USA Africa Dialogue Series - AN ADDITION‹Re: Prof. Olukotun's Column

My oh my, 

I read this eloquent exposition by my friend and all-round Titan, Ayo Olukotun; and the powerful and also eloquent comment from Bolaji Ogunseye, and wonder what useful observation I can add? 

Repetition is NOT one of my strengths. Yet retained focus/ repetition of what some have been saying/ urging/ pleading for the past 50 years, is essential. 

What then to say? Perhaps only to remind all Nigeria folk who remain loyal and committed to their country, and to what they still hold tight to—the Great Light of its Being and Future, which are quite clear—that they have friends worldwide/ www of identical heart-wrench concern/ determination and commitment.

I mention but one, Julian Assange.

He remains the demonised target of our "oligarchs united"; a man who deploys the instrument that is well on its way to letting Great Light into the profound Darkness that all our oligarchs fight hard to retain. I speak of Cybernetics—the operations of High-Tech Electronics and Communication.  

I hope you may find the items below of interest. As I say, you have friends, www. Their battle is your battle. 

What applied to declared "heretics/ extremists/ criminals" like Galileo/ Copernicus/ Henry the Navigator by oligarchs, royal/ political/ religious, of their day, applies to folk like Assange today. 

You will know that Great Agbo, the Yoruba Warrior Chief of Legend, did not achieve success by looking backwards into the depths of Darkness and Despond. No. Always he looked forward. No matter the odds—and often they were heavy—he envisioned only victory. 

Joy and Light remain in the heart and soul of each one of us. It is for us vigilantly to ensure their retention. And to support those who, like Ayo, retain their firm grip on the simple/ common sense Life Principles and Values they represent. 

As so often, I am taken back to Dostoevsky's root comment on us all in his "The Idiot"; and "Dream of a Ridiculous Man." Life, as he declared emphatically, is NOT a "level field." Dostoevsky suffered severe punishment and abuse at the hands of Russia's oligarchs. The effect? It strengthened his commitment to the basic humane beliefs/ the beliefs we all seek to keep secure and aflame in the Nigeria of today. 

This brief dramatised BBC "Interview" item (the great Peter Ustinov, interviewing "Dostoevsky"), 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=7J2tMuQgNjo

touches at the core/ on all we are saying/ all that we wish to achieve and sustain—in Nigeria and in the rest of our relentlessly modernising  world; as hard and savagely as our alarmed oligarchs seek to resist .

All best from a quiet, sultry, late Summer morning in the green deeps of Sussex. 

News of the day? As reported to me by Pat via her iPad? 

Junior Doctors still threatening a strike/ Southern Rail has made £100 million; but no improvement in deplorable Service—which Government has condemned/ wife of Trump suing that Beacon of British Tabloid Journalism, the Daily Mail, for $150 million, for implying she was a sex worker/ escort. 

Imperatives of Brit concern today—at least as our meedja chooses to present it. 

The Good News? Well, turn to p.44, bottom right. Cha cha cha. 

Non carborundum est (in common parlance, "don't let the buggers wear you down."

 

Best,  Baba m

———————————————————————

Spearhead/ Transformative Force—Julian Assange

 

Julian Assange is the living presence of the single Transformative Force that enables us at last to leap the vast abyss between Darkness and Light.  In the 10,000 years since our Ordered Social Groups came first into being, Darkness has ruled with an increasingly dominant hand. ‘Division/ Exclusion/ and Acquisition’ have been the determining features. The growth and maturation of Cybernetics—through its principal instrumental elements, high-tech electronics and communications—have opened suddenly and dramatically our world and its peoples to the force of Light, and the ‘Actuation and Inclusion’ that defines it. Julian Assange is the prime leading figure that Fate and Dame Fortuna have selected to lead this initial challenge. Other leading figures are Bradley (Chelsea) Manning, and Edward Snowden. All have revealed secret truths about regimes and leading oligarchs/ about their sustained betrayal of Public Trust and much more. Oligarchs have declared all to be ‘Enemies of the State.’ All are now under restriction—state or self-imposed/ exile. Oligarchs seek to extinguish the threat Cybernetics poses. There is little sign of them taking action to correct their own misbehavior and that of the institutions through which they operate. The focus is on removing—preferably permanently—Cyber-truth-speakers from public contact. I attended two London Court appearances of Assange. The odes below record my impressions.

 

———————————————

 

 

London,

High Court

12 July, 2011

 

Price

 

 

Julian Assange

 

I exit the Tube

At Chancery Lane.

 

An easy route to

The Royal Courts of Justice

Turns out

Not so easy.

 

Several folk

Kindly assist

With guidance.

 

I turn a final corner,

And there standing in

Proud, solitary splendour, is that

 

 

'Champion of English Freedom'

John Wilkes

 

Dear me. 

'John who?'

 

The Courts must surely be close;

But no.

 

Indeed, Wilkes,

It turns out, and

Perhaps by no coincidence, is a

Considerable distance from these

Majestic and glowering portals.

 

Then, suddenly,

There it is.

 

Orderly scrum of media

A-bristle with cameras

And other gear.

 

'The First Casualty of War

Is Truth'

Shouts the

Barrier-Mounted banner

 

 

Two police only outside,

I was braced for hundreds,

I chat with one,

'Seems very quiet.'

 

He smiles, 'Yeah.  All pretty Orderly.

Just the media mostly here.'

 

Incredible.

Folk casually enter and

Depart the building.

Business as usual, or

So it seems.

 

Can't believe

My luck.

 

 

And so,

Casually, I enter.

 

Nobody much around.

Through a perfunctory security check,

I inquire of one of the two security men,

'Busy day?'

He looks puzzled.

'The Assange Appeal?

A lot of folk?'

 

Finally the penny drops.

He nods.

'Nah.  Pretty quiet.

Just the Press people.

Notebooks and recorders only.'

He laughs.  'They feel naked

Without their cameras.'

 

I enter a vast, vaulting

Cathedral-like space,

A few folk only,

Occasional Clerks scurry.

Silent.

 

'Assange Hearing?' I ask of

A suited, pre-occupied gent.

 

Puzzled, then

'Ah yes. 

Court No. 4.'

 

'And please, where?'

 

He points.

'Upstairs, to the left.

End of the hall.'

 

Up I go, and

Down to the end.

And there in the

Hovering gloom it is,

Court No 4.

 

An usher on duty.

'Ticket holders only,' says he.

 

'And the public?'

 

'The Gallery.

Over there, and

Up that spiral staircase.

And watch it. 

Steep and very narrow.'

 

Indeed.

As I climb in the gloom

I wonder:

Is it a short Route to

The Tower?

Perhaps a

Star Chamber

'Loosener'?

 

A great barred gate

Blocks further progress,

But with a nudge

And a creak

It opens.

 

Another usher.

He touches fingers to lips.

I nod.

 

He points to an

Entrance further down.

 

My oh my.

Can't believe my luck.

I spot a ringside seat,

Front row, plenty of room.

 

I push past two women

Busily working on laptops.

 

I look over the parapet

And down, and

There it all is,

Full panoramic performance

In play.

 

The two judges

Watch the clock,

Lunch break shortly.

 

Asasange's Brief

Burbles on;

Prepared script that

I can see is highlighted.

 

His language, alas,

Possesses no silver sounds;

Tis an accent that induces

Torpor and dis-interest,

As indeed is shown in the

Bored and weary visages of

The judges.

 

One can but hope that

Content will make up for

What this tiresome,

Barely audible Presentation

Lacks.

 

'And who are those folk?' I whisper.  'Journalists?' 

I point and ask the woman

With the laptop beside me.

 

'Sssssh!' says she loudly.

Two other women on the other side,

Also with laptops, hiss

'Quiet!  Silence!'

People in the Gallery,

Mainly women, I now note,

Look alarmed and

Glare at me.

 

I write my query, and

Push it to the woman;

She looks,

Regards me severely,

And nods.

 

I take another look round the

Well of the Court.

 

And yes,

There's Assange,

Looking at ease,

In company with his

Legal team, and behind him

I see Vaughan Smith and

Other supporters.

 

Next thing

It's luncheon adjournment.

 

I duly depart

Through the

Mini-portcullis,

Reprieve from this

Star Chamber

Consulting Room,

Back down the

Dungeon dark

Sharp-winding pitch of

Those close set

Stone steps,

And I'm out onto the Hall

Near Court No. 4.

 

Still a few folk about, the

Court has not emptied.

 

 And as I pass down this long,

Gallows-like stone-hewn corridor,

I casually view large glass cabinets displaying

Court Working and Ceremonial apparel; the

Corridors are still, quiet.

 

There is the lurking sense that

From behind one of these

Age-darkened pillars,

A vengeful spirit,

Glinting knife to hand,

Will leap out and

Have at me.

 

Downstairs now,

Back into the

Great Vaulting Entrance Hall, and

Still very few folk about—

But then vengeful spirits,

Like all phantoms of

The Other World

Have their appetites,

Their needs; they

Must be appeased.

 

I head for the Exit.

 

And there they are;

Just outside the Court entry,

The Jackal Pack,

Scanning restlessly,

Scenting the air,

Waiting for that signal,

That sighting,

To descend and

Devour.

 

 

They cast a

Quick eye at me,

But tis brief;

I am not the meat

They seek.

 

They've been told

Assange is likely to appear;

A breath of fresh air,

A bite of lunch.

 

Time to go.

 

I've added my presence.

 

Tis little more than

One of many echoes—

Albeit one with content,

Even if with a message

Known only to myself

 

The law sucks away

The blood of life

From this, as with

All proceedings.

 

Tis just another day

In this brooding neo-Gothic place, with its

Abiding ancient spirit that issues

From these forbidding stones,

Like a mist of doom.

 

And to think: 

Here are decided the

Brighter more Civil actions

Of the Law.

 

I am grateful to

Regain light and

Fresh air.

 

And what fate

Awaits Assange as his

Legal folk seek to wrestle

With this ancient, cold and

Malevolent machinery that's seen it all?

 

I reflect on

What I now realise

Was that Witches Coven

On that Gallery front bench;

Women casting a spell of

Sullen hysteria which they

Loosed on Assange and the

Proceedings below.

 

They are fortunate.

 

In earlier times,

Like those women of Pendle,

They would not long have escaped

The same rheumy eye of the law,

And the fiery end to follow.

 

In their way,

Their spirits are at one

With this gloomy and

Forbidding place.

 

'Abandon hope,

All ye who enter here.'

 

Indeed.

 

And now I see.

 

Tis right that the

Spirit of Wilkes,

'Champion of English Freedom'

Should have its firm-planted root

At a distance from these

Vaulting Halls of darkness.

 

And Wilkes, I now learn,

 Knew all about them.

 

Many were the

Clashes of arms,

And not all verbal;

Nor did Wilkes win em all.

 

A man of great strength, energies, and

Equal durability—with a

Taste for the ladies.

 

Many were the severe and

Savage lessons he was

Never to learn.

 

And as always it has been,

The Price of Freedom,

Runs high—

As Julian Assange

Is discovering.

 

——————————————

 

 

 

 

London,

Supreme Court

1 February, 2011

 

Luna

 

We're all busy,

Busy, busy,

Rush, rush.

 

In London for

Assange Hearing

—Yet another.

 

Cold day for coppers ...

And Assange supporters

 

 

 

The business of

Business,

Surges, churns on.

 

The Courts,

Albeit these

SUPREME Courts

—Here since 2009,

Gift from GW via his

Hand-puppet Blair,

I am informed—

Veritable Bright Lights

Compared to

Dungeon dark,

'Abandon all hope'

Atmosphere of

Courts of Appeal.

 

 

...Then on to 'Education,'

University of London,

All rush, busy,

Push, rush, desperation,

'Funding, you know, ...

So important these days';

Sense of the transitory,

'The only constant

Is change,'

Says shifty-eyed  

ICS man.

 

Quite true.

Sense of flux, uncertainty,

Palpable,

Anxiety, stress,

The rip-tide as

We speak.

 

And of myself ?

Amongst these busy folk?

 

The roots of my

New-breaking

Chrysalis of life,

My beautiful, luminous

Wings, in that

Wondrous moss-green

With big, vibrant

Brown 'eyes,'

Like the Luna Moth;

I unfurl them,

Take to the air in

Stunning display of

Bright show of

Hypnotic appeal.

 

 

Luna Moth Wing

 

But for these

Busy, busy folk,

Locked hard into

Their world, the

Only world of

'Real, real reality,'

For them,

My Luna presence

Is beyond sight,

Beyond feeling or cognition.

 

It does not exist.

 

 

Senate House, Univ of London (Background)

On Bitter Wintry Assange afternoon

 

 

And like the

Magnificent, wondrous

Luna,

Indeed like those

Great Seers,

Poets,

Philosophers

Of old,

From Valley of indus,

Persepolis,

Great Sumeria, Kabul,

Breathtaking Kashmir,

Folk who in their

Works created

Their own

Far more fabulous

Lunas,

My Luna

Just like theirs

Stands open, exposed,

Subject to the whim of

Those who at

Capricious moment may

Descend, in caprice

Or with savage intent, and

The Luna

Is crushed

Beneath a

Brute boot of

Casual extinction.

 

Yet still,

Always there is the

Quiver of a

Life-mark

Before darkness descends,

A flash-instant record

Imprinted upon

Auto-conscious.

 

This is the way

It has been.

 

It is the way

It is now.

 

And so,

Beneath and within,

Always within all,

There has existed

Deep, deep, that

Wondrous, luminous beauty, that

Breathtaking lift of

The wing of the

Luna.

 

And now,

As Assange

Passes through his

Crucifixion agony,

With magisters

Stone-deaf to life

Within the law,

Assange, like a birth mother

Carries safe within him the

Luminous promise of

Many Lunas;

Great Lunas of

New hopes,

New Life,

Which at last may

Start those first stages of

Opening gradually

To the light we seek;

And from that

Chrysalis opening, the

Bright channel to what

Life can provide, the

Ease, the

Beauty, the

Harmony that

Always has resided

Safe and secure

At the core, the

Centre life-throb of

Us all.

 

And so,

Tis release,

Stage to stage.

 

Assange takes us forward,

Regardless of what

Stone magisters

May decree.

 

It is a start.

 

Great wondrous

Luna within us all

Remains secure.

 

And awaits

The moment.

 

 

——————————————

 

 

13 Jan 2012

 

Nobel Peace Prize? 

(My Submission to a Petition supporting the Nomination of

Julian Assange as Candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, 2011.

He was nominated. He did not win.)

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wikileaks-julian-assange-nominated-nobel-peace-prize/story?id=12825383

Julian is trying to tell very important truths. 
These help all the world's folk to correct un-truths, 
And to be better informed about matters that 
Intimately affect them. 

Julian is the very sharp spear-head of the 
Vanguard that is undertaking the first steps 
Helping us to move away from our 
Early stage of savage infancy.

Julian gives us serious hope that 
Humankind is on the road to a 
Gradually maturing childhood—
The frontal lobe of the

Brain of humankind 
Is showing promising signs of

Development. 

It is cybernetics, the

Internet and instantaneous World-wide,

24/7 communication that have 
Opened wide the instrumental door.

Julian is showing us how we can 
Learn and grow from facts 
We have not been told, or 
From which the fiction 
Has been removed. 

Julian is the Henry the Navigator,
The Christopher Columbus, 
Perhaps the Galileo, 
The Copernicus 
Of this present day.

Julian and his Wikileaks folk are the 
Pioneers, the Trailblazers, who are 
Directing beams of bright light  
Down the avenue of the 
Future on which we are 
At the moment, traveling 
—And at swift pace.  

 

Michael Vickers

SUSSEX, UK

 

 

From: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, 2 September 2016 04:14
To: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>, Prof Toyin FALOLA <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>, USA-AFRICA dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>, Prof Richard JOSEPH <r-joseph@northwestern.edu>, "Dr O.A. DOSUMU" <toksx@yahoo.com>, Tade Aina <tadeakinaina@yahoo.com>, Prof Taiwo OWOEYE <sistertees@hotmail.com>, Tiwa <tiwaolugbade@yahoo.com>, Tunji Olaopa <tolaopa2003@gmail.com>, Attahiru Jega <attahirujega@yahoo.com>, Oluwayomi D ATTE <david_atte@yahoo.com>, Adebayo <adebayow@hotmail.com>, Adebayo Olukoshi <olukoshi@gmail.com>, Adigun Agbaje <adigunagbaje@yahoo.com>, Akinlawon Mabogunje <mabogunje1931@yahoo.com>, Pa Uoma <pauoma@gmail.com>, Kayode Soremekun <paddykay2002@yahoo.com>, Obadiah Mailafia <obmailafia@gmail.com>, Odia OFEIMUN <odia55@yahoo.com>, Ladipo ADAMOLEKUN <dipo7k@yahoo.com>, Dr Olajumoke YACOB-HALISO <jumoyin@yahoo.co.uk>, Olayemi Foline Folorunsho <offlinenspri@gmail.com>, "Prof. Lere Amusan" <lereamusan@gmail.com>, Prof Alli <alliwo@yahoo.co.uk>, Prof Bayo ADEKANYE <profbayo_adekanye@yahoo.com>, Gabriel Ogunmola <gbogunmola@yahoo.com>, "Gbenga Dr. Owojaiye" <gbenjaiye@hotmail.com>, "Haastrup, Deji Olaolu" <deji@chevron.com>, Hafsat Abiola <hafsatabiola@hotmail.com>, Caleb Ayoade Aborisade <caborisade@yahoo.com>, Chibuzo NWOKE <chibuzonwoke@yahoo.com>, Christian Ogbondah <chris.ogbondah@uni.edu>, "Chukwuma, Innocent" <innocent.chukwuma@fordfoundation.org>, <bokwechime@yahoo.co.uk>, Bolaji Akinyemi <rotaben@gmail.com>, Dr Banji OYEYINKA <boyeyinka@hotmail.com>, bukky dada <bukkydada@hotmail.com>, Bunmi Makinwa <bunmimakinwa@hotmail.com>, Bamitale Omole <taleomole@yahoo.com>, Daniel Bach <d.bach@sciencespobordeaux.fr>, Dele Layiwola <delelayiwola@yahoo.com>, Shehu Dikko <shehuspen@gmail.com>, <fademolaadeoye@gmail.com>, <fadesola@oauife.edu.ng>, Femi FALANA <falanalagos@yahoo.com>, Femi Osofisan <okinbalaunko@yahoo.com>, Funmi Odusolu <eleda.odusolu@gmail.com>, Funmi Soetan <funm_soetan@yahoo.com>, "Dr.Remi SONAIYA" <remisonaiya@yahoo.com>, <rsuberu@bennington.edu>, SEGUN GBADEGESIN <gbadeg2002@yahoo.com>, Segun Awonusi <segunawo@yahoo.com>, Niyi Osundare <oosunda1@uno.edu>, "Nwulu, Paul" <p.nwulu@fordfoundation.org>, <babaidanre@gmail.com>, Prof I Olawole ALBERT <ioalbert2004@yahoo.com>, Ibini Olaide <ibini_olaide@yahoo.com>, <isumona@yahoo.com>, <jadesany@yahoo.co.uk>, <jgsanda@gmail.com>, Jibo <jibo72@yahoo.com>, Jide Oluwajuyitan <joluwajuyitan@gmail.com>, Prof Jide Owoeye <babsowoeye@gmail.com>, Jinmi Adisa <jinmiadisa@gmail.com>, adele jinadu <lajinadu@yahoo.com>, Mamora <senatormamora@yahoo.com>, Michael VICKERS <mvickers@mvickers.plus.com>, Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome <mojubaolu@gmail.com>, Nimi Wariboko <nimiwari@msn.com>, William Fawole <fawolew@yahoo.com>, hassansaliu2003 <hassansaliu2003@gmail.com>, <pejuoti2002@yahoo.com>, Prof Pius ADESANMI <piusadesanmi@gmail.com>, Abiodun Salawu <Abiodun.Salawu@nwu.ac.za>, adesaid <adesaid@yahoo.com>, Alaba OGUNSANWO <alabaogunsanwo@gmail.com>, alade rotimi-john <rotimijohnandcompany@gmail.com>, antonia simbine <tsombe98@yahoo.com>, Lanre Idowu <lanreidowu@gmail.com>, lanre oluwaniyi <lanre1256@hotmail.com>
Subject: Fw: Prof. Olukotun's Column

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

---

From: Bolaji Ogunseye <erinje@yahoo.com>

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2016 02:20:09 +0000 (UTC)

To: ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com<ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>; Ayandiji Aina<dijiaina@icloud.com>; Ayobami Salami<ayobasalami@yahoo.com>; Caleb Ayoade Aborisade<caborisade@yahoo.com>; antonia simbine<tsombe98@yahoo.com>; anujah@yahoo.com<anujah@yahoo.com>; aoyewo@aol.com<aoyewo@aol.com>; Ephraim Aor<rainbowtumise@gmail.com>; Akanmu Adebayo<aadebayo@kennesaw.edu>; Akinjide OSUNTOKUN<josuntokun@yahoo.com>; bankole omotoso<ajibabi@outlook.com>; Ben Adeyanju<adeyanjuben@yahoo.com>; Bayo Okunade<bayookunade@gmail.com>; BISHOP CROWN<bishopisaaccrown@gmail.com>; Bisi Falola<bisifalola@gmail.com>; bode fasakin<bodefasakin@yahoo.co.uk>; cynthiafunmi@gmail.com<cynthiafunmi@gmail.com>; Dele Seteolu<folabiset@yahoo.com>; Dewale Yagboyaju<aswaj2003@yahoo.com>; DOYIN AGUORU<doyinaguoru77@gmail.com>; Dr. Badru Ronald Olufemi<femmydamak@gmail.com>; Employ Lawone<employlawone@aol.com>; eojo12000<eojo12000@yahoo.com>; Festus Adedayo<fesadedayo@yahoo.com>; Francis Ojo<ojofrank@gmail.com>; Fred Goke<fredgoke3@gmail.com>; Glory Ukwenga<gloryukwenga@gmail.com>; Alex Gboyega<alexgboyega@yahoo.com>; muktar haruna Sambo<mukraxxy@yahoo.com>; IHRIA ENAKIMIO<ihriae@gmail.com>; Iyabobola Ajibola<iyabobolaa@gmail.com>; Noel Ihebuzor<noel.ihebuzor@gmail.com>; Nosa Owens-Ibie<nosowens@gmail.com>; Okey Ibeanu<oibeanu@yahoo.co.uk>; jgsanda@gmail.com<jgsanda@gmail.com>; alade rotimi-john<rotimijohnandcompany@gmail.com>; Jones Dada<oyi_omi@yahoo.com>; Kehinde Emoruwa<emoruwaok@yahoo.com>; olukotun bob-kunle<bobkunle@yahoo.com>; Prof Dipo Kolawole<profkolawole@yahoo.com>; Oladipo Osasona<ladiposasona@yahoo.co.uk>; olatoye_ojo<olatoye_ojo@yahoo.com>; Olayemi Foline Folorunsho<offlinenspri@gmail.com>; Pa Uoma<pauoma@gmail.com>; lola2kid@yahoo.com<lola2kid@yahoo.com>; Yomi Layinka<yourme5@yahoo.co.uk>; Ngozi<mediaworldintl@yahoo.com>; nkechien@yahoo.com<nkechien@yahoo.com>; Nuhu Yaqub<nuhuoyaqub@gmail.com>; olufemi onabajo<olufemionabajo@yahoo.com>; abiodun raufu<abiodunraufu@yahoo.com>; Abiodun Salawu<Abiodun.Salawu@nwu.ac.za>; Adebimpe<bimpeaor@gmail.com>; Wasiu Odufisan<wasiuodufisan@yahoo.com>; sat obiyan<satobiyan@yahoo.com>; SEGUN GBADEGESIN<gbadeg2002@yahoo.com>; segunawo<segunawo@yahoo.com>; shirleygreta@yahoo.com<shirleygreta@yahoo.com>; Sharon Omotoso<sharonomotoso@gmail.com>; Shehu Dikko<shehuspen@gmail.com>; Sojo<aasojo@umn.edu>; Sola Akinrinade<solakin@msn.com>; solomon_akinboye@yahoo.com<solomon_akinboye@yahoo.com>; Solomon Uwaifo<so_uwaifo@yahoo.co.uk>; Funmi Soetan<funm_soetan@yahoo.com>; Mamora<senatormamora@yahoo.com>; madeyeye2002@yahoo.com<madeyeye2002@yahoo.com>; Meda<medaton@yahoo.com>; Mayortk<mayortk@yahoo.com>; stelbeyke@yahoo.com<stelbeyke@yahoo.com>

ReplyTo: Bolaji Ogunseye <erinje@yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: Prof. Olukotun's Column

Ayo,

Good offering. Thanks for bringing into clear relief how the crisis-engendered failure of PDP to provide quality opposition may undermine the vibrancy of our weakly-evolving democratic governance process.

It's difficult not to feel disappointed at PDP's troubled post-central power incarnation, especially if one considers what it says about our polity's continued failure to build credible and sustainable INSTITUTIONS. It must worry us that during 16 years of controlling central power and most state governments (plus all the accompanying self-indulgences of power), the PDP failed to sustainably INSTITUTIONALIZE the organization/party that enabled and served it so well to control, deploy and enjoy all that power. 

What that suggests to me is that it's the ready access to power and money, along with the pomp and circumstance that holding power confers, that held PDP together, rather than a commitment to sound institution building for itself. While it's natural that a large organization like PDP will be subject to intra-group tension and fractionalization, the party's RAPID, post-power dissembling still must make one imagine that having failed to build its own organization into a sustainable political institution (machine) in 16 years, little wonder it could not build credible and functional INSTITUTIONS OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE for Project Nigeria. But I don't suggest that's simply a PDP problem. It's a problem of the 'capacity gap' existing within ALL  Nigeria's political parties - to transform themselves from being power-seeking groups into sustainable, ideas-driven political institutions for  good governance. The seeds of APC's post-power dissembling are currently being sown before our very eyes - a fate that awaits them even if they spend 20 years controlling the centre and a majority of states - UNLESS of course, they learn the lessons of PDP's experience and DELIBERATELY  set out to avoid it.

Our parties - whether in or out of government - are not organized around nation-building and economic-development ideas and insights. And it's only that kind of commitment that can make a party build institutional props around its organization. The vast majority of Nigeria's party members are (and I say this with much sadness) the floatsam and jetsam of society, people who rarely ever spend a minute to reflect on HOW TO SERVE if they win power!! I joined (what remained of) the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 2012, and set about encouraging them to believe they could still have a political future (after all, they were second only to PDP during 1999-2003); I advocated with the leaders that we should institutionalize the party and mobilize members around policy and project ideas for governance - agric, youth development, employment, fighting mass poverty, reversing the runaway cost of governance, radical re-engineering of our early-childhood educational system, etc. 99% of our members thought me a serious bore. Even monthly membership dues of 100 naira they won't pay. All they wanted from me was MONEY. 

Let me conclude by saying that being no longer a party man as such, anytime I reflect on my 3-year experience, it strikes me that every recollection I have of my time with AD is that ALL - I mean ALL  - the fights (sometimes physical!!) and arguments that I witnessed were about sharing money - who took how much, why didn't I get so much; who collected money and didn't report to others; who took 1m naira but only tendered 500k to the other officers, etc; Or fights over food, or bags of rice - when these were available to be shared among them. I have not a single recollection of any argument or positional differences on agric, education, employment creation, etc. Things like these were NEVER discussed. 

With parties constituted with this rather low quality of 'human texture' dominating Nigeria's political process, it doesn't matter how long they are in power. The day they lose power, the parties are bound to start dissembling. They were never held together by an ideology, or institutional structure for themselves (as parties) or for serving society - the supposed reason for their formation in the first place. That's my perspective, in addition to Ayo's lucid 'effective-opposition-for-democratic-development' entry-point on PDP's current crisis.

Bolaji

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From: "ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com" <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>
To: Ayo Olukotun <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>; Ayandiji Aina <dijiaina@icloud.com>; Ayobami Salami <ayobasalami@yahoo.com>; Caleb Ayoade Aborisade <caborisade@yahoo.com>; antonia simbine <tsombe98@yahoo.com>; anujah@yahoo.com; aoyewo@aol.com; Ephraim Aor <rainbowtumise@gmail.com>; Akanmu Adebayo <aadebayo@kennesaw.edu>; Akinjide OSUNTOKUN <josuntokun@yahoo.com>; bankole omotoso <ajibabi@outlook.com>; Ben Adeyanju <adeyanjuben@yahoo.com>; Bayo Okunade <bayookunade@gmail.com>; BISHOP CROWN <bishopisaaccrown@gmail.com>; Bisi Falola <bisifalola@gmail.com>; bode fasakin <bodefasakin@yahoo.co.uk>; Bolaji Ogunseye <erinje@yahoo.com>; cynthiafunmi@gmail.com; Dele Seteolu <folabiset@yahoo.com>; Dewale Yagboyaju <aswaj2003@yahoo.com>; DOYIN AGUORU <doyinaguoru77@gmail.com>; Dr. Badru Ronald Olufemi <femmydamak@gmail.com>; Employ Lawone <employlawone@aol.com>; eojo12000 <eojo12000@yahoo.com>; Festus Adedayo <fesadedayo@yahoo.com>; Francis Ojo <ojofrank@gmail.com>; Fred Goke <fredgoke3@gmail.com>; Glory Ukwenga <gloryukwenga@gmail.com>; Alex Gboyega <alexgboyega@yahoo.com>; muktar haruna Sambo <mukraxxy@yahoo.com>; IHRIA ENAKIMIO <ihriae@gmail.com>; Iyabobola Ajibola <iyabobolaa@gmail.com>; Noel Ihebuzor <noel.ihebuzor@gmail.com>; Nosa Owens-Ibie <nosowens@gmail.com>; Okey Ibeanu <oibeanu@yahoo.co.uk>; jgsanda@gmail.com; alade rotimi-john <rotimijohnandcompany@gmail.com>; Jones Dada <oyi_omi@yahoo.com>; Kehinde Emoruwa <emoruwaok@yahoo.com>; olukotun bob-kunle <bobkunle@yahoo.com>; Prof Dipo Kolawole <profkolawole@yahoo.com>; Oladipo Osasona <ladiposasona@yahoo.co.uk>; olatoye_ojo <olatoye_ojo@yahoo.com>; Olayemi Foline Folorunsho <offlinenspri@gmail.com>; Pa Uoma <pauoma@gmail.com>; lola2kid@yahoo.com; Yomi Layinka <yourme5@yahoo.co.uk>; Ngozi <mediaworldintl@yahoo.com>; nkechien@yahoo.com; Nuhu Yaqub <nuhuoyaqub@gmail.com>; olufemi onabajo <olufemionabajo@yahoo.com>; abiodun raufu <abiodunraufu@yahoo.com>; Abiodun Salawu <Abiodun.Salawu@nwu.ac.za>; Adebimpe <bimpeaor@gmail.com>; Wasiu Odufisan <wasiuodufisan@yahoo.com>; sat obiyan <satobiyan@yahoo.com>; SEGUN GBADEGESIN <gbadeg2002@yahoo.com>; segunawo <segunawo@yahoo.com>; shirleygreta@yahoo.com; Sharon Omotoso <sharonomotoso@gmail.com>; Shehu Dikko <shehuspen@gmail.com>; Sojo <aasojo@umn.edu>; Sola Akinrinade <solakin@msn.com>; solomon_akinboye@yahoo.com; Solomon Uwaifo <so_uwaifo@yahoo.co.uk>; Funmi Soetan <funm_soetan@yahoo.com>; Mamora <senatormamora@yahoo.com>; madeyeye2002@yahoo.com; Meda <medaton@yahoo.com>; Mayortk <mayortk@yahoo.com>; stelbeyke@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, 1 September 2016, 20:24
Subject: Fw: Prof. Olukotun's Column

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

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From: Faith Adebiyi <faithadebiyi01@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2016 12:41:27 +0100

To: <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com>

Subject: Prof. Olukotun's Column

PDP’S SELF DESTRUCTIVE QUARRELS AND GROWING IRRELEVANCE

AYO OLUKOTUN

Nigeria presents itself to the world in fascinating contrasts and as a study in unrealized expectations and beckoning greatness frustrated by adversity and self-inflicted wounds. Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg alluded on an optimistic note, to one dimension of the Nigerian paradox when he told a workshop in Lagos on Wednesday that despite the biting economic hardship “after being here, there is no way that this place (Nigeria), doesn’t end up shaping the way things get done around the world”.

It does not appear that Zuckerberg was merely speaking to please his growing clientele in Nigeria; rather he seemed earnest, echoing statements which several world leaders have made about Nigeria’s manifest destiny. If the country will eventually transit from the current wilderness of deferred greatness to the world stage however, it must get among other things its democratic governance right, by alternating power smoothly between its major parties in free and fair elections. It is in this context that we worry about the looming erasure from the political map of the country the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Of course, it is easy to say good riddance if the PDP expires as a result of external pressure and ongoing bickering considering its many blemishes. In fact, several politicians and sympathizers of the ruling All Progressive Congress are already gloating at the travails of the PDP if for no other reason than that it would mean that a major rival has gone into extinction. It is difficult nonetheless for a true democrat to rejoice at the probable emergence of a one party state however virtuous that one party is. As this writer suggested in “PDP: An opposition party absent from duty” (The Punch, 6^th May, 2016), democracy is the better and healthier for it when it is served by two major parties each with roughly equal chances of winning or losing General Elections. True, and as some politicians are already strategizing, another party may rise up from the ashes of the PDP but will such a party have the spread and the forte of the imploding PDP?

As known, the gravity of the current fractionalisation of the party is evident in the holding of rival primaries by the two major factions for the forthcoming Ondo State election, suggesting that the schisms are deep and hard to reconcile. Similarly, the crisis has thrown up a plethora of court cases and rival court rulings to the extent that it will be almost impossible to hold a National Convention without one side obtaining an injunction to abort it.

The unravelling of what was once proclaimed as Africa’s largest party, projected to govern the country for 50 or so years carries with it a hint of tragedy mutating into farce as one observes the combatants displaying fervour at tackling their opponents without a trace of embarrassment or awareness that both parties in the fray are sealing the doom of their party. This blissful or pretended ignorance reminds one of Professor Larry Diamond’s comment in his seminal book on Nigeria’s First Republic that when actors driving on a narrow lane show no awareness of the fragile terrain in which they are acting, they provoke a Samson option in which all contending parties face destruction. It is possible of course as some have speculated that one of the disputing parties is merely playing the spoiler with instigation from the ruling party, becoming defiant in order to bring about a mutually assured destruction of the PDP.

Before carrying the narrative further however, this writer craves the reader’s indulgence to enter a short take. Leading the commentariat at The Punch Newspaper is Prof. Niyi Akinnaso, famed Tuesday Columnist and until recently when he retired from the United States the occupant of two prestigious Chairs at Temple University, Philadelphia, one in Anthropology the other in Linguistics. Naturally, I pay close attention to Akinnaso’s responses to my column and was very pleased when last week he wrote an incisive rejoinder to my piece on global and national dimensions of leadership diminution (The Punch, August 26, 2016). Applauding the cross cultural and comparative scope of the essay, Akinnaso went on to say that in order to avoid the ruling APC basking in the glow of belonging to an elite group of nations with diminished leadership, it is important to point up mitigating factors which cushion the citizens of advanced democracies. These factors according to him include systems in which the rule of law take pre-eminence, world class infrastructure and effective institutions. A citizen of the world, Akinnaso is right on the money in appreciating that while leadership diminution is global, its consequences vary depending of the level of political and economic development of respective countries. Hence, however incompetent or unpopular President Francois Hollande of France gets, the state structures in France guarantee minimum benefits and standards of living to French citizens. Obviously, we are not so lucky in these parts because we are citizens or subjects of ephemeral state structures belonging to nations waiting to be built. But now we must quicken the pace of construction and redemption of past failures so that Nigerians don’t suffer too much.

To go back to the main discourse, it will be unfortunate if the PDP lapses and pushes itself off the national stage because of real and contrived problems. Tensions and conflicts are to be expected in all organisations large or small; the larger, the more likely they will incubate conflicts. Indeed, some conflicts can be creative if they lead to organisational renewal or bring about an important reformulation of strategies, goals and tactics. There is no hint however that the conflicts in the PDP, denaturing and festering, have anything to with noble visions or ideals that can restart the party. Hence, at a time when Nigerians are in need of an effective opposition to both act as a check on the ruling party and to sign post better days to come, the PDP, or some of its leaders regale themselves with tactical victories obtained at the cost of pushing their party more and more into ruins.

 Ordinarily, the statement credited to Deji Adeyanju, Director, New Media of the PDP on Thursday to the effect that President Muhammadu Buhari should pay close attention to the economy or resign should have attracted some mileage. But if Buhari wants to be cynical, his spokespersons can ask Adeyanju whether he is speaking for the Ahmed Makarfi faction or the Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party. In other words, nobody can take seriously a party so divided and which has made political differences of combatants a priority issue. It is possible that the PDP wary of the consequences of their collective abasement and their impact on our fragile democracy will allow common sense to prevail and build bridges across the current divides. If this happens quickly enough, the party may yet be rescued from its current suicidal journey from irrelevance to extinction.

In the unlikely event that the party overcomes its current troubles, it will wobble on as an inconsequential player in the scheme of things. However that goes, our democracy needs a vibrant opposition party to move the country to the next stage of democratic consolidation.