ON MINISTER PANTAMI EXTREMISM 

A few years ago, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, if I remember his name correctly, wrote that during the Yar'Adua Presidency, a gentleman was slated for a job in the federal government for a diplomatic mission or so, and during the vetting process, they discovered that he wrote an essay, focusing on the North/South political divide. As a result, he was disqualified. Yes, disqualified for having the audacity to address the North/South divide issues in his published work. Where are we today? A minister who openly and consistently propagated terrorism and death to kafir (infidel) doctrine, being encouraged to stay on the job by an inherently bigoted administration because he is a Muslim and Hausa/Fulani. So, there has never been a level playing field in terms of opportunities for the two regions. But this Pantami Case is beyond the pale. 

CELEBRATING CONVICTION

We live in a society where even the animals in the wild are treated more humanely and accorded more pity than Black men. We see that every day. 

Seeing people of colour celebrating the conviction of a law enforcement officer who maliciously snuffs the life out of another human being over a fake $20 bill, epitomizes the injustice that has been Blacks' experience since slavery. To most Americans, it is a milestone. But I beg to disagree. Nothing has changed, except the arrival of smartphones. Were it not for the video recording by a standby witness, there would not have been prosecution or conviction. That explains why the focus of this essay is on the training and Police Chiefs.  

THE GUY WHO BUILT DUBAI - April 20, 2021

I am black. An African and a Christian. Yet, he offered me a job on the spot, even though I didn't apply for a job or tell him that I was available for a job. And that's the spirit of the making of Dubai - race, geography, and religious neutrality.

As most Nigerians were doing at the time, I was a full-time student but was driving a Taxi on weekends, starting from Friday night. And that was how we met. I offered him a ride in my rented Cab at Logan Airport in Boston on his way to a hotel in Cambridge around Harvard Yard. As it's always the convention, passengers would always want to know about you, where you come from, how long you've been in America, your background, etc. And that is how the discussion started and how we came to know much about each other.

As we were approaching his final destination, he summarized in one long sentence what I'd told him about myself in a discussion that lasted for about 45 minutes. You are a Lawyer in Nigeria, who came to America a few years ago, went to a Computer school and trained to become a Certified System Engineer, worked in the IT industry for a few years, and are presently a graduate student at Harvard, studying for Administration and Management, and driving a Taxi on weekends. Am I correct? You are very correct, I responded.

And he paused for a moment. Like a bolt from the blue, he asked, "Do you want to work in the Middle East after your graduation?" I replied with a choreographed NO, adding "I am going back to my country after my studies." Come on, Alex, you will enjoy it, he added. (We'd already introduced ourselves the moment he entered my Taxi).

I have met a lot of guys and family members like him in the past, but he looks unusual. They normally travel in a huge arsenal of luggage. But, he had with him only his briefcase and one suitcase. I said to him you travel light, you don't look like the usual tourist. He laughed and told me that he was on assignment on behalf of his King. And he went on to explain to me about his country and why he is in the US.

According to him, his King gave him three blank cheques to build (1) a University in the style and strength of Harvard University, (2) a Medical Center that is about ten times the size of what you guys have around the Longwood area of Boston, and (3) a brand new city the world has never seen before.

Hearing that, I asked him if he was an Engineer. He said no. How are you going to accomplish all that? That's why I am here to meet with consultants in your school. He replied in a tone of a man on a mission.

I will never forget the answer he gave me when I raised the issue of how he was going to staff the medical centres. He said, you guys [Nigerians] are very smart, we will get Medical Doctors from your country and from all over the world. When I dropped him off at the Cambridge Hilton, he told me to meet him tomorrow morning if I changed my mind. And I thank him for his kindness.

The year was around 2002. The rest is now a reality, still evolving and still being defined because the world has yet to see the finish line of the making of the Great Kingdom of Dubai.

Thanks to a king who could dream big dreams and did not allow race and ethnic biases to cloud his sense of judgment in picking and trusting a young man who would play a big role in ensuring the culmination of his humongous dreams.

Dr Akinola Aguda, may his soul rest in peace, was the chair of the group that selected the present Abuja as the location of our new federal capital. Since the creation of the FCT, no Southerner is yet good enough to be the Chairman of the new city. That was not how they built and building Dubai.

Of Pantamin and the Extremism of Northern Intelligentsia.

The more extreme views they propagate, whether on religious issues, ethnic issues, or political issues, the faster they ascend on our federal government leadership ladder. Go and do a checkup on all their radicals, political activists, and ethnic chauvinists; they are untouchable and they dominate the helm of affairs at the national level.

And most often, their views and the policies they champion remain the dominant national standard. Beginning from Sir Almadu Bello's opposition to the 1953 motion for independence by Chief Anthony Enahoro, which was slated for 1956, until this very moment; what is good for Nigeria or what is a national priority is defined through the prism of the Northern priority test. 

If, for instance, a proposed policy statement or program will not benefit them in the same magnitude that it is likely to benefit other tribes (the Petroleum Industry Bill); or, if more Southerners stand to benefit from the program than Northerners (free education at all levels, Southeast Seaport, or Lagos/Badagry/West Africa Highway), even if it was NOT originally designed to be so, the program or proposal will enjoy the approval of the Federal Government of Nigeria. 

The majority of them - from Professor Ango Abdullahi, the former VC of ABU to Professor Jubril Aminu, the former VC of Unimaid who later became IBB Minister for Education and later as Petroleum Resources and a Senator, to the late tempestuous Dr. Junaid Muhammed, a once upon a time General Sani Abacha Main Man; just to name a few, the more extreme and irredentist they are the more power they are given and the more influence they exude over the affairs of our nation-state. 

These guys are the true definition of bigotry and ethnic chauvinism. Yet they loom large on the national stage over the years, unrepentant, unhinged, and celebrated. Mr. Pantamin is ousted because of social media. That he has changed is sheer baloney. Those extreme credentials, those extreme views are what made him the darling of the cabal. It is worth repeating: those explosive credentials and propaganda skills are the reasons he is where he is today. And again, he is not alone. 

There are thousands of him today all over our MDAs. Though his views may come to us (Southerners) as an unpleasant surprise, it is not inconsistent with the established order or popular views within the Northern intelligentsia. Because it has always been how to undermine and dilute the Southern influence and not what is good for Nigeria. It is irrelevant to the political party in power, there is always power behind the scene and they are very vociferous and for one goal only. It is about what is good for them.

When APC won the Presidential election of 2015 and retired General Buhari was sworn in as the President, the major concern before the cabal that hijacked the mandate was NOT how to form a viable government and constitute a cabinet that is made up of formidable, credible, and well tested Nigerians, and with a view to bringing the best out of the Progressive mandate. Nope, nope, not at all; it was how to domesticate Asiwaju Tinuubu politically, make him irrelevant, and took the shine of the "architect of the victory" out of him. 

And in the process, they opened a window of opportunity for the highly urbane Dr. Saraki and his clique to take over the control at the National Assembly. The Sola Saraki's civilian coup was not against APC as a political party that won the Presidential election but against Asiwaju Tinubu and his Yoruba influence. It is - whether Asiwaju likes it or not - a prim and proper Northern Mandate and not a national progressive mandate. That was the goal then and it remains so today. 

If there is any decent man left in that Aso Rock, this man should be gone by now. This is no longer about Christians versus Muslims, South versus North, or PDP versus APC in Nigeria, it is now Nigeria as a nation-state plus President Buhari Administration against the rest of the world for perpetuating a terrorist and terrorism influencer in office as a Minister. 

Right now, Nigeria has no global image to maintain. What we have left in the eyes of the world is no longer about crude oil or the highly disputed giant of Africa label. It is our music, our movies, and the highly talented and intellectually gifted Nigerians that continue to shine in classrooms, lecture halls, and the corporate environment all over the world. That this man is still in office, is a shame on Professor Gambari as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

EMPATHIZING FOR STAY AT HOME MOMS

This decision - I pray it stands in the higher courts - will go a long way in checkmating our greedy Nigerian men from the unchecked culture of forceful eviction of their wives from their matrimonial homes, without due compensation. It is sickening. And I salute the courage of the presiding Judge. 

Staying a home Mom (bearing and rearing your kids, fixing your meals, and doing the housework) is a full-time job, deserving commensurate compensation in the event of separation or total annulment of the union. That is the law in the US. The acquired property during the marriage remains marital property or community property as it is called in the state of California, subject to equitable distribution. 

Why our learned colleagues (especially the ladies) as well as those in the classrooms have not taken up the issue over the years and updated our Family Law according, is stupefying. That a Lawyer would now have to dig into the Married Woman Property Act of 1882 to make a case for his client is the height of creativity and doesn't tell good of our legal system. 

A few months ago,  I saw a similar story in the newspaper of an Esan Billionaire from Ewatto who kicked his first wife of many years out of their matrimonial mansion in Lagos and went ahead to marry his younger and prettier Secretary. He didn't even allow the now old first wife to take control of the smaller house in Benin City or make provision for her accommodation elsewhere. So, I think it's high time the NBA takes up that issue of equitable distribution of marital property between the parties after divorce or separation, even if it means rewriting the entire Family Law.  

Anyway, please, I did not take Family Law at Ekpoma, so I hold and share these views believing that our Nigerian Family Law is silent on the question of adequate compensation or disbursement of marital property in favour of our women during divorce proceedings. 

Governor El'Rufai and Decentralization of Power: When The Wrong One Loves You Right.

The long essay that you are about to read addresses Governor El'Rufai's speech at the recent Federal Government Townhall Meeting on National Security, held at the Main Lecture Theatre of the Kaduna State University (KASU) on Thursday, 8th April 2021.

I shared this story yesterday, April 09, 2021, on my Wall, unfortunately, Southern Bloggers and True Federalism and Restructuring Advocates whom the story targeted didn't have the time to read it. The speech garners no response or attention, even for the sake of curiosity. The reason for that is quite obvious. The story has the imprint of the wrong guy - the one you love to hate

That wholesale and collective absentmindedness is the reason a few of us are still in the game - writing and lecturing in our Plain English because the big names that attract the big audience in social and print media have no clue of what is at stake or what True Federalism is about or how to move this country forward.

There is no disputing the facts, all of us cannot retreat to the jungle to wage guerilla war or become Sunday Igboho or Nnamdi Kanu, we could at least be up to date in the debate on how to overcome the uncertainties of the moment and find ways to make the best out of the uncertainties.

If you really want to develop a good understanding of the basics of True Federalism or Decentralization of Power or Restructuring and how they are in real-time or reality, start by reading and committing to memory all the points that Governor El'Rufai articulated in his speech, which is coming up shortly below. He covers almost everything you want to know about the Decentralization of Power and True Federalism. His speech is on all fours with my 2014 essay on the same issue and that was what propelled my interest and enthusiasm.

The only contentious issue I anticipate in his essay is point number 7(4), which deals with onshore minerals. I am, nevertheless, confident that at the right time, Nigerian experts in Energy and Environmental Law will meet to iron out a reasonable demarcation between onshore and offshore reserves, with a view to making provisions and setting aside funds for pollution and unforeseen environmental catastrophe.

After all is said and done, the big question now is who is reading and debating El'Rufai? And that is the Southern tragedy, which is the Nigerian tragedy - not knowing when and how to join the debate and run with bold visions.

Analysis:

How can you understand your enemies or work with them, when you are oblivious to their strategies and tactics or when they extend an olive branch. This is not about El-Rufai. It is about you, the dream you hold, and propagates True Federalism and Restructuring over the years. What he is saying is what True Federalism or Decentralization of Power or Restructuring is all about. Unless, of course, you have no understanding of the doctrine you propagate.  

If I had, in my coverage of El'Rufai's speech, taken solace in acerbic language, calling him unprintable names, telling him to go back to the mountain of Fouta-Djallon to settle with his ancestors, the essay would no doubt, be celebrated. And it would have garnered numerous likes and shares. But when it is about solutions and moving forward, it is a no-go area. And that's how we perpetuate ignorance within the so-called Southern intelligentsia over the years. They don't know all and they won't give room to those who are less intellectually endowered or do not have a Ph.D. tag by their names. 

I realized long ago that the minority tribe and the Northern interest groups succeeded in consolidating their hold on our federal system, because they dominate the policy-framing narrative and implementation strategies, without alternative views from the celebrated Southern intellectuals. One example will suffice. 

When Dr. Jubril Amnin and his Northern mavericks authored the infamous memo on bridging the educational gaps between the Northern and the Southern regions of Nigeria and argued that free education at all is not in our national interest because it will widen the educational gaps between the two regions further, there was no commensurate or spirited rebuttal from the Southern intellectuals. Today, that southern absentmindedness is everyone's nightmare. 

In hindsight, Dr Aminu and his fellow Northern authors were wrong then and wrong today on free education at all levels nationwide. The ills that the miseducation of Nigerian youths that the momo incubated are responsible for the insecurity that has turned Nigeria upside down.

Today, the Northern political leaders and the behind the scene mavericks doing all their thinking over since the amalgamation, do not know what to do with the almajiri population, the mass-illiteracy all over the Northern axis, and the hopelessness that turned a supposed law-abiding people into bandits and kidnappers for ransom. Sadly, regional sophistry is now a national tragedy. And that's the reason you must stand up and speak up. 

Get involved, guys. Join the debate when it is fresh, especially when your opinion will help to make a change. And that's why I write and that's why I seek your indulgence to get involved. Join hands, buddy, let's debate El-Rufai's paper. Don't say no one is reading your opinion; they are reading your opinion. You can trust me on that. This is where the action is, not at the National Assembly.