On Civic Responsibility and the New Nigerian

Not too long ago, I was at my favorite Asun and foamy liquid spot, at Ikota/VGC in Eti-Osa East LGA, killing off the afternoon and wondering when my phone will buzz with the usual "where are you?" signaling time to face westwards. I sat with the usual set of young entrepreneurs, employees on leave and those breaking their home bound trip after work, etc. So you can imagine the gist drifting from politics to LASG greed, BH, real estate, latest market initiatives and how much your appearance opens doors for you "in this Lagos", etc. 

Here goes: 
"APC needs to go. They are not masses friendly. You pay for everything in this Lagos. Imagine charging N300 for that new Lekki/Ikoyi bridge! Yet, the new road built in Itire/Ojuelegba is not tolled. Lagos does not want poor people." 
I glance at the cars parked just meters from us. G-Wagon, Range, Acura ZDX... Hmmm... So who is the alternative in PDP and what are their policies for Lagos, especially towards generating IGR to sustain a teeming and burgeoning population of 14M or so? 
"Any PDP candidate will transform Lagos..."
As they have done where? Akwa Ibom. Have you been there? Do you know what their population, monthly allocation, 15% derivation, rate of urban growth, diversity of population and general scope of development is? 
"I have heard the guy is building roads!" 
"These Lekki estates are ripping people off with service charge. Haha! Imagine my estate requesting a service charge of N200k per annum! What is the point of being my own landlord?"
What is the service charge used for? 
"Security, cleaning common areas, renovating roads once in a while, generating power to light up estate in absence of NEPA, provision of treated water and disposal of waste. That's all!" 
Really? How many security personnel do you have in that estate? How much is the average salary they earn? How much NEPA light do you have and how does that affect diesel usage! How many houses are in your estate???
"I'm not sure. I just know it's too much. They only pay N100k or so in VGC." 
Ok. Did you know that VGC probably has thousands more residents than your estate and their water is not free...it is metered at point of use. Do you attend residents meetings? Have you volunteered to be part of the budget process? 
"Who has time for that nonsense meeting when all they do is to go there and argue. Hiss". 
"Why is LASG trying to register residents? I bet they are up to no good. Is the population census not enough? All they're after is more tax. That is all they know". 
Have you registered though? 
"Of what use? Make I let them begin send me nonsense tax increase?" 
Ok, where you counted in the last population census? 
"Yes". 
Where? 
"At home...in my home state. Not Lagos". 
Are you registered to vote? 
"Yes". 
Where? 
"Also at home". 
Did you know that you would be unable to vote in Lagos? How do you intend to elect your PDP government? Silence. Looks at others for confirmation. 
So I used the opportunity to talk about the benefits of the LASG resident’s registration. LASSRA. Still not buying. 
"As for me o, I pray the Labour Party wins in Lagos. Tinubu's hold is too strong abeg". 
Who are the Labour Party prospective candidates? Who are their party leaders in Lagos? 
"All I know is that my state governor is From LP and he is doing very well". 
Are you talking about Ondo state? Yes. Please give me some examples of his good works. 
"Hmmm... He built an ultra-modern market, he has renovated schools and he pays teachers’ salaries promptly". 
Really? 
"Btw, are you saying you have no issues with this LASG?" 
Yes, I have. I would have preferred them to have built a coastal alternative road before tolling the Lekki/Epe express. I would like them to eradicate trading at the Ajah roundabout and build a flyover there. I wish they could do more in providing power by bringing in an investor to float a power plant in our axis...this is even as they are still the most ventured state government in IPPs. I would also like them to build a proper general hospital in the Lekki-Ajah axis, etc. But I have no regrets paying for all the services I enjoy both in my estate and at state level public utilities, tolls inclusive. 
So we leave, one after the other. Some prompted by their phones, others simply back to their businesses, etc. I drove home with different sound bites from that conversation on my mind. These are educated folks in their 40s. Civic responsibility is still a challenge with us today. How do we grow our country when we just don't understand our part as citizens? Are those coming after us any better? Who are their role models? Same folks who would not want to pay taxes at home are planning trips abroad where people pay up to 40% taxes.... You want to change a government and you are registered to vote in your state of origin and not in your state of residence? People still do not know what pull they are on a society when they are not counted as residents? They don't know how this is factored into revenue allocation and distribution of social amenities...a population of ghosts! There is work to be done folks.

SAN

Can Your Kids Dance?

Guys, how do you handle a situation where your son just cannot move? I mean, when your child dances like a whitey (lol). A few months ago, I had cause to rant about this on another forum. Please enjoy.

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My son is going to be 4 soon and he still can't dance. Sigh! No, it's not down to shyness. And yes, I also could not dance when I was even 10. I grew up a shy kid. Watching him dance to my morning exercise playlist....hmmm...not good. Since he got back from a holiday and got impressed by a much older cousin (Bobos) doing some kick boxing-break dance type moves and doing the "helicopter" on his head, we haven't heard word in this house again! He now jumps off key and kicks about, prancing from one end of the room to the other like Oyinbo Abaka! Why can't he just stay on one spot and deliver? Ah ah! Now watching him move to his favorite tunes "paper" and "pull over". No rhythm! I consider this a personal affront. Don't worry; he's a boy, so I'm not scared of bum bum dance or any of that other hoochie mama stuff. He's got the 007 license. Just bust a move son! Not sure how to handle this...Now Sekem is playing and he's saying "Daddy come and dance it"...make I go show am the move and hope he follows...wish me luck guys.

SAN

Ameyo Adadevo: A Tribute

That is what captains do. They are the last to leave...they ensure everyone is safe. They put themselves in harm's way. They tell evil "you would have to pass me first!”. Dr. Adadevoh saw Nigeria as her ship. She was reported to have not only ensured Sawyer was tested for Ebola, but prevented him from leaving the hospital by bodily putting herself in harm’s way! She did not make excuses...even with having a wonderful family with expectations. It was a progeny that came full circle. Her great grandfather, Herbert Macaulay, set us on the path to Nationalism; she took the baton several eons later and saved us from a potentially debilitating plague. As the Yoruba's say, "bibi ire ko se fowora". Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh - this is dedicated to you...for all you have done.

SAN

Discussion With My Warri Friend. #Politico

Location: Slicks, VGC.
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"Why can't these people just leave Jonathan alone to finish his two terms?"
"I hate that APC abeg. No be so so thief like Tinubu dem dem full there? Which change dem wan bring sef?"
The constitution does not guarantee two terms, he would have to win elections. 
"These Yoruba and Hausa people sef. Dem no see how the Ibo people dey cooperate?"
How do you mean?
"APGA came out openly to support GEJ and they will not be fielding any candidate at presidential".
Oh, I see. They must be benefitting from this government to the extent that they don't need any instability.
"Yes na. Continuity, so that the transformation go kuku complete". 
Bro, the eastern roads are some of the worst in the country. They must have other reasons for supporting him. And do not generalize, there are lots of Yorubas supporting PDP. There's Buruji, Abati, Okupe and now the latest billionaire in town, Ayeni. 
"Ayiri?"
No, Ayeni. He donated N5B to the campaign. And he's Yoruba. What other support does GEJ need? 
"What of voters? Why na so so APC APC all the people wey I know for Lagos dey halla since?"
Oh, so you know say N5B na money and not votes abi, ok. Nice one. 
Meanwhile the agent don answer you? (He's moving to Lagos from Warri).
"Bobs, I don taya for that town. Person no fit waka for night, dem snatch my guy motor last week, dem kill Oneya pickin as she dey commit for bank...I no go fit stay there again abeg. That your agent never give me better offers. Na so so after Ajah e dey send me since. Na vgc I want, or that Chevron side..."
So na so the Lagos enter your body? 
"Ol boy I fear you o. Which person body Lagos no go enter? See how everybody dey move freely. People dey sweep express! Express! Imagine? So so fine shopping mall, better night clubs.... The last time Wey I stay one hotel for Lekki, na so I see Oyinbo Wey dey jog for road...E fit try that one for Warri? Abi even Arab sef dey carry police escort, not to talk of original! This LAgos eh! If them fit just take this kain Fashola stone us for Delta... O bobs! E go too pure abeg."
Shuo! I think say una governor dey do well before o.
"Abegi! No be only! With him bad head. Him and him wife don kolobi all the contract for the full Delta. Only that one e Sabi. the guy no work abeg. 
Which day you come Warri last? So so crusade poster full everywhere, Bendel estate sef don busy anyhow, the governor don broke all the road finish and e no gree complete the projects, avenue to Deco road still scatter till today. The guy no gree complete wetin Ibori start since. I bow for awa governor abeg. Thank God say Tompolo don cantab am. No senate for am. Odi Odi."
So no be the same APC wey you no like naim dey make Lagos good for you to wan come so? You no think say dem suppose go work for the whole Nigeria from Abuja?
"You mean president? For wetin na? That Hawusa, abi na Arab e be sef, no go near that president until we complete our two terms. No follow all these lagos people o. You know say you be full Warri...You be area o. Abeg Ocho no bring that leg...wetiiin...ah ah. Na that matter you dey use style dey bring since? No go there o!"
"Where all those girls dem...ehen, where you...abeg give us another round of Orijin..."
"For wetin! no be only Buhari, na APC......mcheew...(muttering under his breath)...
Sigh...smh.

Pulp Fiction - Best All Time Movie

I am not even going to review this movie here. If you like Tarantino, you got to love this one. And with me, it’s a big hit. I can never get enough of it. I just cannot get over the characters and the dialogue. Not sure which is my best scene here, but this one is close:

Vincent (John Travolta) at this drug dealer's (Lance - Eric Stoltz) house, trying to buy some coke. Clearly, Lance's wife, with a face full of studs, makes quite an impression on Vince. Hear him:

Lance: what do you think about Trudy? She ain't got a boyfriend. You wanna hang out and get high? 

Vincent: which one is Trudy? The one with all the shit in her face?

Lance: No. That's Jody, my wife. 

That just cracks me up every time.

What about the scene where Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) reads Ezekiel 25:17 before killing some guy? Or the one where war vet Captain Koons, played by Christian Walken,  visits a hero’s home and tells his son the tale of how his late dad preserved their family heirloom watch up his ass while a prisoner of war? “He died of dysentery”…lolllllll

“You OK? Nah mehn. I’m pretty fucking far from OK…” – This after Butch (Bruce Willis) liberates Marsellus (Ving Rhames) from a very sordid “prison initiation type experience (If you know what I mean) at the hands of Zed and the Gimp!

I'll leave you with a Youtube collection of quotes and scenes from this movie. 

Islamic Militancy in Northern Nigeria - Looking Back

I read this piece on what the author termed - The origin of Boko Haram - a few days ago, on a friend's Facebook page, and found it quite compelling and to the heart of the matter regarding Islamic Fundamentalism and terrorism in Northern Nigeria. Now, this must be taken for what it is. It is not an open and closed insight into today's current upsurge of terrorist activity in the North. I have quite a different take on that. However, that in itself would not have been possible without the background that Damola Awoyokun speaks of here.
Enjoy the read.
SAN

Boko Haram that has killed up to 10,000 people is an eventual outcome of a progressive malaise in Northern Nigeria. Only that the world wasn’t paying attention then. In February 2000, Governor Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi of Kaduna, the most multicultural state in the North imposed sharia. Not only was the imposition contrary to the provisions of the country’s secular constitution, it was an act of religious extremism. The apex Islamic bodies, Jama' tul Nasril Islam (JNI) and Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) did not condemn that extremism. The second bloodiest religious riot in Nigeria’s history then ensued in the state and the body count ran well over 2000.

But it was Zamfara State governor Ahmed Yerima Sani who a month earlier launched the sharia spree that has now engulfed 12 northern states. To confirm his seriousness, in March 2000, he ratified the cold-blooded cut of Buba Bello Jangebe’s hand for an allegedly stealing a cow. He too allegedly stole billions from the public purse- one of the worst according to the federal anti-corruption czar, yet his own limbs are still with him. His deputy then, Mamudu Aliyu Shinkafi was the one in November 2002 who pronounced the fatwa that scurried ThisDay newspaper’s fashion correspondent, Ms Isioma Daniel into exile in Norway during the Miss World pageantry officially hosted by Nigeria. Despite the fact that the pageantry’s organizers conceded that the girls would not wear bikinis on stage, the fanatics street and their political leaders still went to work. They seized on the 18 words of Isioma Daniel that speculated on what Prophet Mohammed would think of the beauties. Sponsored riots that led to the death of 217 broke out in Abuja and Kaduna. The extremists didn’t want the pageantry because it would violate the holy month but they didn’t think their killing spree would.

Instead of Islamic leaders condemning the mass murder, they blamed the organisers. Dr Lateef Adegbite, secretary general of Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) argued that with the murderous riots the government and the organizers will learn to take them seriously. If they don’t want a program, they don’t want it. To which Wole Soyinka, Nigeria’s Nobel laureate called him “a fool” i.e. how can you stake your need for respect on the lives of others. Then Zamfara state deputy governor pronounced: “It is binding on all Muslims wherever they are, to consider the killing of the writer [Isioma Daniel] as a religious duty. …. Just like the blasphemous Indian writer Salman Rushdie, the blood of Isioma Daniel can be shed.” Two years later, he rose to become the governor of the state while his boss the governor became a federal senator that married a 13 year old girl. The Zamfara Information Commissioner, Tukur Umar Dangaladima added a week later: “Anyone who kills her [Ms Danie]is a martyr who will go to Heaven…it is a reality based on the teachings of the Quran.”
All these were not said or done by an outcast terrorist organization but highly placed people in power. June 2009, in the town of Sara in Jigawa State, a mob descended on a police station and burnt it down for failure of the Police to hand over a fleeing man that sought refuge there. They claimed he had blasphemed against the holy prophet. October 2007, Shehu Sani’s book The Phantom Crescent satirizing sharia leaders, lawyers, judges, and Hisbah (their police officers) was banned in Kaduna by the Upper Sharia Court. In February 2006, the extremists took to the streets of Maiduguri over the Danish cartoons; 16 people were killed including Rev Fr Mathew Gajere who was helping his altar boys escape when the siege began. They didn’t know why they were rioting; they were just told to go into the streets by their sponsors. And so they choose their usual targets: non-indigenes, non-Muslims but no Danish nor European.

This is from The Nigerian Punch newspaper of March 22, 2007: "Muslim pupils at a secondary school in Gandu, Gombe state, beat a teacher to death after accusing her of desecrating the Koran... The teacher, Oluwatoyin Olusesan, a Christian, was invigilating an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam at the Government Day Secondary School, Gandu when the incident occurred....the teacher suspected that a foul play was about to take place when one of the students wanted to come in with his books to the exam hall. The teacher collected the books and threw them outside, unknown to her, there was a copy of the Holy Koran among the books. The principal said before they knew what was happening, the students had started chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great). All efforts to control the rampaging students proved abortive even when the school principal, Mohammed Sadiq, tried to protect the teacher in his office. The principal was also terribly beaten and injured while they set the teacher's car, three classes, the school's clinic, administrative block and library on fire." Note: these happened during their Islamic Religious Knowledge examination. Maybe they did not know at their young age, that like the Islamic leaders reaffirmed, Islam is a religion of peace. There were no arrest and conviction as usual.
In the state that eventually became the headquarters of Boko Haram, during the January 2001 lunar eclipse in Borno, Muslims youth began a rampage destroying hotels, bars and brothels blaming them for the cause of the eclipse. In September 2001, Governor Yerima Sani forbade women to come out and cheer President Obasanjo on his official visit to his state because according to sharia, women and men should not mix freely in public. The women refused. In October 2001 in Sokoto, Safiya Hussaini was sentenced to stoning to death for adultery by Judge Mohammed Bello Sanyinlawal while acquitting the 60-year-old Yahaya Abubakar who impregnated her. After sustained international pressure, Safiya was acquitted a year later and made honorary citizen of Rome. Sokoto Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and Zamfara’s Ahmad Sani condemned the honor with the latter adding, it was act of proselytization. It was the turn of Amina Lawal in March 2002. She was sentenced to public stoning for getting pregnant outside wedlock in Katsina. In 1998, Muslims youth like the Taliban that can’t get use to the compromises of tolerance and diversity, invaded the Olofa’s palace and razed down the shrine of Moremi, a traditional goddess in Offa. December 1994 in Kano city, Gideon Akaluka, a trader, was beheaded and paraded danse macabre because his wife desecrated the Koran.
In February 1989, death to Wole Soyinka posters were carried around during Zaria riots because he defended Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, urged artists to launch their own creative jihad against the Iranian Ayatollahs, and called on civilized nations to expel Iranian diplomats from their territories. And then the Maitatsine massacre in December 1980 in Kano -the bloodiest single massacre in the nation’s history. 4,177 lives were lost, 8,712 received various degrees of injuries. As usual, there were no convictions. Religious violence is always considered a sensitive issue to warrant prosecution.
Then came Boko Haram. To continue with the tradition of no conviction, less than 2 weeks after the bombing of the UN headquarters in Abuja, the governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso ordered 20 members of Boko Haram released as part of celebrations of the end of the holy month of fasting. Even if Boko Haram was crushed today, if the North does not line up completely with modernity, another terrorist organization will roar its ugly head.
-Damola Awoyokun

What GEJ Should Have Done - A Lesson in Crisis Management

What GEJ should have done after getting the report of abducted girls:

1. From the day the news broke, immediately request the result of a full investigation from the police IG and the SSS director, Waec and education minister. Give them 48hrs to submit their first report
2. While assuaging the families, Ensure each parent is visited by the appropriate investigative agencies and information gathered on association to child, family tree, etc.
3. Communicate clearly, to parents and school authorities alike, that this is a criminal and national security case and that it is not optional to cooperate with the security agencies
4. Ensure the appropriate authorities give daily briefings to Nigerians
5. Immediately secure other schools in the area
6. Work with international agencies and governments (from day 1) in resolving the issue. Ask for any help needed
7. Seal off all north eastern borders and deploy appropriate security to likely escape routes
8. Prevent his wife from causing any public stir that creates a distraction
9. If found that this was indeed a hoax, visibly punish all those involved
10. Redeploy security agents who are likely to be saboteurs
11. Use my powers as CIC to actively checkmate any elected official at any level who may be in the way of my job as chief security officer
12. Keep information channels alive and show transparency in order to gain the support and trust of Nigerians
13. Fire Labaran Maku and Okupe

#BringBackOurGirls

SAN