Sanusi Ousts Ovia, Elumelu, Akinfemiwa

•As CBN fixes 10-year tenure for CEOs
From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja, 01.20.2010
The governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Monday made good his threat to wrest banks from proprietors as the board of the banking regulator has pegged the maximum tenure of commercial banks’ managing directors/chief executives at 10 years.
Those who have already spent 10 years or more are to quit by July 2010 – meaning the Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia, Managing Director, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu, and his counterpart at Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Akinsola Akinfemiwa, will have to relinquish their positions soon. They have spent between 11 and 19 years as chief executives of their respective banks.
Addressing newsmen on the latest development, CBN’s Director of Bank Supervision, Mr. Sam Oni, explained that the policy was designed to enthrone good corporate governance in the banking sector and institutionalise the arrangement of appointment of CEOs in banks.
He pointed out that the policy guideline was geared towards ensuring that banks put in place a good succession plan and avoiding the personalisation of institutions.
He said that even after the bank chief executive that has served a 10-year tenure must have left, he could only take up an appointment with the bank or any of its subsidiaries only after three years of his exit.
“Chief executive officers of banks shall henceforth serve a maximum of 10 years; All CEOs that would have served for 10 years by July 2010 shall cease to function in that capacity and shall hand over to their successors; Where a bank is a product of a merger, acquisition or takeover or any other form of combination, the 10 years shall include the pre and post combination service years of a CEO, provided the bank, which he served as a CEO was part of the new banks that emerged after the combination; Any person that has served as CEO for the maximum tenure in a bank shall not qualify for an appointment in that bank or its subsidiary until after a period of three years of his exit as CEOs,” he said.
Oni said given the new policy, affected bank chief executives are to draw up their succession plan towards their exit and institute a credible succession programme that would be approved by the board. Such, he added, would also be supervised and monitored by the CBN.
He said: “By July 31, 2010, the affected chief executives are to prepare a succession as approved by their board and to have a credible succession programme that will be monitored by the board and therefore subjected to some kind of supervision and monitoring by the CBN.”
Furthermore, he said: “All banks shall reflect the provisions of this guideline in the terms of engagement of their CEOs. “In terms of the appointment of the CEOs of banks, the condition and terms under which they are appointed and approved by the board must also be ratified and approved at the Annual General Meeting. Such terms of appointment in the first instance shall not exceed five years and of course it’s renewable for another term provided that the period of service cumulative does not exceed 10 years.”
It has also emerged from the new policy of the banking watchdog that the CBN governor, his deputies as well as managing director/chief executives of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) could be appointed into a bank or any of its subsidiaries, only five years after his exit from respective positions in CBN and NDIC.
Oni said: “The governor, deputy governors of the CBN and the managing director/CEO and the executive director of NDIC, shall not be eligible for appointment in any capacity in banks and their subsidiaries under the supervision of the CBN and NDIC until after the expiration of five years from the date of their exit from the CBN or NDIC as the case may be.”
Similarly, he said: “The departmental directors of the CBN and that of the NDIC shall not be eligible for appointment in any capacity in banks and their subsidiaries under the supervision of the CBN and NDIC until after the expiration of three years from the date of their exit from either the CBN or NDIC.”
Earlier, during the briefing on the outcome of the Bankers’ Committee, Oni disclosed that the CBN had last Monday rolled out the minimum information disclosure for banks for the preparation of their account beginning with 2009 financial year.
This, he said, was with the view to ensuring that the banking system is effectively supervised.
According to him, the CBN had left the negotiation and sales/recapitalisation of the eight rescued banks to the banks’ management and boards.
He said following the meeting held with the management and key shareholders of the rescued banks last week, it was unanimously agreed that the apex bank should allow the boards and management of the affected banks to negotiate the sales/recapitalisation of their institutions.
Stressing that the CBN would only be a facilitator in the whole process, Oni recalled that the apex bank had appointed financial advisors for the rescued banks to commence the process of their recapitalisation.
The Bankers’ Committee comprising banks’ and other financial institutions managing directors and key CBN officials he also said, resolved that starting this financial year, the commercial banks would commence a longer tenure lending as part of efforts to assist the Federal and state governments in the resuscitation of infrastructure, which continues to pose a major challenge to Nigeria’s quest for development.
The Committee, he said, had therefore identified areas where banks would intervene to include small and medium enterprises (SMEs), power and agriculture.
Managing Director/Chief Executive of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede, who spoke alongside his counterparts at FinBank, Mrs. Susan Iroche; Standard-IBTCBank; Chris Newson; and Kakawa Discount House Limited, Mr. Laoye Jaiyeola, disclosed that arrangements on the financing model had been finalized.
He said the committee would meet and consult with agencies of the Federal Government and State Governments on ways to remove bottlenecks associated with projects and make them bankable.
Aig-Imokhuede said banks would this year embark on the development of bond instrument from where financial resources for longer credit facility for the infrastructure and real sector resuscitation would be realised.
This, he said, would enable the banks to make longer tenure lending from seven to 20 years.

The Pencil Parable

The Pencil Parable

In the beginning, the Pencil Maker spoke to the pencil saying:
"There are five things you need to know before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and you will become the best pencil you can be."

• First, you will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.
• Second, you will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but this is required if you are to become a better pencil.
• Third, You have the ability to correct any mistakes you might make.
• Fourth, The most important part of you will always be what's inside.
• Fifth, No matter what the condition, you must continue to write. You must always leave a clear, legible mark no matter how difficult the situation


Everyone is like a pencil................., created by the Maker for a unique and special purpose. By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart.

Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton

Madam secretary Hillary Clinton: please blacklist the following Nigerians

Dear Mrs. Clinton: With all your years in politics, foreign affairs and the resources available to the United States government, I do not think there is anything about Nigeria that I need to tell you. You have read about it and you have been there to see for yourself. You know who the big players are in the country’s world of corruption and you know where they have stashed their stolen wealth. You have openly, and presumably diplomatically, condemned corruption in the country, During your August 2009 visit to Nigeria, you made overt references to the fact that Nigeria’s problems are rooted in its failure to deal with corruption. Just today, while addressing state department employees during a town hall meeting, you again seized the opportunity to tell the whole world about Nigeria’s failure to address the legitimate needs of its people and how such failure is gradually turning the country into a breeding ground for all sorts of undesirable elements. On behalf of millions of Nigerians, I thank you and the Obama administration profoundly for the above efforts. However, there is so much more to be done.

More than ever before, there is an urgent need to increase the pressure on Nigeria’s corrupt-beyond-redemption political class in order to prevent a total breakdown of law and order and possible civil war. If U.S. diplomatic history provides any clue with respect to conflict resolution, it is that a break down of law and order in Nigeria will force the US to make gargantuan human and material commitment to Nigeria and the Sub-region: a situation that is unnecessary in light of the options available, a situation that neither ordinary Nigerians nor the United States want; a situation that would create a refugee problem of a magnitude not seen in recent human history and be destabilizing to West African, European and North American countries.

In order to prevent Nigeria from descending into a civil war or several civil wars as is more likely to happen because of the country’s ethnic and tribal configuration, urgent steps must be taken to effect immediate and long term changes in the country. Nigeria is where it is today mainly because of the “elements” in charge of the country and their devious device which they have christened government. Permit me to suggest we are requesting the urgent assistance of the Obama administration in putting in place a no-visa list consisting of Nigeria’s leading government officials and their private sector collaborators. The no-visa list should at the very minimum contain the following:

• The country’s current leader (whoever that is) should be limited to the United Nations and Harlem the way Fidel Castro was during his 1960 visit;
• all past leaders and governors;
• all current state governors with the exception of one or two who are doing their jobs;
• all past and current federal ministers and state commissioners;
• all past and present lawmakers at the federal and state levels
• all past and current local government chairmen/chairlady and the elected councilors who assist them in looting their respective treasuries;
• past and present managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, and other leading government corporations;
• past and present MD/CEO’s of all banks in the country;
• all past and present ambassadors of the country for their roles as agents of an evil regime;
• all previous and present police and military officers beyond the rank of Major or its equivalent;
• all judges from the magistrate courts to the Supreme Court of Nigeria for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
• the present chairperson of the EFCC for her role in legitimizing corruption;
• the children and wives of those on the no-visa list;
• all known enablers of corruption not caught by the above list.


A serious consideration of the above list will show that 99.99% of the individuals who have destroyed Nigeria and stolen the people’s commonwealth will be found on the list. Having them on the no-visa list hurts no one but the crooks themselves. I believe in the list and given the power to implement it, it is exactly what I will have in place. Realizing that I do not have the power to implement the list and given other considerations, the above list maybe unwieldy and may lose the desired effect. Consequently, I will suggest a more pragmatic list made up of the following:

• Umaru Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan;
• all the current governors
• immediate past president and governors, especially those indicted or convicted for corruption (i.e. Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Lucky Igbinedion, Orji Kalu, Peter Odili, and James Ibori – ignore the Kangaroo court discharge);
• all current federal ministers and state commissioners, particularly, Michael Aondoakaa, Dora Akunyili, Ojo Madueke and Rilwani Lukeman;
• all current senior officers of the police and armed forces
• all current managers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria and other leading government corporations;
• Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Dahiru Mangal and all Nigerian billionaires because there is no legitimate Nigerian billionaire (those who want to argue their cases should be asked to submit their income tax returns for examination);
• The judges and justices of the Federal, Appeal and Supreme Courts for their roles in accepting bribes and perverting the course of justice;
• The current chairperson of the EFCC, Farida Waziri;
• The current officers of the National Assembly, including the David Mark, Dimeji Bankole and Jubril Aminu who has been indicted in the Siemens bribery scandal but is still angling to become the vice president in the event Goodluck Jonathan becomes the president of the country;
• The chairpersons of all the banks indicted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, including Cecilia Ibru and the coward called Erasmus Akingbola who claims to have accumulated assets of over $2 billion (N322 billion) dollars with a monthly salary of $10,000 (N1.5 million). An eye should also be kept on below-rader crooks like Chukwuma Saludo – former Central Bank governor, Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank and Tony Elumelu of Uba who are just as corrupt as the indicted ones;
• Some traditional rulers and pastors for their roles in providing recognition to corrupt politicians in exchange for part of the looted funds;
• Including Journalists who have sold their souls in exchange for Abuja land and other pecuniary benefits will force them to return to their basic responsibility of holding government accountable to the people;
• The children and wives of all those on the list because they school and live in the west with monies looted from the ordinary people of Nigeria;

This list is not exhaustive and no such claim is being made here. I have included in the list those I have been able to remember. There are few individuals on the above list who have demonstrated over the years that they are not corrupt and those individuals should be exempted. These individuals are not difficult to know, Nigerians know them and the US should have no problem in exempting them from the no-visa list.

Once again, the average Nigerian will agree with the US government that the individuals on the above list are the reasons why Nigeria has been on its knees since independence and any restriction of their abilities to trot the globe will reduce their money laundering abilities, their bloated sense of importance and arrogance lacking of empirical support. It will also limit their ability to travel overseas on holidays or medical treatment when they have destroyed hospitals in their own country – Ghana will benefit from increased tourism from this group of Nigerians!

Thankfully, I do not have to convince you about the efficacy of a no-visa list. The US and Britain have demonstrated that having politicians on a no-visa list is an effective tool in the reform of institutions and the fight against corruption, hence these governments’ decision to employ it against Kenyan politicians who refused to support reforms. In creating the US, and hopefully British no-visa list for Nigerian politicians specific accomplishments like support for the passage of genuine election reform laws, Freedom of Information Act, Whistle Blower law that will involve Nigerians in the war against corruption and compensate them for exposing corruption and a genuine war against corruption and election rigging should be attached as conditions for reconsideration.

In case you are wondering why I believe blacklisting Nigerian politicians will do the magic that nothing else has been able to do since independence, below are my reasons:

• Despite their public ranting, most present day Nigerian politicians are cowards; who when faced with the slightest threat to their vaunted sense of self-importance and life of luxury will be prepared to sell their parents for pennies – do what is necessary - to maintain their status quo;

• Flying to US, London or other European countries for vacation or medical treatment is a status symbol for the country’s corrupt politicians and their family members. Depriving them of this ability to show-off to the victims of their crimes (ordinary Nigerians) will force a rethink on their part;

• Nigerian politicians make thousands of unnecessary trips to the US, Canada and Europe every year supposedly to attend conferences. These conferences do not benefit Nigerians because Nigerian politicians are not interested in learning how to run a good government, the very antithesis of their modus operandi. Some of the politicians, if they ever show up at the conferences, do not have a good enough command of the English language to understand the discussions and the others do not even bother to show up. But they all remember one thing and that is to create fake hotel invoices after staying with friends, add to them other dubious and padded expenses and submit to the government for payment. Those who are in charge of payment do not question the figures because they get a cut from it. The above will not happen if the politicians cannot travel to the US, Canada and Europe;

• Nigerian politicians often use official trips to the US, Canada and Europe as covers for moving looted public funds into foreign countries and into legitimate businesses and the banking system (sometime in 2006 the US government seized $170,000.00 belonging to Andy Uba, an ordinary adviser on domestic affairs to then president Obasanjo). Andy Uba who was broke and almost destitute in California before May 1999 smuggled the money into the US aboard the presidential plane). Denying them visas will make it difficult for them to practice their trade;

• Nigerian politicians spend a lot of the money they steal buying lavish mansions in the US, Canada and England. Depriving them of the ability to travel will ensure that they can no longer enjoy these mansions;

• Denying visas to the children of those on the no-visa list will ensure that their children will be unable to spend looted funds attending the best universities in the US, Canada and Europe, while their parents have ensured millions of Nigerian students are either at home due to strikes over unpaid salaries or forced to take lectures in classrooms with leaky roofs. Almost everyone on the above list have their children schooling in the US, Canada and Europe with looted public funds, some of which were meant to fix, upgrade or operate local academic institutions (the minister of Education, Sam Egwu, spent N50 million of stolen funds to celebrate his birthday at a time when Nigerian students had been at home for months and wished him dead);

• Denial of visas to those on the no-visa list will force some of them to keep their looted funds closer to Nigeria for easier detection or risk being duped by intermediaries (thieves often do not trust thieves because they often dupe each other).

• Depriving indicted and convicted politicians of visas will better reflect the American and western concept of equal treatment. Ordinary Nigerians indicted of petty crimes or with criminal records cannot obtain US or European visas, yet politicians who have stolen billions from those they were supposed to lead obtain visas and travel to the US and London frequently without qualms. One is sometime tempted to join those who say the US does not care how a Nigerian politician got his money as long as it benefits the US economy. Orji Uzor Kalu, the immediate past governor of Abia state recently granted Nigerian newspapers an interview from London, England regarding the disappearance of Yar Adua. Yet, this individual is facing trial in Nigeria for stealing over N2 billion naira;

• Including bankers on the list until they put in place transparent and auditable measures to combat corruption will hasten the implementation and enforcement of anti-money laundering programs and force investors into seeking out honest bankers to lead their banks and take charge of their investments;

• The selective inclusion of politicians and their civilian collaborators on the no- visa list will reduce their prestige and influence within the Nigerian polity and create breathing space for the few who will work for the good of the country if the proper environment is allowed to exist. It will deny the corrupt of solidarity while enhancing the reputation of the minors who may not have crossed the Rubicon or point of no return in their involvement with corruption;

Madam Secretary, I can go on and on about the benefits of a no-visa list for Nigerian politicians and their collaborators but I do not think I need to do so because your government is already employing this technique in a less corrupt society like Kenya where the level of corruption is a child play compared to Nigeria. I have tried to highlight the benefits of it in the Nigerian context and I am confident that your office will give this request the due consideration is deserves. It should be borne in mind that in the event of war, the whole world is going to find it very difficult containing a nation of about 150 million people with over 250 different languages and a complicated web of tribal preferences.

I will end by thanking you for your anticipated co-operation in this matter.


Regards,



Majek Adega


* I am requesting those who are in agreement with the contents of this letter to replace my name with theirs and mail it to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the address above. Further inquiries can be directed to me at majekadega@gmail.com
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington Dc 20520

Jonathan’s Macabre Dance In The Cemetery

Jonathan’s Macabre Dance In The Cemetery
Kunle Somorin

He that lives upon hope will die fasting - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

My earliest recollection of the association between governance and morbidity was when Ambrose Alli, a professor of Morbid Anatomy was elected Governor of the old Bendel State in 1979. Flirting with morbidity has now transcended the late professor. Since his exit, the art has become statecraft. Each time a new regime replaces an old order, dead political actors are heroically remembered, frenetically fetched out, penitently dusted out of their graves and soulfully brandished and garbed in the toga of martyrdom and impressively saddled with ‘new’ responsibilities and the business of governance remains inchoate; business as usual.

Every government in power is a syndrome that has become endemic with Nigeria. The sports arena is not left out. Last month, when it became obvious that the Super Eagles was not going to do well in The World Cup Mundial, a long forgotten, jaded 60-something year-old Swede by the name Lars Lagerback (it sound more Lager beer than lagging behind)was thrown to international prominence as the Technical Adviser. Does it mean there are no vibrant young and creative minds that could do the job better? Don’t ask me. It has become a way of life in Nigeria.

That’s why I sympathise with our dear amiable Acting President about the people he romances openly and secretly. In spite of the tremendous outpouring of emotion and scintillating goodwill of Nigerians and the international community, he has elected to take the road usual, in a patently unusual world and circumstances, by romancing the politically dead; people whose days of delivering the goods are gone. I understand the theoretical ambiguities in matching science with the art of politics. Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is a botanist and zoo scientist, trained in my alma mater, but obviously, we are not in the plant and animal kingdom.

Youth-pessimism seems to have beclouded his sense of propriety as soon as he transformed to the Acting presidency. I cannot understand this obsession with morbidity that made him travel the same route to perdition - the road that has failed all his predecessors, including the last one. How on earth would a young man like Goodluck, with all his supposed education and years in the ivory tower not know that the wisdom of yesterday is today’s stupidity. (Just tell me what new things will the Obasanjo, Danjumas, Nwabuezes, Uwais’, Anyaokus, etc bring to the table to help Nigerian that they forgot all these years. Remember they used to recriminate themselves about what they forgot in office). Knowledge is fluid, so the generational gap will rather take us back to the days of yore.

It was reported and nobody has denied that he keeps licking the arse of a former President right from Day One, at the mid-night on the day history beckoned on him to lead us away from political logjam. That’s unconscionable. One wonders what the character has to add that he couldn’t in all the years he was privileged to lead Nigeria.

At a time many of these new-found clique of advisers were on the saddle, so were Generals Chung-hee Park of South Korea, Gamal Abdel Naseer of Egypt, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey and Mr. Lee Kwan Yew in Singapore. So were the leaders of the Asian Tiger’s economic revolution. They have since moved on and bequeathed prosperous countries to the successor generation. And the good work continues. From being the world’s second poorest nation in 1953, at a time colonialists were afraid to leave Nigeria, because of the fear that the world’s most populous black nation had potential of ruling the global economy, South Korea’s fortune has turned. So has Nigeria’s. You can hardly water a burgeoning humanity from the carcasses of the dead. With ‘new knowledge’ powering the global economic order, hardly can a cabinet, peopled by analogue men and women drive a competitive process. It’s just impossible.

I will not be terribly shocked if in reshuffling his cabinet, “a new improved” E.K. Clarke returns as his Minister of Information and Propaganda or Richard Osuolale Akinjide as his Attorney General. Was it not rumoured that he wanted a great grandfather as his Vice President to replace the ailing President? It would not be preposterous for Dr. Alex Ekweme, Olaniwun Ajayi or even Alhaji Shehu Shagari to become Ambassadors under this brand new Acting President; after all, there had never been one like him.

If in all their over 50 years at the corridor or in power they could not generate more than 3,000 megawatts of electricity, whereas a single Steel plant in Korea consumes about double that figure, I don’t understand the “Miracle of Damman” that will happen in less than 8 month rule of Goodluck. While we cannot wish away their contributions, we thank them for what they have been able to undo. The truism of our esoteric existence now requires that they take the back seats and throw up new Turks. Goodluck owes us a duty to identify new leaders with a 21st century mind-set. If the fading generation has anything to contribute, I admonish them, if they have not done so, let them begin to compile their memoirs and with the knowledge of hindsight, let the unborn generations know what they did right and acknowledge their transgressions. With age comes sobriety. They need not regret. Let them remorsefully re-chart a roadmap to our collective redemption. Only through that, can they honestly roadmap to a better Nigeria. That is what I call patriotism.

Is Goodluck giving the impression that, that generation remains the best and irreplaceable? That definitely is not the wish of these men and women. I would have wished that they reject the appointments outright and allow today’s people instead. Vibrant, intellectually-laced, progressive-minded Nigerians, at home and in the Diaspora, are legion. No matter the set-back of the previous administration, the people that made the critical difference are the ICT-compliant few young men and women. While their older cabinet counterparts were approaching governance the usual way of the ‘cemetarians’, they took solace in the unusualness of times and impacted the political landscape.

The Ngozi Oknonjo Iwealas, the Oby Ezekwesilis, the Dora Akunyilis, the Nuhu Ribadus, and the Nasir El-Rufais remain indelible in the consciousness of contemporary political discourse because they showed us the other side of governance. Don’t get it wrong, they are not in the pantheon of saints, neither did they live like some people from the angelic azure, they are Nigerians, who came, contributed and left the stage better than other actors in the same government.

For being soft-spoken and gentlemanly, Jonathan scenario builders would have inundated him with the desiderata for calling on board tough guys to checkmate the marauding power base of the nation. They would have assailed him with the logic and need for self-preservation to justify their submission. The security infractions woven around his commander-in-chief’s status when President Yar’Adua sneaked in and was welcomed by deployment of troops is a steady alibi to toughen Goodluck. So could the recurrent Jos carnage. Our dear Acting President could stretch his imagination further to bring Chief Chukwemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as his special envoy on the Jos crisis, because he had led a war never to be forgotten than any other in the country’s history.

Sermonisation has never changed anything. You can hardly water the living with a fountain from the graveyard of politics? By engaging the diggers of the trenches where the strategies for perfecting political self-preservation is always adroitly plotted, patented and sold to the undertakers, Goodluck is further pulverising the living by his morbid anatomy.

Without doubt, Jonathan’s display of naivety and timidity is being exploited by people whose subjective preferences would be elevated to statecraft. I expected much more from someone from the furnace of the Niger Delta and the marginalised constituency, his approach could have been better informed by the need for equalisation of opportunities and even development.

Whether he likes it or not, fortuitous circumstances have thrust on Goodluck a responsibility not fit for the lily livered; definitely not because the incumbent lacks functional kidneys did we replace him. Jonathan must embrace history and write his name in gold. That’s why Goodluck doesn’t have to rely solely on good luck. The requirements of a presidential office are as meekly as they are apparition. He doesn’t have to go to the graveyard of political history to exhume the carcasses for this all-important assignment.

A power-that-be mind-set cannot carry the burden of statesmanship. A statesman is a brinksman. This Jonathan is just not exhibiting enough of the traits. Pandering to primordial sentiments and not being his own man will rather mar than make his historic government.

What made these new bodies expedient as we found our nation at the crossroads again? Is it because the presidency’s team of advisers is incompetent or unpatriotic? Has Goodluck lost confidence in the National Assembly that promoted him through the ‘principle of necessity’? The constitutional bodies: the Federal Executive Council, the National Council of States and the numberless security apparatchiks cannot be trusted or what? Simply put, the Acting President is displaying palpable fear; developing cold feet at the sight of nothing.

At the heart of Nigeria’s streak of crises are the critical mass of able and competent leaders with the requisite discipline and commitment to genuine national pluralism, popular participation, responsiveness, official accountability and transparency. He needs to change the warped leadership recruitment processes and structure and the emplace thinkers and doers. That’s the minimum legacy Goodluck can give to Nigeria come 2011, not the entrenchment of status quo.

That is not the future of Nigeria. Is Jonathan telling us that the future belongs to the gerontocrats? Will equilisation of opportunity come with the crass opportunism of those who have cornered what the successor generation should tap for the fulfillment of their destiny as a potential world power? Can a redeeming feature be found in the hands and hearts of ethnic zealots, bigots and warlords, people who have in one deal made N17.5b when more than 100 million live on $1 per day.

Appreciate Women (LOL)!

A man wanted his wife to see/appreciate what he goes through daily so he prayed:

Dear Lord:

I go to work everyday and put 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home.

I want her to know what I go through
So, please allow her body to switch with mine for a day.
Amen!


God in His infinite wisdom, granted the man’s wish.

The next morning, sure enough, the man woke up as a woman.
He arose , cooked breakfast for his mate,
Awakened the kids, Set out their school clothes, Fed them breakfast, Packed their lunches, Drove them to school.

Came home and picked up the dry cleaning, Took it to the cleaners
And stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
Went to grocery shopping, Then drove home to put away the groceries,
Paid the bills and balanced the cheque book.

He cleaned the cat’s litter box and bathed the dog
Then, it was already 1pm.

And he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry vacuum, dust and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home...
Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework.
Then, set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing the vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.

After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed

At 9pm, he was exhausted and , though his daily chores weren’t finished, e went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:

“Lord , I don’t know what I was thinking.
I was wrong to envy my wife’s being able to stay at home all day.
Please, oh! Oh! Please, let us trade back.

Amen!”

The Lord in his infinite wisdom , replied:

“My son, I feel you have learnt your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You will just have to wait nine months, though...

You got pregnant last night,”

In the Spirit of Gratitude II (September 21, 2006)

3 years don waka,
We still dey carry go
Baba God o, our case o, na ur grace o
Adupe o.

Admist Jubilation, breaking of pens and saying goodbyes to undergraduate life;
No one was sure of what the future holds but everyone was confident of a bright day ahead.

With chants of D’banj “Mo bo lo won” Ladies in black tops over Ankara Skirt+ headgear, gbedu blasting, lots of picture flashes!

The 1st graduating set of management Science department of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso drew the curtains and bade the most controversial department on campus farewell!

5 solid years of stress, fears, anxiety and remarkable innovations could not easily be put behind, asides the unclear curriculum; inherent is the accommodation of lecturers who were so careful with commitment to teaching us.

MGS as fondly called by many brought about immense change to LAUTECH in terms of growth and development, apart from the fact that the school grew in size and population, is the divergent social characteristics which will normally not grace a university of technology.

A crop of well-rounded creative minds entrant into the school could not be overemphasized as all the forces within the school reckoned with us. From a protest on “Mass Destiny Destruction” which came on board and got the sympathy of the then Ayomide Babalola “Mr. Flow”, which arose as a result of the intention to scrap the B.Sc. Accounting programme and the disparity in the tuition fees of B.Tech. and B.Sc. Accounting degrees (N2,750 and N20,000 respectively). I am a victim of such discrimination despite meeting the criterion of falling under the former category.

MGS stood as a powerful force, and willed her power against the then Vice Chancellor Prof. A.M Salau coupled with his warm character and fatherly role shifted the school exams by 2 weeks until our issues were resolved.

On the high note, the department against all odds gave herself an identity legally upon ratification by the Students Representative Council ‘SRC” which allows for full fledged participation in the school political environment. And the impact of this led to the emergence of worthy sons and daughters in politics, notably our own Jide Abimbola Jnr. and Ambassador Wunmi Adisa who became the President of the Student Union Government.

Asides political involvement, MGS Department became a household name in the development sphere as a special group of young people formed a leadership development organisation called “The Intellectual Group” which made waves with capacity building programmes within and outside the country, streamlining youth voices into decision making process in National and International dialogues and frameworks. Also is The Corporate Accountants (TCA) with focus on Educational development of MGS Students. Kudos to our dear Precious Ogungbile for all the tutorials!

On the social scene, MGS were at the forefront, with numerous engagements in clubbing, organizing shows and award nights. These special breeds were intellectually sound and academically brilliant and compete favorably with any student of other departments within andoutside the school community. Talk about school sports the likes of Veron, Khaleel, Afolabi Kasomo, Ope Olofinjana, Folake Oladokun will come to the fore in representing the school well in Local and national games.

On Appreciation, God used several people for us as a network of emerging leaders, one cannot but thank Dr Remi Aworemi (Atuu- Iyanu a sele!) Shoed and be shoed, Dr Owolabi Usman(Sumonu) – sosialisation, Dr Adewoye (H.O.D), Dr Idowu, Dr Ojokuku, Coach, Mr. Shomuyiwa(Mazda 626), Miss Akande and lest I forgot Dr Onaolapo (Sneaky!!!).

About the grey areas and our low moments, we cannot but pay tributes to MGS fallen heroes, we sincerely do love them but God loves them most; saheed, Seun Fadare, Chioma, Modupeola Afolabi, Wunmi Afonja etc. We appreciate God for their short but exemplary lives and continue to pray for the repose of their souls and for their family they left behind that God should grant them the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.

For those over the last 3 years (2095 days) have changed their names, become fathers and mothers, we thank God on your behalf; Toyin Mohammed nee Ekemode, Foluso Olufadeju, Shakirah Ali-Balogun nee Salau, Kenny Mokolo nee Adeoye, Seun Sheba-Abiona,Ope Olofinjana-Ogungbade,Vivian Ojeahere nee Ero, kanmi Ogundele (Ursh), Toyin Toba- Bassey, Bimbo Buraimo- Awolade, Monisola Saka-Adejo, Fisayo oyebanji-Adigun,Ebun Aluko-Banjo and others to numerous to mention.

I think its best for us to look back with gratitude and say “Thank You” to the Almighty who against all odds has brought us into His palace and banquet in Love, after cleaning us up, He made us into what we are today.

I sincerely hope that someday we will have cause to celebrate together, organize a reunion and thank god in unison, but until that happens; this medium should be left open!

One Love!!!

In the Spirit of Gratitude I

The surest way to get discouraged is to compare yourself with others. Don’t compare yourself (Gal 6:4)because some people will look like they are doing a better job and you will get disheartened, while others won’t be as effective and you will become proud. Concentrate on doing your best (2 Timothy 2:15). That way you will get satisfaction of a job well done and you won’t need to compare yourself. All the apples on a tree don’t ripen at the same time. Paul says ‘knowledge and understanding’ take time (Phil 1:9-10). It can take years and many successes in any new area before we can confidently say to ourselves and others. I am…. What God has called me to do.
Don’t wait until you are successful….start now by saying you are what you want to become…Yes you’ve much to learn…and you may not be an expert…. But you don’t have to be, to say those two little words I am.
Remember God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines and imperfect people to do His perfect will. So, push ahead, cut yourself some slack, and remember you are a W.I.P a work-in-progress!