By Donu Kogbara

CAN someone please explain to me why so many intelligent and seemingly rational Nigerian Christians and Muslims are such ardent believers in juju or “jazz”?!

If a man develops a romantic attachment to a woman, it is said that he fell for her because she “jazzed” him. If a guy is successful in business or politics, it is said that he is flying high because he visited a shrine in Auchi or wherever.

If someone dies in an accident or from an ailment, it is said that he or she was killed by an lethal evil charm that was administered by remote control. If individuals are not doing well in life, it is said that they are being obstructed because their enemies are launching dark forces against them from a distance.

When I protest about this widespread superst-itiousness, I am told that I am too naive and too foreign. When I ask why nothing happened when my equally sceptical late father challenged a so-called juju priest to prove his powers, I am told that “juju can only be seen and experienced by people who believe in it”.

But do the many Nigerians who come up with this convenient excuse for an obvious charlatan’s obvious ineffectiveness accept the fact that juju must be more about psychology than reality since it can, by their own admission, only work on those who are convinced that it is authentic? Of course not!

Lord Lugard, the first British Governor-General of Nigeria, wrote a book called The Dual Mandate in 1922. In it, he described us as a childlike people who possessed a “vague dread of the supernatural”. And I couldn’t agree more.

I just don’t understand the Naija conviction that juju exists and can determine outcomes; and I’d love to hear from any Vanguard readers who share my views.

Save the children

THE International Trade Union Confederation is a Brussels-based organisation that represents l75 million workers in l5l countries, including Nigeria.

In a recent report, it stated that l5 million Nigerian children are child labourers…and that many are engaged in dangerous jobs, including prostitution.

Successive Nigerian governments have paid lip service to ending child labour. But it is clear that there has never been a strong commitment to ending this scandal. And I feel like weeping whenever I think about all those vulnerable youngsters toiling away under utterly inhuman conditions, losing their innocence, having nothing to look forward to and, in many cases, dying unnoticed.

Meanwhile, our education system continues to be a sad joke. Having been an employer, I can confirm that far too many Nigerian graduates cannot compose a grammatically correct sentence or efficiently handle simple office chores that would come easily to their contemporaries in countries that are better managed.

Meanwhile, practically every other sector in this ailing nation – health, power, oil/gas, solid minerals, transport, etc, etc, etc – leaves a lot to be desired.

Even our telecoms sector, which is often held up as a shining example of an area of the economy that is thriving, is far from adequate. Mobile phone companies battle with infrastructural headaches that were not of their own making while mobile phone users pay too much for a service that is frustratingly epileptic.

The problems we face in this ailing nation are too numerous to mention. And, let’s be fair: President Jonathan cannot be expected to eliminate all of these problems overnight or even in four years. But he promised to hit the ground running as soon as the election ended. There was much talk of “transformation” during his campaign. And almost everyone I know is grumbling about the absence of concrete evidence that the change process is being seriously kick-started.

Mr President needs to make strenuous efforts to deliver some concrete achievements to a populace that is gagging for progress and pain relief.

He needs to push his team to take pride in producing the best possible results. All Ministers, DGs, etc, should receive strict marching orders and be assured that they will be sacked if they turn in mediocre or useless performances.

The Minister of Education, for example, should be told in no uncertain terms that it is her duty to at least begin the arduous task of restoring our schools to where they were when the British colonialists left us to run them in l960.

The Niger Delta Minister, for example, should be informed that he must justify Mr President’s  decision to reappoint him by getting on with reshaping the extremely frail home base that has been entrusted to him.

Last month, ex-President Obasanjo said, in a speech he made at the European Policy Summit in Belgium, that: “One of the reasons why youths rise up and overthrow their rulers is lack of meaningful employment opportunities and lack of fulfilment in their lives. Growth without job creation can only lead to frustration, bitterness, anger…[and] social tsunami…”.

As we struggle to survive multiple ills, including assaults from Boko Haram, the  bottom line is that Mr President must focus hard and get his priorities right.

Socio-economic reforms are infinitely more important, at this stage, than issues such as whether politicians should serve six year terms or four year terms.

We need dynamic action, not interesting debates about tenure elongation!