Sanusi and his young bride

As usual, people miss the point about the Emir of Kano marrying an 18-year old chick.

 

Under Nigerian laws, an 18-year old is an adult and can definitely make his/her own choices, including getting married.

But that's where the validity ends. I don't support the Emir marrying such a young lady and I have two reasons:

 

1. For a region that is already bedeviled with the problem of girl-brides, seeing another young girl getting married early (even if 18) does nothing to assuage the problem. And this is reported to be the second 18-year old to be married by Emir Sanusi, also his fourth wife.

 

2. The lady just finished secondary school. The North is known for low level of education, both girls and boys. The very few ones that manage to finish primary school hardly go to secondary school. The stats are even more grim for the girls - less than two-thirds of those who enroll complete primary school and even fewer girls finish secondary school (See this). I also understand that less than 10% of those that finish secondary school go to university as most are married off early. There have been campaigns by NGOs to get more northern girls into University. It's been a rather difficult campaign but the groups have been forging ahead, even in the face of little cooperation from Northern leaders. Now the present Emir of Kano, who is arguably the most educated and widely traveled Emir in history, has married another young high school grad. Any decision to further her education now depends entirely on her husband. Even if the Emir allows her to go to the university from his house, it's beside the point - the fact is that it does not encourage other girls to attend University before they get married. This is rather unfortunate and is morally wrong of the Emir Sanusi, as in my view part of his role as Emir is to tackle the problems of the North which are both many and well-documented.

 

Some people have defended the Emir and his babe. Fine. We can't all agree and of course like I said the Emir has not committed any sin, whether to the Quran (I assume) or the Nigerian Constitution. But most of the problems of the North cannot be tackled by either the Quran or the Constitution anyway. It requires people who identify the problems and are committed to solving them. Those using examples of the US and issues of fornication are either being willfully ignorant or being clever by half. I know I will not be encouraging my daughter to get married at 18 and before she goes to the university, even though the final decision rests totally on her.

Akunyili, Buhari, the returned £12,000 - Why the Boss must show the way

This is the story on Late Dora Akunyili, Muhammadu Buhari, integrity and why it’s important to have a head that has a very public stance against corruption. It’s a popular story, but I have refrained from talking about it because there was no evidence. Until now.

 
Dora Akunyili was the Zonal Secretary of Petroleum Special Trust Fund (P.T.F.), co-ordinating all projects in the five South Eastern States of Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States) between 1997-2000 under Muhamamdu Buhari who was the Chairman of the PTF. The PTF was created by Sani Abacha to use the income from increase in fuel prices to carry out developmental projects across the country.

That is not the  story.

Sometime around 1998/9, Dora Akunyili was very sick.  She needed to go abroad for treatment for cancer treatment and applied to the PTF for funds, being her employer. The Chairman, Muhammadu Buhari, approved the sum of £17,100 made up of £5,100 for diagnostic tests and £12,000 for surgery and hospitalization. However, after the diagnostic test and therapy, the doctors determined she no longer needed the surgery.

In a rare show of integrity, Dora Akunyili returned the £12,000 meant for surgery to the PTF and wrote a letter to Buhari to thank him for giving approval. Buhari minuted on the letter thus:

“See above report from PTF Zonal Secretary Zone 1. You see there are still Nigerians will personal integrity. Please take action in line with PTF Financial Regulation”. I’ve attached the letter (courtesy of Tolu Ogunlesi, ace journalist).

I don’t know how true, but rumor has it that when Obasanjo wanted a Director General for NAFDAC and someone mentioned Dora Akunyili, Muhammadu heard about it and called Obasanjo to vouch for her, given the above story. Obasanjo is one of the rare believers in the integrity of Buhari (see what he wrote about Buhari in his new book, My Watch) and appointed Dora Akunyili to head NAFDAC.

What lesson is there for us?

There are no guarantees Dora Akunyili would have returned the money if she didn’t have a no-nonsense man like Buhari as Chairman, but my opinion is that she would have done the same. However it helps when everyone knows the boss is someone of high personal integrity and will not take any bullshit. When Dora Akunyili took over at NAFDAC, she worked with some people she met on ground and a few new hands she brought it. But they all worked together to clean up the mess at NAFDAC. We all know the story of NAFDAC under her. It took only one person, the head, for every other person to sit up and act properly.

How is this related to Nigeria? I am a firm believer in the school of thought that reckons that corruption is Nigeria’s biggest problem. Under this government, corruption has assumed an alarming rate and everything is free for all. We need a leader that not only has a track record of zero tolerance for corruption, but whom everyone fears and knows will do all within his power to punish corrupt people. There is probably worse corruption in China or US than Nigeria, yet there is development there. Why? Simple. Everyone knows he will get the maximum punishment if/when caught.

 I believe if this is done, everything else will fall into place. 

I'm voting Akinwunmi Ambode as Lagos Governor

I will be voting Akinwunmi Ambode as Governor of Lagos state.

Why?

He's got an excellent record in the Civil Service, rising from a Junior Officer to become Accountant General of Lagos and the Auditor General of Local Governments. Those heights are not attained by politics.

Why not Jimi Agbaje?

Beyond his very good mannerisms and lucid English, the man has got no substance. He doesn't say how he plans to do anything. His private sector experience is also rather watery. I still don't know what he brings to the table. His supporters I've interacted with have not made a valid case for him either.

Why the choice of Ambode is a no-brainer

With the dwindling income from oil, Nigeria needs to look at other means of income. Lagos has been at the forefront of generating its own income and depending less on oil. We cannot afford to have Jimi Agbaje become Governor at a time like this. Ambode's experience of working in Lagos under Tinubu, when Obasanjo withheld the state's allocation forcing Lagos gov't to look for other revenue streams, is very critical at this point. I'm a pragmatist.