Farouk: Terrorist? No! Misguided? Yes!!

By Dele Sobowale

I started reading Nigerian newspapers in 1953 —mostly those absolutely delightful cartoon/advertisements by Nigerian Breweries featuring Sammy Sparkle. Who in our generation can forget that mischievous character who popped up almost every where to stop a train; to stop a fight, etc, and the punch line —“I did says Sammy Sparkle; its time for STAR”.

I was also a good listener; in fact the best listener when my father, a Yoruba man who would gladly lay his life on the line for “Zik of Africa” and my eldest brother, who was a die-hard Awoist engaged themselves in arguments over their heroes. Between father, who religiously read the West African Pilot published by Zik and my brother, who devoured the Tribune, published by Awolowo, I got to know most of the important news of each day.

Never in those 56 years has the media in Nigeria and respected opinion leaders made such individual and collective fools of themselves as they have done since the news of Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to commit suicide was first announced by the American owned CNN network on Christmas day.

Notice the words “attempt to commit suicide” because that is what most of our commentators missed. The CBN, naturally, had gone to considerable length to portray Farouk as a terrorist because an American aircraft was involved and the attempt occurred as the plane was about to land in Detroit — one of America’s largest cities. It was understandable that the news network would take the politically “correct” position in their broadcasts with regard to this incident.

But, it was poor journalism. Worse than that; it was pure propaganda —as this article would show.

Media executioners

While CNN’s position was understandable, the response of the Nigerian media, opinion leaders, the Federal Government and even Farouk’s father was at first puzzling and finally enraging. CNN labeled Farouk a “terrorist” and every damn fool in Nigeria who had access to a page of newspaper or a few minutes on the air in electronic media, was gullible enough to accept that label without question and a barrage of the most prejudicial statements and commentaries followed.

Editors, who should be more discerning, were all on holidays and they allowed their papers to be used in the most despicable manner — to defame Farouk; to pronounce him guilty — even before pleas are taken and to have handed the poor misguided boy to American executioners. Well, I have a name for my media colleagues, from CNN to Nigerian columnists — on this matter.

As far as I am concerned they are all a bunch of media executioners. They have not even bothered with the first golden rule of journalism and law —let the other party be heard. None of our engaging and erudite columnists has spoken to Farouk; and failing that none had put on their thinking caps to ask themselves if Farouk’s right — namely the right to be presumed innocent of the charges — were being violated.

When Mark Twain, 1835-1910, wrote in Innocents at Home, “Are you going to hang him anyhow — and try him afterward?”, he must have had in mind a situation such as this.

And it was not only Farouk who was thoughtlessly slaughtered in the collective race to hand the poor boy to American executioners. His parents, the Federal Government and even the re-branding effort of the Yar’Adua’s administration and the Nigerian nation were all taken to the media abattoir and butchered.

But was Farouk guilty of terrorism? Was his father wrong to have sent his son abroad for his education? Should the unfortunate incident be a reason to jettison the re-branding effort? And should Nigeria and Nigerians feel embarrassed and hide their heads in shame? The answer to all the questions, surprisingly, is a resounding NO!

Permit me to start in reverse order to point out how Nigerians have allowed themselves to be fooled by US propaganda and the thoughtlessness of our public opinion molders.

Virtually every day bombs go off in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, killing several hundred more people than were on the Delta Airline plane that Farouk was accused of attempting to blow off. Neither the governments nor the people in those countries feel ashamed or embarrassed. Why? Because they, and the entire world, realise that those carrying out these activities are in the tiniest minority. The vast majority of the people just want to live a peaceful life —if they can.

By the same token, 90% or more of Nigerians have never boarded an aircraft —and probably never will. An even larger majority — close to 99.99999% know nothing about explosives; they neither know how they are made and how they are used.

So in what way does Farouk represent them and as a result they should feel ashamed. In fact, Farouk is a product of the foreign countries — including Britain and America, now making the most deafening noise about a Nigerian “terrorist” when there is none. So Nigeria and my fellow countrymen and women have nothing to be ashamed of on this matter which the Western media and their Nigerian collaborators have blown out of proportion — as you will soon see.

Those carpeting the father for sending his son abroad for education are simply envious. There is probably no Nigerian today blessed with Alhaji Mutallab’s money who will not ship his children to school abroad. And, if a university in London harbours subversive elements hell-bent on preying on poor misguided souls, the fault is not Alhaji Mutallab’s own; nor Nigeria’s. The fault is with the British government which had failed to curb such activities on its campuses.

Alhaji Mutallab, as a matter of fact, deserves a pat on the back for not engaging in cover-up. Few fathers will report their sons to the CIA or British security forces. Alhaji made only one cardinal error —which is, jeopardising his son’s right to strong defence when the case comes up.

He should not have released the statement that he did because it can be misconstrued as admission that his son is guilty as charged by the media executioners —at home or abroad. Later in this article, Alhaji and Nigerians will be shown the way forward.

But, let me announce the destination of this journey — Nigerians should collectively put up a fight to save Farouk’s life. And the reasons are not hard to discover.

First, America never releases its citizens for prosecution in another country. So contemptuous are they of the quality of other nation’s judiciary that they don’t even believe an American can receive fair trial even in Western countries.

Secondly, Britain has provided the example of what a country should do when its citizen is on trial in other lands. As the Farouk story was playing on SKY NEWS, another story was on the air. A Briton had been sentenced to death in China for smuggling hard drugs into that country.

The British government and the man’s family proceeded to mount a campaign to free the man. He was pronounced mentally unstable — yet nobody presented a doctor’s report to substantiate the claim. The Chinese were made to feel like brutes despite the fact the more people are killed and more lives are destroyed by drug trafficking than all the homicides arising from “terrorism”.

The message was clear; Britain wanted its citizen’s life to be spared irrespective of the fact that the judgment was based on convincing proof and guilt was beyond reasonable doubt. By contrast Farouk was being cut and quartered at home and abroad by people who have not even heard the evidence.

Who’s a terrorist?

Now we come to the main issue —was Farouk guilty of terrorism? Was he a terrorist? And do all the facts at our disposal point to terrorism? Few of us are experts on the subject and even the experts don’t always agree. But, every one is familiar with the saying that, “one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter”.

Every time a bazooka lands in Israel from the West Bank, the Israelis call it a terrorist attack; the Palestinians call it a blow for liberation of Palestine from the illegal occupants. When Israel, in response to the bazooka which killed one person, sends bombers and tanks into Lebanon and reduce the city to rubbles — including children’s hospital — the West calls it retaliation; Arabs call it genocide.

Who’s right? It all depends on who you are. There is absolutely no reason why Nigerians should swallow — hook, line and sinker — the West’s characterisation of an event as “terrorist” any more than we can expect them to accept it as “liberation effort”.

At any rate, if America can recruit Britain, Australia and other nations to fight its war in Afghanistan or Iraq, and those soldiers are not called “terrorists” regardless of how many Arabs they massacre, what stops the Arabs from seeking help wherever they can find it?

This is not an admission that Farouk was a recruit for al-Queda despite US propaganda. It is to point out to everyone that there is a war on in the Middle East started on the basis of a lie told by US President Bush and British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, about weapons of mass destruction, WMD, in Iraq. I recollect writing in my SUNDAY VANGUARD column before the war started that “Bush and Blair would invade Iraq even if there is no single pen knife in the country”.

Today the whole world knows there was no WMD; the whole world also knows that over one million Iraqis have lost their lives since the invasion and the once thriving country has been devastated. What can be more “terrorist” than that?

Now we come to my “son”, Farouk. I call him son, not only because I am old enough to be his father, but because I feel pity for him and if possible, I will adopt him. If it is possible to visit him, I will hug him and tell him that he has not been abandoned; that in my books, he is not a terrorist. Again the facts at our disposal should be our guide. And what do we know?

Why did he do it?

First we know that Farouk is the son of one of the richest men in Nigeria and that he stands to inherit — if we can save him from the executioners — millions of naira and, may be, even dollars. In fact, he will probably not ever have to work for a living if he chooses not to and he will still live in affluence for the rest of his life. The obvious question is: why does a fellow like that want to blow himself up? Once that question crops up in your mind, you begin to see the truth, namely that we have a mind disturbed in a handsome body frame.

In short Farouk was, and is still, not himself. And nothing proves this more than the approach he adopted to end his life. In short the fellow was embarked on suicide in the most “tragic-comical” manner.

Second, most of us forget, when reading about suicide bombers, that the first word is SUICIDE. That comes before bomber. Obviously, any person with so much to live for, and who contemplates suicide, is not a candidate for the electric chair or the firing squad but a mental hospital.

Third, the poor boy, in absolute ignorance of how to manipulate the device he procured for the suicide bid, strapped the damned thing to his vital organs — which raises one question. Which well-adjusted young man still in his twenties would want to blow off his “tool box”?

Even my old friends, past 70, until their dying days guarded the “strong room” jealously. Despite the attempt by CNN and other Western media to prove that the explosive could have blown a hole in the plane’s fuselage, which they considered a sufficient reason to label Farouk as a “terrorist”, the fact remains that if the device had gone off as planned, Farouk was the only sure candidate for kingdom come. The seats next to him appeared empty and a plane might still be landed with a hole in the fuselage. It has happened before.

Fourth, a real terrorist generally wants to witness the result of his efforts. They plant an explosive which is detonated by remote control or with a timer allowing them to get away before the explosion occurs. Just as in the regular army, a soldier is trained to kill for his country, not to die. In so far as he dies, he has been a failure. So the real terrorist wants to live to terrorise another day.

The suicide bomber is another character all together. He would not see the outcome of his mission — if he succeeds. In that respect, he has a lot more in common with others embarking on self-liquidation. Having decided to end his life, the next most important question is: how?

The methods range from those who go alone to those who decide not to “walk alone”. And once it is decided that the exit must be accomplished by taking a crowd along, then it does not matter whether he drives his car on the path of a speeding train, or a fully loaded bus or a plane full of passengers. Farouk chose the plane and he is no more a terrorist than the fellow who caused the train to derail taking 400 people with him.

Nigerians must save Farouk

So far, all evidence at our disposal can only support one conclusion — suicide. That it occurred on Delta Airlines and in a plane coming to land in Detroit are secondary considerations. And if it is suicide, the fellow should not be executed but helped. And the only people who can help him are Nigerians. And Alhaji Mutallab must take the lead for his son to be saved.

We must adopt the Western approach; which means we establish a SAVE FAROUK ORGANISATION. Its functions will include raising funds to ensure that Farouk obtains the best legal team money can engage. The second is to start a multimedia campaign, including using CNN, to convince the world that Farouk is not a mass murderer but a sick young man.

The third is to insist that Nigeria’s leading psychiatrists should be called to assess his mental state. It is doubtful if an American or English doctor can accurately diagnose mental illness in a Nigerian who is not a raving lunatic already.

Fourth, the Federal Government of Nigeria, instead of distancing itself from Farouk, should use diplomatic approaches to get him released to a Nigerian psychiatric hospital for treatment. The fifth is to get Nigeria’s media executioners to stop labeling the fellow a terrorist and to join the campaign to save Farouk.

It will not be easy, given the prejudicial statements most commentators have made before. But, we must hold the life of every Nigerian so sacred as not to throw them to foreign wolves when they present with evidence that they are asking for help which sometimes manifests itself in extremism.

Finally, this is not an issue which should be confronted by Muslims alone. I am a Christian; but, that should not stop me from standing up and defending a Muslim who is being led to the slaughter house as we are now doing to our son Farouk. Will you join the struggle?

January 4, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Daele Sobowale  Comments

Mutallab: We Are Guilty By Association

By Reuben Abati

Nigerians were not favourite air travellers before the Christmas Day Flight 253 bomb scare incident involving our 23-year old compatriot Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: the rest of the world looked upon Nigerians as potential crooks (even if there are more crooks in Italy and Russia). We were accused of being too noisy and aggressive (one Nigerian got chased off a British airways flight and was promptly banned for life from all BA flights: this caused so much furore). Part of our profile is the label of being the biggest load carriers in the world. On nearly every route, Nigerians tend to have more luggage than other travellers (British Airways has had to create a special luggage re-pack area for Nigerians at Heathrow’s Terminal Five, the only nationals that have been given that curious distinction).

Nigerians were also regarded as potential drug couriers or illegal immigrants: the country’s green passport received detailed attention, to be sure that the passport belonged to the man or woman holding it! Visas originating from Nigeria were screened more than averagely. As a Nigerian flight arrived at an international airport, sniffer dogs were directed to check out the Nigerians. Since Nigerians like to travel with foodstuff, many of them ended up with their ogbono seeds, processed melon, fish, kilishi being sent to the laboratory for proper examination to detect possible traces of cocaine. Others could be handpicked and asked to use the toilet by force. Not even our national icons are spared such humiliation. Before December 25, 2009, Nigerians loved to protest that the humiliation that they received at local embassies issuing visas and at international ports was most undeserved. Young visa officers at the embassies treated Nigerian applicants like vermin. We didn’t like that at all.

Now, the Mutallab effect seems to be shutting us all up. The shame is collectively shared. The collateral damage is resulting in embarrassment and self-doubt. After December 25, 2009, this was a foreseeable development. Our apprehension was further confirmed by the Sunday December 27 incident involving another Nigerian who again was travelling from Amsterdam to the United States. The Nigerian passenger, suffering from incontinence had reportedly stayed a bit longer in the lavatory. Two days earlier, his compatriot whose suicide-bombing attempt had failed had also spent a little time in the lavatory. Both are black men. Other passengers therefore jumped to a convenient conclusion (here is another suicide bomber from Nigeria!). The poor man was treated as if he was another terrorist trying to finish off what his compatriot had bungled on Christmas day. Mutallab may go to jail for attempted suicide-bombing etc., but all Nigerians travelling internationally would henceforth also pay a price, for we have all been adjudged guilty by association.

A cousin who is home on Christmas Holiday couldn’t have expressed the dilemma better when he pointed out 72 hours to his departure that he would also be travelling through Amsterdam.

“Mutalllab travelled through my route. I don’t want to imagine what would happen when I get to Amsterdam,” he had said.

“They will search you from head to toe, that is all.”

“No. It is not that simple. They will do it in a way that you’d feel you have been pronounced guilty by association. Every Nigerian will now be treated like a Mutallab; as if there is a Mutallab in all of us. ”

“You don’t have to worry. As long as you don’t go to the toilet too often, or appear too motionless, nobody will treat you like a suspect.”

“Are you saying Nigerians are now banned from using the lavatory on international flights? I can’t believe that”

“I have not said that. But don’t go into the toilet and start grunting the way many of you do, or spend more time than necessary as if you are busy mixing substances.”

“But why is Ghana not being criticised? The young man travelled through Accra. Why is Holland not being asked to talk about the security at Amsterdam Schiphol International? Why is the focus on Nigeria?

“Simple. It was your man that tried to blow up an aircraft with explosives.”

Since December 25, 2009, there have been reports of airports across the world beefing up their security systems with three dimensional (3D) image scanners. Again, this is causing so much concern among Nigerians. One other fellow, also based in diaspora, had observed that airport authorities need to provide more information about how the 3D scanners work.

“I mean they can’t just go and give somebody cancer because they are looking for explosives. I understand that scanning the entire human anatomy, with electro-magnetic waves could have implications for health. I travel a lot. So does it mean that at every airport, I’ll be exposed to a full scan.”

“Looks like.”

“And I can bet we Nigerians will be targeted specially. We should speak up.”

“Yes and No.”

“You know what bothers me?”, one fellow who had been busy battling with a plate of cow leg interjected. “It is this thing they call 3D.”

“It is not new really. It has always been there.”

“But my attention has just been drawn to it. I understand that 3D scanning, the type that airports are now using will capture the human anatomy from all angles and indicate every part of the body, showing if anything is hidden anywhere.”

“Looks like. It is an advanced security check mechanism.”

“But there are ethical and legal issues.”

“How?”

“How? You are asking me how? You tell me how combatting international terrorism or a threat of it should allow any agency to use a see-all, tell-all machine that invades the body of another human being. That is not security; it is voyeurism. Peeping Toms may derive much fun from it, but I don’t like it.”

“As if your opinion matters… A 3D will only show outlines. How do I explain it? It is like the luggage screening machine.”

“You see. I am saying the same thing. It will show every hidden thing.”

“An outline actually.”

“That is unacceptable. My wife travels a lot. She is not a terrorist, not a would-be bomber.”

“How do you know?”

“I know because I am her husband.”

“You are not making sense.”

“I may not be making any sense to you. But what I am saying is that the West should know what it is introducing when it says it wants to fight international terrorism by all means. Using a three dimensional scanner to scan the outlines of the anatomy of a female homo sapiens is immoral. Can you imagine an airport official scanning my wife’s body? If they are not careful, they will create more suicide-bombers, they will turn decent men into international militants!”

“Look Mr Man, go and sit down. World peace and the lives of other human beings are more important than your wife’s outline. Woman-wrapper. The whole world is talking about peace and security, you are reducing everything to 3D scanner and your wife.”

“I know what I am talking about. As a Muslim, I have a duty to protect my wife.”

“That is precisely what visa officers don’t want to hear at this moment. If you go to an embassy as a Nigerian and you declare that your name is Farouk, Sulaiman, Abdulrazak, Abdul, Mujahiddin… You see, the moment those cynical visa officers type your name into the computer and it brings up the names of terrorists and suicide bombers who share the same names, they won’t waste a minute before stamping your passport: No visa, no visa, no visa.”

The discussion soon focussed on the report that since the Mutallab incident, airports across the world have been subjecting Nigeria-bound luggage or luggage originating therefrom to heavy security screening. In effect, many Nigerians arrive at their destinations without their luggage, or when it eventually arrives, it bears all the imprints of tampering, excessive examination and so on, in a few cases, the luggage is declared missing.

“Not funny”, my cousin said. “Do you know what that means in terms of time and cost? If your bags don’t come in when they should, it means you’d have to go back and check, phone calls and all that, time that should be spent on other things will be devoted to a journey that has not been allowed to end because the airline is looking for powder and liquid explosives.”

“That is the Mutallab Effect.”

“But the young man has not even been found guilty yet. Let them punish the offender and not punish a whole country. I don’t even know what a bomb looks like if I see it. So, why punish me?”

“These things don’t work like that.”

“Not fair.”

“The world has never been fair to anyone.”

“If any airline plays around with my luggage, I’d sue. I will go to court. They can only try that at the Nigerian end, not in the United States. You misplace my luggage, you pay for it.”

“Come to think of it,” I said. “May be there is a good side to all of this.”

“What is good in all Nigerians been tagged a Mutallab by the international community?”

“May be Nigerians will now behave better at airports around the world, knowing that they are being closely watched, May be our people will spend less time in aircraft lavatories. Have you not observed that when a Nigerian gets into the lavatory in an aircraft before you, he or she actually settles down there as if it is a sitting room?”

“Get away. You like to criticise everything. Make man no offload?”

“Well, may be all of this will teach Nigerians to travel light. If you know that your luggage may be delayed or you may lose a bag or two, then you’d reduce everything to hand luggage.”

“That will never happen. By the time you buy shoes for Ekaette, perfume for Ngozi; handbag for Mama Silifa, clothes for the children, the ones at home and the ones outside, with special emphasis on the latter, the bags are bound to multiply. It is only oyinbo travellers who don’t buy anything for anybody. We are Africans.”

“I know. Your ancestors were load carriers. It is in the genes.”

“How do you tell Nigerian travellers on the Dubai route not to carry baggage? I once saw a woman with five bags. When customs opened the bags, they found toilet rolls. Toilet rolls from Dubai!”

“I can imagine the Customs officials begging to be given a pack. We blame the Police all the time, but if you know the level of corruption in Customs, you’d scream E-F-C-C.”

“No. I will scream Fari-da Wa-zi-ri.”

“Be careful. That is another man’s wife.”

“What? Mr Waziri has donated his wife.”

“That is interesting. To you?”

“To public service.”

We concluded that after the initial expression of surprise, and the many questions that have been raised, the Mutallab incident is invariably about all of us as Nigerians. It presents government with special challenges, to the extent that the country’s image has been dealt a heavy blow which needs to be managed, and all Nigerians have now become guilty would-be terrorists, they are in the dock along with their compatriot, and Nigeria finds itself in the ugly situation of being classified as part of the axis of evil. The international media is feeding on the story, seeking a story behind every possible lead. By the time they are through, they may discover a lot more that will further tarnish the country’s image. The initial statement by the Federal Government is now inadequate, the world needs to be reassured continuously that Nigeria has not yet become a haven of terrorists.

We, the good ones are in the majority, and we are the real Nigerians not the boko haram, not the kala kato, not the treasury looters, not the sick leaders, not their wives, not the armed robbers and assassins, not the agents of Lord Lugard. Because every Nigerian who loses his or her mind brings shame upon the rest of us, the challenge of rescuing Nigeria is invariably the collective responsibility of the good majority. Those who mouth the rhetoric of citizens’ diplomacy should now do some work; and they need not embark on estacode-guzzling trips around the world to discharge that function. This is the 50th year of Nigeria’s independence, 50 years after the writing of Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease. It is sad that Nigeria is still No Longer At Ease.

January 3, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Reuben Abati  Comments

Time to Say Goodbye

by Dele Momodu

I had planned to say a different kind of goodbye to my ardent readers last week. A call to the Editor of THISDAY the Saturday Paper, Ms Ijeoma Nwogwugwu changed all that.

THISDAY was on holiday last Saturday, so I didn’t have to stress myself writing the Pendulum column. I had nearly completed what should have been my last piece for my THISDAY column. My target was to quit my weekly writing by the last Saturday of 2009. But that was not to be. That break turned out to be some kind of blessings, even if on some sad notes.

First was the unthinkable news of the alleged Nigerian bomber on an America-bound flight. I thought someone was cracking some cruel joke when the news broke. Nigerians have been widely advertised as the world’s happiest people. We often boast that a revolution cannot take place in our dear country for that simple reason.

We’d readily enter the Guinness Books of Records as the unsurpassable merry-makers on planet earth. How was I to believe that a 23-year old charming boy was capable of not just killing himself but also attempting to terminate almost 300 innocent souls? The story of the handsome young man remains stranger than fiction. Even as I write this the whole world is agog with the story of “The Nigerian”.

As if that was not rattling enough, I was in the ancient city of Ile-Ife last Sunday, December 27, 2009, when a text message flew into my phone like thunderbolt. I was instantly dazed by its content: MARYAM BABANGIDA IS DEAD! Like a somnambulist, I tried to clear my head of the confused state I was in.

And the journalist in me immediately took over. This was the second time in less than two months that I was receiving such terrible news. I decided to crosscheck with someone I knew was very close to the Babangidas and was able to confirm the breaking news.

I was more familiar with Maryam Babangida’s daughter, Aisha, but did not know where she was at that moment. As tradition demands in Africa, it was necessary to offer my condolences to the bereaved. I decided to send mine to Aisha and prayed for Allah to accept her mum’s soul. Surprisingly, I received a response from Aisha shortly after: “Dele, thank you very much for your thoughtful prayers. Thank you.” I could imagine how she felt at moment being a veteran of the same motherless status. My mum died over two years ago but I still cry like a baby once in a while. It is not easy to lose your mother, especially if she was as sweet as mine was.

Maryam Babangida’s battle with cancer had crept in like a thief in the night exactly ten years ago. As a matter of fact, Ovation International had published exclusive pictures of Maryam on her return from Paris where she had gone for the initial treatment in 1999. In the picture which appeared on our cover, she looked drained and darker. Our cover was a screamer of sorts: MARYAM BABANGIDA’S FIRST PICTURES AFTER HER PARIS OPERATION. But she bounced back to her usual gaiety in subsequent years and we all hoped the worst was over. In fact, she looked more radiant, and enjoyed life to the hilt.

But she had added a new kind of religious piety and her friendliness was palpable when we met at the swearing-in ceremony of Liberia’s first female President, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, in Monrovia a few years ago. She was very warm and pleasant. She made appearances here and there at birthdays, weddings and other such celebrity events. She remained a head-turner and newsmaker to the end.

I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to say goodbye to a stormy petrel whose stint as Nigeria’s First Lady was remarkable in many ways. Love or loathe her, Maryam Ndidi Babandida was a woman you couldn’t ignore. Her controversial Better Life for Women project was pursued with the agility of a wrestler. She eventually received her crowning glory when she won and shared The Hunger Project Award in 1991 with Kenya’s Nobel Peace Laureate, Professor Wangari Mathai. I was privileged to witness the powerful ceremony in London.

It was the tonic Maryam needed to continue her pet project to the very end of her tenure. Even when it seemed her husband had committed the terminal error of annulling Nigeria’s best election ever, and the people of the South-west of Nigeria felt aggrieved Maryam was the pathfinder who made it possible for the Babangidas to meander their way back to the Lagos social circuit. She was an energetic bridge-builder and a great networker.

From paying tribute to Maryam, I have the pleasure of saying goodbye to my readers. Whatever has a beginning must have an end. For me, it is time to move on. I’ll be 50 by God’s grace in a few months and I need some time to finish my books. I owe that project to the strident calls of readers who believe I must make my works permanently available to my ardent fans.

I sincerely thank both my fanatical supporters as well as my vociferous critics for making it possible for me to enjoy the cult followership I seemed to have commanded in the past few years. I’m particularly flattered and bemused that I have my chief critics who hate my column with so much venom but can’t wait to read and attack it every week. I’ll surely miss you all.

This voyage began about 30 months ago. I had just landed in Lagos that brilliant morning from my base in Accra, Ghana. As soon as we touched down, I had planned to speak to the THISDAY publisher, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, on some important issues affecting a few of our mutual friends.

I was already on the Third Mainland Bridge when I got through to Nduka and he told me he was on his way to the airport to catch a private flight to Benin City. He insisted I must join him on the flight in order to discuss the matter of our friends. In less than one hour thereafter, we were already airborne and cruising towards the ancient city of the once powerful Benin Kingdom.

It was in the course of our flight that Nduka revealed that Segun Adeniyi was on his way to joining the Yar’Adua team in Aso Rock. I asked what would happen to his extremely popular column, and Nduka said he would find a good replacement. He asked if I was interested, and if I’ll be able to find the time from my very hectic lifestyle to write a regular column and I answered in the affirmative. I love challenges and the discipline required to oil it. I was ready to resurrect Pendulum again, and that was it.

It was really a kind of homecoming. I had been a part of the foundation that packaged the birth of Leaders & Company, the parent company of THISDAY newspapers, as far back as 1992. I had secured the services of some of the key staff at that tough beginning in the Ikoyi office. THISDAY would always be dear to my heart for that reason. I’m proud that the THISDAY media brand has grown into an octopus with fingers in many pies. It was only natural that I’ll always love to contribute to its phenomenal growth.

My biggest challenge was the difficulty of creating the time every week to write the column. The fact that I was constantly on the move made matters worse. A lot of the times, I found myself typing frantically on the plane. There were times I had to contend with the problems of time difference and internet connections, even in the United States.

I was fortunate to have had to deal with understanding editors like Simon Kolawole, at first and later Ijeoma Nwogwugwu and Laurence Ani, who gave me some flexibility. Ijeoma in particular became my chief critic. We discussed issues a lot and I found her extremely knowledgeable. She was as comfortable with financial matters as with political topics. Her versatility extended even to the choicest wines in the vineyard. Nigerians should watch out for this terrific Amazon in the future.

A second challenge was how to respond as quickly as possible to a nation and a people perpetually on the fast lane. News items are often produced in Nigeria with the rapidity of popcorn. Keeping up sometimes could be breath-taking. We also had a cynical public to deal with. They sometimes know you more than you know yourself, and they judge you by your appearance than by your real thoughts. The critics sit in the comfort of their homes to dictate who you should be and not what they should become.

Some people have taken permanent residence on the internet to attack fellow citizens without any justification. My only sin is that I publish a very popular magazine that gives space to saints and sinners to feature their events. Our magazine is largely pictorial, and we don’t write editorials which glorify “thieves and rogues”. My critics can’t seem to appreciate the risk I take by speaking up against those they claim to be my friends. Is it not easier to dine with the devil and see no evil?

There is also the issue of literary appreciation which has become lacking in our society. Some readers find it hard to appreciate the literary skills of a writer. They are only interested in his message. But writing is not always about its didactic relevance, the literary styles of the writer must be enjoyed and enjoyable. Experience they say is the best teacher. But when a writer writes from his personal experience and encounters, he’s often attacked as a boastful, name-dropping and egoistic columnist.

My favourite columnists and reporters are those who throw themselves into their art. May Ellen Ezekiel’s column, MEE, was extremely influential and inspiring because she was able to feed her readers with her incredible life experience. It is difficult to forget her Classic, Over Cognac, in which she detailed what she had to go through to have a child, including being asked to drink concoctions made from her own body fluids. An ambitious writer must be bold and be ready to shock sensibilities.

There is no law that says all columnists must write alike. That is why a column is the personal property of the writer. A reader is at liberty to read his favourite column and ignore the ones he doesn’t like. You may choose one for his message and read the other for its literary style. It is wrong to insist that every writer must embrace the same ideology and methodology. A writer is a member of our society.

He’s not a saint on account of being a social critic. He must feed his family and pay his bills like the rest of us. He’s not a masquerade from heaven. His mission is to seek for a better society, not necessarily a perfect society, because none exists in our world today.

Those who attack Segun Adeniyi for doing his job today are very unrealistic. What do they expect of him? Once a man accepts a job, he must obey his boss. He may privately advise his boss, but it would be reckless of him to criticise him in public. Segun has not behaved like the usual loquacious spokespersons of government. He has comported himself with decorum. The vicious attack on people like him is one reason good people are afraid to serve in government. The alternative is for bad people and rogues who don’t care about the name-calling to continue to rule us.

I have been asked by many readers why we bother to write in a nation where leaders don’t seem to read, and even if they do they don’t really care. My answer had always been that I write personally as a form of psychotherapy. It heals my mind to think that I can talk freely when others have been cowed. I feel good that I can risk my business and everything to criticise a system that has kept us down as a people. Writing for me is a personal victory over the principalities that inhabit our corridors of power. Nobody should take that joy away from us.

We must all engage in constructive criticism. Abusing people for fun will never change any system. Our country needs to be rescued, and we can no longer afford to keep our arms akimbo. The days of arm-chair criticism should be over. It has led us nowhere. If we truly love our country, we must join hands to liberate Nigeria from the backwardness that stares us all in the face.

I have had great fun on this page and I’ll always treasure the memory of the wonderful goodwill the Pendulum column has brought to me. May God bless us all.

Happy New Year.

January 2, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Dele Momodu  Comments

Are We Better Off?

By Bisi Ojediran

I imagine how US President Barack Obama would have felt if he tried putting in a call to Nigerian authorities on hearing the news of Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to detonate explosives on Delta Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with 278 passengers and crew aboard. That is if he had not expected a call from Nigeria, as he would have from another country in that situation. “President Umaru Yar’ Adua has been away in a Saudi hospital for over 30 days,” he would have been reminded. “And the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan can be of no immediate help because he is not in charge.

” “What a……” Obama would have been tempted to say (I don’t know him to use swear words). But certainly he would have been shocked about the current status of Nigeria, which in White House confidential records is one of the pillars for the emancipation of the impoverished and poorly governed African continent. That is how Nigerians are ending the year. No effective leader! Farouk Abdulmutallab is a Nigerian! And a silver-spoon son of a highly placed Nigerian for that matter! No matter how well his background is rationalized, no matter how strong the defence mechanism, he is a Nigerian who has thrown air travel around the world into chaos with untold hardship for travellers, now subjected to body search.

The introduction of a 3D scan that strips travellers naked on the security screen is now likely, in spite of the heavy criticism against its use. For all agonizing travellers now, Nigeria, a country notorious for scam and corruption has added to its pain stimuli. The country is ending the year on a bad note in international relations, caused principally by poor representation or absence at important international fora. Now, Farouk has caused another coating of tar on Nigeria’s international image. And bad time awaits Nigerian travellers. Extra attention is normally applied to passengers arriving from Nigeria at busy airports around the globe because of concerns over fraud and smuggling. Now, it is going to get worse. For President Obama, he is gradually confirming my fears that his relatively soft stance with terrorists may cost the US another attack that will not only make his name a hate word, but also ruin his presidency. But that is a subject of another Tolling Bells piece.

Farouk’s father reported him to US authorities and according to reports a file was opened on Farouk, but as one official said, “one part of the system that absolutely failed” was that Abdulmutallab was able to board a plane to the United States allegedly with PETN. Well, it emerged yesterday that Farouk had been barred from entering the UK. With a bruised image and limping on the global scene, Nigerians would have been compensated if they are better off at home during a year that will end in three days. Are we better off in 2009? Well, the Vice President may have provided an answer in Abuja over the weekend when he spoke after a Christmas thanksgiving service.

He said Farouk has compounded the country’s challenges of fuel scarcity, kidnapping, weak economy and poor state of infrastructure, among others. I like that honest talk! To have said otherwise would have been a negation of the socio-economic rights of the majority of Nigerians who have been impoverished during the year. In the books, the economy, with and overall real GDP growth averaged about 6 per cent during the first half of 2009, a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) preliminary estimate of a real GDP growth rate of 7.6 percent during the third quarter of 2009, and a decline of year-on-year headline inflation, looks good. But that is yet to translate into better living standards.

The true measure of a good economy is the wellbeing of the average citizen or family. Has the individual or family experienced improvement in living standards – better access to social amenities like water, health, education and power supply? Has the quality or even quantity of food on the dining table increased? And have there been improved opportunities to earn a living? Well, with about 70 per cent of Nigerians in the poverty bracket, and with a high level of unemployment, the answer is obvious. Of course, with a raging global economic crisis and a depressed crude oil market, Nigeria started the year on a bad note. Revenue from both oil and non-oil sources were below projections for the first half of 2009, and the aggregate revenue available for distribution to the three tiers of government fell short of projected estimate by about 26 per cent. But that can hardly be a justification for the bitterness of many Nigerians during the year.

Any suggestion that the country fared better will shock many Nigerians who have been denied basic necessities of life, even at this festive period. For a major oil producing country with at least three refineries to deny its citizens fuel during this period is crass insensitivity. And to be insulted that the scarcity of petrol was caused by saboteurs, and not government, when an apology should have been made to Nigerians, is gross disrespect of our socio-economic rights. When did it become the lot of the governed to fight economic saboteurs or fuel subsidy racketeers? Many Nigerians know that the lingering fuel scarcity originated from the poor handling of the planned deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. With high prices of goods and services caused by the fuel scarcity and the hardship encountered in the sourcing of fuel by consumers, this festive season could have been better celebrated.

Reports of some lawmakers’ refusal to travel home for the fear of kidnapping should be funny, but it is depressing. Security, one of the key deliverables people look up to government for has also become a major challenge in the country. Security is a deliverable on government’s Seven –Point Agenda. So also is improved electricity supply, over which Nigerians perhaps feel the greatest disappointment. This is because not only was a promise made, huge sums of money was voted on a regular basis for it, and even when facts on the ground called for caution, those in charge boasted they could make it happen. A prominent minister from the South was so sure about it that he boasted it would be achieved during the year to turn the economy around. But as time wore on towards the deadline, and reality dawned, a defence mechanism started to be built. The high drama of it all was during the defence of her 2010 budget at the National Assembly.

A power outage had triggered calls of “6000 Mega Watts” and a question on the December deadline to which Information Minister Dora Akunyili responded, “I am not the minister of power.” Well, many Nigerians spent Xmas in darkness, as they have been in most of the year. That of course is not better life. Without electricity, there is not much the manufacturing sector can do. Investors in the sector are quick to say it is dead. May be not yet, but many companies, including vital ones like tyre companies, have closed shop. Survivors are bracing it but with worsening cost of production because they have to provide their own infrastructure, they say it is tough. Perhaps, the capital market is one area where the pain of Nigerians can be rationalised. The stock market crashed as did all other stock markets around the world. Many Nigerians, including former governor Chief Segun Osoba and the Oba of Lagos have lost millions. So have smaller investors.

But hope that the market would take a cue from recovering markets has been dashed. Return on Investment during the year declined by 65 per cent from the N280 billion paid out in 2008. The story of the money market is interesting. The other day, a worried investor said with so much money stolen by bank executives and the heavy losses declared by banks, Nigerians would have woken up one morning to discover that there are no banks in the country anymore. An exaggerated joke, but certainly the new CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi, has stemmed a dangerous trend and hopefully, sanity will be restored in the banking halls; hopefully the stock market which the reforms further shrank will recover; and hopefully the credit crunch will ease to get the economy growing again.

The judiciary has fared well, but not so the National Assembly, which is still on an ego trip. For example, there is no reason for the constitutional review process should be duplicated. People are also not comfortable with the many vital bills waiting to be passed. However, it is fair to say with the Amnesty in the Niger Delta, which has restored relative peace in the area, and the civil service reforms, President Yar’ Adua was doing a good home run for the year before he broke down. Governance has also improved in the states. I counted 12 with a high performing governor from a southern state last week, but with so much power and resources at the centre, poor performance at that level, easily rubs off on the nation. Although some ministries have done well, our concern is the over all well being of the people. From there, hope is fading. When hope fades, it makes space for depression. But depression is horrible in part because it cuts you off from your future or, more precisely, your sense of the future. The bleakness of the present is so oppressive just because you can’t imagine an alternative for tomorrow.

January 1, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Bisi Ojediran  Comments


Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes