AT THE TOWER OF BABEL-THE TALES OF RELIGION IN NIGERIA

The road to perdition is hardly cleared, it’s never smooth. The road to perdition is also difficult to travel through. Nothing good comes easy, nothing bad also comes easy. The moral of the story, nothing comes easy. It occurred to me that religion has been malfunctioning in Nigeria. It is still an art that the colonialists left for us. If something loses function it becomes an art. Paintings from Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh had a function of expressing messages, but today they are auctioned at high prices at Christies and Sotheby’s. Why? Because they have lost function to mass communication and have become an art. When the colonialists came they missionized Africa in a paternalistic manner, caring for outcasts in the Igbo society and the dejected all across the nation. The religious institution they created was an art form. Much progress has been made though to express function, especially by the Pentecostal churches who offer deliverance from metaphysical connections that in local terms are obstacles to human well being. They have also fostered entrepreneurship by encouraging people to be independent and hope on God for financial success. But there is one important thing religion has not done-adequately contributing to shaping power relations in the society.
Recently, a pastor came to my house and prayed with us, in the course of the prayer he said, In Jesus name even if they remove the subsidy, your grace is sufficient. I felt this was selfish, for our responsibility is not only to ourselves, it is also to society. Hence, the biblical saying “Love thy neighbour as thyself”. What finally struck a chord in me was when I saw a catholic priest in Madala, in one of the churches that was affected by the bombs telling members of the church to pray and not worry. I asked myself, what happened to the functionality of religion? Why can’t the affected churches take a protest to Jonathan? Many who don’t understand functionality of the church from my point of view need to understand the role that the church played in modifying and adjusting social and political relations in the world, especially in Europe. King Henry had to break away from the Catholic Church to marry a new wife. In United States Martin Luther King jnr fought against racial discrimination vigourously, Malcolm X also did same. Archbishop Desmond Tutu helped to pull down the apartheid system in South Africa. What is happening in Nigeria? People are asked to pray when they should take to the streets to protest against corruption.
Many of our leaders go to religious leaders for prayers on regular basis; I wonder what they tell them? I think they may not be telling them enough. Our religious leaders should invoke the powers of trust that their congregations repose in them to bring about change in this country. They should stop asking people to pray for wealth and prosperity, when greater problems would arise that would make any improvement in their lives meaningless. I am a Christian and I am not saying prayer is not good. But we must tell ourselves the truth, if it was by prayer alone, the various prophets and apostles in the bible would not have gone for wars or engaged in civil disobedience by engaging in acts against the law of the land by preaching the gospel. That s what religion stands for; defiance, rigour, improvement in societal values and norms. The beauty is that religion in countries where it came from is not an art form, it is functional. The King James Bible went through a lot of process before it was finally published. But many here practising religion in art form would stand on the portion that says if anyone removes from this book, his name shall be removed from the book of life.
Even the Pope, makes calls against inhuman leadership and sufferings. Archbishop Olubunmi Okogie and Reverend Father Kukah have also tried in ensuring functionality of religion by speaking against dictatorships and bad civilian leaders. Imagine the number of Christians that attend retreats and camps. Imagine the number of people who troop for deliverance services and regular services. Imagine if they are mobilized against bad leadership, not to carry arms. But to demand accountability, to shun corruption by whistleblowing.Imagine if Christians are encouraged to ask their councillors and local government chairmen questions. The other day people got whim of a prayer and fasting Pastor Adeboye of redeemed ask them to do. A lot of people had said their prayers in the evening only to hear while eating that it wasn’t true.
If religion has such potential to gear citizens to action, what is it still doing? I think many of us need to redefine what we want as a society. We also need to identify what role religion plays as an art form or function has been playing. We need to responsible to society. Religion should be borne in the society, not society in religion. Our problems are peculiar, thus religion must function in a peculiar form that doesn’t violate religious precepts or foundations.
The true function of religion is to make the society a better place. It is not to serve self alone; others are also to be served. How can you serve people in Adamawa, whose voices can’t be heard by praying alone? I think prayer has turned to routine for many of us, such that when we should speak up, we pray, even while our loved ones are being killed we pray, when Jesus asked the apostles to protect themselves. We must to pray alone! We must Watch and pray! Let’s start watching, we have prayed enough!

NDUKA AND THE TOWN HALL:THE TRIALS OF SUBSIDY

The town crier made the announcement but I barely heard. I think it was one of those times I was trying to get something to eat or when I was trying to buy a bottle of deregulation. I thought it was an alternative to palm-oil. What then is deregulation, when it has been over flogged beyond recognition?
There were so many roars at the other end; I rushed to catch a glimpse of the obviously exciting spectacle. Behold it was subsidy that was on trial for what it had not yet done. He was charged with being a good and bad man at the same time and there were many plaintiff and defendant lawyers, and there were many judges and citizens in the town hall. The clerk was the egberipapa of newspaper, the chairman of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Nduka Obaigbena 1.I almost didn’t recognize him, and his tummy had increased again. The last time I heard, he travelled abroad to drain some of the deregulation in his tummy. He had obviously been taking too much of deregulation again.
I didn’t catch much of the trial unfortunately; it was Olisa Agbakoba, the one who used to koba previous governments that had just finished speaking. I was able to listen to Oshiomole-the comradic one, Isa Aremu,Nigeria labour Congress Vice-president, Ben Bruce, the one who is most capable of every form of pageantry,coquetry,artristry and theatrics. Femi Falana, Ngozi, Sanusi, Diezani were also there. If you see the look on subsidy’s face? You would pity him.
The question was in whose interest is subsidy removal? Isa Aremu made a position for the masses, vigorously explaining that removal of subsidy would cause prices of household items to increase thereby making life difficult for poor Nigerians. Diezani pleaded for the removal to enable government divert the money into other areas with infrastructure deficit.Sanusi lauded Falana for their activism antecedents in school and Ben Bruce made a case for the poor. It would have been a good one, except that it was one of the links in a chain of public relations efforts to provide appeal and acceptance for subsidy removal. Christine Lagarde, president of IMF was in Nigeria to laud the transformation agenda and the town hall meeting was just sequel to that. The actors in this game have constructed their symbols very well; it’s left for us to understand them. They have successfully made a case for removal of subsidy, by reminding us of happenings in Greece. Sanusi said what we are seeing in Greece, may be a child’s play, if we don’t remove subsidy. Its possible.But, he who cannot handle little, can he handle much? What has happened to the lifeline given to other sectors? What happened to the billions of naira in the poverty alleviation programmes, the small and medium scale enterprises programme, and the power sector programme which gulped an untraceable 16billion dollar?
They made a case for the current trust deficit and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala asked Nigerians to trust them. I am forced to ask, what about recurrent expenditure? Why would Jonathan take over 120 people for the commonwealth summit amidst the lack they are emphasizing? Many nationals who come home to serve in places like India don’t get as much as Okonjo is getting.Okonjo was paid in dollars before she left the Obasanjo administration. Sanusi even confessed he doesn’t buy fuel. Amidst the subsidy debate, Jonathan appointed new special advisers. The short of the whole thing is that the three tiers of government are amassing much of our resources. Resources meant for all. It is the three tiers whose subsidy should be removed, not the subsidy on petroleum. The Nigerian case is not peculiar. Many countries including Brazil and China mandated their national oil firms to subsidize fuel for their citizens.
The most disappointing part of the event was when Sanusi said there is a cabal that is core to the gross inefficiency of the subsidy arrangement. What happened to law enforcement? What happened to auditing firms who are complicit in the doctoring of the books? Why has anyone not been charged? The question is that of corruption. If government cannot face the subsidy thieving cabal, then they cannot face the cabal that would be created in the areas they intend to channel the money. Because any fund, opportunity or programme gives birth to a cabal.Dimeji Bankole is enjoying himself, Akala is comfortable, and Tony Anenih whose ministry could not account for over 300billion is a godfather in Edo state. Chief Obasanjo whose name alongside many other influential people was mentioned in the Halliburton scandal is waxing stronger. Then you expect us to trust you with subsidy money? NO! If corruption is not addressed, the subsidy removal would not translate to any meaningful development. It would only be enjoyed by the new cabal.
If government goes against the wishes of the masses, then the materialist position of Karl Marx which says that social consciousness is determined by material condition’s would be activated and gradually reinforced. More youths would go into cyber-crimes, prostitution, stealing, robbery and many old people would die untimely because their children won’t be able to take care of their medical bills. The seed for a revolution would be sown. They (our leaders) should not think that a revolution is not possible. It would only come gradually.
Nduka Obaigbena has violated public trust in the journalism profession openly taking sides with the federal government. I don’t think he remembers that the press should be socially responsible to the society. His role should be that of an unbiased empire. He has obviously deployed his machinery to help Oshiomole campaign; help Ben Bruce display his theatrics while patronizing the poor.Obaigbena just violated the trust of the masses in the press by using the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria Platform to promote an unpopular policy that has been made an infallible dogma by Jonathan.
NIGERIAN YOUTHS, LETS SAY NO TO SUBSIDY REMOVAL.IT WOULD ONLY GIVE THEM MORE MONEY FOR THEIR HOLIDAYS, PATRONAGE AND PERPETUATION OF SYCHOPHANCY.

LONG LIVE NIGERIA
LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE

SOUTH SUDAN: IT’S NOT YET UHURU; THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!

Unlike many I beg to differ that South Sudan has reached the Promised Land. I prefer to be called a prophet doomsday economics on this note-not a prophet of doom.
The journey has been an emotional one from the strategic plains of Abyei to Darfur, from foreign intervention to a referendum and finally independence. The reconciliating units (North and South Sudan) have done what is best for humanity.However; it is pertinent to conduct a pre-conflict x-ray. The Arab dominated north and the Christian and black animist dominated south of the largest country in Africa-Sudan had been at war over resources and northern hegemony. The centre could no longer hold, thus they had to call it quits. The result is the present independence of the south.
Today amidst the joy I hear echoes of mistrust amongst the South-Sudan people over the allocation of juicy position’s to the Dinka tribe(second largest tribe in South Sudan).This might be a spring board for conflict, not of the erstwhile dimension but the type that won’t guarantee speedy development in South Sudan. Presently the South has oil fields and the North has refineries. The Abyei region considered as strategic for security and other economic reasons is still a subject of dispute between the North and the South. For now the purpose of this text that may be irrelevant. The south can still take advantage of her oil reserves for development. A bloody revolution has occurred an economic one should follow; its unfortunate that in South Sudan a social revolution has to come first before true development can take place. The solution was never a break up citing further mistrusts among the people of the south about fears of an impending Dinka domination.
To make a case for my conclusion against a territorial break up. I would cite a peculiar to them-Nigeria. Blessed with Crude Oil and other resources the country was ruled by the military North who dominated every sphere. Here the hegemony was equally as strong or a little short of that. The people however endured the times and have evolved over time. Though the citizens still pass through economic agonies and social instability. Nigeria also still has problems with equality in distribution of resources.
Nigeria recently had elections better than other years. Much progress might not have been recorded economically and security wise but we are working it out. There is freedom of speech and Press Freedom.Recently, Boko Haram has become a sectional issue threatening the survival of the country but we are working it out!
South Sudan’s independence is a euthanasia of painful human feelings of the over 2million deaths there. Its an emotional relief; an international intervention success. It would have been a day history would volunteer to record but for the mistrust brimming subtlety among the South Sudan people. Before it was Arab domination, now it’s the fear of the Dinka tribe domination. For the benefit of doubt I hope the Dinka fear would be suppressed. If the freedom Square of Juba would be truly monumental the hearts of the people of South Sudan must be monumental enough to accommodate tribal and ethnic differences. That way true development can be given a chance. Happy Independence South Sudan, though its not Uhuru, the struggle continues!

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT:THEORY OF THE DIVINE RIGHTS OF KINGS IN NIGERIA

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT: THEORY OF THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS IN NIGERIA
Culture they say is a way of life; it is an embodiment of a people’s mode of dressing, communication, marriage e.t.c, while development according to Professor Joseph Stieglitz is the improvement in the way of thinking and livelihood of a people. This espouses the truth that people cannot develop beyond their ways of thinking which informs their actions, culture informs the average persons reasoning. It is important that from time to time people of any given territory should ensure that their culture and thinking is right to sustain or better chances at their development and well being. Culture is dynamic, it should not stay stagnant. There is an exception to this statement-Nigeria and other African countries. This started when the colonialists came to Africa for the scramble. The white foisted their culture on us and told us that our language is vernacular. They told us our religion is paganism; they burnt our shrines and destroyed our institutions of governance which were not doing bad. They seized our lands and affected our chances at improvement in farming practices. One thing must be conceded in terms of best practices, the white man had better technology, but when they came our culture had to stand still or walk agedly without reaching the ultimate destination of dynamism. What has the result of the “oyinbos” actions been? an eroded value system, little appreciation of our culture as compared to what can be obtained, culture alienation from generation to generation ;as some parents and agents of socialization scold children for speaking their indigenous language, loss of identity as many want to behave like they are from the west. Nothing seems good that comes from their own land. One thing is pertinent that culture is the basis for existence and a viable tool for national integration of people in a country. It must be one that all identify with and want to live for. Do we have such in place in this nation? No.A nation can be defined from two angles; subjective and objective. The subjective definition is when people of diverse backgrounds and culture come together to live as one despite their differences. The objective one conforms to homogeneity of the people. This is big trouble, as we don’t conform to any of the two. what we need most is a social revolution rather than industrial one. We need to identify a peculiarity that would unite us against bad leadership and acceptance of mediocrity in the midst of abundant potentials. For the Americans it is the American dream, Germans-Aryan phenomenon and Japanese-Samurai chivalry exemplified in all spheres of their lives. To address this problem lets take a look at the roots. Our fathers themselves were lured into a game of divide and rule by the whites, this was a strategy that was used in many colonies; take advantage of ethnic differences, share political power disproportionately and incite the people to suspect themselves. It was not their fault but they were not nationalists, they were more of ethnicists and that has bred distrust down the days from the time of independence. Today we have the strongest political bloc otherwise called "The Northern hegemony”, managing to share real political power with the Yoruba both not having a truly national interest at heart. It is not late for us; they say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. We are in a country where an average leader is above the law, I mean an average citizen also talk less of leaders, our thinking and actions connotes the era of divine rights of kings where the white men took over have hardly gone beyond it. This is where the paradigm of the divine rights of kings comes in. It posits that any developmental initiative should focus on our divine rights tendencies, especially on the part of our leaders.
Our thinking should start connoting a society where people are responsible to the rule of law ,ready to live as one and fighting for a common dream, not where in our minds we are several imaginary autonomous kingdoms in one country wanting to grab everything for ourselves with the white man’s culture as a fall back.We need to recreate our values dynamize our culture and make it in line with prevailing circumstances-blending the old with the new.

THE VOYAGE TO LAGOS:FASHOLA IS WORKING,LAGOS IS SINKING

Before I even get crucified by the behemoth of Governor Fasholas fans let me explain and not try to aggrandize myself I only borrowed the header from the campaign slogan;Fashola is Working,;lagos is working to reflect the present day-rainy season reality.
Lagos state is one of the few states that still gives Nigerians hope. The megacity has been a source of interest for multilateral agencies and foreign governments considering her enormous potentials in driving development in Nigeria and the sub-saharan part of the African continent.
I however must confess that Governor Babatunde Fashola has tried to live it up for Lagosians and the development community, the only fear I have is if all along the efforts made by the governor in the area of infrastructure have not turned out to be counter-productive. Everyone familiar with this month of June in Lagos can bear witness that the rains have hit hard, with flooding in places like Alimosho, where flooding carried a girl who slipped in Igando-Ikotun local council area. Areas like Iyana-Ipaja, Aboru, Abesan Estate, Ikeja and Lekki-Ajah have also had their fair share.
I am forced to be biased about Lekki-Ajah which I would be particular about in this text. The reasons are not farfetched.Lekki-Ajah hold enormous potentials in terms of investment of funds by local investors their foreign counterparts.Lekki-Ajah was also part of the high points of governor Fasholas campaign where he highlighted that the government would embark on a sea-port and an airport. These drew thunderous ovations by hands and words of mouth.
As germane as it should be it is obvious that conditions that guarantee seamless operations to achieve the maximum potential of these initiatives have not been put in place.Firstly, the Lekki-Ajah expressway seemed to have arrived at a quasi-coma. This is either because the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has not been able to access funds since the work slowed down since the subtle protest of residents of Lekki over taxes scheduled to be collected during the election period. Here administrative efficiency was subjugated for political responsiveness.Secondly; the drainage in Lekki is either non-existent or the poorest in any mega-city. Come to think of it that road is supposed to cost 50 billion naira! The floods have been very enormous, especially in areas like Jakande, Alpha beach road, Igbo-Efon etc many businesses have been at a loss and potential ones would have been warded off. This might even discourage foreign investors if they consider the fact that there is no adequate flood emergency mechanism in Lagos State. Private residences in Lekki get full to the brim with people having to move out for months. It’s beginning to seem that Lekki is a dry season business district, the rainy season is not friendly to business as workers and businesses have a lot to contend with. Something should be done in due time and maybe Hi-Tech is not just up to the task ,they should consult Julius Berger on the latest technologies that the former employed in Akwa-Ibom to control water.
Finally, I make a case for other parts of Lagos like Alimosho,Ikorodu,Abesan etc.The government has greatly neglected these areas all in the guise of addressing infrastructure issues in the areas that are the” Faces of Lagos”-Victoria Island,Ikoyi,Lekki etc. This is injustice as these areas pay Land use charge and all other forms of taxes. Is it that the people living there are second class citizens or can just be deprived of their rights to adequate infrastructure by an unwritten law? The ruling party even gets most of their votes from this areas. Well,I believe there is room for change. The CAN should cut the propaganda and get to real work. They should stop victimising PDP and stop giving Lagosians band-aids.Lagosians should not be made to fund any political party, we demand real infrastructural development and not band aids! I want to import an alibi for Governor Fashola in that he might be lacking in political savvy but he has defied all odds in the past. He has gotten our mandate for another four years. He should increase his momentum in the Lagos he sees and that which we all see-A city of the world’s dreams!

THE CIVIL SERVICE, JONATHAN AND THE MINISTERS-A PARADIGM OF TRUE DEVELOPMENT

Indeed in recent times the politics of the world has changed. A black man became President in America; the conservatives showed labour the way out of Downing Street and a man from the south-south became the President of the most populous black nation in the world. It can be called somewhat dynamic; it can be seen as miraculous. Miracles happen, but do we act in such a way that the miracles don’t turn into curses in a matter of time.
Goodluck Jonathan was greeted with increased vigour from anarchists in the northern part of the country, the violence led to the death of many and destruction of lives and properties. Let’s say that was a sacrifice, afterwards we still move on with our daily routines expecting things to change! Well it can be said that be can’t develop beyond our capacity but we have elected someone who would make up for many deficiencies we have had overtime, he would be doing this with a group of people called Ministers. These people would be responsible for execution broad and limited government programmes. Debates have emanated and pursued to rigorous ends about how the composition of the cabinet should be made. President Jonathan has made a case for his erstwhile ministers in that it is difficult for a country to pursue programmes effectively if it keeps changing ministers.Briiliant! Mr President, that’s good because since independence we have had one minister running the foreign affairs ministry for an average of two years. How does a country pursue its foreign policy? so Jonathan asked.
My argument is this, Mr President and the ministers the only ones responsible for implementation? They are the arrowheads, agreed.However, I am making a case for director-Generals of ministries and Permanent secretaries of government parastatals.I think this people are more influential and key to the development of this country. We should cast our net to this area and get an x-ray machine to address the fractured areas. The civil service needs reforms and people heading them must be viewed closely. The media should also try to be more insightful in setting agenda because I was wondering why everyone felt it’s just Jonathan and a handful of appointees that can work the miracle. The civil service has 60percent of the role to play. Go to government institutions and verify peoples attitude to work, some are just waiting for pension and allowances. Most don’t even develop capacity again because government business is not their fathers business. I think the civil service should be run like private sectors where you get what you deserve.
It’s very painful that not only politicians are responsible for our shortcomings. While we complain about them we should look at the poor attitude to work by some of us in the civil service and our communities. The civil service has a major role to play indeed. They know the weakness, they alone. The ministers are just political fulfilments in our setting.
Let’s ask ourselves when we got something important seamlessly from a government parastatal or whether the quality of service in government parastatals is delivered with utmost professionalism. Do we think the developed countries didn’t know what they where up to by reducing government functions in areas critical to their national existence.
The truth is simple for true development, reduction in bureaucratic bottlenecks and adequate service delivery to be available the Civil Service must be drastically reformed!

WHY CHINA MAY FALL

For a while I pondered on the successes of the emerging economies, rising out of the ashes to compete with America, United Kingdom and other European powers.Brazil,India,China and Russia indeed have achieved a feat.
Of all Chinas success is unique. It operates a communist system of government and managed to care for a large population. Just second to America with promises of being the next power, China has proven to be beyond the phenomenon of being phenomenal. That’s the current reality.

Citing these milestones may be easy, saying otherwise with facts may be painful; after all a good number of left wing Marxists would have been quick to rejoice over the possibility of overthrowing capitalism. The bottom line is Chinas success maybe short-lived. Why?

Internal democracy is non-existent in China, in recent time’s Tibetan monks and some Mongolia citizens have made dissenting positions such that the government had to suppress them with force. Remember the Tiananmen Square? It lives in the memories of people but the power of the barrel of the gun still holds sway and it is the most powerful according to Chairman Mao-Pioneer of the communist party in China. According to feelers some members of the communist party are aware of this and have made arrangements such as buying houses abroad and getting their passports ready so that they can travel once the bubble bursts like it did in old USSR.

Demographically China has been very fortunate over the years with a large population of young people yesteryears China has been able to enjoy demographic dividends. Today the young people are now old and the likelihood of replacing them is dim. Thanks to the one child per family policy. It cannot be overemphasized that the once young people were the one of the major pillars holding the Chinese state. With rising wages and rising prices of food, China still has pension issues to contend with when these crop of old people retire. The only option is to extend retirement age like France did. Given the forceful nature of their government this is possible, but for how long?


Chinese policy is not far reaching unlike the capitalist club. Africa can be polygamous by befriending China, but not permanently.Africas true husband is the west. With the romance between America and India, with the promise of a United Nations council sit to India, China and Russia’s anti-western mien would be adjusted. India has been giving out aids to other countries, China has only been investing. If it was you who would you dance to? The former I guess.

Media power is little on Chinas side of the divide. The west’s greatest power is the media. Even Al-Jazeera still sets their agenda for them. Who are the real allies of China? Iran? Russia? Even Cuba has started reforms. Let’s hope China does same, otherwise she would or might wake up on the other side of old USSR.

JEGAS ELECTION DILEMMA:BEHIND THE SCENES

National Assembly elections which were supposed to hold on 2nd April,2011 were cancelled due to the problems of logistics and irregularities which could have undermined the credibility of the elections.Many have called Professor Jega several names such as Just Elect Goodluck, Jonathan Ebele Goodluck Azikiwe etc.It is a shame in the West-African sub-region,Africa and in the international community.

However,if you were in Jegas shoes what would you do?Jega is like the proverbial Soyinka or Tai Solarin,national heroes ho refused to sit on the fence,hence took appointments to serve their fatherland.Till dates the appointments have been used as reference points to soil their characters.Jega has a lot in common with them;they were activist,intellectuals with good reputations and most important the institutions which they controlled were sabotaged by selfish elements purposely and consciously through regular acts of corruption.Such is Jegas case.

Jega truly must be joking to think that his name would remain intact easily after this elections.There were rumours of misleadings in printing of AC and ACN with the broom logo just to mislead voters and dividing votes of ACN.Materials and personnel also were not available in some areas.Some names were also missing from the registers.Who is to blame?Jega of course,if we are to follow the management paradigm that the buck stops at his table.We must also rule out the roles of eroded values,lack of professional in federal institutions and the arduous task of managing a weak institution like INEC.Above all we must not rile out the lukewarm attitude of everyone towards a Sovereign National Conference,where we-all Nigerians, would rewrite our social contract,because as we read we don't have one.At best we all dont have a true intent of staying together as a nation.Some portion of the ruling elite have their own contract;to suck the country dry at the peril of the common man.At least they have an agreement.What is the agreement of the civil society and the masses?Nothing with cohesion,I guess.

To cut the chase only true federalism can solve this problem.If true federalism is in place there wont be so much desperation to win elections because the abundant oil money at the federal money wont be in place.there would be fiscal responsibility and the money used to fuel corrupt political machineries wont be enough.These leviathan politicians would wither and accountability at all levels would increase.Governance would reach the grassroots easily and and political consciousness would increase.What is the relevance of this to the Jega dilemma?To conduct credible elections we need strong institutions,this inevitably is made up of people with values; I dont think we have this in place.We have majority with uniformed or eroded values which translate to availability of weak institutions.

The only way out is a true sovereign national conference,a consequent adoption of true federalism,if we are to end this Jaga-Jaga republic.In the words of Pat Utomi ;''We must pull down this democracy,its not working" Truly we must pull it down and rebuild.

We must bear it in mind that the masters are at it again,they wont let Jega organize credible elections.It is now obvious that we don't only need strong men; we also need strong institutions.Fellow Nigerians,we are the ones to build these institutions.This is not Ghana,our case is more complex.We have to campaign and call for true federalism and write a social contract.If we cant do that one million jegas cant beat the masters.We would have to endure for another four years as usual and complain on facebook,twitter and other social media platforms.We would only protest in vain,because we refuse to elicit the right actions.

Th right action is a Sovereign National Conference.If not don't blame Jega, behind the scenes the masters are behind his dilemma

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JEGAS ELECTION DILEMMA:BEHIND THE SCENES

JEGAS ELECTION DILEMMA:BEHIND THE SCENES

JEGAS ELECTION DILEMMA:BEHIND THE SCENES

THE MARRIAGE:RIBADU,TINUBU AND IBB

I fear this one.Wetin?Didnt you hear Ribadu just took another husband?How?Its not possible to get get married to more than one man in our society.Who says in the kingdom of politics,miracles are constant.Thats ture my brother.I was even suprised when i heard Ribadu married Tinubu.Because he chased the man seriously when he was at EFCC for corruption.I guess the egberipapa papa of Ota,the Ebora of owu,Uncle Sege himself instigated that.They even said he testified against Tinubu at a senate hearing.But at the NN24 debat he said he didnt,that he only said the mans case is of international dimensions.I remember though that he chased the man with vigour locally.He couldnt just catch him.I think the fight is settled.I am not Esu Laaroye who cries blood when the prson bearing the pain cries tears.Its was good nes to hear that they got married,I hope they live ever and after.

I thought you said he took another husband recently?who did you say he got married to?You have amnesia cum delusionitis plus a hard skin to problems that would eat into the future of your generations.

I would tell you,make sure you dont forget this time.he just got engaged to IBB.Ehn.Yes soo.Na so we see am.IBB openly endorsed him and his partner,Fola Adeola.

He said that there should be a generational shift to younger people that he beleived in the duo of Ribadu and Fola.Is it not the same IBB that said youths dont have what it takes?I tire ooo.Babaginda is just a politician anyway.But you know I said it that that this Ribadu and his Cbal chairmen?I think if he wins this election he would be too indulgent of these corrupt people.Because what he can't do for Tinubu the blood sucker of Lagos he can't do for the pipeline blood sucker of minna and Ebora of Owu.

I heard that Tinubu has a hand in that Oriental Hotel on the Lagos Island?Where did he get that kind of money.Anyway I would say that these parties are not parties.Fashola is Fashola,Amaechi is Amaechi.Is politics not meant for the well being of people,its not for building of armour tanks to fight opposition and the ruling party.But Tinubu provided a platform for Fashola.Dont touch it,its fasholas works they are using to campaign across Nigeria now.what if the man agreed to share the resources?what if he was ultimately impeached?

All the same Tinubu is better husband for now.Better than the Monarchial absolutist of his time,Obasanjo and Bode George-the Joseph of our time.

But this thing with IBB should be adjusted.I thought they were engaged?You are right,an engagement is not marriage.He can still call it off.

CLIMATE CHANGE:BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND EMERGING COUNTRIES

Climate Change refers to the alteration in the average weather condition of a place over a period of time owing to average temperature changes in the globe. Does this hold any danger ultimately for humanity?

Climate change is a result of global warming; global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide which takes the largest proportion in the atmosphere, Methane, Flourine compounds and water vapour.

The earth gets heated in the following mechanism; the heat from the sun touches the earth and some of the heat is radiated back to the atmosphere, then some escape and others get trapped by the greenhouse gases. The heat trapped by the gases is used to provide some warmth for the earth otherwise the earth could be too cold. In the same vein high concentrations of these gases provide for excess rapping of this heat which in turn warms the earth excessively and disrupts the working of nature. This has been the trend overtime and has led to natural disasters such as hurricanes,desert encroachment, coastal flooding etc.

This is just but trivializing the profound effects and silent destruction of human life and nature resulting from climate change.

The culprit in all these is not carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases-its human activities. There are two major factors which are; natural events and human activities. Thats of humans is the most rapid in creating adverse effects on planet earth. Human activities are against the replenishing potential of the environment. With attendant deforestation, nuclear works,electronics,and burning of fossil fuels to power industries the situation has only gotten worse.

The damage has been done gradually, systematically and unconsciously. The question is what have orld leaders done consciously to arrest the situation? The Kyoto protocol has been crafted, talks have been held in Copenhagen and Cancun in Mexico, without much commitment to cut emission of greenhouse gases because of lust for power and economic prosperity. United states,Britain,Japan,Canada on the developed side and Brazil, china and India on the emerging side hold the ace.But they came out without nothing but creation of a fund for little brother Africa for adaptation. Very funny, much of the catastrophe from climate change has been shared by them. With flooding’s in Australia, tsunami in Japan, hurricanes in USA its better they do something early enough.It seems they need the funds more now.

Climate change is killing animals as a result of acidification in sea water.20 per cent of artic ice has melted. If the average temperature increases up to 4 degrees then cereals would be reduced largely then the current food crisis would only be a tip of the iceberg. Very soon twenty three per cent of the chinese would no longer have access to melt glacial water in dry season. Half of Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2050.

With the ozone layer fast depleting, I hope we don’t suffer from global epidemics and all sorts radiation induced sicknesses.

Finally, I hope one day darkness won’t be on the surface of the deep. If it comes to that I pray creation should provide institutions to curb the excesses of man.If not world leaders would have sat to clear the path that seems to be leading to human destruction.