Plateau’s Forgotten Campaign Issue

Image source: www.taraturner.com

Until the conflict era in the history of Plateau State (starting from the 2001 till date), the Christians and Muslims raised children along the same streets and educated them in the same classrooms. Back then, there were, also, common markets for followers of both faiths. Today, all these good indicators of peaceful living are non-existent as a result of the prolonged period of conflict between the two sides.

Those of us who grew up playing football with colleagues from across religious divides cherish feelings of brotherhood that had grown between us. It is the reason why we look forward to reunions, and is it, also, why we talk to each other with caution, ensuring we do not destroy a friendship that is important to us. Our experience has, thus, made us seers, who say, with certainty, that unless something is done the prevailing peace would remain fragile with the capacity to collapse on the slightest test.

In 2010 when fighting broke out in the town of Bukuru, two Muslim siblings called me to find out where I was. When I picked the phone they warned me to move with caution as fighting had broken out in the town of Bukuru.

Early this March, a Muslim man and an elderly woman made me deeply emotional. They were driving to Jos from Abuja and picked me up at Vom, as a passenger. The two appeared to be living in Jos, but the man asked too much questions about the rehabilitated roads he saw as we drove. I was prompted to ask, exactly, where he came from. It turned out that he and I were born in the same town. When I mentioned who my dad was, it was then the elderly woman, who happened to be the driver’s mom, screamed in surprise. In that town, our houses were just a couple of blocks apart. When they dropped me somewhere around Grand Cereal and Oil Mills, the woman looked at me and said: “you are just a carbon copy of your dad.” She was aging, but her memories remained very strong. When I offered my fare for the trip, the man looked at it as if it was a piece of evidence that would incriminate him. He declined to accept it, shaking his head.

I thought of the fighting in Plateau State. It has separated the people so far apart that it seemed there could never be love between them. But, my experience with members of the Manu family made me felt the strong bond that can grow among diverse people by the mere fact that they lived along the same street.

Nigeria remains a single united nation. This is, also, the general wish of a bulk of the Nigerian population. It is, however, a paradox to be a single nation but live across borders.  The worst and the most dangerous face of it is the notion of “we and them” that grows in the minds of kids living across these borders. When children grow up without interaction, they do not understand each other and become easy victims of people whose continued wish is to see that community members remain hateful of one another. This living situation will continue to undermine peace and security in the state, as a result.

While I monitored the Plateau Gubernatorial Debate on radio sometimes in February, the issue of the divided people and the need for their integration never came up. We feel that if the state must remain peaceful for long, there is the need for the succeeding government to consider the issue of integration seriously. Governance is not a bed of roses. Issues like the challenge of integrating the people makes governance a bed of thorns. The incoming government needs to understand this.

Oil Price and Salaries in the National Assemblies

Entrance to the Nigerian National Assembly

When, in June, 2014, the news came out that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was to be crowned the Emir of Kano, I was quick to say that the transition was a minus to the nation. My reason was that, given his extensive understanding and experience, becoming an Emir would sum up to a waste of that resourcefulness in his head.

Sanusi has more than just knowledge and experience: he has guts to step on “big toes” as long as there was a justification in his action. This character is something that is rare in Nigeria, and is the reason why cold-hearted “big men” get away with their sins against the nation. It was Lamido who came out to tell Nigerians that the Nigerian National Assembly, alone, gulps up to 25% of Nigeria’s recurrent expenditure. He was, also, the guy who exposed the dirty dealings between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), at a time when he was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He paid this with a heavy price: his job as the Governor of the Central Bank.

No one knows, exactly, how much the take-home of a Nigerian MP is. One common way of putting it is to say that it is bigger than Barack Obama’s take-home, as President of the United States of America. In Nigeria, a lot ordinary people fail to understand that MPs don’t have any business with capital projects. They, thus, expect the legislators to, directly, carry out capital projects, such as building hospitals, bridges, and healthcare centers. This, in addition to a culture that expects political office holders to shoulder the financial burdens of constituents who come begging, are the excuses MPs often cite in their justification of the profits they make at the National Assembly. To the MPs, shouldering the financial burdens of poor neighbors is seen as duty to the nation. One is, however, confused that the financial allowances that build the towering incomes of MPs in Nigeria, enjoy buffers from judicial scrutiny.

We were told that democracy is a tool that builds a nation faster than any other alternative. Among the processes of nation building, democracy should cater for, is education of the ordinary people. MPs are supposed to meet with their constituents, on a regular basis, to keep them abreast with events and matters relating to their constituencies. Thus, the constituency meetings should, also, be forums where legislators educate constituents on their actual functions at the assemblies.

If the ignorance of the people is a clock in the wheel of democracy, it is expected that the same democracy should find a way of removing it. If schools have failed in their responsibility to educate Nigerians to understand the duties of the different appendages of government, then, democracy should find a way of getting the schools to carry out their functions properly. Democracy should, also, compel parents to enroll their kids into schools, where the people have the groveling habit of not doing so.

 It is true that only a few per cent of Nigerian legislators actually have constituency offices, despite allowances they take to maintain such. So, the issue of educating constituents does not, even, arise. Most constituents often complain that the moment MPs are elected, they move to Abuja to stay permanently, only to be seen in four years time, when a renewal of tenure is been sought.  In a nut-shell, the allowances that build the incomes of MPs do not really go toward addressing the excuses that justify their collections.

In the last twelve years, Nigeria has seen oil money more that it has ever seen in any other period in its history. All we have seen within the same period, however, have been a distinct level of financial irresponsibility. Now, oil price has crash-landed with a preposterous intensity. For any well meaning government, this should be a time for austerity measures. If the take-homes of MPs, at the National Assembly, are higher than the take home of President of the United States of America, then it is time to start the strict measures by cutting down those allowances of MPs that should cater for bogus constituency projects and give out largesse to poor neighbors. Poor neighbors of MPs must be pushed out of laziness as part of the austerity measures. It is time to resort to educating the masses on the functions of every arm of government. This should be imbued into an austerity measure the government must embark upon. The legislators must give up the financial bounties that have drained the nation like a vampire drains its victim.

First Ladies and Power Drunkenness

A constitution is a system of fundamental laws and principles that prescribe the nature, function and limits of government, or any institution (the freedictionary.com). In Nigeria, the constitution prescribes the office of the President, but does not prescribe the office of the First Lady.

The need for a president in any country arises because there needs to be a single individual, who should drive the bus of nationhood.  Anything contrary, would amount to confusion, a situation that comes when there are too many drivers on one steering wheel. Thus, the position of a president is that of an individual who is chosen based on merit, in terms of the public’s perception of his abilities to play the sublime role of leadership, adeptly. Since the president is chosen based on the people’s conviction that he has got what it takes to direct a nation, his spouse cannot grab some of these powers, even in his absence, because, she may not have the qualities upon which the election of her husband rested. Instead, there is the Office of the Vice President. Thus, no matter how trivial, taking up part of the powers of the President, by his other half, amounts to a constitutional abuse that can smear the office of the President and the nation, at large.

Hence, Nigerians, and many outside of it, were left wondering when the Nigerian First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, summoned public officials over the issue of abduction of more than 200 girls in a boarding secondary school, in the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, April, 14th.  The Nigerian First Lady summoned the Borno State Commissioner of Education, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Chibok town and the Principal of Government Secondary School Chibok, where the girls were abducted. Mrs. Jonathan, also, went ahead to direct the Police in Abuja to arrest a woman, Naomi Mutah, who was leading the #bringbackourgirls campaign. Mrs. Mutah was said to have been detained at the Asokoro Police Station in Abuja. Hours later, she was freed.

The history of power drunkenness, among first ladies in Nigeria, dates back to the era of guns and decrees. It is important to note, however, that even the decrees never gave any powers to any first lady to dip her hands into government coffers for the sake of a pet project, or to act as a sidekick to her husband on state matters. Precisely, it was during the IBB (Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida) military regime that Nigeria witnessed the early stages of first ladies’ intrusions into state matters. Late Mariam Babandiga used public funds to set up the Better Life Program for Rural Women.

Rather than end with the IBB regime however, the revelation of the password into public finances became a trend for late Mrs. Babangida’s successors. We were to see a replay by Maryam Abacha, late Stella Obasanjo, Turai Yar’adua, and, now, Dame Patience Jonathan. However, it was in the case of the last two that Nigerians saw the display of either pure ignorance or brazen audacity. Mrs. Yar’adua virtually assumed the role of the President, while her late husband lay in his sick bed. It was said that she dished out orders to cabinet ministers. Now, Mrs. Jonathan towed the same line, by summoning public officers and giving them orders, which were carried out, apprehensively, by public servants, desperate to secure their jobs.

The idea of first ladies in power corridors has become so established that it is replicated in the lower tiers of government –state governments and local governments.

First ladies have the right to run charity organizations. It is, however, the official font of the finances used to run such organizations that is the sticking point. In military regimes, it was easier for first ladies to get away with it. The hallmark of military regimes is, after all, the disregard to the wishes of the people.

The blemishes of the nation, as seen in the conduct of the First Lady, is, actually, a reflection of a broad gamut of troubles that no one cares to fix, not even persons with a constitutional duty to raise  alarms in such situations. One sees an unraveling trend here, there and everywhere, within the Nigerian space. We see it in the area of health, where traveling outside of the country to treat, merely, flu is more of a fashion show, with the Nigerian cabinet members and the elite in the lead;  in education where the same social strata of the nation considers it groveling to educate their kids within the nation; in the growing incidence of examination crimes within educational institutions across the country; in the bullying of ordinary citizens by Nigeria soldiers and general dormancy of the law;  in the disregard for merit in recruitment into the civil service, a practice which compounds the already dire situation …

As it stands now, there seem to be an unwritten piece of legislation that empowers a Nigerian first lady to intrude into official matters, either in terms of using the nation’s resources to fund a personal project, or by giving orders to public officials. Eventually, a day will come when a first lady will present a budget before parliament, sign it, reject legislative amendments of portions of it, etc.

 Now, every man with a political ambition, whether at the national, state or grassroots level, is careful when choosing a spouse -she has to be presentable to the public, in terms of her appearance, fluency and general conduct, since she would, definitely, get involved in official matters.

The KGB Church in Nigeria

When one hears of KGB, the first setting that comes to mind is old Russia. The setting of the Kingdom of God Bible (KGB) Church is however, Foron Village in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, Nigeria. The church was, arguably founded by late John Wash Pam, sidekick to Joseph Wayas at the Senate during the Second Republic between 1979 and 1984.

Sometimes in the mid nineties, the KGB church started at the Geosciences Auditorium Anglo-D in Bukuru, Jos-South, Nigeria. Two men, that included the late Senator and another man of comparative obscurity named Dung Kassa, came together and founded the church. Kassa was the church’s spiritual leader while Senator Pam appeared to be the financial backer.

 Senator Pam was mostly in Abuja, working at the Presidency under the administration of late General Sani Abacha. He, nonetheless, came around every weekend, making sure he worshipped at the church. As the saying goes, “the harder they come, the harder they fail.” General Abacha died suddenly. The ripples of his death changed so many things, with Senator Pam’s stint at the presidency ending. He, subsequently and permanently, returned to Jos.

Members of the church’s congregation were either Pam’s relations who often traveled from Foron, political allies or loyalists, or persons who just wanted to sit under the same roof with the senator and, perhaps, enjoy his oratory. With time, the senator decided to start a new branch in his Foron village to make things easy for his poor kinsmen. The Foron branch was meant to be the head branch. Things started getting out of hand when it became clear that Kassa was not going to head the main branch. The Senator brought a young and more educated man by the name of Andrew Dido to head it. Kassa then abandoned the branch he was in-charged of and started a completely new church by the name of The Triumphant Christian Bible Church.

The Triumphant Christian Bible church is located somewhere between the Fire Service and D. B. Zang junction, along the Bukuru Expressway. When I visited the branch, it was a half-done kind of building: just walls, no roofing. Inside of it however, a small shade of corrugated iron sheets resting on wooden pillars stood at the far end of the open building. I did go there a second time, on a Sunday and, indeed, confirmed that people do worship in the uncompleted building. The congregation was in the neighborhood of about a dozen worshippers.

On September 7th, 2014, I traveled to Foron and worshipped at the KGB Church. It was a small but decent building at the road diversion leading to Government College Foron. The size of the congregation of less than seventy showed that, though still small, it was far ahead of the Triumphant Christian Bible Church. There was glittering music band equipment to the right side of the pulpit and the floor was rugged from wall to wall.  It had an uncommon sitting format that saw men sitting face-to-face to the women. Between them was a narrow space that led to the pulpit. Members speak in tongues and their destinies could be revealed to the church spiritual leaders who often approached the members and reveal such destinies during a special prayer session.

The pastor, a Togolese by the name of Josue Tosa, led events. He preached on symbols of the word of god. He who spoke with an accent I thought was southern Nigerian, wore an old dull-white Chinese jacket that appeared well laundered.

It seems the founding of the KGB Church may have been, merely, to serve the personal needs and conveniences of The Senator. He was raised in the Church of Christ in Nigeria but as his life evolved however, he found himself getting ex-communicated by the church over his sudden decision to embrace polygamy. The wanton hubris usually common of wealthy and powerful people may have led him to feel insulted and subsequently chose to tow the line of British King Henry VIII by starting the KGB Church to accommodate his private interests.

Relocating the church from the urban Bukuru to rural Foron may be an indication the church hasn’t got any ambition of growing by the capture of a huge congregation.  Also, it is difficult to see how the scanty and poor rural laity of less than seventy mixes of men, women and children can raise enough money to sustain the fairly ostentatious life of Pastor Tosa.  The indication is that Tosa is more or less a staff in the late Senator’s personal payroll rather than the payroll of the church.

It is pertinent to note that the late Senator’s youngest widow hails from Edo State in the south of the country. Edo happened to be the home of the earliest Nigerian liberal preachers, preaching prosperity, with defiance. Among some of these preachers was late Archbishop Benson Idahosa, founder of the Church of God Mission International. There is, also, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy.

As a young corps member in Benin back in 1993, I worshipped at the Church of God Mission International along Adesua Grammar School Road. It wasn’t a place for poor people and it was common to hear prayer lines like “give us the good things of life like air conditioners in our homes, BMW cars, huge pieces of meat in our meals - rather than the tiny pieces that are reminiscent of poverty…” Senior ministers of the church were highly educated and financially successful.

Liberal protestant churches are now all across Nigeria and pull huge populations of members. The phase of liberal Protestantism that is advance for the comparatively conservative Plateau Christian is however, doing away with monogamy. This is very aspect of the history of the KGB Church that inhibits its growth.

Nigerian Social Media Abuses and the Law

I have always been struck by the differences in social media usage between other countries and Nigeria. Each time one logs into Facebook to make comments about local issues that concern Nigeria, he notices insults flying up and down the pages. If however, he goes to an international social media webpage to comment, he notices the decency and guarded usage of words.

I was of the opinion that the difference was born out of ignorance, a comparatively poorer standard of education coming from modest educational resources here in Nigeria. Recently however, I have come to understand that this isn’t the case. It is not poor education or ignorance. Rather, it is more of a case of a weakness of the law. People know this and choose to abuse the judicial loopholes. Thus social media pages, particularly those of Facebook, are always littered with insults when it comes to the Nigerian space.

Some years back, a young man logged into Facebook and posted abusive comments against the Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido. The governor was traumatized and directed the young man to be arrested. So it happened. The only problem in this case was that acceptable legal procedures were not followed in the retribution of the young man. He was, rather, tortured. I am sure however, the option was adopted because the governor knew the Nigerian courts may not do something early enough, thereby allowing time for the issue to lose steam.

When Isaiah Balat, late senator from southern Kaduna died, somebody posted to say that the senator deserved what he got as he was the Arial Sharon of Kaduna State. At the time, I felt that the individual should have been approached by the law and made to explain why he made such a comment. When my dream President of Nigeria, Nasir El Rufai lost a son in an auto crash, somebody posted insults in place of condolences. The comments suggested that such a fate was well deserved. I also think that the man who made that post should have been made to explain it in a court of law.

If undeserved insults are deplorable in the real world, then they should also be in the virtual world. The virtual world is a medium of expression that is even more powerful than the real world. When such an insult is posted, it is damaging to the victim just as it would be in the real world. Furthermore, it travels far in the virtual world more than it does in the real world and we cannot treat the internet differently from the way the rest of the world treats it. About a year back, I learnt that the Nigerian National Assembly passed a law to handle cases of unwarranted social media insults against leaders. It was a brilliant footstep along the right bearing. The insults have, however, continued to pace their way along the footpath of ignominy. The implication is that the law has gone to bed and is sleeping ceaselessly or is even in comma. This is a reflection of what Nigerian has always been: a theatre of legal dormancy. It explains the situation we are in now: a climax of confusion where you have a fracture here and as you try to seal it, another one opens over there.

Jos the city of my birth and to which I am besotted, once built a reputation as the most embracing city across the country. Then somebody went too far and the police just said something like “well, the boy was having his fun.” The result is obvious and we know it. While Jos may still be embracing, one cannot walk without looking over his shoulder because there are now “no-go-areas.” Along this line, if nothing is done about social media abuses, it would grow into a monster, just as anything else does, in Nigeria, when it is not curbed at infancy.

People should be made to justify every vile comment that is directed at the innocent. 

An Open Letter to Governor Isa Yuguda

Gov. Isa Yuguda. Source: Global Ville News

Oga Isa Yuguda, I heard you have requested teachers to explain why there was, yet, another episode of a murky and abysmal performance by your state, Bauchi, at the last West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations. Sir, the tone of your summons seemed lopsided, suggesting the teachers are solely responsible for the poor showing of the state at the WAEC examinations. Sir, we don’t need to search deeply to realize 70% of the blame rests on your doorsteps as it is in most states across Nigeria.

Sir, I understand that you asked why the result should be poor, in view of the huge investments your administration has made in the education folder over the years. Sir, such problems come when administrations throw money at ministries rather than administration it. Before doling out money to a government ministry, one has to check to ensure that the ministry is structured enough to ensure the money serve its purpose efficiently.  Poor performance comes only when this is not done.

What do I mean by structuring a ministry to ensure it uses its budgetary allocations efficiently? The rules of efficient administration of schools must be enforced before any money sunk into such schools can result in pleasant outcomes.  These rules are basic and include

·         A child going to a secondary school must prove that he can read a simple passage and then answer questions taken from the passage he had read. If he gets admitted despite his inability to read and understand a passage, he ends up staining the result of his school at external examinations.

·         Those admitted have to be forced to continue working hard. This is achieved by the class teacher ensuring those who fail promotion examinations don’t enjoy any promotion. This scares students who would be compelled to read hard, get promoted and avoid the shame that comes with demotion.

·         Teachers who teach these students must also be qualified enough. This can be established by the government ensuring the teachers pass examinations on topics they would teach when recruited. There will always be limited teacher’s vacancies. Hence teachers who score the highest mark should be given the jobs. It triggers a competition, since teachers know that if they score high, they will get the jobs. This leads to improved standards in teacher’s education. Initially, those who fail to get the jobs will hate you but generally, those who like you will grow because the policy spreads the jobs evenly and out of the circle of your political friends.

·         Those who get the jobs must be made to continue working hard by ensuring teacher promotion is based on his/her passing a tough promotion interview rather than on how long he/she has stayed in the service.

·         Teachers are educated people and working environment must be pretty decent. Schools should be kept clean by hired cleaners rather than by students. Broken windows, doors and chairs/desks must be fixed immediately rather than government waiting for every thing to breakdown first in order to give out a contract to friends to get them rich. In like manner, leaking roofs should be fixed and fading walls painted.

·         Teachers have to be regularly paid. When this is not done, it places a stigma on the service and most citizens would want to use the service as a stepping stone only. It also repels the best minds from the service where bright minds are actually needed.

·         Materials needed by teachers for the successful delivery of their services must be in place. So, there should be books, pens for teachers and students and good blackboards.

·         Discipline would have to be enforced among staff of the ministry, not just in the schools where you have teachers, but also the offices of the ministry from where the schools are administered.

·         At the primary level, the public schools must adopt the approaches the private nursery /primary schools use which enables their pupils to read at the ends of the three years of nursery education. This is important because the secondary schools can only succeed with students that meet entry qualification. Your government can “steal” some of these teachers in the private primary schools to help the public schools. Most private school teachers are poorly paid despite their hard work and would want better pays as long as it comes in promptly.

The truth however, is that these guidelines have always been with us. It is however, their disregard that has led to the seeming mire in which our schools find themselves. So, while your government provides the monies needed by the schools, it must also embark on a reform that cleanses the system and allows the flow of the proper procedures. A reform is needed because the rot has thrived for decades and we expected the period of democracy to create the space necessary for these reforms. Perhaps your administration still believes democracy ends when a politician enters office. No, Sir. It isn't so. Democracy is meant to be a benign flood that washes away all filth.

Sir, the quality of education that should give the kind of result that gladdens the heart is delivered by private schools, mostly. This private schools are however, not affordable by the majority of the parents. The few kids that find their ways to the private schools are responsible for the irritating 10%, 20% or 30% scores at the external examinations. If however, your government can improve on the quality at the public school domain, the majority of kids whose options are solely the public schools will also end up with superior education that are not merely pleasant but give rise to the Isa Yugudas, Adamu Mu’azus, Tatari Alis of the future, to the pride and glory of Bauchi State. Long live Bauchi, Long live Nigeria.

Book Review –Honor and Polygamy –Omar Farhad

Honor and Polygamy

Honor and Polygamy, a debut novel of about fifty thousand words by Omar Farhad, is an emotionally breaking story of fate and adventure that is driven by the cogs of war, anarchy, religion, love and crime. 

 Nick is an America Christian, husband and father of two who finds himself in Afghanistan in a circumstance that compels him to marry an Afghan girl who is born and raised at the far side of the cultural spectrum. Against all odds the strong love that grows closes the social gap between the two. But then Nick finds himself in the United States without his Afghan wife. He is determined to travel back to bring her at a time when the safe travel routes to Afghanistan have ceased to exist. He resorts to seeking the help of drug gangs. This brings him face-to face with extreme danger and uncertainty. Will he succeed in bringing his Afghan wife to the United States? If he does how will he explain choosing to become a polygamist to his wife, kids and friends in the United States?

The writing approach is modest and sustains one’s interest up till the point of real suspense.  Farhad shows a strong ability to explore the minds of his characters and paint a vivid picture of the details that at times deceives the reader into believing that the book isn’t a work of fiction. In writing the book Farhad arms himself with a good understanding of the history, culture and politics of his ancestral nation. People that have known and love Afghanistan have often lived with the fear that should things fall apart for the Afghan Authorities the nation would be fragmented among warring factions with the name “Afghanistan” ceasing to exist. The author builds his fiction partly on the assumption that the fragmentation of the country has begun.

 Reading the book has changed my perception of Afghanistan as it brings to fore the brilliant face of that nation that most people around the world aren’t aware of. This calls to mind the sad situation where, most times, people paint in their minds what they consider to be colored portraits of distant nations, by just the use of a single color. Reading Honor and Polygamy has reawakened my appreciation of the beauty of the cultural diversity of our planet. Isn’t that what literature is all about?