I'm almost in the same condition with the op as regards educational status and search for employment. I recently concluded my Ph.d in Plant breeding and genetics. I hv an M.Sc in Agronomy and a B.Sc in Botany. I have two journal publications. I also need help (in or outside the field of academia).

I did a Ph.d programme for five academic sessions with no job; no income; no grant and no standby sponsor. Who else can do such a great miracle if not God? He is the fountain of all my blessings and His streams of mercy in my life has never ceased. My heart is ever tuned to sing His grace. May His name alone be praised.

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In December 2009, I was at Aburi, while holidaying in Ghana. We Nigerians call it A-b-u-r-i, but the Ghanaians pronounce it as E-b-r-i. For those who have read widely about the civil war that we fought between 1967 and 1970, Aburi is a significant place. This was what I wrote about Aburi, after returning from that journey:

“Aburi. Beautiful, serene Aburi, set daintily atop a hill. It is home to a botanical garden that is 119 years old. But for us in Nigeria, Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation. It is the town where General Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the Nigerian Civil War that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They came out with Aburi Accord, which later broke down. And a shooting war started. You could see the Presidential Lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had parleyed at the behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility.”

As one of the key parties to the Aburi Accord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, returns to mother earth today, it is also apposite to return to Aburi, and look at the letter and the spirit of the accord once again, an agreement that was violated by the Federal side, and which made a bloody internecine war inevitable.

For most part of 1966, the northern part of Nigeria, particularly, had been turned to killing fields. Non-natives, especially Igbos, were killed in thousands. Many fled, many others were displaced. There was complete anarchy in the land. The average Igbo looked up to Lt. Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern Region, to provide leadership and direction. He did not fail. He picked the gauntlet and championed the cause of his people.

By January 1967, the drums of war were loud and clear, reverberating across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But there was a last ditch effort to prevent what was imminent. There was a peace meeting hosted at Aburi, in Ghana, by the then Ghanaian head of state, Gen J. A. Ankrah. At the meeting were Gowon, Ojukwu, all the military governors of the regions, and some top civil servants, both from the Federal side and the Eastern region. The meeting held on January 4 and 5, 1967, and came out with what is popularly known today as the Aburi Accord.

The agenda of the meeting consisted of three crucial issues: (i) Reorganization of the Armed Forces (ii) Constitutional agreement (iii) Issues of displaced persons within Nigeria.

The two-day meeting reached consensus that were acceptable to both sides. Among others, it was resolved that legislative and executive authority of the Federal Military Government was to remain in the Supreme Military Council (SMC), to which any decision affecting the whole country shall be referred for determination provided it is possible for a meeting to be held, and the matter requiring determination must be referred to military governors for their comment and concurrence. What does this mean in simple language? The SMC would run the affairs of the country, but not without consulting the regions as represented by the military governors. This was something akin to federalism, even under a military government.

Other terms of the agreement include that appointments to senior ranks in the police, diplomatic and consular services as well as appointment to superscale posts in the federal civil service and the equivalent posts in the statutory corporations must be approved by the SMC. What does this mean again in simple language? Equity, fairness, true federalism.

Other matters like the holding of an ad hoc constitutional conference, fate of soldiers involved in the January 15, 1966 coup, rehabilitation of displaced persons, etc, were also amicably resolved, and the conferees returned happily to Nigeria. Only for the Federal side to deliver a blow to the solar plexus: the Aburi Accord, Gowon said, was unworkable, and he reneged on all the agreements.

Using the Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service, Ojukwu played the tape recording of the proceedings at Aburi repeatedly, to educate the populace on who was playing Judas. Later, he made a broadcast in which he said: “we in the East are anxious to see that our differences are resolved by peaceful means and that Nigeria is preserved as a unit, but it is doubtful, and the world must judge whether Lt. Col Gowon’s attitudes and other exhibitions of his insincerity are something which can lead to a return of normalcy and confidence in the country.

“I must warn all Easterners once again to remain vigilant. The East will never be intimidated, nor will she acquiesce to any form of dictation. It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless, it is not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds. We are ready to defend our homeland.”

In a piece I did last December, shortly after Ojukwu passed away, I said he was virtually pushed into war by the infidelity of the Federal side to the Aburi Accord. I still stand by that position. Ojukwu was called ‘warlord’ for many decades, but he was by no means a warmonger. He only did what he needed to do for his people–and for the country.

As his earthly remains are interred today, it is tragic that Nigeria is still submerged in the morass that Ojukwu already identified about 45 years ago. Today, bombs go off like firecrackers in the country. There is agitation for the review of the revenue allocation formula. There are strident calls for the convocation of a sovereign national conference. Even some component parts are threatening to pull out of the federation if anything happened to their ‘son’ who is now in power. Didn’t Ojukwu warn of these landmines ahead? Were all these issues not already settled at Aburi? Foremost journalist and media administrator, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, in a recent media interview, explained the Aburi Accord this way: “Let every region be semi-autonomous and develop at its own level.” Yes, that was the spirit and letter of Aburi, but which sadly became a road not taken. And is that not why we are still suffering today, living in a rickety and decrepit country that can burst at the seams any moment? I tell you, Ojukwu was a prophet, and like most prophets, he had no honour in his own country. Pity. But whether we like it or not, there’s no way we won’t return to Aburi. Willy-nilly. I only hope it will be sooner than later, before Nigeria goes to grief. On Aburi I stand.

Federal Government was perfidious and duplicitous on Aburi. It is still the same way today. That is why as Nigerians, we are most times disillusioned, dismayed, dispirited, dejected and depressed. When will change come to this land? Our hearts are getting weary.

Last December, I wrote that Ojukwu should be buried like a hero. I’m glad at the rites of passage so far, culminating in the interment today. Yes, bury him like a true hero. An icon, an avatar, deserves no less. This generation will surely not see another like Ojukwu. He fought not only for his own people, but for a true federation founded on justice, fair play, equity and rectitude. Unfortunately, he did not see the Nigeria of his dreams. Will we? Adieu the Ikemba, the Eze Igbo Gburugburu. May your soul rest in peace. Ka nkpur’obi gi zue ike n’adukwa.

By Femi Adesina
Friday March 02, 2012

Go with at least a reporter from any of the respected national dailies. And mk sure u mk adequate introductns first and foremost. U can stil go wth a lawyer if u can afford any. But i think the former will be cheaper.

Nnamdi Kanu is not from Imo state. He is from Abia. How then can he be promised to contest in a Senatorial district that is not his? This information is very wrong. I am not his fan though.

Try Viagra. It might help you gain strong erection irrespective of all psychological sexual anxieties.

pls opp. What do you knw about Rossland consulting. How reputable are they?

angeltolly:


I also got an invite from them, please who can verify this company/farm/address for us. Thanks

Any info yet? Cos i hv som1 in your shoes

Immunity1:
i knew they cannot survive without Nigeria.

Igbos dont only travel to the north to buy goods. They also travel to China, Dubai, Italy etc. It is in our nature to explore and sell. Nigeria or no Nigeria, we keep travelling, we keep exploring and we keep selling!

Though am not an Anambrarian, but mine is Gov Willie Obiano of Anambra state. The day I entered the subsidized bus he provided from Awka to Onitsha, was the day it dawned on me that since I was born, no other Nigerian government (state and federal) have made any policy that have directly influenced my life: Am about acquiring the highest postgraduate qualification in my career but has never enjoyed any scholarship nor free healthcare etc. No govt have ever contibuted to the man I am today directly. And that's why I was so excited the day Willie Obiano saved me N100.

stevnwigw:
I have an M.Sc degree in Fisheries and Hydrobiology and on the 21th of Dec., 2015 got admitted to pursue A PhD also in Fisheries and Hydrobiology .pls can anyone help me get a job? my B.Sc is in zoology, thank you. 08165084255

Tnx for creating this thread. Our predicaments are quite similar. I hv a B.Sc in Botany,an M.Sc in Agronomy and started a Ph.D in Plant breeding and genetics in 2014. Sincerely, I hv no job but some persons might find it difficult to undstnd this. Anybody dat can help shuld contact me at orjilla@gmail.com. Tnx.

jostking:
Wow, dats great so many opportunities awaits you. Apply to all those new universities coming up they will definitely need you.

u think it's dat easy?

Since I am presently a Nigerian and have no other country yet, I will do the following to make Nigeria better in 2016: 1. I will always be conscious of the numerous challenges we have in Nigeria. Only so can I be able to harness resources towards spurring the actions of those who would have known better; and towards awakening the silence of justice. 2. Since every sentient being, even my enemy fears suffering as I do and wants to be happy, I will refuse to seek happiness while remaining indifferent to that of others. 3. I'I continue to be the change I want to see in Nigerians 4. I will resist moral, ethical and societal decadence from reverberating around me to my outlandish abandon. 5. I will venerate hardwork and desist from an opportunistic fun time of heinous brutishness. 6. I will ensure that my life remains a centrifugal pull, increasingly incremental, that pulls Nigerian youths out of destructive selfishness. 7. I'I hold on tenaciously to every essence, scrutinize every desire, give opportunity to every idea and thank God for every existence. 8. I will refuse to sell my soul for crumbs. 9. I'I continue to hold this govt accountable using whatever means possible till the commonest of Nigerians can see a glimpse of hope. 10. I'I continue in prayer for Nigeria and Nigerians. 'Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise'. So help me God!

My dear op, pls include my pics.Hunger catch me this evening soteee I go steal bread for mama nkechi shop.

On his death bed, Alexander The Great envisioning his demise to be around the corner, summoned his army generals and told them his three ultimate wishes: The best doctors should carry his coffin; the wealth he has accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the procession to the cemetery; and his hands should be let loose so they hang outside the coffin for all to see! One of his generals who were surprised by these unusual requests asked for some clarifications and this was what Alexander The Great said:

“I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to save; I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that materials acquired on earth will stay on earth even as the acquirer dies; and I want my hands to swing in the wind so that people will understand that we came to this world empty handed and we will leave this world empty handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted, and that is TIME”.

One thing that cannot be recycled is wasted time. Lost time is never found again. Goodluck Jonathan realized this too late and it caused him a fortune. He once attempted to buy time by succeeding in pushing through the postponement of the elections by six weeks, until it suddenly dawned on him that by labour, it is easier to find food and water, but all of his labour will never ‘win’ for him another hour. And today, the thought that he made history as the first democratically elected president of Nigeria to be defeated at the polls strikes as perfect for an explosion, and has served as fodder for jokes at the bars where Nigerians gather to relish pepper soups and quaff away sorrows.

But to every unpleasant happenings, there is always a deontology (ask Patrick Obahiagbon). When Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983, he received ‘deontologies’ from his fans, one of which conveyed “Why did God have to select you for such a bad disease?” To this Arthur replied: 50 children started playing tennis, 5 million learnt to play tennis, 500, 000 learnt professional tennis, 50, 000 came to circuit, 5, 000 reached Grand slam, 50 reached Wimbledon, 4 reached the semi-finale, 2 reached the finals and when I was holding the cup in my hand, I never asked God “Why me?”

So no matter how many ‘deontologies’ people might prop up for Goodluck Jonathan’s failures, courtesy also demands that we pat him on the back and wish him well especially for accepting defeat honourably. After all, of about 170 million Nigerians of his time, he was the only man from his region that has joined the league of the only 5 persons who were democratically elected as presidents, and the only Ph.D holder that has reached that coveted height. On this premise, he is an achiever on his own right. But we need to be clear on our own premise too irrespective of scale and metaphorical hue, because misunderstood premise might precipitate to misconstrued precedence.

From the aforementioned, one of the major reasons why Goodluck Jonathan failed in his political pursuit was because he thought he had time but he never knew life went by so quickly. He mistook a tenure to be 8 years instead of 4, and he forgot so soon that one year is just a mere 365 days and a day, a paltry of 24 hours.
He thought he would always have a tomorrow in office and hence paid abysmal response to the more than 91 electoral promises he made to the masses in 2011. He thought he had all the time in the world: to revive the rail system into world class standard; to complete the second River Niger bridge; to deliver stable constant supply of electricity; to diversify the economy; to create jobs; to enhance access to education; and to fight corruption and terrorism among others. He was a facsimile of Emperor Nero; he slept while Nigeria fizzled. And before he could wake up, it was already time!

Goodluck Jonathan slept with his two eyes closed until insecurity succeeded in terminating the lives of some 20,000 Nigerians, kidnapped some, and rendered some 3 million others refugees in their homeland. Under his nose, corruption persisted and corrupt individuals were not chastised opening wide the suicide iron bars of looting. Under his watch, public debts and exchange rate ratio accentuated, external reserves more or less, depreciated; and poverty incidence and unemployment levels simultaneously reached an all time high.

As he slept, Nigeria lost her soul and Nigerians became susceptible to ethnocentrism and prone to xenophobic attacks. At home, ethnicities turn others of different ethnic groups into objects of mockery, while thousands of Nigerians most of whom sneaked into other countries in an attempt to enjoy opportunities which their country refused to provide for them, were most times denigrated and given a kiss of death by their hosts. Since Nigeria now has no soul, nothing is betrayed by hurting her. You could wreck her infrastructure through corruption, destroy her refineries, wreck her national airlines, destroy her national shipping lines, restore her railway to Second World War locomotive standards in the 21st century, destroy her universities, spend more than $16 billion to import darkness, and all you would get are Nigerians complaining that they have been marginalized from the theatre of wrecking and destruction. But gracefully, these are all in the past as the searchlight now beams on the present.

To avoid going the way of GEJ, Muhammadu Buhari, despite all surmountable foreseeable challenges, should like water from a busted dam arrive with plans that can make Nigeria to refuse to be an infuriating address even at the tamest of times. The pace with which he does these will determine his appreciation of time. As Late Prof. Chinua Achebe puts it, “a man who means to buy palm wine does not hang about at home until the entire palm wine in the market is sold”.

Metaphorically speaking therefore, it is clear that ‘G’MB is bequeathed a Nigeria that has for so long enjoyed an exponential and monumental growth in decadence and inertia; a country with a history of un-rebuked underachievement, iced by public officers who have imbibed into their bone marrows the attitude of extravagance and conspicuous consumption in a sea of poverty.

As outlined in my article “Symptoms of a Sick Country” as published by the National Review Magazine in their January-February edition of 2014, ‘G’MB is taking on authority in a Nigeria characterized by “gruesome road accidents as a result of bad roads; police shootings of innocent people sometimes on act of disputes over N20 bribes; lecturers who demand sex or cash in exchange for good grades; students who offer sex or cash in lieu of hard work; civil servants who pocket billions in public funds entrusted in their care; law makers who won’t give a straight answer about their entitlements; local government officials and governors who stow away hundreds of billions each month in ‘security votes’ – and then pocket huge contract sums as well; highways daubed with a thin film of tar and declared “constructed”; neighbourhoods swallowed by flood water; civil servants and private sector employees who go for months without pay; civil servants and private sector employees who go for months without putting in a decent day’s job; daily traffic jams that seem choreographed from hell; hospitals stripped of equipment; hospitals where high bills and death are the only guarantees; and school buildings in such dismal shape that class conscious rodents abandon them for classless cockroaches”.

‘G’MB has just collected a mantle of leadership in a Nigeria where the ruling class connives with multinationals to dupe citizens; a country where homelessness is the rule rather than the exception; a country where 81% of its population generate their own electricity through alternative sources to compensate for irregular power supply; a country where people randomly maim and kill for sheer catharsis; a country where there are more than 6,000 uncompleted projects and more than 45,000 ghost workers; a country where every man, every decision, every policy is weighed and viewed through a religious and tribal prism; a country where universities and polytechnics are bereft of equipment and research funds; where cities have no trash disposal systems; where many adults are so crushed by hardship that they declare their own children witches and wizards; and a country where the naira that used to equal the dollar now weakens daily.

To sum it all up, there is much to be done and if ‘G’MB is determined to maximize time, he can accomplish a lot. Of course, no sane person will expect him to build a perfect Nigeria in 4 years even if he has got a magic wand – no government has ever done that in the world. Even in the United States, the leading democracy, the April 2013 jobs data shows that approximately 23 million Americans are unemployed. That is almost the entire population of Ghana which a 2012 head count put at 24.9 million. But just as Obama had a tough time with re-election in 2012 because U.S unemployment rate reached 8%, GMB might even have a tougher time in 2019 or even go the way of GEJ if present statistics did not improve.

Statistics must show that our today (‘G’MB’s administration) is better than our yesterday (GEJ’s administration) if he must have a head way. It is a familiar knowledge that during GEJ’s era, the United Nations once rated Nigeria as the 8th most violent country on the face of the earth; UNESCO once ranked the country as the 8th most illiterate country in the world; and the CPI once placed Nigeria in the 135th position out of 176 countries surveyed for corruption. In this same era, average life span was once pegged at 52 years; the gap between the rich and the poor sometime increased from 0.39 to 0.42; and in 2013, reports made it clear that Nigeria was the worst place for a baby to enter the world. In GEJ’s era also, statistics once pinned the total expenditures on education to about 3.5% of GDP, while the Nigeria Bureau of statistics (NBS) says that unemployment is at 24% and growing at 16% annually; etc.

Thanks to information technology. Concomitantly, Nigerians will continue to keep tabs on how much these statistics improve before 2019; how much their lives improve; and how much ‘G’MB fulfils his own electoral promises among which include: making the naira equal to the dollar; establishing a welfare system that will pay between N5, 000 and N10, 000 per month to the poorest 25 million Nigerians; free primary education plus free meal; and providing millions of public housing etc. Unlike his predecessor propounded if he had won, ‘G’MB doesn’t need to spend much on public relations as most Nigerians now have the whole world on their finger tips. From the comfort of their bedrooms, they can even monitor how he lives his life in Aso Rock.

This is Africa! Every morning a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up, it knows it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. Figuratively, it doesn’t matter whether ‘G’MB is a gazelle or a lion. The most important thing now is that the sun is up, he better start running. The less than 15 million Nigerians that voted for him and the more than 155 million others that stood afar off wish him well. Till 2019 by the grace of God.

Orji Iheanyi is a Public Affairs Analyst and a Consultant Agronomist and can be reached at orjilla@gmail.com

Despite the much touted e-wallet scheme, the truth is that any amount expended through agriculture can be likened to a ‘security vote’ which is difficult to be quantitatively measured. For instance, if the Ministry of Works says it constructed a kilometre of road in a named location for a known amount, it is easy to detect misinformation if any. But what if the Ministry of Agriculture states that 1.5 million farmers benefitted from any of its schemes? Can anybody go from house to house, within this space called Nigeria, to take record of the exact farmers that benefitted? As a result of this anomaly, this sector, both at the state and federal level, have been milked dry and farmers have automatically been bidden ‘goodnight’.

As campaigns reach its peak, the 70% of Nigerians who are farmers must ask a critical question before they choose sides and the question is this: “We are already asleep. Does this person have what it takes to wake us from this slumber?”

To an informed mind, most of the achievements of this present government on the area of agriculture exist only on books; not in reality. As usual, our leaders must use every method in, on, under and beside the books to spin lies and attempt to hoodwink all the people, all the time. Overwhelmed by the seeming enormity and intractability of the problems bedevilling the agricultural sector in this country, it is germane to posit that Nigerian farmers have simply suffered a decimation, to use the words of an European-American writer, Ayn Rand.

According to FAO 2011 statistics, Nigeria has a total land area of 91,077,000 hectares with an agricultural area of 76,200,000 hectares. In simple terms, about 83.7% of the land in Nigeria is arable, out of which less than half is currently under cultivation, mostly in subsistence form. Not only do we have vast amounts of arable land, we also have favourable weather for year-round cultivation of crops. Unfortunately, the country still spends well over N1.3 trillion per annum on the importation of foodstuffs, including N356 billion currently spent on importing rice annually and N635 billion spent on wheat imports. Sadly, these are all products that can be grown locally and if managed properly, can be exported in the near future. A nation that can’t feed itself is one that takes its farming population for granted and for such, implosion is imminent.

Nowadays, the agricultural sector has been milked dry and denigrated to a career of the poor and the old. Instead of creating wealth with agriculture, Nigerians are now managing poverty with it. Nigeria is seriously bent on plying the route of Haiti which around 1800 were the world’s richest colony; an export factory which produced almost two-thirds of the world’s coffee and almost half of the world’s sugar, but today are among the poorest countries.

Israel, on the other hand, is the poster child for a nation that has turned the odds in its favour agriculturally. More than half its land is desert and the climate is unsuitable for agriculture, yet it’s a world leader in agricultural technologies and a major exporter of fresh produce. Only 20% of Israeli land is arable yet it produces 95% of its nutritional requirements.

Also, the United States of America has continuously embarked on policies that have bettered the lives of farmers in that region, making the country able to feed itself, while excesses are exported either to earn foreign exchange or as aid to third world countries. As of the last census of agriculture in 2007, there were well above 2.2 million commercial farms in America, covering an area of 922 million acres, averages of 418 acres per farm. Apart from various credits and subsidies, the government went ahead to fix the minimum wage of a farmer to be $9.12 per hour. On this premise, the height of sponsorship and recognition American government gave to agricultural research cannot be overemphasized. Recent studies indicated that every US dollar spent by the US on agricultural research produces $9 worth of added food in developing countries.

Remorselessly, it is goodnight to farmers whenever monies meant for food production is cornered by corrupt individuals; it is goodnight to farmers whenever communities look down on their farming population; it is goodnight to farmers whenever parents and guardians discourage their wards from embarking on any agriculturally related disciplines; it is goodnight to farmers whenever we welcome development at the expense of an acre of land meant for food production; it is goodnight to farmers whenever a government has no clear plans for agricultural development; it is goodnight to farmers whenever a government invests on cassava and leaves waterleaf growers to their fate; and it is goodnight to farmers when a government neither invests on agricultural research nor encourages it in whatever ways possible.

In the same way, farmers dim their lamps and go to bed whenever they allow their various farmers’ associations to be converted to an offshoot of a political party, hijacked by ‘political farmers’ who had never been to farm since the day of their birth. In essence, they fall prey only when they refuse to seize what is theirs through whatever means possible.

Be that as it may, there are still some embers that still burn in our agricultural furnace: Presently, Nigeria is the leading producer of cassava, yam and cocoyam in the world. Information indicates that Nigeria’s cassava production is by far the largest in the world accounting for more than 20% of global output. As of 2011, Nigeria was the 3rd largest producer of palm oil with approximately 2.3 million hectares under cultivation. Until 1934, Nigeria was the world’s largest producer of palm oil until that opportunity was seized by Indonesia and Malaysia who together earned US$40 billion from that industry alone in 2012.

Nigeria is the 3rd largest producer of sweetpotato behind China and Uganda; the 4th largest producer of groundnut behind China, India and US; and was once the biggest poultry producer in Africa though its corporate poultry output has drastically reduced from 40 million birds to about 18 million. But it is high time we moved from just being the largest producers to being the largest exporters and these requires much more than shear labour of the farmer. It requires government interest.

As these embers still remain red and hot, it is necessary for all hands to be on deck to raise food production to the heights that its potentials indicate in Nigeria. We need a government that will make the sweat and shear efforts of farmers count. Agriculture has been the highest non-oil contributor to our revenues and is the buffer against the intermittent economic shocks currently occasioned by disruptions in crude oil prices. And if the attitude of the government in this sector can change for the better, then, out of the rubbles shall bear a new dawn.

• Orji Iheanyi is a political analyst, a seasoned agriculturist, a consultant agronomist and a Ph.D student of Plant Breeding and Genetics in one of the federal universities in Nigeria. He can be reached at orjilla@gmail.com

“A dangerous precedent is being set in Abia state” I cried as I tried to connect the dots, depict patterns and validate postulations to ascertain why penury and squalor looms large without promptings in Abia State; and why the state have metamorphosed to a graveyard where hopes, ambitions and aspirations of common Abians are buried. I also tried to use any available scientific approach to deduce why many in Abia state are unsure of the next meal at any given time; and to determine why the state have been reduced to a veritable zoo, a ‘loveless’ social jungle where might determines right, and a sheep Dom run by a coterie of mediocrities.

But alas! It was evident that the state was already lost on the whirlwind in the middle of an ocean with nobody willing to render a helping hand. But rather than moan, I felt it is high time I pulled the chestnut out of the fire. Overwhelmed by the seeming enormity and intractability of the myriads of problems bedeviling the state, and inspired by the urgency to effect a positive change, I decided to convene a meeting of all elders in the state. And many were in attendance.

“My elders I greet you all”, I started. “We greet you too our son”, they responded. I continued. “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their homes. When we gather together in the moonlight village grounds, it’s not because of the moon; every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it’s good for kinsmen to do so for the betterment of the community. My elders, an adult does not stay and watches a goat suffer labour in bondage”.

“Gbam! You are right” they all chorused.

My elders I convened this meeting because there is a sinister problem that seems to have defied any logical solution in this state. My father use to tell me a comic of a man who absolutely hated his wife’s cat and decided to get rid of it one day by driving it 20 blocks from his home and leaving it at the park. As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the driveway. The next day, he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the beast out and headed home. Driving back up his driveway, there was the cat! He kept taking the cat further and further and the cat would always beat him home. At last, he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from home and left the cat there. Hours later, the man called home to his wife; “Amaka is the cat there?” “Yes”, the wife answered, “why do you ask?” Frustrated, the man answered, “Put that stupid cat on the phone, I am lost and need directions”.

“Hahahahaha”, the elders laughed out loud. Yes! As hilarious as it may seem, such is the nature of the problems that endangers us in this state. They keep taking us round and round and we are yet to critically decipher a way of beating them home. Why is it that the state has been stricken with unchallenged maladministration for donkey’s years? It is imperative to highlight the insufferable indifference of those in authority to the plight of the common Abians. More infuriating is that some so called idealistic Abia state youths, who are supposedly the future leaders of the state, have sold their soul for crumbs while massaging the ego of the government who has grounded their future. My elders! A society is measured not by how it treats the powerful or the mainstream, but by how it treats the weak and the helpless. I rest my case.

“I appreciate your concern my son. My fellow elders I greet you all”, said an elder, he cleared his throat and continued. Since the westward winds have finished exposing the furo of the fowl, now my question: “My fellow elders, have anyone, apart from those that have been ‘settled’, ever felt good governance in this state?” “No oooo!” the elders thundered. “Abia state is now denigrated as the worst state in the South East because of maladministration. Crime has kept increasing astronomically in this state. Most of our youths that lack the guts to circumvent the sanctity of the law have left the state to other states because the state can neither employ them nor provide a conducive environment that engages them productively. Even those at the employment of the state and the pensioners have not received what is due to them for months despite the incessant prayers and fasting. What we have in this state today is politics of pity and subjugation, whereby the governor and his family have promoted themselves to gods on whose altars all must now worship before they can out of pity, dish out pittance to whomever they so desire. They bestrode the state’s political landscape like colossus, held the party by the jugular, asserting themselves as alpha and omega, as well as political oracles whose divinations are sacrosanct. What matters to them is self-advertisement, buttressed shamelessly in the adornment of antiquated silly honorifics. And to be part and parcel of this ‘lootocracy’, you must not only have worshipped, but must be seen to have worshipped, by at least displaying a banner, a picture or an emblem of Gov. T. A Orji on your neck, car, place of work, shop or abode. Or else, you are ‘marginalized’ and brutalized”. This is a forced idolatry in a large scale.

“Abians are not helping matters. Instead of rising up to the challenges of democracy and poor governance, they have become subservient and have imbibed the attitude of flunkeyism and nihilism. What more is expected from people that have had their backs beaten black and blue by poverty? The time has come in the life of this state when everyone must rise up with one voice and bellow a big No! The time has come when, like the ants in “A Bug’s life”, the people will realize that they can take on the few grasshoppers that ravage this state with atavistic impunity. The game ends when the fool wises up. It is only an slowpoke that carries a heavy load and stops to watch a spectacle. The destiny of this state and the future of our children are in our hands. Shall we just sit down here and talk?”

“You are right!” Another elder enthused. And he is now at the verge of imposing his Godson, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, on us as the next governor of the state; a man who has never been tested and trusted in any known political enclave. Well, whether this Okezie’s leadership prowess is as big as the size of his head should be in the agenda of our next gathering.“Chai! May this evil smoke trail only those with the smoky firewood. But what shall we do?” He rued somberly.

“The rat that doesn’t run fast risks its tail from being burnt. When the house is on fire does the locust stop to say goodbye? We shall fly boldly into the eyes of this storm before it sweeps us off our feet. We shall take laws into our hands and overthrow this purposeless government.” answered an elder.

“But such isn’t lawful” mused another.

“Shut up!” shouted another.” I have heard them say that sometimes things that are not lawful are made lawful by necessity. Are you supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality? This is the time to put our almost rusting machetes and clubs to better use. We and our children shall all pick our machetes and mortars and match now to that cubicle called government house, and pursue them like squirrels”.

And they started chanting war songs: Nzogbu nzogbu Enyimba enyi! Before I knew it, all the streets of Umuahia were filled with men, women and children with all manners of farming, hunting and domestic weapons thronging towards the Government House. As their steps ate the distance, I tried to stop them but I couldn’t. “This is not what I bargained for”, I cried, but nobody cared.

Suddenly, my alarm beeped and I woke up. It was 6:30am. It was my first night in Isialangwa in months. The ‘Orijins’ originating from the previous night seems to have withdrawn a scout troop from my brains to establish a garrison on my joints. Thank God it was a dream! Like the biblical disciples, it seemed I went on a fishing expedition on an ocean where the whole fish were on strike. No wonder my net is empty!

Orji Iheanyi writes in his capacity as a concerned citizen, and can be reached at orjilla@gmail.com

“A dangerous precedent is being set in Abia state” I cried as I tried to connect the dots, depict patterns and validate postulations to ascertain why penury and squalor looms large without promptings in Abia State; and why the state have metamorphosed to a graveyard where hopes, ambitions and aspirations of common Abians are buried. I also tried to use any available scientific approach to deduce why many in Abia state are unsure of the next meal at any given time; and to determine why the state have been reduced to a veritable zoo, a ‘loveless’ social jungle where might determines right, and a sheep Dom run by a coterie of mediocrities.

But alas! It was evident that the state was already lost on the whirlwind in the middle of an ocean with nobody willing to render a helping hand. But rather than moan, I felt it is high time I pulled the chestnut out of the fire. Overwhelmed by the seeming enormity and intractability of the myriads of problems bedeviling the state, and inspired by the urgency to effect a positive change, I decided to convene a meeting of all elders in the state. And many were in attendance.

“My elders I greet you all”, I started. “We greet you too our son”, they responded. I continued. “A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their homes. When we gather together in the moonlight village grounds, it’s not because of the moon; every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it’s good for kinsmen to do so for the betterment of the community. My elders, an adult does not stay and watches a goat suffer labour in bondage”.

“Gbam! You are right” they all chorused.
My elders I convened this meeting because there is a sinister problem that seems to have defied any logical solution in this state. My father use to tell me a comic of a man who absolutely hated his wife’s cat and decided to get rid of it one day by driving it 20 blocks from his home and leaving it at the park. As he was getting home, the cat was walking up the driveway. The next day, he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the beast out and headed home. Driving back up his driveway, there was the cat! He kept taking the cat further and further and the cat would always beat him home. At last, he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from home and left the cat there. Hours later, the man called home to his wife; “Amaka is the cat there?” “Yes”, the wife answered, “why do you ask?” Frustrated, the man answered, “Put that stupid cat on the phone, I am lost and need directions”.

“Hahahahaha”, the elders laughed out loud. Yes! As hilarious as it may seem, such is the nature of the problems that endangers us in this state. They keep taking us round and round and we are yet to critically decipher a way of beating them home. Why is it that the state has been stricken with unchallenged maladministration for donkey’s years? It is imperative to highlight the insufferable indifference of those in authority to the plight of the common Abians. More infuriating is that some so called idealistic Abia state youths, who are supposedly the future leaders of the state, have sold their soul for crumbs while massaging the ego of the government who has grounded their future. My elders! A society is measured not by how it treats the powerful or the mainstream, but by how it treats the weak and the helpless. I rest my case.

“I appreciate your concern my son. My fellow elders I greet you all”, said an elder, he cleared his throat and continued. Since the westward winds have finished exposing the furo of the fowl, now my question: “My fellow elders, have anyone, apart from those that have been ‘settled’, ever felt good governance in this state lately?” “No oooo!” the elders thundered. “Abia state is now denigrated as the worst state in the South East because of maladministration. Crime has kept increasing astronomically in this state. Most of our youths that lack the guts to circumvent the sanctity of the law have left the state to other states because the state can neither employ them nor provide a conducive environment that engages them productively. Even those at the employment of the state, pray and fast before their salaries come. What we have in this state today is politics of pity and subjugation, whereby the governor and his family have promoted themselves to gods on whose altars all must now worship before they can out of pity, dish out pittance to whomever they so desire. They bestrode the state’s political landscape like colossus, held the party by the jugular, asserting themselves as alpha and omega, as well as political oracles whose divinations are sacrosanct. What matters to them is self-advertisement, buttressed shamelessly in the adornment of antiquated silly honorifics. And to be part and parcel of this ‘lootocracy’, you must not only have worshipped, but must be seen to have worshipped, by at least displaying a banner, a picture or an emblem of Gov. T. A Orji on your neck, car, place of work, shop or abode. Or else, you are ‘marginalized’ and brutalized”.

“Abians are not helping matters. Instead of rising up to the challenges of democracy and poor governance, they have become subservient and have imbibed the attitude of flunkeyism and nihilism. What more is expected from people that have had their backs beaten black and blue by poverty? The time has come in the life of this state when everyone must rise up with one voice and bellow a big No! The time has come when, like the ants in “A Bug’s life”, the people will realize that they can take on the few grasshoppers that ravage this state with atavistic impunity. The game ends when the fool wises up. It is only an slowpoke that carries a heavy load and stops to watch a spectacle. The destiny of this state and the future of our children are in our hands. Shall we just sit down here and talk?”

“You are right!” Another elder enthused. “Chai! May this evil smoke trail only those with the smoky firewood. But what shall we do?” He rued somberly.

“The rat that doesn’t run fast risks its tail from being burnt. When the house is on fire does the locust stop to say goodbye? We shall fly boldly into the eyes of this storm before it sweeps us off our feet. We shall take laws into our hands and overthrow this purposeless government.” answered an elder.

“But such isn’t lawful” mused another.

“Listen!” shouted another.” I have heard them say that sometimes things that are not lawful are made lawful by necessity. Are you supposed
to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality? This is the time to put our almost rusting machetes and clubs to better use. We and our children shall all pick our machetes and mortars and match now to that cubicle called government house, and pursue them like squirrels”.

And they started chanting war songs: Nzogbu nzogbu Enyimba enyi! Before I knew it, all the streets of Umuahia were filled with men, women and children with all manners of farming, hunting and domestic weapons thronging towards the Government House. As their steps ate the distance, I tried to stop them but I couldn’t. “This is not what I bargained for”, I cried, but nobody cared.

Suddenly, my alarm beeped and I woke up. It was 6:30am. It was my first night in Isialangwa in months. The ‘Orijins’ originating from the previous night seems to have withdrawn a scout troop from my brains to establish a garrison on my joints. Thank God it was a dream! Like the biblical disciples, it seemed I went on a fishing expedition on an ocean where the whole fish were on strike. No wonder my net is empty!

Orji Iheanyi is a political analyst and a consultant agronomist, and can be reached at orjilla@gmail.com

Encrypted in Nigeria’s sands and waters are political actors whose only mandate is to escalate and compound the country’s woes because, just like putting square pegs in round holes, they don’t have both the brain and the heart for the job. From the fore-going therefore, the gospel truth is that the result of this 2015 elections will not address any of the pressing and constantly metamorphosing problems of this country.
But finally, the people must have gotten the leaders they deserved: leaders that appeal more to sentiments rather than to reason; and confused leaders without a definite game plan or road map to steer the ship of government. After all, what more should be expected from an electorate unduly swayed by undue sentiments and emotions of religion and ethnicity; and those whose only desire is change not minding the platter on which it is served? These are reasons why the following lesson from the western world, whose democratic model we now practice, becomes pertinent.

It is said that when we look too deep into the cause and effect of a problem with a sincere heart, we are likely transformed into a veritable tool for change. Our present day political elites can’t be differentiated on the basis of any clearly spelt out personal ideological leaning and underpinning philosophy. They have no detailed manifestos with which to espouse their ideology on which they plan to run government which will give the electorate a clear picture of what to expect and then decide whether or not to walk in that direction. Since they don’t deem it necessary to produce a manifesto that critically analyses the problems of the country with logical and tangible solutions even before indicating interest for an elective position, what we will continue to have are leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo who wasted 8 years in power to learn democratic governance. But when he became ‘powerless’, he now knew governance too well to be able to write a book on it.

Adolf Hitler wrote his own book, the Mein Kampf, years before he assumed authority. He already had a manifesto, a game plan and that was why he was almost able to conquer the world. The Germans already knew his personal ideology also and that was why they supported him. No matter how much we might want to hate Hitler, the truth is that he represented the hopes and aspirations of most of the Germans of his time.

If not because of President Obama’s more feasible road map of addressing the resulting recession which wiped off almost $17 trillion from the wealth of the citizenry, would he have defeated Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election? If the Americans were to vote on sentiments, what reasons would the whites have had to vote Obama? None I think. In his 2012 re-election bid, after stating his step-by-step plans in the next four years in the areas of education, energy, foreign policy etc, “So read my plan”, echoed President Obama. “Compare it to Governor Romney’s and decide which is better for you”.

In case this is most recent, the manifesto titled ‘This is The Road’ delivered on 19th January 1950 by Winston Churchill would come in handy. Here, he literarily closed the eyes of belief and opened the hearts of conscience to appeal to the brains of reason. In his words, he attended to ‘complex complexities and simple simplicities’ alike; he left no stone unturned in the national and personal affairs of the British. He started by unveiling the strategies his party, the Conservative Party, will adopt to restore Britain to her economic independence and to the citizens, their full personal freedom and power of initiative. And before he could reach the end, everything has already started making a bit of sense. In this kind of political climate, sentiments are not even an option; they must give way to reason.

In the midst of sustained development popular in this century however, the Western countries have now evolved into the use of various computer tools and statistical packages in the preparation and presentation of manifestos. They now see their nations as industries and are prepared to run it as such and with this mindset, they present manifestos as business plans, giving regard to compound and minute details alike. They analyze what they want to do and how and the exact time it can be done. They research and seek informed contributions before arriving at their conclusions. They just don’t say all the good things to win elections; they are also sincere enough to say the ‘bad’ things they are prepared to do to ensure that the good things are accomplished.

In Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Our political elites have no practicable and real ideas. No practicable ideas in the sense that it is deceitful to present a manifesto that is ambiguous enough to mean that all the problems of a country will be solved in just 4 years. No real ideas in the sense that the scanty piece they present as manifestos isn’t part of their ethos and doesn’t even qualify as one. It is just a compendium of what they perceived as national ‘troubles’ with no well defined solution. They tell us: ‘This is the problem. That is the problem. My plan of solving the problem is by solving the problem’. This doesn’t make sense at all. For instance, the PDP can’t just tell us that they will tackle unemployment by providing jobs. They are supposed to tell us first and foremost, using available statistics, why they think unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria; then they will now tell us how much the previous governments have invested to ameliorate its effects using verifiable statistics; then why they have never succeeded so far; and why they will do better if given another opportunity. If say they are prepared to spend maybe N100 billion in this regard, they are suppose to tell us how and where they will budget it; the facilitators, stakeholders and managers of this fund; and how they will cushion the effects of the removal of this N100 billion on other sectors etc.

Also, the APC cannot just tell us that they are determined to fight corruption because its presidential flag bearer is not corrupt since he is a former Head of State without a house in Abuja. How does that concern me? That’s his personal business for God’s sake. They should be scientific a bit. If they for instance want to curb corruption by removing the immunity clause, they should first and foremost, tell us why they think the disadvantages of the clause is greater than its advantages; they should use verifiable statistics to show us whether or not the clause is in line with global best practices; they will now tell us how they intend to achieve it and the chances of success, bearing in mind that the executive doesn’t have all the powers in our present system of government. But if they still want to use their perceived integrity of their flag bearer as a selling point, it’s still good but they have to do some sensible analysis between now and then using time as a factor and age as a constant. For a manifesto not to be verbose, let it carry the much it can contain and let campaign speeches and debates swallow the rest.

The long and short of it is that this country is presently in crisis and will need more than a Goodluck Jonathan or a Muhammadu Buhari to fix it. The problems of this country are enormous and needs a well prepared individual with a sophisticated brain to pull it together. These brains are among us. But until we re-wire our mentality and make our political climate conducive enough for them to show up, we will keep living on bad times, with our watches already set back to closing time.

Orji Iheanyi is a Political Analyst and a Consultant Agronomist and can be reached at orjilla@gmail.com