Boni Yayi: Our Friend Next Door By Reuben Abati

Our neighbours to the West, the Republic of Benin, have just concluded a Presidential election, which has been considered free, fair and peaceful, from the first round, to the run-off which produced businessman Patrice Talon as winner and next President of that country of about 10 million people.  Commentators have noted with delight the manner in which incumbent Prime Minister and Talon's main challenger, Lionel Zinsou, graciously admitted defeat even before the release of final, official results, and congratulated the winner. Zinsou has been compared to former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan. In a continent threatened by a renewed appetite for sit-tightism by its leaders, it is exciting that some politicians are setting good examples.  In the last one year, we have had the example of Jonathan in Nigeria. And now Zinsou, in the Republic of Benin. We hope that there will be more of their kind.

       For, indeed, Africa has been raising some anxiety about the prospects of democratic consolidation. In Burkina Faso, the President had to be chased away after 27 years of corrupt and ineffective leadership.  In Congo Brazaville, which held its election the other Sunday, President Dennis Sassou Nguesso is sitting tight. The February 2016 election in Uganda saw Yoweri Museveni's forces brutalizing the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye. Two women politicians were also stripped naked and publicly humiliated for daring to decamp from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).  In Rwanda, President Paul Kagame had to change the Constitution so he can have a third term in 2017.

       In Burundi, the incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza waged a similar war against the people, leaving over 400 dead, and he remains in office by force. In Equitorial Guinea, Gambia, Cameroon and Zimbabwe, the maximum rulers in power are determined to die in office. The people of the Republic of Benin deserve to be congratulated for further raising our hopes about the power of the people and the prospects of democracy in Africa. They were the true winners. But for me, the hero is the incumbent President, Thomas Boni Yayi. When he steps down on April 6, and hands over power after completing two terms as President, he will be greatly missed by his fans and perhaps derided almost to the same degree by those who have accused him of running a government that promoted cronyism, corruption, clientelism, media repression and official opaqueness. But my bet is on him being well-remembered in the long run, for his services to his nation, the sub-region and the continent. He also did not try to change the constitution or manipulate the process.

       Patrice Talon, Yayi's arch-enemy, who did not pull punches during the campaigns has accused Boni Yayi of creating a "banana Republic" which has become "the laughing stock of the world." Talon is wrong; he is guilty of that newly discovered disease called Trumpism, named after the first host of the virus: a certain fellow currently seeking to be President of the United States called Donald Trump. Elected President in 2006, Boni Yayi was again re-elected in 2011, and although he faced much opposition, including assassination attempts, he has managed to survive the various intrigues that dogged his Presidency. He has also successfully organized elections and  ensured a smooth succession.

       Zinsou is a member of the ruling party but there was no evidence that his party or the incumbent President tried to subvert the people's will, despite Yayi's undisguised support for him.  Domestically, President Yayi may not have fulfilled all the promises he made to the people in 2006 and 2011, but he is leaving behind a country that is much better today than he met it.  The Republic of Benin used to be a communist enclave, which has gone through many transitions, from communist dictatorship to a Presidential multi-party system. Under Yayi's watch, the country's profile rose. Benin is far from being a banana republic. Yayi gave his country a new bounce, a stronger voice and presence within the international community, and greater stability within its borders.

      President Boni Yayi is also Nigeria's very good friend. Nigeria's relationship with her Francophone neighbours is a major plank of her foreign policy process. The closeness of those Francophone countries to France and the dominant influence of France in their affairs has always been part of the sub-text of our interaction within the sub-region. Benin is particularly strategic: close to half of its population boasts of historical and cultural connections with Nigeria, making the geographical boundaries, largely artificial.  Long before Boni Yayi became President, the relationship with Benin Republic was not always smooth. The trigger areas included ideological differences at the time Benin was a communist enclave under Mathieu Kerekou. During the civil war also, there were allegations that Benin provided a support base for the defunct Republic of Biafra.

       Nigeria is Benin Republic's main export market. But it is also the biggest smuggling route into Nigeria. With the Lagos port not functioning efficiently, and our customs tariffs so high, Nigerian businessmen found solace in the Cotonou port, creating a revenue crisis for Africa's largest economy, and informal trade link that has not been properly measured. Anything that could be smuggled into Nigeria went through the Cotonou port. It still happens. Across the land border between the two countries, the Beninoise gendarmes constituted themselves into a threat to Nigerian communities. They still pose a threat, but just occasionally now.  Due to the factor of proximity, Nigeria's biggest challenge with its immediate neighbours has always been one of security. Criminals have turned trans-border organized crime into a major source of economic leakage and basic insecurity. There was the case of one Hamani Tijani based in Benin Republic who operated across the border. Nigerian criminals also commit atrocities inside the country and they slip into neighbouring Benin. The borders between both countries have been porous forever.

       There are many Nigerians living in Benin Republic and vice versa due to linguistic and cultural affinity.  But whereas in Nigeria, we accommodate our neighbours living among us, Nigerians living in Benin Republic have not always had it easy. In one instance, Nigerians in Benin were repatriated in their thousands. What has been demonstrated is that Benin Republic's closeness to and seeming dependence on Nigeria could pose a threat to Nigeria's security. For example, petrol smuggled from Nigeria finds a ready market in Benin Republic. In 2003, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had to close down the border between the two countries. Benin's economy went into instant coma.

      In 2006, Boni Yayi assumed office as President. In fairness to him, he took Nigerian-Benin relations far more seriously than did his predecessors. As spokesman to President Jonathan, I had the privilege of watching him closely. President Yayi was always a delightful visitor.  He referred to President Jonathan always as his "elder brother", and his own country, the Republic of Benin as "Nigeria's 37^thstate." He didn't just say it. He meant it. And he repeated that phrase at every turn. Of course, he wasn't asking Nigeria to annex his country. It was his way of emphasizing the strategic importance of good relations between both countries.

       Throughout his tenure as President, he has managed to build a strong, personal relationship with every Nigerian President, starting with President Obasanjo whom he refers to as "his father." In his position as Chairperson of the African Union, and as mediator on many issues within ECOWAS, President Boni Yayi always supported the Nigerian interest. No other Francophone country or leader within the sub-region has tried as much to build a stronger relationship with Nigeria. It should therefore not be surprising that under Boni Yayi's watch, the frictions that used to affect Nigeria-Benin relations were reduced to the barest minimum.

       The lesson of this is that country-to-country or government-to-government relations are often influenced by the chemistry between the leaders of the respective countries. Boni Yayi has proven himself to be a great diplomat within the sub-region and a forthright marketer of his country's interests. It was indeed proper that President Muhammadu Buhari not only attended Benin Republic's 55^th independence anniversary last August but that the government also provided logistics support to ensure the success of this month's Presidential elections in that country. The principle of reciprocity requires that we support countries, which extend the hands of fellowship and co-operation towards us. The only problem with our foreign policy process is that we often do not know where to draw the line and act in enlightened self-interest. We must keep an eye on Patrice Talon as he assumes office as the President of the Republic of Benin. He seems to have a talent for the melodramatic.

        It will be in his interest to learn from President Boni Yayi and seek to sustain a tradition of amity and brotherliness that has resulted in better Nigeria-Benin relations since 2006.  Patrice Talon may be tempted to embark on an internal mission of vengeance, and extend that arrogance beyond the borders.  His supporters are already suggesting that as soon as Boni Yayi loses his immunity on April 6, Talon who was once accused of being part of a plot to poison President Yayi (he was pardoned in 2014) should take his pound of flesh.  The "King of cotton" as he is called, should resist the likely temptation to follow the script of the sycophants who are now getting ready to call the tunes of his Presidency.

        The people of the Republic of Benin by voting for an opposition candidate have spoken clearly that they want change. The change that they seek cannot be the humiliation or the harassment of Boni Yayi. They want a different kind of change. Despite post-communist era stability, Benin remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The people want greater prosperity, they want the challenges of energy and infrastructure and access to education further addressed; they want a more productive economy, they want jobs, they want national progress.  Focusing on these priorities will move Benin Republic closer to the people's expectations, and indeed beyond the politics of vendetta which seems to be a growing sore point in Africa's politics of succession.

Signs of the Times by Reuben Abati

"Easter greetings"

"Ok"

"I am greeting you"

"I see"

"Are we quarrelling? Or you have malaria?"

"Can't you see that I am just not in the mood?"

"Not in the mood to say same to you?"
"Okay. Same to you"

"This is the season of love, you know. Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary so we may have everlasting life.  He made the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I can be saved."

"Keep preaching"

"We must learn to love others and be prepared to imbibe the virtue of sacrifice."

"I have never pretended that I want to be like Jesus Christ. Thank you."

"His teachings. His example."

"Good. But look, listen to me, just don't go to Kaduna and go about preaching to people.  I hope you know. Keep your teachings to yourself."

"Even on a Good Friday? Oh, come on. Nobody can stop us from proclaiming The Word. And we need the message of love, sacrifice and salvation in this land."

"Sacrifice? Have we not sacrificed enough?"

"It's never enough."

"We haven't had electricity in our neighbourhood for a whole week. We can't even afford to keep running the generator"

"All that will change."

"When they have told us there will be fuel scarcity till May? You may add two more months to that."

"No, oh. The Minister was misquoted. He has since clarified his statement. He said he was just being sincere."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the journalists who reported the story added salt and pepper to his statement."

"But have you seen the queues at the fuel stations?"

"Seen? I spent a whole day looking for fuel yesterday."

"Very good. Don't complain. You were making sacrifice."
"I love my country, no matter what. All we need is just love."

"Say that to the over 3 million workers in the food and beverages industry who are about to lose their jobs."

"I read that.  It is rather scary."

"Many companies are shutting down, or downsizing, or they are unable to pay salaries."

"Have faith. All that will change. All these companies sacking people up and down should also try and make some sacrifice."

"Business is business"

"Business should have a human heart. Sometimes, when I read all those figures about people being retrenched, I suspect sabotage."

"How convenient?"
"What I am saying is that Corporate Nigeria should be prepared to support the people and the government."

"Corporate Nigeria should transform into a wing of the Red Cross. Very nice. Well, for your information, the economy is imploding, the Naira is sick, there is no electricity, no this, no that, and so businesses are being disabled."

"All that will change."   

"You keep saying things will change. You know I don't like slogans."

"The Minister of Finance will soon write another article about it, and may be if you have been reading…"

"What article?"

"She likes to write essays to explain things. Newspaper essays."

"And who reads that?"

"You should. In one recent article she said"we are undertaking an ambitious counter cyclical strategy to stimulate our sluggish economy…."

"Counter cyclical strategy. Please, I don't want to read essays."

"Don't worry. Even that will change"  

"Go and say that to all the workers who will not be paid salaries this month end. Go to the streets of Osun and tell the workers that in case they don't receive their salaries, they should be prepared to make sacrifice. And that they should understand why their state got only N6 million allocation this month."

"In the spirit of Easter, yes. Why not?"

"If they stone you, don't expect any sympathy."

"Man shall not live by bread alone."

"Can you stop?"

"We should never lose hope."

"Sorry, the people want to live by bread. Right now, yes. And I can tell you they want to eat rice too".

"Rice?"

"Yes, rice? Now that the importation of rice through land borders has been banned, the cost of rice has gone up again." 

"Land borders? So, rice can only be imported by air or water? I don't believe it."

"I know many families who have stopped eating rice in this country."

"It is not that bad. Ah. People like to exaggerate things. That is why I talk about blackmail and sabotage. There are saboteurs in this country. Economy no good, economy no good, some of the banks are declaring hundreds of billions as profit!"

"Who is sabotaging who?"

"You should answer the question yourself, since you seem to know it all. Everything I say, you just wave it aside. What's eating you up?"

"Nothing. But you too, you are beginning to sound like members of the National Assembly."

"What have they done again? I know many of the members seem to have a special talent for comedy."

"You know the other day, the House of Representatives hosted the gentleman who graduated with a 5.0 Grade Point Average from the University of Lagos. Good idea, but do you know what the Speaker of the House said?"
"No"

"He told the fellow that if he wants to succeed in life, he should not let three things get into him"

"Which are?"

"Money, women and alcohol"

"Alcohol, yes. I understand that part about alcohol, but money and women?"

"Male chauvinist. Hypocrite."

"And the female members of the House did not protest?"

"By now, they must be used to their male colleagues always making snide remarks about women".  

"Do you know the Speaker's wife?"

"What has that got to do with this matter, if I may ask?"

"She should be the one to help settle the matter on behalf of all Nigerian women. He should deny him food, and constantly remind him that it is not good for him to allow a woman get into him."

"Some of these people are tyrants at home, you know. They wont even allow their wives to express an opinion. And I tell you, don't offer advice to other people's wives. That can be dangerous."

"But have you heard?"

"What again?"

"The Federal Government is planning to organize a town hall dialogue between herdsmen and farmers to address the issue of constant violence between the two groups."

"Dialogue? What dialogue? To be attended by the people of Agatu and the herdsmen who slaughtered them?  And who are walking free, beyond justice?"

"Dialogue is always healthy"

"Justice first. The solution is simple. Create grazing reserves. Set up ranches. This is the 21^st Century. Nobody should graze cattle on highways, airports and on farmlands."

"There are cultural issues involved."

"I don't know what you are talking about. They have cattle in other parts of the world too. Nobody sheds human blood to preserve the blood of cattle."

"I think you should attend the dialogue and offer some ideas."

"I have said my bit. Certain things are just straight-forward. Look at the case of the three girls who were abducted from Babington Junior Seminary in Ikorodu, Lagos state."

"Yes?"
"The principal of the school is saying the suspect in the matter has been sending text messages asking for forgiveness and prayers"

"He certainly needs prayers."
"No. He doesn't need prayers. He should be handed over to the police and made to pay for his crime. He abducted three young girls for six days and he is asking for prayers! We pray too much. We talk too much. And it is a shame that anybody is listening to his request for prayers."

"Young girls in Nigeria are really endangered. I was reading another story about a female student at the Queen's College, Lagos, whose parents reported that she was molested by a male teacher."

"I read that too. But there are too many versions of that story.  What is certain is that the right of young girls to grow up without being molested and abused by older men must be protected. You check the newspapers, there is a hardly a day you won't read a story about young girls being raped or abducted. What is wrong with Nigerian men? Grown up women no longer appeal to them?  

 "Please don't generalize. Say some Nigerian men. Don't join people who label all Nigerians."

"Okay. Okay. At least, I can vouch for you. And I am certainly a gentleman. And if anyone is caught abusing a girl-child, that person should be punished."

"In the UK, they just sent a footballer to prison for six years for having unlawful carnal knowledge of a 15-year old girl."

"Good. Good. Who is he?"

"Adam Johnson. He used to play for Sunderland."

"Never heard of him. But I hope Yunusa Yellow and all such men in Nigeria also get their day in court."   

 "What's the latest from Rivers State, after the re-run election?"

"Nothing.  Bad blood. Politics of hate. Rivers of blood. My heart goes out to the families of all the people who were murdered during that election."  

"That was sad. It is so painful to see how people shed blood because of politics."

"Oh, you are not talking about sacrifice, again?"

"I am not talking about that kind of sacrifice. If people have to die to elect their own representatives, it is a sign of sickness in society."

"Looks like INEC has changed. If they can't organize common re-run, how will they manage a general election?" 

  "Ha."

"Too much ego in that their Rivers state. It was a fight-to-finish re-run. I just hope the outstanding elections will not again result in violence."

"In fact, no member of the NYSC should agree to serve as an ad hoc staff for INEC again in Rivers state."

"Governor Nyesom Wike says the state government will immortalize Samuel Okonta, the youth corps member, who was killed. He has also increased the monthly allowance for youth corps members serving in the state"

"Immortalize?"

"Yes"

"But will that bring the dead back to life?"  

"I know. Really sad. National service yes, but these youth corps members should not be exposed to danger. You remember how they are always the victims during elections."

"I do. Nobody at all should die during elections. Electoral violence must be prevented by all means and whenever it occurs, sanctions must be applied."

"Yes."

"Anyway, no government has ever promised magic."

"Well, at least, they now have a budget. Has anybody analyzed what was passed by the National Assembly?"

"Please. The analysis is enough.  Enough analysis."

"I think the Ministry of Finance will still make some presentations."

"Can you tell them not to bother? Ha, ha. Wetin?"

"Have a Happy Easter."

"You, too".

 

The misogynists in the Nigerian Senate by Reuben Abati

What Senator Biodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti South) did with her presentation of a bill on gender and equal opportunities on March 15, is the equivalent of trying one's luck. But she deserves praise for her courage and progressive views, and for forcing the issue so well. The subject has generated useful debate and the Senate President has been forced to reassure the public that the bill will be re-presented, after it has been re-drafted "to address some of the reservations that were expressed on the floor of the Senate." 

       This is the third time that the Senate will throw out this same bill.  Senate President Bukola Saraki knows too well that to address the expressed reservations is to kill the bill completely. There may be no hope of a misogynistic Senate passing a Bill that seeks to empower women and the girl-child, protect them from discrimination and violence, rescue them from being treated like chattel, and ensure that women play more prominent roles in public and private decision-making processes.  The Bill further seeks to protect the rights of women in marriages.

     It should not be surprising that the male-dominated Senate (102 men to 7 women) rose against the Bill. A few male voices supported Senator Olujimi, but those against the Bill were determined. They quoted the Bible. They cited the Quoran. They dismissed any thought of women having more powers or voice or being treated like equals to men. They even cited culture and tradition. One newspaper stated matter of factly, that Senator Olujimi "incurred the wrath of Northern Senators".  When the matter was put to a vote, the naysayers of course won. So, given the gender imbalance in the Senate and the shortage of enlightened men on the floor, if that Bill is presented a thousand times, the outcome is predictable. It is perhaps for this reason that a different kind of strategy will be required to make any progress in the important fight for the treatment of women's rights as human rights.

       Nigeria is signatory to different international conventions on the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women. The Constitution also forbids discrimination against any person on the grounds of gender and circumstances of birth. Long before the internationalization of the struggle for women's rights and its NGO-nization, there have been records of valiant Nigerian women pushing the envelope and demonstrating through advocacy and individual accomplishments that women are capable partners in society's development, and that they deserve full citizenship rights.  

      But just as was demonstrated again on the floor of the Senate, religion, culture and male chauvinism are major stumbling blocks. Even some of the most educated men around cannot stand the idea of women being given more opportunities. Those male Senators who shot down the Olujimi Bill must have been wondering what gave her the effrontery to suggest that men and women should begin to share power and opportunities as equals. The man who led the assault against the bill and who reportedly later celebrated the victory is actually the same man who was once publicly upbraided for marrying a 13-year old girl, a girl about the age of his granddaughter! In that same Senate, one of the members while declaring his assets sometimes last year, listed his two wives as part of his assets!

       A gender and equal opportunities Bill should help provide stronger legislative framework for protecting women from all forms of discrimination, but legislative intervention may well not be enough. The real battle-field is in the identified areas of religion, culture and tradition, and the absence of political will to enforce relevant laws that promote social justice. Societies don't just move from one level of enlightenment to the other: leadership is required. But as it is, Nigeria has leaders who are male chauvinists, whose attachment to culture and religion prevents them from understanding the true meaning of human rights.  This is why it seems so difficult to convince Nigerian patriarchs that certain religious and cultural practices simply do not make sense. 

        What kind of culture or tradition allows a man to marry a child, for example?  What kind of tradition recommends that a widow should be humiliated and subjected to inhuman practices in 2016?  In some communities in the East, a woman cannot taste the new yam of the season as they call it.  Men must taste it first. Among Igbos, even the most enlightened man will not allow a woman break kolanut in a gathering of men. Leviration is still practised in some Nigerian communities.  One year after the millennial deadline on gender equality, there are still families in Nigeria where the girl-child is considered fit only for marriage, and so when male children are sent to school, the girls are asked to hawk wares, until they are ripe enough to be married off. In other places, wives cannot inherit their husbands' estates, and daughters are disinherited on the basis of gender. Patterns of this discrimination against the female gender exist even in workplaces today, and significantly in politics. I recall the case of one of these banks, which once instructed female employees not to get pregnant, within the first year of employment! And in politics, women are organized as separate groups with someone called Woman Leader, whereas there is no such equivalent for men.

       The manifold existence of constructive gender discrimination explains the speed and alacrity with which the gender and equal opportunity bill is always dismissed whenever it is brought up in the National Assembly. The advocacy for women empowerment and an end to gender discrimination is also severely limited. It is restricted to non-governmental organizations, and a few influential voices in society who understand the issues, attend international conferences and who over the years have been organizing workshops and rallies to conscientize political, religious and traditional leaders.  But this has not quite helped, and this may well be because the majority of the core affected women are excluded from the campaign.

      The Biodun Olujimis of Nigeria are not necessarily the ones seeking freedom from discrimination.  They can hold their own, they can negotiate power at many levels; the ones in need of help are the poor women and girl-children who are trapped under male domination, poor, disempowered, voiceless, and incapable of realizing their potentials to the fullest.  The ones in need of help are those poor widows who are humiliated by in-laws, the millions of girls who are out of school just because they are female, the under-aged girls who are married off to old men, against their wish, and the army of dispossessed women whose lives have been condemned to a routine of raising children, fetching water and working on the farm.

       These victims themselves need to be mobilized into the struggle for the full recognition of the human rights of women.  They need to be given a voice.  It is not a task for NGOs alone. The struggle must become more inclusive. We have Ministers and Commissioners in charge of women affairs and social development.  They are busy travelling from one international workshop to the other. Such a department of government can do a lot more. To get Nigerian men to respect the human rights of women, the womenfolk must work together and support each other, and develop the kind of advocacy that was defeated last Tuesday into a sustainable, organized movement.  The tone of the advocacy should also change: too often, gender and equal opportunity issues are presented as pleas, as if women are seeking favour and understanding from the men: please-give-us-more-powers, allow-us-to-also-exercise-authority; we-want-more-women-in-government. For as long as the language of negotiation sounds that beggarly, not much progress can be made.  Nothing short of an organized women's movement around the core issues is what is required.

        In the long run, education is probably the best policy option. Every child must go to school and no child should be allowed to be an artisan until after secondary school education.  Once upon a time in this country, the social welfare department used to arrest any child found on the streets during school hours. The disparity in the education of men and women in Nigeria is alarming, given the fact that women constitute about 50% of the national population. The school drop-out rate for the girl-child is as high as 44%! There are extant laws, which prescribe punishment for parents who keep their children out of school; such laws must be enforced. State governments should vigorously promote education at all levels.

       Education is the strongest weapon for liberating people from the clutches of harmful religious and traditional practices. Education in this regard means being enlightened enough to know what parts of religion and tradition are humane and progressive. Even where these prove resilient on the basis of social legitimacy, the truth is that it will be difficult to maltreat a woman who is fully aware of her rights. The Senators opposing gender equality and rights would never allow their own daughters to be exposed to any form of indignity. They quote culture and religion out of sheer hypocrisy. Their reliance on the Holy Books to justify the inferiorization of women as the weaker sex is dubious.

        Successful women should be prepared to support other women. More women should take interest in politics, and seek political power at all levels. Nigerian women must get into the arena and seek decision-making positions, to enable them influence and implement policies.  Let Nigerian women form their own political parties and contest the public space with the misogynists. The women's movement in Nigeria has lost its steam. Some Nigerian women are involved in partisan politics but they either end up behaving like the men, or they claim they are technocrats with no interest in feminist matters. They reinforce stereotypes and even work against the interest of other women seeking progress. Such women cannot lead the struggle; new recruits and role models are needed. To give meaning and bite to Senator Olujimi's kind of intervention, progressive Nigerian women must unite and re-organize.

Why Nigerians are special by Reuben Abati

Whatever problem we may have in Nigeria at this or any other time, this country is sustained by the fact that we are indeed a very special people. We have been described as the happiest people on earth, we have also described ourselves as resilient, gifted and determined, and in one report, Nigerians are said to have the strongest shock absorber against some of the deadliest diseases in the world. If anyone doubted this last point, well, recall that we won the battle over Ebola virus, and polio.  The more you look at it, the more it seems as if there is something in the Nigerian DNA that defies defeat, that automatically deletes any virus that can result in system shut down, there is that X-factor in our affairs that rises when hope seems lost, and life seems tragic.  Somehow, the Nigerian spirit regenerates, recreates and reinvents itself, turns failure into possibilities, pessimism into new expectations, and tomorrow into an anchor for renewal.

In this same Country...by Reuben Abati

There is today in Nigeria an entire generation of Nigerian-passport wielding men and women who do not actually know, to borrow Achebe's words that indeed "there was once a country". These children born in a season of austerity, and raised during the years that the locusts ate, have become angry citizens. They are angry because they live in a country that makes them feel less worthy than the human standard. The only Nigeria that they know is a country that makes them feel ashamed of their own origins. Many of them have enjoyed the privilege of foreign education and exposure to some of the best traditions in other parts of the world, but when they return to their own country, right from the airport, the snow of failure and inefficiency strikes them in the face, leaving them with no option but to wonder quo vadis Nigeria? It is the same question that their parents asked and the tragedy is that their own children except something else happens, are likely to ask exactly this same old and vexed question.

The road lies in wait by Reuben Abati

FRSC Corps Marshal B.O. Oyeyemi

"May we never walk when the road waits, famished" – Wole Soyinka, The Road

Two major road accidents in the last week brought to the fore again the dangers that lie in wait on Nigerian roads.  The Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi, SAN, his wife and son lost their lives in a vehicle accident that occurred on the Kaduna- Abuja road, when their Lexus SUV vehicle somersaulted, following a burst tyre and the driver's loss of control.  There was also the death on the Maiduguri-Damaturu road of Major-General Yasha'u Abubakar of the Training and Operations Department of the Nigerian Army. Both accidents have been a source of enormous grief, perhaps because of the status of the persons involved, but the truth is that Nigerian roads are treacherous and deceitful, marked as they are everyday, by a harvest of deaths and sorrow.

      To report that the state of the roads is bad is to proclaim the notoriously obvious, and to say that more people die every minute on our roads is to iterate that the road in Nigeria is no respecter of persons or class. In its annual reports, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has tried to identify the primary and secondary causes of road accidents, and in the current Ocholi case, it has offered a preliminary report, which reinforces the notion about every death being in the long run, a revelatory comment on man's existential crisis.

Anything Can Happen In America by Reuben Abati

This is really exciting time in America; watching the drama of the 2016 Presidential nomination process from a distance, I find the contests, the debates, the arguments, the hustling and jostling on both sides of the mainstream political aisle, most instructive, and intriguing. The world's most advanced democracy is proving once again that freedom is a golden ideal and that anyone who seeks to lead it, must undergo a rigorous test of leadership and courage. So far, the presidential primaries have proven to be a sifting process, and after last Tuesday, better known as Super Tuesday, many of the otherwise promising candidates have dropped out of the race, leaving the field to just a few survivors.

Ese Oruru, the Girl-Child and a Nation's Shame by Reuben Abati

Ese Oruru

THREE different incidents in the last week cast, poignantly, in bold relief the plight of the girl-child in Nigeria. Thanks to The Punch newspaper which launched the #FreeEse, #JusticeforEse campaign and the civil society groups that took up the fight in a spirited manner. With the outrage and outcry that followed, within 72 hours, this same 14-year old girl who was abducted from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and taken to Kano, seven months ago, by one Yinusa Dahiru alias Yellow, is now free. While we were still grappling with this bizarre story, on Monday, a group of criminals stormed a school, Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary in Ikorodu, Lagos State and abducted three girls.

And if that was not shocking enough, on Wednesday, there was this other report about a 15-year old Benue girl, Patience Paul, who had been abducted by two neighbours and married off to a certain "Sarkin Musulmi" in Sokoto State. Her brother cried out, obviously motivated to do so by the Ese Oruru story. Set against the background of the abduction of 219 Chibok girls in 2014, a story that is well known internationally, Nigeria must by now appear in the eyes of the world as a large den of sexual predators, who seem to be obsessed with young, under-aged girls, and the adolescent female.

The international community would be correct to conclude that something terrible is happening here. Indeed, can we blame any analyst who may soon conclude that a girl child is abducted, assaulted or violated per minute in Nigeria, and that Nigeria is not a safe place for either a girl child or a female? The sanity and moral temperature of a society should be measured by the manner in which that society treats its underprivileged and vulnerable members. The powerful trample upon the weak, the privileged despise the less fortunate; a long journey to Hobbes' apotheosis, which is in truth a comment on the state of our development as state, country, people and society.