TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nation

  • Black Cross Part 1 – A Failed Church, A Failed Nation, By Anthony Eferhirhie Abugu

    Black Cross Part 1 – A Failed Church, A Failed Nation, By Anthony Eferhirhie Abugu

    It’s no more a new thing to everyone that Nigeria is now a failed nation and this failure must not be attributed to our well-established brainless, indiscipline, godless, ethnicitybias, religious bigots, and social rascals as our leaders. No, our political leaders have not failed us. Yes, they are just mere men born out of the whims and caprice of ‘men and moments’ rather say the available men of the times. Men and women who made themselves available in the realms of power while the Church of Christ in Nigeria continues to wallow in the spirit realms of holiness without righteousness and been heavenly conscious and earthly useless.

    No, our political leaders did not fail us rather the church of Christ in Nigeria does. The leaders – Pastors, Bishops, Prophets and all spiritual leaders of the church failed the common man in the streets of Nigeria, killed the love of nationhood-patriotism in the
    hearts of our children, betrayed the trust of our youths, wastes the reformed and revolutionary ideas of our intellectuals and our youths’ energy misplaced in the name of working for God – Gods work.

    The norm has always been the church continues to pray for our political leaders, pray for peace in Nigeria. Pray, pray the pastors will say, pray for the peace of Nigeria for there lies the peace of the church and our society. In the first place, what happens to the peace of Nigeria? Was it stolen and the thieves could not be caught or the peace of Nigeria has been captured with no ransom demanded? Is the peace of Nigeria dead? But now you will say, the peace of Nigeria is threatened if that is true, by who? Who allows these elements of blood and scattered flesh as masters of political zombies to threatened our sacred peace as a great nation? While will the church of Christ in Nigeria continue to pray while men of bad blood continue to play games with the peace of our country?
    Pray they say but for how long? How long will these prayers continue? how many deaths, terrors, and horrors can these prayers stopped?

    The last time I checked, the more the church of Christ in Nigeria is praying for peace in Nigeria the more deaths, the more blood in the land, the more anarchy, divisions, and the sounds of war. Is the prayer of the church useless? You should judge by yourself.

    Have these prayers changed the dirt, corruption mentality, and darkness that had loomed and swallowed our politicians since independence?

    Let’s not forget that the church of Christ in Nigeria was praying when former President Obasanjo accepted and allowed Sharia Law to be prevalent in the northern part of the country against the 1996 constitution that governs everyone, regions, and tribes of the
    country.

    Where was the prayer of the church when Boko Haram started dancing their terror dance as a child play and sees how it has grown to become a national threat to our sovereignty as a nation?

    The church was praying when former president Jonathan lost to the great and current president Muhammadu Buhari when we all knew what he stands for, his extreme religious ideologies when properly decipher from his person, training, and political career as
    former military head of state from 1981-1984.

    Where was the prayer of the church when his vice president – Osinbajo was used to divide the votes of the church in the greatest
    electoral process of Nigeria’s democratic history of 2015.

    The church is still praying while Fulani jihadist and herdsmen infiltrated our military, encroached into our farms’ lands from the north to the west, south to the east. Still in her knees praying the Fulani invasion continues to grow deeper and wider. The church
    continues to pray and kidnappers continue to be kidnapped even including pastors been kidnapped and paid ransoms and goes back to prayer. All for a prayer of peace for Nigeria, pray and pray for the peace of Nigeria, yet what we have seen is the pieces
    of a people disintegrated, degraded, killed with blood bleeding from all corners with bones shattered across every space of the country.

    Why must the church continue in these religious fallacies cajoling the grace of God to be stupid and rendering the potency of faith as a wishy-washy phenomenon without any proof as stated in the books of James chapter two verses twenty “faith without work is
    dead”. Prayer without work is death. While the church continues to pray millions of Nigerians are kidnapped daily and killed in the hands of terror and you are saying our Christian leaders should not be blamed? They are the real killers, terrors of horrors who beguile their congregants with hypocrisies of prayer without faith and faith without work thus the shedding of the blood of both the guilty and innocents Nigerians daily.

    A country not at war but at war with itself and the church continues to play ‘peace war’ while there is a real war out there.

    This is not a question of God still hears and answers prayers of the church. No! God hears and answers prayer yet God is not an irresponsible God. The church of Christ has become an irresponsible spiritual entity where God must build our nation for us. Where God must use our darkened-hearted politicians to walk in the light to build a great country. How does God change darkness to light? How? How will God change our wicked and
    brainless politicians to righteous men overnight if the church is not swimming in the rivers of delusions and religious ‘Omni-nonsense’?

    How will the church continue to pray for peace and won’t do anything? Every true lasting peace comes with a price. Every great nation today becomes great because the citizens of these nations pay the price of peace. The church must free herself from the
    illusions of heavenly citizenship mentality and not citizens of the earth – Nigeria.

    If the church continues to toll this path, blood will continue to flow in our lands from the north to the west to the south and down to the east and nothing will happen.

    The church of Christ is the only hope for peace, stability, progressive growth, and the building of Nigeria to become a great country and the church will not do this by prayers alone. Praying alone will continue to make the church a political prey for political
    predators to manipulate any time any day. If the church of Christ in Nigeria limits herself to prayers alone, then the thought pattern that these killings are restricted to the villages is a joke because it won’t be long when our cities that housed the big churches are
    captured and becomes citadels of terrors and horrors and when this happens the church of Christ in Nigeria will suffer most.

    Conclusively, our Christian leaders, real Christians must all wake up and take responsibility – political responsibility. If the church continues to remain the dancing winds of prayers and pray alone then it should know that for every Nigerian killed in any form and part of the country the church is socially, morally, politically, physically, and spiritually responsible. The church has failed Christ thus failed our great nation, Nigeria.

  • Visually Impaired Cantors and a Nation that supports the Vulnerable, By Stephen Ojapah, MSP

    Visually Impaired Cantors and a Nation that supports the Vulnerable, By Stephen Ojapah, MSP

    Stephen Ojapah MSP

    “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing” (John 9:1-6).

    Jesus sees a man who was born blind, and the disciples ask him about the cause of the blindness (9:1-2). The disciples assume that the blindness must be a form of divine punishment for sin. For them, the question is whether the man himself had sinned—presumably in the womb before birth—or whether his parents had sinned, with the result that their child was born blind. Their way of thinking is based in part on some biblical texts that assume a child could be punished for the sins of the parents (Exodus 20:5). Jesus, however, shifts the frame of reference. He insists that the paradigm of sin and punishment does not fit this case of congenital blindness. He also refuses to speculate further about what caused the blindness and shifts the focus to what can be done about the blindness.

    Some translations paraphrase the passage and obscure the dramatic shift that Jesus makes. For example, the NRSV has Jesus say: “he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him” (John 9:3). But the words “he was born blind” were added by the translator. They do not appear in Greek. A word-for-word translation could be something like this: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but in order that the works of God might be revealed in him, we must do the works of him who sent me while it is day.” Jesus accepts the blindness as a given and refuses to speculate about what caused it. For him, the question is how to address the situation so that God’s works might be done in it.

    Jesus does not heal the man immediately. Rather, he puts mud on the man’s eyes and tells him to go and wash. Jesus’ words prompt the man to go, even before he has received his sight. For much of the chapter, the man will bear witness to Jesus whom he had never seen. That makes the story especially valuable for readers living in later generations. They too must bear witness to Jesus whom they have never seen except through the eyes of faith.

    This week’s reflections is inspired by the Psalm chanted last week, the 4th of October 2020. It was the 27th Sunday of ordinary time. The melody for the liturgical psalmody was rendered by the three visually impaired brothers: Honest Austine Oyama, Prospect Austine Oyama and Salvation Austine Oyama. They chanted it alongside Bishop Anselm Umoren, MSP (Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Abuja). All thanks to the Obiblo Studio. The brothers moved viewers and listeners to do an introspection about the mystery of life. How life can be so “unfair” to one family by giving them three virtually-impaired children? It is inspiring to see the determination of their parents to help them make their contribution to the Church and to their country.

    According to a 2005 estimate, the number of people with visual impairment (which includes both low vision and blindness) is 314 million worldwide; 45 million people are blind while 269 people live with low vision. Ninety percent of the world’s blind population live in developing countries, out of which about 1.2 million people live in Nigeria. The Nigerian national blindness and visual impairment survey in 2007 estimated that 1,092,028 Nigerians (0.78%) are blind. This poses a big challenge for the population especially in terms of public health and socioeconomic productivity. Blindness leads to social dependence, lack of access to education, loss of productivity and income (BB Kombo, Raphael; Port Harcourt Medical journal 2016).

    Just like the early disciples of Jesus who asked him about the man born blind, I am sure that many of us may have nursed similar questions. In fact, in some Nigerian communities, the woman may be accused of having a pact with Aljanus (spirits). It is possible to imagine the perplexity of the parents of Honest, Prospect, and Salvation. How can God permit their children to battle with a congenital challenge? In Gospel text, Jesus who accepts the blindness as a given and refuses to speculate about what caused it. For him, the question is how to address the situation so that God’s works will be done in it. Perhaps, the action of Jesus inspired the Oyamas to shift their attention from blindness to how best they can help their children to realize their talents and potentials. Visionary leaders have maintained that the greatness of any nation is shown by how it takes care of the weak and the vulnerable in the society.

    To learn more about them and their training, I got in touch with their teacher in Abuja, Mr. Joseph EKandem who himself is married to Ann Ekandem – a visually Impaired woman from birth. Mr. EKandem works with the FCT School for the Blind. The school has a coral group and a foundation called, Special Persons Choral Foundation, Abuja. The choral group has 41 members who are all visually impaired. According to Mr Ekandem, the students are children from poor families who cannot afford to cater for themselves. Learning about the existence of such school in the Federal Capital Territory, makes me hopeful that Nigeria is capable of looking after its most vulnerable citizens. I would like to use this medium to appeal well-placed Nigerians and corporate bodies to come to the aid of people like the Oyamas, their children and the schools for the blind that care for them. Every child whether virtually impaired or not, deserves to the right and the enabling environment to succeed in life. A society is great when its vulnerable members are lifted up with no one left behind.

    Fr Stephen Ojapah is a priest of the Missionary Society of St Paul. He is equally the director for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism for the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, a member of IDFP. He is also a KAICIID Fellow. (omeizaojapah85@gmail.com)

  • A nation in search of cost-based pay TV model, By Okoh Aihe

    A nation in search of cost-based pay TV model, By Okoh Aihe

    By Okoh Aihe

    The broadcast industry has been in the news lately. First the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the regulator of the industry released the 6th Edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code which has simmered in cacophonous responses from multi-stakeholder interests in the industry. Then only last week, the regulator got buttoned in the National Assembly where members of the lower house almost stampeded it into effecting a pay-as-you-go model in the pay TV sector.

    These are very interesting times and also the season for anomalous patriotism. Those with some kind of power including vested ones are boiling to exert it and the beneficiaries are hidden in a veneer of deceit. Especially the National Assembly members, they have so much power that a friend once told me, once you get into their chambers, even if they want to see the colour of your pants, you have got to take your clothes down. You may call this hyperbole in the extreme but, sometimes, hyperbole is the only word that can conveniently habour our ostentatious manifestations as a people.

    Otherwise how do you capture the story of lawmakers who simply told the regulator to go and find ways to effect a new business model for a sector of the broadcast industry? Yet, they had the Broadcast Act before them and they know that with all the powers that the regulator enjoys, including the ones preventing it from being able to complete a broadcast license process, unlike the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which can start a licensing process within the Commission and also end it there, the regulator before them does not have the powers to make price determinations for the industry. At best, it can arbitrate!

    However, the lawmakers have the support of the people behind them, those who voted them into power, and can therefore nearly legislate on anything. Chairman of the ad-hoc Committee, Hon Unyime Idem, from Akwa Ibom State reclined on this support earlier in the year when he stated that “As Chairman of this ad-hoc Committee, I want to assure Nigerians that their interest will be protected. When I moved the motion on the floor of the House, I stated that in a business of this nature, the customers should be given the right to choose what they want. We have interacted with Nigerians and what they want is pay-as-you-go, so that when they are out in their respective locations, their subscriptions can be there and they will make use of it when they return.”

    As a country with guesstimated statistics, our population is just over 200million (mind you there are no three government officials who will speak at the same forum on population issues that will give you the same figures), out of which nearly 100million live below poverty line. Meaning that the folks in this category are not concerned about TV or even DSTV as they pursue the mandatory one dollar a day to activate their stomach infrastructure. The remaining folks could just be as pressured, pursuing issues that assail their lives. Of the remaining figure I want to be audacious in claiming that the addressable pay TV market will be about 20 per cent.

    Supposedly, the figure above should be shared among some of the market operators in Nigeria, which include: Multichoice, owners of DSTV and GOTV, Startimes, DaarSat, ConSaat, Kwese TV and TSTV. But reality doesn’t always support suppositions. Which is why the pay TV subscription uptake in Nigeria might just be less than 5million, with Multichoice enjoying substantial advantage, followed by Startimes while others rank a distant third in jostling for market visibility.

    Yet I have seen publications somewhere which ascribe about 11million subscribers to a particular operator with the eye-popping conclusion that such operator earns over N100bn a month. That figure sounds very utopian and well over every market projection. My position here is not about any operator but about market possibilities and industry regulatory practices that can strengthen the broadcast sector. While trying to carry out a dispassionate assessment of the industry in this regard, an esteemed voice within government reasoned that “there seems to be an elite conspiracy against some operators. Some guys are using national sentiments to whip up an elite conspiracy and make the operating field difficult for existing operators.”

    This is one thing the National Assembly should not encourage. In as much as members are in the hallowed chambers upon the votes of the people, the people also include those who run businesses in Nigeria. Everybody in the society should enjoy their protection and be encouraged to be more productive. We need to dig in together in order to position ourselves to capture the future. For this reason, we must always look at the flipside of the coin, the other side of the story and work towards redeeming our very sorry situation.

    For instance, pay TV earnings globally would peg at $183bn by 2023, according to Statista, a German online platform for statistics. Obviously, this is a very big business pie and countries around the world are struggling to increase their stakes and derivable from the big apple. How do we have more profitable access to this business as a country? Perhaps the answer to this question should caution the National Assembly to create a friendlier platform for fruitful discussions instead of a monologue and a seeming directive to the NBC on how to regulate the industry henceforth. Discussions, a source told me, should be captured within the law; no externalities.

    The lawmakers are driving the story of pay-as-you-go for the pay TV industry, meaning that you pay only for the things you watch. The flipside is saying that pay-as-you-go is a telecommunications term which simply measures out airtime as per the size of your pocket. Pay-per-view, the flipside says, is the TV language which is directly opposite pay-as-you-go in terms of cost and affordability. Pay-per-view is synonymous with premium TV programming which also attracts premium payment for high-end programming.

    If a cardinal objective of the National Assembly is to get a better deal for pay TV subscribers, an industry voice very close to some operators, told me over the weekend that pay-as-you-go is technically impossible in the immediate. “It is not a part of business model for subscribers or operators. It is not possible to do pay-as-you-go on subscription TV because the business model does not support it. The operator will need new technology configuration to do so, which itself could come with additional cost to the subscribers.”

    In order to manage cost for the subscribers, pay TV operators usually develop bouquets targeted at different segments of the market. Such bouquet would usually encourage the subscriber to manage his/her taste according to the size of the pocket. No. In this part of the world our taste is controlled by greed and the unattainable. And when we fail to have our way we start to threaten the operator with our huge population and the size of the country’s market, forgetting that the preponderance of poverty in the land nearly put in deficit those who are outside the ring of the poor.

    Where the threat has failed to work, they begin to point to other lands: Sky in the UK has a weekly card; but you have to enter a contract to be qualified and the contract ties you down for a time. Oh, Comcast in the US has Xfinity plans for subscribers. It even comes with a data bundle and all kinds of attractive tie-in. But they know very little about the superstructure Comcast has built over the years, including the acquisition of American Cellular Network in 1988 which has given it a lot of market strength.

    The point is that we need a conversation, how we approach the future as a people. The National Assembly may lead the conversation. After all, they have the votes of the people. Since they have chosen the pay TV sector as point of intervention, I actually expect the law makers to carry out an inquisition into factors responsible for the dismal failure of local operators in the pay TV business or why they are unable to start operations at all. We shall remain on the fringe of a huge industry if we continue to play to the gallery as we saw on television last week. The times we are in call for very deliberate action with the future in mind.

    Okoh Aihe writes from Abuja.

  • CORONA WATCH 18: New normal in many ways – Michael, Udoka Daodu

    CORONA WATCH 18: New normal in many ways – Michael, Udoka Daodu

    Michael and Udoka DAODU (Plymouth, England)

    Different and opposing emotions filled me as I took in the first impressions of this new nation that would become my New Normal. I was relieved yet tensed, excited yet apprehensive. One emotion was clear though: the future held bright great promises.

    I was reuniting with my darling wife, and in a new environment too.
    After some days of rest and getting myself acquainted with the new setting, I started searching for a job. With the positive response of some recruiting agencies and the number of job vacancies I saw each day, I felt the probability of getting a job on time was high.

    Then another New Normal struck: Corona virus attacked as I landed in England, and everything changed. As the spread of the virus kept increasing, the government decided a lockdown was essential. All companies that had promised to call for an interview postponed till further notice. Applying to other organisations became near impossible because no company is operating now except those delivering essential services.
    Most stores closed. The barbing saloons, for instance, has a significant implication for me, as I will have to either wait for the lockdown to be over to get a haircut or buy a clipper to do it myself.

    Also, I like spending quality time at the library, which is usually quiet, to study and do some research. But with the present situation, I am forced to read at home with various distractions that reduce my productivity.

    On the other hand, stores selling essential commodities, in order to abide by the rule of social distancing, require customers to join a long queue to gain entrance to buy their daily needs. This for me is very time consuming.

    Walking from a point to the other in the city is a form of exercise for me, but that has been reduced to only when I need to get some essential needs such as food and drugs. Other exercises like running round the park is now limited to running on the walkway in order to maintain the minimum two metre distance from others. Everywhere is deserted.
    Sunday and weekly church activities which are a central part of our lives as believers in Christ Jesus, have been postponed till further notice, hence we can no longer go to church. As a result of this we now have to adopt an online service which cannot be equated to the normal services that include an offering collection after sermon and exchange of pleasantries after service.

    My wife, a nurse, who uses the city bus to get to work struggles most times to keep up with the changing travel times. This has resulted in her getting late to work in some instances.

    She is in the frontlines of the battle against the pandemic. I virtually am at work with her every minute. Whatever her role is at work, we trust our Saviour Jesus Christ will keep her and her colleagues the world over safe.

    Our hearts go out to, and prayers are with, all those infected with the virus. May God grant eternal rest to those who have died, and fortitude to those who are bereaved. We look forward to the end of this pandemic. Yet, like my feelings on arrival here, there are opposite feelings attached to that: what will this ‘New Normal’ bring? How different will it be from the world we knew? Only time will tell.

  • Onitiri calls for new approach to solve nation’s problems

    Onitiri calls for new approach to solve nation’s problems

    Lagos-based socio-political activist, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri has called for a new approach to resolving the nation’s current humongous security and economic problems.

    He said there is need for leaders of thoughts, traditional and religious leaders from all the six geo-political zones of the country to meet and chart a new course for Nigeria.

    They should proffer suggestions and solutions that would assist the Federal Government to subdue all these challenges in order for the citizens to live peacefully anywhere in any part of the country, he said.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday, Chief Onitiri noted that the Federal Government has not been hard on the criminals creating the problems of insecurity, kidnapping, banditry, cattle-rusting, cultism, robbery, herdsmen, and a lot of others.
    Presently, he noted, the herdsmen are having the field-day all over the country as if they have the backing of the government to enter and destroy people’s farms without being challenged.

    “This group of Nigerans creating problems for the farmers are supposed to be declared terrorists group by the Federal Government.They operate every where as if they own Nigeria.

    “In actual fact, one needs to agree with the Northern Elders Forum, headed by Professor Ango Abdulahi that the Federal government has not taken the bull by the horn to secure and pilot the affairs of the Nigerian nation in particular, in terms of security of lives and property of Nigerians”

    The socio-political critic said: “I join other Nigerians to call for the immediate removal of all the country’s service chiefs who had spent over four years in office. They have done their best and they should leave the office for other younger officers with fresh ideas.”

    Chief Onitiri called on all patriotic democrats of Nigeria and leaders of thoughts nationwide, organized labour and business community to rise up to the occasion and save the nation from total collapse by the operations of Boko Haram and armed bandits.

    “The present administration has not lived to expectation in fighting corruption adequately by being selective in who or not to prosecute. Alas! corruption thrives in the country more than before as pronounced by the Transparency. On the economic front, Nigeria is rated as the world’s poverty capital, ranking third as the world’s poorest nation. This is not good for our country’s image.

    “We urge the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC) Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), the student’s union, and all Human rights organisations not to keep quiet, while the nation is drifting.

    “This is not the country our heroes past beget to us. We should rescue it because we have no other country we can call our own.”,Chief Onitiri, socio-political activist added.

  • The Complaining Nation: Which way forward – Esanerovo Agbodo

    The Complaining Nation: Which way forward – Esanerovo Agbodo

    By Esanerovo Agbodo

    The Nigeria project has been on my mind for decades now and the more I try to forget about Nigeria and her problems, the more I get a push that I should not be discouraged in joining hands with other patriots in finding solutions to the problems of Nigeria.

    However from my experience over the years, I have come to a conclusion that most Nigerians do more of complaining when there is a national problem than take the expected actions to solve the problem.

    On this note, I have been trying all these years to factor out what is the root cause of this attitude of complaining and not taking the right action, knowing that the same people will do everything to confront and solve any problem confronting their families or immediate communities, but when it come to national issues, the same people will
    end up complaining and doing nothing or very little about it.

    Many youths have lost their lives in the course of defending the territories of their villages in inter communal clashes, but the same set of youths are not ready to sacrifice a pin for the development of their dear country.

    This is just an example and not in any way supporting any form of violence or communal clashes, because I believe that most of those clashes would have been averted if the right
    decisions were taken earlier.

    Why am I coming from this angle? Answer: Because I have been active in the struggle for a better Nigeria since the era of the military leadership till date. I have been involved in the planning and execution of several protests from a non violent perspective to change the narrative of bad leadership and corruption in Nigeria.

    I havefounded and worked in many Nationalistic organizations from my student days till date, so I am writing from more than two decades of experience of active participation in promoting progressive governance in Nigeria.

    It really surprises me why people should not defend the interest of their country, which is the singular factor that determines their peaceful and economic well being, but will rather focus more efforts at village and ethnic units.

    However, after giving it a deep thought, I am now of the opinion that this attitude of most Nigerians shying away from contributing effectively to solving national challenges is
    either due to gross ignorance on the part of such citizens on how a nation works, or it is just being Kobo wise and Naira foolish.

    If we use the same zeal we put up in defending our families and villages to defend the common interest of Nigeria, the country would have soared to the sky in development for ages.

    At this point, let us now remind ourselves that It is Nigeria that has the Naira as a legal tender, not any village, ethnic or religious group, and it is the value of the Naira which is actually the state of the economy that influences so many other dynamics in our society.

    So, if you decide to defend your village, ethnic or religious group and neglect the overall interest of Nigeria, it is actually a foolish decision because the state of the Naira will soon affect you wherever you are either positively or negatively.

    Your decision and action about Nigeria is what determines the peace and prosperity of the country.

    You cannot go it alone. You need the happiness and comfort of others all over the country for you to be truly comfortable in the real sense.

    If you have so much money and yet surrounded by criminals, armed robbers, kidnappers, different crises and their likes, I wonder how
    you can enjoy such money.

    Even when you travel abroad, you are scorned at as a rich fool and a nonentity in their society. Yes, they may benefit from whatever ill gotten wealth you take there because you are actually boosting their economies, but in the real sense, you are being looked upon as a foolish rich man that has no place of repute in their society.

    Most analysts may be quick to say that the unpatriotic dispositions of most Nigerians today is because of the ill treatment that citizens received from the country (Nigeria) over the years.

    According to them, this lack of commitment to pursuing positive national ideals in Nigeria is a natural response of the citizens to the neglect suffered
    over time.

    Yes, they are right to an extent, but in my opinion, in as much as this is a contributing factor to the lackadaisical attitude of most Nigerians towards committing themselves to solving national problems today, it shouldn’t be an excuse to join in the destruction of the country.

    For example, if you return home from work and find rubbish packed into your bedroom, it is expected that as a sane and decent person, the best thing to do is to first of all clean the rubbish and make the room conducive again before taking your rest.

    If you complain only about the dirty room and lie on your bed in that condition, you may wake up the next day infected by germs and this may land you in the hospital. So, what could have taken just your physical energy and perhaps a cheap disinfectant to address will now cost thousands of Naira to address.

    This is the same scenario playingout today in Nigeria. If the citizens of today’s Nigeria feel that Nigeria is packed full of rubbish, we should be working very hard to clean the rubbish rather than joining hands in heaping more rubbish on the system.

    My take is that when a father decides to send his children to school to have the best of education, knowingly or unknowingly, what he wants is for the children to give the best to themselves and the family after graduation.

    It is like what most communities used to practice in those days when they contribute money to send one or two persons to
    school overseas.

    The expectation from such a community is that their children who benefited from the communal efforts will come back home either directly or remotely after graduation to help the community to move forward.

    But in a situation where such people after graduation deserts the community because they feel they are no more of the same class of reasoning with their local people, such beneficiaries can be termed ingrates and total failures.

    In my view, what such beneficiaries are expected to do is come back to the community, review the activities and some of the practices of the community and proposed better measures to improve existing practices or replace bad ones.

    It may take some time for the people to accept those suggestions and change their ways, but it is the moral responsibility of such beneficiaries of the kindness and support of their home community to be patient with them until they change their ways.

    On the other hand, for such people to come back and join the non civilized practices of the community after the exposure they must have had from education, the investment on them by the community can been seen as wasted, because no work was done to improve the status of the community.

    This is the same scenario playing out today in this generation of Nigerians. Today, I believe, even though without any scientific proof that at least most communities in Nigeria can boast of one or two graduates from higher institutions and all these graduates benefitted one way or the other from Nigeria during the course of their education.

    If they did not benefit directly by attending subsidized Federal or State owned schools, they benefited indirectly because most of the teachers and lecturers that taught them graduated from government schools.

    So, if they benefited one way or the other from the Nigerian system, they should also think of being a part of the solution to the problems of the country and not just remain arm chair critics, complainants and devourers.

    My argument here is that there is always something to complain about in life because there is no perfect system on earth, but complaining alone is not enough; taking the right action is what is required.

    Most of us complain of how our past leaders mismanaged and defrauded Nigeria one way or the other, but instead of detesting such acts in truth and in spirit and seeking out solutions to the problems, most of us are praying for the day it will get to their turn so that they can also steal from the people.

    This is wicked and ungodly and any population that has more people thinking like this cannot grow, because they are complaining due to the fact that they are not among those defrauding the nation, and not because they truly want a genuine change that will affect the lives of everybody positively. We must change our ways if we want God to help us out of our problems.

    If for instance you have suffered from tribal and religious discrimination in the past, you should make up your mind that you will not be an agent of tribal or religious discrimination in the future because you don’t want other people to feel the pain you felt. But if your resolve is to unleash untold hardship on others if given the opportunity because of what you suffered, then you are a total failure before your country and God Almighty.

    Nigeria sent you to school for you to solve the problem of poverty, disunity, corruption and others and not for you to add to the problem. Most of us want to add to the
    problem perhaps because of what we suffered in the hands of leaders or fellow citizens, but this cannot yield any good result.

    In fact, thisis the reason Nigeria is not growing the way she should, and has made most citizens to be thirsty in the midst of water.

    Now, the 2019 elections are around the corner, and most Nigerians are looking for where the money will flow from before they commit themselves to any political party. Politicians are aligning and realigning not because of the need to render selfless services to the nation but for what they can get in terms of money and contracts now and in the future at the expense of the common man.

    This is wicked and I want those people to know that they are enemies of God and God will not be patient forever.

    On the side of the voters, most voters go to polling units waiting for the highest bidder to trade off their economy, prosperity and peace for four years for a pittance. This is also evil and let any man or woman trading out their votes get ready to suffer for another four years.

    Trading your votes actually attracts a curse from God on you whether you know it or not.

    At the end of the day, when the economy crumbles or wobbles due to mismanagement and outright looting, and perhaps some of our misguided youths take into crime, armed robbery, kidnapping ,terrorism and other vices, the same politicians that caused the problem will start complaining and running for cover.

    But the truth is that such politicians are actually reaping from the fruit they sowed in the past. Also, due to the mismanagement and corruption caused by false leaders voted into power, the same citizens that voted for ethnic, religious or for money sentiments will be enmeshed in daily lamentations of how things are no more working, but the truth is they are also reaping from the evil seed sown during past elections because they took a pot of porridge and sold their birth rights.

    Both ways, we have become a complaining nation and population without taking the right action. Selfless service to the nation is now a very scarce
    commodity.

    Selfishness and self-centeredness is now the order of the day in the Nigeria of today. This must stop if we want to move forward as a nation. If we neglect the youths today, we are asking for anarchy
    tomorrow.

    To conclude, let me now ask you, how you are preparing for the 2019 general election. Will you vote for ethnic, religious or money sentiments? The choice is yours. Remember, you are going to vote another four years of either sorrow or happiness based on the quality of leaders you choose.

    Also, remember that God is watching to reward every man according to the seed sown. God Bless Nigeria and we invite you to join this positive National Discourse as we take another step to define our destiny for another four years. GOD BLESS
    N

    ESANEROVO AGBODO,INTERIM NATIONAL COORDINATOR,2019 NIGERIA THINK TANK.

  • Secession agitation: We are greater together as one nation – Osinbajo

    Secession agitation: We are greater together as one nation – Osinbajo

    …urges Nigerians to be cautious in their utterances

    The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Wednesday, urged Nigerians to exercise caution in their utterances and respect each other in their conversations and interactions to foster national unity.

    Speaking at a seminar on national unity and stability at the DSS Training School, Bwari, Abuja, Osinbajo also advised the citizenry to shun all narratives which foment trouble and create divisions and embrace those that unite.

    According to the Acting President, the language of exchange in the country must be civil and we must not tolerate a situation where people speak in any way they like.

    He was reacting to hate speeches which had crept up in different sections of the country, thereby heating up the polity.

    Osinbajo warned that the Federal Government had no choice than to ensure the security of lives and property of citizens.

    He noted that the administration had initiated series of social investment programmes to promote social justice and give all Nigerians a sense of belonging.

    “The truth is that we have a duty to ensure that we deal seriously with the issue of poverty and social justice,’’ he said, adding that the N500 billion earmarked for social investment programme would be utilised in that direction.

    He said that the fund was not for poverty alleviation but specifically meant to correct the social and economic imbalance in the country.

    Osinbajo noted that many Nigerians were poor not because the country was not endowed but due to the massive stealing of public funds by past leaders. He said it was the duty of all to stand against corruption.

    He observed that Nigeria’s destiny is in the hands of the youth, who constitute two-third of the country’s population, urging them to get actively involved in the nation’s political process.

    “If you must take over, you must be directly involved in the political process of your country,’’ he said.

    The acting President stressed that no matter what side of the divide one stands, “We are greater together than apart.”

     

    (NAN)

  • Nigeria: A nation without leaders by Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

    Nigeria: A nation without leaders by Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie

    When a nation is in turmoil, those who have faith in God must pray. Given clear indices that Nigeria is in turmoil, we pray: Gracious God, grant that our leaders become wise, and the wise become our leaders. But it would be irresponsible fideism to simply pray and fold our arms. Those who pray must think, and, having sought and obtained answers to right questions, they must act intelligently.

    As Nigeria passes from one turbulent season to another, it has become inescapable to inquire: what is the quality of leaders – of the men and women at the helm of affairs – in our beloved Nigeria? Can it be said that those at the helm of affairs – at federal, state, and local levels of government – are sufficiently competent to navigate the ship of state? Do our leaders fit the bill?

    Some indices

    The high level of insecurity in our land; the abysmally low quality of life of the average Nigerian, in scandalously sharp contrast with the opulence in which past and political office holders live; the self-serving and malevolent demagoguery that accompanies unitarist, secessionist, and xenophobic agitations in our country; the propagation of the stubborn myth that one’s ethnic community is marginalised by all other ethnic communities, when in fact, every ethnic community is marginalised by the incompetence of our leaders; the acceptance of this myth by young, discontented but gullible Nigerians: these and many other indices offer little or no hope to even the most incurable optimist in the land.

    Our kind of leaders

    Instead of devoting their mental and physical capacities to governance, our leaders are seeking their own interests. Nigerians bear the excruciating burden of being ruled by politicians who simply care less about Nigerians. The burden is increased when they have to listen to religious leaders who whip up emotions and deceive by using the name of God, claiming visions and miracles. We do not care about our legacy, we care only about the power we wield, the wealth – often ill-gotten – we display, and above all, the pleasure and affluence we seek.

    What do we make of a country where an individual owns a fleet of private jets while an overwhelming percentage of its citizens cannot afford a bus ride to the market? What do we make of a country where the wealth of the land, wealth that belongs to the people and not to government, is used to provide security for government officials, while there is no security for the average man or woman in the street?

    We have the police and the military; we have assorted security agencies with exotic names. Yet, Nigerians are robbed and murdered in their homes, abducted on the streets, at the mercy of gangsters, ritualists and cultists in their neighbourhood, while the police are helpless to the point of non-existence. The only sign that there is policing is when policemen and women extort money from Nigerians, often at gun point.

    Our security agencies need to get the sequence of their steps right. Thorough investigation must precede an arrest and diligent prosecution with evidence must come before conviction in a lawfully constituted court. That is what obtains in other climes. But, in our own Nigeria, media trial is fashionable. Suspects are paraded on prime-time television, guns and bullets are displayed in front of them, the police spokesman presents them to Nigerians and pronounces them guilty in front of television cameras. Case closed. Nigerians are not asking for any follow-up. They hear of no trial, no conviction, no sentencing. What has happened to numerous suspects paraded on television in this country?

    While we seek answers, to that question, we note that, from time to time, Amnesty International (AI) raises alarm about extra-judicial killings in Nigeria. Are Nigerians satisfied with the response of the police? Why is it that once suspects are paraded and presented as guilty – and the legal and moral propriety of the parade is another bone of contention – we very rarely see them in court? Is there no law that says a suspect must be charged to court within 48 hours? Why then are suspects kept for days and weeks and months without trial?

    It is in the same vein that we must ask: what has happened to so many public office holders pronounced guilty by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Commission) and DSS (Department of State Services) in the media before they were even charged to court? We know that some of them were set free by the law courts. We also know that government reacts with a familiar refrain: “corruption is fighting back”. But is there no correlation between the quality of investigation and prosecution on the one hand, and the verdict given by our judges on the other hand?

    A thief is a thief. If you apprehend him red-handed but fail to provide evidence in court to lead to his conviction, do not camouflage the incompetence of your team of investigators and prosecutors by blaming the unfavourable outcome of the case on corrupt judges. We are not to hold brief for any judge. But we must bear this in mind: The onus of proof is on the accuser, not on the accused. That is why the accused is innocent until proven guilty. Whether he is accused of kidnapping the citizen or of kidnapping public funds, as is the case with those who have stolen the wealth of this country, thorough investigation must precede diligent prosecution. To violate this principle is to bid farewell to security of life, property and reputation. It is to receive a resounding defeat in the much-publicised war against corruption. It is to live in a country where die-hard criminals get away with murder while the innocent gets convicted. He is convicted, not because he has been found guilty, but because – thanks to media trial – he has been demonised and made to look guilty. It is to give the dog a bad name and hang him.

    But when criminals are properly investigated we would be in a position to prevent crime. Where we do not prevent crime, life and property are not safe. Where life and property are not safe, investments are not safe. Investors take to their heels and vote with their capital. Where there are no investments, the quality of life of citizens takes a plunge; their abject poverty breeds discontent and anger, insecurity, secessionist and xenophobic tendencies.

    Finally

    Precisely for these reasons, this country is in very urgent need of quality leadership. Our situation cannot be addressed by an executive and a legislature locked in a recurrence of unprincipled and sterile conflicts. In more concrete terms, neither an ailing and absentee President nor an acting President can lead Nigeria out of the present situation. Nigerian leaders must wake up lest the ship of state sink. They must stop fiddling while the country is burning.

    So, we pray: Grant, O Lord, that our leaders become wise, and that the wise become our leaders. Amen.

     

  • Building a Nation that Works: My Diary and Way Forward – Atiku

    By Atiku Abubakar

    The reality is that our nation does not work well whether we focus on security, education, economic production, employment generation and people’s welfare or we focus on governance and politics or the relationships among our diverse ethnic, regional, and religious groupings. Our government relies excessively on rent derived from a single export product, crude oil, for revenues.

    The consequences of that have included over-exposure to the vagaries of the world oil market over which we have little control. It has also led us to over-centralize power and concentrate economic resources at the federal level at the expense of the federating states. We have poor infrastructure and low investment, high unemployment and high level of poverty, as well as the highest level of out-of-school children in the world.

    We also have poor governance, lack of due process, lack of proper coordination of government processes, a high level of corruption, and a high level of insecurity characterized by armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy and terrorism.

    While progress has been made in recent times in the fight against terrorism, the rate of other violent crimes remain unacceptably high. Then there are persistent cries of marginalization and unfair treatment by various ethno-religious and regional groups in terms of resource and power-sharing, investment and other government services.

    What Went Wrong?

    It wasn’t always this way. At independence we had many challenges, but we began to make steady progress. We had a federal structure with three powerful regions, which retained 50% of the revenues derived from their regions. With this they provided security, infrastructure such as roads, power, portable water, built healthcare facilities, schools and universities, and provided other social services. But when the political leaders tried to extend their influence beyond their regions of dominance, it precipitated a crisis that led to military seizure of power as well as a counter-coup, and ultimately a civil war. The military remained in power for all but four years in the period 1966-1999.

    Among the measures taken by the military leaders was the fragmentation of the regions into states which now number 36; the centralization of power and concentration of resources at the federal level at the expense of the federating states; and the expansion of infrastructure provisioning. Others include, the expansion of the government’s reach into various aspects of our national life, including the economy (not just as a regulator but as an investor in all sectors of the economy), and involvement in religion by subsidizing of religious pilgrimages.

    There were also the federal take-over of institutions and services hitherto belonging to the federating states such as schools and universities, hospitals, roads and power plants; and an activist foreign policy that saw the government intervening diplomatically and financially in the causes of African liberation and Black emancipation, especially in Africa and the Caribbean.

    These measures were encouraged by a sudden rise in oil revenues in the early 1970s. The sudden oil wealth had other consequences, including relative neglect of agriculture. It created a mentality, which survives to this day, that oil wealth is here to stay and that we really need not engage in diverse economic activities, which governments typically tax for revenues.

    Thus, we got used to the notion of wealth without work, and government revenues that do not come directly from taxation. Thus, it has been rather difficult for citizens to hold governments to account. Currently also we have a situation where most of the states in the country are unable to pay their workers or provide basic services unless they collect monthly revenue allocations from the centre.

    However, the decline in oil prices and revenues in the early 1980s, and periodically ever since, has exposed the folly of our ways. It has led to serious economic and political crisis including high level of unemployment and such associated social problems as crimes, including robbery and terrorism, militancy, decline in the quality of education, healthcare, and other social services, poor infrastructure provisioning. We also have agitations by different segments of the country against what they perceive as marginalization by the governments and the other segments. Excessive centralization has also led us to place a very high premium on political power, especially at the federal level, leading to instability in our politics, which in turn, scares away investors.

    So How Do We Build a Nigeria that Works?

    There is a saying that if you want to get out of a hole you dug yourself in you first stop digging. So, we need to stop our slide towards economic and political precipice. And one way to build a Nigeria that works is to identify what our people want and what they think our priorities should be. The next step is to assess whether the policies and strategies we currently pursue will adequately address those, and if not, in what ways they might be better addressed.

    When you talk to ordinary Nigerians as I do regularly what they profess to be at the top of their priority list include the provision of and access to high quality education and training; infrastructure such as power, roads, railways and ports; security; employment and job creation; and accountability and reduced corruption. They also call for a reorientation of values, which, I think, will come mainly from the change of behaviour by leaders. A Nigeria that works would be one that effectively and efficiently meets these needs. But there are two huge impediments to doing that.

    Rentier economy: I believe that if we continue to rely on revenues from oil derived from mainly from three states of the federation, we will be unable to build an economy that works and will be unable to provide the education, security, and employment that our people desire and deserve. And we will be unable to adequately tackle the corruption and lack of accountability, which the dependence on oil facilitates.

    The fight over the sharing of oil revenues has also been a huge distraction from what we need to be doing to diversify our economy and secure our economic future. Although the Petronas Towers are there to remind us that Malaysia is still an oil producer we seem to forget that. The reason is because Malaysia has diversified its economy and reduced the influence of fluctuating oil revenues on its economic fortunes. Today oil contributes only 14% of Malaysia’s GDP. The industrial sector has taken over.

    Unitary federalism, that is, our deformed federal system characterized by the centralization of power and resources, with the resulting excessive dependence on the centre by federating units. That dependence on oil revenues is also a major reason for the fractured and fractious relationship among our various regional, ethnic and religious groups. It has also created a perverse incentive system where rewards do not necessarily go to those who work hard. And the perverse incentive system as well as the mistrust arising from the fractured relationship among our diverse groups, has created entrenched interests, thereby making reform difficult.

    To build a Nigeria that works, therefore:

    We need to restructure our federal system to devolve more powers and resources to the federating units. It will encourage states to compete to attract investment and skilled workers rather than merely waiting for monthly revenue allocations from Abuja. This will also include the establishment of state police for the states that so desire so as to improve security.

    We must be open to changing the nature of the federating units such as using the existing geo-political zones as federating units rather than the current 36, of which only a few are financially viable.

    Political decentralization must be accompanied by economic diversification. We need to diversify our economy away from the dependence on oil. We need to create opportunities for our people to engage in diverse economic activities which governments will then tax for revenues. But we can’t do that efficiently and effectively without accurate data.

    I have in the past called for an end to the self-defeating politics we play with census in the country. With all the data gathering and analytic tools in existence in the 21st century we have no good reason not to have accurate data on our people, down to the smallest unit, the individual. Without data, we cannot plan properly and all of us will lose, including those who try to inflate their population figures and those who want to suppress those of others. Political decentralization will also help to deepen and strengthen our democracy as it will encourage more accountability. Citizens are more likely to demand accountability when governments spend their tax money rather than rent collected from an impersonal source.

    To further strengthen our democracy, we need to reform our politics, especially by reforming our electoral system. Such reform must ensure that those who emerge as winners after an election are really those freely chosen by the people.

    The electoral reform should largely be along the lines recommended by the Justice Mohammad Uwais panel on electoral reforms. For example, funding the electoral umpire from the first line charge in the Consolidated Revenue Fund is critical; transferring the power to appoint the chairman of the electoral umpire from the President to the National Judicial Council will help, as will efforts to curb the role of money and godfathers in our elections. I have also been arguing that the declared winner of an election should not be allowed to assume office until all legal challenges to that election have been resolved. The recent Supreme Court decision nullifying the election of a member of the House of Representatives and ordering him to refund the pay that he had collected as a member is an encouraging sign. Hopefully that decision will serve as a disincentive to those aspirants and candidates who wish to engage in electoral fraud.

    We also need to reform the anti-corruption agencies to help depoliticize them and make them really independent. This will help to strengthen the fight against corruption, which is critical in renewing our people’s belief in the integrity of public institutions and pubic officials. Such a reform will require changes to how the agencies are funded, how their heads are appointed and who they report to.

    While not exhaustive, these steps, if taken, will help us to produce effective and public-spirited leadership and certainly help us to live up to our economic potentials and evolve into a nation where citizens and every segment of the population feel proud, welcome and committed to its long-term health and survival.

    Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, delivered this speech (excerpts) while accepting the Hero of Nigeria Democracy Award conferred on him by Hall of Grace Magazine in Lagos, at the weekend.

  • The shame of a nation – Fani-Kayode

    The shame of a nation – Fani-Kayode

    By Femi Fani-Kayode

    I just watched a very sad and disturbing video of our soldiers on the war front begging their President and Commander in Chief to provide them with food and water. They did this through footage which was shot on their cell phone cameras and released as a short video on social media.

    They were desperate, angry and very loud and some of them were shedding tears about their deep frustration and sorry plight.

    We saw the lifeless bodies of at least two of them who had apparantly died, not of bullet wounds, but of exhaustion, starvation and lack of water.

    We saw and heard others as they were slowly dying and we heard their heavy panting and deep groans. We also heard and saw the anger, aggression, loud lamentations and startling complaints from the troops, one of whom had the courage to film the whole thing.

    He and at least three of his colleagues appealed to those of us that were watching the video on social media to let the President know what they are going through. It was very moving and even the most hardened heart would have melted whilst watching that video.

    This was a heart-breaking and pathetic scene. These young soldiers had just won a major battle on the war front and they had just recovered numerous towns and villages from Boko Haram yet they were not even given water to quench their thirst or food to fill their stomachs after what was obviously a hard fight. How could things have got so bad?

    This is the sort of thing that leads to mutiny and rebellion in the military and once that starts no-one is safe and no-one can stop it.

    I urge the Chief of Army Staff and indeed our President to do something about this problem quickly and ease the suffering and pain of our servicemen and women at the warfront and indeed when they come home.

    In a country with a civilised government members of the Armed Forces that are prepared to sacrifice their lives just to keep our borders secure and the rest of us safe are cherished and honored. Their salaries are paid promptly and regularly and they are not starved of water and food whilst on the warfront and whilst fighting a battle. The sorry plight of our gallant warriors in todays Nigeria is indeed the shame of the nation.

    Instead of meeting the needs of our soldiers we are told that the military authorities are sending them to Argentina to learn about cattle-rearing and that they are preparing to set up cattle ranches in every state of the Federation.

    One wonders why? What purpose does this serve? Is there a hidden agenda? Is it an attempt to smuggle in the rejected Grazing Reserve Bill through the back door? What on earth has cattle-rearing and setting up cattle ranches for itinerant and vagrant herdsmen got to do with soldiering? I guess one does not have to dig too deep to find the answers.

    These are indeed interesting times and those that seek to utterly demoralise, destroy, demystify and demean the essence, ethos, confidence and very fabric of our Armed Forces and our military men have gone far.

    Instead of equipping them to fight on the war front and providing them with the necessary provisions on the battle field they are turning them into cattle-rearers, herdsmen and farmers.

    What a tragedy!

    Yet for our country the picture is even more bleak than that. It is not just the military that are going through hell but the people, both high and low, as well.

    That is what drove Mr. Edwin Dico Okugbo to write the following words out of what can only be described as frustration and anger. He wrote,

    “Buhari is not fighting against corruption. He is stealing the nation blind. 2015 and 2016 budgets have already been embezzled and they are already moving to 2017. Everyone around him has been exposed already as crooks. Which corruption is he fighting? He is only fighting his enemies to consoldate political power. He is the worst thing that has ever happened to Nigeria. A big scam!”

    Harsh words indeed yet there can be little doubt that Mr. Okugbo reflects the thinking of many.

    The bitter truth is that there is unprecedented hardship and suffering in the land. There is also injustice, wickedness, persecution, abuse of power, mass murder, corruption, impunity, religious and ethnic marginalisation, sectarian butchery and conflict, state-sponsored genocide, extra-judicial killings and massive and debilitating poverty. Few are feeling the joy and love of Christmas this season. Yet sadly this is precisely what the Nigerian people wanted.

    At the risk of our liberty, lives and reputation some of us warned them about the dangers of voting for the great evil of Buhari and his APC.

    There is nothing that is happening today that I did not accurately predict would happen if Buhari was given power.

    People laughed me to scorn, insulted me, threatened me, made mockery of me and said that I was wrong but I have been proved right.

    You see the problem is that most Nigerians do not know the history of their nation and neither can they possibly comprehend the obsessive, narcissistic and sociopathic nature and disposition of most of their leaders.

    Most of our people are incapable of any form of logical reasoning or analytical deduction that is truly detached from or devoid of emotion and irrational thinking.

    Worse of all they do not understand the prophetic or what is known as “revelation knowledge”.

    Knowledge means nothing to them and, simply put, they worship and rever money and power and nothing else.

    Most Nigerians will do anything, including selling their own heritage, glory and divinely ordained destiny, to have or achieve that money and power or to appease those that possess and wield it.

    Consequently if a rich man, a powerful politician or a key government official defecates in his pants at a party or a public function the average Nigerian will continue to celebrate him there and then and tell him and the entire world that he smells like roses or like the finest and most expensive perfume in the world. That is how depraved some of us are.

    We have a terrible aversion to truth and we are very comfortable with living with suffering, wickedness and injustice.

    In fact the greater the injustice, violence, persecution and wickedness that the state metes out to others the more comfortable and the happier we are.

    We actually enjoy it and secretly rejoice when those around us and our compatriots suffer pain, death, humiliation, shame, hardship, destruction, injustice and persecution. It is a strange and self-destructive disposition and a devious form of sado-masochism.

    For example just to spite President Goodluck Jonathan and his Niger Delta people and get him out of power the Nigerian people brought Buhari upon themselves. Can there be a greater example of an entire people cutting their nose to spite their face?

    This was made all the worse by the fact that Jonathan enjoyed massive support in the south east which has come to be the whipping boy of the Nigerian state. The thinking was that if the Igbo wanted Jonathan then he had to be stopped at all costs.

    Consequently a radical, angry, vengeful, bitter and divisive Buhari who was viewed and often described by his supporters as the nations “mahdi” and “messiah” became their choice.

    They chose him over the gentle, soft-spoken, forgiving, accomodating and humble Jonathan who was maliciously depicted as a clueless, corrupt and incompetent villain.

    This was a grave error. I say that because the former was malignant and the latter was benign. The former was malevolent and the latter was benevolent.

    It was rather like the time that the Jews chose our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ over the armed robber and murderer Barabas for crucifixion.

    It was like choosing night over day. It was like choosing s demon over an angel. It was like choosing evil over good.

    For the mess we are in today and the disaster and impending doom that our nation is facing I blame those in the core north who introduced religion into our politics and who wanted power back at all costs, those in the Middle Belt who supported them in that quest for reasons best known to themselves and those in the south west that have come to be known as the “Jagaban Yorubas” that supported the diabolical and occultic concept of “chanji”.

    I also blame a small but notable and identifiable section of the media who sold their heritage for a mess of pottage and who have opted to remain silent and, in some cases even openly encourage and support, the evil that has been visited upon us as our nation goes to the dogs.

    All these groups and individuals have betrayed the Nigerian people. They have destroyed their destinies, enslaved their children, impoverished their lives, shamed their loved ones, dishonored their forefathers, divided their nation, shattered their dreams and set our country back by at least 50 years.

    The truth is that by the time this is all over we may not even have a country left.

    Those that voted for this mess and put us in it should enjoy their “change” and live with the consequences of their stupid choice.

    Do you know the number of families that cannot even afford to buy turkeys this Christmas? Do you know the number of people that will not get presents or be given Christmas gifts by their parents, siblings, spouses and loved ones this season?

    Do you know the number of children that will silently shed tears this Christmas and that will secretly wish that they had never been born Nigerians? It has never been this bad in our entire history and it really is so sad.

    Those that put us in this terrible mess deserve no mercy and no pity. They certainly do not deserve a second mandate in 2019. As for the Nigerian people they have finally got the leadership that they deserve.

    Our nation needs repentance and prayer. May God forgive and deliver us from His tool of judgement.

    Permit me to conclude this contribution with the following observations.

    I was right when I wrote both in 2008 and 2012 that Barack Obama would divide America and the entire world and that by the time he finished his tenure the American people would reject his legacy.

    I was right when I wrote about what the outcome of the war in Syria would be and how the Americans were making a big mistake by supporting the terrorists, jihadists and islamic fundamentalists and trying to remove Bashar Al Assad.

    I was right when I wrote that the Americans and the Europeans were making a huge mistake by removing and killing Muammar Ghadaffi of Libya.

    I was right when I wrote that Europe was making a mistake by allowing in the Syrian refugees who I described at the time as a Trojan horse.

    I was right when I wrote about the damage that Buhari would do to our land if he was given a mandate to lead the Nigerian people.

    I was right when I wrote about the damage that Ali Modu Sheriff would do the opposition Peoples Democratic Party if he was given the position of National Chairman.

    I was right when I wrote that Donald J. Trump would win the presidential primaries of the American Republican Party to become their presidential candidate and when I wrote that he would go on to win the presidential election against Hilary Clinton.

    I was also right when I wrote that Nana Akufo-Addo would win the presidential election in Ghana.

    All these things came to me by revelation knowledge and by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by logical deduction or any power of my own.

    Now let me share another prophetic word with you today by saying the following. For President Muhmmadu Buhari, like the biblical King Belshassar of Babylon, the writing is on the wall. And Like Belshassar he has been weighed and found wanting.

    Soon he will be gone and the Lord will raise a new leader: a biblical Cyrus with the heart of David, who will heal, unite and prosper our land.

    This new leader will be a blessing to our people. He will remove our shame, restore our peace, return our joy, rebuild our walls, encourage and strengthen our Church and men and women of God, re-establish our sacred alters, resurrect and re-invoke our covenant with the Living God, defend our borders, jealously guard our people and bring glory and honor to our nation.

    Thus sayest the Lord and so it shall be. The vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarry, it shall not prove false. God bless you and merry Christmas.