Goodluck Jonathan and a Stormy Nation

When I was a kid I used to hear the story of persistent fighting in the Great Lakes region of Africa and thought the people of that region were created differently. In 2001 fighting broke out in Jos, the capital of my home state of Plateau in central Nigeria. I wasn’t in Plateau State at the time and called home to get details. To my amazement, the expressway at the exact location of our house separated the warring sides with the Muslims and Christians on the eastern and western sides of the road respectively. As it turned out, that very episode of the crisis in Jos was to become the beginning of chain of killings and mayhem in Plateau State. Sadly however, there is no sign that the fighting will ever end, despite the series of commissions that have been set up for subsequent episodes of the conflict. I have often wondered why our scarce resources should be spent on a commission whose report will not be used. As it stands now, the people of the Great Lakes region are thinking that we in Jos were created differently.

Politicians in Nigeria are like gods. Once an individual ascends to a certain critical position politically, he lives above the law. It explains why the problem in Jos has continued to recur as nothing happens when a commission submits its report. The Jos problem is clearly political. Following the bombing of Christmas Eve of 2010, people were lost as to who could be responsible. When the state authorities pointed their fingers on the political opposition however, people suddenly saw that it could indeed be true in view of desperation of the opposition in Plateau State. One would have expected the police to arrest some of these opposition leaders and detain them for questioning. Once this is done, then anything can be done in future. Avoiding this rational line of action is an indication that nothing will be done eventually.

Following the January 2010 crisis, Goodluck Jonathan as the Nigerian acting President at the time, set up the Solomon Lar’s Commission and vowed that the report of the commission will be acted upon no matter whose oath is gored. He failed to live up to his promise however.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in my opinion is a man that has come to truly address the development challenges of Nigeria in view of what he has done so far. To a reasonable degree, his administration has demonstrated its functionality. I am however, afraid that the President would go down as the others before him. Past leaders in Nigeria have often failed to restore order as a consequence of the fear that the repercussion could prematurely end their reign. This single fact underscores the selfishness of our leaders and the same factor can mar the excellent intention of the Jonathan administration. This is because development is abhorrent of a hostile and chaotic environment.

Nigeria will only move on with a leader who is selfless and willing to sacrifice his reign to end the cycle of chaos we have seen in the last decade and half. This brings to mind a model that ought to be copied by the Jonathan administration, the British model under David Cameron. I want to believe that the political maturity of Britain is as old as the nation itself. One manifestation of an adult political environment is the marvelous correlation between promise and delivery. Cameron made it clear that the reason why he wants to become Prime Minister is to reverse the obvious path to which Britain is headed, the path of bankruptcy. As far as he is concerned, giving him the mandate is an indication that Britons want that to happen. When the moment of fulfillment came however, it was painful to Britons. British students had to hit the streets to demonstrate their displeasure on the decision that they will have to pay up to three times what they had paid as tuition fees in the pre-Cameron years. Cabinet members no longer have permanent official vehicles and chauffeurs. The message is, “if you don’t have a personal car with which to come to office, take a commercial vehicle as we want to cut down operating cost.” It is interesting to note at this point that following the last budget speech of Jonathan to the Senate, the question arose as to how to meet up the budget deficit. Looking critically, it came to notice that the operating cost of the Nigerian Government is one of the most irrational for a developing nation groveling under the weight of decaying everything. By now, a lot of Britons are regretting casting their votes to the Conservative Party. Cameron knows this and cares less even if that means the end of his administration. After all, his dad is said to be a wealthy guy. The reforms are the reason why he wanted to become British PM. Eventually however, Britons will come to accept the position of Cameron as it will be obvious that it is the only option they have if they want it good tomorrow.

It is possible that taking drastic decisions in Nigeria would have bitter outcomes but as long as the decision is just, the unraveling ends will eventually tidy up. One of Nigeria’s surviving nationalist, Yusuf Maitama Sule, has often said that Nigeria needs a revolution, albeit a bloodless type. Nobody understands how such a bloodless revolution would look like. I do think however that the bitter outcome will be mild. Should the authorities fail to trigger a revolution themselves, then it would perhaps come bitterly from Boko Haram Islamic Jihadists in Northeastern Nigeria.

Plateau United, Suffering from Polytics

Until the Nigerian Football League is cleansed and sanctified of dirty politics, local and international effort aimed at improving the standard of the league will continue to yield no satisfactory outcome. Politics and sports are practically immiscible as the mix breeds a scanrio where the worst is presented as the best.

Victor Wikadson, the team coach of Plateau United says his team has been a victim of these dirty games. The team has been playing in the professional division one for the past four seasons. In all the seasons the last few matches ruined the early efforts of the team and making it impossible for it to gain promotion to the premiership rung of the league.

Kadiri Ikana and his side kick who helped Kano pillars to win the 2007/2008 premiership season in Nigeria has left the club. The same thing happened with Ocean Boys coach after winning the FA cup. In both cases the coaches left in dissatisfaction after they were told that the cash of the club owners won the league and not their efforts. This prompted the Kano pillar’s coach to publicly complain of max fixing, leading to the inauguration of the Dominic Oneaya Committee to investigate the matter. Wikadson who seems to concur with Ikana says each time they lost the struggle for promotion at a critical moment it was a club owned by a member of the NFL that beat them to it. The open secret is that those board members of the NFL use their positions to pass instructions to referees as to who should win a given match.

If politics must come into football it should not be the raw type politics that used to usher councilors into local government council and so on. People who campaigned for Jang have often gone to him to say “bend down low let me tell you what I know”. When Jang comes close they will whisper “those men at the helm of Plateau United are not doing well and any money given to them will amount to waste”. The political gossipers also works hand to able to complicate red tape administrations a practice that made it impossible for the team to pay sign-on fees for the past two seasons,. This sometimes leads to an ebbed miracle in the camp. Then there are clubs like Kano Pillars and Ocean boys who take the cash to NFL and haggle for the title.

A NIGERIAN LEGISLATOR EARNS N160 MILLION

A lot of people have often seen the Nigerian houses of assemblies as more of financial institutions than democratic. There are more dealings regarding cash than those regarding legislations. The latest insult to Nigerians is the one oozing out of the Nigerian Legislature. It is the issue of the wages of legislatures. It is an open secret that the wages stand at between N160 and N90 Million ($ 1.07 and $600, 000 respectively) per annum for ordinary floor members in the senate and house of reps respectively. Where a legislator is a principal officer, such as a chairperson of any of the various house committees or a mere member of any of such a committee, his earnings go far beyond that by an outrageous amount.

Why is the issue of the wages of the legislators an ‘open secret’? All wages of public officials, either appointed or employed, are set by the National Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commissions. Any legal remuneration in Nigeria is a result of the recommendation of this commission and subsequent approval by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Portion of the wages of MPs in Nigeria that is an outcome of due process is nothing more than N10 Million per annum. It is this amount that a legislator in Nigeria quotes as his annual income, knowing that quoting everything will raise eyebrows.

The harmful consequences of this to the nation are the series of embarrassing events in the two legislative chambers. It is the reason why there have often been series of scandals about money or power leading to seven Senate Presidents in the last ten years. This means that there has been an average of one and half President of the Senate in every one year since 1999. Where money rules, there is little sanity. As a result there is no way we can have the best of legislation in the Senate and House of Reps. Money is also the reason why there have been cases of illegal arm importation to Nigeria prior to elections in 2011. Anybody that earns such an amount of money will want to do anything to defend it by hook or by crook to ensure that it keeps coming. Further more, the outrageous wages gives them the financial muscle to afford these weapons. Why do we need the houses of assembly? We need them for a democracy that is wholesome. The way things are going however, there is a chance we may end up losing the democracy if nothing is done.

What do we do? Since the issue of financial doping in the Senate and House of Reps have become a cause of sleepless nights for Nigerians who feel cheated, then there is the need for Nigerians to inform aspiring legislators of what they want them to do when they get there: ‘work towards the downward review of these mocking wages when you get there’, should be the condition. There are chances that politicians will promise anything just to get there. When this becomes clear, then the voters can consider choosing one of them and support him to get there with the sole aim of correcting this financial aberration.

By democracy, power devolves down to the ordinary man. For this to happen however, the democracy must be real where every vote counts and the people’s decision is taken into account. It is hoped that the huge promises of President Goodluck Jonathan and financial commitments by the nation towards a credible election should not end up as one of the series of failures of the nation.

Garri Proverbs in Nigerian Parlance

The word ‘garri’ has found its way into a few Nigerian proverbs such as:-

1. Throw “sand -sand into one’s garri.” This means to throw sand into one’s garri. When one throws sand into your garri, it means that he has spoilt that meal or denied you the chance of eating it. Thus throwing sand into one’s garri means ending one’s means of livelihood.

2. “Water don pass garri.” This means that the water is in excess of the garri. A meal of garri is made by adding the right quantity of garri into the right amount of boiled water. At times there could be a miscalculation leading to a little quantity of garri added into a disproportionately large amount of water. The outcome is a mess that isn’t pleasant to eat. It is a problem. This is a problem. Thus water don pass garri means that there is a problem.

Examples of usage of garri proverbs

1. “That oga wan throw sand sand for my garri.” This means that that boss wants to end my means of livelihood.

2. “When rubber challenge iron, you know say water don pass garri.” When rubber challenge iron you know that there is a problem.

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How to Process Garri

Garri is a common meal eaten in Nigeria and parts of West Africa. A meal of garri, commonly known as eba, is made by adding the right quantity of garri into boiled water. The garri absorbs the water to become a solid material. It is then eaten with soup that could be okro, egusi, vegetable, banga or any soup of choice.

Garri is actually granulated cassava. The process of making it starts from peeling the cassava. The peeled cassava is then shredded into tiny particles using a suitable machine that could be the rough edges of holes made on a metal sheet using a nail. This is done by running the peeled tubers of cassava against the rough edges of the holes which chops the cassava gradually.

The next phase of the process is to empty the wet cassava granules into porous bags whose ends are tied firmly. The bags are then held firmly in compressors for about a day. The tight grips of the compressors force the water out through the pores of the bags.

The next step is to further dehydrate the material by frying it in large pans. After frying, the garri is then spread on large mats to enable the evaporation of last traces of water.

There are two types of garri found in the market. These are the white and yellow garri. The yellow garri is a derivative of the white one made by simply adding red oil during the frying phase in the garri processing.

Plateau State and Federal Projects

By Yiro Abari

On the June 12, 2009 the Nigerian Minister of information and communication, Dora Akunyili commissioned the sound stage, auditorium and an administrative block of the Nigerian Film Institute which is an arm of the Nigerian film corporation, NFC in Jos. The visit of the minister came two days after a report of the Nation daily newspaper quoted the Plateau State Commissioner of Information, Greg Yenlong decrying a suspected plan by the Federal Government to relocate the NFC to from Plateau State to Abuja. While the minister delivered her speech at the venue of the Institute people listened keenly to hear what she was going to say regarding the relocation rumour. At last she spoke to the relief of many when she noted that the decision has been suspended.

The presence of the NFC in Jos is of remarkable significance to the government and people of Plateau State due to reasons that are known to even elementary school children. Thus the State Government has tried all it can to make the city cozy enough to the corporation. According to the Deputy Governor of the state, Pauline Tallen, it has supported the corporation with N 500 000 and provided land for the development of the permanent site. There is also all the certainty that the administration will continue in that direction. Tallen expressed the hope that the Federal Government will live up to its promise.

A lot of people have had qualms as to the true intention of the federal government to undertake such an action. This is because a lot of progress has been made regarding the development of the permanent site somewhere around Shere Hills. Just last year, a library complete with internet service and a photo laboratory were commissioned at the institute. Then the additional projects the Minister came to commission. These are enough reasons to discourage the Federal Government from relocating the corporation out of the state.

Anything can however, happen and many things of this nature indeed happened to the state in the past. During the second republic (1979-1984), Plateau State suffered an inability to pay salaries for months due to shortage of funds. The Nigerian oil wells weren’t dry, just that the state was been administered by the NPP, an opposition to the ruling party at the national level. Thus the leaders of the second republic were the architects of their own fall. JAMB and CBN zonal offices used to be in Jos but were moved to Bauchi State. Towards the last years of the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo as the President, good news came to Plateau State concerning the location of an inland container depot. Then some people started making frantic efforts to divert the project to Bauchi. At last we were told that it will remain in the state. The project is however yet to commence and a lot of people in Plateau State fear that it may end up as another disappointment. Also towards the dusk of the administration of Obasanjo, the zonal headquarters of the Ministry of information was moved from the state to Niger State.

These to many Nigerians, underscore the inability of our leaders to overcome minor temptations for prejudice and sentiments since no satisfactory explanations are usually given to justify such actions. It is an indication that most of our leaders fail to even understand the dire situation of our country and the fact that if we must move on, there is the need for us to build a culture of fairness as failure to do sends to wrong message to upcoming generations thereby nurturing a culture of chaos. In view of the challenges we now face as a country, we should be the last people to take such issues for granted.

Problems of Public Education in Nigeria

My first position in school after a terminal exam was eleventh out of a class of about thirty pupils. My dad was so pleased that he went to the slaughter and bought meat which was used to prepare pepper soup, specifically for me. Despite my dad's satisfaction, it was not the best I could do. I had the potential to be among the best three in the class. Had I known how to read at the time, I will have been there at the top.

Our class was a class of mixed age brackets. There were pupils of the right age for that class at the time but there were also others who tried life without education and decided against it after seeing how unpleasant life without education could be. Those were the members of the class who could do some form of reading. They were the ones at the top of the examination charts. It was after three years that life outside of school thought me how to read. By then half of the six years of primary school duration was already spent. I was ten and have started following my mum to the choir where I learnt the sound of letters from the music octave of d: r: m: f: s: l: t: d.

The school curriculum was not designed to teach the sounds of letters and how to combine these sounds to form words. Immediately, I started reading and used that advantage to rise to the top of the examination charts where I rightly belong by virtue of my inborn ability.

With time, I have also come to realize that there is no place for poetry in the curriculum. My experience with poetry after coming to know about it, also by accident, is that it stirs your creative spirit thereby making you very resourceful.

That was the legacy of British colonial powers. I have often heard that the colonial powers gave us just enough education to enable us work as clerks in the colonial administrative offices. In view of what I have seen however, I conclude that the situation was worst than that. I don't think that a clerk could be of any use if he cannot read.

The nascence and proliferation of private schools in the last twenty years turned out to be the blessing that provided an option to many parents. The private schools have the nursery where a child is taught the alphabets and their sounds and how to combine them to form words. By the time a child leaves the nursery after three years, he has already known how to read. Reading makes sense to him and is thus able to take full advantage of the six years of primary education and the levels after that.

The next big predicament of public education is the conservatism of our administrators. Despite the big difference that is demonstrated by private schools, they have failed to understand that there is the need to modify the curriculum to enable it give result. They complicate matters by strangling the system and refusing to allow people with an agenda of change to find their way into system. When such people manage to find their way in, their suggestions are viewed as something that can bring about total brake down. The schools they administer are deprived of anything form of motivation that can improve learning, be they books, quality teachers, or decent classes. These are the people for whom billions are appropriated yearly in terms of salaries without anything to show for it.

Additional problems are political. Most governments often see the leadership of ministries as positions that should be given to political friends as a reward for their contribution to the victory of the government at the polls. No regard is given to the training of the appointee, whether he is an educationist or not.

Since a large number of Nigerian children particularly in the rural areas attend public schools, it could be said that the future of the Nigerian nation depends to a large extent, on the state of public schools. This is the reason why the government must take seriously the state of public education in the country. There is the need to improve the curriculum to include the crucial areas mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, train staff to teach them and provide the resources needed to support the sector for optimal results.