The worsening security situation in Imo State is giving Ndi-Imo so much concern. This is connected to the current alarming rate of kidnapping, and armed robbery in the State. It is embarrassing the way and manner criminals abduct Imo citizens demanding ransom before their release. The consequence is that socio-economic activities in Imo are affected negatively, leading to economic hardship for the people. Investors are scared away, while the people feel too insecure to interact and socialize. This has resulted in a significant reduction of business activities in Imo with very dire consequences to the State economy.

Months ago the U.S. Department of State warned U.S. citizens of the risks of travelling to states like Imo in Nigeria because of kidnapping and robbery. This is getting out of hand! Cases of kidnapping in Imo as reported in the media are too numerous to mention . And there seems to be no solution. For example, the Eze –elect of Awo Mbieri autonomous community in Mbaitoli local council area of Imo State, Nze Oliver Nwaozuzu, was abducted by gunmen last week. The Medical Director of Saint Charles Hospital, Emekuku in Owerri North local council area of Imo State, Dr. Henry Dozie, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in June last year. Mr. Chijioke Nnaemeka Iheaku, a lawyer and industrialist was kidnapped and murdered in Owerri in December last year.

What about the case of Chief Obinna Onuegbu ,a businessman and politician who was kidnapped in July last year. Armed men also, last year, kidnapped the Catholic bishop of Okigwe, Bishop Samuel Amatu. The former speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Godfrey Dikeocha was kidnapped in March this year .The husband of a Commissioner in Imo State was kidnapped. Lady Chioma Ogoke a serving Commissioner in this administration was kidnapped? Three girls were abducted on Sunday sometime in September last year at Saint Mulumba’s Catholic Parish, Owerri. The girls were on their way home from mass when they were kidnapped. The Chief Medical Director of Owerri Specialist Hospital, Umuguma,Dr. Moses Amako too was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen in December last year? A staff nurse attached to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, Mrs Ursula Ohagwa and a former member of the House of Reps, Hon Tony Okere were also kidnapped this year.

This is really getting out of hand. It is worrisome the ease with which these criminals are getting away with this heinous and unwholesome act in Imo State. Our streets, homes and offices have become increasingly vulnerable with virtually no where to turn to for help. At the moment we all live like prisoners wherever we are in Imo State. We sleep at night with one eye open and yet we have a governor who is the Chief Security Officer of the State. It is really sad that Imo State has degenerated to this level. It is really sad.

State security falls right on the laps of the governor. One reason of having a government in place is for the provision of security of lives and property of the citizenry. The 1999 constitution in section 14 (2) (b) provides that; “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. One of the world’s best known political philosophers of all times Thomas Hobbes also stated that one purpose of government is the maintenance of basic security and public order. Hobbes was of the view that people in a community create and submit to government for the purpose of establishing for themselves, safety and public order. If the governor of Imo State,Owelle Rochas Okorocha cannot provide security for Ndi-Imo then he should peacefully resign.

The actions of governor Okorocha make it clear that he is to be blamed 80 percent for the high rate of kidnappings and robbery in Imo State. He has so far sacked 16,000 Imo citizens from jobs and he is about to disengage more 3000 in the name of redeployment of civil servants to serve in an illegal fourth tier government. We must blame the government for putting the youths out of jobs. People opt for kidnapping because of two major reasons: greed and lack of employment.

What do you expect in a state where the youths are pushed out of jobs? A state where the security vote has been diverted for other use; a state where workers are owed salaries. A state where contractors are subjected to fund government projects to completion without payment; a state where the Governor has refused to release money into the system and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the State are asked to engage in commercial activities in order to generate their salaries and allowances. A state where LGA funds are looted; a state of escalating executive lawlessness, a state of disregard for constitutional rights.

Government in Imo today is Okorocha only. Imo people are suffocating. The teachers are suffering. The civil servants are suffering. Business men are suffering. Even the traders are suffering. What we have in Imo State is the more you look the less you see. In Thisday newspaper of 3rd May, back page ,SegunAdeniyi , a popular Nigerian writer gave graphic details of the joke and comic going on in Imo state. According to Adeniyi ‘In Imo State today, it is one day, one promise.Okorocha is going to build a megacity in Okigwe; he will build two palm oil plantations; he will construct a 25-storey hotel; he will build three universities for the state; he will construct an ecumenical centre; and he has already taken over all federal roads in the state for which he has awarded contracts without any documentation! The governor has practically become the sole administrator, expending public money and coming up with all manner of bizarre ideas without any legislative oversight.’

I do not hate my governor as a person but i hate his anti-peoples style of governance. His worst enemies are the choir members surrounding him singing hosannas into his ears for their selfish reasons. I call them vultures because they feed fat on the carcasses of the poor. These people are not only castigating him presently in their closets, they will be the first to shout ‘crucify him’ as soon as he is out of power.He should learn from history.

He knows that without the people ,he wouldn’t have won the seat. Instead of serving the people, he is serving himself, his thugs and praise singers. He has travelled to all the continents of this world and has seen what leadership is all about in descent countries. Leaders are the junior partners in the social contract between the leaders and the people. Imo people are complaining but our governor is deaf to the cries. Save us o’ God.

Kenneth Uwadi, Mmahu-Egbema,Imo State,Nigeria

by  Obiakor Uchechukwu <uchechukwu_justice@yahoo.com>

As 2015 draws near, many politicians must have arranged or written down their manifesto. Those yet to write or have their manifesto arranged, I know must sugar-coated or honey jell their tongues. Let me say this if they will take my advice on this piece, it will not only help them, but will catapult them to a realm they all will be called political pundits and Aristotles of our time. Gone are those days when we hear stuffs like, if you vote for me “I will water the whole community” “I will fire (provide electricity) everywhere” “ I will build roads (just bring in the caterpillars, let them scrap and invite dust)” “I build hospitals (erect a building and pack in panadol tablets while you go for medical check up abroad, we use herbs and roots to exterminate all ailments)” “I will provide jobs (import more wheel barrows, motorcycles even keke na pepe so that the graduates who have refused to go back to agriculture, narrow their lives riding past trailers driven by lunatics)” “six months after my inauguration, electricity will be stable that we will give other countries (import more generators or better still tell the generator manufacturing firms to shift their base down to Nigeria)” “I will build schools and provide qualitative education(erect any structure and pack it with half baked literates as teachers. It is not your fault if students fail JAMB, WAEC, NECO; they don’t read while you fly your wards abroad)” “I will fight corruption (employ the services of a mistress that helps you carry cash to your Swiss accounts. If EFCC strikes, tell them it’s your “hard earned money”)” “I will pay all outstanding bills and wages (just quote billions on the national dailies you did release, of course nobody will question you. You are the chief executive)” “I will carry everybody along including the opposition (make sure you have a personal police recruits and build a better prisons. Some opposition has “vipery” tongue. Instead of them lashing criticisms on your policies, give command your police recruits to put them behind bars till they say you are the best thing ever happened)” “I will empower the police (why waste funds? Buy dane guns and oil lamps while they fight with motorists over twenty naira, armed robbers are having field day. Make sure their vehicles are ones that break down when any serious mission is been embarked on)” “I will make fuel more cheaper that every household will decide to cook with fuel( pay out subsidies with forged importation papers. Any probe tomorrow, just tell us you will not spare any one involved in the subsidy scam)”

Now, let’s get down to business. How to win the hearts of the electorate, like I said above, Nigerians are tired of hearing same old war song. It is time you give them something different. An innovative born out of your creativity, that will not only sell you to the electorates, but will help your party to be in power for the next sixty years. Nigerians are now wise and intelligent, so in order to beat this intelligence, just make sure come from an ethnic group that have not smelt or seen how Aso Rock looks like. Tell us, you once have no shoes, but can afford slippers. Tell us, you had no singlet or boxers. Tell us, how you use to trek to school with torn out shirt and shorts. Tell us, how you struggled through life, reading and passing your classes in flying colors that you know more than you teachers. Make us know how you manage akara and kuli kuli for breakfast. Tell us how you sack all PHCN staffs responsible for power failure, unless you want them to show what they are capable of doing when an eminent visitor comes. Tell us how you make the “Legislachops” to represent their constituents well. Make us know that corruption cases will be a thing of the
past. Every sacred cow, elephant, lion, tiger even zebra must see the walls of kirikiri prisons. Tell us that your children will join heir counterparts in public schools. Make no mistake, telling us you will resuscitate an old industry abandoned even before you started primary school. Tell us you will help Nigerians realize the value of maintaining what they have. Embark on projects like building prisons for the yahoo yahoo guys, pen robbers, pension fund looters. Don’t build roads; rather embark on flyovers and bridges. Nigerians are tired of riding on the land. Since you are for change, make sure you settle out some dudes perceived as enemies or bombs and bullets become daily news.

Armed yourself with a team of intellectuals that will always know how to react to an issue, not gibberish talking lunatics. If you are not careful enough, they will blow a secret you have locked up in CBN vaults. Any criminal that refuses to live up to expectations, announce his name nationwide, so that we can employ the services of bakassi boys. You can’t do without God, so you need a prophet by your side. Whether he slap witches to make them repent or he only sees dooms coming, just employ their services. For you do not war against flesh and blood rather against principalities and powers in high places. Make us know that the market woman who struggled to vote for you, will change her business of selling pepper to being a major distributor of magi, fresh tomatoes etc. Tell us you will change the jobs of our graduates from okada riding to keke na pepe drivers. Tell us that you are going to demolish the hospitals, let the traditional or herbal doctors take over. Lastly, don’t promise heaven when you know the clouds are far from your reach. Till next time, I remained yours faithful adviser.

By Frisky Larr

Let’s face it. In the present dispensation, northernNigeriahas produced three brilliant Nigerians of the younger generation, on which Nigerians may build their hope for a better tomorrow. You may have guessed right if your mindset works like mine. To be precise though, my mind is set on Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El-Rufai and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Many may disagree instinctively, but my point will be better understood when this submission is read to the end. As opposed to these three individuals, southernNigeriacurrently has just Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to boast of. In terms of focus and outstanding performance however, we will mention Babatunde Fashola. Unfortunately though, Fashola is not the radical crusader that is created to fight evil. On the contrary, he is more the invisible crusader serving his people quietly and working for the good of his constituency.

For this reason, Babatunde Fashola – not being a rough fighter and an eccentrically voluble self-promoter like Adam Oshiomole – may have a hell of a time managing a Federal government in Aso Rock. I may be right and I may be wrong in my speculations. But something tells me that Babatunde Fashola is the type that will serveNigeriabest in a position similar to Okonjo-Iweala’s. An informal and imperial Prime Minister exercising her powers quietly but decisively. This is absolutely without prejudice to other superior qualities and qualifications that Okonjo-Iweala no doubt has. She has shown during the fuel subsidy crisis that she can also fight back if she is wrongly put in a pillory. She is not afraid of confrontation. On the contrary, Babatunde Fashola comes across as a man who is most comfortable operating smoothly away from the gaze of shine and glamour.

Comparing this attribute to the imposing characters of the three northern musketeers of our present dispensation, it will be easier to understand the point I wish to make. As the Jonathan example is presently showing, quietness and shyness from the limelight seem poisonous for the office of the President of Nigeria. Even worse is the lack of guts to take on rich and powerful exploiters to protect the interest of the nation even if it means ruining one’s own political career. This fear of confrontation and preference for backstage dealings to foster business as usual is one character that Fashola seems to share with President Jonathan. The much publicized dispute between Fashola and Bola Tinubu in the run-up to the last general elections and the manner in which the issue was resolved quietly in the aftermath of obvious horse-trading seems to show Fashola’s glaring lack of appetite for confrontation. Confrontation however is an indispensable variable in the office of President.

On the contrary, we can all imagine how many rich and powerful exploiters will wet their pants in fear and panic if Nuhu Ribadu was suddenly picked to become President of Nigeria today. The Aondoaakas who subverted justice and probably enriched themselves illegally may run to exile overnight in the speed of Hussain Bolt. I do not know where High Court Justices like Marcel Awokunleyin who gave James Ibori a clean bill of health would choose to hide. Panic will definitely greet the rank and file of the powerful and stealing community. James Ibori tried to dare the fangs of President Jonathan but had to bolt helter-skelter when even Jonathan showed his teeth to fight his personal enemy the way he fought Timipre Sylva. Unfortunately the same Jonathan will never fight the enemies of the State. That is the impression Nigerians have of the President at the present moment.

Imagine Nasir El-Rufai being called upon today, to take the reins of leadership in Aso Rock and figure out how many enemies of theNigerianStatewill go on self-imposed exile. Imagine Sanusi Lamido Sanusi mounting the imperial throne that he no doubt, would personally crave and figure out how many people will bolt.

Now, my motive in this essay is not to assess the overall suitability of these three northern musketeers for the office of President but to highlight the boldness and courage that these men undoubtedly have in the things they do much unlike Goodluck Jonathan the President of the nation. They have shown it abundantly in the discharge of their duties. Coincidentally, boldness and courage are two key attributes that any President of Nigeria needs. Olusegun Obasanjo showed Nigerians how necessary these attributes are and Goodluck Jonathan is confirming it daily by forcing Nigerians to miss precisely these essential attributes of the Obasanjo days.

Northern Nigeriablessed us with these three young patriotic men and I have no doubt that every Nigerian will agree with me that these three musketeers are patriotic to the bone. They are all well read, intelligent and intellectual in their different capacities. The most outstanding quality that they all have in common however, is their love for their country! You heard me right “Their country”!

Even though they all share Nigeria with us all, questions abound as a matter of compulsion if these three outstanding northerners of our present day love Nigeria as we all know it – Nigeria from North to South! I am deliberately refusing to include leading northerners of the older generation such as Ibrahim Babangida, Shehu Shagari, Umaru Dikko, Adamu Ciroma, Muhammadu Buhari or Abdulsalami Abubakar in this analysis. They are the known leaders of yesterday who laid the groundwork for the troubles of today – selfishly and inadvertently. We have therefore cried out loud for generational change and Obasanjo ushered it in – wittingly or unwittingly.

While many southerners of the younger generation excelled in thievery (see Lucky Igbinedion and James Ibori) Nasir El-Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu worked themselves into the hearts and minds of discerning observers. I personally became a die-hard fan of Nuhu Ribadu. Indeed, words could not describe how I felt when I heard that the ACN had nominated him for the presidential race in 2011. I mobilized very close and intelligent friends in my German abode and we all agreed to watch the situation very closely. We were ready to launch a vocal movement for Ribadu if we were sure that the game was genuine. We were very soon disillusioned when Nuhu Ribadu ran a very poorly managed campaign with what we considered to be a very inferior mode of strategizing. Nuhu Ribadu began to flirt with the self-declared committee of northern elders led by the infamous Adamu Ciroma. He was virtually begging to be named the northern consensus candidate after the demise of Abubakar Atiku. His focus was the north.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who has spoken himself into the hearts and minds of Nigerians, who love any semblance of intelligence, emerged from nowhere thanks to the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Many of us opposed his appointment as Governor of the Central Bank when it was obvious that the late President was running a strategic course of northernizing leadership inNigeria. We all began to have a rethink however as soon as we heard the man speak English. It sounds too simplistic and stupid but it is the plain truth. He didn’t only speak sound and clear English, he was also talking a whole lot of sense. We all became proud of him particularly when he courageously voiced out long overdue concerns about the legislative looting ofNigeria’s treasury. He didn’t care that he could lose his job. That was courageous.

Nasir El-Rufai stepped on toes as the Special Minister of the Capital territory. Till today he is paying the price for those patriotic deeds in an ungrateful society. He was courageous.

Unfortunately however, the mere mention of the word “North” is enough to mark the end of courage, patriotism and neutrality for our three northern musketeers. In a manner symbolic and perhaps characteristic of a seemingly pervasive northern psyche, none of the three has the will or courage to mention some objective and courageous home truths when it comes to the north. Till the present day, I am yet to hear a single northern Nigerian with political leadership function coming out openly to show a little understanding for the complaints and suspicions of the south.

While the Northerners are absolutely correct in condemning the behavior of the ruling PDP in flouting its own zoning regulation to smuggle Goodluck Jonathan into the presidency, no single northerner has ever flipped the coin to see or even try to understand the other side of the debate. While the propaganda machine of the north makes haste to tell the Americans that the Boko Haram killers are no terrorists but merely economically deprived bunch of innocent young lads, no single northerner summons the courage to shout out loud and clear that northern leaders who ruled this country for almost three-quarter of the years since independence are responsible for the marginalization that a southern President should tolerate bombings for.

Neither Nuhu Ribadu nor El-Rufai stood up for one single day to say “Come to think of it northern siblings, to some extent, I can understand the south.” The axiomatic and inevitable reality that the south will get up one day and say “Come on buddy, we also have a right to rule this country” was not factored into any intellectual reasoning whatsoever. The simple need to appreciate this basic fact before proceeding to pillory the PDP for flouting its own zoning policy was simply lost on the north in a collective and seemingly conspiratorial manner. This single courageous move alone would have made Nuhu Ribadu an immortal creature whose de-tribalized spirit would have hovered visibly above any serving presidential material until he is moved onto the throne of supremacy alive or as an unsung hero in the future history of the country.

While El-Rufai is busy blowing the trumpet of negotiations with Boko Haram, Sanusi Lamido is leaving no one in doubt that his constituency is first and foremost, northernNigeria. I therefore ask myself a few crucial questions: “Will there ever be a de-tribalized northern Nigerian in this country to look across the borders of the northern states?” “Do northern leaders not have an obligation to pacify the rest of the country and chart a new peaceful path forward?” “IsNigerianot for us all or is there a separate country for the Northerners?” “Are northern Nigerians truly immersed in the illusion thatNigeriais theirs to rule and theirs alone?”

If the realization dawns on our northern brothers and sisters that they have ruled this country for such a long period of time and are therefore largely responsible for most of the fundamental problems that we suffer, will they not understand that they owe a duty to restore peace and pacify the rest of the country rather than rejoicing quietly over Boko Haram’s atrocities? There is indeed nothing wrong in adopting the enticing carrot approach to convince justifiably aggrieved southerners to sheath their sword and letNigeriabegin afresh. Instead, the northerners are aggressively beating the drums of war in a battle that no one stands to win but will ultimately end in the destruction of a promisingNigeria. It is so unfortunate that the foremost elites prefer to play the religious card to win the hearts and minds of ordinary northerners knowing fully well that the spread of Islam by the force of arms is absolutely impossible in today’s world order of aggressive globalization.

–

Frisky Larr (M. A.) Radio/Television Journalist/Communication Scientist Govt.-accredited Translator/Interpreter of the English language Germany Email: FriskyLarr@aol.com

by Emmanuel Onwubiko

After a very agonizing multifaceted intellectual session with senior members of our Non-Governmental Group- Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria on some of our forthcoming events, I walked into my office in the morning of Thursday May 3rd 2012 with the determination to run through some new books we have just purchased but decided to carry out my daily morning rituals of reading through copies of some of the national newspapers beginning with The Guardian. Flipping through the paper I was confronted by a full page black and white advertisement piece from the National Directorate of Employment, a department under the Federal Ministry of Labour and productivity. What actually attracted my attention was the bold photographs of the minister of Labour Mr. Emeka Wogu and that of the wife of President Good Luck Jonathan, Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

Specifically, the advertisement piece was an invitation to the inauguration of what was called the lady chaffeur trainng scheme [LCTS] even as the notice disclosed that it was a joint innitiative of the Government funded National Directorate of Employment and the privately run but lavishly funded Non- Governmental organization promoted by the wife of the President- Women for Change Developemnt Initiative. According to the authors of this public notice which incidentally appeared simultaneously in over four other national dailes, the scheme is aimed at producing 200 ladies into gainful employment as commercial drivers under what it calls the pilot phase in the Federal Capital Territory. Further buttressing the underlying objectives of the scheme, the authors stated that the scheme when operational after the inaugural ceremony billed for May 4th 2012 [though the advert in Guardian carried on Thursday May 3rd 2012 said the event is billed to take place on April 4th 2012] will among others create and empower a pool of female drivers that will meet the needs of labour market in Abuja and the immediate environment; create wealth and job satisfaction as a result of choosing driving as a trade and impart the spirit of professionalism and commitment in driving as a profession.

The first thing that came to my mind after deep reflection over the public notice was why some influential persons holding public offices and a prominent woman in the person of the wife of the first Nigerian President with an academic doctorate degree would want to give Nigeria hundreds of lady commercial drivers [or agberos as they are known in popular pallance because of their nuisance value to decent passengers] rather than design a more scientific approach towards producing better eqipped, twenty first century compliant female technicians to work in the railway industry that has gone moribund as one way of resuscitating and rejuvenating that service sector and also train female pilots who would be gainfully employed both in Nigeria and outside of of our shores with better and further enanced renumeration and internaional prestige.

Even as I write, Iam completely shocked that Government officials always engage in churning out half baked policies that are not scientifically tested and are not meant to last for a long period of time. Government officials in the Executive and legislative arms are happy to embark on the free distribution of tricycles and motorcycles to their constitutuents and other less fortunate citizens to turn them into commercial bike riders rather than commit the resources into providing better technology-driven training of the thousands of unemployed young Nigerians to be gainfully employed in ventures that can contribute tremendously to the actual growth and advancement of the nation’s economy and bring about real job satisfaction for the participants and reduce the high crime rate in the society. Why are Nigerian politicians buying motorcycles for the young Nigerian graduates to use as commercial bikers even when it is known that because of paucity of turn over fund most of these cmmercial bike riders have converted these bikes as weapons and tools of perpetrating the sophisticated crimes of kidnapping for ransoms, bag snatching, gun running and targeted assasinations?

At best, the Federal Government’s newly inaugurated   lady Chauffeur training scheme (LCTS) is worthy of being dismissed as   substantially lacking in creativity,innovation and sustainability.

Rather   than spend the scarce public fund in this good -for- nothing venture, it is   therefore canvassed that the Federa Government should consider the introduction   of specialized technology skills’ acquisition scheme specifically targeted at   training younger Nigerian ladies to become middle level technicians in the   petroleum and Environmental sectors and other technology related skills that   will make them job creators rather than job seekers.

Like most   other schemes introduced by some Government institutions and political office   holders that never last, the new ladies’ drivers’ training scheme is   absolutely bereft of creativity, innovation and therefore is not a   sustainable Job creation effort in the twenty first century.

Come   to think of it, is the pressing service need of most Nigerians that of   commercial drivers? Assuming without conceding that Nigeria is in short   supply of commecial drivers making it imperative that female citizens be   encouraged to embrace commercial driving as a profession, what is the quantum   of contribution to the overall national wealth and economy will the   commercial drivers make towards bringing our country back from the brinks and   pricipice of economic collapse which it has reached because of the monumental   corruption, bribery, inefficiency of past and current political ffice holders   and the civil servants? Another question to be asked is how many unemployed   persons would be taken out of the streets if commercial driving is now the   way out when in actual fact making someone a commercial driver will rather   than take the person out of the streets will deepen the invlvement of such   persons in the vices associated wth motorpark touts? This is not to say that   all commercial drivers are touts and the objective of this piece is not to   belittle the commercial drivers. But I ask, ow many of the female children of   these political office holders would be encouraged to paticipate in the lady chaffeur   training scheme being speaheaded by the wife of the President?

To assume   leadership position comes with a big demand and those who aspire to become   leaders must have real vision on how to transform their societies and must   not engage in activities that would not bear good fruits that would last. I   am of the strong belief that in these days and age, what my government should   be thinking of is not to dwell in the past primitive practice but should   introduce modern, technology-inclined job creation schemes for Nigerian women   rather than waste scarce public fund to produce mere artisans and commercial   drivers which are not the pressing needs of most Nigerian consumers. Is   Government unaware that the local content law which prescribes mainstreaming   of indigenous technicians and middle level experts in the foreign dominated   Nigeria’s crude oil industry is observed in the breach by the multi-national   crude oil companies operating in Nigeria because of claims by them that local   experts are in short supply? Why can we not for once be forward looking as a   nation by training a pool of twenty first century compliant technicians from   among our thousands of unemployed female graduates to be deployed to work in   the Railway sector whenever the huge resources committed into rebuilding the   moribund venture by Government begin to bear fruits that would last?

I   sincerely think that every right thinking and forward looking Nigerian should   be very worried that at a time that India has successfully launched a long   range surface to air nuclear missile anchored by an Indian young lady Miss.   Tessy Thomas, and in an era that developing countries like South Africa,   Botswana, Bangladesh among others, are investing heavily in the training of   their women in the technology and Aviation Industries, Nigeria is still   behaving as if we are in the eighteenth century by training female commercial   drivers as if that is the most pressing service need of Nigeria and   Nigerians.   This downward thinking of officials of government is a clear manifestation of   the dearth of quality vision among those who are privileged to assume   political offices or be married to powerful persons in Government.

If   anything, what is expected of political leadership with vision is the   formulation and implementation of projects and schemes to create sustainable   employment opportunities because unemployment among younger citizens is the   root of the unprecedented crime rate in the country which demands a lot more   from Government to address it pragmatically rather than engage in the bonanza   of sharing tricycles and second automobiles to just a few selected female   citizens in the name of the so-caled lady chaffeur training scheme.

If truth   be told, Nigerian Government and other leading stakeholders in the private   sector should concentrate energy and resources towards training young   Nigerian ladies to become competent pilots, and scientists who can build the   much needed security architecture that Nigeria needs to check the   unprecedented rise in terror-related violence. Government should not behave   as if we live in stone age by mass producing commercial drivers whose   services are not needed. To even hear the wife of the President say that   Nigerias will soon begin to experience the joy of being driven by lady   commercial drivers shows that those who hurriedly packaged the scheme for   this gentle lady did not reflect deeply so as to evolve a better job creation   scheme for the Nigerian women. The lady chaffeur training scheme is   pedestrian and cheap thinking at best and must be discarded.

Although   I was happy when recently Miss. Blessing Liman was celebrated as the first   female fighter pilot but at the same time I felt ashame that Nigeria with all   the big name that we gave to ourselves as the giant of Africa has only just   produced the first female fighter pilot nearly fifty two years after gaining   independence and even with the unfortunate but historic fact that Nigeria has   had three years of civil war and yet Nigeria has only in 2012 produced our   first female fighter pilot. I expected that the Nigerian women political   leaders including the wife of the President should have brainstormed aong   themselves on how to consolidate this little gain to ensure that a lot more   female citizens become fighter pilots, civilian pilots and middle level   technicians, engineers and sundry experts to revamp our dwindling local   economy. Bill Newman in his book “10 laws of Leadership” pointed   out vividly that; “Vision is the key to understanding leadership.   Without vision you are just playing games with your life. Men and Women with   vision see more and further than others. Leaders have empires in their   brains”.

Mr.   Newman built his theory from what Winston Churchill wrote that; “The   empires of the future are the empires of the mind”. Only by development   human capacity of younger Nigerians to acquire the right kinds of skills in   high demands around the World will Nigeria become a better society.

+Emmanuel   Onwubiko, head, Human Rights Wrietrs’ Association of Nigeria writes from www.huriwa.blogspot.com.