English Bar in 1962. It was a proud moment for his parents, particularly his father who had been called to the same Bar 16 years earlier when Segun was just 7 years old. Immediately after his call to the Bar, Segun went to visit his best friend, Yomi Akintola (the son of Chief Ladoke Akintola) who was in Dublin at the time. It was from Dublin that Segun went to the airport to come back to Nigeria in August 1962. In another account, Dr. Olasope recalled that Segun came back to Nigeria in January 1963.
Despite his outward appearance as a playboy, Segun was an extremely serious young man. According to Wole Soyinka, the Segun who returned to Nigeria was a young man “with a clarified sense of mission, shedding the image of the young, pampered playboy.”
Earlier in 1962, the Sole Administrator for Western Region, Dr. Moses A. Majekodunmi, had set up a Commission of Enquiry into the affairs of some statutory corporations in the region. The Commission was headed by Justice George Baptist Ayodola Coker, who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1964.
As the Premier during the period covered by the commission’s terms of reference, Awolowo was one of the key people summoned to appear before the Commission. It was at this period that Segun returned to Nigeria to assist his father with his appearance before the Commission. His father found in him a dependable companion who was quick to appreciate salient legal issues. A chip off the old block. A son to be proud of.
Segun’s first taste of criminal case was as one his father’s counsel in the treasonable felony case. Segun appeared alongside other famous lawyers who appeared for Chief Awolowo before Hon. Justice George S. Sowemimo. People marvelled at the brilliance of the young man who was already his father’s rock at that tender age. One of the people who noticed the morning star was the Attorney General of the Federation, Dr. Taslim Elias. It was certain that Segun was going to be a brilliant advocate like his father.
That was until that fateful day! A black Wednesday in the month of July 1963!
Papa Awolowo was in Broad Street Prison in Lagos. Mama HID was at the time in an apartment in Somolu, somewhere off Ikorodu Road. It was Mama’s temporary residence whilst she looked after her husband who was in detention. Segun and Tola were living at their Oke-Bola residence in Ibadan. Tola was at the time working with Shell as a secretary to the regional manager.
Tola had a car but was just learning how to drive. It was a Triumph Herald, white in colour. She had a driver who took her around. Ogunjimi Odunlami was the name of her driver. Ogunjimi was popularly known as No Paddy. That’s the name everyone called him. That’s the name he loved to be called. No Paddy! It could have been a shortened form of ‘No Paddy for Jungle’.
Segun on the other hand was a licensed driver. He was as skillful behind the wheel as he was deft with his legal practice. However whenever he wanted to travel he usually asked his sister to allow No Paddy to drive him. This was to allow him to read and review his case files. At such times, Tola would have to rely on her fiancé, Kayode, a young medical doctor, to drop and pick her from work.
Segun spent the evening of Tuesday, July 9 with some of his friends, including Kunle Olasope, at Osunmarina Restauarant, next door to Radio Nigeria Ibadan. Segun left them early to go home as he was travelling to Lagos on Wednesday. At their Oke-Bola residence, Segun informed his sister that he would need No Paddy the following day to drive him to Lagos. He had discussed with Mama earlier and they had both planned to visit Chief Awolowo at the Broad Street Prison on Wednesday. Mama was eager to see her husband and Segun also had some legal issues to discuss with his father as well as a court appearance in Ikeja.
Rashidi Ayinla was woken on Wednesday by the sound of the muezzin calling Muslim faithful to prayer. He swore to himself as he looked at the time. He was already late. He was supposed to have been on his way to Ibadan. He dashed to the place where his stage carriage was parked on the street. It was covered with early morning dews. Mud had splattered allover the contraption. It was clear that the vehicle had seen better days. The mud had partly covered the number plate. One needed to strain the eyes to see that the number was LF 2065.
Rashidi tugged at the door. It was a moment before he realized that he was standing at the passenger door. He swore again and rubbed his face. He felt sleepy. But he had to be in Ibadan!
As he drove out of Martins Street in Mushin, he noticed that the vehicle brake was a bit loose beneath his foot. This brake again! He mumbled a silent prayer not to meet any policeman on the road. He knew the consequence of being arrested again. A pedestrian dashed across the road. Rashidi swerved. This brake!
He yawned. He was tired. He was sleepy. He knew that was how he felt some weeks earlier when he was involved in a fatal accident in Abeokuta while driving the same car. He also knew he was not supposed to be driving the car in this condition. His fatal accident case was still pending before a Magistrate Court in Abeokuta. He sped on while trying to keep his eyes open.
On the same Wednesday morning, Kayode Oyediran, Tola Awolowo’s fiancé, was with a friend in Molete when he overheard some people lamenting that Awolowo’s son had been involved a serious accident on the road to Lagos. With his heart beating as if it was going to burst, Kayode approached the crowd and began to ask for details. The response was as expected, conflicting and confusing. Some said the accident was at ten miles from Ibadan. Others said it was fifteen miles from Ibadan. One woman swore with Ogun, the god of Iron, that the accident happened at Aba Nla village. Some said it was a black Peugeot. Others said it was blue. Segun’s car was in fact navy blue.
Kayode was in apparent denial. It could not be Segun. Not Segun Awolowo, his prospective brother in law. He told his friend that the people must be mistaken and that Segun was probably with Mama already in Lagos. Dare, his friend, wanted to share his optimism. He suggested that after dropping a mutual friend at UCH they should drive to the supposed scene of the accident.
At UCH, the entire hospital was practically upside down. Kayode learnt that people were looking for Professor Latunde Odeku, a neurosurgeon of international repute, to go to Adeoyo Hospital to attend to a road accident victim who had sustained a head injury. Kayode and Dare decided to drive to Adeoyo first to find out the identity of the accident victim.
At the gate of UCH, he was shocked to see Tola and a relative. Someone had informed Tola that her brother had been taken to UCH after an accident. Tola was already overwhelmed with emotion. Kayode was equally overwhelmed, but he put on a brave face. He told her that they had heard the rumour too but that Segun was not in UCH and that they were on their way to Adeoyo. They left her at UCH and proceeded to Adeoyo, praying and hoping that it would not be Segun that was involved.
At Adeoyo, Kayode was informed of the news he dreaded most. He was directed to the room where Segun’s lifeless body was being packed. Tears dripped down the face of the medical doctor. “Am I dreaming?” He whispered to Dare. Dare himself was speechless. Not Segun! Not Segun Awolowo. They both willed the prone body to wake up and give them his boisterous laugh. The Segun that Kayode remembered was the vivacious Segun, the brilliant Segun, Segun the Advocate!
The first visitor Papa Awo had on that Wednesday morning was Abraham Adesanya. Adesanya had been sent with a bundle of document by Chief Anthony Enahoro’s leading counsel. The counsel wanted Awolowo to review the documents and return them to him the following morning.
Awolowo collected the documents. They were vital for Enahoro’s defence. Adesanya was still with him when S. T. Oredein and J. O. Lawson were ushered in. They wore a sombre look. Awolowo was not called the Leader for nothing. He was gifted with the ability to read body language. He immediately sensed that something was wrong. Oredein moved close to the Leader. He knew he had to be tactical with how he broke the news. In a barely audible whisper he told Baba Segun that they had just heard in the news that Segun had an accident and that though the driver died on the spot, Segun survived and had been taken to Adeoyo Hospital where doctors were battling to save his life.
Awolowo intuitively knew the worst had happened. The bond between father and son is an eternal bond. “Driver died on the spot; and doctors are battling to save his life!” He mused aloud. Awolowo stood up from his leaning posture, and in an emotion-laden voice, he exclaimed: “The boy has died!” His mind went to his wife. How would HID cope? And he was not there to provide emotional support for the grieving mother!
He requested for the use of the prison phone to make some calls. The Superintendent of Prison declined. Order from above. Calmly and without betraying any emotion, Awo requested Adesanya to get in touch with their family doctor to attend to his wife before the tragic news reached her. It was after Adesanya had gone that Awolowo turned on the transistor radio in his cell and heard the news no parent wanted to hear.
But Awolowo did not sorrow. He knew that death was never the end. Death was but a transition. “In the fullness of our individual time, everyone of us will be translated from this terrestrial sphere into the celestial realm.” Awolowo spent the night trawling through Enahoro’s documents. He was making notes on the documents as he went along. It was a comprehensive editorial work that he did.
On Thursday morning, Abraham Adesanya was one of the first set of callers to visit Awolowo to offer his condolences. Adesanya was shocked when the bereaved father handed him the documents, fully annotated. “Is this a man or a spirit?” Adesanya wondered!
Awo recalled: “I had worked all night to study the documents and to jot my comments thereon. There was nothing I could do to revive my beloved son. But there was a lot I could do for a friend who still lived, and was fighting to regain his personal freedom.” What a man! What a Legend!
The news of Segun’s demise reverberated across the land. It was a death like no other.
From the North, Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello commiserated with Obafemi Awolowo. From the other side of the Niger, Michael Okpara condoled with the first premier of Western Region. Even the Court, on resumption of his father’s trial, paid tributes to the memory of the brilliant advocate.
Dr. M. A. Majekodunmi, the Federal Minister of Health who served as the Sole Administrator for the Region in 1962 sympathised with Chief Awolowo. In his message, Dr. Majekodunmi recognized Awolowo’s strength of character when he said: “You have borne many trials in the past with Christian fortitude and I know that in this fresh trial, your faith will sustain you.”
Segun was buried in Ikenne the same day. A memorial service was later held for him at St. Saviour’s Church, Ikenne.
Rashidi Ayinla, the 35 year old driver who . . caused the gruesome accident, was later arraigned before Iyaganku Magistrate Court, Ibadan and was charged with manslaughter of Segun Awolowo and Ogunjimi Odunlami (No Paddy). The court was informed that Ayinla was already facing another charge arising from a fatal accident at Abeokuta which he committed with the same vehicle. The Magistrate ordered that he should be remanded in custody pending conclusion of police investigation.
Segun Awolowo left behind two children who are keeping his name and legacies alive: Pastor Funke Awolowo and Mr. Segun Awolowo, Jnr.
May the soul of Oluwasegun Awolowo continue to rest in perfect peace.
Stop complaining and go and buy your fuel. It is not like anything will happen after you spend the whole day nagging and debating on TV.
Remember that the present government is not the previous government, so you cannot occupy Nigeria or Save Nigeria. Buy your fuel and keep quiet. Enjoy your Government.
My fear is that other future governments should not resort to precedence.Someone should be good enough to work with the constitution until it is amended.1999 constitution remains an engine of fraud.
Don’t expect anything good so that you don’t get hurt.Expectation remains the root of all disappointments.Acceptance is the cure.Let us just accept this government for our own peace.
Stop being visibly unhappy because of violence.It has come to stay.Our lives are no longer dependent on the drama playing out.
Recently our maximum rulers were showing us pictures of themselves taking COVID19 vaccine as if they are making sacrifice for us, to show that it is safe rather than the selfishness of protecting themselves and leaving the rest of the citizens on their own.
I wonder how many Nigerians will take the vaccines because they saw them on television taking the vaccine.They remain deluded.
When the leader of the present Government toppled the civillian regime in 1983,I can still remember how he terrorised ,virtually all the politicians at the time and threw most of them into jail under horrible prison terms and conditions.
Many died in the ordeal.Unfortunately their offsprings who do not have any sense of history supported this Government and still remain loud in defending all that is going on.
It remains a surprise that most regions that voted massively for this Government suffered most for the same man who publicly humiliated their leaders.
If the preceding military regime then, felt so angry and bad about the Government at that time ,and overthrew him for the exact things he is doing now,I really don’t know why Nigerians are shocked.May be because we don’t have any sense of history.
There are many things that don’t cross the mind of our leaders.California is seeking for separation, Scotland is seeking for separation, Catalonia wants to leave Spain.Eastern Ghana wants to leave.Southern Cameroon is asking for divorce.This doesn’t send any signal to those in power.
When any country is governed well and governance is fair ,just and equitable to all,no ethnic group or nationality would wish for a divorce.
The whole point of equity and inclusion is to address historic and current injustices.
Patriotism is very different from politics as it is played in Nigeria.
Our politicians are hadly guided to know when to play politics and when the people are hurting.The reason we keep running in a circle.
We had responsible leaders after independence but unfortunately it was aborted.That half loaf ,would have been better than what we have presently.
Many keep deodorizing this Government with articles that seem to rewrite history,thank God that people like us are still breathing.
Events across the nation lends credence to the truth,which we all ought to know ,but don’t want to know especially our leaders.
We should accept the fact that Nigeria has become a deeply divided geographical entity.
Even conversations between friends on social media will expose this division with the words used to address ethnic nationalities.Omo Ibo,onye Ofenmanu,Nyamiri,Aboki etc.
These have become the mainstay of our daily conversation even on social media,as people use such subtle derogatory inferences.Honest conversations are hardly respected.
This Government has proven that poor countries are poor because those who have power or in power make poor choices that creates poverty.Some ,like in Nigeria get leadership wrong not by mistake or ignorance but on purpose.
We are told that the National Assembly is broke, that they need bigger budget to operate effectively.That the N125billion allocated in the 2021 budget which would have funded our universities is not sufficient.
The only thing for me is that they should just go home, until we need them.
Real Senators are supposed to give adequate weight to the sentiments of the people to ensure, equity , national cohesion and stability,in normal climes,they connect with their people,but not in Nigeria.
The people should have the option to recall and clean the Senate or House of Representatives by bringing fresh individuals that will reflect and communicate the position of the citizens to those in the executive,the feelings of their constituencies,but not in Nigeria.It is in the constitution for decoration.
Somebody who is termed a lizard in Nigeria becomes a lion in Europe or America because the environment. re-educates their minds and encourages self-actualisation.
Having the right leadership, right education, training,the right knowledge,the right mentor and the right opportunities brings out the best in man .Encourages right thinking. We have seen many who were written off by their families,who left Nigeria and have become chief cornerstones in their families.
May be mind is deceiving me. May be Nigeria is working well. May be our leaders are hyper active in whatever they are doing and I don’t seem to follow. May be I want an overdrive.
May be my mind is working like the distance between an airplane and the ground. When I look out through the window, I think that the plane is slow.May be my mind is not catching up with Nigeria.
In May 2020, Lucien Kabuga, an 86 years old Rwandan fugitive was captured in France. Kabuga had been a fugitive for 26 years. He had been sought by Interpol, FBI, the international crimes tribunal, the Rwanda government and an international union of bounty hunters. Two years earlier, the US state department had placed a 5 million dollars reward on his head.
Kabuga is being tried for crimes against humanity because of the role he played in the Rwandan genocide.
However, Kabuga might not have lifted a machete or hoe in the horror of Rwanda, but as one one of Rwanda’s richest men, Kabuga’s radio station RTLM, led the propaganda that daily fed hate to his fellow ethnic Hutus, acting as a catalyst for the Rwanda Genocide.
The two major items on the hands of the Interahamwe, the Hutu killer militia, was always a small transistor radio and a machete. While the radios guided the killer gangs around the country , identifying Tutsis, over 500,000 machetes imported into the country by Kabuga and a few Hutu elites, chopped down ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus like a bunch of trees.
Visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial is such an introspecting experience which I think every African statesman, politician or aspiring leader should have.
The Kigali genocide memorial, is actually the burial site of 250,000 people. It was built to honour the dead, preserve the history of the genocide against the tutsis and is seen as a symbol of ‘NEVER AGAIN’.
If you want to imagine 250,000 dead bodies , just imagine seeing 10 corpses lying dead. Then imagine 50,100, then 1000, then 250,000. If you lie them down side by side on a football pitch to fill every space on a pitch, you will need the space of 60 football pitches to lay the dead.
This burial site is just one of the various burial sites in Rwanda that served as permanent resting places for the remains of the victims of the genocide.
When I experienced the Kigali Genocide memorial with a group of friends in 2016, one thing we noticed was that, we couldn’t talk for almost 10 minutes when we walked out of the memorial through the exit. The experience actually leaves you speechless.
The children’s memorial had intimate details and life size photographs of the deceased children, their names , favourite toys , their schools, the manner in which they were killed, then some of their dead small skulls lying beside a few of their belongings.
As you walk through the labyrinth of history with the informative audio and virtual reality gadgets, you will hear the stories , the recorded cries of victims begging not to be killed, tales from survivors, while the entire maze is filled with relics of the genocide, from one foot shoes of running victims to their cracked skulls at times with the killer weapons still embedded right through the skull .
I’m sure many people do not know that the Hutus and Tutsi are the same people. Same culture, same language and same ethnic group. The only thing that separated them was that the Hutus were farmers while the Tutsis were cattle herders. This was the major basis which the Belgians used in differentiating them and issuing them with identity cards.
How come hatred grew so much that they managed to break world record for the fastest and most effective killing in human history?
Of all the deaths that occurred during America’s wars from 1990( Operation Desert storm) to 2018( War against ISIS), including all the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and over 70 countries where the USA fought their war on terror, with the most effective military hardware, over a 28 year period. Military historians put the total deaths, including civilian and military casualties to about 500,000.
The Atomic bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki recorded about 200,000 deaths which the entire world still considers as most horrendous. But ethnic Hutus managed to effectively kill one million of their Tutsi brothers and moderate Hutus in less than 100 days.
The kill rate must have been like 10,000 per day.
Not with any weapons of mass destruction, no tanks , no air crafts or sub machine hellfire guns, but with machetes, hoes, stone’s and any make shift that can be turned into a killing instrument. This is how powerful hate can be.
For hundred days, the Hutu propaganda radios kept shouting that the graves are not full enough, urging on the killings of the Tutsis whom they referred to as Cockroaches.
Ironically the Hutus make up about 85% of the country, they had the Presidency and other key offices then, but somehow, they kept believing and spreading stories that these cow herders were going to conquer them.The fear was so morbid that every Tutsi, including a woman or child was seen as an enemy and potential conquerer.
You might have read several literature about the Rwanda 1990 genocide, but a visit to the Kigali memorial will knock you off your feet and teach you that long time hatred and propaganda can turn humans into little bits of Satan the devil. It will immediately bring you out of any ethnicity and usher you into the race of humanity.
The beauty of the Rwandan story is that the civil war victors, Tutsi rebels that ended the war, did not gloat or carry out reprisal killings, but they had a visionary leadership who stepped in to unify the country despite the fact that they suffered the genocide.
Asked if she was Hutu or Tutsi, a Rwandese friend’s eyes popped open with shock and her voice became low as if afraid. “We are all Rwandans, we don’t have Hutu or Tutsi. We don’t talk about it and we don’t know it”, she said making sure that nobody else heard her.
Rising out of the ashes of death and hate, Rwanda today is the pride of Africa.
Crime rate is almost zero and the city is the cleanest in africa. While other African countries are still carying files in government offices, Rwanda is using drones to deliver medicine to rural areas.
While neighbouring Congo and Burundi are still ruled by who owns more AK47s, Rwandese are coming out monthly alongside their President, legislators and all government officials to do Umuganda, a community works exercise where everyone is obligated to physically work for their environment.
While African giants like Nigeria is still struggling with generators , Rwanda is extracting Methane Gas under water from Lake Kivu and turning it into Electricity.
While we are still carrying dusty files in our civil service and bribing public servants , Rwanda has implemented full technology where you can go online and do every public service needed, leading the Smart Africa alliance and of course this has led them to the top, in ease of doing business in Africa.
But ironically, we have a similar history with Rwanda, with the result looking like the opposite.
In the early hours of 15th January 1966, a young Kaduna born Major of Igbo parenthood, led some officers to kill over 20 people which included the then Prime Minister of Nigeria and the Premier of Northern Nigeria in an attempted coup.
The events of this action led to a vicious pogrom against many innocent Igbos whose crime was that they were from the same ethnicity as the parents of the coup leader.
The pogroms and resultant rebellion by South East leaders led to a vicious 30 month unnecessary and vicious civil war which killed millions of Nigerians and destroyed lots of properties.
Looking back now, one can just imagine how irresponsible and immature the leaders of that era were, not to have prevented that war. They were like little kids with expensive toys, that was how leadership was to them.
But in both scenarios , profiling played a dangerous role, and it’s unfortunate that while Rwanda has risen from the ashes of that stupidity to say never again, Nigeria is still dancing around the precipice of an ethnic instigated insurrection.
Nigerians are still pigeon holed according to their ethnicity or the god they worship. We are still hearing irresponsible infantile statements like ‘all Igbo should leave the North and all Fulani should leave the West’.
Ethnic and Religious profiling is still on the rise, Nigeria is not only in dire need of the leadership to provide critical infrastructure, but a leadership that will belong to everyone and belong to no one. A leadership whose body language and actions will be free of nepotism and division. A leadership that will diffuse the gunpowder which the country is sitting upon.
When you see some of the security details and escorts of governors and some government officials, you would think they are going for war.May be they are under instructions.
May be they are going for war against fellow citizens for whom they have refused to provide the needed basic amenities.
Of course they are always expecting war from Nigerians whose wealth they keep stealing for themselves . Unfortunately we have not given them war yet.
They know that without the sirens and the security agents surrounding them ,if Nigerians catch any politician one-on-on ,they will give them the beating of their life, especially those that have learnt wrestling and boxing.
When they are done with them ,they will loot everything on them or in their pocket phones,house keys,car keys, ATM cards including their dresses and possibly, leaving them with their inner wears. Politicians are taking Nigerians for granted.
They may feel for women but for the men, I am sure they will only leave them with boxers to go back home with.
This reminds me of a story that a former commissioner of sports in one of the states in the south-south told me as a friend some years ago.
He had a simple altercation with a young man in the village after leaving office .The argument became so sharp that he never knew that the young man could go that length.
He told my friend according to him;
“By the time I rumple and cover your face with that agbada you are wearing, and soak you together with it, in this red muddy water,you will know how serious I am with you because I now have the opportunity.Do you think that I have forgotten when you used to harrass us with your security operatives and siren while you were in government?”.
My friend told me that when he saw the young man’s determination and red eyes, he quietly apologized and disappeared, before the young man changes his mind. What a lesson!!
The behavior of our political class during traffic or in some occasions explain the height of the feeling of insecurity , stemming from failed electoral proceses and lack of democratic dividends.
They have become enemies of the commoners.The best way they live secured, through office tenure is to spend on personal security and depend on the security guards to fight imaginary foes.They forget that one day they will be out of power.
Because they know that the citizens ain’t happy with their governing style and lifestyle in government ,so they protect themselves because they know that their ways are evil.
They are protecting themselves from the monsters they are creating,but for how long?.
The way their security guards position their guns in the midst of harmless citizens, you think that they are very close to their opponents.Or that the citizens are terrorrists.
How can leaders be more afraid than those they are leading who don’t have bodyguards?You get the shock of your life at the number of vehicles and security personnels in their convoy.
Always in a rush to nowhere.Well, the wicked runneth when no man pursueth according to the holy writ.
Am I the only Nigerian highly offended by YB’s audacity to campaign for Presidency? Which Nigeria exactly is he trying to be President.
Even how he became a state Governor is still part of the manipulation of the electoral process.How could such a jester and joker who doesn’t even believe that there is virus in his state have become a Governor. Let alone dreaming to be my president.
You can see the kind of smelling poverty written in the faces of those he is governing even in his second term. Even as the youngest Governor in town.
His boldness and present temerity to be the president of Nigeria is an insult to people like us.
Well, I will not say that it baffles me.Some people are shouting for him online because hunger is really a bastard . When your brain knows that you are lying ,but the stomach is preaching otherwise.That’s the sickness ,the plague on the electorate.
If not ,how can he have the audacity to put himself forward, which is an insult on our collective intelligence.
Some people say that Nigeria is a fools paradise.I don’t agree with them because I am not a fool.
Unfortunately the media is given him too much attention by accommodating such level of madness ,because of what they are getting from him.
Did anyone even recognize that , what he is doing is against the electoral act? Is INEC pretending not to see what he is doing?This is the level of lawlessness we have reached in Nigeria.
When I first started seeing his posters, I thought it was some political obituary jesters and posters. I was just thinking, “what has happened to this man” until someone told me that he wants to be the president of this country.
Who is YB? . What has he done in his state? .We have had enough of apprentices,or a learn on the job venture candidates,who have never tried their hands on anything in life to showcase quality leadership, even in the industrial sector.People who have managed human capital or resources and turned them arround.Some have only managed a brand or flock of animals.
We have enough qualified hands with lots of ideas that can change this nation please.
The present failures in government is enough trouble for Nigerians to deal with , when these people finish their terms.
We cannot afford another corrupt- clueless-illiterate fundamentalists in Aso Rock.We have had enough pain.
Deep down in YB’S heart he knows that he won’t make it to the presidency. It may be a ploy like all politicians do, to get a political appointment after their gubernatorial tenures.The “shoot-for-stars-style-and-you-will-probably-land-on-the- moon” politicians always looking for accommodation in the corridors of power.Who knows.!!
But we must be careful,because that was how it all began,before we found ourselves in the present mess.
We should not live on the assumption that he is making noise, you cannot say with some gullible Nigerians.
But I know that YB’s presidential ambition will die a natural-presidential-dream-ambition death.The reason I am up against him on my various platforms.
It is shocking and funny to see the sheer number of his followers online ,we must not allow that to go on.
Because Nigerians have become so poorly educated , when it comes to choice and voting.They never realize the magnitude of their disservice until the results start coming in, when these clowns have been sworn in.
YB’s audacity is an insult to us . With the rubbish he did in his state and still doing.He should stop insulting Nigerians. Is he coming to teach us how to use political thuggery to torment opponents?
We must get involved in the. “stop-the-clowns” campaign as early as possible. If not ,we may be shocked in 2023.
He has every right to dream and work for it,but we must collectively abort the dream. If we fold our hands in the normal Nigeria way,and keep fighting on Twitter keyboards online, when the usual cabal decides that they want him ,we may be shocked. Politics is a game without feelings in Nigeria.
Somebody jokingly said that a “Virologist Professor” in Oxford University ,recently discovered a deadly virus in West Africa called “recycling dead and clueless leaders”,But he could not yet disclose the specific nation in West Africa. Are you thinking what I am thinking?
Must we always be conditioned to fall into the same cycles of woes, and be swindled over and over again.Like I said earlier no one should live in fools paradise again.
I find it extremely offensive.One should have thought that Nigerians should have learnt that mediocrity is no longer allowed in Aso Rock ,no matter the ethnicity or religion?
The chief penalty and punishment for Nigerians is to be governed again by some people who are worse than what we have and the moment.
There are many Nigerians who don’t have voters cards, and those that have, only have them for the means of identification.
Those who refused to register will tell you that until the process improves and made simple.Others will tell you that voters card and voting don’t matter because their voices and votes don’t count.
We must not allow this line of reasoning to be sustained or to continue. If we all change the narrative ,we would not continue in our present condition.
Do you have a voter’s card ? if you do, also encourage and persuade your friends and families to register and pick up their voters card and prepare for 2023. It is the least we can do now.
We need leaders who shall unchain Nigeria come 2023.Leaders who can give us a manufacturing economy.We need an industrial revolution.We must produce or perish.Nigeria is not a land of doom and we will not allow clueless politicians to keep making it so.
We have the expertise.We have various and major technical advisers and driver’s of industry who are Nigerians all over the world.They need to come home ,if encouraged ,to fill the knowledge gap if any.
I know that Nigerians are very hard-working, technically inclined and efficient people despite the education gaps in some areas.Many have also built experiences on the field and not only in school.
You can leave me in my pain.It is my problem.My chest hurts for Nigeria.It is my problem.
But,YB will never be the president of Nigeria .He can only be in his wildest dreams.I am also dreaming.
I have already declared a 40 day prayer and fasting every quarter of the year from 2021 till 2023 to prevent people like YB from coming into power again,even in the State Assemblies and National Assembly.I am sure that I am not alone.Incase I am, please don’t leave me alone.
The Political Animal 