Nigeria Content Online

The stage seems to
be set for a showdown between opposition parties and lawmakers in the
country. The bone of contention is section 87 of the constitution which
the lawmakers want to amend. Before the two legislative houses are
changes to this section which if passed into law will make legislators
automatic members of their parties National Executive Committees (NEC),
the governing organ of political parties.

The NEC is the
highest decision making body of any party and is influential in the
choice of delegates for primary elections. The body also has authority
in deciding who earns the party ticket for general election. .

The amendment as
crafted in the document before the senate seeks to make all principal
officers of the chamber and the Chairmen and Deputies of the Senate
standing committees, members of the national executive of their
individual parties. The House of Representatives amendment is even more
sweeping in its ambition; it seeks to make all 360 members of the house
automatic members of their parties National Executive Committees.

At the moment,
different parties have different modalities for appointing members of
their Executive committees. For some, all principal members of the
assembly, along with national party officials , state chairmen of
parties , state government as well as the President and Vice –
President, in the case of the ruling party, make up the NEC. This mix
with little variations is what exists at present. The important thing
though is that individual parties have rules that govern these matters
and it is not a case of someone sitting in Abuja telling them how to
run their affairs.

But this does not
seem to hold much water with our legislators who say their plan will
contribute to the growth of democracy. Quite how this will work is not
clear but House Spokesman Esemeh Eyiboh has argued that the “aim is to
expand the composition of NEC so that nobody will have monopoly over
any issue, not only in the election but other programmes of the party,
including manifestoes. By the time we have a broad-based NEC; nobody
will have absolute control over party issues.” If the point Mr. Eyiboh
was trying to make is that some parties , including the ruling PDP are
in sore need of reform internally, and their processes sometimes fall
short of democratic ideals, we at NEXT agree but fail to see how giving
a bunch of lawmakers an automatic ticket to executive posts in
political parties is going to usher in reform?

Their share
numbers will mean that they will automatically have an advantage in any
political party and since their antecedents show that they never work
for the common good, we have to assume they are more likely to hijack
parties for their own self interest.

Opposition parties
have described the proposed amendment as “illegal, unconstitutional and
an abuse of power. The parties have threatened to march on the
legislators if they go ahead and pass this amendment and also say they
may seek legal redress.

We at NEXT are in
support of the opposition parties on this matter. It has clearly
escaped the notice of most of our legislators but may we remind them
that they are in office to come up with laws that are supposed to
improve the lot of ordinary Nigerians; laws that should serve to
entrench the tenets of democracy and help towards building a better
society.

Political parties
should be left to determine how to run their affairs. If there is a
need for reform within these parties, we must allow the arbiters of all
elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission to set the
frame work for these reforms.

Our legislators
have taken so many decisions that are injurious to the commonwealth,
including bloating their pay and allowances to scandalous proportions.
Their courage in even considering this amendment must be borne from the
fact that up until now they have gotten away with taking some
outrageous decisions. It is time for Nigerians to say no. Everyone must
stand up and fight this self serving attempt for a power grab by the
legislators.

It is time for the
lawmakers to focus on bills that are likely to make a real difference
in this country. How about they turn their attention to the Freedom of
Information Bill which has been languishing neglected for almost 10
years?

I have often
wondered why people bother with Nfi, the Nigerian periwinkle; that
insignificant disquietingly green gastropod dressed in black ridged
armor. How can one consider something so easily lost on the palate, or
expend so much energy cleaning or preparing it for an unexceptional
appearance in the meal?

I have on a few
occasions been sent Afang soup or Ekpan ku kwo so disfigured by the
quantity of periwinkles in them that it is like an invasion of the
food; like wading through a swamp full of rocks. And what should be a
texturally soft and comforting meal becomes a challenge, a guilt ridden
meal where one doesn’t want to spend the best part “feeeping” minuscule
periwinkles out of their shells, but doesn’t want to waste the food on
one’s plate either.

On the other hand,
if the periwinkles are removed from their shells and placed in the
soup, they disappear into thin air and add very little personality to
the food. Even when the periwinkles are meticulously cleaned, there
will be at least a few round inedible discs from the periwinkles left
behind in ones teeth that need a whole mile of dental floss to get out.

But I have always
believed that there is a lot about food that is not commonsensical or
comfortable, rather nostalgic, customary, or “I don’t know what but I
like it anyway”.

I once prepared a
meal for a non-Nigerian friend who doesn’t like our country fowl
because according to him, when you break the chicken’s bones, they form
dangerously jagged points that can tear your tongue to shreds.

I don’t know why on
earth a grown man can’t maneuvre his tongue around the bones of a
chicken. Why would anyone despise that delicious meat for such a petty
reason, and choose the tissue paper texture and blandness of Agric
chicken over it? Even if it tore ones tongue to shreds, it is
absolutely worth it. The only possible rationale behind his opinion is
that he has grown up eating his type of chicken and for that reason
prefers it.

I think of soups
made up of Imposing chunks of meat and lethal bones intentionally under
cooked so that the eater must fight with them to eat them. And fighting
is 90% of the enjoyment of the meal: “Swallow” made so resiliently hard
that when you throw it against the wall, it bounces back; soups cooked
with strong smelling condiments like Iru and Ogiri that make the
eater’s mind form all manner of associations that have nothing to do
with food or with anything that one wants to put near ones mouth.

We are not alone in
this predicament. Thai Nam Pla, the condiment commonly known as fish
sauce smells by far worse than Iru. Woe betide you if it pours out in
your car on the way home from the supermarket. Not to talk of Chinese
preserved eggs or even that runny smelly cheese that the French call
Camembert.

In other words,
that wading and bruising of lips is exactly what the seasoned eater of
Nfi wants. Surely, that must be 95% of the experience of eating Nfi! Am
I being too harsh on our beloved Nfi? Aunty Thelma of the famous
Fisherman Stew says that unless a machete is used to scrape the
periwinkle, then it is nowhere near clean especially when one considers
its natural habitat Imagine scraping an Nfi with a machete and at the
end of cooking, all the periwinkle is, is a periwinkle.

I admit to being
the philistine here because I sense that Nfi is also a gastronomic
experience (albeit consisting mostly of sucking). It is the scenic
route; a cultural marker, and even an incidental aphrodisiac. I hear
the sucking sound produced when the Nfi is held to the lips is deeply
suggestive; at least between two people (not five) it is.

Placing the whole
periwinkle in the soup gastronomically works because beads of soup pool
in the small crevices of the periwinkle shell and when that is sucked
out, one gets the essence of the soup plus the flesh of the periwinkle.
But as a reward for such hard work, it is still comparably stingy.

For those
culturally well brought up, there is nothing that animates the appetite
and the enjoyment of one’s meal more than sitting around a table where
the white sound of active Nfi sucking is going on. I have to add that
periwinkles work best for me in soups like Abak (Banga) soup where they
have freedom to move around, and they are not crowding out the soup or
competing with the greens.

Is eating the
periwinkle more a force of habit than quelling hunger or eating
protein, or tasting anything at all? Is the sucking more important for
cultural glue and communal thanksgiving than getting meat out of its
shell?

I suspect the
answer is that I have overanalysed the periwinkle and that for those
who have eaten it all their lives, they know what the periwinkle tastes
like, and will say it tastes like fish or snails or has some unique
taste that can’t really be described.

For their sakes, I stand waiting to be corrected.

When I was a kid my Uncle Robert, for
whom I was named, used to say that blacks needed to “fight on all
fronts, at home and abroad.” By that he meant that while it was
critically important to fight against racial injustice and oppression,
it was just as important to support, nurture and fight on behalf of
one’s family and community.

Uncle Robert (my father always called
him Jim – don’t ask) died many years ago, but he came to mind as I was
going over the dismal information in a new report about the tragic
conditions confronting a large portion of America’s black population,
especially black males.

We know by now, of course, that the
situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children
live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers;
that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men
without a high school diploma have spent time in prison. We know all
this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has
been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a
socioeconomic abyss.

Now comes a report from the Council of
the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who
cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have
shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is
difficult to fully grasp.

The report, titled “A Call for Change,”
begins by saying that “the nation’s young black males are in a state of
crisis” and describes their condition as “a national catastrophe.” It
tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in
academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice
the rate of whites.

Black children – boys and girls – are
three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white
children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has
full-time or year-round employment.

In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males.

The terrible economic downturn has made
it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming
the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment
in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is
inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not
mobilise in a major way to save these young people. I see no other
alternative.

The first and most important step would
be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together.
There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose
parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects
the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional
security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a
child to believe – truly – that wonderful things are possible.

All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children.

I wouldn’t for a moment discount the
terrible toll that racial and economic injustice have taken, decade
after decade, on the lives of millions of black Americans. But that is
no reason to abandon one’s children or give in to the continued
onslaught of those who would do you ill. One has to fight on all
fronts, as my Uncle Robert said.

Black men need to be in the home,
providing for their children. The community at large – including the
many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or
upper classes – needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to
those still struggling.

Dorothy Height, the longtime president
of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of
98, always insisted that blacks “have survived because of family.” And
she counseled: “No one will do for you what you need to do for
yourself.” There are many people already hard at work on these matters,
but leadership is needed to vastly expand and maximise those efforts.
Cultural change comes hard, and takes a long time, but nothing short of
a profound cultural change is essential. Let the message go out that
walking down the aisle carries with it great responsibilities but can
also be great fun, and watching your kid graduate with honors is a
blast.

Black children can’t wait for
Washington to get its act together. They don’t have time to wait for
the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community
to act now, to do the right thing without delay.

This is not a fight only for blacks.
All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly
with the black community itself.

© 2010 New York Times News Service

As the battle for
the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP rages on it may be time
for new thinking. Obviously, the major point of debate is about the
rotational presidency. On the one hand are those who say the party
zoned the presidency and other political offices between the North and
South. These people base their arguments on the fact that the
arrangement is actually captured in the party’s constitution.

On the other side
are those who want to dump zoning. All sorts of arguments have been put
forward to defend the stance that zoning is anachronistic. But no
anti-zoning proponent has ever claimed that zoning is not clearly spelt
out in the PDP constitution.

Unfortunately,
instead of Nigerians seeing through the whole imbroglio for the
political smokescreen that it is, the debate has taken on a regional,
ethnic, even religious tone. For a country like Nigeria, that is a very
dangerous turn of events. But the politicians and their handlers who
stand to benefit from the growing chaos are not above this kind of
reckless brinkmanship.

It is obvious that
President Goodluck Jonathan and his handlers tragically mismanaged the
entire affair, especially as regards the North. The regional champions
supposedly fighting for the North are only struggling to ensure that
their personal interests are protected. The Jonathan team should have
conceded that zoning exists, but sought an understanding that would
protect these interests. . As it is, the confrontational stance assumed
has hardened both positions to such an extent that a clearly more
strategic option has been left unopened.

But that aside,
since the North is finding it difficult to select a consensus candidate
to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan in the PDP primaries, why not
settle for a compromise candidate, preferably outside the big four of
Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Atiku, Aliyu Gusau and Bukola Saraki? If
none of these candidates is unable or unwilling to step down for the
other, perhaps they may be willing to step down for someone else– the
proverbial dark horse.

There are many
Northerners and PDP members who are qualified for the presidency,
though they may not have stepped forward or even indicated interest in
the office. Prominent among these are people like Mallam Nasir
el-Rufai. A candidature like his would settle the issue of consensus
with a compromise and ensure the emergence of a nominee that has a
national outlook, international exposure and general acceptability.

If Nasir el-Rufai
or any other credible ‘’dark horse’’ could be persuaded to join the
race for the PDP presidential ticket, the raging crisis in the PDP
which is capable of having a multiplier effect on the polity generally,
would easily be doused. Compromise has been adapted in the past to cool
tensions within the ruling PDP when election or selection of the
National Chairman of the party reached feverish points.

Such a candidate
who has not been part of the mudslinging between pro and anti zoning
groups would be assessed on his/her merits. Although el-Rufai in a
recent Facebook posting reflected that he might not vote for the PDP in
the 2011 elections, such a statement appears to be borne out of the
frustration the rudderless state of the ruling party has inflicted on
its members across the board. The fact remains that el-Rufai has not
made any public declaration for any other political party.

If the PDP settles
for a compromise, the division would subside without any major negative
consequences. The two sides would eventually have a face saving
situation. While the consensus side would be elated about having had
their way the other side could equally bask in the euphoria that they
had succeeded in achieving a change. And even within the pro-consensus
group – the big four contestants currently campaigning could equally
subsume their ambition under the compromise candidacy.

Thus it would be
manifestly clear that the tension generated by zoning would have been
obliterated, as the pro-consensus group would be able to field a
relatively unbiased candidate to slug it out with the incumbent who
stands as a candidate with the proposition that zoning even if it
existed is inconsequential.

Adopting of this
option would leave the PDP primaries, for the number one job more
keenly and objectively contested on profound issues of national ethos
rather than primordial sentiments as currently being witnessed.

In view of the
foregoing, the compromise candidate must be one that fits into other
major criteria Nigerians yearn for in the 2011 elections such as the
generational change – someone outside the recycled group of 1966; a
highly detribalised Nigerian without any trace of religious bigotry and
one who is brilliant, intelligent, a team player and a great
bridge-builder who can effectively steer the ship of the nation aright,
not only as a president but as a statesman.

A compromise
rather than a consensus is what the ruling PDP needs if the polity is
not to be overheated beyond a level that the fall-out would put the
2011 elections in jeopardy.

Ajayi Olatunji Olowo writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

That the original
inhabitants of Abuja had to be moved out for the emergence of a brand
new capital city speaks volumes about our way of doing things. Yet,
they are luckier than the Bakassi people, whom former president
Olusegun Obasanjo signed off to Cameroun. The mass relocation of the
natives has left one indubitable fact: a fundamental element of the
city – indeed, its very essence has been uprooted. At no time is the
soulless nature of Abuja more exposed than during religious or national
celebrations. Give any public holiday, and the city is deserted in
droves.

Sallah provided
another opportunity to yet again examine this phenomenon. The streets
were so empty that for those getting used to the growing traffic chaos,
Abuja felt eerie. Driving around the empty streets almost gives the
impression of being alone in the entire city. The sight of other
vehicles is cause to cheer. The people who chose to spend Sallah in
Abuja hardly serve to provide any air of festivity.

Sallah in Abuja is
a soulless, sterile affair. It seems that the only people who suffer to
remain in the city during public holidays are those who are unable to
raise transport fares, or money for a full tank to bail out.

Not in Abuja will
you see thousands of excited children decked out in their best clothes
exuberantly celebrating the festival. Not in Abuja will you see the
Emir and his palace guards decked out in full royal regalia proceeding
to the Eid grounds. Not in Abuja will anyone participate in the
exhilarating durbars and horse-riding competitions that make Sallah
such an exciting festival. Spending Sallah in this city without the
spirit and energy that characterises Sallah in Kano, Zaria, Katsina and
other places is missing the essence of the festival.

But missing the fun
of Sallah apart, the dry empty streets of Abuja raise some fundamental
questions about our new capital city. Abuja is nicknamed ‘the centre of
unity’. But when the essence of a city is lost, when the bonds of
humanity that binds people together are missing, then the basis for the
talked-about unity is defeated. Abuja no doubt has some of the best
streets in Nigeria. The city has homes that can fit snugly into Beverly
Hills or the French Riviera. (And just outside the city centre, you’ll
also find some of the debilitating slums and poverty that will
thoroughly roil your innards).

So where are the
people to give Abuja colour? Where is the soul of the city? Beautiful
houses and wide streets do not give a place that intrinsic humanity or
character. Structures, leafy, breezy vegetation and plenty of
automobiles contribute little to the emergence of the much touted
centre of unity. It is only when Nigerians of all hues can become a
part of the new federal capital experience that a centre of unity can
emerge.

Because the
original inhabitants have been relocated, the only colour in Abuja
during festivities and public holidays is provided by political exiles
– former governors, ministers, senators and other top public officials
who are on the losing end of whatever political struggles they may be
engaged in back in their home states. For them, Abuja is a safe haven
from where they can plot political strategies. As it is, there are
quite a few former governors wanted by Interpol for whom Abuja remains
the last, and some cases only resort. The Ibori debacle in Dubai has
provided a lesson or two.

However, due to the
influx of these moneyed political exiles, even ordinary citizens are
being pushed further away to the outskirts. Residential property has
been rented out for N25 million per annum, and paid for two years. The
majority of public sector workers who man the wheels of government and
the bureaucracy are moving further and further away from their places
of work; a two bedroom apartment in the city centre goes for N1
million. The estate agents demand for two years, in addition to 10
percent agency fees. Few civil servants are able to pay these sums,
even with the new minimum wage. So, out they move.

And because efforts
to introduce a public transport system have not received sufficient
government attention, traffic in Abuja is becoming a nightmare. Very
few residents can say ‘see you in 10 minutes’, and keep the promise.
Distances than used to be covered in 10 minutes a few years ago can now
take an hour or more. Abuja, already lacking a soul, is fast becoming a
jarring, jumpy, jungle.

I woke up on
Tuesday morning and told myself I wasn’t going to wish anybody Barka da
Sallah. If you like, call it a mini-rebellion against oneself. I just
needed some quiet moment in my stuffy room to reminisce about our
leaders and those of us that are being led or misled, if you want to
look at it that way.

Give me a second
please, let me quickly digress here – on Monday evening while returning
from the office, I saw a man dragging an unwilling ram towards the boot
of his parked car. The ram was giving him a rough and tough time but
the man was winning – and suddenly it occurred to me that there will be
millions of rams sold during the Sallah period and none would have a
say in the fate that would befall them.

Suddenly I found myself praying violently in tongues, not for the ram of course:

Jehovah jaire,
Jehovah shekenu, the Lord that made heaven and earth, the alpha and
omega, the beginning and the end. God of Abraham that provided the
sacrificial ram when Isaac was about to be deleted by his obedient
father; the God that perished the Egyptians that wouldn’t give up on
enslaving the Israelites –let the fate of Nigerians in the 2011
elections not be like the Sallah ram that has no say in matters that
have to do with its life and death. The God that never sleeps please
give us voice to speak and speak clearly even when some people’s mouths
would be stuffed with dollars and pounds so they can fraudulently stuff
ballot boxes for a leader that would lock the future of our country in
the boot of his Prado…Amen.

As I was saying, I
wanted to sit at home and stare at the stagnant fan blades and probably
have a one on one conversation with them on how they feel about not
being able to function due to lack of power. Talking to immobile fan
blades is what you do when your laptop is dead and you cannot write a
column about senators and legislators whose salaries keep skyrocketing
as if on helium, whereas those of ordinary citizens keep going down as
if strapped to a lead weight.

One of the other
questions I wanted to ask my moribund fan blades was if they knew
exactly what happened to the capital project that the finance minister
promised would be executed with some of our 50th anniversary budget
allocation. Remember the billions set aside to turn the nation around
come Independence Day? We were categorically told that Murtala Mohammed
International Airport would receive a facelift, but my brethren the
place still look worse than Uselu Motor Park in Benin city. Anyway
these things take time, let’s wait and pray.

This was my state
of mind when my friend called from Abuja to brief me on our president’s
Sallah message. He said the president has asked Nigerians, especially
the hoi polloi to tighten our wrappers, rope our trousers properly and
sacrifice more to rebuild this falling nation. In his own, that is
Presido, words “If all of us will make little, little sacrifices, this
country will be great. We should make sacrifices for the development of
this country and for us to leave a legacy for our unborn
generation…Every Nigerian must have that commitment and willingness to
transform this country. May God change our minds to do things that will
positively change our country.” Dr. Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan’s
words brought tears to my very two eyes; I get emotional like that when
my president hits the nail on the head like that to reveal to us the
unusual. Also, finally we have a leader whose rallying cry to nation
building trumped John F Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for
you…” speech.

I went straight to
the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and said – shame on you
Victor, what sacrifice have you ever made for this country other than
to complain until your eyes are red like a bulb suffering from half
current? Do you even know what sacrifice means? Does the president have
to remind you every time?

The next thing that
will come out from your mouth now will be that you buy petrol for your
generator everyday and also pay exorbitant PHCN bills even though you
have no power. Or do you think paying N5, 000 security fees in your
estate and coughing out money each time a policeman stops you is
sacrificing?

So you really think
the borehole you sank behind your house just to get water or the taxes
that get deducted from your meagre salary is enough to build this
nation? Oh so you think the recharge cards you spend thousands of naira
on because of non-availability of subsidised landlines is commendable?
Do you know how much the presidency spends on these things you just
mentioned, or don’t you think that is sacrifice?

Victor don’t be an
unpatriotic Gargantuan. Go out there and sacrifice for your country
like our leaders in Abuja are doing day and night, which is the same
thing our president is demanding from you.