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20<br />
CARTOON & LETTERS<br />
THE NATION TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2015<br />
SIR: That Femi Gbajabiamila<br />
carries himself like a true<br />
leader, is not new. That he acts<br />
and talks the part is also not new.<br />
That he is a nationalist is not new as<br />
well because his antecedent speaks<br />
volume but what is new is that he’s<br />
never been the leader of the ruling<br />
party in the House of Representatives.<br />
As the House’s ‘Minority Whip’<br />
leader, Gbajabiamila was many<br />
things. He was the voice of the<br />
House as well as the enforcer. He<br />
pushed that democracy be practiced<br />
in Nigeria like in developed countries.<br />
For starters, lets refresh on the<br />
role of a ‘Whip’ and how<br />
Gbajabiamila played the part. “A<br />
whip is an official in a political party<br />
whose primary purpose is to ensure<br />
party discipline in a legislature.<br />
Whips are a party’s “enforcers,”<br />
who typically offer inducements<br />
and threaten party members to ensure<br />
that they vote according to the<br />
official party policy. A whip’s role<br />
is also to ensure that the elected representatives<br />
of their party are in attendance<br />
when important votes are<br />
taken.”<br />
In the House Gbajabiamila held<br />
sway because of his stance against<br />
mismanagement, poor leadership<br />
and political immaturity. He vehemently<br />
kicked against the defection<br />
from one party to another, hammering<br />
on the need for Nigerian politicians<br />
to have and hold onto a set of<br />
political beliefs, ideology and philosophy.<br />
Gbajabiamila pretty much<br />
summed himself up in his book:<br />
“Fearless: the Emergence Of A Virile<br />
And Formidable Opposition<br />
Leader (Political Memoirs of Hon.<br />
Femi Gbajabiamila) preparing himself<br />
for the big stage, only that, this<br />
time he will go from opposition<br />
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E-mail: views@thenationonlineng.net<br />
Gbajabiamila deserves the Speaker’s job<br />
leader to the leader of the ruling<br />
party, a position he has prepared<br />
himself for and one that has waited<br />
for him.<br />
His panache and zest as Minority<br />
Whip leader was contagious and<br />
staggering. His colleagues always<br />
listened when he spoke. His<br />
oratorial prowess and his ability<br />
to convey his messages in the best<br />
possible fashion made him an item<br />
in every gathering.<br />
As Minority Whip leader, he<br />
SIR: South Africans have been<br />
up in arms against foreigners,<br />
mostly black immigrants<br />
since 2008. If care is not taken, such<br />
hostility could become the defining<br />
feature of the relationship between<br />
Africa’s most industrialised nation<br />
and the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa.<br />
The series of violent attacks<br />
have resulted in the death of about<br />
10 people who were either stabbed,<br />
lynched, wounded or set ablaze<br />
right in their places of abode while<br />
many others, who were lucky to survive<br />
have been displaced and rendered<br />
homeless. The world also<br />
watched in horror, as gangs of<br />
weapon-wielding youth descended<br />
on hapless people by killing, maiming<br />
and destroying their property.<br />
Shops and restaurants were reportedly<br />
looted with the law enforcement<br />
agents accused of looking the<br />
pushed Nigeria and Nigerians. He<br />
pushed the ruling party, he pushed<br />
his colleagues in the opposition but<br />
above all he pushed himself even<br />
beyond his own comprehension.<br />
Why should he be the eighth<br />
Speaker of the House of Representative?<br />
As head of the ad hoc committee<br />
investigating claims by the<br />
Asset Management Company of<br />
Nigeria, AMCON that N140.9 billion,<br />
which was owed by Zenon<br />
Petroleum and Gas Limited and<br />
Forte Oil Plc, has been paid,<br />
Gbajabiamila did a thorough job<br />
ensuring that the House also passed<br />
Money Laundering and Terrorism<br />
Amendment Bills.<br />
That’s why Asiwaju BolaTinubu,<br />
a national leader of the All<br />
Progressives Congress described<br />
Gbajabiamila as “an inspiration to<br />
many of the members of the House<br />
of Representatives today who are<br />
working tirelessly to see Nigeria<br />
chart a new course and are very so<br />
Still on the xenophobic attacks<br />
other way.<br />
We recall that such hostility<br />
played out some years back when<br />
some South Africa-bound Nigerians<br />
were turned back at the Oliver<br />
Tambo International Airport,<br />
Johannesburg for allegedly attempting<br />
to enter the country without the<br />
possession of valid yellow fever<br />
vaccination cards. At that time, the<br />
measure attracted a retaliatory action,<br />
as Nigeria turned back about<br />
130 South Africans after their plane<br />
had touched down at the Murtala<br />
Muhammed Airport in Lagos. Not<br />
only that, the humiliation Nigerians<br />
face when applying for South<br />
African visas is unbearable, particularly<br />
when nationals of similar countries<br />
that supported apartheid are<br />
allowed to enter into South Africa<br />
without entry visas.<br />
The South Africans are said to be<br />
Re: Our agenda for Buhari by doctors, others<br />
SIR: The pharmaceutical society<br />
of Nigeria wishes to express<br />
its gratitude to your<br />
publication for your exclusive on<br />
the above subject matter.<br />
We however wish to draw your<br />
attention to the caption – Our agenda<br />
for Buhari by doctors, others… While<br />
conceding that editors have a lib-<br />
erty to decide the captions that suits<br />
them best, it is imperative to point<br />
out that the aforementioned caption<br />
assaults sensibilities and deals<br />
fatal blows on the pride of health<br />
professionals especially pharmacists.<br />
It is painful that at a time we continue<br />
to seek mutual respect for all<br />
concerned in the health sector, this<br />
type of caption encourage the conqueror<br />
mentality doctors in collaboration<br />
with some biased stakeholders<br />
continue to impose on our<br />
perennially volatile health sector.<br />
• Gbalagade Iyiola, MAW<br />
Mushin, Lagos.<br />
irked by the business competition<br />
offered by foreigners and Africans<br />
who seem to be more successful than<br />
them. Due to South Africa’s culture<br />
of entitlement, the entrepreneurial<br />
spirit and hardwork so evident in<br />
immigrant communities has become<br />
a source of resentment for<br />
them. The culture of entitlement that<br />
tends to propel South African natives<br />
to become lazy and complacent, believing<br />
that many of their unemployed<br />
township dwellers cannot do<br />
much on their own to improve their<br />
situation without state assistance.<br />
Not only that, immigrants from Somalia<br />
and Ethiopia are also feared<br />
and hated because they do much<br />
better than their South African counterparts.<br />
These immigrants - out of<br />
sheer business ingenuity - co-operate<br />
with each other by forming business<br />
networks to buy goods together<br />
in bulk and undercut competition<br />
by excelling as entrepreneurs.<br />
King Zwelithini’s provocative utterances<br />
undoubtedly fuelled the latest<br />
impasse and as such, his reprimand<br />
and the call by many, including<br />
the Nigerian government for his<br />
prosecution at the International<br />
Criminal Court are not out of<br />
place. There can be no valid excuse<br />
for or defence of the horrors playing<br />
out. It is shameful for a big country<br />
like South Africa to behave like<br />
the former apartheid state where<br />
committed to changes, content of<br />
the character of the country, adding<br />
a great value and commitment<br />
to national development and<br />
progress of this country”.<br />
Gbajabiamila is not one who<br />
shies away from his responsibilities<br />
and actions as a leader. To preserve<br />
the democracy of Nigeria, he<br />
was once forced to scale the gate of<br />
the House of Representatives. On<br />
his Facebook page, he wrote of his<br />
action: “What happened in the National<br />
Assembly yesterday will forever<br />
live in infamy. Never thought<br />
I would see the day when I would<br />
be forced to go over the assembly<br />
gates where I work to gain access<br />
into the chambers.”<br />
• Seun Bisuga,<br />
Lagos<br />
rights violations were rampant. The<br />
patience of Nigerians who rather<br />
opted for protest - rather than resorting<br />
into violence in the face of provocation<br />
- is highly commendable.<br />
The Nigerian government should<br />
rise up to its obligation of protecting<br />
its people in South Africa and elsewhere.<br />
Necessary legal actions<br />
should therefore be initiated to ensure<br />
that South Africa pays adequate<br />
compensations for the losses incurred<br />
by the immigrants. If the South African<br />
government cannot guarantee<br />
the safety of Nigerians in their country,<br />
the Federal Government should<br />
put the necessary logistics in place to<br />
evacuate its citizens.<br />
Finally, it is time we looked inward<br />
and reflect deeply on how to discourage<br />
Nigerians from fleeing their<br />
country for greener pasture. The perennial<br />
problems of unemployment,<br />
insecurity, harsh business climate,<br />
epileptic power supply and bureaucratic<br />
corruption should be seriously<br />
addressed. The incoming administration<br />
of General Muhammadu Buhari<br />
should ensure that Nigeria regains<br />
its pride of place among comity of<br />
nations and to become a true home<br />
for all its citizens.<br />
• Adewale Kupoluyi<br />
Federal University of Agriculture,<br />
Abeokuta.