JUDEd27's BLoG

IS JONATHAN’S CONCESSION HEROIC?
Defeat may serve as well as Victory, to shake the soul and let the glory out – Edwin Markham
The singular act of President Goodluck Jonathan of calling the now President Elect Muhammadu Buhari to concede defeat and wish him the best has generated so much debate that I consider it necessary to lay some historical precedents and also add my voice. Before I start to say whether Goodluck Jonathan’s act of conceding is heroic or noble or civil or necessary that he couldn’t have done otherwise, whichever side you belong, let me say that about four other incumbent African Presidents have been listed to have done such and as such, those who claim that the incumbent President of the former biggest party in Africa is the first to have done such will be ignorant of President Jonathan’s predecessors.

They are Aden Abdullah Daar of Somalia who was the first African President to hand over to a democratically elected leader in 1967 after ‘just’ 7 years of his tenure. As at that time, Nigeria’s First Republic had already been truncated in the infamous 1966 coup. Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia comes in second in 1991 after having been president since 1964. You can do the math. Like Nigeria, there was an oil crisis in 1973, a slump in export revenue, an economic crisis, followed by a multi-party election. He also ‘surprised’ the world by stepping down in 1991 for Frederick Chiluba. Bwezani Banda also of Zambia comes in third after he stepped down in 2011 after Michael Sata defeated him. Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal conceded after a second round of voting to opposition candidate Macky Sall who won with a wide margin on the 25th of March, 2012. We still have Julius Nyerere of Tanzania in 1984, Nelson Mandela of South Africa… Now comes in Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan who recently lost to Muhammadu Buhari in a controversially competitive election. Mr President’s phone call of concession came before the Independent National Electoral Commission officially declared the winner of the elections.

Now to the question of whether Goodluck Jonathan’s act was heroic or not, I have only a few questions to raise. 1. What else would he have done? Some say he could have incited his followers to violence and the next question is 2. Which followers? The same ones that rigged in SS and SE under “SPECIAL CONDITIONS” and then the violence will be against who exactly? Will it be against the northerners who didn’t vote in the SS OR SE or the Ndigbo who didn’t vote in the North or my South Western people who will not even fight for themselves talkless of an Ijaw man who gave them money some weeks to election? It would seem that we all have put Mr President in the position of someone who had all the state powers to do and undo while forgetting that he was the only president that witnessed a nationwide shut down for a protest against subsidy, not even close to a popular election. We also forget that he has helped to develop the political space to accommodate people’s voices unlike we used to have and as such, any act other than conceding would have been a case of feeding a tiger fat so it could kill you one day.

More so, maybe we should check out the list of those who had refused to step down and what ended their lives. I am convinced of Jonathan’s inner personality and subject to my observation, he would not have thought in his wildest dreams that he was smarter than Laurent Gbagbo, Gaddafi, Hosni Mubarak and the likes that he would be able to seize a better ending with a civilian mandate than they did with military might. If you were in the President’s shoes, what will you have done? Maybe if we have all the information that Jonathan did have, we would be thinking differently.

On a final and unfortunate note, Goodluck Jonathan would not be remembered for having served Nigerians with his meek and noble heart, nor will he be remembered by the works or policies or monuments or as a matter of fact his economic policies, the final question to ask is, Will he be remembered for this heroic act of honorably stepping aside to let those who will work take the mantle? Whether Nigerians will remember can be debated, As for the Mo Ibrahim foundation who dole out monetary incentives for African Presidents who leave when their time is up, they will have his name recorded in one of their record books and then, soon to be ex-president Goodluck Jonathan can then wisely build a library or a recreation centre in his name in Otuoke with the Monetary Incentive handed to him.

After going through the APC Manifesto, I clearly have some recommendations and some positions and I will strive to make them as clear and succinct as possible. In governing any society, the ‘governors’ will always be faced with the task of choosing the means to which they are to use in achieving their ends. APC clearly has chosen WELFARISM as their basic ideology. I disagree with those who think APC does not have an ideology, even the most primitive ruling class in the most primitive societies have ideologies. It will be wrong to tag APC’s ideology as socialist as it has an hybrid mix of public enterprises and private enterprises, only in an incoherent blend. The happiest countries in the world have a reasonable percentage of welfare packages for their citizens, starting with Denmark, Norway to Turkey, Singapore and the likes. My criticisms from which my recommendations emerge will be based solely on the process of achieving such a welfare style economy and then perfecting it in such a way that it benefits the citizens of such a society. As it stands now, APC, from their manifesto do not seem to be considering what it will take to achieve such a Denmark style economy. If Denmark will be achieved, it will require the ability to oversee without intervening a burgeoning private sector while providing meticulously the welfare packages (Education, Health Care and the likes) meant for citizens. If this will serve as consolation, even the foremost political thinkers in the ‘West’ still have a problem of ‘Getting to Denmark’

If the lay man on the street will be affected by the CHANGE that will hopefully sweep across Nigeria, it will first be noticed in his micro-economics. It is on this basis that I will start on the section titled JOB CREATION AND THE ECONOMY.

APC intends to ‘maintain sound macro-economic policy environment…. preserve the independence of the Central Bank’ and put in place ‘a more robust monitoring, supervising and regulating of ALL financial institutions’. Whether APC ignores the concept of ALL in these bullet points after hoping to preserve the independence of one and in fact, the most important financial institution or whether it is a mistake is what I am yet to comprehend but if we are to assume that the CBN which is to actually monitor the financial institutions will be independent, maybe APC should focus more on making the economy grow at 10% annually from a 6.8% average in the past six years, a feat which is, in my opinion, also not achievable if what APC called ‘monitoring, supervising and regulating’ is going to take place.

One important bullet point comes in handy; ‘vocational training, entrepreneurial and skills acquisition scheme for graduates along with the creation of Small Business Loan Guarantee scheme….. and the ‘integration of the informal economy into the mainstream’. If this can be achieved, Nigeria which is currently ranked as one of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world as I write will grow at more than 10% annually and this is the reason. The informal economy contributes less than 5% to the GDP even though it constitutes more than 90% of our economy. This is what APC will have to do to achieve this feat; Access to funds will have to be readily available and not just available, also de-risked and de-burdened, permit my use of English. Many funds that can help to improve this informal sector are available but the SME Operators, which the APC manifesto has not expressly mentioned, will have to go through a lot of bureaucracy that dis-incentivizes the entire process and defeats the objective.

Moving forward, APC hopes to ‘expand domestic demand and consider undertaking associated public works programs’, ‘embark on export and production diversification including investment in infrastructure; promote manufacturing through agro based industries and expand sub-regional trade’. One thing to note at this juncture, if this is to be achieved, which I believe is quite achievable, FREE TRADE and OPEN BORDERS will have to be taken as priority. The reasons are simple. Businesses run on incentives. If it is easier and profitable for a farmer to export her products from the cocoa farm in Ijebu-Ode to nearby Abidjan to an industry which requires her products, considering transportation, paper works, ‘egunje’ tariffs, clearance at borders, local government taxes, cost of preservation and other contingencies, the farmer will go ahead. If other farmers start to notice how profitable it is, they will get involved, the more farmers and business men get involved in that process, the higher domestic demand, the higher domestic demand, the better the lives of the farmers and consequently Nigerians that will benefit from her. Undertaking public works programs will, in my opinion drag the process back as the incentive for profit as it is in the case of an individual will not be there and more so, there are no incentives for salary earners in public works ( if undertaking public works programs as understood by me is what APC means it to be)

As far as REDAs go, I would suggest APC wisely invests that money in the development of the necessary infrastructure that will ensure businesses go on with as little hitches as possible. Economic development for me being undertaken by the government is what is beyond the capacity of any government. The economy is spontaneous and guided by what economists have christened the ‘invisible hand’ and any attempt of government interventionism will only lead to what economic history has always confirmed over and over again, economic depression which leads me to a refutation of the attempt by the APC under AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY to ‘guarantee a minimum price for selected crops’. It is government interventionism and every time government intervenes in the regulation of prices, a self-fulfilling prophecy of a depression comes in handy. The theory of demand and supply are sacrosanct, any attempt by any government to tilt the scale or adjust it will backfire.

Finally on the Economy, I hope and as a matter of fact, I pray that APC’s attempt to ‘amend the constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold/leasehold interests in land …. and also create additional housing and a mortgage system..’ comes to reality. If this happens as it should, and not just an amendment that still entrenches interest in some cabals, Nigerians, especially farmers may be set on an economic boom that might be likened to the oil days. The Land Use Act if amended will solve a lot of access to funds issues and will ease business and increase the measure of risk that can be taken by a business. On a more general note, the time has come to focus on the individual. Nigerians are hardworking and willing to take responsibility for their lives and their individual economies only if there is a conducive and individual-focused environment. It is after this that the welfare packages for those who cannot leverage on these opportunities can then come in and even at that, abuse of such welfare procedures must be curtailed as it dis-incentivizes hard work and effort in the long run.

I hope other concerned Nigerians will take it from here.

Jude ‘Feranmi juded27@gmail.com @juded27
Philosopher, Nation Builder, Active Citizen

First and Foremost, I think it is important to congratulate APC, a coalition of opposition parties in Nigeria for their performance in the just concluded elections and to wish them the very best in their journey for at least the next four years. This is a philosophical critique of the APC manifesto and I would gladly enjoin the reader to see it as such. In the next four years, APC under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari will be governing the Nigerian nation and as such it is necessary for us intellectuals to start this debate of how we want our society to be governed. I really hope this piece will spur a necessary debate amongst intellectuals in the Nigerian political space, as it will determine our expectations and our reactions or responses as the case may be to whatever APC wishes to offer Nigeria.

One of the few questions that birthed political philosophy is How Do We Ought To Govern Our Society? We have usually neglected this question for those in power to answer and therein lies our greatest weakness as a democracy and that is also the reason we were left to suffer in the hands of those who claimed they will rule us for the next 60 years. In like manner, APC has presented Nigerians with a manifesto of how they intend to govern OUR society and it is for this reason that I consider this so called debate necessary. If our democracy is really defined as a government of the “people”, then we the people should be the deciders of how we should be governed and not just an imposition of how “some people” think we should be governed. It is okay that they have presented a sketch of their manifesto of how they intend to utilize the mandate but it is our responsibility to scrutinize this manifesto and consider whether it is feasible or workable or indeed how we should be governed. It is on this note that I expect not just a debate but rejoinders from intellectual Nigerians who will look at APC’s manifesto and raise issues where they are to be raised and not just sit back and wait until these policies are made and then realize that they either do not favor us or they have unintended consequences.

The APC Manifesto can be found on this link; www.allprogressivescongress.org/manifesto
My own appraisal can be found on this link juded27.tumblr.com

Now That CHANGE is Here !

For the love of CHANGE we can believe in, CHANGE we can hope for, CHANGE we can fight for, I have written this piece in preparing fellow Nigerian citizens for a process that is so craved for, from the ‘fringes’ of Bama and Chibok to the hustling streets of Lagos to even the creeks of the Delta. A lot of us, Nigerians crave for CHANGE, at least from a government that sees stark differences between corruption and stealing, change from a government that spills out economic improvement statistics that boasts of development on a regular basis with nothing to show for it in the grassroots. Daron Acemoglu and Johnson who wrote ‘Why Nations Fail’ characterizes it as exclusive economic growth. Nigerians at least want a change from this form of growth and more so, from a government that sees the value of a Nigerian life as commensurate to a condemnation letter of terrorist attacks that will only be repeated when another bomb goes off and tens or hundreds of lives are lost. I could go on and on to establish that we Nigerians don’t only want change, we need change in our lives and it is in this spirit that I have ask the rhetorical question, Now that the CHANGE is here …

That the slogan for APC is ‘CHANGE’ is no mistake or coincidience and I want to believe we all know that it was born out of the need of the moment, however not putting into consideration a factor live what happens when they assume power, what change would be needed then? Would a change in government for example not be shooting themselves in the leg? For the sake of this piece, the CHANGE I refer to, is the political party APC whose slogan is CHANGE. The change I refer to in italics is the real change that we all crave for. We have succeeded in changing the government of the day with our votes and that is not only laudable, it indicates the level of political development that has been achieved in Nigeria, and more so in a relatively peaceful process, one of the very few improvements that President Jonathan presided over. The question we should then start posing, not considering whether it’s too early is would the CHANGE party really bring about the change that we all seek? Fellow Nigerians, we would be deceiving ourselves if we assume that achieving political power is not one of APC’s priority goals. As it stands now, they have achieved that. As far as it goes for the masses and the generality of Nigerian citizens, the priority goal is change in all the basic needs of life, the basic purposes of government and as we speak, the closest we have achieved with all our votes is the HOPE that this CHANGE party will bring about that change. If we must tell ourselves the truth, for APC as a political party, they are halfway done. For the masses and the middle class, if we must achieve our goal which is the change in the standard of living, our work just began.

I will in another piece talk about the true picture of change, what change really looks like, what the process entails, the price we would have to pay and how not-smooth the road to this change is. Lee Kuan Yew, the notable world leader who passed away last week and led Singapore into prosperity and prominence after reading the independence of Singapore from the Malay cities( now Malaysia) with tears of sorrow in 1964 would be my case study but for now, let us focus on what Nigeria would turn to if we, Nigerian citizens refuse to resume their office of citizenship immediately GMB resumes office and just sit back and expect Muhammadu Buhari and APC to work wonders and turn the whole countries misfortune around overnight. We would not only have a repeat of PDP’s 16 year misrule, we would witness a worst case scenario. For the past 16 years, Nigerians sat back, we looked as events and news unfolded one after the other before our very eyes as PDP went on with the excuse that all our problems began with oil boom and nothing can be done to change that, as the President kept on reeling out illogical reasons why Nigeria should have her own share of world terrorism. We expected a miracle, but it never came. If we adopt this sit back strategy this time around, History would not only repeat itself, History would chastise us until we survive or die trying.

We have talked about the burgeois size of our government and the cost of running government, we have complained about our overdependence on oil proceeds, we have discussed in barber’s shops and online twitter and facebook how our states cannot function independently until they receive Abuja Credit alerts, We have discussed how difficult it is to conduct business or register a business in Nigeria, Corruption has taken the center stage of our talks while forgetting maladministration and the lazy attitude civil workers have towards their jobs. Fellow Nigerians, it is not time to sit back and watch all these problems go away because unless we demand that they go away, they won’t. Unless we ask for plans of how these problems would be tackled and see that these plans are executed, they will remain as they are or in fact worsen. It is not time to start wishing or hoping or dreaming that our SMEs and industries will start to spring up again, if we do not deliberately shine the torch on policies that ensure that our industries fizzle out and correct those policies into ones that will ensure their survival. Our industries will refuse to rise. The petroleum sector will not just become accountable overnight and electricity will not just become available 24 hours because the CHANGE party is now in government. All will require a process that will be inconvenient, toe-stepping and positively destructive and for the life of me, we, Nigerians need to know that we are a vital part of this process. As a matter of fact, we are an important driver of the change process and unless we are involved fully, We shall end up worse off in four years what we have become in the last 16 years of PDP rule. If truly we would have this kind of government NEVER AGAIN, We must deliberately be part of the process and not define our democracy as a government of some people.

To an exclusive pro-pocket government, NEVER AGAIN
Jude ‘Feranmi
Tweets @juded27

Hi EveryOne !

There are a lot of wishes today and they all start with Happy so no matter what is happening around us, we are mandated to be Happy by default.

For a new day, Happy New Day, For a new month, Happy New Month, For someone’s birthday, Happy Birthday! For 54 years of colonial independence, Happy Independence Day!

In our traditional and religious way of doing things in this country, we ‘should’ say a prayer. So, if you have never done th is with a sincere and Prayerful heart, you can for the first time say this prayer with me… .

O! God of Creation,
Direct our noble cause.
Guide our leaders right.
Help our youth, the truth to know
In Love and Honesty to grow,
And living just and true.
Great lofty heights attain,
To build a NATION
Where peace and justice shall reign.

Long Live the Federal Republic Of Nigeria !

Yes! You read that right. All of us are going to Hell. But then, before i delve into the scheme of things i would want to first dare you to disagree with me after you read this and then lay a foundation of what i am talking about.

I once promised myself that my next article was not going to be a religious article but i couldn’t hold it. The extent at which religion has defined our political ideology has taken top priority in one of the reasons why we think the way we think and it appears to me over and over again that we have to address it. The recent rhapsody of realities only compounded the issue.

Let me start by saying those who have been brainwashed by the ideological leanings of the white man’s religion are as unfortunate as those who remain entrenched in political darkness. Desmond Tutu once said, When the white man came, We had the land, they had the bible. Then they said Let us Pray and we closed our eyes. When we opened our eyes, They had the land, We had the bible.

So I was talking to my little nephew and niece which i pretty much knew they could not comprehend what i was saying, and i delved into religion and the world ; Islamists advocate peace and extremists opine that Jihad is God’s work, to kill and destroy every individual who refuses to change to Islam. I once heard an extremist say he would be glad if God gave him the opportunity to participate in an exercise like that of the recent beheading of James Foley. If you participate in Jihad, you have 21 virgins that will be waiting for you, If you die a non muslim, you are Hell bound

Christians ignore totally the instructions of Deuteronomy the 13th chapter on the basis that the old testament is just what it is, OLD but religiously quotes Malachi the 3rd chapter when it comes to divine income also known as tithe and of course the promised reward of blessings to come thereafter. Less i forget, If you are not a christian and do not confess Jesus as your Lord and saviour, you are also Hell bound.

Belong to any religion and you can be sure that that religion is the way and much more, the ONLY way to reach God. Others who have refused to practice your religion are Hell bound. So let us get it straight here, If all of us were right, then, what does that mean for us all, If Hell defines a singular destination, then All of us Are going to Hell. If any other place apart from the heavenly destination as recorded by my religion is Hell, All of us are still going to end up in one Hell or the other. I like to think that the originator of religion set out to achieve peaceful co existence amongst men while they lived on earth with the maxim that good people would have good places to go after death while bad people will go to bad places to go after death. Afterall, it was not sure and would never be sure. Only that purpose has been utterly defeated.

I might accept the gesture of being called a philosopher. It is a great compliment but i will not accept that of being called an atheist. Like i said and will always say, As much as the universe is entirely materialistic, those who deny the existence of God rob themselves of the capacity to imagine Perfection. But then, i have learnt a long time ago that God’s existence and religion are two wide parallel lines that will possibly never meet. The word ‘GOD’ presupposes perfection and that word 'perfection’ presupposes a sense of Unity, Consistency and Infallibility. Religion has none of these.

Sadly, An holistical overview of what is happening in the world today leads one to conclude like i did previously: God has done more harm to us than good or We have done more harm to ourselves than good in the name of God.

Now I no longer feel a burden and will now write on why Africa’s socialist ideology has been responsible for her bottom position in the comity of 'nations’ and why a libertarian ideology which has already start to build is necessary to move Africa forward

These ideas just came to me as I read a piece that some hundred boys were kidnapped in the Northeastern part of Nigeria. This is coming at a time when the GEJ govt considers pushing BokoHaram to the fringes of the North East as a major achievement in Security. But then, that’s not even why I am penning this down. One thing caught my attention as I read through. The rebels were shouting Allah Akbar which means God is Great! All these acts were perpetrated in the name of God who is apparently so lazy that he can not fight for himself or so lazy that he’s too tired to help the girls and the boys that were abducted. Maybe his angels are the lazy ones, Maybe not. Maybe we are even the ones that have exploited the power of our imaginations that we apply ‘God’ to everything and every act we and we alone carry out.

On the other hand, we are plagued with the teachings of the same God who some people fight for, to obey the authorities, to give unto ceaser what is due to ceaser. The servants of God have taught us to not parriccpate in the politics of the nation, to believe that we will be fine even if hundreds are abducted in the NorthEast and hundreds more being kidnapped in the South South for they shall not come near us. Globally! The human race has neglected the fundamental truth that we are first humans and we all share humanity before we decide to adopt the concept of God in whatever form we are taught or we later decide. Majority of humans have forgotten that a vast majority of us practice the religion of our parents. But then that is even more problems to solve than to eradicate absolute poverty despite absolute affluence.

Here in this part of the world, we have gone through several national occurrences and this is just another one and it will pass. As much as that sounds unfortunate, it is a slow march to the liberation of the lower and the middle class thanks to Twitter and social media. We started from #occupynaija , now we are at #BBOG which has turned to #bringbackourchildren after these recent abductions. Sooner or Later, we will have more hashtags and more demands and the momentum will only increase, the intervals will only get shorter until a moment when we will all clamour in Unity #UsurpTheGovt. We would have realised that We are one despite our ethnic and religious differences in our adversity. We would have realised that those who have intentionally kept us divided have only done so to ease their rulership and exploitation.

God has done us more harm than good, OR maybe we have done ourselves more harm than good in the name of God!

We the people, this phrase consists of the first words of the preamble of our constitution and it connotes the powers we have as a people when we recognize it and leverage on it.

We the people can decide to rise up in opposition to the standards that we have set for ourselves in governance. We the people can decide to usurp a government that has refused to govern us but themselves.

We the people can decide to place our fates in the hands of a different set of people so we can have better definitions of the value of our lives, We the people can decide to wake up to our responsibilities and demand for better governance from the people who we do not have a choice as to whether they lead us or whether we elect them.

We the people can decide to want better lives for ourselves than what we have now and make moves towards achieving that life. We the people can come together in one voice and in the spirit of our same need for a better life and a better country to demand that our government either listens to our wants or cease to exist.

We the people have so much power to change our situation and our lives for the better, We have either not realised it or we have been cowardly enough to demand it from our brothers who have afflicted us

We the people are one, no matter how we crave to not admit it. We are one in poverty, one in sickness, in low standards of living. We the people are oneM we are one in adversity, we are one in having been denied the basis for life existence by our brothers. We are one on the roads that leads to our abode while we stand for hours waiting for government buses to take us home. We are one in our inconvenience while we tread the paths that have refused to be motorable while we journey home from our religious houses and from our works .

We the people are one, in our being exploited and until we realise that our unity is undisputed and inevitable, We woukd remain as slaves in our own lords. We would fulfill solomon’s prophecy of princes in low estates begging for food! We the people are united by default, by class, by status by estate!

We the people can also decide to keep mute and remain in our oppressed position, we the people can also instead wake up and realize our foolishness, We the pwople can arise and in one voice demand our emancipation! We the people have the power We the peopke can!

We the people !