LET THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW BEWARE

I cannot exactly describe what my motivation was while I sat down to write this piece. Maybe it is anger or frustration or pity or...what else can it even be? All I can say is that my decision to write this warning to the young generation in Nigeria came from the 9pm news of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
In the Nigerian context, who should be referred to as the leaders of tomorrow? If I am still living in a world of humans, I think it should be that section of the Nigerian population below the age of 45 years (maybe there is no age limit anyway, at least in Nigeria). I was watching the NTA network news last night and I saw Alhaji Tukur on the news, the National Chairman of the largest political party himself. It is clear from his physical appearance that he was born in those days when birth was being recorded on trees (those old men with no verifiable birthday!). He is older than my father, around the same age with my uncle who is about 15 years older than my father and yet, he is at the helm of affairs of the largest political party in Africa.
Alhaji made me think of elders his age that should have retired to the comforts of their sweet mansions but are still struggling to take the mantle of leadership in Nigeria. I remember the gap-toothed Major from Katsina State. That fair-skinned old man at more than six dozen years of existence is still battling seriously to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (I think these people are protégés of Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo...chop there, die there). How do you explain the fact that a man close to 80 years of age who had been President of this nation once is still struggling to get back to the corridor of power? Even in the Nigerian Civil Service, 60 years is the retirement age...or is it that ‘age of death’ is the retirement age for power-hungry people?
I also remember ‘baba omo keekeeke’, the ever-laughing Ila Orangun old man who is at the helm of affairs of the strongest opposition party in Nigeria (even though as a figurehead....we all know who calls the shots in that party). One would think at his age too, something very close to the age of my grandfather, he would have retired home to his people and serve in an advisory role to the younger generation of leaders but our old man is still loitering around in the corridor of power.
If Tukur is the PDP head, Akande is of ACN, Buhari is hustling for power, Wole Soyinka is still trying to stay in the limelight, Obasanjo is still a very prominent leader of a party, lecturers are hoping for a retirement age of 70 years, Civil Servants are using ridiculously reduced ages in service, the US Senate is filled with old men all very close to ‘God be with you till we meet again’, Pastors retire from one ministry only to go and start another ministry, Obas are hoping to reign on the throne for dozens of years and even beggars refuse to retire home at old age, when exactly will the leadership of the young ones commence? Will tomorrow ever come? Will a chance really be created for the young generation to thrive or would we have to wait till they all go to their creator?
The generation of young people in the world today needs to watch out, lest we like Esau, sell our birthright to these exhausted old men. They came, they have seen and some of them even conquered...what else do they want? As my people would say, ‘won fe je aye omo won mo aye’ meaning they want to use up all the treasures their children should use.
These old men still use us as thugs, bodyguards, under-paid staff etc in a bid to rubbish our future and use up what tomorrow have in stock for us. Let the leaders of tomorrow beware, in the world of today, it is destiny for sale.
Leaders of tomorrow , BEWARE!

THE BEGINING OF THE END

We have journeyed through the escapades of Ogbeni and the Bayelsa-born man without shoes. However, the most important task ahead of us is not our ability to perceive issues of National interest neither is it our manner of presenting what we feel about the happenings in our polity. The most important task we have to surmount is what impression(s) do we create in the minds of the inestimable population of people who are at the receiving end of our expressions. We cannot afford to be contradictory or double-mouthed, for to do so will be total betrayal of the belief they have in our clear expression of the truth, the way we feel it. We also cannot afford to be cowardly, for to do so will be a flagrant disobedience to the true feelings which forms the basis of our expressions. What option do we have other than to stay loyal to our pledge of saying the truth as we feel, see and can prove it, without minding whose horse is gored!
I was taken aback by the comments of the Baba Omo Keekeekee (wonder if you know him) over the weekend. He was of the opinion that “In Nigeria at the moment, only ACN Governors are working, the rest are sleeping”. What is this? A lie from the mouth of an elder statesman? It is not a lie dear readers, it is a political statement, one that has become characteristic of almost all politicians in our country. When it is not their party, it must be bad governance. How can we show this grandfather that there is no iota of fact in his statement? Of course we can only give him examples.
Godswill Akpabio is of the PDP and he is the brain behind the uncommon transformation in Akwa Ibom State (baba please visit that state to confirm). Muazu Babangida Aliyu is of the PDP and he is the one engineering the building of a new and modern Niger State. Raji Fashola is of the ACN and he is the man behind the unprecedented infrastructural development in Lagos State. Adams Oshiomole is of the ACN and he has been the mastermind of the giant strides in Edo State. Owelle Rochas Okorocha is of APGA and he is doing very wonderfully for the people of Imo State. Olusegun Mimiko is of LP and he has magnificently turned around the fortunes of Ondo people which became evident in his people’s emphatic rejection of Aketi and acceptance of Iroko in the 2012 elections in the state. I know baba is widely travelled so I am sure he is not ignorant of the giant strides of these governors as mentioned, he is just being sarcastic.
In our own Nigeria of today, performance in governance is not measured by party manifesto, because when you look at all these parties, you see a group of people engaging in politics for the enrichment of their pockets (which one of them got into government and did not become richer?). Performance is a factor of the person, his resolve to be an achiever, his determination to be remembered for good governance. The question is why then do our politicians like to utter slanderous statements just to score cheap points? It is because they are mostly liars, cheats and thieves. This is the very foundation of corruption in Nigeria, the refusal of our leaders to be truthful even in the smallest of senses. This is the cause of our current predicament as a nation.
For every cause however, there is an effect. It is one reason why I hold Isaac Newton as one scientist that possessed celestial understanding. He postulated that, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”. That is the principle of cause and effect. The effect of this cause is what I prefer to call ‘The Beginning of an End’. The Bible says ‘thou shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free’. We are at the threshold of truth, the point where the Nigerian populace gets wiser beyond every lie and every deception. We are at the point where the end of dubious elders begins to unravel. They will not be killed in a revolution, nothing like those in North Africa or Cote D’Ivoire (at least I hope for their sake), but they will be disgraced, they will fall from their high horses of corruption, their lies will be exposed and Nigeria will finally be free.
I remember a song I was taught sometimes ago, it goes: ‘All around the nations, all around the world; youths are longing to be free; no longer in the shadows, forced to stay behind; but side-by-side in true development.....Oh sing a song for youths, everywhere; let it ring around the world and never let it cease; oh sing a song for youths, everywhere; equality, development and peace!’ I see a new world order, starting from Nigeria, an order in which every lying tongue in the PDP, the ACN, the CPC, the LP, the APGA, the APC will be cut off and a stronger nation will be built. It is the beginning of an end, for when their lies get to the brim, they shall be disgraced for it. Their confidence in lying is the sign, their disregard for God is the symptom, of their unstoppable fall. Watch the scenario unfold!
See you again soon!

OGBENI - THE SCENARIO JUST UNFOLDING

Let me start this ‘gist’ on an introductive note. For most of you who do not know the man called ‘Ogbeni’, I will quickly introduce him to you. Ogbeni is the nickname (or rather title) of Mr. (not sure of his Engineer status) Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the Governor of the State of Osun (some kind of nickname for Osun State).
I should also quickly tell you about the State of Osun. The State of Osun was carved out of Osun State on the 26th November, 2010 by the Justice Clara Ogunbiyi led panel of Appeal Court Judges. The State of Osun consists of twenty out of the thirty states of the original Osun State. You wonder how this is possible, the judiciary arm of government creating a state? Little wonders some of our esteemed judges in Nigeria led by the embattled Justice Isa Ayo Salami are now magicians. The creation of the State of Osun was made possible when the Appeal panel declared Ogbeni (I believe you know him now) the winner of the April 27, 2007 election by nullifying the elections held in ten local governments of Osun State. I guess you understand how the new state is now? Ogbeni is the governor of twenty out of the thirty local governments of Osun State and he is not arguing this fact since he named his governed entity, State of Osun.
You know his profile now, don’t you? Ok, for clarification, Ogbeni is the governor of the State of Osun, a 20-local government colony carved out of the 30-local government Osun State. He came into office through a major rot in the judicial system that allowed for never-heard-of kind of judgements. His profile cleared, we can proceed now.
There are things you should know about Ogbeni. It is not a mere nickname; ‘Ogbeni’ is a scenario, a scenario just unfolding before our own eyes. Ogbeni is like a piece of drama, playing out before our eyes, the start holding out diverse confusing meanings and the end showing signs of tragedy. Ask me, how do I know the likelihoods of the end of this scenario?
First, the scenario evolved upon a foundation of lies, corruption, pretence and rude disrespect for the vox populi. It is well known from the account of the Bible that, any house built on sand will be washed away by flood (tragedy). Second, the National Chairman of his party is Baba Omo keekeeke, Chief Adebisi Akande. This man is widely known for the unreasonable disengagement of thousands of workers in Osun State in the year 2001 while he was still the Governor of Osun State. What good can he mean this time as Ogbeni’s National Chairman? Need more signs? Wait for part two.
Ogbeni is almost completing his first tenure as governor and attempting another tenure in which he may be allowed this time to govern the real Osun State and not a figment of judicial imaginations. His attempts at attracting support is making him go back on some of his decisions, halting the attempted merger of schools, slowing down of tax enforcements etc, but I assure Osun people, this scenario is just unfolding and as soon as we make the necessary mistakes, we will be in the eye of a very mighty storm, none that can be compared with the Akande days.
Voters beware.....to be continued!