We are all for tackling corruption at all levels. But it must be done within the tenets of true federalism, full democratic rights and transparent processes. No breach, please.
The situations in Oyo, Ekiti, Plateau and Anambra States call for caution. As the Nigerian Bar Association has posited, no one should fight for justice unconstitutionally. You cannot tackle an illegality by using another illegality as tool or means. Senseless.
Let the anti-corruption agencies, especially the EFCC, and the presidency heed the mounting calls for caution and constitutional compliance. Simple.
Let the National Assembly rise up to its role and fullest potentials in these transition months. It should be the unwavering defender of Nigeria's Democracy. No excuses, no failure.
Impeachments and declarations of state of emergency be no child's play or political chess game!
They must not be trivialised or bastardised. The rigours of our constitution must be upheld at all times.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A Time To Think
Nigerians are watching the present political class closely. Are they satisfied with its performance or are they yearning for true patriotism and political sagacity? Just survey the Nigerian media - it is an eye- and ear-full. Yet the class revels in delirium!
Now that the real transition is afoot, we watch even more closely. Somehow, it will work out and the forces of darkness will be roundly dislodged and permanently defeated. The signs are clear, the signals are palpable. The terrain is changing, the knots unravelling. Simply unstoppable! The clarion call is loud....and clear.
Let those who never lost touch with their mom's teachings of honour and traditional values come out to serve. Let them blaze a new trail to the new land of culture, of integrity, of probity, and of decency-in-service. Now less, even more, we ask.
This then is the time to think anew, to realign and build the alliance of a true renaissance. Don't be caught with the wrong crowd!
Now that the real transition is afoot, we watch even more closely. Somehow, it will work out and the forces of darkness will be roundly dislodged and permanently defeated. The signs are clear, the signals are palpable. The terrain is changing, the knots unravelling. Simply unstoppable! The clarion call is loud....and clear.
Let those who never lost touch with their mom's teachings of honour and traditional values come out to serve. Let them blaze a new trail to the new land of culture, of integrity, of probity, and of decency-in-service. Now less, even more, we ask.
This then is the time to think anew, to realign and build the alliance of a true renaissance. Don't be caught with the wrong crowd!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Watch Thy Present, Mind The Past
All present and past political actors must introspect. The political terrain is treacherous and retroactive. No escape....for long.
Future players can't, shouldn't, be counseled. The proverbial cane that thrashed their seniors remains enscounced in the loft. It will descend with generous ferocity in their own moments of heist! Why pretend?
The lessons are writ large in our public domain. What be prompt this warning, do you ask? Oh, dear moon-citizen, it is the new presidential scandalfest - a mutual dirty and murky linen plus underpants public laundering of sorts. It has become a street fight with little to hide, scanty to hold on to. The late afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, coined it "roforofo" fight. How true of Aso Rock! The media celebrate it as Presidential Roforofo!!
Patience has its virtue: Nigerians will come out of this messy and mesmerising scandal a richer and saner nation. We have a good chance of recovering the political space from rent-seekers, do-gooders and miscreants, and reclaim a reasonable portion of looted resources. EFCC has so promised. We must watch.
Who now wants to contest on the basis of erstwhile Aso Villa endorsements (or its counterparts in states), or by scaling the public's present "aware" scrutiny? This is the bounden burden of all our aspirants! Godfatherism and garrison politics be now tainted and damned. Counsel: Those short-sighted name-dropping paperweights better listen to the music of our noon. Interestingly, Col Ahmadu Ali, the PDP (which faction?) chairman, has vowed that Abuja will no longer choose or "impose" candidates on the grassroots! Hear, hear. How time changes....all things!
You seek office? Check ya history.
Want our votes? Watch ya company.
Got the post? Mind ya work.
Pray, all the above will help or haunt you. And all temporary gains will dissolve into excruciating pains in the fullness of time. Incumbency or no incumbency, the people will win in the end. That is the power of time. Watch out.
Future players can't, shouldn't, be counseled. The proverbial cane that thrashed their seniors remains enscounced in the loft. It will descend with generous ferocity in their own moments of heist! Why pretend?
The lessons are writ large in our public domain. What be prompt this warning, do you ask? Oh, dear moon-citizen, it is the new presidential scandalfest - a mutual dirty and murky linen plus underpants public laundering of sorts. It has become a street fight with little to hide, scanty to hold on to. The late afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, coined it "roforofo" fight. How true of Aso Rock! The media celebrate it as Presidential Roforofo!!
Patience has its virtue: Nigerians will come out of this messy and mesmerising scandal a richer and saner nation. We have a good chance of recovering the political space from rent-seekers, do-gooders and miscreants, and reclaim a reasonable portion of looted resources. EFCC has so promised. We must watch.
Who now wants to contest on the basis of erstwhile Aso Villa endorsements (or its counterparts in states), or by scaling the public's present "aware" scrutiny? This is the bounden burden of all our aspirants! Godfatherism and garrison politics be now tainted and damned. Counsel: Those short-sighted name-dropping paperweights better listen to the music of our noon. Interestingly, Col Ahmadu Ali, the PDP (which faction?) chairman, has vowed that Abuja will no longer choose or "impose" candidates on the grassroots! Hear, hear. How time changes....all things!
You seek office? Check ya history.
Want our votes? Watch ya company.
Got the post? Mind ya work.
Pray, all the above will help or haunt you. And all temporary gains will dissolve into excruciating pains in the fullness of time. Incumbency or no incumbency, the people will win in the end. That is the power of time. Watch out.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Did The JOKERS Hear?
You know we have some die-hard players and spoil-sports who never give in or give up on their dastardly schemes. They exist everywhere. But in our land, they are buoyant.
With regard to the interim national nonsense, sorry, government, I applaud President Obasanjo for calling both the plot and its proponents by their right name: EVIL. Period.
We hope they heard the president. This must be the end of that straying. Let the media give them a wide berth, and add a blackout to the president's knock-out punch on them.
Again, did they hear???
With regard to the interim national nonsense, sorry, government, I applaud President Obasanjo for calling both the plot and its proponents by their right name: EVIL. Period.
We hope they heard the president. This must be the end of that straying. Let the media give them a wide berth, and add a blackout to the president's knock-out punch on them.
Again, did they hear???
Monday, August 28, 2006
Political Rallies Should Begin
In view of the announcement by INEC that campaigns would start from December 2006, we do advise our numerous political parties to embark on:
a) Membership Drive
b) Candidates Recruitment and Screening
c) Diaspora Mobilization
d) Alliance and Merger Deals
e) Voter Education and Motivation
All thes should be entrenched and conveyed in immediate and extensive POLITICAL RALLIES nationwide.
Let the land buzz and rhyme. 2007 be real!
a) Membership Drive
b) Candidates Recruitment and Screening
c) Diaspora Mobilization
d) Alliance and Merger Deals
e) Voter Education and Motivation
All thes should be entrenched and conveyed in immediate and extensive POLITICAL RALLIES nationwide.
Let the land buzz and rhyme. 2007 be real!
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
INEC: Cash At Last!
Better late than never. Now that about 35 billion naira has been released to the electoral commission, let the real ACTION commence! INEC must work doubly hard to shame its critics. Okay, to reassure them...and us all.
For the voters, let's be patient with the system, without being complacent. No doubt, agitations from all quarters, including INEC's critics, brought this funds' release. We must watch out for any and all other booby-traps. We shall give no inch! We shall take no dime! We will claim our due!!
And, yes, the VIGIL continues!!!
For the voters, let's be patient with the system, without being complacent. No doubt, agitations from all quarters, including INEC's critics, brought this funds' release. We must watch out for any and all other booby-traps. We shall give no inch! We shall take no dime! We will claim our due!!
And, yes, the VIGIL continues!!!
Monday, August 14, 2006
Time For Political Code Summit
No kidding. No beating about the bush. No dilly-dally. It's time to ACT.
If you follow the political developments in the land, you cannot be neutral in thoughts or words. If you be a politician, you're entitled to be concerned, troubled and... scared. And you better be prepared, and prayerful. Times are testy. The terrain is tortuous. The tests be treacherous.
All are at risk. All.
As our elders did before, when the jungle jolts, you hunt in teams: safe bands that breathe you confidence, and bring you home as one. Let the call go out tonight that all politicians seek home as one, and may no-one breach the song of hope and honour again. A political summit to set the CODE of practice for all political players must now hold at dawn. The dawn, this time, is the bold rigorous firmament in all our stars which holds us as ONE, and folds us for ALL. The dawn that must hide not the wolf, a dawn that must tear all the shades of the monstrous past. A new and enchanting dawn! Breachers must be sanctioned, and breaches repaired. Firmly. Promptly.
All be at risk. All.
Politicians are not magicians. They are political engineers, technicians and opticians. If they be crippled by selves, God help us! If they be muffled at dawn, God help them! Be they blind...all be truly doomed! They must blink not, tonight.
We pray, as we must, for the wisdom of yore. May this tribe know their rights, and what be so trite. May one right be all right, and no right be more right than the rights of all. All souls.
So, the SUMMIT be due! All change.
If you follow the political developments in the land, you cannot be neutral in thoughts or words. If you be a politician, you're entitled to be concerned, troubled and... scared. And you better be prepared, and prayerful. Times are testy. The terrain is tortuous. The tests be treacherous.
All are at risk. All.
As our elders did before, when the jungle jolts, you hunt in teams: safe bands that breathe you confidence, and bring you home as one. Let the call go out tonight that all politicians seek home as one, and may no-one breach the song of hope and honour again. A political summit to set the CODE of practice for all political players must now hold at dawn. The dawn, this time, is the bold rigorous firmament in all our stars which holds us as ONE, and folds us for ALL. The dawn that must hide not the wolf, a dawn that must tear all the shades of the monstrous past. A new and enchanting dawn! Breachers must be sanctioned, and breaches repaired. Firmly. Promptly.
All be at risk. All.
Politicians are not magicians. They are political engineers, technicians and opticians. If they be crippled by selves, God help us! If they be muffled at dawn, God help them! Be they blind...all be truly doomed! They must blink not, tonight.
We pray, as we must, for the wisdom of yore. May this tribe know their rights, and what be so trite. May one right be all right, and no right be more right than the rights of all. All souls.
So, the SUMMIT be due! All change.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Who's Running, Who Is Not?
We must ask every player to put their voice to their face in this serious business of our nation's "Governance from 2007". No more masquerading, please.
Save for a properly-constituted and official Campaign Office, no one else should speak for any of the candidates/contestants. Enough of all the speculations, insinuations and innuendoes, please. If anyone wants to contest, let them speak for themselves!
This August must be for qualitative and august players - important thinkers who want to serve and, thus, seek office to actualise their dream. Let them come out boldly and assuredly. Let them be the ones asking for help. We 've had enough of those hungry canvassers and fortune flies, buzzing around money-bags and dis-interested politicians. It is not their business at all. Why mourn more than the bereaved...or be more catholic than the pope!!
I have no problem with strategic recruitment and even the so-called drafting of good materials for elective and appointive office. But it should be decent and pragmatic. It should not be for a show or for privilege. All the media circus hitherto should end. Who is interested should run and who be not self-motivating need no begging!
Politics, as the business of invading our national vaults, is over. If the jokers and rent-seekers know not, let the targetted souls tell them. Besides, we've had enough of "reluctant leaders"!!
From now on, people, we need only the measured and meaningful voices of ACTUAL PLAYERS. The political parties need to ensure and enforce compliance with political best practices. We do need order and urgent sanity in the arena. Drive the polluters and all their odium out of town! NOW.
As I have always believed, the MEDIA should help us by screening out the noise-makers and charlatans. From this Month of August, enough is finally enough.
Save for a properly-constituted and official Campaign Office, no one else should speak for any of the candidates/contestants. Enough of all the speculations, insinuations and innuendoes, please. If anyone wants to contest, let them speak for themselves!
This August must be for qualitative and august players - important thinkers who want to serve and, thus, seek office to actualise their dream. Let them come out boldly and assuredly. Let them be the ones asking for help. We 've had enough of those hungry canvassers and fortune flies, buzzing around money-bags and dis-interested politicians. It is not their business at all. Why mourn more than the bereaved...or be more catholic than the pope!!
I have no problem with strategic recruitment and even the so-called drafting of good materials for elective and appointive office. But it should be decent and pragmatic. It should not be for a show or for privilege. All the media circus hitherto should end. Who is interested should run and who be not self-motivating need no begging!
Politics, as the business of invading our national vaults, is over. If the jokers and rent-seekers know not, let the targetted souls tell them. Besides, we've had enough of "reluctant leaders"!!
From now on, people, we need only the measured and meaningful voices of ACTUAL PLAYERS. The political parties need to ensure and enforce compliance with political best practices. We do need order and urgent sanity in the arena. Drive the polluters and all their odium out of town! NOW.
As I have always believed, the MEDIA should help us by screening out the noise-makers and charlatans. From this Month of August, enough is finally enough.
Make August Da Month!
An APPEAL. My plea to all: Make this Month of AUGUST the Month! Make haste slowly but so surely the weak will pick strength, the strong will pile grit. Make hate all lonely and slate CHANGE for all... as cake of life. Towards 2007, Make August da MONTH!
The blast-off for true political contests and people-centred electioneering held in May - after the famed demise of Third Term. The pace must now gain speed and be given speed. The tempo and tenor must rise. The place and space must widen and be widened. We await the gladiators.
But the debate, this time, must be just about a two-in-one point: NIGERIA & Nigerians. Full stop. Anyone having a problem with such basic single-mindedness should please do us a small favour: Stay home!
For true citizens, proud nationals and real patriots, the time be NOW, the month be AUGUST, the reason be JUSTICE. Just as simple as dat!
And to finally silence both the worried voices and all dem derailers, let's cut the noise by biting the proverbial politicl bullet. Let it be now, and from this First Day of August, 2006.
Come on, people, let's Make AUGUST da Month of CHANGE!
The blast-off for true political contests and people-centred electioneering held in May - after the famed demise of Third Term. The pace must now gain speed and be given speed. The tempo and tenor must rise. The place and space must widen and be widened. We await the gladiators.
But the debate, this time, must be just about a two-in-one point: NIGERIA & Nigerians. Full stop. Anyone having a problem with such basic single-mindedness should please do us a small favour: Stay home!
For true citizens, proud nationals and real patriots, the time be NOW, the month be AUGUST, the reason be JUSTICE. Just as simple as dat!
And to finally silence both the worried voices and all dem derailers, let's cut the noise by biting the proverbial politicl bullet. Let it be now, and from this First Day of August, 2006.
Come on, people, let's Make AUGUST da Month of CHANGE!
Mind Not The Taste
Politics everywhere is unpalatable. It has its splices and spices. It thrives on hush, hurt and howls. Pray why, it has its many ups and several downs. In the end, dear player, it stays, it says and it pays. Have always been.
So, when I hear the usual refrain about how dirty politics is, and why decent people should give it a wide berth, I smile. Pray, are we giving governance to "dirty" or "indecent" people, then? I'm sure we aren't. Pray, when will it become decent, then? Only when or as soon as we field the needed critical mass of "non-dirty", as well as decidedly-decent and consciously-clean players.
The total number of "KEY" elective and appointive offices in the land is less than 100,000. To find and instal them is not nuclear science, it is commonsense. Just community in humanity.
Hey, in a country of 150 million we sure can pull that through, can't we?
So, when I hear the usual refrain about how dirty politics is, and why decent people should give it a wide berth, I smile. Pray, are we giving governance to "dirty" or "indecent" people, then? I'm sure we aren't. Pray, when will it become decent, then? Only when or as soon as we field the needed critical mass of "non-dirty", as well as decidedly-decent and consciously-clean players.
The total number of "KEY" elective and appointive offices in the land is less than 100,000. To find and instal them is not nuclear science, it is commonsense. Just community in humanity.
Hey, in a country of 150 million we sure can pull that through, can't we?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
INTERIM....what?
Let all those who are behind the baseless JOKE please stop it o! As President Obasanjo would say, this nonsense is going too far!! But, knowing our politicians, you can hardly put anything past them!!! Many are simply spineless....as the Third Term misadventure fully advertised.
What is the basis or rationale for anyone contemplating an inconclusive and/or botched 2007 Elections? Who says? Shouldn't our energies and prayers be positively primed for its success?
Anyone proposing an "interim national government" (INC) must be a dreamer. May they wake up, or be woken up. No such dream will come to pass. Never!
Those who are interested in NIGERIA and her glory should kindly help cure these "creeping cynics" (or are they candidates for sedition trial?!) of their anti-elections malaria. They need to be purged of all neo-third-term viruses, and promptly innoculated with potent pro-democracy vaccines. Let their village people "talk" to them o!
Whatever happens, the PDP (especially the Ali faction) must pronounce now that it is not in the thick of this treasonable voyage. Let Chairman Ali whip them with his legendary BBC-interview kind of "description"! We wait.
Failing which the president should take charge and quell the quissling thought right away.
All 40 (so far!) registered political parties should issue joint and separate condemnation of the idea, and declare full support for/embrace of sustainable democracy through regular, timely and on-time elections. They should specifically uphold/protect the non-negotiable status of the 2007 Elections. No going back. Whosoever cannot bear the democratic heat should get out of the political kitchen!
And, oh yes, we do wait.
What is the basis or rationale for anyone contemplating an inconclusive and/or botched 2007 Elections? Who says? Shouldn't our energies and prayers be positively primed for its success?
Anyone proposing an "interim national government" (INC) must be a dreamer. May they wake up, or be woken up. No such dream will come to pass. Never!
Those who are interested in NIGERIA and her glory should kindly help cure these "creeping cynics" (or are they candidates for sedition trial?!) of their anti-elections malaria. They need to be purged of all neo-third-term viruses, and promptly innoculated with potent pro-democracy vaccines. Let their village people "talk" to them o!
Whatever happens, the PDP (especially the Ali faction) must pronounce now that it is not in the thick of this treasonable voyage. Let Chairman Ali whip them with his legendary BBC-interview kind of "description"! We wait.
Failing which the president should take charge and quell the quissling thought right away.
All 40 (so far!) registered political parties should issue joint and separate condemnation of the idea, and declare full support for/embrace of sustainable democracy through regular, timely and on-time elections. They should specifically uphold/protect the non-negotiable status of the 2007 Elections. No going back. Whosoever cannot bear the democratic heat should get out of the political kitchen!
And, oh yes, we do wait.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Day-Dreamers!
There are still some politicians and die-hard hangers-on who can't strike out on their own. They revel in rent-seeking and name-dropping. This has of course buttered their proverbial, metaphorical and physical bread before now. Not anymore!
Latest gist? They angle to be "anointed" by President Obasanjo! As tricky and tacky as that is, there is even more odium: They ignore the other political parties, the other factions (what a story!) of the ruling PDP, and.......WE - The People! Some dreamers!!
Hello o, with our VOTES, we'll pay them their dues by 2007.
Latest gist? They angle to be "anointed" by President Obasanjo! As tricky and tacky as that is, there is even more odium: They ignore the other political parties, the other factions (what a story!) of the ruling PDP, and.......WE - The People! Some dreamers!!
Hello o, with our VOTES, we'll pay them their dues by 2007.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Let The Media Damn Them
It's time we stopped the charade and class deceit going on in the political domain right away. The political class, especially the older hands, is perpetuating crass contempt for the electorate and all that our country demands. How on earth can the present pre-occupation with zoning benefit the electoral and electioneering process/endeavour? Is our problem ZONING? Whether north or south, east or west, where are the candidates? Let's have the menu, then leave us to choose!
The case is so bad it now permeates all levels of the bid for office. Instead of telling us about both themselves and their offerings, so we can compare and contrast, they are busy wasting our time with zoning inanities. Let it be known that we are fully sensitive to the sentiments and sensibilities of that matter, just that it should come in after the question of competence. It must not and need not be used to obfuscate the crucial debates about good governance, which should be raging right now.
A nauseating aspect of the present miasma is that even those who are not contesting, or clearly ineligible to contest, are the cheerleaders of the distractive chorus. They clog up the public space and pollute our ear-drums, why? Many of those who got us where we are today are mounting the soap-box, heating up the polity, with provocative and primitive posturing - fanning embers of primordial hate and stoking fires of religious bigotry. Why? Enough of these circus shows.
Now to my quarrel and plea: Why is the media succumbing to the blackmail? Can't we fill pages or airtime without these voices? Is there a grand design to not x-ray our state of affairs, to not scrutinize the contenders, to muddy the waters so any "catch" will do? And thus lead us to the worst choices? We must dread. The Nigerian Press has never failed us, they should now NOT do so. Let the MEDIA stop them, NOW!
My suggestion: No headlines for the zonal debates, anymore. Put a cap on them, even for total coverage - 10% of all news. Take a lead on the real issues - subject by subject, sector by sector, area by area, party by party. We must analyze the state of the nation, the state of the states, the state of the local government areas. Set them side by side the annual and cummulative budgets, and ask the QUESTIONS. Then assess the contestants based on their own road-map for either CHANGE or IMPROVEMENT.
All Nigerians must ignore these cheap gimmicks and time-wasters. Enough of the charade!
The case is so bad it now permeates all levels of the bid for office. Instead of telling us about both themselves and their offerings, so we can compare and contrast, they are busy wasting our time with zoning inanities. Let it be known that we are fully sensitive to the sentiments and sensibilities of that matter, just that it should come in after the question of competence. It must not and need not be used to obfuscate the crucial debates about good governance, which should be raging right now.
A nauseating aspect of the present miasma is that even those who are not contesting, or clearly ineligible to contest, are the cheerleaders of the distractive chorus. They clog up the public space and pollute our ear-drums, why? Many of those who got us where we are today are mounting the soap-box, heating up the polity, with provocative and primitive posturing - fanning embers of primordial hate and stoking fires of religious bigotry. Why? Enough of these circus shows.
Now to my quarrel and plea: Why is the media succumbing to the blackmail? Can't we fill pages or airtime without these voices? Is there a grand design to not x-ray our state of affairs, to not scrutinize the contenders, to muddy the waters so any "catch" will do? And thus lead us to the worst choices? We must dread. The Nigerian Press has never failed us, they should now NOT do so. Let the MEDIA stop them, NOW!
My suggestion: No headlines for the zonal debates, anymore. Put a cap on them, even for total coverage - 10% of all news. Take a lead on the real issues - subject by subject, sector by sector, area by area, party by party. We must analyze the state of the nation, the state of the states, the state of the local government areas. Set them side by side the annual and cummulative budgets, and ask the QUESTIONS. Then assess the contestants based on their own road-map for either CHANGE or IMPROVEMENT.
All Nigerians must ignore these cheap gimmicks and time-wasters. Enough of the charade!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Where Are The Women?
While the political terrain is hazy and unfolding, it bears some historical traits. Many people are loafing around, looking for some Iroko to latch on to or hide under. Many more are idling away, hoping that they would or may or can find a berthing in whatever political party shows/has the proverbial bandwagon trawl. How they misread our new horizon!
As for the women, they are yet to learn. In the past, they were contented with being hustlersin the "Women's Wing" of political parties. And they lost out. Now, as before, they seem to be relying on government - through the women's ministries - to organize and strategize. It didn't serve well before, it won't work today. They must get out there, join the fray, and work the field.
No short-cuts, no free ride, no leeching! All must pay the cost of business to reap in this steely business.... or beg for appointment, when all posts be won!
In this tough and rough terrain, only the determined will arrive the Podium of Victory. The real ones, quality and qualitative, period. So sisters, where are the gazelles...and the amazons?
As for the women, they are yet to learn. In the past, they were contented with being hustlersin the "Women's Wing" of political parties. And they lost out. Now, as before, they seem to be relying on government - through the women's ministries - to organize and strategize. It didn't serve well before, it won't work today. They must get out there, join the fray, and work the field.
No short-cuts, no free ride, no leeching! All must pay the cost of business to reap in this steely business.... or beg for appointment, when all posts be won!
In this tough and rough terrain, only the determined will arrive the Podium of Victory. The real ones, quality and qualitative, period. So sisters, where are the gazelles...and the amazons?
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Candidates and Self-Censorship
Strong Message: If you are not truly qualified for elective office, don't run in 2007. If you are nominated, decline. If you are sponsored, withdraw. If you be stampeded, withstand. It should not matter if others like it, agree or not. It should sure matter that you be true to conscience and country.
Strong Advice: Unless you are scrupulously qualified for quality performance, don't lobby, seek or gun for appointive office. No matter what, accept not to serve. Be true to man and mission.
Tough? You bet! Will be more than hell if you be weak enough to trounce this code. Pure hell.
Strong Advice: Unless you are scrupulously qualified for quality performance, don't lobby, seek or gun for appointive office. No matter what, accept not to serve. Be true to man and mission.
Tough? You bet! Will be more than hell if you be weak enough to trounce this code. Pure hell.
Friday, July 07, 2006
These Politicians!
They have refused to address us on ISSUES! They are busy scheming "factionalisations" and a million plots! They are more interested in "owning" or "controlling" their political party and its coercive purports! Getting quite corrosive. These politicians, when will they learn?
Let them know that it shall be not business-as-usual, again. It shall be merit-before-message, and proof-before-passage. Let them tow the line of honour and succour....and bring both to the long, very long-suffering voters of Nigeria. We, the people....who must be served.
While we love our humour and rib-cracking jokes, it is stretching things for them to serve us the ridiculous macabre dance of political clowning straining our national robe. And at the horrendous cost of 2007? May our Mighty God promptly, please, FORBID!
Let them know that it shall be not business-as-usual, again. It shall be merit-before-message, and proof-before-passage. Let them tow the line of honour and succour....and bring both to the long, very long-suffering voters of Nigeria. We, the people....who must be served.
While we love our humour and rib-cracking jokes, it is stretching things for them to serve us the ridiculous macabre dance of political clowning straining our national robe. And at the horrendous cost of 2007? May our Mighty God promptly, please, FORBID!
Governors Should Start Winding Down
It is time for Nigerian governors to start winding down their activities. They should take a cue from the president. Drop all droppables. Right now, nothing grandiose need be embarked upon. They need to start load-shedding, even as they personally intensify projects-implementation and value-maximisation.
It is unacceptable to pile on any unnecessary liabilities, or try to mop up by raiding the treasury. Walls have ears!
It is unacceptable to pile on any unnecessary liabilities, or try to mop up by raiding the treasury. Walls have ears!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Let's Confront The "Generational Change" Question
Africans have no quarrels with age. We revere, venerate and celebrate our elders. So may it be, so shall it be, for aye. All elders are accorded this high honour, until they disprove and disown the status!
One sure station at which elders easily unravel and discredit themselves is politics. It is the open marketplace in which nothing is hidden anymore. And for them elders, we mourn. Very bad sore all over the land! Yes, we must mourn.
At first we permitted the so-called learning process, teething period. But after several decades of the same shenanigans, no more! How come they know how to manipulate, break all laws with impunity, steal the thunder out of the electoral process, loot the daylight out of tight national treasuries, find and locate, and then stash obscene sums in off-shore safe havens, plus luxurious properties in the poshest neighbourhoods abroad? How come they are experts in selling our collective patrimony to themselves, using the most devious means to cleverly appropriate our commonwealth? Yet, they cannot run our affairs in consonance with their oath of office? Damn, we must now ask our elders, and be pointedly tasking about it.
Do they see what "elders" and "seniors" do elsewhere? Especially in those developed economies where they so frequent, and even made alternative home(s)? Why have our elders blocked our progress this long, this bad, this shamelessly? Answers, please...No more hedging or hiding.
Now, let's be clear and fair. There are millions of honourable and wonderful elders in the land. Indeed, we are so blessed with the stock. And that is the problem. How did the wrong ones get to take-over??? And why did they last so long on the wrong path??? Now, we be all smeared. Why and how did the multitude follow the few to sin??? Now, we be all damned.
The Chinua Achebe Foundation's interview series and other media reminiscences with senior citizens, as well as memoirs of retired persons, have been eye-openers! Lamentations galore!!!
No matter. Point now is, what next? Where is salvation, come Election 2007?
I think political parties need to take this matter on board. We must ask the pointed questions. They sh
One sure station at which elders easily unravel and discredit themselves is politics. It is the open marketplace in which nothing is hidden anymore. And for them elders, we mourn. Very bad sore all over the land! Yes, we must mourn.
At first we permitted the so-called learning process, teething period. But after several decades of the same shenanigans, no more! How come they know how to manipulate, break all laws with impunity, steal the thunder out of the electoral process, loot the daylight out of tight national treasuries, find and locate, and then stash obscene sums in off-shore safe havens, plus luxurious properties in the poshest neighbourhoods abroad? How come they are experts in selling our collective patrimony to themselves, using the most devious means to cleverly appropriate our commonwealth? Yet, they cannot run our affairs in consonance with their oath of office? Damn, we must now ask our elders, and be pointedly tasking about it.
Do they see what "elders" and "seniors" do elsewhere? Especially in those developed economies where they so frequent, and even made alternative home(s)? Why have our elders blocked our progress this long, this bad, this shamelessly? Answers, please...No more hedging or hiding.
Now, let's be clear and fair. There are millions of honourable and wonderful elders in the land. Indeed, we are so blessed with the stock. And that is the problem. How did the wrong ones get to take-over??? And why did they last so long on the wrong path??? Now, we be all smeared. Why and how did the multitude follow the few to sin??? Now, we be all damned.
The Chinua Achebe Foundation's interview series and other media reminiscences with senior citizens, as well as memoirs of retired persons, have been eye-openers! Lamentations galore!!!
No matter. Point now is, what next? Where is salvation, come Election 2007?
I think political parties need to take this matter on board. We must ask the pointed questions. They sh
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Cost of Elections (1)
We thank the president for advising all political parties to reduce the cost of seeking electoral office in Nigeria, from Election 2007. Thank you, sir!
Following the sensible limits placed on electoral spendings by parliament in the new Electoral Act, it should be clear to the parties how much we need to clean things up. I will not chastise the ruling party for the very bad example it has set in fixing such high application fees - N5m for presidential, N3m for governorship, etc - since their leader has openly opposed same in his public advice. I call for compliance. Let it be said, too, that the party wisely and commendably exempted women from all fees. Bravo!
Without putting a fine point on it, N5million will create between ten and twenty SMEs/cottage industries in any local government area of Nigeria. If such funds are extracted from candidates, even before their parties' primaries, we are already sowing the seeds of desperation, thuggery, and cut-throat contestation instead of healthy competition. Unacceptable.
May we tell our politicians that political office, whether by election or selection, is not a bazaar - not for sale. We have no room for the "highest bidder" syndrome of the ignoble past anymore. It is one reason Nigerians are clamouring for Independent Candidacy. And we will have it come the next parliament. Before then, let the parties do right: create a level playing field for all.
What do I think? All fees should be reduced to the minimum wage level, if possible; but in any case, not higher than N10,000 for presidential bids. Let the parties find better ways to screen and weed, as well as fundraise at election time.
Politics of money-bags, and godfatherism, belong to the dustbin of our dirty past! Over.
Following the sensible limits placed on electoral spendings by parliament in the new Electoral Act, it should be clear to the parties how much we need to clean things up. I will not chastise the ruling party for the very bad example it has set in fixing such high application fees - N5m for presidential, N3m for governorship, etc - since their leader has openly opposed same in his public advice. I call for compliance. Let it be said, too, that the party wisely and commendably exempted women from all fees. Bravo!
Without putting a fine point on it, N5million will create between ten and twenty SMEs/cottage industries in any local government area of Nigeria. If such funds are extracted from candidates, even before their parties' primaries, we are already sowing the seeds of desperation, thuggery, and cut-throat contestation instead of healthy competition. Unacceptable.
May we tell our politicians that political office, whether by election or selection, is not a bazaar - not for sale. We have no room for the "highest bidder" syndrome of the ignoble past anymore. It is one reason Nigerians are clamouring for Independent Candidacy. And we will have it come the next parliament. Before then, let the parties do right: create a level playing field for all.
What do I think? All fees should be reduced to the minimum wage level, if possible; but in any case, not higher than N10,000 for presidential bids. Let the parties find better ways to screen and weed, as well as fundraise at election time.
Politics of money-bags, and godfatherism, belong to the dustbin of our dirty past! Over.
Let's Warn Abuja
The president has, predictedly, disowned the Third Termites! Chief Olusegun Obasanjo told the 'Associated Press' that he was never interested in, and thus not intended on, the failed tenure elongation bid!! Yet, he allowed the monster to tendentiously over-heat the polity, and badly damage his presidency!!! We must shudder.
Right now, therefore, let's warn Abuja. The dark forces within the ruling party and the corridors of power are at it again. They are using security agencies to settle political scores, mounting weird vendettas, and harassing the media. They must be stopped. And removed.
If the president does not rein them in, let the National Assembly do so. Fast.
Abuja, beware! No more evil, please.
Right now, therefore, let's warn Abuja. The dark forces within the ruling party and the corridors of power are at it again. They are using security agencies to settle political scores, mounting weird vendettas, and harassing the media. They must be stopped. And removed.
If the president does not rein them in, let the National Assembly do so. Fast.
Abuja, beware! No more evil, please.
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