Federal Character and its Discontents by Reuben Abati

THERE has been so much concern about how the Federal Character principle has since its introduction in 1979, promoted mediocrity within the public service, and retarded national growth and progress. Introduced after the civil war to promote national integration, and to address the fears of sections of the country which felt marginalised, the Federal Character principle was meant to ensure that public service appointments reflect the country's diversity: religious, ethnic, geographical and linguistic, and by extension, that resource allocation reflects the fact that this is a federal system and not a clan.

It is thus an ethnic balancing mechanism. The assumption is that if the public service is truly representative, this will promote a sense of national loyalty and inclusion. Sections 14 (3-4) and Third Schedule, Part 1(c) of the Constitution spell out the principle in clear terms and in 1996, a Federal Character Commission was established to ensure compliance. But today, the general impression is that Federal Character as applied has resulted in an erosion of merit, and that the observed inefficiency in the state bureaucracy is traceable to it, and in other areas of national life, it has not necessarily brought better spread of opportunities. The oft-recommended solution as was again reportedly argued at a recent colloquium in Lagos, in honour of Professor Anya Anya, is to abolish the Federal Character principle and replace it with a merit-based system.

Merit is important, no doubt; indeed, this was a key outcome of the Vision 20:2020 process. The quality of human resource in any organisation determines the quality of inputs and outputs. That is why organisations look for the best and the brightest. And if the public service in Nigeria can be taken as an organisation, the kind of people who run, lead and manage it have not necessarily been the best and the brightest that the country should have. But I am tempted to argue that the problem is not the Federal Character principle or quota system.

In fact, in many parts of the world today, diversity and inclusiveness are actively encouraged in recruitments and other processes. In a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural country such as ours, the Federal Character principle can help promote our diversity and strengthen otherwise marginalised, less populous groups such as the minorities. The 50 wise men in the 1978 Constitution Drafting Committee who proposed the principle were right in seeking to make more Nigerians have a sense of belonging. In applying the quota system, however, we have over the years, abused and ignored best practices.

Where the problem lies is when people hide under the Federal Character principle to lower standards so that their kinsmen can have opportunities, or when in the name of Federal Character, needless cost is incurred and room is created for the incompetent to rise. That is not how the principle is applied in other parts of the world. There must be certain benchmarks, below which a responsible system should not descend. The story is often told about how the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and some universities, for example, have different cut off points for students from different parts of the country. It is this kind of story, if it is true, that raises questions about how the Federal Character principle is an assault on merit. If the required score for any prospective student of Medicine is 290, then all applicants must score 290 in the qualifying examination before they can gain admission.

Equal opportunity must be given and standards must be the same. A quota principle may then be applied in filling the available slots to ensure diversity. In the public service also, it is often said that certain less qualified persons are often promoted beyond their level of competence. That is unacceptable. The Nigerian Constitution says for example that there must be a reflection of Federal Character in the appointment of Ministers, and because of that we have ended up with a bloated Federal Executive Council. These are some of the ways in which the quota system has generated so much discontent. There is even a tendency among certain Nigerians to look down on people from other parts of the country as products of quota, whereas it has not been proven that any Nigerian group has a monopoly of competent and intelligent people.

What we need to insist on is not an abolition of a deliberate attempt to ensure diversity and inclusiveness, but that any such system in place must not negate merit and standards. Before 1979, there were serious issues about marginalisation and exclusion in the Nigerian public space. There was tension between majority and minority groups over access to power and opportunities. The military made everything more complex due to a Northernisation principle that defied the idea of Federalism. It is ironic, however, that today more Nigerians feel more marginalized than was the case before 1979 and 1999. If there was no Federal Character law, the situation could even have been worse. Poorly implemented as it may have been, it is still a major restraining force against the tendency of the average Nigerian leader to reduce everything to his or her own narrow interest. It is perhaps better to have a system where people in authority pretend to be nationalistic, than to have a system where nepotism and favoritism predominate.

The big problem is that we are not yet a nation. We are not yet Nigerians in the sense in which a country is propelled by love and patriotism. We are a country of villagers, of ethnic champions, locked in a primordial mode, largely incapable of thinking as Nigerians, an imperfect union. When people are in positions of authority, they do not think of the best for the system, but how they can use that position to promote ethnic and sectarian interests. The people outside the system also expect to be patronised by their kinsman in position and power. There is a "Na-my-brother-dey-there" mentality that has made nepotism the driving force of the public service system, making the problem and the associated guilt collective.

I recall a high-ranking public official boasting that he was able to get over 200 people from his state into the public service! These would be qualified persons of course, but they had the opportunity only because their brother was within the system, and if every influential person loads the system with their kinsmen, certainly better qualified or equally qualified persons who do not know anybody will have no access. When there are vacancies in certain government departments, the first group that would most likely know would be the kinsmen of the influential persons in charge. And the people who do this are very shameless about it. No matter how educated, most Nigerians only feel comfortable with people from their parts of the country or those who speak the same language with them. They find it difficult to relate with other Nigerians.

I once attended an event organised under the auspices of the office of a certain big man. It turned out that the keynote speaker was from his ethnic group, the Master of Ceremony, the Chair of the occasion, nearly all the lead paper presenters too, and when we checked, they all came from his state of origin! And yet there is a Federal Character principle in place. If there had been none, the fellow probably would have invited the audience from his village too. It is precisely that kind of attitude that makes a Federal Character principle useful. The event in question was a Federal Government event! But it didn't matter to the man in charge. All the speakers were knowledgeable by the way, and the Master of Ceremony did a good job. Nobody could question their performance. But certainly there must be people from other parts of the country who could have discharged the responsibility just as well, and if the organiser had been a bit sensitive, he would have ensured some degree of diversity.

It may be difficult to know how offensive nepotism can be until you actually encounter it. It is a fact that people in power and position use that privilege to develop their own village and state as a mater of course. Their first instinct is to use public funds to set up infrastructure in their own states and villages, before they think of other Nigerians. From the village and the state, they may then think of their region. The contractors are either their friends or agents. This is the case because the average Nigerian sees public service as an opportunity to serve and please his own people, and not Nigerians. I have been in situations where public officials, surrounded by their kinsmen, will suddenly stop a conversation and relapse into their mother tongue, leaving you to start screaming "Speak English, speak English, don't shut the rest of us out of this conversation". Most Nigerians see anyone who does not speak their mother tongue as an outsider and when it comes to the distribution of opportunities, they will treat you exactly as an outsider.

Have you not noticed how the pattern of dressing and attitudes in Abuja, the Federal Capital, reflect the changes in the leadership of the country? When a Yoruba man is in power, the Yoruba are all over the city. When it is the turn of a Northerner, every Northerner stumps the floor of Abuja with greater ease and confidence. If anyone didn't have Ijaw friends before President Jonathan became President, they had to seek out one and befriend. Our governance process is terribly driven by a certain "It-is-our-turn" mentality, which influences everything else. Even in the states, a Governor is first and foremost, the Governor of his constituency, and he seeks to please that constituency before any other part of the state. "If I don't develop my area, another governor from another area will not bring development to my people". Such a system as we run where people are not held accountable on the basis of ideas and principles, can only promote division.

Religion is part of the equation. Some people are so unscrupulous, when they head a department, they would insist on surrounding themselves only with their church members or adherents of their faith. The result is an occultic system that stands in the way of performance and efficiency. I believe that the existence of a Federal Character principle is the only reason some people still manage to pretend to be Nigerian. It should be retained, if only to keep reminding people that this country cannot be run at the level of a village and that it belongs to over 450 nationalities, but greater emphasis should be placed on merit and standards.

To rise gradually above it all, we must grow an enlightened society. We must develop a sense of Nigerian-ness, build a nation, such that people will be given opportunities, and promoted, not on the basis of affiliations, but their ability and the content of their character.

Tribute to Olabisi Olateru-Olagbegi: An Icon of Women's Movement

ON the 17th day in December 2015, Chief (Mrs.) Olabisi Ibijoke Olateru-Olagbegi died. Born on August 4, 1953 to the family of the late Justice Ezekiel Akinola-Cole, former Chancellor of African Church Inc., she attended the prestigious Queen's School, Ede from 1966 to 1970, where she obtained the West African School Certificate in 1970 with a Grade One division. She studied for her A'levels in the combined Higher School Certificate (HSC) class of Queen's School Ibadan and Government College Ibadan.

She attended the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), where he obtained a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.), and proceeded to Law school and was called to bar in 1975.

In a tribute service held in her honour, female politicians, civil society groups, colleagues, friends and family, eulogised the late icon who stood out in the quest to ensure that the common girl and woman's right is respected.

President of the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) Ghana and wife of former Governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi noted that the late Olateru-Olagbegi, which is fondly called Auntie Bisi, gave her time, energy and significant intellectual resources to promoting a campaign against trafficking in persons.

"The period I first came in contact with Auntie Bisi was characterized by intense level of engagement at all levels with members of networks, donor partners locally and internationally, governments at all levels and peer movements around the world. The impression I formed of Auntie Bisi in those years was that of a woman who had passion, a brilliant mind, focused vision, integrity and limitless energy. My impression of her never changed till she sadly left us on December 17th, 2015. Auntie Bisi was a role model, teacher, mentor and friend to so many, either up close or from a distance. She was always impeccably turned out in lovely aso oke or adire, local fabrics, which she proudly promoted everywhere she went in the world.

Executive Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi noted that she was a patriot who dedicated her life to contributing to the global cause of women empowerment and emancipation. "She was a comrade who impacted positively on the social condition of women in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole. In 2013, with other friends in the movement, I celebrated you, coordinated your book launch and surprised you with a birthday gift. Your book launch and birthday was a celebration of your courage at battling breast cancer, your success in speaking out and coming out to say you were a survivor, on that day, we spoke about women's health, and I looked back now and was happy that I led that initiative.

"In 2014, both of us were nominated under the civil society platform to the national confab; we ensured that we brought women's issues to the fore, from the first day; we made the conference adopt a set of gender friendly rules of procedure. Your contributions at the confab and your leadership cannot be quantified."

Executive Director, Women Law and Development Centre Nigeria (WLDCN), Dr. Keziah Awosika said, "For about three decades, Olori Bisi (late Olateru-Olagbegi) and I were together in the trenches of activism on gender and development issues in Nigeria and at international level. With late Professor Jadesola Akande, we carried the message of Beijing 1995 to at least 14 of the then 19 states of the federation. At every stage, Olori Bisi was a lively spirit; she remained in the vanguard for women movement and development."

Human rights activists, Oby Nwankwo who described late Olateru-Olagbegi's death as shocking said she will be remembered for her contributions to the women's movement in Nigeria and her principled advocacy for the empowerment of women, the girl-child and the promotion of human rights and social justice. "She has fought a good fight and left a legacy for us and for the next generation to follow. She is now at peace and lives in the hearts of the many who loved her and whose lives she has touched."

Members of the Association of Nigerian Women Business Network (ANWBN) said that Olateru-Olagbegi made the association proud through her many works and her representation at the National Conference, a forum that provided crucial and fundamental suggestions for the sustainability of our nation; such was her passion on national issues.

Global Fund for Women Grantees Network in Nigeria in their tribute said she was a successful advocate in Nigeria because she understood Nigerian society; "we will strive to keep your flag flying, we will make you proud by immortalizing in your name and memory the campaigns against all forms of discrimination against women in Nigeria."

For Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), West Africa, late Olateru-Olagbegi was a tireless women's rights defender, an exceptional human being who you could always rely on. Her commitment to WiLDAF was not in dispute as we could always rely on her to arrange for the use of the Nigerian embassy's conference room in New York for all our side events during the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) while mourning Olateru-Olagbegi's passage described her as a great mobilizer whose impact on rallying members of the civil society to take principled stance on several issues, earned her a place at the national conference in 2014 where she acquitted herself with great and insightful contribution. Until her death, she was TMG coordinator in Ondo State.

The late Olateru-Olagbegi commenced a career in legal practice with a very short stint as a lawyer in government service before moving into private legal practice. In 1982, she established her own law firm of Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi & Associates where she was the principal partner till death. She was also a licensed notary public of Nigeria.

In 1977, she joined the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), a global association of women lawyers committed to the enhancement of the status and welfare of women and having United Nations Consultative Status Category B. In 1984, she became the Vice Chairman of Comparative Law Committee of FIDA International, a post she held until 1986.

From 1989-1990 late Olateru-Olagbegi was the Publicity Secretary and Chair, Public Relations Committee of FIDA Nigeria during which period she initiated the publication of 'LOYA', a newsletter of FIDA Nigeria. In 1993, she became the president FIDA Nigeria and pioneered the launch of the 'Street Children Project', in Lagos. A member of Eko Lioness Club, she attained the office of President (1990-1991) and mobilised funds for the purchase and donation of wheel chairs and beddings for the Lagos Island maternity hospital, the refurbishment of the Children's Ward in Mercy Hospital, among other things. She was also a member of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) where she was the secretary of the Law and Status Committee from 1988 to 1992 and founding member in 2000. She was till death, the national Coordinator of the Nigeria Country Chapter of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF).

Olateru-Olagbegi founded the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), a non-governmental organization to promote and monitor the enforcement of women's rights and led the organization to provide one of the earliest national institutional mechanisms in response to the problem of trafficking. She was a member of numerous organizations and bodies across Africa and globally including Women Organisation for National Representation and Cohesion (WORNACO), member, Association of African Women in Research and Development (AAWORD), Regional Committee for the Adoption of the protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on Women among others.

An international consultant, she advised the European Union, United Nations, World Bank, UNESCO and ILO in various technical capacities.

Her community service spanned the church, cultural groups, women's socio-economic and political participation initiatives and health initiatives, where she sat on boards and led community work. Among her national and international awards are: The Daisy George Award for activism in women's empowerment by the Sisters to Sister, International Inc. of United states of America at the 50th session of the United Nations Commission of on the Status of Women (CSW) New York, March 2006; 2010 award of excellence for outstanding contribution to nation building and women empowerment by the Business and Professional Women Association of Nigeria and 2012 and 'Golden Link' award of mass medical mission and the national cervical cancer prevention programme 2009.

The Online Warriors by Reuben Abati

My criticisms of the excesses of the online phenomenon in terms of its brazen abuse in an unregulated environment has often made me the target of attacks, with many insisting on quoting the opening paragraph of a piece I once wrote along these lines as if it is a memorial verse, but further developments have shown that indeed, liberal, accommodative, useful and open as the growth of the new media may seem in Nigeria, we may well, if care is not taken, be dealing with a dangerous tool in the hands of the unscrupulous which could drive society towards the lunatic fringe.

      The beauty of the new media is its democratic temper. With any electronic device, anyone at all, can set up a communications unit, using a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a desktop, and simply occupy the social space and broadcast information which in a matter of minutes may go viral and condition public opinion. It grants the person involved absolute freedom, even anonymity, dangerous anonymity of self, space and location, but the worst part of it is the freedom from decency, responsibility and conscience. And so while so much good can be done by persons exchanging information, and as has turned out, creative jokes and skits which entertain and amuse, a lot of evil can be committed through resort to blackmail, abuse, and mischief.

Rights groups, Politicians eulogise Olateru-Olagbegi

FEMALE politicians, civil society groups, friends and family members gathered yesterday at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) to honour an icon of women's rights, lawyer and founder of the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), Olabisi Olateru-Olagbegi.

Those present at the occasion honoured the late human rights activist by wearing navy blue Adire attire, which was the signature outfit of the late Olateru-Olagbegi.

Where are the Public Intellectuals? by Reuben Abati

SOMETHING sad has happened and is happening, and is getting worse in our society: the decline of public intellectualism.  And so I ask, where are the public intellectuals? Once upon a time in this country, the public arena was dominated by a ferment of ideas, ideas that pushed boundaries, destroyed illusions, questioned orthodoxies and enabled societal progress.  Those were the days when intellectuals exerted great influence on public policy, and their input into the governance process could not be ignored. Ideas are strong elements of nation building, and even where interests are at play, you know the quality of a country by the manner in which a taste for good thinking propels the leadership process.

Public intellectuals are at the centre of this phenomenon: they include academics who go beyond their narrow specializations and university-based scholarship to take a keen interest in public affairs and who use their expertise and exposure to shed light on a broad range of issues. They also include journalists, writers and other professionals who question society's direction, and offer alternative ideas. The beauty of public intellectualism is that the intellectual at work is a disinterested party, he is interested in ideas not for his own benefit, but for the overall good of society, and he does not assume that his opinions are the best or that he alone understands the best way to run society and its organs. The product of this attitude is that discourse, a culture of debate, is encouraged and in the cross-pollination of ideas, a good current of thought is created; truth is spoken to power.

We have had glimpses of this in Nigeria, and without trying to sketch a history of public intellectualism in our country or attempt a ranking of public intellectuals, let me just say that between the 60s and the 90s, there was so much fascination with ideas in this same country, it was as if the public mind was on fire. Academics from various disciplines took a keen interest in the prospects of the new Nigeria, and they went to the public arena to project ideas. Journalists became revered as sages, so much that certain newspaper columnists almost single-handedly sold newspapers.

Public lectures were organized which attracted persons who were just interested in ideas. Writers did a lot more than the professional task of producing novels, poems and plays and wrote public essays. The vendor's stand every morning attracted not just buyers and free readers, but also young Nigerians who every morning debated major topics of concern. On television also, there were debates and those in the corridors of power also took ideas seriously.  So influential were intellectuals in the public space that they soon got invited to be part of government and although the military had always opposed intellectualism, at least one government, the Babangida government had the largest collection of intellectuals in office since independence. Many who lived during that era will remember the debates over the IMF/Structural adjustment Programme.

As the years went by however, public intellectualism began to decline. In 2006, Jimanze Ego-Alowes published a book titled How Intellectuals Underdeveloped Nigeria and Other Essays, an allusion to the complicity of intellectuals in the crisis that had by then engulfed the country.  Four years later, Rudolf Okonkwo in an article titled  "The Comedy of Our Public Intellectuals" observed as follows:  "the world of the Nigerian public intellectual is a zoo. It is a zoo full of nihilists. Some are sectarian in their outlook and others are humorless. Some are eccentric while others are comical. But one thing they all have in common is an over-inflated ego of their importance in the scheme of things."

I don't know about over-inflated ego, but I do know that the flame of public intellectualism in Nigeria is now almost a flicker. There are extremely few new significant voices, saying anything of consequence, the soldiers of old have become old, the fire in their belly, now subdued.  It is as if our academics have lost interest in public affairs, as only a few of them maintain a column or write an occasional piece or take on public issues in the manner of the likes of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Segun Osoba, Claude Ake, Bade Onimode, Ola Oni, Mokwugo Okoye, Mahmud Tukur, Yusuf Bala Usman, Ayodele Awojobi, Biodun Jeyifo, Femi Osofisan, Stanley Macebuh, Odia Ofeimun, Niyi Osundare, Chinweizu, Kole Omotoso, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Bode Sowande, Patrick Wilmot…The opinion pages of the newspapers are no longer vibrant. There is so much "opinionitis", but debate is rare and rejoinders are always self-serving.

What has happened is that politically neutral intellectuals have now become scarce; the typical intellectual of today is not public in the sense in which that word is used; he is in reality affiliated to partisan and sectional interests.  The intellectual influence in Nigeria's affairs is thus diminished because of obsession with individual interests: academics are now at best "acadapreneurs": the intellectual as an entrepreneur. Business and partisan interests have compromised media houses; those once vibrant platforms are no longer offering vibrant ideas. Within the cultural sphere, there is a total dumbing down. Where are the creative writers?  They are still writing, but few want to get involved in the issues of the day and offer ideas.

The effect is that we are in the age of clichés, of jargon writing, of mundane, unimaginative commentary. Whatever appears intellectual is written off as arrogant and there is no quality debate on anything because people have resorted to making fashionable statements that suit the moment and every one is locked in their own little corner, not willing to listen to the other side of the story.  The reading public, whatever is left of it, is also not interested in ideas or anything that requires rigorous thinking. We have thus lost a critical element of public intellectualism: an audience. The people are interested in easy stuff, in fashionable opinions that align with their own partisan interests. Nobody wants to read any long commentary; there is an obsession with short thinking, and whereas brevity may be a good technique, there are certain ideas that just cannot be reduced to a tweet.  It is really sad that today, intellectualism is seen as a threat.

Even when corporations and politicians in power draw intellectuals close; they end up usurping the powers of the intellectual, compelling him to hold his intelligence within the scope of the definition of his assignment. Intellectuals can be inside or outside, and there are classical cases of intellectuals in power making a difference, but that age appears ended, the disdain of intellectualism has turned politicians and corporate gurus into wise men that they are not, and the intellectual into an organic element of power. The greatest power of the intellectual lies in his freedom; when he is denied that under any circumstance, society turns off its energy source and gradually, it is the self-imposed wisdom of clowns that prevails.

The gap that has been created seems to have been easily filled by internet gladiators who spend the day shuffling from Instagram to Facebook to Twitter and other social media threads. These new culture activists project a democratic impression of public intellectualism – and yes, there is a sense in which everyone is an intellectual, from the village priest to the village idiot-  but I don't see the rigour, the breadth and depth and the aesthetic alienation that can elevate this genre and its promoters to the grade of public intellectualism. For the most part, social media in Nigeria is predominantly at the level of tabloid sensationalism, and it accommodates and offers the same degree of freedom to the ignorant and the mischievous, as well as the entrepreneur and the uncouth.  There is no doubt however that its content and the quality can be raised, but that will require innovation, the intervention of thinkers and the creation of new audiences that will be interested in something more than the quick and formulaic.

What we have lost is not the intellectual, as there are many educated Nigerians who are experts in their narrow fields, what we have lost is active intelligence as a tool for social progress. The rub is in the intelligence part of being intellectual. Being intellectual is about living a life of ideas and using those ideas to engage society intelligently in a committed manner.
In addition to other reasons, it may well be that our intellectuals are tired of engaging Nigeria.

Having tried over the years to engage the governance elite with ideas and to show that only good ideas should govern society and having been spurned by the politicians, Nigeria's intellectual elite seems to have become so frustrated, it has retired largely into a state of indifference and inertia. What is the point knocking one's head against a wall? But intellectuals in society cannot take such a stand. That will amount to an abdication of responsibility: when intellectuals do no more than make righteous noises, the harvest in the long run, is counter-productive.

Another factor is the emergence of a "climate of fear," and a culture of silence/co-optation/acquiescence. Politicians distrust intellectuals; they can't tolerate anyone around them speaking truth to power or raising disturbing questions.  The intellectual is expected to keep his ideas to himself and respect constituted authority. He is expected to enjoy his freedom in his head and dare not go public with it.  Ideas cannot thrive if the man of ideas is afraid to think, and whisper or speak. Rather than insist on the freedom to differ, many academics, journalists, writers and thinkers have since dropped the baton, and surrendered the public space.

But that is unhelpful cowardice.  Those who know better must continue to engage the public vigorously with ideas about governance and public policy, and encourage open debates, for the good of the entire society.  Those ideas must however, be relevant for them to be of any value; they must not be abstract theories that disconnect with the people's realities, but ideas that offer intelligent solutions to practical problems.

Right now, there are critical areas where such intervention is needed: budgets, economic planning, handling a currency crisis that is fast turning into a nightmare (France has declared an economic emergency and yet was not in as bad a position as we are in…Argentina made changes to its export taxes to address its own dilemma…). We have had schizophrenic interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria and yet where are the intellectuals to come up with analysis and desired alternative views, beyond bellyaching? Where are the inorganic public intellectuals to guide public thought?  Who are those thinking for government, the opposition and indeed the public space?

Inside Dambazau's shoes by Reuben Abati

"See what your friends are writing"

"Who?"

"Your fellow columnists. See how they are attacking the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau, just because an orderly helped to shine his shoes in public."

"I really don't see what the hoopla is all about"

"Me too"

"I think many of our people just like to talk about shoes. For five years, Nigerians kept talking about how former President Goodluck Jonathan had no shoes as a child."

"But he was the one that started it. Last week or so, the former President was again talking about  shoes. In America."  

"I think people love shoes. That is why they won't also allow Dambazau to rest over his shoes."

"Read what your friend has written here. He says the orderly was subjecting himself to indignity by bending down to shine his oga'sshoes at a public ceremony."

"He doesn't understand. Many of the commentators are probably thinking of their own type of shoes. When you see some shoes, you'd certainly not want a speck of dust anywhere close by. There are shoes and there are shoes. All these people making noise, have they seen some shoes?"

"Someone once showed me his pair of shoes which he said he bought for 2, 000 pounds. I swear I'd gladly clean such shoes even if it is at a solemn funeral."

"Do you have any idea the type of shoes the Minister was wearing?" 

"No. But what does it matter? My point really is that people should stop blaming the Minister. Look when you are in public office, things like that happen. It is the duty of your aides to make sure you look good all the time. "

"I agree. A Minister of the Federal Republic must always be impeccably dressed. If you ask me to choose between Minister Dambazau and that one that wears beret and dresses as if he is going for a Man O' War session, I'll choose Dambazau any day." 

"My own point is that nobody should blame the Interior Minister. It is not as if he summoned the orderly and asked him to start shining his shoes in public. These things happen.  We should blame the aide. Aides in government corridors are too sycophantic, sometimes, they don't fit the occasion to the act."

"I have seen quite a few of such aides. I once went with someone to visit a state Governor.  The Governor was the only one sitting on a sofa. All his aides including commissioners sat on the floor. I didn't know what to do, whether to stand or join the aides on the floor. "

"Those aides often respond to their oga's body language though. And what did you do?"

"Me? I sat down on the sofa oh. I think it is the aides who are guilty. It is a peculiar kind of ailment: it is called eye service."

"I know. We don't really have a civil service."

"We have an eye service. Anything that will make the boss happy, even if the same aides will later turn around and bad mouth the same boss."

 "You know in some government houses, aides behave like robots. When their boss stands up, they also stand. When the boss sits down, they too sit down.  They eat what eats, and when they see the big man's wife, they start grinning from ear to ear."

"I have seen otherwise educated aides carrying bags for their Oga's wife."

"And you know they don't need to be forced to do all that. People just do it. It is a way of showing loyalty"

"But I think your friend's point in this article is that the big men should discourage such behaviour."

"Have you not seen where people kneel down to talk to their boss? Even when they are asked to stand up or sit down, you'd see adults saying, let me remain on the ground sir.  I am fine sir, Your Excellency. I am afraid one of these days, you'd see an aide prostrating publicly to make their boss feel good. Don't blame the boss, blame the aide."

"I still believe that some big men actually enjoy it. An old friend lost his job as a commissioner because he had developed the habit of arguing with the Governor at Council meetings. He refused to behave like other commissioners, theoga-is-always-right crowd."

"Any boss that is always right cannot get it right."

"You know, the guy told me that at a particular Council meeting, one of his colleagues stood up and told the Governor, sir in fact, I have been meaning to tell you, I don't know how you do it, you are the wisest man I have ever seen, the best strategist in the world, the best thing to have ever happened to our state. Then, he asked other council members to give the Governor three gbosas. Our friend said he was shocked."

"So, did he expect the Governor to sack the praise-singer?"

 "That particular commissioner always got anything he wanted.  Someone like that would willingly clean the Governor's shoes, he'd in fact gladly do it. "

"I imagine that it is the same in the corporate world. Some company executives behave like houseboys."  

"It is a Nigerian thing, then. I am sure if General Dambazau had asked that guy not to shine his shoes in public, he would have been very upset. He would think he has fallen out of favour. He was happy serving the boss, the same way policemen are happy to carry bags for other people's wives.'

"It's human nature. It's this whole thing about the survival of the fittest."

"Like surviving Lassa fever?"

"My brother! That's frightening. I understand up to about 63 people have died already in 17 states, and that more may die."

"The Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole says the Nigerian Government will write the obituary of Lassa fever by April."

"I hope so. If it is possible to do it before April, that will help, because the way Lassa fever is writing the obituary of so many people, it may turn out to be worse than Ebola virus."

"I think the Minister and his team, and the various state governments are doing a good job of alerting the public to the dangers of Lassa fever. Even government agencies like the NYSC have deployed public enlightenment teams to market places."

"One man ran away from a hospital while being treated for Lassa fever. May be government should begin to quarantine people. These days, when I see anybody looking sick, even if it is ordinary fever, I start by imagining the worst and I keep my distance."

"I hear some people eat house rats."

"What?"

"Then, public enlightenment should become even more vigorous. Eat rat? How can anybody eat Okon Calabar?"

"Who is that?"

"Okon Calabar. That's what we called rats when I was in school. You know some of these big rats that don't run away from human beings. When they see you, they actually act like they want to jump on you. I believe those are the real multi mammate rats."

"I have asked somebody to help me buy two cats."

"You have rats in your house? What kind of house is that? Where do you live?"

"I live in Babana Island."

"Babana Island.  Not Banana Island? Oh, Babana. That island that is around Abule Egba, close to one refuse dump"

"You no well."

"When your house is dirty, and nothing is well kept, you'd breed rats, of course."

"I don't live in dirty surroundings. I am just taking precautions. And take my advice, also try and buy cats. Let's kill all the rats in Nigeria."

"I like that. Let's kill the rats and save lives. But you don't need cats, get a fumigator to drive all dangerous things away from your house: rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes."

"The cost of fumigation has gone up. I hear fumigators are making serious gains now."

"Very soon, the cost of cats will also rise. "

"Cats?"

"Yes. Don't you know that everything is business in this country?"

"There are too many human rats out there ready to take advantage."

"What do you mean human rats?"

"You don't know some human beings are like rats, causing fever?

"You are speaking in tongues.  Okay, name one human rat that you know."

"I am looking at one right now."

"Me?"

"Yes"

"No. I am not. You should be talking to those militants in the Niger Delta who are again sabotaging the country by blowing up oil installations, and giving the Federal Government conditions."

"The Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries have been shut down due to pipeline vandalism. At this rate, we 'd soon buy fuel at N200 per litre."

"God knows we can't afford another round of Niger Delta militancy. We have Boko Haram. We have the Biafra "secessionists."  And now Niger Delta militants are back to the creeks and trying to reverse the gains of the amnesty programme. In the end, we will all suffer for it."

"Don' t worry, those boys will be dealt with."

"At what cost? It is better to nip the crisis in the bud."

"How? By begging the militants? The Federal Government has made it clear that it will not succumb to blackmail."

"Who is talking about blackmail?"

"Wahala today. Wahala tomorrow. This Nigeria sef."

"Yes oh.  They are even saying we will now pay stamp duty on all monies paid into our bank accounts once the amount is over N1, 000.  When you add that to other bank charges, how much is left?"

"My friend, it is just N50."

"It is not just N50. Why must I dash government money? Is government now begging for alms? Is it that bad? If I want to give anybody alms, it should be my decision."

"There is a law called Stamp Duties Act. They want to enforce the law."

"So, a bank is now a branch of the Post Office? If anybody posts money into my account, government will force me to buy stamp? And yet we want a cashless society? Very soon, people will stop doing electronic transfers."

"Don't be stingy. Be a good citizen."

"N50 on every transaction. For people who run active accounts, that could amount to very heavy tax by the end of a month. You know what? I think they should just re-name the banks and call them post offices, since they are now selling stamps."    

"As in?"

"As in Zenith Post Office"

"Diamond Post Office"

"Union Post Office".

"Na wa oh."

A Visit to FRSC by Reuben Abati

One of the things I have had to do in recent times was to renew my driver's licence. This took me to the headquarters of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Abuja. The procedure requires the applicant's presence: forms to be filled, fees to be paid, fingerprinting to be done, and so, that was how I found myself in the expansive and impressive premises of the FRSC Headquarters.  It turned to be a memorable experience. In-between the processing of my papers, I was handed over to a young officer in the digitalized command centre at the Headquarters, to give me a brief overview of the operations of the FRSC. I considered this a special privilege, but it turned out that the FRSC opens its doors to visitors seeking information, because just as I was stepping out of the room after almost 45 minutes of briefing, another group of visitors including journalists, were led into the command centre for their own briefing session. I could not fail to notice the fact that the operations of the FRSC are highly modernized and digitalized.

       This is a sign of progress and growth because that was not always the case. When the idea of the creation of a special unit for road safety, separate from the Police Department, gained ground in the 70s, this was in response to the enormous carnage on Nigerian roads. Professor Wole Soyinka who suggested the idea to the Oyo State Government has written about how the Ibadan-Ife road had become a death trap for the students and lecturers at the then University of Ife. He would later take on the leadership role of sensitizing the Nigerian public to the evil of road rage, mobilizing volunteers to go onto the road to check drivers, or to assist accident victims.  In later years, he became the pioneer Chairman of the Federal Road Safety Corps. In those early days, road safety officers relied on their raw courage, and few equipment, but they were a truly inspired group.

     The need for road safety in Nigeria cannot be overstated. Over the years, so many lives and limbs have been lost on the roads. Today, Nigeria has a network of 204, 000 kilometres of paved and unpaved roads, with 12.76 million registered motor vehicles and motorcycles at the ratio of 57% and 43% respectively.  Between 1960 and 2015, a total of 1,521, 601 casualties were recorded on our roads. Road traffic cases were particularly most serious between 1976 and 1993, with casualty figures consistently exceeding 30, 000 per annum. Established in 1988, FRSC claims in its annual reports that casualty figures on Nigerian roads have been on a downward trend.  This conclusion must be in terms of relative figures in direct proportion to population. For, whereas total casualty figure as reported was 11,299 in 1960, it was 38, 059 in 2014 and 32, 826 in 2015.  In 1960 Nigeria's population was 45.2 million; today, it is about 183.5 million, with more vehicles on the roads.

     No one can question the wisdom behind the setting up of this strategic agency and due credit must be given to the founding fathers, the successive administrations that have built up the agency and international organisations like the World Bank, which have provided necessary support. In 1988, the FRSC had a staff strength of just about 300, today it has over 19, 000 workers on its payroll, and it is able to make its presence felt on all Nigerian roads. It is better equipped; its staff are better motivated, and it has attracted a large number of volunteers, also known as Special Marshals who at critical moments step in to act as traffic control officials. According to the FRSC, deaths on Nigerian roads per 100, 000 was 9.0 in 1990; over the next 15 years, this was reduced to 3.62.

       Whereas a total number of 8, 154 persons were killed on Nigerian roads in 1990, the number had reduced to 5, 044 in 2015. But perhaps the biggest area of achievement has been in the fact that more people today are apprehended for traffic offences. Between January and June 2014, about 258, 538 traffic offenders were apprehended nationwide; and for the same period in 2015 - 254, 203 persons.  In the various reports, the states with the highest cases of traffic offences and fatalities are Kaduna, FCT, Ogun, Kogi, Oyo, Nasarawa, and Edo in that order while the states with the least incidents are Borno, Bayelsa, Yobe, Ekiti, Taraba, Abia, and Akwa Ibom. 

      It is refreshing that over the years the FRSC has been able to generate such significant data on road safety and fatalities in Nigeria. When I visited the control centre, many uniformed officers were busy behind telephones and computers, receiving information from the public and satellite command centres across Nigeria. Two large screens in the room provided real live indication of  accident cases in all the six traffic corridors into which the country has been divided. I was told, and a live demonstration was used to illustrate the claim, that once there is a reported accident in any part of the country, the information is relayed to the nearest FRSC Command for immediate action, all the way up to the National Headquarters which monitors the dispatch of the nearest FRSC patrol team in that corridor on a rescue mission. The officer told me that the FRSC has the capacity to get to the scene of any road accident within minutes, because its men are all over Nigerian roads.  I didn't expect him to say anything otherwise. He was marketing his organization and he would of course tell me all the good things. But I wondered: how many Nigerians know the toll free emergency numbers to call in the event of an accident?

   I completed the processing of my driver's licence. And when it was time to take my leave, I was given some reading materials.  A careful perusal would offer more information: the FRSC Call centre receives on the average a total of 258 calls per month on road traffic crashes, and most of these calls are made between June and December.  It is as if Nigerians get more reckless on the roads as the year comes to an end. Then the vehicles mostly involved in road crashes are cars, followed by motorcycles, minibuses and trucks, while the principal causes are over-speeding, loss of control and dangerous driving.     

       On the whole, a lot still needs to be done to curtail road traffic crashes in Nigeria and to check the menace of dangerous driving; the area of challenge is in deepening the prevention strategies of the FRSC and similar organisations that have been set up by state governments such as LASTMA in Lagos and TRACE in Ogun state. A team of Road Safety experts from Nigeria are scheduled to proceed on a two-year deployment to Sierra Leone, which is encouraging, but before we begin to do Father Christmas across Africa with what has been achieved so far, we must never lose sight of the fact that the quoted statistics of persons killed or injured on Nigerian roads is not just cold data, but human lives. Nigerian motorists need to be constantly reminded that they cannot be allowed to either commit suicide or kill others.

    It is certainly not surprising that over-speeding is the major cause of accidents on our roads. The FRSC and similar organisations at the state level must insist on the observance of speed limits and impose the stiffest penalties on offenders. It is always very scary driving on any road in Nigeria. Most of our motorists, commercial or private, behave as if the best way to handle a vehicle is to exhaust the speedometer. Speed bumps on inner city roads have made little or no difference.  Even when persons are not driving under the influence, they just like to speed. Each time I see any major road being dualized, I immediately think in terms of the number of lives that will be claimed by the road once it is completed. Every person behind the wheels on our roads is a potential Formula One participant.

      The commercial drivers are worse. They drive dangerously and lose control, because in any case, they are half of the time, completely drunk. Every motor park has a nearby section where alcohol is openly sold. In between trips, the drivers worship at the paraga and ogogoroshrine, and get thoroughly inebriated before they jump behind the wheels. State governments and the FRSC must liaise with the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) to enforce the ban on the sale of alcohol at motor parks across the country; pro-active steps should also be taken to check drunk driving. In some other parts of the world, motorists are routinely stopped and asked to take a breath or sobriety test. We need that here.

       Nigerians like to break the law, or test it. When the compulsory use of seat belts was introduced, it was quite a battle getting people to comply.  In the same manner, they may resist the observance of speed limits, but this must be strictly enforced.  Loss of control while driving, is caused not only by drunkenness, but also the abuse of cell phones.  The way some people treat cell phones like a toy is unbelievable. Even while driving, they use one hand to hold a phone; the other hand is on the steering, while their mouth is engaged in animated conversation and their ears in a listening mode. Engaged in such a delicate task as driving, they are nevertheless distracted. I have seen many suicidal drivers on our highways, chatting on phone and going at top speed.  This must be addressed.

      The various FRSC reports didn't dwell much on the roadworthiness of vehicles on Nigerian roads.  Half of the vehicles out there are imported, used vehicles with broken down parts and bad tyres. Nigerian motorists are not likely to change tyres until the tyres burst, and of course, very few buy new tyres. Roadworthiness checks must not be voluntary or optional but compulsory. The roads are also bad. Bad roads don't make for safe driving. And to worsen it all: many motorists don't bother to go to driving schools or take driving tests, and they have no driver's license. They learn to drive by accident; they have no knowledge of road signs and traffic rules. They drive all the same and cause accidents. The FRSC should seek the enabling powers to ensure that certain traffic offenders are banned for life from driving on our roads. That is the surest way to reduce road carnage.

Jan.15: Where we came from by Reuben Abati

Nigerian Army

January 15 every year is Nigeria's Armed Forces Remembrance Day: wreaths are laid, statements are made, soldiers, government officials and the Nigerian Legion attend parades, pigeons symbolizing peace are released, a dinner is organized for widows of fallen soldiers and there is so much talk about death and dying for one's country all in honour of Nigerian soldiers who have had to die so that Nigeria may live. In terms of context however, what is also celebrated is the surrender of the secessionist Biafran forces to the Nigerian government on January 15, 1970, a throw back to the country's three years of civil war.

      This is downplayed just as government similarly conveniently ignores the fact that January 15 is also the date of the first coup d'etat in our country.  It is 50 years today since that incident.  And it is most unlikely that the Federal Government will devote much attention to that particular aspect of our history. But even if they don't, the families of those who fell to the bullet on January 15, 1966 will certainly remember.  It is a day that should be specially remembered by all Nigerians and students of history because that was when things finally fell apart and the rains began to beat our roofs. On this day in 1966, four Igbo military officers and one Yoruba, five Majors in all, led by 29-year old Major Kaduna Nzeogwu struck in Kaduna, Lagos, and Ibadan, as they sought to take over Nigeria by revolutionary means in a bloody coup d'etat.

Do you Speak French? by Reuben Abati

Reuben Abati

I was on my way back from Botswana, after attending a conference organized by the Africa Leadership Forum (ALF). This was sometime in the 90s, on that same trip was Professor Tekena Tamuno, the eminent historian of blessed memory. We boarded an Air Afrique flight from Johannesburg to Abidjan, where we were scheduled to join another flight to Lagos. But Air Afrique at the time had started having problems. Its flights were always delayed, services were poor, and the airline had become so notorious it eventually earned the sobriquet:peut-etre Afrique. Peut-etre in French meaning "perhaps or maybe." On this particular trip, the airline lived up to its poor reputation.

       The flight from Jo'burg to Abidjan was delayed, and we missed our connecting flight to Lagos. Our first instinct was to go to the Nigerian Embassy in Abidjan, after the airline had given us hotel accommodation for the night.  When Professor Tamuno and I arrived at the embassy, the Ambassador had closed for the day. We left a message. And lo and behold, the following morning, somebody came from the Embassy to look for us. The Ambassador, a gentleman to the core, had received our message and he would like us to stop by at the Embassy before our flight back to Lagos, later in the day.  A good diplomat on foreign posting will always look out for the interest of his or her country's citizens under whatever circumstances. We were impressed. But this is not the point of this article. It is as the title suggests, about French language and the need for Nigeria to take the teaching and the learning of the language more seriously and actively promote this in our educational institutions.

Davido, Baby Mamas and other stories by Reuben Abati

Davido & Babymama Sophie

“WHAT a relief, my friend!” “What are you relieved about?” “It is this David Adeleke and Sophia Momodu soap opera.”
“I tell you. It is a perfect subject for a good home video. But what is your own?”
“No. Nothing. I am just relieved that the parties involved have agreed to let peace reign”
“This will be about the third time I would hear of that matter being resolved.”

“Well, I think the Momodus and the Adelekes should just spare us. They should not forget there is a child involved. They have suddenly made I made Adeleke, the most famous victim of Baby Mama-Baby Papa palaver in Nigeria. Both Davido and Sophia and their supporters’ clubs should please protect the baby, and not make her a poster child for that kind of subject.”

Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi (1953-2015) by Reuben Abati

Our sister died. And we are all devastated. We called her Sista Bisi, Mama Kiitan, Olori, Chief (Mrs). To some other people, she was lawyer Bisi, or simply Bisi; at a time she was Bisi Cole, and later Mrs Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi, wife of the Olowo of Owo, HRM Fola Olateru-Olagbegi. She was a diligent, hardworking, generous, vivacious, public-spirited, passionate, committed, creative, astutely brilliant, optimistic, fashionable, and an absolutely lovely woman, who in addition to all that was gifted with an untainted love for all causes humanistic, decent and progressive. In our neighbourhood in Abeokuta, she was the first big sister to become a star, and who as she moved from one stage in her life to the other, took all of us: siblings, cousins, and family friends as her own, mentoring us as much as she could. 

2015: The Year of Democracy by Reuben Abati

 

  What is the most compelling, most impactful and most remarkable issue in the year 2015 that has just ended? In my estimation, it is democracy: its contents and discontents, its hopes and impediments, and the forceful manner in which these have compelled us afresh to focus on our circumstances and destiny as a people and a nation. In 2015, democracy shaped the national debate.
The government of the people, as simply and poignantly defined, has been, in the last 22 years, such a central idea and a factor in the lives of Nigerians, after so many years under purely authoritarian rule, inflicted by the military for decades by subterfuge. In those years that the locusts ate, as described by George Ehusani, Nigerians suffered.