BOKO-HARAM: NIGERIANS, LET'S GO FOR BROKE

By Folarin Samson

These are indeed trying times for us as a nation. I am weeping in my heart and can barely think straight even as I try hard to coordinate my thoughts to form a coherent piece. Why should we continue to take the insouciant siddon look, ‘God help us’, ‘it is well’ posture as our nation dips into anarchy? As the media daily inundates us with a plethora of high-profile corruption cases depleting our commonwealth, so are we troubled with the harrowing cries and sorrows of fellow countrymen who have lost their loved ones to the bloody bullets and bombs of Boko Haram. And it is doubtful anyone will remain dry-eyed after hearing the horrifying accounts of victims of the Islamist terror group at the press conference held few days ago at Abuja on the auspices of the Christian Association of Nigeria-Americans. Women who have lost their families. Children who are now orphans after watching their parents slaughtered like rams before their very eyes. People whose only crime was to have lived in the space called Nigeria and to have professed the Christian faith. I will stress my opinion of the later point, soon.

It was a blubbering Dr. Oby Ezekwesili who spoke with the media, and she couldn’t have put it better:

“So if we have become a nation that does not put value on human lives, then we are really in a bad place. Listening to these women particularly and seeing what they have to carry alone, you almost feel a sense of abandonment for them. It is almost like they are invisible to the rest of us and that worries me. We must get ourselves back to a drawing table and figure out who we really are; what are we and what we have become as a people and as a nation.”

Ezekwezili captured it well. Our problem is that many of us have not been hit, hence we don’t feel the heat of others. We don’t know what it means for a whole family to be wiped out in a single sorrowful night. We don’t understand how it feels to be in church and suddenly come to the rude realization that we may never return home alive. And that is why we are as indifferent and placid as those we criticize for lack of action. If as a people, we fail to initiate a sense of urgency, fervency and importunity, we will only continue to wish, and this nightmare may persist.

But we must face certain truths. Boko-Haram may be a terrorist group with some senseless, vague mission, but one thing is true, they are strategically hunting the Christian faithful. They have not only stated this umpteen times, but have demonstrated it in the nature of their attacks. It was reported that before they killed some fourteen people in a factory recently, they painstakingly sifted and separated the Christians from the Muslims and to even be sure, they asked for their names. So, for anyone to deny this fact under any religious or sentimental guise, is wickedness and insensitivity. It is important to create this understanding so that our Muslim brothers can join to condemn terrorism in all its pretexts and we all can avoid arguments that lead nowhere.

Second, the present regime has failed abysmally to address security issues. It has failed to assure protection of lives and property which is the first duty of government. It has failed to inspire confidence in the ability of government to rise to the occasion in critical moments. Nigeria has become a metaphor for a mass slaughter house. People die like fowls and the records of unresolved murder cases keep piling up. To indicate its helplessness and probable surrender, government’s reaction to killings in the country is predictably perfunctory and measured. Reason being that the security agencies have been infiltrated by terrorists.  This fact even became more evident in the recent death of the commissioner of police of Kwara State. The police chief died despite the huge security operatives attached to his position. President Goodluck Jonathan shocked Nigerians when he publicly acknowledged that his cabinet has been penetrated by the terror group. Scratch that. Sometime last year, some members of the national assembly were in mortal fear to open critical discussions on Boko Haram because they knew the sect had members on the floor of the assembly. They don’t want to die. And only very few have had the courage to speak vociferously against government’s poor handling of this critical national mess. And some would rather have us make history by being the first nation on earth to grant unconditional amnesty to terrorists or shamelessly dialogue with men who have killed thousands of innocent Nigerians. The thought is disgraceful. It is the definitive sign of acquiescence with the destroyers of our nation.

It may be true that there have been some clampdowns on Boko-Haram. The Joint Task Force has succeeded in wiping out some of the group’s members in reactionary combats and fire-fights. Some of our security men have shown commendable courage, and some of them have even died in gun battles. Yet, it appears each time they are levelled, Boko Haram replenishes with the rapidity of soldier ants and furiously launches deadlier corrosive butchery that renders earlier attacks mere child play. This means we are not giving this cancer the treatment it deserves.

Fellow Nigerians, it is high time we stopped whining and complaining. It is high time we stopped waiting and wondering, what will our government do for us? Someone said, the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. Martin Luther King the junior and his black American people did not wait and wish away racism, they took drastic steps. The Tunisians, Libyans, Egyptians did not just criticize their despotic leaders from newspaper stands and in the comfort of their bedrooms; they took to the streets in protests. With the current, unmitigated spate of bloodshed in the nation, I urge all Nigerians, let’s go for broke. 

Let’s all go out in solidarity for the lives of thousands of our brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, who have been slaughtered for no just cause in the North. Enough is enough.

Let’s all take to social media and every other means of communication and declare to the international community that all is not well with our nation and if nothing is done to help us, we are in grave danger to self-destruct.

Let’s demand an urgent convocation of sovereign national conference to re-evaluate our union, re-define our association and re-assess the appropriateness of our governing constitution. 

Let’s all demand the immediate resignation of cowardly men in authority who have refused to use the enormous power of office to end these senseless carnage. Those who have died are human beings and if anyone or a group of cabals decide to look away from our pain, it is high time we told them sovereignty lies with the people!

Let’s all cry and weep at the altars of our churches and mosques and ask God: “One hundred years of chaotic existence, whither Nigeria?”

The Aluu 4: Justice Now!

Folarin Samson

In less than a fortnight, Nigerian youths were dealt the crushing blow of two gruesome murder cases that left about forty-four youths dead in controversial circumstances. In Mubi, Adamsawa, North-east Nigeria forty students were killed by a gang that combed the off-campus residence of the students with a hit list. Reports had it that the victims were either butchered to death or shot straight in the head. Some said it was the fallout of cult-activities, others thought it had to do with the students union election that had been held the previous week. While the nation was smarting from the hurt and security operatives were busy hounding suspects and following faint leads, the news filtered in through the social media that yet another four youths have been murdered. This time, the assailants carried out their bloody act in broad day light and someone in the crowd was bold enough to film the footage for the public eye. The youths were accused of stealing laptops and cell phones and the people of Omuokiri-Aluu community in Port-Harcourt having had some bitter dealings with marauders and rapists, could not think of any better way to treat the case than resort to extra-judicial execution. The gory video footage that has since gone viral on the internet reveals how the students were clubbed to death. Tires were then rolled into their body, as heavy sticks pound and fracture their skulls, spurting fresh blood and brain. And two of them were only teenagers, university undergraduates.

Ever since, the country has not stopped talking of how to ‘bring the perpetrators to book’. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has given the government seven days ultimatum. The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ndabawa has promised to ‘make the culprits face the full wrath of the law’ and in all fairness, 13 people or more have been arrested, including the traditional chief. Nigerian youths are threatening taking the matter to the United Nations if the Federal Government in its characteristics manner pussyfoots. Everybody is talking tough. And how I wish the momentum of public outrage would be sustained. How I wish the killers of the Mubi youths and the Aluu four indeed would be made a public example. But history has proved that our reactions as a people are triggered by flitting emotional outburst. We act on spontaneous impulse that doesn’t stand the test of time.

In 2005, 11-year old Samuel was accused of kidnapping a baby, and despite the poor-boy’s plea of innocence, he was dragged through the streets as his flesh peeled off, before he was eventually lynched. That sparked public outrage and human rights activists and other international bodies became interested in the case. The faces of the killers were extracted from the video. After some initial fervour and grandstand, the matter petered out and everybody returned to their homes.  During the fuel subsidy riot in Lagos, a youth was allegedly killed by a trigger-happy policeman. We don’t know how the matter is going. Kabiru Sokoto, alleged mastermind of the Madalla Christmas carnage probably caused more fuss than the rest. His earlier dramatic escape led to the sack of a former Inspector General of police. Today, nine months after his re-arrest, the police are yet to begin his trial because they are still searching for proofs to concretize his prosecution. It therefore amounts to cruel comedy before people who have knowledge of recent history when we shout, rave and rant over ugly incidents like this.

Probably Mr. President is one of those in this category. President Jonathan who ought to feel the pain more than anybody did not deem it fit to talk about either the Mubi murder or the Aluu four in his public broadcast. His empathy with the bereaved families could have assuaged the feelings. Many expected a reference to it either to calm frayed nerves or reassert government commitment to security and protection of human lives. But Mr. President showed he had other irons in the fire. Some critics would see this as insensitivity on the part of the chief security officer of the nation. However, it could be that Mr. President has not been duly briefed on the merit of the incidents considering the circumstances that surround them.

I don’t wish to discuss the merit of the two cases because extra-judicial killing under whatever guise is a criminal sin. My focus is on how as Nigerians we fight and run, only to fight another day. We appear not to be poised to fight our battles to logical end, thereby encouraging more impunity with the law and an ending streak of violent death and devastation. Martin Luther King once said “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. There is the need to make an example of the executors of the Mubi 40. There’s the need to mete out unmitigated justice to the cannibals who ended the hope of the Aluu 4 in a single day. The path to that road will begin when as a people we learn to sustain the momentum of our agitation for justice.

The media owe the people the obligation of following up on stories of this nature no matter the frustration of protracted legal process. Several other incidents like this have had out-of-court settlements because there was no more critical media surveillance. The reporters and editors should not only kindle public interest but sustain it through consistent agenda setting reporting.

The government is running out of time. The patience of the people is waning thin by the day and Nigerians are losing faith in the ability of their government to protect the property and lives of its people. The government is obviously making spirited efforts at checking insecurity as evidenced in recent clampdowns on members of Boko-Haram, but it must do more. At the risk of playing the devil’s advocate, I should note that the largely illiterate people of Aluu as report indicated have experienced frustration with the security situation in their area. The government could not secure their properties, pushed to the wall, they formed an alternative form of state and the spill out is there for all to see. And as someone rightly said, nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. But this does not preclude them from the discipline of the law because no nation can afford to joke with its youth who represent the future.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the people of Rivers State therefore have an important task to run the criminals to earth. Those in neighboring states must also be on the alert. Anywhere the killers are sighted, they must be promptly reported and handed over to security operatives without much scene. The social media have made the job easier by sifting the faces of the killers and everyone now has a duty to justice. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Mr. President erred for not making mention of either of the killings to empathize with the parents of the deceased and indeed the whole of Nigerian youths who now face uncertainty and insecurity in the country. This does not portend well for posterity. I suggest aside providing adequate security for campus students, there is the need for improved students’ accommodation on the campuses to support concentrated security measures. Also, it is crucial to the credibility of security agencies to brief the press on the outcome of notorious cases, especially when the public have shown considerable interest. This will help to establish deterrent precedents for those nursing such wicked desires and help maintain a sane society.

Baba Alajo Shomolu: the unsung legend

By Folarin Samson

There was an old folk tale about a man popular among those living in Lagos and indeed the major part of south-west Nigeria. His name became a tool for parents to extol virtues of wisdom and intelligence and it became so polished with inventive proverbs that it glittered. Nollywood few years back produced a flick to reincarnate his legend on screen. It was the story about a wise man who lived in Somolu, one of the highly populated cities in Lagos State. In a spectacular show of wisdom, he sold the only vehicle he had and procured a bicycle for his itinerant business of thrift collection called Esusu (Esusu was the old system of banking where a man takes daily contribution from people in their homes, offices and especially market squares and at the end of the month returns their savings upon their request). He would go riding to his many customers, take their daily contribution and without any reference to his log book, recount all their savings. Those who ventured to argue with him became awestruck at his phenomenal recollection of statistical details when he opened his record. His mental acuity became a chorus everybody loved to sing in family circles and public discussions. Everyone craved his friendship. Anyone who showed a flicker of wisdom desired to be associated with his name. So, it became fashionable to laud a wise man, “Ori e pe bi Alajo Somolu to ta motor ra keke”, meaning your brain has a measure of Alajo Somolu’s intelligence who sold his bus and bought a bicycle.

Baba Alajo Somolu’s story portrays the true Nigerian spirit of industry, honesty and faithfulness. His story should also inspire courage and determination in Nigeria’s teeming young and adult population. Alphaeus Taiwo Olunaike, aka Baba Alajo Somolu, was born at a time it was an abomination for women to be delivered of more than a single baby at a time. He was born a triplet and one of his brothers had to be buried alive to avert the curse of the gods. That was in September, 1915 in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. The second child also died. Alphaeus was lucky to be the first child, and was spared. He went through life struggling to make ends meet, especially after losing his father at a tender age. He left Isonyin, his home town for Lagos and learnt tailoring having had little formal education.

The turning point for him was when he shifted business to thrift collection. At this time, the markets were thriving and needed banking services, but could not get any help from the commercial banks. The focus of the banks was the corporate organization and upbeat individuals in the public service. Olunaike saw this as an opportunity and swiftly moved in to fill the void. He took fixed sums from market men and women every day, paid back in lump sums at the end of the month, and got less than one day’s contribution as earning for his service. He also gave loans for business development without demanding collateral. This was the origin of “People’s Banking”.

He operated in many markets, including Sangross, Baba Olosha, Ojuwoye, Awolowo, Oyingbo, Olaleye and Shomolu Market. Olunaike was trusted, loved and respected by his customers. In those days, there were no calculators or computers, yet he could tell his customers exactly what their balance was without any reference to documentation. His customers wished to be as intelligent as “Baba Alajo Shomolu’ when they boast ‘Ori mi pe bi ti Baba Alajo Somolu”, meaning I am as intelligent as the thrift collector from Somolu.

But very few know that the man whose name became a metaphor for gritting hard-work and intelligence died only a few months ago and was buried without the publicity and carnival befitting a man who modeled the elusive ideals of our world. This underscores the obvious drift and shift in our value system as a nation that now prefers decorating undeserving citizens in national colours to honouring true heroes. Mohammed Zakari illuminated this year’s national award after his name was listed for conferment with MFR for his honesty. It would not have been out of place if a man like Olunaike as popular as he was had been sought out and given national recognition for his pioneering effort and widely acclaimed industry.

I strongly recommend that to give credibility to the yearly tradition of giving national award to Nigerians who have distinguished themselves in one area or the other, the federal government may consider consulting with the grassroots and not just party chieftains. There are many more Olunaikes who deserve special recognitions. There are many more Mohammeds who may not have the benefit of media publicity. These are the people the government need to put on the centre stage as model for the new generation. A man like Olunaike in Europe or America would not only become a celebrated public figure, but a national monument students and scientists alike would be studying and researching on.

The young generation will need to learn from Baba Alajo Somolu’s industry. The late sage was able to identify a need in a despised section of society and he satisfied it. Today, many of his children who also made a living from the same trade despite their education would agree he did the right thing. Like the popular story told by Russell Conwell of Al-Hafed, a farmer who sold his field of diamond and went in search of the same pearl, but died trying, many Nigerian youths are fleeing the country in search of greener pastures when what they craved is only few metres away.  They don’t get rich, they die trying because they fail to realize the wisdom in Lee Iacocca’s words who said: ‘we are continuously faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems’. What we need is to unravel it and seek a way to provide the solution. Education may not teach that, but nature does as it did to Olunaike, the famed Baba Alajo Somolu who sold his bus to buy a bicycle not because he was interested in cycling or preparing for the Olympics, but so he could reach the distance those with cars and great education may never reach. Such a story deserves our attention as a nation. And for me, such a man deserves the place of a national hero.

PS: Pa Alphaeus Taiwo Olunaike died at 97 years of age and was buried in his home town, Isonyin Ijebu, Ogun State on Saturday, 22^nd of September, 2012.

The Press and The President

The Press and The President

Folarin Samson

The October 1^st Independence Day address of President Goodluck Jonathan, no doubt has caused a lot of embarrassment for the presidency. The fatal error has also given the opposition justifiable grounds to take on Mr. President for misinforming the Nigerian people and telling such a lie to the international community.  A cross section of Nigerians are particularly upset that despite the many cases of fraud and corruption recorded in the Jonathan’s administration, there has not been any convincing incidence of prosecution and conviction, which sufficiently evinces a lame approach to combating the corruption monster and stymies any research that portrays the country as being on the vanguard of fighting corruption. Mr. President in his Independence Day address had said:

“In its latest report, Transparency International noted that Nigeria is the second most improved country in the effort to curb corruption. We will sustain the effort in this direction with an even stronger determination to strengthen the institutions that are statutorily entrusted with the task of ending this scourge,”

After the upsurge of public criticisms occasioned by the denial of Transparency International of ever releasing such report, the Presidency was compelled to set-up an investigation committee that discovered the information was culled from a newspaper in the country. The Ministry of Information in a memo published on its website sniped critics of the address and gloated that the president’s statement was not made up but gathered from a reliable press medium. The rejoinder obviously did not have any recourse to the denial of Transparency International before hailing the statement as “notorious facts”.

At any rate, the outcome of the Ministry and its consequent resort to counter-attack, does not absolve the presidency of blame. The rule of the thumb which they failed to observe was to confirm the information from its direct source, in this case, Transparency International. Or to quote the source of the information by saying “A Nigerian newspaper recently reported ….” The speech writer in mindless uppity went directly to cite Transparency International without any verification.

A review of the supposedly cited newspaper report further confounds with gross misrepresentation and manipulation of information. The BusinessDay report of Friday, 14^th September, under the headline “FG anti-corruption initiative impacts Nigeria’s global perception” had said: “The survey on global corruption perceptions for 2011 versus 2001 showed that the third best improvement in the world was in Nigeria, with its score improving by 1.5 points. In the scoring, Nigeria follows the United States of America, which scored 2 points, while Bangladesh scored the highest by 2.3 points” Whereas the foregoing reflected third best improvement, the president’s speech indicated second. That cannot be a mistake, somebody tinkered with that report.

Again, the information was lifted from the paper without any proper investigation. The reporter had analyzed the data released by the organization and given the impression that Nigeria was doing well in its fight against corruption. It was half truth that smacked of incomplete and deceptive analysis. The writer did not report that Nigeria rated 90 out of 91 in the Corruption Perception Index of 2001 and the 1.5 point increase in ten years only put Nigeria on 143 position out of 183 countries sampled in 2011. Would Mr. President have thanked Transparency International that despite all effort to curb the corruption monster we have only been able to record 1.5 point increment in ten good years, whereas Bangladesh which rated 91 out of 91 in 2001, now rates 120 out of 183. Neighboring Rwanda is currently 49 on the same table. Could the President have been proud of this unimpressive improvement to the point of mentioning it in his national address?

In the final analysis, the reporter’s error was fixing Nigeria in the same category as the USA who primed 24^th and without presenting our degrading tabular position. The president’s error was passing off this slanted, patronizing data analysis as a direct citation of Transparency International, coupled with a slight joggle of “third best improvement” to “second most improved”, which understandably scandalized the organization into crying blue murder.

It is unfortunate that when countries like the US are celebrating the power of communication as evident in Mrs. Obama’s recent sweeping address at the US Democratic National Convention, Nigeria still has problems with simple tasks as a public address. True, President Jonathan may not be so gifted like a Winston Churchill who galvanized Britain to prosecute the Second World War even when his fellow countrymen were on the verge of surrender to Hitler. He may also not be naturally inspirational as Martin Luther King who imbued black Americans with courage to demand their right to equality. But the president’s office ought to endow him with credible professionals who could make up for such deficiency.

Remarkably, President Jonathan’s public presentations this year in two most important dates of the country have been greeted with public rage and criticisms. The Democracy day speech was described as not only too lengthy and boring, but most suffocating with its irrelevant statistical data. What shattered the speech came last and remained indelible: UNILAG ill-advised name change. Then happened the October 1^st controversial statement of “improvement” in the fight against corruption.

All these suggest there is a problem with the handlers of the President’s address. One wonders where the likes of Ruben Abati, Doyin Okupe and other media experts were when the speech was handed to the president. Those vested with the duty of crafting this important public document have shown incompetence and ideally ought to be relieved of their appointment for bringing the president into disrepute in the international community.

There is also need for Mr. President to pay more attention to his public presentations. Communication is very key in leadership because it largely affects result and as Professor of Communication at the University of Lagos, Ralph Akinfeleye said, “communication is an equivocator which can either provoke or unprovoke”. When former President Bush told Americans he would smoke out Osama Bin Laden from his hideout, Americans had heard enough and Obama who was probably in the listening audience could not but give Leon Panetta, his CIA chief urgent directive to hunt the mastermind of the 9/11 massacre. That is the power of leadership communication and with all due respect, President Jonathan rates very low in this regard.

It is equally important for speech writers, either in the public or private sectors to learn the importance of truth and accurate deployment of facts. Those scribing for public office holders especially require high level scrutiny and management of information because we live in a global village where nothing is hidden and internet search engines can easily expose any ruse created to give a false public impression.

This incident is another blow to the credibility of the Nigerian media. Writers will in the future become wary of citing Nigerian press because of misleading half truths like this. It is important editors and other gate keepers in the media increase their screen threshold to avoid a recurrence of embarrassing incidents like this. One of the basic elements of reporting taught in journalism institutions is thorough verification of information. In this age where information distortion is rampant, it is safe to check and cross check data and present figures as they are without any bias no matter how well intentioned. The strength of any media is not just in its coverage or circulation spread, but the credibility it has earned over the years through professional practice.

In the future, Mr. President may consider rehearsing his address before a simulated audience bearing in mind his multi-faceted, diverse audience of friends and foes, educated and illiterates, skeptics and optimists, indifferent and analysts, local and international. Such avenues could also help in plucking such errors as this. That is the burden he has to bear as the president of the largest black nation on earth.

08030572852/childofdkingdom@gmail.com

The Tenacity of Hope

The tenacity of Hope

By Folarin Samson

I dedicate this to all the Nigerian youths out there struggling to survive. I hope you would find comfort from this little effort at reinventing in print the common experience of societal disappointment and elusive expectations.

From childhood, we all had dreams. We wanted to hit the ground running from birth; we aimed at setting the Thames on fire. Out of sheer exuberance, we built castles in the air through fanciful dreams and wishes that left the older generation jealous of our innocent delusion of grandeur. Even when we had no idea of the entrails of our lofty ambition, we thought we would blaze through with lightning speed.

Then as we grew older, the reality of societal restrictions began to dawn on us and shrink the size of our vision. Your Parents must have enough money to send you to school and when you get into college, the teacher will have to like your face before you can earn good grades. At this stage, you will begin to realize the actualization of your childhood dream does not lie squarely on your shoulders; environment is a powerful determinant factor.

The deciding moment comes when on the verge of entrance into higher institution, you will need to write an exam that most times displaces and replaces many a youth ambition with undesirable discipline. The young man who wanted to study medicine had to settle for Yoruba science because the examination process did not favour him (research has shown many people in education found themselves there by accident rather than design, and that’s why the educational sector reeks of discontent and the resultant labour inefficiency that translates into students poor performance). The beautiful lady who all her life had hoped to end up an engineer had to opt for Igbo Technology because she’s tired of repeating the entrance exam.

But people in this category always find solace in religious and parental exhortations that situate their predicament in fate and irreversible acts of God. After all, nothing happens without God’s knowledge. Hence they must take whatever life throws at them and carry their cross dutifully. Not many find it easy coursing through the tertiary institution with this yoke. For me, at the earlier stage of my studies there were times I had to go to a popular Lagos market to carry loads for people so I could raise money for my upkeep. Afterall, I had raised money through the same medium for past exams. Some sacrifice study time to go work as bus drivers and conductors. Some who cannot stoop low to conquer, take to anti-social vices such as prostitution and thefts to make out for the deficiency of parenting. And all in a desperate bid to become a graduate and eke out moderate livelihood. The belief is that your school certificate is your passport to becoming a respectable and responsible Nigerian. How true?

Babadara (not real name) is a personal friend. He graduated as the best student in his department. He almost swept all the prizes and awards during the school’s convocation which was attended by friends and distant relatives and celebrated with much funfair. He got his first job with a little difficulty, thanks to his phenomenal show of intelligence with which he marginalized myriads of other highly qualified applicants for the same job. He would be paid fifty thousand naira (N50, 000), although he has to take transport of about a thousand naira every day. And he wakes up early, kits up in his well ironed suit to join the morning rush for transport.

But Babadara must consider himself lucky because Eliot, another first class student with a cumulative GPA of 4.97 out of a possible 5.00 who studied Food Science, months after his graduation is still ‘job hunting’. A colleague decided to remain in Yola where he had his youth service and teach in a primary school since there’s no guarantee of automatic employment upon his return to Lagos. Another friend since he returned from service has been home for years, still submitting application letter and probably having ceaseless vigils of prayer for deliverance from unknown family curse and satanic jinx. Many youths who burnt the candle at both ends in campus days are still searching for the reward of their hard labour. The product is an aggravated generation of youths, desperate to get back at society for the delusion of childhood dreams, the refashion of ambition during admission process and the frustration of unemployment.

My eyes got opened to the perplexity of a fresh graduate when I finished youth service. The two world of work opened up before me with astonishing effect. I discovered the stints and strictures of the private sector and the boredom and uninspiring tendencies of the civil service. It occurred to me that not all those in the early morning throng, drabbed in executive shirts and blouses are happy people. They are merely complying with forced rules of office. They are merely window dressing for the genuflection of people who can’t see the fire burning beneath.

The government should create more jobs. President Jonathan promised to create 370, 000 jobs upon the removal of subsidy, where are the jobs? The government is trying with a few commendable initiatives, but the impact is too minimal. In 2006, unemployment rate pegged at 5.30 percent, but as at December 2011, we had steeped to 23.9 percent. Current economic indices show the unemployment rate has worsened. President Barack Obama promised to reduce unemployment in America. Their unemployment rate as at August 2012 stood at 8.1 percent. Whither Nigeria? To re-echo the cries of the Nigerian Trade Union in a communiqué cited recently in the media, the federal government need to create an enabling environment for businesses and industry to thrive and create new workplaces for greater employment opportunities.

The government should be genuinely bothered about the economic conditions of its citizens. The world record book says an average Nigerian lives below a dollar per day. That’s nothing to be happy about. The situation may have grown worse with recent data release. A situation where a graduate earns twenty to forty thousand naira per month does not commensurate with the huge investment in payment for school fees and textbooks. It’s a mockery of hard work and it makes absolute nonsense of education.

The new graduate may consider gleaming some instruction from here. We now live in a different society that is far from those days of yore when there’s a plum job awaiting every graduate after school. To use Biblical parlance, if the first class, masters degree holders are scarcely saved, where will the second class and third class job applicants appear? Bank jobs used to be the rallying point for all comers, but the commercial houses are bursting at the seams and shutting down as evident in the massive lay-offs that now dominate news items. Equity aids only the vigilant. To be relevant, you must make yourself indispensable to society, then you can break the rules and set your wages. While waiting, invest in yourself. Further studies will help, private personal development and acquisition of relevant skills will make a great difference. Not having a job is no excuse for anti-social behavior because the chicks will one day come home to roost and you may end up spending the rest of your life in regrets and belated repentance. We have nurtured great hope and faith since birth and we have carried on even until now despite the environmental limitation, so this is not the time to lose heart. Better days are ahead.

Folarin Samson

08030572852/childofdkingdom@gmail.com

Folarin who just finished serving in Ebonyi, now resides in Lagos

Celebrating Intellectual suicide (Published in The Punch and BusinessDay)

Celebrating Intellectual Suicide

Folarin Samson

                                                                                                     

Two Nigerian youths made news headline recently for their extra-ordinary academic feats far away from home. Emmanuel Ohuabunwa, 22, broke America’s John Hopkins University record after he obtained a Grade Point Average of 3.98 out of a possible 4.0. His phenomenal achievement not only opened up a new vista in his medical pursuit, but also earned him a place in Phi Beta Kappa Society, a group that has past American presidents, US Supreme Court Justices and 136 Nobel Prize winners as members. That’s no mean feat. In far away Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, Tunji Anthony dusted his Engineering faculty with a sweeping Cummulative Grade point of 4.00 out of 4.00. For many Nigerians, the news offered consoling break from the blasts of bombs and bullets together with the accompanying sorrow, tears and blood. Their exploits may have mopped up a little the bloody trail to the mention of the country’s name in foreign media.

Be that as it may, the performance of these young men has shown that Nigeria is no push over in intellectual business. Although we possess oil mines, we are also rich in sound minds. Again, it was 16 year old Oluwaseun Alamu of Ogun State who emerged the best science student in Africa in a keenly contested UNICEF World Science Day competition. The world stood still for the young lad who made a strong statement of the brand of Nigeria’s coming generation. This concatenation of events should strike the right chord in the heart of our policy makers and stakeholders. Beyond the euphoria and flurry of half-hearted accolades, there is need to examine the extent to which we have explored our intellectual resources. There’s the need to critically analyze our priority and value system, and the collateral and posterior damage we will suffer if we continue in our present policy path. This is a case for the Nigerian youth.

To quote business mogul Aliko Dangote in a statement he made to Reuters, Nigeria is the best kept secret in the world. Although Mr. Dangote understandably spoke in terms of business opportunities, the matter is beyond monetary exploitation. Nigeria is full of young intelligent and brilliant minds that are wasting away due to poor academic programmes, dysfunctional educational structures and unstable academic calendar resulting from recurrent strike actions. The testimony of Ohuabunwa in this regard seriously indicts the handlers of our educational sector of negligence and gross incompetence. Or why should a four year academic programme take eight to ten years? What of the issue of immoral compromises for grades that is fast turning our ivory tower into brothels, and the general problem of lack of adequate state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructures especially for those in the peculiar fields of science and engineering. These frustrating learning conditions have been killing our potential and few lucky Ohuabunwas and Anthonys are fleeing the country on a regular basis for rock-solid education.

The danger in that? The more our youth exit the country to improve their academic profile, the more we endanger the future of our nation. It was nice reading Ohuabunwa and Anthony talk so passionately about returning to Nigeria upon the completion of their studies to contribute to nation building. That’s cheap talk friends. Why would a foreign country invest into a young man that has shown promise, only to throw him overboard when it knew he could help develop their economy? Nigeria-born super computer genius, Philip Emeagwali was passionate about Nigeria too when he left the shores of the country for America. His experience will suffice at this juncture:

“On the day I left Nigeria, I felt sad because I was leaving my family behind. I believed I would return eight years later, probably marry an Ibo girl, and then spend the rest of my life in Nigeria. But 25 years ago, I fell in love with an American girl, married her three years later, and became eligible to sponsor a Green Card Visa for my 35 closest relatives, including my parents and all my siblings, nieces and nephews. The story of how I brought 35 people to the US exemplifies how 10 million skilled people have emigrated out of Africa during the past 30 years. We came to the US on student visas and then changed our status to become permanent residents and then naturalized citizens.”

So, our loss becomes their gain. The more the emigration of our brilliant minds to overseas countries, the more the depletion in our intellectual capital. We seem to have a bigger problem here. We have perfected the art of outsourcing. We have lost faith in the ability of our own structures and institutions to deliver so, we send our resources abroad. We export our crude oil to be refined in the US because our refineries are in state of disrepair. We do the same in education. Instead of providing the necessary facilities and buying or borrowing technology for the upgrade of our tertiary institutions, we send our best brains abroad to study, hoping they would return. The average are returned, the best are retained. Worse still, we try to create more mushroom institutions to continue to churn out charlatans into the intellectual community.

The clincher here is if government does not take a radical step at stemming this tide, then we’ll soon fall off the precipice. Capitalist Europe will continue to exploit our ignorance and entice our youths with visas and scholarships. There will be a massive wealth transfer both in fiscal and professional expertise. According to the United Nations, an African professional working in the US contributes about 150, 000 dollars per year to the US economy. Money does not equate wealth, so that’s a loss on a relative ground. Another recent survey by World Bank shows that African universities are exporting a large percentage of their graduating manpower to the United States. In a given year, the World Bank estimates that 70,000 skilled Africans immigrate to Europe and the United States. That’s the disaster!

It is true this matter belongs to the bigger subject of brain-drain, but this writer is particular about the unchecked and encouraged exodus of our youth on educational ground. Our private universities are nowhere near enviable standards and that’s why many of them don’t even come close in national ranking. The National Universities Commission must keep pruning like it did recently when it suspended the operational license of seven private universities.

We must begin a process of repairing our structures and institutions to match world standards. The full implementation of the agreement between Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government will be a step in the right direction. Of note is the recommendation which demanded a progressive increase of annual budgetary allocation to 26 per cent and that for a three year gestation period all federal universities would require about N1.5 trillion, while each state university would require about N3.6 million per student. That may be a stint in comparison with Ghana which devotes 28 to 40 per cent of its national budget to education. But it’s a way to begin.

We need to also review our academic curricular to compare international best practices. Junks and extraneous courses must be purged from our syllabus for our graduates to be sufficiently trained in their area of specialization. It is pathetic students are saddled with distracting courses with no relevance to their calling. A redirection for more focus on research work and practical will provide considerable fillip to our learning than outdated and soporific theories with no application.

Our academics need a wake-up call. It is high time we stopped the frequent disruption of academic activities with strike actions. It weakens confidence in our institutions. We are also in dire need of a government that does not need to be threatened before it honours mutual agreement. And now that our professors have the latitude of 70 years retirement, it is hoped they would impart more into our institutions and not lapse into the senility of old age.

But this essay will not be complete without a mention of job opportunities. Many youths have left the country in search of greener pastures. The lopsided nature of our education makes job a challenge. Sound education should not only develop the capacity to work in a man, but train him on how to make ends meet. Nigeria is full of opportunities that can be tapped when the mind is lucidly innovative and creative. From a dialectic standpoint, Nigeria has problems. The presence of problems means there are works to be done, but only few people with discernment will see the possibilities in the perplexities.

If the likes of Mr. Aliko Dangote could invest into our education, we would be the better for it. If our rich men could be more proactive about the coming generation, then Nigerian youths will not think of schooling in Ghana or South-Africa. If the federal government could pay more attention to our education, then we’ll not be losing our Ohuabunwas, Anthonys and Emeagwalis. Many more of these brilliant chaps are about taking the next flight for Europe. Let’s create a good environment for learning and stop frustrating the hope of this nation.

Folarin Samson

NYSC Ebonyi

08030572852/ childofdkingdom@yahoo.com

NYSC: What did I do wrong(Published in The Punch, The Guardian, The Nation)

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NYSC: What did I do wrong?

By Folarin Samson 13/08/2012

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What does it feel like to nurture great hope, visions and aspirations and work so assiduously at it, only to be shattered with the reality of shame and disgrace? How does it feel to love one’s nation dearly and serve her with all exuberant vigour and youthful zeal, far and beyond the call of duty, only to be rewarded with scorn, reproach and punishment because subsisting social structures and mores do not support such extinct ideals? The feeling is obviously one of dejection, frustration and near collapse that prompts quick re-evaluation of strategy. While some youths have stoically waded through such ugly experiences and re-launch dramatic comebacks managing to keep their tattered virtues, many others have been too wounded to survive; they turn around polishing their crafts and grafts to hunt the system they once craved to serve. The puritan blends with the system and learns the art of corruption even faster than the masters.

I am a youth presently distraught with the reality of unreciprocated love for fatherland and I wonder if there is hope for my kind in this nation. While at the NYSC Orientation Camp, I had planned to draw attention to needs in my place of assignment through the media by virtue of my communication discipline. But I was told corps members were not allowed to speak with the press. I was unhappy. How can that be? Do they want to repress my spirit? I might faint if I didn’t write for a fortnight. How much more for a year? I read the rules and discovered the bye-laws forbid ‘’...granting interviews on matters affecting NYSC policies...’’ Eureka! I found the answer. We were only forbidden from granting interviews, so I still had my freedom of expression. In fact, I knew NYSC wouldn’t have mounted any contradiction to Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution which expressly endows every Nigerian with freedom of expression.

I started writing and publishing right from camp, basking in the euphoria of serving my nation. Aside delivering one of the most evocative speeches at the orientation camp, urging fellow corps members to sincere service, I re-oriented many outsiders who had no idea of what fun awaits in the uncharted hearts of the jungles. From my interior village, I darted in writing, defending Ebonyi youths after the state government’s unpopular decision to stop full payment of their certificate examinations under the flimsy, faulty pretext of meeting up with minimum wage. I wrote for the Abia State University girl gang-raped by five monsters, urging justice for the poor girl. I wrote for the NYSC girl allegedly raped by a monarch in Osun. I wrote in defense of NYSC itself, telling the scrap proponents to be more constructive in their arguments. Despite the hail of accolade I was drawing from external readers, NYSC never communicated praise or warning. Then came the delay in corps members’ allowance. I thought if I could speak for the right of others, why should I be silent now? I wrote in defense of corps members in the country who were going through unimaginable hardship. I succinctly painted the horrid pictures like a skilled artist.

I must admit it was indeed the angry piece of a hungry corper. If you are in government and you read it, you will understandably be angry at the spunky brat who wrote it. And if you are outside government, you will be angry at government for treating corps members the way the writer portrayed. It was an angry piece that invoked anger. Where you direct the anger depends on what side of the divide you belong. The piece probably reflected in raw terms the mood of corps members in the country at the time. That was when NYSC Ebonyi woke up and invoked one of its rules against me. 

The writer must be made a public example. For daring to ask questions when he should have kept quiet, he deserved query and extension. NYSC is highly regimented, and you are expected to always play the yes-man. You can’t fight your employer or else you will be fired. In fact, it was not wise to have written such a reckless piece putting yourself in unnecessary risk. You dey do oversabi, ehn? Na only you fit write? Did you say the query came seven days to your passing out? What a rude shock that must have been. It was perfectly timed for you. And now, with that extension twig in your file, your viability for public office in the future is endangered. Those were some of the thoughts of people who had reacted out of genuine concern for Folarin.

But you know what? I have no regret. I have no regret for serving with so much innocence. I have no regret for writing because it’s my calling; I take my ordeal in good faith. I am no bad writer, except when I’m angry, literary anger, mind you. At such times, I write with fire and brimstone dripping off my pen. Like a jury, I summon offenders before the table of public conscience and examine their conduct in the light of their sworn obligations to society. 

And was I not supposed to be angry? You must know I saved 50% of that stipend, paid 10% as tithe, fed, transported, supported siblings, fulfilled financial obligations and commitments with the remaining 40%. And how much is the 40%? 7,800. Sincerely, there are corps members with stricter financial plans. So, when there is delay payment, you can only imagine the hardship and torture.

I was slammed with one month extension that led to two months delay even when none of the officials could open the particular section I breached. Together with the PRO, we perused the NYSC Bye-law searching for the appropriate section I violated. Then he finally fingered one: disclosure of official information. Laughable, isn’t it? Was I the one who disclosed the information to the public?  The former Minister for Youth Affairs, Bolaji Abdullahi had announced before I published? Little wonder even the query I was issued reflected confusion and distortion in citation. The offence was publishing; the citation was dereliction of duty. Worse, I was not paid a farthing despite the recommendation of the same invoked 2011/2012 Bye-laws that there should be half payment in certain cases. My situation must be worse than that of a prisoner, because even prisoners get fed no matter their crime. I was whisked back to my village, to the consternation of my principal and his staff. Many of the teachers were too shocked to say a word. Few who found their voice wondered why the best always get the worst treatments.

When the extension letter was handed to me, my initial reaction was that of utter disbelief, sorrow, frustration and disappointment that gave vent to the morbid thought of suicide. A top government officer, formerly in the media, who was briefed and had promised to help look ‘immediately’ at the matter, did nothing to save me. His promise petered out like the gentle snuffing of a flickering candle flame. I bled deeply within. I wept. I remembered all I had showed and showered was love and passion for my nation. My June 3rd page 10, full-page clincher in The Guardian Newspaper captured my excitement for NYSC. Funny enough, I gave the State secretariat my only copy which they gladly accepted. And when I expected appreciation, commendation and reward from a grateful people, I got the back-stab of extension because I asked an innocent, genuine question: NYSC, where is our allowee? The system does not tolerate questions. The system does not tolerate criticisms. 

Despite pressure to go public, I said nothing throughout my ordeal in deference to the section of the NYSC Bye-laws which frowns at seeking redress to grievances of this nature through the media. In my quest for justice, I would not want to be guilty of wrong doing. Hence, I bore the shame of the extension knowing the time will come to tell my story and let the people judge.

As I get my certificate this month and return home into the waiting hands of loving parents, friends and loved ones, some questions trouble me that I deem fit for national meditation. What are the parameters of our reward system? A corrupt politician is garlanded with honours, a Taiwo Akinkunmi languishes unrecognized in a shanty. Clearance corpers, ghost corpers, lazy corpers cheat the system and get applauded for playing smart, an acclaimed hard-working village corper without any blot of wrong-doing gets extension even when there’s no established offence? What do I have to show for my hard labour and passion? What will be my new exhortation to my generation? Does it pay to serve Nigeria with heart and might? Will this infringement go unaddressed? Will I go, my wounds undressed?

NB: The Punch and The Guardian published it under the title: NYSC: Tears of a wounded corper