Opinion
Opinion: Nigerian Leaders Sowed the Wind
By Owei Lakemfa
In my first year at the University of Ife (Now OAU) a ‘National Sailing’ by a secret confraternity was scheduled for the campus. On the eve, the local branch held a procession at midnight. The procession stopped an ambulance conveying a student to the hospital asking it to switch off its lights. Tragically, the student later died. A mourning student populace was enraged when news filtered that the confraternity had stopped the ambulance, even though it was for a few seconds.
The Students Union immediately banned not only the national convention of the fraternity, but all such groups on campus. In those days, the Union’s decision, was law amongst students. To further placate the student populace, the university authorities instituted a probe and meted out disciplinary actions on identified members of the confraternity.
Such were the powers of the union, that the Shagari administration, though elected, thought it was better to subvert independent student unionism in the country. It bribed student renegades; some with brand new cars. It also tried to stop the 1980 emergence of a unified national student body; the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) which covered students in all tertiary institutions. Partly to achieve this, the administration sponsored the establishment of a sectarian body; the Nigerian Universities Students’ Association (NUSA) But it was a still birth.
When NANS was eventually established, the government within three months, expelled its leadership under Tanimu Kurfi from the Bayero University, Kano, and tried to impose an illegal “Steering Committee” This failed.
That same period, the Shehu Shagari government expelled 13 student leaders at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and student leaders at the Polytechnics in Akure and Bauchi, Kwara College of Technology and the Schools of Basic/Preliminary Studies in Keffi and Makurdi. It also suspended the student unions in Ibadan and Kaduna polytechnics and the College of Education, Ilesa.
But those were not the most dastardly acts of that government in its efforts to destroy independent student unionism. That 1981, at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) it expelled 30 student leaders and rusticated 165 others.
The government then turned to the University of Ife where it killed seven students during a protest on June 7, 1981. Its follow-up attempt to use the Justice Salihu Moddibo Alfa Belgore Tribunal Report to flush out student leaders, was firmly and successfully resisted by the student populace and lecturers led by Dr. Biodun Jeyifo, the then National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) The Shagari administration also tried to repress freedom of speech by banning and occupying the premises of a number of newspapers.
However, the Shagari adminstration was a ‘saint’ compared to the subsequent military regimes under Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha. The Buhari regime was a cyclone which smashed through national institutions including the judiciary and the media. In the case of the press, it enacted Decree 4 of 1984 which made reporting falsehood and the truth, punishable offences. It enacted Decree 2 of 1984 under which Nigerians were detained without trial. It turned to smashing the campuses; it introduced school fees, abolished the Cafeteria System which subsidized food for students on campuses, and accused lecturers of inciting students against its dictatorship. When students staged a national protest against its draconian policies, the Buhari regime not only went out to smash the protests, but also kidnapped the then NANS President, Lanre Arogundade at the post office in Ile-Ife. All these were concerted attempts to destroy independent student unionism and consciously or unconsciously make way for the emergence of cultists who would not be loyal to students, but take directives from the regime.
But it was the Babangida regime that consciously destroyed the Student Movement; expelling as many student leaders as it could lay hands on, and most infamously, promoting cultists to seize student unions across the country. In 1986, it killed “only” four students of ABU during a protest, and when the NANS called a national protest over this, it shut down many tertiary institutions and banned student unionism across the country. The Babangida regime also in June 1986, occupied the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) premises because labour decided to stage a solidarity protest for the students, and detained a number of Congress leaders. The detention of labour leaders was repeated in December 1987 before the regime banned the NLC in February, 1988.
In its attempts to finally smash independent student unionism, the regime established two Tribunals of Inquiry, one led by retired Major General Emmanuel Abisoye and the second by Justice Mustapha Akanbi.
Perhaps the most devious move by that regime, was the establishment by its security services, of Student Peace Councils or Peace Committees to impose ‘peace’ on campuses. This included the sponsorship of cultists and sleeper agents to infiltrate the student unions, take them over or sabotage them. The arrow head of these councils was based in the University of Ibadan, and it was there an epic battle ensued in which the student populace took him on, flushed him from the campus and burnt his room.
However, it was in the University of Benin, the most vicious battles between students and the Babangida regime were fought. They were so bloody that the regime issued a directive to the police and security forces to “shoot students at sight” Lecturers like then ASUU President, Dr. Festus Iyayi and Professor Itse Sagay were not even given quite quit notices; thugs simply invaded their homes, broke the doors, threw out their families and replaced the doors.
By 1999 when civil administration was restored in the country, cultists, thugs and security agents had taken over some student unions.
Things degenerated so much that when a NANS Convention was held in Abuja, matters were settled with guns, and genuine student leaders loyal to the Student Movement, were overcome. Cultists, security agents, traders and street toughies have taken over some student unions to the extent that a few years ago, when I was invited to speak with a cross section of student leaders, I discovered that the NANS President was not a student! Many of the student leaders knew and whispered it but none was bold enough to table it.
Now, this later generation of student leaders have graduated into political leadership in the country holding executive and legislative positions. Increasingly, elections are being settled not by votes, but bullets; in election after election, the country is drowned in rivers of blood, especially in Rivers State. Youths are said to be ‘the leaders of tomorrow’ The youths produced by our leaders yesterday, are taking over today . Prophet Hosea might have had Nigerian leaders in mind when he proclaimed in Hosea 8:7 “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
One of the greatest strengths of a rational being is the freedom to do whatever they want. That’s a fact! But one thing is sure, and that is actions have consequences. Even at creation, Adam and Eve were given instruction to eat any fruit except a particular tree, but they disobeyed, ate the forbidden fruit, and were thrown out of the garden of Eden.
This simply means that as a human being, one is responsible for his own actions and omissions. Sometimes, we blame people as being responsible for our failures and mistakes, not realizing that nobody will insult you without your permission.
I have come to the realization that choice plays a fundamental role in our lives. The way we speak, the way we write, the way we dress, and the way we live our lives are all products of our choices. Before we eat a particular meal or even wear an outfit, we choose from a list of several options. Before we serve any deity, we make a choice, and though there may be a level of external influence, we still have a role to play in the final outcome.
In recent times, I have developed the eyes of the eagle at looking at life from a vantage position. Anything I want, I strategically sit down and make strategic arrangements which will include what I need to do and what I need to deviate from. These are products of being intentional with our choices.
One of the greatest choices we’ll make as human beings is the choice of, who we will marry and how our life will become. I say this because we are the architect of our life. If you are intentional, how you live your life matters. This also entails the kind of jobs we do and the services we offer. They all define us in one way or another.
Some people are so intentional with their life that they make so much sacrifices spiritually, academically, financially, socially and even with personal development. They know what they want, and dare to go after it no matter whose ox is gored.
While they were intentional to plan their life by making sacrifices, some people are busy living their lives to the fullest and turns around to seek assistance from the person who has planned his existence. Life doesn’t work that way.
Just to let you know how decisive choice can be in the life of a progressive mind, consider President Donald Trump, who grew up to become a successful billionaire and two-term President. His brother, Fred Trump Jr., was an alcoholic who never managed to find success. It is interesting to know that they both have the same biological father and mother. They had the same upbringing, same school, but they had different outcomes. President Trump was intentional with his life and maybe his brother made a bad choice, or he was unintentional with this life.
The moral here is that we need to quit the blame game because we are the architect of our life. “Nobody” really owes us anything. Any favor we get from people is an act of gesture and not entitlement.
So, do yourself a favour, stop blaming your parents or anyone for how your life turned out! It is not your upbringing or genes that make you a success or failure. It is the choices you make in life that make or break you. You can decide to take ownership of your life and change the course of your life for the better.
There are numerous people who have transformed their lives from negative to positive. It’s all about determination and making the right choices.
The choice we make as human beings can either make or mar us. As a man, if you are mischievous in sleeping around, with different women, attending night clubs with several women, spending lavishly without being prudent, it won’t be long before poverty locates you.
Today, I charge you to sit down, and reflect on what kind of life you want to live and begin to intentionally work on it by making the right choices. I look forward to seeing you at the top.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Anyone who intends to go far in life must be intentional in stretching himself, and that explains why the importance of stretching oneself cannot be overemphasized. Nobody will assist anyone when they are not intentional in helping themselves. Someone’s ability to convince others of how passionate and dedicated they are concerning a given cause, position or project, is one of the weapons of inspiration that draws assistance. There aren’t many out there that stumbles into investing help where there’s no passion or dedication to a cause.
I will be sharing a personal, but practical experience that inspired this article with a background in my spiritual leader, Evangelist Ebuka Anozie Obi’s statement that, “I’m not preaching about Jesus Christ I heard, but I am talking about Jesus Christ I have personally experienced”. This statement captured my thoughts and mindset about this article.
In recent times, I have discovered the importance of being practical when writing or living generally. For instance, I got the inspiration to write this article a week ago when I visited the gym at my workplace. I was literally amazed to see the transformation that has taken place in my life.
The sad reality of life is most people want to go to heaven, but they are not willing to die. This means that a lot of people want to be celebrated, they are not willing to do the needful. How can people support you when you are not making an effort to succeed? Sometimes, ignorant minds want their benefactors, mentors or even destiny helpers to fasttrack their opportunities, but they are not willing to learn or do the associate work.
It’s instructive to note that your benefactors are not the lamb of God, who takes aways the sins of the world. They won’t do the work for you, rather, they will put the icing on the cake after the progressive minds must have done 90% of the work. This is just the reality of life.
Let me share a practical experience with you, I have a resourceful mentor with global influence. When my first book was ready for publication, I reached out to him to write the foreword, and he was glad. According to him, I have done something he has been willing to do for about 20 years. He was literally impressed to see my thoughts and efforts birthed into reality. The interesting thing about the success of my first book is that the book took me to New York Times, News12 in New York, United Nations in addition to introducing me to resourceful minds globally.
Imagine if I had not taken time to stretch myself, I wouldn’t have attained this height. That’s why I said, when you stretch yourself a little bit, there are bound to be opportunities and experiences that will come your way.
There was a recurrence of thesame experience when I incorporated my business, Global Empowerment and Mentoring Initiative, which helps uninformed youths and career professionals in self-discovery. Since forming the company, I have received invitations from resourceful minds, corporate organizations and contracts from the governments for training opportunities. I have also developed programs from my book and business. All this was made possible because I stretched myself.
Stretching oneself is not only limited to expanding one’s capacity, it also extends to expanding one’s mind. You can do this by reading and researching. It’s sad to know that many people find it hard to read and in fact, it is stated, if one wants to hide information from people, put it in a book because many people find it hard to read.
As human beings, we have an instructional need to stretch oneself. When we stretch ourselves, we’ll be surprised to see the level of opportunities we can attract to our careers, lives, and personal development. Stretching oneself is like taking risk, one will never know what to expect when one stretches oneself, but one thing is certain, we shall gain a new perspective and experience of life.
No great person has ever achieved success without stretching a bit further. They do this by taking unconventional paths which involve taking risks, taking certification courses, attending relevant events of interest, networking and learning from resource minds like mentors. All these are great ways of learning.
As a cultured Nigerian man, we have an adage that says, there’s no perfect time for one to learn, rather when an elderly person is speaking, a child who is there will pay attention. What does that mean? It simply means, when one stretches oneself, no one knows where the next opportunity will pop out.
For instance, when a recent graduate with a good grade, starts an entry level job, it might not necessarily be the grade that will secure the job, though it may contribute. It may surprise you to know that it may be your skills, extra work you have done or potentials that will give you the work. This simply means that one must add value to himself to attract opportunities, and attaining that opportunity entails comingout of your comfort zone.
Overtime, I have developed an intentional habit of updating my resume by adding value to my life by learning a skill every six months. Each time I add value to my work, I always see prospects each time I see someone of interest. I also evaluate my life and my work and see how I can edit my previous work and improve myself based on what I’m trying to achieve.
I don’t know what your storyline might be, but I’m here to encourage and inspire you to stretch yourself because nobody will save you other than yourself. The world is not a fair place, you just must do your best and leave the rest to God.
Do you know that stretching oneself also entails networking with resourceful and influential people. When you meet resourceful people with influence, endeavor to give them gifts as a token of appreciation for what they have either done for you, humanity or simply as a kind of gesture. That single kind gesture is capable of opening doors for you because it will separate you from other uninformed minds, who might be in the habit of begging without adding value to the person’s mind.
In conclusion, today I charge you to stretch yourself mentally, financially, socially, academically, spiritually, medically, professionally, personal development or in any other relevant area of your life and you will see your life blossoming.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
