https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4625013857265534
Connect with us

NEWS

329 Million Mobile Phones is not Growth, it is Consumption…. Chude

Published

on

In 2000, the Economist made a bold declaration about Africa: it called us the hopeless continent.
We screamed. We protested. Oyinbo people are trying to put us down. They are insulting us. It’s time for us to tell our own stories etc. So by 2011, the foreign media had gotten the message, and the narrative changed: Africa, they declared, is now rising. BRICS, MINTs, N-11… the hopeless continent is now bustling with hope. Hope, change, love, joy. The middle class now had more pot-bellies. And all of us cheered.
Pride restored. Victory secured. Battle won. But what exactly did we win?
It reminds me of a dear, dear friend of mine whom I asked to come join an effort to battled Ebola last year, and she said to me: “Oh no, I don’t want to be part of any negative narratives of Africa”. And I thought to myself: “but this is not a narrative, this is reality”.
But there are so many of us – who have venture capital for our businesses or funding for our ideas – who scream the same. No! That’s not the story of Africa. That is poverty porn. That is not Africa’s story. There is hope for Africa.
Nobody should preach to me about selling hope. That’s what we do at The Future Awards Africa. That’s been our job for 10 years now – telling Africa’s brightest and best stories to young Africans. But the hope wey we dey sell dey see road, and e tie wrapper.
The fact that many of our over 1,000 nominees over the last ten years have succeeded in spite of broken down systems cannot blind us to the reality – that nations cannot grow based only on outliers.
Yes, we will always have people who make something out of nothing. They exist around the world, even in nations destroyed by war. But we need nations that provide opportunities for everyone, not just outliers.
Overheard recently: Africa cannot entrepreneur its way out of its problems. We can’t entrepreneur around bad leadership; we can’t entrepreneur around bad policy.
There is a point at which resilience becomes a defect and not a virtue. It is not something to be proud of that it takes sweat and blood to register a business in name in Nigeria, to open a bank account for same and to understand its tax laws with no help from the government. It is a problem that needs to be solved.
And until Africa has a network of nations where these foundational imperatives are engaged successfully and uninterrupted, success stories will continue to be a rarity and Africa will simply not grow
As part of the build up to tonight’s event, we toured the North-East of Nigeria. Oh, the things we saw. The tragedy is not the stories you even know, it’s in the ones you don’t. It’s not just the fact that it was day 600 yesterday and Chibok parents still have no news, it is the fact that they have been utterly abandoned by their own government.
Ah. On these trips the strong disconnect between the Africa Rising narrative and the realities on the ground hit you like a ton of bricks.
So instead of simple stories, how about we focus on our reality?
That Africa is not a dark continent, yet it has more blackouts than any other continent. We protest Africa is not a theatre of war, but it has more national coups than any part of the world today. Yes, Africa is not a dark continent of poverty, but we have more poor people with no pathway to rising than any continent existing in 2015.
Yes, Africa is not a continent of disease, but polio was just eradicated in Nigeria this year. And not because we told better stories. But because a foreign donor worked with local change-makers to make it happen. And it did not occur to our government officials, celebrating this news and claiming credit, that the fact that such a simple matter should have this long should become instead a reason for reflection, not backslapping.
Brothers and sisters of Africa, 329 million mobile phone users is not growth, it is consumption. 200 million people when there are no roads for them to move goods and service is not a market. Luxury motor shops opening in Lagos is not development, it is alternative reality.
We must stop, stop! Stop this lowering of the bar, where we declare progress for 6 per cent growth rate over the past 10 years while countries like China have sustained 11 percent growth for most of the last 30 years, pulling millions out of poverty in the process.
Because this rising tide has not lifted all boats. What is rising instead is the number of Africa’s children out of school – 18 million as at last count, the number of young people living below two dollars a day – 72 per cent a last count, the percent of our GDP that goes only to less than 10 per cent, the number of people who have to hold their hands over their heads to pass into the airport in Kenya, and the sheer number of jobless youth – over 75 million between ages 15 and 24 – who have no jobs. It is not a sexy story.
But it is a true story.

Of course, this story can change. And in some countries, like in my favourite Rwanda, it is in fact changing. And from countries like this come a powerful message of hope, but it is one that does not have to rely on a lie.
That message is simple: Africa CAN rise. But it can rise if only we can urgently scale up the work that governments and then civil society are doing. Government first – because one thousand NGOs cannot take the place of a single functioning government.
It can rise when we, speak truth to power, in government, in civil society, in business. And act on that truth.
That’s the promise that Africa’s youth – these nominees representing the best of them – can deliver on.
Their efforts will not be enough however if they cannot scale, if they can not reach the millions who need them, and reach them consistently and sustainably. Because Africa’s gargantuan problems need scale.
We don’t need more NGOs, as much as we need more support for those already solving these problems. We don’t need more politicians; we need more people forcing governments to do what they must for more young people. We need to move from hashtagging words, to hashtagging action.
And for this, we need active citizens.
We don’t need part-time Africans. We don’t need those who are content to sit in little cocoons and substitute one simple story for another.
We don’t need part-time Africans. ‎We need full time citizens. We need a groundswell of active, engaged, involved citizens – solving problems, at the same time, across our nations.
That’s why The Future Awards Africa is visiting 100 cities over the next one year. That’s why we are finding young people solving problems across these communities and telling their stories, spreading their action. That’s why we are getting them all the support that they need that we can get. We will train them, we will support them, we will help them scale. That’s why we are launching howcanIgetinvolved.com
Because we need full time citizens. We need a linking of arms, people working together, at the same time, with all that they have on the problems we need to solve.
Because The Future Awards Africa doesn’t want to keep celebrating rarities. We want to celebrate a surplus of inspiring stories, of hope, of growth, of impact. And to create that surplus, all of us have so much work left to do. Oh, we have so much work to do.
And that might not be the story we want to hear but that is the story we all need to hear. Our continent needs us. Desperately, critically, urgently.
Africa needs me. Africa needs you. Africa needs us o.
Thank you, and God bless everyone.

Jideonwo is co-founder of The Future Awards Africa.‎

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

NEWS

Ekunrawo Visits Makoko Slum in Lagos, Extends Ramadan Kareem Gesture

Published

on

Nigerian music sensation Ekunrawo, renowned for his chart-topping hit “For My Head” featuring
Perruzi, has once again demonstrated his commitment to philanthropy and community
development.

In the spirit of Ramadan Kareem, Ekunrawo visited the Makoko slum, Africa’s largest
floating slum, located in Lagos, to extend a helping hand and spread love to the less privileged.
The visit to Makoko was part of Ekunrawo’s ongoing Show Some Love project, which aims to make a
positive impact in communities across Nigeria.

 

Accompanied by his team, Ekunrawo distributed relief materials, including food items, clothing, and essential supplies, to residents of the slum.

Speaking during the visit, Ekunrawo expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to give back to
society, especially during the Holy month of Ramadan. He emphasized the importance of showing
compassion and solidarity with those in need, noting that small acts of kindness can make a
significant difference in people’s lives.

In addition to the relief materials, Ekunrawo also donated funds to support education and
healthcare initiatives in the Makoko community. He reiterated his commitment to supporting
sustainable development projects that will improve the living conditions of residents in the slum and
empower them to build a better future.

Ekunrawo’s visit to Makoko and his generous donations have been warmly received by the
community, with residents expressing their appreciation for his kindness and support. His actions
serve as a shining example of how artists can use their platform and influence to make a positive
impact in society.

As Ramadan continues, Ekunrawo encourages everyone to show love, kindness, and generosity to
those in need, not just during the Holy month but throughout the year. His dedication to
humanitarian causes serves as an inspiration to many, reminding us all of the true spirit of Ramadan
Kareem

Continue Reading

NEWS

Ogoni Deserves the Humane Treatment it Seeks

Published

on

By Fegalo Nsuke

The struggles of people all over the world to protect their rights and dignity have been the subject of conflicts especially when few individuals privileged to control the powers and authority of state turn these privileges into an instrument of repression and will want to surpress agitations that favour greater social freedom.

Quite often, state repression arises from the failure or inability of state actors to articulately defend their actions. The fear of a more superior idea and the desperation to cover their emptiness, many times, turn them repressive.

In Nigeria, the Ogoni people have been victims of a bitter repression. After 35 years of reckless oil mining by The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the Ogoni people saw that the wealth of the land made no impact in their lives. This prompted an awakening spiralling into an unprecedented civil consciousness in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region and forcing Shell to shut down its Ogoni operations in mid 1993.

With a verifiable oil production capacity of 500,000 barrels a day, Nigeria lost a very conservative estimate of  $375 Billion to Shell’s exit from the Ogoni oilfields in the past 30+ years. With recent drilling technology, the production capacity is put at over 500,000 barrels per day.

Shell’s failure to respond to community concerns had  become intolerable due to accumulated environmental and economic disaster and had ignited a huge civil uprising against the company. The company’s response to the protests was to back a brutal state repression which left some 4,000 Ogonis dead including Mr Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others that were hanged on November 10, 1995.

Today, the stench of Shell still remain profound in Ogoni but Nigeria’s unfriendly environmental laws have made it extremely difficult to seek redress for the Ogoni people. A very sad narrative is that Nigeria’s laws do not punish for crimes like that of Shell in the Ogoni area.

The good news is that despite the persecutions, killings, torture and the painful situation in which our people live, the Ogoni people still show some strong patriotism and willingness to move on with hopes for a change that will undo the wrongs of the past.

One of these expectations is the right of the Ogoni people to function within Nigeria as a distinct ethnic nationality, secured from political and economic deprivations as is currently the case. The right to be protected from the prejudices of dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria and to optimize its potentials for the good of the people.

The Ogoni people should not be left vulnerable to the exploitation of Nigeria’s dominant ethnic groups, nor should the pollution and murders of Shell be further tolerated and allowed to flourish without consequences.

The government cannot only be interested in exploiting the enormous natural endowments of the Ogoni people while they are left to grapple with the negative consequences of natural resource extraction. The pride, dignity, and future of the Ogoni people should also be secured and not be sacrificed for businesses and profits.

That is the basis we have proposed the operationalization of the Ogoni Development Authority (ODA) as an acceptable pathway to resolve the three decade oil conflicts in Ogoni. The ODA is an expression of our desire for self respect, fairness and the humane treatment we seek. A desire that doesn’t threaten any other nationality in Nigeria. In fact, our proposal is in the best interest of our country and will only conduce to greater peace and development for Nigeria.

We all need to unlock the huge natural resource potentials of Ogoni for national development and also for the benefit of the Ogoni people. We need to break the limitations which has kept these resources stranded in the ground, untapped, not benefiting anyone, while the Ogoni people walk that same grounds in difficult conditions.

These expectations require strong decisions and compromises which we must make. Going forward, that will be a right path to take.

Ogoni Must Survive.

Fegalo Nsuke is president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

Continue Reading

NEWS

The Ogoni Lessons of the Past 30 Years

Published

on

By Fegalo Nsuke

Ogoni is one of the world’s most celebrated cases of state-sponsored repression. Against all odds, the people have persevered in the search for justice, equity and basic freedoms deserving of all humanity. Indeed, it has been a painful account that in our own country, our government ordered a military crackdown that left some 4,000 people dead, thousands of others went through torture, rape, brutal detentions which were supervised by Major Paul Okuntimo, the commander of the military task force at the time.

Trouble started in 1958 when the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, commenced commercial crude oil exploration in the area. By the 1990s, the situation in Ogoni had become unbearable as the consequences had become far devastating on the environment and the people.

A UN report released in 2011 stated that benzene contamination in underground water was 800 times more than the UN tolerant levels. Shell, the company responsible for the pollution, had compromised its standards and actually encouraged an ecological disaster in Ogoni, violating ethical business practices and global standards acceptable in the industry.

In 2017, a report by the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland found that of the 16,000 infants killed within their first month of life, 11,000 infants would have survived their first year if it weren’t for the pollution caused by the oil spills. The Ogoni people have certainly become endangered by the corporate irresponsibility of Shell. These are the very difficult conditions in which the Ogoni people live.

In 1993, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) led a series of protests which forced Shell to exit the area. The company consciously understood that it was no longer wanted by the people. In response, the Nigerian government deployed its military against Ogoni civilians who were only protesting neglect and demanding greater attention to deal with the social problems they faced.

The military repression left some 4,000 people dead, nine of whom were hanged on November 10, 1995 –  including,  Baribor Bera, Saturday Doobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbokoo, Felix Nuate, John Kpuinen, Dr. Nubari Kiobel and Ken Saro-Wiwa.

These deep injuries ruptured the relationship of the Ogoni people with Shell and made reconciliation not worth considering. Understandably, the fact that Shell funded the repression was extremely painful and eroded every possibility of trust. MOSOP eventually decided that never in Ogoni history should Shell Petroleum be given another opportunity to unleash their ruthlessness on Ogoni.

Rather than submit to the repressive tactics of Shell, the protests intensified and In mid 1993,  Shell suspended its Ogoni operations, practically exiting the area.

The company was however not deterred. It later launched an Ogoni reentry program causing a shift in the focus of our struggle towards resisting Shell’s reentry. The success of the resistance against Shell made Ogoni celebrated and successive leaders of MOSOP were measured by how much they could sustain the resistance against the resumption of oil production.

Unfortunately, MOSOP got carried away by the euphoria of its successes against Shell’s reentry schemes which became an emerging philosophy of the struggle. Its leadership became too scared to discuss what should be done with the oil as “no to oil resumption” became the new maxim of our struggle.

On assuming office in January 2019, I began a process of reorientation. I very well understood the sensitivity of the matter but I also knew that as a leader my primary task is to solve problems and not escalate them. I needed to lead the people into attaining the development goals they sought and disabuse their minds against an absolute “no to oil resumption” which was anti-developmental.

So our initial engagement took us to every Ogoni community where we presented and discussed the proposal for the operation of an Ogoni Development Authority. We moved further to the various kingdoms and to the national executive committee of MOSOP. Finally, on the 27th day of September,  2020, the Central Committee approved the operationalization of the Ogoni Development Authority (ODA) as an acceptable pathway which when implemented will permanently resolve the Ogoni problem.

I should admit that it has not been an easy task and it is no surprise that in the history of our struggle, no president of MOSOP took the risk of calling for the resumption of oil production in Ogoni.

The Central Committee’s approval of the ODA provided an actionable framework, within the context of Nigerian laws, to pursue the Ogoni development goals which motivated and justified the launch of the Ogoni struggle.

Amongst others, the ODA primarily prescribes a fair allocation of the profits from natural resource extraction in Ogoni to be set aside for Ogoni development. This guarantees that the Ogoni people can solve critical social problems like job creation, water provision, electricity, road construction, education, healthcare services, security, and more.

The ODA is a win-win for all parties, namely the Nigerian government, the Ogoni people and the oil industry as it will unlock a proven daily oil production capacity of 500,000 barrels into the Nigerian economy. Estimated at $40 Million per day, that will increase government funding and guarantee a sustainable flow of funds into the development of Ogoni.

This is the path we have chosen. We are convinced that it is in the best interest of all parties to embrace this initiative as an acceptable path to a permanent resolution of this very costly three decade conflict. We are committed to it, we will vehemently defend it because It is our life and our hope to rescue Ogoni from the strangulating pains of the past.

I urge all parties to demonstrate their commitment to peace by accepting this modest proposal. The successes we have made in pushing community acceptance for this development initiative is an opportunity we must all take..

Ogoni Must Survive!

Written by Fegalo Nsuke,

President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

February 24, 2024

Continue Reading




FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Trending

https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4625013857265534