Tag Archives: NAIJA

It is wrong to call Nigeria ‘Naija’ – NOA Director- General

Posted on by
2

The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr. Garba Abari, has appealed to Nigerians to stop calling Nigeria as ‘Naija’, in order to keep its originality.

He stated this while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, stressing that making the country’s name funky, was not in its best interest.

“We try in all our advocacy visits to insist that Nigeria must be referred to as Nigeria and not Naija.

“So, our schools have a role to play in this; the media itself has also got a very fundamental role to play because it is the media that helps in the propagation of this kind of misnomer.

“All of us, as individuals, as corporate organisations, as media, whether broadcast, print or online, must wake up to the reality.

“That the more we use these misnomers referring to our country, the fallout of it is that, a significant percentage of our younger ones will not even remember that Nigeria is the original name of our country.

“I want to appeal to all Nigerians, young and old to always refer to our country as Nigeria,” he said.

Abari also urged parents to discourage their children and wards from using the name `Naija’.

 

Source:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/02/stop-calling-nigeria-naija-noa-appeals-2/

Taiwo Ademola: The Dangers Of Not Knowing

Posted on by
Reply

It is usually catastrophic when people fall into ditches they aren’t aware of, when people make mistakes they didn’t expect, when business plan fail because of inability to for see the eventuality. The phenomenon of Ignorance is a vivid reaction to the expression of human weakness.  Ignorance in its stark-state betrays him. Ignorance in its acrid definition portrays his folly. Ignorance and mediocrity are cousins.  Ignorance is a disease, a sickness, a cancerous norm that overwhelms all philosophy and ideology, eating deep into the bone marrow of books. Ignorance in his mental state ridicules and belittles the mentality and the mindset of men. Ignorance toys with the wisdom of man and as a cancer eats it up like acid. Ignorance prides in it’s incoherent and distorted words, does not believe in facts nor figures rather uses these to embarrass the sage. In the darkened state of ignorance, man enjoys the darkness, he thrives in it. The ignorant man is naked and does not even know there are clothes. The ignorant man is risky, he could lead people into the gallows and sincerely think it is a safe haven. The most dangerous of all is the man that does not know and he thinks he knows.

It is simply pathetic that most people don’t know the basic dictates of life.  Most of the youths of today babble and ramble in grand folly. Youth should know they are active and vibrant; yet it is sad they do not know. The political scene is an interesting field that should interest an average youth.

Firstly, the higher percentage of the youth constituency are not interested in the political development of their country. Those who even show interest are doing it for the sake of their pockets.  Politics is not an argument-It is facts and figures.  It is not an exertion of your opinion; it is what the headlines says. That is why objectivity plays a better role than subjectivity. The higher percentage are even ignorant of the basic current affairs and historical lane of their country. Political discussion and analysis annoyingly bore them. Thus, they are rendered not useful and employable for the labor market due to the lack of intellect and basic knowledge. The economic terms are usually bizarre to them, they find it difficult to comprehend; stock market, shares internally general revenue, tax, custom duties, exercise duties, bond, MOU, state returns e.t.c

The higher percentage do not know their rights, duties and obligations under the law. He/She does not know about the existence of a constitution- they have never seen one. The average youth is of the opinion that such books are irrelevant and a sheer waste of time when read.

Objectively, the presumed leaders of tomorrow do not have a grip of the political situation in the country. What brings about political tension and instability? How is it resolved? What are the measures of passing messages of discontentment and grievance to government? What are governmental agencies? The average Nigerian youth cannot offer answers, in as much solutions. The average Nigerian youth cannot raise intellectual discussions, reason out and argue rationally, realistically or pragmatically. The average youth do not know the full meanings of some acronyms. It is disturbing and worrisome when you hear the level of reasoning, you cannot even correct the reasoning; you will observe these set needs total re-orientation. They speak off-point, out of order and deviate from the main discourse. The other set of ignoramus are usually acutely biased in the way they fashion out their arguments and marshal their points; they are not interested in listening to your points but rather keep emphasizing their watery fact. The reasons are not far-fetched, the average youth do not read –historical books, textbooks or journals. They are too impatient to be taught, they are usually unenthusiastic in attending Intellectual gathering where they will be equipped with knowledge and information through seminars and workshops. Lastly, in the gathering of youths, political discussion is less spoken of attention is more on extra-curricular activities.

 Economically, the youths dominate about 62% of the population. Yet the youths do not know about their economy. Earlier mentioned the fact that economic terms and terminologies are cumbersome for them; even the graduates. What are other viable avenues to source for revenue? How is revenue allocated? How is the formula for revenue calculated? How does government tax the people? How does inflation and deflation affect the people? What is the effect of the devaluation of the currency on the economy? These are economic questions that the average youth will shy away from answering. And when they make an attempt, one is usually sorry for the future of the great nation. Raising an army of intellectually improvished and unsound generation who cannot help themselves in as much help the nation.

Sociologically, what then is the reason for these: social media; this generation has been overwhelmingly distracted by the chatting sites, it takes the bulk of the time. Facebook is said to be the third most populated in the world asides China and India. Youths all over connect with themselves, add up and follow each other; not for the purpose of the promotion of intellectualism but to engage in unprofitable conversations. The average youth takes prides in the number of friends and followers he has on the social media rather than the piles of books he has bought and read.

The entertainment media is also a factor. The average youth keeps himself updated as to the latest songs and videos that is trending, rather than the latest world news. The musical artistes are his idol and role model rather than astute achievers who bagged honorary intellectual awards. The flux of ignorant youths we have today cast fear as what the future holds, makes us wonder what the next generation will be like. Keeps us worried if our heritage and sacred cultures will not be watered down the drain. Makes us doubtful if we can rely on them to maintain the political sanity of the nation. Ignorance is dangerous. It is a reckless driver that remains adamant despite words of caution.

Written by; Taiwo Ademola. (dmltaiwo7@gmail.com)

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

The ‘Tree Shakers ’ By Olu Onemola

Posted on by
1

The ‘Tree Shakers’ have existed throughout Nigeria’s lengthy and often tumultuous history. They were the Herbert Macaulay’s of the 1940s – the brave men and women who formed the Nigerian National Council to demand our independence from British rule. They were the young Wole Soyinka’s of our country’s golden age, the energetic citizen-soldiers who took over radio stations to protest against election manipulations. They were also the Bola Ige’s of the dark Abacha days – the men and women who bravely challenged the despotic status quo and spoke truth to almost-absolute power.

The Tree Shakers also manifested in Babangida’s time. They were the student union leaders – cut across the breadth of our federal universities. These students like Omoyele Sowore – the then student government president of UNILAG who is now the publisher of Sahara Reporters – defied executive orders and military blockades to push for better conditions in their universities and the country as a whole. They were ably facilitated with the civilian-militant organizing capacity of trade union groups like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)  – which was then led by the current Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega – and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). Together, these groups ultimately formed the irreversible thorn that led to the loosening of the Babangida government’s ironclad hold on Nigeria’s affairs.

Needless to say, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola was also a Tree Shaker. A uniting figure whose memory stands as the unforgettable cornerstone of Nigeria’s road to return to democratic rule. His victory in the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential elections that is still characterized as Nigeria’s freest and fairest till date, makes him the quintessential Tree Shaker because he never got to ascend the mandate that he secured for himself and Nigerians at the polls.

If we go back to examine the beginning of our collective past, we will start to understand that those that have worked to make Nigeria better – the activists, the vibrant academics, the ‘tell-the-truth-as-it-is’ journalists, the fearless politicians, and the everyday Nigerians that have wrestled against overwhelming odds to achieve the objectives of our common struggles have never been the inheritors of their own successes. This is because while the Tree Shakers are busy doing all the work: organizing, protesting, knocking on doors – shaking the tree of liberty to reap the fruits of its dividends – the opportunistic few, the strongmen, the ‘Fruit Pickers’ – are those that have constantly been at the receiving end of the returns of democracy.

Yes, Herbert Macaulay founded the Nigerian National Council to set the stage for Nigeria to become independent, but ultimately, Nnamdi Azikiwe became our first President. Yes, Moshood Abiola won the June 12, 1993 elections, but he spent the rest of his life behind bars because he was considered a ‘threat’ to the military hegemony of the time. Yes, the likes of Bola Ige fought for Nigeria’s democratic freedom during the Abacha years, but Olusegun Obasanjo was the one chosen by the elites to represent Abiola and Nigeria’s lost mandate at the polls in 1999. The picture becomes clearer, and as we transition towards this new administration, under the leadership of General Buhari, it is important to ask ourselves: “Who were the Tree Shakers in the recently concluded polls?”

Some might suggest a few popular names like Bola Tinubu – but it has become increasingly clear that he already has a role to play in this incoming administration. In addition to this, it is very important to state that as the APC forms its new government, the impacts and effects of leaders the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Babatunde Fashola, Kayode Fayemi, Adeleke Mamora, Bukola Saraki, Abike Dabiri, Nasir El Rufai, Osita Okechukwu and Pat Utomi in the 2015 elections must never be downplayed. These individuals served as rallying points and game-changers when it mattered most. Their contributions to the new Nigerian project – from strategy, to policy development, to organizing capacity – shook the tree that led to the first defeat of an incumbent government in Nigeria’s democratic history.

But beyond the ‘big men’ mentioned above, many will agree that the true ‘Tree Shakers’ are the young men and women who knocked on doors, made stump speeches, participated in debates, protested in public parks, wrote articles, fired missile-like tweets, fact-checked the outgoing administration on inconsistencies, and convinced their peers that the APC was the party to vote for. Yes, the few individuals mentioned above served as overt ‘game changers’, but many of the covert champions of the APC’s unprecedented victory like Akin Oyebode, Hadiza Bala Usman, Moji Rhodes, Tolu Ogunlesi, Japheth Omojuwa, Olusegun Dada, Ismaeel Ahmed, Rinsola Abiola, and Bisoye Coker led the youths of Nigeria to invest their hopes and trust of a better tomorrow in a 72 year old man.

In this regard, now that the fruits have fallen from the tree and political offices are about to be harvested to chart a new course for a more effective and inclusive Nigeria – as a nation that has continuously made the mistake of forgetting those that have toiled to make Nigeria better – with the mistakes of our past as our guide towards correcting our future – the new APC government must not set aside the Tree Shakers of 2015 – otherwise, we stand the danger of returning to the status quo days of ‘strongman’ nepotistic politics.

Ultimately though, there is ample hope that come what may, the youth leaders of the new Nigeria will have significant roles to play in this government. This is because this energetic generation of Tree Shakers already knows what it takes to disturb the tree of democracy to achieve their aims of a better Nigeria. Therefore, if they are not listened to and included in the decision-making processes of this incoming government, come 2019, they might just have to shake the tree once again.

I rest my case.

Olu Onemola tweets @Olu1NE