LESSON FROM RUQAYAT RUFAI'S SACK. Written by Saint-Olawale Jimoh

 It's no longer new that what people preached ended up far from what they do when they get into public offices. We have heard about a serving Minister who was not only a former vibrant students' leader, but led a strong protest against the excesses of the then President and equally agitated against the removal of oil subsidy. About 23 years after, same man was made a Minister of the Federal Republic and he was quoted to have said, "the removal of oil subsidy is long overdue!"
Of course, his comments shocked many people especially his former comrades but fact is, man's real intent cannot be hid forever.    
    The most saddening one, is the story of Nigeria's Minister of Education who was sacked alongside about nine others. The sacked Education Minister, Ruqqayatu Rufai for over 97 days of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike had the opportunity of resolving the crisis but she played the Ostrich.
   When asked of her next move after her dismissal, she was quoted as saying, "naturally, i am returning back to my constituency (Bayero University) to continue teaching.. "

What a life! What goes around comes around. How would she face her former colleagues when she resumes? Would she also remain at home till the ASUU crisis is resolved? Would she also benefit from the same largess she refused to sign if approved by the FG?
   Still, there are people who would argue, 'she's only a Minister, what power does she have?' Fact is, she has a greater role to play! I have heard about people who rejected political appointments because they perceived they would not be allowed to performed well. My humble self know of a person who resigned his appointment to keep his integrity intact. Only a greedy person will work against his wish or tarry where he wouldn't be allowed to effect positive change.
   Those in position of authority who refused to solve their community problems have forgotten they're still coming back to same community after leaving office.
That's why they keep dying in Indian hospitals because they refused to equip the hospitals at home. The roads they refused to fix ended up killing their associates and in-laws.
Myopic people!
 

THE QUAGMIRE OF RESOURCES CURSE?

"Men of a fat and fertile soil are most commonly effeminate and cowards; whereas inversely a barren country makes men temperate by necessity, and by consequence careful, vigilant, and industrious" —Jean Bodin (1576)



For centuries, it has been argued (and disputed) that abundance of natural resources could either benefit or pain the neck of the owner. Recently, the resource endowment of nation-states has been directly linked to the propensity of causing armed conflict, and this is very true of Nigeria especially in the Niger Delta region where successive government have ruthlessly suppressed the people over the benevolence of Mother Nature to own land.

That’s to say, the long-established struggle over the control of resources has been attributable to the power politics of various sovereign states in championing diverse contentious government policies to suppress oppositions. The United States, Britain, France and others have supported dictatorships to overthrow democracies because of their uncontained self-centred interest around the world.

Because of its multitude of diverse, sometimes rival ethno-linguistic groups, Nigeria has since prior to independence been beset with sectarian tensions and violence; which has remained the experience of the oil-producing Delta region, where both state and communal militia forces employ varying degree of coercion to gain control over the local petroleum resources; Britain, especially assisted Gowon to overrun Biafra for the sake of oil in the Niger Delta in 1967-1970.

To the common citizens of Nigeria the reason often adduced for the state belligerence is not far-fetched - “sovereignty”, “national security”, “curtailing the Niger Delta restiveness” and so on, as a consequence, the people have had their admired leaders conquered, dehumanized, imprisoned or exiled, killed and often replaced with dishonest puppets as instruments of neo-colonialist subjugation in authority.
“State failure,” “complex emergencies,” and “ethnic cleansing” have hence become the slogans in security, and peace & conflict resolution of this resource control quagmire.

With the discovery of large oil reserves in the region, the early 1960s witnessed a resurgence of internecine strife because of contention over ownerships to portions of land or territory that promises to yield specific advantages in terms of job creation and infrastructural improvements to be provided by the oil companies. These were disdained and ruthlessly suppressed by governments to degenerate from peaceful advocacy into violent strife of defiance over several years of neglect.

A subsequent phase of the struggle saw the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic by Isaac Adaka Boro, just before the Biafran war in 1967. A succeeding chapter saw the request for justice to end marginalization of the people with Ken Saro-Wiwa at the vanguard. The indigenes cried against lack of development albeit the Nigerian state hauling out huge oil dough in addition to complaints of environmental pollution and destruction of their land and rivers by oil companies. Ken Saro-Wiwa and his compatriots at the helm of that crusade were killed by the Nigerian Government under Sani Abacha against worldwide outrage.

In recent times frontline resource control crusader James Onanefe Ibori came under the weight of the Nigerian Government like his erstwhile fellow citizens. He is currently wallowing in jail over concocted corruption charges to silence the effervescence of equitable recompense of the area for environmental issues.

With collapsed infrastructure, soaring inflation and tactlessness in all levels of governance pulling at the other end, Nigerians have been abandoned to the most profligate democracy ever known to the human species. This is not helped by an unscrupulous bunch of politicians that care less about the citizens. Therefore, the ingoing commotion within the ranks of politics – splinter groups, lawsuits, ASSU strike and what have you… are mere signs of the times.