free styling...

I usually first type my blog, proof read, correct and so on with Microsoft office before posting but except to help reduce typos, I’m just free styling today. Putting down anything that comes to my head as it comes. There have been so many issues and yet all of them are same old same old. Events happen, and we start and we talk and we tweet and we blog and the Federal government inaugurates committees and task forces and panels, generating employment as promised and all sorts and we talk again and now NUPENG threatens to strike and another bomb blast occurred on Sunday at Jos and the President is still condemning and winning the war against terrorism and the people say how. The list is endless and the cycle goes on non-stop. On the foreign scene so much is happening, Nigerians are being deported and Nigeria is deporting and deportation goes only against South Africa and we are yet to hear of the Foreign office’s response to UK’s deportation of Nigerians. I learn of clickitivism, armchair critics etc and poverty is still claiming victims by the second, and government is busy in its continuing inconsistency.

Now I am actually rambling without a clear direction here. Pardon the state of my mind at this time. I am suffering from information overload. I am seeing the efforts of my state government to beautify the state and bring about infrastructural development. I am seeing the good people of Ondo state thronging en mass to the fountain that now adorns the banking district of Algbaka with family and friends, taking photographs and praising Mimiko to high heavens and my friend from UK is busy asking me how the economy in Ondo state is and  all I can say is Goodluck’s new year present strongly backed by our Governors has steeped the cost of living to the very high. Houses used to be very affordable in Ondo state but alas not so anymore. I advice you to carry your cash with you while house hunting so that you can pay pronto if not, while you go to withdraw the money in the bank; your potential landlord has a change of mind. Nigeria on my mind especially the back and forth bashings and all, one wonders when all these will end.

News coming from abroad not so comforting, news at the home front not so comforting but this I know, no matter how crazy some may define me to be after reading this piece, especially what I’m about to say now… I take comfort in the truth that it doesn’t end here, that there’s still life after now guaranteed by my faith in God. It doesn’t close my eyes to the happenings around me, and it doesn’t exempt me from being affected neither does it stop me from making my contribution to the betterment of things but it gives me the assurance of hope that there’s a better place after here. I have that to look forward to even as I try to do everything in my power to make real positive difference in my world. Where I am is good place to be. I’m calm even in the storms both natural and man-made and I am able to remain as a beacon to those who desire what I have. The world may call me crazy, but it was foretold long ago. I may be in the world but I am not of the world. I have Jesus and I’m glad. He is the assurance I have to continue to keep on keeping on. He is the source of my joy and the reason for my calm.

I sha know I will do all I can to ensure that Nigeria does not collapse and I’m willing to trust God for the outcome of my efforts.

End of free styling… no editing beyond spell check…

Civil Servants or Starvers???

I have personally decided not to tackle the Nigerian problem by concentrating on the atrocities of the government alone simply because they did not drop from above. They emerged, anyhow and anywhichway from among us, therefore I am a firm believer in the purification of the source and not the output. If you approach the restoration of a diseased tree from just taking care of the leaves without getting to the root of the matter, that becomes another wasted adventure in cosmetology. You can check out if the cosmetics ladies apply always, really, really results in real beauty (#justsaying, please don’t take it personal ladies).

Our approach has consistently been cosmetic, a ruler emerges does his thing, we make noise and ask for change. The change supposedly comes after another round of politricking and the circle has been going on for some time now. Aren’t we tired??? Isn’t that being foolish? Is it not shameful that you can’t expect the average Nigerian, (make your pick at random) to be trusted with responsibility?

Let’s get to the reason for my topic today, government after successive government has come and gone and the civil service has survived each government and yet only a few see the need for us to do a complete overhaul of the civil service!!! For some that may get to read this, I am talking about your parents. I personally believe that majority of the civil service workforce are lazy people who are focused on just making a living. Conduct a random survey and you will discover that this majority are in the employ of the state be it at the federal or state level solely for the sake of job security. They are not there to make even an attempt to improve on the status quo and in the process move this nation forward.

This lazy majority, are lacking in several areas like passion for the job, creativity et al, their loyalty is only to their stomach and that’s all. This attitude has greatly limited their ability to do the right thing. The only thing that has the ability to stir them up is if an attempt is made to affect their daily bread. Is it possible for the political class to rip off Nigeria without the connivance of the civil service??? This deficiency of character has allowed an atmosphere of survival of the sharpest to the detriment of the nation to be the order of the day. These are the same people that will go to any length to ensure that their wards enter the university no matter the means, graduate and seek employment in the civil services. If it were to be a simple case of like parents, like children from then on it would have been good, but the children don’t even get half as much education that the parents got. I leave the rest to your imagination.

Here is the most atrocious part, the longer serving ones forget that one day, they will retire and come to join the long queue of pensioners.  The question is, while you were serving, didn’t you think you were going to retire someday and see how something could be done about the pension process?  It goes to prove beyond reasonable doubt that majority of those who go into the civil service lack vision. When a pensioner falls while on the queue and dies like it happened recently, we are quick to blame the government and ask the government to do something about it. Where are the Directors, Permanent Secretaries and the young graduates in the civil service?  Is there no Head of Service that has the brains and courage to address this issue? Is it that the pension process cannot be fixed? Oh no, any attempt to sanitize the pension scheme and indeed the civil service will rock the boat and affect the corrupt feeding opportunity of some people. And we blame the “Cabal” for the woes of our nation while the civil service is so seriously running a “Cabalocracy” like my friend Kayode Olajide postulated and few people are seeing that.

Are we no longer our brother’s keeper??? For how long will we continue to play the ostrich? The future of Nigeria is in our hands and it starts from me asking me, what can I do to make Nigeria a better place??? Ask yourselves the same question, and if any of your family is in the civil service, encourage such to work for a better future for Nigeria by doing the right thing at all times. A Servant turns to a Starver when s/he serves self.

Let us stop shooting ourselves in the leg while blaming others…

Beyond the subsidy issue

The light is shinning and every work of darkness is being uncovered. Even the staunchest of atheist who do not believe in the existence of God still accept that good will always triumph over darkness. The tiniest of lights will overcome the darkest of darkness any day and anywhere and Nigeria will not escape the trouncing of darkness by light.

Little drops of water they say form an ocean. A drop of water may feel insignificant compared to the ocean but if that drop ventures to leave and is able to gather other drops with it??? The ocean will be not so mighty after all.

Here is Nigeria and here are Nigerians, for long we have berated successive governments of incompetence, high handedness, Corruption, and other vices. We have shouted, talked protested and life has gone on. Government policies are evil but it doesn’t takes us long to adjust prices of goods and services. With one half of the mouth we are condemning the evil policy while the other half of the mouth is making a killing by exploiting fellow citizens with ridiculous prices.

Fuel price went from 65N to 141N and then down to 97N, check this, our fuel stations didn’t waste time at all in adjusting from 65N to 141N but are finding it very difficult to readjust to 97N. Our transporters have on their side stating the obvious hiked up transport fare and we all feel the multiplier effect of this hike in price with the exception of the political class.

We are quick to condemn the numerous and nefarious acts of terrorism that has resulted in mindless loss of life and property leading to a general atmosphere of insecurity, I condemn it too and strongly so but I also condemn the unfettered, indiscriminate and wide spread situation where we unduly take advantage of one another in the name of survival.

If the goods are too costly, can’t we all say we are not buying??? I don’t understand, if we choose not patronize them who will they sell it to? Are we so hungry that we can’t even fast for a while to force an issue? Is the customer no longer king in Nigeria’s economy? Was it the president himself that adjusted the fuel pump of every filling station??? To me, these are the issues we need to address if not as a nation we will continue in circles. Jesus said in Mat 7:4  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? (English Standard Version – eSword)

E je ki a ba ara wa so ooto oro( let’s be truthful to one another) awa la n se’ra wa(we are our own enemy). Selah.

Now the strike is over…..

As I sat down to write this piece, the tunes of the song “now the day is over” came to my mind. If you sing that song along with me that is for those who know the song the next line reads night is drawing nigh… now I’m doing this so you won’t think night is drawing near for Nigeria as a nation … no far from it, rather I am excited at what the future holds for this great nation.. I am infused with great joy at the level of awareness of the average Nigerian on what good governance entails.

To say the truth, I was and just maybe I’m still disappointed that the NLC/TUC caved in when they did. In fact, it felt like air was slowly let out of me. It took a lot of friends and a retrospective look at the events of the past week for me to really appreciate the significance of what just happened to Nigeria. Ordinary people suddenly became more interested in how they where governed.  I saw people carry out selfless acts without being prompted. I saw people boldly question those entrusted with the responsibility to steer this nation in the right direction. I saw a people rise up to shake off the chains of subservience and passive attitude that had so beclouded the people from responding to the profligacy of successive governments.

I saw a people relating beyond ethnic, religious, socio-political and ethnic divide to ensure their voice was heard. I saw people face dangers beyond their capacity to bear and still stood their ground. I saw people exercise a lot of restraint and order in their conduct during the protest even though there was some black incidents in some places that led to loss of life and property but the truth be said, in the overall, Nigerians generally conducted themselves well. For emphasis sake for those that will seek to argue the last point, despite the reported incidences of malpractice in the last election, the election was adjudged by the majority to be peaceful, free and fair. Even the unfortunate events that took place after the results was announced did not detract from this overall perception of the election therefore, this last massive rallying of people against government insensitivity gets a very high score in its peaceful execution. Nigerians generally did not disappoint me.

There’s still a lot of work to be done and I daresay we are making progress speedily. Nigeria is not the same again as in, it is no longer business as usual for the political class.

Some people erroneously misunderstood the reason for the protests. They thought it was just to oppose government policy on the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry in Nigeria. They felt people risked their lives just to force government to revert the pump price of PMS to 65N from where it was hiked to 141N and later fixed at 97N(cost of transport did not reduce oh). They felt some of us where seeking cheap popularity but they are wrong on all counts. We marched to say loud and clear to the federal government that enough is enough of government‘s inability to ensure the security of life of its citizens. We went to the streets to demand our right to life, our right to be safe and protected, our right to work and live wherever we desired in the country. We went out to remind the political class that they swore to uphold the Constitution of this great Nation. We set out to remind them that their responsibility is to the Nigerian people and not the other way round.

In summary, people marched for the opportunity to experience the Nigeria of their dreams in their lifetime. If this is not enough reason to even die for, then tell me what is… and guess what??? This is just the beginning.

The latter glory and greatness of Nigeria, shall supersede the former glory and I shall pray, work and live to experience it… Oh God of creation………..

I had no shoes…

I won’t even deign to talk about the originator of the words above because it is now more than obvious that he is a mere puppet and a huge one at that. I’ll rather beam my searchlight on those who were taken in by his (and his partners in crime), charade and cast their vote for him.

It has always been said that a people always get the government or leadership they deserve and this has been proven to be so over time. Now Nigeria is at the brink of the mother of all “SHOW-DOWNS”. Government vs. the People, these appear to be the major contenders in this era of subsidy removal. From where I sit, I see it as a case of the People vs. the People, though I doubt if a lot of people will see it that way. I make bold to submit that, as I have always said in the past, I still say now, we are our problem and until we accept this reality, we will not be free from the perpetual bondage that we are in. The Legendary late reggae icon said in one his songs “emancipate yourself from mental slavery, non but our selves can free our own mind…” deep words, but we failed to pay attention to it. Then our own home-grown Legend of Afro beat sang and said “suffering and smiling” and yet we dozed on. Now we are suddenly waking up to what we should have dealt with a long time ago.

The propensity of the average Nigerian not to see beyond his/her stomach is mind boggling as the majority of us are caught up in purely subsistence mentality. It is impossible for any form of lasting productivity and development to take root in this country with this kind of mindset. This wholly selfish mindset has been the bane of this nation. Forget all the cry of corruption in the high places, what about the level of corruption among the masses? Have you not heard said during times of heated and passionate discussions over the Nigerian issue how the statement will be made “if you too get there, you will chop your own, na turn by turn my brother, na there turn to chop now wait for your time” I mean for a people that that is all they see about the acts of our elected representatives what more do you expect? The people in government now, don’t they have relations?

Let us stop making blind noise, the shit we smell is on our body and not on another person. Let us first dunk ourselves in water, have a thorough bath before the stench can leave us.

I know Nigerians are hoting up for a fight, all I will say is, people who rush headlong into battle without thinking end up in destruction. Sit down and think, ask yourself hard questions and answer the questions truthfully, do a soul search and confirm if it is not your stomach that is leading you to battle. Check yourself, and sincerely find out if, the growth, development and future of Nigeria is the reason for your anger. Analyze and ensure that, you are not just thinking about me, myself and I but about WE, US and OUR. If after all the introspection, you are sure that the cause of your indignation is righteous and for the common good of all Nigerians, then go ahead and war. War to free us all from bondage. War to ensure a brighter future for generations of Nigerians to come. War to write your name in platinum for posterity to be grateful to.

If war we must, let us agree on one thing. Who is the enemy? If we all are on the same page in this matter, our approach will be holistic and all encompassing. We will move to rid ourselves of everything that could hinder us, put them aside to ensure that we are not distracted and start squabbling among ourselves. We must do away, with issues of Ethnicity, Religion, status etc and be united in our desire to establish the Nigeria of our dream. Our approach must be strategic which means we must plan very well. We must wrest the soul of Nigeria from those who seek to destroy her. We must cover all grounds in our plan considering that our matter is beyond just Oil subsidy removal. Destiny has presented us with this golden opportunity to set things right once and for all in Nigeria, let us seize it with all of our being.

If we take to my advice, then sweet victory is certain, but if we don’t, then I’m afraid. If the latter is the case, then I must say that, for some us, the situation will only affect us it won’t stop us… heed my words, and mark it in your hearts.

The customer is king – the Nigerian parody.

The most vital department or unit of any successful business establishment I believe is the customer relations unit. This unit is there to ensure that the customer is always satisfied and continues to patronize the business. Therefore, to businesses that realize that the consumers are the reason for their being, the saying ‘the customer is king’ is not to be trifled with at all, except in Nigeria.

The population of Nigeria alone translates to economic Eldorado to astute business people. Also and unfortunately, the culture of impunity and anything goes syndrome coupled with the absence of checks and balances on the part of Government creates a breeding ground for all sorts of economic atrocities to go on. The service/goods provider is therefore free to pursue profit at any cost thereby exposing the average Nigerian to all manners of assault on a regular basis in the course of paying for goods/services.

Who do I blame? The normal Nigerian will blame the government. I mean, almost every Nigerian is suffering badgovernmentisalism. This is the disease afflicting the average Nigerian. You pay for goods and services and you are treated like shit on top of all the money you paid for the service or good and it is the fault of the government.

It is amazing what Nigerians accept. Goods and service providers are constantly taking undue advantage of their customers and yet the customers continue to patronize them. To me, it appears Nigerians have been totally emasculated, devoid of the ability to make choices and resigned to constant abuse, rape and all sorts of indignities. It appears the average consumer in Nigeria is a zombie past caring about the treatment meted out by service providers’ et al.

To worsen the situation, the enforcement body in charge of ensuring customer satisfaction does not seem to know the difference between a consumer/customer and a service provider/business. I say this because it appears that in the dictionary of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) which is the body I refer to, the service providers/businesses are the consumers to be protected as they (CPC) stand by and watch customers’ rights being trampled upon and abused with poor service delivery.

My greatest confusion however is not that the CPC is not functioning, this is the norm as far as Nigeria is concerned (let me quickly chirp in here that the wind of positive change is blowing over Nigeria and very soon it will no longer be business as usual) but that the average Nigerian consumer continues to accept such undignified treatment over and over and over ad infinitum again. It is saddening. Maybe the average consumer in Nigeria sees him/herself a beggar, lending weight to the saying that a “beggar has no choice”. Because I am surprised not to see people rebelling such treatment en mass. I am not talking about the occasional protest, but I am talking about people just out rightly saying no to indignity and poor service delivery by boycotting a particular product or business.

It is unfortunate that we the people remain unaware of the power we possess, that we are the reason for the continuing existence of any product or business. That if we decide not to consume a particular product or service that business will fold up. And we allow ourselves to be treated shabbily, cheated out rightly and worse, we still pay to be treated that way.

How many so called customer care line are truly functional? It’s so annoying, it hurts. If the government does fail to protect us the consumer is there nothing we can do about it? I don’t want to believe that Nigeria is populated by people who are defeated, hopeless, helpless, hapless, lifeless, powerless, incapacitated and all other such adjectives, I don’t.

We have the POWER, let’s use it. Let’s say no to poor service delivery by boycotting erring goods/service providers en mass. We are the ones in position to hold them to ransom and not the other way round. Let us be united against such shabby and unprofessional treatment. Let’s not forget that if we choose to ignore it when someone else is maltreated today, it could be us next time around, therefore to ensure that all service providers/businesses at all levels are professional and customer satisfaction oriented in their service delivery, we should as one let them know that they are, because we are.

And thank God for the platform afforded us by internet i.e. the social networks. Do not hesitate to cry foul if exposed to poor service delivery. Put your smart phone to good use if you can, record the scene, do so. Mention the day, date and time and try and get the name of the particular people involved. Feel free to name the business without fear. I am calling out to those who have genuine claims to not keep quiet about it. As many as are bold enough to speak out should be encouraged, we all should lend our voice to theirs. We all have a right to enjoy excellent service delivery therefore a slight to one should be taken as a slight to all.

I am looking forward to the day that we all will refuse to travel due to the excesses of e.g. NURTW (*WINK*)

Remember, they are because we are…

National honors – the Nigerian version

National honors – the Nigerian version

14^th November, 2011, 355 Nigerians were decorated with national honors by the President, himself a GCFR. There have been many that have taken issues with the way and manner and the caliber of people that the award committee chooses for such awards. Some have been known to refuse such honor in light of the many ills still besetting our country.

I want to lend my voice to those who fault the National Awards process as well as the choice of awardees. I want to stand with those who have vehemently declined to accept the awards. Nigeria is a nation that is still held by the jugular by a cabal and they continue to try to portray that all is well.

Thank God for technological advancements so far and for the numerous Reality TV shows that abound. I would have expected the Award committee to take advantage of technology by publishing the names of the nominees and asking Nigerians to vote via SMS, let me leave the result to your imagination. Let me quickly say though, that this is Nigeria oh and anything is possible, who knows the extent to which some people will go just to become an OON. I mean, it is not impossible for someone to pay people to vote for him or her.

That’s by the way o jare, let me ask the award committee a few questions.

1.     Did you care to publish the criteria used for nominations?

2.     Did you care to ask for suggestions from Nigerians?

Let me stop there.

Now to Jonathan, you claim that the award is not given as a result of the position that the awardees hold or held then please explain how IGP Hafiz Ringim came to be on the list. Is it because he is the current Inspector General of Police? If you say the awards are based on a person’s contribution to the nation, can you kindly highlight some of those achievements? Let me supply you a few that readily comes to mind, is the fact that the Force Headquarters of the Police was bombed and Ringim survived the attack that was counted for him as an achievement? Or is that till now, we still do not see an end to the issue of insecurity in Nigeria therefore we reward cluelessness. What high profile case did he solve? Has he unearthed the killers of Bola Ige and co?

To the case of the former Governor of my state Ondo, who stole the mandate of the people and was duly booted out of the office by the court. How did he merit such an award? Oh, I forget. I am guessing his contributions when he was a Deputy Governor and as a Federal minister merited him the honor. Maybe I’m missing something; he may have contributed to the academic field right? Help me out please.

Is it the tears shed on Benin – Ore - Lagos express road by former Minster of Works, road and transport now Minster of Petroleum resources, the longest serving minister so far having served starting from the Time of Obasanjo till date in the person of Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. Is it that she has served for soooooo long that she is being awarded or that she contributed her tears to the blood that have wet the Benin – Ore –Lagos road due to the many accidents and robberies on that stretch of road due to government neglect that she is being awarded. Or is it that our refineries are now fully operational, or the impending oil subsidy removal dangling on our heads?

I can go on, but suffice me to say, the process of nominating people for the National Honors is hugely skewed. A lot of the people being given these awards are not positive role models and such do not deserve such honor. Some of the awardees may be deserving of such honor but I regret to say that the entire process has become laughable among well meaning Nigerians.

In fact, as a general studies question, ask anybody on the street if they know what any of the awardees have done and how the person has affected his or her life, I won’t be surprised if the person you mentioned is not known to them.

I stand with the Late Gani Senior Advocate of the Masses, Prof. Chinua Achebe and Honorable Gbajabiamila. I lend my voice to what they stand for. I lend my voice to a better Nigeria. We should be careful the kind of legacies we leave behind. We should be mindful of how the future will remember us. We should fear God. We are not deceived. We are not blind to your antics. We are not influenced by your gimmicks. There still remains a breed without greed in this nation and we are gathering momentum. It’s a matter of time, and that time is upon us. The time is now…