Grandiose Parlor

What happens when national leaders lose touch with reality?

One of the possible scenarios can be found published in the Guardian newspaper, specifically via some statements credited to two high-powered government officials.

First, excerpts from the Finance Minister, Dr Mansur Muhtar:

“There was a lot of negative reports from the local media and these in turn shaped what the Western media and investors think about the country…

“The public seemed not to be giving enough credit to government for what was being achieved…

“The government’s efforts are not being given enough recognition and coupled with the enormity of the challenges not being appreciated… there’s exaggerated pessimism in the local media.”

Echoing the Finance minster, the Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, added:

“Human trafficking and child abuse as some of the negative attitudes that have brought shame to Nigeria from the international community”.

The minsters have indeed raised important issues, however their assessments seem off-point given the presence of other more potent problems in the society.

However, what is ironic is that their statements have given strong credence to the need to change from the present autocracy-like, top-heavy, Abuja-directed governance to one that genuinely strives to build connection with the grassroots.

The various arms of government must get their heads out of the clouds and come down to the level of the people. That way, there wouldn’t be any misrepresentation in the press, and it becomes easier to proffer solutions to social problems like child abuse and human trafficking.

The key words here are connection and relationships.

Can those in government say they are connected to, and have genuine relationships with, the people they govern? I don’t think so.

Until the gap between the governed and the government is bridged, Nigerians can expect to read more heretic statements, the kind credited to Muhtar and Akunyili.

Related: Akin has more thoughts on this matter on his blog, Nigeria: Ministers’ perception of bad image, check it out.

PS:

This photo speaks volumes to the extent of disconnect that exists between the government and the people. The flooded road is a federal highway (Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Lagos) connecting the two major seaports in the country to the hinterland. It is not an exaggeration to say this is one of the most strategic roads in Nigeria. Must it be in this state?

Child defecating in a canal in the slum of Gege in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria (Photo: Adebayo Alao, Sept. 2007)

It has taken some 30-50 years for the environmental abuse in the Niger Delta to creep into the consciousness of the nation and the international community. As sad as this may be, it’s even sadder that payback for this long wait is now being paid at huge costs to all.

Now, I’m wont to ponder if Nigeria is not already at the brink of another environmental disaster, which, this time, will extend well beyond the boundaries of the delta creeks. Nigerians have been getting high on waste, all sorts of waste and pollution — domestic and industrial in origin. From the innocuously discarded, non-biodegradable ‘pure water’ plastics — the ubiquitous, quarter-liter, mass produced, plastic water-in-sachet available everywhere in Nigeria, to the less visible lethal industrial waste waters, the obvious signs of failed — or nonexistent — waste management/environmental protection policy is clear for all to see.

Sadly, as the waste heaps is building up around the cities, the countdown to disaster is running down as well, surreptitiously bringing us closer to an explosive threshold. The truth is we are closer to the tipping point than ever.

Perhaps, this scenario isn’t all too obvious to many in the home country, who because of other ‘competing interests’ have become blunted to the sight of mounting roadside filth, the plastic bag-clogged gutters, or oblivious to what’s being flushed down the gutters and streams by the industries across the street.

I’m convinced this is the time for environmental angels — social entrepreneurs or better still ecopreneurs — to emerge and start the work of cleaning and saving our environment and societies.

The key words must be innovation, advocacy, and government backing. Their tactics must be bold, complementary and sustainable. These — plus government backing in policies formulating regulation enforcement — can guarantee tangible rewards.

As our colleagues in other worlds are exploring concepts that mitigate environmental distress, so must we pay attention, and be ready to tap into pockets of resources to create tangible value-adding ventures that halt the environmental decay and push back the blind sprint toward doomsday. Nigeria can’t afford another ‘Niger Delta-like’ mishap.

Some worthy areas to explore:

• Turning biodegradable municipal and industrial waste to organic fertilizer
• Use of renewable resources (solar, biofuel),and wastes to generate power, this is ideal for small scale off-grid power projects
• Production of biodegradable plastics; a promising though nascent technology that packs huge rewards.

And there several more can-work business/policy/public health ideas in the areas of municipal water supply, eco-friendly urban renewal projects, livestock/abattoir management, biodiesel production using industrial waste, etc.

Any ecopreneurs in the house? By the way, I know only of one

An article published by Leadership Newspaper (Oshiomhole’s Dilemma, by Jerry Uwah) highlights how kidnappers have shut down Benin City in Edo State.

Are we seeing a gradual implosion of the Nigerian society? Read the excerpts below to make your conclusions:

Oshiomhole remains the governor of the state but the de facto rulers of the state are the kidnappers. They dictate the lifestyle of the rich and middle class in the state capital. It is only the poor who now trudge along freely in the streets of Benin. The rich are all under self-imposed house arrest. The governor’s rating among the elite is low because the rich, in particular, are frustrated into thinking that he spends all his time chasing proprietors of dilapidated private schools when the kidnappers who lay siege to Benin City go unchallenged.

When I drove into the Edo State capital on the twilight hours of Saturday, June 13, I could not understand the consternation in the eyes of my host on sighting the branded car that brought us. We spotted her at the beginning of her street and stopped to offer her a ride. She passively nudged us along with a wave of the hand and tried as much as possible to distance herself from the occupants of the posh car. Back in her residence, she hurriedly re-arranged the cars in the compound and pushed our own to a corner beside their bedroom.

When she ordered that the car be driven to that corner, I just obeyed without asking why. Everything came to the limelight when the next morning we visited a more affluent member of the family in Ugbowo.

Those ones told us point-blank that they were under ‘house arrest’. It was at that point that the one who hosted us the previous night explained her worries that we were visiting with an expensive car. She said she decided to tuck the car away in a corner of the house where she could monitor what was happening to it in the night. ‘Have you seen our Jaguar car in the compound since you came?’ she queried. The car, she said, had been taken to a hideout.

Kidnappers could mistake us for the rich, she quipped, adding that the fact that the car was branded could give the false impression that my company would cough out whatever was demanded as ransom.

I was therefore ordered not to hit the streets of Benin City with the car until we were ready to return to Lagos. The car was grounded for the rest of the visit. A 17-year-old Mercedes 190 Sedan was provided to ferry us around town. We were equally warned to dress very modestly. In fact, very few dare to dress gorgeously in Benin City these days.

Another member of the family who was directed to meet us at Ugbowo (we could not visit her because she lives in a part of the city considered no-go area), abandoned her Nissan Pathfinder and sneaked into tuke-tuke (commercial mini-bus) for the journey to Ugbowo.

My host, a prominent medical practitioner, owns one of the most popular private hospitals in the city. He lamented that many of his patients were so troubled that he was no longer taking their phone calls. He started ignoring strange calls when the kidnappers opened a dialogue with one of the prominent sons of the city through which they issue threats to the man in his house. The man has now turned the dialogue into a session for exchange of abuses with the kidnappers.

The kidnappers in Edo State are so daring that they recently kidnapped someone generally regarded as a criminal king-pin. That incident sent shock waves down the spine of the rich and middle class in the city, triggering a wave of precautionary measures.

Residents of the city no longer go to their places of worship in their posh cars and gorgeous dresses. In fact, the streets of Benin City are bereft of the luxury cars that used to contest for space in the erosion cesspools that pass for roads.

The kidnappers fear no foe and spare no one. Even civil servants with relatives considered wealthy enough to pay ransom are targets. They start by tracking their targets for days and gathering intelligence data on them.

The rich believe that the governor of Edo State is chasing shadows with his school sanitisation programme while kidnappers place the capital city under siege. They contend that Oshiomhole could at least frighten the kidnappers by setting up a joint task force to police the city.

A state that is seemingly jinxed by a plethora of treasury looters cannot but place high hopes on a man like Oshiomhole. Ironically, the siege of the kidnappers has given him the toga of a visionless ruler.

The gap between Lagos state and its peers keeps widening every month as the state embarks on digital mapping project:

Governor Fashola who said the road to the adoption of the digital mapping and GIS started many years ago, opined that it represents a total life change about the way the people live and confront challenges of an increasingly changing planet.

He said the possibilities are endless as people can now search for titles on lands electronically without physically coming to Alausa and thus impacting on the number of vehicles that may not have to be physically on the road for similar reasons.

Governor Fashola also said this would ultimately decide whether the government needs to build more roads as it is generally being clamoured for or to make a choice of providing drinkable water and hospitals to the people.

He said it means that architects would not have to go into the bush anymore in order to have a clear view of some sites.

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It is a hard knock life for those 27 soldiers court-martialed to jail for life in Nigeria. It would not matter much (to me) if they were found guilty for treason, or committed murder.

No! What the 24 men and three women did was to protest the nonpayment of their allowances during a six month peacekeeping operation in Liberia. Each of the soldier was supposed to have received the UN-approved $1,228 monthly allowance. But their commanding officers sat on the money, or better still, stole the money!

What the protesting solders did was ‘mutinous’ according to the top military brass that tried them. And this deserved life imprisonment. But what about the officers that stole the money? If the mutinous soldiers are getting life imprisonment, are the officers facing the firing squad?

All the thieving officers (Col. A. Awotoye, Commanding Officer of 72 Army Battalion, Makurdi; Lt. Col. Paul Baba, Director of Army Finance; Major Abubakar Shonva, Deputy Director of Army Finance; and Major C. Njoku) got was “a slap on the wrist by losing one rank each”, according to media report.

Haba!

After 41 years in power, what will be Bongo’s legacy?

Watch Ayodeji Megbope, founder of “No Left Over”, a local eatery in Lagos talk about her experience pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams on CNBC with Erin Burnett.