Who will become APC's Presidential Candidate?
MARCH 2014
Super Eagle’s Road to Brazil
VOL.1 . NO. 2 N400
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Kwankwaso
Kwankwasiyya REVOLUTION A Movement of the People, by the People and for the People
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CONTENT Garba Dangida Executive Director
Change in National Interest
5
Dr. Aliyu Jibia Chairman, Editorial Board
The Nigerian Tragedy
7
Mustapha Y. Ahmed Managing Editor
Kwankwasiyya; An indigenous political ideology
Remi Adebayo Editor
Who will become APC’s Presidential Candidate?
18-21
Defection: True gains or desperation?
22-23
8-17
Haruna Yusuf Deputy Editor George Onmonya Daniel Editor-at-Large Hauwa Musa Gobe Senior Advert Executive Correspondents Isaac Ikpekha Dauda Mbaya Husseini Girgi Ibrahim (Mista) Ali Columnists Prof. Pius Adesanmi Prof. Moses E. Ochonu Henry Iwuanyanwu Lola Samuel Aladejana
Kwankwasiyya Revolution People, Politics, Performance A vote for freedom
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Photography Anifowoshe Olusegun Graphics Design RhemDy Nigeria Limited.
One on One with ORACLE
Director of Circulation Muhammed Bello
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Newsroom: 08069537684, 07038623939.
Nigerian men killing their nurse wives in the US
e-mail: news@newissuesmagazine.com newissuesmagazine@gmail.com www.newissuesmagazine.com
Legacy of impartation
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Road to Brazil
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EDITORIAL
Change in National Interest
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igerians need to develop better social, cultural, religious and political orientation about governance. We need to redefine to align with competitiveness in the comity of progressive nations. Good governance has nothing to do with race, religion, tribe or social class. Competence of a leader should not be based on the amount of funds he or she possesses, to buy votes or rig an election. Nigerians have experienced ugly trends of selfish desires of cabals of opportunists who manipulate leadership at all levels. Godfathers in mafia-like stance have bestridden the political landscape like vampires; carting away national resources at the detriment of the masses. Instead of building strong institutions, some of our political leaders have persistently built their personal empires. They recycle themselves and cronies in public offices. They make their names recurrent decimals in political circles, amassing wealth above their lawful means. Our leaders have impoverished the masses, making them perpetually downtrodden. Our leaders prefer masses kowtowing in penury than empowering them to undertake independent ventures. Leadership is valuable and the value can only be seen in better lives and well-being of the followers. It is failure of leadership if after 53 years of independence; our streets are littered with unemployed and despondent citizens. It is failure of leadership if beggars and street urchins adorn street corners of regions where demagogues parade themselves in shameless desire to renew their illegitimacy! In the USA, the presidency has always been based on competence, regardless race, tribe, religion or wealth. The parentage of President Obama is outside the United States, but majority of Americans support his presidency for two terms. In Nigeria, when a president gets to power, instead of all citizens to support him and make valuable
contributions in national interest, those whose ego is deflated will constitute hate-league drawing back the hands of clock. The opposition exhibits needless acrimony against the incumbent at national and state levels. Instead of providing exemplary governance where they control, their own performance indices are not better than the ones they desire to supplant. Change is desirable in any society that has vision. But such change requires new form different from old patterns. Here, the same groups of people who had led the masses like cattle by the nose, dragging them to brackish waters of backwardness are the same cabal, claiming to champion the needed change. Some opportunists, who had privilege of holding public offices, when ordinarily they deserve lesser consideration, have suddenly turned 'crusaders' of masses' interest. Dishonest individuals, drug addicts, corrupt and wicked politicians whose antecedents stink of political oddity, have today become vocal. Those who are afraid to give good account of their stewardship as leaders, those who have cases of corruption pending in law courts, those who cannot point to any laudable physically verifiable legacies, those whose nepotism cries to high heavens, are today shouting themselves hoarse, as anti-corruption crusaders. What we need in Nigeria is higher integrity quotients, honest disposition and fear of God. There is nothing bad about holding public offices. But the desire should be tinged with selfless service. Where our leaders seek medical treatment abroad, because they lack confidence in our hospitals or send their children to study abroad, is sad. Such leaders have demonstrated that the countries they run to are better governed by more intelligent people than them. How many foreign leader seek medical attention or deposit their stolen wealth in Nigeria? Our leaders, including these mobs of change indulge in these practices, very callously against national interest. Super Eagle’s Road to Brazil
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
K
le’s Eag razil B per Su ad to o R
NEWISSUES magazine is published monthly by Les Connoisuers International Limited, 1009, Anbeez Plaza, Opposite former CAC, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, Nigeria. Tel: 07038623939, 08069537684. www.newissuesmagazine.com
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HAPPENINGS KILLED
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hiekh Albani of Zaria was assassinated on 2nd February, 2014. The Islamic scholar was coming back from was trailed by unknown gunmen from his Tundun wada school on his way home around 10pm, family source told the media. He was pulled out of the car and shot several times. His wife and son who were inside the car with him were killed. A lot of people suspected that his criticism of Boko Haram may have been responsible for his assassination; however no one or group has claimed the killing. Thousand gathered at his burial. Many described him as a peace loving man.
Atiku
DEFECTION
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Albani
he latest in the story of defection is Atiku Abubakar. The former Vice President officially announced his leaving the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) first on the social media on which he is very active. In another defection story,
Goodluck Jonathan was all smiles as he visited Sokoto to officially induct Attahiru Bafarawa into PDP. Bafarawa was founding fathers of the APC but left the party after Governor Aliyu Wammako defected from the PDP to the APC. The two politicians could not resolve their issues over who became the leader of the APC in the state.
CAUTIONED
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asir El-Rufai and Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari were recently invited by the SSS for questioning for inciting statements. Both Nasir El-Rufai and Asari Dokubo were talking about the same issue from opposing sides, 2015. The coming election in 2015 has gotten too many people talking, especially supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the new opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), but two of the notable people involved in accusations and counter accusations are Nasir El-Rufai for the APC and Asari Dokubo for the PDP. The vituperations extend to Facebook and Twitter where both Dokubo and Rufai have large followership. Reading the comments on Asari Dokubo and Nasir El-Rufai's wall obviously paint the picture of divided country along religious, tribal and regional lines. However most people expect Nasir El-Rufai to be more cautious and matured with his words instead of being partisan with everything even things that shouldn't be trivialized. Instead of attack the policies of government, Nasir ElRufai has consistently continued to attack and ridicule the president. On the other hand Mujahid Dokubo-Asari 6
El-Rufai has continued to attack Northern Nigeria and Hausa/Fulani who he refers to as gambaris, almost in a derogatory way, as being responsible for all the problems of Nigeria. Asari Dokubo may not have a Harvard degree but the leader of the Niger Delta's People Volunteer Force is respected among his people. A lot of
Asari Dokubo Nigerians expect more from both Nasir El-Rufai and Asari Dokubo, as to whom much is given much is expected. People are hoping that the duo recent visit to the SSS will reduce all that inciting statements heating up the polity and all the noise will be based on serious issues that affect the nation.
The Nigerian Tragedy
GUEST COLUMNIST
Professor Pius Adesanmi In the overall context of the N i g e r i a n t r a g e d y, s o m e of my friends - friends with credibility, integrity, and loads of ethical capital have argued that given the fact that we will most certainly end up with a field of corrupt, more corrupt, and most corrupt thieves jostling for the Presidency in 2015, our most pragmatic option now is to give serious consideration to a performing corrupt thief as opposed to the prospects of re-hiring a clueless corrupt thief as president in 2015. To this end, they think Atiku Abubakar could claim to be our best corrupt option in a potential field of megathieves and scoundrels. I am no stranger to this line of argument. You will recall my recurrent theme in previous essays that our choice, every election cycle, is never between good and bad candidates but between bad and less bad candidates. My aburo, Tolu Ogunlesi, took this further at our explosive Ake 2013 panel by making a persuasive and pragmatic case for responsible thieves. Yes, our case is that bad in Nigeria: a distinction must be made between responsible and irresponsible thieves. When you see all the amazing developments and projects all over the South West, it is not that those performing governors are not eating with all four civilized corners of their mouths. Therefore, you cannot compare them with an irresponsible buffoon like former Borno governor, Ali Modu Sherrif, who has a harem of four private jets and only a legacy of poverty and Boko Haram to show for his years in office. So, there are thieves and there are thieves. As a first realistic step, the argument went at the Ake Panel, let's even have responsible thieves who do maybe 30 percent of the work they were elected to do and steal in hundreds of millions of naira instead of billions of dollars. From that vantage point, we could struggle to reduce the stealing progressively. I supported Tolu. Our brother, Chuma Nwokolo, was outraged and blew a lot
of unworkable grammar about zero tolerance. We must be zero tolerance hardliners, argued Ogbuefi Nwokolo. Trouble is: do Nigerians even want the squeaky clean candidate and leader? They did not vote for Gani Fawehinmi. They did not vote for Tunde Fagbenle when he ran for Senate. They treat every squeaky clean candidate as a joker whose ambition is dead on arrival. They will not waste their votes. And there is also that part of them that is so used to being led by thieves and corrupt scoundrels that they are afraid of the unknown scenario of being led by non-thieves and non-corrupt c o m p a t r i o t s . This explains why two candidates have emerged for 2015, one a jester, the other a potential, but none has gotten any look in from Nigerians. Chris Okotie is the jester. You dismiss him outright. But you cannot do the same thing with Sam Nda Isaiah. He is a potential. His candidacy does not deserve silence. It should be given a serious look in and if you all decide that he is a credible alternative to all the thieves and crooks looming in the horizon, what you do is mobilize en masse, register massively for APC starting from February 5, and constitute a Third Force within that party to wrestle it from the usual suspects. Look at what the Tea Party does within the Republican Party. They wrestle party
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...let's even have responsible thieves who do maybe 30 percent of the work they were elected to do and steal in hundreds of millions of naira instead of billions of dollars. From that vantage point, we could struggle to reduce the stealing progressively
machinery and impose their candidates. You think Bola Tinubu, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, Lai Mohammed, and Femi Fani Kayode can resist sixty million of you if you form a movement within that party and insist on a squeaky clean, non-establishmentarian, untainted candidate like Sam Nda Isaiah? It doesn't even have to be Sam Nda Isaiah. Sixty million of you tea partying within APC could insist on Chidi Odinkalu, Ayo Obe, Oby Ezekwesili (on the nonestablishmentarian side) or Babatunde Fashola, Oshiomhole (on the establishmentarian side) Unfortunately, Like you did to Gani Fawehinmi, like you did to Tunde Fagbenle, you are already thinking that Sam Nda Isaiah is a huge joke who stands no chance. You are waiting patiently for the most responsible thief, the best corrupt candidate that the two leading parties will throw up. If that is what you want, then the submissions of my friends about Atiku being the thief most likely to perform best among the thieving lot that the parties will eventually present to you will become a real scenario for you. If that is how you are going to play 2015, that is your funeral. I have told you time and again that it is too late in the day for any of the buffoons ruling Nigeria to have a direct negative economic and material impact on my life. It is too late in the day for me to be a direct victim of their visionlessness and congenital stupidity. So, this is about you. Register in your millions on February 5, seize the initiative from the current crop leading APC, and make it impossible for them to ignore your choice of a squeaky clean, nonestablishmentarian candidate for president in 2015. You can do it. The Tea Party does it to the leaders of the Republican Party all the time. 7
INTERVIEW
Kwankwasiyya:
An indigenous political Ideology - Ganduje
Steering the affairs of a densely populated state like Kano is by no means, a task for greenhorns. That the government in Kano State is performing beyond the expectation of the people is not the wonder, but the astounding interpersonal synergy of purpose and direction and political Siamese of the state Governor; Dr. (Engr.) Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso And his most loyal deputy, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. In this exclusive interview, Kano State Deputy Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje demonstrates incredible comprehension of development in every sector of the state, obviously inseparable from that of his boss. NEWISSUES Editors, Alhaji Garba Dangida, Dr. Aliyu Jibia, Remi Adebayo, Aliyu Dangida and George Onmonya Daniel lead the memorable encounter.
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he slogan, Kwakwansiyya, is synonymous with the Kano politics under this administration. What is it all about? Ganduje: First of all you are most welcome to my office; you are most welcome to this interview session. The word Kwankwasiya is a concept 8
derived from the executive governor of Kano State, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and this concept is an indigenous political ideology which attempts to fill the gap in the shortfall in our democratic system. What I mean by that is that, you know our democracy today in Nigeria, our problem is not parse that of tribalism,
it is not that of religion‌ religious differences, but it is a problem of the wide gap between the rich and the poor. It is a problem of bad governance. It is a problem of lack of transparency, it is a problem of misapplication of public funds, and it is a problem of stealing public funds. So we decided to develop an
INTERVIEW indigenous ideology; political ideology that will befit what we are supposed to do as a nation. Therefore K w a n k w a s i y a i s h o n e s t y, Kwankwasiya is transparency, Kwankwasiya is endurance and perseverance. And that is what we have, and it is as concept, it is not about an individual but an indigenous political ideology, using our principal because we have seen in him the attributes of good governance, we have seen in him the doggedness of a politician, especially in a third world country. And we have seen in him, you know, a leader with foresight, a leader who accommodates the views of others and a leader who is always planning ahead. A leader who is bold to face what he believes is true, irrespective of who is there and how big who is there standing in his front. So that is how we have come to believe in him. And one thing also surrounding is that ehh…what we normally lack in our present democratic dispensation is lack of recognizing a leader. If you want to have a movement that has sense of direction, that has a course, that is objective, then definitely you must believe in one leader and that leader must be somebody with foresight, that leader must be a democratic leader, not somebody who would take advantage of the respect given to him by his followers to abuse the power given to him. So that is the kind of scenery that we have created and it is being driven by this concept of Kwankwasiya movement. That is why you see us we are intact, that was why when we had internal problems within the PDP in Kano we were able to, we were able to maintain ourselves, we were able to stick together, succeeded, and that is why when we had problems with undemocratic elements within the PDP, we are able to survive and when we decided to change our political party, we left en mass because we were already a compound not a mixture, we are a political compound not a mixture. That was why we were able to move. It's just like when you want to move a stone, you move a stone. When you are moving some grains, some will fall apart, some will slip away, but politically we are a block and we maintain that. But one important thing that is holding us together is the honesty and the sense of purpose, so that is Kwankwasiyya. It is obvious, this is a working government. We have interacted with the common people on the streets and they have attested to the fact that this
is a working government. They have said it and it is a fact we don't need to be told, we have seen it. Sir, as someone who has been here for a long time, what are the secrets, is it this Kwankwasiyya movement that has eaten into everyone, is not just about the idea but about the work too, Sir, what are the secrets sir? Well, certainly the secret…it is not a
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Kwankwasiya is honesty, Kwankwasiya is transparency, Kwankwasiya is endurance and perseverance. And that is what we have, and it is as concept, it is not about an individual but an indigenous political ideology...
secret as such, because first of all there must be commitment, there must be planning and there must be execution, so the issues behind it is that we…His Excellency, the executive Governor of Kano State is committed and he understands the problems of the people in Kano State, and we are able to design, we are able to adopt a kind of approach that will solve problems in the society. What I mean by that is that first of all, there is problem of human development and problem of human development is problem of education. Education is an issue that ahhh…if you solve the problem of education, I think you are solving some many problems at the same time because lack of education is lack of peace. Lack of education is lack of employment. Lack of education is lack of good environmental health. Lack of education is lack of income. Lack of education is lack of…even security. So what we have adopted is an integrated approach to development by taking different sectors. So it took the factor of education, the factor of infrastructural facilities, the factor of women empowerment, the factor of youth empowerment, and the factor of…of course all the factors that contributes to make what is called 9
INTERVIEW good governance. We adhere to such variables. And that is why we make our administration transparent. And also another is that ehh…I know probably I am referring to some infraphysical infrastructural facilities which you saw, but they are so many other things that you have not seen because you cannot even attach it to their human aspect of this administration. But what is important really is the issue of management. It is the issue of how to manage the resources, to make sure that all the leakages…you know…are being sealed up so that what actually we are getting internally and what we are getting from the Federal Government, from the Federation account, we use such funds judiciously, we use it for what it is meant for, value for money. And that is why we are able to achieve a lot. I believe when we go along we shall be able to explain more…, but that is the secret. If there is any secret that's the secret behind it. It is the issue of commitment. Furtherance to that sir, I think it is a little related to the previous question. You have many projects and programmes going on; the signature of government is everywhere. Which one is so dear to the governor that when he leaves office, he will love to be remembered with? I think as I told you, it is education…, because education is like blood in the body. It nourishes almost every part of the body and without it, one second is enough, one is gone. So if there is no education, in fact you are losing almost everything. That was why we decided, first of all, we examined our environment, especially in respect to western education and we have seen that we have problems right from the bottom up to the top. What I mean is that there are problems right from school enrollment, school dropouts, right to mass exam failure…problems of lack of opportunities, and many other things. So we decided by examining the primary school education and we found that the system that we introduced, the school feeding, which we introduced in 1999 to 2003 was abandoned for eight years. And we know the statistics at that time. When we introduced the school feeding, enrollment overshot immediately. So we had to reintroduce the policy back. We also found out that there was high congestion in classrooms and that makes learning very, very difficult. So the solution to that is mass 2003, we 10
construction of classrooms. That is why you are seeing Kwankwasiya blocks all over the place and we have seen that we have to introduce a new system because land is an issue especially within metropolitan and therefore we decided to build upstairs; also to provide offices, to provide toilets and also to provide what it takes to make conducive environment for teaching. We also decided to provide furniture, instructional materials, and also looking at the teachers themselves, re-examine them, in fact we have started building accommodation for teachers in some of the schools, especially in the rural schools. We ensure that they are paid their salaries, their allowances, and we m o n i t o r, w e i n a u g u r a t e d t h e inspection team that will ensure that there is monitoring; there is evaluation and all that. We also found out that ehh…in education, the number of children that go to secondary schools and who at the end of it will not be able
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if you look at Kano, Kano in Nigeria can even exist as a country, and therefore we have to lay the foundation, that is why we always, you know, think ahead
to go to tertiary institutions are many. And automatically they become dropouts. Because our present system does not tolerate having secondary school leavers, and myriad of secondary school leavers who are unskilled and barely educated, therefore we decided introduce so many interventions, measures, to ensure that most of our students, you know, find something to do. Those who have done well in their examination we give them scholarships for further study and that is why we took some to even abroad, maybe we are coming to that issue later, so…what I am trying to tell you is that we studied the problem of education in Kano state, right from primary school to the university education and we found that even our students are…who are qualified for university, because of the high competition for Federal University, still you find many of them cannot even get admission. So that is why we establish a new university, the North West University. And you remember in 1999-2003, we established the Kano state University of science and Technology, so we are having two state universities in Kano now. We are giving them much attention so that we ensure that our children go to school. This is an investment that you cannot see the result immediately, but it is an investment that we believe…Kano, if you look at Kano, Kano in Nigeria can even exist as a country, and therefore we have to lay the foundation, that is why we always, you know, think ahead. Nigeria is surrounded by French speaking countries, many
INTERVIEW West African countries are always in Kano for trading and commerce and we discovered that in other to take advantage of that we decided to have an economic and investment summit between Kano State and Republic of Niger. And one of the resolutions is that we have a common language, Hausa, we have a common religion, we have a common culture, but there is one thing that has divided us. That is the French language. So we decided that there is a need to school our children in French and they need to study English. So we jointly established a school in Niamey, I was personally there, and ehhh…now we have hundred boys studying in English and in French. They will go to secondary there, go to institution of higher learning and get their degree, and since they can already speak English, they would have been proficient in French, and when they come back they can go anywhere in the world, not only in Kano state. So we are thinking ahead, we are planning ahead, so that ehhh…Kano will give the lead. We have the advantage of high population but having high population is not enough. If your population is not a quality population it is going to be a liability. And if your population is a quality population it is going to be an asset. So where we are heading to, we want Kano to have an asset population. Japan has no oil, because of the brain they are able to survive and even conquer the world. For Kano it may not be in our life time, but we assure you economically, educationally, technologically wise, we want to conquer Nigeria. And this conquest is starting from Kano. Sir the issue of free education which has been introduced by this government, how do you ensure that people really go to school? Well, that one is…people are yearning to go to school but because of financial problems they cannot go. So by opening the gate, definitely many people, many students who cannot afford, will automatically come in, and ehhh…, it's not only free but it is also compulsory. That is why we have banned begging. We have signed that law. His Excellency the executive governor of Kano state has signed the law against begging in Kano state. There is no more begging in Kano state. There is no more Almajiri going about in Kano State. So all…students…I mean the Almajiris should go back to school because
within the school system, in the formal school system, they also provide Islamic education. In fact they are even providing better Islamic education than the Almajiri system, because it is a planned system. We have trained teachers. We have a timetable. We have a programme, formal programme for them. We are not establishing, like Federal government, specialized Almajiri Schools, that is too artificial. What we are doing is that every Almajiri school go back to his environment, he should go back to his local government, he should go back to his community, and in his community, there is primary education, which he can be integrated easily without creating a cluster of Almajiris. That one is…they can be stigmatized. But when you go back to you environment, you join your
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We have the advantage of high population but having high population is not enough. If your population is not a quality population it is going to be a liability.
brothers and sisters in school, that is more natural. So that is how…what we mean by free education in Kano state. You don't need to spend anything, primary school, secondary school, when you are going to the university we are going to pay for your school fees. In fact we have even sent hundreds of students, thousands of students now abroad. I know some of you will ask us why we are sending our students abroad while we have universities here in Nigeria. Yes we have a lot of universities in Nigeria, but in Nigeria when you start, when a student starts level 100, he doesn't know how many years that he would spend to finish because of the strikes, so this one we are sure when started, we are sure when they are finishing, since we can afford to pay. Not only that, we also want them to get the exposure because that is very, very important. The exposure, the international exposure, how life is perceived by these developed countries, how education is made practical, how education is made useful after school, you know, not somebody who finishes university and the same time you find him lacking in terms of exposure and so on. That is why we are putting our hands in all lurk and corners that are positive in nature. Kano state ranks highest in Nigerian drug abuse indices among youths, according to the NDLEA. What is the Kwankwaso administration doing to curb this menace and rehabilitate the 11
INTERVIEW
youths and empower them? Yes, emm‌like you rightly said, Kano was the hub of drug trafficking, Kano state had the highest, but I think now it is a different statistics. So the issue is how that happened. His Excellency the Executive Governor of Kano State constituted a drug abuse and illegal drug prohibition committee, headed by medical doctors, pharmacists, security agencies, traditional institutions, the Hisbah, and we started first by identifying the problems. We identified the problems from two angles. One, there are so many shops that are involved in the sale of illegal drugs, so many ware houses where illegal drugs are being stored, and also we examined so many illegal drugs are being brought into Kano. So we constituted a committee and that committee precisely knows where it was going. So we started by the ware houses, the shops and also blocking the routes where the drugs are being brought into Kano. But I assure you it was not an easy task. It almost evolved into a tribal issue, but we had to make it clear that we were not against any tribe. We are not against any religion; we are against those who are trafficking drugs. So that is where we are today. That committee is doing very well. We have banned millions of naira worth of drugs, almost every two weeks, you see us in the press banning 12
drugs, illegal drugs, expired drugs, you know, artificial drugs, and so forth. And for the youths who are already addicted to drugs, we established a rehabilitation center in Kiru, where we take such persons for examination, for treatment and also for empowerment. We teach them some skills when they recover. We have medical doctors, we have professionals, who take care of them and when they recover we ensure they learn these various kills and are empowered after learning and they become responsible members of the society. So the fight against drugs in Kano state is a reality. We are very, very serious about tackling the issue and we are working day and night, we are working around the clock to ensure that Kano is free of illegal drugs. Talking about drugs sir, my doctor friends know I am part of this interview and wouldn't forgive me if I don't ask you this question. There is the issue of Egyptian doctors that were employed by the Kwankwaso administration and they are being paid higher wage than Nigerian doctors. These issues have resulted to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) clashing with the Kwankwaso's government. Have these issues been resolved? First of all, let me ask you a question out of your question. Are you
questioning the identity of the doctors or are you questioning the pay for the doctors? We should get these things clear. We learnt that they are thousands of Nigerians in the United State of America. What are they doing there? Working Then if you have an Egyptian doctor in Nigeria what is the problem? If you recall, some thirty, forty years ago, who were the teachers in Nigeria? Foreigners Foreigners. And now we have so many Nigerian professors abroad. It is true we have some Egyptian doctors. And we believe we have the right to do that irrespective of whatever some people may say. We have Egyptian doctors, we can employ American doctors, and there is no law in Nigeria that prevents us from employing anybody as far as you have the quota from the immigration. If you have the expatriate quota you can. And concerning the payment, it was a lie, and the doctors who said so apologized to the state government. They said we are paying them six thousand dollars. It was not true. We are paying them three thousand dollars, which is even lower than our doctors. Even yesterday we had meeting senior medical doctors; in fact it was not on this issue but on how to improve the infrastructure generally. This is no more an issue. They apologized. The person who gave that press release apologized because he told lies to the public. We are not paying six thousand dollars and we told them in black and white that we employed Egyptian doctors. Now look at this scenario, does it make sense for us to be taking our patients to Cairo? When we came to power there was a medical ward in Cairo that was reserved for people
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We are not paying six thousand dollars and we told them in black and white that we employed Egyptian doctors. Now look at this scenario, does it make sense for us to be taking our patients to Cairo?
INTERVIEW from Kano. So you prefer that kind of situation where we are sending our money abroad to treat our patients rather than employing the doctors to come and do it for us here? Which makes more sense? Sending our patients to Egypt or importing the doctors. I think importing the doctors makes more sense. This administration has been giving out marriageable, singles and widows, recently‌ Are you interested? (Everybody laughing) With these efforts one would expect, I listened to Aljazeera recently that Kano state has the highest number of divorce related cases in Nigeria. Do you think this programme should continue after you? If Kano state has the highest number of divorcee, what is the solution to that? This marriage you are seeing is part of the solution. If you have so many divorcees the solution is to get them back into the home system, into the marriage system. And another approach is to, for public enlightenment, is to introduce some measures so that the divorce itself becomes an issue. So that is exactly what we are doing. Since we have so many divorcees then our first priority is to get them married. When you are talking of divorcees you also have people who have lost their partners, widows and widowers. So you need to combine them in the legal, Islamic legal system to bring them together. But by so doing, we took so many things into consideration. First of all we know it is a social problem, which a normal security apparatus would not take charge of that. That is why we established the Hisbah. What I am trying to tell you is that these mass marriages are reducing the social problems that we are having, it is reducing the unwanted children that we are having in the society. It is reducing the agony of the people who want to get married but simply because they don't have the means they cannot get married. That is why the government started and now private people are being brought in. So in the actual sense, it is not even expensive for the government because many individuals and corporations are bringing their contributions in terms of the dowry issue, bringing in some materials like food stuffs, clothing, you know, beddings, and we found out that the couples are happy. They also have to sign our register, they have to
sign the code of conduct, and if there is any divorce, they must be penalty for that. You cannot just divorce like that. And eventually we have even discussed with the Ulamas. Eventually we are examining our divorce procedures as provided by the Islamic injunctions. And we can see how the mallams have been able to introduce some measures that will make divorce is a difficult process. And God himself has frown at divorce. God doesn't like divorce. Therefore we are engaged in public enlightenment to reduce that social problem. What efforts are you making to ensure such exercise is supported by laws to ensure continuity? Yes, they sign register, we give certificates, we give some conditions, and as I told you, we are working with the mallams so that they can give us, in terms of Islamic injunctions, what the repercussion are for somebody who divorces his wife, what are the weight that he has to carry, because that is the problem. If you know that you are marrying a woman for thirty years, for forty years and just one day you said you have divorced her, maybe her parents are even dead, she has no other place than in your own house, the Sharia does not approve for that; and it is a matter of, you know, putting it in black and white now to ensure that if you decide to do that, then you have to provide accommodation for her, you
have the provide the upkeep for the divorcee and so forth. So we are heading towards that in order to reduce the prevalence of divorce within the State. Sir, will they be any enabling laws from the House of Assembly so that at the end of the day, even after the tenure of this administration this could be taken up as one way of alleviating this measure social problem? That is where we are heading to, but you know the laws made by State Assembly in this case they have to be the laws which are in consonance with Sharia because there is a complete chapter or sura on marriage in the holy Quran. So it has to be studied very well and to ensure that all the measure that are being introduced they agree with the holy Quran. So that's what we are trying to do. I want to ask of the Kano state relationship with non-Muslims and non-indigenous people living in Kano state. What is the relationship like? It is excellent. We have an interreligious committee of which I am the chairman, we hold meetings with the Christians, with the Ulamas, we discuss our problems, we have even advisers from non-indigenes, even though that concept of non-indigenes we want to do away with it. What we call them now, they are residents, they 13
INTERVIEW are indigenes of Kano State with primordial claim in other parts of the country. That is the new nomenclature. They are indigenes of Kano State with primordial claim in other parts of the country (laughing), so that is why we strengthened the hisbah during the height of the Boko Haram problem, we were sending hisbah groups to protect churches on Sundays. So we assure you that ehh…we know that Kano derives its prominence from high population and this high population is being contributed by those who are not indigenes of Kano state, and the economic situation, Kano being the commercial center of the North is because we accommodate other tribes and other religions in Kano. Therefore if that has an advantage, we must take all precautionary measures to protect lives and properties of those who believe they are not indigenes of Kano state. Talking of hisbah, this issue I don't want to bring it up but since you raise it, let me ask this question. Recently there was the issue of beer breaking by Hisbah in Kano which was all over the internet, all over the world, and people in the South were not too happy with the whole scenario. They believe that beer is food for nonindigenous people, non-Muslim, and it is their business, that hisbah have been attacking their businesses, how would the Kano state government ensure that people doing such businesses don't feel intimidated and harassed? We abolished the sales of beer in the open space…, and let me tell you one thing, what is the statues of smoking internationally now? They are even smoking areas and non-smoking areas. And they are more non-smoking areas now in the world. Why don't people question that one? (Laughing), yes, smoking, why don't people question that one? Smoking of course affects health, isn't it? Yes. How about beer? It does. So every environment has got its own rules and regulations. Wherever you are you must respect the tradition and culture of the people you are staying with. So that is why we banned the sales of beer in the open space. We don't follow people into their homes to check their fridges to see whether there is beer; even our religion does not allow us to do so. The religion of Islam does not allow you to enter somebody's house and go and look to find out what it is doing. That is between him and God. 14
But if you are talking of something in public then you have to think of human rights too, that other people who don't take beer have the right not to be exposed to the dangers of taking beer. It's just like in a society, if somebody decides to go naked, do you think the authority will just allow him to go like that? But if you are in your bedroom, are you not free to be naked? (laughing). That's it. (Laughing). That is it. Sir, it is noted that this administration is doing well in the housing scheme, especially the Kwankwasiya Amana and Badujerawo estates. How will an ordinary man benefit from that? All the housing projects are in stages,
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The religion of Islam does not allow you to enter somebody's house and go and look to find out what it is doing. That is between him and God. But if you are talking of something in public then you have to think of human rights too, that other people who don't take beer have the right not to be exposed to the dangers of taking beer
and the concept is that the problems are so many. Both the rich… or rather the upper class, the intermediate and the lower class are affected by inadequate housing. So any segment you take, you are doing service to the society. That is why we decided to start with the middle class. The middle class are now occupying what the ordinary classes are occupying. By providing such accommodations the middle class will be accommodated and this will provide spaces for those who cannot afford our houses as we built them now. That is one. Two, we are doing the construction in stages. We started with that segment. Our next segment is for the less privileged. It is the one for those in the lower level o f t h e l a d d e r. T h e i s s u e o f affordability, I know that's where we are heading to. So, we have started with the middle class and we are heading to the commoners. Sir, when we entered Kano yesterday one of the projects we saw were these flyover bridges, huge projects, and one of the things me and my colleague discussed was this government has a year to go. How are you going to complete them sir? Yes, if you listen to our budget, to the speech of His Excellency, you would have seen it. We went to Kaduna for a retreat for four days and our retreat on budget is that ninety percent of our budget is on completion of projects.
INTERVIEW Ten percent is allowed for new projects. So our budget this year is solely for completion of the massive programmes and projects that we have started. I assure you most of these projects will be taken care of…, we already marked the projects that we may not finish by 2015. We have two major projects, or three major projects. One is the hydro-power; the second is the Wujuwuju road, which is converting the biggest drainage in Kano into highway without affecting the flow of water, without affecting the drainage. That will sanitize the system and environmental sanitation will improve. The land use will be improved. And health also will improve. That one we may not be able to finish before 2015. Also we have started the longest flyover, I think even in Lagos we have to give statistics. Apart from those two bridges...Third Mainland Bridge…, yes, because our bridge is 1.8 kilometers. We are just starting it now. They are doing the filing now. Right from the roundabout around Triumph publishing Company, it goes to Sabon Gari Market, it will pass Sabon Gari market, it will extend to airport road, bank road, where most of Kano banks are located, 1.8 kilometers, with a lot of droppings here and there, so that one we are starting it now. We have already paid the advanced payment of about 10.1 billion, which is 30 percent. The contractors have already started working. And it will continue until it finishes. So that one if we are not able to finish, we are going to roll it over to the next administration. In the past three years Kano State has been rated the best, well organized, and disciplined state by Saudi Arabian authorities as regards the annual pilgrimage. What is the secret behind these remarkable achievements and what efforts are you making to sustain that? Yes, I think the secret behind it is to first of all analyzing and finding out the problems of hajj operation, both at home and in the foreign land. So we started with the home front first. We found out that…ehhh, we started right from the policy itself. According to Sharia, according to Islamic injunction, who are the people must to go to hajj? We had to start from there. According to Islam, Hajj is compulsory for those who can afford it financially, for those who are healthy, and for those who physically can perform the Hajj. Now, we discovered that what the government was doing
was beyond this because government was taking money to pay for people to go to hajj, and that made the public expenditure so high. So when we came in we said, no, no, no, no…. Anybody who is going to hajj must pay, whether he is rich, poor, vast in Islam, ignorant in Islam, you must pay because that is what the religion says. So we made an announcement that we have stopped government sponsoring pilgrims. If we sponsor somebody it must be somebody who is going to work for the pilgrims, like the medical team, like the preaching team, you know, like the pilgrim welfare agency itself, the staff…these are the only category of people that we pay for, and they are limited in number. So we started sanitizing right from the policy. Then we found out that there was no adequate public enlightenment on the dos and don'ts of the hajj operation in Saudi Arabia. And we decided to establish a very, very, strong and
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Anybody who is going to hajj must pay, whether he is rich, poor, vast in Islam, ignorant in Islam, you must pay because that is what the religion says
enlightened team that will engage all intending pilgrims on the procedures of the pilgrimage, even to the extent of an artificial Ka'aba, an artificial Arafat, an artificial supper in Marwa, so that the intending pilgrims, will precisely know what they should do physically. We demonstrated that one. We also decided to put them into different camps for lectures by those people who know about it very, very well. It has been very useful. Thirdly, we established a mobile court that will punish those who are disorderly or dishonest in the foreign land. And we prosecute. When they come back with the offenders they are prosecuted. Some are jailed for years in the prison. We also re-organized the agency, the pilgrim welfare agency to make sure that all the bad eggs, you know, are removed. All those who are cheating the pilgrims in terms of paying their dues, dealing with banks to cheat the pilgrims, all the center offices in the local governments who were dishonest were removed, and even the last hajj we found some two wanting and they may even end up in jail. By so doing you create fear to those who are dishonest. That is how we succeeded in being the most disciplined pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, the cleanest environment, in Saudi Arabia. When they are going for buses we ensure that they go in an organized queue, and they enter one by one. We ensure that 15
INTERVIEW we are abiding by the rules and regulations of Saudi Arabia. So that is the secret behind it. Sir, the issue of KAROTA, the Kano State traffic law enforcement agents, since coming down to Kano I have heard complains about them, complain that they overreact, harass people, extort money from motorists, charge them high, even cause accidents due to their activities, what are you doing to ensure they are educated properly on dealing with the public? As far as I know, KAROTA is created because there is a social problem in our public transportation. People don't obey traffic rules, people are over speeding, people are using very old vehicles, people are not having their driving license, people are not having up to date documents for their vehicles, you know, so all these things put together and the police are highly stretch. You cannot expect the police to be everywhere. So we decided, His Excellency the executive governor of Kano state, Dr. Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, decided to establish that institution. We believe they are doing very well because they are more feared than the police. However in every organization you will certainly find some bad eggs, but I assure you that the cases of collecting money really is even surprising to me. If we come across such cases certainly we are going to deal with them. According to the reports we are getting, they are not collecting money from people because they are ruthless, they are harsh, people complain that they are so harsh, but the more you say that the more we like it, because the undesirable elements within the society they need iron feet in order to control them, especially now. So we are very, very serious with that organization, but any lapses we recognize they are going to be corrected. Sir, it is widely claimed that your internal revenue has quadrupled. How were you able to achieve this? First of all we had to observe the tax bases, that is the source of the taxes, how to improve them, and most importantly by removing elements of corruption within the collection system. So we realized that we were losing a lot of revenue because of our archaic learnt administration system, and we created what we call KANGIS, which is similar to AEGIS in Abuja, so that we improve our administration of the land and also get the revenue that we are supposed to get. By being 16
prudent with public fund is in itself is an encouragement to people to go and pay their taxes. When people observe that there is a lot of corruption a lot of misuse of public funds, then they are not obliged to go and pay. So we gave a lot of encouragement through our work and people are telling us they are going to pay their revenues, that is because they believe in what we are doing. These are the things that made the collection to improve drastically. We are putting more efforts to maintain that. And that brings us to another very important question. Government is always endemic in some ways to corrupt practices, either from politicians or from the public service, in a country where corruption is more or less a kind of national character, so prevalent, so wide spread, but the surprising thing here is that for the
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I think everything depends on the leader. If the leader is determined to correct the situation and the leader is determined to lead by example, I think the rest of the job becomes simple.
first time in the history of Kano state, there is the application of transparency and due process in governance. How is the civil service carried on board along this very difficult road, people wonder how you are succeeding. I think everything depends on the leader. If the leader is determined to correct the situation and the leader is determined to lead by example, I think the rest of the job becomes simple. It is a matter of enforcement. So the civil servants have learnt to abide by due process, they have learned to be prudent, because those we found wanting we always punish them according to the law, and when we're transparent in out transactions, definitely people would be on the queue. And also very importantly, we have an outfit, that is, an anticorruption outfit within the civil service. It's our kind of EFCC. So, that anti-corruption is also watching what is happening within the government ministries, departments and parastatals and anybody with information, anybody with complaints is free to go there and they're free to go and investigate and if they found somebody wanting, they can prosecute according to the law. So, these are measures that seem to help positive impact on the civil service and we believe, we shall continue to maintain this so that we have a very good and viable civil service.
INTERVIEW Sir, on a final remark; are all we going to wear red cap in 2015? What are you saying? (General laughter). I ask because the red cap is almost synonymous with Kano State and the North now. So, I'm asking, is it going to spread down the South and everywhere in 2015? Our own is a movement that is spreading like a wildfire. So, we are not doing it for office, we are doing it to change the system; so that if the system is changed for the better, whoever is there on top will find it easy to manage the system. That's our objective but, if by chance we happen to be there, we should not mind. With your obviously demanding schedule and age; how are you able to cope with the stress associated with this office? Yeah, we have a meeting by 9pm. After this one? (General laughter...) Yes. It is the security, eeeerr, we have an outfit for security; the security trust fund. We want to launch our Security Trust Fund to ensure security in Kano State and I'm heading that so, we're going to meet with that outfit. Well, you see, it's a matter of determination. If you are determined, you know that you have a target, and you have a framework; you have timeframe. Four years, its off if it is four years, you have to plan to see how much can you do within those four years because you cannot unwind the time; the time is ticking every second, even less than a second, the time is ticking and therefore, if you want to count your eggs at the end of it, then you have to be very very up and doing on daily basis so that you have to leave a legacy behind. So that is what we are doing. Like you know we were in government for four years and then we went trenches for eight years so... (laughing), you should expect that we were not in trenches for nothing. We were in trenches, planning how to launch and if we launch and succeed, we must have a blueprint so, we have eight years to plan a blueprint that we think is good for the people of Kano State. At this segment, we're not just unveiling the blueprint. It is generally believed that as Nigerians we have negative historic reputation for maintenance culture; with this historic record of achievement, what efforts are you making to ensure effective supervision and monitoring of these projects? We are doing that because we know
how important the projects are and we know what efforts we put to make them a reality. Therefore, we shall not fold our arms and see they are being vandalized like that but most importantly is that we are working very hard to see that the Kwankwasiyya Movement rules Kano for many years, so that we provide the desired sustainability and that by the time we have the required infrastructural facilities on the ground that would pave way for economic
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Anybody who comes, somebody would start Seven Point Agenda, another person would come with Transformation Agenda (laugher) before you realize there's nothing on the ground
development in Kano State, then, it would be very difficult for any foolish leader to come in future and demolish them. So, it's part of the maintenance culture sustenance. We are working very hard as a movement to ensure that we win elections in Kano State and to continue winning election in Kano State so that we can give Kano State the best we can afford to give and, you know the problem of continuity, which is one of the diseases in Nigeria. Anybody who comes, somebody would start Seven Point Agenda, another person would come with Transformation Agenda (laugher) before you realize there's nothing on the ground. Ours, we know that there's a big problem and therefore, we must work hard to ensure that there is continuity; our people who conceived the Movement, who are drunk with the opium of the Movement, continue to be in government, so that we get what is requires to build a good nation. Today, we're talking of the Tigers but if you look at their system, we find out there's continuity and it requires action. Sir, thank you for your time. Thank you. 17
POLITICS
Who will become APC's Presidential Candidate?
Buhari
A
fter all that has happened in recent time in the political arena in Nigeria lately, it is obvious that the Peo ple's Democratic Party (PDP)inarguably are going to nominate President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential flag bearer. Despite all that has been said and done, despite the defections from one party to another by politicians, Goodluck Jonathan being an incumbent still remains a daunting challenge to the All Progressive Congress (APC). A stumbling block to Aso Rock, as some would say. 8
Oshiomhole
POLITICS
Nda-Isaiah
whom to nominate to be their flag bearer for the 2015 presidential election. Almost all Nigerian political parties have not been able to successfully nominate a candidate where all delegates are happy that it is free and fair since 1999. It has always been the case of imposing an individual on the party. It doesn't look that it will work with the APC now that we have a lot of big men in the party. The question is however, who will the APC choose? The Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, recently endorsed his Edo State counterpart, Governor Adams Oshiomole. Rochas Okorocha's posters are all over Owerri and Imo State. Sam Nda Isaiah, the publisher of Leadership newspaper has openly declared he will run for the president in 2015. Pundits believe the Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is another most likely contender in the APC. Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso left the PDP for the APC recently after efforts to solve
Tinubu
Fashola
9
POLITICS
Okorocha
the problems in the PDP didn't work. Then there is Muhammadu Buhari. Muhammadu Buhari has an overwhelming support in Northern Nigeria but not in the South. A media man once referred to him as a bad product that will be difficult to sell. Even among his supporters, many are calling for his resignation from politics and nominating a principled and a younger man, that doesn't mean that the Buhari appeal is still not very powerful. All Nigerians are waiting for who the APC will choose as its candidate in 2015. The person APC choses and how they choose who they choose will matter to a lot to people. A lot of people are already saying
Ahmed Tinubu may not want Muhammadu Buhari and that is why Babatunde Fashola is endorsing Comrade Adams Oshiomole. There are talks here and there that the APC will soon face their own internal crisis over the group that controls the party. Recently Attahiru Bafarawa and Shekarau, both rs of their
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Tinubu may not want Muhammadu Buhari and that is why Babatunde Fashola is endorsing Comrade Adams Oshiomole
people that played a big role in the merger of the numerous parties that forms the APC quietly left the party for the opposition PDP after the party could not resolve amicably the problems they have with the governors of their respective states over who has more power in the party. We don't know yet who the APC will nominate. From all indication however, Muhammadu Buhari's supporters want him to contest. That the former military head of state has been quiet over the months and has managed to keep a low profile and not get
POLITICS
misquoted by the press shows that he has the ambition of contesting again in 2015. Some people have advised the APC to choose a Christian candidate from the North or anywhere to diffuse pattern of vote that usually go along religious line. Femi Fani-Kayode who is the first member of the PDP to defect to the APC advised the party not to make the mistake of choosing a MuslimMuslim candidate because that would disastrous, obviously because some people in the PDP is a Muslim party and refers to it as
are already accusing the party of being a Muslim party. Fani Kayode debunked the assertion that the APC is a Muslim party and refers to it as PDP propaganda but such propaganda
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Some people have advised the APC to choose a Christian candidate from the North or anywhere to diffuse pattern of vote that usually go along religious line
works when it comes to election and choosing a Muslim-Muslim candidate will send a wrong signal to Christians. Even though a lot of people will want to downplay the role and influence of religion on Nigeria's election, it is crystal clear that it really influences how a lot of Nigerians vote and will vote in 2015. Who the APC chooses as presidential candidate will really matter in 2015. Forget the defections; if they make the wrong choice the PDP will shock them, at least in the presidential election.
Fani-Kayode
POLITICS
Defection: True gains or desperation
Atiku
Kwankwaso
former governor Katsina State fell ill in a long battle that eventually took his life on May 5, 2010 after many intrigues by some of his aides to hang on to power at the expense of the laws of the land. Yar'Adua came into power after eight years of former President Olusegun Obasanjo; a Yoruba and a former head of state from Ogun State. In line with the zoning principle of the PDP, the formula demanded that power returned to the North to replace Yar'Adua. As a result of controversies before the demise of the ailing president, forces loyal to Yar'Adua cashed in on the secrecy surrounding his health to create constitutional gridlock that later necessitated the Principle of Necessity by the Sixth Senate.
It was this newly introducedx lexicon in the Nigerian politics that saved the situation and empowered then vice president, Goodluck Jonathan as acting president. The power-game that preceded Jonathan being acting president was not without regional attributes; while the North wanted to serve out its term made vacant by the death of Yar'Adua, others said it was fair to allow Jonathan stepped in to complete the tenure of his boss in compliance with the provision of the constitution that requires the vice president to step into office in such a situation. No sooner had Jonathan came on board than the battle to return a northerner as president began. Granted that Jonathan should be left to complete the remaining tenure of his boss, lobbyists from the north believed it was ripe to begin negotiating power against the 2011 general elections. Former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, former vice president, Atiku Abukakar, former National Security Adviser, Aliyu Gusau and former Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki indicated interests to run. Atiku later emerged as the preferred candidate of the North through a consensus committee led by former minister of finance, Adamu Ciroma to slug it out with Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP's primary. Jonathan defeated Atiku to emerge as the PDP's candidate and later elected as Nigerian president in the election. With the swelling in the ranks of the
Wamakko Remi Adebayo
A
s intrigues and cross-party realignment hits the political landscape, latest being the defection of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar into the ranks of the growing main opposition, All Peoples Congress, APC; observers are beginning to gauge the political gains being recorded by the APC. Analysts are pessimistic on the future of the opposition, saying the new platform may not offer fresh idea seeing that same figures blamed in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party still hold ace in the new re-alignment. Crises resolution is part of human management and it is expedient that resourceful handing tasks be mastered by leaders. Same is common to running a political party. Party politics is about managing both internal and external crises and the capacity of players to resolve it to the satisfaction of everyone; interestingly, the bigger an organisation, the complex the challenges it faced. For some time now, the Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has been embroiled in series of crises that have seen the once Africa's biggest party torn apart and losing its members to the opposition. As at now, the fortune of the ruling PDP has reduced in the National Assembly, where APC already has two-third representation in the House of Representatives and majority in the Senate. In November of 2009, barely two and half years into his tenure; then President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, a
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No sooner had Jonathan came on board than the battle to return a northerner as president began
POLITICS
Defection and better Nigeria opposition All Progressives Congress, APC through defection of five of the seven governors of the PDP into the APC, pundits are quick to know if the alliance and romance of the erstwhile foes is genuine or merely desperation on the part of the defected governors. When defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), Congress for Progressive Chance (CPC), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the Alliance for Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) joined forces to birth the APC, motives pushed forward was the mission to rescue the nation from a mismanagement plunge by the PDP. Knocks and praises greeted the announcement of registration of the new party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). A phony political group, 9African Progressive Party, a group laying similar claim to the APC acronym had before the INEC pronouncement dragged INEC to the court for denying its application as a party. At inception, the All Progressive had ten governors comprising all the six governors of then ACN. They are governors Babatunde Raji Fashola (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and John Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti). Others are Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Adams Oshiomhole (Edo). Also on the list are governors of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); they are Kashim Shettima of Borno State and Ibrahim Geidam, Yobe State. Added to the camp is Rochas Okorocha, leading a faction of APGA into the new merger. The loner governor on the platform of the CPC, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura added shine to the party to gain a somewhat wider regional spread. The new twist to the unfolding political game is the defection of five of the seven governors believed to have issues to grind with the leadership of the PDP into the APC. It was a matter of time although, feelers from the political turf was ripe for the defection. Governors Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Muazu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), AbdulFatah Ahmed (Kwara), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano)
Bafarawa
Shekarau and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) had complained of the highhandedness of the Bamanga Tukur's leadership in the PDP. The governors had bitterly complained of Tukur's handling of party matters in some states and his demeanour for wrestling party structures from governors in the affected states. Wi t h o b v i o u s i r r e c o n c i l a b l e differences, it was believed that without considerable concession on the sides of the party and the governors, the centre would cease to hold. Proving analysts' right, the failure of the envisaged October 7 meeting between the governors and President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve their differences and political maneuvering that ensured boomeranged with the
announcement of defection of the seven governors, loyal to Kawu Baraje faction of the PDP into the APC. Although governors Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido through their media spokespersons remain adamant to staying put in the PDP; political observers believe their motive for staying back could be meant to put an eye on the PDP. One of the demands of the governors was that President Goodluck Jonathan should not seek re-election in 2015; a demand that aides of the president have roundly condemned as a call against the provision of the constitution, stating that only the president can decide to contest or not to contest in 2015. They cautioned that the demand, coming from governors, mainly from the North is taking a regional agenda too far. The mixture of the governors apparently having axe to grind with the president in the PDP with opposition party is a subject for political watchers to unravel. Observers are keen to know if the defected governors would be on the same page with the opposition if the president is not seeking re-election. Now that accusations are flying across party lines, there is high possibility of political spies being planted in the contending parties. In spite of the patronage to get these PDP governors to the APC, would it be right to consider them as spoilers in the party or would they reconsider a reversal of their political move, bearing in mind that the 2015 election is the bone of contention? Considering that political surprises do happen, will these governors remain in the APC if President Goodluck Jonathan shifts grounds to be in the APC to contest as president? As 2015 elections draw close, Nigerians are still in for political surprises. What would determine the future of these players in the opposition is the sincerity of these governors and openness of the founding fathers of the party; either to welcome the dissents as new born progressives or desperados seeking relevance.
ISSUE
Security Chiefs and a tough Presidential target
President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo with the newly decorated service chiefs.
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he sacking of security chiefs by President Goodluck Jonathan in January came with mixed feelings. Some felt the President has done well to consider bringing fresh hands that would be ahead at curbing the incessant instances of cold blood murder in the North Eastern part of the country. To others, the change of hands would create avenues for others to ascend the ranks that would see them attaining the peak of their career. Whatever side one stands, all agree that that the ordeal faced daily by Nigerians living in Borno and Adamawa states of late and Yobe State needed to be assuaged. Capturing the essence of this situation, President Jonathan while swearing in the new security chiefs on Monday February 3, expressed concern over the plight of Nigerians living in the affected states and Borno State specifically. “None of you should sleep until Nigerians living in parts of the country currently under the siege of terrorists could sleep with their two eyes closed,” “None of us will sleep till the Nigerians in Borno State can sleep. That is why I say today is not a moment for major statements. “We will be having very fine talks from time to time, but definitely Nigerians will tell you what they expect from us, we must not fail this country and I believe this team will work together to be assisted by other intelligence services because the war against terror must be won in the is country.” Jonathan instructed. Stern as these statements looked,
Solomon Ibrahim aftermath events with daring attacks on Borno villages appeared like a response to water down the Presidential admonition and a wake up charge to the security chiefs and operatives. Considering that Borno State, like Adamawa and Yobe is under the Emergency Rule, the boldness of insurgents to raze down villages and casualty figures is a tough challenge, not only to the new security chiefs and the President, but also to the future being gunned down and generation of leaders being mowed at inception and prime of their lives. Prior to the change of guards, on January 14, about 50 Nigerians perished in the hands of the insurgents, almost two weeks after, on January 27, at least 70 lives were wasted by suspected Boko Haram in Borno and Adamawa States. The series of unabated attacks have rubbished our psyche that casualty figures don't seem to affect anyone again except for the direct victims and their families. Saturday February 15 is another of such bloody days. Suspected Boko Haram invaded Izge village in Borno State killing about 100 people in an attack so gory and daring. Resident said the killers arrived the village in six trucks and motorcycles; clothed in military uniforms and armed with sophisticated and very lethal weapons. As they took their leave, blood, sorrow, pain and horror painted the scenes. Corpses littered the streets while some murderous elements smiled satisfactorily to the destruction of others.
The horror associated with these dastardly instances is one of the reasons why the new men in charge of the security of lives of Nigerians, wherever where to choose to live must face the new challenge and assignment with all sense of national honour and commitment to restore dignity to lives of Nigerians and above all, restore the nation to the path of unity as one indivisible entity as we would like to be loved to be seen. There is no gainsaying that the Nigerian military and security agencies rank among the best in the world; there is also this understanding that the current challenge of unconventional warfare posed by the insurgency may not have been prepared for; what is not in doubt is that the men are capable. The target of winning the war against the Boko Haram is a benchmark so huge, but it is not attainable. Agencies of government must unite like the President admonished to bring the era of terror and blood to an end. The President as Commander-in-Chief is aware of the grave situation subsisting in Borno State, we can only appeal that the political leaders would not totally fail Nigeria in the word of Kashim Shettima, the Borno State Governor on the mindless murder of innocent lives in Izga village. Men and women of goodwill , political leader and religious clerics have roles to play in saving lives of Nigerians on both sides by prevailing on their wards and children to stay off these coldblooded murderous enterprise that has reversed whatever gains had been made in the past to rubbish our future and image.
FEATURE George Onmonya Daniel
A
lot has been said about how several governors have done this and that in their state, but the governor of Sokoto is one of the best governors in Nigeria. Governor Aliyu Magatagarta Wammako may not be a noise maker and advertise what he has done but on a visit to Sokoto state you will obviously see with your own eyes. I was in Sokoto last year about this time and I was really impressed. The massive investment in education is what has impressed me. Wammako invested in the building of new secondary schools and you all know of the new Sokoto State University. Then there is the Almajiri Model School initiation by the Sokoto State government under Wamakko, the idea that the Federal Government later adopted. I am particularly endeared to the Almajiri School. I honestly think something should really be done about the Almajiri Institution all over the North. “These children should be trained so that they can become useful and important because they are our children?� Wamakko said during the interview. I personally visited the Almajiri Model School with my colleagues and it still makes me happy to see these children being taken care of, fed and trained. I only think that government must do more. I must commend the Sokoto State government for the courage to embark on such feat despite controversies that the system should be kept in place by conservative clerics and scholars. Most times change is almost always resisted by the same people that these changes will benefit. A leader must do the right thing sometimes leaving partisan politics out of it and a journalist must always tell the leaders some of these truths, not with the intention to embarrass the government but to draw the attention of government to it. The Northern states must ensure that all their children are trained. That is why I am personally advocating for other state government to take it upon themselves and do something for these children. They are our children. They are the children of Northern Nigeria. They are the children of Nigeria. They deserve to be trained properly. Governor Aliyu Wamakko has a year and some couple of months to end his tenure as Sokoto State governor. The people who are taking over must ensure that they
Wammako is one of my best governors
Wamakko continue with training the future generation. The commissioning of the Sokoto State University late last year obviously tells of Wammako's passion for education. I must also mention rural development where the governor has received awards in areas of Agriculture, the state Independent Power Project, road construction, youth employment and ensuring that Sokoto State is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria today. Even Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah has severally testified to these facts. I went
out severally at night to sit out and enjoy the evening in Sokoto and I was privileged to see the Chief of Igbos in Sokoto who confided in me that Wamakko is a great fellow. I like the word 'great guy.' I was supposed to interview the governor recently in Abuja, but when I sent him a text message to give me the time and place for the interview, my phone rang. Wamakko himself called to say he was already at the airport on his way to Sokoto. Isn't it really cool? How many governors are this humble? Wamakko is a gentleman.
Almajiri Integrated Model School, Sokoto.
Some pupils of the Almajiri Integrated Model School, Sokoto.
SPECIAL REPORT
Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso receiving the Zik Prize for Good Governance Award from Chief Sonnie Odogwu, supported by former Chairman of the Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution People, Politics, Performance Remi Adebayo
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s the continent of Africa is confronted with a common vice, which is good governance and deficiency in reputable leadership; identifying and locating good and responsible ones, at any given time is always difficult. When discovered, warming such breeds into the psyche and acceptance of those in need of their skills and talent is more problematic. Times when such enterprise seems easy is when the people have suffered worse experiences under a leadership before an expected rescuer appears on the scene. This can rightly pain the scenario in Kano State with Engr. (Dr.) Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso as governor. Having weathered the political storm that got him out of the state in 2003; Kwakwanso, in partnership with his most dependable deputy, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, have institutionalized their legacy. With the comeback potency accompanying the level of development in Kano State; it is not difficult to conclude that this Governor went into sabbatical to develop a blueprint; a
most ambiguous master plan for the transformation of Kano State within the available short time, covering the length of his tenure. Anybody that knows Kano State well and has not been to Kano since Kwankwaso and Ganduje took over the affairs of the State in the past three years will be surprised at the transformation that has happened in the state within this period. "It is simply awesome," according to our Editor-atLarge, George Onmonya Daniel. "The face of Kano has changed and Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso and his deputy have written their names in the history of Kano State and Nigeria for these laudable initiatives and foresight, but if they are able to finish these gigantic projects within the next one year they would have done what no government have done in the history of Northern Nigeria." Daniel, who once lived in Kano since 1994 and studied in Bayero University Kano reiterated. Desperate to ascertain the veracity of this inference, and not minding the starring evidences; we agreed to mingle with the ordinary people, non-indigenes and artisans in the state
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
The 1.8 kilometers Silver Jubilee flyover in the Kano. to ask their perception about this government. Although not familiar with Hausa language, the expression, “Walahi, Kwankwaso sai aiki sose,” is a statement I suddenly got accustomed with. I asked George for the meaning, his interpretation only justified the excitement already shown on the faces behind the sentences. They have consistently expressed satisfaction with the level of thought-provoking development the state is witnessing
under the Siamese team of Kwankwaso and Ganduje. Kano State was created in 1967; it has the population of 9,383,682; according to the 2006 Census and 20,131 kms area. Managing such state, which in the words of Dr. Ganduje can stand as a country, requires exceptional leadership and courage; to maneuver it out of humanitarian challenges and offer good governance. The Kwankwaso administration ion of
Newly expanded Kano – Zaria Road at night.
appears to be the missing link and his cutting edge intervention in the application of his God-given ability in the administration of man and resources has carved for him a golden place in history. Kwankwasiyya all the way
E
ntering Kano city from Zaria at night, the illumination of the street made the welcoming signage to the city made it all fun. Welcome to “Kwankwasiyya City.”
Kwankwasiyya Revolution Kwankwasiyya has been integrated into the psyche of an ordinary Kano man; indigene or not, everyone has been associated with the mantra as it has permeated not just Kano but almost all its adjourning states and cities and spreading through the North like wildfire. In an exclusive interview with NEWISSUES in Kano recently, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, the Kano State Deputy Governor explained, “The word Kwankwasiya is a concept derived from the executive governor of Kano State, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and this concept is an indigenous political ideology which attempts to fill the gap in the shortfall in our democratic system,” “Our problem is not parse that of tribalism, it is not that of religion… religious differences, but it is a problem of the wide gap between the rich and the poor. It is a problem of bad governance. It is a problem of lack of transparency, it is a problem of misapplication of public funds, and it is a problem of stealing public funds.” He said. “ K w a n k w a s i y a i s h o n e s t y, Kwankwasiya is transparency, Kwankwasiya is endurance and perseverance. And that is what we have, and it is as concept, it is not about an individual but an indigenous political ideology,” Ganduje said while summarizing the concept. Since the foundation of this government is laid on a strong ideological stability like this, the infrastructural and human capital development going on in the state can be rightly understood. From education to healthcare, youth empowerment to rural development; road construction to employment, rural development and urban renewal, strategies and implementation, Kwankwaso is doing tremendously well that no governor has come close to him for achieving in less than four years what others considered impossible for more than seven years. Perhaps storming back from his understanding of the state as a result of his first term experience as governor between 1999 and 2003, Kwankwaso hit the ground running. His preoccupation is that Kano youths and children must be disconnected from criminality and be given a chance to live productive lives. In doing this, Governor Kwankwaso launched several human capital development and youths empowerment
Gov. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso and his deputy, Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje with some students of the Kano State reformed public schools.
Some of the 100 Kano State indigenes sponsored to study Aviation at the Mid-East Aviation Academy, Jordan.
Engr. (Dr.) Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso inspecting works at the permanent site of the North-West University.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution programmes, which are targeted at the mammoth population of young people in the state. The numbers keep swelling. Thousands of youths across the state's 44 local government areas have benefitted from different trainings, aimed at making them self-sufficient. Only this January, another set of 1,150 students were graduated from the training on tourism and hospitality as well as GSM repairs. This is in addition 440 already trained in chalk making, 532 in fishery and livestock farming in May 2013 and other 832 as at December in agro-based economy. Others include the 660 trained on leather works, 3000 on mechanized farming and 395 trained on modern security techniques and surveillance. If that sounds unbelievable, then, the training of 100 youths to be pilots in Jordan would appear like illusion. Many more have been financially assisted by government with soft loans to support their small businesses for them to become productive. This unrelenting empowerment drive is still sweeping through Kano with a singular purpose of totally transforming the youths. No governor, I dare say, is this defiantly committed to depopulating the criminal haven in Kano, with love for the youths in Kano like Kwankwaso. The speed, the volume and the content of these interventions make them unarguably revolutionary. Poverty Alleviation One of the poverty alleviation
Some beneficiaries of the Kano State foreign scholarship initiative. initiatives in Kano State is the N2billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Medium Scale Enterprises Development signed recently by Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Governor Kwankwaso explained that the fund was injected into the 37 Micro Finance Banks established by the state government. “Through the banks, the poor, especially those in the rural areas, can obtain the much desired capital to boost micro, small and medium enterprises which will in the long run improve the local economy,� the Governor explained. This is just one among numerous initiatives embarked upon by government to upgrade quality of lives
Work going on at the permanent site of the North West University.
and enhancing productivity in the state. EDUCATION he fact that education takes the central focus of this administration is stating the obvious. A UNESCO report stated that 60% children are out of school in Kano State. Education took N35 billion in the 2012 fiscal budget and N24.17 billion in 2013, spreading through all the levels of education in the state. Paying attention to basic education structure became imperative; therefore, there was urgent need to motivate children back to school at the expense of government. In doing this, government introduced free feeding for school pupils and provided two sets of uniforms to
T
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
One of the over 2000 Kwankwasiyya classrooms constructed across the state. augment the compulsory free education policy of the Kano State Government. In addition, over 2000 Kwankwasiyya classrooms have been constructed, dilapidated ones were renovated while mega secondary schools have been established. Governor's College and First Lady College are few examples. Furtherance to that, teachers' lodges with decent accommodation were built in rural schools while many capital intensive projects were embarked upon. As at September 2013, more than 1500 qualified and competent teachers were recruited to fill up personnel shortfall in the schools. Envisaging the increase of students expected to leave secondary schools in the state, the establishment of the North-West University, Kano to bring the number of the state's funded university to two is in line with this thinking; the first being the Kano state University of science and Technology established by the same Kwankwaso/Ganduje team between 1999 and 2003. The university has commenced teaching and expected to turn out its first graduates in the next two years. Sa'adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, School of Management Studies, Kano State Polytechnic and other tertiary institutions have been strengthened and expanded to be able to integrate graduates from secondary schools. The massive investment in education by government only confirms that the
heart of Governor Rabi'u Kwankwaso and his deputy, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje solely rest on educating every child to the university level for the overall development of the state. Kano State Mass Literacy Campaign programme is one of such out of the
box intervention of Kwankwaso. During a 2-day induction course for newly recruited staff of the agency recently, the Executive Secretary of the Agency, Prof. Fatima Umar affirmed that eighty-five percent of students passed their exams and can
One of the buildings under construction at the North West University.
Entrance gate at the North West University under construction.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
One of the many road dualization projects in Kano State. now read and write; saying as a result, 300,000 adults have become literate in the last six months of the programme. Considering the results recorded by the Agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) called on
other African countries to adopt the Kano State model to tailor their mass education programme. INFRASTRUCTURE Away from education, the undeniable proofs of the prevalent development programme of this government are the
Road expansion and roundabout beautification.
One of the roads under dualization.
gargantuan investments in physical infrastructure. It does no harm being a first time visitor to the state or a returnee resident or visitor; Kano State is now a big construction site. The 1.8 kilometers Silver Jubilee flyover in the Kano metropolis is a piece to behold. The project, considered the longest flyover in Nigeria is a link road that would ease the burden of commuters and transporters. The N10 billion flyover, awarded to Tec Engineering Nigeria has the tenure of 14 months to complete. Explaining the capacity of the project, the Deputy Governor clarified, “Right from the roundabout around Triumph publishing Company, it goes to Sabon Gari Market, it will pass Sabon Gari market, it will extend to Airport Road, Bank Road, where most of Kano banks are located, 1.8 kilometers, with a lot of droppings here and there,� he stressed. Billed to be completed before the expiration of this admiration, this project has cost the state a fortune and would stand as masterpiece for which this administration would be long cherished. The Gidan Murtala flyover shares the same feat and legacy. North-West University The North-West University is another master piece; perhaps, at completion, it will not only excel in scholarship but also in its excellent architectural concepts. The institution was conceived as a step to attend to the growing demands for higher education by Kano State children.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution In view of the magnitude of construction going on at the permanent site of the university, it is a matter of time before the educational fortune changed in favour of Nigeria's most populous state. Roads Construction of roads across the state is extraordinary. The popular KanoZaria road is already expanded to a six lane dual carriage road, provided with adequate drainage and street light. Ashton, BUK Rijiyar Zaki, BUK and Sheikh Jafar, Dorayi roads, to mention a few, attest to numerous road projects springing up across all the 44 local government areas. Most of these roads have been expanded and completed. HOUSING Kwankwasiyya, Bandirawo and Amana cities projects; located outside the city were conceived to provide t
Some buildings at the Bandirawo City.
Some buildings at the Amana City.
decent housing for the citizens and fast track planned development of the environment. The Amana city alone will cost the government N2.95 billion and billed to be completed in 18 months. The first phase of the project covers over 200 hectares and the original owners of the land had been compensated with about N528 million. Amana city entails 1,987 plots; divided into 314 low density residential plots, medium density 284, high density, plots 1,307, and 35 commercial plots. It is designed to have one filling station while other facilities like hospitals and markets will also be accommodated. Through these citiies, the Kano State government intends to move more of its middle class to the outskirts of the city, which in turn, shall create chances for the low income earners to
occupy the created vacuum, thus, decongest the city. Since these are projects situated on the outskirts of the capital city; it is obvious that in the not too far distance, more economically viable cities would be seen with the aim of widening the housing scheme and wealth creation through this urban decongestion programme. URBAN RENEWAL The high population of Kano State plays both extreme roles; both beneficial and as a liability. It takes a visionary leadership to work out a feasible to contain the canal network in the state capital and convert same to functional channels where drains would run unimpeded and serve at the same time as highway across the capital city. “...Wujuwuju road, which is converting the biggest drainage in Kano into highway without affecting the flow of water, without affecting the drainage. That will sanitize the system and environmental sanitation will improve. The land use will be improved. And health also will improve.� Dr. Ganduje explained about the project. Beautification projects were awarded and completed in all senatorial zones while government provided enough trucks for environmental sanitation in the state. LAND ADMINISTRATION Land Administration in the state is now a total departure from what was obtainable in the past. As one of the most vital sector for the development in terms of real estate, commerce and infrastructure; the Kano State government through the Ministry of Land and Physical Planning, established the Kano State Information Geographic System (KANGIS). KANGIS has a mandate of easing the bottleneck surrounding the administration of land; thereby changing the old analogue system to the fast and more efficient digital model. In fact, Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso mandated that issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) must be completed within six weeks from the date of application for land in Kano State. This is a very significant shift from the past where it took years before registration of land could be completed.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
One of the beautification initiatives of Kano State government.
HEALTH The saying that health is wealth is pertinent to the intended prosperity of any society. It takes a functional and healthy body to contribute to the economy. In view of this, the Kano State flagged off free Primary Antenatal Healthcare delivery system. The maternal mortality rate has also dropped from 1800 per 10,000 births to 600 which is an appreciable development in tackling the disturbing figure as it were.
Gov. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso inspecting some new hospital equipments.
Also, government has made substantial investment in both secondary and tertiary health institutions across the state. One of such is the new Intensive Care Unit of the Muhammed Abdullahi Wase Hospital, Kano. This unit was completed and equipped with ultra-modern medical facilities comparable only to international best practices. This is aside the purchase of numerous ambulances for hospitals to enhance functionality of the Primary Health Care programme and
Newly constructed library at KUST, Wudil.
Transformers for improved power distribution in Kano State.
procurement of gadgets to combat the scourge of malaria in all local government areas in the state. The Kano State Dental Centre and Gaya General Hospitals, among others have been renovated while new generating plants have been procured for other hospitals. AGRICULTURE Food is central to human existence; it is in fact, the first basic need to human survival. The Kano State government, under Engr. Dr. Rabi'u Musa w
Newly constructed library at KUST, Wudil.
Some modern equipment procured for Muhd. Abdullahi Wase Specialist Hospital, Nasarawa, Kano.
Kwankwasiyya Revolution
One of the sanitation trucks.
Some of the ambulances purchased for hospitals.
Graduates of the Chalk Molding training scheme.
KAROTA officials.
One of the rehabilitated water schemes.
Vehicles for effective monitoring of the UBEB in Kano.
Kwankwaso took the bull by the horn. The government ensured that agricultural chemicals and fertilizers are highly subsidized for farmers and government bought new machines for the KASCO Fertilizer Processing Plant to increase its capacity. As highlighted under the youth empowerment scheme of Kano State; youths are encouraged to go back to farming through the mechanized farming initiative. Modern implements were procured to ease the difficulties associated with traditional farming and to ensure food security for the people of the state and the nation at large.
Conclusively, there is no way this little essay can contain half of the projects implemented by the revolutionary administration of Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso and his deputy of immense loyalty and indisputable responsibility, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. Seeing these projects as a primary witness in other sectors like the Independent Power Project, water scheme and other laudable programmes and given the opportunity to ask questions as well as integrate with the ordinary people in the state on the performance level of their own Governor; it only this
constitutional limitation of two term tenure that will give Governor Kwankwaso respite from being governor of Kano State. Good enough, although the pegging of his official responsibility is enshrined in the books, not so of his leadership, not so of his passion, his revolutionary idea and transformation programmes that would live after him. As few of these projects are presented in words and photos; after all, photo speaks louder than words, won't you rather opt to align with this movement that is fast transcending the religious, regional and state barriers, the Kwankwasiyya Revolution!
OPINION
A vote for freedom Dike Chukwumerije
I
was at the ALS Night of the Spoken Word when a friend said, 'Imagine; a meeting like this would have been impossible some years ago.' And not just because the venue didn't exist, but the freedom to recite protest poetry too. Yes, yes, I know; some things have not changed. Just yesterday, El-Rufai was still summoned by the SSS for something he said. But, my brother, didn't he tweet about it on his way to the Yellow House? So, let me ask, is that it then? Is that why we feel things are much worse than they were pre-world wide web? Because we live in times when a misguided reference to your 'oga at the top' could go viral even before you've left the studio, and former employees of the Presidency feel safe enough to write all-revealing memoirs? That's what I think anyway; that we've never had it so good, when it comes to 'insider information', and that's why it feels like we've never had it so bad. Not really because oil money didn't also go missing under IBB. Or Bola Ige wasn't actually assassinated when Obj was President. There was just no Twitter then for them to trend on. And it is a good thing; these democratic freedoms that allow, and American technologies that enable, us to tell our stories. Still, they would amount to very little if the odious consensus guaranteeing silence had not also been broken. It's just the way I've always felt about Zoning; that nobody patiently waiting his turn is inclined to rock the boat. So, Jonathan showed up. It's a funny thing, how we assume the future will more or less extend respectfully from the present, when history is actually the tale of disruptive events. Yes. It is really not the fact that he is Ijaw, Southern, or Christian, that makes GEJ so provocative. It's that he's out of turn. And, for the first time in this Republic, we cannot be fairly sure where the next President will come from. Ah! It is an uncertainty we are not used to. So, people who formerly, even when dissatisfied with government, would
Chukwumerije have simply 'waited' their turn, have now in the face of a real chance that that 'turn' may not materialize any time soon opted for true competition. That's what I think anyway, that these three factors the gradual disappearance of state suppression of freedom of speech, the availability of technologies that enable it on an unprecedented scale, and the breakdown in the power sharing mechanism have combined to create the most critical environment any government in this Fourth Republic has yet seen. So, take heart, my brother; it may not be, on the objective examination of hard facts, that our
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So, let the SSS leave El-Rufai alone. And C.P. Mbu should stop acting like a PDP member. Someone should tell the APC that a budget is actually a way, not to get revenge, but to touch lives.
government has actually grown that much more incompetent. But, yes, you are right; there IS a lot to be feared with things suddenly so competitive, like the growing willingness of Government and Opposition to tempt Fate by dragging things into politics that have no business being there. But! There is also much to be feted. For, these same dynamics have conspired to force even a leader like GEJ assuming there is any truth to the rumors of copious kaikai consumption, wife domination and lack of intellectual sophistication to deliver significantly. You see, the road to Lokoja has been almost completely dualized, and the privatization of the power sector, something that had dragged for decades, is done. Boko Haram, a far more complex insurrection than Odi or Zak Ibiam, has been handled with much less heavy-handedness, and it would be hard to reverse the confidence civil society and CBN Governors have acquired under a 'weak' President. Yes, I agree, it is a delicate balance, this one. But the possibilities are a lot more exciting than the crude stability offered by power sharing equations. To me, our efforts to get the 'right' people into office must be complimented by others aimed at maintaining an atmosphere that makes people in office act 'right'. For the roads governments build because they want to are really not as durable as the ones they build because they have to. So, let the SSS leave El-Rufai alone. And C.P. Mbu should stop acting like a PDP member. Someone should tell the APC that a budget is actually a way, not to get revenge, but to touch lives. And, yes, if that is what you really want, feel free to cross-carpet. But, please, do not come back and tell me that Jonathan cannot run in 2015. Because, honestly, no one we vote in at the next elections can give us more than what we stand to gain from a mastery of this volatile art of fierce, but fair, competition. So, I beg you, my people, don't get so partisan you forget yourselves, and murder freedom.
1on One
Z
ents Kunle Sowunmi is a Nigerian author and an expert on Nigerian politics, based in the United States of America. In this interview he talks to NEWISSUES about his new book and the political situation in Nigeria. NEWISSUES: A lot of people would want to know your history; I mean where you were born and raised and how you finally came to reside in the United States. What's your story? I was not born at the Hospital, it was in a house on Akintola Road at Ekotedo Ibadan on July 28th 1956 the year Queen Elizabeth visited Nigeria and surprisingly, it was the year oil was discovered at Oloibiri In
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
schools, because my father was a civil servant and I was a belligerent child, too troublesome to be left alone, so I went with him to all his duty posts. I started at Shashegbon Memorial Primary Schools Agege Lagos in 1962 and in 1967 my old man was transferred to Ibadan after the creation of Lagos state so I went to Methodist primary School, Akintola Road, Ekotedo Ibadan not far from the house I was born, but after one term and in the company of bad boys, my old man took me to St Bridges Primary School Mokola Ibadan because we were Catholics and I was one of the Altar Boys under Father Clifford
of St Gabriel Catholic Church Mokola Ibadan. I had my first Holy Communion in 1967 and parents were happy, but it meant nothing to me, they told us not to eat the Holy communion (bread, the body of Jesus Christ ) it would melt in our mouth, if we could chew it, blood would come out and the whole Church would be filled it with it, that was the fear they planted in us, then you know me and my group, Sola, Brown and Monday, we openly ate the Holy communion with the hope the blood would come but nothing came out. I gained admission to St Patrick College Ibadan in 1968 but my Old man would not grant my request to attend the College when he saw the type of the gangs in my area most of them on marijuana, and some unprinted stuff that would be going to the school with me , he relocated me to
1on One Abeokuta, and I had to repeat primary six, meaning I had two G2 certificates, there in Abeokuta, in the City of my ancestors things changed for me, it was the first time I was out of sight of my parent, I lived with Mr. Akindele a teacher at St. Paul's Primary School Igbore Abeokuta who straightened me up. About four of us lived with him; his job was to take care of kids like me, we were kids that most of the parents found difficult to control, we never obeyed rules, we loved to look for trouble, we just looked for fights and we never helped at home for anything but Mr. Akindele knew what to do, we were denied breakfast, and every Saturday we had to go to the Ijeun Village on foot about five miles away from Abeokuta to fetch fire wood, we carried it on our heads and we cooked our own meal, I could remember, Shina Solagbade the son of a police Inspector, and Dr. Ogundele a son of a top government official from Lagos also lived there with me at the same time, and somehow, we started to listen to instructions and I gained admission to Lisabi Grammar School in 1970 Lisabi Grammar School was another interesting place, majority of us came from Lagos and some of us originally from Ibadan we lived in the hostel because for so many reason as for me it was the only way my old man could keep his eyes on me and my pocket money was given to the Principal, Rev. Lapese Ladipo if I needed anything, I would have to go through his scrutiny, I never asked the for it, because the Reverend would be asking for
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
details of what you did with the previous allocation. I believed Pastor Tunde Bakare was a year my senior in the School, And Mutiu Sumonu the current MD of Shell Petroleum Development in Lagos we shared the same double bunk bed in Dormitory A. Most of my best friends in the school then are now here in the United States of America, Rotimi Parker, (Texas) Dauda Sokeye(Bronx NY) Ebenezer Sopade (New Jersey) Shamusideen Odunsi (NJ) Lobito Brown (NC) Lanre Tejuosho (IL) probably Sali
we never obeyed rules, We loved to look for trouble, we just looked for fights and we never helped at home for anything
Tejuosho (IL) probably Sali Adekunte who is in Jalingo is only one still in Nigeria. I was Baptized Innocent and most of the teachers expected me to behave according to my name, late Chief Olusesan Soluade Deputy Governor of Ogun State was my Literature Teacher, and late Mr. Oyewole Baba Wolimoh was my favorite teacher, he was funny and I never missed any of his classes, years after I left school I visited him at home at Oke Bola Ibadan. I had my Advanced Level in 1976, on History, Economic History and Religion all I wanted to study then was archeology and I also worked briefly as a teacher and later joined National Achieves as a Binding Clerk until 1978 before I joined National bank of Nigeria, when I saw the little amount Professors and instructors were paid since I had to do the posting of their pay myself into their various accounts, I changed my mind on the career, I looked into Business Administration, because of the imbroglio of Obasanjo's military government and British government I was denied visa to Britain in 1977 Ogun State was new then, there was no Polytechnic or University, we lived at the mercy of Oyo State and Ibadan Polytechnic allocated only 28 percent of admission to indigenes of Ogun State but in 1978 those us who were given admission were sent packing because Ogun State did not remit the 250 thousand naira as part of the running cost. Fifty of us from Ibadan went to Ogun State from Ibadan we, met the Governor Harris Eghagha who advised us to hold a meeting with Commissioner for Education and come up with a proposal.
1on One At the meeting we demanded for our own polytechnic, the proposal was approved, Ogun State Polytechnic now Moshood Abiola Polytechnic was established in 1979 and we became the first set of the school because of space some and distance we were split into two sets, I came in as the second set of the school with just six months admission difference, In 1983, I graduated from the Polytechnic, did my NYSC in Lagos with National Library at Yaba Lagos, I came back to Abeokuta to teach Economics, Accounting and Commerce at Kobape High School until 1986 I joined Gateway Pharmaceutical Industries Ikangba Ijebu ode as the Project Secretary, I became the first Ogun Polytechnic Student to be admitted to University of Ibadan for MBA program along with one Mrs. Obe and I made new friends, like Dr. Santuraki current MD Nigeria Agriculture Bank Kaduna, Dr. Ilesanmi of UCH, Lemmy Omoyinmi former President Yaba Tech, Ralph Osayemeh former President of Institute of Bankers, Omidiji, and many more. I left the services of Gateway Pharmaceutical Company Ijebu Ode to join Niger Cedar Industries as the Marketing Manager until I established my company Drucker Industries in 1992, in between I helped to package many new ventures and one of them is the Micro Finance inside the Ogun State Polytechnic, Abiskol Industries and Drucker Industries by 1996 I knew I had to leave Nigeria, most of my friends in the military were arrested, they were my buddies
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
of my friends in the military were arrested, they were my buddies from Ekotedo, Ibadan, Col Olu Akiode, Col Ibukun Oyewole and Col Mepaida and we did not even know the where about of Naval Officer Dr. Toba Elegbe until I was told my name was on Abacha's list, I knew I had to leave the country. Six days after my 40th birthday in 1996, I left Nigeria; I left the three most important people to me in life, my daughter 12 yrs., Son 9 yrs. and my wife, and father who was just recovering from Stoke, my angel i.e. my mother Bolanle, my sisters and brothers and a circle of trusted friends on a journey that the outcome may never be known, but I was glad Abacha did not get to me. I did not see my family again for six years, those years mugged me of the joy of watching my children grow, I could not play football with my son, I could not attend parent teachers meeting with them, I could not take them along my journey like father did to me, it was painful to rely on proxy information on the
welfare of your children, as three months became years as I became undocumented alien in the United States of America, a problem President Clinton corrected before he left office. 2003 I came home to Nigeria to see my family, my children were taller and my son was almost my height of 6.1 and daughter and wife they all looked changed , if I had gone on a military assignment I would have checked into the hospital for PTSD because the shock of missing the family I love was too much. I am just grateful to God for making it possible for me to have my family back, I have my family here with me in the United States and I would probably be a grandfather by the time you would be reading this interview, but what about the rest of my family, what about my friends, what about people in Nigeria, those are the inspiration that keeps me going in my literary world, which is why I use the name Oracle, to speak and write the truth. I write straight from my heart, when I could see a nation so blessed with lots of opportunities but still keeps its own people in darkness not of light alone but darkness of ideas
and opportunities, it was sad.
1on One
NEWISSUES: You have written several books and many articles on the politics of Nigeria, how many books have you published, what is the latest one 'Vulture and the Vulnerable' all about and when is it coming out? I have written quite few of them, my first book was “Before the journey became Home” more like a biography and 100 ways to laugh which I did for the United State Department of Defense as a
staff of Warrior transition Battalion Fort Bliss Texas; it was translated to Spanish and French. “Not a Stranger Anymore” which was a continuation of “Before the journey became Home,” another one is what happened to our democracy? It is a collection of my articles on politics in Africa., last year we launched a new book “Ogun State Politics of manipulation since 1976” and this latest one speaks about Nigeria and how we can find peace and development for the nation we all loved. “Vultures and Vulnerable” is very emotional,
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
and it took three years to get it out, some of the predictions in the article are now real, like the merger of political parties and future of internal security, it started more like a novel for Nigerians and none Nigerians to even take interest in affairs of this powerful nation.
NEWISSUES: Where can people get your books in Nigeria? Most of the books stores in
Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt, we are expanding the distribution as much we can, our company will open office in Ogun State most likely at Sango Ota to ensure all the publications of Korloki Publishing Company Brooklyn New York are distributed to all the stores in Nigeria and Africa, from April 2014, apart from the local bookstores, all our books are available on amazon.com, bn.com kpcbooks.com and many online stores, one can even download it on Kindle. NEWISSUES: As an expert in
Nigerian politics and with your experience of American politics, what do you think Nigeria is not doing rightly since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999? I am a Democrat, most of my readers say I defend American system more than normal, but I can't see anything wrong in copying what is right. President Clinton said we can use whatever is right in us to correct what is wrong in us, I am not sure if I am an expert, I am just that poor boy who grew up from a working class society at Ekotedo Ibadan who happen to love his country after seeing the beauty of America and how the democracy is working with little or no effort because they follow the rules and it is working for them, the president of America would not do anything to bend the rules to help his friend or family, mere accusation is enough ground for dismissal from office of any government official, the government would prosecute you for even thinking or speaking on how to plan corruption, we still don't have that in our values system, yet, we still see corruption as family members, or genetic system of our tribe, when an elected or appointed official Is accused of any crime, instead of us to stay focus, we look for excuses to justify the reason for corruption, we still believe the accusation was bent on removing our tribe man or woman from office, we forget our tribe is more than an individual, we can always present a better person from our tribe to serve the system than the first or second person if he or she was found to be corrupt.
1on One
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
Frustration is the mother of corruption and which makes the growth of a nation static, Our politicians steal as if there is no tomorrow, they forget their value may not be the same values with their children but they continue to steal from the system, they even forget the curses of God on them and their families, when I see them talking about God, on Christmas and El Fitri day, I wonder if it is the name of God or the devil itself, like they say , here in America, politicians are people with very short memories NEWISSUES: What can Nigeria do differently? I have use most of my articles in and out of the country to recommend the following five things to fix Nigeria, firstly, if we can introduce expanded Primary system (EPS) it will open up the avenue for good leaders to emerge, we will be able to do away with godfather politics, we will be able to ask questions from potentials leaders, and only the best and those answerable to us will make it to the position of leadership from the ward to the presidency. Secondly, Let us strive for the creation and establishment of Mayoral system of government to discover talent and leadership from each of our Cities, let us forget the creation of more states because it is never going to happen only Mayoral system can bring development to all the Cities of Nigeria , Thirdly, Let us introduce State and City Police and a system that will make all the Landlords to have a data base to check on any tenant
then we have closed doors behind the criminals for a place to live, we need state and City police to reduce crimes in Nigeria, the Federal police system must be placed under EFCC, to take on special crimes while the rest will be the responsibilities of State and City police, the EFCC will have the constitutional right to take over the police force of a state or City for six months, it will have the authority to reorganize it, and recruit effective police personnel and leave after six months unless otherwise extended by the National Assembly Fourthly, our system must gear towards hourly pay system for
all the workers in Nigeria Let pay our staff and workers by hours, it will improve productivities' Lastly, our workers particularly teachers and all medical personnel's must go through recertification process based on continue education for all professionals, each state must have the authority to issue licenses to professionals before they can practice their professions in the state, meaning, if you are a Nurse before you can work in Ogun state you must obtain the license from the State even if you have one in Lagos. NEWISSUES: I am sure you have been following what has been going on in Nigeria lately as regarding the massive decamping from the PDP to the APC. What is your view on that? It is not a good long term solution, after all these mergers and alliances, they will come
1on One back to fight each other over the same reason they are leaving PDP, if you plan to become a governor to steal and you leave PDP and you are unable to get the governorship at APC what will you do than to create another problem either break up the party, form another one or go back to PDP but if EPS is introduced you can test your popularity with the electorates from the grassroots and if you win Goodluck to you but if you lose, you probably find another job since politics would not be a career for you.. NEWISSUES: Some people in the opposition party are threatening violence if election is rigged in 2015 in a country where every politician plans to rig election or rigs election in their stronghold, can you picture how it will all turn out in 2015? It can't be worse than it was in previous elections, maybe we should have a law to guide unproductive utterances from our politicians, a statement that can even lead to disqualification from political office and a law that will stipulation two years like a forced vacation or orientation to study the values of the new party, before you can run for office, our politicians stands for no ideology, which is why a PDP man will be running for office on the ticket of APC, the new guy would disorganize those who had been contributing time and effort to building a career with party, it is not fair on the system, and
with Zents Kunle Sowunmi
you leave the electorates more confused because you have no ideology, here in the United States of America, ones you called yourself a Democrat electorates know your value system in terms of reproductive rights of women, children, student education, health insurance and immigration, those are the values of Democrats, and if your claim to be a Republican, they know you as a defender of big business, less tax and investment in United states Military and defense but you can't say that of APC or PDP they look like political touts to me which we call iru wa ogiri wa politics. NEWISSUES: There is no talking about Nigeria without mentioning corruption. In a recent interview, Goodluck Jonathan said corruption is not Nigeria's main problem. Do you agree with the president? Honestly, I want to believe the
President if he can show the leadership himself, let him declare his asset openly, let him give the EFCC all the resources required to fight corruption, I believe I read in newspapers that EFCC is now broke, the system is crippling the only functional tool we have in the country to fight corruption, honestly, I think our problem starts with frustration , before corruption, if the government can frustrate the EFCC very soon EFCC will be a corrupt organization if not already, and nothing else will matter again, it is very sad. I believe frustration begets corruption; the President was probably right on his definition of corruption. NEWISSUES: You are into publishing. How can you compare the publishing company in Nigeria with that of the United States? I did not go into printing or publishing overnight, as a staff of National Archives Ibadan inside the University of Ibadan, I started as a Binding Clerk, and laminations of document was just as a twenty years old guy then, but things have changed now, Continued on page....
ARTS Music
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Does Nollywood and Kannywood show division? By GEORGE ONMONYA DANIEL
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he world knows Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. It is said to be the second largest film producing industry in the world, ahead of Hollywood but second to Bollywood. Kannywood sprang up as a result of the boom in Nollywood from Hausa speaking film makers in Kano, so they named it after Kano, and it is Kannywood. Is Kannywood part of Nollywood? Do we need more than more 'woods' in Nigeria? We have the likes of Ali Nuhu, who started from the Hausa film industry and are now popular in Lagos axis that produces mostly English speaking films, Igbo and Yoruba genre and others. When Igbos film makers and their Yoruba counterparts see themselves as Nollywood, their counterpart from the North see themselves as Kannywood. NEWISSUES has found out that Kannywood actors are not even part of the Actors Guild of Nigeria in Abuja, Kano,
Kaduna, where most Kannywood films are produced and these actors are based. Agility Onwurah, Chairman Actors Guild of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter, has argued that the Actors Guild of Nigeria represents all actors who are their members whether they call themselves Nollywood or Kannywood. “Nollywood is like the father and mother of Kannywood. Kannywood is Nollywood. Whatever they call themselves does not matter as outside Nigeria they are referred to as Nollywood stars.� On the other hand Ahmed Magem, an author and film maker, says Kannywood people actually see Osofia, Ibro
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Kannywood on set
Nollywood as an industry dominated by Southerners and the Actors Guild of Nigeria as an organization that serves their interest. “People in Kannywood see themselves as Kannywood and nowadays they collaborate with Nollywood, if you know what I mean.” Nollywood and Kannywood show a nation still struggling to fully unite. There is no tension between the two but it obviously shows a crack in how the nation views itself, south and north. However over the years a lot of actors from Kannywood have become part of Nollywood and a lot of Kannywood actors are yearning to be part of Nollywood. There have been several successful collaborations between Kannywood and Nollywood but there is the disconnection. Due to this disconnection, we see an industry where you see actors who barely speak Hausa acting the part of a Hausa man or woman wrongly and awfully in many Nollywood movies. You wonder with all the Kannywood actors, why these producers and directors use people who barely even understand the language and have
very poor accent to act the part. It is this disconnection between Nollywood and Kannywwod that is the integral part of these whole deficiencies that viewers have complained over the years. Kannywood actors make movies every day in Abuja, but most of them are not even aware that there is an Actors Guild of Nigeria and those that are aware don't see themselves as part of it. Saleh AGM, a
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director in both Kannywood and Nollywood says they have been discussions on fusing Kannywood into Nollywood and dropping the name Kannywood. “I have convinced so many Kannywood members into joining the Actors Guild of Nigeria. There is a need to become one. A lot of actors from Nollywood are now making films with Kannywood.” Saleh AGM mentioned that in recent times Osofia and Ibro have acted together in a Hausa movie called Oga Abuja , Jim Iyke and Sani Danja, and Aki and Pawpaw have featured in recent times in Hausa movies. Recently, Aminu Muhammed Saira, a popular director in Kannywood, who has produced more than 500 films, in an interview with Daily Trust when asked about the recent collaboration with Kannywood, said that, “If you are talking about the movie 'Karangiya' and 'Oga Abuja', where we featured John Okafor, Aki and Pawpaw, I will say it is only a starter and we have reached where we want to be. This type of collaboration is a sign of positive development in both industries,
Kayode J Adden aka Marx, Ibinabo- AGN President (Middle), Chief Abu- National secretary AGN
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he world knows Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry. It is said to be the second largest film producing industry in the world, ahead of Hollywood but second to Bollywood. Kannywood sprang up as a result of the boom in Nollywood from Hausa speaking film makers in Kano, so they named it after Kano, and it is Kannywood. Is Kannywood part of Nollywood? Do we need more than more 'woods' in Nigeria? We have the likes of Ali Nuhu, who
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most of the jobs can done on your computer with the right programs, we need to invest in the right technology, and be ready to give our customers the best all the time without cutting corners, if you fail to do it right it will catch up with you and very soon you will be out on the street looking for another career. You need to see how companies attend to details in terms of quality of service not just publishing industry, every company must work so hard to outbid and outmatch each other, quality and good service is the rule of the game we need that too in Nigeria. NEWISSUES: How do Nigerians in the Diaspora view Nigeria? Do you think a lot of them would want to come back to do business in Nigeria? We all love Nigeria, all the 225 tribes of Nigeria in and out of the Country , anyone thinking of
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started from the Hausa film industry and are now popular in Lagos axis that produces mostly English speaking films, Igbo and Yoruba genre and others. When Igbos film makers and their Yoruba counterparts see themselves as Nollywood, their counterpart from the North see themselves as Kannywood. NEWISSUES has found out that Kannywood actors are not even part of the Actors Guild of Nigeria in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, where most Kannywood films are produced and these actors are based. Agility Onwurah, Chairman Actors Guild of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter,
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Kannywood films are produced and these actors are based. Agility Onwurah, Chairman Actors Guild of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter, has argued that the Actors Guild of Nigeria represents all actors who are their members whether they call themselves Nollywood or Kannywood. “Nollywood is like the father and mother of Kannywood. Kannywood is Nollywood. Whatever they call themselves does not matter as outside Nigeria they are referred to as Nollywood stars.� On the other hand Ahmed Magem, an author and film maker, says
One-on-one with the ORACLE splitting this country is probably talking out of frustration, like I said frustration is the mother of corruption, we still have a kind nostalgia that Nigeria would be back to what it was in the eighties or late seventies, the greatest fear here in the United States of America about Nigeria is security and lack of trust of those to do business with in Nigeria, and the reputation of Nigeria is so messed up that you wonder if it will be fine one day, but it is tough to separate the love of Nigerian from Nigerians, we are not like any other Nations from Africa Asia, we all love this country despite its shortcoming. The problems are the Children we have, majority of them may not return home again to Nigeria, because their value systems here are changing them fast with the culture of
their environment. NEWISSUES: How do others view Nigeria in the United States? That is a big question, your work not your country of birth can open doors of opportunities for you in United States of America, suspicion on Nigeria and is real but we have many Nigerians that are working for the government in various capacities, particularly in law enforcements agencies, up to the highest level you could imagine, and US military and medical field, we are everywhere in all the segment of US economy and we are also in the negative side of it like every other nationals, we not totally saints or bad people like they would want the world to see Nigerians, we are just normal people in search of our daily bread.
PARENTING
A Legacy of Positive Impartations Lola Aladejana
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he acts of parenting start from cradle till one goes to the grave. Your married children should feel free to consult you for advice on any prevailing problems in all aspect of their lives. Hence, the need for lasting positive impartation. When you are no longer there, what should be left with them should be a legacy and sweet memories of the impacts you had on their lives. Parenting simply means the rearing of children; it is a continuous process regardless of the age of the children. But where your child or your children just don't want to discuss their 'intimate issues' with you as a parent, it signifies lack of communication, then something is wrong somewhere. You are a young parent and your children are young, and they are manifesting some bad attitudes that beat your imaginations, or ever regret of having that child as yours, then something is wrong. Perhaps as a parent you have lost control on your teens and all you could think of is to enforce harsh disciplines and even threaten to disown them in order to get your message across to them. Or you are a parent that have completely abandoned and remain unconcerned towards your children careless and carefree lifestyles by allowing them shouldering responsibilities on their own? Something has gone wrong. Hence the need for you to know the foundational truths; but I must warn you, there is no guarantee your children will be made 100% perfect as you desire, because they have minds of their own, we do not have control over their minds. Therefore, what we invest on them goes a long way to make them become somebody in future and that is why it is call 'parenting'. TheTruth 1: Parenting as the word implies is a continuous process and it is the foundational seed embedded in these children which will later germinate and make them understand the realities of life. While your time, money, truth, advice and efforts invested in them will be forever appreciated by them after you are long gone, it is therefore
important to give these children solid foundation, not only in education, but their behaviours and social interactions to the outside world must be well spoken of. You are parenting young children or even the adopted ones, then the roles of parenting resumes. Every word and every action these children witnessed in us as parents or around them goes a long way to affect them later in life that is why we as parents need to think twice before taking any drastic action. For instance, you have a three years old son or daughter that is so inquisitive, they want to know everything and ask questions a lot, the fact that you create time to attend to them, you may not realise that yet, but you are sowing a seed of 'I will always be available if you need someone to talk to' this will remain in their memories. Another fundamental truth is giving your under ten the liberty of getting whatever they want that are not necessarily important. It is our duty as parents to take care of them and meet their needs not their wants. You cannot spoil them rotten all in the name of love. Children must learn to establish boundaries. The facts that these children always get what they demand for whether it is essential or not has already been established in their hearts that they can eat their cakes and still have it, even if you have millions of naira in your bank account. Let them learn to appreciate and understand the value of money, let them know that money doesn't grow on trees. Teach them to differentiate their wants from their needs. As parents, we always want to meet their genuine needs, nevertheless, teach them moderation and give them what they need. No child is above discipline especially from the age of three. The discipline am talking about is not the aspect of inflicting wounds on them and punching them please. The book of Proverbs says “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him”. Proverbs 22:15 (KJV). If you spare the rod, then be rest assure that your child will be spoiled. It is for their own good, later in life, they will thank you for it.
There are various ways to discipline our under ten children; they can be discipline by strong verbal warning by maintaining eyes contact (do not curse or shout), they can also be discipline by depriving them of their favourite activities, you know your children better, they can be home-bound and the younger ones from three to six years old can be discipline by putting them in a 'naughty corner' or any available space in your house that is safe, where the child will be ask to stay there for three minutes, this will make them feel sorry and of course you must let them know why they are being put in the naughty corner and make them apologise. Please be sweet to cuddle them after to make them feel forgiven. No child should be left un-disciplined if you want them to be successful in life. What we are instilling in them now is a seed and this is the foundation where their entire lives will be built upon! Am sure you will agree with me that a house with weak foundation will not stand the test of times, it wont be long before it collapse. Therefore, as parents, we hold the key to giving our children every support they need, our communications is vital, our involvement in their school activities is important, take time out to be with them. We will also need to monitor their academic progress, helps in developing and promoting their self-esteem, encourage them and applaud them where necessary, to mention few. It is important that we get involve in their formative years so as not to be branded as a failure parent. Parenting in a positive or negative ways still remain a legacy which will go a long way to either make or mar the destinies of our children. What kind of legacy are you imparting? Let me leave you with these profound statement in the book of Proverbs 22:6 “ Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (KJV). This is the legacy am emphasizing. May God bless and crown your tirelessly parenting in other to raise a wise and mature young man and woman with success. lolaaladejana@yahoo.co.uk
An Epidemic: Nigerian Men Killing Their Nurse Wives In The US By Abiodun Ladepo
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Yes I have killed the woman that messed up my life; the woman that has destroyed me. I am at Shalom West. My name is David and I am all yours.” Those were David Ochola's words during his 911 (U.S. Emergency Number) call to authorities after shooting dead his 28 years old wife, Priscilla Ochola, in Hennepin, Minnesota. The 50-years old husband was tired of being “disrespected” by his wife, a Registered Nurse (RN) whom he had brought from Nigeria and sponsored through nursing school only to have her make much more than him in salary - a situation which led to Mrs. Ochola “coming and going as she chose without regard for her husband.” The couple had two children four years old boy and a three years old girl. In Texas, Babajide Okeowo had been separated from his wife, Funke Okeowo, with whom he resided at their Dallas home. Upon the divorce, the husband lost the house to his wife, along with most of the contents therein, as is usually the tradition in U.S. divorces where the couple still has underage children. Mr. Okeowo, 48, divorced his wife because not long after she became a RN and made more money than him, she “took control” of the family finances and “controlled” her husband's expenditure and movement. The husband could no longer make any meaningful contribution to his family back in Nigeria unless the wife “approved” it. He could not go out without her permission. Frustrated that his formerly malleable wife had suddenly become such a “terror” to him to the point of asking for in court and getting virtually everything for which he had worked since coming to the US thirty years prior, the husband got in his vehicle and drove a few hundred miles to Dallas to settle the scores. He found her in her SUV, adorned in full Nigerian attire on her way to the birthday bash organized in her honor. She had turned 46 on that day. Mr. Okeowo fired several rounds into his wife's torso while she sat at the steering wheel, mercilessly killing her in broad daylight. Also in Dallas (they sure need anger management classes in Dallas), Moses Egharevba, 45, did not even bother to
get a gun. The husband of Grace Egharevba, 35, bludgeoned her to death with a sledge hammer while their seven years old daughter watched and screamed for peace. Mrs. Egharevba's “sin” was that she became a RN and started to make more money than her husband. This led to her “financial liberation” from a supposedly tightfisted husband who had not only brought her from Nigeria, but had also funded her nursing school education. Like Moses Egharevba, Christopher Ndubuisi of Garland, Texas, (these Texas people!) also did not bother to get a gun. He crept into the bedroom where his wife, Christiana, was sleeping and, with several blows of the sledge hammer, crushed her head. Two years before Christiana was killed, her mother, who had been visiting from Nigeria, was found dead in the bathtub under circumstances believed to be suspicious. Of course, Christiana was a RN whose income dwarfed that of her husband as soon as she graduated from nursing school. The husband believed that his role as a husband and head of the household had been usurped by his wife. Mr. Ndubuisi's several entreaties to his wife's family to intercede and bring Christiana back under his control had all failed. If circumstances surrounding the death of Christiana's mother were suspicious, those surrounding the death of a Tennessee woman's mother were not. Agnes Nwodo, a RN, lived in squalor before her husband, Godfrey Nwodo, rescued her and brought her to the US. e
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One day, he bought himself a shotgun and killed both his wife and her mother
He enrolled her in nursing school right away. Upon qualifying as a RN, Mrs. Nwodo assumed “full control” of the household. She brought her mother to live with them against her husband's wishes. Mrs. Nwodo quickly familiarized herself with US Family Laws and took full advantage of them. Each time the couple argued, the police forced the husband to leave the house whether he had a place to sleep or not. On many occasions, Mr. Nwodo spent days in police cells. Upon divorcing his wife, Mr. Nwodo lost to his wife the house he had owned for almost 20 years before he married her. He also lost custody of their three children to her, with the court awarding him only periodic visitation rights. Even seeing the children during visitation was always a hassle as the wife would “arrive late to the neutral meeting place and leave early with impunity.” M r. N w o d o e n d u r e d s o m a n y embarrassing moments from his wife and her mother until he could take it no more. One day, he bought himself a shotgun and killed both his wife and her mother. Caleb Onwudike's wife, Chinyere Onwudike, 36, became a RN and no longer saw the need to be controlled by her husband. Mr. Onwudike, 41, worked two jobs to send his wife to her dream school upon bringing her to the US from Nigeria. After four years, she qualified as RN. Once she started to make more money than her husband, she began to “call the shots” at home. She “overruled” her husband on the size and cost of the house they purchased in Burtonsville, Maryland. She began to build a house solely in her name in their native Umuahia town of Abia State, Nigeria, without her husband's input whatsoever. Mrs. Onwudike came and went “as she liked,” within the US and outside the US. In fact, she once travelled to Nigeria for three weeks “without her husband's permission” to lavishly bury her father despite her husband's protestations that they had better things to do with the money. Mrs. Onwudike let her husband know that this was mostly her money and she would spend it however she wanted. Through her hard work, she had risen to a managerial position at the medical center where she worked. Upon her return from burying her father, her
Nigerian Men Killing Their Nurse Wives In The US husband got one of her kitchen knives and carved her up like Thanksgiving turkey inside their home on New Year's Day. Death is death no matter how it comes. But the goriest of these maniacal killings is probably the one that happened here in Los Angeles, California. Joseph Mbu, 50, was tired of his RN wife's “serial disrespect” of him. The disrespect began as soon as she became a RN. Gloria Mbu, 40, had once told her husband he must be “smoking crack cocaine” if he thought he could tell her what to do with her money now that she made more money than him. Before she became a RN, Mr. Mbu had been very strict with family finances and was borderline dictatorial in his dealings with Mrs. Mbu. However, Mrs. Mbu learned the American system and would no longer allow any man to “put her down.” When Joseph Mbu could not take it anymore, he subdued his wife one day, tied her to his vehicle and dragged her on paved roads all around Los Angeles until her head split in many pieces. Although these are true stories, all the names and some of the details of the incidents have been altered as a mark of respect to the families involved. All of the killer husbands noted in these stories were found guilty. Most of them received the death sentence. Only the California and Maryland culprits received life sentences without the possibility of parole.] It often comes to Nigerian men living in the US as a rude shock when their wives become the household's bread winner. Having been accustomed to the docility, domestication, subjugation and outright terrorization of women back home in Nigeria, many Nigerian men are astounded when their wives assert their financial, behavioral and social independence. It is commonplace for Nigerian men to take important family decisions without consulting their wives; to travel out of town and indeed out of country without consulting their wives. Some do not even bother to inform their wives! It is not a big deal for Nigerian husbands to answer phone calls from their girlfriends while lying in bed with their wives; to buy expensive gifts for their girlfriends and making only perfunctory, casual attempt to conceal such gifts. It is nothing strange for Nigerian men to, in fact, bring those girlfriends to their matrimonial homes
while their wives are home! Some Nigerian men think they have the carte blanche to do what they want because they are the bread winners. What's the wife going to do to them? Beat them? Leave them? Leave them after one, two or three children? Who's going to marry her? So Nigerian men think. This cruel and phenomenal hostagetaking by Nigerian men in Nigeria is what Nigerian women in America are trying to stop. And they figured out the easiest way to begin curtailing these bullish husbands' wings is to improve their own potential to earn more. A good way to earn a decent pay in the US (unlike in Nigeria) is to become a Registered Nurse. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salaries of RNs, based on information from May 2012, is $68,000, while the mean annual salary is $69,000. The middle 50% of RNs earns between $54,000 and $78,000. Only 10% of RNs earns less than $44,000, while some 10% earns more than $97,000. The BLS also reports average hourly wages: The median hourly wage of a RN is $32.00 and the mean hourly wage is $33.00. The middle 50% of RNs earns wages of $27.00 to $40.00, with 10% of them earning less than $22.00 while 10% earns more than $48.00 an hour. Nigerian men in the US are quick to send their “newly-imported” wives to these nursing schools in the hope that once the women graduate, they (the husbands) could take control of their finances and continue their enslavement. You can imagine a man who was probably a menial worker earning less than $30,000
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What is the big deal if a RN wife makes more money than her husband? There are several other professions in which wives make more money than their husbands
annually in an expensive place like California or New York going back to Nigeria to “oppress” the village with dollars. He finds a “village girl,” brings her to the US and sends her to nursing school. When she graduates and makes twice his salary, he begins to feel inferior to her and his macho instincts take control of him, catapulting his emotions over his sense of reason. If the RN wife decides to take a second or third job, she can easily triple or quadruple the gap between her earnings and those of her menial job husband's. Working long hours takes the wife away from home and because nurses are expected to work overnight shifts, you end up with a husband who is usually home alone at night with just the children. Since even “normal” marriages can be potentially stressful endeavors, adding spousal jealousy and a husband who sleeps alone half of the time to the equation will certainly test the limits of the marriage. It is the reason why even when such husbands do not go over the hill to kill their wives, they divorce them in epidemic numbers. A friend in New York told me that RN women there are being divorced in droves as if they are plagues. What is the big deal if a RN wife makes more money than her husband? There are several other professions in which wives make more money than their husbands. In fact, I know of a few military couples with the wives senior in rank to their husbands even though they joined the military at the same time. Yet, nobody is killing or divorcing anybody. Is this strictly a RN thing? My hope is that some of these RN wives learn from the many other RN wives who successfully manage their homes in spite of making more money than their husbands. My hope is also that the husbands of these RNs learn from husbands of the many RNs who successfully cope with a wife who makes more than they do. I don't know how they do it, but for every RN who is killed or divorced by her husband, there are hundreds, if not thousands more who proudly respect their husbands and submit to their husbands' authority yes, their husbands' authority (NOT control and NOT abuse) even here in the US. Abiodun Ladepo Los Angeles, California, USA Oluyole2@yahoo.com
The Road to Brazil S
By George Onmonya Daniel
tephen Okechukwu Keshi, the Super Eagles coach, looks well prepared. The Super Eagles, the Nigerian national team, has taken shape. After that friendly match with the Italian national team that ended 2 - 2 in London on November 18, 2013, Nigeria looks good to go. What is needed in the team now is patch up here and there. Nigerians are happy with the World Cup draw. Drawn in Group F with Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Iran, Nigeria seems to have an easy group compare to Ghana that is drawn with Germany, Portugal and the United States in Group G, and maybe Cameroun that is in Group A with the host Brazil, Mexico and Croatia.
CHAN Orange Cup that just ended in South Africa in which the home based Super Eagles won the bronze medal will definitely help in adding that final touches to Keshi's World Cup team. The picture is almost clear, but we are talking about June and a lot may still happen before then. However, there are no easy groups in the World Cup. In the history of the World Cup we have seen experts shocked by unexpected results. Super Eagles have met d.
Super Eagles Coach: Stephen Keshi AKA the Big Boss
Argentina severally but the South Americans won. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a very technical, tactical and physical side and no European team can be underrrated. For Iran it looks like the dream ends in the first round, no disrespect to the Iranian team, but Iran may decide who qualifies. The Super Eagles playing Iran in the first game is a trickish one. Nigeria may need not just to win the match against Iran but with a lot of goals as both Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina will exploit that means to qualify and goal difference may decide Group F. Looking critically at Group F, I am realising Nigeria is not in an easy group. I hope Keshi reads this.