THE GATHERER

Buhari’s needless fights.   President Buhari’s peace-meeting with leaders from the Niger-Delta last week isn’t first of his reversals. A worrying trend.  It’s known Nigeria’s chaos is by design, predictable, and reform will be a fight. Some of us had thought a war-tested, retired-army officer, Muhammadu Buhari, before embarking on needed reforms would hunch over specifics laid on his magnolia Aso-Villa desk, with lawyer vice-president opposite him, and key advisers, identify quick wins, preempt reaction of vested-interests, and weigh-up possible unintended consequences against objective, as an army-general would before ordering a military offensive. Instead, it's been gaffes and climb downs, and the president diminished with each episode. PMS price modulation Take for instance pegging premium motor spirit at N86.50 at start of this year. A time Buhari had claimed to stop oil subsidies, was unconvinced about Naira devaluation, and US dollar restrictions made F

A group of irate men. Machete. Fire. Dead bodies. Supposed chieftaincy and land tussle in a tiny Cross River community , Southern—Nigeria.  If we've debunked false-dichotomy of Muslim-North and Christian-South, we’d agree that in all communities across Nigeria’s entire 910,770 sq. km landmass, corrupt practices are intolerable. And we punish them. This social desire to purge actions we find immoral, political-speak ‘corrupt,’ weighed heavy on my young mind. From mom’s, relatives’ and teachers’ firm whips when I deviate from expected path. To fear of the mob, after seeing a lady stripped naked at Ikeja for revealing too much flesh; again, shouts of ‘Barawo! Barawo!’ at Agege as crowd encircles a zombified burning man; then, a pleading driver being lynched at Apongbon for hitting a passerby.  I quickly learnt to behave myself when out and about in my birth state, Lagos. You’re one neurotic scream [ help he’s stolen my breast! ] away from ‘justice’ descending upon you, h

Freedom from ‘ignorance, disease, superstition and want,’ was urgent mission of strivers for Nigeria’s Independence. Anthony Enahoro was shaken when as a boy he observed that, rather than witchcraft as all thought, hole dug in ground to collect rainwater was cause of frequent ailment and child deaths in his paternal village.     Today, many years later, it’s clear their mission failed. ‘Superstition,’ and its companions still permeates the Nigerian social psyche, even with foothold in Aso Rock, as detailed by Rueben Abati, Special Adviser to Nigeria’s ex-president, in: The Spiritual side of Aso Villa . Rueben buttresses with ‘testimony’ of fire incidence at his apartment. Shocking. As it’d seem, like his other ‘examples,’ he’s unaware of how commonplace fire, started by cooking or electrical appliance, is, in homes across Nigeria. With heavy usage of candles, diesel and kerosene, Nigeria ranks number 1 on WHO data for deaths caused by fire. Even England, with safer energy sou

Pointing finger of blame when looking into history is tempting. But, reading two or more accounts of same historical event, by different witnesses, it becomes clear that there are no absolute-truths in history: just points of view. And requires discipline on our part to piece together for better understanding of the past, to build upon the successes, learn from the mistakes, and where possible and desirable make repairs. From accounts of Ahmadu Bello (My Life), Nnamdi Azikiwe (My Odyssey) and Obafemi Awolowo (Awo), we know the slogan ‘Self-Government for Nigeria NOW’ was demand of the ‘politically conscious’ indigenes. Demand continuously watered since 1923-elections in Lagos and Calabar Provinces, when only Nigerian men who earned £100 annually were allowed to vote. People who constitute Nigeria were never consulted if they so desired to be a ‘nation,’ let alone, be independent. Action Group (AG) would go further, at its Owo Conference of April 1951, declaring ‘SGN in 195

Thin voice that had caused dryness in my mouth, continued. ‘I can see mom and dad are not prepared for this.’  I turned my head to my partner. When we interlocked our hands, I’m unaware. I can tell she’s suppressing her reaction to the news; her lips are rolled in firmly. She closed her eyes. With thumb and index fingers of her right-hand she dragged pool of water that formed along her eyelashes to her nose bridge. My jaw quivered. I become aware that I’m crying, too.  Clearing my throat, ‘Are you sure?’ The hijabi paediatrician, nodded. ‘It’s a lot to take in, I know.’ The wishful part of me gazed at our son fiddling with movable light attached to the exam table with blue disposable sheet. As usual, his numerous toy cars he wouldn’t leave home without are on windowsill of the doctor's office, like cars in Lagos traffic, under the white Venetian blind. It had bothered us that aged three, our son, was yet to say a word. When he began to walk at twelve months, his narrow i

A radio broadcast by an unknown Army officer speaking from the northern city of Kaduna. Confidence exudes from his voice as he lays out a new order to every corner of the nation. It is tabula rasa , a fresh start away from disaffection that many in newly independent Nigeria were feeling and muttering under their breaths while riding their bicycles to work, or at beer parlours, and around the dinner table in just five years of independence. Although uncertain what this new government order was, the listening public felt anything but their present crop of civilian “political profiteers” will do. All were unaware at the time of this broadcast that top officials of the ousted government, objects of public cynicism: a perceived overtly corrupt Finance Minister, Festus Okotie-Eboh; an ex-school teacher and proxy Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa; the northern region Premier, Ahmadu Bello, whom had undermined the PM by referring to him as his “lieutenant”; and western region Premier, Samue