Nigeria’s search for an effective Leader – The obnoxious truth about the forthcoming presidential race

Two major presidential candidates are on the forefront- from the two largest parties. The incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC), and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar representing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Nigeria’s search for an effective Leader – The obnoxious truth about the forthcoming presidential race

ANTHONY OBI OGBO

It has indeed come down to this – a race Between Rightwing Dictator and an Established Thief

 

For over 58 years, Nigeria has been in search of leaders with the right motive and intelligence to truly move the country to a self-sustaining level. For a country blessed with natural resources, only an insignificant number live above the poverty line. Every four years, the country’s political atmosphere is charged as different personalities vie for the most exalted office of President of the Federal Republic Nigeria. Yet the country remains unlucky in electing effective leaders who will institutionalize ethical leadership, and steer the country to an enviable status from the current global embarrassment.

 

It is not news then that Nigeria’s General Elections will be held on 16 February 2019. The campaign by political parties have intensified at various constituencies, and in most cases rough, as loyalist engage each other at rallies and on social media. But two major presidential candidates are on the forefront- from the two largest parties. The incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC), and a former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar representing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

 

These two candidates are not new in Nigeria’s political arena. Buhari who has been in office since 2015  was a Major General in the Nigerian Army and previously served as the Head of State from 1983 to 1985, after taking power in a military coup d’état that dethroned the Democratic Government at the time. Atiku was the Governor-elect of Adamawa State when he was selected by the then Presidential Candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo as his running mate. He served as the Vice President from 1999 to 2007.

 

Undeniably, he is not medically fit; during his first two years, he shuttled to-and-from unknown medical facilities abroad to attend to his constantly failing health. Atiku, on the other hand, has spent his time making lavish trips abroad while he courted local chiefs and political godfathers to explore his political options and chances.  Nonetheless, Atiku has visible investments in local and multinational corporations operating in Nigeria.

 

The purpose of this article is not to highlight the political history of these individuals. While the majority of voters are divided between the two major platforms, the APC and PDP, the choice of Presidency remains a tough call in a Nation currently dwindling through economic and sociopolitical turmoil. Currently, little or no progress has been made by the incumbent in addressing major issues bedeviling the country. From the economy through internal security, Buhari has fumbled without a blueprint and made flimsy excuses each time. Undeniably, he is not medically fit; during his first two years, he shuttled to-and-from unknown medical facilities abroad to attend to his constantly failing health. For a public servant who seeks to lead a country of over 200 million people, Buhari has continued to put on lid on his medical fitness. Atiku, on the other hand, has spent his time making lavish trips abroad while he courted local chiefs and political godfathers to explore his political options and chances.  Nonetheless, Atiku has visible investments in local and multinational corporations operating in Nigeria.

 

Unfortunately, Buhari’s first term has not yielded the projected fruits because he does not appear to have the answers to institutionalized corruption and economic challenges that Nigeria currently faces. Yet, voters are skeptical about Atiku due to his horribly scandalous transgressions as a public servant.

 

Unfortunately, Buhari’s first term has not yielded the projected fruits because he does not appear to have the answers to institutionalized corruption and economic challenges that Nigeria currently faces. Yet, voters are skeptical about Atiku due to his horribly scandalous transgressions as a public servant.

 

Personally, I have spent the last five years criticizing Buhari; his dictatorial demeanor, ignorance in matters of contemporary leadership, and blindness to political governance. In fact, in my book, Governance – The Buhari’s Way, I described him as the most dangerous bee that lands on a scrotum. “Punch it, you smash your manhood; leave it, and you are stung to death.” Yes, he is that killer-bee that perches on the balls, wheezing for a destructive sting. He was involved—one way or the other—in every Nigerian military rule since the 1966-1969 civil war; participated in coups; and, as a retired junta member, ran three presidential races without a scrap of success, until a coalition of parties determined to change the witless government of the day, gave him the platform that aided his electoral victory in the 2015 General Elections.

 

Atiku, on the other hand, is no good. He is one of those politician elites who prospered through public-fund looting.  Bombastically rich, Atiku shuttles rich cities in the Middle East and would swagger money, extravagant gifts, and young women.  Atiku’s fraud case with William Jefferson – a former Louisiana politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 made global history.

 

Jefferson, infamous for having $90,000 in bribe money hidden in his freezer, is serving a 13-year prison sentence after being convicted on a slew of federal corruption charges.  One of the most puzzling and intriguing facets of the case is that Jefferson’s partner-in-crime Atiku, the Vice President of Nigeria at the time divided his time between his Vice President position and Potomac, MD., where he and one of his four wives maintain a $2.2 million mansion.  While Jefferson resides in a rent-free jail, Abubakar not only remains free but also, he is a Presidential candidate in a country where thieves are glorified. Unfortunately, it is leadership culture in Africa that most thieves do not go to jail, but occupy public offices. So, Atiku is no exception.

 

Buhari’s 2015 promise of fighting corruption is paralyzed by his inaction of reported sleaze around his protégés and trusted officials. This has become a major ethical burden to the Nigerian President.  Atiku, in this campaign moment, has paraded written pieces of literature about solving Nigeria’s moral issues. However, it would take a moral person to fight an immoral society. Atiku’s moral standing is still questionable.

 

The Presidential race beyond parties is clear; the voters would be left with two candidates that have no proven capacity to move the country forward. Burahi’s path for a moral society is a good proposal, but in both his years as a dictator and first term as an elected leader, he has shown a total lack of intellectual capacity to address matters of ethical governance. His 2015 promise of fighting corruption is paralyzed by his inaction of reported sleaze around his protégés and trusted officials. This has become a major ethical burden to the Nigerian President.  Atiku, in this campaign moment, has paraded written pieces of literature about solving Nigeria’s moral issues. However, it would take a moral person to fight an immoral society. Atiku’s moral standing is still questionable.

 

Notwithstanding the lapses these two candidates exhibit, today, they are barring fangs to tear each other apart in a Presidential race a week away. Voters should be worried, that Buhari even as a failed incumbent, has a challenger that may not be trusted with the country. One of the core doctrines of change in the political contest is not just a handover of the leadership baton. The challenger must be morally and intellectually upright; must tender convincing proposal for change; and must show knowledge of conversion of strategies into governance actions. So far, Atiku’s camp has been parading basic campaign posters of unsubstantiated policy proposals irrelevant to major issues of the moment.  

 

To be clear, this article is not an endorsement of any candidate but a synopsis of the uncertainties that befog Nigeria’s chances to attract a good leader in the forthcoming elections. The next best solution could have been a radical change initiated by a frustrated population. This might entail a disregard of the two major candidates for entirely somebody new for a holistic political detour. But the current political terrain would not support that option in a society where traditional and tribal connectivity still dominates social and political actions.

 

Without a doubt, this race might boil down to a choice between Buhari, a timid, nepotic but stingy rightist who would sit down on the national wealth without a clue about how to invest, and a lavish and irresponsible spender called Atiku, who could share the national treasury with the wolves that currently surround his candidacy.

 

So, voters might be faced with a choice between two candidates, one is a dictator, and the other an established thief. Without a doubt, this race might boil down to a choice between Buhari, a timid, nepotic but stingy rightist who would sit down on the national wealth without a clue about how to invest, and a lavish and irresponsible spender called Atiku, who could share the national treasury with the wolves that currently surround his candidacy.

 

Buhari’s battle with his health might yet not be over. So he might make more trips to fix himself. But Atiku has equally spent more time beyond the shores. He would lie to the nation that he was at a strategy meeting in Dubai, whereas he was busy meeting with unscrupulous money mongers that invest in his campaign. So, the choice is clear, between a weak, clueless, ailing incumbent who might still make many more trips abroad to heal a retiring soul, and a challenger whose fiscal recklessness, corrupt personality, and affiliation with dishonest political vandals might further sink Nigeria’s economy irreparably.

Either way, Nigeria continues the search for an effective leadership – it might take time.

_____________

♦ Anthony Ogbo, PhD is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015)  and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us

Is Trump a racist? The Answer is yes, and harmfully xenophobic too

By Anthony Obi Ogbo

If I may recall, the controversy is about President Trump’s recent comment, where he reportedly referred to African nations and Haiti as “shithole countries” during a bipartisan meeting on immigration. He had questioned why the United States needs “more Haitians” and suggested instead that the country take in more immigrants from places like Norway. Mr. Trump’s comments have since received unparalleled stretch of condemnation all over the world.

Amidst an avalanche of editorial commentaries extensively scrutinizing these verbal excesses, I had stumbled into some analysts dialoguing in sheer controversy on the meaning of racism and who or who is not racist. My first thought was, being a Black in America – and worse, having originated from one of Trump’s “shithole countries,” do I really need the dictionary, or any reference book to define racism?” Of course not, because at this stage in my career and at my age, I do understand “racism”, and likewise, I can identify a racist even without my reading glasses.

But America should not just be worried about Trump’s racial verbosity and actions. In fact, the population should be more concerned about his belief that he is not a racist.  Here is what he told reporters at the Trump International Golf course following reports of his “shithole” comments: “I am not a racist. I’m the least racist person you will ever interview.” Now, this is where we should be concerned, because this man apparently does not know that he is a racist.

This is the same Trump, whose real-estate company refused to rent apartments to African-Americans in the 1970s; gave preferential treatment to Whites, and faced a federal lawsuit which was eventually settled. And we must also have heard that Trump treated his black employees at his casinos differently from Whites, and once criticized a black accountant saying: “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. … I think that the guy is lazy. And it’s probably not his fault, because laziness is a trait in blacks.”

This was the same Trump who led a hateful campaign that the nation’s first Black President was not born in the United States but in Kenya. Till date, Trump is yet to apologize for this blunder, but has continued to exhibit his utter detestation of his predecessor, simply because of his skin color.

I am really not going to waste my editorial space rehearsing the horrific chronology of President Trump’s exhibition of his discriminatory eccentricity, but it would be fair to mention that this man began his 2016 presidential campaign with a speech disparaging Mexican immigrants as criminals and “rapists.” As President, Mr. Trump called for total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. He further ordered a refusal to readmit Muslim-American citizens who were outside of the country at the time.

We could go all day reciting some unspeakable racist actions of President Trump who claims he is not a racist. Yet, he was quick to refer a federal judge hearing a case about the Trump University as “prejudiced” because of the judge’s Mexican heritage. As if this was not enough – and very recently Trump said 15,000 recent immigrants from Haiti “all have AIDS” and that 40,000 Nigerians, once seeing the United States, would never “go back to their huts” in Africa.

With hundreds of President Trump’s racist overtures yet to be added to this list, how could anyone, in his or her right sense argue that he is not a racist? As if his declarative support for White Supremacists and his depiction of minorities as nonsensically ungrateful were not enough, Trump has frequently condemned prominent African-Americans as unpatriotic, ungrateful and disrespectful; and called Puerto Ricans who criticized his poor response to Hurricane Maria “politically motivated ingrates.” What nonsense!

I would conclude by revisiting that same question about whether Trump is or is not a racist. Yes, President Trump is a dishonest racist and harmfully xenophobic too. Here is a painstaking bigoted vandal who wangled into the White House as President, with a long history of every attribute associated with racism. As President Trump himself once said, “When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough.” Ironically, Trump, an imprudent hypocrite who is currently married to an immigrant with an accent as heavy as mine remains America’s biggest leadership challenge. Thus he must, in his own words, be confronted with ‘tough’ and ‘brutal’ attitude to curtail his extraordinary narrow-minded and racist comportments.

■ International Guardian Publisher Anthony Obi Ogbo, PhD is the author of “The Influence of Leadership.”
Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us

IPOB – Ravage-effect of Fraudulent Radical Engagements

Analysts may be divided over the dangerous implications of Kanu and his street followers to the progress of the Igbo ethnic group, but it must be acknowledged also; that it would take Igbos a long time to recover from the lingering wounds inflicted in the structure of its political progress by Kanu’s intoxication for power, money, and ego.

By Anthony Obi Ogbo – Publisher’s Analysis (International Guardian, Houston, TX)

Psychological factors of political activism have never been scorned by history; in fact, the implications of political movement and social action have provided positive apparatus for societal reforms. Political motivation starts from the mind because it is often triggered by emotional reactions over prevalent public issues. Hence, these psychological factors remain significant in the attitude that drive change, individual participation, and outcome of political movements or protest events.

So, when the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu sprang up initially to advocate what it called “original inhabitants and owners of the lands and communities of Biafra and Biafraland”, they were received as individuals exercising their rights to challenge the authorities into negotiating their civic interests. But matters unfolded sequentially to confirm that this was just another unwaged group hiding under the great values of the Rising Sun to seek the attention of the regime for selfish monetary bargains.

Most disappointedly, Kanu exposed a totally ignorance and confusion about his own mission; unable to articulate the legislative process of self-determination; could not distinguish between a referendum and statutory deconstruction of self-reliance, but would infiltrate the Internet with amateurish videos of threats and tommyrots to enflame chaos in a vulnerable society currently going through economic and political crunch.

This tactics is not new in Nigeria – a West African nation where in recent times, swindlers, guttersnipes, armed robbers and other breed of dishonest vandals crashed into political and social activism, and turned that institution into a bloody gambling career.

For instance, the world saw how the Niger Delta Militants terrorized their region with deadly ammunitions, kidnapping humans, looting and blowing oil installations. Of course, they claimed to be fighting for their land, until one after the other, rebellious group leaders gradually bargained their agitations into personal wealth.

Today, those militants swim in riches and have since softened their lines of action. Yet, the Delta remains the Delta – quite underdeveloped with local chiefs and political leaders confused about viable strategies to manage their valuable resources.

He would brag about procuring arms and burning down Nigeria – which he describes as the zoo; while some suckers who followed and cheered him would turn around to defend him as nonviolent. When it became clear that Kanu does not even understand his own agenda, he lied to his followers that his missions were now mysterious and were being directed by some divine powers. What nonsense!

IGBO as an ethnic group is no exception to such menace of unscrupulous activists. For example, when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan assumed office in 2010, most Igbos assumed that his regime was the right time to release Ralph Uwazuruike, the then jailed leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). But from all indications, Uwazuruike, was not so keen on coming out of jail. He was more interested in remaining in jail – to intensify his campaign and gather more attention to raise money. Uwazuruike now flourishes in wealth and has totally abandoned his so called agitation to actualize the sovereign state of Biafra.

It became obvious why there are hundreds of Pro-Biafran groups; why those leaders would always want to be arrested, and why every lazy dude wants his own  Biafra. It also became obvious why Kanu and Uwazurike – supposedly leaders of two major pro-Biafran groups have been engaged in bitter rivalry, exposing themselves and their underhanded “self-determination “motives. So intense that Uwazurike accused Kanu of using his call to boycott elections in Anambra State to stage chaos and mass murder; to motivate and uplift his campaign to generate international attention. He was right.

Furthermore, Kanu must be remembered for using gullible Igbo youth Igbos and their innocent blood as weapons of war, to attain notoriety. IPOB and Kanu had strategically set innocent supporters up for death by pushing them forward as a shield against Nigeria’s merciless army. They had videoed them in the process and used those VIDEOS to seek international attention and raise money. This is criminally a terroristic exploit. HAMAS adopted it – now IPOB is using it.

Without doubt, Kanu and IPOB have over the past months demonstrated the most deplorable path to political activism. A look at their rhetoric and the cause they claim they agitate shows a bunch of angry followers rallying around an ill-informed opportunist who struggled in London romanticizing a pitiful state of pennilessness. Kanu saw an opportunity through using the social media to deceitfully incite angry unemployed Igbo youth into believing that Biafra could be resurrected by spewing vulgarity on U-tube, marching the streets, vandalizing neighborhoods, and throwing rocks at the police.

Most disappointedly, Kanu exposed  total ignorance and confusion about his own mission; unable to articulate the legislative process of self-determination; could not distinguish between a referendum and statutory deconstruction of self-reliance, but would infiltrate the Internet with amateurish videos of threats and tommyrots to enflame chaos in a vulnerable society currently going through economic and political crunch.

He would brag about procuring arms and burning down Nigeria – which he describes as the zoo; while some suckers who followed and cheered him would turn around to defend him as nonviolent. When it became clear that Kanu did not even understand his own agenda, he lied to his followers that his missions were now mysterious and were being directed by some divine powers. What nonsense!

Analysts may be divided over the dangerous implications of Kanu and his street followers to the progress of the Igbo ethnic group, but it must be acknowledged also; that it would take Igbos a long time to recover from the lingering wounds inflicted in the structure of its political progress by Kanu’s intoxication for power, money, and ego.

Furthermore, Kanu must be remembered for using gullible Igbo youth and their innocent blood as weapons of war, to attain notoriety. IPOB and Kanu had strategically set innocent supporters up for death by pushing them forward as a shield against Nigeria’s merciless army. They had videoed them in the process and used those VIDEOS to seek international attention and raise money. This is criminally a terroristic exploit. HAMAS adopted it – now IPOB is using it.

The truth may be hard to swallow, but must be told. As of today, Biafra is not a country but a well-fought mission every Igbo is proud of. Resurrecting such mission is possible with pulsating strategies and reasonable legislative support. Definitely not with the current breed of lying activists stalking the streets without clear objectives.

Propaganda does not yield political fruits. A quest for reconstruction of Nigeria is inevitable and accomplishing that is a matter of time. One opportunity slipped off during President Jonathan’s regime. The current regime of President Muhammadu Buhari does not believe in such reformation process, so Nigerians passionate about reconstruction or structural transformation of their governmental process may create a 2019 opportunity to bargain those interests with aspiring contestants.

Structural reformation in a democratic process can only be achieved though constitutional means. We must also understand that one million calls to the United Nation’s office or even to Donald Trump, who by the way could not properly hold his own executive position, cannot influence any decision-making action in Nigeria’s current regime. Flying IPOB flag on London streets or Houston’s downtown can only yield photos for the social media page and might bear no positive implications to supporting leaders that would represent any political interests as Nigerians.

Houston’s pension reform plan – We shall see

By Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq

Even if the Legislature approves the City’s pension reform plan and city voters repeal the  Rev Cap City Charter amendment and approve $1 Billion in new pension bonds, by the City’s 2019/2020 Fiscal Year (if not sooner), Houston will once again face budget deficits unless the City Council raises the property tax rate.

City budget deficits are much more likely to occur, if in November, City voters also approve a City Charter Amendment to create a Defined Contribution (DC) 401K style “pension” plan for new city employees. This new retirement plan and the debt service cost of $1 Billion in pension bonds will eat up any new revenue generated from lifting the City’s Rev Cap as city spending on General Fund operations, even after pension reform, will grow faster than the annual rate of inflation and growth in the city’s population. More importantly, General Fund spending is likely to grow faster than the annual increase in property valuation inside the city.

The real cause of the City’s budget deficits is not Defined Benefit (DB) pension payments or the Rev Cap – it’s really the failure to modernize city government to make it more efficient and less expensive to operate. In Houston, we have a 19th Century city government structure operating on 20th Century technology in what is now the 21st Century – the era of enhanced, cost effective services through the use of “smart” technology, data analytics and artificial intelligence (A.I.).

Over the next two to three fiscal years, City of Houston officials and Houstonians are going to learn that city pension payments and the City Rev Cap were not the root cause of the City’s budget problems. City spending on the Police Department is growing while the number of police officers has essentially declined. This is just one example of the bigger problem in the city: the antiquated structure and inefficient operation of city government that has been ongoing for decades.

If we are really going to fix the City’s budget and fiscal problems, we are going to have to restructure the Police and Fire Departments as well as modernize all of city government to make Houston a “smart” city. Additionally, the City and County need to consolidate Health Care services, Parks Departments, Library services, Housing Authorities and Departments and the City should turn over operation of all the city golf courses to a partnership composed of the Houston Golf Association, The Lone Star Golf Association and Hispanic Golf Association. These steps would help both the City and County save money through economies of scale and the elimination of redundancy. They would also help achieve the real structural reforms needed to fix the City’s long-term budget and fiscal challenges through modernization and consolidation of government.

The City can’t keep depending on annual increases in residential property valuation. Those increases, in property taxes, are making housing, in Houston, increasingly unaffordable for low income and working class Houstonians. The City also needs to better utilize the existing Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones

(TIRZs) to help address infrastructure modernization, flood control and the constructionof more affordable housing inside the City. City voters also have an important role to play in ensuring that local elected officials remain fiscally responsible and attentive to the issues of concern to taxpayers.

In November, City voters are likely to be called on to decide:

• whether to eliminate the City’s Rev Cap;

• approving the issuance of $1 Billion in Pension Bonds to be repaid out of General Fund Revenue over the next 30 years;

• approving the creation of a Defined Contribution (DC) 401K style retirement plan for all new city employees; and

• whether to authorize the County to use property tax dollars to fix up the Astrodome, a proposal previously rejected by voters.

It is also possible that Metro may have a transportation referendum on the November ballot and depending on what happens in court, city elections for Mayor and City Council could also possibly be on the November ballot. Depending on circumstances, there may be other issues on the November ballot including any proposed state constitutional amendments sent to the voters by the Legislature currently meeting in Austin. Real budget and fiscal reform, in Houston, is going to require the modernization of city government, voter and taxpayer oversight of City officials and TIRZs as well as the consolidation of selected city and county departments and services.

Carroll G. Robinson is a former At-Large Houston City Council Member who served on the City’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee. He was a candidate for City Controller in 2015 and currently serves as a Citizen Member of the Board of Trustees of the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund. Robinson is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Political Science at Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs. The observations and recommendations in this commentary do not represent the official opinion of any of the organizations Professor Robinson is affiliated with. They are his insights based on his experience in city government and years of studying the City budget, City finances and local economic issues.

Time to Get Real – African Americans and the realities of political interests

By Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq

There is an old saying that “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”. The election of Donald Trump may be such an opportunity for African Americans to hold the Democratic Party more accountable to the black community, if they are willing to do so.

Democrats can’t win in 2018 or retake the White House in 2020 without major support from African American voters.

Will African American elected officials, community leaders and academicians take advantage of this opportunity to hold Democrats accountable based on a substantive policy and political agenda?

When Democrats retake the House or Senate or both, will issues of importance to the African American community and minority business owners and entrepreneurs be at the top of the agenda?

Even though they are now in the minority, will Democratic members of Congress hire more African Americans in leadership positions on their personal and committee staffs? Will Democratic campaign committees and PACs at the federal, state and local levels hire more African American political consultants, campaign advisors and vendors? Will these entities deposit funds in black owned banks and financial institutions? Will they invest in year round voter registration and education activities in African American communities across the country through existing African American led grassroots community based organizations?

Democratic campaign committees and PACs also need to advertise through the black media year round not just during the last few weeks of an election cycle.

Democrats need to understand that they can’t take it for granted that black millennials will be voting for Democrats in 2018 or 2020 just because of Trump. Opposing Trump alone is not going to be enough.

Democrats need to understand that they can’t take it for granted that black millennials will be voting for Democrats in 2018 or 2020 just because of Trump. Opposing Trump alone is not going to be enough.

Where do Democrats want to take our nation in the coming years and where do African Americans fit in?

If a Democrat is elected President in 2020, will she (or he) nominate an African American woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court?

Would the new Democratic President nominate an African American to serve as Treasury Secretary?

If either of these were to occur it would be a first in our nation’s history.

What about access to federal contracting opportunities? Would a new Democratic President be willing to hold A National Black Entrepreneurs and Business Owners Summit? Would she or he be willing to develop a Wealth and Prosperity Public Policy Agenda for the Black Community? Black America needs policies focused on lifting our community into the Middle-Class and beyond to upward economic mobility. This is not a special request or unique situation. This has been the reality of government decision making from the drafting Constitution and its protection of intellectual property and private “property” to government contracting from The Black Codes to Jim Crow and beyond.

African Americans need Democrats to put the same level of policy innovation, creativity, energy, imagination and intensity that they are putting into the fight for Sanctuary Cities and against Trump’s immigration ban, Betsey DeVos and Jeff Session into rebuilding inner city communities, reforming the criminal justice system, strengthening public schools in black neighborhoods and eliminating the racial wage and wealth gaps.

If Africans Americans don’t take advantage of this opportunity to get A Better Deal from Democrats when it comes to public policies and contracting as well as political opportunities during Redistricting in 2020, whose fault will it b

♦ Carroll G. Robinson is an Associate Professor at the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. He is a former General Counsel of the Texas Democratic Party, a Past President of the Texas Association of Black City Council Members and served as an At-Large Member of the Houston City Council.

More articles by Carroll G. Robinson ►►►

Donald Trump – 100 days of supervisory garbage

God’s own country is plunged into a filthy sea of inexplicable leadership challenge and policy-making ambiguity

By Anthony Obi Ogbo

The psychological relevance of Tao Te Ching’s Art of War “The Journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step” basically signifies the strategic importance of operating goals, tasks, and actions – definitely not a journey from Trump Towers to the White House.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States understood this philosophy, when in 1933, he used his first three months in office to lay the foundation of his executive mandate. Following this, the “First 100 Days” has been strategically imbedded by default as an exceptional period in foretelling the values of governance and tenure effectiveness. It sets the tone of administration’s potential and substance – or lack of it.

Without twisting words, it is unquestionable that in just less than three months of Trump’s inauguration, God’s Own Country has already been hurled into chaos. From cutting regulations, creating jobs, through his actions on trade, ethics, national security, immigration, public safety, women, and minority’s affairs, Trump has operated haphazardly, without strategies, thus, exhibiting exceedingly, a disgraceful show of paucity of vision, purpose, arrogance, ignorance, and mediocrity.

Intoxicated by his supervisory mandate without the required strategies to move the country forward, Trump wildly relied on autocratic executive actions to induce a bulk of his accomplishments, but that is not selling. Some commentaries, especially those spewing from the right wing had structured their assessment of Trump’s stewardship to reflect his pugnacious determination to fulfill his electioneering promises. However, abusive use of executive orders to hurriedly fulfill incredibly questionable electioneering vows to generate Twitter likes and shares remain one of Trump’s policy-making miseries.

Most controversial among his orders was Executive Order 13769, signed on January 27, 2017, curtailing refugees and stone-heartedly suspending the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely. Trump was not done – this order also blocked nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States, signaling the harshest immigration policy in generations.

Trump’s Immigration policy excess was punctuated by the legal system he chose to sideline. Two judges restrained him. A Federal Judge in Hawaii issued a nationwide order blocking his ban on travel from parts of the Muslim world, whereas another in Maryland issued a separate Order, forbidding the core provision of the Trump’s travel ban from going into effect.

Anti-Trump protesters march along Lavaca Street in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday Nov. 9, 2016. Hundreds of University of Texas students marched through downtown Austin in protest of Donald Trump’s presidential victory.(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Trump’s move to retaliate against States opposed to his immigration enforcement policies also met another waterloo, just as his tenure sailed into the 100-day threshold. A Federal District Court Judge William Orrick issued a ruling, blocking his Executive Order seeking to cut federal funding to “sanctuary cities” – jurisdictions that refuse to help the Federal Government apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants. According to San Francisco city attorney, Dennis Herrera, “This is why we have courts – to halt the overreach of a President and an Attorney General who either don’t understand the Constitution or choose to ignore it.”

It is a fact that Trump campaigned and won on imaginable election promises. However, it has been established that electioneering victory is neither a proof of decision-making aptitude nor a test of exemplary leadership, but purely, a process of democracy.

Trump already admitted he was more of a negotiator than a transformational leader. He lied to his constituents that he was a dealmaker, and bragged about negotiating the country into economic possibilities. Yet, he has shown no talent for bargaining policies. For instance, he dabbled into a so called Trump/Ryan Care as a substitution to Obamacare and crashed beyond redemption; he bombarded Syria in a raid that turned out as lavish social media promotion; and then, dropped a so-called “Mother of all Bombs” in Afghanistan with absolutely no strategic purpose on negotiating North Korea.

Trump’s cohorts argued that his iron-handed approach to foreign issues signals seriousness and superiority over rogue nations. Again, this issue is not just about his recklessness in discharging ammunitions, it is all about leadership integrity.

Trump had initially dismissed the Syrian issue and vowed not to spend America’s monies on global wars and security. He swore, “I’m not, and I don’t want to be the President of the world. I’m the President of the United States, and from now on it’s going to be America first.” Therefore, directing airstrikes in Syria reveals a fluidity of a foggy vision – the height of deception, and shows a total lack of integrity. Any leader who speaks from both sides of his mouth must neither be trusted nor respected. Hence, Trump remains a monumental train-wreck with fatalities on stand-by.

Trump’s policy catastrophe might be worse than the tsunami. The LA Times Editorial Board in a few sentences captured a profile of a President that was wrong on arrival:

“He is a man so unpredictable, so reckless, so petulant, so full of blind self-regard, so untethered to reality that it is impossible to know where his presidency will lead or how much damage he will do to our nation. His obsession with his own fame, wealth and success, his determination to vanquish enemies real and imagined, his craving for adulation — these traits were, of course, at the very heart of his scorched-earth outsider campaign; indeed, some of them helped get him elected. But in a real presidency in which he wields unimaginable power, they are nothing short of disastrous.”

In his 100 days, he has accomplished absolutely nothing, but pour drums acid on the cord that unites the country. Already, he has plunged this God’s Own Country into a filthy sea of inexplicable leadership challenge and policy-making ambiguity. Till date, the only entity that has benefited from Trump’s 100-day policy wreckage is the Saturday Night Live – a late-night live television comedy and variety show constantly lampooning Trump’s decision-making meltdown and presidential disgrace.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin might have succeeded in leading a notorious cyber-hacking squad that fraudulently created the path to Trump’s election victory. But the truth remains: Trump is, not just an America’s problem, he is a Global Agony.

♦ Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D. is the editor of International Guardian, and the author of The Influence of Leadership.

Op-ed: City of Houston, Harris County – We could do better

By Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq

It is anticipated that the 2020 Census will show that more people live in unincorporated Harris County than live inside the City of Houston. If this expectation turns out to be correct, unincorporated Harris County would essentially be the largest “city” in Texas.

Some of the reasons why more people are living outside of the City are: the cost of housing for low income and working class individuals (including the annual increases in property taxes as a result of annual property valuation increases), access to good paying jobs that provide a wage that lifts full time employees above the poverty line and the cost of transportation as a result of an inadequate citywide public transit system. Some people would also include on this list the perception of the public education system and concerns about crime in Houston.

Former Houston City Council Member Peter Brown was one of the first people to write about the city of Houston shrinking in size relative to the rest of the county and what that could possibly mean for the future of Houston. (See Michael Nichols and Peter Brown, Exodus to suburbs has Houston holding the bag, Houston Chronicle, August 30, 2013, pg. B7.)

Change is coming and it’s time for our community to have a foresighted conversation about the future.

City residents are both city and county taxpayers. It’s time for a serious conversation about consolidation of city and county services to reduce duplication and provide taxpayers with better services and property tax relief.

Part of this consolidation conversation must include expanding the size of Commissioners Court to six (6) Commissioners and the County Judge. The goal should be getting this expansion of Commissioners Court in place for redistricting in 2021. That is just four years from now and will require being prepared to go to the Legislature in 2019 to get this done.

It’s time for the County to stop building new Toll Roads. They contribute to flooding throughout the County and City of Houston.

Instead of building more Toll Roads, the County should use excess toll revenue, after debt service, to fund flood control projects and help Metro expand better bus service and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) countywide and regionally to those cities and counties in the Houston-Galveston Area that wish to participate. We also need to connect the City’s two airports and Southwest Houston/Alief to the Metro Light Rail System.

Vehicles pass through EZ TAG lanes on the Sam Houston Tollway …”It’s time for the County to stop building new Toll Roads. They contribute to flooding throughout the County and City of Houston.”

 

With the widespread use of autonomous vehicles by Uber and Lyft on the horizon, the City of Houston and Metro need to figure out how to integrate those new services (as well as traditional cab companies) into our region’s public transit system. (See generally, John Zimmer, The Third Transportation Revolution: The Road Ahead, Medium, September 18, 2016.)

The City and County need to work together with the Houston Technology Center, cable and phone companies and technology innovators such as Google, Amazon and IBM Watson to make our entire county and all the cities in it “smart cities”. We need to do this not just for countywide Wi-Fi and high speed 5G broadband services for faster internet and cellphone service, but for better emergency preparedness, resiliency and recovery as well as to implement cutting edge consumer services technologies to help improve the overall quality of life for all who live, work and visit our community.

If done correctly, this technological transformation could do more than just help synchronize our traffic lights and reduce congestion on local highways; it could create new well paying jobs and help reduce economic inequalities across our region.

It’s time for us to once again lead the way in our nation.

We can’t keep doing the same old things and expect things to get better in Houston or the County.

We have more pressing problems in Harris County that go far beyond spending taxpayers’ dollars to fix up the Astrodome. Those tax dollars would be much better spent investing in flood control projects and expanding all day, quality Pre-K countywide.

We have a broken bail system that needs to be reformed to help stop the criminalization of poverty in Harris County. We need to deepen and expand the Port of Houston to ensure that our region continues to benefit from international trade.

Environmental justice and reducing air pollution and other health hazards in minority neighborhoods across the city and county are also issues that must be priorities for all local elected officials. So too must be addressing homelessness and the poverty across Harris County and in Houston. (See, e.g., Isabel Soifer, Facing up to grinding poverty, Houston Chronicle, September 5, 2015, pg.B7.)

It’s time to eliminate the Harris County Treasurer’s Office and turn its responsibilities over to the Harris County Budget Office. We should also eliminate the Harris County Department of Education and invest those savings in flood control projects and countywide all day Pre-K.

 Streamlining, Consolidating and Modernizing local and county government in Harris County deserves an open, honest and transparent community-wide conversation ahead of the next round of city and county elections. Let’s not wait until redistricting in 2021 to debate the future of governance and public policy priorities in our County.

Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq. is a former Democratic candidate for Congress and General Counsel of the Texas Democratic Party who has served as an At-Large Member of the Houston City Council as well as a Houston Community College Trustee. Robinson is also an Associate Professor who teaches at a School of Public Affairs and has taught at two Texas law schools.

Please Hear Me Out – Trump Is Not My President

Election victory IS NOT a test of exemplary leadership; it’s simply a process of democracy. Effective governance is about positive influence, and any President who makes your life miserable is not your leader; he is your DICTATOR. Therefore, it is my painful conclusion today that: Trump is Not My President.

By Dr. Anthony Obi Ogbo

The fundamental component of civil liberty allows every citizen the rights to vote and to be voted for under a democratic path called the ‘Election Process’. This basic right is critical and foremost part of being a Citizen of the United States of America. In fact, that is what makes America distinguishably great from most countries in the world. However, with Republican leadership championing laws and campaigns to suppress the registration and voting process; with candidates and their agents allegedly colluding with Russia to manipulate and influence the process, we may have theatrically and inadvertently ended up with perhaps, the Worst President the country has had in my lifetime.

We are experiencing a negatively unique change management process – inconsistent with all Exemplary Leadership principles and methods. Leadership change or transformational management process requires integration of best practices and effectively applied for the common good. Transformational Leadership is principles-based in which ‘Team’ is critical factor – a great marriage between the Transformational Leader and the Led based on reciprocal bonding. There is a shared vision inspired by a collective bargaining for the public good; where experiential wisdom are pooled and lessons learned are funneled for continual improvement. Naturally, the success of the Transformational Leader is based on alignment and synergy in work processed implemented by subordinates across all tiers of governance.

The result of this alignment and synergy is increased productivity and an environment that inspires a positive altitude. This is the root of the fundamental theories of modern governance; where the needs or wellbeing of the electorate is priority and supersedes the uncertainties of political party ideologies and interests.

My dear Trump thought he understood the language of Change Management and Transformational Leadership, but he has since shown total lack of intellectual depth and generic understanding of people and community management. Trump explained his tyrannical approach thus far in an office he took a barely two months ago, was “to fulfill election promises”. To the extent that he claimed that his abuse of executive powers so far was ‘to serve the interests of majority Americans’ who voted for him.

My dear Trump thought he understood the language of Change Management and Transformational Leadership, but he has since shown total lack of intellectual depth and generic understanding of people and community management.

President Trump’s argument might have made sense but for the surmounting national and global protests that overwhelm his fragile regime. He has attracted enemies and policy objections worldwide more than his past five predecessors put together. Even in-country, where Trump is determined to “Make America Great Again”, his approval rating has shown some disgracefully nightmarish figures that equate his policy-making imbecility.

According to latest Gallup Daily Poll based on a three-day rolling average, Donald Trump’s approval rating has dwindled to a shameful 37 percent, with 58 percent disapproving of how he’s performed in his two months in office. It may be recalled that on January 22, just three days into his presidency, his approval and disapproval ratings were split evenly at 45 percent each.

Sadly, those numbers significantly deteriorated as this President continues to make a mockery of The Executive Office. Trump has muddled up what actually COULD make our Country great!  With his twitter rampage lampooning every country, every culture – America’s trust and respect among its allies are no longer certain. Besides, his Executive Orders on Immigration flunked every legal test and erodes commonsense.

Furthermore, Trump riding with support of his dysfunctional appointees faces an unexplained conflict of interests between his business empire and his office, proposes an impracticable budget, and, endorses a killer health care proposal with assault on seniors and a tendency to leave millions currently covered without the tiniest layer of protection. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Trump Republican American Health Care Act would leade 14 million more uninsured in 2018 and 24 million by 2026. Likewise, his budget has practically proposed unprecedented cuts that adversely affect every development segment. And, the masses are not just talking about it – they are crying about it!

Election victory IS NOT a test of exemplary leadership; it is simply a process of democracy. Effective governance and transformational leadership is about positive influence. Any President who deliberately makes your life miserable is NOT a True Leader – at best, he is your DICTATOR. True Governance is premised on vision, mission, passion, resilience, empathy and compassion. These elements are the basis for program conceptualization, alignment and implementation. A progressive agenda is a well-thought out and encapsulated in processes that provide national integrity in line with existing framework.

Therefore, it is my submission today that: Trump is not my President. We know what America looked like before this ‘Trumped Madness’. It was a solid accumulation of love, rationality and growth. Therefore, Americans must join hands together to bring back love and commonsense into the system.

Conclusively, it is conceivable that denouncing TRUMP is not just an inevitable option but also a civic duty to ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.’ We need the change process to begin with Trump. What America needs is a Leader who is humble enough to accept deficiencies in his competency charts and accept appropriate assistance and guidance. We need a listening President. We need a collaborative President who would not compromise the interest of the American people.

Making America Great is a collective responsibility – Individual and Corporate. Until such a time when Trump is Truly Transformed, I maintain that: Trump is NOT my President!!!

♦ Publisher of International Guardian, Anthony Ogbo, Ph.D. is the author of The Influence of Leadership.

Transforming the Texas Education System – TSU Dons Offer Substantial Tips

Funding More All Day Pre-K

By Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq. & Dr. Michael O. Adams
  • Eliminate the Harris County Treasurer ‘s Office, transfer it’s duties to the County Budget Office, and invest the savings in all day Pre-K through Independent School Districts (ISDs) in Harris County.
  • Eliminate the Harris County Department of Education, transfer it’s functions to local community colleges and ISDs, and invest the savings in all day Pre-K through ISDs in Harris County.
  • Transfer Developmental/Remedial Education funding from higher education to investing more in ensuring that all Texas children statewide are reading and doing math at grade level by Third Grade. This is a better use of these funds. It is more cost effective to get students the academic foundation they need for college and career readiness by Middle School rather than trying to do so after they have graduated from High School.
  • Move the High School Allocation to helping fund all day Pre-K statewide or to increase funding for Middle School math and reading programs.
  • Finally, Community Colleges across the state should work with school districts (ISDs) and Charter Schools to establish more Dual Credit Early College High Schools. Early College High Schools help students better prepare for college while also earning college credits during high school thus reducing the cost of a college education. Making college more affordable must be a priority if we want more college graduates in Texas.

The legislature should also require Texas universities and community colleges to report to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and local school districts the number of students from rash of their high schools that have to take developmental education courses. Each school district should be required to cover the cost of each of their high school graduate once the current funding for developmental education is reallocated to school districts for all day Pre-K and to help them with K-3rd grade math and reading improvement.

Our goal should be to eliminate the need for developmental education for any Texas high school graduate in the next five to ten years.

Pre-K funding would have to be distributed by a voucher in school districts that don’t have the capacity for more students or interest in starting a Pre-K program.

Statewide all day Pre-K will require strengthening standards for Pre-K providers and teachers to maximize the educational benefit of this effort.

Invert Education Funding

To keep the Texas economy growing, reduce our state’s prison population and help make sure that future generations of Texans have enough personal wealth for their retirement years, we must make sure that more Hispanic, African American and low income Texans-regardless of race-graduate from High School, in the coming decades, college and career ready.

To do that, we must fundamentally transform our state’s education funding system by inverting it.

Instead of the current system of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in remedial developmental education at the higher education level, those funds along with the High School Allotment should be invested in statewide all day Pre-K early childhood education and ensuring that all Texas children are reading and doing math at grade level by third grade.

Based on existing education and brain science research, spending/investing in early childhood education offers the best long term cost benefit and return on investment (ROI) in terms of academic achievement and student success.

Instead of waiting until High School and college to spend extra funding on remedial education and specializations such as languages, those funds would have a greater impact in the earlier years of our education system when children’s brains are at the most formative and important stages of development.

In addition to shifting funding to early childhood education and the earlier years of our education system, the State also needs to ensure that we utilize on-line education to strengthen and expand the State’s prison education system. Research has documented the fact that the more educated a person is when they are released from prison, the less likely they are to re-offend. This is not a call for more funding but rather a call to more efficiently and innovatively utilize the funding already being spent in this area.

If we can reduce the state’s prison population and recidivism rate, that would free up hundreds of millions of dollars annually to reinvest in the State’s education system from early childhood education to college affordability.

In addition to those efforts, we need to move our State’s education system from a farm to factory model to a smart and sharing economy education system. This is a transformation that is bigger than, and goes beyond, the current debates on “teaching to the test”, vouchers and Charter Schools as the answers for school “choice”, and H.B.5 (2015 Texas Legislature Regular Session) as the reform for reducing our state’s High School dropout rate and the solution for increasing college and career readiness.

Community colleges across our state must take on a greater leadership role in this transformation of education in our State.

Community colleges in Texas should pre-admit every elementary school student in their service area and offer them a college scholarship if they graduate from High School on time and with a 2.75 or better Grade Point Average (GPA). The higher a student’s High School GPA, the more successful they will be in college. Pre-admission could serve as an incentive to encourage more students to stay in school, focus on achieving academically and graduating on time.

Community Colleges should work with the School Districts in their community to convert all High Schools in Texas into Early College High Schools. Higher Education research indicates that Dual Credit courses help better prepare African American and Hispanic students for college level academic work.

It’s time to move beyond the old debates, in education, to begin a transformation of the Texas education system that acknowledges and addresses the demographic changes in our student population and the ongoing transformation of our State’s economy as well as that of our nation and the world.

To lead the world, our State and Nation need a new education system built for the “new” and coming “sharing” and cognitive economies. Texas must help lead our Nation into this new reality to maintain our economic and competitive advantage.

Robinson and Adams are professors at Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs in Houston, Texas.

In Amina Mohammed and Modern Biotechnology We Stand – A Press Briefing

TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE ALLIANCE OF CSOs FOR EFFECTIVE BIOSAFETY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA HELD IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22,2016, READ BY EDEL-QUINN AGBAEGBU, MEMBER OF THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE FOR THIS CONFERENCE

Gentle men of the Press,

Representatives of Civil Society Organisations and Associations in Nigeria,

Fellow Nigerians

It is with deep pleasure that I stand here to address you all  this afternoon, on behalf of Every Woman Hope Centre, Centre for Environmental Education and Development, Partnership for Rural Women Development,  Jomurata Community Care Initiative and African Greens Revolution among others, an alliance to ensure an effective biosafety in the application of modern biotechnology for protection of human health, secured biodiversity, food security and socio-economic development in Nigeria. It is in furtherance of these noble objectives that we called you all to alert you about a strange development, bordering on gross misinformation which was reported as having been dished out to the public by  way of   Press Release from  a  group called Global Prolife Alliance(GPA).

In their press release, the content of which our group has read, the Global Prolife Alliance (GPA) criticized the recent appointment of Amina J. Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister for Environment, as the United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary General. The GPA alleged that the appointment of Amina Mohammed was a payback for the introduction of GMO Foods in Nigeria. The statement is unpatriotic and malicious on the personality of Amina J. Mohammed, the Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is a global Knowledge that she was already in the UN system before this latest ministerial appointment. On June 7, 2012, Amina Mohammed was appointed as a Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development Planning by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon. Notable references on Amina Mohammed Curriculum Vitae include; Ban Ki-Moon, Professor Jerry Sachs and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It should be noted that Nigeria is not a pariah nation but a responsible and respected member of the global community and Nigerians irrespective of gender are qualified and entitled to work at all levels in any national or international body. Therefore, to lay a claim that the appointment of Amina Mohammed is for the purpose of reward is untenable.

Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment.

We expect the GPA and its principal promoter, Dr.Phillip Njemnaze to retract their statement, which we believe was made in error and promptly apologize to Amina J. Mohammed, Nigerians and the United Nations for propagating falsehood on issues about the role of modern biotechnology in agriculture for sustainable development in Nigeria and the alleged role played by the Honorable Minister of Environment in the perceived introduction of the scientific breakthrough in Nigeria. It is science that rules the world and Nigeria cannot afford to be isolated from the trend. Oppositions and informed criticisms are good for checks and balances but should not clog the wheels of progress.

GPA twisted verifiable fact on the matter  when they stated, among others, that two permits issued  some months ago by the National Biosafety Management Agency, NBMA,  wholly amounted to a forced introduction of GMO crops into Nigeria. This is not correct as the authorization by NBMA in the permits was in line with the standard regulatory practice and process as provided by the Cartegena Protocol for the commercial release biotechnological products. There is a constitutional requirement of the Federal Government of Nigeria to protect the public health and the biodiversity through the activities of NBMA. We rather recommend collaboration with the duly approved agency mandated to achieve this global biodiversity conservative targets through its most effective administration and qualified scientists and researchers.

GPA was criticizing and making much ado about the wisdom which the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Environment, exhibited in allowing Nigeria to embark on Confined Field Trials which is a globally acceptable scientific practice. NBMA and the parent ministry went into it on a cautious note. We should encourage them to conclude the process. If the experiment is good, Nigeria will say goodbye to hunger.

The recent press release by Dr Njemanze and his GPA clearly shows that they are behind the rest of the world. Rather that joining others to appreciate science and what it hold for the future of food security in Nigeria, the critics of GMO crops are now turning out to be alarmists by alleging  that GMO crops are poison and that they pose  threat to food security and national security too.

Dr. Njemanze is a lone voice. Let me draw your attention to how the Nigeria Academy of Science (NAS), the bigger authority and indeed, voice of science in the Nigeria has messed up the position of Dr Njemanze and his GPA on the status of GMO foods at present. During a media roundtable on GMOs in Nigeria, on November 16, 2016, at its office in Lagos, the NAS stated unequivocally that the country is ready for GMO products and that they are safe for both production and beneficial to the nation, based on carefully-documented evidence from developed countries.

The academy noted that the technology, though new with expected fears and concerns, would be useful to the country because of its potential to boost the nation’s agriculture, which would resolve food insecurity. The outgoing president of NAS, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, said though the technology seems fresh, but nothing is new with it, as the academy, in accordance with its mandate, has examined available evidence from researches in advanced countries. Tomori, who noted that there were no forecasts of long-term effect, stressed: “We cannot predict the future and what is going to happen with these GMOs, but so far so good, there are no problems from where they have been used; but that does not mean that it is going to be good forever. We must be on the alert to know when changes are coming up.”

Another speaker, a professor of plant breeding and crop biotechnology with the Department of Genetic and Biotechnology, University of Calabar, Effiom Ene-Obong, said there were no scientific evidence that agree with the raised health concerns of GMOs worldwide, “as they are safe for both production and consumption.” He noted that “though genetically modified foods are not commercially produced in Nigeria yet, three quarters of countries in the world are keyed into them and as a new technology, fears being entertained are expected, but rather, the benefits outweigh the worries”.

Ene-Obong added: “Before these products are sent into the market, lots of trials and investigations are done by so many agencies, such as the Academy of Sciences Worldwide, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Health Organisation (WHO), to monitor and make sure they are safe for human consumption and they have recommended”.  We Stand with NAS on this subject.

The world is moving but Njemanze and his group wants us to remain static. He is like some who still stick for witchcraft instead of embracing science.  If Nigeria was to follow his line of thought, we may, perhaps be killing twins till date. He claims that GMOs are poisonous and a threat to Nigeria.

Finally, a word on the suitability of Amina Mohammed for the UN job. More Nigerians should stand up to thank the UN for identifying yet, another good person from Nigeria. It should also be a new testament that Buhari is listening. More qualified women in Nigeria should stand up to be counted. And this shows that Dr. Njemanze and his group did not know what they are saying. She is a star in the international firmament .We stand in support of the Minister of environment for the UN job. She is great woman who does great things. She has been excellent in the discharge of her duties before. She will do it again for Nigeria and humanity.

I welcome you all once again to this press conference and I hope that conference will offer us opportunity to reflect deeply in our hearts on our desire for a holistic biosafety regulations in mainstreaming modern biotechnology in Nigeria.

Thank You.

Edel-Quinn Agbaegbu (Representative of the Alliance).

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