State of the Nation

State of the Nation.

A lot has being happening in the country the last few weeks that has been both shocking and interesting.

First of all was the Boko Haram crisis in the North with these fanatics attacking government facilities and security men as well. They ended up been crushed thanks to the intervention of the Nigerian Army but the end has been received with mixed feelings in a lot of quarters thanks to the extra-judicial killing of the Leader, Mohammed Yusuf and a financier of the group, a former commissioner in one of the Northern states.

Well, controversy still trails the accounts of his death by the security men with the Army insisting he was captured alive and with video and picture evidence to back it up (all thanks to youtube, saharareporters) and the Police claiming he was killed during a shootout. Heck! Who does not know the history of the Nigeria Police with such killings!

The Secretary of State for the United States of America, Hillary Clinton came visiting the country as well during the cause of the week. She chastised the government on the state of corruption in the country as well as the deplorable level of good governance. Must we wait for a diviner from the next town to point out to us what the gods are saying about the state of our nation? What went arong with our diviners?

Gov Ohakim of Abia state recently defected to the PDP from his party, PPA. The politics of carpet crossing will never end in our nation, or should i say,if you can’t beat em, you join em!

ASUU strike is going to more than 10 weeks now with negotiation suspended by the Federal Government alleging insincerity and blackmail on the part of the lecturers and vice versa. I think for once, ASUU is fighting on a reasonable ground,  but for how long must the future of this nation be subject to this debacle?! In the midst of this crisis, the Minister of Education, Sam Egwu, a recycled, sorry a former Governor had his 25th wedding anniversary with whooping millions! Allegedly 25 million naira! All in this nation! Well, as long as his children are outside the country studying, he has nothing to worry about!

When will thou save the people?! O God of mercy when?! The People, not thrones not crowns but men!

Our nation is in a nigh state of revolution unprecedented. We can’t sit back and watch things go on this way. We need to take positive steps towards the redemption of our country. But this question pops up, who will be the Messiah? Who will #lightupNigeria for the sake of the future generationState

A lot has being happening in the country the last few weeks that has been both shocking and interesting.

First of all was the Boko Haram crisis in the North with these fanatics attacking government facilities and security men as well. They ended up been crushed thanks to the intervention of the Nigerian Army but the end has been received with mixed feelings in a lot of quarters thanks to the extra-judicial killing of the Leader, Mohammed Yusuf and a financier of the group, a former commissioner in one of the Northern states.

Well, controversy still trails the accounts of his death by the security men with the Army insisting he was captured alive and with video and picture evidence to back it up (all thanks to youtube, saharareporters) and the Police claiming he was killed during a shootout. Heck! Who does not know the history of the Nigeria Police with such killings!

The Secretary of State for the United States of America, Hillary Clinton came visiting the country as well during the cause of the week. She chastised the government on the state of corruption in the country as well as the deplorable level of good governance. Must we wait for a diviner from the next town to point out to us what the gods are saying about the state of our nation? What went arong with our diviners?

Gov Ohakim of Abia state recently defected to the PDP from his party, PPA. The politics of carpet crossing will never end in our nation, or should i say,if you can’t beat em, you join em!

ASUU strike is going to more than 10 weeks now with negotiation suspended by the Federal Government alleging insincerity and blackmail on the part of the lecturers and vice versa. I think for once, ASUU is fighting on a reasonable ground,  but for how long must the future of this nation be subject to this debacle?! In the midst of this crisis, the Minister of Education, Sam Egwu, a recycled, sorry a former Governor had his 25th wedding anniversary with whooping millions! Allegedly 25 million naira! All in this nation! Well, as long as his children are outside the country studying, he has nothing to worry about!

When will thou save the people?! O God of mercy when?! The People, not thrones not crowns but men!

Our nation is in a nigh state of revolution unprecedented. We can’t sit back and watch things go on this way. We need to take positive steps towards the redemption of our country. But this question pops up, who will be the Messiah? Who will #lightupNigeria for the sake of the future generation

Just as wrapping this up, the banking sector is in turmoil with the sacking of 5 bank MDs on Friday due to gross financial misconduct and fiscal indiscipline. The CBN Chief says they risk going to jail if found culpable in the activities that led to their banks been stressed. The Nation is just heating up! God have mercy!

Lessons Learnt

Lessons

Its been awhile that i last posted on my blog. Been busy watching and participating in events.
Well, lets leave that forthat. I had quite an interesting experience on Friday 3rd July. I never knew the Police where not meant to enter your vehicle at any point in time for whatever reason or offence. Well what happenned, i and a collegue went to pick the German expatriate that came to work on our Shape CD machine, so we took Allen round about stopped with the traffic waiting for the go signal. We were not able to see the light, because we were at the back of the queue. So the vehicles in front of us moved and we moved along naturally as expected only to hear stop! stop! You broke the traffic light offence! Where is your driver licence! Open the door! And before we knew it, they had forced there way into the vehicle and told us to drive to park or go to the station. Funny thing, there was no traffic light at that point and we were asked for our tax clearance papers!Luckily, my collegue driving was a Youth Corper but that did not fly with the Policeman! Now the clincher, he said fine for commiting a particular offence was N250. Fine for commiting a traffic light offence was N65070! Haba! Oga Police!

They wanted us to drive down to their station but my collegue slowed down enough to create a traffic situation that obtructed a siren blowing official coming behind us! Suddenly a woman drove alongside us and asked,”Are you going together?!” and we replied “No Madam!”And she ordered them out of the vehicle. Meanwhile, an official looking man was suddenly at the other side of the vehicle and demanded of the policemen if their duty post was inside the vehicle! The men scabbled out of the vehicle dropping the driving licence (which we did not know until much later) and the woman ordered that we follow her. Fortunately we lost the woman and continued to our office withh the German expatriate amused and not the least surprised by it!

The second incident actually happened in the middle of the night between the hours of 1:55am and 3am on saturday. I suddenly awoke to the sound of an alarm outside. I got up to enquire only to discover that a flat in the next block to my block was in flames! people were screaming, shouting  running up and down and i remembered that i had the lagos emergency number. So i dialled, it went through once and the information passed aacross and said the fire team will be there shortly. Ten minutes later, i called  asking were they where, and told they had been dispatched. The next thirty minutes were harrowing as we watch the flat burn. The young men summoned courage, got buckets of water with detergent to combat the fire. And for the next Thirty minutes the young men battled with the fire and succeeded in taming it. Meanwhile a friend also called the fire service and was told they were on their way. And they came in less than ten minutes after the fire had been relatively tamed and contained! They were led in by the RRS who had earlier visited the scene and left. Of course trust the people, they ordered the fire engine back to its origin! They were lucky the policemen where there and they pacified the youths and told them that as soon as the call was put through, they had been on their way all the way from Alausa to FESTAC! Thirty minutes after my call went through!

 

Lessons learnt:

1) A Policeman has no right to withhold your licence for any traffic offence, he should issue a ticket if empowered to do so: Have a photocopy of your licence everytime, and demand he issue you a ticket if you have indeed committed a traffic offence. But be wise!

2) Always be wary of traffic points where policemen mount, they would use any guise to obtain you. Because a foreigner was in the vehicle, we suddenly committed a traffic light offence with a fine of N65070!: Desperation can drive men to unimaginable limits! Nigerian Police especially!

3)A Policeman has no right whatsoever to board your vehicle without your consent: Any Policeman trying to board your vehicle is a thief! Especially when uninvited!

4)Always have the emergency toll free numbers with you always. 767 for lagos state: It could be the difference between life and death. It could be your only saving grace in a dire situation. Have it all the time!

5)In an emergency situation, keep your cool and take a proactive approach to the situation. Don’t join the band wagon of pity party that compounds the situation: Its a very bad habit of Nigerians to gather round the scene of an accident and gape at the helpless victims and lament without doing anything to help but add their wailings to the hapless. Its a very bad cuilture that needs to be dealt with. Think positive, think of the next step to rectify the situation and be a blessing!

6)You alone can help yourself and your situation! Don’t wait for the Federal Government! Most people put the spot on the Federal Government to remedy the situation in the country, but forget the saying that heavens help those who help themselves! Am not trying to absolve the FG from there responsibilities, but we need to know that we must fend for ourselves to solve our problems before we expect the government to act!

7)A help you think is nearby is farther than you think! Don’t count on it! FESTAC fire service did not show up, but Lagos state fire service showed up all the way from Alausa to put out a fire in FESTAC! The person you think is nearby to help you may not be readily available to do so. Don’t count on that brother or friend less than a metre a way to help you, help might actually come from a 100 kilometers!

Cheers!

My condolence and sympathies to the family of the Adeolu Akinyemi and my friend, Abiola his brother over the sudden exit of their mother on thursday 2nd July 2009. God grant the family, fortitude to bear the loss. Amen.

Cheers!

Tenure Extension Again?

Hmm, its been a while that i last posted something on my blog. Doing some reflecting. Well, a lot has been happening the world over. From the global financial meltdown to mundane things happening in different countries.

Well, something caught my eye this morning. It was a newspaper headline on the Punch of today. ‘Panel want tenure extension for Yar’Adua’ From the few details i could get,it it seems the panel set up by the Presidency to look at the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Report that are making the proposal and its been spear headed by the Attorney General of the Federation!

But i just can’t help but wonder what our leaders were thinking bringing such suggestion up. It seems to me to be a deliberate attempt to forget history and truncate the future,with specific reference to the botched 3rd term bid of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of our country. It seems as well that they are yet to learn from the peaceful transition of government in Ghana that took place earlier this year. Little wonder that PDP is seriously and fast losing ground in some states of the federation. But it also calls to mind what our so called leaders think of in their so called chambers and offices.

Now what is been proposed is to have the 4 year tenure extended to 6 years! “The panel reportedly argued that Yar‘Adua ”would have completed the unbundling of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” by being in office for two more years.” What nonsense! Is he the only one capable to do such a task? Or is he going to be the last man to rule this great country of ours?! To me, it’s turning out that confusion over what to do is the order of the day at Aso Rock.Policies that will benefit the greater majority of the nation is been sacrificed for policies that will benefit the very few in the nation. The elite group that will stop at nothing to bring the nation to her knees to achieve their own selfish end.

Frankly, it shows that we don’t have leaders in this country that can stand up and damn the demogogues, men whom the lust of office does not spoil. We need to define the basis of leadership in this country, to set a new, refined standard, of quality acceptable leadership. We need to stand up as a nation and look our leaders in the face and tell them when they are erring and to tow the line of correction.

We need to, as a nation be able to take charge of our destiny and not wait for a corrupt politician or leader to define our destiny for us. The future of a great Nigeria begins now! Not tomorrow. I love the Bank PHB advert of recent, of living your own script and not living another person’s script. Its time we write our script as a nation and not wait for anybody to write it for us. Lets say no to any form of banditry by our government.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Cheers!

New Face of Anti-Corruption War

The recent trend the anti corruption war is taking in Nigeria is quite alarming! This is evidence with the recent prosecution of the former anti corruption Czar, Nuhu Ribadu, the light punishment given to Chief Lucky Igbinedion, former governor of Edo State and several “hush-hush” subduing of high profile cases such as the recent Siemens scandal that is not confined to this country alone and several others.

Am quite sure that the international community will watch with bemused expressions the recent antics of the government to nip corruption in the bud. I wonder sincerely,what this dispensation of Farida Waziri has for us in this nation, will it be a period of the dog returning to its vomit, or a period of dog eat dog, or a period of renewed commitment to fight off the lethargy that is threatening to stifle the fight against corruption.

Whatever the case may be,we will “siddon look” and keep our fingers crossed as the drama unfolds this year.

Cheers!

You can conquer almost any fear if you will make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.

Dale Carnegie

But why?

It’s with anger and shock that I read the newspaper account of how police shot and killed a young promising man at a checkpoint in Agbor,at the Ika Local Government Area of Delta state. Not only that, that medical personnel refused to attend to him for about 5 hours till he gave up the ghost! What country is this!

Its a Season of Change!

I have followed with interest, the recent event that happened between Miss Uzoma Okere and Rear Admiral Harry Arogundade and his boys. And i must say i am really impressed the way the incident has been handled by the media, government, civil groups and everybody. Kudos!

In as much as people are tooting that its because of the daughter of who she is, ( She is the daughter of the Sergeant at Arms in the national Assembly) that she is receiving attention, i beg to disagree. She is capable enough to create a storm in a tea cup! I believe she will receive justice and this silly anomaly of men in uniform will be curtailed to the barest minimum. Just read, that the Rear Admiral and his goons have been summoned to Abuja by the Defence Headquarters over the incident. I believe he won’t  go unpunished.

Governor Adams Oshiomole was yesterday sworn into office as the Governor of Edo State after a year plus of Legal tussle to claim his mandate. Its an hard earned victory for him and the people of Edo State. And a  final signal to PDP that the era of installation has been done with. People are now waking up to the consciousness of what the law can do. Especially if you are on the right.

Its a new season indeed for our political  parties and our consciousness as well. A change in our perception of do or die politics to every one is a winner politics.

Also, i must commend the Lagos State government for banning the use of sirens in Lagos. I must say its a welcome development. Its high time the wailers on our streets be sent packing! And for sanity to return to our roads.

Indeed yes we can!