AN OPEN LETTER TO ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR

His Excellency
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar GCON (Turakin Adamawa)
Yola, Adamawa State.

Dear Sir,
THE CAT, THE DOG AND THE PIECE OF FRIED MEAT

I send my most esteemed regards to your honoured personality. I do not pay obeisance because you have ever done me any direct favour, but I send my respects because you are elderly to me in every regard of defining the word. You are an elder statesman, a very rich personality, a political thought leader and most of all a respected traditional title holder, Turakin Adamawa. It would be unethical for me to attempt to address you without attaching such respect as your status commands. I salute you sir and I send my highest regards with most humble considerations.
One of such era that brings to fore your status as an elder statesman in the country is the 1999 transition from Military to Democratic rule. It was an open secret that your support and involvement was inestimable towards the success of the presidential bid of Chief Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo. Keen watchers of the Nigerian political landscape knew you played a very vital role in ensuring that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR became the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a democratically elected President.
It is well known among politicians that such favours especially of such huge proportions often get accompanied by certain promises of future favours. It will not surprise any Nigerian to hear that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR promised to support you to become President after he might have completed his eight year tenure. I was not there when such promises were made, but I am of a strong belief that such promises of a return of favour is not uncommon in the league of political gladiators. So, it is not surprising that you accepted to deputize him despite your status; at least he would have had to help you become President after his tenure...if he had kept his word!
However, as God would have the destiny of Nigeria managed, President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR became drunk with power or maybe he suddenly repented of whatever bonds might have joined you to him at the time and he changed his mind. Instead of supporting you to become President, he began assassinating your character and his actions and inactions were beginning to paint you in bad light towards the end of his eight year stay in office. Although one good turn deserves another as the English adage would have us believe, yet he repaid your good turn with a bad one and things fell apart between you both.
You will wonder why I chose to remind you of this bitter tale of events. I do not intend to embitter you or make you sad, rather I intend to make this past bitter experience of yours, the very foundation of the kind of advice I intend to pass across to you. Because I read of your travails and your disappointments and I have come to realize the enormity of the hurt those disappointments would have brought you, I am writing this letter to offer some timely advice to your person. In what capacity you may begin to ask? I am writing in my capacity as a keen political watcher, an admirer of business prowess and a loyal Nigerian who believes in fairness, equity and mutual respect.
In 2008, I was privileged to be at a seminar delivered by Prof. Wesley Harris of MIT, United States of America. At the start of his talk, he played a documentary of the trickery-filled relationship between the cat and the dog. The documentary revealed how the cat stole a piece of meat and cunningly made it look like the dog did it. It would be easy to believe that the dog stole meat; we all know he loves meat, but in the reality of this situation, the cat was the culprit. How on earth does this analogy relate to this letter? I urge you to read on sir and you will find out how exactly it relates to you.
During the third-term saga of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, you were in the news for many wrong reasons. Some of your news headlines were due to allegations of corruption; some were due to the alleged move by the Senate at the time to impeach you as Vice-President while most of the headlines you made were centred on the imbroglio that was going on between you and the President, Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR. Some news articles painted you as being obsessed with the office of the Presidency and that you are desperate to get to the exalted position. Whether or not this is true, we were left to find out later.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo successfully terminated your bid to succeed him as President which led to the election of late President Yar’adua GCFR. As most inexperienced politicians will do, you angrily left to pitch your tent with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and you left the PDP with their ‘wahala’. I humbly refer to that defection at this time sir, so I can point out to you the mistake in that single action. Your defection, that single act of impatience, robbed you of the respect you had earned in the hearts of many Nigerians. A political gladiator stands his ground, he waits for the perfect opportunity to take his revenge, he does not run, he only hides, he does not fear, he only hesitates. Prior to the 1999 elections, you had a firm grip on the PDP through the Peoples’ Democratic Movement (PDM). I only wonder why you did not decide to wait for the perfect opportunity to re-affirm that control that you lost in the course of time.
I blessed God the day I heard of your return to PDP sometimes before 2011. My thought was, ‘at last, he has gone back to where he belongs’. I believe what you saw at the time that made you run from ACN was a clear difference in ideology, a near-total absence of internal democracy and all manner of political abracadabra alien to our present world. Your voyage to that party was somewhat marred with bitter experiences as it became clear to you that it was a particular cult-like Jagaban-led cabal that determined all happenings in the ACN. That voyage I humbly point out to you sir, was ill-fated from the start and dead on arrival.
Consequent upon your return to the PDP, you entered into the race for Presidency, against Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, one that qualifies only to be called your ‘political son’. In all honesty and with due regards to the person of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, he was no where compared to your status in the Nigerian political scene. I believe, that when a tussle becomes one between a father and a son, the father should for the sake of dignity and his pride, let go for the son. Where the father refuses to let go, disgrace might just be lurking around the corner. At the end of the tussle at the PDP primaries, you lost out and was almost relegated to the background in PDP politics. I am sorry to be reminding you of those things that have hurt your pride, but those memories are important to the advice I intend to offer you sir.
As if you went home to lick your wounds, you became ominously silent on almost all political issues and could just but wonder if you were still present in the Nigerian political stage, at least until further unfortunate news filtered out. The unfortunate news was your defection to the APC. I will go back to the analogy of the cat, dog and the piece of fried meat now. You see, in that analogy, you represent the dog; the PDP represents the cat while the office of President is the piece of fried meat. The reality of the situation is, the PDP has robbed you of the Presidency several times, even at those times when your chances were bright. Yet, it is hard for Nigerians to believe you were being robbed because the way you went about contesting for President, reeked of desperation. You wanted the seat, the PDP wanted the seat for some other persons, and they robbed you but the desperate look on your face made Nigerians think you lost because you were too greedy to plan well. Pardon my choice of words sir.
Before you defected to the APC, you should have asked yourself a simple question: that at what time has Bola Ahmed Tinubu ever considered defecting to the PDP in all his years of playing the dirty game of politics? The answer you get is that at no time have the likes of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Adebisi Akande, Olusegun Osoba and their cohorts considered defecting to another political party. Rather, they have bonded themselves together in their cult-like manner, and changed name severally (AD-AC-ACN-APC). It is not because the PDP does not look tempting, but because as the saying goes, ‘uneasy lays the head that wears the crown’. They have been rewarded with juicy leadership positions in the largest opposition party in Nigeria....hard work pays.
I believe and very strongly, that if you had stayed back in the PDP and continued a steady recuperation from the losses that the party had inflicted on your personality in the past, politics being a game of rotation would still have afforded you the opportunity to re-affirm your status in the party....soldier go, soldier come. What is my advice for you sir?
I advice that you make a strong resolve to stay put in the APC for the remainder of your political career. I want you to decide, that you will sink with that party if it sinks, or be glorified with it if it eventually becomes glorified somehow. Only stability can establish you yet again as a force to reckon with in the Nigerian political landscape. I advice that you resist all temptations to lend credence to the words of Labaran Maku that, “Atiku is behaving like a typical Fulani nomad”. Until you stay put and make home in one place, all Nigerians are going to see you as being unserious and of a volatile nature given your ‘nomadic’ antecedent. I humbly implore you sir, do not allow overblown ego to inhibit you from exerting your role as a National leader.
To face the reality, you have gone to the APC to face the same problem that you ran from in the PDP. The continued efforts of the likes of Murtala Nyako to establish themselves as the political leaders in Adamawa State was what nearly relegated you to the background at first. Now, you have gone to the APC to face the same set of challenges and that also will not be easy. I urge you to man up this time sir, and face all the challenges that may come your way. Only those who strive, ever attain the throne. Resolve in your heart, that the Presidency may never be yours, just like the dog never ate the meat, but hold as sacred the unity of our fatherland and the sanctity of our sovereignty. I so implore you sir.
On a last note sir, I want to advise you to erase all feelings of bitterness against your past political opponents, the like of OBJ and GEJ. No elder can truly be called an elder until he can forget the past and embrace all around the table of brotherhood. If you can forgive, and offer timely and constructive advice to the process of governance, then will you be truly treated as an elder statesman in the mix of Shehu Shagari, Ernest Shonekan etc. It is high time you joined that league.
While I have sent this pieces of advice in good faith, I do hope it gets onto your table and you give the lessons therein the highest considerations not minding the lowly direction from which the advice came.
Again, receive the assurances of my best considerations and warmest regards.
Thank you.

ODERINU ADEDAYO T.
ibuckresources@gmail.com
08039655168

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR
Aso Villa, Abuja
Nigeria.

Dear Sir,

BEFORE IT IS REALLY TOO LATE FOR ALL OF US

It is with utmost regard and respect for the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which you presently hold that I write this letter. I want to affirm that I, as a citizen of this great Nation by birth, do hold the irrepressible right to offer timely advice to you as President knowing quite well the gross implications that your actions and inactions can have on my future aspirations and hopes.

I was personally dazed to read the contents of the letter sent to your office from the former President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR dated December 2, 2013. While that letter was received with utter surprise from many quarters, keen observers of the polity realized from the tone of that letter, that it could well become the de facto starting point for an unavoidable revolution if the issues raised therein are not very well addressed. Your initial silence on the said issues was quite ominous; it was the kind of silence which initially vindicated the former President. I am sure you have heard of the saying that ‘silence means consent’ somewhere along the line of your years of experience.

Dear President, if we will be true to ourselves, I must make it clear to you that your ‘attack dogs’ who now pride themselves as ‘attack lions’ did a very rash job in giving adequate response on your behalf. I, as well as many other Nigerians, felt you could have paid a huge debt of honour by promptly responding to such issues of National Security in person. It was better late than never though, as the reply you tendered on the 22nd December, 2013 left many Nigerians savouring your writing prowess and the well-crafted manner in which you offered your much awaited response.

In a bid to refresh your memory and lay a good foundation for the recommendations I intend to make to you sir, I should be quick to remind you of certain weighty allegations that the former President levelled against you. I would love to summarize them below:
He accused you of certain actions that could promote ethnic divisiveness by your seeming inability to curb the careless utterances of your kinsmen on 2015.
The former President seems to find you culpable in the controversial acquittal of Al-Mustapha by the Court of Appeal. He seems to think he (Al-Mustapha) would never have walked free from those allegations except he had some Federal weight thrown behind him.
On issues of the economy, Baba believes you are somehow mishandling the NNPC culminating in the outcry of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over the non-remittance of oil revenue to the federation account.
On National security, he accused you of being incapable of curbing the Boko Haram menace in the North while making it clear that certain actions and inactions of yours are promoting the menace.
On PDP crisis, he accused you of promoting the current crisis in the PDP in a bid to outlaw every force or person who might be opposed to your 2015 agenda.

Despite the vast array of accusations he did bring forward against your person and your government, I find these five listed above being of the weightiest proportions and capable of fuelling the breakdown of law and order. However, I received your reply with a certain degree of satisfaction at the very first thought. On a second thought, I realized the responses you gave to these allegations are quite insufficient towards dousing the tension already generated in the hearts of Nigerians. I admired the literary beauty of the text but somehow was not satisfied with the responses you gave, I simply feel you can do more.

I believe, as a staunch supporter in fairness and justice, that the utterances of certain kinsmen, in the mix of Asari-Dokubo and Edwin Clarke are shouting caution. When people from your ethnic extraction begin to make such derogatory statements, it reflects a desperate move by your people to keep you in power beyond 2015 even if Nigeria has to crash and burn in the process. Northerners could make such crash and burn utterances and we will understandably see the frustration they feel at having to concede the Presidency to a minority tribe again in 2015, but when your tribal people makes such utterances, it reeks of power greed and demonic desperation. This aura you must avoid by all possible means. Charity at least begins at home.

I followed the Al-Mustapha case from the years of President Olusegun Obasanjo as Commander-In-Chief and I came to realize the Federal High Court which pronounced a death sentence on him, found incriminating evidence against him. However, when a Federal Court of Appeal controversially sets free that one who was already sentenced to death, it becomes a question of a possible judicial incompetence, or a most likely political interference. Whatever the problem might be of the two, I find that the Federal Court of Appeal has become the home of magic. I here remember Aregbesola vs. Oyinlola which was a judicial magic of never-seen-before proportions and I beg your attention towards addressing a possible decay in this arm of government. In Al-Mustapha’s case, I believe if the blame truthfully lands on the Federal High Court due to incompetence, you should take pro-active measure to avoid such gross incapacity in the future. If on the other hand the blame lands at the doorstep of politicians directly or indirectly deriving power from you, I feel you should take decisive steps to stop such actions capable of rubbishing the trust that common men have in the judicial system as the last hope of the common man.

When Sanusi Lamido came up with a letter to your office reporting NNPC’s failure to remit oil revenue into the federation account, a mild drama ensued. If Lamido Sanusi comes out wrong, that will be a serious incapability on his part for failing to know enough about an account under his watch. If NNPC turns out to be wrong, it will mean a serious case of corruption in the organization or in the Executive. Whichever way it goes, I believe either Lamido Sanusi or NNPC has to bear the brunt on this one. One of them must be culpable, one for incapability and the other for corruption. On this matter too, you certainly need to show Nigerians the real colour of truth. And to call your attention to the bogus claims by Mallam Sanusi that he was misinterpreted, Nigerians have refused to believe that fabrication and are waiting for concrete evidence that he was truly misinterpreted. That evidence, the proof of that media misinterpretation, has to come from you.

Boko Haram on that hand is a National crisis that does not really take its roots from the incapability of government, but from the defect in the principles governing most Northern societies. A vast majority of those young people involved in this menace were former Al-Majiris who found the insurgent group as a solace to their sufferings of previous years. They were gullible because they were hungry, foolish because they are poor. Their problem is not related to education, it is related to poverty, extreme hunger. If this menace of Boko Haram will ever be curbed to the roots, your government must take pro-active measures to alleviate poverty and eradicate hunger. By poverty alleviation I do not mean those political window-dressings, I mean serious poverty alleviation programmes that reaches into the core grassroots.

If we take into account the current trends in the Peoples Democratic Party, especially the unguarded utterances of the current National Chairman of the party, one will wonder if you are not indeed culpable in the crisis rocking the PDP. It is not a tenable excuse for you as the National leader of the party to claim that Alhaji Bamanga Tukur is acting without reverence to your office and has never had to take instructions from your person; no Nigerian will believe that excuse. The recent ill-managed crisis with the G7 Governors is an attestation to the fact that the internal crisis resolution mechanism of the PDP is currently grounded. If you must restore confidence in your person as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, you must make immediate moves to reconcile all aggrieved party members who feel disenfranchised and bring everybody back together to a round table of brotherhood. To achieve this feat, I do not believe Alhaji Tukur has to be removed; I believe his vocal instrument only need to be tamed.

In discharging my responsibilities as a citizen of Nigeria to the government of my country in offering advice that is timely and constructive, I wish to put on record that there are various actions your government has taken that should be reviewed. One that quickly rushes to my mind at this time is the National Pardon granted to DSP Alamiesigha who was convicted of corruption within and outside the shores of the country. His show of shame when his trial in United Kingdom began (that act of disguise as a woman), strongly disqualifies him from the list of people who deserve such Presidential pardon. I beg not to assume you forgave him because he was your former boss, rather I want to give you the benefit of all doubts that you will very soon review the actions and come forward with a resounding apology to all Nigerians who feel slighted by that ill-conceived action of your government. If it was magnanimity, it went too far and if it was pity, it was a wasted one.

Let me at this point make known to you the mindset of most Nigerian youths towards your person and your government. When you came on board, we all identified with your vision, we saw hope in the promises you made and on why we so supported your aspiration, it is plainly because you represented a bridge between the old and the young. Now however, we are feeling terribly disappointed that till date, you are still defaulting in your promises to the old and the young. We have not completely written you off though, for we believe there is still much time to make amends and come to live up to the expectations that we placed on your shoulders. The likes of Jude Imagwe might tell you your government has no problem with youths, I must caution that you tread carefully in listening to people like Jude for they have lost touch with the real constituency that made them.

I must sincerely on behalf of those ‘lucky’ winners of your YOU-WIN programme appreciate your efforts towards youth development even though the programme reeks of selectivity and prior anointing. I believe if your government has to contribute to the development of youths, the efforts must go deeper and reach to the youths who are under-privileged and have no connection to the federal might. Poverty alleviation needs to reach the educated and uneducated alike, the disabled and the able, the local and the enlightened and all community of youths alike. Giving ten million naira to a very minute few of the youth population does not do justice to the serious poverty dealing with Nigerian youths, it infact makes mockery of it. If you want to help us, you should think of creating jobs, encouraging the growth of the private sector through ACCESSIBLE support to Small and Medium Enterprises and any other far-reaching interventions which you may find all-encompassing. I believe I speak the minds of Nigerian youths on this and you can verify my claims.

As I conclude, I do not believe we should blame you for the allegations raised against you by the former President; rather we should pity your situation. As a graduate of his school of thought which teaches despotism and styled dictatorship, one can only believe you cannot be better than your master. As a young leader who still has years ahead of him, I will just advise that you try and modify your core values and deliver the much needed dividends of democracy to the average Nigerians. You can do better than your predecessors if you work harder at being the beacon of hope that Nigerian youths see you to be.

While we should not blame you for how bad you may have done so far, I will advise you do not be embittered by the former President’s outburst. I believe he suddenly repented from his ‘old’ way of doing things because as Wayne Calloway, the CEO of PepsiCo said, “nothing focuses the mind better than the constant sight of a competitor who wants to wipe you off the map”. He believes your actions are geared towards eradicating his political legacies and rubbishing his National leadership status. My advice to you on this is to re-build his confidence in you, make him understand that you intend to make him proud. Just as a father can influence a son, I believe a son too can influence the father. Help OBJ face the haunting memories of his past, the mistakes he made as President, help him forgive himself and help him re-establish his elder statesman status in the earths of Nigerians who believed in him too at first. He was bad but we believe he changed, so let us all accept our father and help him re-settle into the Nigerian society.

With this letter, I believe I have done my duty to you as a follower, my duty to my country as a citizen and my duty to the society as a representative who probably self-anointed himself to air the minds of the people. I beg that you consider all that have been said and urgently resolve all issues raised. We can do better in this country for God is on our side and we sure cannot fail.

Receive the assurances of my best regards.

Oderinu Adedayo Tolulakin

OBJ REDEEMING HIS HONOUR...THE REST PROTECTING THEIR STOMACHS!

There is one reason for which I eternally cherish being of Yoruba descent, that reason being the richness and almost all-encompassing wisdom of the Yoruba adages and proverbs. One of such which I often try to disprove on mischievous grounds is, ‘agba kii wa l’oja, ki ori omo tuntun o wo’. This means ‘the head of a toddler cannot be bent in the market when there are elders around’. I often respond when this adage is employed that, the toddler’s head will not bend provided the elder present is not blind. If the elder present is blind, the head will not only bend, it might even break.
I am somewhat confident that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was acting in line with the wisdom of this Yoruba adage when he picked his pen to write the much talked about letter to President Goodluck Jonathan. As an elder, he tried to play the role assigned to the elder in that proverb by trying to make sure GEJ’s head as the toddler does not go bent. One will be constrained to ask if OBJ himself ever really listened to the voice of reason when he was President and Commander-In-Chief. In response to this question, I beg to twist the toddler-elder adage a fair bit. You see OBJ was an elder when he was in office as President (or what do you call a 60 something man?), and as an elder, it is scarcely possible to listen to another elder, he probably felt he knew better than all the young critics (I think we should let him be and let the past remain in the past).
No matter what mistakes an elder might have made, there comes a time when they realize such mistakes especially at the twilight of their lives, that time when honour comes before affluence and wisdom comes before gains. I am undoubtedly sure that OBJ is at that age already. Like he also said in his 18-page letter to GEJ, “Mr. President, I have passed the stage of being flattered, intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought.” I am sure OBJ is at the stage where all that matters is the legacy he will be remembered for. In that wise, I think he was right to try and redeem his honour by playing the elder statesman role he will be ordinarily expected to play.
As Midori Koto wrote, “Honour isn't about making the right choices. It's about dealing with the consequences”. At least for once (as most Nigerians will claim), OBJ has decided to make the right choice without minding the consequences of such choices. He made it clear that even if he has to die for the cause he believes in, “death is the end of all human beings and may it come when God wills it to come”. Even if he might have lost it in the past, he is definitely doing the utmost including being ready to pay the supreme price, to regain that honour. I sure will offer him a standing ovation for this decision if I were to ever meet him one on one.
I paused and reflected for a second that, can we truly say OBJ’s letter reeked of hypocrisy? There are a whole lot of people who feel his stay in office was almost as disastrous as that of GEJ, but I beg to differ with this school of thought. I am not paid to sing his praise, but I feel obliged to vindicate him (OBJ) on certain areas where he has been misconstrued. As far as corruption is concerned, there is hardly any Nigerian President who took such steps to curb corruption as OBJ. Talk of imprisoning his friends (the Afolabis, Georges etc), talk of decisively crushing any and every personality who tried to bring the government to disrepute, OBJ did fight the anti-corruption fight to a reasonable end.
Today, reverse is the case. George has been declared innocent of corruption charges, Diepreye has been given a Presidential pardon despite his disgraceful act of disguise as a woman abroad, Al-Mustapha has been freed...talk of promoting corruption and GEJ’s name begins to ring a bell. I think when we talk about the fight against corruption, OBJ might have had his shortcomings, yet he has a far better track record than GEJ or even Yar’adua.
The fight against corruption is just one of the numerous dimensions to which we can draw a sharp distinction between the OBJ government and GEJ government. Talk of party discipline, talk of protection of the Excess Crude Account and a host of others. I am no employee of OBJ, but I must be bold to say he surpasses GEJ in the area of effective administration of the Nigerian entity. He was stubborn, defiant, Infact he was so many stubborn things rolled up into one, yet, at this time of his life, he has chosen to tread the path of honour.
The missive he sent to the President dated December 2, 2013 is a clear indication of OBJ’s desire to once and for all fight for his honour and defend the homeland. What response did this letter elicit from the Presidency? By presidency I do not mean the President himself, I mean a bunch of detractors that GEJ has constantly used to hide from the public eye. When Reuben Abati, Doyin Okupe and their protégés talk, you can be sure GEJ is trying to dodge some public outcry.
Instead of offering a direct response to the loads of accusations as the Balogun of Owu pointed out, Mr. President has decided to tread the path of dishonour and keep mum on the matter while he allows his media boys deafen the public ears with their inaudible noise. All Abati could say was, “the letter was highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative”. He said, “the President himself will, at the appropriate time offer a full response to the most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and his administration by the former Head of State”. Of all that Abati said, I could make no concrete sense of this response other than the fact that GEJ will respond when he is ready. The letter was sent on the 2nd of December and as at today 17th December, there has been no response given! Do we expect a committee again? Or is he afraid to respond because he his culpable in these allegations? I wonder.
When Bamidele Salam (one of Okupe’s protégés) would speak up, he went poetic. His entire statement which he claimed to have ‘copied with permission’, was clearly a dramatic manner of insulting OBJ describing him as ‘Saint OBJ’. What I wonder is, whether he could have said otherwise given the supply of daily bread that runs his way from the presidency. Some phantom Ijaw groups are asking for the immediate probe of OBJ’s government from 1999 – 2007 as a way of silencing him. A bunch of cowards they are if they could not encourage their son to come out clean and defend his honour. Detraction is folly; clear response is what Nigerians expect.
Not to fool myself however, how do I expect these people to say otherwise when they get fed by supporting GEJ? While OBJ has his stomach full already and can afford to fight for his honour, these people have to fight for their own stomachs first! I applaud OBJ for his courage but I plead with him to forgive all those toddlers who would insult the elder, they truly know what they do, they just have to defend their daily bread first! 

WHEN OSUN STATE GOVERNMENT RESORTS TO LIES AND CHEAP DECEIT!

It is common knowledge and of general expectation that the government of a State or country is supposed to serve to the best interest of the citizens of that state and/or country. The duty of government is widely believed to serve, protect and enforce the human rights and privileges of her citizens, with a view to building a peaceful and united society. The government in this regard will be expected to be an agent of truth, a fair umpire and of course a transparent mediator in moments of upheavals that may threaten the peaceful existence of the societal entity.
The year 2013 will definitely go down in history as the year Osun State made the headlines of most newspapers on a very frequent basis. One would be happy with this development under the right circumstances, but given the circumstance under which the State made headlines, it was most unfortunate that Osun became, in the eye of rational analysts, a State with a retrogressive Government. My State made headlines for its controversial education policy of school merger.
While the Federal Government and UNESCO are advocating increased establishment of schools especially in rural areas, to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals target of ensuring mass literacy, the Osun State Government under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola began pursuing a policy of schools merger under the guise of achieving effective management of schools. As would be expected, there were ripple effects of the short-sighted policy and the effects were grave.
In Ejigbo, Muslim female students whose schools were merged with Ejigbo Baptist High School began clamouring for the school authority’s permission for them to continue to use the hijjab in the school. Who could blame them? The regulations of the school from which they were brought allowed for the use of hijjab while that of EBHS disallowed it since it is a Christian mission school. The refusal of the Principal to allow these students have their way nearly led to one of the most catastrophic educational/religious crisis ever witnessed in the South West region of Nigeria. The principal was harassed, the teachers had to scamper to safety and even the Ogiyan of Ejigbo land was insulted. It was a crazy day in Ejigbo!
This incident and some others in Iwo and Osogbo prompted the Osun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria to take decisive action in fore-stalling future occurrences that may result in the breakdown of law and order in the State. The State CAN immediately challenged the State Government and demanded an immediate review of the policy or the State Government returns the Christian mission schools to the original owners. I think that was when the lies began!
Instead of bending to the public will and review the policy, the State Government resorted to a divide and rule approach through lies, deceits and cheap blackmails. The first move was the accusation that CAN was being used by the main opposition party in the State to cause mayhem and that accusation, fell flat on its face. They tried again, this time through the President of the Traditional Religious Worshippers Association of Osun State, Chief Idowu Awopetu. In his one-page communiqué in the Punch newspaper of Thursday, December 12 2013, he claimed that, “we have consulted our oracles as a firm believer in traditional religion and we were told that some persons in Osun CAN leadership are nothing cannon fodders for desperate politicians to engender crisis and cause mayhem of unimaginable proportions in the State. We are using this medium to call on security guards to be on alert, should there be any crisis in this state, they should know who should be held responsible”.
What I presume Chief Idowu Awopetu has forgotten is the fact that the crisis that erupted in EBHS was started by Muslim brothers and there was no retaliation of any sort from the Christian community. Again, he has forgotten that the crisis that erupted in BHS Iwo was not the making of CAN but that of those people who would stop at nothing to portray Islam as a religion of terror. I wonder however, that with all these facts staring Chief Idowu Awopetu in the face, it is definitely impossible that a supposed elder statesman would grossly ignore the facts and make malicious comments towards the leadership of CAN. He couldn’t have ignored the facts as a factor of himself, he was most probably urged to ignore the facts and go ahead with his vituperations. This government is trying to set the traditional worshippers and Muslims against the Christian community and that is a direct invitation to religious crisis.
As a contingency plan in case Awopetu’s publication fails, the State Government again silently sponsored a news item in The Punch newspaper of the same December 12, 2013. The news item claimed the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has distanced itself from the statements credited to CAN that the re-classification of schools in Osun State can lead to terrorism. The news item claimed that this position of PFN was made clear at a gathering with Government officials at Ibokun through one Pastor Joel Balogun.
However, the State Chapter of PFN promptly rubbished the news on Friday December 13, 2013. The State Chairman of PFN, Revd. Olasumbo Ige warned Governor Rauf Aregbesola against seeking to divide the Christian Association of Nigeria in his bid to force on the people of the State the merger of schools embarked upon by his administration. In their statement released to press men, the PFN claimed, “We want to state categorically that Osun State Chapter of PFN under the leadership of Rev. Olasumbo Ige never met with any government official on any issue. Again, we need to explain that PFN in Osun State has never at any time disagreed with our umbrella body, the CAN, either at the State or National levels”.
Now that the attempt through Pa. Awopetu and The Punch has failed and has even made it clear to the public the kind of dishonest government that Aregbesola heads, one can only wonder the kind of lie that will be told next. Instead of taking pro-active measures to stem the tide of violence in the Education sector of the State which resulted from the schools merger, Ogbeni and his merry band has resorted to lies and deceit. Only God knows when all the lies will stop, I pray 2014.
Let us all say a prayer for Osun State, that God will arise and smite all persons whose actions and inactions are geared towards unleashing a reign of terror and autocracy in our dear State. So help us God.  

MAY THE SUPER EAGLES NOT DISGRACE NIGERIA!

When the Super Eagles of Nigeria under Coach Stephen Keshi sealed the qualification to Brazil 2014, a lot of Nigerians were upbeat with the level the team has reached, the pattern of play, the crop of players and of course the fact that they were able to put all the pros and cons together to get e ticket into the World Cup which embarrassingly evaded Nigeria in 2010.
I for one was quite delighted that at last, Nigerian football was getting back to the days of glory and we could begin to see brilliant displays again. Despite the recent FIFA ranking that placed us 36th, a whole lot of us Nigerians still saw reason to celebrate as finally, the eagle was beginning to learn how to fly again. However glad I was, there was one thing I was afraid of, that the team despite the brilliant performances that won them the AFCON, will go on and put up a dismal performance at the World Cup. I am not being pessimistic; I am just facing the recent facts.
Prior to Stephen Keshi’s appointment as the Super Eagles Head Coach, Nigeria had been faced with the challenge of under-performance by the National team. The team was not just getting it right and something urgently needed to be done. When Keshi was finally employed, He began working wonders or so it seemed and everything seemed to be in the right direction. Alas, we won the African Cup of Nations in 2013 and went on to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. At this point, some people began to raise the fact that the problem the National team had all along had been the lack of quality players, on that I beg to differ.
Some other analysts again came up with speculations that the problem had been with the Technical team and since Keshi, the man with the Midas touch had been employed, all would begin to go well. Again, I beg to differ with this school of thought. The problem the National team had was one that surpassed the abilities or inabilities of the Technical team, it was one that was deeply rooted in the way football matters are being managed in our country. At this time, things seems to be going on well with the team, but I foresee some tumultuous days ahead if careful measures are not employed in good time. I here examine a few problems that are beginning to be evident.
While trying to prosecute the AFCON, Coach Stephen Keshi had to comb the nooks and crannies of the world to scout Nigerian footballers who had good potentials to be remarkable for the National team. In came the likes of Ogeyi Onazi, Emmanuel Emenike, Victor Moses, Ogu, Mba and a host of others into the National team as team favourites. He didn’t draft them into the team only because they were top performers in their various clubs, he drafted them in because they were top performers and they had the burning desire to do well for their country. They were simply thirsty for success and this paid off. The likes of Osaze Odemwingie who obviously felt too important had to be dropped. Things began going well with the team, the dressing room became peaceful and the Super Eagles began flying again.
However, after a barrage of successes, word came out that the NFF owed Coach Stephen Keshi a huge amount of money...salaries! What I wonder is, what excuse with the football governing body give for owing the Head Coach his rightfully earned salary? Is NFF broke? Are the officials not getting paid? Are they not even stealing money from that organization? So I realized, the first and greatest problem that football has in Nigeria is the NFF, the football governing body. If such situation were to persist, the morale of the coach will definitely be affected and performances will be below par.
The second important problem with Nigerian football is the way and manner certain analysts go about analysing their football. Just after qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup, many analysts began telling the coach to bring back the likes of Osaze to the team. In their opinion, the World Cup requires experienced players to perform. My problem with this thinking is, drafting players in and out of a National team affects the team’s dynamics and the players’ morale. How do you expect players to perform at their best when they know sooner or later, some arrogant unpatriotic lads are going to be called back into the team because of funny ‘experience’?
When I re-examine the Brazil National team that defeated Spain in the finals of the Confederations Cup, I realize when the potentials of young and hungry players are well honed, they can go on and put in top-flight performances for their teams. As young and new as that squad was, they became the first team to rout Spain in that manner in the last two or three years. Brazil did not because of experience call the likes of Ronaldinho back into full-time team action; they just simply built a more formidable team around young players who had the penchant for success.
The Super Eagles is already taking shape, whatever adjustments needs to be made are quite possible without bringing in legs that feel too important for the little contributions they can make. We should be thinking of encouraging the coach to build the right team spirit into the boys, blend them into a single entity instead of focusing on individual players.
If all these little dynamics are not addressed, I sincerely hope the Super Eagles do not go on to Brazil and embarrass the Nation and themselves. But even if they do embarrass us, I strongly believe that the faults accruable will most likely not be theirs to admit.
Go! Go!! Go Eagles!!!