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Ekweremadu’s Caution and Our Fool’s Paradise
By Uche Anichukwu
Once upon a time, the tortoise gathered his children to test their wisdom. The question was simple: How many times would something happen to you before you learn? The eldest one said thrice. The father landed him a hard knock on the head. The other said twice. Another said that just once was enough. But it was the youngest, who answered that he would learn from other people’s mistakes.
In 1962, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola and Chief Obafemi Awolowo were enmeshed in a political showdown, leading to the split of the Action Group, AG. A Vote of No Confidence was slammed on Akintola, leading to a serious fracas on the floor of the Western Region House of Assembly. AG also expelled Akintola. Governor of the Western Region, Sir Adesoji Aderemi, demanded Akintola’s resignation and named Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro as his successor. More political upheaval followed, earning the region the “Wild, Wild, West” appellation.
The Prime Minister, Belewa, declared a state of emergency in the region and appointed his cabinet Minister of Health, Dr. Moses Majekudonmi, as the Administrator on June 29, 1962. It didn’t go down well with the AG (which was also the federal opposition) and Awo’s followers, who had always accused the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Belewa-led federal government of playing the drum to which Akintola was dancing. Awolowo was arrested in 1963, tried, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for what many believed were trumped up charges of treason/coup plotting.
Then came the highly divisive, ethnicised, and tensed 1964 federal elections, which was won by the Balewa-Akintola alliance against the Nnamdi Azikiwe and imprisoned Awolowo, other’s United Progressive Grand Alliance amidst allegations of massive rigging, thuggery, and abuse of federal powers.
To cut a long story short, there was an escalation of violence in the Western Region, better known as Operation Wetie, coupled with the 1965 Western House of Assembly election. The military boys from every part of the country led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu struck. It was branded an Igbo coup, resulting in the pogroms against Ndigbo. A 30-month civil war ensued. The fire, which started from a corner of the house, eventually conflagrated the entire building. That is exactly Ekweremadu’s point: A fire that brings down a building usually starts from one corner. You don’t wait till then to put it off.
We also know the story of the Second Republic- the political madness, arson, brigandage, impunity, abuse of executive powers, and persecution of the opposition at all levels, coupled with corruption. The military struck again. From buying snuff, the military strayed into the heart of the market for about 16 years and took Nigeria 100 years backwards.
Against this backdrop, you would wonder why anybody would find fault or twist Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s warning that we have again taken the same route, which end is a ditch. Ordinarily, one wouldn’t expect a child whose mother was killed by a poisonous mushroom to play with mushroom. A man stung by a bee, takes to his heels on sighting a big housefly. A man, whose father was killed by a buffalo, does not drink palm wine from a buffalo’s horn.
The Senator spoke during the debate on a motion by Senator Salau Ogembe (PDP, Kogi Central) on the violence visited on his empowerment programme for his constituency by political thugs allegedly sponsored by his state government with the complicity of the police.
His exact words: “The problem in Nigeria now is that our democracy is receding and the international community needs to know this. Who says that the military cannot take over in Nigeria? So, Let us not joke with our democracy the way they are going.
“Two weeks ago, we were talking about how Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi’s house was destroyed in Kaduna State. Recently, we were talking about how Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso was stopped from going to his state. We saw people carrying clubs, waiting for him at the airport. We were talking about how security operatives laid siege on Senator Dino Melaye.
“In Kaduna, Senator Shehu Sani cannot organise a meeting and we say that we are practicing democracy.
“The international community needs to know this because they helped us to restore our democracy and some gang of people are trying to truncate the entire democracy”.
In the midst of dire security challenges, especially in the light of the recently abducted 110 Dapchi girls, who could have imagined that the Defence Headquarters would be preoccupied with Ekweremadu’s statement, which it even admitted was cautionary?
Then came the likes of Sam Omatseye, who went as far as calling the Senator names and Rotimi Fasan, who preferred to vent his bitterness over Ekweremadu’s appointment as Professor of Strategic Government Studies by the Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, rather than fault the Senator’s points. It is needless to badmouth them in return, for if you chase, stark naked, after a mentally unstable man, who runs away with your clothes while taking your bath in the river, people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference because you have descended to his level.
To the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, a passenger, who cautions the reckless driver of a passenger-filled bus he is travelling in to slow down, is not calling for an accident. He is actually trying to prevent one. But some people, the few like Omatseye and Fasan would rather blame the cautious passenger because they helped to hire the reckless driver.
Let me close with this story about the palm beetle, which drank so much from the palm wine tapper’s keg. Drunk, he threw caution to the wind and landed from the palm top. The cockerel rushed at him and struck. The stunned beetle turned to the cockerel and said: “My good friend, when did this new hostility start?” The cockerel smiled and said: “My dear, we were friends as long as you played by the rule, staying up there and out of trouble. But now, how can I resist this tempting, sumptuous meal?” With a jab, the beetle ended up in the cockerel’s intestine.
The wise learns from other people’s mistakes, but the simpleton prefers to live in a fool’s paradise, refusing to learn even from his past mistakes.
Anichukwu writes from Abuja
The Enugu State government has inaugurated a steering committee to eliminate Gender-Based Violence, GBV, in the state, declaring zero tolerance for the social malaise.
The inauguration took place at the Government House Enugu.
The panel, which is chaired by the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, draws its membership from the Nigeria Police Force, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro Industrialisation, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ministry of Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education as well as the Civil Society.
Inaugurating the panel known as the Steering Committee for Strengthening Institutional and Community Responses to End Gender-Based Violence/Domestication of Enugu State Gender Policy using the Oputa Panel approach, Governor Peter Mbah restated his administration’s commitment to not bringing perpetrators of GBV to book, but also putting in place proactive measures – activities, infrastructure, and systems in place to prevent them.
Mbah, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said, “We take gender-based violence seriously. We have zero tolerance for it, and in Enugu State, we are ready to go the extra mile to deal with it.
“If you notice, the government has selected people that are very committed to this goal. This is not an activity where we just want to check-off the list. We will track this. We will monitor this, and we will have quarterly engagements on the successes that this particular committee has achieved in terms of reference that we are going to send.
“We will tighten those terms of reference indicators, so that we monitor what we are doing both in terms of cost input and the value added. It’s very important to us. Many people will be involved – civil society, the police and various ministries.”
He however, said that the effort was to protect everyone, men and women alike, as GBV was not restricted to any gender.
“The whole idea is to hold people responsible that are involved in matters relating to gender violence and deter people that by culture or by association get involved in that, protect women, protect our children, and in the case of violence against men, protect our men because most times we misconstrue gender violence to mean women, but it can also be men too.
“We encourage our men to speak out and to make sure they understand that the policy that Enugu State is soon going to domesticate is for everyone, and not only for the female gender,” he stated.
In her remark, Mrs. Enih, explained that the Oputa Panel approach was inspired by the need to cover all local peculiarities in domesticating the policy on GBV, restarting government’s confidence in the members of the panel.
“The approach we are going to use is the Oputa Panel approach, and in the Oputa Panel approach, we are going to tour the 17 Local Government Areas to get firsthand information about what our people are going through because policy is meant for the people, and a policy should suit the people.
“Again, every community has its peculiar problems, so that’s why the government decided that if we have to domesticate the gender policy, we have to hear from the people who own the policy and know the changes that they desire to see. That is the reason we are using this approach.
“The committee members are to also serve as judges. As we gather this information from our people, we will come back to tailor it in a way to suit the people of Enugu State, and then our policy is ready.
“We want the people to know that there is a gender policy for them. I can assure you that when the people are aware that there is such a policy, they will seek for the enforcement of that policy. So, this is not going to be one of those policies that will just lie on the shelf,” she said.
Digital solutions provider, Globacom, has congratulated Christians in Nigeria on this year’s Easter celebration, and urged them to emulate the noble qualities of Jesus Christ.
The company, in a goodwill message to the Christian faithful in the country, lauded their perseverance through the Lenten period which preceded Easter. It enjoined them to always promote the ideals of selflessness, love and peace among all as a way of demonstrating the virtues of the exemplary life of Jesus Christ.
“Peace, love and sacrifice are the central message of Easter. Christ offered himself in atonement for the sins of the world and he lived a life which made Him an eternal symbol of peace and goodwill for mankind”, Globacom added.
The company enjoined all Nigerians to share in the lessons of promoting selflessness, a necessary ingredient in the growth and development of every society. It also enjoined all Nigerians to join hands to make Nigeria a better place for all.
Easter is celebrated yearly at the end of the Lenten season of fasting and prayer considered as a ritual of purification for the Christian faithful. It also precedes the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on Good Friday and His eventual resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The company assured its customers of seamless voice, data and Short Messaging Service (SMS) during and after the Easter celebrations, while urging them to avail themselves of the various data and voice offerings on the network.
The Guild of Private Broadcast Managers has extended its heartfelt congratulations to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as it celebrates its 70th Anniversary.
In a congratulatory message signed by the Guild’s National President, Ambassador Patrick Uzoyi-Peters, JP MNGRM, the guild described the milestone as a testament to the NUJ’s unwavering commitment to upholding press freedom, journalistic integrity, and the advancement of democracy in Nigeria.
“For seven decades, the NUJ has played a pivotal role in shaping the media landscape, advocating for the rights and welfare of journalists, and ensuring that the voice of the people remains strong and unyielding. Your resilience, professionalism, and dedication to ethical journalism have been instrumental in fostering transparency, accountability, and national development”.
Celebrating this historic achievement, the Guild’s President, Uzoyi-Peters recognized the sacrifices and contributions of journalists across the nation who work tirelessly to inform, educate, and empower society.
The Guild reiterated it commitment towards collaborating with the NUJ in promoting responsible journalism and strengthening the media industry for the greater good.
While wishing the NUJ continued success, growth, and greater impact in the years ahead, President Uzoyi-Peters prayed that the anniversary serve as a renewed call to uphold the principles of truth, fairness, and press freedom in our collective pursuit of a more informed and just society.
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