Fate of our Fathers

Nigeria celebrated its 52^nd Independence Anniversary last October. We are very close to the centenary mark of the Amalgamation of the Nigeria State. This is just two years from now. It’s in the year 2014. Many generations have emerged and are exiting the colossal Nigeria. Some are living relishing their bounty while some are regretting their identity as Nigerians. Those who looted the treasury were cut up in most cases. Those that are still around are in big trouble, they are never at peace. This is because the curse of the Lord is in the house of a thief. Hasty wealth is trendy in the country of our birth and its most vulnerable platform is in our political sphere. But in all these circumstances and challenges, the most pitiable persons among of us are our fathers.

They believe that their generation is wasted. They are part of the problem but not all of them. They are in their latter years and they are facing their graves. They stand the chance of entering the graves unfulfilled. They will exit the scene without really fulfilling their part of the assignment to make the Nigeria State enviable. What is their fate?

They will go six feet beneath unfulfilled. This is not because there are no opportunities to make things right but they believe it’s too late for them to start. But the truth is ‘it’s never late to start anything good’. Even if they are at the very end of their sunset years, they must endeavour to do what they can to rewrite the beautiful Nigeria story. Therefore, to all fathers that are sensitive to their legacy, they must endeavour to do well. They have a role to play, a gap to fill and a lesson to impart to the emerging generation. If they do not, even their ‘so called’ resting place is not secured. On a light note, their fate is not sealed; they are left with a choice.      

God Bless Nigeria!!!

The Nuisance of Omo Onile in New Lagos

Omo Onile literally means ‘Owner of the land’. From a straight Biblical point of view, God is the owner of every land. Bible states explicitly ‘the Earth is the Lord and its fullness there of’ {Ps24:1}. However, human kind over the ages has given credence to foremost settlers as rightly owner of territories and geographical locations. This suggests there are Citizens and land owners, Aliens and sojourners and Nomads as in some places in Africa. If an individual decides to settle in a location, not as a sojourner, he will make enquires about his choice of abode and look for the rightful owners to purchase a plot of land or more. He will pay price and then proceed to develop his land with ease and peace into something habitable.

This is obtainable in most places in Nigeria. But the case is not the same in Lagos, South West, Nigeria. There are some scoundrels who parade themselves as ‘Omo Onile’. It doesn’t matter if the price of the land is fully paid, they will harass the new land owner, and in most cases assault and threaten them. What is going here? I had the experience recently and I was really disgusted at this unconstitutional act. Even if we don’t really have respect for constitution in Nigeria, this inhumane act must stop. However, they know how far they can go in some cases. They don’t harass the very rich that is influential. They also avoid sites of Armed Forces because they know how the story will end if they do. Who will help those who are not connected in high places?       

I believe this harassment of ‘Omo Onile’ is an abuse of fundamental human rights privilege in Nigeria. However, it can be curtailed because its prominence is in Lagos, South West Nigeria only.  It must stop! It’s not negotiable. The truth is some of us will not take any claptrap. They should never dare us with it. Omo Onile beware...don’t go near my site...it’s under construction! Therefore, Lagos State Government is hereby encouraged to do what is right. An Omo Onile extra charge is unconstitutional and it cannot be justified. It is inhumane and it must stop.  

Nigeria Lives!!! God bless Nigeria! 

Legacies of Fathers

We ardently talk of our fathers in Christianity. A hymn goes likewise ‘faith of our fathers living still’. Their legacies and humbling records are undeniable. What can we say about fathers in Nigeria? This doesn’t suggest fathers in a generic sense but our ‘so called’ heroes past. They are fathers. They had played their part for glory or gloom and they left the scene alone, by themselves. The legacies come to our mind whenever we want to proffer solutions to the challenges we are facing presently. It also comes up whenever we are asking ourselves, why we are where we are.   

In South West the scramble to be identified with Awolowo is intense. Every politician wants to be known as a true Aworist. This as it were is not a mere saying but they are known by their results. ‘Only fools doubt proofs’, my father of Faith quipped. Awo’s remarkable legacy in South West Nigeria is the policy of free education. On a sad note, Education in virtually all the state of South West is now insanely luxurious. Tertiary Education is now all time high in all the states except Ondo State. What Awo endeavoured to make free is now very expensive. Where then is the legacy?

Didn’t the fathers tutor suitable successors? What has gone wrong? Even though, our past is important, we can’t dwell in it. If the legacies of the father can’t be built on, we can create an enduring foundation. Their political systems did not last to and influence our generation on an enviable note. The foundations of these systems are questionable. In most cases, they are simply alternatives to Military rule that was prevalent on the continent of Africa. They were not designed to impact the total man. Our task now is to build what will stand the test of time. We must not build the kind they built. We must build what will really last. We don’t have a choice but to build enduring systems because our children will not ask us about the legacies of our fathers but we will do with the opportunity that history permitted and time allotted.    

Nigeria lives! God bless Nigeria!

I'm From Ondo State

There is this world view in South West Nigeria that people from Ondo State are inherently stubborn. The belief received a boost at the just concluded gubernatorial election in the state. The affair is intensely three sided. There is a scenario of a party in power that wants to do more. Another party wanted to integrate. The third party wanted a feasible redemption.

The main contenders approached the issue with a consciousness of the history of the Old Ondo in the mid 70’s to early 80’s and recent events in the new democracy. The prominent isn’t the volatile nature and sensitivity of elections in the state. What is really at stake is that no governor has ever been returned elected after a first term from the polls. Papa Ajasin was returned by the tribunal. Adefarati tried to come back but was defeated by Agagu. Agagu forced his way in through mercenaries but was eased out by the rule of the law. Before last Saturday, every diligent student of history was contemplating the outcome. Will Iroko break the jinx? Will Ondo state be integrated? Can PDP govern in the State again?

The rest is now history but some things came to play that most outsiders can’t really understand. First, the electorate of Ondo state rejected imposition. They could have given ACN a chance if Olu Agunloye was their candidate but Akeredolu is seen as Tinubu’s pawn. Ondo’s resilience said no to ACN’s incursion and ‘fabled’ integration. However, this resilience came afore in the person of Mimiko. He dared the status quo and rebelled against the trend. In Nigeria’s context, the actual belief is ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. If he had joined ACN immediately when coming into power, the election wouldn’t have generated this order of contest and conquest. It would have been predictable, he could have lost and he would have under-delivered because of godfathers. Mimiko dared the drift and Iroko has evidently emerged as a force to reckon with not only in Ondo politics and South West but in the whole of Nigeria. He’s from Ondo, so also are some of us. When we are ready we will take over.

The lesson learnt is: It can never be too late to do what is right. You don’t have to join the multitude to make a difference. There is nothing impossible in Nigeria. We can say no to whatever we want to say no to. Therefore, if you ever come to a point where you can see a path, stand where you are and create a path. I’m from Ondo, Mimiko has left a trail for us to follow, let’s go there and see, if we don’t want to follow, let’s create another. I’m from Ondo, Ondo people don’t take twaddle!

 

Think About This...

"I believe that you're great, that there's something
magnificent about you. Regardless of what has happened to you
in your life, regardless of how young or how old you think you
might be, the moment you begin to think properly, there's
something that is within you, there's power within you, that's
greater than the world. It will begin to emerge. It will take
over your life. It will feed you. It will clothe you. It will
guide you, protect you, direct you, sustain your very
existence, if you let it. Now, that is what I know for sure."

-- Michael Beckwith 

Liberty vs Tyranny in Nigeria (1)

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. ~                                                                                                         Thomas Jefferson

The Nigeria of our dream is a land of liberty. We want it to be a country where government will stop to take us for a ride. We should endeavour to make the government to respect our views about every policy they intend to introduce. But if they don’t have respect for us, our liberty is but a big dream. Nigeria government since independence has always been unfair to Nigeria. We can't count on any of them that has been fair   on Nigerians. They ought to have repaired the breach of colonialism, but they deliberately started neocolonialism. If the all the government that we have had since independence has been committed to the welfare of every Nigerian, life expectancy in Nigeria should be at 90 years plus by the reason of the abundance of natural resources. Our human resources hold sway in the world over.

The agenda is how we can readily call our leaders to order. We need to make them to fear us or we will taken for granted all our lives and keep on day dreaming for a change that is not imminent. The first step is to place every aspect of our governance under close public scrutiny. We should let go of assumptions and start to ask questions. We must make them to fear us. If Nigerians had not vehemently stood their ground about subsidy, we will be buying a litre 350 Naira by now. We stood our ground and said no to tyranny and we were respected but betrayed by a give and take labour movement.  

But as it is in the present day Nigeria, we fear still our leaders. We need not fear them but confront them. After all,  The government is being managed by incapable persons. We will say no to tyranny by saying no to this present era of selection where imposition is the order of the day. We must endeavour to have a credible election. Our choice of leader must be accepted. It doesn’t matter what anyone wants. Edo State indigenes just made a choice that was engendered by good governance. It should be like this anytime we go to pools. 2015 is around the corner, we must whittle how we it to be now.

This is what to do in a time like this to seize our future and that of this emerging generation from the hands of these losers and looters, opportunists, pilferers, and corrupt people at the helms of affairs. This is what to do now in to make Nigeria of our dream real. We must arise and say no to tyranny and corruption. We will get there but we must take the responsibility to take us there. God bless Nigeria! 

   

What our problem is!!!

America's  40th President and oldest ever elected at age 69, Ronald Reagan, in his inaugural address on January 20 1981, said 'Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem'. In Nigeria's context, what is our problem? who is our problem?

There is a worldview about government in Nigeria as a mere institution and the persons are in it are sacred and invincible. Anything government in Nigeria is more of the monuments and moments, not responsibility and commitment to service and delivery of electioneering flattery. After all, politicians in the world over way of life is flattery. What is our problem? Who is the government?

The Government is made up of persons and it implies Government is human, and not necessarily our historical monuments and the duration of its stay in power. It is human even if it indulges in inhuman activities. But what is Nigeria's problem? Government? No. Who or what? Nigeria's fundamental problem has always been laid on the government but it is not entirely so. Nigeria's basic problem is her citizenry.

This has to do with our mindset, believe system, values and convictions. We are overly expectant of our brand of leaders as if they are not the product of our system. The problem is our system that is simply change resistant. If a leader arises and intends to visit the sins and misgivings of our past, people will moan and groan. We are emotionally tied to culture and people group. If he or she is our kinsmen, no problem. But if not, they should be punished. Our system is the problem and if it is taken care of, no one will be able to confront it. An average Nigerian is selfish. If you think you are not, when last did you say, 'God bless Nigeria'?

Think about these things. We are capable of taking our destiny into our hands. We are the problem. When we solve this, we will celebrate the Nigeria of our dream on the mountain top.

  

Give us real Men in Nigeria

God give us men. A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands:
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor--men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking.
                                                             ANON.

This thought is anonymous and it is older than the amalgamation of the Nigeria State but it is most relevant to our Nigeria context. We really need men in Nigeria. True men. Read the lines thoughtfully.

The poem is taken from 'Architects of Fate' by Orison Swett Marden and was published in 1895.

Nigeria Can Work!!!

Sunday Bombings in Northern Nigeria have become an eyesore. We are faced with the question we have been asking ourselves again. Can the Nigeria state work? Yes it can if we want it to. But if we don't want it to work, we will analyse, commentate and proffer the way out and this won't do anything. But how will the Nigeria State survive, live and then thrive?

It will work if we can recall where we are coming from. We have been through a lot as people. We attained the independence together. We then have suffered together, mourned together, travailed together, triumph together and preserve the State together in spite of the Civil war. We endured the wicked military rule together and saw the transition to another civil rule together. We are about to see true democracy how a State that respects the rule of law will be. I submit that because of what we have been through together, we will stay together and make Nigeria to be a great success.