Obama and the Nigerian Dream

In the past few weeks I have found it difficult to put pen to paper. With Obamamania and the message of hope and change rising in crescendo against the suffocating gradualism and annoying hypocritical realities of the Nigerian state, I chose to proceed on a self – imposed intellectual exile. I lapped up the historical drama unfolding in North America and indulged in some reminiscences on the Nigerian Dream. The Nigerian Dream? Yes, the Nigerian Dream! That was the title of an article I wrote in my column in September 2007. In that piece I examined the Nigerian Dream in contradistinction to the more popular global reference point: the American Dream.

Until the gangling forty – seven year old senator from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama, trounced tight – lipped fellow American senator, John McCain Read more

A Nigerian NGO and its good works. (Part 3)

With the vastness of the Niger Delta — 187 local government areas, more than 40 different ethnic groups and 250 languages and dialects among them, about 28 million peoples, 12 per cent of Nigeria’s surface area, 13,329 settlements, with only 98 being urban centres, long coastlines and environments that are devastated; you will no doubt agree with RAWDP that to accomplish its mission is a huge challenge.

RAWDP is presently working in only 7 communities out of over 5,000 located in only 7 local government areas out of 187. This is really not enough hence underscoring the imperativeness of training and empowering the trainees and the communities to expand the water filter production within a record time.

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A Nigerian NGO and its good works. (Part 2)

In the NGO, Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP), a baseline assessment/survey is often the first step towards a water, sanitation and hygiene improvement programme. It provides RAWDP a means of assessing the existing water and sanitation as well as the Hygiene situation of the target communities, and to understand why people do what they do and why the status quo subsists.

To make the assessment effective RAWDP uses suitable methods to investigate the existing situation within the community. Baseline information enable it to; Prioritize communities, or identify target audiences within a particular community for the promotion of its programmes; Providing the baseline for planning and measuring the success of the intervention .i.e. it need to know the proportion of people using each risky practice before its programme starts, so at a later stage it can measure this again to see if there has been a reduction; identifying the issues to be addressed, and the resources available or required for resolving them, and understanding the water and sanitation situation of a community and the issues surrounding those practices.

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Biogas- for a sustainable society!

The saying that traveling is part of education cannot be less true in all ramifications. I say so because my recent visit and tours of Sweden as a part of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) sponsored Ecological Sanitation Resource class 2008.

I was among fifteen other top sustainable development professionals invited to Stockholm to undergo three weeks Ecological Sanitation Resource training. As part of the training we had schedules of visits to very interesting places in Stockholm such as the Natur Centrum, the Skansen Centre, as well as the Skarpnack and Listudden neighborhoods. What I saw in these sites made me ‘dumb’. They were great places to visit by anyone who is really interested in the preservation of nature/ecology.

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RE: University Degree and HND disparity in Nigeria Civil Service

SOS TO THE PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ALHAJI UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA

This is to appeal to the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to use his good office to implement the much publicized, recently concluded removal of the existing dichotomy in the conditions of appointments/service of the holders of first degree and HND.

It is a thing of regret that two years after the Federal Executive Council’s recommendation of the removal of the undue dichotomy and ceiling on the Salary Grade Level/Rank attainable by Higher National Diploma holders in the Civil Service (ref: Government White Paper on the Report of the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector, Chapter 6 Section 6.2 of December 2006 pages31/32 ), the implementation strategies and time fixed at “medium term” are yet to materialize till the present moment.

In a nation where people’s aspirations are directed at serving the fatherland with love, strength, faith, heart and might; calling for leaders to be guided right, helping our youth to know the truth; growing in love and honesty , living in just and truth and building a nation where peace and justice reign and where democracy equally guarantees continuity in governance. One begins to wonder whether all the afore-mentioned aspirations as expressed in the national anthem are mere rhetoric rather than virtues to live by. In the Civil Service,’ Servicom’ was launched to enhance efficiency and right service to the clients. Is it not high time that the same level of efficiency and right service manifested in the public service and similar national executive bodies?

Your Excellency Sir, many technical cadre civil servants(HND holders) attained salary grade level 14 step11( the former ceiling for that level) over 10years ago, officers(Degree holders) on level 10 at that time are right now on levels 15 or 16. Affected officers are annually being exempted from promotion interviews to level 15 even though the Federal Executive Council has accepted the recommendation of the removal of the ceiling since 2004. Paragraph one of page 5 of the quoted white paper states that, ‘On 11th June, 2006, the President set up the White Paper Drafting Committee on the Consolidation of Emolument in the Public Sector, to among others , work out a White Paper or better still, detailed programme of implementation of the accepted parts of the Report so as to ensure that substantial implementation begins in 2007 along with substantial implementation of Public Service Reforms and Right Sizing’. A lot of public service reforms including disengagement from service(right sizing) had been implemented whereas the issue of the removal of ceiling placed on HND holders also covered by the same White Paper still remains a no-go area. Is this not a perversion of justice and fairplay?

It is disheartening to state that the HND holders are still being statutorily and financially dehumanized as follow:

1. The period of study to attain HND is a minimum of five years ( 2yrs for OND, 1Yr of Post OND-Internship and 2Yrs for HND) while some of the first degree programmes require only 4Yrs for Courses in Education, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences , Arts etc. It is a fact to recognize that most Polytechnic students meet the minimum entry qualifications for University admission before choosing a career in the Polytechnic.

2. The point of entry into the Civil Service is Salary Grade Level 08 for holders of both qualifications. They undeniably assume the same responsibilities

3. It is a national shame to see some Nigeria Universities quoting the HND as one of the acceptable Entry Qualifications (into Part One of First Degree Programmes) while at the same time same or some others accept the same qualification (with PGD) for their masters programmes. (the NUC needs to revisit this issue). This waste of human resources and retardation of the national technological advancement need to be arrested forthwith. Some universities need to be aware that tertary institutions abroad afford HND holders from this country admission for post-graduate studies without any discrimination.

4. Technical Cadre staff on the so-called ceiling are being paid same salary (i.e. GL 14/11) year-in, year-out, without any annual increment even if they have to stagnate there till retirement decades after and nobody seems to care. More embarrassingly these officers are being paid the same Duty Tour Allowance of N8,500 with their sub-ordinate officers on salary grade level 07. Where are the so called incentives to enhance staff efficiency and productivity? What are the prospects for tertiary Vocational Technical Institutions in Nigeria ? Where is Nigeria ’s technological drive heading to? A lot of Physical structures are presently rotting away in Polytechnics for lack of students while those of Universities are being over-stretched. Some Departments in the Polytechnics are either without Students or their lecturers outnumber the students’ population. Is this country not loosing her focus on Technological Education? This country has to borrow a leaf from a country like Japan whose philosophy and objective of education is, ‘aggressive survival technology and effective use of adapted technology’.

Right now some Federal Ministries and Parastatals are gathering data for the next promotion exercise but the technical cadres on SGL 14 are completely excluded for the reason that the afore-mentioned white paper does carry with it ‘any directive’ to implement. What other directive is required, going by the Pages 5, 31 and 32 of the quoted White Paper?

Your Excellency, Mr. President, I wish to appeal once again that you use your enviable, and honourable office to save the affected officers the psychological trauma of the predicament they find themselves.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Long live Mr. President.

Salawu, Isiaka Adebayo

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Ekiti State Assembly Crisis: African Science To The Rescue

Of the 36 states House of Assembly, Ekiti State is the only one where the membership is evenly distributed. The ruling party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 13 members while the opposition, Action Congress (AC), has equal footing. As a result of this balanced force, legislative duties have been slow, as every motion had to be scrutinized and the collaboration of at least one “black sheep” is needed to get majority vote to pass whatever bill.

But on July 9th, three “black sheep” from PDP defected and a group calling herself the G18, moved a motion to impeach the PDP speaker Hon. Femi Bamisile. Since this historic motion, the state has been in akimbo, with all manner of pressure brought to bear on the G18, to rethink their stand. The traditional rulers were thrown into the fray and a safe landing was found for the impeached ex-speaker. This soft landing among other things was that the ex-speaker will not be prosecuted for the alleged theft he committed while a student in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, and other sundry offences. He was also allowed to preside over a valedictory season, which took place on Tuesday July 29th behind closed door.

When the door was opened, Hon. Matthew Olatunji Odeyemi emerged with the full paraphernalia of the office of the speaker. But the virgin speaker, refused to take his seat till it was sanctified by the Alaaye of Efon, Oba Emmanuel Aladejare. The traditional monarch, did not only counter-anoint the vacant speakers seat but went ahead to cleanse the whole legislative seats, believed to have been “anointed” by African reassurance talisman during the tussle. The Oba saying incantations dusted each seat with his cow tail fan, while the legislatures stood in awe and said “Amen”, whenever the Oba was audible enough. It is interesting that these legislatures, who drew their right of impeachment from the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will allow such act in the hallowed chambers! (The 1999 Nigerian Constitution claims to be secular but has a controversial section protecting Shari a law).

I guess these Ekiti legislators want to make a case for African Traditional Religion (ATR) This superstitious believe in supernatural intervention in the affairs of man, especially Nigerian politicians, is one of the reasons why commonest solvable problems are dumped at the feet of one god or the other. This cacophony of mixed allegiance surely will cause confusion as one is at sea as to which god is answering prayers or causing more harm. To rule a state, Ngigi had to go to a ATR shrine armed with a Christian Bible, instead of presenting his party’s manifesto or go to the grass roots to acquaint himself with the plight of unemployment and erosion eating up the people of Anambra.

The former president Olusegun Obasanjo has been reported as telling Nigerians that only “God” can solve the power problem in Nigeria. Bunkum. I hope he is not waiting for a thunder and a Jim Jones or John Momoh (MD Channels TV) voice shout let their be light, and the rusty industrial wheels in Nigeria will be belching out steel and refined crude from Warri and Kaduna refineries. Nigeria is not alone in this plague. You need to recast your mind to Jacob Zuma of South Africa and his Zulu rituals during his rape trial.

What is wrong with African politicians? Religion is a private thing and has no place in public life. In public life, which is based on social contract, there are all manner of believes, so why should any be imposed as a state’s? The constitution is the Ifa, the Bible, and Koran of legislative business. If these Ekiti legislators have no faith in the constitution to guide them in the discharge of their duties, they should move a motion to the effect that the offending/impotent sections be expunged from the constitution and ATR be enacted as the official Ekiti State religion. In an era when the West is going to Mars, African politicians are still bringing fetishism to bear in legislative duties.

In most cases, a legislative business, begins with a prayer to one of the gods of the Jew and their half brother, the Arabs, yet such invocation of ‘god’ does not stop them from looting the country blind, or resulting to underhand, unconstitutional means to reap off the masses, whose mandate they claim they are defending. Can some one call Nigerian politicians to order? Our salvation to being a member in the comity of 21st century nations is to jettison public display of religious idiosyncrasies and find the part of industrialization and upward movement to the moon.

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