Onoviran OBZervatory

Those Honorary Degrees

2012-01-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

At last! Yes, at last, the federal government has banned indiscriminate and cash-induced awards of honorary degrees by all federal-owned universities. Thank god for small mercies.

No keen observer can be indifferent to the menace that this practice has visited upon the nation and its educational institutions in the last three decades. The rest should now be history.

However, let the government walk the talk: Fund them Institutions, or.

One last point. Do this integrity test for all national awards henceforth. The roll is tainted, lopsided, continually questioned and, ipso facto, blighted. We must do better.

Is 2012 the year?

Nigerian Diaspora: 2012 Calling!

2012-01-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Despite all the faults and falterings, patriots must not give up on their fatherland - this blessed land, NIGERIA.

The politicians test our very limits, don't they? But the militicians did worse, didn't they? We survived the jackboot and outlived the gun-loot. Alas, we will survive the slack-hoot and outlive the pen-loot. We are NIGERIA!

Now is then the time to call on our successful sons and daughters in the diaspora to rise in full duty and diligence for the rescue mission: Come Home! Choose your path, chime your time; no matter. But, please, Come Home!

By 2015, this land is going to retire many of the present galloping gladiators. The sweep will be sharp and shocking. And we need worthy replacements - a blend of home-based and diaspora-groomed patriots.

To fit in, dear compatriots, 2012 is the PrepYear. Start the strategic links and break the jinx...

Come Home!

Peace in Nigeria

2011-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

As we march in favour of democracy & development, let us not presume that the troubled peace in our country will self-resolve. Yet, this seems to be the general direction if not tendency we seem to be headed. Wrong, very wrong.

First off, we are not agreed on the root causes of the problem. Second, the forces of unity are at once rooted and floating! They want a big and bold country, bonded in egalitarian democracy but are not ready for full and fulfilling federalism. Third, we are disabling and dis-enabling our vibrant youth population, it's just mind-boggling and baffling. Fourth, we have ignored Nigerian women in nation building: can you beat that? Finally, the politicians are misusing both religion and ethnicity (two of our most cherished gems and core values) in blind pursuit of personal ambitions and unbridled brigandage. The result is the shame-soaked badge of worsening corruption and deepening poverty.

Tackle these at base and get on the firm path to democracy, development and peace - enduring peace.

Who will take us there? The political class, nudged by elders, battled by civil society, supported by the international community. The arrowhead? National Assembly.

Monitored and recorded by the Nigerian Media - fearlessly, robustly and patriotically.

Nigerian Credit Cards Worthless?

2011-11-11T11:36:00.000-08:00

Just a composite poser for....

Our Banks, and bankers

Our President, and politicians

Our Parliament, and legislators

Our Ministers, and diplomats

Our Media, and pressmen

Our Universities, and academia

Our Private Sector, and businessmen:

How many of you can and do shop on the Internet with Credit Cards issued in Nigeria? How many of you shop on Amazon.com? How many of you have a PayPal Account?

If you don't have a resounding "POSITIVE" to the above so do 160m Nigerians. How come nobody is doing something about this denigration and offensive stigmatization?

And you "patriots" hobnob with your counterparts around the world?

Well, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala I'm looking at you. Olusegun Aganga I'm eyeing you. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi you dey for my radar!

Our Beauty of Patriotism

2011-10-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

I have never thought that we needed to state our religion and state of origin and gender and age for special advantage in the 21st century Nigeria. Well, you do.

You do because the constitution recognizes "federal character" in all public service positions - both elective and appointive. It also forbids economic power/resources being concentrated in the hands of a few - the popular cabal syndrome. Now, working this fine path is the picture of our beauty, the Beauty of our Patriotism.

Some have used it well, others not. We look at appointments and shudder! We look at national awards and wonder! We look at contracts and ponder! Why?

Oh, look no further than our kind of patriotism: Parochialism for Nationalism, Religion-ism for Spiritualism, Pocket-ism for Patriotism. Everyone does it or is made to do it so it becomes odd not to do it. We know it and celebrate the courageous-odd but create less enabling environment for their tribe to thrive.

Then we fumble and fail. Then we grumble and mumble. Then we seek God's intervention. We lament the ferment, make a few adjustments, make a few scape-goats, get a small relief...and go to sleep!

Our beauty of patriotism is scape-goatism: make a few pay for our collective sins. If we cleared the deck and returned not to our vomit, we would be a nation of nationals, a country of citizens, a land of hands.

So, here is the deal. Who knows beauty but goes for booty? How do we make us pay for our personal roles in this brigandage and progressively deepen the roots of patriotism? What must we give to receive? Where do we stay or betray? We must start now, in individual sacrifice to build our collective edifice - seeing the beauty of the self in the bounty of the whole.

Painful? Yes. Gainful? You can't ask that, Oh Patriot.

Is ECOWAS for West Africans?

2011-09-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

The whole idea of regional integration is so exciting that no one can fault, or should fault, the ECOWAS Dream. And there is good support for it.

Let's be fair. ECOWAS is working. Especially in the area of advancing stability, peace and security thus promoting and sustaining democracy within this dynamic sub-region of Africa. Kudos to our political leaders.

Let's be truthful. ECOWAS is not flying. Especially in economic advancement and community spirit thus defeating the lofty goals of regional integration. Knock for our political leaders.

Considering the origins and continued yearnings of our combined populations, we should be far ahead in the development game by now. Why aren't we? Aha, gotcha!

Politics. Politicians. Neo-colonialism. Bureaucracy. Corruption. NEPAD. Unhealthy Competition instead of Undiluted Complementarity. Lack of Strategic Connective Infrastructure. Security without Prosperity equals POVERTY. No Full-Time Parliament. Not Learning creatively from... the EU.

The most important? Absence of Citizen-Participation.

Got that? Ask your Government.

The Book Business Here

2011-08-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Over time, Africa seems de-booked. Long before bookstores elsewhere started succumbing to online stores, African bookshops have been struggling to survive. Partly because local authorship isn't thriving, partly because foreign publishers got packing, partly because governments have yet to wake up to the twin dangers of illiteracy and ignorance. It pays dictators and despots to use both to suppress, repress and depress the populace!

Well, the Arab Spring is reaffirming history's truism: not for long.

In my native Nigeria, for example, we even took development assistance and world bank funds for book development. Nothing to show for it all, folks, nothing! Publishers are closing shop, writers are languishing, piracy is racing wild, libraries are derelict, reading is declining...and our governments at all levels, parents and guardians, natural and religious leaders, the media and our diaspora will not come together to ACT! Shame.

With the under-funding of our education sector and the debasement of the teaching profession over the last three decades, lecturers and researchers aren't writing or publishing. We have thus been fueling and feeding the brain drain monster.

Final result? The BOOK business is Dying! And PEOPLE are hardly READING! Pity.

Press Nigeria, tap Africa. Common story.

NEPAD is still a paper-tiger, alas. Will it wake up for BOOK Business, now? Hope. You never lose with hope...

MENA Region Will Change Our WORLD

2011-05-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

After the turmoil be over and the dust settled, the world will be a different and difficult place for bad leaders and their cohorts. Not that all the problems highlighted will or can be solved, but many issues will be resolved - some by just the overthrow of dictators, others by the overhaul of the systems post-despotism. And the casualties will span the globe!

We speak of the revolution going on in the Middle East and North Africa .Call it The Arab Spring or The Arab Awakening or The MENA Movements or The MENA Massacre, something monumental is afoot! Its public face is its private pain, and its political projectiles will pierce many closets and countries in months and years. Oh, there will be socioeconomic conflagrations of varying dimensions, of shapes and colours. The grounds are already shifting!

Will the bloodshed save the adamant leaders from the more adamant masses? Never! Let the blood-bath stop. Where are world leaders?

Is Cote d'Ivoire Now FREE?

2011-04-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hardly. But the prospects are good. And we wish the people all the best in the difficult task of rebuilding, reconciliation and rebirth - true renaissance.

President Alassane Ouattara has his job cut out for him, and his team. He is a well-equipped man. Let him do the job as a professional, not a typical African politician. He has so much goodwill, empathy and sympathy going for him and the beleaguered country. Squander them not, sir!

Let's plead with Ivoriens: give your nation a chance to heal, and to bond. You have no other land.

Goodluck brethren!

KUDOS to Jega's INEC

2011-04-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

You can feel it in the air: Jega was right, his detractors were wrong! He knows himself, his INEC and his nation. His critics doubt all three. Fair enough.

With the high marks he's garnered from all and sundry over the just concluded national assembly elections, let his sights be set even higher.

May the cynics remain but stay grounded. This is not the country of free-sailing for reformers. Yet it is one that always wins over naysayers. This time, the gains will be permanent!

Kudos to Jega & Co. More grit to your elbows!

The APRIL of our LIFE!

2011-04-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

I am an April Boy! Had my birthday on the 5th, after we couldn't vote on the 2nd. It gave me the chance to do much thinking. If at 57 I can't boast of this country, I wondered how Pa Anthony Enahoro felt on his way to the Land of Elders! This, after and despite his heroic roles in securing Nigeria's independence and procuring true democracy in our land. Will things change before I head same way? Absolutely, I resolved.

Why and how? The rescheduled election will hold, and succeed, and be a plus for the nation; and a justification for our struggles. I see the signs, you'll have the evidence in abundance on the 10th - the morning after.

This April 2011 is the April of our Life! We must make it the beginning of all good things electoral, all great things democratic. I see the seeds, we'll reap the fruits in abundance from 29 May this 2011 - the month after.

So, I celebrate my day to elevate my country to its just status, its manifest destiny. This April.

This AFRICA!

2011-03-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

Can you be perplexed by your beloved continent? Absolutely. Can you give up on your Mother-CONTINENT? Hell, no!

What to do, then? The struggle continues!

And that is what is going on right now in most of North Africa and the Arab World. It has only begun - more will follow.

That “more” will depend on two factors: the resolve and resilience of The People and the obstinacy and occult of The Potentates. The tie-breaker is The Global Village fronted by World Leaders. In other words, the UN has our standing mandate - abounding duty - to stand up for The People by standing up to The Potentates! Period.

The UN Security Council has finally corrected the “double standards” it was accused of vis-à-vis Libya and Cote d’Ivoire. We hear Nigeria and France tabled the resolution. Left to the AU, we would still be dancing in the dark, stumbling in broad daylight! Even as people are dying, and millions are fleeing! Okay, blaming the AU right now will be a little harsh. This AU, as is, is an AU of Heads of State & Governments FOR Heads of State & Governments!! There is little a brilliant bureaucrat or patriotic technocrat can do about it. For a kettle to call a pot “black”, it must be squeaky clean, right? And since they love working by consensus, if not unanimity, na serious dilemma, fa!

Do not despair, be not depressed: The Peoples’ AU is on its way - give or take 3-5 years, on the outside. Sad? Yes. Slow? Yes. But surely? No question.

The struggle continues!

PRESIDENTIAL and GUBERNATORIAL DEBATES next time

2011-03-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Elections in Nigeria is a special case of nation-building. We did everything in a hurry. And we are harrying everybody in the polity! This hurry-hurry character must stop o, na wetin sef?

Once we refused to shift the official handing-over date from May 29 to October 1 as canvassed by many well-meaning Nigerians and some Friends of Nigeria, we had set up ourselves for the “unpredictable”! That was why we all “understood” and “bore” with INEC during the voter registration hiccups. Rightly so. There will be more challenges to come. And we trust that Nigerians will stand by Jega’s INEC.

That brings us to the question of election debates. Our people are complex but not complicated. With simple layouts and analyses you can convince and command (lead) them. Which is why the ruling class has gotten away with all their shenanigans all these years! They turned the virtues upside-down. Debates are central to democracy. Opinion polls are central to elections. Both are central to governance & development in modern society - be it in cabinet, parliament or the soapbox.

For us in Nigeria, I suggest that a simple format be designed for election debates. The organizers must act upfront. Conduct credible research on the areas of critical need, prepare a strategic plan, propose a timeline and do the indicative resource /funding requirements. Circulate this package to all political parties at the start of the election year, so that all aspirants know the score. And be ready to respond to the score. Period.

If we do so for every tier of government (presidential, gubernatorial, chairmanship) we will help the political parties weed out and winnow the fields! At the final debates before elections, we will have candidates compare apples with apples, have experts take them on, and give the electorates usable inputs for their final decisions.

With such a simple and comprehensive format jokers, pretenders, CV-boosters, pimps and charlatans will go elsewhere! It’s about time.

So 2015, here we come!

WATER and SANITATION

2011-03-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

You won’t see or fully appreciate the excruciating pain and paralysis Rural-Nigeria goes through in search of WATER unless, and until, you go live with them. I have been and I feel so sad, so sorry and so powerless in the face of their agony that I must sadly APOLOGIZE on behalf of us all to them all. Dear Nigerians (I mean those of us with our conscience in place, plus those of the ruling class still left with any conscience at all!), please join in in this perplexing apology. Even if you are waterless like most of us, or live in Rural-Nigeria like most of our folks, let’s just APOLOGIZE.

Commonsense dictates that without water, talk not SANITATION. Nigeria’s government says only 35% of Nigerians have access to safe water (read potable water) - after 50 years of independence, and being in the tropics, surrounded by numerous water bodies! Then there is the small matter of 37 MDAs with regular and irregular annual budgets in the WATER sector. Repeat that in the HEALTH sector, in the AGRIC & RURAL DEV sector, in the MDGs Portfolio, in the DEBT-RELIEF Portfolio, and in several DEV-ASSIST cum DONOR-SUPPORT Programmes. It is simply unconscionable! And, yes, we must APOLOGIZE.

In all conscience, we must now resolve this issue once and for all. Any governor or local government chairman that cannot or will not provide safe drinking water to their citizens MUST be recalled or impeached by the people! Note I did not include the president? Yes, because I see little business of the federal government in water supply - except of course in mega dam projects and selected regional schemes. Yes, because I say we must review the revenue allocation formula to give more resources to states and local governments for sustainable development. Yes, because right now the federal government is collecting obscene sums and simply squandering same!

We speak of Water & Sanitation today because the world just celebrated World Water Day. Nigeria observed its rituals but not its rigours!

To do it right, we must use Election 2011 to clear the deck. Vote right, folks, vote the right people this time!

FOI Bill, AT LAST!

2011-03-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Passed. Since everyone is congratulating the Senate, we must join in to say bravo! We still have to await the harmonization of the nine areas of differences with the House. Any reluctance on our part on this matter is suspended because the presidency has refuted reports of any “adversarial ambush” at the Villa! Do we have a perfect/preferred law yet? Nah. But let dem sign this one, first. We wait.

How then do we put the point that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has yet to be treated in an economy that totally relies on this sector for survival? Not passing this all-important law before going for reelection was grossly insensitive on the part of parliament. After the polls, you can imagine the hard times ahead for things like “quorum“, “punctuality“, “kola“, “vested interests”, “blackmail”, etc. You know the story, and the insinuations, and all dem Wikileaks stuff! But again, we wait.

Kudos then to the National Assembly on the FoI Bill. Because they have a way of rising to the occasion (as with INEC case, Constitution Amendment, Third Term saga, Acting President issue, Minimum Wage matter, et al), we can safely say Kudos-in-Advance for the PIB Bill as well. Bravo!

TIME For Ministry of FAMILY Affairs and SOCIAL Development

2011-03-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

When we got the National and State Commissions for Women during the IBB Regime, no-one knew a real revolution was afoot. Then we had the Ministries of Women Affairs during the Abacha Regime, and we thought the revolution was afoot. Then we went to Beijing for the UN Conference on Women, returned with the Beijing Platform for Action and its attendant euphoria, and we thought it was settled. This is 2011 and, alas, how wrong we were!

There are various points of view as to how we got to this pass. Talk to the mothers of the crusade and you will be depressed. Talk to the flavours of the moment and you will be alarmed. Talk to those between and you be left aghast! The cumulative consequences were on display during the various party primaries - huge losses for Nigerian Women! Is there a truth to the popular charge/belief that most people just hustle to get on the women development bandwagon, milk the system, and move on? Or is there a more fundamental problem?

I have been thinking. My conclusion: We need a complete overhaul/restructuring of the system and its outlook. Urgently. We need to amend the constitution to consolidate my proposed solution. Courageously.

I have been tinkering. My solution: Let’s set up a Ministry of FAMILY Affairs & SOCIAL Development. This will help us focalize the Gender Agenda at the bedrock, building block, level of society - The Family.

I have been constructing. My structure: It will be a super ministry. A minister, a minister of state, a perm-sec, senior director(Family Affairs), senior director(Social Development) and other directors - as appropriate. These top five will be balanced by gender, meaning that the ministry can be led by either male or female appointee!

I suggest that this should be a policy organ with capacity for cross-cutting intervention, pilot & gap-filling projects, crusading & advocacy competences, as well as enforcement muscle with the tri-sectors - public, private, civil society.

May our next president have the courage to do this. And one more thing: Stop the ministers and commissioners from milling around wives of their appointers! They are cabinet members with official budgets & portfolios. They should let the first ladies run as it should be: Charities!

If the president fails to act, let forward-looking governors take the lead. We would partner with them. We must rescue the Beijing Platform for Action this 2011.

The RAILWAY Revolution

2011-03-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

The new and vigorous effort to revive the Railway Culture in Nigeria is to be welcomed by us all. No nation, not least a modern nation or more one aspiring to the 20-20-20 status, can ignore rail transportation. We recall the subways or underground, light trains, the metro and the fast trains or express lines that have distinguished developed and forward-looking countries in the comity of nations.

While we work on the long distance tracks and haulage services, the real need and star product must be passenger service - the age-old commuter trains. I’m happy that the NRC and some state governments are already doing this. Kudos to Kaduna, Lagos, Rivers and the FCT specifically. Kano, Oyo, Plateau, Edo-Delta-Ondo: let’s cite you soon!

Imagine what a blast we would have if Lagos and Abuja have dedicated speed trains and each hub is linked to by special workers/commuter lines from their neighbouring states! People will simply live in their home states and go to work in Lagos and Abuja, with all the cross-cutting benefits! And we can achieve this in 12 months if we are serious - okay, give us 24 months.

Now, which governor or president has a problem with that? Which parliament? And which private sector?

As for jobs, you do the maths.

This MARCH, we're MARCHING to our ELECTORAL Freedom!

2011-03-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

In 30 days, we start the real electoral rights of Nigeria's democracy. We go to the vote! This is not our first time, dammit, it is the one time we hinge our hopes so strongly, so expectantly, so assuredly, on the final rites of passage: One Man One Vote! 2011 General Elections.

My firm belief is that this be our MARCH to our very own ELECTORAL Freedom! This March. All this efforts and effusions of the voters' registration exercise will pay us huge dividends soon. Very soon.

Prepare people, prepare. Pray, the jinx is in trouble - no, in its final throes. With the modified open ballot system, all them blighters are in trouble - no hiding place anymore. You need to be ultra demonic, mega desperate and, shall we say, utterly degenerate to want to dare the voters' vigil.

As March 2011 proceeds, we MARCH towards our FREEDOM. The freedom of the VOTE.

Dear MARCH, what a F-R-E-E-D-O-M!

Nigeria To Pass FoI Bill....At Last!

2011-02-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Nigeria's House of Reps has passed the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill. Good news! It now goes to the Senate for concurrence. Happily, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is reported to be awaiting it for immediate assent.

There are of course a few areas of concern to civil society: exemption of military budgets and lack of express provisions for citizen-action and protection. These can and should be resolved at "conference" once the Senate is fully sensitized and engaged. Otherwise, the next parliament should take up appropriate amendments fro July 2011.

Let us thank the reps for their part, and encourage the senators to do full justice to this bill once and for all.

The war against corruption may now look really serious!

KUDOS TO RADIO - Especially FRCN!

2011-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

Recovering from a small accident that got arthritis attracted, I've been on a hybrid retreat. From my semi-rural and self-imposed outposts-domains, I chose radio as my main link to the world. The internet gave me the other part: news panorama.

Radio. I have always loved radio. But in recent years, like many Nigerians, the private media channels have caught my imagination, empathy and patronage. No less because the public media had become personalized by public officers! As the NBC admonished, and quite rightly constantly reiterated by the NUJ president and civil rights crusaders, government-owned media must be just and fair to ALL - especially the opposition. We still can’t say so of many public stations nationwide!

For months now I have been listening to FRCN National. I’m pleased. Very. The quality and variety of content and delivery make me proud. The 12 noon diet - Network Nigeria - brings me creativity and comic relief. Oh, and those news and programme anchors! Your kids would safely learn English from them. We certainly can’t say the same for many private (or even FRCN FM) stations nationwide!

Labaran Maku, expand the FRCN Training School, Ikeja. Ask Babatunde Fashola for a befitting land on Lekki Peninsula or Badagry Mega Highway, and upgrade it to a full University - like the NTA TV College, Jos. Bring back veterans to man the faculty with tenure and incentives. Before 29 May, 2011. It’s our local BBC!

BON should encourage, failing which compel, all broadcasters to go to FRCN for voice and phonetics training. Now, and periodically!

VOTER-REGISTRATION Progress

2011-01-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

I am not losing sleep over the ongoing voter-registration exercise. It will be ultra-successful.

We should be grateful that it didn’t take-off smoothly. The hitches and hiccups were a salutary baptism of fire for us all. And I love it!

Lessons: INEC now knows better. Take nothing on face value; take nothing for granted. Nigerians now know better. We have a role, crucial role to play, in this democracy. Register. Vote. Protect your franchise. Defend your vote.

Forecast: We will be proud, very proud, of the NYSC Members deployed for this momentous and monumental project. We will applaud and reward their service, and their patriotism.

Interim Laugh: I wonder how The “Great” Iwu feels right now!

Last Line: This INEC and Nigerians will succeed this 2011. No matter the odds.

SIREN ABUSE: Note to the INSPECTOR GENERAL of Police

2011-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

Dear IG

We’ve had enough! Absolutely. Siren-Abusers have done their worst. Now, we want you to do your best. Stop ‘em, IG, stop them oppressors!

This note is triggered by your recent order on the issue. Thank you for finally threatening arrests. Long overdue.

Key Question: Do Nigerians believe you or trust full compliance? Will the habitual abusers not ignore you and your strident order? Hmm…

Aiders & Abetters? Your officers and men - yes, the police!

Suggested Solution: Place this assignment under DIG Ivy Okoronkwo (Nigerians fear Iron Ladies!). Sign a written appeal/advert to Nigerians for Citizen-Action, by which they are requested to send in evidence of abuse/culprits through video, phone-camera, photographs, SMS/MMS, email and calls. Give us secure always-on “emergency” lines (3 digits).

Please, ensure regular well-publicized prosecution, starting from 1st February, 2011.

Goodluck!

EFCC, THIS BE YOUR CHANCE!

2011-01-23T15:50:00.000-08:00

Following upon both its pledge and threat to STOP corrupt and all them corrupted politicians, Farida Waziri and her tough cops have their chance at last: 2011 General Elections!

Okay, let’s clarify: No one is guilty until so pronounced by the courts. And no frivolous charges or arrangee trials will do. Most citizens and our foreign friends like the EFCC and can heartily say, Carry-Go!

Since the law does not bar you from investigating anyone, including the president, please proceed to announce what you’ve found so far against our rulers. For those who enjoy immunity, charge their accomplices right away! If their principals are clean, they’ll stay out of your way - and, please God, may rapidly cooperate! Some leaders are simply surrounded by wolves, and EFCC must help save them.

With the support of the president and the chief justice of Nigeria as well as speakers of state assemblies, let the national assembly amend the constitution this February. Create special courts for economic crimes and electoral offences. While at it, they should simply delete the immunity clause and pass the freedom of information bill, the petroleum industry bill and the antiterrorism bill.

Message: If you want our votes and you are NOT squeaky clean, step thee aside. Or go clear yourself!

Last Word: Why would anyone worry about EFCC when they all say they are clean and in the clear! Four years on, and they are panicky! BOTH sides must now prove their worth, their WORD - Farida vs Fake-rulers.

May God justify the just, amen.

Cote d'Ivoire and Tunisia of Africa

2011-01-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

Francophone Africa has been generally more stable and euro-compliant over the decades. France has been very accommodating and supportive of its historical satellites around the globe, especially in Africa. Visit these countries to marvel at the success of its "Assimilation Policy". Everything from foods to clothes to medicines to vehicles to education and telecoms, not to mention currency has the imprint of France. In fact, until the advent of Africa's Telecoms (say GSM first, Submarine Cables next) Revolution, their international calls went through Paris! This was one factor in the failure of total unity in Africa - there is the strong influence of our erstwhile colonial masters till this day, especially the French.

The Francophone "Establishment Class" see themselves more as so above their people that poverty and political brigandage can only be tackled with the tacit help of France, period! Past French leaders (especially before the full-blown EU of today) were comfy with the status quo. Well, until Nicholas Sarkozy! President Sarkozy wants democracy and development, peace and prosperity everywhere. Some African leaders are finding out, to their mighty chagrin, that things have changed. Add the Obama Factor and it is a sea-change on the way. Benchmark the new stance of the UN, AU, NEPAD and ECOWAS, and we have the pillars of the long-awaited African Renaissance taking firm root.

This is why we must grieve at the turn of events in both Cote d'Ivoire and Tunisia: Two of Africa's economic success stories gone awry. By all accounts, an avoidable mess. We must then thank the French for fronting the international community in backing change in these countries through justice and equity, siding with The People. Real comfort.

Here is a message for African Leaders: See what President Bill Clinton did for the American economy in his maximum two-term and his global stature today! See how Prime Minister Gordon Brown bowed to British voters even though he could constitutionally lead a minority government to remain in office, at all costs! Watch out for Gordon, folks, watch out for Gordon - both home and abroad. In the end, sit-tight-ism hardly pays - indeed, it usually back-fires! The global village is not your local village. This global village is REAL. Very.

We thank all African leaders who stand with The People. We must beg those still unable or unwilling to - yes they live in the past, but we BEG them to change and give way to change.

BANKS and RUMOURS

2011-01-21T01:18:00.000-08:00

Our people thrive on tales, tabloids, hearsay and rumours! Fabricated and lubricated the rumour mills spin luxuriant in the absence of full information or secrecy. For governance and public policy, it is double jeopardy if not tipple tragedy. Get the truth out and kill the rumour merchants, especially them mischief makers.

Yes, our banks are riding the rough patch right now as the rosy past - contrived and condoned - is, shall we say, past. They are trying hard to whether the self-induced storm plus stemming the tempests of the global economic crises/credit crunch. Investors’ confidence is low, customers’ enthusiasm is dampened, crime-busters are hovering, workers are being laid-off, corporate image is tumbling and the erstwhile swagger of bankers turning stagger! Tough.

Then, the regulators: CBN, NDIC and SEC are breathing down - no more voodoo banking and paper profits, no more life-chairmen or CEOs, no more bad credit and insider trading, no more capital market shenanigans! And the professions: CIBN,CIIN and NSE are cleaning up banking, insurance and stock broking practice as self-regulatory/certification bodies.

Oh, the media: what can we say? They are rightly beaming the biting and piercing searchlight on banks and banking. Constantly seeking scoops, and exultant from its recent salacious coverage of the monumental rot in the industry, they will follow any lead and sensationalize any break!

Being together in the Bankers Committee, the CIBN and the industry one would expect the banks to bond and brace for the turbulence at hand and the triumphs ahead. Instead, we are seeing untoward practices, impunity and criminal competitor-demarketing! It didn’t just start, it’s been a part of their weird survival tactics - pulling others down (PHD syndrome). Why?

The latest is some dirty rumours about three banks they claim are to be liquidated by the authorities! They advise depositors to withdraw their money before it is too late!! Why?

The CBN has rightly intervened by issuing a prompt rebuttal. But it must do more: fish out the culprits and prosecute them!