Some years ago — in 2004, I think — I started a series of articles
which I titled "Made in Nigeria, Enjoyed Worldwide". My intention was to
celebrate good news coming out of Nigeria. I wrote on rising Nigerian
brands, highlighting my dream and desire to see them go and conquer
Africa and the rest of the world. I remember celebrating the likes of
Globacom, Oando, Zenon and Dangote — even at the risk of being savaged
by cynical readers who always think journalists are paid for everything
they write. I was unmoved; my conscience was very clear.
I often interchanged the series with another, "Made in Nigeria, Only
for Nigerians", in which I highlighted some shameful things that are
peculiar to us which we should never export. These are the things that
make me less proud to be a Nigerian and dampen my enthusiasm about our
stepping up into the comity of civilised nations. For instance, I often
asked: how do you make sense of a country reputed as the sixth largest
producer of crude oil which, rather than being a major exporter of
petroleum products, is actually a leading importer? It is criminal.
The fiasco surrounding the postponement of the 2015 elections has sadly
reminded me of these shameful things again, those things that are made
in Nigeria and should be for Nigerians only. Even small nations like
Benin and Togo will be laughing at our inability to organise the
simplest things in life. No matter the way we look at it, the poll shift
did not improve our prestige as a nation. No matter the excuses, no
matter the plausibility of the reasons given for it, we just are not up
to scratch as a nation. We should be ashamed of ourselves.
In the first place, the 2015 general election served us at least a
four-year notice — that is if we are generous enough to think that it
was only in 2011 that we knew we were going to hold another general
election in 2015. Four years, I insist, is enough to plan for an
election no matter how big a country is. Four years should be enough to
print voter cards and distribute them. Four years should be enough to
print ballot papers. Four years should be enough to test-run voting
equipment. Four years should be enough to think through how security
will be put in place for the elections.
Let's face it: your wife cannot give birth to a child today and you
claim you did not buy baby clothing because it happened suddenly.
Pregnancy gives at least a seven-month notice before delivery. On a good
day, it is nine months. As I write this, the 2019 elections have
already served us notice. We have four years to prepare. But you know
what? There is this terrible thing about us that in 2019, we would still
be saying something happened to the ballot papers or card readers. We
always advertise our shamelessness at every election.
In truth, the shift in the 2015 polls is yet another symptom of our
chaos. There is so much inefficiency in every sector. Things that should
run smoothly and automatically just have to be complicated because it
is Nigeria! For instance, why do we have to physically go to centres
created by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
collect our PVCs? Because our postal system is a shambles! In civilised
countries, those things are posted to your house. But how many houses
are even numbered in Nigeria? What does it take to number houses?
Every election year, we print ballot papers abroad. I am yet to
understand why. What is the job of the Nigeria Security Printing and
Minting Plc? What printing machines do they have in South Africa that
Nigeria cannot afford to buy? By the time we calculate the value of the
contracts and the cost of the machines, what option makes more sense?
People will say for security reasons, we should not print the ballot
papers at home. So if you go to South Africa to print ballot papers,
where does South Africa print its own? What is so special about us?
Nigeria is a study in shamelessness. Every election year is like a
foretaste of Armageddon. In Ghana, just 45 minutes away by air, they do
not impose curfew on Election Day. They do not close schools and
offices. In fact, they conduct elections on weekdays! In Nigeria, we
have to shut down the country. So if you were living in Nyanya when you
registered and you are now in Garki, you cannot vote except you go to
Nyanya. But then you cannot even move on Election Day! You're
automatically disenfranchised. Does it make sense? Why are we like this?
How did we become this dysfunctional as a society? The major reason
given for the shift in election dates is security. The military chiefs
said they would be too busy. Again, we are advertising our shamelessness
to the whole world. What is the business of soldiers with internal
security? That is the job description of the police. If the police have
become inefficient over the years, the solution is to give their job to
the military! How many countries deploy soldiers for elections? Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo started the nonsense in 2003 and now it has
come to stay.
Day by day, we are paying the price of our inefficiency, our lack of
foresight, our poor planning, our carelessness, our selfishness, our
lack of critical thinking, our incompetence, our impotence. We keep
paying the price for our past and present failures. Take an example.
Boko Haram recruited fighters, stockpiled arms, occupied territories and
grew exponentially right under our nose. There is no local government
in Nigeria without police presence. Where were they when Boko Haram was
budding? Did Boko Haram drop from the sky or sprout from the ground?
There are so many burdens we carry as a people today that we have,
shamelessly, come to accept as part of our lives. We are not even
ashamed to tell the world we are postponing elections because voter
cards are not ready — an election you had four years to prepare for! We
are not ashamed to say military cannot provide security! We keep opening
our mouths and uttering smooth gibberish on how we are the largest
black nation in the world, how we have the best doctors and best
professors, yet we cannot organise a simple election that took us four
years to prepare for! And we have been holding elections in Nigeria
since 1922. What exactly is the problem with us?
I wish we could all see the damage we are doing to ourselves every day.
I wish we could see how we keep letting ourselves down every minute.
The world is expecting big things from us. They stand at attention when
the name Nigeria is mentioned. But we always manage to embarrass
ourselves. Our excuses are utterly incredible. It is difficult to
imagine that in the year 2015, we are still working very hard to show to
the world that our level of thinking is not better than what used to
obtain 200 years ago. Shamelessness. Incompetence. Impotence. Made in
Nigeria. Only for Nigerians.
And Four
Other Things...
Other Things...
CHIBOK GIRLS
It was a bit heart-warming to read the account of an escapee from Boko Haram camp last week. A woman named as Monica Sunday said she saw 24 of the girls at Sambisa forest in November last year, claiming that the homesick girls were being forced to cook for insurgents. She also seemed to confirm that the girls were not in one place, suggesting that they had been divided into groups and spread all over. It is a combination of good and bad news, really. If the military invades these camps, these girls could end up as collateral damage. Hazardous.
It was a bit heart-warming to read the account of an escapee from Boko Haram camp last week. A woman named as Monica Sunday said she saw 24 of the girls at Sambisa forest in November last year, claiming that the homesick girls were being forced to cook for insurgents. She also seemed to confirm that the girls were not in one place, suggesting that they had been divided into groups and spread all over. It is a combination of good and bad news, really. If the military invades these camps, these girls could end up as collateral damage. Hazardous.
NIGER V NIGERIA
There seems to be a brewing crisis between Niger and Nigeria over the renewed onslaught on Boko Haram. With the heat on the insurgents, they are now crossing into Chad and Niger to attack villages and seek territories. A successful repelling of the insurgents by Niger soldiers in Bosso prompted the country's defence minister, Mahamadou Karidjo, to poke fun at Nigeria, saying: "Our soldiers are not like Nigerians. They don’t run." Much as this hurts me as a Nigerian, I would advise Niger not to celebrate too soon. Things could actually get tougher than just a battle for one town. Vigilance.
There seems to be a brewing crisis between Niger and Nigeria over the renewed onslaught on Boko Haram. With the heat on the insurgents, they are now crossing into Chad and Niger to attack villages and seek territories. A successful repelling of the insurgents by Niger soldiers in Bosso prompted the country's defence minister, Mahamadou Karidjo, to poke fun at Nigeria, saying: "Our soldiers are not like Nigerians. They don’t run." Much as this hurts me as a Nigerian, I would advise Niger not to celebrate too soon. Things could actually get tougher than just a battle for one town. Vigilance.
STEALING IS CORRUPTION
When President Jonathan was being quoted and derided on the social media as saying "stealing is not corruption", I knew it was mischief. No rational human being, much less a president, could so brazenly justify stealing or corruption. Jonathan was trying to quote Justice Dahiru Musdapher but he himself clearly misunderstood what the judge meant. Musdapher said most cases being prosecuted by the anti-graft agencies are common stealing, not corruption, and should be handled by the police at lowers courts. Whatever the case, stealing is corruption. On Thursday, Jonathan laboured to explain himself. Don't copy if you can't paste. Please.
When President Jonathan was being quoted and derided on the social media as saying "stealing is not corruption", I knew it was mischief. No rational human being, much less a president, could so brazenly justify stealing or corruption. Jonathan was trying to quote Justice Dahiru Musdapher but he himself clearly misunderstood what the judge meant. Musdapher said most cases being prosecuted by the anti-graft agencies are common stealing, not corruption, and should be handled by the police at lowers courts. Whatever the case, stealing is corruption. On Thursday, Jonathan laboured to explain himself. Don't copy if you can't paste. Please.
VIDEO CALL
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is making efforts to douse tension ahead of the rescheduled general election because, according to an advisory it released on Friday, there are clear danger signals of violence — with scores of people killed in the last two months. According to the NHRC chairman, Dr Chidi Odinkalu, the commission plans to get Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the two leading candidates, to hold a joint broadcast preaching non-violence to their supporters. Good thinking and good effort. But the candidates must also follow up with a similar message to their supporters in private. Vital.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is making efforts to douse tension ahead of the rescheduled general election because, according to an advisory it released on Friday, there are clear danger signals of violence — with scores of people killed in the last two months. According to the NHRC chairman, Dr Chidi Odinkalu, the commission plans to get Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the two leading candidates, to hold a joint broadcast preaching non-violence to their supporters. Good thinking and good effort. But the candidates must also follow up with a similar message to their supporters in private. Vital.
Made in Nigeria, Industrial education, the way to prosperity —Fashola
By Tare Youdeowei & Mildred Ibrahim
GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, has advocated for more Made in Nigeria products and industrial education, pointing out that they will yield the needed prosperity in Nigeria. Speaking at the commissioning of the Festo Authorized and Certified Training (FACT) Center for Industrial Automation in Government Technical College, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Governor Fashola said Nigeria cannot have made in Nigeria products without industrialization, mechanization and automation.
His words to the students and attendees; “I have been inside this
laboratory and I can tell you that most of the things you see in your
textbooks, documentaries, you will now interact with in live
demonstration to hopefully enable you understand better the basics and
processes behind pneumatics which is pressure for air and automation
which is the bases of industrialization and processing.
“As I have said time and again, the road to prosperity here lies in only three words ‘Made in Nigeria’ and the more of Made in Nigeria we begin to see around us, the more prosperity we will experience. You wouldn’t have Made in Nigeria without industrialization and you wouldn’t have industries without processes and automation, machines, valves, gears, etc.
Those are the things you will be interacting with here in this laboratory. What this means is that trainings that we usually spend money to send people abroad to do will now be done in Nigeria, so we are taking one step towards made in Nigeria.” Fashola said.
Stating that the center will also serve industries seeking to train their employees, Special Advisor to the Governor Lagos Eko Project, Ms Ronke Azeez said; “Lagos Eko project is world bank funded. It is a partnership between the World Bank and Lagos state government. Our objective is to improve student learning outcomes, so we work in all the secondary schools as well as developing partnership into technical colleges.”
GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, has advocated for more Made in Nigeria products and industrial education, pointing out that they will yield the needed prosperity in Nigeria. Speaking at the commissioning of the Festo Authorized and Certified Training (FACT) Center for Industrial Automation in Government Technical College, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Governor Fashola said Nigeria cannot have made in Nigeria products without industrialization, mechanization and automation.
*Gov Fashola
“As I have said time and again, the road to prosperity here lies in only three words ‘Made in Nigeria’ and the more of Made in Nigeria we begin to see around us, the more prosperity we will experience. You wouldn’t have Made in Nigeria without industrialization and you wouldn’t have industries without processes and automation, machines, valves, gears, etc.
Those are the things you will be interacting with here in this laboratory. What this means is that trainings that we usually spend money to send people abroad to do will now be done in Nigeria, so we are taking one step towards made in Nigeria.” Fashola said.
Stating that the center will also serve industries seeking to train their employees, Special Advisor to the Governor Lagos Eko Project, Ms Ronke Azeez said; “Lagos Eko project is world bank funded. It is a partnership between the World Bank and Lagos state government. Our objective is to improve student learning outcomes, so we work in all the secondary schools as well as developing partnership into technical colleges.”
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