THE NATION FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012
20
EDITORIAL/OPINION
S
IR: Nigeria with its vast human and material resources has the potentials to become the giant of Africa. But, can Nigeria become the giant of Africa, and join the league of the best 20 global economies in 2020? Corrupt political leadership and the issue of disunity are touted as the factors militating against our national growth. Some people feel that the amalgamation of disparate political entities that make up Nigeria in 1914 by Lord Lugard is at the root of our ethnicity problem and the attendant disunity. Ethno-religious confilct has characterized Nigeria, and the country has experienced political upheavals that threatened its corporate existence. In addition to our lack of national cohesion, Nigeria has not got its politics correct. Before 1999, military regimes had truncated our
EDITOR’S MAIL BAG SEND TYPEWRITTEN, DOUBLE SPACED AND SIGNED CONTRIBUTIONS, LETTERS AND REJOINDERS OF NOT MORE THAN 1000 WORDS TO THE EDITOR, THE NATION, 27B, FATAI ATERE ROAD, MATORI, LAGOS. E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.com
President Jonathan, kill corruption, terrorism before they kill us democratic governance. Instead of giving us good leadership as they promised, they trampled on our fundamental human rights, and raped our economy. Did IBB’s SAP bring succour to the poor Nigerians, then? Rather, the Rtd General Ibrahim Babangida entrenched corruption in Nigeria. Sani Abacha after him combined kleptomania with sanguinary proclivities, and visited terror on us as well as mindlessly pillaging our economy. Sadly, our political leaders did not fare better than the Jackbots and
Brass-hats. They’re catapaulted into the top most political position in the country by king makers, ethnic interests and the exigencies of the time. Sir Tafawa Balewa was installed by the departing British overlords. How Alhaji Shehu Shagari trounced such political titans and intellectuals as Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Awolowo is baffling. In order to appease the Yoruba over the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a man amenable to the North, was assisted to become our
president by Northern interests and power- brokers and others. Now, Dr Goodluck Jonathan is our president. Can the once shoeless school boy, whose father was a canoe-carver, make the change in our polity that will improve our standard of living? His life-story of deprivation resonated with us, and we gave him the mandate to preside over our affairs. But, does he have the capacity to navigate the ship of state through the turbulent political waters to economic prosperity and technologi-
The concerns of a Catholic bishop
S
IR: Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo, of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo, writes occasionally in Nigerian newspapers, as he should. Yes, because he has a post-graduate degree in mass communications from a reputable University in Italy. And whenever I am lucky to come across whatever he writes, reading it is irresistible, because I know his intelligence quotient is very high. Hence I felt humbled when he sent me a text, in the morning of Monday, January 16, saying: “Sir, as we pray today for divine help against all our troubles, please remind our people that not all Muslims are bad or anti-Christian. And even now, we must remain like Christ, open and positive, though vigilant. We must work together with good Muslims, because Christians alone can’t save Nigeria. Bishop Badejo, Oyo”. Coincidentally, that very morning, Radio Nigeria relayed the news of a Muslim group that paid solidarity visit to five churches in Kano, to say “We are one in God almighty, and Islam abhors unjustifiable homicide.” The Bishop’s text message is apposite if only because I have been seriously concerned the way the
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has been going about his leadership of the association. He has been coming too close to saying that Christians should be killing Muslims in retaliation for the murderous activities of the Boko Haram, without any thought about the political wahala created by President Goodluck Jonathan, or the outcry of the Muslim community denouncing the hostilities.
Ruling Nigeria is fragile. Look at the way the Niger Delta militants arose from the milieu of the Christian-dominated Niger Delta, and the Boko Haram emerged among the Muslim-dominated north; you also have the Odua’s People’s Congress among the highly mixed religious population of the South-west. How then can Nigeria survive without a political order within the democratic setting? Only for selfish reasons, the PDP presidency and legislature have been resisting constitutionalization
of rotational presidency and policy on a truly independent national electoral commission. None of that is ever reflected upon by Pastor Oritsejafor. He seems to have swallowed hook, line, and sinker, the bait of confusion put in his mouth by President Jonathan and certain misguided ethnic chauvinists. Hence he is plagued by a shallow view of the Boko Haram crisis. • Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D, University of Ilorin.
cal advancement? A country that is in the cauldron of sectarian violence has put development into abeyance, and has started its journey to Rwanda. The Boko Haram acts of terrorism may be a backlash from those who felt short-changed by our president’s refusal to abide by the PDP powersharing formular. It behooves him to urgently and bravely tackle this security challenge; otherwise, the country will collapse in his hands. Past successive governments ruined our country through corrupt practices and economic sabotage. Consequently, our leaders have earned the distrust and contempt of the masses. So, no matter how good government policies are, the people will still view them with cynicism and disdain. The strike action and street protests witnessed across Nigeria following the removal of the fuel subisdy on January 1, is a good example, Now, in Nigeria, democracy means government of the leaders by the leaders and for the enrichment of the rich folks who strut the corridors of power at the three tiers of government. It is corruption in government that has caused our schools to become dysfunctional with its concomitant effect, which is the churning out of semi-literate university graduates by our universities. The progress of Nigeria, and our continued existence as one country are predicated on eradicating corruption and terrorism from our country. • Chiedu Uche Okoye Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State
Listing of multinationals in Capital Market overdue
S
IR: There is no doubt that the burning flame of patrotism in the Central Bank Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi for the rapid economic growth of the economy has again been demonstrated by his call for the compulsory listing of multinational companies in Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Indeed, the time is ripe for the Federal Government to heed the advice for the listing of all multinational companies doing business now or in the future in our country as this is the only way
to set in motion the necessary machinery required to uncover and to check excessess, and untoward business practices usually employed in the art of doing business in our country. Going down the memory lane, President Umaru Yar’Adua, of blessed memory (may his gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace), represented by the then Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, at the 38th annual conference of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Abuja, in October 2008 emphasised
“the need to beam searchlight on the private sector in the ongoing fight against corruption in the country”. He also said that “the private sector played a key role in the supply and demand side of corruption” and that “the private sector could not be absolved from receiving and giving gratification”, with a reminder that “most instruments to measure corruption focus on the private sector’s perception of corruption in the public sector”. There is no doubt that corruption is inextricably linked with the
private sector in our country as opined by the late President, and it is for this reason that EFCC and ICPC needs to be strengthend. Nigerians are no doubt looking forward to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, through the Minister of Trade and Investment, to embark on policy shift in foreign investment by paying more attention to countries with zero tolerance for corruption, such as Sweden, Norway and Finland. • Odunayo Joseph Mopa, Kogi State