The Morning after Christmas by Reuben Abati

"How was your Christmas Day?"

"Comme ci, comme ca"

"What's that?"

"I am speaking French. You mean you don't even understand elementary French?"

"No, I don't. Speak English. How was Christmas?"

"Low-key. Like this, like that".

"For me, it was a dead-end Christmas"

"God forbid. May we never have a dead-end Christmas. I reject it in Jesus name."

"If you like, summon the Holy Ghost. We have never had a Christmas like this one. On Christmas eve in Lagos, come and see people just going about, many of them aimlessly. The kind of shopping that heralds Christmas was absent. For the first time, I could see the real colour of sadness, frustration and regret on the people's faces."

"It depends on what part of Lagos you are talking about.  If you had been in Lekki or Victoria Island, you would have seen a different colour."

"I know. There are two countries in one: the real Nigeria and the other Nigeria, where people live in a bubble. But the bubble is beginning to burst everywhere. With the Naira now N500 to the dollar, and businesses failing everyday, the pain is spreading. It was an unusual Christmas."

"Everywhere jus' dry. I know some people who used to hold Christmas parties every December 25.  They just decided to postpone it till next year. But did you at least manage to eat rice and chicken?"

"Anybody that eats rice these days is very lucky indeed, with a bag of rice now N20, 000. And you can't even be sure it is real rice. I learnt the market was flooded with plastic rice."

"Plastic rice? What does that taste like?"

"I guess like plastic. "

"Never heard of that. Plastic rice?"

"To be on the safe side, these days, I only eat Ofada rice. Local rice."

"All kinds of things happen during recession. Plastic rice.  Empty pockets."

"I know something about empty pockets, my brother. Imagine what I went through trying to get money from the ATM, two days to Christmas.  I went to about five banks, you'd think people were queuing for fuel, with everyone looking anxious."

"I know."

"One queue covered an entire street. When I eventually found an ATM and it was my turn, the machine just started blinking. I didn't know when I started shouting Blood of Jesus, Blood of Jesus."

"You should have planned ahead. I don't know why people have to wait till the last minute before withdrawing money. Nigerians should learn to plan ahead."

"I did. The ATMs misbehave a lot these days and they are always crowded."

"There is no money in circulation. I hear the Central Bank is broke. The banks are just managing."

"You have started, hen? How can the Central Bank of Nigeria be broke? For the past three weeks now, the spot price of crude oil has been over $50 per barrel. That's some good revenue."

"May be it is the banks that are broke then.  I just hope nobody has taken depositors' funds to go and invest in the MMM."

"What nonsense!"

"MMM was giving people better returns on their investments. Even bankers invested in the scheme. And now that the scheme has been frozen till January ending, there is panic everywhere. You would be surprised the kind of revelations that would come up if the profile of investors in the scheme is investigated."

"Nigerians are always looking for quick profit, but I don't believe that a bank will invest in MMM"

"Dey there. Look at the way special prayers, night vigils and deliverance sessions are being held over this MMM thing. Some churches are holding get-your-MMM-money-back prayer sessions, and when you attend those sessions, come and see crowd!  If that Ponzi scheme should crash eh, a lot of people will commit suicide."

"One man sold his only car and invested the money in MMM."

"I know. Some people sold their houses too."

"The MMM scheme is a comment on the Nigerian banking system. Obviously, Nigerians don't trust the banks and their miserable deposit interest rates."

"Tell me, did you invest in the MMM?"

"No. But I almost did. I know some people who made huge profits from it. I was still contemplating putting some money down to test the waters when the alarm blew."

"You are lucky, then."

"I guess every investment is a risk."

"I tried to make fun of some of my friends who invested in the MMM the other day. January 2017 has suddenly become the most important month in their lives.  The way they reacted, hen. I was accused of being insensitive and sadistic. I quickly shut up".

"So, what are your plans for the new year?"

"I have no plans yet. But I have been following what the prophets are predicting."

"You believe those predictions?  I just read them for fun. But this December, I have only read the predictions by Prophet Ayo Fayose"

"Prophet Ayo Fayose. Never heard of him. Which Christian Ministry does he lead?"

"The Ayo Fayose Evangelical Church of Yahweh, Iyana Jogunomi, Ori oke Ekiti-Kete."

"You are joking!"

"Yes, I am. But you mean you don't know that the Governor of Ekiti State is a prophet?. Every year, he also makes predictions about the coming year.  He has released his 2017 predictions"

"Seriously, is he also among the Prophets?"

"Uhn hun.  In his latest predictions, he talks about how the Holy Spirit directed him."

"I hear, though, that he has been anointed by Daddy G.O. Pastor Adeboye."

"Anointment comes from God. What happened is that Pastor Adeboye commended Fayose publicly for leading his people courageously and defending their interests."

"The APC won't like that"

"Daddy G.O is not a politician."

"But have you not heard that the Ekiti Chapter of the APC issued a statement to say that Fayose bribed Pastor Adeboye?"

"May the Holy Ghost slap the mouth of anybody who utters that blasphemy. The Bible says touch not my anointed. The Bible also says He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world.  The word of God is greater than politics. "

"The way you are carrying on, the APC in Ekiti will issue another statement to say you have also been bribed by Fayose.  Anyway don't worry, they have denied the statement. But the PDP in Ekiti has also issued a statement saying the denial is an after-thought.  Too much politics in that their Ekiti."

"Forget about them. But what did the Governor predict, if I may ask? You mean, he has so much free time on his hands; he is busy making predictions. In any case, many of these predictions are somehow. Anybody can predict Nigeria's future at anytime. It is always something like: I foresee a crisis in the Niger Delta. I foresee a change of cabinet. I foresee deaths in Nollywood. I foresee changes at the Central Bank. I foresee the emergence of a new political party…I foresee Donald Trump creating tension in the world.  Three prominent traditional rulers should pray against sickness and bereavement…. Common sense."

"Oh, oh."

"But how come no prophet predicted that Nigerian soldiers will capture Sambisa forest and drive out the Boko Haram or that a day after, there will be suicide bombing at a cattle market in Maiduguri? "

"Suicide bombing at a cattle market? What is the target?"

"No prophet foresaw the killings in Southern Kaduna and the waste of human lives or that a white man will be arrested inside Sambisa forest. You don't have to be a prophet to know tomorrow"

"Whatever." 

"We should thank God for everything and for the joy of surviving Christmas in a season of recession. We should also thank God we are not in Saudi Arabia, but in our country, Nigeria."

"What has Saudi Arabia got to do with Christmas? I don't get it."

"It is a crime to celebrate Christmas in Saudi Arabia. This year, seven Africans – 4 Nigerians, 2 Ghanaians, and one Kenyan were arrested in Saudi Arabia for playing Christmas Carols, they could be sent to jail for 10 years."

"What? For playing Christmas songs?"

"I understand there is even an Islamic cleric in India, Zakir Abdul Karim Naik who told Muslim brothers and sisters not to wish Christians Merry Christmas, because it is a "big sin, worst evil, worse than fornication or murder." What is the world turning into: A world of hate, bigotry and intolerance. Tell me it is not true. "

"It is true."

"Sad."

"Sorry about the fire accident at Nigerian Breweries in Lagos. I know you drink beer."

"If you want to talk about something else, do so"

"I am just concerned that there are too many fire accidents taking place these days.  When petrol tankers are not exploding on the highways, markets are being gutted by fire, companies and houses are going up in flames.  The Lagos State Fire Service reported for example that 45 markets in Lagos had fire accidents between January and September 2016 alone."

"The Fire Service should not moan. They need to do a lot more to educate the people about safety precautions and ensure that buildings respect the Fire Code. They also need to be better organized to deal with emergencies."

"The Fire Service in Nigeria is poorly funded."

"Harmattan. Dry season. The possibility of more fire accidents is high. The public should be sensitized all the same."  

"Most of the fire accidents are due to electrical faults, either faulty connections or power surge. We need a national safety programme to prevent fire outbreaks. Every market and major company should have a fire station. There should be fire hydrants across every major city."

"I'd just say that prevention is better than cure."

"Who is your Man of the Year, 2016?"

"Man of the Year. Who is yours?"

"Yours first"

"Let me see. I'll choose the Nigerian Soldier.  The Nigerian soldier is practically holding Nigeria together. He is underpaid, over-used, overstretched, denied access to equipment, and money and often subjected to the harshest possible conditions. Our soldiers are involved in one operation or the other across the country, protecting the country and even doing police work.  Operation Crocodile Tears, Operation Harmony, Operation Lafiya Dole, Operation Delta Safe, Operation Gama Aiki, Operation MESA, Operation Awatse, Operation Sharan Daji, Operation Maximum Security. From one region to the other, the Nigerian soldier is busy keeping Nigeria safe from kidnappers, terrorists, secessionists, oil bunkerers, cattle rustlers and extremists."

"Our soldiers have even been sent abroad to learn cattle rearing because their next assignment includes the management of cattle ranches. I agree with you. I salute their courage."

"And who is your own man of the year?"

"I'll choose the average Nigerian for the resilience, the capacity and the courage to suffer and smile at the same time". 

Reuben Abati

The Bidoung Challenge by Reuben Abati

Cameroonians got their chance of introducing into the syllabus of Comedy and Other Comic Forms (a subject I taught in my other career), what seemed like a variant of the domestic nature of humour and wit, when in the last week and more days,  they forced humour out of what seemed like an ordinary situation and added to the Ice Bucket Challenge and the Mannequin Challenge, what has become known internationally as the#Bidoung Challenge or the #CourberDosChallenge.

      While we were busy here disgracing the Super Falcons who won the Golden Trophy at the 10^th African Women Cup of Nations Championship Football Tournament (AWCON), by refusing to pay them their entitlements, and forcing them to take to the streets to advertise national shame and disgrace, the Cameroonians who came second in the tournament, were treated to a Presidential banquet and special romp with the President and his wife. It was a special occasion in sports whereby a silver medal was better rewarded than a gold medal and in this instance, an odd commentary on sovereignty and its priorities.

Goodbye, Fidel Castro By Reuben Abati

The death of Fidel Castro was long expected and when it finally came on Friday night, there was very little surprise across the world. He was 90, and in August, he had himself predicted that he would not live beyond 90. He had been sick for about ten years, compelling him to hand over power as Cuba's leader in 2006. It is instructive that Castro's death, like his life, was attended by divided opinions. No other man has been more controversial in Latin America and indeed in the whole of the Americas in the last 50 years.

       He was hated and loved in almost equal measure, praised by those who admired him, and denounced by those who objected to his politics and style. This much was illustrated as the news of his death spread: while Cubans in Havana and across the country mourned the death of the El Commandante, the father of modern Cuba, and perhaps the last of the iconic revolutionary figures of the 20^th Century, 145 kilometres away to the North, in Miami, Florida, many Cubans in diaspora celebrated the death of the man they consider a tyrant who drove them away from their homeland.

       Fidel Castro, having survived countless assassination attempts over the years, was fully aware more than anyone else, of the emotional reactions to the choices he made by all categories of persons including ideologues, capitalists, family members and plebeians alike. His response to this was the iconic declaration: "Condemn me. It is of no importance. History will absolve me." This was in 1953, after the Moncada Barracks event, but that statement more or less defined his life-long attitude to power, leadership and situations. As Cuba's strong man, he ran his country from 1959 to 2006, like a messiah, giving the people one of the best human development indexes in the world: a developed medical system, free healthcare, free education, advancements in science, research and agriculture, the transformation of Cuba into a centre of culture, and a strong presence in global politics.   

      But it was Fidel's politics that turned him into both the symbolic and controversial figure that he became. When he drove out the Fulgencio Batista government in 1959, he was regarded as the messianic revolutionary, along with his band of freedom fighters, who had come to save the people in what became known as the 26^thof July Movement. Batista's military dictatorship imposed enormous misery upon the people and encouraged the transformation of Havana into the playground of the rich, the Mafia, the criminal and the corrupt.  Fidel, as he was simply known, promised his people "Fatherland or Death" – ("patria o muerte"), constitutional rule, free and fair elections, and a brighter future. He soon embarked on a series of brutal executions, victimization of his political opponents and mass repression, justified on the basis of the need to consolidate the revolution.  His transition from freedom fighter to an autocrat, and the gradual shift from a people's revolution to a one-man revolution, is one of the striking contradictions of his legacy.

     Perhaps the most defining marker of this legacy is Cuba's relationship with the United States under his watch. By 1960, the would-be socialist democrat had declared that he is a Marxist-Leninist and with his embrace of the Soviet Union, he brought the Cold War, one of the most significant events of the 20^th Century to the doorstep of the United States. This marked the beginning of more than 50 years of strained relationship with the United States, beginning with Cuba's introduction of a nationalized planned economy which resulted in the state take-over of foreign businesses and investments which were mostly American, the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 and the nuclear missile standoff of October 1962, which brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war as the Soviets attempted to set up a nuclear base in Cuba, a few miles away from the United States.  

      Fidel Castro's face-off with the United States earned his country economic and military blockades, which proved punitive for his people, the flight of many Cubans to the United States, sustained, vitriolic American propaganda against Fidel and Cuba, as well as assassination attempts. By 1961, America broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba. Fidel proved to be a fiercely single-minded, iron-willed, unbending political figure. He resisted both capitalist restoration and American imperialism. He emerged in the long run as a symbol of defiance and a source of inspiration for many of his compatriots and others who drew patriotic zeal and fire from his resistance, nationalism and patriotism.

          Cuba was the centerpiece of his revolutionary and ideological exertions. He wanted the best for his country and his people, and in pursuing a pro-worker, pro-people agenda, he stood firmly against the intimidation of the capitalist mega-power to the North. He turned towards the Soviet Union as trading partner and source of subsidies.  He lowered racial barriers, preached equality and sovereignty and railed endlessly against capitalism in characteristically fiery and long speeches. With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992, the subsidies ended, and the people's economic hardship increased but Fidel Castro remained stubbornly committed to his agenda and vision. He survived the end of Soviet subsidy with the help of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

      He was a very strong, impressive personality, a master of rhetoric, and a notable man of style, with his trademark fatigue, classic Cuban cigar and scraggy beard. He was the oldest and the most enduring of the communists. His example inspired radical politics in Venezuela, Chile, Grenada, Bolivia, Ecuador and other parts of Latin America.  He defined the left in Latin America. He changed the Latin American game.

       His impact on the larger international order was no less significant. Many Fidelistas emerged in other parts of the world, including Africa, particularly in Congo, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Mozambique where he supported revolutionary change morally and materially. The Nigerian Left also owes much inspiration to the politics of Fidel Castro and the ideas of his friend and ally, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.  Cuban doctors served as volunteers in Angola and Namibia, while over 36, 000 troops and another 300, 000 troops took part in the anti-apartheid, liberation struggles in both countries respectively.  Cuban troops were also involved in Algeria, Guinea Bissau, Equitorial Guinea, Sierra Leone and Libya. Africa owes Fidel a debt of gratitude. Comrade Fidel became the hero of many across the world who wanted to stand up for their countries and become like him, champions of the interests of the downtrodden and apostles of the values of equality and sovereignty. He was one of the strongest political, if not moral, voices in the 20th century.  He may have been guilty of human rights abuses at home, for debatable reasons of pragmatism, but he was a champion of social justice on the global stage.

      The durability of Castro's politics and influence was further consolidated by the longevity of his life.  Many young Cubans may remember him as the old man, and probably be less excited by his politics, which they may not understand, but he is bound to remain the most influential figure in Cuban history for a very long time to come. The United States must be relieved that its arch-enemy is finally gone. Fidel Castro stood up to 11 American Presidents from Eisenhower to Obama and did a lot to promote anti-American sentiments in the global sphere. Even when Jimmy Carter (he removed travel restrictions in 1977 and visited in 2002 and 2011) and Barrack Obama (the first sitting American President to visit Cuba in 90 years) sought to extend a hand of friendship, he was unimpressed. 

      America's hope that his death will mark the end of his legacy may be too much of an expectation, but definitely Cuba after Fidel Castro will no longer be the same, but the change will be gradual. Castro's brother and successor, Raul is 85 years old: some day, a Castro will no longer be in charge of Cuba, and the end of that dynasty may well mark the beginning of another transformation. But before that happens, Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Newt Gingrich and Ted Cruz should stop gloating: their responses to Fidel's death are too cheap, vilely opportunistic and indecent!

      As it is, many Cubans are no longer afraid that America poses a threat to their country's sovereignty: the psychological weapon with which Fidel controlled the population for decades. Cuba without Fidel draws closer attention to the gains of the Cuban revolution, as to whether or not it has fulfilled its promises. Raul Castro has made the Cuban economy more open and allowed more opportunities for self-expression, there are plans to restore diplomatic relations with the United States, commercial flights to and fro the United States are now possible, future movements may also be in the form of extension of the scope of human freedom.

       Fidel never wished that there would ever be a counter-revolutionary capitalist restoration in Cuba, as happened in Russia and Nicaragua, hence he had declared in April, that "the ideas of Cuban communism will endure." He is no longer in a position to determine that, but like Jose Marti (1853-1895), before him, Fidel Castro (1926-2016) will forever occupy an important chapter in the history of his fatherland and the world. When his remains are submitted to the furnace of the pyre on December 4, if the dead could speak, Comrade Fidel could well be heard proclaiming afresh: "La historia me absolvera!". Certainly, it has. He got away with his principled opposition to imperialism and provided leadership when the world needed it most.

Reuben Abati

The threat of a new Political Party By Reuben Abati

When aggrieved politicians within the People's Democratic Party (PDP) decided to join forces with members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Peoples Alliance (APGA) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, they had well-defined, if not so clearly stated, even if poorly conceived objectives: to send President Goodluck Jonathan out of power, displace the PDP which had clearly become a dominating hegemonic party, exert vengeance and offer the people an alternative.

        The triumph of the APC in the 2015 elections resulting in victory at the Presidential level, in 23 states out of 36, and also in the legislature, state and federal, was propelled on the wings of the people's embrace of this slogan of change. Change became the aphrodisiac of Nigeria's search for democratic progress. The new party's promises were delivered with so much certainty and cock-suredness. Those who were promised free meals were already salivating before casting the first vote.

     The permanently opportunistic players in Nigeria's private sector could be seen trading across the lines as they have always done. Everyone knew the PDP had too much internal baggage to deal with.  The opposition exploited this to the fullest and they were helped in no small measure, not just by the party's implosion, but also the offensiveness of the claims by certain elements within the PDP that their party will rule Nigeria forever. This arrogance had gone down the rank and file resulting in bitter conflicts among the various big men who dominated the party. The party failed from within, and even after losing the 2015 elections, it has further failed to recover from the effects of the factionalism that demystified it and drove it out of its hegemonic comfort zone. It took the PDP 16 years to get that hubristic moment. It is taking the APC a much shorter time to get to that same moment.

      The displacement of the PDP gave the impression that Nigeria's political space, hitherto dominated by one party, and a half, out of over 30 political parties with fears of a possible authoritarian one-party system, had become competitive.  But the victory of a new party over a dominant political party in power such as occurred in 2015, has not delivered the much-expected positives: instead, questions have been raised about the depth of democratic change and the quality of Nigeria's political development. The disappointment on both scores has been telling.

        The ruling APC has not been able to live up to expectations. In less than two years in power, it has been behaving not like the PDP, but worse. Not a day passes without a pundit or a party member or a civil society activist suggesting that the only way forward is the formation of a new political party. There are over 30 registered political parties in Nigeria; no one is saying that these political parties should be reorganized and made more functional; the received opinion is that a new political party would have to replace the APC.

     The implied message is the subject of political science. Many political parties in Africa, not just in Nigeria, lack substance. They reflect the problematic nature of party politics in the continent, even after the third wave of the continent's democratic experience. Party organizations are weak, their organs are inchoate, their fortunes are mercurial. In Nigeria, this seems to be more of a post-military rule reality, for in the First and Second Republics, some of Nigeria's political parties appeared to be more relatively people-based and socially-rooted. The military left behind an authoritarian streak at the heart of Nigeria's party politics, producing political parties since 1999 that do not fully reflect or assimilate the people's yearnings.

       There isn't therefore yet in place a mass-based, people-driven political party to replace the elite-based hegemonic parties we have, despite early efforts in the past in this direction by the likes of Aminu Kano and his People's Redemption Party (PRP), Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's Movement of the People (MOP), Tunji Braithwaite's Nigeria Advance Party (NAP), Gani Fawehinmi's National Conscience Party (NCP) and Wole Soyinka's Democratic Front for the People's Federation. There was also the Labour Party, mentioned separately here, advisedly, because it ended up abandoning its social democratic base, and became like the regular parties, an elite cabal, with the initial progressives who championed it on the platform of the Nigeria Labour Congress, moving ideologically to the right in an attempt to align with the Nigerian mainstream and its ready benefits. A profile of this political party and its initial principal promoters would reveal just how alimentary Nigerian politics is.

     Our immediate concern, however, is to argue that those who are raising the flag of a new political party as the answer to the emerging failure of the APC and the growth of factions among its members, and by extension, the spreading despair in the land, are missing the point. They are not promising any revolutionary change nor are they interested in deepening Nigeria's democratic change. Permit me to quote Danjuma Gambo, of the Enugu Chapter of the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) who reportedly said: "A new political party is what we need. A new party with new plan, (and an) ideology that will bring succor to the sufferings of Nigerians is the answer." 

      Gambo deserves some credit: he phrases the matter delicately as a commentary on the incumbent dominating political party and government. His "what we need",  "new plan" "ideology" means change, another form of change to end, he tells us,  "the sufferings (sic) of Nigerians". We ask him, although he seems to have answered the question already: what happened to the change that happened in 2015?  So we ask another question: if the formation of a new political party did not solve Nigeria's problems since 2015, what is the guarantee that a new party would gain power and perform better than the ruling APC? Professional politicians don't comment on the matter as carefully as Gambo attempted. They are brazen about it and they have been loud too. They make it sound like a threat and a given solution. When you hear them boasting that a new political party is on the way, you are left in no doubt that they are issuing a threat. But is a new political party the solution to Nigeria's foreign exchange crisis or the people's angst?

      The conundrum is easy to resolve. It is easy for the political elite in Nigeria to change their garments, sans remorse, ideology or sentiment and that is how some of the most prominent political figures in Nigeria today have changed party membership cards more than five times in the last 17 years. The politics of elitism in Nigeria is simply about access to power, position and privileges. It has nothing to do with the people's interests. The APC is in crisis for this reason, very much like the PDP, and even the smaller parties, because these are political parties of big men of influence.  Conflict results when they are not allowed to exercise that influence by other competing big men, who are similarly if not equally driven by ego, religion and superior ethnic considerations.

         The exercise of influence as a party big man follows a known pattern: after electoral victory, the big man wants the spoils of victory; he wants positions for his followers, contracts for wives and children and the freedom to have a say in the new government.  Any attempt to shut him down, oppose him, or sideline him or her, immediately creates a crisis within the party. The greater the number of such big persons who feel short-changed and marginalized, the greater the chances of such factionalism that would trigger threats of a new political party. New groups can create new tendencies in society, but in Nigerian politics, new groups don't really emerge, it is the same recycled set moving from one political party to a new or another one, looking for benefits.

      Poverty, low literacy and the weakness of public institutions make the people vulnerable. The people embrace slogans and the dividends of what is now known in Nigeria as "stomach infrastructure." They are deceived by the politicians' display of affection and empathy. Because they are hungry, they accept money to attend rallies to help create an illusion of populism and acceptability. On election day, they sell their votes and sign off their freedom. After the election, they are too ashamed to speak up or they compensate for their psychological distress by subscribing to the politics of vengeance. A patrimonial and neo-patrimonial political system such as we run in Nigeria promotes nothing but difference, disappointment and distrust.  Those who are plotting to create a new political party should be told that the harvest is predictable: more intense leadership competition, high level conflict among big men, greater deception, increased difference and tension within the polity. Political parties are governed by rules: the Nigerian political system operates above rules. It is possibly one of the most Machiavellian in Africa.

    What do we need? Not recycled politicians posing as new party men and women.  But this: effective party organizations, like the NCNC, the NEPU, the NPC, the AG, APGA, UPN, UMBC of old which belonged to the people and reflected their aspirations.  The only difference should be a necessary disconnect with the politics of ethnicity at the heart of the party formation process in Africa which, as seen, defeats the objectives of true democracy and modernization. Institutionalization of the political party system will also ensure stability within the democratic order: after a bitter political contest in the United States in 2016, the two dominant political parties - The Republican and the Democratic have remained stable, and the country is being projected as supreme.

      We should end this then where we started: leadership is the principal challenge. Until we sort that out, Nigeria's politics will remain trapped in the throes of ethnicity, patrimonialism, authoritarian dominance, the threat of system volatility and fragmentation and the politics of revenge.  

Reuben Abati

Nigeria-US Relations And Donald Trump By Reuben Abati

I do not share the view of those who assume that by some kind of miracle, in the shape of electoral-college defections, Hillary Clinton would still, on the strength of winning the popular vote, supplant Donald Trump as US 2016 President-elect. We might as well begin to live with the reality of a Trump Presidency, sad and traumatic as that outcome may be. And coming to terms with that, despite our disappointment, calls for a forward-looking approach on the part of the Nigerian government.

The sad news of Trump’s triumph By Reuben Abati

“Democracy is tricky; it sometimes ends up as a parody of itself.  When the people clamour for change, they can vote with their hearts, and prove impervious to plain sight reason, and overlook likely pitfalls.  We can only hope that Donald Trump does not become the symbol of the change that Americans are seeking. That would be sad indeed for the free world.”  – Reuben Abati,  “Anything Can Happen in America”, The Guardian, March 6, 2016.  

Earlier this year, I had written a piece titled “Anything Can Happen In America”, from which the quote above is excerpted, but I had virtually no idea that the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election could be so shocking, unthinkable and unbelievable. I was like the pollsters, the cultural activists, the Nobel Laureates, the American media establishment and the global community, minus Russia and Vladimir Putin, a Clintonite. I stood with her. When the unthinkable happened on Tuesday, and Americans chose as their 45th President, Donald John Trump, the real estate developer, reality television celebrity, a complete outsider who stumbled on politics and turned it into a celebrity show, I could only ask: how did it happen?

Aisha Buhari And That BBC Interview By Reuben Abati

Public communication is one of the most delicate challenges that people in public life face, either in the corporate or the public sector.  Many people suddenly find themselves in high places, and they become a source of news, a potential interview subject, and they get chased around by journalists and other media figures who want a story, in fact, not just a story, but a scoop.  I used to explain in communication coaching classes and to the bosses whose media I managed, at one point or the other that they should never feel obliged to say things they do not want to say. No matter how aggressive the journalist may be, they should be careful what they say. 

The Buhari Legacy Project by Reuben Abati

President Muhammadu Buhari's strategists, if they are at work at all, are chasing ants and ignoring the elephant in the room. They do him great disservice. Their oversight is hubristically determined either by incapacity or a vendetta-induced distraction. It is time they changed the game and the narrative; time they woke up. It's been more than 15 months since the incumbent assumed office as President, but his handlers have been projecting him as if he is a Umaru Musa Yar'Adua or a Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, first time Presidents who could afford the luxury of a learning period before settling down to the job, and who in addition must prove themselves to earn necessary plaudits. In making this mistake, President Buhari's handlers created a sad situation whereby they have progressively undermined his image. 

The Battle for 2019 by Reuben Abati

One of the most frustrating things about Nigeria's political history is how it keeps repeating itself and nothing ever seems to change, and the political elite doesn't seem to learn from history.  The present administration has not yet spent up to two years in office and already the language of politics is dominated by the phrase: "the battle for 2019". Nobody is talking about the next general election of 2019, but "the battle!" As is crystally evident, the 2019 general elections are likely to end up as one big nationwide war, and this won't be a war of ideas, but a war of egos, of ambitions, and utter desperation for power. Sadly, when Nigerian politicians use the word, "battle", they are actually talking about power through violent means.

What Nigeria Means To Me by Reuben Abati

The various reactions on Independence Day yesterday can only compel us to ask one question: what does Nigeria mean to you or me? I had written a piece on Friday, September 30, in which I advised that Nigerians should embrace hope rather than despair and that in the long run, it shall be well with our country. I also recommended as part of the celebration, Timi Dakolo's soul-inspiring and masterly song, "Great Nation", hoping that special attention will be paid to its touching lyrics. But the reactions to my interventions did no more than further reinforce the fact that too many Nigerians are angry with Nigeria as an entity, they are angry with how Nigeria has been run and is being run, they are frustrated with the current situation in the country, and what the future holds for the entire country.

Nigeria at 56 by Reuben Abati

As Nigeria marks its 56^th Independence Anniversary, very few Nigerians would expect any form of celebration or excitement.  Independence from colonial rule in 1960 has brought the country so much to be cheerful about, but 56 years later, also a lot of regrets.  I am not one of those who imagine that we would probably have been better off if we had remained under British rule, but that there are some Nigerians who still entertain such impossible thought indicates the depth of the people's anxiety about Nigeria's post-colonial reality.  The big issues are well-known: the failure of leadership, corruption, and perpetual anxiety about the future. Every October 1, Nigeria is described as "a crippled giant", a "toddler",  "a broken nation".  And the various editorials, year after year sound so repetitive as they focus on an economy that is not working, the failure of public infrastructure, leadership crisis, the bad habits of the political elite, religious and ethnic violence, disunity, national insecurity, and so on.

        As we mark October 1 this year, we should perhaps avoid the beaten path and draw attention to the reasons why we should be happy with our country and proud to be Nigerians. Whatever problems we may have, hope is not lost. We are still the country of some of the most talented people in the world.  Nigerians are gifted, hardworking and in many ways exceptional. This is the country of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Jelani Aliyu, Chimamanda Adichie, Philip Emeagwali, Kanu Nwankwo…It is the land of great achievers of all time in all fields of human endeavour. It is the heroism of the talented Nigerian who has put this country's name on the global map that I remember as I think of Nigeria at 56.

     I also look around and admire the energy and creativity of the Nigerian youth.  Those young men and women who are excelling and whose distinction inspires some level of confidence in the Nigerian system. For more than 20 years, we have been lamenting that the Nigerian education system has failed, collapsed or to use the usual phrase, "fallen". But this same system continues to produce young men and women with amazing talents. With a better education system, the harvest could have been richer and better, but oh come on, the entrepreneurial ingenuity of the Nigerian youth, their sheer brilliance and industry reassure us that if we could get it right, this country  will yet attain much greater heights.

     We are in every way, a blessed country. Beautiful flora and fauna: the poor fortunes of the national currency has not affected that. Abundant mineral resources: we only need to manage these better and properly.  Travel round Nigeria: our diversity is inspiring.  And when you attend any social event in Nigeria, watch out for the gaiety, the beauty of cultural expressions and the capacity of the average Nigerian to force drama out of every situation. When people talk about Nigeria from a distance, they tend to focus on the negatives: the high crime rate and the mismanagement of resources, but no one denies the fact that this country has what it takes in every regard to be as great as it once was and still be greater. That is what I think of as I reflect on Nigeria at 56.  

     We are also a country of resilient people. It is what keeps us going. There may have been a sudden rise in reported cases of suicide in recent times, but most Nigerians are fighters. They are ready to survive under any situation. They are determined. They never lose hope.  They have this special ability to cover up their frustrations, dress up nicely and go to the church or the mosque or other places of worship, and dance and pray and ask God to take control. This may be a form of temporary escapism, but the confidence with which the average leaves everything to God and draws strength from so doing is a unique national characteristic.

     We are still the biggest market in Africa. Many investors may have shut down their businesses and fled the country due to the current economic recession, but as surely as night follows day, they will return. The Nigerian market boasts of over 200 million people who need all kinds of services. This country will always be a destination for those who want to sell and buy and invest. We may be weak, but we are still a giant nation.

      There may be violence in the North East and other parts of the country, but Nigerians are generally peace-loving and hospitable.  As we celebrate Nigeria at 56, we should remember that this country has survived a civil war; it has survived religious and ethnic violence. It has remained one entity despite calls for its dismemberment.

     What is required is a re-dedication to the ideals of unity and national progress. This is not a task for the leaders alone, but for all Nigerians, young and old, male and female. We must collectively resolve to make this country work and to ensure that the forces of good do not allow negative forces to overwhelm a nation which has the potential to become one of the greatest nations on earth. People make nations. But too many Nigerians are experts at the blame game. We shift responsibilities. We fail to act as true citizens.

    And the greatest irony of it all is our religiousity and the gap between private and public morality. When you see religious Nigerians, they can quote the Holy Books with such expertise you'd think they have deposited those books inside their brains. When they pray, they do so with such fervour, you would assume they have a direct telephone line to God. When they wear religious garments, they put up a mien that encourages you to lower your guard.  But at other times, they do not translate their religious piety into daily life.  This is a part of our national persona that is at the root of all the problems we face.

    Our institutions still need to be strengthened. The failure of institutions accounts largely for the spread of despair in the land. We also need to give full effect to the words of our national anthem.  The second stanza in particular is a prayer that should be reflected upon for the precision with which it captures our main national needs. "Oh God of creation/Direct our noble cause/Guide our leaders right/Help our youth the truth to know/In love and honesty to grow/And living just and true/Great lofty heights attain/To build a nation where peace/And justice shall reign."

   Independence day should be a day of citizen pride. It should be a day of sober reflection. It should be a moment when the entire nation should pause, and look back and look forward into the future. Nigeria's journey as an independent nation may have begun in October 1960, but our history goes far back into the past, even long before the Amalgamation of 1914.  We are  a nation of different peoples, cultures and ethnicity brought together by destiny, and circumstances and colonialism.  To transform this into real nationhood is the main challenge we have faced since 1960.  As we mark Nigeria's 56^th independence anniversary, let no one blame the British for the various fault lines that continue to affect our nation. The British ruled Nigeria for 46 years (1914-1960). We have been in charge of our own affairs for 56 years: that is long enough for us to get our acts together as a people and as a nation.

     Leadership counts – sincere, honest and purposeful leadership, that is. It is the duty of leaders to show the people the way.  Too many Nigerian leaders have no idea in what direction the people should be led, and this has been an abiding source of all-round confusion. I began this piece promising not to complain as Nigeria turns 56,  but it is hard I suppose not to do so.  But let no one despair.  Surely, it shall be well with Nigeria. 

Reuben Abati

King Sunny Ade at 70 by Reuben Abati

Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye, the legendary juju musician popularly known as King Sunny Ade deserves the four-month-long celebration of his 70^th birthday which began on September 1, marked with great attention on September 22, the actual date of his birth, and scheduled to run till December 31, 2016, in the United States, Nigeria and the UK. With two Grammy nominations, over 50 years of genius-level achievement as a musician, and over 120 albums, many of which remain evergreen, King Sunny Ade has proved his mettle as a world-class musician, a true artist, an impresario and an astute businessman. 

     This great Nigerian artiste is better experienced in performance. I still watched him on stage in Ibadan about two weeks ago, and characteristically, he remained on stage for hours entertaining guests with dexterous dancing, his mastery of multiple instruments and the infectious joy with which he performs his task. It is hard to believe that the old man is actually 70. He looks today almost exactly the same way he looked more than a decade ago. He keeps belting out new songs, and winning new fans. His humility on stage is impressive and that is something many of these one-album, two-album mega stars of the new generation of musicians should learn from King Sunny Ade and other members of his generation.

    King Sunny Ade makes music, particularly the juju genre to which he has contributed greatly and helped to build into a global brand, seem like something really easy and effortless. He is above all, a cross-over artiste, a polyvalent genius. All true art appears easy. The mark of a true artist lies in his originality and commitment and innovativeness. The full distillation of genius places the depth of the rigour at an aesthetic distance, to be discovered instantly and vicariously but with the full impact of talent in view. KSA's career is a living example of how originality, endurance and determination usually pay off in the long run. In the early part of that career, he faced very stiff competition from the likes of Ahuja Bello, Emperor Pick Peters (e ki lo fo'mo ode ko ma rin ni pa do…), Y.K. Ajao, Admiral Dele Abiodun (Adawa Super Sound): equally talented musicians who came onto the scene at a time when the public valued and recognized creativity and true talent.

     As it turned out, KSA's main rival was Chief Ebenezer Obey: and that rivalry endured and stood out because while both are jujumusicians, they did not try to copy each other, and the originality of the one accented the uniqueness of the other, providing a complementarity that the public cherished and patronized even if the rivalry was also a victim of mischief. Today, both King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey now in their winter season may not wish to dwell too heavily on that season of their careers, and that is perfectly fine, but what we remember is how that competition promoted the art and the sub-genre of juju melody and percussion. But note this: yet another critical moment in KSA's career was the emergence of a younger generation of juju musicians.

      The combination of Segun Adewale and Shina Peters, for example, almost drove KSA off the juju scene and when that superb collaboration collapsed, most regrettably I must say, and Shina Peters seized the market with Afro-Juju, a greater deployment of syncopation, melody and instrumental wizardry (Shina Peters posed a threat to KSA not to Ebenezer Obey in this regard), the King's career again seemed threatened.  There was also Dayo Kujore (Osupa ti de, Osupa ti de o, oba irawo), or Dele Taiwo (the Shina_Peters initial clone who later stood up for himself), or well, Micho Ade (Ogun Laye). But KSA has survived all odds. He took dangerously ill at a time and yet he survived. His music producer disappointed him. He set up his own label. His band boys have abandoned him more than twice in the last 30 years, he simply disbanded and put another team together. In the face of every adversity, he has worked hard to prove that he is a master of the game, if not the overall owner of it.

     As he turns 70, we salute his resilience and courage. We recommend a special focus on how this particular artiste is completely self-made. When I interviewed him for The Guardian more than a decade ago when he was still President of the Musicians Association, PMEAN, he actually confessed to me, that he practically learnt to speak English through personal effort. But during the interview, he had a laptop in front of him. Too many young artists today behave as if they know it all, or rather they are convinced that they already know more than enough. Sorry, nobody ever knows enough. That is why Professors of more than 50 years are still burning the midnight candle. If King Sunny Ade had not been a musician, he probably would be a university Professor.  He recently launched a radio station in Ondo state, and he is planning to set up what he calls King Sunny Ade Musical School.  Baba 70,  ko fe gba, and although he is a home boy, stubbornly attached to his natal roots, he is a nationalist as an artiste.  That is yet another lesson for the younger generation. KSA is a master builder. And the builder of the foundation is also a good watchman. Many young artistes are master spenders. They live it up.  They are showy and flippant. They miss the big issues. Art requires depth. We find in King Sunny Ade's art, uncommon depth and rigour. That is what we celebrate and salute.

         The aesthetics of KSA's music should be the subject of in-depth academic inquiry.  I may be wrong  but I am yet to find such a contribution beyond lame hagiography, but since a newspaper article cannot be devoted to the slightly arcane subject of musical aesthetics and ethnomusicology, I will not even attempt any pompous statements in that direction, but I can say this safely: that King Sunny Ade has done a lot for Yoruba, Nigerian, and African culture on the global stage. He is not yet in the same boat as the inimitable Fela (Fela belongs to the one-name Pantheon of geniuses from Aristotle to the Pope), but whenever anyone deems it necessary to create a Nigerian Hall of Fame or a museum of the arts, there is no doubt that King Sunny Ade's place is fully assured as Nigeria's extra-ordinary cultural ambassador and nationalist.  As band leader, composer, singer and artiste, his accomplishments are huge and remarkable. Between him and others in the second generation of the percussion-infused, potentially growing juju music genre in Nigeria, they have sustained the legacy of the pioneers in that genre: Ayinde Bakare, Moses Olaiya, I.K. Dairo, Dele Ojo, Tunde King Nightingale, Bobby Benson, Kokoro, Irewole Dengel, Adeolu Akinsanya, Ambrose Campbell.

      The content of his music, the shape, the sound, and the tone of his art reveal a nationalistic spirit and a positive conscience that promote culture, values, unity, love, progress, development and progressive leadership. King Sunny Ade has successfully avoided a likely identification as a partisan politician also, but his music is indeed intensely political: he is a politician for national progress and so he makes friends across all bridges, with his voice and associations. In the long run actually, every artist is a politician, because artists serve the people, the market place of art is in the people's minds, whether the subject is love, unity or life's many vanities.

       Artists are not expected to be perfect human beings. I do not think that anyone would describe King Sunny Ade at 70 as a perfect family man. His stories convey the impression of an extra-ordinarily adventurous and creative man on the romantic front. But if we judge creative persons with the same standards with which we judge ordinary people, there probably would be no art and no creativity. Some of the finest works of art in human history have been produced by the most unusual souls: differentness ironically produces such illumination previously unknown. For anyone who may have misgivings about KSA, or any other artiste, let them focus on the art and not the persona.  Under the shadow of every genius, stories are bound to sprout and become flowers.

      Where is government? Both President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Information remembered King Sunny Ade on his birthday. Very good - I know how that works. I issued many of such statements. I suppose that King Sunny Ade and all other Nigerian artistes in the various genres: plastic, visual, imagic, theatrical and spatial will be most delighted, however, if government's celebration of individual artistes or a group such as Nollywood is translated into a coherent National Cultural Policy or an Endowment for the Arts which properly recognizes the fundamental rights of artistes as nation-builders and the strategic place of the creative industry in the leadership process, Nigeria will gain a lot more. Artistes save nations just as athletes, administrators, investors and scientists do: harnessing all potentials strategically is how nations are built. King Sunny Ade would probably be much happier if governments at various levels were to a do a lot more for the Nigerian artist. The legacy objective of the Foundation which he proposes, should be in this direction.

       At 70, he is definitely and now incontrovertibly an elder, may he live much longer before he becomes an ancestor, may he also last longer than that his former boss, Fatai Rolling Dollars, and if he so wishes, may God grant him that same strength with which Fatai Rollar Dollars was cracking fire and attracting neighbourbood maidens at close to 90. KSA, sa ma yin won logo…baba omo igboro worldwide, tu-ale (!); may you remain healthy upstairs and downstairs. And may you also continue to produce good music. And as for all the younger artistes wondering what this is all about, I leave you with King Sunny Ade's comments about how nowadays, "we see more of vulgar lyrics". He says younger artistes should be more interested in "what the ears will hear and eyes will see in 20 years (and) and they will not be ashamed to regret anything". I made that same point a few years ago, before I went to Abuja and I was crucified for weeks in a very malicious public debate. Thank you KSA for telling them.  

Reuben Abati

Nigeria and the Rio Paralympics by Reuben Abati

Whoever came up with the aphorism that "like attracts like" deserves a special place in the Guinness Book of World Records. How true! Our country Nigeria went to the Rio Olympics and came back with a bronze medal in football, looking really pitiable on the overall medals table whereas countries like Kenya, South and Ethiopia tried to put up some struggle for Africa.  But now it is the Paralympics in the same Rio, Brazil, still in the year 2016, and Nigeria's representatives are suddenly winning medals upon medals and breaking world records. As at the time of this writing, Nigeria has won 11 medals at the Paralympics, and we are 10^th on the overall medals table. We have smashed at least two world records thanks to Flora Ugwunwa in Javelin and to Josephine Orji who shattered the world record with a lift of 160 kg in the women's +84 kg lifting event. I don't want to imagine myself in the same room with Josephine. Less than 160 kg as I am, she could lift me with a finger onto a bed, do what she likes with me, and no matter how happy the outcome of that imaginary encounter could be, she could still throw me out of the window with another finger. Woman pass man!  Res-pe-ct!

      But that is not how she is applying her talents; she is winning gold for Nigeria! A country where able-bodied men and women cannot achieve results but special persons go to the world stage and save the country's face is what country: a country of specially challenged people. We have finally found our level. We are a country of gifted, but challenged people. We have economic recession at home. We are winning medals at a strategically recessed international competition. We fail persons who are physically challenged at home.  We treat them like they do not belong. We do not pay enough attention to them. What is going on at the Rio Paralympics is a wake up call on the need for government at all levels to pay better attention to the special people among us: they have always risen beyond their challenges to do this nation proud, but this nation has always failed them.

      When our fit and capable men and women went to the Rio Olympics, they came back with not just a face-saving bronze medal, but also with a truck-load of scandals. These include kits that arrived terribly late, flights that had to be arranged through charity, a Sports Minister that perpetually kept his foot in his mouth, hotel bills that could not be paid and just pure shame upon shame, including the spectacle of a Japanese philanthropist, Katsuya Takasu, having to come to the rescue of the Nigerian football team. When the main Olympics ended, the shame was so much, the athletes simply dispersed into thin air. Nobody bothered to receive and thank them for their effort.  State officials insulted the Japanese philanthropist who supported Nigeria.

    Not even Chierika Ukogu, the courageous lady who represented Nigeria for the first time at the Olympics in rowing was remembered. Samson Siasia, the man who led the Nigerian football team to a bronze medal was so furious he threw in the towel after the event.  We can't say he has given up on Nigeria, but he couldn't hide his disgust. Golden boy, Mikel Obi used his own money to sustain the national soccer team at the Rio Olympics: he paid hotel bills, but nobody has deemed it necessary to send him something as decent as a letter of appreciation and commendation.  In the face of all that Solomon Dalung is still sitting tight as Nigeria's Minister of Sports. I am surprised he has not uttered a word to encourage our Paralympics representatives. No, I should not be surprised. It must be that he does not consider the Paralympics important. He is too busy attending to the able-bodied athletes, for him the Paralympics must be a parody. It is not like that elsewhere, though, not in Britain or the United States. Dalung must learn to be everybody's Sports Minister.

    The cold shoulder that the Rio Olympics Nigeria team got is unacceptable. Nobody invited the team for a handshake. They were just allowed to disperse without ceremony. This speaks volumes. Could it mean that we no longer consider sports important and strategic? Anyone who has followed the Olympics closely would know that it is an opportunity and a platform for projecting national strength, capability, pride and achievement. Human beings determine the profile and the fortunes of nations. They do so in virtually every field of human endeavour. The British at a point no longer did well at the Olympics and other international sporting events. It was a blow on their national brand. They identified the problem, invested in finding a solution and today, Great Britain is back in contention as a nation of great sporting talents. That is how strategic thinking and diligent policy implementation work. But here in Nigeria, policy flip flops and lack of continuity in policy implementation and the rise of dangerous insularity, exclusion and a me-myself-my people-governance style has produced at all levels a new normal pitched on values different from national objectives and interest.

    I'd like to ask for one thing. As soon as possible, somebody in government should arrange for both the Rio Olympics and the Rio Paralympics teams to be properly received at Aso Villa. We also need to say a simple thank you to Delta Airlines, the airline that airlifted the Nigerian soccer team from Atlanta free of charge to Brazil. The boys arrived a few hours to their first match and they went on to win Nigeria's only medal in the entire tournament. Without Delta United, that would never have happened. They deserve a we-are-grateful handshake, and the earlier the better. I also try to imagine how the first Nigerian to participate in rowing must be feeling.

      She had to raise funds to get to the Rio Olympics. Many of her diaspora-based kind are competing for other countries, but she decided to stick with Nigeria and put this country on the map. And nobody has given her a phone call? Haba! I wouldn't be surprised if the Ministry of Sports doesn't even have her phone number. When people are treated badly, they give up on their country. They lose hope. They become angry and inconsolable. They feel used. The message of the god of small things is that small things can transform lives, build bridges, strengthen values and provide everlasting hope. In Nigeria, we trample upon small things, we ignore big things because we easily lose sight of things that matter.

     When the National Honours List for this year is to be drawn up (there should be a National Honours List- about time!), the recipients should be strictly those persons who have done something significant for the nation.  I will put all the obvious heroes and heroines I have mentioned or alluded to in this piece on that list, not the men, women and merchants of accidental privilege who suddenly become important because they have occupied some prominent positions in government. For once, let us honour those who deserve recognition, not some persons who have done nothing other than to benefit from Nigeria at everyone's expense.

     It is ironic that Nigeria's able-bodied representatives at the 2016 Rio Olympics simply disappeared after the event; that should not happen with our gold-winning special athletes at the Rio Paralympics. They deserve a rousing welcome on their return.  All things considered, we need to take sports more seriously. There is a lot that nations achieve with sports. It is a big, brand-building platform that serious nations do not joke with.  Sports turn small nations into big nations. Jamaica cannot be described as a small nation, it is the country of Bob Marley, and it also has Usain Bolt, and other impressive and legendary athletes. Jamaica has no crude oil, but it has great sportsmen and women. Nigeria has over 200 million people, talented and capable men and women but see how we make a mess of opportunities and short-change the entire nation.  The next challenge is to pull that valuable human resource away from the traps of recession and depression.

Between The Journalist And The Spokesperson By Reuben Abati

In the past few weeks, my colleagues who have taken over as spokespersons for the Muhammadu Buhari government and the All Progressives Congress have found themselves in the line of fire, as they are accused of destroying their old reputation as truth-tellers, courageous journalists and activists of the Fourth and Fifth Estates of the Realm. It is the same old accusation. Once a journalist crosses into government and becomes a spokesperson, he or she is called all kinds of names: traitor, turn-coat, hustler. Readers and fans feel betrayed. The defender of the people's interest is accused of "joining them" to go and "eat". This is the dilemma of every Nigerian journalist who has taken up the job of spokesperson in whatever governmental capacity. I was abused, vilified and called all kinds of names, but it wasn't so different with my predecessors nor has it been any easier for my successors. My favourite on this subject was a poem published online titled "The Death of Reuben Abati's pen" (I don't remember the author) but Pius Adesanmi was charitable to me in another piece in which he argued that I really didn't need the job, but my "arrogance" could be tolerated. Pius, o kare oh.

     In other parts of the world, journalists also get appointed as spokespersons. The assumption is that a journalist who has spent years communicating with the public, will be able to write, articulate views, understand the media system and the technology of the practice, cultivate his or her colleagues and forcefully defend the interest of the appointing system. But this is precisely where the problem lies. A journalist is required to be independent: free from partisan political involvement, be completely unbiased, and defend the underprivileged, the powerless, the displaced, and all victims of the oppressive, negligent or indifferent state.

      The primary job of the journalist is neither advertising nor propaganda: his job is to shed light so the people can see the way, and their oppressors can be constantly reminded that there are barking and wailing watchdogs who will not permit oppression, or utter irresponsibility in the use of power.  The journalist is to tell the truth so forcefully and forthrightly, the truth will cause the oppressor pain and distress, but at the same time set the people free. To jump from this background into government or a political propaganda assignment could definitely attract criticisms.  The more prominent and influential the journalist is, the more controversial his new role could be.  People put a tag on you over time, they don't imagine you could assume another role in the public space, and when you do, they don't see it as a new assignment, they use your original role to define your present.

      And in the age of technology where every word that is written or spoken is eternally lodged in cyber-memory, you really can't win the argument. I was hunted with articles I had written on fuel subsidy removal (my revision based on new facts and understanding was considered convenient). In the same manner, today's men are facing the same heat, as tomorrow's men would.

    The simple truth is that the job definition of a spokesperson is not the same as that of a journalist.  When you take up a job as a spokesperson, you have elected to defend the interest of the appointing authority, in this case, the person or organization you speak for, and in the case of a country, the national interest, the definition of which is probably one of the most contentious issues in public policy.  If it is a political assignment, then you have the added baggage of being accused of endorsement: something a journalist doing basic reportorial work is not supposed to do, and if as a journalist, you become a brand ambassador, you have also again crossed the line, you have become a commercial face, not a dispassionate dispenser of truth who can investigate the truth and deliver it not minding whose ox is gored.

     As a spokesman or brand ambassador, you definitely have no opinion of your own.  You are a vehicle, a compromised special purpose vehicle: you speak according to directives, and in the name of the authority you work for.  It took me some time to figure that out, when you work for government, you are not expected to sound like an activist in the corridors but you can make a lot of significant inputs. "When you eat, you don't talk", that was how some people rationalized it, unfortunately, not knowing that a lot of serious talking actually goes on in government.

     What was not properly acknowledged is that the knowledge acquired working in the public sector is quite different from that of the private space: you will certainly as a former private sector person gain access to the inner workings of government. You will build a new network. You gain access to new knowledge and opportunity to contribute to the process of change - you are definitely better positioned to do so from within - except that forces of ethnicity, nepotism, cronyism and even the insecurity of key players could limit your ability to ensure the triumph of good reason in such an environment that is dominated by vicious search for advantages, rustic thinking and competition driven by fear and greed. But still, a spokesperson must do the job. You must be ready to take the bullet for your boss. You are a fall guy. You prevent unnecessary news if you can. It is not your job to tell the media - go and shoot.  You are a spin master, a spin-doctor: you help the media to get the facts about government's efforts, and persuade them not to "kill."  Even if the heavens are falling and every one is lamenting about the falling weight of heaven, it is your job to give the ordinary people hope. You must let them know that something is being done on their behalf.

      To defend the ordinary people is at the base of the assignment: if you work inside government, you don't throw people into despair, you reassure them, if you work outside government, you give the government people hell, so as to promote the same people, two sides of the same coin.  On both sides, the most important element is the people-element, their rights, their relevance, because it is the reason government and society exist.   

      I admit the whole thing is delicate; it is a walking-a-tight-rope scenario. How do you convince the people you are serving their interest when they see you actively defending the government, the political head and his political party, in the name of giving hope? They would tell you pointedly you are lying to keep a job.  The critical point is that government is not a media house. The rules of engagement are different. And that is why every government spokesperson becomes a target of virulent criticism.  Where does this lead us to then? It is this:  that the people's mind works differently from government's mind, particularly in developing countries.

      The challenge is to find a synergy. And that synergy lies in government serving the people's interest: not populism, but meeting the people's expectations, keeping promises and being seen to be actually working, accepting responsibility, not shifting blames or goal posts, and having a good team. The last point is important- having a good team. You can interpret this whichever way you want, but a political leader must have around him, people who are ready to take the fall for him. They must be willing to shield him, and not throw him under the wheels. When you have ministers who don't speak up and are virtually absent, or spokespersons who are busy hiding their necks and faces, then there is a problem. Can you imagine some government spokespersons at a critical hour posting Rio Olympics pictures, or talking about fashion or some other irrelevancies when they should be on their Oga's case? 

     May be what we are dealing with is actually a conflict of roles. A journalist in government still thinks he is perhaps a journalist and in his mind, he is torn between two conflicts. Those who manage to walk the tight-rope carefully come out looking clean, those who stick their necks out get bruised: but whichever way, much reputational damage is incurred. But the painful fact of the Nigerian reality is that the entire Nigerian journalism establishment is in cahoots with the partisan establishment. There are more sponsored spokesmen outside than within, with the people outside perpetually peeping inside and the whole concept of professional independence trampled afoot as the media digs deep into Nigerian politics and business for easy profit.  This must be a subject for another day.

     All told, the fortunes of the government make the difference. The ambition of every political leader is to be popular with the people, to win elections and to be taken seriously. Nobody in a leadership position wants to end up badly. Every leader wants to make an impact and be remembered positively.  The rub of it is that what the people see is what they believe, and this may be different from what they get to know in the long run. When a government does well, the people will know and acknowledge its achievements. Unfortunately, Nigerian democracy in the last 16 years has suffered greatly from the rise of competitive propaganda, but the simple local logic is that if a lie travels twenty years ahead, one day, the truth will catch up with it. That is not to discount the fact that Nigerians only appreciate their present in the future. We condemn everything that is before us, only to look back a few years later and regretfully revise history. My take is that Nigeria is not an easy country to govern. How easily can anyone govern a country where everybody including the uneducated are vocal experts on every subject from football to politics, foreign exchange and governance?   

     When you are a spokesperson though, speak. Every job has its own definition. And when you are in the kitchen, don't complain of heat. The same people who criticize and talk about "doing the job with wisdom" know the truth, and one way or the other, the truth gets told. 

Reuben Abati

The Dangerous Man In North Korea by Reuben Abati

When our public officials fall asleep while attending a meeting, or an official function, the standard Nigerian reaction is to have a hearty laugh at their expense. Harmless laughter. You'd remember many photographs of our lawmakers turning the National Assembly into an extension of their bedrooms, sometimes snoring loudly in the middle of a heated and loud debate: not that many of them would be of much use anyway even if they were awake.  Governors, commissioners, high ranking government officials have also all been caught at one time or the other, sleeping on duty.  Well, those whose circadian switches go off like that should count themselves really lucky they are Nigerians. If they were to try that in North Korea, they will face the firing squad!

     Yes, in North Korea, such careless sleeping attracts the death penalty.  In that country of 25 million people, there is a despot in power. He is Kim Jong-un. At 32, he is the world's youngest leader but probably the most dangerous man in the world.  He rules his country like a concentration camp and continues to commit some of the world's most frightening crimes against humanity. Human lives mean nothing to him.  He is so desperately paranoid, the slightest  act of irritation in his presence could make him commit murder. His word is law. He is supreme commander, judge and executioner.

      I was literally shivering when I read the latest horror story from Kim Jong-un's North Korea. Two high-ranking officials were ordered executed by the dictator.  Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, was accused of putting up an "inappropriate posture" while "The Marshal" was delivering a speech. Ri Yong Jin's crime was that he dozed off.  Former Agriculture Minister, Hwang Min's crime was that he dared to disagree with Kim's guidelines for designing a working policy on agriculture.  He developed his own ideas. He used his own initiative. He was accused of trying to undermine the leader.  Both Jin and Min were marched to the stakes within 24 hours and executed with anti-aircraft guns.  Kim Jong-un is not satisfied with an ordinary gun; his victims have to face anti-aircraft guns, and you can imagine the impact of such a special purpose gun, targeted at a human being.       

     Since assuming office in 2011, Kim Jong-un has murdered more than 70 persons, including elite government officials who all lived in fear.  His own uncle, Jang Song-taek, was one of the earliest victims at the beginning of his dictatorship. Others include a military officer who was executed for drinking during the official mourning period for Kim Jong II, Kim Jong-un's father, and the proximate genetic source of his megalomania.  In 2015, the architect who designed a new airport terminal in Pyongyang was executed because Marshal Kim did not like his design! And Ri Yong Jin won't be the first man to die for succumbing to the call of nature. In April, former Defence Minister Hyong Yong-Choi also faced the firing squad for falling asleep during an event.  The North Korean Human Rights situation is a threat to the whole of mankind. The use of execution, extra-judicial killing, torture and forced labour as tools of political control is one of the worst abuses of power ever known.

     The United States has imposed sanctions on Kim Jong-un. The United Nations has also officially condemned his atrocities, but Kim Jong-un is dangerous, again because of the nuclear power and missiles at his disposal.  Starkly egoistic as he is, he could throw the world into utter chaos, were he to press a nuclear button. The United Nations Security Council has an obligation to take the situation in North Korea more seriously.  Kim Jong-un's matter should be an urgent matter of concern for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

      I mean, to kill a man for falling asleep? Polysomnographers insist that there is nothing any one can do about sleep. Even when you don't suffer from somnipathy, when it is time for the body clock to switch off, it does so on its own. The best option is to give in to nature so the body can rejuvenate.  Many public officials and business executives run crazy schedules. They over-stretch themselves, either travelling over long distances and rushing from one meeting to another, without any opportunity to take a few moments of rest - jet-lagged, tired or exhausted, they could doze off. This is why at many meetings, there is always a coffee pot on standby or sweets or as I have seen, kolanuts and just about anything that you can put in your mouth to enable you focus on the event at hand. But even these offer limited help.  Balancing work with rest is often a challenge for busy people. The whole world knows this, except Kim Jong-un who is so insecure he cannot stand other people's humanity.

     I think of all the government officials in Nigeria who sleep during meetings. If they were to be in North Korea, they would all be dead by now. I recall incidents involving soldiers on parade, even soldiers of the Guards' Brigade, suddenly slumping, drawing sympathy, and one particular incident involving a former Minister of State for Defence, who suddenly slumped while standing at attention at a military event.  Try that in North Korea: immediate execution by a firing squad would be the result. And if I were North Korean myself, and I had served as official spokesperson to Kim Jong-un, I would have been executed by a firing squad long before 2015.

     I used to doze off too at meetings. My boss ran a tough schedule and he had more stamina than his staff. We could return from a foreign trip by 2 am, and we would all be expected to be at work by 8 am. If you know how these things work, it could take another two hours to properly disengage and go home, leaving you with only two hours of sleep.  In our case, the principal would have been up and about by 6 am (only God knows how he always did it) to attend morning devotion and spend some time in the gym, all before 8 am.  We the principal aides would struggle to arrive, still sleepy but struggling to appear capable.  Sometimes, the source of the grogginess may not be jet-lag but just work  (and God, we worked!).

      From one meeting to the other or a function after another, in the course of the day, I used to doze off occasionally. Note taking often kept me awake, but there were moments when I simply lost control. You know that kind of thing: you'd suddenly realize it and jerkily regain consciousness.  On such occasions, I often caught the President glancing at me. But one day, I guess I overdid it. In the middle of a meeting, I must have snored – that kind of snoring that produces noisy decibels and note-changing, level-revising, rhythmic modulations. It was the President's voice that shook me out of the slumber.

"Abati, what is that?"

    I opened my eyes.

"Next time you are feeling sleepy, just go out, walk around for a few minutes and come back. But don't snore when we are having a meeting."

    In North Korea, that would have earned me an appearance not before an anti-aircraft gun, may be an armoured tank! Kim Jong-un is crazy. The problem is not form; it is the psychology of power. The civilized world must stand up for the right of every human being to be human and not have to die because of a leader's ego.  There is a nightmare going on in North Korea and that is probably better explained by the number of North Koreans who are fleeing to the neighbouring countries of Japan, China and South Korea.

       North Korea - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK!) -  is a hermit state where even the right to information or free speech is impossible. People are not allowed to communicate with the outside world, there are restrictions on movement and rights of association, there are no labour rights, the state is so repressive, there is even a strict national policy on men's haircut: not more than 2cm hair growth is allowed. Why? You can't grow your hair higher than that of the self-styled "great person born of heaven!" What exists in that country is not leadership, but a cult of personality, and the only personality is the leader whose legitimation derives not from the people but dynastic inheritance. North Korea is a living demonstration of the dangers of power acquired not on the grounds of intellectual brilliance or competence or the people's choice, but heredity.

      Regime-change is a popular phrase in closed-door international circles, what is needed in North Korea is not just regime change, but a people's revolution that takes power away from class dynasty and hands it over to the people. The world has enough dangerous men already, tolerating a schizophrenic in the Korean Peninsula who has access to nuclear power makes the world a bit more dangerous than it is already.  

Reuben Abati

Still on that Dog Matter by Reuben Abati

Last Friday, my phones rang again and again (thank God for dead phones gradually playing Lazarus), but what triggered that ring-ring was the article: "The Man Who Named His Dog Buhari" (August 26) in which I had indicated all the positive attributes of a dog and why a man naming his dog Buhari should not generate a community and legal trial or so much stress in the public space.  One caller kept me on the phone for close to two hours.

       He said he was proceeding right-away to buy a dog and name it Reuben Abati and that he would bring that dog to my neighbourhood, with the name inscribed on both sides of the dog and he would in my presence call out the dog: "Reuben Abati, come and eat, Reuben Abati, stop shouting, Reuben, stop being stupid, Reuben, you this idiotic dog!" and he'd like to see my reaction.  I laughed. He said it was not something to be amused about, because although I had argued that a dog is a man's best friend, and that in other societies, a dog is treated with respect and considered loyal and trustworthy, his view was that I failed to acknowledge the fact that in our culture, to attach the name of a man to an animal is definitely an insult. 

     His point was that Africans are not cut out for that kind of indulgence, and we have not yet, given our peculiar circumstances of development and culture, attained that stage where animals are given such reverence, or a time when Africans will build hotels for cats and dogs, have sex with dogs, adopt animals as biological children or talk about animal rights. He said in Nigeria, dogs are variously perceived as a taboo, as a dirty animal, as bush meat to quench hunger or as item for rituals. He said a lot of other things.

    "You were writing about a dog being so important in Western cultures. You should have told us what a dog is in our own culture and may be that will give you an idea of why Joe Chinakwe's action should not be treated so lightly?"

   He answered his own question.

"What you don't now is that a dog is a dirty animal in our culture. Even in the Bible, the dog is referred to as something dirty and vile, don't mind these Oyinbo people now turning a dog into something important.  And if you are wondering why Joe Chinakwe's neighbours want him dead, I need to tell you that in Islam, a dog is like a pig, a taboo.  Go and do your investigation, you are not likely to find Muslim families keeping dogs as pets. People use dogs for rituals in Yorubaland to appease Ogun, the god of iron and they eat it afterwards. In the South South, a dog is also a special delicacy for the family soup pot. And have you seen an Ondo man eyeing a dog, and salivating? Special meat. So, if a dog in America is a king, here it is a sacrificial lamb. Should anybody then give the suggestion around here that Buhari is a sacrificial lamb or an edible offering? What nonsense!"

    I kept quiet. I wanted him to exhaust his angst.

"The lesson of this whole thing is that people should avoid actions that can cause problems.  We are living in a delicate country where people are suspicious of one another. People should learn to watch what they do. That your Chinakwe knew what he was doing. He took a dog, labelled it Buhari on both sides and went to a place occupied mostly by Northerners, and Muslims, and he started parading the dog. Look, he could have been killed. And if he was killed, the next thing we would hear is that Fulani herdsmen have killed an Igbo man and his dog. Nobody will ask for the cause of the violence, or talk about what the Igbo man did. Why should an Igbo man act that way? It is obvious a good number of them don't like this government, and they have the right not to, but they should not disturb public peace, or try to frustrate this innocent man in Abuja."

      I gave a short speech about human rights and the freedom of choice, and the need to avoid ethnic labeling. He fired back, so loudly I had to move the phone a few inches away:     

    "Nobody is saying Igbos should support Buhari. But why is it that they are always the ones at the centre of every incident? When they live in your community, they want to take over. They will appoint an Eze Ndigbo, something they will not allow in the East for other ethnic groups, and they will disregard the local monarch. They have taken over a part of Lagos and claimed it as their own, but nobody else can claim any part of Igboland. Who introduced unitary government, but now Igbos are the ones saying they want Nigeria to be restructured. Every trouble in this country, there must be an Igbo hand in it. If that man and his dog had been slaughtered, the whole thing could have degenerated into an ethnic conflict."

       I made some statements about tolerance and why ethnic-labeling is unproductive. I argued that President Goodluck Jonathan was called a goat and that the goat had the name printed on it.  He didn't allow me to land.

"That was bad enough because a goat is regarded as a senseless animal among Igbos, they call it Mkpi. It wasn't a Northerner that called Jonathan a goat." 

    "They said worse things about him," I interjected.

"But no Northerner went to Jonathan's household or his community to abuse him to his face. We must talk about our culture not American or European culture. If Chinakwe had named his dog Buhari and kept it within his compound, there would have been no problem, but to carry a placard on the dog and begin to walk around with it, that is provocative. Do we write names on dogs in Nigeria? We don't. You can call your dog what you like, but don't behave in a manner that can cause problems."

     "But the police are being mischievous. They are doing eye service. They are chasing the wrong dog."

"No", he retorted. "It is their job to enforce law and order and to protect life and property. Your friend's action posed a threat to what the police stand for. What was he trying to achieve? He deserves to be jailed"

"Because he is Igbo?"

"Because he did something stupid."    

"He says he named the dog Buhari because he loves President Muhammadu Buhari"

"He is lying.  He should know that no Muslim will feel honoured being called a dog.  And why is he mentioning the President's name? A man who says his father is Alhaji Buhari, and he is aggrieved, took him to the police station. It has nothing to do with the President. He should be lucky he is alive. And being Igbo, he also knows that when you call a man Nkita in Igboland, he could take your head off in anger."

"I stand with him. We are in a democracy. He has the right to call his dog any name he chooses."

"Yes. But he cannot use the same name to provoke people. He is not being charged for naming a dog, he is being charged for inciting hate and behaving in a manner that could breach the public peace. If he loves President Buhari as he says, why doesn't he name a child of his after the President? That is how we honour people we admire in African culture.  In your article, you were quoting white people, dead and alive, I am quoting my grandmother in the village whose wisdom is more relevant."

  "I still don't get your point.  And I think we are spending too much energy on this naming of a dog and its parade."

"We should because small things matter a lot, and small things can destroy a country. People should know their environment and behave properly. I want to see that man punished."

"I don't want him to be punished. We should aspire to make this country an open and free society."

"Of course, it is people like you who defend gay rights, abortion and prostitution. One man has  just been arrested, again in Ogun State, for stealing 18 tubers of yam (valued at N10, 000) and a bunch of vegetables (worth N50) I won't be surprised if you argue that he is exercising his right to be free from hunger. Or you may even say- that is stealing and not corruption."

"I will argue that it is a sign of the times, in the same manner in which the widespread theft of pots of soup in local compounds is a sign of the times, and in fact in the same manner in which Chinakwe's naming of his dog is a poignant political statement. When the people are hungry, angry, helpless and afraid, they will resort to codes, actions, symbols and metaphors to reflect their sorry condition and frustration. For your information, the man who stole yam and vegetables is insisting that he is not guilty! He is 30 years old and he has been remanded in prison custody."

"Good for him. We are waging a war against indiscipline and corruption." 

    Long after the conversation with this fellow, who by the way is a government official in Abuja, I came to the same conclusion that Nigeria is at a tethering edge. We are not yet a nation. We are divided by ethnicity, culture, and religion and the walls of division are so strong, only a little push could pull down those walls.  This situation places us far away from the currents of democratic leadership and limits our ability to balance primordial culture with new realities and the people's aspirations. We are at a crossroads of belief, unbelief and faithlessness.

     I had thought or read that it was Joe Chinakwe (whose name keeps changing curiously in various reports - Joe, Joseph, Joachim, Iroko- but no matter, he is at best a working metaphor) who had put dog Buhari to death, but it turns out that the dog was actually killed by aggrieved Northerners in Chinakwe's community. Chinakwe's dog is yet another Nigerian metaphor: a metaphor of extant fault-lines. That Igbo dog-owner must watch his back. If he gets roughly handled like his dog, the same policemen who have been so busy trying to punish him are likely to do nothing since in their view, he brought it all upon himself.

Reuben Abati