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If we look beyond the façade of Rotarians who choose to present themselves as ordinary folks who happen to care about the plight of others who are less fortunate, what we would find are truly exceptional people. That is where the problem lies. How do we persuade them to come out from their comfort zone to rescue our nation which is clearly in distress?
If the Ministry of Works and Housing alone is owing contractors N10.84 trillion, that means the financial system has broken down entirely. Howe are we ever going to pay the contractors who have presumably executed contracts and are massively indebted to banks and other financial institutions ?
To compound matters, the Minister of Education publicly announced that he has failed!!
The government is suffering from eating disorder. We (especially Lagosians) are suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and survivors’ guilt.
We should allow the “Four-Way Test” to kick in as we ponder on the front page editorial of “The Guardian” newspaper of October 26, 2022.
Headline: “Public auction of seized vehicles in Lagos”
“The decision of the Lagos State Government to review the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law (2018) is timely, following the controversy generated over the implementation of that law which has drawn emotional theatrics from motorists who wailed uncontrollably while their vehicles were disposed of.
The emotion could not have been less as many of the affected people claimed that the vehicles impounded and sold were the main means of their livelihood. In the midst of the controversy, and while the government was manifestly seeking to enthrone order in the transportation and commuting sector, it is clear that a review, and perhaps more public education, is necessary to prevent a re-enactment of the controversy.
Recently, the Lagos State Government via the Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences auctioned over 400 abandoned and forfeited vehicles. The event was filled with different dramas from bidders and businessmen, but the highlight was the trauma and agony expressed by motorists whose vehicles were disposed of.
It does appear that the law is more revenue-driven than governance-driven. Government may of course dispute this but unless it can show otherwise, it is safe to assert that it falls below the standard of an ideal law
The cry of the affected motorists attracted quite a bit of public sympathy as members of the public contributed money to allay the plight of some of them; while government opposition campaigned that the law was unduly punitive and destructive of the citizens.
Holding the brief of the government, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of the State, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), responded that the exercise was conducted in accordance with the law; and that the owners of the vehicles were given ample opportunity to reclaim them before the auctioning but failed to do so. He further clarified that the forfeiture process was not automatic and was done pursuant to court orders.
Perhaps the welcome news for concerned people is the commissioner’s statement that the law was being reviewed by the Lagos State House of Assembly for amendment. Onigbanjo said: “The amendments to the transport law are currently being reviewed by the House of Assembly and will be in place as soon as possible. This issue of driving against traffic has become such a nuisance, danger and menace to society that something drastic has to be done and the legislators at that time imposed these penalties.”
Clearly, the law was aimed at curbing a public menace as emphasized by Onigbanjo. Law is three-way traffic: for the victim; the accused and society at large. This piece of legislation prescribed punitive sanctions for various traffic violations; such as imprisonment, fine, and forfeiture of the vehicle, both imprisonment and forfeiture of vehicle. No doubt, the traffic situation in many parts of the state has been subjected to gross abuse, necessitating some drastic action by the government.
Specifically, the enactment of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018 was necessitated by the unrepentant dangerous and reckless driving of some Lagosians despite repeated warnings from traffic officials. Its inclusion of stringent punishments for traffic infractions was meant to curb this nuisance, and by extension minimise the resultant accidents and chaos in commuting in the state.
While Lagos State cannot be legally faulted in the just concluded auction exercise, however, there is a need to give her extant transport law a more humane complexion. After all, the law is meant for man; not the other way around.
Similarly, the law is a social engineering tool through which society can be properly planned, set, and orchestrated to bring about the necessary and much-needed positive change, development, advancement, and improvement.
Consequently, it should not be used as an instrument of exploitation, oppression, and profiteering. This raises the fundamental question: “whose interest does the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law 2018 serve?”
It does appear that the law is more revenue-driven than governance-driven. Government may of course dispute this but unless it can show otherwise, it is safe to assert that it falls below the standard of an ideal law.
Any legislation that renders violators financially incapacitated even after paying a fine or serving a jail term is a bad law. Put differently, any law that prescribes multiple penalties for committing a particular offence is draconian.
Reassuringly, the Lagos House of Assembly now acknowledges this fact; hence is currently reviewing the law to inject “humaneness into [it] to prevent people from losing their sources of livelihood when they break the law.”
The decision to reform the stated traffic law is salutary. However, the government should also avert its mind to the issue of implementation of the law. Instances, where enforcement officers treat traffic offenders differently for committing the same offence, are numerous. Also, commercial motorists are usually waved on when they run afoul of traffic law whereas traffic regulators readily activate the full force of the law against their private counterparts. This discriminatory practice should stop.
Additionally, the tactics of placing sharp objects in front of vehicles or recklessly overtaking vehicles in motion deployed by traffic officials in a bid to apprehend alleged violators are unreasonable, unprofessional, and have sometimes resulted in accidents. The current administration should check the excesses of these officials and possibly adopt a more modern and technologically approved method on this. It is further observed that the officials are more focused on chasing perceived offenders rather than their core responsibility of traffic control and management.
Importantly, it should be put on record that the government is equally complicit in non-compliance with traffic regulations.
Both political officeholders and law enforcement officers drive recklessly against traffic, drive on restricted lanes and flaunt other traffic regulations with impunity on a daily basis. It is incumbent on the government to set a good example not only by being law-abiding but by also penalising its officers when they breach the law.
Another salient issue is the multiple agencies, such as the Police, Federal Road Safety Commission, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Vehicle Inspection Service, National Union of Road Transport Workers, and Kick against Indiscipline enforcing the same laws. These agencies often encroach on other transport-related issues, not within their purview. It behoves the government to ensure that they discharge their duties strictly within the confines of their respective laws.
As Lagos lawmakers embark on the transport regulatory reformation process, it is expedient that they should tackle the same holistically in ensuring that the new law adequately remedies the mischief inherent in the current law and addresses other issues raised.”
The Rotary Foundation enjoys tremendous goodwill but have we not come to a point when we are compelled to ponder on whether all the good that Rotarians have done has been vitiated by the recklessness of government? For several decades we have witnessed plunder and pillage on a scale which we could never have envisaged.
Perhaps, in an act of desperation we should encourage the Rotary Foundation to set up a Rotary Club in each of Nigeria’s 774 LGA’s [Local Government Areas] in the hope that the Four-Way Test can be adopted at the grass roots.
As we speak, it is all over social media how some politicians stashed away COVID-19 palliatives in huge warehouses while people were dying like flies. Those life saving essentials were (and ar still being) hoarded until the next elections as ammunition for bribing voters. The video has gone viral.
We also require the intervention of Rotary Foundation to stem the spate of suicides that has overtaken Eko Bridge, Thrid Mainland Bridge and Falomo Bridge. Young people who have become frustrated would hire Uber cabs, alight on the bridge and proceed to jump. The least that Rotarians can do is to put up billboards warning Uber cars not to stop on the bridges and write in bold capitals:
“SUICIDE IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. YOUR FUTURE IS AHEAD OF YOU.”
Tragically, young people are leaving our beloved country in droves. Canada appears to be their favourite destination.
Some of the economic refugees claim that they have seen through the deceit and subterfuge of their parents who have left them in the lurch – Nigeria is piling up huge debts which would be bequeathed to the next and future generations !! According to them, it is a con game.
To make matters worse, on 16 November 2022 “Nigerian Tribune” newspaper devoted its front page in bold headline to:
“SOARING FOOD PRICES PUSH INFLATION RATE TO 21.09 PER CENT.”
• Hits 19-year high
• Prices of gas, liquid fuel, air transport record highest increases
• NBS (National Bureau of Statistics) blames disruption in food supply, currency depreciation.
Clearly, instead of managing a crisis we have mismanaged it and made it worse – while Rotarians and their friends are busy doing good deeds.
While we are dining and reflecting on Rotary’s Four-Way Test:
(i) Is It the TRUTH ?
(ii) Is it FAIR to all concerned ?
(iii) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS ?
(iiii) Will it be BENEFIAL to all concerned ?
We should spare a thought for late “Rotarian” Olugbenga David Owolabi whose obituary was published on the front page of “The Nation” newspaper on November 10, 2022.
“That his remains were taken back from the land of his birth [Nigeria] for interment in a foreign, adopted country [United States of America] was a big shame of unimaginable proportions. But again, how did we get here ?”
Headline: The Nation newspapers of November 10, 2022:
After dinner, there will be plenty of time to ponder on the headline:
“OWOLABI : MURDERED IN NIGERIA, BURIED IN AMERICA”
– by Abiodun Komolafe
“One of the greatest shortcomings of Nigeria’s existence is that she has never evolved into a nation. The amalgamation of territories, imposition of the colonial masters, the unfortunate intervention of the military and its attendant maladministration of the civil-society, and the corruption-infested politicians have not actually given the country that opportunity to realize her potentials. To be honest, it is because Nigeria’s handlers have different motives and a diametrically opposed understanding of the concept of development that her journey to nationhood has remained an illusion.
As we know, there is no generally acceptable interpretive understanding of the concept of development. For instance, part of the organic components of a nation is the understanding of the meaning of the concepts of citizenship. It is on this premise that a nation thrives. In other words, since no nation flourishes without its citizens, any nation that wants to thrive must have its organic components in place and the majority number of the population must share, intimately, the rudimentary knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a citizen, as agreed to, and enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria. Otherwise, it will just be as if one is running against the wind.
On July 28, 2022, Olugbenga David Owolabi was kidnapped alongside his staff, Rachael Opadele in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, by yet-to-be-identified kidnappers. Owolabi was a Nigerian-American who had come to Nigeria, to invest in the hospitality business in Ogbomoso, his hometown. On August 3, 2022, they were senselessly killed by their abductors, despite the payment of N5m ransom. Owolabi was buried on October 1, 2022 which, as fate would have it, coincided with a very important day in Nigeria’s chequered history. Opadele had earlier been buried in Ogbomoso, on August 5, 2022. Like the others, Nigeria has again succeeded in making the sun of three of her promising citizens set at dawn.
Olugbenga Owolabi is gone; and there’s nothing anybody can do to bring him back to life. But, if he had known that the country he called his own didn’t understand what it meant to be a citizen, he wouldn’t have come to Nigeria at all, not to speak of investing here. Let’s face it: the short time he spent in the USA – and he became a citizen – is now the only gift God has given him. From the time mappings for his life, all things being equal, if he had not come here, those unredeemed killers and haters who have turned Nigeria into a pool of blood would not have slaughtered him like a ram. Of course, they’d not have killed him without the American government deploying its entire arsenal for battle against his killers.
Typical of the Nigerianness in us, nobody is talking about who killed Owolabi; and neither Oyo State nor his Local Government has uttered a word; forget about admitting that the State has lost an illustrious son. Rather, it’s been business as usual, as if nothing happened. No justice! Not even a show of pretence for it! Sad that, even up to the point of the corpse being flown abroad, no Nigerian officials were seen to have shown any semblance of sympathy, either by words or actions. Well, that’s to show how horrible our system is. In our clime, the worth of a citizen has gone into a nosedive! Why then should one die for the country?
Owolabi’s unfortunate death is not the first; certainly, it won’t be the last either! Since his murder, several other unresolved murders have taken place. Yet, the heavens have not fallen! And who cares? After all, those who died did not belong to the families of members of the ruling class. So, life goes on!
But, again, this is Nigeria! America takes care of her living and the dead! Nigeria does neither! Here in Nigeria, life no longer has any meaning! Ours is a generation of wasters, in a very dangerous country! Against the backdrop of our illimitable woes, the leaders “daily call on the citizens to make sacrifices while they (the leaders) wallow in privilege.” Tragically, the leadership doesn’t even understand why and how the country is being led to a moral free fall in all areas.
The general assumption is that Nigeria is a sovereign state, but the current state of heightened insecurity only suggests that she may have already been stripped of her sovereign attributes. Otherwise, how do we describe events in the land which have only shown that our leaders are in a wide sea of uncertainty with regard to how a nation evolves; the inalienable rights of a citizen, and why he or she must be accorded such? Remember the 2013 Boston Marathon domestic terror attack and how the American government rose to the occasion! Remember how US Special Forces rescued Philip Walton, an American citizen held hostage in Nigeria in 2020! Here in Nigeria, the late Hamani Tidjani was only unlucky to have positioned his wind vane wrongly. And he paid dearly for it! On Owolabi’s gruesome murder, even the texture and essence of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) seem to have been seduced into compliance with sickening silence.
Had Oyo State Government been truly there for those it was elected to serve, somebody in government would have noticed the state administrative protocol gap in Owolabi’s unfortunate murder, and would have issued a statement on behalf of the government. That his remains were taken back from the land of his birth for internment in a foreign, adopted country was a big shame of unimaginable proportions. But again, how did we get here?
For God’s sake, how does one belong to a country where human lives are not valued; where “yesterday’s dreams have become the worst nightmares”; where “very sharp pieces of broken promises” have become the new ideology? And, if we may ask: what is the functional relevance of Nigeria’s sovereignty? Isn’t that why a Leah Sharibu could still be languishing in the terrorists’ den even as the government continues to behave as if it never happened?
The social thoughts of a society, I was made to understand, undergird the thought flows of its citizens. For example, when President John F. Kennedy famously urged Americans “ask not what” their “country can do for” them but “what” they “can do for” their “country’, that became the mantra in the USA that even a kid in that ‘God’s own country’ was always ready to die for the American flag. On the converse, have we asked why Nigeria now looks “like a boiling pot that everyone wants to escape from” and why Nigerians are with misdirected aggression prepared to ‘japa’ (flee) into certain deaths in Ukraine?
With happenings like this in Nigeria, national consciousness and the concept of patriotism are on the verge of losing both their meanings and relevance; of course, with huge national security implications! Nigeria may also lose investors and her capacity for economic growth will be hindered. To put it bluntly, what it means is that, once the central value of citizenship is lost, the entire country is lost. The more reason the handlers of Nigeria must do a new orientation programme that will teach Nigerians to be patriotic. In doing this, the government should lead by example. Otherwise, the scheme will fall like a pack of cards.”
A “Rotarian” who is still very much with us is the cerebral architect, painter, set designer and pioneer proponent of African aesthetics in building designs and technology, 87-year-old Professor Dennis Nwoko. Rather than join us for dinner, he is in the protest mode having unceremoniously quit the University of Ibadan and abandoned academia (and Rotary ?) entirely for private practice. He is quoted on the front page of “The Guardian” newspaper of November 20, 2022:
“Nigerian academia [unlike Rotarians] does not value and reward creativity, preferring instead to base promotions on article publications, whether of little or no merit.
“Nwoko made this startling revelation at the launch of his two books, his first in over 60 years long after he left academia.
His two new books are titled, “Concrete Thinking”, which focuses on his life’s works and his memoir, “The Happy Little African Prince,” while “Some Architectural Design Parametres for the Tropics” is billed to come out next year.
He cited the case of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka who also acrimoniously left the University of Ibadan and went to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), because, Nwoko said, “when it was time for him (Soyinka) to be conferred with a professorship, they passed over him. I remember that Wole Soyinka was our Head of Department, but when it was time to give him a professorship, the University of Ibadan ignored him. They said that he was creating books, but he was not writing academic books.
“This is why we are not self-sufficient or independent, because our universities are manpower institutions but they don’t recognise creativity. I was creating works including aesthetic philosophy and all that. I chose not to be in a hurry to publish my pieces, because I wanted to try them out, build them and make sure that the philosophy works ever before I put them down between hard copies. But I did publish in art and culture magazines when I left. So, the maxim then was publish or perish. I chose to perish and left.
“So, really, I deliberately kept my formal book compilation to virtually the end of my life, when I’m sure that I’ve practicalised all my thinking and the tinkering also. That’s why they are coming out at this time. People have asked me ‘what if you didn’t live long to this time? Well, it didn’t matter really, because the workers are there. So even if I didn’t write a thesis about them, other people will write about them. So really, I was not under pressure to the author or write about my work. But well, I thank God I’m alive and healthy. So I decided to compile them, and I’m still compiling more.”
Nwoko blamed Nigeria’s stunted growth as being traceable to the first military incursion into politics, when it suspended the federal constitution, saying it also meant suspending the country’s culture and ways of life and that Nigeria is yet to recover from it. He said that singular action has had far-reaching implications for the Nigerian polity and that is why the country has remained mired in under-development. He canvassed the need for the country to make a fresh start that entails a re-engineering of the country’s foundational issues.
Nwoko also said the country has failed to midwife its own peculiar building technology, preferring instead to ape the West with the result that our buildings are ill-suited for our purposes.
“Lagos is an environmental disaster,” he declared. “Why are you not changing it? Lagos is showing a bad construction example for the rest of Nigeria, who have abandoned their African building construction aesthetics to copy what they see in Lagos. If there is no oil money, where will Lagos get the money to be building the unlivable houses that have no ventilation.”
Our entire nation is seething with grief and anger. We are now the poverty capital of the world. Unfortunately, Rotary could become a victim of the collateral damage. Poverty is the real enemy. It is not science fiction.
It is not enough to quote Rupert Sheldrake 1942 (age 80 years):
“Science cannot grasp what pains and inspires us – and it never will.”
Rather we must add Jason Goodwin’s apt summation:
“I hate poverty, ignorance and greed and their persistence. I lament the war and orphaned children (who are being taken care of by Rotary), the brutalised soldiers and the unwilling exiles. There is not much we can do about it. Jesus wept.”
The truth of the matter is that our problems cut far deeper than what Rotary Foundation can handle. Without diluting our immense gratitude to Rotarians, what is required is frank introspection and deep reflection when we are confronted by the damning evidence delivered on the front page of “The Nation” newspaper on October 16, 2022.
Headline: “DANGOTE AND OBAJANA CEMENT DISPUTE”
“This reminds Nigerians of the tragedy that befell the Ajaokuta Steel Company and the out-of-Court settlement Nigeria clumsily reached with Global Steel Holdings an Indian Company originally asking Nigeria for $5.3bn for breach of contract. The settlement cost Nigeria about $496m though the Indians would have had to pay Nigeria penalties had Nigerian officials waited only a few weeks more before terminating the contract.”
Regardless of the relentless exertions of Rotary Foundation, our nation and our people cannot be judged based on the untarnished reputation and unblemished conduct of Rotarians. The rest of the world may be tempted to adopt a weighted average or LCD [Lowest Common Denominator]. Hence, we must factor the non-Rotarians into the equation. A case in point was provided on the front page of “Nigerian Tribune” on November 19, 2022.
Headline: “MUMMY” FIGHTS NAKED, SHE NO LONGER MEASURES UP TO THE THE STANDARD OF A [ROTARIAN] WIFE – Pastor-husband tells courts.
“Grade A Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has adjourned till December 21, a divorce case brought before it by a man, Biodun David, against his wife, Ayo David, on account of irreconcilable differences.
David, a pastor, told the court that his wife did not measure up to the standard he desired in a wife.
He explained that his wife had failed to display the character of a virtuous woman as it was expected of her as a pastor’s wife.
According to the plaintiff, the defendant is unruly in her behaviour and sometimes fought him naked in the presence of neighbours and co-pastors.
David stated that Ayo had torn six of his trousers within two years during fights, adding that she once dragged him on the floor and locked him in the house for a whole day.
The plaintiff further said that the defendant slapped him during an argument and that it took more than 10 pastors to pacify him by prostrating to him before he forgave her.
Biodun told the court he was not ready to go any further in his marriage to his wife and thus prayed the court to end their relationship.
Ayo denied all the allegations brought against her by her husband but agreed to divorce.
David said: “I met my wife whom I address as Mummy through a pastor-friend after I had parted ways with my first wife of eight years.
My first wife and I went our separate ways because she failed to give me a child.
While Mummy and I were courting, my relatives and friends advised that I ensured she was pregnant with my baby before I went into marriage with her.
I took their advice and we went into marriage with Mummy carrying my baby.
My lord, I declare before the court that apart from our child who gives me joy, my marriage to my wife is filled with woes.
Mummy, I discovered a few months into our marriage didn’t meet my taste. She is uncouth and always having brawls with me. Any time we had a misunderstanding, my wife would hold tight my trousers and pull me all over the house with it. She tore six of my trousers in the first two years of our marriage.
We once had a misunderstanding and Mummy held my trousers. I lost my balance and fell while struggling with her and she used my trouser to drag me on the floor.
She afterwards locked the main door to the house and kept the key. She refused that I went out.
She lied to those who came to ask of me that day that I was not at home. My lord, at another time my wife fought me in the public and hit me on the chest with the wristwatch she was wearing.
I felt a sharp pain in my chest while my shirt got soaked in the blood flowing out of the cut her wristwatch made in my chest.
I reported my wife to her mother, but I never saw any significant change in her.
As a pastor I always prayed and believed that Mummy would change, but the reverse was the case.
She travelled to Libya for to two years and I was expecting to see the change in her on her return, but to my chagrin she turned out worse. Mummy became more violent and also went back to her old ways of tearing my trousers to shreds.
I have exercised patience this far because of my pastoral calling. I don’t want Mummy to dent my image as a servant of God or tear my church apart.”
David stated further that “My lord, my wife has no shame. She loves to fight naked. Our neighbours and co-pastors always met her naked any time they came to mediate in our differences.
Mummy has also consistently brought me ill luck.
We both applied for American visas and the whole congregation joined us in prayers. Mummy fought me three days to our visit to the embassy. At the end of the day our appointment was cancelled.
We were also refused visas at our second attempt after we had spent money through the nose.’’
Mummy did the worst when she slapped me. According to her, I was taking sides with a friend of hers who is a member of my church and who never ceased to point her attention to her shortcomings.
It took more than 10 co-pastors to pacify me. They prostrated for me before I forgave her.
She left my house after this and I don’t want her back.
My lord, my wife has pushed me to the wall. All I pray for today is that the court ends our marriage.”
The court president, Mrs S.M Akintayo, after she had heard the plaintiff, adjourned the case for cross examination and further hearing.”
I am not sure of how many Rotarians are left in the National Assembly and/or the civil service.
Read also: Rotary (Rotation or the panic button) (2)
However, the Auditor’s Report released by “Business Day” newspaper on November 21, should give us cause for concern.
Front page headline: “SENATE UNCOVERS N11 BILLION INSERTED IN 2023 MINISTRY OF DEFENCE BUDGET.”
• Permanent Secretary accuses Finance Ministry of Padding Defence budget.
“The Senate has uncovered the insertion of N11 billion in the proposed 2023 budget of the Ministry of Defence.
Bashir Magashi, Minister of Defence, a retired major general, while defending his Ministry’s budget, came under the scrutiny of members of the Senate Committee on Defence, over the development, when he appeared before them.
The N11 billion, according to the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Itsifanus Gyang, comprise of N8.6 billion earmarked for procurement of military hardwares/equipment and N2.25 billion for Safe School initiatives.
“Hon. Minister, in the proposed 2023 budget of your ministry, N8.6 billion is discovered to have been allocated for purchase of military hardwares and N2.25 billion for Safe School initiatives.
The two items, when critically viewed, were not supposed to be in the ministry’s budget since hardware procurements are done by the Army, Navy and Air Force and Safe School Initiatives, is a project, handled by the Federal Ministry of Education.
These to us, are duplications of budgetary votes which require explanations from you,” he said.
The Minister in his response sought for permission of the Committee for the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ibrahim Kana to respond.
In his response, the Permanent Secretary told the Committee that the sums were inserted into the Ministry’s budget for 2022 fiscal year by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.
The two budgetary votes were not the initiative of the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning put them there,” he said.
Apparently not satisfied with the explanation offered by the Permanent Secretary, the Committee through its Chairman, Alli Wamakko told the Minister that both the N8.6 billion and N2.25 billion proposals for procurement of hardwares and Safe School Initiativevs would be expunged from the ministry’s budget proposals.”
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