The post below is from Wadami of FashionAfrica.com. Thanks Dammie! It's definitely an interesting take on what seems a well-meaning concept/idea, and we would love to hear your thoughts...
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The PlayPump system is a new movement to bring cleaner water to sub-saharan Africa. PlayPumps International’s mission is to help improve the lives of children and their families by providing easy access to clean drinking water, enhancing public health, and offering play equipment to millions across Africa.
PlayPumps International is an NGO registered in South Africa as well as a sister 501(c) 3 organization in the U.S. and by 2010 they will have carried out their mission by installing 4,000 PlayPump® water systems in 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa
How do they intend to achieve this? By building "Merry - go - rounds" that children will play on whilst simultaneously pumping water from the ground.
The project has begun in a few parts of sub-saharan Africa, where girls are responsible for fulfilling the jobs of water carriers. The girls are usually late for school, often having to join the boys later on in the day because they are expected to carry water back from springs and lakes. The PlayPump system aims to involve all kids in the process, and hopefully improve education opportunities for the young female population.
Watch the National Geographic feature on Play Pumps:
This will definitely be beneficial to developing countries in Africa and worldwide, but it has been brought to my attention that there are possibilities of child labour/abuse because of what has been called "the movement's deceptive nature".
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So now we ask, is there really potential for this project to open the door to child labour issues, where children are made to "work" to provide their villages with water? Are they not just being saved the time it would take for them to trek the distance to fetch water, and at the same time, being given the opportunity to play? Could a follow-up headline sometime in 2009 read: "Children forced into manual labour to pump water in rural Africa"?
Showing posts with label Body-Politik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Body-Politik. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
New Month, New Theme
Sorry for the hiatus folks - i've been very ill but i'm back (THANK GOD). To be honest, the absence hasn't only been due to illness (30%) and general work craziness (70%), it's also been due to a general lack of positivity about my homeland (100%)...(yes, i missed that addition class in pre-K). I won't go on the usual tirade of how so many things are not right with Nigeria at the moment. Nope, we're not going there, not this month.
In honour of the merry month of March (yeah, i made that up, i'm a March baby so i'm allowed), all posts this month (i'll try my best to make sure there are more than 4 ;)) will be about positive things going on in the country/continent - Things that make you go YAY! I talk as if i actually know what i'm going to write about - nope, no clue. But if i don't find the positive stuff (which i'm hoping you guys will send my way - info@theafrobeat.com, even if it's just a name and where i can find more info about it), then i won't write. C'est simple. Happy March people!
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The Vagina Monologues Coming to Nigeria
This play has been performed in Nigeria for a few years now but I believe (please correct me if i'm wrong) that this is the first time a nigerianized version will be performed, with monologues written by and for nigerian women. The play always gets people talking but I am so pleased that this time, it's been written for your average Nigerian to relate to. This is a great initiative being funded by several organizations in Nigeria, and I hope this will not only spur the dialogue on ending violence against women but will also continue to raise the standards and general appreciation of the arts & entertainment industry in Nigeria.
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Vagina Monologues again - By Sunday Ojeme (PUNCH Newspapers)
The Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, with support from the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid based in Netherlands, has announced that the Nigerian version of the controversial Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues, will be held this year.
Through this version, KIND, in collaboration with Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Media Concern for Women and Children, Civil Liberties Organisation, and the Ajegunle Community Project, intends to draw more attention to the plight of many women in the society.
“Two cosmopolitan cities, Abuja and Lagos, have been selected as the venues for the play with the premiere performance taking place in Abuja,” the organisers add.
As with previous editions of the show, this year’s edition will reflect the traumatic plight of many women in Nigeria. It will focus on themes such as rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation sexual slavery and emotional repression. CEO of Jason Vision Productions, Wole Oguntokun, has been chosen to direct this year’s production.
According to KIND’s Programme Manager, Amy Oyekunle “The Nigerian monologues will be a unique experience and a must-see. This year, we have a collection of over 150 women telling their stories. Some of these stories are humorous; some are sober but all very real.
With Wole Oguntokun directing the play, it will be interesting to see the male perspective to women issues.’
The Monologues are parts of the contributing efforts of the V-Day celebrations taking place in Africa.
-------------------
"V Monologues" opens in Abuja on March 6th and will also be showing in Lagos on the 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th.
In honour of the merry month of March (yeah, i made that up, i'm a March baby so i'm allowed), all posts this month (i'll try my best to make sure there are more than 4 ;)) will be about positive things going on in the country/continent - Things that make you go YAY! I talk as if i actually know what i'm going to write about - nope, no clue. But if i don't find the positive stuff (which i'm hoping you guys will send my way - info@theafrobeat.com, even if it's just a name and where i can find more info about it), then i won't write. C'est simple. Happy March people!******************
The Vagina Monologues Coming to Nigeria
This play has been performed in Nigeria for a few years now but I believe (please correct me if i'm wrong) that this is the first time a nigerianized version will be performed, with monologues written by and for nigerian women. The play always gets people talking but I am so pleased that this time, it's been written for your average Nigerian to relate to. This is a great initiative being funded by several organizations in Nigeria, and I hope this will not only spur the dialogue on ending violence against women but will also continue to raise the standards and general appreciation of the arts & entertainment industry in Nigeria.
----------------
Vagina Monologues again - By Sunday Ojeme (PUNCH Newspapers)
The Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, with support from the Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid based in Netherlands, has announced that the Nigerian version of the controversial Eve Ensler’s play, The Vagina Monologues, will be held this year.
Through this version, KIND, in collaboration with Project Alert on Violence Against Women, Media Concern for Women and Children, Civil Liberties Organisation, and the Ajegunle Community Project, intends to draw more attention to the plight of many women in the society.
“Two cosmopolitan cities, Abuja and Lagos, have been selected as the venues for the play with the premiere performance taking place in Abuja,” the organisers add.
As with previous editions of the show, this year’s edition will reflect the traumatic plight of many women in Nigeria. It will focus on themes such as rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation sexual slavery and emotional repression. CEO of Jason Vision Productions, Wole Oguntokun, has been chosen to direct this year’s production.
According to KIND’s Programme Manager, Amy Oyekunle “The Nigerian monologues will be a unique experience and a must-see. This year, we have a collection of over 150 women telling their stories. Some of these stories are humorous; some are sober but all very real.
With Wole Oguntokun directing the play, it will be interesting to see the male perspective to women issues.’
The Monologues are parts of the contributing efforts of the V-Day celebrations taking place in Africa.
-------------------
"V Monologues" opens in Abuja on March 6th and will also be showing in Lagos on the 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th.
Monday, February 11, 2008
More on Child "witches" and what YOU can do
Please visit COKERP's blog as he's done his homework and gotten a lot of information on the Akwa-Ibom authorities in a position to put a stop to the child abuse going on, as well as the pastors and evangelical ministries that are the main culprits. Other petition websites have also sprung up as a result. There's still a long way to go but at least this is a start.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Same Ol', Same Old?
It seems we're not the only ones writhing in that frustration that comes from the realization that hardly anything has changed when it comes to the key development issues Nigerians struggle with. This generation finds itself complaining about almost the same things our parent's complained about, if not more...we now have a flailing education sector to complain about,a dead health sector to add to our worries, a buried power generation sector, and an anti-graft sector currently in limbo. Abati laments/prophesies: "As it was in 1999, so it was in 2003 and so it is now, and so it seems it shall be for the rest of the year and beyond". We hope this is not the case. In the spirit of Nigerian Curiosity's person of 2007 Awards, we would like to know what you think is the most significant progress Nigeria had/made in 2007? It could be the obvious: The "elections"? the war on corruption? or the not-so-obvious: the war of poverty? relations with China? the commencement of the Abuja light rail? We know it'll be a tad difficult, but we hope you'll humour us...
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When Will Nigeria Ever Make It?
By Reuben Abati
There is nothing more exasperating, living in Nigeria, studying Nigeria, and analyzing Nigeria, and being Nigerian, than the realization that our lives have become one long piece of monotonous repetition of failures and uncertainties. We celebrate our capacity to manage the crisis in our lives, the optimism that is derived from our religiousity and our capacity like tragic heroes, to suffer and endure, but for a nation that seeks to make progress, the biggest challenge remains the development challenge. We seem rooted in one spot...absolutely nothing appears to work.
Even that which works, even that which appears to move eventually careers towards a dead end, and we greet the closure of our dreams, the abbreviation of our enthusiasm with a little spittle, some intra-class name-calling, the media makes the usual noises and soon, very soon, we all move on and adjust to the reality of our circumstances. Next year and the year after, almost interminably, we repeat the same patterns.
Companies manage to survive, crawling from year to year, even if the banks declare absurd balance sheets in a country where no real productivity is taking place. Tokens, mere tokens make us happy, and so we get called the happiest people on earth and we celebrate even that as if it were the badge of valour. A new year has started and there is still little to celebrate. Those of us who spend our time on public affairs would soon discover that last year is no different from this year, and that thematically, the year to come may not be different because, our nation is trapped in the vortex of half-measures, and tokenisms and sheer monotony...Check the newspaper editorials, every year they comment on essentially the same themes. Check the commentaries: the subject matter is the same.
And these are not happy stories at all, but necrophilous accounts of the lack of progress in national life. For eight years, we talked and wrote about the crisis in the energy sector, about the poor supply of electricity and how our cities are almost permanently in darkness and the power generator mafia that is smiling to the banks while electricity regulators try to increase tariffs for services they do not provide. We are starting a new year and the subject is the same because we have not moved an inch nearer the satisfaction of public expectations in this regard.
For eight years, we lamented the rot in the education sector, the collapse of such a strategic part of the national development plan. Schools are under-funded, standards are so poor, rich parents are either sending their children to private schools or abroad. Today, employers of labour prefer to travel abroad to recruit Nigerians in diaspora who are supposedly skilled because they have been exposed to a different education system.
They are compelled to do so because of a terrible skills shortage in the Nigerian environment, many of our local university graduates have skills no doubt but certainly the wrong kind of skills: the girls are adept at luring men to bed in order to secure advantages, many of the young men are graduates of cults and 419 groups. And there is the latest phenomenon of crime on campuses: the menace of "the Yahoo boys" who are simply internet fraudsters. All this while the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the umbrella association of university teachers has been asking government to pay more attention to the education sector. In 2008, it is the same crisis of funding and empowerment of the education sector that we are still talking about. Not even one step has been taken at any level to address the identified problems.
For eight years, we lamented the insecurity of life and properties, and the reign of violence in our lives. Rather than abate, the culture of violence in the Niger Delta and elsewhere has remained a problem. Armed robbers, bandits, and terrorists are so bold they even challenge the state openly. And so we continue this year again to write about unresolved murders, about armed robbery, about national insecurity. The list of the stasis in our lives, the predictable uncertainties in our lives is so long, and never short.
Government is unable to make a difference because governance in Nigeria is yet another veritable ritual. Public officials are more interested in the perks of office rather than the difference they are expected to make in the lives of the people. They want official cars, they want to live in government quarters and buy those houses later for their personal use; they want to collect fat salaries and allowances, they all want government land in choice areas for themselves and their spouses. They all want to use, abuse and advertise power and travel around in siren-bearing vehicles which enable them to chase other Nigerians off the streets.
As it was in 1999, so it was in 2003 and so it is now, and so it seems it shall be for the rest of the year and beyond. I lament. We are a terribly short-changed people, holding the wrong end of the stick. Civil servants work with every government that comes along, one after the other, but the Nigerian civil service at all levels has the largest collection of saboteurs within the national boundary. Civil servants are the ones helping the politicians to run Nigeria aground. And they are privileged and powerful, these are entrenched forces helping to sustain a tradition of national failure.
The media is the fourth estate of the realm, we probably will never get tired of documenting the rot in our lives, out of patriotism, out of a sense of obligation and out of a feeling of commitment. Nigerians can talk and there is clearly no shortage of pundits; in Nigeria, opinion is cheap, every certificate holder is an intellectual claiming to understand the issues better than the other man. But it looks like we can only do that much, charting the paths and identifying the issues for leaders who do not even read newspapers or do not listen to local news, and who are quick to boast about this.
Nigeria needs nothing short of transformation at all levels. The catalyst for that must still come from the leadership, a leadership that is willing to dispense with the boring routine that the civil servants, and political contractors have imposed, a leadership that is prepared to take the problems one after the other, day after day and slaughter the dragons that have kept us at the shore of progress. The cock is crowing in other lands; in Nigeria it is silent. Shall we prod this cock to crow or slaughter it for dinner, and damn the consequences?
---------------------
When Will Nigeria Ever Make It?
By Reuben Abati
There is nothing more exasperating, living in Nigeria, studying Nigeria, and analyzing Nigeria, and being Nigerian, than the realization that our lives have become one long piece of monotonous repetition of failures and uncertainties. We celebrate our capacity to manage the crisis in our lives, the optimism that is derived from our religiousity and our capacity like tragic heroes, to suffer and endure, but for a nation that seeks to make progress, the biggest challenge remains the development challenge. We seem rooted in one spot...absolutely nothing appears to work.
Even that which works, even that which appears to move eventually careers towards a dead end, and we greet the closure of our dreams, the abbreviation of our enthusiasm with a little spittle, some intra-class name-calling, the media makes the usual noises and soon, very soon, we all move on and adjust to the reality of our circumstances. Next year and the year after, almost interminably, we repeat the same patterns.
Companies manage to survive, crawling from year to year, even if the banks declare absurd balance sheets in a country where no real productivity is taking place. Tokens, mere tokens make us happy, and so we get called the happiest people on earth and we celebrate even that as if it were the badge of valour. A new year has started and there is still little to celebrate. Those of us who spend our time on public affairs would soon discover that last year is no different from this year, and that thematically, the year to come may not be different because, our nation is trapped in the vortex of half-measures, and tokenisms and sheer monotony...Check the newspaper editorials, every year they comment on essentially the same themes. Check the commentaries: the subject matter is the same.
And these are not happy stories at all, but necrophilous accounts of the lack of progress in national life. For eight years, we talked and wrote about the crisis in the energy sector, about the poor supply of electricity and how our cities are almost permanently in darkness and the power generator mafia that is smiling to the banks while electricity regulators try to increase tariffs for services they do not provide. We are starting a new year and the subject is the same because we have not moved an inch nearer the satisfaction of public expectations in this regard.
For eight years, we lamented the rot in the education sector, the collapse of such a strategic part of the national development plan. Schools are under-funded, standards are so poor, rich parents are either sending their children to private schools or abroad. Today, employers of labour prefer to travel abroad to recruit Nigerians in diaspora who are supposedly skilled because they have been exposed to a different education system.
They are compelled to do so because of a terrible skills shortage in the Nigerian environment, many of our local university graduates have skills no doubt but certainly the wrong kind of skills: the girls are adept at luring men to bed in order to secure advantages, many of the young men are graduates of cults and 419 groups. And there is the latest phenomenon of crime on campuses: the menace of "the Yahoo boys" who are simply internet fraudsters. All this while the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the umbrella association of university teachers has been asking government to pay more attention to the education sector. In 2008, it is the same crisis of funding and empowerment of the education sector that we are still talking about. Not even one step has been taken at any level to address the identified problems.
For eight years, we lamented the insecurity of life and properties, and the reign of violence in our lives. Rather than abate, the culture of violence in the Niger Delta and elsewhere has remained a problem. Armed robbers, bandits, and terrorists are so bold they even challenge the state openly. And so we continue this year again to write about unresolved murders, about armed robbery, about national insecurity. The list of the stasis in our lives, the predictable uncertainties in our lives is so long, and never short.
Government is unable to make a difference because governance in Nigeria is yet another veritable ritual. Public officials are more interested in the perks of office rather than the difference they are expected to make in the lives of the people. They want official cars, they want to live in government quarters and buy those houses later for their personal use; they want to collect fat salaries and allowances, they all want government land in choice areas for themselves and their spouses. They all want to use, abuse and advertise power and travel around in siren-bearing vehicles which enable them to chase other Nigerians off the streets.
As it was in 1999, so it was in 2003 and so it is now, and so it seems it shall be for the rest of the year and beyond. I lament. We are a terribly short-changed people, holding the wrong end of the stick. Civil servants work with every government that comes along, one after the other, but the Nigerian civil service at all levels has the largest collection of saboteurs within the national boundary. Civil servants are the ones helping the politicians to run Nigeria aground. And they are privileged and powerful, these are entrenched forces helping to sustain a tradition of national failure.
The media is the fourth estate of the realm, we probably will never get tired of documenting the rot in our lives, out of patriotism, out of a sense of obligation and out of a feeling of commitment. Nigerians can talk and there is clearly no shortage of pundits; in Nigeria, opinion is cheap, every certificate holder is an intellectual claiming to understand the issues better than the other man. But it looks like we can only do that much, charting the paths and identifying the issues for leaders who do not even read newspapers or do not listen to local news, and who are quick to boast about this.
Nigeria needs nothing short of transformation at all levels. The catalyst for that must still come from the leadership, a leadership that is willing to dispense with the boring routine that the civil servants, and political contractors have imposed, a leadership that is prepared to take the problems one after the other, day after day and slaughter the dragons that have kept us at the shore of progress. The cock is crowing in other lands; in Nigeria it is silent. Shall we prod this cock to crow or slaughter it for dinner, and damn the consequences?
Saturday, December 29, 2007
NU-who?
Some people called it, but others of us most certainly didn't see this one coming. According to the BBC, reports say Nuhu Ribadu has been told to tender his resignation in readiness for further studies, having "been ordered to attend a one-year policy and strategic studies course in central Nigeria." Any surprise that this comes on the heels of the Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello scandal (see Nigerian Curiosity's take), which Yar'Adua and Aondoakaa were quick to 'dash' the EFCC, with it's nearly full Christmas hamper? What does this mean for the EFCC? and Nigeria's fight against corruption? Chris Albin-Lackey, researcher on Nigeria at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters that if Mr Ribadu's suspension goes ahead, "the day he leaves office will be the day the credibility of Nigeria's 'war on corruption' is entirely destroyed".
Possibly.
However, the EFCC for some time now has been staggering blindly and it could just be the breaking point needed to get Nigerians to finally call Yar'Adua and his AGF to order and demand that they elucidate on their strategy to win this war on corruption, with or without the EFCC.
Possibly.
However, the EFCC for some time now has been staggering blindly and it could just be the breaking point needed to get Nigerians to finally call Yar'Adua and his AGF to order and demand that they elucidate on their strategy to win this war on corruption, with or without the EFCC.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
STOP THIS!!!
This story in The Observer (Guardian) has enraged all who have read it so far. We need to do something about this perverse form of child abuse. I am sure it's going on in many states in Nigeria but the situation in Akwa-Ibom is of the utmost urgency. There needs to be a way to stop these fake pastors from preaching such hateful messages that end in violence being inflicted on helpless children all in the name of promised prosperity. These ostracized children need to be cared for. The Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (basically, the man and his wife who currently care for these kids) needs to be supported in their efforts. They are currently being supported by Stepping Stones Nigeria but this is not enough people. We need to draw the attention of Nigerians to this atrocity (among many others in the ND but the focus of this post is on these children who have been convicted on false charges (based on the prophecies of "pastors") of witchcraft and are being brutally assaulted on a growing scale). If anyone can (or knows someone who can) help us get in touch with the Governor/Deputy Governor, First Lady, or any government official of Akwa-Ibom state, please email us at info@theafrobeat.com or misan@theafrobeat.com. Any other ideas on how to stop this madness are more than welcome.
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Thanks to In My Head & Around Me and Naijablog for sharing this story.
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Thanks to In My Head & Around Me and Naijablog for sharing this story.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
+234
Looks promising. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD...
+234 Magazine is a branding tool for the country, and is hereby calling for submission of articles, short stories, expose', interviews, reviews, photographs, memoirs, cartoons, poems, and features, for its maiden publication soon.
We are looking for submissions with a strong bias for Nigeria, showing a Frenzy outburst of patriotism and works that will speak for the country in turn.
MISSION:
To promote and redefine Nigeria as a positive brand.
VISION:
By 2011, Nigeria and her brand 'Heart of Africa' will be thriving uniquely as an acceptable and advanced nation.
OBJECTIVES:
-To promote Nigeria as a positive brand, hence, ensuring a positive image for the country.
-Re-brand our image in a very handy medium.
-Promote positive and alluring perceptions of Nigeria, its people and values.
-Promote our people, resources, business, and all facets of Nigeria to the world
GUIDELINES:
Topical works with special relevance to Nigeria.
Submissions must be objective and accurate.
Meet international writing standards; normal grammatical standards in written English: use of correct punctuations and spelling.
Must be original, relevant sources must be referenced.
Submissions should be made along with a brief biography.
Submissions should be minimum of 1500 words and maximum of over 2500 words.
Deadline for submission is 19th November 2007.
Please all submissions should me emailed to info234magazine@gmail.com
For further enquiries call +234-803-780-3142.
+234 Magazine…..redefining Nigeria!!!!
+234 Magazine is a branding tool for the country, and is hereby calling for submission of articles, short stories, expose', interviews, reviews, photographs, memoirs, cartoons, poems, and features, for its maiden publication soon.
We are looking for submissions with a strong bias for Nigeria, showing a Frenzy outburst of patriotism and works that will speak for the country in turn.
MISSION:
To promote and redefine Nigeria as a positive brand.
VISION:
By 2011, Nigeria and her brand 'Heart of Africa' will be thriving uniquely as an acceptable and advanced nation.
OBJECTIVES:
-To promote Nigeria as a positive brand, hence, ensuring a positive image for the country.
-Re-brand our image in a very handy medium.
-Promote positive and alluring perceptions of Nigeria, its people and values.
-Promote our people, resources, business, and all facets of Nigeria to the world
GUIDELINES:
Topical works with special relevance to Nigeria.
Submissions must be objective and accurate.
Meet international writing standards; normal grammatical standards in written English: use of correct punctuations and spelling.
Must be original, relevant sources must be referenced.
Submissions should be made along with a brief biography.
Submissions should be minimum of 1500 words and maximum of over 2500 words.
Deadline for submission is 19th November 2007.
Please all submissions should me emailed to info234magazine@gmail.com
For further enquiries call +234-803-780-3142.
+234 Magazine…..redefining Nigeria!!!!
Monday, October 1, 2007
WANTED: A Proactive Government
"The value of life has suddenly become greatly fractionalized and the worth drastically reduced. Is that due to poverty too? Probably it is a combination of poverty, frustration and anger. It is nevertheless unacceptable..."
This Guardian Newspaper article by Kunle Sanyaolu paints a picture of the current frustration (nay, depression) among Nigerians as we mark our 47th year of independence. Various pockets of "unrest" throughout the South have left citizens jaded and back in the pre-election mood of 'indifferent spectator'. So where is our government in all this?
---------
Four months after President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua assumed the mantle of leadership, the focus of his government is hazy still. The period is short for any meaningful impact-assessment. But it is long enough to have more than a faint idea of what a government will deliver...[and so far it] is not living up to the momentum. Too many issues are urgently begging for resolution and Nigerians are simply losing patience, not minding that the problems did not crop up, or assumed their present dimension overnight.
Can one blame Nigerians? They are living through a difficult time presented by poverty, unemployment, disease, frustration and crime, against the backdrop of a practically non-existent police. In Lagos and a few other western states, armed robbers have taken over, targeting banks in the main, eliminating policemen, bank workers and other citizens who either get in their way or constitute an obstacle - real or imagined. In Port Harcourt and other Niger Delta states as well as some Eastern states, kidnapping has become the order of the day. The serious offence is certainly not new to the country, but it has never attained the seriousness, frequency or pathological fervour with which it is now carried out. Initially, the focus was on expatriates, particularly those working in oil and related companies. Then attention shifted to just any white-skinned in the region, the underlying idea being that they could fetch handsome ransoms, which they did, even where nobody so acknowledged or officials denied outright. It was a question of time before the South-South ran out of white men, a development that led to the kidnapping of children going to school. This was closely followed by their politician parents, particularly those elected. When parents became elusive, grandparents consisting of aged mothers and fathers, became the targets. The rest of the country is only slightly better in terms of security.
The fact that political, social and economic conditions differ in different parts of the country at any particular time has its implications. When Port Harcourt is under the siege of kidnappers and cult members, Kaduna is peaceful, with everyone going about his normal duties. And when Lagos and environs are reeling under incessant armed robbery attacks, Katsina is deep in Ramadan fasting with the entire town praying and atoning for sins. Therefore, anyone commending or condemning particular situation stands the risk of not being perfectly understood by citizens outside the vicinity of his focus. Notwithstanding this, a central theme usually runs through the nation most times, depending on the circumstances. News reports in the media, including live television, in the last few weeks tends to elicit a feeling more of depression, sadness and frustration, that despite the numerous resources and high potentials of this country, its fabric seems to be going from bad to worse. When and how did we get here?
There is little doubt that what is happening now took roots firmly under Obasanjo's government and its reform that lacked a human face. Obviously however, the criminals have been emboldened because no one is challenging them. There is a lot wrong with Nigerians for our newfound love of dispensing with fellow citizens at the slightest provocation or no provocation at all. The value of life has suddenly become greatly fractionalized and the worth drastically reduced. Is that due to poverty too? Probably it is a combination of poverty, frustration and anger. It is nevertheless unacceptable, even if Nigerians have cause to be angry at the insensitivity of political leaders who spend millions renovating official houses, buying Ramadan gifts for themselves and awarding jumbo salary and allowance packages for themselves. Government's assignment in this regard is two-fold. One is to provide a machinery to effectively challenge and subdue violent criminals, be they robbers, kidnappers or political assassins. There is a thin, imperceptible line between them anyway. Two is to provide real governance which entails provision of service to the people; spending public fund judiciously and in public interest; and bringing to book highly-placed officials found to have abused their office or corruptly dealt with public assets. So far, government is not discharging any of these duties either out of insensitivity or out of incompetence...
-------
(read Guardian link for rest of the article in which Sanyaolu points out the need for a proactive government at the state and federal level to tackle the current state of affairs)
----
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!! May the best of our past be the worst of our future.
This Guardian Newspaper article by Kunle Sanyaolu paints a picture of the current frustration (nay, depression) among Nigerians as we mark our 47th year of independence. Various pockets of "unrest" throughout the South have left citizens jaded and back in the pre-election mood of 'indifferent spectator'. So where is our government in all this?
---------
Four months after President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua assumed the mantle of leadership, the focus of his government is hazy still. The period is short for any meaningful impact-assessment. But it is long enough to have more than a faint idea of what a government will deliver...[and so far it] is not living up to the momentum. Too many issues are urgently begging for resolution and Nigerians are simply losing patience, not minding that the problems did not crop up, or assumed their present dimension overnight.
Can one blame Nigerians? They are living through a difficult time presented by poverty, unemployment, disease, frustration and crime, against the backdrop of a practically non-existent police. In Lagos and a few other western states, armed robbers have taken over, targeting banks in the main, eliminating policemen, bank workers and other citizens who either get in their way or constitute an obstacle - real or imagined. In Port Harcourt and other Niger Delta states as well as some Eastern states, kidnapping has become the order of the day. The serious offence is certainly not new to the country, but it has never attained the seriousness, frequency or pathological fervour with which it is now carried out. Initially, the focus was on expatriates, particularly those working in oil and related companies. Then attention shifted to just any white-skinned in the region, the underlying idea being that they could fetch handsome ransoms, which they did, even where nobody so acknowledged or officials denied outright. It was a question of time before the South-South ran out of white men, a development that led to the kidnapping of children going to school. This was closely followed by their politician parents, particularly those elected. When parents became elusive, grandparents consisting of aged mothers and fathers, became the targets. The rest of the country is only slightly better in terms of security.
The fact that political, social and economic conditions differ in different parts of the country at any particular time has its implications. When Port Harcourt is under the siege of kidnappers and cult members, Kaduna is peaceful, with everyone going about his normal duties. And when Lagos and environs are reeling under incessant armed robbery attacks, Katsina is deep in Ramadan fasting with the entire town praying and atoning for sins. Therefore, anyone commending or condemning particular situation stands the risk of not being perfectly understood by citizens outside the vicinity of his focus. Notwithstanding this, a central theme usually runs through the nation most times, depending on the circumstances. News reports in the media, including live television, in the last few weeks tends to elicit a feeling more of depression, sadness and frustration, that despite the numerous resources and high potentials of this country, its fabric seems to be going from bad to worse. When and how did we get here?
There is little doubt that what is happening now took roots firmly under Obasanjo's government and its reform that lacked a human face. Obviously however, the criminals have been emboldened because no one is challenging them. There is a lot wrong with Nigerians for our newfound love of dispensing with fellow citizens at the slightest provocation or no provocation at all. The value of life has suddenly become greatly fractionalized and the worth drastically reduced. Is that due to poverty too? Probably it is a combination of poverty, frustration and anger. It is nevertheless unacceptable, even if Nigerians have cause to be angry at the insensitivity of political leaders who spend millions renovating official houses, buying Ramadan gifts for themselves and awarding jumbo salary and allowance packages for themselves. Government's assignment in this regard is two-fold. One is to provide a machinery to effectively challenge and subdue violent criminals, be they robbers, kidnappers or political assassins. There is a thin, imperceptible line between them anyway. Two is to provide real governance which entails provision of service to the people; spending public fund judiciously and in public interest; and bringing to book highly-placed officials found to have abused their office or corruptly dealt with public assets. So far, government is not discharging any of these duties either out of insensitivity or out of incompetence...
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(read Guardian link for rest of the article in which Sanyaolu points out the need for a proactive government at the state and federal level to tackle the current state of affairs)
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HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!! May the best of our past be the worst of our future.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Promises promises
The first sentence of this allAfrica.com article was much more promising than the actual story it relates. At least the allegations against these former ND governors have now been brought to the formal (public) attention of the President...let's hope the investigations (would these be headed by the EFCC?) are transparent and that the results actually lead to some concrete action being taken against the guilty parties.
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Nigeria: FG to Probe Govs, Others - allAfrica.com
PAST and serving governors of the Niger Delta region are now to be probed by the Presidency, over charges that they are the chief sponsors of kidnappings and violence in the area.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua agreed to the clamour of some Ijaw ethnic nationality leaders on the matter yesterday in Abuja, maintaining that a judicial inquiry may be raised.
Reacting to the development, Rivers State government hailed the plans and said it will support anything that would bring a permanent solution to cultism in the state.
Yar'Adua said he would order a thorough investigation of allegations by leaders of the Ijaw National Forum (INF) led by Chief Edwin Clark a former federal commissioner (minister) on the origin and causes of the recent crises in Port Harcourt and Rivers state generally.
At an audience with a delegation led by Clark, Yar'Adua said that he was also prepared to establish a judicial inquiry into the crises, if investigations indicated that there was a need to do so.
In a statement by Ojay Abuah on behalf of presidential spokesman Segun Adeniyi, President Yar'Adua was quoted as saying that the allegations must be put in writing for thorough investigation.
"You have made very grave allegations. Put the allegations in writing and we will investigate them. I assure you that our interest is for peace and stability in the Niger Delta.
"We need peace to achieve rapid development of the region. If it is clearly established that anyone is a party to causing the crises, he will be dealt with according to the law. We will act on whatever comes out of a thorough and just investigation," the statement quoted the President as saying.
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Could this be the start of something, a continuation of the EFCC saga or just more promises?
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Nigeria: FG to Probe Govs, Others - allAfrica.com
PAST and serving governors of the Niger Delta region are now to be probed by the Presidency, over charges that they are the chief sponsors of kidnappings and violence in the area.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua agreed to the clamour of some Ijaw ethnic nationality leaders on the matter yesterday in Abuja, maintaining that a judicial inquiry may be raised.
Reacting to the development, Rivers State government hailed the plans and said it will support anything that would bring a permanent solution to cultism in the state.
Yar'Adua said he would order a thorough investigation of allegations by leaders of the Ijaw National Forum (INF) led by Chief Edwin Clark a former federal commissioner (minister) on the origin and causes of the recent crises in Port Harcourt and Rivers state generally.
At an audience with a delegation led by Clark, Yar'Adua said that he was also prepared to establish a judicial inquiry into the crises, if investigations indicated that there was a need to do so.
In a statement by Ojay Abuah on behalf of presidential spokesman Segun Adeniyi, President Yar'Adua was quoted as saying that the allegations must be put in writing for thorough investigation.
"You have made very grave allegations. Put the allegations in writing and we will investigate them. I assure you that our interest is for peace and stability in the Niger Delta.
"We need peace to achieve rapid development of the region. If it is clearly established that anyone is a party to causing the crises, he will be dealt with according to the law. We will act on whatever comes out of a thorough and just investigation," the statement quoted the President as saying.
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Could this be the start of something, a continuation of the EFCC saga or just more promises?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Yar'Adua's First 100 days and Beyond - Reuben Abati
Reuben Abati examines the first 100 days of the Yar'Adua administration and what gaps need to be filled in the coming months...we do agree that at the centre, Yar'Adua has done a fair amount of work (and should definitely be commended), but as Abati points out, he cannot be the "President of everything"... surely Nigerians would thank him for focusing on 3/4 key issues and resolving those during his time in power. As for the governors, do you think Abati highlights their gross ineptitude enough? (for example, read about Oyo state governor's current woes). What's your take on THE FIRST 100?
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In 100 days, it should be possible to know where a new government is going and gain an idea of its programmes and motivations. And so an assessment of the Yar'Adua government in 100 days should be useful. I begin by arguing that in the last 100 days we have seen at the centre, a government that has been struggling to settle down and define its focus. President Yar'Adua had come to power on the first day with a seven-point agenda and the promise to be a servant-leader.
He also promised to continue with the reform programmes of the previous administration that was led by the political party that brought him to power and his Godfather and benefactor, General Olusegun Obasanjo. In 100 days, the new government has been very busy trying to define what this means in an experimental, stream-of-consciousness fashion. Matters of governance have moved so slowly and tentatively that the President has earned for himself the moniker, Baba Go-Slow. There may be nothing wrong in being deliberate and calculating, but what has been advertised is a certain kind of slowness arising from lack of preparation which has since given birth to extreme caution.
Three major events have promoted this perception: the shoddy handling of the matter of legal powers between the office of the Attorney General and the EFCC/ICPC, with government reversing itself within 24 hours; then, the aborted flirtation with the idea of a national unity government. There is also the scandal of the Naira re-denomination policy which gave the impression of a divided government at the centre with the Presidency so out of control that it could be upstaged by the Central Bank Governor. But it is not only in the Presidency that there is so much fluidity. In the states, the various Governors are behaving as if they are in a swoon. In Imo state, the Governor has launched a state-wide environmental sanitation exercise to remind the people of the importance of hygiene; in Jigawa, the Governor is focussing on the handicapped and providing them social security, but in most other states, the Governors have been full of excuses or they are having to battle with serious crises arising from the circumstances of their election to office (this is the case in Edo, Rivers, Ekiti etc.).
Generally, there is a lull. Governors who are spending their second-term in office are also celebrating their first 100 days in office, but the people are too willing to forgive these ones for doing nothing. The assumption is that you do not need to do anything as a Governor if you are no longer seeking re-election. New Governors are excused on the grounds that they are also slow because of cases pending against them in election petition tribunals. But I do not see how this can justify inaction. The explanation is to be found in the lack of ideas about what to do, and the failure of our institutions. Even when politicians are busy with matters of political survival relating to their mandates, a state can run on the energy of its existing institutions. But here, the institutions are dependent on the whims and caprices of the man in power. If President Yar'Adua closes from work at 4 p.m everyday, the entire presidency also shuts down, whereas running Nigeria is a 24-hour/7/365 days business.
To be fair to the Yar'Adua government at the centre, it has done a good job of establishing an identity. It has managed to brand itself for public consideration. Although the President had campaigned on the platform of continuity, in 100 days, he has succeeded in showing that he is aware of the burdens of history sitting on his shoulders. He still talks about continuity but the greatest victim of his administration in the last 100 days has been the preceding government and former President Olusegun Obasanjo in particular. President Yar'Adua has already reversed some of the controversial decisions taken by that administration, with an instructive sub-text: rejection and distancing.
The first is the reversal of the increase in the pump prices of petroleum products and the sale of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries, following an early protest by organised Labour. The second is the suspension of import duty waivers. The third and perhaps the loudest is the refusal of the new President to offer appointments to known cronies of the former President, those ones who claimed that they helped to put Yar'Adua in power! The fourth is the radical manner in which Yar'Adua's Ministers have been criticising, albeit indirectly the performance of the previous administration. The Minister of Health, Adenike Grange and the Minister of Transportation, Diezani Alison-Madukeke have both publicly condemned the state of affairs in the respective sectors under their watch.
Fifthly, Yar'Adua has since released the outstanding revenue allocation due to the local councils in Lagos state which President Obasanjo seized in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling. Sixthly, under Yar'Adua, there has been much emphasis on respect for the rule of law. He demonstrated this by refusing to interfere in the Anambra case in which the Supreme Court ruled that Peter Obi should be reinstated as Governor of that state. We can go on. Yar'Adua has also been praised for adopting a quiet, dignified style. He is also talking about electoral reforms and he has set up a committee to carry out the assignment.
He has split the NNPC into five and re-organised the leadership structure. He has stopped further arbitrary demolition of buildings in Abuja. He has been making some body movement on the Niger Delta question and the problems of the energy sector. There was some noise also about zero tolerance for corruption, and indeed some former Governors were arraigned by the EFCC but that has since died down. Obviously, Yar'adua may not offend sacred cows. One set that has found favour with him is the Council of traditional rulers whose members have suddenly become very influential. The Sultan of Sokoto is now constantly in the news!
Yar'Adua may have given enough indications in 100 days that he is not dumb at all and that he is his own man, but he is yet to provide any clues or answers to two questions: What are the ultimate goals of his government? What is the ideology propelling it? This is not yet clear. He will need more than reading and following the wind of public mood and opinion to govern Nigeria. He must engage the country at the level of ideas and immediate action. He does not need to be the President of everything. Three or four key issues are enough, let him choose out of a long list: Niger Delta, the railways and the roads, electricity and education and get the country moving.
In 100 days under a new government, Nigerians have been confronted with just how desperate their situation is. The word out there is that eight years of the peoples' life was wasted between 1999 and 2007. But the people should by now have also learnt some lessons. It must be clear to each and every one that the rains are still beating us and the roof of this falling house is leaking. All the issues that were papered over by the Obasanjo administration have returned to haunt us even more urgently. Look at Port Harcourt, the place is now a land of anomie; look at the political elite - as greedy and as mercurial as ever, look at the Constitution: we still have to tear it apart and create a new Constitution; look at the society: no jobs, no water, no electricity, a land of unhappy people! This is the broken down vehicle that has Yar'Adua has inherited. And we shall waste no time in holding him accountable.
About 100 days later, many Nigerians appear to be willing to give him a chance. The man is so different, every woman wants to protect him and every critic is studying him as a specimen. But he carries a baggage: the circumstances of his election and the unresolved conflicts over the April 2007 elections. Even if Nigerians are willing to forgive and forget, the international community as indicated in the recent damning report by the EU Observer Mission in Nigeria would not join what seems like a growing conspiracy of silence inside Nigeria. Whatever President Yar'Adua does, or even the state Governors, no one among them can sleep with both eyes closed until the election petitions have been resolved.
Let the occasion of their first 100 days in office be an occasion for sobriety and humility. Let no one spend N623 million on any jamboree and turn round later to say that only N238 million was spent. We expect this new set of leaders to act with some level of intelligence. We may not have had a hand in their election, but it hurts to see another tainted team donning the national jersey.
-----------
In 100 days, it should be possible to know where a new government is going and gain an idea of its programmes and motivations. And so an assessment of the Yar'Adua government in 100 days should be useful. I begin by arguing that in the last 100 days we have seen at the centre, a government that has been struggling to settle down and define its focus. President Yar'Adua had come to power on the first day with a seven-point agenda and the promise to be a servant-leader.
He also promised to continue with the reform programmes of the previous administration that was led by the political party that brought him to power and his Godfather and benefactor, General Olusegun Obasanjo. In 100 days, the new government has been very busy trying to define what this means in an experimental, stream-of-consciousness fashion. Matters of governance have moved so slowly and tentatively that the President has earned for himself the moniker, Baba Go-Slow. There may be nothing wrong in being deliberate and calculating, but what has been advertised is a certain kind of slowness arising from lack of preparation which has since given birth to extreme caution.
Three major events have promoted this perception: the shoddy handling of the matter of legal powers between the office of the Attorney General and the EFCC/ICPC, with government reversing itself within 24 hours; then, the aborted flirtation with the idea of a national unity government. There is also the scandal of the Naira re-denomination policy which gave the impression of a divided government at the centre with the Presidency so out of control that it could be upstaged by the Central Bank Governor. But it is not only in the Presidency that there is so much fluidity. In the states, the various Governors are behaving as if they are in a swoon. In Imo state, the Governor has launched a state-wide environmental sanitation exercise to remind the people of the importance of hygiene; in Jigawa, the Governor is focussing on the handicapped and providing them social security, but in most other states, the Governors have been full of excuses or they are having to battle with serious crises arising from the circumstances of their election to office (this is the case in Edo, Rivers, Ekiti etc.).
Generally, there is a lull. Governors who are spending their second-term in office are also celebrating their first 100 days in office, but the people are too willing to forgive these ones for doing nothing. The assumption is that you do not need to do anything as a Governor if you are no longer seeking re-election. New Governors are excused on the grounds that they are also slow because of cases pending against them in election petition tribunals. But I do not see how this can justify inaction. The explanation is to be found in the lack of ideas about what to do, and the failure of our institutions. Even when politicians are busy with matters of political survival relating to their mandates, a state can run on the energy of its existing institutions. But here, the institutions are dependent on the whims and caprices of the man in power. If President Yar'Adua closes from work at 4 p.m everyday, the entire presidency also shuts down, whereas running Nigeria is a 24-hour/7/365 days business.
To be fair to the Yar'Adua government at the centre, it has done a good job of establishing an identity. It has managed to brand itself for public consideration. Although the President had campaigned on the platform of continuity, in 100 days, he has succeeded in showing that he is aware of the burdens of history sitting on his shoulders. He still talks about continuity but the greatest victim of his administration in the last 100 days has been the preceding government and former President Olusegun Obasanjo in particular. President Yar'Adua has already reversed some of the controversial decisions taken by that administration, with an instructive sub-text: rejection and distancing.
The first is the reversal of the increase in the pump prices of petroleum products and the sale of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries, following an early protest by organised Labour. The second is the suspension of import duty waivers. The third and perhaps the loudest is the refusal of the new President to offer appointments to known cronies of the former President, those ones who claimed that they helped to put Yar'Adua in power! The fourth is the radical manner in which Yar'Adua's Ministers have been criticising, albeit indirectly the performance of the previous administration. The Minister of Health, Adenike Grange and the Minister of Transportation, Diezani Alison-Madukeke have both publicly condemned the state of affairs in the respective sectors under their watch.
Fifthly, Yar'Adua has since released the outstanding revenue allocation due to the local councils in Lagos state which President Obasanjo seized in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling. Sixthly, under Yar'Adua, there has been much emphasis on respect for the rule of law. He demonstrated this by refusing to interfere in the Anambra case in which the Supreme Court ruled that Peter Obi should be reinstated as Governor of that state. We can go on. Yar'Adua has also been praised for adopting a quiet, dignified style. He is also talking about electoral reforms and he has set up a committee to carry out the assignment.
He has split the NNPC into five and re-organised the leadership structure. He has stopped further arbitrary demolition of buildings in Abuja. He has been making some body movement on the Niger Delta question and the problems of the energy sector. There was some noise also about zero tolerance for corruption, and indeed some former Governors were arraigned by the EFCC but that has since died down. Obviously, Yar'adua may not offend sacred cows. One set that has found favour with him is the Council of traditional rulers whose members have suddenly become very influential. The Sultan of Sokoto is now constantly in the news!
Yar'Adua may have given enough indications in 100 days that he is not dumb at all and that he is his own man, but he is yet to provide any clues or answers to two questions: What are the ultimate goals of his government? What is the ideology propelling it? This is not yet clear. He will need more than reading and following the wind of public mood and opinion to govern Nigeria. He must engage the country at the level of ideas and immediate action. He does not need to be the President of everything. Three or four key issues are enough, let him choose out of a long list: Niger Delta, the railways and the roads, electricity and education and get the country moving.
In 100 days under a new government, Nigerians have been confronted with just how desperate their situation is. The word out there is that eight years of the peoples' life was wasted between 1999 and 2007. But the people should by now have also learnt some lessons. It must be clear to each and every one that the rains are still beating us and the roof of this falling house is leaking. All the issues that were papered over by the Obasanjo administration have returned to haunt us even more urgently. Look at Port Harcourt, the place is now a land of anomie; look at the political elite - as greedy and as mercurial as ever, look at the Constitution: we still have to tear it apart and create a new Constitution; look at the society: no jobs, no water, no electricity, a land of unhappy people! This is the broken down vehicle that has Yar'Adua has inherited. And we shall waste no time in holding him accountable.About 100 days later, many Nigerians appear to be willing to give him a chance. The man is so different, every woman wants to protect him and every critic is studying him as a specimen. But he carries a baggage: the circumstances of his election and the unresolved conflicts over the April 2007 elections. Even if Nigerians are willing to forgive and forget, the international community as indicated in the recent damning report by the EU Observer Mission in Nigeria would not join what seems like a growing conspiracy of silence inside Nigeria. Whatever President Yar'Adua does, or even the state Governors, no one among them can sleep with both eyes closed until the election petitions have been resolved.
Let the occasion of their first 100 days in office be an occasion for sobriety and humility. Let no one spend N623 million on any jamboree and turn round later to say that only N238 million was spent. We expect this new set of leaders to act with some level of intelligence. We may not have had a hand in their election, but it hurts to see another tainted team donning the national jersey.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy's Africa
Achille Mbembe's commentary (thankfully translated by my former African Studies prof) is an insightful critique of Nicolas Sarkozy's (and extends to France's elite ruling class in general) skewed view/language regarding Africa. It is chilling to think that this is the man who will rule France possibly for the next 10 years. Mbembe asks some thought-provoking questions such as: What credibility can we afford such gloomy words that portray Africans as fundamentally traumatized beings incapable of acting on their own behalf and in their own recognized interests? How is it possible to come to promise us a fanciful Eurafrica without even mentioning the internal efforts to build a unitary African economic framework? But the article is rather long so keep in mind that the excerpts below only make up about a quarter of the whole commentary.
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Nicolas Sarkozy's Africa - by Achille Mbembe
If they'd had the chance, the majority of French-speaking Africans would have no doubt voted against Nicolas Sarkozy at the last French presidential elections...a high price for his attitude to immigration when he was Jacques Chirac's Minister of the Interior, his alleged collusion with the racist extreme right-wing and his role in sparking the riots in France's deprived suburbs in 2005.
Violation by language
On his first tour of sub-Saharan Africa, he thus arrived in Dakar preceded by a terribly negative reputation: that of a hyper-active and dangerous politician, cynical and brutal, power-crazy, who doesn't listen, speaks his mind and more, doesn't skimp on the means and who, with regard to Africa and its people, shows nothing but condescension and contempt.
Regression
For those who expect nothing from France, the words pronounced at the University of Dakar were nonetheless highly revealing. Indeed, the speech written by Henri Guaino (special advisor) and delivered by Nicolas Sarkozy in the Senegalese capital offer an excellent illumination into the power to harm - conscious or unconscious, passive or active - which, over the next ten years, might well arise from the paternalistic and hackneyed vision that some of the new French ruling elite (on both the left and right) continue to project onto a continent which has nonetheless constantly undergone radical changes, especially during the second half of the 20th century.
The new French president's speech shows how, trapped in a frivolous and exotic vision of the continent, the new French ruling elites claim to shed light on realities that they consider their worst fears or their fantasies (race) but which, in reality, they know nothing about. To address "the elite of African youth", then, Henri Guaino contented himself to lifting, almost word for word, passages from the chapter Hegel devotes to Africa in his work Reason in History, which I again, after many others, recently criticized in my book On the Postcolony.
According to Hegel, Africa is a land of unchanging substance and dazzling disorder, the joyful and tragic country in Creation. Black people, as we see them today, are as they have always been. In the immense energy of the natural arbitrariness that dominates them, neither the moral moment, nor ideas of freedom, justice and progress have any place or particular status. Whoever wants to discover the most appalling manifestations of human nature can find them in Africa. Strictly speaking, this part of the world has no history. What we understand, in short, going by the name of Africa, is an ahistoric, undeveloped world, entirely prisoner of its natural spirit and whose place remains on the threshold of universal history.
The new French elites do not believe anything different. They share this Hegelian prejudice. They now consider that one can only address societies so deeply plunged into the night of childhood by speaking unguardedly, with a sort of virgin energy. And that is indeed what they have in mind when they now openly defend the idea of a nation no longer "hung-up" about its colonial past.
In their eyes, it is only possible to speak of Africa and to Africans by following the path of sense and reason in reverse. It doesn't matter if this is done so in a context in which each word spoken is so in a blanket of ignorance. It suffices to pile on the words, to employ a kind of verbal plethora, to advance in a suffocating wealth of images - all the things that give Nicolas Sarkozy's Dakar speech its abrupt, faltering, and blunt character.
How then, can one be surprised that his definition of the continent and its people is ultimately purely negative? Indeed, our ethno-philosopher president's "African man" is above all characterized either by what he hasn't got, what he isn't or by what he has never managed to achieve (the dialectic of lack and incompletion), or by his opposition to "modern man" (read "white man"), an opposition which apparently results from his irrational attachment to the kingdom of childhood, the world of night, to simple pleasures and a golden age that never existed.
For the rest, the new French ruling elite's Africa is essentially a rural, magical, phantom Africa, partly bucolic, partly nightmarish, inhabited by peasant folk,
composed of a community of sufferers who have nothing in common other than their common position on the margins of history, prostrate as they are in a outer-world - that of sorcerers and griots, of magical beings who keep fountains, sing in rivers and hide in the trees, of the village dead and ancestors whose voices can be heard, of masks and forests full of symbols, of the clichés that are so-called "African solidarity", "community spirit", "warmth" and respect for elders and chiefs.
Today, the cultural and intellectual prism through which the new French ruling elites consider Africa, judge it, or doll it out lessons isn't just obsolete. It leaves no place for the amicable relationships that would be a sign of freedom because coextensive with relationships of justice and respect. For the time being, when it comes to Africa, France simply lacks the moral credit that would allow it to speak with certitude and authority.
That is why Nicolas Sarkozy's Dakar speech will not be heard, and even less taken seriously by those he was supposed to be addressing.
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Achille Mbembe is a research professor in history and politics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He has written extensively in African history and politics, and is the winner of the 2006 Bill Venter/Altron Award for his book On the Postcolony (University of California Press, 2001).
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Nicolas Sarkozy's Africa - by Achille Mbembe
If they'd had the chance, the majority of French-speaking Africans would have no doubt voted against Nicolas Sarkozy at the last French presidential elections...a high price for his attitude to immigration when he was Jacques Chirac's Minister of the Interior, his alleged collusion with the racist extreme right-wing and his role in sparking the riots in France's deprived suburbs in 2005.
Violation by language
On his first tour of sub-Saharan Africa, he thus arrived in Dakar preceded by a terribly negative reputation: that of a hyper-active and dangerous politician, cynical and brutal, power-crazy, who doesn't listen, speaks his mind and more, doesn't skimp on the means and who, with regard to Africa and its people, shows nothing but condescension and contempt.
Regression
For those who expect nothing from France, the words pronounced at the University of Dakar were nonetheless highly revealing. Indeed, the speech written by Henri Guaino (special advisor) and delivered by Nicolas Sarkozy in the Senegalese capital offer an excellent illumination into the power to harm - conscious or unconscious, passive or active - which, over the next ten years, might well arise from the paternalistic and hackneyed vision that some of the new French ruling elite (on both the left and right) continue to project onto a continent which has nonetheless constantly undergone radical changes, especially during the second half of the 20th century.
The new French president's speech shows how, trapped in a frivolous and exotic vision of the continent, the new French ruling elites claim to shed light on realities that they consider their worst fears or their fantasies (race) but which, in reality, they know nothing about. To address "the elite of African youth", then, Henri Guaino contented himself to lifting, almost word for word, passages from the chapter Hegel devotes to Africa in his work Reason in History, which I again, after many others, recently criticized in my book On the Postcolony.
According to Hegel, Africa is a land of unchanging substance and dazzling disorder, the joyful and tragic country in Creation. Black people, as we see them today, are as they have always been. In the immense energy of the natural arbitrariness that dominates them, neither the moral moment, nor ideas of freedom, justice and progress have any place or particular status. Whoever wants to discover the most appalling manifestations of human nature can find them in Africa. Strictly speaking, this part of the world has no history. What we understand, in short, going by the name of Africa, is an ahistoric, undeveloped world, entirely prisoner of its natural spirit and whose place remains on the threshold of universal history.
The new French elites do not believe anything different. They share this Hegelian prejudice. They now consider that one can only address societies so deeply plunged into the night of childhood by speaking unguardedly, with a sort of virgin energy. And that is indeed what they have in mind when they now openly defend the idea of a nation no longer "hung-up" about its colonial past.
In their eyes, it is only possible to speak of Africa and to Africans by following the path of sense and reason in reverse. It doesn't matter if this is done so in a context in which each word spoken is so in a blanket of ignorance. It suffices to pile on the words, to employ a kind of verbal plethora, to advance in a suffocating wealth of images - all the things that give Nicolas Sarkozy's Dakar speech its abrupt, faltering, and blunt character.
How then, can one be surprised that his definition of the continent and its people is ultimately purely negative? Indeed, our ethno-philosopher president's "African man" is above all characterized either by what he hasn't got, what he isn't or by what he has never managed to achieve (the dialectic of lack and incompletion), or by his opposition to "modern man" (read "white man"), an opposition which apparently results from his irrational attachment to the kingdom of childhood, the world of night, to simple pleasures and a golden age that never existed.
For the rest, the new French ruling elite's Africa is essentially a rural, magical, phantom Africa, partly bucolic, partly nightmarish, inhabited by peasant folk,
composed of a community of sufferers who have nothing in common other than their common position on the margins of history, prostrate as they are in a outer-world - that of sorcerers and griots, of magical beings who keep fountains, sing in rivers and hide in the trees, of the village dead and ancestors whose voices can be heard, of masks and forests full of symbols, of the clichés that are so-called "African solidarity", "community spirit", "warmth" and respect for elders and chiefs.Today, the cultural and intellectual prism through which the new French ruling elites consider Africa, judge it, or doll it out lessons isn't just obsolete. It leaves no place for the amicable relationships that would be a sign of freedom because coextensive with relationships of justice and respect. For the time being, when it comes to Africa, France simply lacks the moral credit that would allow it to speak with certitude and authority.
That is why Nicolas Sarkozy's Dakar speech will not be heard, and even less taken seriously by those he was supposed to be addressing.
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Achille Mbembe is a research professor in history and politics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He has written extensively in African history and politics, and is the winner of the 2006 Bill Venter/Altron Award for his book On the Postcolony (University of California Press, 2001).
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Celebrated Nigerian Women in Development
Following Nawahala's (interesting name choice there, eh?...if you're confused, see 6th comment on "Stop Trying to Save Africa" post)comments, we thought we'd share the link to what seems like a great book celebrating the efforts of some Nigerian heroines in the development arena (thanks for the link Olamide!). Celebrated Nigerian Women in Development is authored by Ayona Aguele-Trimnell, a brand marketing manager in Lagos, and it features women such as author, Buchi Emechetta, sculptor & cultural activist, Ndidi Dike, and model, Oluchi Onweagba, to name a few. An initial scan of the women featured on the website showcases the who's who of Lagos, but a closer look would reveal some truly great women doing their thing and making a difference in their respective fields.
According to Professor Sophie Oluwole (ED, Centre for African Culture & Development):
"The profiles of the 25 women celebrated in this well thought-out and ably presented volume can be multiplied several times over if the limelight is directed at women in the business of traditional herbal medicine, women who produce garri, pepper, vegetable oil, garden eggs and women who sell them; and women who are dress makers, hair dressers, nurses, primary and secondary school teachers, religious and community leaders.
This book provides an immediate answer to the question, 'Where are the women?' by giving a tentative answer 'Here are some of them.'
My message is that we need more books such as this to give us much needed documentation on Nigerian women who have arrived. The challenge to every female reader of this book is to celebrate the proud, resilient and forever hopeful Nigerian women. We need to celebrate ourselves."
According to Professor Sophie Oluwole (ED, Centre for African Culture & Development):
"The profiles of the 25 women celebrated in this well thought-out and ably presented volume can be multiplied several times over if the limelight is directed at women in the business of traditional herbal medicine, women who produce garri, pepper, vegetable oil, garden eggs and women who sell them; and women who are dress makers, hair dressers, nurses, primary and secondary school teachers, religious and community leaders.
This book provides an immediate answer to the question, 'Where are the women?' by giving a tentative answer 'Here are some of them.'
My message is that we need more books such as this to give us much needed documentation on Nigerian women who have arrived. The challenge to every female reader of this book is to celebrate the proud, resilient and forever hopeful Nigerian women. We need to celebrate ourselves."
Monday, July 23, 2007
How Far can the EFCC Go?
SolomonSydelle's comments spurred me to research the hot news on the naija scene about the governors who have been arrested by the EFCC. Filled with hope and excitement that I would find headlines with Ibori, Odili and the like, I was slightly disappointed at the names I saw. But it is a start, right? Abati's article in last week's Guardian probes the current EFCC manhunt and gives us a few issues to think about. How far can the EFCC go? Can/Will they (Ribadu) really have the guts to go after the "big dogs"? Should we be content with the progress made thus far? After all, no agency in the past has been able to make such progress.
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How far can the EFCC Go? -By Reuben Abati
THE current onslaught of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on former state Governors, who allegedly looted public funds in the last four years, and are no longer covered by Section 308 of the Constitution on immunity, is an act of self-redemption for the organisation, but a lot depends on how far it is willing to go, how fair and transparent it is seen to be, and whether at the end of the day, justice would have been seen to have been done. This is all that matters, not the politics and the grandstanding now surrounding the exercise.
Why redemption? With the coming of the Yar'Adua administration, there had been a kind of lull at the EFCC. Before May 29, the EFCC had boasted loudly that many of the state Governors who would no longer be returning to office would be arrested and made to answer questions about their management of public resources. The EFCC indeed announced that it had investigated about 30 Governors and its findings were very bad. But after May 29, it was as if the EFCC went to sleep. The people expected immediate action knowing that truly the Governors were capable of running away, what they got instead were chest-beating declarations by some of the Governors that they were untouchable.
Then, just when everyone had thought that the EFCC was losing relevance, it bared its fangs and began to arrest the Governors and arraign them in court in batches. In the past week, this has been the top story in the land. This is also about the Yar'Adua government. By allowing the EFCC to go after the former Governors, the Yar'Adua administration is also advertising its determination to punish corruption. But how far also, is the Federal Government willing to go? There are emerging questions.
One, the Governors that have been taken to court so far, or that are being targeted are not in the estimation of the public the only ones that they expect to see in the dock. They want other Governors in court as well to come and explain why after eight years of service, the various states of the federation are in such a messy state. The EFCC insists that it is still investigating those other Governors and that it wants to do a proper home work before spreading its drag net. One major criticism of the EFCC now and in the past is that its morality is too selective and vindictive. It must avoid that pitfall this time around.
Saminu Turaki, former Governor of Jigawa state, Orji Kalu (Abia), George Akume (Benue), Joshua Dariye(Plateau), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Boni Haruna (Adamawa) and Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu) are already having a "fellowship" with the law. But really in terms of the quantum of resources that they managed, and before the law, this is not an excuse, these Governors are not in the big league. For this reason, the public would like to see some of the other Governors, the big budget Governors, the ones with homes in all the major capitals of the world, in the dock. Thirty Governors were originally fingered. The EFCC must make sure that they do not run away before the cleansing process gets to their turn. Lest it be said that it deliberately targeted the present set in order to allow others to flee.
Second, the present exercise appears limited to the activities of state Governors between 2003 and 2007. How about the Governors who served between 1999 and 2003? With the sole exception of Abubakar Audu of Kogi state, there has been no known attempt to investigate this category. If the EFCC cannot do so, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the ICPC should step in and bring them to book. And this should not be limited to the Governors. How about Federal Ministers between 1999 and 2007? President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar? Certainly, the last two should be investigated afresh in the light of the recent declaration by Dr Shamsidden Usman before the National Assembly that the so-called foreign reserve of $43.3 billion is a piece of propaganda because what is actually available to the country is $8.8 billion.
Third, before the present blow-out, the EFCC had made it known that some of the Governors had returned some money and property to the state in exchange for their freedom. This is called plea bargaining. If the Federal Government is going to allow some Governors to escape under the cover of plea bargain then it must allow every other Governor that privilege. But the public must be told why. And the names of all the Governors who have been making reparations should be made known with a complete list of whatever it is that they are returning to the state. Plea bargaining which is part of the EFCC Act is however, an unpopular option with many Nigerians. The Nigerian people have been most affected by the corrupt practices of their leaders. They are frustrated by the absence of growth in their society, and the spread of poverty in their land. Plea bargain must not become an under-hand tool for helping the corrupt to save face.
But perhaps more important in all of this are the moral lessons. How are the mighty fallen. Say it on the streets of Awka, Enugu, Jos, Dutse, or wherever you wish, that these men who used to bestride the land in siren-bearing vehicles, serenaded by a retinue of fawning aides who mouthed "your Excellency, your Excellency" as if they received special training in the pronunciation of that word, men whose word was akin to law, men who ruled and reigned, men who became so self-important they signed documents only with red and green pens, with flourish, are now helpless reeds in the hands of the law!
The poet is right: "Life is but a walking shadow, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Only if they knew. All the people now strutting their stuff in the corridors of power ("Your Excellency....your most distinguished Excellency") should learn from this. E wo iku Gaa, e se ooto.
------------
How far can the EFCC Go? -By Reuben Abati
THE current onslaught of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on former state Governors, who allegedly looted public funds in the last four years, and are no longer covered by Section 308 of the Constitution on immunity, is an act of self-redemption for the organisation, but a lot depends on how far it is willing to go, how fair and transparent it is seen to be, and whether at the end of the day, justice would have been seen to have been done. This is all that matters, not the politics and the grandstanding now surrounding the exercise.
Why redemption? With the coming of the Yar'Adua administration, there had been a kind of lull at the EFCC. Before May 29, the EFCC had boasted loudly that many of the state Governors who would no longer be returning to office would be arrested and made to answer questions about their management of public resources. The EFCC indeed announced that it had investigated about 30 Governors and its findings were very bad. But after May 29, it was as if the EFCC went to sleep. The people expected immediate action knowing that truly the Governors were capable of running away, what they got instead were chest-beating declarations by some of the Governors that they were untouchable. Then, just when everyone had thought that the EFCC was losing relevance, it bared its fangs and began to arrest the Governors and arraign them in court in batches. In the past week, this has been the top story in the land. This is also about the Yar'Adua government. By allowing the EFCC to go after the former Governors, the Yar'Adua administration is also advertising its determination to punish corruption. But how far also, is the Federal Government willing to go? There are emerging questions.
One, the Governors that have been taken to court so far, or that are being targeted are not in the estimation of the public the only ones that they expect to see in the dock. They want other Governors in court as well to come and explain why after eight years of service, the various states of the federation are in such a messy state. The EFCC insists that it is still investigating those other Governors and that it wants to do a proper home work before spreading its drag net. One major criticism of the EFCC now and in the past is that its morality is too selective and vindictive. It must avoid that pitfall this time around.Saminu Turaki, former Governor of Jigawa state, Orji Kalu (Abia), George Akume (Benue), Joshua Dariye(Plateau), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Boni Haruna (Adamawa) and Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu) are already having a "fellowship" with the law. But really in terms of the quantum of resources that they managed, and before the law, this is not an excuse, these Governors are not in the big league. For this reason, the public would like to see some of the other Governors, the big budget Governors, the ones with homes in all the major capitals of the world, in the dock. Thirty Governors were originally fingered. The EFCC must make sure that they do not run away before the cleansing process gets to their turn. Lest it be said that it deliberately targeted the present set in order to allow others to flee.
Second, the present exercise appears limited to the activities of state Governors between 2003 and 2007. How about the Governors who served between 1999 and 2003? With the sole exception of Abubakar Audu of Kogi state, there has been no known attempt to investigate this category. If the EFCC cannot do so, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the ICPC should step in and bring them to book. And this should not be limited to the Governors. How about Federal Ministers between 1999 and 2007? President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar? Certainly, the last two should be investigated afresh in the light of the recent declaration by Dr Shamsidden Usman before the National Assembly that the so-called foreign reserve of $43.3 billion is a piece of propaganda because what is actually available to the country is $8.8 billion.
Third, before the present blow-out, the EFCC had made it known that some of the Governors had returned some money and property to the state in exchange for their freedom. This is called plea bargaining. If the Federal Government is going to allow some Governors to escape under the cover of plea bargain then it must allow every other Governor that privilege. But the public must be told why. And the names of all the Governors who have been making reparations should be made known with a complete list of whatever it is that they are returning to the state. Plea bargaining which is part of the EFCC Act is however, an unpopular option with many Nigerians. The Nigerian people have been most affected by the corrupt practices of their leaders. They are frustrated by the absence of growth in their society, and the spread of poverty in their land. Plea bargain must not become an under-hand tool for helping the corrupt to save face.But perhaps more important in all of this are the moral lessons. How are the mighty fallen. Say it on the streets of Awka, Enugu, Jos, Dutse, or wherever you wish, that these men who used to bestride the land in siren-bearing vehicles, serenaded by a retinue of fawning aides who mouthed "your Excellency, your Excellency" as if they received special training in the pronunciation of that word, men whose word was akin to law, men who ruled and reigned, men who became so self-important they signed documents only with red and green pens, with flourish, are now helpless reeds in the hands of the law!
The poet is right: "Life is but a walking shadow, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Only if they knew. All the people now strutting their stuff in the corridors of power ("Your Excellency....your most distinguished Excellency") should learn from this. E wo iku Gaa, e se ooto.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
STOP TRYING TO 'SAVE' AFRICA
This article from the Washington Post is just one of many these days decrying the media's (and the Western world's) portrayal of Africa. The Live Earth concert 2 Saturdays ago was full of messages regarding global warming but somehow the topic of saving Africa managed to come up, as it's been deemed the sexiest topic these days, next to being green (if not ranked higher by the press).
Uzodinma Iweala questions the motives of these self-proclaimed saviours of Africa. We tend to ask, "when will Africans start helping themselves?", but in reality, they never stopped, the rest of us just need to get on board. An argument that comes up regularly is that regarding celebrities' motives behind their sudden "dying need to help Africa"? The Angelinas and Oprahs are no doubt doing some great humanitarian work but would we (Africans) be better off if they just gave the money to NGOs and called it a day without the media circus? Or are these characters more instrumental in that they are putting the African "pandemic" on the ever-busy world map?
(thanks for the article Rukky!!)
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Stop Trying to 'Save' Africa - by Uzodinma Iweala
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the "African" beads around her wrists.
"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.
It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East , the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."
Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly focus on the continent's corrupt leaders, warlords, "tribal" conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like "Can Bono Save Africa?" or "Will Brangelina Save Africa?" The relationship between the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and "civilization."
There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.
Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been "granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?
Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments -- without much international help -- did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.
Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.
-----------
Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about child soldiers.
Uzodinma Iweala questions the motives of these self-proclaimed saviours of Africa. We tend to ask, "when will Africans start helping themselves?", but in reality, they never stopped, the rest of us just need to get on board. An argument that comes up regularly is that regarding celebrities' motives behind their sudden "dying need to help Africa"? The Angelinas and Oprahs are no doubt doing some great humanitarian work but would we (Africans) be better off if they just gave the money to NGOs and called it a day without the media circus? Or are these characters more instrumental in that they are putting the African "pandemic" on the ever-busy world map?
(thanks for the article Rukky!!)
------------------------
Stop Trying to 'Save' Africa - by Uzodinma Iweala
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the "African" beads around her wrists.
"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.
It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East , the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly focus on the continent's corrupt leaders, warlords, "tribal" conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like "Can Bono Save Africa?" or "Will Brangelina Save Africa?" The relationship between the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and "civilization."
There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.
Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been "granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments -- without much international help -- did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.
Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.
-----------
Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about child soldiers.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
BABY STEPS...
The clip below is of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's (former Nigerian finance minister) phenomenal speech at the TED Global conference a few months ago. For most of you, this is stuff you already know, but we thought it would be great to share her perspective on the ongoing reform in African countries. We tend to focus on the gaps that are yet to be filled but once in a while, it's important to acknowledge the great strides that have been made. She makes a great point about the importance of Africans needing to take charge of their own destiny, stop being dependent on aid and waiting on the West to help solve our problems. The Aid vs Investment debate is ongoing, some believe aid is extremely harmful and dangerous to Africa's development while others believe it to be the salvation for Africa. What are your thoughts?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/127
These links (courtesy of Ethan Zuckerman's (who blogged the TED African conference in Arusha last month) blog, My Heart Is In Accra) will give you more insight into both sides of the debate that were voiced at the TED African conference by Okonjo-Iweala, Bono and Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/127
These links (courtesy of Ethan Zuckerman's (who blogged the TED African conference in Arusha last month) blog, My Heart Is In Accra) will give you more insight into both sides of the debate that were voiced at the TED African conference by Okonjo-Iweala, Bono and Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Who needs an education?
Although New York Times article doesn't focus specifically on the Nigerian higher education system, the similarities across African countries in this regard are striking...overpopulated classrooms, decrepit facilities, underpaid staff, jaded students, and so on. We know the scale of the problem but what can we start to do about it? What should we be demanding of our governors in order to revamp state universities? Is the way forward simply pumping $$ into private universities and maybe establishing systems of subsidizing tuition for those who can't afford it? What about soliciting foreign funding? What role can alumni of these universities play? Let's get talking people....
Intro from my African Studies Professor:
Of interest is a report on higher education in Africa...While the comparison with the past is somewhat misplaced (yes, a system designed to enable a very small African elite to reach higher education could allocate more resources per student, but that is not relevant to the current situation) and the critique of the World Bank and IMF is understated (they not only had other priorities but actively sought to reduce allocations to higher education), the overall presentation is informative. The consequences of the deterioration of higher education institutions in most African countries are likely to burden Africa for many years.
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Africa's Storied Colleges, Jammed and Crumbling - Lydia Polgreen
DAKAR, Senegal, May 19 Thiany Dior usually rises before dawn, tiptoeing carefully among thin foam mats laid out on the floor as she leaves the cramped dormitory room she shares with half a dozen other women. It was built for two.
In the vast auditorium at the law school at Cheikh Anta Diop University, she secures a seat two rows from the front, two hours before class. If she sat too far back, she would not hear the professors lecture over the two tinny speakers, and would be more likely to join the 70 percent who fail their first- or second-year exams at the university.
Those who arrive later perch on cinderblocks in the aisles, or strain to hear from the gallery above. By the time class starts, 2,000 young bodies crowd the room in a muffled din of shuffling paper, throat clearing and jostling. Outside, dozens of students, early arrivals for the next class, mill about noisily.
I cannot say really we are all learning, but we are trying,said Ms. Dior. We are too many students.
Africas best universities, the grand institutions that educated a revolutionary generation of nation builders and statesmen, doctors and engineers, writers and intellectuals, are collapsing. It is partly a self-inflicted crisis of mismanagement and neglect, but it is also a result of international development policies that for decades have favored basic education over higher learning even as a population explosion propels more young people than ever toward the already strained institutions.
The decrepitude is forcing the best and brightest from countries across Africa to seek their education and fortunes abroad and depriving dozens of nations of the homegrown expertise that could lift millions out of poverty.
The Commission for Africa, said in a 2005 report that African universities were in a state of crisis and were failing to produce the professionals desperately needed to develop the poorest continent. Far from being a tool of social mobility, the repository of a nation's hopes for the future, Africa's universities have instead become warehouses for a generation of young people for whom society has little use and who can expect to be just as poor as their uneducated parents.
As a result, universities across Africa have become hotbeds of discontent, occupying a dangerous place at the intersection of politics and crime. In Ivory Coast, student union leaders played a large role in stirring up xenophobia that led to civil war. In Nigeria, elite schools have been overrun by violent criminal gangs. Those gangs have hired themselves out to politicians, contributing to the deterioration of the electoral process there.
In the early days, postcolonial Africa had few institutions as venerable and fully developed as its universities. The University of Ibadan in southwest Nigeria, the intellectual home of the Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka, was regarded in 1960 as one of the best universities in the British Commonwealth. Makerere University in Uganda was considered the Harvard of Africa, and it trained a whole generation of postcolonial leaders, including Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
The disarray of Africas universities did not happen by chance. In the 1960s, universities were seen as the incubator of the vanguard that would drive development in the young nations of newly liberated Africa, and postcolonial governments spent lavishly on campuses, research facilities, scholarships and salaries for academics.
But corruption and mismanagement led to the economic collapses that swept much of Africa in the 1970s, and universities were among the first institutions to suffer. As idealistic postcolonial governments gave way to more cynical and authoritarian ones, universities, with their academic freedoms, democratic tendencies and elitist airs, became a nuisance.
When the World Bank and International Monetary Fund came to bail out African governments with their economic reforms a bitter cocktail that included currency devaluation, opening of markets and privatization higher education was usually low on the list of priorities. Fighting poverty required basic skills and literacy, not doctoral students. In the mid-1980s nearly a fifth of World Banks education spending worldwide went to higher education. A decade later, it had dwindled to just 7 percent.
Meanwhile, welcome money flooded into primary and secondary education. But it set up a time bomb: as more young people got a basic education, more wanted to go to college. In 1984, just half of Senegal's children went to primary school, but 20 years later more than 90 percent do.
And more of those children have gone on to high school: Africa has the world's highest growth rate of high school attendance...
Even those lucky enough to graduate will have difficulty finding a job in their struggling economies. As few as one third of African university graduates find work, according to the Association of African Universities.
Governments and donors in some countries are starting to spend more on higher education...
Fatou Kiné Camara, a law professor, said she felt the frustration of her students as she struggled to teach a class of thousands. When the students cannot hear her over the loudspeaker, they hurl vulgar insults, a taboo in a society that prides itself on decorum and respect for elders.
They are angry, and I cannot blame them, she said. The country has nothing to offer them, and their education is worthless. It doesnt prepare them for anything.
Attempts to reduce the student population by admitting fewer students are seen as political suicide, student unions play a big role in elections, and the countrys leaders are fearful of widespread discontent among the educated youth. Senegal has created new universities in provincial capitals like Saint Louis, but few students want to attend them because they are new and untested, and the government has not forced the issue.
They fear us because we are the young, and the future belongs to us,said Babacar Sohkna, a student union leader. But where is our future? We are just waiting here for poverty.
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New York Times correspondent Lydia Polgreen is the winner of the George Polk Award for foreign reporting.
Intro from my African Studies Professor:
Of interest is a report on higher education in Africa...While the comparison with the past is somewhat misplaced (yes, a system designed to enable a very small African elite to reach higher education could allocate more resources per student, but that is not relevant to the current situation) and the critique of the World Bank and IMF is understated (they not only had other priorities but actively sought to reduce allocations to higher education), the overall presentation is informative. The consequences of the deterioration of higher education institutions in most African countries are likely to burden Africa for many years.
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Africa's Storied Colleges, Jammed and Crumbling - Lydia Polgreen
DAKAR, Senegal, May 19 Thiany Dior usually rises before dawn, tiptoeing carefully among thin foam mats laid out on the floor as she leaves the cramped dormitory room she shares with half a dozen other women. It was built for two.
In the vast auditorium at the law school at Cheikh Anta Diop University, she secures a seat two rows from the front, two hours before class. If she sat too far back, she would not hear the professors lecture over the two tinny speakers, and would be more likely to join the 70 percent who fail their first- or second-year exams at the university.Those who arrive later perch on cinderblocks in the aisles, or strain to hear from the gallery above. By the time class starts, 2,000 young bodies crowd the room in a muffled din of shuffling paper, throat clearing and jostling. Outside, dozens of students, early arrivals for the next class, mill about noisily.
I cannot say really we are all learning, but we are trying,said Ms. Dior. We are too many students.
Africas best universities, the grand institutions that educated a revolutionary generation of nation builders and statesmen, doctors and engineers, writers and intellectuals, are collapsing. It is partly a self-inflicted crisis of mismanagement and neglect, but it is also a result of international development policies that for decades have favored basic education over higher learning even as a population explosion propels more young people than ever toward the already strained institutions.
The decrepitude is forcing the best and brightest from countries across Africa to seek their education and fortunes abroad and depriving dozens of nations of the homegrown expertise that could lift millions out of poverty.
The Commission for Africa, said in a 2005 report that African universities were in a state of crisis and were failing to produce the professionals desperately needed to develop the poorest continent. Far from being a tool of social mobility, the repository of a nation's hopes for the future, Africa's universities have instead become warehouses for a generation of young people for whom society has little use and who can expect to be just as poor as their uneducated parents.
As a result, universities across Africa have become hotbeds of discontent, occupying a dangerous place at the intersection of politics and crime. In Ivory Coast, student union leaders played a large role in stirring up xenophobia that led to civil war. In Nigeria, elite schools have been overrun by violent criminal gangs. Those gangs have hired themselves out to politicians, contributing to the deterioration of the electoral process there.
In the early days, postcolonial Africa had few institutions as venerable and fully developed as its universities. The University of Ibadan in southwest Nigeria, the intellectual home of the Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka, was regarded in 1960 as one of the best universities in the British Commonwealth. Makerere University in Uganda was considered the Harvard of Africa, and it trained a whole generation of postcolonial leaders, including Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
The disarray of Africas universities did not happen by chance. In the 1960s, universities were seen as the incubator of the vanguard that would drive development in the young nations of newly liberated Africa, and postcolonial governments spent lavishly on campuses, research facilities, scholarships and salaries for academics.
But corruption and mismanagement led to the economic collapses that swept much of Africa in the 1970s, and universities were among the first institutions to suffer. As idealistic postcolonial governments gave way to more cynical and authoritarian ones, universities, with their academic freedoms, democratic tendencies and elitist airs, became a nuisance.
When the World Bank and International Monetary Fund came to bail out African governments with their economic reforms a bitter cocktail that included currency devaluation, opening of markets and privatization higher education was usually low on the list of priorities. Fighting poverty required basic skills and literacy, not doctoral students. In the mid-1980s nearly a fifth of World Banks education spending worldwide went to higher education. A decade later, it had dwindled to just 7 percent.
Meanwhile, welcome money flooded into primary and secondary education. But it set up a time bomb: as more young people got a basic education, more wanted to go to college. In 1984, just half of Senegal's children went to primary school, but 20 years later more than 90 percent do.
And more of those children have gone on to high school: Africa has the world's highest growth rate of high school attendance...
Even those lucky enough to graduate will have difficulty finding a job in their struggling economies. As few as one third of African university graduates find work, according to the Association of African Universities.
Governments and donors in some countries are starting to spend more on higher education...
Fatou Kiné Camara, a law professor, said she felt the frustration of her students as she struggled to teach a class of thousands. When the students cannot hear her over the loudspeaker, they hurl vulgar insults, a taboo in a society that prides itself on decorum and respect for elders.
They are angry, and I cannot blame them, she said. The country has nothing to offer them, and their education is worthless. It doesnt prepare them for anything.
Attempts to reduce the student population by admitting fewer students are seen as political suicide, student unions play a big role in elections, and the countrys leaders are fearful of widespread discontent among the educated youth. Senegal has created new universities in provincial capitals like Saint Louis, but few students want to attend them because they are new and untested, and the government has not forced the issue.They fear us because we are the young, and the future belongs to us,said Babacar Sohkna, a student union leader. But where is our future? We are just waiting here for poverty.
----------
New York Times correspondent Lydia Polgreen is the winner of the George Polk Award for foreign reporting.
Monday, May 21, 2007
WALK THE TALK...
The idea to put up this article came in response to Pseudo-Independent's comment about hoping that the incoming administration will enforce the Public Procurement Bill. It's a great initiative in writing but will our incoming government walk the talk that the outgoing OBJ administration has been talking for the last 8 years? Reflecting on the past 8 years, do you think that the OBJ regime has put a lot more effort into lip service than actual implementation, when it comes to corruption and good governance? On the other hand, is that effort well placed in that he has at least set up the platform for the next administration to actually DO more?
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Eurasia Group Note - NIGERIA: Obasanjo's fire sale of state assets continue
Mocking its own previous sermons about corruption and good governance, Nigeria's outgoing regime late on 17 May agreed to sell a majority stake in the country's largest oil refinery, the 200,000 bpd Port Harcourt Refinery, for $561mn to a newly created company controlled by some of the ruling party's largest campaign donors. The sale comes barely a week after the government organized a hasty sale of over 40 oil blocks to similar interests. The new owners of the refinery include a company, Dangote, best known for its flour and sugar operations, another, Zenon Oil, which is a major importer of refined products, and a third, Transcorp, which is essentially insolvent and in which outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo has previously conceded that his family held some equity interests. Nigeria which consumes almost 350,000 barrels of refined product a day is unlikely curb its imports anytime soon. Nigeria's top domestic banks helped to underwrite the deal.
On another note, the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to the Dangote-led consortium and the previous sale of Nigeria's state-owned fixed line telephone company NITEL to Transcorp, another entity in which Obasanjo admitted to having owned significant equity, as well as the questionable sale of the country's largest hotel, Abuja Niccon Hilton, to Transcorp both raise questions about the sincerity of the country's
anti-corruption efforts. The fact that all these deals were underwritten by the country's largest banks also calls into question the business and good governance credentials of some of Nigeria's leading financial institutions.
Whether President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua takes action to reverse some of these controversial and opaque financial transactions remains to be seen. But unless he does, it is unlikely that any political settlement between him and his major political opponents, who have been completely cut out of all these deals, can't happen. On the other hand, if the supposedly stern and ethically devout Yar'Adua reverses some of these sales, he will run into political problems not only with Obasanjo, but with the country's top banks, almost all of which are exposed to these deals and could see their bad loan books affected.
All in all, these questionable financial transactions in the final days of the Obasanjo administration are a sign that the introduction of "democracy" into sub-Saharan Africa will not decrease corruption in the short term. Indeed, corruption is likely to increase in the short-term as new political parties on the continent need funds from oligarchs to run victorious campaigns, and fire sales of state-owned assets to major campaign donors is likely the only rational consequence, since
most ordinary voters on the continent are too poor to contribute to political parties.
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Eurasia Group is the world's leading global political risk advisory and consulting firm. They cover political, social, security and economic developments worldwide and their impact on business and financial markets on a daily basis.
---------------
Eurasia Group Note - NIGERIA: Obasanjo's fire sale of state assets continue
Mocking its own previous sermons about corruption and good governance, Nigeria's outgoing regime late on 17 May agreed to sell a majority stake in the country's largest oil refinery, the 200,000 bpd Port Harcourt Refinery, for $561mn to a newly created company controlled by some of the ruling party's largest campaign donors. The sale comes barely a week after the government organized a hasty sale of over 40 oil blocks to similar interests. The new owners of the refinery include a company, Dangote, best known for its flour and sugar operations, another, Zenon Oil, which is a major importer of refined products, and a third, Transcorp, which is essentially insolvent and in which outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo has previously conceded that his family held some equity interests. Nigeria which consumes almost 350,000 barrels of refined product a day is unlikely curb its imports anytime soon. Nigeria's top domestic banks helped to underwrite the deal.
On another note, the sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to the Dangote-led consortium and the previous sale of Nigeria's state-owned fixed line telephone company NITEL to Transcorp, another entity in which Obasanjo admitted to having owned significant equity, as well as the questionable sale of the country's largest hotel, Abuja Niccon Hilton, to Transcorp both raise questions about the sincerity of the country's
anti-corruption efforts. The fact that all these deals were underwritten by the country's largest banks also calls into question the business and good governance credentials of some of Nigeria's leading financial institutions.
Whether President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua takes action to reverse some of these controversial and opaque financial transactions remains to be seen. But unless he does, it is unlikely that any political settlement between him and his major political opponents, who have been completely cut out of all these deals, can't happen. On the other hand, if the supposedly stern and ethically devout Yar'Adua reverses some of these sales, he will run into political problems not only with Obasanjo, but with the country's top banks, almost all of which are exposed to these deals and could see their bad loan books affected.All in all, these questionable financial transactions in the final days of the Obasanjo administration are a sign that the introduction of "democracy" into sub-Saharan Africa will not decrease corruption in the short term. Indeed, corruption is likely to increase in the short-term as new political parties on the continent need funds from oligarchs to run victorious campaigns, and fire sales of state-owned assets to major campaign donors is likely the only rational consequence, since
most ordinary voters on the continent are too poor to contribute to political parties.
--------
Eurasia Group is the world's leading global political risk advisory and consulting firm. They cover political, social, security and economic developments worldwide and their impact on business and financial markets on a daily basis.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
What about Lagos??
This article lauds the long-overdue commencement of the Abuja Light Railway project. The writer is of the opinion that because the Lagos public transportation system is such a disaster, we need to prevent Abuja from becoming another Lagos, hence the light railway.
Ok, we're not tryin to spark any Lagos-Abuja tension here, but this article hit a nerve...WHY IS THERE A MORE URGENT NEED (IN THE EYES OF OUR GOVERNMENT) FOR A LIGHT RAILWAY IN ABUJA THAN IN LAGOS? Even if we accept the grossly inaccurate census results, Lagos' population is by far greater than that of the FCT, and so does a light railway (if indeed that's where $841 million of our reserves should be going at this time) make more sense in Abuja than anywhere else (even Lagos!)? Thoughts pls?
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THE ABUJA LIGHT RAILWAY - This Day Online
Last week, President Olusegun Obasanjo laid the foundation of the light railway system in Abuja. If properly and promptly executed, the project will provide the nation's capital the much needed back-up to road transportation.
Coming three decades after the founding of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the project is long over due. Over that period Abuja's population, both human and vehicular, has out-grown projections. This has brought strains on the available infrastructure, which has in turn resulted in adverse environmental conditions associated with over-crowding. The situation would have been even worse but for the drastic measures embarked upon by this government to redress the abuses inflicted on the Abuja Master Plan.
Initiating the light rail project to ease the movement of people and goods in the federal capital, though late, is commendable. The comment by the FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on the occasion puts succinctly the rationale for the scheme. His words: "The importance of this ceremony is better captured when we realise that the chaotic transportation system in Lagos was one of the reasons for the re-location of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja by the visionary leadership of the Murtala/Obasanjo regime of 1976. In accordance with the Abuja Master Plan and globally accepted norms, cities with a population of over 1.5 million people should have integrated public transportation system of which the railway is a major component."
The minister's reference to Lagos should serve as a booster to the determination of government, the contractors, financiers and indeed Abuja residents to accord the plan the prime attention it deserves. Today, despite the shifting of government machinery from Lagos, the city remains a victim of over-population- occasioned largely by the search for the proverbial greener pasture- and a perennial traffic disorder. In that atmosphere, productivity is hampered and the value of life is diminished. Only bold steps like constructing the rail can steer the present capital away from the path of becoming another Lagos.
With a projected capital of $841 million and completion date of four years, the Abuja light rail system will not only enjoy adequate funding, but will also hopefully be accorded priority by the in-coming administration. Its scope is impressive, having been designed to cover strategic locations like Garki Area 10, Central Area, Wuse Neighbourhood Centre, Jabi, Life Camp, Karmo, Gwagwa, Kubwa, National Stadium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport among others. Given the huge volume of commuters and vehicles that emanates from these areas, access to the proposed railway would reduce pressure on the roads appreciably and impact positively on the city's well-being and aesthetics. Ultimately, the entire country and its people stand to gain from a decent and orderly federal capital.
The administration of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua should, therefore, ensure that the terms of the contract are honoured and well guided to achieve the desired result.
Ok, we're not tryin to spark any Lagos-Abuja tension here, but this article hit a nerve...WHY IS THERE A MORE URGENT NEED (IN THE EYES OF OUR GOVERNMENT) FOR A LIGHT RAILWAY IN ABUJA THAN IN LAGOS? Even if we accept the grossly inaccurate census results, Lagos' population is by far greater than that of the FCT, and so does a light railway (if indeed that's where $841 million of our reserves should be going at this time) make more sense in Abuja than anywhere else (even Lagos!)? Thoughts pls?
-------
THE ABUJA LIGHT RAILWAY - This Day Online
Last week, President Olusegun Obasanjo laid the foundation of the light railway system in Abuja. If properly and promptly executed, the project will provide the nation's capital the much needed back-up to road transportation.
Coming three decades after the founding of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the project is long over due. Over that period Abuja's population, both human and vehicular, has out-grown projections. This has brought strains on the available infrastructure, which has in turn resulted in adverse environmental conditions associated with over-crowding. The situation would have been even worse but for the drastic measures embarked upon by this government to redress the abuses inflicted on the Abuja Master Plan.
Initiating the light rail project to ease the movement of people and goods in the federal capital, though late, is commendable. The comment by the FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on the occasion puts succinctly the rationale for the scheme. His words: "The importance of this ceremony is better captured when we realise that the chaotic transportation system in Lagos was one of the reasons for the re-location of the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja by the visionary leadership of the Murtala/Obasanjo regime of 1976. In accordance with the Abuja Master Plan and globally accepted norms, cities with a population of over 1.5 million people should have integrated public transportation system of which the railway is a major component."
The minister's reference to Lagos should serve as a booster to the determination of government, the contractors, financiers and indeed Abuja residents to accord the plan the prime attention it deserves. Today, despite the shifting of government machinery from Lagos, the city remains a victim of over-population- occasioned largely by the search for the proverbial greener pasture- and a perennial traffic disorder. In that atmosphere, productivity is hampered and the value of life is diminished. Only bold steps like constructing the rail can steer the present capital away from the path of becoming another Lagos.
With a projected capital of $841 million and completion date of four years, the Abuja light rail system will not only enjoy adequate funding, but will also hopefully be accorded priority by the in-coming administration. Its scope is impressive, having been designed to cover strategic locations like Garki Area 10, Central Area, Wuse Neighbourhood Centre, Jabi, Life Camp, Karmo, Gwagwa, Kubwa, National Stadium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport among others. Given the huge volume of commuters and vehicles that emanates from these areas, access to the proposed railway would reduce pressure on the roads appreciably and impact positively on the city's well-being and aesthetics. Ultimately, the entire country and its people stand to gain from a decent and orderly federal capital. The administration of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua should, therefore, ensure that the terms of the contract are honoured and well guided to achieve the desired result.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
We. The People.
Twenty years ago, Dele Olojede was in Nigeria, a reporter for the independent national Concord newspaper, whose editor spent two weeks in detention without explanation from the government. He became one of the founding writers at Newswatch magazine, whose editor, Dele Giwa, was killed by a pipe bomb in 1986—"by military intelligence".
In April 2005, Olojede, by this time a former editor of Newsday, was named
co-winner of the Pulitzer prize for international reporting, becoming the first African to win journalism's highest honour.
In October 2005, he spoke at the NLNG Grand Award Night, in Lagos...
"A debilitating lack of self-confidence, I think, characterizes today’s Nigerian, having seen his country go down the tubes whilst in the custody of rapacious rulers, and with his own active connivance or apathy. This condition sometimes manifests itself in a prickly defensiveness. I often have friends of mine lapse into such grand statements as, “that’s because you don’t live here,” as an all-purpose dismissal of an argument whose uncomfortable truths they cannot logically avoid. It is manifested in the irrational xenophobia exhibited by many against, for example, South Africans doing business successfully in Nigeria.
But this defensiveness cannot conceal the facts of Nigeria’s condition today. By all objective measures, the country is far poorer-- $350 billion in oil revenues later—than it was 40 years ago. Its moral foundations have cracked wide open, a society whose core values matter far less today than they did four decades ago. Its schools and hospitals 40 years ago were far superior to its schools and hospitals today. Its bureaucracy was more meritorious and far more efficient than it is today. Its elite was far more self-sacrificing, certainly, than today’s elite, whose behavioral patterns bear striking resemblance, if I may be direct, to a swarm of locusts. Nigeria in 1960, as we all know by now, was ahead on the development curve than Singapore or Malaysia or the Philippines or South Korea. Nigeria’s life expectancy has fallen—FALLEN!!— a full decade since the early 1970s, to just 43 years, according to the latest edition of the United Nations Human Development Index, which measures these things. What this means is that I have already lived longer at my age than the average citizen of this nation can fairly be expected to live. The average Nigerian now lives only half as long as the average Chinese or Japanese. We have become a poster child worldwide for fraud and corruption. We are clearly traveling down an escalator that is going up...
.... The necessity of creating a true Commonwealth in our country cannot be overstated. And its legitimacy is conditional on the citizens having come together to devise the rules of engagement. We can already see one of the most appalling consequences of an imposed constitution, one that places a class of politicians above the law of the land and basically grants them blanket immunity, even when they brazenly steal the family silver. To place anyone above the law is to debase the law itself, and invite the creation of a locust culture, where the swarm of the political elite is engaged only in plundering as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and for as long as possible...
... The good society [which we seek] will be built, as it has been built elsewhere, by men and women who act, who take it upon themselves to sacrifice a little bit of their individual pursuits for the common good. The new society will be built by teachers who teach, doctors who actually treat, lawyers who fight for justice and the rule of law, bureaucrats who manage efficiently the commonwealth all the while resisting the lure of the easy money, leaders who actually lead, and do not expect that a criminal is worthy of being protected from the law by some perverted notion of executive immunity. And yes, this good society will in large part be built by citizens who understand and accept the responsibilities of citizenship...
... After years of corrosive military dictatorships and their attendant caprice, as well as the general dissolution and greed of a thieving political class, the Nigerian today feels so battered and bruised that he appears to have lost all sense of how to be a citizen. I have been following with some interest a simple but important exercise by the Ministry of Finance, which uncharacteristically for a Nigerian government agency actually is promoting transparency. The ministry periodically publishes in the newspapers a complete list of revenues allotted from the federation account to every single state and local government throughout the country. So if you live in, say, Isukwato-Okigwe local government area of Abia State, you can tell from the newspapers that your local government received 500 million naira last month for the administration of its affairs. The question that faces us is, how many residents actually take the trouble to demand that their councilors account for how the money was spent? Did it go toward fixing the broken windows in local schools? Or paving the rutted neighborhood roads? Or reactivating a long dormant waterworks? Or purchasing supplies for the local health dispensary? My guess is that many citizens do not bother, thus signaling their leaders that they do not have to be accountable at all.
The same is true in virtually every important respect. Most parents do not get involved in their children’s schools or hold teachers and school administrators accountable for the proper education of their children. They ask not why our highways are death traps. They witness fellow citizens illegally expropriating public property for private use and they consider it normal, or at least acceptable. They appear to believe, in fact, that rulers have an entirely free hand to do anything whatever, including commit grievous crimes and recognize no difference between public funds and their private spending. The rulers—we must of necessity avoid the term leader, which connotes purpose and service—have naturally taken as much liberty as the citizens are willing to give them, and then some.
The citizen has become praise singer and court jester, obsequious, slavish, bowing only to wealth and position. We have become Fela’s parody of the “government chicken boy.” Our praise singing culture has reached new depths of perversion, with music extolling the supremacy of anyone with money no matter how accumulated, with newspapers and magazines dedicated only to the chronicling of the comings and goings of the elite, with our so-called kings and paramount chiefs bestowing chieftaincy titles on anyone ready to pay-- with such feverish abandon, in fact, that one of our big men apparently has more than 600 of them! The age of Simply Mr., which The Guardian newspaper so valiantly sought to champion more than 20 years ago, has passed into oblivion. We forget that the number of chieftaincy titles we acquire does not in any way equate living the good and useful life. To quote Aristotle, “honor seems to depend on those who confer it rather than on him who receives it, whereas our guess is that the good is a man’s own possession
which cannot easily be taken away from him.”
We are ruled no longer by poorly educated men with guns, but the Nigerian remains wary of his freedom. To paraphrase Rousseau, freedom is like a lovely meal of pounded yam and edikai-ekong, but very difficult to digest. That the citizen in Nigeria today lives in relative freedom does not mean he knows what to do with it. In fact, one often gets the impression that many Nigerians would rather not be free, scared as they are of freedom’s responsibilities. They grumble and complain about the flagrant inequities and outright robbery that unfold daily in full view, and they shrug and hope for some divine intervention, and fail to act to shape their own destiny.
I have been looking out of the window in hopes of catching sight of this divine intervention, but perhaps my sight is poor. There is no cavalry out there riding to our rescue, ladies and gentlemen. We must face the cold hard fact that the world owes us nothing, and those who are not prepared to function in it will fall farther behind and become slaves to other races of men. It is neither fair nor unfair; it is just the way it is. As the line goes in the Merchant of Venice, “I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano…”
The task before us, then, is not only simply to reform our political system, but fundamentally to learn how to be citizens all over again...
...The Americans have this wonderful preamble to their constitution, a statement of their ambitions as a nation. Its phrasing is elegant and soaring. It rallies the citizens around a common purpose. “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” That’s right, a more perfect union, a recognition that the task of improvement is never concluded, that a society must constantly strive towards the goal of insuring the common good.
Are we the people here gathered, pledged to end the culture of greed and avarice that we have allowed to grow, like cancer, on our nation’s soul?
Are we the people here assembled ready to take charge of our own destiny, set our shoulders against that boulder, and start the hard tasking of rolling it uphill?
We the people, are we pledged to forsake purely personal advantage and hedonism, and seek ye first the common good?
We the people, are we prepared to work tirelessly for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Are we, the people, willing to set ourselves high standards, rather than constantly seeking the lowest common denominator? Are we willing to create the republic of ambition?"
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The full article is attached below. It touches on everything - the loss of our ancient society premised on honour, the absence of trust, the impact of an illegitimate government, the misuse of religious faith, the erasure of the past and all its lessons, poverty and its destructive characteristics. If you're unable to download the attachment, you can click here.
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