The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it had concluded arrangements for the conduct of the supplementary 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) on July 1st.
The board’s Head, Media and Information, Dr. Fabian Benjamin said that the examination would give candidates with issues of late registration and others opportunity to write the Computer-Based Test.
The results of the examination which earlier took place from May 13 to May 20 have since been released.
JAMB, on Wednesday, June 14, also announced the cancellation of results of no fewer than 50,000 candidates over examination malpractice and other alleged infractions.
Dr. Benjamin urged candidates for the supplementary examination not to panic, but remain focused and confident.
“The board is using the opportunity to charge affected candidates for the rescheduled examination not to panic, as text messages will be sent to their telephones, with which they used in registering for the examination, to the effect of their qualification.
“There is really nothing to be afraid of or worried about. To this effect, therefore, they should be expecting such notification before 12 midnight of Thursday, June 15.
“Messages will also be sent to their e-mail addresses. Their profile will also contain the information as it had been updated.
“In the same vein, all candidates whose results had been cancelled outrightly following their involvement in examination irregularities will also be notified through their e-mails, text messages as well as their profiles.
“This set of candidates is not eligible for the supplementary examination.”
Dr. Benjamin said that candidates for the rescheduled examination will also be notified of the date and venue on or before Monday, June 19.
He said that candidates could check their result status to avoid being extorted by fraudsters who might want to seize the opportunity to exploit them.
Dr. Benjamin said that the examination body is taking extra steps to contact all rescheduled candidates for the examination to prevent them from falling prey to fraudulent persons.
“Sequel to this, therefore, the board is calling on members of the public, especially candidates, to avail themselves of the open door and inclusive policy of the board to seek clarification where the need arises, from any of our offices nationwide.
“This rescheduled examination became necessary to ensure that no innocent candidate is unjustly punished.”
The government of Nigeria – federal, state and local – has failed Nigerians. For a country that should be in a hurry to exit the Destitution Avenue, this is simply unacceptable. It is another instance of failure of governance. Failure of governance is when government fails to serve the people. Nigerians should be worried about the way the budgetary process runs in this country.
These are the views of the Catholic Bishop emeritus and former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Anthony Cardinal Okogie, in a statement titled: “Deprivation and Agitation: A Reflection on Nigeria’s Late 2017 Budget.”
Cardinal Okogie, who was also the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, lamented that the 2017 budget was presented to the legislature in the twilight of the 2016 and was just passed on May 14, 2017, which was “more than five months into the year and close to six months after it was presented.”
“In the period when the budget has yet to be passed, how is government carrying out its functions? Who is accountable to who when it comes to how money is spent?
“Does this reflect a country that really wishes to put an end to corruption? But while there was delay in passing the budget, there is an early bird approach to the politics of 2019. The budget was not passed but politicians were positioning themselves for the 2019 presidential elections.
“Now, deprivation has turned into agitation. In the absence of a budget, the economic conditions in which we live continue to bite. Nigerians are hungry and angry. In their anger, they turn against each other on the social media, using unprintable language, threats and violence to sort out their differences. Young Igbo insult the Yoruba, young Yoruba insult the Igbo, the North and the South have suddenly realised that they cannot live together.
“In all this, instead of facing their common enemy – politicians who abuse their offices and steal the wealth of the land, thus depriving us of decent living – young Nigerians tear each other apart in a society where civil discourse has become an unwanted alien.
“We have said it before that we live in clear and present danger. We said it when herdsmen went on the rampage and arms were being brought into Nigeria by ‘ghost importers.’ Now, we should ask ourselves: is there a correlation between illegal importation of arms into Nigeria and the drumbeats and dance steps of war we are currently witnessing?” [myad]
In its latest move launch battle with inflation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has planned to mop up a total of N200.322 billion from the Nigerian banking system through a special Open Market Operation (OMO) at the rate of 16 per cent per annum.
Rising from a meeting of the Bankers’ Committee in Lagos today, Thursday, the CBN said that its decision to mop up liquidity was in reaction to the maturity of N206 billion on Thursday, June 15.
Speaking to news men, the Bank’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, explained that the apex Bank decided on the rate of 16% per annum due to the falling rate of inflation, which he said will continue to fall.
It will be recalled that the Bank on Monday, June 12, released its Treasury Bills Issue Programme for the third quarter of 2017 in which it disclosed that the maturity dates for the various tenors will be June 15, June 22, July 6, July 20, August 3, August 17 and August 31, 2017, respectively. [myad]
The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) has announced a partnership with Federal Ministry of Education and State Universal Basic Education Boards in Bauchi, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states, to launch the Girls for Girls (G4G) initiative. The UNICEF explained that the G4G would empower girls with information and knowledge to help build their capacity to stand up for themselves.
The concept is also aimed at creating equal opportunities for girls to access education.
In a statement today as Africa celebrates the Day of the African Child, UNICEF said: “with today’s commemoration of the Day of the African Child focusing on empowerment and equal opportunity for the African child, the launch is timely especially for the girl child whose fortunes are not nearly as bright as for boys.
“The primary goal of G4G is to empower girls with knowledge, skills and confidence needed to enroll and remain in school, completing the full course of education so they can be role model to other girls in their communities.”
The statement said that girls, working with members of the Mothers Association as mentors, will initiate and lead a range of activities to identify barriers to the education of girls in their communities and work to remove such barriers so girls will enroll and remain in school.
The statement quoted UNICEF’s Mohamed Fall as saying: “the G4G initiative is a commitment to improve the quality of girls’ and ultimately women’s lives by empowering girls through education.
“By educating girls, practices such as early marriage will be uprooted and girls will be empowered to contribute to the development of their communities, states and Nigeria.”
The G4G initiative is a component of the Girls’ Education Project Phase 3 being implemented in northern Nigeria through a collaboration between UNICEF Nigeria and the Federal Government of Nigeria with funding from the United Kingdom (UK) Department of International Development (DFID).
This phase of the Girls Education Project seeks to help put 1 million girls in school, support them to remain in school and improve their learning achievement. The focus states have the highest number of girls who do not attend school in Nigeria.
Despite important education gains in recent decades, Nigeria, still has the largest number of girls not in school. When girls enter school, a vast majority of them do not complete primary school education. The average girl stays in school only through age nine. Less than one-third of girls in Nigeria enroll in the lower secondary school, and, in northern Nigeria, less than one in 10 girls generally complete secondary education.
G4G groups will be established in more than 8,000 Primary and Qur’anic schools by 2019. [myad]
The Buhari Media Support Group (BMSG) has accused Sahara Reporters an online publication of peddling rumour and blatant lies about the recent visit of Aisha’s visit to her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari who has been in London on medical vacation.
The group said that the Sahara Reporters’ story titled: “Aisha Buhari Did Not See The President During Her London Visit” published on June 13, 2017, was a tissue of lies aimed at ridiculing the President, his office, wife and officials working with him.
In a statement by the chairman, Hon. Austin Braimoh Chairman and secretary, Chief Cassidy Madueke, the group said that the publication was mischievous, malicious and wicked just as it was capable of bringing the office of the President to disrepute.
“it is shocking that Sahara Reporters could descend so low to the point of being a harbinger of fake news.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Buhari met and spoke with the 81 released Chibok girls before embarking on the second medical mission to London and it is evident that he spoke at the airport with officials of State before taking off. Both events were televised nationwide.
“It is therefore most uncharitable for Sahara Reporters to claim that the President lost his memory before travelling out of the country and could adduce any fact to its claim.”
The group said that the claim by Sahara Reporters that the President’s wife did not see him during her visit to London is another blatant falsehood.
“Sahara Reporters is now getting too personal and this is very unfortunate and dangerous because the visit of the wife of the President was a pure family affair.
“One wonders the sources that gave them this information when it is obvious the wife of the President met and spoke with her husband and even came home with the cheering news that the President’s health has improved and that Nigerians should keep praying for his full recovery.”
The group recalled that before returning from the first medical trip, Sahara Reporters put out stories which indicated that the President was a write-off on grounds that his health had degenerated such that he would not be able to function.
“But few days after the doomsday publication, the President returned to Nigeria and stayed for 57 days before returning for the second lap of his treatment, which he (the President) had given advance notice of.
“It is unfortunate that Sahara Reporters relied on the information gathered from its so-called sources and did not speak with image makers of the President before embarking on the its campaign.
“Embarking on high level fabrications should not be the hallmark of Sahara Reporters. The Presidency remains one as evidenced by the free hand given to the Acting President to run the country while the President is away.
“The claim that a cabal or a few officials working for Buhari is holding the Presidency to ransom is far from the truth.
The group urged Sahara Reporters to stick to the ethics of journalism practice in order to eschew malicious and tendentious reports that are capable of putting Nigeria on the edge, especially, now that the nation is making steady, but significant progress on all spheres of development. [myad]
I am not going to parody Ibsen’s The Master Builder or Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, rather I am going to do a straight talk; present the subject matter as it is. Our Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is a Master Painter. He probably is the greatest painter in the world. And this should not surprise anyone who is familiar with Osinbajo’s intimidating curriculum vitae.
Right from youth Yemi Osinbajo had been a whiz kid, a child prodigy at the primary school, and at Igbobi College where his brilliance showed like the Northern Star he was easily extra-ordinary and outstanding. His academic record at the University was equally dazzling and before anyone could say Zik, he had got himself a proud academic Chair before he turned 33. An incredible feat in his day.
He is a lawyer, a Professor to boot, he is an editor of serious academic journals; he is a researcher of note; and he has earned for himself a great reputation in many other fields outside the confines of Law. One may then begin to wonder when he learnt the trade of painting and how without announcement or fanfare he rose to the status of the Maser Painter.
Acting President Osinbajo did not start off as a painter as this narrative goes and if he has ever had anything to do with construction and civil engineering in metaphorical sense; he has proven himself to be a superb architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor, bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter and interior decorator. Not given to bits and pieces Osinbajo has been a whole man, a complete doer, a finisher of projects. He has produced complete buildings of solid foundations.
The business of house painting did not happen until Jagaban Ahmed Tinubu dragged him to national prominence and lately to world stage first as Vice President and Acting President of the Unitary Fiefdom of Nigeria.
In his new but intermittent assignment as Acting President he found himself superintending over a dilapidated building. The building’s roof is partially gone with leaks all over the place. The walls have fallen in several places while most of the doors and windows have been removed or vandalized. Most of the furniture in the house had been plundered and the few that remain are in very poor and bad shape. Movements from one room to another or from the parlour to the kitchen are hardly possible. All the internal decorations have disappeared. Unfortunately and here is the tragedy, the building houses some of the best brains in the world. Underneath the building are rich minerals of stupendous value.
Osinbajo took it upon himself to present the building in a way that would make it attractive to outsiders so that investors might come to make something out of the dilapidated nonsense before them. Osinbajo is imbued with remarkable oratorical skills and good humour which he has combined to make a painter’s brush. He needs paint. He has deployed symposia, workshops, photo-ops and convincing marketing tools as paint.
Recently he added visits and visitations. He has gone to places where even devils were afraid to tread. He has been in the midst of fierce and vicious bomb-making-bomb-throwing Niger Delta self determination groups, he has been to the brutish and brutal Boko Haram enclaves, he has been to virtually all the nooks and crannies of the broken Fiefdom; the near-collapsed building.
To complete the cycle, Osinbajo went to the popular market in Abuja to see for himself where the shoe pinches. Osinbajo the painter has become hugely popular with the residents of the building about to collapse on their heads.
The hard part of the master Painter’s job is how to paint a building that is virtually torn apart. Where and how does he begin his delicate job? How does he make the building attractive to those who may risk putting the building together again and make it erect?
There is a dilemma. Is it not better, wiser and more cost effective to pull down the dilapidated building and start another one from the scratch? What is the sense of painting a sepulcher? This building before our eyes is virtually and practically gone. And to make matters worse there are cabals with diggers and bulldozers knocking down parts of the building any time attempts are made at reconstruction.
The Master painter is undaunted. He has successfully painted the doors that have fallen apart. We must add though that the doors still need to be fixed to the frames, and the frames already perforated by ants also need fixing!
The Master Painter is set to paint the North Eastern wing of the building. This is the portion that is worst hit by the political recklessness of the occupants of the building. He has brought his paints and his handy brush is about to be put to service. But there so many thieves occupying that wing. How will his painting be effected without hindrance?
I am told he will be moving to the South-South wing of the building but he has to mind the mines and booby traps planted in his path. He is undaunted as I am told because he is also a prayer warrior. That is a bit I left out at the beginning of this narrative. Osinbajo is a prayer warrior and his wife, an Awolowo, is also a super prayer warrior. Osinbajo was set to be a successor in the Lord’s vineyard where I understand he has perfected the art and science of speaking in tongues before the lot of Vice presidency fell on his lap. Perhaps this is one of the enabling factors that have strengthened the resolve of Osinbajo to take on this painting job.
It is hoped that Osinbajo will succeed in this thankless painting job. And if my assessment of Osinbajo is anything to go by, the intellectual giant is likely to reconstruct the entire building, make it solid and enduring before quitting the stage.
There is a note of warning though. However much the building is painted and possibly reconstructed to stand, as long as it remains in the hands of the bulldozer-wielding cabal of wheelers and dealers, it will no sooner than later revert to its status as raped Fiefdom and the title of Unitary Fiefdom will stick before the eventual TOTAL and irretrievable COLLAPSE when all the components scatter.
Hearty Congratulations and Three Hearty Cheers to our serious minded but ever smiling and highly focused extraordinary Intellectual giant for a painting job that has caught headlines nationally and internationally.
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has been left without a job as his fellow Igbo people, both young and old have pledged their belief in a united Nigeria.
Leaders of thought from the South East, today, Wednesday, held a meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo where they gave assurance that Igbo people have no intention of pursing the carving out of another country.
Speaking on behalf of the leaders of thought to news men shortly after the meeting,
Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi said that the meeting is not about IPOB but that it was aimed ensuring security of lives and properties of Nigerians all over Nigeria.
“We agreed on the need for a united, honest, fair and equitable Nigeria. That was what the meeting was about. It was a wonderful meeting and the message we are taking back is that there is hope for a united and peaceful Nigeria and everybody should work hard.
“We emphasised the need for everybody to refrain from making hate statements. We should be making statements that bind us together; statements of love, statements of unity, statements of hope and of course, we should also work very hard.”
Umahi said however that everybody has the right to agitate but that such agitation must not go contrary to peaceful existence of the citizens of this country; it must be a peaceful agitation. Even you agitation,
“Your wife agitates at home that the feeding money is not enough, so it is a fundamental right, but it is the manner you go about it. So it is not an issue that cannot be resolved.”
While meeting with the leaders of thought from the South East, Acting President Osinbajo said that the meeting was very urgent and crucial because of the current loud voices of hate speeches and divisive comments resonating across the country.
Stressing that the situation required urgent attention from all concerned, the acting President noted that this is not the time to hide under any ethnic or religious platform to support comments that divide rather than unite us as a nation.
He urged leaders to raise their voices against the present strident divisive speeches in the country stressing that “violence pays no one.
“Violence and war are not going to do anyone any good. War today hardly ends. No one who has seen the face of wars even on Television would wish it for anyone. We shouldn’t tolerate hate speeches or divisive comments.”
Professor Osinbajo made it clear that the government would deal with any trouble maker who threatens the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.
“There is no doubt on the resolve of government to allow anyone get away with hate speeches and divisive words. Our emotion should not be allowed to run wide so as to threaten the existence of anyone anywhere in Nigeria. We will do everything within our power to protect the lives of every citizen anywhere and in any part of the country.”
The acting President thanked the leaders for their prompt response to the consultative meeting, saying that he expects fruitful and frank deliberations at the meeting.
Some of those present at the meeting were Senate Preaident Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, Governor of Enugu Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Governor of Ebonyi, David Umahi, Governor of Abia Okezie Ikpeazu and Governor of Anambra Willy Obiano, Rochas Okorocha, chief of staff to the president Abba Kyari, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, NSA, chief of defence staff, service chiefs, IGP, and ministers.
Others are former Senate President Ken Namani, Senator Eyinaya Abaribe, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Catholic Awka Bishop Okoye, Igwebike Onah Catholic archbishop of Nssuka, Senator Joy Emordi, Professor Viola Nwuleri. [myad]
The Kogi State Police Command has accused the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial zone, Dino Melaye of holding a political rally without obtaining permission form the right authority.
The Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, who made the accusation in Lokoja, the state capital, said that henceforth, any form of political rally, public prossession and demonstration have been banned with immediate effect.
He confirmed that said unknown gunmen attacked people at a rally being addressed by Senator Dino Melayein in Lokoja on June 12 leading to what he called the current tensed security situation in the state.
Inalegwu said that the decision to ban political rallies was approved during an emergency meeting of the state security council held on June 13 and would remain in force until the situation improved. [myad]
The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has said that his almost two years long trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) was a persecution even as he said that he bears no grudge to those behind such persecution.
In an official statement on his acquittal today, Wednesday, by the tribunal, Saraki said: “after undergoing the crucible of a tortuous trial, my vindication today calls for celebration. It is my belief however that if there should be any celebration at all, it should be a celebration of the hopes that this judgment gives us as citizens that despite all the challenges that we face as a country, we are well on our way to building a country where the innocent needs not be afraid.
“You would recall that at the beginning of the trial, I maintained that I will clear my name. The conclusion of this trial has vindicated my position. With the outcome of this case, our faith is renewed in our courts and our hope is restored that the judiciary in our country could indeed provide sanctuary for all those who seek justice.”
Senator Saraki asked all his supporters to refrain from any unbridled triumphalism, adding that the challenges that Nigeria faces today are enormous and do not allow for wanton celebration. “Instead, we should all reflect on the significance of this moment and what it meant for our democracy.
“On a personal note, I harbour no grudge against anyone, regardless of the role they might have played in the persecution that I had endured in the last two years. I believe that If my trial had in anyway given hope to the common man that no matter the forces arraigned against him, he can still get justice in our courts, then my tribulation had not been in vain.”
The Senate President then thanked Almighty Allah, the ultimate Judge and the repository of all powers who alone has brought about this victory.
He expressed immense gratefulness to all his colleagues in the National Assembly for their abiding support, saying that all through his trial, they demonstrated their strong conviction about the choice they all decided to make two years ago.
“I thank members of my family for their unflinching support. I thank all friends and supporters back home in Kwara State and across the length and breadth of our country for their prayers and their sacrifices. My gratitude also goes to all members of my legal team for their tireless efforts to ensure the cause of justice is served.
“Once again, I thank my colleagues in the 8th Senate for standing firm. Regardless of the distraction of my trial, we have achieved more as legislators than the previous Senates. Now that this distraction is over, we can even achieve so much more. We must now proceed from here with greater vigour to deliver on the expectations of Nigerians and show that this 8th Senate can indeed play a central role in improving the quality of lives of our people.
“Lastly, I thank all the gentlemen of the press for your abiding interest in this case, which I believe had contributed in no small measure in ensuring that truth and reason ultimately prevailed.”
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), todaym, Wednesday, discharged and acquitted Saraki on a false declaration of assets case brought against him.
Chairman of the Tribunal, Danladi Umar, said that there was no evidence to continue the trial against him. [myad]
An Akure-based lawyer and right activists, Morakinyo Ogele, has demanded a public apology and the sum of N1 billion compensation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for invading the premises of The Sun newspaper
Barrister Ogele accused the anti graft agency of disrupting the daily activity of the newspaper company, and subjecting its staff to physiological trauma and molestation.
The lawyer, who spoke with news men today, Wednesday, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, threatened to take legal action against EFCC if it failed to hearken to his call.
Ogele described the action of the EFCC as barbaric.
“Seven days ultimatum is hereby issued to EFCC to tender unreserved apology to Sun and compensate the paper with N1billion.
“Otherwise, I may be forced to restrain EFCC from carrying out activities not known to law,” the lawyer threatened.
He said that the raid on the media outfit had now become a stock in trade of the commission and described the action as uncivilized and unconstitutional.
“It is designed to gag, molest and harass the press. The excuse offered to the public by the EFCC cannot be accepted, as the matter is still pending in the competent court of law”, he declared.
Ogele said the action of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had already violated section 39 (1) of 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended.
He said that the anti graft agency carried out its statutory functions outside the organic law by such unlawful act.
The lawyer charged the Nigerian masses who believed in the freedom of the press to condemn the invasion of the Sun Newspaper premises.
Ogele sympathized with the media outfit for the damages and embarrassment and insisted that its management must drag the EFCC to court.
He, however, asked the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to respect the rule of law and desist from the “rule of force and crudity.”
The operatives of the EFCC had, in the early hours of Monday, invaded the Lagos head office of the Sun Newspaper to ascertain the state of the assets of the publishing company which has been a subject of a subsisting interim forfeiture order.
Prior to the invasion, the anti graft agency had written to the authorities of the media outfit to account for its management of the assets for the period of the subsisting court order. [myad]
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Professor Yemi Osinbajo, The Master Painter, By Tola Adeniyi
I am not going to parody Ibsen’s The Master Builder or Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, rather I am going to do a straight talk; present the subject matter as it is. Our Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is a Master Painter. He probably is the greatest painter in the world. And this should not surprise anyone who is familiar with Osinbajo’s intimidating curriculum vitae.
Right from youth Yemi Osinbajo had been a whiz kid, a child prodigy at the primary school, and at Igbobi College where his brilliance showed like the Northern Star he was easily extra-ordinary and outstanding. His academic record at the University was equally dazzling and before anyone could say Zik, he had got himself a proud academic Chair before he turned 33. An incredible feat in his day.
He is a lawyer, a Professor to boot, he is an editor of serious academic journals; he is a researcher of note; and he has earned for himself a great reputation in many other fields outside the confines of Law. One may then begin to wonder when he learnt the trade of painting and how without announcement or fanfare he rose to the status of the Maser Painter.
Acting President Osinbajo did not start off as a painter as this narrative goes and if he has ever had anything to do with construction and civil engineering in metaphorical sense; he has proven himself to be a superb architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor, bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter and interior decorator. Not given to bits and pieces Osinbajo has been a whole man, a complete doer, a finisher of projects. He has produced complete buildings of solid foundations.
The business of house painting did not happen until Jagaban Ahmed Tinubu dragged him to national prominence and lately to world stage first as Vice President and Acting President of the Unitary Fiefdom of Nigeria.
In his new but intermittent assignment as Acting President he found himself superintending over a dilapidated building. The building’s roof is partially gone with leaks all over the place. The walls have fallen in several places while most of the doors and windows have been removed or vandalized. Most of the furniture in the house had been plundered and the few that remain are in very poor and bad shape. Movements from one room to another or from the parlour to the kitchen are hardly possible. All the internal decorations have disappeared. Unfortunately and here is the tragedy, the building houses some of the best brains in the world. Underneath the building are rich minerals of stupendous value.
Osinbajo took it upon himself to present the building in a way that would make it attractive to outsiders so that investors might come to make something out of the dilapidated nonsense before them. Osinbajo is imbued with remarkable oratorical skills and good humour which he has combined to make a painter’s brush. He needs paint. He has deployed symposia, workshops, photo-ops and convincing marketing tools as paint.
Recently he added visits and visitations. He has gone to places where even devils were afraid to tread. He has been in the midst of fierce and vicious bomb-making-bomb-throwing Niger Delta self determination groups, he has been to the brutish and brutal Boko Haram enclaves, he has been to virtually all the nooks and crannies of the broken Fiefdom; the near-collapsed building.
To complete the cycle, Osinbajo went to the popular market in Abuja to see for himself where the shoe pinches. Osinbajo the painter has become hugely popular with the residents of the building about to collapse on their heads.
The hard part of the master Painter’s job is how to paint a building that is virtually torn apart. Where and how does he begin his delicate job? How does he make the building attractive to those who may risk putting the building together again and make it erect?
There is a dilemma. Is it not better, wiser and more cost effective to pull down the dilapidated building and start another one from the scratch? What is the sense of painting a sepulcher? This building before our eyes is virtually and practically gone. And to make matters worse there are cabals with diggers and bulldozers knocking down parts of the building any time attempts are made at reconstruction.
The Master painter is undaunted. He has successfully painted the doors that have fallen apart. We must add though that the doors still need to be fixed to the frames, and the frames already perforated by ants also need fixing!
The Master Painter is set to paint the North Eastern wing of the building. This is the portion that is worst hit by the political recklessness of the occupants of the building. He has brought his paints and his handy brush is about to be put to service. But there so many thieves occupying that wing. How will his painting be effected without hindrance?
I am told he will be moving to the South-South wing of the building but he has to mind the mines and booby traps planted in his path. He is undaunted as I am told because he is also a prayer warrior. That is a bit I left out at the beginning of this narrative. Osinbajo is a prayer warrior and his wife, an Awolowo, is also a super prayer warrior. Osinbajo was set to be a successor in the Lord’s vineyard where I understand he has perfected the art and science of speaking in tongues before the lot of Vice presidency fell on his lap. Perhaps this is one of the enabling factors that have strengthened the resolve of Osinbajo to take on this painting job.
It is hoped that Osinbajo will succeed in this thankless painting job. And if my assessment of Osinbajo is anything to go by, the intellectual giant is likely to reconstruct the entire building, make it solid and enduring before quitting the stage.
There is a note of warning though. However much the building is painted and possibly reconstructed to stand, as long as it remains in the hands of the bulldozer-wielding cabal of wheelers and dealers, it will no sooner than later revert to its status as raped Fiefdom and the title of Unitary Fiefdom will stick before the eventual TOTAL and irretrievable COLLAPSE when all the components scatter.
Hearty Congratulations and Three Hearty Cheers to our serious minded but ever smiling and highly focused extraordinary Intellectual giant for a painting job that has caught headlines nationally and internationally.
Credit: Tola Adeniyi. [myad]