The Federal Government has apologized to Nigerians for the hardship which the current nation-wide fuel scarcity has caused them. In a statement today in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said all efforts are being made to rectify the situation and ensure a gradual improvement in the power situation. “There will be a decent improvement in the power situation from this weekend, thanks to ongoing remedial efforts that will double the current power supply to 4,000WM. Getting back to the 5,074MW all-time high that was reached earlier will take a few more weeks.” Lai Mohammed said that at a time the routine maintenance by the Nigeria Gas Company has affected the supply of gas to power stations, forcing down power supply from an all-time high of 5,074 MW to about 4,000MW, a combination of unsavoury incidents further crashed the power supply to about half that figure. “The vandalization of the Forcados export pipelines forced oil companies to shut down, making it impossible for them to produce gas. Then, workers at the Ikeja Discos, who were protesting the disengagement of some of their colleagues after they failed the company’s competency test, apparently colluded with the National Transmission Station in Osogbo to shut down transmission. “Finally, the unfortunate strike by the unions at the NNPC, over the restructuring of the Corporation, shut down the Itarogun Power Station, the biggest in the country. Due to these factors, only 13 out of the 24 power stations in the country are currently functioning. It is this same kind of unsavoury situation that has affected fuel supply and subjected Nigerians to untold hardship.” The Minister strongly condemned the situation in which some Nigerians, under the guise of the various unions in the oil and gas sector or sheer vandalization, will continuously sabotage the country’s power infrastructure. “The bitter truth is that for as along as these groups of Nigerians continue to sabotage the power infrastructure, Nigerians cannot enjoy a decent level of power supply. We therefore admonish all Nigerians who may be agitating for their rights in whatever form to refrain from any action that will further hurt the same people they claim to be protecting.” [myad]
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has lamented that 38 dead principals of schools and 15 retired teachers are still being paid salaries as substantive members of staff by the state government. The governor made the revelation in Asaba at an interactive session with the principals of schools in the state, blaming principals of such public secondary schools for feigning ignorance on the number of teachers who were dead, absconded or had retired but who were still being paid salaries in their schools. The governor, who expressed his disappointment at the development, said the position of the principal depicts integrity and authority, adding that that with the development, the integrity of the principals were now in doubt. “Investigations carried out by the government in Asaba and Agbor zones alone revealed that 28 strange names, 38 dead and 15 retired teachers were on the schools’ payroll. “As heads of the schools, principals will be held liable for any fraudulent activity discovered in their schools. “A principal is a position of authority and integrity and we should care about our conduct and as principals you should know the staff in your schools. “I know that no principal will claim not to be aware of such names in their schools, yet they allow government to pay such salaries. “This is fraudulent. “The level of connivance is high for the names to still be in the payroll. “Principals should know when persons are out of the system through retirement and death and pass such information to the relevant authority.” Okowa declared that it was fraudulent and criminal for somebody that died as far back as 2012 to still be in the payroll. He added that it was also fraudulent for any principal to continue to give returns to such persons in their nominal rolls. “I want to assure you that such fraudulent cases discovered will be appropriately dealt with and handed over to security agencies for prosecution.” Okowa solicited the support of the principals to root out such fraudulent acts from schools, adding that government could not afford such wastage in the face of dwindling resources. Okowa directed the principals to submit the nominal roll of their various schools to the office of the Head of Service. According to the governor, the roll should contain the names of their staff, including those who are dead, retired or absconded and whose names still appear in the payroll. Earlier in a welcome address, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chiedu Ebie, said the meeting was held for the governor to address issues affecting the education sector. Ebie added that the meeting would also enable the government ensure that principals live up to the expectations in discharging their duties. [myad]
a former Executive Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa has revealed how the sum of N2.2 Billion was spent on prayers against Boko Haram, during the regime of Goodluck Jonathan.
The money was said to have been obtained through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Baba-Kusa, in his statement of witness filed in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), said the N2.2billion was spent on prayers to hasten the defeat of Boko Haram. The cash was released in two tranches of N1,450,000,000 and N750,000,000.
“I approached the former NSA and discussed Boko Haram problems and I suggested there is need for prayers and he considered and accepted in 2013 when he first came to office.
“I personally sponsored many people locally and some few to Saudi Arabia. Some monies were later paid into our companies, which we paid to some of the mallams.
“I then arranged to recover my personal expense which I put into our own businesses. “We have been spending a lot from our businesses and personal accounts. Money paid through UBA, First Bank and ECOBANK. For Acacia Holdings Limited(A/C 1017330319-UBA); ECOBANK(0122012650); and First Bank(Reliance Referral Hospitals Limited A/C 2022394057). The total amount is N2,200,000,000 from October 2014 to April 2015.”
“I used some of the mallams to organize in Abuja, Zaria, Kano, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Kaduna and Saudi Arabia covering 2013 to 2015. I give them funds as required from time to time, ranging from N500,000 to N30million, depending on their needs, traveling, sadaqat and others for local expenses and travels to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj.
“I reminded the NSA many times before payments were made. We grew up together with the former NSA with common friends in ABU.
“Most of the payments in cash were meant to give out cash to people that have been organizing prayers. Some transfers to Acacia to other banks were for logistics and also to some mallams in cash.
“The proposal made to the former NSA was not documented by him or myself. The verbal proposal to him was for prayers to overcome Boko Haram within the shortest possible time.
“The engagement for prayers by organising some people to be praying was not formally written down. There was no amount of money agreed on. I said to him, I will start organising, which he agreed and said he will see what he would give at a later time.
Baba-Kusa said he had an estimate of over N700million spent “from my own resources before I started to ask for money from him”. Some of these funds came from disposal of some of my land in Abuja. One in Maitama, one in Gudu and one in Guzape. The Maitama was a little over N200million; Guzape (N80m), Gudu(N18m), he told the EFCC.
But, according to him, he kept no records of the money he gave to individual Mallams organizing various groups. I requested for no acknowledgement from them when I gave money to them.”
He assured the EFCC that he would refund the said cash if he is able to dispose of his landed properties.
“I am making efforts to dispose of my properties in Abuja which would be over the total amount of N2.2billion. If the sales go through and the amount from the sales is made in full, I will make full payment.”
Baba Kusa is facing trial with a former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki along with Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited (owned by Baba-Kusa) and a former Director of Finance in ONSA, Shuaibu Salisu.
In the 19 charges against the five suspects, Baba-Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited are alleged to have “between October 2014 and April 2015 in Abuja agreed to do an illegal act to wit : dishonestly receiving property to wit: an aggregate sum of N2,200,000,000 being part of the funds in the accounts of the Office of National Security Adviser and that the same act was fine in pursuance of the agreement among you and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Vol.4, LFN 2004.” [myad]
Nigerian Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has hired 66 lawyers to defend him in an alleged corrupt case against him being handled by the Conde of Conduct Tribunal saying that he is battle ready to prove his innocence.
This is even as he called on members of the public to disregard the antics of those he called “desperate and devilish elements over spurious and renewed attempts being made by forces behind his on-going trial.”
The lead counsel to the Senate President, Kanu Agabi, at the Tribunal sitting today, took about 10 minutes to read the long list of advocates and for them to acknowledge their presence at the Tribunal.
Senator Saraki is facing 13 counts of false declaration of assets relating to his time as governor of Kwara state. There was no immediate explanation about why so many lawyers were needed.
But the Senate President vowed that his lawyers are ready to defend his right and prove his innocence in court as the case began today, Friday.
And in a statement today by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President said that there elements that have been trailing the movement of his associates and giving different interpretations to their actions, all in a bid to poison the minds of the public against him, and to muddy the waters before the commencement of the case.
Senator Saraki said that some elements have been heckling his key aides and associates, using some unidentified individuals who make phone calls to the phone numbers of the individuals close to him.
“We assure all Nigerians and other observers of the Nigerian situation to be rest assured that the Senate President is ready to have his day in court. His lawyers are ready to defend his right and prove his innocence,” the statement said.
“Using the same scare-mongering methods that these devious forces have employed since the commencement of the case last September, they have employed an on-line medium known for its shady and unethical reputation, SaharaReporters, and another national newspaper to peddle inaccurate information aimed at prejudicing the coming case and forcing the actors in the case to take certain predetermined decisions.”
The statement added: “We will like to recall that this same group of people, using the same set of media and style, has last year successfully forced a Federal High Court judge to withdraw from the case filed by Dr, Saraki at the early stage of the Code of Conduct case. They also blackmailed the Court of Appeal to abruptly postpone its judgment some minutes to the period scheduled for the delivery of the judgment. Similarly, they have waged a war of attrition against Supreme Court Judges shortly before the February 5 delivery of the Apex Court’s judgement on the appeal filed by the Senate President.” [myad]
The Government of Osun state has explained why it cannot act outside the outcome of a forensic audit of the staff of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital Osogbo which has recommended the sacking of over 600 workers who have been identified to have been illegally recruited.
The Government’s statement came in response to a rally embarked upon by some staff of the Teaching Hospital on Wednesday who claimed that government had concluded plans to disengage them.
The government statement today by the Director of Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, revealed that it was in the cause of the forensic staff audit that the government discovered various illegal recruitments of staff in excess of 600.
The audit panel, which was set up in 2015, revealed that about 678 staffers were illegally employed without government approval and that some of these staffers were just administrative officers not urgently needed for the growth of the hospital.
It said that available statistics also showed that some of the administrative officers in question with Bachelor’s Degrees and Higher National Diploma holders were recruited as security and Ward Assistants on Grade Level 02 only to be promoted to Level 07 within three months of their unapproved appointment.
The government said that it discovered that over 500 staff that are Executive and Assistant Executive Officers more than triple the number of available doctors and consultants.
“What sense would it make for hospital with 34 administrative officers; 56 consultants and 154 Resident Doctors to employ 426 Administrative Executive Officers?
“Should there be need for recruitment at all, will it not be beneficial for government and the hospital management to recruit officers into strategic area of the state’s healthcare needs?
“With the current statistics available, the Administrative Executive Officers have more than tripled the numbers of doctors, consultants and nurses, who are the special needs of a functional hospital.
“To make matters worse, all the recruitment and undue promotions of workers from Grade Level 2 to that of Grade Level 07 within 3 months were done without the approval of the government.”
The statement said that some resident doctors who were asked to go were those that have exceeded the mandatory six years required to pass residency examination, adding that some of these doctors have spent more than 10 years in the hospital.
Twenty people were feared to have roasted to death while many others sustained third degree burns in an inferno that occurred the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN located at Calabar Road by the Millennium Park .
The explosion which took place at about 11.45am set the main edifice of the bank on fire effectively trapping many staff and visitors, resulting in the high casualty.
Eye witnesses said that a team of mobile policemen and soldiers, assisted by nurses and personnel of the Nigeria Security and civil defense Corps around 12’00 pm were keeping guard over the place while officials of the Federal and State Fires Services were putting out the fire and rescuing those trapped in the building.
“I cannot give exact figures of how many people are dead but many people were burnt beyond recognition while many sustained third degree burns; rescue operation is going on to ensure everyone is brought out soon,” an Official of the Federal Fire Service at the Calabar Airport said.
He added that the source of the explosion is not known but was assumed to be some locally made improvised device even as others suspected the explosion of gas tank at the generator house.
Ambulances from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) and General Hospital Calabar were brought in to evacuate the dead and those wounded while rescue efforts were being made to extricate those still inside.
No official of the bank was willing to speak to the press on the cause of the inferno but the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone six, Baba Bolanta said that so far, eighteen persons were injoured “but no death has been recorded.” [myad]
A veteran journalist, editor and communication specialist, Mallam Garba Deen Muhammad has emerged as one of the Group General Managers in the changes that have just been effected by the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). He was named as new head of the Corporation’s Group Public Affairs Department. Garba Deen as he is fondly called, is the incumbent President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), a position he attained after the appointment of Mr. Femi Adesina, former NGE president, as Presidential Spokesman by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The new spokesman NNPC is assuming office as an accomplished media professional who is highly respected by his colleagues.
According a statement by NNPC, other new unit heads who have been appointed are expected to resume fully by April 1, 2016.
The full list of the shake-up, appointments at NNPC are as follows:
Appointed GEDs/COOs
Upstream – Bello Rabiu
Downstream – Henry Ikem–Obih
Refineries – Anibor Kragha
Gas and Power – Saidu Mohammed
Ventures – Babatunde Adeniran
Finance & Accounts – Isiaka Abdulrazaq
Corporate Services – Isa Inuwa
GGMs Strategy & Execution (Supporting the GEDs/COOs)
The National Technical Director, Shuaibu Amodu, has charged the U-17 National Women Team, Flamingos, to go into tomorrow’s FIFA U-17 World Cup qualifier match against the Bantwana of South Africa of South Africa with the determination to win and get the required result that will render the second leg a mere formality. The match will be played the main bowl of the Abuja National Stadium starting from 4pm. Amodu, a four-time Super Eagles Head Coach, who attended the team’s training session in Abuja encouraged the girls to continue their impressive performances that got them to the final round of the qualification, especially the 9-0 aggregate mauling of the Baby Gladiators of Namibia. He also made it clear to the girls that the future is in their hands and that they should maximise all their opportunities. “I encourage and thank you on behalf of the Nigeria Football Federation for all the sacrifices you have made. We have heard reports of your discipline and dedication, and all I have to add now is for you not to relent. Try and sustain the discipline and also to be determined that every team that comes across you would be crushed. The Federation will continue to fully support the team to achieve greater height.” Captain Rasheedat Ajibade thanked the National Technical Director for the visit and once again promised that the team will not let the country down. “We will do everything to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Jordan.” Only three spots are being reserved for Africa at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan. The other qualifiers to be decided this weekend will see the Ghana facing Morocco, while Cameroon take on Egypt. Nigeria has featured in all previous editions of the World Cup since it began in 2008. [myad]
Present at the launching of a book titled: ‘So Long Too Long Nigeria’ by Segun Adeleye, at the Afe Babalola Hall, University of Lagos yesterday, March 10, were from right to left: Dr. Adeleke Ipaye, Senior Special Assistant to Osun State Governor, representing the Governor Rauf Aregbesola; Molara Wood, Head of the Corporate Communications, Resort International Ltd, representing Dr. Wale Babalakin; Mr. Segun Adeleye, President/CEO of World Stage Ltd who is founder of Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa (SAFFGLIA); Mr. Joe Bankole, Head of Lagos Operations, News Agency of Nigeria, representing Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed as well as Mrs. Tosin Adeleye, Trustee of SAFFGLI. [myad]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
What can we make out of this statement? We were not told that this world was created with the mixing of materials to build or construct things, but through spoken words. In Yoruba, they called it ‘Ofo’. When God created heaven and earth, it was through pronouncement, it happened, it was gazetted, which could be interpreted to mean that it was published and that communication or journalism was one of the earliest skills.
As we are here today to exchange ideas, so also would be thousands of gatherings all over the world with the sole aim of getting people to listen to one another. But it’s easy to take this for granted, asking that what have we gained from all the talks of the past? This could explain why in this part of the world, we don’t seem to see the knowledgeable chief executives or top government officials readily sharing their wealth of experience with the rest of the world at conferences. They have left the burden to their spokespersons to clarify their stands on issues; that is when it’s absolutely necessary. But in most cases, they are only trying to be careful, to protect their comfort zone and avoid being misunderstood, and most importantly, not to be seen to oppose the position of the authority in power, even when they have different opinions about how things can be done better. But can we really make progress without speaking out our mind? If we are not making progress here despite how much we talk, could it be that we are not saying the right things or could it be that we are not even listening to one another?
The next thing after speaking out in order of importance is taking action. This event should have taken place on January 20th last year to mark my golden jubilee birthday, but it didn’t happen and a lot of things happened after that including the passing on of my inspirational father, Pa Joseph Adeleye on February 9, 2015, that should have prompted me to call it off, but because I acted and didn’t give up, that’s why we are here today.
What is leadership? Let me take you back to the first republic in Nigeria. After the major players had exhausted their weaknesses and ignorance, the trio of Major Nzeogwu, Ifeajuma and Ademoyega on January 15, 1966 put an end to the ‘Pekele mess’ and despite the divergence of views over the merit of their action, there was a national consensus then about the need for a change.
There was a similarity with what happened at a critical stage of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa in 1961 when the African National Congress (ANC) set up its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), headed by Nelson Mandela, to add fresh momentum to the agitation. It’s all about taking action.
Nzeogwu and his friends struck then in Nigeria because they were convinced that they were the only ones, through the instrument of their profession, the military, that could stop the nation’s drift. But since then, which individual using the instrument of their professions apart from Fela Anikulapokuti and Gani Faweyinmi have taken a great risk to rescue Nigeria from her persistent drift?
It is not common in history to see the masses taking action to change their plight. It has always being a case of one or few people acting on their strong convictions to change the course of history, or how do we explain why it’s Muritala Muhammed who ruled for only six months (July 30, 1975 – February 13, 1976) that is seen as the only hero of all those who had ruled Nigeria till date?
If we reflect on the major discourse in our country for so long too long now, it’s about corruption- the EFCC arraigning people almost every day for stealing millions or billions of naira. A lot of people had stolen so much in the name of taking their share of the national cake, such that the young ones coming up can no longer think straight of how to be successful, but waiting for their turn to have access to the treasury. If you are not in government, your reaction to the tales of billions of naira being stolen will most likely be incredulous, but if you’re inside, you may tend to have some understanding to justify how many loose funds find their ways into some private pockets.
Professor Wole Soyinka recently asked a thought provoking question about ‘where did we go wrong?’ concerning Nigerian youths in their 20s and 30s that are still depending on their parents compared with when “Awolowo was 37 years, Akintola 36, Ahmadu Bello 36, Balewa 34, Okotie-Eboh 27 and Enahoro 27 and only Zik was 42 when they led the struggle for Nigeria Independence after the death of Macaulay.
He went on to add that in 1966, the first military coup was led by K Nzeogwu who was 29 years and countered by M. Mohammed 28, T. Danjuma 28, I. Babangida 25, J. Garba 23, Sani Abacha 23, and M. Yar’adua 23. It brought into power Y. Gowon 32, Ojukwu 33, Obasanjo 29, and Buhari 24.
But today, he asked: “Why is it that almost all this age bracket is today still sleeping in 3-seater chairs in their parents’ homes? Why is it that this age bracket is today still collecting pocket money from their parents? Why is it that this age bracket is today still writing JAMB? Why is it that this age bracket today still ‘sagg’ their trousers? Why is it that this age bracket is today still searching for jobs and not yet married? Why is it that this age bracket is today no longer qualified to even be leaders of youth wings of political parties? Why is it that this age bracket is today so docile? Why is this age bracket today incapable of feeding itself? Why is it that this age bracket is today barred from even aspiring to certain political offices? Why is it that this age bracket is today incapacitated, unwilling, unable and incapable of asking questions?”
One may not be able to do justice to these questions by merely comparing the two periods of time without raising more questions, such as, was it normal for the destiny of a nation to fall into the hands of youths in their 20s and 30s? Has that ever happened anywhere in the world? Did they perform creditably well or would it have been better if there was no vacuum of history? What created the vacuum that the older citizens in their 40s to 60s who should have more wisdom, were completely bypassed?
We only need to examine the age long calamities and injustice in history to establish the fact that the destiny of a nation was thrown in the laps of some young men in their 20s then, and that the same age bracket now are docile dependants, are all descending consequences that will continue to depreciate in standard until there is a conscious reawakening about what went wrong and who we are.
By the way, what should be the limit of history? What use is history if it is abridged, fragmented or distorted? If you enter a room when a man was giving his wife a dirty slap but missed the Act 1 when the wife first hit him on the head with the curve end of a fry pan, you may leave the scene with the wrong impression about who was the aggressor.
Where did we go wrong? Does the history you have capture the scene where we went wrong? Are you aware that Egypt in Africa was the most civilized country in the world throughout antiquity, and the dream place to be between 7,000 and 2,000 years ago?
Let me open you up with a little bit of history from, ‘White Invasion of Africa Started In 1450 BCE’, an adaption from Naiwu Osahon’s book: The End of Knowledge.
It narrated that large scale migrations of primitive white-skin tribes called ‘Sea People’ by Africans, into the prosperous southern Mediterranean region, particularly Egypt, happened by 1350 BCE during the reign of Pharaoh Akhnaton, who adopted very liberal attitude to the emerging phenomena. The movements of ‘Sea People’ reached alarming proportions within 100 years and began upsetting the ethnic balance of the region. As the movements continued in the 700 years that followed, absorbed immigrants became ambitious and rebellious, taking advantage of their hosts’ generous and accommodating disposition, to set themselves up as Lords and Chiefs in territories they settled in.
White ascent in the world began taking shape after Whites had imbibed African education, industry, religion, social engineering and civilization.
Greeks who studied in Egypt and put their names to African ideas and philosophies stolen from the Egyptian Mystery System, to become world famous, included Thales of Miletus (c624-c565 BCE), Pythagoras (c582-c500 BCE), Democritus (c470-c400 BCE), Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (427-347 BCE), Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and all the other world famous ancient Greek philosophers Greece entered world history when she conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and White scholars think that is enough for them to usurp more than 15,000 years of African origination, nurturing and systematic evolution of modern civilization. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE), was educated by Aristotle who himself graduated from Egypt.
The Greeks ride on their stolen secret ancient intellectual properties of the Africans to dazzle an essentially backward and gullible world as their cradle of philosophical thoughts and civilization. It was easy for the Greeks to do this because the African Mystery System was, of course, secretive. It prohibited publication of its teachings. The original materials were there to steal and cannibalize after they conquered Egypt. As the Greeks did that, they injured and grievously scared an entire race of people, the original race of man. To cover up their dishonesty and permanently destroy all evidence of African glorious past, they caricatured African culture in their illustrations and literature. By their disgraceful act of subversion, they assassinated the true history of mankind, and unnecessarily and seriously disabled universal scholarship for over two thousand years.
In a more recent episode during the “Scramble for Africa” was the invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and Liberia still being independent. The only colony the United States had claim to was Liberia which was established by the American Colonization Society on January 7, 1822.
As established above, “the movements of white people into Africa continued in 700 years with absorbed immigrants becoming ambitious and rebellious, taking advantage of their hosts’ generous and accommodating disposition, to set themselves up as Lords and Chiefs in territories they settled in.”
But is it a crime to be generous and accommodating?
When Africans were subdued and conquered then, it was a catastrophic loss for the generations after up till today being born to unconsciously live with the belief that they are weaker and inferior. Was the conscious or unconscious acceptance of the defeat as a failure not more devastating than the loss itself? Wasn’t that really ‘where we got it wrong?’
The world order was made for Africa to live with without its input. It has no control over what to plant, eat, sell, govern, speak, teach, think and even how to raise its children. Things are getting worse day by day and the only aspiration left for Africans is to be like the whites. Now foreign food tastes better, their dresses look better, their names, music sound better and recently, their accents are more acceptable. If a successful African wants to give his family a treat, the logical thing to do is to take them on vacation to a foreign land. From the early age, the young ones are programmed to see foreign land and everything there as better than home, and they are initiated into the rat race to become what they are not. The root of the corruption we so much debated came from the same source with the added greed to the unquenchable appetite to buy houses abroad, keep looted funds abroad to sustain exotic comfort.
If an African professor wants to do a research and discovers that something similar had been done by someone from abroad, he would most likely feel defeated that there is no point wasting time doing it again since someone from such advanced environment had done it. It has been universally accepted that you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. But was this not imposed so that Africans will not ask questions? Were Africans there when the wheel was invented? What if the wheel was wrongly invented in the first place? Why must Africans accept everything they are told? Who says car must always be driven on the road? Can’t it fly? Who says the fastest means of transport must be by air? Can’t we just disappear? If the whites had first made it to the moon while aiming Mars, while can’t Africa aim at the star?
Education, the advancement of knowledge is at the initiative and the pace of foreigners on what African must learn and believe. Native dialects have become secondary languages which the African child has to learn through the foreign languages. The best of African can only be in an imposed curriculum with the success being judged and approved through the prism of foreign standards. The history of Africa being thought in African schools is the limit of the version the foreigners want the Africans to know and believe about themselves. In Nigeria, the history being thought in the schools was specially package for the country to remain disunited. It’s about the late 1950s and early 1960s when Amadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikwe and Obafemi Awolowo were scheming to rule the country. When this history is taught, the children can only be made angry, with the Ibos justifying their marginalisation claims, blaming the north for that and the west for scuttling their chance to rule, while the Yorubas will feel frustrated by a union that has limited its advancement. But the history was deliberately cut short as people that wrote it failed to open it further for children to see that even the actors of the first republic were victims and consequences of the past defeat. If an Ibo man should set up a business today, he will most likely feel comfortable having people from the east to work for him, so also if a northerner is elevated to a high political position, he will bring people mostly from his region to work with him. In Africa now, the Muslims are more comfortable with fellow Muslims while some Christians cannot even allow their children to marry Muslims. But if history is opened further and everyone is made to see that all Africans came from the same parents, would they still behave the same way? If a corrupt politician that stole so much to provide comfort for his family can be made to see in history that the remaining populace that are left to suffer are actually his brothers and sisters, will he not think twice?
The most dangerous trend now is that most Africans don’t even know that something is wrong, while those that have the feeling that something is missing have given up, believing that it could be a case of mental sickness, retardation, generation curse and hopeless situation. If something is not wrong, why are Africans playing second fiddle in all human endeavors such as in sports, entertainment, art, governance, science and technology and all others? Why is it that African leaders will loot the commonwealth and keep it in foreign banks while million are suffering at home. The fact now is that the descendants of those that were taken on slavery centuries ago are far better than the offspring of those left behind.
When I thought about this great tragedy, the two possible solutions that came to my mind were that, first, if it is possible to have a government in any African country, where the leader will be conscious of the full history, so that he can live it, preach it for Africans to start seeing that they are perfectly made without any subjugation to others; unlimitedly endowed to attain any goal they set their minds on. Only few Africans, such as Fela that had seen the full history ended up being radical and revolutionary in nature. In the entire African countries, they can be counted from our finger tips.
The second option was what made me to form Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa (SAFFGLIA). Far from seeking cheap popularity or personal enrichment, it was not even conceived to have my name, but after over a dozen names with ‘leadership’, ‘governance’ all rejected by registration authority, I had to accept the suggestion to add my name before it sailed through.
The foundation will lead the crusade for good leadership in Africa by making Africans to rediscover who they are. Imagine if the veil can be removed from the faces of about 10 people in every university in every African country every year from now on?
The foundation will carry out activities and projects that will encourage governments across Africa to embrace good governance in order to uplift the standard of living of the people. In doing this, it will employ all possible means including legal actions.
* It will draw attention to activities of governments from local to national levels and encourage/compel them to do things in the best interest of the people
* It will engage in leadership training programmes that will raise new generation of positive leaders who will champion the spirit of development of their societies in Nigeria and Africa.
* It will provide scholarships in higher institution level to youths with leadership qualities in Nigeria and other African countries.
* It will promote research into good leadership in Africa.
* It will engage in research into alternative policies to government policies that are not working.
* It will provide counselling, support and care for people that are unjustifiably victimised by bad governments in Africa.
* It will organise Annual SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture, seminars, briefings, workshops and interventional programmes on issues of good leadership.
* It will engage in opinion moulding, empowerment, and building confidence of people on how to make their governments accountable.
* It will develop SAFFGLIA Good Leadership Africa Index (SGLAI) as a barometer for measuring performances of leaders across Africa.
* It will encourage/recognise leaders that are doing well through The African Man Award.
* It will establish the African Hall of Fame for distinguished leaders both in the public and private sectors.
I am particularly happy over how it turned out that Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture will deliver the first Annual SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture in view of the message the foundation intends to take to every corner of the continent. With the complete derailment of Africans, the ministry of Information and Culture stands out as the most important in any African country, even more important than petroleum, as government can be projected through the true value of who we are. The ministry can make the mission easier by first ensuring the reintroduction of our full history to the schools. Anything short of the full history will not restore our past glory.
The choice of this beautiful academic setting for the lecture is for the students to get involved, so that their eyes can be opened to know who they are. The time is still on their side to join the crusade for the enlightenment of other Africans. The task ahead of the youth is enormous if Africa will ever have any relevance and saying in the world’s affairs in years to come. Make no mistake to think that our being docile, gentle, obedient, careless, being too much religious with endless vigils and prayers will one day reverse the monumental injustice of the past. The world was not built on justice. The aggressors will not go to sleep. We heard that sinners will not go unpunished, but when, nobody knows. In fact, the wicked and the sinners of yesterday are the first in line to receive the mercy of God. The only time when there will be justice in this world will be at the end of time when we would have all died. If you doubt this, go and read the stories of Cain and Abel; Esau and Jacob; Israel and Egypt. It has always been as in the Kingdom of God that suffers violence and the violent takes it by force.
As you hear this message, the idea is not to be angry and start rejecting everything made by foreigners, after all, in the full history we know that human beings came from the same source, with the whites being our long distance adventurous cousins that left only to return and dominate. The message is for Africans to rise up, stop being copycats, stop taking whatever is thrown at them while being what they are not, but to recognise their identity, essence and proudly bring their values and aspiration to the table as contribution to international relations. Africa needs its voice and identity to focus and realise its entire God given potentials. The glory of Africa has been covered for centuries with generation after generation being born into mental slavery. If we don’t do anything now, of course, the world will not come to an end, but our children will continue to be slaves to their counterparts in other land. But if we start something now with our collective awareness, we can change our destiny and our children will be proud that at certain time in history, we woke up to take our rightful place in the world. Africa must rise again. Thank you all for coming.
God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa.
*A speech by Mr Segun Adeleye, Founder, Segun Adeleye Foundation For Good Leadership In Africa (SFFGLIA) at the Inaugural Lecture of the foundation/Launch of his book ‘So Long Too Long Nigeria’ at the Afe Babalola Auditorium, University of Lagos, Nigeria, on March 10, 2016. [myad]
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Africa: The Tragedy Of Wrong History, By Segun Adeleye
What can we make out of this statement? We were not told that this world was created with the mixing of materials to build or construct things, but through spoken words. In Yoruba, they called it ‘Ofo’. When God created heaven and earth, it was through pronouncement, it happened, it was gazetted, which could be interpreted to mean that it was published and that communication or journalism was one of the earliest skills.
As we are here today to exchange ideas, so also would be thousands of gatherings all over the world with the sole aim of getting people to listen to one another. But it’s easy to take this for granted, asking that what have we gained from all the talks of the past? This could explain why in this part of the world, we don’t seem to see the knowledgeable chief executives or top government officials readily sharing their wealth of experience with the rest of the world at conferences. They have left the burden to their spokespersons to clarify their stands on issues; that is when it’s absolutely necessary. But in most cases, they are only trying to be careful, to protect their comfort zone and avoid being misunderstood, and most importantly, not to be seen to oppose the position of the authority in power, even when they have different opinions about how things can be done better. But can we really make progress without speaking out our mind? If we are not making progress here despite how much we talk, could it be that we are not saying the right things or could it be that we are not even listening to one another?
The next thing after speaking out in order of importance is taking action. This event should have taken place on January 20th last year to mark my golden jubilee birthday, but it didn’t happen and a lot of things happened after that including the passing on of my inspirational father, Pa Joseph Adeleye on February 9, 2015, that should have prompted me to call it off, but because I acted and didn’t give up, that’s why we are here today.
What is leadership? Let me take you back to the first republic in Nigeria. After the major players had exhausted their weaknesses and ignorance, the trio of Major Nzeogwu, Ifeajuma and Ademoyega on January 15, 1966 put an end to the ‘Pekele mess’ and despite the divergence of views over the merit of their action, there was a national consensus then about the need for a change.
There was a similarity with what happened at a critical stage of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa in 1961 when the African National Congress (ANC) set up its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), headed by Nelson Mandela, to add fresh momentum to the agitation. It’s all about taking action.
Nzeogwu and his friends struck then in Nigeria because they were convinced that they were the only ones, through the instrument of their profession, the military, that could stop the nation’s drift. But since then, which individual using the instrument of their professions apart from Fela Anikulapokuti and Gani Faweyinmi have taken a great risk to rescue Nigeria from her persistent drift?
It is not common in history to see the masses taking action to change their plight. It has always being a case of one or few people acting on their strong convictions to change the course of history, or how do we explain why it’s Muritala Muhammed who ruled for only six months (July 30, 1975 – February 13, 1976) that is seen as the only hero of all those who had ruled Nigeria till date?
If we reflect on the major discourse in our country for so long too long now, it’s about corruption- the EFCC arraigning people almost every day for stealing millions or billions of naira. A lot of people had stolen so much in the name of taking their share of the national cake, such that the young ones coming up can no longer think straight of how to be successful, but waiting for their turn to have access to the treasury. If you are not in government, your reaction to the tales of billions of naira being stolen will most likely be incredulous, but if you’re inside, you may tend to have some understanding to justify how many loose funds find their ways into some private pockets.
Professor Wole Soyinka recently asked a thought provoking question about ‘where did we go wrong?’ concerning Nigerian youths in their 20s and 30s that are still depending on their parents compared with when “Awolowo was 37 years, Akintola 36, Ahmadu Bello 36, Balewa 34, Okotie-Eboh 27 and Enahoro 27 and only Zik was 42 when they led the struggle for Nigeria Independence after the death of Macaulay.
He went on to add that in 1966, the first military coup was led by K Nzeogwu who was 29 years and countered by M. Mohammed 28, T. Danjuma 28, I. Babangida 25, J. Garba 23, Sani Abacha 23, and M. Yar’adua 23. It brought into power Y. Gowon 32, Ojukwu 33, Obasanjo 29, and Buhari 24.
But today, he asked: “Why is it that almost all this age bracket is today still sleeping in 3-seater chairs in their parents’ homes? Why is it that this age bracket is today still collecting pocket money from their parents? Why is it that this age bracket is today still writing JAMB? Why is it that this age bracket today still ‘sagg’ their trousers? Why is it that this age bracket is today still searching for jobs and not yet married? Why is it that this age bracket is today no longer qualified to even be leaders of youth wings of political parties? Why is it that this age bracket is today so docile? Why is this age bracket today incapable of feeding itself? Why is it that this age bracket is today barred from even aspiring to certain political offices? Why is it that this age bracket is today incapacitated, unwilling, unable and incapable of asking questions?”
One may not be able to do justice to these questions by merely comparing the two periods of time without raising more questions, such as, was it normal for the destiny of a nation to fall into the hands of youths in their 20s and 30s? Has that ever happened anywhere in the world? Did they perform creditably well or would it have been better if there was no vacuum of history? What created the vacuum that the older citizens in their 40s to 60s who should have more wisdom, were completely bypassed?
We only need to examine the age long calamities and injustice in history to establish the fact that the destiny of a nation was thrown in the laps of some young men in their 20s then, and that the same age bracket now are docile dependants, are all descending consequences that will continue to depreciate in standard until there is a conscious reawakening about what went wrong and who we are.
By the way, what should be the limit of history? What use is history if it is abridged, fragmented or distorted? If you enter a room when a man was giving his wife a dirty slap but missed the Act 1 when the wife first hit him on the head with the curve end of a fry pan, you may leave the scene with the wrong impression about who was the aggressor.
Where did we go wrong? Does the history you have capture the scene where we went wrong? Are you aware that Egypt in Africa was the most civilized country in the world throughout antiquity, and the dream place to be between 7,000 and 2,000 years ago?
Let me open you up with a little bit of history from, ‘White Invasion of Africa Started In 1450 BCE’, an adaption from Naiwu Osahon’s book: The End of Knowledge.
It narrated that large scale migrations of primitive white-skin tribes called ‘Sea People’ by Africans, into the prosperous southern Mediterranean region, particularly Egypt, happened by 1350 BCE during the reign of Pharaoh Akhnaton, who adopted very liberal attitude to the emerging phenomena. The movements of ‘Sea People’ reached alarming proportions within 100 years and began upsetting the ethnic balance of the region. As the movements continued in the 700 years that followed, absorbed immigrants became ambitious and rebellious, taking advantage of their hosts’ generous and accommodating disposition, to set themselves up as Lords and Chiefs in territories they settled in.
White ascent in the world began taking shape after Whites had imbibed African education, industry, religion, social engineering and civilization.
Greeks who studied in Egypt and put their names to African ideas and philosophies stolen from the Egyptian Mystery System, to become world famous, included Thales of Miletus (c624-c565 BCE), Pythagoras (c582-c500 BCE), Democritus (c470-c400 BCE), Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (427-347 BCE), Aristotle (384-322 BCE), and all the other world famous ancient Greek philosophers Greece entered world history when she conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and White scholars think that is enough for them to usurp more than 15,000 years of African origination, nurturing and systematic evolution of modern civilization. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE), was educated by Aristotle who himself graduated from Egypt.
The Greeks ride on their stolen secret ancient intellectual properties of the Africans to dazzle an essentially backward and gullible world as their cradle of philosophical thoughts and civilization. It was easy for the Greeks to do this because the African Mystery System was, of course, secretive. It prohibited publication of its teachings. The original materials were there to steal and cannibalize after they conquered Egypt. As the Greeks did that, they injured and grievously scared an entire race of people, the original race of man. To cover up their dishonesty and permanently destroy all evidence of African glorious past, they caricatured African culture in their illustrations and literature. By their disgraceful act of subversion, they assassinated the true history of mankind, and unnecessarily and seriously disabled universal scholarship for over two thousand years.
In a more recent episode during the “Scramble for Africa” was the invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and Liberia still being independent. The only colony the United States had claim to was Liberia which was established by the American Colonization Society on January 7, 1822.
As established above, “the movements of white people into Africa continued in 700 years with absorbed immigrants becoming ambitious and rebellious, taking advantage of their hosts’ generous and accommodating disposition, to set themselves up as Lords and Chiefs in territories they settled in.”
But is it a crime to be generous and accommodating?
When Africans were subdued and conquered then, it was a catastrophic loss for the generations after up till today being born to unconsciously live with the belief that they are weaker and inferior. Was the conscious or unconscious acceptance of the defeat as a failure not more devastating than the loss itself? Wasn’t that really ‘where we got it wrong?’
The world order was made for Africa to live with without its input. It has no control over what to plant, eat, sell, govern, speak, teach, think and even how to raise its children. Things are getting worse day by day and the only aspiration left for Africans is to be like the whites. Now foreign food tastes better, their dresses look better, their names, music sound better and recently, their accents are more acceptable. If a successful African wants to give his family a treat, the logical thing to do is to take them on vacation to a foreign land. From the early age, the young ones are programmed to see foreign land and everything there as better than home, and they are initiated into the rat race to become what they are not. The root of the corruption we so much debated came from the same source with the added greed to the unquenchable appetite to buy houses abroad, keep looted funds abroad to sustain exotic comfort.
If an African professor wants to do a research and discovers that something similar had been done by someone from abroad, he would most likely feel defeated that there is no point wasting time doing it again since someone from such advanced environment had done it. It has been universally accepted that you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. But was this not imposed so that Africans will not ask questions? Were Africans there when the wheel was invented? What if the wheel was wrongly invented in the first place? Why must Africans accept everything they are told? Who says car must always be driven on the road? Can’t it fly? Who says the fastest means of transport must be by air? Can’t we just disappear? If the whites had first made it to the moon while aiming Mars, while can’t Africa aim at the star?
Education, the advancement of knowledge is at the initiative and the pace of foreigners on what African must learn and believe. Native dialects have become secondary languages which the African child has to learn through the foreign languages. The best of African can only be in an imposed curriculum with the success being judged and approved through the prism of foreign standards. The history of Africa being thought in African schools is the limit of the version the foreigners want the Africans to know and believe about themselves. In Nigeria, the history being thought in the schools was specially package for the country to remain disunited. It’s about the late 1950s and early 1960s when Amadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikwe and Obafemi Awolowo were scheming to rule the country. When this history is taught, the children can only be made angry, with the Ibos justifying their marginalisation claims, blaming the north for that and the west for scuttling their chance to rule, while the Yorubas will feel frustrated by a union that has limited its advancement. But the history was deliberately cut short as people that wrote it failed to open it further for children to see that even the actors of the first republic were victims and consequences of the past defeat. If an Ibo man should set up a business today, he will most likely feel comfortable having people from the east to work for him, so also if a northerner is elevated to a high political position, he will bring people mostly from his region to work with him. In Africa now, the Muslims are more comfortable with fellow Muslims while some Christians cannot even allow their children to marry Muslims. But if history is opened further and everyone is made to see that all Africans came from the same parents, would they still behave the same way? If a corrupt politician that stole so much to provide comfort for his family can be made to see in history that the remaining populace that are left to suffer are actually his brothers and sisters, will he not think twice?
The most dangerous trend now is that most Africans don’t even know that something is wrong, while those that have the feeling that something is missing have given up, believing that it could be a case of mental sickness, retardation, generation curse and hopeless situation. If something is not wrong, why are Africans playing second fiddle in all human endeavors such as in sports, entertainment, art, governance, science and technology and all others? Why is it that African leaders will loot the commonwealth and keep it in foreign banks while million are suffering at home. The fact now is that the descendants of those that were taken on slavery centuries ago are far better than the offspring of those left behind.
When I thought about this great tragedy, the two possible solutions that came to my mind were that, first, if it is possible to have a government in any African country, where the leader will be conscious of the full history, so that he can live it, preach it for Africans to start seeing that they are perfectly made without any subjugation to others; unlimitedly endowed to attain any goal they set their minds on. Only few Africans, such as Fela that had seen the full history ended up being radical and revolutionary in nature. In the entire African countries, they can be counted from our finger tips.
The second option was what made me to form Segun Adeleye Foundation for Good Leadership in Africa (SAFFGLIA). Far from seeking cheap popularity or personal enrichment, it was not even conceived to have my name, but after over a dozen names with ‘leadership’, ‘governance’ all rejected by registration authority, I had to accept the suggestion to add my name before it sailed through.
The foundation will lead the crusade for good leadership in Africa by making Africans to rediscover who they are. Imagine if the veil can be removed from the faces of about 10 people in every university in every African country every year from now on?
The foundation will carry out activities and projects that will encourage governments across Africa to embrace good governance in order to uplift the standard of living of the people. In doing this, it will employ all possible means including legal actions.
* It will draw attention to activities of governments from local to national levels and encourage/compel them to do things in the best interest of the people
* It will engage in leadership training programmes that will raise new generation of positive leaders who will champion the spirit of development of their societies in Nigeria and Africa.
* It will provide scholarships in higher institution level to youths with leadership qualities in Nigeria and other African countries.
* It will promote research into good leadership in Africa.
* It will engage in research into alternative policies to government policies that are not working.
* It will provide counselling, support and care for people that are unjustifiably victimised by bad governments in Africa.
* It will organise Annual SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture, seminars, briefings, workshops and interventional programmes on issues of good leadership.
* It will engage in opinion moulding, empowerment, and building confidence of people on how to make their governments accountable.
* It will develop SAFFGLIA Good Leadership Africa Index (SGLAI) as a barometer for measuring performances of leaders across Africa.
* It will encourage/recognise leaders that are doing well through The African Man Award.
* It will establish the African Hall of Fame for distinguished leaders both in the public and private sectors.
I am particularly happy over how it turned out that Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture will deliver the first Annual SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture in view of the message the foundation intends to take to every corner of the continent. With the complete derailment of Africans, the ministry of Information and Culture stands out as the most important in any African country, even more important than petroleum, as government can be projected through the true value of who we are. The ministry can make the mission easier by first ensuring the reintroduction of our full history to the schools. Anything short of the full history will not restore our past glory.
The choice of this beautiful academic setting for the lecture is for the students to get involved, so that their eyes can be opened to know who they are. The time is still on their side to join the crusade for the enlightenment of other Africans. The task ahead of the youth is enormous if Africa will ever have any relevance and saying in the world’s affairs in years to come. Make no mistake to think that our being docile, gentle, obedient, careless, being too much religious with endless vigils and prayers will one day reverse the monumental injustice of the past. The world was not built on justice. The aggressors will not go to sleep. We heard that sinners will not go unpunished, but when, nobody knows. In fact, the wicked and the sinners of yesterday are the first in line to receive the mercy of God. The only time when there will be justice in this world will be at the end of time when we would have all died. If you doubt this, go and read the stories of Cain and Abel; Esau and Jacob; Israel and Egypt. It has always been as in the Kingdom of God that suffers violence and the violent takes it by force.
As you hear this message, the idea is not to be angry and start rejecting everything made by foreigners, after all, in the full history we know that human beings came from the same source, with the whites being our long distance adventurous cousins that left only to return and dominate. The message is for Africans to rise up, stop being copycats, stop taking whatever is thrown at them while being what they are not, but to recognise their identity, essence and proudly bring their values and aspiration to the table as contribution to international relations. Africa needs its voice and identity to focus and realise its entire God given potentials. The glory of Africa has been covered for centuries with generation after generation being born into mental slavery. If we don’t do anything now, of course, the world will not come to an end, but our children will continue to be slaves to their counterparts in other land. But if we start something now with our collective awareness, we can change our destiny and our children will be proud that at certain time in history, we woke up to take our rightful place in the world. Africa must rise again. Thank you all for coming.
God bless Nigeria, God bless Africa.
*A speech by Mr Segun Adeleye, Founder, Segun Adeleye Foundation For Good Leadership In Africa (SFFGLIA) at the Inaugural Lecture of the foundation/Launch of his book ‘So Long Too Long Nigeria’ at the Afe Babalola Auditorium, University of Lagos, Nigeria, on March 10, 2016. [myad]