By Dele Sobowale
“A leader is best

When people barely know he exists

Not so good when people obey and acclaim him

Worst when they despise him…

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 124).

“The Federal Government wants to advise members of the public that it will continue to ensure the security of lives and property (sic) under its jurisdiction despite the unfortunate events in Maiduguri and Damaturu…

General Owoeye Azazi (rtd), National Security Adviser to President Jonathan.

It can be safely assumed that the statement issued by General Azazi was cleared and approved by President Jonathan, Commander-In-Chief, C-I-C, of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

I was at a popular news stand around Tinubu Square in Lagos on Wednesday, November 9, 2011, when a “reader” turned to the back page of PUNCH and read out this tail piece to all standing.

The derisive laughter, followed by all sorts of maledictions directed at the Federal Government in general and President Jonathan in particular was too embarrassing for words.

If the President of Nigeria had been there to listen to what the “members of the public” think of his assurances “to ensure the security of lives and property”, he would have known how much the presidency is despised.

One bow-legged fellow, who missed his calling as an actor, proceeded to demonstrate to others how “GEJ ran into Aso Rock on October 1, 2011 when he was told Boko Haram was coming to bomb Eagle Square”; another imitator recalled how a retreat scheduled for Cross River was shifted to Aso Rock with the President telling his aides “who wan die for Nigeria, a go enjoy bo!” It was spontaneous street carnival at its most hilarious.

It ended with a somber statement from a fellow who claimed to have lost a brother in Maiduguri to Boko Haram assault who said “If that……(expletive deleted) called President says that in our house without his security guards, he will not leave that place alive”. His brother died months ago and the President gave the same, now totally unbelievable assurance.

Also on Friday, September 2, 2011, after the bombing of the UN Headquarters, the President and Chief Security Officer of Nigeria told reporters that “government has uncovered strong leads to the terrorists and those behind them”. For good measure he announced that he had directed, as if they need any new instructions, security agencies to begin a man hunt for the alleged sponsors saying there will be no sacred cows in the war against terror.

Since then nothing less than six bombing incidents have occurred –each one more violent than the previous one. Questions can be asked regarding why the President continues to issue statements which Boko Haram punctures with bombs virtually every time. But that is not my mission now.

My mission is to take a step back in our recent history – specifically to return to one particular prophecy that was made on this page in 2009. When late President Yar’Adua was shipped abroad for the second and last time in 2009, I wrote an article stating that two names would probably be on the ballot in 2011; the first was Yar’Adua……

TRIBUTE TO PROFESSOR BOLAJI AKINYEMI, O.I, CFR.

“Against great excellence in another [person] there is no way of defending ourselves except love”.

Johann Goethe, 1749-1832.

To me that Senior Bolaji Akinyemi, my senior at Igbobi College, Freeman House (the House of Gentlemen into which an Area boy crawled in 1958); my senior as an ASPAU Scholar, achieved excellence was not a surprise. What would have astonished me would have been his failure.

Three years at Igbobi and information about his exploits at Tufts University School of International Law and Diplomacy already foretold a career brimming with landmark achievements. He started early; long before Professor Wole Soyinka penned YOU MUST SET OUT AT DAWN. Senior Akinyemi started before dawn –like most achievers with a mission and he never wavered. And even at 70, he is still poised for further achievements because he is a self-driven person; never complacent; never satisfied. He often reminds me of Beethoven, 1770-1824, the great German composer, perhaps the greatest of all time, who was caught, long after his everlasting fame was assured, still working on a new composition. When asked why, his reply was, “Because I have not achieved perfection, I have every right to continue”.

Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, though incapacitated by the afflictions of advancing age, will not relent. As a matter of fact, as you are reading this article, he is in Gambia, as a Commonwealth observer of the Presidential elections in one of the tiniest countries in Africa and the world. Rest assured he will represent our country very well – as he had done in every assignment in life.

We met twice in the US; both times in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first time was at the newspaper stand at Harvard Square; Akinyemi was holding a copy of either PRAVDA or IZVESTIA; the two leading papers in Communist Russia. That was brief encounter. The second was in North Cambridge. Akinyemi was on his way back to Tufts; I was heading for my flat behind Harvard University. I crossed over to greet him and he made some remark regarding the cold war and how the USA and USSR were polarizing the world and forcing other nations to take sides. Little did I realize that even so far back Akinyemi’s mind was already working on the concept of a CONCEPT OF MEDIUM POWERS which he helped to create as Nigeria’s External Affairs Minister.

Even if the idea was short-lived, it at least prompted nations like Brazil and India – regional powers – to achieve neutrality in foreign policy. It is not yet finished..

And, what a life? He did not start life with a golden spoon studded with diamonds in his mouth.

At best his was a modest middle class existence but one studded with all the ingredients for a life of service with integrity. Among these are: self-discipline; hard work; principles; high ethical standards; boundless intellectual curiosity; humility and a great sense of humour.  It is possible I have not exhausted all his qualities. But, let any young person try those listed above and the sky might not even be the limit to his achievements in life.

REMEMBER $1.76b was reduced to under $450m in a few months in 2006. Till today, nobody has told Nigerians what happened to the money. They want to remove “subsidy” instead of catching the crooks. No Wikileaks. This is “DeleLeaks”, Read the book. Only N5,000 per copy.