Rev. King, The Law And King’s Supporters by Reuben Abati

Rev King

In the case of the State and Rev. Chukwuemeka Kingsley Ezeugo, the Supreme Court a few days ago, upheld the rulings of the lower courts and ruled that the bearded, self-styled "little god", "Jesus Christ of our time", and founder of the Lagos-based Christian Praying Assembly (CPA), deserves to be hanged, for enacting a form of horror movie which resulted in the death in 2006 of Ms Ann Uzoh.  The simple import of that ruling is that no man is a king before the law, and that the law is no respecter of persons including those who describe themselves as anointed men of God, and who on that account use religion to commit atrocities. 

       But the most bizarre development since that ruling last Friday has been the intervention of a group called the Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria (NCSN).  The group says Nigeria has nothing to gain by shedding Rev. King's blood and that President Muhammadu Buhari should grant the convicted murderer state pardon because "he is still a spiritual leader to many Nigerians." The Ndigbo Society is indirectly saying that Rev King's life should be spared because he is Igbo, and a religious leader. This is nothing but arrant nonsense. It makes us wonder what happens to people's heads once they are in the grips of the disease of ethnicism. Has anyone told the Ndigbo Cultural Society that Rev. King's victim, Ann Uzoh, was also Igbo? Or is Emeka Ezeugo's Igbo life more important than that of Ann Uzoh? Or the lives of the others: Jessica Nwene, Kosiso Ezenwankwo, Chiejina Olisa, Chizoba Onuora, Vivian and Uche?

The Naira-Dollar blues By Reuben Abati

"My brother, e ku exchange rate oh."

"Excuse me?"

"I am greeting you. I am saying how are you and the exchange rate palaver. The dollar wahala".

"So, that is why you are saying e ku exchange rate. Is something wrong with you Yoruba people?        Must you turn everything into a form of greeting?"

"You are insulting me?"

"I am making a statement"

"Meaning?"

 "Any serious matter at all, you and your people must turn it into something else. E ku exchange rate? What kind of greeting is that? Yoruba will say e ku election, e ku democracy, e ku change, e ku ana, e ku gbogbo e, gbogbo e, e ku democracy.I am tired of answering you people and your cynical greetings."

Olajumoke Orisaguna: The Nigerian Cinderella by Reuben Abati

Olajumoke Orisaguna

About three weeks ago, 27-year old Olajumoke Orisaguna was a complete unknown on the streets of Lagos, hawking bread.  A loaf of bread is about N100, and even with a full tray such as she carried in her first public embrace of fame, her whole ware for a day may not be more than N3,000, with daily profit between N300-N700.  She had trained as a hair stylist, got married but had to leave her husband and a daughter back home in Ire, Osun state, to "hustle" as it were in Lagos. The life of a bread seller in Lagos is easily imaginable: exposure to the elements, to sundry abuse, including the possibility of being raped by unruly artisans and bachelors, who will offer to buy bread and something else along with it, if the hawker is willing. This was Olajumoke Orisaguna's reality until she ran into TY Bello and Tinie Tempah and her life changed. Today, she has been enrolled as a model. Her story has appeared in all newspapers, on CNN, Huffington Post, and virtually everywhere online.

The Made in Nigeria Campaign by Reuben Abati

Nigeria National Assembly

There has been renewed talk lately about the need for Nigerians to patronize locally made goods, (someone should have added… and services!). Championed by Senator Ben Murray Bruce, and supported by the Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar and a large crowd of online campaigners, so much ink, saliva, and emotions have been invested in this old, and perhaps boring story.

     Senator Bruce, who goes by the moniker "the Commonsense Senator" even introduced a hashtag #BuyNaijaToGrowtheNaira. He hasn't quite explained the connection, but with the exchange rate melting down and the Naira yo-yoing, everyone including our neighbourhood electrician, and his friend, the battery charger, have both become experts on the fortunes of the national currency.  Senator Saraki has promised that the Public Procurement Act will be amended by the 8^th National Assembly to make it mandatory for the government to patronize locally made goods. Minister Aisha Abubakar has proposed a "Patronise Naija Products Campaign."

When Love Isn't Enough by Reuben Abati

It is that time of the year again in the month of February, when there is so much talk and excitement about romance and love, all in preparation for that special day dedicated to love, romance and dalliance, this very day, Valentine's Day.  The romantic propaganda can be really oppressive. In the past few days for example, GSM service providers have insisted that the only ring tone that fits this season is the one that forces you to think of romance, just in case you may have forgotten. I didn't solicit for the ringtone, but I got it all the same and I have had to listen to it, on other people's lines, and I guess it doesn't come free.

        The GSM companies are making money selling Valentine messages. And that is the point: the frenzy over Valentine's Day is commercial, capitalistic, and it is of course, global.  In the United States, even the White House is not left out, with the First Lady composing a poem for President Barack Obama on this special occasion. It is all mushy, lovey-dovey stuff. The eventual beneficiaries are the business outfits that produce printing cards, shirts, chocolates, cakes, the restaurants that will probably remain open till Feb. 15, not to talk of the companies that will benefit from the many phone calls, e-mails and text messages.

A Story around Mama Dawes by Reuben Abati

Teachers are the most important persons in anyone's life. Teachers teach us everything that we know. They inspire us. They leave their imprints, almost like genetic imprints in our lives, and those imprints survive forever. They come in different shapes. The teachers in the classrooms, the ones we meet in our life-long journey of searching and probing. The ones who cross our paths and leave indelible marks.

       Even more importantly, the ones that do not carry dusters and chalks but whose lives redefine ours, changing us for better, for real. They write and we read their words and thoughts, or we even just hear about them and their works, and we are recruited as disciples for as long as we live. They could be formal teachers or village elders, raconteurs, musicians, dancers, grandmothers and grandfathers or writers and scientists, but they change us all the same, because the truth is that as we grow, we contend with a multiplicity of influences, and we get influenced, re-born, re-made.  

       All teachers inspire us with words, with methods, with what they say and what they do, and in the process, they help the world to forge ahead, they extend traditions and thoughts, and even if they never get the rewards that they deserve, they remain unforgettable all the same because teaching is one of the most divine of all professions. This then is a tribute to all teachers, all those illuminated souls who give, and nurture, so that others may grow. What has triggered these ruminations is the report of the death in the United Kingdom, this week, of Carol Dawes, a Jamaican-Nigerian mother, teacher, scholar and great influencer, at 84. Nigerian students of the dramatic arts in the 80s and 90s will remember Mama Dawes fondly, particularly her students and colleagues at the Universities of Port Harcourt, Ife and Calabar, and indeed everyone who was privileged to encounter her.

Mbaka: Priest, Politician Or Renegade by Reuben Abati

Fr. Ejike Mbaka

Catholic priests in Nigeria have always captured the public imagination, some of them have served in government positions, some were prominent in the fight and struggle for democracy, some of them have proved their mettle as poets, teachers, musicians, social critics, and public affairs commentators, but Rev. Fr. Ejike Camillus Anthony Ebenezer Mbaka is a cut above the rest, not necessarily in terms of intellect or persona, but in terms of how he has been able to use the pulpit to acquire a rock star status.

It is therefore not surprising that everything about him is with a touch of the histrionic.  This is exactly what happened when he was transferred, last week, from a parish where he had served for 20 years: from Christ the King Parish, GRA Enugu, to Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Umuchigbo, Njinike,  Enugu.  Characteristically, this radical priest and social activist turned what should be a routine administrative posting by his Bishop into a melodrama and an assault on the authority of the Church.  You would think he had been sentenced to a jail term, the way he whined and wept and appealed to sympathy.

Federal Character and its Discontents by Reuben Abati

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Online Warriors by Reuben Abati

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

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