Yesterday 14th of January, I left my office at asokoro to do some business at xerox business center at zone 5. When I got to wuse, afraid catch me (as a warri man will say). The crowd I saw near the market made me wonder if people were preparing for another occupy naija protest. That was when my driver told me that buses had been banned from entering wuse.
The news hit me like an uppercut to the chin! The look of frustration on the faces of those people who were busy trekking and looking for alternate means of transport from the wuse market area just said it all. When I asked what may have caused he stoppage, I learned the authorities said it was a move to curb traffic congestion often witnessed at central wuse area.
Yes, I have been held up in traffic at that area on many occasions and I must say, the experience wasn't one to savour. Yet, it is not just because buses ply directly into wuse that causes the congestion- it is the way the buses and other commercial drivers park on the road. I wasn't in Abuja when Nasir El Rufai was the minister for FCT, but a colleague of mine who has virtually lived here all his life said that during El Rufai's time, buses plied wuse but the congestion wasn't there
This makes me ask if the guys in authority actually sample public opinion before they start making all these laws meant to 'help the masses?'. I know what people must have passed through to get home from wuse yesterday. It is not just left alone for buses to be banned- what alternatives have been put in place to serve as palliatives?
The number of agencies controlling traffic alone in abuja is enough to prevent unnecessary traffic jams caused by irresponsibility on the part of drivers. Here alone, you will find policemen, road safety officials, security defense, traffic wardens, vehicle inspection officers, task force and the newly introduced SURE-P VIO.
The minister should make all these officers earn their living by working for it. Designated areas where buses are known to park irregularly should be filled with these officials, and offenders will be deal with. That way, the traffic situation will be eased, and people will not need to trek for long distances before they can find a vehicle to transport them.
All it takes, is for everybody to play his part, do what is right and consider the next person as a human being.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Merger Talks; another marriage of strange bedfellows
The political atmosphere is filled with talk about the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) planning a mega party ahead of the 2015 polls. Positive as this may seem, one is tempted to ask a few questions about this political union between three sets of couples with three different ideologies.
First of all, all the three parties involved have a more regional outlook, and in a national scope, are weak in very many areas. ACN is a western party, ANPP is more of a 'northern party', while the CPC is a party many people see as an islamist/fundamentalist party. So, on what basis are they merging? Just to wrestle party from the PDP and share amongst themselves? If that be the case, he country is as good as doomed
In the new political structure, who will be the party leader? Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who happens to be ACN leader will by no means step down- nor step aside- for Muhammad Buhari, who is the CPC leader. I am not even talking about what role the ANPP leadership will carry- because for now, they don't seem to have one. Attahiru Bafarawa, hasn't gotten a full grip of the party yet.
What will be the ideology of this new marriage? The three parties are filled with politicians who 'lost out of power' in other parties and are seeking a return to office. If these men showed a lot of credibility while in office, the case would have been a different thing. But when you have thieves who were booted out of office by fellow thieves now planning on how to get back to office to loot, it speaks much.
It is not that I don't believe in mergers and acquisitions (let me borrow small grammar from the banking world), but I believe we still need the multiparty style of democracy. What opposition political parties should be doing is creating awareness and giving their parties a more national outlook. Thanks to advancements in technology today, it is not difficult to know how our leaders are faring in the different areas where they govern.
The main issue with the PDP, apart from corruption (which is a problem with the average Nigerian), is the fact that it is a political arrangement of strange bedfellows. They have no basic ideology and there is no common drive the party stands nor fights for. This is what we don't want to see in an opposition party- but sadly, it is what we are looking at, given the parties involved in this merger
First of all, all the three parties involved have a more regional outlook, and in a national scope, are weak in very many areas. ACN is a western party, ANPP is more of a 'northern party', while the CPC is a party many people see as an islamist/fundamentalist party. So, on what basis are they merging? Just to wrestle party from the PDP and share amongst themselves? If that be the case, he country is as good as doomed
In the new political structure, who will be the party leader? Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who happens to be ACN leader will by no means step down- nor step aside- for Muhammad Buhari, who is the CPC leader. I am not even talking about what role the ANPP leadership will carry- because for now, they don't seem to have one. Attahiru Bafarawa, hasn't gotten a full grip of the party yet.
What will be the ideology of this new marriage? The three parties are filled with politicians who 'lost out of power' in other parties and are seeking a return to office. If these men showed a lot of credibility while in office, the case would have been a different thing. But when you have thieves who were booted out of office by fellow thieves now planning on how to get back to office to loot, it speaks much.
It is not that I don't believe in mergers and acquisitions (let me borrow small grammar from the banking world), but I believe we still need the multiparty style of democracy. What opposition political parties should be doing is creating awareness and giving their parties a more national outlook. Thanks to advancements in technology today, it is not difficult to know how our leaders are faring in the different areas where they govern.
The main issue with the PDP, apart from corruption (which is a problem with the average Nigerian), is the fact that it is a political arrangement of strange bedfellows. They have no basic ideology and there is no common drive the party stands nor fights for. This is what we don't want to see in an opposition party- but sadly, it is what we are looking at, given the parties involved in this merger
Top 10 Law Faculties
Just recently, The Nigeria Advanced Institute of Legal Studies (NIALS) released a list of the top 10 law faculties in the country. Speaking through its director general Professor Epiphany Azinge, the law faculties in the country are those of The University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, University of Jos, University of Benin, Lagos State University, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Nigeria, Babcock University, University of Maiduguri and Igbinedion University.
I am not a lawyer, but I have over the years interacted with a lot of law students and lawyers extensively over the years, and I must say that my eye brows are raised as concerned this top 10 list.
looking critically at the list, there is at least one university in every geo-political zone, a state university and private university. I think that by doing this, NIALS was actually trying to fulfill all righteousness by satisfying 'all concerned' and not really being 'professional'.
On what basis did NIALS grade the faculties? Is it by the number of professors each faculty has? Or the number of SAN members in the faculty? Or the results churned out by graduates of these faculties when they write their bar exams at law school?
I am still looking at the list and analyzing it technically and I do not see why some renowned universities like University of Ibadan, Bayero University and University of Calabar are missing from the list. Anyway, like I said earlier in the write up; I am not a lawyer. So I guess its left for lawyers and law students to comment on.
I am not a lawyer, but I have over the years interacted with a lot of law students and lawyers extensively over the years, and I must say that my eye brows are raised as concerned this top 10 list.
looking critically at the list, there is at least one university in every geo-political zone, a state university and private university. I think that by doing this, NIALS was actually trying to fulfill all righteousness by satisfying 'all concerned' and not really being 'professional'.
On what basis did NIALS grade the faculties? Is it by the number of professors each faculty has? Or the number of SAN members in the faculty? Or the results churned out by graduates of these faculties when they write their bar exams at law school?
I am still looking at the list and analyzing it technically and I do not see why some renowned universities like University of Ibadan, Bayero University and University of Calabar are missing from the list. Anyway, like I said earlier in the write up; I am not a lawyer. So I guess its left for lawyers and law students to comment on.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
I am now a farmer
It wasn't shocking news when I learned that the minister for agriculture, Dr Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina announced that the federal government was seeking to procure 10 million phones for farmers nationwide at the whopping cost of six billion naira. That's animal thinking, which isn't shocking too- cos to understand some decisions taken by our so called leaders, just watch animal planet or nat geo wild channel.
Did farmers, at any point in time, ever complained that lack of mobile phones was a factor militating against increased yield? Or, can Dr Adesina tell me what that number of mobile phones will do for farmers? Will the phones help as fertilizers? Or help milk cows, till d fields, process grains, store them, prevent crop and animal diseases, facilitate loans or solve other endless issues facing agricultural development in the country? I mean, let's e realistic here- we are talking about six billion naira here.
The minister also said government is trying to create jobs and not taking jobs outside the country. I am forced to ask; will the 10 million phones be manufactured in Nigeria? Moreover, 10 million phones for six billion naira amounts to six thousand naira (6,000) per phone. Oga minister, which farmer can't afford a phone- even if its not six thousand naira worth? There are phones that are as cheap as three thousand naira.
Besides that, will the farmers be provided with generators for electricity to chrage the phones, recharge cards to credit the phones, and maybe gsm masts to improve network?
What about farmers like Olusegun Obasanjo and his other retired military friends and their cohorts who took money they embezzled to establish farms- will they benefit from the gesture? I am not a farmer, nor am I a specialist in agricultural economics, but this idea should be killed as fast as it was envisaged. If Goodluck Jonathan has free six billion naira to farmers, there are a thousand things he can budget the money for- not buying phones that even school children will reject.
Did farmers, at any point in time, ever complained that lack of mobile phones was a factor militating against increased yield? Or, can Dr Adesina tell me what that number of mobile phones will do for farmers? Will the phones help as fertilizers? Or help milk cows, till d fields, process grains, store them, prevent crop and animal diseases, facilitate loans or solve other endless issues facing agricultural development in the country? I mean, let's e realistic here- we are talking about six billion naira here.
The minister also said government is trying to create jobs and not taking jobs outside the country. I am forced to ask; will the 10 million phones be manufactured in Nigeria? Moreover, 10 million phones for six billion naira amounts to six thousand naira (6,000) per phone. Oga minister, which farmer can't afford a phone- even if its not six thousand naira worth? There are phones that are as cheap as three thousand naira.
Besides that, will the farmers be provided with generators for electricity to chrage the phones, recharge cards to credit the phones, and maybe gsm masts to improve network?
What about farmers like Olusegun Obasanjo and his other retired military friends and their cohorts who took money they embezzled to establish farms- will they benefit from the gesture? I am not a farmer, nor am I a specialist in agricultural economics, but this idea should be killed as fast as it was envisaged. If Goodluck Jonathan has free six billion naira to farmers, there are a thousand things he can budget the money for- not buying phones that even school children will reject.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
I am back
Hi folks
Been really long since I used this portal due to issues with my google account. Im sending this blog address to u all to post artcles, as well as comments on a wide variety of issues. Please make them as short and meaningful as they can be and remember to use your words very appropriately, as this is a public forum. Thank you all and God bless.
Been really long since I used this portal due to issues with my google account. Im sending this blog address to u all to post artcles, as well as comments on a wide variety of issues. Please make them as short and meaningful as they can be and remember to use your words very appropriately, as this is a public forum. Thank you all and God bless.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Spare a thought for 2011
And very soon, the polity will be heated. Voters registration will soon start, candidates are about to declare interests, primaries will soon start, and campaigns will fill the air. But spare a thought for the front runners.. Jonathan IBB, Atiku, Buhari. Amongst these so called giants, who is best fitted to lead us to the promised path (cos none of them can lead us to the promised land).
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