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DEATH DOES NOT KILL

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by Owei Lakemfa

A man was very poor. So much that even when he worked hard, begged and scavenged, he remained hungry. He decided that his best option was to die. So he went in search of death. He knocked death’s door but was told he could not be admitted because he was a living being.

Asked his mission, he complained of being too poor to survive so he wanted death to take him. But death said it does not kill, that what kills is happiness. So he went in search of happiness and in the process became so prosperous that he shared money on the streets.

Whenever he went out riding his favourite white horse, people thronged the streets picking money. He had all money could buy, including position. Every day he organised a festival.

Soon, he got bored and decided to hold a festival no other being had hosted: The Festival of Money. He knew nobody could compete with him. As the festival drew to an end, he decided to take a victory lap at the festival square. As he galloped furiously, his favourite horse threw him in the air. As he lay dying, he saw death. He said: “Death, how can you kill me at this time when I am so wealthy and still so vibrant?” Death replied: “I told you I do not kill, it is happiness that kills.”

I have met or read about Nigerians who shared money on the streets beginning with Da Rocha. Some even compete at parties and festivals on who has more money to spend. There was one in Lagos with the sobriquet of a fish whose money got exhausted at a night party and decided to dash home to bring more money. He never made it back as he died in an accident due to over speeding.

There was another, a toast of musicians who used to compete with his friends over money. He died in a ghastly motor accident on the road to Ihiala where he was due, as usual, to spray money. He was ‘Mr. Too Much Money.’

I have never met anybody killed by death. If anything, death is the most maligned of all creations. Over the ages, human beings in falsely accusing death of killing, have asked the rhetorical question: “Death where is thy sting?”

But death has never responded or sued for defamation because it never claimed to have a sting like the scorpion. It has always been a false allusion.

To show the duplicity of humanity, the same human beings who falsely accuse death of killing have, over the ages, tried to find out the “cause of death.” If they truly believe it is death that kills, why carry out post-mortem?

In ancient times, when people are not sure of the cause of death or thought a victim was murdered even if through supernatural means, they do not blame death, they blame the supposed perpetrators and ask the gods to strike them dead.

Also, we now know that the ancient beliefs that death is a personified force who went about with a cudgel clubbing people to death, or a scythe-wielding skeleton collecting souls, is false. This was part of the human strategy of accusing death of killing people.

In any case, death is not a finality; the dead merely transit from the physical to the spiritual. Death is just the policeman and prosecutor who takes every human being to the final judgement where the sentence is either hellfire or heaven. So death is the beginning of the journey into eternity where hopefully, there will be no more sorrow or death.

COVID-19 is a test of faith. But as it ravaged the world and a country like Saudi Arabia shut its borders to pilgrims, some Islamic faithful, the Tablighi Jamaat movement in Pakistan, decided to hold its international religious festival from March 10-12 in Lahore.

An estimated 100,000 to 250,000 attended with 154 of the locals testing positive and some dying. Two Palestinians who also attended have died. Most of the foreigners from Nigeria, Indonesia, China and Afghanistan had left before the Pakistani authorities could stop and subject them to COVID-19 tests.

Only 1,500 of the foreigners could be stopped. In Pakistan itself, over 20,000 of the attendees have been quarantined. The movement also held similar festivals in India and Malaysia from where, along with Pakistan, the virus was liberally spread across Asia. If these attendees die, death cannot be blamed.

Before Nigeria could have such an experience, government wisely shut down places of large congregation, including those of worship. But some faithful disagree because the churches and mosques, not their homes, are their places of refuge.

So they decided to begin congregating again; the Muslims for Jumat and the Christians for church services and the Easter festivities. It is like pregnancy; it has a period of incubation and it takes time to become visible. It is people of little faith like me that are worried; is it not said that The Lord takes care of His own? Even if the worshippers are infected, death will not kill them because they are too protected.

In any case, even if the faithful die, where else will they go but heaven? Is that not the final destination? So even if they die, the faithful will be going to heaven where angels are waiting to receive and serve them eternally.

In any case, apart from politicians like my friend Dino Melaye, we also have men of faith who have assured Nigerians that it is the 5G network, not Coronavirus that kills

The actress, Funke Akindele-Bello and her husband made an error of judgement by hosting a social party that violated the law on social distancing and were convicted.

But can such indiscretion be compared with those who assure people the virus is a scam? If people get infested and die as a result, can such persons be tried for manslaughter? I do not foresee any conviction because the clerics would claim immunity on the basis that they are mere messengers of the Almighty. As for the politicians, even when caught on camera, they can always deny.

Just as the Pakistani clergy encouraged the mass gathering in Lahore which spread COVID-19, some respected governors are encouraging gatherings for Jumat, church and the Easter festival by lifting the ban on such gatherings. If more infections of the virus and deaths occur as a result, we cannot charge them with manslaughter because they have immunity.

My fellow humans, let us drink and make merry while we still can, there is no certainty this obtains in heaven. While doing so, let us be rest assured that death does not kill, there is always a cause of death

(Owei Lakemfa is the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity – OATUU)

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Opinion

SHAMBOLIC LOCAL ELECTIONS: ARE GOVERNORS SETTING ‘STANDARDS’ FOR TINUBU’S 2027 RE-ELECTION STRATEGY?

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By YAShuaib

It’s shocking and laughable that ruling parties, which barely secured victories in gubernatorial elections, are now winning local government council elections by landslides.

In some states, even parties that had never won elections are sweeping council seats, often at the behest of influential governors seeking to undermine their political rivals. For instance, Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State exemplifies how to win elections despite lacking support from traditional power brokers.

The abuse of local government councils by state governors in Nigeria is a pressing concern that threatens the very foundation of our democratic structure. While the Federal Government ensures timely disbursement of funds to all tiers of government through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the reality is that many governors exert undue control over local government resources. This is particularly evident in the misuse of the State Local Government Joint Accounts (SLGJA), which, though intended to streamline funding, often become instruments of financial manipulation at the state level.

Recognising that the Federal Government guarantees each tier of government its statutory allocations, state governors have no legitimate reason to deny local councils their rightful share. This was underscored by the landmark Supreme Court ruling on July 11, 2024, which mandated direct federal allocation for elected councils to curb gubernatorial interference in local government finances.

However, with limited access to local government revenue after the ruling, many governors swiftly orchestrated elections to consolidate control over council positions and finances. The predictable results have seen ruling parties dominate the polls in nearly every state. These so-called “victories” do little to inspire confidence, as the elected officials often act as mere extensions of gubernatorial power.

The lack of genuine competition is hardly surprising, given that the governor’s appointees manage each State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC). The recent wave of local elections follows a clear pattern: handpicked candidates of the preferred parties consistently win and easily claim the titles of LG chairpersons and councillors through questionable processes, often coordinated behind the scenes by the governors.

While one might expect an outcry over the shambolic LG elections, only a few voices have raised concerns. The election observation group Yiaga Africa recently highlighted the troubling development and recommended civic education, genuine competition and a transparent electoral process. Unfortunately, the entrenched realities make these ideals’ recommendations almost unattainable.

These actions of some of the governors threaten to undermine the legitimacy of future elections, including gubernatorial and presidential contests. It would not be surprising if President Bola Ahmed Tinubu faced pressure to replicate this manipulative election strategy of governors in the 2027 general elections. The logic is simple: if governors can manipulate elections to their advantage with relative ease, why shouldn’t the president do the same at the national level?

Sadly, disobedience to court orders and manipulation of local judges are similarly rampant at the state level, rendering adjudications predictable. For instance, some state-controlled courts of justice, which handle local matters—including traditional issues and chieftaincy titles—function as extensions of their governors, lacking genuine impartiality and integrity.

The stronghold of governors on local governance is unmistakable, surpassing the President’s influence over state administrations as they wield significant control despite judicial efforts to safeguard local autonomy.”

Meanwhile, under Tinubu’s federal administration, the Supreme Court has acted as an independent arbiter, often favouring opposition parties. For instance, following the last general elections and rulings of tribunals, the apex court upheld the victories of opposition candidates, including Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano, Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau, and Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia among others.

While the Supreme Court’s mandate for direct funding is a positive step, governors’ continued dominance over local governments is still apparent. Yet, the Federal Government continues the transparent disbursements of statutory allocations to states without interference. Why can’t state governments reciprocate such by ensuring local governments receive their fair share of internally generated revenue (IGR) without also encroaching on their legitimate federal allocations

The conduct of governors may have set a worrying precedent and questioned their commitment to fiscal federalism and the principles of local governance.

I strongly urge the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Finance Minister, Mr. Wale Edun, to take decisive action to protect local governments’ administrative and financial rights. They must implement mechanisms to ensure local councils have political autonomy and receive their financial entitlements without the risk of misappropriation by state authorities.

Local governments must be granted full political and economic autonomy to function effectively as the grassroots arm of governance. The future of our democratic governance hinges on the equitable treatment of all tiers of government, ensuring that local councils can genuinely serve their communities with the resources they rightfully deserve.

For Nigeria’s democracy to thrive, we must hold local elections to a higher standard. Despite its flaws, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still performs better than SIECs, whose inefficiency and bias are becoming more apparent.

The debate over federalism versus centralisation will undoubtedly arise. However, a balance between federal and state powers is essential. If reforming SIECs proves unfeasible, INEC oversight may be necessary to safeguard democratic governance at the local level.

If citizens remain silent on recent flawed local elections conducted by some state governments, they should equally accept potentially compromised gubernatorial and presidential elections that the federal government could conduct in the future, possibly in 2027. After all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

Yushau A. Shuaib, publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential

yashuaib@yashuaib.com

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Opinion

Soludo Solves Onitsha Water Problem with Last Mile Connection 

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Ebuka Nwankwo

Documents from the World Bank’s archive show that the Bank approved a $67.0 million (equivalent to N36.8 million in 1981) loan for Nigeria in 1981 for the rehabilitation of the 1960 water supply scheme in Onitsha, which suffered significant deterioration during the Nigerian Civil War and was not meeting the needs of residents of Onitsha. The total water scheme project was estimated at N66.3 million (which was equivalent to $120.6 million using 1981 exchange rate). The $67 million World Bank loan, at that time, was to cover the foreign currency component of the project which was 55% of total cost.

The 1981 project financing scheme required that the counterpart costs would be met through contributions of $ 48.1 million (N26.5 million as at 1981) by the then Anambra State Government and $5.5 million (N3 million) by Anambra State Water Corporation (ASWC) which was supposed to charge for water usage. Interestingly, the World Bank’s 1991 project completion report for the Onitsha Water Scheme shows that its $67 million loan to Nigeria was closed in July 1991 and an unutilized balance of $2,655.22 was canceled in September 1991. Interested readers could visit the following link for details of this project: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/605701468290135155/pdf/multi-page.pdf and https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/906611468098982882/pdf/multi-page.pdf

Despite the anticipated impact of this water project to the long-term sustainability of Onitsha, many adults in Onitsha cannot remember when they enjoyed public water supply in Onitsha. The story of how Nigeria accrued external debts – which it got ‘debt relief’ from during the President Obasanjo’s administration – is better left for another day. And before the advent of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, some of the lands these projects sat on were not only encroached upon, most of the equipment installed in these projects had been stollen and vandalized.

In 1979, before the commencement of the rehabilitation of the Onitsha Water Scheme project, the World Bank had approved the sum of $415,000 for the feasibility and engineering studies of the Greater Onitsha Water Scheme. During the same period, a consortium of Nigerian – German consultants (ENPLAN -GKW) carried out engineering designs for the master plan for sewerage, storm water and solid waste disposal schemes for Onitsha.

Today, the abandoned World Bank water scheme in Onitsha has a new life and the contractors handling the 3 major water schemes in the city are currently carrying out ‘final test running’ of the facilities and reticulation works. The facilities now produce highly treated portable water. And because reticulated pipes to homes of the 80’s have been severely damaged, contractors are working round the clock to restore these pipes. It is a very difficult job. Many residents have even built on the right of way of these water reticulation pipes and some have been stolen. Luckily, through sheer hard work and ingenuity, water has been reticulated to many commercial fetching points in Onitsha markets, civic centers and townhalls.

The Governor Chukwuma Soludo led administration has successfully rehabilitated the GRA Onitsha Water Scheme, CLASH Program Water Scheme and Terminal Reservoir Water Scheme. These water facilities have the capacity to supply 45 million litres of well-treated water to residents of Onitsha per day.

There have been efforts to rehabilitate these water schemes in the past. In November 2013, the state government announced that a 1.8-billion-naira contract to rehabilitate the Onitsha Water Scheme would be completed in 2014 by Peterson Candy International of South Africa. But the scale of deterioration of this water scheme was a big impediment to the project taking off. The infrastructure at the original intake water source at the Nkisi River for the water schemes had been seriously deteriorated and many big developments – including investments from institutional investors – had built on the right of way of the large raw water pipes taking water from Nkisi River to these treatment plants.

Today, the rehabilitated 45 million liters installed water treatment facilities in Onitsha is now powered with solar energy and with electricity from the national grid. The solar energy component of this facility is part of its sustainability and running cost reduction plan. The superb engineering design provided for this rehabilitated facility was able to have large industrial pumps powered by solar energy.

Last week, the joy of some residents of Onitsha knew no bounds when they received the State Commissioner for Power and Water Resources, Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka, during his routine inspection tour to monitor the reticulation of water to different fetching points in Onitsha, particularly at the Ogbe Oye Market, Inland Town.

There are ample reasons to be excited with the scale of work that has been done by the Governor Soludo-led administration. During the test running of the installed reticulation works in Onitsha by the project contractors, water runs for some hours daily at fetching points. Here is the grand plan: after the current test running of this project is completed, people at dedicated fetching points would be sure of a 24-hour water supply. The next phase would be to get water into individual houses.

During Engr. Julius Chukwuemeka’s inspection tour on a fetching point at Ogbe Oye Market, one woman lamented how her children had suffered from waterborne diseases in the past because of the unavailability of constant pipe borne water and that she spent a large portion of her earnings buying water in jerrycans from water vendors that she was not sure of their source of water. But, today, this woman is overjoyed!

The future of Anambra is bright with Governor Soludo at the helm of affairs. The Onitsha Water Scheme which seemed like a hard nut to crack has now been fully resuscitated and the last mile connections to residents are ongoing.

 

* Nwankwo is the special adviser to Soludo on special projects.

 

Note: Opinions expressed by contributors are strictly personal and do not necessarily represent the position of SunriseNigeria.

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Lifestyle

Bishop George Biguzzi (1936 – 2024): Humility Beyond Reproach

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By Sule Musa (WhatsApp: +23276613799)

Whether night or day, I can no longer remember. Thereabout March or April. It was the year 2000. And at Lamina Sankoh Street in the central business district of Freetown, capital city of Sierra Leone.

This was the address of my short lived newspaper, Daily Adviser 2000 – 2001.

The office phone rang and I dashed for the receiver. Mobile phones were rare then; at least in Sierra Leone. Pioneer operator Mobitel was as rare as it was erratic. You could lay two handsets side by side on a table and dial the other with reports that the second handset was out of coverage area. So, it was mostly land phones

“Yaah!” I answered in my usually busy note. “Hello!” came back from the other end.

I will never be able to explain how that voice sounded like Emmanuel Turay’s. Emmanuel was the maiden news editor of the newspaper. I had been looking for him for the better part of that day.

So, I heard myself yelling “ah go kick you ass when I see you!

The response from the other end cut me by the groin. That could certainly not be Emmanuel. The voice responded “miself go kick u ass!”

I calmed down. I knew instantly that something was wrong somewhere. “Who’s this please?” I heard myself pleading. The answer and the voice hit me at once. I sought the ground to swallow me but it didn’t even yield a crack. “This is George Biguzzi” he said and began laughing, asking “where’s Emmanuel?”

My response was in whispers. “Mi Lord, ah don die!” I cried. “I thought it was Emmanuel.”

And he said coolly “Sule, let’s talk about important things. Tell Emmanuel I want to see him.”

I remained in the chair immobile for a long time. What sort of humility is this? I kept asking myself. And have not stopped going over same question whenever Biguzzi came to my mind.

But I had to know the man better from a closer proximity when the then director of Caritas Makeni, Ibrahim Sesay hired me as a communication consultant for the Catholic aid and relief agency. As Bishop of the Makeni diocese, Biguzzi was the chairman of the Caritas Makeni board.

The Daily Adviser newspaper had extensively covered the operations of Caritas Makeni especially in the course of ending the eleven-year war through peace negotiation and consolidation championed by the Sierra Leone commission for disarmament, demobilization and resettlement (DDR).

The guns had barely gone quiet when Caritas Makeni wrestled the child combatants in their thousands from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) high command in Makeni. They were brought to Port Loko in about fourteen trucks owned and driven by the Pakistani contingent of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

In all the hectic and hair raising operations led by Ibrahim Sesay and the dedicated Caritas Makeni team, Bishop Biguzzi was there in the background soliciting for funds from far and wide.

On countless occasions, I would be in the company of Ibrahim Sesay in the Wilkinson Road office of Caritas Makeni late into the night and long after the staff had closed. In nearly all of these sessions, there would be back and forth consultation with the Bishop on issues relating to the peace and relief operations.

The national award conferred on Bishop George Biguzzi by the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma was consequently well deserved.

Developments in nearly every area of human needs brought to Makeni and parts of the north of Sierra Leone are attributed to the glowing accomplishments of George Biguzzi who was always mentioned in one breath with his predecessor Bishop Azzolinni.

Perhaps the most touching pronouncements attributed to Biguzzi was his response to alarmists who ran to him in Freetown during the thick of the war, wailing that all he laboured to build in Makeni was reduced to rubbles by the rebels.

His response was classical patriotic zealotry. He said, “Once the ground is still there we will rebuild.”

When his obituary was published on Monday first of July, accompanying news that his remains would be brought to Makeni for interment according to his will, only cemented the fact that he was always Sierra Leonean by body, soul and spirit.

The soil of Sierra Leone is enriched by the mortal remains of George Biguzzi, a Catholic priest of rare breed.

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