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

The man who named his dog, Buhari by Reuben Abati

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog – George Graham Vest (1870)

Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, the man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari is right now probably regretting his decision to honour his dog with the name of a man he considers his hero. He has been accused of trying to incite hate and breach the public peace. He has been arrested and re-arrested by the police and taken to a magistrate court, which promptly remanded him in prison until he is able to meet the conditions of his bail. He has spent days in prison custody unable to raise the N50, 000 that he has been asked to pay. His family members have only so far managed to raise N20, 000.  Even if he succeeds in putting that sum together, his life is still in danger because aggrieved persons in his neighbourhood, including a man who says he was trying to ridicule his father, have threatened to kill him, if he shows up. The police are not investigating this threat, but they seem so excited about dealing with the poor trader called Joe, for having the effrontery to name his dog, Buhari.

    To protect himself, Joseph has allegedly put the dog to sleep, or thrown it away or whatever, in the hope that once the evidence is destroyed there will be no case against him.  It is all so pitiable. Public opinion appears to be divided as to the nature and seriousness of Joseph Chinakwe's alleged felony, with some people arguing that it is definitely an act of provocation and incitement for him to label his dog, Buhari so boldly and to parade the same dog in a neighbourhood where there are many residents of Northern extraction, whose feelings may be injured or who may perceive that he is trying to make a political statement.

     Those who want him punished have therefore dismissed Chinakwe's protestation that he is an admirer of the President, or that he means well. His defenders insist that he is entitled to free speech and there is nowhere in the statutes where a man can be punished on the basis of the perception that some people's feelings may be injured, and hence, be prompted to commit murder. The law is not structured that way.

    We are dealing, therefore with ethnic hate at the lunatic fringe. Nigerians have become so suspicious of one another, and inter-ethnic relationship is so poisonous that even the littlest innocent gesture could result in mayhem. This is why many have been killed for allegedly committing blasphemy or for insulting the religious sensibilities of some people. Remember the woman who was killed by her students for allegedly desecrating the Quoran. Remember Gideon Akaluka. Remember the woman who was recently beheaded in Abuja for daring to preach the Christian gospel. We are also dealing with disregard for human freedom, and Nigeria's slip into a tragic season of intolerance. Why shouldn't Chinakwe call his dog whatever name catches his fancy?  Well, may be he should have chosen an Igbo name? But if we want national unity, why shouldn't he take a name he admires from another part of the country? 

      Ali Baba, the ace comedian, like many others, has come out strongly in defence of Chinakwe saying he actually has a dog in his house named OBJ, and that is quite direct because only one man bears that sobriquet in this country, and neither OBJ nor his kinsmen have asked Atuyota to leave Yorubaland. One of the most famous pictures online is that of a goat named Goodluck Jonathan, with the name written on both flanks of it.  President Jonathan's wife was also once (July 2013) referred to as "shepopotamus" by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, and before our very eyes, President Olusegun Obasanjo, donated, to a conservation sanctuary, a chimpanzee, which he named Patience to make a point obviously.

      The parody at the time was unmistakable. We all drew humour from all of that. What we seem to be dealing with right now, however, is the absurd deification of a name on ethnic and partisan grounds. It is curious that the Nigeria Police is devoting to the trial of Chinakwe, a feverish amount of energy that we have not witnessed with regard to more statutorily relevant offences. This hullaballoo over the giving of a dog a name that has led to its hanging and the likely punishment of its owner is one distraction too many. We are above all else, dealing with a storm in a tea cup, occasioned by a culture shock, and our underdeveloped understanding of the relationship between man and animals.

      Chinakwe says he chose the name Buhari out of admiration. And he may well be right, and he would have been right, and there would have been no problem if he was living in Europe or North America. But he lives in a country where animals have no rights and no recognition other than as victims of human predators, and a dog in our culture is to be treated as an instrument or as meat for the soup pot. Elsewhere, a dog has earned its reputation in mythology and actuality, as a man's best friend. The root of this is that a dog is considered the most beloved, the most loyal and the most dependable of all animals. People use dogs to guard their homes, to keep away intruders, even to play with children and as companions in the home. There are many stories and legends about the loyalty of dogs. Hawkeye is the name of a famous dog who lay next to the casket of its owner who died in active service as a US Navy SEAL.

     There is a film, "Hachi, a dog's tale," starring Richard Gere, about Hachiko, a dog who greeted his owner at the train station everyday and after the owner died, the dog went to the same station for nine years. Recently, I posted on instagram the picture of a dog in Santa Catarina, Brazil, Negao the dog, whose owner died eight months earlier and the dog remained outside the hospital awaiting his owner's return.  In the United States, a police dog has been given a state burial, draped with national colours in appreciation of its loyal and meritorious service to the nation. Many centuries ago, Homer wrote in Odyssey, about a loyal dog, Argos who waited for Odysseus until he returned. 

       The established normal is that a dog can be trusted more than a human being.  And this is why in other parts of the world, when people name their dogs after celebrities, they are actually paying compliments and showing respect.  World figures like Elvis Presley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Louis Vuitton, Mandela, Clinton, J. F. Kennedy and others have had their names given to either cats or dogs, and it is no big deal. Admirers transpose their feelings from man to animal. Joseph Chinakwe may actually be saying that President Buhari is a loyal, trustworthy, supportive, dependable and companionable Guardian of the Nigerian estate. It would have been a different thing perhaps if he had given that name to a tortoise, a rat, cat, a fox, or a chimpanzee. But in a country where every animal is considered a prey or a lower, spiteful creature, using the metaphor of a dog could be risky as the Chinakwe case has shown. In Nigeria, we treat animals badly, and we don't consider anyone a friend, man or animal. We are vengeful, mean and suspicious. We are so scared we are even afraid of domestic and domesticated animals.  

      In other societies, animals are treated with greater respect and in the United States for example, the life of a dog is far superior to that of a human being in Nigeria.  I have written about this twice: In "A Dog's Life" (1996), I reflected on the life of a dog owned by Stanley Meisler (God bless his soul) and his wife, Elizabeth Fox, my hosts during my journalism programme at the University of Maryland, College Park, United States (1996 -97). I was shocked that the dog had a room of its own, a proper room, not a kernel, and whenever that dog fell ill, we took him to a dog hospital and Stanley bought drugs.  I saw that dog living the life of a king, better catered for than many Africans.

      I wrote another piece titled "A Hotel for Dogs" (July 23, 2006) about a five-star hotel in Bethesda, Washington, which attends to dogs as customers, and where dogs enjoy a life of luxury. Established in 2003, by PetSmart Inc., by 2006, there were 32 hotels of its type in the United States and the then spokesman of the group, Bruce Richardson, had boasted that by 2010, the plan was to have 240 such hotels across the United States. We are talking luxury, 23 USD per night, 33USD for a dog suite, as at that time, all pre-tax, plus provisions for pooch ice cream.  In general, Americans spend about $40 billion dollars a year on household pets. I guess that is more than Nigeria's annual budget even by today's relative standards.

    And so, what are we talking about? An American dog is a big man in Nigeria by all standards. But because we eat dogs and treat all animals badly in this country, in fact we have no regard for human beings (consider the hundreds that get killed, raped, kidnapped daily and nobody cares), we are bound to be incensed that anyone would name a dog after a deified political figure.  Joe Chinakwe's sins should be forgiven, albeit there is no morality in law, but the Nigerian judiciary should not expose itself to further ridicule by lending the weight of the law to such partisan trash that makes no sense. There are far more important issues requiring serious attention in this country today. 

     But in case nobody understands that and Mr Chinakwe and his counsel find themselves in a tight corner, they should put out a disclaimer and say their dog, living or dead, is filing for a change of name. That is perfectly within their rights to do. And should they find themselves in any other difficult situation, they have my full permission to rename the dog, Reuben Abati. But should you, dear reader consider this a bad name you wish to hang, you also have my full support, partnership and friendship to offer your own name.

       If that will put an end to this circus over the name of a dog, and set Joseph Chinakwe free, and also remind us that we are in a democracy, please, help and so be it. By the way, I hear Chinakwe and his sympathisers finally managed, after a fund-raising appeal, to raise a sum of N90, 000 to perfect his bail bond and that he is now out of detention. Would somebody in a responsible position just put an end to this joke and let us focus on serious issues? 

Reuben Abati

Paying tribute to O. J. Abuah by Reuben Abati

Life is all about memories. It is the only thing we are left with when flesh and spirit depart the earthly plane, and we can do no more than remember the life of the departed, through memories of times and moments shared, and their deeds in their lifetime. I received a phone call and a whatsapp message announcing the death of Justin Abuah, popularly known to all and sundry as O.J. Abuah, and the world seemed as if it had stood still for a few minutes.  He was one of my media officers when I served as President Goodluck Jonathan's Special Adviser, Media and Publicity and as official spokesperson; after the retirement of another dependable officer, Musa Aduwak, he replaced Aduwak as Director of Information in the department. I left him behind in the Villa in 2015, hale and hearty, an asset to the department, an efficient, service-oriented, disciplined, and devoted civil servant who could be relied upon at all times for high quality delivery.  And now they say he is gone. Last Sunday. Just like that. It is painful, shocking and sad. OJ, what happened?

       I had some difficulty initially adjusting to the ways and habits of civil servants when I got to the Villa in 2011. I found them too laid back, too conspiratorial, and always on the look out for reward, or what they call motivation. But what I found most exasperating was the lack of initiative. Coming from the private sector, I was used to members of a team doing their part and not waiting to be directed, knowing that any delay could affect the rest of the team and the quality of service delivery.  But I met a situation whereby civil servants believed they always had to be directed to carry out even the same routine tasks that they undertook daily. 

 "SA, you didn't give me any instruction"

"How? You and I discussed this matter and you know what to do, you do it everyday."

"You didn't tell me to go ahead"

     I always felt like hitting the roof. I didn't see any reason why a media assistant had to be reminded to take a podium to a presidential event, microphones, batteries, or why a photographer or cameraman needed to be reminded of pre-announced events, or why an  information officer could not use the initiative to prepare drafts. I used to get worked up and I would scream: "civil servants, what is wrong with you people!" I was perhaps prejudiced. I had been warned as soon as I assumed office that I should not make use of the civil servants. I was advised to sideline them and bring a team of my own who would get things done. I didn't think this was right. If there is a full-fledged department in place, with paid staff, assigned different tasks, and who have been in the system forever, the best thing to do is to get them to do their work and not undermine them.  It may have taken a few months to establish a rhythm, but I eventually won the confidence of the departmental team to create a very resourceful and creative communications and media team that ensured efficient coverage of the President's activities. OJ Abuah as Director of Information and as the most senior staff, as well his predecessor, Aduwak, were most effective in helping to achieve this objective.

        OJ became the bridge between the general staff and me. I eventually figured out that apart from their love of directives, civil servants worship hierarchy. They have this inherited military era mentality that pushes them to function when they are given express orders. It was better if the order was documented, and OJ had his ways of pushing them.  This took a lot of pressure off my shoulders, up to the point that at a time, whenever I shouted "civil servants!", the staff around would also say "SA!" or "The great Abati" and we would all burst out laughing. We had great fun in the long run.  The civil servants were all individually and collectively my backbone.

       It was just a matter of discovering their talents and getting them to work: there was a lady for example who was so excellent in protocol matters who later left us, there was another who always got things done particularly during foreign trips because once she showed up, all the men around could never say No to her, we later recruited a multilingual chap who was also so good in protocol matters that the protocol department used to report him to me to keep him away from their territory, and of course the diligent quartet who monitored the print, electronic and digital media and prepared daily reports and analyses, and the army of other staff, the foot-soldiers - from secretary to drivers and boom operators- who covered every event. I want to thank OJ for his friendship and support and also for his readiness to take responsibility on behalf of the other staff whenever anything went wrong or when other departments blamed the media department for a microphone that did not work, a podium that stood in the way or photographers and cameramen blocking people's views.

         OJ had my back. He had been in the Presidency since Dodan Barracks.  He had served under different Presidents and Media Advisers. This placed him in a vantage position to avail me of institutional memory.  He could tell me what previous advisers did under certain circumstances, and the expectations of those who occupy the office of President. He also knew the intrigues within the palace, and the scent of inter-departmental rivalry. Because he had been in the system for long, nothing escaped his notice and if anything was going on, somehow he would get to know. He always tipped me off.  He drew my attention to intrigues even before they blew into the open. Let no one joke about it: the Nigerian Presidency is a nest of malevolent intrigues. And running the media and publicity department could be very much like being in a wrestling ring, because it is one job that everyone claims to know.  

      People whose responsibility it wasn't wanted to arrange media interviews, manage the President's appearance, organize his public speaking, take his photographs, record his speeches, and determine how speeches and press statements should sound. Someone even came up with what became known as "the space theory", meaning anybody could do anybody's job, once they could create a space to do it.  It got so challenging at a point, and on one occasion, a cleaner accosted me early morning and told me: "Oga Abati, you are working hard, I see you for television, I no know say you sabi speak English like that. Make you dey talk more hen. But dis your staff and journalists…" I didn't know what to say in response.  But in the face of it all, OJ helped to protect the integrity of the department.  He was loyal and dutiful.

        He not only knew the system, he drew my attention to many rules and regulations. If something could not be done, he would bring out the rules book and state the position of government. In the end, I left the matters related to civil service rules and regulations to the civil servants and stayed with professional and technocratic aspects of the work.  Every outsider who finds himself in a political position in government needs a man like OJ. He was nobody's sycophant. He would tell you as it is. He had a critical mind, but he was nevertheless fair-minded and constructive, and there was no reason to doubt his loyalty to government and country.

         He was above everything else, intellectually gifted.  He had been a journalist before joining the State House media department, and he remained a damn good reporter and editor. He had a nose for news and a sense of what can work or not in a media copy. He wrote well too, his prose was spare but precise, his sentences were clean, his thoughts were clear. OJ could discuss literature, politics, history, geography, economics and a wide range of other subjects. We spent hours in my office whenever our schedule was light, debating issues in a friendly atmosphere. In the course of duty, I also met many knowledgeable and experienced civil servants, men and women who toil daily to keep the Nigerian system going, but who are often unheard and ignored. OJ was one of the most impressive. He was an ideal information officer, talented and experienced, mature and disciplined, knowledgeable and smart. It was not surprising that he passed his promotion examination in 2014 and became a Director.  I consider his death a major loss to the department and the Nigerian civil service.

      Gifted as he was, he was nevertheless a very quiet and impeccably gracious man, to be found moving quietly close to the wall, as if he did not want to be noticed in his regular, stylishly spacious batik caftan.  Even if he was angry, you would hardly hear his voice.  He was self-effacing almost to a fault, and he was intensely private. It was always difficult to reach him after office hours or on weekends, but whenever he was around or available, he got the job done beyond the call of duty and earned everyone's respect.  He never talked about his family – the closest I got was when we went to a bookshop in New York once and he bought books for his son whom he said was studying in the UK. He did not invite anyone to his house.  Nobody knew which church he attended or whether or not he had ceremonies to which he invited guests. Some of the staff even thought he was queer. If he was in pains, he never showed it. If he was ill, nobody knew. He was just himself. People like him are difficult to replace. He was the type of man who would never have asked for a tribute, but he deserves this and more tributes to come. So sad, he is gone…

The Parable of the Husband's Cane by Reuben Abati

One other outcome of our democratic experience since 1999 is how demanding and insatiable the Nigerian voter has become, and because political office holders and the professional political class are yet to fully decipher and understand the implications of this, they continue to make similar mistakes and draw the same responses from the same public that voted them into power.     
       I have no better illustration of this than the manner in which the critics of the incumbent administration at the centre are beginning to sound exactly the same way they sounded about two years ago under the Jonathan administration. Check the social media, some newspapers, and listen to the conversation on the streets. The personnel in power have changed, there is a new party in charge at the top, but public conversation has gone back to its old ways. Questions are being asked about the meaning of change and the dividends it has brought to the people.

      Some commentators are openly apologizing for voting President Goodluck Jonathan and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) out of power.  Some fierce supporters of change and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are openly voicing their regrets. And as was the case under President Jonathan, there are hilarious skits online, mixing song, drama and dance, making fun of the new dispensation and its architects. More than one pro-change and anti-PDP newspapers have had cause to do scathing editorials, including the very newspaper that was the anchor-point for change in 2015.

       Many of the affirmations are relatively the same: the President is a good man but he is surrounded by incompetent people who have their own agenda, so they say, or that the Ministers are not doing their job and right now, there is a loud protest against the ability of one Minister to manage something as simple as taking a sports delegation to the Olympics. The number of people calling for the man's job is growing. Oftentimes, it is also said that communication is the problem.

       I used to hear that a lot. And it was always as follows: The President's team is not communicating his policies properly and in one year, while a lot has been achieved, nobody is show-casing those achievements (!), as if communication is a bullet. But these are the same stories that we used to hear. All kinds of experts are all over the airwaves voicing opinions about how best to run Nigeria, and promises that have not been fulfilled and an economy that is causing raw pain.  Not even the President's wife has been spared: her wrist-watch, her handbag, and even her grammar (!) - this formed the substance of a pedantic attack by a self-confessed Buharideen. It really looks as if there is now a formula for criticizing the Nigerian government.

      Every excuse that is given by government is met with the riposte that the government is burning its goodwill with the people, or that someone should just help and change the narrative.  Jonathan-bashing is fast becoming unfashionable, the critical mass including those who marched for change are asking for new tunes.  And I am far from gloating. But certainly, this love-them-today-despise-them-tomorrow did not start with the Buhari government. I am actually trying to make what I hope will be considered an essential point about the burden that Nigerian politicians have to bear. In a number of public interviews and interactions recently, I have argued that it is not easy to rule Nigeria or any part of it.  

       When President Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office in 1999, he was the messiah who helped to stabilize the country after many years of abuse by military dictators, and in terms of policies, persona, focus and drive, he rescued the country. But the moment he picked up fights with his Vice President, and later got embroiled in the politics of third term self-succession, his support base began to grow apart, and he became the target of vitriolic criticism from even his most ardent supporters and benefactors. 

      We dismissed President Umaru Yar'Adua who succeeded him very quickly as "Baba Go Slow" even if his failings were excused on the grounds of ill-health and the shenanigans of an Aso Rock cabal. President Goodluck Jonathan's ascendancy in 2010 was driven by the activism of the civil society and both genuine and bathroom constitutional experts who insisted that the Constitutional rule on succession in the event of the death of the incumbent must be respected. Thus, he became Acting President and he later won an election, on his own steam in 2011, to become President of Nigeria. For many Nigerians, his coming to power helped to make one point: that Aso Villa is not the birthright of any ethnic group, that the rule of law is superior to the rule of men, and that the final decision about who rules this country at any particular period rests with the people.  It didn't take long before the same people began to attack the Jonathan Presidency, goaded on by a vicious opposition at first, until the people themselves took ownership of the rebellion against their own revolution.

      In 2015, they supported President Muhammadu Buhari, whom they had voted against in three previous elections. Somehow, there has been a touch of melodrama to the Nigerian Presidency since 1999, and it was on that score that President Buhari became the stone that was once rejected emerging as the cornerstone of the building. In the North, his political base, and the South West, which embraced him, he became the messiah that Nigeria needed. Only the South East and the South South looked away.  But today, ironically, both the North and the West have become the home of President Buhari's most loquacious critics. Were many not held back by self-censorship and fear of reprisal, by now, the sound of condemnation would be deafening. I have described the scenario long enough, what are the specific takeaways?

       One, the same point I mentioned earlier, that indeed, it is not easy to rule Nigeria. It does not matter how well-meaning and principled you may be, there would be people who would put you under enormous pressure and in trying to please one group and not the other, you would end up creating a basis for criticism and attacks. These pressures come from ethnic groups, family members, old school mates, close friends, party members, political godfathers, old benefactors, the wife's family, or wives, in-laws, the business community, international agents, investors, existing and prospective: they all want your ears, they want access and they will mount the pressure in every way possible. Pleasing every constituency is not possible.

      No matter how hard you try to balance the pressures, you'd still be left with people and constituencies perpetually banging on the door, and they just don't do that, they run down others who are competing for your time and attention, and before long, as President of Nigeria, you could be held hostage by one or two groups, and when that happens, you displease others who in due course, become critics. Everybody is with you because of what they can get: they are investors not supporters, not even family members. The loneliest job in the world is to be President of a developing and dispossessed country like Nigeria. It presents a great opportunity to make a difference and make history, but it also comes with too many IOUs that may never be satisfactorily repaid.

        Two, be careful how you demonize the opposition. If you are in power seeking to retain it, be careful how you wield the axe against the power-seekers at the gate. If they seize that axe from you, they could behead you without mercy. Your pleas when you are at their mercy later, could fall on deaf ears. And if you are seeking power and you get it, with the people hailing you, beware, the same people could turn against you tomorrow. Their loyalty is not guaranteed for too long, at most it comes with a one-year warranty! And never ever forget this folk wisdom: the husband's cane that was used to beat the senior wife is right there on the rafters, to be recalled for the junior wife. No domestic violence intended (far from it) but if it sounds like a metaphor, well, you figure it out.

        Three, don't you ever over-promise. There is a tendency for power-seekers in Nigeria to promise heaven and earth. They design fanciful phrases, programmes, agenda, blueprints and road maps in which they assure the people, together with timelines, how they will turn Somalia into paradise within 100 days and if not, six months, but at most, one year. These are usually from persons who have no idea how Nigeria works. They know nothing either about the complexities of governance and power politics. They make the fanciful promises, anchored on an even more fanciful phrase, and as soon as the election is won, they return to their consulting firms with their bags of profit, in search of the next client and victim. It is amazing how in Nigeria, most of the leading experts on government and governance are persons who have never spent a day in a government department and have never managed anything complex in their lives.

       They arrive in a dollar-driven parachute in the middle of the campaign and they invent slogan after slogan, and strategies that leave potential disaster behind. Let's say their candidate wins, but as soon as he gets into office, he has to deal with the many lies that have been told in his name, and he finds himself at the crossroads. If he says all promises cancelled, let's be realistic, he is accused of deceit. If he says anything else, he is reminded that in the United States, where the heart of many Nigerians is, including the intelligentsia, he is told that promises have to be kept. The same people have forgotten that in the United States, politicians talk more about people-focussed policies, and not about such elementary details as the provision of boreholes, food, electricity, and roads. In a developing country, you better watch what you promise.

       Four: don't rely on your political party. The same political party that brought you to power can disappoint you.  Incidentally, we are not running a parliamentary system of government.  Your own party members have Macbeth-like ambitions and that makes them disloyal. They don't quite want you to succeed except if that will make them look like potential successors. Your constituency is the Nigerian people. Difficult as they are to please, and habitually angry as many of them are, it always pays in the long run to listen to them. And when you don't feel like listening, provide leadership that inspires trust, and you won't fail.

Reuben Abati

Tales from Rio by Reuben Abati

In some other countries of the world, a bronze medal at the Olympics is not something to be talked about or celebrated. Not even silver is satisfactory sometimes, just remember that look on Russian athlete Yulia Efimova's face as her arch-rival, Lilly King of the United States took the gold in 100m women's breastroke swimming. Nothing but gold is good enough – afterall, the Olympics is the biggest showcase of human talent on the planet and a demonstration of man's capacity to express himself or herself to the limits and excel. In the US for example, there is an obsession with gold at the Olympics, this being an extension of the average America's patriotism-driven belief that the United States is the centre of the universe. The US has the largest number of gold medals in Olympics history.

      "Go for Gold" is the classic Olympics slogan, but we have also seen in the on-going Rio Olympics, episodes after episodes and tales of human ingenuity in addition to memorable events: so much hardwork and dedication - Michael Phelps winning three gold medals and still counting, so far bringing his total Olympic gold medals to a record 21, Uzbekistan's 41-year old Oksana Chusovitina participating in her seventh Olympics as the oldest gymnast on parade, and making it to the finals, 19-year old American Simon Biles putting pure genius on display in the gymnastics, team refugees participating for the first time in the Olympics,  Kosovo winning its first Olympic medal (gold!), a marriage proposal on the field showing love is more important than gold, well, an Egyptian, Sara Ahmed won a trail-blazing historic bronze in weightlifting, the mighty falling – Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Venus Williams crashing out of tennis, Chris Froome coming up short in cycling, and on the side lines,  BBC female presenter, Rebecca Adlington reaching out under the table to squeeze Mark Foster's thigh,  and on the minus side, the organisers getting China's flag wrong, mixing up national anthems including Nigeria's, complaints about living conditions at the Rio Olympics village, and on the streets, a marvelous opening ceremony, and a generous display of Brazilian female nudity, and on the dark side: young Brazilian hoodlums, robbing visitors of valuables with such unpatriotic brazenness. It is less than a week, so far, but the tales are of characteristically intriguing and historic dimensions.

     But again, we must not forget this: the Olympics is about the victory, and about national glory and pride. To win the gold, a country must be prepared, and its athletes must be prepared to show the excellence, the resilience and the courage that is the hallmark of the event. When the issue is not about gold however, it is about, on the humanistic side, the kind of courage in the face of adversity demonstrated by British athlete Derek Redmond at the 1992 Barcelona Games, when he tore his hamstring and simply refused to give up, reaching the finish line of the semi-finals, hanging on his father's shoulder. The Olympics since the first modern one in 1896, has been about the human being and the many possibilities of human aspiration in the face of challenge.

    Nigeria has participated in the Olympics (the Summer Olympics) 15 times, 1952 -2016. And over that period, this country of over 180 million people, has been able to win 3 gold medals (Chioma Ajunwa, 1996, Dream Team 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Men's 4 x 400 metre relay team, 2000 Sydney Olympics), 8 silver, and 12 bronze medals, making a total of 23 Olympic medals. No cause for despair. After all, we are better than some 73 countries, which have never won a single Olympic medal, countries like Somalia, Chad, Swaziland, Oman, Palau, Benin, Belize, Cape Verde, American Samoa, Equitorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Congo, Malawi, Mali, Palestine, Nauru, Lesotho and Oman.  My take however is that we could have done much better, if this had been a different country, if successive governments had paid more attention to sports as a tool for international glory and achievement.

      Our poor record is the cumulative effect of the failure of the Nigeria Olympics Committee, the lack of political will in government at all levels to promote individual talent in sports on a sustainable basis, and the Nigerian disease: last-minute syndrome which means everything is done at the last minute, things that other countries spend years and resources preparing for, we wade in at the last minute and expect that miracles would happen. Major breakthroughs in sports in Nigeria as in everything have been either through miracles or individual sacrifice. Our sports community, active and retired, is made up therefore of angry and frustrated men and women who feel that they have been used and forgotten by their country, the serving ones are so poorly treated they even sometimes wonder why they are still wearing Nigeria's caps. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, there is a Lawrence Okolie and a Christine Ohuruogu on Team Great Britain and yet another Nigerian running up and down for Italy. Nigeria has got talent. Point.

      But we do not know how to use, nurture or encourage those talents. There are probably thousands of Michael Phelps in the Niger Delta who can swim from creek to creek, Olympic style, but who are busy carrying guns and looking for cheap wealth; if you go to the Mid-West, there are probably hundreds of girls who can swim better than Lilly King, Yulia Efimova and Katinka Hosszu put together, but all that talent is probably being wasted in a thigh-raising whorehouse in Benin or a city in Italy, because the Ogbe stadium is ruined and nobody has bothered about discovering the natural flying fishes in that part of the country. When I see the Olympic gymnasts doing their thing, I think of the many talented young girls in Nigeria, who due to lack of opportunities are busy putting their lithe, capable sporty bodies to other uses. Developing the sports sector does not require too much imagination: you just need to start, catch them young, groom them, give them opportunity. That is why a 16-year old from Chile can stand out in archery, and a 19-year old teenager from America, Simone Biles, can be an embodiment of human perfection.  We have the people, the potentials but…

     We are most certainly not prepared for big events that require state planning. It is particularly ironic that we have done much better as a country in the Paralympics – 22 Gold, 11 Silver, 12 Bronze since 1992.  You can interpret that literally, I don't want to spell it out and offend the valiant men and women who have done us proud in that alternative Olympics. What is painful is that Segun Toriola, seven times Nigerian Olympian had warned us quite early that the preparation for this year's Olympics is the "worst Team Nigeria in Olympics history." Underline the word, "worst", and it looks like he is right.  Before the Olympics, we heard the embarrassing story that Nigerian athletes going to the Olympics- 78 of them, 49 male, 29 female, participating in eight events (we seem trapped here!) had been asked to go and fund themselves, cap in hand. To worsen matters, the Sports Minister, the Sports Ministry and just about anyone who needed to use their brains, started sounding like Emperors.

      The Nigerian soccer team, called Dream Team VI was stranded in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and the Minister's informed response was "who send them there?" The teams trip to Brazil was postponed from Friday to Monday, to Tuesday and to Wednesday, no money, no support. The Dream Team eventually arrived in Brazil on the wings of charity: Delta Airlines had to airlift them free. They arrived a few hours to their opening match, jet-lagged, without allowances, hungry, and with a coach, Samson Siasia, who had also not been paid for five months, and yet the boys went ahead, to beat Japan, 5-4. That is the spirit of the Olympics. Dream Team VI, (we really like to dream!) has since qualified for the quarter-finals, and they may well surprise the world. No one expects that they would, maybe the Nigerian government (which likes to reap where it has not sown), but whatever happens, those boys and their coach are heroes already, and should they manage to win any medal, that medal should be presented to Delta Airlines, not Nigeria, and when that is happening, Solomon Dalung must not be anywhere near the room. Well, they say he has apologized, but must we run Nigeria's international appearances on the basis of apology?   

    That is what we are doing. Better-focused countries are celebrating gold medals, we are here celebrating courage in the face of adversity: the biggest story we would probably take out of the Rio Olympics. Besides the Dream Team VI, I have seen very enthusiastic comments about how Segun Toriola is a seventh time Olympian in table tennis, and how Nigeria has produced the first African to qualify for the Quarter Finals in table tennis in the person of Aruna Quadri, and the first Nigerian rower, Chierika Ukogu.  Ms Ukogu had to sponsor herself to the Rio Olympics. She had to beg for funds, and travelled on the wings of charity too. She qualified for the quarter finals and got Semi-finals C/D ranking and we are now all so proud of her, but deep in her heart, she would know that the country she promoted so much at the Rio Olympics, does not really care for her. And that is sad. There was also the Nigerian basketball team. They put up a valiant fight for love of country, but I doubt if any one of them is home-made. When will Nigeria begin to make its own athletes and geniuses, and not leave its responsibility to pure chance and accidents?

   I salute the courage of all the badly treated and frustrated 78 Nigerian athletes currently fighting for our country at the Rio Olympics. They are patriots and they are all deserving of our appreciation for their faith in Nigeria despite the odds, representing Nigeria, in badly sewn track-suits. They may not win any medal- we understand! We would still be proud of them. It is their type that reminds us that indeed, there is still a country and for that alone, we must be grateful.

Reuben Abati

Endorsing Hillary Clinton by Reuben Abati

If there was any hope that Donald Trump would change tactics and be more restrained after winning the Republican party Presidential nomination for the November 8 US election, that hope is now lost.  The fellow has remained aggressive, incorrigibly brash and completely negative. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has asked: "Is Donald Trump just plain crazy?"  (August 1).  Robinson says he is "increasingly convinced," and that Trump's "grasp on reality appears to be tenuous at best."

       The way he is carrying on, indeed Trump may need a mental fitness test soon. By now, it must be clear to all and sundry, that he poses a great risk to the United States, to democracy and the liberal world. President Barack Obama has dismissed him as being unfit to be President, he being so totally unprepared, he being no more than a bumbling apprentice seeking the highest job in the United States. A man given to melodrama and expletives such as Trump, without any respect for basic decorum and standards would make a very bad President.  He must be prevented from doing damage to the free world.

      I am however, surprised that there are Nigerians who insist that he is a better choice. I don't think so. And don't ask me why Nigerians should be so divided over another country's election. The truth is that America's Presidential election is a world election. There are millions of Nigerians and Africans living in the United States and even greater numbers hoping to visit, study or live in the United States.  What happens in America affects the rest of the world.  If a Trump Presidency happens, we are all in trouble.