Immigration job test tragedy: Over 16 feared dead

Over 125,000 applicants in Abuja and Lagos alone chasing 4,500 jobs! 16 feared dead in the scramble. Thousands fainted from stampede and exhaustion.

Many more applicants thronged  the remaining 35 states of the federation.

These casualty figures from the recruitment test centres of the National Immigration Service (NIS), held across the country, yesterday, told the story of Nigeria’s frightening unemployment situation.

In  Lagos and Abuja alone, 56,000 and 69,000 applicants respectively sat for the job test.

* Nigeria Immigration Service examinations applicants at the 60,000 capacity National Stadium, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida

Thousands of others took the exercise in other state capitals.

NIS allegedly raked N6billion from the applicants as processing fee.

Each applicant paid N1,000.

At the National Stadium, Abuja, which was the centre for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, eight applicants were reported dead.

Four others were feared dead at the Port Harcourt, Rivers State centre, three in Minna, Niger State and one in Benin-City, Edo State.

Unconfirmed reports claimed the Benin-City victim was a pregnant applicant.

Stampede was reported in Akure where 12,000 were invited for the test.

Thousands of certificates were allegedly lost at the Ondo State centre.

At the Abuja centre, the thousands of applicants were overwhelmed with emotions as eight of their colleagues were allegedly taken to the mortuary.

About 50 were said to have fainted and several others injured.

The tragedy, it was learnt, happened in the morning when the crowd of applicants was trying to gain entry into the test venue.

The test eventually started around 3.30p.m.

One of the applicants  at the centre, Abubakar Isah Wada, told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday.

“Government is not treating unemployed youths well. Due to this disorganised nature of our country and lack of discipline, some persons died this morning and several fainted,” Wada said.

“Government needs to recognise the plight of unemployed graduates and not waste time and money on issues that are not  important to the development of this country”.

Another applicant said: “Immigration (NIS) should have divided the applicants and run this test on different days rather than bringing all of us here like this to pass through this  suffering. If President Jonathan really wants to come back in 2015, this is his ticket”.

At the National Hospital, Abuja, the Director of Management Information, Mr Tayo Haastrup, confirmed the death of seven persons and 40 sustaining various degrees of injuries in the stampede at the recruitment venue.

Poor crowd control

At the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt venue where four applicants reportedly died, no fewer than 23, 000 sat for the test.

Some of the applicants blamed the incident on poor crowd control. According to them, the 16,000 capacity stadium was relatively small to accommodate the 23,000 that turned up for the exercise.

They said security men had a hectic time controlling the crowd of applicants. “Some applicants who were finding it difficult to get into the stadium suddenly started pushing their way through. Some persons reportedly stepped on those who fell on the ground,” an eye witness said.

According to him security men had to fire shots into the air to stop those still outside from pushing  to get inside the stadium. ” More persons would have died if the security men had not shot into the air. The shot stopped those who were outside from pushing in “, he stated.

Some of the applicants said they lost the originals of their certificate during the commotion.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that a pregnant woman was among those who died from exhaustion.

But the spokesman for the NIS in Rivers State, Mr Bisong  Abang, denied  deaths during the stampede. He however said those who sustained injuries were treated by medics on ground, adding that those who turned up for the screening exercise far exceeded the number of applicants.

Some critical cases were rushed in an army ambulance vehicle with registration number NA 307 EOI to hospital for medical attention.

Applicants were still being attended to by NIS officials at the time our correspondent left the stadium.

Examiner confused

At the Minna centre, four of the 11,000 applicants were said to have died  while scrambling to gain access into the examination hall.The candidates had  reportedly been subjected to standing on the queue for several hours while the chief examiner was calling the applicants into the hall. It was learnt that the candidates, having waited for hours and becoming restless, started shunting which led to a stampede leaving the examiners confused.

In an effort to bring orderliness, officers of the NIS stationed at the Women’s Day Secondary School, venue of the test, fired cannisters of teargas  into the crowd. This led to several of the applicants  falling down and trampled upon.Three of them were reportedly confirmed dead. The remains of the applicants, it was learnt, were deposited at the Minna General Hospital. Contacted,Controller of Immigration in Minna, Ezekiel Kaura, confirmed that five people were rushed to hospital after the stampede but could not confirm how many people died. He also said 11,000  applicants were expected to sit for the test.

Many of the 12,000 applicants, who sat for the examination at the CAC Grammar School, Akure, lost their certificates in the stampede that attended the exercise.

Tragic town

The NIS recruitment exercise in Benin-City turned tragic when a pregnant woman died at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium Benin-city venue after collapsing. About 20 others were said to have been injured.

She reportedly died in a  stampede. The 20,000 applicants who came from different states of the South- south thronged  the stadium at about 5am but it was learnt that screening could not start till about 2:30pm.

Many of the applicants complained bitterly that the exercise was poorly conducted and wondered why people could be subjected to such inhuman treatment.

PDP shocked by deaths

In the meantime, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, challenged government agencies, as well as elected and appointed officials at all levels to  redouble their efforts to curb unemployment in the country, just as it described the death of the NIS applicants as shocking and unfortunate.

In a statement by  the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party, while calling for  investigation into the remote and immediate cause, said it was extremely grieved by the death of the young Nigerians.

Homo Sapiens Became Black To Beat Cancer

SHAVE a chimpanzee and you will find that beneath its hairy coat its skin is white. Human skin, though, was almost always black—at least it was until a few thousand years ago when the species began settling in parts of the world so far north that the sunshine was too weak to allow dark skin to synthesise enough vitamin D. This means that, sometime after chimps and people parted ways, the colour of human skin changed. And that, in turn, must have required an evolutionary pressure.

One suggestion often proferred is that the melanin in black skin, by absorbing ultraviolet light which might otherwise damage DNA and cause mutations, protects against skin cancer. Certainly, white-skinned people who move to the tropics are more at risk of such cancers than they would have been had they stayed at home. But critics of this hypothesis point out that most types of skin cancer, specifically the basal-cell and squamous-cell carcinomas that are the commonest varieties of the disease, tend to affect older people (who have already reproduced and are thus, in Darwinian terms, expendable) and are often not lethal anyway. Malignant melanoma, the one variety which is both lethal and affects all age groups, is rare.

However, a study by Mel Greaves, of the Institute of Cancer Research, in Britain, just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, settles the question in favour of cancer being the driving force. Dr Greaves does so by reviewing the clinical data about those Africans who do not have black skin because they are albino.

Albinism has a variety of genetic causes, but they all have the same consequence—a restricted or non-existent ability to synthesise melanin. The phenomenon is not well studied in Africa, not least because of widespread prejudice against albinos, who are ostracised in many parts of the continent. Dr Greaves nevertheless managed to assemble 25 relevant studies, and they do not make pretty reading.

One, conducted in Nigeria and published in 1980, found that half of the 512 albinos whom the researchers followed had developed skin cancer of some sort by the time they were 26. Another, carried out a few years later in Tanzania, showed that half of 125 participants were afflicted by the age of 20. A third, from Soweto in South Africa, suggested that that an albino African has a thousandfold greater risk of developing skin cancer than does his normally pigmented neighbour. And a fourth estimated that fewer than 10% of albinos in equatorial Africa survive into their thirties—with the strong inference that what is killing them is skin cancer.

Nor is the cancer in question always malignant melanoma. Basal-cell and squamous-cell carcinomas are not, for African albinos, the relatively harmless diseases of old age which data collected in the rich world suggest. In Africa, they kill—quickly. Presumably they would have done the same to any human forebear who had had the evolutionary temerity to shed his hairy coat without replacing it with a suitably dark undercoat of melanin-laden skin.

Why humans became Unclad apes is still a mystery. Explanations range from ease of heat loss to the selection of mates by the quality of their (now visible) skin. Dr Greaves’s study, though, removes any doubt about why, having done so, a change of skin colour was essential.

SOURCE

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Civil War: Ohanaeze Demands N2.4trn Reparation, State Apology For Ndigbo

Asks for N400bn token to each of five S-East states, Anioma in Delta State
BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU — The pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, yesterday, demanded from the Federal Government N2.4 trillion as reparation and compensation to Ndigbo in the five South East states and Anioma in Delta State, who lost their loved ones and property during the civil war as well as those still suffering dislocation and seizure of property in the country.
President Goodluck Jonathan wave to the crowd shortly after the conferment of se -lo-lia (Star of the Nation) on him during the courtesy visit to the king for the burial of the first Lady's mother , Madam fynface Oba in Okireka , River state ...yesterday
It also asked the Federal Government to tender a “State Apology for the wrongs the government and people of Nigeria visited on Ndigbo and Igboland” in the past.
These demands were contained in a statement entitled, ‘The Atrocities and Injustice Against Ndigbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo: Demand for Reparation,’ issued by the Chairman, Ohanaeze Reparation Committee, Chief Mbazulike Amechi in Enugu.
He recalled that the apex Igbo organistion had on May 25, 2013 at its Imeobi meeting, which is the supreme executive organ of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, resolved that ‘enough was enough’ and that Ndigbo should now demand reparation and compensation and a final stop to the persecution of Ndigbo in their own country.

He said the committee, which he chaired, had taken the pains to document some of the atrocities, injustice and deprivation visited on Ndigbo and resolved to demand that the Federal Government should in addition to tendering a state apology, pay a token of N400 billion to each of the five states of Igboland as compensation for the incalculable damage done to the Igbo race.
According to him: “It is incalculable to put a price on the death of millions of Igbo who were killed in the civil war and on other occasions.
“However the Federal Government should pay a token of N400 billion to each of the five states of Igboland as compensation to those who lost their loved ones, lost property and those still suffering dislocation and seizure of property.
“The same amount should be paid to the government of Delta State for the benefit of Anioma area of the state,” Amechi said.
The elder-statesman, who was flanked by members of his committee, including Chief Ralph Obioha, Professor Uche Azikiwe, Dr. Chukwujama, Col. Ben Gbulie (rtd); Chief Maria Okwor, Prof. Paul Modum and other leaders of Ohanaeze, at the briefing, listed some of the chilling atrocities against Ndigbo as follows:
“On March 31, 1953, Tony Enahoro moved a motion in the House of Representatives asking for independence for Nigeria.
“Northern members of the House under the leadership of Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) vehemently opposed the motion and threatened to break away from the federation.
“Shortly after that, S.L. Akintola went to Kano and in trying to explain the case for independence, said something which Northerners did not like. Their youths took up weapons and massively killed Igbos in such big towns as Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, etc; and destroyed and looted their property.

“It was known that over 300 Igbo were killed, but official figures released by the government only admitted that “36 people killed and 227 wounded.”
“In January 1966 some officers in the Nigerian Army organised a coup d’etat and overthrew the government of nationalists and founding fathers of the federation.

“A carefully planned pogrom and genocide was unleashed on the Igbo mainly in the North. On May 29, 1966 they commenced what they termed “ARABA” test riots. With the help of the police, Northern youths embarked on a supervised bloody ‘riot’ which lasted for seven agonising days in which hundreds of Igbo were killed all over the North and their property destroyed or looted.
“On July 29, 1966, in what was termed “Counter Revolution and Ethnic Cleansing” which began with the killing of Major Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi and over 300 military officers and men of Igbo origin escalated into the massacre of unsuspecting Igbo civilians, men, women and children in many Northern towns on a scale unprecedented in any part of the world even more gruesome than the killings of the Jews in Hitler’s Germany.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/civil-war-ohanaeze-demands-n2-4trn-reparation-state-apology-

Nigerian Air force 2014 Recruitment Form is Out: Apply

Application for the Nigerian Air Force Airmen / Airwomen Recruitment Exercise is now open. Avail yourself of this opportunity by reading the full instructions below. Then apply, if you are qualified.

PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY
Online Registration starts on 24 February, 2014 and closes on 27 April, 2014. Read the following insy=tructions carefully. Then follow the links below to apply.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

Nationality: Applicant must be of Nigerian origin.
Age: Applicants must be between the ages of 17 and 22 years for non-tradesmen/women, 17 and 24 years for tradesmen/women by 31 December 2014
Those who will be older than 22 and 24 years for non-tradesmen and tradesmen respectively by 31st December 2014 need not apply.
Marital Status: All applicants must be single.
Height: Minimum height is 1.68 meters or 5.5ft for males and 1.65m or 5.4ft for females.
Medical Fitness: All applicants must be medically fit and meet the Nigerian Air Force medical and employment standards.

ACADEMIC/PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION

Non-Tradesmen/women: Applicants must possess a minimum of 5 credits including Mathematics and English Language at not more than 2 sittings obtained not later than 4 years to this exercise. In addition, applicants are also required to possess their school’s testimonials.

Tradesmen/women: Applicants must satisfy the requirements stated for Non-Trade above. In addition, applicants applying as tradesmen/tradeswomen must possess ND (with minimum of Lower Credit) or other relevant trade qualification from government-approved inst!tutions. Note that applicants with HND or First Degrees/Post-Graduate Certificates, University Diplomas and Grade II Teacher's certificates will not be considered for recruitment as airmen/airwomen into the Nigerian Air Force.

Attestation Forms: Applicant's attestation form must be signed by a military officer from the same state as the applicant and not below the rank of Squadron Leader or equivalent in the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy, and Police Officer of the rank of Assistant CP and above. Local Governments Chairmen/Secretaries, magistrates and principals of government Secondary Schools from applicants' state of origin can also sign the attestation forms. In addition, applicants are to bring with them a letter of attestation of good character from any of the officers above to the Zonal Recruitment Centers and final selection interview.

Requirements: Applicants are advised to carefully read the requirements below before filling the form:
Medical Records: ND Medical Records.
Nursing: RN/RM
Lab Technician: ND Medical Lab Science.
X-Ray Technician: ND X-ray Technology.
Dental Technician: ND Dental Technology/Dental Therapy
Pharmacy Technician: ND Pharmacy Technology.
Environmental Technician: ND Environmental Technology.
Biomedical Technician: ND Biomedical Technology.
Optometry Technician: ND Optometry Technology.
Statistics: ND Statistics.
Assistant Chaplain: ND in Christian Religious Study.
Assistant Imam: ND in Arabic/Islamic Studies.
Engineering Technicians: ND Mechanical Engr./Electrical Electronics Engr/Air Engineering Technology
Meteorologist: ND in Meteorology.
Electrical Technicians: ND Electrical Electronics, ND/Trade Test Cert 1,2,3 Domestic Elect, Work
Building Technology: ND Building tech/QS/Land Surveying/Civil Engineering.
Public Relations/Info: ND Mass Comm. Cert/Trade Test Cert in Videography/Photography.
Secretarial Assistants: ND Office Technology Management.
Library Assistants: ND/NCE Library Science.
Music: ND Music. In addition, playing experience in any recognised Band will be an advantage.
Driver/Mechanic: Trade Test and current driver's license with practical experience.
Works: Trade Test Cert in Welding/Carpentry/Painting/Sign Writing/Plumbing/Mason/ domestic Electrician/Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.
Computer Tech.: ND/Computer Hardware Engr/Software Engr. Possession of recognized certifications will be an advantage.
ND/Certificate in Physiotherapy.
ND/Certificate in Medical Supply.
ND/Certificate in Printing Technology.
PE/Sports: ND/NCE Physical Education, Certificate of participation/Medals in National and International sporting compet!tions will be an added advantage.
Catering: ND in Catering Services.
Education: NCE in PHE, Library Science, Home Economics, Hausa Language, Ibo Language, Yoruba Language, French, Business Management, Fine Arts.

QUALIFYING RECRUITMENT TESTS
Qualifying Recruitment Tests will hold in the following Centers:
Makurdi: Nigerian Air Force Base, Markudi.
Ilorin: 227 Wing, Nigerian Air Force, Ilorin.
Lagos: Sam Ethnan Air Force Base, Ikeja - Lagos.
Enugu: 305 Flying Training School, Enugu.
Port Harcourt: 97 Special Operations Group, Nigerian Air Force, Port Harcourt.
Benin: 81 Air Maritime Group, Nigerian Air Force Benin.
Kaduna: Nigerian Air Force Base, Kawo - Kaduna.
Kano: 303 Flying Training School, Kano.
Maiduguri: 204 Wing, Nigerian Air Force Base, Maiduguri.
Akure: 323 Artillery Regiment, Owena Barracks, Akure.
Sokoto: 55 Forward Operation Base Mabera Sokoto.
Yola: 75 Strike Group, Nigerian Air Force, Yola.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

Applicants will be required to submit for scrutiny, the original copies of the documents at the recruitment centers and during the final selection interview. Applicants will be required to present following documents if selected for the zonal recruitment test:
Two recent passport size photographs to be stamped and countersigned by officer of appropriate rank specified, Local Government Chairmen/Secretaries and other specified officers in Paragraph 8.
Photocopies of:
Birth Certificate/Declaration of Age (Any age declaration done later than 5 years to this exercise will not be acceptable).

Educational/ Trade Certificates.
Any applicant suspected to have impersonated or submitted false document(s) shall be disqualified from the selection exercise. Also, any false declaration detected later may lead to withdrawal from training. Such applicants may be handed over to the Police for prosecution. The Nigerian Air Force will not entertain any enquiries in respect of applicants whose applications have been rejected. The application fee is N1000 (excluding bank charges). Applicants are required to fill valid email addresses and Telephone numbers in the appropriate spaces provided in the application form.

Form Submission:

On completion of the application forms, applicants must print out the Payment Acknowledgment Slip by clicking on the PAY APPLICATION FEE 6utton. Applicants are to use the printed acknowledgment slip to make payment at any of the designated banks.

TO APPLY, CLICK THIS LINK: http://careers.nigerianairforce.gov.ng/application/page?view=instructions

Technical Support:
For Technical Support, please call: 08104577415, 08171552055, 08078406568 or Email: airforce.support@swglobal.com.
Note:

All phone lines are available between 8:30AM and 5:30PM

Candidates are advised to print this page. - See more at: http://www.nairaman.com/ng/forum/4369/nigerian-air-force-2014-recruitment-form-is-out-apply#sthash.bh0GlozB.dpuf

Ayo Sogunro replies Sadiq Abacha's open letter to Prof Wole Soyinka

Dear Sadiq Abacha,

I do not know you personally, but I admire your filial bravery—however misguided—in defending the honour of your father, the late General Sani Abacha. This in itself is not a problem; it is an obligation—in this cultural construct of ours—for children to rise to the defence of their parents, no matter what infamy or perfidy the said parent might have dabbled in.

The problem I have with your letter, however, arises from two issues: (i) your disparaging of Wole Soyinka, who—despite your referral to an anecdotal opinion that calls him as “a common writer”—is a great father figure, and a source of inspiration, to a fair number of us young Nigerians; and (ii) your attempt to revise Nigerian history and substitute our national experience with your personal opinions.
Therefore, it is necessary that we who are either Wole Soyinka’s “socio-political” children, or who are ordinary Nigerians who experienced life under your father’s reign speak out urgently against your amnesiac article, lest some future historian stumble across the misguided missive, and confuse the self-aggrandized opinions of your family for the perceptions of Nigerians in general.

Your letter started with logical principles, which is a splendid common ground for us. So let us go with the facts: General Sani Abacha was a dictator. He came into power and wielded it for 5 years in a manner hitherto unprecedented in Nigerian history. Facts: uncomfortable for your family, but true all the same.

Now, for my personal interpretations: between 1993 and 1998 inclusive, when your dada was in power, I was a boy of 9 to 14 years and quite capable of making observations about my political and cultural environment. Those years have been the worst years of my material life as a Nigerian citizen. Here are a few recollections: I recollect waking up several mornings to scrape sawdust from carpentry mills, lugging the bags a long distance home, just to fuel our “Abacha stoves” because kerosene was not affordable—under your father. I recollect cowering under the cover of darkness, with family and neighbours, listening to radio stations—banned by your father. I recollect my government teacher apologetically and fearfully explaining constitutional government to us—because free speech was a crime under your father’s government. Most of all, I remember how the news of your father’s death drove me—and my colleagues at school—to a wild excitement, and we burst into the street in delirious celebration. Nobody prompted us, but even as 13 and 14 year olds, we understood the link between the death of Abacha and the hope of freedom for the ordinary man.

These are all sorry tales, of course. Such interpretations would not have occured to the wealthy and the privileged under your father’s government, but they were a part of the everyday life of a common teenager under that government. The economics were bad, but the politics were worse. And I am not referring to Alfred Rewane, Kudirat Abiola and the scores killed by the order of your father. Political killings are almost a part of every political system, and most of those were just newspaper stories to us. In fact, I didn’t get to read most of the atrocities until long after your father died. So, these stories did not inform the dread I personally felt under your father’s regime. And this was true for my entire family and our neighbors.

Instead, the worry over our own existence was a more pressing issue. Your father, Sani Abacha was in Aso Rock, but his brutality was felt right in our sitting room. We were not into politics and we didn’t vocally oppose Abacha, yet we just knew we were not safe from him. You see, unlike any dictatorship before or after it—your father’s government personally and directly threatened the life and freedoms of the average Nigerian. Your father threatened me. And if your father had not died, I am confident that I would not be alive or free today.

Think of that for a while.

Now, let’s come to Wole Soyinka. First: you can never eradicate the infamy of your father’s legacy by trying to point out the failings of another Nigerian. Remember what you said: A is A.  Abacha is Abacha. And no length of finger pointing will wash away the odious feeling the name of Abacha strikes up in the mind of the average Nigerian. Second: Don’t—as they musician said—get it twisted: Wole Soyinka did not antagonize your father just because he was a military man—Wole Soyinka was against your father’s inhumanity. Your father was intolerant of criticism beyond belief. Your father made military men look bad. Your father’s behavior was so bad it went back in time and soiled the reputation of every military man before him. Your father, finally, made Nigerians swear never—ever—to tolerate the military again. Soyinka may have worked with the military before—but your father ensured that he will never work with the military again. Do you see? Three: Evil comes in many forms: there is no qualification by degree. There is no “good” evil thing. Sani Abacha, Boko Haram, Hitler, slavery—they all fit into the same category of misfortunes. Soyinka is right: Abacha was just as bad as Boko Haram is—deal with it. Four:Soyinka has been kind enough to limit his criticism to the unenviable awards this inept government has given your father. But, you see, in a saner political system, we wouldn’t just ignore your father, we would have gone one step further and expunged the Abacha name from all public records. Wiped without a trace. Abacha would forever be a cautionary tale against the excesses of political power. In a saner political system.

Abacha was brutal—and Soyinka was one of those individuals who gave us inspiration in those dark days. He was part of the team that founded the underground radio station to counter your father’s activities. Let me rephrase in pop culture language: Wole Soyinka was the James Bond to your father’s KGB. Most of the influential people either kept quiet or sang the praises of your father to stave his wrath. But a few like Soyinka spoke, wrote and even went militant against Abacha. But at the end, even Soyinka who never ran from a fight had to run from your father. That was how terrible things were. And now you want Soyinka to join the praise singers of your father? I’m not certain Soyinka has grown old enough to forget how he escaped your father,slipping across the border in disguise. You will have to wait awhile to get that praise from him.

Now, back to you. You have a deluded sense of your father’s role in the progress of Nigeria’s history. Nigeria has managed to be where it is today, not because of leaders like your father—but in spite of leaders like your father. This is a testament to the Nigerian spirit of resilience, and our unwavering optimism in a better future. You owe every Nigerian an apology for daring to attribute this to the leadership of Abacha. Those “achievements” you believe were accomplished under your father were simply all the things he had to do to keep milking the economy, and thereby perpetuate himself in power—they benefited Nigeria only if, by Nigeria, you meant your family and your cronies.

Your tone is that of a white master who justifies his oppression because he clothed and fed his black slaves. That is what your father did. The fact that we choose not to regurgitate, and reflect on that socially traumatic period doesn’t mean we accept it as your entitlement. We have not forgotten, and we will never forget. Sani Abacha raped Nigeria. Your father raped us. Your father raped us and then pressed some change into our hands. And he then tried to marry us forcefully, too. You may think all this is well and good—but then you’ve never been raped before.

But we now live under a democracy—the kind your father denied us—and so you are free to talk. And so you are free to insult the people who ensured that your father had sleepless nights. Had the revolution your father rightly deserved happened, you—and the rest of your family—would have been lined against a wall, before you could pen one article, and shot.

And we would probably have cheered.

But we live under a democracy now—a system of government where even the scions of former oppressors can talk, and write freely, about the benefits of dictatorship. That’s a democracy. A concept your father wouldn’t have understood.

Regards,

Ayo Sogunro

**** Ayo Sogunro is a Nigerian lawyer and writer. Check on his blog at ayosogunro.com

Sadiq Abacha writes open letter to Prof Wole Soyinka

Sadiq Abacha, the son of Nigeria's former military dictator Sani Abacha, wrote an open letter to Prof. Wole Soyinka in response to the Nobel Laureate's article on the Nigerian government centenary celebration titled "The Canonization of Terror." 

This open letter was posted on Sadiq's sister, Gumsu Sani Abacha's Facebook page. 

Here we go!

If you want to think, speak and act logically then you should know all three.

1. The law of identity
2. The law of excluded middle
3. The law of non contradiction.

Now let’s look at each one of these and see what they mean in practice.

1. The law of identity
The law of identity means that things are what they are, which at first doesn’t seem very illuminating, but wait; it implies also the following, that things are what they are, whether you like them or not, it implies that things are what they are whether you know them or not, it implies that things are what they are whether you agree with them or not. However, if you don’t like the facts as they are you are going to have to put up with them, because facts are what they are, if it’s raining on your golf day, get used to it! Because the facts are what they are and are often not what you want them to be, like if the traffic lights turn red when you approach, stop complaining! The law of identity means that you must adapt yourself to the facts and start your work from there, it implies that the facts will not bend to meet your expectations. You must first adapt yourself to what life is and then get to work changing and improving things in your life, be brave to meet reality as it really is and not how you would wish it to be.
2. The law of excluded middle
The law of excluded middle means that you should give a straight yes or no answer always and there is no middle ground. The law means that there is no kinda yes and kinda no, there is no ‘sort of’ being married because you are either married or you are not, you are either a thief or you are not, you are either on time or not, you are either living in Nigeria or you are not. The law is the idea that you should not try to keep all of your options open by staying in the middle or hedging, when it suits you, like when you accepted an appointment during IBB’s regime as chairman of FRSC. I bet that was a military regime you partook in. Please pick one wife and state your claim 100% to her, pick one idea and go for it 100%! Decide and commit Sir! There you might find great power and self satisfaction in the doctrine of decide and commit. No half way measures, no middle ground, exclude the middle! Here! The law of excluded middle Sir.

3. The law of non contradiction
The law of non contradiction says don’t contradict yourself simple. If you say you will be there then be there. If you say you will do it then do it. Don’t say or fight for one thing and then do the opposite. Don’t say one thing and then later deny that you said it. Don’t say one thing and then later contradict it. Be consistent in your thoughts and actions. Observing someone who was a socialist in the morning but then became a capitalist in the evening is a textbook on contradiction, these are two polar opposites, such a person is clearly inconsistent and is therefore considered a flip flop, confused, easily led or misled or at best a lunatic who has no clear understanding of the basis of either doctrine.

Apply these three logics to others with consistency and then you can ask for the same or expect the same from others, and then you can also ask for others to deal with facts not fantasy, which is the law of identity. Ask others to make up their mind to decide and commit. The law of excluded middle.Then ask others to follow through on the things that they say they would do. The law of non contradiction.

Sir, I believe brilliance is not perfection. I have grown and watched you criticize regime after regime and at that young and naive age I was thinking why wouldn’t this man just contest to be president so that Nigeria can be saved, I would have defiantly voted for Mr Soyinka if it would have brought an end to Nigeria’s woes. To my utter surprise, I heard about your FRSC leadership and how funds were misused and a great deal of it unaccounted for. 
“Oh my God! In the end he turned out to be just the same as everybody else” were my next thoughts. My hopes for you, all ended up in great disappointment.

Here I find myself defending my father 15 years after his death because some of you have no one else to pounce on, or rather, you have chosen a dead person to keep pouncing on over and over again when you have more than an array of contestants.  A coward’s act I believe.  ”A common writer” is what I have heard you being referred to lately, and I believe a mature mind would now agree to such referrals. With all due respect, there is a great challenge that faces the country, we have to put our heads together, rather than clashing, our collective ships must sail in the same direction, let us leave the ghosts of past contention and face the future bravely as one, criticizing the past does not help the present or define a path to the future.

You say, with the weight of your sense of history and the authority you possess on national issues that ” a vicious usurper under whose authority the lives of an elected president and his wife were snuffed out” referring to my late father, you must be growing old, or you would rightly recall that that president elect you refer to did not die while my father was alive. Did you slyly change your facts to fit a history that would better serve your narrative, or are you just plain forgetful? Either way, it shows you are losing your grasp of reality.

Comparing my father’s leadership to Boko Haram’s current reign of terror,  is a rather cheap shot, you are in no position to examine, judge and sentence an entire regime based on the information you think you have, you are privy to almost none of the true facts, what is at your disposal is at best, hearsay, or were you ever minister of defence? Did you ever sit in during security meetings, evaluate the facts and subtleties of national security? You remind me of Obama criticizing the Republicans before he became a sitting president himself, vouching to put an end to all American occupation, this all came to an abrupt end once he had access to the briefs and security issues, economic and political, facing his nation. Surely he did what he could, and history will judge him. To lead is not to be a rock star, and to be a Nobel Laureate is not to be an antagonist of this country’s legacy. We are Africa’s leader, whether we like it or not, we cannot trivialize the centenary celebration, it happens only once, let us come together, if only for this one occasion and agree to disagree.
Open rebellion against the current government at this time, on the manner of the centenary celebrations, for whatever reason, is tactless, it is not about you, it is about our nation, our beloved country. There is a time and place for everything. My late father was a Nigerian, lived in Nigeria and died protecting our interests to the best of his ability, critiquing placing him on the honor roll, along with many deserving dignitaries is your right, you have the right to your own opinions, but you do not have the right to your own facts. Facts stand alone, regardless of who espouses them, let posterity judge, but you are clearly politicizing a dead issue, how could you not be? Having an issue with the naming of a hospital after the late General and leader? Really? Now?

It almost seems as if you want to turn back the hands of time, what else would you like to undo besides the naming of the hospital, would you like to unmake Bayelsa state, Zamfara state or the others?  What about the advances we made in commerce, reducing the inflation rate, what about security and welfare, how many projects, hospitals and schools were created? inflation went from 54% to 8.5%! my father oversaw an increase in our foreign currency reserves from 494 million dollars in 1993 to 9.6 billion dollars by the middle of 1997, that is unprecedented , 15 years after the PTF the benefits are still being reaped today in Nigeria, What of peace keeping and nation building, not just in West Africa but the entire continent, restoring democracy in Liberia and Sierra Leone, all these under my father’s leadership, are all these not laudable? Or would you like to undo them all. All this on 8$ per barrel of oil! You have to be kidding me.

You are a learned man, you would have to undo all your learning to knowingly wish to undo all these achievements! I will be the first to proclaim that my fathers leadership was not pitch perfect or spot free, that does not exist, maybe in utopia but not here on this earth, so let us keep our discourse set in the sphere of reality please, he deserves the award, and he did not campaign for it, let it go, Sir…and allow Nigeria to at least bask in our survival and endurance in our growing prosperity and development in these trying times. I have been accused of being an optimist, hence, I am optimistic that you will come around and accept that we can all come together and face the future together, forgive each other our wrongs while celebrating our rights, I am still an admirer of your works after all, however, I cannot and will not attempt to answer your every charge, this is not the time or place, this is a time for solidarity, if only you were wise enough to grasp this.
I applaud the patience of President Goodluck Jonathan and his composure and restraint in not having a knee jerk reaction at such a pivotal moment in our nations history, but you would mar the occasion, Sir, in the future, please pick your battles, and do better to safeguard your relevance,  Enough Sir!

Sadiq Abacha