Living Beyond Your Feelings
On any given day, we may feel good or bad, happy or sad, excited or discouraged, and a thousand other things. Although feelings can be very strong and demanding, we do not have to let them rule our lives.
We can learn to manage our emotions rather than allowing them to manage us. This has been one of the most important biblical truths I have learned in my journey with God. It has also been one that allows me to consistently enjoy my life.
If we have to wait to see how we feel before we know if we can enjoy the day, then we are giving feelings control over us. But thankfully, we have free will and can make decisions that are not based on feelings. If we are willing to make right choices regardless of how we feel, God will always be faithful to give us the strength to do so. Happy first Sunday of August.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Sunday, May 17, 2015
ORO ISITI AKEWI
Oro Isiti Akewi
Akole: Ohun to ba gbin lo maa ka
Ewi
Ki lo n be nigbo to un dun mawuru mawuru. Bi o pa ni je ko kuku pa ni je bi o si pa ni je ko ma se pa ni je. Amo ko ye dun mawuru mawuru mo ni mo. E gbo na, ta lo gun yan fun yin to ni tobe o soro eyin tee tafa soke tee yido bori. Eyin tee yo tan tee ti kongo bolu te n so wipe bamubamu ni mo yo emi o mo pebi n pomo eni koo kan. Eyin te n korin 'do or die'. Tee ri yan tan tee ni tobe o soro. Tee ni bi 'lu ba le baje ko baje. E n ko 'rin bi 'lu ba le fo ko fo. E ti gbagbe Orisa Oke to fowo leran to n woye omo adari hunrun. B'oba aye o ri o torun ma n wo o. Hunnnn. Atubotan lo ja ju. Atubo awon kan lati ri yii, tawon to n bo la o mo. Iyato gedegbe lo n be laarin eni ti gbogbo ara re n soro alaafia ati eni to n wi pe bogun ba le de ko de. Eda Adamo e je ka sora si wa hu. Ka mo boja je, kaaa tun ba le je. Eni a n wo eeeee mo gbodo woran. Oba mewa igba mewa ni ile aye. Hausa lo so wipe seriki n goma, samani goma. Ko si ohun taa mu wa ye, ko si ohun ta mu lo. Te ba ro pe e ti seyi e mu je. Hehe hun hun ohun tee se lee maa ka bi ogo ba ti n je toluwa. Oba ti ko si leyin awon olote. Enikan o l e gbin ila ko ka alubosa bee ni e ni kan ko lee gbin isu ko ka agbado. Ere mi n bo kankan loluwa wi, esan si n be lodo mi. Ohun ni Olorun esan yio si san fun onikaluku gege bii ise owo re. What you sow is what you will reap. Esan n bo louwa wii. Te mi ni esan. Esan si ni akobi Olodumare. Ohun to ba gbin sohun lo de maa ka o, maa se gbagbe sikasika ko ranti ojo ola. Ojo te o sile bora. Te o wa dewure jele jele. Te o wa dagutan jeka jeka. Esan a de esan n bo wa o esan a deeeeeeeeeeeeee. Gbogbo atata omo Yoruba e ba mi gbayi yewo. Mo so yi mo duro naa o tun digba kan na.
Akole: Ohun to ba gbin lo maa ka
Ewi
Ki lo n be nigbo to un dun mawuru mawuru. Bi o pa ni je ko kuku pa ni je bi o si pa ni je ko ma se pa ni je. Amo ko ye dun mawuru mawuru mo ni mo. E gbo na, ta lo gun yan fun yin to ni tobe o soro eyin tee tafa soke tee yido bori. Eyin tee yo tan tee ti kongo bolu te n so wipe bamubamu ni mo yo emi o mo pebi n pomo eni koo kan. Eyin te n korin 'do or die'. Tee ri yan tan tee ni tobe o soro. Tee ni bi 'lu ba le baje ko baje. E n ko 'rin bi 'lu ba le fo ko fo. E ti gbagbe Orisa Oke to fowo leran to n woye omo adari hunrun. B'oba aye o ri o torun ma n wo o. Hunnnn. Atubotan lo ja ju. Atubo awon kan lati ri yii, tawon to n bo la o mo. Iyato gedegbe lo n be laarin eni ti gbogbo ara re n soro alaafia ati eni to n wi pe bogun ba le de ko de. Eda Adamo e je ka sora si wa hu. Ka mo boja je, kaaa tun ba le je. Eni a n wo eeeee mo gbodo woran. Oba mewa igba mewa ni ile aye. Hausa lo so wipe seriki n goma, samani goma. Ko si ohun taa mu wa ye, ko si ohun ta mu lo. Te ba ro pe e ti seyi e mu je. Hehe hun hun ohun tee se lee maa ka bi ogo ba ti n je toluwa. Oba ti ko si leyin awon olote. Enikan o l e gbin ila ko ka alubosa bee ni e ni kan ko lee gbin isu ko ka agbado. Ere mi n bo kankan loluwa wi, esan si n be lodo mi. Ohun ni Olorun esan yio si san fun onikaluku gege bii ise owo re. What you sow is what you will reap. Esan n bo louwa wii. Te mi ni esan. Esan si ni akobi Olodumare. Ohun to ba gbin sohun lo de maa ka o, maa se gbagbe sikasika ko ranti ojo ola. Ojo te o sile bora. Te o wa dewure jele jele. Te o wa dagutan jeka jeka. Esan a de esan n bo wa o esan a deeeeeeeeeeeeee. Gbogbo atata omo Yoruba e ba mi gbayi yewo. Mo so yi mo duro naa o tun digba kan na.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sunday, December 18, 2011
2012 budget gathering momentum
2012 budget gathering momentum
By Sola Shittu
This year has been tagged the year of protests. In fact Times International Man of the Year is the protester. As soon as we launch into the first month of the year, the protests started in the North African countries spreading through Europe, forcing prominent Arab leaders like Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Ghadaffi out of office. But unlike Mubarak, Ghadaffi was not lucky; he lost his life in the battle to remain in office even after spending 42 years. Protest still continues in Syria with the Syrian leader launching attacks on his people like Ghadaffi. It is not certain yet what will happen to him but there is ominous sign of impending doom for him since he has started going the way of Ghadaffi by fighting, shooting and killing his own people. The black African countries in the west, east, central and southern Africa, have remained unperturbed by the orgy of protests spreading like wild fire in the Arab world. Nigeria in particular lacks the protest culture but as President Jonathan presented the 2012 budget to the National Assembly last Tuesday, he was silent on the time bomb; the fuel subsidy removal with only a comment that he would liberalise the downstream sector of the oil industry to provide more employment. But how he would do it was something he kept to his chest. That Tuesday in the National Assembly was something else. It was a day that relived the beauty and power of democracy. The President was this time around facing his “bosses” (the people); to present a budget proposal of N4.749 trillion with security gulping a whopping N931.91 billion, a proposal which seems discomforting to many of the lawmakers who are insisting that Jonathan must justify it. The Power sector follows the security with N161.42, Works, N180.8billion, Education excluding UBE, PTDF and ETF, N400.15 billion, Agric N78.98, Health, N282.77, Water resources, N59.66, Aviation, N49.23. Others are Transport N54.83, Land and Housing, N26.49, Science and Technology, N18.31.
Before the budget was presented to the joint session of the National Assembly, Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator David Mark fired the first salvo in his opening address by criticising poor implementation of budget by government which to him has not matched the words of government as economic policies often lack continuity and projects are needlessly discarded or abandoned.
To him, the country has what it takes to be a great nation or a world power. “But we have never challenged ourselves sufficiently over the years to attain this desired goal.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, was not lenient in his address to the President too. Tambuwal came hard on Jonathan asking him to do something and very quickly before this house collapses on all of us. “The truth is, there is no better signal that a government is alive to its responsibility than through its strict adherence to its own budget proposal”. It is very clear that the National Assembly is not against subsidy removal, but the fears remain on how the matter will be presented to the electorate and the public at large without a serious damage to their political career. Many of the lawmakers fear that they might lose their bid to return to the National Assembly if the matter is presented to members of their constituencies who are already warming up for a showdown with government on the matter. Tambuwal’s closing remark was welcome by a standing ovation from members. President Jonathan sat in the second row of the raised platform in the hallowed chamber of the House of Representatives beaming with smile as the two principal officers expressed the feelings of the National Assembly. Obviously, both Mark and Tambuwal were speaking the minds of the people and this has definitely put the President in a very tight corner on how to confront the issue of fuel subsidy. No wonder he was silent on it in the budget. However that does not mean that the budget was not without its own very good sides, which require a lot of courage for government to implement. For instance, while the ban and high tariff on some imported foodstuffs is commendable, the government has not provided any alternative for the looming scarcity or high cost of foodstuffs that will follow. As Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi stated, the allocation to the security sector was four times what was given to health.
“What is going into the security is six times what we are spending for power. The prioritisation of out spending is not reflective of what is happening in our economy. If we spend more on agriculture, which can provide jobs, we won’t worry about security. This brings us to the real issue of our discussion. If Nigeria has successfully escaped the protests that greeted year 2011, we must be very careful not to plunge the country into an unending strike which the labour and the civil societies are already warming for. It will be in the best interest of the government to look inward and be very careful in our fiscal policy that still has the carryover of high recurrent expenditure giving more rooms for corruption while capital vote remains at 30 percent. If government can swap the vote of recurrent expenditure for capital expenditure, it means there will be provision of more infrastructures and there will be more jobs for the people. The present state of government being the highest employer of labour in the country is a reversal of what we used to be in the 70s and early 80s. Juicy jobs in the country today are found only in government service which allows for lots of corruption through bureaucratic bottlenecks and except the private sector is allowed to run the economy of this country as it used to be before and as it is in other nations of the world then we shall continue to rigmarole at the same spot with our vast untapped natural and human resources. But still this budget is pregnant; however the manner of delivery and the kind of baby it will deliver is in the hand of GEJ who is the driver of this nation today. But whatever decision that will be taken must always take into consideration of the fact that the masses of this nation are already overburdened.
END
By Sola Shittu
This year has been tagged the year of protests. In fact Times International Man of the Year is the protester. As soon as we launch into the first month of the year, the protests started in the North African countries spreading through Europe, forcing prominent Arab leaders like Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Ghadaffi out of office. But unlike Mubarak, Ghadaffi was not lucky; he lost his life in the battle to remain in office even after spending 42 years. Protest still continues in Syria with the Syrian leader launching attacks on his people like Ghadaffi. It is not certain yet what will happen to him but there is ominous sign of impending doom for him since he has started going the way of Ghadaffi by fighting, shooting and killing his own people. The black African countries in the west, east, central and southern Africa, have remained unperturbed by the orgy of protests spreading like wild fire in the Arab world. Nigeria in particular lacks the protest culture but as President Jonathan presented the 2012 budget to the National Assembly last Tuesday, he was silent on the time bomb; the fuel subsidy removal with only a comment that he would liberalise the downstream sector of the oil industry to provide more employment. But how he would do it was something he kept to his chest. That Tuesday in the National Assembly was something else. It was a day that relived the beauty and power of democracy. The President was this time around facing his “bosses” (the people); to present a budget proposal of N4.749 trillion with security gulping a whopping N931.91 billion, a proposal which seems discomforting to many of the lawmakers who are insisting that Jonathan must justify it. The Power sector follows the security with N161.42, Works, N180.8billion, Education excluding UBE, PTDF and ETF, N400.15 billion, Agric N78.98, Health, N282.77, Water resources, N59.66, Aviation, N49.23. Others are Transport N54.83, Land and Housing, N26.49, Science and Technology, N18.31.
Before the budget was presented to the joint session of the National Assembly, Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator David Mark fired the first salvo in his opening address by criticising poor implementation of budget by government which to him has not matched the words of government as economic policies often lack continuity and projects are needlessly discarded or abandoned.
To him, the country has what it takes to be a great nation or a world power. “But we have never challenged ourselves sufficiently over the years to attain this desired goal.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, was not lenient in his address to the President too. Tambuwal came hard on Jonathan asking him to do something and very quickly before this house collapses on all of us. “The truth is, there is no better signal that a government is alive to its responsibility than through its strict adherence to its own budget proposal”. It is very clear that the National Assembly is not against subsidy removal, but the fears remain on how the matter will be presented to the electorate and the public at large without a serious damage to their political career. Many of the lawmakers fear that they might lose their bid to return to the National Assembly if the matter is presented to members of their constituencies who are already warming up for a showdown with government on the matter. Tambuwal’s closing remark was welcome by a standing ovation from members. President Jonathan sat in the second row of the raised platform in the hallowed chamber of the House of Representatives beaming with smile as the two principal officers expressed the feelings of the National Assembly. Obviously, both Mark and Tambuwal were speaking the minds of the people and this has definitely put the President in a very tight corner on how to confront the issue of fuel subsidy. No wonder he was silent on it in the budget. However that does not mean that the budget was not without its own very good sides, which require a lot of courage for government to implement. For instance, while the ban and high tariff on some imported foodstuffs is commendable, the government has not provided any alternative for the looming scarcity or high cost of foodstuffs that will follow. As Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi stated, the allocation to the security sector was four times what was given to health.
“What is going into the security is six times what we are spending for power. The prioritisation of out spending is not reflective of what is happening in our economy. If we spend more on agriculture, which can provide jobs, we won’t worry about security. This brings us to the real issue of our discussion. If Nigeria has successfully escaped the protests that greeted year 2011, we must be very careful not to plunge the country into an unending strike which the labour and the civil societies are already warming for. It will be in the best interest of the government to look inward and be very careful in our fiscal policy that still has the carryover of high recurrent expenditure giving more rooms for corruption while capital vote remains at 30 percent. If government can swap the vote of recurrent expenditure for capital expenditure, it means there will be provision of more infrastructures and there will be more jobs for the people. The present state of government being the highest employer of labour in the country is a reversal of what we used to be in the 70s and early 80s. Juicy jobs in the country today are found only in government service which allows for lots of corruption through bureaucratic bottlenecks and except the private sector is allowed to run the economy of this country as it used to be before and as it is in other nations of the world then we shall continue to rigmarole at the same spot with our vast untapped natural and human resources. But still this budget is pregnant; however the manner of delivery and the kind of baby it will deliver is in the hand of GEJ who is the driver of this nation today. But whatever decision that will be taken must always take into consideration of the fact that the masses of this nation are already overburdened.
END
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Who is after Roli Bode George
By Sola Shittu
The incident in the senate on Wednesday last week reminded one of the sad tales of Chief Olabode George, the former Chairman of the Nigeria ports authority, NPA, South West Vice Chairman and Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). Bode George was noted for his role in the overrun of the entire five South West states for the PDP in 2007 without using bulldozer. An effort that earned him the elevation from Vice Chairman South West to Deputy National Chairman, (South) of the PDP and the juicy position of the Chairman of NPA. Bode George was at the peak of his political career and everything seemed to be working for him when he had an Humpty Dumpty fall which landed him in kirikiri prison with prison uniform. Yet, he remains a PDP chieftain notorious for his powerful influence on the party within and outside the prison. But our attention to day is not on Bode George but on Roli Bode George, his youthful wife whose appointment as a member of the National Population Commission Board is receiving criticism from the three senators from Lagos State who described her as a non indigene of the state. Bode George has always blamed his predicament on the ACN leaders in Lagos State, particular the ersthwhile governor of the state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu the cut throat cold war between Tinubu and Bode George is legendary. Both political gladiators see each other not only as rival but a threat to their political status in the south west. It was on this premise that the trio of senators Oluremi Tinubu, Gbenga Ashafa and Ganiyu Solomon rose against the appointment of Roli Bode George by Mr. President as a member of the National Population Commission board, a post describe as very sensitive to the state. However their opposition could not have its way in the hallowed chamber of the senate predominantly dominated by the PDP members, her appointment scaled through and the ACN senators were aggrieved. They rushed from the chamber to the press corps room to express their displeasure at the development. Ganiyu Solomon was not around but his interest was adequately represented by his two other colleagues, senators Remi Tinubu and Gbenga Ashafa. Both senators argued that the president erred in disregarding the letter of the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola seeking the president’s pleasure to nominate the state representatives in the commission. According to them Roli is already a member of two other federal boards and therefore should not be appointed again since she was not the only one in the state. To them, the commission deserves a better representation from Lagos State than Roli because the work of that commission requires somebody who should have the feelings of the people. They wondered why the input of the governor on the matter was ignored by the president adding that even with the protest letter from the senators to the screening committee; the nominated ought to have been rejected. And this where Nigeria politics do not cease to amaze me and I used to wonder why we fret a lot on mundane issue, in as much as I would agree, and totally, with the Lagos senators that appointment into the National population commission Board is a very sensitive one, but one would not agree with the argument that Roli should be disqualified because she is not an indigene of the state. Honestly speaking such argument is coming from a very wrong position after all it is a known fact that senator Oluremi Tinubu who is a senator representing Lagos State, in the senate (a much greater sensitive position) is only a Lagosian by marriage. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Roli like distinguish senator Remi Tinubu is also married to a Lagosian so the same law of citizenship by marriage which applied to the distinguish senator should also apply to Roli who is now a member of the National Population Commission Board although I sympathize with the ACN senator because their representative this time around is not from the ruling party in the state. But that is politics for you if it is so difficult for any PDP man to get elected into any position in Lagos state then their only consolation will be to look up to the ruling party at the federal for whatever they can get. This is politics and in politics you can not win all the time. But the point raised by the senator for a strong representation in the commission is a serious one especially with the controversy trailing the population figure of Lagos state in the last census. However one needs to ask who can be more Lagosian than a woman who is married to a lagosian. If by marriage Roli loses even her right to bear her father’s name and even be buried in her father’s home if she dies then she can stand, raise her head and call herself a Lagosian. Gbogbowa la l’Eko, this Lagos belongs to all of us. It is obvious that the argument canvassed against Roli is just a mere politicking. Let me make a brief roll call of past governor and commissioner of Lagos from Lateef Jakande who is from Kwara State, Rauf Aregesola, now a governor is Osun State was a commissioner under former governor Tinubu, Adebayo Adewusi, a gubernatorial aspirant in Oyo state who is from Eruwa was a commissioner also under Tinubu, Senator Femi Lanlehin, an Ibadan man now representing Oyo south in the senate was also a former aide to Tinubu so who among all these names is a better Lagosian than someone who is married to lagosian. The answer to this question can be found right among the Lagos Senators. This is Lagos for God sake, centre of excellence not of unnecessary politicking bickering and acrimonies. Eko o ni baje o.
END
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Boko Haram: The Ndume saga and the National Assembly
By Sola Shittu
The news of the arrest of Senator Ali Ndume in connection with the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group was a very disturbing one not only to the senate but the entire National Assembly. Ndume was the minority leader of the House of Representative under the ANPP in the 6th Assembly whose notable role in stabilizing that riotous Assembly was very significant before shifting camp to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) towards the end of the 6th Assembly life span to obtain his senatorial ticket for Borno South Senatorial District. Since then the quintessential Ndume became silent in the House even in the face of intimidation and funny harassment from colleagues he had to remain silent. Since then it was like the voice of opposition in the hallowed green chamber has died down even though minority leadership position was immediately taken over by Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (ACNagos) but it was a different thing entirely. So on Monday when the name of Ndume was mentioned by the former spokesman of Boko Haram Ali Sanda Umar Konduga as one of the sponsors of the group it was a rude shock to the entire National Assembly. As soon as the senate resumed on Tuesday it immediately went into executive session to discuss the burning issue of Ndume and other pressing national matters. The arrest raised serious questions on the integrity of the National Assembly therefore the senate has to take a decision on whether to stand by one of them who is facing trial for sponsoring terrorism in the spirit of es spirit de corps or live him to his fate. It is a delicate matter that has attracted international attention and indeed the senate or anyone making comment on this matter have to be very careful. The Boko Haram activities have put Maiduguri and indeed the entire country in the global map of terrorism. But be that as it may, the senate decided to allow the law to take its full course while at the same time standing by its member who is presumed innocent until proving guilty in the court of law. Fortunately Ndume himself has pleaded not guilty to the charges but the question is what is likely to be the implication of a senator of the federal republic being caught in the web of terrorism. First, it is going to create a serious stigma in the image of the entire National Assembly which the two chambers may find difficult to cope with. Secondly, it may reduce the integrity and the high level of respect Nigerians have for the National Assembly especially the senate. But there is also the pertinent question on whether Ndume can come out of this unscathed if he does what is likely to be the impact on the security system of the country? Some are also raising question on the political implication on the ruling government. While the sympathizers of Ndume are pointing fingers at political persecution, could this be true? If so then who is after Ndume and why would Ndume a quintessential lawmaker who has had a glorious carrier as a federal lawmaker be involved in the act of terrorism? What would be his motive? What did he intend to achieve and how many other federal lawmakers and notable dignitaries are still out there enjoying their freedom while silently sponsoring the killings of innocent souls? How many more will be arrested on this matter? There are indeed so many questions begging for answer on the arrest of Ndume because he is too gentlemanly looking to be involved in this kind of acts. On political persecution, the National Assembly is already awashed with the insinuation that Ndume’s political opponents may have a hand in his predicament. Ndume had a rough run with his former party, All Nigeria People party, (ANPP) before coming to the senate. He sought the senatorial ticket from ANPP but was denied. Determined to pursue his ambition, Ndume pressed for the same ticket at the PDP and it was immediately given to him. The PDP was not oblivious of the rising profile of Ndume as the Minority Leader of the 6th Assembly and the threat he posed on several occasions to the ruling party in the National Assembly with his intellectual contributions and critical position to the ruling party’s government policies. And so while the ANPP was battling him on the senatorial ticket the PDP was busy dangling the carrot before him and the pressure from his supporters was too much for Ndume to ignore. There is no doubt that Ndume is well loved and admired by many in the National Assembly having passed through the two chambers in a stretch of eight years making impact along the way but now our dear friend is in his trying period and perhaps that is one reason why the senate choose to stand by him, at least for now, until proven guilty by the court of law. No one know where this swinging pendulum will swing to any moment but the gravity of the situation is enormous to all because terrorism is an international phenomenon especially when one remembers the attendant death toll that followed each bombing carried out from October 1st 2010 when Nigeria marked her 50th birthday. After Ndume scaled through the election to defeat the ANPP candidate Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir and clinch the senate seat in the last April election he became serious threat to the ANPP in Borno State. Besides, Ndume is part of the PDP team challenging the governorship election in Borno. Few days to his arrest, Ndume led a group of PDP chieftains in Borno including former Governor Mohammed Goni to address a press conference on the state of the suite before the election tribunal in the state. At this juncture, it will be an understatement to ask the State security Service (SSS) to do a thorough job on this matter because all eyes are them now and every Nigerian want to see where this matter will surely end because it is a known fact that politics is behind the Boko Haram insurgence in Maiduguri and it may have to be address politically as we anxiously await more arrest promised by the SSS on this matter. And yet as one sat writing this column the memory of the October first, force headquarters, Un Building, Abacha barrack, Zuba, Sule and the most resent Yobe blasts flashed through my mind. The charred remains of human body, a lump of human flesh thrown on the main street, blood mingled with fire at every scene of blasts flashed through my mind causing a slight cold and wave of electric shock all over my body. The truth of the matter is that honestly this matter is better left to the security agencies as one joins other Nigerians to watch this unfolding drama loaded with lots of suspense and pray for our dear country.
END
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Yet another extension
Written by Sola Shittu,Tel:2348038502103
(Text only please) e: solasitu@yahoo.co.uk
It is the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It is the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live
– Don Williams
The above lines are quoted from one of the songs of Don Williams, a legendary American country music musician noted for his deep thought in composing songs. Actually the title of the song is Rose, a vivid description of the story of love and the pains attached with it. It is also an encapsulating song that started with just one cord from the piano in a geo-metric progression that later resulted into a perfect harmony with other instruments and embellishment that brought out the aesthetics of country music. It’s definitely not a lazy man’s job. But my concern today is not really music and its beauty, though my life and indeed many African lives are not completed without music in the day. But my attention was drawn into those particular four lines having watched closely events in the Senate of the National Assembly in the last few years where budget extension has become a recurrent decimal in our national affair. And that is where the theme of fears that appeared boldly in three of the four lines and silently in the second to the last line comes to mind. It is as if our leaders are bedeviled by the fears or lack of courage to stand up at least for once and say enough is enough for the ship of this nation from drifting and tossing about in the storming ocean of politics and mal-administration of this country. You say what do I mean? Take for instance this issue of virement. Obviously for those of us in the National Assembly, the foundation has been laid for virement of the 2011 budget just as it is been laid already for the 2012 budget. For how can one explain a situation where the President is presenting the budget for the New Year at the middle of the last month of the year to the National Assembly? Definitely, before the National Assembly commences consideration of it and the defence by the MDAs it is going to take another two months. And after that the joint committees of the two chambers of National Assembly will sit for harmonisation which will take another round of lobbying both internal and external in the National Assembly and of course with tension already mounting on government’s plans to remove the fuel subsidy by January next year only God knows how long it will take to pass the budget in the National Assembly without distraction from the public, labour and civil societies already poised for a show down with government on the planned removal of fuel subsidy. For the past five years, our budget has been subject of extension from one fiscal year to another and yet consistently with less than fifty or sometime forty percent implementation. Last week the National Assembly endorsed the extension of the 2011 budget till March 2011 through virement proposals from Mr. President in respect of the 2011 Appropriation Act for nine MDAs.
How long will it take our leaders to wake up from their slumber and lift their feet to the sweet melody of change going on in the air from Nigerians yearning and desperately hungry for true development? Our government is rather too involved in politicking than governance. Every year the budget performance is always poor and below the average line and yet a lot of money have gone down the drain of recurrent expenditure. On Thursday, the Senate was categorical on this, as it called on the executive to ensure that it returned excess recurrent to the treasury.
Senate Appropriation committee chairman while presenting his report on the virement to the senate said, “we find it difficult to recommend for approval the virement proposal on the 2011 recurrent budget as requested by the executive,” even as he gave condition that “even if a request for extension of the current budget is made it will only affect capital component”.
It was at this juncture that he spilled the bin on the discovery of irregular transfer of funds among the ministries. The senator said virement should be carried out within MDAs and not the transfer of funds from one ministry to another which amounts to alteration of the 2011 Appropriation act if it is approved.
While joining the House of Representatives in approving the sum of N31, 859,945,730 supplementary appropriations on the virement proposals, the senate said it was reluctant in approving the virement because it’s just about three weeks to the end of the fiscal year.
Now let me come back to the Don Williams’ poem above as it relates to our country Nigeria. The chicken-hearted ones are always afraid to take steps that will change their destinies for two reasons. First is the fear of failure. When a man is caged by fear, he would not want to make bold move because of the thought that he might fail and secondly because he paid too much attention to side comments of spectators some of whom are consciously waiting for him to berth. The second reason for fear is the fear of coping with challenges of failure, which are probably too hard for the defeated to swallow. In this case, if we fail to destroy our fears and face the problems of nation building then we remain in the cocoon of the failures that had a humpty dumpty fall and never recovered again. It is the dream fear of waking that never takes chance. For a man to be complete Homo sapiens, he must take the full course of life. The same applies to a nation that fails to take a chance when the opportunity comes. If Nigeria as a country continues to have carry-over of every fiscal year, then it means we are having chicken-hearted leaders who are afraid of dying and never learn to live.
END
Written by Sola Shittu,Tel:2348038502103
(Text only please) e: solasitu@yahoo.co.uk
It is the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
It is the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It is the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live
– Don Williams
The above lines are quoted from one of the songs of Don Williams, a legendary American country music musician noted for his deep thought in composing songs. Actually the title of the song is Rose, a vivid description of the story of love and the pains attached with it. It is also an encapsulating song that started with just one cord from the piano in a geo-metric progression that later resulted into a perfect harmony with other instruments and embellishment that brought out the aesthetics of country music. It’s definitely not a lazy man’s job. But my concern today is not really music and its beauty, though my life and indeed many African lives are not completed without music in the day. But my attention was drawn into those particular four lines having watched closely events in the Senate of the National Assembly in the last few years where budget extension has become a recurrent decimal in our national affair. And that is where the theme of fears that appeared boldly in three of the four lines and silently in the second to the last line comes to mind. It is as if our leaders are bedeviled by the fears or lack of courage to stand up at least for once and say enough is enough for the ship of this nation from drifting and tossing about in the storming ocean of politics and mal-administration of this country. You say what do I mean? Take for instance this issue of virement. Obviously for those of us in the National Assembly, the foundation has been laid for virement of the 2011 budget just as it is been laid already for the 2012 budget. For how can one explain a situation where the President is presenting the budget for the New Year at the middle of the last month of the year to the National Assembly? Definitely, before the National Assembly commences consideration of it and the defence by the MDAs it is going to take another two months. And after that the joint committees of the two chambers of National Assembly will sit for harmonisation which will take another round of lobbying both internal and external in the National Assembly and of course with tension already mounting on government’s plans to remove the fuel subsidy by January next year only God knows how long it will take to pass the budget in the National Assembly without distraction from the public, labour and civil societies already poised for a show down with government on the planned removal of fuel subsidy. For the past five years, our budget has been subject of extension from one fiscal year to another and yet consistently with less than fifty or sometime forty percent implementation. Last week the National Assembly endorsed the extension of the 2011 budget till March 2011 through virement proposals from Mr. President in respect of the 2011 Appropriation Act for nine MDAs.
How long will it take our leaders to wake up from their slumber and lift their feet to the sweet melody of change going on in the air from Nigerians yearning and desperately hungry for true development? Our government is rather too involved in politicking than governance. Every year the budget performance is always poor and below the average line and yet a lot of money have gone down the drain of recurrent expenditure. On Thursday, the Senate was categorical on this, as it called on the executive to ensure that it returned excess recurrent to the treasury.
Senate Appropriation committee chairman while presenting his report on the virement to the senate said, “we find it difficult to recommend for approval the virement proposal on the 2011 recurrent budget as requested by the executive,” even as he gave condition that “even if a request for extension of the current budget is made it will only affect capital component”.
It was at this juncture that he spilled the bin on the discovery of irregular transfer of funds among the ministries. The senator said virement should be carried out within MDAs and not the transfer of funds from one ministry to another which amounts to alteration of the 2011 Appropriation act if it is approved.
While joining the House of Representatives in approving the sum of N31, 859,945,730 supplementary appropriations on the virement proposals, the senate said it was reluctant in approving the virement because it’s just about three weeks to the end of the fiscal year.
Now let me come back to the Don Williams’ poem above as it relates to our country Nigeria. The chicken-hearted ones are always afraid to take steps that will change their destinies for two reasons. First is the fear of failure. When a man is caged by fear, he would not want to make bold move because of the thought that he might fail and secondly because he paid too much attention to side comments of spectators some of whom are consciously waiting for him to berth. The second reason for fear is the fear of coping with challenges of failure, which are probably too hard for the defeated to swallow. In this case, if we fail to destroy our fears and face the problems of nation building then we remain in the cocoon of the failures that had a humpty dumpty fall and never recovered again. It is the dream fear of waking that never takes chance. For a man to be complete Homo sapiens, he must take the full course of life. The same applies to a nation that fails to take a chance when the opportunity comes. If Nigeria as a country continues to have carry-over of every fiscal year, then it means we are having chicken-hearted leaders who are afraid of dying and never learn to live.
END
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