LOSING EYE SIGHT IS A TERRIFYING PROSPECT

                   

When last did you have a medical check up? Or to be precise and relate the question to the above topic, when last did you have an eye test? I trust many of us have never undertaken any in the last one or even two decades and many more of us have never at all. Ok, here is the thing:

Very early this year, one of my friends was hit with a tennis ball on his right eye during one of our evening trainings. Quite a platitude for this accident to happen during Fives trainings. But I tell you, it is not a good experience for one to find him self in this position as it is always very discomforting. To moderate the pain by making it easier to bear one is expected not to touch or wipe away the impending tears from the effected eye but to bear the pain to subside for about 30 minutes to an hour. If this is observed, then you are good for tomorrow’s game otherwise you will have to bear the consequences of not applying those palliative measures. As I write this piece, I feel sorry for my friend who is now confined to his house and in complete darkness for not showing restrain and adherence to the basics.

Barely 3 months ago, I had to go for eye test on the advice from many of my friends who noticed that at my age and with the way I use the screens I still do not use medicated eye glasses. This, they were pleasantly surprised.  You see, I have been on computers for more than a decade now and had my first machine in 2005. I have never been so glued to the computers like I was in the last 10 months putting in the average 5+ hours each day. When I am not looking at my screen designs I am typing letters or engaged on these social sites surrounding me on all sides constantly refocusing and repositioning my eyes on different text at different distances which always leave my eyes very tired by the end of the day. I didn’t realise this was having a great devastating effect on my eyes. The tests results indicate that I had to go for reading and travelling glasses. That was not any surprise to me as I was expecting that, in fact, I had already in mind the type of frame I would use for the glasses even before I went to the clinic. But the surprising aspect of the results was the fact that the Ophthalmologist indicated that he had noticed an ailment with my central vision which requires a more sophisticated equipment to diagnose. Sophisticated what? I quarried almost immediately. It is a certain thing I noticed within the retina that … That what?  I quickly interjected him again. In annoyance but professionally he told me that ‘the central vision helps you to see details, colours and shapes with clarity and all actions for the central vision take place in a spot on the retina called the macula which is one of the areas to weaken as we grow in age. The statement made my ‘body weak’. You mean I am going blind? I asked, rhetorically. He didn’t answer and I left the clinic without even collecting the referral. I was dumbfounded, totally confused and began to wonder in consternation. It is apparent that my left eye is defective since I could not even read the alphabets at the clinic with my right eye closed. As I drove out of the vicinity and to convince my self of my predicament  I would closed my left eye to see with the right eye and vice versa but each time I did so the difference became so glaring, so clear (7up), just like chalk and cheese.

The following morning I drove to Makka Medina Eye Hospital Kano where my left eye was diagnosed to have about 40% devastated by glaucoma. The Chief Consultant congratulated me for coming to the hospital. He said further delay could have escalated the problem and that would have caused me the whole eye and eventually it will go on to the right eye and within a short time I will be rendered blind. I would have become just like my friend who did not realise glaucoma had consumed his eyes and with the tennis ball accident he is now a complete blind man.

The import of this rhapsody is to strike awareness and to ensure that we attend medical check regularly. I know none of us has ever thought about the possibility of going blind but the chances are very high now as statistics on blindness in Nigeria stated that 41 out of every 100 Nigerian adults over 40 years have a sight impediment while 41 out of every 1000 are completely blind. It also stated that 1 out of 3 of these blindness cases are caused by avoidable conditions like cataract and glaucoma. It is therefore advisable for us to visit an eye clinic to determine how healthy our eyes are to avoid being in my position and that of my friend. More elementary, DO THIS NOW: cover your right eye with your hand to see how bad your left eye has really gone. Do the same for the other eye and that will determine if you really need to see an ophalmologist.

IN SUPPORT OF PROFESSIONALISM

                                   

More than two decades ago an interesting episode took place at the GRA Katsina where the owner of one beautiful house, in fact it was the best constructed house in Katsina then, both in terms of the architectural designs and the serene environment on which the house was constructed complained to my brother how the landscape of the house was a source of concern to him. He told my brother how he wasted so much money and time on landscaping the house but to no avail. He was advised by one Julius Berger expatriate staff to see my brother for technical advice. His grouse was that on three occasions he planted different exotic flowers to beautify his house and for the same occasions the flowers were destroyed by yet to know who. The following morning he would ask the top soil of the whole area to be removed and new one brought in and another set of followers would be planted and this continued for about six months or more. My brother then set out for a reconnaissance of the area to determine how the work would start. After about 30 minutes in the area he did not see anything unusual that will prevent flowers and other plants from growing. He then thought of taking sample of the soil to test its quality and determine if it is good for landscaping purposes but after packing some quantities he noticed some dead black insects and decided to take both the sand and dead insects along. The following morning he drove to Bayero University Kano where he went to the botanical laboratory of the University to have the soil test. Meanwhile, as the soil test was going on he decided to go to the library with the dead insects and after about 30 minutes on an insect’s encyclopaedia he found out the name of the insect and immediately formed an impression that it was the insects that were responsible for the destruction of the flowers. He further found out that the insects stay right inside the ground about 18 inches from the top soil but only come out at midnight and would eat up the flowers for about one hour then return back to their base and they would return the following night to eat up what was left. After getting this information he left the botanical garden without even minding the results of the soil test. Immediately he came back to the house he asked the labourers around to start to dig through the soil profile into about 20 inches deep and in the course of that they met several hundreds of dead insects until they finally met hundreds of the live insects living in cluster and unionism. Insecticide and insectifuge were immediately applied to kill the insects and after about two days new sand was brought in to fill all the trenches made after removing all the fossils and residues of the insects. The result of that professionalism is the lush green flowers you always see when ever you go to Alhaji Labo Tarka’s house near the Commissioner of Police’s house at the GRA.

I think professionalism is not just being good at what you do but it has a lot to do with how you do it and the result you get from that. If you want to be successful in your business or any chosen career you will have to get used to being a professional. In which case you must have passed through some level of education and in the course of that have acquired some certification. One of the greatest problems we encounter these days is the fact that we have more pseudo professionals (gyara samun sa’a) in our midst than the actual professionals.  We have them as teachers, nurses, contractors, mechanics and others that you will not even know until you require their services. In order to move our state forward in this time of Internet technology we surely need professionals in teaching (forget the debate whether teaching is a profession or not), nurses, architects, Surveyors, builders (not of Idi Kwado’s brand) to propel us to break the glass ceiling.

THE RE-USE OF GRAVES AND THE NEED FOR CEMETERY MANAGEMENT IN KATSINA

                    

I had to tarry from concluding the rhapsody on APC with the title ‘Reincarnation of the black sheep’ I started and was supposed to be on net since the last two weeks  to enable me pass one or two comments on the above stated topic. I have always wanted to write on this issue long time ago but for one reason or the other I was not able to do so. The opportunity came last week Friday after attending the burial of one Assistant Director of Immigration but then the Ramadan schedules started to take toll on me and I became rusty. The urge to write rekindled yesterday when I was at the same Gidan Dawa Cemetery at the instance of one of my friends whose wife died and was buried at the grave yard at about 3pm, thursday afternoon.

I was in the company of about 4 people waiting for the corpse to be interred, some grave yard discussions ensued. I always hated discussions during interment but sometimes you can’t help being drag in to it. One elderly person at the site was a loquacious but seemed knowledgeable opined that cemeteries are grossly inadequate in Katsina but he was swiftly interjected by one other person near me who I later found to be a very senior land officer from the Ministry of lands. He gave us a complete run down of the grave yards in the city and we all agreed that the number of the grave yards in the city is sufficient even with the high frequency of death.  Another person nearby sounded so sarcastic suggested that the frequency at which people die in Katsina is occasioned by PDP maladministration that subject the citizenry into abject poverty. No medicines in our hospitals despite the lies that have been going round on certain category of people receiving free medicines, no portable drinking water, no food, no nothing! But I was not interested in those PDP escapades as the internment was rounded up with individual prayers for the repose of the dead and for the bereaved the fortitude to bear the loss. We went out of the cemetery just like we came in, minding our steps so as not to put your feet on certain graves. This is so because the graves are jam parked and clustered together. There is no any form of planning as graves are dug according to the availability of the space. Most of the times bereaved families spend a large chunk of time looking for available space to bury their dead. This is even more difficult if you have to bury a corpse in the night. My aunt died about two weeks ago as we were about to break our fast but for reasons best known to my uncles we had to bury her that night.  We therefore trooped to the new Dantakum grave yard at about 9 pm with more than half of us holding different types of  lamps and torch lights of different shapes and sizes  and of course of different illuminations. We really had a difficult time as we had to go with virtually everything and most important we spent considerable amount of time fretting for a space to dig the grave because it is not just readily available. This is not good enough.

As it is now, the 3 major cemeteries in the city namely Danmarna, Dantakum and the new Dantakuma near the general hospital are full to the brim as such new ones must be opened and in order to have organised cemeteries the following measures must be put into consideration:  A Cemetery management committee be set by the State government and be charged with the responsibility of managing the grave yards we have all over the state or local government as the case may be. The employment of skilled labourers for the preparation of graves this is not only to ensure that graves are dug in the correct location and at the correct shapes and depth, but also to relieve bereaved family of having to dig the grave for a recently dead relative. The new cemetery must be designed in such a way that even motor vehicle could pass through the grave yard without marching the graves and footpaths properly delineated. The graves are to be designed in such an order that will portray planning and orderliness, a systematic layout of graves in rows so that in the event that it is full we can start from the beginning and re- use the graves without the fear of having to come through fresh one.  Some facilities such as bore wells, pails and buckets, some digging implements, flood lights, cemetery registers must be provided. I think the onus now lies with the State Government to let us have this one. Let this one be a legacy the PDP will bequeath to us.

WHAT MANNER OF REPRESENTATION…

It was on the 29th of May 1999 when democratic rule was restored in the country after several years of military interruptions. The 1999 constitution ensures the political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives; it is the political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them. The onus therefore lies with the electorates to elect and be the watchdog of their respective representatives, the representatives on their own part are required to serve the people honestly, conscientiously and loyally. The people hold the voting power to decide whether or not a member should be returned after the first four years. Unreasonable, stingy, unproductive and negative members should know that they may not serve for more than a term in the legislature. A lot will depend on his positive contribution on the floor of the house and what he is able to do for his constituency in terms of developmental programmes and other dividends of democracy. In Katsina state, from 1999 to date we have had several representatives from across the spectrum of the popular political parties and I think each of these parties have had a fair share of these representatives in the state house of assembly and the Federal seats. In all these representations it is instructive to acknowledge that while some have proven their mettle to be first among equals others are/ were mere bench warmers. It is on record that one of our representatives was made the Speaker of the house of representatives, two others were majority leaders at the senate at different times, several were made and are still Chairmen of most powerful committees in both the Senate and the House of representatives and at a time one of our representatives was a minority leader at the red chambers.. This is a feat that I don’t think there is any state in the country that has marched these credentials. But it is sad to note that the majority of our representatives in all the avenues of legislation i.e the state house of assembly, the House of Representatives and the Senate amount to naught. Wallahi, some of them have no business being there! At one time, one of our representatives at the Senate was adjudged to be the worst senator as he had never contributed to any debate for 4 years. I will not be surprised if many of our representatives do not know their powers, functions and as well as their limitations as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Surely this is not good enough. It is imperative to point out that our representatives should resist the temptation of being parochial, seeing themselves only as representing small, individual constituencies. While it is true that every member has been elected to represent a constituency, he should put the interests of the entire state and the country above everything else. After all, laws made through legislation are applicable to all members and not restricted to a particular person or constituency. It is therefore necessary to draw a line between being a member, reps or senator and being a member of a political party. While partisan political party interests will remain with all members, yet such interests must not be allowed to override state and national interests. In a democratic, multi –party system as we are operating now, it is only natural that one candidate will win while others have to lose the race for various elective offices but once elected, the successful candidate should be magnanimous and be less partisan in his approach to official matters. It is against this background that I always have a hard feeling against some of our representatives who are in the habit of buying all sort of things ranging from vehicles to food stuffs to a section of the electorates and in most cases the beneficiaries cannot even maintain these vehicles to even fuel them is a herculean task and in the end they sell them at a take away prize. To my mind, this approach to say the least is shabby because I think by this time we should be looking beyond individuals, we should rise above hate and do things to the Glory of the Lord and the generality of the people, that is the way to greatness and prosperity. But if you look at it from another angle these members are 100% better than those who don’t give a hoot to the flight of the electorates, whenever they are in town nobody sees them. They hide themselves in the clubs, where you need to be a member before you can get access inside, membership there goes up to N100K. We are lucky our member does not own a house in Kaduna otherwise he would have relocated but just give him one year in office and see what is going to happen. You see, that is what they always do, they have two houses one in Abuja and other in Kaduna, they come to Kaduna for weekend and Tuesday the following week they in Abuja for usual EEYS or NAYS. The case of one representative is even more poignant, he too distributed motorcycles in his own town but what made his case laughable is the fact that he gave money to people from his own local government area and forgot the other two local government areas that made up the rest of his constituency but you know what? The money he distributed was in form of a loan, can you just imagine, LOAN. This learned representative is not aware of one of the fundamental principles of the CPC as a party is to free the masses from oppression by the ruling class, in all its manifestations. In essence what this portends is a great danger because as long as you cannot meet up the deadline for the payment your means of livelihood (your farm) is taken away from you. What manner of a representation? The People Democratic Party has made nonsense of our body politics to the extent that elected representatives must recoup the money they used during electioneering campaigns when they find themselves in office and this attitude seriously mar the progress of many communities. But we are very lucky here in Katsina as our representatives from the CPC block did not spend much to warrant any recouping, this is more than one year they are in office so even if they had, they must have recouped it by now. The remaining 3 years is for us: so we should see some dividends of democracy in all the constituencies these representatives come from. We don’t want perishables we want to see monuments and edifices; we don’t want your money we want to see structures. We don’t want you to sponsor any Tafsir during Ramadaan period but use that money to buy medicines in our hospitals. We don’t want any rice or sugar during Ramadaan we want you to create an enabling environment for our youth to break up the glass ceiling. I think we have the right to tell you what we need as all of you now owe. You all rode on the mighty shoulders of GMB to be where you are now as such we should dictate to you what we really want. We were there during the campaigns, you did not spend much, we saw what happened, we campaigned for you and we were there!!! But I think you have enough time to make a difference in our lives by complementing the seemingly little efforts of the state government. I was told that some of you would like to aspire for bigger positions; well, there is nothing wrong with that provided you wake up from your slumber. Let us see more of you on the floors of your respective assemblies, sponsor bills that have bearing with up- grading of our socio- economic status. Let us see more community based programmes in all your constituencies executed by your humble selves, then we would know that you are ready to accept more responsibilities. Allah shi taimaka. To us the electorates, my sincere advise is that we should rise above primordial sentiments if we want to progress as a people and as a state. We should collectively come together and come out with quality representatives. People who are ready to serve our cause, when they are talking in any forum you will be satisfied and say, yes! that is my representative. Not the type of deaf and dumb representatives we see lurking around our State and National Assemblies.

CPC CRISIS: ABRIDGED VERSION

Having read the various representations from respective members of this great group, I became more convinced that history has always been pregnant with some measures of uncertainties. If written hastily some degree of inconsistencies are likely to emerge and if it is left unwritten for a long time the degree of inconsistencies become greater. In order to keep the level of inconsistencies to the barest minimal I urge the students of political history amongst us to take up the gauntlet. This will enable our posterity have a balanced literature to fall back on whenever the political history of Katsina is brought to fore. From the discussions two issues were highlighted; the issue of imposition and the issue of antiparty. But if we are to respect history, the issue of imposition does not even arise. This is because in the first place a primary election took place on the 13th that produced a winner and was recognized by the Party headquarters but for one reason or the other, the other side contested, which is ok in any democratic setting. But what is not ok was for them to concoct another election because they have the backing of the state branch. I think that was the threshold of the crisis. But having gone through the process of litigation up to the highest federal court which has jurisdiction over all courts in the nation - the Supreme Court, the ideal thing for any sensible person to do was to respect the outcome of the court’s ruling but that was not to be so as the local branch of the party had other ideas. What became clear was the way the local branch took side with Yakubu Lado in total disregard to the party’s extant rules and procedures even at the determination of the case by the Apex court. This unbridgeable disparity was responsible for much talked antiparty spearheaded by the local CPC branch. To those of us who are conversant with the political history of Katsina state knew exactly what happened in 2007 governorship primary elections in the ANPP. Few days to the elections a clear cut aspirant was not determined by the ANPP, the party where GMB contested the presidential elections. An almost similar scenario with what happened during the CPC governorship primaries of 2011. The case was between Alhaji Abu Ibrahim and Mallam Nura Khaliel; the imbroglio took its toll on the party which led to its defeat by its arch enemy, the PDP. And what was a common phenomenon between both situations (2007 and 2011) gubernatorial party primaries was the presence of the chairman of the party and his cohorts. It is instructive to point out that in 2007; Masari, Mustapa, Saddiq and others from the PDP Reform were not there, infact, not even the PDP because it was solely ANPP affair. Yet, they were either unable or unwilling to come out with an acceptable candidate. They debilitated, they wasted time, they compromised? History repeating itself you can say! Now, is it fair for us to say that it was the chairman and his cohorts that deliberately scuttled the 2007 and 2011 party primaries and by extension denied the state of a purposeful leadership? Is it fair for us to say they were the contractor politicians as already insinuated by many people? Now, this brings me to the issue of antiparty activities. Since the Apex court’s ruling did not favour the local branch, the chairman and his cohorts decided to pitch their tent with the ruling party and I think this answers my second poser above. As I tried to prove in my piece that the much talked antiparty was not responsible for PDP’s Pyrrhic victory, the only thing the antiparty did was to serve as an alibi. At that time, HE the governor was so desperate to the extent even a seven year old child could be of help to him but if he knew his PDP’s rigging machine could work so effectively he wouldn’t have asked for anybody’s assistance. Knowing how our man is, he wouldn’t like to part with a dime. But seeing how the enormous wealth splashed on the people of Katsina during the parliamentary seats elections that amounted to naught he had no option than to hold anything tight even if it is a very sharp sword because he was drowning. He knew he needed more than money to be able to win the governorship elections no matter who was the candidate because it already dawned on him that he was up against the might of GMB and not any CPC candidate parse. Cases abound indicate where CPC did not present candidates for elections yet the party won overwhelmingly. It is not about who was the candidate but it was all about ‘ta buhari’ or ‘mai alkalami’ as prospective voters would say and not minding whether it was Lado or Masari all they were after was ‘sai mai gaskiya’. As any politician within the confines of CPC has to climb on the shoulders of GMB to become what he is today but if anybody feels the general has outlived his usefulness in the party then that person should think again or better still he can leave the party and join another one, this my reaction to those who feel the general should leave the party for some young Turks. In the end I will like to appeal to the national headquarters to reconsider its stand on those expelled members. If really they can show some remorse I see no reason why they shouldn’t be absorb again. The fight against the PDP is an enormous one; all hands must be on deck to see that we drive the monster out. So help us God!

CPC CRISIS IN KATSINA: AN OPEN LETTER TO DISTINGUISHED SENATOR AHMED SANI STORES AKA ‘MAIGEMU’

Dear Distinguished Senator, I should have written this letter to you long time ago but for one reason or the other I decided to tarry a while. But with the recent development and its aftermaths within the CPC in Katsina which relates to your explosion from the party together with six others, I think the procrastination has become a blessing in disguise. You will wonder why I decided to make this letter open on Facebook and specifically on KT Discussion group and Progress and Development Initiative Katsina. Well, it is because I feel there are certain people within these folds who are likely to share my views on what I intend to say to you and will surely add value on the subject and of course they may be some who will oppose and together we will engender a good discourse that will enable you accept my preposition or not. Albeit I haven’t seen your traces on facebook or any of the social network sites for that matter but am sure the message will reach you within a short time and may be that will encourage you to open up an account. I bet you won’t regret doing it as it will make you link up with former school mates, class mates and other friends you have not seen for some time. Ok, let us go; The crisis: As everyone now knows, there is none among the political parties in the country that is not going through one form of crisis or another. We have heard of suspensions and expulsions in almost all the parties in the country. It is a fact that certain party members that have not succeeded in getting elected or appointed into public offices become disgruntled and are subverting their colleagues and parties, others are simply jealous somebody else and not themselves that is so and so. Unenlightened and unsportsmanlike as this may be, it is a fact that such situations exist in almost all the parties. It is, therefore, not strange that the CPC, like any other political party is having its own share of internal crisis. The crisis in Katsina has polarized the party into two distinct camps i.e. Masari and Lado camps, this you are quite aware of and since then a lot has been said about the supremacy as well as the right of the party to discipline its erring members because any party that lacks built- in mechanism of discipline is destined to fail. The higher interest of the party must override those of its individual members no matter how highly placed they may be. It is undoubtedly part of party discipline that the extant rules, regulations and procedures of the party are complied with by all members. The crisis of CPC in Katsina is a great design of hypocrisy, insincerity and a diabolical plan to entrench sycophancy, nepotism and to further the move to link the party with its arch enemy- the PDP. This fact you may not be aware of: We may not have seen the end of the crisis because I understand that you and the other expelled members have sworn not to abide by the party’s directive and this brings me to the import of this letter to you. You see, Distinguished Sen, since when I learnt you are back in Nigeria and you decided to join politics I was overwhelmed with joy especially when I learnt you are joining the progressive train of the CPC. But when I learnt you are in the same sinking boat with the dissidents my heart became ‘black’. Infact that was the first time I contemplated writing this letter. This is because you don’t actually belong to that camp. I watched your campaigns from afar as we are in different sites but each time I saw in you a bulging young Politian, I saw bright future, I saw hope in you because that is what you actually represent, unfortunately, you allowed yourself to be used by those who don’t have sympathy for our future. These are people who are self centered, who are only concerned in what they can get not what they are ready to do for the people. But Alhamdulillah, we are vindicated as the greatest beneficiaries of the CPC crisis in Katsna are Danmusa and Lado. Mamman Abubakar Danmusa knew from the onset as the ‘learned one’ that he was fighting a war that he would never win, he was fighting against party supremacy which no any party member can win. It is so right from the beginning of time, it is the party that is responsible for fielding a candidate and this fact was echoed by the 2011 Electoral act. Danmusa is destroying your political ambitions because as long as you are fighting the party that is supposed to be the umbrella under which you contest elections then you will never be a candidate. If you like employ the services of all the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to present your case; you will still be in a vicious circle. It is my prayer that you detach yourself from Mamman Abubakar Danmusa because as long as you are on his side then you are liable to the offence of antiparty activities and I don’t think there is anybody who can help you out; unless if you are part of the same agenda of bringing the party down. I don’t want to believe you are part of it. By the way, does Danmusa has any stake in the CPC? Wallahi, he doesn’t, he is done with it! He got his hands full with ‘salt and pepper’, he got one of his sons a commissioner, another a legislative assistance, another one waiting to a council chairman. You think he cares about you? No! He is only following a diabolical script to destroy the CPC as part of the agenda that he was paid for. Finally, Distnguished Sen. As the countdown to 2015 begins, the earlier you cut off the umbilical cord that links you with Danmusa and anything antiparty the better for you and your political survival, he has no value to add to you and your aspirations. So withdraw your name from the subsisting case and make up with your party. You have plenty of future ahead of you don’t squander it for the sake somebody who is not worth it. Please read between the lines. Sincerely Yours, ISA AHMED

KATSINA MINORITY LEADER ESCAPES YOUTH MOLESTATION: AN OPEN LETTER

My dear Hon, I just read this disturbing news item from the daily trust news papers of yesterday that some Youths believed to be political thugs attempted to attack you and feel obliged to write this open letter to commiserate with you, your family and your teeming supporters state wide. Infact, I heard of it the previous day from a friend but like he was not too sure about it. So I consider it as one of those chitchats trying to wish somebody bad but then when I saw some posts about the incident on facebook in the evening I knew something was definitely wrong. After reading your testimony from the newspaper I became convinced that it was for real, it wasn’t armed robbery as is a common scene in the city. It was hired assassins. Look at this statement…the thugs told him that if not because they know him they would have accomplished their mission…meaning they would have just killed you. As I read between these lines and discerned their loss of temper, I promptly visualized on their faces the hate of intolerance and a potentially suppressed voice of rage which could make authorities contemplate the murder of their critics or to legislate prison terms. Now, that the expected did not happen and thank God for that. I should tell you to be ready for the worse as this is not about the ‘NIMA NA YARDA’ project as already insinuated. I tell you, it is not even about you. This is about what you stand for; this is all about the people of Katsina State and their common weal. It is not about the project because if they want it dead today it will not see the light of tomorrow and it is not about you because if they want you they can get you at any cost, trust me. These people don’t respect the rules, they don’t fight fair and they have no respect for any rules of engagement. But what they have not realized is that facts are very stubborn things and they are never silenced by declaring war on them. FACTS ARE FACTS, PERIOD!!! My dear, Hon. Our biggest problem here may turn out to be our elites who apparently understand all the problems associated with our state but are incapable of effectuating solutions because they have remained fixated at a particular point. They have unwittingly turned us to a state of ‘Siddon Look’ and as such we are nanus in our approach to our number one enemy. They choose to keep mute in the face of injustice. The profoundly honored Sheik Usman Danfodio said ‘Silence under injustice is the greatest crime’ I really don’t know if they are aware of this fact. But am happy for you and the erstwhile Scribe to the late head of state when he was in charge of the state, you have really paid your dues by coming out to speak your minds in the face of all the injustices that have been inflicted on our people. Finally, I pray that Allah will protect and reward you abundantly for all you been doing and stand for but for those who feel they are alpha and Omega and feel they can do anything more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment, then we leave them to their fates. As all of us are going to account for whatever deed we exhibit and each dime we (mis)appropriate in the course of our stewardship. A German Philosopher by name Immanuel Kanet has this to say: ‘The drama of this life is not complete; there must be a second life to it, for we see the tyrant and his victims without seeing justice being executed. We see the Conqueror and the subjugated without the latter finding any revenge. Therefore, there must be another world where justice will be carried out’ Sincerely Yours, ISA AHMED

AT THE TRIBUNAL: GOES UP THE JUDJEMENT….
I had just arrived Katsina at about 5.45pm, a drive that was supposed to take me only 3hours 45minutes from Kaduna took almost the whole day. It was a hectic journey, passing through almost 23 police and local vigilante check points. I felt it was wrong for the authorities to subject motorists to that kind of scrutiny especially when there was nothing at stake to warrant such type of operation. The whole scenario looks to me as if we are still in the military era.
My trip to Katsina was not for the Sallah celebration parse but to enable me witness the Tribunal verdict on the Katsina Gubernatorial election that was delivered in the early afternoon hours of Thursday. Although some of my friends in Kaduna have tried to stop me from attending the tribunal on the grounds that nothing new was going to come out of the judgment. It is not going to change, one of them said to me in a loud voice. I was neither perturbed nor deterred on my determination to attend the Tribunals.
As I was coming out of my house to look for one of my juniors to dust up the house for me since I did not bring along any member of my household to Katsina. I heard a SMS coming in to my Phone on looking at the phone to verify from where it was coming I noticed it was from my friend, the Director. I know you still remember him. He sent in a message to inform me that if by Friday afternoon salary has not been paid then the invitation he has extended to me to come and eat ‘Soyen kayan ciki’ in his house will be cancelled. The invitation to visit him on Sallah day was given to me penultimate week after the wedding fatiha of my daughter. He had planned to slaughter a big ram for the Sallah celebration. I was confused why salaries had not been paid two days to sallah. So what will now happen to my friend’s children who were used to seeing their father slaughtering about 2 to 3 rams every Sallah. This is a serious matter! As I was lamenting on my friends predicament a call entered my phone, one of my friends who was already at the tribunal has called to inform me that CPC’s case had just been dismissed. Surprisingly but as usual…that CPC could not establish enough reasons to disturb the election…That was the Tribunal judgment.
I sat on the balcony of my neighbor’s shop looking extremely exhausted and fatigue has taken its toll on me, bewailing on the outcome of the verdict asking myself questions that refuse to go away, was it too close to call? Could it have gone either way? Where does CPC go from here? Appeal Court? No, I think not. They should not even contemplate going to the upper court. What they could not get with all the overwhelming evidences at the Tribunal, I don’t think they can get it at the Appellate court. If my opinion is anything to go by, the issue of going to appeal should not even be contemplated. Let us take solace from Suratul An-Nisa; where Allah (swt) said ‘O you who believe, be custodians of justice (and) witness for Allah, even though against yourselves or your parents or your relatives. Whether a man be rich or poor, Allah is greater well-wisher than you’
Alhaji Isa Ahmed, ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the occasion introducing me to the crowd and the lecture for today is…If I were the Governor of Katsina State’…Distinguished guests..Nothing can give more pleasure than having the opportunity to stand before you and talk to you on this topic. First, before we got started I would like to say the topic for today’s discussion is without prejudice! That the lecture is not meant to castigate or ridicule anybody rather it is meant to enable us weigh our options as citizens of Katsina State and find out if certain things can be done in a different way…So, if I were the governor of Katsina State I would ensure good governance through engaging all and sundry so as to enable me transform our attitude so that dependency on the government is reduced to barest minimal. My government would be the one that will spearhead the creation of wealth through the generation of employment. I appreciate the fact that the most important function of any government is the generation of employment as it keeps people away from crimes, enables them to pay taxes to the government, helps in sending their children to school and also helps to eradicate poverty from our society. I would therefore ensure that employment is provided to the citizens of the state. I would be very sincere as regards to Education, that my government cannot shoulder responsibility 100%. In order for us to give our children the type of education we desire, the type that can make our children compete with other children in this 21st century then we have to be ready to make sacrifice. I was about to introduce another area of concern... when I heard a tap on my back and immediately my eyes were wide open I saw my friend the Director, standing in my front. For how long have you been sleeping? He asked, almost laughing. Sleeping? I can’t say for sure, I answered. It then dawned on me that a little nap had overtaken me and that resulted in my day dreaming. I have come to commiserate with you over the tribunal verdict and also to inform you formally that there will be no ‘soyen kayan ciki’ for you this Sallah as I have not collected my salary, he said apologetically. I felt sorry for him, for his children and for anybody in that position. This is somebody who has never failed to ‘kill’ a ram for the last three decades during Sallah but this time around not even ‘Kafi zuru’ will be slaughtered. This Salary imbroglio had been going on since Karamar Sallah, Workers have been celebrating these festivities even without their salaries being paid, what is happening to Katsina State? Is it broke? I thought HE once boasted that even without the Federal grants he could pay salaries..several issues had not yet been straightened up and from the looks of what is going on now, civil servants, pensioners, the rest of us and anybody who has anything to do the State government will have his feet put to fire in the coming days, weeks, three years.
The Election Tribunal’s verdict has broken the camel’s back, the little hope that some of us carry has been dashed. With all that’s happening in the state it is apparent nothing good is going to come out of this government. …But one wonders what type of leadership we are having in this place. No conscience! No fear of Allah! Not even the fear of the inevitable! …that one day one must vacate the coveted office with its paraphernalia?
Katsina the home of the generals, the home of doyen of Nigerian politics, and the home of bureaucrats has now become a shadow of its former self. I remember with nostalgia how our people made Nigeria to thrive under all odds. People like Abidu Yazid a young graduate then who became a Permanent Secretary within a span of 10 years. Dr. Garba Ja Abdulkadir the Secretary to the then North Central State when he was resigning his appointment with the government wrote in his letter…YOURS OBEDIENT SERVANT. Since then, I realized that when you are in service of the people whether elective or otherwise, you are there to serve and not BOSS. Happy Sallah in advance to every one of us and stay out of harm’s way. Oh! Not to forget as my friend is not ‘killing’ not even a chicken where do I eat soyen kayan ciki?

WHEN SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN…..
‘Katsinawa kunya gareku ba dai tsoro ba’ so goes the popular maxim which had been in existence since the beginning of history. The maxim is used at home and in the Diaspora by anybody who knows the antecedents of the Katsinawas. It is almost used as a template or better still a familiar platitude that is used to describe the attitude of Katsinawas when it comes to undertaking certain unfamiliar tasks which others dare not. This attitude of fearlessness has been associated with almost anybody who comes from Katsina, Our ability to withstand and not be cowed by the size of any challenge and to deal with situation with great aplomb is what distinguish us from other Nigerians.
Albeit this maxim had been in existence as far as somebody can remember but the question is…does it carry any weight? Or, is there any historical antecedent to show or justify it? I had cause to ask several people including the aged, historians and others who are conversant with hausa adages and proverbs but none was able to justify this statement or atleast show how it originated. Most people I asked would tell me that...Katsinawas do not tolerate nonsense but are hospitable and generous but this still does not show....’Kunya garemu ba dai tsoro ba’
To my mind, this maxim can be attributed to the legendary story of ‘KUNAR BAKIN WAKE’. Those of us who are conversant with the story know what happened. The people of Katsina at that time knew what was going on, they knew something was wrong but still allowed the injustice to continue. It might be for the regard they had for the Traditional Institution, they allowed themselves to be used as horses until it came to the turn of ‘BAKIN WAKE’ who was so fearless as to bring the injustice to a calm halt. Then, it might be events that followed much later indicated our ‘Kunya garemu ba dai tsoro ba.’ The conduct and general activities of our representatives from Katsina who partook in the Burma War indicated that they were so fearless and have undertaken several escapades that their contemporaries could not. Also, during the 30month Nigerian civil war, the conduct of the soldiers from Katsina, especially those of Generals, Hassan Usman and Shehu Musa Yar’adua have all confirmed that ‘Katsinawa kunya gareku bai dai tsoro ba’.
In 1976, in a nationwide broadcast. The then Military Head of State General Murtala Ramat Muhammed said inter alia….creation of States as far as this administration is concerned is a one time operation and future agitations would not be tolerated’. However, Alhaji Saidu Barda who was then Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education in the defunct Kaduna state was demoted to the Office of the Military Governor as the Permanent Secretary Special duties for defying the Head of State’s directives as far the agitation of states. I also remember with nostalgia how I was accepted by the Inspectorate division of my former organization during a reinvention exercise back in 2004. The then Head of Division an Indigene of Edo State but of Igbo extraction said to me …Iam happy to have you in my Division for am sure you are going to undertake certain assignments where other Inspectors have tarried. It was after the meeting I asked him what he meant by the statement. He simply told me...I know people from Katsina to be fearless and are always ready to accept responsibility. Examples abound to show ‘Katsinawa Kunya gare ku ba dai tsoro ba’ and I know everyone of us must have gotten one or two experiences to share with us as regards to the adage. I have gone through memory lane to show how we do not usually give in to a cause we believe in and no matter whose ox is gored
But to a discerning mind and especially when one considers what has transpired and still transpiring in our beloved state for the last 4 or so years, one would say without hesitation but with some sense of responsibility that the popular maxim has changed its course to bear ‘KATSINAWA BAKU DA KUNYA GA KUMA SHEGEN TSORO’. During these years one remembers how billions of Naira went into the drains, money that could have been used to the better the living standard of the people of the state. People who ordinarily could have said something about the going on in the state have kept grave yard silence. The only voice that came to our rescue was from the erstwhile Secretary to the former Yar’adua’s government, Mustapha Mohammed Inuwa who gave an interview to the Hausa service of the FRCN in Kaduna last month. He opined that the present administration in Katsina has not done anything tangible to the people of Katsina since it came into power 5years ago despite the huge resources it collected from the Federal allocations. He specifically mentioned four areas of great concern where the administration ran foul. The constructions of the stadium, Government House, the orthopedic hospital and the ring roads which he considers as white elephant projects. He also opined that Local Governments areas in Katsina are just appendages of the State Government. Money would always be given to the local councils for only them to return certain amounts to the state government as directed. The former SSG further commented that the state government has already embarked on the construction of a new Government office for the Niger Republic in Niamey. It is pertinent to note that almost all the allegations made by the former Scribe have come to pass except the one concerning the local councils collecting money and returning certain amount to the government. If it is confirmed true, it means the government has explored another level of corruption in the country. One will therefore wonder why a government superintended by the most learned ones will condescend so low to commit such thievery. But for the construction of Government in Niamey even the most uneducated person in Katsina now knows that our money is used to develop another country illegally. To vindicate the former SSG in this respect is the award of national honors bestowed on His Excellency by Niger Republic. It was on the national news yesterday that Governor Shema was to receive second highest National Honor- The Grand Officer de l’order National du Niger Republic in appreciation of his kind gestures to the desert republic. You do not need to be a magician or a soothsayer or even a lawyer for that matter to know the illegality in this case.
But before am done with the former Scribe’s interview, let us analyze and see if the money spent so far on these white elephant projects could have been more useful if they were spent on other sectors. Just imagine if the whole money sent on these wasteful projects so far is channeled to Education and the provision of portable drinking water. The money would have just been enough to transform our Education sector from its decedent and embarrassing position to a position where we could have a maximum of 40 students in a classroom for all schools, where instructional materials would be available, where quality teachers would be recruited and above all, a position where we could have a congenial atmosphere for effective teaching and learning to take place. The money would also have been enough to provide portable drinking water to almost all sections of the state and also to rectify our ageing dams and open up new ones. That will enable our people engage in dry season agriculture considering over 80% of the people of Katsina are engage in agricultural activities. The government is so crazy on spending money lavishly but it is unmindful on creation of jobs so that people can be self sufficient. That is the irony!!!
I think the former scribe has paid his dues by granting that interview in which he exposed all those scandals. By the way, the interview on a CD plate was sold at N200.00 per plate and over 20,000 copies were sold. I have never seen anything like!
One of the primary functions of a Government is to provide security to its people both in terms of personal and property but it is regrettable to note that the current dispensation is either unable or unwilling to protect its citizens. It is a common scenario now in Katsina to see robbers doing their business in the day time; they can mount road blocks for up to 2 hours with only their victims at their mercy. This had happened along Kano and Dutsinma roads severally, in fact, people have already lost count on the number of times this had happened. In Batsari, the whole town stood still when the robbers came visiting in a broad day light almost a month ago, in Barhin in the outskirt of Katsina you dare not drive alone in the night for fear of your car being snatched by robbers. The situation is so embarrassing and so disgusting; it looks completely as if there is no authority in place to deal with this menace. Inspite of all what is happening in the state nobody seems to be saying anything. Where are our elders, religious and political leaders? Where is our ex this? Where is our ex that? What is really happening? ‘KUNYA GARE KU BA DAI TSORO BA’ don’t tell me the residue of Bakin Wake’s blood has dried up in our body? Why can’t somebody add up to the former SSG’s voice? Have we all been compromised? For how much? For a pittance? No, I don’t think so! So why is everybody in silent mode? Surely, this silence is not golden!!!
Finally, it is pertinent to note that from the most ancient times to present day, the struggle for human emancipation has always been directly or indirectly a reaction against oppression and all kinds of exploitation by the rulers. Hench, the right to rebel against them in any way necessary. The inferno that symbolizes the Arab spring was ignited by a certain youth who set himself ablaze as a result of unemployment and only God knows when and where it will now stop. INJUSTICE DOES NOT PAY BUT JUSTICE DOES…

MY STAND ON CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SCHEME…..

I have been taken on severally on my stand on contributory Pension in Katsina by some of my friends and other people, mostly civil servants. The most recent is sequel to my piece AFTERMATH OF THE STRIKE….where I urged the labour Union to cause the introduction of contributory pension scheme in the state. Their opinion mostly is why I should be canvassing for this scheme when it is not going to be practicable in a state like Katsina.
Now, here is the thing…since my exit from the state service in the late eighties I have been engaged in Pension business and have come to terms with the fact that it is only the contributory pension scheme that can provide answer to the perennial imbroglio that has bedeviled the Pension industry.
What is this contributory pension scheme anyway? This scheme entails that each individual/ worker has his own saving account (RSA) where he contributes monthly towards his retirement and the money is kept by his chosen Pension Fund Administrator. The scheme is fully funded by both the worker and the Government so that at any given time that particular account is kept buoyant.
Traditionally speaking, the idea of saving is as long as history can remember. People do save now to enable them use whatever is saved in the future. That is the use of ASUSU, a small container with a small perforation in it that is used to put coins and other legal tender in it to enable the owner saves for future use. ADASHE is another form of saving, where a specified number of people mutually agree to contribute certain amount of money, monthly, weekly or even daily for only one of them to collect in a particular instance. All these forms of saving are still relevant in present day dealings. I can still remember when I was young, Asusu was always in vogue as children of my age were very fond of it, especially when there was going to be any occasion, like Sallah celebration or any festivities we used to save money in it to enable us buy things of our interest. Adashe is a much more elaborate operation as it involves bigger equity and interest. Many civil servants still do engage in it, especially when one has a certain plan to execute but does not have the capacity. Like when one wants to marry or buy a new car or wants to change to a bigger car he can always get himself involved in adashe and solve his problem without any qualms. This is saving now for future use and that is all what the contributory pension scheme is all about. Saving for the rainy day. When you can no longer work or when you are incapacitated .The paradigm is now towards somebody saving money for his pension entitlements not working for his entitlements. That popular phrase in our appointment letters…Permanent and Pensionable...will very soon be expunged and be replaced with …You are required to open a retirement saving account….
The World Bank came out with its landmark report titled ‘Averting the old age crises’ in it, the Bank advocated a move from the pay- as- you- go financing of pension. The report backed where possible, a much bigger role of earning in retiring account. Since the report came out, reforms along these lines have been carried out mainly in Latin America, Europe and Central Asia. Nigeria’s Pension Reform Act 2004 is also in line with this change. Hitherto, the Pension reform act, the defunct Obasanjo administration groaned under a N3 trillion pension arrears and that compelled it to send an executive bill to NASS as its own answer to averting the crisis in the Industry. The consequence of that singular action led to the enactment of the law that mandates each and every worker in the private sector, Federal service and the FCT to contribute for his retirement 7.5% of his/ her gross salary and his employer contributes the same amount monthly on his behalf and the total sum is kept for him by his chosen PFA in a RSA. It is interesting to note that about 14 states in the Federation have adopted the legislation. The scheme is fully funded through the monthly contribution of both the employer and employee. So, upon retirement the beneficiary collects his gratuity and is immediately placed on monthly pension because the funds are readily available, unlike the old pension scheme like the one we are operating in Katsina State, there would not be any ready funds to pay the pensioners. These Public pension schemes are not designed to deliver current benefits level when confronted with today’s major demographic and economic changes and to keep them afloat will drastically affect public spending on Health, Agriculture and Education to mention but a few.
For any pension scheme, whether public or private to be successful it has to be fully funded to the extent that the pension funds and assets match pension liabilities at any given time. In our own case, we know the liabilities but we don’t know if the fund is available, as we have to wait for the Federal grants to come. So no grant, no pension!!! But shifting to the privately managed plans that are fully funded and that tie benefits to contributions are more likely to improve economic growth, provide better benefits and more importantly, is you collect your entitlements as and when due than will continued reliance on Pay- as – you- go system.
It is therefore important for my friends and indeed all civil servants to come to terms with the reality that retirement from service is an inevitable end and when it happens there will be no more salary, no AIE, no MFA, not even egunje but your pension entitlements and as long as these funds are not readily available, the Government will just be owing- one month pension, five months, thirty months pension sometimes the number can even be more but if you are one of the doubting thomases and thinks it cannot happen in Katsina State you better think again or better still ask former workers of the Nigerian Railway corporation, New Nigerian Newspapers, just to mention but a few.

AFTERMATH OF THE STRIKE….

I was just coming out of Masallachin Kerau after the Zuhr Prayers when I noticed one of my friends standing by the nim tree beside the mosque. I walked towards him to inquire why he was standing there and said that he noticed me in the front row in the course of the prayer and decided to wait and greet me since it has been long when we last met. I run short of words to explain to him why I was not at our Old boy’s meeting which took place during the Sallah break. I managed to concoct some flimsy excuses which I knew he would not accept but I just had to say something…
It is a very hot afternoon, he said to me, using a face towel to wipe up a clot of sweet that crawls from his forehead down to his right cheek. Indeed, it is, I replied. As we walked towards my car his phone rang grddrrhgrrddhmg, grddrrhgrrddhmg, honestly I never heard such an unpleasant ring tone, and in fact I was even frightened as I couldn’t fathom from where the noise was coming from before I realized it was my friend’s phone. It was this kind of fake nokia products or something... Don’t mind my phone it is this Chinese product he said in recognition to my disappointment. ‘Sai dai ki yi da abinda ya sauwaka’ he answered. It was after he was done with the phone he told me that it was his wife. She called on him to inquire if he was going to bring home ‘chefane’ for the evening meal.
You see Isa; this protracted strike is taking its toll on almost all the citizenry of this state. My wife is pestering me to bring something for the evening meal; meanwhile I have not even taken anything for lunch. I trekked nearly 3 to 4 kilometers today but without anything to show for it, my car is out of gas, my younger child is a sickler and has not taken his medication for the last two days and to cap it all, I don’t have a dime at home or in the bank, am frustrated, am disappointed and am confused he concluded. I felt sorry for him and for any other person who is in that position, especially, when I knew I could not be of any significant help to him. My only best to him was N5, 000 but how long would that take him? What would happen tomorrow or next? Or, would that be the case of fold your arms and wait for the Lord to remember you? I picked up courage to console him and offered him my widow’s might knowing full well that would not take him up to two days with all those myriad of problems. By the way my friend is on grade level16, a senior Director in one of the ministries.
I drove my car without having a slightest idea of where I was going, wondering in consternation. This is a very senior officer who had graduated from the university 3 decades ago, what is happening to my state? Providing the answer to myself almost immediately- Purposeful leadership.
Unfortunately the present leadership in the state is either unable or unwilling to draw up a congenial roadmap that will make our state government to accept that the paradigm shift for economic development in this 21st century has tilted towards creation of wealth from distribution. Unfortunately, the constitution has not help matters as it bestows all national resources in the hands of the President and the State Governors. This makes them so powerful and so influential that they treat their subjects as if they are a conquered people. It is like a PG show: they decide who gets what; and who does not get what. What to say and what not to say…this disconnect between the belief that national wealth in meant to be distributed anyhow and not as a source of providing economic and social enterprises is the bane of our problems and the result is what we are witnessing now: underdevelopment, poverty, crimes, suicides…in the last couple of months we have recorded about 2 or 3 suicide cases and all were civil servants.
The strike has really exposed our vulnerability, the civil servants, the market women, the whole state; every one of us, that none of us can do without the Government and equally, the Government cannot do without Federal allocations that it collects effortless from the Federation accounts. So in order for us, as a people, as a government to get out of this quagmire we need to do something urgently and we need to do it now, if only we want to be judged positively by posterity.
The government on its side has to be purposeful, sincere, open, transparent and accommodating. The present disposition of the government where its activities are run on one man show basis or a government that is run off-head is not acceptable. There has to be coordinated synergy between the government and its people, a dialogue on what it intends to do. For example, the Free Education. I think there is a lot of misgiving about the program. The program is just about the payment of school and examination fees, there has to be much more than that… You must provide conducive atmosphere for learning to take place, a situation where you have over100 students in a class is not acceptable, you must recruit quality teachers for all subjects; you must provide instructional materials and other teaching aids and more importantly, you must engage all the stake holders that have anything to do with education such as Teachers, parents, education administrators, private and students, discuss with them frankly and tell them that Government cannot shoulder the responsibility 100%. Their reaction will now give you impetuses that will enable you drive the sector to greater height. Otherwise, I see a bleak future as far as education is concerned in Katsina state.
The idea that the Government is going to embark on staff audit should be hailed and be given the necessary support; we should be ready to report anybody we feel is a ghost worker. Civil servants who do not merit to be called civil servants should be shown the way out. We can now boost of several young and enterprising graduates who are unemployed and are ready to put in their best for the progress of the state and can always fill in the vacuum left by any undesirable civil servant if only they are given the chance.
Labour on its side must be up and doing in its activities, it must be ready to accept responsibility and accept the consequence of any action. It can demand and get N52,000.00 as initially demanded by the national body as a minimum wage but as long as it is not doing what it is suppose to do, the money will just go under: easy come, easy go, they say.
Now, that labour has gotten what they demanded, we would like to see changes, changes in attitude, in approach, in the way they dress as civil servants, changes in the way they perform their duties, a total reinvention of all its activities. A situation where civil servants work less than 50% of their capacity will surely not be tolerated. You are expected to be in the office 8.00am and close by 3.30pm and anything short of that will not be tolerated, these timings should be made sacrosanct. A timer should be made available in all offices so that workers should be mandated to clock in as they come in the morning and clock out when the office closes, in this way, workers who are not serious could be easily identified.
Now, back to my friend who stir up this piece, he is about 59 and he is on the verge of retirement from work. Retirement being a phenomenon which no worker/civil servant wants but is inevitable. It has to come or happen on any employee. Just like it is going to happen to my friend in less than one year or so and my fear for him and any other person who is in the same shoes is: how would he cope up when he retires? Knowing full well that he has not saved anything, and he has no trade to fall back, the only succor is his retirement benefits.
Minimum wage is a great concern but a greater concern is the issue of Pension, which as far as am concerned is a time bomb. So long as our governments will be absolutely dependent on monthly subventions from the Federation accounts for our survival, the time for the bomb to explode is surely within a twinkle of an eye. That is why, I want to plead with the Labour and the Government in Katsina state to start the contributory pension now without any delay as the Federal Government, the FCT and some few states in the federation have already started. Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara inclusive. So that when my friend finally retires nobody will deny him his residues because some kind of Federal allocation has not come from the Federation account. That will also enable him buy a new original Nokia Phone, engage his younger child on full medication every day, have his car full to capacity with gas, and give Madam enough money for ‘Chefane’.

REMINISCENCES

To those of us who have enjoyed the better part of Nigeria both in terms of the economy and the socio-cultural situations have a lot of stories to tell to our younger ones. Our standard of living at that time was so easy and so cheap. The purchasing power was so strong to the extent that with one shilling you could buy a lot of things. For instance, it will suffice you to spend in the company of 2 or 3 friends during a Sallah day celebration. You could buy things like sandals for your Sallah outing, chocolates, a fried chicken, a dozen of eggs, drink some couple of soft drinks, visit to cinema house and there will still be some change for you to spend the following day.
Socially, we lived in an extended family setting where everybody knew each other and we could go to each other’s house to eat or pass the night without any fuss from anybody. There was zero tolerance to any misbehavior as your neighbor could discipline you without your parents raising any eyebrow. My father who was a veteran of the 2nd world war had vast experience in dealing with different situations; he was a disciplinarian of sort who used carrots and stick when necessary. He never got tied in giving out advises to us, that we should be patient with everything and take our chance whenever it is due, render assistance whenever you are in the position. His popular maxim was that –treat people first as human beings before any consideration- We were taught some skills needed to be happy and become useful members of the community. Some of the skills were how to feed oneself, dress up, look after animals, help in the running of the home, respect other people’s property and the authority of parents and elders of the community. We did almost everything collectively, going to school, going for errands, even when taking our meals. That sense of togetherness was instilled in us right from our childhood days. I still remember how I always bring out my father’s dinner every blessed night where about 5 to 6 of our relations would also bring theirs for them to eat collectively; this practice had been going on until the demise of almost all of them.
We began our Quranic studies at very tender age at Makarantar allo under the tutelage of Mallam Audu Mahardaci. For us to learn to say our five daily prayers we must have crammed some portion of the holy quran. At the age of seven, I was admitted at the Kofar Sauri Primary School which is about one and half kilometers away from my house, so I could trek to the school very early in the morning not minding the perennial heat or the severe northeast trade winds that ravaged most parts of the West African sub- region. The classes started as from 7,30am to 1.30pm. While from 2.00pm to 4pm I was always at the Makarantar allo, with the exception of thursdays and fridays and of course any Islamic holiday. Our daily activities were so regimented that we had no idle time. Immediately after the makarantar allo session, I would always go and play football with other kids from the neighborhood in front of the Emir’s palace. During one of those evenings I met a boy who was of the same age with me kicking his new pelele ball, I, without hesitation joined him and when the other boys came we had a very good match. It was after the match the boy told me his name was Geoffrey and that he always escorted his Dad to the Emir’s Palace. His father was one of the Engineers who were engaged in putting telephone cables at the palace. As we could not pronounce his name very well we resorted to call him Dan Inyamiri. We immediately became friends with him, especially when he could play very well and more importantly, I think, because, he would always bring to us new ball to play. After playing ball every evening he would follow me to my house and when it was getting dark I would escort to him up to Kofar Soro gate, this continued even after his father’s contract had expired at the palace. My father often asked what of your friend referring to him and I would answer that I have just escorted him or something.., everybody knew Geoffrey in my neighborhood. The last time I saw Geoffrey was on the eve of my journey to Zaria where I was supposed to spend the next 5 years as a student at the Government Secondary School. I think I didn’t even tell him I was travelling.
During the vacations we could go to the farms, I had two options during the vacations: I could go my grandfather’s farm house or I could decide to stay with my brothers at home so that we could visit our father’s farm almost on a daily basis. My grandfather’s farm was a large expense of land measuring several square kilometers; it stretched from the Governors house round about (GRA) runs through Daura road to the newly constructed Police Headquarters, from the right, it stretched from the GRA roundabout to WTC’s roundabout. The farm is composed of three important sites; the farm house, which is a very large edifice that used to accommodate almost every one of us, the children, the grandchildren and other house helps; the main farm where mixed cultivation of crops, the rearing of animals and keeping of birds such as chickens, ducks, turkey and guinea fowls take place, and more importantly is the farm garden which is almost one square kilometer. It has almost all the exotic fruits you can think of, ranging from guava, orange of different varieties, pawpaw, mangoes, apple, etc. The garden is watered through such a traditional lift method of ancient Egyptian origin - the Shaduf. Where by water is brought out from an open well using two pails attached to the two ends of a rope, as one of the pails is out of the well full with water the other one would be right inside the well in this way water is drawn and distributed into the garden through the channels. Our job here was always to open up the channels to allow water pass into a particular tree or block the channels when the tree has enough water. It was always a delight to watch people drawing water using the shaduf. The bulk of the fruits harvested were mostly consumed by us, very little of it was sold to some white men.
I spent my 1st two years at Government Secondary School Zaria but as fate would have it my direction was changed to Katsina Teachers’ college where I completed the next three years and passed out with a Teachers grade 11 certificate. I was immediately employed as a certified Grade 11 teacher and posted to Majen Gobir Primary School about 25 kilometers away from Katsina. I taught for almost one year but during my almost one year sojourn in Majen Gobir I never passed the night there as I was always going to the village in the morning and returning to Katsina in the afternoon. This was made possible because of the motor cycle (Kawasaki Z200 model) my father bought for me in appreciation of my stellar performance at the college. The motor cycle was almost the only type in the whole of katsina, its color (red) added up to its beauty. One in town you could possibly refer to it and indeed it was.
One day I was coming back from Majen Gobir after passing Lambar Rimi I saw a man by the road side with the bonnet of his car wide opened an indication that his car had a glitch, incidentally, he was to be the one to avail me with the opportunity to take the 1st big step in life. As I was about to run pass him, one of my father’s words crossed my mind- give a helping hand to somebody in need-I quickly returned back to where he was standing and the moment he saw me coming back he started to move towards me. After the familiar platitude, he told me he was looking for a mechanic for his car which I quickly drove back to Lambar Rimi and picked a mechanic. I decided to stay while the mechanic was doing the car; the man told me he was going to Katsina from Kano to see a friend when the car broke down and I told him that I was a teacher coming back from my working place. Within a short time he asked me if I wanted to further my education which I answered in the affirmative. He then told me to pick up the admission forms next week from a certain address he gave me which I later learnt to be the place of the same man he came to visit. I had no idea of the school until when the forms were brought to me and found it to be Bayero University, Kano. When the forms were completed I returned them to the same man as directed. After some couple of weeks, I was invited for an entrance examination which took place at the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies and a week after, the results were pasted on the general notice board of the University for everyone to see, that was how I was admitted at the school of General studies, preparatory to a three year degree programme. After about one month or so as a student at the school of General studies, I together with some students were summoned by the academic office to sort some issues hanging on our admissions but to my surprise I was directed to Academic Secretary’ office and on entering the office I saw no one but that person I helped at Lambar Rimi, who incidentally was the Academic Secretary of the University, he called on me to find out how I was faring in my new environment. He told me if there was anything he could do to make my stay at the University worthwhile I should not hesitate to get in touch with him. I thanked him very much for his assistance and left. I never visited the office again and he never called on me.
I surely had enjoyed the better part of University education albeit it was the era of manual typewriters, no computer and no internet. Our meals were about the best you could possibly find in a 5-star restaurant. Tea and coffee in the mornings and evenings were always free of charge (FOC), while fruits were free during lunch. We stayed maximum of 4 persons in a room, we had our clothes washed every week a maximum of six items per person, we had unlimited access to books, journals and other instructional materials. I had graduated in 1983 and was deployed to Ondo State for my one year compulsory youth service. My primary assignment was in one Holy Savior’s High School, Ile Oluji about 12 kilometers away from Ondo town. I had initial problem with Ile (as the town is called for short) which dampened my spirit but had to arouse myself with the fact that it was going to be my home for the next 12 months. I really enjoyed myself with all the escapades of a youth corper. Our monthly stipend was just 200 Naira but it was just enough to keep you buoyant till the following month. I travelled a lot, visiting other corpers in different states and within my state of my posting. One of my friends also a corper who was posted to Lagos State paid a visit to me at Ile, he came to show me the car that was attached to his office but instead of spending the weekend at Ile, we decided to go back to Lagos. So we left Ile very late in the evening on Friday. His driver Adewale, a typical Yoruba man with tribal marks drawn all over his face drove the car from Lagos. He looked very tired and worried but he had no choice than to obey his master. Ade as he was called by his Oga could hardly drive pass 80km per hour, he was driving as if he was going into his garage and sometimes as dead as a snail speed. I told my friend that may be the car had a problem but he told me it was a tacit way of protest by Ade. We drove passed Ore on to the express way which was under construction, it was raining and already getting dark and we were nowhere near Lagos, sometimes you have to swop into the bush before you could come back to the main road because of the construction work. As fate would have it, as we swopped into the bush to avoid passing into an uncompleted bridge we had a flat tyre. Ade screamed at the top of his voice- flat ni! flat ni! - My friend asked in annoyance why you screaming? Ade said, Oga na flat tyre. With an aura of youthful exuberance my friend commanded that Ade should park the car off the road and have the flat tyre changed, I knew that would not be easy considering the environment we found ourselves. We all moved out of the car and pushed it off the road to enable us fix the flat tyre but to our utmost surprise the car had no spare tyre in the boot, we stood there dumbfounded wondering in consternation. Ade was so frightened as you could notice that from the way he was talking. My friend and I were not really perturbed with the whole situation. My friend who was a chain smoker was annoyed as he could not locate his matches to light up his cigarette, as I was telling him to use the car’s lighter we heard a voice coming towards us as it was in a dream ‘Salamu Alaikum’ it sounded. I took up courage to answer ‘Waalaikas’ Salam, a man wrapped in a blanket stood in front of us and said in hausa that he was coming back from his farm when he heard our voices and decided to come and check. We were astounded to see somebody at that particular place and time speaking to us in hausa. After hearing our ordeal, he told us his name was Patrick and that his house was about 100meters from where we had the flat tyre. As we were moving towards his house he told us that he stayed in the north for most of his life time, after trekking some couple of meters we arrived at the house which was composed of two separate rooms and a mighty hut which I later learnt to be the store where various food stuffs are kept. He opened his room and brought a key to the other room which belonged to his nephew who had gone to the city for his daily business. While we were standing in front of the room contemplating on what to do we heard a sound of a motor cycle coming towards us. Suddenly, Patrick told us in excitement that his nephew is around. After some discussions with his uncle the young man started to welcome us in hausa, he appeared very friendly. What would you like to eat? He asked. Surely we were tired and what we wanted was food and where to lie down. He knew we had no choice of what we wanted to eat but I think he wanted to make us feel at home. He jumped into the kitchen and prepared nice jallop rice and plantain which we all enjoyed eating, I commended him for the efforts, and while thanking me for the compliments he even proposed to cook tuwan dawa and miyar kuka for us in the morning. I was so fascinated with the gesture that made me asked him where did he learn to cook hausa food, Abukur he said almost immediately, I did my primary education in Katsina, my father worked there for a long time. So you know Katsina, I asked, very well, he answered. He asked me whether I know Katsina and I told him I was from there! Which part? He asked, again. I told him from cikin gida. Where is cikin gida, he asked momentarily and in disappointment, Iam from Kofar soro! You mean the emir’s palace? You’ve been there before? I asked almost smiling. Yes! Sure, it was a very long time ago; I was always escorting my father to the palace and used to play football with some kids at the play ground in front of the palace. I said, ok! Wait, who you played with at that time. He said with, eh, eh, I think Pele, there was this kid... Pele was the name I was called. I quickly jumped the gun and said don’t tell me you are Dan Inyamiri. Yea! That was the name I was called, he said in total submission and I told him I was Pele but before I could finish what I was saying, he jumped out of the room and rushed to his uncle’s room and after a short while they came back together in total surprise. Meanwhile, my friend and his driver Adewale were busy sleeping; we spent the rest of the night narrating our various stories to each other until day break.
The following morning we had our car fixed and by afternoon my friend headed for Lagos and I had to pass another night with Geoffrey and since then my friendship with him was rekindled.

LAMENTATION ON GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN KATSINA STATE

We’re innocent, we’re naïve, we thought it was harmless, we did not know that it will be our waterloo as it was intended to prevent the already escalated skirmishes and pandemonium that ravaged almost all the northern states in the country. It was when the results of the gubernatorial elections were to be announced it dawned on us that the curfew imposed on the state by his Excellency Governor Shema penultimate week was nothing but a veritable strategy to rig the elections. We had earlier on complained to INEC on the need to relax the curfew in order to have a free and fair election but our concerns did not reach fruition.
It was a fine Tuesday morning we woke up to finish what we had started about two weeks ago via the Federal seats and the presidential elections. The exercise progressed calmly and without any interruptions in Katsina metropolis as all the election officials and materials were already on ground even before the arrival voters to the polling booths albeit the voters turn out was quite low when compared with the previous elections but it was just enough to have the elections won and lost.
I went to my polling unit for verification and it took me less than an hour to sort out everything, I then decided to return home and take a nap since the pooling unit is just a stone throw from my house. When I came back at about 1.00pm voting was already in progress, I joined the queue and my turn to vote came at about 1.45pm. The whole exercise came to calm close by about 4.40pm with the announcement of the result as 345 for the CPC 7 for the PDP and ACN had 2 votes.
I was astounded to hear from a friend that elections could not take place in some local government areas as election materials were not brought to the centers. I was not disturbed by the piece of news; I thought it was one of those INEC’s logistics problems that could be sorted out soon. It was much later I realized it was a deliberate action not to send election materials to some areas to give way for manipulation.
In Danmusa local government area for example, elections did not take place at all because cases of ballot box stuffing, pilferage and snatching were reported and investigation was carried out by no less than the National Commissioner who was in Katsina to monitor the elections. He caught about 30 people red handed and were immediately handed over to the police for prosecution. But that did not help matters as the result sheets for that local government were brought to INEC office and were dully announced as having conducted an election there. In other areas cases of votes soliciting and purchase during voting were rampant and all these dovetailed throughout the local government areas of the state but INEC turned a blind eye. In some cases result sheets were completed and brought to INEC office surreptitiously without necessarily conducting any election.
The results for all the 34 local government areas were brought to the state INEC office and the compilation and computation of the result sheets were concluded at about 7.00pm but for reasons best known to the Resident Electoral commissioner the announcement was deferred to 9.00pm and many of us who were within INEC premises were asked to go home as the curfew has begun, we had no option than to move to our houses. The result was announced where Shema garnered about a million plus votes and Masari got a little above five hundred thousand votes. That is the import of the curfew a friend whispered to me. It is instructive to mention that Buhari’s votes during the presidential elections in Katsina surpassed Shema’s by a little above a hundred thousand votes, what an irony. It is apparent that the result of the governorship election had already been determined even before the polls.
That singular declaration by INEC has dashed the hopes of the people of Katsina and by implication is a betrayal of confidence reposed on Prof. Jega who clearly told the whole world that every vote will count and that he would ensure credible free and fair elections this time around. Our votes did not really count as Jega prophesied and that even reminds me with nostalgia the blasphemous Obasanjo when he opined that even Jesus (AS) could not have organized a free and fair election in Nigeria. I don’t want to agree with Obasanjo but then if what INEC did in Katsina and elsewhere is anything to go by, then our quest for free and fair elections in Nigeria will still be a mirage.
We really wanted to bring about change to the good people of Katsina State who have suffered for the last 12 years in the hands of the PDP. We intended to engage all and sundry to bring about the desired change through purposeful leadership. Our attention would have been the provision of portable drinking water to the entire state which the PDP government was not able to provide. The situation unfortunately has made us and our children to become ‘Yangaruwa’ as each and every one of us has to go out every morning to fret and fetch water for domestic use. Cases of dysentery and diarrhea are so prevalent as the result of drinking contaminated water. Whereas, very little effort is required here to bring water to our teeming population as Katsina State lies within the luxurious sedimentary structures of the Sudan Savannah which has formidable aquifers that will make bore hole drilling easier and cheaper. The dams at Zobe, Sabke, Mairuwa etc are other sources to provide not only water for domestic uses but could also be used to generate employment for our youths. Unfortunately the water dam stability is carelessly allowed to be wasted through evaporation and seepage.
The provision of quality education to our students in the primary, secondary and our tertiary institutions is another area of great concern. The present situation where education is treated as a second fiddle is not accepted. To anybody who cares, or who thinks am politicking, what he needs to do is to go round any public school of his choice in the state, there is no exception and see for himself, the number of students in a classroom, the teacher/student ratio, the number of core subject teachers, the availability of facilities and instructional materials and you will be surprised at the outcome of your visit. You will also agree with me that the free education program provided by the PDP administration in the state is nothing more than the payment of school and examination fees. How much is the school fees any way? For a day student, parents pay N30.00 per term and N90.00 per annum and those in the boarding houses pay N50.00 per term and N150.00 per annum. Free education in Katsina state!!! Surely we deserve more.
Alas, all these and many more lofty intentions have come to naught as the result of the rigged election but the consolation is that the outcome of the election is now in the public domain and is for the tribunal to adjudicate and decide on those that have issues hanging on them like the one from Katsina.
Meanwhile, what remains to be seen is how the depleted and disintegrated CPC in Katsina will pick up the pieces after going to the battle field with a single bullet. The State Chairman of the CPC has lost his credibility and legitimacy for ignoring extant rules and regulations of the party with vehemence and impunity; his ouster from the party is just a matter of time.
I think the onus now lies with the Masari group and other like minds to take up the gauntlet and come together, re- strategize and forge ahead with the struggle as 2015 is by the corner and the time to start is now.

A LETTER TO GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI

Compliment of the season your Excellency,
First, I would like to commend you for the efforts you are putting towards the emancipation of the downtrodden in the society. For that, I pray to the Almighty to give you long life, good health and the fortitude to bear with the intrigues of the Nigerian politics.
I also would like to commend you for the steps you have taken in reaching out to the masses by opening a facebook page for those us who cannot reach out to you physically to send our concerns on how to strength our party the CPC and brighten its chances towards the 2011 general elections and beyond.
The CPC is a unique political party, it is unique in terms of its composition and ideology and for that reason it should conduct its activities based on the dictates of its constitution and that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not at the whims and caprices of any individual. It is based on the above premise I would like to offer some suggestions which I believe if taken seriously will bolster the chances of the party in the general elections and beyond.
1. VOTERS REGISTERATION
Awareness and Enlightenment should be the watchwords here. Party members should be made to understand that for anybody to participate and vote for any candidate of his choice a voter’s card is necessary. The cards can only be obtained when INEC starts to register Nigerians in the designated centers. It is therefore mandatory for anybody wishing to exercise his franchise to obtain it without which he cannot vote for the candidate of his choice. No matter your numerical strength if you don’t have the voter’s cards you are inconsequential.
Party members should be made to go into all corners of our wards, local government areas and the states at large and ensure that all members of 18 years and above got registered whenever the registration exercise begins. This is very important if we want to make any appreciable impact in the elections.
2. INTERNAL DEMOCRACY
To ensure that we are different from other political parties we have to allow our party to develop through strengthening our internal democracy by subjecting all contestants to the congress. In fact, this has already been echoed by INEC, that no congress no elections. In other words it is the congress that determines who represents them in any elections.
A situation whereby some senior party elders endorse candidates of their choice for certain position or decide who stands for election will not be accepted or tolerated and is not going to help our course rather candidates should be encouraged to establish their campaign machinery and solicits for votes from congress. It is sad to point out that some elders have started to plant seeds of discord within the party by either endorsing members even before it is time for the election or dissolving party officials without recourse to the party National Headquarters this is a very bad development and is surely a prelude to chaos if it is not checked.
Another area of concern is in the choice of the Deputy Governor, crisis usually erupts between the Governor and his deputy for one reason or the other. This type of problem to my mind is encountered because the Governor has always not been given the opportunity to choose who is to be his running mate without interference by the party. To prevent such crisis Governors should be allowed to choose their deputies, the party can zone the office of the deputy to an area different from where the Governor comes from. If this is done am sure it will minimize the frequency at which these crisis erupts.

Thank you
Isa.

AN ASSESMENT OF CONTRIBUTORY PENSION IN NIGERIA

A CRITICAL LOOK AT CONTRIBUTORY PENSION IN NIGERIA

The main objective of the new pension scheme that came into operation in 2004 is to ensure that every person that work in Nigeria in either public or private sector of the economy receives his/her retirement benefits as and when due. The new scheme covers all employees in the public service of the Federation, the Federal Capital Territory and the private sector.
The characteristic of the scheme is that; it should be fully funded (contributions from both employer and employee); it should be privately managed (management by Pension Fund Administrator) and third party custody of Funds and assets (pension Fund Custodian).
The import of this paper therefore is to critically examine how far the scheme has fared 6years after its commencement. I feel 6years is enough a time to asses and evaluate its success or otherwise. In so doing I intend to look at the roles played by the major stakeholders of the scheme, i.e. The National Pension Commission (Pencom), The Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) and the contributors.
My candid assessment in this regard is that the three stakeholders enumerated above have failed to leave to expectation and if things are allowed to continue the way they are now the objective of the contributory scheme will be a mirage, as some of the problems associated with the former pension plans have started to manifest in the new regime while other problems are abound.
The main functions of Pencom; is to issue licenses to the Pension Fund Administrators and Custodians, regulates their actions and generally formulates, direct and oversee the overall policy guidelines on Pension matters in Nigeria. While it can be conceded that the Supervising organ of the pension matters in the country has performed well in terms of issuance of licenses to PFA’ and Custodians but it is kilometers away from regulating their activities. The failure of the commission to provide for biometric machine to detect multiple registrations has allowed the Administrators to perpetrate this act with impunity. The consequence of this singular act is so devastating and if concerted effort is not made to remedy it will only leave the contributor in a state of confusion as to which of the numbers he would use before eventually get paid. Another area where Pencom is found wanting is in the area of enforcing full compliance on the provisions of the legislation. It is the responsibility of Pencom to do everything possible to ensure that the scheme does not suffer or run into problems and to sustain willful compliance this it can do by decentralizing its operations by establishing zonal/regional offices or at best branch offices. The excesses of the PFAs and employers can only be checked when these offices are established. I can not see how Pencom can operate from Abuja and expect to monitor the activities of the PFAs and the employers that are not ready to comply with the legislation, even those that are complying need to be checked once in a while to verify contributions deductions and remittances. Sometime ago Pencom published in the national dailies a list of employers that did not comply with the legislation apparently reported by the Pension Fund Administrators but several months after the publication nothing came out of it and am sure nothing will come out of it as long as Pencom remains indifferent to issues of enforcement. For Pencom to generate Personal Identification Numbers (PINS) takes several weeks now instead of 24hours, to process benefit claims takes about a month or even more is some instances. The issue of transfer of accounts from one PFA to the other by contributors is yet to commence 4 years after the market is supposed to have opened, this is a right of the contributor, when he is not satisfied with the services of his Administrator he can transfer his account to another as stipulated in the extant legislation. The issue is even more poignant when you consider those who contributed under the NSITF scheme as they can’t move their NSITF contributions to their PFAs largely because the transfer market has not yet opened. I think Pencom has not really appreciated the enormity of this problem until a contributor realizes that his right has been infringed by this obvious laxity and takes the matter to court.
If Pencon has had very little to cheer about in the last 6years, some Pension Fund Administrators have got nothing to cheer as they failed to clearly meet up with the expectations of their contributors as very little effort is put on Education and customer care, the resultant effect is gross disenchantment on the part of the contributors. The role of Pension Fund Administrators in this dispensation cannot be overemphasized, the success or otherwise of this pension plan can be tied up to a large extent with the Administrators. The ‘I don’t care attitude’ put up by some Pension Fund Administrators couple with the attitude of contributors towards pension, what you get in the end is a below average performance. Experience has shown us that workers generally develop apathy in deductions; they abhor deductions of their salaries for any purpose. They don’t like talking about life after retirement when they are in active service but the issue becomes relevant when they retire. To print this picture very clearly, you need to visit any public or private establishment that is complying with the New Pension regime and take a census of 5-10 staff and ask them the following questions; Have you registered with any PFA?; What is the name of your PFA?; Do you have a PIN?; When last did you receive statement of account from your PFA?; and, Are you satisfied with the services rendered to you by the PFA?. The answers to these questions and many more will give an insight as to the performance of these PFAs.
Failure by the PFAs to be alive to the needs of the contributors is a great indication that collection of one’s entitlements after retiring as and when due will be a Herculean task. Contributors are under continuous pressure from PFAs as regards to having to submit the same records/attachments several times even after earlier submissions were receipted and these attachments are a prerequisite for the issuance of PINS and without them nothing can be done. Too much noise has been made about Information Technology as a veritable tool for easing the problems of the new Pension plan but a cursory look at the activities of the PFAs in this regard indicates a huge disappointment as you can not easily hook up with the website of your PFA and get the desired result. Of course you can not register with any PFA on line, you cannot obtain your statement of account, and neither can you process your claims. Infact, the whole situation in the Pension Industry is chaotic and it looks as if it is grinding to a halt.
Finally, it is instructive to note that pension funds are as vulnerable as any public funds in Nigeria. What happened during the stock market crisis a couple of years ago where shares worth billions of Naira belonging to Pension Funds were washed away is an eye opener. Popular concern over pension is an issue well founded it therefore behoves the operators of scheme to do whatever is necessary to prevent it from drifting into chaos and efforts should be made to do the right thing at the right moment.