By Denrele Animasaun

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.” -Albert Einstein

My father had thrown down the gauntlet and told me that he will no longer come to the UK to visit me until I come home. Home, meaning Nigeria. He does have a point. I haven’t been home for over 27 years. My son is 26 and my daughter is twelve and they are pretty savvy as to their culture and their identity but nothing will compare to first-hand knowledge of their homeland.  Why did it take me so long? The call of home was never loud enough for me to respond to, so people come and go and then on their return they come with good and bad stories. None of the stories ever coloured my opinion of my home land. Well, I can very much make up my mind and I am immersed in the goings on in Nigeria. I write about it every week.

My home has always been where my family is; that is the UK. I have a career, a home and I actively participate in my community. It is very much as home as it should feel; stability, relative safety and access to amenities, that it is free at the point of delivery and with all it affords me and my family; a good quality of life.

I go on holidays and travel to far flong places, but not had the temptation of wanting to travel to Nigeria.  I wanted to make a living without the aggro, I  wanted to spend less time sitting in traffic or  dealing with power outage and all the other irritants and menace to society. I really chose not deal with them.

Despite all my moaning and hesitation, I am warming to the call of home. It is more because of my father. He can be persuasive and knows how to pull at my heart strings. He told me that if I wanted to see him then I and my family have got to come to Nigeria to see him.  He is not budging and so I have been giving it a lot of thought. With the way things are now, it might be the right time I come home maybe for two weeks and see how things are. I was told once I go back, I would be planning another trip before I even leave Nigeria. I would go as far as that. First, I need to plan my visit to coincide with my daughter’s holiday, then inform my son, so he can take time off work and then, there are the tickets and then there are gifts for the extended family. Then I have to prepare passing through customs and the dreaded customs officers, not to talk of the police. My name is Denrele and I am coming home very soon. I am making the trip in 2016 and hold me to it.

Follow the lead

If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.-Moshe Dayan

Nigerian Government, it’s time to follow its neighbours in Ghana. Its President, John Mahama has banned public officials from flying first class in a determined effort to cut ostentatious spending. I  am sure there won’t be any of these officials shouting foul and stocking their sensibilities; they know full well that they have got to account to the electorate coming next year’s presidential and Parliamentary elections and the opposition has accused government ministers of inflating contracts and overspending in  order to top up their coming campaigns. Sounds familiar doesn’t?

Ghana is preparing to hold presidential and parliamentary elections next year and the government can ill afford the accusations meted from the opposition; that the government’s ministers have been inflating contract sums and inappropriate spending in order to use these activities to top up the forthcoming election expenses so the president has issued the directive asking all ministers and other top officials to avoid “unwarranted” foreign trips on the public purse.

You could say that the president is being astute and pragmatic but it is more likely because Ghana faces cuts in order to implement the IMF aid deal to revive its finances. The country’s economy has faced high deficits, a widening public debt and unstable local currency. Its Finance Minister Seth Terkper told media that the cabinet is discussing a financial accountability bill and it is most likely to impose penalties such as dismissal or jail term for public officials who are found to violate it.

“It is expected to be clear enough to enable the general public to see malfeasance if there is any and hold the agency involved accountable,” he added. There is no way that Nigerian ministers will follow suit, surely not! They will absolutely repudiate the move to curtail their luxurious lifestyles, this will be below them.

From my column;

Change must come, they have no choice, Dec 28th, 2014

“The pathology of some Nigerian pubic office holders, is simply they lack conscience and thrive whenever there is mistrust and hatred. I mean, what is it to them that many of our young have no job, no training, or in education. What is it to them that our old and vulnerable are without support, that thousands of Nigerians are displaced and are refugees in neighbouring state or in the neighbouring countries? That Nigeria has the highest number of people with Diabetes in Africa.  That according to WHO, Nigeria has the highest mortality rate for the disease and  that 1,218,000 people are affected and 3.85 million have impaired glucose tolerance and in Nigeria there is over 6 million Nigerians with full blown diabetes mellitus and WHO has warned Nigeria that it will be a major threat to public health beyond the year 2030. That many are dying needlessly because they are unable to afford medication and proper health care and nutrition to maintain their condition.

That Nigeria accounts for 14% of the world’s total maternal deaths and 11% of deaths of children, shockingly, that is 2.5% of the world’s population. That it means that one million children under five dies in Nigeria every year. That the general hospitals are dilapidated; people cannot have access or the means to procure medical intervention. Yes, I know, GEJ has now signed the National Health Bill into law but it will be a long way before the people can receive a good quality health care. And call me a cynic, at this eleventh hour? Why not earlier? Peoples’ lives do not matter before?This is a country where 22 governors have not paid their civil servants their salaries as it is believed that the salaries will be used for coming election”.

I  wrote that last year, and some states are yet to fully pay their workers, our lawmakers continue to pay themselves stupendous and offensive amount of salaries and allowances, they have requested fleet of new cars for their over inflated status. Nigeria is spending less on health and not enough to create work for the young. Incentivise foreign investment and encourage home grown industries.

Since I wrote the above piece, President Buhari has made some inroads in terms of ridding the country of Boko Haram.  The army is more coordinated and they have taking the fight to Boko Haram, though the war against the insurgency has not been won yet, it is on its way to liberate the areas taken by the insurgency.

The war on corruption will take much longer but if the number of big names arraigned is anything to go by, there we should expect many more looters to be captured and purged of their ill-gotten wealth. In  2016, it will be prudent to put the monies recovered, put into good  use , create jobs for our young people, affordable health care, better transportations and roads, more law and order and less of the corrupt public officials and private individuals, investment in alternative natural resources and explorations in  renewable energy .  For Nigerians, they need to hold their representatives accountable and make them work for them and not the other way round.  We need to have a reconciliation hearing and put the feeling that some members of the country do not feel that they belong or they have been nursing some feelings that needs to be heard within the proper parameters. It would not work if the country is divided, it can only be stronger if everyone has a stake in Nigeria.

All in all, Nigeria is moving in a different direction, towards a better tomorrow, we hope and this time, we can dare to dream and hope.

May I take the opportunity to wish you all a very merry Xmas and a prosperous 2016.