OPEN LETTER TO SEN. AJIMOBI & OGBENI AREGBESOLA: LAUTECH TODAY. BY S. KAZEEM

OPEN LETTER TO SEN. AJIMOBI & OGBENI AREGBESOLA: LAUTECH TODAY.

Sir, exactly 130 days ago, i expressed my concerns, worries and fears for the future of my Alma-Mata, Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology, Ogbomoso, the ‘once upon a time’ Nigerian Universities Commissions - Best State University in Nigeria for two consecutive years, 2003 and 2004, and at that same time had the Best State University Vice Chancellor, but unfortunately, the ‘silent tone’ of the set of alphabets in that article failed to suspend the dust. Today, i have deemed it fit to burst the bubbles, redirect the camera lens of the Owner States to the deteriorating condition of their joint heritage, and hopefully to put a rest to its haphazard motion in the atmosphere of ridicule.

Sir, let me quickly remind you that, the Citadel of Learning – LAUTECH as fondly called, was formerly known as Oyo State University Of Technology but it was renamed after a prominent Ogbomoso indigene - Late Pa Samuel Ladoke Akintola – Interestingly, this was after the decision of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida led Military Government to split the Old Oyo State among others, into ‘Oyo State and Osun State’, on August 27, 1991. However, it is noteworthy to remind you that the need to establish Oyo State University Of Technology was seen by the Governing Council of the Polytechnic Ibadan in 1987, and achieved with great support from Governor Adetunji Olurin, the then military governor of Oyo State. He set up a committee that, in 1988, recommended the creation of the university. By March 13, 1990, Nigeria's federal military government accepted the state's request; the edict establishing Oyo State University of Technology was signed on April 23, 1990. Unfortunately, decades after the split, the vision to co-own the infrastructure and to share both assets and liabilities was hit by self serving and community based interests. And since the unfortunate collision of interests, the affairs of the school has not been the same, as it has witnessed a succession of fight for supremacy and power among the members of staff, and a recurring ownership crises among the stakeholders of the institution – even after the ruling of Chief Justice Of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher of the supreme court, sitting in Abuja on March 22, 2012, stating that within the provisions of Section 2 and 15 of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Law, 1990 (as amended), LAUTECH should remain a joint heritage of Oyo State and Osun State. Today, the ownership crises bedeviling the progress of the institution has degenerated to its base and the stakeholders of the university seem to have completely fall out of phase, with the failure of the Ogbeni Aregbesola led Osun State Government and his counterpart in Oyo State to satisfy their financial commitments to the jointly owned infrastructure – coercing the work force of the university to down their tools, stage violent protests over the ownership of the institution and float the hopes of the students to get back to class. Inarguably, this has been absorbed in history and would be told to generations to come.

Sir, the failure of Osun State Government to pay its due in the jointly owned infrastructure ought not to have been received with utter shock – when the State under Ogbeni Aregbesola’s watch is currently in a struggle to find its financial equilibrium, which has resulted to the part-payment of the civil servants salaries and allowances, even with a huge debt hanging on the neck of the State. Little should anyone wonder why a State in such a monumental financial mess, would be able to make financial contributions in a jointly owned infrastructure. However, let me say that, the inability of States to pay salaries after the slash of their monthly Federal Allocation is not peculiar to Oyo State and his counterpart in Osun State, but their inability to perform their social responsibility in an infrastructure that was founded by their forefathers and inherited by them, is saddening and pose a great danger to the future of both States.

Sir, if truly that critical situations requires critical approach, then the present situation demands that all concerned stakeholders in the University and those in the education sector come together to save the future of the institution from the insensitivity of the ‘official visitors’, now, before the future of the over 30,000 students in LAUTECH and those yet to come disappear into the thin air. Perhaps, the ownership crises impeding the growth of the University can finally be brought to rest either by collaboration or by compromise. But, if the both aforementioned conflict resolution approach fails to save the situation, then let the school be acquired and managed by the Federal Government – at least, the jobs of both Oyo State and Osun State indigenes in the university would be safe and the hope of the student populace to return to class, would be restored. No doubt, the former is the major force driving the power tussles among the members of staff and the ownership crises.

Sir, let me remind you that during the Oyo State gubernatorial election that brought you to power, my predecessor, President Adeniyi Idowu (ID Aluta), whom I served with as the Financial Secretary of the Students’ Union, and many others almost lost their studentship and even put their lives on the line, because of their support for your candidacy – even the Students’ Union was slammed with an indefinite suspension, all in a bid to ensure that the former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Alao Akala was cut-off from the affairs of LAUTECH, so as to usher in political stability between the owner States. Sad, after your emergence as Governor of Oyo State, the situation did not get better, aside from the reversal of the hiked tuition fee, which did not include the fresh students of that year. In addition, the President Sulaiman Kazeem (STEAM) Students’ Union led regime also did not underscore in its support for your administration and that of your counterpart in Osun State, all to ensure a progressive academic environment for better learning and growth. Except for when your government made an attempt to end the ‘Tuition Fee Part-payment’, which led to a protest. Again, all was to no avail.

Sir, electoral lessons were supposed to have been learned from the sensitivity of LAUTECH and the importance of this heritage to the indigenes of both States. After all, the former Governor of Oyo State, Otunba Alao Akala lost his re-election bid, major credit to the dispute between him, the joint forces of Stakeholders in LAUTECH and the teaming population of aggrieved LAUTECH Students. Unfortunately, it seems that no lesson was learned – or should we submit that it is because yourself and your Osun State counterpart would not be running for a third term in Office. Even at that, should you and he be less concerned about the fate of your political party at the next polls, knowing fully well that, your party candidate stands to be hit by criticism for your own failure to act accordingly on LAUTECH issues. Well, just like many Ex-Governor turned Senator, either or both of you may decide to contest for Senatorial district in the next elections – then and then, I strongly hope that the electorates would read your dossiers aloud at the polls.

In fairness, this open letter would be incomplete without reminiscing over the day, the sunrise, the occasion, the event that witnessed the influx of great men and women into Ogbomosoland, probably, a sunrise like that of the August 28, 2012 is witnessed ones in many decades, not just in Ogbomosoland alone but in many other places in the globe – the day Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was appointed the Chancellor of my Alma Mata, not only was it inevitable for the two official visitors to be in attendance but it was also a one in a life time opportunity for the students and the Ogbomoso indigenes to see the faces of proud sons and daughters of Yorubaland. Thereafter, the former Lagos State Governor and APC National Leader was expected to bring his administrative ingenuity and vast experience in public management to bear on the running of the institution, and reposition it to meet the standard of its peers all over the world – sad, instead of the much ‘expected’ in the joint heritage, the reverse is conspicuously the case. One does not expect the Chancellor to fund the university from his wallet, but it was expected that his support in all ramification would take the university from where it was to greater heights. Today, our expectations from that glamorous occasion that filled the aura with so much joy are nothing but a mirage. What can we do, than to appeal to Asiwaju BAT to come to the aid of the helpless students, by making moves that would at least end the ongoing industrial action in the university and return the students to class. After all, the giant footprints of Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola who became the first Chancellor in January 1991 still stand the test of time.

Sir, lest I forget, let me categorically say that many of the setbacks suffered by the Students’ Union of the institution was as a result of the fight for power and supremacy among the members of staffs, particularly, those overseeing the affairs of the students and their activities. Well, those who are guilty of the said allegation should search their conscience and retrace their steps, in other to forestall ‘a year in – year out’ leadership deficiency in the Students’ Union and probably a repeat of the previous act of post elections vandalism. Let it be told that renaming of tertiary institutions to that of political figures, like it was recently done in Osun State, and also that ‘partial privatization’ of public elementary schools in other to reposition the responsibility of the government in the education sector on profit driven individuals, as recently done in Oyo State are not the ways to go in the case of LAUTECH, but rather, providing the adequate subvention needed to run the institution, this would make the university function well and also to attain its maximum potentials. Well, let me prepare the minds of the students that considering the ‘inactive’ state of the Students’ Union, the owner States would make attempt to increase the tuition, in other to reduce their financial commitment in the university. By then, the student populace would have to either ‘hold on’ or ‘let go’.

In conclusion, it has been absorbed in history that during your ‘official visiting’ to LAUTECH, the tertiary institution has done worse than ever – in infrastructural development, payment of salaries and allowances, in maintaining harmony among the organs of the university, and in the choice of Prof. Wale Omole as the Pro Chancellor and many others in the University’s management position but it is not too late for you to run like a Cheetah, in other to make every remaining second count. Sir, be reminded that man shall be remembered for his actions and inactions.

Restore our Excellency, Integrity and Service, before it is too late.

Thank you.

Sulaiman Kazeem

Twitter: @MrSteam_

17/10/2016 

OPEN LETTER TO MR. VICE PRESIDENT, ON THE ARREST OF CORRUPT JUDGES. BY S. KAZEEM

Dear Prof Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo (SAN) OPEN LETTER TO MR. VICE PRESIDENT, ON THE ARREST OF CORRUPT JUDGES. Firstly, let me use this opportunity to salute your courage in discharging your constitutional duties diligently, even amidst the fight for power and supremacy between the ranks and files in your political party, the crises in the National Assembly and the rivalry between our Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the cabals who seem to have successfully taken full control of the aura surrounding Mr. President, this was also attested to by Mrs Aisha Muhammadu Buhari. In addition, we hope that as Nigerians begin preparations to meet at the next general polls, in a blink, the Goose will be separated from the Gander, after the rainfall that brought them together. Even, when there is a popular saying that "what is good for the Goose, is also good for the Gander". Sir, as a Senior Advocate Of Nigeria with an enviable resume and dossier, Nigerians see you as a sound mind who understands our Judicial institution to its bits. Hence, you will agree that the blindfold of 'Lady Justice' represents objectivity, and that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favour, regardless of money, wealth, fame, power, or identity; blind justice and impartiality. Sir, if Justitia is with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, then, it must be told that corrupt judges in our Judiciary are an embarrassment to the allegorical personification of the moral force in global judicial systems. Sir, let me say that the unprecedented shift of the face-plate beneath the corruption embedded foundation of the Nigerian Bar Association and in the unholy relationship between them and corrupt Nigerian politicians was long overdue but would have continued, if the incumbent administration had not taken drastic steps to revive the lost glory and re-position our Judiciary. Sir, A FRACTION OF THE PUBLIC WHO DISAGREE WITH THE ARREST OF CORRUPT JUDGES AND THEIR ALLIES, who denigrated the hopes of the oppressed and sell justice on the platter of gold to oppressors, CAN GO AND KISS THE SUN. However, i can assure you that those in support of this decision are more than those against it. Sir, i strongly believe that this bold step will rid the NBA of corrupt Judges, restore hope and our Justice system will never remain the same, when the shake currently is over. Sir, the fight against corrupt Judges and others is a welcome development and also a collective one for us all. For posterity sake, we must do everything within the ambit of the law to prosecute corrupt Judges and other culprits and also to restore dignity in the judiciary, for this will straighten our democracy and return sovereignty to the people. After all, the judiciary is believed to be the last hope of the masses and so must remain sacred. Sir, just the other day, i listened to Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) on Television, he accused the President Buhari led government of shielding corrupt Generals in the Nigerian Army, particularly, those who were penned in the Cash-Arms deal and other various corrupt offense against humanity. So, please bring the attention of Mr. President to this red flag, because Nigerians are running out of patience. Sir, before i submit, let me use this medium to implore you not to align with any interest that will hurt the Yoruba people and our Leader, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yes, Yorubas are liberal people and we don't want to fight, yet by Jingo, if we do, let me assure you that we have got the ship, we have got the men-valiant and we have got the money and the necessary resources. In Limitation, I See The Infinite. Best regards. Sulaiman Kazeem Twitter: @MrSteam_ 13/10/2016.

Justice; Kidnapped And Hostage. By S. Kazeem

Justice has been kidnapped by our corrupt politicians and taken hostage by 'wigged' Rogues on Bench, who are holders of the Gavel and controls courtrooms, but people with different views have the absolute right to disagree with me. Today, the 'common sense' in my concerns became indisputable when it became evident that court verdicts has lost its integrity completely and eventually got served or purchased across the counter by highest bidders.

Sadly, the reality of the mindless corruption among 'Wigged' Rogues at the Nigerian Bar Association is shameful, mind bugging and should be condemned to its bits. These Rogues encourages public office holders to abuse office and assure them of protection. In-arguably, the anti-corruption movement of the incumbent administration will take a new turn, if corruption among 'rogues on Wigs' is brought to its minimum, by then, Justice and sanity can return to our Judiciary and our corrupt politicians would then have nowhere to seek for protection or to seek a soft landing.

Dear friends, you may not be in phase with the recent arrests of the said corrupt Judges or other corruption related issues, but let it sink in our Medulla that 'democracy means nothing, in the absence of strong anti-graft agencies and a 'corrupt-free' judicial institution'.

Twitter: @MrSteam_ 

OPEN LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT, ON IMMUNITY... BY S. KAZEEM

Dear, President Muhammadu Buhari

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. PRESIDENT, ON IMMUNITY...

Firstly, let me give accolades to your administration, for the looted funds that has been recovered so far and for your efforts to bring individuals who abused public offices to face the wrath of the law. Sir, Nigerians are aware of your strives to make Nigeria better, even amidst the economic recession and other challenges we are faced with. But, it is also pertinent for me to direct the camera lens of your administration to something your excellency might not take cognizance of, this is the immunity clause in our constitution. Mr. President, be reminded that the Nigerian constitution was handed over to us by the most corrupt military regime in Nigeria's history, and further received by a military man in a civilian attire.

Mr. President, until the immunity clause in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which shields our corrupt politicians against prosecution for criminal offences, is removed, your anti-corruption mantra will under-produce or be in total futility. I agree that granting immunity to people who perform certain functions of state is neither peculiar to Nigeria, nor to the African continent but the kind of immunity that Nigerian public office holders enjoy drives me and other Nigerians naught.

Mr. President, not only that our constitution is so flawed but our judiciary is very corrupt. Thus, making our public office holders too powerful and very arrogant. Sir, with this inherited form of immunity, sovereignty can never belong to the people, who voted their various representatives. You will agree with me that, many of them are 'brought-forwards' from the past administration, while others are already corrupt, as a result of the corrupt system they operate.

Mr. President, you will be remember till thy kingdom come, if you do everything within your powers to influence the removal of the immunity clause in the Nigerian Constitution. I will implore you and other corrupt free individuals in your led government to DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES, after all, your slate is clean. Sir, i will like to remind you that your administration will be 2 years in a blink, and will be remembered not only by the things you achieved but by the obvious, you failed to achieve.

Mr. President, do not trust whoever disagree with my opinion, they are mediocres and hypocrites, and don't mean well for your government and nor do they pray for our heritage. Sir, you will agree that the ongoing crises rocking the APC-led House Of Representatives and the Senate have more to do with 'FORGERY & STEALING' from tax payers monies, abuse of public office and self driven interests, by members of the National Assembly.

Mr. President, i seek your indulgence to allow me submit that until the said immunity clause is removed from the Nigerian Constitution, our lawmakers & other public office holders will remain 'Outlaws' and will never cease to frustrate the efforts of your administration to make Nigeria better. Lastly, I will implore you not to keep enemies, do everything within your powers to save the country from the impending catastrophe and also to break the barriers built around you by the 'enemies' of our great Nation.

Happy 56th Independence Anniversary, Mr. President.

Yours faithfully
Sulaiman Kazeem
Twitter: @MrSteam_
04-10-2016. 

OPEN LETTER TO AHMED ASIWAJU BOLA TINUBU BY GENERAL ADEYINKA ADEBAYO.

OPEN LETTER TO AHMED ASIWAJU BOLA TINUBU BY GENERAL ADEYINKA ADEBAYO, IYIN EKITI.

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My dear Asiwaju,

I am compelled to write this open letter to you because of the state of affairs of the Yoruba nation. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge that fate has put you in a prime position to determine to a large extent the direction that the Yoruba people will go. The indisputable truth is that one may quarrel with your politics but your sagacity is never in doubt. Even those who don't see eye to eye with you agree that you are imbued with unusual native intelligence, uncommon people skills and unrivaled foresight. You, more than any other person, has been the game changer since the advent of democracy in 1999. It is for these reasons that I have chosen to direct this letter to you.

My singular purpose is to tug at the strings of your heart. I am not writing to appeal to partisan considerations but to see, if per chance, I can pour out my heart to you in a manner of speaking. God has blessed you even beyond your wildest imagination. You have installed Senators and Governors. You have removed Governors and even a President. You have also installed a President. There is nothing you have wished for or desired that you didn't get. Fortune has smiled on you. Goodwill follows you everywhere you go. You have done very well- more than most men ever will. However, there is one area that is begging for your urgent attention. This area may well define you and all you have ever achieved. This matter, in my opinion, is the only difference between you and the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Let me restate for the purpose of emphasis that this is the area in which the late sage and Leader of the Yorubas stand head and shoulders above you. It is the reason his name has been a constant denominator in our regional and national politics. It is the reason politicians, friends and foes invoke his name for political advantage and personal glory. It is also the reason why we can't stop talking about him almost thirty years after his death. What will anyone say about you thirty years after you have transited?

Asiwaju Sir, you may be wondering what I'm talking about? It is the issue of legacy. According to Peter Strople, 'Legacy is not leaving something for people, it is leaving something in people'. Legacy is building something that outlives you. Legacy is greater than currency. In the words of Leonard Sweet, ' What you do is your history. What you set in motion is your legacy'. You can't live forever, Sir. No one can. But you can create something that will. Enough of speaking in parables- I shall now speak plainly.
When destiny brought you on the scene, we were enamoured because you championed the case for true federalism. It was your belief then that the Yoruba nation will fare better under a restructured arrangement than under the type of unitary government we run while pretending by calling it a federal government. Everyone knows that there is nothing federal about our government at all. If truth must be told, the Yoruba nation has fared very badly since the advent of our new democracy. And this is not about holding power at the centre.

Let me bring this home: someone passed a comment recently that he would want Biafra to become a reality because he knows the Igbo nation will survive. That comment led me to deeper introspection as I wondered if the Yorubas can truly survive. Let me cite my first example. From Oyo to Osun, Ogun to Ondo, Ekiti to Kwara and Lagos, hardly will one see any serious industry or manufacturing concern owned by a Yoruba person. I am not talking about portfolio businesses or one-man business concerns. Most industries in Oyo State are owned by the Lebanese. The native business and industry gurus who dominated the landscape- Nathaniel Idowu, Amos Adegoke, Lekan Salami, Alao Arisekola, Adeola Odutola, Jimoh Odutola, Chief Theophilus Adediran Oni and others- are all gone with no credible replacements. I'm sure you remember the tyre factory of the Odutolas and how Jimoh Odutola was even asked by the Governments of Kenya and Ghana to set up a similar factory in their countries. Chief Theophilus Adediran Oni, popularly called T.A Oni & Sons started the first indigenous construction company in Nigeria. He willed his residence- Goodwill House, to the Oyo/Western state government, to be used as a Paediatric Hospital, which is now known as T.A Oni Memorial Children Hospital at Ring Road in Ibadan. This sprawling family Estate and residence was cited on a 15acre piece of land, 65 rooms, with modern conveniences, Olympic Swimming Pool and stable for Horses, etc.

People like Chief Bode Akindele started companies like Standard Breweries and Dr Pepper Soft drink factory at Alomaja in Ibadan. Broking House built by the late Femi Johnson, an insurance magnate, still stands glittering in the mid-day sun as an epitome to a rich history that Ibadan has. The most serious and only notable Yoruba entrepreneur we have now is Michael Adenuga. I say this quite consciously because most of the other names are oil and gas barons. Most of what stood as testaments of industry in Oyo State are gone- Exide Batteries, Leyland Autos and many others. In its place are shopping malls and road side markets but no nation develops through buying and selling alone- especially when you're not actually producing what you're selling. Hypermarkets and supermarkets have taken over because of the need to feed our insatiable consumer-appetite and foreign tastes. In one instance, an ancient landmark in the form of a hotel was demolished to pave way for a mall. That is how low we have sunk. If our past is better than our present- if we always look back with nostalgia frequently, then there is a problem.

The case of other states is not different. Osun's case is pathetic. Ditto for Ondo and Ekiti. Ogun State can boast of some factories at Sango-Otta and Agbara axis but most of them are not owned by the Yorubas. There is no significant pharmaceutical company owned by any Yoruba except for Bond Chemicals in Awe, Oyo State- and its wallet share is very insignificant. For Lagos State, more than 70% of the manufacturing concerns and major industries in the State are owned by the Igbos. If the Igbos were to stop paying tax in Lagos State, the IGR of Lagos State will reduce by over 60%. In contrast, Sir, go to the South East and look at the manufacturing concerns in Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi. Please don't forget those were areas ravaged by civil war a mere forty something years ago. The Igbos have certainly made tremendous progress but the Yoruba nation has regressed. I wish to state that this letter is not meant to whip up primordial considerations or ethnic sentiments but just to put things in proper perspective.

Asiwaju, I will like to also talk about the state of education in the Yoruba nation. Our education has gone to the dogs. We have a bunch of mis-educated and ill-educated young men and women roaming the streets. Ibadan, for instance, had the first University in Nigeria and the first set of research centres in Nigeria ( The Forestry Research Institute, the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN), The Nigerian Cereal Research Institute Moor Plantation (NCRI), the NIHORT (Nigerian Institute of Horticultural Research), the NISER (Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research), IAR&T (Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training), amongst several others). Ibadan was the bastion of scholarship with people like Wole Soyinka, JP Clark, D.O Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola as residents. In the May/June 2015 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, Abia came tops. Anambra came 2nd while Edo was 3rd. Lagos placed 6th while Osun and Oyo was 29th and 26th. Ekiti was 11th, Ondo State was 13th and Ogun State was 19th. In 2013 WASSCE, only Lagos and Ogun States were the Yoruba States above the national average. If we do an analysis of how Lagos placed 6th in 2015, you will discover that it was substantially because of other nationalities resident in Lagos. For proof, please look no further than the winners of the Spelling Bee competition which has produced One-Day Governors in Lagos State. Since inception in 2001, other nationalities have won the competition six times (Ebuka Anisiobi in 2001, Ovuwhore Etiti in 2002, Abundance Ikechukwu in 2006, Daniel Osunbor in 2008, Akpakpan Iniodu Jones in 2011 and Lilian Ogbuefi in 2012). Sir, there is something seriously wrong about our state of education. From the vintage times of Obafemi Awolowo who initiated 'free education', we have regressed into a most parlous state.

Let me talk about roads, housing and infrastructure . The first dualized road in Nigeria, the Queen Elizabeth road from Mokola to Agodi in Ibadan was formally commissioned by Queen Elizabeth in 1956. The first Housing Estate in Nigeria is Bodija Housing Estate (also in Ibadan) which was built in 1958. The state of roads in the Yoruba nation has become pathetic. Our hinterland are still largely rural. Even some state capitals like Osogbo and Ado-Ekiti are big villages when you compare them to towns in the South East. How many new estates have been built over the last decade? Even Ajoda New Town lies in ruins.

We have abandoned the farm settlement strategy of the Western Region and only pay lip service to agriculture. Instead of feeding others like we once did, others now feed us. We plant no tomatoes, no pepper and the basic food that we require. The Indians have bought the large expanse of water body that we have in Onigambari village. The water body in Oke Ogun of Oyo State can provide enough fish to feed the whole of the South West. From being a major cocoa exporter many years ago, one can point to just a few vestiges of factories that still deal with Cocoa in the Yoruba nation. 80% of Cocoa processing industries in the South West have been shut down. The Chinese have taken over the cashew belt at Ogbomoso in Oyo State. They have even edged out the indigenes as brokers. They now come to the cashew belt to buy from the local farmers, sell on the spot to other Chinese exporters who now process the cashew nuts and import them back into Nigeria at a premium. Sir, there are only 7 major cashew processing plants in Nigeria and you can check out the ownership. The glory has departed from the Yoruba nation.

Apart from Asejire, Ede, Ikere Gorge and Oyan dams built ages ago, where are the new dams to cater for increased population and water capacity for the Yoruba nation? How have we improved on what our heroes past left us? Maybe apart from certain areas in Lagos State, others can't even supply their citizens with pipe-borne water.

Our youth which we used to take pride in are largely a mass of unemployed and unemployable people. Have you noticed the abundance of street urchins, area boys, touts and 'agberos' that we now have all across the Yoruba nation? Have you noticed the swell in the ranks of NURTW (I mean no disrespect to an otherwise noble union)? Have you noticed the increase in the number of Yoruba beggars? There was a time that it was taboo for a Yoruba man to beg- but no more. The spirit of apprenticeship is dead. There was a time that people who learn vocational skills celebrate what we referred to as 'freedom'. While that is largely moribund now in the Yoruba nation, the Igbos still practice it with great success.

The only thing we can boldly say the Yoruba nation controls is the information machinery- the press. We own largely the newspapers- the Nation, Punch, Nigerian Tribune, TV Continental and a few others. It is because of our control of this information machinery that we have rewritten the narrative in the country with the misguided self-belief that things are normal and we are making progress. A look beyond the surface will prove that this is so untrue.

We are largely divided. For the first time in the history of the Yoruba nation, religion is about to divide us further- and it is starting from Osun State. You are married to a Christian. My own father-in-law is an Alhaji. That is how we have peacefully do-existed but the fabrics are about to be torn to shreds because of poor management of issues. Afenifere has been reduced to a shadow of itself. OPC that once defended Yoruba interests has gone into oblivion. Yoruba elders have been vilified in the name of politics and partisanship. It is no longer news to see teenagers throwing stones at their elders because of their political indoctrination. Even under the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Yorubas never belonged to just a single party- yet our unity was without blemish. Now, our values have gone down the drain.

Asiwaju, I believe I have said enough. The task is Herculean but I believe Providence has brought you here for such a time like this. It is time for the Yoruba nation to clean up its acts. What do we really want? How can we quickly right the wrongs? The Yoruba nation is in a state of arrested development. The Yoruba nation is gasping for breath and crying for help. Will you rise up to the occasion? I am aware you understand that all politics is local and charity begins at home. Our fathers gave us a proverb: 'Bi o'ode o dun, bi igbe ni'gboro ri'. I know there are no quick fixes but I also know that if there is anyone who has the capacity to do something about our current situation, that person is you. This should be the legacy you should think of. Your legacy is our future.

Yours Very Sincerely,
Adebayo Adeyinka

NIGERIA @ 56: The Retrospect. By S. Kazeem

In-arguably, the struggles of our heroes past to liberate our fatherland from the chains of slavery in the Queen's empire, should never be forgotten but celebrated, even amidst our storms and tides. No doubt, we are indebted to our forefathers who fought tooth and nail and at the detriment of their individual lives, to rescue our 'Israelites from the captivity of King Pharaoh in Egypt'.

At the dusk of our transition from the colonial Era to the dawn of Independence celebration, our first democratic election was in sight. Nigeria was positioned for greatness and had the potential to record a remarkable growth in years to come. But, unfortunately, our democracy was truncated at birth, the election of Nigeria's first Prime Minister, Nnamdi Azikiwe and others were massively rigged by our Colonial masters constituted electoral body. That singular deformation to our 'baby' democracy at birth brought so much disdain and rivalry between the North and other regions in the country.

Hence, the dissatisfaction born from the self serving amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorate in the year 1914, by our Colonial maters headed for the ceiling, ushered in the 1966 Pogrom and still haunts us till today. Today, Nigeria is more divided than we have ever being in the past. Sad, the only thing that seem to unite us is the 'Crude Oil' from the SS-SE regions of the country... Well, the rest is story.

Nigerians are celebrating 56 years of democracy, even amidst a deepening monumental financial crises, economic recession, Job-cut, faded terrorism, robust militancy and utter FEAR OF WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR OUR DEAR COUNTRY. So, let me also drop a congratulatory message, at least, as a sign of patriotism to my fatherland and pray that our fatherland get it right someday.

There is a very thin line between Freedom from the shackles of slavery, oppression and dictatorship from the West, and Independence. Find out, if you disagree.

Our problem is poor leadership and very corrupt politicians, from Independence till today's sunrise.

If Nigeria is likened to a Marathon race, our Colonial Masters baton of leadership was handed over to our forefathers and has been passed from generation to generation. No doubt, this style of leadership might not make us better, except we are prepared to start all-over. This is not democracy, our leaders are too powerful.

Happy Independence Celebration, Nigeria.

Twitter & Instagram: @MrSteam_

BOLA AHMED TINUBU AND THOSE WHO WANT HIM DEAD By Olufemi Olu-Kayode

I do not like to delve into matters touching and concerning the APC because I am not a member.
However what is happening in the ruling party today transcends partisan politics and should be a concern to us all. At the very least we can learn some very hard lessons from it.

The truth is that the behaviour of Chief John Odige-Oyegun towards the man that single-handedly made him the National Chairman of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is reprehensible.
And neither does this matter begin or end with the way and manner in which the Ondo state governorship primaries were conducted or its final outcome.

It goes much deeper than that and the Ondo affair is only symptomatic of a much deeper malaise and wider conspiracy to humiliate the National Leader of the APC by forces within his party that are even greater than him.

Those forces represent the hidden hand. They are a small cabal of power-brokers who constitute the leadership of the Buhari-led CPC. These people believe that they were born to rule and that they own Nigeria.

They simply used Tinubu's old ACN as a compliant and ready piggy-back to catapult their way back to power and once they achieved that they never looked back.

Some of us warned Tinubu at the time about the dangers of riding the tiger and allowing himself to be used by these very dark and sinister forces but he would not listen.

No true student of history could have made such a cataclysmic and monumental error given the terrible experiences of others from the south-west, and indeed the entire south, who collaborated with such ultra-conservative, sectarian and arcane forces with a clear and distinct ethnic and religious agenda in the past.

Such forces can never be comfortable with a well-connected, highly sophisticated, independent-minded, strong, unpredictable, uncontrollable and experienced Yoruba leader and southern gladiator with a June 12th pedigree, a NADECO background, a massive war-chest and a widespread and formidable political base.

They may use him to achieve their objective but they can never trust him or allow him to have control of the party machinery or to wield any real power when it comes to running the affairs of the nation.
Most importantly once they have finished using him it becomes their duty and cardinal objective not just to cut him down to size but also to castrate and render him impotent and eventually destroy him.

That is their way. It is also a classic and vintage Nicollo Machiavelli move. This great writer that has had more influence on political thinking and strategies than perhaps any other author in human history taught us a critical and crucial lesson in his famous 14th century literary masterpiece and treatise on the power game titled "The Prince". He tells us that the first thing that a Prince must do once he has achieved power is to destroy those that put him there.

And that is precisely what those that seek to do Tinubu in are doing. Worst still they are using his own erstwhile disciples as a first line of attack against him.

It is not just Odige-Oyegun that has turned his back on him but also his former political protegees and former ACN associates like Tunde Fashola, Ibikunle Amosu, Kayode Fayemi, Biodun Ajimobi, Olorunimbe Mamora, Niyi Adebayo, Rotimi Akeredolu and numerous others.

Pulling the strings from behind the scenes and encouraging and funding the rebellion are hardline Buhari-supporters like my good friend Governor Nasir El Rufai and a number of others.

Their objective is to establish a new political order in the south west which is beholden to them alone, to replace Tinubu as the National Leader of the party and to utterly demystify and crush him in order to prepare the ground for the emergence of a new and more compliant Yoruba running mate for either Buhari himself or El Rufai in 2019.

As a graphic illustration of this interesting and unfolding agenda, the powers that be in the APC, led by Buhari himself, fired six shots at Tinubu immediately after they formed government.

The first was the Senate Presidency affair and the Bukola Saraki matter which saw the defeat and humiliation of Tinubu's preferred candidate for Senate President.

The second shot was the Speaker of the House of Representatives affair and the Yakubu Dogara matter which, again, saw the defeat and humiliation of Tinibu's prefered candidate for the position of Speaker of the House.

The third was the vital issue of Ministerial appointments in which not one single Ministerial nominee of Tinubu's was accepted and appointed as a Minister by Buhari.

Every single person that he nominated from the south west and elsewhere as Minister was rejected and instead the slots were filled by his political adversaries and/or their nominees.

Many erroneously believe that Mr. Lai Mohammed, who is from Kwara state, was Tinubu's choice and nominee for Minister of Information but this was not the case.

The person that he nominated for Minister of Information was not Lai Mohammed but Mr. Dele Alake, his former Commissioner of Information in Lagos state.

Again he nominated Mr. Wale Edun, his former Commissioner of Finance in Lagos state, for the position of Minister of Finance but this was rejected and Governor Ibikunle Amosu's candidate, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, got the job instead.

This went on across the board for every single person that Tinubu nominated and presented for the position of Minister last year and it was a terrible humiliation for him. It was a dirty slap in his face.
The fourth shot was the James Faleke matter in Kogi state where it was agreed by the real landlords of the APC in the core north that Tinubu must not be allowed to gain a foothold in the north central zone by getting his own Yoruba kinsman and candidate to be elected as governor of that state.
Hence Faleke was ruthlessly dropped and shabbily treated and another person was selected to be the gubernatorial candidate of that state. It worked, Faleke went to court and sadly he lost. That was the end of the story.

The fifth shot is the thorough and systematic, though subtle and covert, humiliation and relegation of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a close associate and political protegee of Tinubu and a spiritual son of the revered Pastor Enoch Adeboye of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), to not just a spare tyre as Vice President but also to a very flat one.

Rather than being allowed to participate in the crucial decision-making processes on vital and critical issues of state and governance as any Vice President should, Osinbajo has been kept in the dark about virtually everything and he has little or no power to effect anything.

When such decisions are to be debated, discussed and made the Vice President is never invited into the room and neither is he even aware that there is such a meeting going on.

Worse still he is constantly being directed to represent the President at official functions all over the country as if he were more his Personal Assistant, Special Advisor or Minister rather than the Vice President of the country. Osinbajo's crime is simply that he is loyal to Tinubu and he has refused to dump or betray him.

The sixth and perhaps most devastating shot is the fact that the party machinery has not only been taken away from Tinubu with the effective hijacking of Odige-Oyegun but that it has also opted to do the bidding of his mortal enemies and to fight him.

An eloquent testimony to this disturbing fact is the outcome of the Ondo state gubernatorial primaries where Tinubu's candidate was edged out and cheated of the nomination by the party leadership.
This was the last straw that broke the camels back and predictably Tinubu has reacted in a very loud, aggressive and profound manner by publicly calling for the removal of the National Chairman of the party.

Yet calling for the removal of Odigie-Oyegun is not enough. The whole situation calls for critical thinking, sober reflection and deep retrospection.

The point that needs to be clearly understood when considering these six shots and the unfolding anti-Tinubu agenda within the APC is the fact that, contrary to all pretensions, President Muhammadu Buhari is part and parcel of it and he is in fact the moving spirit behind the whole conspiracy.
Nasir El Rufai and a number of others are simply the strategists and enforcers. Buhari, Mamman Daura and Abba Kyari are the masterminds.

Given all this one thing is clear: these people want Tinubu dead. If he does not realign quickly and fight hard to save his dwindling political fortunes and empire his APC friends and allies will destroy him in a slow, clinical, sadistic and systematic manner. And they will do it with a big, beautiful and friendly smile on their faces.

The fact of the matter is that, right from the outset, Tinubu failed to accept the fact that he was in bed with demons.

He refused to appreciate the fact that he was sleeping with beasts that are hell bent on eating his flesh, drinking his blood and ruthlessly implementing an ancient ethnic and religious agenda.
He gave them his all, caused them to win an election and trusted them to honor their word and treat him with respect and decorum.

He failed to appreciate the fact that you cannot make a deal with snakes and expect them to honor their word.

He forgot that you cannot wine and dine with cancerous lepers and hungry tigers without ending up being served as the final dish in a long, blood-curdling and Byzantian satanic feast.
Yet if the truth is to be told, no matter what mistakes he may have made, Tinubu does not deserve to be treated in this way.

Up until the Presidential elections were conducted last year he led and held together the south-western wing of the APC with an iron fist and he was the undisputed leader of the APC in that zone.
All four APC governors from the south west and virtually every single party leader waited on his every word and he called all the shots.

Sadly today, just over one year later, he is a caricature of his former self. Today Tinubu can only boast of having the ear and the full support of only two of those governors, namely Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state, who will NEVER betray him no matter what, and Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos state who will also stand firmly behind him until the very end.

The truth is that Tinubu has lost much ground and political mileage in recent times and, as more daggers are pulled out over the next few months and years it is bound to get worse for him.
Yet that does not mean that he is finished. I say this because he is a tried and tested fighter and a formidable adversary who is quite capable of pulling the whole APC house down.

It would be a fatal error for any of his adversaries, including President Buhari, Vice President Atiku Abubakar or Senate President Bukola Saraki, to underestimate him or dismiss his ability to fight back.

In July 2016, just after my release from detention and during the course of an interview with Channels Television (which can still be viewed on Youtube) Mr. Seun Okinbaloye asked me whether I could ever contemplate going back to the APC and how I thought the ruling party would fare into the future.

I told him that I would NEVER go back to the APC under ANY circumstances. I also told him that in any case by 2019 there would not be an APC, as it is presently constituted, left because the party would have split up into three separate and distinct political entities.

I told him that the Tinubu group comprising of men like Baba Bisi Akande, Rauf Aregbesola, Akinwummi Ambode and others would establish one party, the Atiku Abubakar group comprising of men like Bukola Saraki, Rabiu Kwakwanso and many of the former PDP leaders and governors that had left for the APC when President Goodluck Jonathan was in power would establish another and that the Buhari group comprising of men like Nasir El Rufai, Bello Masari, Aminu Tambuwal, Rotimi Amaechi, Rochas Okorocha, Chris Ngige, Ogbonaya Onu, Adams Oshiomole and virtually the entire structure of the old CPC leadership in the core north would constitute yet another. I stand by this prediction.

These three strong and equally forceful factions can be likened to the proverbial three blind yet ravenous wolves.

They cannot stay in the same cage or remain on the same platform for long without tearing each other to pieces.

Eventually they will all go their separate ways and, hopefully, contend with a newly-branded and reinvigotated PDP in the field of battle in 2019.

What we are witnessing today in the ranks of the APC is the beginning of that bitter separation and messy divorce and it is going to get far worse.

It will be loud, bitter, acrimonious and rancorous and many political empires, careers and aspirations will be destroyed as a consequence of it.

My hope and prayer is that the PDP, which is also going through its own rigorous process of redefinition and reinvigoration, can get its act together before then, take advantage of the situation, pick up the pieces and win the presidential election in 2019. I am sure that we will.

Meanwhile my advise to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is to watch his back, consolidate his base, fight his enemies, reach out to new friends, accept the fact that he is at war and sleep with one eye wide open. The truth is that it will get far worse before it gets any better.

-Olufemi Olu-Kayode

OYEGUN’S ONDO FRAUD: THE VIOLATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE APC

TINUBU MEDIA OFFICE
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2016
OYEGUN’S ONDO FRAUD: THE VIOLATION OF DEMOCRACY
IN THE APC

The APC, a party born of the quest for democratic good governance, is under critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but never of it. From the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice were to guide APC internal deliberations. Party founders realized that only by intramural fair dealing could the party remain faithful to the progressive ideals that we presented to the Nigerian electorate as our governing creed. If the party could not justly govern itself, it would find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation.

In essence, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public. Evidently, some errant members believe promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display. In doing so, Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira. The party was supposed to buttress APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it was meant to help.

Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primacy will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order. In early September, the state primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived. As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such as outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory. One of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primaries was Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar. He chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.

Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters. The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to so do. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors. This was not a clerical error. The alteration was willfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive the many into believing they were outnumbered.

A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered. Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice.
Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the National Working Committee (NWC).

After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final vote was held by the NWC. Before hand, NWC members agreed that the decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance. However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.

After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself from the meeting. Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party.

Truth has finally come to light. There exists a regressive element in the party that cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which this party was founded. They joined the APC because it was the best ride available at the time. Now they want to guide the party into the ditch. They want to turn the party into a soulless entity incapable of doing good, just like they are. When such a person tastes power, they shed all good restraint. They come to abuse the trust given them as if they are the owners of that trust and not its mere custodians. These people did little to build the party but now will do much to wreck it.

Such a man is Oyegun and those who conspired with him to sabotage justice and democracy in Ondo. Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his fellows seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of Unchange. The APC wants to guide Nigeria into a better tomorrow. Oyegun and the cohort of unchange want to pull Nigeria back into the past where rigging and vote stealing were the old and new testaments of politics. They want the people to think that there is no alternative to their reactionary system of skewed politics and imperious government. Thus, they seek to turn the APC into a factory of the very political malpractices the people soundly rejected in the past election. To choke the APC in this manner is to kill the chance for progressive reform for the foreseeable future. Much more than the Ondo primary is at stake. Oyegun has revealed his team’s game plan: It is the destruction of progressive politics and governance on behalf of the people.

As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence. Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate.

As such, he has broken faith with the party and probably has broken a few laws. The consequences of what he has done are more expansive than a man of his scope can fathom. There must is a powerful and sinister arm at work to compel a man of Oyegun’s age to steal the decision of the party in a manner so crude that it would embarrass even the commonest thief.
With strong expectation, we await a response to Oyegun’s wrongdoing from those who clamored so long and loudly about Tinubu’s alleged role in the Ondo primary.

Leading into the primary, a prominent lawyer from Ondo published lengthy missives alleging that Tinubu was a malicious hand intent on rigging the primary. His letters spoke of his great love for democracy and justice. Though Oyegun has assaulted democracy in a most public and vulgar way, this lawyer’s prolific pen will remain stilled. He dare not publish a word about this travesty. His silence will be sign for all who care to decipher its meaning.

The plan was to point the accusing finger at Tinubu. With everyone focused on Tinubu, they would have distracted all attention from the heist they had set in motion. As fate would have it, the trickery they hoped to conduct in the shadows has come to light.

Thus, Oyegun was forced to undertake his desperate fraud in broad daylight in order to salvage the wrong initiated under the lamp of darkness. Those who so actively attributed imaginary wrong to Tinubu now stand dumb and mute in the face of confirmed impropriety. They remain silent for reasons they cannot divulge. Oyegun and his ilk turn out to be gangsters adorned in the tunic of party authority.

Oyegun has engaged in the strange math where five is greater than six. This smacks of how the PDP conducted its affairs and orchestrated its own downfall. Tinubu disparaged such malpractice when it was not in his party. Tinubu surely disowns it now that it has invaded the party he helped bring to fruition.

Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavor cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and evolution.

Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us with him. Against our choosing.
The informal title of national leader of the party was given to Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today. I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honors democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honors me but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honor and comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.

Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason and to the reform agenda of this government. To remain silent would be to admit the defeat of the reform and progressive change many have labored to bring forth. While the forces resistant to change and reform are strong, Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu encourages all party members not to submit to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the one greater than this shall cascade upon us.

Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is but the mercenary of forces that seek to return the nation to the old ways. If they get away with this infraction, no telling what or whom they will undermine tomorrow. Much is at stake. On the chopping block, lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must go. He has shown that he and democratic fair play cannot exist in the same party at the same time. If Tinubu is to choose between John Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.

Tinubu Media Office, TMO.