Why Nigeria Is The Way It Is.

Many people.would quickly say,we know why. 


But do they?


A nation,is like a ship, on the high sea,it has a captain,and there are passengers on this ship.The ship, has a crew, the people elected to government.


In addition,the ship meets other ships,and the waters the ship sails are fraught with all manner of dangers, pirates,reefs,icebergs,floating wrecks etc.


Every occupant of the ship has a vital role to play. If,at any point in the journey,one actor becomes derelict in his/her duty,the whole integrity of the ship suffers.


An unskilled captain,can lead to loss of lives, or ship; the same can be said of the crew. 


Furthermore, when passengers do not demand for the service they have paid for,they also suffer.


In a situation where some passengers get their dues,and others are marginalized, it still does not bode well for the ones who are enjoying.


Our ship of state has been piloted,and crewed by a series of pirates,brigands,and scallywags.
They have been masquerading as legitimate crewmen.


Our ship of state,has been drifting for so long.


Our captain,and crew,are drunk all the time, and they are deaf to reason.
They believe the passengers need them more, than they the passengers.


The rights of passengers have not been upheld. 


Passengers,for a long time,have been fending for themselves.Some have been catching their food, directly from the sea,others have been collecting rainwater to drink. 


These,mind you,are fee paying passengers.


All this while,the captain and crew,have been busy feeding fat on rations meant for the passengers.


The rich,and affluent, passengers, are quiet .They are enjoying themselves, their needs are met;they do not mind paying for what is actually theirs to have,for free.


They do not believe,that the pain of the poor should be alleviated. It does not concern them.


They forget that,it is to their shame,that fellow passengers go to bed, without food.


Nigerians, who ought to be cared for by their leaders,have been let down. 


They cry, but no one hears,they call,and no one answers!




This paradise of the rich,and those who govern, has become a hell for those without power,influence,and money.


Will you keep quiet?


Will you turn your eyes away from open injustice?


Will you refuse to speak?

It is time! 

It is time to speak up!

A great peril dogs us,if we continue like this!

Others who set sail with us,have gone and returned;many times over. 

Nigeria,sadly,has lost her way, on the first leg of the journey!

If we refuse to stand up,and defend the weak, we are complicit with the oppressors.

Stand Up For Nigeria!

If you want change.

If You Do Not,

Who Else Is There!

Only You Can,

Only You Can Save This Nation,Nigeria,

Our Land Of Potentials ,Dogged By Failure!

Let Us Change Nigeria!

Let Us Unite For Her!

As We Do,

MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR BELOVED NIGERIA,FOREVER!

Can Prayers Save Nigeria?

I know I am looking for trouble,when I ask a question like this. 


The ayes,and nays, are many,and they are deeply entrenched, unyielding,and unwilling to hear the other side,as usual.


I want to state here, that I am eminently qualified to ask this question.


I have read six translations of the Bible,from cover to cover, I have been a knowledgeable Christian since 1987. I have been a member of the following churches at various times, the Catholic Church,the Celestial Church of 
Christ,Christ Chapel International Churches, the Deeper Life Church,and now the Redeemed Christian Church of God. 


In addition to this, I have held leadership positions in the church.


In  nutshell, I know my way around. 


I have watched, in agony,for many years,people asking God for things in prayer,and not getting them. 


I have seen their disappointments,close up,and I have also seen them make excuses for God not answering.


I have also seen people who did not pray,at all,but just used the common sense that God gave them,to make their lives better.


Please note, I am not advocating that men should not pray, far from the point, rather,I am asking people,not to ask God to do what God cannot do:not because He is powerless,but because it is not His duty. God is the ultimate expert,in separation of powers.


We have,somehow,turned God into some omnipotent vending machine,like the universal remote controller,or an omnipotent ATM terminal, able to dispense million dollar houses to boys fresh out of secondary school,or husbands to girls who are vipers,and vexatious vampires. all in the name of miracles.


If we,humans, do not give the family car to our five year olds to drive, why do we expect God to be less responsible?


God is the god of order! 


He has not changed,and He will never change!


That was why I laughed,when Goodluck Jonathan,our president,called for prayers for Nigeria.


I wondered to myself,on what basis is this call?


Is he asking God to solve Nigeria's problems? 
Or is he saying that he,Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,does not know how to govern Nigeria,so we should all pray,because we are in trouble.


When politicians want to pander to our innermost weaknesses  for godliness in Nigerian leadership, they ask us to pray.


We all gladly pray,because we think,the man like Obasanjo,who built a chapel in the presidential villa,has become a devout follower of God.


But can the same leader,assure us,that he would be manifestly,and latently, godly, in his actions,thought,and character.


No!


So why pray? Why bother? Why waste spiritual energy on pursuits bound to fail?


They are only playing politics,as usual,when they tell us to pray.


While we are busy praying for them,commanding the enemies of Nigeria, to fall down,and die:they, the leaders,at night,visit different shrines to undo our prayers! 


They order the assassination of opponents,they plan the looting of our commonwealth, and they ask us to pray for their success!


I have stopped praying for Nigeria along time ago. 


No one prays for France,Germany,America,or Australia!
These nations that have been rapidly advancing,sometimes,at our expense.


Let me shock you. God does not care about politics, He cares about the souls of politicians,as individuals, that is where it ends.


Politics,is the manifest rejection of theocracy. It is the opposite of the government by God. 


Democracy, after all, is government,of the people,by the people,for the people.


The last time I checked, there was no God in the definition.


We must wake up to the reality that God is not in the business of providing roads,hospitals, security,electricity,and the other services that governments,the world over provide.


They have no bearing on God's economy. 


God is a Spirit,He dwells in the spirit realm.


Why is it that,when we have problems with demons,we do not take those problems to our  governors, councillors, or local government chairmen? We take them to God.


Why would we now want to take the problems that ought to be solved by men to God?


It is illogical,and at best,silly.


So,when Goodluck calls for prayers, our collective response should be,dude,if you do not know what to do,please resign,and let someone who knows what to do,take over!


Prayers will not solve Nigeria's problems,we have been praying for fifty years, see how much our prayers have been answered. 


Our solution,lies in our uniting,and saying with one voice,that we deserve better than we have been getting from our governments,past,and present.


If politicians want to lead us in prayers,they should resign,and become pastors, then we will listen to them.


And pray very well with them.


Right now,we demand service, 


long overdue,


with interest!


MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,MY NIGERIA,FOREVER!

Global Warming, And The Flood To Come.

One of the duties of government,as far as I am concerned,is to confront present imminent danger,while preparing for future potential threats.


This means that apart from solving the problems of today,it should be making plans for emerging ones.


When Marshall McLuhan, the mass communication guru,coined the phrase"global village",more than thirty years ago,I believe even he did not anticipate how interrelated,and interdependent,the world would become.


We all got a rude lesson in this during the H1N1 Swine Flu crises of some years ago,and the Bird Flu epidemic.


It is no longer news,that when the world sneezes at one end,the other end catches cold!


So when we see on cable television,wildfires in Russia, massive floods in China,and Pakistan;it would be foolhardy for us to to assume the usual posture of "thank God,it is not happening here".


But is it not?


Nigeria suffers from a chronic case of underreporting. 


Our government does not know what is going on,unless it involves the making of money, or the acquisition of new assets, for those in government.


About a month ago, some parts of Utako District,in Abuja,the Federal Capital Territory, experienced unprecedented flooding. Homes were breached by water.


The same had happened in Kubwa town,the year before.
Before then,we had massive flooding in Maiduguri,and other cities in the north, this was against all expectations.


This year's rain,has not been a welcome relief for many residents of Lekki, and Ajah, two high-brow residential areas in Lagos. They have been overwhelmed with water. Some residents woke up.and found their furniture floating in their living rooms.


All these are the effects of the much disputed,but very-much-with-us, Global warming!


Mankind,by our invasive use of the planet,has put the whole planet out of sync. We now live in a world that is at war with itself ,literally. 


This is a very contentious issue.There are numerous experts on both sides of the argument for,and against, global warming.


Between them, in no man's land,are many extremists ready to die for their beliefs!


It is trite science,that acceptance,or otherwise,of the existence of a phenomenon, does not invalidate it. 


If you live long enough,like the saying goes, you will change your views several times!


Apart from the emission of green house gases,which is one of the factors responsible for global warming, and consequently the flooding we are seeing globally, I believe that our peculiar Nigerian Factor, is preparing us for a crises we may not be able to handle. 


The flooding we are witnessing,are just the harbingers of the horde to come. People,because they have money, and land is scarce, are allowed to build in flood plains, they are a natural bullseye for the flood to come. 


Also,our new found craze for interlocking,and concreting over every thing,is not allowing sufficient water to sink into the ground.


By not planting grass, we harm the environment.


There is a general attitude,that what we do as individuals,does not have a bearing on the overall outcome.


But that is self-delusion,


The consequence is the massive run- offs we are witnessing as flooding.


If you add this to the breakdown in essential public services in many areas,drains not cleared regularly,canals not cleaned, garbage left on the streets;we are sitting on a volcano.


Our government seems to be more concerned with  reacting to the flooding, than preventing it. It is actually cheaper,in human,and material terms, to prevent a flood,than to wait for it to happen.


But then again,there are huge, lucrative, contracts to be awarded for relief materials.


We have not helped ourselves,by our indiscriminate felling of trees.


Apart from removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, trees also protect against erosion.


One might sound like a prophet of doom,but areas like Victoria Island,Lekki, Ajah, parts of Bayelsa, Cross River, and Rivers state,are in danger of not just flooding,but being reclaimed by the sea!


While individuals,on their own,can do very little to solve the global problem, the bulk of the solution, is in the hands of government. 


This is what we see happening in Benin city.


Benin City,the capital of Edo state, used to be flood prone; that was until a real government was elected, now,the problem is receiving attention.


 Houses,regrettably, are being demolished to restore the original channels used by water.In addition, the ancient Benin Moat, which many unscrupulous individuals had sand-filled in some sections to build houses,is now being cleared. 


This moat was a logical place for water to go in the past,but we ruined it.


It is going to take imagination, determination,and a lot of sacrifice,to avert the sure flood,which is to come.


These are attributes,which are rare in government.


This is one time when I would advocate prayer as a solution to a problem government ought to solve, I am, because I know we are on our own.


O God save us! 


Help Your people,for we have no helper!


MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!

A Beggar's Plea

I have been in Ibadan,again,for the past two days. 


These were not very pleasant days I must confess.


The lowest point of my trip,was not any of the other difficulties I encountered, these were things that were always within my control.


It was at Iwo /Ife road roundabout, it was something I had no control over. And it was frustrating.


I was sad. 


I saw a little girl,she could not have been more than four years old;and then again,she could have been older,but be suffering from stunted growth a la malnutrition.


She was a beggar. 


Or a beggar's assistant,or child. One could see that she was in the grip of begging. 


Her head was in the laps of another,older,beggar. 


And a third woman, was braiding her hair.


I do not know why I saw her,but I must confess, I should not deceive myself, or you:I have a four year old daughter, and she is my only child; she is one of the two lights my life revolves around, this side of heaven.




In the midst of the hurly-burly,tumultuous-cacophony that Iwo/Ife road roundabout is,a little innocent girl,was trying to live a normal life.


But her surroundings, screamed against normality.


She was a beggar.


The honking cars, the acrid exhaust fumes, the open gutters with screaming garbage, and the human casualties of of our society;the other beggars, they all screamed back


"Beggar!


As I drove away from that spot, I retained a snapshot of her in my heart,because that is where she touched. I just could not make her go away. She was like a debt that was overdue, with no hope of payment in sight.


The last thing I did before going to bed,was to write a memo on my phone to write this piece.


Who was this little girl?


Did she have any parents? 


Did she have any dreams?


Did she have any future?






She was a beggar.


After all.


Did she eat well? 


Did she sleep well?


Did anyone even care for her?


If I had ever wished I were very rich,rich, as in own an island, have mansions on seven continents,and be on first name basis with Bill, and Warren,or even Aliko, it was then.


I would have just stopped my car, and put the girl and her minder in my car.


I would have adopted her. 


It still breaks my heart.


She was a beggar.


And I could not do anything!


What society,allows the weak,vulnerable, and innocent,to suffer like that?


Are we serious about our future,if our children who are our future, are already disadvantaged as children?


If we think the world is complicated now, we should imagine what it would be like in fifteen years time for this girl.


She would be a stranger in,and to,her own world.


She would be locked out of the stream,and flow,of life as it would be then. She would be unprepared, because when she was young,


She was a beggar!


But her future could be so different,if we could only work to the potential we already  have as a nation, and utilize the resources we currently are profligate with, in reprobate,and abominable, expenditure.


When Obasanjo was president,he accused some governors then,of being "Owambe"  (Outlandish,wild party animals) governors; Nigeria is throwing the ultimate Owambe party in October, we are spending billions of naira on a party,I wonder what Obasanjo has to say now?


But this little girl,whose life could be transformed,if this money were properly used, would probably grow up, a statistic, a statistic of the failed leadership we must all work to change.


Let us unite to work for Nigeria's unity,


She is worth saving,


This little girl is begging us to,
After all,


She is a beggar.




GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER! 

Qualifications For The Presidency

We need finished products for the presidency,not some half-baked

work in progress.

I have told this story before,and it bears repeating again.

The morning after Bill Clinton's presidential election victory, he said he and Hilary were in bed,and it dawned on them what they had actually achieved:they had won the presidency.

They said the victory was so unexpected,that they felt like a dog that had chased a car,and actually caught it!

 The dog,in shock,did now not know what to do with the car.

We know that Bill Clinton went on to become one of America's most celebrated presidents,because he transformed America, for good!

The presidency of any nation,be it a banana republic,or a first world nation, like America,is a hallowed, and sacred trust.

 It is not an office you draw lots for,it is not something you allow everyone who feels like it,because he had a dream last night,to get to.

The president,by default, whether he/she, likes it or not,influences the current,and future generations.

This is why I am rilled to deep indignation,when we reduce ascension to Nigeria's presidency to pedestrian,and puerile, considerations,like ethnicity.

The Punch newspaper,this morning's edition,had a banner headline proclaiming,"2011:Ethnic minorities really around Jonathan". Is that how low the qualification for our presidency has descended? 

Are we saying that we do not care,whether the man is capable intellectually,to discharge the duties of his office?

 Are we now saying that where he comes from,and not even his state of mind,is the  overriding consideration?

We do unbelievably bizarre things like this,and wonder why we do not get the respect that we crave from the international community?

Despite our sacrifices,in peace keeping missions,and other areas, we are still strangers to international respect!

Did we not learn anything, when we allowed Obasanjo to become president?

He was compensation for the Yoruba nation,over the annulment of June Twelve Election? 

See where he left us?

In the middle of nowhere!

Did we not suffer together under Yar'Adua,when he did not know how to even dissolve his cabinet? 

See what he left us?

Chaos! Left and right!

The sad truth is that,when we reduce to the nethermost ridiculous minimum, the criteria for occupying such a highly exalted,exacting and demanding office,as the presidency:we also,invariably reduce the quality of individuals who would eventually get there!

And we can only blame ourselves!

The odds favour the average men of straw, who only want to come and enrich themselves,and not Nigeria.

They outnumber the brilliant ones ,a million to one!

I believe, that the criteria for our presidency, must be the most exacting, humanly possible. 

The fellow who gets to occupy that seat would be responsible for over one hundred and fifty million Nigerians,and the generations to come.

I have no quarrel with Goodluck Jonathan as a person, my concern is with the presidency of Nigeria. That is an institution,that is sacred,and not a place to go and learn.

Electing a president, in my own opinion, is like literally going for a head transplant operation,(that is if such an operation were possible). 

You would want to ensure that the new head you are getting,would improve your total person. 

If you could speak six languages before,why settle for a head that can only speak pidgin English?

If you could see with two eyes,without  glasses before,why settle for one that is blind?

So you see,why I am always shouting, like a lactating goat whose kids have been taken:it is because I have only one country,and I can only have one president every four years!

It is not every time, a president would die mid-term! 

If the wrong person is elected,we suffer for four long years.and even after he has left office,like Obasanjo has done,we could still be suffering years after, all because one wrong choice was made.

There is no successful nation on earth,that chooses her leader,based on his ethnic group.

I can categorically say that,places where ethnic considerations, determine who aspires to high office never develop.They remain rooted in the stone age of the caveman. 

So,Nigerians, Patriots,Progressives,and Lovers of our land, 

let us not make a wrong choice again.

The effects are usually long lasting, and unpleasant.  

My name is Julius Umogbai, I support the Kakatawaga Progressives.

Join the Stand Up Nigeria Movement on Facebook.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!

The Imperative of Internal Democracy in Political Parties.

We need every set of eyes available to watch them.No pair of eyes is useless in this venture.Let us watch them,to ensure our collective future.

Boooooooooooooooring!


Yawn!



Stretch!


Those are some of the reactions I know I will get to a subject of this nature. Why would I want to waste my time ,discussing internal democracy in political parties? Who would want to read it.?

We all need to. Our future happiness,and the end of our current sadness,depends on it.


Political parties, are the foundation of any democracy. 

This does not however apply in single party systems, as it obtains in China, North Korea,and some other authoritarian dispensations around the world.


They usually present the electorate, with multiple choices,in electing their representative governments.

Democracy,in my own bushman's  elementary definition, is government through free choice,or free will.
Once there is no freedom to choose a representative, whatever the outcome cannot be said to be democratic.


Because parties are the bedrock in a democratic system, one would expect them to pass the simple test of being democratic themselves.


They say in law that he who must approach equity,must come with clean hands. 

Bushman's translation,you cannot say you want to wear something clean,and your hands are soiled with palm oil!


How have our political parties fared in the quest to be internally democratic? On the basis of name alone, almost every party has passed with distinction.

We have the People's Democratic Party,Democratic People's Party,Democratic Alternative,National Democratic Party,and the list goes on and on.


If you marry a husband/wife,on the basis of a photograph alone, as our parents once did,you could be getting into a life threatening situation. What if he/she bed wets? What if he/she is a wife/husband batterer?  What if your potential spouse, is a spouse from hell?


Many of our parties sing the song,but they do not dance the dance!


A careful examination of the biggest party in the land,the People's Democratic Party, would show us why the "democratic" in the name,is not enough!


Aside from the unwritten,but widely accepted notion that godfathers rule different turfs of the party,like dons in the mafia; the party has a law in her constitution that is queer,and I must say, clearly against the laws of fair play,and equity.

Her governors, are allowed to bring their political appointees as delegates to any congress of the party in the state.


What this means is that, if the governor wants to win any congress, particularly in the state ,all he need to do is appoint an overwhelming number of people as political appointees, like Governor Isa Yuguda did in Bauchi.Yuguda appointed about nine hundred special assistants!


It does not matter if these individuals do not have real jobs in government.

 I saw a state,the other day, where they had a special adviser to the governor on IT,I am sure his job is to show the governor how to use his laptop,and when to use it.


So if governor "A" is running for reelection, and only accredited delegates can vote, he is at a great advantage with his retinue of political appointees who are sure to vote him in.

The contest is skewed in his favour.


Another antidemocratic tendency of our parties, is the the roles played by godfathers,and national executive bodies of these parties.


On one hand, you have godfathers rejecting the popular will of the people to plant his own stooge, and  as we saw copiously with the PDP, before the last elections;there were cases where candidates elected by state congresses,were replaced with the vanquished candidates in Abuja because they were well connected. 


In such cases, the victims only found out after their names had been substituted.


So when a party, like the People's Democratic Party, which has shown such manifest,and "impunitious", disregard for internal democracy,runs in an election, it does not play by the rules of democracy. They are mutually exclusive of each other.


The Yoruba people have a proverb, that ,it is the situation of the home you look at,before naming a child: therefore, if we name the People's Democratic Party,an undemocratic party, we would be fair in our assessment,and judgement.


One then begins to wonder,can a party which has a glowing track record of undermining democracy, a factor which has helped it cling to power by every means foul,  deliver democracy to Nigeria? 

Can they be trusted to play fair? 

Can we go to sleep,and leave the PDP to steer the ship of democracy?

Can we afford another four years of chaos?

Can we tolerate another four years of dashed hopes, and shattered dreams?


If we cannot,then we must all,here ,and now, determine that we would not leave the job to them alone. Neither can we put too much faith in the other political parties, a lot of them are offshoots of the PDP. Many of them were formed by  disgruntled, and disenfranchised,ex-PDP members. They already know how to cheat!


This is the time for all who love Nigeria to put their differences aside, and unite under one common banner; the banner of freedom of choice, the banner of elections in an atmosphere free of stress,or any other inducement ,or inhibition.

The banner of true, manifest,and latent,unalloyed,and unmitigated democracy. 

If you love Nigeria,


STAND UP FOR NIGERIA,

If you love Nigeria,

Join us,


as we build a truly democratic Nigeria.

I am Julius Umogbai, and I support the Kakatawaga Progressives!




GOD BLESS NIGERIA,MY NIGERIA,FOREVER!


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